The Last Agate

by Bluetree650

Chapter 4

1

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The next day, as Celestia’s sun reached its pinnacle in the sky, Twilight took Crystal out, passing the pair of sword wielding guards that Celestia placed in front of her door for, some reason. She wanted to go to the park and see how Crystal interacted with other fillies her own age.

“Don’t let her leave your sight,” Celestia said at breakfast. She didn’t explain too much about her actions in Layer C, but Twilight did learn that the only way for mother and daughter to leave together is if Sterile accepts the eight to three schedule. Then, Cheery Days would be happy, and Twilight could get a job babysitting.

Twilight also learned that Celestia didn’t plan to completely separate mother from daughter, and, as she walked down the hallway, food in her belly and Crystal lightly snoozing on her back, Sterile was being moved from Layer C to Layer B.

2

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As Twilight walked out past the gates, sun beating down on her, the guards followed Celestia’s orders and moved out. They were to guard Crystal and Twilight, not her room. They’d rest in the barracks and play go fish until the duo comes back. Maybe Shining will finally teach them how to play Egyptian Rat Screw.

In the distance however, Hendricks Needle, lurked.

If one thing was true about Hendricks, it was that he didn’t take rejection well. The sight of blood, no reaction, death, nothing, but two minutes after Phil Philton shot his idea down, he bawled.

He might not have been able to control his waterworks, but he could control what he did afterward, and this time was no different. The second he finished crying, Hendricks hit the books.

Right away he realized how stupid his idea was. Killing Crystal? Yes, it might send Sterile over the edge, but death should never be brought upon a child, or anyone. At least Hendricks took that away from his interaction with Phil.

Canterlot Castle has a total of six libraries, Twilight has read next to every book in five of them, but Hendricks can only get into three. That didn’t matter. He found what he wanted after the first book. A book on medical history to be specific, and it depicted that, ever since Canterlot Hospital was founded a hundred and fifty years ago, all twelve of the Head Surgeons were Agates.

The Head Surgeon is personally chosen by Celestia herself on grounds of medical prowess, ability under pressure, and feats before hoof. Sterile was chosen after she performed the first successful brain surgery on a young unicorn filly. But to have all twelve, in a row, be Agates? Suddenly he realized that that should have been something he learned way back in pre med, maybe he did, maybe before even that, but it just seems a lot more important now than back then.

Talking to Celestia about it was out of the question. She seemed more agitated (if her outburst at yesterday’s breakfast said anything) as of late. Sterile was kept under guard, yet, asking her would be pointless. Briefly he wondered if Sterile hated him, then remembered that they hadn’t really talked before. The last option was Crystal. He knew that Celestia’s prized pupil, someone he’d watched grow up from behind the scene, was housing the filly, and while the prospects seemed slim, there was nothing else he could do. If there was some kind of conspiracy then none of the libraries he has access to would hold information.

Silently, Hendricks waited for the two unicorn guards to leave. They were named Sword and Blade, two of Celestia’s most trusted guards, another sign that something was up.

When they left for the barracks, he made his move.

Each stone stair he climbed creaked. The stairway itself felt hotter than the hottest summer day. Even though he saw Twilight leave he felt they’d walk up any second, spot him and shout for help. He kept his hopes low. The chance of either Twilight or Crystal knowing anything was microscopic, but he’d keep an eagle’s eye out for anything, absolutely anything. Entering Twilight’s bedroom, adrenaline pumped through his veins.

The room itself was extremely clean, beds made, floor clear and books in their proper place. Seeing Crystal in the mess hall, he would have to guess that she was five, but there were no toys visible, not even neatly stacked in the corner. He wrote this down in the little black book he brought and moved up the stairs.

About halfway up, he spotted a small wicker bed with plush white cushion and three blankets. It was obvious that Twilight slept in the full sized bed downstairs, and her dragon assistant, what was his name? Spike slept in the basket, but he had been missing in action for the past couple of days, so Crystal more than likely slept in his bed. From what he’d seen with all the five year olds in the castle, they liked to run around, play and make messes, not caring about who cleaned them. The idea of Twilight making the bed, or maybe ordering Crystal to, did a little jig on his mind, but he knew Twilight. She didn’t care much when it came to aesthetics. He couldn’t remember how many times he heard Celestia tell her to clean her room throughout the years. Again, another detail that could easily be explained by Crystal’s personality, but he jotted it down anyway.

Scouring the books on Twilight’s second floor he passed through to Twilight’s desk. He would have ignored it entirely if he hadn’t seen the sheet of paper.

It was Celestia’s letter. Hendricks went through it a total of three times, eyes locking onto the words, dark magic, and, mind meld spell each time. When he could breath again, he eyed the thick tome, titled in a language he didn’t understand, but could learn.

You really trust your student, don’t you Celestia, Hendricks thought, sticking the book into his nap sack. He quickly headed back down the spiral stairs, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw neither Sword or Blade at the entrance, and headed to his room.

Phil was right, political background noise was fun.

3

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Outside, under the bright sun, on a park bench by a statue of Celestia’s glory, Twilight sat watching fillies play tag in the grass. Some peacefully slept under one of the many trees, and others climbed those trees, but one that she cared about sat shaking under the bench.

Twilight had decided to let Crystal sleep instead of dragging her to breakfast, she had been torn away from her mother for a second time after all, an extra hour of sleep was the least she could do. She woke up and ate her dry pancake just fine, but when they got to the park and sat down, she started to shake. Twilight tried to hide her excitement and rubbed Crystal’s back, noticing how she stared out at the other fillies.

Eventually she crawled under the bench and has been under there for almost a half an hour. No matter what Twilight did, she couldn’t coax her out, although there was one instance when she lied to her, saying they were about to leave. She popped out alright, but started to glare at Twilight when she didn’t make a move. When the truth was told, she slipped right back under, shrinking into a ball once more. That’s what it meant to be a big sister, to play jokes on the little sister, right?

Now Twilight waited, she couldn’t take any notes if Crystal refused to have any interactions. So, for now, she’ll soak up the sun and enjoy the beautiful day.

“Um,” a nervous voice said, “are you, T-Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight looked up from her book. A small green unicorn filly looked at her with bright blue eyes. “Yeah, and who might you be?” She put on her brightest smile.

The filly seemed to explode, bouncing around in every which direction. “Really! My mom works at the castle and she says you’re the most powerfulest unicorn there ever was!”

“Oh, I'm still an apprentice,” Twilight nervously rubbed her neck, “far from the best. If you want to meet some one truly powerful look at Star…”

“But I want to see you!” The filly chirped. “I… I know you take personal lessons from Princess Celestia! You’re awesome!”

Twilight took a second to peek under the bench, she was panting now and a flush grew under her fur, but even to her, it was clear that Crystal had gotten out of her safety ball and either looked at the filly with curiosity or anger. She hoped the filly would notice her, maybe she’ll get some real data then.

“Well thank you… ah? What’s your name?”

“Oh, look what I can do!” For all the apparent adoration the filly felt towards Twilight, she had no problem ignoring her.

Crystal watched, deep hatred brewing inside her, as the filly scrunched her face up in concentration. Her horn lit bright blue, and then a popping sound. “Look! My mom made these today!” She saw the filly hold out a muffin to Twilight. Oh how she wanted to tackle her.

Twilight was speechless.

“Teleporting objects is a high level spell that I just learned,” Twilight sounded shocked, and the filly beamed, “is your mother here?”

“Yes! I’ll go get her,” she turned around and headed off before returning and extending the muffin to Twilight, “take it! A gift from me.”

“Why thank you, uhhh,” for a third time, Twilight was ignored, “oh well, here you go, Crystal.”

“I don’t want it,” Crystal groaned, pushing the muffin away. There was silence from up above for a second, then Twilight hopped off the bench and bent down. She was looking straight into Twilight’s purple eyes, and bit her tongue. “It’s her’s, I don’t like her, she’s trying to steal you away from me.”

“Is that what’s worrying you?” Twilight stuck her head underneath the wooden planks, Crystal pressed her forehead against it, revealing in the moment. “I’m your big sister, remember? No one will take me away from you, I promise.” She moved away, leaving the muffin.

The filly came back with a blue mare that had a pink tail dragging along the ground. Twilight finally learned the filly’s name, Abra Kadabra. The three started to talk about how amazing Abra’s teleportation was. She kept complimenting her and Abra bounced around so much she fell over twice, and her squealing never seemed to end.

There was another pop and Abra was suddenly eating another of those muffins.

Crystal eyed the one Twilight left, then, took a bite. It was amazing! She finished it in record time. Licking her lips, she savored every bite, letting it slowly slip down her throat. “Yum.”

There was a ‘huh’ from outside, and before she knew it, there were a pair of blue eyes looking right at her. “Who are you?”

There was another pause, the adult and Twilight talked about Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns and Abra looked at Crystal, eyes darting around her face, noticing the crumbs on her muzzle.

“Hey!” the conversation stopped.

“What is it, Sweetie,” Abra’s mother said.

“There’s a filly under the bench, and she ate Twilight’s muffin!”

“Oh, that’s Crystal. I gave her the muffin,” Twilight said, but was ignored as Abra stuck her head under the bench. Crystal yelped as she was dragged by the tail out into the sunlight.

“Abra, darling, don’t be so rough,” Abra’s mother said, “sorry Miss Sparkle, she…”

“Spit it out!” Abra yelled, glaring at Crystal, “that doesn’t belong to you! Give it back!”

Crystal lay on her stomach, hyperventilating. She couldn’t see Twilight, was she gone?

Everything happened in a near flash. Crystal’s mind bubbled, fear turning into ripe anger. Abra continued to pester her about giving the muffin back, poked her, prodded her. Even when the mother pulled her back, she moved forward to keep annoying.

Finally she snapped. Rage filled her eyes as she swung a perfectly aimed right hook at the side of the filly’s skull. She didn’t even notice her fur turn black.

But Twilight did.

At first Twilight wrote down what she saw. Uncontrollable fear, heavy breathing and what she likes to call ‘the shakes’. Yes, she planned to pull Abra off Crystal, but she had to get all the information she could.

If she hadn’t looked up at that moment. If she hadn’t noticed Crystal stop shaking and tense up. Abra might be dead, but she had. Twilight saw the darkness coating Crystal’s left hoof, and she reacted just in time to stop that hoof from connecting with the side of Abra’s skull. Remembering what Crystal did to the throne door, Twilight had no doubt that Abra’s head would explode like a watermelon if it had connected.

There she sat, Crystal’s hoof in her magic, Twilight looked at her little sister. The rage in her eye died like a quelled fire and she looked back at Twilight. Suddenly her eyes rolled up in in the back of her head and Crystal fell limp, hoof turning white once more.

She fainted, Twilight’s mind finally kicked back into gear and she looked at Abra’s mother. She saw shock, but no anger.

“I’m sorry, Crystal is really shy and well–”

“Don’t say a word, Twilight,” Abra’s mother said, quickly lighting her horn and pulling Abra to eye level. “Young filly, what do you have to say for yourself?”

Abra blinked,” what happened?”

Abra’s mother turned to ask Twilight, but realized she was gone. Crystal had disappeared too.

4

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There was a flash on top Twilight’s bed. Both Crystal and Twilight appeared with burn marks all over their bodies. Crystal slept soundly through the sudden teleportation as well as the pain. Twilight wanted to contrast what she learned from Crystal’s interactions with Abra against Celestia’s book, Tarmogoyf, but she felt a stabbing pain in her head. She knew she shouldn’t have teleported all the way back here, especially with Crystal in toe, yet she had.

Another pulse and Twilight’s vision started to blur. “Celestia’s going to kill me,” she muttered just before passing out.

5

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Tarmogoyf was written in english formed back in the early dark ages, by a pony that just went by the name of Yawgmoth. The book appeared over three thousand years ago during the reign of Faust, virtually popped into existence while she was on one of her morning flights through the Everfree. The book actually smacked Faust in the head before plummeting to the ground. She caught it, and yelled at whoever dropped it, only to realize that no one was there.

Reading the first few pages, she realized just how potent the magic held within was, and kept as an absolute last result against tragedy.

A week later, the book was stolen. Yawgmoth himself used magic unknown even to Faust to bypass every single layer of defence in the castle. She was in and out in seconds, leaving only a piece of scroll as evidence of his theft.

Written was:

I’m just taking back what is mine. You’ll thank me later.

Yawgmoth

What Faust didn’t know was that she got of easy. Yawgmoth could have sent his creation, the phyrexians to utterly wipe the pony plane off the multiverse, but he hadn’t. Yet, Faust, being the extraordinary learner she was, made a copy of Tarmogoyf, sating both her and Yawgmoth’s needs and keeping what could only be described as the greatest evil known to the multiverse away.

Eventually the book passed from mother to daughter, and after the great war between the solar sisters and the spirit of chaos, Celestia tried to destroy it. It was the reason Discord came about. All she wanted to do was cure the famine that ravaged her children. Not send them into a war against their own sanity. The only reason the book, and pony race, still existed, was because her sister, Luna convinced her to keep it.

But she still has her doubts. Everytime she eyes an Agate, she doesn’t just remember killing Hazel Eyes, she is reminded of the darkest times in pony history, as well as the tragic consequences of her actions, yet she couldn’t get rid of it. Tarmogoyf has been around for over three thousand years despite the typical age of paper being only forty, and it taunted her as the only answer to those dark times that pop up sometimes out of no where.

Her torment never ended, and Twilight had no idea the possible demons she’d unleashed when she left it out in the open. Twilight had no idea how to react when she saw Tarmogoyf missing from her desk. Twilight had no idea what to do about it. All Twilight did was curl up into a ball, the thought of Celestia’s thunderous wrath streaking across her mind like lightning.

5

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“Twilight?”

Twilight had been sitting in the same spot, sucking her hoof for the past twenty minutes. Her usually well kept mane in tangles and chest tighter than a knot, her breath came in short gasps.

“Twilight?” Crystal said, coming up the stairs. She had been avidly reading one of the few advanced medical books Twilight owned while she waited for her to finish taking notes. Normally when she did, she was back in ten minutes at most. “Twilight, are you alright?”

No response.

Quietly, marking every squeak the stairs made, she crept through the walls of books, to find Twilight sitting in the heap she was. Putting a hoof to her sister’s shoulders, Crystal jumped when Twilight yelped. Actually yelped. The pony that stood up to Celestia, yelped at a simple touch.

Crystal was completely aware of her own weakness, but Twilight is her rock in the river, definitely standing against the ravaging current. Something that makes Twilight crack must be really serious.

“What happened?” Crystal stated, eyes serious, her entire body tense, she prepared herself for the worst.

Twilight looked up, purple eyes darting about in every which direction until they landed on Crystal. “It’s gone, gone, gone, the book, Tarmogoyf is gone. Celestia trusted me and I failed her.” She went back to shuddering.

“A book?” Crystal had to take a step back, all of this was over a book? Her rock cracked over a stupid book! “Twilight!” She stood firm. “You can’t be serious, all this is about a book!”

“You don’t understand, Crystal, Celestia’s going to kill me.” Crystal slapped her. Twilight seemed to roll into the impact, head turning before finding itself on the floor. When she recovered, all she could do was stare, blindlessly moving a hoof to her cheek, dumbfounded. “What did you do that for?”

“Twilight, listen for a second.” she didn’t ever remember Crystal looking so serious before. “Cross once told me that things happen, bad things, but it doesn’t matter. What matters is how you act upon it. You’re book’s gone, if cowering under your desk like a baby is how you react, you might as well be a baby.”Who is this? Twilight thought, looking at Crystal as if for the first time. Celestia’s words rang out, Agates are strongest after a great tragedy. Is that it? What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger? Does that mean Celestia will tell her soon? Another thing popped out in her mind. If the roles were reversed, and Crystal was losing her mind, she’d do the same thing, minus the slap. Crystal climbed onto her lap. Using her hooves as posts against her chest, she looked right into her eyes. “Twilight, let’s find your book.” Immediately she got control of herself. Twilight got up, knocking Crystal to the ground, and declared, “You look downstairs I’ll look up here. The book’s named Tarmogoyf. If you find it, holler.” As Crystal bounded happily downstairs, Twilight watched her. “She’s really getting back on her hooves, much faster than I thought, too,” she whispered. “Maybe Celestia’s right.” The two tore Twilight’s room apart, books flailed on the ground, some with bent pages, blankets hanging on the railing, bed up turned. They looked until the sun grew low, every passing minute Twilight retreating back to her panicked state. Occasionally, Crystal would come up and slap her again, make her pull herself together, but those seemed to be less and less effective as time passed.Eventually Crystal fell flat on her stomach after failing to lift the bed, yet again. “Maybe someone took it!” she shouted, just noticing they skipped lunch. “No one’s ever come into my room though, and what motive would the pony have?”“Maybe the book was worth something? Money is a powerful motivator.” Crystal got up and slowly trotted up stairs. Twilight watched, holding her comment until the filly reached the top. “I don’t think anyone knew about the book. It’s supposed to be some kind of secret.” Crystal flopped next to Twilight, resting her back against the mare’s stomach. “I’ve read a lot of medical textbooks, none named Tarmogoyf. Is there something special about it? You don’t seem like the pony to lose her mind over a book that could be easily be replaced.”

Twilight wrapped an arm around the filly, pausing to think just how many beans she could spill. “It’s a book of dark magic. Powerful magic that Celestia entrusted to me. When she learns that it’s gone, my head will be on a pike by days end.” She felt Crystal shudder and regretted the specific analogy.

“Not if I have something to say about it.” Crystal’s voice was firm, and that comforted Twilight more than she’d like to admit. “You’re my sister, and as Cross says, ‘we protect our own.’”

“Thanks, Crystal,” Twilight nuzzled the filly’s head, getting a squeak from her. “But the castle’s a big place, with a lot of ponies. If you’re right, and someone did steal the book, it’ll take forever to search it. And that’s depending on the pony still being in the castle. She could have up and left an hour ago and we’ll never find her.”

Before Crystal could respond, the sound of armored hooves reached them.

The two watched as Sword and Blade entered the room. Both had a black eye and seemed to walk with a lilt. They stepped to the side and Princess Celestia strode in, ambivalence written on her face.

“Twilight Sparkle, Crystal Agate, come down here at once.”

The duo froze, unable to talk for a few seconds.

Celestia looked around, noticing the blanket on the railing and just how messy the room was. “Blade, Sword, leave us, I will punish you later.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” The two guards bowed before limping back downstairs.

Not surprisingly, Crystal recovered first. “Sorry about the mess,” she said.

Celestia turned to the second floor, eyes filled with both concern and curiosity. “Hello, Crystal, what happened here?” Her voice was kind, not the anger she thought was coming.

“Twilight lost a book, I was helping her find it, but we think it was stolen.”

Twilight meeped, almost falling to the first floor. Crystal turned to see her panting, eyes twitching. Had she said something wrong? Suddenly it hit her. “Everything’s fine though!” she quickly added.

Celestia wasn’t convinced. Her face contorted as gears did quick work of the situation.

She walked up the stairs, eyes never leaving Twilight’s prone form.

Crystal bent down low, shaking as the princess of the world marched up, bigger and bigger. Her courage failed and she hid underneath Twilight’s desk.

Still not ready, Celestia thought as she reached the landing.

“Which book did you lose, Twilight?” Despite her solid look, Celestia felt her heart race.

“I-I…” Twilight sputtered, unable to say a single word.

Celestia turned to Crystal. “Which book?”

“Tarmogoyf!” she shouted, hiding behind a pillow that once lay downstairs.

“Those idiots, I give them one instruction, and this happens.” Celestia knelt down and put a hoof on her student’s chin.

“Hey!” Crystal shouted, jumping out and pushing Celestia’s hoof away. “Don’t put Twilight’s head on a pike! Put mine if you have to. No one would have stolen the book if Twilight hadn’t taken me to the park!”

“How did that go? I heard from my guard that you hid under a park bench,” Celestia smiled.

Crystal blinked, “Why do you want to know? I thought you were going to kill Twilight?”

Celestia chuckled, hearty and warm. It cracked some of Crystal’s fear. “Oh, Twilight’s just paranoid. She’s like a daughter to me,” she paused, bemusement growing as she looked away, “one that has her… moments, but, no. I’d never hurt her.”

“But… I lost the book?” Twilight said, sitting up. She still shook, but her eyes were staying in one place.

“Twilight,” Celestia said putting a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, “Did I harm you when you accidentally set my bed on fire?”

“You made me do four hundred push ups in guard armor!” Twilight shouted, “I couldn’t walk for weeks!”

“Wait, how did you set Celestia’s bed on fire?” Crystal said, incredulous, “What would motivate you to even do that in the first place?”

“Don’t ask.”

“The point I’m trying to make, Twilight,” Celestia said, “I had Blade and Sword guard your room so you could go to the park. Remember, I said yes, so if anyone’s to blame, it’ll be me.” Celestia rose Twilight’s chin once more, “but those two bumble heads thought I said to protect you and Crystal. They left their post right after you left for the park. The thief struck then.”

“So you’re not mad at us?” Crystal said, resting her two hooves on Celestia’s one, “We looked everywhere, but we failed.”

“We just went over that, Crystal,” Twilight said, shoving Crystal off Celestia, “the question now is what to do next.”

Celestia got up and smiled. She chuckled that warm chuckle then looked at Twilight “Ever wonder how I kept finding Smartypants?”

“Smartypants?” Crystal looked at Twilight, an eyebrow raised.

“Don’t worry about it, Crystal, and yes, I do want to know.”

Celestia took a breath, she seemed to beam with confidence. “If that book’s still in the castle, which I’m pretty sure it is, then I’ll find it right away!.” Like when she needed to keep track of Crystal, Celestia sat down and focused, lighting her horn. The second layer of magic popped up faster this time.

Crystal had to turn away. The light coming off Celestia’s horn was brighter than she could take, and was there a second layer? Is that possible?

A third layer appeared this time and even Twilight had to look away. Seconds later, a thousands of little blue dots that faintly blinked red danced across the room. Celestia would have explained her spell, if it wasn’t taking more out of her than usual.

The blinking red dots floated all throughout the castle, scanning every inch, sneaking under doorways and into bathrooms. She felt bad about doing this. Some of the patrons either staying at the castle or calling it home were doing, rather private acts in their bedrooms, but this was important enough to warrant it, and if Tarmogoyf ever got into the wrong hooves, dealing with memories past would be the least of Celestia’s concerns.

Eventually her blue dots filled the entire castle, and a fourth layer of magic, something Celestia rarely had to use washed over her horn.

Minutes passed, Twilight quelling Crystal’s concerns over the excessive use of magic as well as answering her questions on the subject, Celestia scanned every inch of the castle, every wall, every bookshelf was examined, and…

She gasped, the spell disintegrating, and fell to the ground, panting: “I’m going to kill those two.”

“You didn’t find it,” Twilight said, heart dropping.

The second those words were spoken, Crystal jumped out and glared at Celestia, “No! Death is never the answer!” She said, her voice firm and controlling, “there has to be something better!”

“It’s a figure of speech, Crystal,” Twilight said, pulling the filly back. She gave a bemused smile and paid with another slap to the face. A gentle one this time.

“Even if it is a figure of speech, death shouldn’t be talked about so lightly! Blade and Sword probably have family, ponies that will be sad if they’re gone!”

“Anyway,” Celestia said sitting up, she looked rather disheveled,“the book isn’t in the castle, if it was a pony I could expand my search to the entirety of Canterlot, but no, it has to be a book.”

Both Twilight and Crystal stayed quiet, silently blaming themselves for adding to Celestia’s worry.

“Is there anything else we can do?” Crystal said, putting a hoof on Celestia’s shoulder, and noticing just how tense she got. “Anything?” Twilight also noticed and pulled Crystal back.

“Unfortunately no. Thankfully even the most powerful unicorn will take a week at minimum to learn the most basic of spells in that book. Pending they know old english. I could send the guard out and search the city house by house, but it’s fair to say we can wait on that.” Sighing, Celestia got up, “for now, how would you like to see your mother again, Crystal?”

5

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Princess Celestia lead Twilight and Crystal down the hallway, to the mess hall first after the two complained about missing lunch, then to Layer B. The sun was beginning its descent and some of the maids were starting on the arduous task of lighting all three hundred and fifty magically enriched candles. These don’t blow out from wind, but take three matches as well as a touch of raw magic to light.

Surprisingly the castle was rather empty, making Crystal more relaxed than usual. She jumped on Twilight’s back when they reached the mess hall, only seeing three unfamiliar ponies. She ate in peace however, and in her own chair facing away from the other three.

When they finished their meals, Twilight lead the way to Layer B, Crystal riding on her back more out of laziness than nerves this time. She yawned a couple of times on the way, but didn’t fall asleep, something Twilight was beginning to notice was one of her favorite pass times.

Walking down the dry stone steps, Twilight could swear Crystal had some pegasus in her.

“Sterile,” Celestia said from the end of the hall, “your daughter’s here.”

Twilight froze. She remembered how Sterile ripped the magical bars and attacked Celestia without hesitation. Bracing herself, she prepared to gently set Crystal down and run at the sight of those black hooves.

“Twilight? What are you doing?”

Twilight looked up and saw Celestia staring at her, Sterile leaning against the bars, a worried smile adorning her. Nervously she shuffled forward. “I thought she was going to attack me, Your Majesty”

“It only shows up when I lose control of my emotions,” Sterile said, sounding much calmer than before, “You should have experienced that with Crystal by now, Twilight.”

Dazed, Crystal looked up and saw her mother’s smiling face. “Mommy!” she jumped off Twilight’s back and hopped to the bars, sticking her head inside. “Ah,” she didn’t even know how it happened, but her head got caught between the bars, and now she was stuck.

Breathing in and out, she tried to control her emotions, “Help!” but it didn’t last long and she started flailing. Twilight rushed forward, but was stopped by Celestia. As if the world wanted to give them an example, Crystal’s hooves grew darker and darker as the panic rose. Eventually the bars bent and Crystal fell backwards. Twilight was released, and, with a surprising amount of control, gently put a hoof on the filly’s back. Crystal wrapped herself around that arm, shaking a little.

“See,” Sterile said, sitting back on the full sized bed. A new addition in her cell. “We only get like that when we lose control or feel unsafe, or,” she glared at Celestia, “when one of our family members are in pain.”

“That seems extremely specific,” Twilight said, rubbing Crystal’s back.

Celestia leaned in, “I’ll explain it later, there is a reason for that.”

Twilight nodded, then looked at Sterile. Outside of Layer C, the mare looked as harmless as a fly. She smiled at her and Twilight smiled back, knowing that underneath that gentle surface was what could be a pony killing machine.

“So, do I get visiting hour, or what?” Sterile said, motioning towards Crystal, “I’d like to hold my daughter if you will.”

“Yes, you do,” Celestia said, “but I need to make an adjustment to your cell first.” Bowing her head she stuck her tongue out and lit her horn.

While magic was an amazing tool, being able to teleport entire armies to the battlefield in half a second or enlarge a pony to ten, sometimes fifteen times their normal size, it does have a difficulty curve and one of the hardest, if not the hardest spell one can learn is manipulating not magical properties, but the very atomic structure of an item. Take for example the clad iron bars that kept Sterile from the outside world. It’d be easy to bend one, simply apply enough pressure to one end and voila, but to change the solid metal to a hinge, that takes effort.

Twilight watched as Celestia’s horn glowed brighter than back in her room, five, six, seven different auras shone through. After the fourth, the auras came in different colors, like the inside of a sun, it marks the change in chemical properties as energy is used.

About a minute of grunting later, Celestia dropped to the floor, utterly exhausted. Twilight stuck out a hoof to the bar, and, it moved. “A one way hinge,” she said, mouth dropping, “Celestia… Why?”

“Damn it,” Celestia said, not even bothering to watch her tongue, “I wanted a two way hinge, geeze, thank the horses of heaven this is the last Agate.” She panted, lying for a moment on the cold, yet dry, floor. Briefly, Twilight thought she’d fallen asleep.

“Crystal, you should thank Celestia,” Sterile said, leaning forward, “that’s a door you can use without the need of a key.”

Crystal yelped, “Th-Thank you, Princess Celestia.” she walked up and nuzzled Celestia’s side, again, noticing how she tensed, before crawling under the one way hinge and clambering onto her mother’s lap.

“Unless you’re staying for tea,” Sterile said, silently stroking Crystal’s mane, “I’d suggest leaving. I wish to talk to my daughter alone for a while.”

Twilight didn’t reply, she just watched how Crystal melted into her mother’s lap. Briefly, she wanted the same treatment from her, a shining protector where, no matter what happened, she could feel that safe with, but it didn’t last, and soon she and Celestia walked out the door.

6

---

The duo strode through the castle hallways. Neither had any concerns over Crystal’s health, knowing that she was in good hooves, but something bothered Twilight, actually, a lot of things bothered her at that moment.

Celestia seemed to pick up on this, she shushed her before heading back to her room. There they could talk in peace. There she could explain everything Twilight would need to know about her new sister.

Twilight couldn’t wait though, silently, she prodded with a carefully chosen question. “I’m Crystal’s sister? Right?”

“Yes,” Celestia’s voice was tired. She was on edge even though no one passed through the hallways.

“An honorary sister? Or real sister?”

“Honorary when it comes to logistical things, but Crystal sees you as her real second sister. Can this wait until we’re in my room? I’d rather not…”

“I just have one more thing,” Twilight interrupted, catching Celestia off guard, “earlier today, she pulled me out of one of my manic panics. I’ll admit, by slapping me, but her words, what were they?” she put a hoof to her chin, “the problem doesn’t matter, it’s how you react to it. I’m paraphrasing, of course , but the way she said it, reminded me a lot of, myself.”

Celestia sighed, but didn’t light her horn, “Something I should have told you yesterday is that Agates are very, very attentive, Crystal, even at her young age, can spot differences in personalities faster than you could blink. She then tunes her responses to best suit the situation, based on her influences.”

The two passed a mare, both bowed and said howdy before heading on down the hallway. “So I’ve influenced her thinking? I just met her the other day?”

“It’s not that you’re influencing her, it’s that she can find the most efficient way of dealing with a problem. She saw your state as a problem and fixed it the way she saw as best. That just happened to be what you would have done.” Celestia sighed, shaking her head, “let’s just get to the room.”

“One last thing…”

“No,” Celestia interrupted, putting a hoof to Twilight’s mouth, “Wait until we’re in the room, alright.”

Twilight nodded. The two climbed a set of spiraling stairs in silence, reaching Sword and Blade at the top. The two saluted before opening the door. Twilight nodded to the two but Celestia gave them a hard stare.

“I thought I was just a lighthouse to her lost boat, or some other analogy.” Twilight said, unable to keep herself quiet any longer.

“At least you waited until the doors were closed,” Celestia replied, opening another set of doors. “And you are, but realize that you have power over her at the same time. The same kind of power Cross had. That’s what the purple highlander signified, you are her sister now.”

“I guess I should be happy, but I feel like I’m just, well, to put it crudely, a rebound sister. I only got this position because Crystal was vulnerable after Cross’s passing.”

Celestia sighed, “That shouldn’t matter, but I understand your concern. It’s like you took advantage of her, but know this.” she pulled her student’s chin towards her, noticing the blur in her eye, “You have not. Using your analogy, you helped guide her lost boat to shore, where without she’d sink and…” Celestia went silent. Twilight did as well.

Celestia crossed into her bedroom. The room was clean enough. she set her garbs on a hanger as Twilight made her way to her purple pillow, nestling down with a depressed sigh.

“Would you like some tea?” Celestia asked.

“Yes, please.”

Twilight waited, watching light filter through the curtains. Soon there was a ringing coming from the kitchenette. Then Twilight had a warm cup of Earl Gray in front of her.

Celestia sank into her bed, her own tea floating above her. “Stop worrying, Twilight, you’re doing more than you think,”

“I know, but I'm not her real sister, it just, feels wrong,” she looked up, noticing the bags under Celestia’s eyes. “You used a lot of magic for her, more than I thought you were capable of. Why?”

“I don’t know how long Sterile will keep Crystal, and I want you back in Layer B before she starts wandering the castle.” Celestia said, pushing Twilight’s question aside.

Twilight took a sip, nodding in agreement.

“Twilight, the feeling you feel is normal, but for Crystal’s sake, try to hide your worries, just focus on making her as comfortable as possible. Okay”

“Yeah, sure Princess,” Twilight didn’t look up. They sat in silence for a minute before she spoke up again. “You said you’d explain why the black aura only appears under specific circumstances?”

“Yes, it is the reason Crystal grew up so sheltered. In Pac's time the curse was a blessing. It saved an entire species, my family, but, as time's done many times before, the debt collector came sooner than I expected.”

“He always does,” Twilight said.

“Right, well, in the beginning, as the body grew weaker, the curse grew stronger. Pac, in her old age was consumed by the dark magic after getting a simple paper cut. It took over her body. She killed hundreds.” Twilight stared at her mentor, mouth agape. “The next generation lost control much earlier, around Crystal’s age. Make no mistake Twilight, the dark magic you saw the other day is alive, and it’s just waiting for a chance to take control and do some real damage.”

“Why didn’t you kill them all then!” Twilight shouted.

“Because that’s what it wants.” Celestia put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, “a body is at its weakest at death, and thats when it’ll take you.” There was a pause, memories flaring up in her mind like heart burn. “The spell I used is called Mind Meld, and while I can’t change the curse itself, I can alter how the body responds to its presence. It took me fifty years to realize the connection with emotions. As you saw back in the cell, Crystal lost control over her own and the darkness appeared, when she stabilized it disappeared.”

“S-So you kept Crystal locked up in her room until she grew older? So she could have more control?”

“Yes, and with some… edits to how her brain operates, it has gotten to the point where she can enter the public world at age ten, barring her reaction to certain stimuli.”

“Is that why Crystal was taught to sleep in class?”

“Yes, emotions are null when a pony sleeps.”

“Then why did you let us go to the park? There were a lot of things stimulating her, she fainted! Something could have happened… ponies, filiies, like Abra, could have died."

“There were two safety nets I added in her brain. One is her attachment to her sister, you. She’ll feel safe as long as you’re nearby, and the second was sleep.” Celestia took a sip of her tea, deciding to sit next to her faithful student and pull her into a wing hug. “It’s kind of like a safety valve, if she loses too much control, and you’re not around then she’ll faint.”

Twilight nodded, then got up, “I need to think about this. It’s a lot to take in.”

“Alright, I know it’s a lot, just put Crystal down for a nap and think,” Celestia planted a kiss on Twilight’s cheek, a comfort she gratefully took, “but know this, if you decide to stop being Crystal’s sister, I doubt you will, but if it’s too much for you to bare, I will have to kill her.”