The Magic of Technology

by computerneek

History

“Lyra Heartstrings? I’ve read that name before! That was… Wait a minute. Where is… There it is: The History of Equestria. Contents… Chapter three, The Railroad. Um… Yep, there it is! She designed not only the layout of the tracks, but the locomotives themselves! A thousand years ago! So how did Lyra Heartstrings design the entire railroad and make a thaumic construct capable of making modern, enchanted Royal Guard armor…?”

Night Light and Twilight Velvet grin at each other, the former holding a stamped scroll in his magic, while they watch their daughter geek out over her books- triggered, this time around, by her brother’s recitation of the highly magical experience of getting his very own Royal Guard armor.

His very own Royal Guard armor that renders him virtually indestructible, even against attacks that hit his exposed coat… and will grow with him, so it’s always the perfect size.

Reportedly, he’d gotten it by walking through a pathway in the middle of a gigantic, golden, thaumic construct with a point of light at one end. Very simple, very easy.

A thaumic construct, which had refined the steel, formed it into armor, enchanted it, and put it on him in a matter of seconds, that was hidden deep inside the Royal Palace, with a sign in front of it, reading In Memory of Lyra Heartstrings. He had reportedly asked about it and been told that Lyra Heartstrings was the name of the unicorn that built the massive construct.

Shining Armor sighs, glancing up at his parents. “And I haven’t even finished the story yet,” he states.

“Oh! Oh! Oh!” Twilight Sparkle continues. “Here, in Great Magical Tragedies, number four: Lyra Heartstrings was killed by Nightmare Moon a thousand years ago, before Celestia was able to bring the Elements of Harmony to bear!”

“Twilight,” Twilight Velvet interrupts loudly.

The filly looks up suddenly, jumping as if struck. “Wh-what?”

“You’re doing it again.”

“... Oh. Sorry.”

She turns to her son. “Shining, did you want to finish your story?”

Shining nods. “Yeah… I was about to tell you, Twilight, that the induction ceremony happens after going through that construct… Well, the armor is technically a gift from Lyra Heartstrings. Who, yes, died a thousand years ago.”

“But the armor is modern! That’s impossible!”

Shining rolls his eyes at his sister. “And I haven’t even gotten to the best part of it.”

“Oh? What was that?”

Shining smiles. “Oh, it happened just for me, right as I emerged from the construct.” He turns sideways. “Tada!”

Twilight abandons her books. “You got your cutie mark!”

---

“Um… Princess?” Twilight looks shyly up at Princess Celestia. She’s been Celestia’s personal student for a week, but she still has trouble thinking of herself as anything other than an outsider.

Even now, in a laboratory chamber deep inside the Royal Palace. Celestia has been evaluating her current magical knowledge, so as to get a better idea of where to start with her lessons. Today’s session hasn’t started yet.

“Yes, Twilight?” Princess Celestia asks.

“Um…” Twilight looks back down again, fidgeting with her hooves. “I, um…”

Celestia crouches down in front of her, meeting her at eye level. “Don’t be afraid to ask.”

Twilight glances up, blinks, and averts her eyes. “I… was wondering…” She takes a deep breath. “Who is Lyra Heartstrings?” She glances back at Celestia, before staring at her hooves again. “My books tell me she designed every part of the Royal Equestrian Railway, that she built the construct that makes the Royal Guard armor, that she designed the Palace, that she solved world hunger, that she solved crime. But… but that’s impossible. The Royal Guard armor, for one, is one of the most advanced-!” She draws in a sharp breath, looking up at Celestia.

Celestia uses the wing she’d just laid across Twilight’s back to pull her in closer. “Twilight…

“Lyra was my thirteenth personal student, and the third most powerful, counting yourself. Exactly where she got all her ideas from, I will never know. When I found her, she was starving on the streets, and she knew all of two spells. Can you guess what they were?”

“Uh…” Twilight mumbles. “Self-levitation and transmogrification?”

Celestia chuckles. “No, nothing quite so grand as that. She knew regular old levitation… and she’d figured out how to create a miniature duplicate of my Sun to keep her warm.” She shakes her head. “I never did figure out how she did that. I took her in, I trained her… and a few years later, she started producing.” She smiles. “The first thing she produced, was upgraded enchantments for our castle, deep in the Everfree.

“The very second thing she produced was the construct currently sitting in the Royal Armory upstairs. Yes, the very one that produces the armor for the Royal Guard. It still does exactly what it did then, produces exactly the same armor.” She shrugs. “Lyra was an excellent enchantress, filled to bursting with ideas. So many ideas that, in the thousand years since she…” She pauses to shed a tear. “Since she was killed in the explosion that destroyed half the castle, not one pony has managed to make something even comparable.” She heaves a sigh. “That’s… That’s where you come in, Twilight. You’re my forty-second student- but you’re also the one with the most potential.”

“M-Me?”

Celestia nods, smiling. “Yes, you. You’re smart, and you’ve got power – just like her. You could be the one that designs the next generation of, um…”

Twilight tilts her head. “Huh?”

Celestia shrugs. “I don’t know. I never knew what she was going to revolutionize next until she did it. I didn’t know she’d built that armor construct until ponies started showing up by the dozen to sign up for the Guard. Before then, being a Guard was dangerous business, so most stayed out of it.” She smiles at the ceiling. “I didn’t even know what a railroad was, aside from an easier way for unicorns and earth ponies to climb Mount Canterhorn, until she showed me the blueprints. And I didn’t know we’d need such an easier travel method until she suggested moving our Royal presence – and her constructs – to Canterlot… and mentioned railroads in passing.” She looks back down at Twilight. “She would have gone far. Possibly… Possibly even figured out what it means to be an Alicorn.”

“What?” Twilight asks, staring at her wide-eyed.

Celestia chuckles. “Oh, no, she was a unicorn – but even I don’t know how Alicorns are different from the other three tribes. She… She might have been able to pick out those differences.”

“Then-!” Twilight blinks, glancing alarmedly side to side.

Celestia nods. “Yes, there will come a time when I will have taught you all that I know, and you will have to study on without me; I don’t have a talent for magic like you do, or like Lyra did. But don’t worry, that time won’t come for several years, and you’ll be ready when it does come.”

---

“So I’m sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration at this year’s location, Ponyville.”

Twilight sighs. “Well, at least she only told me to supervise. That leaves plenty of time for study.” The carriage lands. “Alright then, what’s first on the list?”

Spike studies the scroll. “Ahh… Number one, banquet preparations: Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Sweet Apple Acres?” Twilight repeats back at him, at higher volume.

“That’s what it says,” Spike informs her.

“ ‘Scuse me, but did you just say Sweet Apple Acres?”

Twilight turns to look at the mare that had spoken. “Um… yes? Do you know where that is?”

The mare chuckles. “I daresay I do. The name’s Applejack- and Sweet Apple Acres is my home.”

“Oh,” Twilight blinks. “Um, Hi, my name’s Twilight Sparkle, and I’m here to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration.” She opens her mouth to say more, but Applejack beats her to it.

“ ‘Bout time someone got that duty. I’ve been coordinating everyone for weeks- even though I’m only supposed to be responsible for the banquet.” She shrugs. “Everything should be coming along nicely, except the weather, but one last check isn’t going to hurt anything. I just checked up with Pinkie for the pastries. She’s got ‘em done ahead of schedule, as always.”

“Uh, what? One pony, all the pastries for an entire…?”

Nod. “That’s Pinkie for you. I was just headed back to the farm to check up on how everything’s coming on the banquet – do ya want to join me?”

Twilight shrugs. “Sure.”

“Well, the banquet seems to be coming along nicely – after that, I think I have something to look forward to at the celebration.” She heaves a sigh. “Assuming I can get everything sorted out beforehoof, of course.”

“Everything sorted out? Something the matter?”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Twilight answers.

Applejack raises an eyebrow.

“Just, uh, stopping the apocalypse?”

The other eyebrow comes up.

Twilight hangs her head. “The Prophecy says that Nightmare Moon will return at the Summer Sun Celebration this year, and I’m trying to stop her.”

“... Oh,” Applejack mutters, her eyebrows coming back down. “You figure out how?”

She shakes her head. “Only that it has something to do with the Elements of Harmony.”

“Huh. I’ll meet you at the library when you’re done making rounds, then?”

“The library? This town has one? Where is it?”

“Right off Central Square, the giant tree. You can’t miss it. Anyways, you’ve got that list to take care of, and I’ve gotta finish up the cider ‘fore I call for brunch.”

“Oh. Well, I’ll see you later, then. Spike? What’s next?”

Spike consults the parchment. “Food’s taken care of, next up is… the weather. A pegasus named Rainbow Dash?”

“Rainbow Dash?” Applejack asks, before looking up at Twilight. “You be careful with her, Twilight. She’s as loyal as can be, but she’s competitive. You’re more likely to find her napping or practicing her moves than taking care of boring things like the weather.” She glances upwards. “So, ah, word of advice: Watch out for pegasus missiles. And good luck.”

“Ahh… I will, thank you, Applejack.”

---

Applejack trots up next to Pinkie Pie. It’s some fifteen minutes after Twilight left the farm; she’d finished the cider in record time, such that it’s not even time for brunch yet.

Pinkie tilts her large bag of popcorn outwards. “Popcorn?”

“No thanks,” Applejack answers, then looks up. “Whaddya watching?”

“Rainbow,” Pinkie answers. “She’s practicing again.”

“Ahh. And forgetting the weather again too, isn’t she?”

Pinkie nods. “Yep.” Then she blinks, and points with a hoof. “Wait. Who’s that?”

Applejack glances over, then lays a forehoof across Pinkie’s withers. “That is Twilight Sparkle, sent from out of town to oversee the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. But there’s something big going down real soon – think you can wait the party for after the Celebration?”

“Hmm… Yeah, I might be able to. What’s going to be happening?”

“The Return of Nightmare Moon,” Applejack states ominously.

“Oooh, that. Who’s Nightmare Moon?”

She shrugs. “No clue, didn’t ask. I’m going to join her in the library once she finishes checking on everything, catch myself up to speed and find out how I can help.”

“Yowch!” Rainbow’s sudden yelp draws their attention back forwards.

Rainbow is dangling, by her tail, from Twilight’s magenta aura.

“Careful,” they hear Twilight admonish. “A crash like that can break a wing.”

“I think I’ll take that popcorn now.”

---

“Decorations, huh?” Twilight asks, looking around. “Wow… This is shaping up to be one of the best Summer Sun Celebrations I’ve been to in a long time. Oh, there’s somepony.” She trots over to the mare she’d spotted looking over the decorations. “Good morning!”

The mare looks up at her, batting her eyelashes. “Good morning.”

“Beautiful…” Spike half-moans.

Both mares look at him.

Twilight pushes him back to the ground with her magic. “Ahh… I’ll have to admit, that’s the first time he’s done that.” She looks back up. “Um, my name is Twilight Sparkle, and I’m here to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. You don’t happen to know who’s in charge of the decorations, do you? That’s about the only detail that isn’t on my list.”

The mare blinks a couple times, then grins. “Well, that would be me, the one and only Rarity.” She looks back out over the decorated hall. “Do you think this is good, or should I redo it again? I really don’t want to disappoint Princess Celestia.”

Twilight smiles. “Yes, this is good. I’ve been to many Summer Sun Celebrations, and this one’s shaping up to be the best one yet.”

Rarity tilts her head and looks at her curiously, opening her mouth to speak.

“Wait a minute,” Twilight states suddenly, eyes going momentarily wide. “Did you say ‘redo it again’?”

“Uh – why yes, I did. I’ve already redecorated a dozen times. It just wasn’t good enough.”

Twilight blinks. “That’s… mildly alarming. Um. Well, since the decorations are coming along so well, I guess I better get moving.”

Rarity follows her. “What’s wrong?”

“Wrong? Whenever did I say something was wrong?”

“Darling, you don’t have to say it when it’s written all over your face. Is there something I can do to help?”

“What-!? Did someone-!?”

Rarity stops her by shaking her head. “I’m not talking about that kind of written, Twilight.”

“... Oh. Well… It’s… there’s a legend.”

She nods encouragingly. “Yes?”

“It’s…” She heaves a sigh. “According to the prophecy, Nightmare Moon will be returning this year to bring about eternal night.”

“Yet it’s shaping up to be the best Summer Sun Celebration yet?”

“Assuming I can figure out how to stop Nightmare Moon, it is.”

“Would you like some help with that?”

She shrugs, taking Spike’s abandoned list up in her magic and glancing at it. “Might as well. I’ve still gotta check on the music, but after that, I’ll be headed to the library.”

“The music? Hmm, then you’ll be headed a little towards the Everfree, for Fluttershy. Very timid, but…” She glances down at Spike, who keeps floating off the floor every time Twilight takes her magic off him, and chuckles. “But if your little dragon is nearby, I don’t think you’ll have any trouble. She loves almost anything that breathes and isn’t a pony.” She glances up at Twilight. “I’d probably better not come with- wouldn’t want him too distracted.”

Twilight chuckles sheepishly. “Yeah, thanks.”

---

“Hey Twilight! My name’s Pinkie Pie and why is everypony so bland in here?”

Twilight looks up. “Uh, what?” Her meeting with Fluttershy had gone quite well; the music is perfect. That it will be sung by birds is just the icing on the cake. Now, she’s in the library with Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow, and Fluttershy, hunting for clues for where the Elements of Harmony might be found. The two pegasi had joined of their own accord; Rainbow had said something about not leaving her friends hanging, and when Fluttershy had given her reason, she’d given it too softly to be heard. Nopony’s been having any luck.

The pink mare that had just exploded in through the front door starts dancing around the room, singing a catchy song.

A catchy song that ends with everypony cheerfully eating cupcakes from a platter dominating the middle of the room.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Twilight grins at the eminently cheerful pony.

“Yep, and it’s nice to meet you too!” Pinkie returns. “So, you looking for something and not finding it or something?”

Twilight blinks.

Pinkie shrugs. “A hunch.”

“Nightmare Moon,” Applejack answers, “was apparently defeated a thousand years ago by Princess Celestia, wielding the Elements of Harmony.”

Twilight sighs again. “We haven’t been able to find anything on that.”

“Elements of Harmony?” Pinkie asks, bouncing over to a shelf. “Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide.”

Everypony turns to look at her.

“Did… Did you really just…?” Twilight asks.

“Don’t question it, darling,” Rarity informs her. “That’s just Pinkie being Pinkie.”

---

“Wait,” Fluttershy states suddenly, stepping forwards and spreading her wings to stop her friends. “This… This is Manty’s range, and he’s… a little territorial. Can… Can I go ahead and talk to him?”

“Uh… Okay, sure,” Twilight answers, confused.

---

A wooden roar shakes the woods as the six friends trot through them.

Applejack takes a sniff. “Timberwolves!”

Rainbow jumps into the air as the beasts emerge from the trees just ahead. “I got ‘em! You guys run ahead, I’ll catch up!”

---

“Now all we need is a spark to reveal the last one,” Rarity states. “Right?”

Twilight nods. “That’s what it said, yes. Alright, stand back- I don’t know what’ll happen.” She steps forwards, and puts her horn down to the five stone orbs Rainbow and Fluttershy had just placed in a circle on the ground.

Applejack looks out the window, towards the evening sun. “We’ve already found them and it’s not even nighttime yet,” she muses, then glances back forwards. “I wonder what Celestia’s going to think when we squish Nightmare Moon as soon as she arrives?”

“Ah-hah!” Twilight exclaims, electricity arcing between the orbs. “There! Now... What the-!?”

A ring of blood-red runes suddenly boil into existence around her, then flash bright. When the glow is gone, Twilight- and all five orbs- are gone.

A scream sounds from outside- Twilight’s scream.

“There!” Rainbow announces, pointing.

Everypony turns and gallops.

---

“The… The Elements of Harmony,” Twilight pouts. She’d successfully unraveled the spell that had trapped her- an ancient security spell, infected by wild magic. Makes them liable to go off randomly, and otherwise behave strangely, but it also makes them fragile. It had taken her to another part of the castle to hold her in the air… and, in the three seconds it took for her to disable it, plus the six seconds it took for her to stop panicking and realize what was going on, smashed all five stone orbs against the ground, fragmenting them apart.

She sits in front of the fragments, trying to weave them back together with her magic. She doesn’t expect her repair efforts to work, but-

Her head snaps around, fledgling repair spell shattering, as she hears something. It’s… Oh, it’s her friends coming up the stairs!

She looks back forwards, at the fragments, then pauses, eyes widening.

“Twilight!” Applejack calls.

“There you are!” Rarity calls. “What happened?”

“Ah-HAH!” Twilight yells, pumping a hoof in the air.

“Eeek!”

Twilight turns to face her friends. “Sorry, Fluttershy.”

“What is it?” Rainbow asks. “Wait, is that the Elements of Harmony?”

Twilight glances back. “Yeah… that was an ancient security spell, infected by wild magic. I broke it, but before I could, it broke the Elements.” She smiles back at her friends. “But that doesn’t matter.”

“What?” Applejack asks.

“That doesn’t matter, because the Elements of Harmony aren’t those orbs. No- the true Elements aren’t restricted to the physical plane. As such, they’re indestructible.” She smiles. “And I’m glad you all came into this forest with me, too. Every last one of you- because if you hadn’t, I might not have found the last Element of Harmony.”

“What-!?” Rarity asks. “You found it?” She looks left and right.

Twilight chuckles. “Rarity, you gave of yourself and redecorated the town hall a dozen times just to get it right, right?”

Rarity blinks. “Uh, yeah?”

“You represent the Element of Generosity.”

Everypony – save Twilight – leaps back in fright as some of the stone fragments suddenly glow purple, jumping into the air to circle Rarity.

“Uh…” Applejack mutters.

Twilight grins. “Applejack, you told me all I needed to know about the preparatory efforts without my asking. You even told me all about your extensive family while we were checking on their banquet preparations.”

Applejack nods slowly, eyebrow raised. “Yeah?”

“You represent the Element of Honesty.”

Fluttershy squeaks when another set of fragments leaps up, this time glowing orange, to circle Applejack, but nopony else moved – except to watch them go.

“Fluttershy, you informed your Manticore friend – Manty, was it? – what we were doing, so he let us pass. To make friends with him in the first place, though, would have taken kindness – and not a small amount of it. You represent the Element of Kindness.”

Fluttershy squeaks, trying to hide from the pink-glowing stone fragments circling her.

“Rainbow, you risked life and limb to distract the timberwolves so we could run past unhindered, even though we could have fought together. You represent the Element of Loyalty.”

Rainbow blinks as the red-glowing fragments start circling her.

“Me next!” Pinkie bounces to the front.

Twilight lets out a chuckle. “Yes, Pinkie, you’re next. You cheered everypony up when we were down from not finding anything. You represent the Element of Laughter.”

The rest of the fragments glow blue to circle Pinkie, bouncing up and down with her.

“Then – the spark. It wasn’t talking about an electrical spark – no, the spark of friendship. I felt that spark, inside, when I heard you coming and realized how glad I was to have friends like you. The last one… is the Element of Magic.” She looks upwards as, with a brilliant flash of magenta light, a full, unbroken stone orb appears above her head, right as night falls outside.

Then, in a massive blaze of light, the circling fragments all close in on the ponies, the orb dropping onto Twilight’s head, then…

Nopony notices much other than blinding rainbow light until the light fades. The circling fragments have turned into necklaces, and Twilight’s orb has become a crown. There’s also something on the floor between Twilight and everypony else.

“Uh…” Applejack mutters.

The seventh pony in the room lets out a groan, lifting a midnight blue hoof to her horn as she sits up and looks around. “Ow… Huh? What- what happened? Where’s Lyra?”

Comments

[LostArchivist]

And now we find that Dash was right, by a sort of backward technicality. Poor Luna's going to have to deal with a bit of annoyance convincing people that she's not evil, though.

Come to think of it, what the heck happened that that was the first idea that all the townsfolk came up with when the castle blew up? Secret conspiracy?