Never once in her life did Twilight Sparkle think she would one day regret asking a question, to her teacher nonetheless. Never once did she think she would one day wish to forget an answer. One "How many?" later, she wished she'd known better.
It had been a simple, simple question. A natural one, even. One she was surprised she'd never asked before. So naturally, once she'd realised that she'd never asked it, Twilight Sparkle had to do the most logical thing and ask.
In her, relatively speaking, not too short life, she'd always thought that no question wasn't meant to be asked. No answer, no matter how life changing it could be, should have not been given. Truth was a principle above the needs of the individuals, and it was always the right thing to know more of it.
It was in those spirits that she went to Celestia and asked that questions. And once she received her answer she realised she'd been wrong. Very, very, very wrong.
Given a sufficiently large amount of tests, if all outcomes but one result the same it is perfectly acceptable to consider the outlier as nothing more than a fluke, something derived from outside interference, incorrect execution of the procedure or maybe a mistake during the measuring process. It is in fact encouraged to do so, as otherwise what is likely just the product of an error would alter the correct analysis of the experiment's results. Not to mention, given the fact that said anomalous outcome was derived from what was supposed to be a standard repetition of the same test, it's rather futile to try to study it when there are no sure means by which to replicate it.
Consider Twilight Sparkle. Used to experimenting and conducting research, such a notion would be second nature to her. As such, and taking into account her extraordinary abilities and her years of experience, it is a perfectly reasonable and expected reaction for her to automatically derive the logical, statistical conclusion when presented with a given set of results.
Consider Princess Celestia. Not the real one, but the one existing inside Twilight Sparkle's mind. She is Twilight's inspiration. She is the one Twilight looks up to. She is, while not flawless, certainly above the average pony. She has, after all, ruled Equestria for hundreds of years. Given the country's prosperity, it is undeniable that she must be a great ruler. Furthermore, she has been Twilight's personal teacher. Everything Twilight achieved, she achieved thanks to her studies under Celestia, and thanks to her guide. And when considering Twilight's rather remarkable results, it is only natural to conclude that Celestia must be a great teacher.
Consider thermal shock. Not the pony, we will get to him in a later chapter, but the phenomenon. It is what happens when an object at a given temperature is exposed to an environment with a drastically different one, without time to slowly adjust to the change. This causes different parts of the object to react differently depending on the exposure to the outside environment, either expanding or contracting, which may ultimately result in the object itself breaking.
Consider an idea, a concept, a series of categorised opinions and convictions related to a single topic or subject. Consider that idea as the object, and the world of facts as the environment. If, when confronted with the truth, one finds it opposite to the preconceived notion possessed on the matter, something similar to thermal shock might occur. While not certain, a violent reaction is likely to result, whether it be denial of the truth or internal turmoil at the revelation. Simple assimilation is unlikely, and increasingly so the more deeply ingrained and central the concept was.
Consider Twilight Sparkle. She believes in the existence of something that is considerable as good. She believes truth to be a part of this. She believes the right choice is to believe what evidence leads to believe, rather than what we would wish to be the reality of the situation.
Still, some things are truly, deeply rooted in an individual's mind, and it takes time, self-reflection, and often some sort of physical demonstration to finally convince them of the facts' validity.
And I have to be thankful for that, because otherwise I would never have gotten out of that box.
It was a beautiful day, the birds were singing, the Sun shone bright in a cloudless sky, and a gentle breeze drifted through the trees. Twilight had spent the majority of the day exploring the castle's gardens, and now she was focused on a particular statue she'd never noticed before.
It was the statue of a unicorn, male, with a short mane, rearing on his hind legs. He wore a strange expression that Twilight failed to decipher, and his cutie mark appeared to be a clock. What spurred Twilight's interest was the position of the statue. Isolated, at the end of an otherwise empty path in the maze-like structure of the park's hedge, there was no tag or indication to specify who the unicorn was.
Twilight was leaning closer to it, trying to get a better look, when she heard the clacking sound of hoofsteps approaching from behind her, the distinct depth and metallic ring they possessed telling her who she was about to meet without the need for her to turn.
"Twilight! I knew I'd find you here," Celestia said, approaching the younger alicorn.
Twilight turned around and went to hug her ex-teacher. "I wanted it to be a surprise. How did you know?"
"One of my guards saw you at the train station. It was considerate of you to wait for me to finish taking care of my duties, Twilight, but you should know that I can always make time for you." The princess returned the hug.
Twilight let go of her and turned back towards the statue, still interested in it. She was about to ask, but the other princess preceded her.
"I believe you must be wondering who this might be," she said, walking closer to the statue. "I must admit, not my fondest memory."
"You knew him?" Twilight asked, curious.
"He was my student. A long time ago." Celestia stared at the statue with a sad smile, reminiscing. "This is Diode Branding. He was a promising young unicorn when I took him under my wing, one I had hoped would be able to ascend, in time, if properly directed." She sighed. "Alas, things didn't turn out how I had envisioned them. He became obsessed with power. He kept talking about transcending his nature and becoming more than a pony, becoming something beyond, awakening his true hidden potential. He dabbled in dark arts, and eventually gained the power to stop the flow of time for everyone but himself for short periods. A remarkable achievement, but one sadly used to further his selfish goals. It pained me, but I had to stop him." Celestia looked away.
Twilight, who had stared at Celestia while she was telling her story, now returned her gaze to the statue, fascinated. "What happened to him? And why is there a statue of him here in the gardens?"
"I believe I have told you already, this is Diode Branding," Celestia replied.
Twilight cocked her head to the side. "You did. But what does that-"
"No, I mean, this is Diode Branding."
"Oh..." The true meaning of Celestia's words finally hit Twilight, and she nervously glanced back at the petrified pony. "Oh..."
"I got over it," Celestia said, walking up to Twilight and ruffling her mane.
Twilight looked down. "You know, now that I think about it, a lot of your students seem to have gone astray. Sunset did, he did, Hope, well, she-"
"Resurrected a tyrant who unleashed monsters over Equestria and almost caused its end?" Celestia looked at Twilight.
"Yeah, okay." Twilight walked closer to the statue. "It's kind of weird to think about it. I'd never read about them. I mean, I can see why, but it's still strange." She turned back towards Celestia. "I never heard about any of your other students, now that I think about it."
"I've had a lot. Hundreds, probably," Celestia said, turning around and beginning to walk away. "But sadly many of them fell to the dark side."
Twilight followed the alicorn. "How many?"
It was an innocent question. An instinctual one. One she had every right to ask. And while she hadn't though much about it, no matter how much time one could have given her to reflect upon it Twilight would not have found a reason not to ask it. It was a simple question. And one she would regret asking ever since.
Celestia stopped and began to rub her chin, thoughtfully. "Hmm. You know, now that I think about it, you were the first one who didn't turn out to be a complete disaster. All of them." She resumed her walk.
Twilight froze for a moment, her right eyelid slightly twitching, hoping with all her heart she'd misheard. "What... did you say?" she asked, in an unnaturally high-pitched tone.
Celestia turned back to look at Twilight. "I said all my previous students became evil." She studied the purple alicorn for a moment. "Twilight? Is everything alright? Are you sure you haven't caught something?"
Twilight was dimly aware of a tall white alicorn speaking to her from somewhere immeasurable lengths above the edge of the pit her conscious mind had fallen into. With great effort, and a considerable amount of time, she managed to climb out of there, and found herself producing some semblance of coherent speech that seemed to take the form of a question. "How?" the purple princess croaked, fully aware her brain was in no condition to process any possible answer.
"Well, it just sort of happened. I just did my teaching thing, and the next thing you knew they were all trying to take over the country. Good thing I finally found the right student for my methods." Celestia affectionately patted her ex-student's head.
It could have been a number of things. The realization that Celestia was a terrible teacher. The thought of her nation's history being riddled with countless of her predecessors, Celestia's students, who had all become evil. The resurfacing memory of Celestia's classes on such topics as 'Why Being an Alicorn Gives Me the Right to Rule' and 'Why Strength is the Foundation of Justice'. The fact that, out of hundreds, the one unicorn who’d accomplished something had been the one with the Tree of Harmony's mark stamped on her butt. The way Celestia casually mentioned her failures, and the damage they brought. The way all those ponies had been erased from the country's memory. The nagging doubt sparked by the remarkably low number of statues in the gardens. Or maybe, the way they'd all seemed to be older than her when they'd snapped.
Celestia never had a chance to ask Twilight what made her pass out there in the gardens. She was just mildly annoyed that she had to carry her away.
Twilight fell out of the bed she was in. She got up from the ground, still a little dizzy, and laid eyes on the terrible teacher who'd woken her up. "What is it?" she distractedly asked, looking around and trying to understand where she was.
The room was round, dimly lit, floor, walls and ceiling made out of large blocks of green-grey stone. Other than the white bed she'd woken up in and a single candle near the wall it was bare of any furniture. A closed, wooden door of pale brown with black metallic inserts the only visible entrance.
"Well, you seemed interested in knowing more about my previous students, so I thought I'd show you something." Celestia walked up to the door and turned to Twilight, motioning for her to follow behind.
Twilight did not want to know more about Celestia's previous students. In fact, she would have gladly unlearned the notion of just how poor of a job the older alicorn had done as a teacher, and gone back to admiring her. But she couldn't. She could only hope she wouldn't turn out like her predecessors. She silently walked up to Celestia.
The white alicorn opened the door and entered a dark corridor, grabbing the candle with her to light the way.
"What is this place?" Twilight asked, curiosity getting the best of her.
Celestia kept walking, answering without turning around. "This is where I keep all information on my previous students. Letters, spells they developed, portraits of them I'd commissioned, accounts of their activities. I haven't visited it much after I started teaching to you, since I used to come here when I had no one to teach to, so forgive me if the place is a little unkempt."
The pair reached another door, similar to the last one, and Celestia opened it. They entered a large room, and the candle held in the alicorn's magic floated to light a series of others near the walls, illuminating the interior.
Twilight began to walk around, admiring the place. The walls were lined with portraits of other unicorns, only a couple of which she recognised. There was one of Sunset Shimmer, one of Radiant Hope, one she identified as Diode Branding, the white stallion's blond mane matching his golden eyes, and many more she couldn't identify. On each side of the room was another door, save for the far one relative to where she'd entered, which had a small altar with a black metal box on top, flanked on each side by a black metal pole holding a torch.
The purple alicorn stopped underneath a painting of a pale yellow stallion with a long grey mane.
"Ah, Blank File!" Celestia commented, walking closer. "He took on the habit of narrating things after he decided to try to take over the throne. And he destroyed most of his research so I couldn't use it, too. He was a rather entertaining one to fight, if only he had decided to come back to my side..."
Twilight took a moment to look at the unicorn's cutie mark, a black quill writing on a scroll, then moved on to the next painting.
"That's Thermal Shock," Celestia said, looking at the dark orange unicorn with a spiky brown mane. "Then there's Golden Shield, Blueblood-"
"Wait, he was one of your students?" Twilight asked, staring at the familiar face of the white unicorn.
"Well, not really, no." Celestia rubbed the back of her neck, smiling sheepishly. "He was, but in another universe, one where I picked him instead of you. I spied on that with one of the mirrors. He didn't do too good of a job. Though to his credit, he did manage to reform my sister."
Twilight cocked her head tot he side, somewhat confused.
Celestia resumed in her listing of her previous students. "There you have Emerald Sword, and then Midnight Twinkle, Dreamweaver, White Pearl, Black Oceans, Full Moon, Wizard Crown, Rising Star, Black Diamond, Eagleheart, Bright Eyes, Surface Tension, Whiplash, Orion, Short Circuit, Instant Crush, Losfer Words, Fire Dance, Southern Cross, Halcyon Days, Gamma R-"
"Where have they all gone?" Twilight interrupted, looking at her.
Celestia looked back. "Well, some of them ran away, like Sunset or Hope, and some of them disappeared without a trace. But most of the rest I had to personally deal with."
Twilight bit her own lip, nervous about what she was about to ask. "So, I noticed there aren't many statues in the gardens, and I was wondering, well..."
Celestia looked at her, briefly confused, then started to laugh. "Oh, sorry," she added shortly after, stopping. "No, if that's what worries you, I didn't turn all of them to stone, and I certainly didn't shatter them afterwards. Diode was a special occurrence, I had to deal with him in a more roundabout fashion because of his powers and I wasn't able to do things the usual way."
Twilight laughed a bit too, relaxing a little and giving a small sigh of relief. "So what happened to them?" she cheerfully asked.
"They're in that box over there," Celestia said, pointing towards the far end of the room.
"Oh..." Twilight stared at the black metal box on the pedestal. "So you mean they're all there?"
Celestia nodded. "Exactly. It's amazing what containment spells allow you to do."
Twilight swallowed and began to walk closer to the box. "Has... anypony ever gotten out?"
Celestia walked at her side. "Oh, thankfully no, it would be a complete disaster! Imagine the chaos that would ensue from just one of them being let loose on Equestria once again, let alone the possibility of someone else following them outside if they found a way out."
"And you've never tried talking to them?" Twilight asked, increasingly nervous.
"No. They had their chances back then, and I don't trust that taking one out wouldn't give me problems. And unlike Discord, they aren't worth the risk."
The two finally reached the pedestal, and Twilight got a better look at the box, an intricate pattern, similar to a snake's skin, engraved in the slightly curved cover ominously reflecting the flickering light of the torches in many different angles. A small lock was part of the structure itself, and the corners extended into four short claw-shaped extremities that held the base slightly above the pedestal. Lastly, two horn-like pieces of metal were on the sides, seemingly used to hold and move the thing.
"Are you sure it's safe?" Twilight asked.
"Of course it is," Celestia replied, placing a hoof over the box, "this box is easily the safest thing in the whole country!" She gave it a smack to emphasize her point.
The box fell to the ground because of that, and the cover clicked open. A barely visible green mist began to flow out, then with a flash of light the box jumped up into the air and a violent gust of wind and smoke started to pour from it. There was another flash of light, and suddenly the room became filled with confused unicorns looking around.
"I told you guys we had to pull the cover!" one of them shouted, though no one paid attention to her.
"And so, the prisoners were finally freed from the... imprisonment? No, no. Excuse me. And so, the... Winter, what's that other word for prisoners?" asked a yellow stallion Twilight recognised.
"Shut up, Blank, and focus on something important! I think we're out for real!" a mare with a blue mane replied.
Unicorns all around the room began, after the initial shock, to teleport away, Twilight unable to do anything in the confusion.
"Finally," one of the lasts to leave, a stallion of a deep black with a white mane, said while staring at Celestia, "finally I'll have my revenge!"
After a few more seconds, only the two alicorns were left in the room.
Twilight stared at Celestia, wide-eyed, her mouth hanging open.
Celestia stared at the now empty room for a couple of seconds. She soundlessly opened and closed her mouth a few times before finally taking a deep breath and speaking. "That might be a problem."
Twilight closed and opened her eyes once, then twice. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT YOU'VE JUST DONE?" she screamed at Celestia.
The white alicorn looked at her. "I... released all of my previously trapped old students, who are all very powerful unicorns most of whom are power hungry and ruthless, onto Equestria, where they will now bring chaos and destruction as they search for more power or a way to take revenge against me?" She awkwardly smiled.
Twilight stared, incredulous.
Celestia's smile got a little wider. "I got it right, right?"
"Princess, are you aware of the consequences this will have?" Twilight's tone was flat and emotionless. "Do you realise you might have just doomed all of Equestria?"
"Oh, don't be so drastic." Celestia ruffled Twilight's mane with a hoof. "I'm sure you'll be able to take care of it."
Twilight blinked again, and her mouth wordlessly opened and closed a couple of times. "PRINCESS, THIS IS SERIOUS, OKAY? WE CAN'T JUST STAND HERE! WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING!" she snapped.
Celestia looked at her, cocking her head to a side. "Then do something, no?"
Twilight clutched her head in her hooves. "YOU..." she screamed, pointing at the other alicorn.
Celestia looked behind her, over her right shoulder, then did the same with the left one. "Me?" she finally asked.
It might have been some form of imprecation belonging to some forgotten language that her brain had recovered from the wreckage of her scattered mind, but in all likelihood the howling sound that erupted from the purple alicorn's throat was nothing more than the condensed product of her own frustration, born from a rage too primal to be carried forth by simple words.
Celestia walked towards her only good student with a worried expression, lowering her head towards her. "Are you alright, Twilight? Do you need a mint or some other thing? Maybe some syrup for your throat? That didn't sound healthy, you might want to go see a doctor about it."
Twilight stared at the eyes of the alicorn above her. Then beyond them, and beyond the likely empty head they were attached too, at the ceiling above. The beyond even that, at the sky above them. Then the emptiness of space, and finally the nothingness beyond the boundaries of existence. Her own eyes slowly unfocused, and her breathing slowed down. Her mind, a crumbling mess just moments before, was now a placid pool, undisturbed by even the slightest ripple. She pondered the infinite pointlessness of reality in the face of infinity and eternity, and found herself at peace with all creation.
"Are you alright there?" Celestia asked, looking at the transfixed pony from the side of her face. She pushed a hoof to Twilight's cheek, receiving no reaction from the mesmerised alicorn. She pushed a little harder, and inadvertently caused Twilight to fall on the ground and smack her head on the floor.
The calm lake of stillness in Twilight's mind was shattered like glass, and chains erupted from it, shooting upwards. They pierced through the skies and reached the solitary bubble of emptiness where the alicorn's consciousness had retreated, and there they took hold of her limbs and fiercely dragged her back down through all layers of creation, to crash at the centre of the raging inferno of madness and despair that lied at the core of her being.
Twilight snapped up and looked at Celestia. "What was happening oh yeah the world is about to end and unicorns are currently probably wreaking havoc across the city and it's your fault guess I have to fix things well then what am I waiting for let's go fight against an army of some of the strongest magic users in all of history whose powers I don't even know I'm sure this will be a most entertaining month or two and maybe we'll even have a couple villages standing by the end of it," she blurted out.
Celestia smiled. "I see you've finally made up your mind then. Go now, my student."
Twilight grabbed one of Celestia's hooves with her own and gave a twisted smile. "You're coming with me."
The two vanished from the room in a flash of light.
The town was a mess, as Twilight had expected it to be. Buildings destroyed or on fire, ponies running and screaming, and a number of unicorns teleporting around. Though not all of them seemed intent on destroying things. In fact, most appeared simply curious about their surroundings, looking around and taking stuff apart with their magic to figure out how it worked. A perfectly natural reaction, Twilight thought, given how long they'd been away from Equestria.
The destruction seemed to be mostly caused by a smaller group of unicorns. Some were blasting magic at the buildings, some were setting things on fire, some were launching objects around. Twilight caught sight of the black one who had spoken to Celestia before teleporting away teleporting between some of the more violent ones and talking to them. As she looked at the scene, she realised not all the unicorns who had come out of the box were there, and in fact the number of those present seemed to steadily diminish as they teleported away.
"Twilight, I think they're running away," Celestia said, feeling the irresistible need to state the obvious.
Twilight grunted and smacked a hoof against her face. "I can see that! Do something!"
Celestia looked at her, then walked to a nearby pile of rubble, sat down and began to pile rocks in order to build a small tower.
Twilight gave a wordless scream. "Something useful!"
Celestia stopped and turned around, still sitting. "Like what?"
"Containment spells! Call your guards! Issue some warning for the citizens! A list of the ponies we're looking for and what their powers are! Try to catch some of your students before they all run away!" Twilight's front hooves flailed desperately above her head.
"Oh." The alicorn got up, then teleported away. She reappeared a second after, the black metal box on her back, a group of armoured guards around her. A protective magical barrier rose over the city, and all citizens were teleported inside the still stable buildings as the barrier spread around them as well, while simultaneously pulling every unicorn that had once been her student out of those buildings. As it crept over the fires, the barrier extinguished them.
Twilight looked at her. "Oh. I... Thanks, I guess."
Celestia smiled. "I've trapped all the unicorns that were still in Canterlot here. The bubble will progressively shrink, and I've already ordered more of my guards to come help us. Luna is unfortunately away from the city. Now we just need to seal them back in here," she said, holding up the box in a hoof.
A black blast of magic hit the box, which fell to the ground and began to melt and twist and crumble.
Twilight looked at it, then at the unicorn who had fired the blast, now smiling to himself.
Celestia looked at the box. "Okay. Change that to now we just need to seal them... somewhere." She looked around. Some of her students were trying to destroy the barrier, others had noticed her presence and were slowly surrounding them. "Guards? In position," she commanded.
As soon as she'd spoken, the guards around them spread out in a circular pattern and readied themselves, unicorns raising their horns and charging spells, some preparing nets to throw to capture the fugitives. Celestia took her place amongst them, Twilight moving to stand at her side.
"So what's the plan?" the younger alicorn asked, magic lighting her own horn as she studied the unicorns slowly circling and observing them.
Celestia didn't answer.
Twilight looked up, to see the white alicorn was pursing her lips, gulping as her eyes nervously darted around. "You... don't have a plan, right?" the purple princess asked in a flat tone.
Celestia swallowed and gave a small cough.
Twilight exhaled, rolling her eyes. "Want me to help?"
One of Celestia's past students shot a blast, and Twilight narrowly managed to deflect it before it hit one of the guards.
"Well..." Celestia began.
Twilight donned an unamused expression. "Could you at least tell me what we're up against? You're the one who's supposed to know what each one of them can do."
Celestia gave another brief cough. "Yeah, about that. So, let's see." She lifted a hoof and began to point at the unicorns surrounding them. "That one freezes things. That one shoots lightning. That one has a great talent for mixing drinks. And also telekinesis, I guess. That one I'm not actually sure, something to do with ants I think? That one's got a great singing voice, and-" Her mouth was sealed shut by Twilight's magic.
The purple alicorn took a series of deep breaths to calm herself down. "Okay, listen here, everypony," she spoke to the guards. "The most important thing is making sure they don't band together. We might be even able to talk to some of them, but if they start working with each other we'll never beat them. Celestia, can you use the same containment spell you used for the box?"
Celestia shook her head. "I'd need time to find an appropriate container to enchant," she explained.
"Then we'll have to catch them individually. Are the nets anti-magic?"
"Yes ma'am!" one of the guards replied.
More and more unicorns moved towards them, some simply curious, some ill-intentioned, some willing to go as far as needed to escape from the containment barrier.
Twilight blinked once, trying to concentrate. "Let's see. First thing first we should-"
All the guards around them fell asleep on the spot.
Twilight looked up to see a grey unicorn sliding away behind a building. Her eyes flashed to Celestia. "You had a student who can do that? And you didn't think about bringing it up? And you brought in guards when you knew that would happen?"
Celestia rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof, teleporting all the sleeping guards away.
Twilight looked back at the unicorns surrounding them. "Well, at this point-"
The barrier shattered. As soon as it did, almost all unicorns teleported away, disappearing completely from their sight. Rain reached the ground, and Twilight felt it sting on her skin, magic clearly infused in it. The ponies inside the buildings fell asleep too.
The only unicorns left were the black one who had spoken to Celestia, and a purple one he was now whispering to. The black one finished talking, then teleported away with a last look at Twilight, leaving only the purple one behind, horn pointed at the alicorns.
