Part 1: Mass Immeasurable
Part 1: Mass Immeasurable
Twilight Sparkle stood nervously in place, tapping a hoof on the tile floor. She had tried using the breathing technique Cadence had taught her, but the purple alicorn couldn’t even begin to keep her anxiety in check. She’d been summoned to a private meeting between her and Princess Celestia to discuss her responsibilities as the newest Equestrian princess. Twilight had been both ecstatic and apprehensive about this meeting; waiting to hear news of what her royal duties would consist of was driving her mad, but now that it was actually happening, she feared what those duties might entail. Would she have to stay in Canterlot away from her friends, or perhaps a completely unfamiliar kingdom to rule over? It had only been about a month since her coronation, would she be able to handle the task Celestia placed before her?
Before she could take that train of thought farther, Princess Luna immerged from the double doors. “My sister will see you now, Twilight.”
Twilight nodded and trotted into the royal chamber, the door closing behind her. Sitting on her throne, Princes Celestia was enjoying a cup of tea. Taking small regal sips of the hot liquid, she looked up to see her former pupil trotting eagerly up to her. She set the cup down and flew down to meet her halfway.
“Good morning Twilight,” Celestia chirped.
“Good morning, your highness.”
Celestia giggled, “Oh please, there’s no need for formality. You’re a princess now Twilight, first-name basis among royals.”
Twilight smiled, “Of course, sorry Prince- I-I mean, Celestia.”
Celestia gestured for her former pupil to walk with her. As they walked through the corridors of the castle, they participated in small talk. Twilight asking what Celestia was up to, the white mare asking how things were going in Ponyville, simple things that allowed Twilight to relax. When it finally came down to the purpose of their meeting, Twilight had almost forgotten all about the reason why she was here.
“So, why have you summoned me?” Twilight asked looking up at her mentor.
“Ah yes,” Celestia smiled, “your royal duties.”
The pair stopped in front of a painting hanging on the wall. The painting depicted Unicorns fighting against shadowy figures. In the middle, dead unicorns lay in a stream of blood as some shadowy figures broke the horns off the dead ponies and carried them off towards the rest of the shadow figures. In the upper right, an alicorn bathed those still fighting back in brilliant light, while at the same time driving away the dark creatures. It was one of the darker paintings in the castle, and had a small alcove near a window just for it, so as not to spook any guests privileged enough to enter the castle.
“Do you remember the Dark Harvest?”
Twilight stood unmoving, her eyes fixed on the painting, “I remember reading about it, yes. It was a war the unicorns fought shortly before the formation of Equestria as a nation. The unicorn tribe was under attack by the Vadra, shadow creatures from beyond the western seas. They were known to collect unicorn horns due to their value in their homeland.”
“Yes,” Celestia lowered her head, “It was a dark time, and I remember it all too well.”
Twilight broke her gaze from the painting and looked to the princess of the sun. “That’s right, you were there to aid in the final battle, bolstering the magic of all unicorns to help drive the Vadra back beyond the western sea.”
“Looking back I realize we barely made it through that ordeal alive. As a tribe the unicorns were weakened; too many casualties for me to consider it a victory,” she looked back up at the painting, “and yet it brought me no satisfaction when considering how many Vadran lives I had to take just to achieve survival.”
Twilight could see this topic was troubling the princess, which was admittedly a hard thing to do. The last time she looked this saddened was when discussing the banishment of Princess Luna to the moon for a thousand years. Still, the Dark Harvest was at a time when Celestia would have only recently ascended the throne. Twilight never thought about the regret Celestia seemed to carry about her early years of rule.
“Is this why you summoned me? Are you worried that the Vadra might return like Discord or King Sombra?”
Celestia looked to the new princess, “No, I’d be more worried that we’d shortened their numbers too much for them to recuperate. If they’re not extinct, they are a weakened people now.” She pointed to a plaque under the painting, “read the words you see there.”
Twilight walked forward and examined the plaque, “My body to my brother, my soul to my sister. If I give of these gifts, my people need no wings to fly.”
Celestia nodded and stepped forward, “Words spoken on the 10 year anniversary of the Dark Harvest, this painting also commemorates the final battle.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow, “With all due respect, what does this have to do with my royal duties?”
Celestia only smiled and placed her hoof on the plaque. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the plaque inwards. In seconds, the painting slid to the side and the lower part of the picture frame slid downwards, revealing an elevator. Celestia opened to sliding door with her magic and gestured Twilight inside.
“Because I want you to remember these things when you realize the full weight of your responsibilities as Princess of Magic.”
***
The elevator went down, deeper and deeper without stall or halt. Twilight couldn’t tell if it was just going slow, or if it was leading them deeper and deeper into the mountain on which Canterlot was perched. The two princesses stood in silence; twilight wanted desperately to bombard Celestia with the millions of questions running through her head. Why was there a secret elevator behind a painting? Where does it lead? What did she mean by Princess of Magic? But she rode in silence, having faith that her mentor would answer all her questions in due time. As for where they were going, Twilight knew she’d find out soon enough. After what felt like an eternity, the elevator stopped and the doors swung open. A long hallway lit up before the pair, and they slowly walked out of the elevator.
“You enjoyed studying science, isn’t that right Twilight?”
Twilight walked along side Celestia, “Um, yes.”
“Are you aware of the phenomenon known as ‘Magic Flux’?”
“The unpredictable periods when magic seems weaker. Yes I’m aware of the term, as well as the theory that for almost every downward flux there exists an upward one as well such as magic-enhancing meteors, astronomical events beyond the planet, and other more predictable anomalies that seem to bolster magical output.”
Celestia smiled at her former pupils knowledge, “Did you know that Magic Flux is but one of the many ‘Flux’s’ that have existed in Equestria?”
Twilight paused before the double doors, “I’ve never read anything about other fluctuations, no…”
Celestia opened the doors, “That’s because few still live that remember those times.”
Stepping through the doorway, Twilight and Celestia found themselves in a very large laboratory. Scientist ponies in white lab-coats were scattered about the area experimenting with various contraptions. At first Twilight didn’t clue into what the purpose of all the scientists were as each was doing a different task; however upon further inspection she noticed that each was toying with various pieces of technology. Experimental technology that although not one of Twilights main areas of study, she did understand to a certain degree. She only then noticed that the populous of the facility only consisted of unicorns.
“As you already know,” Princess Celestia started as the pair began walking to the far end of the lab, “in Equestria there exists an invisible current. This current is what makes Equestria one of the most magical places on earth; it is unique only to our land in its concentration. It gives each of the races that live here their own ‘magic’. Earth ponies are in tune with nature and are gifted with the strength to change nature itself. Pegasi affect the weather and are masters of the sky above. Unicorns being the race most in tune with the current, use it to perform magical feats that defy the laws of nature; and sometimes the laws of science and reality itself.” Celestia paused to look at her former student, “What you might not know is that this current is not exactly as ‘renewable’ as you’ve been led to believe.”
Once at the far end of the lab, Celestia guided Twilight into another doorway. They stopped at a massive room that housed consoles and machines completely unfamiliar to twilight. The room was kept cold to prevent the overheat of the machines, that much she did understand; though again, what purpose these machines had was still a mystery.
“Do you know why alicorns exist?” Celestia asked.
“To lead the ponies of Equestria as rulers of the land, right?”
Celestia shook her head, “As a matter of existence, Twilight. Why do otherwise ordinary ponies ascend to become a mix of all three races? Why are we immortal? Why are we here?”
Twilight was shocked when she realized she had no answer, “I-I… I don’t know!”
Celestia cocked an eyebrow, “Neither did I when me and my sister first ascended.” The princess pulled a lever, and behind them the floor opened up to reveal a lift elevator. The two princesses stepped onto the platform and slowly descended. “Imagine, me and my sister ascending to an alicorn state because of our talent to raise the sun and moon; a responsibility that originally took the effort of the entire unicorn tribe, now possible through two young fillies who’d only recently acquired their cutie marks.”
The princess continued, “We had no mentors, no guidance, no answers. I had to find out on my own what my purpose was.” The elevator slowed to a halt, “It wasn’t until the Dark Harvest that the answers to all my questions would come to light.”
For a moment, everything was black. Lights along the floor flickered to life in a long line. Celestia followed them, and Twilight followed tentatively behind her mentor. This was all feeling very strange. Why was Celestia telling her all of this? What did it have to do with royal duties? What was this facility? After a very short walk, a spotlight from above illuminated a familiar figure. Princess Cadence stood beside a small panel, a welcoming smile across her face. Though even in the poor lighting, she could still see traces that showed sorrow in those violet eyes.
“Cadence!” Twilight rushed to her old foal sitter and embraced her.
“Twilight!” the pink alicorn wrapped her arms around Twilight. Despite the look she’d seen in her eyes earlier, the hug felt just as warm and kind to Twilight as it did when she was a filly.
They held each other for a moment longer, before Twilight looked up at her friend. “I-I don’t understand what’s going on. What are you doing here? Why aren’t you in the Crystal Empire with Shining Armor? What is this place?”
Cadence separated from the young princess, “Celestia asked me to be here, to help you adjust.”
“Adjust to what? What do any of these things have to do with my royal duties?”
Cadence looked at Celestia, then back to Twilight. “I know you have a lot of questions, but everything will be answered when you understand your responsibility as Princess of Magic.”
There was that title again, Princess of Magic. Yes Twilight embodied the Element of Harmony that represented magic, and she was a very gifted magic user. But what did it mean to rule over magic? Was she tasked with enhancing the education of magic use? Was she to take over the task of both Celestia and Luna? “What exactly is my responsibility?”
Celestia stepped past Twilight to the panel, “Not just your responsibility, but your destiny.”
Flipping a switch, the entire room lit up in a blinding flash. When Twilight was able to see again, she’d wished those lights had blinded her permanently. The three princesses stood in the middle of a vast cave lit by thousands of overhead and floor lights. The cave was kept even colder than the machine room, a thin fog forming around Twilight’s hooves. But the worst was what the cave held within.
Lining the cave from wall to wall, were pony-sized cylindrical caskets with glass lids. Each one contained a pony that looked to be half asleep, and half awake. Their eyes were empty, but moving, blood rand down their face like the tears of frightened children. Twilight didn’t know what they were: dead, alive, or some state in-between. All of them appeared to be unicorns, each with some sort of mechanical device encasing their horns as a wire weaved itself between the device and the casket.
“The phenomenon known as Magic Flux is a result of overuse of magic in Equestria,” Celestia explained, “the current of magic does replenish itself with every finished spell that returns as energy to the current. However, there is only a certain amount of energy within the current at any given time that can be provided. As the population grows, more magic is used from the stream.
Unicorns being the heaviest burdens on this resource, while pegisi and earth ponies only use a fraction because their magic is ‘passive’. Alicorns are the exception to this rule because when we ascend, the stream itself becomes part of us, and our power becomes limitless. Because of this, our bodies become generators for new magic, bolstering the size and density of the stream for a new generation.”
Cadence approached Twilight from the side, the purple pony still stunned and unbelieving what lay before her eyes. “Alicorns exist so this current never disappears or becomes too strained, even as the population grows. New alicorn ascensions correlate with a particular place in which the current is lacking necessary resources. For Celestia and Luna, magic was becoming strained, as the entire unicorn tribe was needed for control of the sun and the moon.”
The voices of the other princesses sounded drowned out to Twilight. Her knees were shaking, her vision becoming blurry. She knew what they were saying, but her mind wasn’t processing it. She was in shock, unable to acknowledge what she was experiencing was real. Her gaze shifted to one of the unicorns in the casket closest to her, its head slowly turned in her direction. For a moment, its pupils were fixed on Twilight, and its jaw began to move. Twilight fell to the floor, unconscious. Everything went black, and the last thing she remembered was a hoof catching her before her head could hit the stone floor.
***
Twilight awoke with a start. Breathing heavily, she observed her surroundings to find herself in a small room similar to one in Ponyville General Hospital. Difference being the door was closed, and she was the only inhabitant. She was dressed in a hospital gown and had various wires attached to her, hooked to standard medical monitors. Was what she saw real? Was it all some crazy dream from being knocked on the head?
The door slid open, and Princess Cadence walked in and over to Twilight’s bed. “Hey Twilight, feeling any better?”
“That depends,” Twilight responded, “where am I?”
Cadence leaned on the bed, hooves gently resting on twilight’s hind leg. “You’re in the first-aid ward of the facility. You fainted in the middle of the holding chamber.”
Twilight leaned back in the bed, “So then, everything I saw… Those ponies, they’re real?”
Cadence flinched, “Yes. They’re in a state of suspended animation, or comatose. Their brains are wide awake, but their bodies are not.”
Twilight remembered the eyes of the pony that stared at her, “Th-those eyes… they-”
Cadence moved her hoof to rest on twilights fore-hoof, “an unfortunate side effect from the procedure. I’m not completely up to snuff on the science, but from what I understand they don’t feel anything, it’s a harmless side effect.”
“A harmless side effect from a horrendous procedure. Why does this place exist? Why are those unicorns even there?”
“… I’m not the best pony to give explain on that, Celestia will know more. What is the last thing you remember?”
“Besides,” Twilight cringed, “those eyes. You were saying why alicorns ascend, something about a lack of magical resources.”
Cadence nodded, “That I can answer. Alicorns ascend because the current needs more magical aid in a particular field, such as-”
“Such as the unicorn tribe’s job of controlling the sun and moon.”
“Right. With your ascension, it means that even with me and the other two princesses that the current is strained on magic period, instead of say the magic of nature or oceans.”
“Wait, then why did you ascend? I know love is a powerful magic, but was Equestria really lacking in compassion that much?”
Cadence shook her head, “My ascension… it was more of a sign of things to come. When I became an alicorn, Celestia took that as a sign of greater conflict erupting through Equestria. Most notably due to my cutie mark, it would mean the return of the Crystal Empire, and one of their greatest enemies.”
“King Sombra.”
“Right. Celestia also took this as an opportunity to gain back a way of restoring order to the nation in the face of even greater adversity, through the power of the Crystal Empire itself.”
Despite the darker subject matter, Twilight found herself comforted by her old foal sitter’s presence in the room. She leaned forward and hugged Cadence, tears streaming out of the corners of her eyes. “I still don’t know what I’m doing here, or why all of this is happening, but I’m just glad you’re here with me.”
Cadence smiled as she hugged back, breaking momentarily to wipe a tear from Twilight’s face. “No matter what happens next, I’m here for you.” She calmly turned off all the medical equipment and unhooked the purple pony from the wires, “Now come on, let’s not keep Celestia waiting.”
The pair walked slowly out of the room and through a couple of corridors, Twilight still wearing her hospital gown. Twilight felt a little sheepish wearing it, but it didn’t bother her enough to keep her distracted from more questions racing through her brain.
“Say Cadence,” Twilight began, the other princess turning to meet her gaze, “we can’t be the only alicorns to have ascended between the banishment of Luna and the return of Nightmare Moon, right?”
“As curious as always,” a different voice responded. They had arrived back at the control room, the windows open for the three princesses to look over the holding chamber. There to meet them was Celestia, along with two scientist unicorns in lab coats.
“The answer is a simple no, you’re not. Others have ascended, however not all took to their duties, but we’ll get to that in a moment.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow, “So then let’s start with something simple like what is this place, and why am I here?”
“Very well,” Celestia responded, “the first one is easy. This facility utilizes inactive unicorn brainwaves as a sort of ‘magical recycling’ plant. Magic is collected from the current, and then built up in the bodies of these ponies to then be pumped back out to the current, steadily supplying more magic. The buildup is small compared to the ascension of an alicorn, but it has kept magic supply steady for quite some time with the ever-growing population. As for why you’re here, its simple. This facility is your get-out-of-conduit-mode-free card in a sense.”
Twilight looked into her mentor’s eyes, “What do you mean, ‘conduit mode’?”
“Remember what I said about how others have ascended, but didn’t take to their duties too well? Allow me to explain. As we mentioned earlier, alicorns ascend due to a lack of magical resources in a particular field. Alicorns duties are to uphold the balance of magic by using their powers to help Equestria prosper. From a practical standpoint, these alicorns are given all the resources to perform their duties, such as immortality and a limitless supply of magic. However, things don’t always work out, we were still born mortal after all, and giving up the luxuries we were born with isn’t easy, so there is another way of performing their duties: substitution.”
“… And that’s what this facility is, substitution,” Twilight responded coldly.
“Quick as always, Twilight. This facility saves you from having to drain your own magic reserves every 24 hours to ensure the current always has a full charge. That is your duty as Princess of Magic. If you want a better example of substitution, just ask Cadence.”
Twilight looked to her friend, “What does that mean?”
Cadence swallowed and bowed her head, “Crystal ponies are a perfect example of natural substitution in practice. Have you ever noticed that ponies go into the Crystal Empire and come out, but crystal ponies never leave? Without a sizeable population, the light that comes from the Crystal Empire would be powered by me and only me. As it is, my responsibility is to keep them as happy as possible to power the Crystal Heart. It’s also how King Sombra managed to achieve his goals before, but seeing as he had no alicorn power to provide to fuel the Crystal Heart, he simply kept them as slaves.”
Twilight looked away in disgust, “and what’s ‘conduit mode’ mean?”
Celestia smiled, “I was just getting to that. Did you ever wonder why ever since you became an alicorn, you’ve never had a problem with the Everfree Forest?”
Twilight kept her cold demeanor, “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Because, there was an alicorn before cadence ascended, she was in control of ensuring the fertility of the earth for all plant life in Equestria.” Celestia began to trot around the room, “Her name was Everfree, an earth pony with a better-than-average knack for caring for plants. When she ascended, she was given the choice between performing her duties using magic to spread fertility across the land, or substituting her duties by burying live earth ponies as ‘organic’ stasis pods to ensure fertility. For a while, she was content with substitution, but after a while she despised what she was doing and put an end to it all. But I needed her for more than just making sure every farmer’s crop was bright and happy, as an alicorn she was a powerful asset. She refused substitution, so I used a technique I learned when Luna became Nightmare Moon and tried to overthrow me.”
“Conduit mode.”
“Exactly. The third state of being that allows the duties of the alicorn to be performed automatically, without the need for substitutions, or even consciousness. Using the elements of harmony to overpower a fellow alicorn, she now lies deep beneath the Everfree forest, attacking all who approach, a defense mechanism that is purely instinctive. However, she will not attack alicorns because only an alicorn can break the spell and free her.”
Twilight looked through the window at the thousands of cylinders lining the floor of the cave “So who’s down there, ‘substituting’ for me?”
Celestia shrugged, “Criminals, orphans, other ponies that weren’t wanted for this world to begin with. Really it’s killed two birds with one stone: Lower the population to lower the demand on the magic current, and recycle otherwise wasted magic to bolster the power for useful unicorns.”
“And what if I WANT to give all my magic away every night? Ever consider I wouldn’t want any of this?! It’s abhorrent, it’s insane!”
Celestia got right into Twilight’s face, stern eyes staring into her former student. “You don’t understand; you don’t have a choice because you hold more responsibility than me, my sister, and Cadence combined. You represent an element of harmony; I need you active to defend Equestria against any enemies we may face.
During the Dark Harvest, I learned a very important lesson: one alicorn is not enough to defend an entire nation! We cannot afford to be caught off guard again, especially if our supply of magic runs low. The more alicorns we have, the bigger our magic reserve, and the more powerful assets we have at our disposal. Even without alicorns being active, a better magic reserve would prove invaluable in a time of crisis. You can’t just ‘do your thing’ because I need you at full capacity incase we’re under attack.”
Twilight looked to Cadence, then back to Celestia, “So what am I? What have you been training me for? To become an instrument of war ‘incase’ someone happens to attack Equestria?”
Celestia stood tall and regal, “As royalty, it is our duty to protect our nation, its people, and our resources, by any means necessary.”
Twilight looked around the room, machines whirred and blinked and she was beginning to form an idea of exactly what they were used for. It was clear Celestia wasn’t going to listen to her reasoning; she’d made up her mind even before Twilight’s ascension. Still, she couldn’t get the image out of her mind of those poor ponies; lost souls crying tears of blood as they’re trapped in cylindrical prisons barely able to hold them.
“You can’t expect me to just find this practice acceptable,” Twilight said, “there has to be another way, one that doesn’t involve such abhorrent treatment of our own people.”
Celestia frowned, “You’re beginning to sound like my sister all those years ago. Remember that it didn’t end very well for her a thousand years ago, and I was lenient because she’s my sister. You’re more useful to me as a battery than as a thorn in my side, one that may well prove infectious when the time comes to act.”
Twilight began charging her horn with magic, “Better to live as a battery than live under the rule of a mad mare!”
In a blinding flash, Twilight spun around and began zapping the machines with her magic. The unicorn scientists panicked and ducked for cover. Anything mechanical sparked, short circuited, or blew out as Twilight ravaged the room. A red light began flashing in the room, and a voice in the room came to life through some speakers.
WARNING, CRITICAL SYSTEM FAILURE. EMERGENCY INITIATION OF SUBSTITUTION PROJECT PROTECTION PROTOCAL IN EFFECT. RELEASEING CONTAINED SUBJECTS.
Twilight looked around at the destruction, then to Celestia, expecting a rage-filled princess. Instead, Celestia looked more bored than anything else, if not disappointed. The Princess of the Sun gave a heavy sigh and her horn began to glow.
“And you showed such potential.”
A heavy blast of magic hit Twilight square in the side, sending her into one of the broken pieces of machinery. Twilight gasped for air, she’d never been hit with alicorn magic before; the potency was far denser than anything she’d encountered from other unicorns. The sheer force had left an imprint on the already battered machine. Before she could get hit with another, Twilight sprang back into action, and charged Princess Celestia, hurdling the both of them through the glass window into the holding chamber. In her short moment of free-fall, Twilight noticed that Celestia’s expression was still rather calm, a single eyebrow rose as if questioning her former pupils decision.
Celestia wrapped all four legs around Twilight, opened her wings, and flew up around and down head first towards the ground. At the last moment the princess of the sun released her victim, placed both hind hooves against Twilight’s chest, and kicked her into the stone floor before flying off. Twilight hit the ground with a massive thud, forming a pony-sized crater. If not for her alicorn strength, she knew she’d have been little more than a puddle of blood, bone, and liquefied organs.
Twilight got to her hooves, and saw that each casket in the holding chamber was beginning to open. Unicorns slowly and shakily crawled out of their imprisonment; the devices around their horn though disconnected from the wires, remained. Celestia flew overhead as the elevator on the far side of the room lowered carrying ponies dressed in security uniforms and armed with spears, swords, and what Twilight knew was a diverse range of offensive spells.
“Kill them all,” Celestia ordered from above, “we don’t want any witnesses!”
The now fully conscious unicorns began to scatter in panic, and Twilight knew these ponies didn’t stand a chance. Not without her help at least. Twilight concentrated her magic into a spell she never thought she’d need until that moment. Building up energy she yelled to the ponies scattered about the chamber.
“Go now!”
She fired the tremendous amount of energy at the far wall of the chamber, three massive spinning beams of energy shot towards the cave walls. Before they reached their mark, Twilight was pushed violently into the ground from above, and her spell hit the wall but moved upwards at an angle. The beam demolished the rock wall out the side of the mountain, the night sky visible through the newly formed hole. Twilight looked up, worried she’d missed completely, but luckily the beam had carved a steep yet climbable gash into the rock.
Twilight was forced onto her side, and then kicked violently in the stomach, sending her sliding into the side of one of empty caskets. Celestia trotted over to the purple alicorn, as calm and collected as she’d been in the control room. Twilight coughed, gasping for air as Celestia’s face lowered to hers.
“Congratulations Twilight, instead of letting these ponies live in service to a greater good, you’ve single hoofedly become the cause of their demise.”
Twilight then dropped the out-of-breath act and hooked her wings around the front of the casket for leverage, then swapped both hind legs at Celestia. All four of the royal mare’s legs came out from under her and Celestia fell to the ground. Twilight then got to her hooves, and then took off using her former teacher’s face as a launching pad. Already Twilight could see unicorns climbing up the steep incline and making their way to the hole leading out of the mountain. She flew over them, and she knew they were moments away from freedom.
A black figure swept down from above the opening on the other side, and pointed a foreleg at Twilight. “HALT!” the figure shouted.
Twilight was about to plow right through the creature when she noticed the familiar face. “Princess Luna?” Twilight slowed down.
Luna appeared to be just as surprised to see her, as she was to see the Princess of the Night. “Twilight Sparkle? What-”
Before she could hear the mare’s next words, Twilight was struck from behind, and everything went black. The last thing she was aware of before slipping completely out of consciousness was the feeling of plummeting towards the ground.
***
Twilight blinked groggily awake, aware only of a blurry white figure in front of her.
“Hmm, awake far sooner than expected.”
Twilight blinked a few times and shook her head. The daze was finally beginning to wear off. As her vision sharpened, she recognized the once blurry figure and the pony that’d just spoken. Celestia stood directly in front of Twilight, a smile across her face that only now was beginning to reduce in swelling. On either side stood Cadence and Luna, the former averting the purple alicorn’s gaze.
“I was hoping you would’ve just stayed asleep,” Celestia chided, “It would have made things so much easier.”
Twilight tried to lunge at the white mare, but she found herself unable to move any of her limbs. All four legs and her wings had been constrained to long steel cuffs, her forelegs held around her back as an extra precaution. Twilight tried to summon any amount of magic that she could, but nothing came from it.
Celestia moved forward and tapped her pupil’s horn, “A new device for blocking magical impulse. Similar to the ones placed on the subjects, but slightly modified to-”
Before she could finish, a brown unicorn in a white lab coat trotted up to Celestia holding a clipboard in his magic. “Your highness.”
“Damage report,” Celestia commanded.
“The situation in the holding chamber is now under control. All remaining subjects have been terminated as per your request.”
Celestia raised a brow, “Any survivors?”
The pony flipped through a few papers on his board, “Erm… Seven subjects currently unaccounted for.”
Twilight chuckled, “A small victory I’d say.”
Celestia turned back around to face her captive, “Again Twilight, you surprise me with how little you understand what I’ve taught you. Those few ponies will be enemies of the crown, wanted dead for crimes against royalty. Blamed for the disappearance of the newly crowned princess, they will be easy to find based on their current deformity.”
Twilight paused, “What deformity?”
Celestia looked up to a device suspended just above Twilight’s horn, “You’ll soon find out.”
After pressing a button, the device began to spin at a high speed, a deafening whirring noise accompanying it. Twilight struggled to move, but her bindings held her in place. The device inched closer and closer to the tip or her horn, and Twilight found it hard to look away until the very last second. The machine bore right into the tip of her horn, drilling down through the center. Twilight screamed as she felt every inch of the drill boring down through her horn until it stopped at the base of her skull. She breathed heavily between clenched teeth at the searing pain caused by the friction of the drill, and the rest of the machine retracted. The magic-blocking device had been capped with a secondary device that topped the purple alicorn’s horn; a wire connected the device to something beyond Twilight’s sight.
“Seeing as I can’t very well use the Elements of Harmony against you like I’ve done to others in the past,” Twilight could see Luna flinch at this statement, “I’ve had to get creative. I built this machine for just such an occasion, a modified version of the substitution caskets built to fit a princess.”
Celestia got in close to Twilight, “As a conduit, you’ll be able to supply us with ten times the magical output the substitution program could have ever achieved, even if the holding chamber were filled to capacity.”
Twilight stared Celestia down with cold eyes, “And what about my disappearance? How could you convince the entire kingdom that seven normal unicorns could overpower an alicorn princess?”
Celestia shrugged, “Yours will be a cautionary tale for the ages. Left to experiment with your new magic, a group of several self-proclaimed experts on inter-dimensional travel convince you to try a new spell. When they find out the princess is too inexperienced to keep a stable portal open, it sucks her into worlds unknown, lost indefinitely.”
“And you really think the ponies of Equestria will buy that?”
The princess smiled, “If they don’t, you’ll become another forgotten chapter in history, just like Everfree.” Celestia turned around to a control panel, “However, my offer still stands. Substitution isn’t all that hard to get used to, right Cadence?”
The purple mare hid her face behind her hoof. Luna spoke next, “We-… I’m sorry it had to come to this Twilight. I really wish we could have known one another better, mayhaps as well as sisters.”
Twilight could see the sincerity in Luna’s expression, the princess looked genuinely saddened. Cadence still hid behind her hoof, which in turn pained Twilight. She was willing to forgive her old foal sitter for choosing substitution; in comparison it seemed like a decent trade, and one livable for both the princess and the crystal ponies. But the methods proposed by Celestia, they were truly despicable; living ponies forced into an empty state of being, kept barely alive as little more than batteries fueling a ruler’s paranoia. Still she wanted the comfort of the one who’d cared for her as a filly; some emotion any expression to tell her, even if only as a comforting lie that it would be alright.
“I’ll give you some time to think it over,” Celestia said placing a hoof on the control panel’s switch, “how does a thousand years sound?”
Celestia pulled the switch and the doors of the casket began to close shut with a hiss. Cadence lifted her head in surprise, looking first to Celestia and then to Twilight. Tears streamed down the pink alicorn’s face as her gaze held transfixed on Twilight. Cadence said a few inaudible words over the sound of the casket closing, but Twilight made out her mouth movements nonetheless.
“I’m sorry.”
As the final seal on the casket closed, Twilight’s body stiffened and became as rigid as stone. The princess slowly succeeded from consciousness, to a state of mind between the familiar feeling of falling asleep, and dreaming. The last sensation she felt was warm blood leaking from her eyes and running down her face.
To be continued…
Author's Note
Originally this was going to be a stand-alone story, but as the mythos behind alicorns began to build as I wrote, I felt like there was another story here, just waiting to get out. This first part serves as an establishment and a buildup to the next parts.
Enjoy!
