In all my days, in all my years, I have never known of a greater catastrophe than the day Princess Celestia invited me into the Canterlot Archives, to inaugurate my new wing in the High Castle...If only I could have foreseen the impending tragedy that occurred that fateful day...I probably could have prevented the greatest disaster ever to strike Equestria and the world...
I will be brief in my exposition...a scientific alicorn - such as myself - successfully performed an experiment which created a transdimensional portal...what harm could it do, right? After all, it ushered in an era of discovery and exploration...He chose to abuse his powers, and use the portal to wreak havoc throughout all the dimensions he gained access to.
That is why Princess Celestia summoned me to do the job: me, my friends, and even the help of my brother and Princess Cadence. Our numbers soon grew and we became a whole armada of ponies of all shapes, sizes, kinds, and dimensions. The whole universe turned its tides against this lone individual who gained control over the universe, and wanted it for himself...
Most of the ponies who participated in this predicament regard it as a sinister disaster: a time in Equestrian history which not only did we not ever want repeated, but should never have happened in the first place. They want nothing to do with this era of destruction and mayhem. For they only see this event in a negative light, influenced by the relentless forces of the enemy. But I...I do not regard it in the same light as most ponies else. Though I do not wish for anything like this to ever break out in Equestria or the universe ever again, and bring the fabric of reality to jeopardy again, I see it as a time of hope, reformation, revolution, and pride. We not only saved Equestria from total annihilation, but we came out on top in a harmonious atmosphere in a time of desperation.
Nevertheless, I shall now begin my tale, under the impression that by telling it to you, you will not only gain an understanding of what kind of cataclysm the universe could throw at Equestrian civilization and have us Equestrians exceed victory, but that you will ensure that we must never endure this quandary; nor shall our posterity, for as long as we continue to exist; starting on the most important day in my life. For it was not only the day that I was called to battle, but it was the first time you and I saw eye to eye.
“You wanted to see me, Princess?” Princess Twilight inquired, bowing in front of the great leader, forgetting that she no longer needed to bow before the Princess upon greeting her. Celestia bowed to the smaller alicorn in front of her.
“That I did, Twilight Sparkle,” she said with a heavenly grin. “Please follow me.”
Celestia led Twilight down through the High Castle, into the Canterlot Archives. The last time Twilight was here, she was looking for a spell from Starwirl the Bearded’s wing which would enable her to go back in time and warn herself about an “impending disaster” which never occurred.
Now she was here for a completely different reason. The Princess summoned her with a letter through Spike, which did not sound particularly urgent, but, taking everything the Princess did seriously, Princess Twilight hopped on the Friendship Express to Canterlot. She might be out of dress now since the coronation, but she was still in power as far as the Royalty of Equestria was concerned.
As the two Princesses continued down the long hallway to the far end, Twilight began to realize that she was already a Princess by marriage, since her brother was married to Princess Cadence. She’s a Princess, sister to a Prince, and sister-in-law to a royal Princess. She started to wonder what her life would have been like if she had not met her friends. Before she could wander too much into the tunnel of her train of thoughts, she was interrupted by Celestia halting at the end of the hall.
“Here we are,” she said with a smile on her face. “Why don’t you take the first visit inside?”
“Uh...okay, Princess,” Twilight said nervously, slowly trotting up to the archway, which opened at the sound of her presence, and revealed the newest wing to the Canterlot Archives: Princess Twilight Sparkle’s. Her mouth gaped open in awe, as her eyes scanned the room. Shelves of spellbooks filled most of the room, as well as a huge commemorative statue in the center, right where Starswirl’s famous hourglass was. Twilight’s statue was of her cutie mark: those famous five small stars and the large pink one seen on her flank as an enormous monument for all the world to see. Thin pipes held together the otherwise free-floating stars.
“Well?...” inquired Celestia. “What do you think, Twilight?”
Twilight’s eyes lit up, stars seen within her pupils as they widened and expanded with glee and excitement. “It’s...it’s breathtaking!” she said earnestly, taking her first steps into the wing.
“It was Cadence’s idea,” Celestia continued. “She thought it was only fair that, as a Princess, you are acknowledged and honored as a remarkable unicorn whose magical prowess is deserving of commemoration.”
“I’ll be sure to thank her the next time I see her,” Twilight said, well into her wing, her eyes jerking around the room, unable to stay still from all the distracting paraphernalia surrounding her, Celestia following behind her.
The Princess smiled again. “So, how have your first few weeks as a Princess going in Ponyville?”
Twilight returned to a position in front of the Princess of Equestria herself. “Exactly as I imagined it would be: certainly fine.” She added a gay smile.
A moment of silent contemplation.
An earthquake interrupted the moment. The seismic activity could be felt all the way down in Ponyville, Rainbow Dash already in the air and on the case to discover the cause. She scrutinized the area around Ponyville, ready to shout “Stampede!”...But there was no stampede. In fact, the earthquake wasn’t coming from the ground at all. It was coming from the sky, as Rainbow Dash would shortly discover.
A quick turnaround in confusion and anticipation, and her pupils shrank to the size of peas. As the tremors persisted, starting to shatter and crack the ground below, all eyes went to the sky.
The fabric of the sky seemed to bend and ripple like a piece of paper being crumbled by an angry fist. This crumbling continued until a hole seemed to rip right from the sky itself.
Twilight and Princess Celestia stood at the top of the High Castle from Canterlot. Twilight’s mouth gaped open in horror.
“This can’t be good...”
