//------------------------------// // A Mother Should Be // Story: Music is Magic // by Twilight Nightmare //------------------------------// “Can’t it wait until morning? We’re exhausted.” Sunset Shimmer yawned in their suite, a little worried that the huge arcane symbols on the floor wouldn’t clean up. Trixie had assured her that it would and Velvet had assured them that if for some reason it doesn’t, it would be taken care of. It looked more like something that would be up Twilight’s alley, not Trixie’s as Trixie’s specialty was in illusions. “It’s best to do it while your minds are tired so they won’t fight back as much.” Trixie sighed, also kind of wanting to wait, but as Velvet and her moved the furniture out of the way and worked on the symbols, they came to the conclusion it would work better this way. Velvet had of course been a little worried, and still was, but relented that it was safe enough as this magic was Trixie’s specialty even if the rune part was a little out of her comfort zone. “Why would our minds need to be so tired that they won’t fight back?” Twilight asked, her eyes folding back a little in worry. Magic that dealt with the mind was something she really didn’t like a lot. Especially after the wedding incident which made her think about her brother and Cadence. Apparently they haven’t been married yet as Cadence was holding out of finding Twilight, but had a wedding planned for a couple months time which was one of the stops on their tour. “To empower the Celestial Gems you wouldn’t really have to deal with the mind, but they also wouldn’t do what you want. Celestial Soul Gems are another matter.” Trixie explained, rubbing her hoof on her cloak’s clasp, a gem set in the center. She took the gem off and handed it to Velvet. “But we’d never find one of those, I thought we were using the Celestial Gems.” Twilight sighed. “Like the regular gems, a very small sliver combined with another gem, in this case your Celestial Gems, would be enough. Actually even better as the Celestial Gems would amplify the Soul Gem’s power.” Trixie explained, “However the thing is…you both have to donate a drop of blood and a small piece of your soul.” “No way! There’s no way I’m doing that!” Twilight gasped out, starting to hyperventilate. “Twilight, I trust Trixie if she says it’s safe. Though I do want to know about donating a piece of or souls. Won’t that damage our souls?” Sunset asked, a little worried but having faith in her friend. They were once like sisters and that bond was still there, even if a little weakened. “What about Vinyl?” Twilight asked, hoping for a diversion as she wasn’t too sure about doing this. “She doesn’t need a gem as she doesn’t use illusion and it works better with just two anyways.” Trixie said, not telling them about the real reason why it works better with just two. Velvet had told her not to worry about that detail in a way that made Trixie wonder. “Taking a piece of your soul is no different than if you two had a foal together, well if one of you were a stallion anyways. Parents give a small portion of their soul to their child where the soul would grow into a full soul during pregnancy. The parents’ souls also heal very quickly so there is no danger to it and it takes nothing away from the parents.” “What about reincarnation?” Sunset asked, actually curious and not questioning Trixie’s explanation of what was going to happen. “As far as I know, reincarnation doesn’t happen as often as some believe. Sure it does happen, but only under special circumstances. Otherwise a soul goes to its eternal paradise or damnation depending on what they did during life.” Trixie explained, “There’s no need to worry, I promise, you both will be fine.” “That explains about the soul, but what about the mind?” Twilight asked nervously, unsure if this was a good idea. She found herself looking to Sunset for any indication on what she wanted to do. “The mind has to sync with the two gems as both of your mindscapes will merge during this. I’ll be there as well with Velvet to make sure that I’m not doing anything bad. I’ve already showed her how to cancel the spell if she believes either of you are in danger.” Trixie sighed, “You will be fully open to each other, so it is best that you tell each other anything that you are hiding before we start if there is anything you feel would hurt the other before this starts.” “Wait, I thought you said it was best not to have too many ponies here for this.” Twilight said, swallowing nervously as she tried to come up with some valid reason to back out now. She would usually be excited seeing new magic, but she didn’t really like soul or blood magic which is what this was sounding like. “We shouldn’t have too many here, but Velvet insists on making sure that you both are watched after which Trixie doesn’t blame her. After all she is your mother Twilight.” Trixie said, wishing that she had a mother as caring as that. “We should get started if we plan on getting any sleep tonight.” Velvet said as she moved to stand next to Trixie in the center of the runes, pointing to the two spots on either side of them that had a small bowl at each spot with the Celestial gems in them. Trixie looked a little sad at the gem from her cloak’s clasp before breaking two small chips off the back before replacing it and floated one of the chips to each bowl. “Trixie! Your mother left that to you!” Sunset gasped out. “It’s ok, you can’t tell that it’s damaged like this.” Trixie sighed, though she really wished that she had another choice. She wanted to help Sunset though and after what Twilight had done for her, felt as if she owed the pony. “Each of you need to use your magic to make a small cut on your leg and let at least one drop of blood drip into the bowl. A few drops would be better though, it’s up to you how much you want to spare.” Twilight watched Sunset do it without question so stilled her nerves and did the same. Letting several drops of blood drip into the bowl and watched in awe as the runes in the bowl flared and the two gems turn into a gel like substance and merged. It was kind of weird seeing such a thing, but the colors it kept creating in the merging substance was beautiful. “Now get comfortable as your bodies will be in a trance like state while we travel to the Astral Plane and into your mind and soulscapes. Remember that nothing can hurt you there, but it is best that you don’t mess around and let me handle threading the magic and souls into the gems. When we are finished we will meet the artificial intelligence that will manage your illusions for you. As long as you two are within a mile of each other you will be able to talk back and forth through your gems and the closer you are the more powerful your illusions will be. When you are very close they can even take on a physical shape.” Trixie explained, making sure to tell them as much as she could remember before they started as interruptions could be bad which meant surprises could be bad. After all three ponies settled down in their circles, Trixie followed suit getting comfortable next to Velvet. She wouldn’t admit it, but it was nice to be close to someone she would have given anything to have had as a mother. “Okay, here we go.” Twilight found herself in a cloudy place, that had no actual sky yet no ceiling like a cave or room. There was mists everywhere she looked and she couldn’t find any pony anywhere. She wasn’t sure where she was, but she had a feeling that she should know. As she walked through the mists she saw small bubbles floating by with images playing in them that drew her attention. Picking one up in her hooves she saw herself snuggled with a fiery pony that after a few moments she remembered was Sunset Shimmer. “I’m in our shared mindscape!” Twilight gasped out, remembering what was happening. She couldn’t see any of the others anywhere close by as she picked up another bubble. “Twilight, stop!” A frantic voice called out drawing Twilight’s attention to look up to see Sunset rushing toward her. Unsure of why she seemed so scared, Twilight looked back down in the bubble to see… “Wh-what?” Twilight swallowed in shock, seeing an image of Sunset and her making love. She couldn’t help feeling her cheeks heat up in a blush as she stared wide eyed at the images that she knew wasn’t in from her mind, though she knew she did have several dreams a little similar. “I’m sorry, Twilight.” Sunset sighed, hanging her head as her ears folded back. “I didn’t want you to see that. I was hoping I could keep you from seeing that.” “Are these dreams?” Twilight asked, feeling a little strange. She should be a little put off by it yet she couldn’t stop thinking about what she just saw. In all honesty she really wouldn’t be against having a relationship with Sunset, but she had no idea how to go about it. And she knew she wasn’t ready for doing what that bubble had in it. “F-fantasies.” Sunset gulped out, finding it impossible to lie. “I can’t keep myself from thinking about you. I like you, a lot. I think I might even love you.” “Sunset, I don’t know what to say or do.” Twilight sighed, unsure of what she should do or what she was expected to do in this situation. “I’m sorry Twilight. I know I’m a sorry excuse of a mare.” Sunset whimpered as Twilight moved forward and tipped Sunset’s head to look up at Twilight. “You aren’t a sorry excuse of a mare, if any pony is, it’s me. I like you Sunset, I’m more than willing to explore a relationship with you. I’m just not ready for doing that and I have no idea what to do. I’ve never even dated before.” Twilight said, nuzzling Sunset. “We can learn together.” Sunset said with a soft smile. “I was wondering when you two would finally admit that you liked each other.” Velvet said walking out of the mists with a huge grin on her face. “See, I told you that you wouldn’t have to worry about the gems bonding them together.” “Bonding us?” Twilight squeaked in panic. “A small bond, it wouldn’t hurt either of you and if you decided to go different paths someday it wouldn’t effect either of you. If you have feelings though, it will help the bond and increase the effectiveness of the spell matrices.” Trixie explained, “Trixie is going to get started now.” “Go ahead dear.” Velvet said with a soft smile to the mare, studying Trixie closely as she watched the blue unicorn go about her work. The mist slowly cleared away forming a clearing where Sunset and Twilight vanished from their position to reappear in the middle of the clearing facing each other with a glowing gem floating before each with a couple yards between the two. Trixie trotted to the middle, closing her eyes as she concentrated, magic flowing from her horn and into the gem which also flowed through it to it’s unicorn. Trixie concentrated as the gems started glowing brighter and brighter before Trixie took a few steps back as a beam shot from both of the gems and met in the middle of the clearing. Slowly the light where the two beams met started changing and growing, taking shape of a pony just a little smaller than Twilight and Sunset themselves. Finally the shape finished growing and the lights died down leaving behind a mare seemingly a little younger than Twilight and Sunset themselves. It was a light purple mare with pastel rainbow colored mane and glowing purple eyes. There were no irises or anything, just a glowing purple that seemed to be pure magic. “Hello Synergy.” Trixie gasped out, sounding as if she had run a marathon. “Good morning.” The younger pony smiled a little, moving her mouth a little as if testing it. “Are you properly formed?” Trixie asked, “Can you access your magic and memories? Can you see the forms that Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer like to keep? Will you be able to maintain them?” “Of course I can maintain both of my moms’ illusions for them.” The young mare smiled brightly as her eyes stopped glowing to show normal purple eyes making Trixie look worried. “Moms?” Trixie asked as the young mare looked up at them with loving eyes. “They are my moms aren’t they?” Synergy asked, cocking her head to the side. “Hey, does that mean that you are my dad? How can you be my dad though when you’re a girl to?” “Umm, Trixie, I thought you said she would be an artificial intelligence.” Twilight whispered when she slowly made her way to Trixie’s side as Synergy hoped up to Velvet looking up in her shocked eyes. “Are you my grams?” Synergy asked Velvet excitedly, the older mare smiling nervously. “Of course I am, dear.” Velvet said as she reached out to nuzzle Synergy, shocked to find her solid. “Congratulations, your both mothers.” Trixie chuckled weakly, unsure of what went wrong. Only things he could figure out was that the two already had a bond and the extra power the Celestial Gems had actually created something more than an artificial intelligence that would act as an interface to the enchantments on the gems. Did that mean that this Synergy was alive? Twilight, Velvet and Sunset had all gathered in the kitchen of the suite while Trixie slept on one of the beds while Synergy sat on the balcony looking out at the night sky. They found that the illusion was scared to stay in the gemspace and begged to be allowed to stay out when they left the astral plane. Unsure of what to do they let her do so and were surprised to find that she didn’t have to stay in a direct line of sight to the gems. In fact she could move about freely and was just as physical as she was inside of the spell. Of course they knew if she went too far the magic would weaken and she would be nothing more than a regular illusion. Sunset sighed, rubbing the black band around her neck that held a gem in the shape of Twilight’s cutie mark. Twilight had a silver band with her gem matching Sunset’s which Trixie informed the two they would have to wear the other’s gem for full effect of the enchantments as they worked off the bond they shared. “I think you girls should treat her like any other pony.” Velvet said, “Even if you can’t see her as your daughter, she is alive and deserves to be treated as such.” “Your right mo…” Twilight started to ay finally, but was cut off when they heard the voice coming from the other room. “A mother should be a good mare, a mother should be wise! A mother should be wise and strong, with laughter in her eyes!” The voice sang, the three walking out into the room to see the balcony door open as Synergy sang her heart out. “A mother should be behind you, a mother should be there! A mother should be someone, who always treats you fair!” Synergy sang, tears forming in her eyes. She stopped when Sunset and Twilight walked out, sitting on either side of her. “We will be there for you if you let us.” Twilight said, nuzzling Synergy from her side. “We are your mothers after all.” Sunset said smiling to the other two as velvet watched on with a smile on her face before turning back to look at Trixie with a sad look.