//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: Ein Sof Zealotry // by ZhaoZoharEX //------------------------------// Original Title: Promotion or Problem This chapter is part of the older version of "Ein Sof Zealotry" and is to be considered non-canon in lieu of the pending rewrite. This along with the rest of the old story remain for the purpose of comparison. The commotion in Crystal Palace caused by the arrival of Equestrian Games inspector and all the complicated preparations had died down hours ago. The inspector and Twilight’s friends where being shown around the almost finished sports areal that would now officially host the event and who better than the prince of the land could work as their guide. Twilight with her inborn animosity toward sports of competitive kind opted to stay inside and enjoy the beauty of glittering halls and luxurious suites some more, since the last time she got to see them she was sprinting around with Spike in toe in desperate pursuit of Crystal Heart. She was currently admiring one of the ancient statues, a pegasus rearing on his hindlegs and holding a massive spear, his wings spread out behind him in a gesture of majety. What really caught Twilight’s eye was the texture of the wings; the sculptor depicted them as if they were formed of several ribbons close next to each other. In the recent time she learned that there was no such thing as coincidence and decided to ask Scintillant about the detail. For now there was much more to explore and she resumed her tour with new enthusiasm about spotting similar pieces of art. However, her exploring didn’t last for long as a voice sounded from behind her. “There you are, Twilight. I have been looking for you, but this place is like a labyrinth even after the months I have lived here.” Twilight turned around and smiled at Cadance who was gracefully walking to her. She recovered from all that suffering really well, the place and all the love around obviously do her well. I could learn to live here too. Maybe one day. Although she looks better with her normal manestyle, Twilight thought, but didn’t voice any of those notions. Instead she went to meet Cadance half way and nuzzled her neck lightly. “It truly is a maze. You can never know what you find behind the corner. Or who you run into.” “It makes for an exciting housing, don’t you think?” Cadance beamed. “You know what? Let’s go to my chambers and have a tea party like all the years back.” Twilight giggled and fell in step with her former foalsitter. “Is imaginary Starswirl joining us today?” “He has been a bit grumpy recently, but we can invite him, I guess. There is enough room. Just look.” Cadance opened a high ebony door and with a grandiose gesture motioned Twilight to entre. Twilight followed the invitation and her mouth turned into a wide smile. Where Celestia’s chambers were filled with luxury, gold and gems, ivory and exotic wood everywhere, Cadance chose much humbler approach to furnishing her home. That however didn’t take anything from the comfiness of the place. Their hooves were caressed by high carpet in bordeaux and silver tones, the loveseats and couches were set around an ebony table in front of a fireplace, thick curtains and bookshelves lining the walls. The only reminder that they were still in Crystal Palace was the chandelier, as the walls were covered in gently yellow silken wallpaper. “I expected you to embrace the wealth all around, Cadance. This looks more like your home back in Canterlot,” Twilight pointed out in awe. “You would be surprised how quickly those crystals start bother you. And the luxury? I had to order the maids not to bring any more embroidered pillows in. There was hardly any space in bed for me and Shiny with how many there were.” Cadance cringed at the memory of the dreadful talk with her servants. “They are used to serving Sombra and can’t wrap their minds around that I don’t want to milk the Empire of all its treasures.” “I can relate. Having everypony fretting around you, not to mention for completely wrong reason, makes one pretty annoyed.” Twilight made herself comfortable on one of the couches and gestured Cadance to join her. The princess levitated a tea service for them and offered Twilight a choice from the assortment of flavours. “You know I will choose blueberry mint,” Twilight snickered and put the stack to her cup. Then she lit her horn and made the water in the kettle instantly boil. “It is polite to give everypony a choice,” Cadance replied and smiled at Twilight kindly. “I wanted to thank you for what you and your friends did for Crystal Empire today. It means so much to them.” Twilight’s mood visibly dropped at the mention of that day’s events. “I didn’t do it for Crystal Empire.” Cadance threw her a surprised looked and motioned for her to continue. “I did that for you. You are the only one I would be willing to cheat so much for. You have to admit this was nothing else than cheating,” she added as Cadance bowed her head. Twilight proceeded to shuffle closer to her. “If Celestia wanted the Empire to host the games so badly, she should’ve ordered it.” “Maybe,” Cadance admitted. “But the Empire really needs this. They’ve gone through so much and I feel they deserve some happiness.” “Yes, I can’t deny that, but I would prefer if she just ordered the committee to choose the Empire instead of having us go through this mess. Elements of Harmony are not some trained monkeys she can wave around like her banner, even though she time and time again does just that,” Twilight angrily slammed her hoof into the soft cushion. The humiliation and Trixie’s subsequent jokes related to Saddle Arabian visit were still an open wound on Twilight’s pride. She was having a hard time hiding her negative feelings towards her mentor and Cadance was starting to take notice. “Did something happen between the two of you? You aren’t your usual self today.” “I’m just a bit tired. I simply feel she’s been withholding too much from me. It seems like this is a game to her or something.” “Well, she never plays an open game. That’s just how she teaches.” “But what’s wrong with being open once in awhile?” “Well…” Cadance hesitated for a moment. “Imagine if she took an open action for once. She would have to explain everypony why she did that, find reasoning and deal with criticism. That would hinder her ruling.” “But that’s exactly what a ruler is supposed to do!” Twilight exclaimed angrily. “If nopony has a chance to comment about her actions because they don’t know about them, how can the rule be good? She’s just cowardly hiding in shadows, fearing that something would stain her immaculate image.” If she didn’t place her cup back on table shortly before her outburst, the couch would be now splashed with tea from the shattered china. She was hyperventilating and was shaking from head to hoof. Cadance recoiled in shock from the outburst, but quickly fell back into her old role. “Twilight, you need to calm down or you will hurt yourself,” she stated firmly and pulled the trembling unicorn close with her wing. “She has her flaws, but you won’t make them go away by bringing yourself a stroke. Now, remember that technique I taught you back when you were nervous from exams? Do it with me.” In her state of agitation Twilight didn’t even think about putting out resistance as Cadance grabbed her foreleg and outstretched it. “Take a deep breath,” Cadance ordered and once Twilight obeyed, she continued. “And breath out.” As she said that, she bent Twilight’s hoof to her chest, pressing it against where Twilight’s heart was beating. Twilight repeated the moves two more times before she got her emotions fully under control. “I’m sorry, Cadance. It just unnerves me. She wants me to learn about friendship and then acts completely against everything I learnt.” “Don’t worry about it. Sometimes I get angry at her too. Do you think she asked me if I want to rule the Crystal Empire? Of course not.” Cadance glanced around her and took in all the beauty of the place. “Not that I have much to complain about though. But recently she has been acting even more secretive, even around me. I think she has something planned and doesn’t want to reveal it too early.” Upon seeing Twilight’s disgusted expression, she quickly continued. “Just promise me that whatever it is you will try to take it calmly. For me.” Twilight sighed and turned her face away from her former foalsitter. “Sorry Cadance, but after everything that happened in last three years I can’t promise you anything, no matter how much I wish to.” When Ditzy woke up this morning, everything was just fine. She made breakfast for herself and her daughters and sent them off to school as usual. Then she put on her mailmare hat and clocked into work. Now she didn’t have the slightest clue what was happening. The weather was in erratic patterns- quite literally with the clouds themselves- and the whole town seemed to be disgruntled and grouchy. She wasn’t sure what was happening, but if she didn’t know any better, she would’ve blamed Discord for this. But she knew this wasn’t quite on his level of chaos and besides, he was reformed, or at least she thought so. That’s what she heard from Fluttershy and Twilight when she delivered their mail. She wasn’t sure whether she should try and go on with her mail route or try to find out what was happening. Everypony she delivered to was either too angry or too confused to give her any answers. What confused her even more was when she delivered to each of the Elements of Harmony. Fluttershy was where Pinkie Pie lived, Pinkie Pie was where Applejack was suppose to be, Applejack was making dresses in Rarity’s boutique, Rarity was doing Rainbow Dash’s weather job- which would explain the strange weather- and Rainbow Dash was trying to take care of Fluttershy’s animals, keyword being “trying”. That left only Twilight Sparkle, her newest friend. From Fluttershy’s cottage, she left towards the Golden Oaks Library to talk to her. However, she didn’t get to fly too far before she saw Twilight walking without Spike. That doesn’t surprise me. I think I saw Spike with Rarity, Ditzy thought taking note of his absence. But as she descended, she noticed something odd when she caught a glimpse of her friend’s face. There was no concern or sorrow on her face, not even so much as a hint of it. Instead she seemed to be giggling a little bit, not the kind of thing you would expect from a mare whose friends where miserable. Then again, they weren’t exactly her friends anymore, at least not to her from what Scintillant told her. “Twilight!” Ditzy finally decided to call out. The purple unicorn looked back to see her recent ally approaching her. “Hey Ditzy, what’s going on?” “Have you looked around? I know Ponyville isn’t exactly the most normal of places in Equestria, but this is strange even for Ponyville standards.” “Yeah I’ve noticed. I just got back from visiting my friends and they’re all doing either’s jobs. They even have each other’s cutie marks.” “You don’t sound all that concerned.” Twilight glanced to the side. Ditzy was almost certain she was trying to hide a smirk. “Well, at first I was a bit worried about this, but there is no reason for me to care, right? They weren’t concerned about me the past years, why should I?” Ditzy realized now what this was about. The younger pony was still resentful of her “friends” and she figured this was deserved. She could understand not wanting to help somepony who wronged her. There have been many who made fun of her eyes and her clumsiness, but this was a bit too much and not concerning just the small group. It didn’t seem like Twilight. “So what are you going to do now?” Ditzy inquired cautiously. “I don’t know. I’m not sure how, or even if I should fix this. I’m almost tempted to leave them like this. If they want to change their lives to accommodate some stupid picture on their flank, let them. I just want to go home and eat something.” The words carried a not-so-subtle frustration in them. She was clearly stressed, but the words themselves didn’t sound like the mature adult that Twilight usually was. And that struck a cord in Ditzy. “Are you really going to act like this now?” she began in a more serious tone than usual. “Because to me, you sound a lot like a little filly throwing a tantrum. I can understand your anger towards your friends. Trust me, look at this face. Look at my clumsiness. What pony wouldn’t look at me and think I’m just an incompetent buffoon? But I don’t let that stop me from doing what I do. I’ve had times where I just wanted to stomp my hooves and give up. Then I look at my two little fillies and I realize that if I did just give up, what would I be teaching them? If I just gave up and not do anything, where would that leave them? They shouldn’t have to suffer because I didn’t want to do anything. They’re just innocents that would feel the consequences of my inaction.” Ditzy pointed to various ponies that were having problems because of the disorder that was happening. “Just like them. They didn’t do anything to deserve this. How many of them will have their lives ruined as a result of this? How many of them will live in constant fear, never knowing why this is happening or why it changed so abruptly? All just because you don’t want to lift a hoof to help your friends. They may have not been very good friends, but you’re not acting any better. And aren’t you supposed to be the bearer of Humility? What happened to putting others before yourself?” Twilight was speechless to say the least. She stood there with her jaw open as Ditzy exhaled to let her words sink in, and sink in they did. Twilight dropped her coldness and it was replaced with shame. Shame of being so selfish. “I… I didn’t… I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.” Ditzy smiled warming and wrapped a wing over her friend. “It’s okay. We all have our low points. Now, I think you know what needs to be done.” Twilight nodded. “Thanks a lot Ditzy. Now I need to find out how to fix this.” The early morning air brushed against Trixie’s coat. She took special care of her appearance today, complementing the thorough bath she endured in freezing waters of one of the Everfree lakes. Of course she heard about what was to happen that day, Zecora got much more visitors these days than when she first moved close to Ponyville and so never lacked the news and always shared them with her new neighbour. Till the last moment Trixie hoped Twilight would suddenly teleport in front of her and take her to witness the coronation, but as the sun climbed higher still on the sky, she admitted it was a foalish hope. She lay on one of the bare hills deep in the Everfree, face turned toward Canterlot. Normally she would bring a blanket, but today she didn’t care about the comfort of her spot. At least that’s what she thought back in her log cabin. Now as the stones digging into her belly and rough stems of grass entangling with her fur became reality, she bitterly regretted her decision. Better yet, it was only fueling her frustration further. “Just perfect! Not only don’t I get to see it, I can’t even lay in the grass comfortably!” She jumped up, stomping the plants of the hilltop. “Do you have something against me, you blasted forest?!” she yelled and kicked the dirt with all her might. Unfortunately, a stone was hidden just under the surface and she recoiled from the pain in her now bruised hoof. She laid back down and cradled her aching appendage, few tears finding their way on her cheeks. “I take that as a yes.” Her gaze drifted back to the castle in the distance, few multicolored bursts of light around the tiny towers. My fireworks would be prettier. They don’t even know how to properly honor her, she thought bitterly and rested her chin on her uninjured hoof. She rose from her lethargy few minutes later when all the birds in the hundred yard radius flew up at the same time. She shot to alerted position, expecting some vile beast preparing attack, but instead came face to face with gray pegasus mare with yellow mane and two enormous brown saddlebags at her sides. “There you are. Locating you here was a toughie,” the mare exclaimed cheerfully. “That was the point,” muttered Trixie. After few seconds of remembering she finally recognised who her unexpected visitor was. “What are you doing here, Ditzy? Why aren’t you at the coronation like everypony else? she asked with flare, spreading her forelegs wide as if she wanted to embrace the whole world. “Oh I will go there later, I still have time.” Ditzy’s light tone communicated clearly that she either didn’t notice Trixie’s bitterness or didn’t pay it any mind. “But now I am still on mailmare duty and Twilight sent me to you with a delivery. I will just have to talk to her about properly filling the address. Everfree Forest 2 is kinda vague localization.” Trixie kept her annoyed expression, her dark mood not receding single bit, maybe even growing from the happy presence next to her. “So our precious princess remembered this low peasant pony and sent her a letter? Tell me, did she write it alone, or was one of her lockeys tasked with wording it? I wouldn’t be surprised, she must be SO busy with her new role!” Tilting her head to the side Ditzy took a good look on Trixie’s face. Too many times Dinky and Sparkler tried to hide that something bad happened, so such an obvious sign like tear traces couldn’t escape Ditzy’s attention. From that discovery it was just a small step to understanding the reason of Trixie’s angry words. “If it was even slightly possible, she would have gotten you there. You should have seen how dejected she looked when she was handing me this for you. It would help her too if you could be there today. Not all that glitters is gold.” She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a brown box tied by a simple twine and a white envelope with purple wax seal. Grabbing the items in her magic Trixie sighed and laid back down. “Thank you. It-it just isn’t fair. I’m not saying I would like to be a princess, but attending her coronation would feel so right. I will miss her moment of glory…” Ditzy put down her saddlebags and laid close to where Trixie was curling up. “There will be many more times when Twilight will shine. She just has it in her.” She leant forward and in a conspiratorial manner whispered. “Besides, a title acquired today will soon be pretty much meaningless, and so is this celebration. Would you like me to stay here with you instead of going there?” “Even meaningless things can be pleasant, Ditzy. Concentrating only on work and duty will get much done, but also turns a pony into machine. We need fun just as much as self-motivation,” Trixie said as she started fiddling with the knot on the package. That left Ditzy a bit confused, as such way of thinking was foreign to her for a very long time now. Spotting the indecisive look of Ditzy, Trixie chuckled and continued. “Hurry up or you will be late. And say hello to others if you see them.” Ditzy glanced at the position of the sun and jumped directly into the air. “Oh my gosh, you are right! I have to hurry! See you later, Trixie. And please, don’t be sad, ok?” With that she shot in direction of Canterlot with speed nopony would believe in the usually clumsy pegasus.   I will try, Trixie thought and finally unwrapped the package. Inside she found a light blue cake with her cutie mark on top in white frosting. There was also a silver knife and a small china plate. Twilight sent me my personal coronation banquet! Then she took the letter, carefully removing it from the envelope. Title unasked for brings little pleasure, the crown weighs me down. Without new friends I wouldn’t go on. I hope to see you soon. Trixie folded it back into the envelope and held close to her chest. Realization of how selfishly she thought about the event struck her like a speeding chariot and opened a whole new view on Twilight. “I hope to see you soon too, Twilight. I really do.” Acrylic Canvas had never seen Limestone Boulevard so decorated and full of life before, even when she worked on the street. The coronation of Princess Twilight Sparkle was a huge event, one that Canvas never thought she would be a part of. Not since the royal wedding had such an event gotten so much excitement. The young artist saw everything as new and beautiful, embracing her second chance on life and taking everything in. Best of all, Canvas knew the new princess as a dear friend, all the more reason to show up. Running from one stand to another, checking on various cheesy memorabilia of the event sold by traveling vendors, and admiring the craftsmanship of few actual artisans, she made her way down the Boulevard and further to the centre of the city. Deciding to be less strict on her expenses she was soon munching on a cotton candy, colored purple to honor the new princess. She was so entranced by the festive surroundings that she lost her classmates she originally went with somewhere in the crowd. “Oh great. Where is everypony?” Canvas said thinking out loud. It was a habit she’d picked up during her painting sessions. “Well, might as well look at everything else.” She trotted further down the street, humming along with the music that played, up until she saw a Wonderbolt demonstration. “Ooh! The Wonderbolts. I have to see this.” The excited young mare watched gleefully as the elite pegasi performed air formations, loops and turns, and at one point they flew so low that the spectators could feel the wind speed as they dashed by. Everypony cheered, including Canvas herself. As the demonstration died down and the spectators went to see other festivities, Canvas noticed a lone pony wearing a formal dress uniform on the sidelines and approached to get a closer look. Then she recognized it was Lightning Dust. While each of the other cadets and spectators had a look of excitement and glee, she looked just the opposite; serious, even slightly annoyed that she was here. “Um, excuse me?” The pegasus turned towards the young mare and saluted, feeling slightly silly doing so to a grown-up mare with cotton candy all over her muzzle. “Good morning young lady. Is there anything I can help you with?” “Your name is Lightning Dust, right?” She blinked. “Yes… How did you know?” “Don’t you remember me? Acrylic Canvas? We met in Elysium?” Canvas said whispering that last part. It took a moment for Lightning Dust to realize who she was speaking to. “Oh! Yeah sorry, so much has been going on today.” “It’s okay. With this kind of thing, it’s easy to get lost in the excitement.” “Yeah, right. Excitement.” Canvas noticed the sarcasm in her friend’s voice. “Is something wrong? I would have thought this would be exciting for everypony.” “To be honest, I didn’t really want to be here today. The only reason I’m here right now is because I was more or less ordered to come. It’s a military duty.” Canvas tilted her head, signaling Lightning that she didn’t understand her words very well. “Look kid, when you’re in the military, you have certain duties you have to-” “I know what you mean about the military duties, I’m just confused as to why you don’t want to be here.” “...Oh. Well, I would rather be training in all honesty. I want to try and be a better pony than I was and, hopefully, gain a position in the Wonderbolts.” “But today is a day of celebration. Our friend is becoming a princess, isn’t that a great achievement?” “Yes. And I’m happy for her, really I am. My friend and partner Rainbow Dash is an even closer friend to Twilight. I actually met Twilight through her… I just wish it could’ve been on more favorable conditions.” As Lightning Dust talked, Canvas noticed her looking through the crowds as if she was looking for somepony. “What do you mean ‘more favorable conditions’?” “Well… Awhile back, she and her other friends came to visit Rainbow Dash and they came during practice. Rainbow and I were trying to clear away clouds and in a reckless tactic, I convinced her to create a tornado to clear them. We lost control and it sucked up her friends, destroying their balloon. If not for the other cadets being so fast, they probably would have died. This later resulted in me being disowned by my family.” “Oh… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.” Canvas started feeling bad having brought up this touchy subject. “Nah, it’s cool. If we’re going to be friends, you’d have to hear it anyway.” Lightning smiled. “Anyway, I wanted to join my family again so I threw myself into my training, under the guidance of Rainbow Dash keeping me in line should I relapse into my recklessness again, as her wingpony. I wasn’t quite pleased at first having to come here because I wanted to get back to that, but being here now, I wanted to see if I could at least catch a glimpse of my father. Unfortunately, I can’t find him.” The comment about Lightning Dust’s father made Canvas’ ears droop, being reminded of her own father. “I can understand the feeling of letting down your father. I’m not sure if I can face mine anymore.” “Well, looks like we have something in common then. I’m willing to bet you miss your family as much as I do?” Canvas nodded, earning a pat on the back from her companion. “Everything’s gonna be just fine bud. Look, I should probably go join the other cadets. The captains gonna wonder where I’ve gone.” “Yeah, my classmates are going to wonder the same. It’s been nice talking to you.” “Same to you, uh… I’m sorry, what was your name again?” “Acrylic Canvas.” “Right. Seeya round.” The mares parted ways and at noon later that day, they showed up at the ceremony of the new princess, along with Ditzy who joined them at the last minute. After Celestia gave her proud speech, Canvas beamed as the double doors opened to reveal the glorious sight of the pony who helped turn her life around. It was hard for her to believe that this already pretty mare was even more gorgeous. To her, this was like a happy fairy tale and it made her ecstatic as Twilight was crowned and gave her speech to the citizens of Equestria that showed to the event. Everypony clapped and cheered, Canvas especially whose eyes were welling up with emotion as Twilight embraced her brother and sister-in-law; Shining Armor wasn’t the only one with liquid pride. Twilight and her friends were being escorted to a parade outside when she saw Canvas in the crowd. Out of habit she smiled at the young artist, happy to see her. But in that moment after she broke eye contact, Canvas noticed something that troubled her. Twilight had little joy in her expression. Sure, she was smiling for the crowd, but it was noticeably strained, or at least it appeared to be. It would seem that nopony else noticed it but Canvas. “Is she… upset? Later that night, Twilight was escorted to her new royal chambers by Celestia. While she didn’t plan on living here, she admittedly found the chamber to be fairly cozy. Celestia had all the necessities set up for her prized student, including a small collection of books. The two were talking while they were having some tea, Celestia answering Twilight’s questions on her new position. “Is there anything else you want to ask?” “Yes actually. I was wondering what I had in store for me now that I have this title.” “We will start slow at first. But a lot has happened today so I will brief you about it tomorrow. Until then, try to get some rest.” “I’m still unsure about this, Princess.” “You will do more than well. I have the utmost confidence and faith in you. Good night Twilight.” “Good night Princess Celestia.” Twilight waited until Celestia was long gone and Spike was asleep before she crawled underneath the covers of her new bed. Having faith in somepony means you take their opinion and wishes into consideration, not force your own will upon them! If I knew what that spell was, I would have just burned that book! Twilight angrily thought. But maybe we can benefit from this. I will learn as much about your government as possible and master my new powers along with it. Then we’ll see who decides whose fate… As Twilight drifted off to sleep, a certain angelic pony stood outside on the balcony. She had watched as everything unfolded during the day. And she too was bitter about it. “Oh Celestia. You did it yet again, burdening a young soul with what they didn’t desire. Yet this time, I won’t allow you to ruin them. Twilight Sparkle will never be alone…”