Chapter 7
Twilight had placed rather lofty hopes on the recovery rate of Golden Oaks Library, but the tree somehow managed to exceed them, especially once she had taken the cold weather into account. In a span of just four weeks since their discovery, the green shoot had put out another five pairs of leaves and added nearly ten inches to its overall length, seemingly in defiance of the frost. She did not know the specifics of what had been done to make it so versatile, but she felt certain that the original cultivator would have been an accomplished enchanter or alchemist. The tree’s regrowth would probably get even more impressive after Winter Wrap Up.
She held the charred door open for Spike, then trotted out after him once she'd locked it with a crude bolt she’d installed. They didn’t want any colts or fillies playing around inside and falling into the basement.
As they plodded through the snow on the way back to the crystal tree-castle, she decided to go through their accumulated data once more. She levitated the notebook and pored over it, trusting Spike to lead her without bumping into anypony on the way.
Hmm, we might need to get help setting up structural supports, she noted when she got to their measurements of the fractured wall in the basement. A cave-in would definitely impede their research and efforts to—
“Twilight?” Spike’s voice disrupted her train of thought.
“Hmm?” She levitated the notebook aside and gasped when she nearly knocked him over because he’d stopped directly in her path.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. He then grimaced as he rubbed his shoulder and the back of his neck, saying, “I don’t feel so great. And,” – he massaged his temples – “is this what a migraine feels like? I think I’m getting one.”
Twilight bit her lip. Spike did look out of sorts. “Did you eat anything down there?”
He snorted. “Twi, I stopped swallowing random stuff ages ago.”
“Sorry. Had to be sure.” She grinned sheepishly.
Then, an idea occurred to her and she rapidly flipped through the notebook’s pages. Ah, there it is. Spotted some fungal growth on the southern side of the basement. “You might’ve been breathing in fungal spores or something. Looks like we’ll have to take more precautions from now on.”
“That’s got to be one mean mushroom if it can make me sick.” Spike frowned. “You don’t look all that great, either.”
She chuckled as she slipped the notebook back into her saddlebag. “No kidding. I’m pretty sure I don’t look good half of the time these days.” Between her occasional bouts and the borderline torture that Luna put her through weekly, she probably could’ve passed for a zombie. She stretched her legs and wings, wincing a little as her stiff muscles protested.
He’s right, though. Why do I just feel like I’ve just run a marathon?
“Well, we’ll see about getting some protection the next time we visit. I’m sure it’s nothing we can’t fix.”
Spike nodded, staring at the snowy ground. A moment passed between them before he looked back at her and said, “Umm, Twi, can I—”
“Sure. Hop on.”
He’d nearly fallen asleep by the time they got back, even though it was barely past two in the afternoon. Still, given how helpful he’d been with gathering data in the old library, she decided not to remind him of the day’s undone chores and deposited him in bed. A nap would probably do him good, and hopefully he’d not oversleep.
Once she’d settled Spike in, she headed straight for the castle library to look up on magical flora. She figured she’d have some time to do some research and find the cause of Spike’s lethargy before her appointment at the spa with the rest of the girls.
Several minutes later, though, she found her plan unexpectedly foiled. She didn’t find Leaves and Leylines on its designated shelf, and a quick rummage through her saddlebags and room failed to give her any clues on its location. She spent nearly thirty minutes searching the library on the hope that somepony – she, probably – had sorted it incorrectly, but it proved futile in the end.
Unbelievable. Where is it?
Had Spike deliberately hidden it? He might’ve thought he was doing her a favour since the book went into great detail on the magical properties of plants both foreign and native…
Nah. He wouldn’t do that.
In any case, she could just ask him later. If he’d hidden it on the assumption that reading it might whet her appetite for magic, and it actually might have several weeks ago, she supposed she could just let him hide it again once she’d consulted it.
* * * * *
“Begging your pardon, your Highness, but are you secretly a golem underneath that purple coat?”
“Leave out the ‘Highness’ bit and all that,” Twilight said as she lay flat on the massage table. Then, she frowned when she processed Lotus’ actual words. “Umm, what’re you talking about?”
“You’ve got more tension than a drawn bowstring,” Lotus clarified as she tentatively prodded Twilight’s back and wings. “And your muscles feel like rocks. Have you been wrestling bears or something?”
“Oh, please don’t do that,” Fluttershy half-whispered from a couple of tables away. “They don’t like it very much, I think.”
“Yeah, I remember seeing that…” Rainbow Dash shuddered. “Anyways, more important stuff: Twilight, have you been skipping out on stretching before and after exercise? Trust me – you don’t want to get a wing cramp while flying.”
“Relax, sugarcube. Twilight doesn’t like to break rules willy-nilly. I’m sure she’s taking your advice.”
“Doesn’t explain why she’s hard as a rock.”
“Oh! Do you think Maud will like her more, then?”
“Girls, if you would be so kind as to let the poor dear answer, I’m sure she’ll clear it up for everypony,” said Rarity.
Twilight suddenly felt grateful for their arrangement, lying face-down on parallel massage tables as masseuses worked on their backs. Nopony could see her biting her lip as she fumbled for a plausible answer.
“Well, I think I might be pushing it a little with the exercise. I’ll be more careful next time.”
Technically not a lie.
She couldn’t hold back a mental snort at that, though. The word ‘little’ didn’t exist in Luna’s dictionary when it came to their sessions. After she’d mastered beating herself up on a training dummy, she’d graduated to getting beaten up by the Princess of the Night herself. Being careful while sparring with her was about as effective as being careful while… wrestling a bear.
Ha ha.
At least it had the side effect of encouraging her appetite; she’d regained weight significantly, and in all likelihood mostly in the form of bone and muscle.
“If you say so,” Lotus replied.
The other girls had either bought it, or they’d become too absorbed in their treatment. Various groans and other inarticulate sounds of discomfort or pleasure punctuated the ensuing peace as their masseuses began massaging them in earnest.
Lotus knew her stuff. Twilight could practically feel her squeezing and kneading the tension out of her. She resisted the urge to twist and turn when Lotus got to a painful spot, and instead submitted to her ministrations as she gently stretched out a wing and applied pressure to the muscle at its base, sending forth a fresh wave of exquisite agony directly to—
“Aargh!”
“Sorry!” Lotus squeaked. “I didn’t think it was that tender.”
There was a second of utter silence, followed by distant clinking noises. Her shriek had probably startled somepony into dropping something. Twilight could practically feel everypony staring at her and appreciated the fact that she had her furious blush hidden by the face cradle. If this had been a mud bath, she’d probably have tried to sink to the bottom and hold her breath until the spa closed.
“Umm, you okay, sugarcube?” Applejack eventually asked.
No. “Yes.”
“Holey moley, that was a doozy!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“Pinkie’s right, darling. Are you certain that you’re quite all right?”
Twilight shifted uneasily as she delicately folded her wing. She had grown quite accustomed to getting battered in the ring, but it appeared that she might have strained herself a little more than expected if a massage could cause that much pain. In any case, her outburst had just advertised to everypony the fact that her body had been repeatedly subjected to physical trauma.
Terrible timing.
The idea of confessing her other activity in the presence of so many ponies did not appeal to her. Rumours in the spa would spread like wildfire.
She stalled and mentally debated the matter, but when the awkward silence threatened to return, she added, “Yeah, I’m okay.”
“Would you like to continue?” Lotus asked. “I’ll be gentler now. Promise.”
She took a deep breath to calm her racing heart and slowly exhaled. “Okay.”
Twilight flinched when Lotus resumed her ministrations, but eventually relaxed when the stress began to flow out of her once more.
“Twilight, what’s going on?” Rainbow demanded after a while. “That totally sounded like a sprained wing. You’ve been up to something, haven’t you?”
She gulped. “Not really, no.”
“Not buying it. AJ?”
Silence dominated the room for a couple of seconds before the Element of Honesty gave her verdict. “Sorry, Twilight, but that sounded like a straight-up bluff to me.”
“Yeah, you’re only slightly better at lying than her,” Dash agreed with a chuckle.
“Hey!”
“Come on, even Fluttershy thinks so.”
“Oh, I’d rather not say…”
Rarity cleared her throat. “Darlings, if we could just get back to the heart of the matter...”
“Yeah,” Pinkie piped up, “we’re on to you, Twilight!” Then, after a second or two, she whispered, “Uh, this is fun, but what are we on to her for, again?”
Twilight could feel all their figurative eyes on her again as she racked her brain, but nothing remotely acceptable sprang to mind, especially after getting her bluff called.
Eventually, Fluttershy broke through the awkward silence. “Twilight, have you, umm… been doing that thing that you’re not supposed to be doing?”
What?
All at once, the tension in the atmosphere rose as Applejack added, “Did—did you get yourself hurt in the Everfree again?”
The other girls all voiced similar concerns, and it took her a moment to figure out why everypony was suddenly trotting on eggshells around her.
Wait. Did they think she was sneaking off to consume magic again? Her indignation at their accusations warred with her gratitude for their presence of mind to not to blurt out everything in front of the masseuses, but the spark of anger eventually fizzled out and gave way to resignation. Better to let them in on her secret training than continue suspecting her of practicing dark magic.
Then again, they might not approve of such an extreme pastime. At least, not one that frequently resulted in bruises and twisted muscle. As much as it hurt, she’d come to enjoy their sessions, when the world shrank until nothing existed beyond the duelling ring, where she could just focus on acting and reacting without the void to trouble her. And much like her regular exercising, the change it produced in her body felt genuine and earned, unlike stolen magic. She doubted she could enjoy it as much if there was a chance of somepony disapproving. A slim chance, but nevertheless a risk she didn’t feel like taking. Besides, she still felt embarrassed about the whole affair. She knew comic book characters with less corny origins.
She decided to try her luck. After all, Luna could vouch for her presence in Canterlot. She didn’t need to specify exactly what business she had in there.
“I’m just doing stuff in Canterlot. We just, you know, hang out and stuff.”
“And what sort of ‘hanging out’ means getting your wing twisted or something until you scream when somepony massages it?” Rainbow demanded.
“We—we exercise. Hard. Yes.”
Silence followed.
After stewing in it for several uncomfortable seconds, Twilight sighed and elaborated. “Okay, fine. I’ve gotten into sparring with Princess Luna. It usually gets… a little rough. Can we please keep it amongst ourselves? I’d rather not have everypony and their grandmother talking about it.”
For some reason, the silence stretched on, until Rarity said, “Is… is that what they’re calling it these days?”
Huh?
“Oh, not to worry, darling. Your secret’s safe with us. I just would never have pegged you for the sort. Nor Princess Luna, for that matter.”
“Wha—oh. Ooohhh…” Pinkie oohed thoughtfully.
“Well, I gotta agree with Rarity on this. I never would’ve suspected. Personally, I don’t see the point, but I guess since you’re a princess now, you get to do whatever you like so long’s no harm comes from it.”
Fluttershy squeaked.
A moment later, Rainbow Dash gave voice to Twilight’s sentiment nearly word for word. “Umm, I don’t get it. Why are you all acting so weird?”
Twilight heard some muffled whispering before Rainbow exploded. “She did what? But, but how… how is that possible?”
“Now, Rainbow,” Rarity interjected, “There’s nothing wrong with two—”
“Not the point!” Dash interrupted in turn. “Twilight’s getting laid? Before me?”
Everything fell into place inside Twilight’s mind for a split second before imploding from sheer worthiness of a facehoof. Short of getting onto stage to announce her personal life to every spa patron and employee in sight, Rainbow probably couldn’t have found a better way to spawn a swarm of rumours fit to follow her to the grave. She could almost hear them breeding in the hushed whispers drifting about the place right then and there…
Can’t I catch a break just for once?
Resisting the urge to rub her temples, Twilight sighed and said, “Girls, it’s not what you think. I…”
She frowned when they continued to chatter amongst themselves about her supposed, newfound love life. The frantic whispers on the edge of her hearing that may or may not have been purely her imagination remained as well. She twitched when an annoyance-induced surge of magic rippled through her body, frazzling up some of her hair.
Okay, Plan B.
First, she cast a sound containment spell around their section of the spa, and then sat up on the massage table, ignoring Lotus’ query. And then…
“Girls!” she bellowed.
That got everypony scrambling onto their haunches to see what was wrong. Except Fluttershy, who squeaked and froze to her table, but Twilight didn’t feel particularly sorry for that at the moment.
Something shattered in the ensuing silence.
“I’ll pay for that,” Twilight said without missing a beat. “Look, it’s not what you think it is. I’m sparring with Luna, okay? Literally. She’s teaching me martial arts, and that’s not a euphemism. I stay in Canterlot for a few days every week for my lessons, and I kept it to myself because I felt a little embarrassed about it, okay?”
“Oh,” said nearly everypony in unison.
Twilight sighed and flattened her ears. “And… I’m sorry for yelling. Can we move on and just enjoy the rest of the day?”
Rarity, now flushed crimson, grinned sheepishly and said, “Well, yes, indeed, Twilight. I’m very sorry for going with the more, ah… exotic interpretation of your statement. I had been reading some novels, you see...”
Applejack chuckled. “Yeah, I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions, too.”
“Me too,” Fluttershy whispered.
“Yes!” Rainbow pumped a hoof in the air. When all eyes turned to her, she shrugged and added, “Yeah, I guess it’s a good thing everypony’s got the facts straightened out, too.”
Pinkie sighed. “Aww, I totally had some party ideas for that. Why, I know somepony who has some really special st—”
Twilight could’ve hugged Rainbow Dash for derailing Pinkie’s verbal train of thought when she said, “Yeah, I don’t think she wants to know exactly how special that stuff is, Pinks. But,” – here, she narrowed her eyes at Twilight – “you’ve got to make it up to us for sneaking lessons in awesomeness without telling us. You started turning into a superhero without telling me! I thought we were best book buddies!”
Twilight rolled her eyes at Rainbow’s mock indignation. “All right, fine. What do I need to do?”
Rainbow grinned and rubbed her hooves together. “I wanna see you fight Princess Luna.”
In spite of a little trepidation at the prospect of having an audience whilst getting beaten up, Twilight couldn’t help matching Rainbow’s grin. She’d gotten better, and it would be nice to have somepony other than the occasional Night Guard to cheer her on.
“If you really want to, I’m heading to Canterlot this Friday. How’s that?”
Her friends all gave their assent, and with that settled, Twilight lifted the sound dampening spell and they finally got back to enjoying their massage session. She groaned in pleasure as Lotus resumed pushing and squeezing the tension out of her muscles.
“By the way, Lotus,” Twilight said, loudly enough for her sister and the rest of the staff present to hear, “Nopony’s going to be spreading around gossip about this, right?”
“I can’t make promises about our patrons – if they heard – but I can assure you that our staff’s lips are sealed on this matter.”
“Good. I’d hate to have to blow this place up.”
Lotus’ hooves froze on her back, and she heard everything else grind to a halt as well. She almost expected a cricket to start chirping.
So much for a little humour lightening the mood. She’d have to consult her reference books on how to effectively deliver jokes again.
In the meantime, Twilight forced out a chuckle. “I’m kidding.”
A collective sigh swept through the place.
“Yikes. I think I got it wrong; you could be a supervillain instead,” Rainbow commented.
If only being a comic supervillain was the worst I could do...
* * * * *
“Fair warning, my little pony: an audience of your friends will not make me go easy on you,” said a grinning Luna as they faced one another in the training yard.
Twilight flexed her wings as she stretched her legs until the joints popped, taking the opportunity for one last assessment of how far she could push herself this time around. Her bruises had recovered nicely since the spa treatment, but the intervals between lessons simply weren’t long enough for her to get back to a hundred percent before the next round. Until she became tough or skilled enough, she had to be wary of overstraining herself to the point of injury.
Still, the anticipation of action and a little violence set her heart pounding, and she noted with no small measure of satisfaction that it drowned out the echoing emptiness of the void along with the plaintive cries of her hunger. She had only one purpose: defend herself.
I’m alive.
“Understood,” she replied.
“Good.”
She heard a collective gasp from her friends when Luna leapt forward like a tiger, with a hoof drawn back for a powerful thrust. A quick sidestep allowed her to avoid the attack, but she quickly realised that Luna had anticipated her move with an outstretched wing. Ducking under the wing swipe prevented her from taking advantage of the opening Luna’s initial strike had offered.
Twilight tried to knock her off her hooves with a low, hind-legged sweep, but did not feel the desired impact. Instead, she got smacked by a wall of air as Luna used both wings to propel herself upwards and backwards, out of her reach.
She opted to conserve her energy and slowly approached Luna, who watched with stony silence. Once within leaping range, she feigned left and used her wings to propel her to the right instead, and swung out one hoof to clock Luna on the chin. Luna nearly fell for it; she’d shifted her balance to the left but still managed to twist around and block the swipe with her foreleg. She then locked Twilight’s foreleg in an iron grip that made her joints pop, and swung her round in a short arc before releasing her.
Twilight flailed forward and nearly tumbled head over hooves from her redirected momentum, but her wings served to stabilise and halt her movement before she got tossed out of the boundary.
“Hoo boy, that was a close one,” she heard Applejack say from the sidelines.
“Come on, Twilight, you can do it! You must be swift as a coursing riv—”
“Hush, Pinkie. Let her concentrate,” Rarity admonished.
At the corner of her eye, she spotted Rainbow throwing punches and kicks at the air as she hovered in place, probably imagining that she was the one duking it out with Luna. She noted that, although those moves looked pretty impressive, they would prove ineffective in an actual fight because hovering would give Rainbow very little force to throw behind those attacks. She would do bette—
A sharp jab in the ribs elicited a yelp from her. Not a serious hit by any means, but it felt like one of those warning hits Luna liked to use when she’d caught her severely off-guard. The ones that basically said “Hah, got’cha!” and made her feel annoyed that she’d let herself get so distracted.
Gritting her teeth, she closed in for another strike. Luna blocked and retaliated with the leading edge of her wing, which Twilight took to the shoulder in order to breach Luna’s defence and go for her pressure points. But the next thing she knew, a wall of blue feathers collided with her face. She sputtered and blinked rapidly to restore her vision, then reared up and steadied herself with her wings when she realised that she’d been pushed beyond her centre of gravity. It bought her just enough time to see Luna slam a foreleg into her exposed belly.
She grunted and went down like a sack of potatoes, clutching her stomach.
“Steady, Sparkle!” Luna barked as she stalked in a circle around her. “Your friends are not part of the battle; pay them no heed. Now, get up.”
Magic surged to the tip of her horn and threatened to burst free, but she suppressed the urge to start blasting away with her magic. Until she graduated to sparring with every weapon available, their duels strictly involved only hoof to hoof combat. Not that it helped much with ignoring her instincts, though.
Deep breaths, Twilight. Keep it together.
She exhaled and rose to meet Luna in battle once more. Their shadows danced in the torch-lit training yard as they traded blows, and she did her best to tune out the voices of her friends as they whispered and chattered amongst themselves. Only Luna’s voice deserved her attention, when she barked out instructions and commented on her techniques.
The world shrank to the familiar, tiny little spot in space and time where she could comfortably focus on the task at hoof. Not too different from learning and perfecting spell-casting techniques. Bone and muscle, instead of brain and magic. Luna her teacher, instead of Celestia.
Her heart rate climbed steadily as the sparring progressed, as did her breathing. Her muscles grew hot and heavy with exertion, and her coat and hair became matted with sweat. Pain burrowed and dug its way into her bone and flesh where she’d taken hits or overexerted herself. She swallowed in an attempt to relieve the dryness in her throat; though it didn’t help much since the inside of her mouth had already gone pasty.
Pace yourself; we’re just getting started…
Time lost meaning as she fought on and settled into the familiar rhythm of combat. Leap left, roll right, block, strike, block again, lunge, low sweep, block…
“Enough.”
Twilight almost failed to register Luna’s command thanks to the blood pounding in her skull. But when she did, she gratefully planted her haunches on the floor, huffing away like a pair of bellows as she waited for the pain in her muscles to ebb away. Not too excruciating, but she’d definitely done a better job of pacing herself last week.
It took her some time to notice the applause.
“Mighty impressive, Twilight!” Applejack called out as all five of them trotted over.
“Yeah! If I wasn’t already so awesomely dedicated to flying, I would totally ask Princess Luna to put me in class with you,” Rainbow said, just before she nudged Fluttershy and added, “You could probably use some training like that, too, eh?”
Fluttershy shrank a little. “Oh, no thank you. Being assertive is enough for me.” Then, to Twilight she said, “But it looks like you enjoy it, so I suppose it’s good for you. Even if it looks a little painful.”
“Yes, I for one am quite impressed by your sturdiness, darling.” Rarity threw a surreptitious glance at Luna, who had quietly stalked off and was busy drinking from a canteen. “I already knew Princess Luna was a little… boisterous, but, dear me did she get tough on you. Are you sure you’re quite all right?”
She tried to answer them, but her still-burning lungs resented the interruption of their efforts to replenish her breath, so she settled for a huffy smile instead.
“Sparkle, catch!”
Twilight turned just in time to grab the flying canteen with magic and stop it from colliding with her forehead. Wasting no time, she removed the stopper and savoured the chilled water as it ran over her tongue and soothed her parched throat. She drank long and deep, pausing only when her lungs clamoured for their turn at functioning again.
“We begin anew in five minutes,” Luna called out from across the training yard. “Be ready.”
Various exclamations rang out simultaneously as her friends stared at the Princess of the Night.
Rarity blinked. “Did I hear that correctly? Does she seriously plan to put you through another round of punishment so soon?”
“Sounds like it,” Applejack confirmed with a grim, respectful nod towards Twilight. “She’s really planning to make you hard as nails, ain’t she?”
“Whoa, there’s gonna be more?” Rainbow Dash slapped her on the back. “Could you try doing some roundhouse kicks this time? That’ll look totally epic!”
Fluttershy looked a little pale as Pinkie yelled back in protest, “Wait, Your Nightness, she just stopped. She’s still all huffy-puffy and shaky!”
Twilight held out a hoof and frowned when it trembled in the air. After concentrating a bit to steady herself, she returned her attention to her the rest of Luna’s reply, “—won’t give a chance to catch her breath in battle. She must persevere.”
“Umm, for how long?” Fluttershy asked as she cast a sympathetic glance at Twilight.
“The night is yet young; we have hours to kill. I shall relent only when she is well past shedding tears,” Luna answered with the air of one commenting on the weather. Stunned silence followed in the wake of her callous words, but Twilight noticed the hint of a smile playing on her lips as she trotted back into the ring.
“Whoa. She’s kidding. She’s kidding, right?” Pinkie whispered to the others.
Twilight felt a grin coming on as she rose and limbered up for another round. She could see Luna favouring her right foreleg just a tiny bit, which meant that she’d probably gotten a good hit in after all. The Princess of the Night would not remain an indomitable sparring partner forever.
She answered, “Yeah, that probably won’t happen. Don’t worry about it.”
Their relief showed clearly on their faces, so she almost felt guilty about upending their expectations, but there was something just too gleefully satisfying about being able to savour their dropped jaws or pinprick pupils when she added, “She only managed to make me cry once last week; that’s an average drop of eighty percent in frequency since I first began training.”
* * * * *
The top spire of the crystal castle gleamed golden in the light of the setting sun as Twilight spiralled somewhat shakily down towards Ponyville. Dash had already split off towards her cloud house, and it would be a while before the rest of her friends caught up by train.
She hit the ground just outside of town at a brisk trot and stumbled when a spasm in her wing unbalanced her.
Too close. Flying back had apparently been a bigger risk than she’d anticipated, even with Rainbow to escort her, but luckily her wings had held out until she’d gotten safely to the ground. But she didn’t let that dampen her mood; she was finally strong enough to fly back to Ponyville less than twenty-four hours after another gruelling three-day session in Canterlot. She wouldn’t turn up her nose at any little victory she found.
Although weary, she still found the walk home pleasant enough. Nocturnal insects began chorusing as the last rays of the sun faded away whilst fireflies danced in the tall grass. Ponies greeted her whenever she trotted past them, and for once she found it in her heart to smile and wave back.
After a while, though, Twilight noticed a mild itch in her magical sense. With her attention focused on it, she found that it differed from the regular pings of magic she could feel around Ponyville, in some way that she couldn’t quite place. Moreover, its source appeared to be following her.
She slowed down and cast a surreptitious glance back, but aside from Lyra and Bon Bon chatting and giggling rather noisily on a bench, she did not see anything out of the ordinary. It did not take long for her to confirm that Lyra’s inactive horn wasn’t the source of the unsettling magic.
“Huh,” she murmured under her breath before reluctantly carrying on.
Much to her dismay, the itch persisted. Twilight plodded on and shoved it to the back of her mind, choosing to believe that, whatever it was, no good would come out of checking it out. She had a good running streak of keeping clean and had no intention of risking it on some magical anomaly that may or may not tempt her into breaking her promises.
I need to get home.
The glowing windows on houses and lamps on either side of the street reminded her of the warmth awaiting her back at the castle, so she picked up the pace. The shadows beneath the bushes and trees seemed a little darker than usual, but that was probably due to her nerves. She tried humming a tune to distract herself, but she’d barely gotten halfway through it when she felt the spectre brush up against her magical sense again.
Stars above, something is following me.
Twilight whirled around and dropped into a fighting stance. She swept her gaze across the empty street and growled, “Who’s there?”
Nothing answered.
Frowning, she decided to take the risk and actively sought out the spectre with her own magic. Once she had its location, she focused her magic into a beam of light and shone it on a patch of bushes by the side of the street.
“I know you’re there. Come out before I make you,” she called out.
“Sorry!” the bushes yelped. They rustled for a couple of seconds before a pegasus mare popped out of the fronds and shadows. She had a tan coat, grey hair and greenish eyes, and she had some saddlebags strapped on.
Although relieved that it was only a pony and not something more sinister that her imagination had led her to believe, Twilight kept her guard up. The mare was clearly not from Ponyville, and she could still feel something decidedly ominous lurking in one of the saddlebags.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before. Who are you?” she asked.
“I’m Chippy. Really sorry for following you like that, Your Highness,” the mare said, bowing low and squinting against her horn light.
Twilight aborted her illumination spell and swapped it for night-vision instead. If trouble arose, she wanted to have the advantage. “Can I help you?”
Chippy shuffled her hooves nervously. “Actually, I’m not sure. Maybe it’s supposed to be the other way around?”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Well, I’m here with the delivery, but I kind of wanted to make sure there wasn’t some mistake.”
Twilight frowned and tilted her head slightly as she asked, “What are you talking about?”
“Oh. I thought you—I had a note. Err…” Chippy’s mouth hung open for a moment before she reached for her saddlebags, but she hesitated at the last moment and simply stared rather awkwardly at the ground.
Against her better instincts, Twilight decided to pursue the subject. Because she didn’t like to see the nervous mare grow more and more uncomfortable under her gaze, and not because of the curious thrill shivering up and down her spine at the prospect of identifying the source of magic inside her packs.
It’s what Celestia would do. Yes.
“Never mind. You mentioned delivering something?” she prompted.
Chippy’s ears perked up, though she still appeared a little reluctant as she unbuckled one of the packs and presented it to Twilight. It wobbled in her magical grip as she undid the clasp, inching the opening wider and wider, until…
Oh.
Twilight almost giggled in relief when a mixture of nutty and herbal scents wafted out of the bag. She mentally berated herself for letting her imagination get so worked up over a little magic, to the point where she might’ve expected to find an eldritch abomination lurking in there. Still, she did find the magic’s ‘flavour’ a little strange and decided to proceed with her inspection.
The bag contained desiccated Gold Bracken fronds, Dragonseye seed pods, gnarled Blisterroots, plus a whole bunch of black, crusty seeds and rolled-up leaves she couldn’t identify. Identifying the one which made her horn itch proved difficult because they all possessed inherent magical qualities, though. She furrowed her brow and stared at each item in turn as she attempted to sort through their magical signatures.
“So, that’ll be around, say, eighty bits for the whole lot?” Chippy ventured.
Rather pricey for a bunch of herbs. Some of these are only good for…
And then, her legs turned to jelly as the details came back to her in a rush; she’d read about these before. Under the right conditions, combinations of these could be fermented, boiled or steeped to produce rather potent concoctions similar to Zecora’s brews, only with significantly more thaumaturgical properties. Some of them had history as ingredients for magical infusions.
Twilight fought down the panic welling up in her chest. Had somepony figured out her ailment? Had one of her friends let it slip? Maybe. Probably.
How? How could she know?
Whether by luck or logic, Chippy had positioned herself well to exploit her weakness.
Never mind. Focus. Think!
Twilight tried to take a deep, calming breath, but her lungs seemed determined to puff steadily away like a pair of bellows stoking a furnace, and her eyes felt glued to the bag’s contents. Now that she knew their purpose, they seemed to literally glow with promise, like distant lights to a pony lost in the dark. Sustenance to a pony dying of hunger…
“Are you all right, Your Highness?” Chippy sounded concerned.
Leave them.
She didn’t need them. It had been a while since she’d last siphoned anything; she couldn’t even properly remember what it felt like. Good? Probably. How good? Best left buried deep where she couldn’t recall.
Did the mare know exactly why she found the contents so interesting? Twilight tried schooling her features into an impassive expression and stole a glance at her, and one look into the mare’s eyes sufficed. Was that a knowing glimmer she saw? Greed? Triumph? Probably one of those; none bode well for her, in any case.
How did she know?
“I—No, I don’t want them,” she said, nearly dropping the bag as she thrust it back towards the pegasus.
“Are you sure?”
Well…
“Take it back!” she snapped.
“Wait, but I came here all the way from Hollow Shades! I had notes—”
“Sorry for your trouble, but I’m not interested,” Twilight repeated as she dropped it, spilling its contents onto the ground. She froze and stared as the seeds rolled everywhere, and then, fearful of how Chippy might react, prepared to teleport all the way back to her room. She caught a glimpse of confusion in her eyes before the world collapsed into nothingness.
Twilight slumped when she popped back into existence atop her bed. The spell left her a little light-headed, so after taking off her saddlebags, she simply lay still and waited for it to pass. The extra minute also gave her racing heart time to calm down before she trotted to the window and risked a peep. The vantage point allowed her to see the dark figure of a pegasus mare scrounging on the ground, apparently attempting to recover her goods.
Hope I didn’t ruin them…
Maybe not, since she could still sense their magic. They almost glowed like a beacon in the night, invisible to all but those who knew their value. An ache of longing stirred within her, but she quickly stomped her hoof and growled to herself.
Priorities! You’d just damaged somepony else’s wares!
Twilight pulled the curtains over and paced back and forth, wondering if she should go back and apologise. She imagined Applejack wouldn’t feel particularly cheerful if a prospective customer had dumped her wares onto the ground, and neither would Chippy. Probably.
As her eyes roved about the room searching for a solution, they fell upon her lockbox, where she kept her bits for everyday expenses, and her thoughts strayed back to the mare she’d left on the ground.
Well, Chippy had come a long way. It would be a shame to send her all the way back to Hollow Shades empty hoofed, especially if her little stunt had ruined the herbs. She had to make it up to her. The pegasus probably had a family to feed at home. After all, Hollow Shades did not have much trade beyond what they could forage in the surrounding forest, so wealth in that area did not come easily. Eighty bits would go a long way for anypony who lived there.
After counting out the bits and stuffing them into an old coin purse, she teleported straight back to Chippy. She apparently had just finished putting everything back into her packs, and whirled around to give Twilight a look that seemed of equal parts annoyance and concern.
“Yes?”
“I can, uh—I’ll take them,” Twilight murmured.
Chippy perked her ears and trotted closer. “Didn’t catch that, sorry.”
“Here. Eighty bits for the whole package,” she clarified as she levitated the coin purse over to her.
“Oh.” Chippy made short work of counting the bits and then gave Twilight a grateful smile as she passed the bag of herbs to her. “Thanks!”
Twilight nodded. “Don’t mention it.” When Chippy opened her mouth, she added, “Really, don’t.”
The faint clip clop of hooves signalled somepony’s approach, and—her breath caught in her throat when she glanced down the street and saw a couple of indistinct figures trotting towards them. No, no, no, she did not want anypony seeing her making shady transactions with strangers involving large sums of bits and saddlebags filled with rare magical plants. If word got around, her friends would definitely draw the wrong conclusions and she would never live down their disappointment no matter how mistaken they were because she had no intention of messing around with that kind of dark magic again!
“Sorry-gotta-go-bye!” she blabbered before teleporting back to her room.
Once safely surrounded by crystal walls, she recovered enough mental clarity to scold herself for not having the presence of mind to pry for more information. She needed to know if Chippy had figured out her condition, and if there were any other ponies who had as well. Unfortunately, a quick peep out the window put an end to that. The pegasus had apparently started up a friendly conversation with the ponies who’d scared her off, and they were already trotting towards the heart of Ponyville, presumably to grab a bite to eat or something. Unless she planned on stalking Chippy all night, she could be gone by morning, and—
I’m carrying her pack of exotic magical plants.
The stray thought obliterated her concerns about Chippy. She stared at the bulging thing in her magical grip.
Now what?
She could just dump them in the trash and try to forget the whole thing.
I should probably do that.
Or she could actually do something useful with them.
Would be a shame to waste everything; somepony worked hard harvesting them…
She opened the bag and rifled through its contents. Everything seemed intact, if a little gritty from their brief stint on the ground. More importantly, they still radiated magic, including the unusual variation that had first caught her attention. It felt intrinsically amorphous and rigid at the same time, which only made it all the more compelling. She already knew what poison joke magic ‘tasted’ like; she’d be lying if she didn’t admit that the others intrigued her. Given the poor documentation of such facts, she’d be contributing significantly to research. Yes.
Twilight ground her teeth when she noticed that she’d broken out into a cold sweat. Her breathing had grown heavy, and the inside of her mouth felt exceedingly moist. She swallowed and shook her head.
No, it should not become a problem. The herbs had their uses. She just needed to make sure that they didn’t go to waste. Even if she did try them out, she’d only prove to herself how little she needed them. She wouldn’t have stayed clean for this long if she could be so easily swayed. They would do nothing for her.
She sat on her haunches, then pulled out a cluster of Gold Bracken and took a moment to admire the way their iridescent fronds caught and reflected the lamplight in the room. Power resided in there as well, coursing through the rigid black veins on the undersides.
The gold then flashed green and purple as slivers of shadow danced over the fronds…
“Twilight?”
The lights faded and the fronds fell back into the bag as her magic sputtered out. She yelped and twisted around, feeling her coat hairs and mane standing on end so straight and stiffly that they probably would’ve given Pinkie’s deejay friend a run for her money.
“Spike?”
The dragon stood in the middle of the room and had, of all things, confetti scattered on and around him. He also looked a little dazed, but all of that vanished after he’d dusted himself off and gotten a clear look at her. He stiffened visibly. “Twilight, what’s that you got there?”
She clutched the bag close to her chest. “Nothing! It’s nothing.”
“That doesn’t look like nothing.” He took a couple of steps closer. “What’s going on?”
Twilight scooted backwards, shaking her head and working her mouth like a gasping fish as she tried to find the words to convince him to leave her alone.
That got him to stop, but he continued to shift uneasily where he stood. “Twi, you’re scaring me.”
Glancing down into the half-open bag, she felt echoes of her desire to fill the oppressive hollowness in her being return to the fore of her mind. The past few weeks had been good, but… she needed better. She needed more.
“I—I could use some help,” she murmured when she felt her dark magic stirring again.
“Okay, I’m coming. Just keep it together, all right?”
She nodded silently, listening to his claws going clack-clack on the floor as he inched closer.
“Almost there…”
She shut her eyes.
“I’m here,” he said, right in front of her. “I’m gonna take it from you now, okay?”
After a half-hearted nod, she felt a tug on the bag.
“Umm, can you loosen up a little more? We’re almost done. Come on, you can do it!”
Twilight grit her teeth as magic surged to the tip of her horn, but she fought urge to repel Spike with a barrier and dispersed the charge into thin air. In doing so, the hollowness grew a tiny, almost intolerable bit, but it at least served as a distraction. The next thing she knew, her hooves were empty, and Spike was busy dragging a stool over to the window.
She stared as he clambered onto it and held the bag out over the window ledge with both arms. His chest swelled with a deep breath, and a blinding jet of green dragonfire forced her to look away. She grimaced as the flames engulfed and devoured the bag’s contents. Bit by bit, the magic within dissolved and died out, accompanied by the snapping and crackling of burning vegetative matter.
After what felt like an eternity, Spike ended the display with a brief fit of coughing. “Oh wow, that stinks.” He hopped down, sooty-faced and with hands covered in black ash, then fixed her a grin and saluted. “Mission accomplished.”
Twilight turned away and curled up on the floor. She shivered on the cold crystal, but could not bring herself to move.
“Twi?”
She covered her face with a wing.
Spike’s claws tapped on the floor as he paced around for several minutes, apparently uncertain about what to do next. But he eventually settled down on the floor with her, carrying with him the scent of charred vegetation.
“I almost blew it,” she murmured.
“But you didn’t. That counts for something, right?”
Twilight shrugged half-heartedly. It didn’t feel like a victory to her.
Still, she appreciated it when Spike didn’t press the issue. Instead, he simply crawled closer and lay down with his back to her. Going by pure muscle memory, she wrapped a foreleg over him and pulled him closer for a cuddle. He still knew how to twist and turn so that his knobbly crest and spinal ridge wouldn’t dig into her. She remembered when he used to be frightened of the dark; funny how he now had his turn keeping her secure from a different kind of darkness.
They lay still for quite some time, listening to the clock’s ticking and feeling each other’s heartbeats. Her eyelids eventually grew heavy, but any chance of sleep got driven away by a loud gurgle from Spike’s belly.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?” she whispered.
“You wanna’ get something to eat? I think we’re already past dinnertime.”
Twilight then realised that her stomach could use some filling as well. It felt like it had shrunken and crumpled up.
“Sounds good,” she replied. “Just one question before we go.”
“Shoot.”
“How did you find me? I’m pretty sure you weren’t in the room when I got in. And I didn’t hear the door open.”
“Uh, didn’t you teleport me in? It felt like it.”
She frowned. “Actually, no.”
He shifted a little. “Then who did?”
Twilight ‘s frown deepened when she remembered the confetti. She knew only one other person aside from Pinkie who was a fan of the stuff and capable of spontaneously entering an enclosed space without using the conventional entrance.
Discord. It had to be. Had he been spying on her? If so, then why didn’t he intervene sooner, before she’d had a chance to get all mesmerised by the magical plants that Chippy had sold her? Her heart skipped a beat when she considered the possibility that he’d contrived the whole situation just to watch her squirm.
Or… maybe not. That kind of cruel manipulation belonged to the old Discord. Maybe he’d simply given her a chance to exert some self-control first, and intervened only when her failure had become obvious. Spike was an obvious candidate for someone who could get through to her without fearing retaliation.
She sighed and answered him. “If I’m correct, I owe Discord an apology.”
“I think I’m missing something here.”
Twilight shrugged and gently moved him to make room to get up onto all fours. She’d had enough of the crystal floor, even though they’d already warmed it up quite nicely. “We can talk over dinner. I’m starving.”
“Right. Just let me wash up and I’ll get the table ready!”
Before Spike could dash off, though, she grabbed him and hugged him tightly. “Thanks. I wouldn’t know what I’d do without you.”
He returned the hug and patted her gently on the back. “Hey, that’s what Number One Assistants are for.”
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Go Twilight!! I know you can do it!!
Yay, update!
I'm aware that this is supposed to be a drug addiction metaphor... but it doesn't work. Magic is supposed to be natural and innate to unicorns and to pretty much every species in Equestria, plant, animal, and otherwise. Plus, she's the bloody ELEMENT of magic! For her, being 'addicted' to magic, of any sort, would be like someone trying to 'fight an addiction' to food, water, or air--- not merely futile but self-destructive. She's basically fighting an 'addiction' to something she's supposed to have. This is coming across less as a drug metaphor and more of one for anorexia.
5315366 Look at it in other context though. Twilight has been shown in the show to have OCD and addictive tendencies. She was given a massive amount of energy to work with, her body adjusted to it, and then it was withdrawn suddenly.
Withdrawal is a natural symptom no matter if it was caffeine, magic, adrenaline, whatever. If something causes a change in the electrochemical balance of the brain, it is possible to get addicted to it.
So the premise does make logical sense.
5315366 You fail at medicine. Your argument of how this isn't how addiction works is pointing at the way it is how real addictions work. An addiction to something you're supposed to have is the mechanism of addiction opiates and nicotine. The something is endorphins. Getting more of them from outside shuts down your body's natural production.
Extra points: food addiction exists.
5315439 Was gonna make my own counter points but mostly I think just support ones are called for. Twilight's "magic addiction" is about being addicted to the volume of magic she has when powered up and her struggle to deal with not having as much anymore. While "over powered" Twilight felt an euphoric rush that is the source of the addiction her normal magic levels do not produce the same sensation and her brain wants to feel it again. Only time and self control can help her, time as since she is still growing her magic reserves will grow larger as she ages, until she naturally has that huge pool of magic. Self control will allow her to get back to "normal" to end the desire to over saturate her magic again.
Also I'd like to point out too much of a good thing can outright kill you, you can die of water or oxygen poisoning. You can become addicted to eating, eating to bury your emotions or feel pleasure. Anything that reduces pain or causes pleasure can become an addiction. Endorphins are addictive and pleasurable activity releases them, so yes nearly ANYTHING can become the core of an addiction.
Twilight's addiction is harder to deal with because she is addicted to something that is key to her own identity. Twilight IS magic, but too much is bad for her. She was given the magic of the other alicorns due to an emergency, her body was NOT ready for it and as a result it messed up her brain chemistry. Fixing something like that is never ever an easy task, often it takes a life time and might only ever be managed not fixed.
Best Chapter yet. By far. Also its great to see the rest of the Mane 6 actually have some discussion rather then only being mentioned. Really appreciated that.
Him, I was hoping this would be where she finally cracks and goes on a rampage. Oh well, a victory, however brief it is, makes up for it. Can't wait for the next update!
It sounds like Discord is finally on his way to figuring out this whole "Friend" thing.
5315366 She's addicted to dark magic, something that doesn't seem to be a natural part of unicorn psychology. There's a reason its so hard to leave the dark side.
It's the small victories Twilight. Take it one day at a time.
Funnily enough, according to the Journal of the Two Sisters, it was Celestia who was the brawler of the two between the diarchs, as well as the more powerful. Apparently, Luna was more the kind of skulked around and avoided fair fights, while Celestia just steamrolled opponents through brute power in a straightforward matter
Hurray! Someone gets it right!
We now return you to your scheduled episode, already in progress….
Poke at For Want of a Dawn?
Not if they lay each other!
This feels appropriate.
fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/329/1/e/being_a_princess_is_hard_work__sfm_gif__by_argodaemon-d6vnmme.gif
"in"
In the show, doesn't Dash have a black belt in... something?
Did Trixie take the books? I can't remember exactly since it has been so long.
So was that a test? Or is someone secretly trying to become Twilight's pusher?
5316603
Aw, you beat me to making the connection with For Want Of A Dawn.
5315366 You sir have no idea what you are talking about.
Good job Twi. I'm not sure you would have gotten past that on your own, but it's good to know Discord has your back. And Spike of course.
I'm assuming Spike burned the plants rather than teleporting them someplace. Good choice... I think?
5317642
It is a real good story, I should probably read it again. Despite Trixie being a generally good character.
5316250 Interesting. I haven't read that book, but my headcanon seems to fit it somewhat. I do see Celestia as the stronger of the two; she just has less of a taste for brawling even if she's good at it. And I see Luna having no qualms about fighting dirty if the situation calls for it; she's just playing fair with Twilight until she's good enough to handle every trick in the book.
5316603 5317642 I actually haven't read For Want of a Dawn.
I just thought of it as the magical equivalent of a Terminator. Also, thanks for pointing out that error, Fourpony. 
Huh. I forgot about that. Not sure if it was more of a visual gag for the episode or an actual indicator of experience.
Trixie has not made an appearance in this story, and it's not meant as a reference to some obscure scene in the show. It may be relevant later, though...
5318726 Well, according to the book, Luna preferred to spend her time reading and doing finer things, whilst Celestia focused on powering up her magic and skills. It was to the point where Celestia called Luna "egghead" in the same vein as RD calls Twilight "egghead".
The reason Luna even transformed was because she NEEDED that edge as Nightmare Moon plus Celestia lack of willingess to fight her in order to win
5318745 Ah, I see. Oh well, can't match up with every official material, I guess.
5318726
Could have very well been a visual gag but she was trying to train Apple Bloom during that episode. Take it as you want, since like make things in the episodes it doesn't ever really carry over into others.
5318754
I am not sure if the Journal is considered more canon than the comics. I know the comics are meant to be canon only if the reader wants them to be.
Oh my Celestia, the references! They're everywhere and I love it.
Great chapter
There wasn't a bit that I didn't enjoyed.
Twilight is shaping herself to be pretty dang epic.
esourceengine.com/downloads/minecraft/creeper-tdesign.jpg
Love this story. It's nice to read conflict of the mind and body over some "great evil" that is going to destroy everything, life many other stories.
Loved the spa scene and the sparring with an audience, but wow did that entire ending sequence with Chippy have me on the edge of my seat.
Oh, the face hooves.
I freaked when I read that part in the spa scene where Pinkie almost says the quote from Mulan !!!!! I love this story cant wait for more!!!!!!
Wee, finally caught up!
I forgot how good you story was, so it was a pleasant bonus when I picked it up again
I swear sometimes you authors read minds. I was going to comment on whether or not you were going to add something trying to make Twilight crack, because I'm fairly certain she'd easily kick the habit with her friends help and no active resistance.
But then low and behold you already provided an answer to my query.
My money is on someone/thing trying to get back at Celestia for something, or the like.
You can't really physically hurt Celestia, she's too big/powerful for that. But emotional wounds can be inflicted on anyone, regardless of their bodily hardiness.
A scar from trauma to the spirit can last far longer then the same wound on the flesh, and what better way to hurt Celestia then to cause her dearest pupil/greatest-example-of-what-she-wanted-for-pony-kind to become the antithesis of all her dreams of her own volition
Only problem now is I have none left to read
Looking forward to more!
P.S. 5319020 ...
I hate this sentence to an unreasonable extent, probably something to do with it stating the exact opposite of what canon means!!
I like your comment though, I love it when they have good source material backing them up.
5350225
I know it is a weird kinda thing. I just see it as kinda like a plugin for a program. It can be there to add functionality but isn't needed and can usually be ignored since there are other ways of doing some given task, it just makes the task easier. Like how by using the Journal background, having to think up the princesses' pasts is not needed.
5353357 I think I get what you mean,
don't do computer stuff much other then games
Might not be the most elegant way of handling it, but it is relieving simple.
The way I deal with it is:
Until they reference it in the show in some way, I pretend it doesn't exist.
And with that paragraph, a tear is shed. Seriously, this fic is doing so many things to my feels. I dealt with addiction in the past and woah. It's kind of scary to see how accurate is. I would assume the author has had experience with addiction in the past and that... God, just stop, this story is making me get all feels-y. It's a seriously amazing read so far and it definitely has re-read value.
It's time to stop.