Twilight stood in the heavy doorway of the dark hospital room, knocking on the heavy metal door. “Hello? What’s taking so long?”
“Sorry about the wait. I just finished. He’s ready to see you. Page me when you’re ready to leave.” The nurse bowed, exiting the room and closing the door behind Twilight.
Twilight approached the bed, glaring at the disgraced pony in the iron lung. A raspy noise permeated the room each time he strained to take in a breath and an IV slowly dripped fluids and healing medicines into his body. Small head movements from the traitor indicated that she should come closer, and she slowly did. A few final steps brought her into the light of Luna’s moon, which also illuminated Towers’ face.
“How are you faring, young alicorn?”
Twilight turned her head away from the little puddle of drool forming on his pillow. “My initial training is complete if that’s what you’re asking. Yet I doubt you asked me here to make small talk. But, that leads me to my first question. I was told you didn’t spill about my ascension to anypony else. Why?”
“Because I didn’t believe it until you told me.”
Twilight’s eyes went wide. “What!?”
“Was a hunch. Putting together pieces. Here and there. Thought it possible, but… I was about to order… my most loyal soldiers to turn traitor. Couldn’t break… their trust, make them think I’m mad… I needed confirmation… before I said anything to them… Or especially anything to my benefactors…” He breathed in again. The sound was already grating on Twilight’s nerves. “They were already… Questioning my competence… They were right. You surprised them, probably. By surviving.”
“‘Them?’ Who, exactly?”
“Who indeed… Ponies ‘in charge’ of me… middle ponies? Maybe fall ponies, now. Can’t say for sure…”
“Who!?” Twilight glared at him, stomping a hoof.
“Very smart ponies. Used memory wipe spells. Can’t remember names, faces.” Another breath. “Thought their plans good for Equestria. Still do. But, are those their true intentions? I don’t know now.”
Twilight facehooved. Memory-altering spells! Damnit, that’s why nopony knows who they are. You meet them, but you never remember anything! “You mention ‘plans,’ but you sound uncertain now. Do you think they told you what you wanted to hear?”
He nodded with another raspy inhalation. “I think, attack was never meant to work. They wanted you dead, Celestia off balance. I was expendable.”
“Yeah, well, I’m still here.”
“I know.” His facial muscles moved with slow twitches for several seconds before giving up. “Smiling has become difficult for me.”
Twilight’s nose flared. “Somehow, I’m not terribly sympathetic. You killed ponies I know.”
“Indeed. Indeed I did. I regret that, now.”
Twilight growled and stomped a hoof on the floor, cracking the tile underneath. “It’s a little late for apologies! I don’t know what Celestia sentenced you to, but I’m not about to try to change her mind.”
“Would mean nothing. Wish to atone for my deeds. However little I can.”
She slammed her forehooves on the bed. “And you thought I would be a sympathetic ear? You. Tried. To. Kill. Me.”
“Not sympathy. Needed to give you a warning: do not trust the Inner Council.”
“And I should trust you instead?”
“Council has been… pulling power away from Celestia. If she resists, they steal more. If she relents, they take more anyway.” He coughed and gasped, spitting out mucus. “Been like this for decades. At least one councilp-p-pony… with the coup.”
A slight shiver ran down her spine, and her mouth went dry. “Who?” Even if I don’t believe him, he might reveal something worthwhile.
“If I knew… I would tell you.” He shifted around, breathing faster. “All I know… at least one. So can’t trust any.” He hacked and coughed. “Celestia does trust some… her undoing.”
“I’ve known Celestia since I got my cutie mark. She’s a good judge of character.”
He coughed violently, and the machine made a grinding sound. “No. No, she isn’t. These ponies… know her too well. Inside source… If right… She is involved with one…”
“Involved with? What do you—!” She spun around to look right in the old stallion’s eyes. “Celestia would neve—!” Brief images of Celestia having sex flashed in her mind but were quickly replaced with her words earlier. Whether that was a mercy or not, she didn’t know. “If she does, that’s her business, not mine. She’s not stupid. She’d never compromise her secrets like that. Plus, I trust her. That’s what counts most.”
“Foolish girl. She is in… over her head. Celestia alone cannot win. Luna isn’t enough either, though she does stall them.” He gasped and coughed, cringing. “She… Luna cheats. She lies, spies, and sabotages. Your enemies get frustrated. She uses their tactics… Not the rules they have with Celestia. But Celestia holds her sister back. She has to.” He coughed and twitched more, straining to breathe outside the rhythm of the machine. “Unrestrained, her deviousness would ruin… what little trust is left… between the diarchy… and the ponies. Neither are able to win. It has to be you.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “And what do you think I should do?”
“Restore the ponies’ trust in Celestia… Drive a wedge in the Council.” Towers spasmed a little, coughing up more mucus. “Drive it… between the right ponies. Some of them… on your side. Just, disagree on policy. But some of them… behind this. Or helping it. You must divide the latter. Make them fight… each other. Split them wrong way, you hurt yourself.” He took in a deep breath against the iron lung. “You’ll never win if they stay together.”
Another wave of spasms went through his body, shaking the bed and the machine.
Something’s wrong. “Are you alright? I shouldn’t be straining you like this. Calm down and breathe.” She lifted the chart and looked at it before realizing that although she understood the vast majority of the information it held, she didn’t have the medical training needed to do anything about it in context.
After a few more coughs, Towers responded. “No… Breathing not a worry for me anymore… Nurse put… angel extract… poison… in my IV.”
The chart clattered on the tile.
“Shocked… it took them this long… to kill me. I’m glad we… we could talk.”
“I’ll call a doctor. That poison has an antidote! They have to have some!” She started to the door.
“Not when… it’s intravenous. No antidote, then.”
His words stopped her in her tracks. “I… I can try a healing spell!”
He shook and spasmed, coughing up blood. “Angel extract cannot be--” He turned his head, hacking mucus and blood onto the floor. “Cannot be healed away. Poison… works too quickly. It’s too late now.” Another spasm tore through his body, straining his body against his restraints.
She grabbed him with magic to try and still his movements, even going so far as to add her hooves to the mix. “What do I do?” She shivered.
A few more coughs and the wave settled down, leaving the stallion sagging. “Training… can’t prepare you… for everything… girl… If you… have kindness… left… morphine… in table… use it…”
She rushed to the table next to the bed and rummaged through various medical supplies before finding a bottle labelled ‘morphine’ and some empty syringes, picking one of the latter up. “How much do I use?”
“Dying… as much as… you like…”
She dropped the syringe and picked up a much larger one from the drawer then froze. Am I really going to… She looked back to Towers, wincing at the dark trail of blood oozing from his nose. Her ears went flat against her head, and she picked up the morphine.
Twilight’s telekinetic field shook and flickered, shaking the bottle. Sucking on her upper lip, she lined up the needle and slipped it into the bottle. She pulled back on the stopper, the clear liquid slowly filling the syringe. She took a deep breath and unscrewed the needle. When the syringe’s open tip met the catheter in the IV, her heart started pounding like a series of bombs going off. Her legs shook she buckled to the floor, tears welling up in her eyes. Brushing them out with a forehoof, she connected the syringe to the drip.
Towers shook and convulsed again, coughing and throwing up off to the other side. “Hurry, girl! I can’t… I—”
Her teeth were ready to crumble from her tightly clenched jaw and her forelegs pushed her back up then locked tight. Closing her eyes with the force of a vice, tears fell all the way down her chin as the plunger began to push forward. Twenty-five percent. Dose equivalent, seven hundred fifty milligrams.
Twilight peeked with one eye to make sure she still had hold of the needle and ground her teeth even more as she pushed the plunger in more. Sixty percent. One-point-eight grams. That could be a lethal dose… I… How do I…?
The iron lung began to clatter and grind again as Towers shook and jolted.
Twilight pushed the plunger almost all the way down in one swift motion, trying to swallow, but her throat was completely dry. Two-point-seven grams.
Tower finally began to calm down, his muscles slowing along with his lungs. A puddle of mucus, pus, blood, and vomit lay on the floor next to the bed. She looked at the last ten percent of the drug in the syringe and pushed it in with a slight exhale.
“Thank you… kind girl… merciful ascendant… Don’t lose that spark…” He began to sing ever so softly, a whisper. “Angels from above… sweep thee to rest… Sing the judgement… of the highest…”
“W-what are you singing? Towers?” She pressed her hoof against him, shaking him gently. No… I couldn’t…
She sat there, crying and watching the moon move across the window for some time, water streaming down her face. “I… I…” Every word she tried died in her mouth. Time ticked on in silence. Every breath was a reminder that the pony before her wasn’t breathing, nor moving. Her eyes, still filled with tears, blinked, and she saw him with her magic sight.
His wellspring was gone.
She ran out the door at a full gallop.
Wind tore at Twilight’s eyes, but not from the weather. It was just the air moving past her as she rocketed through the castle on nothing but her four hooves, her limbs propelling her fast enough to streak the tears from her eyes and fling them behind her. A small trail of salt water marked her path through the halls.
She had been heading back to Celestia’s chambers, her path being followed on habit and instinct. She didn’t need to get that far. A white blob topped with wavy pastel colors passed into her water-obscured vision, and she changed direction to run right at it. When she stopped, she didn’t slow. She just put all of her hooves on the ground and sat down, sliding right into the mass of luxurious white hair.
“Twilight?” Celestia asked. “Twilight, what’s wrong?”
Twilight panted, in and out, over and over while she fought back the tears, but it was like trying to fight the tide.
“Something’s not right. I wouldn’t have expected Towers to be able to break her.” She couldn’t see her clearly, but Luna sounded like her ‘public’ self again.
“Twilight, please. Steel yourself. What happened?” Celestia’s wings draped over her.
“Princess… Princess, I had no choice…” She sniffled. “I killed him!”
“What!?” The Princesses asked in unison.
“He was poisoned! I had to!” She cringed and yelled at once, her face drenched in tears. “He was convulsing and there was blood everywhere and… and… I used the morphine…”
Celestia stomped her hoof. “Luna, investigate this. You have the Day Guard’s authority on this matter.”
Luna gave a small bow. “Of course, Sister.” Her mane whipped into a frenzy, and just like that, she was gone.
A gold-clad hoof embraced her as a teleportation spell swallowed them both. “Come, Twilight. It will be okay. Tell me everything.”
“And then he stopped moving, and I ran. I ran like a coward.” Twilight finished her story for the tenth time. A pile of tissues surrounded them, along with more buckets of sherbet and a half-eaten cake.
Celestia’s ethereal mane shifted direction, wafting over Twilight along with her giant wing. “Taking a life is never an easy thing. It never feels ‘good.’ It should never feel good. I know Luna tried to prepare you, but that’s not something anyone is ever truly ready for.”
Twilight nodded. “I think that’s why she used the illusion spell on the golems. Made them look like ‘real’ ponies. But this…”
“Is different, I know. Although Towers was once an enemy combatant, here he was utterly helpless. It would be more surprising, and troubling, if you didn’t experience such turmoil. Given his state, it’s natural for your instinct to want to be his protector even though you might have also hated him for what he did.”
Twilight put her hooves on top of her head. “Sometimes it’s amazing how well you understand…” Warm, white feathers stroked along her back.
“It’s something else when you have to take the life of a pony that is threatening you or loved ones. The same alicorn instinct that compels us to protect our ponies provides a type of psychological cover for times when our ponies are in trouble. The thing you must be careful of is not being unable to fight for your ponies sake but rather falling down a slippery slope of justifications to kill when you need not. I will help you with that. Luna will, too. We, sadly, have experience that will help you.”
“Ugh…” Twilight flopped her head down on the pillow. “I did not want to hear that. Me? A Nightmare? I couldn’t stop myself with Towers. I even wound up killing him even if it was a ‘mercy’ as you say. How am I supposed to calm myself after all of this?”
“Hmm…” Celestia scratched her chin with a primary feather.
“I mean, what if I kill somepony in a fight, and then I freeze up?”
Celestia nodded. “Well, normally adrenaline can help keep you—“
“And then there’s the fact that I thought of that first instead of worrying about the fact that I might have to kill in the first place. What if I start and I can’t stop myself? What if I become a monster?”
The wing hugged her again. “Oh, Twilight, I don’t think—“
“I know that some soldiers have difficulty differentiating between civilian life and the battlefield after traumatic experiences when they’re under stress. What if that happens to me? Or worse, you know how my head is. I can’t unlearn things, and they really like to stick with me. If I really do become proficient at fighting, what if that’s what I try to do all the time?”
“Twilight…”
Twilight buried her head in between her forelegs. “Luna’s always so aggressive. What if I become like her? I mean, she seems to be well restrained most of the time, but the way she talks? It’s like she doesn’t even care about who she’s hurting, even though I know that makes me sound silly when they’re trying to kill her as well. Why do ponies even do this?”
“Twilight…”
She groaned and ducked her head even farther down. “What if I lose all feeling when I fight and just go on a rampage and wind up hurting somepony innocent? What if I start to enjoy it? What if I wind up becoming a Nightmare?”
“Twilight…”
Twilight gasped. “What if I figure out a way to become immune from the Elements!? What if I’m an unstoppable monster that locks the world in a perpetual sunset!? What if I send you to the sun and Luna to the moon in a fit of illogical rage and maniacal laughter and enslave everypony for a thousand years!? What if I—“
A gold glow surrounded her muzzle, locking it open just in time for a large slice of vanilla cake to shove itself into her mouth.
Twilight looked up at her mentor, who was wearing a skeptically raised eyebrow and an ever so slight grin. Lowering her ears, she chewed on the cake and swallowed it, leaving an aftertaste of lemon and vanilla.
“Sorry… I was freaking out again, wasn’t I?” She curled her tail around to grab and stroke it with her forehooves. “Sorry…”
“As I said, it’s normal to be distraught, Twilight.” Celestia leaned down and gave her a slight nuzzle. “But yes, you were freaking out a little more than was, shall we say, logical.”
Twilight blinked. “So… you shoved some cake in my mouth?”
“Well, it always helps me.” Celestia winked. “Although that does usually lead to Luna teasing me a little over it. Truth be told, though, I think she’s just jealous. She couldn’t gain weight if she tried. But, that’s getting off topic. You want reassurance that you won’t become a monster.”
Twilight nodded and put her head back down, shivering.
The wing gripped her tight. “Twilight, you will not become a monster. You are a kind, wonderful pony, and the fact that you’re worried about it at all means just that. Trust me.”
“I do trust you.” Twilight sighed, leaning into her mentor. “I just wish I trusted myself more.”
Celestia looked off towards her closet. “It is in your nature to be worried about things, but I have confidence in you. Yet I gather you’re looking for something more than those words, and I may have something that can help. While the world and I recovered from the Lunar Rebellions, a Zebrican ambassador gave me a gift. Well, several gifts, but the most important one was this.” She lit her horn, and something ruffled in her closet before a small necklace floated over and landed in front of Twilight.
The necklace itself was mere string, but the jewel on it was anything but ordinary. A large, cylindrical emerald coiled over and over in a spiral, and a faint glow ran outward from its center.
“It looks like something Zecora would use to hypnotize somepony.” Twilight deadpanned. “Wait, something else…” She squinted, and the leylines within the object became visible.
“Oh ho, I see you’re beginning to see it now.” Celestia chuckled.
“It’s a core! A cored artifact! A small one, and the tiny bit of gold on it is the least amount of magically conductive material I’ve ever seen on something like this, but it’s definitely a core. What’s it used for?”
“Meditation,” Celestia said, giving her a small nuzzle. “It helps the mind focus. Normally such things are a mere placebo, but this, I can assure you, is authentic.”
Twilight sighed. “Then it’s useless for me. You know I can’t meditate. I’ve never been able to do that. I have to focus on something, even if it’s trivial. I’m just not capable of ‘emptying my mind.’”
“Give it—”
“Give it a try, I know, I know.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “It’s what you always say. And I always try, and I always fail.” She sighed. “But, here I go again anyway.”
Twilight put the gem down and stared at it. She stared at it like it was the only thing in the room, despite the wing over her back, the bed under her, and the slight wind from the balcony and all the other things distracting her. Naturally, this was a process that needed the utmost of focus. …And there’s no way this is going to work. “Sorry, Princess,” she said, lowering her ears.
Celestia leaned down to her. “Hold it in your magic, and try again.”
Twilight sighed. “Okay, here goes.” She did as she was told, lifting it up in front of her face with her magic. The little, glowing sparks in the gem sped up, swirling around. That’s an interesting reaction… She focused in on the gem, following its reaction as it swirled around, carefully monitoring each… little… change…
Twilight yawned, twitching her ears at the strange “whooshing” sound going through them, but elected to keep her eyes shut as she tried to find a more comfortable position on the… whatever it was she was lying on.
You’re not supposed to be here yet. I’m not ready for you.
Her eye popped open at the sound of the voice. It was a familiar one, but she couldn’t place it. This, however, radically dropped in priority to what she saw.
She was in the air or, perhaps more accurately, the sky. That is to say, she was very, very high up in the sky. She was also screaming and flailing her limbs about, flapping her legs like they were wings and getting nowhere. In particular, this last truth was slowly starting to creep into her mind. She was going nowhere, which meant that she was actually not falling to her high-velocity, splatter-filled doom.
Once she realized this, she blinked exactly three times and then stopped moving, followed by looking down. She was still very, very high up in the air and was most certainly not on anything soft, fluffy, and supportive like a cloud. The fact that she now thought of clouds as supportive didn’t enter her mind. Far more important was where she was and why she wasn’t falling.
With a little grunt, Twilight flipped herself over and stood up… on nothing. She was literally standing in midair. Far below her was a small patch of ground visible through a modest hole in the clouds. She could see the greenery in the sunlight, though the trees were mere specks.
The noise of the air was creeping back into the forefront of her mind now. She felt little wind on her face, but this place sounded like a hurricane, and she was in the eye. It wasn’t anything so simple as a thunderstorm or a hurricane. A torrent of wind swirled around her as if she was in the center of a tornado that reached all the way to the stars. The clouds had patches of white, dark blue, and everything in between, yet no black. She watched as it circled her, drifting to the very top of the funnel to make another realization.
There was no sun in the sky.
Sure, the ground below her was bathed in sunlight, and the clouds around her screamed ‘daytime,’ but the opening at the top of this place was all night. A black and dark purple heaven hung above her with little violet stars dotted through. Yet she could only see a maybe twenty degrees worth from the opening of the funnel.
“So…” she muttered to herself. “Just what happened? This isn’t meditation. It’s more like, hypnosis? No, that’s not quite right either.” Perhaps it’s more like a psychotic episode.
The thoughts in her head yelled out into the air rather than stayed put, echoing across the entire skyscape.
Oooookay, guess nothing’s private here, her mind announced to the world.
The wind raged, but there wasn’t anything else happening. The ground below her didn’t appear to move, so she and the funnel were stationary.
A couple more moments passed with nothing but her suspended in midair surrounded by the wind.
“Well, this is boring. Hmm…” She pondered at her position. “The air is surprisingly soft. Is it influenced by the fact that I was on Celestia’s bed? Could I be in some kind of strange, reflective mental state? If that’s true, can I move around in here, maybe fffffffflllllllyyyyyyyyyiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeee!?”
She flailed her legs, dropping like a stone towards the ground. “Badideabadideabadideabadideaveryverybadidea!”
Revisualize the surface underneath you! the voice from before yelled.
Twilight was not in the habit of hearing, much less listening to strange, disembodied voices. This one odd instance, however, was extreme enough to break both of those rules.
“Pleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohplease…” She quickly thought of the air itself as a cloud or bed or something, anything.
Her fall came to a sudden stop as a cloud materialized under her, miraculously cushioning her fall enough to avoid broken legs. Twilight decided to take this in the best way possible.
She hugged the cloud and started kissing it. “Yes! Mwuah! Yes! Oh, thank you, little cloud! Thank you for being illogically solid in the face of all physics! And thank you, pegasus magic! Thank you!”
You cannot be injured here except by yourself. Please don’t do that.
Twilight frowned a little. Hearing voices was very much not something she wanted to add to her list of abilities she kept in her diary. However, as long as it was being obviously helpful, she chose to ignore this inconvenient fact as she grumbled and sat up on her newfound surface.
“Okay, let’s stop dawdling. Why am I here again? Oh, right, Towers, meditation, that stuff.”
The sky around her grew darker.
“Ugh!” She grabbed her head with her hooves. “Stupid Towers. Stupid rebellion. Stupid everything. Why’d he have to go and get poisoned in front of me? Couldn’t he have waited a few moments!?” She gritted her teeth and slowly inhaled. Okay, now I’m just being unreasonable.
She sighed and flopped on her cloud. Tears fell from her eyes as the surroundings grew ever more somber. “What would it have taken to see what that nurse was doing… No, I can’t think like that. I can’t think I’m supposed to be perfect. Celestia’s already taught me that. And I can’t just be suspicious of everypony. That’s not what she taught me, either. It’s just…”
She sighed again and let the feelings flow. If there was anypony below her, they might’ve felt her tears as rain. Even the clouds around her looked like a storm now, and the day was fading. Her heart sat there with her, sobbing.
It will be okay…
“Thank you, strange voice.” Twilight chuckled. “I guess I do feel better… and… rested, I suppose. I can’t bring Towers back, but I can still try to figure out what’s really going on.”
Thunder rumbled in the background.
“And hopefully keep more from being hurt. Hopefully.”
Although she couldn’t see a sun, she could feel its warmth growing stronger, and the light overwhelmed her.
Twilight stretched out and yawned, pushing her hooves against Celestia’s bed.
Celestia’s bed! She snapped open her eyes and quickly looked around, and everything was as it had been when she tried ‘meditation.’ However, there was a critical difference. There were now a couple of tables filled with mostly eaten food, save for one large salad in front of her that hadn’t been touched.
“Aha, you’re awake! Well, technically you were never asleep, but I do find the gem’s meditation to be restful. How are you feeling?”
Twilight turned her head to see Celestia dining on some vanilla cake and smiling at her.
“I feel… better,” Twilight said, feeling the cues from her body. “A little sore, a little tired. But also rested and… calmer? What was that?”
Celestia bit down on another piece of cake. “It is said that the jewel is a mirror for the mind’s eye. What each pony sees in it is unique, personal. I myself find it to be a wonderful stress-reliever. Keep it. You may just find it useful in the future.”
“I heard voices,” Twilight deadpanned. “Not what I would normally classify as ‘stress-relieving.’”
Celetia laughed, covering her mouth with a napkin. “Well, that must have been interesting. I wouldn’t worry too much about it, though. Again, each pony is unique. You should reflect on it on your own, however. I shouldn’t taint your interpretation with my own ideas. This is all up to you.”
Twilight sighed. “I was afraid of that. Well, I suppose I should get up and—” She glanced out the window, seeing the sun already almost completely under the horizon. “How long was I out?”
“Several hours, my student. Such is natural, and in each instance you use it, the timespan should decrease. I actually left and performed more duties in the Council, lowered the sun, and returned to find you still entranced. Then, I ordered us dinner. And, well, ate mine.”
Twilight glanced at the salad in front of her, and her stomach grumbled. “Okay, I guess I could eat.”
“Good plan.” Celestia winked. “Although I’m afraid I have to get back to the Empyreal Hall. They’re all panicking over what to do now that they can’t strip Shining, or Obsidian, of his crown anymore. They’ve tried every parliamentary trick in the book at this point, but the compact is absolute. I think they’re finally giving up and going on to new business. After that I have to visit the war room to discuss these memory wipe spells. That’s a possibility we hadn’t considered yet.”
“Ah.” She poked at her salad. “What about Luna?”
Celestia froze for a moment. “We… talked. It went better than I expected, but there are still raw feelings there. We came to an agreement that I would include her more in planning but that she should trust my judgement on them.”
“And what are your plans?” Twilight instantly regretted asking it. “Sorry, sorry! I know that’s not for—”
“No,” Celestia interrupted. “You may know if you like. I don’t have much time to go into details, but Luna made a very astute observation, even if she didn’t realize it at the time. Certain members of the Council have been attacking my strengths in the court of public opinion, and politics is different from a physical battle. In Luna’s fights, she looks for vulnerabilities. My political adversaries, however, have been diminishing my strengths so that ponies perceive only weaknesses. It’s an ingenious ploy, one I intend to use myself, now, along with a few other tricks. Most important is to again try to rebuild Luna’s reputation. Turn a weakness into a strength.”
“And you think my brother might help with that?” Twilight asked. “Since he’s a ‘politician’ you molded?”
“Correct.” Celestia redonned her shoes and decorative torc. “I still think this idea of inducting him into the Night Guard is a mistake, but I believe I have something I can work with now. I can only hope Luna trains him even more thoroughly than she did you.”
“Heh. Poor BBBFF. At least he’s in shape already.” Twilight took a deep breath and sighed.
“Is there something wrong, Twilight?” Celestia stretched her back. “You look like there’s something else on your mind.”
Twilight shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I—” Her ears went flat against her head. Fool. You know she can read you better than that. “Actually, there is one thing, but…”
Celestia’s smile was so warm it practically glowed. “You can ask me, Twilight. Anything you wish to know, remember?”
Twilight nodded. “I know. This just isn’t easy to ask. Princess, do you…” She shuddered, swallowing her words. “I mean, Towers, he… He said you were compromised.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Compromised? If he means we have leaks, I already know that. We’re still looking for them.”
“No, not that…” Twilight clenched her teeth. “I mean… He meant…” She swallowed again. Damnit, filly, spit it out! “He said you had sex with a council member!”
Twilight slapped her mouth shut with both hooves, holding him there and ducking down to prepare for Celestia’s seemingly inevitable, harsh reaction.
Instead, Celestia did something Twilight had never seen her do before. She blushed.
“Oh my.” Celestia blinked and lowered her own head. “It appears I was not as discreet as I thought.”
There was no flash, nor thunder, nor smell of ozone, but Twilight still flinched as though struck by lightning. “So it’s true…”
Celestia sighed and nodded. “There is indeed a pony on the Council I have… occasional relations with. But we have a strict rule to never talk about work. It’s little more than stress relief and endorphins for the both of us. I can assure you, I am not ‘compromised.’ If anything, I try my best to make his life, politically, a living hell for it just to ensure otherwise.”
Twilight clenched her eyes shut. “Tia…”
Celestia took a step forward. “Yes, Twilight?”
“That entire room voted against my brother. Whoever you’re seeing, they voted against him.” Twilight opened her eyes, staring directly into Celestia’s pupils. “I’m not going to forget that. Not now, not ever.”
Celestia’s wings dropped a little. “I understand. Truly, I do. If you find conclusive evidence of wrongdoing by any of them, I will impeach them myself, no matter who it is, and I won’t think less of you for it. I promise.”
Twilight stood up and strode over to her. “Are you sure? I don’t want this to come between us in the future. I know you’re the one giving me my missions, but I can’t help but feel Towers was right. Somepony in the Empyreal Hall is behind this. Or at least complicit in it. I am going to go after them.”
“Twilight…” Celestia sat down, bringing herself to Twilight’s level. “I promise you. If you find out that any of the Council is behind this, I won’t care who it is. I will bring the full weight of the crown’s justice upon them, and I won’t hold you back. I am up against a wall, and you are my secret weapon. When I find an opening, I will turn you loose on them such that they will all learn the fury of the alicorns first-hoof.”
Twilight’s gaze locked onto Celestia’s magenta eyes, looking for one all-important thing. No mask. She’s telling the truth. She reached up and gave her mentor a hug. “Thank you. I needed to hear that.”
Celestia’s wings unfurled and wrapped around Twilight as the hug was returned. “I am on your side, Twilight. Always. We can’t allow these ponies to divide us. We can only win working together.”
A lone tear rolled down Twilight face. Work together. Divide the conspirators. Towers was right about that, at least. “I know. I’m sorry, I just had to know. Thank you for being honest with me.”
The two broke the hug, sharing warm smiles.
“You should probably get going to the Council before they try to pass a law or something without you. If you’re leaving, though, I guess I’m eating alone,” Twilight said, contemplating her salad.
“You may take it with you to your friends if you like.” She donned the last piece of regalia: her crown. “Speaking of, I have some good news I’ve been meaning to share! While you were in training, we began construction on a new fort in Ponyville, equipped with a royal residence just for you. It’s getting close to finished already.”
Twilight blinked. “A royal re— You mean I’m moving out of the library? Although, I suppose a Grand Mage living in a tree isn’t the most normal thing…”
Celestia nodded. “Your tree is also unsecured, unlike the fort. This way, you may live either here or there at the fort as you please when you aren’t out and about. My, or rather our, servants have already started moving your things. The fort itself was actually supposed to be started sooner, but General Blueblood raised a fuss over its design in light of the attack. I half expected him to quibble over the bits, but he actually wanted to expand it. The new design has a catastrophe bunker for the whole town populace now, and he plans to install anti-airship cannons.”
“Aaaahhh, in case another fake Bellerophon comes around, they can try to shoot it down before it even gets to Canterlot. I’m guessing he’s putting in similar forts in the other towns in the area so they can catch things at any angle.” Twilight smiled. “I think I may have misjudged him. He’s just so…”
“Serious? Yes, he is.” Celestia opened her chamber doors and stepped into the archway. “But his heart is in the right place. Anyway, relax for tonight, see your friends, tell them what happened. Shed more tears if you must, for you will need your strength for your coming mission. I’ll make sure the Council can’t pull anymore surprises today. Tomorrow, you and Obsidian can both go visit your parents, and we’ll go through the final ceremony to formally install you as Grand Mage.”
Twilight fell backwards onto the bed. “I do not want to do that. The parents thing, I mean.”
“We had a deal, Twilight. I talk with Luna, and you talk with your parents.” Celestia chuckled.
“I know, I know. I’ll do it. Doesn’t mean it’s not going to suck.”
Yes! Glad to see this up. I will say that I love what you did here and I can't wait to see what everyone else thinks of it. Mmmm, you have to love it when something like this happens.
Towers death here was a bit unexpected but I think it worked well to help drive along the plot with the Inner Council. Meeting the parents should be interesting.
Love it, but I'm a bit worried. I sometimes have trouble enjoying political intrigue fics, but considering this so far, I'm pretty sure it's going to be awesome
I gotta feel bad for Towers. He was a bad person, but that was a worse way to die.
So... I rather enjoyed seeing Twilight thrown into a situation outside of her comfort zone. I think it will be interesting to see how she treats it later.
Also, inner voice that she heard? Going to call it as her subconscious that is partially self aware.
Great chapter.
Nitpicks:
that leads me to me first question.
my first question
anti-airship canons
cannons
Actually I wanna get to the meeting with the parents part. Action and Adventure are a dime a dozen, quality world building and interactions are far more rare and entertaining.
Oh, wow. This was a gorgeous update. Really felt for Twilight (and Towers, against all odds) - and I wonder when we're next going to hear this 'ascendancy' voice?
Also, so amused at Twilight's innocence. x3 So amused.
4286816 Fixed. Thanks!
Well, it's a pity about the delay of the next chapter, and the reason for it, but I'm no stranger to waiting for story updates. I hope that your hands are better soon anyway, though!
I know it likely has nothing to do with this, but the way that guy talked reminded me of Mordin. Mordin Solus? Mass Effect 2? The good one?! Anybody? Dammit.
4287262 Wasn't meant to be fast like him, though. X) It was mean to be slow and pained, skipping words so he didn't have to exert himself as much.
Twilight is prepared this time and soon her enemies will find out just how badly they just fooked up.
giggity
giggity
giggity
Great stuff!
I hope we can see the next chapters soon, even if they're a little rough around the edges.
Hope your hand feels better soon!
Well, technically Blueblood didn't, but then I somewhat doubt its him that Celestia is sleeping with occasionally, heh.
The talk between Towers and Twilight was a good little piece of insight in how these ponies operate, even if it did introduce an element I am not particularly fond of - memory wipe feels like it's just a hair's breath from memory alteration or outright mind-control, and that has to be the cheapest and most effortless trick in the book there is for constructing conspiracies, so I sincerely hope things never venture beyond simple memory wipes.
Speaking of Towers though, why didn't he inform Twilight sooner that he was poisoned? (There's no telling what Celestia or Luna might have been able to do for him, if they got there fast enough). Or did he miss that himself at first, until it was already too late? At any rate, at least they have a lead to follow now - the nurse. Tracking her down shouldn't be too hard, assuming she hasn't already been "removed", and then it's a matter of picking apart her mind - and even if she has been memory wiped as well, I'd bet on Luna being able to piece something together regardless - I imagine there is no greater specialist of mind magic than her around.
And so Twilight ended up taking her first life, even if it was a mercy killing. A harsh lesson to be sure, but I can't help but feel it a beneficial development for her overall, considering the situation they find themselves in - her having to take a life on battlefield is a very real (and probably not too distant) possibility, and now she will be at least a little bit better prepared for it and the aftereffects. Not quite the same obviously, but still better than nothing - like Twilight said, she can't afford to freeze up.
And Twilight's getting a whole fort built for herself, heh? I'm not necessarily convinced it's all that more defensible than her treehouse - if they invaded Canterlot, then a dingy fort at Ponyville is going to be nothing, and Twilight might be better served trying to hold a small area - her magic is her biggest strength, and soldiers might not be reliable ... but the civilian shelter is a good thing, yeah. It's also good to see Blueblood doing something right for a change.
Regarding Twilight's "meditation" though - as amusing as watching her flail around is, I can't help but feel that's a bit misplaced. As we have seen in the show, Twilight can self-levitate after all, and has used it to catch herself from going "splat" before, so I imagine that should she find herself in a free fall, again, she would be reasonably quick to try and catch herself. That aside, looking towards her conversation with her parents and the return to Ponyville (assuming that doesn't get derailed). Seeing what Luna uncovers and plots during her investigation would be nice as well.
4287620
Oh ho ho ho, just you wait!
Twilight: "I just wish I trusted myself more."
Celestia: "Twilight, believe in the me who believes in you."
I really like this Blueblood, he's still a spoiled rich kid but he has principles, honor, and he knows when and how to protect his people and, more importantly, himself. I also think I can understand why he would treat Rarity the way he did, I mean here comes this mare he's never met before who wants to marry him because he is a handsome prince. I hope you heal quickly.
An interesting update!
ObStyleNitpick: Reading this chapter (and re-reading the previous one), you seem to be a fan of the "shed a single tear" convention. I've yet to see that ever actually happen when anyone cries (tears tend to attack in packs), so it might be worth considering ways to tweak that prose (while conveying the same emotions).
Introducing mind magic is an interesting (and very sensible) twist; it also opens a potential can of worms. If removing memories is the limit of what can be done, it isn't too game-breaking, but Towers' dialogue suggests that he thinks they might have gone farther than that with him (either implanting beliefs/trust about the conspirators' plan, or making him more suggestible so that he'd take verbal assurances about the plan at face value). If those are available, you'd easily be able to subvert people who otherwise wouldn't be corruptible: modify key beliefs and memories so that your desired course of action seems justified, and they'll become willing partners. You could also easily perform character assassination this way, by implanting memories of an opponent doing something unforgivable, or even just implanting a feeling of irrational mistrust to keep certain people from cooperating with each other.
Long story short, I hope you've put a lot of thought into what the limits are to mind magic and what could be done with the spells that you've decided are possible, because it's very easy to write yourself into a corner when that kind of capability is on the table.
I look forward to future chapters!
4287620
Perhaps he felt that this was as good a way to go as any? It was relatively quick, and if he hadn't been poisoned it would still be a race to see whether the conspirators killed him or the princesses turned him to stone first.
I'm also wondering if he was just trying to talk Twilight into killing him via morphine overdose, to sidestep both of those scenarios. It's an interesting possibility, though I'm inclined to take his poisoning at face value.
For my own reference, when was this? I don't recall it happening in S1 or S2 (or the first two episodes of S3), and it's something that would have been very handy to have been able to do during the "leap of faith" scene in "Feeling Pinkie Keen". That said, I'm less familiar with S3 and S4. I assume it was introduced some time during S3?
I suppose that I'm wondering most about that voice. Who could have been talking to Twilight? Magic Itself?
Regarding Towers' revelations, I suspect that Celestia has become a bit overconfident. Maybe Luna has returned to the scene just in time to save her older sister from herself and her increasingly self-delusional certainty that she's got everything under control.
4287767 4287620 wrong Blueblood. This is the grandpa - the General. ;)
Prince Blueblood is NOT a General. He's a spoiled rich kid and would get DESTROYED in a fight with any of the Generals. I mean worse than curb stomp level destroyed here.
Grand General Blueblood is also a noble, but with the rank of Count, which is much lower than a Prince or Duke. He's the Prince's grandfather.
4287620 Remember to not count S3+ eps. Self-levitation via mere TK is not possible in Rites. She does have other reasons to not fear a fall, I'll grant you that. In the 'real world,' falls are nothing to her. But this was sudden, in a realm she knew to have odd rules, and to be frank she was a lot more frazzled than normal.
4287804 on the nitpick, I hadn't noticed that. I'll try to use it less but that's the kind of thing that slips my notice VERY easily. :(
4288003
On self levitation... she used something like it on six ponies at once, combined with a shield bubble and a teleport, just before they Tactical Rainbow Strike'd Discord. I don't care all that much, just nitpicking.
Also, the inner mind and mysterious voice have me thinking back to this:
s1.zerochan.net/Zangetsu.600.40752.jpg
"Twilight! Say my name!"
I hope I remember that thought for if/when she meets the source of the voice and/or utilizes the inner mind in a fight. So I can write a silly omake where it does actually result in Huge Badass Sword. Been forever since I read Bleach though.
My jaw dropped when I read the part where Tower tells Twilight that Celestia sometimes has sex with a council member, and I also like "Oh shit!" When Twilight tells Celestia about her having sex with the member, but good it turns out alright.
Something bothers me. I can accept the power play, the erosion of Celestia's reputation, all the political maneuvering... but why now? After centuries of relative stability, why do the conspirators choose now to supplant Celestia? How did she stay in power for so long if she can't cope with this kind of character assassination? Why are the ponies listening to the attacks on her?
More than anything, the timeframe bothers me. Celestia doesn't feel like she's been ruling a nation for centuries. For all of her planning and maneuvering, she feels terribly unobservant and ineffectual. It just feels like she should have more experience than this.
I've probably made this same complaint before, and it's entirely possible this has been explained in a part of the story I've forgotten about. If so, I'm sorry. If not, it needs to be addressed diegetically.
A great chapter, aside from that brain itch. I look forward to more.
and yet more giving me the feeling that charlegemane is definatly evil...
seriously though, that they got this powerful is more celestias chosen blindness then anything else, there is being lenient, there is being peaceful, there is letting ponies find there own way
then theres just standing back tht borders on the imbicilic.
4287978
Aaaah, I've been imagining the wrong Blueblood in the council this entire time, too, then. That changes some things.
4289010 No, it's Prince Blueblood in the Council. General Blueblood was mentioned here.
Well this was wonderful.
4288089
That happened in S1E02 as well, when they zapped Nightmare Moon, and in Cutie Mark Chronicles, when Twilight overloaded her magic as a filly. It seems to be something that happens only when ludicrous amounts of magic are involved - not something that she can do voluntarily or in anything short of an "entire power of the elements passing through me" situation.
That said, it's possible that she demonstrated a voluntary ability like than in S3/S4 and I missed it. The gravity-flip is the only one that I actually saw, but my knowledge of S3/S4 is incomplete.
4288415
Bear in mind that most of that thousand years has been fairly stable. They were in social and technological stasis, with both only changing very slowly, and Celestia was the only major player on the board.
Then, all of a sudden, the world almost ends twice, and there's a new princess, and an almost-successful invasion.
She was in a groove, playing a game she'd carefully guided into a pattern that she could manage, and then got catapulted so far out of that groove that it isn't even on the horizon any more. She's probably as out of practice adapting to radically changed situations as she is sharing info with Luna.
Some of her statements in Ch22 reflect this idea (she's trashing an entire desk full of plans that she's been relying on for centuries).
It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.
4287812
Twilight's self-levitation actually happened in Season 3, episode 2 - when she descends the hidden staircase in the crystal palace's throne room (right before that door of fear thingy), some of the stairway crumbles away and she trips, bounces down the stairway but catches herself before she hits the ground, keeps herself levitated upside down for a few seconds while yelling back to Spike that she's OK, then teleports herself down to the ground, righting herself in the process (she was upside down while hanging herself in the air, so she can actually change the way she is facing during a teleport as well).
Best guess as to why she didn't use that while running from the Hydra? *Shrug* Probably hadn't quite mastered it yet at the time - I assume that might be more tricky than regular levitation of other objects, and Twilight has been growing stronger/better at magic as the show goes on after all.
At the start of the series, teleporting a few meters (like she does with AJ during the applebuck season episode) seems to take a few moments of dedicated concentration and buildup, while later in the show (before leaving to the Crystal Empire) she can bound around like a pinball instantaneously with no strain while doing a song-and-dance routine at the same time.
Likewise with TK, she was straining with the Ursa and that water tower she levitated during season 1 (should be around a couple hundred tons or so), while later in the show, during the Mare-Do-Well episode, considering the amount of broken dam she had to levitate back in place (not even touching on holding said pieces in place against the onrushing river), that should be somewhere around the 150 000 tons range (yeah, a pretty big leap ).
So ... personal guess - she hadn't quite mastered it yet during the hydra incident.
4288003
Gotcha. Though yeah, even if you have decided to rule out self-levitation, I imagine in "real world" she could have used the gravity reversal spell at the very least as a stop-gap measure before coming up with a better solution (or her flaming hooves thingy, though that would bounce her straight back up in the air, heh).
Hm ... now that I think about it, couldn't she use her gravity altering spell to simulate flying, in a reckless sort of way? Instead of simply flipping it around, make it so that "down" relative to herself is in whichever direction she wants to go (obviously has to be airborne beforehand) and then just "fall" towards the horizon. Reckless to be sure and steering might prove an issue, but should be quite good for traversing large distances with comparatively little effort, so long as you don't ram an airship or something :P
4287978 Oh, I'm sorry I didn't get that, I thought this was the Blueblood from the show and you were just flushing him out into a more well rounded character. I don't think you ever out rite stated that this was the Blueblood from the show's grandfather but if you did or if you made it obvious and I missed than I'm sorry, if not however I might ask that you touch on that a little.
4289854 While I am going to be working on Prince Blueblood, and we saw a bit of that in the Council scene (where Prince Blueblood yelled at the Council), Grand General Blueblood is the one that Tia was talking about here. We first meet him here, in Chapter 11.
4289814 Like I said, she has a number of things at her disposal, though one in particular will stand out later. That having been said, I haven't decided if she should have the anti-gravity spell. It's certainly reckless to use, as you pointed out. Since it's in S3, I'm weary of including it, as Rites by default rejects everything from S3 and later. (Remember, there is no Crystal Empire in Rites.)
4285818
Interesting, the moment I read about the nurse taking so long and read about his dire condition before the talk, I was like "Yup, he's going to die and that nurse had something to do with it!"
The title of this chapter probably helped, too. That, or I'm just paranoid and distrusting.
4286174
Or that torc of hers? They are supposed to be bonding and doesn't she wear it everywhere? Plus, the voice said it's not ready yet, and in the earlier chapters there was something about it possibly being shy on account of not trying to communicate already.
Couple observations from reading this chapter. First, is anyone else suspicious that Towers wasn't fatally poisoned at all, and that it was a trick to get Twilight to pull the trigger on him herself? The way it went down, it could easily be the seeds of an attempt to discredit her.
Second, General Blueblood as Celestia's Council member lover? The way the text segued into the bit about the new fort and his heart being in the right place really made me wonder.Never mind on that idea, just read the comments and realized I was also mixing the two Bluebloods up.
4289893 Oh, okay, so the Blueblood in the council chambers who was yelling at all of them for voting no confidence in Shining Armor was the one Rarity came onto, and the Blueblood who is a General and made Twilight's new home base in Ponyville is his grandfather. Okay, now it all makes sense.
4290145
You know... that is an idea that did not occur to me. It would make sense as well!
Curious if your theory pans out now.
4290449 I'm afraid don't know what that is.
Yep, I would totally trust guys who wanted to wipe my memory of them after I met them.
I mean, they would NEEEEEEVER use their mind-altering magic to MAKE me believe them or twist my mind little by little until I did their bidding without questioning why they want to overthrow a benevolent ruler who's led nearly a thousand years of peace and tranquility and stuff.
These ponies are almost as dumb as humans sometimes!
Almost...
>>>Twilight sighed. “Then it’s useless for me. You know I can’t meditate. I’ve never been able to do that. I have to focus on something, even if it’s trivial. I’m just not capable of ‘emptying my mind.’”>>>
Alondro helps Twilight achieve zero thought! First, he enrolls her is a US public school...
>>>My political adversaries, however, have been diminishing my strengths so that ponies perceive only weaknesses. It’s an ingenious ploy, one I intend to use myself>>>
Given how obviously corrupt the council is, finding weaknesses should prove as easy as shooting fish in a barrel... with a cannon.
Great story well written and captivating.
May be I won’t be bale to write new stuff until July or even August.
Maybe is one word, I belive you mean be able.
4294514 There's been a number of such coincidences in this story, honestly. That being said, Rites only draws from S1 and S2, and ignores everything from S3E1 onwards (which also means there's no Crystal Empire in this one, despite how much I love it's visual design). Basically, unless I explicitly call it out as being an exception (Saddle Arabia, awesome pun FTW), it's just a fun coincidence.
Also, they may both start with Twi casting a special spell, but my story is going to have her ascent to alicornhood take much, much longer. (No instant wings. She's gonna have to earn 'em.)
Thank you for taking the time to try my story! I hope you enjoy it!
... a request for constructive criticism. I'm too distracted by bathing in the wonder of actually being asked to do it to come up with anything.
Seriously, I can't come up with any serious issues with the story. Far as I'm considered, this story is about as good as I can expect.
4290214
That was my initial thought too, but dude was dying anyway, and he seemed to be actively trying to HELP her. He felt betrayed, used, and had come to respect Twilight following her... well... utterly destroying him with a single spell.
As much as I love adventure and action, I could spend HOURS on worldbuilding. I LOVE that stuff.
Ooh it's getting good now.
Hope your hands feel better.