//------------------------------// // Prompt #185: Energy With Intent // Story: Ponywatching // by ThunderTempest //------------------------------// Twelve days ago, Twilight Sparkle teleported out of Ponyville. Were a pony to look down on Equestria from a sufficient height, they would have seen a trail of purple sparks racing south from the town, eventually stopping well into the southern Badlands. ****** “What did you do, Twilight?” “I can’t remember.” “Twilight, there is nopony but you and me in here. No one to spill your secret. Upon my position as Princess, I swear that what you say will never leave this room unless you want it to.” “I can’t remember.” ****** Little is known about the mystical beings known as alicorns. Each demonstrates a different set of skills, each is unique, but all are horrendously powerful. Celestia and Luna manipulate heavenly bodies. Cadance can twist emotions, and Twilight is rapidly becoming the most accomplished magical polymath to have walked Equestria since ever. They are mostly benevolent. ****** Eight days ago, an explosion the likes of which has never been seen before in Equestria rocked the earth. Tremors were felt all the way out to Appleoosa, and many ponies reported seeing a gigantic flash of light in the sky. Seven days ago, there was a second. ****** “Where did you find her?” “It wasn’t easy, your Highness. Even with your knowledge from Princess Twilight’s dreams, she was difficult to reach. She was about as far from civilization as she could manage to be.” “I understand, Sergeant. Take her to the hospital-she will undoubtedly be tired.” “Permission to speak freely, your Highness?” “Granted.” “What we saw out there, your Highness-it wasn’t natural. Nothing natural causes that much damage so quickly. We heard rumours of giant explosions, even saw a few. Explosions that were made of pure magic.” “We understand, Sergeant. Is there anything else?” “Yes, your Highness. I heard...I heard her screaming, your Highness.” ****** The magic swelled and pulsed, straining at her control. She prided herself on her control. Time had long lost all meaning. All that mattered was maintaining control. Unfortunately, this time, she was outmatched, and her vision went white. Six days ago, there were two more bursts, one in the morning and one at night, both larger than the ones on the days preceding. In the Badlands, the animals decided that now would be a good time to leave. In the Badlands, Twilight screamed her throat raw, and then she kept screaming. Tears leaked from her eyes, and her horn felt like it was being melted from the inside, but still, Twilight Sparkle kept screaming, and then her vision went white again. ****** What is known about the alicorns is that each possesses an innate and instinctual knowledge of magic on a level that none can explain. It exists beyond comprehension and nearly beyond reason. It cannot be taught, and each alicorn demonstrates this mastery over a different field of magic. They are benevolent because they choose to be. ****** “Help me.” “Tell me where thou are, Twilight!” “South. I’m south. Flat, brown. High. Help.” “Twilight Sparkle, focus. Control it. You can master it. I am sending guards to help.” “Help.” ****Time**** Only the release mattered. Only expending as much energy as she could to work off the invisible itch that tickled the base of her horn. Each time, it was a bit more satisfying. Each time, the magic built faster, and she could feel that itch at the base of her horn urging her on, to make the next one a little bigger. Five days ago, the first flash of the day was accompanied by a tremor in Appleloosa that lasted for nearly thirty seconds after the light faded, and then the sound hit with a colossal roar, drowning out everything. The second one that day was an identical repeat, and shortly after, a small company of royal guards swept into town. They swept out shortly after the third flash of the day. ****** The Ponies of Equestria do not go to war lightly. Every time that they have done so, the enemy has ended up soundly defeated, and the alicorns have been there, offering healing, trade agreements and peace. The ponies of Equestria have gone to war several times in the history of the nation. The Alicorns of Equestria have only gone to war once. They choose to be benevolent. They do not have to. ****** “Sister, I am worried for Twilight. Months after her ascension, and she has yet to express any sign of her new mastery.” “Don’t worry, Luna. I’m sure it will come, in time. She knows that she can talk to any of us, should she have any questions.” “And what if she represses it, tries to reject it, as both you and I once did? As Cadance did? Only he embraced his natural mastery, and that is probably because he found it funny. There is only one field left, Sister. I do not want to find out what happens if she ignores it too long.” ****** Four days ago, there were two flashes in the morning, each bigger and more powerful than every one preceding. There was only one in the afternoon. It was felt all across Equestria, and for a moment, there was a second sun in the south of Equestria. That night, the platoon of guards that had departed from Appleloosa the previous day arrived back, carrying Princess Twilight Sparkle and had eight more helmets than they had ponies. ****** “Twilight Sparkle, think! What do you remember about the fortnight just gone? Do you remember the plateau? Do you remember the-” “I can’t remember!” “Luna, that is enough! You are scaring Twilight. Twilight, go and get some rest. We shall talk tomorrow, once Luna has calmed down.” “You are telling me to calm down? Sister, she obliterated eight of our finest guardsponies. She nearly wiped a mountain from the map.” “Exactly. Think about what you just said, Luna. Her natural magical instinct is now destruction, Luna. What will she do if her magic spirals out of her control?” “Oh.” ******* The minotaurs have a saying, “Beware when an Alicorn goes to war, for you have invited the apocalypse unto the world.” In the Hall of Victory, at the very back, there is a small, unassuming monument to the brief Minotaur Incursion of Equestria. Inscribed upon the stone is this: “I am become Death, destroyer of worlds.” ****** Twilight Sparkle screamed. Her only thought was ‘Magic is just energy with an intention, a purpose.’ The world around her burned, and then she knew no more.