Chapter One:
I Think
Princess Celestia felt more tired than she had in a very long time, and it was hardly even noon! It wasn't physical though: her alicorn constitution made sure of that. No, her's was a mental exhaustion that had begun its development several days prior.
Her profound mental fatigue was mostly a side affect of taking on a new personal student. It had barely been ten days since she had selected the young Twilight Sparkle and she was being flooded with more messages than usual. Most of them were official or semi-formal letters from the faculty of her School for Gifted Unicorns: they were sending congratulations and copies of the syllabi for the upcoming semester's class schedules.
The professors who had tested the young filly had sent a letter several days earlier. It detailed their concerns for the safety of the student body if "Miss Twilight Sparkle were to flare up in a classroom or crowded hallway." The letter itself was a formality, part of the entrance process for any student with either a history of flaring or who had been tested to having a large magic pool. Twilight belonged to the latter group, and thus warranted the letter.
The flare that had grabbed Celestia's attention was reported by the parents to be Twilight's first since her infancy 'pops', but the output had actually overloaded the measurement equipment in the entire wing, and even destroyed the two that had been in the test room. The result tapes had taken several days to repair after the dragon that Twilight hatched crushed them under his magically enhanced bulk(the reason for the rest of the extra letters was this, as nobles and mayors from other towns were asking for verification about the rumored dragon attack), but both sets reported off-the-chart readings at the flare's onset.
So strong was the magic, that ripples of its power could be felt around Canterlot for several days after the event. The most notable case occurred two days after the flare, at the birthday party of the young Prince Blueblood. A portion of Twilight's magic had settled in the cake right when the colt blew out the candles. The cake exploded, covering the guests and traumatizing the poor colt. He was still unsettled from the event and was certain that his cake had tried to kill him.
After that, Celestia decided it would be prudent to wear a tracer tuned to her new student. It's function being to alert the princess if the remnants of Twilight's power were to crop up anywhere as an active spell. It could be remotely monitored by the princess and then be subsequently dispelled if necessary. Several minor disasters were averted by this decision and so Celestia was determined to wear the tracer until the magical wave subsided, or left the tracer's range.
Normally the range of a scholastic tracer was limited to a radius of several kilo-strides, encompassing Canterlot and some of its surroundings, but the combination of strength from Twilight's priming of the device and Celestia's own mighty reserves of magic dramatically increased it beyond the standard.
The tracer band could detect Twilight's magic from a distance of almost two mega-strides(Twilight would, in several years, get curious and find that the range was precisely 1.8284 MS… at the time of her investigation of course). This distance encompassed nearly a third of Equestria, which, Celestia was fairly certain, would be more than enough to exhaust the magic's strength.
It turned out that the range increase was, in fact, needed. Several cases of Twilight's magic had been detected in increasing distance from the mountain city, although the strength was noticeably decreased. Celestia estimated that the wave would reach the town of Ponyville by the next morning at the latest. The magic would, thankfully, only be strong enough for a few minor enchantments, such as basic illumination or possibly chromamancy, so she would be allowed to decrease her vigilance.
It was fortunate that a unicorn's flare-out residue was unable to affect living creatures in any permanent or major capacity. Although, enchanting a farm-stallion's shoes to repel any surface would have likely broken a few bones. Luckily, that one had appeared just as Celestia was retiring for the night so the spell had no chance to activate.
The princess was currently in her chambers eating a quick lunch. The tray that held her meal contained a quarter peck salad, three slices of buttered toast with two frogs of jam on the side, and pitcher of water. She was also taking the time to review the schedule for her afternoon appointments and audiences as well as review the relevant documents and submitted proposals.
Celestia snorted involuntarily as the tracer at the base of her horn pulsed, signifying that Twilight's magic had condensed once again. She set aside the half-eaten slice of barley-loaf she had been working on, returned the financial projections for the guard to its folder with a hoof, and brightened her horn in preparation for what she was about to do.
"It's stronger than I expected," she noted to herself, becoming more alert as she began the, nearly routine, task of locating the spell Twilight's runaway magic had manifested as.
The spell appeared to be coming from the depths of the Everfree Forest. Celestia was working to narrow down the area and had just pinpointed the spell's location when the tracer suddenly deactivated, signaling that the magic concentration had dissipated just as suddenly.
This could have meant that the magic had been dispelled, which was unlikely considering that to do so, a spell caster was required to be in sensing range of the spell and know the proper methods of determining a specific counter, which was much more difficult with unstructured, free-flowing magic.
The far more likely scenario troubled the princess slightly: the spell had been completed and the dispersing energy was no longer required. With how much power had been concentrated in that spell and the strange manner in which the Everfree would affect free-flowing magic, there was no certainty in predicting the spell's effect.
She immediately began working on determining what the spell had done to the best of her ability.
"Well," thought Celestia, as she reconciled the location of the spell with her room's wall map, "that's much farther out then it should be. The Everfree definitely pulled the magic there, but for what?"
Celestia started a finer magical scan of the area that the spell had activated in, hoping to find the target and discern the specifics of the spell. She had just one problem: nothing was there. At least, there was nothing magical there. The plants were all normal and there were no animals acting strangely. Actually, there didn't seem to be anything other than insects in the immediate area surrounding the spell, so she began expanding the radius of her scan.
Not long after, she found where the larger animals had gone: she started coming across rodents and birds about 500 strides from the edge of where she had determined the spell to be. The animals were all acting rather skittish, as if they had all been badly frightened. She also discovered a small manticore that seemed similarly startled.
"So, whatever the spell did was enough to scare all those animals."
—————
I am...
—————
Armed with this new information, Celestia returned her attention to the site of the spell. Anything that caused such a loud noise would leave a sign of its presence.
As she examined the area, she finally found something. There was a patch of ground next to a large tree that had all of the fallen leaves and other detritus blown, or blasted, away. In the center of the cleared space, there was a shallow mound of loosely packed dirt. When Celestia examined it, she found it to be much more mineral rich than the surrounding soil. It also contained very small amounts of Twilight's magic mixed in with the wild magic of the Everfree: it appeared that she had found the target of her search.
Celestia narrowed the focus of her scan and began the second part of her work. Mixed in the magic was a deteriorating teleport matrix that appeared to be the only spell present. She made a second examination and confirmed that there were no other spells involved.
It gave the princess no small relief to know that the pile hadn't been a living creature before the spell had grabbed it. With the particulars of this instance of Twilight's magic discovered, Celestia wished to sate her lingering curiosity. Why had the Everfree used a portion of her new student's lingering surge to cast such a spell?
She adjusted her scanning spell to focus on the material of the area, rather than the magic. As the new parameters took affect, a plausible hypothesis presented itself: the soil in the immediate area was nearly barren. There were so few minerals, the earthworms were having trouble eking out their next meal. There were also few small plants in the area and those that were present were sprouts or young shoots, adding further evidence for Celestia's developing theory.
The only cause the princess could think of was the lack of a proper, composting leaf carpet. It seemed that the wild magic of the Everfree was working against itself this far in. With the pegasi's inability to manage the weather of the forest's airspace, the deeper sections never got cold long enough for a real winter.
At most, the forest deeps saw about a moon of snow each year, but the trees never lost all their leaves so the topsoil had finally been depleted. This pile of dirt was simply the forest's best effort to fix the problem with the energy it had access to.
Having sufficiently satisfied her curiosity, Celestia silenced her horn, opened her eyes, and cast her gaze to her grandsire clock. A quick glance told her that she still had enough time to finish her sun-high meal before she needed to return to the throne room for her next appointment.
—————
As Celestia's thoughts turned away from the forest, the pile of dirt, which she had so closely examined, quivered and began to move. The scent of ozone began to emanate from the material as its form condensed.
Organic compounds were ejected occasionally while the surface smoothed and a hole developed at one end, air hissing into the blackness as other features began emerging.
—————
I breathe...
—————
Celestia set back into her lunch and her current file. The bread was delicious, especially with some currant jelly spread over it, and the budget submission was nearly perfect. She lit her horn and grabbed a quill, noting where a sum had been miscalculated, leading to further errors in the following lines. Luckily for her captain, it had occurred late in the proposal so only single page needed to be rewritten.
Having finished her lunch(and most of the paperwork), Celestia began tidying her desk. As the task required low concentration, her mind began to wander. It settled on Twilight, most likely because of the incident hardly five hundred tocks ago.
Celestia had noticed that her student wasn't disposed towards social interaction. The filly didn't appear to be shy in the conventional sense; she focused all her effort on scholastic pursuits and didn't speak to her fellow students unless the conversation was similarly inclined. Her parents, one Twilight Velvet and her spouse Night Lights, said that she had dove into learning magic after attending her first Summer Sun Celebration. Apparently Celestia, herself, was the filly's role model, a notion witch filled the white alicorn with warm fuzzies and apprehension both.
The teachers who had met with her all agreed that she was one of the most well-mannered foals they had ever met, while her adopted niece, My Love Song, had drawn out "the most adorable reactions I've ever seen. She's so precious."
She had a sudden thought as she stacked her empty dishes. Perhaps Love Song could watch the filly when matters of state called her away from teaching. It would help socialize the young filly student and give her alicorn ward an outlet for all those motherly impulses and instincts that ran in her ancient bloodline.
—————
By now, the formless mess in the Everfree was no longer formless. The undulations it had been undergoing for the past few minutes had quieted. The hissing air had also ceased, replaced by a steady, yet gentle, breeze from the opening as heated air was expelled and cooler air was drawn in.
The ozone scent dissipated as two indentations set near the opening shuddered.
Suddenly, the muted tanish material pulled away, revealing what appeared to be eyes. The eyelids(for there was nothing else they could be) blinked several times while the organs they protected twitched.
The orbs, which couldn't seem to agree on a color as they cycled through several shades of blue, green, and gray, focused as a spark of burgeoning intelligence was lit behind them.
—————
I see...
I see tall things. The upper parts of these things are different. There are many small parts attached to the top parts. They are a different... something... something that is only to see... ... COLOR! The many small parts are a different color than the many top parts and much less many lower parts.
What is "color"?
Color is what see is. Color is what I see.
I see something else... a big color, it is many different color. I see it but I do not see it. I see it... inside? Yes, I see it inside.
Inside of what?
Inside of... me.
I am ME! And I can see in me!
Why?
Why do I see inside me?
There is things inside me that I see that make me bigger. No, not make me bigger, but make inside me bigger. I am me, but me is not all of I. Me has an inside that is bigger than I.
I try to see more in me. I can see inside me other tall things. Like the tall things in front, but also not like.
What is "front"?
Front is... front is the outside of me that I can see.
These tall things inside me come with a new word: TREE.
These tall things are "tree"?
Yes, they are tree. The top of tree is branch and the small things on branch is leaf. There are many tree. There is a word for many tree: TREES. Trees is more than tree.
Trees comes with a new thing to see inside me. It is more trees, but different... There is more than trees. There is another word. It means many trees in same place. It is WOODS.
Trees and woods are same and not same. Woods is place and trees. Trees is trees and not place.
I am in woods. I see the woods and put them inside me with the other woods. I make the woods that I am in more of inside me. The woods are my woods; they are.. mine.
What is "mine"?
Mine is all that is inside me. Mine is for me to care for.
What is "care"?
Care is to keep safe from danger.
What is "danger"? What is "safe"?
Danger makes I less of I; that is all that inside me about danger. Safe is not danger. Safe is when I see no danger.
I do more than see. I hear...
What do I hear? Is there a word for a thing to hear?
Yes, there is a word inside me for a thing to hear. It is SOUND. I hear sound.
There is many high sound and not so many low sound. There is much to hear; it is not all inside me. It is too much to put inside me. I will put the hear inside me when it is not too much.
I do more than hear. I feel...
There is a feel that I do not know yet. The feel does no-
Stop...
What is "know"?
Know is.. mine. Know is mine that is mine enough that I do not need to see it inside to see it. Know is to always see.
I turn to see the feel I do not know. The feel is the same color as the trees. It is the same color, but it is different.
I move to feel the tree. It is a different feel. Parts of tree fall off and join the feel-I-do-not-know. I move to the other feel; it is not like the tree at all.
I can lift part of this other feel. The feel I lift tries to join the rest of the feel, but not all of the feel can. I let all the same feel join, but some of the feel stays on I.
I move, but the feel stays. This feel on I has a new feel. The feel on I is still the same feel, but it has a different feel. I see a word for this feel and the other feel: EARTH.
Earth is much. Earth is under. Under is like front but is where earth is. Earth has many feel but is all earth. This earth-feel has a word. This is DIRT.
I am done with feel. I want to know more about I.
I am. I see. I know. I hear. I feel. What else am I?
Wait, I MOVE! I did a move when I lift the dirt. What other move is there?
I lift the dirt with a move. There is another like it. These move are like. There is a word for this like: PAIR. I have a pair of move to lift. They are near me.
What is "near"?
Near is what I can feel. There is a pair of move not as near. They are not like the pair of near move. They are different.
The near pair and the not as near pair need different word. I will give the near pair a word. The near pair of move is... ARM.
The not arm pair need a word. The not arm pair is.. LEG.
I have a pair of arm. I have a pair of leg.
What is "have"?
Have is mine that I feel. I have arm and leg. I have woods. I have me.
I move arm and leg. Leg can lift more than arm. Leg can lift me. I lift me with both leg. Earth is only under leg. I move single leg.
What is "single"?
Single is like me. Me is single. I is single. Tree is single.
Tree is single. Trees is not single?
Yes, trees is not single. Trees is more than single tree.
Is arm single? Is leg single?
... ... YES!!! Arm and leg are both single word. No, no... arm and leg are both single WORDS. Not single arm is ARMS. Not single leg is LEGS.
Branch and leaf are both single words. Many branch is BRANCHES and many leaf is LEAVES.
*#*
I have joined dirt. It has a feel that I do not want. This feel is a danger. This feel is PAIN.
I lift me up again. The pain is less. I move a single leg. I let the leg join dirt that is more front of me. I move the more under leg. I move with the leg. I can move all of me on my legs. I will give this move a name... ... ... WALK. Moving me on legs is walk. I will do more walk.
I walk. I see more of woods. There is much smaller trees that are all leaf.
No, not trees. Trees are not single color.
That is yes. These are not trees. They are like trees, but not trees. Trees and these not-trees are like. PLANT is what they are. These are small plants. I feel the small plants. They are a new feel. I will make words for these feels, but not now.
What is "now"?
Now is always. Now is outside me. Now is like a place that is everywhere. Now is difficult to know. It is easy, but difficult.
I see a new see in the branches of a tree. It is more small than anything else I see. It is too not near too see all of.
I move legs to the tree that the see is in. I move arms to the most under branch. I can move all of me with arms. I move to the branch and legs move to the branch. I move arms to a different branch that is not as under.
The see has a sound now. It is a big sound. It moves along the branch. There is another see on the branch that is the same color as the branch. It is many small branches all in the same place, but it is not the tree.
I move more near.
The see that moves has legs. They are not like the legs of I. It can move its legs and move off the branch. The see does many of this move.
I can see the see more now. The see is more big. I see two colors on the see. The not under of the see is the same color as the branch. The under of the see is a new color. The sound is more big. The sound is making a feel in me. The feel is not so good. I move more near the sees.
There is another sound like the near sound. It is getting more big. I move to see what the sound is from. Another see is moving near. It is not on a branch or on the earth. It has a pair of different arms. The arms are moving and the see is moving.
This... I know this. There is words for this
I DO know this! That see is FLYING! It is a BIRD. The see on the branch is a bird too. I want to feel the bird.
What is "want"? I know "want", but I do not know it.
Want is to make a thing mine.
No, that is not want. That is like want, but is not want.
Want is... Want is when I feel inside a thing should be mine.
That is more yes. Want is like need... what is "need"?
Need is like want. Need is a big want that is now. Breath is a need. See is a need. Feel and hear is both needs.
I use both arms and legs to move more near the bird on the branch. The bird moves off the branch and does flying. The bird stays near the small branches-on-the-branch. The bird moves back on the branch and makes more big sounds.
The bird that is flying is very near. If I move, I can feel it.
I move my arm to feel the flying bird. It moves less near. I can not move to feel it now. The flying bird makes many big sounds. The flying bird moves very near me and makes a very big sound. The flying bird moves to the bird on the branch and moves near it and the small branches-on-the-branch. Both birds move more near me and make big sounds. The birds move different than I. The birds move QUICK.
Quick... yes. I know quick. Quick is to make move FAST. Fast is to move more far in less now. The birds are both quick and fast.
I move arm much not quick to feel the bird on the branch. The bird on the branch moves less near and the flying bird moves near my arm and makes many big sounds. I move arm not quick back near me. The bird on the branch and the flying bird both move near the small branches on the branch.
Why? Why do the birds move away from me? Do they see danger in me? I know that danger is not for being near, but I am not danger. I am safe.
I move more away from the birds. I will let them feel more safe. The birds will know I am safe.
I am now on the earth-that-is-dirt. The birds are not making the big sounds now. I feel much more inside me to see. It makes a feel inside me.
The feel is a want.
I want...
What do I want?
I want to know more.
Author's Note
Well, this is chapter one of my "main" project.
I/me is a very difficult character to write, but is very fun despite that.
