//------------------------------// // Convincing Canterlot // Story: Day & Night // by Reminisce //------------------------------// The day after, Canterlot's public auditorium that sat near the center of the city was bustling and packed with ponies from every corner of the region. Even those who were mere travelers found themselves following the commotion out of sheer curiosity. Nopony really knew what the occasion was, all they heard were the Castle horns ringing out in the early morning, signifying a public speech or appearance from the Princess. Which was enough to cause strangeness to settle in most ponies, Because the Princess almost never made such appearances anymore. All the while ponies were bickering and waiting down on the auditorium grounds, the Princess and others were preparing for what was to come. Rarity was dealing with a stock still Fluttershy who was borderline having a panic attack, while Twilight was pacing back and forth in front of the Princess. “This isn't going to end well!” Twilight whined.  “Please my student, our ponies will be better than that.” Celestia reassured, eyeing the pragmatic unicorn with curiosity. “A public assembly for possibly the biggest news Equestria will ever hear! No, no… I am excited, but what are we to expect out there; nearly three fourths of the ponies don't even know there are three other elements. We need a scientific and magical consensus and proof to-" When Twilight saw little reaction from the Princess, she began to panic as well. "Rarity!” “Oh, now I guess it's fine to talk back to the Princess?” Rarity sarcastically bit back, while still having a hoof wrapped around the shaking Pegasus. “Poor Fluttershy here is going to have a heart attack, how about you help me and let the Princess deal with that. After all I've already said my piece darling, her mind's made.” Looking back and forth between Celestia’s amused look and that of Fluttershy’s terrified expression. Twilight couldn’t consciously leave her friend in that state, so with a huff of frustration Twilight broke from her pacing to go comfort her friend. Celestia on the other hoof was grateful for her timid student's distraction, for at that moment she needed all the concentration she could muster. Truthfully she couldn't account for the mob reaction she’d get from her announcement. With one last glance back to her faithful students, she knew hesitation wasn’t an option, and that was the last though the Princess had before making her way onto the stage. “C-can we... really stop the magic?” The still trembling Fluttershy asked, now alone with her other two friends. “I don’t know, the Princess seems to think so.” Rarity responded. “No, she seems to think the elements can." Twilight clarified to the other two while she took a step back to examine the space they occupied. "I’ve not had many opportunities to examine the magical anomalies myself considering how dangerous they are. But I do know they spread kind of like cancer, it preys on natural magic and replicates.” Both Fluttershy and Rarity looked back at Twilight with disturbed eyes when the small unicorn explained what she knew of the magic. The Princess had kept them in the dark for much of the later months of developments, opting to have her mages and magical analysts do much of the field work. That was until one of the mages witnessed a deer get completely consumed by the magic, corrupting it to it’s core till the deer died mere moments later, the sight was so shocking he immediately requested council with the Princess. Whatever was said behind those closed doors nearly a year ago has set the three elements lives into a tailspin since, and none of them had any real idea on what was going to happen next. “They’re getting angry…” Fluttershy mumbled. Twilight was the first to react by turning towards the door Celestia left through to quickly access the situation herself. On the other hoof, Rarity stayed right next to Fluttershy despite Twilight's quick exit. “Now if that’s the case, which I don’t doubt because your element helps you sense these things. I’d think Twilight’s chances out there aren’t going to be any better than what our Princess was met with.” Rarity said calmly. “I-I know what I have to do… Sorry.” Fluttershy responded, trying her best to stay hidden behind her long pink mane. “What are you sorry for, Darling?” “Sorry!” With Rarity’s patience evaporated, she gave the timid Pegasus a little nudge in the flank to prop her up on all fours. “Let’s go, I’ll be right next to you the whole way.” Fluttershy saw her friend's gentle smile, and returned it while she slowly began to trudge her way to the stage where the princess surely would be facing an angry audience. The closer she got to the offending door the more she could hear and feel the disapproval from the citizens outside, the feelings were washing over her like a summer storm. But she was afraid there wouldn’t be a rainbow at the end of it this time around. “Wait, so you're telling us those monsters do exist!” “Three more elements…” “This is madness, complete and utter madness!” “Why don’t we just open our borders to the Minotaurs too, I’m sure they’d appreciate the gesture.” “We’re all doomed!” The shouts and yelling were deafening as the two ponies got within hoofs length of the door, Rarity had steeled her nerves. However, Fluttershy had stopped, instead she placed a gentle hoof on Rarity’s shoulder. The timid Pegasus could feel the shift, the instantaneous change in the Princesses mood, Twilight was still surrounded by a flurry of fear. But the Princess, something at that moment made her feel so very frightening, like she wouldn’t even want to see what truly was beyond that door.   “Equestria is falling ill, and my ponies are afraid of monsters in their closet! Hydras, Timberwolves, and other creatures live far beyond the confines of the Everfree… But we fear shadows, voices that have long since been silent for over eight hundred years!” Fluttershy flinched back at her booming voice, even though she wasn’t witnessing or feeling the scene unfold at that point. She knew that frightened eyes that’d match her own filled the silent crowd as the Princess unloaded all of her burdens on those she sought to protect. “The magical anomaly spreads like a cancer through Equestria, consuming magic and disappearing without a trace to only appear elsewhere. Sometimes even hundreds of miles away, how are we to combat that without first unity.” The Pegasus back peddled further from the door, she knew what was going to happen now. Becoming even more afraid, she was prepared to run and hide if necessary; she knew the small details. Yet she never received word that they’d be the ones to attempt to tackle the magical thing that was killing the wildlife in Equestria’s forests. It all was just happening so quickly, the butterscotch Pegasus only wanted peace, not whatever was happening out there. Kindness allowed her to placate the blackest of hearts, but it caused her to take on a more empathic nature, one she always loathed. Feeling all the doubts, memoirs, and pain that plagued ponies had nearly driven the poor mare over edge many times. She couldn’t stand it anymore, she needed to be far away from here. Just as she was going to open her wings to dart away, a soft magic kept them closed.  Rarity wasn’t the strongest Unicorn by a long shot, but reading her friends' constantly changing expressions told her all she needed to do, while she held her down for a second to recuperate her own eyes trailed back to the door where the Princess was speaking. If she fails to sway the crowd here what will happen, why did she create the terms of a meeting before even addressing the public… Such bold action. Now they required a little bold action of their own, and Rarity just wasn’t sure how they were going to do such a thing. With Fluttershy suffering from a panic attack and Twilight out there possibly floundering like a fish out of water, what could they do? “She’s right!” That was a familiar male voice that both Rarity and Fluttershy recognized.  “Yea, I'm a filly and I'm not even that scared!” a young childish voice followed soon after. It was the second voice that roused Rarity into further action. With a single tug of her magic she trotted hastily towards the door with Fluttershy in tow. And as soon as they crossed the threshold to the stage, they both were bombarded by the bright morning sun, which was conspicuously looming over their general area. Rarity immediately let go of Fluttershy as soon as she saw the massive crowd, there were hundreds of ponies huddling up in the small venue; most of them didn't even look Canterlotian. The young mare's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates, now she fully realized her timid friend's trepidation. Twilight on the other hoof was standing protectively between Princess Celestia and the crowd. Also by the serious look on her face both Fluttershy and Rarity could surmise their friends intentions of a mass teleportation. However with the last two solar elements joining the stage, and two familiar voices that have yet to be located, most ponies have backed away from shouting. It didn't take long for the two familiar voices to shout out again. “Trust in the Princess!”  Everypony on the stage looked down to the middle of the crowd to see a well built ivory stallion with a two tone blue mane shouting the mantra in unison with a little white unicorn sitting perfected on top of the stallion's head. The stallion was quickly identified as the element of magic’s brother Shining Armor, and as for the lesser known mare on his head. She was also The younger sibling to the element of generosity. No matter who they were related to, their fever was contagious nonetheless. A few ponies here, a few ponies there… in the end the majority of the crowd had drowned out the few neigh sayers. Which had dramatically shifted the mood of Princess Celestia and her elements. Twilight's concentration even broke for a moment to crack a small smile at the new tone, and Fluttershy even began to breathe again once she realized they wouldn't get shunned all the way back to the castle. The timid Pegasus could feel the enthusiasm clearly, but the air of doubt still outlined many in the crowd, but she couldn't dwell on that for too long. They just made one small step in the right direction. A Few Hours Later Now back in Canterlot castle after what could be called a successful public assembly. Twilight Sparkle was diligently collecting and assorting countless books on anything she had once found on the Everfree Forest and the ponies that reside within it. The only thing keeping her from drowning in her studies was a little purple drake that was rushing from one bookshelf to another on Twilight's command. Although he followed her orders as specified, that didn't stop him from complaining every literal step of the way. “Come on Twilight, you've read this version at least twice now!” the young drake whined. “Yes I know Spike, but I've found a blaring contradiction in Blackhoove’s third book. I must look at them comparatively now, clearly both books' accounts can't be right.” Twilight's hidden form responded, being completely blocked off from the rest of Equestria with a wall of books. “It's only been a few hours, you gotta let things calm down a bit, the city has just been flipped on its head. Heck, if your brother didn't pull that fast one out there, who knows what might have happened.” “Shiny was always the impulsive one, and adding Rarity’s sister into the equation… I expected nothing less.” Twilight stated matter of factly. Spike raised an eyebrow to Twilight's confident response. To only chuckle his way back to his duties as he remembered Twilight's horrified face on stage when she heard her brother's voice. Truly he constantly wonders how either Twilight or Fluttershy function outside of their respective bubbles. Only his fair Rarity showed any social capabilities beyond animals or books. Oh how the drake could remember the nights of how she’d sweep into his room talking to him about the woes of being an element and how she wished there would be some young strapping stallion to sweep her away. To burden all her troubles and pain… although the pain is probably a bit of embellishment on Rarity’s part. All the rest made the drake start dreaming about her. From her beautiful indigo locks, to her perfect alabaster coat; Rarity was the example of a perfect mare in an imperfect world. Spike made himself a promise that he’d be that stallion, well dragon one day. “Spike!” However his name being yelled was enough to break his daydreaming “Who.. What.. Where?” “The door Spike, somepony has been knocking and won't go away!” Twilight shouts over her books in frustration. Only now hearing the pounding at the door downstairs, Spike sighs in defeat. He had no real clue who it was, usually either Fluttershy or Rarity come by to rip Twilight begrudgingly from her studies. But considering all that happened today he’d expect them to all be in their separate corners for the rest of the day. Reaching the door, he realized that the knocking had stopped. Shrugging his shoulders the young drake unlocked the door and opened it anyway. And he was quite surprised to see a crowd… well at least a crowd to Twilight's social standards. Rarity, Fluttershy, Shining were in the forefront of the group. Leaning his head to the side, he could also see Sweetie Belle chatting a light blue Pegasus’s head off. Squinting his eyes, he couldn't pin it, but the stallion looked familiar… Like one of those Wonderbolts or something. Shining was the first to speak up as he eyed Spike curiously. “About time somepony got the door, I was beginning to think Twily was ignoring us!” Spike didn't respond, because he knew full well Twilight was doing exactly that. Instead he greeted the group and led them inside into the main room. Which was nothing more than a larger room with less bookshelves by Spike’s standards. After leading them in, he could clearly tell that Fluttershy was clinging pretty close to the new guy, which was a little strange considering he’d think most ponies were trying to eat her. Yet everypony else seemed fine with it, so why shouldn't he. “Sup, what brings you all to Twilight's fortress of solitude.” Spike questioned, still very curious about the party. “Fortress of solitude?” The Light blue Pegasus asked. Everypony turned to the confused stallion, but Rarity instead reacted as if she had forgotten something very important. “Oh, terribly sorry for the lack of introductions! Spike this is Soarin Sky, and Soarin this is Spike; he is Twilight's assistant and little brother of sorts." Rarity says proudly, as if the introductions were the first step to something spike couldn't place a claw on. "Now where is our little recluse?” Spike didn't even get a second to respond before Shining had begun the ascent up the steps. With him being her older brother, he knew exactly where his Twily was hiding. And he always had the best ways to get her attention. Scanning the upstairs room that was practically nothing more than a library, Shining immediately found the location of his prey.  All his military training accumulated up to this one moment, stance low and magic heightened, he was prepared to make his move. Starting at a crawl, he inched his way towards his sister's book fort, ready to lay siege. That was until he instantly found himself floating four feet in the air, enveloped in a lavender aurora. Shining looked down to see his sister's horn glowing slightly over the edge of her book fortress. Rolling his eyes, he knew it was time to cut the act. “All right Twily, you can let me down now…” “Not till you apologize for the potential act of desecrating my books.” Twilight responded with a hint of sarcasm. “Hey, they’re hard copies!” The floating stallion shot back. Hearing the commotion, the rest of the party began to relocate upstairs. With Spike leading, he was the first to see Shining's compromising situation. The young drake had seen it many times before, and Shining always ends up subdued. For the captain of the Royal Guard, Spike couldn't tell if he was allowing her to pony handle him or was Twilight's magic really that overwhelming. Either way, Everypony else was a bit more concerned than Spike was, considering the situation. Eventually Twilight peered over her books to see multiple ponies staring at her. Immediately becoming flustered, the small Unicorn dropped her brother harshly on his flanks. “Spike what is Everypony doing here, they weren't scheduled today?” Twilight questioned. “Sorry…” Fluttershy's meek response was enough to pull Twilight out of her reflexive defense. Her expression only softened after she slowly noticed everypony's concerned look towards her. It wasn't the first and it surely won't be the last of the concerned looks she'll get because of her studying. But with her brother personally visiting, just maybe she should set down her book without a fight this time… “Ok let’s try this again." Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Twilight put on her best face. "Has something new developed, does it have something to do with the Wonderbolts?” Soarin could feel the tail end of the question being directed towards him. Blinking, the light blue stallion had almost forgotten he could talk. “Uhhh… well, no not really I was just kinda in the area and….” “He’s my coltfriend!” Fluttershy squeaked surprisingly. Causing both her and Soarin's face to go beat red. Shining almost wanted to crack up at Soarin's face, Rarity clopped her hooves in approval of Fluttershy’s outburst, and Spike just shrugged his shoulders as he walked off to start reshelving Twilight's makeshift book fort. Twilight just sat there giving the bookshelf behind everypony a thousand mile stare. Spike rolled his eyes and went through the standard procedure. Taking a book from Twilight's pile, he gave only a second's worth of thought before placing it on the wrong shelf. That in turn broke Twilight out of her stupor quicker than a dog could bark. “Spike!” Twilight wailed as if she was physically wounded. Spike again didn't respond, because he was long due for a break. He knew when things were getting too awkward, even if it meant leaving Rarity's presence even for a little while. Plus he didn't see Sweetie come up with them and she’s been awfully quiet as of late. Both of those things added together equals nothing but total unadulterated disaster. Maybe he should check on her downstairs as well.  “Um-” Fluttershy's was preparing to fumble through a half audible explanation. That was until Rarity silenced the meek mare with a hoof. “Yes Twilight, our dear Fluttershy here is making some err rather different progress. But we're actually here to discuss your progress per say.” Rarity reiterated. “Bu-" Twilight thought twice about what she was going to ask, she could see the drop it looks both her brother and Rarity was giving her. "Fine, but you all will be quite disappointed with my current results.” “Well?” Rarity pried, successfully steering the conversation away from Soarin and Fluttershy. “Nothing, absolutely nothing!” Twilight admitted in a huff of frustration. “Nothing?" Shining repeated. "Come on now sis, you're like the leading authority on the everfree!” Twilight's ears were pinned after hearing her brother's comment. “I'm only mockingly considered to be a leading authority because I'm the only one willing to put any effort into my theorems. The most recent accounts and documentation I can get pertaining to anything about the Everfree is at least over two hundred years old. Not to mention every scholar who has studied the forest has vastly different accounts… The only root I consistently find is that the Lunar element's can be easily identified by their tattoos.” “Well you've met one of them face to face, could you've built anything from that.” Shining prodded. “Yes, but I don't want to jump to any conclusions just yet... I-It might hinder what little progress we've made.” Twilight moaned while rubbing her temples. Shining wasn't really buying it and wanted to hear what his sister had found out. “I don't know anything about those ponies in that forest. But the only time they've been clearly seen, it was nearly a full scale invasion… I want to trust the Princesses judgment unquestioningly, but I'm the captain of the Guard for a reason, I don't want us getting caught with our heads in the clouds. I did my part in the crowd back there, and I stand by that” Shining replied seriously to Twilight before turning his attention to Rarity. "But if they're going to help us, what are they in this for?” “Here I thought I was the one for dramatics, darling would you like to borrow my lounge while you worry?” Rarity teased. Soarin snickered a bit at that, only to get lightly tapped on the side by Fluttershy, clearly indicating that he was being a little rude. Twilight still had many questions regarding the new couple, but their present situation took priority. The small Unicorn trotted past Everypony to head downstairs. She had an extremely detailed dream journal that she had started working on years ago, not even Spike knew of its existence. Luckily after her second meeting with the Element of Laughter, she was able to probe the dreamstate she was in. She did get some interesting data, but nothing concrete and that was a little disturbing. Truly she doubted the information would serve to benefit anypony, still it might ease her brother's prying a bit. Everypony trailed Twilight back down the steps, where she then immediately levitated a book that was hidden behind a bookshelf into plain sight. Nopony knew what to make of it, but Fluttershy recognized it as the journal that she had given the bookish unicorn years ago. But the Pegasus doubted Twilight used the journal for its intended purpose. “Ok, the girls and I were trapped in a constructed dreamstate last night. In which we were approached by the Element of laughter.” Twilight took a breath and was getting ready to continue, that was until she was struck with a stupid question. “What's a dreamstate?” Soarin asked innocently, raising his hoof as if he was in class. Both Twilight and Shining gave the blue Pegasus a stern glare, causing him to shrink back a bit with a chuckle. “Sorry Twily, please continue.” Shining apologize in Soarin's place. “Thank you, as I was saying. We were approached by laughter and I was able to probe the dreamstate a bit. At first I was confused on how an Earth Pony could cast such an intricate incantation, so I dug a bit and found something extremely interesting. There was her natural magic, but intertwined in it was something a bit darker to the touch.” Twilight explained. “ Magic that closely resembles that of our princess almost mockingly so.” “Wait, are you trying to say they have Alicorn magic?” shining couldn't almost believe what he was hearing. “Yes and no, I said it resembles that of our princess’s magic. Meaning it's not necessarily Alicorn magic persay, just a good attempt at replicating it I think.” Twilight corrected. “That's literally impossible, you should know that magical signatures are irreconcilable. They're be no way for anypony let alone a Earth Pony to possess anything close to Alicorn magic naturally.” Shining weighed in much to Twilight's delight. “Same thing I first thought as well, that was until I came down to one key word. 'Naturally', we don't actually know what's possible for Everfree ponies. From my up close meeting with one, I could immediately tell biological differences just from looking at the mare. So who's to say they don't perform magic differently from us as well, maybe they all share some strange connection to the forest or something.” Twilight responded, enjoying the flexing of her intellectual muscles. “Biological differences?” That time the question was quietly asked by Fluttershy, who in return was surprised that Twilight had heard her. Jumping up from her previous spot, Twilight literally bounced to a table in the corner of the room where she had a sketching of a regular pony's body. Rolling it up and levitating it with her magic towards Fluttershy, Twilight was gearing up for another explanation. “Compared to your average Equestrian Pony, Pinkie Pie was larger, stockier, and had a thicker coat than any Earth Pony I'd ever seen. Not to mention her sharp teeth and pronounced canines, which you should know Fluttershy means she might be carnivorous or maybe omnivorous.” “Oh my…” Fluttershy blanched a bit. “Yes 'oh my' indeed, tell me Twilight, are we dealing with cannibals here… if so why didn't she look like that in the dream thing?” Rarity adds in, equally as worried. “Dreamstate, and I honestly don't know. But I doubt they are pony eating monsters out of all things. However in the dream, I do believe she was trying to come off as more appealing to us, her personality was even different from when we met near the forest.” Twilight finished. “Maybe it's Nightmare Moon!”  “Soarin, come on, don't tell me you believe in those stories. Princess Celestia killed that thing ages ago, she even confirmed it with historians.” Shining scoffed. That caused Soarin to defend his statement, and Rarity also weighed in. Effectively causing a small quarrel over the possibility of nightmare moon still being alive. Twilight on the other hoof was seriously pondering the possibility that Stallion Fluttershy brought along had a little air on his head. But he did bring up a good point, Maybe it is Nightmare Moon. After all that would explain the magic, the elements, and the Everfrees continued existence. Yet surely the Princess wouldn't deal With the Children of the Night if they were possessed by the Nightmare… would she? “Enough arguing, my original question still was never answered!” Shining piped up frustratingly. “I think your little sis was trying to say she doesn't know anything beyond what she's seen.” Soarin pointed out. Everypony turned towards the blue stallion in mild surprise just for him to sit and shrug his shoulders. All that achieved was a few eye rolls and a light snicker from Fluttershy which caused him to perk up a bit, changing the mood from surprised to mild amusement. “I-I understand that, but we have to trust their intentions wholeheartedly… Personally I would have liked a better reveal than invading my little sister's dream.” Shining sighed. “I think it's fair…” Everybody could barely just hear Fluttershy, but she spoke loud enough to garner everybody's intention. “Sorry!” “Aww, come one Flutters, we’d like to hear your thoughts.” Soarin gently stated, wrapping a forehoof around his Marefriend. Blushing madly, Fluttershy shook the metaphorical butterflies out of her system. “Umm… I mean it's just that they've been gone so long, we didn't even know they existed… Now they're coming to us. it's kinda like some of my animal friends, it takes a lot of trust just to let somepony see you.” Fluttershy concluded, leaving most of the group stuck in thought. “I never thought about it that way.” Twilight was the first to omit it. “It’s a nice thought isn't it.” Shining added in. “Spike, take a note…” Twilight glanced behind her to notice that her dragon assistant was long gone. “Spike!” Rarity also raised a brow when she noticed Sweetie was also absent from the room. Both mare's knew the implications, and without further words they rushed down the steps with friends in tow.