Chapter 12 - Memories
The Ponyville dreamscape is silent save for the gentle clop of hooves as Princess Luna considers Twilight's request. She finally sighs and says, "What you are asking me to do is violate my sister's trust even further. The only reason I was able to get you that journal was because she has no wards upon her personal archive against me."
"There's nothing about this that's going to be pleasant," says Twilight in a solemn voice. "And I presented the idea of breaking into her private archive and removing the spell myself as only one possibility. But if we don't do something soon, Celestia may renew the spell such that a direct confrontation with her will be my only option."
"You will have a confrontation on your hooves regardless. My sister will not take kindly to this."
"And I don't take kindly to being made to forget my own kin," Twilight retorts. "I haven't told my brother about this yet, but once he learns, he'll be even more angry than I am."
Luna stops and turns to face Twilight. "That is another problem. If you remove the spell, the suppressed memories of hundreds of ponies and griffons will immediately return. Not only will that potentially cause trauma for them, it could cause an uproar across all of Equestria. Depending on what Sunset Shimmer has done, it could provoke a war."
Twilight remains silent for a long moment before slowly lowering her gaze, her ears drooping. "I hadn't thought of that."
"I fear this is a case of the cure being worse than the disease."
Twilight raises her head. "I have to do something, Luna! This can't be allowed to continue! If only Celestia would talk to me and tell me the truth about what happened."
Luna sighs. "I know. I wonder if Tia felt this frustrated with me during my descent into Nightmare Moon." Luna glances up at the star-filled heavens. "Twilight, if you were to remove the spell, would it be possible to limit the extent of your efforts?"
"How so?"
"Could you strip away the spell only for ponies in Canterlot and leave it intact outside those environs?"
Twilight considers. "It's possible, but tricky. Leaving the spell intact anywhere could cause it to ripple back. Weakened, yes, but--"
"But by then, we will have had a chance to talk some sense into Celestia, and it will allow you to discover exactly what it was that has been hidden. Then you can decide how and when to dispel it across the rest of the world."
"Do you really think that would have a chance of working?"
"Consider that there are nobles old enough to have been at court twenty one years ago," Luna says. "If their memories return, and they're aware that they were purposely suppressed, they will put intense pressure on Celestia to explain what happened, even if they know not that she was responsible. Thus we contain the initial fallout to just Canterlot."
Twilight frowns. "I don't like playing political games, but I see your point."
"That said, I believe I have a means for you to gain access to Celestia's private archive without being noticed," Luna explains. "Allow me to demonstrate by adjusting this dream."
Luna's horn glows, and Ponyville ripples away to be replaced by dark caverns only faintly illuminated by glowing crystals embedded in the walls.
"I remember this place!" says Twilight. "These are the old crystal mines under Canterlot, where Chrysalis sent me while disguised as Cadance."
"Correct," says Luna. "My proposal is that you do something similar to how Chrysalis entered Canterlot. While the cave walls do tend to reflect magic, you can utilize your friends' abilities to help navigate to a position under the palace where you can teleport directly into Celestia's archive."
"And then we can use our Rainbow Power to defeat the spell," says Twilight in a dull voice. "And possibly destroy my friendship with Celestia in the process."
Luna turns towards Twilight. "It's up to you whether to pursue this approach."
"I keep thinking there has to be another way," says Twilight. "But if I do it this way, then there's just one question remaining: how do we get into the caverns undetected? Aren't there guards posted at the entrances?"
"I suggest you turn to your student for the answer to that question."
Starlight smiled as she set down her coffee mug. "Well, that's about as hard as falling off a log. I zap them with a mind charm, and they'll never know we were even there."
Twilight sighed. "I had a feeling you would say that."
"Oh, come on, Twilight, this is for a good cause."
"Most guards are trained to resist such things, especially after the wedding incident," said Twilight.
Starlight rolled her eyes. "Um, Twilight? What pony at the table here put all five of our friends under a powerful mind control spell recently?"
"You," Twilight muttered.
"So, yeah, I think I can handle any defenses they have for that sort of thing."
Twilight took a sip of her tea. "All right, I suppose we don't have any choice."
"I'm just sorry I can't lend any Rainbow Power like the rest of you."
"I'm still going to need you to strip away the mind magic from those journals so I can properly see the dark magic," said Twilight.
"So when are you planning to do this?"
"It has to be tonight," said Twilight. "Celestia is expecting me to leave this afternoon for the peace conference. I'm going to take the train out of Ponyville in case she's watching me, but I'm going to get off at Appleloosa and get a carriage ride back. Luna is to send word when her sister has retired for the evening."
Starlight considered. "How do you know Celestia won't try to renew the spell by then? She may be waiting for the very moment she thinks you're far enough away."
"That was another reason I used the Cutie Map to see the extent of the spell," said Twilight. "When she renews that spell, it will ripple to every being who was affected by it. If any of them are near me, I'll detect it, and Celestia knows that. She's going to wait until she's sure I'm well outside the borders of Equestria. Most likely she plans to do it right before she raises the sun tomorrow morning."
"Um, okay, now for the really big question," said Starlight in a slightly quavering voice. "What will Celestia do when she finds out what we did?"
"I wish I knew," Twilight said softly.
"Heh, yeah," said Starlight, chuckling nervously. "So do I."
Cadance pushed her empty plate away with a nudge of magic and levitated the tea kettle to her. When opening the top revealed a distinct lack of steam, her horn brightened, and soon the tea was piping hot again. As she poured some into her cup, she said, "Shiny, I'm a little worried about Twilight."
Shining Armor did not respond right away, as he was engaged in a fruitless struggle to get Flurry Heart to eat her oats. The little alicorn foal had snapped her mouth firmly shut and drawn it into a disapproving frown. Shining finally drew back with a sigh. "Little missie, you are a hoofful this morning. You loved these the other day."
Cadance shook her head but smiled. Her horn glowed, and a condiment from the table floated over and sprinkled its contents over the foal's breakfast. "Now try."
Shining raised an eyebrow but did as his wife suggested. Flurry giggled and eagerly gobbled up what was on the spoon.
"You forgot again," Cadance said in a teasing voice.
Shining chuckled and ran a hoof through his mane. "I'm still getting used to this whole fatherhood thing. And why are you worried about Twilight?"
"I haven't heard from her yet."
"You mean about that anomaly?"
Cadance took a sip of tea and nodded. "I wouldn't be so concerned if Auntie Celestia wasn't acting as odd as Twilight claims she is."
"All I can tell you, honey, is that there are a lot of secrets in Canterlot," said Shining. "Even as the Captain of the Guard, there were things never told to me. I figured there was a reason."
"Yes, but keeping it from a fellow princess?" Cadance paused. "Maybe I should ask Auntie Celestia about it."
"If it were me, I wouldn't go prying into it," said Shining. "What's got you so hung up about this?"
Cadance idly stirred her tea. "Something I realized last night while I was trying to fall asleep. My memory of the time period when the building was sealed is a bit hazy."
Shining gave her a confused look. "Hazy? How can you say that?"
"Why?"
"You'd been foal-sitting Twily for a while already."
Cadance stopped stirring and looked up. "No, I hadn't."
Shining stared. "Are you serious?"
"Yes, I'm serious," said Cadance. "I started foal-sitting her around that time."
Shining blinked. "But you ... oh ... yeah, that's right."
Cadance frowned. "Okay, what just happened?"
"Pardon?"
"It's not like you to forget something like that." Cadance smirked. "Especially since that was around the time you started coming on to me."
Shining blushed. "Cady! Not in front of the foal!"
Cadance chuckled. "Shiny, she can't even talk yet, I doubt she understands what we're saying. Anyway, why did you have trouble remembering that?"
"Honestly, Cady, I don't know," said Shining.
Cadance considered. "Just who was foal-sitting Twilight before me?"
Shining paused. "A friend of the family, I believe."
"A friend?"
Shining scratched his chin. "No, actually ... a distant cousin of my father."
Cadance looked askance at him. "What was their name?"
"Night Moonglow," said Shining. "But we had to let him go because we thought he might be a bad influence on Twily."
"Night Moonglow?" said Cadance. "That's who Twilight said had last occupied that building she's worried about."
"Well ... yeah ... he lived on Old Canterlot Way."
"Which you didn't mention before."
Shining frowned. "What difference does it make?"
"Because it's not like you to be fuzzy on details like that, especially where your family is concerned."
Shining sighed. "Look, Cady, the family was going through a kinda stressful time around then. My grandparents were upset over the fact that they were never going to have another foal, and my Dad got into some sort of row with them over it."
"And you never told me about that, either!"
"Uh, it's not something that comes up in casual conversation," said Shining.
"This coming from a stallion who -- before we were even remotely ready to be intimate -- told me about the birthmark on his--"
"Cady!" Shining cried, stuffing napkins in Flurry Heart's ears. The little foal starting bawling, causing several glasses on the table to crack. "Oops. Um, I better calm her down."
Shining got off his chair and took Flurry into his forelegs, gently rocking her and making cooing noises until she began to settle down.
Cadance smiled faintly. "Sorry, I should know better than to tease you when Flurry is around."
Shining looked up and smirked. "Yeah, you should."
Cadance hopped out of her seat. "I'm going to send a letter to Twilight. Is it okay if I tell her about this conversation?"
"Yeah, go ahead," said Shining.
Cadance nodded and headed to her office. She levitated a scroll onto a lectern, grabbed a quill, and began to write. My dearest Twilight ...
"Starlight!" Twilight cried as she galloped towards the workroom she and her student had been using for their magic lessons. She had a scroll levitated before her.
Starlight turned from the workbench as Twilight rushed in. "What is it?"
"I got this letter from Cadance!" Twilight cried. "Read it!"
Starlight took the scroll in her magic and unrolled it. Her eyes widened. "The spell is breaking down for them, too?"
"Yes! And it proves that it had already started breaking down for me."
"What do you mean?"
"I have no recollection of somepony named Night Moonglow -- or Night Moonshine, for that matter -- foal-sitting me. When we saw that name in the registry at the Archives, it didn't ring any bells whatsoever. Even before this all started, it was already weakening for me. I think it's due to me being an alicorn."
Starlight smiled. "Right! And where Cadance is, too, it makes sense she'd start to get fuzzy on the details as well."
"And Shining Armor is linked by blood to his father and his grandmother and me. So when it starts breaking down for all three of us, he's being affected as well."
"Well, this is good, isn't it?" said Starlight. "We want the spell to weaken so we can more easily dispel it."
"Yes, but there's one problem," said Twilight. "It's going to make it a lot harder for me to do what Luna wants, which is to limit how much of it we nullify. I'm thinking now that once it starts to unravel, we won't be able to stop it."
"There's got to be a way," said Starlight.
"Well, yes," said Twilight in a subdued voice. "If Celestia herself undoes it."
Starlight raised an eyebrow. "Come again?"
"She's the one who cast it. She knows the spell inside and out. Despite my own knowledge, Celestia is still a more powerful and capable mage than I am. Using Rainbow Power is the only way to combat this spell without her, but in light of this, it will be like driving in a tack with a sledgehammer."
"But we started all this specifically because Celestia won't undo it," said Starlight.
Twilight sighed. "I know. Now I'm torn about going ahead with this plan."
Starlight's eyes widened. "You're what?! You're kidding me, right?"
"What if Applejack was right? What if I'm giving up a chance to reason with her? I'm supposed to be the Princess of Friendship, not the Princess of Breaking and Entering!"
Starlight frowned. "All that's going to accomplish is Princess Celestia dancing around the truth again and convincing you that she knows everything, that all you need to do is trust her, blah blah blah. This is your family we're talking about, Twilight. We should stick to the plan."
"You're the one who was nervous about how Celestia will react when she finds out what we did," Twilight snapped.
"Try terrified. But I feel this is the right thing to do."
Twilight looked away, her ears drawing back.
Starlight stepped around her until she met her teacher's eyes again. "Maybe this will convince you. I may have discovered something about the nature of the anomaly."
Twilight's ears rose. "What do you mean?"
Starlight stepped over to her workbench, where several pages filled with arcane equations lay. "I've done some work on interpreting the energies we felt in Canterlot. That's what I was doing when you came in just now."
"Huh?" Twilight trotted over to the table. "How can you do that when it doesn't represent any known energy pattern? All you can do is a direct thaumic energy derivation, but the resulting equations would be useless without the proper context."
"When you're quaking in your hooves about confronting an immortal alicorn, you tend to find things to do to take your mind off impending doom," said Starlight. "So I did that derivation, and I think I found something."
Twilight's pupils shrank. "You did??" She looked down at the pages. "Wait, this one on the right details the energies from the time rift you opened during our confrontation."
Starlight's horn glowed, and she lifted a quill. She pointed it at various spots on the right-most page and the others. "Look here ... and here ... and here ..."
"There are similarities in the equations!" Twilight said in a voice of rising excitement.
"Yes, but I'm not sure what it means. I'm not as good with the mathematics as you are. I tend to go by feel rather than calculation."
Twilight's eyes darted back and forth, and she whispered the symbols as she read them. "I've got it! The energy from that anomaly is indeed like a rift, but not through time. It's for traveling through space."
"Space? Like a teleportation circle?"
"This is not teleportation," Twilight declared. "This represents a spatial displacement on a scale I've never seen before. Teleportation allows you to go from point A to point B. This looks more like it's attempting to bring point A to point B, to connect them directly. No wonder I couldn't fathom it at first!"
"Whoa, hold on," said Starlight. "How in Equestria could you even do such a thing?"
Twilight turned to her. "It's all theoretical due to the immense energies that would be needed. It operates on the theory that if you concentrate enough magical plasma in one place, it would create a physical warp in space. A wormhole."
"O-kay, you've really lost me now," said Starlight.
"Here." Twilight grabbed a piece of paper and a quill in her magic. She drew two dots on it, widely separated. "Pretend this paper is the universe reduced by one dimension. See how far apart the dots are? Now watch." She bent the paper such that dots coincided. "That's what I'm talking about. Bending space to go a vast distance by just stepping over a threshold. You don't teleport, you're just there."
Starlight gave Twilight a dubious look. "But isn't that a lot of work for very little return when you can just teleport?"
"Except teleportation has limits. Only unicorns can do it, and not every unicorn can. Even as an alicorn, I can't teleport directly from Ponyville to Canterlot without the aid of a teleportation circle. And once the portal is open, anypony can step across."
"Okay, but it still seems a little out there to me," said Starlight.
"Normally, I would agree with you," said Twilight. "But remember what I told you about my Grandma Glow's dream, and the experiment that got Sunset her cutie mark. She did it. She found a way to concentrate plasma and keep it stable. What she did in her basement lab was nowhere near what's needed for this, but it was a start."
"Fine, let's assume she succeeded at creating this wormhole thing. For what purpose?"
"To open a portal into the Griffon Kingdom. Maybe that's the connection with them, or even the cause of a potential war."
"How do you figure that?" said Starlight.
"Think for a minute what you could do with a portal you could open to anywhere in this world," said Twilight. "If you were of the mindset, you could pour an entire army through a large enough portal right into the midst of another country. Granted, Celestia likely wouldn't do something like that unless she felt Equestria was threatened, but often in geopolitics, it's perception that matters. If the griffons knew she had this technology, they might be worried it would be used against them, especially given their warrior traditions."
Starlight tilted her head. "So Celestia erased all evidence of the portal magic and the one who created it just to placate the griffons? That's almost ... too easy an explanation."
"I know," said Twilight. "And it's still unlikely Celestia would do something like that. But consider this: why would the portal be in Sunset's residence?"
"Uh, why not?"
"Because any sort of powerful magic -- especially if it's dangerous -- would never be allowed to be done by a student of Celestia anywhere but in Celestia's presence in a magic lab with proper precautions in place. Whatever Sunset was doing, she was likely doing it secretly."
Starlight considered. "I still think there's something we're missing, Twilight."
"I know," said Twilight. "But now that I have some idea of what to look for, I may be able to tease more out of that dark magic spell and find out more about what it's hiding. If I'm going to go behind Celestia's back, I want a better reason."
Sunset Glow's heart raced as she trotted through the halls of Canterlot palace. Her eyes glistened as she glanced at the banners displaying both Celestia's and Luna's colors and cutie marks. She had always looked up to the diarchs as kind, almost motherly figures, but now at least one of them seemed almost alien to her. She wished she knew quite why.
She wasn't even sure why she was doing this. As hard as she tried, memories of a daughter she may have had still seemed as fleeting as morning dew. Sometimes she could look at a family portrait and, for just an instant, she could see another smiling face next to that of Night's. Sometimes she could hear her laugh echoing in her head. Sometimes she could see her sitting at the table in her mind's eye.
Sometimes she could remember Sunset doing something so terrible that her mind refused to dwell on it.
What could anypony do for her? She and Night had spent hours talking the day before. Neither could get more than fleeting glimpses into a mysterious past, but what they did get were shockingly consistent. One thing that was consistent was the appearance of Celestia about when Sunset supposedly died.
Glow turned a corner, and she stopped dead. Up ahead, past two burly pegasus guards, were the tall, gold-edged doors leading to Day Court. Outside, several nobleponies milled about, quietly talking amongst themselves.
Glow swallowed hard and started forward, only to be stopped by two spears crossing in front of her.
"Halt!" barked one of the guards.
Glow backed up a step. "I-I thought--"
"State your business, please," said the other guard.
Glow took a deep breath. "I was always told that Princess Celestia ... that any common pony can see her if they wish."
As she spoke, hoof-falls approached from the side, soon joined by a female voice. "Yes, anypony can, but they must go through me first."
Glow turned her head as a unicorn mare approached, glasses perched on her muzzle, a clipboard levitated before her, a pencil tucked behind one ear. Her cutie mark was a calendar with every square filled in with an "X" symbol. "I am Tight Schedule, Princess Celestia's head clerk. Nopony sees her without going through me."
Glow turned towards the clerk. "Please, I need to see her, it's urgent."
Tight sighed as she peered at her clipboard. "Of course, it always is. Do you have a formal petition you wish to bring?"
Glow's ears drooped. "I just want to talk to her."
Tight plucked the pencil from behind her ear. "I have an opening for five weeks from this Thursday. That good for you?"
Glow's pupils shrank as she recoiled. "Five weeks?? I-I wanted to see her today!"
"Impossible," said Tight. She swept a hoof towards the nobles. "See them? They had to wait their turn just like anypony else. You want me to put you ahead of all of them?"
Glow bit her lower lip.
"Five weeks," said Tight. "Best I can do."
"Can you please do me a favor?"
Tight rolled her eyes. "What is it?"
"Just tell the Princess that Sunset Glow wants to see her, and it's about a pony named S-Sunset Shimmer."
Tight's eyes narrowed. She took a step closer to Glow. "Did you say Sunset Shimmer?"
"Yes."
Tight tapped her pencil against the clipboard. "Wait here," Tight said before cantering away.
Princess Celestia took a deep breath, and her horn glowed. The doors at the opposite end of the room swung open, revealing a middle-aged unicorn mare that she had hoped never to see again. The mare gulped, her pupils shrinking. Behind her, nobles gave her dirty looks.
Celestia put on her best smile. "Please, my little pony," she said in a soft, motherly voice. "Come in."
Sunset Glow paused, her ears drawn back. She glanced up at the stained glass windows, many depicting the exploits of her granddaughter Twilight and her friends. For just a moment, she could almost see another figure in one of them, but the vision vanished before it could fully form.
She finally started forward. "Hello, Sunset Glow," said Celestia. "It has been a while since I last saw you."
"Y-yes, Princess, I know," said Glow. "I'm terribly sorry for this, but ... um ..."
Celestia left her throne. "It's perfectly fine. Would you care for some tea?"
Glow shook her head. "No, but thank you."
Celestia closed the doors with a touch of magic and surreptitiously cast a privacy charm on them. "What may I do for you, Sunset Glow?"
Glow stopped with at least four pony lengths between them. "Did your clerk convey the name I mentioned?"
"Yes, she did," Celestia said softly, closing the distance herself. "What of this name?"
"Does it sound at all familiar to you?"
Celestia looked thoughtful. "Hmm. Perhaps I have heard it."
Glow's eyes widened. "Y-you have??"
"Is it not a name you and your husband were considering if you had a daughter?"
Glow's face fell, and her ears drooped. "I suppose ... maybe ... but ..."
"But what, my little pony?"
Glow scraped a hoof on the tile. "I don't think Shimmy and I ever really talked about it seriously. I mean, yes, we talked about having a daughter but not the exact name."
Celestia smiled. "My thought is that you did mention it, likely at a gathering of Twilight's family at the palace during her time as my student, but don't recall. It is a rather lovely--"
"Princess, did you ever have another student before Twilight?" Glow suddenly blurted, her eyes shimmering.
Celestia took a step to the side. "I've had many students over the years, Sunset Glow. So the answer to that would be yes."
"I mean right before Twilight." Glow paused. "T-Twenty-one years ago."
Celestia turned towards one of the stained glass windows. She gazed up at the image of Twilight and her friends using the Elements of Harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon and begin her sister's reform. "No," she said softly. "Not then."
"Are you sure?"
Celestia turned to face her. "I must admit, I am curious as to why you ask about this."
Glow swallowed hard. She tried not to be fearful in Celestia's presence, but despite the diarch's soft voice and gentle manner, she felt as if she were being scrutinized. "I'm not sure. Dreams I've had. Dreams that I didn't think were real until--"
"Until what?"
Glow clamped her mouth shut. She remembered what Night had told her of Twilight and Starlight's visit and what they had said after reading the letter from Luna: Princess Celestia is on to us. "It's not important, Princess, it's just something about them lately that makes me ... m-makes me wonder ..."
"Perhaps this is something you should take up with my sister."
Glow forced her eyes up to meet Celestia's. Her lips turned into a small frown as she said, "You're the one in my dream. You're the one delivering the news that our daughter is dead!"
Celestia's eyes glistened. She turned her gaze away. "Perhaps there is something I can do for you after all."
Glow blinked away tears. "You can?"
Celestia forced herself to look back at Glow and put her smile back into place. "Yes. I can make this better. I can help free you of this dream."
Glow stared. "But how?"
Celestia returned to her throne. "Do not be concerned about the details. Just go to sleep tonight confident that you will never be plagued by it again."
Glow hesitated. "Um, okay."
"You should not have to suffer like this, not for a daughter you do not have."
Glow's ears drew back. She had no idea what she had hoped for in coming here, but this was not quite it. Had she really wanted to be told that she and her husband had sired a daughter who was gone forever? "If I may ask, Princess, why would I have these dreams? Dreams that even Princess Luna could never dispel?"
"Sometimes, my little pony, there is no stronger magic than wishful thinking."
"But I wouldn't wish for a daughter who's dead!"
Celestia nodded once. "I understand. But that makes your daughter no more real."
Glow glanced away for a moment. "Princess?"
"Yes?"
"Say her name."
Celestia hesitated. "I'm sorry?"
"You haven't said her name once," said Glow. "Please, say it."
Celestia's throat tightened. "Sunset Shimmer," she said in a neutral voice. "Is that satisfactory?"
Glow turned away, her ears drooping. "I guess it will have to be. Thank you for your time, Princess."
Celestia's eyes misted. She almost called Glow back. Instead, she opened the doors with her magic and watched the mare go. A noble started forward, but Celestia held up a hoof. "Court will resume in ten minutes." She swiftly closed the door before the frowning pony.
Celestia took a deep breath. "I'm so sorry, Sunset Glow, but I will keep my promise. After I lower the sun this evening, you will never be bothered by this memory ever again."
The serpent was wounded.
That was how Twilight interpreted it in the twisted realm of dark magic. It writhed and shuddered as if it had been slashed with a knife in several places. She could see greater snippets of the corrupted information, but even with some knowledge of what she was looking for, it would take forever to piece it together.
She didn't have forever. She had to limit her time here. Channeling too much dark magic would leave her too weak to properly excise the spell later that night.
She found an opening and launched a modified indexing spell, looking for anything that dealt with extremely high energies in order to track down more information about Sunset's possible interest in portal magic. The echo that returned to her was jumbled, bits and pieces of different documents and even memories from ponies minds.
(...would have dissuaded her from pursuing such high-energy experiments without proper...)
(...seek to concentrate magical plasma to such vast compression that the resulting high-energy field...)
(...had detected the high-energy plasma and yet she STILL lied to the Princess...)
Twilight frowned. What surprised and disappointed her was how little there was to find on this subject. All it did was confirm that Sunset had been working on very high energy plasma projects without Celestia's approval. But what could ...
(...almost prefer she had went the high-energy road instead of what she actually did...)
"What was that?" Twilight said. "Where did that come from?"
Twilight hurried to trace that thread of data back to its source. It originated from one of Celestia's own journals, a different volume than the one Luna had sent her. She tried to find it again, but the serpent was on to her; it severed the thread and blocked her from finding it again.
Twilight's mind raced. Sunset's breakthrough had been creating and maintaining ultra-dense plasma, which seemed well-suited as a linchpin for a portal. Could she have gone down a different path?
That would mean Sunset used the knowledge she gained in manipulating plasma somewhere else. Theoretically, it could be used to transform different types of magic into one another. Starswirl the Bearded himself had postulated that at sufficiently high energies, all the fundamental magic types unify into a single force.
Twilight had enough time for only one more indexing spell. This time she looked for anything that had to do with manipulation or transformation. It was a long shot, but it's all she had. She cast her spell, and almost at once she was overwhelmed with the response. It was not at all what she had expected.
(...manipulation of the thaumic quanta showed some promise but a reversal was too easy to...)
(...affected the organic transformation matrix to an insufficient degree for permanent...)
(...quickly reasserted itself, thus manipulating the transformation coefficient is a dead end...)
"Transformation magic?" Twilight murmured. "But that's no more than a parlor trick to somepony of Sunset's talent. Why would she bother with it? Unless ..."
(...must effect the transformation to such a degree as to negate easy reversal...)
(...there might be a way for the transformation to harness the morphic...)
(...another vehicle would be needed to deliver the necessary transformation magic gradually so as...)
Twilight gasped. "Is that even POSSIBLE? How?! Please tell me more! I--"
Yet her time was up, and she spiraled up and out of the void.
The beam ceased, and the ichor evaporated from Twilight's horn. Her eyes blinked open, and she uttered a gasp.
Starlight and Spike rushed over to her. "What is it?" Starlight cried.
"Are you okay, Twilight?" Spike asked.
"Yes, I'm fine, Spike," said Twilight. "Starlight, I think I figured out what Sunset was really doing. She was working with transformation magic!"
Starlight hesitated, but when Twilight did not follow up her revelation, she prompted with, "Uh, okay? So? Every unicorn who goes into advanced magic knows that. It's like one of the first things that gets taught."
"Transformation magic?" Spike asked. "Is that where you change a thing into something else?"
"Yes, Spike, that's correct," said Twilight.
"Then I'm with Starlight here. That's stuff you were doing even before Princess Celestia sent you to Ponyville." He chuckled. "You even did it to your parents during the magical test that hatched me."
Starlight giggled. "She did?"
Spike smirked. "Yeah, she turned them into plants. I'm told that she freaked out a bit before Princess Celestia set things right."
"The point is, they would've changed back on their own even if Celestia hadn't stepped in," said Twilight.
"They would?" said Spike.
"All living things have what's called a morphic resonance," Twilight explained. "It's sort of a biomagical blueprint of what you're supposed to be. Transformation magic has to overcome it in order to work, but the resonance is powerful enough that it reasserts itself and eventually changes the creature back. It's strongest in sapient creatures. The only way to keep a creature transformed is to keep renewing the spell. The exception is chaos magic, but that's not what we're dealing with here."
"So where does Sunset fit in to all this?" Starlight asked.
"I think she was searching for a way to make the transformation permanent."
"Can't you do that by just putting more power into the spell?" asked Spike.
"No, because there's a limit to what a living being will tolerate. Past that, you risk harming or killing the creature. Sunset would know that."
"So how did she plan on doing it?" asked Starlight.
"I'm not sure," said Twilight. "I can only theorize that she was looking for a way to transform a creature by modifying the morphic resonance itself, thus effectively changing the creature from the inside out."
Starlight's eyes widened. "But how? And to transform what into what? And why?"
"To answer that, we're going to have to break the dark magic spell."
"So the original plan is on?"
Twilight paused. "Mostly."
Starlight gave her a confused look. "Huh?"
Twilight turned to her. "I finally put my hoof on what's bothering me about this plan. It treats Celestia as an adversary who must be defeated instead of a friend who's made a bad decision."
"So, we're not going to go after the spell anchors?"
"We are," said Twilight. "But we're not going to do it by skulking about in the caverns under Canterlot like we're some sort of infiltrators. Nor am I going to pass up an opportunity to have Celestia realize her mistake and fix this mess herself."
Starlight sighed. "I really hope you know what you're doing, Twilight."
"So do I," said Twilight. "Regardless of what happens, that spell has to be broken. If Sunset was working on both permanent transformation and portal technology, and the two are related somehow, there are too many bad outcomes to contemplate. I need to know what really happened ... and if there's any fallout yet to come."
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Well Celestia is in quite the pickle now isn't she. I bet this will make first contact very bumpy and somewhat hostile.
I think Sunset Shimmer just wants to transfer herself to be a human! And she built a portal to human world.
Then Sunset can take a tour to human world as a human.
But Celestia thought Sunset wants to be a Alicorn..
A big misunderstanding.
7939902
That would be one heck of a twist.
7939926
More twist..
Heck..
Maybe Sunset's preexistence was human.
Then her reincarnation to be pony Sunset.
So that is why she want to built the portal to human world.
well, if it is what I think it is, then the humans become ponies the moment the effect of the flu passes, basically, there is no cure once activated because being a pony becomes the norm and the human form is considered just a transformation spell wearing out.
media.giphy.com/media/rzBUxFJm1EJ20/giphy.gif
OMG...
Does this mean that 20 years ago, some of the gryphons turned into ponies... permanently?
...
...
...
That would explain Spitfire.
--Spade
7939953
Nah, I think Sunset is on human Earth with her memories suppressed. I am thinking it's Sarah who doesn't know she is adopted. The only issue is she doesn't have the proper hair color. It would help explain why she doesn't have a tag even though she factors so heavily into this story.
...OK, I normally like Celestia, but in this story? I REALLY hope someone vaporizes her. I mean, no matter what Sunset may have done, lying to her mother's face and making her whole damn family forget her is unacceptable.
7906620
I don't think the GUARDIAN scene was thematically wrong (a temporary departure, but not wrong). We already know the archaeology was getting sabotaged, and the government is going to get involved pretty quickly. As long as you keep the bulk of the focus on the people getting screwed, that's fine.
The problem was that the specific way GUARDIAN is trying to handle the situation is completely idiotic and even counterproductive.
7940055 I'm just hoping this isn't some scheme of Celestia's to turn all the griffons into ponies. The REAL Celestia would NEVER do such a thing. It'd be along the vein of the Conversion Bureau's Celestia, from a story that was written by someone who's severely mentally ill and borderline-psychotically misanthropic.
7940203
I'm gathering that this is something that Celestia is trying to Stop, not Start.
Right now, my theory is that Sunset's experiment went wrong - affected the Griffon populace somehow - turned a number of them into ponies - and THIS was the first idea that Celestia had that Sunny was carrying on experiments in secret.
Maybe a dust-up with the gryphons started after that, or maybe the experiment was enough to damage the gryphons to the point of societal collapse. Either way, I think that the memory suppression spell was an attempt to cover up the experiment and the impact on the gryphons partially in order to stop any retaliation (deserved or otherwise).
--Spade
Ah, I see what sunset did now.
7940277 It's my primary notion that Sunset was creating a portal for Celestia for a rapid counter-invasion should the griffons launch a preemptive attack, and that Sunset had the bright idea to simply transform all the enemies into ponies. But, the portal shifted through to another universe entirely, because wormholes don't operate the same way regular teleports do, requiring an endpoint already fixed (much like the Stargates) otherwise they simply follow the typical path of least resistance for the energy. She may have even then gone full-on megalomaniacal at the discovery and decided to convert the whole world she found on the other side, perhaps with a 'transformation virus', altering the morphic field of any targets by using an engineered organism to directly change genetic structure... then the other part of the virus, perhaps a spell matrix encoded into its protein coat structure, would harness Equestrian-dimensional energy to fuel the transformation of all organisms infected. By the time Celestia found out, the wormhole was stabilized and maintaining itself via transdimensional energy gradients, which could take eons to equalize. All she could do was surround the Equestrian side with the most powerful field any magic could generate to cut off the flow of magic. But, this is only one possibility. The other is that Celestia was in on the plot against the griffons the whole time, which though against her canon nature... this IS a fanfic, after all. Anyway, she'd have found out that Sunset was mutating another whole dimension, they'd have an argument, and the result would be the same.
7940179
Okay, but if you read the next chapter, you would see that Sunset Shimmer was working on a permanent transformation magic, as well as a magical wormhole. She has something to do with this flu. I don't know exactly how Celestia hiding Sunset Shimmer's existence had to do with spreading the flu, but it is directly related.
Oh, I'd say there IS some fallout. A world away!
7940054
Nah, it is more like the ponies after people universe.
7940203
It would be especially jarring because, questionable actions aside, this Celestia seems to be much like the canon one.
CONSAEN IT I CANT READ BLACKED OUT TEXT IN MOBLIE
Well, she did wan't to be an alicorn, didn't she? Could be just that, if it wasn't for the portal. I really feel like we are missing a key clue in this riddle.
But at the very least, we are going to get an exciting confrontation and the truth soon enough.
Then it will be a mad rush to save everything that can be still saved.
Sunset must have escaped to Earth with the knowledge she had, and has been hidden as a human. But by bringing herself to Earth, she has interfered with the morphic resonance of everything around her.
By forcing herself to become human, she has kicked started a chain-reaction that is affecting everybody.
What if one of the human characters IS Sunset, in human form, and she's the one interfering with those archaeological finds? Maybe they hold the key to stop what she started.
The possibilities are mind-boggling!
7939902
I don't think whatever happened between Sunset and Celestia is a simple misunderstanding.
It is a good theory, but I don't think Celestia would be so rash as to jump to that conclusion.
Or if she did, she would patiently sit down with Sunset and coax the truth out of her.
The conflict wouldn't be built off a rash assumption.
But what is certain is that Sunset had a goal, but Celestia stood in the way.
Sunset Shimmer is patient zero for the transformation flu. The flu virus incorporated the transformation effect on its own like a corrupted bit of junk DNA from Sunset. The outbreak was not intentional, but made possible by Sunset not fully grasping the spells side-effects in its new parameters.
Celestia only covers up Sunset because she mistakes her student as being dead at her own hoof by reckless experimentation. The gateway is sealed because Celestia cannot fully figure out its properties or why it is still active.
At least it is a different possibility.
For some reason, the instant I saw this line, my mind came up with this:
Guard: Let me see your security clearance.
Starlight (horn glowing, waving a hoof): You don't need to see her security clearance.
Guard: We don't need to see her security clearance.
Starlight: These aren't the Element Bearers you're looking for.
Guard: These aren't the Element Bearers we're looking for.
Starlight: She can go about her business.
Guard (to Twilight): You can go about your business.
Alright, since everyone else seems so be throwing guesses around, here's mine. I give it about even odds of being at least partially right.
) that's just not happening. Which is weird, because it had already happened when something made her new friends forget about her.
To start off, I'm thinking that time does not naturally flow at the same rate in Equestria and on Earth. While Sunset "died" only twenty-some-odd years ago in the Equestrian timeline, she actually appeared on Earth centuries ago, and while Celestia likely set up her Mimetic Erasure Matrix (MEM) within hours or even a few days of Sunset's accident, that still translated to weeks or months on the other side of the rift. That would be just long enough for her to get her bearings straight, meet some of the locals, and inspire a bit of good old-fashioned cave art.
Unfortunately for Sunset, the MEM cares not for temporal disparities. As soon as it went online, it reached through that little pinhole between dimensions Sunset left behind, and started doing its thing (that being the suppression of all knowledge related to Sunset or her research) to the nice little tribe she was currently shacked up with. First they started having trouble paying attention to her, then started forgetting she was there, and eventually they all just wandered off, leaving behind a few nick-nacks and a partially-finished drawing.
At some point after that, Sunset figured out how to not live herself to death (assuming her trip didn't involve a free ascension), but she's still incredibly bored, and more importantly, frighteningly smart. So she picks up the first project she can think of: how to get home. The rift she made is still there, but it's nowhere near big or stable enough. She could probably fix that if she had a constant flow of magic coming in through it, but for some reason (
Eventually, she discovered that the only time magic flowed through the rift was specifically to erase all knowledge of herself and her research (you'd better believe she wasn't happy about that). In order to get the magic flow she needs, she has to make the MEM give it to her, which it will only do if someone on her side of the rift is thinking about her or her research. Unfortunately, that means recreating it from scratch with neither assistance nor the proper equipment (wouldn't you know it, she left it all back home), but luckily for her, she now has all the time in the world.
Several centuries pass on Earth, but now, her research into permanent transformations is about to be on billions of minds.
A couple of decades pass in Equestria, and Celestia is about to discover that her MEM is pumping unfathomable amounts of energy through her wards and into the rift.
And soon after that, worlds collide.
(mind you this was written at 7:00am. I havent slept yet
)
Not a theory i have seen yet:
We can assume that war with the griffons was being started by the wormhole creation, but I think the Transformation was the SOLUTION to their animosity, not the cause. Shimmer is played up to be very much like a season one Twilight, in which the best solutions are the obvious ones. How can there be a war with griffons if there are no griffons? Think the time travel episode (name escapes me) or lesson zero, Smart people making not so smart decisions with absolute certainty that that is the best course of action. this is obviously a no-no and Celestia goes to deal with it. something leads to another and shimmer gets sent hurtling through space with the Transformation virus (it says somewhere above that there needed to be an external source to fuel the change). Celestia keeps it sealed because that's all you can do with super condensed anything is wait for it to fall apart and hope it doesn't explode
but thats just me
7939782
Having this many characters in the story has been a challenge in terms of giving them more or less equal time in the spotlight. I think some are still being more favored than others in that regard, but I hope to balance things more as the story continues.
7939790
The ironic thing here is that I had included that explanation specifically so people didn't have to go off an research it. I was trying to provide context for Tina's statement. I didn't want to make the assumption that all readers knew what I was talking about.
7939964
7940094
The government will definitely have a role in this, but rather than doing it through secret organizations, it will be more a logical and realistic progression. I did as much research as I could to learn what the real response would be to a disease outbreak. For instance, the procedure for reporting to the Colorado Department of Health described in the story is directly off that organization's website.
7940054
7940356
Both sources were partial inspiration for my idea, actually.
7940203
Conversion Bureau is such a sensitive topic with many readers that I would clearly label a story as such if I were ever of the mindset to write one (which is highly unlikely).
7940741
I think you have it flipped, they wanted a son and didn't get one. Ben isn't theirs and both girls are.
And we are back to the Human side of things being quite the edge-of-my-seat affair; good work! And whoo boy, looks like things are really about to hit the fan with transformation reaching the "hooves" stage. Because as weird and confounding as the transformations have been so far, abnormal "hair" growth is one thing ... it's quite something else when your appendages, musculature and bone structure start rearranging themselves into new patterns. This is the point where mass panic is probably warranted and to be expected, unlike previously
And I see you are going with the "Ponies can't digest meat" approach. That's fine too - and another thing for the humans to freak over, what with even their normal dietary habits being thrown out of whack. This is going to be complete and utter chaos until contact with Equestria gets finally established, and I'm going to relish every second of it
--
And yes! Finally they are going to confront Celestia directly. Something they (as in Luna/Twilight) honestly should have done from the start - they are her equals and they deserve a straight answer, not to be skulking around the shadows and hatching plans as if it's them who have done something wrong, not Celestia. Hit her with the fact, and then offer her the chance to come clean herself on her terms, unless she wants that choice to be made for her by her fellow rulers. They should have gone straight for the heart of the issue from the start, though I can understand why they didn't - and at least now they know that much more about it, giving them more ammo to sling at Celestia and likely a bigger chance to convince her to come clean peacefully, before having to resort to the nuclear option. Though who knows what Celestia will do ... confrontation might well be inevitable if she is stubborn enough (which she does seem to be), and I'm dying to see which way the dice fall and what the fallout will be.
The words rainbow power get thrown around a lot this chapter, but it seems (to me at least) that they aren't able to use it anymore. You would think that if they could still do it, they would've used it again at some point, but the only time it's been seen at all since Twilight's Kingdom was in a dream, which doesn't really count.
Unless you're talking about something else completely and I just don't realize it for some reason.
7942026
That's cool.
I wasn't aware of that incident either due to being on the East Coast, but the really odd placement of the information made me wonder if you were trying to put special emphasis on it, so I looked it up.
I can see where the information (real or fictional) might influence the scene, but maybe it would have been better if the explanation were woven into the dialogue - like maybe one of the speakers didn't recognize the place:
And then you could have added something later about the real incident, if you liked, in an afterword.
As it is, that scene has only two types of sentences - those showing what someone is doing and those made up of spoken dialogue.
That makes the info-dump especially jarring in its interruption of the scene.
Still, its mostly just a matter of flow.
I'm enjoying the hell out of this story, and I'm looking forward to the next set.
--Spade
It's cool to see someone else using the magical snapback mechanism with transformation(not that I claim to be the first). I like the concept because the idea of Twilight's parents being turned into plants so easily has dark implications.
Great job on these chapters. You've really ratcheted up the suspense enough for a very satisfying payoff. I eagerly await the follow-up
I hate do ask but what exactly am I getting into, I don't feel conference reading something I have no idea what's it's about. Can someone give me quick summary of what's going on instead of just saying it's about a disease similar to the flu.
This story is awesome
can't wait to read more!
Sunset is making her own pony kingdom!
7944973
Which could lead him to biopsy them to see if they are dangerous. He will probably be doing a lot of drawing blood so proper blood work can be done.
Wow, quite a bit has happened in these two new chapters.
On Earth, it seems like we're gaining more information about possibly why Jenny acts the way she does towards Laura. Something that interested me was when Tina had mentioned that any other students that have tails, are all students that look up to Laura. When Tina mentioned that, and explained why they look up to her, Jenny's behavior took a complete 180. Almost as if Jenny is jealous or something. So this is my theory on Jenny: She is jealous that Laura gets a lot of attention for the good deeds she does, so in response (even if its not the correct way to go about it), Jenny teases Laura and acts like an obnoxious brat to GAIN attention for herself, and to brush aside her own insecurities. It reminds me somewhat as to why Naruto acted the way he did as a child in his universe.
Also, with the addition of having your feet transformed into hooves, I can only imagine what level of panic this will cause on the public when word gets out.
Meanwhile, back in Equestria, things are getting more heated. We now have an idea as to what Sunset might have done, if the multiple theories made by others here in the comments are good indications. I would have to agree with Twilight on one thing though. If Twilight has been this hurt and upset about having a family member's identity be kept secret from her family, Shinning Armor will be furious! I also reckon that Cadence will not be very happy either. Not only because her "aunt" kept something this important from her, but on behalf of both Shinning and Twilight as well. Regardless, I'm on the edge of my seat in anticipation in what's going to happen next, and what damage control will be like.
Another set of good chapters, and I await for the next two.
~ Super-Brony12
Hoo boy... this just got complicated...
Tracking beacon has been activated and I look forward to seeing what happens next!
7945812
There has been some hint of people with symptoms outside of Lazy Pines, but in each case, they had direct or indirect contact with infected people in town, so they're still considered to be part of the initial wave of infection. One was a girl who blogged about it from Arizona (Bob found her tumblr after talking to his mother) and the other was mentioned by Mary, Harold's sister.
7946001 Well, that's what I meant, so far only people who've been at Lazy Pines.
My gut's telling me the title a red herring. But I do think that the anomaly is spreading out, hence new towns getting the flu.
But as I said, till proved otherwise, I think we should still keep in mind that maybe the outbreak of flu is just an outbreak of flu and a bad coincidence.
I really hope that it's end with Celsetia having a very good reason for erase Sunset and that it's a sort of secret that everyone better without knowing it. That way it's could a nice reversal from usual "Evul Celestia", "Power-hungry Celestia" and so on.
7942435
Technically yes, they her equal... But in reality, no, they not. In direct conflict "Celestia authority vs Luna and Twilight authority" there a big chance that Celestia wins hooves down because she have a history of ruling Equestria for thousand years and do a pretty good job while on it.
7942984
Thanks for the comment!
The maxim with regards to writing is "write what you know" (and for everything else ... RESEARCH). I've lived in Colorado for quite a while now, so it's what I know best. It made sense to use it as the setting of the story. The specific town of Lazy Pines is invented, but it shares a lot of aspects with real towns in high country. Other places mentioned in the story (Breckenridge, Grand Junction, etc) are real places.
As for changing the story based on feedback, it only made sense to reevaluate when there is a very consistent theme in the criticism. In this specific case, I already had misgivings about that particular subplot but decided to put it out there and see what people thought. It helped that I had built up enough of a rapport with the readers that I trusted they would engage me in the comments and not just downvote-and-run.
7946934
Yes, I am actually well aware that herbivores on Earth can sometimes eat meat. However, where there is a lack of evidence of Equestrian ponies eating meat, the idea that they don't eat meat is what I am taking as canon for them. Whether this was a misunderstanding on the part of the writers as to the definition of "herbivore" or a deliberate decision is anyone's guess.
If it helps, there's a scene in an upcoming chapter where the strictness of the vegetarianism of the people affected by this will be noted as unusual. While some may consider the vegetarian trope "overdone", it has a specific purpose here in highlighting the otherworldy-ness of the creatures they're turning into.
7947428
I don't care for Celestia portrayed as evil or power-hungry either, so I can definitely confirm that's not the case here.
7947739
The ponies of the show consume eggs on routine basis though, which actually means they are quite capable of consuming meat, should they ever want to. I would guess the reason they don't (aside from the possibility that it might simply taste bad for them) is because all the animals we have seen seem highly intelligent, bordering on sapient. Slaying something like that for consumption is likely all sorts of disturbing. But from a purely biological perspective as shown in the show-canon, they are omnivores.
Though that doesn't detract from the idea of going with herbivorous ones for the purposes of a fic. In this case it's only going to add to the delicious chaos that's going to erupt when not only are people's physical forms put into flux, but even their dietary habits and way of life
--
7947428
Celestia can't really "win" anything there though - what Twilight is doing is giving her a chance to come clean on her own terms. If she doesn't, then Celestia's spell will be broken for her and Twilight and Luna would have effectively overruled her regardless. Celestia can't actually deny them this. And then she's kinda up a creek without paddle when everyone regains their memories and realizes they have been suppressed. Which is a pretty bad place for Celestia to end up in, which is likely why Twilight is giving her this chance - like she said, she doesn't necessarily want to treat Celestia as an enemy. And if she ends up "beating" Celestia by breaking the spell, there may very well be people crying for blood(see Twilight's family for starters - Shining and Cadence included) - which is something you'd wish on your enemy, not a (hopefully) misguided friend. But no, Celestia really isn't in a position to deny them.
7947767
I'm... not sure about this? As far as I understand Celestia don't do it because she suddenly feel the need of erasing memory or two. After whatever Sunset do Celestia actually need to actively defuse situation with gryphons and after this she feel that this whole business still bad enough that Celestia choose to completely erase Susnset from history. So from my point of view it's less "Celestia dirty secret" and more of "matters of national security".
So they "win" by breaking spell and suddenly from two "heroes" who uncover some personal dirty secrets they turned into two idiots who stumble in delicate affairs of national security and staring to dance around like two bulls in china shop who could easily put Equestria at war with gryphons (and maybe another world). Kinda "Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!"?
I think (or at least hope) that a situation here a rather complex one and they can't "win" just by breaking spell. It's actually could make situation a way worse that is now. IMO of course.
Who could easily crying for blood of Twilight and Twilight family.
PS. And after refreshing my memory I'm pretty sure that Twilight only have authority over Ponyvile and only Ponyvile after Celestia gift it to her.
7947878
Oh, certainly - the consequences from breaking the spell are likely to be all sorts of interesting. Simply letting it be and pretending it never happened may well be the simplest and most "convenient" solution with least fuss and trouble involved.
But here is the thing - none of that necessarily matters to Twilight; nor is it wrong for her to seek to undo the spell. It's the morally right thing to do regardless. Because subjecting large parts of your own populace to brainwashing via Dark Magic? Because it's easier to keep everyone happily ignorant via memory erasure than dealing with the consequences? That's pretty close to being 'evil'. Road to hell being paved with good intentions and all that.
That Celestia isn't legitimately being removed from power over this as Luna's/Twilight's first move already speaks volumes about the amounts of trust and goodwill she has cultivated over the years. Because if just about anyone else was found out to be keeping large amounts of people under control via dark magic and memory erasure? They would be branded a villain and a tyrant instantly and declared an enemy to be brought down. That Celestia isn't being treated as such is a testament to the amount of goodwill and political capital she has to burn.
But it was still the wrong thing to do, and it's the right thing for Twilight and Luna to seek to undo it. Will it cause complications? Probably - but the right path isn't always the easiest, and as the saying goes, justice is worth fighting for - even if it might be easier to stick one's head in the sand and ignore the wrongdoings around you. Celestia has no right to do this (aside from "might makes right"), and she has no right to expect anyone to be OK having this done to them without their consent.
If Celestia actually can make a convincing enough case that what she done is absolutely necessary and justified and a necessary evil, then fine - she will have the chance to explain her actions to Twilight and even turn her around, if she has an objectively good enough case and it turns out the whole world hangs in the balance. If she can't, or even refuses to engage her fellow heads of state in discussion on the issue? Then the spell will get broken and rightly so, and she will have only herself to blame for the consequences.
Okay this is a good plan. No it really is. What's the worst Celestia is going to do? Cast dark magic on them? Worse than King Sombra? Try to defeat them? Imprison them? They have the Rainbow Power! As long as they're being true to their element, there isn't much she can do to stop them. They kicked Tirek's butt. Celestia's going to confuse and deceive them worse than Discord and Chrysalis, who already tried to do so and failed? The M6 are OP as fuck. They're friggin superheroes!
As opposed to trying to con the con man. Celestia is crafty enough to pull the wool over everyone's eyes for 21 years, but forgot to do anything about the crystal caverns? Especially after she's already been fooled by them once? She wasn't born yesterday, you know! Yeah, just walking up and confronting her is the best idea at this point. They simply don't have powers that make sneaky shit effective.
When they fail horribly, then it's time for the sneaky ones to save the day.PRINCESS CADANCE IS SUNSET SHIMMER!
7953478
Ponies. As the transformation continues, it can result in a temporary anthro-like appearance, but it's only an intermediate step. I would have added the "anthro" tag if I had intended that to be the final state.
7954512
Well, there were only two times that anypony got sick, the mysterious muffins of Sugar Belle, and baked bads, whose ingredients included:
- a cup of lemon juice
- potato chips
- soda pop
- earthworms
- dirt
I thought it was the potatoes, since being relatives of deadly nightshade, they do have traces of toxins in them, but seems odd that ponies would keep potato chips in the pantry if they were poisonous. Plus boiling and frying breaks down that poison; the starch'd be more dangerous to an Earth horse. The only other thing it could have been were the earthworms (which are perfectly edible to a human, or even an Earth horse). No hints as to what went into Sugar Belle's muffins. Ponies who couldn't be equal enough? It only momentarily inconvenienced Pinkie, so maybe it was something less formerly alive like artificial bacon bits.