AROUND
THEBEND
By Chatoyance
Chapter Four: The Canterlot That Can't
"Fantasy, abandoned by reason, produces impossible monsters; united with it, she is the mother of the arts and the origin of marvels."
- Foalcisco de Goya
Twilight Sparkle didn't have time to wait for the train. She needed to get to Canterlot immediately, or rather she needed to get to her mentor and friend Princess Celestia immediately, and the next train was more than an hour away. It would take all day to gallop to the castle, and it would take at least an hour to set up her balloon. Fortunately, she was a very talented unicorn.
Teleportation is a relatively high level skill, demanding intense study and massive ability. Most unicorns never learn it at all, concentrating only on spells and abilities useful to the focus of their interest, represented by their cutie marks. But Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark, her primary focus was magic itself, and from the youngest age she had demonstrated an uncanny, and sometimes terrifying facility for wielding it.
This was why, at a very young age, she was taken entirely from her parents and put in Celestia's care. It had been represented to her as a opportunity to learn magic at the highest level, and she had been overjoyed. But the fact of it was that there had been no other option. This had been made clear during her horrifying entrance exam for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. She had lost control of her vast natural power and nearly destroyed Canterlot itself. If Celestia had not intervened, and bound Twilight's magic, the very structure of reality itself would have continued to unravel, spreading outward from the chaos and destruction she had already wrought on the exam hall - and everypony there. She had only found out later that she had unknowingly transformed her own parents into potted plants during her complete loss of control.
She had been a danger to herself and the very world, so Celestia had taken her under her wing, both literally and figuratively. While her life in Canterlot had been rich and splendid and ordered, she had missed out on having a proper foalhood entirely. She had been a loner even with her parents, always studying, an only foal that kept to her room and her books. At Canterlot, she was no more social, and Celestia permitted this, even encouraging her solitude, supposedly for the safety of others. It was only when she finally was sent to Ponyville that she first learned the value and worth of having friends. That lesson, that first taste of companionship and friendship was the very spark that had ignited the Elements Of Harmony. Had she been a social animal before that profound, life changing moment, eternal night might have been the fate of Equestria.
Celestia moves in mysterious ways. As was appropriate for a being more than two thousand years old, at minimum. Celestia had spoken of the thousand-year reign of Discord, under which she and her sister suffered so. A thousand years of Discord, a thousand more caring for the world with her sister in exile within the moon. Twilight had no concept of how old Celestia might truly be.
Celestia would help. Celestia would make everything that had happened to her this day make sense. It could not be otherwise - Celestia predated the sun and the stars, she had turned Discords chaos into the land that was Equestria, she was immortal and all powerful. She was humble, but no less a goddess.
Twilight performed long line-of sight jumps, teleporting to a spot far in the distance that she could see. A flash of brilliant light marked her departure and another her arrival, as she passed outside of the normal dimensions and reentered the world at a new location. This most difficult of spells, mastered only by the Royal Unicorns was foal's play to her - she often teleported about merely for simple convenience. Her years of solitude and study had granted her powers beyond the pale at a very young age. It was no wonder she was Celestia's favorite student, or that Celestia kept a close eye on her activities.
To cheer her as she made her way up the mountain to Canterlot, popping in and out of standard Eucliquestrian spacetime, she recited from memory the oldest story from the Pony Book. It had no official name, it was far too ancient. Written in the earliest form of Royal Unicorn, the book was possibly the oldest surviving tome in Equestria. It was heavily illustrated, an illuminated manuscript of great beauty and wonder. It had the head of an equine on the cover, but the face was strange - exceedingly long of muzzle and curiously shaped. Twilight had speculated on whether it represented some extinct breed of ponykind, or perhaps, if the book was as old as some suggested, the face on the cover was what ponies once had been, just after the conquering of Discord. Nopony knew. Even Celestia would not answer her most pointed inquiries.
Twilight had memorized the book, and especially the creation story in the beginning, which described how Celestia and Luna had worked together to remake the world after the terror of Discord. Twilight began, when she had appeared from the spaces between one moment and the next "Once upon a time..."
There was another burst of light and Twilight was nearly a thousand hooves down the road "In the magical land of Equestria," Twilight paused her recitation and adjusted her targeting to account for the bend in the road as it climbed the mountain. "there were two regal sisters who ruled together." Twilight paused to consider just how far her next teleport could reach. There were two bends, where the road ducked into the mountain and reappeared, she considered if the could reach the farther one safely. Caution won, and she decided to target the nearer bend. She did not want to miscalculate and appear between the bends, only to fall into a chasm below.
"The eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun while the younger used her powers to raise the moon." Twilight looked past her hooves at a stone spiraling down into the shadowed cleft of the rock face. Her forehooves were almost over the precipitous edge. She backed up, carefully. That was just a little touch close. She would need to be more careful. She decided to finish her words before her next teleport, and not split her attention further. "Thus, the two unicorns brought balance to the world."
She couldn't see the upper surface of the road now, it was too high above her. That was a problem. Considering what had just happened, she was not going to make a 'best guess'. She'd have to hoof it uphill for a while, until she could once again get a good line of sight. Teleporting blind was a good way to end up a former pony. Twilight trotted on at a careful speed, one she had learned during the Running Of The Leaves.
As she made her way up the winding, steep road, she tried to imagine what the world had been like before Celestia and Luna had remade it. When she and her friends had fought Discord, she had gotten just a taste of what things must have been like for the two immortal princesses. Discord had only just begun to remake the world, and Ponyville and its environs had become a nightmare realm of floating mountains, distorted space, soap for earth and bubblegum for sky. During Discord's thousand-year reign, there literally must have been no world at all, not as Twilight understood the term. It must have been true, pure, maddening primal chaos.
The power that Celestia and her sister represented. To construct an entire, rational world out of such random horror, to place the mountains and pour the seas, to manufacture the sky and create a working biosphere. To bring the species and breeds of the world into existence. To make ponykind and to let them loose upon the newly formed world. To will into existence the sun and the moon and the stars, to even be able to imagine a rational reality, after a thousand years of absolute and total chaos.
Discord had called Celestia 'grim'. If she was, then it was because she must know what a lack of order meant. A love of order and organization was something Twilight shared with her beloved mentor. Celestia would make things right. Any being that could order the universe, and lift the sun as if it were a party balloon was as close to ommipotent as any reasonable definition of the word could be. The humble deity who called herself a princess and mingled with her creations. Twilight loved her princess for that.
She was at the top of the mountain now, and could resume her teleportation. Her studies about long-distance running had served her once more, she was only slightly out of breath. Burst of light after burst of light brought her closer and closer to the main gates of Canterlot. Celestia must be lowering the sun, now, her sister preparing to raise the moon. The sky was red and the day was ending. To move the very stars. The concept was beyond staggering.
The Hearth's Warming Eve play, a favorite holiday treat for foals - and adults too - carried the conceit that mere unicorns could control the universe and its functions. It was a silly notion, but the stage play was useful - it taught the value of working together and of the eternal bond the three breeds shared. It had been rumored that Celestia herself had written it long ago, to give her new creations a myth to cling to, to keep them together when she and Luna were still reconstructing reality after Discord. Another rumor suggested that Luna had penned it. Nopony truly knew. As Twilight made the front gates across the bridge, she wondered what it would feel like, to have such supernal power. The thought frightened her.
For a thousand years after Discord, Celestia had held both day and night in her hooves, while Luna was in exile. Celestia could control the entire cosmos, alone. Twilight shook her head, her mane rippling as she ran. It didn't do to dwell on such things, they were too vast, too grand, even for her bright mind. Leave the cosmos to Celestia. To whom it belonged.
After Celestia lowered the sun, it was her habit to take tea in the gallery that overlooked the Maze Garden. Twilight resolved to intercept her mentor there, and explain to her the strangeness of the day, and to beg her help. It was the most logical and rational thing to do, and Twilight ever loved the fruits of reason. She lowered her head to make speed, and ran on down the twisting, complicated paths and roads of the mountain castle. First through one tunnel in the rock and then across a terrace garden she galloped, the night descending, the darkness enshrouding all in violet-hued beauty.
Twilight wasn't sure what she had hit, but it was large, and heavy, and she instantly regretted it. She should have been watching, she should have been paying more attention. When she was able to stand again, she shook her head to clear it. The large, white stallion she had collided with steadied her with a hoof. Oddly, rather than being upset, he was smiling indulgently at her. Beside him was a pink pegasus, long of leg and regal of bearing.
Twilight began to apologize but was interrupted "Twi? What are you... you have to watch where you're going, sis. Where are you going in such a hurry, anyway?" The white stallion addressing her was dressed in royal garb, with twin sashes and a shield-shaped badge of honor.
The pink pegasus seemed concerned for the stallion, they must be a couple "Are you hurt dear?" at the shake of the stallion's head, the pegasus addressed Twilight next "Are you alright, Twilight? You took a nasty spill! Are you sure you are okay?" her eyes were kind and loving. That was when Twilight noticed her head.
On it was a horn.
This pink pegasus was not a pegasus at all. She was... she was an alicorn. Like the princesses. Like Celestia and Luna. It wasn't possible. This could not be real. Twilight stepped back in horror. A third deity. A third absolute power in the universe. The disappearing mountain could not compete with this destruction of reality. "Twilight? What's the matter dear?"
The creature seemed to know her by name. "Twi, did you get a knock on the head? What's with you? You look half scared to death!" The white stallion seemed half concerned, and half perturbed at Twilight's reaction.
"W-Who are you? How do you know my name?" Twilight backed up farther, slowly, carefully.
"Twi, stop messing around. Is this one of your games?" The white stallion seemed more towards the annoyed side of things now.
"A game? How wonderful!" The pink... alicorn... seemed happy at the thought of play. She seemed pleasant, at least.
"Remember how Twi used to love pretend games when we were growing up? She'd just come up and pretend to be somepony else, usually somepony from history?" The pink... creature... seemed very familiar with this false history. She smiled and nodded as if in remembrance.
The stallion turned and stared intently at Twilight "Is that it? Who are you this time... Starswirl the Bearded again, traveling in time? That's it, isn't it?" The stallion turned to his pink companion. "Twi just adores 'ol Starswirl. That was her favorite, pretending to be that old coot. My sister, the history freak!" The stallion laughed.
Sister. In this world her alternate self must have had a brother. This was him. Twilight's mind reeled. She had been an only foal. If she had known a brother, her life would have been entirely different - she would be an entirely different pony. A brother to play with, to confide in, would have brought her out of her shell, brought her out into the world. She would have known friendship before the pivotal moment where the Elements Of Harmony were awakened. That moment would not have happened, the spark that had come from her shock and amazement at finally comprehending the wonder of friendship would not have been the bright and powerful, life-changing event that it was.
And in any case, how could she had even had time for a brother? Celestia had taken her to live in Canterlot at an extremely early age, as a mere foal. Her life had been study, Celestia, baby Spike, and her tower. A brother would have changed her unrecognizably. And she would not have needed to study friendship, because she would have inevitably been shown it, brought into contact with others through such a brother. Not a single element of her life history would make sense with a brother.
Yet in this world, there he stood.
"Twi! Stop messing around, at least say hello to Cadence!"
The burst of light was bright. Twilight felt slightly crispy when she regained her senses. She was somewhere in the castle, she wasn't sure where at the moment. It had been a blind teleport. She had panicked. It was a stupid, foolish act - she was fortunate to have survived. It was only because she had spent so much of her life in the castle that she had not ended up fused with a wall, or embedded, dying, in a floor or ceiling. She had spent her entire childhood, what there was of it, inside these walls, inside this castle and its towers. It was her childhood. It had been her life.
Twilight Sparkle slumped against a marble pillar and wept. She cried and howled, brought to the level of a mere foal inside. She had been so lonely. Celestia was wonderful, of course, and more a mother to her than her own, and she had not lacked for books or lessons or any material thing. But she had been lonely, even if she had not understood it. She had lost herself in her love of learning, but deep down....
She had sometimes fantasized about having a big brother. She had wished for a big brother who would play with her and show her the sort of fun that she saw other ponies having when she looked out of her tower windows. In this reality, he existed, just as she had imagined him. He was there, right there, down in that city, somewhere. The brother that had never been.
As she sobbed, she realized that not everything about this strange shadow world was bad. In this world, Rainbow Dash read books. To have even one pony share her love of reading would be wonderful - she had devoutly wished that one of her new friends would share that with her. In this world, Pinkie Pie was a pony that could be talked to, seriously, about serious things. She wasn't hyperactive and constantly bouncing about. In this world, Twilight just might find out how smart Pinkie really was.
And in this world, she had a brother, perfect and tall and shining, just as she had pictured in her foalhood, when she had felt particularly alone. She had always been so alone. When she had awakened, at last, to true friendship, the power of that moment was enough to ignite the Elements Of Harmony, but in her heart, she wished that it had not needed to be that way. If she could have only had a happy, playful foalhood... like normal unicorns...
But she wasn't normal. That was the point. She was the most 'gifted' - wasn't that the word the princess always used? - the most 'gifted' unicorn that Celestia had ever known. It was a dubious gift. She had nearly destroyed her parents and Canterlot on her exam day. It could have been the world. Of course she needed to be isolated. Celestia would have been a fool to do otherwise. Celestia, ageless and wise beyond measure, was no fool.
Twilight rubbed her eyes with her fetlocks, letting her coat absorb her tears. She sniffled and tried to clear her nose. She swallowed and coughed briefly. Celestia. She had to get to Celestia, no matter what.
"What is the matter, my dearest student?" Celestia had found her.
Twilight's heart raced in joy. Finally, finally, everything would be alright. Her teacher, her princess, her... Celestia... was here, finally, now, here in front of her! Everything would make sense at last.
Twilight looked up, into the concerned face of her beloved princess. Her eyes scanned the adored countenance, savoring it. It was then that she noticed Celestia's broken horn.
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I just posted the new chapter, then read your post. Comedy is timing, after all.
So where's the chapter?
What happened?
The Chapter That Can't
Wait, what?
Am I missing something?
Poor Chapter Derped, Chat.
So much to read here! I think this chapter has surpassed the rest of the work entirely.
Increasingly Redundant Error Report
The chapter seems to be missing.
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FIXED. I don't know what went wrong. I have not a clue. I published, but it didn't show up. It works now. Not a clue.
Oh. Well, I guess a good author always think they can make improvements afterwards.
You know chatoyance, your fic is similar to this one: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7027181/1/What_SHOULD_have_Happened_in_AtLA Only you're not a asshole about it.
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Oh, thank goodness! I'd hate to have missed a joke or something.
This chapter really is great! I loved the revelation at the end- wait, broken horn??
Oh, right, Chrysalis.
Twi's gonna freak.
589362 MAGICK.
I'm going to hold off on any and all commentary, review, and so on until this is entirely done. I want to comment on the entire thing all at once, in length and detail, for full fairness. A lack of silence isn't necessarily enthusiasm, of course!
1. I think you're taking Season 2 a little too seriously. But even if I disagree with you, (like I do with your CB novels) I still like your works.
2. I've always had a Season 1 vs. Season 2 fic boiling in my head, but I can't write for beans.
589594 "I think you're taking Season 2 a little too seriously."
Perhaps you've noticed the quotations that preface each chapter? They are real, though I have changed the names of the famous people to make them more pony - "Mare Twain" instead of "Mark Twain", that sort of thing. They answer you here very, very eloquently because those quotes are from famous, successful, wealthy, historical individuals, and therefore matter. Unlike me.
But, if I might be indulged, here is the bottom line: if a fantasy or science fiction work cannot be bothered to be self-consistent, then it fails its primary reason for existing. The point of a good fiction is to provide an escape from reality, and to do that, it must permit the suspension of disbelief.
That primary requirement is what makes Middle Earth, Oz, and the universes of Star Trek and Babylon 5 classic, memorable works, and what dooms things like Sliders (after the first, brief, brilliant season), The Sword Of Shanarra (never heard of it? Not surprized. It was BIG once, even though it sucked, hard), Space Rangers, Earth 2, and countless other pieces of shlock forgettable failures.
If you are a writer, and you don't take narrative consistency seriously, you are a hack.
The most criminal thing is to say 'It's only a cartoon', or 'It's only a TV show', or 'It's only a book'. Those who say that, those who think that way, are why we cannot have good things. Literally, they are the reason crappy things are permitted to exist, and why great things are allowed to be ruined.
"All failure comes from not taking things seriously enough." That is a quotation you can attribute to me.
I think you're taking season 1 fanon too seriously and trying too hard not to be able to suspend your disbelief.
Some people watch 'Putting your Hoof Down', see everyone acting like an ass to Fluttershy, and say, "That's clever. Normally we're seeing what people seem like to ponies like Twilight that everyone respects, or Pinkie Pie who thinks she's friends with everyone, but here's Fluttershy's perspective where everyone's out to get her."
You say, "OMG evil dopplegangers!"
Oh this sounds really fantastic I will have to wait until It's completion before beginning to read...
Meanwhile I have certain other works of yours to read up on :D
Ah!! This explains it. Now that Celestia's horn is broken, so is the WORLD....
I just hope that a Lilian Fogarty isn't reshaping things in her own image now that she's starting to remember who and what she is.
I really think you need to submit this to EQD hun, its too good not to share! Love the deconstructive aproach and I can't wait to see where the plot goes from here now that the peices are in play
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I kind of got it into my head that Chatoyance was a dude a while ago and was never quite able to break the habit.
What the? Celestia's horn broken, even in the Season 2 finale it didn't break it was blackend after the fight with Chrysalis but not broken.
I still don't know why you're bashing Season 2 so much, not everything about the show has to be perfect, it's about love and toloerance after all.
Oh my...
Well, this is an interesting existential conundrum: When your god breaks, who do you call for technical support?
Also, I hadn't really considered the deeper ramifications of Shining Armor's presence in Twilight's life until now. I think I was too focused on WTF THIRD ALICORN NO EXPLANATION WHY????
...yeah.
If nothing else, this was as much an exquisitely constructed argument against the finale as it was an enjoyable transition chapter. I have none of the issues I did with earlier scenes where there were feasible (if occasionally flimsy) explanations for seemingly out-of-character behavior. Fantastically well executed.
Now that I've actually had time to read it...
Now let me get this straight-This isn't Season 1 Twilight, but rather somwhere around S2E2 Twilight.
Thank you for pointing out some of the positive character developments in Season 2. Though I have quite some problems with it (the season, not the character development), most of which you have already touched upon, there are some really nice things in it too.
I think this is rather clever; other than perhaps "lesson zero" which I loved (even though it amped up the crazy), Twilight has been the only truly consistent pony (other than applejack, but we're not talking about background ponies right now). The biggest problem I had though with the entire show so far came in the last two episodes of season 2.
Suddenly, Twilight has a brother, and a foalsitter. The whole reason for her to "get out and make some friends" is turned into a joke. With one fell swoop, she's changed from the bookworm into the simply shy, which she isn't.
Worse than that, her foalsitter is a princess and an alicorn. As I said in my blog post, Princess Celesetia, regent of the sun, Princess Luna, ruler of the moon and custodian of the Great Deeps, meet Princess Cadence, Princess of Foalsitting. And the love doctor.
Everypony say "Hi Candence", she's a member of the new ubermensch. Damn, earth ponies really got screwed this time.
And then, to top it all off (and yes, I know, princess of love, smoochy-smoochy, love is the most powerful form of friendship etc etc be damned) Celestia, a goddess, gets bitchslapped by a bug.
Don't get me wrong, but I felt like Twilight does in this story when that happened. I've never played her quite as powerful as Chatoyance - I prefer a "more human" character in a story, as a goddess can do far too much and ceases to be interesting, but still... she controls the bucking sun. Chrysalis had to be spitroast harder than a bucket of pigs to suck up that much powerjuice from Candence's husbando to cheap shot the sun herself. It's just wrong, or at the very least very poorly presented.
Where's the Celestia that vanquished Discord? That banished Nightmare Moon?
Anyway, I digress. A bit wordy and purple this chapter may be, but I enjoyed it.
Guh, the: 'If Twi had a BBBFF and Cadence, why did she become friendless bookworm?' issue. First off, think about that for a moment. Filly Twi's best, and apparently only, friends pre-cutie mark were her older brother and foalsitter. Now I myself wasn't exactly the most popular of people as a youth, but I still had friends outside of family and caretakers. Second, all the flashback shots with Shining or Candence were, as I hinted above, pre-cutie mark, meaning before she began studying with Celestia. There's nothing to indicate that she had any other friendships outside those two plus Spike, who might as well be her younger brother, up until series proper. It's also implied that she lost contact with at least Cadence, and it's doubtful she had much contact with the rest of her family, despite her supposed 'close' relationship with Shining. (Seriously, she only found out about the wedding the week of. Shining should consider himself lucky Twi let THAT issue drop so fast, cause if it were me, I'd have been pissed as all get out.) Point being, its not unbelievable that she could turn out the way she was initially shown as in the beginning of Season 1.
Ah, but you forget! Season 2 took place AFTER DISCORD ESCAPED!!! Supposedly the Elements repaired the damage... but what if they didn't?
Twilight would retain some of her mental weakness (Lesson Zero)
Applejack would resort to falsehoods (Last Roundup)
Pinkie Pie would be obtain some serious behavior (Baby Cakes)
Fluttershy would have a streak of cruelty (Putting Your Hoof Down)
Rarity would express self-centeredness (also Lesson Zero)
Rainbow Dash would... ok, reading aside, she's still her... that's actually not implausible, you know. BUT! She acts far more responsible than usual! (Hurricane Fluttershy)
Spike would have mutant growth powers! (Secret of My Excess) Because mutant growth powers are chaotic.
And Celestia would become Trollestia and gorge on cake! (Ponyville Confidential)
Anyway, IT ALL MAKES SENSE IF DISCORD'S POWER IS STILL IN EFFECT!!! They never beat him! THEY LOST!! This is all part of his twisted game!
I'm making more sense than I realized! IT MUST BE TRUE!! DISCORD'S STILL FREE AND *BANG BANG BANG!!* X___x
(Alondro falls dead as a strange chimeric shadow vanishes behind a grassy knoll)
It is rumored that Cadence is the ruler (or will be) for the Crystal Kingdom or some such in season 3. I guess it takes an Alicorn to rule though it is still strange to have her foal sit (or at least you would think so unless she was not 1st in line for succession at the time and thus was allowed to branch out a bit).
Actually the big issue isn't really the content but rather the lack of build up. The 1st season did a great job building up to the gala with lots of foreshadowing and references. The 2nd season could have easily done this by somehow mentioning that there are more Alicorns (perhaps all Pony nations are led by them?) or having Twilight mention off hand she has a brother (or show him in a flashback or something). Just these little things would have made it a lot better. Twilight having a brother not a problem. More Alicorns not a problem for me. No build up though makes it less satisfying.
Also let us not kid ourselves though stuff like Star Trek have inconsistencies (for instance Klingons. Yea they retconned it but that is looked down upon in comics so Star Trek should be too good for that. It took them over 20 years just to fix that one thing). What makes them classic isn't that (and certainly it is due to their classic nature that we ignore these issues) though being more consistent helps for sure. What is difficult to do is figuring out why one change is alright and others not so much. If you look in comics you can see a lot of both and sometimes it is the change itself and other times it is how it is changed. Complicated stuff.
Heh. Three guesses which impossible thing happens next.
Hmm. So Discord and Hearth's Warming Eve fit into the world as Season One knows it, then?
The headcanon is thick with this one. <.< Draws the chapter out, too; the meeting with Shining and Cadence was not something you should have put off longer than necessary!
I'm intrigued by how there's almost a shift here, that season one Twilight is discovering she's the one who's wrong. But then you end on broken-horn Celestia and I just... That's completely out there, it's defeating the purpose of this piece. :/
It isn't like she has a name, after all.
This story is slowly going exactly where I though it would.
While the sell more toys pink Alicorn certainly bothered me, that BBBFF out of nowhere really destroyed her entire character and back story for me, just as you highlighted here. Another great chapter, thanks!
This altered world has got to be Discord's doing. I have no other explanation.
Yeah, the "Surprise, brother!" thing kind of got to me. And I thought the only alicorns were Celestia and Luna, but I've peeked ahead and by the end of the series we're almost flank-deep in them. If the series jumped the shark sometime around the cliff episode, it reached orbit trajectory when Twi became an alicorn. *shudder*