Chapter Twenty-Two – Only a Matter of Time
“You!” Twilight cast a hoof at Luna, struggling to stand. “This is all your fault!”
“If it lessens the sting of the blow, then yes, I shall assume the blame.” Luna unfurled her wings and walked toward the balcony doors. “I taught him the spell upon his request. I feel no sorrow for having done so, even now.”
“But you knew the consequences!” Twilight shouted. “Did you even mention it would drain his magic if he tried?”
“Stop!” Shining Armor struggled to raise his head off the pillow and barely managed to hold a foreleg in the air. “This isn’t anyone’s fault but my own. I knew what would happen, and I did it willingly.”
Luna’s hornglow lit up the curtains and pulled apart the doors. “It has been a long time since I last took up rest. I take my leave and wish you all a good day.” With a nod to Cadance and the rest, she tipped her wings through the opening and leapt into the sky.
Twilight gave up the effort to pursue and turned her attention back on her brother. With the weight of her task overwhelming her resolve, she stepped up to the bed and set a foreleg across the latest casualty. Silently, they embraced, all the while Twilight screamed within, the question beating down on her—why? First her friends, and now her family, the sacrifices made on her behalf were becoming far too much to bear. For far too long the embrace held, the longest such hug the brother and sister had ever shared.
Cadance reached over and laid her own hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “We believe in you, Twilight. You just need more time to figure things out.” Twilight pulled back, gently easing her weight back onto the floor and her own four hooves.
Shining Armor smiled and nodded up at his sister. “You can do this, Twily. I know you can.”
Twilight wanted to smile. She wanted to force herself to smile and say ‘thank you for your support – I know everything will work out in the end’. The smile couldn’t be forced; the words died in a heaving sigh. Turning away from her brother and sister-in-law, she caught Applejack holding her hat against her chest. Applejack nodded, reassuringly. Twilight shook her head in response. Turning away from that, she found Pinkie Pie with the biggest grin she had ever seen plastered across her face, eagerly suggesting she do the same. The only feeling Twilight felt she was capable of came from the tears she had all but emptied from her reserve. Now was not the time for smiles. Like her magic, smiles were not long for this world.
Turing past Pinkie, Twilight eyed the open door to the balcony. “I need some time alone to think,” she said, picking up her step. Without hearing a word of protest, she took off out the doors, spread her wings and leapt into the sky. The guards standing watch on the outer edge of the balcony got a shock as the Sun Princess blew by them.
Aimless she flew. The only direction she wanted to go followed a path away from the sun. With the noonday approaching, the only way for that happened to be down. Streaking down the mountainside, away from the city spires and everything that resembled the duties of a princess, she went. Driving through the foothills, the air got warmer; the smell of the grasses and flowers carried on the breeze. With twenty-four hours left until the utter destruction of magic and harmony, it felt like a waste of such a nice day. The storm looming on the horizon rolling in from Ponyville would help set the proper mood in a few hours’ time.
Banking left, she swung around the southern range of the Canterlot hills. The train tracks below caught her eye leading off toward Ramblin’ Rock Ridge. It wasn’t that long ago that the burdens of the Trial of the Master seemed insignificant compared to acting out of instinct and habit to save pony lives. Given a conscious choice to play the part of the heroine made everything harder. At least she had always been able to fall back on Celestia for help. All of that in the past, she no longer had that luxury.
All she had now were her friends. One by one they fell to the Trials. For all she could do, nothing but pain and hurt followed in her wake. It broke her heart that somepony else had to suffer for her own failures. If she could, she would have given up her horn, her wings, everything she could give if it would bring it all back and set things right. Gliding slowly toward the banks of Saddle Lake, she landed and took to the grass below a large elm overhanging the water.
The water lapped the shore under a rising early afternoon breeze. Twilight dipped her head to get a drink. If nothing else, her tear reserve needed the fill up. A few quick sips slaked her thirst. Nestling into the shade, she sat and closed her eyes to concentrate.
“An ill wind blows, and the Sun Princess sets to taking a nap?”
No sooner had she closed her eyes, Twilight snapped to attention. The last being in the world she wanted to see or talk to stood before her with an inverted umbrella full of water. He pulled back the catch and the contents dumped over Twilight’s head. A floundering trout smacked her in the face before bouncing off into the lake.
“Discord…” Twilight managed to rein in a more appropriate outburst.
“Good afternoon to you too, Princess…” Discord pulled at his chin hair and drew back with a contemplative stare. “Twilight. How delightful to see that you’ve made it this far.”
“Don’t start with me, Discord,” Twilight said through the soaking strands of mane that covered her face. “I’m not in the mood for your games.”
“Oh, but you misunderstand.” Discord twirled the umbrella around as it morphed into a cane, which he then leaned on for support. “I’m here to give you the status report you requested. Well… not you, exactly. More like the other you that did the requesting, but I can’t be faulted for reporting back to the originator’s body even if she chooses to be absent.”
“Just tell me what you’re going to say and leave me alone.” Twilight flicked her mane trying to get as much of it out of her eyes as she could. “I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
“Very well then,” Discord said, clearing his throat. “As requested, a report on the state of magical affairs in the kingdom. Magic reserves are sitting around fifty percent and falling fast. The Everfree is fighting the change and has launched a counterassault on the surrounding area. Currently the storm front is advancing just to the north of Ponyville and should hit Canterlot later this evening. I took a quick peek just to be sure, and it’s raining sticks and stones mixed with a slightly higher than standard amount of water, as usual. A few of the ponies in town felt that I had something to do with it, so you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t feel like going back to try and help out. The pegasi are fighting a losing fight, but are doing surprisingly well given the circumstances. Anyway, at this rate, we have about twenty-four hours left before it all goes to Tartarus in a saddle bag.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” Twilight slumped down to the ground, out of ideas and ready to give up. “It’s hopeless to fight it since it all depends on me. I’m no closer to finding the answer than I was yesterday.”
Discord looked puzzled. He tilted his head to the left, and then back to the right. “Don’t tell me you’re giving up. That’s not the plan as I remember it. Celestia assured me that everything would work out, and I had nothing to worry about.” He lowered his stare and fixed straight down on Twilight. “She didn’t lie to me, did she?”
“Maybe she did.” Twilight turned away from the stare. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, and nopony seems to be able to tell me anything about it. If I’m supposed to raise the sun, I don’t see how that’s going to happen without my magic.”
Discord pulled back in surprise. “You… lost your magic? That’s terrible! How did that happen?”
“You tell me!” Twilight shouted. “I figured it was part of the Trial. I’m stuck in Celestia’s body, and I can’t use any magic until I complete the last Trial. I tried to get this horn working last night, but even after hours of practice with incredibly basic spells I couldn’t even lift a book. I guess Starswirl was right, I can’t become the Guardian of Harmony by taking shortcuts.”
“That’s all very nice and good, but I really need to know. This concerns me as well. How did you lose your magic? It seems highly unlikely that… I bet it was the blue one’s fault.”
“Twilight!”
“Speak of the devil,” Discord said, tilting his gaze to the sky. “I guess I should be off. Lots to do before the end of everything tomorrow. If Luna asks, tell her we never spoke. Ta ta.” With a snap of a claw, he disappeared in a little puff of smoke, cane and all.
“There you are!” Rainbow Dash swooped in under the branches of the overhanging tree. “I’ve been looking all over for you. Why’d you fly off like that?”
Twilight turned her head away. “I needed some time alone to think.”
“Well, you don’t have time for that.” Rainbow Dash approached and jabbed a hoof in Twilight’s ribs. “You’ve got a castle to run and a bunch of royal guests that are wondering where you went. Fluttershy’s great and all, but I think there’s a limit to how much they can take of the nature tour of the castle gardens.”
“It doesn’t matter, Rainbow,” Twilight said with a sigh. “If I can’t figure out how to raise or lower the sun by tonight, a couple annoyed guests will be the least of our worries.”
“Yeah… I kind of heard about the thing with your brother. Do you think he’ll be okay?” Rainbow Dash kicked at the grass under hoof knocking a few pebbles into the water.
“It’s bigger than that.” Twilight stood up and turned to face Rainbow Dash. “Imagine a world without magic: no more day and night; no more Unicorn magic; no more Pegasus flight. If I can’t figure this out, that’ll be our future.”
“Come on, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said with a bit of a grin. “It’s not the end of the world, at least, not yet it isn’t. We’ll get through it no matter how things end up. I know you’ll figure something out. You always do.”
“But what if I don’t?”
“You will!” Rainbow spread out her wings and gave them a flap. “Now let’s get back to the castle and take care of business. Everypony’s waiting for you.”
The smile on Rainbow’s face broadened. Twilight couldn’t help but feel the infectious lift it gave her spirits. It wasn’t any use hiding from her problems. Given that the other Trials seemed to work themselves out when she didn’t expect it, there was a sense that this one might work out as well. Still, she had no idea how that would work.
“Alright.” Reluctantly, Twilight unfurled her wings and took to the sky. Her confidence boosted, she decided she had to at least try.
An hour later, following a quick bite to eat, Twilight found herself escorting the Maretonian envoy through the Royal Canterlot Library. She wasn’t sure if she had thought of the idea on her own, or if Rainbow Dash made the suggestion on their way back to the castle. Perhaps the Duke himself had requested it. Nevertheless, she was back in her element. The familiar rows and stacks helped to ease her worry. She hardly had to think about the tour seeing as it all felt second nature to her. Waiting in the back of her mind, the looming sunset posed the greater questions. How could she be ready if she wasn’t even practicing her spells?
The Canterlot Guard did their part in keeping the way clear. Focusing only on her guests and the few friends at her side helped to limit the distractions. There were much more important things going on in her head than describing the history of the library and what each section contained.
Rarity helped add a few interesting bits about the architecture of the building and Rainbow Dash did an amazing job zipping from point to point indicating things as Twilight called out the various items of interest. The rest of her friends bowed out of the tour. Pinkie Pie had insisted on throwing an evening party and had enlisted Applejack and Fluttershy to help with the food and decorations.
“You have quite the impressive collection here, Princess,” the Maretonian Duke said. His councilor scribbled some notes on a scroll nearly tripping over himself to keep up with the tour. The rest of the group shuffled along to keep up with Twilight’s pace.
“Thank you,” Twilight replied more or less at ease with going through the motions. “I enjoy reading whenever I have the time.”
“Seeing how your time seems to be in great demand, I don’t expect that happens often enough.” The Duke’s smile evoked a playful tone in jockeying for position in the royal banter. “I, myself, am a history buff of sorts. Never can put the stuff down.”
“I know what you mean,” Twilight said, currently longing to curl up with a good book instead of continue with the current tour.
Nearing the end of the row, Twilight turned back to the group. “That’s pretty much all there is of the library. Is there anything else you would like to see while you’re here with us?”
“Aren’t we forgetting something?” the Duke asked.
“Not that I’m aware of,” Twilight replied. “A library’s a library, lots of shelves filled with books.”
“What about the ancient history wing?” the Duke asked. “I’ve heard you have an entire section devoted to one Starswirl the Bearded. Perhaps we might see it?”
Twilight’s guard raised with the mention of the name. “We do, but it’s infrequently used.” She turned to look off toward the gates marking the library’s restricted section. “There aren’t many ponies that have an interest in books that old.”
“If you wouldn’t mind, I would appreciate it if you could indulge my curiosity. I would very much like to see these old books.”
“I-I suppose we could take a quick peek.” Twilight took note of the gleam in the Duke’s eyes and the almost salivating response he showed to her acquiescence. The group followed her lead marching over to the gate. She turned back to her guests. “Might I ask that limit the visit to the Duke and myself? This area is normally restricted to serious research only.”
The Duke checked the response of the others in his party and came back with his answer. “I think that would be acceptable given your concerns for security and decorum, Princess.”
Twilight nodded. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience. We don’t usually allow tours in here. Perhaps Rarity could show the rest of you to the reading lounge, and we’ll meet up with you there when we’re finished in here.” She gave Rarity a sheepish grin.
Rainbow Dash gave Twilight a look, but she quickly waved her off.
“Very well then,” Rarity said. “The rest of you can please follow me.”
Twilight watched as the group filed by. Once they passed, she dipped her head and placed her horn in the door lock. The security magic in the lock recognized her hornprint, and with a click, the latch opened. She quickly stepped into the secured room followed closely by the Duke.
Only a few times in her life had Twilight ever stepped hoof into this room. Volumes of history and magic too important and powerful for the general shelves lined the walls. She hoped to keep their visit brief. Not altogether sure of his intentions, she kept a close watch on the Duke.
“Is there a particular time period you find interesting?” Twilight asked.
“I find an interest in learning anything I can about the past,” the Duke replied. “I find that understanding where we came from gives surprising insight into not only the present, but the future as well.” He paused, scanning over the shelves spanning the private area. “I see you have some very old tomes in this archive. Begging your pardon, but with your age, am I correct to assume you have read them all at some point along the way?”
Twilight had to resist saying the first thing that came to mind. She had only read a handful of the books in this section, most in a misguided attempt at learning a time travel spell. Speaking as Celestia, she needed to force herself to make a different answer. “I have read them all, at one point or another. Over time my memory of each may be a little fuzzy, though.”
“I don’t expect you to quote an answer from some obscure text, if you’re expecting me to inquire as to the contents.” The Duke gave a little laugh and continued to peruse the shelves. “At any rate, I have to ask, which book is the oldest in the collection? I have a few older than a thousand years myself, but I would think the Royal Canterlot Library would have something far older than my meager collection.”
“That’s a good question.” Twilight fumbled with it for a bit. Knowing the Princess, everything would be in order, but she had no clue where to start looking. If the books were sorted by author, she would need to know when they lived. If they were sorted by title, it was anypony’s guess which was the oldest without looking through all of them. To keep up the ruse, she should already know the answer. Taking a wild guess, she hoped she was right. “Let’s go check the far end of the shelves and find the answer together.”
The Duke bowed his head and raised a sweeping hoof to the side. “Lead the way, Princess.”
Twilight led the way to the far end of the shelves. Back toward the far corner, not as well lit as out in the center of the room, the books looked to be getting progressively older. Elegant scrollwork in gold leaf and fancy fabric binding showed more than age in the gathering of dust barely resembling the books they purported to be. A few scrolls dotted the shelves whereas the size of the books themselves varied considerably. Some were no more than a single page pressed between two tablets of wood or metal. Some looked like they were made of stone with the writing chiseled into the worn surface. At the very end, a thick, gold bound book stood out from the rest.
Twilight reached down to recover the book from the shelf, hoping that she was right in her assumption that the last book on the shelf, and presumably the first book in the chronological sorting, would be this one. The title etched into the cover took her a moment to decipher for its linguistic age. Surprisingly, the foreign symbols slowly began to make sense. “The… Pillars of… Creation,” she managed to say.
The Duke smiled and nodded. “I must say, that does look to be much older than anything I have ever come across in all of my travels. I wish I had time to read it as I am sure it contains a wealth of historical knowledge unequaled anywhere else.” The glint in the Duke’s eye caught Twilight’s attention once more. “I do believe I’ve seen what I wanted to see. Thank you for sharing your collection with me. It was most enlightening.” He turned and started walking back toward the gate. “I won’t take up any more of your time. You have a busy evening to prepare for, and I, for one, can’t wait to see the magic firsthoof.”
Twilight felt odd. Something didn’t sit right. The Duke seemed very interested in seeing the restricted section, but currently looked to be beating a hasty retreat. Unsure of how to respond, she took another look at the book she held in her hoof. Directly beneath the title, another symbol stood out: an eye. The shape was unlike any pony eye, but it resembled something else more recently made familiar. With her guest in full departure mode, she tucked the book under her wing and hurried along to see him out while locking the door behind them in the process.
With most of the afternoon gone, she was no closer to finding a solution to her problem, and now, the evening party preparation needed her immediate attention.
“Do try and hold still, dear,” Rarity said as she fussed with the skirt draped around Twilight’s haunches. “We need to make sure you look presentable as a princess.” Formal attire was never Twilight’s obsession. An event like this didn’t compare to something as formal as the Grand Galloping Gala, but her royal station demanded some small attention to playing the proper hostess. The aristocracy of Canterlot would be sorely remiss if she tried to play it off as a simple pre-sunset dinner reception. She barely had time to toss the book aside in her private study before Rarity started into her primping and preening.
“Maybe we should just call the whole thing off,” Twilight said, twisting into her formal hoofwear and feeling the tug of Rarity’s brush across her mane. The earlier drenching left a few snarls that needed to be worked out before the party. “It’s just going to end in disaster.”
“Sunset’s no big deal,” Rainbow Dash said, peeking out the window of Celestia’s bedroom. “You’ll have that sun down in no time. The thing I’m more worried about is that storm headed our way. Word on the Canterlot Weather Team is that those Everfree clouds are packing quite a punch. They’ve called in reinforcements from Cloudsdale, but they’re not sure if they’ll be able to make a dent before it hits the castle.”
“Thanks for the weather report, Rainbow,” Twilight said. “I’ll be sure and add that to list of problems I need to solve.”
“Don’t you worry about none of that, sugarcube,” Applejack lifted Twilight’s head which was dangerously close to brushing the floor. “You just focus on doing your thing and let us handle the rest.”
“I wish I could,” Twilight replied with a sour grin. “Nothing makes any sense, though. All I can do for tonight is play my part and hope for the best. Still, something doesn’t feel right, like I’m missing something right in front of my nose.”
“The only thing missing is your smile!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she bounded through the doorway. “That and the cake. I almost forgot the cake. Can’t have a party without one, and this party’s going to be super-duper-rific!” Fluttershy slogged in behind her, a bit out of breath. It looked like much of the decorating work had fallen to the Pegasus in stringing bunting and balloons.
“Somehow, that does sound like a good idea,” Twilight said with the curling of a smile on her lips. “Thank you for taking care of setting everything up you guys. Hopefully the party will help hide the fact that I still don’t know how I’m going to lower the sun. Who knows, maybe the storm will hide it, and we can all just pretend it worked out in the end.”
“Even if we can’t be there,” Cadance called over from the bed, “we want you to know we’ll be cheering you on.”
“Yeah, sis,” Shining Armor did his best to smile, still looking very much drained. “Don’t worry. You’ll figure it out.”
“Thanks, you guys,” Twilight said as she glanced around the room at seven supporting faces. “I’ll try my best not to mess this all up. I just wish I had more time to figure things out, that’s all.”
With a quick check off, Twilight ran down her mental list of personal preparation: shoes, crown, mane and tail, dress, regalia—the only thing missing was her magic. Giving a nod to Cadance and Shining Armor, she plastered on her royal smile and turned to Pinkie. “Let’s get this party started.”
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Ooh, such calamity, much pressure. Looking forward to the end here! If it's anything like the journey to get to it, then it'll be brilliant!
Might I ask about these other projects?, its always nice to see what some of my favourite authors are up to.
Okay, so let's get a rundown of the status of the main cast, shall we?
Twilight - currently occupying Celestia's body, unable to work her magic properly enough to do anything beyond a failed levitation spell
Cadence - Magic exhaustion, currently recharging MP
Mane Six - Still rainbow-fied, but normal beyond that
Luna - Normal; unwilling to work the Sun
Shining Armor - MP bar has been depleted and shattered.
That about right? Okay, good. Okay. let's move on from that bombshell and see how they're gonna fix this mess, if they do at all.
To be fair, I do put the blame on Luna as well, but for different reasons. Twilight blames her for having taught Shining the spell in the first place, but I'm blaming her because she's perfectly capable of moving the sun herself, but refuses to do so out of fear of Nightmare Moon. And my argument against that is this: Luna should have enough self-control this time around to resist the urge she got last time. Besides, that only contributed to her turn to the Dark Side; it was not the sole reason for it.
.......Be that as it may, this is not the time to play the blame game, Twilight. Focus!
Anyway, Luna leaves to get some much-needed rest, the others try to reassure Twilight, but she won't have any of it and leaves to get some time alone, leaving Canterlot whilst having an internal monologue about how hopeless the situation is, before finally coming to a stop by Saddle Lake near Ponyville.
I was wondering where Discord was....
From his first handful of lines, I can only assume he's aware of the Trials and knows Twilight has completed all but one of them.
Yeah, see? Even Discord doesn't want the place to go pure Chaos.....which is saying a lot, actually....Hmm.
Wait, so she did practice?..........Actually, I think I can explain the horn problem now: Celestia, being literally the strongest pony in Equestria, would likely feel the effects of the magic supply depleting first, seeing as she needs so much of it.
.........Consider my last complaint about that null and void. (Writing: +1)
Anyway, Rainbow Dash appears just after Discord poofs away, and gives an actually good pep talk to Twilight. And, oddly enough, it's Rainbow's smile that't contagious, not Pinkies.
What's weird is Twilight didn't notice that until now. She's usually the most genre-savvy out of all the Mane Six, save for Pinkie Pie.
So we head back to Canterlot, and Twilight is showing the Duke around the Canterlot Library with help from Rarity and Rainbow Dash while the others are preparing a party for later in the evening. And it seems the Duke is a big history buff, something that Twilight can certainly relate to.
Well, yeah, but it's kind of off-limits, isn't it? That's some top-secret stuff.
........Is it just me, or does this guy sound a little too eager to get into the restricted section?
So Rarity and the others head to the reading room while Twilight leads the Duke to the Starswirl the Bearded wing - thankfully it doesn't need magic to open, just a key from the Guards or Celestia's hornprint.
And they do in fact find what appears to be the very first book ever made in this section.
And suddenly the Duke is all too eager to leave, saying he's seen all he wants to see.
(Been forever since I could use that joke....)
As the Duke leaves, Twilight notices a strange symbol beneath the title of the book and decides to sneak it out for further investigation later that evening.
But the party that evening is kind of a requirement, so Rarity is trying to get her dress all squared away.
*imitating Rarity* "Clothing's my gimmick, darling. I need to remind the audience of that periodically."
So, yeah, Twilight is still worrying, her friends and family do their best to cheer her up, and then they head down to the party.
So, the current and potential problems that are currently in play:
How are they going to lower the sun with Luna refusing to help out of fear?
How will Twilight be able to continue covering up her lack of magic?
What is going on with the Duke of Maretonia?
What does Twilight have to do to complete the Trial of Magic?
That last one is really tough. Normally, I'd have at least a small clue, but every time I make a mental note of a potential answer, it gets blown away by another moment of this video playing in my head:
Well, we won't be getting any answers here.
NEXT CHAPTER!!!
That's a pretty blatant hint from Discord, there. Wonder if Twilight'll catch it.
6245184 Thanks to you, I will forever associate that theme with Discord.