//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: The Silence Before the Storm // Story: Dissonance: A Hidden World // by Braininthejar //------------------------------// Twilight ran frantically through the castle corridors, Luna, Pinkie and Fluttershy close behind her. The unicorn skidded on the stone floor, almost crashing into a wall at the end of the hall before using a quick teleport to make the turn and continue running. She finally reached the courtyard, There Princess Celestia was walking towards the entry to the throne room, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle following in her hoofsteps. Twilight ran up to the princess, but stopped abruptly several meters from her, staring up at her with big eyes. “Princess Celestia… I -” The alicorn shook her head. “Assigning blame will get us nowhere, my student. We need to focus on the task at hoof. I found Obsidian, but he evaded me, fleeing before I could properly dispose of him. Worse, he took Applejack with him.” From behind her, Rarity and Rainbow Dash ran straight at Twilight, grabbing her in a quick hug. Twilight tried to push them away, but then gave up, closing her eyes and letting her friends hold her. “What do we do now?” said Applebloom pleadingly. “We need to go find her, before he hurts her or… eats her,” she finished, paling. “Please be calm, my little pony,” said Celestia. “Obsidian’s heart might be devoid of mercy, but right now, he needs Applejack alive. We will find and rescue her.” Applebloom nodded her head. She was still worried, but no longer on the verge of tears. the rest of the ponies formed a circle around Celestia. “So, what do we do now, princess?” asked Rainbow Dash. “You will rest, Rainbow Dash,” said Celestia. “All of you have been through alot, and you need to recover your strength. That and we need to make sure Obsidian’s magic hasn’t had any hidden effects on you. It would have been like him to try to catch us off guard with trickery.” She turned towards one of the guards. “Please tell the servants to prepare guest rooms in the north wing of the castle. Then they should leave it. Nopony but the guards and the guests themselves can enter.” she turned towards Rarity. “You will forgive me the safety measures? I would gladly return the children to their families, but all the inhabitants of Ponyville are still under quarantine. Too much has happened tonight,” she sighed. “Does it mean you and princess Luna will be the ones to fight Obsidian?” asked Twilight. “She said that you would work on a way to get rid of him.” Celestia nodded. “It is true. Without Applejack, you cannot use the Elements against him. This is why he needs Applejack alive. In times like this, fate brings the worthy ponies to the Elements. If Obsidian killed Applejack, Honesty would seek out a new bearer. But as long as she lives, it is hers and hers alone. Also, I believe he hopes to keep Applejack under his control, to use against us.” “You mean by magic?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Magic is one way,” answered Celestia, “but far from the only one. Obsidian and Verba have shown that they can achieve a lot with words alone.” “There must be something we can do to help, Princess,” said Twilight Sparkle. There was a murmur of approval from her friends. The Princess nodded. “There is one thing, Twilight Sparkle. Please come with me while the others rest and refresh themselves.” She turned rapidly, looking in the face of Rainbow Dash as she was about to protest. “I know you want to help, but this is something only Twilight can do. In the meantime…” she turned towards Luna. “Sister, can you begin your search already? The quicker we can locate Obsidian, the less time he’ll have to prepare traps for us.” “It shall be done, sister,” answered Luna with a nod. She then spread her wings and flew away. As Twilight followed Celestia towards the throne room, and her friends followed the guards towards the northern wing, Luna landed on a small balcony overlooking the city. “You heard everything,” she said without turning her head. The blue unicorn standing behind her nodded. “I will start a sweep right away. The forest is a problem though.” Luna looked south towards Everfree Forest. “True. Actually, you might start with the tree.” *** "I'm hungry," said Scootaloo. Tourmaline dug into her bag, pulled out a small, red apple and tossed it towards the pegasus. “You missed breakfast, but they should bring us lunch soon.” Scootaloo craned her neck, catching the apple with her teeth and then started crunching it, holding the fruit steady between her pasterns. “So,” she said between bites, “that flying gadget you showed me yesterday was something super secret?” “Yes,” nodded Tourmaline. “That’s what we’re working on here mostly. Well, I only help a bit, it’s mostly Dr Stone and my mom.” “It didn’t look any different from your inventions,” said Scootaloo. “What’s so special about it?” “It’s the power it uses. We call it pattern,” replied Tourmaline. “It’s… hard to explain to somepony who doesn’t work in the field.” Scootaloo smirked playfully. “You didn’t just call me dumb, did you?” Tourmaline waved a hoof. “No, no, I was just thinking. Pattern is to order what magic is to chaos. It is harder to get, because everything that lives is at least a little bit chaotic. But it can do great things if you know how to direct it. And the best thing is, it’s predictable. No turning anypony into a chicken by accident. As long as you get the calculations right, it always does exactly what you want.” “So why is it secret?” asked Scootaloo. Tourmaline frowned. “I don’t really know. I know it doesn’t work well with magic. They’re like hot and cold, they even out when they mix. And if you try too hard, it’s like pouring hot water on a frozen window - it will break. So it might be dangerous. We actually had a lot of anti magic weapons tested when I was little, in case of some magical monsters. Then of course the Elements of Harmony returned so all that was forgotten. But for the past year my mom has been working on it again.” Scootaloo actually dropped the apple core. “Wait, your mom works on making secret weapons?” “Hey,” protested Tourmaline, “you make it sound like she’s some sort of mad scientist. This is no comic book. She does serious engineering work here. Even Dr Stone isn’t a mad scientist, though she is a bit weird at times.” “And you grew up in a place like this?” asked Scootaloo. “How did your mum even get such a job?” “I was very little then,” said Tourmaline, looking towards the window,”but I think it’s thanks to Mr Enigma.” Scootaloo looked at her in confusion. “That weird guy?” “Yes, that weird guy,” sighed Tourmaline. “Remember how I told you about my sickness thing? It used to be much worse when I was a little kid. I don’t remember much of it, but I know I would keep fainting and my mum cried a lot. Then mr Enigma introduced us to Dr Stone. She said even she couldn’t cure me completely, but she could keep it from getting worse. We moved to the lab after that. My mum was already an engineer then, but dr Stone helped her learn more and then employed her here. She’s the big genius here, but she says she needs somepony with fresh ideas, somepony who can think out of the box. And mum turned out very good at solving problems.” “Whoa,” said Scootaloo, “no wonder you get so sciency when you talk.” “No need to tell me,” said Tourmaline with a playful glare. She then turned more serious. “Princess Celestia got some teachers from her school to teach me. They liked me a lot. But all the school kids were unicorns. They kept asking why I’m in a magic school if I can do no magic. I was as smart as them, smarter than most I think, but I didn’t make any friends. In the end I would always come back down here to help mum work.” “And that’s how you got your cutie mark?” asked Scootaloo. “Doing sciency stuff?” Tourmaline turned to look at her rump. “More or less. It turns out, thinking the way I do makes me really good at working with pattern.” *** "Hey, what did ya do?” asked Applejack, looking around. “Where are we?” There were tall trees all around them, the kind she took to associating with Everfree. Obsidian rolled his eyes. “Obviously, I teleported the two of us. I needed to get out of Ponyville fast and to lose pursuit. Now, we need to keep moving. Have you ever flown? On your own wings I mean?” Applejack gave him a confused look. “I have no wings. Never had.” Obsidian nodded. “I hope you’re a fast learner then. The spell should compensate by copying muscle memory, but truth be told, I’ve never had a chance to test it. By the time I learned it, I was already sealed.” He turned away from Applejack and started walking through the forest at a brisk pace. “What are you going to do?” asked Applejack, following the stallion. ‘And what does it have to do with anything? You were supposed to tell me what’s goin on! Are you going to show me that... tree you told Princess Celestia about?” “In time, probably,” said Obsidian without turning back. “But not now. I only teleported in this direction because I knew she would track my spell. Given the circumstances I couldn’t cover my tracks properly, but this forest is full of magical anomalies. By the time they figure out we aren’t here, we should be able to reach our goal.” “And that is?” asked Applejack. “Getting you back Honesty, obviously,” said Obsidian, with a voice that betrayed certain exasperation. “From what Twilight Sparkle has told me, the Elements are being kept in a vault in Canterlot Castle. We need to get there, and the sooner we do, the bigger the chance they won’t be expecting us.” He suddenly stopped, as Applejack grabbed the tip of his tail with her mouth. “Wait. First tell me,” she managed to say through clenched teeth. Obsidian jerked forward, his short tail slipping from the mare’s grasp. “Don’t do that again if you value your teeth. Now, are you good at telling stories?” “I have a little sister and a big family. Lots of stories. Why?” asked Applejack. “Because I dislike repeating myself,” answered Obsidian. “And it looks like I will have to tell you the whole story now. It would be nice if you could repeat it to your friends later on. Now, let’s keep moving. I will talk as we go.” He started moving again, his staff flashing different colors and sweeping around him from time to time. “Ok, tell me the story.” said Applejack. “The gist of it is,” started Obsidian, “your princess Celestia is an ancient enemy of mine. She and her companions… remember when I told you anypony who could confirm my identity is either long dead or has become something you wouldn’t trust either? She’s one of them.” Applejack considered the statement. “You said there was some horrible mess after you sealed yourself.” “Yes,” said Obsidian. “She was a part of that too.” Applejack glared at the back of Obsidian’s head. “You do know ya’ll need to tell me more?” “I do,” responded Obsidian. “I take it you’re not interested in ancient politics? I’m just trying to give enough of a full picture here. You see, when the three tribes started living together for the first time, long before the spirit world was called Dissonance, they started interbreeding too. For some it worked better than for others. The first alicorns were born.” Applejack nodded her head, but silently wondered how relevant that was to her current situation. “Since the three tribes shared common gods, a pony that combined the features and powers of all tribes naturally seemed touched by the divine. Certainly they were blessed with abilities above most. They were also exceedingly rare. But as time went on, spells and auguries were created that allowed them to ensure more of their kind. And as generations passed, the worship went to their heads. They imagined themselves destined to rule the three tribes and through them, everything else. A mighty empire was forged, that soon managed to make everypony else its enemies.” “That’s not the history that I was told,” said Applejack. The tip of Obsidian’s staff flew dangerously close to her head. “So I’ve heard,” said Obsidian, “but I assure you, my version is true. Anyway, as war progressed, both sides would seek new weapons to bring them victory. For the Alicorn Empire, their secret weapon was a collection of magical foci, gemstones that could grant the users great magical power by focusing their emotions. Back then I was a part of a unit that used them in battle.” “Wait!” said Applejack, causing Obsidian to halt rapidly. “You mean, you were the bad guys?” Obsidian turned and glared at him before resuming his walk. “War doesn’t decide who is right, only who is left. There were few good guys or bad guys. Most ponies on both sides were simply fighting for their countries. And what was left in the end was mostly ashes. But I’m getting ahead of myself. You see, the war was too big for the magic of the foci to decide the result. And so, a magical expert in service of the Emperor, one Dr Bright Mind, came up with an idea; he would design a spell to rip the barrier between spirit world and the mortal world and tie a set of foci directly to the source of all magic. Although he died, murdered by the enemy before he could finish, the idea was continued and perfected - the six foci would be bound not just to the spirit world, but to each other as well, complementing their powers.” “The Elements,” said Applejack behind his back, “You’re talking bout the Elements. But that can’t be true. How would Laughter… or Kindness be a weapon?” “I never said it was perfect,” said Obsidian. “The foci were chosen by how well their powers would work together, not by how deadly they would be on their own. The Empire actually avoided most obviously evil foci. That way lies madness. Of course they were still stupid enough to create the Elements. Ripping the walls of reality like they did was insanely dangerous. And that, as you may imagine, was not the end of their folly.”   “You see, when the ritual was performed to create the Elements, less than half of the foci were used. Back then we thought it would be enough. But as time went on, things turned grim, and some of our teammates started talking that another ritual should be performed. In the end, they disobeyed their orders and performed the ritual on their own.” “Oh, I think I know where this is going,” grumbled Applejack. “Correct,” said Obsidian. “As it turned out, the damage done by the first ritual hadn’t yet healed. When the six performed theirs, the power they hoped for simply wasn’t there. Instead, their spell touched something else, a cold and alien power that destroyed their foci and crippled their souls. Their magic was gone, replaced by new, strange abilities. Their emotions were dulled, some gone altogether, only the strongest ones left. This warped and exaggerated their personalities. This wouldn’t be too bad if they were paragons of virtue. But ponies are flawed creatures, and those six had attempted their folly for all the wrong reasons. Absinthe, dissatisfied with being overlooked and full of envy of the Elements. Gloria, enamoured in her plan and too arrogant to acknowledge that she might not have enough skill. Lightbringer, who hated himself for being too weak to protect those he cared about, and Enigma, coerced into helping the others out of misplaced guilt for things he had no way to change. Evening Embrace, smart enough to realise something was wrong, but so emotionally fragile, she would rather deceive her friends than back out and risk their rejection. And finally Libra, who was supposed to lead them, but all that was on her mind was vengeance against the enemies of the Empire.” “Long story short, thanks to us they managed to avoid execution, and got a chance to die in battle instead. To everypony’s surprise, they survived, then went on to become mighty weapons of the Empire. They went under various names; the Inverse Elements, the Shattered, The Soulless. They kept winning battles, but they couldn’t win the hearts of those they fought for. All the time the command knew that they were all monsters waiting to happen.” “When I disappeared, things went out of control very quickly. A mix of misinformation, plotting and overblown egos resulted in the Emperor ordering their deaths. It was only when they were all killed that it turned out they couldn’t truly die.” “What do ya mean,” asked Applejack, “like they were zombie ponies or something?” “Worse,” said Obsidian, “It turned out the power they were linked to was repelled by Dissonance, like oil pushed to the surface of water. Instead of dissolving into primal chaos, their souls would bounce back to the waking world, floating around until they could take another pony’s body, stealing it for themselves. When they returned, they were the very monsters they had been expected to become. In the end, Empire burned to the ground, untold thousands died. So did my friends, one by one, trying to stop them. Most of the Shattered ended up imprisoned, trapped and sealed away with magic. But the war never truly ended.” “So,” said Applejack, “you want me to believe Celestia is some heartless monster from your past… wait, you said their magic was destroyed. Celestia can use magic.” Obsidian stopped and looked around. “I also told Twilight that the Elements were meant to be used each by one pony. Then it turned out Gloria found a way to cheat past that rule. The same is obviously true for her magic. It is not hers, but stolen from somepony else.” Applejack glared at Obsidian. “I'll give you a chance to prove your story. But If you say that’s what’s going on... You left mah friends with her. And mah sister.” The stallion shook his head. “What did you expect me to do? Burn Princess Celestia to ash with my Dissonance-born magic? Even if I won, would that have made my story more convincing? Or should I have left you there with them?” He turned around and faced Applejack. “Listen, girl. I wasn’t asking for this whole mess. I’m doing the best I can. But Honesty is bound to you now. There is only so much Obsidian the earth pony can do.” “As for your little sister, she should be safe at least for now. Gloria’s heart might be devoid of mercy, but right now, she needs her alive. She’d gain nothing from hurting her. Worse, it would shatter her image of a benevolent ruler, and Gloria is very attached to her delusions.” “So, what are ya going to do now?” asked Applejack. “Why are we still hiding in the forest?” “We aren’t hiding,” said Obsidian. “We are preparing. I have already spent some time hiding our trail. Right now, I’m looking for… this.” His staff flew forward, pointing at a low branch where a scared-looking magpie was sitting. “Took me some time to find one,” said Obsidian. “The battle at the hive scared lots of animals away from here. But now we are finally ready to go.” Applejack eyed the bird cautiously. “What do ya need it for?” A beam of light shot out of Obsidian’s staff, enveloping the bird. The magpie tried to fly away but the spell held it in place. Obsidian smirked. “A template.” *** "Where are we going, princess?" asked Twilight Sparkle. They had gone past the throne room and down a flight of stairs into the basement. Twilight vaguely recalled these being the old dungeons, but these hadn’t been in use for as long as she remembered. They kept walking down the corridors, Celestia’s horn illuminating the way. The cells were all empty, but the floor had no dust, a sign of recent use. “The crystal mines are not the only secret of this mountain, Twilight Sparkle,” said Celestia. “I’m going to introduce you to a good friend of mine.” She opened a door and went down another flight of stairs. Twilight deduced that they must have already moved from under the castle and into the mountain side. Twilight blinked. She had a sudden feeling of deja vu, but at the same time she knew she hadn’t been there ever before. “This part of the mountain used to contain natural caves,” said princess Celestia, “we used them since the founding of Canterlot.” The ceilings were higher here, magical lamps providing warm light to what would otherwise look like an unusually large dungeon. “This is where Starswirl the Bearded set up his hidden lab,” continued Celestia. “This is also where the most secret research in service of Equestria is done.” Twilight looked around, fascinated. She hadn’t yet seen anything but walls and rows of closed doors, but she could already tell the place was huge. She was momentarily distracted from the grimness of the situation, her mind buzzing with the possibilities of wonders that could be contained in the surrounding chambers. “There we are,” said Celestia at last, stopping in front of a heavy, wooden door. It opened outwards before she could knock, revealing a slightly scrawny orange earth pony mare dressed in a white lab coat. She bowed her head to the princess and then turned towards Twilight, scanning her from head to hoof and back. “Twilight Sparkle,” said princess Celestia, “this is Dr Agate Stone, my head researcher. Dr Stone, I’m sure you’ve heard of my personal student?” Twilight Sparkle walked forward and extended a hoof. The orange mare looked at it hesitantly before extending her own. “It is a pleasure to meet you,” she said, though her tone said otherwise.  She stepped back, giving her visitors free access through the door. “I have finished the preparations, your majesty,” said Dr Stone, pointing inside the chamber. “Dr Bluebonnet has just gone to sleep, but she helped me get everything ready before she did. I will be able to continue the procedure on my own. Celestia smiled. “You don’t have to be so formal in my presence, Agate.” “I assure you, your Majesty, I do,” said Dr Stone. “An image is something that can be maintained at all times or not at all, and my job requires a professional image.” Celestia shook her head with a smile and turned towards Twilight, only to find her already in the middle of the chamber, examining a strange device that covered most of the room. It seemed to be a collection of curved rods, resembling spider legs, but pointing inwards, towards the concentric circles at the center of the room. Pipes and cables ran from them in all directions, connecting to heavy metal boxes lining the walls, all covered with faintly glowing dials. “I’ve never seen anything like this, princess,” breathed Twilight Sparkle. “What is this thing?” Dr Stone smiled faintly, for the first time since her visitors entered the chamber. “This is our thaumic modulator. It accumulates magic over time and once charged, delivers in to the center of the circle. Using a three phase thaumic converter and a system of magical relays, it shapes the energies to achieve the desired result. While still very… cumbersome, it can be used to cast spells that would be very draining or downright impossible for a regular caster. I’ve had it here for years, just in case of an emergency, and once the Elements of Harmony disappeared, princess Celestia found it prudent to have me start charging it. Now that it has been fully assembled it can be used to cast almost any spell we need, allowing the royal sisters to invest their precious magic elsewhere.” Twilight looked at the device with eyes big as saucers. “This… is… astounding! I have never seen anything like this before!” Dr Stone squinted. “I sure hope not. This is one of our most guarded secrets. Even if it takes months to prepare, the ability to cast magic on the level of a princess is not something we’d like everypony to have access to. If it got under control of the wrong sort-” Celestia cleared her throat loudly. “I’m sure Twilight understands the implications. Now it is time for us to explain what exactly we’re going to do.” Twilight snapped out of her inner world, full of dancing blueprints of the device she had in front of her. She looked up at Celestia. “That’s right, princess. You haven’t yet told me what you are planning to do.” “We are going to prepare for the worst, Twilight Sparkle,” said Celestia. “This is not what we had been planning from the beginning, but it seems that with Applejack missing, using the Elements of Harmony is not an option. As it stands, we might have to use all other weapons we have at our disposal. My sister and I will personally face Obsidian.” Twilight kept listening, not understanding. “So, what do you need me to do, princess? Shall I accompany you?” “No,” said the princess. “As far as we know, we should have enough power to face Obsidian now. If he wins against us, it will be through trickery and then having you with us would only mean he’d get you too. That’s why you will be left with a different task.” “What will it be, princess?” asked Twilight. Celestia turned sad. “Should we fail… it will be your duty to raise the sun.” Twilight stood with her mouth open. “But… how?” The princess gestured towards the strange device. “This machine is going to replicate what the Elements of Harmony had done to me and Luna. It is going to make you an alicorn.” “We have examined and perfected the process,” said Dr Stone, “so you should come back to us immediately, rather than in a hundred years.” Twilight turned towards Dr Stone, towards the machine, towards the princess, before finally losing her balance and slumping on her rump. “Me, an alicorn? But how?” Celestia kept looking at Twilight intently. “It was Starswirl the Bearded who developed this spell, Twilight Sparkle. He dedicated the final years of his life to examining the Elements of Harmony and their magic. We only finished his work, filling the last couple of blanks.” “But…” stammered Twilight.”Me? A princess? I’m not that good.” Celestia smiled. “I assure you, you are. It truth, we had been planning for you to cast this spell sooner or later. Once we decided the time is right, we would have given you the notes of Starswirl the Bearded for you to work on, so you could finish the formula yourself and then cast the spell using the Elements of Harmony, as a proper ascension should be done. Sadly, our time has been cut short.” Silence fell in the underground lab, disrupted only by slow breathing. Finally, Twilight swallowed loudly and rose to her hooves. “I will not fail you, princess.” Celestia nodded and smiled. “I know you won’t. But before you start, Doctor, could you scan my student for any anomalies? We wouldn’t like the spell to be disrupted by some trickery from Obsidian.” Dr Stone sighed. “Very well. This procedure is too important not to take all sorts of precautions. Please follow me,” she said, gesturing at Twilight before walking out of the room and heading towards another door. *** “How are they?” asked Fluttershy as she saw Rarity enter the bedroom. She unwrapped the towel from her head and turned to look for a brush. “Already asleep,” replied Rarity. “Poor dears stayed up all night.” “So did we,” said Rainbow Dash, emerging from the bathroom. “Well, we did sleep in those pods, but I don’t think that counts. We should really all catch some shut-eye.” Rarity walked up to the window and covered it, blocking the sunlight from outside. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to sleep at all. Everything that’s happening is so strange. I still can’t believe Applejack just went with Obsidian.” “You know Applejack,” said Rainbow Dash, “There’s no moving her once she gets stubborn about something. Don’t worry, she knows what she’s doing.” “You really think so, Rainbow Dash?” asked Fluttershy. “I’m still worried.” Dash flapped her wings and landed in front of Fluttershy, giving her an encouraging smile. “Everything will be ok. This guy is about talking, and Applejack isn’t dumb. She’ll listen to all he has to say and when we meet him again-” She was interrupted by a pillow to the face. Pinkie Pie poked her head from under the blankets. “Hey, will you all let me sleep? We’ll need to be in top shape for all the rescuy stuff later,” she said, glaring at her friends. Rarity nodded. “Pinkie is right. I think it would be wise to get some rest while we have a chance. I’ll be in my room if anypony needs me.” She was half-way to the door when Pinkie Pie started shaking. The pink pony vibrated like an alarm clock going off, getting hopelessly tangled in the blankets before tipping over and falling snout first onto the floor. Then she rapidly inflated for a second and lay still, a dazed expression on her face. “That’s… not good,” she mumbled. Rainbow Dash stood over her, frowning. “We aren’t going to get much of a shut-eye, are we?” *** “So, how is it?” asked Twilight impatiently. After what seemed like hours of various check-ups , aiming to make make sure of her physical condition, she had now spent almost ten minutes trying to stand still while while being scanned for magical abnormalities. “There are no magical anomalies within your body, Miss Twilight,” said Dr Stone, stepping back from something that looked like a oversized camera. Just as Twilight let go a sigh of relief, the scientist continued. “There is however something strange in your brain. You have some traces of foreign magic.” “What!? asked Twilight, suddenly panicking, “What did he do to me?” Dr Stone looked back onto the displays of her device. “That would take some more testing to establish. Do you remember him casting any spells on you?” Twilight scrunched her face in thought. After a moment, her ears perked up. “The memory spell! Now I remember. He used a memory spell to block my memories of magic and force me to re-learn it his way.” Dr Stone looked at her in silence. She kept looking, completely motionless, until finally Twilight extended a hoof and waved it in front of her face. Then she cleared her throat and said “It will have to go.” Twilight needed a moment to process the statement. “Duh. Of course it will have to go. We can’t attempt… something of this magnitude while there are any distractions. Please give me a minute. I will break it.” Dr Stone tilted her head. “Why didn’t you do it before?” “Because it did make me stronger,” answered Twilight. “My talent with magic is strong enough to let me use magic Obsidian’s way without hurting myself. Since I didn’t know what was going to happen, I wanted to be as strong as possible. But I can’t risk it now.” “Quite right,” said Dr Stone, “We can work on your magic later. For now there must be nothing of his inside you.” Closing her eyes, Twilight focused her mind. She calmed herself, thinking of all the ponies that relied on her. She felt the energy flowing into her horn, then back inside her head, pushing at the binding she knew to be there. The spell gave way with barely any resistance, like cobwebs being swept away. Twilight swayed, momentarily overwhelmed as the unlocked memories flooded her mind. Dr Stone waited patiently for her to recover. She then activated her apparatus to scan the unicorn again. “Everything seems to be alright, miss. There’s no foreign magic anymore.” Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “That means we can get on with it, doesn’t it?” “It does,” said Dr Stone. “Please, proceed to the modulator chamber. I’ll be with you shortly.” She then exited the room and headed in the opposite direction. Twilight returned to the room where the device was prepared for use. Now that she had a moment to examine it without distractions, she marveled at the construction. She could see the thin lines of various metals in the prongs surrounding the central circle, hear the soft hum of crystals inside the main chassis. Soon she found herself analysing the construction, taking in the details of the magic relays. “I can’t fully understand it, but - it’s amazing.” she whispered under her breath. “Oh, what would I give to have something like this in my lab.” Walking around the room, she finally reached a table strewn with papers. Just as she expected, it was mostly technical documentation, with some written notes on the margins. Here and there a brown circle would mark the spot where a coffee cup had been set on top of a stack of papers. Several pencils were stuck here and there, a mark of a truly creative environment where an inkwell would not last long. Twilight scanned the notes at the top, taking in the contents… The unicorn froze. Sticking from between the piles of notes, there was a bit of a black cover. Twilight grabbed it with her magic and pulled gently, her eyes widening as the object turned out to be just what she had expected, a thick, weathered, black book with a silver spiralling symbol embossed on the front. For a moment Twilight just stared at the book. She had never seen it before, and yet she knew exactly what it was. Her deja vu returned, magnified. Slowly, she opened the cover to look at the writing inside. “Miss Sparkle?” Twilight dropped the book, causing one of the pencils to drop off the table and roll under the machine. “I was just… looking at the device,” she said, turning around to face the doctor. She didn’t know Dr Stone that well yet, but she knew how much she herself hated when somepony messed with her notes. “We are ready to begin,” said Dr Stone. “Please stand in the circle.” Twilight followed the command, but kept glancing back towards the table. “That book… Is it really?” “Yes,” smiled Dr Stone. “It’s the journal of Starswirl the Bearded. This is where we got the original formula of the spell.” She pressed a lever and the mechanical prongs twitched, forming a closer circle around Twilight. The room was filled with soft humming and a bubble of light started forming around the unicorn. “A book of a fabled wizard,” said the mare “or was it all a fable?” What was that? thought Twilight. It was a memory, suddenly very vivid, but one she couldn’t place. The hum from the machine intensified, and Twilight started rising into the air. “What exactly will the spell do?” she asked nervously. Dr Stone kept her eyes on the dials, her hooves pressing buttons and turning levers. “The spell is composed of two parts. One will temporarily move you between dimensions. For a short moment you will be shifted outside reality and unbound by its laws.” “Take one naive unicorn with a bright soul. Drop her into raw chaos, add delusions to taste.” Twilight started getting nervous, the prospect of what she was about to experience mixing with the unease at the suddenly surfacing unfamiliar memories. “The other will direct your mind,” continued Dr Stone, “helping your will direct the chaos. This will create a clear mental image for the magic to follow. That in turn will reshape your body according to the design.” “Let the illusions shape the thought,” continued the mare “let the thought shape the flesh. What will be the result?” The orb of energy around Twilight intensified and darkened. She could still see the lab around her, but the inside of the bubble was slowly starting to turn into a starry void. Suddenly she felt a wave of panic washing over her. “Wait… she stammered, I… I’m not ready yet.” “We can’t stop now,” answered Dr Stone, “If we let the energy escape now, we won’t be able to repeat it for months. Now, empty your mind. You need to let the spell shape your thoughts.” Twilight felt something appearing in her mind, a vision of herself, taller, stronger, feathery wings spreading around her. Even though she couldn’t see her reflection, she knew her eyes were glowing white. She brought a hoof to her face and saw it start to become transparent. “We’re almost there,” said Dr Stone, now barely audible over the sound of the machine. “This is the reward for blind loyalty! A gift that is poison! A power that isn’t yours to use!” Twilight screamed. She flailed wildly, trying to struggle against the vision invading her mind. It was like that time in the tower, when she lost control of her first attempt and nearly fried, except now the threat wasn’t her own fear, but the power trying to control her. She heard Dr Stone shouting at her to stop struggling, but between her growing panic and the spell, she no longer paid any attention to it. “Let me out!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. Dr Stone was running between various components of the machine, working the levers frantically. “Stop doing that!” she shouted, “You’re jamming the converter! I won’t be able to disconnect it with this much power!” The magical relays turned red from the heat, then white, crystals flashed brightly and then dimmed, Twilight screamed. The whole chamber disappeared in an expanding wave of white.