//------------------------------// // The Truth Revealed? // Story: The Princess and the Human // by Ausbrony //------------------------------// Chapter Five – The Truth Revealed? Celestia flicked on the lights as her and five mares entered Twilight’s laboratory. Layers of dust covered almost everything and Rarity stifled a sneeze as they looked around. The walls weren’t visible, buried under hundreds, possibly thousands of notes, sketches and writing that nopony in the room could even hope to understand.             “Oh Twilight, what has made you so enthralled in this research?” Celestia sighed as she lifted a few books, hoping to find a clue to her friends’ whereabouts.             “Just what was the egghead doing in here?” Rainbow asked, “I figured that she was done shutting herself in like this?” Celestia thought so as well, but the weeks following the young alicorn’s coronation, Twilight had spent more and more time in here, and about two weeks prior, Celestia had only seen her once or twice. The diarch looked to Spike, the only individual that had regular contact with Twilight.             “Do you know what she was up to in here?” Spike nodded and beckoned for everypony to follow him into the next room, what awaited them made them gasp. A large, fragmented crystal ring sat on the floor in the centre of the room with a complex magic circle contained within it.             “What the hay is this thing?” Applejack asked as Celestia and Rarity looked over it. Rarity had studied some magic, but she was nowhere near Twilight’s level, a glance at the alicorns notes on this ‘project’ simply served to hurt her head. Celestia had lived for a long time, but after a millennia of life, Celestia was amazed that she could still be surprised like this.             “Well?” Rainbow Dash tapped hoof, “What the heck was Twi doing here?” Celestia looked her notes again and nodded, “Well it appears to be a complex method of teleportation… but why would she need some much power?” The spell matrix that lay here could transport maybe a hundred ponies at once or several ponies over a massive distance. “I think that Twilight has teleported somewhere.”             “That’s what she was trying to do,” Spike said, “She was researching ways to let non-magical ponies and other creature’s teleport.” He had started dusting her desk, mostly out of habit. “Twilight got the idea in her head that it wasn’t fair that only unicorns’ could use magic, so she started researching way for other ponies to wield its power.”             “But couldn’t that be dangerous?” Fluttershy finally spoke up. Spike shook his head, “Twilight wasn’t thinking about granting individuals magic, that would be reckless.” He pointed to the crystal ring, “This is supposed to be a gateway, well part of a series of them anyway, that ponies could use to travel instantly to other cities or towns.” He plucked a small stack of notes from her desk, “And these are designs for rings that could grant the user minor telekinesis, imagine the uses that could have? Allowing earth pony or pegasi doctors to use surgical tools more accurately, furniture movers could lift heavy objects easily, construction workers, police, disabled ponies!”             "Okay, we get it!” Rainbow cut off the small dragon’s rant. “Twilight was trying to do something awesome… but that doesn’t answer where she went.” It wasn’t like the studious pony to leave all these unfinished projects. “Did she really teleport?” Celestia sighed again, “I honestly wish that was the case, but I have had my Guard searching high and low, as well as both my sister and I scanning the waking and dreaming world… and not a trace of her can be found.”             “Maybe Twilight totally zapped herself to another universe?” Pinkie said, like the thought just flittered past her mind. “To a land filled with giant monkeys and super-duper technology!” Fluttershy, AJ, Rarity and Rainbow just stared at their friend. “Seriously Pinks?” Applejack deadpanned, “That has got to be the most-“             “It’s possible,” Celestia whispered and everypony did a double-take. Pinkie pulled a glass of water from her mane, took a long swig and then spat it out dramatically. “WHAAAAT?!” Celestia nodded, “Other worlds exist, but crossing the boundaries that divide them has always been considered impossible, only one other unicorn in existence never gave up on studying that area.” She looked up towards a large portrait on the wall, “Starswirl was obsessed with the notion of otherworldly travel, until the day he disappeared.”             “Do-do ya’ll think he traveled to another world?” Applejack asked Celestia just gave a small nod, “I want to believe so… it’s certainly a more appealing belief that he simply disintegrated himself trying.” The princess instantly regretted those words after seeing the looks of shock and horror on everyponies faces. “Oh! Wait, not that I think that’s what happened to Twilight. I am certain that she’s perfectly safe.” Spike sighed as he stacked some notes neatly on Twilight’s desk. What couldn’t the mare he considered a sister go an entire week with causing or at least be involved in some kind of disaster.             “Princess?” Rarity spoke up, “You mentioned before that our Elements could somehow be used to find dear Twilight. What did you mean by that?” The door to the observatory swung open and Princess Luna strode in. “Allow Us to explain that,” she said. “As you all must know, the Elements are connected by a powerful bond, one tied to even fate itself.” Luna glanced at some diagrams on the wall and snorted, why would somepony want a plush cube with a weak ‘Want it, Need it’ spell attached? “And that connection is considered impossible to sever, Discord tried and failed miserably if you all recall.”             “So what’s the plan then?” Rainbow was getting impatient, and Luna clicked tongue in annoyance.             “The plan, so to speak, is to cast a spell that would use the Elements as a spiritual bridge and link to wherever Twilight Sparkle is. Whether that connection can be used to get her home, or simple give us an idea of where she is, We are not sure.”             “Well it’s better than doing nothing,” Applejack said, happy that they were finally doing something useful. “When do we all start?”             “We shall meet Princess Cadenza in the Hall of Harmony shortly; it is there we can cast the spell.”             “Hall… of Harmony?” the five mares echoed, what the heck was that? Celestia chose to explain this part, “It is where ancient rituals used to be cast, young virgin mares would pray for the continuing peace and prosperity of Equestria.” Celestia still remembered those days, the prayers of course, held no power but it made her little ponies feel safer.             “That must have been some time ago,” Rarity said as they all started to head there. “I've never heard of something like that… except in old fairy tales.”             “The last ritual was a little over two hundred years ago.” Celestia continued, “And even then, they were getting rare.” Once they entered the antechamber, Twilight’s friends let out a surprised gasp. The chamber itself was enormous, pristine white tiles covered the floor and large marble pillars surrounded the spherical room. Flowing lace curtains flowed from the ceiling to the floor and swayed gently, despite the total lack of any wind. A large pool sat at the far end of the room and water flowed from two alicorn statues carved into the wall behind it.             “It's so beautiful…” Fluttershy whispered in awe, “I never knew a place like this existed.” Princess Cadence walked inside, following closely behind Luna. “I think that apart from the three of us, nopony in Equestria still remembers this place.”             “Well it has been some time since it was used,” Celestia commented. “But it looks like the spells keeping this place clean are still working.”             “So what makes this room so special anyway?” Rainbow asked. “Are we planning getting a hooficure while we’re here?” Luna was about to reprimand the pegasus mare’s insolence, but Celestia raised a hoof. “This room is one of the most magical in all of Equestria. It’s a special place for us alicorn’s and it’s here that our magical power more acutely than anywhere else.”             “Whut makes it so special fer alicorns?” Applejack asked, her instincts telling her that the Princess wasn’t telling the whole truth, but the solar mare avoided the question.             “I think we should get started, and the explanations can wait until later, I think that finding Twilight should take precedence.”             “So what do you want us to do?” Rarity glanced down at her Element. “It won’t hurt will it?” Celestia chuckled and shook her head, “No dear Rarity, it won’t hurt at all. I want you five to stand here and simply relax. We will handle the rest.” Once they had taken their places, Celestia, Luna and Cadence formed a triangle around them. Elements of Harmony, hear our plea To find the Magic, o let Us see Lost to Us, her dearest friends Look to every corner, of all worlds’ ends The hum of magical energy grew louder and some of them fought the urge to plug their ears. The Elements themselves shone brightly as they resonated with one another. A trail of rainbow light began to connect them, but once it came time to connect to Twilight’s the stream stopped, almost like it was confused.             “Now what?” Cadence asked, her hooves sliding against the tiles as the Elements drew the magic from her. It felt like somepony had grabbed her horn and was pulling hard on it.             “The Elements are searching,” Celestia called out over the noise, even she was struggling to stay put.             “Nrgh! This is more difficult that We imagined!” Luna grunted, sparks pouring from her. “We forgot how much power the Elements wielded.” The power reached its climax and a sudden burst knocked everypony off of their hooves. The Bearers merely fell to the floor, but the three Princesses were blown backwards, Luna smacked straight into one of the pillars, shattering it with a loud crack. Celestia and Cadence were tossed into the shallow pool, skidding back until they hit the wall. The room was silent until Rainbow regained consciousness. “Ah, damn that stings…” she hissed, rubbing her temple. “Oh don’t worry, it won’t hurt… yeah, won’t hurt my rainbow-coloured rear!” She prodded Fluttershy, who let out a small groan in response. “Where are those Princesses? I wanna have some… words?” Rainbow’s anger fizzled out when she saw the three alicorns. Luna was lying on the floor, her midnight coat covered in marble dust from the shattered pillar. Her body was covered in small cuts and bruises. Celestia and Cadence were worse off at the moment and Dash raced over to them, lifting their heads from the water so they wouldn’t drown.             “Girls! I need some help here!” she called out, rousing the other mares from their impromptu slumber. Applejack was the first to get up, shakily at first, but wasted little time in jumping into the pool to help Rainbow. Fluttershy flew off to get help while Rarity and Pinkie tended to Luna. The moon princess groaned as Rarity tried to wake her. “But Momma, Celly ate all the cookies!” she mumbled before her eyes drooped closed again.         “I think she’s okay?” Rarity said and Pinkie giggled at the silly alicorn. They had managed to get the three princesses to the centre of the room as Fluttershy returned with a small army of medics. It was pandemonium as wounds were cleaned and dressed, healing spells cast and ethers were injected to restore magical energy more quickly. After several minutes, the three Princesses were awake and Luna batted away several nosy medics.           “I am fine, please leave me be!” she said sternly and Celestia frowned.           “Relax Luna, they are simply doing their job.” She gave the staff a sincere smile, “But my sister is right, we are fine now. Thank you all.”             “You should be thankful to those mares there,” the elder medic said, pointing to the Bearers. “You’re injuries would be worse in not for their quick thinking… that said, you should have had us ready for something like this. Putting yourselves and five civilians in danger like that!” Luna was shocked that they were spoken to like that. “But we-“             “No buts!” the doctor snapped. “That was a foolish thing to do and you three should feel ashamed!” The three princesses hung their heads as the scolding continued. “We’re sorry,” they said in unison and Pinkies giggling erupted into laughter over the three most powerful ponies in Equestria getting yelled at. That caused to doctor to turn his sharp glare towards them.             “And you three, you wield the most powerful artefacts in the world. You should have known better as well!” Rainbow flared her wings, but the doctors steely gaze made her close them. “Honestly, try and be more careful next time!”             “Yes Sir!” the five mares said, utterly defeated.   Once the medical staff left, the eight mares took a moment to collect themselves.             “So what happened?” Rainbow asked. “I thought you said that it’d be safe?” Celestia bowed her head, “I apologise, it would appear that the magical feedback was stronger than I anticipated. Are all of you alright?”             “We should be askin’ you that!” Applejack replied. “Y’all took a bigger hit than we did.” Luna puffed out her chest, “It will take more than a pillar to stop us dear Applejack!”             “What about the spell?” Rarity asked, “Did it work? Do you know where Twilight is?” Celestia got up and walked over to the pool, its waters still rippling gently, but as Celestia raised a hoof over its surface, it became as still as a sheet of glass.             “Let’s see shall we.” Her horn flickered and then flared to life once more as the water glowed. It began to ripple once more and sounds could be heard from it, muffled voices that gradually became clearer.             “It would appear that we have sound, but no visual on where she is.” Celestia frowned. “Just where is she?”             “Shh, I can hear something!” Cadence shushed her aunt.   ***               “You’ll not beat me again villain!” Twilight’s voice rang out. A deeper voice followed, clearly a male one. “Muahahaha! You always lose and you will lose again Princess!” Other sounds could be heard, was Twilight fighting somepony?!             “And I am victorious one more!” the male said as Twilight let out a scream. The water bubbled and the noises stopped.             “Wait! What!?” Rainbow smashed her hoof into the water. “Get it back, what’s happened to Twilight?” Celestia’s composure fell and a worried look crossed her face. “I fear we don’t have much time. Once our magic is restored to its fullest, we will try again. The connection has been established and this time we should be able to get her home.” She looked at the pool, “I just pray that Twilight can hold on.”   ***   Meanwhile…   Twilight tossed the controller onto the couch beside her as Kai wiped the floor with her again! His twentieth consecutive win at this ‘Street Fighter’ game, and it was starting to grind her nerves.             “So explain how despite the fact that I can press the buttons more quickly and accurately with my magic, than you can with those clumsy fingers… and yet you still keep winning!” Kai laughed, once Twilight had woken up the two had shared an awkward round of apologies and a rather large stack of pancakes. Afterwards, Kai thought he’d get the Princess acquainted with one of his favourite past-times. Needless to say, after a dozen different games, Twilight had been utterly terrible at every single one.             “What can I say Twi, that I’m simply too good? Or maybe that you are just plain terr-” he never got to finish as Twilight whapped him with a pillow.             “I say that you’re cheating!” she giggled, continuing her fluffy assault. Kai growled and grabbed the pillow from her magical grasp, tossing it aside. “And what was that I heard about… clumsy hands was it?” Twilight’s eyes widened, she seen that sort of grin before, “Oh, oh nononono… you wouldn’t dare!” Kai leapt from the floor and Twilight yelped in surprise as he pinned her to the couch. “Oh I think I would dare,” he grinned as he wiggled his fingers for emphasis. Twilight shrieked as he tickled her ruthlessly, finding the weak spots behind her front legs and ears. “Noooo, n-not there!” she howled with laughter. Kai laughed as well as he continued his assault. “Resistance is futile, your highness!” He moved his hand around to tickle her back but once he traced a line in the spot between her wings, her laughter changed to a low, pleasured moan. Both of them stopped and stared at one another before breaking out into a bright red blush.             “Uh…”             “T-that was…”             “I didn’t mean to…” The two just blinked and Kai realised he was still on top of her, he quickly returned to his spot on the floor. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to do that...” Twilight shook her head and tried to get her wings under control. “No, it’s fine,” she muttered. “I didn’t even know that I was so…” There was another awkward silence and Kai desperately wanted to change the subject. “Oh, y-yeah, I found something this morning.”             “What is it?” Twilight asked, her heart still racing. Kai got up and fished around on the top of his bookshelf. “I meant to show you this morning, but I totally forgot.” He pulled down the tiara he found and showed her. “I know I didn’t buy something like this-“             “N-no way!” Twilight suddenly exclaimed, snatching the object from his hands and examining it more closely. “It really is!”             “It really is what?” the human responded, “Is it yours?” Twilight nodded, her smile was wide as her eyes sparkled. “This is my Element of Harmony! With this…” her smile grew even wider, “I think I can get home with this!” Element of Harmony? Didn’t the Twilight he met in that dream mention those? What was so special about it that she could use it to get home?             “This explains why my magic recharged faster than I thought,” Twilight said, and silence from her human friend told her that she would have to explain. “Okay, the Elements of Harmony are the most powerful magical artefacts in all of Equestria. My Element is tied to Magic, something that exists within everypony and everything… but this world, I can still feel magic, but it’s weak, much, much weaker than Equestria.”             “But since this Element of yours was under my couch the whole time?” Twilight nodded, “Being in such close proximity allowed my magic to recharge faster.” But how come she never realised her Element was even here, it was tied to her very being and she could feel when the object was close.             “And magic really exists here?” That was interesting news to Kai. “Hey Twilight… is it possible, that maybe I could…?” Twilight knew what he was about to ask, “I honestly don’t know if you could use magic. You don’t have a horn to focus the magical energies… there are other ways of course.” Her mind flooded with options and ideas. How could Kai use magic? What routes should she study to find a way home? A little giggle escaped her lips, but Kai barely registered it. Kai should have been happy, he should have been glad that the purple pony could go home and his life could go back to his normal, predictable way. So why? Why did he feel so damned upset?