//------------------------------// // Chapter 15 // Story: Destination: Equestria // by Zervziel //------------------------------// In lands far removed from Equestria, beyond the grasslands of the Zebra homeland in the immense and jagged Barrier Mountains, a terrific storm raged. Unlike any other storm, this one remained immobile and yet was quickly growing in power as jagged purple lightning jumped from one darkened cloud to another. Far below ground, the very fabric of reality found itself on the loom of one especially talented pony. Twilight Sparkle long ago had embarked on a journey to create a spell that could forever change how pony-kind would look at the world and now she was nearing the culmination of her work. As a little filly in under the tutelage of Princess Celestia, Twilight had loved to read books. Getting to attend special classes with the Princess had lead to the added bonus of being able to look through the Royal Canterlot Library, a nexus of knowledge renowned through out the world for it's extensive and often one of a kind collections. At that young age, Twilight had been delighted at the thought she might be allowed to partake in some of this knowledge that almost nopony else had access to. Now later on in life, as she reflected on it, Twilight felt sadness. Most of that knowledge could be put to good safe use if it wasn't for its complexity. In the end she suspected that there were many cases where such knowledge had faded from existence. The thought of entropy claiming such knowledge galled her to her core. She loved accumulating knowledge and sharing it, the thought of losing knowledge went against every fiber of her being. Yet books can decay if neglected, spells could come undone by purpose or simply losing the necessary power, and ponies died taking information they alone knew to the grave. Shaking herself from her darkening thoughts, Twilight looked around her secret lab. Everything seemed in place. With a flash from her horn, Twilight summoned an image of an apple. Leaning close enough to it, she could smell the ethereal fruit. Putting her tongue to it she could taste the fruit's juicy core and feel the smooth waxy surface. When the lavender unicorn stared at the fruit itself long enough, equestrian script would appear in the air next to it, information on what it is, it's taxonomy, growing conditions, and other related fruits. With a blink the red apple became a bright green one. Delighted, Twilight tasted it again. This time it was slightly less sweet with a bit more of a tart taste. "Excellent!" She murmured to herself. "The imprint will even call up different types of apples." Twilight Sparkle couldn't be more pleased with herself. This would be her legacy to the world. Undying knowledge. Books could be destroyed, but magic itself was indestructible. Her spell allowed her to imprint the very essence of an apple into the heart of magic itself. The best part was that once a pony knew how to use the spell, they could call up this ethereal apple as well no matter where they were. There were downsides to the spell in that it could record something simple like an apple, but past that it was incredibly hard to imprint say an apple pie into magic. It seemed as if the processes and separate components of the pie would effectively confuse the magic. Twilight wasn't put off though. After all an apple was in itself components put together through different processes. She just had to figure out how to do so and see how far she could push it. Apple first, apple pie second, and hopefully one day she could imprint something far more complex such as a steam engine. Basking in the purple light emitted by the exposed magical nexus far below, Twilight experimented with several others objects. She'd summoned the essence of an iron bar to make sure the spell would work on inanimate and inorganic structures as well. "I need to find a way to make these things solid." The unicorn mused to herself, idly waving a hoof through the image of the iron bar as she read through a spell book. So caught up in her research Twilight didn't notice the small magical tug as the anti-teleportation field she had used to ward off unwanted and unexpected guests did it's job. Back in the throne room of Canterlot Palace, a white alicorn watched with dismay as her letter to Twilight reappeared in front of her. Seared onto the outside was the message, "I'm sorry, but Twilight Sparkle is busy right now and wishes to not be disturbed. Please try again later." Massaging her head, Princess Celestia considered her options. Send it back to Twilight with a little more magic behind it to pierce the spell and potentially startle her while she may be performing experimental magic or do what her heart told her to do in the first place and deliver the dreadful message herself. Thinking a bit longer, Celestia admitted it may be for the best the message was returned. She knew Twilight had been angry at Shining Armor for inviting her to his wedding in such an impersonal manner, so the Princess didn't wish to see the unicorn's reaction to learning of her mother's death in such a manner. Taking advantage in the afternoon lull in court appearances, Celestia looked to the two gray unicorn guards at the base of the dais upon which her throne sat. "Guards, I'm afraid I must tend to a matter right now. I may not be back for some time so inform the rest of the guards so there's no confusion." Both guards saluted in one crisp movement. "Yes, ma'am. Should we cancel court for the rest of the day or see if Princess Luna is awake to take over?" The alicorn's wings twitched as she grimaced at the thought waking up Luna early. She knew for a fact it was the same if as when she was woken up at night, which the more veteran guards jokingly referred to as "poking the hydra." "No, just cancel court and inform my sister of this when she wakes. She'll understand what I mean." With that, Celestia leapt into the air, pumped her mighty wings once before her horn glowed with a golden light and she disappeared. Across the world in the dark and forbidding mountains, a flash of golden light strobed across the jagged gray landscape as the Princess showed up in all her glory. Which was cut short as the Princess quickly found her mane, coat and tail soaked in a relentless downpour. Laughing lightly at the coincidence, Celestia took off. She knew Twilight's secret lab was in this general area and the mass of dark clouds overhead with flashes of purple lightning were a good indicator the purple unicorn was nearby. Celestia quite enjoyed flying through the driving onslaught of rain. It had been sometime since she'd flown and the rain felt good after a long day in court explaining the murder to the frightened nobles. Sensing a build up of energy in a nearby cloud, the princess readied herself for a trick she had not pulled in millennia. Not even a second before the lightning bolt ripped through the air, Celestia cast her spell and quickly found herself flying through the air at unspeakable speeds, as she rode atop the lighting bolt. Releasing it, Celestia found herself right above what she expected was Twilight's lab. Extending her senses as she had before, the ruler of the day found herself looking at a massive multilayered shield several meters underneath what looked to be an extinct volcano. "Really, Twilight? A secret lab under a volcano?" Celestia laughed to herself. Circling overhead, the alicorn finally located the opening to the lab itself clever hidden in the valley between the volcano and one of it's monstrous neighbors. Several illusion spells were layered over the entrance. Most depicted a blank gray stonewall, while two other spells did the real work. Celestia felt her eyes wanting to slip off the wall and felt a tremendous urge to go home. "Nice work, Twilight." The Princess admired the unicorn's handywork. It was Twilight all over again. Masterfully cast and included at least three redundant layers of spells to make sure the illusions were maintained. However Celestia found herself in a tough situation. It seemed the spells were made to only allow Twilight herself in and even screened against changelings. That and having no way to contact her pupils, Celestia didn't see a way in that didn't involve shattering Twilight's defensive spells. The spells were woven too tightly to subvert. Heaving a sigh, Celestia's horn glowed brightly as she tore away both the illusions and the defenses, an apology to Twilight already on her tongue. A distant "Ahhhhhhhh!" told her that the volcano's inhabitant had been alerted to her presence. As she stared at the ironclad door built into the wall, she could hear the frantic clacking of hooves on stone. Soon enough, an extremely ruffled looking lavender unicorn burst through the doorway clad in a pristine labcoat, her face livid with anger. "All right, who's the wiseflank that did thi- PRINCESS CELESTIA!" The unicorn skidded to a halt on the stone floor. "Wha-what are you doing here?" Princess Celestia could help but smile. "I came by because I needed to talk to you, Twilight. And the usual missives weren't working." "Oh. Ok then. Why tear down my defensive measures and illusions though?" Twilight asked in a subdued tone. "You forgot the doorbell." AN: Yes! Liking the shorter chapters. Much easier to get them out faster. Next up will be an update for In Pursuit of Trouble.