Celli and Lulu’s Strange Situation: The Siren's Call

by ArcticAce01

Episode 2: Sunset on Equestria

Celestia closed her eyes and sighed, putting down the latest letter of petition from some noble asking for a reduction of their own taxes. She turned towards the window of her private study which looked over the skyline of Canterlot, giving her the image of the sun dropping lower towards the horizon line, and her thoughts started drifting to quite a number of years ago.

“Sunset…”The Princess of the Sun muttered to herself with a sigh, the anniversary of that day was just around the corner, much to her dismay.

How long has it been? Ten years? Twenty? Thirty? Perhaps it was longer. Time was a concept that became lost on Celestia due to her own immortality but she never did forget her former student, or the rift that had formed between the two of them as time went on. Things had been said, things had also been left unsaid.

“If only I could go back in time, maybe I could’ve changed things. And maybe, she might still be here…” Celestia said sadly as she looked up towards the sky. And the moment she did, she finally noticed that the sun was no longer in the sky. “Just how long have I been going over these documents?”

“Knowing you, sister, much too long,” a voice echoed in the hall behind her.

Celestia turned her head over and saw her younger sister, Luna, coming over towards her. “Oh, hello Luna. It’s time to swap, isn’t it?”

Luna nodded her head. “Yes it is, sister.” She noticed the look on Celestia's face. “You were thinking about her, weren’t you?”

Celestia stood quietly for a moment, then nodded her head. Luna felt saddened from her sister’s expression. “Celestia, you can’t blame yourself for what happened that day.”

“I know. What happened to her was beyond me.” Celestia sighed and returned her gaze to the sky above, which was now dark blue. “But I could’ve stopped it. If I had paid more attention to the needs of my students, maybe things could’ve been different.”

Luna placed one wing over Celestia's back in a comforting gesture, "Listen, Celi, nothing can change by dwelling on what you could or should have done," she said as she joined her sister’s stony gaze out the window. "We should both know that better than most after all we've both been through." A small smile appeared on Luna's face, showing both a mix of happiness at where they were now, and regret of what she had done in the past. But thanks to Twilight and her friends, all of that was now but a distant memory of times she wished could be forgotten forever. They were sisters again, better than ever, and that was what mattered to Luna.

Celestia held firmly to the times she and her sister had in the old days, good, bad and current. Celestia looked up, rubbing her head against one of her sister’s wings. “Yes, you’re right Luna.”

“Well, of course I'm right.” Luna smiled, swelling with pride. ”Have I ever been wrong?” She smirked only to see her sister giving her a half lidded stare. “On second thought don’t answer that.”

Celestia shook her head, having a small smile and laugh. Despite some arguments they had, she could always count on Luna to cheer her up whenever she felt down.

“Are you going to miss this?” Luna tapped a hoof on the windowsill. “Raising and lowering the sun? Once Twilight takes over, we’ll be out of our jobs.”

Celestia grinned at the rising bulbous white shape in the sky and nodded. “I would. But I wouldn’t mind kicking back and living somewhere along the western coast. I certainly wouldn’t miss our queenly duties with the guards and nobles.”

Luna chuckled as she finished raising the moon. “Perhaps, maybe it’s time to find a special somepony to be with as well, Celi.” She gave her a playful wink.

“You’re one to talk, Luna.” Celestia shoved her with a wing.

They would’ve probably escalated the gestures, but a knock of a hoof at the door drew their attention back to their roles as rulers for the time being.

“Your majesties…” A guard coughed and saluted them. “You’re wanted in the tower. It seems the…” He scratched his right ear. “The mirror there, there’s something going on.”

“The mirror?” Both sisters locked eyes as Celestia’s thoughts drifted back to that magical thing she had locked away from the public eye. That was the object through which Sunset Shimmer had disappeared all those years ago.

They wasted no time in getting there, leaving the guard in their wake as they took flight through one of the windows, soaring high towards the tower. This was where Celestia had locked away forgotten artifacts and magical crafts, but she had made the mistake of telling Sunset about it when she was still a pupil here; that mistake had cost her her best student at the time.

They arrived at the tower in a beat and they could already see why the guard on watch had come to summon them. The surface of the glass was shimmering, almost like it was a startled pool of water. Red rays of light were cutting through the darkness, bleeding against the furniture in the room as they danced around, erratic and random.

Something was going on in the other world, something that filled their hearts with unease.

“Magic. Somepony inside is tampering with magic,” Luna said, shaking her sister with a hoof. “But how? There isn’t supposed to be magic in that world.”

“Perhaps our and Star Swirl’s earlier assessments on this world were wrong.” Celestia kept her steely gaze on the rippling mirror. “But this is unlike any magic I know.”

“What are we going to do?” Luna said, concerned. “Who knows what could happen if this keeps up. There’s no telling what power this could be.”

Celestia’s gaze didn’t break from the portal as Luna’s words buzzed through her ears. Even though this phenomenon was unknown to her, there could be potential danger if she left this unchecked. “We must investigate this… We have to go through the mirror.”

Luna looked a little stunned at this statement.

“But Celi…” Luna began, but Celestia cut her off.

“We have to Lulu. If we don’t check it out and it turns out to be serious, this could spell danger for both worlds…” she said. “And, on the chances of this being Equestrian Magic, we must make sure that it isn’t from something or somepony dangerous.”

Luna still felt a bit unsure. But she knew her sister was right. Even though they didn’t know what was happening, it could still be dangerous for not only Equestria but for the other world too. “It might be dangerous, Celi.”

“Maybe, but we have faced many dangers before in our time.” Celestia mentioned. “And, as long we’re together, we can do it again.” She ended this with a reassuring smile. “One last adventure before we throw in the towel.”

Luna looked on as the mirror’s surface continued to pulse and warp as more red light began to surge in, piercing through the dark room of the tower. “Very well. One last adventure. Together.”

Celestia nodded, then started penning down something on a scroll, which appeared before their faces. “I’ll have to leave instructions while we’re gone. We don’t want Equestria to be left without a leader.”

Luna watched his sister’s quill scale across the note. “At least Twilight and her friends will be able to handle any threat while we’re gone. They’ve protected Equestria from more dangers than we have.”

Celestia flashed her a wide grin. “That’s because we normally leave it to them. How often have you seen us dealing with magical threats?”

“True…” Luna chuckled as Celestia folded up her scroll.

With a whiff of magic, the scroll vanished in a puff, sent to the royal guards as she dusted her wings together. “Shall we, Lulu?”

Luna took a deep breath in. “We better. Before I change my mind.”

“Here goes nothing. Let’s see what Star Swirl’s world has to offer.” Celestia stuck a hoof in, then threw the rest of her body in after it.

After her sister walked through the mirror, she soon followed suit, placing her hoof in. “I hope this world isn’t too dangerous. But, I can’t help but worry about what’s to come.”

With one last huff, Luna disappeared through the mirror, which shimmered and bounced as though it was made of jelly, settling once the two of them were long gone.

Thus, the royal sisters’ journey to save both worlds was about to begin, but little did they know, this was the start of a really bizarre adventure for them both. They didn’t know it then, but magic was already working through their bodies as they twisted and morphed, turning into something else entirely and behind them was their magic leaving their bodies, becoming something more ethereal, something more… bizarre.