EQUESTRIA’S MIGHTY: Part one- Conflagration
It was just another day for Twilight Sparkle, former student of Princess Celestia, CEO of Sparkle Industries, and all around most powerful unicorn in Equestria. She’d met with her three best advisers— Shimmer, Belle, and Lulamoon— reviewed several proposals that had been sent in, and had even managed to squeeze in lunch with her brother. At the moment, it was dismissal time for all but the top tier of employees, and all around her ponies were scurrying to finish their last bit of work for the day and head home to their families. Several wished her a good evening, but for the most part Twilight was alone with her thoughts. Just how she liked it.
In her mind, she was still going over the discussions that had taken place earlier in the day. Lulamoon had reported nothing wrong in R&D and the same had gone for Shimmer in Distribution, but Belle had brought up that the Enchantments Department was having issues with casting a simple ignition charm on the newest batch of Flash Rubies. Nopony had been able to figure out why. She’d told Twilight that it was most likely the gems and not the magic, and that they probably would simply need to throw out the current rubies and mine a few more. That would be work for tomorrow, Belle had said. No need to worry too much. And yet Twilight couldn't stop thinking about it. An ignition charm was one of the simplest enchantments, and should take on even the softest of gems. In fact, the only reason they were using rubies was because Belle had said that they were the best for “aesthetic appeal”. Therefore, something must have been really irregular if these rubies couldn't hold the charm. And so Twilight walked to the nearly-deserted Enchantments Department to take a look at these gems herself.
When she arrived at the Enchanting room, Twilight noticed that there was not a soul to be seen. Not even Belle had stayed behind. She also noted the absence of her personal assistant Spike, who enjoyed hanging around with both Belle and the minerals she worked with. Twilight wondered if there was something happening between her assistant and her adviser before giggling to herelf. No, that was silly. There was no way that Spike, a baby dragon, could feel like that for Belle, a unicorn. It simply didn't make any biological sense!
Right, back to work. Nopony was in the department, which Twilight supposed made her job easier. Many of her employees were intimidated when she was around. She was the most powerful unicorn in Equestria, the student of Celestia herself, and had managed to build up one of the most successful magi-tech companies to date despite being just out of filly-hood. Not to mention the fact that she was their boss.
Focus, Twilight!
Spotting the ruby pile on a large table in the corner of the room, Twilight meandered over to it. She picked up one of the gems in her magic field and studied it closely.
I don't see the problem. It looks like a regular ruby!
She set it back down and sighed. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with the gems in front of her. Maybe the problem had something to do with the spell's caster? No, that didn't make sense either. The ignition spell was one of the most basic enchantments. Magic is energy, energy makes heat, and heat starts fires. A simple enchantment that any unicorn could learn. For a pony to not know it, they had to be... to be... Below basic! And a unicorn that had a magic level below basics would not be working in her company and would certainly not be working in the Enchantments Department. No, the problem was clearly with the gems themselves. But what was the problem?
Then, a thought hit Twilight that was so simple she wondered why she hadn't thought of it before. In fact, it was so sudden that it almost didn't seem to be her own!
Test the spell yourself.
And Twilight decided that yes, she would listen to this strange yet obvious thought. She picked up a particularly nice ruby and a pair of safety goggles and brought them into the Testing Chamber. She set the ruby down onto a pronged holder, placed the goggles over her eyes, walked behind the yellow safety line, and began to cast.
A reddish-purple light filled the room as Twilight formed the basics of the ignition spell. She focused her magic onto the ruby and willed it to take hold. After several seconds, the spell died down. Twilight trotted over to the ruby and holder. She scrunched her eyes up tight, and gave the ruby a hard tap with her hoof...
Only for nothing to happen.
What? Where's the flash? I know I cast that spell correctly! Something is definitely wrong with these rubies.
Maybe I should try again.
Try again. I should. Just try one more time, make sure the results can be repeated. That's what any good scientist would do.
And try again she did. Over and over and over, she tried. But the charm simply would not take.
Just one more try, Twilight. You've almost got it.
"Just one more try, Twilight! One more try!" Twilight mocked. "How many times have I told myself that in the past..."
Twilight trailed off as she saw for the time.
"Two hours! I should've been home a half hour ago! Spike must be worried sick!"
Twilight turned to leave, but as she stepped towards the door, another thought hit her.
No, Twilight! Spike will understand! Just give it one more try!
One more try. One more try couldn't hurt.
She turned back toward the ruby.
"Wait a minute, what am I thinking?! Of course one more try could hurt! I need to get home before Spike has a conniption!"
She turned back to the door.
One. More. Try.
Once again Twilight's attention was taken by the ruby.
"Alright, Ruby. You win. One more try, but that's it."
Twilight didn't even bother getting behind the safety line. There was really no point in it anyway. It was a pointless, meaningless yellow stripe that did absolutely nothing except give ponies a false feeling of security. She narrowed her eyes at the ruby and began her spell again. This time Twilight channeled more magic than ever into her spell, as if she wanted the ruby to catch ablaze, which was something she was actually beginning to hope for at that moment.
"Come on, spell! Take! Take! Take!"
And the spell, finally, took.
Twilight awoke, an hour later, to the prodding of a hoof in her side. Said hoof was white, and attached to a professional looking business mare with a neatly combed violet mane and a concerned expression on her face.
"Why Twilight, Darling! Thank goodness you're awake!" Said the mare.
"B-Belle? What are you doing here?"
"Twilight, I work here. This is my department. I believe you of all ponies should know that, Darling. After all, you did hire me." Said Belle jokingly.
"But really, I should be asking you that question. What were you doing out here at such a late hour? Why, if little Spikey-Wikey hadn't alerted me to your absence, I would've thought you were at home, perhaps enjoying a book. Did you simply have the sudden urge to explode my testing room?"
At this Twilight balked. "Explode your..."
As she looked around the room, she found that Belle was correct; There had been an explosion. Everything in the room had been covered with a fine coating of ash. Everything, that is, but Twilight herself. She glanced over at the prongs where the ruby had been set. There were now only shards.
"Wow... I guess I overdid it, right Belle? I don't think I've had an overload like that in..."
"A week?" Suggested Belle, earning a small glare from her superior. "What, I wonder, could have caused you to over-channel so spectacularly?"
Belle looked over to the prongs and spied the remains of the experiment. She suppressed the urge to groan.
"Oh, Twilight, Darling, please tell me that you didn't try to fix those flash rubies."
When Twilight didn't respond, she added "Twilight, I told you the department could handle this! We would've either figured out the problem or gotten a new batch of gems. There was no need to take up your valuable time with such a trivial matter!"
"Belle, this is my company! There is no matter too small for me to help with. That's what being a good CEO is about!"
When Belle didn't look convinced, she sheepishly added "Besides, you know how I get about magical puzzles."
Belle sighed. "Twilight, Spike is worried sick about you. We'll have a discussion tomorrow about how to manage your time, but for now I think we should get you checked out and send you home. In fact, I'll call up Doctor Malady-"
"No!" Twilight cried. "No doctors tonight, please."
Belle gave Twilight a puzzled look. "Alright, darling, we can skip the check up tonight. Just promise me you'll see a doctor tomorrow, okay?"
"I will," Said Twilight non-convincingly.
"Excellent. I'll escort you home, of course. We don't want anymore worried calls from Spikey-Wikey at night, do we?"
"No. No we don't."
As the two unicorn mares made their way outside and began the long stroll to Twilight's home, Twilight looked up at the soft October Moon. As she gazed a the unicorn-shaped shadow upon it, she began to wonder...
How can I make this up to him?