Chapter 3: The Star Consumed

“Princess who?”

As the white alicorn spoke Twilight realized her mistake. Of course this wasn’t Princess Celestia. It couldn’t be Princess Celestia. The Princess was still outside; Twilight could had felt her outside. This pony might be tall and white and have long thin legs and an elongated horn that tapered off into a point as oppose to the rounded end of most unicorns and a pair of huge white wings, but she was most certainly not Princess Celestia. For one thing, she was much... grayer. Her coat was ragged and dull and had none of the Princess’s illustrious shine, her hair was a dull gray-yellow and hung from her head in straight lines, her wings were unkempt and crude. And she was thin. Very thin. As the strange alicorn approached her, Twilight could almost count her ribs.

But she was an alicorn, an alicorn who bore a striking resemblance to the mare Twilight knew as her mentor, if Celestia had been locked in a dungeon and left to starve for a month. Twilight wasn’t much one for stating the obvious, but... this was no ordinary pony.

“I asked you a question.” The mare’s voice was a hoarse whisper, devoid of any tone, conjuring up the image of wind rasping through a rusty pipe.

It took a few moments for Twilight to relearn how her mouth worked. “S- sorry,” she said, and smiled politely. “I mistook you for somepony else.” She gave a teethy, awkward grin. “I’m sorry, but... who-”

“Where am I?” the mare asked, cutting off Twilight’s attempted question.

“Umm...” Twilight’s eyes were wide at the alicorn’s rudeness. “You’re a couple miles outside of Canterlot. In Equestria.”

The white mare raised one ragged eyebrow at Twilight, who got the impression that this strange visitor had no idea what the purple unicorn was talking about. “What happened?”

Twilight glanced back at the ponies behind her and gestured at the white alicorn with her head. It took a moment for Sunny Days to understand what she was trying to convey.

“Oh! Umm, well...” Sunny’s eyes turned back and forth from what she understood to be two Forerunners. She had no idea what was going on, but it seemed as though the larger Forerunner held some kind of authority over the lesser one and was wondering what had happened to her ship. “Well, we, um, we found your ship floating in the sky on Eau, and um, well, we boarded it, and, um-”

The alicorn’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe later,” came the hoarse whisper. And with that she trotted through the smaller ponies and headed into the hallway.

“Um, miss?” Twilight called after following her out the door. “Do you know how to get out of here?”

“Of course.” The mare’s reply was barely audible. Uncertain and nervous, Twilight decided that they might as well follow the creature. Her sensory spell had deactivated sometime during the whole meeting, probably due to her surprise. Summoning the light from her horn again (for some reason the alicorn was simply trudging along in the dark), she trotted off after the pony, coming up to her side. As she did so her eyes fell upon the alicorn’s cutie mark. For some reason, she had expected some kind of sun to be there, styled like her greatest mentor’s cutie mark, but instead there was just a number, printed in big, black, bold font: 151.

151? What kind of cutie mark was that? What the hay could a pony’s talent be that could be represented by a number? Was she really good at math? Counting? No, that was silly. Was there something special about the number, then? Twilight dove into the recesses of her brain where she kept all that information about obscure pony history; did the number 151 have any special significance?

Nothing came to mind, and eventually Twilight gave up. As they made their way through the hallway, her gaze kept being drawn to the white alicorn’s face. She really does look like the Princess, Twilight thought, recalling somewhat defensively her initial words upon seeing the mare. The alicorn’s was squinting, as though unused to the dark, her eyes scanning the various halls and doors they passed, wandering up, down, and all around as they weaved through the nooks and crannies of the massive ship, but never did they turn to Twilight Sparkle.

“So,” Twilight said after an uncomfortably long period of time where no sound except that of hooves on metal echoed within their confines. “I didn’t really introduce myself, did I?” She looked up hopefully at the alicorn’s face while putting on her best ‘official’ voice. “My name is Twilight Sparkle. I’m sorry for mistaking you for somepony else. Princess Celestia is my mentor and the ruler of all of Equestria, and you look an awful lot like her.”

The alicorn didn’t so much as twitch at Twilight’s efforts. “So... umm... what’s your name?”

There was again no response. Twilight felt a drop of sweat drip down the side of her head. Why wasn’t this mare talking? Had she been rude somehow? Twilight had never met anypony that was this... antisocial. Considering who she had been and would still be if Princess Celestia hadn’t forced her to Ponyville, Twilight felt bad thinking that about anypony, but it was the truth. She glanced back at the three Earth ponies tailing them. They had been quietly murmuring amongst each other for a while now, their voices too low for Twilight to make out what they were saying.

“Cephei.”

So unexpected was the response that Twilight didn’t even realize who had said it for several seconds. “Oh.” She blinked. “Is that your name? That’s...” What was she supposed to say to that? “That’s a nice name,” she finally said lamely.

“It isn’t.”

Huh? Another long, awkward silence followed. This time though, it was broken by one of the Earth ponies. “Excuse me.” Sunny’s voice was small and meek. “I don’t mean to question you, but... are we walking in circles?”

Twilight blinked a few times. She had been so engrossed with the strange alicorn that she had been completely unaware of their surroundings. What had been the last few turns they had made? As she racked her head trying to conjure up the memory, Cephei answered with calm assurance, “Of course not.”

Cephei then proceeded to look around uncertainly, leaving Twilight with the sneaking suspicion that she didn’t, in fact, know where she was going. A long, interminable silence followed, no longer broken by any conversation. Twilight’s legs were starting to get tired. How long had they been walking around? How long had she been in here? Minutes? Hours? Without any kind of change in their situation to mark the passage of time, Twilight found herself utterly unaware of how much had passed. Were the princesses and her friends getting worried outside?

If only they could actually see their surroundings. The ponies had zig-zagged through countless hallways and passed through innumerable doors. The walls were always colorless and blank. Occasionally they passed into vast chambers where there were only thin walkways to walk on, but due to the suffocating darkness it was impossible to see what was beyond the small reach of Twilight’s light. This darkness seemed unnatural, more like a black fog than the mere absence of light. Twilight had considered making her horn glow brighter at several points, but there was way of knowing how long they were going to be in here, so it was wiser to conserve energy. And there was no chance of stopping to look around; Cephei’s pace never faltered, and Twilight doubted the austere pony would pause to look at the scenery.

“Aha,” came Cephei’s hoarse whisper after Celestia-knew how long. Twilight looked around in alarm. She didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but apparently Cephei did. Pressing her hooves up against the wall, the white alicorn murmured something unintelligible and pointed her horn at it. There was a flash of light, and for a brief moment Twilight could see vast gears and wires swing into motion. The wall suddenly melted away as though made of liquid, replaced by the starry night sky.

After recovering from her surprise, Twilight rushed past Cephei and peered out the hole. They were just a short jump away from ground level. The moon was well into its nightly journey across the star-filled heavens. The crowd had gotten much, much smaller; only a few ponies were left now, and they were all were sleeping on the grass. Amongst them were her friends, always faithful and waiting (albeit snoring lightly), and two sleepy princesses.

Fluttershy, the lightest sleeper, was the first to notice. Instantly she snapped upright, all weariness gone. “Twilight!” she called out in that small, cute voice of hers, and flew up into the air, smiling. But the smile vanished upon seeing who was behind her unicorn friend.

Fluttershy’s cry had awakened all the other ponies. Twilight watched as her friends woke up one by one and had the same reaction as Fluttershy. She hopped down, happy to finally have her hooves meet soft grass at last, but worried all the same at what she was afraid would be a tumultuous introduction.

The last time Twilight had ever seen Princess Celestia with the expression like she had now was when the box that held the Elements of Harmony had been opened up empty of the powerful implements of magic they were supposed to protect. Her head was arched back, rainbow mane flowing gently in the breeze, jaw dropped, eyes larger than Twilight had ever seen them. Twilight glanced up at the other white alicorn. She was wearing the exact same expression.

It would have been comical if it weren’t so serious. The crickets seemed to be chirping more loudly than Twilight knew crickets could chirp. Finally, the silence was broken by Pinkie Pie’s delayed gasp: “GHUUUUAAAAAHH!”

Of all the things Luna had imagined would emerge from the giant ship, a look-a-like of her sister had never even come across her mind. The three alicorns were now sitting at the dining table reserved for the Princesses in Canterlot Castle. The table was meant for two, but being meant for royalty could have sat an entire family, so it was little trouble to bring up another chair.

They were alone, just the three of them. Celestia had demanded it so. Twilight and her friends had been sent back to Ponyville, while Celestia had called up one of her aides to question the three Earth ponies in a separate room. Luna could only guess at what her sister was thinking; if Luna was shocked, Celestia must be overwhelmed with astonishment.

Well, this... ‘Cephei’ might have looked like Celestia, but she certainly acted nothing like Luna’s beloved sibling. Hungrily she devoured the meal set in front of them, summoned forth by Celestia at Cephei’s request (the mysterious alicorn hadn’t said a single thing other than her request for food). Luna couldn’t exactly blame her; the poor pony looked as though she hadn’t eaten in weeks. Yet she completely lacked any of Celestia’s poise and grace--and it wasn’t just the dirty gray of her coat and the way the feathers of her wings stuck out at odd angles. Celestia might not be eating at the moment, but when she did she always did so daintily, as befitting a beautiful, intelligent mare, using magic to bring her food up to her mouth as she sat with a straight back, hooves together, wings tucked away. This alicorn, she ate like an Earth pony without a shred of self-respect, face buried in her salad as she hungrily scooped up leaves into her mouth, without a single thought to dignity or grace.

Luna sighed mentally. She knew it wasn’t proper--after all, Luna knew nothing about who this mare was. Her mind just couldn’t help but compare her to her sister. She looked so much like Celestia. Celestia at her worst.

Roughly half the food on the table was gone before Cephei finally put a hoof to her stomach and licked her lips, no small feat considering the two Princesses put together rarely ate more than a quarter of what the royal chefs provided. For her own part, Luna had attempted no more than a few spoonfuls of soup and one or two bites of salad. Celestia hadn’t eaten at all.

“Who are you?” Celestia asked after a short silence. She was staring her untouched plate.

“Cephei.” The mysterious alicorn was nonchalantly trying to use a toothpick with her hooves, and failing.

“I know your name,” Celestia responded, her eyes not leaving the plate. “Who are you?”

Cephei gave up on the toothpick. “That’s a simple question with a difficult answer. I could ask the same of you. Who are you?”

Celestia looked up from her plate. Keeping her gaze perfectly straight forward, she glared at the far wall. “I am Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria alongside my sister, Princess Luna, Lord of the Sun and bringer of light to the ponies of this land. And I ask again, who are you?”

Cephei ground her teeth for a few moments, staring at her plate. “I’m just your average, run-of-the-mill alicorn.”

“Alicorns are not ‘average’,” Celestia snapped. Luna looked at her sister in surprise; she hadn’t heard her sister angry in a long time. “I don’t know who you are or why you look like me, but I know that you are not ‘run-of-the-mill’. I have questions to ask, and I will have them answered.”

Hoping to defuse a potentially explosive situation, Luna butted in with a question that had been bugging her since she saw Cephei eating. “Can thou use magic?”

Three sets of eyes glanced towards Cephei’s horn. It looked perfectly healthy. “Yes,” the newcomer replied. “But, uh, it’s not very strong...” Her voice trailed off, then she added hastily, “at the moment, I mean.”

“Why not?” Luna pressed.

“You’re asking an awful lot of questions.” Luna raised her eyebrows at that. What was she expected to do? Upon seeing her confusion, Cephei elaborated. “What I mean is, I know as little about you as you do about me. Why don’t we take turns asking questions?”

Luna glanced at her sister, who nodded in approval. “Very well,” she said, turning back to Cephei. “Thou may ask thy question.”

“Why do you talk like that?”

Luna gave a deep sigh. “We- I hath been... gone. For a very long time. The language of Equestria hath changed much while I was gone.”

Cephei’s eyebrows knitted together and her eyes narrowed. Sensing that this was a sensitive subject, she wisely decided not to press the issue. Celestia took the opportunity to return to the conversation. “Where did you come from?”

Cephei pointed with her right hoof out the windows of the north wall, where the hulk of the vessel she had arrived in was still lightly smoking. Upon seeing Celestia’s annoyed glare, she smirked. “Oh, it’s not what you think,” she quickly explained, eager to not make the princess even more annoyed at her for being a smart-ass than she already was. “I was born on that ship, and I’ve lived my whole life on it. So I’m being completely honest when I’m saying that I came from there.”

Luna leaned forward. “Where... did thither vessel come from?”

“Uh-uh-uh,” Cephei said, shaking her head. “My turn.” She took a deep breath. “Have you ever... left... this world?” Upon seeing the confused expression of the other two alicorns, she elaborated. “I mean, been off of it? Been to a completely different world, out amongst the stars?”

Luna raised her eyebrows. “There art other worlds amongst the stars?”

“Is that your question? You still have to answer mine,” Cephei smiled.

“No,” Celestia interjected. “To both questions. We haven’t. This world is all we’ve ever known. And that’s not our question.” Finally she turned to gaze upon her look-a-like. “When were you born?”

Cephei closed her eyes and sighed. “I don’t know. Before the ship arrived here, I was asleep for a very long time. I don’t know how long it’s been.” She opened her eyes again, her gaze distant. “You said you were the Lord of the Sun. What does that mean?”

Celestia looked surprised at the question. “I move the sun across the sky every day,” she explained. “I raise it from below the horizon at dawn, and set it below at dusk. My sister,” she said, gesturing to Luna, “does the same for the moon.”

The look of abject bewilderment on Cephei’s face was identical to the one she had been wearing upon first exiting the giant craft. “You- you move the sun?” Her voice resounded with a clear tone not present in her earlier, hoarse whispers.

Celestia and Luna exchanged glances of confusion. “Um... yes?” the princess of the day replied.

Cephei’s face twisted in consternation as she glanced out the window to the full moon outside. “How?”

Celestia blinked a few times. “With magic, of course.” This was the first time she had ever encountered someone that reacted like this to being told that she could move the sun in a long time. Granted, she hadn’t had to tell anyone that in a long time, but still. Was it that amazing?

Cephei raised a hoof and scratched the back of her head, her eyes scattering wildly across the table, looking downwards. Finally she gave a weak chuckle. “‘With magic?’ Oh of course, that’s so obvious.” She seemed to be talking more to herself than any other pony. “Just dandy. Nothing impossible about that at all.” She looked up. “You don’t think there’s anything unusual about that?”

“I think you’re asking an awful lot of questions,” Celestia replied.

Cephei smirked. “I was wondering when you would notice.” Her expression turned dark, eyes turning downwards to glower at her plate as she muttered under her breath, “Great, she moves the sun, I can’t move a toothpick.”

Celestia had opened her mouth and was about to speak when there was a knock on the door. “I thought I asked not to be disturbed,” she said after a pause.

“I know,” came a small squeaky voice from the crack in the door. “But- it’s-”

“There’s an intruder in the castle,” came the deep, resonant voice of a Royal Guard. “And he’s set off the alarm spell inside Discord’s prison.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 4: The Flap of a Butterfly Estimated time remaining: 16 Minutes