Celestia watched as Spirit Blaze tore into her roasted chicken. Thankfully, griffins knew how to cook meat, because Celestia’s cooks sure didn’t. She’d insisted they make her chicken tonight but, as her chefs didn’t know how, a local griffin cook from town was quickly sent in to make chicken for Spirit.
Spirit tore into her chicken, hungrily, without a second thought. She ignored the utensils at her side and instead ate like a wild animal. She seemed to really enjoy the chicken, which pleased Celestia. What worried her, however, was how fast she gobbled it down. She was currently on her third plate, after devouring two other whole roasted chickens—minus the bones, thankfully. Celestia wondered if Twilight ever fed her, but she didn’t look underfed.
“Spirit?” Celestia called out. She looked up from her plate and shrank back into her seat as she looked at the mess she had made on the table, then looked at how delicately Celestia was eating her salad.
“Sorry for the mess, Auntie Celestia,” Spirit said, as she grabbed a fork in one hoof and a napkin in the other.
“Never mind that,” Celestia said, cleaning the mess from the table instantly, with a simple cleaning spell. Spirit looked at Celestia in awe.
“Wow!” She exclaimed.
“Does Twilight ever feed you?” Celestia chuckled, partially making a joke.
“Yeah. When she remembers.”
Celestia immediately stopped laughing and looked at Spirit sternly. Spirit shrank even more under her gaze. “What do you mean by that?” Celestia asked carefully.
“Well, Spike mostly gives me dinner. Mom’s always working on something and she mutters to herself about stuff. She never eats dinner, so it’s just Spike and me. When Spike’s not there, she tries to remember, but sometimes I have to eat cold soup by myself.” Spirit replied and glanced hungrily at the chicken. “And it’s never enough. Spike always makes small meals and it takes a lot to fill me up. And he doesn’t make chicken.”
“Then how do you know that chicken is your favorite?” Celestia asked.
“Mom went into one of her… moods again. She was muttering weird things and talking in a low voice. She made me chicken that day and she even ate it with me.” Spirit said and stared at her hooves. “Except I thought that ponies can’t eat meat.”
They can’t, Celestia thought. But Twilight did. How though?
“So thank you for making chicken, Auntie Celestia!” Spirit smiled.
“What do you mean by one of Twilight’s moods? How long have they been happening?” Celestia asked curiously. Spirit handed her plate to the nearest guard who took it away immediately when Celestia waved at him to do so. The same guard brought her another plate of chicken and Spirit attacked it with the same ferocity that she used on the first chicken she ate. She paused, swallowed and looked at Celestia.
“Since… forever. Well, she… she gets kind of… weird,” Spirit said, wiping her mouth on her leg. Celestia levitated a napkin down in front of her which she stared at for a few seconds before looking back up at her. She wiped it on her leg and cleared her throat.
“I mean, Mom is mostly nervous, and she runs around working on magic and stuff, and she ignores me. But when she goes into one of her moods, she focuses all of her attention on me. Sometimes she talks to herself, but she mostly just cooks for me and talks to me about life. She goes into her moods almost three times a week,” Spirit paused and frowned. “She then asks me if she did anything when she blacked out and I always tell her no, even though I’m lying…”
“How does she act when she’s in these moods?” Celestia asked. Spirit jumped out of her chair and onto the table.
“Kind of like this,” Spirit said, her eyes glowing a bright yellow before dying down. She began to speak in a voice similar to Twilight’s. “How’s school, Spirit? Are you getting enough to eat? You look so scrawny. You know, back in my day, we used to eat whole chickens and we liked it. What do you eat? Nothing? Cause it sure looks like you’ve been living off beans and rice like some sort of… ah… pony. AHAHAHAHA! A pony!” Spirit blinked before staring directly at Celestia. She crouched down as her tails stood straight up. She growled. “Dang ponies! Oh… um… Spirit, I didn’t see you there. Never mind me, just an old mare talking about junk. I’ll make beef ribs tonight. I know where to get a cow or two. That girl, uh, Fluttershy knows ‘em. Nobody will miss one… or three… or heh, FIVE.” Spirit cleared her throat. “And then she vomits all the meat she eats afterwards.” She said, her voice returning to normal.
Celestia watched as Spirit sat down. She stared at the young filly before looking down at her salad. She felt sick.
Something was definitely wrong with Twilight. If Spirit’s description of Twilight was correct, then Twilight was being possessed by a Kitsune.
****************************************
Celestia threw aside another book. Spirit had just been tucked into bed, after being read a bedtime story, and now Celestia sat here in the library of the castle, searching for something that would give her answers on Twilight’s condition.
Getting possessed by a Kitsune was rare. Kitsunes were normally more solitary than social and didn’t go near others more than what was necessary. They could tolerate being around their own species, as far as Celestia knew, but no other creature. Possession made that much worse because they were stuck inside a creature for a long time.
That was assuming that it was even a Kitsune that was in Twilight. It could be some other creature, but the only creature who would care as much as Twilight about Spirit Blaze would be her own father. Kitsunes loved their families more than almost anything else. If her father had possessed Twilight, it would make sense.
But something else didn’t make sense either. Twilight probably knew she was possessed. So why would she allow herself to become possessed in the first place? And possession never normally lasted a long time. The host would never be able to the take the pressure of two souls sharing the same body, even Kitsunes knew that. Twilight had been like that awhile, according to Spirit so that long of a possession would be impossible. Celestia would have to ask Spirit more.
Unless the Kitsune was stuck inside Twilight somehow. It would make sense. Twilight would keep herself alive using magic and neglecting her daughter would be a result of trying to keep herself alive. When the Kitsune spirit would take over, it would be the one to spend time with Spirit. The Kitsune would be unharmed since it wasn’t the host.
Assuming her theory was even right. The only way to test that was to visit Twilight. But she couldn’t since Twilight was going away for two weeks. So it seemed she was going to have to ask the next best thing.
*******************
The only pony who could get here on such short notice was Rainbow Dash. The rainbow maned mare landed in front of Celestia, giving a slight bow before flying back up into the air.
“What can I do for you, your highness?” Rainbow Dash asked, grinning.
“What do you know about Spirit Blaze?” Celestia asked, as Spirit Blaze walked out from behind her. Rainbow stared at Spirit before shaking her head and backing towards the door.
“I-I don’t know anything! I have to go.” Rainbow said and flew off towards the door.
“Rainbow Dash, please. It’s important.” Celestia pleaded. Rainbow stopped and sighed. She flew back to Celestia and landed in front of her.
“Princess Celestia, I… there are a lot of things I’ve seen. But Spirit isn’t just a filly. She’s a price.” Rainbow Dash said darkly. Spirit shivered and wrapped a tail around Celestia’s leg.
“What does that mean?” Celestia asked with a frown. Rainbow’s expression lightened.
“Dunno. That’s all Twilight would tell me when I broke into her house.” Rainbow shrugged, her tone instantly lightening.
“Is that really all, Rainbow Dash?” Celestia asked, an eyebrow raised.
“Well, she also mentioned something about wanting to learn more magic and Spirit was the price she had to pay or something, but that was egg-” Rainbow coughed. “I mean, boring stuff. You know, I’m not into all that.”
“Does anypony else know about Spirit Blaze?”
“Only the girls. We don’t know how it happened. I mean, Twilight took a trip to the White Tail Woods, came back, and soon she had a foal. We’re all not really sure what happened up there. We’ve questioned her like a million times, but she won’t say anything!” Rainbow exclaimed, throwing up her hooves. Spirit stared at her with curiosity. Celestia frowned.
“Why did she go to White Tail Woods?” Celestia asked, taking a step forward. Rainbow flew a pace back and nervously grinned. She looked side to side then at Celestia. She suddenly took on a more serious face.
“Dunno. Magic research or whatever,” She said calmly and shrugged. “Twilight stuff.”
“Oh really?” Spirit asked loudly. Rainbow looked down at her. “Or are you lying Rainbow Dash?”
“I’m not lying, kiddo.”
“Oh sure. Mom goes to the woods for what, a week? And you don’t find that suspicious at all?” Spirit asked as she walked up to Rainbow, her tails held high. “Or maybe you know what happened and you’re too scared to tell us!”
“Spirit.” Celestia said sternly but Spirit did not appear to be listening.
“I’m not scared and I don’t know what happened,” Rainbow spat at Spirit and crossed her forelegs. “All I know is that your mother was gone.”
“And why was she gone?” Spirit asked forcefully.
“I don’t know!”
“Scaredy cat!”
“Am not!”
“Are too!”
“Spirit!” Celestia said louder and a little more forcefully.
“Shush, I’m on a roll.” Spirit muttered. Rainbow did not seem to hear her statement.
“Am not!”
“Meow meow! Does Mr. Scaredy cat need a soothing hug?” Spirit mocked and stretched out her forelegs while she sat on her haunches. “Looks like some kitty needs a belly rub.”
“I DON’T!” Rainbow shouted. Spirit shrank. “Your mother was going there to study magic, okay?”
“What type of magic?” Spirit asked smugly.
“I don’t know.” Rainbow said, her shoulders sagging. She landed on the floor and dipped her head. “I don’t know what happened when she went there. She just came back calmly and had a foal a few months later. We delivered you in her house because she refused to go to the hospital. We soon found out why.”
“Because I’m not normal,” Spirit said, her ears drooping but she kept a firm tone nevertheless.
“Well… yeah and I guess because Ponyville might panic if Twilight had a… a…” Rainbow Dash trailed off on her words.
“A monster?” There was a hurt look in Spirit’s eyes.
“No, a… foal. Your mother isn’t known for sleeping around.” Rainbow Dash said and looked up at Celestia. “As far as I know she was she said she was going on a trip to White Tail Woods to study forest magic or something there. It’s part of the Earth Pony magic studies she’s been doing lately. That’s what she told me when I saw her leaving Ponyville, anyways.”
“Rainbow Dash.” Celestia spoke up. “Thank you for the information. You may leave whenever you please.”
“Okay, Princess Celestia,” Rainbow bowed and began to leave.
“Wait,” Celestia called out. Rainbow looked back at her. “Where did Twilight say she was going this week? She left young Spirit here with me while she went away on a trip.”
“White Tail Woods.” Rainbow Dash said and flew out quickly.
Celestia watched her go before looking down at Spirit. “We’re going to take a trip.” She said simply before turning to trot away.