Something Magical This Way Comesby GingerquillChaptersPrologueChapter 1: The Night BeforeChapter 2: Up In FlamesPrologueSomething Magical This Way Comes By Gingerquill Prologue “Spike?” Twilight Sparkles voice echoed through the broken arches and ruined vaults of the Castle of the Two Sisters. Though only silent, stone gargoyles and empty suits of ancient armour seemed present to listen, and they were in little apparent hurry to respond. “Spike?” She called again, “have you finished loading that last batch of books?” In the following silence it briefly occurred to her she knew so few of the ruins secrets, that Spike might once again have fallen prey to an ancient trap or become lost down some long forgotten secret passage. As she was about to set off in a worried search for her oldest companion, a towering stack of books lumbered round the corner ahead of her, swaying as it tried to find balance on the uneven flag stones. “Right here.” The stack groaned back, much to her relief, before it gave a laboured heave and unceremoniously dumped itself on the floor. The diminutive, purple scaled form of Spike the Dragon emerged from behind and slumped against it, panting as he wiped beads of sweat from his forehead. “Couldn’t we have got a little help for this?” He huffed trying to catch his breath. “A little help would have been nice, but I’m afraid everypony is busy today.” She smiled, finding even his complaining strangely endearing. “Besides, we’re only doing a little run.” Spike threw a sardonic look at the collection of books that towered over them both. “Yeah… little…” “Now Spike,” Twilight lightly chided him, “the Tree of Harmony may have graced me with my own palace, complete with a library, but it couldn’t conjure up any new books to fill it, and with Golden Oaks…” She trailed off, looking sadly into the middle distance for long moments before gathering herself. “Well, we need to restock.” But Spike wasn’t yet willing to let go of his point. “All I’m saying is, if we’re going to trek through the Everfree Forest to haul a… ahem… little run of books, a little help would have been nice. What about those guards Princess Celestia offered you? They’d come in real handy about now.” Twilight subdued an amused smile as she turned away and started to wander. “I’m the Princess of Friendship. It doesn’t really help the cause if I have a bunch of random heavies hanging around, scaring ponies off and doing all the lifting.” “I’m sure you wouldn’t say no to have Flash Sentry hanging around.” Spike said with a wry grin, which he quickly wiped away when Twilight threw a dark look at him. “I’ll thank you not to be spreading rumours about my personal life.” She spoke deliberately. “Come along, one last look through the library before we go.” “Awww,” Spike slumped, but kept his tongue. Instead as Twilight once more wandered away in the direction of the library, he picked out one of the tomes, an especially dusty and faded example of literature, so worn he couldn’t even make out the title. He began idly thumbing through the pages, trying to figure out what was so great that had made Twilight pick it from the shelves, when he reached the centre pages. “Twilight!” He cried, “come check this out!” Alerted by the urgency in his voice, she galloped back to save her oldest friend from whatever trap or catastrophe had befallen him, only to find him holding the tome up for her, like some styled, purple lectern. “Check it out.” His voice was full of awe and wonder as he held it high, and her eyes went wide as she saw what lay within. The middle pages had been hollowed out, creating a secret compartment. Inside sat an intricately wrought amulet, a beautiful weave of gold and silver strands wrapped delicately and lovingly round a single, oval gem of deepest ocean green. About the size of a chicken egg, it was polished to a perfect, gleaming finish. Though the precious metal weave showed the passage of great time, not a single blemish or speck of dust marred the stone, its deep colour seemingly stretching on forever within itself. “Wonder how long it’s been in there.” Spike mused. Twilight didn’t respond at first, she simply stared at the gem, mesmerized. “It’s beautiful…” She said at length, lifting it with her magic, the soft lavender glow gently enveloping the amulet. She brought it round her neck and fixed the clasp before allowing it to hang. “Suits you.” Spike grinned broadly. “Might need to give it a bit of a polish, but it looks good.” Twilight stepped over to an ancient, dust coated mirror, sweeping away the cobwebs with a wave of magic to gaze and admire her reflection for a moment. “Yes, it does look good, doesn’t it?” Author's Note One rewrite! Glad to be doing this story again. Hope you all enjoy! Chapter 1: The Night BeforeChapter 1: The night before. By Gingerquill “Whooo-weee! I say again, that there is one of the prettiest gems I ever did see!” Applejack’s boisterous drawl carried through Sugar Cube Corner, “and it’s good to see you smiling again Twilight, seen precious little of that lately.” “I must agree with Applejack on both counts sweetie,” Rarities cultured and refined tones stood in contrast, “you have such a dazzling smile, I’m so glad we get to see it again. And now you have a truly regal accessory to match. Such a shame there was only one,” she continued wistfully, “why if I had such a piece in my collection, I’d never take it off!” “Thanks girls,” Twilight swelled with gratitude, beaming at her friends, “you’re the very best friends any pony could ever wish for.” “Well duh!” Pinkie chirped. “You’ve been such a super sad, grumpy sad pants, what kind of friends would we be if we didn’t try to make you a super happy, smiley happy pants?” “Awww, Thank you, Pinkie.” Twilight’s heart melted with the warm feelings her friends inspired. “I mean, it’s not every day your home gets blown up by a demented megalomaniac hell bent on world domination.” Pinkie cheerfully continued. “Yes… thank you.” “And with all your worldly possessions inside too, bet they were burnt to a crisp!” “Err, Pinkie…” Fluttershy tried in vain to silence her, but Pinkie was oblivious to her futile efforts and the darkening mood in the room as she careered onwards like an out of control locomotive. “All your favorite books, your telescope and science toys, and don’t forget the knick knacks and souvenirs too, all gone up in sm-erfhl!” Her growing crescendo was brought to an abrupt halt as Rainbow Dash stuffed a hoof in her mouth. “I think what Pinkie is trying to say, is that we’re here for you.” Her brash, winning grin quickly infected the others, bringing the smile back to every ponies face. Twilight looked round at her friends, her heart swelling once again as she did. “You’ve all always been so kind to me, ever since my first day in Ponyville. I love all of you dearly, I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you. But...” Twilight trailed off uncertainly. “Go on darling, you can tell us.” Rarity prompted with a comforting hoof over her shoulder. “It’s silly but…” Twilight paused, trying to find the courage put her thoughts into words. “In their attempts to stop Tirek, the princesses gave me all their powers for safe keeping. For a time, I had all their magic, as well as my own. Power over the Sun and Moon, the power of love.” She drifted away again, remembering the sensations of trying to control and harness the colossal flood of magic. “Hard and scary as it was, I have to admit, it was kind of exciting at the same time. That much raw power was, kind of a rush…” She finished with an embarrassed smile. “Yeah, but then we totally kicked flank when we unlocked the box of harmony!” Dashie piped in, “it was so awesome, my mane was too cooool!” “Yes, yes, we all looked absolutely fabulous,” Rarity rolled her eyes, “but I for one can sympathize with dear Twilight. When the inspiration spell took hold of me, I had the power to reshape all Equestria as I saw fit. Coming back down to the ground after that can be quite the bump.” “I know.” Twilight gave another big sigh and her whole body sagged. “I guess there’s just a greedy part of me that misses it.” Fluttershy took her turn to speak in her soft and graceful voice. “Oh Twilight, we all have a greedy little part of us, but that’s why we have friends, so they can share their blessings with us, and we with them.” She smiled, the very incarnation of elegance and poise. “That’s what I was trying to say!” Pinkie blurted out with all the elegance and poise of a criminally flatulent swamp beast, “I was going to say all that, give everypony a giant group hug and then we were all going to have triple chocolate chip, fudge sauce cake with frosting and vanilla icing, but it’s all been said now.” She moped, ears drooping as she felt sorry for herself at missing the moment. Then her mind finally began to catch up with her hyperactive mouth to register something in that last sentence. Something of great importance and significance. “TRIPLE CHOCOLATE CHIP, FUDGE SAUCE CAKE WITH FROSTING AND VANILLA ICING!” She screeched, vanishing in a pink blur that left everypony clinging to the table to stay upright, their manes hanging at a funny angle. “Okay, I’m not the only one who just saw that happen, right?” Rainbow Dash asked as they all straightening out their manes, just before another pink maelstrom heralded Pinkies return, now bearing an unfeasibly vast chocolate cake loaded more frosting and icing than any single kitchen should reasonably be expected to store. “Triple chocolate chip, fudge sauce cake with frosting and vanilla icing!” She chirped with a giant grin, as though it was somehow the most obvious answer to whatever question may, may not or could possibly have been asked. Her bemused friends looked to each other uncertainly. “That thing’s bigger than we are,” Applejack said in quiet awe, “how in tarnation are we meant to eat it all?” “Have you ever actually met Pinkie Pie?” Dashie replied. The two of them looked at each other before sniggering, then giggling, before finally letting go and laughing out loud. The joy quickly spread and the room was filled with the sound of laughter as the six friends were gleefully lost in the moment. Twilight, her dark mood dispelled and forgotten, looked around at the five best ponies she had ever known. They were the pillars of her life, who had stood beside her and carried her forward in the face of the impossible, who would always be there with her to share joys, triumphs and even miseries, and who she could hardly picture a world without. They were the greatest gift she could ever have hoped for. They were her friends. Twilight relaxed on the plush bed in her private chambers. Luna had brought forth a cool and peaceful night for her subjects, the stars twinkling serenely from their places in the heavens, while her moon poured silver light over all Equestria and Twilight’s palace. Her palace. The notion still felt very strange to her. Even though she had been a princess for some time now, there were still occasions when she felt out of place and intimidated by the sheer mass of that fact, the royal duties and expectations that came with the title. And while the company of her fellow princess’s had long ceased to cause her any unease, indeed she welcomed their presence, the simple act of being treated as their equal was deeply unsettling and unnatural to her. She certainly didn’t feel their equal, she was just herself. Idly, she levitated her new necklace from the draws of her bedside table to admire it for a while. As it dangled before her, she reached out to carefully wipe away some perceived speck of dust from the ocean green gem at its heart. The amulet had quickly become a source of great comfort to her, though she couldn’t say why. Despite her best efforts and several long nights spent pouring over volume after volume of magical lore, she hadn’t been able to uncover anything about it, either in the books retrieved from the Palace of the Two Sisters or in the few tomes recovered from Golden Oaks. But the more she pondered it, the less and less relevant the question seemed to become. Perhaps it was simply the allure of mystery that drew her to the rich colour of the gem, the deepest and most enticing green she had ever seen. It seemed to promise answers if only she would gaze deeply enough and lose herself inside. Twilight yawned widely. Pinkies parties were the best, but exhausting at the same time. She wondered how the girl kept it up, but then just a quickly dismissed the question. Like the gem, she smiled fondly, Pinkie was clearly just another one of life’s little mysteries that isn’t meant to be solved. Slipping the amulet around her neck and settling down in bed, Twilight made herself comfortable and began to drift off. Somehow, she felt more content simply feeling it close by. As sleep took her, a thought slipped into her mind. Tomorrow she would get the necklace replaced, something tasteful, yet elaborate to frame the beautiful gem. Bells woke her with a start. Her mind was confusion as she looked round her unfamiliar surroundings. Crystalline walls, elaborate, plush furniture, four poster bed, “where was Golden Oaks” she thought. Her chambers, still foreign to her, further confused her disordered mind, jolted unwillingly from a dream of green fields as far as she could see. Still the bells rang, urgent in their clamor, while an orange glow outside her curtains softly lit the room. “I’m up, I’m up.” She grumbled, sluggishly lumbering to the window to investigate whatever commotion had dragged her from her dreams. She yawned, pondering whether she could just go back to bed as she pulled the long drapes aside. Focus came to her in an instant. Ponyville was on fire. Author's Note Part 2! Hope you all are enjoying it so far. Please feel free to critique, and all I ask is that it is kept constructive. *Edit* Finally getting this rewrite posted up! Chapter 2: Up In FlamesChapter 2: Up in flames Flames raged and roared through the town hall, licking their way along balconies and up walls, devouring curtains, tapestries and everything else they could reach, sending angry coloured smoke, billowing from windows and doors and up into the night sky. Illuminated in flickering orange hues, chaos reigned in the normally serene square, as ponies fled this way and that through the night in panic, trying to escape or save their possessions and carry loved ones away from danger. Amidst the havoc and disorder, firefighting teams were gathering and organizing volunteers into pony chains to fetch water from the wells and the river while pegasi urgently flew in search of rain clouds they could empty on the blaze. In the middle of it all, Mayor Mare frantically called instructions, desperate to protect her beloved town. “We need to get the surrounding buildings cleared first,” she told one of the fire fighters, “if the town hall comes down it could fall into one of them and hurt anypony not yet to safety.” The young stallion gave a crisp salute and galloped away as fast as he could in search of volunteers as Twilight landed, her wings flaring as she brought herself to a sharp halt. “Your highness, thank goodness you’re here!” Mayor Mare called. “I came as soon as I heard the bells, what happened?” “We just don’t know. One of the night watch ponies sounded the alarm, but no pony knows where he’s gone now!” Both Mayor and Twilight flinched as the town hall gave an ominous creak and groan as a section of the roof collapsed, spilling flames and sparks upward. “I don’t think that’s important right now Mayor, we need to concentrate on containing the fire and getting everypony safely away from here. You continue directing the fire fighters, I’ll go and help with the evacuation and send any volunteers your way.” “Right.” Mayor Mare agreed with a curt nod, setting about her task with the energy of a pony possessed as she galloped to the growing pony chains, shouting instructions and quickly imposing order. Where to start? Twilight thought to herself, momentarily alone amid the disaster. She reached one hoof up to her chest where the gem still dangled, drawing comfort from finding it there. Closest is as good a place as any. Wasting no more time she quickly galloped to the nearest house to hammer a hoof on the door. “Is there anybody inside?” She called, trying to listen for a response from the other side. She shouted again, fighting to make herself heard over the commotion behind her, and was about to give up when she heard a cry for help from inside. It was a simple spell to force the door open, and she quickly ran inside, searching from room to room. “Hello? Where are you?” She called. “We’re upstairs!” She heard a mare call out to her. “Please help, my filly won’t come out from under her bed!” Quickly climbing the stairs, she followed the sounds of the despairing mother and into a young foal’s room. She found her laying on the floor, desperately reaching under the bed with one hoof. Gently moving the panicking mare out of the way, Twilight lay down to get a look at the young filly. She was hiding in the corner and simply stared at her with wide, frightened eyes, hugging a stuffed toy in terror. “Hey there young one, are you okay?” She asked, smiling and attempting to project an air of confidence that she didn’t really feel. The poor terrified filly said nothing, simply sniffling. “Do you know who I am?” “You’re Princess Twilight.” She whimpered back. “Yes I am. And what’s your name?” She asked quietly, doing her best to be patient and calm for the poor child. “Caramel Twist.” “Well, Caramel Twist, you must be pretty scared. I know I am. But come on close to me and your mother, and I’ll show you a neat trick.” Slowly, encouraged by Twilight and with faltering steps, the young filly came out of her hiding place to be scooped up by her mother, tears of relief gathering in her eyes. “Hey, don’t be scared.” Twilight assured them both. “Have you ever teleported before?” The filly shook her head slowly. With the best warm smile she could conjure, Twilight stepped close to the two of them, and after adding little lighting, a high pitched whine and a short pause for dramatic effect, there was a bright flash. A moment later, the same flash appeared on the far side of the river, and to the shock of the evacuated ponies, there stood Twilight Sparkle with the mother and her filly. Staring in awe and wonder, the two rescued ponies could only gape at Twilight, who looked about, projecting a nonplussed air of quiet confidence. “Told you it was a neat trick.” She smiled at them. “Thank you Princess Twilight!” The filly beamed up at her savior before Twilight teleported away again. “There, piece of cake.” She said to herself as she reappeared in the town square. She felt warmth spreading through her, and not from the fire. Suddenly, it wasn’t all so hopeless and terrifying. “One down…” “Howdy Twilight!” A cheery drawl called out to her. “Applejack!” Twilight called back, swelling with relief, “what are you doing here?” “What’s it look like we’re doing?” She asked, steadily working a pump on the back of an oversized cart drawn by Big Macintosh. To her side, Applebloom handled a mounted nozzle connected by a hose to a pair of barrels that dwarfed the three of them. “Been a while since we had to break her out, but I always figured it was better to have her and not need her, than need her and not have her. Aim that hose Applebloom and let her rip!” “You gottit sis!” The younger Apple hollered back, and twisting a small leveler on the nozzle, sent a steady stream of water spraying onto the fire. Flames flickered as the spray landed, refusing to die, but the Apple family continued their steady assault on the flames. Seeing her friend rally to the cause, Twilight rushed from building to building with renewed vigor. She began to feel that they were going to win this. That they were going to get through this and the towns folk would be safe. Soon pegasi would return with the first clouds and set about emptying them onto the burning town hall. As every pony pulled together, slowly the fire would begin to come under control. There was a great snap and a crunch from the beleaguered hall. “Everpony get back!” Came a scream. Flame tortured and broken supports finally gave way and with a groan, and the building lurched to one side, slowly tumbling downwards, gaining speed as it toppled towards the Apple family. Applejack screamed at her sibling to run and they dived away. Yet Applebloom got a hoof caught and tangled in the hose, tripping her. Quickly Applejack and Big Mac turned back to save her, but it was too late. The three huddled together in a futile attempt to protect each other as the hall came crashing down, and with a terrible crunch, it halted scant inches above them, a soft lavender glow enveloping the collapsing structure even as it still burnt. “Move!” Twilight called, her eyes ablaze with effort and magic, sparks snapping from her horn as she struggled against the mass of gravity. The three Apples needed no second telling and quickly threw off their shock and wonder to gallop and join the awe struck crowd, marveling at Twilights incredible display of power. But she was in trouble and she knew it. The town hall was rapidly coming apart and it was just too heavy and badly damaged to hold for much longer, yet she dare not set it down for fear it would collapse, spreading the fire to the rest of Ponyville. She then felt a warm bloom on her chest, a warmth that spread through her body and made her feel powerful again. An idea stuck her, desperate and dangerous, but it was all she had. “Get back, all of you get back!” She snarled through gritted teeth, and ignoring the retreating crowd, she drew on this new well of energy to begin heaving the building back upright. Twilight reared upward onto her back legs, mirroring the rise of the hall, as foot by torturous foot it climbed, creaking and snapping every inch of the way, threatening to crumble and cast burning debris everywhere, spreading the flames. Through sheer force of will, she held it together, sweat pouring down her face with the strain, forcing it to stay in one piece until it was once again standing upright. Then with a final gesture, Twilight hammered her hooves into the ground with a magically enhance boom that cracked the ground. The hall matched her movement, coming down on itself, collapsing into a crushed pile of burning rubble in the middle of the town square, sending dust and smoke out in a vast, choking cloud. Twilight smiled grimly, panting with exhaustion. Though she had destroyed Town Hall, she was satisfied at least it wouldn’t fall on any pony and the fire could no longer spread. Finally releasing her magic, she became vaguely aware of cheering erupting all round her. She turned her head to look up at the crowd, and suddenly the world began spinning violently with every movement she made, swimming in and out of focus. A wave of dizziness struck her, and she suddenly found herself struggling to make her legs hold her up, stumbling as they began to turn to jelly while the rest of her seemed to sway heavily. She heard somepony say her name, ask if she was alright, but she couldn’t make out the voice. It sounded muffled, as though spoken through a thick blanket, at the same time it seemed to echo and ring in her ears. Then the ground rushed up to meet her with a dull thump. The last thing she recalled as unconsciousness took her, was smiling contently as her hooves moved, seemingly of their own accord, to cross over her amulet. Author's Note And the latest chapter! A new burst of inspiration after that prolonged hiatus sees this chapter completed and presented for your consideration! Enjoy.
PrologueSomething Magical This Way Comes By Gingerquill Prologue “Spike?” Twilight Sparkles voice echoed through the broken arches and ruined vaults of the Castle of the Two Sisters. Though only silent, stone gargoyles and empty suits of ancient armour seemed present to listen, and they were in little apparent hurry to respond. “Spike?” She called again, “have you finished loading that last batch of books?” In the following silence it briefly occurred to her she knew so few of the ruins secrets, that Spike might once again have fallen prey to an ancient trap or become lost down some long forgotten secret passage. As she was about to set off in a worried search for her oldest companion, a towering stack of books lumbered round the corner ahead of her, swaying as it tried to find balance on the uneven flag stones. “Right here.” The stack groaned back, much to her relief, before it gave a laboured heave and unceremoniously dumped itself on the floor. The diminutive, purple scaled form of Spike the Dragon emerged from behind and slumped against it, panting as he wiped beads of sweat from his forehead. “Couldn’t we have got a little help for this?” He huffed trying to catch his breath. “A little help would have been nice, but I’m afraid everypony is busy today.” She smiled, finding even his complaining strangely endearing. “Besides, we’re only doing a little run.” Spike threw a sardonic look at the collection of books that towered over them both. “Yeah… little…” “Now Spike,” Twilight lightly chided him, “the Tree of Harmony may have graced me with my own palace, complete with a library, but it couldn’t conjure up any new books to fill it, and with Golden Oaks…” She trailed off, looking sadly into the middle distance for long moments before gathering herself. “Well, we need to restock.” But Spike wasn’t yet willing to let go of his point. “All I’m saying is, if we’re going to trek through the Everfree Forest to haul a… ahem… little run of books, a little help would have been nice. What about those guards Princess Celestia offered you? They’d come in real handy about now.” Twilight subdued an amused smile as she turned away and started to wander. “I’m the Princess of Friendship. It doesn’t really help the cause if I have a bunch of random heavies hanging around, scaring ponies off and doing all the lifting.” “I’m sure you wouldn’t say no to have Flash Sentry hanging around.” Spike said with a wry grin, which he quickly wiped away when Twilight threw a dark look at him. “I’ll thank you not to be spreading rumours about my personal life.” She spoke deliberately. “Come along, one last look through the library before we go.” “Awww,” Spike slumped, but kept his tongue. Instead as Twilight once more wandered away in the direction of the library, he picked out one of the tomes, an especially dusty and faded example of literature, so worn he couldn’t even make out the title. He began idly thumbing through the pages, trying to figure out what was so great that had made Twilight pick it from the shelves, when he reached the centre pages. “Twilight!” He cried, “come check this out!” Alerted by the urgency in his voice, she galloped back to save her oldest friend from whatever trap or catastrophe had befallen him, only to find him holding the tome up for her, like some styled, purple lectern. “Check it out.” His voice was full of awe and wonder as he held it high, and her eyes went wide as she saw what lay within. The middle pages had been hollowed out, creating a secret compartment. Inside sat an intricately wrought amulet, a beautiful weave of gold and silver strands wrapped delicately and lovingly round a single, oval gem of deepest ocean green. About the size of a chicken egg, it was polished to a perfect, gleaming finish. Though the precious metal weave showed the passage of great time, not a single blemish or speck of dust marred the stone, its deep colour seemingly stretching on forever within itself. “Wonder how long it’s been in there.” Spike mused. Twilight didn’t respond at first, she simply stared at the gem, mesmerized. “It’s beautiful…” She said at length, lifting it with her magic, the soft lavender glow gently enveloping the amulet. She brought it round her neck and fixed the clasp before allowing it to hang. “Suits you.” Spike grinned broadly. “Might need to give it a bit of a polish, but it looks good.” Twilight stepped over to an ancient, dust coated mirror, sweeping away the cobwebs with a wave of magic to gaze and admire her reflection for a moment. “Yes, it does look good, doesn’t it?” Author's Note One rewrite! Glad to be doing this story again. Hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 1: The Night BeforeChapter 1: The night before. By Gingerquill “Whooo-weee! I say again, that there is one of the prettiest gems I ever did see!” Applejack’s boisterous drawl carried through Sugar Cube Corner, “and it’s good to see you smiling again Twilight, seen precious little of that lately.” “I must agree with Applejack on both counts sweetie,” Rarities cultured and refined tones stood in contrast, “you have such a dazzling smile, I’m so glad we get to see it again. And now you have a truly regal accessory to match. Such a shame there was only one,” she continued wistfully, “why if I had such a piece in my collection, I’d never take it off!” “Thanks girls,” Twilight swelled with gratitude, beaming at her friends, “you’re the very best friends any pony could ever wish for.” “Well duh!” Pinkie chirped. “You’ve been such a super sad, grumpy sad pants, what kind of friends would we be if we didn’t try to make you a super happy, smiley happy pants?” “Awww, Thank you, Pinkie.” Twilight’s heart melted with the warm feelings her friends inspired. “I mean, it’s not every day your home gets blown up by a demented megalomaniac hell bent on world domination.” Pinkie cheerfully continued. “Yes… thank you.” “And with all your worldly possessions inside too, bet they were burnt to a crisp!” “Err, Pinkie…” Fluttershy tried in vain to silence her, but Pinkie was oblivious to her futile efforts and the darkening mood in the room as she careered onwards like an out of control locomotive. “All your favorite books, your telescope and science toys, and don’t forget the knick knacks and souvenirs too, all gone up in sm-erfhl!” Her growing crescendo was brought to an abrupt halt as Rainbow Dash stuffed a hoof in her mouth. “I think what Pinkie is trying to say, is that we’re here for you.” Her brash, winning grin quickly infected the others, bringing the smile back to every ponies face. Twilight looked round at her friends, her heart swelling once again as she did. “You’ve all always been so kind to me, ever since my first day in Ponyville. I love all of you dearly, I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you. But...” Twilight trailed off uncertainly. “Go on darling, you can tell us.” Rarity prompted with a comforting hoof over her shoulder. “It’s silly but…” Twilight paused, trying to find the courage put her thoughts into words. “In their attempts to stop Tirek, the princesses gave me all their powers for safe keeping. For a time, I had all their magic, as well as my own. Power over the Sun and Moon, the power of love.” She drifted away again, remembering the sensations of trying to control and harness the colossal flood of magic. “Hard and scary as it was, I have to admit, it was kind of exciting at the same time. That much raw power was, kind of a rush…” She finished with an embarrassed smile. “Yeah, but then we totally kicked flank when we unlocked the box of harmony!” Dashie piped in, “it was so awesome, my mane was too cooool!” “Yes, yes, we all looked absolutely fabulous,” Rarity rolled her eyes, “but I for one can sympathize with dear Twilight. When the inspiration spell took hold of me, I had the power to reshape all Equestria as I saw fit. Coming back down to the ground after that can be quite the bump.” “I know.” Twilight gave another big sigh and her whole body sagged. “I guess there’s just a greedy part of me that misses it.” Fluttershy took her turn to speak in her soft and graceful voice. “Oh Twilight, we all have a greedy little part of us, but that’s why we have friends, so they can share their blessings with us, and we with them.” She smiled, the very incarnation of elegance and poise. “That’s what I was trying to say!” Pinkie blurted out with all the elegance and poise of a criminally flatulent swamp beast, “I was going to say all that, give everypony a giant group hug and then we were all going to have triple chocolate chip, fudge sauce cake with frosting and vanilla icing, but it’s all been said now.” She moped, ears drooping as she felt sorry for herself at missing the moment. Then her mind finally began to catch up with her hyperactive mouth to register something in that last sentence. Something of great importance and significance. “TRIPLE CHOCOLATE CHIP, FUDGE SAUCE CAKE WITH FROSTING AND VANILLA ICING!” She screeched, vanishing in a pink blur that left everypony clinging to the table to stay upright, their manes hanging at a funny angle. “Okay, I’m not the only one who just saw that happen, right?” Rainbow Dash asked as they all straightening out their manes, just before another pink maelstrom heralded Pinkies return, now bearing an unfeasibly vast chocolate cake loaded more frosting and icing than any single kitchen should reasonably be expected to store. “Triple chocolate chip, fudge sauce cake with frosting and vanilla icing!” She chirped with a giant grin, as though it was somehow the most obvious answer to whatever question may, may not or could possibly have been asked. Her bemused friends looked to each other uncertainly. “That thing’s bigger than we are,” Applejack said in quiet awe, “how in tarnation are we meant to eat it all?” “Have you ever actually met Pinkie Pie?” Dashie replied. The two of them looked at each other before sniggering, then giggling, before finally letting go and laughing out loud. The joy quickly spread and the room was filled with the sound of laughter as the six friends were gleefully lost in the moment. Twilight, her dark mood dispelled and forgotten, looked around at the five best ponies she had ever known. They were the pillars of her life, who had stood beside her and carried her forward in the face of the impossible, who would always be there with her to share joys, triumphs and even miseries, and who she could hardly picture a world without. They were the greatest gift she could ever have hoped for. They were her friends. Twilight relaxed on the plush bed in her private chambers. Luna had brought forth a cool and peaceful night for her subjects, the stars twinkling serenely from their places in the heavens, while her moon poured silver light over all Equestria and Twilight’s palace. Her palace. The notion still felt very strange to her. Even though she had been a princess for some time now, there were still occasions when she felt out of place and intimidated by the sheer mass of that fact, the royal duties and expectations that came with the title. And while the company of her fellow princess’s had long ceased to cause her any unease, indeed she welcomed their presence, the simple act of being treated as their equal was deeply unsettling and unnatural to her. She certainly didn’t feel their equal, she was just herself. Idly, she levitated her new necklace from the draws of her bedside table to admire it for a while. As it dangled before her, she reached out to carefully wipe away some perceived speck of dust from the ocean green gem at its heart. The amulet had quickly become a source of great comfort to her, though she couldn’t say why. Despite her best efforts and several long nights spent pouring over volume after volume of magical lore, she hadn’t been able to uncover anything about it, either in the books retrieved from the Palace of the Two Sisters or in the few tomes recovered from Golden Oaks. But the more she pondered it, the less and less relevant the question seemed to become. Perhaps it was simply the allure of mystery that drew her to the rich colour of the gem, the deepest and most enticing green she had ever seen. It seemed to promise answers if only she would gaze deeply enough and lose herself inside. Twilight yawned widely. Pinkies parties were the best, but exhausting at the same time. She wondered how the girl kept it up, but then just a quickly dismissed the question. Like the gem, she smiled fondly, Pinkie was clearly just another one of life’s little mysteries that isn’t meant to be solved. Slipping the amulet around her neck and settling down in bed, Twilight made herself comfortable and began to drift off. Somehow, she felt more content simply feeling it close by. As sleep took her, a thought slipped into her mind. Tomorrow she would get the necklace replaced, something tasteful, yet elaborate to frame the beautiful gem. Bells woke her with a start. Her mind was confusion as she looked round her unfamiliar surroundings. Crystalline walls, elaborate, plush furniture, four poster bed, “where was Golden Oaks” she thought. Her chambers, still foreign to her, further confused her disordered mind, jolted unwillingly from a dream of green fields as far as she could see. Still the bells rang, urgent in their clamor, while an orange glow outside her curtains softly lit the room. “I’m up, I’m up.” She grumbled, sluggishly lumbering to the window to investigate whatever commotion had dragged her from her dreams. She yawned, pondering whether she could just go back to bed as she pulled the long drapes aside. Focus came to her in an instant. Ponyville was on fire. Author's Note Part 2! Hope you all are enjoying it so far. Please feel free to critique, and all I ask is that it is kept constructive. *Edit* Finally getting this rewrite posted up!
Chapter 2: Up In FlamesChapter 2: Up in flames Flames raged and roared through the town hall, licking their way along balconies and up walls, devouring curtains, tapestries and everything else they could reach, sending angry coloured smoke, billowing from windows and doors and up into the night sky. Illuminated in flickering orange hues, chaos reigned in the normally serene square, as ponies fled this way and that through the night in panic, trying to escape or save their possessions and carry loved ones away from danger. Amidst the havoc and disorder, firefighting teams were gathering and organizing volunteers into pony chains to fetch water from the wells and the river while pegasi urgently flew in search of rain clouds they could empty on the blaze. In the middle of it all, Mayor Mare frantically called instructions, desperate to protect her beloved town. “We need to get the surrounding buildings cleared first,” she told one of the fire fighters, “if the town hall comes down it could fall into one of them and hurt anypony not yet to safety.” The young stallion gave a crisp salute and galloped away as fast as he could in search of volunteers as Twilight landed, her wings flaring as she brought herself to a sharp halt. “Your highness, thank goodness you’re here!” Mayor Mare called. “I came as soon as I heard the bells, what happened?” “We just don’t know. One of the night watch ponies sounded the alarm, but no pony knows where he’s gone now!” Both Mayor and Twilight flinched as the town hall gave an ominous creak and groan as a section of the roof collapsed, spilling flames and sparks upward. “I don’t think that’s important right now Mayor, we need to concentrate on containing the fire and getting everypony safely away from here. You continue directing the fire fighters, I’ll go and help with the evacuation and send any volunteers your way.” “Right.” Mayor Mare agreed with a curt nod, setting about her task with the energy of a pony possessed as she galloped to the growing pony chains, shouting instructions and quickly imposing order. Where to start? Twilight thought to herself, momentarily alone amid the disaster. She reached one hoof up to her chest where the gem still dangled, drawing comfort from finding it there. Closest is as good a place as any. Wasting no more time she quickly galloped to the nearest house to hammer a hoof on the door. “Is there anybody inside?” She called, trying to listen for a response from the other side. She shouted again, fighting to make herself heard over the commotion behind her, and was about to give up when she heard a cry for help from inside. It was a simple spell to force the door open, and she quickly ran inside, searching from room to room. “Hello? Where are you?” She called. “We’re upstairs!” She heard a mare call out to her. “Please help, my filly won’t come out from under her bed!” Quickly climbing the stairs, she followed the sounds of the despairing mother and into a young foal’s room. She found her laying on the floor, desperately reaching under the bed with one hoof. Gently moving the panicking mare out of the way, Twilight lay down to get a look at the young filly. She was hiding in the corner and simply stared at her with wide, frightened eyes, hugging a stuffed toy in terror. “Hey there young one, are you okay?” She asked, smiling and attempting to project an air of confidence that she didn’t really feel. The poor terrified filly said nothing, simply sniffling. “Do you know who I am?” “You’re Princess Twilight.” She whimpered back. “Yes I am. And what’s your name?” She asked quietly, doing her best to be patient and calm for the poor child. “Caramel Twist.” “Well, Caramel Twist, you must be pretty scared. I know I am. But come on close to me and your mother, and I’ll show you a neat trick.” Slowly, encouraged by Twilight and with faltering steps, the young filly came out of her hiding place to be scooped up by her mother, tears of relief gathering in her eyes. “Hey, don’t be scared.” Twilight assured them both. “Have you ever teleported before?” The filly shook her head slowly. With the best warm smile she could conjure, Twilight stepped close to the two of them, and after adding little lighting, a high pitched whine and a short pause for dramatic effect, there was a bright flash. A moment later, the same flash appeared on the far side of the river, and to the shock of the evacuated ponies, there stood Twilight Sparkle with the mother and her filly. Staring in awe and wonder, the two rescued ponies could only gape at Twilight, who looked about, projecting a nonplussed air of quiet confidence. “Told you it was a neat trick.” She smiled at them. “Thank you Princess Twilight!” The filly beamed up at her savior before Twilight teleported away again. “There, piece of cake.” She said to herself as she reappeared in the town square. She felt warmth spreading through her, and not from the fire. Suddenly, it wasn’t all so hopeless and terrifying. “One down…” “Howdy Twilight!” A cheery drawl called out to her. “Applejack!” Twilight called back, swelling with relief, “what are you doing here?” “What’s it look like we’re doing?” She asked, steadily working a pump on the back of an oversized cart drawn by Big Macintosh. To her side, Applebloom handled a mounted nozzle connected by a hose to a pair of barrels that dwarfed the three of them. “Been a while since we had to break her out, but I always figured it was better to have her and not need her, than need her and not have her. Aim that hose Applebloom and let her rip!” “You gottit sis!” The younger Apple hollered back, and twisting a small leveler on the nozzle, sent a steady stream of water spraying onto the fire. Flames flickered as the spray landed, refusing to die, but the Apple family continued their steady assault on the flames. Seeing her friend rally to the cause, Twilight rushed from building to building with renewed vigor. She began to feel that they were going to win this. That they were going to get through this and the towns folk would be safe. Soon pegasi would return with the first clouds and set about emptying them onto the burning town hall. As every pony pulled together, slowly the fire would begin to come under control. There was a great snap and a crunch from the beleaguered hall. “Everpony get back!” Came a scream. Flame tortured and broken supports finally gave way and with a groan, and the building lurched to one side, slowly tumbling downwards, gaining speed as it toppled towards the Apple family. Applejack screamed at her sibling to run and they dived away. Yet Applebloom got a hoof caught and tangled in the hose, tripping her. Quickly Applejack and Big Mac turned back to save her, but it was too late. The three huddled together in a futile attempt to protect each other as the hall came crashing down, and with a terrible crunch, it halted scant inches above them, a soft lavender glow enveloping the collapsing structure even as it still burnt. “Move!” Twilight called, her eyes ablaze with effort and magic, sparks snapping from her horn as she struggled against the mass of gravity. The three Apples needed no second telling and quickly threw off their shock and wonder to gallop and join the awe struck crowd, marveling at Twilights incredible display of power. But she was in trouble and she knew it. The town hall was rapidly coming apart and it was just too heavy and badly damaged to hold for much longer, yet she dare not set it down for fear it would collapse, spreading the fire to the rest of Ponyville. She then felt a warm bloom on her chest, a warmth that spread through her body and made her feel powerful again. An idea stuck her, desperate and dangerous, but it was all she had. “Get back, all of you get back!” She snarled through gritted teeth, and ignoring the retreating crowd, she drew on this new well of energy to begin heaving the building back upright. Twilight reared upward onto her back legs, mirroring the rise of the hall, as foot by torturous foot it climbed, creaking and snapping every inch of the way, threatening to crumble and cast burning debris everywhere, spreading the flames. Through sheer force of will, she held it together, sweat pouring down her face with the strain, forcing it to stay in one piece until it was once again standing upright. Then with a final gesture, Twilight hammered her hooves into the ground with a magically enhance boom that cracked the ground. The hall matched her movement, coming down on itself, collapsing into a crushed pile of burning rubble in the middle of the town square, sending dust and smoke out in a vast, choking cloud. Twilight smiled grimly, panting with exhaustion. Though she had destroyed Town Hall, she was satisfied at least it wouldn’t fall on any pony and the fire could no longer spread. Finally releasing her magic, she became vaguely aware of cheering erupting all round her. She turned her head to look up at the crowd, and suddenly the world began spinning violently with every movement she made, swimming in and out of focus. A wave of dizziness struck her, and she suddenly found herself struggling to make her legs hold her up, stumbling as they began to turn to jelly while the rest of her seemed to sway heavily. She heard somepony say her name, ask if she was alright, but she couldn’t make out the voice. It sounded muffled, as though spoken through a thick blanket, at the same time it seemed to echo and ring in her ears. Then the ground rushed up to meet her with a dull thump. The last thing she recalled as unconsciousness took her, was smiling contently as her hooves moved, seemingly of their own accord, to cross over her amulet. Author's Note And the latest chapter! A new burst of inspiration after that prolonged hiatus sees this chapter completed and presented for your consideration! Enjoy.
