Chapter 6.1: Life
A few months passed. Twilight got her crown, but in general her months were quiet. Twilight still hadn’t been given anything like royal responsibilities.
Twilight had to call in several favors to make the potion happen—brought in Zecora to supervise during several sections, brought in laboratory equipment and pressure vessels from the university, even borrowed a linguist from the historical department to clarify the wording of the recipe so there were no mistakes. She wasn’t willing to permit a chance, however miniscule, that she would waste some of the ingredients and have to get more. The price she’d paid to find even these was just too high.
There were plenty of close calls—times where the pressure vessel reached its capacity, times when strange flames shone in the sky over her library and ponies all over Ponyville complained to the mayor of the sounds they heard whistling in the night.
But Twilight assuaged all their concerns with her own office, saying only that “Alicorn magic was hard to learn.” And that she would work on improving as quickly as she could. Even Mayor Mare was convinced to stay any investigation when she reminded her of the prestige and commerce that would soon be coming to Ponyville.
“It’s only a matter of time before the Crown builds a castle here,” she said, hoping very much that it was true. “Think of all the tax revenue those contractors will bring.”
She wasn’t harassed again after that, and she was free to continue her brewing in peace. Heavy boxes of equipment and machines arrived by night and left again in the morning. At least Rarity picked up the tab—despite Rainbow’s insistence that she could make a fortune by selling her transformation spells to the seaponies, she hadn’t had the occasion yet. There were more important things to finish first.
So it happened, by both coincidence of availability and planning on her part, that the potion was finished the day of Sweetie’s birthday party. Rarity spared no expense for the occasion, short of hiring the exotic party planner whose skills were being spread from one side of Equestria to the other. Pinkie would serve for that.
Besides, every one of their friends wanted to come. Even if there seemed to be little information exchanged from one to the other, almost everypony knew that Twilight had found herself involved with their worlds thanks to something to do with Sweetie. A few even knew, or guessed, at what she’d accomplished.
As the date grew closer and the cure was nearly complete, Rarity brought a concerning list of confirmations down into the lab.
“That was Luna,” she said on one sunny afternoon, adding another black envelope to the pile, right on top of the gold and white envelope Celestia had sent the day before.
“You invited the princesses to your sister’s party?” she asked. Twilight wore a pair of thick goggles, and her face all around had been blackened with soot. She had run this reaction several times and would have to run it a few times more. However simple the initial instructions had been, the actual process of making the cure was legendary in itself.
“I didn’t,” Rarity said, only slightly exasperated. “Not that I would’ve been opposed to having them, but… Sweetie is just a filly. I wouldn’t have expected them to come any more than they would for any of the other millions of ponies.”
“You think they know?”
Rarity rolled her eyes. “You’re seriously asking that? Princess Luna obviously knows, she will have had an earful from Regolith about our visit. Apparently he wasn’t too offended, or else I would’ve been disciplined. But she didn’t have a word to say on the matter. The ones we killed were rogues of course, operating outside the bounds of their law. They always are.”
Twilight didn’t have the energy to be upset about that now. The existence of many hidden predators nipping at the hooves of Equestrians from one side of the world to the other was certainly a real concern for her—but if Twilight had learned anything during her trips, it was that she couldn’t fight every battle at once.
“We’re about to undo some of their damage,” she said quietly, frowning at the crucible and checking the pressure gauge again. “It should be ready by tomorrow, Celestia willing. It doesn’t say anything about how long the cure will keep when we’re finished with it…”
“We’re also assuming it’s even the cure,” Rarity said. “Regolith himself gave it to us. I don’t know why he would want to share it.”
“Because he’s eliminating potential rivals,” Twilight answered, somehow knowing it was true. “Think about what I went through to get this. Well… you don’t know, and I guess I can’t tell you, but it was hard. Anypony who could do it would be a serious threat to him. And the ones who died trying… well they’re out of his way too.”
“Right.” Rarity nodded reluctantly. “That does make a kind of perverse sense. You’ve been too close to them for too long if you can understand it.”
“Not just them.” Twilight removed the goggles, tossing them onto her desk. “Every day I’m worried that my next step will take me into another invisible world I had no idea was waiting there. How deep do you think it goes?”
“Not as deep as you do,” Rarity said reluctantly. “I don’t know if I’m… fully confident about your experiences. Not that I’m saying you’re lying, perish the thought! But some things aren’t as real as they first appear, and you are still a neophyte at all this.”
She almost laughed right there—but Twilight knew better than that. Rarity knew little of what she’d seen, and she didn’t plan on tormenting her with more than was necessary.
But the princesses were not the worst of those who invited themselves to Sweetie’s party. That dubious honor went to Regolith, whose confirmation went not to Rarity but to Twilight herself.
It didn’t even come through the mail, but in the hooves of a dark pony who knocked once on her kitchen window.
Twilight swung the window open, looking out into the gloom. She didn’t bother lighting her horn—the moon was enough light for her now that she knew how to see.
“My lord sends me with this,” he said, lowering his head respectfully. It was a unicorn, though he smelled more like a tomb. Twilight took the black envelope in her magic, looking down at the pages. There was no name, just a red seal.
By the time she looked up, he was already gone.
Twilight cut Regolith’s perfect red seal with a butter knife, pulling it open and reading the contents.
She already knew what it would say. But she read anyway.
Twilight,
This night that comes will be dark. I know your skill will have produced the cure with success in every respect. As such, it is my duty to be present to witness.
Songs have been sung of the task you have accomplished. But I fear you don’t know the consequences of your achievement. The songs first sung by the ancients can be heard again. But beware those who come to listen.
Don’t forget about the dress.
-R
Rarity isn’t going to like this. She almost didn’t mention it at all—her little sister’s day of celebration turning into a gathering of some of her greatest enemies. But the surprise would’ve been worse—she could only imagine what disaster might be waiting for Ponyville if he arrived without telling her.
Her fury the next day was entirely what Twilight had expected. “If he told you, then he already… and she did nothing.” Rarity stormed back and forth in the lab, nearly knocking over a rack of various reagents. Twilight focused her magic on them, holding the base in place until she’d made it past.
“Completely absurd, what they permit. You think we should wipe them all out, don’t you? They’re all the same. Every one of them is a monster.”
Twilight met her eyes and didn’t look away. She might’ve agreed without hesitation after her first night with Rarity. Now, though…
“What if there wasn’t a cure?” she asked instead. “And your sister was still infected. What would you do?”
Rarity froze, and for a second Twilight thought she might be about to hit her. Then she looked away. “It’s not the same. She’s innocent.”
“Most of them probably are,” Twilight countered. “Or were, once. Without your help, your sister might be dangerous too. Thanks to you, she has this.” Twilight nodded towards the sealed metal container. It was surrounded by salty water now, bubbling with the dry ice that kept the water bath near freezing. Loads of it had to be delivered every few hours—and would be, until the potion was finally complete.
“You haven’t seen what I’ve seen,” Rarity said. “I know, going all over Equestria the way we have. Meeting exotic creatures. It makes you think you should always be compassionate. Enough kindness, and any creature will change their ways. That isn’t how they are. A pony can turn away from evil, choose to be something better. Not every creature can.”
“Vampires can,” Twilight said. “I… I can’t tell you who they were. But when I went to do their favor, that vampire fought monsters. All she wanted was for the ponies of Equestria to be safe.”
Rarity chuckled. “You’re saying the Daughters of Nightmare are still around? I always thought they were a historical fiction to make vampires feel better about themselves. They could always say that they had been something noble once. Their evil was created for a noble purpose.”
“There’s one left,” Twilight said. “And she’s a good mare. So that means at least two vampires out there can choose to be something better. Your sister, choosing to take the cure. And F—and the one I went to help.”
Rarity stopped, hesitating. “You think we should ask her if she…” She trailed off, looking confused. “I hadn’t really planned to make it a choice. Of course, she wants to be cured.”
“Stars and stones,” Twilight muttered. “I really hope you’re joking.”
Rarity wasn’t joking.
Then came the next morning, and Twilight perched high atop her tree-house’s observation tower. While weatherponies flew back and forth to clear the sky for the day of Sweetie’s party, Twilight finally removed the last protective layer from the potion, exposing its glass vessel to the sky.
“You’ve done something incredible here,” Set said, darting from the oak’s boughs and over to the platform again, before buzzing close to the trees. He’d come quite far from the glade on the Apple Farm for the occasion—but she hadn’t felt right refusing him. It was only because of his involvement that the potion was possible at all. “Even in Faewyld, the cure for the undead curse is the stuff of songs, not reality.”
“Are there any songs of ponies who have received it?” Twilight asked. She sat on her haunches, her eyes red and baggy but her focus intense. She would not be spoiling this moment, not after almost two months of work.
“One,” he said. “I could tell you her name, for a price. Do you have any strawberries?”
“Downstairs,” she said, glowering at him. “I promise to get one for you after we finish here or my name isn’t Twilight Sparkle.”
Set clucked his tongue reprovingly. “Don’t swear on your name so casually, Twilight Sparkle. You give it to me from your lips like it was ash and dross to blow away in the wind. Your name is not common—if you find success tonight, it will soon be joining many other great craftsmen and scholars in our songs.”
“I didn’t do anything,” she argued, her eyes never leaving the glass vial. There was so little in there, enough for perhaps one good sip. Yet for all the strange ingredients inside it, it resembled Regolith’s rotten blood most of all, black and oozing. The great purity of the other ingredients was swallowed in that corruption.
Set landed on the little table beside the vial, his laugh like the buzzing of a bumblebee. “Your humility is unbecoming. Look at what you have accomplished.”
The first light of dawn touched the vial. Twilight watched, eyes wide and nervous. This was the moment everything had been building towards. If her potion making failed here…
Nothing happened. The vial remained black as light shone on it, as dark as powdered charcoal or a road surface.
Then her vial started to hiss. The cork popped off, and steam boiled up from the surface of the liquid, carrying with it flecks of black tar. The liquid changed, turning as clear as water.
“You see.” Set tapped the vial with one of his tiny hooves. “Steadier than Brokkr, cleverer than Meadowbrook, perhaps greater than Mithridates himself. This is the stuff of songs, Alicorn Twilight Sparkle. You did not brew only, but you found also. What your companions and helpers are by birth or curse, you did through might.”
“I meant my oath,” she said, smiling despite herself. Twilight replaced the cork, then carefully lowered the vial into a padded metal sleeve. There would be no variables in this, no accidents. She now held in her hooves the rarest medicine ever created. “Tell me the name of the other cured of vampirism, and I’ll give you a strawberry.”
“I can’t tell you,” Set said, buzzing up into the air in front of her. “Because it’s a matter for song. Sit and listen all, to the story of Megan, child of death who lived again…
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No way! No freaking way! Dude, this fic just keeps on giving!
MEGAN?!
Oh boy oh boy! Here we go again!!
:D
>one giant crystal eyesore later
>MAXIMUM GRIMACE
That last line, HA! Throwbacks are always fun.
interesting so Megan has had an influence on this place I wonder if Danny and Molly are going to get mentioned? hell I wonder if the rainbow light is still around?
Well, so much for that one. Magic trees not noted for paying taxes all that often
So what do people think the odds are that the anticlimax with the orihalcium factory will lose the anti when something tracking the stolen goods comes to crash Sweetie's party?
Yeah update thx
Stars and Stones, do I spy a Dresden reference?
9746525
Considering it was here first, I'm pretty sure it would be receiving instead... if it had any use for money.
After all this, Rarity never even asked if Sweetie wanted to be cured? Seriously?
Wasn't Megan the Girl from the earlier generations of MLP?
Huh, isn't Megan the main character of G1 MLP?
The only picture left on the window frame is the moon at the top. Can we expect there is some sort of confession to be made?
ooooooo boi
cant wait for moar
Rarity should have just asked Sweetie Belle and get it over with. Sweetie Belle may or may not want to stay as an immortal loli
Good to see Set again, I thought maybe he’d buzzed back into the faewild after Twilight left (not being sure how much of his talk of wanting to leave was just to keep Twilight distracted until it was too late).
Hey look, let's evoke more things of ancient myth. What's next, is Queen Faust going to show up and entrust Twilight with The Book Of Night With Moon?
9746999
Gosh, you make the prospect sound so appealing
9747151
Fine, an adult (perhaps a few centuries old) stuck in a body of a ten years old for all eternity. It doesn't really sound that exciting to begin with.
Legendary tasks, legendary potion brewing, legendary party guests to wrap it all up.
Rarity knows about the Daughters of Nightmare, that should make that reveal easier in time.
9747118
No, that would be Discord the Lord in Orange.
And goodness only knows what secrets he has. I'm guessing werewolf.
Poor Twilight. It's just not in her nature to withhold information.
(Considers the plots of several episodes.)
Not competently, anyway.
Ooh, and we're delving into antiquity. Not necessarily of this world, either. Pinkie did allude to previous generations of pony... though not to Megan criss-crossing the valley of death.
9747528
I can kind of see that I mean you're the author so you have the final say but it just kind of feels like they would be two different artifacts I mean it seems like the Elements of Harmony are a lot more forgiving than the rainbow of light because let's be honest the rainbow of light did not purify anything it's just straight-up murdered the villain I mean yes it reversed the magic of the villain if anything was changed by their evil magic but also just killed a villain instead of purifying them
9747528
And now for something completely different: some pony invoked Hell. Does that exist in this world too?
9747118
You'd think Luna would have the Book.