April 3rd sixty sixth year of the second age
Why did it have to come to this, Luna? Hearth's Warming was a watershed moment that we capitalized on brilliantly. Yes, I know we took the throne right as it began to unravel again, but we could have been the mortar that held the tribes together, and you cast it all to the wind. Have I not admitted my wrongdoing enough to convince you to end this farce? Lunaria. How conceited do you have to be to name a country after yourself?
You’ve been playing me for a fool for the last fifty years, acting like you would return in exchange for stripping over half of the noble houses of their lands and titles. And how pray tell was I supposed to agree to that openly right there in front of the entire court?! We’d have been in a civil war the instant those words left my lips. This all should have been done quietly, but no, you had to make a big show of it to your mob of followers. And now for the past fifty you tied my hooves from properly investigating the houses you claim are perpetuating old hatreds. Ponies don’t change overnight. How many times did our father have to remind us of that? One single event doesn’t magically make old traditions die. Sister, we don’t age, we could have guided ponies to a united future and you robbed us all of that chance. I might be the one who declared this war, but I am not the cause. You accused me of blind stubbornness, and yet who is it that forgot the promise we made to our parents when we left? I pray you see reason before too many more of our subjects end up dying, because every death pushes our two peoples apart.
April 7th sixty sixth year of the second age
Celestia, dearest sister, for as much as you embody the sun, you really are blind, aren’t you? When I confronted you about the corrupt noble families who were stuck in that pre-Hearthswarming way of thinking, who was it who pulled your ear when you stood on that balcony? Morning Dawn, the very worst of them all. I knew before you even spoke what you were going to say. I had hoped after doing all of this, you’d start to actually believe your own sister over those parasites. I was a fool not to drag you out of Canterlot so you could see first hoof just how bad it had gotten. Have you forgotten why we accepted our power? The old hatreds were bubbling back from under our very noses, and you insist on listening to the very devils that summoned the windigos with their malice.
The day you practically threw me out of negotiations, I dare say you finally showed an ounce of the wisdom our father saw in you. At last you had cleared some of that fog from your eyes to realize I no longer had any intention of returning to Equestria. Not as it is.
You want to tear down Lunaria by force, then I shall meet steel with steel and bring down every last tyrant house before I let you rest. It won’t even matter if you defeat me militarily so long as your ‘advisors’ are destroyed to the last mare.
Twilight Sparkle sat back in her chair as she skimmed over the rest of the two journal entries. Both of them ran into the preparations each sister undertook to conduct the war. While it held some historical interest for the inventor, it was not her current focus. The mare had an elaborate setup on her desk. Both journals sat open, the translation manual to the side, some wing-written pages of her own, and two typewriters flanked the writing paper. Finally, two oil lamps sat next to the desk, giving her plenty of light the three windows failed to provide ever since the sun went down.
It had been a few days since Blind Speaker’s proposal that Twilight finally had time to sit down and work on the translation. “This is amazing. Oh if only they allowed dual citizenship. I’m sure a complete translation would get Rarity off my back.” I doubt they’d overlook having a thestral husband and a Lunarian child though.
The thought of her inevitable motherhood left Twilight adrift. As the heir to House Light, and later to her new House Sparkle, producing an heir herself was never in question, and she had come to accept it long ago. Let alone her half-joking with Pinkie about wanting five. I wish I could show them off to Shining and my parents without having to worry about politics or prison. The impossibility of such a dream was depressing, so she cast it from her mind and sat back up to focus on her work. She hummed while pulling Luna’s journal up and continued reading. I’ll have to look into hiring a nanny at some point.
As the days drew on, a missed supper brought Pinkie Pie to Twilight’s study with a head shake. By now, it had been close to two weeks since Blind Speaker had left, and Twilight was starting to let her appearance go ragged and the nose wrinkling smell of an unwashed pony filled the air to contest the enticing aroma of lasagna on Pinkie’s back.
“Twilly, you keep this up, and the staff will start to think the larder’s gone sour.” The playful teasing went unheeded as Twilight was lost to the world as she scribbled notes while using the typewriter on occasion.
Such a state was hardly new to Pinkie so she scanned the room and found several spare ink ribbons for the typewriters were all stacked neatly into a pyramid. Setting the plate down, Pinkie gently nudged one of the ribbons.
A great disturbance made Twilight cry out in surprise. She looked at her ink ribbons, and then sighed in relief at Pinkie Pie’s harmless grin. “You keep this up and I'll have to spoon feed you, Twily.” Pinkie expertly returned the ribbon back to its exact proper place. “And you know how easily tomato sauce can stain.”
A snorting, tired laughter escaped Twilight. “I’m sorry. But this code is a thing of terrible beauty. Every entry I translate just gets more complex. Calling back to certain words in previous entries, sentences that don’t make sense until the whole page is given one translation pass, only to need eight more behind it, and going so far as to include homophones at the right points to make you question just what is actually being said even though you have clean text.” She shivered as it all ran through her mind, and Pinkie Pie set the food down. “I can see why this broke as many minds as it did until most ponies just gave up.”
Taking it all in with an excitement that she was known for, Pinkie set the food down. “Have you found any more personal entries? That first one was so… off-putting.”
Nodding, Twilight took her notes in hoof. “Aye. It’s all rather unsettling how the sisters allowed things to get out of hoof. Between Celestia’s long-term planning being a bit too long term, and Luna allowing regular ponies to cause her to act rashly…” Twilight shook her head. “I swear, if I did not know Cadence personally, in that alicorns think just like us, I’d be quite unsettled.”
Thinking it over, Pinkie’s right ears twitched a few times. “True, but isn’t it weird how they talk like us today, rather than old timey speech?”
“I didn’t tell you?” Twilight asked. When Pinkie tilted her head in quizzical interest, Twilight chuckled softly. “I’m doing a double translation. One from the garbled speech to Old Equish, and from that to the modern vernacular. That way it's easier for others to read it. Trust me, the average pony wouldn't even be able to identify what month they were talking about.”
Pinkie scratched her chin, thinking back into the history lessons Twilight used to teach her in secret. “That makes a lot more sense, but dont you run the risk of missing something in translation?”
“I suppose it’s possible. How about you read these two and tell me if you think I missed something?”
A smile exploded onto Pinkie’s face. “You found another personal entry?!”
Humming in the affirmative, Twilight carefully moved everything back so she could eat without risking her work, save for a few typed up pages. “As you can imagine, the journals mostly detail military matters, with the occasional little moments of emotion and regret. But here is something that occurred together.”
October 10th sixty sixth year of the second age
The whole house of Red Skies is gone. I don’t know where Luna found these leather-winged pegasi, but a whole regiment descended on Summersburg and butchered every last member of the Red Skies down to anypony older than two.
In a way, she’s done me a favor, not that I can ever admit that publically. The Red Skies were always a troublesome house to reign in, but on the other hoof, they were peerless experts in weather control and were the only ones with the knowledge of how to break up the persistent northern blizzards. Any hope of salvaging the Crystal Empire or the old tribal lands is lost for who knows how long. This slaughter of the aristocracy who don’t bend to our every word is abhorrently shortsighted. I wanted to seize the momentum the windigos’ defeat had created and reforge pony society into scholars and pacifists. This war has set us all back to the era of the three tribes again. I suppose the only good to come of this war is now the same animosity the tribes once had for each other has been directed at the nations or my sister and I. Which means once I bring Luna to heel, she’ll have to play her part as the scapegoat. It will take generations before I can walk back the negativity that will be leveled at her, but it should allow her followers a chance to live without condemnation from their neighbors. It’s not like we don’t have the time.
October 12th sixty sixth year of the second age
The Red Pox are all dead, and they’re lucky I allowed them such quick deaths. They treated their serfs worse than Unicorna did their earth pony neighbors. It astounds me that either my sister can tolerate such treatment in her name or is blinded enough not to see it. Or how the townsponies cheered upon seeing the estate in flames. There was no love lost in their jeering faces, only satisfaction.
The bat ponies, or thestrals as they call themselves, have always been a reclusive people. They tell me they stayed away from the three tribes due to their animosity between each other, and I can hardly blame them. I am not exactly vocal about my dream walking abilities. Which probably explains why they took so long to approach me, but when they heard of it and how Lunaria is a place where all tribes abide the lessons of Hearthswarming, their leader, King Quiet Night pledged his tribe to my service.
It was quite the wise move on his part. The Lunarian boarder continues to expand to the eastern coasts, more so now that commoners with burned villages wish to get as far from the war as possible. Right into thestral territory, and its not like they can fly across the sea, assuming there is land further east.
These thestrals are a curious lot that I stayed away from in the dreamscape out of courtesy. My sister and I legitimize our rule by embodying each tribe. Our form for pegasi and unicorns, and our power for earth ponies. With my influence over dreams, and admittedly abnormal sleeping habits, they see themselves in me and I declared as much to the rest of my ponies. It should allow them to integrate without too much issue provided my country’s future is secured. Such reasoning will not be seen in a good light by my sister nor her soulless advisors. Call me callous if you must, but that means the whole tribe will align with me, and I shalln’t complain about that.
But nevermind all that. Our armies are spent, and the snow is upon us. I'm ordering a withdraw to Bridlewood to camp for the winter. Apparently the earth ponies and unicorns there can craft tree homes with surprising haste. I would have my army camp in as much comfort as I can provide as a reward for the victories they have given me.
Late one night under a full moon, Twilight stood on the tallest balcony of her new home. It had been a watch tower on the very peak of the mountain. The crisp cold air felt exhilarating as instincts as old as ponykind tried to pull her into the skies. An instinct she struggled with ever since becoming too old for her mother to carry her into the skies. But she didn’t have to fight it anymore. Now that she was away from the laboratory, the constant tests and tweaks of prototyping, and the watchful eye of a commandant, she could fly freely as her winged ancestors did before her.
Spreading her armored wings out wide, she began to hover and almost tilted forward to launch herself down the mountain when the heavy hoof falls of a stallion echoed up the spiral staircase leading up to the balcony. Remaining in the air, she turned to see Silver Vein gingerly poke his head out from the cracked door. “Begging your pardon, my lady, but I was hoping to join you for some night flying.”
A part of Twilight wished he would go away. After dealing with the work crews all day, she had wanted some alone time. Then again… Silver’s been quite diligent in investigating different fuels like I asked. Throwing on a convincing faux smile, she nodded once and gestured with a hoof to join her. “Of course. Forgive me for not accepting your invitation for lunch today, I was preoccupied.”
Stepping fully onto the balcony, Silver waved her concerns away with a wing. “Think nothing of it, my lady. My sister told me when she got married it was a major change in how her routine went. If you’d prefer, perhaps we could schedule a dinner or something like it.”
Blinking in surprise, Twilight had not expected him to do anything more than play the necessary role of a husband and assistant in her work. Such was the way of things with a negotiated marriage, let alone a relationship between a thestral and a pegacorn who still revered Celestia. But to actually try to court her?
It was still early, and they barely knew each other, and yet. How many clouds have I jumped off without seeing the ground? “That is entirely unnecessary. My sister and I don’t schedule our time together, there’s no reason the same can’t be true between us.”
Relief flooded his face. Silver stepped up to be close and was still clearly nervous. “Then before we go, would you permit a personal question?”
“Naturally,” Twilight replied with a touch of annoyance. I swear he acts like I’m his employer.
“I want to do this right and proper, but I have no idea how to start.” He fiddled with his mane a bit, trying to work up the courage. “I did some reading, and found out pegacorns tend to lean on either their unicorn or pegasus ancestry for their character. And well, I didn’t know what you preferred so I - Ah - my sister suggested I look up a few courtship traditions.” A cold sweat dampened his face. “I can’t really do Horn’s Glow, being without a horn and all. The flight of feathers either being without feathers and all. But-”
Twilight held out a silencing wing. “I applaud your efforts, Silver.” She couldn’t help but to see some of the same nervousness in him as Pinkie Pie did in the first few months of freedom and having to say lady instead of mistress. If anything, she found it charming.
“A flight of feathers would be just fine without the actual feathers,” she placated with a disarming, short laugh. “But I’m afraid I’m not yet good enough to participate in one.”
“Maybe I can help,” he suggested too quickly for his liking. “I know First Lieutenant Rainbow Dash is a better one by far, but for a - Ah - a… newcomer I suppose is a good word, to the skies I might be able to give some aid.”
“Well,” Twilight started conspiratorially while playfully eyeing the night sky. “don’t let her hear this, but she is not quite as helpful as she would want to be. As I fly very differently than a regular pony. As you can see I don’t flap my wings to stay aloft. These differences make many of her fundamentals less than useful I’m afraid.”
Feeling a bit brave, Silver flew up to join her and closely inspected Twilight's right wing. “Do you mind? He asked while indicating he wished to touch her.” Curious what he might do, she nodded her consent. Gently, he pressed his hoof over various points on her wing. She felt a pressure that was not of his hoof, but of his cloud walking magic. “Interesting… Tell me, how does the wind feel on your wings when you move?”
“Much like how you thestrals describe it when you are gliding. A heavy pressure on the bottom with very little on top.”
“It’s fascinating. Truly so.” He pulled back. “Lady Pinkie Pie told me we’re to attend the Lunar Festival in a fortnight in part to make our marriage arrangements widely known. “I would love nothing more than to participate in the flying square with you.”
“Dancing?” Twilight scoffed behind a hoof. “Silver, while I feel confident enough to do some night flying, dancing the square is a bridge too far.”
“Well, I am a bit of a dancer myself, and if you would grant me this boon, I would teach you all I can. The flying square is more about ceremony and fixed movements than the more freeform dancing back home. An inventor such as yourself should have no problem with it.”
“You think so?” Twilight gave him a curious look before nodding. Dancing in the air was always a treat to watch for the featherless mare. Oh how her blood ached to join her winged brethren in such a common act. A formal debut as the first pegacorn to participate in such a public dance wearing her armor pulled on her like water to the parched. “Then by all means, good sir, I shall endeavor to be a good student.”
September 25th sixty seventh year of the second age
The Honeycombs and Amethysts. Gone. Both houses were irreplaceable, not that my sister seems to care. The Honeycombs were the only ones who held the knowledge to make panacea, while the Amethysts were the only ones who possessed the secret to teleportation. I’ve lost all hope in ending this war before the entirety of my nobility is eradicated. It’s a wonder I’ve managed to hold the rest of them together rather than revolt or defect, Luna has gone out of her way to avoid the Pants, Bluebloods, and some others, but how long will that last before they too cause some intolerable offense? Her actions have given me an opportunity though. I’ve sent additional soldiers to each house to publicly be their bodyguard, but also to spy on their activities. If nothing else, I can hopefully see why Luna targets these families.
Aside from that, she refuses to join me in a pitched battle and besieging her castles and towns is only buying her bat ponies time to pick the houses apart, pony by pony. I have already sent word back to Canterlot for Raven Quill to create a new organization with the mandate to hunt down spies and assassins.
That being said, I can not help but to respect these bat ponies. When Luna is defeated, I will offer their tribe a place within Equestria as equals like the rest. But that can’t happen while Luna remains in power. If my sources are correct, they swore an oath, and will serve no one else unless she is removed, and I refuse to kill my own sister. I trust she feels the same as I have yet to receive any assassins in the night. There must be a way to remove Luna without killing her though. I am loath to leave my army in the hooves of another, no matter how capable Lord Commander Pale Light has proven to be, but I must do this before Luna unravels Equestria at the seams.
October 1st sixty seventh year of the second age
I had thought my sister’s departure from the main host and Pale Light lifting the siege against Rainbow Falls was a sign to strike the Equestrians in a moment of weakness in light of the coming winter, but Light is a wily one. His feigned retreat turned into an ambush that was nearly the end of me. I dare say the Equestrian army is better off with Pale Light in command. As much as Quiet Night wants to have him killed, I won’t allow it. Pale Light is the one who suggested that I see the countryside myself. To connect with the common folk and their plights. I sorely wish he had joined me that day, but I can not change a good stallion’s oaths, and I refuse to have him killed in his sleep. If he is to die by my hoof, better it be on the battlefield where he can die a hero.
Still though, I worry about why Celestia has been absent from the main host for so long during the good months for campaigning. It doesn’t matter if Pale Light is a better commander, her absence already sees my soldiers talk of victory, even in the face of our recent defeat. I'd like to imagine the reverse could be true in Pale’s camp. I sent Quiet Night to shadow my sister many moons ago with the explicit command to not harm her. So far, she’s remained in Canterlot Castle studying in the archives. I will have to leave it to others to keep tabs on her.
Even during times of war, the annual Lunar Festival was a tradition that had to be observed by the Throne. Soldiers from all over the front line were pulled at random to briefly return to Tranquility. There they would relay stories of personal gallantry and sacrifice before and after meals, then attendees would dance the night away. The recipients of these stories were both noble and commoner alike, with a special interest in reminding those in power of who kept the Equestrian war machine at bay.
Twilight had attended last year, and had decided to help two families who had lost multiple sons and daughters. They were the Cherry and Roots families that now resided at her farm. This time however, she attended with her fiancé at her side. Silver Vein kept his clothing within his price range by wearing a simple deep blue bow tie and a single white chrysanthemum flower pinned to his collar. Twilight was more showy by wearing Rarity’s hat and matching it quite nicely to an elegant dress with a native style that covered her from neck to hoof, save for splits to reveal her destiny mark. She too wore a chrysanthemum on the side of her neck.
The pair was standing on the stairs leading up to the landing where an imperial guard formally introduced everyone; noble and commoner alike. Though this would be the first formal occasion with the stallion, Twilight was largely at ease, if not actually grateful to him. Though news of her engagement had been making the rounds, tonight would solidify the relationship in the eyes of the public. Not to mention our involvement with dancing the square is sure to bring attention to us both.
So enamored with the prospect of joining the dance, that she only paid casual attention to the opening hours of the event which was a grand breakfast. Rationing being what it was, the Throne had made it clear that ponies were expected to have only one plate and not to waste any of it, lest it be an insult to the army. The opening meal was largely an excuse for ponies to catch up on matters both personal and business, the food was for the most part secondary. At her table, Twilight received more than a few odd looks concerning her armored wings. The armor she wore was stripped down a bit, removing the dedicated disruptor to save on space and weight. The effort allowed her to wear a tailored dress without too much difficulty, save for needing help to take it off and on.
With Pinkie Pie off conducting business, as was expected at such a party, that left Twilight and Silver to dine at a joint table between a number of other ponies. Some of which gave little effort in hiding their distaste for the distractive, if not exactly dangerous, sparks that occasionally escaped Twilight’s horn.
One such impolite unicorn mare was eating salad and sunny-side up eggs while shooting annoyed looks at Twilight’s suitor. “Lady Sparkle, I realize you are both a pegacorn and an Equestrian, but surely you could have done better than a pauper. My boy gave you a chance.” She continued on before Twilight could answer, earning some interested eyes from the others. “I understand he is of Blind Speaker’s blood and a thestral, but surely you were raised to have higher standards.”
What’s the matter, Glory Helm, no taste for subtlety tonight? Twilight gave a chiding smirk while expertly using her wings to handle her cutlery, much to the heckler’s distaste for the featherless appendages. A reaction that ran vendivice anticipation for the dance. “Oh yes, high standards is as much a requirement in Equestria as it is here. Why do you think I declined?”
Silver Vein felt slighted as well, but had to heavily curate what he’d typically say, what with being surrounded by nobility. One wrong word could make him too politically damaging to marry. “This pauper, as you put it, my lady, graduated with honors at Rock Salt University, without a charitable donation.”
Glory Helm huffed in poorly controlled anger, and completely ignored him in favor of Twilight. “Clearly Lady Pinkie Pie is the superior negotiator. Is it any wonder why you leave your investments in her vastly more capable hooves.”
“She is quite capable isn’t she?” came an interloping stallion sitting two plates over from Glory. Twilight recalled he was a titan among the textile industry: Tight Weave. The bright purple stallion wore his tuxedo like he was born for it. “But I am more interested in why you seem to surround yourself with commoners. Having friends in low places has its advantages to be sure, but I can’t think of a single noble soul outside of Clipped Wing that has had the pleasure of your favor. At this rate you could have saved yourself the trouble and bits to buy your title.”
“Why is it even a question?” Glory’s stern faced husband, Feather Helm grumbled. “You’re still an Equestrian at heart, and you can only stomach living here because you pretend all of your employees and tenets are your slaves.”
Twilight, and Silver Vein on her behalf, glared at the Helms. Yet any reply was interrupted by Tight Weave for his question being cut off. “If your son acts anything like the two of you, you should be gracious to anypony who has the common courtesy to consider him for marriage rather than laugh at it. I’ve been to taverns where the furniture is replaced everyday due to brawls and they still have more manners than you.”
“You better watch your tone,” Feather Helm hissed, Twilight Sparkle having been removed from his attention. “Or you’ll find yourself quite at a loss as to why no pony is willing to ship your products.”
Having rose to her defense, Twilight was hardly going to let Textile bear it all alone. “If I recall, Tight Mills produces a vast amount of the army and navy’s uniforms and bandages. I can’t imagine how much trouble transportation disruptions for such supplies would anger the Throne.”
“I know the foundries raised all sorts of Tartarus when the mines were late,” Silver chimed in. “And that was when we were still at peace.”
Feather Helm stood up, wanting to demand an honor duel with Textile until he heard a herald calling names over the music. “Come on, dear, our son is to speak soon.”
Glory joined her husband and glowered at Textile and Twilight. “This isn’t over.”
Once the two were out of earshot, a different couple at the table clapped out of appreciation. They were a pair of middle aged earthers. “Finally that nag is gone,” said the sately mare. “Had she remained any longer, I would have left myself.” She forked some salad and waved the air around her nose as if to remove some foul odor.
Textile gave the sentiment a polite laugh before returning his attention to the lone pegacorn. “The Helms never have been ones for poise and grace now have they?” He toyed his food with a passive fork, not really in the mood to eat.
“You must have quite the history,” Twilight added with a grateful nod.
“We do, I’m afraid,” Textile put irritably. “There are many who see the Helms as no different than the ones who blinded Celestia. You’re quite lucky to have refused her son’s hoof in marriage.”
“And here I thought terrible in-laws were a fact of life,” Silver jested, earning some mild smiles and little more.
Twilight however was more familiar with Lunarian nobility customs than Silver, and felt a bit cold. “Are you saying they’re going to be excommunicated?” she asked barely above a whisper.
The husband of the earther pair nodded, earning a fretful look from Silver Vien. “Unless their son or daughter dies in service to Luna before the war’s end. It’s how their family is still around. Every war in the last five or so, a dozen or so Helms have fought and died in.”
“We must all give to the nation and to Luna to earn her protection,” Textile commented while focusing on Twilight with a passive hum. “We nobles most of all for the role we played in the Schism. Whether we were loyal to Luna or not. Privilege here comes with a cost. So I must ask again, Lady Twilight Sparkle, what have you done to earn her protection?”
The mood shifted, and Twilight suddenly felt as if she was on the same chopping block as the Helms, and she had no children to throw into war to save her. The polite faces around her were judges and juries both.
“I am eager to know as well,” said the earther mare. “I heard your time spent back east was a failure. Having your… sister busy herself with war profiteering is just business, but business alone is not enough. Not for She who Protects.”
“Oh believe me,” Twilight began smoothly, hiding her excitement. “I have a few ideas.” She paused as an announcement was shouted out by a pegasus.
“To all fliers young and old, the first square shall begin at the Gear Hall in one quarter hour.”
The message was repeated, but Twilight tuned it out. “Perhaps I can demonstrate one of them. I ask for your indulgence by watching me dance in the square.”
Tight Textile glanced at Silver Vein who showed no surprise at such a request then back to Twilight. The young thestral was alone in that as those who were still paying attention to Twilight muttered to each other in surprise and intrigue. “You wish to dance in the square at the Gear Hall?” Textile tried to contain an impolite laugh. Lady Twilight, the Gear Hall contains a massive clock as its central pillar with enough gears to make flying a challenge for…” He struggled to put it politely. “Regular fliers. I’m afraid you’d never make it off the ground.”
Twilight quickly studied her fellow diners. If their expressions were anything to go by, not one disagreed with Textile’s assessment. Strange. I knew news of my invention would spread, but are magical machines so unbelievable they assumed I was deceiving the air corps and that’s why I was rejected? Whatever the case was, Twilight was all the more determined to dance. “Au contraire, mon ami,” Twilight waggled a hoof. “My dear friend Applejack would string me up by my tail if I told anypony a lie that big. But please, if words are not enough, let my actions speak for me.”
Tight Textile assumed she was preparing something symbolic at best, or fraudulent at worst. He had not thought much of her armor as anything other than an aesthetic crutch. Any other time he’d politely refuse, but too many eyes were on him now. He’d lose nothing if she was bluffing, or he’d appear insulting if she spoke the truth. “Very well, Lady Twilight, if nothing else the dance is a sight to behold.”
Twilight and Silver made their way to Gear Hall in short order. It was a five story hall with the central pillar replaced by a purposely over engineered clock tower. Here, flight was more of a test of endurance than of grace and gossip. The dance would begin with pegasi or thestrals standing on the ground while their wingless brethren watched from the plethora of balconies and landings. It was also here that Emperor Eclipse was expected to attend. A small orchestra was situated on the ground floor while simple ambience music played.
As Twilight and Silver threaded their way through the ranks of fliers to the closest row to the clock tower, hundreds of eyes followed them. Even those who could not distinguish her by distance could not miss the tell-tale crackling from a quite active pegacorn’s horn.
Silver watched Twilight’s mask of dignified confidence slip a bit. “You’re going to be fine. Remember the steps like you said ‘a chain of gears’.”
Giving a thin smile, Twilight wiggled her left eyebrow to try and shake off a stubborn sweat drop. “I will. But it’s the crowd. I - Ah - I was never that great with tons of ponies. It’s one of the reasons Pinkie Pie does all of that.”
“Ah you’ll do fine.” It had not been Silver who said that. Rainbow Dash was standing next to the clock tower with a thestral stallion Twilight had never seen before as her partner for the first dance. “You’ve been making my job easy since you tend to stay in one spot for half the day.”
“Very funny,” Twilight fussed as she assumed the proper position for the dance to start. Silver took several paces back to face each other. “I’m surprised you’d dance in the square at all. I thought you said it was too rigid of a dance for you.”
Rainbow stretched like a cat and her wings flared at their greatest extent. “Normally, sure. But Gear Hall makes it an endurance test, and I need to make sure I’m still ship shape.”
“Fair enough.” The drone of distant conversation was ever present, but she noticed quite a number of eyes on her. Just as I thought. Aside from Clipped Wing, the only ones who got to keep a set of armor were Ferrum and Veselov. Given the cost and inability to get spare parts, I doubt they fly very much. Clipped Wing though, he should still be on the boat back to the heartland, and had to leave in a hurry if I recall correctly. Which means, I get to be the one to show the world. Even though she wasn’t boastful by nature, in this instance… She had to force the world to let her take flight in the face of all those who had it gifted to them by birth.
In lue of an announcer, the orchestra changed the mood to a more rapid, sweeping melody that made the audience clap quietly and politely. The dancers along the outer ring of the clock tower began to rise one after the other. With a graceful nod to Silver, who played his part as the gentlecolt, bowed for her to begin. Twilight flared her wings and with a gentle hum that was lost to the music and the multitude of wings upon the air, lifted off the ground. However, it was the moment that she started using her hoof thrusters to ascend that things went awry. Her magic burned hotter and faster than ever, and she rocketed upward, past nearly half the other dancers before she caught herself. She stopped her thrusters and cut off her armor’s floatation, allowing gravity to arrest her ascent. Fear and utter embarrassment surged at once as she floated alone for a few seconds until Rainbow and Silver reached her in time with the dance.
Rainbow desperately wanted to check on her friend, but doing so would break the dance’s protocol. She’d be even more embarrassed if I did anything.
So it was up to Silver who would be the only dancer who could speak and watch her for any length of time. He reached eye level with a mare who was red as a rose, and her forehead was already discoloring with sweat. Still, he was too distant to speak for now, so all he could do was briefly wave a hoof to grab her attention away from the balcony of observers who were now behind him. Once he had her attention, he gestured upward with his head.
Still too frazzled and unsure to think to do anything else, Twilight tried ascending once more. Unsure of what to do, she tried brief spurts of thrust from her hooves. Where everyone else ascended to their assigned altitude with smooth grace, Twilight moved like a bouncing ball. Thank Celestia I was only trying to go straight up. Had she collided with any of the dancers to her side or behind her, the mare would have died of embarrassment on the spot. Higher and higher as her ring of dancers was to rise to be level with the clock face. Once there, with Twilight more or less leveling out at nine, and Silver smoothly at three, the dance truly began.
Here, Twilight was able to fall back on easier beats. The slow, rhythmic spins were much easier as they only needed her wings which performed as expected. It gave her a moment to calm, but only a moment, as the dance moved on to where she needed to glide to her partner. Yet as with the weeks of practice, her wings were incapable of gliding, so she was forced to use her thrusters once more. Twilight tried to give only the briefest of pushes, but the instant her magic was converted into unicorn magic, her thrusters burned hot and loud.
She rocketed straight at Silver who surprised her by deftly dodging to the left, and grabbing Twilight by the base of the neck as she would have sailed right past him, and spun her a few times to slow her down enough to more or less push her into the proper position.
By the time he did so, Twilight was breathing heavily and was in tears as fresh embarrassment clouded her mind. “I don’t know what happened! My - y - magic isn’t - I - my armor - it’s-”
“Shh,” he hushed gently, placatingly. “Don’t worry about everypony else, just focus on me.” Twilight’s red rimmed eyes stopped wandering to zero in on his. “Stay with it.” Nodding, Twilight breathed a couple of slow breaths. “Spin three times,” he softly reminded her, causing the mare to do so as she continued to think.
Twilight and Silver separated, drifting back to the nine and three. Her courage continued to flounder as to what was coming next. She was supposed to enter a shallow guide, lapping the clock tower eight times and spinning with her partner every time they met before sprinting back to the starting position. Yet as with practice, Twilight knew her wings could not glide. Alright, Twilight, think think think. You’re going too fast, no way to stymie the mana flow. Don’t try for a smooth circle, just ah…. A pentadecagon, short bursts into a pentadecagon, that should do it.
Loosening up on her wings’ levitation, she gave short bursts of thrust to match her plan. Even through her efforts were paying off into a more controlled dance as she compensated for the extra speed, she found it impossible to ignore the elegant dancers all around her. Let alone the observers she saw on the balconies who undoubtedly judged her every move. She wanted to cry, to hide at home and never leave it again, anything but to remain here. But that was not the actions of a proper lady, and so she forced herself to stay strong.
So lost in her own thoughts, she didn’t even notice Silver until he touched her. Shocking back out of her racing thoughts, she remembered to twirl and orbit him.
He gave her a reassuring grin as best he could. “We might have to skip some steps, but we’re doing alright so far.”
“Alright?” She half sputtered at the ludicrous statement. “Alright!? I’ll be the laughingstock for decades!”
“You’re hardly the only one having problems,” he pointed down with his chin as they briefly separated for a crude orbit around each other. The act allowed Twilight to see the ground, and spotted two elderly couples who had already dropped out of the dance and were being led away. “The tower’s causing the rest of us our own issues, my lady.”
After splitting up again, Twilight used the remaining seven orbits to steal glances at the other couples as she got used to the added thrust, Silver included. All of them were flapping their wings at a racing pace just to stay aloft. Many did an admirable job masking their fatigue, but plenty were dipping up and down as they struggled against the magic wiping force of the clock tower.
As for Twilight herself, she was doing little better. The over-burning thrusters had drained her magic far more than she had ever tested, and this from a pony who rarely had a chance to exercise her magic until last year. Using the last orbit around Silver, Twilight spotted Rainbow Dash who was smirking at her flagging partner. Her wing beats were just as fast as everyone else's' yet she remained flying with casual ease. Showoff as ever. The sight of her friend and everyone else let Twilight’s nerves settle enough for her more easily adopt a calm demeanor.
She didn’t have time to say anything as the dance moved on for everyone to climb back to their original positions, so she separated from Silver. As before, her thrusters were acting over charged as she pushed onward. Yet by now, she had gotten used to it, and arrived more or less in the proper spot, just far too early. It ended up being a blessing as she felt badly winded at the end of it. Her barely practiced magic was nearly gone, and by time Silver managed to reach his position he was on his last legs.
Here the music paused, allowing the dancers a respectable time to withdraw. The lion’s share did just that. Twilight was immensely glad for it and dove for the ground by lessening her wings’ efforts. About the only thing to work as expected.
The ground quickly filled with weary dancers, but she was able to find a clear enough spot to land. Silver came to a rest close by. Surprised to find herself so winded, Twilight tried to uphold her noblemare poise by not gasping for air. Silver Vein was under no such compulsions, and hung his head and greedily gulped air. “Oh wow. Never thought I’d be so glad to be on the ground again.”
Twilight wasn’t so sure. The ground meant company, and the dozen or so nobles, Tight Textile among them coming right for her, left her throat drier than the dance did. She braced herself for the slings and arrows surely coming, as retreating would only make it far worse. “Better to face your detractors head on than allow them to only speak of you behind your back and label you a coward,” her mother’s voice echoed in her mind. “If you fail, accept it and move on. To do otherwise debases you to a commoner, and Sun burn me alive before I allow either of you to lessen yourselves so.”
Her hooves firmly planted on the ground, Twilight held her head high, only allowing deep, but slow breaths to betray her fatigue.
Upon reaching her, Textile bowed a bit in respect. “Never in all my years. I’ve seen fliers struggle with the Gear Hall before, but you certainly like to present yourself as a mare of firsts.”
It wasn’t quite the insult Twilight had expected, if anything it almost sounded complimentary, but she was still too inwardly frazzled to believe it. The growing crowd of onlookers certainly wasn’t helping as she caught snippets of what the crowd was saying. “Is she really a pegacorn?” “I thought magic didn’t work in Gear Hall.” “Did you see how she almost ran into you?” “You need to include that in your next play, it’ll be a riot.” “You think she’s actually an alicorn posing as a pegacorn?”
The last one actually got her madder than any of the actual insults being flung her way. Casting them all from her mind, she leveled a tense nod at Textile. “Yes well, not through a lack of trying to be sure.”
“I trust you also expected that to go a bit smoother,” Textile added, with a toying grin. “That being said, I simply must meet with you in private about this.”
“That’s certainly a meeting I’d hate to miss,” half-cried a young fast speaking earth stallion. By his accent he was from the heartland, and wore a brown flop hat. “Green Acre,” he said hastily while tipping his hat and fluidly pulling out a notepad and pencil. “Tranquility Times, at your service. A flying pegacorn, bully of a headliner that’ll be. Can you confirm for my readers how it is you did it?!”
Tight Textile bristled sharply at the rude interjection, but given that Green Acre was a known member of the press, it actually fell to Twilight to deal with the interloper. That didn’t stop Textile from glaring scornfully at him.
Even so, she wasn’t exactly in the mood to toss aside a chance to erase any sort of bad publicity her dance would give her if she completely brushed him off. Giving him her best patient smile, “it’s my armor actually. It’s a machine designed to use my magic to mimic pegasus flight.”
“A machine flying machine?!” Green shook his head, disbelief warring with what his own eyes witnessed. “Dame, ya kill’n me here. I can only have one headline.”
“Then perhaps you can do a double print.” Twilight was about to gently brush him off so she could discuss business with Textile, but stopped herself. He’ll just walk away as soon as he sees the price as well. Trying to hide her ebbing mood, Twilight turned to the business pony in question. “Perhaps we can discuss things later in private. My machine is still very new and as you plainly saw, not everything has been worked out yet.” As if expecting Textile or some other listening noble to offer token rebuttals she added, “affordability chief among them.”
Given her horrible dance, Textile and the others lining up beside him quickly caught on. Still, he was not in the business of dismissing opportunities. “A fair precaution. When you’re ready, please don’t hesitate to call upon me.”
“Of course.” She glanced around at the still growing crowd. “I must retire, I’m feeling very taxed right now.”
Making sure Silver was with her, Twilight bid a sluggish retreat as the true effects of mana exhaustion crept up on her. After some searching, they spotted an isolated perch inside a connecting hallway. It was small, but curtained. Silver flexed his aching wings to keep them from going stiff. “Can you still get airborne? I can pull you up if need be.”
Twilight’s wings at least were more less fine and she stretched them out to hover. “That’s about all I can manage,” she stated with a dry laugh, not trusting her thrusters. Taking her by the hoof, Silver got them onto the ledge and shut the curtain. Both of them nearly collapsed into the lounge chairs that nearly took up all the floorspace. She rested for over a solid minute before dragging herself up to a proper sitting position and smoothing her dress. “I want to thank you for helping me stay in the dance to the end. I don’t think the reception would have been nearly as positive if you hadn’t.”
Waving off her concerns with a wing, Silver started some stretching exercises. At least what he could do in the confined space. “I’m used to handling ‘golden moments’. Um, Golden Hills is my sister’s name, and she had stress episodes like that more than most ponies, and I was her helper before going off to RSU. I -Ah- I hear her husband has taken over for me and is rather capable.” He recoiled a bit, feeling as if he said too much.
Now that they edge away from prying eyes, Twilight clipped her wing armor to her side and hugged him. “You’re a good stallion, Silver Vein.”
This was the first time she had embraced him with affection behind it, and it lingered on until a biscuit hit the curtain and rolled in between the curtains. Puzzlement caused them to separate and look at the crumbling food item. An annoyed voice from below caused them to poke their heads out.
Pinkie Pie was waving an excited hoof at her while an Imperial Guard earth stallion had an iriate word to share with creating a mess. “By Luna you should have told me you were going to dance at the Gear Hall, Twilight! I could make you the next hero doing that.”
“I highly doubt it,” the guard grumbled. He was a far cry from the typically stoic bunch. “Lady Twilight Sparkle, the Emperor would like to share a word with you.”
Cringing a bit, Twilight hastily clapped her wings back into the armor and floated down with Silver close behind. “I hope the thing with the dance didn’t cause offense.”
“Hard to say,” the imperial guard cautioned. “The emperor is not in the habit of shouting his feelings.”
January 14th sixty eighth year of the second age
Fortune is finally smiling upon me. As luck would have it, Starswirl the Bearded used Canterlot Castle as both a test bed for early portals, strangely in the form of a mirror, and a repository for items he left behind.
The mirror is of keen interest though. According to Starswirl’s notes, it leads to a magicless world every three moons. Guiding Arrow and his scouts report the land is populated by a bizarre analog of a minotaur. Apparently Starswirl’s intent was to use this world as a sort of prison for foes too difficult to contain or kill as not only do such foes lose access to magic, but physically dangerous enemies are changed as well. One entry stated a dragon was transformed into a dog. How Starswirl managed to fit said dragon into the mirror he irritatingly omitted. Even so, I could not have asked for a better solution for my sister. I only wish he and the other Pillars had not disappeared before I took the crown.
More importantly to my sister’s wellbeing, the natives share our value in gold and precious gems. According to Arrow the locals have a pleasing appearance. No accounting for taste, but the sentiment should serve him well as he has volunteered to remain in this world. With enough gold and baubles he should be able to acquire decent enough accommodations for my sister. Without her power, she is no different than any of the other locals, and thus will have to sit in exile until I correct matters.
Again, the only problem is that Starswirl never wrote down how he was to presumably send these dangerous foes into the mirror in the first place. After all, if one can bind them long enough to throw them in, then the mirror would not be necessary. I will continue to search for answers, and if the library is not forthcoming, perhaps I will have to turn to other means to force my sister through the mirror.
February 17th sixty eighth year of the second age
To think I would be grateful for disease. Pale Light has fallen ill to camp fever. I doubt he will perish from it, the stubborn ox, but it has removed him from command. When I received word that Celestia had departed Canterlot, I had thought she was returning to lead in his absence. But no, Quiet Night assures me she is actually out recruiting. But not for more soldiers. Quiet Night’s report leads me to believe he doesn’t understand what she’s actually looking for, but I know. Celestia wants paragons of Honesty, Generosity, and Kindness, the same elements that stayed with me when I left her side. With her control over the other three, this can only mean she’s found some way to use others as surrogates. The only question is why? Does she believe the Tree will simply allow this to happen? Our dispute is one thing, but involving the Elements...
A shame the Tree is so deep within my sister's territory or I would ask it in person. Still, I must plan for the Tree remaining passive as it has thus far. If she planned to steal my elements, I’d have heard about it. If Discord had returned, or some other threat had revealed itself, Celestia would have called for a truce, as we had agreed decades ago. The only threat she wouldn’t call for one is me, but just how exactly could she bend the incomplete set of elements? Perhaps the how of it doesn't matter, only the what.
Whatever she’s planning, disrupting a spell is far simpler than creating one.