//------------------------------// // 2 - Not That Kind of Test // Story: Polygamy is Magic // by Ravenmane //------------------------------// After a very tense train ride, Twilight galloped off towards our house. Being the rational pony that I was, I made sure we could make the next train as Rainbow went after her. “Where are the index cards,” I could hear Twilight yell as I neared home. This is so not good, I thought as soon as I touched down on the porch and entered. “Need any help Twi?” “Parchment,” yelled Twilight’s voice from upstairs. “Quills and ink too!” I reluctantly fetched her supplies and slipped them into a sack before going upstairs only to be met with Spike covering my mouth. “Don’t ask,” he whispered. “Trust me.” Despite Spike’s warnings, I went to aid Twilight. Fortunately, I wasn’t alone in my regret as Rainbow helped lug everything with me back towards the train station. As we carried everything, Twilight had her nose in a very large tome while Spike wrote flashcards on her back. “Twi, you have to calm down a bit,” I told her. My saddlebags were full; the extra bags she insisted I carried were slowing me down. “I mean, it’s just a test.” “Yeah, there’s no way she’s gonna test you on everything you’ve ever learned,” added Rainbow. Just like me, Rainbow was suffering under more than we ever thought we’d be carrying for Twilight’s studies. “This isn’t just some test,” she practically yelled from behind her book. “Princess Celestia’s going to test me to see if I can go onto the next level of my studies, I just know it. You both aren’t helping to calm me down anymore!” I looked to Rainbow. Both of us were smart enough not to risk handling a furious unicorn whose talent was magic itself. “This is going to be the most important test of my life.” As she looked over the top of her book, she saw us both glaring at her. “What?” Rainbow sighed and continued towards the train station, but I didn’t move. “What about a pregnancy test,” I said before following Rainbow’s lead. All I heard behind me was the scratching of Spike’s quill and the slow clopping of Twilight’s hooves. I didn’t mean to sound cold, but if I said one thing a million times, it was that we were all in this together. ***** All any of us talked about on the train was what Twilight insisted we quiz her on between politely excusing ourselves to bang our heads against the wall of a different compartment. As I returned from the bathroom though, I saw Rainbow rubbing her head. “Getting sore Dashie?” “Yeah,” she said bitterly. “How did Spike put up with this before they came to your place?” “I wish I knew cause imagine what she’ll be like as a mom if she keeps acting like this.” Rainbow shuddered. “How long till we get to Canterlot anyways?” “It’s still a couple hours Dashie. Got any other questions or can I go back there and take over for Spike?” “If Twi mellowed out a little, you think she’d be better at it?” “Yeah why, you been seriously thinkin’ about it?” “Yep,” she said happily. “It’s my understanding that it can be a humbling thing.” While I may not have pressed for it, Ditzy loved to talk when she had time and she could tell what I was thinking about often. She really catches far more than anyone gives her credit. “So whaddya think about me?” “Ideal soccer mom,” I said without a thought to the contrary as I returned to the compartment holding the nervous wreck of a unicorn. ***** Despite how many times I’ve passed through Canterlot, at Twilight’s behest, I never felt so much tension in the air. Despite this sensation of unease, nopony in the city seemed to show any distress. “Hey,” called Twilight as we passed through a busy section of the city, “what’s wrong?” I snapped out of focusing on that sensation and saw her nervousness replaced with concern. “It’s just a feeling in the air Twi,” I said as I looked around. “Something just feels off about all of this. I mean, there’s no way she’d rip us from our honeymoon just to give you a test without a serious reason.” “I think you sound like you don’t have enough faith in Princess Celestia.” Even if she didn’t mean it as an insult, it drew every bystander’s eyes to me. “I have faith in her to rule and guide the sun, but not to dictate your life Twi. Don’t we factor in at all?” “Yes, I mean, I know that but she’s my mentor and, more importantly, the ruler of Equestria. It isn’t like you say no to a royal summons.” “I’m just saying a royal summons doesn’t rip ponies from halfway across Equestria at the crack of dawn.” “Especially when they’re on their honeymoon,” Rainbow grumbled quietly enough so only we heard her. Twilight rolled her eyes and continued ahead, towards whatever Princess Celestia was going to assess her on. ***** After Twilight bade us farewell, Spike, Rainbow and I waited patiently outside. “Odds are good she over prepared,” I told them. “But what if she wasn’t prepared enough,” worried Spike. “Since when has Twilight ever,” Rainbow silenced herself as she caught my skeptical look. “Must I really list a few Dashie?” “Besides Smartypants, what else you got?” “How about Twilight’s warning from her future self?” “Alright I walked int-” “What about the parasprites? How about trying to keep too many secrets? Do I really have to make a list Dashie? I mean we still have some parchment and quills.” “No,” she replied quickly, “you’ve proved your point. Twi can mess up like everypony else.” I nodded. “I wouldn’t want her any other way. I just want you to be a bit more awesome than prone to mistakes alright?” Rainbow opened her mouth to answer, but was silenced when the large doors of the building opened. “How’d it go,” Rainbow asked as she finally got her voice to work properly. Twilight mumbled something incoherently. “Come again Twi,” I said. “It wasn’t that kind of test,” she said dully. “So what’s the plan,” Spike said as he began to pick up some of the various supplies Twilight insisted on bringing. “Princess Celestia said she’d get some ponies to move all these things back to Ponyville. Where we’re going we won’t need it.” “So where are we going then,” I asked her. “The Crystal Empire,” she said definitively. “Wait, where now,” chirped Rainbow. “I’ll explain on the way to the train station, oh I hope everypony’s there already.” “Wait,” I said as I flanked her, “who’s everypony in this Twi?” “Our friends of course,” she replied pleasantly as Spike hurried up to jog on her other side. ***** Twilight filled us all in about what her test actually would entail, teasing us some by withholding bits of information. “So to make it simple, we’re going to protect the Crystal Empire,” she said as we rounded the corner leading to the train station. “Ooh, there they are,” shouted Pinkie as soon as she, and her party cannon, came into view. Where that girl hides it… well… I think I’ll leave you to speculate that. “Not time for that yet,” I called out. “Train first, party-eh party sometime later Pinkie.” “So, we’re going north girls,” said Twilight as she galloped up to hug our recently arrived friends. “Well, actually as far north as the train will take us and then some.” “But why in Equestria are we going that far north,” Rarity whined. “We’ll explain on the way there,” I said with a smile before getting onto the train. Slowly, everyone else joined me on the rather desolate train. ***** “Princess Celestia told me that she already sent my brother and Princess Cadance,” explained Twilight as we all got comfortable. “We’re going to the Crystal Empire to help them defeat the evil king that cursed it.” “Yeah,” said Rainbow enthusiastically. “This time Al can see us in action!” “I intend to do more than that,” I said eagerly. Twilight hopped onto the top of her bench and looked out to us all. “But-” I glared to Twilight. “Why would she want everyone to go if she didn’t think we could help Twi?” Twilight returned my glare but eventually sighed and nodded. There was something in the resignation she showed that perked my interest more than anything else did I had hit a nerve with her favorite weapon: reason. “Anyways, we know next to nothing about what we’re getting into right Twi,” asked Rainbow. Twilight nodded. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the ponies of the Empire still think it’s a thousand years ago.” “Just what did Princess Celestia tell you about the Crystal Empire,” asked Rarity. “She didn’t say much, just that a greedy unicorn came to power and enslaved the ponies who lived there. He was a tyrant who cursed the Empire before being vanquished by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They defeated him, turning him to shadow, and banished him to the frozen wastes beyond the Empire’s borders.” “What about the power of the Empire Twi,” asked Rainbow. “Yeah,” I said with a nod, “you started to tell us but trailed off when we got near the station.” “If the Empire is filled with hope and love then that is reflected across all of Equestria. However, if King Sombra takes hold again then…well, I don’t think I have to tell you what’s going to happen if he does.” “Well, we certainly can’t let that happen.” Sure, I was stating the obvious, but it has to be done sometimes. ***** A tremendous snowstorm was all that greeted us at the end of the line. Visibility was probably about twelve feet, but the snow was coming down hard and the wind wasn’t exactly helping any. As our former cover from the weather left us, Rainbow spotted a small sign marked Crystal Empire pointing towards the storm. “That’s Shining’s writing,” Twilight yelled. Even with the volume of her voice, not to mention being about a foot away from her, I barely heard anything more than a whisper. “What,” echoed Applejack from behind me. “She said the sign pointing the way was done by her brother,” I clarified. “We should probably get going before it gets too dark!” As we journeyed through the snowy tundra, Rainbow needed to be dragged from her usual inclination to fly more times than normal. No sooner had Applejack and I wrestled her to the ground for the thirtieth time, then a grey scarf and blue mane started to come into view. “Twilight,” called the scarfed pony, “sorry to say it but duty calls right?” “Shining,” Twilight and I responded questioningly. Slowly the unicorn guard came into view clearer but waved us over instead of nearing us any more. “We need to get going,” he said as we all fell in line, “it isn’t safe out here.” ***** If you’ve ever been somewhere close to either of the poles, you’ll know exactly how I felt as we trudged through the snow in silence. If the weather wasn’t the problem then it was definitely the time of year that was messing with my sense of time. We arrived early in the afternoon, but it had to be close to sunset by now. Despite that, there was no real change to the weather or light. As I said, you know this the closer you get to the poles. “We think the unicorn king’s trying to get in,” said Shining as he looked over his shoulder at everyone. If nothing else, we were certainly sticking to it. “If the empire is already protected then why send me to defend it,” Twilight asked him. The question barely had time to leave her lips when a sound like a horn echoed through the frozen wastes. “We need to get to the empire,” yelled Shining, “now!” His eyes were wide and focused on something behind us. This uneasy feeling caused me to look back at the dark mist billowing in behind us… against the wind! “Run,” I yelled as Shining took the lead. This sense of unease, I thought as I tailed him with Rainbow Dash passing on my left, I felt this in Canterlot. Now wasn’t the time to be voicing my thoughts, now was the time to make my legs ache and whine under speed and distance. Now was the time for us to run for our lives. As we continued to be chased by the darkness, Shining spun around to face it. “Keep going,” he yelled. As much as any of us wanted to argue to the contrary, we continued until we reached a large blue and white dome protruding out of the ground. I stuck a cautionary hoof towards it and passed through cleanly. The fact that I could get through at all told everyone that it was safe. What met our eyes were clear skies and lush grass, a large palace that seemed to carve through the sky off in the distance. “Everypony okay,” asked Twilight between labored breaths. Every muscle in my body burned as the adrenaline that was once fueling me faded. Despite that, I nodded between pants, much the same as everyone else. “So… so outta breath,” answered Rainbow. “Don’t think I could walk an inch further,” she added before collapsing on the ground. Twilight’s gaze however was transfixed on where we entered, hoping to see her brother again soon.