//------------------------------// // Oh, You MOSSt Be Kidding // Story: The Twilight of Change // by teganaxis //------------------------------// 'Star moss. Atrichum angustatum. Known for its brilliant orange color and its star-like shape. Loves the sun, is tolerant of shade.' Patches of bright white clouds and gorgeous blue skies flew by as the golden chariot rocketed through the air, but Twilight was too focused to enjoy the scenery. The patch of moss appeared suddenly, overlapping the several other multi-colored growths that had mysteriously materialized. The librarian's skin crawled at the moist sensation as it covered her seat and extended over the back of the chariot. Celestia, who had opted to sit closely to her student, shifted uncomfortably but said nothing. 'Spoon moss. Bryoandersonia illecebra. Aptly named after it's discoverer, Dr. Sterling Spoon. Needs an almost constant trickle of water to survive.' The pegasi flying the carriage neighed in annoyance as their harnesses were covered with a third layer of thick green moss. Luna snorted in amusement. "Now all we need is a purple moss and we'll have a wet, sticky rainbow." The Moon Princess quipped, brushing away some moss that had appeared on her shoulder. Celestia shook her head, shooting her sister a disapproving look. Luna shrugged. Twilight sighed but maintained her focus on reciting all of her knowledge on the mosses of Equestria, hoping to avoid another accident. The panicked librarian only managed to get a few choice words out (like "oh my god", and "what the buck", and "salt") back in her bedroom, before she promptly had a panic attack and passed out. She woke up on the chariot, where Celestia insisted on the task Twilight was working on now, explaining only that "they had heard enough." The Sun Princess said haste was of utmost importance, so the trio had used royal privilege to enlist the nearest chariot, leaving Spike and Twilight's friends behind. When the librarian asked why the princesses didn't just teleport her to Canterlot, Luna explained that they didn't know how it would effect her in her... condition. Thus, all aboard the moss express. The unicorn found her mind wandering back to the same question she had been mulling over since she woke up. What exactly happened back there? The mare was convinced that what happened with Nightmare Moon and Ponyville was not a dream. Her new found powers were certainly real, and not only did they seem to disobey the laws physics and all other rational schools of thought, they bent the very fabric of time and space. Twilight's old habits got the better of her as she pondered the situation. List time. Here are the facts. One, Twilight was sure she destroyed Ponyville and possibly plunged Equestria into eternal darkness using nothing but her mind. Two, Twilight, somehow, reversed all of the damage by simply wishing it fixed. 'And three... I have no Faustly idea what is going on.' Twilight concluded, frowning deeply. She was losing concentration. The images of Luna trying to simultaneously fight off both a hydra and an Ursa Major were simply too horrifying and freaking awesome to tune out. The way the night sky looked through the body of the Ursa Major was eerily beautiful, and the part where Luna cut a head off the hydra with a scythe made of stars was pretty alright. Oh man, what if- Moss. Lovely, safe, not-trying-to-murder-everyone-you-love moss. "Twilight... are you okay?" Celestia inquired, concerned for her protege. The unicorn laughed half-heartedly, all too aware that she had nearly repeated her past mistakes. "Um... yes. I'm fine." Celestia's student smiled unconvincingly. Celestia frowned, but accepted the answer. There's no way either of the princesses could know what Twilight had done. Sure; instantaneous, non-magical teleportation was nothing to sneeze at, but it was nothing compared what Twilight feared she was capable of. They didn't know that Equestria was an errant thought away from total annihilation. Twilight was all-powerful. And it terrified her. "Celestia...?" "Yes, my student?" "What's happening to me?" The ancient princess furrowed her brow, pondering how best to respond. "I... don't know." The alicorn admitted. "I've never seen anything like what you did back in the library." Celestia paused. "...and I know now might not be the best time to ask, but did I hear you right back there? Did you say time travel?" Twilight nodded as a small patch of grey-green moss appeared in the middle of the chariot. The librarian was surprised Celestia managed to pick those words out of her panicked ramblings. The alicorn nodded back gravely, concern etching her features. Celestia put a leg around her student, giving her an encouraging smile. "... I cannot be sure whether this new gift of yours is a blessing or a curse, but we will get through this. Together." Celestia said, nuzzling her student's mane. Twilight nuzzled back, happy for her teacher's support. "I am also with you." Luna added, offering a smile of support. Twilight smiled back in thanks. "What I want to know," the midnight blue alicorn continued, "is what I was doing fighting a hydra and an Ursa at the same time." Twilight's eyes widened. Celestia looked surprised. Luna shrugged again. "You were dreaming after you passed out. I thought I'd take a look." Twilight shook her head, trying her best to stay focused on Log moss (It grows on logs. Who knew?). "I would explain it princess, but I don't want to accidentally... you know..." The Moon Princess grinned widely. "It's fine, Twilight Sparkle." She bent forward towards the unicorn. "Between you and me though," Luna confided, "It was kind of bad-ass." "Sister! Language." Celestia chided. Luna laughed loudly, and a few seconds later her sister and Twilight joined in. A warm feeling replaced the dread growing in Twilight's heart. As long as she had her friends, she could do anything. And although the purple mare never had to take that sentence as literally as she did now, she knew she would be just fine. --- "33 multiplied by 450" "Easy. 14,850." "Uh, 5382 divided by 13." "414. Give me a hard one." "Buck, I don't know. 50,666 multiplied by 82. Oh! And divided by 3." "Mmm... That's a tough one..." The night guard looked genuinely excited that she had stumped the librarian. Twilight giggled. "Just kidding. 1384870.66... repeating." The other night guard chuckled as his friend stomped her hoof in frustration. Her midnight blue armor made a loud clang against the reflective tile floors of the council room, eliciting dirty looks from Luna and Cadence, who were deep in a conversation about how they would deal with Twilight's potentially world-ending powers. Celestia sat in the third seat, jotting down everything said and offering suggestions here and there. The rest of the seats around the round table were empty; secrecy was of the utmost importance. The night guards were an exception- they agreed to having their memories erased as soon as they were no longer needed. From the amount the Sun Princess had written, you would think they had gotten closer to a solution. In reality, the only thing sitting in that room for three hours had gotten them was a lot of wasted paper and a pissed off bat... pegasus... thing. The guardmare leaned towards her companion. "Why did we agree to this again?" The other guard shrugged. "Kissing ass?" The mare rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that. But why didn't they ask the captain to do it? She's his sister after all." 'They know I can hear everything they're saying right?' Twilight sat back onto the floor, deciding to count backwards from a thousand to pass the time. "I hear he's sick. Can't get out of bed." The mare's companion replied. Twilight saw Cadence shoot a worried look at the gossiping pair before turning back to her conversation. The purple mare sighed. It wasn't surprising that Shining would fall ill eventually; with all the stress of rebuilding Canterlot after the changeling invasion, not to mention having the security of the castle resting on his shoulders, it was amazing he didn't get sick earlier. Twilight wondered if she could simply wish him better. Nah, better not. Before she could even think about helping others with this new ability, she needed to learn how to not outright screw everypony with it first. Plus, she figured, her brother needed a break. The guards continued to chat amongst themselves while Twilight stared at the ceiling, bored out of her mind. If only she had a book. Hmm... Ancient Ruins and Scenic Vistas of Equestria, the book Twilight was reading the night before the proverbial shit hit the metaphorical fan, appeared in the mare's hooves without a sound, simply materializing out of thin air. Grinning stupidly at her accomplishment, Twilight couldn't help but fantasize about all the books she could get her hooves on. 'All the knowledge in Equestria, at a whim...' The bookworm closed her eyes in rapture, soaking it all in. "Ow!" Twilight was ripped from her fantasy by the ceiling as it collided with her head. Wait. The entire room was basically gone, replaced with a veritable ocean of books. The tomes were piled high under the ponies, raising them up to the high ceiling, almost twenty feet in the air. "What? What?" The night guard mare started hyperventilating, flapping her wings in an attempt to free her legs from the collection of thesauruses that currently imprisoned them. "Twilight!" The muffled sound of Celestia's voice reached the librarian through the mountain of books separating them. "Mosses! Mosses!!" 'Oh my god, oh my god. Right. Um. Ooze moss. Uh, known for it's slimy texture and the strange smell it emits. Loves caves.' A groan that sounded suspiciously like Luna echoed through the room as it was blanketed in a think layer of the dark green stuff. "Why can't she ever think of flowers? Or puppies?" The dark blue alicorn complained. "...Gross." The male night guard deadpanned, nonplussed. The disgusted scream of his companion demonstrated her agreement with the remark. "Um... Sorry?" Twilight said sheepishly, scratching her mane. Luna sighed explosively. "Wow... this is, uh, really amazing Twilight!" Cadence offered. "But, uh, do you think you can poof these books away? I'm stuck under Celestia, and she isn't exactly the lightest pony in Equestria, if you know what I mean." Celestia snorted. "It's probably not a good idea. We don't know what could happen if things went wrong." The white alicorn said, pointedly ignoring Cadence's comment. "I'll teleport out and get help. Just wai-" The books started to tremble and shake under the assembled ponies, interrupting the Sun Princess. "Um, guys. Guys!" The night guard mare shouted, eyes wide. "Everything's moving!" Without any further ado, Twilight and the guards found themselves forcibly removed from the council chambers in a massive avalanche of literature and smelly plant-life. Lugged Spear stood by the now open doors, looking unimpressed. "Okay." Was all he said. The night guards recovered quickly, coming to attention with a crisp salute. "Sir!" They barked, ignoring the fact that they looked more like big, gross, pony-shaped moss monsters than guards of the Nightwatch. Spear simply nodded to them before turning to Twilight. "Twilight Sparkle. Causing more trouble than usual, I see." The librarian frowned. "Spear." She replied awkwardly, avoiding eye contact. The two had never really seen eye-to-eye since- Twilight shivered- the incident. The princesses all appeared in the hallway with a flash of light. Celestia's horn flared, her magic incinerating the moss still clinging to her body. She looked disappointed. "Vice-Captain, I remember specifically asking you to not disturb us. There is some..." The alicorn cast a sidelong glance at her new library, "...very serious business going on." The pegasus guardpony bowed low. "Yes, princess. I just thought I would give you an update on the object." Luna looked agitated. "Well, the scientists already told us it's big and round and metal, what other astute observations do they have for us?" Cadence looked more curious than aggravated. Lugged Spear didn't react to Luna's dripping sarcasm. "M'Lady, the object spoke." Now they were paying attention. "Excuse me... did you say it spoke?" Celestia repeated. "What did it say?" Cadence asked, a sparkle in her eye. "Well..." Lugged Spear glanced in Twilight's direction. "... It asked for her."