Somewhen, Somewhere
Chapter 4: Destiny Starts to Move
By Leftover of Saikano
A couple of days ago.
Princess Celestia’s personal bathroom in Castle Canterlot was one with all the luxury her stature deserved. One of the walls was occupied entirely by a mirror. The others were covered on mosaics depicting the equestrian sky at different times of the day. Several white towels with Celestia’s monogram rested on top of a cabinet with a variety of soaps, shampoos and bathing salts. A corner of the room had multiple shower heads coming out of the ceiling and wall. A nacre-covered bathing tub, big enough for ten ponies of normal size, was at the moment full of steamy water. With her eyes, ears and horn peeking out of the water, there was Celestia herself.
The Princess rose from the water and stepped out of the tub. In seconds, the water stopped dripping from her body and turned to steam. She looked at the towels, but she didn’t touch them, as she was already dry. A voice called her from outside the door.
“May I come in, dear Sister?”
“Please, come, Luna,” said Celestia, and opened the door a little with her magic.
Princess Luna opened the door all the way, trotted in, and closed it behind her. “Are you feeling better now, Tia?” she asked, grabbing an ivory hair brush from the cabinet, and instructing her sister with a gesture to sit on a rug. “I hope your warm bath did help you calm a bit.”
Celestia sighed, sitting down on the rug. Luna sat behind her and started brushing her semi ethereal mane. “It was supposed to be a cold bath. The water doesn’t stay cold for long when I am in such a state of mind.”
“What you did was a necessary action, Sister. Those guards broke their oaths to obey you. At least they didn’t resist and accepted their sentences.”
Celestia had her eyes fixed on the rug under her legs. “Still, Luna, I ordered them to do something that went against their morals, and they followed their hearts. Tell me, have you retrieved Twilight already?”
“Indeed, Sister. I had to go to the Everfree house myself, along with the captains Spectty, Bit and Grinder. At my arrival, I found them embracing each other, and he was smelling her mane, as if they were newlyweds. Seeing them acting so free of guilt, as if they had done nothing wrong, sent me in a momentary fury, and I struck Flash Sentry down.”
Celestia turned around to look at her sister. “He probably didn’t even know they were doing something bad. Tell me, Luna…”
“No, Sister, he did not die with my first strike, but he lost consciousness. I did consider finish him off, for a moment, but Princess Twilight Sparkle offered to come with me without resisting, if I didn’t harm him more. I agreed to her terms, and the captains escorted us back to the castle.”
“That is good to hear, Luna,” said Celestia, once again positioning herself with her mane in her sister’s reach. “We should try to avoid more violence. The rumors are already spreading all around Canterlot, and ponies are taking sides. It’s hard to believe the influence Twilight Sparkle has, specially around Ponyville and here in Canterlot, that ponies are ready to fight in her name, even if it’s against us.”
“It’s not just Canterlot, Sister. The rumors seem to have already spread all over Equestria. We have just received news from Princess Cadenza and Prince Shining Armor. They informed us that the Crystal Empire will remain neutral, even if this conflict turns into a full scale civil war.”
“Of course we cannot force them to choose sides, if either one would mean they would be fighting against family. I wish I had had the same success in marrying Twilight that I had marrying those two. I don’t really want to force two ponies into marriage.”
“Have you not been arranging the marriages of the Sparkle family all this time, Sister? How did you do during my absence?”
“As I said, Luna, I don’t want to force ponies into marriage. So, since centuries ago, I have been just influencing their lives a little behind the curtains, so they would meet the ponies I mean for them, have them interact over the years, and then fall in love with each other. I haven’t had the need to arrange a marriage in over seven hundred years. But Twilight Sparkle, as always, has developed in ways I didn’t anticipate, and thwarted my plans.” Celestia giggled a little, then sighed. “I sound like some villainous mastermind.”
“You are not some villain, Celestia,” said Luna, standing up. “Remember, we are doing this to honor the last wish of our dear sister Alba. It was her who made the pact with those ponies, that she would marry their families to her own descendants. And it was the last thing she asked us, before she succumbed to her wounds, that we kept her pacts.”
“But it’s been almost ten centuries, Luna. For how long are we supposed to to keep playing with the lives of these ponies?” Celestia stood up, and both left the bathroom and entered Celestia’s bed chamber. “Alba’s descendants already have more blood of any of those families than her own blood.”
“We will consider that later, dear Sister. Now you should rest. This day has been too long, and now that we rule together again, you can take a moment of rest whenever you need it.” Luna stood next to Celestia’s bed, and waited for her sister to climb on it.
“I don’t really think I will be able to sleep right now, Sister. I have so many things in my mind”
“Don’t worry, Tia. You know Dreams is one of my domains. I will cast a spell that will keep you asleep until you are fully rested.” Luna touched Celestia’s forehead, next to her horn, with the tip of her own horn. Celestia drifted to sleep instantly. Luna placed her correctly in the bed, and covered her with a blanket.
Luna walked to the door, and turned one more time towards her sleeping sister. “Sorry for not being totally sincere with you, Sister. You are doubting too much, so you’ll sleep for some days, while I will take care of everything. Also, you will dream all the while of our dear Alba. Your memories of her will keep repeating in your head, and when you wake up, your desire to keep her wishes will one more time be fresh in your heart. You will thank me later, Tia, for this little trick I have pulled on you.”
Once Luna left the room, a pair of red and yellow eyes opened out of thin air, and talked with Discord’s voice. “Ah, dear little Luna. Don’t you know you shouldn’t play with the minds of other ponies? Be this a lesson, that if you do something bad, you can’t call others out on doing the same.” And saying this, a lion paw materialized next to the bed, and flicked a claw against the tip of Celestia’s horn. After this, only his mad laugh could be heard for some seconds, slowly fading.