Chapter 1 – Twilight
Friday, 21 June 1003
Twilight, to the surprise of a bluejay, woke up to find herself nestled between two branches of an ancient oak tree with the taste of powdered sugar and coconut in her mouth. Still too tired to completely register her surroundings, her eyes lazily followed the bluejay's path as it flew away from the waking alicorn. As the twilight of morning gave way to the rising sun, the first beams of golden light fell upon her body. The sunlight was warm on her fur, and soft on her eyes, making her even more comfortable then before. She fought to return to the land of sleep, but her back and mouth eventually forced her to arouse fully and take stock of her situation. Standing up, she stretched her legs and spread her wings, letting the warm summer breeze play across her feathers. Licking the inside of her teeth, she glanced around, taking in the beautiful summer landscape which surrounded her.
Okay... Where exactly am I?
Descending from her makeshift bed, Twilight alighted on the ground, nestling her wings against her sides before turning to give the terrain a thorough examination. The tree she was under appeared to be the only such one for a fair distance, with lush grasslands carpeting the hills in between her position and a small, calm river which flowed perhaps five hundred meters away. The early morning light glanced off its tranquil surface, turning it red gold. Following it with her gaze, her eyes eventually met with the horizon, on which several familiar mountains lay. Looking back the other way, she was mildly surprised to find that she could not see the outline of Ponyville. The sky was mostly clear, with a few small clouds floating slowly from east to west, taking on jewel like qualities from the newly risen sun. After pausing to watch the sunrise for a few seconds, Twilight once again spread her wings and took off in the direction of the river.
It was amazing how quickly a pony could get used to some things. She had been an alicorn for all of eight months, yet the feeling of flight was already as natural a feeling as walking, or even telekinesis. That was not to say it was not enjoyable. The blissful sensation of freedom that came with soaring through the skies had landed flight as Twilight's preferred method of travel within days of learning how to take off, and though the wonder of its charm had somewhat lessened since then, she could not help but smile as she gracefully arced towards the river.
Her expression quickly changed as she once again tasted the back of her teeth. What am I doing here, half-way between Ponyville and Canterlot? And why can't I remember going out here? Past me had better have a good explanation for this.
Landing at the river's bank, Twilight took the opportunity to rinse her mouth out, the cool water tasting wonderful and pure. From its taste, she figured that her earlier deduction was correct; the river she found herself at was the river Canter. Given the terrain, she was likely about two-thirds of the way to Canterlot, nearly ten hours walk from Ponyville and at least half an hours flight, neither of which where things she was likely to have taken in her sleep. Still, that was as good an explanation as any, given her complete lack of information regarding the actual event.
Twilight sighed. Standing here attempting to remember was going to get her nowhere, and there was a chance that someone, likely one of her friends, would have been witness to whatever events had led to her strange awakening.
She began walking, enjoying the calmness of her surroundings as she slowly made her way back towards Ponyville. She could have flown or even teleported all the way there, but sometimes taking a nice walk was exactly what one needed. After all, the day was beautiful, and, despite the small unsolved mystery, nothing seemed so pressing right now that she couldn't take a few minuets at least for a walk. Besides, whatever reasons had brought her to this spot did not appear to be doing much of anything as of right now, and as of right now, she was just okay with walking down the river.
After a few minutes, Twilight came across her saddlebag. It was lying a few meters from the edge of the river, next to a small patch of rocks. She found its contents unchanged, that is to say, with a copy of The Encyclopedia of Equestrian Flora and Fauna (Vol 7) and twenty-someodd bits. That sparked a few things, actually. Twilight suddenly recalled that she had been having a conversation with Fluttershy, with the intention of getting her input on some of the less well documented plants(a distinction which, due to the fact that plants are usually less interesting than animals, was unfortunately given to nearly half of the plants in The Encyclopedia ). Where exactly the conversation had gone from there was still fuzzy, but Twilight was fairly certain that it hadn’t ended with her flying fifty kilometers out towards Canterlot. Still, something.
The more she thought about it, however, the more convinced she became that she should, in fact, be heading for Canterlot. After all, she had been two-thirds of the way there, and she hardly thought that it was to find that tree to curl up in. So, with a new destination in mind, Twilight turned around towards Canterlot and prepared to teleport, to follow up on whatever her past self had had in mind and not at all because of her sudden rumbling stomach and realization that it was closer.
With a flash of light, Twilight temporarily blinked out of existence, reappearing a quarter of a second later fifteen kilometers closer to Canterlot. As soon as she had materialized, her legs buckled under her. She felt violently ill, as if her lungs were trying to force their way up through her throat. She instantly recognized the symptoms of severe magical overexertion. What did not make sense was the cause. She had been capable of a fifteen kilometer hop in her unicorn days, and she was nearly twenty times as powerful now. She'd made a two hundred kilometer jump just two weeks back. Something was off. Unfortunately, her train of thought was interrupted by acute pain causing all of her legs to cramp simultaneously. She rode out the pain for about five minuets, during which it dropped off considerably.
After standing up and dusting herself off, Twilight shook her head and sighed heavily. Her experience told her that, given the violence of the reaction, she was running on next to no magic. Her best option would be to fly into Canterlot, now visible in all its glory ten kilometers from her. She could make it in five minutes, three if she raced. It would be awkward, but she was sure she could get help there. Actually, for all she knew, this lack of power was the very thing that had her heading off to Canterlot in the first place.
Set in her resolve, Twilight took off for Canterlot. Now that she was paying more attention to it, she could have sworn that flying had become even easier then before, almost effortless. Another strange effect to add to what was turning out to be a very strange day. Still, she felt positively radiant as she neared Canterlot. It had been nearly six months since she had been here last, and there were some ponies that she wanted to catch up with.
She scanned the ground, picking out a suitable landing spot. As far as she could tell, nopony saw her land, as the citizens of Canterlot appeared to be, for the most part, still asleep. Though this struck her as slightly odd, being the city of the sun and all, it certainly seemed the case. As far as she could see, there were no other pedestrians on the street she found herself in. Feeling slightly paranoid, she approached one of the houses. Passing under the window treated her to the sound of two young foals arguing about the last slice of pie quite loudly. Fantasy of being the last pony alive in Equestria and having to scour the world for other survivors of some unknown disaster destroyed, Twilight determined that the best thing to do in this now confirmed to be populated world would be to get to her chosen destination before the population joined her in the streets.
To be honest, her fear of being constantly followed like some important celebrity was the primary thing keeping her from visiting most major population centers with any frequency. Given that, she found it quite odd that she had chosen to go to Canterlot. Yes, she had been closer, but the extra hassle to actually acquire, in this case, a full stomach easily outweighed the extra 15 minuets added to the flight time. This ignoring the fact that, as far as she had been aware of at the time, both locations were one teleport away.
Twilight suddenly became nervous. It wasn’t just that, was it? She had been acting strangely all morning. Though her initial sedate reaction to her predicament could be chalked up to her tired state, there was only so much the morning sleepies could be held accountable for. The worst part was, even after this realization, Twilight found herself still greatly unconcerned about her lack of memory, though the fact that she was at least concerned over her lack of concern said something.
She shook her head a few times in an attempt to clear it. She had landed herself in the Starswirl quadrant of the city, with the hope of perhaps visiting her parents whom she had not seen in... far too long. That, unfortunately, would have to take second to figuring out exactly what was happening to her. And where better to do so then in the Canterlot royal library? It would almost certainly have the answers she needed, and, if not, well... she knew somepony who would be more then happy to lend some of her thousand-year experience. Two, actually.
Twilight began her trek towards the palace. Contrary to popular belief, the city was not half residential, half castle, a small base in which lived the ponies necessary to keep the shining symbol of devotion to, and love of, the sun sparkling like gems. It was, like most cites, a place of commerce, with a surprisingly strong industrial sector as it happened. It contained nearly 23,000 inhabitants, of which 1,000 at most relied on the palace, nobility, and princesses for work, with perhaps another hundred for Celestia's school.
For Twilight, this meant that the palace was still at least five minutes walk from her, five minutes in which she could be spotted at any time. Flying was out of the question, as that would make her perfectly visible to anyone who looked out their window, a situation she did not like to think about. It was frankly a miracle that no one had spotted her on her way in, a unlikely strike of luck that she could not count on reoccurring with any regularity. Normally she would simply disguise herself, or if she had some power to spend, even turn invisible, but that route seemed blocked given her lack of available power. She supposed, give how well she knew the city, she could take the routes least traveled while putting on little extraneous distance, but given the obviously shifted waking pattern she was unsure to what degree of accuracy she could determine such routes.
It suddenly occurred to her that she was acting exceedingly paranoid.
The next thing that occurred to her was that she was lazily opening her eyes.
Twilight was greeted by the comforting realization that everything since her last waking was nothing more than a strange dream. She was on her bed, under her covers. The mattress felt a bit off, as if one of the springs had failed towards the middle. Perhaps this was what had caused her strange dream. The sunlight filtering through the window was stronger then she would expect for early morning, so she turned towards it to determine what time it was, only to find that her window had been smashed in... and had a different frame, as well as acquiring blue paint which extended out into the suspiciously not-tree like walls. Also, her pillow, mattress cover, and covers had all changed size and color.
Twilight did not experience a slow onset of dread, for upon receiving this information, her mind quickly made the astute inference that she was not in fact in her room, but in somepony else's. Indeed, she skipped the entire dread bit and went strait to the awkward guilt.
Quickly throwing off the covers, Twilight glanced hurriedly about the room, checking to see if she had injured anypony while appropriating their bed. Seeing no one, she went to the window and looked out. Judging by the position of the sun in the sky, during whatever had transpired between her last two lucid thoughts, about seven hours had passed. She was all the way on the other side of Canterlot, in one of the new houses that were being built to accommodate the cities expanding population(Which meant, hopefully, that she had not kicked somepony out of their house so that she could take a nap.). That was, if it was even the same day. It certainly seemed like the same day to her.
Glancing at herself, Twilight found that her coat and mane were caked in stone dust, as if she had spent the time smashing up boulders. Given the lack of followers, she must have been very discreet about smashing those boulders.
Or perhaps she has simply snapped the necks of anypony who spotted her.
Now the dread came.
Though she was mostly normal now, she had already experienced two distinctive personality shifts. And that was while in control. She had absolutely no memory of the last seven hours, during which she could have easily accomplished most things short of burning Canterlot to the ground. And that was only because she could see it standing still outside the window; for all she knew, the streets were littered with the corpses of thousands of dead ponies whose lives she had ended with as much compassion as a natural disaster. She could almost hear the screams, the little ponies begging for mercy from their vengeful goddess...
Twilight shook her head hard. She needed to get help, before something actually happened. Mastering herself, she streaked off towards the palace.
Or, at least she would have, had her wings not ceased up and dropped her like a stone after two beats.
Her anticlimactic meeting with the ground drew attention from the ponies around her, inciting them to gather around her and look.
“Um... Miss? Are you okay?”
“Do you need a hoof?”
Twilight shakily returned to her hooves, wincing at the cracking noise her jaw made as she moved it experimentally.
“Yes, I'm... I'm perfectly alright, thank you.”
Unsurprisingly, now that the gathered crowd had full view of her horn, which was no longer imbedded in the dirt, it took them mere seconds to register her status. It was almost comical, the wave of realization, diverted eyes, and awkward murmuring spreading through the crowd like the ripples on a pond. If she was expecting them to bow or something she was disappointed, though she wasn’t expecting that at all because she was totally above that.
Thankfully, they didn’t do or say much of anything, actually. Not that she was surprised. After all, what exactly do you say to a god who just face-planted in front of thirty onlookers? 'I'm sure you'll get better with practice.'? Not likely.
She made a quick exit, not bothering to look at the ponies who shot her glances. She needed help, and she was going to make sure she got it fast.
At first, a few ponies made an attempt to catch her attention, but a single glare was enough to make even the most die hard mare rethink her decision to get in Twilight's way. Not that many were die hard enough, or stupid enough, to approach her in the first place. She made good time, reaching the palace gates in just under four minutes.
“Halt!”
Twilight turned towards the guard, whom had hailed her from the parapet surrounding the front of the castle.
“Oh, forgive me, princess! I did not-”
“Shut up and open the gate.”
The guard scurried off, presumably to do as she asked. However, as the seconds passed, she became less and less hopeful.
“Grrrrrrr... How long does it take to open one portcullis!”
“Forgive the interruption,” One of the guards, a younger stallion from the looks of it, said in a placating tone, “But unfortunately, Celestia has been entertaining guests from the Griffon kingdoms, and has closed the palace from 12:00 until 20:00. Of course, an exception can be made for you, your highness, but we'll need to unlock the portcullis first, which can take some time. No more than a minute.”
“Get on with it then!” Twilight knew she was being unfair, but that did not change the fact that at any moment she could black out and wake up somewhere else. She needed to get inside. Frustrated, she rattled the portcullis with her telekinesis. Or, that's what she tried to do, anyway. In reality, her magical aura surrounded the portcullis and, like so much tissue paper, crumpled the mythril gate into a little ball.
She and the guards simply stared at the pathetic lump of twisted metal that had deposited itself in front of Twilight's hooves, until their collective attention was drawn to the now crumbling edge of the castle's entrance by the sound of crashing marble. The entire entrance way collapsed in a matter of seconds, spraying Twilight with marble dust and temporarily deafening her. Coughing a few times, she waited for the dust to clear, revealing a newly formed entrance. Pausing only for a second to check if the guards were unhurt, she passed through the hole and into the room beyond.
Her instincts from having lived here nearly eight years kicked in, and she mindlessly navigated her way towards the main conference room. She passed some likely familiar faces as she walked purposefully through the corridors, though she did not spare anypony a look long enough to identify them.
Three minutes found her standing outside the conference room, the imposing black doors with ornate obsidian decals staring down at her, like an oppressive wall of pure darkness ready to swallow anypony foolish enough to draw near. Twilight had never quite understood the reason for making such a thematic change on the conference room doors alone, and not, say, the entrance to the dungeon or interrogation room. Be that as it may, she wasn't here for the doors, she was here for the room beyond. Not trusting her magic to the task, Twilight banged on the door once, to announce her arrival before her entrance.
But nothing else had gone as planed this day, so why should she have expected this to?
There was a loud crashing sound as Twilight burst through the doors, the metal locking mechanisms snapping like toothpicks before her accidental burst of terrible force. Sitting at the front of the conference table, Celestia's head swiveled sharply towards the disturbance, a look of shock crossing her face upon seeing the perpetrator.
“Twilight! What are you doing!”
Twilight wasn't really sure anymore.
Three griffons and another pony also turned towards her. One of the griffons, the largest one with almost-black gray feathers, looked at her thoroughly unamused.
“Celestia, do you think it would be possible to keep your populous in check for eight hours while we discuss these matters?”
Celestia ignored him, staring intently at Twilight.
“Twilight, talk to me. What's the matter.”
Her voice was soft, but her words failed to brake through Twilight's confusion. Her mane a mess, coated in mud and marble dust, she stared up at Celestia with a wild eyed expression until Celestia became unsure of her mental presence.
“Twilight?”
This time, Twilight's eyes came directly back into focus, starring deeply into Celestia's. Taking a ragged breath, Twilight spoke.
“I don't know. S-Something is happening to me and... and I can't control it.”
Her voice was weak, as if she was speaking from a great distance with great difficulty. It was painfully obvious that she needed help, an hour ago preferably. Celestia turned back towards the griffons.
“I'm very sorry, but something of national importance has come up, and requires my attention. I will, of course, make arrangements so that we can continue this discussion at a later time. You are welcome to stay here as long as you like, and are free to roam about the palace as you please, excluding private bedrooms, of course.”
Standing up, Celestia removed herself from the table and, stopping to encourage Twilight to her hooves, exited the room with Twilight in tow. Once the two had safely drawn out of earshot, Celestia turned towards Twilight, concern in her eyes.
“Can we speak here?”
“If it's all the same to you, I'd be happier in the infirmary.”
Celestia nodded, and the two made their way to the infirmary. Upon reaching their destination, Twilight immediately collapsed onto one of the beds. A nurse approached.
“Princess!” She bowed, then turned to look at Twilight. “She alright?”
Celestia looked down at Twilight, worry playing across her face.
“No. I don't think that she is.”
“What's wrong?”
“I don't know.”
“When did she first get like this?”
“I don't know.”
The nurse looked up at Celestia.
“Do you actually need me for anything?”
Celestia sighed. “I don't know.”
“I'm not asleep. Just because I laid down does not mean I fell asleep.”
Celestia's attention was drawn back to Twilight. She forced a smile.
“Sorry, Twilight. Can you tell me what's happened to you?”
“What's the date.” Twilight saw Celestia make a double-take. “The date. Today.”
“Friday the twenty-first of June. It it important?”
“Yes, yes it is. Good.” Twilight let out a relieved sigh. “I means that this has been happening for the shortest possible duration.”
Celestia noticed that Twilight's eyes were beginning to loose focus again.
“Twilight, what's been happening. I can't help you unless you tell me.”
With visible effort, Twilight refocused herself.
“Okay... I'm okay now. What's been happening. At 18:30 yesterday, I was visiting Fluttershy's to talk over some points of herbology, and maybe have dinner together. At that time, nothing was happening, as far as I can recall. The meeting was largely uneventful, I think. I can't be to sure, because at about 19:00, my memory just fades to black and the next thing I remember is waking up in a tree, fifty kilometers up the river Canter. I began behaving irrationally, opting to go to Canterlot for breakfast. Once in the city, I reasoned out my actions and determined that I needed help. Unfortunately, I have about twenty seconds worth of memory for the next seven hours, and when I next came to, I was on the other side of the city, sleeping in somepony's bed in a house I had broken into in the interim. From their, I came straight here.” Twilight looked questioningly at Celestia. “Is there something wrong with me?”
Celestia was not quite sure how to respond to that.
“Sorry, who am I kidding? Extended blackouts during which I traverse the countryside and preform brake-ins? There is definitely something wrong with me.”
“Do you feel anything right before or after the blackouts?”
Twilight concentrated. “I... I haven't been paying that much attention, unfortunately.”
“Any other symptoms?”
“No... wait, yes! Just after I woke up, when I tried to teleport into Canterlot, I dropped out fifteen kilometers in because of lack of power. Then, a few hours later, when I tried going out the window of the house to fly here, my wings wouldn't work. Oh! Oh...” Twilight grew sheepish. “Um, when coming here, I accidentally destroyed the castle entrance with my telekinesis. And then your conference door! I was just trying to knock, but it came out like a battering ram.”
Celestia's brow furrowed. “Blackouts... personality shifts... rapid power fluctuation... It sounds familiar, but something's...” She looked at Twilight, who's eyelids were slowly drooping closed. “... missing. Aha!”
“Wha!” Twilight sat bolt upright. “Urm, Yeah! Right?”
“Blackouts, personality shifts, rapid power fluctuation, and extreme tiredness. Both of your sections of lucidity started with you waking up!”
“Yes. Do you know what's happening?” To Twilight's surprise, she found that Celestia was smiling.
“Yes, yes I do, and you're going to be perfectly alright. It's simply a part of being an alicorn. I should have expected this, but then again, nopony's ever become an alicorn in the way you did.”
Twilight glanced around, checking to see if there were any other ponies in earshot. There did not appear to be. Seeing this, she gave Celestia a look of complete shock.
“This kind of thing happens all the time to you? And you never thought to tell me?”
Celestia smiled. “It's more of a one time thing.”
“Well, if you wouldn’t mind explaining exactly what is happening to me, that would be great.”
“Getting feisty, I see.”
Twilight stared at Celestia. “I'm having random blackouts, my body can't figure out how to work, and my personality keeps taking twenty second asides. I feel entitled to more than 'It's all okay.'”
Smiling, Celestia put up a hoof as if to fend off Twilight's near tangible deadpan. “Fair enough. Okay. The blackouts first. You see, the brain has a limited amount of storage space. But the mind doesn't simply run out of memory. Instead, it deletes pieces of old memory, condensing your life into less and less time, cutting out the uneventful bits and leaving in the exciting ones. This is, for the most part, a fine system; One does not begin to lose major events until about one century in. However, for immortals... well, I like coherent memories. We need a different system, and nature seems to have provided. One of our many powers include a magical memory backup. Unfortunately, the first time you come into contact, it has the nasty habit of messing with your mind, hence the blackouts and personality shifts.”
“The power fluctuations are a result of another alicorn power. Each of the three pony races has a magic of its own; you know full well what they are and how they work. However, when you create hybrids of -”
“Um..” Twilight cleared her throat. “I'm sure that this is all interesting information. I'll definitely want the full explanation later, in more depth if possible. However, given my current condition, I was kind of hoping for what to expect and how long I should expect it for.”
Celestia paused. “That's... quite the odd request from you, Twilight.”
“Blackouts, spazing, temporary insanity.”
“Noted. Symptoms will include, and be limited to, blackouts, spazing, and temporary insanity. Duration: unknown, given that Luna and I passed through in about six hours each, though they were significantly more severe. Also, we were five.”
Twilight sighed for what felt like at least the tenth time that day. “So, no real idea?”
“No real idea.”
About twenty seconds passed, into which a drowsy expression slowly overtook Twilight's face. She felt the mattress below her tug at her conscious thoughts, weighing them down with lead as she struggled to remain awake.
“ 'Sit okay if I just sleep here with you?” Twilight frowned, then rephrased. “I mean, okay with you if I sleep here. I think.”
“Of course. You're always welcome here.”
The lavender alicorn closed her eyes, as Celestia slowly removed herself from her erstwhile student's bedside, turning to the nurse before leaving.
“As soon as you're sure she's asleep, bind her with adamantium restraints. She'll still be able to use magic, so be careful. Most likely, she won't try to hurt anyone, but if she does... be ready. Whatever happens, do not give her anything. Anything at all.”
The nurse looked at Twilight with determination in her eyes. “Yes, princess.”
Feeling as confident in Twilight's safety as she reasonably could expect, Celestia made her way to the infirmary's exit.
“Hey!”
Celestia paused, then turned back towards the now reawakened Twilight.
“What is it?”
“My blackouts. I could have hurt somepony.”
“No, you couldn’t have. You're caked in mud and rock dust, but don't have a drop of blood on you. You wouldn't have had nearly enough control to pull that off. Everything is fine, Twilight. Get some sleep. Hopefully, by the next time you enter the realm of the lucid, you'll stay there.”
“Good point.” Twilight's eyes once again drooped. There really was no point in trying to fight it anymore. The effect was something she would just have to ride out, and she couldn’t think of a safer place to do so then within shouting distance of two goddesses. As comfortable as she could be, she let her unnatural tiredness ferry her into the land of dreams.
## ^ ##
Twilight's eyes sprang open. For a second, she was confused as to where she was. She tried to lift a hoof up to shield her eyes from the light leaking in through the window, but found it firmly locked in place. She thrashed about for a few seconds, then calmed down as she remembered where she was. She was slightly hurt at the fact that they had found it necessary to secure her to her gurney, but she understood why they had. The light from the window was that of the newly rising moon, a waxing gibbous perhaps two days from full. Based on the position of the window, that made it... twenty-two ish. She had slept for another nine hours, give or take.
Twilight pulled at her restraints again, but with no success. While she was debating whether or not to call for a nurse, she heard hoof steps approach her curtain, followed by the brush of fabric as it was drawn aside.
“I see you have awoken again. Are you feeling well?”
Twilight craned her neck, the adamantium restraints limiting her movement. She shifted as much as she could, until she was staring upside down at what she assumed was likely Luna's body and lower neck. “Luna. Could you unfasten me by any chance?”
There was a click, and Twilight regained the full range of movement. Turning herself around, she looked more directly at her nocturnal partner. “What do you mean, 'awoken again'?”
Luna looked confused. “We talked not an hour ago, though I only managed to get one sensible sentence out of you. You spent most of the time thrashing about and conversing to yourself incoherently about... sock puppets, I believe. About one in four words you said were nonsense, like 'jambers,' 'polyfeild', 'broggle', and, my personal favorite, 'pazzingle!' I got the distinct impression that you were unwell.”
“You've been here for an hour?”
“Nearly three, actually. Celestia woke me early to deal with some unsavory griffons, and once we had concluded, she informed me of your plight. I though having a familiar face to wake up to might help things.”
“It certainly didn’t hurt. I'm sorry, but I don't remember anything at all since I talked to Celestia at 13:00.”
“And how are you feeling now?”
Twilight paused for a second, considering. “I don't know. I feel... weird, somehow, but I'm not sure exactly why.”
“Are your memories still fuzzy?”
“No... no, they aren't. Actually...” Twilight paused for a second, thinking it over before continuing. “Actually, they're clearer than they've been in, well, as long as I can remember.”
“Then it seems that you have been successfully integrated into the alicorn field.”
“Yeah, it does-” Twilight stopped short. “Wait, what? Alicorn field?”
Twilight's confusion apparently came as a shock for Luna. “You know not of the alicorn field? I was sure Celistia would have told you by now.”
“She very well may have been trying, but I think I cut her off in the middle.” Twilight made a frowny face. “I was very tired and worried, so I asked her to skip the explanation.”
Luna smiled. “This is not a problem, Twilight. In fact, it likely saves me from having to correct Celestia's understanding.”
“Whoa there. Celestia is a great teacher.”
Luna paused. “I am sorry. I forget sometimes how much she has changed from her younger self. Of course she would have been fine; she's been a teacher for over eight hundred years now.”
“It still surprises you after three years?”
Luna smiled softly. “Three years on the twenty-fifth. I have three days yet.” Her smile dropped, and sadness subtly crept into her voice. “And three years is not time enough to catch up on one thousand, nor one thousand enough to erase the one hundred had before.”
Silence filled the space between the two. After a moment, Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but Luna started first.
“That is no matter, and nothing with which you should concern yourself. I was to explain to you the alicorn field.”
Twilight hesitated, before deciding to let Luna's comment go. “... Yeah. Yes, you were.”
“Let us start from the beginning. What do you know of the mechanisms behind the magic used by unicorns?”
Twilight opened her mouth, but was cut off again.
“In brief.”
“Right. Well, Eqquis exists enveloped inside of two celestial spheres, that of the moon and that of the sun. Where the two meet, tremendous metaplaner forces build up, dissipating into the cavity between the two. This translates into an ever present field of magical energy which permeates the world around us.”
Luna nodded. “Concise and accurate. Please continue.”
“This mana field interacts with all living things. However, only certain animals and plants can manipulate it. Something like poison joke or a hydra possesses magic, and uses it to get an edge in survival. But, things like them can only use magic in one predetermined biological way. Of the creatures who can manipulate magic, even fewer can vary and control that manipulation; namely, the dragons, the deer, the zebras, and, of course, ponies.
Unicorns manipulate it in the most obvious way. Using our horns, we... Using their horns, they can channel the energy inside of them to effect the world around them using a variety of spells. Pegasi are somewhere in the middle, capable of manipulating weather in a variety of forms while also having the biological mechanism in place to fly, which they can't directly control. Earth ponies have almost no manipulative ability. Their magic stimulates growth in plants around them, and increases their strength beyond what would seem reasonable. They do have one control, though. Though most are not aware, they can act a near perfect magical grounds, being able to safely dispel and contain large amounts of pure mana very quickly.”
Luna nodded again. “Good. Having a base is necessary. I realize that these things have been known to you for likely nearly a decade, but knowing in what way you visualize the system will help me to explain in a way that more directly builds off of your previous knowledge.”
Twilight looked at Luna attentively. The elder alicorn took another ten seconds to think, before looking back at Twilight.
“As you have described, each of the pony races manipulate the mana field in a different manor. However, when you mix the controls together, things behave differently. Two race hybrids occur when one race does not gain complete dominance over the other. As far as I know, there is no way to accurately predict when these hybrids will form. They are rare, but not unheard of. In Pegasi, hybridization with an earth pony results in a stronger, faster flier, with the occasional chance of building up magical power for explosive releases. Not unlike your friend Rainbow Dash, actually. In unicorns, earth pony hybridization results in vastly increased magic storage capacity and the ability to rage shift. Much like you were, in fact. Unicorn-pegasus hybrids get flight and magic, though neither are abnormally powerful. Then, of course, there are three way hybrids. Cadence is one of these. They have mastery of weather and incredible magical power.”
“I have pointed this out to make my next point very clear, because it is very easy to become confused due to the fact that alicorns possess the connections of all three races. This is true. However, alicorns are more then simple hybrids of the other three. We are our own, clearly defined race. We are three-way hybrids with something else added.”
Here Luna paused, giving Twilight time to digest the information she had so far given her. After a few moments, she continued.
“Alicorns are able to access another, deeper layer of magic, altogether more potent than normal magic. In this, we are uniquely capable. No other being on Equis, save Discord, is capable of accessing this force. The elements of harmony are fueled off this force. Alicorns have the ability to act as transistors, using our normal power to coax energy from this field, and channel it. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, we are unable to use this power to do anything outside of our particular specialty.”
“You had power fluctuations as your magic began to interact with this new energy. Your body, unable to cope with the undirected force, systemically shut down parts of your control as they became overwhelmed. Now that the power has settled, you should be okay.”
Luna, having concluded her speech, waited as Twilight mulled over the new information.
Questions began to pop into Twilight's mind.
“Where does the energy come from?”
“That is something we do not know. Somewhere beyond the Celestial spheres.”
“How much more powerful are we talking about?”
“It has never been objectively measured. From what I've seen and done... I wouldn’t be surprised at a million fold.”
“What can I use it for?”
“You...” Luna looked at Twilight. “You will have to find that out yourself.”
“No, wait.” Twilight frowned. “When I first got my wings, Celestia said that I was the alicorn of harmony. Yet you say you don't know what I can do.”
“Given your strong connection with the Elements of Harmony, it seemed like a logical assumption.” Luna gave Twilight a small smile. “However, assumptions are not fact, just conjecture. The proof will come when you use the power.”
For Twilight, everything lined up. It made sense as a concept, even if she didn’t have some of the particulars. However, it left one question hanging, one which she really didn’t want to ask, but felt the need to. The logical elephant in the room.
Luna noticed her hesitation. “Twilight. I can see you worry still. What more do you need to know?”
Twilight looked down, and began making circles with her hoof on the covers of her gurney. “Well... no, I'm sure...”
“You don't have to be afraid, Twilight. Having an entire additional level of magic theory added is no small step, even conceptually. You can ask any question of me.”
“It's not that...” Twilight's voice came out quieter then normal, and Luna leaned in closer to hear her. “You've explained the whole thing well, but, well...” Twilight paused, then said quickly, “If access to the alicorn field was the special separator between normal ponies and alicorns, then how did you know I was an alicorn before I connected?”
Luna was temporarily stunned into silence. Twilight took it as an opportunity to continue. “I know that Celestia specifically made me one, but if the only outward indication of proof of alicornhood over three-way hybridization was connection to the alicorn field, and that didn’t happen, how did she know that she was successful? '[N]opony's ever become an alicorn in the way you did.', quote Celestia not ten hours ago. She's never done this before. How could you have possibly known it would work?”
“Twilight!”
Twilight stopped dead, drawing silent. Luna stared directly into her eyes, and then, after a moment, spoke.
“Perhaps she simply had confidence in her abilities. When you cast a new spell, you throw yourself into it, figuring that it will work. Sometimes it does not, but most of the time, when you have considered what you know, and worked the idea through, it does. When Celestia made you an alicorn, it was with a spell that had, in part, been formulated over the course of nearly nine hundred years. She, and I, had full confidence that it would work.”
“We were not lying to you. We were not withholding information from you. We made an assumption, and yes, we treated it as fact, but the assumption was very well based.” Luna smiled, this time full of warmth. “We are your friends, Twilight. What we do has reason.”
“Well, then, what about Cadence?”
“It is far simpler a concept to explain her as a mortal alicorn then go into detail. She has no less physical power then we possess, and her talent with emotions is nearly goddess level anyway.”
“Does she...?”
“Yes, she does. We do not feel that this is a great secret that needs to be held. Some of the older magic theory books discuss it, but it has fallen out of common knowledge due to its irrelevance to the vast majority of the population. They can never interact with the alicorn field, and so adding it simply seems like superfluous information. One can advance magic theory to new heights without ever knowing of its existence.”
“It's not a secret? So, if I told my friends, we wouldn’t have to lock them up or something?”
Luna laughed softly. “No, we wouldn’t.”
Her questions mostly answered, Twilight stood up, dropping off the gurney and onto the floor. She flexed her wings experimentally, feeling them respond fluidly to her commands. She stomped on the ground, the sound of her hoof clopping echoing through the silent room, the shock traveling up her leg. She levitated a vase, and put it down on a side table on the opposite wall. “Well, that's good. Luna, I'm sorry to ask and run, but my friends probably have had no idea where I've been for the past twenty-seven hours, and I'm sure they're getting worried.”
“Of course.” Twilight turned to leave, preparing a teleport. “Twilight?”
“Yes?”
“You know that you are welcome here at any time. We would like to see you more.” She paused for a moment. “I would like to see you more.”
“Um... yeah. You're right, I should come here more often. After all, I'm going to have to learn how to run this country at some point, right?” Twilight looked away. “And, you know, maybe just to talk. Every once in a while.”
There was a flash of white light, and Twilight was gone, leaving Luna alone in the infirmary.
## ^ ##
Two hundred and twenty kilometers to the south-southwest, a light could be seen, glowing a dim white against the foliage of the forest. It had been glowing for nearly twenty-seven hours now, slowly building in brightness as the runes which covered the area took greater and greater strain. As of yet, the glow had not done anything to hurt the cat, who had chosen the area to rest. It had escaped the Everfree, and had decided to rest in this clearing at the edge, within sight of Hoofany. The glow, it figured, would keep away stupid predators and provide her with some protection.
The runes also had the added benefit of being warm. The cat stretched lazily along one of the connecting lines, smug in its unique ability to sunbathe in the middle of the night. It was startled from this state by a sudden flash of light. Curious, the cat padded over to where the flash had come from. There, it found a bright crack etching its way through one of the glowing lines, perhaps three times as bright as the surrounding glow. Carefully, the cat approached the crack, and then, seeing that it did not react to her approach, swatted it. Nothing much happened. After a few more swats, the cat figured that the crack was harmless, and returned to her preferred sleeping place.
After a few minutes had passed, there was a second flash, followed by a third a few seconds later. The cat once again aroused itself, and checked out the disturbance. Two more cracks had formed in the glowing lattice. She again swatted at them, again with no reaction. She then checked on the first one. The crack had become larger. Before she could lay down again, there was a fourth crack, then a fifth.
Mewling, the cat fled the clearing, flashes of light growing brighter and more frequent behind her.
End Chapter 1