//------------------------------// // Chapter 36: Death of a Magician. // Story: My Little Fantasy // by GuyWhoWritesThings //------------------------------// Chapter 36: Death of a Magician. "How can this even happen?" Twilight asks the air, pacing along the center of the Golden Oak. The sun outside is rising, casting morning light into the room. Princess Luna sits at the table near Twilight, while I slump against one of the bookcases. Princess Luna's signal to her Night Guard allowed her to somehow convey the situation to them as well, so the bat-winged responders had snatched away Gauze Wrap and the required medical supplies from Celestia's castle wing before arriving. Princess Luna said her own personal doctor is a wing specialist, and that Celestia 'would yet soon be forcing Her medicinal specialist upon us regardless', so borrowing him now would be fine. Twilight had insisted on taking Trixie to the hospital in Ponyville instead of the Golden Oak, but Princess Luna said that this situation only happens once or twice every few centuries, so it would turn Trixie into a medical curiosity. Instead, she's laid on Twilight's bed on the upper floor of the Golden Oak, with Gauze Wrap tending. For my part, I didn't argue with any of it. It's not like I have any clue how to handle something like this. "Now thou see why We did not wish to bring Miss Lulamoon to Ponyville's medical facility, Miss Sparkle." Princess Luna says, commenting on Twilight's frantic pacing and self-questioning. Twilight sighs. "I... I suppose so. But, I just don't get it! What happened to magical exhaustion? Pain? How can you just... do that?" Princess Luna locks eyes with Twilight, but speaks plainly, in her own way. "Miss Lulamoon simply created herself a miracle to ignore such trivialities." "...What?" Twilight's pacing stops as she turns to the Princess, mouth gaping slightly in confusion. "Our Sister hath said she told ye the nature of our planet's Weave." "Yes, but..." Twilight trails off, still confused. "Then thou... you should know already, Twilight Sparkle." Princess Luna begins explaining, correcting herself to the modern pony vernacular. "A pony's connection to the Weave, as with all life, is special. It allows access to that which we call magic, and creates the cutie marks that speak unto a pony's soul." "I already understand that, Princess Luna, but-" Twilight starts replying, but is cut off. "It is more than just that, Miss Sparkle." Princess Luna continues. "A pony is more than just a cutie mark and the abilities deigned to it by its race. Our Sister has explained you the reason feelings and Harmony holds such power, yes?" Twilight simply nods, and the Princess continues. "But Harmony is more than merely the Elements. It is rare beyond its ability to document, but there are times, when a feeling is strong enough, a pony's heart can cry out and touch the Weave, even if that pony knows not of its existence. If that pony is lucky, the Weave will answer." "So, Trixie, she..." Twilight mulls the information over in her mind. "Yes." Princess Luna affirms. "Her heart reached out, and the Weave answered, granting her a power beyond her body's limits, as well as the ability to use it." "I see..." Twilight's eyes fall. "But, how can that be called a miracle, with what happened in the aftermath?" "Even a miracle has its cost, Twilight Sparkle." Princess Luna says, turning away from the unicorn. My eyes follow hers, reaching the table where a familiar hat and cloak lay on top, two sets of midnight-blue pony armor on the floor nearby. "Do not prove naive because the costs of those done by yourself and the other Element Bearers are tempered by the Elements of Harmony." She pauses, and a silence hangs. Seeing the look on Twilight's face over whatever accomplishments she and her friends have made being 'tempered' by these 'Elements of Harmony', Princess Luna continues. "Miss Lulamoon made clear she knew the price of her actions, did she not?" "She did." Twilight replies with a slow nod. "Then fret not, Twilight Sparkle." Princess Luna's voice grows firm. "Despite Our Sister's wish, there will always be Darkness beneath Harmony, just as there is Night after Day. However, we need not dwell on the dark. It is upon us to choose whether to celebrate a friend's victory, or become mired in that friend's sacrifices. We believe a pony like Miss Lulamoon would wish her friends to do the former." I slam my fist back against the bookcase, unable to stay quiet anymore, my eyes turning down to gaze at my own feet. "But there's nothing to celebrate." "Cloud..." The concern in Twilight's voice is palpable as she turns to me. I keep my eyes firmly on my feet, unable to turn up to face her. "If I had listened to you, Twilight, this wouldn't have happened. I should have ignored that feeling and gone back to bed." "If you had done that, dreamer, We would have set out alone against the creature, and the Night would need a new Mistress." Princess Luna states plainly. "It is only because events played out as thus that all four of us yet live." "And I'm supposed to just accept that?" I ask, aggresssively. "She's supposed to accept that? Accept that this was the best we could do?" "Yes." The reply is short and stern. "Sometimes, there is but no option where nopony can emerge unharmed. Miss Lulamoon surrendered a heavy price so that we may yet continue enjoying the gift of life." A stifling pause hangs before Princess Luna continues. "This is a lesson We have learned all too well, dreamer. To dwell on the past in lament is an insult to those who have sacrificed to ensure Us a future." An insult? How can acknowledging that this should have never happened to begin with possibly be an insult? "If I hadn't given her that Materia on the train, or left without saying anything, or..." My voice begins trembling with a growing anger as I list each item off, but soon I'm interrupted. Princess Luna's hooves slam against the table, drawing my eyes back up to her in a sudden jolt at the noise, her voice booming and powerful. "And if We had not been such a foal, We would not have become Nightmare Moon! We would not have cost Our Sister her connection to Harmony for the sake of granting us the mercy of imprisonment! We would not need bear Our Sister's gaze, brimming with inadequancy at not preventing Our folly! We would not need witness Our Sister's heart tremble each time she sends forth the Element Bearers, on missions that can no longer fall upon her own hooves!" She slumps back, a calm returning to her voice, but her eyes feel like they're able to pierce into my soul. "Our Sister's pain would be for naught if all We could accomplish was to wrap Ourselves in a quilt made of Our own self-loathing. What has transpired cannot be undone, and if it is to contain meaning, we must continue. Do you understand, dreamer?" "..." I'm not sure I want to understand. I avert my eyes, unable to look at her anymore. Instead, they fall again on the familiar hat and cape. Will she even be able to wear those anymore? Hooffalls on the stairs pull me away from those thoughts, and a glance up reveals the doctor, Gauze Wrap, descending back from Twilight's room. "I must ask everyone down here to please keep down the noise. The young mare's mind could do with some rest after what you all described to me." "How is she, doctor?" Twilight asks, almost reflexively, at the doctor announcing his presence to the room. Gauze Wrap nods. "She'll be fine, Miss Twilight Sparkle. Aside from a few bruises, Miss Lulamoon is unharmed, physically speaking." "You call that unharmed?" I can't stop myself from interjecting, giving the doctor a glower. "...I didn't think the obvious needed restating." Gauze Wrap replies after a moment of hesitation. "That can't be healed... but it also isn't threatening to the mare's life. I've done my best to cast it and prevent further damage. As long as her mind hasn't itself been damaged by the magics you described her making use of, she should wake up before the day's end, or possibly the next morning at most. In a strictly medical sense, she'll be fine." "Fine, huh?" I continue my glower, but eventually let it drop away, releasing my anger by gripping one of my hands on the bookcase's shelves instead. There's no point in venting my frustration on the old doctor. "...Thanks, Gauze Wrap." He gives me an uncertain look at being called something other than 'doc', then an acknowledging nod. "While I'm here, is anypony else in need of my help?" Twilight shakes her head negatively. "I'm fine, thanks, doctor." "Magic has already reset the bones of Our wing." Princess Luna says. "We have naught else but flesh wounds, and shall mend quickly, doctor." She gives Gauze Wrap a nod, who replies merely with a short bow. "If my services are no longer required, Princess Luna, then-" Gauze Wrap starts, but the door to the Golden Oak bursts open, cutting off his sentence midway. Through said door comes barreling a pink menace that my stupor had wiped from my mind. It slams directly into Gauze Wrap and pins him to the ground after a rolling tumble I'm sure defies both physics and logic, its face pressing directly against his. "Hey there, mister old important looking unicorn guy! Welcome to Ponyville!" It turns its head to me, a blaze of attention deficit and sugar as it raises an accusatory hoof. "You still owe me a hug, mister Grumpy McGrumpinster!" "Pinkie." Twilight states with a deadpan, getting the poofy pony's attention. "The sun came up five minutes ago. What are you doing here?" "Oh!" She hops up from Gauze Wrap, moving next to Twilight in a flash as the old doctor dusts himself off, words firing from her mouth like a machine gun. "I saw all the bat-ponies and the carriage and stuff in front of the library when I woke up so I thought maybe you guys got back from Canterlot so I came to see if Trixie was with you so I could talk to her about her 'Welcome to Ponyville' party that I still owe her also hello Princess Luna!" She ends the spiel with a big-toothed grin that I'm getting convinced is larger than her actual face the more I look at it. Princess Luna merely blinks, waving a tentative hoof in reply to the greeting tacked onto the end. "Pinkie..." Twilight starts, her face flashing quickly through several emotions before speaking. "That's going to have to wait, Pinkie." She finally says, her voice tinged with depression. The party pony becomes decidedly less party, concern replacing hyperactivity. "What is it, Twilight?" Her eyes glance around the room before falling on the items on the table. "Oh no! Something didn't happen to Trixie, did it?" She picks up Trixie's magician's hat, poking her face into it as if she's attempting to find the unicorn inside its depths. "Don't tell me she tried to do a disappearing pony act for the Princesses and made herself disappear forever!" She pulls herself out of the hat and gives Twilight another of the wide grins, but something about it looks a bit off this time. "No, Pinkie," Twilight replies, her mood uplifting slightly at the pink one's antics, "it's a long story, but Trixie's... hurt. She's sleeping upstairs right now. The stallion you met on the way in is-" Twilight stops, looking around the library, my eyes soon joining hers on her hunt. At some point in Twilight distracting Pinkthulu, Gauze Wrap must have slipped out of the library, as there's no trace of him left in the room and the library door is firmly shut again. Smart guy, that one. "-is gone, apparently, but he was the doctor making sure Trixie recovers properly." "Trixie's... hurt?" Pinkie Pie's ears twitch and droop slightly as she places the hat back on the table. "What happened, Twilight?" It's actually a bit... disconcerting to see an emotion that's not part of the cheer to party scale on her face. "Like I said Pinkie, it's a long story." Twilight repeats, walking forward and placing a hoof against Pinkie's shoulder. "Why don't you go get the others? It'll be easier to talk to everyone at once about it." Pinkie Pie shoots up, standing on two legs with a stature that would make even some humans jealous, saluting with her right hoof. "Okie-dokie-lokie! Harmony Bearers, assemble!" She turns and dashes through the library and out the door at speed my eyes can barely follow, running on two legs the entire time. I blink, Twilight blinks, Luna blinks, and then the books to my right burst off their shelf as Pinkie Pie pops out, wrapping my in a firm hug around my shoulders, though it's definitely not the Vicegrip Hug of Smiles and Friendship she had promised back at the train station. "And don't you worry, Grumpy Grumpetti! Pinkie's sure that Trixie will be just fine!" Before I can fully comprehend what's happening, the party pony is gone again. I turn my head to look inside the bookcase, only to be greeted with a wall. I tilt my head slightly, raise a finger to point at the space, and turn halfway to Twilight before deciding it's not worth it, picking the books up to place back on the shelf instead. Besides, Princess Luna is here to pick up the slack. "Pray tell, Miss Sparkle, how did-" "It's Pinkie Pie." Twilight says in an exasperated grumble. "If I ever figure out how she works, I'll be able to write a new book about the laws of reality and make Discord obsolete." Princess Luna shudders. "Please do not ever commit that venture, Twilight Sparkle." The Princess' sentiment sends the library into an awkward silence. I turn my attention away from the two ponies, instead giving it to the stairs leading to the Golden Oak's upper floor. I want to go check on her, but my body feels like lead when I think about it. Gauze Wrap said she should wake up before the day's end, but how would she react to this? Even if she knew this would happen, this isn't something you just get up and walk away from. It's... "Dreamer." Princess Luna's voice pulls me out of my thoughts. It sounds much closer than before, and a quick scan shows her sitting next to me on the floor. When had she moved, and how had I never heard her? "Your thoughts still appear plagued." "..." I turn away from her and back to the floor. Plagued is certainly a word for it. She lets out a resigned sigh. "My Night Guard has retrieved your gemstones and the remainder of your weapon from Ghastly Gorge." This makes me glance at her out of the corner of my eye, only to note she's doing the same to me. "They shall also retrieve the remainder of your belongings from Canterlot and have them sent here." Her head turns to look at the ceiling. "In the previous millenia, before We became Nightmare Moon, a draconian smithy owed us a boon. I shall have my Night Guard seek him out, and should he yet live, reforge your weapon beyond an Equestrian blacksmith's capabilities." I can only think of one reason she'd go to those lengths, one that helps partially snap me out of my stupor. "You think Jenova is still alive?" "That you ask only confirms Our suspicions." She nods. "We noted its activities to be not unlike a virus or parasite from the previous collected specimens. While We currently do not feel its presence upon Equestria, or its influence upon the Weave, We believe that caution which normally characterizes Our Sister is best under these circumstances." A pit begins to form in my stomach. "...So its possible that what Trixie did was pointless?" "Nay, dreamer." The Princess says confidently. "What Miss Lulamoon has done is a unmatchable boon. As We have said, the creature's presence upon the Weave is no more. If another piece of it yet lives, it is unable to draw upon the Weave for power and knowledge, and will require a great respite to build itself back to such levels." I sit for a moment, staring into my right palm, thinking. After a moment, I clench my fist and look up, meeting the Princess' eyes again. I can't imagine she knows exactly what she's stumbled upon, but its enough to kickstart my mind into realization. "We killed Jenova's heart. Now we need to kill Jenova's head before it builds itself another one." "The burrows..." Twilight mutters, pulling both our attention to her. "Back in Canterlot, either you or Trixie said something about 'Jenova's head' as the reason we needed to investigate the burrows, right, Cloud?" "That's right." I nod to confirm what she said. If we had investigated those burrows while that heart was alive, though, and the head actually is lurking there... things would definitely be far worse than they are now. "But... how can that monster from the Ghastly Gorge just be a heart, and the head be separate?" Twilight asks. "Shouldn't it be, well, dead, if the parts are separated like that?" "It's not like a normal body." I try to explain with my own limited knowledge of how Jenova actually works. "It has parts like a heart and a head that serve the functions of, and may even look like, a heart and a head. But in truth, its cells and the body parts made by them all operate independently, under Jenova's collective consciousness. If left alone, its cells can replicate and rebuild. If we want to truly kill Jenova, we need to destroy the consciousness itself, which should be controlled by the 'head'." "I... see..." Twilight's eyes turn up as her face scrunches in thought, trying to understand the distorted biology of Jenova. "Think of it as telepathy, Miss Sparkle." Princess Luna attempts to clarify. "If a unicorn levitates one-hundred spoons to assault you, you do not fight the one-hundred spoons, you fight the unicorn. The parts of the creature's body that do not contain the center consciousness are no different than those spoons." "I... guess that makes sense." Twilight replies, half-accepting the explanation but clearly still trying to figure out the biological details that would make such a creature function. "And as We noted, without its 'heart', the creature appears unable to gain influence over the Weave." Princess Luna stands up and begins walking to the center of the room. "If we are able to continue our assault before it rebuilds, destroying it should be a simple matter. We shall send a score of our Night Guard to the old diamond dog burrows, instructed to take no unnecessary risks, but to destroy the 'head' if it is present and vulnerable. It is too dangerous for those present to take on this task without proper time to mend first." "They'll also be able to tell us if it's even there at all." I add. "If we have to take a few days just to regroup, we can't waste time on any wild goose chases once we're able to move again." "Quite." Princess Luna says. "However, We must return to Canterlot to inform Our Sister of the change in situation. We will be in contact soon." "Oh!" Twilight turns directly to the Princess. "Spike is still in Canterlot! Can you, uhm..." "No worries, Miss Sparkle." Princess Luna nods. "We shall have him returned here shortly with the gemstones and other items from Canterlot." Twilight bows her head slightly. "Thank you, Pri-" And, for the second time this morning, the door of the library bursts open to reveal a turbo-charged pink pony running in at full speed. She stops in front of Twilight and Princess Luna, giving a salute with her right hoof, left hoof gripping a rope, trailing behind her to reveal Twilight's other four friends, all clinging to it for dear life. "Pinkie Pie, reporting! Mission complete, Ma'am Twilight Sparkle, ma'am!" She caps her statement by breaking out into another wide grin. "That was too fast, even for me..." Rainbow Dash grumbles, holding a hoof to her mouth. "I think I'm gonna be sick." The remaining three don't exactly look better off than her, either. Twilight blinks. "Do I even want to know how it turned out like this, Pinkie?" "Eeeeeenope!" Pinkie Pie replies, her grin widening. "I didn't think so." The remaining four ponies finally shake themselves off, regaining their wit enough to notice the Princess in their midst and enter a courteous bow. "Do not worry yourselves with such formality." Princess Luna says in reply to it. "We are but leaving shortly, it is past sunrise and We are needed in Canterlot. Miss Sparkle shall inform you of the events that have transpired." Before the group of no-longer-bowing ponies can ask what the Princess means, she slips through the open door, shutting it again with her magic. And thus, all heads in the room now turn to Twilight, Rainbow Dash speaking first. "So what was so important you had to have Pinkie Pie do... well... that, Twilight? You didn't even tell us you were back yet!" "Quite..." Rarity trails off in agreement, taking an extra moment to check herself over. "Pinkie said it had to do with Trixie, I think?" "That mare's always gittin' into trouble somehow." Applejack rolls her eyes, causing me to clench my fist again. I wish it were simply just 'trouble'. "She's not hurt, is she, Twilight?" Fluttershy asks, noticing and fluttering over to the hat and cape on the table, picking them up in her hooves. Her eyes scan around the room to find their owner, before falling on me and placing the items back onto the table. "Oh, Cloud's back!" She zips over and picks up my left arm in her butter-colored grip, gentle yet still strong to the point I'm not sure I could force my arm away if I tried. She pulls off the bits of armor covering the arm and inspects my bite wound. "Somepony even changed those bandages I put on for you!" Her eyes squint slightly as she examines the rest of my arm, seeing the spreading blackness. "It looks like an infection is spreading though..." "Fluttershy." Twilight's voice catches Fluttershy's attention before her 'momma bear' mode can fully engage. "It is about Trixie. And... she is hurt. That's why we came back to Ponyville so suddenly." "What happened, Twi?" Rainbow Dash asks, eyebrow raised. "Pinkie said you guys were just going to meet with Princess Celestia." "It's a long story, Rainbow." Twilight replies, taking a seat at one of the chairs at the table. "I'll tell you girls the long version later, but we should get to the important part first." The rest of the girls take up the other seats around Twilight's table. I, meanwhile, simply enjoy again having the freedom of my left arm, watching the group. I already know where this conversation is going, after all. "Where is Trixie, anyway, Twi?" Rainbow looks from Twilight to the table. "Her tacky stuff is here but I don't see the walking ego anywhere." "I'd be quite careful who you call a 'walking ego', Rainbow Dash." Rarity says with a mischievous grin, face raised slightly as she looks sidelong at the pegasus. "Hey!" Rainbow Dash hits the table with one hoof, glowering at Rarity. "At least I can back up my mouth!" "Sure yah can, RD." Applejack says with a glance and a grin of her own, eliciting a growl from Rainbow Dash. "This is serious, everypony." Twilight says, regaining their attention and stopping the catfight from progressing further. "A few hours ago, we were in the Ghastly Gorge-" "Wait!" Rainbow cuts in immediately. "Ghastly Gorge? That's on the entire opposite side of Ponyville. Just how much traveling did you two do in less than two days?" "I said I'll explain later, Rainbow." Twilight gives Rainbow Dash a stern look, quelling any further questions. "A lot of things had happened before that, but they ended up with the three of us and Princess Luna in Ghastly Gorge, fighting this... thing from Cloud's world." The five other ponies trade looks, clearly having multiple questions as to how a trip to see Princess Celestia over a letter turned into that, but they save them and allow Twilight to continue after passing short glances in my direction. "Cloud has those magic gems he carries around, called Materia, that let him use magic. He gave one to Trixie a long time ago, and she was able to use it to fight the monster when it looked like Cloud and Princess Luna were going to... well... lose, to avoid using a more explicit term." Rainbow Dash's mouth twinges slightly, as if she wants to interject, but she chooses not to, allowing Twilight to continue. "She used it, but... it was too much for her, for whatever reason. The magic started going more and more out of control, but when I told her to stop, she just wrapped her own magic around it to try and control it instead. Somehow, basic rules of magic like magical exhaustion and plain old pain from overuse just... stopped applying, and..." Twilight shudders before completing her sentence. However, she isn't alone, and Rarity shudders with her, a hoof motioning slowly to her head, the motion catching the attention of the other four at the table. "Wait, darling, you don't mean that, Trixie, she...?" "...Yeah, Rarity." Twilight replies, and Rarity understandably blanches. "She overloaded her horn trying to control the magic coming from Cloud's Materia to such an extent that her horn... it just... exploded." I bite my lip at Twilight's phrasing, sighing to try and release the tension. "You mean," Rainbow Dash puts her front hooves together, then slowly separates them while making an explosion sound with her mouth, "and gone?" Twilight merely nods, shuddering again, though it's hard to tell if she's shuddering out of sympathy for Trixie or because she's horrified of it happening to herself. "Well, can't you just like, fix it?" Rainbow Dash asks, while the expressions of the other five ponies become darker. "No, Rainbow Dash." It's Rarity speaking now. "Well, cosmetically speaking, yes, Trixie can have it made to look just as nice as her old horn did, or even better if she wants, but..." Her thoughts trail for a moment as she collects herself. "You don't need to be a student of the Princess to know that, while a unicorn's magic may seem abstract to non-unicorns, that it, and the horn that you use to make it, really aren't any different than a hoof or a wing. If it gets damaged, you can set it, and it can heal, but if the entire thing comes off, then..." "But isn't a horn just a big old piece of bone that makes magic easier to use?" Rainbow Dash asks, apparently not accepting the explanation as-is. "It is bone." Twilight picks things back up now. "But, basically, inside that bone is all the unicorn's magic. That's why a unicorn's horn can be sensitive to touch despite not having nerves or anything else inside it." Twilight pauses a moment. "In Trixie's case... I can only guess why this happened. When Cloud's Materia started going out of control, I think her magic wrapping around it was her somehow trying to pull the excess magic into her horn and control it. I don't even know how she'd do that part, but eventually... her horn couldn't handle holding all that magic. I saw it cracking and tried to warn her while there was still time. But, instead of stopping and letting the monster escape, Trixie kept going. She knew what would happen and she kept going..." Twilight trails off, her eyes focusing intently on the table. Rainbow's eyes fall downcast as well now. "So, you mean...?" "Yes." Twilight affirms with a nod. "When something like that happens, it expels all the magic in the horn. We can make it look like a horn again, if she wants, but we can't put the magic back in. She'll be fine, physically, since she luckily avoided any other serious injuries when the magical overload sent her flying like a rag doll. But, because she pushed herself so hard to use Cloud's Materia and make sure that creature didn't escape... she won't ever be able to use magic again." This time, I can't resist pounding my fist against the bookcase in anger. As Twilight's explanation ends, her eyes close, and five more sets of eyes all turn to me, My eyes, in turn, immediately turn back to the floor, not able to meet any of theirs.