//------------------------------// // Act II, scene iv - Princess Provocation // Story: A World Rent Asunder // by NeverEatTheLemonsAlone //------------------------------// I'm trotting along the Citadel thoroughfare, a large road that runs all the way from the Tin District into the Golde district, with Trixie and Dash, animatedly chatting with the former and largely ignoring the latter. It's quite nice out, I must say, and once we'd concluded our business, I decided to take them both on a tour. After all, it's been a very long time since Trixie's been around. "So, Trixie, remember Spectral Bloom's old place? The restaurant?" Her ears perk up. She loved that place to bits way back in the day, and as we turn the corner, I point to the venerable old place. "Yeah, still here. Somehow Spectral is still alive. She's pretty ancient, you know? Still cooks just as well. We should come here tonight." Dash sighs and rolls her eyes as Trixie barely holds back an excited squeal. "Ugh...Twilight, why are you giving us a tour? It's so pointless...Ugh. Let's just go back to our quarters." I wave my hoof at her. "My quarters, you killjoy. You can't even get in unless I let you, now that I know your little window trick. Just try to enjoy yourself." She opens her mouth to speak—no doubt for a pseudo-witty retort—when there's suddenly an immense boom that resounds throughout the Citadel, followed by screams. A roaring wall of flame is searing down the street at an enormous speed, leaving barely any time to think as it shoves bystanders to the side. I'm frozen to the spot as I watch the blaze close in. A white shimmer fades away as the barrier in front it bleeds away, exposing the raw heat. Then I'm launched sideways, pain in my side as Dash grabs Trixie and headbutts me to the side, tossing me out of the path of fire. Turning to the side, I watch it pass in morbid curiosity and mild terror. Then I freeze. Inside of the flames, there's the shape of a pony. And not just any pony. No, it's one that I know I too well. The Solar Effigy turns to me too, glaring at me with a rage I was unaware they could feel, and continues its course for a good three hundred feet more, covering the distance in barely a blink. The dazed civilians that were shoved to the side by the now-absent forcewall look on in some brand of disbelief. God, I'm sick of these damn fireponies. Stepping boldly out to the center of the street, I turn to the being, calling to it with a voice that belies my inner fear and turmoil: "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Before I can blink, it's standing threateningly in front of me, mane billowing as a cloud of intense flashing fire. Bubbling plasma seeps out of it and drips to the cobblestone below, melting through the rocks like butter. I can't help but take an involuntary step back, throwing up a foreleg to shield my eyes from the intense heat. Steeling myself, I slowly drop the appendage, leaving my eyes unprotected from the powerful brightness before me. It's like staring into a miniature sun. "I asked," I grind out, "what do you think you're doing?" Of course, I don't actually expect an answer from one of the Effigies. That's why I'm so surprised when I hear it speak. "Save..." it begins in a strained voice, "She needs your..." It's eyes begin to flicker out from the angry fire, revealing something underneath, but before I can see what it is, the flames subsume it once more and it growls, prancing in place for a moment before dropping once more to its hooves. I don't care that Celestia can see me. This is too much. "Now, you need to listen to me. You are going to leave now. You are not going to do anything like this ever again. The Sovereignty was one thing, but at this point, I'm so sick of you that you need to just leave." [1] It flicks up in the air and, in a gout of fire, sears its way back to the Citadel. I gulp. Standing up to a figure of authority is easy. It's what comes afterwards that's painful. The windows of Celestia's tower flicker with fire in the palace, and I turn to my two companions. "Well," I choke out, "wish me luck." Then there's a booming voice that nearly knocks me over rushing through the streets. "Come to my chambers, Ms. Sparkle. I trust you have an explanation for this." Heaving in a deep breath, I teleport away, leaving Trixie and Dash stunned, gaping at each other. Dash is the first to speak. "What...just happened?" --- [1]: Lashing out is one thing, but I basically just gave a goddess an order. --- When I arrive in her chambers, Celestia is in a high rage. Her voice blasts into and through me, echoing unnaturally as her eyes incandesce with baleful white light. "How dare you, Twilight? I received you kindly when you returned with a fake Chalice of Tannenwyl. I let you socialize with my commanders. I have given you far more freedom than I should've." Her horn begins to charge for a lethal nova of flame. Well, that happened a lot faster than I assumed. If I'm going to die, I might as well speak my mind, I suppose. "You're so foolishly paranoid." She double-takes, completely unused to hearing something like that, and her horn halts its charge. I doggedly continue. "Is that what you said to your sister, too, on that day in Canterlot Castle? When she wanted to take a turn in ruling Equestria? Is that what you told her when you tried to kill her with that spear?" I point accusingly at the weapon in the corner, and my stance goes from assertive to truly aggressive. "You are no Empress, Celestia. You are not worthy of rule. Not if you treat your subjects as disposable in your paranoid pursuit to kill one unicorn and her two friends." With a jolt, I realize that I was telling the truth. Dash really is my friend, isn't she? If she was angry before, she's positively livid now. "Twilight Sparkle, you have no idea what you're talking about. There was no innocence in my sister, and if she's told you anything else, then she's lying to you. More went on than you think. But regardless of that, there is only one outcome to this. You are going to die." I grin cockily at her. "I don't think so." As her horn releases the blast, I teleport away, reappearing where Trixie and Dash are now standing. They turn to ask what happened, but before they can even speak, I grip their forelimbs and teleport again, a huge chunk of my magical power vanishing. I don't have the power to cross the Lunar border, and I have no doubt that its guarded with an enormous regiment at this point. We can't get back to the Sovereignty. Instead, we appear in a range of unfamiliar, sun-blasted mountains a ways north of the Solar Citadel. Before either of them can say anything, I turn to Trixie. "I need to speak with Luna." Confusion written all over her face, she shrugs and casts her spell. A window opens in space, bleeding into an array of wild colours that pulse irregularly before they suddenly consolidate into the image of the Lunar Princess. She looks just as confused as Trixie. "Trixie? What's..." she trails off, looking at where we are, and her voice grows more serious. "What happened?" Nudging Trixie aside, I bite out a brief summary of what just transpired, and Luna looks at me in horror. "Twilight Sparkle, you are the most insane pony I have ever had the dubious pleasure of meeting. Where are you now?" "The Sleipnir range," Trixie cuts in, "just north of Wildglen." Luna hisses in a breath, her voice echoing slightly. "I can't get you out of there for about a week, at the very earliest. You need to lie low, because there are going to be patrols of guards all over the Dominion. Don't die." I nod, and Trixie severs the communication. Instantly, Dash leaps at me, knocking me on my back. "You idiot!" she seethes, single eye burning with anger. "Do you have any idea what you've just done? Celestia isn't going to just settle for border skirmishes now! She's going to make a massive attack on Lunar lands! She'll probably go herself! The Citadel will...be..." she trails off, and after a moment, smile. "...totally abandoned." Trixie looks in between us in confusion for a moment before her eyes widen. "Sparks, that was the most reckless gamble I've ever seen any creature take." A smile breaks onto her face. "I love it. It's just stupid enough to work." [1] --- [1]: This is pretty much the essence of all of my plans. Kinda sad, actually. --- We spend the next few hours finding somewhere to hide, and eventually happen upon a cave small enough to be inconspicuous, but large enough to house us all. Once we move in, I lie down, thinking. Trixie sits down next to me, recognizing the introspective look on my face. "Hey, kiddo, what's up?" I look back up at her, feeling a definite sense of foreboding. "That Solar Effigy spoke. They're not supposed to be able to speak." She's silent for a little while longer before she sighs. "Alright, Sparks, here's the deal. None of us can fight the Princess. You might have a hard time fighting one of her Effigies. None of us could at all. I admire your guts, and I get that you want to know this stuff, but seriously: go too deep, and you might not come back up again." With that, she walks deeper into the cave, leaving me alone with my thoughts and Dash. She's used some water from a nearby spring to wash the dye from her fur, revealing her trademark blue-and-rainbow coloration. She's snoring in a corner. Pegasi need a lot of energy to keep flying. Sighing, I lie down fully, closing my eyes and willing sleep to come for me. It takes a very long time.