Growing up, unwittingly, I was obsessed with Celestia. She was the beautiful idol to me that she is to some of her devotee guards and subjects. I did whatever I could to get close to her, and so I threw myself into the study of magic in hopes of entering her school for gifted unicorns. I was good at it. I was really good at it. To the surprise of literally everypony who wasn't in the know, A little unicorn filly 'born to' lowborn unicorns with a below average son, had outstanding potential. At first, Celestia didn't know whether or not to allow me in. Sure, eventually I would have to be told the truth, but nopony should have needed to worry about that until I was in my forties and not aging. At the same time, she was also desperate to see me again.
Luna had made it very clear that the consequences of me knowing the truth far outweighed the potential positives, but the mother daughter bond that Celestia and I had was too strong to keep us apart. One way or another, I eventually made my way into the school at the bright young age of eight, despite Luna's protest. During a test to see just how much magic I was capable of, something inside me triggered, and by accident, I displayed more magical prowess than any unicorn before me. The two sisters realized that the seal Luna had put on me shortly after birth was beginning to break.
With reluctance, Luna finally agreed that it would be best if they could monitor me from close by, and allowed Celestia to take me in under the guise of 'personal protégé.' And so, for about two years, I was reunited with my mother. Any time I wasn't in class, I was with her. We ate together, we bathed together, we slept together, we lived together. It wasn't just the feeling of friendliness that I got from my foster parents, it was more than that. A bond that I'd always felt was there was finally being exercised, and it was everything I ever wanted. Even Luna, who was heavily opposed of anything dealing with me, the child who shouldn't have existed, came around and started to act like family toward me. But as I said, this only lasted for so long.
In the span of a mere week, those blissful two years with the family I was meant to have were shattered by a single oversight that neither of the princesses thought of. And that was, the virus. As it turns out, my Father was part of the afflicted back in his dimension, and just like our virus, theirs had the power to overwrite my alicorn genetics that prevent me from being afflicted with disease.
When Mother would talk about him, referring to him as some story book hero back when she would put me to sleep, she always mentioned at how his 'strength and determination' made him immune to magic. The truth was clearly that he was a Power Pony and that was what the virus did to him, but she never considered that it was possible for me to have it. Lo and behold, suddenly, in the middle of a class field trip, the virus rears it's ugly head and breaks all the seals on me.
A child alicorn is walking the streets of Canterlot, and it takes all of five minutes for hell to break loose. The museum we were in was being scouted by a group of thieves looking to swipe one of the many regalia that Celestia and Luna had been given over the years, when one of them notices that a unicorn filly suddenly sprouted wings. It didn't take long for them to put two and two together and... I was kidnapped.
Both the princesses felt the seals disappear, but were each too late to get to me before the robbers did. Their suspicions of me were very quickly founded when the princesses showed up, and they hightailed it out of there. The robbers were smart. They were very smart. They very quickly realized just how valuable I was and just what they could get away with due to the unique nature of my body. They used a machine to seal away my magic, and they tied me up like a piece of meat.
They knew it wouldn't be long before either of the princesses showed up, so they were quick to act. The first thing they did was send a ransom note to the castle with a threat, photos, and demands to my mother. The next thing they did was get out of Canterlot. In a burlap sack, I was thrown into a truck and driven to the far outskirts of the city to a mine near the base of the mountain.
Since the effect the virus had on me was to make me immune to magic, placing magic seals on me was just one of the many things that no longer worked. I cannot be tracked, I cannot be attacked, I cannot be acted on with any and all forms of magic. If it's not electronic or organic, it does not work on me. I can't even cast spells on myself. I'm like a sponge. I absorb magic and just store it in the near boundless capacity that Alicorns are capable of, and this quality of mine made Celestia a very desperate mare.
With little discussion and more than reckless decisions, she gave into the demands of the robbers to try and get her daughter back. But instead of keeping up their end of the bargain, the robbers made off with me and the money they were wired and tried to escape the continent. Honestly, if they had actually given me back, they might've lived. But if there is one thing one does not do, it is to make Celestia angry.
Furious that they had tried to trick her, Celestia quickly discovered that the method of communication they used to take their money was poorly encrypted. Within an hour, Celestia was given their location near the Manehattan port. They had taken to hiding in an old abandoned cabin in the middle of this very park. Things went from bad to worse when I was taken out of the bag. They saw that Celestia had arrived, so to keep from being incinerated where they stood, they pointed a gun to my head and told her to back off.
With me being so near the weapon, there was nothing Celestia could do to get the gun away since my powers absorbed the magic she tried to cast. I was a shield for them, and not one that Celestia was willing to give up.” Twilight bit inta her lip and let out a breath. Whatever she did back then ta get out of that mess probably ain't somethin' she's proud of.
“To... further insult mother, the robbers got the idea that they would... try and make... another Alicorn... It didn't matter to them h-how old I was, but they figured that they were dead where the stood anyways... When the situation had finally come to that point, I started to hyperventilate. I didn't know just yet what they were going to do to me, but seeing Celestia almost in tears, begging for them to stop and watching them... prepare... it happened again.
All of the magic that I had absorbed over time started to well up, and in my frantic state, my horn overheated and melted the device that was stopping me from using magic. The ensuing wave of energy consumed all five of the kidnappers and the entire cabin. When she described it to me, the blast must've had a diameter of ten meters, because not only did it take out everything and everypony around me, but it also unearthed an ancient crystal relic that had been buried here at the beginning of Celestia and Luna's rule.
After I passed out from the explosion, this crystal relic began to absorb all of the magic I put off and everything I had stored since my powers activated. Celestia quickly collected me and watched as this castle literally grew out of the ground, complete with my cutie mark on the front. With nowhere else to go and being drained from the whole ordeal, Celestia took refuge inside this castle.
When I finally woke up, Celestia decided it was time that I know everything. It was sad, really. At first, I was excited to know that she was my real mother. Then, the idol I had built her up to be was marred by all the flaws and mistakes she made. Everything that had happened, all the problems she caused by being careless, all the lives she ruined by letting her curiosity take over. I became bitter, and lost much of my trust and respect for her.
Luna arrived shortly there afterward and once Celestia said she told me everything, this brand was created. I was... marked... and then practically imprisoned here. The severe nature of everything that could happen, everything they watched happen in my Father's world, and the unknown nature of the castle and what the strange magic it gave off were reason enough to keep me here. At the same time, I was safe here. Nopony but the princesses and you four know about this place... anymore, and I am linked to the castle. I can sort of feel when things are near it, or when there are life forces inside, even manipulate the walls and doors just by thinking about it. With no way to argue against it, Celestia just let it happen, and I've been living here since then.
For nine years, I had no outside contact other than my mother and my aunt aside from books and newspapers. With nothing else to do, I read every book I had and was eventually given copies of everything in Canterlot Library to keep me occupied. It wasn't until a few years ago did I finally get fed up with it all. Tired of mother trying to make things seem okay, tired of Luna acting like I was some disaster waiting to happen, and most of all, I was tired of... feeling so alone. I eventually worked up the courage to do it, and I left the castle.
For the first time in years, I saw other ponies. Normal ponies, Power Ponies, zebras, griffons, hippogriffs, dragons, this city had everything! That very same day, I also saw my very first super hero battle. I was a little more than amazed to watch somepony that had been affected by Mother's mistakes actually use it for the benefit of others in person. She saved five ponies from an attack by some villain, and the two fought until she subdued the villain and was praised by all the ponies around her.
So, I came up with an idea. A way to make myself useful like that. Maybe even try and change my aunt's opinion of me. At first, I wanted to be a hero, like her. And I did try. I had a costume made anonymously, and went out there to try and do some good like the other heroes. To say the least I... didn't do well. I had grown a lot since I last used attack magic, and all of my seals had also been released too, so I couldn't control my own power. I'd also never flown more than gliding down the castle stairs, so I couldn't really do that well either.
Needless to say, eventually I was the one who got captured, and if it weren't for the intervention of that hero again, I wouldn't be here today. So, I wasn't cut out to be a hero, but that didn't stop me from still wanting to try. I tried to get in contact with some of the heroes, but was always ignored at the door. I tried to support heroes by offering them a partnership, but was turned down nearly immediately by all of them. Worse still, Mother eventually caught me sneaking out, and there was a heavy reprimanding for that.
A week or so passed afterward, and to my surprise, she asked why I did what I did. At first I felt like she was trying to trap me in some kind of guilt admission, but after encouraging a few of the things I did, I told her everything. All of the things I tried, all the ideas I had. To my surprise, She agreed with most of them. For the first time in a long time, it actually felt like it did back before everything went wrong.
We got to talking, and together, we came up with a way I could actually do something. My powers make it so I can act more or less like a magical generator, and with that, I can keep up spells like long range telepathy, or visual divination, as if they were mere levitation spells. With my unique position, I could direct a group from far away without the use of high tech equipment, or expensive spell crystals. If I could get together a group of trusted Power Ponies, I could lead them in operations, acting like my own little unit of special police officers.
With the new idea in place and mother's support, I was given permission to go out and find Power Ponies for my group. But just like the first time I tried, it didn't go well. That is, until I met Diamond. Unlike everypony else I tried to talk to, Rarity was interested in what I had to say. We got together, she told me the story she told you, and we formed this partnership. Mother was ecstatic to know that I'd made a friend, but warned me about the brand that I carried. With a little studying and some direction from her, I crafted this contract for a less painful way to spread my brand.
While I didn't like it at first, Mother eventually won me over to the idea since it served as an easy way to locate ponies in my group as well as create a more concrete form of trust between myself and those I recruited, in a less... painful way than how my brand was applied. With Rarity in, I started to ask Mother for assignments to help pay Rarity for her work and we began doing jobs for the military. They weren't exactly hard jobs at first, but it was enough to get her back on her hooves after opening her store without her parents help.
It was when Luna decided to capitalize on mine and Rarity's team work that I realized we needed more members. Celestia went out of her way to make sure we were never given anything too dangerous. I suspected that after some time, and Luna confirmed it verbally when I asked. In a sort of foolhardy ego-scratching, I asked for something that she needed help with. While we completed the job, Rarity was badly injured, and I ended having to treat her for three weeks before she recovered. Rarity's power is spectacular, but that doesn't mean she can handle a whole team of armed pirates on her own.
So, we needed new members, and then we went out to look for them. That was about the time I met... the Bloody Crow. She was interested in the money I said I could offer, but due to the uh, nature, of her powers, I wanted to see her work. I told Rarity about it, and she warned me not to, but I was too excited about the prospect of a new member to listen. She took me on a 'hunt' as she called them, and what I saw was... horrific. The things she did to that poor hoodlum were far beyond cruel, but that doesn't compare to the laughter I heard while she was doing it. Gah, thinking about it still makes me shiver.
So, I struck out, and with a quick memory wipe spell, I escaped from her and ran back home. I was beyond disappointed, and terrified that I almost trusted somepony like that. But, as luck would have it, another candidate had literally knocked on my door. I met Fluttershy the next day. She was so distraught and unhealthy that I couldn't turn her away. After about a week of living here, she told me her story, and in return I offered her a job with Harmony.
I know that she had a bad history before I met her, but the pony I had come to know over that week wasn't the one she described when she talked about herself. The fact that she immediately agreed to my proposal proved that for me. And that is when a strange thing happened. This room wasn't here a year ago. In fact, this has only been here since Rarity, Fluttershy, and myself were all in the castle at the same time. These chairs give off a strange magical signature that resonate with our auras like some kind of power amplifier.
We still don't know what they are, or why they do what they do, but Celestia and Luna thought it would be best if I could try and seek out other ponies that react to these gems. After about half a year of searching and doing jobs again now that Fluttershy could cover Rarity, one of the dormant gems reacted. I suppose you could say it felt Pinkie's dark intentions, and was more or less communicating for me to save her, or something cosmic like that. Like a beacon, the energy the gem was giving off matched a signature in the city and I basically followed the trail... about thirty feet from the castle.
She... was going to do something bad, and I managed to talk her out of it. I offered to help her become better as a hero and a pony, and with that I'd gained another member. Around the same time, Rarity tried to scout you. When she showed me who you were, I was ecstatic to say the least. You were the one who saved those ponies on that first day I left the castle, and the one who eventually saved me when I messed up trying to be a hero myself, so naturally I thought you would make a great addition.
But... you and Rarity seemed to have a... miscommunication during your test job, and I figured you were a lone wolf. She didn't give up on you though, so I guess you could say she had more faith than I did. It wasn't until we had a job where... well, the Beast came out, did I realize that we needed somepony who could combat Fluttershy if she ever went out of control like that again, which is when Rarity mentioned you. I figured if she could convince you to join, then we might as well try. If we had you, then Rarity wouldn't have to fill the role of attacker anymore, Pinkie wouldn't have to hurt anypony, and... if everything went wrong, we'd have somepony who could subdue Fluttershy without hurting her.
Unfortunately, you haven't reacted to any of my gems, so that doesn't seem to be a part you can play, but now that you're here, we finally have a four pony team. I provide information and communication.”
“I provide defense, and if necessary low power attacks,” Rarity continued.
“I-I can give cover fire and detect h-hidden enemies that Twilight can't...” Fluttershy mumbled.
“And I can get victims and VIPs out of sticky situations in a flash!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“It's more often than not we need all these abilities to do the jobs we're given, but with you we have somepony who can really take a front line position. Somepony who can do just as much damage, if not more than our opponents can, and one who can protect my friends in the event things do go wrong. A battle Tank to add to our Rouge, Sniper, and two Supports. So, without further adieu, welcome to Harmony, Applejack.”
Applejack
Ah figured she was about done, so now Ah decided ta ask a few questions that had been on my mind durin' her story.
“Well, Ah suppose Ah'm glad ta be here, even if it still feels like Ah was kinda roped inta this. Ah'm sorry y'all were the product of poor choices, but Ah have a few questions Ah want answered now that the air is clear.” Ah wasn't sure where Ah stood quite yet, so Ah tried ta keep my voice from reachin' a demandin' tone.
“Oh. Okay, what would you like to know?” Twilight responded.
“Number one; how do ya have a brand if yer immune ta magic?” Ah asked. She frowned.
“Ah... right... well, the word brand is usually related to a symbol that is burned into something. While yours are all made from an ancient contract that simulates the engraving of a brand, mine is... real. The first time I ever saw Mother and Luna fight was when the idea to give me this was proposed. Mother eventually conceded, and after engraving the seals onto a branding iron, it was heated and applied to my tongue. My sense of taste barely exists anymore, and due to the nature of iron based magic, my powers don't work on it.” Twilight let her eyes fall ta her hooves, which she tapped the tips of together repeatedly.
“Oh, goddess... That's messed up... Okay, maybe the other can wait fer another time Ah suppose. Ah guess the third thin' Ah was gonna ask was, when do we do this next job? Ah'm actually still in school if ya believe it, so Ah can't just work whenever ya need me. My dad always wanted us ta get degrees so we wouldn't be as screwed in the real world as he was, and Ah can't just drop it.” If there's anythin' that Ah was gonna do, it was get my degree just like my papa wanted. If nothin' else, Ah was gonna fulfill his only real request of me before he died. Twilight wrinkled her snout and frowned.
“Ah... I see... well, I may be able to pull some strings if things ever get to the point where we need you desperately, but I'm sure we can work something out. If all else fails, I've read just about everything in any library you'll find across the country and then some, so I can be a tutor if you need it.” She was... almost too excited about that. Ah gave her a look, but then just shook my head.
“Uh... Okay, Ah guess. Well, Ah have class every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornin', so Ah can help out on my days off. If Ah can take a bullet ta the soft pallet, Ah'm sure Ah can be the tank y'all are lookin' for.” Ah realized the dark connotations of the words Ah just said and made a kinda awkward smile after that.
“That was... rather morbid, but confident? Darling, I'm sure you can do the job we need you to, but you shouldn't expect to take bullets for us. We're not that desperate after all,” Rarity said.
Goddess damn it.
“A-and um, usually it doesn't get that f-far as long as they're within my range... I-it was chivalrous of you to protect me earlier, b-but I really hope it doesn't come to that again, a-and it shouldn't so... I guess what I'm trying to s-say is... don't worry too much?” Fluttershy said.
“Yeah, we got your back, yo!” Pinkie... rapped? She was wearing a hoodie and a backwards ball cap now, and Ah don't exactly remember her leavin' her spot.
“Uh, thanks fer that, Ah guess.” Ah felt the need ta scratch my head since Ah had no other way ta react ta that.
“With... whatever that was... out of the way, I suppose our next meeting will be here at six again on Tuesday. I'll send you all reminders around thirty minutes before the meeting, and we'll go forward from there. With that said, members of Harmony, you are dismissed.”