The Stone
“Well...this place is just vibrant.” Sunset intoned, only a mild sarcastic edge to her words as they approached, Twilight rolling her eyes. The pair turned off the road and paced down the hill toward what Twilight knew to be the property of the Pie clan. As much snark as she had, it was true that the surrounding countryside was distressingly bare. Empty fields stretched around a very old-fashioned farmhouse, a windmill and what seemed to be a grain silo the only pony-made landmarks around, with a sparse woodland in the distance beyond them. As they passed a final bend, she amended her summation to include what seemed to be a tremendous egg-shaped boulder that sat not far from the house itself.
I better ask about that later, the unicorn noted mentally as a family almost as plain collectively as the surrounding farmland emerged from the front door. Sunset found herself taken aback by the quartet; she'd thought upon meeting Maud Pie on the other side that Pinkie incidentally didn't bear much resemblance to her sibling, but this was bordering on the ridiculous. Of the four, only the stallion wasn't a shade of gray, and even then his coat was a dull brown, somehow matching his stern, humorless expression and admittedly bright golden eyes. Flanking him was an older mare the unicorn took to be his wife, her dark mane pulled up into a tight bun and an equally flat look on her platinum countenance. The two younger mares, a cooler, slightly purple gray and the other ashen and pale, showed slightly more life in their respective faces of suspicious irritation and nervous shyness.
Igneous Rock held out a hoof as they reached the front gate, causing the pair to halt instinctively. “Hold there, strangers. What business have thee on our farm, alicorn and unicorn?”
“You'd think the alicorn thing would make it obvious,” Sunset muttered under her breath. Twilight shushed her and spoke.
“I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, and this is Sunset Shimmer. We've come representing the Royal Geological Survey, in response to a letter we've received about an unusual lode of stone--”
The stallion frowned harder (somehow) and interrupted, “Then thy journey was for naught, Twilight Sparkle. I will not have the likes of ponies of learning, not of hard work, scuttling over our fields and upsetting our crops over a lodestone, even one I scarcely recognize. Please, depart our property at once.”
Twilight balked, taken aback by his firm refusal (and also seemingly fairly put out by his implied insults about academics). “W-wait a moment! We need to at least get a look at that rock! It's a matter of safety!”
The stallion stomped his hoof authoritatively. “We do not need thy help, Twilight Sparkle. We of the Pie family have tended this land for generations, and we have seen more than a few strange stones come of the earth. We will care for it, as we always have. Please leave.”
“Alright, LOOK!” Sunset exclaimed, exasperation already overflowing. The unicorn produced the (slightly sticky) letter Pinkie had shoved in her bag, passing it off the to stallion. He raised an eyebrow at it. “Maybe if you'd let her finish talking before saying get out, we'd have a chance to tell you that we're friends of Pinkie Pie's, and that she also asked us to come and check this stone out!” She paused a moment, ignoring the aghast expression on her friend's face as Igneous and his wife examined the letter. “...satisfied? Now, I get that it's your land and all that, but this isn't just about you. We don't know what that rock is about, but it's apparently powerfully reactive to magic and that makes it a potential danger to you and everypony else. If you wanna keep refusing us, then fine.” She indicated Twilight with a hoof, anger clear on her face. “But in case you didn't know, not only is Pinkie one of Twilight's closest friends but she trusted us enough to come here and check on that rock for your sake. You can write her a letter explaining why you turned us away and then have HER worrying about you constantly AND the RGS breathing down your collective necks until they get one of the other Princesses involved and make it a Royal Order instead of a Royal Suggestion. And they will, trust me. How's that sound?”
The Pie family seemed to hesitate, looking at one another nervously. After a moment, Igneous pulled his wife aside to speak to her, a speedy and hushed conversation passing between them before the mare turned to face them again.
“Our apologies, Misses Sparkle and Shimmer. We did not mean offense, and our daughter means well. If she trusts thee well enough to check on our welfare, then we will trust her judgment. Please, come inside.”
The Pie clan turned back to their house as Sunset snorted, venting what was left of her aggression. That had felt...good. A nagging voice told her she shouldn't be going off the handle at her friend's family, but they couldn't just dismiss a Princess out of turn like that, whatever their right to snub her specifically. She turned to her host, face still fixed in a scowl as she muttered under her breath. “Like these ponies could even begin to know about magic...”
Twilight seemed to startle out of her shock, a quick shake of the head preceding her response. “W-well...honestly, I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. They seem to be a really old-fashioned bunch. I imagine they're not very keen on having outsiders come along and demand to be shown onto their land.” She frowned as she tapped Sunset on the shoulder. “Just...slow down on the threats, Sunset. I know you meant well, but it's not a good way to get ponies on your side.”
“Threats?” Sunset blinked. “Those weren't threats, Twilight. Those are inevitabilities. If we're not the ones to look into this eventually the RGS will make a big enough stink that somepony else gets involved that wears a crown.” She paused at the crestfallen expression on the alicorn's face. “...that's just the way it is, Twilight. You're one of Celestia's personal students, you should know that better than anyone.”
“What do you mean?” The lavender mare asked, puzzled. Sunset frowned.
“...you've never seen her do that?” The unicorn hesitated, glancing over her shoulder at the farmhouse door to be sure she didn't have an audience before continuing. “Twilight, when Celestia wants involved in something, she gets what she wants eventually. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. She always gets her way. She's the Princess. Er, one of them. Nopony sane refuses her, if nothing else than for the bad reputation declining a request from her gets you. Not only that, but anything operating in her name has almost the same amount of clout. Imply you'll involve the Princess, bam. Generally, instant capitulation.”
Twilight narrowed her eyes. “She wouldn't abuse that....or allow it to be abused like that.”
“She doesn't think of it as abuse of that power, Twilight. It's for the greater good.” Sunset's face changed to concern. “Think seriously for a second. Has Celestia ever shown herself to ever have any kind of humility in her actions?” Twilight scowled as Sunset continued. “You can go ahead and make that face, but you know it's true. Whether you believe it or not is on you.”
“Sunset, I know you and Princess Celestia didn't always agree, but--” Twilight began, but was cut off by the amber mare.
“This isn't about how well she and I do or don't get along. She was like a mother to me, Twilight. It took me a spectrum laser to the face and an extended exile to remember it, but she was. It doesn't change the facts.” Sunset stated flatly. “I want you to stop and ask yourself, just for a second, if she's ever wronged you. I mean honestly, truly, done you a disservice. And then I want you to ask yourself if she ever, ever apologized for it. Last week, for example.”
Twilight stared at the unicorn, working her jaw wordlessly. “...This isn't the time for that, Sunset. Come on.” She brushed past the other mare, expression troubled. Sunset watched her go for a moment before following, an unpleasant sensation in her stomach. Had she said too much?
The inside of the farmhouse was just as spartan as the outside, which was altogether unsurprising at this point. These were clearly ponies who actively shunned progress, Sunset mused as she took in the very, very antique furniture, most of which just looked plainly uncomfortable to sit in. The kitchen table lacked even basic seats, trading them for a pair of long, basic benches that wouldn't look out of place in a very old barracks. Everything seemed to be some desaturated brownish or gray tone. The other Pinkie's home had been much more colorful; Sunset had thus far been unnerved somewhat by the similarities between the two worlds but in this case the differences were making her uncomfortable. Come to think of it, she wondered, had she ever met any of Pinkie's family besides Maud? She hadn't given it much thought, as busy as life had been, but...
“Please, your majesty, have a seat.”
She was brought back to the now by the voice of the elder mare with the severe-looking glasses. This would have to be Pinkie's mother. She shooed the younger mares that would've been Pinkie's sisters out as she and Igneous sat down in bare rocking chairs.
“Now then, Princess. My attention is thine. What plan have thee for this strange stone?” Igneous's face was still plainly distrustful, despite the admonishing glance from his wife.
“Our plan,” Twilight began, inhaling as she switched to didact mode, “is simply to examine the lode for any unusual magical properties, as the letter said there are, and if they're potentially dangerous or not. That's all. It's only a fact-finding assignment.”
“And what if danger finds thee?”
“Then we inform the RGS and the Princesses.” Sunset answered. “They will decide what to do from there, based on the sort of hazards the stone might represent.”
“And thus disrupt our home once more.” The old stallion concluded with an air of irritable finality.
“I really am sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. Rock.” Twilight said sympathetically. “If we're lucky it just turns out to be an unusual geologic incident and we can all go back to our normal business.”
“We will see, Princess. We will see.”
The fields of stone continued the trend of alarming monotony the surrounding countryside had started as Twilight and Sunset approached the lodestone. The noon sun was already beating down, and not for the first time was the unicorn grateful she'd thought to pick up a chilling cantrip during a routine review a few days prior. Twilight had similarly set up a small self-refreshing cooling charm around herself as they walked, though hers seemed somehow less effective than Sunset's. Of course, Twilight could have also just been slightly more out of shape than the amber mare.
Either way, they found the lode without trouble. Frankly, they would've had trouble missing it, the glossy black stone jutting from the ground like a great, crooked tooth. The sun reflected off of the surface, or at least, it seemed to at points. At other places, the stone seemed to hungrily consume light around it, a deeper black than Sunset had ever thought possible staring at the pair from the stone.
A nameless worry crept into the unicorn's heart as they came to a halt twenty paces from the stone.
Twilight seemed to agree; her wings rustled with visible nerves as she set her bags down and drew a clipboard with a number of charts from them.
“W-well, here we are!” she said, the cheer in her voice sounding somewhat forced. “Let's begin the tests!”
“Right. Uh...what do you wanna try first?”
The alicorn tapped her chin with a hoof thoughtfully. “I suppose we could do some basic lifting and moving first. Are there any broken off pieces near the stone...? Hmm, guess not.” She frowned. “We'll have to get a smaller sample first.”
Sunset nodded, approaching the ominous fang of obsidian slowly, a small hammer and chisel ready in her magic as she went. The closer she got, the more urgently the inner voice in her mind told her to turn tail and run. Irritably, she quashed the dissenting opinion and went to set her chisel.
She had scarcely made contact when a sense of profound vertigo and indignant fury overtook her, making her drop her tools and retch loudly. She could only barely hear Twilight's cry of alarm as she swooned and fell to her knees. Sunset blinked rapidly, fear willing her to come back to reality. She managed to stumble backward a few steps like a drunkard before tumbling to the ground, another wave of nausea causing her to nearly vomit. Twilight was already upon her and pulling at her with her hooves. Silly Twilight. She's magic, why does she have to carry me? You know, it's strange, but Twilight is very strong, Sunset mused in a daze. She lifted Sunset and carried her like it was nothing. It was kinda nice, being on her back. Between those pretty wings...
Being dumped roughly on the ground and being gently slapped with a hoof shook those thoughts out, making Sunset blink and shake her head. “Wh..whuh? Twi, stop, stop...” She waved a hoof shakily, warding off another blow. “I'm..I'm awake. I'm good.”
Twilight cupped Sunset's face in her hooves, locking eyes with the unicorn. She apparently didn't like what she saw, because she pushed Sunset back to a seated position firmly. “You're most certainly not good, Sunset Shimmer. What happened?”
“I-I'm...I'm not sure. I was setting the chisel and then everything got really blurry.” The amber mare spoke, her voice more sure than she was. “It was like...I was instantly punch-drunk or something. I think?”
Twilight glanced over her shoulder at the lodestone, a new note of fear in her features. “It sounds like a feedback phenomenon...Maybe we should just send for the Princess now...”
“No, no...I got. I'll just do it the old-fashioned way this time. No magic. I bet that was the problem.” Sunset rose unsteadily, taking a moment to catch her bearings.
“Sunset, just let me--”
“I can handle this, Twilight!” Sunset said with a bit more force than she meant, instantly regretting it. “Just...let me try. Okay? We don't need to involve the Princess for everything.”
At the alicorn's stricken expression, she added, “Just be ready to catch me if I get woozy again.” With that, she pushed past Twilight and approached the stone again, ignoring her friend's protests and her own better judgment as the rock loomed above her, the dark surface now seeming to possess a sort of malice she hadn't seen before. Honest anger, or just her own fear playing tricks on her? She picked up the chisel and mallet by hoof from where they lay when she had initially dropped them, taking a deep breath. She glanced at Twilight, who watched with bated breath and an anxious face. She inhaled sharply, holding her breath taut as she gingerly placed the chisel on the stone, prepared for the worst...
With a soft metallic 'ting!' the chisel found purchase. Sunset exhaled slowly and craned her other hoof back, mallet at the ready. She looked to the alicorn out of the corner of her eye one more time and gave a bracing smile before taking aim and swinging.
A sense of otherworldly outrage washed over her as she felt her limbs tremble from the impact and a sudden lightness of body overtake her as the stone retreated at high speed. No, wait; she was--
Twilight loosed an inarticulate scream of alarm as Sunset was hurled backward over her head. She launched from the ground with such force as to scatter loose dust as she chased the unicorn now rapidly descending to the earth. She pumped her wings desperately, tears streaming from her eyes from the air pressure as she locked on the other mare's bemused face. She wasn't close enough, Sunset was going to--WAIT. She screwed up her face and focused, a soft pop pulling her through space as she reappeared next to the now very surprised unicorn and seized her. She pulled once more, and they found themselves above a copse of trees, beyond the farmland and the sure death a field of rock and stone would cause.
Unfortunately, she hadn't thought any further ahead.
Twilight squeezed Sunset tight as they careened forward...and hit something very springy and resilient. Each of them yelped in alarm as they ricocheted off of a cloud, the fluffy, moist surface dramatically slowing them down and changing their direction. Now, all of a sudden they were going almost straight up.
The alicorn and unicorn looked each other in the eyes with dumbfounded expressions that changed to alarm as gravity seized control again. They plummeted right back down and sprang back up again, their momentum considerably lessened as they fell away from one another. A few progressively more halfhearted bounces later, they were both splayed out on the lumpy construct, the cloud seemingly unaware of its two occupants as it continued to drift lazily in the stale breeze.
Unbidden tired laughter bubbled out from Twilight's stomach; it was less of mirth and more the exhausted, nervous chuckle of someone who had just survived something potentially very lethal, the chortle of death barely defied (though whether it had really been all that was a point of debate, if she stopped to think about it). She rolled over and sat up, noting the amber mare blinking slowly as she got her bearings. She glanced around, noting how cold and damp her rump and hooves felt. A cloud, of all things to hit on the way! She silently thanked the stars for their good fortune as she peered warily off the side to the rugged forest below
“...wow, talk about a lucky break! A cloud right there in our flight path.” Twilight moved to stand, her hooves only a trifle unsteady. “You okay, Sunset?” She glanced to her friend with a concerned smile. Sunset looked back, a stricken expression on her face. Twilight's concern slowly faded into shock as she processed what she was seeing.
“Sunset...? What is this?”
The unicorn stared through the cotton-like surface.
A terribly vast silence passed between them, the cloud slowly floating along without a care.
A short and silent glide to the ground later, Twilight finished her twin missives to both the RGS and the Princesses. Sunset was uncharacteristically quiet, sitting on her rump as she cast an empty gaze at the blade-like obsidian stone. The lavender mare looked to her friend, worry on her face as she took up a seat next to the unicorn. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. What even could she say?
Hey, I noticed that you can apparently violate a fundamental rule of equine magibiology!
She grimaced to herself. No, that was stupid. There must surely be a logical explanation. But in order to explain it, she'd have to ask questions, and she wasn't sure the other mare was up to any questions right this second. But she couldn't just let her sit here in silence alone with her thoughts, could she? No, she had to say something.
“Sunset--”
“Twilight--”
She started as the unicorn started to speak at the same time, the pair smiling sheepishly at each other. The amber mare motioned for her to continue.
“Okay...Sunset, I'm sure there's a logical explanation for what happened up there. We just need to work it out. We're both pretty smart fillies, I'm pretty sure we can do it if we try.” She gave a more genuine smile to her friend.
“Alright.” Sunset responded, one eye closed as she spoke. “Fact the first: I can apparently sit on clouds like pegasi do. The only real fact we have, honestly.”
“Okay, well...I can look at your magic, then! See if I find any pegasus magic!” Twilight blinked and blushed as the statement left her mouth.
“Whoa there, Twi. You even know what you're looking for?” Sunset frowned, laughing nervously.
“P-probably! If we do a proper examination and DO find pegasus magic, we can get a sense for where it came from. Probably. It might even be rubbing off of me, as much time as we've spent in each other's company for the past so many days!” Twilight waved her hooves as she scrambled to explain, a blush coming to her face. “I-it's only for problem solving!”
Sunset spoke through her own reddening, “I don't know, Twilight. I see where you're coming from, but that's...I mean...I don't know if I like the idea of you probing me. Not that we're not good friends, but I...well, I like my privacy.”
Twilight's face was crestfallen as she replied. “I...I understand. It was just an idea.” A sort of hollow feeling appeared in her gut. She really had only wanted to help...but it was true that to examine another pony's magic in its entirety was to allow the examiner access to your inner magic and in a way, your spirit. Ponies were so bound up in their own native magic that any such exposure was tantamount to leaving open the door to the self; a good mind or soul mage could wreak havoc with such unfettered access.
Thus, allowing another unicorn to do so was to speak to your trust in them, placing yourself at your most vulnerable before them, and it was a thing reserved for very close friends or family for most practical purposes. Twilight supposed that pegasi had a similar ritual in allowing another to preen your wings for you, which had retroactively explained why Cadance had volunteered to teach her how that worked. She was less certain about earth ponies, but then again, it had never seemed like something that one discussed in polite company.
She was pulled out of her musings when Sunset spoke again.
“...I guess, j-just this once.” She muttered haltingly, her face embarrassed. “Just...don't mess around. Learn what you need to and leave. I don't...I don't want you to see any more of what I was.”
Twilight nodded and smiled, a warmth returning to her. This mare was something else, she thought, as she moved to face her directly. Twilight knew how far she'd come; how could Sunset think she'd judge her after all that?
“Alright, Sunset. This is my first time doing this on the examination side, so please bear with me. We're just gonna touch our horns--”
“I know how it works!” Sunset snapped, a blush on her face. “Let's just get it over with.”
“O-okay. Here we go...” Twilight hesitated, taking in Sunset's screwed tight eyes and nervous sweat. She leaned forward...and missed, bumping Sunset's noggin.
“Twilight, what are you doing?”
“I'm fine! Just relax.” She tried again, and upon contact, reached out...
Twilight was was alone. Above her was a sphere of soft light, almost like a miniature sun. It seemed to oscillate softly between reds, yellows and oranges. Less like a sun, she imagined, and more like a little spherical flame. She reached out for the sphere with her hoof, felt the gentle warmth overtake her.
The world was in flames. She cast about. There was a figure, a mare, frozen still despite the flames licking her body. The mare's face was consumed with indignant rage, locked mid stride away from another figure, this one blinding and painful to look at.
Twilight blinked, and there were humans, all motionless gray figures, and ignorant of the fires around them as they stared in condemnation at the figure in the crater before them, weeping tears despite her stone countenance.
She blinked, and saw a familiar array of figures, including herself, standing together against strange, horrible aquatic monsters as they sang. She was cheek-to-cheek with a familiar statue, its face stained with tears that hadn't been wiped away.
She blinked, and she saw unfamiliar figures arrayed against the ones she knew, a sense of onerous weight behind the former, like that had everything to lose. There was her double, a sickly pallor casting her in white compared to the grey around her. Before her stood the contrite one, doubt evident on her face.
She blinked, and beheld a great hole in the world leading to HER world. There in the sky was what she presumed to be her other, winged and horned, consumed by mania and magic. Before her was a golden figure, wings and horn of light doing nothing to hide the unmistakeable curves of her face or the determination that only she possessed in her eyes, the stains almost faded away. Luminescent multicolored chains linked the gleaming statue to the shadows of her friends.
She blinked, and the world was at peace again. There stood Sunset, holding hands with her double. At from the former's back dangled the chains, slowly making their way inward, the first obvious motion she'd seen.
Twilight blinked, and she saw the sphere again. She took it in her hooves and cradled it gently; precious and fragile things needed special handling, after all. She felt it resonate with her, a nervousness in the air dispelled as she was recognized. There was the incalculable magic she knew Sunset possessed; the familiar, orderly thrum of the unicorn that spoke of curiosity and inquisition, a will to know and learn. But there was more. She stared in wonder as she reached further; there was the stout, gentle pulse of a strong heart that was able to accept everything. There was the energetic, wispy tinkling that spoke of the clouds, and the boundless freedom of the skies. She marveled; she'd never seen magic presented in such a way! If only she could take notes--
Wait. She paused, hugging the flame close to herself. If there was more than unicorn magic here, then it must have come from her friends. Something about it was familiar...
An epiphany! She looked up, recalling a time not so long ago that she stood in a library, seared in the fire of the Elements of Harmony. Twilight peered down at the sphere, staring harder at the flame within. There...she had to look for it, but it was there. Loyalty toward friends who didn't fully trust her at first. A kindness that once nurtured again looked toward those who needed her help. Honesty with Twilight about her anxieties and fears. Generosity with her time, a willingness to give of herself to help others. Laughter, seemingly at others expense, but always ready to take an issue seriously, if needed.
She had done the same thing, Twilight realized. Sunset had already been twice touched by the Elements; once to bring her down, and once willingly to try to save her friends and bring a misguided soul back to reality, just as she'd had done for her.
Sunset Shimmer had burned in the same fire Twilight Sparkle had. Arguably, a greater trial she couldn't have known would end well. Then why wasn't she...?
She suddenly noticed a yawning stillness, a profound emptiness in the air. Her conclusions were wrong. They couldn't be right. They could not be. They could not be. The atmosphere changed; there was fear. Doubt. Recrimination. Rejection.
Twilight was wrong. She was wrong. Wrong. Wrong, wrong--
Twilight opened her eyes, inhaling sharply. Before her, Sunset looked up, tears at the corners of her eyes. She broke away, sprinting off as fast as her hooves would carry her. The alicorn sat dumbfounded for a moment starting and giving chase. “Sunset, wait!”
She stumbled over stones and tried to duck under branches, giving a brief yelp of pain as her mane and tail were tangled and yanked, ignoring the scratches and branches whipping her face and sides as she tried to keep an eye on the fiery shape that even now seemed to be opening the gap between them. She only needed to round a few corners to...wait a moment, she could fly. She rolled her eyes in annoyance at her own density as she made a leap skyward, pushing through the canopy. She found the unicorn quickly, attempting to lose her around a series of hedges. Twilight bodily tackled the other mare, the two tumbling over one another for the second time today as they rolled down a slope sideways back down into a clearing with an open view of the jagged lodestone.
They lay there silently for a moment, wind knocked out of them. Sunset recovered first, wriggling her way out from under Twilight and sitting upright as she wheezed. The alicorn scrambled to her hooves, ready to give chase again, but the amber mare didn't seem intent on running again. Instead she coughed, wiping her cheek and ignoring the reddish smudge on her coat it left behind. She seemed to curl in on herself, head hanging low, shrinking before Twilight's eyes. Her eyes stared into the earth, unfocused and vacant.
Twilight's throat tightened. She surged forward, taking Sunset up in her hooves. The amber mare didn't resist; the alicorn felt her heart against her own. It seemed impossibly slow, each beat feeling like it was only done grudgingly in her chest. The lavender mare squeezed, wrapping her wings about the other mare and rubbing her cheek against her, willing desperately for some of that warmth and conviction to come back to the unicorn. Something, anything more than this awful, stony quiet.
Sunset's shoulders hitched as a chuckle built up in her stomach, somehow turning into a hiccup as it reached her mouth. Twilight felt a small measure of relief as the other mare wrapped her hooves around her body, leaning into her. She could feel the warm wetness of tears, the cold grainy sensation of dirt pressed into her coat, even the slight discomfort of her mane being pulled at...but more than any of those, she felt the softness of Sunset's face against her own, her shaky breath, her desperate cling to the alicorn.
“It's okay, Sunset. It's...it's okay. You're okay.” Twilight murmured softly, gently stroking the back of the unicorn's head, hoof running over her already badly tousled mane. “It's fine. You're fine...”
Sunset shook her head slightly, leaning heavily on the lavender mare. “It's not okay. I stole that power, Twilight. I t-took it, without thinking. W-without meaning! I didn't earn a-anything...” She murmured into the alicorn's neck, her voice whispery.
“What do you mean you didn't? You saved your friends. You saved Twilight Sparkle. I saw it...or a representation of it.” She glanced out of the corner of her eye at the other mare. “Why didn't you tell me that was what happened? All you said was that you and your friends had fixed everything... I didn't press you because I supposed that explained anything in the human world as adequately as I could've hoped, but...”
Sunset huffed another sigh, wiping her eye with a hoof. “It...it wasn't me, though. It was them. And that damned device Twilight carried with her. It had all their magic, all the portal's magic, all of my magic in it.” She pushed away from Twilight, the alicorn sorely missing her warmth almost immediately. “It wasn't anything I did. It was everyone else. Twilight...the human Twilight, I mean, obviously...she was drowning in power she didn't understand, taken from all of them, and from the portal and from me. I just piggybacked off of that.”
Twilight frowned. “You saw what she did, and you copied her despite having no idea what it would do to you, in order to stop her. How didn't you earn it, Sunset?”
“Didn't you just hear me?! I just said--” Sunset snapped, only to be stopped short by Twilight raising her hoof.
“Did I ever tell you exactly how I became an alicorn, Sunset? I mean, the true full story. Not the speculation in papers or rumors you must've heard.”
“The true story? You completed a spell Starswirl the Bearded couldn't. THE Starswirl. You know, the legendary wizard to whom all great spellcasters in Equestrian history are compared?” Sunset waved a hoof.
“Oh, I know. Trust me, I'm probably his biggest living fan.” The lavender mare said airily. “Well, here's the thing. Princess Celestia sent me a journal with Starswirl's unfinished 'masterpiece' spell within it. And you know what the unfinished spell did?” At Sunset's uncomprehending shake of the head, she continued, “It switched the truths of my friends. Their cutie marks, their destinies, even their memories, were all swapped around. All because Starswirl's spell, half finished, singled out destinies and included what, retroactively, I should've known was a swap clause.”
“You scrambled your friends destinies?” Sunset sat agape.
“That's right. I was so dense that I managed to utterly ruin the lives of my five closest friends by accident. It wasn't until I figured out that the 'true self' of a pony wasn't necessarily a one-to-one match with their destiny that I was able to understand, and introduce them back to the things they genuinely loved, that they were able to come back to themselves.” Twilight spoke, her tone mildly self-deprecating.
“So...what? You helped everyone get their cutie mark back?” Sunset asked. “That's a pretty big deal, Twilight...”
“Well, yes, but I also didn't. I wouldn't have had to if I hadn't switched them in the first place. Moreover, rather than finishing his spell, such as it was, I basically added an additional rhyme about how the magic of friendship was without limit.” The alicorn's tone went flat. “Then the Elements blew me up.”
“I'm sorry, what?” Sunset blanched.
“The Elements of Harmony on everyone's necks shot a chromatic laser at me that blasted me out of the local space-time, as near as I could tell. The point is, I didn't actually finish anything.” Twilight said bitterly. “I didn't earn anything. I have no idea what Starswirl's spell was meant to do. Maybe it was supposed to be an incantation amplifying the power of the Elements (which should already be functionally limitless, by the way). Maybe it was meant to be a way to allow ponies who couldn't accept their destinies find a new one. I don't know.” The alicorn stood, pacing about as an anger she had forgotten she had built in her chest.
“And then, after I get blown apart or forcibly translocated to some strange otherspace where physics aren't a thing and my memories are playing out around me without my permission, there's the Princess!” Twilight couldn't quite feel her voice rising as she went, “And she tells me that I've done it! I've done the impossible, completed a spell Starswirl couldn't, because he didn't understand friendship, and now I was ready to fulfill my destiny!” She was shouting now, but she didn't care, wings flaring. “No explanation! No warning! No asking! And I come back to my senses with THESE!”
She stomped the ground, the earth buckling beneath the impact from a strength she frequently forgot she could summon. “Guess what, Twilight?! You're a Princess now! Now your life is out of your control! You're a head of state! You're an immortal who's going to outlive nearly everyone around you, friends and family alike!” She paused for a moment, taking a breath. Sunset went to raise a hoof, but put it back down as Twilight went right back to shouting, her fury now on full display as her mane and tail began to float behind her in an ethereal wind, tiny stars dotting the violet stripes and eyes aglow with an eerie light.
“BUT NO, YOU'RE NOT ACTUALLY IMPORTANT! YOU SHOW UP AT PARTIES, AT POLITICAL EVENTS AND WAVE YOUR HOOF! YOU GET ALL THE PAPERWORK AND SOCIETAL PRESSURE, ALL THE PONIES WHO WANTED TO USE YOU BEFORE NOW BLOODY TRIPLED, BUT YOU GET NO SAY IN HOW ANYTHING GOES! YOU'RE AN EQUAL, BUT YOU'RE A JUNIOR WHO DEFERS TO US!” Twilight couldn't feel her voice distort, a strange pony-shaped umbra appearing behind her as the world seemed to darken around her and her form seemed to lengthen, a deeper purple creeping up her feathers and coat from the hooves, couldn't sense the ground retreating from beneath her. “YOU HAVE TO SIFT YOUR PURPOSE FROM EVERYTHING ELSE! I HAD TO MAKE MY OWN PURPOSE AFTER SHE CHANGED MINE, SUNSET SHIMMER! SHE MADE ME A DEMIGODDESS AND SET ME ADRIIIFT!” She screamed the last word in a warped facsimile of the Royal Canterlot Voice , the force of the wind scattering dust, leaves and causing Sunset to cover her ears briefly. She didn't care, just for a moment. She was so angry. So angry. It felt so good to finally let it out. Maybe she could let it all out. Just tell everypony what she--
She was taken aback as the amber mare threw herself on her, not quite aware of the sudden return of the sunlight or her surprised gasp's old consistency as the unicorn wrapped her hooves around her once more. She could feel her rage draining away, replaced with...something warm. Something kindly. She breathed heavily and leaned on Sunset, in a reverse of their previous positions as she felt herself settle down. After a moment, she separated from the other mare, clearing her throat awkwardly.
“I'm...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose my temper...”
“We usually don't, Twilight. If I'm being honest it was kind of...I don't know. Attractive?” Sunset raised an eyebrow at her own statement. “Wow, that sounded weird. Um, I mean...it probably would've been bad for someone with your kind of power to freak out and throw a tantrum, but I mean, WOW.” She paused, blushing. “You know what, just forget I said anything.”
Twilight felt butterflies in her stomach, a giddy rush coming to her as she replied, “Y-yeah, uhm...thanks? I mean...ugh.” She shook her head, which did nothing to dispel her own redness. “What I was trying to get at is, don't tell me you don't deserve it. I literally was deemed worthy by accident after I managed to fix my mistake in a blind guess. I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I didn't earn this. I've been scrambling to not mess up this...blessing I was given. You did what you did to help your friends and to save the ponies...uh, people around you. If that's not worthy, then I don't know what is.” She finished with a smile, sheepishly ruffling her wings.
Sunset gaped at her, face aglow. “...You're entirely too smooth for your own good, Twilight Sparkle.”
“Pardon?” Twilight tilted her head, confused.
“N-nothing. So...” She petered out, seeming uncertain of how to continue. “What do we do with this knowledge?”
Twilight was struck by the question. She blinked slowly. “...What do you mean?”
“I mean, we're gonna keep this between us, right?” Sunset asked, brow furrowed.
“Keep it between--Sunset, you're...well, you're probably an alic--”
Sunset waved her hooves. “No, no no. Don't say it out loud.”
“What? Why not?” The lavender mare frowned.
“If you say out loud it's gonna be...I don't know. True. Final. It's dumb and I can't explain it...”
“Sunset Shimmer is an alicorn.” Twilight stated flatly.
“NNNNnnnnooooo...! Twilight, why?!” The uni(ali?)corn wailed, cupping her face in her hooves.
“Because that's just silly, Sunset. My saying it aloud won't change the facts or not.” Twilight found a wry sort of humor in the other mare's consternation, a sardonic smile on her face. “I mean...this is big, Sunset. You're one of four...five now, I guess, that I know of.” She frowned as another thought struck her. “And yet strangely, you lack wings.”
“Exactly! And thanks to that, we can pretend that this is not a thing!” Sunset exclaimed, a borderline manic smile on her face. “No wings? No one has to know!”
A small seed of alarm was planted in Twilight's stomach. “I can get why you'd like it kept quiet, but you're not even going to tell the Princess?”
“No, of course not! What do you think she's gonna say, Twilight?” Sunset covered her head, ignoring the dirt she was tracking into her mane. “'After everything you became an alicorn? How did you do this, Sunset Shimmer? Where did you steal THIS power from?' Or worse! What if she makes me a Princess? I'm not Princess material, Twilight!” She indicated herself with a demanding expression.
“...I mean, do I look like Princess material?” Twilight asked, nonplussed.
Sunset took a moment to take in the lavender alicorn, stroking her chin at the dirty, scratched coat, tangled mane and tail, and haphazardly misaligned feathers of the pony before her. “...okay, admittedly no--”
“RUDE!”
“Oh, come on!” The amber mare threw up her hooves in frustration.
Twilight tittered, waving a forelimb. “I'm just pulling your leg. Come on, let's at least get out of these trees and cleaned up before the RGS crew gets here. We'll have a serious talk about this on the way home.”
They began the walk back to the stone, Sunset still uncertain and Twilight smiling...at least until a thought struck her.
“...do I really not look like Princess material?”
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It's good that Twilight finally got that out.
Now those two just need to tell their problems to the person who needs to hear it most and make sure she doesn't have an escape.
Wow. Just...wow.. I never once considered Twilight capable of feeling such pain, and yet it totally makes sense. But you do know Twilight isn't gonna have to bury her friends right? The producers already laid such concerns to rest. Still, I can see Twilight not knowing this and having the fear gnawing at the back of her mind constantly.
After that rant I think I'm just a little bit terrified of Twilight
7320163 I've seen that tweet and largely discarded it only because it's just vague enough to tell me nothing and makes no sense within the framework of alicorns the show has already presented to us, unless her friends are also blessed with some kind of hyper-longevity/immortality. Celestia has, at minimum, existed over a thousand years, and her sister has been imprisoned in/on the moon for that span of time. If they're actually equals to Twilight (as Celestia likes to say), then she has the same longevity. Cadance seems to be able to contribute a level of magical power roughly equivalent to the other two (although I guess that's up to interpretation) and is probably in the same boat. Anyone as inquisitive as Twilight Sparkle would've long since confirmed/denied that fact or not.
If it's a sore enough sticking point for you, I do have the AU tag enabled on this. For the purposes of my story, the trifecta magic = immortality (and all the good and ill that burden brings).
7320215
The ONLY reason i see Twi not outliving her friends is a combo of a few things
1. Maybe Alicorns can go to the After Life
2. That maybe one day Twi will sacrifice her Alicornhood to be with her friends
or 3. What you said, basically the Main 6 become immortal...somehow
Wow that was amazing. Like wow i have no words for it except amazing. The most amazing chapter ever.
well......um...that happened....
Wow...it's nice to actually have Twilight express some concern we the fans have about the show.
it is still possible Twilight didn't have a say in her ascension, or that anyone actually did. Wrapping it up and a phony "test" explanation might have been Celestia's attempt to soften the blow. I mean how would Twilight have reacted if Celestia told her "Well you unlocked the Element of Magic, now power will build up in your body till your explode violently and are forced to reincarnated as a demi-goddess. Nothing you can do about it, just a heads up!"
Oh joy, new chapter! I love Twilight at least acknowledging her doubts. And the awkward-accidental-flirting-sort-of thing.
I'd also love to see how Celestia reacts to Sunset's, uh, condition (and Twilight actually standing up to her). You've done a great job of giving believable flaws to her when the show barely gives us anything.
7320163 That tweet is amazingly written. It appears to answer the question without actually answering anything! There are many different interpretations off it:
a) Twilight is still mortal
b) the rest of the mane 6 become immortal
c) the other princesses are her friends too...
d) none of them will outlive each other because they'll all "die" when the show ends
and more! It's basically a free pass for us to do what we want in fan works!
7320215 It's really not an issue for me, I've enjoyed plenty of excellent stories which portray Twilight as immortal and outliving everyone else (and even one which turns that tweet into a sort of horrible prophecy), I was just curious whether you were aware of the tweets or not. It definitely makes her near-Nightmare breakdown more understandable though. I bet before this story started Twilight even ran some lab tests to gauge the deterioration of her cells, and scientifically confirmed she wasn't aging anymore. Hell, if I were in her place I'd probably have snapped within a week.
7320195 And well you should be, frankly. She was no slouch before the whole alicorn thing, and now she's a demigoddess with the capacity for a meltdown that does a hell of a lot more than bring havoc to a small town. Then again, she's also a sweet-natured (if neurotic) bookworm who's currently the leading authority on friends and friendship. [shrug of god]
7320458 7320516 7320724 y'all are a kindly bunch; and as to Nemesis specifically, I'm really glad you find Celestia's flaws believable. I have a fondness for swanhorse but she's entirely too....perfect for me in a lot of fics. Its hard to relate as a character to something that's like a flawlessly polished diamond, so I've been trying to seize on the things I CAN say she's done wrong, like not being mindful of the pain she causes to others because of her 'good intentions' or 'plans'
Celestia's ignorance of and/or unwillingness to acknowledge her sister's pain caused what seemed to be the most traumatic experience in her life, and she's learned from that...sort of. Then we get to the now, and her recent history is filled with suspect decisions because she's seemingly playing a game no one else is, and is trampling all over the feelings of others, whether she means to or not.
I'll never think Princess Celestia is at all evil or malicious; just...arrogant, and perhaps blind to the small side effects of her actions, more worried about the greater implications to her ponies.
7321189 and you done a excellent job of portraying celestia. Also love sunset in this <3
7321189 you're welcome. After this chapter will sunset and twilight grow closer and form a possible relationship. Just wondering.
Well, that's certainly very interesting. The third movie was probably when it happened, but then again Sunset still doesn't have the obvious wings either. Guess they could try to experiment to see if Sunset has any earth pony abilities too, but considering Sunset's still... tense relationship with Celestia, she doesn't want to attract attention.
Nice change to see Twilight be frustrated with Celestia for once, most of the time she's too much of the honor student to even think of criticizing Celestia, especially compared to Sunset, who has reformed but still has issues with her too. Celestia is benevolent, but her tendency to plan while Twilight does all the work gets annoying. Its probably all part of "preparing" Twilight for her destiny, but its refreshing to see Twilight be annoyed with her ascension. Usually only darker fics deal with those implications. Looking forward to where the story goes next, whether that strange rock will be the focus or what they'll do about Sunset's probable new status.
Going by this story logic, Hum,an Twilight is alicorn too. After all she absorbed the same magical essences.
7321189 I'm glad to hear that Celestia isn't a villain in this. I love Celestia and recognize she has flaws but too many people jump on them and hold her up as a horrible person while Luna's flaws make her adorable and cute. Loving the story and can't wait for more.
7320163
Um, it's fanfiction and it's alternate universe (AU), so that's not really relevant here. Also, the proper word is 'producer' I believe, not 'developer'. To be honest, the show writers/producers can make the show be whatever they want even if it makes no sense or contradicts a prior implication, fact, or statement. Facing that fact, it's not real important to care what canon is in an AU story unless it's convenient or fills in a plot hole you weren't sure how to address. You know beyond the basics of not unduly warping the world in a way that confuses the reader and failing to explain.
7323125
Luna, at least as portrayed in the show, is adorable and cute and Celestia is not. Everyone (or everpony) has flaws and, in the case of Celestia and Luna, cases where those flaws led them to make horrible choices and do terrible things. Either or both could be made villains for the purposes of the story.
7324059 Easy, friend. I appreciate your passion, but we're all here reading fan fiction about magic pastel horses. Rather than argue with one another, let us band together against our real foe. Writer's block
7322885 Isn't that INTERESTING...?
7322765 I think it's a serious thing that needs looked at, and doesn't need a dark tag to do it. The whole thing is honestly rather melancholy to me, meriting a sad more than dark tag. The tragedy of unlimited possibilities snatched away without so much as a by-your-leave is...well, it's weighty.
NEED MORE!
Curses! I have caught up! Now I have to wait like everypony else!
Jeez, if not for Sunset there, we might have had another 'Nightmare' incident, but with of of the Bearers of the Elements as the Nightmare. Good going Sunset, you stopped the Apocalypse.
-Ambassador of the Changelings,
Dopple Ganger
7329947 7325334 All things in good time. I AM BUT A MORTAL!
7330747 Well, one of them anyway. She would've gone on a TELLING PEOPLE WHAT SHE REALLY THOUGHT SPREE and boy that would've just been awful. Not sure how Equestria would've survived.
7331153 LIES! But I guess I understand.... Time to work on my story then...
7320163
7321189 They all may become alicorns.. Or have a transformation like Alicornhood if the toyline is truely cannon.
PS great chapter as always
7331153 Oh, I know. I am just lamenting that I am actually current now. XD (I love to binge read, so reading multiple chapters at once is how I tend to read.)
Given they're talking about a MLP movie set in Equestria, and considering that a movie is probably going to be a quantum step up from what they've achieved so far... It's possible. You have to look at what they've done so far, because you know the producers will want to tell a bigger story than anything they have yet. And the ponies will have to have a bigger Crowning Moment of Awesome than they've had so far, because that's what you do in presentations like this. It's an opportunity to raise the bar.
All that said, there's at least a 50/50 chance in my mind that the movie will evolve the ponies into alicorns, or something very much like them. There's already the million-bit question of what the Crystal Tree did to them when they all gained that Element-based transformation. They all did spontaneously transform into energy, get sucked into the crystal prism, and get shot out as living Elements. They might already be significantly more than common ponies, even if they don't look the part. The fact that they have crystal thrones in the map room, and that Twilight's isn't any larger or more imposing than the others suggests that as well. It might manifest as Alicorn appearances on demand, with reversion at the end of the crisis, much like their current Element-based transformations.
As for SciTwi and her alicornhood, I can see that by this story's logic, she's also elevated. Her alicorn nature is still more Midnight Sparkle than Princess Luna. I can see her being terrified of that potential. There's actually a lot of stories here dealing well with the idea that the Midnight side of her is a very real and very traumatic presence in her mind post-Friendship Games. If there was a real chance that it was more than just a guilty conscience personifying itself, that would be truly terrifying for a number of people.
I started reading your fic last night, and I am currently about four chapters in. I got to say that I am really enjoying it so far.
Huh, I guess I saw that coming a bit? But I approve! Truly, I've been wondering why so few seem to have come to that same conclusion about Sunset at the end of Friendship Games.
With that out of the way, it feels like you're finally digging into story proper. That's probably a bit unfair, but a lot of this has felt like stage setting, with plot threads mostly moving sequentially in small fits. I'm anxious to see what comes next.
Needs more Luna.
7355260 I'm glad you're having a good time! Fret not, Luna will have her day in the sun (moon?); Cadance, too.
A lot of other stories cover the idea that Cadence likely knew Sunset fairly well. If that's true here too, I doubt Cadence remembers her very fondly. Which also makes me wonder how the alicorn attuned to love would react to Twilight having feelings for Sunset? Might be fairly comedic. :)
Something I don't think I've seen yet in other stories is Sunset having a deep conversation with Luna about shared experiences, the expectations of others, and the nightmares they bring. Hopefully Luna will have something substantial to add to Sunset's story.
Right. Think I'm out then. It was a fun shipfic before politics got involved and then the Celestia-bashing which, rather than just being the opinions of two young ponies who should eventually be corrected, seems to be supported by the story itself. Certainly by the Luna-fanatic Celestia-hating members of the comments.
7373240
While the "Celestia Bashing" from Sunset was mostly unsubstantiated, some of what was said about her is arguably true. Celestia does always get her way. We do know Celestia does manipulate ponies, even those who trust her. We do know she "groomed" Twilight for Alicornhood without her consent (whether she actually pulled the trigger on the transformation or not is unknown). I mean this is obviously slanted by Sunset's biased viewpoint (and Twilight's understandable hurt) but alot of this is actually canon (from a certain point of view). And that's not even getting into the fact that this is an AU story.
7320215
We do have evidence that the "secondary" Alicorns do age differently than the originals. Cadence ages noticeably from when we see her as a babysitter and when we see her in the wedding. Then again the Elemental Transformations making her friends semi-immortal thing is also a fun idea. No need for an AU tag on this one when the show itself leaves the canon up in the air.
...whoa. Mixing their innate
and still unaddressed goddammitfeelings for one another with some crazy magical politics. Neat! Surprisingly, I've never seen a fic before this that explicitly addresses Sunset's interaction with all that magic during Friendship Games, much less one which explores her direct absorption of said magic and the possible consequences. I hope Celestia doesn't flip her shit, but I also hope it's not as simple as "welp u r princess now i guess." I trust you have an idea to translate this complex new knowledge into a compelling and sensible story arc.Also, they never really found out much about the rock aside from its dormant power. So uhh, hope that's okay.
Seriously though, Twi and Sunny need to address their feelings for one another already goddammit. They're so freaking cute and they both obviously recognize their own dispositions but they're not coming out about it and aaaaaaggh I just want the love to be official they're so cute together fffffuuuuuuuuck
I trust your plan to pace the relationship but I'm not sorry for fangirling
That rant was fantastic, I love it.
dont do that again
What was typed.
How it sounded.
I wonder what will happen when Cadence finds out about this...