//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 - The Surge // Story: Along Comes Twilight // by Spacecowboy //------------------------------// Celestia sighed as she walked into the expansive throne room, the closed, wide double-doors the only barrier between herself and the daily throng of petitioners. "Who's on the docket first, Amethyst?" Celestia enquired, briefly encasing the cushion of the throne in her magic and fluffing it a few times in preparation for the long morning ahead. With the aid of her magic, Amethyst ruffled through the collection of sheets in front of her, face scrunching in disgust as she found the answer. "Sorry, Princess, but it seems that Von Trot is back again," her eyes scanned the words on the sheet, "and it's the same issue..." Sighing, Celestia took a seat on the throne as she narrowed her eyes in thought. "How long has it been since his last petition? Was it more than six months ago?" Amethyst nodded in reply, eliciting another long sigh from her. "Some ponies just don't understand that no means no... I suppose you can go ahead and have him sent in now, I shall simply have to be even more firm this time and disbar the matter from ever being raised again." The twin doors opened at her word, showing a large group of ponies milling about, all of them waiting for their chance to bring a matter before her. A haughty unicorn slowly trotted into the room, head held high and a glimmer in his eyes that spoke volumes of the enormous ego hidden within. As Von Trot came within talking distance of the throne, he paused his steps and barely bowed his head, a smile present on his face the entire time. "Good morning, your Majesty. As always, I am humbled to be before you–" he began, nearly jumping as Celestia's voice cut through the air, interrupting him. "Get to the point, Von Trot. Are you here to once more ask me to foolishly turn over the farmland just south of Manehatten to your company so that you may prospect and mine it? The very same farmland that is responsible for eighty percent of the city's fresh produce?" Von Trot withered slightly under her words as he fought to keep a smile plastered on his face. "Y-Your Majesty, as I last mentioned, it is a simple enough task to import the lost crop from the neighboring cities–" he visibly cringed as her voice boomed through the air, its power even silencing the idle chatter beyond the doors in the reception area. "At an increased price and most likely through a company that you hold, and to be sold at a higher price!" Visible signs of anger became present on Celestia's face, mostly at the sheer stupidity of yet another noble who thought she could be easily exploited for their personal gain. Before she could continue, however, a polychromatic wave washed through the castle, leaving a faint tingling sensation behind as a loud cracking sound was heard moments later. As the magic washed over her, Celestia faintly smiled and briefly closed her eyes at the confirmation that a lost pegasus technique was once more rediscovered. Whoever that is, they will go far, no doubt... Celestia's eyes opened in alarm as multiple magical wards were tripped in her mind, audibles alarms reaching her ears from the city as the entire castle briefly shuddered. Alarmed, she hastily teleported to a nearby balcony overlooking the city in an attempt to understand what was going on. As her hooves struck solid marble at the other end of her teleport, she quickly scanned the horizon of the city. Immediately, Celestia noticed the source of the disturbance, made rather obvious from the dragon head poking clean through the ceiling of a building not too far away. Her eyes widened in alarm as another rumble went through the ground, accompanied in time with a massive surge of magic next to the dragon. That's the school, so it must be... Celestia began thinking to herself as she extended her senses to examine the magical font that was wildly spewing magic uncontrollably, concern entering her as she confirmed the source. It is Twilight. I've got to get there, and quickly. As she thought to herself, the magic emanating from Twilight further intensified to levels not even Celestia had thought possible. She quickly thought about teleporting closer to the school, but quickly ruled it out as a stray thought of what could go wrong due to the massive amount of magic saturating the air. Amethyst can handle Von Trot... I've got to stop this before the caverns below begin resonating with Twilight's surge, that could spell disaster. She quickly took to the sky on her wings, each powerful pump driving her ever closer to the now visible uncontrolled magic. As she came closer, the resistance in the air increased exponentially from the magic manifesting itself in the air, forcing her to abandon her flight a few blocks away from the school as the air's resistance became too much for even her to sustain flight. Celestia tried to calmly smile at the citizens looking at the school in a near panic, but never once stopped moving at her quick pace, determined to not allow anything to interrupt her. As she came to the school's entrance, a faint taste of lavender entered her mouth, causing her to briefly scrunch her face. The ponies streaming out of the school parted before her as she hastily navigated the corridors, her destination the auditorium. She entered into a literal scene of chaos that caused her to shiver as memories of a certain draconequus floated to the top of her mind. Pushing the thought aside, she took in the pandemonium going on in the room. The lower half of a green and purple dragon sat amongst the remnants of a cart, hay and wood splinters littering the floor around him. The group of teachers giving the test were floating in the air, the magic in the air threatening to overpower the hastily constructed shield guarding them. In the stands two plants, planters included, were found, their color schemes oddly familiar; one was a mixture of white and blues, while the other was mostly pink broken only by a purple and gold color. At the center of it all was Twilight, the little filly literally levitating in the air as power crackled outwards from her body. Her eyes were a solid white, and she appeared to have no control or awareness of the situation around her. Celestia approached Twilight, the frequent bolts of raw magic reflected by her strongly constructed shield around herself. She lowered her horn to the filly's, letting her magic flow through Twilight. I see... she probably lost control when the Sonic Rainboom went off, the shock triggered her surge. Now, the reason it's spewing magic out like this must be... ah ha, found it! Near Twilight's horn, her internal magic conduits were bright, with the small exception of one darker area that was still damaged from the attack that claimed her parents. Celestia carefully mended the damaged conduit, slightly smiling in satisfaction as the problem seemed solved, the magic no longer spewing quite so much into the air. Celestia wrapped it up with a gentle tug on Twilight's consciousness to have the filly regain her senses She waited a few seconds for the surge to finish after her intervention. However, as the seconds began reaching a minute, Celestia became alarmed. There was no longer any physical reason for Twilight to be surging, but she still was, and a large amount of magic was leaking from her horn, although minor in comparison to earlier. Concerned for Twilight's safety, Celestia connected their horns once more and recast her spell. Alarm was the forefront thought as she noted the extreme amount of magic flowing through Twilight's conduits, a picture of just how truly powerful this filly was coming together in her thoughts. Most unicorns used bodies of waters as an analogy for sizing their magical reservoirs. Most had wells, only able to pull small amounts of magic at a time. A few had ponds like one might find in a backyard in a more rural location. Even fewer still had a small lake. However, Twilight's magic was as if she were pulling it through a dimensional rift, with the other end nothing but water. Celestia refocused on the task at hand, doing her best to stem the massive tide of magic while also wondering just why Twilight's consciousness was not returning. After putting a temporary plug on the rift, she pulled on a rarely used spell, for she considered it a violation of one's basic rights. She dove into Twilight's mind, searching for the filly's consciousness. As she flew through the mindscape, memories drifted all around her, impeding her course frequently as she adjusted her path to avoid them. In the far distance a storm loomed, and Celestia had a feeling that within that roiling mass of storm clouds is where she would find Twilight. Cringing every time she clipped a bubble due to the filly's memories briefly flooding her mind, she forged ahead even as the weather within the mindscape did everything in its power to impede the intruder's presence. Gale force winds began buffeting her, however she quickly found the center of the storm, a singular bubble of memories laying in the storm's eye. Hesitantly she reached out with a hoof, knowing that Twilight's consciousness was somehow contained within. The scenery shifted as the memory began playing itself out. The sounds of ponies working filtered through to the interior of an already erect tent were filly and mother were quietly talking, nestled next to each other. A minute passed before sounds of alarm were heard, the occasional clash of metal and cries of pain ringing throughout the air, causing both occupants to lift their heads. "M-mom? What's going on?" Twilight asked, confused at the foreign noises reaching her ears. Her mother quickly hid her in the back of the tent, commanding her to not move a muscle until she returned. Twilight waited for some time as the sounds outside began to dwindle, before one reached her ears that caused her to jump in alarm. Her mother's cries of pain reached her ears, causing them to fold backwards as she disregarded the words spoken to her. Twilight's only concern was what was wrong with her mom, and she quickly poked her head outside the tent. A scene of carnage greeted her eyes, and she froze up as they met her mother's eyes. "Twi-Twilight, no..." she heard her mother quietly croak out before a gryphon's claw stepped on her mother's throat, turning its attention towards the young filly. "Hey, lookit ere! A young'un! Who wants to have some fun?" the gryphon cried out as Twilight stood there frozen in fear, eyes locked on her mother as she stood half inside and half outside the tent. Celestia cringed as the memory continued its course, fresh rage entering her mind as she witnessed what exactly Twilight had seen done to her that night. The memory became fuzzy and slowly faded to black as the soldiers had arrived on the scene, and as soon as black encompassed everything, it began playing itself out once more. "Twilight!" Celestia cried out, attempting to pull her from this awful memory that she seemed stuck in, replaying itself out over and over again Celestia assumed. When she heard no response, she moved to the Twilight in the memory and attempted to interact with her right after her mother left the tent. "This is just a memory, Twilight, there is no need to relive it." Celestia stretched out a hoof towards the filly, her best attempt at a smile on her face. "Here, come with me." Twilight hesitantly reached out her little hoof, slowly bridging the gap between the two. Celestia continued to brightly smile, doing her best to keep Twilight at ease. Her plans shattered as the pained sounds of Twilight's mom rang out once more, Celestia barely able to wrap her hooves around the filly before she could dart outside. "Shh, Twilight. Calm down... you know that this has already happened, and nothing you do otherwise will change it, little one..." she calmly spoke, wrapping herself tighter around Twilight. "Just let go of it, it doesn't have to control you, Twilight." The filly struggled in her grasp for some time before the memory disappeared, shifting back to the center of the tempest within her mindscape. Celestia gently sighed as the struggling slowed before stopping altogether. She sat there as Twilight cried in her hooves, doing her best to provide comfort. Time outside was of no concern when within one's mind, so Celestia simply let Twilight's tears run their course. When the time between sobs finally lengthened, she unfurled her wing from around Twilight, a concerned look on her face. "How are you doing? We must leave your mind and return to the outside world, I'm certain Shining and Cadance are most concerned for you, Twilight." Celestia carefully extricated her limbs from Twilight and made to stand up. A slight tug on her limb stopped her, Twilight's hoof pulling on hers. "Please, don't go?" she pleaded with Celestia, the watery eyes nearly stunning her. "Don't leave me alone... not you too..." In a moment of inspiration, Celestia pulled on the smallest mote of her power, forming an exact replica of herself from magic that should serve two purposes. The first one was to ensure that such a powerful surge would not happen again by creating a vent for the excess magic. She was uncertain what form it would take, but knew that it would be much safer than having the magic rage out of control. The other purpose was less safety oriented and more for Twilight, personally. The double moved to take her place as she began speaking. "Here, Twilight... when you aren't awake, I will be here to always ensure that you're not alone, okay?" Celestia smiled as the mote of her magic in her form interacted with the young filly and began pulling her mind out at last. As the last traces of her consciousness left Twilight's mind, she thought she heard a muttered phrase, although she was uncertain of her hearing. "Thank you, Mommy..." Sighing as the last of the stray magic slowly dissipated in the air, it took almost no effort to reverse the damages and changes Twilight had accidentally caused. After ensuring that Twilight was simply peacefully resting, Celestia returned Shining and Cadance back from plants to their proper pony forms. "Aunt Celestia! Thank goodness you got here, I wasn't able to do a thing about Twilight's surge!" Cadance exclaimed as Shining rushed to check on his sister. "Will she be okay?" Shining, finding nothing wrong with his sister, carefully lifted Twilight onto his back before turning towards Cadance and Celestia, whistling. "I remember some of her surges, but nothing was ever that powerful. The most she had managed before was animating an aisle of grocery products." He took one look at the giant form of the dragon and simply whistled once more. "Indeed, your sister is extremely powerful, Shining Armor," she spoke as she effortlessly finished fixing the damage, the last action shrinking the dragon down to its proper post-hatching size. "To hatch a dragon egg alone takes the magic of at least a dozen linked unicorns, yet your sister when startled managed to hatch it and enlarge it to a point that I might even view as difficult." Celestia briefly looked towards the faculty who were currently cowering behind their desks. "I'll have words with you all later as to why exactly somepony thought it a good idea to use a dragon's egg during an entrance examination." she turned her attention back towards Shining and Cadance. "I believe that it's time we returned to the castle. I can safely say that Twilight has passed, and I believe that the only one who will be able to properly teach her will be myself." A light smile graced her face as she turned towards the exit. "Shall we?" The trio walked out of the auditorium, leaving the faculty members to themselves in the empty auditorium. "Oh, ponyfeathers."