“Alright,” Princess Celestia said, “is there anypony else that should be included here?”

Celestia was currently standing at the end of a table in a small conference room in her School for Gifted Unicorns. A dozen other ponies, including the four test proctors and Professor Penworthy, sat around the table.

Other than the princess, they were not the most impressive looking group. The proctors in particular looked like they’d just run a race after not sleeping for a day or two. They’d already had first aid, and were currently sipping on potions to regain their magical strength, but the doctors nevertheless protested their being out of bed.

Princess Celestia would normally abide by the wishes of doctors and medical professionals; despite her literal ages of knowledge and learning, she was admittedly not as skilled as even the typical healer in many respects. However, after arriving, learning that the crisis was past, and sending a messenger back to Vinyl and Spike to tell them all was well, she felt that it was better to get a complete picture of what had happened as soon as possible.

As nopony spoke up to request anyone else be included in the meeting, Celestia nodded.

“I’ve already heard Professor Penworthy’s account of what happened,” she said. Nodding at the test proctors, whose names she could not for the life of her remember, she asked “Would any of you like to explain what happened, from your point of view?”

Celestia listened to a scattered report from the for proctors. Apparently, today was the weekly merit-based admittance test. During one filly’s test, a rainbow had appeared in the distance, after which the test-taker began levitating and pushing huge quantities of magic into the statue of the Crying Human.

“We tested foals in that room because it was originally its own building,” said one of the mares. “It was originally a laboratory for alchemy, meaning that the walls were designed to repel magic, preventing an explosion. I guess in this case, that actually made things worse, since it prevented ambient magic from replenishing us and the filly’s parents.”

“Speaking of the filly and her parents,” interrupted the princess, “where are they now?”

A yellow coated stallion, who up until now had remained silent, spoke up.

“We brought them to the medical wing. You know, where we teach medical fields to older students. It’s not too far from here, has all the up to date equipment, and a well-trained and experienced staff.”

“How are their conditions?”

“The parents were unconscious, last time I checked, but other than magic withdrawal, they’re fine. We’ll have them drinking ethers for a week and tell them not to run around. As for the filly… getting hit by a flying door wasn’t exactly god for her. That said, her body took most of the impact, rather than her head, so she shouldn’t suffer any brain damage.”

“Incidentally princess,” the yellow-coated stallion interjected, “I think we’re all curious about why you were nearby. It only took you a few minutes to get here. Where were you that you heard the news so quickly?”

The Ruler of Equestria softly sighed. The part of her which harbored secrets had considered hiding the filly’s power, but too many ponies had seen her flying around to keep this a secret.

“I noticed the magic in the air starting to flow towards the university while I was tutoring my student.”

This seemed to satisfy most of the princess’s companions. However, Penworthy’s ears perked at this news. Oh dear. He knew where Celestia typically taught her students.

“You mean that this filly was affecting the magical field five miles away from here?!?!?”

Mentally, Celestia facehoofed. She had been hoping to keep the magnitude of the foal’s powers a bit more under wraps.

Now the room was silent. One of the ponies muttered “that’s about eighty square miles of territory at least.”

The princess sighed.

“What in Tatarus do we do with a filly that can do that? And that’s not even taking what she did to the statue into count…”

“What about a statue?” Celestia snapped.

The four proctors, despite their weakness, shifted in their seats. This was not going to be fun.

“Well, your majesty,” started one of the mares, “remember how up until a few years ago, the practical magical prowess test was to hatch a dragon egg?”

“Of course. My student Vinyl was able to hatch the egg, and she’s been learning from me ever since.”

“Well… we didn’t exactly have any more dragon eggs lying around. So we decided to use the statue of the Crying Human as a substitute.”

Now Princess Celestia was confused. “That statue is a part of pre-Equestrian pony history! And transfiguration can be done by even some amateurs. What possessed you to use the Crying Human?”

“Princess, have you ever touched the statue?”

The princess paused. She had known about the statue for years, but had always viewed it from behind a glass case or something of that sort.

“You see, there was a reason we always kept the statue behind a case, out of most ponies’ reach. The Crying Human… was made of Slenderstone.”
------

Through her closed eyes, Twilight Sparkle could make out that there was light coming from somewhere. What puzzled her was why her eyes were closed. The last thing she remembered, she was taking the test for magically gifted students. But not doing very well at it. Then there was a light, and now she was here. Wherever she was. Maybe she had fainted from the pressure? Oh no! What if she fainted and embarrassed her parents and now she had failed the test and embarrassed them and it was all her fault?

With great effort, Twilight opened her eyes, to be greeted with the sight of a white ceiling. Odd. She thought the testing room’s ceiling was more of a pinkish-tan. Honestly, she hadn’t given that ceiling more than a quick look though, so maybe she was still there?

No, she realized. She was lying in a bed. A bigger bed than she was used to at that.

“Sweetie?” a familiar voice quietly called out.

Twilight saw her mother leaning up in another bed a few yards away, seemingly exhausted.

“Mom!” she cried, leaping out of her bed and scrambling over to her mother. She leaned onto the bed and the two ponies embraced.

“Told you we wouldn’t need to worry,” came her father’s voice from the other side of the walkway. He had been hidden from her sight by a curtain, but was readily visible from her mother’s bed. He also looked exhausted, but otherwise fine.

Wait a minute…

“What happened? Why are we in a hospital?” Twilight asked.

She noticed her two parents sharing a look before her mother answered.

“Something strange happened during the test. We think a pony had a magical accident and we were all caught up in it. Fortunately, none of us were hurt. And before you ask,” she continued, interrupting what Twilight was about to say “yes, we sent somepony to get Shining so he knows what happened and can come to visit.”

“Did I pass the test?”

“I don’t know dear. Everypony is still trying to figure out what is going on.”

“Excuse me!” said somepony behind Twilight.

She looked around to see a blue unicorn stallion with a syringe for a cutie mark, looking at her with... was that worry?

“You were hit by a piece of furniture during the incident, and it would be best if you lied down for now. We wouldn’t want you to over-exert yourself and risk a serious injury.”

Twilight pouted for a moment, but caught her parents giving her certain looks. She knew these looks. They didn’t mean trouble for her, but they suggested that the best way to avoid trouble was continued obedience. She decided to comply.

As she walked back into her bed, the little filly realized something.

“Where are all the other doctors?” she asked.

“Whatever do you mean?” asked the sole medical professional present.

“Well, there are three of us in here, and I was out, so why wasn’t there a doctor around to make sure everything was okay?”

As if in response, a piercing scream came from outside the room.
------

Slenderstone. Whereas the rest of the room had been shocked by the range of the filly’s magical grasp, Celestia was shocked by the knowledge that the Crying Human was composed of Slenderstone.

Princess Celestia knew all about Slenderstone. She had known about it for centuries. Slenderstone, also known Everfree Shards and lock-rocks, was a very valuable substance. Although it was brittle and hard to build things with, even substances with a small amount of this black material were resistant to magic. Entire areas, like the nearby Everfree Forest, from which the material got one of its names, largely rejected lawful magic because of widespread trace amounts of the stuff.

As for the name “lock-rock,” it came from the old days of unicorn nobility. Locks were always an artform in societies with unicorns, as even a fairly weak unicorn could manipulate a poorly made lock with ease. “Lock-rocks,” though brittle, could be incorporated into larger mechanisms to make them impossible to open through magic alone.

The problem with lock-rocks was that they were expensive, on account of the fact that the rocks themselves were rare. Slenderstone was a bit of a misnomer, as no individual piece of the material had ever been found that was larger than a pebble.

Or so Celestia had thought.

“Are you sure that the Crying Human wasn’t just unusually rich in the substance?”

The unfortunate mare that the princess was now focusing on sighed.

“Yes your majesty. In the centuries since it was discovered, we’ve occasionally tested for other substances and could find none. In theory, there could be a core of some other material, but even then, well over half of the statue would have to be pure slenderstone.”

Celestia was silent for a moment. She was a very hooves-on ruler, and was barely covering her shock at discovering a long-held secret at her own school.

“I suppose that this must have quite an impact on our knowledge of the world’s composition,” she calmly remarked.

“Well, yes,” said Professor Penworthy. “The discovery of the Crying Human’s composition meant that we had to rethink what was chemically possible. We estimate that about 20% of the world’s supply of lock-rock is found in the Crying Human. Or at least, was found in it.”

“Was?”

For the umpteenth time today, Celestia noted that several of the ponies, including the four test proctors in particular, looked particularly anxious.

“Well, remember how the filly transfigured the Crying Human into an actual human?”

“Ah yes. I heard that was what she used the magic for. How long did it take for it to revert anyway?”

“Well… you see…”
------

He didn’t know that much about what was going on. First he noticed that he was in pain all over, then the pain subsided somewhat, then a whole bunch of stuff flew at him. He felt like all four of his legs were broken, except that the ones closer to his head didn’t quite meet the definition of legs. And come to think of it, he didn’t seem to have hooves like a regular pony. Odd. Maybe he was actually a griffon?

At first, he had wanted to get somepony to make whatever was creating that racket to be quiet. As he felt himself being physically hoisted up into a stretcher and carried through a hallway though, he realized that he was the one making the noise. Apparently, he’d been screaming nonstop for a while now.

And now he was on a table, limbs held down with clamps. For some reason, a lot of the unicorns were having trouble using their magic. He wondered why.

He tried to stop thrashing about, slowly realizing that it would only serve to aggravate his damaged limbs. But as hard as he tried, he could not get control over his own body. He wondered what being able to control one’s own body was like.

Perhaps he was an amnesiac? He sort of remembered some things. Like the language that all the ponies were frantically yelling at each other in. He seemed unable to form his own words though. Was there something wrong with him? Was he a mute? No, wait. He just couldn’t control his mouth for long enough to stop screaming.

He barely felt needles being jabbed into his veins, barely felt being held down by a team of ponies who had seemingly given up on magic and the restraints to do the job adequately. Ah, of course. The restraints were made for ponies, and he was most likely a griffon. No wonder the restraints were the wrong size and shape for keeping him still.

It occurred to him that he shouldn’t be thinking this clearly. Ponies in pain weren’t the most coherent thinkers. At least, to his knowledge that he got from somewhere. Perhaps griffons were better at being rational? How would he know? He wasn’t even entirely sure what he was.

It sounded like the yelling was starting to dim. That was odd, since his limbs still felt broken. No, wait. He was yelling again. He wished he could tell the ponies around him how sorry he was for being such a nuisance. Hearing him yell this much must not be very good for their nerves.
------

Princess Celestia briskly walked down the hallway to the room where the filly and her parents were. She had to make sure of several things by the end of the day, but the top priority at the moment was the filly.

Twilight Sparkle. A seemingly innocuous name for a little filly. Except for the fact that the Twilight matriarchy was centuries old, and Celestia was pretty sure that this filly in particular had been foalsat by her niece. And now she boasted extraordinary magical prowess.

Sometimes, Celestia hated her duties as princess. They would not allow her to view the situation from the kind, optimistic point of view that came naturally to her. No, she was forced to wonder what the implications of a new power in Canterlot would be.

Clearly the filly could not be left unattended. Best-case scenario, she used her talent to become an outstanding citizen. Worst-case scenario, she used her immense power and reportedly great intelligence to gradually build an arsenal of spells capable of bringing down cities and nations.

The typical pony, were they privy to her thoughts at the time, would have asked Celestia whether a single unicorn could do all of that. Celestia, however, had more than just wild speculation on her side. King Sombra was proof that even a regular unicorn, and one not even as powerful as this filly seemed to potentially be, could ruin countless lives.

Thus, the next few minutes would be critical. Princess Celestia would meet Twilight Sparkle for the first time today. Depending on her analysis of the filly, the shape of not only her life but that of countless others could be changed, for the better or for the worse.

These were the Solar Diarch’s thoughts as she entered a room where three unicorns were lying in hospital beds.

The smallest unicorn, Twilight Sparkle herself, was the first one visible from the doorway. She turned her head away from her parents and towards the princess, eyes widening as she realized who had arrived.

“Princess Celestia!”

Said princess heard gasps from two other ponies, a mare and a stallion, before going further into the room and seeing the filly’s mother and father.

Celestia put on her smile, the one that she was forced to wear when she wanted to avoid causing any alarm.

“At ease, my little ponies. I came to see how you were all doing after today’s events.”

“But what did happen princess?” asked Twilight.

Celestia briefly looked at the filly’s parents before answering, considering their reactions. Apparently, they’d been hiding some information from their daughter. This could be good or bad. Optimistically, this meant that the pair could be responsible parents, not delivering a message to their young daughter that they weren’t certain of. On the other hand, it could be a sign that they were hoarding what they did know, and were planning on using their daughter as a tool for possible gains.

As much as Celestia knew that hearing the full story from her parents would be the optimal solution, she needed information about this filly fast. Telling her more than she already knew could provoke a telling reaction.

“During your test,” the princess began “there was an unknown magical incident in the Cloudsdale area. I’ve assigned my best ponies on finding out exactly what it was and how it happened. Regardless, said event seems to have made you lose control when you were trying to put magic into the statue of the Crying Human. You began to draw magic from the area around you, including from your parents and the teachers. It took a team of university staff and students to get you to stop.”

There. Now to gauge her reactions.

Twilight Sparkle’s eyes, already wide from meeting the princess, had only grown wider as she explained what had happened.

“I hurt my parents?” she whimpered.

Good, her first reaction seemed to be remorse.

Celestia nodded somberly as the little filly leapt out of bed and ran over to her father’s bed, tears forming in her eyes. The reaction seemed genuine enough, and the fact that she ran to her father first, rather than to her mother who would presumably have more family ties, was a nice bonus for reassuring her.

Twilight, after a few moments in her father’s forelegs, muttered something.

“I’m sorry? What was that?”

The filly looked up towards the princess, tears in her eyes.

“Did I hurt anypony else?”

Celestia could have spent a moment analyzing the question, but she felt confident enough to skip to the facts.

“Your test-givers were the only other ponies directly affected, and they are perfectly fine. They’re just tired.”

Twilight didn’t respond verbally, but seemed content with the answer.

For the first time, Celestia noticed that Twilight still lacked a cutie mark. Technically, she had noticed nothing before, but only now did it truly register in her mind. Usually an event of this magnitude would be an obvious candidate for the mark’s appearance. However, despite an extraordinary feat of magic, Twilight Sparkle was still bare.

This, as much as anything else, relieved the princess. Cutie Marks were notoriously hard to interpret and understand, but if a filly didn’t get a mark for something like an extraordinary surge of power like that, it meant that they had another future to choose from. That, to Celestia, was encouraging.

After a couple more minutes, just as the Princess was considering leaving for her next important stop, Twilight asked a question carefully avoided until now.

“Did… did I make the statue glow? Did I pass the test?”

Author's Notes:

Originally chapter 4, which will go over truly meeting the human for the first time, was going to be included in this chapter, but I felt that it would stand better as its own thing. So have another "Switching Points of View" chapter.

I'm not going to make any promises about this story's update schedule. I'd say I'm aiming for weekly updates, but that's already doomed, so let's just settle for "as frequent as possible."

Please comment. Even if it's something simple like a reaction or a question, it helps me figure out how to write better.

I hope you're enjoying the story so far. The best, including meatier chapters, is yet to come!