//------------------------------// // Twilight's massive, no good, highly stressful day. // Story: A new chapter // by Ponelover //------------------------------// “And that’s how disaster’s almost prevented.” I explained. “Silverstream would later remark that she wanted to ‘set things right’ with Poindexter, and they’re currently on vacation somewhere in Vanhoover last time I heard of her. She also said she wanted to ‘spend more quality time with Poindexter after all that happened.’” “Well, good on them I guess.” Twilight replied. “The director of the space program is currently being grilled in Parliament and Celestia has ordered a halt on all operations within the facility, said something about security and other such things.” The Princess sighed. “I loved Yucca Island, let’s just hope my mentor didn’t take things too far.” “Aw, c’mon, cheer up.” I said. “Sunset Shimmer and her friends did some real good work in preventing what essentially amounts to a missile attack, they’ve shown their chops at the very least. Shouldn’t you at least give them that?” “Ugh, why does everything have to be so complicated. I feel useless here, seeing you go off on some adventure while I can only look from behind and cheer on. Feels unfair. Sorry Daring. I… I feel like things are falling apart or something, we’ve been trying to make things right after all those deaths, those wars, those massacres, and yet Ponies and other creatures are still trying to ruin everything for everyone…” “I know how that feels Princess. It doesn’t get easier as you do this everyday. Trust me.” The moment Twilight heard that, she looked at me with a rather confused expression on her face. “Wow, thanks for the pep talk Daring. Thought you’re more supportive than that, don’t you have something more positive to say? May be more appropriate considering recent events.” “Well, I will say that it is worth it, and if the Ponies on the ground is anything to go by, all of you three Princesses are still loved by Equestrians, even despite the wars and stuff, heck, I support your rule Twilight. so at least you’re not doing something wrong.” I smiled a bit at the Purple Alicorn, garnering only a deadpan stare, quickly softening as she decided to brush off today’s events. “Thanks Daring. Now, I’m sure you’re busy doing SMILE stuff, so don’t let me stop you from that. I still have Sunset Shimmer and the rest of her gang to meet with, so get outta here will you!” The last part of her sentence is done in a very joking tone, and I can only reply jokingly as a response. “Of course Princess. Have fun!” I said, standing up and leaving her office. After all that happened on that island. I am currently on paid leave (Twilight doesn’t need to know that), and the big ponies in Canterlot are tearing each other apart over how such a breach of security happened under their watch. Oh well, not my problem for now, I do have a certain rainbow haired pony I wanna meet today though. Wondering what she’s up to nowadays. Starting my mandatory holiday with a visit to an old friend’s house is surely a good way to start it off right? Well. That was a right handed mess. Celestia and Luna have officially launched investigations into what happened, but it can be assured that this mess will haunt the country for years. A terrorist attack that nearly costed the lives of Ponies in Yucca Island. The so-called ‘Jewel of the South’ by some Ponies, questions are now being raised on what happened there, how in the world did these infiltrators got in, and whether or not Equestria should tighten security down there. A lot of big questions are being asked right now, gosh darn it. Speaking as the Princess of Friendship. I don’t want to be in Celestia’s position right now, she’s handling all the complaints with the usual tact and class, but I know that she’s stressed after this. Right, I have to meet Sunset and her team at the table. The not working cutie map table. Heeehhh, I miss a working Cutie Map table. “Hey everyone.” I greeted them. “How’s your day going?” “Umm, pretty well Twilight. Did you have a bad morning or something? You already look exhausted.” Sunset asked. “You can say that, with all the media frenzy around the recent attack. Good job on that spell though Sunset, that’s some creative thinking if I have to say so myself.” “Aww, thanks Twilight.” “Yessssss Sunset, please, keep feeding me your compliments and gratitude.” I replied, sarcasm practically dripping off of my mouth. “Equestria knows that the Holy and Inviolate Princess Twilight Sparkle needs her daily dose of good feelings, and I hereby command you to shower me with further good feelings and compliments.” “Please, you couldn’t even eat your hayburgers with dignity, you really think that we’d consider you Holy and Inviolate?” Starlight replied. Inviting a swift and fierce scowl from my face. Such uncouthness could not be left unresponded! Aaaand we both laughed at the silliness of everything. “Eheheh, yeah. Nah, the Inviolate and Holy Twilight Sparkle seems a bit too tacky and gaudy for me. I already got this literal crystal castle anyway.” That whole banter between myself and Sunset lightened up the mood a bit. Something we all needed after recent events. “Anyway, what brings you here Sunset? Last time I recall, you said that you wanted to bring all of these new ‘element bearers’ back to Equestria right?” “That’s actually it. We came here because of this.” Sunset then tapped her hoof on the crystal table. Earning a raised eyebrow from my face. “The map? Why do you need the map? Don’t you have the approximate locations of everyone?” “Well, yeah. But you know, Ponies move around. And I’m kinda thinking of using the Cutie Map to find the new bearers. Make things more precise don’cha think?” I shook my head at Sunset. “Sunset. The Cutie Map has been offline ever since the wars ended, trust me. I tried every spell in the book, even brought in some of my friends over to do some friendship things. I still remember when Pinkie Pie bought all her board games from Sugarcube Corner here, spent all night being best friends and all, didn’t work.” That memory left a bitter taste in my mouth. “It’s honestly better if I just send a request to SMILE and have agents manually track them for your convenience, Sunset. It’s just too… out there, sadly, to turn on the Cutie Map again.” “Well, I didn’t arrive in Ponyville to just waffle around Twilight, and since we have this opportunity, why not try it again?” I raised my eyebrow, clearly skeptical over Sunset’s unwarranted enthusiasm, but when I turned my head to see Sonata practically vibrating on the chair, and both Tempest and Starlight looking at me for answers. Well… Sunset planned this didn’t she? Trying to bring the team here to do some bonding activities and maybe activate the table. Eh, might as well give it one more try, it wouldn’t hurt. “Fine.” I replied. “What do you have on the table Sunset?” “Alright, so. Here’s the plan, we’re all from very different backgrounds and lived very different lives, even you and myself have different life trajectories despite being Celestia’s students, so. Why don’t we try to collate all these diverse experiences, put it on some spell, and blast it on the Cutie Map?” I blinked for a couple of times, this is certainly an… odd suggestion from Sunset. Quite out there, and I think might be borne out of desperation or something. I feel compelled to ask about the specifics of her plan though. “Why do you think that’ll work?” I asked. “Collate experiences? Do you mean that you’d do a spell that would gather all the experiences of everypony here and blast it on the map? Would the Cutie map even respond to a collective blast like that? Do you have a rationale as to why it’ll work? Potential risks?” “Alright, let me elaborate first, so, all your friends came from either Ponyville, Cloudsdale or Canterlot right? They may live different lives but they’re geographically close, and, well, they’re all ponies in a sense right? And you’d notice that my group here hail from all over this world, with none of us being native to Ponyville right?” “Yes.” I responded. Not following the pony with the sun cutie mark. “But I still fail to see how being from more diverse backgrounds and lives can contribute towards reactivating the Cutie Map?” “Twilight. Equestria is becoming more diverse as we speak, we have Dragons, Griffons, Hippogriffs, and even Changelings living and working together with Ponies, back then. It makes sense for the Tree of Harmony to pick only ponies to be the bearers of the elements, but since times have changed. I think the Cutie Map is trying its best to change with it, we’re already seeing it in the new Element Bearers, and I think channeling the same energy into the Cutie Map might be a worthwhile effort to restart it.” Hmmm. That does make sense, I doubt that the Elements would’ve picked a Dragon or a Griffon when Nightmare Moon came back, and I guess her rationale holds. Still, I’m kinda unsure about doing the spell on her suggestion. Lots of potential factors that might destroy the Cutie Map rather than reactivating it. “Twilight. I know you’re having doubts.” Starlight then started chipping in. “But why not try it? You gave me a chance, and Sunset, and Tempest as well. And we never failed you, have we?” “Well. I suppose not.” “Then trust us Twilight, if it fails, then we’ll just move on with tracking the new bearers manually.” I sighed, clearly they’re not going to give this up at this point. I can also just call the whole day off should I expend too much energy. “Alright, Sunset, how do you wanna do this?” Alright Sunset, let’s do this. We were all closing our eyes, our poses almost meditative as all of us were following my orders. Recall all of your fillyhood (or in Sonata’s case, Fryhood) memories and trace that to the present. How you met Twilight, how much you sacrificed along the way, and how much you gained as a result. I don’t know what Sonata was reminiscing about, but I hope that she’s doing something similar. Focus on both the good and the bad, how much you struggled to accept friendship, and how it got you here.  Still have no idea what Sonata has going inside her, she’s the odd one out. I focused on Celestia, how much of a guiding light she used to be, how I betrayed her, all in a ploy to further my own selfish ambitions, and how I repented, made friends, and got to where I am today. A Wondercolt for life, a Canterlot high graduate, a friend with a former enemy, and now, adventurer in the making. It’s not all good memories, but they are precious to me. All of it. “Now Twilight.” I ordered. “Activate the spell as we made it.” The purple Alicorn casted the spell, our memories copied and pulled towards Twilight’s horn, all collected into a massive ball of mana, and then blasted to the map. A laser that lighted up the surface of the table, before being absorbed into the Cutie Map like it was nothing. Crafting that specific spell took hours, hours of theorizing, experimenting, and arguing between myself, Twilight and Starlight. Books concerning magic from all eras are strewn about, their knowledge ravenously consumed by the three of us as we theorized and crafted the spell that would suit our needs. This is a shot in the dark, a wild card idea from the one and only Sunset Shimmer, and I hope that my knowledge as Princess Celestia’s former student won’t let me down now. It can be said that the fate of Equestria lands on this spell working. “Alright, the spell’s active.” Twilight said, “you can open your eyes now, and let’s see how the table reacts.” And so we all waited, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and Twilight’s expression soured from cautious optimism to visible disappointment. her ears dropped as the minutes went by, her eyes not as focused on the map anymore, and her smile slowly, but surely going away. At the 5 minute mark. The Princess of Friendship finally shook her head. “Sorry girls, I know this must be disappointing, but I don’t think that the map’s going to-” A single flicker, at the very edge of the Cutie Map. It’s small, almost imperceptible, but that flicker grew into a distorted image of the world map, which turned on and off at random intervals. We were all anxious at what might happen. “W-what?” Twilight queried, activating her horn and channeling more magic into the map. “I can feel it! The map… it’s coming to life! C’mon, just a small boost…” And then, at long last, it flickered into life, much to the surprise of everyone, the map, long dormant, revealed itself in its colourful glory. I can see Twilight shedding a single tear, like meeting a long lost friend. The purple princess could only nod at me, tears now more readily flowing from her eyes, a silent thank you for taking up on my suggestion. “It actually worked!!” She smiled, drying up her tears and analyzing all the new features the map has to offer. “It’s gotten way bigger and way more detailed than I thought. Wow!” “Oh hey look!! They’re now showing planes in the sky!!” Sonata cried. “Sunset, look, they have planes now in Equestria!” “I see it Sonata, I see it.” I responded back, visibly smiling at the now back in business Cutie Map. Smiling at Twilight and then looking at the map once more. “Now, where do I find the next element bearer?” I looked at the map, unsure whether I could find my cutie mark anywhere, I expected it to be somewhere exotic, maybe some jungle in Zebrica, or some place far away in Griffonia. Always wanted to explore the Eastern Griffonia myself. Little did I know that I found my Cutie Mark, and Starlight’s, and Tempest’s, and Sonata’s (Do Sirens even have Cutie Marks?) in the most unexpected of places. “Seriously, there?” I asked. “Well, that was unexpected.” Tempest commented. “Never been there before though, so it might be interesting.” “Oh wow. Looks like we’re crossing the Ocean girls!!!” Sonata cried, yet again. “Any comments Twilight? Didn’t expect that town out of all places.” “Huh. New Manehattan, New Mareland. That is interesting. I’ll contact Princess Celestia about this and arrange a flight as soon as possible. Just hang tight okay?” As Twilight teleports away from the room. I couldn’t help but stare at the city itself. I have heard stories of this town, a city in Griffonia that rivals Manehattan in size and splendor, a haven of both Ponies and Griffons, the most cosmopolitan city east of Equestria proper, and yet, I’ve never visited it. And a part of me burns to explore it. If half the stories about New Manehattan are true, then we’ll be having way, way more fun in this city than we might bargain for. Geez, what’s taking Auntie Twilight so long? She said that she will come talk to me later today. Well, it’s almost night time and I still haven’t seen her. I know that the Princess of Friendship has her duties and all, but even my mom, the Crystal Princess herself, isn’t this tardy. I was just having some fun down south anyway, I swear on mommy’s behalf that I behaved well too! Honestly, I think that this talk is really unnecessary. Can I catch the train back home already? I noticed the door opening, gosh, being stuck in the guest room is sooo annoying. At least Spike’s nice though, flying and playing with him is always fun. “Flurry Heart?” I heard Auntie Twilight saying. “Can we talk?” “Yeah, sure, whatever.” I replied as I walked to her. “What is it? Wanting to scold me again because I saved a city?” “Well, the opposite actually. I’m actually here to Congratulate you. You did good Flurry Heart, and Auntie Twilight’s proud of you!” … And here I was expecting a massive scolding from Auntie Twilight, and maybe a lecture about the importance of maintaining privacy and stuff. “Umm, okay, thanks I guess. But whatever. I only did that because I’m in town anyway. Is that all you have to say to me though?” “Well, Princess Cadence will probably want to see you afterwards. But you can stay the night in my castle and catch the train tomorrow. I’ll talk to your mom on the phone about your accomplishment. I’m very certain Princess Cadence would be proud of you once she’s heard of what you’d done.” I couldn’t help but smile at Auntie. “Thanks Aunt Twilight. I just did what I had to do y’know.” I responded, unexpectedly yawning a little bit. “Now, I need to go to sleep, do you know where the Guest bedroom is?” “Oh yes, just off to that corner to the right Flurry Heart. Now go, rest, I’ll talk to your mom in the meantime.” She said, leaving me to my own devices as Auntie Twily goes into her room. All’s well that ends well I guess.