Something was going on but I couldn't quite put my hoof on what. As I approached the castle I started noticing things.
The guards seemed more active, the patrols had been doubled and the guards at the entrance had been substantially reinforced.
For one thing, an officer was present. Last time I saw a officer anywhere near a gate was during the changeling invasion.
I came to a stop halfway down the street towards the castle and glanced at Skitter. “Any ideas?” I asked her with a frown.
She stopped next to me, looking thoughtful before she shook her head. “No, sir. If the swarm knows anything, they have not told me. There are a lot of guards, though. Has there been another threat?”
Shrugging, I continued towards the gate. “No idea, but it looks like it. Can't be Discord, though. I think we would have noticed that.”
To say the least.
Approaching the checkpoint, we were stopped and as the guards started their security scan as I turned to the officer. “Lieutenant, what's going on?”
The earth pony shrugged. “No idea, sir. Orders from up high, increased security.”
“...Directly from Princess Celestia?”
He nodded in confirmation. “Yes, just before she left the castle.”
Wait... Celestia upped security and then fucked off to somewhere!?
Well, crap.
This was bad.
I nodded. “I see. Thank you.”
They finished their scan and allowed us inside. As we entered the outer courtyard I turned to Skitter and said; “Okay... let's head for the Throne room. Somebody there might know what's going on. If it's important enough to pull Celestia away, it's important enough that somebody should have woken Luna up as well.”
Skitter nodded, said; “Yes, sir.” and looked around, looking somewhat tense.
“Are you okay?” I asked as we trotted on.
“If there is a threat, sir, I am responsible for keeping you safe.” she answered before she sighed. “With the guard on high alert, we are at risk. I would prefer it if we could retreat to the tower for security, but the throneroom should be as guarded.”
Oh.
“...I'm not a very easy assignment, am I?”
The changeling actually smiled faintly at that. “Could be more difficult, sir.”
“Sorry.”
“It's part of the job.”
I shook my head and lead the way through the castle, passing through two more guard checkpoints on the way.
Whatever it was, it was big. But whatever it was, Celestia clearly thought she could handle it, possibly with the help of the Elements.
...However, this was also the Princess that thought releasing fucking Discord was a good idea.
I suddenly had a sudden urge to duck and cover. I had a bad feeling about this, the hairs at the back of my neck were standing up.
Passing the last checkpoint outside the throne room, we walked inside.
It was uncommon to see the large room this empty. Luna was on the throne like I predicted, but there were only three other ponies there.
Princess Cadance and Shining Armor along with Captain Shield Deflect, the leader of the castle guard.
Luna looked up from her conversation with Cadance when we walked inside and smiled, getting down from the throne to trot over. “Page.”
“Luna.” I said with a tense smile, giving her a quick nuzzle when she got close enough. “What is going on?”
She smiled wider and said; “Rather wonderful news, they should be here at any moment.” as she spread her wings. “You see-”
The doors to the throneroom opened behind us and I turned to see Princess Celestia and Twilight Sparkle enter, talking quietly with each other.
I suddenly relaxed slightly. Oh thank Luna, whatever it was was already over. That's the best kind of crisis situation. You find out what they were after they were already dealt with and without you really noticing.
Following along beside Luna as she trotted up to them, something caught my eye and I leaned to the side... what in the world, it almost looked like Twilight had wings.
Looking at her head, I confirmed the horn before leaning to the side for a better angle. Yes, those were a pair of purple wings.
I glanced at Luna who was all smiles before I pointed my hoof at Twilight. “...Is it me, or does she have wings now?”
Celestia nodded with a gentle and very happy smile. “Indeed. My faithful student has ascended to become an Alicorn.”
I looked at Celestia and then back to Twilight who looked kind of embarrassed about the entire situation.
Finally lowering my hoof, I said the only thing that came to mind.
“Huh.”
Well, that was a thing.
And now that he knows that a pony is capable of ascension, he wants to have it aswell. This way he can stay with Luna till the end.
She ought to be. That entire plot point was kind of an embarrassing writing misstep.
Nice Chapter
6870648 Luna will likely make him ascend. :P Because he is a rather special if not stead fast companion loyal to her and well technically her student since she's training and teaching him things from millennia ago that is almost likely completely lost to modern ponies.
6870687
If she actually could (or if it did anything about their mortality) she probably would have done it already to one of her previous paramours, which makes me assume it's not a solution in either one or both of these senses.
Page: "Uh...Luna? What's that on the ceiling?"
img75.photobucket.com/albums/v229/Doobie1980/ceilingmarkings.gif
Luna: "Strange. It's ancient Equestrian. It says, 'The Day is Coming'."
*elsewhere*
Tirek: "Soooon!"
6870703 Cadence was a Pegasus, Twilight was a Unicorn. in short if under a scientific process only confirming since one happened while Luna was trapped on the moon, shows Twilight's turning into one means that Page has a chance to like others. The question is how can HE get his ascension?
6870728
That was my point: since it clearly can be done, either she couldn't do it or it simply wouldn't give her what she would want out of it anyway, so she consequently didn't even try.
6870728 Perhaps once he writes a story not ripped off or inspired from ones from Earth, that still turns out to captivate everyone?
you hade me going for a second there I was thinking it was EQ time and twi hade gone threw a mirror. but that should be next though.
sorry that me be a spoiler.
I was waiting for this!
6870748
I think there might be a little more to it than that. In both Cadance and Twilight's cases there was something that drove them into a course of action that ultimately concluded with them Ascending, which seems to have some sort of connection to what they are Alicorns of. Cadance's domain is Love, while Twilight's is Friendship (or Magic, or both I guess from the name of the show). So in the case of Page, there would have to be an event that drives him with great fervor towards some course of action, but what would be his domain anyway? That of Authors? Like I said, there's a bit more underlying the Ascending process, else they could simply make anypony an Alicorn.
6870917
Those are just titles, not actual defining qualities they have. Celestia is clearly capable of raising the moon and did so for a thousand years, so it's not as if "being the princess of specifically the sun only" is some kind of actual thing for her. If being obsessed with some kind of special interest or natural talent and taking it to the furthest extreme possible was the only thing it took, then I'd be expecting alicorns to be popping up all over the place.
Not that Twilight really has any good reason to be princess of friendship to begin with. You'd think someone qualified for that job wouldn't need to be given a royal order by the monarch of her country to "make some friends." Her ascending is like me taking a three-year apprenticeship at a bakery and getting crowned God-Emperor of Pastries for it. Saying that as someone who can barely make a batch of brownies without burning it.
6870933
True enough, that Celestia obviously did control the moon during Luna's banishment, but take into point that I didn't say that they couldn't do other things, simply that those things are what they represent.
You also correct, in that Twilight basically has the equivalent of an apprenticeship in the art of friendship. Which is why I made the same crossover as the show does, in saying that Friendship is Magic, to me that implies that the show defines the two being linked, and that one helps translate into the other. As Twilight was studying under Celestia as her protege for quite a lot longer than just a few years. I will admit though that the show would certainly not be very good for showing the kind of effort it might really take to get to the point of Ascending. In the end though, the show is designed in such a way to appeal to younger audiences, and I'm sure if we took it to the other extreme and had Twilight know she could become an Alicorn and yet not do so for another eight seasons, that you'd be pretty annoyed by even halfway into that with no resolution, even if it was a more realistic take on the length of time one would need to go to get to that point.
6870648
Somehow I think there's more to it than that. If wanting hard enough is all it takes, there'd be a lot more alicorn walking around.
6870617
You and me would also be there to sell them all the kerosene and matches happily.
Er, assuming Flim and Flam weren't selling first?
6870917
How about Alicorn of Imagination? Or maybe Ideas? Not sure, but it could be made to fit in with the current story arc. The whole process of figuring out how to ascend could even be self-referential in that case. However, I'm not sure given what we know about Blank Page if he would even be driven that direction. He may simply not care.
More?
Hiver stated that Luna and especially Celestia have lots of lovers over the years. And they all grow old and die. So, if Princesses truly love these ponies why exactly they allow them do die instead of turning them into alicorns? Maybe, you know, ascend someone into alicrohood not as easy as some people here think?
6870708 Has he been made into (warning: spoilers on ST:TNG) a cyborg, reverted and pretty much destroyed the race that made him into it?
But I agree: Page would make a nice captain, if only just because he knows all the situations that could be thrown at him.
6868788 I can totally see this happening!
Indeed.
For a moment I thought it was the Plundervines, completely forgot Twi had yet to get her wings.
6870728
It's not a matter of his chances of ascension but a question of is he worthy of ascension. If you remember Celestia groomed Twilight into someone who would both have the know how and the personal morality of someone who would be able to rule. Plus if the comics are to be taken as canon then both Princess Cadence and Twilight had to do something of great magical importance that it warrants an ascension.
Y'know, I think that's how a lot of the fandom reacted to Twilicorn. "Huh... well, that happened."
More... Plz
6871020
I suppose so. It's just that her characterization always screams "winner by default" to me. She isn't really that much better than the other five at being a friend, or even that much better of a person. After magically screwing up your friends out of sheer carelessness while playing around with untested, highly powerful magic, manning up and actually fixing your own mistake seems like the very minimum you should be able to expect out of anyone, not something that's deserving of special praise or even some kind of reward.
It would be funny (although difficult to write or follow up with) if something Page says makes Twilight reconsider and say "no" to princesshood.
The characterizations/world-building of a few fics seemingly set Twilight up as someone that would reject it, but she usually goes along with it and act as a different pony. The others tend to be one-shots or relatively-short rejection fics.
Twilight isn't the focus of this fic, though, so anything that happens is good.
But now that I think about it, Page seems like the kind of guy that would pick or even nitpick until he understands just what is going on inside that cake-cavern that Celestia calls a head. Some things seem really stupid, like her "idea" at the end of season 4. I refuse to call it plan unless she's able to actually see the future, and even then I'd like to have words with her.
6871642 True though Cadence had the harder path there being a Pegasus, so 'ideally' being a unicorn could be 'easier' to achieve. but there is something that suddenly dawned on us, what is Faust's cutie mark? The answer is a quill and page, would he count as being a 'heir' to her domain?
6871891
Well maybe, but take into account that a lot of ponies have similar cutie marks. The meaning behind a specific cutie mark is more of a personal interpretation. Do you think Minuet and Doctor Whooves are both time travelers?
6871996 I was waiting for the "Ascension" part. I don't actually agree with the shipping, but it's not my story.
Everypony on full alert... Sounds like a certain Princess admitted the possibility of the Ascension going... wrong.
<"There is the teeeny, tiny, possibility we miiiight get Nightmare Book instead of a new Princess...")
6872070 Nightmare book would be kinda cool I think
Huh, thats how I reacted to Twili-corn as well.
6871437 reminds me of that story, I think it was called "Winning, and the pitfalls therein". I'd link , but I'm on my phone ATM.
Ho boy i just finished and went to check the update times of the chapters to get an idea of the wait for the next...
I already liked this and the prequel, but it is really nice to see a good story that updates quickly, waiting for quality is all well and good but waiting for half a year and over can get pretty dull.
6870703
On the mortality front I'm pretty sure it's been at least strongly implied in the story that Cadance will at the very least a long-term fixture in Equestria and the world thus meaning that ascension at least gives longevity.
Plus Luna has mentioned that she "hasn't felt the cold since before her ascension" meaning she (and likely Celestia) are also ascended ponies who have several thousand years of life behind them and show no sign of aging.
Therefore (in this universe at least) it is reasonable the Ascension grants at the very least extreme longevity or agelessness if not immortality and that there should be no real difference in fundamental nature (minus their respective portfolios influence) between the Sisters and any alicorns who happen to come after them.
6872591 oh...somewhat similar in darkness then...or even more.
6872670
I can't say I picked up on any hints like that about Cadence, but I may have simply overlooked it, so fair enough. That leaves the option of "she couldn't or didn't want to," I guess.
6872670
where is that line from Luna said?
Curious because it was Megan i think that said on one of her tweets that Twilight will not outlive her friends. I at first though this meant that artificial or 'ascended' alicorns were not ageless.
but if what you say is true it also could've meant that all the mane 6 are ageless, probably due to the level of exposure they have to the elements of harmony.
... also the show could just alicorn them all. rather indifferent to it that but it'll be fun to watch the reactions from the community.
Huh, that's how I reacted too.
6871771 Oh believe me, I've laid out these same points on other forums as why I don't like Magical Mystery Cure. Fixing something you screwed up in the first place shouldn't automatically equal wings, and it really was rushed for the sake of toys. Even having MMC as a two-parter would've been worlds better, and it's not like there weren't any weak episodes that couldn't have been bumped out of Season 3 to stick to 13 episodes. While discussing we even got this out of it:
That's IT???!!!
This guy has dealt with some shit.
Yeah, that was basically my reaction too.
Celestia:"Now we can be together forever"
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6875845
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6871645
^ This.
7918189
....yep....
7952223
I agree
7579852
*me upon first seeing Twilicorn* "Oh.. now she possibly gets to watch as everyone she knows and loves wither and die.. gee thanks Celestia."
Wait.
Wait is it Magical Mystery Cure time?
Oh my god this is totally MMC time.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA