The Sum of Her Parts

by IsabellaAmoreSirenix


What Are You So Afraid of?

It was a surreal experience, walking with Luna down the crumbling hallways of their old home. The newly risen sun sent healing light streaming through the cracked walls, filling them with gold. Likewise, Luna's presence seemed to fill in all the cracks a thousand years of separation had carved in her heart. There was a sense of wholeness, of lightness in the soul. Though it was undeniable that much had changed, there were a few token things that had stayed the same.

Celestia couldn't help but smile as she noticed Luna's steps falling perfectly in time with hers. Such relics from a time when their sisterhood meant unity in body and soul were welcome.

The silence between them, however, was not.

"Did I really do this?" Luna finally asked, watching the harsh sunlight slash open the jagged scars of their home.

"Some of it, yes," Celestia answered, her voice hushed in remembrance of that terrible night. "Most of the damage, however, is just natural erosion. After all, nopony's lived here in a thousand years."

"A thousand years," Luna breathed. She gently pressed her hoof to one of the cracks, as if to absorb all the centuries it had weathered in her absence. "I can hardly believe it. It feels like it passed in a dream."

"More like a nightmare," Celestia said with a bitter scowl.

"So we will not renew the contract?" Hope carried the last note of her question into the birdsong of a flock soaring overhead.

The elder sister looked down at the worn tiles and thought she saw Sybilla's glowing red eyes staring back in the cracks. "If it were not for the Elements, you would have been lost to madness and spite forever. I will not risk you like that again."

"That still does not answer my question."

They had reached the castle's antechamber, where the Elements' pedestal proudly stood in the center. Now, only a pair of rusting doors stood between them and the outside world. Celestia turned around to face the new Element bearers, who had been following the princesses at a respectful distance. "Twilight Sparkle," Celestia asked once the six ponies had caught up, "would you and your friends mind waiting here for a moment? My sister and I would like a word in private."

Twilight nodded vigorously enough to nearly knock her tiara off. Celestia only gave a brief smile before leading her sister to the grand doors of the castle. There, she paused, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath before charging her horn with golden sunlight. The doors swung open on rusting hinges that screeched and whined in protest, like a pair of eyelids sealed with dried tears now trying to be pried open after staying long asleep, but nevertheless awakened to see the world beyond.

"Everfree," Luna whispered.

The door swung shut softly. "It's not very free anymore," Celestia said, her eyes following a black thorny vine ensnaring a bush. "It hasn't been in a very long time."

"Nor has our freedom, yet I still cherish every second of it."

Celestia looked down at the diminutive, magicless alicorn nestled among her downy white feathers. "For my sake, do not pretend this is freedom, Luna. You know what would come next."

She raised her eyebrows quizzically. "I understand we must have the spirits cleansed from us at the Tree of Harmony, but after that, I do not foresee any further contact with our progenerators."

"Exactly," Celestia said. "Luna, we will be alone. From now on, if we do not meet with Sybilla, we would have to spend every second preparing for the evil that would inevitably disrupt our kingdom."

"Sister, you have nothing to fear!" insisted Luna, craning her neck to see Celestia's eyes in vain. "We are older, wiser, and now together. Remember that you can face anything in this world with me by your side."

"I fear that you are not enough."

The younger alicorn recoiled. "You're being quite coldhearted towards me, sister," she said. "I expected many things from you. Anger. Fear. Disgust. Regret. Impassiveness was not one of them, unless you are not my sister."

"A thousand years of being unable to express true emotion will do that to a pony," Celestia replied coldly. "I spent the night in tears, crying out a thousand years worth of feelings once I was released from Constance. I will not cry anymore."

The sun princess turned her head away, left her eyes shrouded in darkness' uncertainty, the same kind of darkness that muted her voice to a whisper as she spoke. "There will come a time in the next few hours when the numbness of shock will fade and I will fall weeping at your hooves. But for now all I can do is stand paralyzed in your presence, like a pony seeing light for the first time in a thousand years. I know not if that is possible, for the moon to blind the sun, but then again, I was blind to you long before then."

Luna's gaze softened. "Sister, you were not to blame," she said, pressing closer to Celestia's side. "If anypony, blame me for agreeing to that accursed deal."

"So you regret it then?" Celestia asked, soft and dangerous. "Our sacrifice?"

Luna chewed on her lip as her eyes searched the ground, searched for an answer. When she looked up, Celestia was suddenly struck by the brightness of her eyes. "I do not know," Luna admitted, her quiet voice spreading for miles, "but do you think it was right, sister, for them to ask such a sacrifice from us?"

"Everything in this world comes with a price, Luna," Celestia said. "And oh, how those years hurt me terribly. But I do not believe the price was too high. I would give anything for my little ponies."

"Even me, Celestia?" The collectedness waned from her face until it was full of distraught. "Even me?!" came the scream, strangled from her constricted throat. She reared up on her hind legs and grasped Celestia's shoulders with her forehooves so that the elder sister could clearly see her dilated eyes.

"I can't." It was a whisper, a phrase to test the waters as it rolled off the tongue quietly. Then louder. "I can't! Call me weak, Celestia, but I can't do it, I can't! Not again, not ever! I won't go through such pain, not after I've just returned! Can't you understand how I feel? You endured the same suffering as I!"

"Most of the time," Celestia corrected. "Me falling into madness was not desirable for her or for Elysium. She allowed me small mercies."

"See? Doesn't that mean anything to you? This is merely a game they are playing, a game!"

"Luna, control yourself!" Celestia took a step back so that Luna would let go and fall onto her front hooves. "Those are the kinds of emotions that hurt you the first time. I know, I know I hurt you by pushing you over the edge too early, and that is a sin…" Her eyes fluttered closed, and the voice that was Equestria's stronghold cracked into pieces. "A s-sin that I can never atone for. But I promise you, Luna… that I will love you… t-tenfold more than before, and up to the very last second, so that our goodbye will not be one of bitterness—"

Luna crumpled to the ground, sobbing, much to Celestia's alarm. "I trusted you," she whispered, though her weakness could not veil the accusation in her voice. "I trusted you. It was hard, but I trusted you. I could have cut my magic, let myself die alone in that place, yet I did not, all for the promise of seeing you once more and the promise you gave me so long ago that everything would be alright in the end. My love for you was all that carried me through the troubled waters of my deteriorating mind. But I have changed. I cannot trust your promise anymore. I cannot trust you anymore."

Luna's watery eyes were a sea that separated them, a sea that turned to ice as Celestia stood frozen, unable to move or help or comfort. An onlooker from the backseat of a carriage once again.

"Do you want to know what I did on the moon, sister? I carved pictures of fairies and mermaids into the ground. I crafted a castle from moondust; not a replica of home, but an entirely new one from a mirage in my mind. I composed songs and sang them to the stars in the hopes they would sing back. And I wrote words, so many words, inscripted in every crater in which I trod. I wrote of joy and loss and what I believed to be true and what I knew to be impossible but believed anyway. I did all the forbidden things Elysium told us were wrong, and I liked it. I told myself all the rules, and I defied them. What does that make me now?"

"Oh Luna." The elder sister knelt down and cradled the weeping filly in her wings. "It wasn't your fault. You were sick, not thinking clearly—"

"Just like you were with Discord?"

Celestia paused. Silence, the eternal betrayer, who screamed the truth louder than words ever could. "He was a mistake, a foolishness on my part. It is the classic tale of the temptations of Chaos. Luna, we can never forget that it is our responsibility to bear suffering in order to balance out Chaos' frivolity. It is unjust, but it is true."

"Sister mine, sister mine," said Luna, shaking her head. "How long have you lied to yourself, sister mine? Discord was no trivial distraction. Will you deny all the happiness you have ever known?"

"I am happy," Celestia said. "I am happy because our subjects are happy. I am happy because the one I love is happy. And I am happy because you are here, though your tears sting bitter in my own eyes."

Those tears dried on Luna's cheeks. "But you are afraid. What are you so afraid of? The unknown? Celestia, we took the only option we had back then. But things are different now, aren't they? Why must you find danger where there is not?"

For a moment, it was silent. Luna looked up expectantly, waiting for her sister's eyes to open. When they did, they looked too small, too distant, shaking in sockets that were too big for them. The eyes of a much younger and much older mare.

"I love you, Luna," Celestia began with a teary-eyed smile. "You are always first in my heart. My yene tei yenele, my heart of hearts. I would do anything for you. And yet, I am always reminded that the unknown pony walking down the streets is the heart of hearts to somepony, who is the heart of hearts to somepony else. How could I be happy with you while knowing that there are thousands, millions, or even just one pony who has lost their heart of hearts because of me? Luna, as much as it pains me, I must think of other ponies first, not myself. I would never take a chance with you; so too will I not take a chance with them. Do you understand that?"

Very slowly, Luna untangled herself from Celestia's wings and stood up so she was eye level with the kneeling alicorn. "Celestia, that little village of Ponyville gave me all the information I needed to know. I glimpsed a map of Equestria, outlining territory nearly five times the size it used to be. I saw earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns, some griffons, and even a zebra all running away from me together as allies, if not friends. There can be no other country to threaten us, and with the Elements of Harmony under our control, no being, no matter how powerful or evil, can withstand us. And now, see how easily your words come undone. Not the truth, not a lie, but a dera yene jimi, a heart's deception. You do not know if what you speak is true anymore, only that the number of times you say it must make it so."

"It is all I know," Celestia answered. "The only truth I understand. You may be right, that I do not know what my reasoning is, but I know my purpose. I must bring Order to the world. That is all the matters."

"Because it is what Elysium told us," Luna completed.

"Yes, yes it is. As hard as it is to hear, they know better than us. We must trust their judgment. Whatever reason they had for giving us that contract, it must have been for a good reason."

"But what if it wasn't?" Luna insisted. "What would you do then?"

Celestia opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again and let it hang ajar. Silence, the eternal defender, who kept inane excuses at bay.

Luna turned her head away. "Sister, I cannot trust you if you do not trust yourself. You do not trust yourself with being anything more than what is expected of you. You are too afraid."

She took a deep breath and then exhaled with a shudder. "Make the contract. Don't make the contract. Perhaps even have us switch places, so that your eyes may be opened like mine. I won't fight you. But no matter what, I want you to decide because it is what you feel is right."

Celestia's eyes widened. "L-Luna… I can't… I don't know, it's too sudden…"

Luna's tiny face burst into a smile, one that crinkled her eyes and graced her cheeks with a gentle luminescence. "Then we'll take it slowly," she said, pulling her sister into a hug. "Together. But until then, we'll just have to be prepared."

Deep inside the sun princess, a newly dormant chill turned over in her sleep.

"Of course, Luna," she agreed. Her sad eyes peered into the darkness of the forest all around them. "We'll just have to be prepared."


But in actuality, nothing could have prepared Celestia for coming face-to-face with Discord once again. It just happened too fast: not even a moment after the doors swung shut behind Twilight and her friends then the spirit of chaos materialized from a stain-glass window. Her eyes widened, trying to fill to the brim with the image of him, sharp and clear in contrast with the blurry film that time had coated over her memories. She wanted to run to him, to find his beating heart beneath warm skin, not the distant tomb of granite and hard feelings.

And yet paralyzed she stood as he shot her a stony glare, carrying none of her sentiments. Then she blinked and he was gone, a mirage wiped from her eyes.

"Hello, Celestia," a low voice whispered in her ear. The princess jumped as the draconequus now stood behind her, pressing into her white coat tinged pink from her pumping blood. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the inevitable attack…

But it didn't come.

Against her will, her heart leapt. Could a thousand years in stone have changed him? It was hope against hope, but by Faust, she hoped with all her being.

It was if their roles for the last millennia had suddenly been reversed. Celestia stood as still as a statue, allowing him to freely touch her. Hot shivers shuddered down her spine as he ran his talons through her fur. "Did you miss me, Celestia?" he asked again, his voice practically caressing each syllable of her drawn-out name. "Because I missed you terribly."

Her breathing was uneven, but she still did not dare to speak. You never spoke in dreams. She kept her eyes closed, while the back of her mind wondered if Discord had enchanted her, placing her helpless in this delusion.

Then so be it.

"Why so quiet, Celestia?" he asked as his talon absentmindedly trailed along her jawline. "You know I love to hear your pretty voice. Even if it never said what I always wanted to hear."

Celestia froze.

"You were awfully cruel to me, you know. After all that time we spent together, you could never say you loved me." He took his claw away, leaving her feeling strangely cold. "But no matter," he continued ominously. "That can be easily changed."

Then he wrapped his hands around her neck.

Celestia's eyes shot open just in time to see her guards, at first paralyzed by trepidation, now race towards their princess. Leading them was Shining Armor, giving Discord a flaming death stare.

"Let go of her, monster," he ordered, his eyes narrowed into slits. He raised his spear and swung it at the draconequus, only to slash at empty air as Discord deftly leapt to the ceiling, taking Celestia with him.

Discord laughed with a menace that made Celestia's blood boil. She charged her horn with golden light, even though she knew that if he meant to end her, he would most assuredly act first. Although perhaps he wished to toy with her instead, to play with her emotions before flinging her aside like a worthless ragdoll. She didn't know which would be worse.

Discord laughed again as the unicorns began firing harmless spells at him. "Oh, don't worry, I'm not going to harm your precious princess." At that, he released his grip, sending her plummeting to the floor.

Her head swimming from the impact, Celestia looked up when she felt the touch of cold metal against her bruised shoulder. "Princess Celestia, are you alright?" Shining Armor asked, while the rest of her guards formed a protective circle around her.

"I'm fine," she said once she could properly breathe. She stood and looked up at Discord, who was quietly observing them, waiting for her move in this infernal game. Turning back to the captain, she said, "I want you and your stallions to retreat immediately. Do not return with backup. There is no need to raise alarm among the citizens, but do place the guard on high alert."

"Princess, with all due respect, we can't just leave you here to defend yourself against that monster."

Celestia flinched at the word. "I assure you, there is nothing you nor the whole Equestrian army could do to protect me from him. But do not fear for my safety. He will not hurt me."

"Are you sure about that, Celly dearest?" Discord called from his perch atop his stained glass window. "There was that whole 'imprisonment in stone for a millennia' debacle, and while I've never considered myself the most vengeful of ponies, such a thing would strain any relationship, wouldn't it?"

"Ignore him," Celestia ordered. "He is mad."

"Glad you finally picked up on that after a thousand years. Honestly, all that cosmic power is misplaced in a race with such a slow learning curve." With a snap of his tail, Discord summoned a platoon of teddy bears that launched themselves at the princess. Their jaws unhinged to reveal gaping maws lined with sharp bear teeth, ready to tear her to pieces. However, instead of trying to rip into her, they spat out a string of chocolate candy hearts that pelted her relentlessly.

The alicorn's golden magic sliced through the air and decapitated all the teddy bears' heads. "Run, all of you," she commanded. "You will only interfere."

The guards moved back, relief clear on their faces, but Shining Armor hesitated.

"But Princess…"

"Run! That is an order!"

The captain opened then closed his mouth. He nodded once in compliance before leading the others from the hallway. The double doors slammed behind them, leaving the two demigods alone. Celestia sighed in relief.

"You know, if you wanted the two of us to be alone, you could have just asked nicely," he said as he slithered down a pillar. He stood so they were face-to-face once more, only this time Celestia's vision was clear of wishful fantasies.

"Discord," she growled.

"Celestia," he returned in condescending politeness. "Play nice. After all, it's not everyday you play hostess to a guest from a thousand years ago. One should practice better manners, especially a princess. Save the claws for our games later tonight."

As Celestia blushed, Discord's eyes widened, as if he didn't expect to get a reaction from her. "You didn't think I'd still want to play with you?" he asked, slowly coming closer to her. "My darling, how could I resist a creature as lovely as you?"

Wearing that devilish grin Celestia hated, Discord pulled out a golden apple, sunlight glinting off its surface. "To the prettiest one," he said in a low, seductive tone.

Celestia reared up in disgust and kicked it away. "It's probably poisoned," she retorted callously.

He snickered at her little glower, far too old hat to genuinely frighten him anymore. "It's good to know you haven't changed a bit, Celestia."

"Oh, I wish you had changed," Celestia retorted, "but by the looks of Ponyville, you're still the cruel, deluded tyrant I imprisoned a thousand years ago."

"Ouch. And here I was hoping the two of us could reminisce about the good old days."

"Just tell me what you want with me so we can get this over with."

"Tsk, tsk, so hasty, Celestia! We're immortals; we have all the time in the world! And with this meeting being long overdue as it is, we have much to catch up on. Except, of course, there's not much to say on my end. You know, imprisonment in stone and all."

Even in her anger, the princess flinched at his words. "Please, Discord, I know you're angry with me," Celestia said, "but please, if I ever meant something to you, don't take it out on Equestria. I am the only one who should be punished for my actions."

"Oh Celestia, don't be silly," Discord said. "I'm not mad at you."

Celestia blinked. "You're… you're not?"

"Of course not!" he said jovially, though he steadily advanced toward her with an unspoken menace. "I just came here to ask you a question."

"W-What is it?" she asked, unable to keep her voice from trembling.

At that, Discord smirked and leaned down so their faces were mere inches apart. "My question is this," he breathed while staring straight into her shining magenta eyes. "Did you miss me, Celestia?"

The princess stumbled backward. "I… I… Why must you ask me that?"

Discord's eyes lit up a bloody red, a sea of seething anger. "So you'll understand why I'm going to do this." Then with a snap, the draconequus conjured up chains of licorice that wrapped around Celestia, binding her tightly.

"Why are you doing this?" she cried, struggling against the chains.

"Simple, my dear," he replied with a mirthless laugh. "You embraced your destiny, so I embraced mine."

"Well?" he asked, watching her impassively. "You said it yourself the first day we met that we were meant to combat each other. So go ahead. Fight me."

"Discord," Celestia said, tears stinging in her eyes, "I'm not going to fight you."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Fine. Then I suppose we'll just cut to the chase." He looked down at the Princess of Equestria, bound and captive, and said with a slow, deliberate voice of authority, "Let her go, Constance."

Celestia froze and looked up at him. "You knew."

"Did you honestly think Elysium was the only one that sent spirit messengers?" Discord scoffed as he began to pace around her. "I had to depend on them too, since you weren't too keen on sharing information."

"You… you couldn't… No! You didn't contract with them, did you? Is that why you're doing this?"

His dreadful scowl softened to a bitter sadness. "They didn't need to. Their words hurt me enough. Not that I'd bother you with any of that, though. You certainly didn't seem to mind keeping things to yourself."

"Discord, I—"

"But none of that matters anymore," he continued, "because now I make the rules. And I'm giving you two options. Either release Celestia from your control, or I'll kill you all together. And don't think I'll have any qualms about killing you, just because you're in her body. I know she'd rather die than be subject to you."

"Discord… it's me. I'm still Celestia. Let me go, and I'll show you." He scowled, but the licorice dissolved, liberating her ability to use magic. She charged her horn, golden light flowing around her body. When the light dimmed, Discord found himself standing in the presence of a young, pre-Princess Celestia.

"See?" she told the draconequus, whom she had finally made speechless. "I've been free for over a year."

"Celestia…" With a shaking paw, he reached out to touch her sunset pink hair, only to jerk it away at the last second, as if burned by noonday's scalding kiss. "Why…"

"Why didn't I tell you?" she supplied, hushed and downcast. "Because I couldn't have you trying to stop me."

"No, I meant why did you feel the need to go through with the contract at all?"

"Dark forces were approaching," she said. "I want to protect everyone."

"You didn't believe we could stop them together?" Discord asked. The words rang hollow through the air.

"Could you blame me?" she demanded, gesturing to the stained glass window depicting Discord's destructive reign a thousand years ago. "After all you've done to Equestria, how could I expect you to fight for its wellbeing?"

"Oh, I don't know, by actually trusting me for once?" Discord mocked, though his heart wasn't in it. "Instead of trying to control everything, couldn't you have just left things to chance just one time?"

"I took a chance by befriending you. And look where it got me."

"The ruler of a kingdom filled with ponies who adore you," Discord said bitterly. "Yes, your existence is filled with strife."

"Yet it's hard to appreciate when you're about to take it from me."

"Celestia, I have no desire to take anything from you," Discord said, looking her in the eyes with dead seriousness. "If I had had my way from the beginning, none of this argument would be happening at all."

"Then why are you disrupting my kingdom?" Celestia demanded. "Can't you just leave me in peace?"

"Because it makes me sad to see you suffer." The sadness in his own voice was striking. "I want to make you happy."

"And just what makes you think this will make me happy?"

Discord reached out and cupped Celestia's face in his hands so that her eyes were fixated only on him. A soft gasp escaped her lips, but she didn't pull away. "After your coronation," he said, "I realized just how terrible Order was. Following your destiny didn't make you happy, not if you couldn't be with me. All those duties and responsibilities of yours, they were just tearing us apart. Just like I did a thousand years ago, I'm trying to show you how freeing a world of Chaos would be for both of us. If we were together in Chaos, imagine how close we would be."

Discord's eyes burned with a fervent zeal that captivated Celestia. "We could destroy the Tree of Harmony, cut off any link between this world and Elysium. You wouldn't have to answer to anyone anymore. Order wouldn't control you. There would be no more fighting against our natures just because we love each other. No more hiding, no more secrets, no more doubt. Celestia, for the first time, we could actually be together. Don't you realize how perfect that would be?"

For a moment, Discord thought he saw a wondering light behind her eyes, but the mirage was yanked away from him when Celestia turned away with a flick of her tail. "You obviously never knew me then," she said in a shaking voice, "if you would ever think in a million years that I would agree to such a proposal. You're despicable for even thinking it."

"Well then, Constance certainly did a fine job on you," Discord said, crossing his arms. "But I'm not giving up. I'll take away everything from you, Celestia. Your country, your family, your prissy little student. Everything that Order gave you will be mine, and only when you have absolutely nothing will you wake up and see I'm right and coming running back to me."

"Then Discord will never have me," she declared, holding her head up high. "A being of cruelty will have taken his place."

What then commenced was the fiercest glaring contest to ever occur within Canterlot Castle. In fuming silence, Celestia beheld the draconequus with the utmost contempt. A righteous fury to protect her ponies welled up within her, because if not then some far more dangerous, personal emotion would rear its head.

Discord's internal state was less convoluted. Only one fiery beast dwelled within his heart: anger. It thrashed around blindly, directing its power at the world, at Celestia, and at himself. A thousand years of it lay boiling underneath Discord's skin. His actions up to this point had only scratched its surface; if he chose to go further, Celestia could die without a second thought on his part. But he couldn't. Anger drained as much as it empowered, and Discord had never felt emptier.

"Fine," he said. He broke eye contact and looked away. "Have it your way."

Then he reached out for the mare, so close in life yet an ocean apart in love. "Tag," he said, giving Celestia a sad little poke. "You're it."

Celestia's eyes narrowed. "Discord, what do you think you're doing?"

"Don't you remember how to play?" he asked, his usually jovial smirk lost in the tearful memories of long ago. "Run. Run away from me, before the monster catches you again. Isn't that right, Celestia?"

The princess faltered in her stare, though her hooves remained firmly planted. "I'm not going to run away from you," she said, all confidence and fire.

"But that's the game you're playing."

Suddenly, gold struck marble with shattering force. "Enough!" Celestia cried. "Enough of your games! I am not a prize for you to snatch up, nor a puppet you can control!"

Silence. A weighty, oppressive silence, one that dropped on words like tons of lead and crushed them before even the first syllable had a chance to bloom. Death before birth. Life not even a thought, but a wistful dream.

"Lulu's not here, is she?" Discord asked, defeated. Hollow, hollow, hollow, echoed the words, momentary sparks ground to dust by the quiet.

"No, she's not." Cold and curt, the voice of a machine. "She's at the Tree of Harmony, being purified of Hamartia."

"Will you be going too?"

"That is none of your business."

It was unnerving, seeing Discord without a smile for so long, as unnerving as if he were missing an ear or a nose. "Then suppose you should be getting back to your little ponies. Smile and wave and tell them everything will be alright when it won't. Because that's what Order does to keep ponies happy. It lies."

When Celestia glared in response, Discord turned his head away. "Don't look at me," he said callously, though a waver rippled like an undercurrent in his words. "I hate your eyes. They're torn in two."

It startled Celestia herself when she heard her hind hoof step back. Then again, and again, until she was walking away from Discord, who stood as motionless as a statue. Her heart sped up as she felt the searing gaze of his eyes, eyes that weren't torn, but united in a muddled emotion that was one part anger, two parts confusion, and made her feel all parts shame.

One, two, one, two, one, two. Each of her steps fell into an exact rhythm. A pattern, a system, an order.

Discord narrowed his eyes. Celestia tripped.

When she finally made it to the end of the hall, Celestia threw open the golden doors wide. A gentle breeze blew in her face and pushed aside her aurora mane to reveal for a split second her other eye.

Its pupil was slitted.