Chapters New Magic
Chapter 1: Harmony
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." – Goethe
Spelunky always felt the same rush of excitement when he found something new in his favorite caves. This time it was slimy rocks that set off his euphoria.
"You see that, Pete?"
His tiny firefly companion didn't have the capacity to fully understand him, let alone respond, but Pete was always listened jovially to Spelunky's monologues.
"There's moss down here."
The pale orange earth pony sat down on his haunches to look at the green goop. Pete flew in closely to hover a little nearer to the patch of plant matter. Being Spelunky's only source of light at this depth meant that Pete always had to be paying attention to Spelunky's field of view, although most of the time he would settle down comfortably near Spelunky's forehead like a miner's lamp.
"There's no way there should be any moss this deep. There's no light to feed it. I wonder how--" His own thoughts interrupted him as his hoof ran across its surface. "It's slick and ... really vibrant. It's definitely still alive."
"Have I ever told you about when I got my cutie mark, Pete?" He had. Many times. And they both knew it.
"Fell into a sink hole. Wasn't much of a drop, but it sure felt like it!
"Worst part was being trapped. I had no idea how to get back to my parents, which is pretty scary for a foal, but Pete, I wish you were there. The whole cave ceiling was covered with more glow worms than you could imagine. It looked like a galaxy of stars on a moonless night."
He loved thinking of that time whenever he made a big find like this. From then on, each of his flanks were emblazoned with the mark of a cave entrance. It was the most formative experience of his life and he had never felt so much awe and wonder to this day.
This was pretty sweet too, though. Slime!
Sure, it wasn't valuable ore or some never-before-seen creature, but that didn't make Spelunky any less giddy. "Come on, Pete. Let's see how far the moss goes."
Spelunky crouched and slipped into a claustrophobic opening in the cave wall, pulling out a piece of his trusty orange chalk to mark his way. The chalk wasn't so much for his use. He knew these caves in particular like the underside of his hoof. They were for any potential rescuers who might need to come get him. Cave exploration is a very dangerous enterprise.
Any number of things could happen on a deep explore like this. He could be wedged, unable to free himself, slowly starving to death, or worse, he could fall and break two or three of his legs. Explorers have even been known to use up all their oxygen and suffocate. They say hypoxia slips up on a pony, and most ponies don't even realize what happened when they regain consciousness; if they ever do.
Spelunky always thought it was better to be safe, than sorry. The chalk was just one of the safety tools he kept in his saddle bags.
"Wow!" Spelunky exclaimed breathlessly as he squeezed his way out of the narrow corridor into an enormous cave opening. His soft, awe inspired voice echoed with the open space of the room. There's no way Pete could light it all up from where they were standing, but Spelunky could see enough to tell that the mossy floor under his hooves was just a rocky ledge, sticking out a few pony lengths from the wall, and ending suddenly with a tremendous drop.
"You hear the water at the bottom, Pete? It's so deep! It must have been cutting this abyss for millions of years. I've never seen a chasm like this." Spelunky squinted into the darkness, laying down on his chest so he can peer vainly into the blackness past the edge of the ridge.
As usual, Pete didn't respond, but he did settle down onto Spelunky's muzzle. "Come on buddy, how about you fly down there a bit and light up the chasm?" Pete slumped over, huffing and rubbing his sore wings with a furrowed brow. Spelunky sighed. He had his answer.
Spelunky reached into his saddle bag and produced a small cup shaped piece of white bakelite with tiny air holes. The plastic was translucent, but cloudy white, designed to diffuse Pete's normally sharp light so it wouldn't cast harsh shadows that could confuse his vision at an inopportune time. He gently coaxed Pete inside, and strapped it to his head in the place where a unicorn's horn would have been.
"Okay, you rest. I want to see if this ridge goes the whole way around."
Spelunky started treading softly around the edge of the chasm. Before long, the ledge started to develop a dangerous slant, growing thinner and thinner, and more slick with moss as he went. Spelunky huffed softly. Normally he would have stopped here, taken a note of this development in his journal, and brought it back to the institute to discuss with his colleagues. This kind of discovery, however, comes once in a dozen trips, and Spelunky was too pumped to stop now.
"Safety first, Pete," came Spelunky's oft-repeated mantra as he took off his heavy saddle bag, laying it down on the slick surface of the rocks. He pulled a rather jagged looking metal spike from his bag, and carefully aligned it to a crack running up the rock wall of the chasm. He hammered it aggressively with his durable hoof. "Got to lay down some spikes and set up the harness."
Frustrated by a lack of leverage in driving the spike, Spelunky twisted his hindquarters, digging his hind hooves into the surface of the ledge below. Casually, he tried throwing another powerful thrust of his hoof against the spike.
His hind hooves slipped first. Sliding straight out into the abyss and sending his entire body sliding backwards to follow them. His chest and lower jaw came down with a pounding smack in short order. Still trapped inside the diffuser, Pete slammed the side making a gentle click. His light sputtered, and faded to blackness.
They were sliding backwards on the moss.
When Spelunky's breath returned to him it came in the form of a sharp, high pitched gasp. His eyes widened futilely in the pitch black as he tried, without success, to feel about for the hoofholds he knew were right in front of him.
He slid back even faster now, and grabbed desperately at the slimy, mossy floor that he was so fascinated with moments ago, back before it betrayed him so spectacularly.
Spelunky knew he needed to see. If he let go one more time to feel around for a hoofhold, he would lose what tenuous purchase he still had on the ridge, and surely fall to his death.
"Pete. Pete! Pete! " he cried. His voice becoming more shrill and undignified with each cry as hystarical fear gripped his chest. "Pete I can't see!" His voice was drenched with terror. It was desperate, high, and sickening to hear, even for himself. "Pete! Pete! " He was screaming now.
Spelunky's remaining life span could be measured in millimeters, but his death was coming a lot slower than he expected. It could even be described as 'slow motion.' Seconds ticked by like lifetimes.
He always knew this would be how it would end. He had come to accept that a long time ago. You can't have a passion for cave exploration and expect to die comfortably in a hospital bed some day. He always looked forward to this experience with composure; with contentment, even. How many ponies get to die in order to do what they were born to do? Not many.
Reality, however, had other plans. When he was finally presented with his destiny, he wasn't filled with peace and contentment. He was screaming as though he was a little filly being eaten by a lion.
"No! I'm not ready!" he cried. His heart was threatening to hammer out of his chest and kill him before he even reached the bottom. His eyes were welling with tears.
Finally, his thoughts turned somewhere he never expected.
Celestia. Sweet Celestia, please. I was wrong. I was wrong. Please save me.
Spelunky was not alone among his scientific peers. He always held the belief that Celestia was not divine. She was just a pony like any other. It's clear that she's very special in her own way, but is she the creator of the universe? Does she hear our prayers and answer them? Nothing could be more absurd to Spelunky. Yet, here he was.
Sweet Celestia. I don't want to die. Please. Please I don't want to die.
Perhaps Celestia was listening.
With a flicker, and the faint tinkle of glass, the light came. It was almost too bright. Spelunky squinted for a moment, and could not contain a slow gasp of awe and shock from rising in his chest. For a moment he wondered if, perhaps, he just let go, and allowed himself to be at peace, Celestia would appear to him, and gently lower him to the bottom.
It was only for a moment, however. His eyes pinned open wide, and he slammed both hooves onto a hoofhold with force. He dragged himself upward for dear life. He was too terrified to think, but if he could he might have wondered how he managed to muster the strength to haul himself so quickly out of the gaping maw that moments earlier threatened to swallow him up.
Trembling violently, Spelunky slumped against the mossy surface of the ledge. He reached up to grab at his light diffuser, and lifted it off his head, peeking inside. His companion seemed a little dazed, but he was still moving.
Spelunky's mind was still swimming with terror, but now it felt like he was being lowered into a pleasant bath of relief. He stared up at the, now plainly visible, cave cieling.
He couldn't help but laugh softly, and heave deep, slow breaths.
"Hey Pete," Spelunky finally said. "I think we're alive."
Glow worms be damned. This is his new happiest moment.
Slipping up to his hooves, he leaned over to peer into the depths of the chasm that almost killed him. He still couldn't see the bottom. The light source must be somewhere up here.
That actually raised a good question.
Pete groggily rose out of his bakelite cup and blinked, rubbing his head, just in time to be asked a question by Spelunky. "Pete, where's that light coming from?"
With his former skepticism slowly returning to him, Spelunky readily concluded that this wasn't, in fact, some holy light of the almighty, so what was it?
"It's white light, but it has a really slight bluish tint. I think it looks like unicorn light. Maybe we have somepony to thank for this. Well, except for Celestia I mean." He coughed into his hoof and rubbed the back of his neck with embarrassment. He wondered if he really believed his earlier prayer, or if he was just clutching at hay.
Spelunky stared back at the way he came. Sadly, that's not where the light is coming from. He knew the smart thing to do would be to head back, and admit to his friends how stupid he was to try to cross the ledge before he could explore more of the local cave system. He would have given everypony a good laugh, and more importantly, they would have dispatched a few more explorers to help him.
He wasn't so sure, though. An old mares tale rang in his head. They said that the when the first great castles were built, they hadn't perfected magical barriers against falling, and the mortality rate was high. Occasionally, one of the masons would have a close call, nearly plunging from his perch. As the story goes, It's said that if you don't get right back up on the top of the wall after you nearly fall, then your career was over. You would never be able to work up the nerve to return to work.
He looked back and forth between his choices, wondering if there was any truth to the old tale. Before long, Spelunky rose to his hooves and stood resolutely. He was never keen on the smart option. He wouldn't have been down here in the first place if he was smart.
Spelunky resumed hammering his safety spikes, but not before stepping back to a less mossy spot on the ledge. He wrapped his harness around himself, and secured it firmly to the rope, and the spikes in turn.
Cautiously, he made his way across the near fatal ledge, and turned to explore the corridor toward the source of the light.
"What in Tartarus is that?"
The corridor was largely tubular, and it wasn't much taller than the top of Spelunky's head. A few meters into the corridor was a bent plate of silvery gray metal. Not some small metal scrap, but a piece that's nearly as big as he was, and thick as his hoof was wide.
It was crinkled up like one of the the hay crisps he packed for his lunch. It glistened in the light, despite being covered with moss, and, somehow, it was completely rust free.
Spelunky could scarcely believe that it was possible for there to be so much metal in one place. He certainly had never seen it before. He stepped cautiously over it, and looked onward.
The cave in front of him seemed to be changing. The walls abruptly turned into that same rustless metal. They developed a flat, polished texture, with sharp, angular corners.
"Is this some kind of metal cave?" Spelunky spoke softly, nearly whispering to his insect companion. "I think this is some kind of pony-made structure. How did they get it so deep?" Pete clung to Spelunky's head, a little frightened.
Before long, the cramped corridors of stone and bent metal had turned into a large rectangular room, big enough to be a comfortable living space, with tall ceilings, and with an adjacent hallway leading to yet more rooms.
Spelunky noticed what seemed to be a small rectangular plaque on one of the walls. Curiously approaching it, he reached out and gently dusted it off with his hoof.
A cave explorer knows gold when he sees it. If Spelunky wasn't so amazed by what he was witnessing he might be jumping for joy right now. The strange plaque was made entirely from gold, and it was inscribed with some language he had never seen before.
The characters were all angular, like they were designed to be cut out of pieces of stone with some sort of chisel. It wasn't though. It appeared to have been carved with incredible precision from the surface of the gold as if by an artisan of unearthly skill. Every shape was flawless. If a character was identical to another one, it was identical in every way. Right down to the finest detail.
The word with the biggest typeface appeared to have seven letters. The first one was two vertical columns, attached to one another with a horizontal stroke in the middle.
"What have we found, Pete?"
Spelunky reached into his bag, pulling out his camera and his journal.
He started by snapping a photo of the plaque.
New Magic
Chapter 2: Help
Twilight Sparkle stared intently at the photograph of the golden plaque, as if her concentration alone would be enough to decipher the engravings that have, so far, managed to perplex her peers.
That is, if she could be said to have any peers.
The young lavender alicorn had just finished making the biggest splash the academic world had ever seen by solving a long standing magical puzzle on the power of friendship. The puzzle was first presented by Star Swirl the Bearded over a thousand years prior, and it had stumped even the most brilliant unicorns of Equestria for all that time. Now, thanks to Twilight Sparkle, the solution existed, and it promised to finally unlock the hidden secrets of the most ancient and potent magical artifacts ever known to pony kind: the Elements of Harmony themselves.
This was hardly her first achievement, too. Twilight Sparkle has made history again, and again in her short life. She had been Princess Celestia's personal protege since she was a small foal, and since then she had managed to save Equestria multiple times. Once, she even reunited Princess Celestia with her long lost sister, Luna.
She battled a mighty hydra, stood her ground against an earth trembling ursa minor, and even played bouncy ball with Cerberus himself at the fiery gates of Tartarus.
For her achievements, she was given the sacred honor of becoming a royal princess of Equestria. Celestia herself had bestowed young Twilight with the position, and it was the first time in the history of Celestia's reign that two such honors were bestowed in a single generation.
Her head was still spinning from her coronation the day prior. She could almost still hear the heavenly voices of a flag baring choir walking behind her.
The princess Twilight cometh. Behold. Behold.
The ponies that came to see her had spilled out into the streets. The enormous cheering crowd had looked like a sea of pastel dots from her position on the balcony of the royal palace. Twilight had never felt so loved in her life.
But, yesterday was yesterday! Today, there was studying to be done!
"Spike, can you believe it?" Twilight shouted excitedly. Her horn came alive with a soft violet glow, and a copy of the Equestrian Daily levitated from its place on her reading desk. It came to a rest not far from the the nose of her baby dragon assistant.
Spike studied the newspaper for a moment. "Yeah, no kidding. It's official now. Princess Twilight Sparkle." He enunciated Twilight's new official name and title, relishing the novelty of it all. "This is gonna take a lot of getting used to."
"No, not that!" Twilight rebuffed. "This!" She pointed to the article below the one about the coronation entitled 'Canterlot Archaeological Announces Ruins Near Ponyville,' which rested just below the main, front page article about the coronation.
Spike looked up at Twilight, and Twilight stared right back at him. He wondered for a moment if she was going to actually make him read the newspaper that she was dangling in front of his face. With a roll of his eyes he finally conceded and leaned in to start reading the article.
Twilight obliviously pulled the article away from Spike's face. "It's the biggest archaeological find in history. History, Spike!" She was speaking at a faster tempo than usual. Spike could tell that meant she was excited, or stressed.
"Can't they both be important?" the exasperated baby dragon asked.
Twilight rolled up the newspaper in her magical field, and started walking with it back to her reading desk with a soft sigh. "Of course they can, and I know I should be taking more time to get used to being a princess, Spike, but this is really important too. The Royal Canterlot Archaeological Society has announced the discovery of the most astonishing ruins ever before seen. They're even claiming to have proof of some form of new magic."
Spike seemed confused. "What's the big deal about that? Didn't you just invent some new magic this week?"
Twilight was as patient as she could be with her younger assistant, and explained, "That was a new spell , Spike. This is new magic . Can you imagine what it would be like if we'd never seen pegasus cloud walking before, and we just now found evidence of it in some newly unearthed ruin?"
Spike conceded, "Oh that does sound like a big deal then."
"It is! It's such a big deal that the professors from Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns is directly overseeing the investigation of the artifacts." Twilight bristled with pride mentioning her old alma mater. "I'm certain they're going to let me participate in the study."
Spike gave a concerned frown. "Are you sure you don't just want to let them handle it? Shouldn't you focus on doing princess stuff?"
Twilight gave a slightly annoyed moan, "This is 'princess stuff' Spike. Using my skill with magic to help the kingdom is what I'm supposed to do. It's what Luna, Cadance, and Celestia do. Now let's pack a lunch, Spike. My meeting is on the other side of Ponyville, and it might take a while."
Spike was skeptical. It seemed like Twilight just wanted to get to study this new magic before anyone else, but he wasn't about to argue about princess stuff. It seemed too complicated to him anyway. "You got it!" he announced, and started running off to the kitchen, before coming to a halt with a perplexed blink and asking, "What meeting?"
***
"Could this be used as some kind of a weapon?" asked a gruff sounding forest green colored pony, with a cutie mark of a soldier's helmet.
Spelunky turned to his colleague with a furrowed brow. She was a baby blue unicorn with a fiery red mane, and a microscope cutie mark. She responded, "We're ... not quite sure."
"Not quite sure?" cried the forest green pony derisively, provoking mumbles of discussion from the other dozen or so ponies in the room. Princess Celestia and her captain of the guard, Shining Armor, remained silent, however.
Shining Armor cautiously reached his hoof into the conic shower of beams shooting up from the small black rectangle, no bigger than a small book. As he reached inside, he could see his hoof blocking the beams, casting a shadow on the high ceilings of the Canterlot palace war room. He felt no pain. He felt nothing. It was just an illusion, like these citizens had claimed.
His drew his hoof toward a fluttering yellow butterfly that had been dancing playfully within the beam ever since the artifact was activated.
"Please, be calm, my little ponies," came Celestia's melodic voice. "Spelunky and Crystal are scientists, and scientists are ever reluctant to to concede that they know anything for certain."
Celestia's words rang in Spelunky's head. She was right. Doubt is one of the most intrinsic ingredients of a good scientific mind, but if those words were about doubt, why were they making him think about faith?
He couldn't help but turn to stare at her. It was an expression that Celestia had seen before.
Shining Armor gasped as the illusory butterfly landed gently on his pastern. He jerked his foreleg back out of the beam, "It touched me!"
Crystal bit her lip slightly. She knew it would be very rude to break out laughing, no matter how much she wanted to. She cleared her throat to mask the giggle that was threatening to rise up in her throat. "It'll do that, yeah. The butterfly is able to touch you, it even feels like it has some weight, but it doesn't have any solid form. If you push on it with enough force, perhaps enough to crack a walnut, then it will make the illusion box stop working until we replace some damaged parts."
An ocean blue unicorn, perhaps the oldest pony in the room, save the princess, approached the large meeting table that supported the ebony artifact. She squinted at it. "If I may examine the artifact, your majesty?"
Celestia acquiesced with a nod.
The unicorn sorceress's horn glowed, and a blue field enveloped the butterfly as it fluttered. The butterfly passed through it as though it wasn't there, provoking the sorceress's eyes to widen, and creating another cascade of mumbles throughout the room.
"I suggest we seize these ruins in the name of the crown!" a young yellow bureaucrat called out haughtily.
Celestia's serene expression remained unchanged. "Minister, I'll not hear such suggestions. Though it is clear these ruins are very unique, and bear the close scrutiny of the crown, I shall not intrude upon the rule of law."
Spelunky felt a small shiver. Though it was evident that the princess was only looking out for the good of the kingdom, he couldn't help but feel that she was defending him personally. The rights to excavate a historical discovery go to the pony that discovers it, if the land does not already have an owner. Spelunky had quickly sold his stake in exchange for a small fortune and a percentage of the proceeds extracted from the site, as was common practice for someone without the means to pay for a full scale excavation.
The minister knew not to press his luck. "Yes, your majesty."
Spelunky worked up the courage to speak. His voice shaking. "I uh ... I chose to give the rights to first study the artifacts to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns in your honor, Princess Celestia."
Celestia smiled a soft and peaceful grin, and responded with a tempered giggle, "That was very kind of you, Spelunky. You have my thanks." She gave the slightest of bows in Spelunky's direction.
Spelunky had no idea what he was feeling now. He could feel his heart beating and his cheeks flushing.
Crystal glanced at Spelunky, then rolled her eyes. "This is just one of the artifacts we've found, but it's the only one we've had any real success with. There have been moving photographs which conjure markings in the same unknown language we keep seeing all over the structure. In fact--"
Crystal reached for the artifact, causing everyone but Celestia to take a step back, as if somehow Crystal's abrupt actions would cause the artifact to leap from the table and bite them all. She tapped the artifact gently with a hoof, and the butterfly morphed into dozens of flat, rectangular, translucent blue chips of glass, in a coplanar arrangement.
Each glass rectangle bore a symbol, except for one flat, long bar across the bottom. The plane of the illusory glass was slightly angled toward Crystal.
Casually, she started tapping on the glass chips. They seemed too small to be used by hooves, but with patience, she managed. With each tap, the tapped rectangular chip would light up a brilliant cyan, and the symbol on its surface would materialize in the light beam above.
After she finished her strange sequence of taps, she pressed a final rectangle, and the illusion morphed again, revealing dozens of planes, each of which scrolled slowly with reams and reams of text. Each plane pointed toward Crystal, but they were translucent and the characters could be seen from the other side as well; the mirror images of them, at least.
"This thing is full of these characters. They appear to be some kind of alphabet, with twenty-six letters, with each letter having two forms."
Crystal was perfectly at ease despite being in a room with some of the Equestrian government's most powerful ponies, so it's no surprise that she needed to be reminded that she was slipping into lecture mode. Spelunky gave her a gentle shoulder nudge.
"Oh. Yeah so there's that," she said, concluding what was sure to become a lengthy rant.
For the first time since they had assembled in the war room, Celestia stood up. She walked gracefully toward Spelunky. Spelunky had heard rumors that Celestia was nearly twice as tall as a normal pony, and he had even seen photographs in the paper, but he never truly believed it until that moment when she stood in front of him. "I ask that you allow me to keep this one."
Spelunky had no idea if that was an order or a request, and he wasn't interested in finding out. "That was always my intention, your majesty," he said with a gulp.
The dignitaries mumbled amongst themselves as two guards approached the small black rectangle. Crystal approached and helped them dispel the beams of light, rendering the device inert before they sealed it away.
Celestia addressed Spelunky once more. "You've done me a great kindness by bringing this to my attention, my little pony. The artifact will be safe in the royal library. You have my thanks."
New Magic
Chapter 3: Password
Twilight accepted the small paper bag lunch Spike had prepared into her magic, and floated it into one of her saddle bags. She had stuffed an excessive collection of books into the tiny packs and it seemed as though there was no way she could add an unsquished lunch to the pile. If there was one thing Twilight Sparkle was good at, however, it was organization. "My meeting is with Filthy Rich. Owloysius helped me arrange it before you got up this morning."
"The businesspony? What do you need farm equipment for?"
"Filthy Rich does more than run the Barnyard Bargains, Spike. He's one of Equestria's biggest venture capitalists."
Spike stared blankly at Twilight, and took the liberty to munch on a peanut butter and ruby sandwich he concocted while making Twilight's lunch. He was careful not to mix them up this time. Twilight will probably never stop reminding him about her chipped tooth.
Sensing Spike's confusion Twilight elaborated. "That's somepony who pays the bits in order to help entrepreneurs get started."
Spike's confusion seemed to be getting worse. The word 'entrepreneurs' didn't help to alleviate it at all. "Why do you need bits? Don't you get a big stipend from Princess Celestia?"
"Well, no, actually. Now that I'm a princess, Celestia has given me limited access directly to the royal treasury, but that's not the point. Filthy Rich bought the rights to excavate the new ruins, which means I'm going to need to ask him before I'll be able to help."
Spike gulped down his most recent bite of sandwich, and replied. "Couldn't you just get him to give you permission in a letter?"
Twilight beamed and bounced slightly. "I could, but he says he'd love to get a visit from a princess, and he's willing to show me some of the relics they've already excavated!"
Spike smirked. "Ohhhh, now it makes sense. Why didn't you just say so?"
Twilight had worked herself giddy now, and bounced around the room. She was a bit surprised by how high she was able to bounce. It's as if her newly acquired alicorn wings actually made her physically lighter, even when she's just using her hooves.
"Are you sure you don't want to come, Spike?"
"And look at a bunch of boring old stuff?" Spike snorted. "I'll leave the magic to you, besides, I have to clean up all these books," he said, referring to the small fortress of literature that Twilight Sparkle created in her first attempt to decipher the symbols in the photograph from the newspaper.
Twilight would normally have been skeptical. Spike probably just wanted to have the library all to himself, but she was much too excited to notice. "Alright I'll try to be back for dinner."
As Twilight took her leave, Spike hummed softly with worry. Twilight seemed a little too excited for her own good. Hopefully everything turns out well.
***
Twilight Sparkle was no stranger to lavish buildings, but she had never quite seen one like this in Ponyville. There was a fountain in their front yard, of all things.
The structure even had a staff. At the moment they were, for the most part, attending to the immaculately manicured garden that surrounded the walls of Rich Manor. There was even an elderly earth pony attending the large wrought iron gate that served as the only way for guests to gain entrance to the walled estate.
"Hi there. My name is Twilight Sparkle and I have an appointment," she announced with confident satisfaction. Twilight Sparkle loved appointments almost as much as she loved checklists.
With a start, the absent-minded security guard rose up in his squeaky office chair to look out the window of his security booth.
He perked up to the visitor, smiled and laughed with a slight wheeze. "Well if it ain't Princess Twilight. I was told to expect you!" He cleared his throat and grabbed at his large key ring with his teeth. Trotting out to the other side of the gate, he spoke around the rusty metal loop. "Why, if y'all'd said there was gonna be a princess livin' right here in the Ponyville Library some day, I'd ah called yuh bonkers. But here ya are!"
She blushed a bit as the rusty gate swung open. Come to think of it, this was the first time she had talked to any Ponyville residents aside from Spike since she'd been coronated. She wondered for a moment if it was going to be like this everywhere she went? Is Filthy Rich going to treat her differently too?
She grinned nervously and insisted, "Oh no no, you can just call me 'Twilight'"
The security guard hummed, "Ohn, beggin' yer pardon."
Her nervous grin got bigger, "'Princess Twilight' is okay too though! Whatever you want to call me, I guess!"
Sensing her discomfort, the security guard just smiled and said, "Off ye go, Twilight. Mr. Rich oughta be waiting for you by now."
Twilight's ears pinned back as she walked past the marble pillars toward the mahogany double-doors of the manor. She nodded politely as a butler opened the door and emerged to guide her inside. She was lost in thought.
Does this mean everywhere she goes she'll be representing the crown? What if Filthy Rich only agreed to this meeting because of her new status? No. She was certain that couldn't be it. Even before her coronation, she was still a highly respected magician, and she even met Filthy once or twice in passing.
"Princess Twilight Sparkle." An amused voice called out with an echo from atop a large oak staircase. Filthy Rich started his way down, giving Twilight a stare and a slow smile. "I'm glad you accepted my invitation."
Twilight looked up at the amber furred businesspony and furrowed her brow. She had only talked to him once or twice, and it was strange to illicit such a warm and familiar smile from someone she barely knew. "Oh it was nothing! No trouble at all," she insisted self-consciously. "I'm really excited to see your artifacts, though."
Filthy arrived at the bottom of the stairs, flashing Twilight an even wider smile. "A mare that likes to get right down to business, I like that." He turns away and motions to his servants, hastily adding, "But it won't do. We should talk, have some tea. There's no reason to skip the pleasantries, is there?"
Twilight felt a twinge of disappointment. "No, I suppose not."
"Good," Filthy responded with a tone of resolution.
The pair stepped into the parlor, which was already being worked on by several of the wait staff. A small coffee table, surrounded by several comfortable looking chairs, was being set up with a polished silver tea set, and fine imported cups.
"I hope I'm not embarrassing you with all this finery," Filthy added perceptively.
Twilight fibbed, convincingly. "Not at all."
Filthy paused for a moment to glance at his guest after she spoke, then he turned to take a seat. "I would have offered you something simpler if I had it. I'd very much like for us to become friends, Ms. Sparkle." He shooed at his servants, and they bowed politely, gracefully leaving the room. Filthy reached over to pour both cups of tea himself.
"Well, I don't see any reason for us not to be," the young princess innocently replied. She enveloped her cup of tea in a field of violet magic and brought it to her lips to sip.
Filthy Rich grinned wide and smoothly replied, "Well neither do I! See? We're already friends, and you wanted to skip tea." He clicked his tongue in jest and his grin grew wider.
The words may have hit Twilight a little harder than they intended. She had been silently wishing that all of this talking would be over so she could get to the artifacts, and it made her wonder if this was just one more example where she's chosen to focus on studying instead of making friends. She thought she learned her lesson about that the last time.
Still, something about Filthy made her uneasy.
Twilight stared at her cup for a moment, then spoke. "... So, about the--" "What do you think of the legislature?" Filthy interrupted.
Twilight blinked. Where did that question come from?
Still, she enjoyed every opportunity to discuss an esoteric topic. "The legislature are the representatives of the ponies of Equestria in matters of state. They draft laws in the name of royalty and on behalf of the population, within the bounds of the Royal Charter of Pony Rights and Freedoms."
Filthy's lips were about to touch his tea when he broke into a smile at Twilight's synopsis. "Well, yes, there's that. But I know what they are. I was wondering what you thought of them."
Twilight seemed to think about it, a little perplexed.
Filthy quickly added, "Now that you're a princess, if Celestia takes a day off, you may be asked to sit at the legislature as first chair of the hall of commons and preside over the assembly. That means you'll have a tie breaking vote, and veto power. I was just wondering if politics was something that interested you at all."
Twilight's eyes widened. "I hadn't thought of that! Oh my. Oh my. I need to find a book on politics. I need to find lots of books on politics!"
Filthy was quite tickled by all of this, but he stared unwaveringly at Twilight and grinned slow, deliberate grins. "Don't worry, I'll teach you everything you need to know."
***
"Filthy! Filthy Rich! " Twilight shrieked.
She drew a trembling breath, pivoting in place with her eyes wide and pupils dilated. There was nothing but blue sky in all directions, save for the distant snow peaked gray mountains, and the relatively tiny black disc she stood upon. She thrust her wings in a panic, but the world around her seemed to be made of glass that broke and reformed as she struggled. There was a crackle and hiss, and the smell of ozone as she flailed. Her eyes fixated on the strange symbols that danced around her, mocking her predicament.
Filthy laughed, despite his best efforts, from some unseen location. "Princess Twilight, relax! You haven't actually left the room. I told you before you went in, it's an illusion creator."
"You didn't tell me it would do this ."
Filthy's head appeared suddenly from just within the black disc's edge. He appeared to be cut off at the neck by a dancing field of cracking and reforming glass. "I told you that when you went inside, you'd see illusions. I'm not sure what you expected." He seemed amused by the situation.
Twilight Sparkle started to calm down, and then a rush of joy slowly began to overtake her. She danced in place and took in a slow breath to speak. "I didn't expect it to be so real !" She looked all around her with sheer wonder. "My voice is echoing off the mountains! I can feel the wind in my fur, and it smells like rain and grass! The sunlight is so bright, and it's warm!"
She stared breathlessly into the distance with her jaw agape. The sky was so flawlessly real that it might have bored Twilight Sparkle to tears, if she had possessed wings her entire life. And yet, even so, there was something more. She felt like she was a filly again, seeing Celestia raise the sun for the first time at the Summer Sun Celebration. There was something about being muzzle to muzzle with the sheer beauty and power of magic that gave her an incredible rush, and not just any magic.
This is new.
This is new magic!
Twilight Sparkle laughed heartily into the bright open sky above her head. "Yes!" she cried out sharply with a little jump. Filthy Rich couldn't help but grin at the young princess's overflowing joy, and he pulled himself back out past the field.
She closed her eyes and stood in the breeze, taking a deep breath through her nose and relishing every moment of this experience, before turning to glance at the strange shapes and symbols that surrounded her perch.
"What does this do?" she asked excitedly, reaching over to examine a strange arrangement of square and rectangular blue glass chips, floating in the air beside her in a coplanar configuration. She pulled back her hoof with surprise when the first chip she reached out to touch illuminated with a bright cyan glow on contact. The strange white symbol that seemed to be painted within the center of the glass seemed to light up brighter than the rest of it, and at the moment of her touch, a six pointed star appeared amid the symbols floating around and above her.
She tried a few more taps, garnering only more six pointed stars.
Filthy called out once again from his unseen position, "It's some kind of spell casting tool. You're not touching it are you?"
Twilight's scruff bristled, and she looked around at the empty skyscape stiffly with a nervous smile. "What ... makes you say that?" she asked, dodging the question.
Filthy sighed.
"What kind of spells does it cast?"
"Nobody knows. They're still trying to work out how to operate the other ones like it down at the lab."
Twilight hopped out of the cylindrical field of flowing light, and back into Filthy Rich's dingy wine cellar, leaving the large metallic object, about the size of an outhouse, behind her. She gazed back behind her in wonder for a moment, marveling at how the strange pillar of what looked like glistening black dragon glass could somehow contain an entire world as it did.
"Speaking of the lab, when will I be able to see it?"
Filthy frowned for a moment, and squinted his eyes in thought.
Twilight tilted her head slightly; her own brow starting to furrow as well.
"Princess Twilight, were you under the impression that you'd be assisting with the research effort?"
Twilight's heart, which had been soaring so high just moments ago, crashed suddenly to the earth. She pinned her ears, "Oh I'm sorry. I just thought-- I mean I am here and ... I'm officially volunteering." She flashed him the best triumphant smile she could, despite knowing what was coming next.
"I'm afraid I can't do that. I already have a team that's been on the project since before it was announced."
Twilight Sparkle wanted to sound pleading, but she only managed to take on an air of indignation. "But, I have to! Nopony is more qualified than I am."
Filthy tried to be consoling. "I'm afraid that's not true. Professor Crystal already has experience with the artifacts, and she's comfortable with the team she has. Also, historical excavation is an expensive proposition. Even if I could have you on the team, I wouldn't be able to afford to pay you, and even if I could, I just wouldn't be able to dig up artifacts fast enough to keep you busy."
Twilight Sparkle was rapidly losing hope. She fell to her haunches on the dirty cellar floor. "I-- But---" she said, with tears welling in her eyes, before perking up suddenly. "What if the kingdom helped to pay for it?"
Filthy's slow smile curled once again across his bright white teeth. "Maybe we can work something out."
New Magic
Chapter 4: The Key
Twilight's words were muffled by the daisy embroidered table cloth of the outdoor cafe. "And then he said I could only be a consultant."
Fluttershy played with her fork self-consciously. "That's what you wanted, isn't it?" the timid yellow pegasus pony asked.
Twilight sighed with her face still down on the table. "I guess, but I was hoping to be able to direct myself."
Fluttershy nibbled on a salad leaf daintily. "Oh um ... I guess that makes sense," she said; trying to avoid any uncomfortable disagreements.
Rarity had no such trepidation. The white unicorn always spoke her mind, perhaps to a fault. "I simply couldn't agree more, Twilight, dear. To think he would so blatantly disregard your talents! And your station as well."
Twilight lifted her face up so she could rest her chin next to her untouched daisy sandwich. "I'm actually glad for that at least, Rarity. I'm not sure if I want anypony to treat me differently now that I'm a princess."
Fluttershy was anxious to reassure her friend. "Oh, no no, I don't think that will happen." She looked down meekly and gently nudged her own fork. "You'll always be Twilight to everypony who loves you."
Twilight made a worried moan. "That's just it! I'll never be able to talk to strangers again and expect them to see anything but Princess Twilight Sparkle."
Fluttershy didn't see the appeal of talking to strangers in the first place, but she kept that thought to herself.
Rarity finished her sip of tea and was quite happy to fill in the silence left by Fluttershy, "But why ever would you want to turn away such an incredible opportunity? Twilight, darling, this is quite simply who you've always been meant to be! If only we could all be so lucky.
"You should march right back there and tell him that his princess demands a far greater role in this-- What did you say it was again?"
"An excavation," replied Twilight.
Rarity completed her thought, "--This excavation business, right this moment!"
"But, um ..." Fluttershy interceded. She immediately regretting doing it, but she finished her contention none the less. "Isn't Filthy Rich really respected too?"
Twilight agreed. "Right! I can't just go pulling rank on ponies. What kind of princess does that?"
Rarity said, "A princess shouldn't have to do that. This 'Filthy' fellow", she remarked with over-dramatic contempt, "should recognize a truly cultured and refined pony of high society, er, such as yourself, and provide her with this smallest of kindnesses.
"Why, he'd be all the better for it! He should thank his lucky stars that you were even willing to volunteer.
"And the way you described him," she scoffed, "he seems like something of a lech. Leering at you; smiling; asking for political favors. Why, you should simply have told him to take his absolutely hideous greased mane and find somepony else to help him."
Twilight winced. Rarity's advice had a certain appeal, but she was quick to reject it. "He didn't ask for political 'favors,' Rarity. He just wanted to teach me a few things about politics. He told me all about the dangers of unregulated zapapple farming.
"And, besides, " Twilight said while perking up from the table, "this new magic was so incredible! I couldn't possibly turn it down. Rarity, it was like nothing I'd ever seen. It was so beautiful to see such new and unique magic, I really thought I was going to cry!"
Fluttershy smiled at her friend. "Oh. Do you mean it? You're so passionate." She looked down at the table. "If you don't mind me saying."
Rarity leaned in to her oft-used 'let's gossip' position. "So tell me more about these magical things. What color were they?"
"Silver, mostly, but I don't see--" Rarity registered her distaste for last season's color. "Ugh." "--why that matters." Twilight rolled her eyes. "They had an enchanted piece of plastic that was made of polymerized carbamates, somehow. I tried to determine what kind of enchantment was on it, but it completely fooled my horn. It was as though there was no enchantment on it at all! But, sure enough, if I brought it close to the illusion platform it would somehow power it, making it start to work."
Twilight paused to look at Rarity, and Rarity looked back for a moment before replying. "That's all it did?"
Twilight gasped at the fashionista's cavalier attitude. "It was an enchantment with no trivalent or tetravalent resonances, no luminomorphistic colinear energy configurations. It had no incidental--"
Rarity wasn't about to let her go on forever. "So it had no magic at all?"
Twilight squinted in thought. It did sound like that, didn't it? "No, it obviously had magic. Otherwise, how would it have powered the illusion platform?" Twilight broke into a smile and started describing the illusion device much like her energetic friend Pinkie Pie would describe a decadent chocolate cake. "You wouldn't believe what the illusion platform could do. It was like I stepped inside of a completely different world. It felt incredible ."
Rarity broke a saucy smile at this. "Oh so it was that kind of illusion was it? What was his name?" She rose her teacup toward her smiling lips before pausing at the sight of both her friends staring at her with shock. "It was a joke."
Twilight wondered about Rarity's sense of humor, but she also wondered if any stallion could make her feel that kind of joy. Love wasn't something she had any experience with, but it's said that it's the most incredible feeling a pony could ever experience.
She had her doubts that any passion could ever compare to how she felt about her work. Is it possible to be 'in love' with magic? This warranted further study.
"It was an illusion of the open sky from very high up," Twilight clarified.
"That sounds really scary," Fluttershy commented. Her imagination was a little too vivid at times.
"And dull," Rarity added, feeling completely disappointed by this new magic. "If you wanted to see the sky you could just use your adorable new wings, and go up there any time you want."
Twilight prepared to rebuff her friend. "Rarity--"
"I know; I know. It's about the magic, but seriously, darling, you shouldn't be so obsessive. It'll give you wrinkles."
Rarity's advice couldn't have possibly been more futile.
New Magic
Chapter 5: Exit
Twilight wondered how Spelunky even know where he was going. These gently sloping grassy hills went on all the way to the horizon.
"And the moss was definitely alive. Do you know the best way to tell if moss is still alive?" Spelunky asked.
Twilight did, of course, but she was lost in thought.
"Color and texture! They may be very tiny and gooey, but they they're just plants like any other. They'll lose all their moisture and turn brown if they die." Spelunky smirked, and seemed a little bit too excited about the green gunk that grows on rocks.
Twilight wasn't listening. Normally she might have been very interested in a discussion like this. She might even have contributed. This time, however, she walked in silence, allowing Spelunky to rant on.
"Now, just like any other plant, moss needs three things to survive: carbon dioxide, water, and light . Now how much light do you think there is in a cave? Not much! I've been in lots of caves." Spelunky didn't seem to notice, or perhaps care, that Twilight wasn't listening.
She thought about Rarity's words. Was she really being a doormat? She knew that nobody would have denied Princess Luna had if she was the one who made a request to investigate some strange new magic, and if somepony did, they'd probably get an immediate earful in the 'Olde Canterlot Voice.'
Twilight smiled at the thought of Filthy Rich getting his slick mane blown back by Luna's bellowing voice.
Spelunky glanced at Twilight's grin. He grinned back at her, and loosed an excited shout, "I know, right! How did the light get down there?"
There were other things competing for Twilight's crowded mind space as well. No matter how much she tried to prepare herself mentally for this visit to the dig site, she couldn't help but think about her brief experience in the illusion platform. It was days ago, but she could barely think of anything else the entire time. It was the last thing she thought about before bed, and the first thing she thought about when she woke up.
Spelunky seemed no less filled with wonder and excitement today than he was when he first discovered the ruins. "I was actually able to see the shadow patterns in the moss, so I could tell where the light was coming from, even though there wasn't any. We found out later that the light 'bulb', if you want to call it that, was broken. It was supposed to remain on at all times but it was super old just like the rest of the place, so it only turned on every once in a while. And let me tell you, I'm glad it turned on when it did. I nearly slipped into a chasm!"
She tried to relive the joys of seeing new magic for the first time in her mind, but the more and more she thought about it, the more it started to hurt that it was still all such a mystery. She had a hunger to decipher its secrets; to start casting new spells of her own. She wished there were books on the subject that she could consume ravenously from cover to cover, but there wasn't. There couldn't be.
Frustrating as it may have been, it was a sweet consolation, in her mind, that it wouldn't be long before she started writing those books herself.
"So, then I found the ruins and took some pictures. And you wouldn't believe how many ponies were telling me it's retirement time for me! But how could I possibly retire now? Sure, I mean, I could retire, but after a rush like that I don't think I ever really truly could, ya know?"
Twilight nodded softly. "Mm hmm."
Spelunky continued, "It takes hours to squeeze down that cave entrance, and none of the researchers wanted to do it, so for a few weeks I was just bringing back little knickknacks with me every time I made a run, up until I discovered the alternate entrance in a-- Oh we're here."
They crossed a large hill, exposing a brilliant meadow, filled with wild flowers almost as far as the eye could see. It was a gorgeous day out, and the gentle breeze made the meadow dance in soft wavy strokes. Just about in the center there was a small camp, containing about a dozen small brownish green tents, and a small hoofful of large ones.
Twilight finally snapped out of her distracted state, and beamed. She flitted her wings gently with excitement. "Is that the dig site?" she asked, without taking her eyes off the smattering of tents.
"Sure is! Come on." Spelunky cantered down into the valley toward the tents, kicking up pleasant aromas from the valley's vegetation as he went. Twilight followed close behind.
Twilight was surprised by how busy the dig site was. There were dozens of ponies moving between the large tents. They were cleaning digging equipment, tying knots in ropes, testing safety harnesses, ferrying books, and all manner of busyness. Twilight was glad that, that for a moment, it appeared she wasn't going to draw any undue attention, thanks to how busy everypony was.
The problem was that you could count the number of lavender alicorns in the world on one hoof, and it wasn't long before she started to draw stares. She grinned nervously at her subjects and followed closely behind Spelunky, who seemed completely oblivious to the stares. It was a bit of a relief when she finally slipped inside of the largest tent.
Professor Crystal looked up from her work bench. She appeared to be working on some small black box, no bigger than Twilight's pocket guide to alchemy, that seemed to be in the midst of some process of being eviscerated. Every one of its hundreds of tiny parts that could be gently removed was being carefully labeled and collected in small glass tubes with rubber stoppers.
A few other professors in the tent were doing similar deconstructions, and reconstructions, of relics extracted from the ruins.
"That her?" Crystal asked.
Spelunky and playfully introduced her with mocked pomp, "Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria, in the flesh." He turned and flashed Twilight a smile, making her blush slightly.
Crystal slipped off her green framed glasses, which had a loupe built into them, and took a good look at Twilight. "Welcome to the dig site, Ms. Sparkle."
"It is an absolute pleasure to be here," Twilight began, preparing to share her feelings about this momentous moment in Equestrian history.
Crystal chimed in quickly. "Let's start with the rules. First, don't touch anything."
Twiilight's jaw slowly closed as she saw her chance to make a speech passing by.
Crystal continued, "If you see something, don't touch it. I don't care if it's a piece of dirt.
"Second, watch your step. Always know where all four of your hooves are. The apprentices sometimes spend weeks gently dusting off the sediment on top of the artifact. The last thing they need is for somepony to come by and crush the artifact underhoof. And 'there was no flag or yellow ribbon' is not an excuse. Always know where you hooves are.
"Third, don't use any magic when you're down there. We don't know what kind of unstable magic fields might be down there. For safety, we bring the artifacts up here to one of the tents and investigate them under controlled conditions.
"Fourth, if you see something, you won't be investigating it. Report your findings to Spelunky, myself, or Professor Doppler, and we will investigate with your assistance.
"And the fifth, and most critical rule of all. Don't touch anything."
Spelunky's eyes widened and darted as he stood uncomfortably next to the dig site's royal guest. He expected there to be at least a few minutes before the lecturing started.
Twilight hung her head and furrowed her brow. This was awful. Any hope that she had of sidestepping her position as 'consultant' had been dashed. Crystal knew she was in charge, and she wasn't afraid to make it clear, and what's worse, the rules were even more stringent than Twilight expected.
Rarity's position was starting to seem a lot more appealing to Twilight. Does she even know who she's talking to? Twilight uncovered the Elements of Harmony from a ruin just a few years ago. How many priceless artifacts has Crystal uncovered and used to save the world from eternal night? Still, Twilight didn't want to say anything that would risk getting her kicked out.
Twilight's expression softened with resignation. "Alright. That all makes sense."
Crystal nodded and put her loupe glasses back on. "Good. We're heading down in ten minutes. Go to tent three with Spelunky and get set up with a safety harness."
Twilight's head sprang up, and she beamed with delight. She looked between Crystal and Spelunky with excitement. Spelunky grinned back at her, and Crystal couldn't help but smile a bit, too.
"Yes ma'am!" Twilight shouted.
***
Twilight entered the excavation tent. It was surprisingly small from outside, and she could see why now. There was a single reinforced mine tunnel in the center of the tent, lined with oil lamps. The lamps, however, seemed to be somewhat unneeded, because there was a bright almost pure white glowing in its depths.
Multiple apprentices were attending to Spelunky, Crystal, and Twilight, gently securing and testing the clips of their safety harnesses.
"These would be a lot safer during an accident with an elastic decelerator," Twilight noted.
Crystal sighed, "If your wings do what they say on the tin, then you don't need one at all. And, besides, they're not for accidents. Listen, don't worry about being a consultant for the first little while, Twilight. Try to just observe for now."
The apprentices finish strapping the ropes around the three large wooden cranks, tying them tightly in place.
Twilight nodded resolutely, fully intending, at least for now, to take Crystal's advice, and keep her mouth shut. She fails three seconds later. "Why aren't they for accidents? What are they for then?"
A white pegasus apprentice wearing a very sturdy looking horse collar starts to strap a rope to himself. Crystal interrupts the apprentice with an instruction, "Do the princess first," before turning to Twilight Sparkle to answer her, "They're for lowering you down. Just try to relax and don't jerk the rope. Letting go of the ridge is the hardest part, at least for wingless creatures like us."
Twilight frowned a bit at Crystal's comments, and stretched out her wing to look back at it for a moment, then she turned back to Crystal and nodded. "I'll do my best."
Two more apprentices line up behind the pegasus, and station themselves Twilight's winch, holding on to it tightly. The pegasus apprentice waved Twilight over toward the shaft, and she nodded with a gulp, stepping down the carved staircase of the ramp.
Before long, the shaft abruptly changed. There was a huge broken window in her path, surrounded by shattered glass that has been carefully swept away to prevent any cuts. The glass was absurdly thick: at least three hoof widths, but somehow it was blown to pieces, perhaps from the pressure the earth and rock has put on it over the years. The edges of the window were made of metal that was just as thick, and riveted in place so powerfully that the rivets look as though they were molten when they were put into place. The interior of the window frame was embedded with lights, and it seemed the entire ceiling of the structure was meant to be one enormous window, illuminating the room below.
Twilight peeked over the edge, and widened her eyes. The room was huge. It was easily the size of the Ponyville town square. In fact, it could easily have been a town square. It was filled with benches, and booths. There was also a large field, and several round areas that were filled with vegetation, which have long since died and dried out. What caught Twilight's eye most of all, however, was the illusion platforms, just like the one that she saw in Filthy Rich's mansion. They dotted the sides of the gray tiled paths that connected the various points of interest in the room.
"Are you at the edge?" Crystal called out.
Twilight was staring in breathless awe at what she was witnessing.
Crystal called out once more. "Twilight?"
Twilight excitedly called back. "Yes. It's like a city! There are so many illusion platforms! Your reports didn't say there were that many!"
Spelunky laughed into the mine shaft, "Oh you're in for a treat. That room is less than one tenth of the structure."
Twilight's mind had to catch up to her. She looked down into the vacuous space, trying to comprehend the enormity of what Spelunky had just told her.
The pegasus apprentice called out, "Okay slowly lower yourself over the edge and let go."
Twilight slipped herself down: hind legs first, then forelegs. The pegasus's wings fluttered hard at the sudden jerk of having to support Twilight's weight, and he drove his hooves into the dirt floor of the tent space. He had the comfortable expression of a pony who's done this many times already. The other assistants started to turn the crank slowly, giving Twilight more slack, lowering her gradually.
Twilight started her trip toward the floor, grinning from ear to ear, and staring down at the strange room as it slowly rose to meet her. "I'm really here," she whispered to herself. "This is amazing."
***
Twilight huffed, and whispered to herself. "This is terrible."
Twilight saw Crystal approaching with a legful of specimen boxes. Twilight knew what to expect. Crystal was going to unload yet another pile of artifacts for her to stuff away into her saddle bags.
Twilight was no stranger to slow and methodical research. She knew that real archaeology was nothing like the Daring Do books. She couldn't expect to just run off on some kind of adventure on her first day, but this was ridiculous. Crystal was treating her like a pack mule.
Before Twilight could object, Crystal was already dumping the boxes into her hooves. "Here, hold on to these. They're more of the plastic rectangles and we need to bring them up to the surface when we're done."
Crystal started to move off, and Twilight tried to follow and talk to her while putting away the specimen boxes. "Actually, Crystal, I wanted to talk to you."
Twilight finished putting away the boxes, and pulled out a scroll. She dropped it down and walked after Crystal, letting it unfurl behind her. "Okay, so I have a few suggestions. First--" Crystal could tell this was going to be painful. She turned to Twilight and heaved a long suffering sigh. "--teams three, and five are working on excavating the collapsed tunnel to the north, and I think it would be better if we focused on the artifacts we've already exposed. For one, the black headgear is--"
"Twilight!" Crystal shouted with frustration. "The teams are where I put them. Okay?"
Twilight's voice lost its bravado, and she almost started to whimper. "Yes but I--"
Crystal sighed, realizing she's been overly harsh, and she approached the younger mare. "Listen, I'm just saying there are good reasons why we've prioritized certain things, and I've been listening to your advice all day. I see you're already writing it all down. Maybe you should just submit the list to me when we're back at the camp?"
Twilight replied, "Oh. Right, that sounds like a good idea, but the next one is super important. You see, I've been seeing a four character word all over the place, and I thought we should try tapping it into the illusion box and--"
Crystal furrowed her brow at Twilight with disappointment, and put a forehoof gently on her note keeping scroll. "That?" she asked condescendingly.
"Oh, yes. I think it might be some sort of spell associated with creating doorways."
Crystal facehoofed in frustration. Twilight sunk backward at her reaction, grinning a very wide self-conscious grin.
Crystal tried to explain it as gently as she could. "That word is a navigation marker. It's used to indicate the way back to the main room. That's why it's always above the doors."
Twilight frowned and stared at her scroll. Why didn't she notice that? "Oh, well. I guess that--"
Crystal cut Twilight off. "Listen, how about you go help Spelunky? He's in the newly excavated area in the southeast. Don't touch anything, okay?"
Twilight nodded dejectedly, and started walking off, rolling her scroll back up so she can put it away.
Twilight stared in thought at the gray and white tiles under her forehooves as she walked. She thought it was like Winter Wrap Up all over again. Maybe Filthy Rich was right? Maybe she's just an impediment to the whole project.
But, her talent during the Winter Wrap Up was keeping the team organized, and that was her talent now. Why couldn't Crystal see that?
Twilight glanced up with a sigh, and entered the corridor toward the newly unearthed area. She was about to lift one of the lanterns with magic to light her way, but caught herself in time. "No magic, Twilight," she said to herself. She leaned over to grip the handle in her teeth, and made her way down the darkened hallway toward Spelunky, who was working diligently not far away.
Twilight paused, and took a step back, glancing aside to an open doorway. Inside was the smallest room she'd seen since visiting the ruins. It was cylindrical, and barely bigger than a closet, but that's not what caught her attention. She noticed, inscribed just above the metallic door frame, was the navigation word. She set her lamp down and grinned smugly. Crystal was wrong. Not only does this not go toward the main room, it actually doesn't go anywhere. It's just a tiny room.
Twilight stepped inside, and gasped as the door slid shut behind her.
Author's Note
I strongly suspect that Twilight will have to be taught how to fly, in the canon, and at this point in her development she'll be unable to fly, but since I don't know it for certain, I made it a bit ambiguous. I intend to return to this chapter and edit it, once it's been established in the canon.
New Magic
Chapter 6: Containment
"For buck's sake what in Tartarus is wrong with you?" Crystal snarled at Twilight through the closed doorway.
"I told you, I didn't touch anything! It just closed. Please listen to me!" Twilight protested.
Crystal ignored Twilight's protests. "I should never have let you down here! You think you're just Celestia's gift to the universe don't you?" Crystal was furious. "You think you know everything? Huh? You think you know how I should run my dig?"
Twilight's eyes welled with tears. Why was this happening? "I'm telling you this was an accident."
Crystal had already started down the path of venting her feelings, and she wasn't about to stop now. "I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about how Filthy Rich thinks he can send some hotshot down here. We can't all be prodigies like you, Twilight Sparkle. We can't all be magical heroes of the realm. Some of us have to work for a living!"
There were murmurs on the other side of the door. Twilight couldn't make them out but they seemed by their cadences to be urging Crystal to remain calm.
Crystal growled, "No! She wants the job, she can have it. Congratulations princess," she spat the word, "you can touch whatever you want now. Go ruin the dig and get yourself killed." Crystal's voice cracked as she fought back tears, "I did so much work. I did so much work on this project! I poured three months of my life into this, I'm not going to sink more of my life down a black hole just to further inflate some brat's reputation."
There was a thunderous slam on the door in front of Twilight, and she yelped loudly, stumbling backward. She couldn't contain her tears now. They leaked down her muzzle as she cried. Twilight could hear a small scuffle on the other side of the door.
"It's either you or me, Twilight Sparkle. I'm not coming back to this dig until you're gone. Filthy can put that in his damn pipe and smoke it. You hear me?"
Twilight curled up and clutched her head. Everything was ruined now. "I'm sorry! Please! I'm your princess ... please."
"And what have you done to earn that, huh? Princess?" Crystal snarled. Twilight could tell her face was right up against the other side of the door. "I know what happened. You signed over treasury funds for Filthy's dig. You got the tax payers footing the bill for your little adventure ruining my life."
Twilight wanted to protest, to claim that this dig is in the public interest, to lie and say that she didn't do it all for herself, but she couldn't choke back her tears.
Crystal snarled, "You're a disgrace to Equestria!"
It was quiet now.
The silence seemed to stretch on. Twilight could only hear her own sobs, until Spelunky spoke through the door, "Hey. I don't think she means what she says. We're still trying to get you out of there, but we may need you to teleport back up to the surface."
Twilight sniffed, and wiped her eyes. She didn't respond.
Spelunky spoke softly. "There's a button out here, but it flashes with some writing when we try pressing it."
Twilight said nothing.
Spelunky's voice had some worry now. "Twilight. Say something, Twilight."
Twilight whimpered, "She's right."
There was more silence.
Twilight stood up, and she looked around her small prison. There was an glassy red illusion floating in the air. It was two of the characters from the language of the ruins, but she recognized these ones. They were numerals. The ponies of the ruins used a base ten system. This one said seventeen.
She looked down. There was another set of floating numerals. The numbers one through twenty were written inside of an array of square blue glass chips, hovering just in front of the wall next to the door.
Twilight hovered her hoof over the seventeen. She wondered if this was the right thing to press. Would it allow her to escape if she solved this puzzle? Surely the answer couldn't be that simple. That's what she told herself.
She reached for the 'one', and pressed it.
She felt herself become lighter. The knot in her belly, which was already tied tightly by her tears, floated up into her throat. "Spelunky." she called out to the door. There was no answer.
"Spelunky!" she shouted.
She knew what was happening now. The room was falling. The knot just kept getting tighter. She gasped with fright, and her horn started to glow. She drew forth the energy to teleport herself, and just as she was about to fire, she felt heavy. The room came to a stop, and the door slid open.
Twilight stepped out of the elevator, wiping her eyes and sniffing, she brought forth a light spell, illuminating the tip of her horn to pierce the darkness.
The room was fairly large, about the same size and height as her entire tree-house library. The ceiling was the same grid of windows as the main room she used to enter the ruins.
In the center of the room was a circular desk, surrounded by six chairs, which seem to have been formed right out of the floor. The center of the desk was concave and hemispherical.
She drew in a sniff. Her cheeks were prickling now with the feeling of dried tears in her fur.
With a loud clack, the familiar white light of the ruins flooded the room. A blue glow from concave surface of the desk came next, and in one explosive burst, the glow from the desk gave rise to a dozen planes, covered with information, and writing in the language of the ruins.
Each chair seemed to have several different sets of information and moving pictures, and a plane of blue glass symbol chips. There were arrays of graphs, reams of text, and what seemed to be hundreds of colored rectangles, most of them flashing red.
With a flicker, the enormous space over the desk was occupied with a rotating globe. Twilight felt sensation of static electricity in the air with the appearance of the globe, making her fur stand on end, and she stood her ground, mesmerized by the ruin's sudden decision to display the power of its magic so flagrantly.
Twilight stepped toward the chairs. One of them seemed to be set farther away from the others, as if it was placed specifically so that it would be facing toward the other five, and resting on the chair was a small black foreleg bracer.
Twilight blinked at the artifact, and fell on her haunches in front of the chair. She reached out and gently touched it with a hoof. "Princess Celestia. I wish you were here. I don't know if what I've done is right."
She sighed, "No. I know it was wrong. Just because I'm very talented, doesn't mean I'm better than everpony at everything. I know that now. But..."
She looked up at the globe above her head, spotting Equestria as it spun by slowly. "I know I was meant to be here. I was born to learn everything I can about magic. It's who I am."
She gently lifted the bracer from the chair, and connected it to her foreleg. She closed her eyes, and tried to feel its power. Her horn glowed with a warm purple light. After a moment, she sighed. Nothing.
Despondent, she trudged through the ruin, examining each of the corridors and tiny rooms marked with the navigation word.
Her eyes were drawn to one door, facing exactly across from the seat she found the bracer upon. It was striped with red and black diagonal lines. This one was marked with an eleven character word, and five five-pointed stars. Twilight stared at the stars for a moment, and sat down to dig through her saddle bags. She opened one of the specimen boxes Crystal gave her, and pulled out a plastic rectangle with five stars.
She slipped the rest of the rectangle away, and hovered the rectangle near the door. With a hiss, a puff of air shot out of the crack in the center of the door, and it gradually split open, revealing a small room, not much bigger than the one that brought her here.
Twilight's spirits started to rise as she stepped toward the glass case. There they were. Six reflective, rainbow colored silver discs, about the size of a one bit coin. She started by slipping one into her saddle bag.
The red light in the room started to flash, sending shadows of light rotating around the floor, the door slammed down behind her with a ground shaking crash, and she turned around with a start.
She sighed. She could tell by the sound of that door that it isn't the kind that's going to open again.
With a drawing of the wind, Twilight's horn glowed. The dusty floor swirled in a spiral pattern toward her hooves. With a flash and a sparkle, she was gone.
