An Exchange of Suspicious Letters
A Correspondence
CG,
Call me X. You could say I’m a ‘fixer’. I settle matters, if you’ve got the bits. Some friends got in touch with me a while back, saying you’d pay good money for somepony who could ‘liberate’ certain articles from private collections. I’m your pony, if you’ll have me. Sure beats most of the jobs I go through.
– X
An Excerpt
“On the Great Work”
The “Great Work” is possibly the most crucial idea in the magical sciences; each of the greater disciplines of spell-casting sprung in some way from its pursuit. And yet, the Great Work was considered mere occult esoterica… until recently, when the meteoric rise of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and then Princess Twilight Sparkle, put the term and its implications firmly into the public consciousness.
The “Great Work” – also known as the “Royal Endeavor” – proposes that gaining a cutie mark is only one step in a far grander process of self-discovery. Cutie marks appear on a pony’s flank when they discover the nature of their inner magic; the Work is the process of kindling an adept’s inner magic, transforming it into an incandescent power. At the culmination of this process, the adept will be reborn as a being that surpasses the divisions between ponykind.
A “being that surpasses the divisions between ponykind”, of course, means an alicorn. Earth ponies can use life-magic, pegasi can use sky-magic, and unicorns can make active use of mind-magic, but as Princess Celestia has demonstrated over her reign, alicorns freely use all three (Houyhnhnm, p. 105).
In short: The “Great Work” is the process of strengthening one’s inner magic powers and of understanding ‘who I am’. As the adept grows, they will eventually realize their full potential by accomplishing some great deed. Once this happens, the Great Work is complete and the adept is transfigured into an alicorn.
Finding details on the Great Work is difficult; finding consistent details even more so. But here’s what my research has shown me.
The Great Work is different for every pony who undertakes it, as different as their cutie marks, and every alicorn’s great deed has been unique. Princess Cadence’s Endeavor was a story of love and loss; she came to understand the barriers ponies put up around their hearts, and she won her horn when she discovered a flawless method to penetrate them without harming the pony themselves. Princess Twilight’s Endeavor was the discovery of friendship, and how it intertwines with magic in surprising ways; she won wings when she created a new kind of magic built on a foundation of friendship (Sparkle et al., p. 346).
The Great Work does not have to be pursued alone; Princesses Celestia and Luna are said to have completed a single Endeavor together. In the process, a bond that can never be broken was forged between the two sisters – though it was once twisted monstrously.
Detailed knowledge of the Great Work is not required to complete it; in fact, the opposite may be true. Princess Cadence had no knowledge of the Great Work whatsoever when she completed it; Princesses Celestia and Luna undertook the Endeavor to restore hope to Equestria, not to transfigure themselves. Star Swirl, the legendary conjurer and occultist, researched the Great Work intensively and failed to ever complete it. Princess Twilight’s journal suggests that Princess Celestia guided her through the Great Work without ever speaking of it (Sparkle et al., p. 358); Celestia may have deliberately kept information about the Endeavor from Twilight, believing this would help her accomplish it.
Old Equestria saw the Great Work and the alicorns who completed it as having divine significance. When the sister Princesses discovered this long ago, they undertook the Great Work for the sake of giving Equestria ponies something to rally behind; they believed that by resurrecting what they saw as an old Equestrian tradition, they would restore the spirits of the ponies crushed under Discord’s rule and give them the strength to fight back. Even today, any pony who successfully completes the Great Work is offered a crown; this tradition likely gave the “Royal Endeavor” its second name…
A Correspondence
CG,
Here’s what you asked for; a copy of MD’s notes on the Endeavor. Frankly, MD’s security is a joke. I don’t think she’d even considered that somepony might steal her research. Guess TS rubbed off on her.
That bit about crowns is interesting. The idea’s that anypony can be a princess; you turn into an alicorn, you get a piece of the pie. Funny how both the new princesses just happened to come from C’s personal retinue, isn’t it? Nopony can really compete with C – magic itself is on her side. I don’t know why she bothers making ponies think they can.
Just let me know what you need next, and I’ll be in touch.
– X
An Excerpt
“The History of the Sisters”
...They came from lands unknown, the bright pony and her shadow, sisters, adventurers. In this land of chaos, they witnessed suffering. Friends, family and lovers torn asunder, bodies and minds warped for cruel amusement, an anarchy ruled by a tyrant with an iron hoof. Their hearts broke, but their will was steel.
One sister had a mind light as glass and bright as a lantern. By day, she perused crumbling tomes, raiding ancient libraries and repelling the fell things that took root there. Book by book, she looked for an answer. Page by page, she searched for a way to save us from the discord that ruled us all.
One sister knew well the paths we travel in sleep. By night, she moved, evading the tyrant’s eye under the cover of darkness; chaos could not find her, chaos could not grip her. She entered her sister’s dreams to stand guard; chaos could not reach them, chaos had no power over them.
When the two sisters discovered the Great Work, they realized what had to be done. The Great Work is holy, and like all holy things, it had been buried by our tyrant. We had been crushed, broken, made slaves. If the two sisters completed the Great Work, they could return it to us. To return the Great Work would be to return our culture. To return our culture would be to return our souls.
The sisters stood beneath a Pillar, learning all that they could. Soon, they began to strike out further and further, putting what they learned to the test. Ponies who had been hurt were mended. Things that had been lost were found again. The agents of discord fell. And the tyrant’s eye turned at last to the sisters, but his approach was not swift enough.
One sister lost herself. She who cherished life was forced to fight, again and again. Eventually every part of her became a weapon; she could not disarm herself, and fools that we were, we named her anathema as she passed. She took refuge in dreams, where she found her new skills could end nightmares. Each night, she guarded our sleep as she once had her sister’s. Slowly, but surely, we began to remember who we were.
A mind like lightning. A shape-shifter, a last dream, a resurrector, the moon.
One sister found herself. She who spoke strongly of hope was heard clearly, and we followed in her hoofsteps. Eventually her voice carried to our hearts; she offered of herself, and empty as we were, we let her fill us freely. She became a leader of ponies, strong, wise, caring. Each day, she repaired our souls and helped us rebuild our lives. Slowly, but surely, we found something to exist for.
A heart like an open flame. A hearth-stone, a firebrand, a molten spear, the sun.
At last, the tyrant reached the sisters, but he was too late. The two sisters took the Burden of the Sky onto themselves, and their Great Work was completed.
The tyrant charged, and the sisters fled. We followed; we would follow them anywhere, now. The tyrant thought them beaten, but as they ran, they prepared an ancient weapon. In the ruins of our old capital, the sisters fired, and consigned the tyrant to stone sleep.
We gave them every crown we had to give. For what else could we have done?
And so it was that the sun-sister and the moon-sister took their thrones. They ruled well, and fairly, and we flourished under their guidance. Equestria lived once more.
Oh, if the story had but ended there! But it was not to be. As the years passed, the moon-sister was overtaken by a disquiet; the title ‘anathema’ rode heavily on her. It consumed her, and when it finished, what remained was an unspeakable hunger.
The consumed moon-sister turned to dark magic. She had changed her body once before, and she did so again, without concern for form. Her eyes became slitted; not suited for the morning, any more, but perfect for an eternal night. When she thought nobody was looking, she vomited up her love. And in its place, power.
Power to blot out the sun. Blot out the sun, blot out the sun, blot out the sun, blot out the sun...
A Correspondence
CG,
Yeah, “blot out the sun” really does go on for five whole pages. Guess the poor foal who wrote this must’ve lost their marbles. Or maybe they just had writer’s block?
Figures that N would have something like this – the highbrow nationalist type goes crazy over this stuff. It’s just as well; I enjoyed this job. As far as I’m concerned, his ‘Equestrian Educational Association’ can rot in Tartarus.
To answer your question from earlier, high-profile thefts don’t bother me. Not if the money’s good, and so far you’ve delivered. It might take a while, mind you. But say the word and I’m yours.
– X
An Excerpt
“A Stigmatic Secret”
...is born with a ‘reason to be’, a deep-seated skill that defines our inner mind-magic. Our hearts drive us to discover its nature, and once we learn they sear it into our flanks so we won’t forget. The Mark is obscure, but we know what it means.
The Mark is a mirror that reflects the self. Changing a mirror won’t change you, but if you change then you can see it in the mirror. Sickness can change your reflection, and if you lose your soul you won’t have one.
Inner magic is the soul filtered through the self. It is the truest form of magic, and stronger in ponies than in any other being. But it is still magic, and the adept can manipulate it as they would any other magic.
The true self can be changed through the application of magical force; this is both the horrifying reality behind cutie-unmarking and the core principle of the Royal Endeavor. And, see! In this is the means to draw out a true strength and the darkness that took the Mare-in-the-Moon. In this are the many adepts whose magics become one, and six is their number, always six. In this is the secret that changes the nature of a pony.
The light of our souls is a one-way barrier that defends magic on the inside from what’s on the outside. Good if what you want’s inside you, but if it’s outside you, you have to breach the barrier first. To break barriers and defend your own, the ways are so:
Trust is the way of the six. We fear trespass and close our hearts, but we need others’ warmth, and to a select few our hearts can open. An open heart is a door and a path through the soul. Inner magic can be drawn from this path like a deep well.
Force is the way of the warlord. Enough magic power can punch through the light of our souls and tear out our selves. This force might be generated by deploying powerful occult magnets, or through the use of a certain foul evocation, known to the centaur-lord Tirek from a kingdom far away...
A Correspondence
CG,
You certainly have an eclectic reading list, don’t you? I can see why you’d have trouble gaining access to the Star Swirl the Bearded wing. Not that it matters; a pony with your resources can simply make the books come to them.
I don’t have the other part of your request yet, but considering what you asked for, that’s hardly a surprise. I expect the Royal Guard will reinforce the Canterlot library when they find this document missing; once they’re distracted, I’ll take the other one.
And by the way, I looked into RI for you. I’m pretty sure she has the information you’re looking for, but far as I can tell, it’s only written down in her head. I don’t think she’d give it up to an enforcer or con-artist, either; she must understand its value, and she’s too loyal to crack. I’d write her off as a dead end.
– X
An Excerpt
“Consultation Report, patient name: Flurry Heart”
...was able to exhibit their possession of all three pony-magics when tested. The patient seems to have been born in every way a true alicorn. Even the strength of their magic is an alicorn’s, if also an infant’s.
Our faculty have proposed three competing theories regarding Flurry Heart’s condition:
A – AN ALICORN’S CHILD CAN BE AN ALICORN: Among the three proposals, this was easily the most popular. An earth-pony and a unicorn’s child can be a unicorn; under the same logic, might a unicorn and an alicorn’s child not be an alicorn? This theory implies that alicorns are not fundamentally different from the other pony-kinds, only more powerful, which will likely rankle some ponies. But that makes it no less plausible. It would certainly explain why the patient was born an alicorn.
FLAW: The same factor that makes this theory so plausible – the minuscule sample size – makes it impossible to confirm. The patient’s mother is the only alicorn to have a child in all of recorded history. There have been as many new alicorns within the past ten years as within the two thousand before them, so if more ponies complete the Great Work then we may be able to enlarge the sample size; until then, this theory would be very difficult to confirm.
FLAW: It is commonly believed among occultists that gaining an incredible power is a part of completing the Great Work, not its result. Assuming this is true, proposal A cannot explain the patient’s extraordinary magic.
REBUTTAL: It may be the case that alicorns naturally have more magic than unicorns, but because every alicorn so far has possessed exceptional magic even before their transfiguration, the difference between a unicorn about to complete the Great Work and one finished with the Great Work was not so significant.
B – EXPOSURE TO MAGIC CONTAMINATION: Intense magic is a known factor in the transfiguration of ponies to alicorns. The patient’s mother is an alicorn princess herself, and the patient’s father is possibly Equestria’s greatest abjurer; given their circumstances, the patient would have been exposed to unprecedented amounts of ambient magic from the Crystal Heart during their incubation. It may be that magic exposure caused the patient to be born transfigured in much the same way inner magic transfigures a pony who completes the Great Work.
FLAW: Again, the patient’s parents are a love-alicorn and a master of abjuration. They if anybody could have detected such a threat to their child and devised a means to prevent it.
FLAW: It is commonly believed among occultists that the Great Work is a process of self-realization. Proposal B suggests differently; assuming B is true, it should be possible to become an ‘artificial alicorn’ through nothing but sheer magical power and force of will. If this were the case then surely Star-Swirl the Bearded, who pursued the Great Work, would have been able to achieve it?
REBUTTAL: The patient had not yet been born. The amount of raw power required to transfigure a pony that already lives might be beyond what even Star-Swirl commanded.
C – DESTINED FOR ROYALTY: Among the three proposals, this was easily the least popular. But the exploits of Princess Twilight and her friends have shown us that magic often works in these strange ways, so we can’t confidently reject it. The patient may have been born an alicorn because “the Crystal Empire needed a Princess”; in other words, the great need of the Crystal Empire and its people were enough to transfigure the patient without the patient themselves doing anything.
FLAW: If not for the intervention of Princess Twilight and company, the patient’s alicorn-birth would have doomed the Crystal Empire to eternal winter. Why would a ‘destined’ alicorn do such a thing?
FLAW: It could certainly be said that we needed Princesses Celestia and Luna during the reign of Discord, but according to Princess Celestia, she and Princess Luna had to complete the Great Work like any other alicorn.
Without knowing the cause for certain, and with it being so early in the patient’s life, it is difficult to make any recommendations. For the time being, the patient should be brought in at least bi-monthly for additional examination. Should the patient fail to gain control of their magic as they age, great harm could…
A Correspondence
CG,
I made the arrangements you requested, but frankly? I don’t think you have the slightest idea what you’re asking for.
Extraction was lucrative business, sure. Once. It’s always been dangerous business – you’re going into another pony’s mind, and if you climb too deep into that well, you might not make it back out in one piece. But you can draw things out of dreams that you can’t get anywhere else, and powerful ponies would pay a pretty penny for them. Used to be, there were a bunch of old pros who specialized in that kind of work.
Thing is, a couple years ago they all vanished.
You seem like a clever enough pony. I doubt I need to tell you what happened to put a pack of hardened criminals off going through other ponies’ dreams. If L gets her hooves on you… you ask me, anypony who can try and off her own sister’s capable of anything. As it stands, you’d need either somepony truly desperate, or somepony truly stupid.
I’ve enclosed the contact information of the most desperate pony I could find, one MS. If you get in touch with them, they’ll do what you want. Or you could burn this letter and accept that the whole idea’s deranged. I know what I’d do.
– X
An Excerpt
“The Canterlot Tribune”
STUDENT OF CELESTIA’S SCHOOL FALLS VICTIM TO OWN FORBIDDEN DREAM-MAGIC!
- by Press Release
A student of the prestigious Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns was found near-comatose in an empty apartment earlier today, surrounded by the instruments of an illegal magic spell.
Mist Singer, 21, was taken in by the Royal Guard on suspicion of attempting ‘extraction’ – a criminal branch of oneiromancy whose practitioners enter the dreams of unwilling ponies to steal from their minds.
In addition to the usual tools of dream-magic, Singer possessed a personal article and a lock of hair confirmed to belong to her presumed target – Celestia’s personal aide, Raven Inkwell. Despite the clear evidence, our contact in the Royal Guard isn’t optimistic that Mist Singer will ever stand trial; “she’s lost her mind. She just keeps babbling nonsense about a ‘dark horse’. We have to give her Dreamless Draught every night; if we didn’t have it, she’d keep herself awake until her body shuts down.”
We contacted an expert on oneiromancy, who prefers to remain anonymous, for their opinion on the case. “It’s tragic, but hardly a surprise. Oneiromancy is one of the most difficult kinds of magic, and it’s deeply occult; Princess Luna is the only pony in modern memory who’s truly mastered it. Trying an extraction before you’ve even earned your degree would be a recipe for disaster.” They had this to say on Mist Singer’s condition: “I suppose it’s certainly possible that Mist Singer was attacked by something inside a dream, but it’s much more likely that she simply bungled the spell. There are certain consequences for tampering with ponies' minds.”
Raven Inkwell has refused to comment on the case.
A Correspondence
CG,
This is the last message you’ll be receiving from me. I don’t think I need to explain why. I’m going underground for a while; I’d suggest you do the same, assuming you aren’t keen on the idea of waking up one night with L standing over your bed.
For what it’s worth, I really do hope you learn from this whole fiasco and stick to normal academic espionage from now on. As far as employers go, you were one of the more agreeable ones.
– X
