//------------------------------//
// Tour D'Horizon 
// Story: My Little Teelo: Masquerade 
// by Ardwolf 
//------------------------------//

In which we discover communication is the life blood of harmonious relations.

Twilight opened her eyes and saw a strange giant staring at down at her. She yelped before remembering she was now seeing through the simulacrum’s eyes. Looking around she relaxed as she recognized Lord and Lady O’Gara, Matt, and Elaine. There was another female human she didn’t recognize as well.

“Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle—the real one,” she said with a smile. “My simulacrum said there was some kind of emergency?”

“Our daughter went with Teagan to Equestria and she hasn’t come back,” the man said. “The statue said you could help us find her. It’s been over six hours now.”

“What? Why did she do that?” Twilight asked, not really sure why it was a problem. “I didn’t know she was bringing a friend with her. But she’s certainly welcome. We would never turn away a friend of Teelo’s.”

“Twilight, Emma ran after Teagan just before the Bridge closed,” John explained. “She wasn’t supposed to go.”

“Oh. Well, Teagan’s due to arrive in Canterlot today, she may already have, in fact. Now that I know you want Emma to come back I’ll make sure Subtle Dancer sends her home,” Twilight said brightly. “Problem solved!”

Jacob blinked at the tiny statue. “Just like that?” He asked incredulously.

“Well, that is what you wanted, right?” Twilight’s smile slipped just a bit.

“Yeah, but this whole thing has been a bit crazy, you know? I mean I’ve been worried sick and now it’s fixed? It seems too good to be true.”

“I guess sometimes it really is that easy,” Twilight smiled, pleased that the man and his daughter would soon be reunited. “If there’s nothing else, I need to get back to work. I never realized a princess’s main job was primarily paperwork!”

“Wait, what?” Matt asked in surprise. “You’re a princess now? Congratulations!”

“Thanks. It took me by surprise, one day I’m a unicorn and the next day bam I’m an alicorn And now I’m ten times busier than I was. I’d love to stay and chat, but with the troll delegation here it throws my schedule completely off.”

“Is everything okay on that side?” Evelyn asked unexpectedly.

“Yes, why wouldn’t it be?” Twilight asked, wrinkling her brow in puzzlement. “I mean there was a big boom this morning and Discord landed in the garden unexpectedly, but Princess Celestia took him back to Ponyville so—”

“What?” Teagan’s mother shrieked, loudly enough to make Twilight wince. “That monster is loose? The one who tried to hurt my baby? Did Celestia kick his ass—this time for good?”

“Um, no, it was nothing like that,” Twilight said quickly. Then her eyes widened. “Oh, no! Didn’t Sun Hammer tell you?”

“Tell us what?” Matt asked calmly.

“Well, Celestia had us release Discord and then Fluttershy reformed him,” Twilight said. “I have to admit I doubted my mentor when she asked us to let him go, but it worked out in the end. But if Teelo didn’t know…”

“A boom you said?” Matt asked thoughtfully. “Canterlot’s about a half-hour by chariot from Ponyville, right? That’s what, maybe twenty-five miles or so?”

Twilight nodded. “I didn’t hear what they talked about but Spike said he heard from May Belle Discord plowed into the table where Celestia was sitting and smashed it to scrap metal. I wonder if Teelo really hit him that hard?”

“If he showed up without warning it’s entirely possible she’d smash first and not bother to ask questions later,” Matt said, stroking his chin. “Apparently, she’s learned more tricks than I realized.”

“I’ll ask her when I see her,” Twilight promised. “Now I really do need to get going. It was good to talk to you all again.”

“If we need to reach you again will we be able to?” Olivia asked. “I’m sorry to be such a worry wart but this whole thing has me frazzled.”

“Of course, just make sure the figurine is in sunlight, and it should be able to reach me. Thank goodness I don’t have to hold court yet, so I should be free to talk whenever you call, although it might not be as long as we’d like. A princess’s paperwork is never done!” She chuckled. “I’m glad I was able to help. Bye now!”

With that the figurine’s horn dimmed and it staggered to the side.

“I told you it would work,” the figurine said tiredly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, even with the sunlight I’m completely exhausted. Good-bye for now.”

The figurine turned solid, leaving behind six very relieved humans.


ooOoo


“It’s never easy, is it?” Teagan sighed and slumped on her stool. “Just out of curiosity, is there any other monster I’m likely to run into before reaching Hejm—or Canterlot? You know, one with plans to destroy Equestria?”

Discord chuckled. “Feeling the pressure, oh mighty Queen?”

Teagan gave him the fish eye.

“Rest assured, Lady Teelo, there aren’t,” Celestia said with a half smile. “Although I will admit you have good reason to be annoyed. You’ve certainly had a busy day.”

“Yeah, it’s been very interesting,” Teagan said sourly. “As in the ancient Chinese curse. Okay, so what are we going to do about Chrysalis? Assuming Discord is telling the truth, healing her and turning her back into a flutterpony sounds like a very bad idea.”

“I never lie!” Discord said, holding his eagle paw to his chest and assuming a noble stance. “Of course, should someone arrive at an erroneous conclusion I don’t always feel the need to correct them...”

“I suppose I should speak with her,” Celestia said with a frown.

“Oh, that reminds me,” Teagan said. “I promised her I’d intercede with you on her behalf. She did keep her end of the bargain as we escaped the Everfree—even if it was under duress.”

“Duly noted,” Celestia said drily. “Well, since this matter seems resolved I must go. Kona Søyle, Emma, it was a pleasure meeting you both. Mayor, now that Discord has repaired the damage I hope your town returns to its normal, peaceful self.”

“I hope so too, Your Highness,” the Mayor bowed low. Søyle nodded her head and Emma attempted a curtsey, somewhat unsuccessfully.

“Lady Teelo, I will see you in Canterlot for dinner, I hope?” The alicorn asked with arched eyebrow.

“I’d like that very much, Your Highness,” Teagan smiled. “With the chariots destroyed it looks like we’ll have to take the train. I’m told Stormwind has already made arrangements.”

“Then I will see you at dinner. Emma, Kona Søyle, you’re invited as well.”

And with that she politely dipped her horn and left, collecting her guards along the way, Discord strutting jauntily after her.


ooOoo


Twilight severed the magical connection feeling very pleased that everything was proceeding to plan. So when she opened her eyes and found herself surrounded by a herd of elder unicorns looking gravely concerned she reverted to old habits and panicked.

“What’s the matter? Is some pony in trouble? Where’s Princess Celestia? Is she in trouble? Is that the emergency? Answer me!” The words tripped off her tongue almost too fast to be understood.

The unicorn closest to her, an ancient chartreuse stallion with fuchsia mane and tail and an unexpectedly luxuriant white beard that fell almost to the ground, cleared his throat.

“In order, Your Highness: the unexplained magical working surrounding you, no, in Ponyville, almost certainly not, and... no,” he paused. “I believe that answers each of your questions.”

Twilight’s brain rebooted from the unexpected load and she slowly worked through the list of answers the old unicorn had given her.

“Oh, good,” she smiled sheepishly. “May I ask what you and the others are doing here then, Professor Nimbus?”

“Your guard indicated you were in the midst of an unexplained magical working, Your Highness. Given the fact you ascended only a few months ago I felt it would be prudent to gather my colleagues in case something was amiss. I am relieved to discover that was not the case,” he bowed.

“Ah,” she said, blushing. “I see. I received an unexpected contact from my simulacrum. As it doesn’t have a large magical reserve I didn’t have time to tell anyone I was going to cast a spell. Sorry for the fuss, Professor.”

“Your simulacrum, Highness?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. “Would it be accurate then to say your spell projected your awareness into the simulacrum?” 

Twilight nodded. “Yes. It’s very similar to the way Princess Luna walks in the dreams of sleeping ponies. The major difference being this spell works only with my simulacrum.”

“And where is your simulacrum now, Highness?” He asked with a professional’s interest in a newly crafted spell.

“In Lady Teagan’s world,” Twilight answered innocently. She wasn’t prepared for the gasps of shock and horror the words provoked.

“You pierced the Veil?” Professor Nimbus nearly shouted. “You projected your awareness into another world?  Do you have any idea how incredibly dangerous that was? You must never do it again!”

“Why?” Twilight asked, annoyed. “Now we can communicate between our world and Lady Teagan’s! That’s an amazing breakthrough, Professor!”

“The Veil is not easily pierced, Your Highness,” he said grimly. “Which is one reason ponykind have not perished from the face of the world. There are creatures that dwell beyond the Veil. Many mages have touched the Veil to study its mysteries. A foolish few, with more power than wisdom, pierced the Veil. Most paid the price of their folly with their sanity, or their lives! Just five years ago Ivory Abacus was forced to mend a rent in the Veil! To this day she cannot face a bowl of vanilla custard, or a jar of gooseberry jam! They send her into paroxysms of terror!”

About to retort angrily, Twilight paused. “Really? I mean yes, gooseberry jam would make any pony shudder—not even Pinkie can deal with it—but vanilla custard? What’s so bad about that?”

The old unicorn shuddered and many of his colleagues turned pale.

“It is not fit for Royal ears, Highness,” he said at last. “Suffice it to say tentaclular appendages were also involved and leave it at that.”

Twilight shivered, remembering Tišina. “Yes, well personally I’ve had enough tentacles to last me a lifetime, thank you very much! Ugh”

The assembled ponies stared at her, appalled. Several were blushing.

“What?” She asked, completely confused. “You don’t remember Cuddles? It chased us from Tišina’s Glacier all the way back to Cloudsdale. Not something I’ll be forgetting in a hurry!”

There were several sighs of relief from the crowd and Nimbus plastered a huge smile on his muzzle, nodding vigorously.

“Of course, Your Highness, that’s exactly what we meant! You can imagine the disaster if your spell went awry and rent the Veil here in Canterlot, surely.”

“But this spell uses energies in the microthaum range,” Twilight objected. “There’s no way it could do that. It’s at least seven orders of magnitude too weak to be dangerous. Besides, it’s a resonance effect, so the Veil isn’t really being pierced at all. It’s more like the spell is using it for a sounding board. Only a tiny amount of energy is involved.”

The old mage shook his head. “Our readings tell a different story, Princess. You were radiating kilothaums of power just now, not microthaums. That means your spell would only need to be two orders of magnitude stronger to rend the Veil. Should there be a magic flare, for example, it would be a very real possibility.”

“That’s impossible,” Twilight said uncertainly. “The spell is entirely mental, my simulacrum has enough power to contact me—and it might have 900 millithaums in its reserve. Even in full sunlight we’re talking maybe 1500 millithaums. That’s nothing.”

“As an alicorn, Highness, your own magical reserve is measured in gigithaums,” the old unicorn said patiently. “You are still only eleventh circle and thus your control is not very precise. I myself am in the forty-eighth circle, second only to the Sisters themselves in skill. So you can believe me when I tell you that you are invoking forces you do not yet have the skill to perceive clearly or control with certainty. As a Princess it is your duty to keep Equestria safe—even from yourself.”

Twilight slumped. “You’re right, of course. But this spell is too important to just set aside, Professor.”

“And so we shall not. But prudence is the mark of a great mage, Your Highness. Once you have advanced to the eighteenth circle you will be able to see the Veil and all its subtleties. However that will not be for some years, perhaps a decade. In the mean time if you submit a copy of the spell to the Royal Academy of Magic we can study it and find out why there’s an impedance mismatch between the spell’s power requirements and the amount of power you were pumping into it. The excess power must be going somewhere, and given the levels we recorded the fact we don’t know where is worrisome.”

Twilight shook her head. “There’s no time, Professor. My simulacrum will be contacting me again soon. Given the political situation we don’t have years. We have a day.”

“Absolutely out of the question!” The old unicorn said, completely aghast. “I forbid it!”

The room held its collective breath. Nimbus saw the shocked look on Twilight’s face and rapidly tried to salvage the situation.

“What I meant to say, Your Highness,” he bowed apologetically. “Is that it would be far too dangerous to the city, to its citizens, and to yourself. Not to mention Princesses Celestia and Luna as well. Should something happen Equestria itself could be in jeopardy. Surely you would not place the entire world at risk over mere politics?”

“Mere politics? Are you familiar with trolls, Professor?” Twilight asked, trying to soothe the tension that now filled the room. Her own frustration was making it difficult.

“Bipedal creatures that live to the north of us,” the professor responded, cocking his head. “Somewhat intellectually challenged, and therefore easily provoked. They live in caves, I believe.”

“Exactly, Professor Nimbus. Easily provoked. They are also capable of using their claws to rapidly dig through solid rock. They are eight feet tall and weight nearly a thousand pounds apiece.  Did you also know we have been at the edge of war with them for ten years now?”

“Have we? Well, surely the Royal Guard can deal with a few renegade brutes, and if they cannot the Horns certainly can,” the unicorn sniffed disdainfully. “What does this have to do with casting such a dangerous spell, Your Highness?”

Twilight face-hoofed, much to the shock of the gathered mages. Professor Nimbus stiffened in outrage at the implied insult. He hadn’t been accused of stupidity since his foalhood.

“Do you know who Lady Teagan is, Professor?” Twilight asked with clearly forced patience.

“Of course, Princess Sparkle,” His voice cooled. “She saved Princess Celestia from Discord and led the effort that defeated Tišina. This spell is because of her?”

“You could say that,” Twilight’s tone was dry. “Lady Teagan has another title in Equestria, Professor. She is known as Dronning av Fjellet.”

“I am unfamiliar with the term, Highness,” Nimbus said after a moment. 

Twilight was struggling to be fair. She knew the professor was the foremost mage in all of Equestria, second in skill only to Celestia and Luna themselves. She knew he headed the most revered institution of magic to be found anywhere in the world. She’d always looked up to him, and dreamed of one day becoming a member of the Equestrian Royal Academy of Magic. He had been one of her idols growing up.

But now that she was actually talking to the pony she found him to be a smug ivory-tower academic with a skewed world view and the same superiority-complex as the nobility.

It was simply infuriating. 

“I’m not surprised, Professor. In Trollish it means Queen of the Mountain,” Twilight said in a tightly controlled tone. “In other words, Lady Teagan is the queen of the World Below, the queen of all trolls.”

He blinked. “All right. I still don’t see what that has to do with you piercing the Veil, Your Highness.”

Celestia, how do you deal with these ponies every day? Twilight moaned to herself.

“Lady Teagan spends most of her time in her own world, Professor. In fact this is only the third time she’s ever come to Equestria. While she is there she has no way to contact us. None. The only way she can come back is if someone on this side opens the Bridge of Days for her. You fail to see the problem with this?”

“I fear so, Highness. Please enlighten me,” While his words were respectful, his tone was not. Twilight felt her blood pressure creeping higher. Several of the Professor’s colleagues were beginning to throw worried glances in his direction.

“While Lady Teagan is in her own world and dependent on us to return, the trolls consider her under our protection. Should something happen to her in her world they will act as if we did something to her. And they will go to war against us,” Twilight said coldly. “This would be a bad thing, Professor. Ponies would die—a lot of ponies.  And while they know enough not to harm Princess Celestia or Princess Luna, the rest of us might not be so fortunate if we lost the war.”

“Are you actually saying we could lose to a bunch of troglodytes?” The Professor scoffed. “I think you overestimate their abilities, Your Highness!”

Twilight’s temper finally snapped.

“And I think you are offering opinions outside your area of expertise, Professor Nimbus,” she said coldly. “Let me make this simple for you. As a Princess of Equestria I am ordering you to help me study this spell. Given Lady Teagan’s importance to Pony-Troll relations, it is imperative we have another way to communicate with her world without physically sending a pony across the Bridge of Days.”

“Your Highness!” The old unicorn protested. “As much as I would enjoy dedicated spell research I have too many other responsibilities to dedicate the time and energy needed to such a project!” 

“Not anymore,” Twilight cut him off. “Professor Nimbus, you are hereby transferred to Project Tairseach, effective immediately. I expect a preliminary background research plan in my hooves by sundown. You are hereby relieved of all other duties and responsibilities and I expect you to delegate your responsibilities for the duration of the project.”

The Professor stood with slack jaw and wide eyes.

“My simulacrum could contact me again, perhaps as soon as tomorrow, Professor. We don’t have a lot of time. Now if you will excuse me I have other matters to attend to.”

“Your Highness!” The old stallion objected. “I must protest! Do you have any idea how much chaos your request is going to cause the Royal Academy of Magic?”

“Yes,” Twilight said with a level gaze. “My order will cause exactly the same level of chaos as your passing, Professor. Or the chaos the Academy would suffer from being placed on a war hoofing.”

“The question is: do you understand that your Princess has just given you an order, Professor?” Twilight’s eyes were narrowed and if she’d been standing she’d have pawed the ground.

“But Your Highness! Surely you understand I cannot simply abdicate my responsibilities!” He spoke as one would to an unreasonable filly, his annoyance seeping through. “Clearly, you have not yet gained a clear picture of the complexities of Equestrian governance—”

Twilight hadn’t been a princess for very long. She did not have Celestia’s patience, honed from centuries of dealing with politically powerful ponies, and she hadn’t yet learned how to hide her anger behind a pleasant façade.

Twilight surged to her hooves and spread her wings in an instinctive show of aggression, a snarl replacing her normally pleasant expression. The crowd shuffled backward, forcefully reminded that Twilight Sparkle was, in fact, no longer a unicorn. 

The stallion found himself suddenly facing an enraged alicorn. Terrified, he reacted instinctively, dropping into a full bow.

“Forgive me, Princess! I did not mean to impugn your judgment! I’m simply saying I believe you lack all the necessary information to make such a sweeping decision,” he babbled, flinching.

Twilight glared down at him. “And I believe, Professor, you spoke without taking time to logically reason out the situation, so let me do it for you.”

“One, there will be another contact through the Veil—soon. Two, you have convinced me there might be some danger involved in that contact. Three, you pointed out yourself that you are the best qualified unicorn to find out why I’m radiating so much power on a spell that shouldn’t need it. Four, Lady Teagan can’t contact us without this spell—and given her importance to the stability of our relations with the World Below that is a disaster just waiting to happen.”

“Therefore, Professor, we need answers and we need them now. You and I are the best qualified ponies to get those answers so any temporary problems caused by your reassignment pale in comparison.”

“QED. Sundown, Professor. Dismissed.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” the old stallion rose and fled, taking his colleagues with him, who seemed very glad to go.

“Honestly,” Twilight snarled under her breath.

“Twilight, I’m sorry,” Spike said. “I was the one who told Steeplechase to get help. I should have trusted you, but you just started glowing suddenly without any explanation, and you wouldn’t respond when I talked to you. It—it scared me.”

Twilight took a deep breath and shook her head vigorously, settling her mane. 

“I’m not mad at you Spike. I’d probably have done the same thing in your place. Don’t worry about it.”

“Thanks, Twilight,” he said in relief. Perking up he said “Did you see the way he backed down when you got mad? That was awesome!”

“No, Spike, it wasn’t awesome,” Twilight said, sighing. “That was being a bully. Remember the whole Butterscotch Pie incident?”

“You mean when that pie seller wanted twenty bits for her pies?” Spike asked, grinning. “Rarity couldn’t stop talking about it. She said Teelo put her in her place.”

“That isn’t how Teelo saw it, Spike,” Twilight said seriously. “She said she was scaring the pie seller into doing what she wanted, instead of reasoning with her. She lost her temper, just like I did. I’m going to have to apologize to Professor Nimbus tonight when I see him.”

“Yeah, but he started it with that crack about you not knowing enough to be a princess,” Spike objected.

“He kind of had a point,” Twilight admitted reluctantly. “I don’t know everything like Celestia does. I doubt I ever will.”

“Yeah, but he was challenging your authority,” Spike pointed out. “He’d have never dared do that to Princess Celestia or Princess Luna. You’re a princess too!”

“True,” Twilight said with a grin. “Can you imagine Luna’s face if he did that?” Her face fell. “But he didn’t hesitate to do it to me, did he? And he’s not the only one either. The nobles are polite to my face, but I’ve heard them talk when they didn’t think I was around. She’s not a real princess,” Twilight said in a snooty tone. “Just because she grew a pair of wings she thinks she’s Royalty! The nerve of some ponies!”

“You shouldn’t listen to them,” Spike said dismissively. “You’ve saved Equestria more times than I can remember, Twilight! They just wander around all day and look important.”

Twilight chuckled reluctantly.

“The nobles have important jobs, Spike. They help make the laws and run the country. Not even Celestia could do it all by herself. There’s just too much.”

“Yah, yah,” Spike waved a dismissive paw. “Buncha stuck up snobs, if you ask me.”

“Who says they can’t be both?” Twilight said, smiling. “But I’ve still got to finish these schedules. Where did you put Sugar Song’s maternity leave request?”

“In the M pile?” Spike asked sarcastically.

“Oh, right. Hmm, who do we have that can fill in while she’s gone?” Twilight mumbled to herself, settling back into the careful planning that was her forte.


ooOoo


Unbeknownst to Twilight, far to the north cold eyes were narrowed in an entirely different (and far less benign) effort. Although these eyes, too, were those of a planner…