"Dragon." Spike responded flatly.
Celestia stared at the diminutive (though still enormous by her standards) reptile, eyes as wide as the small tea cup bearing saucers he was now distributing to Twilight and Sunset. It took a moment for her already exhausted brain to wake back up after being startled, but moments later it sputtered back to life like an aged automobile on its last legs. "I'm sorry what now?"
"I'm a dragon, not a lizard." He told her with an annoyed glance. He leaned in towards Twilight and whispered. "Who is she?"
"You don't recognize her? She doesn't seem a bit familiar?" Twilight whispered back with a hint of confusion and more than a bit of curiosity at how Spike saw her as a completely unfamiliar pony while she had been completely convinced she was the Princess at first.
While Spike hadn't minded fixing up some refreshments, the task had interrupted a crucial moment in his comic book, and he paid little attention to the two newcomers, eager to deliver the tea and get back to it. He merely shrugged. "I guess she smells kinda familiar, can't really place it though."
Twilight made a mental note to study the olfactory senses of dogs versus dragons next time she got a chance, though Spike had been both so who knew how that had messed with his scent based perceptions. "She's...a friend...she'll be visiting for a bit, same goes for Sunset." Twilight decided to leave it at that for now. He'd probably figure it out eventually.
"Oh, ok." Spike's demeanor changed immediately, having always stuck with the policy that any friend of Twilight's was a friend of his. He turned back around and walked over to the white unicorn, adopting a more friendly expression. "Would you like some tea?" He extended a clawed hand clutching a saucer and tea cup.
Celestia continued to stare, images of enormous flying serpents spouting gouts of flame dancing through her mind, before nodding mutely and extending her forelegs, stopping them just short of the offered dishware. Her face switched from awe to confusion as she examined the hooves at the end of the appendages.
Twilight noticed her hesitation and grimaced. "Um, Spike, you can just leave it on the table for her."
"You got it." Spike placed the tea down and began a casual waddle back towards the door. "I'll see you girls later, I have a comic to finish." He called back, lazily waving as he departed.
Twilight looked back to Celestia, still half laying on the floor, staring at where the dragon had just exited. "So that was Spike, he's my assistant, and sort of adopted little brother. I don't remember if you met him back in your world, though he was a dog then."
Celestia blinked heavily for a few moments before slowly struggling back up into the chair, her posture slumping as she settled back into it. "So first talking ponies and now dragons are real, how can this possibly not be a dream?" She said to no one in particular before a flash of stern anger flared in her eyes. "Wait, you brought a dog into my school!?"
Twilight cringed, remembering the strict no animals policy of the school that had been frequently and excessively ignored daily by Fluttershy. "Um, yes?"
The color drained from Celestia's face, which was impressive given her ivory fur, and the anger faded, being replaced by a frantic twitching in one eye. Just as Twilight began to fear she was about to either explode or pass out, she instead burst into a fit of tired giggles, bordering on hysteria.
Sunset and Twilight could only look on sympathetically as Celestia sat and lost her mind for a few minutes. Twilight was immediately reminded of her own little breakdown in front of the high school the first time she had used the portal, unaware that Sunset was also mentally reviewing her moment of blind panic a few years prior.
After a bit Celestia's bizarre laughter wound down, changing to deep breaths and light coughs as she brushed away a few tears of both mirth and despair from the corner of her eye with a fetlock. "I'm sorry, I think I'm ok now..." She paused, mentally reviewing what she had just said. "Well no, that's a lie, I'm really not...but I think I've calmed down at least," she admitted with a sigh. "Anyways, while I'm sure it won't do much to make me feel better, please continue Twilight, I think I'm still missing a few details."
Twilight hesitated momentarily, trying to think of something she could do to make things easier for the Principal turned pony, but it didn't take long to realize she was drawing a blank. Instead she just nodded, launching back into her explanation with an academic fervor only she could be capable of, intent on recounting everything about the mirror and the events surrounding it.
As Twilight went on, Celestia found herself only half listening. It was all very interesting of course, and the parts she did catch filled in a lot of missing pieces concerning the recent bizarre events at the school, but she couldn't help but be distracted by the cup of tea sitting next to her chair.
It smelled delicious, and a small voice in her head kept telling her how wonderfully soothing just one sip would be for her frazzled nerves. She had always been a big fan of tea, typically opting to start her days with some, rather than her sister's tactic of guzzling multiple pots of coffee through the morning. Much like sitting in the chair had been a breath of fresh air, the simple normalcy of the cup of tea demanded her attention, convincing her that if she could only drink some then everything would be ok.
She looked to her hooves again, scrutinizing them with a glare. In her mind, hooves plus tea cup was an equation that could only equal disaster with a side of boiling hot liquid everywhere, but the siren song of the rapidly cooling amber liquid was becoming irresistible. Doing her best to leave one ear open to Twilight and Sunset, she turned and hunched over the arm of her chair, getting as close to the cup as possible. Like a scientist trying to gingerly handle a volatile chemical, she methodically lowered her hooves to each side of the cup, then attempted to gently clamp it between them. She could barely contain her excitement as she lifted her hooves slowly and saw the cup lift with them. It was short lived however. Before making it even half an inch off the saucer, the cup slipped between her hooves and plopped back down, only a drop or two being knocked from within by the impact.
Celestia gave the cup a frustrated glare cold enough to freeze the blood of even the most delinquent of high school seniors, but the cup just sat there in response, mocking her. Determined to not let a porcelain container get the best of her, she kept at it, each time lifting the cup a bit higher, and each time spilling a bit more of the precious tea as it fell back down. Before long, the cup was only half full and Celestia had completely tuned out the other two ponies in the room. With brows angled and her tongue sticking out in concentration, she grasped at the cup once more, convinced she would finally succeed. Of course it was not to be, as her hooves missed the cup entirely and unceremoniously clopped together behind it.
Celestia closed her eyes sadly for a moment, before releasing a furious howl and throwing herself back in her chair and crossing her forelegs with a huff, looking for all the world like a petulant child. Her eyes still closed, she tried to calm herself by thinking happy thoughts, though her mind was still consumed by a lust for tea, so all she could come up with was the mental image of the insolent tea cup flying up to her lips on its own by way of apology. She smiled at the vivid mental image, leaning in to take a sip and imagining the wonderful taste of the slightly cold tea. Or not imagining it. Her eyes popped open with a start, surprised to see the tea cup floating gently at the tip of her muzzle, surrounded by a pale golden light.
"That's strange, shouldn't the cup be sitting back down on the table?" she thought to herself in a mild daze. As if acquiescing to her logic, the tea cup gently flew back down and gingerly set itself back on the saucer. As she had spent most of the day so far, Celestia just stared at the cup, until what sounded like vigorous applause drew her attention.
She looked up to see both Twilight and Sunset grinning at her and clapping their hooves together. Both of them had been watching her silently for a while now, having finished their story in the middle of her pitched battle.
"That's amazing, I was wondering what it'd be like to be a fully grown unicorn that doesn't know how to use her magic, but it looks like you're a natural." Twilight said with a grin. "Well either that or it has something to do with being tangentially related to the most powerful pony in existence..." she added, a hoof to her chin, before she grinned, an idea popping into her head. "I should really send you to see the Princess. I'm sure she could help you while you're stuck here, not to mention it'd give me time to look into reopening the portal, or at least time to figure out when it'll open itself again."
"Sounds like a good idea to me," Sunset added, a confident grin spreading across her face before she continued. "Between the two of us I'm sure we could get it open before she even gets back from Canterlot."
Twilight was also grinning, though hers was more mischief than confidence. "While I'm sure you're right, that sadly won't be an option, what with you escorting her to the castle and all."
Sunset gulped audibly. "You can't be serious! I'd be arrested on the spot! She'd banish me to another world where everybody is books, or rocks, or cardboard boxes, or something worse!"
Twilight drooled for a moment, her mind stuck on the notion of a land of sentient books, before she shook her head and turned back to Sunset. "I'm fairly sure the Princess doesn't have any other portals to parallel dimensions..." she paused "actually I'm not sure of that at all, but that's not the point. She is not going to have you arrested."
Sunset opened her mouth to protest further but was interrupted immediately.
"If you don't go I'll just teleport you there, and you can have fun explaining why you suddenly appeared in her private bathroom." Twilight told her flatly.
Sunset shut her mouth and hung her head with despair.
Celestia meanwhile was busy watching her cup float up and down off the table, a hint of a grin on her face.
Seeing that Sunset had given in, Twilight smiled as well. "I promise it won't be as bad as you think," she said encouragingly. "Alright girls, it's late, and we all have a busy day tomorrow, let's find you both some spare rooms and get some rest."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An hour of being completely lost later, Celestia finished saying goodnight to the two of them and watched Twilight lead Sunset to the guest room next door. She gently closed the door and began inspecting the room she had been given. It was small but cozy, featuring a bed packed with pillows and blankets, a well stocked bookshelf, a few more assorted pieces of furniture, and a full length mirror.
Celestia was tempted to immediately leap into the bed and put this stressful day behind her, but the mirror had already caught her attention. In all the craziness, she had yet to really get a good look at her new body, and her curiosity had gotten the better of her. Stepping in front of the mirror, she took a careful look at the unfamiliar animal reflecting back at her. Much like with Sunset and Twilight, she started to see small commonalities between the pony and her normal self, which was oddly reassuring in a way, just knowing she was still herself.
After a few minutes she turned to her side to continue the examination, but stopped as soon as she caught sight of her entire side in the mirror. Her jaw dropped as she focused in on the ornate, orange and gold sun adorning her backside, something she hadn't managed to get a good look at previously.
"THAT'S NOT WHERE THAT TATTOO IS SUPPOSED TO BE!"
I can't help but feel that sunset is a little off, normally she seems a little afraid of everyone and a bit bitter at twilight but here she seems like she's totally fine with being in equestria despite her past. Other then that the story is fantastic and I can't wait for the next update.
heh...
5892161 Admittedly it's been a bit tough writing her so far. She hasn't had much to say and it's tough trying to get a proper mixture of her personality from both movies in there. I want her to come across as still reformed Sunset, but a little more out of her shell than she was in RR. I'm hoping I'll be able to do it justice once she has a bit more of the spotlight.
I bet Principal Celestia got the sun tattoo on her bicep or something, easily hidden when in uniform.
Now she finds out that it has become a tram-stamp.
XDDDD
5892161 You must have not seen Rainbow Rocks to think that she's bitter towards Twilight. She wasn't bitter at all towards her in that.
But what if human logic doesn't apply to pony logic?
Booom!
If it's not supposed to be there, just WHERE does she have hers?
Thank you for the chapter!
My answer: umm.... ah... Magic ! It is not an exact science! *smoke cloud appears and runs through bathroom door*
Well then... Lets see twilight explain that now
5892309 Google "tramp stamp".
Nice update, although I would have thought Twilight would have written Sunset that Celestia was more concerned with Sunset (as shown in the film) than angry with her and I'm sure after Twilight got back the first time and explained what happened it would have been something she could tell her about. Still it will be a nice scene seeing Pony Celestia welcoming back Sunset as I'm sure Sunset also would want to apologize for the past. That and having both Celstia's in the same room with maybe Luna showing up later.
5892306
Your profile picture is what I thought the tea scene would end up like
Gta V and blood borne is a deadly recipe for procrastination, I should know
...my grades also know however
How long until she realizes she has a second tatoo?
(Why screaming at that point though?)
I think I said this last chapter, but it is Cannon (in the comics) that when two Celestias meet the worlds start to collide.
and
They use another portal mirror in the comics, but that one gets destroyed when the world collide.
That all being said, I am only mentioning it, because this sort of thing has been explored in the cannon before... but that never means you can't change anything you want!
Awwwwwwwe. You so awesome.
I had a wonderful time reading this chapter. It flowed so well.
You're ridiculously talented. Thank you so much.
5892469 I think that's a running gag in the story. Also, I imagine that she didn't want that tattoo to be visible (as I'm almost certain it's a tramp stamp on her true body) so she's embarrassed to have it visible for all the world to see.
5892461 Haha oh how I do not miss studying or doing homework, though 40 hours a week at a desk that I can't ignore or put off does keep me away from fun stuff more than I'd like...unless of course I sit at work and write this story instead of testing code...but I'd never do something like that
5892491 Thank you, I really appreciate that, and I'm super glad you enjoyed it, hope I can keep it up.
Absolutely loved it. Celestia really came to life here.
Sunset's a bit flat, but that's okay. She's not the focus of this chapter. If you do choose to focus on her later, one way to give her some depth is to build on what the movies didn't really get into: her past. She may not have had friends, but unless she had the most miserable childhood ever there have to be a few fond memories. Create a few and give her some nostalgia at getting back to her old trotting grounds. She had to have thrown away a lot when she picked up her antagonist membership card, evil villain starting package, and complimentary fruit basket.
Ya know, I'm still expecting for Human Celestia to say something the lines of: "Sunset, what was that bit about getting arrested and banished somewhere like you're a, criminal... Sunset Shimmer, what did you do?"
It should be fun to see the Princess's reaction to her alt self, but I think I wanna see Luna's reaction to her more.
I think the problem with Sunsets character is that in the 2 movies, they're on opposite ends of the spectrum.
EQG: "Fuck you bitch! This spots mine now!"
RR: "Oh... Sorry, didn't mean to intrude..."
Cardboard boxes? Has Celestia heard of this universe called Metal Gear?
Loving the story so far! Anxious to see how her meeting the princess goes. I really liked how you showed them using magic as a way of envisioning reality and making it happen. Made magic seem alot more.....explainable!
Great job keep up the good work!
5892757 Getting blasted by rainbows might have mental side effects.
So human Celestia has a sun shaped tramp stamp?
GTA5 on the pc is hard to resist
5892920
....
That has a certain amount of plausibility, but Occam's Razor applies. (Your headcanon might make for a good oneshot though. Have you considered writing it out?)
Her trying to pick up the cup was the best part ! I couldn't stop laughing for a while
Bloodborn, one of the most addicting games in the world.
Also, Poor Celestia, she'll need some help moving the tatoo back into it's old position.
5892757
Yeah. Half the fun of reformed villains is seeing them attempt to employ villain tactics for the cause of good. And, really, if there's anyone that should recognize a villainous plan afoot, it's someone who's created one themselves.
Young rebellious Celestia with a tramp stamp? Nice.
5892161
Brah, do you even watch Rainbow Rocks? Sunset started out meek as fuck, and was totally bro with Twilight.
5892676
-buzzer- Wrong!
:twilightgrin:
:maudgrin:
If she can lift it with horn she shouldn't have problem to lift it with hoof.
Butt tattoos are going to be fun to explain. I wonder how they two Celestias will react to meeting each other?
Breaking dawn,
another dream come forth to bring
the soul into marvelous,
pleasant warmth.
In this harmony of friendship and unity,
let there ever be light.
Awaiting further releases.
This is amazing!
5892918
Apperently...
Still, I'm curious: does that mean she has three cutie marks, or 'just' one bigger one on her back?
Either way, nice twist. I don't think I've seen a single story have tattoos work like that for a HIE character.
She's going to be screaming at the end of every chapter isn't she?
Interesting! Two things jump to mind: Does this mean that all the EqGs could instinctively use the abilities of their pony forms or, as Twilight suggests, is this solely because she's a Celestia? Secondly, enquiring minds want to know: Where is Principal Celestia's sun tattoo?
5893221
Since the tattoo is over her skin, is covered by fur anyway.
The Sun Must Rise/Set Within Her Cleavage.
http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/28600000/Clarissa-clarissa-explains-it-all-28659113-1375-2048.jpg
I'm not sorry.
I'm not getting why Spike wouldn't recognize Principal Celestia. Yes, dog vision isn't very good, but this is a matter of comparing two ponies with dragon eyes, which seem to work far better than their canine counterparts. If principal and princess were especially different from one another, I could understand it, but Twilight recognized her at first glance.
As for Celestia, at this rate, she's going to be a blithering mess by the time she gets home. It should be most entertaining to watch.
5893221 probably just had the tramp stamp turned into her cutie mark. Unless she had it on her ankle. Makes you wonder if Luna had tats as well.
5893507 Maybe he's unable to actually tell ponies apart by sight alone? There's lots of stories about other species having trouble differentiating between humans and thinking we all look alike, or vice versa, whereas to our/themselves the differences are clear as day.
5893567
After growing up around ponies his entire life? He can distinguish ponies well enough to fall in love with one at first sight; how does he not at least recognize the multicolored mane?
Sorry, MareDoWell, but this has lodged itself in my brain and it's gotten itchy.
...Yeah, not sure where that metaphor was going.
5892920 Heh a friend and I have a running joke that the mirror is Celestia's personal pocket prison dimension, and is just made to distract villains sent there.
5893501 That's exactly what I was going for
5893507 He wasn't really paying attention is all. Trying to find a medium ground between hey that's definitely Celestia and hey that sorta looks like Celestia but something isn't quite right,