Arcana.
For copyright/disclaimer information, see Chapter One.
Version 1.0
Published 8/18/13
Chapter Four: Arcana.
“Oh, man. What a day.”
Twilight closed the door to her room and walked in. She removed her regalia and placed it on the dresser next to her bed.
“I still don't know how the Princess Celestia did all this for a thousand years.”
“Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to show up.”
Twilight jumped and her wings shot up.
“Gah!”
She hastily turned around to see Spike sitting on a chair on the opposite side of her bed.
“Spike! Don't do that. I almost cast a random spell at you. I could have turned you into a dog or something.”
He only stared at her.
“Spike?”
He narrowed his eyes.
“Alright, what's wrong, Spike.”
He tossed his hands into the air.
“What's wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong. Abandoning me to Postmaster General Lickity Split, to the tartarus that is the Royal Mail Service, to a fate worse than death.”
Twilight resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
“Now, Spik—”
“It's practically child abuse. I should call Foal Protective Services on you. If I had half a mind, I'd go and stay with Fluttershy for a while.”
“Spike, don't be ridiculous. You wouldn't last five hours before you'd be planning Angel's murder. Besides, you're the one that wanted more responsibility.” Twilight smirked, “Especially to impress Rarity.”
He waved his hands.
“Oooohhhh nooo. You're not going to pull the Rarity card on this one. I bet you never even told her how responsible I was at managing the library.”
'He remembered that?!'
“Okay, okay, Spike. I'll admit that tossing you into the jowls of bureaucracy wasn't one of my better ideas, but you'll have to cut me some slack, okay? Running a country isn't the easiest thing to do.”
He rubbed the back of his head.
“It's not even really about the bureaucracy thing. It just—” he sighed, “Well, we never spend any time around each other anymore.”
Twilight climbed over her bed and hugged Spike.
“Aww, you miss me. I wish I could spend more time with you—and Rarity, Rainbow, and Pinkie for that matter—but this Regency thing really is busy. Why do you think the Princesses are on vacation in the first place?”
He pondered it for a second.
“I always thought it was to help prepare Equestria for their eventually permanent abdication.”
Twilight gasped.
“That's the silliest thing you've said all night. They'd never abandon Equestria.”
“Hey, you asked. If you meant it to be rhetorical, you should have phrased it better.”
Twilight snorted.
“I think the good Postmaster General needs some more help.”
“That's low, Twilight. Really low. 'Writing a spin-off to a popular story and then never finishing it' low.”
She grinned mockingly.
“Maybe I should just phrase it better.”
He glared.
“You're lucky I don't have a pillow near me or it'd be getting chucked right into your face.”
“What happened to missing me?”
He stared at her flatly.
“The Fluttershy option's looking more and more appealing.”
She chuckled.
“How bout I make it up to you? Things may be incredibly busy—especially with my meeting with the Arcane Magic Council in a few days—but that doesn't mean I couldn't use some extra help. How'd you like to be the Official Royal Pronouncier?”
He looked at her questionably.
“Pronouncier? Don't you mean 'Pronouncer'?”
“No, the 'i' is there intentionally. It makes it sound fancier, and sounding fancy is eighty percent of royal titles.”
“And what exactly does this 'Pronouncier' do?”
“Well, during Dusk Court, you'll be the one to proclaim who the next petitioner is.”
“But doesn't Solar Flare already do that?”
She looked down at him.
“Yes, but he won't mind giving it up. He already has many other things to do.”
“Alright. I accept your offer, Lady Regent.”
Twilight crinkled her nose.
“Ugh, please don't call me that. It's so annoying.”
He smirked.
“I'll keep that in mind...Lady Regent.”
Twilight put a hoof to her forehead.
'What have I done?'
She cast a sideways glance at him.
“I was going to see if I could make time in my schedule for some 'fun' time with you and the girls, but if I must be the Lady Regent, then I guess I'll just have to forget about it.”
He frantically gestured with his hands.
“Now, Twilight, let's not get ahead of ourselves. It's important to relax every once in a while, after all.”
She smiled.
“You're right. Who knows, we might even be able to play cards. It's been a while and my Rummy skills have gotten rusty.”
His eyes glistened.
“Could we?”
“We'll see. Now it's time for bed. As much as I'd like to spend tomorrow relaxing, the never ending grind of the Regency beckons.”
Twilight hopped into her silk sheet laden bed and began shuffling the pillows and blankets to get comfortable while Spike hopped into a much larger and ornate basket than he had in Ponyville.
“You know, Twilight. You're doing a great job so far.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I thought for sure after everything you went through becoming an alicorn, you'd snap the first day and turn Equestria into some kind of libraritopia or something.”
“Spike!”
**********
The Equestria Arcana Building was one of Canterlot's oldest and most revered. It was so old, that much of the city was constructed around it, and it found itself smack dab in the middle of one of the busiest sections of the city. Standing all around the ancient three story marble structure were much more modern and sleeker buildings that housed the headquarters for countless financial institutions and other businesses.
Scars potmarked the building's marble facade. Testament to what both it and the city had faced over the years. From changeling magic, to Griffon artillery had all attacked it without doing more than chipping or cracking the marble, for the Arcana Building had an ace up its sleeve. As it was home to the most powerful magicians in the country, over the years, it had absorbed some of that magic, making it neigh invulnerable, even to its own citizens. Just ask the teenagers who tried in vain to spray graffiti on its always pristine marble.
Twilight waved awkwardly at the pedestrians who were being kept a safe distance from her by the glares of the two Royal Guardstallions that were with her. She then looked up at the building's entrance. On either side of the steps sat two stone unicorns. In place of their eyes were pairs of rubies. She puzzlingly stared at the double oak doors, which had no knob or other opening mechanism.
Suddenly she was jolted by a deep voice from one of the stone ponies, whose eyes were glowing.
“Magical signature recognized: Twilight Sparkle. Enchantments recognized: Royal Guard. Clearance granted. Welcome to the Equestria Arcana Building, Element of Magic.”
The two doors creaked open and Twilight and her guards wearily entered.
The interior seemed somewhat cramped with wooden chairs and end tables lining the walls. Shelves full of what appeared to be junk that would be found at a flea market covered the walls. A well-worn wooden floor was covered by a number of rugs. Stuffed in one corner of the elongated room was a desk with a purple unicorn mare sitting behind it.
Twilight smiled and approached.
“Good morning. My name is Twilight Sparkle and I'm here for my scheduled meeting with the Arcane Magic Council.”
The mare looked up from the book she was reading.
“Ah, yes. Lady Regent. The Council is in their morning session. Open the door, go down the hallway to the third hallway, hang a right, go to the fourth door on the left, knock six times and then enter, that'll teleport you to the basement where you then have to go down the hallway to the fifth door on the left, making sure to grab the statue of the green dragon on the second shelf from the top that's next to the door before you enter. That'll teleport you right outside of the Council's chambers.
“Please ensure you don't have any Dark Magic artifacts on you or are currently being influenced by Dark Magic before you enter the chamber; otherwise, the fail-safe will kick in and the runes carved into the floor will incinerate you along with half the building.”
“Isn't that more of a fail-deadly?”
The secretary merely shrugged. Twilight stared dumbly at her.
“Alright, well why all the hoop jumping?”
The mare smiled.
“The Arcane Magic Council is home to Equestria's most powerful magicians and the Arcana Building houses our greatest artifacts. These security features help ensure that if anypony tries to steal any of the artifacts or abduct or influence the council, without proper direction, they'll become hopelessly lost inside of the building, buying the Night Guard time to lock it down.”
Twilight rolled her eyes.
“I swear, half of Equestria's paranoid.” she turned to her two guards, “You two can stay here. I doubt the Arcane Magic Council's going to try and attack me.” The two guards nodded and she turned, opened the door, and began the long and complex process of accessing the Council.
After she closed the door behind her the two guards sat down on the chairs. They eyed the magazines that were strewn on the table next to them before they each picked one out for themselves. One of the guards looked up from his Equestria Sports magazine and stifled a laugh as he saw the other guard's magazine. The other guard looked up.
“What? Gardening's my hobby, and it just so happens that Female Frilly Flowers has some of the best guides to planting and caring for petunias.”
-----
After a long and frustrating journey through the depths of Canterlot's oldest building, Twilight finally appeared in front of the Chamber of the Arcane Magic Council. The large wooden door was decorated with iron carvings and brass handles. She reached for the handle before pausing.
'Wait, what if reading those Dark Magic books last week counts as “influence” and you, and half the building is vaporized the second you try and walk in?!'
After several moments agonizing over whether to open the door or not, she finally did and stepped through. Nothing happened.
'Phew.'
She looked up to see thirteen ponies sitting around an elaborate wooden table in the center of a very large room staring at her. The room's windows were covered by heavy curtains, blocking the natural light and making it hard to see. The room was illuminated by a number of tall, iron candlesticks that were scattered throughout it. The room was so large that it actually extended up two stories and reminded Twilight of an open library. All around, on both levels, bookshelves filled with countless books and scrolls filled the room's space.
The pony sitting at the end removed the red hood that he was wearing.
“Lady Regent Sparkle, you're here.”
The other ponies murmured to each other while Twilight looked at the lead pony.
“And you must be Archmage Morning Star.”
“That I am.” he looked up at the grandfather clock that was tucked away in one corner, “You're a few minutes late, but we haven't moved on to the next order of business yet.”
“What?!” Twilight's eyes raced to the clock, before a scowl formed on her face, “If I didn't have to run around this place jumping through hoops to get here, I wouldn't have been tardy.”
While the members of the Arcane Magic Council all wore hoods that obscured their faces, Twilight swore she could feel looks of confusion wash over them.
“Why'd you do that? The stairs are right there.” Morning Star pointed to the large granite staircase on the side of the room that had a lit exit sign hanging above it.
Twilight's jaw dropped.
“Bu-wha—Stairs? But that secretary said all that hassle was to make sure that any intruders got lost!”
Morning Star chuckled.
“Basket Weaver does like to have her laughs. While it is true that the Arcana Building has many mazes and puzzles, it's also true that the Canterlot Fire Department banned their use for regular guests three hundred years ago due to the massive fire hazard they posed. Can't exactly evacuate a burning building if you have to run through half of it to escape.”
“But, why are they even still around then?”
“The tours simply love them. And the wayward thief still gets caught every once in a while by one. Now then, allow me to introduce you to the Arcane Magic Council. These two,” he pointed at the two ponies immediately to his right and left, “are High Mages Winter Squall and Summer Breeze.”
The two mares removed their black hoods, revealing identical faces.
“It is a pleasure...”
“...to meet you.”
Twilight looked unnerved by their use of completing the other's sentence and the creepy stares they were giving her. Morning Star chuckled.
“Don't mind them. Identical twins tend to have those little oddities about them. Next is High Mage Blue Crystal.” another black hood came off, this time show a bearded stallion's face, “And our last High Mage, Small Voice.” the last black hood was flipped down and a petite mare peeked out, “Finally, in descending order of power, there's: Mage Snow Drift, Mage Solar Beam, Mage Dark Shadow, Mage Death Note, Mage Merry Heart, Mage Star Burst, Mage Rolling Thunder, and lastly, Mage Broken Wand.”
At each of their names, the Mages removed their brown hoods and looked at Twilight. Morning Star looked around at the other mages before returning his sight onto Twilight.
“Now, Lady Regent. To what does the Arcane Magic Council owe the pleasure?”
Twilight looked over the mages.
“As I'm sure you all know, I only recently became an alicorn and , well, I have absolutely no idea why.”
Archmage Morning Star furrowed his brow.
“Yes. Truthfully, many within academia have been wondering that very same thing. Mana Potion was going to do an article about it in Arcane Magic Quarterly next issue.”
Twilight brightened.
“Oh good. I knew magic would be the answer. It always is, you know.”
'Except for the Wing-be-gone Spell, the Time Travel Spell, that ridiculous duel with Trixie, the—you get the idea.'
Morning Star looked awkwardly at her.
“Unfortunately, there aren't any known spells that answer your question, Lady Regent. The article was going to be on conjecture, not fact.”
Twilight slumped down.
“Oh.”
“While the Archmage may be right...” Winter Squall started.
“...that doesn't mean that the Council can't help rule out possible causes.” Summer Breeze finished.
Mage Solar Beam looked from the High Mages to Twilight.
“Most definitely. There are many spells and relics available to us that can help narrow the field of contenders.”
“The Kosmos Universum Spell springs to mind.” said Mage Death Note.
Twilight thought back to her Magic 280 classes.
“Kosmos Universum? Isn't that the general diagnostics spell for Class A3 magic?”
Death Note nodded.
“That would be correct, Lady Regent. It seems you're magic knowledge is just as vast as the Archmage said it was.”
A faint blush appeared on Twilight's cheeks, while her brow furrowed.
“But how would a diagnostics spell help?”
Mage Snow Drift focused on Death Note.
“It wouldn't just be the standard spell though, would it?”
Death Note nodded while Drift continued.
“I'm guessing you want to use the Misty Dream variant, correct?”
Twilight tried to keep up.
“Misty Dream variant?”
Morning Star spoke up.
“I see. Yes, that would work.” he looked to Twilight, “Ah. Right. Misty Dream was a previous High Mage with the Council who developed a variation to the Kosmos Universum Spell that can tell a subject's affinity toward their 'destiny'--if you will. In other words, it can be used to determine what your special talent is.”
Twilight wore a dismissive look.
“Well then it's a waste of time. I already know what my special talent is, it's magic.”
Morning Star raised an eyebrow.
“Is it? Cutie Marks have always been a fickle thing to scholars and wizards alike.” he looked down at his red eight pointed star shaped mark, “Many a research paper have been written about them and what they mean. Some think it's a magical predestination, others think it's all in our heads and we just make up a 'meaning' for them that suits us. What we do know is that everypony has an affinity toward something, whether that's raising the sun, casting shields, or yours. What was it again?”
“Um, it's magic.”
He pondered for a moment.
“Magic, huh? That seems awfully vague, doesn't it?”
Twilight squirmed.
“Well, sure, but that's what it is. See,” she pointed to her mark, “it's like a magical explosion.” she squinted at it, “And maybe even a little predestination too with the five stars representing my friends.”
“What if you're looking into things too much? What if it's simpler than that? What if your talent has to literally do with stars, like say, controlling them?”
“What?!” Twilight shook her head, “No, no, no! You guys have been hanging around these Dark Magic artifacts for too long. It's rotted your brains. If I was to control the stars, why haven't I done a single magic related thing with them? No spells. No deep seated yearning. No falling asleep in a tub and having strange dreams about them that weren't actually dreams. Nothing!”
'I knew coming here was a bad idea. Magic's never the answer.'
Morning Star moved to calm the growing frantic alicorn.
“The Lunar Spell—the one used to control the moon—is extremely powerful and could overwhelm any latent tendencies you may have.”
Twilight sat down.
“It's just not possible. It's not.”
'Oooohhhh, Luna's gonna kill me if it is.'
Morning Star smiled calmly.
“Just calm down, Lady Regent. Everything will be fine.”
'And she won't just kill me, either, she'll use one of those ancient dueling rituals that's still legal despite the excruciating pain it causes because somepony decided to invent the legal precedent of grandfather clauses.'
“We'll cast the spell, and that'll settle this matter once and for all.”
'I'll have to escape. I'll get Spike to draw up an esca—no scratch that, he already squealed on me last time. The less he knows, the better.'
Morning Star looked at Blue Crystal.
“Crystal, if you'd do the honors.” he glanced at the increasingly frazzled Regent, “And hurry, before we have to cover up another mind control incident.”
Crystal nodded.
“Lady Regent, I'll now cast the spell. Please remain still.”
His horn lit up with an orange aura and a spell shot out a moment later that surrounded Twilight. She was lifted into the air as several currents of aura shot and sparked around her. Occasionally, one of them would strike her, causing her to yelp in surprise. After close to a minute, the magic faded and Twilight was unceremoniously dropped back to the rug below.
She looked up apprehensively at Crystal.
“S-So, am I the alicorn of the stars?”
Blue Crystal wiped his brow.
“Nope. It seems your talent really is just magic in general. How incredibly lucky.”
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief.
'That's one mid-life crisis/escape attempt avoided.'
“That's a relief. It would have been really awkward if Luna came back and learned that I usurped her control over the stars. Then I'd have to deal with all the angst and drama, the Royal Office of Astronomy getting upset over it, and probably some weird stuff involving Ursa Majors or something too.”
Morning Star placed a hoof to his chin.
“Well, that's narrowed the field quite a bit. That rules out any cosmological reasons for your ascension.”
Mage Star Burst narrowed her eyes.
“Perhaps she's a Changeling Royal Brood, and her ascension was a transformation to hide the metamorphosis? She's already shown the ability to cast changeling magic.”
Twilight rolled her eyes.
'Again with the changeling accusations. You modify one spell and suddenly you're the queen bee.'
“'She's' in the room, you know?”
High Mages Summer Breeze and Winter Squall shook their heads.
“That is an impossibility...” Breeze started.
“...as the Ferrum Invado Spell was cast on her during a session of Parliament. Any changeling magic she was using was disrupted.” Squall completed.
Mage Merry Heart groaned.
“Ferrum Invado? They actually named it that. Ferreus Ictus would me more accurate. I knew they should have used Greek.”
The other Council members ignored his linguistical griping while Mage Broken Wand spoke up.
“If it's not cosmological, then it has to be supermagical. The Elements of Harmony fit perfectly as an explanation. Especially when the only other users of them are also alicorns.”
Murmurs of agreement came from several of the other mages.
“You can't use that as a baseline, though. It's too small of a sample size.” Mage Rolling Thunder argued.
“Nonsense, it's a perfectly reasonable assumption to make. Least of all because there aren't any records of the Princesses prior to the Discordian Era. For all we know, their union of the elements is what triggered their ascension.” Death Note countered.
“For all we know, Discord could have turned them into alicorns. Tartarus, he could have turned Lady Regent Sparkle into one as well. He did show the ability to remove species traits, who's to say he couldn't add them as well?” Snow Drift added.
Solar Beam scoffed.
“Discord's under six, triple redundant containment spells, a Magical Dampening Field on loan from the Griffo-Minotaurian Empire, three mental wards from Princess Luna, four dozen runes, twenty-four hour surveillance by the Night Guard, and a fifty kiloton Megaspell fail-deadly in the event of a full containment breach. If he's involved, I'll eat my horn.”
“I don't know why you're all thinking the Elements or Discord. Occolt's Razor can easily answer this. Lady Regent Sparkle is Princess Celestia's daughter.”
All eyes turned to Mage Star Burst and her outlandish theory.
'They're out of their minds. No wonder my friend's and I have to do all the world saving. The Arcane Magic Council clearly can't.'
“It's the simplest, most logical explanation for all this. How would Princess Celestia know that she was the Element of Magic otherwise? Or know of her massive magical proficiency?”
Blue Crystal chuckled.
“If we're going to bring in genetics, how about a more...down to earth theory? Like the Alicorn Genetic Development Program from a few decades ago? It did successfully breed an alicorn.”
“That was decades ago!”
“The Discord theory is the only one that seems plausible.”
“Are you insane? We'd be able to smell that chaotic magic from miles away.”
“You're all wrong. It's obviously caused by her fixing one of Star Swirl's spell's.”
“I'm telling you, she's Celestia's daughter. There's probably even a hidden nursery in the Castle that everypony forgot about.”
“The Elements are...”
“...the only theory that makes sense.”
Morning Star sighed over the Council's bickering.
“Enough. These are all good theories—except the Star Swirl one, that one's just stupid—but let's have less arguing like this is a political debate and more spell casting to rule out or confirm these theories, shall we?”
The other mages quieted down and nodded. He continued.
“Now, let's start with the Element theory. How shall we go about testing this?”
Rolling Thunder spoke up.
“I don't see how we can. The Elements of Harmony are still so poorly understood. One minute they're banishing ponies to the moon, the next they're turning someone to stone. They're so unpredictable.” he laughed wryly, “Reminds me of an ex-marefriend I had—especially the part about fighting against an insane, emotionally unstable, jealous mare who simply can't understand reason or logic.”
Mage Dark Shadow rolled his eyes.
“Thunder's inability to be intimate with a mare aside,”
“Hey!”
“He does have a point. It is very likely the Elements are the culprits, but we have no way of determining that due to their nature and vast abilities. There's also the somewhat disturbing matter of, in the event they are the reason, what that means for the other Bearers.”
“That's not necessarily true.” Small Voice squeaked out.
Shadow looked over to the High Mage.
“You don't think the other Bearers are at risk?”
She shook her head.
“No, I'm not referring to them. What I mean is, there could be a way to tell if the Elements are responsible or not.”
Morning Star leaned forward.
“How?”
“Since it's doubtful the Elements would purposefully make the Lady Regent an alicorn—as the last few months have demonstrated, this has been anything but harmonious—it's reasonable to assume that it was caused by magical backlash, interference, spillover, what have you—you know, some kind of magical overload that contaminated Lady Regent Sparkle. If that's the case, all we have to do is compare her magical signature to the Elements. If they're similar, then we'll know there's been a contamination.”
The mages smiled in approval. Twilight, however, saw a problem.
“But how will you get the magical signature of the Elements? It's not like I can gather my friends and do a test firing.”
Morning Star smiled.
“That won't be an issue, Lady Regent. The Elements pump out so much magical energy that they irradiate whatever they hit and overwhelm whatever other signatures that object has. We'll just use what's left of Nightmare Moon's armor.”
Twilight felt her stomach tighten.
'Oooohhh, great.'
“Isn't that a bad idea? What if there's some essence left that possesses you or something?”
Morning Star batted a hoof.
“Nah, what's the worst that could happen?”
Twilight involuntary cringed as mental images of Nightmare Moon defeating her friends and Trixie, Morning Star acting as her over-the-top evil lieutenant, and herself getting hanged flashed before her eyes.
'Just haaad to say it, didn't you?'
“Just be careful, okay.”
He nodded.
“Of course. The Arcane Magic Council handles all Dark Magic artifacts very carefully. It's going to take a while to clear the armor's removal with the Star Chamber—but I'm sure you're already well aware of the Chamber's procedures—so we won't be able to test the Element theory for at least a few weeks.”
'What Star Chamber?'
“So let's move on to another theory. While I'm extremely skeptical of Discord's involvement, discretion is the better part of valor and all that, so let's have some tests.”
Solar Beam rolled his eyes.
“All we have to do is cast a simple identification spell. Discord is anything but subtle. His magic sticks out like a sore hoof.”
The other mages nodded or murmured in approval. Morning Star looked to Solar.
“If you'd do the honors than.”
He nodded.
“Very well.” he turned to Twilight, “Lady Regent, if you'll give me a moment.”
She smiled as he charged his horn and cast a spell at her. Unlike the Universum Spell, this one merely glittered and shined around her for a moment before fading away.
Solar Flare smiled smugly.
“Not an ounce of his magic to be found. This definitely isn't Discord's doing.”
Morning Star nodded.
“I kind of figured as much, but we must leave no stone unturned. I guess that just leaves the genetic theory. I think we'll let the Health Institute of Equestria determine whether the Lady Regent's really Princess Celestia's daughter, so let's focus on the Alicorn Genetic Development Program.”
Snow Drift scoffed.
“What's there to focus on? The entire thing went up in flames—literally—and there's virtually nothing left.”
Broken Wand agreed.
“And besides, even if there was something, it's not related to magic. If I'm not mistaken, the Arcane Magic Council had little to do with the project. The Lady Regent's time would be better served inquiring the Canterlot Grand National University or Health Institute of Equestria.”
Morning Star smiled.
“I wouldn't say the Council shouldn't be involved. It was a mistake by former Archmage Magic Missile to not involve us more in the alicorn research and I intend not to repeat that mistake.” he stood up and removed his cloak entirely, placing it on his chair, “As a matter of fact, I do believe we have what's left of the project's physical supplies right here. I'll take the Lady Regent to it to investigate.
“While I'm gone, there's still the matter of final containment of that Everfree monster to deal with. The Night Guard report their containment measures will only last another six months so we need to come up with a more permanent solution. Start brainstorming.”
He motioned for Twilight to follow him and the two began to walk in between the many bookshelves while the mages started arguing over whether tentacles and black sludge could breach a Class V Shield Spell.
Twilight gasped as she walked next to Morning Star up and saw him up close, or more appropriately, the orange amulet with an alicorn on it that hung form his neck.
“Y-You're wearing the Alicorn Amulet?!”
Morning Star looked confused as he glanced down at the amulet that hung from his neck.
“Alicorn Amulet? No, this is the Archmage Amulet. See, it uses orange storage gems. Not red ones.”
“A-Archmage Amulet?”
He tapped it.
“Yes. After the...unfortunate side effects of the Alicorn Amulet were discovered, a second one was created that used a more stable matrix to amplify the spells.”
Twilight's brow furrowed.
“But, you're the Archmage. Why would you need an enchantment?”
“For one, it makes casting much easier. But more importantly, it currently amplifies the Council's magic, allowing us to cast the Solar and Lunar Spells necessary to control the sun and moon.”
Twilight's befuddled expression continued.
“Wait, I thought you were the only one that knew the spells?”
“I am, but the spells require the entire Council's magic in order to work, and even then the Amulet's amplification is needed. Two thousand year old alicorns have a lot more magic in them than normal unicorns do.”
“I would have thought that the Council would be more than able to control both. Isn't that what you guys did before the princesses?”
“Yes, but then we had quite a few more members. Plus, the spells the princesses use have been fine-tuned over the years and are essentially custom made for each princess. Archmage Fire Storm and the Council had to assist Princess Celestia for several years after Princess L—err Nightmare Moon's banishment due to the difficulty involved in somepony other than Luna casting the Lunar spell. We're having similar trouble today.”
Twilight's gaze wandered around the dusty bookshelves.
“At least you only have to do it for a year.”
Morning Star laughed.
“Yes, it would be very challenging if we had to do it any longer. If I may ask, you know of the Alicorn Amulet? The Arcane Magic Council's been searching for that thing ever since that tyrant Sombra and his Aquamarines broke in here all those years ago and stole it. We suspected it resurfaced with the return of the Crystal Empire, but still haven't the faintest idea of where it's at.”
Twilight's brain flashed to mental images of Zecora using the Amulet as a doorstop or paperweight.
“I...might know where it's at.”
“Well if you do, we'd like to get it back. If that thing were to fall into the wrong hooves, who knows what could happen.”
'I think I have a pretty good idea.'
The two passed by a pedestal that housed a book on a wire stand surrounded by a glass case. Twilight's gaze fell onto the dark blue book with swirls on its cover.
“What's that?”
Morning Star turned around.
“Oh, that? It's Star Swirl the Bearded's spellbook. Princess Celestia dropped it off just after your coronation, muttering something about 'failed plans' and 'At this rate, I'll never get to use that astral plane'. It has an unfinished spell in it that we've been trying to figure out, but haven't quite gotten the rhyme down yet.”
Twilight turned away from the book.
“Huh.”
They continued walking past several more bookcases and pedestals until Morning Star stopped at an old chest located at the end of one of them. Like most of the other items in the Arcana Building, it was very old and had a layer of dust and grime on it.
“Here we are. Chest D-23. The items within, along with some fire damaged documents in the basement of the Canterlot Archives, are all we have of the Alicorn Genetic Development Program.”
He opened the chest with his telekinesis. After clearing the small cloud of dust that was kicked up, Twilight peered inside. A pile of test tubes and laboratory flasks sat on one side, while an orange bag labeled “Biohazard” and sealed with duct tape sat in the other.
Twilight picked up one of the tubes.
“This is it?!”
Morning Star frowned.
“I'm afraid so. The entire building burned down. There wasn't much left to salvage. It's doubtful those documents in the Archives will be of much help either, I'm afraid. From what I can recall, they were mainly packing lists and the like.”
Twilight haphazardly dropped the tube back into the chest.
“Great. Just great. Stupid fire.” she turned to Morning, “Why was there even a fire?”
He stopped poking the Biohazard bag and looked at Twilight.
“The official investigation ruled that a Bunsen burner had probably been the source.”
“Probably?”
“You know how investigations are. They can never definitively say what caused it. There are the conspiracy theories too.”
This piqued Twilight's interest.
“What theories?”
Morning Star waved a hoof dismissively.
“Oh, you know. The crazy ones like 'Princess Celestia was trying to goad the griffons into a war', 'the Night Guard did it to destroy some secret griffon project', the Night Guard's always in one of these theories, you see. Probably the one with the most credibility is the 'griffons burned down their own building to stop any more alicorns from being born' one.”
“Would they?”
He shook his head.
“Why would they spend millions of bits helping Equestria unlock the secrets of the alicorn only to destroy it? If they didn't want any more alicorns, they wouldn't have helped in the first place.”
Twilight sighed.
“Great, back to square one.”
“Not necessarily.”
Twilight jumped at the new voice.
“Yah!” she turned to see High Mage Crystal emerging from the shadows of a bookshelf, “Don't do that! What are you trying to do? Assassinate me or something?”
Morning Star batted a hoof dismissively.
“Nonsense, if we wanted to do that, we would have altered the floor runes to explode the moment you walked in.” he put a hoof to his chin in thought, “Of course, that would have killed us too and you might be immortal, so perhaps teleporting you over the Pit of Azerbaijan would be more effective.”
Both Crystal and Twilight stared at the Archmage.
“What? It's not like I ever seriously considered—don't give me that look, Blue. Mr. 'suggest to the Night Guard they drop a megaspell on the Everfree Forest to contain that Lovecoltian horror'.”
Blue Crystal bit back.
“Hey! I thought we all agreed that was a stressful week with the whole 'transport the interdimensional mirror to the Crystal Empire for no reason' and that many of our ideas were dulled as a result.”
Twilight raised a hoof.
“If I may interject,” she looked at High Mage Crystal, “You were saying something about this not being a pointless waste of time?”
Blue Crystal straightened himself.
“Yes, well, while our efforts to determine the cause of your ascension have hit a wall, that doesn't mean we can't at least clear up one thing.”
Twilight was intrigued.
“And what would that be?”
“What type of immortality you possess.”
A confused look washed over her face.
“There's different types?”
Blue Crystal walked up to the two.
“Oh yes. There's the naturally-immune and the physically-immune variants. Naturally-immune means that the person cannot die via natural causes—old age, various diseases, etc.—but 'physical' causes, like getting decapitated, would still be fatal. Physically-immune means they can never die, regardless of what hits them. To the best of our knowledge, all alicorns possess physical-immunity.”
Twilight stared at him flatly.
“Let me guess, you tried to cut off the Princesses heads to see.”
“Oh no. We don't know whether Empress Cadance or Princess Luna possess it. We can confirm that Princess Celestia is physically-immune after several—um, err—accidents befell her shortly after the banishment of Nightmare Moon.”
“Hate to break it to you, but this really is a waste of time. The High Court already proved I was immortal with their stupid 'shoot her in the chest with a crossbow' test.”
Crystal shook his head.
“They proved you have highly advanced healing abilities. Not that you can't be killed. Theoretically, a non-alicorn could beat the High Court's test, but they'd need an insane amount of magic. An amount no unicorn could, with or without charms or amulets, possess.”
Morning Star became involved in the conversation.
“We don't actually know if anyone's immortal. It's been theorized that there's no such thing as 'true' immortality—only extremely powerful, uncontrollable healing magic.” he sighed, “But I think I know what High Mage Crystal's getting at. It's Ay, isn't it?”
Blue Crystal only grinned. Twilight looked between the two mages with mounting confusion.
“Ay? What's that?”
Morning Star sighed.
“You might as well show her.”
Crystal's horn lit up and a second later, the pop of a teleport revealed a small oak box with strange runes carved into it. Crystal opened the box and pulled out an extremely sharp obsidian knife.
“This is the Ancient Knife of Ayfuc'Refioadi—or the Knife of Ay for those who don't wish to clear out their sinuses. It was recovered from Lord Regent Hill Burrow after his failed attempt at assassinating Princess Celestia two hundred years ago.”
Twilight stared intently at the blade's needle tip.
“I don't get it?”
Blue Crystal held the razor sharp knife in his telekinesis.
“You see, Lady Regent, this knife has some very unique properties.”
In the blink of an eye, Crystal shot the knife from his telekinesis at Morning Star. Twilight screamed and covered her eyes. For his part, Morning Star stared impassively at Crystal as the knife struck him in the chest.
And bounced off, landing a few feet away. Morning Star reeled back and rubbed the spot where the knife had hit.
“Ow! Dang it, Blue, you didn't need to throw it that hard. Now it's going to bruise.”
Twilight stopped screaming and opened an eye to look at the relatively unharmed Archmage.
“B-But, the knife. And inertia. And physics.”
Morning Star stopped rubbing his chest and picked up the knife.
“For reasons we still aren't entirely sure of, the Knife of Ayfuc'Refioadi is completely unable to impart cutting injuries on us.”
He attempted to slice his leg open with the blade, only for it to slide off with no effects.
“However, while it may not cause injuries to us, it is completely effective against physically-immune creatures. Tests on Princess Celestia and Cerberus have confirmed that finding. We can also confirm that naturally-immune creatures aren't affected by it—thanks to a test performed on the Draconic ambassador several years ago.”
Twilight sighed as she stared at the weapon.
“So you want to cut me with it to see. Why do all the immortality tests involve pain and suffering?”
Blue Crystal looked at her.
“It's not like we're going to slice you open. Ay cannot cut a non-physically-immune creature. All we have to do is poke you with it. If it punctures the skin, we'll know.”
“Fine. Just get it over with.”
Twilight closed her eyes and held out a foreleg. Morning Star and Crystal exchanged glances before Star shrugged and approached her with the knife. After positioning it, he gently lowered its pointed tip onto the leg and made a quick jab. Twilight yelped and reflexively jerked the leg away. She rubbed her leg and looked to the Archmage. He and Crystal were both carefully examining the knife's tip.
“Well, it seems Princess Celestia isn't the only alicorn that's physically-immune.”
Twilight look up from her leg at the two mages morosely.
“Great.”
Morning Star looked over.
“Is something the matter, Lady Regent?”
Twilight shook her head to snap herself back normal.
“No. Everything's fine. Just fine. Are you sure there's nothing else on the Alicorn Project?”
The Archmage thought for a moment.
“Nothing that the Arcane Magic Council knows of. Admittedly, as Mage Broken Wand already mentioned, the Council wasn't all that involved in the project so our knowledge isn't all encompassing. You'd have to talk to the Canterlot Grand National University and Health Institute of Equestria to know for sure if there's anything else.” he sighed, “It's unlikely they know any more than we do though. That fire really did wipe out most of the project's research. There's a reason it was never continued.”
Twilight sighed.
“Well, thanks for at least trying to help solve this alicorn mystery.”
“Oh, it's no problem at all. The Arcane Magic Council's main job is to help the Diarc—I mean, Regency, in matters relating to magic. That's why we're here.”
Blue Crystal looked up from putting the Knife of Ay back into its case.
“And rest assured that the Council will continue to investigate your ascension. It really is one of the more interesting things to come up as of late and we're determined to find its cause.”
Morning Star nodded.
“Absolutely. We'll know in a few weeks if the Elements are responsible and if they aren't, then we'll research alternate theories. As remote as it is, there's always the chance that this whole ascension business holds a darker meaning and we want to be on top of any Dark Magic or ancient evil shenanigans before they catch us by surprise.”
Twilight suppressed her pessimistic side's voice at that. A side that had grown rather loud over the last several months.
“In that case, I think I should leave the Council to it then. The eternal grind of government bureaucracy beckons me like the allure of Dark Magic's unquenchable power and ecstasy.”
The two mages stared at her worriedly.
“It's a joke!”
They continued to cast a wary eye at her as the three made their way back to the main part of the chamber where the other mages still sat bickering.
“Come on, I already know Dark Magic.”
-----
Twilight opened the door and emerged back into the elongated room. She shot a glare over at the secretary who had forced her through the Arcana Building's tourist traps before turning her attention to her guards. The two of them were sitting on the floor, giggling like schoolfillies as they stared in wonder at a magazine filled with detailed pictures of flowers.
“Oh my, that one's simply beautiful. It's so delicate and fragile, yet so complex.” he sniffed, “Isn't it amazing what simply stunning things are right here under our noses?”
The other guard sighed.
“I know. If only ponies would take a break once in a while to appreciate the simple yet at the same time amazingly complex gifts we've been graced with, the world wouldn't need the Royal Guard and we could all live in true harmony.”
Twilight only stared.
“What.”
**********
The cutie mark banners once again hung over the backdrop of the throne room. The Dusk Court staff sat at their respective tables and the numerous books and paperwork was strewn about. Twilight sat on the throne, staring down at the petitioner.
“I'm sorry, Mr. Parking, but I'm not going to overrule the Fillydelphia City Council's decision. If they want to impose a space limit on buildings, they are more than welcome to. I'm sure Baltimare or Hooftucket would be more than willing to accommodate Equestria Conglomerate Steel's headquarters.”
Free Parking smiled sadly.
“Fillydelphia's been ECS's home since it was the Fillydelphia Ironworks. I had hoped we could remain in the city.” he chuckled and adjusted his monocle, “Oh well, we're already in negotiations with Baltimare for a site with lower taxes. Plus, it'll put us closer to our export facilities.”
Twilight smiled.
“That's the spirit. Next petitioner.”
The tan Earth Pony bowed briefly before trotting out of the throne room.
Spike, wearing an ornate red hat with a feather sticking out of it, cleared his throat before glancing at the parchment he had in his hands.
“Presenting, by expedited request of the Office of the High Overseer, Minister of the Interior Elastic Clause and Director-General of the Health Institute of Equestria I.V. Drip.”
A red earth pony and mint green pegasus walked into the throne room and bowed.
“Lady Regent.”
Twilight motioned for them to stand.
“I'm a little surprised that you'd come before Court to make a request. Wouldn't it be more prudent to simply schedule a meeting?”
Clause nodded.
“Under normal circumstances, yes, but the current situation requires immediate action.”
Twilight leaned forward.
“What situation?”
Clause nudged Drip to begin, which she did.
“Right. Approximately seven months ago, the Health Institute of Equestria became aware of several strange deaths and illnesses—consisting of jaw and tooth disorders, severe nausea, and anemia—in and around the New Yoke area. After carefully reviewing the medical records, we confirmed that the deaths were caused by acute radiation poisoning.”
There were several small gasps along with some befuddled expressions from the Court staff.
“As I'm sure you're aware, with radiation being one of the newer scientific discoveries and it being poorly understood, the HIE launched a full investigation to ascertain the origin of the poisonings.”
Drip returned Clauses nudge, who took over the conversation.
“The Environmental Division of the Ministry of the Interior assisted the Institute with their investigation and were able to find the cause of the sicknesses and deaths. All those that were affected worked for the Equestria Radium Corporation, which manufacturers watches and other small devices that glow in the dark.
“The Environmental Division and Health Institute of Equestria have determined that something at Equestria Radium is exposing its workers—and potentially the public—to lethal doses of radiation. We are currently pursuing a court order seeking the shutdown of the company pending a full investigation, but with the appeals and stalling by the company's lawyers, it could be weeks before such an order is enforced.
“As such, we are requesting a Royal Decree ordering the New Yoke Stock Exchange to suspend the company's stock and to order it's immediate closure so that we can determine what exactly is causing these radiation illnesses.”
Twilight bore a look of seriousness and concern.
“H-How many have died?”
Drip looked over a piece of paper.
“The Institute can confirm fourteen deaths and seven more injuries.”
Twilight nodded slowly.
“Alright. Decree granted. I can't let any more workers get hurt or die. I am ordering the shutdown of the Equestria Radium Corporation and the stock exchange to cease further trading of their stock immediately.” she looked over at Solar Flare, who was busy writing the Decree down on a piece of parchment, “Due to the critical nature of this, I want this thing certified tonight. Got it?”
Flare rolled the parchment up and sealed it.
“Yes, Lady Regent. I'll ensure that the Office of the High Overseer and Ministry of Justice clear the Decree by the end of the evening.”
“Thank you.” she turned back to the two, “Now, if that's all, please continue your investigation.”
They nodded, bowed, and then departed.
“Next petitioner.”
“Presenting: Egg Yolk, Chairman of the Equestria Chicken Producers Association.”
-----
With Dusk Court finished, the staff began to pack away the books and paperwork that lined their tables. Solar Flare neatly placed that day's Royal Decrees into a bin for transport to the Office of the High Overseer where they would be ratified. Twilight walked up behind him.
“Solar, can I have a word with you?”
He placed the last scroll into the bin and faced her.
“Yes, Lady Regent?”
“You know those Court procedures you told me about last week? The ones that prevent the farmers, desperate citizens who can't pay their taxes, and little old mares from petitioning me?”
“Yes?”
She handed him a short stack of papers.
“I've changed them.”
His eyes widened.
“You—You what?”
Twilight smiled.
“I altered them in accordance with the Citizens' Grievances Act.”
He began to leaf through the papers.
“Lady Regent, this is a highly unorthodox move. Those procedures are there to ensure your safety. Getting rid of them—”
“—will allow the Dusk Court to actually do its job: listening to the average citizen who's in need of help. All those CEO's and Presidents can get what they want when they bribe Parliament. They have the money and time to 'donate' to the MP's. The single mom of three who's seven months behind on her taxes does not.”
Flare set the papers down.
“I can understand that, but keeping you—and Princesses Celestia and Luna when they return—safe takes precedent.”
Twilight raised her voice slightly.
“Safe from what? The Arcane Magic Council already confirmed I'm immortal. I've already been shot in the chest by a crossbow to prove it.”
“If that were the case, then answer me this: why's there even a Royal Guard? If the Princesses are truly immortal and can never be killed, then why spend all that money and time training them?” he sighed, “There's things out there, Twilight. Quite dangerous things that don't care about 'natural-immunity' or whatever other pointless term the Arcana Council's devised and could very easily kill you or the other Princesses. They've tried before and they could very well try again.”
Twilight bit her lip.
“Even if there are dangerous elements out there, we can't let the fear of them rule us. If we do, we might as well let them win. Now, make sure these new procedures are implemented soon. I want those tax dodgers and old grannies here by next week.”
The purple alicorn turned around and walked out of the throne room. Solar Flare picked up the stack of papers once more and looked at it before chuckling.
“And you doubted Celestia when she made you Regent.”
End of Chapter Four.
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inb4 innuendo comments.
It's Starswirl, not Starswiral
It's a scavenger hunt for references! Fun for all the family!
The whole coup plot seems doomed to failure from the start, part of the revealed plan involves killing Twilight for the safety of Equestria. It would make a lot more sense if Twilight wasn't recently proven hard to kill if not immortal, and specially considering that she played a key part in saving Equestria several times in the recent past, both as a member of the Elements of Harmony and individually, if you include that in the comics she actually beat Chrysalis in single combat. Even if the mastermind doesn't actually believe what he is saying it seems doubtful that anypony with half a brain would support the idea of saving Equestria by disarming the principality. Killing Luna, Celestia or even Cadance would make more sense if there was an actual need of killing an Alicorn...
When you say Starswiral do you mean Starswirl the Bearded or did you mean somepony else?
Is it sad I got every single one of those alicorn jokes? I knew each story the came from? Please tell me I don't have a problem.
I feel sory for anyone who hasn't read all the story's I have because this chapter would have been nowhere near as funny, you had me in hysterics
I Saw the past sins ref
3064750
Poliswag?
3064852
This entire chapter has been chockablock full of references to other Twilicorn stories.
So, Twilight is effectively unkillable, except for certain artifacts.
Someone is mixing up their own lore.
No kidding!
I kinda like boring OC side characters. Makes the world more lifelike.
The banter between Spike and Twi was great.
lovin this fic! keep on being awesome!
Neigh invulnerable...
Does it withstand whinnies as well?
Joking aside, nice to see that there are some folks in yon government who are sensible enough to test for immortality without using lethal weaponry...
Ahh, bombshells.....
Oh man, those references.
allright so.... who is making the list for all the fanfics referenced? I Caught Sharing the Night and Past Sins but both of those were so bleeding obvious... then again maybe they where so obvious because I actually read those.
so who has the rest of them ( cause I know there where plenty of others)
Also I thought the Morning Star name choice was itself a reference was for another fic i had read..( Frigid winds and Burning Hearts) . but it wasn't , it was for a fic i have not read.
Nice to see this back. I did snicker quite a bit at the references to the other fics, especially the swipe at canon...
So many references.
Glad to see this fic back on the road
I really enjoyed this chapter. Well done. 
Now this one fun reference for Pen Stroke's "Past Sins"!
Mage Death Note
I see what you did there
mlpchan.net/pic/src/1342393161315.jpg
3065018
The "Celestia's Daughter" is a reference to a whole genre.
While the Changeling Royal Brood probably references to "Mirror's Image".
Brilliant use of references from other fanfics
check
You never get tired of burning Hasbro for that one, do you?
3065324
And I know I've seen something like the Alicorn Breeding Program in another fic, but I don't think it got past the first couple of chapters.
Hang on
*shuffles through old Favorites*
Ah, here it is:Genetica
Not entirely certain that this was the intended reference, but it's what I got from it.
Nopony in Canterlot noticed Ponyville being under a fishbowl for at least 12 hours?
Also, you might as well have the nobility and bureaucracy be the villains. They always are
I think i actually saw a reference to my fics in here but I may be mistaken
Hue.
First of all, please accept my condolences to you on the passing of your Aunt. I'm sorry.
Second of all, wow this is a fun story to read and this was an incredibly fun chapter. I caught myself laughing several times. Loved the references and this is turning into quite the knock-off of the whole Twilicorn thing altogether.
I love it. have some mustaches!
3065324
In this case, the "Celestia's Daughter" bit was referencing The Empty Room, considering the mention of a "hidden nursery in the Castle that everypony probably forgot about".
Oh noes. My suspension of disbelief! It has been snapped in twain, like a twig!
...
I kid, I kid. Keep up the good work, TSG! XD
3065682
Yeah, I remembered that one after I posted the comment, (and I didn't want to edit my comment partially because it is a major plot point of The Empty Room).
you're you're you're, oh it burns. "I accept you're offer, Lady Regent?" I vastly enjoyed this chapter, if it weren't for the occasional misuse of "you're" in a handful of places it should really be "your."
I have a few spelling corrections to point out. First, "Starswiral" should be "Starswirl". Second, in the Past Sins reference, "hung" should be "hanged". "Hung" refers to all types of hanging except the form of execution.
I liked the references to other fan fiction explanations for Twilight's transformation, especially liked how you referenced the cannon reason with the side comment about Celestia grumbling about no being able to use in in this universe. I'm liking this fic, there is a lot of conflict yet you haven't go with a over the top villain or some grim dark story line, its a good slice of life story. I also like how Twilight's "peers" in the Arcana Council are perfect wizard types, brilliant magic uses and scientists who are just outright strange, and allowed to be so..
On a side note I for one am of the opinion that Celestia would never seek to make Twilight her permanent replacement, but having a 3rd princess to rule Equestria would allow all of them much needed downtime. Celestia having ruled alone for 1000 years would understand the need for a princess to not be "on" 24/7, I'm imagining once or twice she just left because things got too hectic and the Equestria government flew into full on panic mode, nearly collapsing because it's lynch pin, a sitting ruler, was gone.
3064842
I got all of them also and let me tell you it was almost as funny as a Tuna Luna
I think I know how the workers that have radiation poisoning got it. Chances are that they used their mouth to wet up the brush they use to apply the glowing radium paint, thus exposing their mouths directly to the radiation.
3065604
Given that nobody noticed for weeks something was wrong with Cadence (despite Chrysalis being absolutely terribad at impersonating her), whereas Twilight saw through her in a matter of hours despite not having seen Cadence for years... that really does not surprise me in the slightest.
3065018 There's more references than just to Twilicorn stories. Am I the only one who caught the reference to Fallout: Equestria?
ALL THE REFERENCES !!!!!!
>Twilight involuntary cringed as mental images of Nightmare Moon defeating her friends and Trixie, Morning Star acting as her over-the-top evil lieutenant, and herself getting hung flashed before her eyes.
Hanged.
That is all.
Nice!
Nothing ever good comes from a character named Morning Star.
Hah!
This council is great, they are a lot of fun.
So many references!
Radiation, Science, HiE... Lulz.
3064953 Not really, she was pretty open about it... what with it playing a key role in her saving the Crystal Empire.
I forgot what the hell was the name of that story
the one where Twilight is the alicorn of the stars and she eats an ursa major
3066397 Sharing the Night
Nonononono! Don't do that! What if they become a bad OC?
SHE IS JUST ACTING THAT WAY BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT IS EXPECTED OF HER
What's a paladin?
Ha! That story was awesome...
3065613you saw
Did you hear this sound? It was the sound of a Chekov's KPVT being chambered with a 14.5mm round.
I enjoy the sight of ponies on their knees.
e.asset.soup.io/asset/2331/8350_31b5.png
3066506
Okay, I don't know that one. What's its name?
3066659
Sharing the Night.
3066506
'Was'? It still is!
I dont like how twilight Completely shut down a corporation without any actually proof other than a pony telling her so.. it feels horribly dumb and out of character for her. Alot of ponies depend of that corp for their jobs and for to just up and shut it down feels so wrong from her.