#277

by Unwhole Hole

Chapter 9: Seeing the Table

Cake was a mistake. Celestia had no idea why. After all, it was simulated cake. That meant she could eat as much as she wanted and never get fat. Unless, somehow, she could get simulated fat.

Except that the sickness was not a simulation. Celestia’s stomach felt as though she had eaten an entire pile of changelings, and they were trying to find the fastest way out. It was not a nice feeling in the slightest.

She decided to take a nap and, upon waking up, found that it was night. Luna was no doubt doing night things, as per usual, and Celestia, now no longer tired or hungry, elected to take a short walk. A simulated walk.

She trotted briskly through the crystal castle, shivering slightly at how chilly it had become at night. As she did, she contemplated what she now knew, and came to several interesting conclusions.

If the world was, in fact, a simulation, then it was not real—and knowing that fact had allowed Celestia to focus her mind somewhat more on pieces that she had formerly dismissed as growing madness. The fact that the simulation was really just a shell, with something beneath it.

Celestia did not understand what it was, and she could not see it. Rather, she felt it on an instinctual level. A thought that there was something there, beneath everything else. A different set of rules. As if Ponyville and Equestria by extension were a beautiful model, one she cherished greatly but that was in fact set on an ornate mahogany table. A table that Celestia was mostly sure she might be able to shake if she tried.

She paused, coming to a stop, and listened. The castle was overall silent, save for the quiet and peaceful breeze outside—but that silence was just an illusion. Celestia instead listened deeper, and found she could hear voices.

She turned her head, trying to triangulate where exactly where they were. Then she decided to try something.

Taking a breath, Celestia focused her mind, rejecting her surroundings and instead focusing on the table beneath them. She could not see it or feel it, but comprehended it’s overall shape. It’s nature, it’s texture, and the life flowing through it.

Then she moved. Taking a step forward and out of her own possition, she drifted, passing through a wall and through something altogether less wall-like. She moved through the unseen ether of her world, herself an unseen thing without body or embodiment.

Then she broke through, still unseen, into a wide room. One with high ceilings of ornate arches forming strange vaults painted in brick-red and white, a room filled with shelves of fine dark-colored wood and comfortable furniture. A room lit almost exclusively from a fireplace that was filled with strange, silent fire that moved oddly slowly, almost like a liquid.

“You’re going to stand there and tell me you didn’t do anything wrong?” snapped Virginia, poking the logs in the fire and watching them crawl away from her jabbing. She turned sharply, facing Yelizaveta. Yelizaveta stared back, her expression hardened and emotionless.

“I did my job.”

“You lied to me! You said you could take one hit!”

Yelizaveta shrugged. “I thought I could. I must have miscalculated.”

“No! You don’t make mistakes like that! Celestia is proof of that, she wouldn’t be here without you! I wouldn’t be here without you!” Virginia stepped forward, her eyes welling with tears through her anger. This seemed to surprise Yelizaveta greatly. “You forced me to sacrifice you!”

“The princess is all that matters. You know that. There was no other way. She would have cascaded if the damage to the simulation continued much longer. She needs it to survive.”

“So, what? You leave me all alone and, what? Your soul gets to go to heaven and everything is A-okay? Do you really have that much confidence in your ridiculous religion? It was bad enough you took the Starlight body, the psychological strain must have torn you apart—”

Yelizaveta scowled. “If that is God’s will and if I am in sight of Kristus’s mercy. It is not ridiculous. It is TRUTH. And in time, you would join me in heaven—”

“YEL! We don’t have SOULS! We’re PONIES!”

Yelizaveta sighed. “If that is your opinion, I’m sure you will be pleasantly surprised one day.”

“This isn’t about THAT!” Virginia kicked a chair, hard, and it did nothing but move slightly. Even in her disembodied form, Celestia winced.

Virginia’s eyes widened and she let out a yelp, jumping back and holding the hoof. “Ow ow ow why are my chairs so dang HARD?!”

“You can finish the project without me,” said Yelizaveta. “I have faith in you, Virginia.”

“Is that what you think this is about?”

Yelizaveta frowned. “Of course?”

“Ugh,” groaned Virginia, angrily. “Three hundred years older than me and you’re still this THICK? It isn’t about the project!”

Yelizaveta’s expression changed. Of course she knew. “Then what?”

Virginia fell silent, and looked away. She paused for a long time, and Celsetia held her breath, hoping that her little Twilight had the courage to say it.

Then, as if feeling Celestia’s hope, Virginia turned back to Yelizaveta, tears streaming down her face. She smiled. “I was so scared, Yelizaveta. Because I thought I lost you. I could have finished the project but...I don’t think I could have gone on living. Not all alone. Not without...you.”

An expression of realization crossed Yelizaveta’s face, and she perceptibly blushed. “Woolf, I...”

“I know,” sighed Virginia. “You don’t feel the same. But I had to say it. Seeing you laying there like that...” She shook her head. “This is going to get worse before it gets better, and more than anything I’m afraid you’d never know—”

Yelizaveta moved forward, turning her head and kissing Virginia. Virginia’s eyes widened, confused, and Celestia almost cheered—as distributing as it was watching her faithful student kissing herself.

“Yel—I—but—”

“I have been waiting a long time to hear that. I...well, I’m a Twilight too. These things are hard for us to say, aren’t they? Even for me.”

Virginia was pushed onto her back on the plush carpet. She squeaked and her wings extended fully, ejecting several violet feathers. Yelizaveta flapped her wings as well and leaned down, gently biting her counterpart’s neck.

“Yel, I—I’ve never—with anyone—”

“Oh, my innocent little bud...I’ll be gentle, if it’s what you want. If this is what you want.”

Virginia grasped Yelizaveta’s neck, and their eyes met. “Yes. More than anything.”

Celestia continued to watch as they descended into a writhing mass of wings, kissing, rolling, and aggressive snuggling. She was not quite sure what she was seeing, but was certainly glad to be watching—until she felt something pulling on her.

She was quickly pulled back to her body, and she shuddered violently, realizing that it had mostly gone asleep in her absence. Luna was standing beside her, giving her an extremely disapproving look.

“Sister. Perhaps we should give them some privacy? This is a thing that has been many years in the waiting. It is rude to watch.”

“Right, right...” Celestia looked back at the wall, finding that she could not find the channel back to where she was. “I feel...good for them. Happy. Even though I guess I really don’t know them all that well.”

“They are still Twilight, aren’t they?”

Celestia smiled. “I guess that’s one way to look at it.”

The two of them began to walk.

“I was thinking,” began Celestia.

“If it concerns you proposing the mechanics of two ponies sharing a moment of peace despite utterly lacking secondary anatomical features, I would rather not know.”

Celestia paused. “Well, I wasn’t thinking that...” She looked over her shoulder. “But now that you mention it...”

“A form of mental coalescence. We will leave it at that.”

“Can I do that?”

“Not with me you can’t.”

“Eew, Luna!” Celestia lightly shoved her sister. Luna easily dodged, almost causing Celestia to fall over, catching her sister in her magic and smiling.

“Too much cake makes you slow, sister.”

Celestia laughed. “It’s not my fault! You’re too short for me to reach!”

“Thine mother is short.”

“We’re sisters, we have the same—” Celestia frowned, and stopped walking.

“Sister?”

“That’s...actually something I was going to ask about.”

Luna cocked her head. “Go on.”

“My memories,” she said. “No matter how hard I try, I can’t remember anything. About the real world. About who I was. If I had friends there, or a family...or a mother. I just can’t. I was wondering if you could...well, frankly, if you could tell me what it’s like out there.”

Luna frowned, and then slowly shook her head.

“Why not?”

“Because exposing you to excessive information about the outside world can be critically dangerous in your current state.”

“State?”

“You are psychologically fragile. That is the main issue here, what we are seeking to fix. Your body is still in excellent condition, or can be healed with relative ease. But your mind is tenuous and fading.”

“A Cartesian split. Is my pineal gland broken?”

“You could say that. Regardless. It may sound ironic, but your lack of memories means you have no buffer to protect you from an overload that could very well kill you. We have to be very, very careful. So I am afraid I cannot tell you much about what is out there. I am...” Luna paused, then looked down at the tile floor. “...too afraid.”

Celestia hugged her sister. “I understand,” she said. “I guess I just have to be patient, don’t I?”

“Yes, dear sister. Just a little longer, and everything will be fine. For all of us.”

Celestia released Luna, and they continued. “Where are we going?” asked Celestia.

“Trixie will be attending your examination today.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Trixie? Are you sure that’s...safe?”

“I assure you, it is. Trixie has in fact overseen the majority of your treatment. She is highly able.”

Luna opened a door, revealing Trixie rolling silently on the floor, clutching her throat and turning even more blue. Luna groaned and surrounded Trixie with her magic, squeezing her with incredible force until, with a squeak, the apples came out.

“GAH!” gasped Trixie. “Why do these apples not fit inside Trixie?!”

“She is your problem now,” said Luna, passing Trixie to Celestia’s magic. “I need...a nap. Have fun, dear sister. Tea will be ready for you when you get out.”

Celestia held Trixie. Trixie, realizing she was floating, cried out. “GAH! Too high! Bad upsies!” she began to instinctively paddle, and Celestia sighed. At least her day was going to be amusing, at least. Hopefully.

Comments

[ponepony]

“YEL! We don’t have SOULS! We’re PONIES!”

derpicdn.net/img/view/2019/9/28/2155406.png

[Skulljack17]

Oh no I just realized the pun of Virginia's name with her last one!