From Ashes, Acid, and Absinthe

by Hope

Prologue

Author's Note:

Co-Author’s Note: Hey, it’s McPoodle, using this site (and Hope’s account) to republish another of my academic works. I wasn’t the main author, just the translator from French of the manuscript that made up most of the article. This one’s back from when nobody had any idea that ponies were real--I was in college, I zipped this thing off in a weekend, and I didn’t really realize what I had in my hands until quite a while later. It was printed in the Scientific Journal of Psychology issue of December 18, 1983. The stuff in square brackets refers to additions made by the editors.

[The Milwaukee Riots of 1970 are one of the most-mysterious occurrences connected with the so-called Psychedelic Era of the late 60’s and early 70’s. Inhabitants of a city supposedly isolated from the widespread protests and riots of the era suddenly descended into complete madness, people set fire to their own houses, and then used the wreckage to beat each other’s heads in. And then, a few days later, the populace collectively came to their senses in a matter of seconds, and worked together to rebuild the city they had nearly leveled. The only reason the Riots are not better known is because they coincided with the much-more significant events occurring at Kent State University.

[Even if unknown by the public, the Riots have been the subject of numerous scientific studies seeking to discover the cause of the transient madness. Medievalists have blamed it on widespread ergot poisoning, while mystics have tried to point to a rare conjunction of the four closest stars with our Sun. As the victims of the insanity retained no memory of their actions following the three-day period of the Riots, the answer may never be known for certain.

[The following document can be considered yet another attempt to explain the phenomenon, if not for the fact that it is an obvious work of fiction. Worse, for those of you who might be interested in this imaginary setting of “Equestria”, no other works by the anonymous author have ever been discovered. And that really is a shame, for the origin of the manuscript is a mystery even bigger than the cause of the Milwaukee Riots: it was found underneath the foundations of the St. Francis Xavier Mission located outside modern Le Pere, Wisconsin, in the year 1802. Carbon dating puts the date when it was actually written to the year when the mission was founded: 1671.]

“We’ve learned so much from our lessons, and from the years of experiences we’ve gathered, but in the end the lessons are all temporary. What matters is the connections between us. The friendships and loves we have. We need to stick together.” - Princess Celestia, Annual Equestrian Address of 986.

Ponies surrounded the royal palace by the thousands, all singing in unison.

“Equestria, the land I love, A land of harmony! Our flag does wave from high above, For ponykind to see.

“Equestria, a land of friends, Where ponykind do roam! They say true friendship never ends. Equestria, my home!”

High above, Princess Celestia looked down upon them, a mixture of pride and worry on her face. The air filled with the magic offered up by the populace with their song, and Celestia reluctantly accepted it.

The crowd, having finished their song, stomped the pavement afterwards with their support for their monarch. The individual stomps were not particularly loud, due to each individual being drained by their offering. They then stopped, and looked up at one at the Princess.

“My little ponies,” Celestia addressed them, applying a voice-magnifying spell upon herself. “Once again I thank you for your offering of magic, to help us all in our hour of need.

“I wish to tell you that Princess Cadance has recently returned from her visit to the Heartlands.” Celestia looked back into the room behind her, where Cadance had collapsed asleep across her bed. “She informed me that she distributed the magic that you gave her to the hard-working farm ponies of the region, and is proud to tell you all that your sacrifice has paid off: The harvest will be enough this year to feed all of the ponies of Equestria!”

The crowd below cheered, before huddling together for warmth. Even though it was early Summer, the ground was still covered with frost.

“Tomorrow,” the Princess continued, “I will set out for Cloudsdale with the magic you have just given me, and we will see what can be done about the weather.”

The crowd cheered once more, somewhat fainter.

“Thank you once again. Now return to the duties I have taken you from, and do your part for all of Equestria!”

Another cheer, and the crowd began to disburse, while Celestia turned to return to her room. But not all of the gathered ponies left. About a quarter of the crowd, all younger ponies, remained standing as their elders left the square. They stood, silently looking up at the balcony. Celestia, seeing this out of the corner of her eye, paused, then slowly turned and faced them.

“Yes, my ponies?” she asked. “Is there something that I can do for you?”

The crowd parted, and from among their number emerged an orange unicorn with a mane of mixed red and yellow. She walked tall and proud, and the others looked to her with expectation and love.

“There is much you have to answer for, Princess Celestia!” the lead unicorn cried out.

Celestia sighed inwardly. “Sunset Shimmer, my most-brilliant student,” she said.

“You may have tended to the ponies of Equestria during this crisis, but what about beyond its borders?” Sunset accused. “Diamond Dogs, griffons and hippogriffs are starving from famine, shivering from cold and wasting away from diseases easily treatable by magic. While Equestria survives, the rest of the world dies! What are you doing about the rest of Equus, Princess?” The idealistic young ponies behind her nodded in agreement.

“Sunset, you do know how much I care about all of the creatures of Equus, not just the ponies,” Princess Celestia responded.

“Caring is one thing. We want to know what are you going to do about it?!”

The crowd roared with outrage.

Princess Celestia’s eyes narrowed. “How dare she!” she muttered under her breath. She began to rear up to do something rash, when a gentle hoof settled on her withers, the hoof of a tired Princess Cadance. Celestia looked over at her fellow princess, and then sighed.

“There is much wisdom in what you say, Student,” she addressed the crowd. “Come inside, and we will discuss options.”

Sunset beamed, and the ponies around her broke out in celebratory cheers. “That is all I have been asking for,” she said. Turning to the ponies behind her, she said in a normal voice, “We did it! I couldn’t have accomplished this without your support. Go home to your families now. I will tell you everything that happened after I return to you.”

With these words she walked forward to the door to the palace, congratulated for several steps by members of her group who rushed up to put an arm around her for a moment before retreating back to the slowly-disbursing crowd. When she reached the pair of imposing guards, she looked up at them calmly before they reluctantly opened the doors, allowing her inside.

---

“Did you really need the miniature army, Sunset?” Celestia asked. She, Sunset and Cadance were the only ponies in the throne room, the doors of which had been locked and sound-proofed. Cadance was trying her best not to fall asleep on her hooves.

“I figured it was the only way you’d be willing to see me. Oh by the way, I noticed you didn’t use the word ‘former’ when calling me your student.”

“I have no wish to see you publicly castigated for your poor decision to terminate my instruction.”

Sunset leaned forward. “You’re the one who blocked my research!”

Celestia eagerly matched her stance. “Research into dark magic. Research which surely would have corrupted you.”

“But it didn’t corrupt you!”

“You lack my experience and wisdom, Sunset. And then, you were the one to walk out on me.”

“All you had to do was apologize!”

“Apologize? Apologize?!”

“Mares, mares!” Cadance interjected. “Arguing about the past is not going to solve anything. The matter at hoof—”

“—The matter at hoof is the dramatic drop in magic levels all across Equus,” Sunset said. “Your stop-gap measures will not be enough to save this planet from utter catastrophe!”

“We can’t jump to extreme measures, Sunset. A crisis like this needs to be handled with care. We need to handle things one step at a time.”

“One step at a time?! Is it not enough that all of the dragons have been forced into hibernation? That the hippogriffs have had to permanently relocate their kingdom to the bottom of the sea after their land dominion froze over? How long will it be before you finally give in, bow down to prophesy, and make me an alicorn!”

Cadance sighed. “So that’s what this is all about.”

“I’m not demanding this for me!” Sunset insisted. “You two are worked to the bone. As the only creatures able to redistribute such massive quantities of magic, you surely realize that two is not enough. Make me an alicorn!”

“I can’t,” Celestia said, turning away. “You’d know that if you listened to me. To become an alicorn, a pony must be worthy…”

“What more do I need to do?!” Sunset demanded.

“...And there must be enough ambient magic to effect the transformation,” Celestia concluded. “That level no longer exists. Even if you were worthy, which I doubt, the act is now impossible.”

“Oh,” Sunset said, deflating. “So it’s been impossible this whole time. I...I’ve made a fool of myself.”

“Not for the first time,” Celestia said with a smirk.

“Auntie!” Cadance chided her.

“No, she’s right,” Sunset said. She turned and walked towards the doors. “If you want me, I’ll be back in my old room. At least for tonight. Is that alright?”

“Stay as long as you wish, Sunset,” Celestia said. “And if you ever reconsider returning as my student…”

Sunset looked back for a moment, her expression entirely blank. Then she pushed open the door, breaking the Silence spell, and walked away.

---

Princess Celestia awoke in the middle of the night, her heart thudding and a terrible premonition filling her mind. She leapt out of bed, looked ruefully over her shoulder at the figure of the Mare in the Moon peering in from the balcony window, and then teleported.

She appeared in front of a door in a remote corner of the palace. The space under that door glowed with dark magic. The door was criss-crossed with powerful locking spells that would take Celestia hours to unravel. But Celestia smirked, as she saw that the spells were only bound to each other, no physical objects tied to them. As usual for Sunset, she completely neglected to consider the other two pony races in her plans.

Celestia burst through the door using her earth pony might. On the other end of the room was the Magic Mirror. And before it stood Sunset, pulling enormous quantities of magic from the mirror’s glowing surface.

“Sunset! What are you doing?!”

Sunset turned her head, beaming in triumph. “I did it! I found the solution! I was able to tune the mirror to another alternate world, one with magic, but also one where life never advanced onto dry land, never achieved intelligence! Don’t you see? This world is full of magic, but no creature can use it, or become entangled with it. I can take all of the magic and give it to you, and no one gets hurt!”

“You can’t do this, Sunset! Your actions will lock that world in its current state, forever! What if it was meant to develop intelligent life, but much later than in the other worlds?” She reached out with her magic to wrench the stream away from Sunset’s horn.

“No!” Sunset cried, trying her best to keep control of the stream. “This is our only chance. And all it will cost is one world!”

“I forbid it!” Celestia cried back, firmly pulling the stream away. “A pony willing to commit such a vile act is unworthy to rule Equestria.”

Sunset grabbed the stream back. “Then banish me after the deed is done! I’m willing to give up everything for Equestria.”

“No!” Celestia cried once more, pulling loose the stream and flinging it back into the mirror once and for all. “We will find another solution, together!”

“There is no other solution!” Sunset screamed. She then paused and looked back at the mirror. “Unless I just go in there and get the magic myself!” She leapt into the mirror.

Celestia desperately reached out with her magic to grab Sunset and pull her back into Equestria. Sunset shot her magic back to break that magical grasp. But both magical streams reacted with the retreating stream of magic, causing a massive surge. There was a mangled scream, mixed with the sound of breaking glass…

The smoke cleared, and Celestia looked with horror at the exploded remains of the magic mirror. Not a trace of Sunset Shimmer was to be seen.

---

For a moment, Sunset was pulled along by the magical stream towards the primitive world of magic she had discovered. But then that stream of magic slipped away from her, and she found herself adrift in Limbo.

Sunset panicked. Without the proper magical protection, she would be torn apart by the powerful eddies of Limbo. And no magic could actually be cast in this space between realms. Desperately she flipped and writhed as she felt her form stretching and dissipating, preparing to pop like a soap bubble. Finally, she managed to grab onto something with one hoof, the miniscule opening to another dimension. Not Equestria, not the world she wanted, and not the magicless-world that the mirror had originally been tuned to. A completely unknown, possibly lethal realm. But having no choice, Sunset pulled herself into it anyway...

Comments

[McPoodle]

So, just to let everybody know, this Prologue is 100% written by me, although under Hope's direction.
The actual collaboration starts with the next chapter.

[Starlight Nova]

Before I read this, I must know: Why did Sunset decide to change her name?

[McPoodle]

11071118
To fit in.

You have to understand, this is the late 60's on an Earth that's a lot closer to our Earth than to the one in Equestria Girls. Back then, young American men were called slackers and traitors for the crime of growing their hair long. Under those circumstances, which name is going to get in the way less: Sunset Shimmer (a hippy-dippy Commie name!) or Alice Shiner (a good dependable American name!).

[redandready45]

11071139

America, the land of the "free."

Anyways, good start.

[Martydi]

Alright, I'm liking the premise. Let's see where this goes.

[Raistlin]

11071547

People always mistake that part. It's actually the land of the "fee".

[redandready45]

11072675

Good one.