Morbid Curiosity

by Virtual Words

First published 1st of December, 2013

Celestia knew that Twilight lacked most morals, when knowledge was on the table. Wrestling with herself after discovering Twilight is happily cutting bodies up, she calls into question her own moral groundings.

A grimdark-ish fic revolving around Twilight's discovery of anatomy through unusual means. Mostly by taking ponies apart. She doesn't kill because she can - she kills because she wants to understand.
Following both Twilight and Celestia's perspectives at different times.

Special Thanks to my proof reader Sky66. This story would be in writing shambles without you.

Incident

Twilight dashed around ecstatically, making somewhat crude drawings but with annotations far beyond her age. She was so happy, knowing that the Princess would approve of her seeking out knowledge. She looked out her own drawings, displeased with her utensils. While a quill would have been better, she decided that crayon would do for now. She dashed around her object of study, darting back and forth to get a good angle for her diagrams. Where had she left that spare parchment...?

Celestia didn't like the idea of it, but she had to perform her own investigations into these things, but for the sake of rumors she had to keep something this odd under her metaphorical hat. If things like this got out, Canterlot would fall into panic. She made her way down the Canterlot royal hospital into the morgue. It certainly smelled as the reports described, but nothing could prepare her for what she'd find in the freezer.

The young Twilight was unsure of what was coming down the stairs to greet her, but she didn't care. The notes she had made would impress anypony! It wasn't as if she'd made any mistakes...

Celestia was able to stomach the sight of mutilation, she had a stronger constitution than most, but what really got to her was the smell. Visions could be blocked from the mind, but the smell was what truly engraved a memory into the brain. The freezer was lit up like a winter tree... this was either a complete psycho, who didn't care about being caught, or it was a fool. But it wasn't a fool. The perpetrator was the single most intelligent filly she had ever met.

***

"Princess, Princess!" Twilight cried, immediately running over to Celestia, almost tripping over herself in the process. "Princess, look what I did!" Twilight said, proud of herself and brandishing a few of her drawings. Celestia simply stared over Twilight's head, her mouth slightly agape. She just... stared.

Celestia's entire body went numb. How could Twilight do this? Celestia's entire mind was cannibalizing it's own thoughts to try and justify what she was seeing. A young beaming Twilight looking so happily up at her, her drawings scattered haphazardly at her hooves. Then, on the table, was a completely cut up young stallion, hospital utensils covered in blood put haphazardly around the body... if you could call it that any more. Twilight had just butchered a dead body, with a sound mind and an intent to do so; this was by all means a crime. Surely, surely she didn't know it was wrong, she just wasn't old enough. "Yes, yes, it's fine" Celestia told herself. "She just saw this as the best way to learn. I... I can sweep this under the rug. It's just a one-off, a; a..."

Twilight was slightly puzzled by Celestia's stance. Staring? What was she staring at? Her "project"? Maybe she was interested in how she'd got such good notes. Celestia spoke slowly, stuttering a little. "It's... not..." Celestia put out one of her wings and hugged Twilight with it. "You're not supposed to be down here Twilight..." Celestia said, already beginning to lead Twilight out of the freezer.
"Did you not like my notes?" Twilight asked, concerned for her anatomy grade. "No, no Twilight, they were good," Celestia responded, still not blinking and staring straight ahead. She was going to have one hell of a night trying to clean this up.

*3 Years Later*

Twilight was rushing around her room. Exams were today: Physics, Cosmology and... Anatomy. "Anatomy, anatomy..." Twilight muttered to herself, searching through her drawers to find any notes she had on the subject. Last 5 years would do fine. She emptied the drawer onto her desk, and immediately began flicking through her old studies to jog her memory of Pony physiology. 1 year ago, a few copied textbooks... 2 years ago, a few quick thought exercises on the circulatory system... 3 years ago, some diagra... diagrams? Twilight brushed other papers off her desk and studied the diagrams in more detail. Her drawings had improved markedly since then, but Twilight took quiet pride in her annotations, especially at that age. What was she, 7? Well, she was 10 now, and could definitely make more detailed jots on her pad than this. In fact... which text book had this been from? Twilight scanned the various A5 pages, looking for a sign of where she got the information from. After a few brief minutes, mostly being distracted by her own fascinating work (even if she wouldn't admit it to herself), Twilight found a small printed text at the bottom of one of the notes: "Canterlot Royal Hospital". Ah, yes, it all came flooding back to her now. The cold, the stencils, the excitement at all the possibilities she could discover from just a few small incisions... it made her scientific senses tingle just thinking about it. Twilight glanced at the clock - 6:30. She could definitely make a trip to the hospital. Getting into the morgue was going to be a little more difficult, but Twilight was confident in her ability to be able to walk in there without questions. She was the star pupil of the school after all, and nopony would question her reasons for being down there.

Then again, wasn't there some sort of law against doing things to dead bodies? Twilight hadn't taken law (Celestia had said it wouldn't interest Twilight's logical mind) and she had done it before without getting in trouble. Celestia herself had seen the fruits of Twilight's trip to the freezer. "But, wouldn't that look a little odd?" Twilight asked herself. Sometimes, when she did things that others saw as odd, they got angry. Perhaps it were those "morals" Celestia had talked to her about. Morals had never made much sense to Twilight. Why should our perceptions of right and wrong stop people doing what they want? But, Celestia had insisted she stick to some social norms. Some. That was the word Celestia had used. "Well," thought Twilight, "I guess this is one of those times."

***

Twilight stared at the large selection of corpses laid out before her. Her younger self had picked one at random, and was lucky to have gotten such a good sample. But now, wiser for years of teaching, Twilight surveyed each option carefully. She had to consider many things - quality of the body, what injuries or diseases they had sustained, gender, build - so many choices. If she'd had the time, Twilight would have dissected all of them. Alas, needs must thought Twilight. The older specimens had been ruled out - as the body got older, it shriveled. As did those with terminal illnesses that made their bodies die sooner than they should. Large injuries could spoil her study of that part of the body, so gruesome deaths were off the table. That left... 3 subjects. All younger, but adult, 2 females and a male. Middling build, average but varying height. Twilight concluded all of them would suit her purposes fine, and so took the mare whom was slightly shorter than the other. Twilight quickly looked around for her instruments, taking in her surroundings. The entire room was sterile white, the colour adding to the coldness that surrounded Twilight. The floor was a symmetrical tiling, which pleased Twilight's logically based aesthetics. Every tile and body in the room had a place, and so did... ah, there they were. Twilight levitated the entire tray of implements toward her, and examined each of them in detail. "Property of Canterlot Coroner" Twilight read aloud to herself. Well, whomever the Coroner was, they were missing out. "Imagine all the discoveries they're missing out on!" Twilight thought to herself, genuinely disappointed at her lack of a captivated audience. She wanted nothing more than to share her knowledge.

"Well, what's your choice going to be tonight Miss Sparkle?" Twilight asked herself in a mock-up voice of Celestia's. She'd liked Celestia to be here, to see the extent to which she conducted herself... but no matter. Celestia would be able to see the results of Twilight's research.

Each of the tools had a specific purpose - getting through bone, ligament, tissue, poking around the insides. Twilight knew she could make decent use of the scalpel, and so took it with her magic, placing the tray and rest of the utensils gently on the ground by her hooves. Twilight made a quick incision into the left fore-hoof, more to test the instrument rather than of any actual desire to use it effectively. She had another fore hoof to test after all. The scalpel worked just as intended - the flesh slid open with what Twilight thought was a rather satisfying release of force after getting through the initial skin. Twilight, satisfied with the condition of her instrument, set to work.

A complete artist with the scalpel, Twilight took apart the body as if she had been doing it for years. Single incisions along the flesh, and never apply to much pressure to the neck of the tool. First, off came the fore-hooves' protective layer. Next, twilight would use a ply to keep the flap she had created open while she looked inside and sketched what she could see. Another tool to poke around inside and follow where things went, then add that to the sketch. This preamble was all well and good to Twilight, but she knew where the real interesting things of the body lay - the stomach. Most would have thought the smell of exposed organs repulsive, but Twilight took solace in the smell - to her, it was the smell of discovery. Two long slices around the belly, or a single opener down the chest? Twilight was giddy with all the things she could do. Provided she was allowed, she'd like to come back here and do things differently. For now, Twilight had to be decisive. "Open the chest," she thought. "I'll see more of the basic things that way". Twilight did as she envisioned, and soon enough she was digging through entrails, cutting some of them open and seeing what each of them were connected to. She made sketches of each and every one from as many angles as she could, and made mental notes to compare them with actual pictures when she got back to see if she was right about what organs did what. Until then, she was in her element.
Being especially careful to put everything back in it's rightful place, Twilight placed the body back into it's locker, picked up her notes and strolled right out the front door. It had been a productive morning, she decided, and she deserved to have a half hour of fun. What would she do, the whole of Canterlot before her. Taking a quick look over her shoulder, back at the door to the morgue, Twilight knew what she really wanted to do for fun.

Questions

"These results are... astounding Twilight!" Celestia said, overlooking Twilight's end of term test on anatomy. "You excel in this subject!" Celestia exclaimed, comparing it to Twilight's other tests.

"I just found a study routine that works for me." Twilight replied.

"Well, whatever it is, keep doing it if it'll give results like this!" Twilight beamed at her mentor, and her mind whizzed in a thousand directions at her newly given permission. "Thank you Princess." Twilight said humbly, bowing as she did. "I'll be sure to keep studying regularly," Twilight added.

Making her way out of school, Twilight considered the green light she had been given. If all of her studies were going to be as fruitful and as fun as last time, she'd make her trips to the Canterlot morgue a regular event. Twilight hoped she'd get to do that - being around the dead gave her a sense of serenity - not the hustle and bustle of those that still drew breath. There were no morals for the dead, no stupid laws getting in her way. The dead seemed a lot simpler to be around; if her classmates were anything to go on, they'd make for better conversationalists for Twilight too.

Celestia looked over the various crimes committed over the past month. Equestria was mostly a peaceful kingdom, but Celestia still had to sweep some of the more violent things under the rug. She dealt with what needed to be dealt with, then put any case notes into an archive. Very few were aware the archive even existed; Celestia had found this system was the most effective at keeping crime low - knowing the laws existed, but not knowing anypony broke them on a regular basis tranquilized the population. It was odd, but one could not argue with results.

Her desk was occupied only by the list - it had already been separated into sections. Celestia gazed at the "Low Priority" crimes - petty theft, trespassing, anti-social behavior. For the most part this list was cut at a certain point, and whatever crimes were there were left to see whomever wanted to see them.

The "Medium Priority" listed some of the more serious crimes - breaking and entering, threatening assault, small wounding. Celestia already had some crimes she picked out of this list by default, and after the objectionable had been picked out, the list was once again shortened and sent into the world, though under higher security.

Then, there was the "High Priority". This list was fairly short - Equestria was a peaceful society, overall - but the crimes here were the most serious. Murder, grievous harm, rape. The scum of society Celestia "cleaned up" on a weekly basis. Celestia made her notes next to the crime and the details of them - death, secret and jailed for life, and "personal". Celestia used the former two for most, and the latter for anything she objected to; or occasionally because she needed to work out some frustration on one who deserved it. Either way, anybody in the High Priority sector would never see the light of day again.

What had happened this month? 2 rapes, a murder, 4 counts of grievous harm (1 of which was rather gory - that got the "personal" tag) and... a mutilation? Celestia's brow furrowed slightly. Mutilation hadn't occurred in over a decade, minus the incident 3 years ago. Celestia forced the incident from her mind - not even the archive had mention of that in it. She focused on the notes -

"Body found in Canterlot Hospital with stomach cut open and organs mutilated. Scene clear of blood, but funeral will have to be closed casket. Found by county coroner - second time discovering mutilation. Considering conversion or extermination if the repression therapy fails this time.
Perpetrator of Crime - Unknown"

"Unknown" Celestia mused. Odd. Being an arm of the crown, the police force of Equestria had practically unlimited funding. Whomever the perpetrator was, they were a criminal mastermind or on the inside.
"The inside..." Celestia muttered. "Oh no..."

Twilight sat under the statue of Celestia in the Canterlot gardens, simply observing the world. Ponies walked past Twilight, muttering in their cliques. It was good to have some free time on the weekends, able to interact with the world outside the walls of her school. But, Twilight's mind wasn't seeing any ponies - she was seeing containers. Inside them, there was discovery. On the outside, there were droning husks of energy pottering about their useless existence. Twilight considered taking one of them to a secluded location, and showing them all she had learned...

Celestia found her target... no. Twilight was not a target. She wasn't a criminal. She was a foal - a morally ambiguous one, but likely just a naive one. Celestia sat next to her pupil, and took in the scene. Green grass, a warm sun, but kept cool by the shady spot Twilight had picked out. All in all, a very beautiful day.

"Luna would have loved this," Celestia said warmly, staring at the almost cloudless sky as she did so.

"Your Sister?" Twilight asked, looking at Celestia and recalling the story. Celestia nodded, the smile etched into her face betraying the solemnness with which her actions were performed. "What happened to her?" Twilight asked, looking back to stare at the surrounding area.

Celestia thought for a moment - Luna had been banished to the moon after turning into Nightmare Moon. Luna herself was still somewhere in that monster of a mare, and Celestia would remember her sister as she was; not as what her jealousy had turned her into.

"She... went away." Celestia said, feeling a pang of sadness at the seeds of truth in her lie. "I'm not sure when she's going to be back," Celestia noted, partly because she anticipated Twilight's next question, but also because she felt that saying the words aloud may help her console the guilt she still had.

Celestia and Twilight sat in silence for some time, both simply enjoying the day. While Twilight was considering how best to extract spinal fluid from the athlete doing laps nearby, Celestia contemplated how she was going... "no, not how, if" Celestia kept reminding herself - if she was going to spare Twilight the wrath of the justice system. In Twilight, Celestia saw all the good that could come of somepony - a keen mind, an inquisitive nature, and always wishing to out do themselves, no matter their destiny. But, she also could see beneath Twilight's eyes into the darkness of her soul - the lack of a moral compass, the fascination with taboos, the inquisitiveness stretched to an extreme. With all these things combined, Twilight's future was uncertain. A force for good, a symbol of hope that Celestia could pass her torch - or another Nightmare, one which Celestia had to take more extreme measures with.

"Twilight..." Celestia began, "What have you done over the week?" Celestia asked. Her pause was cause for concern, but the question was innocent enough. It was the response that Celestia would become nervous over. "Studying," Twilight replied flatly.

"How?" Celestia asked, a little firmer than intended. The young Twilight tensed a little, barely noticeable to even Celestia, and completely subconscious for Twilight.
"Practical Studies and Experimentation" Twilight responded, recalling the phrase used in her science class. Celestia had confirmation. Twilight often delved into specifics with an almost unnatural sense of recall; now she gave a vague answer, deliberately avoiding talking more than was necessary.
"Where?" Celestia asked, taking special care to make the question seem as casual as possible. A little too casual - Twilight looked over to face her mentor, rather than losing herself to the scene as she had been previously doing. There was a moment of silence, as soundless words were exchanged. Both knew the other had caught them out.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Twilight asked.
"So you know full well what you did was wrong?" Celestia retorted. Twilight locked eyes with her mentor; now the investigation had become a battle of wills.
"Yes," Twilight responded. "Under your rules." She swiftly added.
"Great," Celestia thought to herself "There goes the insanity defense."
"So... why?" Celestia asked, unsure of whom she was asking the question to. Twilight for her actions, or herself for even considering letting Twilight off the hook once more. Twilight was silent once more. "Do you not know?" Celestia suggested, attempting to egg Twilight into responding to her questions. What in Equestria was going on in that head of hers?
"If I told you... you wouldn't be mad?" Twilight asked, her ears flopping down to rest beside her head, and her entire stature seeming to shrink a little. The filly looked like one who had been caught with their hoof in the cookie jar, not one who had recently performed a heinous crime.

Celestia considered her next response very carefully. Any way she answered, she'd be a liar. "I'd be... disappointed," Celestia finally sputtered out. This was the truth, though not the whole of it. Twilight seemed to face the floor and become very absorbed in the playing with of the ground beneath her. "I did it to impress you," Twilight muttered after a time.

Celestia shut her eyes and let out a quiet but deep sigh. Of all the answers in the world, why did Twilight have to give that one?

Reactions

Celestia, despite herself, felt compelled to embrace the foal as she had 3 years ago. "I wanted to show you I could take initiative, and do things by myself,” Twilight stuttered out. Celestia was completely silent. She knew, to an extent, Twilight was right. The dissection had helped Twilight’s grade improve at a far greater rate than any actual lessons or books.

Once again, the two sat in the shade, unsure of how to respond to each other. Twilight thought back to her other lessons – Celestia always asked Twilight to show her working. “Perhaps Celestia would be less angry if she knew how I did it…” Twilight thought to herself. Twilight looked up a Celestia, and opened her mouth to speak; but no words came out.

Celestia looked at her pupil with eyes full of sorrow, but also with flashes of understanding. This was replaced every so often with disappointment, as if the Princess was locked inside her mind, trying to figure out how she felt. “Speak, Twilight,” Celestia told Twilight, the same way she had every other time Twilight was nervous to speak of something or for little misdemeanors, like sneaking into the Canterlot library after hours. For a reason she didn’t understand, Twilight felt only more nervous at the usual reaction to this unusual situation. But, Celestia’s voice was calming to Twilight, and eventually she spoke. “I can show you… if you’d like…” Twilight offered, barely audible even to Celestia.

Celestia was taken aback by this statement. It was completely preposterous; she should have Twilight taken into custody on the spot! But, there was something about Twilight Celestia couldn’t put her hoof on… some sort of morbid curiosity about how her mind worked. Celestia too had been thirsty for knowledge at Twilight’s age, and enjoyed examining all sorts of oddities even now. Twilight’s mind worked like no other – a cold killer wouldn’t show remorse or embarrassment at being confronted, but no student does something that sadistic. Every single part of Celestia’s being was screaming at her to end the story here – to take Twilight in and let the measures of the law take their course. Alas, she couldn’t.

Celestia very slowly nodded her head. It was as if the very muscles in her neck were refusing to perform the action. “Show me, Twilight. Let me see how you work,” Celestia said, standing up along with Twilight. The phrase was more for Celestia to convince herself that this is what she wanted to do than to confirm to Twilight what she had meant.

Twilight skittered a few steps ahead of Celestia, seemingly eager to get to her destination. Celestia was using a technique her mother had taught her to settle conflicts in her mind – have a conversation with yourself. “This is crazy!” Celestia’s mind told her. To differentiate, the part opposed to the idea had taken the voice of Luna, while the arguments for were 'vocalized', so to speak, with Celestia’s own voice. “You are walking willingly into the playground of a criminal!” Luna’s voice echoed through Celestia’s mind.
“No, I’m assessing a situation,” Celestia told herself. “If it is simple scientific curiosity, then it is no different to the scientists through history that gave us the knowledge of the body to begin with,”
“You know that’s a lie,” Luna’s voice recited. “Once is curiosity, something to be disciplined and punished for. Twice is enjoying the act!”
Celestia’s voice was silent while her mind formulated a counter point. “Then I shall discipli - ” Celestia’s voice was cut short by an intruder on her internal argument.

“Princess, we’re here!” Twilight announced, indicating the door leading to the morgue. Celestia could only envision Luna giving her a disapproving look, shaking her head and walking into the mists of Celestia’s thoughts. “Go on then Twilight,” Celestia bid, walking forward slowly in an attempt to get Twilight to move along.

Twilight opened the door, and stared down the tiled stairs leading into the freezer. Celestia breathed deeply, attempting to calm her nerves, before following Twilight down.

The place had evidently been sterilized since the body had been discovered – the smell was now that of various cleaning products, and the floor and walls shone with the unnatural gleam of something cleaned far too thoroughly. Even the horizontal lockers the bodies were kept in seemed to shine. The room was still just as cold as previously though.

Celestia watched Twilight set up her own little workshop with all the enthusiasm of a young filly setting up a play area to enact mock up games. Celestia stood in the corner, letting Twilight do as she saw fit. Tools were put just under Twilight’s head height, making expert use of the stands the coroner actually did use to store the tools; all the while, Twilight explained each and every thing she did, often posing different ways of doing things to Celestia. After a few minutes, Twilight stopped and asked Celestia her opinion. “It’s… organized well Twilight,” Celestia murmured, attempting once more to avoid lying to Twilight.
“Now comes the main bit,” Twilight exclaimed excitedly. Twilight’s voice echoed up the stairs. Celestia flinched, but no sound came from above. Perhaps they would ignore it, or think it was…

*CRAAASH*

The locker Twilight was attempting to pry open came out with a start, the back of the table the body was on crashing into the stops of the locker to prevent it flying out. “Who’s down there?!” Came the call of a Stallion from above.
“Oops… oh no…” Twilight whimpered under her breath. Celestia was half inclined to cuss, but remained silent. “I’m coming down…” The voice called after a short pause. Celestia searched her mind for a more lady like word, but only found one that could express her feelings adequately: “Shit!”

The steel door could be heard colliding lightly with the wall, but with enough force that one could tell the opener was in a rush. Twilight simply stood frozen to the spot, unable to move out of fear. Celestia stepped to the left of the staircase, keeping herself hidden from anypony coming down to explore the commotion. A well built Stallion, with a short-trimmed brown mustache came down the stairs. He was unclothed, his mane was in no particular style. Completely unremarkable… Too unremarkable.
“What are you doing down here little filly?” The stallion asked, approaching Twilight from the stair case. Twilight remained completely silent, staring unblinking at the approaching figure. The writing, however, was already on the walls – Twilight was surrounded by surgical instruments, and a body had just been pulled from it’s storage. Twilight stared at the Stallion – he looked first at her, then the tools, to the body, and finally back to Twilight.
“You’re…” he started, struggling to comprehend that something so gruesome could have been committed by one so young. “Would you kindly come with me please?” The Stallion asked, offering a hoof and trying to sound concerned for Twilight’s safety. Twilight’s mind was desperately wailing at her for something to say, try and explain her way out; anything! But Twilight’s voice wouldn’t respond. She simply stood there, all 4 of her legs locked up.

The Stallion's face went from concerned to determined, and he moved in to grab Twilight himself. Twilight finally broke from her stance, and scuttled around her assailant. Turning to face her, the Stallion moved slowly towards Twilight.
"Halt officer!" Celestia ordered. The Stallion stopped his advanced, then turned to face Celestia. "How did you know?" he asked. "You're so covert, you're overt. There's such a thing as too casual," Celestia responded.

Twilight was hearing the conversation, but she was too shocked to pay any attention to it. Celestia and the Stallion were talking, that's all she needed to know. Once more, Twilight felt rooted to the spot, unable to tear herself away from seeing the result of the confrontation.

"Ma'am, she has to come with me," the Stallion responded. There was a short silence. Celestia slowly lowered her head and stared at the floor; seemingly hanging her head in shame. "I'm sorry..." Celestia muttered. The golden glow of Celestia's magic enveloped the Stallion's head. Now it was his turn to be silent for a moment. "Ma'am...?" was all he could muster. "I'm so sorry..." Celestia repeated, her voice clouded by the onset of tears.

With that, Celestia snapped his neck.

Protection

The body slumped to the floor. As Celestia's glow left it's head, she stumbled back and sat down slowly, not taking her eyes off of what had once been a living being.

Twilight was shocked by the Princess' actions. She approached her mentor cautiously, unsure now of what the Princess was capable of. Twilight could hear a very slight, slow panting coming from Celestia. Her eyes seemed fixed upon the body, and her entire being seemed to be shivering and shaking.

Celestia gulped. She wanted to think of something else, anything else; but her mind was a mess of thoughts, so mixed none of them could be made out.

"Princess...?" Twilight asked, stepping forward one hoof at a time.
Celestia swallowed once again, then slowly stuttered out inaudible phrases."Princess... what am I supposed to do?"
"Listen to me... very carefully Twilight..." Celestia sputtered. "Go back to the castle, and tell a guard there has been an 'Omega 4'."
"'Omega 4'," Twilight confirmed.
"After that, go to your dorm and do not come back. Understand?" Celestia commanded, far more forceful than her usual demeanor would suggest.
Twilight nodded vigorously, sprinted out of the room, and slammed the door shut.

Celestia was alone now. No matter how hard she tried, her composure was broken. Nothing she could say or do would change what she had done. "I... just..." Celestia said aloud, trying to come to terms with her actions.
"I removed a threat to national security," Celestia said in a flat, monotone voice, parroting her own decrees and reports. "This creature would have caused death within my kingdom, an unacceptable act," Celestia repeated to herself, once more putting into words the writing that she herself had used to give to others.
"Yes, a danger to Twilight," Celestia mused, finally using fresh words. "He would have been a danger to Twilight and myself," Celestia slurred out, rising to her hooves.
"If he was using some form of weapon..." Celestia pondered, turning to look at the various instruments Twilight had placed around the room. Celestia's mind jumped a little at what she was thinking.

Her gaze still unblinking, Celestia moved over to Twilight's makeshift workshop and perused the various implementations. The largest tool was the one that caught her eye: A large cleaver, usually used to remove large chunks for analysis.

The cleaver was enveloped in a golden glow, and moved to Celestia's head height.
Celestia examined the weapon - it had been recently sharpened, and the blade was a decent size... it would do.

Celestia led her fore hoof on the body's table, next to the body's head. Celestia closed her eyes, and breathed out slowly. Celestia slowly opened her eyes once more, and looked over what she was about to do. The cleaver was held in her magic, and was positioned correctly. Breathing out once more, Celestia prepared. "Last chance to reconsider..." She said to herself; and swung.

The cleaver plunged itself into Celestia's hoof, about a third of the way up. There was the sound of metal piercing flesh, and Celestia let out a scream. She scrunched up her eyes, and quivered at the pain. But it wasn't done yet.

Removing the bloody cleaver from her hoof, the warm life-blood of Celestia's body seeping out the wound, Celestia raised the cleaver higher this time. Once again, Celestia screamed in pain as the cleaver sliced through her muscle and tissue, stopping only when it hit the bone. Celestia attempted to remove the cleaver from her wound, but it wouldn't budge. It was embedded now. Celestia let out various other winces of pain and gritted her teeth as she readied herself for the next onslaught of torture she would go through. Celestia shifted the cleaver about to try and pry it loose - other than Celestia's exasperates as her body tried to voice the immense agony it was enduring, the only sound that filled the morgue was the sound of metal scraping against bone as the cleaver shifted around. Finally, with a cry of fresh suffering, Celestia yanked the cleaver away.

The bloodied implement tore through yet more of Celestia's hoof coming out, shredding yet more of Celestia's muscle and skin. Celestia once more wailed at her torment, then threw the cleaver across the room as she stumbled back from the table.

Pulling her damaged hoof near to her chest, Celestia collapsed onto the cold floor, her hoof buried between her body and the floor. Celestia could feel the warmth of her blood against the cold of the floor. Staring at the ceiling, Celestia attempted to express the anguish she was in - but the source of it had over-written anything that she could say or do. She simply laid their, weeping silently from the lacerations, praying that the pain would stop.

From the corner of Celestia's blurry vision, she saw a dark figure step toward her. "You see what you've done?" it's familiar voice taunted Celestia. "You've not only murdered a pony in cold blood, but now face self-inflicted agony!" it scolded.
"L... Luna?" Celestia sobbed. Even the act of speaking required Celestia to muster all of her will power. "But you're still..." Celestia stuttered.

The figure approached Celestia, stepping into plain view and kneeling to face her. It was indeed Luna's eyes that stared back at Celestia.
"It's... the blood-loss..." Celestia muttered to herself, trying to justify the reason for seeing her sister.
Luna continued her speech uninterested in anything Celestia had said.
"What in Equestria do you think you're doing?" Luna asked, scowling at Celestia the entire time.
"It needs... to be... self defense," Celestia wheezed.
Luna shook her head. "Learn to face what you have raised Celestia, lest you travel the path she has," Luna warned, raising herself to full height. "Now, sleep. I hope your mind returns to you with your strength," Luna said, slowly moving her hoof to Celestia's face. As she did, Celestia's vision darkened.
The relief was welcome.

Purgatory

Celestia awoke in a luscious meadow, with grass extending as far as the eye could see, and small bunches of flowers popped up every so often among the field. Though she had passed out on her side, Celestia now found herself lying on her belly, her hooves tucked neatly under herself; often the same way she did when relaxing in bed. The place as tranquil – the sun beat down upon Celestia, warming her skin, but a gentle breeze kept the heat to bearable levels and the plants swaying in a calming manner.Celestia let out a content sigh. It was refreshing not to have to deal with the stresses of running a country every second, to be able to just unwind and enjoy the day she had created.
Presumably Celestia was the only pony here – she wasn’t silly enough to believe that her injuries had ended her, nor was she naïve enough to think that this was reality – Celestia concluded that this was simply a dream, a figment of her imagination. While Luna had the ability to dream-walk, Celestia obtained the power over dreams all day dreamers had – lucidity. While as a child she had enjoyed the freedom to be whomever or whatever she wished, and do whatever she wanted to for however long she wanted to each night, as an adult Celestia found the ability to be somewhat troublesome. Though she could force herself to sleep without dreams, it was never natural – Celestia could never truly rest. Yes, times of brief escape such as this were welcome and allowed Celestia to relax, it still wasn’t sleep. Celestia envied those that could sleep.

For a while, Celestia simply led in the Sun, enjoying its heat, the sound of the birdsong; even the smell of the meadow – that of freshly mowed grass – resonated and stirred some sense of ease and happiness in Celestia. Perhaps it reminded her of a simpler time… she didn’t know. Honestly, she didn’t care either.
“I’m glad you like it,” Luna’s voice pierced the calm. Celestia looked over to see her sister, not hidden behind blurred vision or extenuating circumstances now; simply stood next to Celestia, completely unaltered in how Celestia remembered her. “Did you do this?” Celestia asked, her voice now in synchronization with the tranquillity of the scene around her. “Yes… and no,” Luna replied, lying down next to Celestia. Usually Celestia would simply move on to a more straightforward question, but here she had all the time in the world. She would play Luna’s game. “Did Luna, my sister, create this illusion?” Celestia inquired, looking back over to the fields. “No,” Luna replied. “Your sister is powerless in her prison.” Luna too looked over the scene, but the expression she wore was one of a more serious tone – though even that seemed subdued in its ferocity.
“So…” Celestia contemplated. “If it is not a question of whom, then… what are you?” Luna chuckled lightly, and the inkling of a smile spread over her face for a moment. “I wish I knew,” Luna replied. “I’m not actually Luna, and thus not anypony at all; as I’m sure you’ve figured out,” Luna told Celestia. “A figment of my mind then?” Celestia continued. Luna simply shrugged in response. “The nature of my being is a question you shall have to decide for yourself – whichever conclusion you come to, it will not be an easy one to swallow. And the conclusions you draw shall be similar enough that it shall not change the path you decide to take. For now, consider me a… helping hoof. A Guardian Angel, if you will.”
“So we’re back to speaking in riddles.” Celestia stated. “Why not give me a simple answer and have it done with?”
“If I tell you, you will forget. If I show you, you will remember. But, if I allow you to experience for yourself, you will understand.”
Celestia took this a sign the conversation was digging itself into a hole. “What do you seek to do then?” Celestia questioned. Luna was silent for a time. “Once I answer this question, you will awaken. Do you wish to leave this place now?”
It was Celestia’s turn to be silent while she thought very carefully of what to say. “Regardless of what or why you are, of what you want or anything else… if you have the power, may I speak to my sister?”
Luna considered this a moment. Her face became pensive, and her eyes closed. "You may... but it shall not be her. She will appear as you remember her, and will have no recollection of the event - this is your mind, after all. What is it you wish to discuss?"
"I... I feel I need somepony to talk to. I seek... guidance? Discussion? Repent, admission? I don't know; I just want to speak to my sister," Celestia answered honestly.

Celestia hung her head in shame. It took a lot for her to admit that she needed support. “I just…” Celestia trailed off. Her voice went quiet, and her head hung close to the floor now. The beginnings of tears began to form on her eyes.

“Tia?” Luna’s voice asked. “Why are you crying?” Celestia looked over at Luna. The guiding, yet condescending look had vanished from her face, replaced by concern… fraternal concern. Celestia couldn’t muster words – she simply embraced her sister.

* * *

Celestia told her sister everything. She spoke not of recent events, but of the things after Luna had been banished. Celestia explained her sorrow, grief, regret… all the things she had felt a mixture of after banishing her sister, and more besides. Luna listened quietly, giving reasons for having done the things she did, and consoling her sister. “I’m not saying what I did was justified,” Luna said, the tones of sorrow being paramount. “But I hope you understand a little better now.”
“I… I always knew.” Celestia admitted. “I just thought you’d be…” Celestia couldn’t finish that sentence. She just couldn’t find the words.
“I understand what you mean,” Luna said, full of understanding.
“It’s just… I wanted what was best. And I am sorry – I am so sorry I couldn’t even see what was going on with my own sister,” Celestia uttered, downtrodden.
Luna was silent for a while. After a time, she put one of her wings around Celestia – much the same way Celestia had done to Luna for a time after Father passed. “Tia… I forgive you,” Luna whispered. “I’m the one who really should apologize for what I’ve done.”
“We were both in the wrong,” Celestia expressed. Both were silent for a while. They sat in the shade, Celestia weeping silently. Though she felt sadness in her heart, consolidation allowed a weight to be lifted off Celestia’s shoulders. When Luna came back – truly, came back – she would have an inkling of what to say.

But for now, Celestia had more immediate concerns. She cleared her throat, and stood up. She had completely lost track of time, but the day had progressed no further. Honestly, Celestia wasn’t sure if that was because it was a dream, or because she hadn’t moved the Sun. “Thank you, sister,” Celestia said, once more assuming her royal formalities. “I… I love you,” Celestia told Luna. She hadn’t used those words since Father had died. It reminded her too much of Mother. Celestia walked forward looking over the rolling fields. Even she had to admit – it was beautiful here.

“I’m sure she does too,” came Luna’s voice, assuming a more commanding tone. Luna’s apparition stood next to Celestia. “Are you ready?” It asked. Celestia gave a single, solemn nod in response.
Luna nodded back. “Then let us begin,”

I Know What You Are

Twilight rushed through the doors of Canterlot Castle’s infirmary. Apparently bringing the ruler of all Pony kind into a hospital with wounds clearly inflicted by a simple metal weapon wasn’t a good idea. Maybe it was to hide that she could be injured at all? Perhaps it was because it would mean that somepony intended to injure Celestia, and the powers that be didn’t want news of an attempted assassination to spread. Twilight didn’t know who had harmed Celestia, but if she found out… Well, Twilight had already thought of a few ‘experiments’ to perform on live subjects. Nopony hurt her mentor. Nopony!

The infirmary was a lot more modern that the rest of the castle – Twilight had heard it was kept deliberately rustic to attract tourists. The infirmary was a sterile white area, a wide, dead-end hallway with beds lining either side – it appeared far less cramped than the Canterlot hospital, with enough room between beds for two ponies to stand back to back and still have plenty of room after shutting the medical curtains that surrounded each bed. The main walkway allowed three full grown ponies to walk down it abreast, and still allow another two to slip past either side in the other direction. The beds were empty, except for one at the end – the furthest bed on the left was where Celestia was. It was next to the wall that marked the end of the hallway. Twilight approached this bed with a little concern – she wasn’t sure she was supposed to be here, and she hadn’t seen any doctors. The wall at the end of the infirmary had a single, small door in the center with a plaque at the top that read:

‘Dr. Forensics, M.D.’

Twilight had never seen a doctor around the castle, come to think of it. He or she evidently never left the office.

Celestia was directly to Twilight’s left as she looked at the plaque on the door. Twilight turned to her mentor, and looked over her. The blood had been cleaned from her coat and hoof, and the aforementioned hoof had been bandaged. Sterilized too – Twilight could tell from the smell. Celestia’s head was propped against the wall on a few pillows, while her body was slumped in a comfortable position and covered by a few blankets, all with the royal insignia on them. It was odd – though Celestia had passed out, her mane still shimmered in all its colors, as if she were simply resting her eyes a moment, as she often did during some of her longer days. Twilight felt oddly calmed by this – Celestia looked as if she was sleeping, not that her conscious mind had been forcibly suppressed. Her chest rose and fell at regular intervals; her eyes still swiveled a little under her eye lids, if one looked close enough. “Rapid eye movement – typical of an intense dream,” an accented voice sounded. Twilight spun around to find a large Griffon looking over her shoulder at Celestia. They had the usual brown coat, but the head’s feathers were greying a little from the usual bright white. From the voice, Twilight deduced it was a he.
“Unfortunately, incredibly typical of all Celestia’s dreams. Poor creature has never experienced SW sleep,” the Griffon concluded. He had a slight roll to his R’s when he spoke, and his F’s sounded a little more like V’s. If Twilight knew this accent, it was from the North East, the last country to have left the Griffon Empire.

“Can you wake her?” Twilight asked. She was eager to have her mentor back.
“I could, but it wouldn’t be a good idea. The pain she experienced put her close to comatose, and right now, she’s probably lucid. When she wants to wake up, she can tell herself to,” Forensics responded. Twilight rushed closer to her mentor, but the Griffon laid a claw on her shoulder. “But right now, she needs rest,” he explained in a calm voice. Twilight looked back at him defeated, and made her way much more slowly to stand at Celestia’s bedside.

The Griffon stared at Twilight with the hints of pity clouding his eyes. “Is there anything I can help you with, Ms Sparkle?” Forensics asked Twilight. Twilight twisted her head round to look at the doctor in alarm. Forensics picked up on this, and quickly explained how he knew of Twilight.
“Celestia speaks very highly of you, child,” explained to Twilight. “As her personal Doctor, I hear things not many others do,” he went on.

Twilight nodded in understanding, and turned back to gaze at Celestia. Twilight once more felt the wave of calm sweep over her… being around the dead gave her a similar feeling, before she got excited about the things she did. ‘Come to think of it,’ Twilight thought, 'I’ll probably never be able to see if Alicorns have something unique about them. Maybe if...' Twilight panicked at her train of thought. ‘No! This is my mentor! Celestia has been my mother figure in life for a few years now. I couldn’t just…' But that was the problem. Twilight knew if she wanted to, she could. The internalized voice Twilight was using to talk to herself was shaken with fear… was she scared of herself, she wondered?

“Will her hoof be all right?” Twilight inquired. She rationalized that any question would take her mind away from her own thoughts.
“It’ll need to be bandaged for a few weeks, but she’ll recover… Really did a number on herself though, didn’t she?” Forensics responded.

Twilight was unsure who to look at. She shot a look of wide-eyed shock at Forensics, then with horror at Celestia, then back to Forensics. “Calm, child,” Forensics proclaimed “She did it for your and her safety, not for any other reason,”

Now Twilight was just terrified. ‘My safety? Why would Celestia hurt herself for me? How does hurting herself help her?’ Forensics shook his head quickly, more to himself than Twilight. Time to come clean. “You’ve been to the morgue again, haven’t you?” Forensics asked. Twilight nodded after a time. She decided that if Forensics wanted to turn her in or handle her personally, he would have done so as soon as she walked in.
“I’ve already been sent the report of the soul unfortunate enough to be down there with you; considering the use of magic, and the fact Celestia was down there, I’d say she went with you,” Forensics deduced. He worked out in his head how best to vocalize the next point he wanted to make – he had told Twilight what he knew that he shouldn’t, so he fancied it was best to tell her what he knew that she didn’t now. “They’ve already announced that he was the perpetrator – you’re in the clear Ms Sparkle,” he noted before continuing “Celestia likely wounded herself to make it seem that she acted in self defense – can’t have a Princess walk around snapping every criminal’s neck now, can we?” Forensics asked rhetorically. “But, from the angle the blade went in, I can tell it wasn’t inflicted by another party,”

Twilight was less scared now; he didn’t sound angry or disappointed like Celestia had when she found out what Twilight had been doing. “How did you know I’d been down before?” Twilight asked, her ears flopping back to the side of her head, crestfallen. “Because Celestia told me,” Forensics responded honestly. Twilight had a mixture of befuddlement and fear strewn across her features. “There are two kinds of…” Forensics himself wasn’t a pony, so the phrase ‘anypony’ seemed wrong. “… Creatures… in this world we all trust - our doctors and our bartenders,” Forensics began. “You trust your doctor, don’t you Ms Sparkle?” Forensics asked. Twilight nodded.
“Well, I am both to Celestia.” Forensics began. “I’m her personal physician for the rare occasions she does fall ill or injured, but I’m more often than not here to help her get through the rough times – usually with a glass or two of the medicinal Brandy,” he said, a slight tint of laughter creeping in to his voice. “Been doing that for the last 80 years…” he reminisced.

Twilight frowned at this remark. “How old are you? You still seem young,” she queried. Forensics let out a slight chuckle. “I am one hundred and twelve,” he answered. “We Griffons live a lot longer than your kind,” he added, his tone laced with pride; pride, but not contempt or vanity. The Griffon looked at the comatose Celestia, and his features became distorted by pensiveness “Yet, that is still merely flash for her. Alicorns live such long lives…” he sighed aloud. “One wonders if they get bored of it,”

Forensics visibly shook himself out of his musings. “But, yes, I know what you have done Ms Sparkle,” he remarked, attempting to bring the situation back into focus. “More importantly, I know why!” Forensics emphasized, seeming to both gain more energy in his speech and become less energetic physically as he spoke. “I went through the same thing!”

Twilight’s pupils dilated at this. Was this somepo… somebody she could speak to? Celestia didn’t seem all too keen to discuss the matter when she had brought it after the first instance. “Why then?” Twilight asked, taking special care not to sound enthusiastic about being able to talk about it.

A smile flashed for half an instance across Forensics’ face. It felt good to finally be able to get this off his chest also. “Ms Sparkle, you do these things because you wish to find out more about the creatures whom surround you. They seem strange to you, you don’t understand them, correct? When they gossip and play, you would rather read or think?”
Twilight nodded.
“You remind me of myself all those years ago, Ms Sparkle. I too was the social outcast, praying for the day I needn’t listen to their bullsh…” Forensics remembered that Twilight was, though mature, still a child. If she hadn’t heard those kinds of words, he sure as Tartarus wasn’t going to be responsible for teaching them to her. “When I could get away,” he corrected. “So, my mother pushed for me to study medicine. ‘Show those ponies that Griffons aren’t warmongers she would say. ‘Go out there and show that we mean to heal, not harm’! And so I did. I read up on all the medicine I could, studied as well as resources would allow me. But it still wasn’t enough! Is that how you feel, Ms Sparkle? That insatiable thirst for knowledge?”
Some of the words were a little too advanced for the young Twilight to understand, but she got the gist. She nodded once more. “I want to know everything, but sometimes the Princess doesn’t let me find things out. Bans me from sections of the library, stuff like that,”
Forensics nodded vigorously. “I felt exactly the same way! So, after school one day, I went over to the gallows – do you know what gallows are?” Forensics asked, remembering that Twilight hadn’t grown up in the harsher landscape of the Griffon Empire. “They’re… places bad ponies go…” Twilight said slowly, recalling her history classes. “We haven’t had them for a long time though,” she noted.
“Well, then perhaps your society is much kinder than mine. But yes, I took one of these ‘bad creatures’ and took him home, dragged him down to my basement, and…” Forensics trailed off. He had learned long ago not to speak of how he gained his knowledge. “Well, you know what I did,”
Twilight nodded vigorously, remembering with a certain glee at the first time she had discovered what lay beneath the surface of a living being. Such wonders…
“But, my mother found out. So, she ‘showed me her mercy’ as she put it. She packed my bags with what little I owned and sent me on my way down to Stalliongrad. I opened up a small practice, and began treating those sick and wounded with my new-found affinity for surgery and some herbal treatments mother had taught me to ease the process for the patient. From there, I suppose Celestia learned of a skilled Griffon doctor; and hired him for his longer lifespan.” Forensics recounted. “Replacing doctors is a time consuming business” he remarked. “Been in the castle ever since. Though, I don’t wander around it with the freedom you do. Some of the guards here haven’t forgiven what the Griffons did to their ancestors,” Forensics added, scowling a little down the corridor.

Twilight was still unsure of what to make of Forensics - he had summed up her thoughts pretty well, but not with the ecstatic manner Twilight had. He seemed embarrassed, whereas Twilight was eager to share her knowledge. He saw the dissection as something messy but necessary - Twilight saw it as a fun practical, like some of the experiments in her science class. What was so wrong about taking apart the dead? They weren't using their bodies anymore, so it was only fair that the living were able to make use of them.
"It's a slight miracle I'm here," Forensics said, bringing Twilight back to reality a moment. "I was taken from the environment where... it... was possible before I could continue. Disgusting business, I see it now, but back then; imagine what I would be if I hadn't stopped," Forensics said grimly, the air of finality looming strongly overhead. "You have 2 hours Ms Sparkle, then visiting hours are over," Forensics told Twilight, making his way back to his office.

Twilight sighed internally. Everypony seemed to have a different view on the subject; yet nopony found it as fun as she did... maybe they ought to try it. She'd ask Celestia that when she woke up.

Descent

A hill rose up behind Celestia and Luna, the sound of the Earth beneath their hooves echoing in their ears. Celestia turned to look at the marvel; Luna turned simply to remain with Celestia.

The sound of giggling children filled the air. Celestia could pick out 2, but no more. "Do I make my way over?" Celestia asked.
"I'm not your personal Vergil - I'm here to point you in the right direction, not tell you what you need to do." Luna responded, her tone tipped with the venom of aggression.

Celestia took a deep breath. She had no idea why, but she was nervous. "Pull yourself together Celestia - you can hear children, not the beasts of Tartarus!" she told herself under her breath. Making her way up the hill, the voices grew stronger, and Celestia felt they had some sort of resemblance in a distant memory. Approaching the top, a tree burst it's way, straight from the ground. It rose to full height, and it's leaves burst into life. An entire lifetime, passed in a matter of seconds. The tree cast shade across the meadow, and Celestia realized where she had seen this before. Making her way to stand under the shade of the tree, Celestia's suspicions were proved true - down in the Meadow were two children, both Alicorns. One was white and had a shimmering pink mane, her color having not come into it yet, while the other was a dark blue, and her mane a lighter blue. Neither mane was ethereal yet - they were too young. "This is... us..." Celestia remarked, taken aback by being able to see her past. Her dreams, even the most lucid, had never had her relive the past no matter how hard she tried. Similar to the past, she had done so - a landscape here, a conversation there - but not entire parts. "Which means Mother and Father should be -" Celestia began, her voice quickening. After all these years, she could talk to her parents again. "Here..." Celestia concluded, becoming incredibly deflated at the realization. She and Luna were stood where their parents would have sat.

Celestia sighed a little internally, but knew it was probably for the best. She was here for a purpose - whatever that might be - and distractions would only slow her return to the waking world. Yet, Celestia couldn't help but listen to the conversation her younger self was having with the young Luna. "Tia, stop it!" the young Luna cried through giggles, as the young Celestia tickled her nose with a daisy, attempting and failing to contain her own childish glee. The daisy wasn't held with magic as one might expect, but in the young Celestia's mouth.

Celestia smiled. Those were simpler times, before she had to run a Kingdom, before the responsibility of tens of millions of ponies' desires and needs dropped on her back. Before Celestia knew how to use magic properly, even. "Luna, Celestia! Girls, come along now," Luna announced, her voice perfectly mimicking her mother's. As the two young Alicorns turned to return to what would have been their parents side, the entire world slowed to a crawl. Then the grass stopped swaying, the younger Princesses almost froze, and Celestia felt the wind brushing against her slow down.

"This is your childhood. You were a filly then, happy and smiling. Completely clueless of how difficult the adult life can be. Do you know how Mother felt?" Luna said, not even turning to face Celestia, but simply staring over the fields.

"I suppose I do now. Constant work, running a country; I'll never have it as hard as Mother though. She had to look after Father - he was so sick. He didn't show it, but I could tell that he was getting worse with each passing day. Mother tried, but..." Celestia trailed. If this was really Luna, Celestia needn't remind her of that day.

"And she had to raise children. Luna and Celestia, the heir to the thrones." Luna continued. "Do you have an heir, Celestia?" Luna inquired.
"I intended for..." Celestia started. As the words left her mouth, the younger Luna faded away, and the young Celestia began to change. Her wings sank into her body, and her mane fell back to her shoulders. Her coat changed from it's usual white into a light pink, gradually getting darker and darker. Her cutie mark slowly contorted until it became a single, light purple star laid over a second white one, in contrast to the purple coat. "So, I see myself in her?" Celestia asked. Luna remained silent. "But, I don't. She's... just, a student. One I intend to pass my knowledge to, but just my personal student. She couldn't..."

The scene changed. Before Celestia's eyes, her entire surroundings changed. Everything was deadly still, snapshots of a life being shown. Celestia talking to Twilight in the morgue, the cold still biting at Celestia even now. Twilight asking Celestia a question of indiscernible origin, and Celestia smiling softly as she formulated her answer. Celestia curled next to her fireplace, Twilight wrapped under her wing. The place stopped there. Celestia stared at herself and and Twilight almost sleeping next to the fireplace, and recalled what the day had been. She had taken Twilight out to a small park and gotten involved in a snowball fight. The great vestiges of Fort Twilight holding out against the onslaught of the Celestial Army's snowball bombardment! Celestia smiled as she remembered that day. Twilight had been so happy; 'and,' Celestia admitted to herself, 'I had some fun too'. Afterwards, Celestia brought Twilight into the castle, and they sat next to the fire to warm up and forget the cold winter winds that howled outside the windows of the castle.
"You treat her like a daughter, not a student." Luna remarked. "A teacher doesn't take her student on a holiday during the winter season; a teacher doesn't embrace her student next to the fireplace. A teacher doesn't cover for their student after they commit an atrocious crime," Luna lectured.

Celestia didn't take her eyes off the scene - it somehow made her feel a little less desolate internally, a bit more warm inside. "I treat her specially, yes. She is special to me - she's my protege. I treat her like that to better understand and teach her - if she sees me like that, then she's more likely to understand and take to my teachings." Celestia explained, stuttering a little as she tried to get her voice out faster than she could think.
"You started over once before - or have you already forgotten about the one who ran from you so far as to go to another dimension?" Luna reminded Celestia.
"She was a dark child - eager for power, not knowledge. She left of her own accord, do not try and chastise me for that!" Celestia snapped. She didn't want to be reminded of her failure on that front. "I let her go because that was the moment I realized she was a lost cause - her nature was that of one who would do the wrong thing simply for her own gain,"
"So, running is wrong, but taking a body and poking around it's insides is fine?" Luna barked back.

Celestia was unable to retort to that. Twilight had done something incredibly wrong. Celestia should have done what she told herself to do: Take Twilight into custody; or terminate her, if worst came to worst.
"So, is it that the student has potential; or that the great, noble Celestia cannot admit even to herself that she is barren, and that Twilight is her child?" Luna questioned. Before Celestia could answer, the scene around her changed once more. First, it was of a small hamlet outside Canterlot. Then, it was populated by an older Twilight, 5 other ponies surrounding her. They seemed to share a positive group synergy. After, it was of a small, dark room with a single overhead light shining on a table with various entrails spread over it, emerging from a bloody body; a crazed looking Twilight was stood over it, her hair disheveled and her eyes widened and bloodshot in madness, staring at something out of view, her magic beginning to levitate various implements. Now it was of a grave, the rain stopped mid fall. Celestia approached the stone marking the owner - as she grew closer, the larger text stood out.

' A loved leader and friend. She will be surely missed.'

Celestia drew closer to the grave, almost cautiously.

'Ashes to ashes - may this pony's memory forever live on in the minds of those that she touched while shaping our future, and fighting for what was right'

Celestia was a little worried now. Twilight always talked of shaping the future, and she certainly wouldn't take injustices lying down. But it didn't have to be her - what was the name damn it?! Celestia crept closer to the tombstone. The name was...

The scene retreated from Celestia's vision, as if she was running in the opposite direction and facing the scene. "No... no!" Celestia yelled, attempting to get closer. Still, the tombstone retreated off into the distance, faster than she could run.

Everything went dark. Celestia was completely alone in this void - even Luna had vanished. "Hello?" Celestia called. She looked around. Nothing meant anything in here though - should she turn her head up or around, all she saw was the never ending darkness. No matter where Celestia looked, the dark was all that stared back at her. "Where am I?" Celestia asked, hoping that Luna would answer her back. Instead, another familiar voice responded. "You know what must be done - you have made your decision, but it does not mean you cannot change it," Twilight's voice came. "I am already lost to you, but you may protect others. Alas, there is but one choice -" Twilight faded into vision from the darkness, as if stepping into a light. "Kill me!" Twilight said, her voice almost mocking. Not a hint of sadness or regret. "Kill me!" Came another Twilight, this one behind the first. "Or do you not want to?" A third asked. "Coward!" It called. Another two stepped out of the void, chanting coward along with the other. "Or maybe you think I can be redeemed?" Came a 6th, this one slightly less aggressive in her tone. "Doubt!" It shouted, and another apparition of Twilight came along to stand by it's side and join in it's chanting. Celestia was unable to make out what yet another Twilight said, but after another three joined it she could hear what they were saying - "Regret!"

Celestia gritted her teeth and slammed her eyes shut, but this did nothing. She could feel her eyelids cover her eyes, but the troop of Twilight's were just as visible as before. Another squad came, these ones repeating the word "failure". Celestia put her hooves over her ears in response, but still the incessant barrage of chantings continued. Celestia screamed various commands - "Get out! Silence!" and the like - at the top of her voice, but as she raised her voice, so too did the Twilights. Celestia screamed at them as more and more voices joined the horrible chorus, until Celestia's throat was sore and her lungs short of breath.
Finally, Celestia gave up and fell to her knees, her hooves still cupped against her ears. "Just... leave me in peace..." she whimpered. Every single word, even those that Celestia couldn't fully make out, had taken their toll on her mind. It was as if the words were being injected directly into her mind; no matter how hard she tried or how little she heard, every single one stood out like a shining light in her mind, blinding her thoughts out until they eclipsed everything else.
In unison, the voices stopped. The Twilights backed up back into the darkness, and the darkened into nothingness as one. A single figure stepped out of the darkness to replace them. Celestia stared up to look upon herself. The voices of Twilight raced around Celestia's mind once more. "Doubt! Failure! Betrayal! Monster!" Celestia physically shook under the pressure imposed on her. Finally, the figure of Celestia declared in a booming tone. "Fix this!"

And Celestia's own body, along with the never ending Twilights racing back into view, snarled as they shrieked: "KILL ME!"

Fear

Twilight watched as Celestia convulsed occasionally. Her entire body shook from time to time, her limbs spasmed from within her dreams. Twilight simply stood back and watched. The doctor had told her not to wake Celestia, and she wasn't going to attempt to do so. All Twilight could do was wait ... completely helpless.

After a time, Celestia stopped. Her entire being fell still. Even her chest appeared to stop rising and falling. Celestia seemed to be frozen in time.
"Princess ...?" Twilight sputtered out after a time. Celestia didn't respond. "Prin ... cess ...?"

Celestia sat bolt upright and her eyes shot open. Her breathing was heavy and quickened, her eyes bloodshot and crazed. They darted around the room, as if following some invisible insect. Her head lulled a little, and beads of sweat trickled down her face. She panted; gasping for any air she could to fill her system.

Looking over to Twilight, Celestia could see the filly as she was - concerned, almost scared; under normal circumstances the Princess would have comforted her student. But, these were not normal circumstances. Remnants of Celestia's dream still plagued her vision - Twilight flickered between the filly before Celestia and ... somepony else. Something else. Twilight was older, her eyes bloodshot and her pupils tiny. Even the surroundings flickered between what was and what Celestia saw. Was this an unavoidable future, or was what Celestia saw simply a possibility?

To Celestia, the entire room darkened. The single flickering light above the maddened Twilight flickered on and off. When it was on, all was well: Celestia could see the infirmary, the well-lit halls of her castle, the young Twilight before her. But when it was off, Celestia's entire world shifted. The white-washed walls turned a dark red, stained with the results of Twilight's exploits. It was not decorated - Twilight took no sadistic pleasure in what she did. She wanted no reminders, no decor that would allow her to relive what she had done. Twilight's lust was for knowledge and discovery, even if just the potential of it. And yet ... the Twilight Celestia saw in this room was not a respectable scientist. She was bedraggled, unclean - she looked half mad, as if she hadn't slept for days.

The room clicked back to normal. The Alicorn swallowed, and then gasped for air. What was happening to her?

Twilight slowly approached the Princess. Having never seen Celestia like this before, Twilight was unsure how to react. To an extent, she felt scared - afraid of the unknown. Usually, Twilight would look to Celestia for comfort, but her mentor looked terrified, as if she had had a nightmare. Maybe Twilight was having a nightmare too. Maybe she would touch Celestia, and all this would end, and she would wake up in the Princess' bedroom, in front of a roaring fire. Maybe all this was a fever dream. All Twilight needed to do was get close enough to touch the Princess and this would all be over ... right?

Celestia knew it was the young Twilight that was approaching her. But, as the world around her tilted and changed, her pupil took a more sinister look. Then everything snapped back. The Princess wanted to grab her head and yell at it to stop this madness, but her body felt frozen to the spot. Her mind was screaming; her brain felt like it wanted to crawl out of her skull to escape the torment it was putting on the body. Celestia steeled her focus. 'Talk to Twilight' she told herself. 'All will be well if you can get a hoof-hold on reality!'

Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but her entire throat felt dry, almost numb. "Princess ..." Twilight said, the fear paramount in her voice. "Princess Celestia?"

The 'a' in Celestia's name didn't stop. Twilight got closer and closer, holding that note. Then, once more, Celestia fell into her perception. Celestia's own name turned into deranged laughter as the older Twilight approached. "Come along Celestia ... ha ... hahaha," Twilight stuttered over her words. Her voice was a little deeper, as came with puberty, and was almost cracking with each syllable.

For the first time, Celestia became aware of herself. What had once been the soft mattress of a bed was now the hard steel of... was this an operation table? Celestia tried to escape, to move away from the impending figure, but every struggle made Celestia feel as if a rusty nail was being driven through her spine. "It's for the best Celestiaaaa ..." Twilight said, almost taking on a sing-song tone. A large scalpel levitated next to Twilight's face, and she grinned like a madmare. Celestia felt fear surge through her body. Proper, unavoidable, fear. Celestia wanted to scream out as her student proceeded to move the scalpel closer and closer to her flesh...

Twilight saw Celestia start to convulse again. Her body went limp and her eyes fell closed as whole body began to twitch. What was happening to her? Twilight had once read about certain parasites that did this to a pony. Was Celestia going to die? Twilight's mind was fraught with distress, panic and overwhelming tragedy as she imagined her mentor's passing. Twilight inched ever closer to her teacher. All she had to do was touch her, and she'd be here, right? Twilight considered herself an anchor, keeping Celestia by her side. But ... what if it didn't? What if Celestia went away forever? Twilight couldn't bear to think of her world without her. Twilight found herself stood at Celestia's bedside, the Princess' body still moving around a little in her unconscious state. The tears in Twilight's eyes began to burn as she found herself imagining more and more the aftermath of her mentor's death. Finally, Twilight cautiously reached out a hoof, and put it to Celestia's side. 'Please ... Please wake up ... Please ...'

The world snapped back to normal. Twilight had put a hoof to Celestia's side, and was almost crying. Celestia dreaded to think how she must have seemed to the filly. Picking her up with magic, Celestia helped the young Twilight up onto the infirmary bed. Twilight wrapped her hooves around Celestia's fore-hoof, and buried her muzzle into the Alicorn's neck. Celestia could feel Twilight's tears make contact with her coat and Twilight's sobs were muffled, but audible. "It's okay Twilight ..." Celestia comforted, wrapping her free fore-hoof around Twilight. "Whatever happened, it's over now."

Twilight looked up and into Celestia's eyes. Celestia gave her the most caring look she could muster and Twilight buried her head back into Celestia's neck. "Whatever's happened, it's done now. I'm here, Twilight. Everything is going to be just fine ..." Celestia said warmly. "It's all going to go back to normal. Everything's going to be okay,"

Event Horizon

*Many Years Later*

Doctor Forensics poured Celestia another glass of bourbon. He had barely gotten through his second, but Celestia was on her fifth. Forensics chalked this up to Celestia’s Alicorn physiology; he however was a little less resilient, and could feel his mind beginning to slow a little.

Forensics breathed in the cool night air. Celestia had invited him to the rooftop patio of the castle, and had set up a small table and chairs to have the conversation. The entire building was lit up by moonlight – one never had to worry about the position of the moon for moonlight when they sat with the being that controlled celestial bodies. There was not a consistent breeze in the air – the night was still and crisp. A little chilly, being winter, but Forensics’ Griffon feathers kept him insulated. Looking around, he wondered if the guard came up here in their spare time. One could see the royal gardens in their entirety, illuminated in the beautiful glow of the moon – a beautiful, but somehow disturbing sight. Moonlight played tricks on the mind – made the statues of the garden appear to shift in their stillness. Made every whistle of the wind and every bush shaking something moving unseen in the dark. Yet still, the full moon's light made everything simultaneously that much more tranquil. Most would never experience this beauty though; they were all sleeping.

“So,” Forensics continued. “You were saying you hadn’t slept?”
“Not for the last 2 weeks.” Celestia clarified. “And yes, I know I don’t sleep properly as it is. This is … different.”
“Would you care to explain further?” asked, Forensics taking another sip of his drink.
“I can’t explain it. I’m just, always awake.”
Forensics furrowed his brow. “Is there something you think might be keeping you up?” he asked. Celestia became contemplative for a moment. “I’ll remind you I know about your student and her … quirks, shall we say.” Forensics added.

Celestia slouched a little and took a swig of her Bourbon. “For the last few months Twilight has had more exploits. Almost thrice a month now.” Celestia looked over to the horizon.
“She hasn’t killed anypony!” Celestia rushed out, her words barely formulated by the time they left her mouth.
“I would never accuse her of doing so … are you worried that might be a possibility?”
“I’m not going to lie to you – I worry about her. She says that-” Celestia did a mock-up Twilight impression. It wasn’t insulting. The imitation actually mimicked Twilight’s now slightly deeper voice quite well. “‘-The acceleration in subjects is to compensate for the repetition of their types - ’” Celestia resumed her normal tones "- You know; there are no elderly criminals I can trickle down to her, for example.”

Forensics nodded in response.
“I explain to her that I have to pull a lot of strings to get her the … subjects, as she calls them. But Twilight sometimes asks me why I can’t just give her live subjects. ‘A matter of convenience’, she says."

Celestia looked lost, her eyes unsettled and unfocused until they landed on the glass in front of her. Then, Celestia took a second gulp of the bourbon in her glass. “It’s like she doesn’t care about others. All living things to her are just an experiment waiting to happen.”
Forensics considered this a moment. “So, you’re saying you don’t think she cares about life? She doesn’t consider that a life has any inherent value?”

Now it was Celestia’s turn to consider the statement. “I’d agree, yes.” she spluttered out after a short time. “I don’t think she cares.”

Forensics leaned back a little in his chair and took a sip. He was going to need to be alcohol fueled to get this out.
“Celestia … may I speak freely?”

Celestia nodded in response.
“I think that Miss Sparkle is, to put it in layman’s terms ... a psychopath. She doesn’t experience any kind of empathy to others so doesn’t feel anything over a murder for example. I’d almost give you congratulations for stopping her thus far.”

Celestia was silent. She simply stared at the liquid in her glass.
“But the problem is.” Forensics continued “That you’re partially responsible for her wish to do these things in the first place.” Forensics waited a little. Though he was relatively sure he was fine, he knew not of Celestia’s mental state – he’d rather not continue if the Princess was going to break him and throw him off the roof.
“Go ahead,” Celestia said flatly. “I trust your judgement doctor.”

Forensics nodded. “You took Twilight away from her family. You kept her largely inside the castle’s four walls. On top of that, you never reprimanded her for her original actions. Tell me, does Miss Sparkle ever go out? Ever see friends or interact with others?”

Celestia continued to stare blankly into her drink. “No ... Twilight was always the bookish sort. She still doesn’t really leave her room most days.”

Forensics nodded. “There is absolutely nothing wrong with being the bookish sort. But I know that you never gave Miss Sparkle the opportunity to meet others. She never attended a public school – you tutored her one on one. It’s this lack of interaction with others that causes her mental state – she never knew other living creatures as sentient; she experiences no empathy because you raised her in a bubble, Milady.”

Celestia gulped audibly, and then downed what was left of her drink. “She never got to know other life besides me. All she knows is the service those like you provide; so she sees you as just that – a service. Everypony she sees isn’t another pony to her – she doesn’t understand their emotions – so she doesn’t care for them …” Celestia concluded. “And it’s my fault …”

Forensics remained silent. He wasn’t sure where to look. “If you’d like to receive my recommendation, I’d suggest you expose her to others quickly. Get her to make some friends, have a connection with others. My hope is that doing so will mean she actually learns to care for others.” Forensics told Celestia, taking the glass away from the Princess.
“Teach her to make friends … I can certainly do that. I’ll order it; by the end of the week Twilight can be studying friendship.” Celestia concluded. “But I’ll need to send her somewhere new. Staying here wouldn’t work. She’s already blocked out most other ponies here.”

Forensics thought for a moment, already standing up and packing away the glasses and decanter. “There’s a little hamlet not far from here a place called Ponyville. You can see it from the city gates; it’s at the bottom of the mountain. It’s close enough to keep an eye on her, but far enough away that it wouldn’t receive much interference from Canterlot’s inhabitants.”

Celestia nodded. “Thank you doctor. Twilight will be moved to Ponyville.”

Normality

Author's Notes:

This segment contains moderate amounts of gore. Viewer discretion is advised.

Twilight walked through the door of her Canterlot home. It wasn’t a large place, but it served the purpose of Celestia’s personal student. Twilight did all the usual things one would do after a long day – she checked her mail, threw her saddlebags for the day on a sofa and promised herself she’d get to them later, read a chapter of the newest Daring Do book – nothing out of the ordinary for a mare her age.

Until the clock struck 5. As it did, Twilight snapped shut her book and placed it neatly on a nearby table, then stood up with renewed vigor. Her mind raced through what was going to happen in a few minutes, and it still gave her the glee it did years ago. The joy of discovery. Twilight walked over to a large bookcase and examined it. Many of the books were ones she actually read – some fiction, some not. But, there was a book that was used in a special way – it wasn’t a book at all. Twilight could pick it out easily, but she read the golden writing along the book’s spine to confirm her findings.

‘A Short Guide to the Equine Body’

The title was rather telling for its purpose. After all, Twilight had requested numerous times to receive a Griffon as a subject from Celestia, but all requests had been refused. Twilight reached out a hoof, and pulled the top of the book towards her. There was a small click, and the bookcase swung toward Twilight a little. She stepped back, grabbed the frame of the bookcase with her magic, and pulled it further. The bookcase swung round to reveal a small stone staircase leading down into unlit depths. Twilight stepped forward, and concentrated slightly on summoning and maintaining a small ball of light to walk alongside her. After entering into the passageway, her hooves colliding on the floor to create a rhythmic echo, Twilight used her magic once again to close the bookcase. There was another click, telling Twilight the entrance was sealed. With that, Twilight made her way down the flight of stairs, the only noise being that of the clacking of hooves on stone. The staircase spiraled a little, and Twilight followed it from muscle memory further down into the dark. It wasn’t damp, despite the almost cave-like nature of the area; Twilight would never allow such things in a place of study.

After walking a little further, the passage opened up into a small antechamber, this one lit by candle lining the walls. There was a single large stone slab in the center of the room, its surface smoothed by expert craftsmanship. “Only the best, eh Twilight?” Twilight asked aloud to herself upon seeing it. Around the table were small metal stands, similar to those used by surgeons in hospitals, and adorned with hospital grade equipment – along with a couple of instruments of Twilight’s own personal design. In addition to the usual scalpels, bone-cutters, forceps, and other such implements were a selection of differently sized needles with small tanks of various pharmaceuticals to accompany them. On the far side of the room was a small desk, with a quill and ink ready for Twilight to use. A simple wooden chair was tucked under the desk should Twilight require it, and strewn across the desktop were unfinished sketches and half-written essays and observations. Those that were complete were placed on the walls, reminding Twilight of how much she had accomplished doing what she did – and how much more she could achieve. Drawings of anatomically correct skulls, several internal organs with annotations and uses, even a large diagram of each section of the heart were what Twilight saw adorned on her walls. They were haphazardly strewn with no real order to them, but Twilight didn’t mind. Her usual orderly mind had made sense of where everything was, and there were relations between them known only to her. As the information Twilight gathered had been accumulated, she had placed things on the wall to suit her needs at the time. Never having moved them, Twilight knew exactly where everything she had made was, and rarely re-arranged them lest she lose a place. An organized chaos, she supposed.

However, these were not the main attraction of the room. For upon the slab of smooth stone used as a table lay a body, dead and naked, spread across in full length. Strange, Twilight thought, that no matter what they had done in life all dead looked so at peace while they were with her; as if some great weight had been lifted off their shoulders. Above the body was a small lamp, projecting a powerful but selective light over wherever Twilight decided to point it. It ran on its own batteries, but Twilight could get those easily enough. If all else failed, she could try charging it with magic. Twilight approached her latest subject, and looked over it closely.
“Subject is a male Earth pony,” Twilight began aloud, verbalizing her thoughts to better organize them. “Medium height, slightly better than average build.”

The coat, mane and tail had all been shaved off, so Twilight could see the skin underneath and didn’t have to deal with any stray hairs during her operations. However, this full shaving cost the subject a visible cutie mark. Twilight was often fine with this – she had no interest in what criminals had emblazoned on their flanks. “From my knowledge, subject is the ‘Caramel Killer’; serial murderer of only those with caramel coats…” Twilight paused for a moment to consider the specificity of a crime of this nature.
“Odd M.O…” she said aloud. “Body count sitting at around seven known.” She added, completing her mental log of the subject’s background.

Twilight walked around to the body’s side, and examined the torso. “Signs of malnourishment… I can see his ribs poking through a little.” Twilight noted, putting a forehoof on the torso to feel the ribs and test for any injuries. Moving first over the left ribcage, Twilight felt a few small dips mid-rib, and one that had been cracked recently. On the other side, the results were much the same, with a few tiny breakages and a couple of much larger, more recent ones. “State of ribcage suggests, minus the recent injuries sustained during capture, the subject has been through massive physical trauma…” Twilight commented, thinking a little about the size of the, what appeared to be, fractures. “Size of smaller fractures and breakages comparative to current ribcage would suggest previous abuse… foalhood maybe?” Twilight thought. “Daddy didn’t love you, did he?” Twilight muttered to herself, almost with concern, as she levitated a sharp scalpel over the body. Without another word, Twilight made a precise vertical incision along the centre of the ribcage, making sure to cut down to the bone. After, she cut a horizontal line either side of her incision to allow for the peeling of sinew, muscle and other such tissue to truly examine the contents of her subject. Putting the scalpel back down, Twilight now levitated a large surgical hook to pull the two flaps she had created to either side, allowing full access to see the subject’s ribs. As Twilight had imagined, the fractures she had felt were small nooks and scars left on the bone, with small fractions of some embedded in the bone at odd angles or else missing entirely. The larger breakages had come apart almost completely, piercing through the lungs and even severing the pulmonary artery to the heart. Blood still covered the ribs embedded in these organs, but the smaller shards had long since been cleared. “Signs of healing over the smaller fractures – nothing certain, but I’m assuming these were indeed foalhood injuries. Caused by immense force, but never treated for medical attention.” Twilight reported to herself, going over the bones once more to confirm that there hadn’t been any attention given to them by instruments.
“The larger snapping has caused significant blood loss, likely organ failure. Probably what killed him, and almost certainly the doing of Celestia or other such enforcement – these injuries couldn’t have been done a day or two ago.” Twilight finished. Running her eyes over the contents of her subject, Twilight concluded there was little more to be learned from this area; either anatomically or personally. Returning over to the desk to quickly scribble down a few memos of her discoveries, Twilight added an extra note – ‘Troubled’.

This was a part of the rating of mental state that Twilight had developed for her subjects. Spending so much time around those who performed such supposedly despicable acts as murder, Twilight had developed an interest in why they did such things. This field of ‘Criminal Psychology’ interested Twilight greatly. To be able to delve into a mind with such abnormalities as this intrigued her – what were the reasons, why certain types of victims, was there a correlation between criminals and class or race? All these questions would be much easier answered while her subjects were alive; but the dead told tales their living counterparts would be unable or unwilling to share.

“And they say a dead mare tells no tales,” Twilight scoffed, moving back over to her subject.
“Malnourishment could be an interesting angle, I’ll see what effects this has had on the –” Twilight was interrupted in her thoughts by the sound of her front door opening, the slight sound of the wind echoing down to her, and then the door closing once more. “Twilight?! I’m back!” came the unmistakable announcement of Twilight’s personal assistant, Spike.
“Did you remember the spare quills?!” Twilight bellowed back up to him.
“And the parchment!” came the reply.
“Thanks!” Twilight shouted back, and smiled a little to herself. The dragon was invaluable to her – both an incredible serviceman and, though Twilight would never describe him as such to herself, she considered him like a sibling. ‘Now if only he’d remember to put the damned vegetables IN the fridge!’

Twilight chuckled to herself ever so slightly at that remark, smiled at the efficiency with which Spike carried out tasks like shopping. But for now, she had work to do.
“Oh, and I got that book you were on about!” Spike added.
Twilight frowned. “A History of Equestria?!” She asked. It seemed implausible – that book wasn’t due for another fortnight, at least.
“If it’s the one with a golden pony head and a brown cover, yea!” Spike called back.

Twilight made a mental note to file for the body to be moved; she needn’t have her workplace smell of rot. The notes would keep, she’d write up a full report later. But for now, that book changed everything. “I’ll be up in a minute Spike!” Twilight shouted, already placing all instruments back in their respective places and putting the two dirty ones to one side to be washed in a while.
“Alright… what do you do down there anyway?” Spike asked.
“I’ll tell you one day. Be careful about asking too many questions Spike – curiosity can be a morbid thing…”

Guidance

Celestia sat bolt upright in her bed, a cold sweat having overcome her. Her breathing was sporadic, and she tried to keep it under control, but found herself coughing every few moments as air forced its way into her lungs.

“Another nightmare?” Came the sound of a concerned voice from somewhere.

Celestia looked around her room, only to see it as it was – the decorative rug unmoved, the embers from the marble fireplace still spitting out their last. Even her bed, besides the covers she had kicked off in her sleep, were in relatively good shape. Celestia glanced over to the balcony and her breath slowed a little. Stood out on the balcony, the doors now opened, was Luna resting on the railing and overlooking the castle grounds below.

“Yes …” Celestia spluttered after a while, too busy trying to control the reaction her body was having to her mind to say anything meaningful.

Luna entered Celestia’s room, soft hoof steps on the floor the only sound that could be heard resonating through the spacious chamber. “About Twilight?” Luna asked, sitting down on her sister’s bed. She paused for a moment, taking in Celestia’s condition with concerned eyes. “Or me?” She offered after a silence, her ears lying down on the side of her head a little with shame. “Because you know … I never meant to –”

“It wasn’t about you, Luna.” Celestia interrupted, closing her eyes and lowering her head a little. “I know it wasn’t really you all those years ago and it hasn’t been you these last few.” Celestia explained, knowing that even if she remembered telling Luna of the events that had happened in her absence, most notably those involving Twilight, the dreamwalker would have found out one way or another; regardless of if she was doing it purposefully or not.

Celestia got out of her bed and made her way rather slowly to the balcony, taking in large breaths as she went. Luna followed behind her sister, not quite alongside her. Leaning against the railing, Celestia slowly inhaled the fresh, clean air; she held her breath for a moment, then exhaled it equally as slowly. “I’m just …” Celestia was a little lost for words. “My mind is occupied with all kinds of different scenarios with Twilight. I … I feel I’ve made a mistake.”

Luna stood alongside her sister and laid a hoof on her shoulder. “Why? Twilight’s rate has actually slowed since you’ve put her there, correct?” Luna asked, her regal tone more underlined with understanding and the care only a sibling could show.

“Yes. I’ve provided her all different sorts of criminals to experiment with. She received one of her first unicorns a few months ago, for example.” Celestia answered softly, her hoof absent-mindedly tracing no particular pattern on the railing. “But I keep thinking that putting her to interact with all those ponies could lead to something drastic happening. Something I’ve been planning and re-planning contingencies for.”

“Twilight is fine. She’s curious is all, the same as many scientists have been throughout history.” Luna took her hoof of her sister’s shoulder and leant on the railing to bring herself alongside the princess of the sun. “She’s the Element of Magic for …” Luna paused, remembering that the language had changed over the last millennia. “Your sake, I think they say now.” Luna chuckled.

Celestia smiled a little in response, though the reminder that many thought of her as an infallible god only added to the crushing burden she could feel bearing down on her shoulders. “She freed me, after all.” Luna paused, glancing over the horizon while she collected her thoughts. “If she was going to murder somepony, I think she’d have done so before becoming the chosen one.” Luna half joked, a slight smirk appearing on her face. Celestia felt she couldn’t smile at that. While Twilight wasn’t a hero of prophecy as old pony-tales would have one believe, she certainly was something special.

“It doesn’t change my concern!” Celestia spat out, a more forceful voice becoming of her. “I’ve left her in a town full of ponies that I want her to connect with. She has, I’ll grant you. She’s made friends, she’s interacting with people. I even think she’s learned a little empathy. But I still don’t think that will prevent her from becoming overzealous and taking one alive.” Celestia explained, her voice gradually falling from forceful to soft, almost pitiful. “Or, worse still, she’d show one of her friends. I don’t think she grasps that what she’s doing is wrong. That’s why I’m still worried about her turning her ‘experiments’ into victims.”

Luna swallowed audibly and thought for a moment. “Then get her to visit you. Check on her state for yourself.” Luna advised, her tone full of careful consideration.

Celestia remained silent for a while in response. “I can’t do it at the upcoming Gala; Twilight might show her colours, and then what?” Celestia asked rhetorically, turning now to face her younger sister. “I’ll invite her over soon then.” Celestia concluded, giving Luna a quick embrace. “Thank you.” She whispered, and turned to face out over the castle grounds once more.

“Not a problem, Celestia. Consider me … a guide …” Luna responded, the last words echoing around both Celestia’s chamber and in her head, an almost ghostly feel to the words. With that, Celestia whipped her head round to see a dark-blue mist where Luna had been standing and the large doors to her chambers open slightly.

“Tia?” Luna asked from behind the doors, sticking only her head and one hoof in. “Tia, are you up?”
Celestia’s eyes widened once more. If Luna was now entering her room, who was …
“Yes, I’m up.” Celestia called to her, trying to keep her voice as neutral as she could; but still feeling it shake under the circumstances.

“Who were you talking to?” Luna asked, trotting over to Celestia with a little more haste than was necessary.

Celestia stared straight ahead at the sky, her pupils having dilated. She gulped and began to pant a little, her throat becoming dry. “I wasn’t talking … just muttering to myself …” Celestia stammered out, feeling her neck being physically unable to turn and face the princess of the night as her muscles began to lock themselves down one by one to the control of her mind. “Thinking.”

Luna stepped to take the place of where her apparition had stood. “Another nightmare?”

Celestia shook her head. It had occurred to her that if this was the real Luna, then she needn’t be bothered by Celestia’s problems as the false one was. She had a decent piece of advice now, after all. “I’m just wondering a few things. I’ve got a plan now; had some from … a guide …” Celestia told her sister; false confidence brimming from her voice to try and hide the nervousness, bordering fear, that was causing her limbs to shake ever so slightly when she tried to move them.

Luna considered this. It wasn’t unusual for Celestia to talk to herself – she’d done it since she was a foal – but it was still a little bit odd for her to do it so loudly and so openly. “Alright then. Well, I’m here if you need me.” Luna reminded her sister, turning to leave. “Even if it is just to vent.” She added as she exited Celestia’s chambers and closed the door behind her. I’ll keep an eye on her. Luna thought. I think the last thousand years are starting to show.

Celestia exhaled deeply, not quite realising the force she had unknowingly clasped her teeth together. Her jaw ached from the strain, and her lungs filled themselves with air without any effort or permission from Celestia herself. She spread her wings and leapt from the balcony, flapping her appendages to take flight. All she needed was some fresh air, and flight would help her do that.

“Not quite a usual midnight flight Celestia.” A soft voice sounded from just above and to the right of Celestia. A mist was forming alongside Celestia … and Luna began to take shape.

Changing Circumstances

Twilight sighed and ceased chewing the end of her quill. She wasn’t quite sure how to pen the letter she wanted to write to the princess; how does one ask for a live test subject?

The unicorn shook her head and put down her quill. ‘Celestia’s turned me down so many times for simple things, I doubt she’d allow me something as complicated as a living being.’ Twilight thought to herself, standing up and pacing around what she had deemed her laboratory; all of her notes and equipment having been covertly moved to Ponyville along with the unicorn herself.

Twilight was rather fond of the new area to perform her experiments in - with the chance to unpack came a chance to redecorate, and the sketches all had a little order to them now – organs were kept on the far wall above the desk, limbs and bone structure on the left wall and species-specific features on the rightmost. So far Twilight had only received Earth Pony and Pegasus cadavers, but had made use of the Pegasus on the structure of wings and the key feature of honeycombed bone interiors. A good quality unicorn yet evaded her, the process of capture and killing often being more violent than the others due to magical abilities, and the bodies rotted more quickly than the other two. Along the walls of the entrance to the lab were Twilight’s psychological notes, though these were significantly fewer than any of the others, not having had a live subject to talk to about their thoughts. The centre of the room was still occupied by the large stone slab used for a table and the instruments used for Twilight’s experiments.

There was, however, a new addition. Living in a tree, and thus the lab being under it, had given Twilight a chance to request a specific position for the lab: near the tree’s roots. The strong roots hung from specially designed holes in the concrete ceiling, curling at the ends but loose enough to be wrapped taught around something. For the moment it was used to keep light upon the table, but the positions and scale of the roots had been modified by Twilight to carry a very specific shape…

Twilight’s musings were interrupted by the sounds of Spike calling Twilight in a rather nervous voice. “Err … Twilight … You might want to read this …”

The mare snapped back to reality, putting her thoughts on how to phrase the request to one side for now. “I’ll be up in a second!” Twilight called back, quickly checking that everything looked in order and clean before making her way up the smooth concrete stairs.

Twilight pushed against the bookshelf that was used for a door. This design too had been updated – the bookshelf now contained identical books on both sides and rotated 180 degrees via a cylindrical pole running through its centre from top to bottom, allowing Twilight to quickly and easily access the lab rather than the relatively slow mechanised process from before. Of course, the security of the system meant that a lock was in place, so one still had to push in a very specific area to get the thing to rotate.

“Now would be good …” Spike whimpered, his voice trembling a little as he attempted to maintain it at a high volume.

“I’m here Spike, what is it?” Twilight asked, wielding a slightly happier tone at what Twilight had assumed to be nothing major.

Spike remained silent and simply held out a small piece of parchment bearing the royal insignia. Twilight gripped it with her magic and brought it before her face to read it.

Dear Twilight,

I regret to inform you that a wanted criminal has been reported in your area. His crimes are of the utmost despicable nature, and I shan’t recount them – suffice it to say that this stallion, despite the lack of blood on his hooves, is the worst of all those who break the law. I would ask that you keep away from him, and keep your new-found friends from him too. I’ll be sending a guard dispatch, due to arrive in a few days, to find and apprehend the stallion. DO NOT approach him. Needless to say, I’d ask you to keep this quiet – the stability of our society depends on it.

— Princess Celestia

What followed was an artist’s interpretation of the offender – a larger Stallion with stubble and tired hazel eyes; a cut black mane and tail, kept neat and short; his coat a lighter shade of blue. The cutie mark was not shown, the drawing being angled deliberately to avoid it.

Twilight curled up the parchment, and threw it over to a desk that constantly occupied a section of the downstairs foyer. “Thank you, Spike.” Twilight said, nearly all emotion vanishing from her voice as her mind ran through a thousand possibilities of this new information.

“Is there really a criminal here? I thought crime had been wiped out …” Spike asked, nerves still wracking his voice as he voiced the beliefs of most Equestrian citizens.

“There are a few that slip through the gaps, but they’re dealt with quickly. Annihilated, usually; unless their minds can be physically and psychologically altered to remove the personality they were and replace it with a new one.” Twilight explained, too disinterested in Spike’s concerns to bother trying to lie about how the Equestrian legal system worked on a serious scale. “Or they’re sent to the mines, if the conversion process is botched or they’re too resistant.” Twilight noted, remembering the brain-dead workers she had seen on a trip organised by the Princess when Twilight herself had asked about the peacekeeping system herself: eyes ever open, muscles working past the point of tearing and the subject showing no ill effects – the same schedule done day in day out, and no worker ever asking questions. Twilight became a little ecstatic thinking about how she could achieve similar results, and all the tests and experiments involved in doing so, even if it was simple curiosity talking. The complete destruction of freewill … there was a twisted beauty to it, in Twilight’s mind.

Spike audibly gulped. “I … I’m just going to go and lie down for a bit …” he muttered before turning his entire body and unblinkingly making his way up the stairs to the bedroom.

Twilight nodded her approval, utterly unconcerned with how Spike conducted himself. She doubted anyone would believe him about the new information she had given him; and even if the dragon decided to try and dig up some proof … well, Twilight wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to learn about dragon physiology.

The unicorn shook the thoughts from her mind. ‘I’m a scientist, not a murderer! My experiments aren’t done for convenience as some cover up; they’re done for the pursuit of knowledge!’ Twilight told herself. And yet, in the back of her mind, she began to quietly make contingencies about such an event – unbeknownst even to her conscious mind, Twilight planned.

The forefront of her mind, however, was focused on something else. She moved slowly toward the door to exit her home, internal thoughts vocalising themselves. ‘This scum wouldn’t be missed, and he wasn’t known to the civilian populous – so it was time to deal justice, retribution; make him suffer for what he has done …’ Twilight’s mind told her, her face grimacing with determination and anger at the thought. ‘And to acquire a live test subject.’ Twilight hastily pinned to her thoughts, muttering and fading gradually back to her usual tone. She felt her heart skip a few beats thinking back to what she had just told herself, unsure entirely what to make of it. She felt disgusted to say what she did, but … it felt amazing to say them and imagine the consequences, even if only reluctantly to herself.

There was a word Twilight knew from the Griffon language, a word that she felt appropriate to use as she exited her home to find her new subject: Hunt.

Predator

Twilight attempted to act natural as she prowled the town looking for her target. She didn't know everypony there by any stretch - and travelers came through each day, further complicating her goal of scanning any unfamiliar face. Waving to friends as they passed, greeting those who greeted her with a polite nod or a 'good afternoon', pretending to examine the goods at market - all of it an illusion as Twilight's eyes endlessly scanned the crowd looking for a pony who matched her description.

While not in vain, it would certainly be difficult. She had to find him today, there would be guards here tomorrow - 'and that would either scare him off or remove him from my grasp' Twilight thought to herself. A race against time was exciting to Twilight - she liked to work under pressure, it gave everything a sense of urgency.

Twilight concluded, after an hour or two of moving through the crowds, that her target was not on the streets. She had accounted for slight changes to the stallion's appearance, and yet nopony like him had been seen. Twilight's internal thoughts ruled out asking around as an option lest he be alerted - or Pinkie found him first and made the entire town aware of his presence, complicating the issue even further. Or even worse, if the stallion ... Twilight's mind forced this out as an issue. She needed to find him first, and that was all she needed to remember. With renewed determination present on her features, Twilight trotted nonchalantly toward Ponyville's most popular bakery, Sugercube Corner. Food often attracted a great many to its doors, and with any luck Twilight could intercept the stallion before he arrived - lunchtime for most wasn't due for another ten minutes or so.

Passing by a couple, who nodded to her to acknowledge the good day, Twilight rounded a corner to face the front door of the bakery. And, propped up against the wall, was a light blue stallion with a black mane and tail - once they had been neat, but they now grew somewhat untidily. The stubble on the drawing had since been shaved, but Twilight wasn't fooled. She smiled a triumphant smile, and the corner of her mouth flickered with it even after the smile had finished.

Assuming a calm air, the unicorn meandered toward the light blue pony, and turned to face him after she was sufficiently close. As soon as this started, Twilight's mind immediately flicked into panic mode. Social interaction?! What on earth was she thinking, she couldn't talk her way out of a carriage ticket, let alone convince somepony she'd just met to follow her home!

'You've really dropped yourself in it, haven't you? Well, time for those friendship lessons to pay off!' Twilight thought to herself as she attempted a half baked smile and looked the rather grumpy yet nervous stallion in his hazel eyes. "Hi there... You seem new here," Twilight attempted, her tone faltering between friendly and her own unique brand of nervousness.

"I am." The stallion responded flatly, his eyes passing quickly over Twilight's form. "What's it to you?" he asked.

Conversation established, pay him a compliment to make him feel comfortable.

"Well, I just thought ... err ... a scholarly pony such as yourself might be interested in Ponyville's collection of books." Twilight sputtered out, stumbling over her words a little and her facial expression attempting to contort itself into something friendly but finally settling on a fake smile that leaned to one side.

"I'm not really a reader. I prefer doing to reading about something." The stallion responded, looking at nothing in particular before returning his gaze to Twilight ... though he failed to look in her eyes.

Change subject, talk about something he's interested in. Don't lose your cool now, Twi!

"Well, what kind of things do you like doing?" Twilight asked, turning her head to one side slightly to hide a little of her face, but keeping the smile she thought she might be able to pass off as sweet. Despite herself, Twilight's mind raced through what she liked to do - and her eyes traveled over the stallion's body, her mind mapping out his insides and trying to picture how it all worked.

"I like to spend nights with company ... it can get lonely. But I'm not like most ponies. They don't know what they want until I give it to them." he responded, his own sly smile pulling itself across his face a his eyes moved slowly across Twilight's body, resting on her flank before quickly flicking back to her neck and wandering up to her face again.

Twilight's stomach turned at just what he was implying. She pulled her attention back to his face, and the stench of alcohol that came from his breath.

Connection established, interest established. Exploit desire in order to get what you want.

Behind Twilight's eyes, her method of establishing and maintaining communication to reach her desired end was becoming increasingly detached from emotion as her mind fell back on it's well known logic to compensate for a complete lack of understanding of how well this was going.

"What're you looking at?" the stallion asked, furrowing his brow a little and stretching his neck so his gaze could slowly follow down Twilight's spine to its base.

Abort! Abort! He's onto you!

Twilight sighed a little. "Honesty is best I guess. I'm examining you because I think you'd make a good specimen for my experimentation." Twilight admitted defeated. 'Now he's going to call you weird, you're going to walk home, and he'll be apprehended by the end of tomorrow.' Twilight thought to herself, lowering her head dejectedly.

The stallion chuckled and his eyes widened. "That's the single most forward thing I've ever heard!" he said, his mouth agape with a creepy grin plastered over it. "Take me back to your home, I'd be happy to 'experiment' with somepony like you." he said, something deeply unsettling behind his supposedly formal tone.

The mare's eyes widened. "Really?" she asked , taken aback. Without waiting for an answer, she quickly and quietly began to walk back to her home.

Twilight's mind was now thoroughly excited about the prospects now presented to her, and thoroughly confused as to why this stallion agreed to what she was planning. Perhaps he was an equine of science after all.

Or maybe he was insane. After meeting all the ponies in this town, Twilight was beginning to think she was the only sane one in this kingdom.

Aftermath

Author's Notes:

This section contains visceral gore. Viewer discretion is advised.

Twilight barely noticed the knock on her door from down in her lab. Her experiment had gone very much according to plan, so she was quite pleased with herself at the results gleaned from such a gesture. The price of the drugs, or materials to make them, required to keep such an experiment working were higher than anticipated, but Twilight thought the costs irrelevant from the results. Being rather pleased with herself after having had to start an entire new file dedicated to even this one test ... Twilight was finding it hard to contain her excitement.

This was why she had invited the princess over to look through her results. Twilight knew what she had done would likely displease the princess at first, but felt confident that such an action would be approved for further use from the amount of information Twilight had uncovered. It was with this confidence that Twilight strode to the exit of her lab, turning once more to admire her work. "Now, you stay right here, okay?" she stated aloud ... though not to herself.

There was no response, however Twilight smiled nonetheless. She worked best in silence, and had instructed that it was to remain silent while she was down here.

Twilight exited her lab into the foyer of her home, leaving the entrance downstairs open and undisguised. Wrapping a hoof around the door handle, Twilight closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath to attempt to calm her nerves. The door swung back, Twilight tilting her head up slightly to be able to look the princess in the face; yet open air was all that lay above the unicorn.

"Miss Sparkle?" Came a familiar, accented voice. Twilight looked at her own height, and saw a griffon looking her in the face - it's head grayed beyond any doubt of being white anymore. Even the brown coat having faded with age a little.

"Forensics ..." Twilight muttered, remembering the griffon from what was now her foalhood.

"My apologies for Celestia's absence - she has royal business to attend to, her sister's return making things all the more complicated. I'm here on her behalf as a personal favor." Forensics explained, taking a short moment to look to his side thoughtfully, lost for a moment in his own mind. "May I come in?" he asked expectantly.

"Oh, yes of course!" Twilight responded eagerly, slightly taken aback from the arrival of Forensics. She stepped aside to allow him to enter before closing the door behind him.

Forensics glanced around the room, his eyes lingering on a few volumes before moving onto the next. "Nice place." he stated flatly. "Very ... academic."

"Thanks," Twilight said, a slight smile being fought off. She was unsure if Forensics was genuinely complimenting her decor, or simply making small talk - Twilight remembered being told that complimenting others was a social standard she had to adhere to upon entering their home or something similar. She didn't understand why - surely one should speak their mind whenever possible? - but she followed the advice given to her by Celestia when it came to interacting with others.

Forensics spared no time making his way down the stairs toward the lab, Twilight quickly following suit. Her ears flinched at the first sound of the griffon's talons clacking against the concrete - it was far louder and sharper than her own hoof-steps, compounding in her finding it far more distracting.

"Don't be afraid to bear all, Miss Sparkle - anything you tell me will be told to Celestia, unless you ask me to leave it out of my report. I'm one of three alive who know the sensitive nature of your work." Forensics reminded Twilight, his voice echoing in the chamber as he raised it for Twilight to hear - a little too loud for Twilight's tastes.

"Wait, three?" Twilight inquired, her face reflecting her own confusion as the pair reached the last spiral.

"Luna knows." was Forensics' simple response. He sighed impatiently whilst he turned to Twilight. "Miss Sparkle, if you have any queries take them up with Celestia when you and your friends go to the Gala. I'm afraid I can't answer them, especially concerning the princess - doctor-patient privilege." he explained. "If you don't want me to see your work, just say - the princess will be free sometime soon." he said, his tone becoming more calmed before letting out a chuckle. "This old retired doctor won't be offended." he remarked with a slight smile.

Twilight considered his offer for a moment. He was a stranger ... but any friend of Celestia's was a friend of hers. That's what this entire trip was about - friendship. 'Perhaps Forensics could even make a good report!' Twilight thought to herself. "No, enter - just don't disturb anything." she instructed, waving a hoof in the direction of the lab.

Forensics gave a solemn nod, and entered Twilight's lab - it was a horrible sight that greeted him.

The pony Twilight had taken home was now suspended from the ceiling, wrapped up in the tree's roots by his hoofs. His right forehoof was missing all of it's skin, now simply a skeletal stump - cleaned of every facet of gore however, to surgical standard. It had some slight laceration on the bone, yet was otherwise untouched. His other forehoof had small drops of blood along it, where a needle had pierced the skin, the blood from his veins bulging in a purple colour. The root around it acted as a tourniquet, preventing whatever he had been pumped with from entering the rest of his system. There was a small stitch over his wrist, that showed signs of having been re-opened and closed several times.

The neck had had its layer of skin removed, exposing chords and several facets of the throat - saliva occasionally dripped down it, and the tubes seen would contract and relax with breathing. Following the tube, the torso had been exposed - ribcage visible, organs all still working. The heart pumped, the tiniest spurt of blood coming out of it occasionally. When Forensics entered the room and stopped moving or talking, all he could focus on was that heart ... it sped up when it saw Forensics, beating louder.

The lungs too did their usual work, breathing in and out in short bursts, the diaphragm pressing against them. One of the lungs had been cut open in the centre - the edges still intact to keep it in the chest comfortably. Still functioning, the inner workings could be seen. The lung was covered in a glass case, a single hole at the top pressing against the tube connecting it to the esophagus - the glass was melted, bonded to the tube for the organ.

The stomach had a light shining on it, making the innards of it visible in an odd silhouette. Currently there was something in there, being digested ... Forensics didn't linger his gaze on it too long. The liver had shriveled a little and changed colour to a darker red and had an odd 'bumpy' texture to it - except a small patch, which showed a more normal looking piece.

The intestines were oddly untouched, which struck Forensics as odd. The most striking change, however, was his hind legs - they had been severed entirely at the knee joint. What looked to be an artificial hoof was on the floor under the usual operating table; evidently meant for the hoof that had been given skin to cover it at the bottom, though the wound did not look healed. The other had a tourniquet around it and was still dripping blood from the stump into a bucket.

What struck Forensics most notably was the face. Both eyelids had been held open by small metal instruments, meaning the subject looked over at the griffon without ever blinking. His eyes were wide, unable to express any emotion as they rolled about in their sockets slightly. The only sign of the pain being experienced was the wetness they possessed, and the streams that ran down the cheeks, never having been dried off. The mouth too was held open, some of the teeth missing and others chipped or broken - some with the sign of aggression and force, others with the clean cut of instruments. The top of the head had small black markings going all the way around it, and a single ear had been taken off entirely - the ear passage completely visible and cleaned.

The pelvic region was completely clear of any laceration or cutting - but the skin looked burned, and showed clear signs of cauterisation.

Whilst absolutely disgusted, his face contorting with shock that such an act had been undergone, Forensics quietly conceded to himself that he was impressed. Besides cauterisation, which Forensics knew from experience was an inexact measure, the work was immaculate; save the hind legs, but those appeared to be in the process of some tests. He hated to admit it: he was actually admiring all of the measures Twilight had taken to keep this stallion alive whilst testing such things on him. He looked to the desk. There were papers upon it, among them a large dossier; to the side, a crate almost overflowing with empty canisters and syringes. The walls, though showing some signs of order, had since had notes added to them with such swiftness it was now descending into chaos.

"Miss Sparkle ..." Forensics began, unsure of where to start. He could hear a living heart beating, and see it too, as he walked further into the room, clacking all the while. When Twilight entered the room, the eyes stopped following Forensics and focused solely on Twilight; as the heart beat faster and louder, the eyes seemed to widen even more than they were kept. Sweat beads began to form on the forehead, and a slight twitch in the muscles was all the subject could muster to express the fear he felt at seeing the enthusiastic purple unicorn, fighting off the desire to smile at having another being see her work - and losing that fight, a smirk sliding onto her face.

Twilight looked to Forensics, then back to her subject. "The glass case is a sterile environment, by the way. It lets me see and lets him breathe without getting any nasty pollutants into the working space of the lung." she noted. "I've learned so much from this - what best to use for cauterisation, which drugs work best for preventing or accentuating blood loss, painkillers ..." Twilight continued speaking fast as her mind raced through all the days she'd spent down here, recording results and asking questions, testing hypotheses ... "Ah, but you'll read all about that in my files." she concluded. "Any pressing questions?" she asked, grinning expectantly at the griffon next to her.

Forensics stared at her vacantly for a moment, coming to terms with what he just saw. He fought the desire to ask questions, to simply do what was right and leave, but a morbid curiosity of all this overcame him. He was a doctor ... and this was advancement, with or without Celestia's approval, like it or not.

"Where are his genitals?" Was the first question that Forensics asked, rather monotonously. Whilst not the most scientific question, the sudden appreciation for his own brought the question to the forefront of his thoughts.

"Well, it seemed indecent, so I cut them off. Pretty quickly, a single slice." Twilight recalled. "Gave me an excellent opportunity to test cauterisation," she looked toward the subject. "We nearly lost you that day, didn't we? But you held out, with a little help from blood clotting." she said with a smile, seemingly proud. "Now I take out his waste products by hoof. It's dirty work, but some sanitary measures and disposable gloves and all is well. Besides, he evacuated most of them when we got here, so his clothes took the brunt of it." Twilight noted.

Forensics cringed, and pressed his legs a little closer together. "What about his intestines? They look so healthy, yet his liver is ruined ..." he asked, trailing off to ponder the methods.

"The liver was ruined by alcohol - I've been trying to fix it, and with a little application of the right stuff it's improving. His intestines ..." Twilight grinned a slightly sheepish grin as she held her hoof behind her head and scratched her hair. "Aren't, actually ... you know ... in him." she concluded. "These are the intestines of a female unicorn. I transplanted them successfully, and they haven't given out just yet. The blood types match, so rejection hasn't been a major problem. Just goes to show we're all more similar than we like to believe!" Twilight noted, a nervous chuckle escaping her.

"And what did you do with his intestines?" Forensics asked blankly, a glassy stare focused on the organs.

"Well, my friend Fluttershy looks after animals - all kinds of them. Some of them are omnivores and carnivores, so I got a stew together and ..." Twilight said, looking even more sheepish than previously. "You know how it is, right? Eh, griffon ..." she stammered out, giving Forensics a gentle tap on the shoulder like she'd seen Rainbow Dash do with some of her friends.

Forensics, mouth slightly agape, stared first at Twilight with his head ever so slightly lowered, looked over to the subject and lingered on him, then back to Twilight.

"Miss Sparkle, this ... this is ..." Forensics began. He took a deep breath and muttered an apology to Celestia as he spoke his next few words.

Progress

"Impressive." Forensics admitted to himself, his face portraying the shame he felt at such a thought even crossing his mind. "But it's wrong." he continued, tensing with renewed purpose as he strode over to the subject.

Twilight's face fell. "Forensics ... p-please, no. Don't touch the subject, he's in a very delicate state!" she pleaded, putting a hoof on the griffon's shoulder.

"I appreciate what you've done is with the best intentions at heart, Miss Sparkle," Forensics told Twilight, his voice becoming a softer, gentler tone than it had been previously. "But this simply flies in the face of ethics - you cannot do this, not to a living creature."

Twilight frowned a little. "You think this... this thing deserves any kind of mercy? What he did was wrong!" she retorted, taking the hoof off Forensics to indicate the subject, the heartbeat of him now becoming faster, less rhythmic.

"I'm sure Celestia has told you the phrase 'two wrongs don't make a right'. Well, such a saying applies here - his actions do not justify such treatment. What you've done is wrong." Forensics returned, his voice rising a little and emphasising the word 'wrong'.

The unicorn furrowed her brow further. "How can you possibly ask me to stop this? I've taken this scum and used him for the benefit of society. The drug treatments I've found alone with this subject warrant what I've done!" she spat, her anger rising at what was, in her opinion, the worst of all accusations - being wrong.

"Miss Sparkle. I'm sorry this has to happen, but it does. Let me put an end to this." Forensics demanded, his talons against the floor tensing, making a quiet but noticeable scraping noise.

'There's that noise again. It's so loud... get it out of my lab!' Twilight thought to herself, teeth clenching together and eyes closing to try and refocus her mind on blocking out the grating noise.

She slammed a hoof against the floor and Forensics turned to face her. "Don't you dare accuse me of being wrong. YOU are wrong! What is it, jealousy of my achievements while you remain a by-gone doctor?!" Twilight yelled, opening her eyes fully to glare at the griffon. "Or are you just some traitor to science, too blind to see past his own judgements?"

Something behind the griffon's eyes snapped. He stared directly back into Twilight's eyes, his voice becoming a low, menacing tone as he spoke now. "Then you leave me no choice."

There was the clacking of talons again on the floor as Forensics turned to leave Twilight's glare and approach the subject. He closed his eyes, muttered something and sighed. Opening his eyes again to look into the subject's panicked own, he addressed it directly: "Forgive me."

With that, Forensics brought a talon up, and then across the subjects neck. The subject screamed aloud in pain, the sides of his closed mouth being torn with the reflective motion, before gargling on the blood now filling his airways.

The subject writhing violently within his bindings before going limp, Forensics turned back to Twilight. "It's done. Miss Sparkle; now I need to get you and your work back to the princess, so she can decide what to do with you. Come with me, please." the griffon held out a claw for Twilight to take.

Twilight's mouth was having to be forcibly shut to stop it from falling agape at what she saw as a random act of sabotage to her work. This had the side-effect of Twilight's jaw being almost locked, she was biting down on her own teeth so hard. She remained silent, shocked eyes not moving from the doctor as her magic felt around the room nearer the subject and her implements for something to wield. "You don't even get to touch my work; and after that, I'm not going anywhere with you." Twilight spat out through gritted teeth.

"Then by the authority of Princess Celestia," Forensics began, putting his claw back on the ground to step towards Twilight. "I hereby -"

A purple hue emitted from the subject's chest cavity before the sound of tearing flesh filled the air. Forensics was silenced not by this but the blow and his own exasperation of pain.

Using her magic, Twilight had ripped a rib from her subject and brought it across Forensic's mouth. The blood was fresh on it, though she knew not whether it was from her subject or if it had been recently drawn from the creature before her who planned to halt progress. "You will not touch it! It is my work! MINE!" Twilight cried, her eyes widening and teeth bared as she shouted at the body of Forensics, now getting back to his feet.

Seeing this movement, Twilight hit Forensics across the side of his head again with a crack, sending him skidding across the room and into the wall as he let out a yelp of pain. Twilight's adrenaline was pumping now, and she walked over to the griffon, any pretense of keeping herself together gone. "YOU do not carry her authority!" she yelled, hitting Forensics again, leaving a splatter of blood across the wall.

"SHE would want what's best for me! What would you know?!" another blow came down on Forensics, the wound now turning the feathers of his head red with his own blood.

"YOU! WILL! NOT! STOP! PROGRESS!" Twilight screamed, bringing the rib down with a deadly thud on every word.

Twilight panted deeply, seething with rage that someone would even consider claiming to speak on the Princess' behalf - and tell her she was wrong! Had he not seen her notes? Not known the fruits of her labour?!

"This is MY experiment! MY research. And MY right to end it!" Twilight said, breaking the rib she used as a weapon over Forensic's head, taking off parts of his skull with it - though the doctor himself was long gone.

Twilight breathed more deeply, slowly beginning to regain her composure. She looked back over her shoulder to her experiment; blood seeping out of its chest and the body hanging limp, eyes not focusing on anything ... and the silence deafening. The heart had stop beating.

"It ... it's ruined ..." Twilight confirmed quietly to herself. She turned her attention back to the lifeless body of the doctor, emptying her lungs with a yell of pure sound, no speech at all, and throwing with all her might the rib across Forensic's head, breaking off another large part of the skull which flew across the room along with the bone.

Behind closed eyes and controlled breathing, the unicorn began letting her mind calm back down. She breathed through her nose, focused her mind on something unrelated to the situation, and attempted to calm down - her body shaking in protest, still writhing with anger. She found it hard to stand, but her muscles were so tense she felt rooted to the spot.

It was minutes before Twilight opened her eyes, having regained the minimal level of composure she required to function properly. Her breathing was still erratic and more forceful than usual, even being audible sometimes, though it was back down to controllable levels. She could move again, and the shaking had stopped. Twilight allowed all her senses to take in the scene with her now clear mind.

The sound of dripping blood came from behind her, the subject still letting out his last. The pounding Twilight could feel in her head she knew was internalised - nevertheless it was a little jarring. Nothing near the griffon's clacking, but something she still wished would stop.

Her nostrils were assaulted by the metallic smell of fresh blood, an unmistakable smell - and one to which Twilight had grown accustomed. She always associated it with being in the lab, or back in biology class during the dissection lessons - it was a smell she linked with doing science, a subject she loved dearly; the smell of blood being let from the body was able to bring back memories of times Twilight felt at peace, quietly working away and being content with the exploration and advancement of her own knowledge.

The sight that greeted Twilight was something new however - Forensic's head hung limply over his shoulder, resting on the wall. Blood had seeped from where Twilight had hit him, leaving red streaks down his feathers from the side of his head down to his chest and spilling over onto the floor. It was still too bright a red to have dried, but it had lost its shine and didn't have that glisten of wetness.

Forensics himself looked a state - Twilight could see the side of his eye, the side of his socket having been cracked back. His actual skull was missing a large piece near the top, along with any feathers or flesh, exposing the pink brain inside Forensic's head. Pieces of this same organ were plastered over Twilight's wall, small chunks still stuck to it along with the blood splatter caused by such an act. Some small parts had slid down, the red liquid trailing like tears, resting on Forensic's side where he had slumped against the wall, lifeless. The griffon's mouth still hung agape a little, dead eyes staring into nothing.

Putting her hoof to her mouth, Twilight felt all anger drain from her as she took in just what she had done. "By Celestia..." she muttered aloud, recoiling at the sight of Forensic's body and his brains dashed against the usually clean lab; yet found herself unable to look away from the horror she had wrought.

"I..." Twilight began aloud, speaking to herself to let it sink in further that what she was seeing and feeling was really happening but finding her throat too dry to continue.

Swallowing, Twilight internalised her thoughts once again. 'I need to tell the Princess. I need to clean up this mess and tell the Princess immediately.' she thought, panicking even in her own monologue.

Without further ado, Twilight rushed around to make preparations for corpse disposal - something she now was used to doing - and tried to puzzle out how to tell this to Celestia. Twilight's mind was flooded with emotions and worry and shock; not even sleep would provide relief or solitude that night.

Strangers

The train let off its steam, the last few arrivals getting on and taking their places. Among the small crowd of ponies moving about was Twilight, saddlebags packed for a day or two's trip to Canterlot. To her left, Pinkie Pie was happily bouncing along with Rainbow Dash hovering to her right, more comfortable in the air than on the ground..
"So you get to go to some dinner party with the Princess by just turning up?" Dash asked, skepticism dripping from her voice.
"Most ponies don't. I need to see the princess about something though, and I'm sure she'll make the time for me." Twilight explained, keeping a cheery disposition around the ponies she called her friends.
"Well I think any party is a great party! There should be more open parties, it means more guests, and that means more fun!" Pinkie exclaimed, the spring in her step causing her to jump a little higher each time she left the floor.
The group approached the entrance to the train, and Twilight turned from having a hoof on it to bid the two goodbye. "I'll be back in a day, two days tops." She assured them. In response to this, Pinkie promptly enveloped Twilight in a strong hug, her front hooves wrapped around Twilight's neck.

Twilight chuckled, and put one of her hooves on Pinkie's own. "I'll miss you too, Pinkie." she told her, smiling. By now Twilight had grown accustomed to her friend's quirks, and knew that such an invasion of personal space had the best of intentions behind it.
"Well, we'll see you then Twi. C'mon Pinkie, give the mare her space." Dash asked, folding her forehooves as she glided to hover above the two.
"And you promise you'll come back soon?" Pinkie asked, not letting go of the unicorn.
"Yes, Pinkie, I'll be back." Twilight assured her. Pinkie still did not release her friend; Twilight reminded herself that this was not an uncommon occurrence when one brought Pinkie along to a departure.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and gripped Pinkie's tail with her teeth, turning to try and physically pull the pink pony off Twilight. Pinkie's body was carried up a little by the motion, but she simply smiled contently at being attached to Twilight.
"C'mon Pinkie" Dash called out through clenched teeth, her wings flapping faster to add more speed and power to her pulling.

Twilight sighed with humor at the situation. Pinkie was more likely to be stretched like toffee than to release somepony from the vice-like grip of her hug when she wouldn't be seeing them for more than a night. And with Pinkie, being stretched like taffy was a very real possibility.
"Pinkie, you can let go now." Twilight whispered, not wanting Dash to hear.
"Okay!" was Pinkie's upbeat response, followed by the prompt release of Twilight. Pinkie seemed to hover in the air for a moment before Dash's pulling of her seemed to catch up to them both all at once, and the two shot off into the sky, a trail of rainbow being left behind them.
"BYEEE TWILIIIIIGHT!!" Pinkie yelled as the two mares disappeared off beyond the clouds, waving enthusiastically the whole time.

Twilight couldn't help but laugh as she stepped onto the train properly, it already pulling out from the station. She had grown accustomed to having her friends around, and enjoyed their company, finding Pinkie's seemingly physics defying moments largely humorous. She shook her head fondly at the ridiculousness of that pony.

The train wasn't packed, though most of the seats were taken. Twilight walked slowly down the carriage, looking for an empty spot to take a seat. There wasn't an empty row, but a small cubicle of four seats with a table in the centre had only a single older pony in it, reading a newspaper quietly. Twilight sat opposite her, resting her head on the head rest with a small sigh. She didn't know why, but after the incident with Forensics her head had been feeling rather heavy. The weight of her skull and its contents seemed to push down on her neck when she was on her own strength, so it felt good to have the relief from supporting it.
"Long week?" the elderly mare asked, her voice a little raspy yet carrying a tone of softness in it that one would find in a grandparent; it reminded Twilight a little of Granny Smith.
"No, just a few stressful nights." Twilight responded, her mind registering that response to conversation was considered a polite thing to do.
"Well, sometimes a good train ride can be relaxing. My daughter used to ride the train back when she was young." the mare responded, smiling a little at the memory.

Twilight looked out the window at the passing countryside; whilst not calming, the relative silence of the train and the view of the rural land did have a serene quality to it.
"Where are you going, dearie? You going to see your own parents?" the old pegasus asked. Twilight didn't look to the owner of the raspy voice, her eyes glazing absent-mindedly at the passing trees and fields.
"I never really knew my parents. I went to a boarding school from a young age, so I rarely saw them. We became ... estranged." Twilight admitted, the process of talking to a stranger combined with the tranquil situation making her oddly pensive.
"Did you not see them at the weekends?" the mare asked, a little surprise colouring her voice.
"I could have. I chose to stay at school with my mentor for the most part. I saw them on special occasions like Hearth's Warming, but other than that..." Twilight trailed off, trying to remember a time she'd gone to see her parents instead of spending time studying or with Celestia. "I guess I was so wrapped up in what I was doing, I just never thought about them much." she continued, her mind wandering to her big brother. She hadn't seen him in a long time either; now he was too busy being captain of the royal guard. Of course, even when he had a lot more free time she never saw him much.
"Did you write them letters then?" The mare asked, the surprise subsiding. "My niece was in service of Princess and country some years ago. She wrote to her family when she couldn't see them."

Twilight had stopped blinking even, lost in her thoughts and the scenery being a simple tapestry to paint them upon. "No ... in all that time, I never wrote to them. I'd go on trips and write to my mentor, I still do every week. Yet my parents ... my entire family ... I never wrote to them." Twilight said aloud, feeling a strange sense of emptiness at the thought. "I'm not even sure they know I've moved down here. If they have sent me anything, it's to the wrong address." Twilight thought. "By Celestia, they could have died and I wouldn't even know." she realised, now staring blankly out the window, focusing more and more on her own reflection in the glass.
"I'm sure your parents are fine, dear. Send them a letter tonight, if you can." the elderly mare advised, the ruffling sound of a newspaper being put down accompanying her.

Twilight made a mental note to send a letter to Shining Armour informing him of the change of address. She knew where he was stationed in Canterlot, and he could pass on that information to her parents. "I guess my parents were more like names to me. Just two ponies I shared my genetics with, nothing more." The unicorn pondered, now lost in thought and barely registering she was talking to anyone other than herself. "I guess I should have gotten to know them better. I don't even know what my father does for a living." she continued, the previous monotony with which she expressed herself now tinged with sadness, her throat feeling a little dryer.
"It's never too late to make amends for that..." The older pony noted.
Twilight could feel her voice getting a little choked. Was this ... regret? Twilight stared out of that window for a few minutes, her mind running through what she knew a relationship with one's parents were supposed to be like and contrasting it with her own. "They felt more like an extended family than my immediate," she continued, her voice growing quieter the more she thought about it all.

Whatever the sensation was building in her throat that made it harder to talk, Twilight didn't like it. "They were just that. Names and people I shared my genetics with. Nothing more." Twilight assured herself, her voice growing a little louder to mask, even to herself, the shaking in it. "I didn't know them - so what? I had somepony to care for me, somepony who was basically a parent to me."
"But they can never replace your parents." the old mare said quietly, attempting to comfort Twilight.

Twilight debated that internally. Celestia had always been there for her, been a role-model and a guide just as a mother would. Scolded her when she did wrong, praised her when things went correctly. But she didn't have that bond she knew a mother and daughter were supposed to have; she didn't feel that inseparable connection like those she'd read about in her storybooks, or the genuine smile that appeared whenever Applejack talked of her own parents and the few memories she had of them.

All this made Twilight feel even worse. She didn't like feeling like this, not at all. The knotting sensation in her throat, the odd coldness she felt that made her hairs stand on end. "Why do I care about my parents? I didn't know them. Why does sharing my DNA with them make them any different to anypony else?" Twilight asked firmly, the question rhetorical and aimed more at herself. She didn't want an answer, she wanted to remember why she'd never felt like this before.

She could feel her body shaking as he tried to steel herself against what her emotions were telling her body to do. Twilight went over that same argument against her parents in her head over and over again: They aren't special, just two halves of my chromosomes. There isn't anything special about them. I have friends that I feel more for, I don't need to care about my parents.

Even applying this logic to the situation, Twilight never felt that knot in her throat go away for that train ride. Or the pulsing she felt on the sides of her head. Or the spurratic breathing she had. And, even though she would never admit it to herself, she never felt the tears silently rolling down her cheeks stop either.