Celestia's Bizarre Evening


                                            >It's a quiet evening at Canterlot Castle.

                                            >Finished with the royal duties of the day, Princess Celestia lays on her gold-adorned recliner wrapped in a bathrobe.

                                            >She just had a nice warm shower, and now is taking some time to have a evening snack in the form of a small slice of cake.

                                            >Luna is busy visiting ponies in their dreams, meaning that Celestia has some time on her own, and she knows just how to use it.

                                            >Doors locked, it is time for some un-princesslike fun

                                            >Using her magic, she levitates a certain object out from under her bed, hovering it in front of her face to get a good look at it. She can't contain a smirk. Oh yes, she'd been looking forward to this all day.

                                            >"Daring Do and the fortress of the Seventh King" by A.K. Yearling. Not even Luna knows she reads these novels; nor does anypony else.

                                            >The white Alicorn opens the book by the bookmark on page 129 and begins to read where she last left off:

                                            >"Daring had a choice to make. From the the corridor in front of her emanated the yells of the enraged townsfolk hellbent on strapping her to a pyre. Behind her the growls of the manticore and the cockatrice's incessant screeching had closed in."

                                            >"With one swift motion, she untied her scarf and wrapped it around her head as a blindfold. She turned around, immune against the cockatrice's petrifying gaze. Without light, she now relied solely on her hearing. Daring started galloping towards the monsters, jumped and..."

                                            FWOOMP

                                            >the familiar noise and smell of green fire reaches the royal ears and nostrils, breaking the Princess's immersion into the book as a scroll flops down to the ground next to her.

                                            >A scroll from Twilight? At this time of day? Localized entirely within her bedroom? It must be an emergency.

                                            >She picks it up and begins to read.

                                            >"Dear Princess Celestia, I have urgent matters to discuss with you. But first, please examine the illustration below."

                                            >She does as told, seeing nothing but multiple panels of crude drawings. Pictured are a pegasus and a unicorn yelling at each other while performing odd poses.

                                            >At that she is overcome with a strange, otherworldly force.

                                            >Half of her face suddenly feels as if it's opening up into thin slices.

                                            >A quick look into the mirror opposite confirms it: like cut with a scalpel, the right side of her face is peeled off, from the base of her mane over her muzzle down to her neck.

                                            >But instead of flesh and blood, she seems to be made out of paper in the inside! With writing all over! The princess can't believe her eyes.

                                            >Before she can touch it with her hoof, her brain decides to temporarily relieve Celestia of the bizarre sight. The princess faints.

                                            >Purple magic flashes brightly as an equally purple alicorn teleports into the room.


                                            >Ever since she had gained the mysterious ability, Twilight Sparkle had been making good use of it.

                                            >The heads of others made for some of the most interesting works of non-fiction she'd ever read; laying the thoughts of others bare allowed her to answer quite a bit of the many open questions that passed her mind

                                            >This way, friendship missions had become almost embarrassingly easy.

                                            >Arrive, find out who's got the problem, read their minds and find a solution. If nothing else helps, rewrite the personal preferences of one or both arguing parties to help them get along.

                                            >Contrary to her initial concerns, the nap accepted these solutions. This was either an indicator that her ability wasn't powered by the usual kind of magic and thus undetectable to the map, or that using it was morally justifiable. Twilight preferred the latter explanation.

                                            >Still, she'd spared the heads of those close to her. Twi had mutual trust in her friends to talk about all that was important, she respected them too much to dig around in their minds like she'd do to other ponies.

                                            >But then, the rumor popped up.

                                            >Nopony knows where it came from. Some alleged Pinkie spread it as a bit of harmless fun, others say it was an old joke among members of the royal guard that had finally reached the rest of the world.

                                            >Speakers of the Equestrian Heliocentric Society had even tried to spin it into yet another absurd large-scale conspiracy of the ruling class against the earth pony population, but that was too far-fetched for even some of their own members.

                                            >"Celestia's favourite food is something outrageous", that menial bit of information was all there was to it. It quickly faded back into obscurity as fast as it had spread.

                                            >By now, most had already forgotten this silly rumor, but not Twilight Sparkle. Admittedly, her at times obsessive nature had gotten the best of her.

                                            >All normal means of research had proven fruitless, which left only one final option.

                                            >And here she is now, standing in her beloved mentor's private domicile, who lay before her quite literally like an open book. The plan is in full effect. The truth must be known.

                                            >speaking of books, the Princess of Friendship had already noticed the book in the floor next to the recliner which holds Celestia's unconscious body.

                                            >Celestia reading this cheap entertainment is a surprise to be sure, but it doesn't matter to Twilight right now. She's about to find out so much more.


                                            >Using her magic, Twilight opens up a random page and begins to read:

                                            >"Has laid out detailed battle plans against Yakyakistan and Saddle Arabia should such action become necessary: as follows..."

                                            >Secret war strategies. Interesting for some, but far from Twilight's specialty and not what she's looking for. Next page.

                                            >"Is deadly afraid of losing control, turning into Daybreaker and bringing about the apocalypse"

                                            >Standard stuff. Starlight had told Twilight all about this already. Next page.

                                            >Twilight can hardly believe what she now sees written on the page.. This is not what she was looking for. This is way bigger.

                                            >"In her life so far, Celestia has secretly carried out 26 foals from different stallions. Each foal has been given a new identity and housing at an adoptive family. Mind altering spells used in all cases on foster family and foal, for their own protection." followed by a numbered list of names and accompanying genders.

                                            >The purple mare carefully examines the list, immediately discovering quite a number of more or less famous names from history

                                            >"...Nr.10: Brushflare (m),..." Brushflare? The water wizard from 600 years ago, still honored today for his heroic sacrifice against the Great Fire of Canterlot?

                                            >The rumor that brought her here is forgotten at this point. Meticulously she memorizes every name in numerical order. There will be a lot of research to do once she gets home.

                                            >"...Nr.21: Candleshine Dravel (m)..." If that's Dravel the Driveler, the alicorn thinks, then no thanks to Celestia for that one. His "Advanced double-recursive spell naming system" was still wreaking havoc upon the grades of magic students when she was in school.

                                            >Anyway, there's more pressing matters to attend to right than reminiscing in school memories. Celestia has kids of her own! And not just one or two!

                                            >"Think of all the unseen connections that can be made! The lineages! She must have dozens of thousands of descendants by now! So many generations, imbued with alicorn blood..." Twi excitedly mutters to herself.

                                            >The page comes to an end, with Nr. 25: Clear Flow, a mare that Twilight has never heard of

                                            >but when she turns the page, to her surprise it doesn't reveal the sought after 26. At it's stead a short sentence is written in bold letters.


                                            >"WARNING: DO NOT READ FURTHER, SUBJECT"

                                            >Twilight hesitates. In all the times of her using the ability, this has never happened. Then curiosity triumphs over the stern warning and her magic flips the page.

                                            >"Number 26"

                                            >"Twilight Velvet"

                                            >Her pupils widen faster than her jaw can drop. She gasps for air, blinks, and looks again

                                            >There is no doubt that her's and Shining's mothers name is written there. In a matter of milliseconds, Twilight's brain connects dots like never before

                                            >This explains the strange visual discrepancy between her mother and her grandparents, the one which she'd never dared to question. This explains Flurry Heart. This answers so much, and brings up so many more questions.

                                            >Twilight's mind jumping to conclusions clouds her perception enough that only now she notices the other bit of writing on the page. Right next to the name that disturbed her so.

                                            >"...Nr.26: Twilight Velvet (f) , whose daughter Twilight Sparkle never expected what was coming to her"

                                            >What the hay?

                                            >At that, a strange creature crawls out from under the page. It looks mostly like a black mare, but with six legs, covered in white spots and most of all, with a three-pointed witches hat for a head.

                                            >In her current state, Twi can only watch motionlessly as the creature takes position and points its tip at her.

                                            >With a miniscule "pew", one of the tips flies off and hits Twilight right in the forehead.

                                            >The purple pony freezes for a second, then collapses onto the floor.

                                            >The effect of her ability fades, closing the book that is Celestia's face.


                                            >"Celestia! Are you alright? Please, wake up!" Luna's panicked voice awakens Celestia from dreamless sleep. As she opens her eyes, Luna's tone changes from frantic to calming.

                                            >"I felt [Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This] activate. I rushed over here as fast as I could."

                                            >Still too dazed to beat around the bush, Celestia speaks what's on her mind. "My face turned into a book, Luna"

                                            >To her surprise, the Princess of the Night isn't amused by this at all, but instead replies with a stern expression on her face.

                                            >"Then it is as I saw within her dream. She...", Luna's forehoof points to the purple alicorn now calmly snoring in Celestia's bed, "...has an ability like I do. But hers works far different from mine. It allows her to read ponies like books, once they as much as glance upon one of her drawings."

                                            >Celestias eyes widen and sweat moistens the fur on her forehead. She'd be quite pale now if her fur weren't already white. "Does that mean Twilight knows everything? She wasn't supposed to find out yet, not like this at least. I was going to tell her myself soon enough, but I just... Just couldn't find the right words... "

                                            >Luna smiles. "Fret not, sister. It will take a couple of weeks, but once Twilight wakes up, she'll barely remember anything from tonight. My ability makes sure that everything that hasn't faded will appear as though it was a dream, and she will believe it. That is, until you tell her yourself"

                                            >Suddenly, her voice takes on a cheerful tone. "Now, how about I bring you your favourite snack? To take your mind off all this?"

                                            >Celestia closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "I would love that, Luna. Thank you."

                                            >Shortly after, the worries are momentarily gone. "What a bizarre evening that was" Celestia thinks and bites into a banana dipped in pizza sauce.