And if you use that to decrypt the original letter string you get
2--d
11--Q
3--w
5--4w
4--9
6--9W (conf/casing)
1--g
1--gX (casing)
4--Xc (conf)
2--Q
1--organizing number
3--number sets per group
1--radius of the mathews spiral
dQw4w9WgXcQ
And i dont know about you but this looks like a YouTube video!
Sunset Shimmer can be a fun character to read, she's so aggressive in everything to compensate for her internal inferiority complex. With no real peers and only the god-empress of the realm to be close with for most of her life, it's not hard to see how she got that way. Then some rando pegasus manages to ascend by accident and she just goes off the rails mentally when she, the most powerful unicorn of the generation can't.
Also Celestia's apparently really bad at the whole "work/life balance" thing both for herself and her students, considering how Twilight turned out before her move to Ponyville. Though at least Twilight had both a family and some sorta-friends at school.
Anyway, glad to see something not QA from you! As much as I do love those fics, it's good to have some variety.
IMO the "hidden message" interpretation could be best prevented by either having the bolded letters be very frequent (like you did in part 2), by bolding blocks of letters at a time, or by just choosing a set of letters and always bolding them (which you also partially did in part 2). Having one letter at a time every few words like that is what really made it seem like there was a hidden message.
Awareness arrived in fits and starts. It probably didn't help that my everything hurt, and every time I started to wake up just a little, the pain convinced me to try to go back to sleep. Magical exhaustion sucked.
Unfortunately for me, I could only sleep for so long before consciousness started pounding on my head and demanding rent. I wordlessly grumbled and tried to burrow deeper into the unusually warm blankets around me. Reality could wait until after I had recovered some more.
Or maybe not. Now that I could string more than a few thoughts together, it quickly became clear that I was far too warm, both inside and out, for me to truly be magically exhausted. If anything, I had more magic than was normal for me. If my symptoms didn't match the reality, then why...
The ritual!
If my eyes weren't currently heavier than the mountain Canterlot was built upon, they might have shot open. As it stood, I could only glimpse the briefest flickers of light before my fluttering eyes firmly pressed themselves shut again. The rest of my body was no easier to move.
Dismay struck moments later. If nothing else, I could confirm that there was too much warmth and pressure against one side for me to actually have wings now. Despite managing to call upon a surprisingly friendly Trespasser and possibly even getting Princess Celestia hurt, I still wasn't an alicorn, just a stronger unicorn. What was the point of having more unicorn magic? I had already been the most powerful unicorn alive, and that much wasn't enough for Celestia.
Except — winged or not, parts of my magical reservoir did feel rather strange. I warily stirred my own mana and flinched as even that much was enough to irritate practically the entirety of my thaumic nervous system.
Definitely no practicing magic for a while. Ugh. No-magic recovery periods are the worst.
Still, it did confirm that some of my magic was behaving differently from the rest. Some of it floated and skipped around, and some stubbornly stood its ground. I didn't have nearly as much of either as I did normal unicorn magic, but having any magic that I couldn't recognize was still a step up.
I wasn't an alicorn yet, I knew that much. But being able to practice with both pegasus and earth pony magic, if indeed that was what I felt, would still place me head and shoulders above any court mage Celestia had harbored in the past. That finally had to be good enough to fulfill Celestia's expectations, didn't it? It might have brought me closer to a real ascension, too.
"Please stop. We can still talk about this," came my memories of Celestia's voice, and I shuddered.
Or maybe I failed again, chasing an idea that wasn't what she wanted at all, and risked my life for no good reason.
I had been so sure, too! Was still more than half sure! Maybe Celestia's first Outsider exposure had scoured the knowledge of her ritual from her brain, and my own take on it was too different for her to recognize it offhoof. All the cryptic hints matched up, even the weakest Trespassers were more than powerful enough to ascend somepony, Celestia's shifting behavior was the perfect reinforcement to keep me going, and–
My speculation was interrupted by pressure and motion, and I suddenly had much more urgent things to think about. My warm blanket was not, in fact, imbued with a self-heating enchantment like I had expected. Feeling giant wings drag me closer to their owner wasn't exactly a sensation I could mistake for anything else.
The last time Celestia had let me use her wings as blankets was when I was still a preteen. First I'd had a ridiculous phase where I decided that I was too old for cuddling even after nightmares, not realizing that out of sight was the same thing as being forgotten. Less non-lesson time spent together meant less of an inclination to provide new lessons at all. By the time I'd made the association and realized what I'd passed up, Cadence had come along and rendered the point moot. After all, Celestia had somepony allegedly better than me to dote on by then.
…Please don't tell me the Trespasser de-aged me.
No, no, I was being ridiculous. I felt confident that I remained the same size as I had always been — which was, in fact, part of the problem. Celestia had simply — I didn't know. Finally decided I was worth acknowledging again? I had assumed that alicornhood would be necessary for that, but ripping aside the fabric of reality to call a Trespasser had to be plenty impressive all on its own, right?
Or maybe I was an alicorn now, just one in the early stages. It wasn't as though the physiology of alicorns was well-studied or understood; for all I knew, I might be in some sort of fledgling state where all I had to do was sufficiently exercise my new magic to complete the process. Only Celestia knew, and she wasn't likely to tell me even if I asked directly.
"Should she not have awakened by now?" came my own bucking voice, and I stiffened.
Celestia's wing once again pressed me further into her bulk, but given her following words, I suspected it was more of a reflex than anything conscious.
"Perhaps she would have," Celestia said with false sweetness, "if she was not anesthetized. Or recovering from both magical overload and blood loss."
"Hey. She was missing parts when I got here, okay? And I wasn't wrong, she didn't really need medical attention."
"Voice."
"…I will acknowledge you are being fair," the Trespasser grudgingly admitted. "I did make a mistake by assuming her state upon my arrival was how she was supposed to be."
"Thank you. Now, is there something wrong with the books I offered you? I would have expected you to grow bored of watching Sunset by now."
Well, that took a sudden swerve for the creepy. No wonder Celestia was finally willing to cuddle again; if there was one thing that got Celestia's hackles up, it was possible threats to her ponies. Sheltering me under her wing was a rather blunt statement, but if the Trespasser was truly watching me sleep, it might be necessary.
I couldn't help but feel disappointed that issuing that statement might be the only reason she was bothering to acknowledge me again. The Trespasser wouldn't be here forever, and I did not want all my efforts to be for nothing. I still had so much left to learn when Celestia bothered to let me.
"You're expecting me to look at dead matter when I have perfectly good living corporeals to keep me occupied? I'm actually quite enjoying myself. Sleeping or not, she isn't exactly static. Neither are you! There are all these little muscles you ponies use all the time just to keep yourselves alive, and those muscles are comprised of smaller parts, and there are even smaller components of them. Really, it's fascinating to watch corporeal components all work in concert. Doesn't it bother you that you're filled with smaller organisms and so many semi-independent systems that you don't consciously control?"
I couldn't decide if that was less creepy than simply waiting for me to do something interesting. At least I seemed to have attracted one of the more easily entertained Trespassers out there, if something as simple as breathing could keep her — keep Them happy.
Strangely enough, the realization that the Trespasser was present and safely entertained was enough to make it hard to think all over again. I barely even caught Celestia's next words rather than lapsing into sleep.
"I—no, I cannot say that is something I ever dedicated much thought to," Celestia said slowly, possibly echoing my own thoughts. "I will keep your interests in mind. In the long term, should I assume that pets would be more entertaining to you than books?"
"Oh, good thought! Novel creatures would keep me entertained for at least a little while, it's true — except maybe worms. There's only so many ways to arrange organisms made mostly from simple axons before they get boring, and I doubt your world's take on them is going to be much different."
"Removing worms from the list would not be a hardship."
My grip on consciousness slipped, sabotaged by an increasingly inane topic, and I slowly sank back into the oblivion of sedative-assisted slumber.
By the time I next awoke, my alicorn-sized pillow had vanished and left me to the tender mercy of ordinary hospital blankets. As I'd thought, it was more important for Celestia to deliver a warning to the Trespasser than to actually be present when I awoke. I supposed it was nice while it lasted, but I couldn't help but feel bitter about the departure. Celestia's reign had lasted for over a thousand years at this point, and she was still this busy? Somepony really needed to step back and force her subjects to learn how to clean up their own messes.
Every part of my body still ached, but it at least it was much reduced compared to last time. My new earth pony magic might be responsible for some of that; I could vaguely remember it originally being in a clump rather than distributed throughout my body. Still, if I had to guess based on similar experience with magical exhaustion, it might be a whole week before I was able to safely use magic again. Probably far longer until I'd regained my previous level of control, too. Months? Most of a year?
My eyes slowly inched open and left me inside the familiar, warded royal room at the Royal Canterlot Hospital of the Two Sisters. Light and birdsong streamed in from the outside, but no intrusive pegasus reporters lurked in wait; I'd long since put up privacy wards to obfuscate the interior of what was, by virtue of Celestia never getting sick or injured, effectively my room. Reporters had still tried to poke their muzzles in, because some ponies really couldn't take a hint, so I'd warded the rest of the floor for good measure. They'd stopped trying after that.
Seeing my own smiling, albeit winged, form observe my sleeping self from a nearby cushion was a bit of a shock, and I might have jumped out of bed if I could move anything beyond my neck. I would have expected the Trespasser to assume a different shape by now. I certainly hoped They hadn't trotted over like that; Canterlot's rumor mill would have burst into flames the moment they saw an apparent alicorn-me. I'd rather they refrain until rumors of my ascension were actually right.
Still, I couldn't say the Outsider was unwelcome. I had, after all, been the one to invite Them, and They had yet to deliver what I'd asked for. Maybe They were waiting for me to wake so we could complete a proper bargain. The concept of 'half on order, half on completion' was not one that I expected Outsiders to be aware of, but They might have learned an eccentric patchwork of mostly-dated knowledge from prior summonings.
No, the unwelcome pony sat at the foot of my hospital bed. Cadence had her muzzle buried in what, going by the cover, I had to guess was some form of third-rate romance book. Focused on worthless, fleeting entertainment instead of self-improvement, as usual.
Unfortunately for the both of us, Cadence seemed to realize that I was awake at almost the same time as I realized she was present. Her reaction was baffling, though. For a moment, she almost looked happy I was awake? That had to be a mask. Celestia should have begun teaching Cadence about those by now.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded.
I glanced at the Trespasser the instant I finished asking the question. I thought I was starting to get Their measure, but the Grimoire always cautioned that to believe in understanding was to invite disaster. Still, Their smile seemed to widen as I asked the question, which was a good sign. Not one of the Outsiders who needed to be the center of attention at all times, then.
Cadence flinched, fake smile dropping, and almost looked away. At the last minute, she managed to grow a spine and glared right back at me. The Trespasser seemed, if anything, even happier about this.
Probably safe to ignore Them for now, then.
I would still need to glance at Them now and again to make sure that They weren't getting bored, but for the time being, our troubles seemed to be entertainment enough.
"Did you really think we would leave you alone with a shape-stealing stranger?" Cadence snapped. "You should be happy. Aunt Celestia cancelled Day Court for two whole days just to stay with you."
I snorted derisively. To make a point to the Trespasser, you mean. I shouldn't be surprised that even such a blunt message as sheltering me under Celestia's wing went over Cadence's head. Still, the signs of her ineptitude never ceased to be infuriating. This was the mare whom I'd been ignored in favor of? Elevated to the highest level of government just because she was given a horn that she barely even used, while I'd been trained for years and was never assigned to arrange even a garden party?
"No," Cadence said with uncharacteristic venom. "I'm not letting you brush that off. Do you have even the slightest idea of what's happening out there? You interrupted the Summer Sun Celebration, Sunset! There was nearly a riot when Aunt Celestia vanished to go after you! To then give evasive answers in order to protect you from the consequences of your own actions, and clear her schedule for two whole days? Nopony outside the castle knows what's going on, and they're panicking!"
Ponies will panic when the market runs out of apples, I was tempted to tell her. If she hadn't noticed that for herself by now, though, then she would probably get indignant on their behalf even though I was right.
"Well, excuse me for being smart enough to minimize my chances of getting eaten," I snapped back. "Ponies worrying about matters they can neither understand nor change are neither my problem nor my responsibility. You and Celestia have been more than happy to rub that in."
Cadence raised one hoof as though to object. A moment later, her eyes narrowed.
"Go back. What was that part about getting eaten?"
I snorted and deliberately turned away from her. She'd distracted me from the Trespasser for long enough. Anger and hatred were deliberately shoved aside for the moment in favor of respect. I didn't know what capabilities were still possessed by the smiling Trespasser, but it was best not to show even the slightest hints of possible hostility toward Their person. Given its choice in form, a properly trained alicorn's full capabilities were the absolute minimum boundary of what They could accomplish.
"Sunset Shimmer, unicorn archwizard and personal student of Princess Celestia, greets the visitor from Outside," I said formally, paraphrasing a standard greeting from the Grimoire. "I thank the Visitor for answering my call, and hope They will forgive my inability to bow."
I did still incline my head. No reason not to show what respect I could even if a full bow was currently beyond me.
I expected Cadence to quietly seethe at being ignored. Having her instead stare at me like I'd grown a second head didn't quite match that prediction, but the underlying reason was still obvious enough.
Surprised I can actually be polite when a pony deserves it, huh? I went through years of etiquette lessons before Celestia knew you existed.
"As you would be willing to show every respect were you not injured, no insult has been issued," the Trespasser said with my form and voice. A moment later, Their smile widened. "Good afternoon, Sunset! You can call me 'Voice,' a shorter form of 'Voice of Imperceptible Dreams.' I thought Void would work as a suitable shorter version, but your Princess Celestia convinced me to accept Voice instead. You are welcome to apply to me any pronouns and terms that would be appropriate for a familiar mare of your own species."
I did not at all care for the revelation that Celestia had been speaking with my Trespasser long enough to convince Them Her of anything. Hopefully, the princess hadn't outright convinced Her to deny me an ascension. Interference from Celestia would explain why She had seemed to want to turn me into an Alicorn before I fell unconscious, only for me to wake up as a unicorn. However, I liked to think that even Celestia wasn't that petty, and most Trespassers seemed to prefer to give their summoners the right of first refusal. Part of that was from self-interest, I was sure; if they let peripheral ponies benefit from summonings, no sensible wizard would perform such a ritual themselves rather than making an underling do it.
"A moment," Voice instructed me, and turned Her attention to Cadence. "Suffice to say that Sunset took a very big risk in issuing her summons, and as she suspects, I likely would not have been the one to answer had happy festivities not drawn my attention. In most realms, she would have had something like a eight in nine chance of being eaten, casually slaughtered, or otherwise tormented by the first Trespasser that decided to respond to her beacon."
Cadence jerked her head to stare at me with eyes the sizes of plates and an open mouth. I glowered back at her. So some of us had to actually take a risk on our Ascension rather than having it given to us. So what? It had worked, hadn't it?
"This portion of your particular world, being absolutely dripping in Harmony, is a fair bit safer. Still, on most days, those environmental factors would only have improved her odds to around a two in six chance of immediate death, two in six of being assigned incredible labors for the boon, one in six of labors followed by ironic fulfillment that wouldn't actually grant what she wanted, and the last sixth of attracting something properly friendly."
'Two in six' translates to a third, in case your math tutoring is failing you again, I refrained from saying to Cadence. Not just because interrupting a Trespasser would be a bad idea, but also because Cadence looked horrified enough as it stood. Distracting her would be a kindness she hadn't earned.
Admittedly, I was finding myself somewhat uncomfortable as well. I hadn't realized the odds were quite that bad, even with all my preparations.
"I'm including sufficient damage to the mind under 'instant death,'" the Trespasser added, "but I believe you get the idea. To summarize, Sunset was right to take advantage of the 'Summer Sun Celebration' to obtain the results she wanted. The odds still weren't particularly favorable to her, but they were at least improved."
Cadence closed her eyes, raised one hoof to her chest, and took a deep breath. I recognized one of Celestia's favored relaxation exercises — and one of the more useless ones, at that. Lifting a hoof just made it obvious when our circumstances were stressing us. It wouldn't even surprise me if that was why Celestia taught it: she just had to know every time there was something wrong with her little ponies. Easier to pull our strings that way.
When Cadence opened her eyes a few seconds later, she didn't look much improved. She still looked horrified, and even rather upset.
"Voice, could we have a couple minutes?" Cadence asked, somehow not grasping what an incredibly bad idea it was to leave a Trespasser unsupervised without an agreement restricting its behavior.
"If you are intending to lecture her about recklessness," Voice said mildly, "then I'm afraid I must refuse. That is neither what she wants nor needs right now."
The Trespasser turned Her attention back to me, and I was gratified to see her mentally dismiss Cadence out of hoof. The snub seemed to make Cadence even more upset. Perfect.
"Sunset Shimmer, be warned that agreements I make are not properly binding, and are instead intended to outline acceptable standards of behavior. I generally adhere to them to the best of my ability, but if you try to hide extra-constrictive 'loopholes' in the agreement, be aware that they will not accomplish what you'd hoped. My adherence is, after all, based on my own understanding."
"Um," Cadence balked. "Aunt Celestia wanted to be here to mediate when you started negotiating, remember? If that's an issue, I'm supposed to remind you that she does still rule Equestria."
A surge of resentment shot through me at her words. Celestia didn't even trust me to negotiate my own ascension, was that it? How long had it been since she had looked at the Grimoire? I was willing to bet she'd forgotten all of it by now, if she couldn't even recognize a modified variant of the Dirge of Dreams.
"Celestia," said Voice, waving one hoof at Cadence in either acknowledgement or dismissal, "requested that I not harm anypony during my stay. Sunset, I assume you can already see the problems with this request?"
Be wary of figures of speech and inexact language when bargaining with Trespassers, I remembered from the Grimoire. What you assume is common knowledge is not common for them, even should they be the sort to adhere to the spirit of an agreement rather than the letter.
"It would not include minotaurs, dragons, yaks, deer, griffons, or any other being that did not qualify as a 'pony," I promptly replied. "There would also be no clauses for self-defense or defense of another, which may lead to injustices that are antithetical to your nature. One part of an agreement is not inherently prioritized over another, and if forced to break an agreement, you might prioritize violating as few clauses as possible. This can easily mean violating one vital clause, such as against murder, in order to preserve two clauses that simply don't matter as much to us."
Voice nodded approvingly, and I basked in having a teacher who actually noticed when I got something right. Cadence crouched in place, eyes flicking between us and the hospital window. At a guess, she was divided between tearing out of the room to fetch Celestia before negotiations could occur, or optimistically hoping that we were simply discussing scholarly background rather than laying groundwork. After all, if she interrupted Celestia's precious daily time for hearing the petty problems of petty ponies, well — that would be bad, wouldn't it?
Idiot.
Of course negotiations with an Outsider were more important than two farmers arguing over two inches of farmland after a stream slightly changed location, or whatever the absurd issue of the hour was. Still, I wouldn't complain if Cadence failed to do the one important task she was expected to complete, and in so doing, leave me to negotiate without Celestia interfering.
"Correct. Now, I am not one of the Outsiders who are heavily aligned with traits you might recognize, and as such, I do not believe circumstances can easily force me to break part of an agreement. I enjoy adhering to them, but I do not suffer should they be violated. However, Princess Celestia might be surprised by how many cultures would have preferred that I take her 'anypony' entirely literally, and therein lies the danger. Just because this isn't my first summoning does not mean I learned lessons that you ponies would like."
The advice was far more than most Trespassers might have given, and I would be a foal to ignore it.
"Thank you kindly for the warning," I acknowledged. "If you are attempting to use the agreement as a guide to 'acceptable behavior,' then are you amenable to ongoing amendments?"
"As long as I understand what changes you would like to make, yes. This brings us to 'malicious compliance': if I am sufficiently irked by a clause, or simply believe it is inappropriate to have included it, I am not above demonstrating my displeasure without ever breaking our agreement. Just because I will allow unilateral changes does not mean such changes would not have consequences."
Don't take Her amiability and apparent generosity as an excuse to turn the reality-breaking Outsider into a servant. Understood.
Cadence, not willing to let more important ponies do things that didn't involve her for even five minutes, decided then would be a good idea to force her unwelcome plot into the conversation.
"I'm very sorry to ask this," Cadence said, clearly not sorry by virtue of still asking, "and I mean no offense, but are you — well, a demon? This isn't at all what I thought Celestia meant when she said there might be negotiations, but the sorts of things you're outlining certainly sound similar enough to certain legends."
The Trespasser giggled, but not with my voice. It had borrowed Celestia's for that one. Seeing my form produce a sound I'd associated with Celestia was even more jarring than I'd expected. I really had been spoiled by the unusually pony-like Outsider; alien behaviors were supposed to be expected, not exceptions.
"Some entities from my 'home' might have been mistaken for demons, certainly, but I am not one of them. Sunset, would you like to explain?"
"…Is that a sincere question," I had to ask, "or a prompt suggesting I do so?"
Voice's smile widened at my request for elaboration.
"It is a sincere question."
"Then not particularly."
I'd fought to decipher the Grimoire, and like hay would I let Cadence benefit from my hard-earned knowledge. If she couldn't recognize another like the entity that had Ascended her, then that was not my problem.
"You truly are a delightful little furball of resentment and spite, aren't you?" Voice asked, seemingly thrilled by my refusal.
Despite having Her apparently agree with me, Her words were still jarring. After all the signs of the Trespasser being a benevolent one, having Her seem happy about my resentment was akin to being dumped directly into a bathtub filled with cold water. 'Furball' wasn't particularly complimentary, either.
No matter how She acts, She still isn't actually a pony. Don't fall into the trap of assuming She has a pony's values.
"Just toward Princess Mi Amore Cadenza," I deflected, concealing my discomfort beneath mockery.
"Okay, seriously, what in the hoof is your problem with me?" Cadence exploded. "Celestia and I worried about you for months! She shut herself away to cry after meals more than once, all because she was worried about you, and now you're right back to being a jerk! We thought you were preparing to flee Equestria altogether, not this! Did you care at all, or were you too busy laughing at us?"
After months of needing to refrain from sniping back at Cadence, it felt good to be able to get back into the swing of things. Admittedly, it usually took more than this to get her to the point of yelling. Was that a sign of the prissy pink princess finally growing a spine, or that she'd developed an even thinner skin?
"Yeah, right," I scoffed. "The Princess probably went to go bury her muzzle in cakes where nopony could see her, not cry, and don't try to pretend you cared when we both know you hate me. Did you notice when she ignored me just for the sake of motivation? I've been doing just what she wanted. Unlike some ponies, most of us need to actually earn our ascensions!"
"How's that w–" Cadence started, then visibly bit back her own words. "...I dislike you, not hate you, but you make it very easy to be cruel."
The lack of a barbed rebuttal left me momentarily off-balance. Still, I rallied quickly enough.
"Easy to be honest, more like. What, so used to having ponies throw themselves at your hooves that you can't recognize when somepony has a legitimate grievance with you?"
Cadence's attempt at composure shattered, frustration rising to the surface.
That's better, I thought smugly.
"Maybe not!" Cadence shouted. "Because I still don't know what your problem is, and not for lack of me trying my utmost to understand! So please, miss I'm-so-justified Sunset Shimmer, do tell me what you hate so much!"
I spared a quick glance at Voice of Imperceptible Dreams. As expected, She seemed utterly delighted by our argument. No worries there, then; it was safe to ignore Her for the time being. I turned my head back to glare at Cadence with all the hatred and anger I could muster on short notice.
Which, as it turns out, might have been just a bit too much. Magic flowed toward the surface of my body, tail and mane included, in the moments before I burst into flame. It hurt, too. Not from the fire itself; I'd long since used a combination of magic and alchemy to render myself effectively immune to fire. However, having my magic misbehave further irritated the pathways of my thaumic system, and I soon felt as though I actually was burning from the inside out.
I gritted my teeth and forced back a scream, refusing to show weakness before this cloud-headed brat. Somepony had the foresight to fireproof my bedding, evidently, so I could focus on regaining control of my magic rather than needing to dive for the tile flooring. Fortunately, it didn't look as though Cadence realized that she was seeing a humiliating loss of control. If anything, she looked genuinely terrified of me for the first time since her arrival at the castle.
Her fear only managed to make me angrier. This was what finally got her to take me seriously? Not any of the numerous very complicated spells I'd shown off in front of her, not any of the incredible feats of magical control I'd displayed, but losing control? What a joke. She truly didn't deserve that horn at all, not when she'd had more than enough time to learn what an emotions-based elemental discharge looked like.
And then, because she had an uncanny sense for arriving just when it would put me in the worst possible light, Princess Celestia chose right then to open the door to my hospital room.
Cadence and I both froze and stared back at the stunned Princess Celestia, who seemed to need a few seconds to understand just what she'd walked in on. The whole time, I wanted to burn away on the spot from sheer humiliation. Unlike Cadence, Celestia definitely knew what my current state signified. My magical reserves may have been expanded and would require me to reacclimatize before I could guarantee it wouldn't happen again, but did I expect Celestia to understand that? No. All she would see was one more reason that I wasn't meeting her standards.
Eyes widening ever so slightly indicated that Celestia had finally grasped the situation. An instant later, the alicorn charged across the room, the door slamming shut behind her. Only her horn being held high kept me from being terrified by the charge. She'd never been violent toward me before, but I'd also never potentially endangered other ponies by summoning a Trespasser.
I certainly felt a flicker of fear when she reached my side and her glowing horn descended. My fleeting fears soon turned out to be unjustified. Soothing cold wiped away the bulk of my pain, unburnt mana returning to my body's circulation, and I could have cried with relief. I blinked rapidly and forced the tears back, too. I was not going to compound my mistake by crying in front of the two ponies to whom I should never show weakness.
Celestia started to turn toward Voice of Imperceptible Dreams, stopped, and redirected her full attention to me. There had been the flickers of something negative directed at Voice, I was sure, but I couldn't see the exact emotion before it was wiped away.
"Sunset," started Celestia, that wretched fake mask of kindness in full force. "How are you feeling?"
On a better day, I might be able to mirror her fake smile and tell her that I was doing perfectly fine. Lingering pain rather neatly nixed the temptation to put on an act that she would approve of.
"Like I was just burning from the inside out, obviously," I bit out. "I'm not looking forward to needing to spend even longer without using magic."
Celestia's mask wavered. I internally cheered at managing even that small slip.
Go on. Lecture me for answering your fake concern with my real anger. I can tell you want to.
Celestia's mask survived, albeit while pivoting to a small frown of fake sympathy. Even after expecting it, I still wanted to scream. Would it kill the mare to show some genuine emotion once in a while?
"I am very sorry to hear that," she said by rote. "Would you like for me to apologize now, or after you have negotiated with Voice of Inadvisable Dreams?"
My thoughts hiccuped. Not because of the slightly different name; having multiple names was normal for Outsiders. Offering me an apology, though? That was not how this conversation was supposed to go. Not knowing how to respond to that part, I fixated on the portion I was more certain of.
"Until after you've negotiated, you mean? Cadence already said you weren't willing to trust that I could do it on my own."
"That isn't what I said at all!" Cadence promptly protested.
"It's what you meant," I snorted. "Read a history book instead of all those dumb romances, would you?"
"Just because you don't like them doesn't mean they're dumb–"
"The Princess," I continued, "doesn't just 'mediate' an agreement; when she mediates for quarreling parties, they always step away with terms that she wanted for them in the first place. Voice of Imperceptible Dreams and I aren't quarreling, and we definitely don't need a mediator. Especially not when She is open to ongoing unilateral amendments so long as I'm not dumb enough to abuse that right."
This, finally, was enough to break Celestia's damned mask. The timeless mare's gaze jerked to look at Voice in wide-eyed surprise.
"I… had not realized she was willing to be that generous," Celestia admitted. "I had truly intended to let you negotiate your 'agreement' and only suggest changes if absolutely necessary. You may be pleased to learn that she was unwilling to discuss terms with me at all, in fact."
I wanted to scoff at that, but decided to hold back my reaction for the moment. She would almost certainly have found something 'wrong,' if only to rub in how much I still had to learn. That Celestia had tried to negotiate in my place at all said a lot, really.
"She offered to pay your price herself, too," Voice cheerfully chimed in, apparently having saved her first insertion into a conversation for where it would cause the most chaos.
My resentful train of thought crashed straight into the side of a mountain. Voice might as well have dropped a block of ice directly into a hot tub, complete with water splashing elsewhere and making me want to reel back as though scalded.
Had Celestia taken leave of her senses? After all those times where she placed random, unimportant ponies above me, she was willing to risk leaving Equestria without a competent ruler — Cadence didn't count — while she completed petty tasks or worse for an Outsider?
"She what?" I asked incredulously.
This had to be a case where she assumed she would be allowed to delegate to subjects, didn't it? Celestia certainly wouldn't be willing to sacrifice any of them, but she might think other responsibilities could be fobbed off. Still, even if Celestia was the closest thing to unkillable, 'closest thing to' wasn't quite the same thing as 'completely.' There had to be a reason that the only other alicorns had been condemned to the mists of mythology and history.
"Did you completely forget how dangerous that is?" I demanded.
"Contrary to what you seem to believe, I did not ascend via Outsider. Nonetheless, I did have some idea, yes," Celestia wryly agreed.
Quite frankly, I couldn't believe that at all. I could believe that she believed it, sure; Celestia's refusal to answer my questions would make a lot more sense if she simply couldn't remember how to ascend, and was too prideful to admit it.
"Before you go and rationalize what she just said," Voice started, "you should know that she really is right about her means of ascension. I already made it so you permanently fit about half, maybe two-thirds of the criteria, but I couldn't force everything."
If I was capable of moving more, I would have reeled back. Practically everything I thought I'd figured out over the past several months was suddenly thrown into doubt. Celestia really hadn't simply been empowered by an Outsider? Then how the hay had she managed it? Absolutely no other magic I'd been taught was powerful enough for an ascension! I'd checked! Extensively!
I wasn't dumb enough to ask, then what good are you? I was tempted, though. Even if Voice had made certain eligibility aspects 'permanent,' I was willing to bet that I had already matched them part of the time.
"Wait. Sunset is like this–" Cadence gestured at my bedbound form. "Because Voice, what, tried to turn her into an alicorn? Everypony knows that never works, and ponies only get hurt when they try!"
I was inordinately pleased to see that I wasn't the only pony whom Celestia was keeping in the dark. If it was anypony other than Cadence, I might even have felt sympathetic.
"From what I understand, yes," Celestia admitted now that she had already been caught.
"I don't like how 'tried' makes it sound like failing was on me," Voice complained, even though it absolutely was."It's certainly not a matter of skill. Yours is the only world I've been to that has a Harmonic requirement for your local divinity equivalent. Everywhere else just required some tuning, not a prerequisite that can't be skipped at all."
Voice paused for effect.
"That being said, if you change your mind and want to turn into an unstoppable demon goddess, I'm your mare."
Celestia twitched and promptly leveled an unimpressed gaze on Voice. Judging by the lack of true anger, I was guessing she thought it was a tasteless joke rather than a completely sincere offer. I wasn't going to be the one to enlighten her.
"You stand here, knowing what you do about Equestria, and truly claim she would be 'unstoppable'? I was under the impression you were inclined toward Honesty."
"Yeah, okay," Voice easily admitted. "Harmonic concentrations of this level do tend to be the bane of such threats."
And that was yet another excellent reason for why I would never take Voice up on such an offer. Equestria wasn't only the most powerful nation known to ponykind because Celestia could, and occasionally had, dropped an aspect of the sun on a battlefield. When provoked, we could pull any number of numerous obscure artifacts out of storage, too. Still, it was surprising to hear that Equestria's Celestia-assisted obsession with 'Harmony' might have actual military benefits. I'd tried to research it in the past, but could only find blatant propaganda about the 'unstoppable magic of friendship.' Obviously ponies did better when they had a support network to rely on; that went without saying. The lengths Equestria went to to glorify it were just plain ridiculous.
"You have, however, reminded me that I never did dictate my initial terms to Sunset," said Voice of Imperceptible Dreams.
The entirety of my attention snapped to Her, and I wished that I had a quill and paper to take notes with. I supposed that I would need to be fully recovered before I could use telekinesis to write, too. Even longer for my magical control to recover enough for my hornwriting not to be embarrassing. Really, I might be better off using my hooves or mouth for a while, but I hadn't needed to use either in years. My hoofwriting might be even more embarrassing than slightly shaky telekinesis.
In an absolutely shocking level of foresight, by her standards, Cadence was the one to rush to produce a quill and parchment while using the back of that awful romance book as a solid surface. She still insisted on using her wings for writing, but even if they wouldn't be the neatest, at least her notes would be legible.
"My offer is as follows: In addition to the aid I have already provided, I will make reasonable, ongoing efforts to assist you in your ascension to alicornhood. This will not be 'to the best of my ability,' as the expectations inherent to that would rapidly grow frustrating for us both and may even impede the process. Given my knowledge of the requirements, I expect this to take less than a decade, and I will honestly be quite surprised if it takes longer."
Considering that the number of ponies who became alicorns were a population that I could count on my hooves, I should be thrilled that She thought we could ascend me within a decade. It was definitely foalish, but I still didn't want to wait that long. I consoled myself with the hope that it should be much faster than that if Cadence could do it, right? Voice was just trying to lay down reasonable expectations.
At the same time, I couldn't help but feel a bit smug about how shocked Cadence looked by Voice's words. What, surprised that I can finally catch up to you?
"The necessary components for fulfilling my price can also be considered an additional boon. My price is as follows: This part of me is to stay in your world until you, as my summoner and anchor, die permanently. I define permanent death as the demise of your mind or soul, not your body. That, I will restore to a prime state should it be destroyed or sufficiently damaged, including due to age."
I blinked rapidly and rather neatly squashed my disappointment. Part of why I'd wanted to become an alicorn in the first place was for the sake of immortality. Half of Celestia's likely reasons for ignoring me would vanish in an instant if she knew I wouldn't just up and die on her; any lessons she taught me would be ones with centuries of impact, and compared favorably to the fleeting impacts of petty ponies. Full-fledged alicornhood could indeed wait if I had true immortality as a guaranteed benefit.
"In order to avoid you simply imprisoning me in a deep, dark pit for the duration — I tried that once, centuries of boredom weren't at all worth the payoff — I will be allowed access to the same areas as you, with reasonable exceptions instituted for the sake of personal privacy. You are a herd species, not ambush predators or burrowers, so I expect there to be very few such privacy exceptions. 'Private conversations,' for example, are something I would definitely expect to be allowed to observe; if you are entering the quarters of another, I no longer consider that to be a sufficiently private place to deny me unless you are also banned from those quarters once more."
Cadence suddenly started coughing for whatever reason. She didn't even notice when I shot her a glare, keeping her own eyes firmly fixed on her notes.
What, did a fly crawl down your throat?
"I am here primarily out of an interest in your story, Sunset Shimmer, and although I can stay quiet and behave, I will not be stopped from watching it. This does not mean I will not focus on other targets when other entities interest me, and this will likely occur reasonably often, but I will not expect to be allowed access to the same places as them. Your freedoms are the basis of my own."
Still creepy, but strangely flattering as well. I had definitely hit the jackpot in terms of what Outsider I'd managed to attract. Being allowed to continue my life with an extra observer was far preferable to regularly going on dangerous quests or completing a never-ending list of petty errands.
"Aside from that general freedom of movement, I am quite permissible in what restrictions can be placed on my actions; they are one of the primary means through which I can learn what your society, or even just you personally, consider to be acceptable behavior. You may make unilateral amendments to my restrictions after the initial institution, and I will usually adhere to them should I understand the reasons that changes were made. Fail to explain, or simply include clauses that I believe are unacceptable, and I am very likely to make you regret it. I am not a weapon, and if there is something 'antithetical to my nature,' it is being expected to extinguish stories."
I blinked in befuddlement. That had not been anywhere on the list of things I would need to avoid asking of Her. I thought the whole part about 'malicious compliance' had been because petty ponies had tried turning Her into a hoofmaiden or something similar. Equestria didn't really have enemies, and anypony foalish enough to weaponize an Outsider deserved being caught in the inevitable collateral damage.
"Do you have any questions?"
I wished I had a feather and parchment available. At least Celestia would probably make Cadence share her notes.
"Of course!"
Voice mirrored my smile, complete with using my form.
"Good answer."
Alien Outsider or not, I could already tell that we were going to get along just fine.
I was wrong about how close to finished this update was yesterday morning — at the time, it was only about 55% done. It, ah, turned out a fair bit bigger than expected.
Alternative chapter title: SUNSET evolved into RAPIDASH!
"In order to avoid you simply imprisoning me in a deep, dark pit for the duration — I tried that once, centuries of boredom weren't at all worth the payoff
I honestly have to wonder what the "payoff" was.
Did she pop out like the world's reality's existence's most horrifying jack-in-the-box?
Was that how it was presented to her?
"Hide here. Their expressions when you come out will be hilarious!" "I tried that. It wasn't nearly as funny as you implied."
"Eep."
I can already imagine Celestia's reaction when she ascends via friendship with an Outsider.
She really just needed someone who appreciated her for who she is!
You've written a lot of inhuman Protagonists Alivaril and I think it's ironic that the most human Protagonist you've written might be the one I've disliked the most.
You've written a lot of inhuman Protagonists Alivaril and I think it's ironic that the most human Protagonist you've written might be the one I've disliked the most.
Sunset Shimmer can be a fun character to read, she's so aggressive in everything to compensate for her internal inferiority complex. With no real peers and only the god-empress of the realm to be close with for most of her life, it's not hard to see how she got that way. Then some rando pegasus manages to ascend by accident and she just goes off the rails mentally when she, the most powerful unicorn of the generation can't.
Also Celestia's apparently really bad at the whole "work/life balance" thing both for herself and her students, considering how Twilight turned out before her move to Ponyville. Though at least Twilight had both a family and some sorta-friends at school.
yeah, parenting a neglected orphan by a) failing to recognize you're her parent, b) therefore being very stingy with displays of love, and c) never having time for her and thus not helping the whole "previously neglected" thing is perhaps not a winning combination
Huh. Sunset's absurdly lucky. Voice seems to be about as nice as Celestia.
Soo... given Voice is confident in her work, Sunset is now an alicorn, just add friends?
Huh. I wonder if Voice qualifies as a valid potential friend; she's got all the time in the world to hang out, she's presumably willing to act as an intellectual near-peer and is more than observant enough to give Sunset a reality check.
I'm looking forward to the post-ascension explanation when Sunset gets informed that a vital ingredient to becoming an alicorn is making friends that she kept blowing off in favor of moar power.
yeah, parenting a neglected orphan by a) failing to recognize you're her parent, b) therefore being very stingy with displays of love, and c) never having time for her and thus not helping the whole "previously neglected" thing is perhaps not a winning combination
Seriously though, if Sunset ascends via Outsider, what exactly will that make her the Alicorn of?
I doubt it will be Magic since Friendship is Magic and Sunset making friends is Harmony probably already put that aside for Twilight. Honestly, given the characterization of Voice so far, the most likely domain I can think of is Alicorn of Stories.
Seriously though, if Sunset ascends via Outsider, what exactly will that make her the Alicorn of?
I doubt it will be Magic since Friendship is Magic and Sunset making friends is Harmony probably already put that aside for Twilight. Honestly, given the characterization of Voice so far, the most likely domain I can think of is Alicorn of Stories.
I have little to no reference for MLP outside of the loops and what I have absorbed from the internet in general. Is sunset always this stupid? At least QA has the excuse of thousands of years of what she is assuming being correct.
Huh. Sunset's absurdly lucky. Voice seems to be about as nice as Celestia.
Soo... given Voice is confident in her work, Sunset is now an alicorn, just add friends?
Huh. I wonder if Voice qualifies as a valid potential friend; she's got all the time in the world to hang out, she's presumably willing to act as an intellectual near-peer and is more than observant enough to give Sunset a reality check.
I'm looking forward to the post-ascension explanation when Sunset gets informed that a vital ingredient to becoming an alicorn is making friends that she kept blowing off in favor of moar power.
It seems that it is, in fact, the entire plan. Voice said that "it would have worked if we were friends!", and plans to hang around Sunset to help her reach the requirements, wich implies either helping her make friends or becoming friends. Now that I think about it, the "less than a decade" timeframe Voice gave that Sunset judged very good is actually comically uncharitable considering the only remaining requirement is "make one sincere friend".
Now that I think about it, the "less than a decade" timeframe Voice gave a Sunset judged very good is actually comically uncharitable considering that only remaining requirement is "make one sincere friend".
Gosh. This is great. I hope for eventual honest conversation between Celestia and Sunset (that both sides can believe), but I'm pleased that Sunset is already making such good progress at friendship with Voice.
I have little to no reference for MLP outside of the loops and what I have absorbed from the internet in general. Is sunset always this stupid? At least QA has the excuse of thousands of years of what she is assuming being correct.
Cadence shouted. "Because I still don't know what your problem is, and not for lack of me trying my utmost to understand! So please, miss I'm-so-justified Sunset Shimmer, do tell me what you hate so much!"
She's salty you didn't 'earn' your ascension. While she, the personal student of a princess, has yet to ascend. Why aren't you capable of making this link Cadence, when Sunset basically spelled it out? I'm sure that even before this, she's made many remarks on your lack of capability and done as much as possible to show off. Is this because Sunset believes Alicornhood is a product of effort, and Cadence believes Alicornhood is some kind of random natural phenomenon?
"Wait. Sunset is like this–" Cadence gestured at my bedbound form. "Because Voice, what, tried to turn her into an alicorn? Everypony knows that never works, and ponies only get hurt when they try!"
I was inordinately pleased to see that I wasn't the only pony whom Celestia was keeping in the dark. If it was anypony other than Cadence, I might even have felt sympathetic.
Sunset, you're dumb too. Take note. Cadence became an Alicorn, and even she has no idea how she did it. You even noticed she has no idea, but did not then extrapolate the logical addendum that if Alicornhood can be done accidentally, then it is not effort and preparation and magical skill/knowledge that are the deciding factors.
With that in mind, if Alicornhood is most often accomplished unconsciously, (sample size is just one, but you ought to be looking at Cadence as a case study if you weren't so bitter and resentful of her) then Celestia may genuinely be unable to tell you how to get to Alicornhood, because once you become conscious of how to do it, you are no longer able to accomplish it unconsciously. You have to do something without being aware it will lead to Alicornhood, in order to be an alicorn.
if you are entering the quarters of another, I no longer consider that to be a sufficiently private place to deny me unless you are also banned from those quarters once more."
Cadence suddenly started coughing for whatever reason. She didn't even notice when I shot her a glare, keeping her own eyes firmly fixed on her notes.
Ah, Sunset. You're really young and sheltered, huh? Remember how disdainful you are over Cadence's romance novels? Those are why she understands the implication behind the requirement, and you don't.
It seems that it is, in fact, the entire plan. Voice said that "it would have worked if we were friends!", and plans to hang around Sunset to help her reach the requirements, wich implies either helping her make friends or becoming friends. Now that I think about it, the "less than a decade" timeframe Voice gave that Sunset judged very good is actually comically uncharitable considering the only remaining requirement is "make one sincere friend".
To be fair to Sunset: Just casual friends is apparently not enough, Voice mentioned that it would have worked if they were best friends. It's reasonable to say that you don't become best friends overnight. I mean, it has a higher activation threshold than the Elements, since it took Twilight a few years of friending after getting those to ascend, and that was with 5 people to befriend. Combine that with Voice not necessarily having the best grasp on time, it might actually be a pretty optimistic estimate.
No, the uncharitable part was the "I'll resurrect you if you die of old age" addition.
So I've analyzed the bolded letters this chapter and concluded that it is half a conversation, with the other half likely somehow encoded in the past chapters but I don't know how short the responses must be for this to be the case.
I have also translated instructions to create a commune, carry out a bunch of freaky murders to start a race war, and then bring about helter-skelter but that generally seems to indicate whoever decoded the secret did it wrong so I'm discounting that.
So I've analyzed the bolded letters this chapter and concluded that it is half a conversation, with the other half likely somehow encoded in the past chapters but I don't know how short the responses must be for this to be the case.
I have also translated instructions to create a commune, carry out a bunch of freaky murders to start a race war, and then bring about helter-skelter but that generally seems to indicate whoever decoded the secret did it wrong so I'm discounting that.
I expect one of Sunset's first real questions will be "What is Harmony?"
And it seems like that is (a) very important to answer for Voice's side of the obligation, and (b) very hard to actually explain in words beyond "it's a cosmic force that causes event to trend in a certain direction. Examples of particularly-Harmonious events and circumstances include: ...."
...So I think one fun possibility is Voice grafts an sensory organ onto Sunset that allows her to perceive direct, unfiltered, cosmic Harmony. (Maybe just a filtered universal higher sensory organ.)
This gets her (a) an avenue towards achieving a level of intuitive understanding (though her personality might give her issues with that), and (b) a hot/cold means of measuring progress, which would probably drive her mad (not literally) when her every attempt to logically analyze things pushes her farther away from success.
(I feel like Voice is being remarkably helpful. If I were the eldritch being I probably would have gone a mix of the ironic and labors routes, giving her the tools to make the tools. And giving her Valstrax wings up-front, because those are awesome.)
You've written a lot of inhuman Protagonists Alivaril and I think it's ironic that the most human Protagonist you've written might be the one I've disliked the most.
Honestly, I have to disagree with the irony part. As a rule, the further removed a character is from one's own experience, the harder it is to feel strongly about them. It's the Umbridge problem; Voldemort's a terrorist leader, and an objectively worse person overall, but Umbridge consistently receives more hatred because everybody knows (or can imagine) what having a bully for a teacher is like.
(I was just about to rephrase those to post here, haha; no worries though!)
