Interview with an Unexpected Mage

by musicluvr1974

Chapter 6: Nightmares and Revelations (Interlude II)

Chapter 6: Interlude II: Nightmares and Revelations

Arriving on the Mayor's doorstep, Twilight and her friends wasted no time, proceeding into the lobby and asking the receptionist if the Mayor was in. "We need to see him right away; it's a matter of public health and safety," Twilight told the unicorn stallion behind the front desk.

"O-of course, your Highnesses," stammered the luckless receptionist. "I'll contact him and see if he's taking visitors at the moment." He walked through an inner doorway, where they heard him conversing in a low voice with another pony--whether stallion or mare, they couldn't quite discern, as the two were almost whispering, even to their enhanced senses. Finally, the receptionist emerged, beckoning them toward the office with a gesture of his horn. "His honor will see you now, your Highnesses," he said, bowing as the Bearers passed by him into the inner office where Appleloosa's mayor waited, scowling.

"Your Highnesses," he greeted them, coldly. "My secretary has informed me you wish to speak to me about a... "health and safety matter," as I believe he phrased it, that concerns not merely Appleloosa, but the whole of the Mild West?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Mr. Mayor. It concerns the geyser fifteen miles east of town, colloquially known as 'Old Magical.' Something's gone dangerously awry with it," Twilight replied. "A cloud of black magic, of unknown origin and purpose, has settled over the geyser and its immediate area. We must all mutually declare an immediate quarantine of the area, for the sake of all who depend on that water source!"

"Princess Sparkle, let us not be overly hasty," replied the mayor. "It is a precise fact that Appleloosa does depend on Old Magical for most of its water, though rationing can be achieved with teams of pegasi to deliver rainclouds in successive lines. But what makes you so certain that such an extreme step as a quarantine has become necessary in such a short time??"

"Personal experience," she replied grimly. "My fellow Bearers of the Elements of Harmony and I have just returned from a close personal encounter with that cloud, and I can tell you here and now that the risk of its proximity to a major water source makes it nothing any sane, emotionally healthy pony--or other quadruped, for that matter--would willingly dare twice without protection."

"Your Highness, please, surely you must realize that a... disruption of this nature to the daily orderly functioning of this town would drastically curtail the quality of life here--"

"Not t'mention yer chances fer reelection, am I right?" Applejack interrupted. The mayor's smooth talk (for such it was now revealed to be) spluttered to a halt as he gaped like a landed fish. "I--I must protest, your Highness--"

"Quit yer fussin'," Applejack retorted. "I been a pen-pal with my cousin Braeburn fer years--he's told me all about how ya really run this town. Kickbacks on civic improvements, "special presents" ta yer friends, mysterious thickets o' red tape that "just happen" ta spring up in the paths of yer political enemies... Kinda dishonest, ain't it?!"she finished, glaring at the mayor, who with each phrase from the orange alicorn's mouth had sunk lower and lower in his seat until, by now, he was curled into practically a bun shape on his office floor, quivering under her wrath.

"S-S-Surely, your Highnesses, we can come to some sort of... agreement, regarding this--c-clear and present e-ecological danger to my fair town?" he quavered. "No... harsher measures--need be considered, I-I assure you," he gulped, finally catching his breath. "What do you recommend be done?" he asked, looking flinchingly from Applejack to Twilight and back again.

"We 'recommend,'" said Twilight somewhat archly, "that physical proximity to Old Magical be prohibited to any sapient lacking protective gear or spells within a diameter of..." she paused, doing calculations in her head, "... approximately eight miles, for the duration of this crisis. That should be sufficient," she said, nodding. "Mr. Mayor? You'd better get started on that water-rationing operation you mentioned before, hadn't you?" Wordlessly, he nodded back. "Well, we'll leave you to it, then. Come on, girls," she said, turning to lead them out the door leading to the main hallway. "We need to break the news to the townsponies gently."

---

A job well-done, Twilight thought to herself as she prepared for bed that night, back in her chambers in Canterlot. A bit rough in spots, but I'm not sure that obstructionist, corrupt, selfish "Mayor" left us any other choice. At least Applejack and Pinkie had managed to smooth things over with the Appleloosans: AJ with her straightforward appraisal of why the quarantine was necessary, and Pinkie with her usual flair, throwing the townsponies a "Hurray! You've Avoided Breathing-In Sadness" Party... Twilight chuckled to herself, remembering the nonplussed looks on several of the citizens' faces when they read that banner. Today was a good day... tomorrow may be even better, she thought drowsily to herself as she crawled beneath her bedsheets and telekinetically extinguished the lights in her bedroom. "Good night, Spike," she called out softly, but her assistant was already snoring the night away in his basket at the foot of her bed. Smiling to herself, the purple alicorn snuggled deep into her covers and closed her eyes, drifting gradually into the rapid-eye movement stage of sleep in which Equestrian ponies (particularly unicorns and alicorns) were able to fellowship with the Maker.

This night, however, all was not well in Twilight's inner universe. As she floated through skies of nebulae and densely-lit galaxies, the same voice she had heard in her mind that afternoon, at Old Magical, returned to haunt her. Seriously? You think you got those wings on merit? The voice masquerading as hers snorted. Don't make me laugh. Celestia's just manipulating you like she always has, her unseen assailant continued. And those "friends" of yours? Please. They'll eventually abandon you to your world of books just like Moondancer and the others in Canterlot did... You'll be isolated. Alone. Isolated. Alone. Isolated. Alone. Isolated. Alone. Isolated. Alone... The voice echoed around her, growing louder. Cringing, Twilight was forcibly reminded of her worst fear, as Sombra's secret chamber door had once shown it to her: Celestia abandoning her after a failed test, uncaringly turning her back on her and leaving the throne room as stone-faced Royal Guards gripped her shoulders roughly and train-marched (1) her to the door. Beyond it this time, however, was no bright sunny day as was usual in the waking world, but a black, starless abyss that gaped hungrily. Its edges seemed to flicker with flames as the unyielding grip of the guards pushed her ever closer. Writhing in sudden panic, Twilight tried to cast a spell to free herself, but found her horn as limp as it had been the day she and her friends had first encountered Poison Joak. "Noooo!" she screamed, as the guards tossed her through the air toward the doorway--

"ENOUGH!!" The Royal Canterlot Voice reverberated like thunder through the "throne room" and its hellish doorway, dissolving the setting like smoke that blew away on its winds. Twilight found herself standing on the same starry path she had visited the day she ascended to alicornhood, Princess Luna standing before her, her mane drifting in an unfelt breeze.

"Twilight. Do you believe that those words which were spoken of thee and thy friends were true?" Luna asked, her expression severe.

"No! Of course not, Luna! But... what's going on here?" Though she was no longer in the nightmare, Twilight was still shaken and bewildered, unable to fathom why she was being attacked in her sleep by something she had managed to resist in the waking world, though with a good deal of effort. "There's got to be a reason for these... these assaults," she said pleadingly.

"Indeed." The nocturnal princess turned, beckoning with a wing. "Come, let us rest and discuss these events," she continued, guiding Twilight to a table set with a tea service for two alicorn-sized quadrupeds. Once she and Twilight had taken their seats, and poured themselves each a cup of chamomile suitably dosed with lemon, milk or sugar according to their preferences, Luna lit her horn, projecting the scenes of Twilight's nightmare and her confrontation at Old Magical up onto the "screens" which Celestia had used to review Twilight's life in Ponyville. "Each time, this... voice... hath spoken condemnatory statements to thee with force enow to "drive home the point," I believe is the modern expression, accompanying it as well with visions of memories to support its argument, yet not telling the complete story. Instead, it breaks off its presentation before the true nature of events can come to light, leaving thee despairing--or so its speaker seems to be hoping," she finished, with a note of grimness in her voice. "Think a moment, Twilight Sparkle. What would somebeing hope to gain from this stratagem?"

Twilight sipped about half a cup of the steaming tea in an effort to calm herself before replying. "Magic in Equestria is related fairly strongly to the emotional states of its casters," she mused. "Would this... creature, whoever it is, have an interest in disrupting our magic? If ponies couldn't use magic, we'd be more or less defenseless against an attacker, wouldn't we?"

"Verily," Luna replied. "Thus, this would seem to be an... assault, as thou phrased it, against not just thee and thy friends, but against Equestrian national security as well. Considered on that basis, what might this mysterious attacker have in mind as its ultimate goal?"

Twilight gasped. The answer was as obvious now as the horn on her head. "The Elements of Harmony! This... creature... wants to disrupt our connections to the Elements!" Her eyes grew huge as the realization dawned. "Are the rest of the girls going through similar nightmares to mine?!"

"Yes. As a matter of plain fact, thine was the last of the series of six I have visited this night. Thou and thy friends seem to have much to discuss, Twilight Sparkle." Luna's expression remained grim, but there was a sudden twinkle in her eye. "Also, I believe thou hast, already, access to the source of help thou hast requested." Horn lighting again, she projected another of Twilight's memories onto the screen, this time with audio: a replay of her conversation with Jason earlier that same day.

"I've come here specifically to discuss something with you, your Highness... my main purpose in coming here was to discuss something important with Princess Twilight... What I have to give you is too serious, too special for casual eavesdroppers to get their horns, wings or hooves on it..."

"You mean... Jason might know something about this? Like why it's going on, or who's responsible?!" Twilight's eyes bulged in shock.

"More than that, dear little sister. He mayest hold the key to defeating this most mysterious foe," Luna said, her eyes gleaming with an unusually martial joy. "Go forth, awaken now, reunite with thy fellow Bearers, and take the adventure that comes to thee this day, Twilight Sparkle. We shall meet again anon!" Luna rose backwards from her seat into the sky, wings spreading as a compression hole formed with the moon at its center, drawing her in and closing as she receded down the resulting tunnel.

With a startled gasp, Twilight awoke. Scrambling from her bed, she hit the floor and charged through her bedroom doorway into her sitting room, skidding to a sudden halt as she discovered her friends already gathered there waiting for her, seated in a nearly complete circle of chairs, save for one empty one for her, arranged around a low table upon which Pinkie and Rarity had apparently worked together to place an assortment of tea snacks. Pinkie was busily munching on a sugar wafer that inexplicably contained, by the look of it, at least five distinct flavors of frosting: chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, peanut butter, and what looked like dark-amber maple syrup. The plate had apparently originally contained two to three times as many wafers, but, equally apparently, Pinkie had been waiting a while for Twilight to arrive and had gotten hungry... or bored--with her it was sometimes hard to tell the difference.

Sighing, Twilight seated herself in the empty chair in the circle, helped herself to an eclair and some Earl Grey tea, and spoke. "Can I take it from the fact that you're all here already that Luna told you girls what's going on?" She received nods and murmurs of agreement from each of her friends. "Did she tell each of you, too, that Jason Clavoli might know the key to stopping some kind of magical holocaust from overtaking Equestria?"

"Eeyup, sugarcube, she did. How'd you guess?" Applejack stretched, arching her neck and back in an effort to work out seeming kinks from sitting still too long.

"Because she told me the exact same thing, although maybe not in so many words. I think we need to get to Appleloosa and visit Sheriff Silver Star as soon as Celestia raises the sun. Agreed?"

Pinkie swallowed her last mouthful of sugar wafer, and spoke. "Uh-huh. If ponies lose their magic, they'll get sad, and that would be awful." She frowned, her hair losing some of its usual bounce.

Rainbow Dash was next to speak. "If Luna hadn't shown me, I wouldn't have believed it. A guy like that knows something crucial that can save Equestria from some monster?! Come on...!" She threw her front hooves into the air in a V of frustration.

"Rainbow, you're just upset because he stopped ya from beatin' him up. Calm down," Applejack said tartly. "Equestria's more important than anypony's grudge."

"I guess you're right..." Rainbow muttered. "But I'm going to have words with him someday about this." She scowled darkly.

"We must avail ourselves of any source of help we can, dears," Rarity said. "The crimes against fabulosity such a creature would commit...!" She seethed. "If there is even the slightest chance we can prevent this, I for one am willing to pledge my last drops of life, blood and magic to the effort to do so! The very idea...!" She all but growled under her breath at the memory of whatever Luna had shown her.

Fluttershy spoke up next. "That MEANIE! How dare he want to try to level the Everfree Forest?! All those poor homeless, defenseless animals...! He will NOT! Get! Away! With This!" she cried in a tone reminiscent of the one in her voice the day they'd all gone to confront the snoring red dragon.

"So... I take it we're agreed, then? Let's get to Appleloosa and talk with Silver Star as soon as Celestia--finishes raising the sun," Twilight amended, for she could see the sky outside her sitting-room window already turning grey. "We've got plans to make."

Author's Note:

(1) Train-marched: what I consider to be the quadrupedal equivalent of frog-marching someone around, this consists of forcing the creature in question (Twilight, in this case) to move along the floor without lifting its feet/hooves/etc. from the ground, resulting in something that looks like the old Looney Tunes cartoons of the movements of a cat/dog/other creature moving like a train starting up: Left side forward in tandem, then right side forward in tandem, repeat.

Well! The plot thickens... Where will it lead? We shall see. (This isn't going to be the typical HiE approach either, don't worry. )