New Magic
Chapter 4: The Key
Twilight's words were muffled by the daisy embroidered table cloth of the outdoor cafe. "And then he said I could only be a consultant."
Fluttershy played with her fork self-consciously. "That's what you wanted, isn't it?" the timid yellow pegasus pony asked.
Twilight sighed with her face still down on the table. "I guess, but I was hoping to be able to direct myself."
Fluttershy nibbled on a salad leaf daintily. "Oh um ... I guess that makes sense," she said; trying to avoid any uncomfortable disagreements.
Rarity had no such trepidation. The white unicorn always spoke her mind, perhaps to a fault. "I simply couldn't agree more, Twilight, dear. To think he would so blatantly disregard your talents! And your station as well."
Twilight lifted her face up so she could rest her chin next to her untouched daisy sandwich. "I'm actually glad for that at least, Rarity. I'm not sure if I want anypony to treat me differently now that I'm a princess."
Fluttershy was anxious to reassure her friend. "Oh, no no, I don't think that will happen." She looked down meekly and gently nudged her own fork. "You'll always be Twilight to everypony who loves you."
Twilight made a worried moan. "That's just it! I'll never be able to talk to strangers again and expect them to see anything but Princess Twilight Sparkle."
Fluttershy didn't see the appeal of talking to strangers in the first place, but she kept that thought to herself.
Rarity finished her sip of tea and was quite happy to fill in the silence left by Fluttershy, "But why ever would you want to turn away such an incredible opportunity? Twilight, darling, this is quite simply who you've always been meant to be! If only we could all be so lucky.
"You should march right back there and tell him that his princess demands a far greater role in this-- What did you say it was again?"
"An excavation," replied Twilight.
Rarity completed her thought, "--This excavation business, right this moment!"
"But, um ..." Fluttershy interceded. She immediately regretting doing it, but she finished her contention none the less. "Isn't Filthy Rich really respected too?"
Twilight agreed. "Right! I can't just go pulling rank on ponies. What kind of princess does that?"
Rarity said, "A princess shouldn't have to do that. This 'Filthy' fellow", she remarked with over-dramatic contempt, "should recognize a truly cultured and refined pony of high society, er, such as yourself, and provide her with this smallest of kindnesses.
"Why, he'd be all the better for it! He should thank his lucky stars that you were even willing to volunteer.
"And the way you described him," she scoffed, "he seems like something of a lech. Leering at you; smiling; asking for political favors. Why, you should simply have told him to take his absolutely hideous greased mane and find somepony else to help him."
Twilight winced. Rarity's advice had a certain appeal, but she was quick to reject it. "He didn't ask for political 'favors,' Rarity. He just wanted to teach me a few things about politics. He told me all about the dangers of unregulated zapapple farming.
"And, besides, " Twilight said while perking up from the table, "this new magic was so incredible! I couldn't possibly turn it down. Rarity, it was like nothing I'd ever seen. It was so beautiful to see such new and unique magic, I really thought I was going to cry!"
Fluttershy smiled at her friend. "Oh. Do you mean it? You're so passionate." She looked down at the table. "If you don't mind me saying."
Rarity leaned in to her oft-used 'let's gossip' position. "So tell me more about these magical things. What color were they?"
"Silver, mostly, but I don't see--" Rarity registered her distaste for last season's color. "Ugh." "--why that matters." Twilight rolled her eyes. "They had an enchanted piece of plastic that was made of polymerized carbamates, somehow. I tried to determine what kind of enchantment was on it, but it completely fooled my horn. It was as though there was no enchantment on it at all! But, sure enough, if I brought it close to the illusion platform it would somehow power it, making it start to work."
Twilight paused to look at Rarity, and Rarity looked back for a moment before replying. "That's all it did?"
Twilight gasped at the fashionista's cavalier attitude. "It was an enchantment with no trivalent or tetravalent resonances, no luminomorphistic colinear energy configurations. It had no incidental--"
Rarity wasn't about to let her go on forever. "So it had no magic at all?"
Twilight squinted in thought. It did sound like that, didn't it? "No, it obviously had magic. Otherwise, how would it have powered the illusion platform?" Twilight broke into a smile and started describing the illusion device much like her energetic friend Pinkie Pie would describe a decadent chocolate cake. "You wouldn't believe what the illusion platform could do. It was like I stepped inside of a completely different world. It felt incredible."
Rarity broke a saucy smile at this. "Oh so it was that kind of illusion was it? What was his name?" She rose her teacup toward her smiling lips before pausing at the sight of both her friends staring at her with shock. "It was a joke."
Twilight wondered about Rarity's sense of humor, but she also wondered if any stallion could make her feel that kind of joy. Love wasn't something she had any experience with, but it's said that it's the most incredible feeling a pony could ever experience.
She had her doubts that any passion could ever compare to how she felt about her work. Is it possible to be 'in love' with magic? This warranted further study.
"It was an illusion of the open sky from very high up," Twilight clarified.
"That sounds really scary," Fluttershy commented. Her imagination was a little too vivid at times.
"And dull," Rarity added, feeling completely disappointed by this new magic. "If you wanted to see the sky you could just use your adorable new wings, and go up there any time you want."
Twilight prepared to rebuff her friend. "Rarity--"
"I know; I know. It's about the magic, but seriously, darling, you shouldn't be so obsessive. It'll give you wrinkles."
Rarity's advice couldn't have possibly been more futile.