Chapters A lone figure slowly walked one of the many roads that led to Canterlot castle, pausing briefly to reminisce on old memories. The cobblestone streets felt familiar under her hooves, the small bumps digging into her hooves as she walked along. She wanted to be happy about returning home but she knew that her arrival would only be met with unnecessary levels of petty conflict. Perhaps home wasn't the right word. She no longer correlated home with this place after being away for so long.
The lone figure ducked into an ally way as a guard patrol passed by, she didn’t want to be seen quite yet. Whilst in the alley the lone figure channeled as spell she had used many times while on her journeys. A rift in space opened up in front of her, reaching in she grabbed three items. One of them was a black cloak with purple trimming. It had plates of metal covering areas that wouldn't hinder mobility and overall looked very well crafted. The other two items that had been pulled over were strapped around the lone figures middle. Two swords, in their sheaths, were now at the sides of the lone figure.
With her armor dawned and the swords on either end of her body she continued walking down the path to the castle. She had gotten use to the weight of armor while on her journeys. She used to think it cumbersome but after a mishap or two she had grown to appreciate it. The gates of Canterlot Castle loomed before her now, along with two guards. They looked at her with suspicion as she approached. She drew the sword on her left, revealing a glowing white blade. With a word from the lone figure the sword burst into violet flames and dripping with molten energy.
The guards shielded their eyes, but did not shy from the fight, drawing their swords as well. The lone figure scoffed, she knew as well as any other that the swords the guards of Canterlot carried were more for show than actual combat, a status symbol, not an actual weapon. As the guards charged her she made quick work of the flimsy weapons. Making a single swipe with her burning sword she turned the cheap metal to nothing but a puddle of silver near each guards feet. She let them run to their captain for he was one of the people she had come to see. Holding the sword steady in her glowing magic grip she melted a hole in the gate so she could pass.
Not ten feet into the courtyard the lone figure heard the marching feet of perhaps ten guards. Knowing that simply disarming them would not suffice this time she drew her second weapon, a black blade that chilled the air around her. Another word and the lights of Canterlot went dim as the blade seemed to banish all forms of light other than its burning twin. The guards turned the corner to see her, in all her glory, standing and ready for the fight.
The guards did not charge the lone figure immediately but instead chose a more intelligent approach, surrounding her, leaving no easy path of escape. The mare simply smirked, not that it could be seen under her hood. Raising the black blade slightly higher, the lone figure plunged it into the ground, the effect was immediate. Branching tendrils of frost worked their way outwards, the plants and grass turned rigid, the cobblestone cracked, and perhaps most importantly the guards slowly started to get incased in ice, leaving the lone figure surrounded by figurines of the north with expressions of terror on their faces.
Touching the tip of her searing blade to one of the guards his prison of ice melted away, leaving him with a burn mark on his snout. The guard swiftly moved out of her way as she motioned with a hoof. She walked slowly towards the entrance door of the castle, opening it to find a wall of spears blocking her path. Placing the two blades perpendicular to each other, she set them spinning. The two swords canceled each others magic and instead created a massive force of wind to blow back the twenty some guards that made up the wall.
Progressing farther down the hall she was met with another obstacle, a large sum of archers stood in the balconies above her, bows at the ready. Readying the hotter of her two blades she watched as the archers let loose their volley of arrows. Channeling a sustain energy spell the lone figure swung her sword as she let loose the spell, creating a wall of fire to incinerate the arrows as they drew near. An arcane blast of her own creation dispersed the wall, sending it just far enough to burn the bowstrings of the archers. She walked unabated to the final door, the one that would lead her to the throne room. As she reached for the handle a sword was brought down on her reaching hoof, it did nothing to breach the armored cloak but the force of it knocked her hoof away.
Looking to her right she saw the captain of the guard, standing in full enchanted armor. While the other guards may have had ceremonial weapons at their disposal the captain was wielding a blade that would disperse any and all magic that touched it. The same went for his armor and shield. She would not be needing her enchantments for this fight and with a word her swords lost their glow. He let loose the first swing which was easily blocked by one of her own.
The two began a fight that one looking in might consider a dance, elegant and smooth, even if hideously one sided. Their blades did not clash together, but instead flowed off each other like water, smoothly transitioning to the next strike. The lone figure could tell that the captain was losing his energy when his strikes became more aggressive and desperate. Deciding that this had gone on long enough she griped the blade of the captain with her own two, twisted them, and snapped the sword into fragments. A quick strike with both her weapons led the shield to follow suite. The captain stood their with a look of shock and terror on his face, staring down what he assumed to be tartarus incarnate. The lone figure stopped his gawking with a pommel strike to the forehead, knocking him unconscious. He didn't need to see this next part.
The lone figure walked into the throne room, sitting on their pedestals were Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Twilight. With her target acquired the lone figure ignited her blades and prepared two spells she had only used on rare occasion. Sending out the first spell, it shattered the barrier spells around the three Princesses, taking this chance the lone figure jammed the two blades together activating the second spell. A blinding light filled the room and when it waned a single blade of jet black and radiant white was lofted above the figures head. With a burst of telekinesis she sent the blade flying, strait towards the heart of Princess Twilight. The blade flew with little resistance, Celestia and Luna could try as they like to stop the blade but the figure knew it was enchanted so that only she could wield it. The enchanted blade hit its target with deadly accuracy.
Princess Twilight hit the floor with a resounding thud, Luna and Celestia could do nothing but stare in shock as their dear friend and student respectfully, fell to the ground. The lone figure stood passively to the side, waving her hoof to will the blade back towards her. Celestia was the first to recover, wiping her neck around to stare at the lone figure with fire in her eyes. A beam of purifying fire burst from the white alicorns horn headed strait for the mare. She was hit squarely in the chest by the beam, but it only knocked her back a few steps. Celestia was about to launch another beam when she was interrupted by a wide eyed Luna.
In the spot where the dead Princess Twilight once lay was the now deceased Queen Chrysalis. They both turned back the lone figure just as she started lower her hood. In front of the two remaining Princesses stood Twilight Sparkle, yet she wasn't at the same time. She looked older, not older in the sense that she looked old but her eyes looked like they had seen to much. Her face was marked with scars and she looked confident. Her coat was a darker shade than what it was before and her mane had been cut short.
Twilight stood before them and only spoke two words...
"I'm home"
Five mares gathered at a train station in the small town of Ponyville. They had all received a similar letter with the royal seal this morning All of them delivered, of course, with the usual broken property as the mailmare dropped it off. None of them quite knew what to think about it. Most of the mares took it with a grain of salt, thinking of it as the cryptic speakings of royals, One or two of them, however, thought it was something more.
AppleJack was the first to speak her mind on the topic, “I just don’t get what this here letter is about, I mean, ‘Twilights home’, what do you gals think that means? Did Twilight go on some sort of royal mission or something?”
“I simply have no clue darling,” Rarity replied, “so far as I know Twilights been up in Canterlot this whole time, helping Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Its a shame she hasn’t visited more often, Think it has something to do with that?”
They shared in a quizzical look before boarding the train to Canterlot. The ride was a fairly average one for the mares, Rainbow dash fell asleep within minutes, Pinkie talked to the random travelers and made some peoples day better, Fluttershy sat quietly in her seat, and Applejack and Rarity talked throughout the trip.
Everything was normal.
Nothing was normal in Canterlot Castle.
Almost the entire guard force was in the infirmary, there was a dead changeling Queen in the throne room, the real Twilight was back after supposedly ten years, and because of her none to subtle return it was going to be very difficult to explain this to the public without mass panic. To add to all that Celestia had to go through the last ten years and analyze every political and recreational activity Chrysalis did while acting as Twilight.
On the subject of Twilight where was she, turning to Luna who was shifting through mountains of paperwork, as she had agreed to help Celestia. “Do you know where Twilight is Lulu?”
“Last I saw she was down in the barracks impressing everyone.” Was Luna's simple reply.
Twilight looked down at the unconscious guard before her. This was the sixth one to challenge her and the sixth to fall. It was more tedious than actual training considering most of them went down in seconds and all of them had terrible form. Another five went by and she finally had enough. She left with a curt nod to the rest of the guards before heading back into the castle.
Her walk through the corridors of the castle provided ample time to reflect on how the day had gone and how the rest of it would go. She had no doubt that her old friends would be invited, her brother and step-sister would be as well. Celestia and Luna would show up and perhaps Discord but she wasn't certain on that one. It was a lot of people who would be hearing her story and a lot of people who would never look at her the same again. The thought didn't make her sad or make her hate herself, she had come to terms with it long ago.
Looking out of one of the many windows lining the hall, Twilight looked towards Everfree forest. The place had terrified her when she was younger, but now, after seeing so much of this world and many others, it seemed like the only place that made sense here. There was a cohesive food chain and the weather did it's thing on it's own. There was less interference. Twilight had come to relish in that sort of unpredictability and freedom during her absence.
Arriving at her room Twilight rapidly found it uncomfortable. There was frill everywhere, Twilight had forgotten how comfortably everypony here lived. Walking around the room Twilight used her magic to send all the frill into a different dimension where it would never be seen by anyone here again. Nodding in approval Twilight sat down on the bed that was now bare of everything but a sheet and blanket. Twilight closed her eyes and started to meditate while waiting.
Cadence stood by her husbands bed in the infirmary. He was in with a concussion and some bruising. They had heard what had happened from a few guards that were stationed in the throne room but neither of them could quite believe it. Little Twily? Shinning and Cadence couldn't figure out what shocked them more, that Twilight had been replaced by the changeling queen or that the real Twilight had charged her way through an entire guard force only to kill the changeling.
They would deal with that later, in the mean time Shining knew that he would have to figure something out to get the image of the guard back up. If one pony, Celestia's student or not, could breeze past the entire force like they were paper the public wouldn't feels safe and that would defeat the entire purpose of the guard.
Shining turned to Cadence, “This is embarrassing for me and the guard you know.” He said.
“Oh don’t be so hard on yourself, Equestria hasn't seen somepony with so much power for years, I would be surprised and slightly suspicious if your guard was prepared.” Cadence replied.
“Not the best mindset dear, I know that equestria is peaceful but what your saying about the guard implies that were being lazy. And to top it off it was just one pony. This is going to take forever to clean up.”
Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow dash, Pinkie Pie and, Fluttershy all got of the train sometime around noon. They still had a couple hours until they were supposed to make it to the castle so they decided that they should make the most of their stay, considering that they didn't get to canterlot that often. Rarity went to visit her old friend Mr. Fancypants to catch up on all the latest in canterlot, Applejack and Pinkie pie visited some of the bakeries to see if they could find any recipes that they hadn't thought up yet, Rainbow dash went to the bookstore to see if they had the newest copy of Daring Do yet, and Fluttershy sat in the park enjoying the fresh air.
The hours passed quickly as they so often do and the five found themselves at the gates of Canterlot castle. Non of them entirely knew what to expect from the strange summons but they did know that it had something to do with Twilight.
“Well here we are girls”, Said Applejack, “Still don’t quite know why were here but the Princesses said it was important and if its nothing, we still get to see Twilight.”
“Yeah!” Exclaimed Pinkie Pie “I’ve been super sadie pants without Twilight to talk to, you think she would visit at least once or twice a month.”
Celestia walked into Twilights room to find her sitting still with her eyes closed. Twilight noted her presence with a simple nod of the head in her direction and continued to sit. As Celestia watched her she noted something strange, there were strong illusion spells around her. Not the same type as the changelings used, but more the type that the showmare Trixie used.
"Why am I sensing illusion spells around you Twilight?"
Twilight tensed for a moment before sighing and responding. "Well your going to find out anyway might as well give you a sneak peak." With that the some of the illusion spells dropped. Twilights horn started to dissolve away, along with her mane, tail, and feathers. Her mane, tail, and feathers were replaced by a bright orange fire but her horn. "I can't really explain at the moment but trust me. Everything will be explained when everyone is gathered. Its quite the story.
Celestia could only nod.
Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie all gathered in the throne room with Princess Luna. They all sat in a circle and made idle chatter while waiting for everyone to get here. The guard on duty walked over to luna and informed her it would be another minute or two before Princess Celestia and Twilight would arrive as they were getting the guard captain and princess Cadence before coming to the throne room.
Rarity turned to Princess Luna, “Theres quite a bit of activity going on around here Princess, does that have something to do with what were here for?”
Luna nodded and turned to Rarity, “We can’t tell you much without the others here, We’ve mostly been dealing with cleanup so We don’t actually know much of the story, other than the events of the night itself.”
Rarity mulled over Luna’s words and an inkling of worry worked its way into her system. This casual visit was slowly turning into something that she would call a life altering event, were she one who had a flare for the dramatic.
Twilight reapplied the illusion spells around her before walking out of the room with a slightly stunned Celestia. Turning to the Princess, Twilights asked, “So where are we going, strait to the meeting or are we picking up the guard captain?”
Celestia sighed, “He is your brother, one would think you would acknowledge him with a name rather than a title.”
Twilight nodded, “Sorry, Its just been a long time since Ive had to deal with anyone here. The time seems to have rusted my relationship with everyone."
Celestia could only continue to walk as she mulled over that statement. How long had Twilight been gone?
Shining sat alone in the infirmary. Cadence had left a while back when the doctor on duty had ushered her out. This left Shining plenty of time to think over the events of the past twenty four hours. Shining would be overjoyed to have heard that the Queen was dead in most any other circumstance but the good news was overshadowed by the news that it had been her sister that had single handedly beat him in combat. She hadn't even used magic to beat him.
On top of all that the pony he thought was his sister turned out to be the same monster that had impersonated his wife. Shining was starting to see a pattern in the events and then started to get paranoid. 'What if other people he loved were being replaced as he lay here in the infirmary. What if its a giant conspiracy!...' After that thought Shining started to get the idea that a few sessions with a therapist would be good for him. Maybe he would buy a boat and go on a cruise for a year or two, try and get away from all the changeling madness.
Shining was still rolling the thought of the sea life through his head when the door opened and Celestia and Twilight walked in. The doctor rushed over and tried to shoo them out of the door but Celestia just ignored him.
“I trust you are ready and able to walk captain.” asked Celestia. Shining nodded got out of bed before walking over to the two much to the ire of the doctor. On their way to the throne room Shining kept trying to start up a conversation with Twilight but she only gave him some sidelong glances and grunts in response. Resining himself to wait until the throne room, Shining continued to walk.
Princess Celestia walked into the throne room with Twilight and Shining Armor in tow causing everyone to stop their conversations. All the mares except for Luna rushed over and gave Twilight a crushing hug, much to the displeasure of the mare. Twilight gave everypony a few awkward pats before they released the hug. Coughing Celestia drew the attention back to herself.
"As some of you know Canterlot castle was infiltrated by a pony who, at the time, was of unknown identity." This drew gasps from five of the eight others present. "When the infiltrated got to the throne room after fighting past all of the guards who were on duty they managed to kill Princess Twilight Sparkle." This drew some confused murmurs and frightened glances at Twilight.
"Before any of you do anything rash let me finish." Celestia said, quieting the murmurs. "After the sword hit Princess Twilight and killed her, it was revealed that Queen Chrysalis has been acting as Twilight for... how long has it been Twilight?"
"Somewhere around ten years." responded Twilight.
"Yes, Queen Chrysalis has been acting as Princess Twilight for around ten years. Now I'm sure your all wondering how we figured this out." A few nods were given. "The figure who infiltrated the castle, and blew past the guards was the Twilight you see now." The only response to the story was a stunned silence as the mares tried to understand. "Now that the back story is out of the way, Twilight. Would you please share what lead up to your replacement and what happened afterwards?"
The hardest part was finally here, starting her story to those who still saw her as innocent. It was painful knowing the story would scar some of them, but a part of her didn't care. She still held a slight grudge against everyone in this room. They were all "close friends" so why couldn't them see that it was Chrysalis in her place. Twilight supposed it was just that she hated situations like this, destruction due to the inabilities and incompetence of others.
Though regardless of how much she could have stalled Twilight would have to tell her story, and what better place than with the first and most crushing death she had witnessed.
-10 years ago Equestria time, Everfree Forest-
A younger and recently crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle was wandering around Everfree forest with her young draconic assistant Spike. They were there to do further research on the vines that were the most recent “tragedy” to befall Equestria. This of course meant that they had to head to the deeper parts of the dense forest to gather valid data.
“This place gives me the creeps Twilight” She heard her assistant/ adopted brother say. “Lets get the information we need and get out of here.” Twilight couldn't help but agree, she had Spike here mostly because should something go wrong she had the utmost faith that Spike would be able to get a message to Princess Celestia. She normally wouldn't be so eager to wander deep into the most infamously dangerous forest in Equestria and put her best friend at risk, but she wanted to look more into the seeds Discord had planted and see if she could get a detectable magic matrix out of it. If she had that she could, maybe, find more things that Discord had done in the past and stop them before they became a nuisance.
They stopped at a place relatively near the sprouting place of the vines and started digging. It had been about an hour before Twilight had heard Spike scream. This was no normal panic scream like Spike so often produced, this was a scream of pain and terror. Twilight was running and meters away before the shovel even hit the ground.
When Twilight found where she thought she heard the scream originate she saw nothing. She proceeded to see nothing as a large blunt object hit her in the back of the head, knocking her out.
When Twilight woke back up she was bound in a familiar green gunk and in a cave somewhere. Twilight squirmed for a bit before noticing another member in the room. The outline suggested female and the hight suggested alicorn, but she was too thin to be one of the princesses, she looked malnourished.
“Oh how the mighty have fallen, not so tough without your friends are you Twilight Sparkle?” Sounded a mocking voice from the shadows. The form stepped forward, revealing Queen Chrysalis.
“You won’t get away with this” Twilight said with confidence “My friends will realize something is wrong, They will come and find me.”
Chrysalis just smirked, “Perhaps eventually, but you did say yourself back in town that this visit could take a while. Whose to know if they will come today, maybe you had to camp the night in the woods, or perhaps got a room at that zebra’s house? Either way, I have as long as I need.”
“Things haven't been going so well for me lately. After your brother’s little super charged shield spell knocked my invasion out of Canterlot, I was seen as a failure of a Queen. I was exiled by my subjects.” Chrysalis had gotten a mad look in her eye by this point, “They didn’t realize that I was the only thing that kept them from starving to death. Honestly, you wouldn’t think that changelings would believe that fool who said that distilled poison joke would substitute.”
“None of that matters now. You see, Twilight Sparkle, you becoming a Princess has left me with prime opportunity. The changelings be damned! They made their decision now I will make mine. They don’t want me as their ruler, fine, I’ll just take the place of another.”
Twilight decided that it was time to derail Chrysalis’s crazy train before it could go further, “Your plan will never work. Spike is naturally resistant to all kinds of magic so you wont be able to control him. He will just send a letter to Celestia telling her about your plan.”
Chrysalis seemed to consider this for a minute, “Yes that does make a bit of sense now doesn't it. Thank you for bringing this to my attention Sparkle, it will make getting rid of you even sweeter.” A green glow engulfed the Queens form and two things started floating towards her, another green cocoon and... something Twilight couldn't make out.
Chrysalis sent a blast of magic towards the cocoon and it melted away from Spike’s upper body, except for his mouth. After a few seconds of being dazed Spike seemed to realize his problem and started to squirm.
“You see, Twilight Sparkle, you are a problem to my plans and I learned after last time that simply moving someone to a hiding place will not keep them away for long. I’ve been practicing my Planar spells lately and figured, why not, that should get rid of the brat. But first, like you said, We have the problem of your dragon. I could just send him over the hills and say he left on a journey of self discovery but that would mean he could come back, and there is that pesky ability to send letters. The real solution is quite simple in my mind.” Chrysalis got that manic smile again as she levitated the second object into a better view, a dagger. It had a black hilt and red hilt with a silver blade.
Spike started to panic more and squirm more to try and get out of his binds as the dagger drew closer. “The reason most dragons walk on 4 legs at all times, Sparkle, is because the underbelly of a dragon is covered in much thiner scales then the rest of the body, even more so on a baby dragon.”
Spike gave Twilight one last look of desperation before the dagger buried itself into his heart. Twilight screamed as the light went out in Spikes eyes.
She continued screaming as she sunk into the ground
Twilight had to stop her story while her friends recovered from the news of spikes death. Most of them hugged each other and crying. Some of them turned to her for support but Twilight just sat by, while they dealt with the news. Twilight knew it would come to tears in many parts of this story but, she also knew that it should.
Looking at those who called her a friend Twilight saw grief in many distinct forms, all of them she’d seen before in many places. Rarity was silent and regretful, Fluttershy laid down and cried silently, Pinkies mane and tail were flat, AppleJack had her hat over her eyes, Rainbow dash sat on the ground and looked at her hooves. The princesses looked somber, but kept their composure.
When they all looked at her again, she took that as a sign to continue her story.
-1000 years ago, Exsilium Quietis-
It had been two weeks since Twilight had arrived in this forest. Her hope for rescue dwindled every day and lately she had taken to laying down by a small pond she had found. Looking across the lake she saw the small grave marker she had made. No body lay in the grave but that didn't matter, not anymore at least.
Twilight had seen little life around here. Those that she had seen were strange bi-pedals, usually accompanied by a wagon holding what she assumed was trading goods. Some of them had tried to grab at her, but blast of magic had kept them at bay.
Twilight had long since given up on trying to get home on her own, and she was quickly losing hope in her princesses getting her home either.
About a mile away a band of mercenaries walked through Ignis woods, their armor and weapons clinking as them moved. The leader of the group talked with his second in command as they got close to their destination.
“So whats the mission again?” asked the leaders second, “It’s so ridicules I need to hear it again.”
“A small purple unicorn with pronounced magical abilities was seen in the area, we are here to capture, and bring it to the highest bidder.”
“Any restrictions on damage?”
“If it starts slinging spells around, your free to destroy the catalyst, other than that, no further unnecessary harm.”
Howard Quess looked at the mercenary group with mild interest as they passed him. He had heard what their plan was and what they planed to do when they caught the unicorn. He himself was planing to visit the girl when these buffoons passed him, since then he had a change in plans.
The mercenaries were known for having little self control when mad, despite thinking themselves quite calm. Howard had no doubt in his mind that this would end in violence. Howard waited for them to pass before freezing the air in front of him into a disk. Stepping on the disk, he floated above the canopy and started a small journey to the location of the unicorns pond.
When he got their he found a familiar face waiting for him. “I didn't expect you to get involved in all this Jales. Aren't you more interested in berserkers and the like?”
The hulk of a man in front of him, standing on what appeared to be a claymore on fire, just grunted. “She has potential.”
“Aye, that she does. What that potential turns into really depends on her though. She’s Passionate but still has a amazing grasp of the arcane.”
“Haven't heard you give out that complement in a long time Quess.”
Twilight looked up from the pond, eyes bright. That was it, the epiphany she had been waiting for. It was changeling magic that had sent her to this strange place to it would be changeling magic that would get her back. Granted Twilight had never studied changeling magic but it couldn't be that hard, she was the element of magic after all.
Twilight’s horn started glowing with green energy, the spell about to get through before an arrow hit her front left leg. Many of those strange bi-pedal creatures started to walk into the grove, one of them holding a net. Twilight started panicking. She had just learned how to get home, she was not going to loss her opportunity. She started channeling another spell.
What looked like the leader of the group took a small hammer from his belt and threw it at her, hitting her horn and cracking it near the base. The untempered energy of the spell exploded outwards, covering the clearing with a blinding light.
Howard took this as his cue to step in, biding his old friend goodbye Howard sent a pulse into the disk of ice making it shatter. Dropping into the clearing Howard dropped the damper on his ambient energy. The pond started to freeze, grass turned still, the breath of the mercenaries made clouds in the air. Everyone was still dazed from the blast, making it that much easier for Howard to deal with everyone, not that it would have been hard in the first place. Howard’s hands started glowing a soft icy blue as he chose spots in his web of energy to power. Mercenaries started dropping as the blood in their veins froze over, and their skulls cracked because of the expanding liquid inside them. Howard continued to walk towards the leader of the group, who at this point was looking at him in terror.
“You know,” Howard started, “I usually let at least one person live to tell the tale but you did just break the horn of a very promising magic user.”
Howard snapped his fingers and every atom in the leaders body froze, the molecular structure collapsing in on itself as it reached absolute zero. Howard watched with a blank expression as the Mercenary leader got sucked into millions of tiny black holes.
Howard returned the damper to its place and the clearing slowly returned to normal temperature. Looking at the mare passed out on the grass Howard sighed. That mercenary just made his job a lot harder.
Twilight opened her eyes to darkness. She blinked a few times to no result. She tried to move her legs but something was holding her. That was when Twilight started panicking.
“Hold still, will you. Your safe.” A masculine voice said, “Those mercenaries were dealt with.”
“W-Who are you? Where are we? Why can’t I see!?”
“I’m someone who came to help, We are currently one hundred feet about the ground moving towards safe haven at seventy miles a minute, and the magical backlash from you horn being cracked caused an explosion that not only shattered your horn but burned away most of your eyes as well.”
Twilight was rendered speechless. Shattered her horn, burned away her eyes. She would have cried but she couldn't do that now could she.
“I know a place where you can be healed if thats any consolation. Its not conventional healing but you will regain you sight.”
Twilight just nodded.
Howard sighed, looking down at the purple unicorn, who was “looking” at the ground far below. Howard slowed down the ice disk as they approached a large mountain. Touching down on a cliff outside a crack in the mountain Howard turned to Twilight.
“Were here, but I must warn you, the place were about to enter will change you. The sheer amount of magic energies in the air alone is what will heal you but it will burn away all that it deems unnecessary.”
Twilight seemed to consider for a second, before nodding, “Ok.”
Howard watched as the small alicorn stumbled through the caves. Tell tale signs of an innate skill with pyromancy started to
emerge in Twilight as they both approached their destination. It started small, a couple wisps of smoke from the mane, tail, and wings. Some sparks coming from the stub of her horn. Her coat going a few shades darker as the heat started to pump carbon into
the hairs. It wouldn't last for long but it was a nice sneak peak.
A few strides later and the duo had found themselves at the first milestone in the cave: mana flooding. The process was simple, flood the invading body with ridicules amounts of arcane energy. The flooding would kill the physical body of anyone who walked through it in a matter not dissimilar to radiation poisoning. Oh, and the flooding part wasn't a metaphor, their was literally a waterfall of pure energy that had to be stepped through to progress further.
“Careful,” Howard started, “point of no return in about five feet. The first of three so called trials is in front of you. And before you ask what it is, have you ever heard of mana burns?”
Twilight appeared to think for a couple seconds, “Yeah, thats when a unicorn losses control of a spell and the residual energy left comes into contact with the skin, resulting in a burn.”
“Correct, now, imagine that, but about two thousand times worse. The residuals from a spell are just specks of dust floating in the air, what is in front of you is a veritable waterfall of pure arcane energy.”
The concept terrified Twilight. What the strange man described sounded close to walking through lava with nothing but a hopeful thought. The average mana burn encroached on a third degree burn. Though, if this could get her home she could get her revenge on that bitch Chrysalis... had she just thought that? This place was getting to her, she had to get out soon. Steeling herself Twilight started walking forward.
When the manafall first hit her it didn't feel like anything, just a dull tingling. As Twilight kept walking into it the tingling started to grow in intensity. Soon Twilight was crying in agony as she felt her skin start to peel and crack, harden and shatter, liquify and fall off. Twilight had a hunch that this was what it felt like to be trapped in the center of the sun.
“Don’t stop! Keep going!” The words of encouragement from the man did nothing to help her, but it did reminder her that she had, in fact, stopped half way through the waterfall. Painful as it was their was a sense of exhilaration as the mana from the manafall was absorbed into Twilight. A few more steps and Twilight finally got out of the manafall, of course that only meant that her raw skin was exposed to the air and dust in the cave. Twilight stumbled when she felt a whole different kind of pain from before, she felt itchy everywhere.
“Just keep walking, the pain will pass in a bit.”
“Wha... how did you...?”
Howard kept an eye on Twilight as they walked the second leg of their journey. This was always an interesting process to behold, it was also the least painful which was a plus. The manafall had two main functions: the first was to burn and rot away most of the physical body, which it appeared to have done magnificently if the stench was anything to go by. The second was to provide the being with enough energy to replace that which was burned away with, how to say... a body that conducted mana flow better.
The walk from the first to third trial was a long one. It gave the initiate enough time to gain their new form. “So Twilight,” Howard said, “When we get to the end of this tunnel you will need a new name.” Glancing over to the unicorn he saw her looking in his general direction, more than likely a sign to continue. “Names hold a large amount of power if you know how to use them. No one in the... it’s getting annoying to try and keep an air of mystery, sorry...” Howard coughed, “No one in the city will try to control you using your name but the same cant be said for the mages outside of the city. I’ll give you a while to come up with one.”
Twilight nodded, stumbled, and collapsed. Sighing, Howard sat on a nearby rock and waited, and waited, and waited. This process, while the most interesting also took a while. Well, a while in mortal terms, in immortal terms it was a metaphorical blink of the eye, and being an immortal Howard was happy to wait. A minute passed, than an hour, than five hours, a week, three weeks, two months. It was becoming winter when things finally got interesting.
Rousing from his meditative state Howard watched as the mana in Twilight’s body started to come to the surface. It was slow at first, fire always is, embers started to spark off the bones of Twilight sparkle. A purple and orange glow started to weave its way around the bones, knitting mana infused muscles that pulsed and sent out the occasional jet of steam or fire. It reminded Howard of an equine version of that one creature that the humans in that one dimension seemed to be scared of, the big tiltan or something along those lines. He would have to bring Twilight there sometime.
Thin sheets of fur started to form on the body before being burned into a crisp as new fur took its place, getting stained black in the process. Barbless feathers started to poke out on the lumps of flesh known as wings, giving them a porcupine look. The quills sat their for a second, smoking. All at once the quills burst into violet flames, along with the places where a mane and tail would be.
Twilight started to stand up, stumbling a bit, looking around with her now featureless, and hornless, face. She started to move a bit erratically, panicking. Howard saw this as as good a time as any to step in. Telepathy was pretty much the only way to talk with each other in the city considering no one had ears, so Howard decided that an early start would be good for the alicorn.
‘Testing testing, 123, can you hear me Twilight Sparkle’
The body in front of him stopped convulsing.
Their was a slight pause before... ‘You idiot! You never told me my entire body would melt! That is the kind of thing you tell people!’ Well their was that infamous pyromancer temper. ‘I still can’t see either! First that bitch Chrysalis kills by little brother and transports me here, then I get ample time to have an existential crisis while everyone outside that damnable forest toddles about with their daily lives, a couple days latter those ffffffucking hairless apes come and beat me half to death while disabling my magic and making me blind, and to top it all off you,’ She says while pointing a hoof at Howard (note to self, she has good magic sensing abilities) ‘Don’t tell me about the whole, oh, I don't know, MELTING THING! Seriously I thought it would be the pain of the mana burns and then you would heal me afterwards, I never knew there would be MELTING!’
She seems to enjoy ranting at me in unreasonable volumes thought Howard, still trying to get used to the ringing in his ears. Howard let her rant for a few more minutes, mortal ones this time, before putting hand to Twilights face. She took this moment to notice the distinct lack of horn on her head and lack of face on her face. This started another rant on how she would never perform magic again and how Howard had ruined her life and how she would be an outcast if she ever returned home.
‘Calm down Twilight’ It didn’t seem to get through, perhaps if he tried again, ‘Twilight... Twilight... Twilight calm down.’ Nothing. Perhaps sudden kinetic impact will work, Howard slapped the panicking mare in front of him. A shocked silence filled the air as Twilight put a hoof to her face. The silence lasted a bit longer, and finally when he was sure he had her attention Howard started again. ‘Now then, the reason you cant see yet is because it was your eyes that received a majority of the damage in your little scuffle with those mercenaries.’
Twilight thought for a second before nodding. ‘I suppose that makes sense.’ She said in a much more manageable volume. Twilight took a few minutes to consider something.
‘How do you know my name?’
Insanity and the perks it comes with
Twilight reflected on what she had heard. infinite dimensions? An apprenticeship? Alternate versions of herself? It was all very confusing and very hard to accept. Twilight would have prided herself on how well she was taking all of this but she knew it would all burst out in a fit of uncontrollable insanity soon enough.
OH, a tiny ball of light. Slightly purple, it looked like a ball of fire. Fire wasn’t normally purple, and even when it was that hot it was way into the ultra violet range, Twilight shouldn’t have been able to see anything but a bright white fire. Twilight felt a strong sense of vertigo as the ball of fire flew towards her. Lurching forward Twilight found herself staring at a grey cave floor.
Wait. Looking.
Twilight started to dance around in victory as she regained her sight. The strange man looked up at her and Twilight saw him for the first time. He looked like he was made of ice, but it was hard to tell because of the blue and white cloak that surrounded him. He stood up, revealing more of what was under the cloak. He wore baggy blue pants held in place at his ankles with leather boots with fur lining the inside, the boots were treated to a withering stare from Twilight. His shirt was still obstructed.
Pulling his hood down Twilight saw that the man was indeed made of ice, and there was a small blizzard that made what looked like hair.
‘So thats what you look like.’ Twilight said through the telepathic link. ‘I never did get a name from you, you know.’
A noise that sounded like laughter came across the link, ‘No, I suppose you haven't gotten that yet have you. My name is Howard Quess, we can deal with title and occupation after you finish the final trial.’ Howard paused for a second, ‘You probably want to see what your new form looks like don’t you?’
Twilight gave a cautious nod, she knew that her face was sorely lacking in ears, a mouth, a nose... how was she breathing? ‘Before you start panicking,’ Howard started, ‘You no longer need to breath, eat, or sleep in your current form. The mana in the air will sustain you. It’s kind of like photosynthesis but without any environmental requirements. Now, about that mirror.’
With a wave of his hand a disk of polished ice appeared in front of Twilight, at least, She thought it was her. The coat of the reflection was pitch black but the striking thing was the violet fire that consumed her wings, tail, and mane. All that was not mentioning the two small wisps of purple fire hovering in front of where her eyes should be.
‘With all the things that have happened in the past month I’m not even surprised.’
‘Three months,’ Howard corrected, ‘After the mana fall you were unconscious for a little over two months.’
The fire in twilights mane seemed to flare for a second but it could have just been her imagination, ‘You know what, I don’t even care. I have one more trial yes, we better get going than.’
Howard was giving a brief explanation on how guild cities worked as they headed to the next trial, ‘You see, a guild city is a city in which a large group of dimensional travelers who have a similar skill use as a hub in between their travels.’
‘Makes sense.’ Twilight replied
‘At the moment yes, but you forget the infinite possibilities of the universe,’ Howard could see the anger on Twilights non existent facial features, ‘ It would be impossible to provide housing for an infinite number of people, even with all the spells the people there know. The best solution the founders and I could come up with was to anchor the city to a single point in reality, yes there are a few universes and parallels that got away from us but we got most of them. All the ones we didn’t get and all the new ones are picked up by other versions of the city that anchor themselves to various other points. While it may sound like a new city pops up every second but the anchors can hold a lot of universes so we really only get a new one every few trillion eons.’
‘Excuse me, how many eons...’
‘A few trillion’
There was that anger again, this would be a fun apprentice. ‘Anyway as I was saying, because of how the city is anchored everyone who enters the city relives the lives of every version of themselves up to the point in the timeline they are at at the moment. It sounds like the person experiencing it would go insane, and well, they do. But only for a couple decades. After that they learn to cope with the memories of a few trillion in their head. The only reason its not an infinite cycle of new voices is because of the anchor.’
Throughout this whole thing Twilight had started to slow. Insanity? She could deal with physical pain, that would go away, but matters of the mind. Not so easy to deal with. Besides, a couple decades! All of her friends would have gotten old and Chrysalis could have taken over equestria by that point! It’s not like they had the elements anymore!
‘Before you make a decision a comforting thought,’ Oh this would be good, ‘First, the people of the city wont really pay you any mind as you twitch and ramble in you insanity. Second, time flows different in each universe and each parallel so what would be five thousand years here would be five seconds somewhere else. Time is merely a convenience that most people here have disregarded.’
Twilight made a promise to herself in that moment, they had stopped a few feet from a large crack in the wall. Whatever it takes, I will get home. With that Twilight stepped forward.
Several things happened quick succession, Twilight noticed that the cavern they were in was enormous, much larger than the core of the planet should have been able to hold, the second was the voices that had started to whisper in the back of her mind, and the third was Howard slowly scooting away from her as they walked towards the city.
As they got closer to the city the whispers got louder, and images started to flow in front of Twilights vision. She stumbled and only half heard what Howard said next.
‘Enjoy the trip. Oh, and when your done would you tell me what you decide you new name will be. I’ll be waiting with baited breath.’
Twilight blacked out
Howard looked up from his book on Necromancy and its applications in cooking just in time to see a tower a few miles into the skyline explode in violet fire. There was a massive telepathic message sent out as it happened aswell: ‘LOOK AT ME WHEN I SCREAM AT YOUR SOUL!’.
Just another day, Howard thought as he looked back down at his book.
Two mages sat at a cafe in the streets a few blocks away from the explosion.
‘Oh I do so love the arch mage’s new apprentice!’ yelled a giddy Cerebramancer. His companion only stared at him.
‘You love all the new mages Risi.’ Said the Druid across from him
‘It’s not my fault this place inspires such wonderful insanity in the young ones, I just like to revel in it. Why are you harping me anyway, don’t you plant people like to not harm or offend anyone?’
‘Just cause I’m a pacifist doesn't mean all Druids are Risi, and besides, pacifism doesn't mean I cant make sarcastic remarks at idiots like you.
She couldn't believe the nerve of that cabbage, all she asked for was directions towards the nearest toaster repair shop and the thing had gotten all sassy with her.
‘It got what was coming to it.’
‘I do so agree voice in my head, what do you think other voice in my head?’
‘Oh yes, quite so.’
‘I don’t know, I think he was nice.’
‘Shut up voice #2346774.’ She noticed a Venomancer looking at her from across the hall. ‘HEY, WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT!’ the woman just rolled her eyes and raised her hands in a non threatening way as she continued walking. ‘THATS WHAT I THOUGHT!’
It had been 34 years since Twilight had shown up in Urbis de Magicis and Howard thought that things were going well. Sure a few things had blown up here and there... ok a lot of things had blown up everywhere. Even Risi, head of the Cerebramancer school stopped laughing a few years ago. A knock on the door pulled Howard from his thoughts.
Walking over he was pleasantly surprise to see one Twilight Sparkle at his door, but without the whole deranged flicker in her eyes fire things.
‘I have become bored with insanity and am ready to continue my studies.’
‘Good,’ Howard smiled, not that it could be seen, ‘have you chosen a new name?
‘Yeah,
Perierat Ignis.’
‘What is with you people and latin?’
View Online
A lecture on the universe and alternate demensions
Your name eh? Well thats an easy one, but it will take some time to explain. I suppose we have some time while your eyes start to form. Many people see reality as a single universe. A universe in which what happens happens and no one will ever know what would have happened if they have eaten a tuna sandwich rather than a ham sandwich... don’t give me that sass miss herbivore. What people don't realize is that choices have a consequence that is more than indigestion. When we make a choice, when we move a muscle, when we think a thought, thousands of different universes are created at that moment for each different possible outcome. Sometimes even ones for each impossible action... Reality is a funny thing Twilight sometimes physics slips through the cracks and impossible outcomes happen. Of course that brings up that if each outcome will happen then each impossible outcome will happen as well because in some versions of that reality physics slipped through the cracks. Though it is very easy to get into hypotheticals when discussing reality, but that brings up the point that hypotheticals are a falsehood because everything that can happen will happen somewhere, somewhen... Yes I do in fact know what circular logic is Sparkle and I do not appreciate these constant interruptions.
So in this massive and unending web of alternate dimensions and new universes that not even I in my many years of life, and in some cases unlife, can understand, at least one of my selves is required to have come to your Equestria at least once. But as I said before everything that can happen must happen and so everyone of me has visited your place of origin, mostly because it is a nice place in most cases. ... No I can not just send you back home it doesn't work like that. I could send you to some random Equestria and hope that you land in the right one but there is a large chance that you wont. Well, some of you will, some of you will also land in the same equestria buts thats beside the point. It would be nearly impossible for me to just send you back home and let you get on your merry way, that spell you almost cast back at the pond would have only sent you flying into the void. Well, it sent some of you flying into the void. It also sent some of you home, but thats also beside the point... yes I know I’m rambling, its hard not to do when your dealing with something so massive as infinite probabilities.
Back to the point at hand I suppose I know your name because I have met you before, well, not you per say but a version of you. Nice girl, had a hard time being stuck in a time loop but she got out ok. There have been other times when we have met, sometimes they were even versions of you from after I taught you. ... Yes I said taught you, what did you think I was carrying you around for no reason at all? If you were just some pony I had found injured on the road I would I just healed you and been on my way.
You have potential
