THE TEACHER, THE SORCERESS, AND THE WONDERBOLT

Chapter 12: Regret

Twilight smirked as the shadow glided silently across the ground, unseen by the other two. Rising up as a paper thin silhouette of her, it grew as tall as the sphinx sitting in front of it. The shadow then reached out a “hoof” and tapped Nyx on the shoulder.

She looked over at the thing of darkness, completely unfazed. “Correct,” she smiled at it.

Luna shook her head in amusement. Intellectuals. Seeing that they were going to be at their game for some time, she decided to visit with her sister. With a step to the left, and she found herself in the private royal gardens. The soft murmuring of voices, all of which she recognized led her around a hedgerow.

There, she found Celestia and Twilight standing in front her the young mare's suitors as if holding an inspection. They were all dressed in military uniforms the likes of which have never been seen in Equestria. The dark red with gold trim had a rather nice cut, and a design sense that a certain fashionista mare might come up with. Twilight looked like the Princess's adjutant, festooned in ribbons and gold braid, and levitating a clipboard, nodding at her every word as if it were gospel.

Celestia adjusted her mirrored sunglasses as she whipped her riding crop into her own side smartly. “Gentlemares... what we have here... is a failure... to communicate!” The three mares in front of her jumped with every crack of the crop as she whipped it at every pause. “So... how looonnng... were you planning... to wait, hm? How looonnng... were you planning on making her wait?” The three mares were visibly sweating now, and Twilight was wiping away a sad tear while trying to bravely hide a sniffle.

Luna for one, had seen enough. She gave a polite cough, gaining her sister's attention. Celestia looked over in surprise before turning back to Twilight who had collected herself once more. “Captain Twilight. It seems Admiral Luna needs my attention. Please be so kind as to run these fillies around the palace until they puke. And then when they're through puking, run them some more.”

The purple mare snapped a smart salute. “Ma'am, yes ma'am!” She turned to the others, shouting, “Alright, you nematodes! You heard the Admiral, so don't make me repeat it! Move it, move it, move it!” Immediately, the three took off with Twilight running herd behind them, shouting orders.

Luna shook her head at the solar Princess's eccentricities. “Sister mine, dost thou soothly wish it couldst be thus? By Gar, this doth border on the perverse!”

Removing her sunglasses, the white alicorn looked down at herself as if for the first time in surprise. With a blush, she turned back to the moon Princess. “Luna, you know that controlling one's dreams is a skill that few learn, and one that I have struggled with for as long as we can remember. And in any case, the brain sometimes just needs to let loose sometimes, and what better place than here, where no one can be harmed?” She turned and struck a pose. “Besides, I think this uniform is rather fetching on me, don't you agree?”

Luna shook her head. “'Tia, methinks that sending Twilight avaunt was the best course of action thou couldst have done for her.”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “Oh, lighten up, Lulu. This dream was just my brain's way of blowing off some steam and worry. Honestly, I'd be little worried if something like this hadn't occurred.”

“Zounds, but thou hadst us worried for thee,” Luna breathed a sigh of relief. “Thou art constantly flitting about hither and thither, extinguishing one blaze or another, we were concerned for thy sanity.” She walked up and lightly punched Celestia in the shoulder. “Thou shouldst let down thy mane more often. It is difficult to know whenas thou art being of serious mien or not.” They both watched as Twilight ran behind the other mares, swatting at them with a riding crop to encourage them to greater speeds. “Thou art aware of how much she doth look up to thee? For thou, she mayhap do thus.”

The white alicorn smirked at the thought, then shook her head. “Twilight may admire and want to please me, but I sincerely doubt she would go this far.” In the distance, Twilight had stopped as the three mares were sick behind some bushes. Even from this far away, the noise could be plainly heard, turning both alicorns' stomachs a little. “And even if she would, I could not do this. It would make her less than what she is.”

Luna considered this for a moment. “Dost thou e'er regret the course life hath chosen for thine relationship with thy student? Pine for another path?” Silence met her question. It stretched on to uncomfortable lengths, which the younger mare took for her answer. Clearing her throat, she tried a new tack. “So...” Luna began. Celestia crooked an eyebrow at her, silently telling her to continue. “Whom dost thou favor for thine 'most faithful student'?”

They were silent for a moment before the Sun Princess said, “Honestly, I'm not sure any one of them can handle her.” The midnight alicorn's eyes went wide as saucers. “Cheerilee is a good personality match, and seems to be best able to keep her grounded best out of the three of them. Captain Spitfire seems most able to get her out of her comfort zone in the library, not to mention they've had a huge crush on each other since they first caught sight of one another years ago.” She sighed as she came to the last contender. “As for Trixie... she's a bit of a mixed blessing. While she's a good match for her intellectually and focus when it comes to magic, her... personality leaves much to be desired. I fear that they may develop a co-dependent relationship, which would be unhealthy for both. She seems to need Twilight more than desire her.”

Celestia sighed and started walking away, her head hung low. The palace courtyard faded away to the Royal Archives, where another Celestia and a young, purple unicorn filly studied at a table. “I'll grant you, when it comes to Twilight, you'd have to be blind to not see how much she cares for her. That mare loves her so much it hurts to look at them. All three of them, really. They look at Twilight as if she were the last breath of air in Equestria. To be honest, it's a little... scary.”

The dream-ponies froze in place, in the middle of looking at each other. Celestia trotted over to them, and caressed the filly's cheek with her hoof. Leaning down so that the unicorn was looking at her instead of the dream alicorn, tears began welling up in her eyes. “I... I've never told anypony this before, but...” She closed her eyes, leaned down, and touched foreheads with her. “You don't know how many times I wished that she was my child. The crazy plans I had in my darkest moments. Despite knowing that...”

Luna walked up and nuzzled her neck. “Alack, we all hath such unbecoming thoughts. The true test of character lay not with our thoughts, but with our actions.” They stayed in that position for many minutes.

“She called me 'Momma' this morning.”

Silence descended on the pair. “E- excuse us?”

“She was still muddled with sleep, after being woken at dawn when I rose the sun.” Tears were now coursing down alabaster cheeks, bottom lip quivering.

“She called me Momma.”

Luna draped her forelegs around her sobbing big sister. She could find nothing comforting to say.

(\ /)
( . .)
*(")(")

Twilight awoke groggier than she could ever remember. Her head was pounding, and the scant light peeping through the curtains stabbed lances of pain in her eyes. She tried to say something, but found her mouth and throat so dry that all that came out was a wheezing hack. Squinting, she looked around, and found herself at the center of another ponypile. How does it always end up like this?

She struggled to get up, but found her legs too weak to do more than wriggle around. Her efforts however, did manage to wake the others, who woke to similar experiences.

“Oh, my head...” Spitfire said. She looked around at the others. “Did anypony catch a look at the thunderhead that struck me?”

Trixie just lay on the quilt, whimpering and refusing to open her eyes.

Cheerilee covered her eyes with her forelegs. “Please, not so loud,” she pleaded with a croak. “And turn off the sun while you're at it.” Her own words registered in her brain, and she raised her head up, eyes wide open in shock. “I'm la-” was as far as she shouted before collapsing in a quivering pile.

Twilight finally got her throat wet enough to work. “Hold on girls,” she whispered. “I have an anti-hangover spell that should work here.” She clenched her eyes shut and concentrated... and nothing happened. That is to say, no magic happened. The excruciating pain that burst in her head made the earlier pain seem like a slight annoyance in comparison.

It took a couple of minutes for her to stop seeing stars and find her voice again, unsteady though it was. “My magic... it's gone! Every last... erg of it!” A whimper from Trixie confirmed this.

Spitfire collected her thoughts enough to ask, “So why are Cheerilee and me affected too? We aren't unicorns.”

“But you do have magic. All ponies do, we just manifest it differently.” The lavender mare squinted at the door. “Brace yourselves girls. I'm about to get really loud... I hope.” She took a deep breath. “SPIIIKE!” Regret was instantaneous. Help took a bit longer to arrive.

Several beats later, the door slammed open with a scared baby dragon standing there. “I'm here, Twilight! What's wrong?” he shouted.

Wincing, the librarian quietly said, “First of all, stop shouting. Secondly, something has drained us of all our magic. Go down to the basement, and bring up the Enneagramatic Ley Line Augmenter. Then, go over to the mayor's office, and inform her that the teacher and back-up teacher are unable to perform their duties today, and execute Plan Delta.” The unicorn winced at another sharp stab of pain before continuing, “After all that, hurry back here. I need you to send a letter to the Princess.”

“I'm on it, Twi!” was all he said before running down the stairs, taking them two at a time.

(\ /)
( . .)
*(")(")

The four mares lay in the center of a nine-sided star made of silver tubing that lay on the floor. A field of energy surrounded them, while Spike paced nervously outside the field and tried unsuccessfully to get them to drink some water. “Spike,” Twilight whispered for what felt like the twentieth time, “the way we feel right now, even water will make us want to vomit. I know we're dehydrated, but let us absorb some more energy before we attempt it, okay?”

The four of them lay on their backs, a cool, damp washcloth draped over each of their foreheads. The other three gave a small twitch when Twilight mentioned the word “vomit”, but were able to keep the gorge down. Spike slumped down in front of the tray, but had to stand up again when he felt a mighty belch coming forth. He exhaled a gout of emerald flame which coalesced into a scroll. Twilight cracked open an eye as he broke open the seal, a seal she noticed came from Luna, rather than Celestia. A small green pouch fell to the ground when he fully unrolled and read it.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

We are most distressed to learn of thy condition. We hath consulted with Nyx, and hath determined that belike when thou and thy friends were given thine runes, thy connection to the Element of Magic was in some way affected. The end result was the draining of all magic around thee. Prithee, we rede thou to keepest thyself and thy friends within thy device until thou feel meet. Pray, do not attempt toil of any sort, and certs no magic for at the least, one day.

To succor thou, Celestia hath sent thee a small pouch of herbs. Steep these in boiling water and drink. Instructions lie within the pouch. Our fondest wishes for thee and thy speedy recovery.

With love,

Princess Luna

Spike scratched his head in confusion. “I always feel weird reading her letters out loud. It's like I'm not sure if I'm being insulted or not.” He looked up at his boss and mentor. “Didn't you say that Fluttershy was helping her get used to modern times?”

Twilight waved a hoof in his direction. “Fluttershy says that she thinks the way she talks is cute, so she's trying to avoid changing that. Now please, go make that tea before our heads explode or something. We want to be able to go to Pinkie-Pie's party later tonight.”

The dragon picked up the pouch on his way out. “Alright, but what do you want me to do about the mayor's assistant she sent over earlier? Should I send her up?”

“Fine, but warn her to be quiet. I can't be held responsible for my actions right now.” The aggravation in her voice would send most ponies scurrying for cover. Spike, more used to her occasional gruffness, just shrugged and left, closing the door most of the way.

A few minutes later, the blessed silence was interrupted by a soft knocking at the door. A lilac head poked in and spotted the pile of pained ponies squeezed into the center of the star. Walking over as softly as she could, the unicorn cleared her throat. “Twilight? Are you alright?”

Twilight moved the washcloth from over her eyes. “I'll be fine, Amethyst Star, thank you. We just had all our magic drained. I don't recommend you try it. Ever.”

The pinkish mare shuffled her hooves a bit before saying, “The mayor sent me over to get a more detailed report. All Spike said was, and I quote, 'Twilight and Cheerilee down, can't teach today, plan delta, more later,' then ran off before we could even ask anything.”

The lavender mare tried to smile, but just couldn't find the energy. “Sorry, that was my fault. I told him not to dawdle. We'll be fine, and should be back to normal in time for us to perform our duties tomorrow. Please tell mayor Mare not to worry.”

Amethyst Star nodded and started backing away. “I'll do that, ma'am. Get well soon.”

She was stopped when Twilight called out to her. “Amethyst? Could you tell your little sister Dinky Doo that I'm very proud of her progress. She shows a lot of potential. You and your parents are doing a wonderful job bringing her up.”

The lilac filly blushed. “Thank you, ma'am. We're really proud of her, too. I'll be sure to pass on your message. Both of them.” She smiled widely as she quietly backed out the door again.

Twilight smiled as she lay back down and replaced the damp cloth over her eyes. “Sweet filly. Definitely going places.”

(\ /)
( . .)
*(")(")

“Twilight, are you sure about this? You were in the recharge thingy longer than all the others, and you're still wobbling around.” The concern in Spike's voice made the other three mares glance at her in worry.

“You don't have to go if you still don't feel well, Twilight,” Cheerilee agreed. “I'm sure Pinkie would understand.”

A gravelly voice to her right put in her own two bits. “Agreed. If she's as good a friend as you think, she would understand. You do look a little green around the gills.”

“Trixie agrees as well. You should not push yourself beyond your limits, Twilight Sparkle,” said the blue showmare.

Twilight sighed and shook her head as they walked through the streets. The group was drawing stares and whispered conversations, which Twilight presumed was because of Trixie. “Everypony, while I appreciate the concern, I'll be fine. I'm not going to do any dancing or magic, so as long as I take it easy, there's no reason why I shouldn't go to Pinkie's... whatever party.” She still marveled at how a mare could throw a party over literally nothing.

“You can bet that if we have to go, we're going to keep a close eye on you. Last thing you need is to collapse from stubbornness.” The small dragon gave her a glare that showed he meant business.

Twilight took a little offense to this. “Spike, I am not stu-”

“Hon,” Spitfire interrupted with a hoof on her shoulder, “you so are.”

Cheerilee nuzzled up to her neck. “It's okay, though. We think it's adorable.”

“In small doses,” Trixie added.

Utterly defeated by friendship, Twilight hung her head as she walked. “Fine. But know this! I will have as many rose cupcakes as I can stand, plus one!” she said in a ridiculously over-the-top villain voice. Or rather, in as much as she could manage in her current condition, which only made her look silly.

Three mares' hearts went aflutter, eliciting sighs of affection. The ponies watching them discreetly giggled into their hooves. Spike, just rolled his eyes and opened the door for them to enter Sugarcube Corner. They walked in and had to do a double-take. Was this the right place? Instead of the brightly lit bakery they had expected, it was moodily lit with scattered candles. Several tables had been set up as a buffet around a central dance floor, and four ponies playing classical instruments sat in one corner, quietly performing... was that Every Breath You Take by the Ponylice?

Cheerilee's jaw dropped at the flawless rendition of the song, Twilight's and Spitfire's dropped because they saw Vinyl Scratch playing a violin together with Octavia on her cello. Trixie and Spike were simply amazed at the subdued atmosphere of the party. I guess she was listening when I said that a quiet party would be all Twilight could stand tonight, the little dragon thought to himself.

“Hors d'ourves?” All four ponies and dragon were surprised by the voice, and turned to see Berry Punch dressed as a snooty waiter, holding a platter of bite-sized cupcakes, cookies, and other assorted pastries, all speared by toothpicks.

Cheerilee found her voice and immediately asked, “Sis? What are you doing here? And dressed like that?”

The wine-colored mare winked at her. “Pinkie said that she needed some help hosting a private party for Twilight, and I volunteered.”

“But what about Berry Pinch? It is a school night.” She couldn't help it. The teacher in her refused to be put away, even for a night.

Berry Punch gestured with her head towards the stairs. “She's upstairs asleep in Pinkie's bed for now. I'll take her home after the party.”

“How you like the party, girls?” Pinkie-Pie's boundless energy, which both invigorated and exhausted everypony she met, was in attendance as she greeted the group still standing near the door. She grabbed Twilight's hoof and pulled her over to the buffet, the other mares trailing after them like baby ducklings following their mother.

“Pinkie, how did you manage to get Octavia here? And playing these songs?” They had moved on to a rendition of the Foal Fighters' Everlong.

The party pony smiled. “Silly filly. I just told her that Vinyl would be here. It was simple after that.”

Now that she mentioned it, Twilight noticed that the two kept looking at each other as if to say “Oh, yeah?” The way the two of them were playing it was almost like they were daring the other to try and keep up. “And how did you get Vinyl Scratch to play a violin? I didn't even know she could play one.”

“Simple. I told her that since Octy was improvising all contemporary songs, she could improvise playing that too.”

Twilight's eyes grew almost as big as her head. “You mean that all of that is improvised?”

Pinkie-Pie nodded. “Yupperoonie! Pretty good, huh?”

The other mares were left with their mouths hanging open. On their stage, the quartet jamming along, the mare on the other violin was even banging her head gently. Further conversation with the pink mare was halted, when Rainbow Dash swept her fillyfriend off her hooves, and took her to the dance floor. They stood on their rear hooves, Pinkie-Pie's forelegs draped over Dash's shoulders, while her mare's forelegs rested on Pinkie's hips, pulling them close together. It was only due to the pegasus using her wings to balance them, that they didn't fall over. Their eyes however, were firmly glued to each other's.

As Applejack and Rarity joined the dance, Twilight looked over to Spike. “I'll be fine as long as I pace myself. I just have to dance to some of these songs, or I'll hate myself for missing out on the opportunity.” She grinned at him. “How many ponies can say they danced to music like this?”

The little dragon just threw up his claws in disgust and walked over to the punchbowl. Looking back as she took to the dance floor, Twilight said, “Come on, girls! Let's cut a rug!” However, with eight ponies in such a confined space, it was inevitable that they would start bumping and rubbing against each other. The two established couples tried their best to give them room, but Twilight's suitors were ignoring the extra space that was given up for them. Instead, they danced even closer, working all four of them up into a lather.

Finally, Twilight could take no more, and on wobbly legs, trotted over to the wall where some sitting cushions were lined up. Plopping down on one, she fanned herself with her hoof. Cheerilee put a hoof on the unicorn's forehead. “Goodness! You're burning up! Twilight, we told you not to overexert yourself.”

“Trixie shall fetch her some punch,” said the azure mare, and before anypony could protest, left to put thought into action.

Twilight shook her head in bemusement. “I'm fine girls, really. I just need to rest for a bit.”

Spitfire answered, “But you're still pretty badly drained, hon. You need to take it easy.”

Unseen by the three by the wall, but not everypony else in the room, Trixie surripticiously took a sip of the cup she had filled before bringing it over to her. “Here you are, Twilight. Drink up. You need to rehydrate still,” she said as her magic put the cup in the lavender mare's hooves, the side already drunk from facing Twilight. She did a little victory dance inside her mind when the mare's lips touched where hers had been exactly.

Reinvigorated, Twilight stood again, and waved over Berry Punch with the tray of snacks. “By the way, Berry, you're overdue on those books you borrowed. Two weeks overdue.”

The plum earth pony looked surprised. “Am I? I'm sorry, I'll bring them by tomorrow, promise.” She looked a bit nervous as she asked, “How much is the late fee?”

The unicorn waved off the question. “Just bring them by tomorrow before closing, and I'll waive the fee.” She put a hoof to her chin in thought. “Although, I have to say that I'm surprised at how many ponies Spike said wanted to check it out. Who would have thought that Gambling Rings for Dummies and Skewing the Odds for Fun and Profit would be such popular titles?”

Berry Punch gave a nervous smile and looked over at her sister. “Yeah. Funny, huh?”

Cheerilee gave her a flat look. “Hilarious,” she deadpanned. “Excuse us, Twilight, I need to speak to my sister,” she said, then glared at her sibling, “alone.” As she walked past her, she grabbed Berry Punch's tail with her teeth, dragging the mare backwards to a corner.

Twilight smiled at them. “I remember doing that to Shining Armor more than a few times. Always nice to see another pony take late fees as seriously as I do.”

In the corner, Cheerilee glared at Berry Punch. “What was that? You started that pool?” she hissed angrily.

The wine-colored mare hissed back just as viciously, “Hey! Somepony was going to do it eventually, so why not me? 'Sides, like I told you yesterday, tuition fees are expensive! Especially for a pony as talented as Li'l Berry!”

“But Skewing the Odds? Are you insane? Do you know what they'll do to you if you're caught?”

Berry Punch gently shook her head and smiled. “Relax, I got this covered. I'm going to talk to Spike tomorrow and offer him a little something to 'lose track' of those books. With what I'm going to clear with this deal, I can afford to throw a star sapphire or two his way to make sure that nopony ever finds out.” She smiled as her gaze went to the stairs and the filly asleep upstairs. “Anyways, when it comes to my Li'l Berry, I'd do a lot worse for her benefit. A lot.”

Cheerilee facehoofed and sighed in frustration. “Just... just make sure you aren't caught, okay?” At her sister's solemn nod of agreement, she sighed again. “I'll try to get Twilight out of there tomorrow at noon for lunch. Come by the library around then to have your little talk with Spike, okay?”

Berry Punch hugged the teacher. “Thanks, little sis. I knew I could count on you.”

Author's Notes:

Man, this one was rough! The first half flowed out pretty well, but after that, I hit a wall several times. I'm just glad I could bring this chapter to a somewhat decent conclusion. I don't know about you, but writing Celestia's scene brought a lump to my throat. Sorry if it did the same to you, but I did warn you in my blog. I almost left out the scene with Amethyst Star as superfluous, but decided to leave it in. I think it adds a little personality to the story. Shows that other things are going on around the main protagonists that have little to nothing to do with the main plot. Anywho, everything here but Nyx and the arrangement of the words belongs to Hasbro and Lauren Faust. Those two things are mine.