1 Celestia's Experimental Concern
Celestia's Experimental Concern
She’d finally done it; my sister had simply gone too far. This time I couldn’t stand by, and let her continue with these experiments unchallenged. If she continued on this course, then she could potentially take a course of action wholly unacceptable.
Now when I say my sister, I’m not referring to somepony who has the same mother I do. I’m referring to someone who bears the same title, the same responsibilities that I do. I’m talking about my darling Twilight.
You see, Twilight has been my protégé since she was very young. She showed a lot of potential when she was but a filly, maybe a handful of years old at the time. She joined my school for gifted unicorns, so I could kind of keep tabs on her. Her power, if not controlled, could have proven to be devastating to Equestria. Even now, her power could easily devastate Equestria. As Equestria’s ruler (at the time only ruler), it’s sort of part of my job to take care of my ponies as much as I can. I’m glad that my sister, my biological sister this time, was redeemed when Twilight exposed her to the elements. Luna's restoration made it much easier for me to rule Equestria as a whole.
As for Twilight, she has developed an obsession with written magic. All her life she’s been using mental magic. The idea is the creation of a spell relies on mental concentration. The more a mage concentrates, the more powerful the resulting spell will be. Most unicorns create magic because they think about it and it happens.
But recently, she’s become obsessed with . . . well . . . she’s become obsessed with tattoo magic. To her, it started with just writing out a spell, and using that ink as a power source, as a channel for magical processes. She discovered that by writing down a spell’s formula she could start casting more complicated spells, and not worry about them blowing up in her face because she got distracted while forming the thought. Basically, the word served as an anchor for her as she was forming the spell.
And all of this is just fine. Written magic is perfectly harmless under normal circumstances, but Twilight has a reached a stage where I’m concerned for her health. Normally, written magic is a common practice usually appearing when highly complex spells are involved. But she’s taken to writing ink on her person. While these tattoos are in no way permanent, it seems she is starting to progress to wanting to permanently etch spell formulas into her hide. I’m concerned that if not stopped, this etching might progress to her inscribing on the canvases of others. What she does with her body is her business, but I have to be sure that she’s not going to take it too far.
Yesterday, I saw something that was frankly, a little disturbing, and at the same time it proved to me that I had made the right choice in my protégé. Twilight is now my sister because she is a princess. I’m not exactly sure what her office is, other than she seems to be doing a pretty good job as the Princess of Friendship. I think it might be time for me to officially declare her title, maybe get her to start a bloodline, I’m not sure.
But at this time, I think it would be fair if I described what happened yesterday. What happened then is why I’m going to her castle today to try to get her to stop. Or at the very least remind her that she only has the right to modify her body and not anypony else’s.
You see, what happened yesterday was so disturbing because she was glowing. Strange symbols had been painted all over her body. She had practically covered herself in what I can only assume is some kind of obscure arcane language she learned during her studies at my university.
I’m concerned for her because, as she was casting the magic, not only was her horn glowing, but every single marking on her body was glowing with a homogeneous, incredibly bright light.
Then I saw her eyes. They were empty. Empty because they had become solid spheres of burning light. For a second I thought she didn’t recognize me. I realized later, she hadn’t seen me. Whatever spell that she was casting must have fizzled out. Because as bright as that light was; it just winked out.
She stumbled, her coat completely unmarred, and her eyes back to normal. Her horn was faintly sizzling from the amount of energy that had been pumping through it. I am concerned for my darling Twilight. Such power, if unrestrained, could cause potentially fatal repercussions in her body.
I’m not sure that she can be allowed to continue with these written magic experiments. If she doesn’t stop at the line, then I might have to reign her in. The only way I can do that is by playing the seniority card. I may have to remind her that while she and I are of equal rank, I’m still her senior at this job. I think I have a better idea of what I’m talking about.
This is ignoring that she still considers me a mentor, even though she and I have now significantly changed the status of our relationship together. It is now much less teacher-student and more akin to peers learning from one another. She is the expert on friendship, and I’m more of an all-rounder. But I’ve been around for so long I think it’s only fair that, if Twilight does not curtail her obsession with this written magic, then I might have to curtail it for her.
I pray to the Tree of Harmony that is not what must be done. Then again, can I trust the Tree of Harmony, oh so many thoughts today. Hopefully, things will go better tomorrow.
The Third Day of Harvest,
Princess Celestia