Twilight opened her eyes, lifting herself slowly from the ground and her eyes scanning the area around her. The last thing she remembered was being struck by the elements of Harmony, feeling power flood her body before the world had gone white. Now she was here, in this strange place, her entire body feeling sore as she stood, stretching her wings with not so much as a second thought. “Wait…WINGS!” she yelled, turning around to see a pair of wings clamped comfortably to her sides.

She didn’t have time to look over her wings though, for just as she noticed them a voice rang out over the landscape, and she spotted a figure walking toward her. But when the figure approached her jaw dropped open, for it was none other than a Star Swirl the Bearded.

“I can’t believe it Philomena, the stars words are true, she is here.”

She watched as he approached, spotting a phoenix on his shoulder as he bowed low to her. “Your highness, it is an honor to be graced with your presence, my name is…”

“Star Swirl,” said Twilight, catching the pony off guard.

“You…you know of me?”

“Know of you, I don’t think there is a single pony who doesn’t know of you. Your knowledge on pony magic has helped shape how we teach ponies about themselves, and my own teachers lessons were ones she had learned from you.”

Star Swirl stared at her for a moment, and then smiled, surprising her with what he said next. “So the stars were right about that as well, you are from the future.”

Twilight gave him a look, which caused him to laugh out loud. “I am sorry; I get that reaction a lot when I talk like that. My special talent is being able to converse with the stars themselves, and over my life they have shared many secrets with me. But enough about that, we must get you to the palace princess.”

Star Swirl turned to go, but was stopped when Twilight placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Um Star Swirl, I don’t know what the stars told you, but I’m not a princess.”

“What, but the stars said…ok just wait a moment.” He turned around and looked up at the stars, his eyes sparkling as he began to talk to the biggest star in the sky. “You, yeah you North Star, don’t you wink at me young lady I know your mother. You told me that this mare here-” he pointed at Twilight, “-was a princess, mind telling me why she says she isn’t.”

To Twilights surprise the star he was talking to began to blink and flash, making chime like noises as it spoke to him. “What do you mean she was sent to the past before she got crowned, I thought you said your little friends had everything handled?”

The star blinked again, and Star Swirl got really irritated by its response. “They goofed up, what do you mean they goofed up.”

The star gave another flash and Star Swirl facehoofed, groaning loudly in frustration. “They teleported her here before the bucking coronation, by my wife’s gems this cannot be happening.” He then turned to Twilight, looking at her with a question look. “Ok, were just going to need to create a cover for you then, and hide your wings till sometime in the future. Now we need a name for you, any suggestions bright eyes,” he said, staring up at the North Star with a smug look.

The star blinked once, and then flashed two times, causing Star Swirl to smile. “Well it is an unusual name, but I think it will work for her. Ok-” he said, turning to Twilight, “you’ll be under the name Clover the Clever for now, at least till such a time as we can reveal your true self, now hold still, this will tingle a bit.”

Before Twilight could react to what he had just said, Star Swirl’s horn lit up, causing a bright flash of light and a minor tingling sensation. After the flash was over, Twilight looked over herself, seeing that her wings had been hidden and she was her old self again. Still then she thought of the name he had given her, and her mind halted on it, allowing it to circle a bit while she processed this news.

“He didn’t even react as though there was another mare named Clover, does…does that mean that I’m the real Clover the Clever. But that doesn’t make sense, she was a unicorn, not an alicorn in disguise, how the hay am I supposed to be Clover the Clever!”

“You coming?”

Twilight was shaken out of her thoughts by the question, nodding her head and falling into stride beside him as he threw a cloak over her. “Okay, now here is how things are going to go. I will be introducing you as my personal student, which will probably raise suspicions due to my having never taking a student before. Now I will also need to teach you about what’s going on, I know you probably know a lot from history books but nothing beats up to date knowledge.”

They continued along the road, occasionally running into a pony or two but keeping quiet, till they finally reached the edge of a large town. They walked past some guards, who bowed to Star Swirl before returning to their posts. They kept moving, heading over to the palace in the distance while they talked.

“Make sure you are respectful, I don’t know about royalty of you time, but her majesty is very stressed due to all that has been happening of late.”

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but stopped as they reached the gates, the guards their allowing them passage as they headed up the steps, walking through the halls before reaching the door’s to the throne room, Star Swirl whispering to a pony who nodded, opening the doors and then announcing their arrival.

“Presenting her majesties royal consort Star Swirl the Bearded, and his apprentice, the lady Clover the Clever.”

Author's Note

The first chapter in Celestial Mother book one, hope you all enjoy. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to drop them on by.