Chapter 6: Sweetie Pie
It was a while until anypony even moved. Celestia was afraid to move, simply due to the fact that Luna had a menacing glow around her horn. She recognised the spell, and preferred not to be ensnared by it. To the left of Luna, Twilight had eyes so wide, Celestia was afraid that they might just pop right out of their sockets. Still, she couldn’t imagine what was going through their minds, but she figured that with their expressions, they would be just as confused and shocked as she was.
Luna was the first to break the silence.
“Twilight?”
“Huh-bwah? What?”
“I wilt giveth thee the opportunity to kick me, just this once.” Luna looked really serious about it.
“I think I need that as much as you do, Princess, because I appear to be having a hallucination—” Twilight absently rubbed her eyes “—and it’s not going away.”
Luna shook her head. “Thee art right, the visions will not pass. They appear to be shared.”
Twilight sidled closer to Luna. “Then is it real?”
They lapsed into silence at that.
“Surely not,” Luna continued. “She just stands there.”
Celestia found her voice. “I’m waiting for you to cancel the spell, Luna,” she murmured cautiously.
The glow around Luna’s horn flickered and died out.
“She spoke!” Luna gasped.
“I know!” Twilight exclaimed.
“I am, as they may say, ‘freaking out’.”
“Uhhh…” Twilight looked liked she didn’t know how to respond to that. There was an audible swallow. “You’re not Princess Celestia by any chance, are you?”
Celestia frowned. “Yes,” she answered back. “Who else would I be?”
Twilight shared a look with Luna.
“She says it’s her!” Twilight whispered urgently.
“That is impossible!” Luna shot back.
“You just saw it!”
They both turned back and stared at Celestia. At this point, Celestia was more confused than perturbed. Their behaviour was completely out of character, and more than a little off-putting. Her hooves shifted uneasily.
Twilight glanced at her hooves and smiled reassuringly.
“Will you excuse us for a moment, Princess?” she said smoothly.
“Of course, Princess Twilight,” Celestia replied. Twilight slowly backed away, with Luna reluctantly following her. A few steps towards the door and Twilight froze. She cocked her head.
“Princess?” she asked, brow wrinkling in confusion.
It was then that Celestia noticed that Twilight did not have any wings.
—————
A gentle knock had to be repeated for the third time, before Twilight mustered the concentration to put together a coherent mumble. It was only a couple of days after Celestia had disappeared, but Twilight was already exhausted from the seemingly endless demands the position of royalty requested of her.
“C-Come in,” she slurred. She didn’t know if it would carry to the door, but she hoped it would. Twilight’s bleary eyes found their target as Luna entered her chamber. The room was a temporary assignment for the duration of the week, and though was grateful for the lush bedding, satiny sheeting and the fluffed pillows, Twilight couldn’t get comfortable.
“Princess Luna,” she greeted wearily. “I’m up, I’m up.” She glanced at the window, but blinked in confusion at the first rays of dawn filtering through. Though it was her duty to raise the sun, she had completely missed the time to raise the sun!
“I hath taken care of it, dear Twilight,” Luna said gently, drawing Twilight’s eyes away from the windows. Twilight sagged with relief at the news, but stiffened as Luna continued. “I have other matters to discuss with thee.”
Twilight shook her head of the fuzziness that was creeping back. “What is it, Princess? Is there anything I can help with?”
“It is about Celestia, there hath been troubling reports.”
Twilight was now wide awake.
“Is there news of her whereabouts?” Twilight asked.
“That is the thing,” Luna remarked. “We hath little in way of a clue other than a mysterious store named ‘Benny Bakery’.”
“What does the store have to do with the report?”
Luna withdrew a scroll and passed it to Twilight to read. She continued regardless.
“According to nearby witnesses, my sister had been sighted going in… but not coming out.”
Twilight scanned the page one more time to make sure she didn’t miss anything.
“Strange, do you think that the owner of the shop is to blame for her disappearance?”
Luna shook her head. “No, at least, there hath been little evidence so far to sayest so. What we hath uncovered is this: The shop doesn’t appear to be registered with Town Hall, but there doesn’t seem to be any conflict with the planning documents.”
“Are you saying there’s magic involved?”
“It is quite plausible, I’ve yet to accede to another explanation for it.”
“Hmm. Stranger and stranger. Well, how about we get into contact with the store owner?”
“The store no longer exists.”
Twilight gaped at Luna.
“What?! How is that possible?”
Luna curled her lip in distaste. “Precisely,” she intoned, her voice was scored with the sharp edges of frustration. “The shop simply ceases to exist. We have looked around, but there is nothing but the regular shops in the area.” Luna bit her lip. “I can’t help but feel we have failed her somehow.”
Twilight drew a wing around Luna. “Don’t worry,” she murmured, just loud enough to carry between them. “We’ll find the Princess. Even if it takes days.”
Luna nodded and straightened up.
“Yes, well, forgive my momentary weakness.” Her lip stiffened with resolve. “We’ll just have to trust my sister that she will return. She won’t fail us.” With that, Luna turned abruptly and headed for the door.
“Thank you, Twilight,” she called back. “I am sorry for disrupting your sleep.”
“No problem, Princess,” she said warmly in reply. She kept her façade all the way until Luna closed the door. Then a worried frown broke out across her features.
I hope it’ll be days. I don’t know if we could take it if it were years.
—————
Celestia had watched a confused Twilight leave, leaving Celestia alone with her thoughts. The whole situation was beyond bizarre. Twilight was a unicorn! But she had already ascended! What was happening here?!
Celestia’s eyes darted around the room, but all she could see were the empty expressions of the sculpted crystal ponies around her. As the silence dragged on, she felt a measure of disquiet as the crystal structures seemed to stare at her. She knew it was impossible, but when she moved her vision, she could almost swear they moved slightly with her. Celestia wasn’t a mare that spooked easily, but they certainly made her a little uneasy.
When Twilight and Luna returned, Celestia had had enough time to compose her expression. She kept her facial features strictly impartial, but admittedly was a little relieved not to be left alone among all the strange artefacts scattered in the throne room. Celestia looked up expectantly as Twilight spoke.
“Princess, would you mind coming a bit closer? There’s something you need to see.”
Celestia stepped forward, sensing a strained undercurrent to Twilight’s tone, but not knowing what to make of it. At first hesitant, she decided that she could trust Twilight, no matter what the circumstances were between them. Her sister looked on with apprehensive eyes.
Even when she says nothing, I can tell when she is lying, Celestia mused.
It still came as a surprise when Twilight and Luna charged their horns and suddenly launched a spell, hitting Celestia broadside.
“I’m sorry, Princess!”
A brilliant flash filled Celestia’s vision with pure, all-encompassing white.
Then, she felt nothing.