Five: Heart to Heart.
On Saturday, Scootaloo awoke from a deep, mostly dreamless slumber. Yesterday had been quite emotional and once she got to bed, worry and excitement in equal measure had kept her from falling asleep. Eventually exhaustion had won out, however, and thankfully no nightmares had disturbed her this time.
Yawning, she peered at her alarm clock, which she hadn't bothered to set the previous night. As her blurry vision focused, she found that noon was not so far off – apparently she had needed more rest than she'd thought. She was grateful that Fang hadn't shown up and roused her from her sleep at sunrise. That did seem like the kind of well-intentioned cruelty a master magician might inflict upon a new apprentice. Then again, Fang hadn't specified an exact time and 'morning' could mean a lot of things, especially on a weekend. Maybe she preferred to sleep in as well?
Climbing out of her bed, Scootaloo mentally reviewed the previous day: She had learned that she was cursed, which totally sucked. She had agreed to become Fang's familiar, a decision that seemed a bit impulsive in retrospect. Still, Fang had hinted that there was still a way for Scootaloo to attain flight, so the filly remained convinced she had made the right call.
After parting with Fang, Scootaloo had spent some quality time with Rainbow Dash, watching her hero and honorary sister perform her new stunts with the usual bittersweet mix of awe and envy. Afterwards, Rainbow had asked about Fang. Scootaloo had only intended to tell her the basic gist, but Rainbow soon noticed something was off and Scootaloo ended up spilling the entire story.
Rainbow had been shocked to hear about the curse, of course, declaring she would find the ones responsible and do something unmentionable to them. She hadn't seemed to fully understand what becoming a familiar meant, but while she appeared somewhat skeptical of Fang's involvement, she had still told Scootaloo to do what she felt was right.
For the rest of the day, Rainbow seemed to go out of her way to spend time with Scootaloo, perhaps out of guilt for not being there in her time of need. Scootaloo didn't mind at all. As far as she was concerned, it wasn't possible to spend too much time with Rainbow Dash.
Still a bit groggy, Scootaloo made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. She almost didn't notice the figure sitting by the table, face obscured by an open newspaper. She yawned. "Fang?"
The newspaper lowered, revealing the face of a pony stallion looking at her over the steel brim of a pair of square glasses. "Good morning, Scootaloo."
"Oh," Scootaloo blinked in surprise, suddenly much more awake and a bit nervous. She tried not to let the latter show. "Hello, Mr Warden."
"Who's 'Fang'?" Warden asked.
"What? Oh, never mind. I'm still half asleep." Scootaloo scratched her mane and tried to look innocent. "Um, I didn't expect to see you around so soon. It's only been, what, a week?"
"Ten days," the stallion corrected, folding the newspaper and placing it on the table. Stately Warden was a slim unicorn, slightly taller than average, with a dim blue coat and ice-blue eyes. His neatly combed mane and the short, impeccably trimmed goatee on his chin were coal black. His cutie mark was a black lantern with a deep red flame – the only warm color in his otherwise somber appearance. Even his voice was cold; a monotone droning void of real emotion. "I had an unexpected opening in my schedule and I figured it couldn't hurt to check in on you."
"Oh, I see." Scootaloo found it somewhat odd he would be working on a Saturday, but decided not to bring that up.
"Not happy to see me?" Warden asked. "I hope I didn't come at a bad time."
"Ah, no, it's cool," Scootaloo lied. "I'm just surprised, that's all."
"Well then," Warden said. "You seem as healthy as last time I saw you. Are you eating well?"
Scootaloo nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Uh, I've been having some trouble sleeping lately, but it's getting better now."
"That's a relief." As usual, Warden made no effort to make that statement sound sincere. "And has anything in particular happened around here?"
Scootaloo shrugged. "Oh, you know. Hanging out with the Crusaders, helping ponies with their cutie mark problems, the usual."
"I see." As she spoke, Warden had placed his hooves together in front of his mouth, his head slightly tilted forward. The sunlight shining through the nearby window glared across his glasses, obscuring his gaze. Scootaloo had never liked those chilly, piercing eyes of his, but somehow it was worse when she couldn't see them. "So you are still spending time with those other two fillies?"
Scootaloo frowned slightly. "Well, of course I am, we're best friends. It's just..." She fell silent and her ears drooped a little. She had said to much, and she hoped Warden hadn't noticed.
"It's just what?" Warden asked.
"...We're just in a bit of a slump, that's all," Scootaloo said. "There aren't as many ponies with cutie mark problems as we hoped there'd be. Plus, Apple Bloom's been kinda busy lately since it's harvest season, and Sweetie Belle is getting magic lessons now, so we don't see each other as much as we used to."
Warden cocked his head. "Well, these things do happen. It's natural for friends to grow apart over time. To be honest I didn't expect that little club of yours to last long once you finally got your marks."
"We are not growing apart!" Scootaloo said, perhaps a bit sharper than intended.
There was a brief silence as Warden simply looked at her for a moment. Then he corrected his glasses with a small sigh. "If you say so. I suppose there isn't much more to talk about, then. Unless there is anything else you forgot to mention?"
"Well..." Scootaloo struggled to think of a good answer. Bringing up her curse was right out – it was still a fresh wound and she really didn't feel comfortable talking to him about something that personal. And if she told Warden about Fang and their arrangement, she had a feeling he would probably object. But on the other hoof, no matter how disinterested he was in her everyday life, she probably wouldn't be able to keep him from finding out for very long. Lying about it might cause more trouble in the long run, but she just wanted him to wrap the meeting up and leave before...
She heard the sound of the front door opening and a familiar voice call out: "Scootaloo? Are you up?"
"Who is that?" Warden asked.
"Oh oh," Scootaloo mumbled under her breath.
A few moments later Fang appeared through the kitchen door and smiled towards the filly. "Ah, there you are." Then she noticed the other pony. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you had company."
"Uh, it's okay," Scootaloo said and gestured at the stallion. "I told you about Mr Warden, right?"
"Stately Warden, Department of Foal Protective Services," Warden said. "I am the appointed legal guardian, in loco parentis, of Scootaloo here. And... who might you be?"
"This is F..."
"Golden Fragrance," Fang cut Scootaloo off. "So you are the elusive Mr Warden? How fortunate, I had been meaning to talk to you but Scootaloo never told me how to get in touch." She turned to Scootaloo. "Why don't you run along and get your things while the two of us have a little chat?"
Scootaloo wasn't sure what kind of things she would need to bring, aside from perhaps her scooter and helmet, though considering Fang's magical doorways she doubted they would be necessary. But then she noticed the look Fang was giving her from the corner of her eye, and decided not to question her. "Um, okay."
She trotted out of the kitchen and up the stairs, but stopped outside of her room. Just to play it safe, she opened the door and then shut it, after which she snuck back to the head of the stairs and sat down. From there she knew she would be able to hear anything said in the kitchen. She wasn't sure what was going on between Fang and Warden, but figured she might as well take the chance to listen in on the conversation.
"So, Miss Fragrance?" Warden said. "How do you know Scootaloo?"
"Oh, I wouldn't say I know her very well," Fang replied. "I just ran into her yesterday when I visited my old friend Twilight Sparkle."
Her tone had changed, Scootaloo realized. It was subtle, but she sounded... snootier was the only word that came to mind, like some of those fancy ponies who sometimes showed up at Rarity's boutique.
Warden raised an eyebrow. "The princess?"
Fang chuckled. "Well, she wasn't a princess when I got to know her, but yes. Scootaloo was there to ask Twilight about something and we ended up chatting for a bit." She turned her head slightly, giving the room in general a critical look. "I must ask, Mr Warden, isn't it a bit unconventional for an orphan filly to be living alone like this?"
"The situation is hardly ideal, no," Warden said. "I'm not proud to admit it, but there was a bit of a bureaucratic snafu with Scootaloo's case that prevented us from placing her with a new family. Red tape getting tangled up, so to speak, I'm sure you wouldn't be interested in the details. At any rate, she is strongly opposed to being sent to an orphanage and at this point we feel uprooting her from her old life would be detrimental to her well-being."
Fang nodded. "I see. Well, I'm sure your organization knows better than anypony when it comes to caring for unfortunates. Anyway, as I was saying, the two of us traded a few words and Scootaloo somehow managed to talk me into... I guess you would call it an apprenticeship? In the end I didn't have the heart to turn her down."
"An apprenticeship? And what is it that you do, exactly?" Warden asked.
"Oh, I'm a magical scholar,” Fang replied. "I recently returned to Equestria after researching exotic arcane theory, and I'm currently looking to publish a paper on rare magical afflictions. That's part of why I went to see Twilight Sparkle, you see. There was a certain case study I wanted her opinion on. Tell me, Stately, do you have any experience in magical academia?"
"As I matter of fact, I did study magic once," Warden said. Though his neutral tone didn't change, the question seemed to make him slightly uncomfortable. "That was a long time ago, however, and the results weren't satisfactory."
"Really?" Fang grinned. "What happened?"
Warden cleared his throat. "I don't want to discuss that matter."
"Oh forgive me, I didn't mean to pry." Fang winked at him. "Ponies always tell me that's a bad habit of mine."
"It's quite alright," Warden said. "But getting back to the subject, you do realize Scootaloo is a pegasus? Also, she may not have told you, but she suffers from a condition that limits her ability to generate magic. I rather doubt you will be able to teach her anything worthwhile."
"Augh, tell me about it!" Fang rolled her eyes. "Rince Wind Syndrome, right? She wouldn't shut up about it. You see, the poor thing has gotten it into her head that my work might help her find some sort of cure. It's quite a ludicrous fantasy, of course. I tried to tell her that it it's unlikely to work, but she simply wouldn't take no for an answer." She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Still, I suppose she might be good for running errands and sorting books until she grows bored and quits on her own."
"I imagine that will be quite disheartening for her," Warden pointed out.
"Yes, but she'll have to come to terms with it one way or another," Fang replied. "Giving up on your childish dreams in the face of cold, crushing reality just builds character, I've always said."
"Hm." Warden nodded slowly. "Well, Miss Fragrance, I wish we could have discussed this matter before you agreed to anything, but I understand your circumstances and I suppose I have no particular reason to object."
"Splendid! I'm glad we got that sorted out." Fang turned her head up, casting a glance at the ceiling. "Now then, what is taking that girl so long?"
Hearing this, Scootaloo got on her hooves and hurried to her room as quietly as she could. She opened the door, grabbed her scooter and helmet, then returned down the stairs while trying to ignore the cold feeling in her abdomen.
She was mostly sure Fang had simply been putting up an act in front of Warden for reasons she didn't quite understand, but those words had still stung a bit. Had there been any truth to it? Did Fang secretly consider her a lost cause? No, that didn't make sense. After all, it was Fang who had made the offer in the first place. Still, Scootaloo had a nagging feeling she was missing something.
"I got my stuff," she declared once she made it to the kitchen door.
"Then let's not dally," Fang said, still speaking in that fake snooty voice. "I have important work to do and we don't have all day." She gave Warden a look as if to say: Kids these days, am I right?
"I should get going as well," Warden said, following Fang and Scootaloo to the front door. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Fragrance."
Fang smiled. "The pleasure was all mine, Mr Warden."
They parted ways on the sidewalk outside the house, wandering off in opposite directions. Warden didn't even say goodbye to Scootaloo, though he turned and gave the pair one last look through narrowed eyes before continuing on his way.
As they made it to the end of the street, Fang seemed to relax a bit. "Good grief. That was interesting."
Scootaloo gave her a cautious look. "So, what you said back there..."
"Eavesdropping is a bad habit, you know?" Fang said. "But I'll let it slide this time."
"Where you lying?" Scootaloo asked.
"What, to Mr Warden?" Fang snorted. "Obviously."
"Well, yeah, but why?"
"Like I told you yesterday," Fang said, "I'm a very good judge of character. And frankly, I don't trust that pony at all. Call it a gut feeling. I'd rather keep him out of the loop as much as possible."
"What about the whole 'me getting my dreams crushed by reality' thing?" Scootaloo prodded, slipping into a slightly accusatory tone. "It kinda sounded like you wanted him to say no."
"I was testing him," Fang said, her expression turning to one of concern. "Scootaloo, I don't think that pony cares about your happiness at all."
"Oh, big surprise," Scootaloo muttered. "He's always been like that. I mean, it's not like he's ever been cruel to me, he just isn't the caring and loving type. I know I should be grateful that he's at least doing his job and keeping me alive, but he's kinda hard to talk to and something about him always really weirded me out."
"You've got good instincts," Fang said.
"Yeah, maybe." Scootaloo shrugged. "You know, I used to think all grown-ups were like him, until I started school and got to know Miss Cheerilee."
"That explains the attitude," Fang mumbled.
Scootaloo shot her an annoyed look, but decided to ignore that remark. She was starting to realize that letting things slide would be required if she wanted to keep getting along with Fang. "So what would you have done if he didn't allow it?"
"I would have made you my familiar anyway." Fang smiled and winked at her. "We'd just have to be sneakier about it."
Before she knew it, Scootaloo was smiling as well. All things considered, she definitely liked Fang better than Mr Warden.
Stepping through the magic door leading into Fang's tower still felt very strange to Scootaloo. This time Fang had placed the portal somewhat closer to her house, hidden away inside an alleyway between Hay's Hardware and Mr Breezy's Fan Emporium. Though Scootaloo knew about teleportation, it was still hard to grasp the thought of entering a room that was not supposed to be in that particular place and, as far as she understood the concept, was really some other place altogether.
But there she was, standing in the same round room she'd left from the other night, still full of machinery. She parked her scooter next to the door and put the helmet down on the deck. She had been right about not really needing either for the trip. "So, now what?" she asked.
"I think we should go through some ground rules before we move on to the ritual itself," Fang said. "Don't worry, I won't ask much of you."
Scootaloo nodded. "Fair enough."
Fang approached the large control panel and pulled a lever with her telekinesis, sending a brief shudder through the room – making the doorway in Ponyville disappear, Scootaloo assumed. "First of all, I would like you to refrain from touching this device without my supervision. It's the central control system for the entire Rook and you might end up sending us somewhere dangerous if you don't know what you're doing."
"Dangerous how?" Scootaloo asked.
"Let me put it this way: Did you know there are worlds out there where touching anything at all will cause you to explode?"
Scootaloo took a step away from the control panel. "Okay. Don't mess with the big bronze thing. Got it."
"Good to know you're paying attention," Fang chuckled and gestured for Scootaloo to follow her. "In the same vein, you should probably leave the rest of these machines alone as well. Most of them should be harmless but better safe than sorry. Same goes for any potions I have lying around..."
"Wouldn't want to turn your mane red," Scootaloo quipped.
Fang rolled her eyes but still cracked a smile. "Yes, very funny. In fact, if you don't know what something is, you'd best stay clear of it. Feel free to ask me about it, though. I'm not opposed to healthy curiosity."
They entered the large study where Fang seemed to have accumulated most of her worldy possessions in the least ordered fashion possible. "We already went through this yesterday," she said, "but don't bother trying to tidy anything up. I find that a bit of a mess helps me think, and it's taken me years to get this place the way I want it."
Scootaloo had another look at the bewildering collection of random items. "...I believe you."
"Now, as my familiar you would normally have certain duties to fulfill," Fang carried on, "such as assisting me in magical rituals, running errands, spying on enemy magicians or guarding my home from intruders..."
Scootaloo frowned. "Wait, what?"
Fang ignored her. "...However, since I intend to take it easy while staying in Equestria, we'll just be focusing on teaching you basic magic skills and investigating your curse. I'm not about to ask anything unreasonable of you."
"Okay." Scootaloo wasn't sure what else to say, but then she recalled something. "Wait, so the reason Spike is always asking Twilight for stuff to do is because he's her familiar, right? Won't that happen to me as well?"
Fang shrugged. "It varies depending on the type of familiar. It's possible you may feel some level of compulsion to be useful to me, but it should be easy to ignore. Especially for one with your, heh, temperament."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Again, Fang ignored the question, instead picking up an old book seemingly at random. "Eventually I'll be giving you certain books to read, and I do expect you to read them thoroughly."
"Figures there'd be homework," Scootaloo sighed. Somehow she doubted Fang would be hoofing her Daring Do novels.
"You want to learn how to fly, don't you?" Fang said. "I told you it would take a lot of work."
That made Scootaloo perk up. Finally getting to fly was easily worth making it through a few boring magic books. "I suppose a bit of reading never hurt anypony."
Fang smiled. "That's the spirit."
Passing through the room, Fang suddenly stopped next to a door Scootaloo hadn't noticed before. It was nestled inside a stone alcove near the stairs and looked like it might lead to a cellar of some kind. Unlike the other doors Scootaloo had seen, this one was decorated with the same circle of comma-like symbols as the mark on Fang's flank.
"Ah yes, one more thing," Fang said. "This door will be locked, and I'm the only one who can open it. Don't bother trying to go in there, that room is off limits."
"Why?" Scootaloo asked.
"Because that room is off limits," Fang repeated, then turning to head up the stairs without elaborating further.
"Glad we got that sorted out," Scootaloo sighed and followed.
They ascended the stairs, passing by the corridor with the room Scootaloo had previously recovered in, and up a second flight of stairs. Finally they passed through a door into what, judging by the layout, must have been a tower room. That is, at least in whatever regard that word made sense in a building where the interior didn't even begin to match the exterior.
The room had no furniture except for a series of round wooden frames – one for each of the four walls – within which ropes had been bound to form a web-like pattern. The entire ceiling was decorated with a giant compass rose, and from its center hung a device that looked a bit like a strange steel chandelier with glowing yellow orbs. Whether this was a magical device or just a lighting apparatus, Scootaloo couldn't tell. Looking closely, she noticed that all corners in the room had been rounded off, as if to eliminate any right angles. There was also a glass box on one of the walls, containing what looked like a cross between a wizard's staff and a battle axe, with a sign above it reading: “BREAK IN CASE OF TULPA.”
The open floor was almost entirely taken up by a huge circle drawn in chalk, within which were two smaller circles with star-shaped patterns that looked like pentagrams, only with many more points. Every inch of remaining space within the larger circle was covered in strange symbols.
"As you can see, I've already made all the preparations," Fang said and pointed at one of the star drawings. "We won't try anything fancy, so just stand in one of those magic circles and I'll perform the binding spell."
Scootaloo gave the circle an apprehensive look. This all looked a bit too much like the exploding spectrometer. "What does that mean, exactly?"
"In layman's terms, I'm going to form a magical link between our hearts, so that a bit of my magic will pass into you and vice versa."
"Our hearts will be linked?" Scootaloo frowned. "I don't get it."
Fang scratched her chin. "Right, I forgot to mention that. When we talk about 'hearts' in a magical context, we don't mean the physical organ but rather our metaphysical and spiritual cores. Your 'heart' in this case is what makes you, well, you. It governs not only magic but also your feelings, your sense of self and, put very simply, what you might call your soul."
Hearing this just made Scootaloo feel more cautious. "Doesn't that mean you'll be able to tell what I'm thinking and feeling?"
"In theory, sure," Fang said, looking amused at the idea. "But in practice, that's not something we need to worry about. We'll be able to have a vague sense of each other, yes, and perhaps share some basic superficial feelings over time. But for something more intimate than that, we would have to completely open our hearts to one another. That requires an exceptional level of trust, so it basically never happens."
"What, you don't think I trust you?" Scootaloo asked. "I'm the one letting you put weird spells on me, remember?"
"You don't understand." Fang sighed, tapping her chin. "Put it like this: That colorful pegasus from the other day, Rainbow Dash? You two are pretty close, right?"
"You bet we are!" Scootaloo beamed with pride. "We're pretty much sisters, you know?"
"And would you say you trust her?" Fang asked.
"Absolutely!"
Fang cocked her head. "Really? Can you honestly say you don't have any secrets you don't want her to know about? No sides of you that you won't show her? If it was possible for her to know everything there is to know about you, can you say that wouldn't bother you?"
Scootaloo hesitated. She recalled their first camping trip and how desperate she'd been to hide her anxiety from Rainbow. True, they had opened up a lot since then, but there were plenty of subjects she still didn't feel comfortable discussing with her idol, aspects of herself she didn't want Rainbow to see. The more she thought about it, the more she realized Fang had a point. "...I guess not."
"There you go, then," Fang said. "Absolute trust is very rare. We all hide what we really are to some degree, and there's no shame in that. Did you have any other questions?"
Scootaloo thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, yesterday when you and Twilight were talking about my curse, you said it was around my heart." At the time, she had assumed it meant her actual heart. Now it all made a bit more sense. “So, um, are you sure this is even going to work?"
"I see no reason it wouldn't," Fang said. "Your curse is an impressive piece of work, but it's very specialized. It only seems to keep you from accessing your own cardinal magic, so I doubt it will interfere with the link."
"And you're sure this spell is harmless?" Scootaloo insisted.
Fang nodded. "Positive. You'll hardly even feel it."
Scootaloo drew a deep breath to steady herself and walked over to the nearest magic circle. "Okay, let's do this."
Fang stepped into the circle in front of her, then paused. "So you are certain this is what you want?"
Scootaloo gave her a bemused look. "What, after all that?"
"I was just addressing your concerns, not trying to persuade you," Fang pointed out. "Like I said, I won't force you into this. You can still back out."
Scootaloo shook her head. "No, I've made up my mind. I become your familiar, then you teach me to fly and help me with the curse. That was the deal."
"Very well." Fang raised her head and her horn started glowing in a golden light. "I'll cast the spell now, just relax and try to clear your mind."
While Scootaloo did her best to do so, the light around Fang's horn started to swirl, forming a shining band that spiraled around her before reaching out to the filly. It touched Scootaloo's chest and seemed to flow into her, while at the same time connecting to Fang's chest at the other end.
"O, serpent of future and past, bite thy own tail," Fang said. "O, elder star, weave thy white thread. Bind two worlds together at the root, until the day all chains are broken. The echo resounds. Two mirrors reflect each other. The briar embraces the rose. Scootaloo the Pegasus, walk with me."
The chalk drawings on the floor started glowing white and the band of light between the two brightened. Scootaloo felt a surging warmth and a strange pulsing rhythm through the magical bond.
Then, all of a sudden, the band flashed bright white with sparks of purple and red lightning dancing around it. Scootaloo felt a lance of pain run through her – hot as fire, cold as death, deep red as fresh blood. Though it only lasted a moment, the agony completely overwhelmed her, filling her mind, making it impossible to think about anything else. The world turned black and crimson before her eyes. She heard a piercing scream and dimly realized it was her own. But beyond that scream was another; a strange, unnatural scream unlike anything she had ever heard. Not quite the voice of a pony, not quite the howl of an animal.
Once that terrible moment finally passed, the spell abruptly dissolved and Scootaloo's legs buckled underneath her. As she collapsed, gasping, she looked up and saw Fang.
The sorceress staggered on her hooves, barely keeping herself upright, and her entire body seemed to flicker and distort like a flame. After several seconds Fang finally managed to stabilize her shape and she allowed herself to slump to the floor.
Wincing, Scootaloo rolled over on her back. "W-What the hay, Fang?" she groaned. "You said it wouldn't hurt!"
"It... wasn't... supposed to," Fang groaned back. "Cut me... some slack, okay? I've never had to factor in... such a powerful curse before. I guess... there was some kind of backlash."
Scootaloo gritted her teeth, struggling to breathe properly. "My chest feels like it's on fire."
"Well... if it's any consolation... I'm pretty sure I feel ten times worse... than you do right now."
Fortunately, the lingering pain quickly faded and Scootaloo managed to stand up on unsteady hooves. "Please tell me that worked."
Fang was getting up as well, squinting through the locks of her now ruffled mane. "Yeah... I think it did. Try focusing on me, you should be able to sense the connection now."
Scootaloo wasn't sure how she was supposed to do that, so she simply searched within herself for anything that felt different. She found it almost right away – she could sense it, a presence that was vaguely yet unmistakably Fang. She closed her eyes and it became even clearer. It was like the feeling of sunlight on her coat or a sound almost too faint and soft to hear, except not at all like either of those things.
She opened her eyes again and looked at Fang. "Wow, that is weird. Does Spike feel this all the time? How come he doesn't notice it?"
Fang shrugged, pulling a hoof through her mane to correct it. "My guess is that it's because he feels it all the time. He's been bonded with Twilight since the day he was born. I doubt he's even consciously aware of it, same way you can't hear the sound of your own pulse passing by your eardrums. Even if he has noticed it, he probably thinks it's something everyone feels."
"So, now what?" Scootaloo asked.
Fang smiled. "Well, since you are now officially my familiar, I suppose I should teach you some magic."
"Awesome!" Scootaloo made a little hop in delight and hovered over the floor for a moment, her wings buzzing. "Is this where you teach me to fly?"
"Heh, hold your horses," Fang chuckled. "That comes later. You're going to need to learn the basics first."
Scootaloo frowned. "Aw."
Walking over to her, Fang lit her horn up. There was a sudden flash and in the next moment Scootaloo found that they had teleported to the study. She blinked, momentarily disoriented. "Hey, warn me before you do that, okay?"
Rather than answering, Fang levitated a stack of books out of the seat of an old armchair, unceremoniously dumping them on the nearby table. "Right then, have a seat and we'll begin your first lesson."
Scootaloo did as told, climbing into the slightly dusty seat while Fang liberated a similar chair from a stack of scrolls and an old wooden statue of a cat. Pulling it closer, the sorceress sat down across from Scootaloo. "I guess I should start with a quick overview of the different fields of magic."
"There's more than one kind of magic?" Scootaloo asked.
"Well, magic is magic," Fang replied. "But when teaching it, we typically divide it into nine types based on how the principles behind the spells grow increasingly esoteric. Generally speaking, the first type is the simplest to master, and the ninth is hardest."
"So, the higher the number the more powerful the spell is?" Scootaloo guessed.
Fang shook her head. "Not necessarily. How powerful it is still depends mostly on the complexity of the spell itself and how much magic the caster can put into it. It's more about how easy the idea of the spell is to grasp. You study math at your school, right?"
Scootaloo nodded. "Yeah."
"Then think of it this way: When you start learning math you will begin with addition and subtraction, then once you understand that you will move on to multiplication and division and so on. It's all math, of course, but having an understanding of the easy parts is needed to learn the harder parts. Are you with me so far."
Scootaloo nodded again. "I think so."
"Good," Fang said. "Well then, the First Magic is magic that is intuitive and internalized. It's any form of magic you can perform by instinct or by following instructions without understanding exactly how it works."
"So, like the way we pegasi can stand on clouds and control the weather?" Scootaloo asked. "And the stuff earth ponies can do?"
Fang nodded. "Exactly. First Magic also includes various forms of simple folk magic and things like alchemy." Seeing that Scootaloo understood, she carried on: "The Second Magic is any projected spell that affects the physical world directly but without affecting the natural properties of the target. The one you should be most familiar with is the basic levitation spell."
To illustrate, she levitated a quill off the table and held it in the air for Scootaloo to see. "This is the simplest type of spell that ponies think of as 'proper' magic. Other spells of this type include shields, focused attack beams, creating magical lights and so on. Most unicorns in Equestria only bother to learn Second Magic spells."
"The Third Magic is what we call enchanting. This is when you apply magic to the target in order to change certain properties, but without changing what it is. For instance, enchanting a knife so that it never dulls, or making the steel stronger. It could also be used to animate objects so that they move around on their own, and other things like that."
"That doesn't seem very different from the second one," Scootaloo pointed out.
"It can be difficult for novices to distinguish between them," Fang said. "However, Third Magic is inherently more advanced." A golden spark flew from her horn and swirled around the quill. The glow surrounding it faded, but the quill remained hanging in the air. "See, I just put a spell on that quill, making it float on its own. This may not seem very different from levitating it directly, but in practice it is a lot more difficult."
"Next up, the Fourth Magic covers spells that affect the mind, such as creating illusions, manipulating memories or dreams, or compelling others to think or feel certain things."
Scootaloo immediately recalled the incident with Twilight's disastrous Want It Need It spell. She shuddered. "Yeah, I know about that one."
Fang raised an eyebrow at this, but continued the lecture. "Now we're getting to the more complicated stuff. Fifth Magic spells change the shape and physical nature of the target. Most common are spells that transform an object into a different object, like say turning a rock into a flower, but there are also spells that can create duplicates of the target and other variations. Since it involves directly interfering with the physical reality of the object, Fifth Magic is considered fairly advanced."
Scootaloo nodded to show she was paying attention. These were all things she had seen Twilight do on occasion, but she still found Fang's explanation surprisingly interesting.
"The Sixth Magic is the magic of space-time. The most common application is the basic teleportation spell, moving from one point in space to another, though there are many other ways a skilled magician can use magic to manipulate space and time." Fang's face suddenly bore a slightly prideful smile. "On a related note: This building, the Rook, was constructed using particularly advanced Sixth Magic."
"I guess that explains all the weird doors," Scootaloo said.
"Quite. Moving on, Seventh Magic involves the manipulation of probability, causality and, to some extent, what you would call fate or destiny. Simply put, it is the magic discerning or changing the likelihood of certain events to occur, and it can be used for such things as predicting the future or giving yourself or others good luck. Or bad luck, for that matter.”
Scootaloo considered this for a moment and raised her hoof. "So, say you have a spell that lets you travel through time, and you go back and change something. Would that be Sixth or Seventh? I mean, technically you'd be changing how things turn out, right?"
"Ah, now we're getting into the difficult subjects," Fang chuckled. "The act of time traveling would be Sixth Magic. As for changing the course of events, that is much harder than you'd think. Turns out destiny doesn't like it when you meddle with it. In fact, I have personally never even heard of a magician who actually managed to alter the past directly. In theory it may be possible for a very skilled mage to use both the Sixth and Seventh Magic to achieve some minor change, but it's such a notoriously tricky field to work with that most don't bother with that sort of thing."
"This is getting kinda hard to follow," Scootaloo pointed out.
"That's what you get for asking advanced questions on your first lesson," Fang said with a wink. "Where was I? Oh yes. The Eighth Magic is the magic of manipulating vital forces. That is to say, spells that somehow affect living things on a spiritual or metaphysical level, rather than the physical one. When such spells are used for the benefit of others, we refer to them as blessings. When they are used to cause harm, we call them curses."
Scootaloo frowned. "...So whoever put this curse on me was that good, huh?"
"Yes, at the very least." Fang looked thoughtful and her eyes narrowed somewhat. "Considering how advanced your curse is, that magician must have been a true master of the Eighth."
Scootaloo said nothing, but felt a growing apprehension within her. The fact that she had been cursed meant she had an enemy, and going by what Fang had told her, that enemy was not only ruthless but apparently also immensely powerful. A part of her still wanted to find her mysterious nemesis, administer righteous vengeance and demand an explanation. But now, another part of her hoped they'd never meet at all.
If Fang noticed her feelings, she didn't comment on them. "Finally, there's the Ninth Magic. This one can be very difficult to grasp but I'll do my best to explain it in simple terms. Essentially, it's magic applied via concepts. Such spells are different from others because their effects are determined by the particular concept the spell is based on, which overrides all other spell attributes. This makes Ninth Magic spells incredibly powerful."
"Uh, you've already lost me," Scootaloo said. "What does any of that even mean?"
Fang hummed and thought for a moment. "Let's say we have a chest with something valuable inside, and we want to put a spell on it that keeps others from opening it. Your average mage would probably just create a magic lock or place a shield around the chest, something like that. But with Ninth Magic, you could use a spell based on the concept of 'closed' or maybe 'forbidden.' This would make it impossible for anyone to open the chest, because the very concept of 'opening' no longer applies to it. The chest wouldn't even need to be locked, nothing in particular would be keeping it closed. And yet, you wouldn't be able to make the lid budge and no lesser spell could change the fact that it can't be opened."
Scootaloo blinked. "That doesn't even make sense!"
"And that's exactly why those spells are so rare," Fang declared. "The entire idea is difficult to get your head around. I've studied the arcane arts for two millennia but even I can't actually use Ninth Magic. It requires a transcendental understanding of the specific concept, abstracting it down to the purest insight of the idea itself. Even among magicians of the very highest order, most only ever master one conceptual spell." She paused for a moment and leaned back in her chair. "So, those are all the nine types of magic. Can you remember them all?"
"Um...” Scootaloo hesitated. "No? Sorry, it's just a lot to keep track of. I should probably have written them down..."
Fang grinned. "I'm just teasing you, Scootaloo. I did say it was just a brief overview, there's no need for you to memorize them right away. We can go through them in more detail later."
Scootaloo shot her a look of annoyance, wondering what the point of that lecture had even been. Sometimes it seemed Fang simply enjoyed talking a lot.
"To recap," Fang said, "First magic is what you do when you stand on clouds. As a pony you should already have a natural affinity for it, so there's probably not much left to teach. For now we'll be focusing on Second magic. We won't be getting anywhere until you learn to deliberately project a spell."
Scootaloo scratched her mane. "You're going to teach me to levitate stuff?"
Fang shook her head. "That would be a good place to start if you were a unicorn, but as a pegasus I think we should begin with astral projection."
"Astra what?"
"Astral projection. That's when you create an ethereal form and use it to send your psyche into..." Fang noticed the look on Scootaloo's face and sighed. "...It means you go outside your body and float around. You know, like a ghost?"
"Oh." Scootaloo's eyes widened. "That actually sounds kinda cool. So how do I start?"
"The first step is meditation techniques," Fang explained. "You will need to refine your focus and concentration ability as much as possible. I'm going to teach you how to sit and breathe properly, and then I want you to create a picture in your mind and only think about that specific picture for as long as possible."
"I just sit around and think about one thing?" Scootaloo chuckled. "That's easy!"
At this rate, she would be flying in no time.
What felt like an eternity later, Scootaloo grit her teeth, put her head in her hooves and groaned. "Nnngraaah!"
Turns out, meditation was not easy.
"I think you're actually getting worse at it," Fang pointed out.
"I don't get it!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "How can thinking about one thing be this hard?!"
She had chosen to focus on the mental image of Rainbow Dash flying through the air while striking an awesome pose. Thinking about Rainbow being awesome was second nature to her, after all. But no matter how hard she tried to focus, she'd find her mind subtly drifting to other thoughts: How much she wanted to fly herself, the unfairness of her curse holding her down, her friends and how she would explain all of this to them, various daydreams and so on. She kept feeling itchy in random spots, or had overwhelming urges to stretch her muscles, all kinds of little distractions she normally wouldn't have noticed. It didn't help that the position Fang had told her to sit in seemed intended to be uncomfortable, plus she needed to mind her breathing on top of it all.
Not to mention, it was all so boring.
Taking a deep breath, she turned to Fang who was passing the time reading an old book in her armchair. "So, how long am I gonna need to keep this up, anyway?"
"Hm," Fang looked up. "For practical purposes, long enough for you to devote your full concentration to the spell. The longer you can do it the better, but at least a few minutes, I'd say."
Scootaloo's heart sank and her shoulders slumped. She was never going to learn how to fly. "I don't think I can do this," she mumbled.
Fang put the book away and got out of the chair. She walked over to Scootaloo and gave the filly a pat on the shoulder. "Sounds like you need a break. Getting frustrated will just make it harder for you to concentrate. Don't worry, I don't expect miracles on your first day."
Scootaloo's just let out a surly grunt in response. She knew she was being impatient and putting her expectations too high. Of course learning actual magic would be hard – even Sweetie Belle had struggled a lot before she finally got the hang of levitation, and she had a natural advantage. But Scootaloo still thought it seemed incredibly unfair she had to go through all this effort for something other pegasi could do instinctively by her age.
"I guess I'm going to be doing this meditation stuff for a while, huh?" she asked.
"Not just meditation," Fang said. "We'll be complementing it with lucid dreaming. Ah, that's when you dream, but you are aware of it and can control the dream. It's similar in principle to astral projection so it will help you build the skills you need."
That got Scootaloo's attention. "Wait, so basically like when Princess Luna visits us in our sleep?"
"...Ah. Yes." Fang's expression turned to a thoughtful frown. "I didn't think about that."
Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
Fang averted her eyes and for some reason she looked a bit sheepish. "Well, it's just that now that Luna is back, I should probably talk to her before we start messing with your dreams. I wouldn't want there to be any misunderstandings."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Fang sighed. "It's... complicated. Never mind that for now. How about we grab something to eat?"
"I am starting to feel kinda hungry," Scootaloo admitted. Come to think of it, she had ended up skipping breakfast thanks to the unannounced appearance of Mr Warden – she had been too relieved to part with him and too excited about all the magic stuff to notice. No wonder she couldn't focus her mind very well.
Besides, the thought of sharing another meal with Fang seemed to lift her spirits and made her strangely warm inside.
"Great! I hope you like baked potatoes." Fang smiled. "And after we've eaten, what do you say we go visit Twilight to see if she's made any progress with her research?"
Scootaloo perked up. Somewhere along the line she had nearly forgotten about Twilight's promise to help her dispel the curse. She smiled back at Fang. "Okay."
Some time later, Scootaloo trotted along the street towards Twilight's castle with Fang by her side and a belly full of potatoes. The meal had done wonders to help her muster up a bit of optimism. True, she had considerable obstacles to overcome, but she also had powerful allies to help her.
"Do you think Twilight has figured something out?" she asked.
Fang chuckled. "If she's half as driven as when she was your age, she's probably read every book on curses she's managed to get her hooves on by now. Of course, I've never seen her in action outside of a classroom, so I'm curious as well."
They soon reached the castle and Fang gave the doors a couple of knocks. "Hm, I wonder if we should have let her know we were dropping by?" she mused. "I hope we're not interrupting..."
The doors suddenly flung open and an excited Twilight stuck her head out to smile at them. "You're here! I was just about to send Spike to find you, Scootaloo! Come in, both of you!"
They followed the excited alicorn inside. Fang smiled, recognizing the fervor in Twilight's eyes. "So you've figured something out?"
"Not exactly," Twilight replied. "I mean, I still don't understand the structure of the curse, but I think we'll be able to shed some light on that now." Looking at the pegasus, some of her enthusiasm gave way for concern. "Are you... okay, Scootaloo? I'm really sorry about last time, I shouldn't have been so blunt."
"I'm fine now,” Scootaloo said. “Don't worry about it. I mean, it still sucks having a curse, but Fang told me it's better I know about it. I haven't given up yet!"
Twilight smiled. "That's a relief."
As they passed through the throne room they were approached by Starlight Glimmer and Spike. "You showed up at just the right time, Scootaloo," Starlight said. "And you must be Fang?"
"Twilight, I'm shocked!" Fang cast a glance at the princess and grinned. "You never mentioned having a sister."
Starlight's eyes widened and Spike smothered a giggle. Twilight let out an embarrassed laugh. "Ah, no. This is Starlight, I mentioned her before."
Fang nodded. "Right, the former apprentice turned colleague. It's a pleasure."
"Likewise," Starlight said. "Twilight speaks very highly of you, Fang."
"She spoke very highly of you as well," Fang replied. "One of the most talented spellcasters she's ever met, I believe was the phrase she used."
Starlight blushed, somehow managing to look bashful while at the same time beaming with pride. "Oh, I may have mastered a lot of magic, but thanks to Twilight I know I still have a lot to learn."
"Yeah," Spike said. "She used to be awful at friendship. This one time..." Starlight gave him a quick smack on the arm, shutting him up.
"Is it true you stole the cutie marks from an entire village of ponies?" Scootaloo asked.
Starlight suddenly froze, looking uncomfortable. "Well, yes, but..."
"Hold on, you did what?" Fang looked genuinely surprised. "I didn't even know that was possible."
Noticing the unicorn's distress, Twilight quickly spoke up. "Starlight used to have some... issues, but that's all in the past. She's proven herself to be a good friend, and I have complete trust in her."
"I see." Grinning, Fang gave Starlight a curious look. "Interesting."
"Ehehe," Starlight chuckled nervously. "W-Why don't we go see what Twilight and I have set up for Scootaloo? It's this way."
Led by Twilight and Starlight, the group proceeded deeper into the castle. It still fascinated Scootaloo just how large the place was, especially since the exterior didn't seem big enough to house so many corridors and rooms. It occurred to her that it was similar to Fang's tower in that regard.
Soon they entered a room where a large device had been set up in the middle of the crystal floor. It consisted of a big round platform with three metal arches holding up a parabolic metal disk above it, a cable connecting the machine to a control panel. In the middle of the platform, a number of interlocking triangles formed a vaguely star-shaped pattern.
The moment she saw the contraption, Scootaloo stopped in her tracks. "Oh," she said with a deadpan look on her face. "It's one of those."
Twilight turned to her, looking surprised. "You... know what it is?"
"It's one of those spectrum-thingies, right?" Scootaloo guessed.
"Oh, a thaumatic spectrometer?" Twilight shook her head. "No, I don't think we'd get any useful data out of one of those. This is more like a scaled-up version of the thaumascope."
Fang walked over to the platform and gave it a closer look. "Is this Mandrake's greater diagram?"
"That's right," Starlight replied. "As you can see we're using a resonance modulator as the base, but we've reconfigured it to use a variable hexa-field as a lens."
"That way we can project a magnified image of the aura of whoever is standing inside the field," Twilight concluded.
"Do you have any idea what they're talking about?" Scootaloo whispered to Spike.
"You'd think I would after living with those two," Spike replied. "But no."
"I must say, I'm impressed," Fang said. "You managed to put this together in just a day? How did you get the resonance strong enough without collapsing the field?"
"Oh, that was all Twilight's idea," Starlight said. "She tuned the emitter so the resonance of the field is the same as that of the modulator, except in the negative values. Normally there'd be no reason you'd want a hexa-field to do that, but in this case they balance out."
Twilight shrugged. "Just a little trick I picked up back in magic school."
"A harmonic resonance bypass?" Fang raised an eyebrow. "That would work, but only if you do it just right. Really, what kind of irresponsible maniac taught you that?"
"You did."
"...Oh." Fang turned to the princess and smiled. "Good job, Twilight."
"And you're sure this thing works?" Scootaloo asked, still eyeing the machine with suspicion. "It's not going to explode or anything?"
"It's perfectly safe," Twilight assured her. "I already tested it on myself and it works like a charm. I can give you a demonstration if you're nervous."
Scootaloo sighed. "No, let's just get it over with. I'm sure it's fine." It probably was, but aside from resembling Fang's spectrometer, it also reminded her a bit too much of the very painful ritual she had gone through earlier that day. It just seemed to Scootaloo that every time she stepped into some kind of circle with a star in it, something would go wrong.
Twilight gave her shoulder a reassuring pat with her wing. "Okay, just go stand on..."
"...On the star thingy, yeah." Scootaloo took a deep breath and walked over to the platform. "I think I know how this works by now."
Noticing that the filly seemed worried, Starlight approached her. "You'll be fine, Scootaloo. Twilight and I will take it from here."
"Thanks, Starlight," Scootaloo said, managing to smile a little. "Honestly, I feel a bit bad about having you guys do all of this just for me."
"Oh, don't worry about it." Starlight let out a small sigh. "Compared to teaching Sweetie Belle, this was almost relaxing."
"Yeah, I heard about that." Scootaloo's expression turned serious. "On behalf of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, I apologize for the trouble she caused." Though the Crusaders had been responsible for their share of mischief and minor disasters in their days, Scootaloo liked to think they still had some standards.
"I'm going to turn it on now," Twilight declared from the control panel. She flipped a switch and the platform started to glow with a soft hum. Scootaloo braced herself, but nothing dramatic seemed to occur. No sparks or explosions, no horrible pain, just a slight tingling sensation and a faint vibration running through her entire body. It actually felt a bit relaxing.
"I'll need to calibrate it to your magic signature," Twilight carried on. "Starlight, you should step back so I get a clear reading."
"Roger that." Starlight retreated, taking position next to Fang and Spike while Twilight fiddled with the controls.
Fang glanced at her. "So, when you say you stole cutie marks, you mean...?"
Starlight sighed. "Literally. I used a spell to pluck them straight off the pony's flank. I kept them in a secret vault, locked away in crystal boxes like a bug collection."
"Huh. That is actually pretty fascinating," Fang commented.
"If you say so." Starlight hung her head. "Like Twilight said, I had issues. I'm not proud of how I acted back then."
Fang shrugged. "Well, we've all done things we probably shouldn't have. You know, this one time I set Celestia's castle on fire."
Starlight raised her head and stared at the taller unicorn for a moment. "What, on purpose?"
Fang just smiled and winked at her.
"That should do it," Twilight reported from the controls. "Scootaloo, I'm turning the hexa-field on now."
She pulled a lever and Scootaloo braced herself for the second time. If something scary was going to happen, she was pretty sure this would be the most likely time. But all she felt was a charge in the air around her, causing her fur to stand on end. Compared to her previous experiences, this was a relief. She noticed that she seemed to be glowing – the same dark purple glow as on the picture Fang had shown her. Looking down at her body, she could see that her entire aura was now visible, along with the curse. She could see the black cracks running throughout her body, the rings of glowing runes and symbols orbiting her, and at the center – superimposed on but at the same time within her chest – that perfect, intensely black sphere at the core of her being.
Just like before, she was struck by how wrong it looked. Only it was more obvious this time, the three-dimensional display making it seem all the more real. She began feeling sick and turned her eyes away, trying desperately not to think about it.
On the sidelines, Starlight gasped. "That's the curse? Now I see why Twilight was so upset about it."
"I don't even know what I'm looking at," Spike commented. "But that does not look right."
"Everything seems to be working the way it should," Twilight said. "I'm going to enlarge it now so we can get a better look."
She turned a dial and the aura seemed to grow around Scootaloo's body. Before long she was standing inside an outline of her magical channels, vaguely shaped like a larger version of her own body. The glowing circles now occupied most of the machine's interior, and the black orb had grown until it nearly reached Scootaloo's face. She instinctively raised her chin and stretched her neck up as much as possible, struck by the sudden fear that if that blackness reached her eyes she would go blind or – even worse – see something she didn't want to see.
"It's okay, Scootaloo," Twilight quickly said, her voice soft and calming. "It's not real. All of it is still inside you."
"R-Right," Scootaloo said and struggled to stay calm. She still didn't lower her head, however.
Twilight started to pace around the platform, inspecting the image with a look of deep concentration. "Well, I was right before. The spell is definitely diverting the flow of your cardinal channels, so that explains why you can't fly, but there is a lot of other functions in there I don't understand. This part here is definitely something to do with gravity, but that doesn't make much sense. And these parts don't even seem to do anything, at least not right now. Maybe they are triggered by certain stimuli? I wonder if..."
As Twilight kept talking, the others present studied the image of Scootaloo's aura in silence. Starlight looked at it with an equal mix of confusion, fascination and concern, like a virologist who had just discovered a whole new and particularly nasty disease.
"Quite a piece of work, isn't it?" Fang said to her.
"I'll say," Starlight replied. "I've never even seen a spell like this before."
Fang looked at the structure of the curse with a thoughtful expression, her eyes slightly narrowed. "I have," she mumbled.
Starlight gave her a surprised look. "You have?"
"Hm?" Fang blinked. She hadn't even realized she'd spoken out loud. "Ah, not this specifically, no. It's just that it reminds me of an old colleague of mine. This spellwork looks a bit like his style, that's all."
"Really? In that case, maybe we should show it to him?" Starlight suggested. "He might have some useful advice."
"Believe me, I would love to ask him about it," Fang said and sighed. "Unfortunately, he's been dead for many years now."
"Oh." Starlight frowned and her ears drooped. "I'm... I'm very sorry to hear that."
Fang shrugged. "Yes, well, nothing to do about that now."
"Aha!" Twilight exclaimed, pointing at a particular formulation of runes. "I'm pretty sure this is what keeps the primary part of the curse together. If we can dismantle it, at the very least her main flow should start returning to normal."
"So you can break the curse?" Scootaloo asked, hope swelling inside her.
"Probably," Twilight said. Her horn started glowing. "I'll have to be careful, though. I'm going to start by probing it a bit, just to see how it reacts. Scootaloo, try to stay still. This might feel a bit strange, but it shouldn't hurt."
Scootaloo nearly blurted out what happened last time somepony said that, but stopped herself in the last moment. Instead, she simply nodded.
A tendril of magenta light reached out from Twilight's horn and passed into Scootaloo's chest. It tickled a bit, but Scootaloo did her best not to move. At the same time, she could see a larger version of Twilight's spell appearing in the magnified projection. As it neared the part of the curse that Twilight had singled out, the tip sharpened into the shape of a scalpel.
"Gently now," Fang cautioned.
"You can do it, Twilight!" Starlight said.
"Shush, I need to focus," Twilight mumbled, her brow furled in concentration. The magical scalpel slowly floated closer to the runes, then made contact.
In that moment, the symbols suddenly flashed brighter and seemed to pull Twilight's magic in. The magenta stream rushed along the rim like electricity through a conductor only to be sucked into the black central core, twisting into a spiral. Scootaloo let out a small shriek as she felt a jolt running through her body.
It only lasted for a moment. Twilight immediately extinguished her spell and stumbled backwards. "Whoa! What in the hay!?"
"W-What happened?" Scootaloo asked.
"...I don't know," Twilight replied. "Are you okay, Scootaloo?"
"I think so," Scootaloo replied, even though she wasn't so sure that was true. She felt cold, as if the temperature of the room had dropped. "But I'd really like to get out of this thing now."
"Ah, yes, of course," Twilight said. "One moment." Using her magic, she pulled another lever on the control panel. "Okay, you can get out now."
Scootaloo quickly jumped off the platform. Turning around, she saw that the device still displayed the projection of her aura. Presumably Twilight had locked it in there as a kind of still image, but at that point Scootaloo didn't care about the specifics.
Starlight raised a hoof. "Wait, did I see that right? It looked like the curse absorbed Twilight's spell."
"I think so," Twilight said. "It wasn't much, but I could feel it draining me."
Fang stroked her chin. "So, this curse is capable of defending itself."
"Oh, come on!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "That's not fair!"
"Does that mean we can't do anything about it?" Starlight asked. "Any magic we try to apply on Scootaloo just gets diverted and pulled in?"
"Hm, I wouldn't say that," Fang said. "My healing magic worked fine on her, and the familiar bond was able to connect with her heart. So it's not like the curse reacts to all spells, it's more likely it absorbs any spell trying to directly alter it. Theoretically..."
"Wait, wait!" Twilight interrupted, suddenly staring at Fang. "What did you just say?"
"It most likely only absorbs spells that directly..."
"No, before that."
"Ah... It didn't react to the familiar bond?" Fang averted her eyes. "Right, I guess I forgot to mention that."
"You made Scootaloo your familiar?" Twilight almost shouted.
"Well, yes," Fang said. "Is that a problem?"
Twilight groaned and put a hoof to her temple. "Fang, she's just a kid."
Fang shrugged. "She's old enough."
"You've known each other for two days!"
"What are you guys even talking about?" Spike asked, looking confused. "What's a familiar?"
"Nngh!" Twilight's entire body visibly tensed up and her eyes filled with horror as she realized the dragon was, in fact, standing right next to her.
"Yes, Twilight." Fang gave the alicorn a sharp glance. "Why don't you go ahead and tell him?"
With monumental effort, Twilight somehow avoided panicking. She turned and gave the dragon a stiff smile. "It... It's a magic thing, Spike. I-I'll tell you all about it later, promise."
"Um, okay?" Spike said and scratched his spines, still not really sure what was going on.
"Look, Twilight, it's okay," Scootaloo said. "Fang explained the whole thing and we made a deal."
Twilight still looked at her with concern. "Scootaloo, are you sure about this? It's a big commitment, especially under your circumstances."
Scootaloo nodded. "I have to learn how to use whatever magic I have, and this seemed like the best way to do it. I told you before, I'm not giving up! Besides, Fang said I can back out of it whenever I want."
Twilight held her gaze for a moment, then drew a deep breath to calm herself. "Well, if you're both in agreement, then I guess it's settled." She gave Fang a look of annoyance. "Still, I wish you'd at least discussed the matter with me first."
Fang scoffed. "Hey, if you'd rather it be your job..."
"Okay, let's just put that issue aside for now!" Starlight interjected. "So, um, what do we know about the curse so far?"
"Well, it's blocking Scootaloo's access to the majority of her magic," Fang said. "Specifically her ability to fly. She doesn't remember being cursed, which means it must have happened when she was very young."
"Right," Twilight nodded. "And it uses her own magic to power itself, which is why it hasn't faded over time. It also defends itself by absorbing any external magic trying to interfere with the spellwork. And finally, it appears to have other functions we still haven't figured out."
"Well, that's just great!" Scootaloo groaned. "So basically, it's not going away on its own, you can't use magic to get rid of it, and we don't even know what all of it does? Are there any good news?"
Cocking her head, Fang gave the projection another look. "...Maybe. Twilight, Starlight, all things considered, don't you think her aura looks a bit brighter than it should be?"
The two unicorns turned their heads to look. "Actually, yes," Twilight said. "It is pretty dim, but now that I think about it, we should barely be able to see it at all."
"And look at her peripheral channels," Fang continued, pointing her hoof. "They are pretty well developed and seem to work just fine, even though her whole system should be compromised by a low output. Going by just that, you'd think she was a filly with normal magic levels. A bit above average, even."
"You're right," Starlight said. "But how could that..." She fell silent and turned to Twilight. The two shared a look as if they had both reached the same conclusion. "Oooh!"
"What?" Scootaloo asked. "What does that mean?"
"From what I've seen, you're a pretty active girl," Fang said. "Plenty of energy, moves around a lot. But I'm guessing that wasn't always the case? You must have been much more lethargic when you were younger, correct?"
"Well, yeah, I guess." Scootaloo scratched her mane. "I used to be tired all the time, if that's what you mean, and I had a hard time getting motivated to do stuff. When I first got my scooter I'd just roll around on it, I was pretty slow back then. But it was the most fun thing I had to do, so I kept at it and after a while I started to feel stronger. After that I met Rainbow Dash and, well, that just made me put more effort into it." She gave Fang a puzzled look. "How did you know about that?"
"I thought it was a bit odd," Fang replied. "You just seemed way healthier than I would have expected. I think your magic is actually fighting back against the curse."
"It makes sense," Twilight nodded. "Her body could tell she didn't have enough magic so it started to produce more of it to compensate."
"Like working a muscle!" Starlight added.
"Right." Fang smiled at Scootaloo. "By now, it wouldn't surprise me if your natural magic output is on par with that of an adult pony, maybe even stronger."
Scootaloo's eyes widened as this information sunk in. "So, if we do find a way to break this curse...?"
Twilight reached out her wing and ruffled the filly's mane. "You'll be quite the powerhouse. You might even end up faster than Rainbow Dash!"
Scootaloo made up her mind. Somehow, one way or another, the curse had got to go.
Starlight had to smile, seeing the little filly's eyes light up like that. But then she looked up and noticed that Fang had walked over to the machine, staring intently at the image of the curse. "...Fang? Is something wrong?"
"I'm not sure," Fang replied. She pointed at the central black spot. "Twilight, can you enlarge this part? As big as it can go."
Twilight frowned, but nodded. "Of course." Using her magic, she turned the dial on the control panel all the way to the top. The black sphere grew in size until it matched the circumference of the platform, hovering there as a dark planet or an empty hole into nothing. Scootaloo shivered.
"There," Fang pointed. "Do you see that?"
The others moved closer. At first they saw only black, but then they noticed it: At the very center of the blackness, a tiny speck of white light shone like a lonely star in an empty night sky. A single fractal shape, like a crystal or snowflake, too small and complex to discern properly, glowing in the purest white.
Twilight squinted. "What... What is that? A part of the curse?"
Fang slowly shook her head. "I have no idea."
No real progress was made after that, much to Scootaloo's disappointment. Studying the curse further proved mostly fruitless since none of the three magicians could discern its hidden functions beyond more guesswork.
At one point, Fang took Twilight aside and they spoke to one another in hushed tones. Scootaloo had been a bit worried that the previous argument had soured their friendship, but to her relief the two returned from their talk looking more relaxed and smiling at each other. She figured Twilight didn't become the Princess of Friendship by being bad at staying friends. Not long after that, Fang declared they would be departing.
"I really wish we could have made more progress," Twilight sighed as she escorted them to the doors. "I'm sorry, Scootaloo."
"It's not your fault, Twilight," Scootaloo said. "You and Starlight did your best, and I'm grateful for that."
"At least now we know a bit more than we did before," Fang commented. "That's something."
"I guess you're right," Twilight said. "I'll keep researching the curse, there has got to be a way to break it. I'm sure we'll find a solution eventually."
"Twilight, you are one of the most brilliant ponies I've ever met," Fang said, smiling gently at the princess. "That was easy to see even when you were a filly. If anypony can help me figure this out, it's you."
"Thank you, Fang." Twilight blushed slightly. "And sorry again for snapping at you back there."
"It's fine." As they reached the front doors, Fang swung them open with her magic and she and Scootaloo stepped outside.
Scootaloo turned to wave. "Bye, Twilight!"
"Goodbye, Scootaloo, Fang," Twilight waved back. "And have a nice trip!"
The doors closed behind them and Scootaloo turned to Fang. "What did she mean by that?"
Rather than answering, Fang turned her head to the sky. The sun had long since passed its zenith and was now slowly descending towards the western horizon. "Hm, that must have taken longer than I thought," she said. "It's getting pretty late. Come along, Scootaloo. We'll need to hurry if we want to catch the train."
"Train? What train?" Scootaloo frowned in confusion, trotting to keep up with Fang who had already started walking. "Aren't we going back to the Rook for more magic lessons?"
Fang shook her head. "Nope, because I have a little surprise for you."
"And what's that?" Scootaloo asked.
Fang grinned at her. "We are going to Canterlot!"
This chapter gave me a bit of trouble and even though I moved an entire scene further down the storyline, it ended up quite long. Still, I think it turned out fairly well.
Next chapter is one of my favorites and I'm looking forward to publishing it. It's going to be blast.
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So.... bad,
hard to say
and definitely good
.
To quote a certain pegasiter voice actress, "Calm down there, Scootaloo. That ain't gonna work, so you just calm your little pony titties."
I know of... seven kinds. They can be memorized by the acronym ICED TEA. I.E.....
Illusion
Conjuration
Evocation
Divination
Transmutation
Enchantment
Abjuration
In other words....
static1.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1347/13479024/2846981-5775798467-OverH.jpg
The magic system you're using here is very interesting in that spells are sorted by casting difficulty instead of power. I look forward to learning along with Scootaloo.
they need to look into who Scootaloo's patents are. For somebody to go to this level on just a foal means something big. And I bet Warden is part of it.
Hey Fang just wait till you here that Starlight made a destiny altering time travel spell.
8696025
Which, it should be noted, completely failed to alter destiny.
8696030
Actually it did succeed she just stopped. Ose other timelines proved that. If she tore that spell and stopped Dash again the timeline is forever altered. Which is why I hate that Starlight is never punish. She easily caused the most damage out of all the villains.
Every chapter that comes out makes me love this story even more. As always, I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment.
8696037
That's not success, that was Starlight realizing that she was wrong to try messing with destiny and giving up. You can't look at those timelines as linear events that actually happened because as far as the timeline is concerned, they didn't. They were temporal loops, and they ended just where they started - with Rainbow performing the Rainboom just like she was supposed to.
At the end of the day, Starlight tried to change the course of history and failed, because she was destined to fail. It's no different from how Twilight traveled back in time to warn herself only to set the entire event in motion by doing so. It was just more convoluted, and causality doesn't care if things get a bit messy as long as cause and effect remain the same.
But she didn't, is the point. In fact, it's very likely that incident couldn't have happened any other way, because that's how destiny works.
8696067
Because she stopped not that anything prevented her from doing it. So yes she succeeded every time but the last because she stopped herself.
8696077
So? Destiny isn't some kind of authoritative force that actively prevents you from doing anything. It's the idea that there is only one timeline with no alternative outcomes. Destiny is simply "whatever is supposed to happen."
The fact that Starlight made a conscious decision to give up doesn't mean she wasn't destined to do so.
8696099
Yet thanks to her, for a short time those destiny altered timelines existed and if Spike jadn't touch the spell they would have been screwed.
Hmm.... Interesting...
8696185
Technically, they didn't. Each loop returned to the point just before the Sonic Rainboom, so there is no part of the timeline where those other Equestrias existed, except from the perspective of Twilight and Spike.
The problem here is that you are thinking about those events as things that happened before Twilight convinced Starlight to stop. But since we are talking about time travel, it's the opposite: Twilight actually stopped Starlight before those timelines could happen. That was sort of the whole point.
I don't see how that proves the incident wasn't predestinated.
Calling it now, that curse is probably a 9th level spell.
8696231
For that short time they did. If Twilight never got back to the map which ever timeline she is in stays.
It all boils down to choices Syarlight chose yo stop but she almost continued.
8696039
So am I.
And by the way, I don't trust that Warden guy. I mean, you don't just bring up a past career in magic, and then have a line like...
...without it being important later on.
So if in the future we find out that Warden put the curse on Scootaloo, then just remember...I called it first.
8696383
Yeah, I don't think this discussion is going anywhere - we're basically just repeating the same arguments over and over. Also, this is probably not the right place to discuss it anyway.
8696484
Point. Still eager to see what's next.
I love the detailed magic descriptions, it's very interesting.
I'm really suspicious about that Warden dude.
8696030
Well no, it did, it just also brought about other unintended negative consequences she didn't anticipate that directly affected far more than her intended target...herself included. I can't help but think that part of what Fang said should entail the disclaimer that she had never heard of it being done successfully in the manner intended. You fight destiny, and it'll fight back, basically, and instead go routes you didn't want it to.
Of course, as 8696025 points out, Fang doesn't seem aware as of yet of Starlight's time travel escapades, so she undoubtedly wouldn't have had that in mind when she said what she did on the subject here.
8696231
Ah, relativity...the real aspect of time travel that makes it so hard to follow and wrap your head around. It's simple enough when you keep it limited to one, possibly two, relative perspectives, but when you start considering more by including other affected relative perspectives, then it starts getting complicated...and that's where paradoxes start coming into play.
But whether or not those alternate timelines existed for any length of time would depend a lot more on the nature of how Starlight's spell work and how it affects space-time...which the show, in the interest of keeping things simple, does not go into. Personally, I would argue those timelines did in fact exist, and would have kept on existing, if Twilight didn't keep triggering the reset in the spell that kept taking her back to the Sonic Rainboom moment before previous changes had taken place, and thus having the chance to bring about a different change. A different change to the timeline results in a different chain of events and thus a different future, overwriting the previous chain of events. It only reset back to the original timeline in the end, because Twilight and Starlight both reached a point where they allowed the Rainboom event to play out as it originally happened without doing anything to alter it in any meaningful manner, thus history was not diverted into alternate timelines in that instance.
If we want to get extra metaphysical about it, the argument can be made that those alternate timelines very much still do exist as a sort of parallel universe, they just can't be perceived by observers of the original timeline anymore because they exist in a separate timeline...but I don't see much point going into that in this instance, again, because of relativity.
Sorry for dragging out the matter when it's not relevant to the story, but pondering time travel is something of a personal interest if not hobby, so I couldn't resist jumping in with my two-bits.
I'll stop here on that.
Anyway...nice new chapter. This is rapidly becoming the sort of story where I'm constantly looking at where I am in reading each chapter, because I don't want to reach the end and have to stop and wait for the next one again.
8697143
Well personally I think there should have been only one alternate timeline NMM's one. Spending time in one is much better then small glimpses in others. Some many issues with that episode.
8697143
Hooow?
It had no causal effect on the chronology whatsoever. You can't say that Starlight changed destiny when absolutely nothing changed!
That makes no sense. Destiny can't "go other routes." The whole point of predestination is that whatever happens is the only thing that can happen.
"You can't fight destiny" doesn't mean that you can try but destiny will resist you. It means that even the act of trying to fight destiny is in itself something you were destined to do.
Exactly, and the point I tried to make is that because that entire chain of events just led to Starlight deciding not to change destiny, she can't be said to have successfully done so. It's not an example of successful destiny changing. Because the rainboom still happened.
Am I... Am I getting through to you guys at all? You don't have to agree with this, but please tell me you at least understand what I'm saying.
No, actually, that is very relevant. That would happen if altering the past results in alternate timelines, which means the MLP universe is not deterministic. (Which is to say, destiny does not exist.) However, if destiny does exist then changing time is impossible, including the creation of alternate timelines.
Here, I made you a picture to illustrate how this works.
Either of those could be possible, but destiny is kind of a major theme in MLP and the previous time travel episode heavily implied that their universe is deterministic. And, really, nothing Starlight did contradicts that.
Here's a few more thoughts, not that you asked.
I like your world building regarding the nine levels of magic. Those sorts of details help ground your story.
Fang still feels very Mary Sue-ish and that's a problem because characters who awesome at everything don't make for a compelling story.
Related to that is the bad orphanage director who Fang instantly sniffs out as bad. It's a tired Cliche in a story that has so much room to be interesting.
Maybe it's the nature of your slow burn or maybe it's just I need to re-read but I'm still not sure why Fang is going out of her way to help Scoots.
Again I might just need to re read it but why can't/ didn't Twilight just dissolve the familiar binds with her and Spike. What's stopping her from doing it tomorrow?
Still a good read, I'm still on board.
8697885
Oh, I'm not sure I would say she's awesome at everything. She's supposed to come across as impressive, yes, but Scootaloo still doesn't know her very well.
As for "compelling story", that has more to do with how the character deals with conflicts. It's simply harder to tell compelling stories about very competent characters since they are less likely to be seriously challenged, but I do not believe competence or power makes the character itself less viable.
I figured you'd say that, but I'm going somewhere with it.
No, I did that on purpose. You're supposed to be wondering about that.
Like she said, she basically has no idea what that will actually do to him. Like, she doesn't know if he'd still be the same person afterwards. Anyway, what actually bothers her is that she will have to tell Spike about it regardless, and she's worried about how he will take it.
Like she said, she basically has no idea what that will actually do to him. Like, she doesn't know if he'd still be the same person afterwards. Anyway, what actually bothers her is that she will have to tell Spike about it regardless, and she's worried about how he will take it.
That's a problem. Twilight is doing something that feels profoundly wrong. And though it was an accident, her reason for not coming clean is "Spike will be justifiably mad at me." That's pretty ooc for Twilight.
Pinkie! Hand me my conspiracy hat!
Ok, here goes. Stately Warden is the one who put the curse on Scoots. He was kicked out and disgraced from magical academia for his work on curses. So, after changing his identity and landing this humiliating job, he uses the curse to make the foals in his charge placid and lethargic. Much easier to deal with. The reason Scootaloo hasn't been moved is because he knows her body is fighting back against the curse, and he wants to keep her under observation.
Thank you Pinkie, that will be all.
Huh. So given Pinkie Sense, Pinkie is working Sixth Magic subconsciously. Dang. (Or does the fact that she can't control it make it First Magic?)
Also, now we know what the Tenth is. And really, what is there beyond direct conceptual manipulation? The only thing that comes to mind is magic that directly effects how magic works.
In any case, enough plot hooks for a Velcro strip, from Scootaloo's legal guardian to the Arbitrarily Forbidden Room to the myriad complexities of the curse. Also a fascinating magic system. Looking forward to more.
Did you repost this chapter? Because I already read this yet it shows as unread
8697271
Yeah, I'm following you, we just seem to be viewing the same thing in separate ways. I think (do correct me if I'm wrong) what you're saying is that the whole Cutie Re-Mark incident was always predetermined to end the way it did, e.g. if you were there at the time when the Sonic Rainbow transpired, you could always see (if you looked) Twilight and Starlight there on the sidelines making amends, thus if you could know how it ends before it actually happens, and thus, arguably under that logic, was always predestined to end that way as per causality would dictate.
If so, then while I'm not one hundred percent in agreement on that (because technically Starlight still did succeed in creating a whole slew of alternate timelines that changed history at will, changed the lives of the Mane 6 and lots of other ponies, and thus arguably changed all of their fates--and their destinies--without invoking a grandfather paradox once which would've stopped her (still violating causality yet totally got away with it), all timelines which would've totally kept on going undeterred forever on their alternate paths assuming Twilight, for some reason, chose not to go back to try again at stopping Starlight--indeed, the matter only ended not because Starlight failed per se, but because Twilight talked her into voluntarily changing history back to the way it was before, effectively taking back what she had done), I also can't deny that interpretation as being valid either...it's just not as "clean" an explanation as I personally would like.
But for just storytelling purposes, it'd still be perfectly valid and I'd probably roll with it without much argument should it ever come up in a story I was reading, and anyway, since I highly doubt any of this is going to come up in any meaningful shape or form in this story, I don't see a need to press the matter any further right now.
Anyway, just for the record, I do want to reiterate that I am loving every iota of this story, eagerly await for more, and hope it won't be reaching any sort of ending anytime soon, because I want to keep enjoying it for quite a while longer still.
8698754
It is wrong, that's why it worries her.
Actually, her reason is more like: "Spike may start doubting that our relationship is real since it was based on magical conditioning, and I can't even tell him that's not true because for all I know maybe it is. What if I tell him and he wants the spell broken? I bet he'll want to spell broken. But if I do that, will we still be family, or at least friends, or will he start resenting me? Or maybe he'll just leave because he has to discover his true self and doesn't need me any more and then I'll never see him again and oh, Celestia, I'm not prepared for this!"
Twilight Sparkle? The pony who has proven very prone to stressing out over situations she can't control, to the point of blowing minor issues way out of proportion and making increasingly irrational decisions?
I'd say she would be out of character if something like this didn't completely mess her up.
8700268
The latter, basically: It's First Magic since Pinkie doesn't actually understand what she's doing, and understanding the principle is if anything more relevant to the categorization than what the magic in itself happens to do.
Like I said at some point before, this story is basically a bunch of mystery boxes stacked on top of each other.
8700278
No, I've only edited it a bit, which shouldn't count as republishing.
Might be a minor issue with the site, like how my Continue Reading list can't seem to keep track of which chapter I'm at. Or perhaps you accidentally marked it as unread?
8701077
Yes, that. Thank goodness.
I do not think those alternate timelines "count", is the thing, since Twilight prevented them for happening.
It's very important to keep that in mind. Twilight convinced Starlight to give up before she prevented the Sonic Rainboom, not after. Let me repeat that: Twilight stopped Starlight before Starlight created those timelines.
That should be obvious, but it may still be hard to get your head around since we saw all those events happen first, and they served as motivation for Twilight. Even so, she kept looping back to the point just before the Sonic Rainboom and that was the point in time she stopped Starlight.
Oh, you don't get time paradoxes in a deterministic universe.
I don't think she violated causality, though. The entire episode actually seems causally sound.
The thing is, though, that all of that would also have been destined to happen. If their universe is deterministic, then Twilight couldn't choose to not keep trying, and Starlight couldn't not choose to change history back to normal. "Choices" wouldn't even really be thing for them, just the appearance of choice.
Yeah, I don't really plan on involving time travel in this one. This plot is convoluted enough as it is.
8701653
No I think it is the sites fault
8701653
Then you can't have alternate timelines of any sort either as they are paradoxes in of themselves, especially ones where subjects from the original timeline (Twilight, Spike, and Starlight) can continue to exist in the new timeline(s) as anomalies and "echoes" of the original timeline while their alternate timeline duplicates continue to live their lives as natives to the new timeline (which we can confirm was the case, because the first time when Starlight changed time, we see young Twilight fail her entrance exam, showing she would continue to exist despite there already being a Twilight coexisting with a different history at the same time). In the sort of deterministic and linear timeline you're describing, attempting to create the sort of alternate timelines Starlight achieved would only result in a grandfather paradox of no escape--because Starlight wanted to go back in time to change Twilight's personal history, doing so would change her own history as well, giving her no reason to go back in time to do this in the first place because it had already happened, thus violating causality. At which point, the Novikov self-consistency principle would take effect and prohibit any such attempts from ever taking place, meaning Starlight couldn't have ever created an alternate series of events for Twilight and Spike to even observe at any time...events would've just kept on trudging as they should like they had always done before without change.
This is why when Twilight tried her hoof at time travel in "It's About Time," she wasn't successful at changing history and instead only stuck herself in a fruitless bootstrap paradox--doing so would violate causality for the same reasons Starlight shouldn't be able to do it.
In order to get around that then, one has to assure those things can't come into play, in which case you must allow the successful creation of alternate timelines without it completely overwriting the original, in which case the alternate timeline actually must exist--for whatever length of time--with all inhabitants existing on a different chain of events, their personal histories observably different from the original timeline with different end outcomes, thus for all native to that timeline, their destinies had changed.
Starlight only "failed" to change Twilight's fate in the sense that the original Twilight, with all her memories and knowledge of the original timeline, continued to exist afterwards, but Starlight wanted that to happen so she could relish Twilight's reaction to it--that's why she allows Twilight the option to even try and go back and correct history at all, so to give herself the chance to brag and gloat. She clearly didn't take into much consideration that it would give Twilight the chance to talk her out of continuing to resist correcting history (thereby implying that she had succeeding with her goal of altering it, because from both of their relative viewpoints, she had). In fact, Starlight didn't think this through much at all beyond other than it would get back at Twilight, as she clearly never stopped to think to herself what would become of her and everyone else afterwards should Twilight ever give up fighting back and concede that Starlight had changed history and it wasn't getting changed back...which actually might be an interesting AU idea to explore at some point...hmm...*waves hand dismissively* but that's neither here nor there for right now.
Basically, it's as the Tenth Doctor said:
...which basically means time is viewed from multiple perspectives from their relative point in time, and not just one deterministic outside viewer that can see it all at once, which means in order to account for all perspectives when time travel comes into play and any changes to history that might follow (and just the act of time travel in of itself could change history in this instance because now there's someone or something existing in a point in time that didn't before), multiple timelines must exist. And where there's an alternate timeline, history was changed, and thereby fate as well.
I see where you're going with this argument and why you're so adamant on it in this instance, because a deterministic universe is very self-consistent and free of conflicts such as paradoxes and thus a very ideal thing to have, but such a universe would completely outlaw a time traveler changing, or even influencing past history in any meaningful manner, at all--they could do no more than observe at best. Because Starlight was shown to do a heck of a lot more than that and actually did observably change history for any length of time, we know that--at least in this episode's instance--the MLP universe is not deterministic as all of that, or at least it's not perfectly deterministic.
Were we to overlook "The Cutie Re-Mark" two-parter and just look at the other instances of time travel in MLP, then yes, there's no reason to assume that the MLP universe isn't deterministic. But the "The Cutie Re-Mark" changed all of that by demonstrating that it is not, or at least there exists a way around it with which Starlight was able to exploit for her own purposes.
Thus I'm afraid the argument that Starlight didn't "succeed" at changing history doesn't hold a lot of weight, because from all perspectives, she very much did, she just decided to change it back again in the end, which was technically an act to change history by that time too, from the relative perspective of all involved.
This is all what I was hinting at when I said that assuming it was all fated wasn't a "clean" explanation...it doesn't account too well for these potential paradoxes from all relative perspectives, it only explains it from one--the outside observer. What about the perspectives of those viewing it from within? That's the inherent question being asked when one says "time is relative," because it really does depend on who is doing the viewing, and usually, in these sort of time travel instances, there's more than one to keep in mind.
But anyway, I'll get off my soap box now.
That is admittedly a good point. I'm just not convinced that it was impossible for those other Equestrias to exist within the time loop as long as they were never allowed to persist outside of it. I don't think there's anything paradoxical about them if you view them as predestinated events as well. They were, after all, essential to convince Starlight to give up.
Also, I would say that the fact that Twilight remained aware and continued to act in accordance to her original past proves that the original timeline was never affected, which in turn proves that she was destined to stop Starlight. After all, if we think of that as a deterministic event that always happened at that point in time and cannot be changed, then nothing Starlight did could possibly change Twilight's past, or her own for that matter.
Yeah, that's exactly my point.
I mean, if their universe allows for alternate timelines, as you seem to believe, then why did Twilight end up in a perfect causal loop as a result of her first trip back in time? That seems absurdly unlikely unless time in their universe is deterministic, and it's not like their temporal mechanics are going to change depending on the episode.
(I mean, given the writing it probably can, but I'm trying to maintain a bit of headcanon consistency here.)
Actually, that's not it: This is not about which temporal model I like best. The only reason I'm adamant is because everything else in the show suggests that time in their universe is deterministic. There's Twilight's first temporal loop which heavily implies that time can't be changed. There's the fact that destiny is a theme that comes up over and over again.
For goodness sake, Pinkie Pie can vaguely predict the future in the short term, apparently with 100% reliability.
And what "length of time" would that be? I mean, isn't that basically nonsense?
Because the spell was set to always return the time traveler to the exact same point in time, which was shortly before Rainbow performed the first sonic rainboom. And since Twilight dragged Starlight with her into the portal, it was that moment they returned to once Starlight had changed her mind. Meaning there is no actual amount of time between Starlight trying to change history and deciding not to change history, where said changing of history could have taken place.
You know what? Close enough.
Like I said, it's not that we have no reason to assume that it isn't, it's that we have lots and lots of reason to assume that it is.
Look, alternate timelines or not, I still must insist that successfully changing history requires history to actually change.
Right, but because of time travel, it was less that she "changed it back" and more that she decided not to change it in the first place.
What, you mean the ponies in the alternate Equestrias? They technically don't exist far as the timeline is concerned, so I'm not sure it matters what they think about it.
8699114
Wow...........not a bad theory.
So, do you break that if you have a Tulpa, or if you are a Tulpa?
Worlds where you explode if you touch anything don't sound like much fun.
--Sweetie Belle
8725848
Yeah, it's not very good for your health.
I want to be the colt.
Are you TRYING to get scootaloo to take up magical lockpicking? because that's how you get her to take up magical lockpicking.
HAHAH oh wait that's serious...
HAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAH!
*cough starlight cough*
8755379
Oh God, not again.
“"Well, I was right before. The spell is definitely diverting the flow
1. Extra quotation mark.
8755389
Actually, let me ask on a subset of this topic.
Instead of actively changing the destiny, what about just passively noting and observing? In theory nothing should change and all the caster would get is knowledge of what happened in the past correct? Assuming from the massive amount of discussion going in the comments here, as long as you don't 'fight'/change destiny from its course nothing should happen right?
8760596
Not entirely sure what you are asking here, but just observing the past obviously wouldn't violate causality. I mean, that's sorta just a more advanced version of studying history or remembering things. Regarding changing/fighting destiny, the trouble is that if destiny is a thing - that is to say, if time is predeterministic - then you basically can't fight it because the act of trying to fight it is in itself something you were destined to do. Even if you, for argument's sake, did manage to change destiny that means you were destined to do that, meaning you haven't changed destiny after all. So, the phrase "fighting or changing destiny" is basically nonsense.
(Granted, we're talking about fantasy and fiction here, so there is room for more unusual interpretations of what destiny actually is and how the temporal mechanics work.)
"Where you lying?" Scootaloo asked.
Were*
Well, Stately Warden seems a little stand-offish. Unless he's somehow the big bad of the story hiding in a position as a mundane government employee, I'd say he's simply burned out from his job. I doubt candyland Equestria would affect a child protection services employee as much as it does real world CPS employees, but the burnout here is real. For him, instead of quitting, I would guess he's simply become detached from his job and tries not to care about his wards anymore.
At least we avoided the 'character overhears another character say something and misinterprets it' cliche since Scoots talks to Fang afterwards about what Fang said to Warden. Of course, that's partly because Scootaloo knows that Fang knew she was eavesdropping. And that Fang knew that Scootaloo knew that Fang knew she was eavesdropping. And Scootaloo knew Fang knew Scootaloo knew Fang knew Scootaloo was eavesdropping
I'm honestly not sure where the story will go from here for the interim (well, I have several chapters to read, still): if it'll go into slice-of-life 'Scoots learns magic' for several chapters, or if it'll toy with that and then instantly go into progressing the plot forward. Hopefully it does the first for a little while before we get any big break in story progress.
Perhaps, since Fang essentially stumbled by (presumably) dumb luck upon a filly with a curse more complicated than anything she's seen before, she should try building a portable thaumatic spectrometer to go out and make sure there don't happen to be other ponies here and there with black curses, just in case it's an epidemic instead of a one-off. It's what I'd do! Though she'll probably have to rein in Rainbow Dash (haha a horse joke) so Dashie doesn't put the culprit on high alert by stumbling around trying to find who cursed Scootaloo.
I wonder what level of magic GlimGlam's Cutie Mark spell would fall under, then, to make Fang so interested in it.
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Yeah, I like to think Scootaloo is smart enough to realize that the stuff Fang told him made no sense.
Like, I know, right?
See, this is one of those things I didn't think about much until after I put together my magic system.
Starlight's spell seems to directly affect the magic of the pony (plus messing with their sense of identity) which falls under Eighth magic as Fang defines it. That would actually make it a type of curse as well. (Though a fairly simple one.) At any rate, I believe Fang's reaction was mostly due to it being a very unusual type of spell she hadn't encountered or considered before.
I'm liking this story but the magical technobabble (magibabble?) in this chapter was painful to read for me. Well, excessive technobabble almost always is.
Maybe I'm just weird and everybody else loves to read about "tuning the emitter so the resonance of the field is the same as that of the modulator, except in the negative values", which is a totally unorthodox use of a "variable hexa-field", so kudos to Sparkle for pulling it off.
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Well, you know, I couldn't just have Twilight go: "I built a machine that lets us look at the curse and it's magic so I don't have to explain how it works!" These characters are essentially magical scientists trying to solve a magical problem, so it's kinda unavoidable that they'll be talking about it in pretty technical terms.
Can't say I'd call it excessive, anyway - if anything I tried to keep it to minimum, since it's pretty much just a formality that only matters in regards to setting up the scene. I'm curious, what would you consider an acceptable amount of magicbabble?
Aaaand there's something new that I found upon re-reading.
Keep forgetting how much I like this story, and Fang as a character.
Also, if Stately Warden is the one who put the curse on Scootaloo, I get the feeling he did it only as an experiment, or an afterthought. Something to simply see if he could.
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What, Fang's mystery door? I do wish I could have put more emphasis on that, because it's kinda important. But since it's not relevant to what's going on with Scootaloo and Fang at this stage, it ended up sort of a passing background element.
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Yeah, kinda figured it'll be a Chekhov's Gun somehow.