Becoming Twilight

by RandomGreymane

Chapter 17

Becoming Twilight - Chapter 17 by RandomGreymane (Mike Hebel)

Knowing from experience what the press was capable of, Twilight Sparkle did her best to help cover up the attack on Princess Celestia. Knowing full well that she could not hold the truth back forever, Twilight instead deliberately formulated a plan to delay the full story until it could be handled properly.

Pouring over reports at Celestia’s side proved to be both rewarding and frustrating for Twilight. Celestia’s style of management proved to be slightly different than Twilight’s and more than a few issues that Twilight would have chosen to pursue, her mentor and sister dismissed with a wave of her hoof.

One thing the two of them agreed upon was that Equestria needed to be searched for enchanted items that might bring harm.

“First we had Trixie and The Alicorn Amulet.” Twilight started while staring at a report “Then the attack on you. We really need to do a bit of a clean up on items out there. Unfortunately I can’t scan them all myself!”

“Actually I can think of at least one way to do it AND put the pony populace at ease.” Celestia said. Shifting a bit on her pillows to ease the soreness of her still healing shoulder, she continued. “What you need is simple.”

“Well don’t hold back sister because I’m a little overwhelmed by the scale of the problem.” Twilight said.

The tone of frustration in Twilight’s voice was not lost on Celestia. “The best part is that you already have the connection you need available.” she said with a smile.

“What could I possibly have that would allow me to scan and detect things as subtle as The Beater when I’m only one pony...oh...oh my...yes that would work wouldn’t it.” Twilight said as she looked down and saw her sister’s hoof pointed to the pendant around her neck.

Giggling a little, and shifting again, Celestia said “And the scans allow you to be seen in the cities and towns of Equestria to help calm ponies at large.”

“Ooof. I really didn’t expect to take a whirlwind trip of Equestria.” Twilight said with resignation. “But it looks like that’s what it will take.”

Nodding in agreement, Celestia closed her eyes and rested her head on the pillows. “Scan the major cities first. Make sure the archivists haven’t missed anything major. I’m sure surprises abound but I dearly hope your search amounts to little.” she said before yawning.

“Agreed. We’ll take the Wind Walker and make a show of it.” said Twilight “With your permission that is.”

“It’s yours already. You’re a sister in royalty after all.” Celestia said with her eyes still closed.

“Still a bit hard to accept that.” Twilight said as she sorted and stacked the reports that had been handled.

“Accept it.” Celestia said. Opening one eye she gave Twilight a very pointed glare “I do tire so of reminding you.”

For several heartbeats the two sisters gazed at each other. Twilight eventually broke the stillness by nodding her head. Celestia closed her eye and softly began to snore.

Twilight gathered her things and left the chamber quietly so as not to wake her sister.

=============================================================

Calling a meeting with her friends, Twilight explained what they had to do and why.

“Celestia and Luna and I discussed it and the theory is this - because we are all bound by the pendants and the Elements, I should be able to detect things as you pass by them.”

“Kinda like a cat’s whiskers.” said Applejack.

“Exactly!” said Twilight. “This should allow me to pick up on even the faintest of spells. I will however be concentrating on offensive spells and trap spells. The last thing we need to do is sniff out every magick charm in Equestria. Upon detection I will send the archivists to retrieve the item. Sound like a plan everypony?”

Without hesitation they all assented and separated to organize their affairs so as to be gone for an extended period of time. Rainbow Dash grumbled at having to put her flying classes in the hands of another pony but made the arrangements.

Over the next few days, and with Luna’s help to teleport Applejack, Twilight tested the range on the pendants. After some experimentation they found that the range was just over a mile distant before the link faded and broke. While it was active, Twilight found she could detect spells even as subtle as the one that had been on the Beater but only if conditions were right.

As she expected, Twilight began to have to head off rumors about Celestia’s health within the week. Twilight and the other princesses, Celestia included, made an official announcement explaining the events in question and also the next steps of visiting the major cities in Equestria. The explanation however did not include the plan to scan the entire cities for enchanted items but rather that they would be watching to keep Equestria safe.

Secrets. thought Twilight Well I suppose this is a necessary one. Otherwise we’d have everypony and their brother bringing us items to scan to make sure they are ‘safe’.

The trips also would include the aforementioned tours of the Wind Walker at each destination. As Celestia was well enough to travel she would embark along with the others but remain aboard during the stops. It was decided among the sisters that Luna would stay behind and hold court in Canterlot.

Surprisingly, to Twilight at least, Cadance requested that they stop by and scan the Crystal Empire as well. “We have been finding that Sombra was no slouch in hiding traps and trigger spells.” she said as she stood in Twilight’s room and watched her pack. Cadance continued “One or two that I have encountered have been as subtle as you told me the Beater was. I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

“Agreed.” Twilight said while collecting the books and clothes for the trip. “If you don’t mind though I’d like to make it our last stop. The crystal ponies are a bit sensitive and so much of their defense depends on their emotions. I don’t want them to possibly think they are still under Sombra’s threat.”

“Not a problem.” replied Cadance as she levitated a rather garish looking scarf from the pile to be packed. “You really need to let Rarity make over your wardrobe.”

“Don’t you dare suggest it to her!” Twilight said in mock horror as she snatched the scarf and packed it. “I’d end up with a completely ‘fabulous’ ensemble that would be completely unsuited to my daily activities.”

Cadance stopped cold and looked up in surprise. “Wow.” she said. “Just wow.”

Twilight stopped as well and sighed. Looking at Cadance apologetically she said “Sorry. I’m just a little worked up. I mean it’s been one hell of a year for me so far. Wings, the Twilight Council, being two, being one, Alabaster...it just doesn’t seem to have stopped.”

“And it won’t.” said Cadance “That’s the good and bad of being a princess in Equestria, or indeed anywhere. It’s always...something.”

“You’re right of course.” Twilight replied. “I need to accept this...all of this. I don’t think I’ve truly done that yet.”

“AND you need to have Rarity outfit you as befits a princess.” said Cadance with a smile.

“Okay but if I end up with a closet of enormous hats I’m definitely making sure she sends some to you too!” Twilight said as she stuck her tongue out at Cadance.

“And I at least will look good in them!” Cadance said with an air of snobbishness in her voice and a lift of her chin.

Cadance was unable to keep the fake expression and avoid the flying pillow from the bed.

=============================================================

After much discussion among the travelers it was decided that they shall start with Manehatten as it would be the most difficult to scan. Celestia drew up papers of cooperation for Twilight just in case they had trouble with somepony who refused them entry. Though with the tale of Inkblot having spread by now that would likely not be a problem.

The launch of the Wind Walker the next morning was once again greeted with much fanfare though again with as little pomp and circumstance as possible.

The choice to take the airship versus the train was twofold. First it allowed a secure place to store any artifacts that they might find, and secondly it was slower and allowed time for Twilight and her friends to practice using the spell on the pendants to allow detection of items.

After a couple of hours Twilight and the group assembled on deck. Rarity insisted on being at the prow while the others shifted locations until each was where they felt most comfortable. Twilight waited until they had all moved to the railings and then sat in the center point of her ring of friends.

Closing her eyes, Twilight began with a simple meditative mantra. Once she was calm and centered within herself she expanded her awareness to each of her friends.

She could feel almost every square hoof of the land below her as the ship traveled forward but due to the altitude only the high power points impinged upon her awareness. She opened her eyes and beckoned to a nearby archivist and bid her to unroll a map and wait at hoof for her signal.

As the ship moved forward Twilight felt several places of power and with the pointing of her hoof the archivist marked them on the map for her. Reaching for a particularly bright point as they approached the mountain, everyone was surprised by the crack of thunder and the sudden appearance of a rain storm immediately in their path.

Fleeing the oncoming rain the group gathered in the galley as the first large drops began to batter the portholes.

“Well that was interesting.” Twilight said as she observed the sky outside. “All I did was reach out to feel a location in the mountains and then...this.”

“Please be so kind as to show me the location.” Celestia said as she levitated the map onto the table and flattened it carefully.

“It was over...here.” said Twilight as she lit up a spot on the map with her magick.

“Hmm...Oh! I know what this is!” Celestia said with a bright tone in her voice. “Luna and I must have missed one! I’m surprised it’s still operating after all these years.”

“One what?” said Rainbow Dash. “Wait! Is this...?”

“It is indeed my friend.” Celestia confirmed. “It is an original model of the weather generators Luna and I came up with centuries ago to try and free the Pegasus teams from the burden of controlling the weather.”

“Awesome!” Rainbow exclaimed “A piece of Pegasus history right under our hooves!”

“But I barely reached out and touched it...” Twilight said.

“They were always too sensitive. That was part of the problem.” Celestia said as she bid the archivist to mark the map accurately. “We could never get them to stabilize. I should be able to shut it off quite easily.” Reaching out, Celestia sent a small spell to the generator. Immediately the rain began to lessen and the clouds began to clear.

With the clearing of the clouds they could see that they had crossed the first portion of the mountain range. With no storms to speak of now, Celestia bid the captain to anchor to the top of one of the nearby peaks for the evening and they all settled down to dinner.

After dinner, and Celestia setting the sun, they cleared the table and Twilight laid down a map of Manehatten.

“We will start with an outer circle of the city before landing at the outskirts on one end. We have 33 square miles to cover. At roughly a mile a pony we could break that down a lot but quite honestly I don’t want us that far apart from each other.”

“Ah think it’d be best if we started with a fly-over to mark anythin’ out a tha ordinary.” said Applejack.

“Hmm... We’ll coordinate with the mayor when we arrive but that does sound like a good idea.” said Twilight as she examined the map.

‘Ugh. This is going to take FOREVER.” said Rainbow Dash. “Couldn’t you just like whip up a spell to make them glow or something?”

“Not that easy Rainbow. Remember that we really don’t know what we’re looking for until we find it.” Twilight said, looking up from the map. “Also with a city as large as Manehatten there could be thousands of enchanted items down there. If I lit them all up it would look like Heartswarming Eve lights. We’d probably blind half the city. Besides, this is all supposed to be very calm and friendly and mostly on the quiet.”

Celestia spoke up. “I agree. We should keep this as subtle as possible. After a time we will be unlikely unable to keep it out of the public eye but for now...we really do not have a deadline.”

“And that means we can take as much time as we need.” Twilight said with a smile.

“And remember that we don’t have to visit everywhere but only places that Twilight detects something worth checking out. We should be able to get it done in a couple of months.” continued Celestia.

“Auuuugh!” said Rainbow Dash falling over backwards. “My hooves are going to get worn out! No Pegasus was meant for so much walking!”

“Who said you had to walk?” said Twilight and Celestia in unison.

“We know we aren’t going to get everything.” Twilight said. “We are going to be focusing mostly on retail shops like curio and resale shops. We’re only going to be deviating from that if one of you runs across something that really stands out. It’s not what I really want but Tia and I discussed it, and while it’s possible we’ll miss another Beater, most of the things we will be running across will show up pretty quickly. So while we will be scanning the entire city we probably won’t be stopping as often as you might think.”

“Don’t worry Dash, I’ll carry ya iffin ya get tired.” Applejack said as she was unable to keep from grinning.

“As if!” Rainbow Dash countered. “That’ll happen as often as Rarity passes up a clothing store.”

“I beg your pardon!” Rarity said. “Who was it that just the other week had to be dragged out of the Wonderbolts memorabilia shop in Canterlot? Hmmmm???”

“I have NO idea what you’re talking about.” replied Rainbow Dash.

“Oh for the love of...” Twilight said putting her hoof to her forehead. “There will be plenty of time for shopping and sight-seeing during this trip. In fact I took the liberty of making sure the archivists knew that some of the items being brought back will be unenchanted and quite ordinary. It will help draw attention away from anything that we seriously have to get removed.”

“And the royal treasury will pay for it all.” said Celestia “I made sure that the budget for this venture included enough to cover anything you girls might want to buy along the way.” Looking at Twilight’s confused expression she continued “You had it in your notes and scratched it out. I expect you thought it would be too much to ask.”

“Uh...well...yeah I kinda did.” Twilight said. I’m going to have to hide my notes better. she thought to herself.

From an ancient magickal princess and your bonded sister? thought Celestia in return with a tinkle of laughter woven among the words. Unlikely but you’re welcome to try.

“Let’s see...you all have saved Equestria multiple times. The last time you saved my life...” Celestia said as she tilted her head thoughtfully then looking at Twilight with a smile on her face. “Why Twilight I do believe I think we can afford to pay you ponies what you’re worth.” she concluded.

Not even Twilight herself could keep from laughing.

===================================================================================================

Eventually the airship reached the final range of mountains and rose above them in nimble fashion. The next morning they could see Manehatten in the distance.

They spent the final hours of the trip going over their cover story. In the end they came up with one that even Applejack was satisfied with.

The airship began the planned circle of the city, but with the excitement it created in those below there was little Twilight could do to focus properly let alone do a preliminary scan.

“We’ll just have to do one early in the morning while most ponies are still asleep.” Twilight said in resignation.

“You’re kidding right?” Rarity said “Manehatten always has something planned. Day or night. I very much doubt that you’ll find a ‘quiet moment’ for the entire city Twilight.”

“I am unfortunately inclined to agree.” Twilight said as she put her hooves on the railing to watch the city below. “It’s so...loud. I never expected this level of noise.”

“You’ll get used to it.” Rarity said patting Twilight on the shoulder. “Someday you may even enjoy it.”

“Give me a quiet reading pillow and a good book any day.” Twilight said as she stood again on all fours.

Rarity just smiled as if she knew something Twilight didn’t.

As Celestia started to set the sun, the Wind Walker sunk carefully into the water at one end of the island and moored herself to a nearby dock. Finished with her daily duties Celestia retired to her chambers. The others followed suit, eager to get started in the morning.

As Twilight’s head hit the pillow she closed her eyes. As was often the case now she opened them somewhere else.

This time her and her three alicorn sisters were seated around a simple table in a moonlit garden. Luna levitated a cup and saucer to Twilight who took them and sipped on her familiar lavender tea. She noticed that Cadance had a cup of coffee, Luna a glass of dark wine, and Celestia a fruity drink with a parasol sticking out of the glass.

“Well our youngest sister is late again I see.” said Cadance with a fake grimace that she had repeatedly used in her capacity as Twilight’s foalsitter.

“Not my fault.” said Twilight between sips. “It took me forever to get Rarity and Rainbow to stop poking fun at each other. I was darn tempted to ask Fluttershy to give them both The Stare.”

Celestia and Luna both chuckled a bit before Luna spoke “Your friends regardless we gathered here tonight because we are concerned for your well being in this venture.”

“Concerned?” said Twilight as she sat her cup on the table. “I’m just doing basic scanning. What could possibly...”

“DON’T SAY THAT!” the three other alicorns shouted. Silence reigned supreme for a moment or two afterwords.

Eventually Celestia spoke. “*ahem* What we meant is that between the three of us we have seen that it is not wise to tempt fate Twilight.”

“Ok...” Twilight replied in a hesitant voice. “So what is the big issue with this plan then?”

“Whilst one scans, one leaves oneself open to being scanned.” said Luna. “And...invaded.”

“But I trained with some of the best masters of mental defense Equestria has ever seen!” exclaimed Twilight. “It couldn’t be that bad. Could it?”

“Again...please do not tempt fate.” Celestia spoke. “You have trained in the relative quiet of the castle and then Ponyville. This will be much different than you have experienced. Think of it this way...while you have your ‘ears’ open other things will be yelling. Many other things.”

“Twill be most cacophonous my dear sister. “ Luna continued. “Distracting, loud, and if you are not careful quite maddening.”

Twilight considered it a moment, the dreamscape making visual thought bubbles above her head. Eventually she shook her head to clear it which caused them to vanish. “I think I understand what you are concerned about and I think I can handle it.” she said finally.

“Hmm...you’re taking my remarks about your confidence to heart I see.” said Luna “That said, overconfidence can be a problem as well.”

“I mean it Luna.” said Twilight. “I know I’m inexperienced with this aspect. But between my friends and my sisters at my side, physically or not, I know I can overcome this.”

Twilight’s sisters stood and formally bowed to Twilight. Returning the bow, Twilight finished what remained of her tea and sought a dreamless sleep.

When she had gone the others continued talking for some time before fading away to their respective dreams one by one.

Comments

[Anna Lynn]

That was Awesome! I love how Twilight progresses and turns more and more friendly with the rest of the princesses.

[Cast-Iron Caryatid]

She opened her eyes and beckoned to a nearby archivist and bit her to unroll a map and wait at hoof for her signal.

Ow?

[RandomGreymane]

4948113 Whoops. Correcting now.

[RandomGreymane]

4947639 Meh. I'll get them corrected eventually.

[Techgirl]

Good chapter, I cant wait to see what happens to Twi while she scans. She did actually tempt fate there with the "I can handle it" so something is gonna happen and Twi won' tbe able to handle it well.

[RandomGreymane]

4950199

We'll see how it goes. Sometimes the story doesn't become the story until the moment I set it down on 'paper' so to speak.

And...*sigh*...more editing. I've corrected, at the very least, the number of alicorns in this chapter. I may indeed be employing a proofreader in the future.

[Techgirl]

4950322 Its always a good idea to have a proofreader/editor to help you with stories and if you ever need a pre-reader(or whatever its called) to give you crazy new ideas for your story ill be here.

[BenRG]

I wonder if it would have been possible to send out passive remote sensors, crystals enchanted to emit a single brief homing signal if they detected dark-enchanted objects but would otherwise look like something somepony had dropped.

[RandomGreymane]

4952751
If you were searching for one particular magick that might work but in this case no because honestly they don't know exactly what they are looking for. Never send an enchanted to do a ponies job. ;-)

Hmmm...but there is something to the idea...

[conantheimp]

Only a few chapters in, and not sure if I want to continue. The story is good for the most part, but scene pacing messes up now and then, there's not enough usage of commas(leading to what feels like short run-on sentences), and there are a lot of moments of "show-don't-tell" that should be speaking for themselves.

So...can anyone not the author pipe up to tell me if these issues disappear as it goes on? Did the story gain an editor/proofreaders partway in? This is a good story, but it just needs a little boost in the technical aspects to be a good story. Know what I mean?

[RandomGreymane]

5092267

http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/384506/no-new-chapter-yetwarning-long-and-whiny

[drone_r0m-3]

“I’m just doing basic scanning. What could possibly...”