Questions and Answers on a cool night.
Questions and Answers
By Velvet Inkwell
Twilight and her friends had defeated Tirek, Restored the abilities to all of Equestria’s ponies and Discord, and the tree of harmony had given them a new Castle. All of them thought it was Twilight's castle, but with her becoming the "Princess of Friendship" they felt as if it belonged to all of them seeing as they each had their own personalized thrones.
With things settling down, and life returning to a relatively normal state, Twilight made a decision to visit Princess Celestia with some questions that had been bothering her since the fight. She took up her ink and quill, finding a fresh sheet of parchment, she began to pen a letter requesting a private audience with her former mentor and now contemporary. After getting Spike to send off the request, she then wrote out a rough list of her queries so that she did not forget anything.
Twilight always did love the scenery and relaxation from a train. Sure she now had wings and could fly, not to mention her ability to teleport great distances when needed, but there was just something that felt so nice about riding in a train car, hearing the click clack of wheels on ties, and the leisurely view of Equestria’s countryside. She had always been a filly of simplicity, taking joy in small pleasures.
Arriving in Canterlot right on schedule, Twilight disembarked and made her way through the streets of her former home towards the castles main gates. She passed Pony Joes Bakery and decided to surprise her former mentor with one of her favorite treats, banana flavored cake doughnuts. It always brought Twilight such satisfaction when she could surprise Princess Celestia, and she always seemed to become elated when Twilight was thoughtful of her.
After Buying the doughnuts, Twilight's mind turned back to her reason for being here. There were things that did not seem to add up, things that she had noticed in her battle with Tirek, and answers that for some reason, she could not find in any of her reference books about alicorns. Being one herself now, she had gained even more of a desire to know more.
The Royal guard recognized Twilight and gave her a cheerful greeting. Twilight had always gotten on well with all of the staff at the Palace, hardly ever getting in much trouble and always being respectful of others, even if not overly friendly. Returning the greeting, Twilight was given a series of questions before being granted entry. The newer precautions came into effect after the changeling invasion, one could never be too careful anymore, because a changeling could become anyone. Twilight always wondered why Chrysalis had not simply captured Celestia and taken her place on the throne. Oh well, that was not why she was here.
After gaining entry she made her way to Celestia's private quarters, and knocked softly. A voice answered permitting her entry and she pushed open the doors with her magic. Greeted by a sight she had seen many a time over the years. Celestia was laying with her hooves folded under her on soft full cushions in front of her hearth while a kettle whistled softly over the roaring flames, obviously preparing tea for herself and Twilight, as was the custom when settling in for a lesson.
“Why hello dear Twilight, punctual as always I see” Celestia greeted her with a warm smile.
“Well, the things I wish to talk of are fairly important I believe” She responded, but not with any less of a smile.
“I Understand Twilight, please sit and let us begin” Celestia said, gesturing to the other set of cushions across from her, then stopped. “Oh my Twilight, would those by chance be Pony Joes Banana Cake Doughnuts you brought!?” She added with excitement in her voice. The doughnuts being one of her very few vices.
“Why yes, yes they are” Twilight responded with a knowing smile and laid the package out before them while Celestia served the tea.
“Now Twilight, let us begin with your reason for your visit. From your letter it seems that your battle with Tirek has brought up some queries you wish answered. Please feel free to ask and I will instruct as best as I am able.” Celestia stated while refinedly nibbling a doughnut.
“Yes, well you see, as everyone now knows, I ended up having a huge battle with Tirek instead of staying hidden as I was instructed to. I know I messed up and I deserved the reprimand that You and Luna gave me. Yes things turned out in the end, but it seems after the fact, that things could have gone a lot worse. But the battle itself is what has raised these questions I have.”
Twilight began before continuing.
“During the battle, something was becoming apparent to me. No matter what Tirek or myself threw at each other, neither seemed to make any headway. The battle actually ended in a complete stalemate. It is my understanding that Tirek himself had no extraordinary magic other than the ability to steal others abilities. Meaning he started off with virtually nil offensive capabilities. My issue is how in Equestria he garnered enough power to stand up to the magic and strength of four alicorns.” Twilight finished, taking a sip of her tea and waiting for Celestia’s reply.
“Twilight, I would like to start off by apologizing. My answer to your question is something that I should have discussed with you sooner after your ascension. I made the fault of believing there was more time to get around to your lessons on alicorn abilities, having not foreseen the return of Tirek.” Celestia said with a somber apologetic tone.
“It is OK Princes..I mean Celestia” Twilight stated, remembering that this was now her contemporary. Being in the middle of a lesson had sent her into her memories of being a student. “No pony can truly see into the future in great detail. It is nothing to be upset over at this time, You cannot change the past.”
“Thank you Twilight, it means much to me to hear you say that” Celestia replied with a small smile. “Now onto your answer.”
“Twilight, to answer you I must first fill you in on what an alicorn is. An alicorn is the physical embodiment of all ponies in Equestria, as well as the protector of Harmony and peace for all of pony kind. We are the ones that ultimately come between the land of Equestria becoming either harmonious or chaotic.
To fill this role, an alicorn needs to have the abilities and power to perform their duties. That is where your answer comes in. An alicorn gains their ability not through inherent magic or strength, but instead is reliant on every pony in Equestria. Not to mention that our abilities are always in a state of flux.
To be more concise, All of us, you, me, Luna and Cadence, are only as strong as all of the ponies in Equestria combined. We are only a strong as the combined strength of all Earth Ponies. We can fly no faster than the fastest pegasus. And our magic does not exceed the combined magical power of every Unicorn. This is to avoid tyranny and corruption” Lectured Celestia.
“Where does the flux come from?”Asked the lavender alicorn
“The flux is from the balance of life. Our power wanes with the death or decline in abilities of ponies, and increases with the birth and growth in abilities of new ponies. As you can see, we are entirely reliant on our subjects.
For an example, say that we wiped out every single pony in Equestria except one unicorn. We would only be as strong as that one unicorn.” Celestia explained.
“But if we have the power of every pony in Equestria, how come I couldn't defeat Tirek, wouldn't I have been 4 times as powerful as he was, even with the addition of Discord’s magic?” Twilight asked.
“I believe you have misunderstood Twilight, I meant WE have only the combined abilities of every pony in Equestria, divided among us. It started out as Luna and myself, each sharing half of the power of Equestria, being a smaller population back then, it was not immense, but enough to perform the sun and moon duties as well as general protection of our subjects. Then came Cadance, at that point the population had grown considerably, and it was not much of a loss to split the abilities among three. And finally you Twilight. The population of Equestria is immense now. Entire modern cities have formed to accommodate a much larger population, thus now you wield a quarter of the power flowing to us from immeasurable ponies.” Celestia Explained.
“I think I understand that part now, but, why didn't we lose all our abilities when Tirek stole them all?” Twilight asked Celestia.
“That is because the abilities weren't gone. It isn't like a pony died. Their power was still in Equestria regardless of who had it. “ Answered Celestia.
“I see, so since Tirek had no real offensive magic or strength other than stealing abilities from other ponies, we were quite literally evenly matched, neither could truly outdo the other. But come to think of it, Tirek also had Discord’s magic, wouldn't that have made him stronger than I?” Twilight stated in confusion.
“ In truth, Discord’s magic isn't extremely powerful. It is his cunning and intelligence when using them that makes him formidable. Would you believe that despite his chaos and silliness, he is one of the most capable and intelligent among all magical creatures? The only thing that lead to his downfall was his ego. He did not think he could be defeated.”
“I see glimmers of his genius sometimes when we converse with one another, and I have seen examples of his tactical prowess, especially in the hedge maze. If I had not been able to think my way around things to get my friends back to normal, things could have been very very dire.” Commented Twilight thoughtfully.
“Do you now understand not only why you could not outright defeat Tirek on your own, but also the balance of power that we wield, and it’s limits?” Asked Celestia.
“Yes, but now another question comes from that. What of the threat of Nightmare Moon? You needed the power of the Elements of Harmony to banish her. If she was a threat to Equestria, could not any of us become a threat through that type of corruption?” Queried Twilight.
“Nightmare Moon was not a viable threat Twilight, remember She held half the power, and so did I. We were evenly matched. That is not to say she could not wreak havoc on Equestria’s population, it would have been nihilistic, as it would diminish her own power with each slaughter, but corruption is rarely logical. The corruption that turned my dear sister into Nightmare Moon did not add any new magic or strength to her, it merely corrupted her into turning the powers she already had into something darker. It fed on her feelings of Jealousy and Neglect, twisting her into the mare you defeated. Since we were so evenly matched, that is why I needed the Elements of Harmony to banish her.”
They sat in silence and reflection for a while as Twilight made notes on what she had learned from Celestia, while Celestia took this opportunity to refresh their tea and consume more of the delectable doughnuts. Celestia truly enjoyed moments like these, being in the presence of Twilight, the pony whom she was so proud, the pony that was a direct result of her teaching and care.
Hearing a soft snoring coming from across from her, she looked up to see Twilight having fallen asleep atop her notes. Getting up and moving over to her, she laid beside her, draping one of her magnificent alabaster wings over her, and kissed her on the forehead before nuzzling her head beside Twilight's with a final thought.
A pony that was like a daughter to her.
