Ascension
Twilight groaned as she struggled with her nightmares she was entangled in, tossing from side to side as she struggled in vain to wake herself up. Something was wrong, that much she could tell, but she couldn’t place her hoof on it as she rolled around on the soft surface.
In her mind, she replayed the moment of Spikes disappearances, but this time, she saw him go, a monster stealing him away. The last thing she saw before the…thing…jumped out of the window, was the look on Spikes face. That was what was scaring her the most. The look she was given. Spike was pleading, begging her to save him, but deeper than that, he was blaming her. ‘Why didn’t you save me?’ he seemed to ask, even as he was ripped away from her.
Part of her knew that Spike wouldn’t say that, that it was just her imagination punishing her, but that part of her mind was being squashed by the rest, and its voice of reason went unheard.
“Oh my goodness.” A voice spoke softly, a familiar voice. “Do you think she’s ok?”
Twilight knew that voice, it was her friends. She had to be strong. To wake up and tell her that everything was fine, that she was fine, but she couldn’t, her mind forcing her to stay unconscious.
“I don’t know.” Another voice spoke, this one even more familiar than the last. “My student is strong, and she will not give up easily, but the level of magic that she displayed, it has done things I did not think possible. Magical exhaustion can be a deadly ailment to Unicorns.”
“But, to melt rock.” The voice of Applejack said.
“Would require temperatures far exceeding what a normal Unicorn, or even an Alicorn like myself or Princess Cadence should be able to produce. Only my sister should be able to conjure that sort of power.” Luna said.
“Exactly. The possibilities and consequences of this, I don’t know what will happen.” Celestia replied.
“Nggh…a…wake.” Twilight managed, grunting with the effort of just speaking, as she finally put her hoof on what was wrong.
When she had passed out, she had been in a mountain range, not a bed, or anywhere near civilisation. She had made sure of that. So how had she got into a bed?
“Princess.” Another voice, this one a male that she didn’t recognise. “I believe she is waking up, or at least trying to.”
“What do ya mean tryin’ to?” Applejack asked.
“In cases on extreme magical exhaustion, the mind often shuts down. I have seen lesser cases than this where the Unicorn simply never awoke. We have wards dedicated to them in case they manage to break through and wake up. We always remain hopeful but…” He trailed off.
“Twilight won’t give up. She’s stronger than an Ursa Minor, she picked one up, remember?” Pinkie giggled. “Plus this would be a short story arc if she just never woke up.”
“Story arc?” Luna asked.
“Don’t ask.” Rarity replied. “It’s just Pinkie being…”
“…Pinkie.” Twilight cut her off, rolling over again, trying to open her eyes again, and managing to force them open just a crack, enough to let light in, but not enough to see the room she was in.
“That’s it Twilight. Just keep fighting. You can do it.” Celestia urged
Grunting with effort, Twilight forced her right eye open, fixing her pupil on Celestia, who was just a few inches away.
“Come on.” Celestia said softly, looking at her student.
With a scream of effort, Twilight forced her eyes open, focusing on the Princess and smiling weakly.
“Princess…Celestia.” She said softly.
“Oh my dear Twilight.” Celestia beamed.
“Alright Twilight.” Rainbow cheered, jumping into the air above the bed that Twilight was in.
Looking around the room, she saw that she was in a hospital. Not a big surprise, all things considered, but what was surprising was the fact that she had never been here before, and she had visited both the Ponyville general hospital and the royal Canterlot hospital in her time. This room was neither of those two.
“Where…” She began.
“Are you?” Rarity asked. “In the castle in Canterlot. The princesses offered the use of their personal medical facilities.”
“Yep. Super-duper amazing in here. And that doctor, quite a hot piece of…” Pinkie began, but was cut off by a hoof being placed in her mouth.
“I believe we get the picture Pinkie.” Rarity smiled awkwardly, before removing her hoof.
“You know, with the amount of times ponies put their hooves in my mouth, I should invent flavoured horse shoes. Maybe cupcake flavour.” Pinkie smiled thoughtfully.
“Ha.” Twilight grinned, laughing at her friends antics. “So you allowed me to use your private chambers?” She asked, looking at Luna and Celestia.
“Of course.” Luna smiled. “For the first week you were in Ponyville general hospital, but for the past few weeks, you have been here. It is more comfortable here for prolonged stay.”
“Did you say weeks?” Twilight asked in astonishment.
“Four weeks, three days and fifteen hours.” Celestia confirmed. “All that time, your friends have been here. One of them was always by your side, usually more than one. Even through the night.”
“But…but…it was only one of my episodes.” Twilight said, looking around desperately. “I’ve never passed out from one before.”
“How big do you believe the fallout from your episode was Twilight?” Celestia asked uncertainly.
“Maybe a bit bigger than normal.” Twilight admitted sheepishly.
“Another question then.” Celestia continued. “What do you know of the Cawstone mountain ranges?”
“Easy. The Cawstone Mountains are a range of fifteen mountains that separate the northern boarder of Equestria from Gryphomry. The largest mountain in the range is Mt Turg, named for the famous king Turg. It stands eight thousand nine hundred and sixty four meters high.”
“Not anymore.” Celestia said solemnly. “As of this moment, the Cawstone range consists of eleven mountains, and Mt Turg now stands at only six thousand three hundred meters.”
“What?” Twilight asked in confusion.
“You had a magical outburst. One more powerful than I have ever seen, even more powerful than the one during your entrance exam. In the resulting fallout, the mountain range was altered. You blew the top of Mt Turg to pieces, and the rubble fell in between the other mountains in the range. In your usual manner, although in a much more spectacular fashion, you were engulfed in flames, the fireball melting the rocks together, and hence fifteen mountains being made into eleven.” Celestia explained.
“The Griffons were less than pleased, but relationships have been smoothed over for now.” Luna added.
“But nopony’s that powerful. Not a unicorn anyway.” She insisted.
“You are right.” Luna nodded. “Even I am not that powerful. Nor is Cadence. The fact that you could do something on that level of power…”
“That can’t be right.” Twilight sobbed.
“Twi, we’re here for ya. As long as it takes.” Applejack said, walking over to the bed.
As she did, the other four followed suit, and soon they were all standing by the bed. Smiling, Twilight sat up and reached for them, pulling into a hug.
“I’m so glad…” Twilight said, tears forming in her eyes.
“Umm…Twilight?” Rarity asked, looking at a spot just behind Twilight with a look of fear on her face.
“What?” Twilight said, looking behind her, her back turning with her head.
“This.” Rainbow said, grabbing something from beneath the covers that Twilight had thrown off, and holding it up for everypony to see.
It was a purple feather.
“What is that?” Twilight said in despair.
“A feather.” Celestia said, her voice sounding as if her heart was heavy just from speaking the two words. “Your feather Twilight.”
“But I’m a Unicorn!” She yelled, leaping out of bed and standing straight in front of Celestia.
“I am afraid, that part of your life is over.” Luna said sadly, gesturing for Twilight to look behind her.
Without moving her back this time, Twilight twisted her neck, looking at her own body, and the wings that now adorned it.
“What?!” She screamed, looking at the wings, her wings.
“Why does Twilight look like an Alicorn?” Rainbow asked in confusion.
“Because she is an Alicorn.” Celestia said, lowering herself to look at Twilight directly. “Since you were sent to Ponyville, I have been watching you, preparing you for ascension. You’ve come so far since that day. And you made me so proud. I had not planned for it to be this way.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, no longer sobbing, but her voice wavering all the same.
“My sister and I had made a plan, one that involved you finishing Starswirl the bearded’s legacy. He had created a spell that could change destinies, but it was never completed. It was our belief that your lessons in the magic of friendship would allow you to finish the spell, and for it to be the catalyst of your ascension.” Celestia said wearily.
“But I never completed any spells.” Twilight pointed out.
“Exactly. This was a shock to my sister and I as well. When we pulled you out of the mess of the mountains, your body was in a touch and go state. Bruises, burns, lacerations from where rocks had cut into you, along with two gashes on your back. We realised what they were, what they had to be, and took steps to hide them until such a time that you would be awake to see them.” Luna said, kneeling down so she was on the same level as Twilight and Celestia.
“A simple illusion spell managed to hide them well enough, even as they grew from you. If everything had gone according to plan, this would not have been needed, but with the way you transformed, they needed to grow from scratch. It is a blessing that you were unconscious for that period. From what Luna has told me from her own ascension, a transformation of that nature is much more painful.” Celestia continued on.
“That still doesn’t explain why Twilight is like this.” Fluttershy chipped in. “I mean, if she had to complete the spell to transform into an Alicorn, why did she transform without it?”
“We…don’t actually know.” Celestia admitted. “We do not know everything about the elements of harmony and the transformation process.”
“What we have deduced is that the sudden burst of raw emotions that resulted from…losing Spike, gave your body the final kick that it needed to complete the final stage of your training, that started when you first donned the tiara of command over harmony.” Luna finished.
“So, because she cared so much about Spike, she was turned into an Alicorn?” Rainbow asked.
“From what we have summarised, yes.” Celestia replied. “And until we have another break through on the process, we cannot be so sure.”
“So…does this make me…a…” Twilight said slowly.
“Princess?” Pinkie finished.
“Yeah.” Twilight agreed.
“What this means is up to Twilight.” Celestia said. “All that is certain, is you cannot change back. If you had been changed in the way according to the plan, perhaps you would have that option, but as of now, we do not believe you can return to your Unicorn state. However, being an Alicorn and being a princess are two different things. While one is expected to lead to the other, it is possible to shirk the duties expected of you.”
“I…I…” Twilight began, looking around at the others for an option, but unable to find any inspiration. “Fine.” She said reluctantly.
“Are you sure Twilight?” Luna asked. “This is not a decision to be taken lightly. Being a princess of Equestria is something you will have to commit yourself permanently.”
“I…am.” Twilight said, smiling weakly. “If it is what I have to do, then I will do it. I won’t shirk my duties.”
“Thank you Twilight. You have no idea how proud you have made me.”
***
1 week later
***
Twilight stood in the throne room of the castle in silence, looking out of the window at the far end. She was dressed in a long flowing black dress, specially designed by Rarity for this exact occasion. Originally, Celestia and Luna had planned for this occasion to be marked by a colourful ensemble, but Twilight had dismissed this idea, saying that given the reasoning behind it, it was not right to be treating it just as a celebration.
“Twilight?” Celestia called, walking into the empty throne room slowly, and walking towards the new princess at the end of the room. Like Twilight, she was wearing her own royal regalia, but with a much larger element of black than her usual one.
“Yes Celestia?” She asked, using the princess’s name for once rather than her title. It was something she had begun to do shortly after discovering her new status.
“The coronation is due to start in a few hours. Is there anything else that you would like to be done?” Luna asked, following her sister.
“I don’t think so. Just remember, while this is a coronation, it is also a day of mourning.”
“Is that your first act as a princess?” Celestia asked, her lips curling ever so slightly into a smile.
“It is. Every year, this day is going to be a day of mourning, for those lost in the past, and those who will be lost in the future.”
“I believe that that would be prudent.” Luna smiled.
***
“We are gather here today, in celebration and in mourning.” Celestia said, addressing the assembled ponies who now filled the throne room. Beside her stood five of the elements of harmony, as well as Luna and Cadence. Everypony present had changed their ensemble for the day, and dark colours were the main theme of the event.
“My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, has done many extraordinary things since she has lived in Ponyville. She even helped reunite me with my sister, Princess Luna. But a week ago, something extraordinary happened to Twilight. She created new power, stemming from the raw emotions she possessed deep within her. Her assistant, and pseudo-child, Spike the dragon, disappeared. She used every part of her being to find him, but it was in vain. The effort she put into that, is what caused what you see today. This dedication to those she cares for proves without a doubt that she is ready to be crowned Equestria’s newest princess! Fillies and Gentlecolts. May I present for the very first time, Princess Twilight Sparkle!”
As soon as she finished, the doors at the other end of the hall were flung open, revealing Twilight, who was followed by a long procession of attendants. The first group were all mares, carrying a black banner with Twilights cutie mark emblazed on it. What was strange about them however, was the fact that they all looked identical, each one sporting bone coloured fur, and long, flowing black manes.
“An illusion spell.” Luna whispered to Applejack, who looked confused by the identical ponies. “The banner they carry is similar to the guard’s helmets. Once it is donned, it creates a spell to make them look identical beneath it.”
Behind the banner carrying mares, were six newly created Twilight guards, members of Celestia's guard, who had been transferred for this occasion. Instead of the normal golden in silver armour that the guards of the other princesses usually wore, they were garbed in a two toned armour, the back being fully segmented, and coloured purple, with a green spine down the back, while the belly of the armour was made of enchanted fabric, and coloured in the same green as the spines. It was clear to anypony who knew Twilight and Spike, what the colour scheme represented.
In silence, punctuated only by the sounds of hooves striking the floor, the procession advanced towards the front of the room, Twilight alone walking up the stairs, before stopping in front of Luna and Celestia. Quickly, an attendant rushed over, bearing a cushion, upon which, the element of magic tiara rested.
In a golden glow, the tiara was levitated upwards, before being placed slowly on Twilight’s head.
Turning to face the crowd, Twilight flared her wings, and stood for a moment, observing the crowd, and capturing each face in her memory. From the crying forms of her parents and brother, to the happy face of Midnight Dasher, her old friend from Canterlot, at the rear of the hall.
***
Twilight led the other two Alicorns out onto a balcony in the palace, reaching the edge and looking at what lay below. Beneath her, thousands of ponies were congregated, waiting in anticipation to hear their newest princess speak.
Twilight cleared her throat, before she began to talk.
“A little while ago, my teacher and mentor, Princess Celestia, sent me to live in Ponyville. She sent me to study friendship. Which is something that I didn’t really care much about, save for one individual, Spike, my number one assistant, and one who could have easily been my brother, except for the difference in species. While I learnt everything that is possible about the magic of friendship, and for that, I will be eternally grateful to these five mares,” she indicated the other elements of harmony standing behind her, “they are not the reason I stand before you today. As mentioned, Spike was my first friend. On a night, almost six weeks ago, Spike was taken from me by something. Spike taught me something about friendship that I could never learn any other way, and while his loss is the most painful experience of my life, it will not be taken in vain. I swear to you, the ponies of this great nation, that I will never allow ponies that have been lost to be forgotten by the annals of history. His loss, was the catalyst for my ascension, and as such, I henceforth name this day the day of remembrance. Now, and for evermore, this day shall be a holiday to remember those that we have lost, be they new or old. From this day, to the end of days, this will hold true, never to be undone, and never to be forgotten.”
At this, the ponies in the courtyard erupted into cheers of admiration for their new princess. Turning around, Twilight walked back towards the throne room, only to see her brother, mother and father walking towards her. Shining Armour had tears running down his face, while her parents simply looked happy, the blotchiness around their eyes portraying the fact that they had been crying, but had managed to curb their tears.
“Twilight.” Shining Armour said, moving over and embracing his sister in a hug. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Are you crying?” She smiled, knowing that despite the situation, she may be able to get something to hold over her brother in the future.
“Of course not.” He said, frantically rubbing his eyes. “It’s just…ugh…liquid pride.”
Shaking her head at her brother, she turned to her parents, who were smiling at her in a sad way.
“He’s really gone, isn’t he?” Her mother asked.
“Yes.” Twilight said, straightening up and looking directly at her mother. For a moment, her bottom lip trembled, but she steeled her resolve, and pushed on. “Spike is gone. And while it will be hard, I will get past this. His loss will strengthen me, and give me the resolve I will need to be a princess of the country. Never again shall the lost and the fallen be forgotten.”
“I never imagined you would do this.” Her father smiled. “Even when you were accepted into Celetia’s academy, I did not expect you to one day be a ruler of a country.”
“Neither did I.” Twilight smiled. “But it has happened, and I will make the most of this opportunity.”
Turning from her parents, Twilight walked over to the clear window at the end of the room, staring out over the countryside of Equestria. She admired its beauty with a new eye, one that was more critical of all the wasted space that was there.
She continued to stare at it, standing in such a way so as to make it clear that she did not wished to disturbed. Slowly, she blinked as she looked over her new domain.
When she opened her eyes again, she once again surveyed the countryside. Her yellow pupils glinting in the setting sun.
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Huh, when I saw Ascension I didn't expect this!
Still good!
The Schwartz is strong with this one
Uh oh, something tells me that there will be a strong disturbance in the Force. One that will guide Spike home, though... I don't think it'll be the same as he left it behind.
Random thoughts, and nitpicks:
it is possible to shirk the duties expected of you.
But hey, no pressure.
What was strange about the however, was the fact that they all looked identical, each one sporting bone coloured fur, and long, flowing black manes.
"the" should probably be "them".
(On a side note, when I read this paragraph the Imperial March started going through my head. At the time, I thought I was joking.)
members of Celestias guard
Celestia's
the happy face of Midnight Dasher, her old friend from Canterlot, at the rear of the hall.
DUN DUN DUN ... maybe?
Twilight lead the other two
led
annuls of history
annals ... "annul" is an entirely different word.
When she opened her eyes again, she once again surveyed the countryside. Her yellow pupils glinting in the setting sun.
Firstly, the second sentence is not a proper sentence. You can either attach it to the previous sentence with a comma, or change "glinting" to "glinted", which would make it a complete sentence.
Secondly, while this is an interesting development, it makes me pretty nervous as to how well it will be handled. Twilight wouldn't fall too easily, right? Anyway, good luck! I'll be reading.
3487824
Thanks for pointing those out.
And to be honest, this arc won't be completed for ages
Don't make twilight a sith please.
Wait, yellow?
That can't be a good sign.
3488044 I agree. Yellow eyes are definitely not a good sign. It would seem that the Force is strong with her.
3488107
Uh oh. She's got Sith eyes
3487899Twi a sith and spike a jedi if they fight then...
3489134
Don't worry for now. This arc is going to stay unfinished for ages
3489141 ur not gonna finish the story
?
3488647
Yep. Twilight take the first steps to the Dark Side. I Got a Bad Feeling About This.
3489528
No, I just mean the story is going to be long, and the arc is equally long
Wow Twi made a new holiday huh?
Didn't expect that now off to see what spikes doing.
Oh how the mighty fallen,oh how the mighty have fallen indeed... (Second quote is part of the lyrics that are from Aviators remix of Lectro Dub's Fallen, listen to the parts the lyrics are on and read this part, you'd get what I'm trying to hit home,) If you wondering what I mean, I'll give you one hint, she IS falling from her new found grace.
Story "ark"? I don't think you need so go to such extremes just to keep this story afloat, dearie. HEEHEE-ha, hoo!
GAAASSSP! How did she keep speaking after her quotation mark? I've never been able to do that with speech bubbles!
Hmmm. 86 the first and last comma. To isolate that clause, it'd be best to use...em lashes! HOO-HOO-HOOO, hee-hee!
As she did, the other four followed suite
loosing Spike
Behind the banner carrying mares, where six newly created Twilight guards
1. Suit.
2. Losing.
3. Were.
Ahh crap. I can see where this is going
Twilight turns evil
Spike finishes training and is sent to an 'unknown planet' to stop a presence of the dark side
Spike arrives and finds out this is his home
Spike is forced to face Twilight and either redeem her or kill her.
4959854 seems like a good idea
Any particular reason you went from metres to feet when listing the mountain ranges? PS. Six thousand three hundred feet is a little over 1900 metres. Wow, 8000 metres to that, means Twlight took 6-7 kilometres off a mountain. Is that right or did you not mean to switch the units of measurement? If that's correct, someone probably died.
Heh, even though I'm not surprised, I still wonder how that eye colour change happened. I don't think despair alone can do that. Most people only begin to change eye colour once they've fallen quite far. That's not even accounting the fact that the Force doesn't even exist in Equestria, or if it does, then it's shocking that no one knows about it considering it apparently binds the galaxy together. And I KNOW magic and the Force are not the same thing.
3491466 Aren't the yellow eyes usually among the last steps? After all Anakin's journey to the Dark Side clearly began with the death of his mother or possibly earlier, yet he didn't get the eyes until he started murdering the separatists three years later.
5061445 Filling in the gaps between those points is gonna take TONS of explaining. As easy as it is, falling to the Dark Side doesn't happen just because you lost someone when you don't know the cause of it. If a significant amount of time passes, then more global threats to Equestria may have caused Twilight to snap.
Oh Sh
t! 
...being that I follow the theory of Celestia and Luna being literal avatars of their respective celestial body and as such were always alicorns, I have to disagree here with how you made Twilight ascend.
Throwing that entirely aside and completely forgetting that, let's move onto to an actual relevant part. Twi wields the dark side. Will she be driven insane or will she shut the fucking Jedi up by learning to control the dark side.
Maybe her and spikes reunion with help them both down a path of gray as it should. Or maybe you desire many a flame and will have the two fight to the death.
Or the most unlikely but most entertaining choice. Spike joins her and they take over the galaxy. Ruling eternally as a pseudo alicorn and a badass dragon.
Fingers crossed.
Welp, I guess this means six more
weeksmonthsyears of Winter (since Equestria has it's own Tython-like Balance System in the form of the Windigoes....Also not to point out the Vulcan in the room, but remember that Celestia said "Either he's not on this planet" either Twilight is too much OCD Horse that Celestia and Luna herself forgot this possibility instead of just surrendering to the thought of Spike being dead.
6464417 Happens when you start to slide over to the Dark Side. I think the author meant to say irises.
6471533 I think it's more when the Dark Side has taken Proper hold. Like a saiyan's eyes changing color after going super. Same thing here, only much more ominous.
Also: I did not see that coming
good cover with all the black, Sparkle Butt
i.imgur.com/zOWspvR.png
I'll be honest... I was not expecting the thing I got a bad feeling about to happen so soon...
6464417 Return of the sith baby.
Yellow pupils?
Thinks of appropriate meem*
"INFINITE POWER!" Darth sidious revenge of the sith.
I always wondered if there could be a sith that uses fear of losing someone to protect instead of bringing pain,using emotions for greater power, i even created a motto for it: "i won't win because i'm stronger, i will win because a have a reason to".
Jedi could achieve way more if they harvested emotions from bad to good,i feel like jedi hold their emotions so much they can become a ticking time bomb, just like twilight was.
The yellow pupils are coming!
That's a load of buckshot. She's the alicorn of the freaking sun for fluff sake. Melting rock is literal child's play compared to 10k degrees Fahrenheit.
9208613
He is speaking the language of the gods
8027516
She's becoming a Sith.
Little bit of a mispell but that's all.
10348183
Changed, thanks :)
Yeah yeah, I know it's obvious... couldn't help myself.
I know this was published in 2013 but I really hoped this story really wouldn’t cast the Jedi as the good guys and Twilight as going evil.
10458201
I won't spoil anything as this is very early on, but I can say that the Jedi may not be as squeaky clean as they all like to think they are XD
Oh boy. Here we go.
Ooookay? Not sure I like this. I’ve never really personally liked back-and-forths like this in general, unless they provided relevant story, but this... this is essentially two different arcs playing at the same time, which I’m not sure I’m a fan of.
I’m certainly not really a fan of what’s taking place. The explanations of what happened are a bit out there, and this whole fiasco just feels really forced.
So we have Darth Twilight? Ok then...
This is really interesting.
Hoping I can catch up someday. There's ALOT of chapters