Mindwipe

by Rostok

3

Some Weeks Later

_

Luna and Celestia sat next each other inside the royal chambers, as Shining Armour stood to attention in front of them. Celestia stood and approached Shining, leaving Luna sitting motionless, a look of doubt and fear frozen on her face, that of someone who has stared into an abyss, only to have an abyss stare back.

“Commander, please fill me and my troubled sister in concerning these two ponies brought out of thin air that are causing such trouble. To be frank, something disturbed her to silence in what she saw in their minds. Any more information on them would help enormously.”

“On the magical front, all of the castle mages capable have found no sign of any spells or latent magic in either capable of them to hurt her or her mind, and few have any theories that make sense. The only real news is that the scientists, after days of testing, have managed to isolate alien strains of bacteria. All I can say for certain is they haven't come from Equestria. They also seem to have low levels of tissue damage across their whole bodies, something that is perplexing the doctors to no end.”

“Thank you Commander, bring those two to me. Let us see if we can’t fix this.”

As Shining Armour left, Celestia turned to her sister, still unmoving from her petrified state. No amount of calming or medicine had helped her, leaving her pale and weak. It tore at Celestia's heart, being unable to help her sister like this, unbalancing the harmony of sun and moon, leaving her drained from supporting her sister with her magic. The sun shone ever weaker through the cold winter clouds, as the moon was left dull at night. Something needed to be done, before Luna's power failed altogether.

_

“Bring them in.”

Several guards marched into the Princess’ chambers, bearing the two alien ponies in on stretchers. In deathly silence both were laid down, magically sedated by a medic. As the guards left, Celestia approached them, observing them for the first time. To her, not only the ruler but demi-god of her people, they were alien in more than appearance. They were missing an indescribable part of their being, present to her in all life in Equestria, even Discord himself. Their very presence made her nauseous.

She caressed her magical aura over the head of the one Luna had linked with, sensing her sleeping consciousness and probing for signs of Luna’s influence. At first, all that was visible was overwhelming fear. The trauma of being brought to an alien place and subject to alien beings now manifested itself fully to Celestia, revealing the damage it had done to their minds. “No wonder they are insane,” she mused. Slowly, in the depths of her memories, lying buried like a landmine, was something black and malignant, showing telltale signs of Luna’s entrance. She probed and probed around the dark thoughts trying to access them, sensing for something coherent to latch on to. Hours passed. Eventually, perspiring from the magical strain, she relented, unsuccessful.

_

After a nightmare riddled night, only one option remained to Celestia. Drinking some tea give her energy, she began to delve into Luna’s mind, and view her memories of the event. Like with that of the mare, she was full of fear, yet a different kind of fear, more dread than terror. Peeling back through her sister’s consciousness was a strange sensation, feeling events such as her ascent to Nightmare Moon, and exile on the moon with fresh eyes, only now seeing just how much pain the possession caused her. Eventually, she reached the same dark tumour of knowledge in her mind. Unlike previously, there was no barrier in her way, impeding her progress. Reaching into it, she absorbed what was contained within. Visions flashed in front of her eyes, assailing her-

Comments

[Rostok]

This is really just an interlude chapter for what it is Luna actually saw inside the mind of the alien mare.
Shouldn't be too long now, done part of the next chapter already.