The DESTINY Exploration

Chapter 18: Supernova

5 days ago…

Daybreak was well underway in Ponyville, but most of today was relaxation in the Golden Oaks Library. The strain from that star yesterday put my body under gradual pain; I felt muscles that had muscles that had muscles I never knew I had! It was very strange to feel this way, but even more strange was yesterday at Show and Tell.

Twilight’s initial excuse was to test how far my magic had really advanced since her previous evaluation. I called her out on it, but she continually dodged the issue; for her to summon a main sequence star that small is an impossible feat. Convincing her of that reality wouldn’t help, especially since ‘magic’ was involved. The record needed to be set straight for my own sake.

“Twilight, I have a question.”

“What is it, Starsword?”

“How were you able to create something as complex as a star, without even trying?”

Because magic, as defined by Twilight Sparkle, operates within the scope of natural events, this shouldn’t happen. In reality, it takes billions of years to accomplish what Twilight had done in a matter of seconds. But something else bothered me as well; the star didn’t have an intense gravitational pull, either. Its influence over the other ponies was gradual rather than immediate.

“Princess Luna presented me with a book written by Starswirl the Bearded entitled ‘The Processes of Nature Volume XX: Stellar Growth and Decay’. It appears that his theories are in severe need of reworking; this was one of his more vague publications. Regardless, the Princess had provided me with a set of basic instructions to follow for this experiment.”

“…excuse me?”

Twilight adjusted her position on the floor of the library. She lifted a scroll off her desk and sat it in front of me, rolled out for me to read.

Twilight Sparkle,

As you have requested of us, here are the molecules necessary for the formation of one ‘miniature protostar’. We know your meanderings into strange areas of research, so we’ll pretend we know nothing about it. Remember to condense the molecules if the hydrogen burn becomes too radical to control, and to allow the star time to contract from its initial state after colliding the hydrogen particles together.

We trust that you can handle these materials properly, but if anything goes wrong, hyper condense the star and place it into this tube. We will take care of it our way.

Princess Luna

This letter…

“Twilight, so Luna allowed this? Did she have any idea you were going to throw a gigantic death sphere at me?”

Twilight blushed and turned away. “No, she did not. I didn’t inform her of my scheme.”

“I could have DIED, Twilight. Do you understand the concept of a stellar core collapse?”

Twilight scratched her noggin with her hoof, frantically considering the question. After a while, she resigned her posture and shook her head.

“Twilight, when a star reaches the point where its core burns into an iron nucleus, the core is rendered unable to produce energy to heat its mass. The resulting collapse of the star can take a couple paths. Both involve a massive explosion that could have wiped this entire planet out!” I paced back and forth in the library, trying to maintain my composure. “Luckily for you, that miniature star was only large enough to wipe out half of the continent rather than the whole planet.”

Twilight stood there motionless, unable to process what I had said, and soon after I stopped, there was a knock on the door. Standing outside of the library was the entire class from yesterday. Miss Cheerilee had her left hoof held against her shoulder, appearing nervous.

“Hello, Starsword. Is Twilight here? I’d like to speak to her…if you don’t mind.”

Twilight walked past me. “Miss Cheerilee! I’m really, really sorry for yesterday, I wasn’t-“

Cheerilee tittered at Twilight’s apology. “Oh, Twilight Sparkle, think nothing of it! I was reacting out of instinct the other day, but you had the situation under control, didn’t you? We came over to discuss a rumor that has been surfacing in our class today-“

“Is it true that Starsword is in a tournament this weekend?!” A small baby blue unicorn with a ginger mane leapt out of the crowd, quivering with excitement.

“Yeah, Applebloom said you were in a competition this weekend, huh.”  An orange unicorn with a blue-green mane slid next to the other colt.

The amateur competition! Why did Applebloom spread the news about that?!

Cheerilee glared at the two, and pointed them to the back of the crowd. “I apologize for Snips and Snails, Starsword, but Applebloom informed me that the Amateur Magician’s Competition in Canterlot was this weekend, and the class got all rowdy and excited.” Cheerilee turned to Twilight. “Is it possible for us to take a field trip to see it this weekend?”

“Well, Miss Cheerilee…one second.” Twilight turned towards the library and shouted for Spike.

Spike came tumbling outside with a quill and paper in hand. “I’m here Twilight, what’s wrong? Do you need another tub of frozen yogu-“

Twilight became really flustered. “No, Spike, not now! I need you to request VIP passes for the competition this weekend. Tell the Princess that Miss Cheerilee has requested them for her entire class.”

Spike wrote Twilight’s words on the letter, and blew into it, dissolving the paper with a green flame.

“There you go, Twilight. Now if you’ll excuse me…” Spike slapped a hardhat onto his head. “…Rarity needs some maintenance done on her air conditioning. I’m the only one in Ponyville with claws small enough to fit inside the air ducts.”

“Oh, Spike…” Twilight trailed off into a rant as Spike ran off towards the boutique.

Suddenly, Spike tripped and fell, burping up a scroll that Twilight quickly levitated towards us. She unraveled it, and out fell about 32 VIP passes for the competition, each of them saying “VIP Section 102: EAMC”.

The class scrambled to pick up their passes as Miss Cheerilee stood there with hers, amazed.

“Wow, I had no idea Her Highness would respond so quickly to this. Thank you, Twilight!”

“Oh, no need to thank me; you can thank Princess Celestia herself at the event this Saturday.” The class waved goodbye, and Twilight returned the gesture.

After shutting the door, Twilight breathed a heavy sigh and turned to speak to me.

“Starsword, there is a short letter from the Princess for you. Very short, in fact, only a couple sentences!”

“What? Let me see…”

Starsword,

Never forget who you are fighting for, my faithful defender. In times where you are in great distress or pressure to perform, let your dear ones strengthen you to heights you can’t imagine. Soon, you’ll need them to continue this journey. Very soon.

Princess Celestia

I placed the letter on the desk next to the bookshelf, reading it again and again in my mind.

She declared that very soon, I would have to rely on the strength of those who are dear to me in order to continue forward. But what would I need them for, exactly? How did she know all of this, anyways? She’s not omniscient, after all!

If I dwell on this, I’ll just get a headache. Maybe I’ll take up Twilight’s offer today!

“Twilight.”

She perked up and looked right at me. “Yes, Starsword?”

I gave her the widest grin I could muster. “Spa time. Grab your things!”

The one thing I was most excited for today was the opportunity to visit a day spa, and one that has the recommendation of Rarity herself. (She is one to know about these types of things after all…) Twilight had reserved a 1:00 pm appointment to receive the basic treatment; hot spring, back massage, and for the girls, a hooficure. It was just funny hearing that instead of pedicure or manicure, but Twilight never understood why I laughed at the last thing.

We arrived in the lobby area, being greeted by the two sisters than ran the spa.

“Hello, guests, I am Aloe, and this is Lotus Blossom-“

“Twilight Sparkle!” Lotus Blossom ran up to her, and both gave each other a hug.

“Hello, Lotus, how is everything?”

Lotus was too focused on Twilight being here to answer. “Twilight, the last time you were here was during that whole Cutie Pox fiasco. You never come here, ever!”

“Well…” Twilight motioned towards me. “I’m really here for his sake. He’s been through intense training this past month.”

Aloe jumped into the conversation. “Training for what, Twilight?”

“Starsword here is going to be in the Amateur Magician’s Competition in Canterlot this weekend and-“

Lotus Blossom flipped through her clipboard and her mouth shot open. “Twilight, and you’re scheduling the ‘Basic’ treatment? FOR SHAME! He needs all the spa he can get! Come with me, sir!”

“Wait, I-“ The spa sisters grabbed my front legs and dragged me through a set of double doors.

As we passed into another area of the day spa, a fragrance smacked my nostrils and my body went limp. I had suddenly relaxed like I never have before as the sisters laid me and Twilight on a set of massage benches. In what felt like a few days, the spa day began with the most pleasurable massage one could desire. Aloe conceived every sore spot of my body with her hooves and exorcised the demons that stressed me out. Lotus Blossom took me to a sauna room filled with the aroma of cherry blossoms and white lotus. Both of them treated us to a sushi lunch aside the hot spring, and fanned us while we soaked in the spring.

It was then that I took advantage of the opportunity to discuss the upcoming Amateur Magician’s Competition this weekend.

“Twilight, you said that you were a former champion magician before you moved to Ponyville, right?”

“Three times, Starsword. I was a champion three times.” At her prideful correction, she took notice to her chest puffed out, and withdrew to her relaxed position in the spa.

I chuckled a bit and continued. “What should I expect at this competition, exactly?”

“Well, there are usually three segments to it: preliminaries, the Four Pillars, and the finals. Your main concern is with the first two portions of the competition. The preliminary round is designed to slice the pool of competitors down to a small selection, while the Four Pillars will test your proficiency in key areas of magic. For me, those areas were Levitation, Endurance, Transfiguration, and Focus; for you, I would expect Levitation to be a shoe-in Pillar, but they change it up slightly every year.”

“I hope you adequately trained me enough, Twilight. I’m actually really nervous about this weekend. Princess Celestia said that winning this competition would be necessary to prove I am ready for Gilgar.”

Twilight matted her mane a bit and drew her gaze to me. “Listen, Tom…you just stay loose in this competition. If you get stressed about how well you do, you’ll only be doing harm to yourself.” She turned away from my eyes. “It is advice that I didn’t follow, and that’s how I became a three-time champion.”

“But Twilight, wouldn’t that mean I should focus on winning?”

“Tom, you have a different mindset than I do. You have something…someone you are seeking to rescue, someone who is depending on you to succeed. At the time I won those competitions, I had only myself and Spike to compete for; my goal was purely to test my limits. This competition will do that for you, but you have to discover on your own what helps you succeed. Mine was analysis, but your mind works differently.”

“I’ll try, Twilight. I know how heavy the burdens laid on me by Jonah and Starswirl are, but if I don’t remain in the now, I’ll lose track of myself.”

Twilight perked up and smiled at me. “Great! Now let’s just take this all in! This hot spring is simply…aaah…”

A simple spa visit turned into wanting more. I didn’t want to leave, but time had expired as three hours later, we left the spa area in utter disbelief and peace. Twilight and I just softly panned around the lobby wondering what the heck had just happened to us. But then we just simply smiled and each other and waved the sisters goodbye. It turned out the spa day had been complementary; just what Twilight needed to return to her senses.

“Well, that was incredible, Starsword! I can’t believe that just happened.”

I chuckled a bit. “Yeah, imagine if we had just done the simple one. Woo hoo.”

“Stop with the sarcasm!” Twilight jabbed me in the shoulder as we sat down on a park bench together.

“Twilight, remember when you sent that condensed star to Princess Luna yesterday? Something concerns me about that star; although it appears nothing happened, thankfully.”

“What concerns you about it?”

I cleared my throat and broke the news to her. “When a star collapses like that, much of the time, that event will trigger what’s called a ‘supernova’. The problem with what you did was the amount of time it took to develop its core. The core collapse happened too soon in its development, so the star should have simply exploded after you condensed it. My worry was that Luna would have become the victim of a supernova. I suppose she found a way to deal with it.”

“I suppose that would be the case, Star.” Twilight shuffled in her seat.

I laughed at her remark. “Is that a nickname for me, Twilight? That’s pretty legit!”

“Just thought it up now, do you like it?”

“It’s awesome! It’s short, simple, and easily recognized; but don’t use it too often in public, okay? I don’t want to give other ponies the wrong idea.”

Twilight blushed a bit and jabbed me in the shoulder again.

“Miss Sparkle…that’s hurtful, you know! Ha ha!”

Just then, a zap in the air crackled, leaving behind a black scroll with a purple ribbon seal. The shock startled Twilight and I; she reached for the scroll, but the parcel had levitated on its own and began to unravel. It revealed a letter from Princess Luna herself:

Starsword and Twilight Sparkle,

Your presence is requested at the Everfree Star Watch near Everfree Forest’s Black Rose Garden. We wish to discuss the outcome of Twilight’s experiment in a more conspicuous location. Please be there an hour before sunset.

Princess Luna

“Holy cow, Twilight, three letters in one day! That’s a bit excessive, don’t you think?”

I stood back for a moment and thought about the contents of the note.

Did she really say ‘outcome’? So something did happen to that star! But what?

Twilight and I made our way to the Black Rose Garden, an area with a stargazing outlook south of the Carousel Boutique. Twilight informed me that the garden is famous in Ponyville and throughout rural Equestria for its fireflies. This time of year, during the twilight hours of the day, the fireflies are rumored to draw magical energy from the black roses to light their bulbs.

When we arrived, the famed bugs were in full luminescence, with the entire garden aglow and full of life. Our walk towards the outlook brought us to a hill that gave us a view of the entire town of Ponyville and Everfree Forest. In the distance was a set of ancient ruins in the shape of a castle; Twilight pointed to it and said it once was the home of the Princesses, Celestia and Luna, before Nightmare Moon surfaced.

Our ascent to the top of the hill was met with the appearance of a figure gliding towards us from the sky. The figure became clearer as we made the climb: Princess Luna touched down in front of us, standing with authority and confidence. Twilight and I knelt and bowed to her, but Luna placed her hoof on my chin, raising me up. She did the same to Twilight next to me.

“Forgive us for our lack of foresight, Starsword, Twilight. We did not know that the star would react in such a way. We apologize for the trouble we allowed to befall Ponyville’s young children.”

I was taken aback by her apology, so I immediately went to correct the dissonance.

“Princess Luna, please do understand that the lack of insight in astronomical phenomena is not your fault. I’m just happy the situation is-“

Princess Luna became defensive. “Are you saying we do not know enough about our night sky and the stars that define the heavens?! That we are not knowledgeable of such things? Let us correct this assumption at once! We know what happens when a star collapses, and that is why we took care of the issue with Twilight’s star!”

“I apologize, Princess. It was not considerate of me to berate your intelligence…”

Princess Luna returned my pleading stare with a smile. “We are most appreciative of your humility and quickness to reconcile. This is a quality we find pleasing about you, Starsword. We are glad that this is the first time we have met; your first impression is remarkable for a foreigner to this world.”

“A foreigner?” Oh! Maybe she can help me get some answers!

“Yes, nobody like you described by our sister has ever traveled here before.”

“Could I ask you what you did with the collapsed star that Twilight sent you?”

Luna raised her face to the sky. “We sent the collapsed star far away from this world, into the depths of space. It will not harm us out there.”

“I’m more concerned about what happens when it becomes a supernova. How far away exactly was it sent?”

“We have to guess about ten light years away, a safe measure from our world.”

She is very fortunate the star was a scaled down model: if that thing was even 20 times the size of their sun, it would destroy this corner of the galaxy!

Luna trotted up to the cliff side of the hill; it was time to raise the moon. Celestia’s sun dipped below the horizon as Luna activated her magic. The moon crept slowly above the tops of the trees and above the hill. The Princess flew up in front of the moon’s view, raising her front hooves vertically; the ceremony was complete, thus, she returned safely to the ground.

“Twilight Sparkle. Your experiment produced a curious result; in place of the star, darkness appeared and swallowed a star in our night sky.”

“Princess.” I walked up to her and explained the phenomena. “That’s called a black hole. Whenever a star of those proportions collapses, a singularity forms and produces an intense field of gravity. Anything caught within a certain range of the event horizon, or center, of the black hole will disintegrate.”

The Princess looked back at me with a piercing glare. “Thank you for explaining what we already know, Starsword.”

“Oh crud, sorry! That was more for me than for you.” I’m a bonehead, for sure.

Luna turned back to Twilight. “There is also something curious about this phenomenon, Twilight. We believe that this might be related to a brightness we observed a month ago; it was around the time we discovered a strange object by our moon. Our sister believes that Starsword has something to do with this.”

A brightness? Related to the black hole-OH! It could be a white hole that ejected my ship, that makes sense!

“Princess! A white hole. That’s what ejected me to your world from deep space.”

Then Luna gave me an inquisitive glance. “A white hole, Starsword? We have never seen such a thing before.”

“It would make sense that you have not seen one. White holes are extremely rare to observe, let alone witness its propagation. The brightness you observed a month ago has to have been where my ship originated. Luna…this is a great step forward for us, because this now means we have a method to get me home.”

Twilight stepped in finally. “So what you are saying is that we can generate our own black hole to send you into that can spit you out to your own star system? That’s brilliant!”

I halted her theory. “There is a problem, Twilight. Not all black holes are practically wormholes. Some simply cause the matter than disintegrate to vanish into the singularity, leading to nothing. I lucked out in stumbling into a wormhole; that may not be the case this time around.”

The Princess made a motion to leave. “Thank you both for your insights. I will ponder ways to create this wormhole as I observe the night sky. Please be careful, you two, and Starsword…good luck in the competition.”

She quickly trotted up the hill, lifting herself off the cliff, beating her wings mightily. Her magic drew the crescent moon even higher in the sky as she vanished into the night.