/ /
"This is..." Twilight's mouth hung open as she levitated the silver cylinder of grimacing unicorn faces in the middle of the library. "This is absolutely incredible!" She looked aside. "Where did you find this?"
"It was Sweetie Belle and her charming friends who travailed upon it, I'm afraid," Rarity remarked from where she sat at a reading seat. The windows to the library rattled from a rising commotion in the village outside. "I didn't think there was anything significant to it—besides a most charming lustre, of course." She chuckled briefly, then sighed. "Ahem. I do believe you see the obvious connection." She pointed at the silver totem, then at the zeroes floating over each of their heads.
"Right!" Twilight breathlessly nodded. "I've been working all morning trying to come up with an answer to the mysterious flash of light that erupted all over town hours ago..." She gingerly levitated the object over to a wooden table in the center of the room and placed it down. "First, there were the numbers, but now this..."
"Could it be the cause of all the chaos that has befallen Ponyville?" Rarity asked, craning her neck to gaze upon the shiny, shiny object some more. "When Apple Bloom finally finished bawling her eyes out—the poor dear—her testimony matched that of the others. She's always the most honest of the darling little trio, as we could all guess."
"I'm definitely sensing a connection," Twilight remarked, squinting at the totem as her horn glowed with pulsating resonance. "I feel a complex web of leylines emanating at countless angles from this artifact. There's no doubt in my mind that it's responsible for the spell that's causing us to see the numbers."
"An ancient lie meter! Hah!" Rarity flipped her blue bangs and smiled. "Who could imagine such a thing!"
Twilight gazed thinly at her. "Rarity. There's nothing to confirm that."
"But what else could it be, darling?" Rarity grinned. "You should have seen the three sprites as they stood on my doorstep, making one outrageous fabrication after another! Oh! The air positively rang with the sound of otherworldly bells as their numbers jumped!"
"Only careful research will have an answer to all this. Speaking of which." Twilight spun and frowned across the room. "Spiiiike?"
"I'm coming already! Jeez!" Spike stumbled down a series of steps, struggling to balance a thick, dusty tome in his arms. "It's hard enough as it is to concentrate with all the ponies in town getting ready to riot outside!"
"Ohhhhh, Spike Wikey!" Rarity cooed. "They most certainly aren't rioting! Heheheh..." She paused, then blanched after a few seconds. "Are th-they?"
"Anywho, I think I found something! 'Ye Olde Equestrian Curiosities!'" Spike raised the book up with a victorious smirk. "Check it out!"
Twilight levitated the tome from his grasp. As the windows rattled nearby, she scanned the age-worn, brown pages. Her eyes darted from the words to the illustration of a slender object before jumping off the pages to scrutinize the silver totem once more.
"This looks to be the right description," Twilight thought aloud. "'A silver rod of glowing might that exposes ponies to honesty's sight.'"
"Good heavens!" Rarity did a double-take. "Does this infernal thing have a name?"
"It says here that two hundred years before the end of the Paleo-Pony Period, a civilization known as the Trudian Empire existed in the center of modern day Equestria." Twilight's lavender hoof slid across the page in question as she continued. "It was a utopian society built upon the principles of trust, pacifism, and communal autocracy. Apparently, the Trudian equines were so intent on living in cooperation with one another that they sought to achieve a oneness of mind. To that end, they built the Four Wands of Binding."
"So, which Wand is this?" Spike asked, making an ugly face to match the unicorn effigies that comprised the totem. "The Wand of Worst Sculptor Ever?"
"'Silver embossing... Unicorn faces... Glows with pale luminescence...'" Twilight's eyes wandered up from the tome. "This is most definitely the 'Wand of Walling.' Apparently, its purpose in the Trudian Empire was to reinforce a truthful community by exposing ponies to a quantifiable measurement of their own dishonesty!"
"So then..." Rarity smiled and fluffed her mane some more. "A lie meter?"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Rarity, don't you get how serious this is?" She leaned forward with a worried expression. "We're dealing with magic that is older than Neo-Equestrian sorcery! I-I don’t even have a spell in my entire library that can counter this sort of thing!" She turned back to the book and pointed at another sheet. "Also, it says here that once the spell has gone into effect, the immediate area surrounding the magical emanation shall remain continuously bound to the Wand until the totem's power is nullified." Twilight bit her lip, then added, "In other words, we're all stuck with these numbers so long as we stay in Ponyville, whether or not this artifact is taken away from here."
"So what does that mean?" Spike asked as he glanced fitfully between the two unicorns and the rattling windows beyond. "The entire town is stuck forever with these numbers floating over our heads?"
"Surely, there must be a way to undo this object's... nngh..." Rarity shivered. "...most garish blight!"
"On my own? Unlikely." Twilight gazed out the window, murmuring in thought. "But Princess Celestia..." She brightened, her fuzzy ears twitching. "Of course! She's an alicorn, and alicorn magic is the oldest and most powerful magic there is! Surely she could undo a Binding Spell brought upon us by a Trudian artifact!"
"So send her a letter, then!" Rarity insisted. "Or send her the totem itself!"
Twilight's ears drooped. "That's just it. This Trudian magic is terribly old and unpredictabe. I don't want to teleport it across the landscape and risk destroying it or something worse. Who's to know if the spell would become irreversible once the atifact is broken?"
"We could have it flown to Celestia!" Rarity insisted. "Miss Hooves is always begging for side jobs these days."
Spike cleared his throat.
Rarity rolled her eyes, sighed, then said, "Oh very well, then. Have Rainbow Dash do it. The mare could use the extra bits."
"I thank you for such great ideas, Rarity, but this object has already proven to be dangerous and magically volatile." She bit her lip as she gazed at the shimmering totem. "I don't want to risk affecting any other pony communities between here and Baltimare."
Rarity made a confused face. "Baltimare? What has Baltimare have to do with any of this?"
Twilight gave her a tired smile. "Fate would have it that Princess Celestia is far away in Baltimare as we speak. She's paying an impromptu visit to examine the city's most recent damage from a nasty hailstorm. Even if we sent a letter to her and she received it right away, Celestia wouldn't be able to get here in a few days unless there was an emergency."
"Like this isn't one?!" Spike stammered.
"Ohhhhh Spi-i-i-ike..." Rarity stroked his green scales and patted his shoulder with a wink. "You underestimate the integrity of the ponies in this town!"
"Uhhh..." Spike gulped, still nervous from the commotion outside. "Really?"
"Look no further than your own mentor!" Rarity gestured at Twilight. "Why, if she's at such a low count, surely even more of our friends are remaining just as dedicated to truth and sincerity!"
Twilight glanced at her reflection in a picture frame. Sure enough, a glittering "0" hovered above her head. A humble blush washed across her cheeks as she snuck a glance back at her friend. "Ahhh... well, I've... uh... I've always valued pure honesty when dealing with the world." She fidgeted slightly. "It's a virtue that Princess Celestia had taught me at an early age to respect. The way I see it, if you're completely honest with your friends, then you have the chance to solve problems as soon as they show up, because at least you know that you're capably handling your end of the situation. Besides... it's a nice thing to be honest, don't you agree?"
"Oh, absolutely!" Rarity rolled her eyes and chuckled elegantly. "I am always honest with the ponies I love!"
There was a chiming sound...
Twilight blinked. "Uhm, Rarity?"
"Yes, darling?" Rarity stared at her, then blinked. She glanced down at Spike.
Spike was wincing and pointing at Rarity's skull.
The fashionista lifted a compact mirror from the table and looked at the glaring "1" above her head. Her pale features blushed slightly. "Erm... wh-what I meant, Twilight, was that being honest has always served m-me in the past!"
Another chime.
Twilight's gaze melted into a thin glare. "Uh huh..."
"Oh! Uhhh... Uhhh..." Rarity began to sweat as the mirror trembled in her magic grasp. "I mean it! I at least endeavor to be more honest than Sweetie Belle!" Chime. "3." She grimaced. "I'm her one, single role model and she looks up to me more than anypony!" "4." "Oh for the love of—" Rarity stumbled out of her seat, almost tripping over her elegant self. "If you'll excuse me, I'm needed at the Boutique, seeing as I have several half-finished dresses that need my immediate attention—" "5." "No! I am most certainly not thinking about taking a long, steaming hot lavender bath to calm my nerves—" "6." "Rrrrrghhh!" With a regal hiss, she bolted out of the room like a pale comet.
The library hung in silence after her exit.
Spike blinked, then said, "I love it when she gets angry." A pause: he glanced up at the "0" lingering over his head, then pumped his fist. "Yes! Ha! Not such a baby dragon anymore, amiright?" He turned towards Twilight with a grin.
Twilight was gazing at her reflection again. Her bored eyes hung sadly on the shimmering, silver ellipse above her skull.
"Uhh... Twilight?"
She snapped out of it, glancing his way. "Hmm? Yes, Spike?"
"So... uh..." He stirred where he stood. "Should I send that letter to the Princess now? Y'know... asking her to help cleanse Ponyville of this curse?"
Twilight glanced between him and the glowing, Trudian artifact. "I almost wish we didn't have to."
His scaley brow furrowed. "Twilight?"
"Ahem. Yes. Prepare a letter, Spike." Twilight paced around the shimmering totem. "I'm heading outside to give the town an update."
"I wouldn't go out there if I were you."
"Oh please, Spike..." She smiled over her shoulder at him with one hoof on the front door handle. "You underestimate Ponyvilleans! It's not like an ancient lie counter is gonna tear this village down to its foundation!"
"This is an absolute catastrophe!" Dr. Whooves shouted with a "5" over his head.
"I can't even run my business without ponies glaring at me!" Roseluck snarled, bearing a "9."
"Not to mention that these glowing numbers are scaring off our livestock whenever we try to feed them!" Carrot Top added with a shimmering "7."
"Every merchant pony who walks into this town turns and runs away as soon as these stupid numbers appear above their heads!" Ace shook an angry hoof and grumbled, "How will I ever get my new tennis racket?! Can't you do something about this, Mayor?!"
"I... uhh... uhm..." The Mayor, suddenly a jittery pony with her bifocals lopsided and her mane a mess, trembled from behind a podium erected just above the front steps to the town hall building in the center of Ponyville. "I am... s-sending letters out to areas outside of the affected radius of this spell, contacting the appropriate powers that be..." She gulped. "I am asking for help from the m-most powerful magicians in Canterlot to c-come and lend us their aide!" She smiled nervously. "We should have this problem fixed in no time!"
"Oh yeah?!" the ponies grumbled. "And why should we believe you?!"
"Huh? Oh. Yes... well..." She adjusted her collar as her twitching eyes darted up. A glaring "72" hovered over her skull. "You see, the thing is, I-I had a meeting with some delegates from Trottingham this morning, not to mention dozens upon dozens of papers to sign, scrolls to be stamped—the usual routine of running a town. And, yes, well... eh heh heh... I'm always doing what n-needs to be done and saying what needs to be s-said for the best interest of this village's success!"
The resulting chime sounded off like a gunshot as her "72" became a "73." She blinked at the crowd, sweating profusely.
"H-how does lowering taxes this year by zero point two percent sound?" she produced with a cracked grin.
Everypony resumed yelling, spitting, and howling in anger. An entire cluster of them crowded the edge of the town hall, just inches away from knocking the podium over.
Across the town square, Big Mac and Caramel trotted side by side, lugging wagons full of apples across the village. Sporting relatively low numbers, they glanced at the riotous scene.
"Hey Big Macintosh..." Caramel turned and smirked slyly at his huge, red cousin. "You notice how all the mares' numbers are nearly twice as high as the stallions'?"
"Heheheh..." Big Mac's lips curved around the stalk of hay he was chewing. "Eeeeeeeyup."
"Ponies! Ponies! Please!" the mayor shouted, waving her forelimbs. "There's no need for all this bedlam! I already told you that I've called out for the most powerful magicians in—!"
"But don't we already have Equestria's most powerful unicorn of magic right here in Ponyville?!"
"Yeah!"
"The Element of Magic!"
"Where is she?!"
"See if she can help us!"
"Uhhh..." The Mayor chewed on her hoof. "Uhmmm..."
"Hello! Hey! Uhm... Excuse me! Whoops! Pardon me! I'm so sorry!" A lavender shape threaded her way through the thick group. With a panting breath, Twilight Sparkle ascended the platform and stood beside the town's leader. "H-hello, Mayor. So sorry to steal the spotlight..."
"Oh, pl-please!" The frazzled old pony gave a twitching smile and backtrotted, gesturing towards the podium. "By all means..."
The ponies finally cheered, thunderously clapping their hooves against the ground as Twilight stood at the podium.
"Uhm..." She ran a hoof nervously through her bangs and gave an awkward smile. "I'm sorry that I didn't bring any notecards today. I've been busy writing back and forth with Princess Celestia and studying up on this most recent situation and I didn't want to cut any corners—"
"Just tell us what's going on already!" Several ponies muttered in approval of the one crier's shout.
"Alrighty then. Ahem." Twilight took a deep breath. "A group of young fillies accidentally dug up an ancient artifact from the era of the Trudian Empire. Rather than get into the elaborate history of the totem's ancient origin, let me just confirm that this object is responsible for... well... the numbers that are floating around town. Ever since this totem emitted a magical burst across the landscape, a circular area encompassing Ponyville and the surrounding farmlands have been effected. That's why ponies dwelling within the spell's range and those from outside who've been trotting into town have had numbers appearing over their heads."
"Then why don't we just smash it?!" A pony grunted.
"Yeah!" chanted dozens more in unison.
"Please! Please!" Twilight waved her hooves. "Hear me out!" She bore a concerned expression as she went on. "Destroying this artifact won't stop the spell! It might only make things worse! So would transporting it across the kingdom or jostling it in any minor way! The only possible solution to reversing what's happened is if a more powerful counter-spell is cast! Now, I'm only an apprentice in Equestrian sorcery, and I'm not strong enough to take the numbers away!" She smiled hopefully. "To that effect, I've had my assistant Spike send a letter to Princess Celestia. She's since written back to me, expressing her deepest concerns over the situation here in Ponyville. However, she's currently busy in Baltimare, helping the ponies there recover from a terrible storm that has damaged and destroyed many of their homes, so—all things considered—she will likely not show up until two days from now at the earliest!"
Everypony groaned and sighed in dissatisfaction. Several glaring eyes swam across the already sullen scene.
Twilight flinched back from the unhappy crowd, her ears drooping. She heard a hissing whisper off to the side and turned to look.
The Mayor was gazing at her with wide eyes, gesturing towards the crowd. "Please, Miss Sparkle!" she hoarsely exclaimed. "Say something positive! Something that will ease their fears! You can't give them nothing but bad news!"
"I..." Twilight looked at the crowd, at the silver numbers of various quantities hovering over their heads. "I... I-I..."
The ponies all gazed at her.
She sighed, leaning limply on the podium. "I am so very sorry, my dear ponies. But that's the best news that I can give you. We simply can't do anything to make these numbers disappear until Celestia gets here. We will have to keep the totem in safe keeping and wait for two days... maybe even more before the artifact can be purged of its power!"
Everypony grumbled and trotted away, kicking at the dirt in frustration. The Mayor face-hoofed, slumping to her haunches with an anguished groan.
Twilight smiled eagerly. "But—it's not the end of the world! Considering the nature of this ancient magic, we're lucky that it has not affected us in any truly adverse way! We've dealt with worse situations when Ponyville was visited by both Nightmare Moon and Discord, and yet we've managed to pull through! What this means is that we're far stronger than we give ourselves credit! What's more, we're all in this together! So, let's be glad that we can... trust each other... to b-be truthful..." Her words dripped off as the grim crowd parted like an oily sea. Everypony refused to look at one another.
"What am I going to do?" the Mayor whimpered, rocking back and forth as she cradled her head in her hooves. "My career... my entire legacy is crumbling to bits!"
"Well, uhm..." Twilight turned and fidgeted. "Just be honest with everypony, Ms. Mayor! That's what matters, right?"
"Really, Miss Sparkle..." The old pony gave her a dull stare as she got up and trotted towards the front doors of town hall. "Do you think a pony with my power would have gotten to where she is now by being perfectly candid?"
Twilight opened her mouth to say something. The door to the town hall closed coldly behind the Mayor, leaving the unicorn alone with her "0" in the abandoned heart of Ponyville.
She sighed.
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I am absolutly loving this story. I thought the premise was very exciting *bong* "374". I mean, at first the premise seemed a little simple and boring, but I am really interested in seeing where is goes.
I am going to bet that twilight and applejack are gonna hold a zero for most of the story. I am a little worried that applejack is going to slip and lie eventually, probably causing her to dive into spiralling depression because she is forever marked as the antithesis of what everypony has so far defined her as.
I look foward to more mob mentality, peer pressure, hypocrasy, and seeing rainbowdash never have more than a five because of her brutal honesty.
This story could go so many places.
I'd probably still have a zero at this point. *3*
Hmmm...... a five or over..... *4*
Yay! That means I wouldn't have a five or over, which means I'm sort of honest!
Now I'm going to stop reading this and go to bed. *5*
Yeah...... you got me there.......
Having numbers that go up as you lie can really bite you in the ass in the Long run.
It using this carefully could probably allow you to find out what is real and what isn't.
For example slender man is real *Ding* "35". Gays are robotic crocodiles planning
world conquest *Ding* "37". I once caught a bullet with my hand....sort of.
I like this idea, but I wonder, does withholding information or letting an individual draw invalid conclusions count towards your number? If it doesn't, I wouldn't have more than a five, though it could very well be zero, which would be interesting, given that I have a bit of a reputation for trickery. I also wonder if justifying an answer as 'correct' in your mind makes it a non-lie, because if so then I for sure would have a zero.
"I make no claims to honesty, but rather, I claim only that I will rarely stop you from forming the wrong conclusions"- Jaohni
Big Mac and Caramel arn't cousins, because Caramel never showed up to either of the Apple family reunions.
I can't wait until Celestia shows up with a number in the millions!
I think the numbers count from the moment it was activated.
"communal autocracy"
Wait what?
To be honest. I think the totem is a good thing. Yes seeing the truth is painful. But it is also a part of growth. We lie to ourselves way too much in this culture as is. There's enough deceit in this world.
2279428
And what did you do when he made cookies after that? And after that? And after that?
But... Twilight... aren't you...
Fanon Discontinuity. Okay then. I will accept the Fan Wank. 
For now. 
Keep it up!
2274677 But Celestia wouldn't have had any numbers because she wasn't in Ponyville when the silver totum messed with the ponies of Ponyville.
Blue?
"Rarity flipped her blue bangs"
Excuse me, but what did you just say...?
2272975
I noticed your number didn't go up with that last statement.
Care to share that particular moment in your history? I happen to be quite curious.
2292041 I think I can guess how that went down.
Friend: Hey dude, watch this!
Silent: Okay man! Hey is that *moves to wave*
Aid. Aide is an assistant. Aid is help rendered.
Affected. Effect is a noun; affect is a verb.
what happens if...
"My lie counter will go up by one when I finish this sentence"
broke the universe :O
2365907 I think your lie counter would go up by two. One for the lie, and the other for cheekiness.
You would think the doctor would have a higher number, his whole identity is a lie.
2367098 Rule number one. The Doctor always lies.
This is going to be the greatest string of shenanigannery ever. Of all time. *no chime*
2366875, Okay... "My lie counter will increase after I finish this sentence." Omitting the numerical amount, then what?
Throughout my life, I've been cursed with being brutally honest. It never gets me anywhere I want to be, so I can particularly empathize with Mayor Mare's thoughts on her own career. I wish honesty were more valued though. Maybe those Trudians were onto something.
2377140 They certainly would have had a very good foundation for their society. Although lies are a gigantic necessity in our society, they not only don't need to be, they actually hurt us in the long run by allowing people with negative intentions to get into positions of power.
Best. Story. Ever.
It reminds me of "Gravity Falls",where Stan says you have to lie when you're older for the greater good.It does render Twilight's "0" being an obsolete and completely useless material right now,considering optimism is what the Mayor supports,along with the ponies of Ponyville
An empire built on the ideal of pacifism? Isn't that a contradiction seeing as how by definition an empire is a civilization that's conquered and absorbed others?
I get that this could have some drawbacks, but I think overall the lie meter would do far far more good then harm if we had 2 conditions.
1. You retained the right to remain silent.
2. The lie meter didn't pick up on things that are figures of speech that were not meant to deceive; (figures of speech ex: I'll be there in a second, jokes, telling stories ect.)
Question: does the lie meter work if you don't know if the answer is true or not; if it did then anyone could find out anything.
Can't Twilight send a message to Princess Luna, or anyone in Canterlot? It's a lot closer and being a predominantly unicorn city including Celestia's school for gifted Unicorns I'd guess there's a lot of arch mages there.
Are we going to find the other four totems anytime soon?
Still a pretty good story. Have another typo, though: "Who's to know if the spell would become irreversible once the atifact is broken?""
I am LOVING this story. I put off reading it for a while as I didn't visit the site for a good few months at least, but now that i am here, I am absolutely loving this story.
If I'm being perfectly honest, part of the reason I like it is that if it really happened, I would be over the moon about it. A fair few of my friends have commented that I tend to be brutally honest and I like to think that I am a very honest person (even if all I do is speak in half truths and omit details as an alternative when I don't tell the whole truth, which still isn't very often). Honesty is the foundation of any strong bond between people, in my opinion, and I tend to be as true to that as I can and wish that others would do the same.
Politicians. Typical.
This is simply amazing! You rock author!
Twilight Sparkle OP notice how see is still at 0... needs to be nerfed asap
4259622 She's a politician. Lying is a job requirement, for good or ill.
2281908
It would be seen.
2271430 I anticipated a million "ding" a large but indeterminate number of posts screaming 'sexism' because of this particular quote, but I don't think I've found a single one.
2272975
From what I can tell (and from experience with logic problems) I'd assume it only counts as a lie if you think it is. For example, you could say "2+2=5" and have the meter not go up, but only if you actually thought 2+2=5.
2365907 2366875 2369424
Technically, those statements are neither truths nor lies, so it probably wouldn't go up at all.
2530763
You could probably get around that by adding something like "The following is a work of fiction" to the beginning of a story, and "figuratively speaking" after a figure of speech.
Spike's been hanging around somepony and picking up a variant of one of her catchphrases.
Oh, Spike. You just love it when Rarity pretty much does anything. Or refrains from doing anything, for that matter.
The sad thing about this is that Mayor Mare isn't even all that dishonest by the standards of politicians.
4259634 I'm sarcastic so mine'd be in the hundreds...
2365907 This... Sentence... is... False!
I know it is part of the of having Princess Celestia away but what about Luna?
I have a feeling the Doctor 'lies" counting thingy is going to get bigger as the day go on " (if you know what i mean fellow whovians)
4863546 You know, I think that might actually just overload the spell! They should try it.
unpredictable
artifact
____________
Fix paragraph indentations in this chapter.
___________
So far so good. It'd be funny if Twilight ends up being the only honest pony in Ponyville. And worst (but even funnier) if Celestia's lie counter was in the 1000s).
5114443
Rule 1
I'm wondering when Twilight will find the breaking point- either the thing she isn't willing to truthfully say and for some reason would rather lie than evade, or a lie for the sake of the lie.
5652270 Rule one, the Doctor always lies
Probably the best time to ask your friends about their crushes...
4863546
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?!?!
*universe collapses in on itself*
Hehehehee, oh man this is great XD
I love it!
Poor Mayor Mare Dx
Nice job!
Love what I'm reading!
Nopony can beat twilight when it comes to honesty...except maybe applejack.