Echoes of the Past

Luna and I Returned to Celestia's bedroom to possibly find any more information we could use. The sun was just beginning to set. I was watching Celestia's phoenix flutter around her cage and Luna was reading more of her sister's diary when there was a knock on the door. Luna answered with a calm come in. A royal guard opened the door.

"Princess Luna, there is a mare who requests your presence. She says she was a student of Princess Celestia. Would you like see her?" The guard said in his emotionless tone.

"Yes, I would like to see her. Send the mare in." Luna said smoothly, without turning around

There was a series of clopping and eventually a door slamming shut. The princess sighed "Hello Twilight Sparkle. I knew you would be the first one who wanted to see me."

Luna turned around. It was indeed Twilight Sparkle. Her eyes have clearly been crying, tears of sorrow and confusion. Twilight opened her mouth, with a pause she spoke "How... could this be? How can... this be happening? She was my teacher. I was her student." The unicorn began to cry again "She was my Idol since I was a filly. I would not be were I am if it wasn't for her." Tears were once more rolling down the mare's face.

The sapphire pony took a deep breath "Twilight Sparkle I am sorry that some things that you believed about Princess Celestia were wrong. I do apologize that you could not find out about this earlier. I regret to inform you that my sister has indeed been plotting to get rid of Earth ponies for a long time. But that is in the past we must move on. I have managed to save Equestria but now you must manage to save your self. I know, the one pony who was most important in your life, the one pony you loved most in this world, the one pony who is not who you thought she was, now gone forever. This is hard for you but you must move on. Don't let this be your downfall. Don't treat this as the end. Don't give up. You have so much potential, you must not let it be thrown away.

The Unicorn look into Luna's eyes "Princess Celestia was planning exterminate all the Earth ponies. What did she plan for me? Did she want me to become an evil witch? Did she want me to murder Earth ponies, murder my friends?"

Luna answered "I know my sister more than any other pony. I may not have any proof of her plans with you. But I think that Celestia intentions for you did not involve murder. She wanted you to learn more about magic and friendship nothing more. She would never tell you what you should do with your talent."

Twilight began "Your right I must move on. But... what am I going to do now? I don't have a teacher. I won't be writing any more letters about what I've learned. With nopony to guide me, I'm... lost."

Princess Luna was puzzled. She said to the unicorn "You're a smart girl, can't you see a solution? I can be you teacher. I will guide you. You can write your letters about friendship to me. I will allow you to continue your studies."

Twilight sniffed "I didn't think of that. Could you really pick up were Celestia left off? Could your really be my mentor?"

Luna said with confidence "Yes I can. I have learned many things from watching my sister, especially when she does not know I'm watching her. Its time for me to step into her horseshoes. It's time for me to take charge. If I become your teacher it will help me more than you think. It will help me become the liked, respected, and honored Princess that Celestia used to be. If I am your teacher it will let ponies know that I am not here to bring treachery. I am here to live up to what Princess Celestia has promised them. So Twilight I ask you, will you be my apprentice? Will you show Equestria who I really am. Will you help me prove once and for all that I have returned to do good and not evil?"

Twilight Sparkle stopped crying. She looked hard into the Princess's eyes "This is the best solution to my problem. I will be your student. I do hope your right. I do hope you are a good teacher."

There was a long pause. The unicorn eventually said "Well I better get going. There has to be many important things that you have to do." She turned around headed toward the door.

"Wait! There's one more thing." Luna suddenly said. Twilight in surprise stopped and yet again faced the Princess. The Mare of the Moon continued "Before you go I want to give you your first assignment" She held up the red book.

It was same book that Celestia showed us when we entered her room for the first time that day. Only recently have I gotten a close look at it. It appeared to be a rather plan looking book. There seemed to be nothing special about it. I had a hard cover a simple red. It was a regular size however it was very thick. But I knew there was something quite sinister about it. First this book did not have a title nor an author. The writing of the pages were small and took up every inch of space on each page. To me It was one those books that would be really boring to read. There was only one thing that really set the book apart from all the others. Only one thing that made the book recognizable. There was a picture on the front. The only image of the whole book. The red cover of the book bore a black Swastika.

Luna said to the unicorn with great importance "My first assignment for you is I want you to take this book."

Twilight Sparkle looked confused "A book? Why do you me to have that?"

"This in no ordinary book. It is nothing I have ever seen before. I don't know what it is or were it came from. But that does not matter. What I do know is that this book is the source of the evil. This was what gave Princess Celestia her terrible ideas. This is what made her want to get rid of Earth ponies. So in an effort to prevent anything like this from happening again I am giving the book to you"

"Can't you just burn it? Destroy that book so nopony can ever read it again."

"Actually no I can't'. This is one of the reasons that make this book very unique. I don't why or how but this book can not be destroyed or damaged. If it is lost it will be found again. Twilight I want you to keep this book safe. I want you to keep it hidden from the rest of Equestria.

"Couldn't you just put the book into the Canterlot vaults? It would be much harder to be stolen if it was in there."

"Yes, the book would be well protected from theft in the vaults. But I do not want this book to be sought after. Nopony should know that this book even exists. I want to keep it that way. Twilight, you live in a library surely you know many good places to hide a book. Can you do this for me? Will you take this book out of Canterlot? Can you keep this book a secret?"

Twilight Sparkle's eyes no longer showed any signs of crying. She said to Luna "Yes. Yes I will. I will hide this book from the rest of Equestria." She grabbed the book with her horn and placed it into her saddle bag. "I take it you don't want me to read this."

Luna Responded "Well that is up to you. It's your choice if you read that book or not. But either way be very careful with it."

The unicorn nodded and said "I see. Now I really should leave you alone. I bet you have plenty of other important things to do."

Twilight Sparkle turned around and trotted to the door. Before reaching it she stopped and looked at me. At that time I was by instinct standing in shadows. She asked me "You're the one who has been sneaking into my library aren't you?"

"Yup, that's me" I wouldn't deny it. I've been in that library many times after it was closed to get some quick information. I did not actually take anything from there. I've never been caught there but I figured that she found out some proof that somepony has been creeping around her bookshelves at night. But I was puzzled how that unicorn narrowed it down to me.

Twilight continued. "How about you stop by my library sometime? Instead of reading a book how about we chat and learn a thing or two about each other?" She left the room without waiting for my answer.

That really intrigued me. Not by what she said or how she said it but the expression on her face. There was something about it that made her request so interesting. What was her request anyway? An invitation no doubt, but to what? Did she want to find out more about me? Did she want to find out more about Luna or Celestia? Did she want to know more about what happened for past few days? Or did she just want to my friend. Well it looks like I will have to go to find out. Now was not the right time. I should at least let the dust settle before I do anything like this. But I could all ready feel that my curiosity will get the best of me again and I will go too early.

This whole time Luna was giving me a confused look. The Princess asked me "You sneak into her library at night just to read a book?"

"Well were else can you get information at midnight?" I said in my defense. Princess Luna laughed and tougher we watched the rest of the sunset.

Shortly after Twilight left we were able to find out the origin of the red book. In one of her first entries that was written before the humans were eradicated Celestia wrote:

“Sometimes you discover your purpose in life on the saddest occasions. My mothers funeral was that occasion. I was digging my mothers grave when I found it. A red book that was buried six feet under. This is no coincidence. This is my destiny. My mother wanted me find this book. She wanted me to grant her final wish. We are the dominant species. We deserve better. It is up to me to save us ponies from the humans. With this red book as my guide and my mother on my side I will lead Equestria to it's true potential.”