• Published 17th May 2019
  • 1,550 Views, 108 Comments

Trials of A Princess - Rose Quill



Twilight is accused of magical crimes by the Deerkin, leaving Sunset to be her advocate.

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As I looked up at the ravine's edge, I saw three figures appear. I recognized two of them. I was about to call out when the Unicorn lowered her head and pointed her horn at the nearest Manticore. A small sphere shot out from her horn and struck the beast, exploding in a spray of fireworks and smoke. The beast howled as its coat caught fire and thrashed, striking a nearby monster and earning its ire.

With a flash, the three ponies suddenly appeared nearby, and I looked as they trotted over. Trixie looked about as I knew her, though gone were the showmare’s cape and hat, and in its place was a crisp suit.

“Vile creature, Manticores,” Trixie said as she turned to look at me. “What did you do to… You’re Alicorns!”

I glanced at Twilight before nodding. “Apparently.”

“I’ve never heard of there being more than just Queen Luna! You have to tell me where you’ve been, how did you ascend? Does it have something to do with this nasty bit of business?”

“Slow down, One question at a time!” I said, patting my hooves in the air. A roar let out as the last wyvern took off, deciding that easier meals lie elsewhere. “My name is Sunset Shimmer, and where I’m from is Equestria, just one a little to the side. This is my friend, Twilight Sparkle, the counterpart to your Archmage. We were trapped here by Umbrum being led by a mad Changeling from our reality. We -”

“Are looking to use the Elements to open a dimensional gate to get home again and foil whatever dastardly plan this Changeling has enacted, correct?” Trixie nodded. “Headmare Glimmer was right to send me, though I am also feeling a certain pull. These mares also felt it.”

As she gestured to the other two mares, they stepped forward and introduced themselves, though Coco didn’t need one for us.

Juniper Montage, however, was a bit of a surprise.

“I didn’t expect this,” Twilight said.

“What do you mean?” Juniper asked.

“Well, to be honest,” she said. “I was expecting an Earth Pony.”

She got an odd look at that, but Luna came forward with the Archmage, the rotating gems of the Elements floating alongside. As she approached, the gems floated over and began hovering around the ponies with the corresponding cutie marks. Autumn - not being in possession of a cutie mark - was the plain round sphere, a small image of fire beginning to show within. They slowly affixed themselves to each pony with a golden peytral, the magic gems beginning to flare with power. I felt a corresponding pulse in mine and we all lifted from the ground, each Element beginning to shoot a colored beam out.

Juniper’s flared first. “Honesty,” the Archmage said.

Wallflower’s followed. “Loyalty.”

Trixie blushed as hers lit up next. “Kindness.”

Coco chuckled shyly, her Element glowing brightly. “Generosity.”

Autumn was virtually prancing in place as hers glimmered to life. “Laughter.”

My Element shone crimson as it joined the spell. “Empathy.”

“And Magic,” the Archmage said, her own Element joining the beam.

With the Elements powered up, the rainbow beam shot forward, striking the remnants of the Tree of Harmony. White light flared into being, and when it died down, the Tree had returned to its location, albeit smaller and looking a little paler than I was used to.

“Well, that was sure something,” Autumn said, looking at her jewelry. “So what’s this mean, anyway?”

Queen Luna stepped forward. “It means that you have been chosen by the Tree of Harmony to carry magic known as the Elements of Harmony. You each embody one of the virtues of friendship. This is a great honor, but also a great responsibility.”

Trixie was running her hoof over her gem, shaking her head. “But I don’t get it. Why was I picked? I’m just a simple teacher.”

I blinked as I tried to reconcile the idea of a humble, academic Trixie who didn’t refer to herself in the third person.

“The Elements chose their own bearers,” Twilight said, stepping forward. “In my world, I was chosen as the bearer of the Element of Magic, much like my counterpart has. My friends were chosen as we faced great danger, but together we survived and saved an innocent mare from a fate worse than death.”

She looked at each of them in turn. “I won’t sugarcoat it, being a Bearer means hard times. But, if the Tree chose you then I have faith in you.”

“So what do we do now?” Wallflower spoke up.

I shared a look with Twilight, Luna, and the Archmage.

“Now,” Luna spoke softly. “We help our friends get home.”

****

“Are you sure about this?” Trixie asked.

“As sure as I can be,” Twilight replied, using the slide rule to plot a course. “I mean, I’ve never had to navigate to a fixed locality of spatial flux before, but there’s a first time for everything.”

“I don’t understand why we couldn’t use the nexus at the Tree,” Juniper said, alighting next to me. “This mad dash to Rainbow Falls might alert the Umbrum.”

“The Tree was too weak to properly mold the Ley Lines,” the Archmage spoke from her place at the Calico’s bridge. “It needs time to heal before any ritual can be performed there.”

“And we’re using Rainbow Falls, why?” asked Bernie as she hopped down from the mast.

“It’s the closest nexus still in control of the Queen.” I stepped forward and shook out my wings. “And unless it also connects to an unrelated location in our Equestria, it’s in a place we know is safe and where we can get back to Canterlot quickly.”

“There’s still the geas that makes it so nopony knows you,” the Archmage said. “You said you looked in on your wife and it was as if you’d never existed to her.”

I felt a sharp pang at that. “That’s something we’ll worry about when we get to it. It won’t help us to dispel that one if we’re not there to be remembered.”

“Coming up on Rainbow Falls,” Tempest called out. “Where exactly am I setting down?”

Twilight double-checked her notes. “Leeward of the southernmost fall, near the crest.”

As the ship set down, I disembarked with the others, the ship lifting off again as the winds here were too unpredictable for the craft to comfortably stay moored. I could feel the updrafts whipping at my mane and feathers from where I was standing several dozen yards from the edge of the escarpment.

“So, what now?” asked Coco quietly.

“Now,” the Archmage said, a book drifting to her from her pannier. “We work to make the portal appear. Everypony gather around and focus to feel the Ley Lines here.”

The six other ponies formed a circle, their eyes sliding shut. As they stood silently, I tried to tap into the Ley Lines again. As before, while I could feel the pulsing energy of the earth, I couldn’t touch it or bring it forth. It was like grabbing at smoke, always flowing between my grasping fingers.

I sighed and glanced at Twilight as the Bearers continued their focus. Tiny wisps of light were beginning to coil up the legs of the Unicorns and Autumn, while the barest glimmer was beginning to flicker around the hooves of Wallflower and Juniper.

“Are you sure this will work?” I asked.

“Revealing the portal or the rest?” Twilight asked.

“The rest,” I clarified.

“That will depend on how the next few minutes go,” She fluffed her wings. “They are brand new to their Elements, and even we didn’t have full knowledge of their powers before we had to return them to the Tree.”

I nodded. I reached inside and took a quick stock of my mana reserves. They were back to the levels I was used to, now that the geas over Twilight and I had been broken.

Well, one of the geas.

“Get ready, just the same,” I said, watching as the glow of the latent magic was now surrounding all of the other six ponies. “Just in case this doesn’t work.”

A crackling swirl of light appeared in the air, swiftly being drawn into the mist of the falls. Peering over the edge, I saw a portal appear, not too dissimilar from the one in the mirror that I used to go back and forth back home. As I looked at the swirling rainbow, I heard Bernie’s harsh whisper.

“Incoming.”

I soon heard the crashing of several ponies tearing through the brush with no care for stealth. I positioned myself between the casting ponies and the area our opponents were going to approach from. Twilight took my flank as Bernie and Moonrose took the other side. I heard a sharp click as the Ibex set a bolt to her crossbow. Twilight’s horn shone with a held spell, and as I glanced around, I saw that the entire area was growing dimmer as storm clouds began to drift in.

I spread my wings slightly as I brought my own power to bear.

The crunching of brush grew louder and several ponies leaped out, eyes aglow with the shine of Umbrum controlling them. My horn blast took the nearest one to me out in midair, flipping him over several times before he landed on the ground. Then I heard the sounds of Twilight and Moonrose firing and the clicks of Bernie’s small crossbow. We were pretty solid in our defensive line.

But there were a lot of Umbrum. I felt a little like I had back in the Crystal Empire during the war, desperately trying not to harm fellow ponies but forced to do what I had to do to protect the ponies behind me.

I heard Twilight cry out in pain as a Pegasus dive-bombed her and bowled her over. I turned to see her tumble and the Pegasus continue on, aiming straight for the Archmage. I tried to bring my horn to bear but was knocked off balance by a charging Unicorn.

Time slowed down as I stumbled, watching the Pegasus glide closer. But, as I saw the Umbrum inside begin to grin, Archmage Twilight turned, eyes blazing with untold power. The light burned brightly, and the Pegasus crumpled, a purple mist flowing away before being trapped in a sphere. Other Umbrum caught in the light were also expelled and caught.

I helped Twilight back to her hooves. “Are you alright?”

She nodded. “Just a little winded.”

The Archmage stepped over, mana flowing in ripples across her body.

“We can’t keep the portal revealed much longer, and if more Umbrum come, I’ll have to split my attention between guiding the mana and exorcising the shadow creatures. I would go now while the getting is good.”

I looked at the thicket as the sound of brush crashing began to grow again.

“How long will it stay open if you leave now?” I asked.

“What?”

“If you were to take the Bearers, Moonrose, and Bernie, teleport to the Calico, and let the summoning go, how long till it wasn’t usable?”

The Archmage thought. “Fifteen, maybe twenty seconds? This is new territory for me. I’ve never tried teleporting this many ponies at once, either.”

Twilight stepped up to her counterpart and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“You can do it,” she said. “I have faith that everything will be just fine.”

The Archmage chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before taking a deep breath and nodding. She returned to the group and called the other two members of our group over. She began charging her horn and I turned to Twilight.

“Ready to go home?” I asked, horn lighting up.

“Beyond ready,” she replied, backing towards the edge of the escarpment.

“You go first,” I said, magic flowing through my horn. “I have a little surprise for them.”

Twilight nodded as she turned towards the edge. As soon as the other ponies teleported out, she leaped over the bank and vanished. I let my spell loose and backed up to the edge.

As soon as the Umbrum-controlled Ursa broke free of the brush, I grinned and make a “Come get me gesture” before falling backward over the edge.

The Ursa growled and lunged forward, falling toward me. I smiled.

“Gotcha,” I smirked as the illusion dispersed, revealing me falling into the swiftly closing portal several yards to the side of where my phantom self had dropped. The Umbrum roared in anger, but it was lost to my ears as I fell into the portal, the kaleidoscopic tunnel stealing me away.

****

I landed hard, the grassy knoll not exactly the softest place to land after falling a few dozen feet.

“Ow,” I groaned as I stood up. Twilight was already standing, gazing at the setting sun.

“We don’t have much time,” she said. “Once the moon is up, I don’t think I can wrest it from Luna.”

I stretched and reached inward for the tiny spark of magic that remained from when I held the Solar throne. It was shining brightly as that same magic was being used.

“Get ready,” I said, closing my eyes and reaching deep within me, then downward, into the earth. I wasn’t sure I could, but being back in my own world might mean a better attunement to…

There, I said to myself as I reached out and gripped the Ley Lines. Massaging it upward through the ground, into myself. I could feel it winding around my lower legs, amping up my mana as it did. I slid a few tendrils over to Twilight, feeling her shift as the mana began flowing through her as well.

“Ready?” I asked, voice quivering with anticipation as I glanced at Twilight.

“Ready.” came the response.

I closed my eyes once again.

And reached out and halted the Sun’s travel, wresting it back to the noon-time position as Twilight wrenched the Moon up to sit alongside it in the sky.

Even with the Ley Line's help, we could only hold them for a few seconds before I felt the Diarchs force them back under their control, but I knew that soon we’d be facing them. I let the Ley magic go, feeling it drift back into the earth and I collapsed, suddenly exhausted.

Twilight settled beside me and sighed, looking up at the rapidly shifting sky.

“It’s good to be home,” she said.

I chuckled.

“Let’s wait until after we talk to Celestia and Luna about stealing their thunder first.”

Author's Note:

And we're back!

Sorry for the absence, life got hectic, and I got pulled into another writing project that had been simmering on the back burner for a while. I worked on that while I recovered from burnout on Ponywords. That project is now published and while I sit back from it, it's back to the Ponywords for a while.

So... What'd I miss?