Equestrian Celestial Forge

by TheDriderPony

Chapter 6 - Reflecting on "Conclusive" Results

So?” Luna asked the moment they were alone. “What did your spells tell you?”

“Not much,” Celestia admitted. “Or rather, not much that I didn’t at least partially expect. No signs of dark magic on any of them aside from the expected base trace from the spell I taught Twilight to access Sombra’s sanctum. None of the tell-tale signs of corruptive magic. No mind control either, at least nothing fundamentally similar to changeling manipulation or compulsion spells.”

She gestured to the ornate box that contained the Elements of Harmony. “And their connection to the Elements is as solid as ever.”

Luna sank back into her chair, relief evident on her features. “So they are clear then? Our worries were for naught?”

Celestia pursed her lips. “Not quite. There is definitely something present. Something that was not there before. Unfortunately, whatever it is is too deeply entangled with their own magic for my surface-level spells to identify. If I didn’t know Twilight’s magical signature as intimately as I do, I probably would have missed it.”

Which meant they’d hardly progressed at all. Suspicions with little evidence. Luna sighed as she felt some of the worry she’d just released creep back in. “Still, it was an impressive trick, I will admit. For Twilight to arrive alone then have her friends appear through the broom closet. If we could harness such a spell, we could deploy armies as quickly as our fastest pegasus.”

“Not that there’s such a need these days,” Celestia gently reminded her. “Equestria has not been at war for nearly four hundred years. Besides, I managed a glimpse at the spellwork behind their ‘keys’ and the realm beyond it and I doubt even Starswirl could tease out its secrets.”

“Alas, more’s the pity.” After a thousand years of boredom, the lunar princess was practically itching for a good war to get the blood pumping again. “So, what now? More observations, I take it?”

“Precisely. I plan to immediately send Twilight to visit Cadence up north. She’ll be able to detect any changes in Twilight’s behavior or emotions too subtle for my spells. At the same time, a much more powerful scanning spell will be checking her magic as deeply as possible to root out the truth of her new ability.”

Luna tapped her hooves in thought. “Perhaps I am out of date with modern casting, but wouldn’t such a spell take hours, even days to fully render its results?

“That’s why I’m casting it as an enchantment on the one thing I know she won’t let out of her sight.” She opened the box and extracted the singular tiara amongst the jeweled necklaces. “The Element’s natural magic will overpower it in a few days, but so long as she keep it close, that should be more than long enough to tell us what we want to know.”

---

"Are you sure that was a good idea?" Shining Armor asked as he watched his little sister and littler dragon bro disappear through the mirror that had formerly graced his dressing room.

"Positive," Cadance replied with a confident nod. "I may be the youngest princess there is, but I think I'm starting to get a handle on Celestia's schemes. This is one of those subtle tests she likes to spring on Twilight."

Shining Armor gave his wife a skeptical look. "How is someone breaking into our castle and burglarizing her room a test? Seems more like bad luck to me."

"I've got a feeling that that's exactly what she wants Twilight to think, but there's a few too many coincidences for me to fully believe it."

Cadance gestured to the mirror. "For one thing, this isn't just any old mirror, it was a wedding gift from Celestia herself. There's no way she didn't know it had magical properties."

Shining nodded. It was a security concern at the very least. Like gifting someone a doormat that said 'look beneath for house keys'.

"Second, even though she arrived in our personal quarters, the thief ignored my crown, your medals, and all the priceless artifacts in every room and hallway to instead make a beeline for the guest quarters where Twilight was sleeping. And that's despite Twilight only arriving earlier today. She had a target that she knew where to find and when. Sounds like someone with insider knowledge, no?"

She made a good case, he had to admit. It was very strange behavior

"Then after the alarm was sounded, despite the many windows, countless possible infiltration spells, and our admittedly threadbare border security—" Shining winced at that, but what was he supposed to do? Deplete Canterlot of the guards he'd trained? The remainder of the original Crystal Guard was a fraction of the size it'd been before Sombra. "—when it came to escaping, the thief chose to run through the castle with nothing more than a cloak to hide her identity and leave back through the mirror, letting us know exactly how she got in.

"Finally, and most indicative of Celestia's hoof in this... I recognized her."

"You what?!"

A wan smile flitted across Cadance's features, one tinged with regret. "It was just a glance, but I'd know that fiery mane anywhere. It's been a long time since I sensed that particular blend of angst, arrogance, and snark, but there's no mistaking her. You probably remember her. Celestia's former student?"

"I think so." His brow furrowed in thought. "Sunset... I want to say... Simmer?"

"Shimmer. She was the one who got jealous easily and tried to break us up out if spite?"

"Right. Her. Didn't she just up and vanish one day?"

"Essentially. I thought she and Celestia had a falling out, but maybe the princess just sent her away to study abroad." She shrugged. "Or at least they didn't part on such bad terms that she wasn't willing to play burglar for a night."

"So... Twily's not in any real danger?" Shining Armor's posture started to lose its tension for the first time since his sister had stated her intention to chase the thief through the mirror.

Cadance laughed, a trilling bell-like sound that eased the rest of the stress from Shining's body. "Hardly. It's a stageshow. I'm sure she'll be back in a day or two with a story to tell and a deeper understanding on some aspect of friendship. It's so obviously a test, Celestia might as well have given her a number two quill sent her straight to highschool."

---

"It's been a week and Twilight has returned to Ponyville. Are you satisfied with what your spell had to say?"

"Yes Luna, and it seems we can rest easy. The spell detected a brief surge of demonic energy, but it was almost immediately vanquished by a powerful burst of Harmony magic. Twilight is clear. Anything that happens now is entirely of her own merit."

"Good. Then I'll be sending your student a message posthaste."

"Whatever for?"

"Because I find myself rather fond of the wicker chair she sent, though I'd rather one made to fit my svelter frame."

"...what are you implying?"

"Nothing, dear sister, other than the fact that she clearly designed the original with your need for additional width in mind."

Author's Note:

I think it's fair to skip past the movie since, let's be honest, Twilight getting an instant A++ in shop class doesn't change the plot any. Just imagine it plays out exactly as canon, except instead of being salty about Twilight being an alicorn, Sunset's salty about Twilight being Celestia's replacement for her.

Comments

[CyberDragonEX]

So let me see if I got this right.

Because of Sunset stealing the crown, I'm assuming most of the scan came from her. And because Cadence THOUGHT it was just a test (her reasoning was fairly good), she never mentioned it to Celestia - which prevented Celestia from realizing the mistake.

[Comickook]

Hey there. Pretty good job on the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up once again. Definitely liked the dialogues between Celestia and Luna as well as Shining Armor and Cadance. Definitely understood why Cadance would think the bit with Sunset Shimmer was just one of Celestia's tests as well as liked Luna's ribbing Celestia about how much weight the cakes are putting on her.

I'm guessing the next upgrades to the group are probably going to be coming in time for the mess with the Plunder Vines (whatever those new perks are going to be) and each of them is going to get at least one new perk in the "key stories" throughout Season Four. Of course, I admit that I could be wrong, but it DOES seem like a pretty logical guess.

Anyway definitely looking forward to more of this story.

[Moproblems Moharmoney]

11299935
Roll them bones RNG program! Papa wants a Marvel pony!

[Greenhorn]

11300660
And somehow the reason Cadance gave make perfectly sense to me. It would conveniently explain a couple inconsistencies I felt from the movie.

[Einherjarr]

While I agree her non-alicorn status and new woodworking skills would not cause much change in the movie, I'm quite certain that the personal reality key could cause quite a mess there, since the mirror is what turns ponies into humans any door she opened would result in ponies walking(troting?) around Canterlot High. It would be hilarious.

[Herald of Opera]

11301102
Except it feels more like that would change things in the second movie, not the first.