//------------------------------// // A Necessary Plot Device // Story: The Twilight of Change // by teganaxis //------------------------------// "I can't get over how convenient this is." Twilight said, tapping the metal device strapped to her horn. The machine's bright silver metal matched Pan's orb. The A.I. herself floated lazily next to her master, sitting cross-legged. "I know, right! Technology is great!" Pan chirped, happily adjusting her glasses. Twilight sent the hologram a sideways glance; apparently, those hoof-things were called hands. Whatever they were called, the mare decided, they were still gross. "Shh!" an old graying mare, the librarian of the Canterlot Archives, shot Pan an intimidating glare. Intergalactic visitor from space or not, nopony interrupted reading time. Twilight glanced at the book she was reading. Fifty Shades of Hay. Classy. Pan looked abashed, frowning adorably. "Sorry!" she whispered loudly. "Shh!" "Sorry!" "Shh!" "Sor-" "Pan. Just stop." Twilight shook her head in exasperation. The A.I. bowed her head and nodded sullenly. Together, the two made their way deeper into the depths of the Archives, away from the crabby librarian. "So, Pan. You still haven't told me how this thing works." the bookworm stated. Twilight stopped, turning to browse a particularly old looking shelf of tomes. Every book there dealt with some kind of abstract question or topic; things like the meaning of life, if there really was a god, and recipes for apple pie. Twilight laughed quietly at the sorting mistake. Amateurs. 'Oh! Mysterious Myths and Hidden Truths seems promising.' The book mare pulled the tome from the shelf, flipping to the table of contents. After skimming the text for a bit, Twilight sighed. No luck. An hour had already passed since Twilight began looking for a book about her condition; she was beginning to lose hope. "Oh! The Limiter? It stops you from Changing anything!" Pan said, smiling widely. Twilight rolled her eyes. "Obviously. You told me that last night." the Changer replied. As it turns out, blowing up planets and learning you're the sole hope for all ponykind takes a lot out of you. After Twilight left the throne room, she decided to go straight to bed. That's when Pan strapped this Limiter thing to her head. "Oh yeah!" Pan giggled. "Sorry!" Twilight picked up another book. "So?" Pan blinked. "So?" The purple mare gritted her teeth. For a super-intelligent program designed to help Twilight control reality-altering powers, Pan was proving herself to be pretty dense. "How. Does it. Work?" Pan gasped. "Oh!" Pause. "I don't know!" the A.I. answered gleefully. Twilight face-hoofed. "But," the program continued, "I know it's made out of the same metal I am! And I can't be Changed, no matter what!" The hologram looked deep in thought. "It's some kind of... anti... Change... metal, I guess. Oh!" Pan giggled. "Let's call it Antimetal! I like that! It sounds mysterious!" Twilight groaned. Every time the A.I. answered one of her questions, it just brought up even more. "But, that doesn't make any sense. If I can Change anything I want, why can't I Change this Antimetal stuff?" Pan waved her hands in front of her face, eyes wide. "Mysteeeerioousss..." "Ugh. Never mind." Twilight pulled another tome from the shelf. Ponies or Parasprites: Who is the True Monster?. Sounded preachy. "Wait," the unicorn said, "If I can't make any Changes, what's the point of you being here to help me? What's the point of these powers in the first place?" Pan laughed. "Silly! You can still make Changes, you just have to deactivate the Limiter!" "Okay. How?" Twilight asked, shelving the book. Pan flew over to the bookworm's horn, tapping the metal device with a ghostly finger. "It's voice activated! Just say the magic word!" Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What's the magic word?" "Oh! That's easy." Pan grinned. "It's change!" "...change? That's the magic word?" Twilight asked, bewildered. 'Wait a minute...' "But didn't I already say change like four times?" As if on cue, a loud scream echoed through the library. "Huh." Pan scratched her head. "I guess you did." The ghastly librarian from before sprinted past Twilight and Pan, screaming bloody murder. A faint, very familiar, buzzing noise filled the lavender pony's ears. "Oh no." Twilight whispered. The parasprite swarm crashed down over the shelves at the end of the row, hungry mouths devouring hundreds of years of knowledge and history. "Pan!" Celestia's protege called, voice tinged with panic. "Pan! How do I activate it again?!" Pan smiled. "Oh, it does that automatically! From the time you say the word, you have ten seconds to do whatever you want! Then it activates again and, poof! No more powers!" The A.I. looked at to the advancing parasprites. "Ohhh, you want to get rid of them?" Twilight nodded furiously, already fleeing the approaching mob. Pan's orb floated alongside the fleeing unicorn as the hologram pondered the situation. "Well, just because the Limiter activates again doesn't mean everything goes away." The program beamed. "You have to fix it yourself! If you didn't, you wouldn't be learning anything!" Her anger towards the airhead A.I. aside, Twilight gulped and focused on the task at hand. Picturing the pristine, quiet library that used to be the Archives, the mare opened her mouth to speak. "Um...- Uh...! Ch-change!" The buzzing stopped. The library was quiet once more. "Yay!" Pan cheered. "You did it!" "Shh!" came the librarian's response. Pan frowned. "Sorry." The pair was back at the front of the Archives. A faint click echoed from the Limiter; Twilight assumed that was the machine re-activating. The Changer looked around excitedly, adrenaline still pumping through her veins. She did it. For the first time since yesterday morning, Twilight felt in control again. The mare practically skipped out of the library. "Did you see that?!" Twilight proclaimed, hooves clopping merrily on the tile floors of the great hall. "I can do it! I can cha-" the purple unicorn stopped herself. "...do things without wrecking everything!" Pan smiled pleasantly. "Yes! See, it's not so bad!" The unicorn shook her head in disbelief. "That was... amazing. Did I just travel through time? Is this the past?" Twilight already experienced her powers before, but that was when they were out of control. Actually Changing something... you know, on purpose... that was another experience all together. Pan shook her head. "Oh, no! What you did was something much, much different!" The hologram adjusted her glasses in a scholarly-like manner. "You created your own library in your head! Then, you used your powers to bring that library, the library you created, into reality, dragging that meanie librarian and us along with it!" Twilight blinked. "So... what happened to the old library?" the confused mare asked. Pan stared at her master blankly. "I don't know!" the A.I. cheered. Twilight sighed. It was going to be a long month. --- "Huh. That's pretty convenient." Rainbow Dash tapped the Limiter with a hoof. She had just finished ranting about how awesome Twilight's powers were, finally giving the librarian the chance to explain her situation in detail. "You're telling me." Twilight replied, shifting in her seat. Five mares and a dragon sat around Twilight in one of the many pleasure rooms of the castle. They arrived shortly after the Changer's episode in the library. It didn't take long for them to begin assaulting Twilight with questions. "You could have told me you were leaving..." Spike grumbled, pouting. The librarian smiled warmly. "Oh, Spike. You know I would have if I could." she responded, embracing the little dragon in a hug. He blushed furiously. "T-Twilight! Stop that!" "Hee hee! Oh! Oh! Say kumquat! Say it!" Pinkie Pie giggled, batting Pan's metal orb with a hoof. "Okay!" Pan enthused. "Kumquat! Kumquat!" The A.I. laughed happily. "That's such a fun word to say!" Pinkie could barely contain her laughter. "I know, right!?" The party pony turned to Twilight. "Twilight! It's so funny! She sounds like me!" "Indeed," Rarity chimed in, "the resemblance is uncanny. Pan, dear, where did you say you were from?" "I'm from space!" Pan chirped. Rarity nodded slowly. "Yes, we knew that. Where from space?" Pan cocked her head. "The big empty part!" Fluttershy raised her voice shyly. "Um... Pan, I think she meant where you came from. Like, um, where you were made?" "Oh!" Pan said, suddenly understanding. "I don't know!" Rarity opened her mouth to respond before Twilight cut her off with a hoof. "I wouldn't bother." the Changer sighed. Rarity raised an eyebrow but didn't pursue the subject. "Who cares about all that boring stuff?!" Pinkie interjected. "Pan! Pan! Say chimicherrychanga!" "Okay! Chimicherrychanga! Chimicherrychanga!" "So lemme get this straight," Applejack began, ignoring Pan and Pinkie, "Ya have magical reality-altering powers, ya can't control them, and Pan here is an alien A.I. from outer space sent ta help ya?" "Don't forget about the apocalypse in less than a month!~" Pan said, floating next to the farmer's head. Twilight sighed massively. "...Right." the earth pony said, gently nudging the silver orb away from her face. "Hmm... so Twilight needs training so she can save the world, huh...?" Rainbow Dash rubbed her chin with a hoof, pondering the situation. "What are you thinking about, Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy asked. The rainbow-maned pegasus suddenly snapped her hoof. "I've got it!" she shouted, rising into the air triumphantly. "Got what? Got what?" Pan and Pinkie asked, echoing each other. "Yeah, what are you talking about?" Twilight inquired. "Where can you save the world over and over again, without any risk?" the pegasus asked with a sly look in her eye. Everypony looked at each other in confusion. "I don't know." Twilight admitted. "What are you saying, dear?" Rarity questioned. "What I'm saying," Rainbow Dash replied, "is that I know how we can prepare Twilight for the apocalypse." "How?" everypony asked, exasperated. Rainbow Dash smiled wickedly, a gleam in her eye. "Video games."