“Luna!” Lauren exclaimed, looking all over the room to find the night Princess. Twilight stopped her sobbing and looked around the room as well. Celestia just turned her head towards the front doors with certain surprise.

A flash of midnight blue light enveloped the room, and in less than a second, Princess Luna appeared right at the other side of the room, glaring directly at her sister. She wasn’t the best pony using teleporting spells, but she knew there was no time to reach the throne room from her own room simply with her hooves.

“Tia,” Luna called. She stopped for a second to look at the scene. Lauren, her supposed mother, was unharmed on one side of the room, looking directly at her. Twilight was enveloped with her sister’s magic, whimpering for some reason. Finally, she looked at her sister, whose smug suddenly transformed into a frown of disgust. Her usually wavy mane that floated magically in the air was now a sparkly and motionless mess on her head, and so was her tail. Clearly, she was no longer herself.

“L-Luna…” Celestia muttered, grinding her teeth. “How? How did you break through the spell I cast on you!?” she exclaimed, cancelling the magical connection between her horn and Twilight and causing her to drop on the floor. She stayed there, still sobbing because of the Princess’ tough words.

“Tia, I will give you once chance to stop this at once.” Luna ignored her sister’s question. She was looking at her without the slightest emotion on her face. She had to stay strong, especially against her own sister. “I will not allow this behavior to go any further. You will surrender against me, if you know what’s good for yourself.” Her determination was strong. She had no time to fool around with her sister. She knew that she wasn’t somepony to take slightly.

Celestia’s frown turned back into a grin. She looked at her sister and let out a chuckle. “Oh, Luna, you’re hilarious!” she exclaimed, as her grin grew wider. She laughed for a few seconds, lowering her head and looking at the floor. “Now, be a good girl and leave this room, if you know what’s good for yourself,” she said, imitating what Luna said just moments ago.

Lauren tried to move, but her body was still refusing to listen to her. She could only witness the scene in front of her. She stared at Luna, who showed no signs to be willing to leave the room. “L-Luna! Princess Celestia is…” she tried to continue, but she was interrupted by Luna.

“I know.” Luna turned her head and looked at Lauren. If what her sister said was true, she was looking at her own mother. Strangely enough, she didn’t have memory of her. She shifted her glance back at her sister. “I finally understand what those crack noises were about.”

“Huh? The crack noises?” Lauren asked. I think she means… those crack sounds she claimed to hear coming from inside Celestia… what could they mean?

Celestia showed no signs to be willing to attack first. She kept staring at her sister, as if she were waiting for her to finish what she had to say. Twilight, on the other hoof, slowly stopped whimpering, trying to listen to what Luna had to say.

“Tia… those crack noises that came from you…” Luna gulped, taking one step forward. “They were your own sanity locks!” she claimed, pointing a hoof towards her sister. “And, the shattering sound I heard when you talked to me in my room, that was the last lock breaking, wasn’t it!?” she exclaimed.

What? Sanity locks? And what could that be? Lauren asked herself, looking once again at Celestia, whose grin became even wider. One of her eyes began to twitch, as well as her mouth. She was definitely going nuts.

“Sanity locks? What in Equestria are you talking about, sister?” Celestia chuckled, taking one step forward to her sister. “I am perfectly fine, don’t you see? My sanity is fine!” she exclaimed.

“No, Tia. You are not fine. You need help, sister,” Luna said. After all, Celestia was anything but fine. She was about to harm her student, something that the real Celestia wouldn’t do.

“Luna! That Celestia has to be an impostor! A fake! There is no way she would do anything of this!” Lauren claimed. And it was true, since she didn’t create Celestia to be a heartless monster like she was right now. Where was the kind ruler of Equestria? Where was the loving mentor?

Luna looked at Lauren with a concerned look on her face. “I’m afraid not,” she sighed.

“What? What do you mean with that?” Lauren asked in confusion. Twilight raised her head to listen as well. Her whimpers were slowly fading away.

“My sister, the one who is in front of us, is the real Celestia,” Luna confessed, looking back at her sister who took a step closer to her. “She is not an impostor or a double… she’s my real sister, the real Princess, there is no doubt about that.”

“But, but… she is going nuts! She was about to harm Twilight!” Lauren said. How could Celestia not be an impostor? Was Luna really implying that the Celestia over there was the real deal? She still couldn’t believe it.

“As I said… it’s because her sanity locks broke, but I can explain that later,” Luna replied, noticing her sister was getting closer to her. “Tia, I will say this one more time. Surrender now or face my wrath.”

Celestia’s horn glowed as she stared at her sister. “Force me,” she said, before disappearing with a flash from sight, causing the other mares in the room to look around for her.

“Go and protect Twilight Sparkle, I shall deal with my sister!” Luna commanded, looking at Lauren who swiftly nodded. She spread her wings to soar in the air. She closed her eyes and raised herself from the ground. “Very well then! Thou leave us no choice, Celestia!” she exclaimed, using the same spell her sister used few moments ago to disappear herself.

Both sisters disappeared from sight. Meanwhile, Lauren still couldn’t move. Come on, you pony body! Move! She wasn’t sure why she couldn’t move. Was it the shock? Was it the surprise? She looked at Twilight, who was sitting down looking at the floor. “Hey, Twilight! Help me out here!” she exclaimed, but she was ignored. Twilight was still too crushed to react to anything.

A loud banging sound fiercely echoed through the room. Celestia appeared out of nowhere, being tossed away and violently crashing against the floor. Two of her golden horseshoes came off from her hooves, clanging away a few meters from her. She groaned, trying to get back on her hooves.

Lauren and Twilight watched surprised at the scene before them. Go on, body! Move, move! She ordered to herself, feeling the nerves in her legs finally reacting. She slowly moved her front legs, trying to walk towards Twilight. Her hind legs started to react as well. Come on! She shook her head and started to walk, feeling each hoof touching the floor as she walked. They still felt heavy, though, but she had to reach Twilight.

With another flash of blue light, Luna appeared in front of her fallen sister. “Tia, you can’t win. Surrender now, I only want to help you.” Her horn kept glowing, ready for any surprise attack her sister might have planned. She seemed to be confident about herself, but in fact, she was nervous. Nervous of what her sister could do. But she had to keep strong and confident. She couldn’t show the slightest sign of weakness.

Celestia looked up at her sister and let out a chuckle. “Luna… how dare you attack… ME!” She quickly rose from the floor and shot a magic beam from her horn. Luna jumped back and cast a magic shield around her, deflecting the golden beam that was shot towards her. Both alicorns’ horns glowed and they disappeared from sight, again.

Lauren kept walking towards Twilight. Her hooves were feeling lighter as she walked. In a matter of seconds, she reached the unicorn. “Hey, Twilight!” She waved her hoof in front of her, receiving no answer whatsoever. “Come on! Say something!” She stepped in front of her and grabbed her by her shoulders.

Twilight’s head was still facing down and shedding a few tears. She was completely destroyed in the inside. The words her ex-mentor said a while ago where still burning her heart.

“Twilight! Listen to me,” Lauren said, trying to make Twilight look at her. She raised her head and looked at the alicorn in front of her. “Please, listen to me, Twilight. Celestia… she didn’t mean all those things!”

Twilight blinked. She still couldn’t talk, but there was nothing she could say at the moment. She had the largest knot in the throat.

Lauren wiped Twilight tears with her hoof. “You heard Luna… she is the real Celestia…” she said, with certain tone of concern. “But, you also heard what she said! She is not sane right now! She’s gone nuts! Please, Twilight, be strong!”

As much as Twilight hated to admit it, Lauren was right. Her beloved mentor was saying things that she wouldn’t say. If she were the real Celestia, then clearly something was wrong with her.

“Twilight, we need to help Celestia… something is wrong with her,” Lauren said, looking at Twilight’s purple eyes.

“I-I’m sorry,” Twilight muttered, bowing her head. “I-I shouldn’t have yelled at—”

“Don’t worry, I understand,” Lauren interrupted her, looking back at the empty room. The Princesses were nowhere to be found. Where were they fighting, anyways?

Twilight looked around the room to confirm the scene by herself. Her sobbing stopped and she took a deep breath. “Where… where are the Princesses?”

“I don’t know, they just disappeared, and a while ago, Celestia appeared out of nowhere and crashed against the floor,” Lauren explained, “Luna appeared after that and they disappeared once again.”

As soon as Lauren was done with her explanation, another loud banging sound was heard in the room. This time, it was Luna who was sent flying against a wall, violently crashing against it. She shrieked, but quickly stood up from the floor.

“Princess Luna!” both Twilight and Lauren yelled. The unicorn got back on her hooves and running towards her. Luna noticed her and raised a hoof.

“Back off! Don’t get any closer!” Luna ordered. Twilight doubted for a second, but finally obeyed the Princess’ orders and went back to Lauren. Both mares stared at her with concern. She looked like she was in a lot of pain. Her hind legs were slightly shivering and she was breathing heavily.

Suddenly, a burst of golden light enveloped the room. Celestia appeared right in front of Luna. The other mares in the room gasped in surprise. She looked at Luna as her horn glowed. “Foolish little sister, you do realize who you’re dealing with, right?” As soon as she said that, golden ropes appeared all around Luna, wrapping her legs, wings and neck. Twilight and Lauren couldn't believe what was going on. Celestia had just captured her sister.

“Ugh!” Luna squeaked, closing her eyes, struggling to free herself from the magical ropes around her, but they were way too strong for her. She could feel how the ropes were draining her energy, making her feel weaker and weaker as the seconds passed. She opened her eyes, only to be greeted by Celestia’s maniac grin.

“I told you so, little sister,” Celestia said, walking closer to her. Her sister was still trying to futilely squirm her way out of her ropes. The Sun Princess let out a chuckle while Twilight and Lauren looked at the scene from the distance.

“T-Twilight! What do we do!?” Lauren hesitantly asked.

Twilight didn’t even know what to do with herself. She only sat there, looking at the two Princesses on the other side of the room. One was fighting for helping her sister, and the other was fighting because she had lost her mind. “I-I don’t know anymore,” she mumbled.

Ugh, this is bad. If we don’t do something soon, Luna might lose… and… I don’t know what will we do if Celestia wins. Lauren was still fearing the worst. What if Luna lost? Would Celestia try to cast her weird spell on her? Would she attempt to get rid of Twilight again? Those questions were running in her mind as she kept looking at the action across the room.

“Traitors… you’re all traitors,” Celestia said, looking at her sister. “First, Twilight Sparkle.” She turned her head to look at the little unicorn, who cringed at the mention of her name. “And now…” She turned her gaze back to the captured alicorn. “My very own sister.”

Luna gulped, trying to think of an escape plan. She had to do something, and fast, since she could feel her energy was running out. “Tia… we are no traitors… you… you’re only… you need help!” Words could hardly come out from Luna’s mouth, as she felt her vision was getting blurry. It was the same sensation she felt when she was back in her room with Celestia.

“Heh.” Celestia let out a snicker. She placed her horn on top of her sister’s and looked at her. “Time to say goodnight, Luna.” She swiftly raised her head, brushing Luna’s horn on the way.

Luna could feel how she was starting to lose consciousness. How could she lose? She was sure she could stop her sister, but now, she had failed. Failed to herself, to Twilight, to Lauren, but most importantly, she failed her sister. She let out a little gasp before closing her eyes and leaving her head hanging in the air. The ropes around her disappeared and she fell to the floor with a thud.

“Princess Luna!” Twilight cried. She wanted to run to her aid, but she knew Luna asked her to stay near to Lauren. She looked at Celestia and took a step forward. “What did you to her?”

“Heh, there goes your last chance.” Celestia began walking towards the two mares, who immediately stepped back in fear.

What happened with Luna? Darn it! Now what will we do!? Lauren was still confused about the whole thing. This was clearly not the show she created. Why would there be a demented Celestia in the first place?

“First, I’ll get rid of you, pesky unicorn, so there are no more interruptions.” Celestia looked at Twilight, who began to shiver once again in fear.

“N-no!”

Luna! Don’t give up now!

I’m almost there! Please, hang in there a little more!

I’ll give you some of my energy… please, you must stop Celestia!

A sudden burst of energy ran through Luna’s body faster than a lightning bolt. She felt her muscles were reacting again to that new sensation. Her body felt warm, as if somepony were giving her the warmest of hugs. It was like… a familiar sensation. She accepted the hug and let the warmness of it to enter her body. Within a few seconds, she came back to her senses.

Luna began to remember the events from just moments ago. Celestia had defeated her and she fell unconscious. After that, she listened to a voice… a very familiar voice. It was the familiar voice she was listening a while ago in her dreams. It belonged to… Lauren?

“N-no!” Twilight cried, as she was enveloped once again in Celestia’s golden magic. Lauren stepped back as she looked at Celestia walking closer to them. “Please, Princess! Look deep inside your heart! You’re not evil! You’re the kindest and most generous pony in Equestria!” the unicorn exclaimed. She thought that with those words, maybe the Princess could stop her terrible acts, but everything she got from her was a smirk, mocking at her.

“Aww, how cute,” Celestia chuckled, almost bursting into laughter. “Thanks for the compliments, Twilight. Now, it’s time to finish with this.”

“It’s not over yet!” Luna exclaimed from the other side of the room. “Not until one of us becomes the last mare standing!” She was slowly getting back on her hooves, almost tripping on the way. The sudden power rush she had just received was flowing within her body. She felt even more powerful than when she first arrived to the room.

Celestia quickly turned her head and looked at her with surprise. Twilight and Lauren did the same thing. They thought Luna was defeated for good, but apparently, she wasn’t planning to give up yet.

“H-how can you stand up after I drained your energy!?” Celestia roared, “I’ve had enough!” She dropped Twilight to the floor as her wings spread wide.

“Twi! Are you okay?” Lauren asked, looking at Twilight who shook her head.

“Y-yes, I’m fine,” Twilight responded. Both mares looked at the corrupted Celestia. Her mane and tail were no longer sparkly. They were a bunch of motionless hair and the pink from them were still missing.

That voice I heard just a while ago… was it… Lauren? Luna gave a quick glance at Lauren, who was still at the other side of the room. Doesn’t matter now; the voice said that it would be here soon… but… who could it be? She couldn’t lose her focus. The sudden energy boost was a gift she didn’t want to waste again. I didn’t want to use this… but Tia leaves me no choice.

“Luna! You will never defeat me! If you give up now, I might consider forgiving your acts,” Celestia claimed, with her wings still fully spread.

“Silence! Thou will address to us with respect!” Luna yelled, striking one of her front hooves firmly on the floor. “Come and get me, my sister!” she taunted Celestia, with a smirk on her face.

Celestia had enough. Her face was flustering with anger. She was furiously clenching her teeth as her right eye twitched. With her hind legs, she pushed herself from the floor and rapidly flew towards her sister, with the intention to ram her.

This is it. I’m sorry, Tia. Luna spread her wings and pushed herself from the floor, just like her sister. Both alicorns were now flying across the room. In less than a second, they were in less than a meter of distance, when Luna’s horn glowed.

Celestia gasped, surprised of the sudden flash of blue light before her eyes. She opened them, just to see her sister was missing. She braked and looked behind her, only to be greeted by her sister’s face.

“Boo!” Luna said. She immediately shot a bolt of blue magic directly towards her sister’s horn. She had focused her entire power on that bolt; she wasn’t allowed to miss.

“Waah!” Celestia screamed, feeling a burning sensation growing strong within the tip of her horn, extending deeper into her head. “Aaah! L-Luna!” she yelled.

Luna backed off as she saw her sister twisting her own body in pain. “Sorry, Tia. You left me no choice. Please, forgive me,” she said. Her eyes began to itch as she feel the dampness of her tears.

Twilight and Lauren were still looking at the scene. “What did Luna do? What was that?” Lauren asked, looking at Twilight.

“I think… it was the magic block spell,” Twilight replied, “It’s a powerful spell that only few unicorns have mastered through history. Naturally, the Princess knows about it.”

“Magic block? Does it mean Luna blocked Celestia’s magic?”

“It’s more than that, I’m afraid. It does block the foe’s magic channel, but…”

“But what?”

“It also makes them suffer… a terrible, terrible pain.”

Lauren gulped, looking back at Celestia, who was still twisting her body in pain. “D-Does it mean that… Celestia is…”

“Y-yes, she is experiencing a world of extreme pain right now… I just can’t believe the Princess used that spell on her.”

This is too much! This is definitely NOT the show I developed! Lauren bit her lower lip. Right now, there was nothing they could do about it. But at least, Celestia seemed to have been defeated. That was good, right?

“L-Luna! T-Twilight!” Celestia roared, losing the control on her hooves. She fell and her body impacted the floor. She looked up at Luna, who was soaked in tears. Her mind was too focused in her internal pain to do something about it. Her sister had used the magic block spell. She had underestimated her. “L-Luna…” she whispered. She kept moaning due the pain. Her vision was getting blurry and her eyes heavy. Finally, she closed her eyes and stopped moaning.

Luna’s hind legs shivered. Quickly, she lost control of them and she fell on her plot, completely exhausted.

“Princess Luna!” Twilight called, running to her aid. Lauren did as well. There was no danger after all. Celestia was now defeated.

Luna breathed heavily. Her energy sources had run short. She could barely stay conscious. “I-I’m fine, Twilight Sparkle,” she claimed. Lauren and Twilight grabbed each of her front hooves and placed them on their backs to her help stand up. “T-thanks.”

“So, the Princess…” Twilight asked, looking at her fallen mentor. She was still concerned about her well-being.

“She is okay, Twilight Sparkle. She only blacked out due the extreme pain she was going by.” Luna stretched her hind legs a little, raising herself a little more to be completely stood up.

“So, uh, what do we do now?” Lauren asked. Sure, Celestia was defeated, but what were they going to do now? “We can just leave her like… this. Some guards know that we were going to meet with her. If they come here and see her in this current state, they’ll believe WE attacked her.”

“Y-you’re right!” Twilight exclaimed, a bit concerned about the matter. “They don’t know the Princess went mad. They’d probably throw the blame on us!”

“Don’t worry, that’s why I am with you, girls,” Luna said, “I will explain what happened if a guard happens to come here.”

“Well, that’s good to hear, but still…” Lauren looked once again at the motionless Princess. Even thought she was knocked out, she could see her slow and soft breaths. It was good to know she was still alive. “What if she wakes up? Shouldn’t we leave or something?”

“Wait, before that,” Twilight interrupted, looking at Luna. “Princess, do you know why the Princess is… you know… acting like this?”

Luna sighed. She was still exhausted and she wasn’t in the mood for lengthy conversations. However, she knew Twilight deserved to know everything about Celestia. “She is acting like this because her sanity locks broke. However, I do not know the actual reason of WHY they broke.”

Sanity locks… I wonder what those are? Lauren thought.

“I think we can sit down for a bit,” Luna said, raising her hooves from the two mares and sitting down on the floor. Twilight and Lauren sat as well. It was still a bit scary to be relaxing with Celestia lying in front of them.

“So, Princess… what are these sanity locks you speak of?” Twilight asked. Her curiosity grew stronger. Of all the books she had read back in Canterlot and her library, she had never heard of such thing as a ‘sanity lock’.

“It’s hard to explain, you see…” Luna said. Her body was starting to relax. She could feel how her energy was slowly restoring from its previous weakened state. “Sanity locks are imaginary locks we all have within our minds.”

“Imaginary locks?” Lauren asked.

“Yes. It’s said that these locks protect our mind from sudden mood changes, preventing mental breakdowns,” Luna explained. Twilight slightly hummed. “Huh?”

“I think I’ve had one of those mental breakdowns…” Twilight claimed, “It was one day when I didn’t have any friendship report ready for the Princess.”

Ah! I bet she means the Lesson Zero episode. Lauren knew it was better to remain quiet.

“Ah, yes, Tia told me about how you freaked out and cast a weird spell on everypony in Ponyville,” Luna chuckled, “I think it was a little before Nightmare Night,” She wanted to continue speaking, but she was going off-topic now. “But, back on topic, when these locks break, they usually appear again once the individual regains composure.”

“So, why hasn’t Celestia recovered yet? She has been knocked out like ten times already!” Lauren was exaggerating. Although, it was true that Celestia was hit by several magical beams or stuff.

“That’s the part I don’t understand,” Luna said, “I told you, I don’t even know the reason why Celestia lost her mind.”

“That’s indeed strange,” Twilight claimed.

“By the way, Lauren.” Luna shifted her gaze towards the alicorn right next to her. “Did you… say something to me when I was knocked out by Tia a while ago?”

“Huh? No, I didn’t say anything,” Lauren replied. She was curious why Luna would ask something like that. “What makes you say that?” Twilight looked at Luna as well.

“Nothing, I just… I think I heard your voice a while ago when I was knocked out, that’s all.” Luna smiled at her.

“Well, no. I didn’t say anything. Maybe it was something else,” Lauren assured. My voice? And what could that mean?

“Anyways, what do we do now? Where do we go? What do we do with the Princess?” Twilight asked. It was true that Celestia was now defeated, but what now? Would she be back to her usual self after waking up?

“I-I don’t know,” Luna said, “I think maybe we should capture her and secure her for when she wakes up, just in case.”

Lauren thought it would be a good idea. They had to seize this opportunity to capture her. “So, what If she is still out of her mind?

“Out of my mind? Are you still going on with that!?” a voice said from in front of the mares. It was Celestia.

Twilight, Luna and Lauren gasped in unison as they stepped back from Celestia. She opened one of her eye and looked at them.

“W-what!? H-how is this possible!?” Luna exclaimed. She couldn’t believe the magic block spell was already broken. The archives said that skill was supposed to stun the target for hours, or even days. However, Celestia seemed to have broken it in just a matter of minutes.

“Luna… you’ve got a lot to learn,” Celestia said, still without moving. She wasn’t even trying to get back on her hooves. “I will congratulate you, though. You’ve successfully paralyzed my body.” She tried to squirm, unable to receive any response from her body.

Seriously!? She has been struck with lots of magic bolts and spells and she’s still conscious! Isn’t there a way to stop her!? Lauren wasn’t sure what to do anymore. At least, Celestia seemed to be on a handicap, at last.

“Princess! Please stop this! You’re not evil!” Twilight begged. She was trying hard to make the Princess snap out of her corruption. She only wanted her mentor back, her loving mentor.

Celestia ignored Twilight. She had her eyes fixed on her sister. “Even if my body can’t respond… I can still use magic!” she yelled. Her horn glowed and she enveloped her own body with her magical golden aura.

“B-but the magic block—”

“You lack of experience with that spell! If you had used it correctly, I would have my magic flow blocked for days!” She raised her own body from the floor. Her legs hung in the air, without any kind of reaction. Her mane and tail were still a mess all over her face and flanks respectively. “Very well then…”

The three mares were suddenly enveloped in Celestia’s magic. Luna tried to fight back, but it was futile. She was still very tired from casting the spell. She didn’t even have the strength to struggle. On the other hoof, Twilight and Lauren were struggling like crazy.

“Now that there are no more interruptions…” Celestia grinned as she moved Lauren closed to her, leaving Luna and Twilight behind, still surrounded with her magic. “Tell me, mother. Why did you leave me!?” she yelled, looking deeply at Lauren’s blue eyes. “You shall submit against me! The ruler of all of Equestria”

Leave her? What is she talking about? H-help! Anyone! Please, wake me up from this nightmare! Lauren closed her eyes. She had lost all hope. Luna’s heroic intermission wasn’t enough to stop Celestia. “I… I give up…” she said.

Luna and Twilight gasped in surprise. They couldn’t believe what Lauren had said. “No, Lauren! Don’t give up! Fight back!” Twilight cried. Celestia couldn’t help but grin even more, letting out a snicker.

It was all over. There was no escape now. Nothing was going to save her. She only wanted everything to finish.

‘Don’t give up! Never let your fears overcome you!’

A voice echoed through the room. Lauren opened her eyes in surprise. It was her own voice. She had just heard her own voice telling her not to give up. Twilight and Luna looked around the room, searching for the origin of said voice.

“W-what?” Celestia looked around the room as well, but there was nopony else except for her and her hostages. “Was that you, mother?” she asked Lauren.

‘Yes, Celestia. It was me!’

A flash of bright, pearly white light enveloped the room. Everypony closed their eyes due the bright shine. It was nothing compared to Celestia’s or Luna’s bursts of light. This one was brighter and it lasted longer.

The light began to fade away. Everypony felt it was safe to open their eyes again. What they didn’t know, is that once they opened their eyes, they were going to be greeted by someone… familiar.

Twilight was the first to notice. Right in front of her and Celestia, was another pony, of considerable size, almost as big as Celestia, if not, bigger. Luna noticed the pony as well. It had a long, straight red tail and mane. Her coat was a very faint cream color, almost white. She had a pair of wings and a long horn. She was an alicorn, however, she had a very familiar cutie mark; a small bottle of ink with a curved quill.

“W-what? Lauren?” Luna asked. Twilight was still trying to process what just happened right now. Why was Lauren in front of them? Why was she as big as Celestia? Or an even better question; why were TWO Laurens in the same room?

The big alicorn’s horn glowed with a familiar, pearly white aura. The magical connection between Celestia and the other ponies was cancelled. The white alicorn lost her focus and fell on the floor, still unable to move her paralyzed body.

Lauren turned around and saw the pony, which came just in time to the rescue. She looked up at her face and gasped. W-what? It’s me! Or a grown up me! The full version of my pony character! “Who… who are you?” she asked, between gasps.

“Tee-hee, isn’t it obvious?” the alicorn chuckled, smiling at Lauren. “I am you.”