//------------------------------// // Sparkle, Twilight // Story: Elements of Harmony - Turn it Up // by Sea Blaze //------------------------------// - THAT IS FRIGGIN' IMPOSSIBLE! Twilight, move your buckin' hooves over here. You've GOT to see this. *I wonder what's so important that it got Spike cursing...* Sparkle, Twilight As told by the High Scholar Twilight Sparkle, as written by a huge fan. In the warmth of a late summer afternoon Twilight Sparkle stood on the lower floor of her tree-library, trying to concentrate on her "Variation of Unicorn Magic", already at page 200, after barely half an hour of reading. Well... You know Twilight and her books. A good book? A good amount of time for bringing it down. But today? No. Today she wasn't going to finish this book. Actually, she wasn't going to finish it for a long time. - Hmmm... a unicorn's magic halo depends on the color of the unicorn's coat, and the way the said unicorn concentrates his/her strength directly into filtering the magic out of the Magicka... The Magicka? *Strange... I've never heard of this so-called "Magicka". Maybe there's a book around here regarding it's meaning? Let's see... M... M...* But no matter how hard she would search, how deep beyond the first row of books she would go, there was no book entitled Magicka, nor any with even slight connotations to what it could mean. Exasperated, she gave up and returned to her previous lecture, writing down a new to-do thing on her mental list. "Ask Princess Celestia about the "Magicka"." Then it hit. Her horn started to pulse with tingly and painful beats. Somewhere along the normal course of magic, a thing, no matter what it was, disturbed it's flow. Being confronted with this kind of disturbances lately, Twilight let it go and tried to concentrate on her reading. Still, it wasn't a normal fluctuation... even Discord's arrival was less of a disturbance. Something was wrong. *** The Redheart Hospital's hallways were now being paced up and down by an impatient Twilight Sparkle. By the door of the patient she was so nervous to see, stood Celestia, flanked by two royal guards. She looked rather absent... something was bothering her. And it was doing it in a pretty good way. - Relax, Twilight Sparkle. We should be allowed into her room somewhere over the next minutes. Pacing up and down isn't going to make time move faster. And neither will it make you feel better. - But Princess, I can't just sit somewhere and stare into nothingness! You saw that crash. You saw that... that... humongous crater it left behind! I never even knew there were things capable of doing THAT in Equestria. And what about Rainbow? I don't think there's a pony, no, not even Rainbow... that could blow a ten meter crater and get out of it without more than broken wings and a backleg! This is just absurd. They are hiding something from us... - Twilight, I was there when she crashed. I saw her injuries. She... was on her feet... and she didn't look even a little... scratched... she was perfectly fine. Until she acknowledged the pain, of course, and fell in... well, she didn't look like she felt the pain... she was just... sleeping. And her rapid recovery's purely astonishing. I'm not sure what happened, but Rainbow Dash is either an incredible pony, or... - Or? Princess? Celestia was staring upon the end of the hallway, her eyes blank and concerned, the sight of the majestic Sun Goddess obstructed by visions of Rainbow Dash... and the Crack in the Sky. - Princess! shouted Twilight, now completely desperate to know what made her mentor fall so hard into deep thought. - Oh, yes, I'm sorry Twilight... It's just that... there is a possibility that our esteemed Element of Loyalty had just took her power level up a notch. What she did is called the "Crack in the Sky". It's a legendary move, attributed to Commander Hurricane, which was said to be used to clear the skies completely, leaving the earth ponies without clouds, thus without rain, crops dying of thirst. But when commander Hurricane commenced with the move, the... the body of the ancient pegasus had immense amounts of damage inflicted upon her exterior as well as her interior tissues. Breaking the sound barrier is one, but breaking it while spinning wildly and then crashing into the ground... it isn't really the healthiest habit. Twilight was just sitting there, her mouth bent in an ultimate gasp. She couldn't believe it. She heard and read of it before, but to think that Rainbow... that her friend, the failure-fobic pegasus, could perform such a legendary feat... and escape almost intact from it. It was barely comprehensible. Taking the closest chair, Twilight fell in her not-so-comfy place of rest, threw her head back, and started thinking. *If Rainbow Dash, an Element of Harmony, was able of pulling the ultimate... "trick"... a feat no other pegasus ever obtained the honor to brag about... and got out unharmed... was it something to do with her being an Element? Is it... is it our capacity as Elements to pull off feats thought incredible? Well... only one way to find out. But first, I see Rainbow." *** It was the first time Twilight had Celestia as a guest. Her tree-library didn't really look royalty inviting, but it was... livable. Ignoring the books thrown here and there, it actually looked pretty well took care off. Of course Spike would waste his whole day cleaning the house, would've thought everyone. Well... not really. Being a baby dragon, Spike needed lots of sleep to feed his growing body with strength to keep on growing. So most of the days of the small dragon cub would be spent in his bed, turning from side-to-side and adjusting his sheets. Holding a plate with 2 tea-cups, a biscuit bowl and a small tea-pot, Twilight approached the princess that laid down on the floor. Celestia still looking absent, Twilight remembered the moment when her mentor appeared to ever show fear. She remembered, yeah... "...only Spectra can now take her to her judgement. That's all I know for now... she's immortal." Recognizing the same concerned... even frightened look from back at the hospital, Twilight sat down next to her Princess, and looked up, a bit shy, to the alicorn's eyes. She still wasn't there. *cough* - Oh! Oh... I'm sorry once again Twilight Sparkle. It's only that... never mind. So remind me, to what do I owe the pleasure of being the first time a guest in your house? asked the Princess, trying to make conversation. - Well... I know that this recent event with Rainbow is... taking it's toll on you Princess- - Oh, but that's ridi- - And I know that there are other, more urgent matters for you to attend to. But I... just before Rainbow crashing I felt something in my horn... it wasn't the same tingling, like the one that bothered me when Discord came up. It was bigger. And even a bit painful... - Well, what Rainbow Dash done is a certai- - Please, let me finish... and whilst it happened, even if I took my mind of it for the next 5 minutes and continued reading, my lecture didn't really have the effect I was looking for. Instead of calming me and taking my mind of the strange magic that disturbed my senses, it merely drew my attention even further. Now, I think I prolonged this conversation enough to get the courage to ask you... - Let it out, Twilight. I'm here to help you in any way I can, remember? Now, just tell me what's on your mind, my little pony. Celestia seemed... calm... Twilight thought she already knew what was in her mind, and was preparing a lie. Wait. *What thought IS that?! Celestia would never lie to me! Come on Twi. Ask her and be done.* - Well... I... do you know what Magicka is? And that's when Twilight got her confidence shaken pretty hard. The princess now opened her eyes completely and jumped to her feet. Looking up from her frightened pupil, Celestia put a frown on her face. She was looking pretty angry... ain't good for ya, Twilight. - Princess, if it wasn't a question to be asked, please accept my deepest apolo- - Come out, Seraphim. Shadows don't fit you well. *What? WAIT! Who's... when... how?!* From the shadows of the nearest bookshelf a silver coated pegasus, wings adorned with silver and emerald green feathers, and his mane falling in a shiny turquoise around his neck came into the light of the approaching dawn. - Well, hi there Celestia! Long time no see, isn't it? *Why is he smiling? He reminds me of Pinkie... But why is Celestia so angry?* - Seraphim. I thought I got you pretty well locked up into the dungeons. I guess I'll have to put you back there. ZENITH! - Oh, shush it Celestia! I'm not out to wreak havoc or shit like that. I'm here to help your little pupil. She wants to know what Magicka is, doesn't she? I know you'll never show her, so I HAD to come here and enlighten her! After all, not anypony can tap into Magicka as well as she did. - That's because she's a perfect ten, my friend. And she's Equestria's perfect ten. Not Magicka's, not yours. She's her own, and you ain't got a word to say in this. Zenith, charge. With this the longsword summoned by Celestia, made entirely out of sun-light, charged head-first into the coat of Seraphim. Laughing, Seraphim simply teleported behind Twilight. *Where is- But he doesn't have a horn! How?! When?! Prin...* - CESS! screamed Twilight. But nobody could hear her now. She wasn't in her tree house anymore. She was somewhere, anywhere, everywhere. Darkness was all around her, and she felt like she was sitting on... blackness. - Hi there, Twi! His joyful voice made Twilight even more nervous than she was. The pegasus from before had now turned into a beautiful alicorn, approximately the size of Celestia.Yet, he looked... younger. - Who- - Celestia's son! he giggled smiling. *Wait. What?* - No... you can't be. Celestia would've told me! You're lying. - What would the reason of lying be, us two caught in infinity's raze, without a chance of getting out until you tap in Magicka? Of course she never told you! Who would have fun telling people her son is mad? Oh, and what a beautiful word. Maaad... HIHIHI! The last sentence was spoken with his forelegs clopping, a huge grin appearing on his face. - So? Gonna get in that river, or spend the rest of eternity with a mad 100 year old? - But I don't even... how am I supposed to even see the river? - But it's inside you, my dear! All you need is a catalyst... that time was your friend's Crack. This time, however, it's gonna be... oh, yeah! Seraphim's White Supernova. Now that should do the trick. But be prepared, 'cause it's gonna take me some life years to produce, and if you ain't gonna tap whilst the effect is still on, then we're trapped here... for forever! I might even fall in love with you, so watch out. With his grin still on his face, Seraphim took off with a boom, just like Rainbow did that day, and started spinning. But this time, his horn gained a greater glow as he was gaining altitude. On his peak, the horn's glow already engulfed the rotating pony. Whilst stopping on his climax, he broke off the rotation into one, brutal move. The spinning light from his horn exploded in a shockwave, causing the darkness to wobble around them. In the wake of the shockwave Twilight's horn blew up with light, her eyes starting to glow, and her mouth dropping in a petrified gasp. From his height Seraphim could see how around Twilight a dome of purple energy formed, continuing to expand. Upon reaching her own climax, the dome shattered into pieces that melted, forming streams of purple energy, flowing around her into circle trajectory, lifting Twilight close to Seraphim's level. With her eyes still glowing, Twilight let loose a disturbing scream, this time her sound causing the darkness to wobble, even harder than when Seraphim's supernova had taken act. The streams of purple energy engulfing themselves around the sound, they started dissipating like ripples on a river. When the ripple ceased, and Twilight regained consciousness, around her and Seraphim was flowing a beautiful, purplish river of energy. 2 inches above it, the unicorn's head bent down, and stared inside the flowing stream of Magicka. Upon making contact with it, the whole river started flowing UNTO Twilight. Desperate and frightened, she screamed for Seraphim's help, but the alicorn was now joyfully playing around, flying in high loops singing "We're going out and you're immortal, we're going out and you're immortaaaal! HIHIHIHIIII!" When the river felt Twilight's limit, it was already drained more than half. Expanding with a boom, and then contracting into the unicorn's body, the river now spilled away, leaving Twilight to free-fall, heading head-first into the black floor just below her. Seraphim watched, with a huge grin on his face, as the unicorn was heading right to the point where the portal to reality was going to break open. - Help... please... help... whispered Twilight. But that whisper was about to be gone. She had gotten mad. And she could feel how her own feelings drove the magic around her, bending the world. She let her anger out. Right before she hit the floor... - FUCK YOU! *BOOM* The darkness wobbled once more, and from Twilight's horn strings of purple energy, capable of cutting through one and everything shot out, aiming for Seraphim. - HAAAAHAHAHIIIHI! Dodging Twilight's shots, Seraphim flew over the darkened world, turning into loops and twists. Even madder, Twilight started gathering energy balls, and sending them homing after her target, along her strings of energy. Getting harder to dodge the enraged unicorn's attacks, Seraphim soon found himself using his horn as well, for shielding. He threw himself back into spinning, and flew around the scenery in the same bullet stance as Rainbow, only spinning a lot slower. Still dodging, his horn protecting him and engulfing his bullet form into protective silver energy, he simply drew out more anger from Twilight's behalf. Her eyes turning into energy emanating orbs, Twilight simply drew out a ball of energy to surround her, rose up in the air, and whilst Seraphim still flew in a circle around her, the unicorn compressed the energy sphere to the size of a golf ball, and detonated it. Herself untouched by her magic, the Darkness now gained colors. Seraphim wasn't spinning anymore. He didn't seem like he was even breathing anymore. Celestia starred in awe, as her student sat in the center of the reading room, her coat dyed in purple, feet having gained a silver color, and her horn sparkled with the deepest purple energy ever to be witnessed from the creation of the Magicka. *** Back at the hospital, Twilight sat in Rainbow's former bed, with Celestia at her bedside. Ever since the incident the unicorn was unable to gain focus on the world around her. Her eyes, completely purple, continued to stare into nothingness, her horn still glowing violet. After 2 days in the hospital, when Celestia returned in Twilight's room she saw her student finally getting some rest. Poking her gently with her horn, Celestia woke Twilight to check on her eyes. Just as Rainbow's, where her iris met the cornea Twilight's eyes gained a purple circlet, spanning from the lightest to the darkest purple all over the circumference of the circle. - Good morning, Twilight. - Good morning, Princess liar. Author's note : Zenith, the design of Zenith and idea of Celestia wielding a sun-light longsword all belong to the author of the story "Ponies make War". Go check it out. It's worth a good