//------------------------------// // 10 - Sweet Talking // Story: Takes The Cake // by sunnypack //------------------------------// Chapter 10: Sweet Talking Some locations in the multiverse are very accommodating. Some are famously treacherous. Some are little known havens for the relaxing traveller. In one recess of the twists and turns of time and space, a small island houses a curious being. The island was somewhat of a misnomer, the floating piece of rock neither surrounded by water nor even air. Yet, on this frigid little rock, is life. Life being a loose definition in this paradoxical reality. Discord sat on his chair carved from the rock candy of Mente Mentos, which he found oddly comforting to his back that ached of late. You see, he had found that a twinge would develop when something was off about a certain reality he was fond of. Absently, he shifted on his luxurious trappings, trying to squash the persistent pricking pain with cotton candy ear muffs wedged in his floppy ears. For a moment, it seemed to be successful. He settled in again, a pleasant smile returning to his features… “Ow!” The draconequus bolted upright, his face a picture of bloody retribution. “What the—” Discord frowned, his eyes searching the air in front of him as if the mysterious assailant would reveal itself. Of course that would be impossible, the pain being metaphysical and all. A sudden thought struck him. “Somepony messed up,” he growled. His claw clicked impatiently on his seating. He considered ignoring the warning and going back to sleep, but a niggling thought at the back of his mind prompted him of a particular kind pegasus inhabiting his favourite dimension. “Oh blast it,” he mumbled. “This friendship thing is a pain in my backside.” With an irritated snap, Discord exited his pocket dimension, a peaceful isle in the rift for which only draconequuses could enter and exit. Barring mail, of course. —————— Luna was beside herself with excitement, Celestia noted. “Sister, that was wonderful!” she exclaimed, practically dancing around the hallway. “That hoofwork! Those spells! A wonderful match!” Celestia blushed. “Oh, I don’t believe it was that great. Very flashy, but nothing you couldn’t do.” Luna blinked at that. “I do that? Certainly not!” The she laughed. “Perhaps the flying and the dodging, but that spell. I thought I was a better mage than you are, but evidently you have been studying in your absence.” Celestia opened her mouth, but shut it slowly. If she brought up the point that she had learned all her spells in her own universe, Luna would probably just deny it. Her sister was stubborn like that. Wait, no, this Luna, not her sister... Probably. Twilight eventually caught up, while Celestia was politely checked out by medical personnel. Celestia waited patiently for her former—current student to make her way through the crowds and down the Arena steps. The alicorn was suddenly struck by the convenience she had relied on for those around her to utilise wings or magic or get around faster. Perhaps they were modern conveniences in her own world? She snorted, alicorn conveniences, certainly. Luna greeted Twilight as she made her way to the pair. Celestia had previously convinced her sister to move off the platform. The attention she had garnered from the crowd made her feel a little too naked as centre of the proverbial and literal stage. It was a novel feeling, but one she thought she would feel more comfortable with the longer she was exposed to it. Vaguely, intuition told her that it was not a good thing. It was already an addictive feeling. “Princess!” Twilight called out when she was within earshot. If Luna’s enthusiasm was a candle, Twilight’s was the sun. “Princess that was absolutely amazing! I can’t believe you were able to pull so much off. At first, I admit, I was a little worried, but then your mastery of spells! You always held a little back, but this time, wow! It definitely shows—oh my am I babbling? Sorry Princess, I can’t stop gushing. You’re just—you!” Though she had heard those words many times from Twilight as a foal, the praise still felt as genuine as it did back then. The similarities were striking. No matter how much she knew that this Twilight was not her Twilight, the little tics, the intense personality, the things that made Twilight, Twilight, and Luna, Luna still made her double take. She wondered if there were defining differences. She wondered that if there were, if that would make a difference to how she would treat them. She wondered if that should matter at all. Celestia smiled at Twilight. “I’m glad you enjoyed it,” she replied. “I don’t enjoy fighting, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a few tricks in my saddlebag.” “Tricks indeed! You mentioned Sunrise, but I’ve never seen the like of it!” Luna exclaimed. “You must teach me it!” Celestia shivered imperceptibly. With a force of will, she clamped down on the dark thoughts that rose from the recesses of her memories like shadowy spectres from the grave. This world’s Luna definitely did not know the reason why such a spell was created in the first place. “Perhaps another time,” Celestia replied. “It is quite a complex spell.” Twilight glanced between them, suddenly unsure of where she should place her hoof already midway on its path to the ground. The mood had suddenly swung from happy to glum in a hooful of seconds. “Princess,” she said quickly. “That teleportation spell, how did you have such control over it? Nopony has ever been able to master it beyond…” She coughed. “Dematerialising.” Celestia blinked. “Well, it’s one of Star Swirl’s first spells. Surely you know.” Twilight frowned. “I’m not too familiar with that name. Who is Star Swirl?” Twilight not knowing Star Swirl? Not for the first time since stepping into this world, Celestia found herself at a loss for words. Star Swirl’s works were one of the first things she had introduced to Twilight. That mare glued herself to the pre-classical unicorn. No doubt Star Swirl had as much bearing on her identity as her mother. “Star Swirl,” Celestia said slowly. “Father of the Amniomorphic spell, unicorn with a fashion sense that could knock a bird off her perch?” Specifically, Philomena. Twilight and Luna both shook their heads. “You haven’t happen to have found a small labyrinth in the catacombs beneath the castle, have you?” “There’s a catacomb beneath the castle?!” Twilight spluttered. “There’s a labyrinth beneath the castle?!” Luna added. Celestia bit her lip. “Well yes, there should be.” She left out that there was one back in her world, but if they haven’t heard of Star Swirl yet, then it could be possible that the unicorn would have never existed. Even Luna didn’t know, and she knew the unicorn almost as long as she had. Twilight whipped around. “Hey, Princess! Where are you going?!” Luna grinned. “Why to investigate the mysterious catacombs beneath Canterlot! There may be adventure, nay, treasure to be found!” Celestia trailed along, a bemused smile infusing her lips. “I may have to come along,” she remarked. Then in a low voice so that only Twilight could hear. “There could be traps, but don’t worry, stay close to me.” Twilight looked confused, but nodded anyway. —————— The tapping sound was getting to Luna. “Twilight.” The tapping sound continued. It seems like the unicorn didn’t hear her. “Twilight!” The tapping stopped. Twilight looked up from the taxation reports. “Hmm?” “Your hoof is tapping again.” Twilight glanced down at her hoof blankly before the words sunk in. “Oh sorry!” she said, her cheeks flushing. “I can’t help it, it’s a nervous habit, especially when I’m worried about somepony.” Luna’s irate frown melted away, she replaced it with a concerned look. “Twilight, perhaps you hath been working too hard. Mayhap you require a break?” “No!” she yelled. Luna stared at Twilight as grew mortified at her outburst. “No,” she repeated softly, tears welling up. “I-I need to work. It takes my mind off things…” “It’s only been a month, she’s been away for longer trysts,” Luna reminded her. Twilight bit her lip and looked away. It didn’t take a mind reader to know what she was thinking. “Despite what you think, there could be any number of reasons that she hasn’t sent us mail,” Luna continued softly. “However…” Twilight found that she had read the same line for the fifth time. It wasn’t sinking in. “Princess Luna—” she stopped herself. Luna grimly noted that Twilight hadn’t yet called her simply Princess. She supposed her sister was the only one that had ever gotten ponies to address her as simply ‘the Princess’ or ‘Princess’. When she was around, she was always the Princess. Luna pushed the ugly thought aside. It occurred to her that she was probably just bitter that her sister hadn’t even bothered to say goodbye, and now she could be— She shook her head. No, it had only been a month. Besides, grieving could come later. She glanced at the mountain of paperwork that her sister routinely foisted upon her. Now they and royal duties were part of her schedule. How had Twilight managed to keep up with all of this a few years ago? “Twilight, have a little faith. One way or another, Celestia will find her way back to us.” Twilight swallowed audibly, but nodded. “I hope so, Princess.” Luna glanced up at Twilight in surprise, but the unicorn was already looking at another form. ————— “Princesses!” Twilight almost reared up in surprise. The guard had burst in when she had paused for a break. She had wandered over the window and now froze guiltily with the window half-open. Luna fared better, merely glancing up from her scrolls. “Yes?” Luna asked calmly. “We’ve found a lead,” he said after a slight hesitation. Luna immediately dropped her scrolls and Twilight snapped her head around. “Well, why didn’t you say so, come on, out with it!” Luna demanded. The guard shifted on his hooves uneasily. “We’ve found a Celestia.” “You mean you’ve found Celestia,” Twilight corrected. The guard met Twilight’s confused look with guileless eyes. “No, I meant, we’ve found a Celestia.” “What, you mean there’s more than one?” Twilight said. “How many Celestias have you found?” Luna remarked in exasperation. The stallion quickly shook his head. “No, no, we’ve found one Celestia.” “Then what—” Twilight began. “We’ve found Princess Celestia, but she’s claiming she’s not Celestia from this world.” “How do you know?” Luna pressed. “Well Discord seems to be there with her, and he’s vouching for her claim.” “Discord! I should have known!” Twilight muttered. The guard interjected quickly. “Much as I’m not a fan of his work, Discord assured me that he’s got nothing to do with this. He said, and I quote, ‘I swear on my little friendship that I have nothing to do with this’.” Twilight glanced at Luna. “Either way,” Luna said. “We have to investigate this.” “Another Celestia?” Twilight snorted. “As if that would be possible.”