Twilights Ascension
Chapter 2
“In the name of the magic that allows unicorns to shape their world I name you!” The voice was deep and commanding. Twilight could only stand there as she felt something long and sharp and narrow hit her horn. There was a burning sensation and then an amazingly powerful feeling surged through her, magic unlike anything she had ever felt before.
“And in the name of the sky which allows the pegasi to soar and to shape the weather of those below, I name you!” Something light and soft and feathery touched her back now, and she felt a burning pulling sensation before something flapped out behind her.
“And in the name of the life which allows the earth ponies to manipulate the flow of nature I name you!” She got a vision of what was touching her now. It was like a unicorn horn but large and thick like a tree trunk. It even had jagged branches splitting off. Slowly it touched each of her four hooves. They stung as they grew thicker and larger. She could feel the mana surging beneath her now.
“In the name of the night sky and the stars that occupy it! In the name of Orion, Romulus, Heracles, Perseus and Andromeda, in the name of loves lost and loves found, in the name of stories and the music of the spheres, I NAME YOU ALICORN” The horn tapped her body once more and indescribable power seemed to flood her form.
“Rise Princess Twilight Sparkle, lesser entity of the night, speaker for the stars and sister to love!” And with that the vision before Twilight’s eyes vanished.
Twilights eyes opened slowly as she returned to the world of the living. As her vision began to clear she just barely caught the last violet sparks of energy vanish from around her. She stared down at her hooves for a moment, making a few observations. The first being she felt strange, pinpricks traveling all around her body like she was being stabbed by a million tiny needles. For a moment she thought she had managed to disturb a beehive…again. But no, that wasn’t right. From her perspective she noted her hooves seemed longer and slimmer. Her coat was fine, as though she had just finished a full spa treatment. Bits of her mane hung into view from the sides of her vision. The last noticeable change was that her horn seemed longer and somewhat pointier. Her brain took a few moments to take in her symptoms and try to pinpoint a reason for these differences. Her first solution was that she had been in a coma. That didn’t explain why she wasn’t in the hospital but that was all she could think of.
Twilight lifted her head as the sound of others nearby finally began to compute in her senses. As she lifted her head she nearly fainted again. The whole town was present, everyone! She couldn’t remember seeing so many ponies in one place at once. Her eyes focused on her friends. Their faces looked at her expectantly, hints of anticipation and bits of fear dancing across from time to time. All except for one particular face. A pair of large blue eyes looked at her from a smiling pink face.
“Congratulations Twilight! Gummy knew it would be you and of course Gummy is never wrong about these things so when I saw the shockwave I just knew it was you!” As Pinkie Pie talked in a blur that very few ponies could keep up with Twilight’s eyes finally locked on the banners Pinkie had set up everywhere. ‘Congratulations twilight on your alicornification!’ Twilight remained silent, her brain processing everything. Or rather, her brain struggling to reboot, having rather violently crashed upon trying to understand the impossible thing Pinkie was implying. Automatically, she flexed her shoulders and the crowed backed away but oohed and awed. Fluttershy bleated like a goat and fainted dead away.
“Oh mah stars,” Applejack said in awe.
“They’re not your stars silly, they’re the ones in the sky over there!” Pinkie Pie said cheerfully, pointing upwards.
“Twilight that is at least 40% cooler!” Rainbow Dash commented.
“Huh?” Twilight wondered inarticulately, looking back over her shoulders.
Two feathered lavender wings larger than most Pegasusususes extended outward, revealing their black underside. The inside was dotted with tiny silver specks looking remarkably like constellations, identical to the ones occupying the night sky above her. Twilight turned her head back to stare at her new wings, trying to get used to the fact that she now had two extra appendages, ones which looked very spectacular, at that.
It was then Twilight realized she was standing in the middle of a large smoking crater. Bits of wood shot from the ground here and there, forming the basic area of what had been the tree that contained Ponyville’s library. What was visible was smoking and aside from one or two tattered remnants, the books it had contained were nowhere to be seen.
Luckily before she could react by weeping at the loss of her home and books (mostly the books), Mayor Mare approached Twilight slowly. “On behalf of the citizens of Ponyville I welcome you…Princess Twilight!” As she spoke others bowed to her. Twilight stared in shock, her mind still trying to process everything it finally clued in. Her mind had reexamined her body, took into account the changes and new additions she had received, and after much deliberation, finally gave up on trying to find a logical explanation for what was going on and reluctantly declared her to be an alicorn. Several emotions washed over her at once, fear, joy, surprise, joy, anger, joy, depression, joy again, elation, joy, hunger, some more joy, a little lust, Daring Do kicking the evildoer in the teeth, and oh yes, joy!
Given these circumstances, Twilight’s brain reviewed the data, measured its options and dictated the appropriate response. “YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES” Twilight shouted as she bounced in a circle happily, making a complete and utter fool of herself. Again.
Seeing an alicorn jump around chanting and making a complete and utter fool of herself was quite the spectacle, and most of the town had a good-natured giggle, though things got a little awkward when they remembered who they were giggling at and quickly shut up out of a vague fear they’d be banished to the stars or something. Fortunately, a timely interruption by Pinkie Pie restored the mood.
“Good call, author!” Pinkie Pie said winking at no one in particular. “Ahem, Princess Twilight, everypony is waiting for your word to party!”
“Huh? Oh, really?” Twilight looked around a bit, startled by the sudden authority that was apparently now invested in her. “Um…uh…wait! Listen, everyone, I don’t want any of you treating me differently, no kneeling and no bowing and for Celestia’s sake stop calling me Princess Twilight (though it is secretly kind of appealing)! You don’t have to worry, no one’s gonna get banished, frankly I have no idea how to do it or where I’d do it to, hmm…maybe Polaris…but, uh, that’s not gonna happen, so everyone got that?” There were a few rather relieved nods. “Good. Right. Okay then. Well then, let’s party!” she said happily. With that, Twilight unknowingly sparked the first annual Spring Stellar Soiree.
“Well sugar cube, how does it feel?” Applejack said when she finally got a chance to talk to Twilight personally. She poked Twilight’s new wings with a hoof experimentally.
“It’s strange,” Twilight said “Kind of like having a larger, flat set of arms.” She robotically flexed her wings.
“Um…th-they…they look very nice…I guess…” Fluttershy squeaked timidly, trembling like a leaf and trying not to pass out again.
“Nice? They look awesome!” Rainbow complained. “I want wings like that…but in all the colors of the rainbow, not all starry and stuff. Er, not that that’s not cool too!”
“So what’s gonna happen now?” Applejack asked.
“I’m not sure. I don’t think I have ever read of a unicorn becoming an alicorn from a spell before,” Twilight said. “I’d look it up, but…well…” Her lip started to tremble and her eyes started to water as she looked back at the crater that had once been her home. She sniffled. So many good friends and occasional special friends had been in there…
Her friends fidgeting awkwardly. “Um, I can’t wait to show you how to use them,” Rainbow Dash chimed in, trying to change the subject. “They’re so cool, I bet you’ll be doing Rainbooms in no time!”
Twilight smiled gratefully. “Thank you, Rainbow. I appreciate that.”
Her mane was blown back when Pinkie blew a party horn in her face. Fluttershy, high-strung as always, squeaked and fainted again. “Now’s not the time to be all mopey-dopey!” the pink pony yelled. “You’ve just become an immortal goddess, let’s celebrate instead of crying about a blown-up tree!”
“But I liked that tree,” Twilight complained.
“You can plant a new one,” Applejack suggested. “I’ve got lots of seeds you could use, if’n you like.”
“She wants a library, AJ, not an apple tree,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Well how do you know? Maybe she’s got a hankering for living in an apple tree! I certainly do…” AJ said wistfully.
“…Fluttershy’s not the only one who wants to be a tree, is she?” Rainbow Dash asked flatly.
“Nope! I wouldn’t mind having a party tree…hey Twilight, can you use your super-duper awesometacular powers to make a party tree?!” Pinkie asked excitedly.
“Uhhh…I’ll think about it…” Twilight said vaguely.
“Okay! And in the meantime, let’s PAAAARTAAAAAYYYYY!” Pinkie shrieked, backflipping and causing fireworks to explode in the background and frightening Fluttershy, who’d just woken up, into fainting again.
Applejack shook her head in bemusement. “Welp, guess we should take her advice.”
“And don’t worry, you can always build a new castle or whatever later,” Rainbow Dash said.
“I don’t want a castle,” Twilight half-lied. “I wouldn’t mind a new library though…one that’s bigger and a lot more fireproof…” Already starting to formulate the plans for a new residence, she decided to put her current homelessness out of mind for the moment and focus on the celebration.
An hour and much partying later it was reported the princesses were inbound. Twilight happily stood waiting for them. She eagerly anticipated the look on her teacher’s face to see her student in her new form. She was nearly rocking on her hooves the whole time, that is until the royal carriage began to pull up. Currently Luna’s face could be seen through the window and her excitement went from worry to terror quickly, very quickly, mind blowingly quickly, like so quickly you swear she was going to die quickly. The look on Luna’s face was soon one of such anger that Twilight’s imagination began picturing such a look on Celestia’s own face.
Twilight was quickly swept up by a multitude of feelings, none of them pleasant, and the worst of them left her terrified. Before the royal carriage made its way to a stop Twilight turned tail and ran. She could not live in a world with Celestia’s disapproval. It was a little-known fact (Well, actually, EXTREMELY well-known, but Twilight had deluded herself into thinking nopony knew her darkest secret) that Celestia held a very very special place in Twilight’s heart. She couldn’t look her mentor in the eye as she high-tailed it for the Everfree forest.
Everypony stared in confusion. Several faces turned to understanding and alarm as Luna exited the carriage. Celestia stepped out slowly, her multi-hued hair flowing in a non-existent wind. The alicorn looked around examining the people, the destroyed library, Luna, a giant half-eaten cake which she made a note to try a slice of later that for some reason looked strangely like Twilight but with wings, and finally the banner. There was something about the banner that she couldn’t process for a moment. She stared at it for a moment. She looked at the cake again, then the banner, then to the cake once more.
“Hi, Princess Celestia!” Pinkie Pie chirped happily, springing in front of the ruler of the sun. “Welcome to Twilight’s Alicornification party! Want some cake?”
“Why yes, Pinkie, I would,” Celestia said automatically as Pinkie hoofed her a plate with a slice of cake on it. She immediately began to violently munch on it, not caring if anyone saw. She had always had a weakness for cake. “Mmm, delicious as always, Pinkie.”
“Thank you!” Pinkie said happily. “Only the best for Twilight’s Alicornification party! It’s not every day you get a new Princess, after all!”
Celestia nodded, a smile on her face. “Yes, of course, only the best for…” She paused. She stared at the banner, then the cake, then at Pinkie. “Wait. This party isn’t to celebrate Twilight’s horn—which is also known as an alicorn--growing longer?”
“No, it’s to celebrate her rise to godhood,” Pinkie said.
“Ah,” Celestia said. “That’s what I thought you said.” Her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted dead away.
“I’LL KILL HER!” Luna roared, eyes glowing white as storm clouds formed over the town and lightning bolts struck everywhere, setting a few roofs on fire.
As the townsponies panicked and started running around screaming, a perplexed Pinkie scratcher her head and asked, “So, does this mean the Spring Stellar Soiree is cancelled now?”
In the Everfree forest…
Twilight wandered through the woods alone. She hoped maybe Zecora would know what to do, maybe she could fix this. After all, that’s what stereotypical magical zebras were supposed to do, right? (Well, except for that time with the parasprites…) The path to Zecora’s hut was well made out and would normally take anypony minutes to reach if they were careful. Twilight, however, was not in a good state of mind. The walk took her past brambles and through thorn bushes. She was astonished at how her coat or mane or new wings never seemed to get caught despite everything, or at least she would have if she weren’t so fixated on her present course of action. Finally she found the hut in its clearing, torchlight shining from within and casting the various masks hanging from the exterior in an eerie light. She knocked on the door rather urgently until she head hoofsteps from inside.
“I’m coming, alright, alright! Who is up at this hour of night?” the zebra’s whimsical rhyming wafted through the door as it opened a bit. Zecora blinked in surprise when she saw the young unicorn, or rather, former unicorn. “Twilight Sparkle, in the Everfree? At this hour of night you should not be! Alas this is not the time to deride! Well since you’re here, do come inside.” The zebra opened the door for Twilight. Zecora’s eyes noticeably widened when she caught sight of Twilight’s wings.
“I have seen many things, but never a unicorn sprouting wings!” she said. “Is this why you woke me from my sleep? Did you stray into the poison joke heap?” she asked.
Twilight shook her head. “I was at home and I tried a new spell to get the stars out since there were none tonight. I passed out, and when I woke up, I was like this.” She extended her wings for emphasis. The constellations shone brightly under her wings. They had changed to show the ones in the sky above the hut from the direction Twilight was presently standing. “Oh, and my house blew up, but that’s nothing new. Can you fix it?”
Zecora shook her head. “A gift from divines you have been given, to give it back is not a decision.”
“Divines?” Twilight asked, confused.
“Beings of higher statures with greater power and playful natures,” Zecora explained. She threw some green powder into her cauldron and smoke billowed out showing horse-like figures. “They create beings in their images to rule the countries and the villages. The gryphons have their great Sphinx, a riddle-telling dangerous minx. The dragons have Nidhogg their king, who eternally guards his massive bling. And ponies have many godly kin, none surpass the great Kai-rin.”
“Kai-rin?” Twilight asked, now thoroughly taken in by the zebra’s words.
Zecora threw another dash of powder into the cauldron as a figure of smoke walked out of the cloud. It had the basic form of an alicorn, but the horn seemed more like a singular antler. It even had another branch growing away. Rather than a pony’s tail, a lion’s swung behind this creature. Below its barrel were not four but eight legs ending in hooves.
“The first and the last, it was by him all creation was cast. Yet despite this joyful token, it is rarely at best he has ever spoken.” The image faded away.
“But why me?” Twilight asked. “I’m just a normal unicorn.”
“It was for this purpose you were born, you are hardy even a unicorn. You have been chosen at the divines’ largesse, so I bow to you my princess.” Zecora kneeled on her hooves. Twilight felt a little light-headed and was still having trouble with this. Her, a princess? How would Luna take it? How would Cadence take it? Worst of all, how would Celestia take it?
“Please Zecora, I can’t do this alone! Please, you have to help me with this!” Twilight looked down at the zebra desperately.
Zecora smiled as she rose. “If you are worried about reactions to your rising, then you must seek out sound advising.”
Twilight needed only a second to think about it before she spoke. “Zecora, if I am to be a princess, I ask that you be my royal adviser, please?”
“A zebra advisor? Think of the scandal? It may be too much for me to handle!” The look on Twilight’s face melted until the zebra spoke up again. “But nevertheless I live to serve. I will advise you princess, in this I shall not swerve.”
Zecora was pleasantly surprised as she was tackled in a hug. Fortunately Twilight was not a full-sized alicorn yet so she was able to hug the shaman with minimal damage to anything around her.
“Princess, there is no time for such emotion, we must return to Pinkie’s commotion,” Zecora said.
“How did you know about that?” Twilight asked with a lifted eyebrow.
Zecora leaned in and lifted a pink streamer from Twilight’s back “A Pinkie streamer has just one reason, or is this the new fashion this season? Either way it does not matter, come on, let's catch the cupcake platter.” And with that, Zecora lead Twilight back towards Ponyville.
A/N: whelp second chapter took less fine tuning then I imagined. First of I want to thank the bronies the reaction was much MUCH better than anticipated! Some of you have noted the description’s poor spelling and/or grammar. The reason this story is not the same way is great fully do to me amazing editor, fine tuner, and friend, he doesn’t have a fimfiction account I know of yet but he is known on Fanfiction.net as ‘Ri2’. If you’re ever out that way and you like epic adventure stories with comedy, romance, and just a bit of tragedy and don’t mind the absence of ponies check out brave new world. Without his help this story would be a bland unreadable mess. This chapter came faster then I figured it would. Possibly do to the uplift I got from seeing such a kind reaction. Chapter 3 is when things really get interesting for twilight. Also I don’t know if I pulled Zecora off quite right suggestions? Maybe someone can suggest a decent rhyming dictionary? regarding kai-rin (the dash is on purpose) it's not to be taken for the chinese uniconr kirin, this is a being i designed off a kirin borrowing from creatures of other horse related myths. Anyway for your enjoyment chapter 2! Teal speckles