[As always, enhance your reading experience: Music enhancement ]
Celestia stared at the pony that had once been her student, but all she could see was an enemy. Twilight was breathing heavily, having just defeated twenty or so guards. She was skilled in the art of pillow fighting, she had read a book.
"Celestia, I'll give you one last chance. Give it back."
Celestia looked at the stained pillow, and then back at Twilight. She remembered the nights that she had spent away from the pillow because Twilight was using it. She remembered the emptiness she felt inside her, and she made up her mind.
"No."
"Well then." Twilight levitated a pillow into the air, keeping it close to her body. "Let me show you what I've learned about friendship. And brutal pillow combat!"
Twilight galloped forward, charging towards the princess and letting out a battle cry. Celestia did not want to, but for the sake of her pillow she readied herself for impact. Thousands of years ago, Celestia had practiced the art of pillow fighting for the sake of Equestria. She hoped that she would remember how to do it again. A pillow from her bed levitated close to her, and Twilight was about to jump.
Celestia's eyes closed for a moment, and just before Twilight pounced, she snapped them open. Twilight swung her pillow at the princess, but she was ready. She used her pillow to block Twilight's, pushing her back and sending her to the ground. Then, Celestia brought the pillow down like a hatchet cutting a stump. Twilight rolled to the side and stood on all fours again, dodging the attack.
The two ponies went back and forth, trying to swing but only being blocked. It seemed as though they were evenly matched in the fight, but Twilight made the first mistake. She had let her guard down for only a second after a swing, and Celestia didn't miss the opportunity. She swung her pillow, hitting Twilight in the jaw and sending her flying into a wall. The force of her body hitting the wall created a small crack, and the light around her horn went out, causing her pillow to drop. The princess trotted forward, she had Twilight now. Twilight attempted to lift herself off the ground.
"I'm sorry Twilight, but I won't be needing a letter this week." As Twilight picked herself up, Celestia swung the pillow horizontally, hoping to hit Twilight across the head once more for the finishing blow.
Twilight ducked and took a step backwards, her tail against the wall. She levitated a pillow that was on the other side of the room. As Celestia recovered from her missed strike, Twilight levitated the pillow across the room, directly toward Celestia's side. The pillow made direct contact, knocking the princess over. Twilight took a step away from the wall to give herself some room.
Meanwhile, Celestia had picked herself from the ground and spread her wings to fly upwards. From above, she levitated the pillows that lay all around the room, bringing them next to her. Then, she fired, flinging the pillows in Twilight's direction. With a roll and a jump, Twilight was galloping away from the onslaught of pillows.
She remembered the pillow that was following her. Without stopping her gallop, she tossed the pillow at Celestia. The princess took the pillow to a wing, which immediately closed itself. She fell from her perch in the air and hit the ground. Twilight had no time to lose. She ran forward, another pillow levitated near her. As she approached the princess, she pulled the pillow back and swung as hard as she could. The princess took the pillow directly to the face and went flying backwards, smashing through the wall of the castle. As she fell downward, she took the stained pillow with her. She made a large hole in the wall, and Twilight was already galloping toward it. She jumped out of the hole, Celestia flying a few feet below.
With expertise, Twilight landed on Celestia's back and whacked her across the head with the pillow. The blow caused her to lose focus, and her wings shut. Now both the ponies were free-falling into Canterlot's central square.
The pair crashed into the ground, Celestia taking all of the damage. She lay on the ground, groaning with pain. Twilight got off the princess' back, and trotted in front of her. The princess ached all over, but looked relatively fine. She held the stained pillow on her stomach, covered by all four of her hooves.
"Well Celestia, it looks like this is where it ends." Twilight was panting along with the princess. "And before I finish you, I'm going to write my last letter. It goes like this: Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned that if you steal Twilight's pillow, you pay for it. Dearly. Isn't that a great letter?"
The princess didn't respond, she was gasping for breath between groans. "I'll give you one last chance Celestia. Give me back the pillow."
The princess looked up at Twilight, defeat in her eyes. There was no way that she would give up the pillow, but she was too weak to fight Twilight. She knew there was only one option left.
"Help!" Twilight's eyes widened, she looked around as the doors of the houses opened at the sound of the princess' voice. Celestia smiled as Twilight took a small step backwards. "Seize her!" The princess pointed at Twilight, and without hesitation the Canterlot ponies rushed from their houses. Twilight was amazed at their loyalty to the princess.
The untrained Canterlot ponies were easy for Twilight to handle. Each one ran toward her, only to receive a pillow to the side or the head. But these ponies were only diversions as Celestia gained her strength back. Slowly, Celestia pushed herself off the ground and was standing again. Canterlot ponies flew left and right, being hit with the pillow and sent flying back into a building.
One of the ponies yelled out, "Why do these pillows hurt so bad!?"
"I have no idea!" responded Twilight, swiftly swinging her pillow at a stallion, sending him flying backwards until he smashed into a wall. Soon they began to learn, and ever though the princess had called upon them, they retreated into the safety of their homes, but this didn't matter anymore. Celestia levitated the stained pillow in the air, and galloped toward Twilight. Twilight had her back turned, bludgeoning some Canterlot pony to the ground, but she was not oblivious.
[Musical enhancement: Taste the music]
The sound of metal hoof guards hitting the ground entered her ears, and she turned just in time to see Celestia swing. With a massive amount of force, Twilight was sent flying into a building behind her. She hit the wall with such force that large cracks formed in the bricks. Now it was Celestia's turn to approach Twilight.
"I guess the teacher will always be the teacher, and the student will always be the student." She lifted the stained pillow into the air. Twilight's mind was racing, but the pain she felt made it difficult to think. "I'll give you one last chance Twilight. Forget all about this pillow, and we can pretend this never happened."
A small chunk of the wall of the royal castle fell, smashing into the ground. Celestia looked over her shoulder. "We can pretend..."
Twilight took the opportunity to save herself. Ignoring the pain she felt in her back, she lifted herself off the ground and used her hind hooves to kick Celestia. Her head was turned, so Twilight's hooves met the back of Celestia's head, and the result was a loud yelp from the princess. She turned back towards Twilight and snorted. "I see how it is."
Celestia took a few steps backwards. She found a pillow nearby and lifted it into the air, enchanting it. Twilight still stood near the building she had crashed into. "Goodbye Twilight." Celestia flung the pillow towards Twilight, but using her feeble legs Twilight managed to jump to the side. The explosive pillow hit the cracked wall with a bang, and amidst the feathers dust filled the air as the wall came crumbling down. The explosion was so powerful that the building lost its support. After the wall had already come down, the entire building crashed to the ground, a large cloud of dust filling the air.
"Two can play at that game." Twilight levitated another pillow, enchanting it. Without losing a second, Twilight flung the pillow at the princess, but the pillow hit the ground a little in front of the intended target. Celestia was flung into the air and onto her back, losing control of the stained pillow. The pillow flew upwards, and found its way onto a steeple of the castle that was nearest the central square. Celestia pulled herself off the ground, trying to get her hearing to go back to normal. Still disorientated from the explosion, Celestia looked for the pillow and then saw it high up on the castle. After levitating a pillow nearby to bring with her, she spread her aching wings and flapped them.
"Oh no you don't!" Twilight galloped forward as the princess slowly took to the sky. With a leap, Twilight managed to grab onto one of the princess' hooves. Twilight still had a pillow following her, levitating below her as they ascended into the sky. Celestia noticed the extra weight and shook her hoof. Twilight held on to the hoof with her mouth, refusing to let go. Slowly, the hoof guard that Celestia wore was slipping off. They were about halfway to the top of the castle when the hoof guard finally came loose. Twilight screamed as she fell backwards towards the ground. She looked around, but the only thing near her was her pillow. A pillow!
Twilight recalled another spell that she had learned a long time ago, and enchanted the pillow that was falling with her. Unlike the other enchantment, the pillow didn't gain explosive properties, but rather combustion and propulsion properties. Almost at the ground, Twilight brought the enchanted pillow and pressed it on her back, grabbing it with two hooves. As if by some magic trigger, one end of the pillow ignited and shot flames past Twilight's tail. The force exerted by this flame pushed Twilight back into the sky. The pillow provided speed, and within a few seconds Twilight was back near the princess. They were both about to reach the pillow.
The pillow on Twilight's back pushed her through the sky at top speed, and at the last moment she zipped past the princess and reached for the stained pillow. Using her hind hooves, she managed to trap the stained pillow in between them. She continued to fly through the air, stained pillow hanging beneath her between her hooves. Celestia roared in anger, but remembered she had a pillow with her, too.
Twilight went farther and farther away, but Celestia knew she had to be accurate. She squinted her eyes, waiting for Twilight to get just far away enough so that the pillow would hit her directly. When Twilight reached that distance, she was still over the castle. Celestia flung the pillow with all her magical might, and watched as it soared through the air. Twilight never saw it coming. The flung pillow hit Twilight, causing the rocket pillow on her back to come loose and lose it's flame. Twilight spun around in the air as she quickly descended toward the ground. The princess flew directly toward her, staring at the stained pillow. Twilight saw Celestia flying towards her, and using whatever energy she had left she tossed what used to be the rocket pillow at Celestia. The princess was too absorbed in watching the stained pillow to notice, and took the flung pillow to the side, right below her wing. She lost control of her wings, and wasn't able to balance herself in the air. Both the ponies went spiraling downwards towards the castle.
With a loud crash, Twilight landed in the dining hall, breaking the long table into two pieces. Plates flew off the table and cracked as they hit the ground. Celestia fell into the room next, landing on a cabinet containing the more elegant plates. The entire cabinet was crushed and all the plates instantly shattered as Celestia crashed onto the floor. Shards of glass littered the floor.
Three pillows lay around the room. The stained pillow and two others. One that had been on Twilight's back, and the other had been thrown by Celestia. The dining hall was a long room with doors on either side. Celestia had crashed near a door, while Twilight was near the middle of the room. Twilight struggled to stand up, her legs hurting from the impact. Celestia had a little more ease, being bigger and stronger than Twilight. Celestia slowly stood up, her legs trembling. She staggered towards the stained pillow.
Twilight refused to give up. She had come too far and lost to much. The pillow nearest her was lifted into the air, and with the last bits of Twilight's energy it was enchanted. Twilight's vision was blurry, and she couldn't think straight. All she could see was the outline of Celestia trotting slowly over to the stained pillow. Twilight could barely keep the pillow in the air, but managed to give a weak throw. The pillow missed Celestia completely, flying through a door behind her.
Feathers went everywhere as the explosion deafened both the ponies for a short while. A large blast of light came through the door and both of them were thrown onto the ground, and the door had been blown off its hinges. As they regained their hearing and tried to stand up, a small cracking noise was heard. Forgetting about the stained pillow, they both silently waited as the cracking noises became louder and louder. Suddenly, the loudest of the noises sounded, and without warning the room tilted sideways. The explosion had enough force to create a crack and break off an entire side of the castle, and now it was falling down the side of the mountain that Canterlot was built upon.
As the large structures that had once been the castle tumbled down the mountain, they broke and became crushed. Twilight and Celestia were thrown around the room like bouncy balls. Both Celestia and Twilight slammed into the walls of the dining hall as they fell down the mountainside.
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"Get up!"
The guard picked himself off of the ground, staring at his two colleagues. One of them extended a hoof and helped him up. They were all considerably bruised and scratched up after falling down the mountainside. The last thing they could remember was a pillow being thrown at them and a flash of light.
One of the guards rubbed his head, trying to reduce the pain he felt. He had landed awkwardly on his head after the fall. The other guards landed on their backs, and luckily they had armor to protect them when they made impact. Although the other guard had a helmet, it still hurt extremely bad, he was just grateful that he wasn't a unicorn.
"That Twilight is insane."
"You said it, she's crazier than... um... actually she just creates her own standard of craziness," responded one of the guards.
None of them were pegasi either, so they couldn't fly back up to Canterlot.
"Well, we better get moving if we want to get back to Canterlot," said one of the guards. They all nodded, and looked up towards the city.
"My kids are going to starve if I don't get back home quickly, they have no idea where I put the milk!"
"Well then we better get goi--"
The guard looked up.
"What the buck!?" A huge chunk of the castle came tumbling down the mountainside, and before any of the guards could react, it crushed them.
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When the castle hit the ground, Celestia and Twilight were flung abruptly to the floor, smashing into it at dangerous speeds. Both of them groaned as they tried to recover from the bumpy ride. Most of the castle was crushed, and the walls of the dining hall had been torn apart by the jagged rocks. Large holes speckled the walls of the dining hall. Twilight felt as though every part of her body was bruised and Celestia felt the same way, except her wings ached painfully. Neither of them could get up, all they could do was groan and hope the pain would subside. After a few moments, Celestia spoke.
"Twilight, maybe we should just stop this. Stop fighting over a pillow."
"But, then who gets it?"
"Nopony, we should just get rid of it."
Twilight thought about this for a moment. She didn't want to give the pillow up, but the pain she felt in her body forced her to concur. "Fine, let's get rid of it."
After a few minutes, Celestia and Twilight had both stood up and could trot again. Although they still ached with pain, they were able to move. The stained pillow lay a couple feet away, and was still in good shape considering what it had just gone through. Celestia trotted over to it and levitated it. Twilight could only watch as the princess spread her wings to rid the world of the pillow. She wasn't sure where the princess was going to take it, but it didn't matter.
Musical enhancement: I know, lots of music this time]
Celestia smiled, but she smiled to soon. As she flapped her wings and took off from the ground, Twilight was able to see her mouth form a smirk, and knew that she was being betrayed. She yelled for the princess to stop, and galloped toward her. Celestia was already in the air and ascending quickly, but Twilight galloped onto a broken piece of the dining table and leaped. She managed to grab the princess' unguarded hoof with her mouth. Celestia attempted to shake Twilight off, but she wasn't letting go. The pair flew up towards the half of the Canterlot castle that remained.
As they flew over one of the battlements that was still intact, Twilight let go of Celestia's hoof. She landed on the battlement, her weak legs barely keeping her from collapsing. Her horn lit up, and before Celestia could fly away the pillow was grasped by her telekinetic magic. Both ponies held the pillow in their magical grasp, and each pulled away with equal force. Celestia flapped her wings, trying to pull herself away from Twilight and take the pillow with her. Twilight stood her ground, her back to the city and her head turned slightly to pull the pillow in her direction. It seemed like a magical game of tug-of-war.
Both of the ponies were evenly matched, and they were both evenly tired. Neither of them could figure out where they were finding the strength to continue on with the fight, but they both stood strong. Neither of them wanted to give up, but they desperately wanted to get rid of all the pain and bruises. The pillow was absorbing all the magic that was being put toward it by the two experienced ponies. Massive amounts of magical energy was being transmitted from the ponies to the pillow, and slowly but surely, the stained pillow was becoming more and more powerful.
Without any energy left, Twilight closed her eyes. Her body was screaming at her to let go, but her mind would not allow it. She had come too far to give up now, and instead of lightening her pull she strengthened it. Celestia did the same, and slowly the pillow moved towards the princess. Thousands of years of experience in magic had made her the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria, and now was the time to showcase that.
"Twilight, you can never defeat me. What made you think that you could defeat the ruler of Equestria?" She pulled back harder, causing Twilight's hooves to scrape across the floor. Twilight's eyes were squeezed shut as she tried to battle the princess, but she couldn't find the energy.
"You may as well give up." The princess gave another tug, and Twilight inched closer, losing her magical grip on the pillow.
"If there is one thing I learned from friendship, it's to never give up!" Twilight gave a tug of her own, but Celestia was too powerful. The princess didn't budge. The only thought in Celestia's mind was, Well that's cliche.
Twilight could feel the energy slowly sapping from her body. There wasn't much magic left in her. Her mind was screaming at her. I just want to go to sleep! Twilight pushed her hooves against the ground, pushing herself back. She could feel herself gaining ground, pulling the pillow back towards her. The princess snorted and her horn lit up even more. The power of the sun was pulsing through her, but the fight beforehand had tired her out.
Twilight remembered all the friends that she had lost. "This is it Celestia! The pillow is mine!"
With a final push, Twilight's horn reached its maximum luminosity, and the pillow came closer. Celestia wouldn't have it, and she knew that she had enough magical power left to finish the battle.
"Have it your way Twilight." The princess stopped flying and landed on the battlement. Both of the horns of the ponies were giving off massive amounts of light. The pillow was also glowing much more than it should have, absorbing that massive amounts of magic being thrown at it. Celestia knew it was time to end it. She smiled as she prepared to give her final pull.
"Celestia!"
The familiar voice caused Celestia to lose focus, and the light surrounding her horn went out abruptly. The release of so much force at once caused Twilight to fall over, the pillow flying overhead. The light around her horn went out, too, and the pillow went flying backwards towards the city. It still contained all the magical energy that had been put into it.
The pillow flew through the air, going farther and farther while Twilight and Celestia were forced to watch. Everything seemed to move slowly. The stained pillow that they had fought over and almost died for was flying out of reach. Silence consumed the city for the moments that the pillow was in the air.
Within a few seconds, the pillow was descending. Neither Celestia nor Twilight could do anything to stop it as it made impact with the ground.
All the magical energy that the pillow had absorbed was released, creating an enourmous explosion that emanated from the outskirts of the city. At first, there was only a blinding light, but then the deafening boom and explosion swept over the area. Both Twilight and Celestia were thrown back by the force of the explosion, but they couldn't see anything as their eyes were tightly shut. After the deafening boom, all they could hear was the sound of buildings crumbling.
The massive explosion carried enough force to cause every building nearby to crumble to the ground. Luckily, the castle was far away enough to stay intact, but the other buildings didn't experience the same luck. Ponies screamed as the walls came tumbling down, and soon the buildings lay in a pile of debris. The unlucky ponies that resided in the buildings were crushed beneath the falling stones and wood. Luckily, none of the ponies died, they were only knocked unconscious by the falling rubble.
Twilight and Celestia's manes flew back as the explosion reached its peak and ended. Dust from the crumbled buildings covered the air, and as it settled the two ponies looked out upon what had once been Canterlot. Now it was just a large collection of ruins. The stained pillow was now just thousands of feathers floating through the air.
Twilight felt a tear roll off her cheek. All the work, all the pain, all the loss, and there was nothing to show for it. Even after she had fought her princess, the leader of Equestria, and her mentor, it had come to this. Twilight closed her eyes, the pain she felt in her body was no more. All she felt was the pain of knowing that she would never have the pillow again. Now the pillow was gone forever.
Celestia turned toward the voice that had made her lose her concentration. It was Princess Luna.
"Celestia! What are you doing?" Luna landed on the battlement. She was wearing saddlebags. Celestia looked at her sister, trying to hold in her anger.
"I was trying to get my pillow back." She snorted at her sister, who took a step back.
"Oh, yes, that is why we came to see you." Luna put on a smile to try and calm her sister, but it was no use, Celestia stared directly in her eyes, waiting. Luna bowed her head and explained.
"You see..."
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One day ago...
Luna had just finished her royal duties, and the night sky was bright with the full moon. She decided that it was time to sleep, and made her way to her bedroom. Her bedroom was located in a separate castle, as far away from Celestia's as possible in order to give each sister their own space.
After a hard day at work, Luna removed her hoof guards and her crown and slipped into the soft bed. She let out a sigh of relief as she rested her head back, but only felt the mattress. She sat upright, looking at where her head had just been. There was no pillow. I must have lost it, she thought.
Luna checked around the bedroom, but her tired limbs couldn't bring her to search for very long. Soon after beginning the search, she gave up and flew to Celestia's bedroom, her black body hidden in the night. She entered Celestia's bedroom using a spell to unlock the window. It was a spell that only Celestia and herself knew, in case of emergencies.
Quietly flying into the empty bedroom, Luna spotted a pillow on Celestia's bed. Without thinking, she took the pillow from the bed and brought it back to her bedroom. She assumed that Celestia had plenty of other pillows to sleep on, but being on the moon for a thousand years had put her out of the loop.
The pillow was one of two that were ever made. Both of them had belonged to Celestia until she gave one to Twilight. Celestia was reluctant to give the pillow away at first, but eventually gave it away anyway.
That night, Luna slept on Celestia's pillow, soaking in all the softness and fluffiness it contained. Later that night, Celestia had finally completed her duties and went to sleep, but found that her pillow was missing. After searching for it all around her room, she gave up. It was apparent she had lost it, and she didn't have the energy to search all around Equestria for the pillow.
Luna's door burst open, and Celestia stood behind it. She called out to her sister.
"Luna, have you seen my pillow?"
Luna's eyes snapped open, and she rose her head to look at Celestia.
"No."
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Celestia stared in disbelief as her sister related the tale.
"I stole Twilight's pillow because you didn't tell me that you took mine?" Her brow formed a 'V' as she took short steps towards her sister. Celestia had only stolen Twilight's pillow because she couldn't find her own that night. Upon sleeping on it, she remembered how much she loved the stained pillow.
Luna cowered in fear as her sister approached her.
"Yes, but that is why we are here. I have brought you your pillow." She reached into one of the saddlebags and pulled out a perfectly white pillow. This pillow was the second copy of the stained pillow, and was virtually the same. All it was missing was the stain. Luna held it out for her sister to take.
Twilight and Celestia looked at each other, and then at the pillow.
Without hesitation, both of them were galloping toward Luna.