Chapter 2 - The Road Taken
The world was a riot of color and sound, elegant classical music clashing visually with a rainbow of colors and shining gems that glittered and shone from reflected mage-lights. Colored balls of magic hung weightlessly above the ground like a thousand tiny breezies, each brought by one of the guests to ‘light’ the Hearth’s Warming fire, as was tradition in Unicornia. Elsewhere of course, other tribes would be carrying out their own traditions. Some less civilized than others, or so Mother liked to claim.
To be honest, Twilight would much rather have had the uncivilized traditions right now rather than being stuck in this purple dress with a foppish dandy on her foreleg. Oh well, at least the foppish dandy was one of the nice ones. “ ‘Ere, luv! Don’t be such a sourpuss.” Jam Scone smiled brightly at her, his Trottingham accent thick enough to spread on crackers. “I know it ain’t yer cuppa, but you’ve got a pretty smile an’ a brain in yer headcase, an’ that’s more n’ most of the birds around here. So cheer up, dove!”’
It was hard not to crack a smile when Jam really got going. He might’ve been absolutely foolish and mostly uneducated in higher learning, but he knew it and he made the most of what he had. As he had put it, that was more than could be said of most of the ponies around this place. “Thanks, Jam. At least you’re not trying to talk me into marrying you.” And at that, she did outright grin as they walked at a stately pace across the hall.
Jam returned her grin, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. “Ain’t that I wouldn’t account myself th’ luckiest stallion on four hooves if ya did, dove. But ya ain’t into it, an’ that’s that.” He nodded decisively, then turned his head to keenly regard the party before them. “Asides, I’m sure this’ll all perk up once th’ booze gets goin’. I hear there’s a new tipple comin’ out of Bittania, an’ it’s powerful voodoo, if ya get my meaning.” He winked cheekily at her, and Twilight followed his gaze to the glittering crystal bottles on trays awaiting servants to carry them.
She did, indeed, take his meaning. One day, I’m going to visit the Bittanian zebras… Actually, one day she was going to visit all of the many offshoots and client species of ponykind. She’d already met one of them, but the Seapony ambassador had elected not to come to tonights party. And as for the other guests of import…
Well, her brother had been inevitably paired off with Princess Sapphire for the evening and was putting on an excellent face of charming acceptance. He’s quietly losing his mind, of course. She chuckled richly, taking a bit of pleasure in the fact that she wasn’t here alone. Poor Shiny. She was certain she’d have to submit his application for the Royal Guard in person, since Mother’d never let him send it himself. He’d run off with some pegasus tart with pretty eyes and a sassy demeanour instead of settling down with a proper Unicorn mare. She mimicked mother’s voice in her mind, and giggled.
Shining Armor turned to spot her, and she shook her head at his pleading look. She’d made a promise, and the last thing she needed was mother in such a state that she might forbid Twilight from going to Canterlot altogether. So off he went on the white foreleg of the Princess, who was making doe eyes at him and nattering away about something that Shining Armor likely found utterly uninteresting. Poor big brother, she’d have to make it up to him later.
Her attention snapped back to her own walking partner, who’d brought her into a circle of some of the older stallions and mares in town. Some of them were actually quite sharp on the uptake, and so she’d need to watch her tongue. “Countess Sparkle.” A burly looking Unicorn with a huge beard rumbled at her in a basso voice, instantly identifying him as Baron Lucre. He bowed his head to her properly, as did the rest of those in the group.
Twilight sighed internally, but put on a pretty and neutral smile. “Please, Baron. I am merely the heir to my mother’s coronet, not its bearer. I fear she would be absolutely scandalized to think of me already wearing the thing.” That got a healthy chuckle out of everypony present, and Twilight forced herself to relax. Nopony here was even remotely close to her in terms of authority, so she could afford to be a little lax in her protocols.
The Baron shook his head, still chortling in amusement before mastering his humor and speaking again. “Regardless, you will be the Countess before long. Forgive an old warhorse for trying to stay ahead of things.” His eyes twinkled with mischief, and Twilight tried not to smile too warmly. The Baron was amongst many older stallions who had subtly sought her hoof in matrimony, and she did not wish to give him any ammunition for his cause.
Fortunately, somepony else spoke up. “You were a trifle late to the festivities, Viscount Sparkle. Whatever had kept you occupied all day?” It took a moment for Twilight to identify the mare, given that she was hiding her face and much of her badges behind a floating paper fan. Fortunately, those narrowed green eyes spoke volumes.
“Working on my latest project, Dame Blossom.” It was a lot harder to be polite to her. Yet another town gossip, obsessed with the social scene. Ugh. She did her best though. “I’ve something special I am to be sending to Canterlot in the morning, bound for the eyes of the Princess.” That quickly produced a string of mutters and shocked whispers, body language and fans flitting from emotion to emotion in rapid succession.
Only Jam seemed to catch on to her intentions. He chuckled heartily, patting her hoof while the rest tried to suss it out. The Baron got there first. “Ah!” His pupils dilated to points and his eyes narrowed only a trifle. “I see, I see… Still on your Quixotic quest to join the Avatar’s school, eh? As stubborn as your father ever was, Viscount.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment, Baron.” Twilight quickly shot back, clamping down on her momentary surge of anger. Where had it come from? She didn’t care about the sort of backbiting these fools liked to engage in. “Besides, why should anypony care? It isn’t as though I am to become the Countess anytime soon, and gaining connections and influence in the Capitol would be good both for Bulliontown and myself.” There. That ought to shut up any possible gossip. Hopefully. Probably.
The rest of the older ponies present glanced at one another, slow nods replacing feverish reactions. Everypony here could understand the concept of turning something into a means of advancing one’s own fortunes. Sickeningly political, of course, but that was the language this sort of pony understood best. “Well, I for one think that’s a grand idea!” A new voice appeared from the crowd, and the tight ring of nobles parted to reveal a slick dressed unicorn - the very latest fashion from Canterlot, no doubt - striding to the fore. “Sir Flim of Goldshire, M’lady.” He bowed deeply over his hoof, and she gave a little head bob to acknowledge his approach. “An if I might be so bold m’lady, I’d like t’ know what sort of wonder we might expect from ya?”
She considered that. There was no question her discovery would have monumental effects on production and agriculture, but there was equally no question that the very idea of her discovery was considered to be foolish at best. Still… there might be a way to split the difference. “I believe I have finally cracked the problem of how to efficiently store arcane energy for use in non-arcane applications.” There, that would probably be sufficient.
Silence fell upon the conversation, and Sir Flim was rubbing at his chin slowly. “Magical power… for non-magical applications? Do you mean using unicorn magic to power physical machines?” That was like dropping the pudding in the middle of dessert, a dozen sets of wide eyes settling down upon her in shock at the concept. It was unheard of, impossible, insane… but Sir Flim was looking at her with renewed speculation. “That could make for quite the splash, M’lady. Would you be interested in discussing the practical applications of this new discovery?”
Twilight felt her heart grip with momentary panic. Gone were the chuckles, the friendly looks, replaced by a wariness of her and her ideas. Her throat had seized up, and she wondered why everypony had suddenly gotten so cold. “Ah, tonight is not th’ night fer business, Lad.” Jam quickly interjected, wrapping his hoof more firmly around hers and tugging at it discreetly. “We’ve much else t’ do before the lightin’ ceremony. Thank ya all fer your time and interest, m’lords, m’ladies.”
No one spoke to stop them, and Jam quickly bundled her away from the strange looks. As soon as they were out of general earshot, the entire group quickly split off into a dozen other conversations: Some obviously hushed, and others more genial and partylike. “Are ye mad, girl?” Jam whispered in a hushed voice as they came to the buffet, busying himself with the punch bowl. “Ye do know what’s goin’ on in th’ industry, right?”
Twilight stared at the poor pony, wondering what the blazes he was talking about before he muttered something rather explicit about intelligent mares that she was not inclined to think too hard about. Then he hoofed over a punch cup, pitching his voice low. “Right, I shoulda remembered. All brains, no horse sense. Do yerself a favor lass, an’ don’t bring up anythin’ about yer project again tonight. I’ll get yer mother t’ explain it later.”
Twilight opened her mouth to complain about such an idea, and got a cruller stuffed into it. “Later.” Jam said in the darkest possible tone, and Twilight carefully closed her mouth around the sweet pastry. What muck had she stepped into now?
~~~~~~~~
Downstairs, the guests had split off to many of the salons and side rooms to prepare their masks and change from ball-gowns into costumes for the Hearth Lightning ceremony. Twilight, for her part, had not even so much as glanced at whatever absurdity her mother had prepared for her. Instead, she was sitting quietly outside of her mother’s solarium and straining her ears to hear the intense conversation behind the closed door. Jam had insisted upon speaking to her mother as soon as the first stage of the party had wrapped up, and Twilight had been given no other choice but to co-operate.
She was alone here, her forelegs wrapped around her hindlegs and trying not to show how much she wanted to curl up and hide. She was so certain she’d discovered something monumental and now she feared she’d overstepped some secret and hidden boundary. What was the problem? Everypony knew that finding new sources of power for mechanical devices was the great intellectual journey of their time. Coal was powerful, but dirty, and so was refined earth tar. Magic could do so many of the same jobs, but it was unique to the caster and not suited to machines that couldn’t handle individual eccentricities.
Sure, she hadn’t really tested that her magic-battery was any different, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a big step forward. Storage of magical energy had been a source of frustration for years… Her mother’s voice began to grow louder in the room, and Twilight could make out a scrap of conversation. “... tell her because she didn’t need to know! And now you’re telling me she’s…” the voice quieted too much to be heard through the thick door, and Twilight could feel a hard lump settle into the back of her throat. Given the shrillness of her voice, mother was surely going to do everything she could to stop her from sending her package in the morning.
That left her with perilously limited options. She could roll the dice that she’d be able to talk mother down from her vapors. She could try to hide behind Shining Armor, present a united front and maybe just distract Mother long enough for her to make it a fait accompli. She could appeal to father, who might see the potential in her becoming a student at the Princess’ school. And… What was she thinking? Mother wasn’t going to be reasonable about this if she thought her future was in jeopardy. Nevermind which future Twilight wished to have access to.
That left only one recourse. She’d have to take the bloody thing to Canterlot herself and somehow manage to get inducted to the school before mother could catch up to her. That was… a tall order to be sure, but theoretically possible. She’d have to sneak out quickly, which presented its own set of challenges. Still. What else could she do? Sit here and wait for Mother to finish arguing with Jam and then watch as months of careful work was flushed into the oubliette? No. She could not allow that.
Then - hooves! Approaching her fast from down the hallway, heavy and metal clad. Did mother already summon the guard somehow?! There was no more time for thought, only action. “Got to- OOF!” Twilight blew a strand of hair out of her face and glared over her shoulder. Stupid dress! “Grr…” She grabbed the thing with her kinesis and hauled it over her head in one motion. It was good enough stitching that she didn’t wreck the poor thing in the process, though she was certain mother would quietly tan her hide for wrinkling it.
The hooves were getting louder. It was time to go, and fast. Running would be uncouth, but she wasn’t about to try teleporting inside the castle when she couldn’t see where she was going. So run she did, as fast as her hooves could carry her through the unlit halls. The distant sounds of the party below became ever more distant while never being too far away. The muttering, giggling, off-key singing… it blended into the background as she flung open the door to her room.
The strong smell of lavender was nearly enough to derail her mad plan, but the sight of her faintly illuminated case banished such logical thoughts. You’re going to change everything. She silently promised the thing, carefully stowing it in the bottom of her saddlebags and quickly stuffing travelling skirts and blouses on top of it to keep it as stable.. and hidden as she could. I should get a cart for this… I should be able to find one in the stable and-
No. Wait. She didn’t have time. She had to move quicker, or she’d lose what little advantage she had. Her compass, collapsible telescope, signet ring, bag of bits from her allowance, quills, ink, parchment, map of Unicornia, portable hammock, dried oatcakes, sack of raisins. A cloak with a deep hood, and her talisman from her Brother and Mother. That should be enough, right? She could buy whatever else she needed on the road. Canterlot wasn’t that far, if she remembered right. She could find a Pegasus chariot somewhere, surely. Wait. Damnit, she was stalling again!
Bags on her back, and out the do- no, there could be guards out there. Window, opened to the sweet night air and looking down on the back gardens. Tiny twinkling lights hung over the hedges. Were there ponies out here? No time to guess. She grasped at the fabric of magic and flung it about herself. A moment later, she burst back into existence on the ground and took a deep, steadying breath. “Go.” She whispered to herself and took off as fast as she could manage with the heavy bags on her back. Past the fences of her estate, and into the quiet darkness beyond.
~~~~~~~~~~
It was very, very dangerous to run in the dark. Very dangerous. In fact, it was more dangerous to run in the dark than it was to run in nearly any other situation. One unforeseen hole could break her leg badly enough to send her to the Healer’s Ward, and she’d be done for. Of course, the fact that she was running across an empty vegetable field in the dark only made the risk greater. But she couldn’t slow down, couldn’t take her time, couldn’t possibly stop long enough for her to simply get into the road. Oh nononono, that would make it much more likely for one of the night patrols to spot her and they’d haul her home and-
A cloud of dust kicked up behind her as she came to a screeching halt just before one of the perimeter fences. She blinked uncomprehendingly at the offending object for a moment before feeling her cheeks burn in embarrassment. “Oh.” Right. There were fences that separated major fields. She knew that. Heh. Heh heh. She carefully clambered over the fence and found herself in another field, this one apparently filled with cauliflower.
Twilight sank back against the fence wood and tried to calm her pounding heart. She wasn’t being pursued yet, and she wasn’t going to get anywhere if she broke something. Get on the road. If a guard spots you, flash your ring and say you’re on your mother’s business. She’ll kill you later, but you’ll be out of town before she can do it soon. That made about as much sense as anything did, so one more clambering fence journey later she found herself on the good old flagstones that made up the path leading to town.
She hesitated, then. She was about to break a lot of familiar rules and there wasn’t going to be any going back from that. She was also going to leave a lot behind her, but… but the little warmth that sat smuggled in her bags was too much to give up to some nebulous fear. I’ve got to get to Canterlot. But why was she so sure of that? Logically, she should go back to the house and speak to her mother and sort this out reasonably…
Twilight Sparkle, stop deluding yourself. Your mother is a very reasonable mare precisely ninety percent of the time. Now when is she unreasonable? When Twilight was involved, or when she wanted to suggest she would move away from home. Precisely. Now what do you think she’s going to do if you suggest you’ll take your little invention there personally to Canterlot? Likely, she would lock her up and bury her work somewhere in the south field. Very, very deeply. Now you’re catching on. Now hurry your flank. If you’re swift and lucky, you can catch a pegasi chariot from Silberfellton before your mother dragoons a messenger fast enough to outrun you..
That was logical enough to stand up on, so she took a deep breath and started off down the road as fast as her hooves could carry her. Glittering golden lights passed her in the night as she careened down the path and off onto the main road. The hard concrete rattled under her hooves in a syncopated rhythm, lulling her into a running trance. By the time she hit the first signpost where the noble-held lands ended and peasant lands began, she was bolting down the road at a fair clip.
Which she was able to keep up for exactly twenty three minutes before her endurance hit the wall and she was forced to come to a stumbling and panting halt. Logic, now finally able to wrestle past her emotions, reasserted itself in the place of blind panic. She wasn’t going to make it to Silberfelton before tomorrow evening at the earliest no matter how hard she ran. She had minimal supplies, little to make camp with, and only a smattering of food supplies. She needed to be smart about this. Wasn’t she supposed to be smart enough for the Princess’ school?
Twilight’s lungs burned and she sucked in a breath slowly, trying to form a plan that didn’t amount to ‘run and hope for the best’. All was dark around her, save for the dim light of the moon hanging far overhead… it was silent as the grave. Except… except it wasn’t. Her ears twitched, and the sound of approaching hooves from the town made her whirl in place. A pair of bobbing lanterns threw out a pool of light around two burly looking earth ponies flanking an unfamiliar unicorn. She had to hide, fast. But where would she hide? There were no bushes, no trees, nothing for her to sneak into unless…
She cast a glance to the trench that ran beside the road, slightly muddy but thick with tall grass. Twilight swallowed silently at the thought of trudging around in that muck, but the lanterns were just getting closer. So down she scurried, trying not to make too much noise when her hooves hit the gloppy mud, making squelching sounds with each step. then carefully she bent down and watched the road.
The lanterns bobbed closer and closer, soon to be followed by voices. “... sure she went this way? Boss said she’d just barely left. Why would she run away from the town? An’ in this direction?” That voice was deep and kind of growly. She didn’t like that voice one bit.
She liked the next voice even less. “Shut up, you cretin. She’s a powerful one if she’s accomplished what she boasted of.” The voice sneered dismissively, “Not that I believe a word of it, but you don’t run away in the midst of a masque unless you have something you want to hide. Now shut up and keep your eyes peeled. We need to be back in town before sunup and I want something to give Mister Flam.”
The voices went silent. Twilight kept her eyes focused on the pool of light as it slowly drifted past, biting down on her lip. Okay, so maybe my instincts are better than I thought… Soon, the lanternlight was gone and she was left in a creaking ditch of mud and grass with a sudden feeling of being in big, big trouble. What in the world had she done that was so bad? Surely she hadn’t stolen somepony else’s idea, or used research that had not been hers. There was no logic behind somepony already being sent out to follow her mere minutes after she’d left the party. Mother surely couldn’t have sent them, so…
Wait. What if they’d been sent to follow her long before she’d left? That was… a frightening enough prospect to make her shiver. A shiver that had nothing to do with the cold mud and buzzing insects. She hadn’t even had the good sense to bring a guard, what was she supposed to do if these ponies had more than merely following her upon their minds?
It was a thought she didn’t want to contemplate. She needed to get her hooves clean and figure out her next course of action. She couldn’t continue down the main road, as sooner or later those strangers would be going back and there was no guarantee she would be as lucky finding a hiding spot the second time. So what did that leave? She could go overland, but… That would be slow and possibly perilous. There were a great many peasant villages out there, and Rarity’s passions or not Twilight knew better than to presume she would be safe amongst them. She could wait until she encountered them, and attempt to outfox them upon the road. A gamble, to be sure. Or maybe-
Ergh, she was doing it again. Too many possible plans, too little time to consider them all. Goodness, she really wasn’t suited to this adventuress thing at all. Go off the road for the evening. When day breaks, reassess. You’ll need to find someplace to sleep regardless. Fortunately, that ought to be at least moderately easy with her… Oh, bollocks, that wasn’t going to work, was it? If you’re being followed, no doubt they’ll question the peasants. Poor things won’t know to keep your passing a secret. She rubbed her hoof on her nose, then shook her head. Mud first. Get off the main road second, and sleep third. There. Now she had a plan.
Finding a place to clean her hooves off wasn’t too taxing, oddly enough. There was a nice babbling brook just off the first split in the path that she was easily able to extract a bit of water from for a washup. Cold as the northern mountains, but it did the job. Getting down a more out-of-the-way path was easy enough too. There were no end of small offshoots from the main road, even if most of them were gravel pathed and choosing the best of them had been a matter of simply looking for the neatest one.
The third goal, however....
The sign read “East Rockstown” as she crested the first hill, and the sight of two or three dozen rough wooden buildings alight with bright golden light made her oddly nervous. She didn’t know why, but something was already telling her that her plan to find shelter for the evening would not be nearly as simple as she might’ve imagined.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Are you my pilot?”
“Depends. You my cargo?”
“It’s not polite to refer to somepony as ‘cargo’, you know.”
“Fine, fine… Are you my ‘passenger’, m’ladyship?”
“That’s Agent to you, Captain.”
“Oh, buck me. Um… I’m sorry, ma’am, I didn’t see your badge there. A-heh-heh...”
“Forget about it. I’m told you’re fast.”
“Fastest pegasus in all of Equestria, Ma’am. Bar none.”
“You’d better be. We need to get to Bulliontown, as fast as you can get me there.”
“No problemo. What do I call ya?”
“Just Agent is fine, Captain.”
“Well, then Just Agent. Get on board and I’ll show ya my stuff. I’d recommend you hold on, though. If you want fast, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.”
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5286188
Granted you're not going to tell us EVERYTHING, but a little insight goes a long way. It's a case of showing the reader what's going on through narrative and exposition, not flat-out telling them.
If it's going to be that long how many words have you got planned?
5286217
My standard 4k words per update are in the planning. Mind you, 36 is probably at the 'big' end of the story. But I've learned to plan for long than for short. It makes it easier to keep the narrative from becoming break-neck.
Besides, it took Harry Potter almost 7 chapters to adequately explain ANYTHING about wizards.
5286252
Alright, I'll give you benefit of the doubt for now.
Since this is a total re-imagining of the Avatar-verse I'm curious as to what you'll be doing with it.
I'm digging this so far.
Flim and Flam have goons? Are they mobsters in this world? It's pretty apparent that Twilight has no idea what is going on beyond her front door, which is pretty typical of someone in nobility whose life is controlled by an overbearing mother.
I'm guessing we're going to have a grand chase to get the doohickey. Is the doohickey key to becoming a new Avatar or is being able to create such a thing the key?
5286217
Er, isn't that what's happening? The story is focused mostly on Twilight's POV so we experience the world as she experiences it. Third person limited and all that.
This is an AWESOME story! : D
Please keep updating! i so want to know what happens next!
5286379
Just because it's limited to third person that should give the writer more room to play around with environmental description. So far I have NO idea if there's any difference in comparison to Republic City or the Lion Turtles from which the four nations originated on the anime, in terms of ambience and cityscape
So, is this gonna be a story that updates once a day or so?
5286437
This is not a direct crossover. I am, much as I did with Code's Apprentice, using terminology, themes, and central ideas rather than outright copying world-building or locations.
5286435
Not an uncommon attitude amongst the upper nobility in the olden days. Which given that her mother is basically a powerful Countess, is exactly what she is.
It's interesting seeing how a character like Twilight expresses herself in this alternate universe. Her basic personality is intact, but her upbringing has a noticeable mark on her. I like it. This is a story I can actually see myself reading through to the end.
Little thing with quotation marks: When afterwards you say how something is said, you put a comma and lowercase the next word, like so.
As opposed to some of your sentences like,
Obviously, proper nouns like Twilight remain capitalized no matter what.
On the story, this is very interesting. I too wonder what's going to happen. Hope Sunset meets Twilight before Velvet or Flim-Flam's goons do.
An update? Neat.
Twilight is on the run from goons; this should be fun
Took me a while to realize Twilight is being addressed as viscount. That is a title for males. Female equivalent is viscountess, unless that was deliberate.
5287909
The nobels were getting a dig in. Twilight was a little too distracted to pick up on it.
5287926 Apparently, so was I.
5286437 Aside from Four Nations and the word Avatar being used (in a different context), I haven't really seen any resemblance to A:TLA. Overall, I'd say to not compare the two to each other. It sounds like the author is taking his own shot at world building, and is pulling elements from FiM and A:TLA to create something new.
5286379 I figure the Four Nations are on the verge of war with each other (unless they'e uniting to combat an outside threat), so Twilight's invention would probably be useful to them. It sounds like she pretty much created a magic battery. Now imagine if Flim and Flam managed to get ahold of that technology and sell it to the Earth Pony Kingdom.
I'm not surprised that this is a thing now.
Gonna read later, please don't disappoint.
Not that I'm expecting you to.
hahaha, What?! Unless I've missed something, these ponies are anatomically supposed to be more or less like the show, so why the hell is Twilight running on two hooves? She does it multiple times, too. Not only would that be uncomfortable or painful or just downright impossible, it would also be significantly slower than quadrupedal running.
More to the point, it absolutely ruined my suspension of disbelief, because in a tense scene when Twilight is fleeing her home into the night, all I can think is "...the fuck is she running like that?!" and then I actually picture it and all seriousness in the scene is sucked away by how ridiculous of a mental image that is. Seriously, the only times I've seen the whole 'run like a human' thing, its involved Lyra and was played for comedy.
....other than that loving the story so far
15:58 My reaction to Fim showing up.