//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 - Pins, Needles, and Tendrils // Story: Tamed // by PiercingZen //------------------------------// Act 1 Chapter 4 – Pins, Needles, and Tendrils ***** Sometimes talent comes from the heart. Only when you least expect it, do you discover your true brilliance. ***** The two ponies continue to stare through the gaping hole in Twilight’s home. Books and wooden debris were scattered everywhere inside and outside the library. They could see Ponyville off in the distance. What just happened? Did Twi do that? Where did she get that kind of magic…and with a broken horn?! “I…I was just trying to get a book and…” The startled unicorn began explaining. She turned to face the frightened pegasus. ~ Dash? Is she scared…of me? Ah! ~ Twilight turned away, realizing Rainbow would have heard her thoughts again. Dash began backing up away from the pony, “I-I’m fine, Twi! I just don’t get it. I thought your horn was broken!” She hit the wall behind her and immediately sat down. Her eyes were fixed on the unicorn, fearing that something else might happen if she isn’t careful. That hole is as big as a tree! What if I was there when that happened?! The pegasus spotted a torn up book on the ground and she winced. “Rainbow…” Twilight’s eyes began to water. “What happened here?!” A familiar child dragon voice emanated from the new doorway. The two ponies turned their attention to him. “Oh! Hello, Spike. Heheh…What’s up?” Twilight’s weak greeting made the dragon suspicious. The dragon poked a hanging piece of wood with a claw and it immediately fell. “Are we remodeling, Twilight?” The unicorn blinked then chuckled nervously. “Uh, yeah! That’s it! Gotta get rid of these walls if we’re gonna add that new room for our new guest…right, Rainbow?” Dash had briefly gotten over her cowardice and had slowly made her way back towards her. “Uhhh, yeah? I mean yeah! Since, I might be staying a while, thought it’d be nice to have a room of my own…you know, for privacy. Twilight couldn’t be a better pal!” The pegasus threw a leg over the unicorn and gave a big smile. A moment of silence had killed the mood. Spike was staring up at Twilight…or rather her horn. “Twilight! Your horn! What…what happened to it?! Are you okay?!” Just mentioning the state of her horn got her down. “Yeah, I’m fine…but…it may be the end of my magic as we know it. There was an accident at Rainbow’s…” Twilight shot a glance at the pegasus’s ‘wings’. “…and she…” “You should have seen me, Spike! Nopony could have saved her like I did!” She beat her chest with a hoof and turned her nose up. “Well, it doesn’t look like it went all that well to me.” The dragon was eying the pegasus’s bound wings. “Oh, what, this? Ha! I’ve been through worse believe me. I’ll be back in the air like that!” She smacked her hoof against the ground. ~ Who are you fooling, Dash? Uh… ~ Dash gave a momentary look of hurt at the unicorn. Her heart stung by Twilight’s harsh remark. “Uh…anyway, Spike…” Twilight interrupted her thoughts. Spike was looking for the voice he’d just heard. “It’ll be fine. Celestia said that there may be a way to fix my horn. I just have to do a little research. Should be no problem!” The pegasus pulled back the leg around Twilight. She didn’t mean it, Dash. You know she can’t control her thoughts…it was just a slip of the tongue…or I guess the mind. She didn’t mean anything by it. Dash smiled having easily convinced herself of her friend’s mistake. The dragon lifted one of the scattered books and dusted it off, and then realized a decent penetration through the center. “Well…as long as you start taking the books off the shelves before you make a big hole in them…we should have what we need here, right?” Spike shrugged and threw the book aside. “I think we may need to take a peek into the restricted area of Canterlot again to find what we need.” The pony examined one of many burnt books lying around: Slumber 101. She let out a sad moan. “But for now, I’ll look through these to see if I can’t find something.” Twilight put a hoof to her forehead careful not to touch her horn. “There’s got to be some way…” “Well, I guess I’ll start cleaning this mess.” The dragon looked around annoyed then began walking towards the basement. “Oh, and nice try covering up your mistake, Twi. An extra room for Dash…” Spike mumbled to himself. “Does she think I’m stupid?” The two ponies smiled nervously at each other and Twilight rolled her eyes. “I tried.” “Don’t worry about it, Twilight.” The pegasus ruffled her mane. “We’ll get somepony to fix it later.” Twilight sighed, “If I had my magic this hole would be patched up in no time.” “Well, it looks like you can make them. I bet my tattered wings you can get rid of them too!” The unicorn gave the mare a grateful grin. “Thanks, Rainbow. That means a lot to me…I just hope you’re right. I don’t want my problems causing other ponies grief.” Her own words caught her attention to something she had forgotten. ~ Now who's horseshoe is on the other hoof? ~ Dash burst into laughter and hugged the mare, “Don’t worry about it, Twi. It’s all in the past now. No way am I getting into the Wonderbolts now with these things. Maybe I could become a coach or something. Just because I can’t fly doesn’t mean I can’t tell other ponies how to.” “You’ve really come to accept this, haven’t you?” Twilight returned the embrace, and then the two ponies separated shortly after. “Of course! I’m not gonna let this bring down the magnificently awesome Rainbow Dash! I’ll just have to be awesome at something other than flying. Like you said…I’m infallible!” She puffed out her chest and grinned smugly. “Well, I wish I was as tough as you, Rainbow. I don’t know if I can handle it. I’ve grown up with magic my entire life.” Twilight slowly walked over to one of the giant bookshelves. “What…you think I haven’t been flying my whole life, Twi? Like I said before, I think we should count our blessings. At least we’re not…well, you know.” ~ Dead? ~ The unicorn shivered. “Yeah, I guess you’re right, Dash. No sense in moping about the past. What’s done is done…just gonna have to live with it.” Twilight attempted to look up at the horn. “That’s the mare I know!” The pony reared. “Now, come on! Let’s start your research thing. Maybe I’ll learn something.” She lightly hit the unicorn’s shoulder. Twilight gasped. “Rainbow wanting to study?! Next you’ll tell me you’re into fashion.” The pegasus rolled her eyes and shoved the mare. “Don’t push your luck, Twi. I’m doing this for you, because I know it means that much to you.” Twilight’s eyes softened. “Aw…that’s so sweet.” The unicorn leaned her head toward the pegasus. “Hey!” Dash planted a hoof on the unicorn’s nose and lightly pushed her away. “I said don’t push your luck with me. You’ll never know when I’ll sprout new wings and jet out of here like that!” She snapped her tail and removed her hoof. “So consider yourself lucky!” Twilight wrinkled her nose for a moment, and then sneezed. A moment of silence, then the two mares chuckled. “All right, Rainbow. I get it. Thank you. So let’s start with something simple.” She looks up the giant shelf to a book on the very top. “Unfortunately…” Dash followed her gaze and her jaw dropped slightly, “Great…” ***** That’s at least 25 hooves high… Twilight shivered. “Well, Twilight. You’re in luck! Because you have the greatest flier in all of Equestria!” Rainbow bent down into a pouncing position. Twilight sat to the side confused at what Rainbow had in mind. The pegasus launched herself upward. “Rainbow!...” Crash! Twilight winced. The pony pounded into the ground face first, sending the pegasus into a daze. “Dash? Ugh…” Twilight shook her head and chuckled. “What? Did you already forget, Rainbow? We’ll have to do things the way the earth ponies do them now.” The unicorn trotted over to a nearby ladder and gripped it with her teeth. Slowly and painfully she slid the ladder over to the appropriate place. “Ugh! See? Now we just gotta…” She followed the rungs of the ladder all the way up to the top…then gulped. “…climb…” “Afraid of heights, Twilight?” The pegasus teased, which got Rainbow a scornful glare. “Way more than I was before…especially after falling from your place.” Twilight sighed as her attention returned to the ladder. “Why don’t you do it then, brave and infallible?” “I will! Easy! Watch!” The pony zipped up to the top of ladder in only a few seconds. “See, Twi?! As I saaa…” The pony found herself looking down. A bead of sweat trailed down her cheek. “Omigosh…” She whispered to herself as she wrapped her hooves around the ladder. “You all right up there, Dash?” Even from this high, Rainbow could see the smug look on her face. “I-I’m fine…where’s this stupid book you’re looking for?” The pony began scanning the shelves. “The “stupid” book I’m looking for…is called Elementary Magic for Unicorns. It should be a blue book with a star pattern on it.” The pegasus looked carefully for the star pattern and spotted it pretty easily. “Got it! Catch!” Dash pulled the book and let it fall. The unicorn blinked and leaned her head forward a bit as if she was about to use magic, but she caught herself and just let the book hit the floor. Boof! The pegasus giggled. “Nice one, Twi…” “Aheheh…thankfully it’s just a book this time. I almost used magic again.” The thought immediately terrified Rainbow. That feeling of safety washing away again especially now that she was stuck on the top of a ladder. “Almost?! I'd better not be hearing that!” The pony looked downward. “Oh…curse my wings…” The pegasus slowly made her way down the ladder. After a moment, Dash felt the ground on her hooves and she immediately bent down to kiss the wooden flooring. “Oh, thank you thank you!” She glanced up at Twilight who was giving her a “what in the world” look. Rainbow snapped up and flushed, “Ahem…so what’s the book for?” “I’m gonna try some magic…and see what happens.” The pegasus backed up in a flash. “Woah! Hold on! Is that gonna be safe?! I thought you were gonna read about unicorns. Not blow the house up!” The cyan mare immediately acting hysterical. Twilight rolled her eyes, “I’m not going to “blow the house up”. These spells take almost no magic to do.” Dash’s eyes shifted from side to side. “I don’t know…maybe we should do it outside…you know, just to be safe?” “You are so paranoid, Dash.” The pegasus eyed Twilight’s horn which began to glow. The unicorn was trying to open the book. Rainbow put her hooves over her head and hit the deck. She only halfway opened the book before a miniature bolt of lightning shot out of the unicorn’s horn and struck a chair next to Rainbow. The chair comically disintegrated and the pegasus shot upward and screamed. Twilight became annoyed and looked up, “What’s with all the yelling?” She spotted the pile of ashes. “What happened?” She scanned the room to find the missing pegasus until she found her tucked in one of the shelves. “Dash?” “Y-You did it again, Twi! I told you it was dangerous!” The pegasus genuinely terrified. “Did what? I just opened the book. What’s with the pile of ashes?” “Are you telling me you didn’t notice that? You just zapped that chair and turned it to dust!” “What are you talking about? I didn’t do that! …Did I?” A concerned look roused on the unicorn’s face as she examined the terrified pony. I must have…she wouldn’t be acting this way. Am I….casting spells without realizing it? I didn’t even get upset that time…right? Is it just always this dangerous? The unicorn sighed and looked down at the open book. Maybe Rainbow’s right… The pegasus let out a sigh of relief and slowly climbed out of the hole she was in. I should take this outside. The pegasus froze. “Well, then leave me out of it, Twilight. I like my mane the color it is now.” The unicorn frowned and sank. Twilight again rolled her eyes. “Ugh…all right, Dash. I’ll be back in a bit. Tell Spike I’ll be gone around ten minutes. It shouldn’t take me that long.” The unicorn shut the book with a hoof and picked it up with her teeth. “Okay, Twi. Just be careful, okay? I like the way you are now, and if come back a crispy pony, I wouldn’t be able to recognize ya!” This got a giggle out of the purple mare as she trotted towards the exit. “Dr wrry Dsh. Ah beh fi!” The unicorn mumbled with the book in her mouth. Dash tilted her head. “Uhh…what?” Twilight groaned and went outside through the big hole. ***** Twilight had made her way about a hundred yards from the library to an open-area well away from things she could possibly destroy. She noticed it was late afternoon and sky was becoming a light shade of red. What exactly happened at Dash’s? I fell…I screamed…and the rest…is blank. Obviously, Rainbow caught me. She told me that part. But how was she injured? Was it a close call and she somehow broke both her wings in a crash landing? She would have told me if she knew, right? The unicorn found a good spot and dropped the book on the ground. She sat next to it and opened it with a hoof. She hadn’t done that in so long. There was something slightly rewarding about physically opening the book. She did it again three more times. She stared at the table of contents and sighed. Why was Applejack there? Or more importantly…Celestia? Why hadn’t I asked these questions before? Well, they did leave in a hurry and I was paralyzed thanks to that stupid doctor. I should go visit Applejack and ask her. She turned a couple pages with her hoof. Rainbow…she was acting so differently…so normal actually. For a pegasus who has lost the ability to fly…and possibly permanently…she was acting like nothing had mattered. That she was going to trudge on regardless of what brings her down. That or she’s faking it. “Ugh! Why am I so hard on Rainbow? She’s actually the better pony for moving past it. I’m stuck here wanting everything to go back to normal.” She looked down at the page she had turned to: simple levitation. Every unicorn could do this fairly early into their magic years. It may be one of the only spells that is universal among all unicorns. “Easy!” She tried to imitate Rainbow. She stood up straight and looked around with a determined attitude. She spotted a rock and she turned towards it. “I’m not gonna let a rock beat me.” She leaned her head forward slowly and closed her eyes. “Now rise…” Her horn glowed softly…crackle! “Eep!” That familiar shock hit her body and got her heart racing. She opened her eyes to see if the rock had moved. It was gone. Twilight looked around for the thing and found it on her book. “How did you get there? Okay, I may need to keep my eyes open if I want to see if it works.” She leaned her head forward again. “Slowly…” As her horn glowed, the rock began to slowly rise up. She smiled in absolute glee. “Yes!” BANG! “Ahh!” She looked away as the rock suddenly exploded. Luckily none of the shrapnel hit her. “Oh no…it’s useless.” She lifted a hoof and examined it. “All of my magic has become destructive in some way. Even the slightest thing like lifting a rock makes things explode?” Realization hit her. “I really had almost hit Rainbow with a spell.” I can imagine how she feels. Being around a ticking time bomb isn’t exactly something anypony would be okay with. Her eyes welled up with tears. Maybe…maybe I should leave. Go somewhere I couldn’t hurt anypony. Live like Zecora out in the Everfree Forest. Forever alone… She slammed her hoof down, “No! I’m gonna beat this thing! What’s next?” She turned the page: Minor object teleportation. Twilight located another rock and casted the spell…making the rock grow fifty times its size and crash onto the ground next to her. Failure. Plant growth. Twilight fixed her horn on a small flower causing it to burst into flames. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Again, again, and again. Twilight tried, for what seemed like hours, every spell in the book. Twilight let out a groan. Her body was twitching slightly from all of the shocks she was receiving each time. Her forehead burned and the landscape around her was tattered with all of her mishaps. “It’s…zttt! Hopeless…zZTT! Ahh!” She fell on her haunches. Her body wrenching involuntarily. She breathed in heavily through her nose as the shocks slowly stopped. She was getting used to the horn’s retaliations. The shocks didn’t really hurt, but sometimes made some of her muscles seize up. This obviously isn’t healthy for me. All of my magic is either backfiring or amplifying dramatically. I need to find some way for my magic to focus. It’s just causing random effects centered somewhere around the original purpose of the spell. When I levitated the rock, the spell was amplified and it simply just tore the rock apart. The teleported rock was simply a boulder replacing it. It was all logical, but about halfway through casting the spell, it seems to lose its original power and purpose. The unicorn sighed and closed her eyes. Zzzap!! “Ahhh!! Screw this!!” She angrily grabbed the book with her teeth and threw it as far as she could. She turned and ran back to the library in tears. ***** Rainbow Dash looked at a clock hanging near the front door. Ten minutes, Twi? It’s been about five hours. I wonder if she’s okay. “Checkmate!” A snide dragon boasted. Dash turned her head to look at the board. “What?! Not again! Where?! Show me!” She frantically scanned for all possible moves. “Well, if you try to move your Celestia here, I’ll just take it with my pegasus. You also can’t move her here because…” Rainbow half-listened to the dragon explain his victory. A grin slowly crept up on the pegasus face as she sneaked a hoof under the board. “…you could move your Luna, but then my unicorn would easily…” Crash! Pieces flew everywhere as Dash flipped the board over. The dragon was shocked. “Oops! Heheh. I guess no one wins! Sorry, about that…butterhooves and all.” She waved her hooves in front of him. The dragon shot her a disappointed glare. “Sore loser.” The two hear some rustling from near the big hole, which Spike had the time to hang a large curtain or blanket to protect the inside from the elements. Twilight had returned. Just from the slow entrance, Rainbow could tell it didn’t turn out well. Oh no…Twilight. Why do you do this to yourself? “Twilight! You’re back! How’d it go?” Rainbow jumped up and galloped over to the mare. Twilight was gloomy. She just looked at the pegasus and sighed. “That bad?” She shook her head. “No, not bad…horrible! I can’t use even the simplest spells!” She pounded the floor with a hoof. “It’s not…not…” A couple tears fell from her already swollen eyes. “Hey! Hey…” Rainbow leapt up and embraced the pony around the neck. “Don’t worry about it, Twi. It’ll be fine. So what if you can’t use magic. You still have a lot of things that make you awesome!” The unicorn gave her a skeptical look. “Yeah, Twilight! Like, no one can organize things like you can.” Spike jumped in. “Nor is anypony as smart as you are…” Rainbow added. “I’m positive nopony complains as much as you do.” “You have pretty eyes…” “Nopony can beat you at Word Jumbler.” “You have those cool stripes in your mane and tail!” Twilight waved her hooves, “Okay! Okay! Look, I appreciate your compliments. I just want to eat and go to bed. I’ll figure this entire thing out in the morning.” The unicorn began trotting away pathetically. “Actually, Twi.” Rainbow put a hoof against Twilight. “We have something special for you.” “Something…special?” She tilted her head. The dragon stepped in. “Since you’ve been having such a bad day, we decided we’re gonna have you eat something great tonight! We want you choose what to eat from…” Spike pulls a book from the nearby table. “…this cookbook!” “Top 100 recipes of Ponyville…” Twilight read the cover. “Anything you want, Twilight! Spike said he can make anything in that book.” Twilight wasn’t very enthusiastic, but she nodded. “All right, that sounds great.” “Yes!” Rainbow hopped in joy. “Spike, give her the book so you can prep the kitchen.” The dragon gave a salute, tossed the book, and headed out. Twilight sighed as the book was thrown in front of her. She knelt down and started flipping through the pages. Rainbow joined the unicorn and pressed up against her side so she could take a look at the book as well. “I haven’t been hearing any of your thoughts lately, Twi. Have you got it under control already?” She whispered to her. The unicorn didn’t look up to answer her question, “Uh…not really. I just resist thinking about talking by focusing on actions and keeping my mind busy. Has it been working?” “Yeah, but I kinda miss it.” She threw a foreleg over the pony. Twilight sighed and hit her hoof down on one of the dishes. “Sweet Apple Omelet, can you make that?” She glanced over at the busy dragon. “Yeah, no problem! I just need you to read me the directions. Leave the cooking to me!” “I thought you said you made all of these already!” She propped her chin up on a hoof. “Well, I don’t have your memory, Twilight! Besides, we can make it faster if we work together!” The unicorn groaned and gritted her teeth a bit, “Okay, fine! First the ingredients…” As the mare read from the book, Rainbow noticed something odd about her horn. Is…is she using magic? “You need 2 apples, 5 eggs, 3 tablespoons of…” The unicorn rambled due to exhaustion and frustration. Her horn was glowing as she spoke. Twilight? What is that…coming out of your horn? Spike found himself dumbfounded as things in the kitchen began flying around, organizing themselves quickly. “You got that?” As Twilight finished reading. “Uhh…yeah?” Spike shrugged to the ponies. “Okay, good. Well, first you’ll need to peel and core the apples, cut them into quarters…” The unicorn sped up her reading. In no way allowing Spike time to even react. But it didn’t matter as everything seemed to unfold by itself. Rainbow could see it now: three deep, dark purple ribbons were coming out of her horn and were glowing amethyst. Twilight wasn’t even aware of what she was doing. After a few moments of chaos, the unicorn finished reading. “All right, done. You got everything? Good. You two eat that, I’m gonna go make something that doesn’t take an hour to make.” The mare slammed the book and made her way towards the kitchen. The ribbons from her horn vanished in turn. “Twilight, stop!!” Rainbow shouted and ran in front of her. “Didn’t you see what just happened?” “What are you talking about?” The unicorn was getting fairly agitated. “When you were reading these freaky things came out of your horn and everything in kitchen started cooking itself…like you were using magic to do it!” “Dash! I know how much you want to cheer me up, but I just want to go to bed, okay? I’ve lost my appetite.” Twilight walked past her and headed for the stairs. Rainbow clenched her teeth and jumped over the pony and halted her advanced once again. “Just listen to me, Twi!” The unicorn slammed a hoof to the ground and flared her nostrils, “Dash! I’m getting really tired of your constant badgering!” Twilight shouted. Rainbow saw those same ribbons begin to emerge from the horn again. Oh no… “I just wish you would…” Twilight shut her eyes and gritted her teeth, feeling those shocks hitting her. “Buzz off!” Rainbow felt a strange power circle around her for a second. She tried to step away but the magic seemed to bind her down. She struggled, but it was no use. All of her hair stood on end and her skin began to tingle. She gave one final frightened look at the pony. “Twilight?” Zap!...She was gone. Twilight opened her eyes and looked up. “What?!” The anger in her eyes faded almost immediately when she lost sight of the pegasus. She looked around curiously. “Wh…Where’d you go?” “Twilight! What did you do?!” “What do you mean what did I do? I didn’t…” As she looked over at Spike, her eyes caught something on the kitchen counter. She felt as if her eyes deceived her. The pony gave them a rub and then looked again. Dash! What have I…? Her voice faded and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. She hit to the floor with a sickening thud.