Ch 1: Magical Mystery Mayhem
To say that Twilight was not happy about what was going on today was an understatement. Yesterday had been quite enjoyable with a new book coming in from princess Celestia that was not only written by her favorite historical figure, but it was quite possibly the only version of that book in existence. The spells contained within were interesting beyond belief as they were the culmination of many of Starswirls theories, some were clearly labeled as being unstable or having effects contradictory to what was calculated, but the one that caught Twilight's attention the most was the unfinished spell at the back of the book.
It called to her in a way that most spells simply didn't and unknown to her she had accidentally cast it while reading out its seemingly nonsensical formula. The fact that the spell didn't rhyme either added to its incomplete nature as most, if not all spells, contained within normal unicorn magic needed a sense rhythm to even have an effect. Although the smudge at the bottom of the page that Twilight thought was part of the spell may have also done something. So it was quite the surprise when the next morning twilight woke up with a pair of wings on her back and no horn on her head.
“Spike!!!” Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs as she took in the sight that greeted her in the mirror.
“Coming Twilight, woah! Hey you finally grew a pair of wings Twi.”
“This isn't funny Spike, something has went horribly wrong with that spell that I cast last night.”
“I'll say, even your cutie-mark is different, isn't magic like that supposed to be impossible?”
“Maybe, I mean even the princesses can't do that with their alicorn magic, this is whole new territory Spike, the worst part is that I can't even fix this without my horn! Oh no, what if other ponies were affected by this Spike, they'll be just as confused as I am and then they'll have to change their lives because their cutie-mark changed and then they'll find out that I was responsible and then everypony will hate me!” Twilight said in a panic while trying not to start hyperventilating.
“Couldn't you just ask the princess, I mean she sent you the book in the first place.”
“No, no no no no no no no no. Do you know what will happen if I do that?”
“She'll fix the problem and things will return to normal?”
“No! She'll fix the problem and then find out I was being careless with my use of magic and then she'll say she's dissapointed in me for not fixing this and I'll no longer be her student.”
“Okay, okay, geeze. Calm down Twilight, I'm sure there's a unicorn powerful enough to fix this in Ponyville.”
“That's a highly advanced spell Spike, I don't know of anypony in Ponyville with enough knowledge or power to cast it.”
“I'd love to help out with your problem Twi, but I promised Rarity that I'd help her out today, so I'll be over there if you need anything.”
“Rarity... Rarity! Spike you're a genius!”
“Well duh, I grew up with you after all.”
“Of all the ponies in Ponyville Rarity has shown a great aptitude for magic, not to mention that she is capable of feats of levitation that even I can't comprehend.”
“So we're both going to Rarity's then?”
“Yes Spike, and make sure to grab the elements of Harmony, we might need them if things get out of hoof.”
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Rarity remembered the day she got her cutie-mark like it were yesterday, and it had always been a source of pride for the mare even if she refused to admit it. It had all started when she designed the costumes for the school play that year. Mrs. Cheerilee was her teacher at the time and even though she thoroughly enjoyed the costumes and their designs Rarity had not been satisfied with the results. The little filly spent the next few days, and even a couple of the nights, redesigning her creations but never coming to a conclusion that she liked.
With the deadline for the play looming dangerously close the little filly began to desperately hope that whatever entity watched over her was merciful enough to give her the inspiration she needed. It wasn't a day later that a magic surge washed through her body yanking her from the dinner table and out the door into the vast unknown of the rocky canyons that lay to the west of Ponyville.
The canyons were known to be the home of Diamond Dogs and worse monsters, but the sheer drop offs that could come out of nowhere were equally dangerous if not more. After narrowly skirting past a few sinkholes and narrowly avoiding getting dragged off a cliff face Rarity had arrived at the point that her magic had seemingly yanked her to. Standing before the tiny filly was a monument to all stones everywhere, standing an impressive fourteen tall and a good seven feet wide was the boulder to end all boulders, or at least it seemed that way to Rarity at the moment.
Compared to the tiny filly the boulder was a giant piece of gray shale that simply stood there taunting her about her perceived fate and that she would never receive the inspiration she was looking for. She waited hoping that something would happen and that the stone would be proven wrong and that she wasn't brought out there for seemingly no reason other than a magic surge, but nothing happened, nopony came and there were no earth shattering events that took place as the little filly simply stare at the uneven lumpy behemoth that stood before her.
Rarity wasn't about to back down either as she threw herself at the stone and began to beat on it furiously with her tiny hooves screaming at the silent beast that her destiny was not a rock and that there was a reason she was out here. The stone didn't answer back, nor did it care that the little filly standing before it was crying tears of rage and disappointment while trying to beat it into a pile of rubble. Nor did the stone care that night was fast approaching and that the hydra that called this section of the ravine its home would be going out to hunt soon, nor did it care that the filly would make a nice appetizer for the hydra before it found larger game.
As night descended Rarity merely looked at the boulder and hung her head in defeat as she realized that it didn't have the answers she was looking for. As the little filly trotted down the path that would take her back to Ponyville she became prominently aware of two things, one was that she was hungry and the other was that she had no idea how to get back home. As she continued onward to the point where her hooves ached Rarity began to notice a few pebbles bouncing every now and then as if something large were coming her way.
Somewhere deep in the canyon the hydra that lived there, we'll just call him Tom, was waking up and while the multiple heads that made up Tom rarely agreed on anything they could all agree that the scent of a nearby pony was calling it's name. It was young and weak compared to the ponies that usually left their scent in the canyon, which was good news for the hydra,compared to other hydra this one was a bit of a genius. If pegasi were walking or flying through the canyon it would create a noise somewhere deep in the canyon and when they went to investigate the hydra would drop a boulder on them and feast on the remains.
The other types of ponies were easier to plan for, earth ponies being the easiest since they didn't have that fancy magic to protect them. The young pony, while not much of a meal for Tom, was an easy catch as all he had to do was find it and toss it in it's mouth, and if there was anything a dimwitted hydra liked more than mountains of food it was simplicity.
As Rarity examined the pebbles in front of her she began to feel the vibrations of what was approaching behind her, and when she caught sight of the lumbering mass of Tom she did the only logical thing her brain could come up with, run. Then she did the one thing her brain was telling her not to do, and that was scream at the top of her lungs alerting the beast that she had spotted it.
Rarity's tiny legs carried her as fast as she could go while the giant of a beast followed her and was easily catching up to her as it's larger footsteps outpaced Rarity's frantic gallop. When the beast got close enough one of its heads attempted to nab the filly, Rarity managed to duck under the thing as it came in and managed to get under it. The head that had attempted to nab that filly had gotten a face full of tree bark instead as its jaw snapped shut around a nearby sapling.
As Tom looked around trying to figure out where his meal had gotten off to he began to realize that they had wandered further away from the canyon than he realized. Scattered around the hydra were hundreds, if not ten, apple trees and the faint scent of earth ponies hung in the air. Normally this wouldn't have been much of a concern to the hydra as more ponies usually meant more food, but the sudden sound of screaming coming from behind him that was making it's way towards the scent of ponies didn't add up as the best situation, which was impressive for a beast that only knew how to count to seven.
Rarity hardly knew whether or not she was going to survive, but getting to the farm house that she had spotted was the main priority that she had. The screaming that she had started up again thankfully caused the residents of the house to turn on their lights as an earth pony couple rushed out to her. The couple had asked her what she was doing on their orchard in the middle of the night, but she had been in too much of a panic to properly tell them anything about what was going on, although the roar of the hydra behind her spoke for her.
Rarity was escorted into the house by the two ponies and once inside she found herself facing an aging earth pony mare the color of a green apple who was currently trying to get a crying baby that was yellow in color to fall back to sleep. Then as she looked around trying to find anything else to look at she found him... He was a tall colt for his age and his fur was the color of rubies, everything about him told Rarity that he was just the son of the nice couple that had let her in, but something about him made her heart flutter.
The rest of the night was spent hiding in the basement while the hydra outside was taken care of by a small battalion of royal guards. The nice couple came in later that evening to tell the rest of the family the the hydra had been captured and was being taken to the badlands where it can hunt in peace without hurting anypony, not that Rarity cared about the hydra's safety, she was just happy to be alive.
The next day found Rarity spending her time at the orchard with the family as they cleaned up the damages the resulting fight with the hydra had done. Of course there was the problem with getting back to her family, but Rarity wasn't about to let a kindness such as saving her life go unrewarded, no matter how much they said that she didn't need to repay them. Of course Rarity didn't just want to repay them, but she wanted to give them her all, they had saved her and she wanted to help in any way she could.
This led to Rarity attempting to buck the trees at the orchard three days later in an attempt to show how much she appreciated the family. Normally a unicorn wouldn't even be able to get a single apple to budge without using their horn, but Rarity felt a connection to the soil in a way that she never had before and after her tenth kick to the tree the impossible happened, an apple fell down and skewered itself on her horn.
Big Mac had seen the whole thing and had laughed at the sights of it, making Rarity's cheeks flush with embarrassment. She ran home right after that not noticing the trio of apples that now adorned her flank, or the colt chasing after her hoping to apologize.
Rarity looked back on that day and, even though it was embarrassing she had done something no other unicorn had, and to top it off now that she was older she did find it to be rather hilarious. The couple that had let her into their house eventually became like a second set of parents to Rarity as she grew up on the farm practicing her talent. Her talent had been a shock to not just her but everypony who knew her, as the filly was known for hating mud and dirt, not to mention her aspiration to be a fashion designer.
That night changed everything, she saw her ideas in fashion as silly compared to what services had been rendered to her through simple hooves on labor. After the first year she stopped caring about the mud or grime, instead she kept thinking to herself that what she was doing mattered and that she was giving to more ponies through the work of her hooves than her previous ideas. It was this thought that made her realize what she was missing when working on the dresses for that play, a drive that made her work worthwhile, and she had found that on a little farm on the outskirts of a town full of earth ponies, not up in Canterlot among nobles and super stars where dreams were supposedly made, but back home where her actions made those around her happy.
Rarity was shaken out of her thoughts as her husband, Big Mac, came over to her to tell her that Twilight was acting strange again. Not that it surprised the apple farmer, the purple pegasus was known to be odd even at the best of times, maybe that partying cutie-mark Twilight had wasn't just for the family friendly kind that she usually set up for the residents of Ponyville. Although such opinions were unwarranted in Rarity's opinion as Twilight had shown to be too naive to actively partake of such things.
When Rarity found her hyperactive friend she was fluttering about the front gate of the orchard seemingly in a blind state of panic as she spouted off nonsense. For the bearer of the element of magic that pegasus sure did end up in a tizzy every now and then. As Rarity got closer she could just start making out what Twilight was saying to Spike.
“What do you mean this is Rarity's! Rarity lives at the Carousel Boutique near the center of town!”
“Um, Twi that's Pinkie's place remember, Rarity Apple lives here.”
“Oh, no, no, no. The spell has changed more than just cutie-marks and my tribe, but no spell is supposed to be capable of altering time like this, just what kind of magic was that!? Could it have been chaos magic?.. No, chaos magic isn't supposed to be even accessible to unicorns... or is it?”
“Twilight, honey. Are ya feelin' alright, ya seem a might stressed.” Rarity said in an accent that Twilight wasn't used to hearing from her.
“Rarity, thank goodness you're here, do you happen to know how to cast a basic memory charm?”
“Twilight, sugar cube, ah keep tellin' ya that ah haven't studied magic in years, but if it makes ya feel better ah'll give it a shot.” Rarity said to the panicking pegasus in front of her.
“Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!” Twilight started shouting before a muddy white hoof placed itself on her mouth.
“Ah'm sure this is excitin' an' all, but ah can't exactly be here all day, ah've got a family ta take care of and Sweetie Belle is comin' over later today.” Rarity said.
“Right... uh... here.” Twilight said as she scribbled out a small note and gave it to Rarity, “That should be enough to cast the spell and wear this while casting it please.” Twilight said as she placed the element of generosity around the farm pony's neck.
Rarity did as the pegasus wanted if only to amuse the mare in front of her. The spell was simple, but it wasn't the easiest thing in the world to cast either as it was latching onto things that were supposed to have been forgotten, no matter how long ago. As the spell finalized it coiled itself around the unicorn and the element around her neck transferring the memories that the gemstone contained over to the one wearing it.
Rarity stood there stuttering for a good minute after the spell had finished while Twilight looked at her with a gaze that was somewhere between giddy and hopeful. Her face soon began to take on a look that more resembled panic again as whatever effect she was hoping for hadn't taken place at all.
“The cutie-mark's still Applejack's, b-but that's the only way I know how to fix this mess... Celestia is going to kill me!” Twilight said as panic started to grip her mind once again.
“Twilight... I... Ah... What did ya do to me!?” Rarity said with a small hint of anger seeping into her voice.
“I... uh... gave you your memories back?” Twilight said hoping that she could disappear as the irate unicorn cast her gaze upon her.
“Explain.”
“Well, you see, uh... the me that was a unicorn from your memories cast an incomplete spell changing history to what it is now and I'm trying to fix it?” Twilight said in a burst of babble that was unusual for her.
“Thank's, but no thanks sugar cube, ah'm perfectly happy with this new life ah have, an' not that frivolous one that yer sayin' ah lived before.”
“B-but... Celestia sent me that book, I can't just leave something like this alone.”
“How about this honey, if we restore the memories of all of our friends and the majority agrees to fix this then we will alright?”
Twilight nodded dumbly as she took what she could from this situation. One of her friends didn't want her to fix the mess that she had caused, but that didn't mean all of them liked their new lives better right? Twilight new for a fact that being Celestia's student was the best thing that ever happened to her, at least she thought it was, although now that time was starting to catch up with her she was starting to remember events that she was sure didn't happen before. Unlike her friends Twilight hoped that she didn't lose her memories by gaining the new ones.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
The day Fluttershy had gotten her cutie-mark was the day the mare finally grew a spine, or at least that's the way she viewed it. She had been cowering as the bullies had threatened her and were proceeding to taunt her, only because at the time the mare was a pathetic pushover. As she was being ridiculed in front of the entire class the coolest pony there came and decided that Fluttershy needed to be protected from her tormentors.
Of course this resulted in her trying to stroke her own ego as well, it was just he kind of filly Rainbow Dash was back then. The race was over before it even began as Fluttershy was blown off the cloud like a leaf and plummeted to the ground far below. It wouldn't be the first time Fluttershy thought she was going to die, but it would be the last time that she ever felt as afraid as she did in that moment.
Coming up from behind her Rainbow Dash had attempted to grab onto the yellow pegasus, and she would have succeeded if she hadn't narrowly missed her friend and careened into the forest below. The shock of what Fluttershy witnessed managed to jump start her wings as her worry over her friend consumed her mind.
The forest wasn't an ideal place to get lost in and Fluttershy was a newcomer to the ground and had no idea what she was getting into. She spent the next several hours trying to find her friend only to find nothing more than the native flora of that environment. She was a tad bit afraid of course, but who wouldn't be when they were in an unfamiliar environment. The search eventually ran on into the night as Fluttershy continued looking for her friend.
Fluttershy wasn't fond of the dark at the time and was only able to get to sleep with a nightlight at the time. Adding onto that the fact that she was wandering a forest full of wild animals and you have a pegasus that is scared out of her mind. At this point into her search she was just blindly going in a direction hoping to find her friend and offer some help.
Fluttershy's blind wandering through the forest eventually led her to an apple orchard. It was like any other orchard of it's kind, except for the commotion that was going on near a farmhouse. What she saw when she got there made her jaw drop in awe and horror as the royal guard squared off against a hydra that was giving the gold clad troops a run for their money. It was a moment that Fluttershy would never forget, as she watched scared family members hope that the royal guard would stop this threat.
The look of fear on their faces was all that it took to spur Fluttershy on as she flew into the fray and attacked the hydra. It's heads weaved and bobbed trying to get a bead on the yellow pegasus, but Fluttershy was moving too fast for it to comprehend. A wind that hadn't existed before was propelling the pegasus to speeds she had never flown at before, and after her hoof hit one of the heads with a resounding crack she knew that it wouldn't be the last time.
After flying off to get a look at what she had done, mainly knock out one of the heads she smirked to herself as she dove back in to protect this farm. When she came in for the next dive she allowed the wind around her to drop to temperatures usually found near the frozen north. The hydra, being a cold blooded beast, didn't react well to the sudden drop in temperature as its movement became sluggish and its mind slowed down to a near halt as the only thing on its mind was the urge to hibernate in it's warm cave. That didn't happen as another cold blast of wind sent the hydra tumbling over as it lost all consciousness.
After Fluttershy landed the couple came up to her and thanked her for saving their farm, Fluttershy refused any payment and left to help the royal guard move the hydra to a safer location. It was a few days later that Fluttershy found Rainbow Dash again, the mare having purchased a house at the edge of the Everfree forest for pocket change. If there was one good thing about the Everfree's reputation it was that nopony wanted to live close to it, making that cottage the least wanted building in Equestria, but it was cheep and Rainbow Dash didn't harbor a fear of the forest either.
After that Fluttershy started training for the royal guard, and her cutie-mark, a six pointed star with sparkles around it, helped make sure her magic was up to snuff. In a year Fluttershy had went from the weakest flier in the school to one of the strongest and her weight had increased to the point where she sunk about an inch into the clouds from the sheer amount of strength training she had been doing. She also managed to beat the bullies in a wrestling match that had them looking at her more in awe than anything.
Looking back Fluttershy had to thank the hydra for one thing, she had to thank it for helping her realize that the kindest thing she could do is help those who are need but don't have anypony to help them. She didn't have to do this, but that's why it was kindness, she chose to go out and give ponies hope and save them from what was hurting them. But it was never more clear than the day she saved Scootaloo from drowning in a river. The pegasus had taken to looking up to Fluttershy like a big sister and after the events of that camping trip Fluttershy took the little filly on as an adoptive mother.
“And that's how I got my cutie-mark Scootaloo.” Fluttershy said to her daughter.
“Come on mom, the hydra fight had to have been way cooler than that! All of your other exploits were much more exciting.”
“I'm sorry my little filly, but hydra's aren't all that tough. When you give them a douse of cold air they fall asleep and don't do much else.”
“I guess you're right, that fight you had with that giant timber wolf was much more epic, even if you turned it to ash twenty minutes into the fight.”
“Well timber wolves are a bit harder to deal with and they can be a bit of a nuisance.”
“Heh, I guess so, but you could have talked more about your time in the forest right?”
“Scootaloo, I know you, and trust me when I say it was just a forest and that describing it more than I have to would bore you.”
Before the conversation could carry on any longer a knock came at the door to Fluttershy's humble home. The pegasus reluctantly left her daughter to go answer whoever was at her door, leaving Scootaloo to go back to playing with her toys while she waited. On the other side of the door was two of the pegasus' best friends, Rarity a hard working farmer, and Twilight a party pony credited with throwing the best parties in Equestria. What she didn't expect from them was the elements of harmony and the look of sheer bewilderment on Twilight's face when the purple pegasus looked at her.
Of all the things Twilight had expected from Fluttershy having her cutie-mark it was not the giant of a pony in front of her. Twilight had expected Fluttershy to have been an avid reader of books or even a sweet pony that took care of the town's weather every now and then. Instead the pony that stood in front of Twilight was a massive wall of muscle that was almost as tall as Big Macintosh wearing royal guard armor that seemed to be struggling to contain the giant of a mare wearing it.
“Um... Twilght are you alright, it looks like you've seen a ghost.” Fluttershy said while waving a hoof in front of twilight's face.
“I'm fine, totally fine.” Twilight said in a near squeak while trying to ignore the fact that one of her friends hooves was nearly as big as her head.
“It would seem that our friend here... has messed with time an' she wants me to cast a memory spell on ya so ya can remember what happened before she messed with time.” Rarity said to the pegasus.
“Oh my... Are you sure you're feeling okay Twilight, I don't want another incident where you drank all of the cola at Sugar Cube Corner happening again.”
“It was on- two times! The cakes were really nice about it and they didn't fire me, so everything is okay.” Twilight said sheepishly.
“If it makes you feel better Twilight I'll let Rarity cast the memory spell on me.” Fluttershy said as the purple pegasus put the element of kindness around the giant mare's neck.
The spell passed with little to no fanfare as Fluttershy, unlike Rarity, seemed unfazed by the new memories that were introduced to her. The mare continued to stand there and occasionally stretched a part of her neck before she decided that the two ponies watching her weren't going to be saying anything.
“So I used to be a wimpier version of Rainbow Dash that got bullied by a bunny?”
“Yes?” Twilight said to the giant of a pegasus.
“Well, thank you for letting me know what I had before, but I think I've found something better.” Fluttershy said to the disappointed pegasus.
“W-well... could you at least come with us as we do this for the rest of our friends?” Twilight asked.
“Of course, I just have to let Scootaloo now I'll be out for the day.” Fluttershy said as she went to go inform her daughter.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Getting a cutie-mark for Applejack was always a question that she hadn't wanted to think about until all of the fillies and colts in her class started to ask questions about why she didn't have hers yet. It didn't help that she was being made fun of for not even being able to handle basic levitation yet when every other unicorn in her class was capable of doing so much more with their magic. Her parents didn't know what to do either, being the only unicorn in a family of earth ponies didn't help, and the scathing comments about being adopted didn't help either.
She practiced her magic as much as she could, but all that she seemed to be capable of doing was creating stupid nebulous blobs of magic with no real form. Then there was the fact that she was afraid that her special talent wouldn't have anything to do with her family's farm. She had tried bucking the trees before, but she just couldn't get the apples down and her magic just slipped off the heavy fruit leaving them in the trees.
One morning when Applejack was trying her best to pick up a piece of paper the lightweight note began to hover in her bright green magic before it was dropped when her parents knocked on the door to her room. The two came in with a look of barely restrained mirth as they handed Applejack a pamphlet for Celestia's school for gifted unicorns, a confusing item considering that Applejack could barely lift a piece of paper.
That's when her parents pointed to a part of the pamphlet that talked about Celestia personally holding a summer school for struggling unicorns who were less fortunate. Applejack wasn't sure if she was elated at the fact that she was going to be meeting the princess or upset that she was going to be away from her family for an entire summer. In the end Applejack was happy that she would be getting tutored by somepony who knew just about everything there was to know about magic.
When the day for Applejack to head up to Canterlot for the summer finally came the little filly had butterflies in her stomach as she stood on the platform of the train station waiting for the train that would take her away from her family. Her parents were standing with her on the platform and were going to help her get situated up at the school before they would ultimately have to head home in order to take a delivery to family that lived in a city to the west of the Ponyville canyons.
The dorm that Applejack was staying in was large, and to the conservative farm filly it was a bit too large for her to be in all alone. The princess' secretary insisted that it had to be this way though, 'All of the students that Celestia is tutoring must receive the best we can offer and to ensure safety and comfort each student will be staying in a room by themselves,'. The ponies in charge of the dorms probably didn't even understand the meaning of down home comfort, but complaining about it wasn't going to do fix anything.
The next day was an absolute mess for Applejack considering she hadn't been able to get much sleep that night. Princess Celestia was also a lot different than what she had originally thought, Celestia was always made out to be some benevolent goddess that was untouchable, the pony that walked into the room was anything but that. She introduced herself as Tia of all things and after the first lesson she went over to the students who asked her for help with their magic.
Applejack, being raised by a bunch of hardworking farmers, found her inability to even complete the first assignment to be humiliating, she didn't even want to bother the princess with it. Celestia came over to her anyways, almost as if she knew what the unicorn was thinking and tried to help as much as possible. At the end of the day everything ended up being rather pointless as Applejack went to her dorm just as frustrated as before, if not more-so since even the princess hadn't been able to help her that day.
The next day was interesting on more than one note, the first being that Celestia wheeled in a cart with a dragon egg on it. The egg was explained to be used as a test for magical strength in ponies, all that needed to be done was funnel magic into it and the egg would glow for a while, the longer it glowed the more power a pony had at their disposal. Pony after pony went up and had their tutoring sessions planned around the initial results until it was finally time for Applejack to brave looking like a foal in front of the class.
Unlike every other pony Applejack suspected her lack of ability stemmed from a lack of ability or power, and as she started funneling her nebulous magic into the egg she started to imagine what ponies would say when the egg would inevitably glow for the shortest period of time. It was infuriating, and as these angry thoughts seeped into the ponies mind her magic began to take on a much more energetic nature as the color shifted from green to a red hue. The next moment came as a complete surprise when the egg was consumed in an inferno only to be quickly doused by the princess who was keeping an eye on the whole thing.
The steam that collected in the room after words was irritating, and much to Applejack's surprise yielded easily to her telekenetic touch. If Applejack could have seen the princess' initial reaction to her grip on the steam it would have likely made her grin from ear to ear, instead she sat back down as the rest of the class was dismissed before Celestia called her over.
'My dear pony, you have quite a gift that I haven't seen in quite a long time, not many ponies are able to channel enough anger to be effective pyromancers anymore. But that is not the gift I am talking about, you are a unicorn blessed with the ability to use pegasus magic, it is likely why regular spells are so difficult for you. The nebulous and energetic nature of fire has lent itself to use among most, if not all magics, but I'm afraid that a course detailing pegasus magic will be more in line with your abilities.
I expect great things from you Applejack, not many ponies are able to use the magic of another tribe, it may have handicapped you in some ways, but it has been a blessing in others. With a little work levitation will be manageable, and a few other basic unicorn spells, even the more advanced teleportation will be open to you, although in a slightly different way than most ponies. It's a shame that any more would require intense practice sessions over the course of years of study, because not everypony is capable of producing enough heat to hatch a dragon egg like you did.'
The rest of what Celestia said was lost to the filly as the princess of the sun herself said that Applejack was not only capable of unique feats, but that she had actually hatched the egg itself. Time seemed to lose all meaning in that moment as the little filly hopped around in excitement and joy, and it wasn't until later that she noticed the cutie-mark of a cloud with a rainbow colored lightning bolt adorning her flanks.
That day was probably the best day in Applejack's life, for she not only found her special talent, but she also gained a new family member, Spike. When the dragon was younger Applejack didn't know whether to treat him like a pet or like a child since she didn't know a thing about dragons, but she thought that they were intelligent enough to treat like a child until he got older. Celestia was more of the real parent in this situation since the affections of a filly can only go so far until responsibility has to take over, something that Applejack wouldn't be ready for until she was older.
The Ponyville weather department wasn't the most interesting place in the world, in fact it would have been the most bare bones place in existence if it wasn't for the complex weather charts that dotted the walls in an attempt to gauge what the Everfree was currently up to. Sitting in her chair with a small cup of coffee Applejack was busy finalizing next week's rain schedule, while for most ponies it would be simple Applejack had to deal with more than one farm existing within the town that needed the rain while only being allotted enough rain for a town with only one farm. It was only through sheer planning, math, and an accurate gauge of the Everfree that the town didn't dry up.
Most ponies in the town were amazed by Applejack's sheer tenacity when it came to getting the town the proper amount of rain required, and she was also a pony you could talk to and get a straight answer out of every time. The weather team only stayed around for cloud the cloud placement and occasional regulation, everything else was usually handled by Applejack alone, especially when it came to getting wild clouds under control. If you asked the weather team if they'd be able to function without Applejack the definitive answer would be no, it was a pretty good thing that Applejack loved her job, otherwise Ponyville would be in a heap of trouble.
There was of course the speculation that Applejack only enjoyed her job because it kept her away from the farm and the rest of her family. The orange unicorn loved her family like every other pony would, but the look she gave her parents after returning from Canterlot wasn't one anypony would have wanted aimed at them, it was a look of near disgust. Why Applejack looked at them with disgust was never discerned, however the discovery that it had nothing to do with farming or earth pony ways in general has lead to the belief that the family itself was responsible for whatever upset the mare before. She hasn't let it come between her and her family though, and she even spends quite a bit of time with her younger sister on weekends.
None of this mattered much at the moment though, especially since over half of Applejack's friends along with her son barged into her office disrupting her work.
“Oh for the love of... Twilight, how many times have I told you not to barge in here when I'm in the middle of scheduling the weather?”
“Thirty-seven, but this time it's important!”
“As important as that surprise birthday you held for your pet alligator that one time?”
“Hey, it was Gummy's sixth birthday, why wouldn't I want to celebrate it!? Oh, my gosh I own Gummy, I'm essentially a less hyper version of Pinkie at this point.”
“Um, pardon?”
“Forget about it fer now sugar, we just need to have you wear your element of harmony while we cast a memory spell on you alright?”
“Fine, just don't go erasing anything, it takes everything in this head to keep Ponyville running.”
“Trust me ah know, when you took over the weather Ponyville finally finished winter wrap up on time.” Rarity said as she tossed the piece of jewelry around Applejack's neck before hitting her with the spell.
“Interesting, but I doubt you'd show me all of that without any reason other than just to let me know, so why was I shown my other set of memories?”
“Well... I was hoping to get a vote on whether or not anypony wanted to fix this...” Twilight said sheepishly.
“Well if we're voting, my bid is for no. While my life as a farm pony was enjoyable, I am more satisfied with my work here than before.”
“Great... just great... is anypony going to agree with me that we should make things go back to the way they were?”
“Twilight, Rainbow Dash would likely be the only one to agree, and that would only be because she wouldn't want to betray one of her oldest friends.”
“Wait... Oh... I remember greeting her when she moved to Ponyville, she was so excited about taking care of the animals around town in order to show that she wouldn't betray their loyalty, and that she wouldn't leave them behind after they saved her life.”
“Sounds like her, loyal almost to a fault, but respectable nevertheless for her hard work and managing to earn the respect of that bunny she calls Angel.”
“So I guess we're going to hit her up on our way to Pinkie's then?” Twilight asked the crowd only to receive nods in agreement.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Ooh, it's my turn! Okay so it all began when Equis was created a little over seven thousand years ago, which is like forever ago, High Queen Faust, the all mother created everything and then she gave ponies form, which is funny since if she created everything then who created her, is there a never ending cycle of beings that create other beings? She didn't want ponies to be like all of the other creations she had made though, that only went rawr, or cuckoo, or meow! She wanted something she could talk to and have a conversation with, I mean have you tried having a conversation with a dog, they just look at you and say woof every time which is fine if you speak dog but only Rainbow Dash knows dog, so she took a part of her own being and put it into the first ponies ever, and that's why everypony calls her mom, which is even weirder if you think about it, two moms, is our regular mom the one that makes the body while Faust makes the more ghosty bits?
There were only six ponies in the beginning, two for each tribe, but that makes me wonder where all the other races came from...? Hmm, maybe she made more after our ancestors ate of the tree of disharmony and lost the right to immortality on the account of being too dangerous, ooh I know everypony had a really fun party and they were using a lot of magic to make it really fun, but when everypony woke up they were all different because the magic made them into other things. Anyways then the dinosaurs came and Celestia and Luna were created, these two fought the dinosaurs with their laser swords and Celestia was all like, You shall not pass, and Luna was like, Search your feelings you know it to be true, then they defeated the dinosaurs and Faust, pleased with her work, decided that ponies were better left under the care of Celestia and Luna while she went on to weave more worlds into existence.
Then a dread beast from beyond the veil of reality came in and made it's nest here, half dragon, half machine and all teeth and nastiness, not to mention he was a no good meanie pants. The beast was eventually kicked out of our reality, but it had done irreparable damage to time and space, allowing fate to be twisted in ways that Faust hadn't originally planned, some worship this beast as the father of greater free will, others curse it as a harbinger of destruction, allowing ponies to choose whether or not to destroy those around them.
Then Twilight messed with time and things got really crazy, I became a seamstress and Twilight became a pegasus, and Applejack is a unicorn and now all our cutie-marks are all crazy.
“Um... Pinkie who are you talking to?”
“Nopony, now what brings you to my boutique?”
“We're here to cast a memory spell on you so you'll remember something that happened in another time line.”
“No need, I already remember.” Pinkie said in a singsong tone.
“So... do you want to go back to the original world?”
“Well... The cakes were a great family to live with and all, not to mention the twins just loved me, as much as they love you in this world Twilight, not to mention nopony can hold a candle to the parties I made and that being random came more naturally, but have you seen the joyous laughter of a filly who just got their cutecienera dress? Not just a dress but one that was better than what they were hoping for? I-it's a tough decision Twilight, and I'm not sure if I can make it.” Pinkie said.
“B-but... Princess Celestia... she sent me that spell and I've caused so many problems with it and I just know she'll be disappointed with me.”
“Twilight, did you ever consider the fact that maybe these problems weren't problems, or that Celestia will respect your decision no matter what.” Applejack said.
“I-it's just that there were so many memories back there that I don't want to be for nothing, we had so many good times girls.”
“Twilight, I want you to remember good and hard about how you got your cutie-mark, both times... and I want you to compare the friendships we have in this time compared to the other and decide whether or not you can truly say with a clear conscience that you want to go back, I'll respect your decision no matter what it is.” Applejack said with a knowing smirk.
Twilight rolled her eyes at this, there was no way she was going to pick this new world with all of its weirdness over what she had before. Although a seed of doubt worked its way into her mind as she thought on her old life and everything that had went into it. She had been a friendless shut in for most of her life back then, the new her, while not the most outgoing pony, was definitely more outgoing than what she had been before, or will likely ever be. Then she began to think on how she got Pinkie's cutie-mark.
Twilight had been a bit misunderstood as a filly, she was always wanting to fly around and didn't like staying still for too long. Her parents were struggling to keep up with a daughter that was a pegasus and ultimately decided that the best thing for her was making enough friends to keep her occupied for most of the day. Twilight hadn't been too open to the idea, she had been relatively sheltered and wasn't fond of the idea of getting to know other ponies. Her parents were adamant however, mostly to preserve their own sanity.
The playground was a big scary place for a filly that hadn't had much interaction with others outside of her family, although the swings were a tantalizing prospect for her. Twilight would have stayed near her parents until they went home if her pegasus nature didn't kick in. It was one of the reasons her parents had such a hard time with her, unlike earth ponies or unicorns pegasi tended to get an itch to move when they stayed in one place too long and tended to develop a wander lust later on in life. This nature led Twilight to the swing set where a mint green unicorn was sitting.
Lyra Heartstrings had been the first friend Twilight ever made, the unicorn had started talking to Twilight and started up a conversation that the two found interesting. They ended up talking for the rest of the day and playing around until it was time to head home. The playground became a regular occurrence for Twilight as her parents enjoyed the ability to relax for a little bit while watching her instead of needing to chase her around the house, and Lyra being there every now and then helped cement their friendship.
Later in her life Twilight had what could be considered her first group of friends, and she happened to be invited to one of their birthday parties. It was the first party Twilight had been invited to and she was considerably nervous about the whole thing. Lyra had trusted her enough to invite her and she didn't want to screw anything up, but with it being a party her getting worked up defeated the purpose of even going.
When Twilight got there the party was underway and the ponies there were already having a good time. Being the first party Twilight has attended outside of her own she was feeling quite out of place and part of her wanted to disappear and hide out in one of the rooms until Lyra or another one of her friends wanted to play. Her parents coaxed her into trying to at least socialize a little bit, and all it really lead Twilight to do at that point was hang around the punch bowl occasionally grabbing a cup whenever hers emptied.
Later when the party was at about it's midpoint and Twilight's stomach was too full to drink any more a small box of party supplies was set down for the fillies and colts to play with. Twilight in a fit to get to the bathroom tripped and fell into the box getting covered in streamers and other party items. As Twilight climbed out of the box she looked absolutely silly, and her quickly forming potty dance made her look absolutely humorous.
The little colts and fillies that had been looking at the box earlier took one look at her and began to giggle at her. At first Twilight felt a burning sense of shame as she felt that they were laughing at her, but as Lyra walked up to her and told her that her act was hilarious Twilight tried attempting something else. She did a simple whoopee cushion act that wasn't her best to be honest, but it was the best she could think of at the time. The Colts and fillies found her simple act to be funny though and instead of shame and embarrassment a small smile began to grace her lips.
After a quick trip to the little mare's room Twilight brought out the funniest things she could think of in order to see if she could get a giggle out of the other ponies. By the time it was time for the cake every colt and filly was watching her as she performed one joke after another getting most if not all of her audience to laugh. As Twilight did this and saw the smiles she was bringing to all of the other ponies she thought about how this is what being friends is all about, making others smile and helping them have a good time.
As Twilight came back into her reality she noticed that Pinkie was bouncing around again, whatever shock the shifting time line inflicted seemingly having passed for her. She looked over at her changed friends and remembered some of the best times she had with them and how much she had experienced with them in this time line. They had all just been normal ponies that had seen Nightmare Moon all those years ago, Fluttershy had her duty as a guard, but the rest just wanted to help a friend. Then there was everything else that they did together that had them bonding more than they had before.
“B-but... will you still think of me as a friend if I'm just a party pony and not Celestia's student.”
“Well duh! I mean I was the best party pony around, but with my help there will be twice as much party and twice as many smiles, and thrice as much cake! I mean this has got to be the best thing ever!”
“You... you girls are truly my best friends.” Twilight said as a thought occurred to her, “That's what was missing from Starswirl's incomplete spell!”
“Twi, while that's nice and all what does that even mean?”
“I don't know but it must mean something.” Twilight said as she proceeded to say the words to the spell.
Once the spell was complete the elements of harmony lit up and fired their respective harmonic energies at the pony who had finished the spell. Of all the ponies there Applejack was the one to react, remembering an oath she had made after their fight with the Nightmare to teleport her out of the way if a laser was flying at her. Twilight vanished in a flash of light before the lasers could connect with her, instead funneling their latent energy into the tiara of magic as it was left behind in Applejack's haste.
Under normal circumstances the presence of the powers of the other elements would have resulted in nothing happening; the tiara of harmony naturally contained a small bit of the other magics to act as a guiding force when using the elements. This wasn't a normal circumstance however, as the elements were funneling their magic into the tiara while it was trying to funnel it out, only for it to return to the tiara in a feedback loop. This feedback loop was especially dangerous as the elements were directly linked to the tree of harmony's magic where their well of power was located. The nature of the tree was that it drew in ambient magic and harmonized it to supply the elements with their seemingly endless power, but the magic being funneled out of the tree naturally pulled ambient magic in like a pump.
As time progressed the pool of magic contained within the tree began to fill up beyond the point it was able to contain it, causing the tree to try and stabilize the magic within itself. This wasn't achievable as the tree was caught in a positive feedback loop that was spiraling dangerously out of control. The magic it was pumping out was being pumped back in at a dangerously fast rate while the magic getting pumped out pulled unprecedented amounts of magic into the tree. As the tree's pool of magic went over twice what it was capable at handling at any given moment cracks started to form in it as the magic held within became tightly compacted and was trying to find the quickest route out of the tree.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Tea time at Canterlot Castle was a simple affair that usually ended with Celestia just sitting on her balcony while sipping at the beverage that gave her some comfort in her terribly long life. Luna was there with her sitting across from the table sipping at her own cup as her starry mane was playfully tugged at by the breeze. For the two royal sisters it was a quiet evening that they were using to relax before Luna's day began and Celestia's ended.
“Sister, thy knack for brewing tea is truly extraordinary, the maid that taught such mastery to thee must have been sorely missed.”
“Minty Green was a truly remarkable mare, and she was a pony that I called a friend at one time before her passing some centuries ago, but her teachings only truly sunk in after a couple of centuries worth of practice.”
“Speaking of friends, how is thy student doing? We felt the temporal distortion from earlier and have been trying to make sense of the new information that has been dumped upon us.”
“An unexpected complication in Starswirl's spell arose, but she will fix it and become an immortal alicorn like us.”
“Ah yes, thy scheme to bind her to the tree of harmony like we are. Truly such an insidious desire to make a pony immortal and have her watch all of her friends die of old age is a blessing. Or maybe the sheer feeling of being unable to change the fates of ponies after the twentieth friend passes that will yield a hollow emptiness in her heart that makes her realize that mortals are finite beings that mean nothing to her on the grand scheme of things? Or how about the hatred that will bloom in her heart for you once she finds out that you were behind this? You'll have created a heartless monster that cares naught for this world but your destruction.”
“I am well aware of your disdain for my plan, but it's for the greater good... I also care for her too much to let her go.”
“If you were capable of love at all with that stone heart of yours then you wouldn't be trying to make her stay. A true friend wouldn't subject somepony to that kind of pain.”
“That didn't stop you from trying to make Silver Crescent immortal.”
“And it was a mistake that I've never forgiven myself for... not until I can make things right.”
“You're talking about the experiments aren't you?”
“What else sister, it's not like Silver Crescent is around anymore, not that it makes that horrified look she gave me on her deathbed any less excruciating when she found out what I had done.”
“Twilight will be different, she has to be... she'll understand, it's her destiny.”
“You're fooling yourself sister, destiny has had no firm hold on this world since the daemon from beyond the blackest stars crossed through our land.”
“And it's toxic influence has yet to be properly purged from our reality, not even the elements were able to fix that.”
“You know that driving it off was a fluke and that the only creature that knows how to truly drive it off were it to ever return is too mischievous to ever give us a clear answer.”
“You act like it's returning when there are no signs for such a thing to occur.”
“It pays to be cautious, unlike the blatant negligence that you use to manipulate events to your own will.”
“Come on Luna, the only thing that would prove that I've made a mistake is if the tree of harmony blew up, and how likely is that to happen.”
“Don't tempt the universe dear sister, it may just answer you.” Luna said as a column of light shot up from the Everfree forest.
It was beautiful and horrifying at the same time. A column of pure energy shot into the sky causing the clouds to spin in a vortex around it as a massive pressure wave ripped through the forest that surrounded the castle of the two sisters. The tip of the blast rent the sky opening a whole to the void between worlds as the energy at the tip boiled away the vestiges of reality as the beam continued on into the infinite darkness that exists beyond the grasp of reality or consciousness.
As Celestia watched the vortex with growing awe her ethereal mane lost its magical wind as it became a light pink mess of hairs getting blown around in the wind. A small part of her wondered if Luna knew this would happen as the beam of energy faded away allowing the rift in the sky to slowly close as latent magical energy seemed to cascade from the rip. Only one thought manifested itself in her mind as Luna stared in the distance with just as much shock on her face as she had.
“Those maniacs, they blew it up!”
