Mind Swap

by ravensky384

History

“It's not entirely true that Flurry Heart is the first alicorn baby born in Equestria,” said Celestia. “Many years ago, there was another.”

Everypony’s eyes widened at this.

“What’s more, believe it or not, I once had a husband and child.”

The collective stupefaction increased tenfold, though none looked more surprised than Twilight. It was evident that she’d never even known this.

“My husband was a unicorn named Steel Wool. Of course, you all know him as King Sombra.”

“WHAT!?” yelled Pinkie jumping up. “You were married to King Sombra?”

She immediately sat down, however, after a look from Twilight.

“He was not always evil,” Celestia continued. “He was once a normal pony like you. The two of us had a daughter we named Callista. We loved her with all our hearts. I still do.”

Celestia paused, closing her eyes for a moment, as though these recollections pained her. She continued,

“Then, it happened. A young unicorn discovered the secret of the windigos, and how to turn them into living, flesh-and-blood wolves. Unfortunately, the darkness that spawned from such a spell had to go somewhere. It would float around in the corners of Equestria until it found a new host to latch onto. It was particularly attracted to negative emotions.”

Celestia glanced slightly at Luna, then said,

“It caught Sombra after he lost a friend. He blamed himself for it, making him an easy target."

“Wait, where was Luna at the time?” asked Storm

“I was already being corrupted by the darkness,” said Luna, grimly. “My jealousy was turning me into Nightmare Moon.”

Celestia nodded in agreement.

“After I defeated King Sombra, I began to fear for Callista's life. I knew it wasn't safe for her here, so I found three dragon eggs and put a spell on them, ensuring that they would stay with her and take care of her. Once they were hatched and ready, I took Callista to a secluded area outside of Equestria, and promised to bring her back someday.”“Wait! Before you continue," said Pinkie, holding her hooves, or claws, out in a stopping gesture, "I need to get more popcorn. Be right back!"

With that, she hopped off. The ponies waited, bemused, for their eccentric pink friend to return. Finally, she returned, plunking herself down with a large bowl of popcorn.

“Ok, ready!” she said.

Celestia, who didn’t seem at all fazed by Pinkie’s interruption, continued.

“A few years ago, I tried to bring her back, but she had grown bitter. She claimed that I didn't care for her, because I never told anyone about her and did not come to get her right after I had defeated Nightmare Moon. But, it wasn't true; I was suffering the loss of my little sister at the time. Her magic had grown stronger than either mine or Sombra's over the years, to the point where she had learned to spy on the ponies of Equestria. She was able to break the spell I had put on the dragons, though it's obvious now they still stay with her. She accused me of her present state, and I feared the power of the darkness would overtake her, so I locked her there and left, much against my will.”

Celestia’s normally wise and calm face was full of pain and regret at the memory. Luna came over and put her hoof comfortingly on her sister's back. At this, Celestia smiled sadly and sighed.

“Upon my return, I had the young wizard unicorn try to help me find a way to capture the darkness and destroy it for good. After years of research, nothing came up. The young wizard passed on, and his research was lost. For years, I have searched for it, but all to no avail. That ancient spell that was just cast on all of you was written by Sombra before he was corrupted, and written in a journal left with Callista. The spell was cast even before you read it, Twilight. All it took was for you to read it out loud for the effect to start. I fear the spell was meant for me, and missed its target by chance."

“So then, all of this is my fault?” Twilight asked, looking devastated.

“No, Twilight,” said Celestia, shaking her head. “You could not have known, I should have told you not to read it out loud.”

Mint looked a little confused.

“Hang on a second,” she said. “We already figured out you have to touch whatever you're being switched with, so what were you going to be switched with, Princess?”

At that very moment, as though Mint had said the magic words, a yellow parasprite flew out of Celestia's mane. Everyone stared at it in shock.

“She wanted to switch you with a parasprite?!” shouted Rainbow in outrage. “Now that’s low! This mare is going down!”

“No, Rainbow Dash,” said Celestia, firmly. “Callista is the only one who know how to reverse this spell. Therefore, you will have to seek her out to set this right. I assume she has changed her name by now, so finding her won’t be easy. I fear it will be a dangerous journey, but I know you all can do it. You have my complete faith.”

Celestia’s words seemed to act as a kind of stimulant. Everypony, in spite of their swapped bodies and distressed states of mind, now bore an expression of determination. After all, if Celestia was right, how else were they going to fix this?

“Alright, everypony,” said Twilight, in an authoritative tone, “let's gather some supplies and meet back here in an hour.”

Everypony separated to get ready. As they did, Chocolate turned to Blaze and said,

“An adventure to the unknown! I hope somepony remembers to bring snacks.”

Blaze turned to look at his now rainbow-maned pegasus friend and said, frankly,

“I think I'm going to need a bigger notebook for this.”

One hour later, the ponies regrouped as planned, packed and prepared (hopefully) for what lay ahead. They also found, to their surprise, that the parasprite that had been planted in Celestia’s mane had now multiplied into at least a dozen.

“Oops!” said Twilight. “We forgot about this little guy.”

Pinkie sighed wearily.

“I'll go get an accordion,” she said, and trotted off.

Author's Note:

ok so I know this was a short chapter but I didn't' want to bore you with all the backstory stuff, (yes we will learn more as the story goes on about Callista)
Now as for what she looks like well it's my OC, the one you see as my avatar on this account. I should also note that I start classes tomorrow (unless the school realized, you shouldn't' try to drive on ice) so I should be getting on a schedule soon hopefully.

see you next time