It had been a terribly long journey, and we had undershot several times, but it was time. We had arrived.
Despite literally everypony’s near-constant whining, which I’d almost caved into on more than one occasion, I was finally satisfied that we wouldn’t set off any magical traps if we brought the Nebulous up next to Mona, or as I’d taken to calling it privately, Saddle Comet. I didn’t know if Mona was actually the chunk of Equus which belonged where Ponyville’s Saddle Lake was, but it was about the right size. And I didn’t know any other lakes by name.
Anyway, Twinkleshine and I brought the Nebulous in at a snail’s pace compared to how quickly we’d been approaching before and eventually slowed the ship’s velocity to zero relative to the comet. The gravitational forces were practically nonexistent, so we let the Nebulous come within a couple dozen meters, just far enough away to get a good view of the surface.
We’d noticed before when we were still far off, but up close, it was obvious that passing by the sun had done a lot of damage. The very top level of the comet had managed to retain enough water to have a slight frost, but underneath that, the rock had obviously melted. The core – where the elements likely were – was probably unchanged by the heat, but even if the entire comet had vaporized, I suspected the elements would’ve emerged unharmed out the other end. Magical artifacts, especially the powerful ones, had a tendency to be hard to destroy.
“Now? Pleeeeease?” Twinkleshine begged.
“Argh! Just wait a little longer! You’re all driving me crazy!” I had noticed that some of my mane was out of place, and that was a bad sign. If they kept pushing, I was tempted to let myself burst into flames and start raining fire down upon them. “I’m casting the spells, so everypony just back off.”
“Yes!” Twinkleshine chorused with Dash, high-hoofing each other.
“How much longer?” Cherry Berry asked, apparently not understanding what ‘back off’ meant.
I managed to see another strand of my mane pop up in the reflection off my ship’s nice, polished, undemanding floor.
“Are you all foals?” I shouted.
Spike and Berry Pinch linked arm and leg, together replying, “We are!”
“Argh!” I teleported myself into my flaring chamber and quickly put up a teleport ward. I doubted that Chrysalis would be cruel enough to actually teleport everypony in after me, but for my sanity’s sake, it was better to be safe than sorry.
I finished casting the spells that would let us walk on the comet in peace: a gravity spell which was directed toward the center of the comet at some maximum range, a personal bubble of air for everypony, a ventriloquism spell between everypony, some air conditioning to make sure they didn’t overheat, and a similar protection to make sure the comet didn’t freeze their hooves. Same old, same old. Dash had flown – for certain definitions of flying – through space often enough that I had that all down pat.
Of course, I didn’t know if there were any wards in place inside the comet, so I had to jump through a few hoops for the gravity spells. I couldn’t just fix a point in space relative to the comet with magic; that might be able to be detected. Instead, I fixed the reference point to the Nebulous and made the direction of the acceleration vector a function of distance to the comet.
Upon reflection, it wasn’t surprising how much of a pain it was to rob an alicorn safely. We were parked next to a comet many, many AU from Equus, after all.
I took a few extra minutes to relax and calm down. I’d sat through far too much foalish pestering to trust myself not to blow up at everypony if I went back right away. I also teleported a little bit of the extremely small supply of chocolate we had from the kitchen. I didn’t really feel guilty about it, either; I totally deserved a treat at this point, and if everything went well, we’d be heading home soon. Besides, the cocoa trees were about to bear fruit again, anyway, if Pinkie Pie’s report were to be trusted.
Alright. I gave myself a quick slap on the face and took one last deep breath. With a teleport, I threw myself back to the rabble.
Before anypony could start up, I said, “Okay, we’re ready to go. Two things to mention before we do.”
I preemptively silenced the usual suspects with magic as they all started to protest at once.
“First, if you can fly, don’t fly too far from the comet, or you’ll lose your artificial gravity. Because of how I put the spell together, you’ll notice it pulling you in a strange direction before you get too far away. If you ignore this warning anyway” – I glanced at Dash – “you still shouldn’t go too far away. I doubt you’ll get lost, but I don’t want to spend an hour searching space for you in a desperate attempt to save your life before your air supply runs out.”
Dash rolled her eyes, but the other three fliers in our group were taking me seriously, even Chrysalis. I ruffled my own wings briefly before continuing.
“Second, everything we know about comets is technically theoretical. Although Twinkleshine and I have come up with no reasons you will need to be careful – beyond self-injury on hard slash sharp rock – if you find a cave or something, don’t fling yourself headlong into it. I’d hate to find you dead in a pool of magma or underneath a cave-in, however unlikely that is. If you find anything interesting that you want to explore, be sure to take Chrysalis or myself with you. Understood?”
I got mostly nods, a couple uh-huhs, and one eye roll.
First teleporting in front of Dash, I said, “Dash, I’m not joking here. I really don’t want to find you as a corpse, so don’t be reckless.”
Dash and I engaged in a staring contest, and I won, as usual.
After I released my hold on Dash’s ability to speak, she said, “Fine, Twi. I’ll be careful.”
“Great.”
Dash’s death would be doubly problematic, beyond the simple fact that she would have died at the very end of the journey under my care. Fluttershy would be inconsolable, too, even if I hadn’t married the two of them a year ago. Still, I wouldn’t be so worried about environmental hazards if Mona were a natural comet. Even if I didn’t find any spells as I dug toward the elements, Celestia could have set physical traps that were cold and heat resistant.
I wouldn’t just tell Dash that, though; there was a time and a place to tell everypony exactly who we were working for and why, and that wasn’t five minutes before an archaeological expedition with no preparation.
To be honest, I was less worried about traps than I probably should be. It wasn’t just that I was eager to get my magic on the elements. I just couldn’t see myself bothering if I had been in Celestia’s position, especially considering the time period – and the technological level – she had launched this comet in.
“I need to go fetch a few items from storage, but I’ll be joining all of you shortly.” I teleported everypony except myself and Spike outside the Nebulous to the surface of the comet. “Spike, be careful out there, and stick with Berry Pinch, okay?”
“Can’t I come with you?” Spike asked.
“I would like to say yes. In fact, I probably could, but I’m just going to be digging very slowly. It’s going to be boring and tedious, and it’s going to require all of my attention to make sure I don’t accidentally hurt myself or others. I don’t want to risk your safety.”
Spike sighed. “Alright, but we can do something later, right?”
“Maybe…” I said, biting my lip. “If everything goes well, I might be very busy for quite some time, but I promise we can spend a lot of time together after this is all over. I can relax my focus on my studies especially. Okay?”
“Okay,” Spike agreed, but it didn’t stop his face from drooping.
Hugging Spike, I said, “Try to have fun for me.” I then teleported him down to the surface and separately teleported myself to storage.
Right, now where did those spare compasses end up? I should have a set of six small ones stored in…one of these crates. Urgh… Okay, there were only a hundred crates or so, and half of them were half empty. Most of the magical equipment, like Twinkleshine’s film projector, should have been removed from them. I just had to look for enchantments to find the compasses.
A quick scan revealed magic…pretty much in every crate. Sigh. I really should have done this ahead of time.
Aha! Finally! I stuffed the contents of crate 47-B – I will never let Twinkleshine help pack ever again – back into it minus the six small, spare compasses for the elements. All of them were pointing toward the comet in vaguely the same direction.
I teleported back up to the bridge to check the two sets of compasses against each other, just to make sure the small set wasn’t defective. Magic matched up properly, and although that was plenty enough to say they were all working, I double checked the other elements as well, partially to sextuple-check them, but also to keep me moving slowly. I had weeks upon weeks to dig up the elements if I for some reason needed it; there was no need to rush.
Satisfied that everything was working perfectly, I gently set all of the compasses but Magic’s on the ground. There was no need to bring more than one with at a time and risk breaking more than one, and what better element to retrieve first was there?
I teleported outside the Nebulous and then to several other locations around the comet, making note of the direction the compass pointed each time. As I had suspected, the elements – or the Element of Magic, at least – were somewhere near the center of the comet.
It wasn’t strictly necessary, but I set up a few dummy spells around a circumference of the comet. Having them as reference points would help me dig straight, although I probably didn’t need them to dig straight down. I would say it was foolish to dig straight down, but the comet had no real gravity of its own to speak of, so there was little difference in which direction I dug. As far as it was concerned, every direction was down.
I teleported to an arbitrary location on the surface, nearly ready to start.
One more deep breath. In and out. There was no need to rush. I needed to keep my emotions in check.
Right. I dusted off my memories of the earth shaping spell and gave an experimental nudge to the ground below me. It yielded under the effects of my spell as I had suspected it would. It was nice to have things start off on the right hoof.
Canceling my gravity spell – there was no sense floating myself down the hole against the force of my own magic – I finally began digging. The plan was no different from the old one I’d used so many years ago to reach the Tree of Harmony: I’d dig a short ways and check for magic.
Oddly enough, the Elements of Harmony didn’t have the overwhelming magical aura that I’d expected of them. In fact, I couldn’t even feel them, which made me suspicious that I wasn’t going to be able to find any magical traps, that Celestia had managed to hide them incredibly well. But at the same time, the tracking spell wasn’t fooled, so there could be something else at work here.
Still, I could only do my best and work as carefully and slowly as possible. Well, not as slowly as possible, I did have a lot of extra time, but I would go mad if I spent two seasons or so digging one- to two-hundred meters. I merely went slow enough that I shouldn’t miss anything that it was possible for me to detect.
Dig, dig, dig. It was every bit as boring and tedious as I’d expected, and doubly so, even. Knowing the elements waited for me at the end of my task just made me want to go faster and faster, but I had to tell myself over and over to go slower. This was practically self-imposed torture.
My stomach growled at some point. A quick scry to the Nebulous’s kitchens and a teleport fixed that. Apples weren’t exactly the most filling, but they were good enough.
I checked on the rest of the crew every once in a while as well. While I had no reason to expect the spells on them to fail, and while I knew Chrysalis could deal with any emergencies, I had an obligation to make sure they were safe.
I saw more than half the group sitting on a picnic blanket once, so Chrysalis must have been ferrying supplies and providing bathroom breaks like I’d asked.
I was thinking about taking a break myself when it finally happened: the compass for Magic moved, and drastically. I’d just moved the element! It was somewhere in the section of stone I’d just moved out of the way!
My tunnel wasn’t very wide or tall, but I recklessly launched myself forward, kicking off the walls. With my magic, I brought myself to a halt the moment my compass pointed straight into a wall. I rotated myself so that my hooves pointed toward Magic.
Finding something that wasn’t stone inside of stone was simple. The easy trick was to shape all of the earth Magic could possible be in into cubes smaller than Magic should be. If the elements turned out to be tiny, I could always refine my search with even smaller cubes.
I lit my horn. My breath caught in my throat. This was it.
This was it!
As the stone beneath me formed into cubes, two large, gray spheres refused to change shape, and I immediately plucked them out of the pile with my magic. Magic’s compass reacted to the first sphere I’d picked up.
I couldn’t help frowning. The elements were supposed to be brightly colored gems. The spheres must’ve been protective shells of some kind. Perhaps they were why I couldn’t sense the elements.
My frown only deepened. If I broke the shells, it was entirely possible that would send a warning signal to Celestia. I’d have to be very careful about how I went about extracting the elements. I needed to send a letter to Luna, too. She should have some advice for me; whatever protections Celestia had placed on the elements were likely a thousand years old, so they shouldn’t have any magical secrets Luna couldn’t know about.
Hopefully.
I noticed that on one sphere – the one that wasn’t Magic – there was a generic crystal shape engraved deeply into it. Magic itself had a similar engraving, but it wasn’t a generic crystal shape; it was a six-pointed star.
My hoof slowly reached out and traced the outline of the engraving before I even realized what I was doing.
I shook my head and filed the fact away to be processed later, even as I dredged up old memories of the exact same symbol being on the Tree of Harmony. Six-pointed stars had symbolized magic even before Discord; Star Swirl himself was said to have worn a hat and cape with six-pointed stars all over it.
It was far too easy to fall into the trap of putting the consequences before the causes when you discovered them in reverse order. This shell had a six-pointed star on it because Celestia saw that the Tree of Harmony had one on it, and the Tree of Harmony had one on it because whoever created it saw that six-pointed stars were ‘magical’, which was the exact same reason I had such stars for my cutie mark.
And then a very important thought finally occurred to me: I might want to test if I really hadn’t set off any alarms so far. We’d set it up in advance for Pupa to be in Canterlot Castle today for a reason, after all. Luna and my parents were on standby with a changeling I’d never met for letter exchanges as well.
I located Chrysalis with a scrying spell within a couple minutes and projected my voice to her.
“Chrysalis, I just picked up one, probably two of the elements. Can you ask Pupa if Celestia has disappeared?” As a second thought, I added, “Or Cadance.”
After a few seconds’ pause, Chrysalis replied, “She reports no significant changes, but it is entirely possible she has been tricked somehow or was geased without myself or my hive noticing. La – Amethyst Star says she can still see Cadance in her office from outside the castle, but again, it is entirely possible that she has been tricked and so on.”
I nodded – to myself, since Chrysalis wasn’t nearby – and said, “Thanks. I’m going to move these two elements off the comet in approximately twenty seconds, so keep those two on standby. Actually, belay that. I’m going to find the other four elements first” – or at least one more; three should be enough for me to ascend – “in case that sets off an alarm.”
I picked up Chrysalis snickering on the other end. “Can do, Captain Sparkle.”
Oh, stars. I’d just used nautical slang, hadn’t I? Even at this moment, I found time to facehoof. It was entirely Twinkleshine’s fault that I’d just used that word.
Sighing, I brought up another scrying spell to locate the Nebulous’s bridge, an easy enough task. I exchanged the compass for Magic with the one for Honesty.
I left Magic and the second element where I’d found them. There was little enough reason to believe that removing the elements to the bridge of Nebulous would be problematic, but there was no reason to risk it immediately. And besides, unless I needed a lot of time and effort to open the shells – which I would want to do in a comfortable environment to maximize efficiency – I didn’t actually have to move the elements to the Nebulous.
In the exact same manner that I had found Magic, I repeated the process of triangulating Honesty. Unsurprisingly, the data I obtained suggested Honesty was also near the middle of the comet. Working from the tunnel I’d already dug out, it only took me a few minutes to find it, and I reported my success to Chrysalis immediately after this time.
Still with no response from Celestia or Cadance, I repeated the process for the three remaining elements. As it happened, the element that I had found next to Magic was Loyalty. Quite ironic, really.
Once I’d found all the elements, I widened the tunnel at the very end and shaped a crude stone chair. I then summoned one of the several pillows from my room back on the Nebulous that I’d made from my own feathers. There really was nothing quite like a pillow made from your own plumage.
“Chrysalis,” I said, reestablishing contact yet again. “I need you to send a letter to Luna. It’s probably going to be a lot of back and forth letters, actually.”
“Very well. You may begin dictating.”
I tried, I really did, but the dam broke. “Luna, I’ve done it! I have the Elements of Harmony in my hooves! But there’s still one problem left. There are these strange stone-like shells surrounding the elements with a single crystal engraving on each. I haven’t been able to feel the kind of raw magical power from them that a set of artifacts as strong as the elements should have. The shell itself doesn’t even appear to be magical, either, but I haven’t risked poking it with spells too deeply yet in case it’s a trap. Any information you have would be helpful, because I want to crack these things open right now.”
That letter didn’t have the fine details, but for an initial report, it was good enough. If Luna needed more information, I could send that to her later.
I told Chrysalis to go ahead and send what I had, and then I waited. And waited. And waited. Talking to Luna through letters was the worst thing ever. There was so much overhead, and the delays were ridiculous.
Finally, after what must have been days inside my little hole in the ground, Chrysalis spoke up again. “Are you ready? This is a long response.”
“Go ahead.”
“Twilight,” Chrysalis began after the tiniest delay, “I don’t take the time to say this often enough, but I am unbelievably proud of you. I” – Chrysalis paused for a moment – “always knew you could reach the elements, but it’s another thing entirely to hear that you have them in front of you.”
Oh my. I – I just – oh my.
“Before I say anything else, I want to make sure you still have a copy of the ritual hidden away; you might need it at a moment’s notice. I shall assume you do unless told otherwise.”
I silently nodded to myself. The ‘ascension kick start ritual’ had been safely stored inside Twinkleshine’s bed’s mattress ever since Luna had felt her connection to my dreams weakening, but I knew it by heart at this point. I would have put it in my own bed, but I switched over to clouds the moment Chamomile had joined the crew. Dash liked hard cloud beds and couldn’t make anything else, and Fluttershy…just didn’t like clouds, but Chamomile could make a great bed.
“Now then, I have had centuries to brood over the Elements of Harmony and what little I know about them. I can only think of three plausible reasons for the state you have encountered them in. As you briefly touched on, it is possible the elements are encased by a protective shell to ensure nothing untoward happens to them during their residence in Mona with some unknown magic placed upon them. However, knowing the elements, I rather doubt it.”
That didn’t sound good…
“Next, it is possible you are too far from the Tree of Harmony, leaving the elements in some manner of dormant state. Again, I rather doubt this as well, but it bears mentioning. If this is the case, you have but two options: abandon the elements and flee, or attempt to return to Equus yourself at great risk. I…I would rather see you run, if so.”
My brain glitched for a moment. The thought of coming all the way out here for nothing was almost too horrible to contemplate, nevermind whatever fate Luna would be abandoning herself to for my sake.
“But now I come to what I suspect is the truth of the matter. It is very likely that the elements are…broken, you might say.”
Broken? But if they were already broken…
“However, this is unlikely to be a new development. I would be willing to bet Equestria that the elements have been this way for a thousand years.”
Wait, but Celestia wanted Trixie to–
“Trixie – and Sunset Shimmer before her – is being raised to bear the Element of Magic, so–”
“So there must be a way to reactivate them!” I said at the exact same time as Chrysalis.
“If you have any ideas,” Chrysalis continued, “do feel free to try them first, but I believe I know how to reawaken the elements. However, I must ask your postal ser – is she serious?”
I chuckled at Chrysalis’s expense, but didn’t say anything.
“Argh. Whatever. She says I have to agree in advance to have a geas placed upon me, to have my memory of the plan erased, and to have my hive not reveal it to me before she’ll say anything.”
Hmm? That was unusual. There wasn’t very much sensitive information that I knew about which I could see being a problem if Chrysalis found out. She already knew pretty much everything relevant.
Sighing, Chrysalis continued, “I suppose I haven’t come all this way for nothing.”
“You’re agreeing?” I asked, eyes wide. Even if Chrysalis had warmed up to me over the years, she was even more paranoid protective of her memory and volition than I was.
“Yes, I already sent out the good news,” Chrysalis said dryly. “I believe I’ve already figured out her plan, and I can understand why it would be important that I know nothing and cannot be allowed to rededuce the plan.”
“Really?”
I had no idea what Luna’s plan was. Maybe I could figure it out if I thought about it for awhile, but was it really obvious enough to be able to figure it out from scratch in mere seconds?
“Indeed,” Chrysalis said in that smug tone of hers which I’d long since come to recognize as her ‘you’re an idiot’ voice. “Try thinking about the problem in reverse.”
Reverse? Um… So the problem was the elements were inert, Luna had some plan to awaken the elements, and the plan involved information Chrysalis wasn’t allowed to – no, information Chrysalis couldn’t know, if her words were to be trusted, for the plan to work. So the reverse of that was…if Chrysalis knew about the plan, the elements wouldn’t awaken?
That seemed wrong. Awakening the elements shouldn’t be dependent on changelings specifically in any way. Perhaps then it was necessary that Chrysalis not know, but not sufficient?
And like that, it was obvious.
“Chrysalis, I think I figured it out. Well, probably. It makes sense with what I know about the elements, at least.”
“Well, you’ll have to check your answer against Princess Luna’s. I already have her response ready.”
Oh, you glorious tease, talk about a cliffhanger!
I know it's a mixed thing to see under your latest chapter, but I can't wait for the next.
This was a fun one, though now i can't wait to see the 'plan' in action! Lets sort out some elements!
Twilight loosing it, priceless
Countdown to ascension is nearing it's end!!!
This is going to be so awesome~!
Squee!
the end is in sight. I feel that we may soon be moving into the final act.
YAY!!!!!!!!
OMNOMNOMNOMNOM!
Update after update, you sir are on the awesome train.
I wonder how you will solve the feud between Celly an Luna, so many things can go obnoxiously wrong now.
than
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Yes another chapters out! Anywho, now we get to the fun bit. Although a part of me is still thinking it'd be interesting if Chrysalis became of the of the Element Bearers. After all she's Loyal to her hive, has in a way befriended most if not all the crew, and it'd be a wierd twist. Although to be honest, with the amount of ponies, and sapients there. There's going to be a few who aren't going to be one of the six bearers for the Elements of Harmony.
I mean:
EP: Cheery Berry; Berry Punch; Pinkie Pie.
Pegi: Dashie, and Flutters.
Uni: Twilight Sparkle, and Twinkleshine [Berry Pinch not applicable since she's on the ship safe with Spike].
Then you have Other: Chrysalis, and Chammomile
So 6 out of 9 possible individuals. It's going to be interesting to see how they use their almost decade of flying on a confined ship, living with one another, forming bonds, and getting to know one another in ways thats even more intimate than most families. Then you have possible external tests to re-awaken them. This will be interesting to see indeed.
I really hope she succeeds. I just can't fucking wait for the 'Well, princess? How about now? Am I worth your time now?'
Chrysalis has to betray Twilight and get blasted to activate them?
I was fully expecting them to find a trololol note
This is going to be awesome. I can't wait to see Twilight's success and reward at long last.
This is still excellent.
However if this is all leading up to some subversion/failure/oh-you-can't-do-the-thing-juuuuust-yet, it's going to be very, VERY irritating.
It's been a long time coming and there have been serveral subversion/failure/etc. so far, so pleeeeease let there be not another...
5722375 You're not alone there, trust me.
yay fun time and/or tears ahead!
5722370
"Berry Pinch not applicable since she's on the ship safe with Spike"
I'm pretty sure they're both on the surface of the comet too because the line :I then teleported him down to the surface, and separately teleported myself to storage.
Twilight just wasn't taking him into the dig site with him.
On another note, I'm really impressed on how fast these chapters are coming out and can't wait for the next one, holy crap these get better and better.
I can't help but think Celestia is being unfairly portrayed...
Chrysalis will turn on Twilight.
Luna is using Twilight.
Celestia does not trust Twilight.
All she really has is Cadence and Shining...and she'll push them away.
Arrggh! Why would you end the chapter there?! Please update again soon!
It... but... already... update! Heeeee! :D
...Has Dash gotten into Daring Do in this universe yet? Because she's in an exotic location out to descend into a possibly-trapped ancient underground to steal powerful magical artifacts from an "evil" goddess...
Twilight and her may have different and not necessarily contradictory ideas of what it means to call this an "archaeological expedition", is what I mean. :)
And alternatively, if she's not started reading them yet, it could be interesting if/when she does.
"I…I would rather see you run, if so."
Could be reverse psychology, but given all the other evidence, I think it's almost certainly genuine. :)
...
And you end the chapter there?! Noooooooo!
5722763
Honestly that bit confused me. Since the sequence was written strangely. I wasn't sure where she teleported them. But with them being children, and seeing just how much trouble the CMC get into with dangerous places. And there being a lot of places that might be dangerous (magma, landing them in a cave in, piece of earth flying off and smashing them into space). I just regulated to the surface as some where on the ship (Since Twilight in this AU is actually a pretty good mother to Spike.).
But if they are on the astriod, that brings the chance to 6 out of 11, but I doubt two children (admitted by them), are going to get picked. Although I won't nescessarily count them out since I've seen Verses where younger than the Mane 6 ponies were chosen as Element Bearers / back up Bearers.
So yeah, I'm keeping it as 6 out of 9. With those two as somewhere out of the way / safe until the Elements have chosen.
5722993
Yea, I don't disagree about that, they're definitely out of contention in my mind as well.
Seeing how time for guessing is running out, I'm predicting that Luna is, in fact, possessed by the Nightmare Spirit and Twilight will have a crisis before realizing she must free Luna from herself. The moment of truth is almost upon us! I'm so excited!
Found this gem near the beginning of the chapter:
Aside from that, I really don't know what her idea is for reactivating the elements. I WANT TO KNOWWWWWW
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Begins to bang head on desk.
I WANT MORE.... GAR. SO CLOSE so close. We are so close to awakening the elements. I will literally cry if Luna is using twilight and plans to abandon her once she breaks the elements. I am being honest here. This Luna is such a great pony in this story and I hope so so much that Twilight has made a significant impact on her. I don't care who gets what element I don't care what happens once they get back to earth, all I want is for Luna to be true to who she has portrayed herself as. EVERYTHING else will work itself out with Luna and Twilight working together.
It has to, please?
I'm missing something here. Shouldn't fleeing and returning to equus be fundamentally the same thing? And assuming they are, wouldn't bringing the elements back to equus bring them closer to the tree of harmony and thus awaken them? It's a moot point since it's not the case to begin with but I'm not following her logic at all here.
I have the sudden urge to play Minecraft right now.
5723716 Fleeing would imply leaving the elements on Mona rather than bringing them along, or that was my interpretation of the statement.
Man this story delivers, great work!
This is actually the opposite of ironic. It would be ironic if Loyalty were the most distant. Loyalty being closest is coincidental (fitting, apt, or seemly would all be good words here),
I normally wouldn't bother about something like this, since the word ironic is often used this way casually, but Twilight strikes me as exactly the sort of character who would grow frustrated over words like 'ironic' technically being used incorrectly. As such, I thought I'd at least mention it.
5722370
Rainbow almost certainly is going to get loyalty again, it's mentioned plenty in the logs how loyal she can be... and I really can't see kindness shifting from Fluttershy (unless maybe it ended up with Chrysalis, because honestly there could be an argument for that with the hive needing to nurture love.) Laughter... has to be Pinkie Still, she has those strange Pinkie laughter powers, and even makes Twi smile occassionally. Honesty and Generosity, Hard to call those two. I feel Twinkleshine might be the best fit for Generosity, as she has given just about everything she can to make Twilight's dream a reality, more than most of the others i feel... And honesty... I am really not sure about that, though i really want to say Chammomile I am not sure, it could easily be Cherry Berry with her incessant desire to know the truth about the past and everything around.
I am beyond excited! This whole story has been leading up to this moment, the moment where Twilight says "fuck you, I do what I want!" to Celestia and ascends to alicornhood.
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Chrysalis can actually be argued in a way for Loyalty, Kindness, or Generosity. She's fiercely Loyal to her hive, her entire kingdom, and her daughter. Going as far as going far off planet, far away from the world and everything she knows just to ensure their future survival. Has shown that when an orphan was found that turned up as important to Luna (being a mother herself), came close to loosing her head when She thought the filly could be endangered.
Kindness. She didn't kill Twilight when the connection of Mother/Daughter was severed, and she practically became a stranger (name one good mother (which she is) who wouldn't), that right there is the ultimate form of Kindness. While she can be ruthless when it comes to getting love (after all they are in a shortage atm) and is pragmatic to a tee. She's shown that she can care about others, and knows what love is (other than something to trick others into giving to prevent starvation).
Generosity. She's given almost a decade of her life in a goal not really for her gain, but the gain of every changeling as well as her daughter. Has given (offered, probably accepted) to teach Twilight changeling tricks, plotting, and intrigue. Things that could be used against them, out of the generosity of her heart. Has for a decade, powered the shields, and life support Of a ship, when Twilight couldn't. With her only payment being the food to keep her able to do so.
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Chammoile: Contender for Loyalty. She's pledged her life to Twilight as her Knight since she was young and would die for Twilight in a heartbeat (or take her own life in a heartbeat should she not be accepted as a Knight (seppaku, ritual suicide, or Simmilar old fashioned suicides when such things happened.) Now that's some powerful Loyalty right there.
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FlutterDash: Flutters has been in the background as much as Berry Punch has (other than as a way to introduce Twilight's student). She introduced Dash, she got married to Dash (by Twilight), and she got Dash thinking. But she herself is in the background. Dash though is fiercely loyal to her friends, while not suicide if dishonored Loyal. Still has some rather strong Loyal tendencies that are keeping her in the game.
She's very blunt, and brutally honest though. And I think origionally AJ & Dashie were supposed to have the others elements.
Even if they both don't become Element Bearers. I still see them as important friends to Twilight, and important to future chapters / stories.
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Twinkleshine:
I cannot see her as Generous. It took many mindrapes before she agreed. Not to make Twilight's dream a reality, but because of her obvious attraction to Twilight, and to make Twinkleshine's, not Twilight's dreams a reality. Well in part one of her dreams could have been, and later was a reality by helping Twilight eventually. So yeah utter opposite of Generosity.
Loyalty, without a doubt. She's devoted and loyal to Twilight. But more Loyal than the other three contenders? Don't know.
Kindness is another possible one. While Flutters was regulated more to the background. We see tons of acts of kindness / compassion from Twinks.
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That's 5 down. Now the Berry Sisters. Berry Punch. She hasn't really been mentioned. So she can be written off as a McGuffin to get Twilight her student / background Earth Ponying magic stuff. Her sister on the otherhoof. Totally agree as Honesty, since other than Dash noone else fits the bill..
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With the last two of the 9 being. Pinks, gauranteed Laughter. With Twilight being gauranteed Magic.
But as you can see. There are many contenders, with many good reasons for each.
But other than Berry Punch, and Flutters who've gotten very little spotlight after boarding the ship. I doubt anyone is really going to dissapear scenewise after the others get their Elements.
Dash is going to adopt the orphan (Scoots), and FlutterDash will protect and nurture her.
Chrysalis is a megaplayer in the story and polotics, that's not going to instantly disappear (either from Twilight's sworn, under punishment of death, looking after her daughter for the rest of her life. Or from her popping in / changeling interactions.) So there's that.
Twinks is Twilight's and soon to be Luna's fillyfriend.
Chammomile is Twilight's knight. Or the dead body on her conscience for the rest of Twilight's life.
Berry Pinch being Twilight's student. Ensures she won't vanish.
The rest we'll see what we'll see. And it only makes me more excited with how many choices there are.
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Right, as I interpret it. Fleeing means leaving the Elements there, quite possibly even trying to re-bury them so that Celestia doesn't notice anything, and sneaking off. If Twilight did that, there's a fair chance that she and her crew would be safe... but Celestia would almost certainly win.
Returning to Equus means returning to Equus with the Elements to try and get them close enough to the Tree of Harmony to open. The problem with that is that unicorn!Twilight can't get the ship back much or at all more quickly than they got out to Mona, and Luna's escape, and therefore Celestia coming to fetch the Elements, is a lot sooner than they'd get back that way. It would be a desperate race to get within range while evading Celestia's notice, which they probably couldn't do without Luna creating a big distraction back on the planet. That means lots of collateral damage, probably, and quite possibly still ends in failure, so... Yeah, many reasons to hope that that's not what's going on with the Elements.
I think I get it now. Twilight doesn't need all the Elements, she needs at least three.
So let's say that she succeeds on realizing that "Friendship is Magic" and activates the Elements, but names the bearers wrong.
We know that The Rainboom was the Catalyst for choosing the bearers, so we know that AJ and Rarity are still bearers and back on Equus.
But. Twilight has Dash, Flutters and Pinkie with her. Combined with her own Magic, that's enough to "kickstart the ascension"* and become
an Alicorn.
P.s. I think that the Alternate Universe tag will soon end. The journey was different but in the end the destination will be the same.
*I'm totally making a Kickstarter to "make me an alicorn". Goal: 1 billion dollars!
Ahh, so that's why she put on those fake wings and ran around with them. So she can hide her ascention from the crew, so they won't start asking questions. Questions that a lot of them would not be happy about the answers to.
Pity, I was hoping for a mutiny on the way back.
God I hope this means that Chrysalis is one of the elements. That would be awesome.
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Oh forgot to add (sorry was half asleep when giving the reasons why I thought each bearer, was each element / mix.).
Chrysalis is also a contender for Generosity, for the biggest act of Generosity in the entire fic. I mean one that even shocked Twilight down to her very core. And that I feel like a tard for not entering.
Chrysalis's like Twilight considers her mind and memories inviolate. And doesn't like / want things messing with it. Yet without hesitation, without even a second thought. Placed a gease over herself. So that Twilight could get the message on how to activate them.
Seriously. Out of everyone on the ship (and she's befriended everyone on the ship in her own manner). That was the most generous thing ever. Heck not just on the ship, but I can' think of any act more Generous than that.
Still my list as to why she's also a condender for the other spot still stands too.
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My comment (last two comments (the one right beneath above yours, and the one beneathe that (the two replies to Sarokcat)). Give some good reasons why Chyrsalis could be one. Although I'm leaning more towards Generosity. But yeah, I have a strong list for each / most contenders.
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Yeah, Generosity is the one I was thinking she would get. She has gone to more than a little personal trouble to see this plan through, even though she could have gained just as much by turning them in to Celestia once her daughter was caught.
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Heck even before then. When her daughter had empathic ties cut from her (which is of equal value to life for them), all she did was demand that her daughter be taken care of by Twilight for the rest of her daughter's natural life.
So yeah I'd be gobsmacked if she doesn't become one. Not after she's been more Generous than fanon and canon Rares put together. Times a few generations.
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This Luna isn't the Nightmare Moon from the show. She's been Twilight's mentor for years and has come to care for her deeply during that time. From what I can see, Luna has more or less brought the feelings that turned her into NMM under control and is mostly ready to move forward. All that's left is this unresolved anger she has towards her sister.
I suspect once Luna defeats Celestia and forgives her for what happened a thousand years ago, her appearance will pretty much revert to her original form. In the end she'll come out stronger from having delt with her emotions and conquered the NMM persona than if it had been purged from her like in the show.
Well well well, isn't that plot thick. Also my old enemy the cliff hanger has returned. Once again I will excitedly wait.
I'll see you at the next chapter.
I'm gonna go ahead and guess that they need Chryssalis to be the "villain", to trigger the elements. Also: NEXT! PLEASE!
5724747 according to luna in this story, her NMM form is actually her current natural form and the luna form in the show was her younger self centuries ago.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HOW COULD YOU TORTURE US THIS WAY?!?!?!?! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE POST THE NEXT CHAPTER SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aaaaaand now we go back to waiting... dammit.
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I couldn't find any reference to what you're saying. The closest I got was these 2 paragraphs from the chapter where Twilight is inside Luna's castle on the moon:
So the NMM form didn't emerge until later. Frankly, considering how different the NMM form is from any normal pony, I doubt it's Luna's natural form. Celestia has been alive just as long as Luna and her form hasn't changed like Luna's has.
Feel free to disagree, but if you're going to argue the point please supply references.
5725821 its been awhile since i read the story so i cant remember the exact chapter, but during one of the dream sessions i think twilight was asking luna about her appearance, or why she was known as NMM. And luna explains how her appearence tended to frighten ponies and something about her fangs having to do with having a taste for gem stones after competing against a dragon in an eating contest. I plan on rereading the story soonish and hopefully when i find the reference material i will remember to message you about it.
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Relevant passages from one of Twilight's conversations with Luna :
Even ignoring the teeth and eyes, there is still too much of a difference in body types as observed by Twilight to accept NMM as Luna's natural appearance. Which means she was transformed, used magic to change her body or her current appearance is an illusion.
P.S. If you know what you're looking for, you can download the whole story in text format and perform a quick search by keywords. It doesn't always work, especially if the words you are looking are too common, but it's a good way to check for stuff. In this case, "gem" is uncommon enough that I found the quotes I was looking for in seconds.
5727229 It's THE RING so of corse it looks like that. ONE RING TO RULE THEM AAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!