Soulbind
“It’s… it’s been denied,” says the first unicorn. Her voice is heavy with hushed disbelief.
The other unicorn simply bows his head sadly.
The pony holding the letter in her magic is quickly passing from disbelief to anger. Look closely and you can see the teeth beginning to grind, the eyes beginning to water. Like her twin, though, she is silent.
The two unicorns don’t move for a good few minutes.
Then, at precisely the same instant, they turn to each other and speak.
“You first.”
“No—”
“Dammit,” the mare growls, “Fine. We fight it. We go to her, in person, and explain. We can convince her. Maybe,—” the last word is spoken by both at the same time.
Without missing a beat, the stallion continues, “—but it’s not about just convincing her. The other rulers need to sign off on it. Princess Twilight is just the first hurdle. It’s Celestia’s laws that prohibit it in the first place,—”
“—I know,” says the mare angrily. “But how can we just give up now? How can we just go on like this? I mean, I…” she pauses. “I know you’re…”
“...tired. Yes. I am. And I know you’re adamant. But can’t you direct that energy elsewhere? We have an answer now.” A pleading tone has entered the stallion’s voice. “Just accept it. Just move on. Don’t let… our destiny poison us.”
They look into each others’ eyes, the light blue mare and the light blue stallion, there in the little cottage. Look at them closely. See their manes of striped grey and black, their deep sapphire eyes, their identical cutie marks of intertwined scrolls.
“You can’t expect me to listen to that,” the mare responds finally. “I know what you’re feeling. Deep down you’re angry, too.”
“And deep down you’re tired of this,” he shoots back. “You remember what they said. Embracing your destiny is scary sometimes but it’s what Harmony wants—”
“Fuck what Harmony wants!” The mare shouts, wheeling around to pace, glaring away from her twin. “This isn’t destiny, it’s a curse! I want my own life and so do you!”
“We’re having the same conversation over again. Getting our own lives was never on the table. This was a last-ditch compromise that I’m not even sure we wanted.”
“I want it,” she growls, “and so you do too. Stop fucking lying to my face when you know it’s more pointless than lying to yourself. No more philosophy. Our mind is made up. You just want to be defeatist about it because you think—”
“—it’ll be easier,” he says wearily. “It will. If we constantly resent each other our life will be hell. If we accept this and move on it might not. Even if it takes a while.”
The mare gazes at him from across the cottage’s little kitchen area. He hasn’t moved. For another few moments, they say nothing. Then both relent.
“Fine. We petition her in person, but if it doesn’t work we move on.”
Both ponies nod. Together they leave the cottage without another glance.
* * *
“I understand your distress,” Princess Twilight begins, after listening for a while.
The twins look at each other for a split second. She doesn’t, of course.
“...but the law is clear. This is forbidden magic. Some would consider it dark magic.”
“Hah,” says Princess Luna from beside her. Twilight shoots her a glance.
“We understand the spell,” the mare says bluntly. “We studied it as far as we could. We thought about trying to cast it ourselves, illegality be damned. We need it, Princess.”
“I don’t think you do,” Twilight insists. “Haven’t your therapy sessions been going well? Doctor Path tells me—”
“Therapy isn’t working,” the twins say together. “We’re too… individualistic,” the stallion continues. “Which is obviously unusual in ponies with our… condition. We’re convinced this is the best option.”
“Art thou truly?” Princess Luna asks. “I sense conflict in you, young one.”
The mare snorts derisively. “There’s a shock,” she says, ignoring her brother’s warning glare. “We’re one mind in two parts. Two souls intertwined. But our instincts are always at odds. We think the same things, feel the same things, but… differently. Always. Of course we’re conflicted; we’re always conflicted. But not deep down. We wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
The stallion nods along with her words, still showing some anxiety at his sister’s bluntness. Princess Luna doesn’t look hurt or reproachful, however; merely thoughtful.
Twilight sighs. “The ‘soulbind’ spell is too big an unknown. There’s no way to study it apart from casting it. And that, as you know, is illegal. It’s technically murder. Even if it weren’t forbidden magic by nature.”
“I have heard all that I must,” says Luna suddenly. “I see no reason not to allow two to become one. One mind, one soul, one body, as a pony should be.”
“It’s—”
“Nay, Twilight, dark magic it isn’t. Nor is it the magic of Chaos. I know enough of both. This is simply… rectification for a mistake of birth.”
“No,” Twilight says forcefully. “These ponies’ births were not a mistake. It’s a wonderful Harmony when two souls are so—”
The mare interrupts by loudly snorting again; the stallion just sighs. Twilight looks at them searchingly. “You’ve said yourselves you’re individualistic. How can you want this?”
They think for a moment.
“We were happy as foals.”
They stare down at the table.
“But now? We can’t be separate, or together. We can’t share our destiny. There’s too much conflict. We drive each other insane, pulling in different directions. But when we’re apart, it hurts. We can’t even live in different houses. It’s like having half a mind. Half a soul. If we were one pony, the suffering would stop. We could finally be an individual. We could be the best of both of us.”
Both ponies bring their eyes up to meet the young alicorn’s.
“We’d finally be free.”
There’s silence in the room.
Luna looks to Twilight.
Twilight takes a breath before she speaks.
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Yeah, sorry. This would be better if you had bothered to give it an end, not just leave it hanging. Though I have a very strong hate of Celestia in this. I blame her for the law.
It also gives me an idea. Harmonic twins does sound like a cool story idea.
I actually like the ambiguous ending, sometimes we don't have to have our hands held through all the narrative. This was a fantastic entry in the contest, good job!
This was thought-provoking. I liked it!
"And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand."
Really enjoyed reading this, and it deserved its spot in the contest! Wonderfully thought-provoking, and I like how much of the confusion and conflict at the beginning of the story was resolved with compromise.
Anyways, good job!
Ambivalent about the ending, but it did keep me excited, although I will say that any sequel idea I come up with about resulting administrative bureaucracy sounds horrendously boring
9815278
if it were expandid on it would be cool
also yes i also hate celestia in this story due to the liklyhood that she is the one who both made the law and if luna, twilight and cadence agreed to let it happen (if flurry isent old enough to have a say yet) celestia would likly not allow it to happen because due to what we have seen of her she would be the hardist one to convince to change her mind
9815751
True. I kind of understand why they won't allow it, since it is kind of murder in way. But it should be a choice whether to go through with it on the part of those who want it.
Not law by some stick up her flank alicorn who thinks she knows best. Luna at least is on their side. Not sure where Cadance would be.
9815895
i think from what we have seen of cadence with her being about love and a past of looking after young she would proberbly be apposed at first but if sat down with and explaned to the reason from them as to why they want to do it she would proberbly be reluctent but agree
9815325
9815304
Means a lot lads, thank you!!
A fascinating concept, though barely scratching the surface of it. What exactly do the twins do besides imperfectly resonate with one another? What family and friends do they have? Has either attempted to pursue a relationship?
I suppose I might be missing the point, but as is, this feels more like a hypothetical philosophical dilemma than a story in its own right. I can appreciate a ponified trolley problem, but it leaves me asking questions about the scenario as a whole.
That said, what's here is a good read. Thank you for it.
9817121
I could expand on it, but I don't have any particular ideas for a story. Considering this was written as a thousand-word challenge I'm happy I was able to produce something that at least made their struggle feel somewhat real despite its lack of content.
My initial idea is that they're talented in spellcraft, like Twilight but more inventive and less powerful. They can only really realise their potential together, though, and they just can't ever seem to make it work.
The problem is that I was very much presenting the idea as "they should become one pony" and I would certainly hope Twilight would concede to their desire. Maybe a story where Celestia says no even though Twi and Luna are on board? Still unsure where the plot would come in. I'll think on it some more.
Thanks for the comments as always
9817202
Given that, excellent job indeed.
I completely missed that this was a thousand-word challenge fic.
Full story plz
9817601
I'm thinking about it.
9817771
stop thinking and start writing
plz
9817782
In the meantime you can read my other stuff. I just posted a new story, Wanderlust, that I wrote in a contest a couple hours ago. Follow me if you want to know when my continuation of Soulbind comes, and remember to leave likes!
Reading this gives me the same anxiety that I get when I think about matters like the death penalty. Not that this is similar, but the decision Twilight must make carries with it such a sense of life-altering finality. And it's even more difficult when some people seem so sure about their answer (i.e. Luna).
This is indeed a thought-provoking idea! Another one of those "discussion piece" type stories so many of us often enjoy.
Personally, just for my two bits on the matter, see no issue if two ponies want to be joined or combined or what have you. They are the only possible victims and neither one sees it as being a victim, and I'm a big believer in having control over one's own body and life. Some may disagree, but that, in a nutshell, is my thought on it. That said, it would raise interesting, possibly even frightening ramifications for society, so perhaps an amibiguous ending was the right way to go on this...