Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Thirteen
As the three princesses were beginning to go over their plans to organize Canterlot after the failed invasion attempt, with Twilight choosing to stay and offer her expertise in planning as well as emotional support from her former mentor, a messenger came running into their meeting with important news.
“How many did you say were recovered?” Luna asked sharply, looking furious but it was clear that she was angry at herself rather than the messenger.
“At least two dozen at first count, your highness,” he said. “And… your highness… one of them is Chancellor Neighsay.”
Three sets of eyes widened, before Celestia sagged. Once Luna had dismissed the messenger, the eldest Princess turned to Twilight. “So you and I were right, Twilight,” she said. “He was captured by the escapee from Tartarus.”
“We had no way of knowing at the time,” Twilight said, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “Though I suppose we will find out how this happened when we do talk to Neighsay-”
She trailed off, clearly troubled.
“What’s wrong?” Luna asked.
“Just… the last time we spoke was before I opened my school,” Twilight said. “I’ve been operating it without their agreement, what if he insists on going back to his old post and trying to shut it down?”
“Then you will continue to operate as you always have,” Luna said. “Official accreditation on the EEA’s part is one thing, but legally, there is nothing preventing you from continuing to run it.”
“And even then, I doubt he would ever get his position back,” Celestia said. “I have to confess, Twilight, I’ve… been keeping something from you.”
Twilight made an almost strangled-sounding noise. “What is it this time?”
"Prince Blueblood came to see me, about the time Neighsay disappeared," Celestia said. "The former chancellor visited him shortly before, attempting to gain his backing and support. He felt that Blueblood would side with him and allow him to get further support in Canterlot in an effort to force you to discontinue your plans towards your school." She straightened up, and looked almost proud. "Blueblood threw him out after telling him in no uncertain terms that he would not be providing any such aid, nor would I allow such a thing to pass. Then he came to inform me of that meeting."
Twilight looked relieved.
Celestia bowed her head. “I would have told you about it myself sooner, but… then ponies began vanishing under suspicious circumstances, including Neighsay himself, and we had bigger concerns to focus on.”
"I understand," Twilight said as a letter flew into the room and landed in front of her. "That's weird, why would Spike be writing to me?" she said as she opened it, with her eyes going wide. "I'm sorry, I need to leave; half my teachers are threatening to quit and most of the parents are talking about pulling their kids out!" She didn't wait for any approval or advice before teleporting away, with a messenger knocking on the door just moments later.
“Excuse me, princesses, but the survivors’ leader, Neighsay, says he is well enough to speak with you and lead the way back to where they were being held.”
The sisters nodded. “Bring him to us,” Celestia said.
The messenger bowed before departing.
Twilight popped into her office at her school, and found Spike and the rest of her friends waiting for her.
“The people who want to see you are in the main auditorium,” Spike said without hesitating. “We’ve been doing our best to calm them, but there’s still a lot of concern.”
Twilight nodded. “Right,” she said. Then she looked at them. “What I want to know is, how did they know to get out in time?”
Pinkie stepped up. “That was me,” she said. “I got one of my weirder Pinkie senses and told everyone to not be on campus today.”
Twilight looked extremely relieved. “I owe you big time,” she said.
Pinkie shook her head. “No, you don’t,” she said. “We kept them safe; that’s all that matters.”
“So how bad is it?” Twilight asked with her friends looking nervous.
“A lot of them aren’t happy, egghead,” Rainbow Dash said. “Also doesn’t help you kinda just left like that Twi. Spoiled Rich was going around, getting them to make a fixed list of complaints against you.”
“Ah tried ta tell her to vamoose as Ah know ya don’t like her here but we got outvoted,” Applejack said to Twilight’s frown. “They’re planning ta do this fairly as can be and Ah know yer gonna be able to talk some sense into them but Ah can tell several are just going to pull out no matter what you say.”
“Do not take it as a failure Twilight,” Rarity said, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “No matter what happens today, you did your best for everyone.”
Fluttershy placed a hoof on her other shoulder. “Just as you always do,” she said.
Twilight smiled at her with Moondancer and Trixie smiling at her, leaning on each other happily. “You are the great and powerful Twilight after all, Twilight,” Trixie said.
“This is your school and your home, I trust you and it’s time to prove to them why,” Moondancer said.
Twilight nodded to the other mare. “Thank you, Moondancer,” she said. “Everyone… I’ll be back.”
Then she headed out and towards the auditorium, Spike following after her.
When she reached her destination, she was immediately inundated by angry adults.
“What happened today?” one of them asked.
“Why did that centaur attack us?”
“How can you justify making this place a target?”
And on, and on it went. Twilight ignored them all, walking past them towards the podium where Spoiled was waiting for her, staring with a smug look of victory on her face.
It began to dawn on the crowd that Twilight would not respond or react until she chose to, voices falling quiet with Spoiled looking uncertain as Twilight took her place in front of the mare.
“The restraining order against you still stands but for the importance of this meeting, I will waive it for now,” she said calmly, causing Spoiled to hunch and back up. She then turned to the crowd and stared at them. “I understand you are angry and confused. You want answers and I was not here to give them to you. In my haste for answers of my own, I left too quickly and I apologize for that.” She then stared at the native Ponyvilleans and the newcomers that had come over a year ago to make this place their home too. “This was a surprise attack, launched against Canterlot by an ancient foe whom I will not name yet.” Celestia had already cautioned her on this, having requested that she not identify him until the Equestrian government had contacted the government and royal family of Laronda as well as checked in Tartarus, which the Guards stationed there had already informed them was no longer sealed beyond its normal protections.
“At the same time, this foe also sought to try and remove myself from the equation as well, targeting the school and my home by launching those two magical blasts,” Twilight continued. “It was only by the quick actions of my friends here in Ponyville that we were able to prevent any loss of life; if not for Pinkie’s abilities, there would have been no warning. Yet her talents allowed her to alert everyone in time, and so they were not on the grounds when our enemy launched his attack. For that, I am eternally grateful.”
She raised a hoof to show she was not finished yet. “A large number of you have asked how can I justify placing your children and yourselves in danger and I cannot. It was the last thing I ever wished to happen, but given the nature of who I am, I see that I will always be a target and those around me will also be targets. It is not a happy admission for me to make, but one I must if I want to have any claim of honesty between you and myself. While I cannot promise there will be no future attacks, I can promise that I will do everything in my power to protect my students and the faculty at my school.”
There was some muttering among the crowd, before one of them stepped up. “Thank you, Princess,” he said. “I, for one, trust your judgement.”
Twilight gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you, Mr. Rich,” she said.
“That goes for me too,” another person said. It was Caplan, the gargoyle she’d met in the Packlands and later hired to teach at her school. “You’ve always done your best to keep us safe, and I see no reason why that would change, no matter the source of the threat.” His words reminded Twilight that she herself had mentioned his name when she was the Lady of Mag-, no, that wasn’t right. She had done it while she was in her other form; the Lady of Magic was her and she could not forget it or try to make some sort of separation.
It wasn’t long before the doors opened up again and people began to walk out, Twilight’s friends trying to gauge the reactions but most were moving too fast or talking to themselves for them to get a bead on the overall reaction.
It took a while, as they could see Twilight talking to her staff over several matters before she finally dismissed them, and finally made her way over to the waiting group. “Come guys, let’s go have us a private chat if that’s okay,” she asked, looking tired.
There were a series of nods before they headed off to a conference room.
When they’d settled in and she’d activated the soundproofing, Twilight looked around. “That went a lot better than I was expecting,” she said. “Some of them obviously still have concerns, but the majority have agreed to stay.” She let out a disgusted sigh. “Spoiled was still herself, of course, but her husband agreed that Diamond Tiara can stay on.”
“That’s good,” Applejack said. “So. Did the other Princesses give you the answers you needed?”
“Like that whole massive transformation and totally amazing fight you did there, Twi,” Rainbow Dash said with a grin, only to look sheepish when the rest of her friends gave her a look
Twilight nodded. “Discord also helped,” she said, looking nervous and tired. “Apparently, I tapped the full potential of my Power, and it made me look more like the Creator that Power came from originally.”
“You mean that was all you?” Pinkie asked softly.
Twilight nodded. “Becoming one with the mantle of Magic does that, apparently,” she said. “It’s not something I can do at will, not yet. But I intend to, so I can make sure it-” She paused and looked angry. “So I can make sure I don't go out of control. I got lucky today.”
Moondancer nuzzled her. “We trust you,” she said. “So… we heard what you had to say to him. That was Tirek, huh?”
Twilight nodded. “Officially, I cannot make a statement on it yet. But unofficially... yes, yes it was - the mantle of Magic helped me recognize and identify his unique magical signature, just like I did with Cozy Glow, without my even knowing it.”
“So what does being that-” Rarity stopped herself before beginning again. “Sorry dear, let me try again. What does that access to your full Power mean, exactly? What can you do with it?”
“Yeah,” Applejack asked. “Ah noticed that yer flames were like when ya got all flustered in the past, but more so.”
“I had access to all magic,” Twilight said a bit distantly, looking away from them. “I could tap normal fire magic, dragon’s fire, even solar magic - that’s what really hurt him. I even managed to access Time’s Power briefly, to turn back the clock on the areas that got damaged.”
“That’s what I felt,” Pinkie suddenly gasped. “It was you tapping me from the future to warn me in the then present so I could act to ensure the warning would happen.” she said with everyone pausing to see if the logic worked out.
“You mean a stable time loop, like the one that Twilight went through that week when Cerberus came calling and Tirek must have gotten out?” Spike asked.
Twilight’s eyes lit up. “Of course! That’s it exactly!” she said excitedly. “Except… I guess I was able to bypass the limits on Starswirl’s spell,” she said. “Normally, I could only use it on myself once in a lifetime, but being what I am let me send a warning back to Pinkie.” She shook her head. “I didn’t even know I’d done that though.”
Trixie looked startled. “This was before you were an alicorn, right?” she asked.
Twilight nodded. “Before Shining Armor and Cadance got married, even,” she said. “I tried to tell myself - the me of one week before - not to worry about the future, but I only wound up making my younger self panic about it.”
“Trixie is seriously wondering why she ever thought challenging you was a good idea,” Trixie muttered. “And is even more impressed that you could pull it off.”
“Look at it this way, I doubt we would have met if you hadn’t done so so I’m happy for that,” Moondancer said, nuzzling her face before placing a kiss on her cheek, to the raised eyes of the others.
“So you can go all powerful Twi?” Rainbow Dash asked with Twilight’s ears dropping.
“Not without a lot of training to figure it out,” she said. “It’ll take me a long time before I can tap it again properly. I am still uncomfortable with it but I do plan to work on it and not let it consume me.” She then sighed and looked at them. “This is hardly to say I am all-powerful, the four Creations and the Four Apocalypses outrank me by a long shot. And...” She trailed off before sighing again. “And I am not invincible, just lucky to be in Equuis. As I am the Lady of Magic, there isn’t any type of magic that can harm me. That includes magically imbued items will not have any effect on me but that means the opposite is true.”
“Science and technology could hurt you then.” Spike said, and he didn’t sound happy.
Twilight nodded sadly and pulled him into a hug, the unspoken conclusion of what those could actually do to Twilight hitting him.
“This doesn’t mean technology is a bad thing,” she added as she looked him in the eye. “It’s just a different way of looking at the world. Neither of them is good or bad, just… there. Unless they’re taken to extremes, but then the same is true of anything that goes too far.”
Spike nodded.
“What I want to know are, who are these Creations and Apocalypses?” Applejack asked.
“They’re the highest-ranking Powers,” Twilight said. “The Creations are Life, Peace, Prosperity, and Health, and their Opposites are Death, War, Famine and Pestilence. Even the Champions of Order and Chaos can’t do more than warn their respective Creators about them if they think they need to. Cadance has actually met Health, when she and Aria went to wake up the windigos, but generally we avoid trying to reach them.”
“Shucks, that don’t sound right,” Applejack said. “Ah mean, what if they been waiting for someone ta go talk ta them?”
“That would be a very bad idea, Apples,” Discord said appearing in front of them, twirling in knots. “War and Peace, for example, are very opposed to each other and would no doubt see anyone going to them as a pretense to tip the scales in the other’s favour which could result in a big and deadly tussle.”
“And as Princess Celestia told me, Life and Death are the ones you really do not want to force a meeting with,” Twilight said. “Mainly as they have very important business to constantly attend to and interruptions can be costly all around.”
“I’ll vouch for that, Death is downright terrifying if you offend them,” Discord said with a shiver. “I speak from personal experience. Thankfully, rationality tends to rule their senses, and if they see you didn’t intend to do so on purpose, they can be forgiving. Now, if you’re trying to keep either yourself or another from being taken when it’s their time, then you’re really in trouble.” He popped out again.
“Trixie now understands what you mean by different types of black magic,” the showmare said, paling. “And the full dangers of using them.”
“Some of that field of magic must belong to Death herself and going too far there would be annoying them,” Moondancer said, scrunching her nose as she began to get lost in thought. “But as you said, different types must exist and thus cannot all be truly bad, just used poorly, right?”
“Himself and yes,” Twilight said, nodding her head.
“So… anything else going on up in Canterlot?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Well, you remember me complaining about Neighsay, right?” Twilight asked. “And wondering what happened when he disappeared? Apparently, Tirek captured him and a lot of other ponies.”
“Oh my,” Fluttershy said softly. “I hope they’re all right.”
Twilight ducked her head. “Well… I don’t know, really. I had to come back down here before we could talk to any of them.”
“If you think you should go back and talk to them, that’s fine,” Pinkie said. “We understand.”
Twilight shook her head. “If Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have information for me, they know how to get in touch. Right now, as much stress as I’ve been through today, I just need to try and cool off for a while before I go anywhere near him again. That and Ponyville is my home and I do need to be here for it.”
The others nodded slowly, understanding.
“If you need anything, you just have to ask,” Rarity said. “Friends support one another, after all, and we will always be here for you.”
“Thank you girls,” Twilight said.
“Hey, I gotta question,” Rainbow Dash said. “Do we get cool transformations too?”
Twilight blinked. “Honestly, I have no idea,” she said. “I’m still not sure how I accessed mine.”
“I mean, we’re all part of the same Creator origin, right?” she asked, hovering in the air. “If that’s what Order looks like for Magic, I can’t wait to see what Loyalty unlocked will look like!”
Twilight looked stricken, and Moondancer looked concerned, before lowering her head. “I don’t think that was Order,” she said. “Was it.”
Twilight shook her head. “No, it wasn’t,” she said. “Your Powers come from Order. Mine is from Chaos.”
The others looked startled, before Twilight continued. “According to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, Magic is the only sub-Power of Harmony that comes from Chaos. Likewise, Technology is the only sub-Power of Disharmony that comes from Order. Chaos is about change, but Order is about… well, structure. Neither is really bad or good; they have to work together to keep things balanced. That’s why all but one of the Powers have Opposites; the Judge is balanced all on their own.”
“Kind of surprised Laughter isn’t a part of Chaos too, what with everything Pinkie’s shown off,” Spike said.
Pinkie shook her head. “Nope, that’s just me,” she said. “I was like that even before I got my Power.”
A piece of paper suddenly materialized in the air above them, and read itself aloud. “She’s telling the truth,” it said. “Laughter and Sorrow are two of the most unpredictable Powers, for reasons that are theirs to reveal when they’re ready, but Laughter is the most chaotic of Order and Sorrow is the most orderly of Chaos.” Then it vanished.
“That was not me,” Discord said, appearing from a tiny mouse hole. “That… was something else. As in, I’d-turn-to-Order-before-I-mess-with kind of else. Not that I would!” he shouted, looking scared before shivering and slamming the door behind him. A moment later, he stuck his head back out. “For the record, I’ve met Order-based versions of me, and honest-to-Chaos, Accord - the Order-me - scares me, almost as badly as the Apocalypses and Creations do.” He slammed the door behind him again with chains and locks appearing on the door.
“That’s disturbing,” Rainbow Dash muttered. “Discord actually scared.”
“Nobody is invulnerable to fear, unless they’re a total sociopath,” Spike said. “Like that one Bat-Stallion villain - according to that one limited series, he’s so insane they think he reinvents himself every day just to cope with the world, and his mindset is never anything near what we’d consider normal.”
“Eh, it depends on which of the three they are talking about,” Moondancer said with a dismissive wave of her hoof.
“It would explain why the other guy’s fear gas couldn’t latch onto him though,” Spike pointed out. “His mindset that day hasn’t been around long enough to get any fears.”
“True.”
Twilight looked at them both, clearly disturbed. “What kind of comics are these?” she asked. “And if they’ve got villains that bad, why would you want to read them?”
“Because the main hero uses almost the same methods to fight crime as the Nightmare, except in the physical world instead of dreams,” Spike said. “It makes you think.”
“I really need to go over what you read more often, Spike,” Twilight said with a sigh. “Did-”
Rainbow Dash held up a hoof. “Not me,” she said. “Bat-Stallion’s a batpony, and one of those guys using his real form to scare people just never set right with me. It’s like they’re playing with people’s prejudices against their kind.”
“Still, later tonight Spike we will go over your comics and see if they are truly appropriate for you,” Twilight said.
Spike pouted. “It’s not that scary,” he said. “We all know they’re fake, and the censors don’t let them get too far. They keep the really violent stuff off-panel.”
“With the main series, at least,” Moondancer said with Spike giving her a glare. “There are some series that are reserved for a more mature audience due to the subject matter as well as the content within.” She turned in Twilight’s direction. “And for the record, he hasn’t actually read the limited series with the super-sanity explanation, they were just talking about it in one of the shops we went to. I’ve read it, just to see the psychology angle, but I’m an adult.”
Twilight nodded. “Right.”
“Didn’t know you read comics,” Rainbow Dash said. “Especially that kind. Thought you were just into the nonfiction like Twilight.”
“To quote a famous poet, I am large, I contain multitudes,” Moondancer said. “But honestly, I do prefer nonfiction. I read some of the comics to analyze the psychology behind the characters more than anything. And the psychology of the writers, it comes through more often than you’d think.”
“Still, I think it would be good for Twilight to check on what Spike is reading,” Trixie said. “Some of those do sound a little much for a school-age person.”
Spike groaned. “You’re getting to be as bad as that Freethink Warder guy,” he said. “He claimed comics were responsible for messing up peoples’ heads. They’ve long since proven he made it all up, based the whole thing off distorted statistics.”
“Plus Spike is your number one assistant and he was with you when you were out all that one year, Twi,” Rainbow Dash said. “He’s a lot more mature than you give him credit for.”
Twilight seemed to be considering that, before finally nodding. “All right,” she said. “But I still want to check them. I might find something I like myself, like those books Rarity gave you.”
“They were pretty good, weren’t they?” Spike said with a grin. “There are still a few parts I’m trying to figure out though.”
“Oh?” Rarity asked.
Spike nodded. “Like that second chapter in the sixth book. How did the maid manage to make something explode when she was cooking, and how did those realtors - or whoever it was - think they could get away with just telling the landowner he had a day to leave before they blew up his ancestral home and put in a golf course? Even eminent domain wouldn’t allow them to do that!”
“A worthy enigma, Spike,” Pinkie said as she stroked her chin.
“Must have been artistic license,” Applejack said. “Either that or they were based on Flim and Flam.”
“That would explain a lot,” Twilight said. “Both, I mean.”
Spike nodded. “Yeah, it does, now that I think about it,” he said.
“What Trixie wants to know is why the one character thinks a lack of sleep is responsible for his memory loss,” Trixie said. “He claims he needs twenty-five hours of sleep a day for it not to affect him, when there are only twenty-four hours in a day!”
Then she noticed the looks she was getting, and blushed. “I may have perused them too, and found them entertaining.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” Rarity said. “As long as Spike doesn’t mind, since they are his.”
“She let me know when she wanted to borrow them,” Spike said. “So yeah, it was okay with me. And given how the guy’s mind’s wired, I don’t think he was thinking straight when he said that.”
“Remind me again, who are these people?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Rarity turned to her. “They’re from a board game originally,” she said. “The premise is that Home Body, a fabulously wealthy stallion, has invited six of his closest friends over for the weekend to enjoy themselves. Unfortunately, most of them do so by attempting to rob him blind or plot one another’s deaths. They never succeed in causing permanent harm to one another, or to their host, but the reader must still figure out who the last culprit is. Not all the chapters involve crimes though, some of them are about the guests taking part in a competition of some kind. Like a game of tug-of-war, or a hot-air balloon race.”
“The six suspects are three stallions and three mares,” Twilight added. “The stallions are a corrupt business tycoon, a short-tempered and duel-happy military stallion and an absent-minded professor, and the mares are Home Body’s maid, a femme fatale type, and an older woman who’s obsessed with making sure people mind their manners.” She frowned. “I think they took that one a little far in her obsession though,” she said. “I mean, what sane person calls the police just because someone else burped?”
Spike shrugged. “I don’t think we’re supposed to take these people seriously as realistic characters,” he said. “Even if we do wonder about some parts of it. The point of it is to have fun solving the mysteries.”
Rainbow Dash nodded and began to ask more about it, while Twilight’s thoughts drifted elsewhere for a minute.
This is so much more like it, she thought. Just relaxing, talking about our favorite things…
She wished she could have more of these moments in her life, and less of the dangers they’d been facing lately, but she had a feeling there was more of the latter to come.
Eventually, the nine of them had to go their separate ways, Twilight returning to her tree home with Trixie, Moondancer and Spike following after, and the other girls back to their own homes. Before all was said and done though, Twilight had informed them that when the time came, she was probably going to lead the formal diplomatic embassy to Laronda, to inform the royal family of what had happened, and she wanted them all to come with her.
None had objected in the slightest.
Now, it was late, and she was settled into bed, trying to fall asleep. That’s when she heard the whisper.
Twilight.
Twilight sat bolt upright in bed. “Who’s there?” she mouthed, not wanting to disturb her housemates.
In here, the voice whispered back. Within yourself.
“Luna?” Twilight mouthed.
No, the voice said. Someone else. Look within yourself, Twilight Sparkle. There, you will find me.
Then it was quiet.
Rattled, Twilight switched on her light and climbed out of bed. She had a feeling she wasn’t going to be getting to sleep so easily.
A little while later, she’d settled into her seat downstairs, a book in her hooves and a cup of hot cocoa at her side (she’d have had cheesecake, but that always tasted better with company, and all of her housemates were sound asnooze - or in Owlowiscious’s case, out hunting for his own food for the night - and not there to share it with her). Sipping it, she turned to her book and tried to relax.
Her eyes drooped.
Then she opened them to find herself in a different library.
Not the one she’d fallen asleep in, or the one where she’d had her dreamscape meetings in the Packlands. This one was different yet, and she looked around in confusion.
“Hello, Twilight,” another voice said quietly.
Twilight turned and gasped. The pony now standing before her was… herself.
Herself with a much taller body, almost like Princess Celestia, with a lengthy mane and tail to match. Herself covered in glittery sparkles. Herself with a somewhat… deeper look to her eyes.
Her heart skipped a beat. “You’re Magic, aren’t you?” she asked.
The other pony nodded. “I am the personification of the piece of Chaos that became the mantle borne by the Lord or Lady of Magic that resides in this dimension,” she said.
“Then… when we fought Tirek… it was you all along-”
“No.” Magic shook her head. “I granted you access to our full Power when you were in need of it, but it was you who was in control of your body, not I.”
Twilight knew that had been the case, but there had still been the small hope it wasn’t her. Now that was squashed, and she sat down. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Twilight.” Magic sat beside her. “You have learned much, but there is still a great deal more for you to understand.”
“Then tell me.”
The taller alicorn sighed. "You have already heard some of this," she said. "When the universe began, the first Powers were born from the original Creators, Order and Chaos, before the other Creators came into being to rule in Their place. Later, the Creators, both the old and the new, felt the need for more Powers and so took small pieces of themselves and shaped them into Mantles that went to every dimension in the multiverse that was born from ripples from the Prime dimension. These Mantles would then find a mortal soul, who would give themselves over to the Purpose of that Mantle to become a Power; the Mantle of Day for this dimension, for instance, found Celestia, and its counterparts found her Others in nearly all other worlds. In time, as the Mantle and mortal soul connected more deeply, the mortal imprinted their soul's essence onto that Mantle; that is why I take this form, a mix of yours with Celestia's, since she was my former partner."
Twilight nodded in understanding, and Magic continued.
"How a soul that began as an individual reacts to a Mantle varies. Some of them gradually become so tightly bonded together that they become one; these Mantles must eventually find a new mortal to bond with, to reconnect to mortals in general. Others do not bond so deeply for various reasons, and in time find a new soul that is better suited for the position, though the original will always bear their mark to some extent." She bowed. "Celestia was like that, for me," she said. "Until she acted against the principles of Harmony, turning the Mantles of Harmony’s sub-Powers against the one who'd held them with her. No matter how justified she was by Umbrea's actions, I could not stay with her after such an act, and fell dormant until I found you and the bonds of friendship you had forged with the others who came to be your fellow sub-Powers of Harmony. Breaking my bond with her was painful, Twilight, more than you can imagine, and the Mantles of Kindness and Generosity felt the same way when we were forced to break from her, as Loyalty, Honesty and Laughter had to break from Luna."
Twilight bowed her head. “I’m sorry for your loss,” she said.
Magic smiled. "Oh, Twilight…" she whispered. "You truly are a well-suited match for me, aren't you?" At Twilight's questioning look, she continued. "Celly and I may have been forced to part then, but a piece of her will always be a part of me. Enough that I was able to reconnect with her, however briefly, in her time of need. When those who share their Mantles with your friends here in Equestria were in need, yours and Celestia's bonds of friendship with them allowed her harmonize with them enough to call to me, however unknowingly it may have been. I remained with you, but was able to reconnect with her as well, just long enough to help her defeat Hatred's then-host and win the day once more. I could not return to Celestia forever, but for a brief time, we were permitted to join again."
She looked away for a minute, a distant look in her eyes, before continuing. “And then, when you were so badly stricken… when you were most in need of my powers, to protect those you shared bonds with… we linked deeper than we ever had before in the past. Day was rather startled when we encroached on their domain to tap into that solar magic, I must say. So was Time, though they were understanding given the circumstances.”
Twilight gave a faint, but strained, smile. “I didn’t mean to offend them,” she said.
"I know that, Twilight and so did they and they weren't offended by the action, given the circumstances and you being you. Now, had you tried to tap Life or Death, or any of their fellows, they would have taken offense to your actions, regardless of how much death or life you could have changed. The matters of a soul are very complex, far beyond anything your comprehension can imagine as of now. Tampering with them is akin to giving a child access to our abilities.” Twilight had a brief mental image in her of Snips with all her power and wilted a bit. Magic nodded her head, “Just as well that everyone made it to safety, even if that did take a bit of Time's magic to ensure it would be the case. We couldn't save every life though." At Twilight's look of horror, she elaborated. "No sapient beings died in Ponyville that day, I promise. But there was an ant's nest near the base of our tree, and they were starting to make their way into it. They were not brought back."
Twilight blinked.
Magic laid a wing over her. “At any rate, what happened with Tirek was enough to allow us to form a deeper connection. Because of that increased bond, I am able to speak with you now, as I am able to speak to my fellow Mantles - Harmony’s sub-Powers more so than the others, in my case, but all of us can speak to one another if needed.”
Twilight suddenly looked excited. “What about my friends? Can they-”
“Not yet - someday, perhaps, though I suspect Pinkie is closer to it than the others might be,” Magic said. “Laughter has always found it easier to link with their Lord or Lady in that regard. Sorrow as well. They tend to have the closest bond to the soul among our kind.”
Twilight crinkled her forehead. “Someone - another Power, I think - said they were the most unpredictable ones,” she said. “Who-”
“Sorry, but that’s not something I’m allowed to explain,” Magic said. “Not until they themselves choose to do so.”
Twilight looked disappointed.
"You'll understand in time, Twilight," Magic said. She ruffled her feathers against Twilight's side. "But getting back to what we were saying before. Now that you and I have linked enough that we can speak, we can tap our abilities more readily. When you feel up to it, I'll help you learn how to access our powers and our other form at will, without losing yourself to your emotions in the process. You have already realized that relying on yourself being in an emotional state of being is not conductive to any aspect of your wellbeing and I am proud of that growth within you. Most of your Others tend to have a harder time coming to that knowledge and it is a mark of how far you have come in so little time."
Twilight smiled. "Thank you."
Magic nodded. "Until next time, Twilight. But... two more things. First, a piece of advice for your friends: trying to force a connection to a Mantle is never a good thing. That first deeper bond has to come from need."
Twilight nodded. “I’ll let them know, if that’s all right,” she said.
“It is. And second… don’t give up.” Magic gave her a wry look. “Patience is never easy, and I understand wanting more. But your bonds with certain others are strong for a reason. In time, things will work themselves out.”
Twilight looked confused, before Magic gave her a mysterious smile and faded, along with the room.
When the lights came on again, she was back in her library, the dawn just breaking outside. And as she reflected on Magic’s words, she realized she felt much better-rested than she’d have expected.
“Twilight?” Spike was standing in the doorway, blinking the last of the sleep out of his eyes. “Are you…”
Twilight smiled, then telekinetically pulled him over to her and into a hug.
“I’m doing better,” she said. “Thank you, Spike.”
Spike smiled as he hugged her back. “You’re welcome, Twilight.”
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I figured Twilight had to deal with the fallout of Tirek's attack on the school, that smug Spoiled sure had a lot of gall to be there on school grounds (probably riled up the crowd there) but thankfully Twilight was able to defuse the situation.
Loving these explanations concerning the Powers & that particular incident from *It's About Time* that played a key role in preventing the loss of life that would have happened cause of Tirek, well played!
Course I gotta mention the talk about Spike's comics & the books that Rarity gave him, nice nod to one of my fave boardgame (Clue) in there as well.
The last part with Twilight finally meeting Magic & their discussion was the icing on the cake here, not to mention that a certain mare may get to unlock her form soon as well.
I still wonder who was pulling the strings regarding Tirek's power, hope we get a hint of that soon. Keep up the awesome work!
Celestia you've been keeping, and you probably still are keeping, a lot of things from her
It was kinda hilarious really
"I am thou, and thou art I"
Magic was mad at the ants for trying to get into the tree/library... that's pretty petty and funny
Oh, hi Karen. Twilight's chat with magic was cool and Pinkie being the closest to meeting her power is not that surprising.
Pinkie used Time to change Death?
And Discord is Terrified?
Twilight:I still keep having problems with an equation Spike, Book equals Banana times ook, but theres something missing.
Spike:Dont worry Twilight, and Im sure youll get it soon. By the way, got those Books all squared away.
So. Much. REFERENCES. I'll come back later, and ask for help on things I quote. Pretty sure there was a reference to Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, if I am correct, with the landlords(vogons?) destroying house(Earth) to create golf course(space highway) with no legal forewarning(Earth people had to somehow know that there was a notice in some place or another, where they haven't even been yet, didn't have space travel).
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Nope. It's a reference to the 1990s children's book series based on the board game Clue (Rarity and Pinkie found Equestria's version and bought copies of them for Spike while he and Twilight were off on their world tour, and gave them to him as their welcome-home gift near the start of this story). The events described - someone trying to blow up Mr. Boddy's mansion to make way for a golf course, without actually letting him know until the bomb was installed, and it being stopped in time - really happened in book #6, chapter 2, of the series.
We have a page on TV Tropes for the Diplomacy-verse as a whole; see this sub-page for the shout-outs.
Until next time...
Anon e Mouse Jr.
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Huh, thanks for info. I'll check it out then.
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Looked at it - no wonder I didn't find pretty much 90%. I just don't know half of the source material. X) Keep creating.
this obscure dc reference is quite the...punchline