The Responsibilities of Equestrian Royalty

by PaperOctavia

Rating: teen
Tags: Tragedy, Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia, Dark, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 6683

Filled with questions, recently crowned Twilight turns to Celestia for answers. Just what does it mean to be a Princess?

Twilight has done her best to try and prepare herself for her new life as an Equestrian Princess, but she simply can't find any readings that detail what it is she should be preparing for. When she meets with Celestia to ask for help, she instead finds herself listening to a story of Celestia's past. Twilight soon learns what her responsibilities may end up being, but is she truly ready for what's being asked of her? This knowledge leads her to realize that by becoming a princess, she'll need to make some decisions that could greatly alter her own future. However, hints of a terrible occurrence push her to either make these decisions quickly or risk a terrible loss. Will she make the right choices?

Published 2013-06-03 07:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-06-12 08:58:38 UTC

Prologue - Questions

Twilight briskly trotted through the halls of Canterlot Castle, just barely paying attention to where she was going. The scenery around her was quite nostalgic, and she found herself pleasantly recounting the many times she had taken this exact route when she lived in the castle. She was on her way to Celestia's chambers, and just as she had back then, she found herself repeatedly checking every clock she passed, constantly reassuring herself that time still flowed at its normal pace. This would be her first encounter with her old mentor since the coronation ceremony and she was taking extra precaution to arrive early. She shuddered to think what Celestia would do if her faithful student, the newly crowned fourth princess of Equestria, decided that her first act as royalty would be to arrive tardy. Just thinking about it made her quicken her pace.

It surprised Twilight that, even after all her time away, she could still navigate the many twists and turns of the castle without a second thought, and she was quite thankful for that; with all the thoughts and questions that were running through her head, she would have easily gotten lost had it not been for the amazing muscle memory her legs were operating on. And besides, there was simply too much bouncing around in Twilight's head right now to focus on something as silly as not getting lost. Her thoughts jumped between all the questions she wanted to ask Celestia, and looking back at everything that had happened in the last week.

"What do I do now? Is there a book on being a princess I should read?" Twilight had asked, and she had meant it. Once the festivities had died down after her coronation, she had immediately dived into her books to try and prepare herself for whatever being a princess entailed. Unfortunately, she encountered many more difficulties in this task than she had initially anticipated; for some reason, she couldn't find any writings that detailed the tasks taken on by Equestrian royalty. After searching through more than a fair amount of books, she had sent Celestia several letters asking if she knew why these details were strangely absent, but she never got the answer she was looking for, and eventually had to settle with waiting until she could personally meet with Celestia to try and piece together what her new life would entail.

That still didn't stop Twilight from rummaging through every nook and cranny of her library, as well as several wings of the Canterlot Archives, to try and find some answers. Eventually she turned to reading historical accounts of other nations, but there was only so much she could learn from that. She obviously couldn't learn anything from the Changeling Kingdom, not only was pony knowledge of it incredibly scarce, but running a nation with the benefit of a hive mind meant that there would be practically no similarities in political conduct. She had a bit more luck when reading up on Diamond Dog society, but their once unified empire fell apart many hundreds of years ago and it was hard to find detailed accounts of anything other than how many gems they could dig up and process in a given amount of time. Most of Twilight's time had been spent spent digging through Griffonia's history, which she wasn't surprised about; Griffon society is incredibly similar to Equestrian society, even if they do tend to be a bit more aggressive in their foreign policies.

As Twilight went over what she knew about the various griffon leaders she'd read about, she suddenly found herself standing in front of Celestia's chambers. Having no idea how long she had been standing there, she nervously checked a nearby clock and thankfully found that she was still a few minutes early. Lightly tapping on the door, she started running through a list of all the questions she hoped Celestia would answer. What would she be responsible for as a princess? Why was information on the topic strangely absent? What was that strange place Celestia had taken her to? The questions continued to rattle around her head until her thought process was interrupted by the doors in front of her opening.

Twilight jumped a bit, the movement had jerked her out of her own mental trance and pulled her back to reality. She glanced up at Celestia, and although she had expected a flood of questions to come pouring out, she found herself without anything to say. After everything that had happened, it was strangely comforting to see that her trusted mentor was still there for her, just as calm as she would be on any other day. Twilight caught herself staring at her host, who was gesturing her into the chamber.

"Oh, s-sorry!" Twilight stammered as she accepted Celestia's invitation. "I suppose I've got a lot on my mind."

"You really do need to learn to take a break every once in a while." Celestia mentioned, shutting the chamber door behind her. "I'd like to say that I was surprised when your letters came in, but I suppose it's natural to be curious about everything you've gone through recently"

"With all due respect Princess, this is more than just curiosity, this is my life! I've always known where I was going, always had a plan, but for the last week I've gone to bed each night having no idea what my future is! I can't help but feel like my old life is slipping away from me, little by little, and I worry that I won't be able to get it back..." Twilight paused, her initial frustration giving way to all the doubts she had tried to push out of her mind in the last few days. "If nothing else, going through our history has given me a way to pass the time. I almost went to the market yesterday, but all I could think was 'Is that something princesses do? Go to the market?'"

Celestia found herself chuckling at Twilight's anecdote. "I go to the market every now and again, but I also live in the capital. It's quite a different story when you live in a town as small as Ponyville."

"I suppose you're right as always, Princess. I guess I'll have to get over the fact that living in Ponyville means I'm going to be pretty exposed." Twilight commented, followed by a long sigh. Talking with Celestia like this was making her feel a lot better.

"And another thing, Twilight. There's really no need to call me Princess anymore, you're a princess too, remember? You can just call me Celestia now, and the same goes for Luna and Cadance." Celestia smiled to herself at this remark. She never viewed herself as being above anypony else, but it was still refreshing to be able to speak with someone that, politically speaking, was her equal. She spent most of her conversations subtlety aware that everypony around her was slightly on edge, never quite used to being in the presence of royalty. The opposite was currently happening with Twilight, thankfully. After just a few minutes of talking she already looked ten times better, and Celestia was glad she was helping. Not quite wanting to touch the more serious topics just yet, she decided to continue the small talk, at least for a little while longer. "Now, tell me, have you been able to get used to your new wings yet?"

In response, Twilight found herself spreading her wings, almost as if she were reminding herself that they were still there, "To be honest, Prin- Er... I mean, Celestia, I keep forgetting I have them; I don't think it's odd to say that I'm not quite used to magically growing new limbs. Rainbow Dash keeps popping by the library trying to convince me to go flying with her, and at the very least it's nice to be reminded that I actually have wings. Still, if I have to listen to her lecture me on the dangers of wing atrophy again I might just lose my mind"

"I wouldn't expect anything less of her, she's quite an impressive athlete. Still, she speaks the truth, make sure you listen to her." Celestia smiled gently. Glancing out the window and checking the position of the sun, she sighed to herself. She knew that she should start answering some of Twilight's questions, but a part of her hoped she would never have to. It wasn't often that the two of them had time to just relax and talk, and Celestia hated to have to break the casual atmosphere with talk of responsibilities and politics. Still, it had to be done, and she knew that there would be a lot to cover tonight, so she might as well get started. "Now, I'm sure you have a lot of questions for me, and I'm going to do my best to help you make sense of everything. So tell me - what's on your mind?"

Despite being the exact reason she had visited Celestia, she was slightly taken aback by the question. Twilight was having such a pleasant time catching up that, when confronted, she suddenly forgot every question she had thought of the last couple days. She gave herself a few minutes to think back on the events of the last week. As much as she wanted to ask what she would be doing as a princess, she knew that there were other things that she would rather hear about now. Maybe she could ask about Starswirl the Bearded's unfinished spell? She understood what happened when she cast it, but she was still perplexed as to why Starswirl would attempt to make a spell that switched cutie marks around. And it was somehow connected to the Elements of Harmony? As far as she knew, no one other than her friends, Celestia, and Luna had ever utilized the Elements before. She had dozens of questions about King Sombra too, most of them about the dark magic she had used in his castle. As she mentally flipped through everything she didn't know, something stuck out. It was a little surprising that she didn't think of it sooner.

"Well, I think there's definitely one thing that has me the most confused. I've seen a lot of crazy things these last couple of years, Discord, the changeling invasion, even the sudden reappearance of the Crystal Empire, but I feel like I've always had context for all these crazy happenings. I understand the laws of reality, so it's not that difficult to imagine that a being like Discord could operate on laws that work inversely when compared to our own. I've never heard of a spell like the one Sombra cast over the Crystal Empire, but I understand magic well enough to know that with enough skill or power such a feat would certainly be possible. But when I completed Starswirl the Bearded's spell, and the Elements of Harmony transported me to that... place, I was at a complete loss for words. I was definitely standing on something, but I couldn't quite see what. You seemingly appeared out of nowhere, but it didn't look like you were teleporting; In fact, it didn't look like you were using magic at all, which means it couldn't have been you that was showcasing all the images of my life that were floating around us. And I could feel that wherever we were was saturated with incredible amounts of magic, which I'm pretty sure is how creating wings for me was even possible. Where were we?"

Celestia wasn't surprised to hear this, after all, her protege was right. Taking on corrupted unicorn overlords was one thing, but nopony ever expects to be suddenly transported to a different plane of reality. Twilight had managed to ask the one thing that would end up answering most, if not all, of her questions. Celestia almost chuckled to herself; had this been a test, Twilight would have most certainly passed with flying colors.

Unknown to Twilight, however, this was the one question that Celestia had been preparing to answer for years, the one question that she secretly hoped no one would have ever asked her. She took a few minutes to collect her thoughts, knowing that the next few hours were going to necessitate that she revisit her most haunting memories.

"I had a feeling you would ask that" Celestia mumbled, almost inaudibly. She found that she was having trouble finding the words to say what she wanted to, something she was not used to experiencing. "The answer, I'm afraid, is worthless without proper context, and the only way to give that to you is to recount my own personal experience with that place. I only ask one thing of you Twilight; please keep in mind that everything I'm about to tell you happened a very long time ago, and that I was a different pony when I made my choices. You've always been my most faithful student, but you've also been a very close friend, and I hope that you don't look at me any differently after today than you have in the past."

Twilight, now starting to get a feel for what was in store for her, looked confidently at Celestia. "I wouldn't dream of it. We all make mistakes, and we all have things we're ashamed of, but our choices in life shape who we become, and whatever choices you made led you to become the Princess that's sitting with me today. I couldn't ask for anything more from you."

And with those words, Celestia knew that she was ready to tell Twilight everything. Ready to reveal the truth behind the alternate plane of existence she had taken Twilight to, to explain the magic that drives it. Ready to explain the temptation she had given into, how the desire to create a utopia had driven her further and further down a path that she almost didn't return from. Ready to tell the story of how she lost touch with reality, and how in her most desperate hour she made choices that almost resulted in the death of her sister.

It was going to be a long night.

Author's Note

Well, it's a start. For being my first submission to the site, I'm feeling pretty good about it. I realize not much has happened, but I'm at a great point to jump into the meat of the story in the next chapter. I do want to test the waters though, so I'm throwing out this introduction/prologue to see how people react, both to the story concept and my writing style. Hopefully I catch at least a few readers attention. I gladly welcome any comments anyone might have, I love hearing feedback about my work!

The Astral Plane

1,000 years ago...

Celestia knew she didn't have much time. She was running through the halls of her castle, regretting that she hadn't spent more time perfecting her teleportation spell. Her initial casting was crude, and although it managed to get her to the outer walls of the castle, it had taken too much strength for her to try and cast it again. Still, teleporting out of the Everfree Forest was a feat in and of itself, and she was thankful she had gotten as close as she had.

After what seemed like an eternity, Celestia finally reached her personal chambers. She locked the doors behind her, took a few moments to calm her thoughts, and starting to channel magic into the room. What no one other than herself and Luna knew was that this room was built on one of the most magically sensitive places in Equestria, which made it the perfect location to cross over to the other side. All Celestia had to do was continually channel her magic into the area around her, and eventually the magical density would reach a level much closer to that of the Astral Plane, and she would be able to cross over. It was a slow and delicate process, but thankfully she was much more adept at this than she was at teleporting.

As Celestia continued channeling, her thoughts turned to Starswirl. He had always seemed so level headed, and she almost couldn't believe what he was about to try. She cursed herself for ever telling him about the other side, and especially for showing him how to get there.

"How could I have been so foolish?" She wondered, realizing that it wouldn't be long now before the portal opened. "If only I hadn't been so busy overseeing the construction of this stupid castle... Everything seems so clear in hindsight; His obsession over magic, the constant creation of new spells, each more risky then the last, and especially the lack of attachments! With no friends or family to give him reason to stay, it's a miracle he didn't try this sooner. Was that his plan all along? Was he purposely avoiding others in his obsession over the powers he might wield? Aaaagh! What am I thinking? There's no way I could have known! It's not like I can see the future."

Celestia hung her head, feeling powerless against everything that the world was throwing at her. Other than the faint twinkle of her horn, the room was dead silent. Out of nowhere, however, the young princess's ears perked up.

"Unless... I suppose it wouldn't be impossible. If it works in one direction there's no reason it wouldn't work in the other. All I would need to do-" Celestia's thought's were suddenly interrupted as the room erupted into light. Looming in front of her was the portal. Immediately pulling herself out of her mental funk, she leaped forward into the Astral Plane.

Landing safely on the other side, she started looking around for any signs of activity. That's when she saw it; an ethereal glow off in the distance. Celestia knew without a doubt it was Starswirl, and started off in his direction. She wished she could have entered a little closer to him, but it was incredibly difficult to gauge distance in a dimension that operated on different base levels.

Running with everything she had, Celestia's mind started conjuring up images of all the pleasant times she had enjoyed with Starswirl. He had been such a close companion, even if he didn't realize it, and she knew that if he failed now he could very easily lose his life. Just thinking about it made Celestia push herself harder, past the point of reason, until her legs were screaming out at her to stop. She could feel the blood rushing to her head, signs that her body was about to give up under the stress of running in such a hostile environment, but she couldn't stop now, she was almost there.

Details of the scene surrounding Starswirl started to make themselves apparent. He had definitely brought his spellbook with him, he was likely planning to add to it once he had acquired his new powers. Celestia tried to see if he had brought anything else, but everything other than the book was obscured by the innumerable blinding lights that furiously spun around the magician, suspending him several feet in the air.

"Starswirl! You have to stop!" Celestia had finally gotten close enough to try and reason with him. "You're not ready! This place is going to reject you!"

Starswirl angrily glared at the princess, obviously annoyed that she had pursued him. "That's where you're wrong Celestia. This place that you so fear is going to be the first thing that won't! Ever since you told me about what I might accomplish, I've dreamed of nothing else! I've studied my craft for decades, unraveling the secrets of the world, all in preparation for this moment! I've traveled through time itself, there's no one alive that can boast such an achievement! And yet you have the nerve to tell me I'm not ready?"

The lights around Starswirl picked up their pace, and a deafening roar started to erupt from the tremendous amount of magic that now concentrated itself on him. Celestia feared that he might only be minutes away from losing control.

"Starswirl, please! I can't lose you!" Celestia found herself shouting just to be heard over the cacophony of sounds around her. "You're an incredible magician, yes, but you're so much more than that. I count you as one of my dearest friends, and if you keep going the magic here will destroy you! I CAN'T WATCH YOU DIE!!"

Celestia collapsed to her knees, her body finally starting to give out. Tears were streaming down her face as she tried to catch a glimpse of her friend through all the chaos.

"Do you remember what you told me about destiny, Celestia?" The volume of his voice surprised her; he was no doubt starting to make contact with the Astral Plane. "You told me that it was more powerful than I could have ever imagined, and I never understood what you meant. I always wondered what role I was going to play in the world, and here, on this plane, I finally see. These lights are beautiful Celestia, and they're meant for me. They shine with so much beauty and power, they look just like the stars. That's how I know I'm right to do this; these stars are mine, and as they swirl around me I finally see what I'm supposed to do!"

The lights accelerated once again, and the dull radiance they had been giving off suddenly intensified. Celestia strained her eyes, desperately trying to see Starswirl for what she thought would be the last time, and for one brief moment the lights parted. What she saw confirmed her worst fears; Starswirl's eyes were no longer visible, they had been glossed over by a magical light. By now he was completely connected to the magic of the Astral Plane, and there was nothing Celestia could do to reverse it. She watched in horrified awe as the orb of lights encapsulating him rose higher and higher, when a new noise began to pierce through the already deafening roar. For a moment she couldn't make it out, but when she realized what it was her face turned white with fear.

Starswirl was screaming in agony. His cries echoed through Celestia's head, amplifying the misery she had been enduring these last few minutes. Her mind was racing through all of her fondest memories she had shared with her bearded friend, and it felt as if each and every one was being torn in two by the sheer terror that Starswirl's shrieks contained. 'You could have stopped this!' His pain seemed to say, 'You had the chance but refused to act on it!' And in that moment, Celestia promised herself that she would never experience this again. She would do everything in her power to prevent such horrible things from happening, no matter the cost.

And as she silently made this promise to herself, the magical sphere above her dissipated with such force that it was more easily likened to an explosion of sheer magical power, the force of which was so powerful that it cast Celestia out of the Astral Plane and back to her chamber in Canterlot Castle. The explosion was so great that it easily overpowered what little strength she had left, and she began to succumb to unconsciousness. As her eyes grew weary and her vision started to blur, she saw that Starswirl had also been thrown back to the land of Equestria, but in much worse condition. She desperately hoped that she might see a sign of life before passing out, but it was not to be.

With her last thoughts, she admitted to herself that Starswirl the Bearded was dead. A tear slid down her cheek, and by the time it hit the floor, Celestia had lost consciousness.

----- Present Day -----

Celestia took a deep breath, hoping it would help calm her down. It had been just over a thousand years since she had last told anyone about the Astral Plane, and although she knew she could trust Twilight, her mind couldn't help but conjure up images of what had happened the last time. She shook her head slightly, trying to push those grim thoughts out of her head, and looked back to Twilight, who was patiently waiting for her lesson to begin.

"Well, I suppose it would be easiest to start with what exactly the Astral Plane is," Celestia told Twilight, who eagerly nodded in agreement. "In essence, it's another plane of existence, one that lies parallel to the one we currently inhabit. However, the inherent magic of this other world allows it to extend past the boundaries of the world we live in. In the Astral Plane, time is not linear, and to a certain extent doesn't even exist, at least not in the way we perceive it."

"I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you mean by that..." Twilight mumbled, almost a tad embarrassed at her relative ignorance of the subject. "Doesn't time have to be linear? I always assumed that's what allowed me to travel through time the way I did; I figured that the spell simply allowed me to backtrack through events that had already happened."

"Well, you're not technically wrong about that," Celestia said with a smile, taking care not to damage Twilight's academic pride. "In our world, time functions exactly like you explained, it is indeed very linear. However, a curious aspect about the Astral Plane is that, in many aspects, it encompasses our world, and from there it is possible to travel to any point in our history. This isn't without a cost though, the farther you wish to travel, the more energy you must expend. Imagine you wanted to leave this room and travel down the hallway. The farther you walk, the more energy you've used, and ultimately you'll find yourself farther away from where you started. The same concept can be applied to moving through time in the Astral Plane; so long as you have the capabilities and the energy, it's possible to travel farther and farther away from your current point in time."

Celestia took this moment to pause, ensuring that Twilight was still following everything that was being explained. As Celestia had expected, there were no further inquiries from her pupil, and she was glad that things were going as smoothly as they were. She hoped she could keep up this pace for the rest of the night, it would certainly lessen the amount of talking she would have to do.

"Another thing you'll need to know is that our two worlds are linked, and they they seem to thrive off one another." Celestia found herself pausing again, trying to find a way to simplify the complex relationship between the two dimensions. "Picture them as if... as if they both were different parts of a book. Our world is the actual story - it contains everything that happens, everything that has happened, and everything that will happen. The Astral Plane exists as the cover to the this story, it surrounds the entirety of it, and yet without the story it would have no purpose. If ever you visit the Astral Plane again, you'll notice that for all the powerful magic it contains, there is very little to do there other than look into our world, as if you were rapidly flipping through the pages of a book instead of taking the time to read it in its entirety. Our world is then allowed to flourish the way it does due to the influence of the magic that comes from the Astral Plane. Technically speaking, our world is naturally devoid of magic, and any that exists here is actually drawn from the other side. That being said, since the other side exists primarily as magic, our physical bodies work very differently over there. Our bodies aren't built to withstand the amount of magic contained in the Astral Plane, and so it's very dangerous to physically exert yourself while you're there."

Twilight took a few moments to ponder everything Celestia was telling her. It was a lot of information, but she was confident she could sort it all out.

"So, if all magic exists naturally over there, that means that whenever I cast a spell, I'm actually just channeling the energy from the Astral Plane to this world?" Twilight asked, starting to feel like she had a decent grasp of the material. "That would actually explain a few other questions I've had over the years"

"Oh?" Celestia wondered, prompting Twilight to explain.

"Well, for the longest time I assumed that whenever I used magic, I was creating it myself. In that regard, it made sense that the more I practiced it the better I got. However, I've always been curious about the little 'episode' I had just before I got my cutie mark at the entrance exam. It puzzled me that I could perform the feats of magic that I did without any semblance of control, but now it makes sense. If unicorns are able to channel magic into this world from the Astral Plane, it would logically follow that some would be more naturally attuned to it than others. With that in mind, I can see that, depending on how 'in-tune' a unicorn is, the magic from the other side might naturally flow through on its own accord, regardless of the unicorns wishes. My horn is essentially a gateway, isn't it?"

"I couldn't have explained it any better myself, Twilight. However, while unicorns are the only ones that can actively channel magic, it does exists in most of the creatures in Equestria. For instance, all pegasi have a natural concentration of magic in them, that's how they're able to walk on clouds. In fact, every pony that inhabits our plane of existence has their own unique magical imprint on the world around them, and most often one's cutie mark reflects that."

Twilight was starting to feel excited, giddy almost. She had only been expecting to learn about what her life as a princess would entail, and now suddenly Celestia was practically explaining the fabric of all existence to her! Her mind was racing as she wondered how many aspects of the world around her could be rationalized with this knowledge. Most prominently, she was thinking about cutie marks, due to Celestia having just mentioned them.

"Celestia, everything you've just told me about... It's destiny, isn't it?" Twilight's voice dropped in volume at the mention of destiny, almost as if she had surprised herself that she was in a position to comprehend the previously unapproachable concept.

"That's exactly what it is. Twilight. Other than myself, only a small handful of ponies know about the influence of the Astral Plane. However, its presence in this world is noticeable to everypony, and the idea of destiny is how most of them are able to comprehend its effects. When a filly discovers her cutie mark, she has in essence discovered how the magic in her own body interacts with the world around her. Often times, the simplest way to describe the magic of the universe is to compare it to music. We know that different notes can interact with each other in different ways, and we know that when multiple notes are correctly tuned, the resonance felt as a whole increases, as does the quality of the sound. In much the same way, the magic of our world is the most powerful when it lies in harmony with everything around it"

Twilight's ears perked up at the mention of harmony, and she instantly made the connection the Celestia was alluding to.

"The Elements of Harmony!"

Celestia found herself chuckling at Twilght's excitement. "That's right, they're very aptly named. They represent both magical harmony with the forces of the world around us, and the actual harmony that can be felt between ponies everywhere. The Elements are some of the most powerful magical artifacts that exist in our world, and utilizing them allows the user to safely channel extreme amounts of magic over from the Astral Plane."

"This is incredible! Just think of what I could learn with this knowledge!" At this point, Twilight had gotten up from her seat and was pacing back and forth. With every passing second, dozens of ideas popped into her head, along with hundreds more questions she wanted to ask Celestia. There was so much that could be done she almost had no idea where to start.

She finally found a question that she felt needed to be asked, and she looked over at Celestia only to find that she seemed a little shaken. Her normally calm and serene face was tainted with something Twilight couldn't quite identify. Sadness? Concern? Whatever it was, Twilight had to know; her other questions could wait.

"Celestia, is everything okay? You seem... troubled." She hesitated at the last word, almost not wanting it to be true.

"There's still more to tell you, Twilight, and the rest isn't going to be as exciting to hear." Celestia, who up until now had been staring off into the distance, looked straight at Twilight, who seemed shaken by the sudden turn of the conversation. "I imagine you're mind is racing with all sorts of new possibilities, but there's more you need to know. For as much as the Astral Plane does for our world, physical beings are not meant to live there. When you first met me on the other side, the magic there turned you into an alicorn, despite only being there for a few minutes. This happened because alicorns represent harmony in a way no other kind of creature does; they represent unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies coexisting. As I mentioned before, magic is most powerful when it harmonizes with the environment around it, but you're used to using magic in a world that, on its own, has none. The Astral Plane, being that it houses so much magic, naturally tries to change anything within it to a state that will resonate better with the surrounding world. And so, when you entered the Astral Plane, it changed your physical form into one that was more receptive to the inherent magic around you."

At this news, Twilight started to realize what Celestia was warning her about. She returned to a seated position and tried to explore how this changed her perspective on the Astral Plane.

"But that means... that means that if I return there again, the magic there will again attempt to change me. I understand that alicorns are more magically harmonious that unicorns, but what's more magical than an alicorn?" Twilight once again found herself completely lost, looking to Celestia for answers.

"Well, truthfully, there is no creature more magically potent than an alicorn, but that doesn't mean you won't experience more physical changes if you go back. Most notably, due to the way time works on the other side, repeated visits will extend your lifespan. Magic has no beginning and no end, and if you return the magic there will attempt to do the same to you. There are other, smaller differences as well. My mane, for instance, and that of my sisters, are changes the other side has made, as well as our slightly increased height."

Celestia stopped herself there. She was finally at the moment she had long feared. Up until now, everything had been fairly straightforward, it was mostly facts. If she were going to continue her explanation she would have to start giving Twilight context, and that could only come from her own personal experiences.

"There is another way that visiting the Astral Plane can change you, and I'm afraid it's much more unpleasant than everything else we've talked about. It's something that took me far too long to realize for myself, and my hope is that you'll be able to learn from my mistakes."

Celestia rose to her feet; the constant sitting had started to take its toll on her, and she wanted to stretch her legs. To be honest, even after the reassurance she had gotten from Twilight, she still feared that she would soon be losing the respect of her most faithful student. Her mindless pacing had brought her to the nearest window, and she found herslef glancing through it. Looking up at the sky, she saw that her sister had successfully ushered in another night, and she smiled to herself. She stared into the moon and started thinking back on memories that she wished weren't hers. Memories she was about to share with Twilight that would hopefully steer her away from making mistakes that had already been made, mistakes that had been too costly for Celestia to ever let them happen again.

"If you keep going the magic here will destroy you! I CAN'T WATCH YOU DIE!!"

Celestia cringed to herself. Her own words from all that time ago echoed in her head, and remembering them made her feel just as powerless as she had back when they were said. She still had nightmares about what had happened, only now she had to face them without the aid of Luna, who too often had to help Celestia battle her own inner demons while she slept.

"Princess?" Twilight found that Celestia's silence was getting to be a little unsettling, and she wished there was something she could do. "If you'd rather not talk about it, I completely understand. I don't want to make you uncomfortable"

"That wouldn't do either of us any good, Twilight. You need to hear this, to learn from what I've done. And..." Celestia found herself biting her lower lip, nervous to lower her guard to somepony other than her sister. "I... I think I need to tell you for myself as well. I've never really told anyone these things before, and I'd appreciate it greatly if you heard me out."

Twilight tried her best to give Celestia the most reassuring smile she could, but she doubted her ability to do so. Still, if her mentor wanted her to listen, then she would do just that. It pained her to see Celestia, who was normally such a calm and peaceful pony, in such a state. When Twilight looked into her eyes, she saw for the first time just how many years of experience were held within. Twilight had never thought of her as old, but she very rarely stopped to think of how much she must have seen in all her years as Princess.

"I'd gladly listen to anything you wanted me to hear. And if you think it'll help, than there's nothing else I'd rather be doing right now."

Twilight's words emboldened Celestia, and gave her the strength to start her story. She only hoped she would be able to keep herself together long enough to get through the whole thing.

"It all started a little over a thousand years ago, shortly after Luna and I had taken the throne..."

Author's Note

All finished! I'm incredibly happy with how this chapter turned out. Since the first chapter was mainly just setting the stage, I really wanted this one to start to explore my ideas, and I think I accomplished that. The Astral Plane plays a huge role in the story I want to tell, and I wanted to make sure that I properly portrayed how I think it works.

I was initially a little worried that it might be some massive wall of dialogue and exposition, but I think I avoided that by adding in the beginning segment with Starswirl. I've hinted at some other big ideas in that section, and hopefully I've successfully grabbed your curiosity. As always, comments are super awesome, I love feedback! And thanks to those of you that had enough faith in the first chapter to favorite the story, hopefully I've kept your interest with this installment!