08 - Twilight’s Dungeon
“Don’t worry!” Twilight pointed her horn at me. “This will only feel mildly uncomfortable for a moderate amount of time.”
I wanted to leap toward the stairs, but my hooves no longer touched the ground. A magic bubble formed around me and lifted me to the black circle on top of the machine.
The bubble split itself into four separate, smaller ones. They moved onto my legs and attached themselves around my hooves. A relentless force spread them apart. I looked at Twilight. She smiled.
I didn’t know if her smile should calm me down or freak me out even more
Four shackles reached out from the metallic circle and snapped at my hooves, replacing the magic bubbles. “Try not to move too much, hehe.”
My shoulders and hips hurt. I was used to having my limbs under me, not spread out like that. It was an unnatural position for a pony and made me look as if I was one of those ugly two-legged monsters Scootaloo liked to draw. I tensed and tried to pull all four legs together, but they were bound and wouldn’t budge. “Are you sure your machine is safe to use?”
“I’m quite positive.” Twilight jumped on the platform and pointed a hoof at the lightbulbs mounted on the arch. “The fuses protect the machine from overloading.” She pounded on the metallic surface. “The outer chassis isolates the inner structure from any outside interference. Even if the core were to overheat, the thermostat would shut it down automatically, preventing the meltdown way before the chain reaction might spin out of control. And due to my precise tinkering, I can assure you that the possibility of a mechanical malfunction is minimal at best. So you see, this machine is fairly safe to use. The prototype is so foalproof that I could even leave a rascal like yourself with it for a moment without surveillance, and I wouldn’t worry too much about you breaking any of its key elements.”
With eyes spread wide, I looked up at her. “Umm, it’s not the safety of the machine I’m worried about. I’m not sure I even want to—”
“Psst!” Twilight pressed a hoof to my muzzle. “Who wants to get tested for mana potential?” Her head leaned close to mine, gracing me with a terrifying grin. “You do!” She bumped me on the snout.
My muscles tensed. In the past, when somepony had booped me on my snoot, the gesture would always make me giggle, but at that moment, I only uttered gasping noises. It took me awhile before I managed to form a full sentence, “I think I need an adult.”
She caressed my mane with a hoof, making my hair stand up. “I am an adult.”
“Umm….” My eyes moistened ever more. I wasn’t in control; Twilight was. “I’m not sure I—”
“There’s no need for you to be so tense, Sweetie Belle.” With the other hoof, she pressed on one of my many aching joints and massaged it. “You have absolutely no control; with that comes zero responsibility. Without any obligations, you’re basically as free as a bird. Besides, there’s no use worrying about something you can’t affect, am I right?”
I tried to wiggle my body, but it was to no avail. “I don’t think—”
“I’m right!” Twilight cut me off. She pressed a hoof on my chest. “And do you remember what I said about the importance of being patient?” Her head drew closer, nodding and smiling at me.
I didn’t remember it, but I nodded in response anyway, so I wouldn’t make her angry. She was scaring me already; provoking her further could make her lash out at me even more. I was strapped with my whole body exposed. There was nothing I could do if she tried something. I opened my eyes wide as I looked up at her.
Twilight caressed my mane with a hoof. “Good pony!”
She reached up with a forehoof and pulled down a tube with a metallic mounting on the ends. Multi-colored wires were spread along the tube and connected to the top of the circle. I wanted to look at the mechanical device Twilight held, but she jerked my head forward with a forehoof and wedged the tube on my horn with the other. After a few snaps and clicks, the clingy thingy snatched tight around my boney cone.
She jumped back at the panel that was mounted on the edge of the platform. “I’m going to channel some electricity through your body now. It’s nothing to be concerned about...” Her eyes scoured the controls on the panel. “Probably...” She shuffled some knobs, and pressed a bunch of buttons, without even throwing me as much as a glance.
“Um...” I tried to get her attention.
Her chin leaned on a hoof while her eyes focussed on a big knob. “The voltage setting is still far from lethal, so you likely don’t have anything to worry about.” Her hoof slid along its edge, rotating it clockwise. “Maybe...”
I gulped nervously. “Does that mean it won’t hurt?”
“Huh?” She looked at the knob, shrugged her shoulders and rotated it some more. “Er, did you say something?” She glanced at me. “Oh, don’t be silly. I build them tough. It won’t feel a thing.”
I felt a tightness in my chest. “It?” My heart pumped harder and harder while my breaths became shallow and fast. “What about me?”
She said nothing.
I tried to wiggle my legs, but they didn’t budge. Running away wasn’t an option. I was at her mercy. My body stilled down in resignation. I looked up in hopes that she’d notice me. “Um, will this at least help me with my magic?”
“Oh, um… No,” she murmured without looking up from the controls. “That is not our pursuit here at this instance. Analysis before synthesis. Always!”
I peed a little but quickly wiped it out with my tail so she wouldn’t see it. I was still wet from Rarity’s bath that I had escaped from, so it couldn’t have shown much on the coat of my inner ties. Except for the yellow tinge, maybe.
She ceased rotating the big knob and turned her attention to a big red button. “Unfortunately, it might sting a little—” her eyes turned up from the controls “—but it’s all justified in the name of science!” A hoof slammed on the button and her lips morphed into a grin.
The whiteness of her teeth spread across all my vision. My body shook without me doing the shaking.
In an instant, I could feel my entire body. It was like Rarity spanking me, and not just on my flank, but all over, with many brushes at the same time.
I let out a scream.
“Twilight!” Spike’s yelling broke through the sounds of static.
Sight returned to me, and I saw Twilight rotating back the knob.
Spike kept yelling from the top of the stairs. “Do I need to come down there?”
All my muscles still contracted uncontrollably, but at least I could catch my breath.
“Don’t interrupt me when I’m doing science!” Twilight yelled toward the stairs. “I didn’t buy you the new edition of Power ponies so you can bother me. I got you the comic so you’d let me work in peace. Now go read it!”
I let out a squeak.
“What if Rarity saw you mistreat her little sister like you do?” Spike asked.
“Well, the big sister isn’t here now, is she? And let’s not forget that she turned the poor filly down. I’m the one who literally took her under my wing. Sweetie Belle is very grateful to me.” She eyed in my direction, leaning a hoof on the big red button more and more. “Aren’t you?”
I nodded, as much as the horn-tube shackle would let me. I didn’t want to make her angry.
Her head jerked back to the stairs. “She said she’s very grateful! Besides, we’re almost done down here, anyway.”
“Eh! Why do I even bother talking to you? You’ll just stick to what you’re doing no matter what I say.”
“That’s right!” Twilight smirked and looked back at me.
“Well, two can play that game!” Spike shouted back.
My body still twirled, but I managed to calm myself just enough to form something a bit more coherent than yelling. “We done?”
“Almost!” She pushed up a lever.
An opening formed below me. Directed by Twilight’s magic, cables climbed up my hind legs. They wrapped themselves around me. With their brush-like endings, the wire snakes attached to my coat.
I clenched my teeth and slid my tail between both hind legs. If my body wasn’t utterly bound, I’d curl up into a ball.
“I’m going to channel some magic current through you now. Unlike your grandma’s exploding wizardry, this spell is completely safe for me to perform. Likely for both of us.”
A tear drifted down my muzzle.
She climbed on top of the platform again. “I must commend you, Sweetie Belle. You’ve been very patient with me. I thought you’d tell me to stop right away.” She bowed her head and pointed the glowing horn at me.
Wait—I could just tell her to stop, and she would—“Aiii!”
A flow of energy thrust itself all over my body. It seeped out of my skin, mouth, and eyes. I thought the force would rip me apart from the inside out.
“Twilight! I’ve had enough of this.” I heard the voice from the top of the stairs again.
The seeping of magic ceased in an instant. Such wasn’t the case with my screaming. When I gasped for air, I saw the mad, lavender scientist a hoof length away from me.
Twilight covered my muzzle with a hoof. “Shh...” Her ears perked toward the entrance. She glanced at me, then below my dripping tail.
On the metallic surface of the machine under me was a yellow stain. The puddle was so big that it almost spread to the opening with the cables.
When Twilight pushed the lever on the platform with a hind leg, the machine below me let out a hollow racket. Cables that were strapped to my body tightened. I yelped and gasped when they pulled some of my coat hair with them before they detached and crawled back into the opening. The shutter closed with a squeal as soon as the last wire slipped through it.
Twilight bit her lip, looking at the muddle under me.
My tail wiggled between wet hind legs and eyes shied away from the liquid shame on the floor. I wanted to hide in a dark corner but was unable to move at all.
She leaned close to me and whispered in my ear. “Don’t worry. I’ll clean that after you. And all this”—she waved a hoof around the room—“can stay our little secret.” She winked at me. “Okay?”
At first, I didn’t know how to respond, but then I feared that she might tell everypony that I peed myself if I didn’t agree with her. If Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon heard of that it would be the end of me. I couldn’t let that happen.
I slightly nodded. “Okay…”
She reached with both hooves to the tube holding my horn. I looked at her with teary eyes. “No more. Please!”
“Hehe, don’t worry. We’re done here. You won’t have to go through this process ever again.” She brushed through my mane with a hoof. “I’ve gathered all the data I wanted.”
One hoof met with the other at my horn’s base, and they worked together to unstrap the sucking hose off me. After a set of jerks, I was partially liberated. Because there was nothing to support my head anymore, it fell loosely on my chest.
Spike yelled from afar, “I just finished writing a letter!”
“Who is he ratting me out to this time?” Twilight jumped to the controls and spammed the black button with a hoof. The shackles holding my legs creaked.
He continued, “It starts with ‘Dear Princess Celestia!’”
Twilight gasped. “Oh, no he didn’t!” A telekinetic bubble wrapped around me, ripping me from the machine even before the shackles fully opened.
I gasped from the sudden acceleration.
The bubble floated me up the stairs with high speed. Twilight galloped right behind me. At the top of the stairs, I noticed Spike in the middle of the hallway. He held a scroll in front of his open mouth.
“I’m sending it now!” He breathed in.
“Noo!” Twilight threw me forth and lifted a foreleg.
Spike’s chest ceased inflating the moment I crash landed at his feet.
“Don’t you dare do it, Spike!” Twilight slammed a hoof on the floor.
I lay between them in a fetal position, hugging my tail. “Mummy...” While twitching on the cold floor, I tried to catch some sips of air without yelping but failed.
“See?” Twilight pointed a hoof at me without breaking eye contact with Spike. “She’s perfectly fine!”
A telekinetic shield wrapped around me again, making me gasp in horror. My dislike for it had been growing ever since Rarity had first abused it on me. After the ordeal in Twilight’s basement, I straight out hated it.
The magic force floated my body in circles around Spike. All four hooves slid on the crystal surface below me.
Spike grabbed my horn with a claw and stopped my orbiting. With the other claw, he still held the scroll in aloft. When I looked up at him, he whispered, “Sweetie Belle, did she hurt you?”
“I-ll-teach-you-magic,” Twilight sneezed at me and lifted a hoof to her snout. She sheepishly giggled at Spike. “I’m sorry”—shrugging her shoulders, she rolled her eyes at the ceiling—“allergies...”
The surrounding magic bubble dissipated, and my hooves pressed firmly on the floor. I could still feel a strong magic support under my chest. It held most of my body weight.
They were both looking at me, expecting some sort of response.
I figured that Spike had the same misunderstanding I had. He wasn’t there when Twilight had told me about the safe word, so he probably didn’t know about it. Even I learned of its existence just a few moments before. “I didn’t tell her to stop.” Twilight held her teeth clenched, but her lips extended into a big smile. She nodded maniacally at me, raising both eyebrows. I felt encouraged, so I looked at Spike and continued, “If I told her to stop,”—I looked back at Twilight, raising my eyebrows—“She would have stopped?”
Spike sighed. “This makes no sense. Were you opting for a masochist cutie mark?”
“See!” Twilight looked at Spike while pointing a hoof at me again. “She enjoyed the whole process, and you interrupted her joyride. Now give me the letter!”
Spike scratched his chin with the free claw, but Twilight didn’t give him any time to think. A magic bubble formed around the scroll and ripped it out of Spike’s grip.
Twilight grinned as she focused on the letter.
The magic support that held me up dissipated, and I collapsed on the floor.
She jumped to a book stand and spread out the scroll.
“Hey, Twilight, that’s not for you to read! Give it back!”
Quiet murmurs were all she gave in response, “…experiments… screams… torture… death machine…”
“Here we go...” Spike inhaled deeply and bit his lip.
Her head jerked back, teeth grinding. “Spike! How could you write this?” She floated the letter in front of him but kept it out of claw’s reach.
“Nothing I wrote is far-fetched.”
“That’s beside the point! You know very well what Celestia would do to me if she read your scribblings? It would be like the last time when I built the doomsday device!”
“Yeah. She’d probably put you in the mental facility again, and rightly so. They helped you in the past, and I hoped they could help you again. You could really use some chilling down. Not understanding Pinkie Pie’s gift is bringing out the worst in you.”
“Her talent is scientifically impossible. So it can’t be real.” She lifted a leg and talked to it. “On the other hoof, there’s also some evidence in support of it being true. It must be something else entirely. I can crack this… I’ll get to the bottom of the randomness even if it spells the end of her! Err, I mean the end of me… That’s the more acceptable expression. Yeah!” She sheepishly giggled as she turned back to Spike. “And no, I’m not obsessed. I’m not! Pinkie Pie is the obsessed one, pretending to be able to bend the laws of physics!” She pointed a hoof at Spike and almost yelled. “Which she can’t!”
“That’s not an obsession, Twilight; that’s just how she is.”
“Blasphemy is what it is. Nature is consistent and doesn’t play dice.”
“Why can’t you just accept she’s different and move on.”
“Oh, I’ll move on alright.” She lifted herself on her hind legs and clapped her forehooves together rubbing them against each other. “When I have my puppy’s analysis of her in my hooves.”
“I won’t let you strap another pony to that death machine of yours, Twilight!” Spike pointed a claw at her, threateningly.
“That’s enough foaling around.” Twilight levitated the letter above Spike’s head. After a flash from her horn, it burst into flames.
Ashes fell all over him. He crossed his claws on his chest and growled.
“Speaking of analysis...” She glanced at me and walked back toward the basement. “Why don’t we take a look at how you did on the tests!”
I smiled, stood up on all fours, and lifted a foreleg to follow her, but then the door leading into the inner bowels of Twilight's crystal home came into my view and all my muscles instantly stiffened. I was unable to put my forehoof on the ground in front of me again. My body refused to move as if it was frozen in place. “Um… Can I just wait here, instead?”
“Hm?” Twilight stopped in her tracks and looked at me. “Oh… Um, sure you can. And don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. I won’t tell if you won’t!”
I gulped and clenched my teeth as she winked at me again. After dragging myself to a corner of the room, I pressed my body against the cold wall. It didn’t feel comfortable, but at least it looked unmechanical and safe.
“And Spike...” She trotted down the stairs, without looking at him. “Why don’t you be a good little assistant and make Sweetie Belle a daisy sandwich. That’s something you shine at!”
Spike grumbled, and thumped through the door to the hallway, holding his claws clenched at his sides.
My overfluffyfied tail wiggled up into my embrace. Muscles all over my body twitched even though I didn’t feel cold. The opposite was true. All the moisture in my pointy-styled coat had dried up completely. Even more heat burned up from within me. That evil, technological machine might have had something to do with it.
I hoped that Rarity wouldn’t get one for that effect. She had always been rough with her itchy towels, trying to soak every drop of moisture off my coat after the baths, but I’d still prefer that treatment to getting stuck in the hurtful machine again. At that point, I knew what the expression being in heat meant. I felt so hot that I wished for a moment that I didn’t have a coat. Sweat seeped out from the oddest of places. Despite all that, my body kept trembling.
I didn’t want to let Twilight down. I owed her that for keeping my wet secret. It was obvious that I should keep hers also, and I intended to do just that. I had always been good at keeping secrets, even though most ponies didn’t believe that. Whenever I said that I would keep a secret, nopony would ever hear about it from me.
Except for Rarity. I usually told her all the secrets while she kept being boring, working on clothes in her boutique. I felt less bored when I did that. It was okay to tell her secrets because she was even better at keeping them than I was. If I ever asked about them later on, she would pretend that she had never heard of them.
Even after I’d told her of my crusade that had ended with my horn getting scraped on a branch, she had acted as if it had also been a secret. She’d been very focused on her sewing when I had told it to her, but she’d heard every word I had said. I knew that because she’d confirmed almost every other sentence by saying “Mhm…”
After I had asked her if I should show my cracked horn to one of the evil doctors at the scary hospital, she’d given no reaction. When the silence had become uncomfortable, she had just raised her eyebrows and said, “Maybe you should take a bath”—which I did, but it hadn’t helped any.
I wouldn’t even tell the secret to Rarity that time around. It would show her that she had really hurt me by refusing to teach me the gem-finding spell. And she would then apologize to me. Even after that, I would still act stubborn and wouldn’t tell her for almost an eternity. It would probably take at least until the evening before I’d start telling her everypony’s secrets again. Up until that point, I’d keep my mouth shut and would only tell the Cutie Mark Crusaders about Twilight’s basement, the invisible dog and everything else. Then, I’d make them promise not to tell anypony. It’s in good manners to make ponies promise not to share secrets with others when telling them everything you know.
I thought I saw movement in the corner of the library. My eyes jerked in that direction. There was nothing there except a glass showcase with a thick book lying inside on a red pillow. Still, something seemed off. The air around the casing wasn’t fully transparent. It had a hardly noticeable purple glow to it. The wall behind the protective glass seemed to be waving as if I was looking at it underwater. Either my eyes were deceiving me or there was some magic ahoof in the room.
I had no energy to explore the zone of weirdness any further. There was too much freakishness for one day already. I looked away.
A book stuck out on a nearby shelf. If somepony bumped at it, it might fall to the floor, which could trigger Twilight. Hanging out with her was hurtful even in her ‘normal’ state. If she lost her temper for some reason, my well being could get endangered even more. Everything was wrong enough, and I didn’t want to see even more wrongness. At least with the out-of-its-place book, I could fix it easily. When I went to push it back in, my eyes caught the title on its spine: Emotional Magic.
The book had the word ‘magic’ in the title, so I picked it up in my hooves. I kind of liked magic. A little less after what Twilight had put me through, but still... I opened it in the middle as I laid it on my lap.
There are many instances where emotional magic has been harvested. The most recent example is the rise of Crystal Empire, where the emotional energy of the local populace is stored in a special magic device called The Crystal Heart. The accumulated magic from the artifact was used to annihilate the carnal vessel of King Sombra, who wanted to reestablish his former reign of terror.
The other example is evident on multiple occasions throughout history. For at least five centuries, there were many reports of changelings draining a pony’s bodily energies using emotions as a transfer media. There is sufficient evidence to suggest that changelings are capable of transferring the energies to their own mana-pool. Some encounters indicate that the process is not instantaneous and takes some time to complete. The leaching can only be concluded if the victim is emotionally or lustfully attached to the drainage source. The exact process by which these creatures achieve the mana transfusion is not yet fully understood.
What is known are the benefits of using existing emotions in furthering one’s magic abilities. With external feelings being known and predictable, one can avoid magic catalyzation inconsistencies that are otherwise prevalent in emotional magic-boosting techniques. Emotions in oneself are unpredictable. Adapting the catalyzation process to the external emotion source avoids these fluctuations — and the recursive feedback loop — that usually result in a failed spell.
I put the book back on the shelf because it was written in a long-words language, and I didn’t like that. Feeling sorry for myself felt easier than reading rare expressions. I wished that I hadn’t even read it, so I could keep believing that I could use magic without putting in much effort. Besides learning being hard, it also felt as if the knowledge was, actually, hurting me. If I didn’t know much, I could just make up stuff and hope that reality would follow suit. That usually hadn’t happened, but that just meant the world owed me some big favors for leaving me stranded like that in the past. Yet another reason for keeping up my blind faith. My fantasies had always kept me strong, as long as I didn’t question them.
I sat there, looking angrily at the book, which implied that magic was more complicated than I thought. Who wants to know about bad things, anyway? I decided that the author of the book was surely evil for writing things that didn’t match my wishful thinking.
My eyes lowered. In the pile of dust under the wardrobe I saw a dark-brown paper. I scraped it out with a hoof, shook off some of the dust and blew on it. I recognized some letters on it, but could hardly make out any of the words. The paper must have laid there for like literally forever.
I looked around to make sure I wasn’t being watched then rubbed the paper in the last clean part of my fluffy coat.
When I looked at the paper again, I could finally make out the lines. It was a song titled, I have an urge to sing you a song.
The title alone brought a smile to my face. If there was anything positive in my life, it was the songs. I knew that would never change no matter what. I’d always love to sing. Twilight had even hinted that my future cutie mark would be related to singing.
My eyes focused on the lines.
Oh fellow ponies, heed my word
Before your brain becomes disturbed
A tentabus called Muse is on the loose
By hearing a song, you’re in its noose
I have already succumbed to this effect
But you can avoid its magical dialect
Ponies don’t sing, we never did
If you hear a song you’re in its grid
The songs are memes, they propagate
They hijack your brain to variate
You’re not a victim, you’re the cause
By singing you become its jaws
If this threat is not contained
A delirium for ponykind will be ordained
Ponies will randomly burst into a song
Without suspecting something’s wrong
It’s too late for me, I’ve heard too much
But you can still escape its clutch
Run away if you hear a pony sing
Or else Muse will catch you in its string
This letter is the last act of my occupation
Before forcing myself into self-isolation
Don’t look for me ever
Yours Clover the Clever
Edit: I’ve found this song in the lost library. I see now that my only chance of freedom is to vow to never sing again. Along with this plee, I also have an urge to add the following:
Oh fellow ponies, gather near,
For Clover's tale is one of fear.
A tentabus, Muse, roams untamed,
Its siren songs, a web unclaimed.
Muse, the trickster, whispers low,
In notes that dance, in rhythms flow.
Beware, dear ponies, heed the signs,
For once ensnared, the grip entwines.
Ponies, silent as moon-kissed dew,
Our voices hushed, our songs askew.
Yet Muse, insatiable, seeks to sway,
To turn our silence into disarray.
Songs, like seeds, take root and spread,
Infecting minds, a memetic thread.
Victims we become, unwitting hosts,
As Muse orchestrates its spectral boasts.
Are we victims or architects of fate?
By singing, do we seal our own gate?
Muse grins, its maw wide open,
Feeding on our harmonies unspoken.
Ponies, gallop! Flee the rhyme,
Escape the Muse's temporal climb.
For sanity wanes, and chaos brews,
When every heart hums a stolen tune.
Clover, your letter, a desperate plea,
A swan song penned in urgency.
Into self-isolation you retreat,
As Muse's tendrils seek their beat.
So farewell, brave poet, vanish hence,
May your silence shield you from the dance.
And we, the ponies left behind,
Shall guard our voices, lest Muse bind.
Yours in ink your warning clear,
A fellow wanderer, seeking solace in fear.
Trembling, I shoved the song under the wardrobe. “I’ll never sing again...” I whispered under my breath.
“Heh, good luck with that” Spike appeared before my face. “You’d be the first pony to abstain from singing.”
“I’ve heard you sing too, you know?”
“Yes, but with me it’s different
My singing is different
I sing because I choose to
I can stop whenever I want to”
“Right...”
“Anyway, here’s your sandwich.” He offered me a plate bearing two bread slices stacked on each other with a thick green layer between them. “I put some dandelions and daffodils in it as well. Twilight thinks they go well with daisies. Enjoy!”
The sandwich looked really juicy, and daisies were my favorite food, but since I came from the cellar, I felt like throwing up. I held it back of course. I didn’t want Twilight covering for me yet again. Taking a mere bite of anything could upset my stomach more. “I’m not hungry,” I said.
Spike loudly sighed. “And you decided to tell me this—after I made you a sandwich and not before?”
He was right. I’d been so caught in myself, I hadn’t paid any attention to what went on around me. “I’m sorry!” Even when I tried to be on my own and not do anything, I somehow managed to hurt others. My eyes moistened again.
“The gratitude you ponies bestow upon me is immeasurable!” He turned around and looked at the sandwich. “I don’t like to waste food, but I’m certainly not about to start eating grass.” He slid the plate onto an empty shelf as he walked toward the comic book section of the library where Spike often hung out..
“I’ve got your preliminary results, Sweetie Belle.” Twilight trotted up the stairs with sheets of paper floating beside her. I hoped that at least something good could come out of that awful day. “Well, lack thereof,” she continued.
My jaw dropped.
“It’s as though you have zero magic in you.”
A tear drifted down my cheek and splattered on the floor.
Twilight looked over a floating sheet and raised a hoof in my direction. “It may not be permanent, though.”
I gasped. “There’s a chance of my horn not getting better? That’s horrible!”
Sheets of paper dropped on the floor when her horn glow dissipated. With a serious face, she stepped closer and sat on her tushy before me. She put both forehooves on my shoulders. “Ability to manipulate magic doesn’t just go away by itself. You were quite proficient with your horn when I last saw you use magic. Did something happen since then?”
“I hit my horn on a branch. It cracked a little. I’m afraid to even charge it now.”
“What did the doctors say about the injury?”
“Doctors? I thought my horn just needed some time to heal. It hurt less and less since I bumped it. That means it got better, right? I don’t even feel it anymore.”
“A horn is a sensitive biological apparatus, Sweetie Belle. Even a small disturbance can set it off balance. You should have gone to a doctor right away after you suffered a blow to the horn.”
“I didn’t know that. Will it get better anyway?” I looked up at her. “Please say yes.”
“If your horn-base got damaged, then no. The channeling matter consists of special transmitting neurons. Those can’t heal on their own, just like brain cells don’t.”
I clenched my teeth and tried not to fall apart right there and then.
“However, there is also another biological mechanism that produces similar symptoms. Upon a concussion of a horn, the inner barrier can expand to protect the base from further damage. If that’s the case, all you need to do is channel your inner-flows to break your thickened barrier.”
I didn’t know there’s an obstacle in my horn. “Why is something trying to block me?”
“The barrier forms soon after the birth of a Unicorn. It is a natural protection from any uncontrollable and potentially dangerous outbursts of magic. In most cases, the protection loosens by itself. There have even been cases of foals, lacking barrier protection, capable of intuitive magic usage. And I’m not referring just to Pumpkin Cake and Flurry Heart. Those two are, however, the most extreme case of this phenomenon I know of.
“I was the exact opposite in my fillyhood. My horn’s barrier was over-developed, and I had trouble casting complex spells until I finally broke it at the magic kindergarten exam.
“The horn’s barrier is the most important protection from self-harm when casting magic without reservations. It regulates the flow to the channels and prevents dangerous surges of energies. There are cases where the inate magic ability is more powerful than the protection keeping it in check.
“If the barrier breaks, the reserves of magic that were held back are released in an energy outburst, making the Unicorn capable of casting even complicated spells with ease. That’s what happened to me when I was a filly. Seeing Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom opened my floodgate. Perhaps something else will open yours, and you’ll be able to break your strong barrier, if you have one that’s protecting you from your own magic, if there is any in you.”
“I need a sonic rainboom?”
“In some aspects, breaking the barrier in a unicorn’s horn is kind of like gaining a cutie mark. Almost anything can be a catalyst. A sonic rainboom was just what worked for me. Usually, though, it’s a dedicated practice and focus that opens up your potential. And if there’s enough of that, you might even get a cutie mark for it.”
The mention of a potential cutie mark lifted my spirits. “How do you practice a horn?” I stood up on all fours and half-closed my eyes while I focused on it. “I’m not sure if I can even charge mine.”
“Like I said, I don’t know what’s keeping your magic back. If you still have any, that is.”
The thought of not being able to use my magic sent shivers down my spine. “But I’m a Unicorn. I’m supposed to have magic.”
“I still have some number crunching to do before I can say for certain. If your reserves of mana are still intact, they will show up as an echo in the results. If that is the case, you should be able to break your horn’s barrier if you put your mind to it.”
I looked up at her. “What if it hurts?”
“There’s no reason why charging your horn should hurt you in any way. And even if it would, using magic isn’t supposed to make you feel good. It takes a painstaking effort if you want to master it.”
“How can I break the obstacle?” I asked.
“The most mana consuming spells are the best for breaking the horn’s barrier. Try producing as many sparks as you can.” She smiled and closed her eyes. “Like this.” A stream of sparks burst forth in an arch from her horn. The lavender aura dissipated as she opened her eyes. While biting her lip, she gazed at the fading flickers on the polished floor. She perked her ears and glanced toward the comic book section. With a hoof, she slid a nearby carpet over the blackened spot. Her eyes turned to me again. “Nothing to it. Now you try it. Sense your horn. Especially the part where it connects to your inner channels.”
I closed my eyes and tried to feel my horn. I knew it was there, but I couldn’t really sense it. Just like I didn’t feel my tail unless I pulled at it. I extended a hind leg and wrapped it in my tail.
“Come on, Sweetie Belle! Stop foaling around. Focus!”
I unwrapped my tail and straightened my posture. “Charging up now...” My body tensed as I puckered my forehead. There was a complete lack of inner tingling I’d usually experienced when using magic. The only ‘sensing of my horn’ I did was with my wrinkled skin around it. I hoped that would, at least, count for something. “Like this?” I asked.
“No! That’s not how I taught you. You have to push toward your horn. But not with your muscles. You have to guide your inner flow together and then outward. It will react to your soul energy, you just have to focus on it.”
I relaxed my muscles because straining them, apparently, didn’t help any. I breathed in and contracted my stomach to push the air up.
“You’re doing it wrong; breathe normally.” Twilight thumped on my chest. “Feel the impulses of energy flowing through your body.” She spoke with a cheering voice. It sounded as if she was singing the instructions. “Focus on where those currents connect with your horn.” The light of her aura penetrated through my closed eyelids. “Do you feel the power at the core? Channel the flow of energy against it.”
I lost her and didn’t know what she wanted me to do. It had used to be so simple. There had been a time when I could just use my magic without even understanding her instructions, but such wasn’t the case at that point. Magic wasn’t happening by itself anymore.
And when I got distracted by a burp, coming from the other room, I lost my focus along with the last shred of hope to force anything out of my stiff appendage.
I opened my eyes and looked at Twilight. “Focus what where?” Everything was confusing and messed up. I thumped a hoof against the floor in frustration. “Can I choose an easy difficulty for this?”
She raised her eyebrows. “Don’t you feel it? The connection? The point where your base of mana unites with your soul energy?”
“No.” At the last Twilight time session, I could feel the magic flowing through me whenever I charged my horn, but at that moment, I felt nothing. There was just emptiness within me.
The cheerful expression on her face dissipated. “Don’t tell me you forgot all the basics I taught you during my time.” She sighed and shook her head in disappointment. She stilled when she eyed the sandwich on the shelf. “Mmm, you look delicious.”
“Twilight!” Spike jumped in the Library. “I’m sorry for interrupting your foalcon, but I got the call.”
“Wait! I wasn’t—”
“Twilight, just stop what you’re doing, we need to go.”
“Ugh! Never mind. I’m going…”
He waved a scroll in the air. “For some reason, Celestia wants me to join you this time.”
“Best if we don’t keep Celestia waiting...” Twilight nodded at me and hinted at the exit with her eyes. She lit up her horn and floated up the sandwich from the shelf.
I clenched my teeth and thumped by her side to the door of the library.
Twilight floated up a saddlebag from the hanger in the crystal corridor. “Celestia probably wants you to relay piles of letters to Crystal palace again.”
Spike sighed. “Everyone wants to have a Crystal pony for a pen pal these days… Why can't Celestia just send the letters herself?”
“You know she could, but you're more—natural at it.” She fastened the straps of her saddlebag and trotted on.
“Yes, that's right. If I had a cutie mark it would be a mailbox!”
“Spike, you know you're more than that.” Twilight floated the leftover food from behind her. “For instance, you’re also a great chef.” While the sandwich flew past her mouth, she bit off a large chunk. “Mmm, it’s so good! You’ve really outdone yourself this time!” she muttered with the full mouth.
“I'm glad at least somepony appreciates my efforts.” He gave me a glance with half-closed eyes.
“What are you talking about?” She spat bread crumbs on her assistant as she talked. “You know you're the best, Spikey.”
He opened the front door of the castle.
I didn’t join the conversation because my teeth were clenched. Twilight time was supposed to be about me! She was going to teach me how to cast a detection spell. It would be the first one in my life. Why did Celestia have to interrupt it? Well, she didn't know, but still!
Twilight put a hoof on my shoulder. “Have Rarity take you to the hospital, Sweetie Belle. If they diagnose you with an overgrown barrier, we can work on breaking it tomorrow. Magic outbursts are still the go-to method when it comes to tunneling your horn for magic usage.”
Spike closed the door before Twilight telekinetically floated the key in the keyhole. It clicked as it turned then floated back into her saddlebag. The last chunk of the sandwich flew into her mouth. She swallowed without even chewing on it. Looking toward the Canterlot, she slowly exhaled. Her grin grew widder.
“No!” Spike jumped in front of her and pressed a claw against her neck. “No teleporting this time, I beg of you!”
“Hmm...” Twilight cocked her head. “We could just make use of these then.” She flapped her wings.
“Porting—dangerous; those things—lethal! Let's just take the train, like normal ponies do.”
“Come on, we’ve gone to Canterlot by unconventional means before.”
“If it weren’t for my scales and thick bones, I’d be splattered all over the city.” Spike pointed a claw at Twilight accusingly. “I’ll have you know, there’s a big difference between landing and crashing!”
“Fine…” Twilight crouched down, letting Spike mount her. While she trotted forth, her eyes caught with mine, “Oh, and while we’re gone, don’t forget the number one decency rule. No peeing on the lawn! Somepony might want to graze on it.”
Sitting in front of the locked castle, I watched them walk toward the town’s main road that led to the train station. Twilight shook her head and glanced at Spike with one eye. “Wait, what did you mean ‘like normal ponies do’? Are you saying I'm not normal?”
“No, I’m not saying that out loud, Twilley.”
“Oh, Spike… I don’t know what I’d do with you…”
“You meant to say without me, right? Right?”
Their voices trailed off in the distance. The lavender combined form became more and more blurry. A little bit because they were gaining distance from me, but mostly because of the tears that gathered in my eyes. They disappeared behind Ponyville buildings, leaving me behind. Alone and abandoned.
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Comment section minigames for the Twilight’s Dungeon chapter of the story Sweetie Belle Gains a Soul (anypony can play them in the comment section of this story).
GAME 1
Does this story remind you of a song that you know? If yes, post it in the comments in the following format:
- Chapter of the story that this song is relevant to.
- A link or embedded Youtube video of it.
- Percentage of correlation (0% being an unrelated song, 100% being a song written exactly for this story).
- A reason why this song reminded you of this story or the excerpt of the lyrics.
GAME 2
Record yourself reading this story aloud. Upload your mp3 to MLP: Audiobooks, for instance, and paste the link to your audio or video in the comments.
Reward: A spot in the author’s note of this chapter.
Edit: The winner is Deity of a Shadow with his Dramatic Youtube reading.
everyone is so self-absorbed in this story I don't know how much more I can take
9457300 It's all part of the conflict in the story. Do you think the story would be better if ponies weren't so self-absorbed? Wouldn't the lack of personal agendas make the story more blend and the conflict non-existent?
Has this issue really pushed you so far that you're considering icing this story?
It's kinda like when a doctor tells you this isn't gonna hurt. You know it's gonna hurt REALLY bad, but at the same time, you're not gonna argue with her...
11126993 Indeed, she's (ab)using her authority. And her comforting isn't really that comforting. A bit creepy and scary, actually. But that's Twilight for you.
11126993
the best doctors will tell you "this will hurt like hell, but I'll make it quick" rather than "this won't hurt" lol
11279528 Twilight would tell you that it will get worse before it can get better.
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11279528
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11126993
Lies, even white lies, destroy trust. I shall give the example of Doctor Fauci:
Medical workers treating patients with CoViD-19, shedding SARS-CoV-2, desperately needed masks. To prevent a run on masks, he said that regular people do not need masks. This white lie destroyed the trust of the paranoid schizophrenics. They became deranged antimaskers and died by the hundreds of thousands. He should have tried straight talk:
If Doctor Fauci would have said:
Hundreds of thousands of paranoid schizophrenics would still be alive if Doctor Fauci would haves tried straight talk instead of a white lie.
11284740 You're right, and Twilight has, indeed, sacrificed Sweetie Belle's trust.
However, if I were to honestly tell you that I'll rape you, would that really make the raping more pleasant and moral?
I... Don't think this story should be rated E
11620108 Only dirty minds can imagine anything dirty in this chapter. If your mind is innocent, you can't see anything amiss (if you ignore all the torture).
Innate?
11722691 Fixed. Thanks!
what the fuck twilight
11805006 For science!