Fourth Harmony: Induction

by CTVulpin

Chapter 3: Interactions

The door of Twilight Sparkle’s study opened and the Princess of Friendship walked out with a wing draped lightly over the back of the Changeling Princess Beetroot. “Don’t worry about a thing,” Twilight was saying. “I won’t mention it to any creature without your permission. Well, I assume your fellow Changelings already know...”

“Yes. It’s not exactly easy keeping secrets within the Hive Mind,” Beetroot said. Her downcast eyes stole a glance up at Twilight. “You’re sure it’s not a problem, though?”

Twilight stopped, withdrew her wing, and turned to face Beetroot. “Look,” she said, “you have been vouched for by the Changeling Queen, the Princess of Canterhorn Hive, and the Changeling Ambassador to Canterlot. Your family thinks you’re ready and able for this responsibility, and after speaking with you I can only agree. You have given me information that I’ll need to confer with Cabbage Patch about, but there’s no reason for me not to welcome you to Ponyville and offer you my full support.”

Changelings don’t shed tears in their natural forms, but Beetroot’s eyes still glistened with gratitude. “Thank you, Princess Twilight. I swear, I will never violate your trust.”

“Good to hear,” Twilight said, slightly amused. “Now, do you need directions to the Diamond Quarter or…?”

“Oh, no, I know the way,” Beetroot said. “I already have the equivalent of three different maps of Ponyville to draw on from the Hive Mind.”

“Three maps?” Twilight asked, bemused.

Beetroot nodded, “One of the ground level, one of the caverns and mines, and one of the sky. That last one’s more like the typical movement patterns of pegasus cloud houses, but...” She shrugged, and then winced at her sudden casualness in front of fellow royalty.

Twilight didn’t seem to notice. “I never considered trying to chart how the cloud condos drift...” she mused. “I might bring that up to the City Council. Assuming they haven’t thought about it already, of course.” Started to wander off, but caught herself and turned back to Beetroot with an embarrassed look. “Sorry,” she said, “you’ve probably got a lot to do. Don’t let me hold you up any longer.”

“Thank you, Princess.” Beetroot sketched a quick bow and trotted away.

Once the Changeling was well out of earshot, Twilight turned to her next order of business. “Pesci!” she called, “Are you nearby?”

There was an answering sound like the jingle of bells, and the floating metal pony-head computer came bobbing down the hall. “How can I be of service, Princess Twilight?” Pesci asked.

“Do you know where Bella and Citrine are right now?” Twilight asked.

“I do,” Pesci said.

It took Twilight a second to realize the computer wasn’t going to elaborate. “Where are they?” she asked.

“Miss Citrine is in her bedroom,” Pesci replied, “and Miss Bella has gone to the library.”

“Ok, thank you,” Twilight said, giving Pesci a curious look. She started walking, and Pesci fell into place floating beside her, but stayed silent. Finally, Twilight stopped and asked, “Is something the matter with you, Pesci?”

“All systems optimal,” the computer replied.

“I doubt that,” Twilight said. “I don’t usually have to pry so much to get the information I want.” Pesci bobbed in place, but didn’t say anything. Twilight wrapped it in her magic and pulled it closer, turning it about as she checked for damage or foreign objects. “I don’t understand why… Wait, who have spoken to since the last time you spoke with me?”

“Spike the Great,” Pesci replied.

“Ah ha!” Twilight crowed, releasing Pesci. “So, that’s it. Pesci, I want you to revert to your previous user interaction settings, but keep the instructions Spike gave you in your memory. We need to have talk with him about boundaries.”

“As you will, Princess Twilight,” Pesci said as it recovered its equilibrium. “Now that the crisis with the Little Misses is resolved, Spike should be at his post in the library.”

“That’s better,” Twilight breathed, and then resumed walking. “Come along.”

---

One of the greatest underrated accomplishments of Twilight Sparkle’s life had been converting a portion of her castle into a public library. For the most part, it had been relatively easy: a simple matter of installing bookshelves and appropriate furniture in a section of rooms that would otherwise go unused, finding replacement copies or newer editions of the books that had been destroyed when Tirek had blown up the old Ponyville library, and getting the card catalog, cardholder account, and circulation paperwork put together. Far harder was finding out how to convince the castle itself – which was capable of surprising degrees of self-repair due to being created by and linked to the Tree of Harmony – to accept having a second “main entrance” door installed so ponies could come and go in the library wing without accidentally intruding on the rest of the castle. Of course, there was an interior door between the library wing and the rest of the castle, but only Princess Twilight and other authorized ponies were permitted to use it.

Bella Lulamoon had claimed a small table all for herself by virtue of stacking half a shelf’s worth of books on advanced magic on top of it. None of the books were open at present, as Bella was focused entirely on reviewing a list of ideas that she had just finished compiling. So far, she was just scratching out everything. “Starswirl the Bearded’s formerly Unfinished Spell,” she muttered before dragging her quill through the words. “Nope. Not only did that end up utilizing the Elements of Harmony, but since that’s the spell that let Twilight ascend, I would probably just get blown up if I tried it. Can’t have two Alicorns of Friendship. Probably.”

She moved down the list. “Starswirl’s time travel spell?” Bella shook her head. “Only works once per pony. I’m not wasting that just to show Citrine up. Starlight Glimmer’s version is also out because Twilight’s banned anypony from trying to recreate it. Or pushing the Map outside its intended purpose.”

“You’re looking busy,” came Twilight’s voice from somewhere behind Bella. The azure unicorn yelped and threw her front legs and head across her list, blocking it from view. “Doing some research into the...” Twilight trailed off as she reached the desk and saw Bella’s position, as well as the titles some of the books. “What are you researching, Bella?” she asked.

“Uhh...” Bella said, thinking quickly through the rules she and Citrine had agreed on. “I… guess I can tell you a little,” she said at length, sitting up and rolling her list into a tight scroll at the same time. “Citrine and I are having a little… contest to see who can create the most advanced spell.”

The corners of Twilight’s mouth curved down slightly. “I asked you girls not to fight again,” she said.

“It’s not a fight!” Bella hastily assured. “I just told her about what we saw at the Haven of Harmony, then one thing led to another, and Citrine challenged me to come up with a better ‘Element of Magic’ spell than her, and I’m sure you know the Lulamoon motto, Princess. Never back down from a challenge.”

“Uh huh,” Twilight said. “You know, that ‘motto’ has gotten your grandmother into deep trouble more than a few times in her life.”

“I’m not going to try taming an Ursa or go chasing any chaotic magic,” Bella scoffed. She saw Twilight raise a stern eyebrow and realized she needed to slow down a little. Taking a deep breath, she turned slightly in her chair to look Twilight in the eye better and said, “This is a matter of family pride for me, Princess, but it’s also a way to test our limits as mages. I promise you, Citrine and I are both being careful. Nothing that requires drawing on external sources of magic, nothing that isn’t well-grounded in precedent and documentation by you or other trustworthy scholars, and nothing with a significant possibility of exploding or setting something on fire if miscast.”

Twilight lowered her eyebrow and rubbed her forehead. “Ok,” she said, “you may have a good argument in testing your personal limits, and I appreciate you setting some safety rules, but...” She paused in thought. “Actually, I don’t have any reason to object to this. When are planning to do the actual competition?” she asked.

“We agreed on four days for study and preparation,” Bella said, “and we were hoping to keep you in the dark until the last minute so you’d be an impartial judge. This is probably better though, because now you know it’s coming.”

“Definitely,” Twilight said. She stopped rubbing her head and ran her hoof through her mane. “Tell you what,” she said, “there are plenty of advanced spells here in the library, as you’ve clearly figured.” She cast an amused glance at the stacks of books on the table. “But if you’re feeling up to it, I’ll let you borrow a single – and only one – book from my personal collection.”

Bella’s eyes widened. Twilight’s personal collection was full of books containing spells and magical theory that pushed the limits of what even the most magically talented unicorns were capable of, things the Princess deemed too risky to let the general public have open access to. Bella had only seen excerpts copied from the tamest of those restricted tomes, and mostly just the theory passages. “Are you serious, Princess?” Bella exclaimed, bouncing out of her chair. “That would be...” She deflated slightly. “It might be a bit unfair, though...”

“I’ll give Citrine the same option,” Twilight assured her student with a smile. “And I’ll do my best not to look at those books until after the contest so I can’t guess what the two of you will do. That said, I think you would benefit the most from Starlight Glimmer’s Collected Notes on Creative Spell Fusions.” She conjured up a key and hoofed it over to Bella. “That will let into the bookcase in my study, but only once, so choose carefully.”

Bella hugged the key to her chest, beaming. “Thank you, Princess! Thank you so much!”

Twilight nodded graciously and left. She started to make her way over to where Spike was working at the circulation desk, with Pesci hovering quietly nearby as instructed, but then stopped and turned away, heading for the private exit. “So much to do all of a sudden,” Twilight said, “but helping my students comes first.”

---

Citrine’s steps were light and giddy as she walked down the corridor to Princess Twilight’s study. She had been anything but giddy when Princess Twilight first came to her room and told Citrine what Bella had told her, but the anger had fled quickly once Twilight had explained that Bella hadn’t spilled everything. The key to the Princess’s private books had been the real game-changer, though. Once she’d taken the time to calm down and actually think about what she’d said to Bella, Citrine had started to doubt. Not to doubt her ability to re-create the portal to Taryn, but whether she’d be able to find the information she would need in order to pull it off. Citrine knew the Taryn portal had been an incredibly complex spell to develop and required many material components. The odds of finding all the details in publicly available books were slim at best.

And, oh, how Bella would laugh if Citrine couldn’t live up to her boasting.

Now that Citrine had access to the Princess’s books, though, her chances were looking better. Princess Twilight was mad for lists and reports; surely she had written down every step in the process of breaching the boundaries of universes to form a stable connection between Equestria and the home of the famous Order-naries that had fought for peace and order alongside the Elements of Harmony.

The closest thing Twilight’s castle had to a throne room was the Map room, but the way it was set up with the seven thrones arranged around the large Map made it a poor choice for formally receiving visitors. Thus, the Princess tended to just hold her Royal Courts in the castle foyer during the summer and at City Hall when the weather turned cold, while her personal study pulled double duty as the place for more private meetings. Today wasn’t a Court day, though, so Twilight’s afternoon would be filled with handling business at the School of Friendship, which gave Citrine and Bella plenty of time to pop into the Princess’s study and choose a book without encountering anypony, including each other.

Citrine had been inside Twilight’s study more than enough times to be comfortably familiar with the layout, although her eyes still went immediately to the photographs that hung on the wall behind Twilight’s perfectly organized desk. Most prominent was a picture of Princess Twilight, her fellow Elements of Harmony, and Spike. Below that were two other, slightly smaller pictures. The one on the left was of Twilight and the other alicorn Princesses: Celestia and Luna in the center with Twilight on their right and Cadance and Flurry Heart on the left. Citrine paid it little attention, in favor of the photo on the right. This one did not feature Twilight at all, but rather five ponies who had a faint aura of difference about them even in photographic form. On the left side were a pegasus mare and unicorn stallion, both golden-yellow in coat with brown manes and teal eyes, while on the right stood a brown earth pony mare with an untamed dark brown mane and a turquoise pegasus mare with a russet mane and a tail like a wolf. In the center of the group, looking grim despite his effort to smile, was Ashen Blaze, his grey coat and red and orange mane making him look like a live burning coal as his vivid green eyes drew in the viewer’s own.

“Father,” Citrine said, meeting the photographic Ash’s gaze with her own green eyes, “I’ll find you. Bring you home. You, and any of your friends who want to come along.” Tearing her eyes away from the photo, Citrine turned her attention to the locked bookcase that stood in the back corner of the room. She looked through the glass of the door, scanning the titles on the spines of the books lined up inside. She spotted her father’s name on a book on the second shelf from the bottom and stopped to look closer. The title read Advanced Treatises on Shadowstar Weave Magic in the Equestrian Magic System, with Ash credited as the author. Princess Twilight had recommended that very book to Citrine, citing the unicorn’s knack for learning nonstandard magic styles (nonstandard for unicorns, at least). For a moment, Citrine was tempted to take that book, to better understand Ash’s approach to magic, but she fought the urge down. Perhaps if the instructions she was actually looking for weren’t here…

There. Up on the highest shelf, tucked away on the end where it was almost impossible to make out the title, was a plain-looking book with the words “Successful New Magic Experiments” horn-written on the spine. Citrine pulled out the key the Princess had given her and unlocked the bookcase, throwing the door wide and holding it open with a hoof while she pulled the book down for a closer look. Flipping through the pages, she got glimpses of large, complex formulae, diagrams and tables of all kinds, and only the occasional sentence in plain Equuish. “This is going to be headache,” she muttered, and then stopped and flipped back a few pages, having spotted something that looked promising.

It was a diagram of a large, freestanding mirror framed with wood that had been liberally wrapped in some kind of wire and many, many gemstones. The diagram had an extensive number of helpful labels pointing to various parts, but Citrine didn’t need them to recognize the mirror. She’d seen it plenty of times in reality, before it shattered with the inexplicable collapse of the portal spell tied to it. Flipping back one more page, Citrine found her confirmation in a section title: “Anchoring the portal on the home end.”

“Kalbarandt! Yes!” Citrine cheered, hugging the book as she let the bookcase door swing shut. The lock clicked into place automatically and the key disintegrated, but Citrine paid it no mind as she galloped out of the study and back to her room.

Now, the planning could really begin.

Upon reaching the bedroom, Citrine saw Bella laying on her bed, front legs curled under her barrel and eyes closed in meditation. “How’s it going?” Citrine asked, a little louder than necessary.

Bella just cracked open one eye and said, “Still trying to decide on a spell to craft. You?”

Citrine belly-flopped onto her own bed, waving the book to show it off before setting it against her pillow, opened to the first page of the Taryn portal section. “I found the instructions,” she said. “There’s probably some other good stuff in here, but you can’t have any of them because-”

“Because that’s your selection from the Princess’s books,” Bella finished for her, closing her eye. “I don’t care. My own selection should be inspiration enough. I just need to think for a bit.”

Citrine huffed in irritation and turned her attention to the book. Bella could act calm and collected all she wanted. It didn’t even matter if the other unicorn could somehow come up with a spell to rival fixing the Taryn portal, so long as the portal got fixed.

Citrine didn’t consider herself much of a book-pony, but she kept her nose in the portal notes, slowly puzzling through each line of technical jargon, until Bella poked her in the side to tell her it was dinner time. Upon returning to the book with a full belly, Citrine finally hit on the notion of taking notes as she read, which quickly turned into trying to render Twilight’s notes into more easily understood language. “Why’d she even write it like this in the first place?” she grumbled to herself after a particularly dense paragraph on the theoretical structure of the boundaries that divided one universe from another. “No wonder they couldn’t get the portal back up.” She glanced up at the alarm clock on her nightstand, frowned at the time, and decided to skip ahead to the section on constructing the mirror. “Get the easy bit out of the way first,” she said, “then focus on the actual spell.”

Bella, who had stepped out at some point or maybe hadn’t even come back to the room after dinner, showed up again just as Citrine was getting to the end of the section. “It’s almost bedtime,” Bella declared. “Either stop for the night or find someplace else to study.”

Citrine sighed and closed the book. “Have you ever been into the room where the portal mirrors are kept?” she asked.

“I haven’t had a reason to,” Bella replied, raising an eyebrow. “Why?”

Citrine climbed off her bed. “Just wondering if they ever cleaned out the remnants of the Taryn mirror,” she said. “Guess I’ll have to go check myself.”

“Have fun,” Bella said dismissively as Citrine headed out into the corridor.