//------------------------------// // Friendship // Story: The Unforgiven // by Dillena Monger //------------------------------// “What?” Daring Rose asked as soon as Twilight finished that part of her history. “You… you were meant to meet with them all? The most powerful beings ever?” Twilight nodded, “There was something at edge of happening and we couldn’t just stay sat. However, the dragons refused to help, saying we lacked decisive evidence about this ‘new treat to the world’.” “And what you did?” “We trained,” Twilight answered. “And we then discovered that my friends and I had a different kind of magic, the harmony magic was still within our heart and, after training, we could bring this power out…” ================== Rainbow Dash hit the ground rather forcible, bouncing once before resting in the dusty ground. Her mane returned to her usual rainbow-colored colors as the power of harmony slowly left her. At her side, Rarity already had fallen along with Fluttershy and Spike. The others, besides tired, were still training between themselves, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Twilight still glowing in their rainbow-power state, as they started calling it, fought the other three princesses. Cadance was already exhausted and about to fall on her legs, Luna wasn’t tired enough to start committing slips and Celestia barely stated to sweat, what gave Twilight an insight of the true powers of her mentor that were using only basic magic attacks. Pinkie Pie darted forward, followed by Applejack and Twilight flying overhead. Luna Took impulse to intercept Pinkie Pie, Cadance prepared another spell to throw at Applejack, and Celestia focused her eyes on Twilight Sparkle, giving a single step back. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie popped out of existence, leaving a surprised Luna to meet Applejack’s right forehoof squarely in her face. Enhanced by the rainbow-power, the strength of the farm pony easily threw Luna way out of her place, as Pinkie Pie reappeared already behind Luna when she used her wings to counter the effect of the punch. The pink pony then stomped over the Night Princess, pressing her strongly on ground. In the meantime, though, Cadance attacked Applejack with a strong magical blast in her side, just to see a purple barrier to drain all her magic. The farm pony then bucked the barrier, sending the magical structure right at Cadance. As it slammed in the pink alicorn, Cadance fell unconscious as well. It left only Luna and Celestia. Twilight and Applejack kept their route towards Celestia, the Solar Princess being their most powerful enemy, when a dark blue blast threw Pinkie Pie right into Applejack’s side and both mares were knocked out almost instantly. Twilight then teleported and once behind Luna tried a magical blast at point zero, just to see it being stopped at a golden barrier. Reaching her harmony magic, though, the golden barrier crumbled and Luna was sent bouncing in the ground, ending unconscious at the side of the ponies she had just taken off. However, the Princess of Friendship was already exhausted, and with a glance at Celestia, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I surrender...” Upon those words were mentioned, the world around them began to fade to reveal one of Canterlot’s biggest rooms. It was round and held a large mattress instead of a bed at one of the corner, the most comfortable mattress she had ever had the pleasure of sleeping over. The rest of the room was mostly filled with shelves for books and other items. Twilight was once said that this room was from dignitaries of countries that culture stimulated polygamy, so the mates could sleep all in a single mattress instead of dividing them in rooms or beds. For their training sessions, it has come in hoof: as they all lay down, Luna induced then to sleep until certain conditions were met and they would use the dream realm to train, were lethal damage would only wake up the target. It allowed them to put themselves in the training without actually worrying about harming each other. Celestia was the first to say something, “Very good, Twilight. Knowing the limits of your strength is a step to victory.” “Even so, Princess... the difference between us...” Twilight said, downing her head. “Worry not, Twilight Sparkle!” Luna said with a smile. “Count your blessings... Discord says you reached the tenth place in that rank of his and all your friends managed to get a place among the twenty most powerful magical beings! You’re doing extremely well for a training started only a month ago!” “And besides, Twilight, I had thousands of years to learn my limits and develop my powers,” Celestia said with a smile. “If we were to compare me at your age with you, I wouldn’t scale into the first thirty.” “Oh! I see you are back!” Discord grinned as he rolled a tray with plenty of food and drinks for them all. “How was the training?” “Ah! Now I can easily say I can defeat you, monster!” Luna said with a chuckle as she lifted a slice of some kind of bread. All the others then started to eat as well. “Yeah right... Remember me again... why I’m left out of your training?” Discord asked. “Luna’s sleep spell doesn’t work properly on you Discord,” Cadance answered between two mouthful of food. “It could have disastrous effects, both on your health and to the realm of dreams on which we train,” make it three mouthfuls. “Right, of course it’s that...” Discord said. “But you can be useful in other ways, Discord,” Twilight said. “In the case worse comes to worst, you can teleport innocent ponies to safer places. That’s why I said for you to train massive personal teleportation.” “Sheesh…” Rainbow Dash said as she rubbed her back. “I didn’t know a dream could make me sore in the awaken world…” “Don’t be stupid, Rainbow darling,” Rarity said then. “If it was possible, we all would be sore and hurt all over.” “Actually, some ponies have this kind of… hmmm…” Luna brought a hoof to her chin thinking on a proper word, “I guess we could call it a ‘peculiar trace’, where he or she can actually feel what passes in her mind.” “You mean that we could be hurting Dash in our training sessions?” Fluttershy asked. Over the last month, more than only her harmony magic was taught to her and, besides she was still kind and caring, one would never recognize her compared with the same mare she was before this training started. She now would stand for herself with more strength than ever before still without hurting other ponies or creatures at all. “Not actually,” Celestia said with a smile. “She’s just being a little dramatic. She can’t feel what happens in the dreams or she would be hurting her belly, where my magic hit her last.” Twilight let out a sigh of relief at that particular news. With a smile, she got up, “Well… there is one thing this training had made me feel while awake. Who’s up for a walk?” Before Twilight could start to leave, though, she felt Celestia’s magic holding her tail. The others looked at them puzzled before Celestia said, “I just have to trade a few words with Twilight. You can all go ahead and stretch your legs, we’ll join you soon.” Luna was the first to catch the drift and nodded, rushing the others out the room. If Twilight was any judge, she was a little too much closer to Cadance, as if she had something to tell her as well. With only both of them at the room, Twilight looked at Celestia, a curious look in her face. The white alicorn slowly got up and walked to the balcony. “Twilight, answer me. What are you missing?” “What?” Twilight asked back. “Sorry, Prin- Celestia… I don’t think I follow your line…” “You are an alicorn, Twilight,” Celestia started. “There’s no doubting that, after all you have the wings and the horn. However… there is something missing there’s not?” Twilight raised an eyebrow at Celestia’s question. The youngest of all alicorns of Equestria looked at the eldest alicorn, looking for whatever she was missing. Of course, Celestia was a lot taller than her and Twilight could only hope that, if she ever happened to grow to Celestia’s size, her horn would get a better proportion to her size as well. The wings were another great part of the Sun Princess, also in proportion to her larger mass. But since she was looking at those things, she returned her gaze to what was, to her at least, Celestia’s most beautiful feature. Flowing as if for its own will, Celestia’s mane always remembered Twilight of the aurora, a beautiful sight she only saw in her dreams and pictures. If the real thing was as beautiful as Celestia’s mane, Twilight would be contended. And suddenly it hit her. “My mane…” Celestia chuckled at that and just shook her head no, “It is indirectly related, Twilight, but no. Even a common unicorn can have a mane like mine. However, it’s extremely magic draining, so we never taught it to other ponies. Luna and I, though, have the magic to spare and it helps in ruling Equestria, since my mane works as a crown by itself.” “If… it’s not that… then what is it?” Twilight asked. “Think a little, Twilight Sparkle. What you, the Princess of Friendship, has not yet achieved that I, the Princess of the Sun, had thousands of years develop?” “If you’re talking about magic, I thought that was the reason behind our training…” “It is related to magic, but it’s not the magic. Tell me, Twilight, what was the biggest difference between your and Rarity’s magic back when you were an unicorn?” Twilight raised an eyebrow before closing her eyes to access her memories, “Besides the fact that I could perform a lot more spells? After all, Rarity’s talent was finding gems and dressmaking, while mine was magic in itself…” Celestia gave her a smile, “Exactly Twilight. A unicorn’s talent often limits what they can and can’t learn magic wise. Alicorns’ only difference is that we have the magic reserves to force ourselves and learn every single magic there is in the world. However, even you, Cadance and I together couldn’t lower the moon choose Luna decided it’s not time for it yet.” “That’s why Nightmare Moon managed to keep the moon from lowering?” Twilight asked. “Yes, but you’re getting off topic.” Twilight had to focus herself in order to not press more that subject. Then she looked at Celestia again, “You mean that even alicorns have the unicorns’ trace of magic pointed at their cutie marks?” Celestia chuckled, “Was it so simple, you would have grasped your potential easily. I would just lock you up into Canterlot’s library for a couple months. Remember: your talent, by your cutie mark, is magic itself.” “Oh, right…” Twilight then thought hard, closing her eyes, trying with all her might to find what she was missing when a sudden shift in magic field called her attention. This time, she could pin-point its location precisely: it was Luna’s quarters and the reason was Cadance: her magic had somehow boosted up greatly. “What the…” “Luna left to have this same talk with Cadance, Twilight,” Celestia answered. “However, she had a lot more pieces and clues than you have, so it was easier to her.” “Then… why don’t you give me a good clue?” Celestia gave Twilight a smile, “What’s the relation between a title and a cutie mark?” “A… title?” Twilight asked curious about what Celestia was thinking. “Well… normally the title of a pony is matched to their cutie marks… after all, if they have a title, they are very good at that. For example, Applejack is the--” “She is the most dependable pony in Ponyville,” Celestia intertwined, “And also the pony to get more ribbons in any rodeo ever.” “Well… yeah… but, there’s Pinkie Pie that--” “That is one of the best cupcake bakers in Ponyville, only losing to the Cakes themselves.” “Fluttershy is--” “A pony with marvelous talent for singing honed by a few years of practice of Ponyville’s Pony Tones. Rainbow Dash is also the biggest fan of Daring Do ever, only matched by yourself, and Rarity also was part of the Pony Tones, which turned quite famous recently.” Twilight thought on that. Really, those titles were part of their friends’ lives and they were known for them. She also remembered that they had other titles as the Element Bearers, which only Pinkie Pie had a direct match for her cutie mark. “They have--” suddenly an insight hit her, “Different, but the same!” Celestia smiled, “Explain, Twilight.” “A title, as a cutie mark, is something you earn by knowing yourself and that also shows to other ponies who you truly are! As you said, Applejack is the most dependable pony you will ever find, but because she deserved that title by working hard!” The Sun Princess only nodded. Upon the light of her discovery, Twilight rethought on her titles. Celestia’s student? No, she had overgrown that one a few years back. Element of Magic? No. As Celestia pointed out, she was already very knowledgeable into magic department. That only left… “Princess of Friendship,” Twilight said. “Everything I ever did and accomplished was from and with my friends, and I’ve… we’ve grown stronger every time. And…” she raised her eyes to meet Celestia’s, “Friendship is MAGIC!” With those last three words, her whole world took a turn. Her magic charged by its own, enveloping her in a light sphere and suddenly Twilight found herself in a place totally different from the room she was. It was a library, but not any simple library. And when she recognized it, she gasped in surprise: It was the Golden Oak Library, her former home and workplace! “So, finally you decided to show up, huh?” somepony said above her. What puzzled Twilight the most was that it was her own voice. Looking up, she found herself floating and flapping her wings gently, before slowly landing in front of her. However, it took a few seconds to the lavender alicorn gasp in surprise again: this Twilight was a pegasus! “Shesh, Pegas… She had no way to know! She had to find it by her own!” said another voice like her, this one coming from her lab. Twilight’s expert eyes, though, learned by their mistake and found quickly that this new Twilight was an earth pony, lacking in both wings and horn. However, her body was a lot more developed and, even if she said so herself, quite beautiful. “Arty!” the pegasus Twilight called. “Finally you left your lab? That’s a miracle!” “We have a special guest,” the earth pony grinned. “This makes the situation special.” “And in that we all agree,” a fourth Twilight joined them, coming from where Twilight’s room was back then. This one, as Twilight suspected it would, was a unicorn. “Pegas, Arty, our Ali finally paid us a visit and you know the protocol.” “Answer all her questions indiscriminately,” both earth pony and pegasus Twilights said together. “WAIT!” alicorn Twilight yelled at them, that now were aligned in front of her. “What the hay is going on? I saw my home being destroyed by Tirek and now it’s there and with three copies of me from different tribes?” It was the unicorn Twilight that spoke first, “This is not real, Ali. At least, not as much, this is just a representation of a place you used to come when you needed some time for yourself or to think on a problem. And now, you’ll need that time to sort things out.” “That much I guessed…” alicorn Twilight said. “But why you called me Ali?” “Ali is the short for alicorn,” answered the pegasus Twilight with a smile. “Unsurprisingly, Pegas it short for pegasus and Arty is, somehow, short for the earth part in ‘earth pony’ and Uni is for unicorn. We couldn’t be calling each other ‘Twilight’ you know?” Twilight quickly scratched the back of her head with a forehoof, “Well… since you’re already used to it, could you use ‘Twilight’ when talking about me?” All three of them nodded. “Good… So… Why I’m seeing all three of you now?” “We represent your three different types of magic, the earth pony, the pegasus and the typical unicorn magic,” Arty answered. “And why you’re seeing us, that’s simple: you’re still sorting your magic in the tribes. ‘This is earth pony magic, this is pegasus magic, this is unicorn magic and this is alicorn magic’. So, in order to help you sort it out, your mind created us.” “What? You’re saying these magic are one and the same?” Twilight asked. “Yes,” the other three Twilights answered in chorus. Uni then continued the explanation, “What you call ‘unicorn magic’ is the ability to control one’s magic to cast different spells.” “Your definition of ‘pegasus magic’ is the ability to fly and control weather with your hooves,” Pegas continued with a smile. “And ‘earth pony magic’ is being one with the earth, both to have physical strength and enjoy the growth of the nature,” Arty finished. “The ‘alicorn magic’ is what you always feared, Twilight. It’s your emotions taking the front to reach the magic and interact with the world,” another voice surprised Twilight a lot. It was behind her and when she turned, she saw the rainbowfied form of herself: a flowing purple mane with pink, lavender and yellow streaks, as was her tail. All four hooves covered in six pointed stars varying between purple, pink, yellow and bluish stars, and her wings started lavender, turned pink in the middle and ended purple. “But you still prefer to call it ‘harmony magic’ instead. And in truth, there’s no ‘alicorn magic’, since it’s the combination of all the others.” “What… are you talking about?” “Mony! Do not tell her anything straight way!” Uni called the newcomer. Twilight’s ears flattened on her skull, she closed her eyes and bowed, pressing her head against the ground and with both hooves over her head. “Err… Maybe we’re overdoing things there?” Pegas asked. “That’s what you gain by not telling her this straight,” the one called Mony said. “Calm down, Twilight. They are really with your best interest in their heart, but I happen to know you don’t have the time.” The alicorn looked up from the ground to the face of Mony, “What do you mean?” “Twilight Sparkle, Daughter of Twilight Velvet and Night Light, Sister to Shining Armor, Protégé of Celestia, Bearer of the Element of Magic and Princess of Friendship, which of these titles more closely defines you?” Twilight looked at the rainbowfied version of herself curiously and thought intently. The other three Twilights, though, maintained the silence, besides their indignation of Mony’s actions. Meanwhile, in Twilight’s mind, she thought about all those titles Mony had called. Which one best defined her? Daughter? Sister? Protégé? Bearer? Princess? Which one? And more important, why it defined her? She remembered her childhood, when her parents granted her every single chance for her to grow and fulfill her dreams. Shining Armor also helped greatly in those same dreams, being already a very experienced unicorn back then. And with their help, she was finally accepted as Celestia’s protégé and her life met happiness for great time. She could really live like that forever, but then Nightmare Moon attacked and she became the Bearer of the Element of Magic, along with her friends. By the way, it was only alongside her friends that Twilight reached alicornhood and had a castle of her own as Princess of Friendship. If all those titles were so connected to one another, how could she choose one? That’s when she finally understood. “All of them,” Twilight said. Mony and all other Twilights smiled at that. The alicorn Twilight rose once again now with a smile in her face, “I am who I am thanks to every single one of those titles. I can’t choose one above the others, for that would only diminish me.” She then looked at all four Twilights in front of her and smiled, “And now I see that I can’t choose a ‘kind’ of magic over another. We all are one and the same. I am Twilight Sparkle,” she then saw all other versions of herself slowly shining brightly and smiling one last time at her, “Princess of Friendship!”