The Break of Dawn

~~~~~Meanwhile in the Crystal Empire train station, the day after Twilight’s return from the portal~~~~~

“Why do you have to go so soon Twily?” Shining asked while he ruffled his LSBFF’s hair.

“I wish I could stay longer, but Princess Celestia said I need to do the final part of the ceremony,” Said Twilight as she hugged her BBBFF, “The ponies might recognize me as their princess but Equestria does not.”

“I hope it works out alright Twilight!” Said Cadence, “Though I wish that Shining and I could attend, but we have some royal business to attend to.” Cadence added sadly.

“I wish for the same, but sadly not all wishes come true.” Twilight replied.

“ALL ABOARD!” The conductor yelled, signaling Twilight and her friends to board the train.

“Bye Shining! Bye Cadence!” They all said in union as the train picked up speed.

“Bye!” They both said in return.

“I miss her already” Shining said.

Just as Cadence was going to reply, a letter appeared out of nowhere. Cautiously they opened it and it exploded in a burst of confetti as a lone piece of paper fell to the floor. Shining caught the paper is his magical aura and brought it up to his face to read it, it said:

I miss you too BBBFF but we will be back before you know it, I promise.

Love,

Your LSBFF and friends

P.S. The confetti was my idea – Pinkie

“Pinkie.” They both said as they read the last part, smiling at the young mare’s randomness.

~~~~~On the train to Canterlot~~~~~

Twilight and her friends were all sitting down on the royal car of the train to Canterlot, discussing about the world to where the portal lead to.

“So let me get this straight.” Rarity started, “In the portal, there are pon-people who have the same name, personality and interests as us?”

“Don’t forget about the looks, they all had the same coat color and mane as you guys do.” Twilight replied.

The 6 ponies thought for a moment in silence, until. . .

“So was I as awesome in that world as I am here?” Asked Rainbow Dash.

“Was I wearing something fashionable, because I will love to get the designs later” asked Rarity while she stared off into the corner thinking.

“Did I have an apple farm back there?” Applejack asked.

“Were there other animals over there?” Fluttershy asked, her eyes sparkling with eagerness.

“Was Pinkie 2 as fun as I am? Or am I Pinkie 2? I wonder if I could meet her, she would know who Pinkie 2 is. What flavor cake does she like? Is it strawberry because I LOVE strawberry! I wonder if she likes pink? Is she as fun as I am? Why is the author making me talk so much? Pinkie exclaimed while jumping around the room as usual.

The last remark made all of her friends stare at her with looks of confusion.

“Whatever do you mean darling?” Rarity asked.

‘Quiet Pinkie, you almost blew my cover!’

“Nothing.” Pinkie said as she winked at nothing in particular.

The five other friends ignored her erratic behavior, remembering the last time somepony tried to question Pinkie’s randomness. Let’s just say it ended with a hungry hydra chasing them as well as a unicorn bursting into flames.

“Yes, yes, yes, yes and I didn't catch all of your questions Pinkie, but I guess it is safe to assume that you both are very similar” Replied Twilight.

“Awesome!” Said Rainbow as she pumped her hoof in the air, “By the way, if you ever need somepony to help you getting those wings flapping, I’m always happy to help!”

“Thanks for the offer, I’ll be sure to stop by anytime I can” Replied Twilight

The train’s whistle sounded as the conductor told the ponies that they are arriving Canterlot soon. A few minutes later, the train screeched to a stop and the ponies began to disembark and retrieve their luggage from the bag-carrier.

As the six friends took their suitcases as well as the mountain of luggage, now carried by spike, as they began to marvel at the sight of the royal city.

“Canterlot is by far one of the most magical places in Equestria, apart from the Crystal Empire of course.” Rarity said as she eyed some mannequins on display of a clothing store.

“Meh, Cloudsdale is waaay better than this place,” Replied Rainbow as she flew over the group, “I mean Cloudsdale is a floating city, what’s cooler than a floating city!”

“How about cake!” Replied Pinkie, Jumping around, oblivious to the awkward stares directed at her by the snobbish nobles, “ooh ooh, how bout cupcakes! Or milkshakes? Maybe choco-“was all she got to say before Rainbow stuffed her hoof into her mouth.

“Ok ok I get it, there are a few things cooler than Cloudsdale,” huffed Rainbow, “now could you please be quiet, at least until we reach the castle?”

Pinkie, who still had a hoof in her mouth, nodded once in acknowledgement.

For the rest of the Journey, no pony said a word until they reached their respective rooms where they bode each other goodnight and went off to sleep in Luna’s beautiful night.

Twilight went into her bed, said goodnight to Spike and began to wander into the bliss of sleep.

~~~~~In the morning~~~~~

Twilight woke up early in the morning, she rose off the bed and went to check the time.

7:55 AM it read, ‘Hmm, 5 minutes early, I can take a 5 minute longer shower’ she said to herself as she went into the washroom to freshen up before breakfast.

As she exited the shower, she began to ponder about being an alicorn. She knew that alicorns were immortal, however she was not sure if the rules would take effect on her since she was not an alicorn from birth but just a unicorn. She pushed those thoughts out of her mind as she decided to wake Spike up.

“Spike, wake up. Its morning” Twilight said gently.

“5 more minutes, Twilight” Spike mumbled back as he shifted to a different sleeping position.

Twilight, with a little less patience this time she replied “But Spike, the princess and our friends are probably waiting for us down there!”

No response, “Well, you brought this upon yourself” she said as she charged up her horn, Spike was enveloped in a lavender aura and began to rise off the bed. Twilight’s smiled mischievously as she began to shake spike, waking him up in an instant.

“Who, what, where how!” he stammered out, but as he realized what happened, he began to walk back to his bed only to be stopped by an impatient Twilight. “Bathroom. Now.” She said, staring down the dragon, Spike gulped as he backed away and began to waddle to the bathroom.

10 minutes later, a sleepy yet fresh Spike exited the bathroom and the two began to head for the dining room. At the door, Twilight said “Ok spike, stand up straight, smile and walk proudly.” Twilight said while fixing Spike’s posture with her magic, “I don’t want to look like you are slacking, because if you do then she might think I am slacking! And I really do not want to be a slacker!”

“Relax Twilight, the princess knows that you are one of the last people to be tardy,” Spike replied reassuringly, “At least second to Time Turner, I mean that guy checks when he wakes up and then he plans his shower accordingly. I mean who does that!” Spike added, not noticing Twilights sheepish smile.

Twilight sighed and replied, “You’re right Spike I am overreacting a bit,” She looked at the door as she heard Spikes belly grumble, “well I guess — somepony is hungry!” she said between giggles. “Let’s get something to eat!”

She opened the door and immediately noticed that Celestia had just sat down onto her seat, they both began to walk to their respective seats and greeted the solar princess.

“Morning Princess Celestia” they both said along with a bow.

“Twilight, you are also a princess now, just call me Celestia and neither of you have to bow to me” Celestia replied kindly.

Twilight smiled sheepishly and said “Old habits die hard, sorry prin- I mean Celestia!”

“It’s quite alright, take a seat and get some breakfast” Celestia said as she ordered an omelet along with a slice of cake.

“I’ll have a crepe along with a glass of orange juice” Twilight told the chef. Something she never understood was how Celestia managed to stay so slim even though she ate cake every meal, she would have to ask her later but for now she dismissed it as part of an alicorns metabolism.

“So Twilight, you are probably wondering what this final ceremony involves? And before you ask, Luna will be joining us shortly” Celestia started as she began to eat her breakfast.

“Please do tell, will I have to take a test? Does it involve flying? Because I am still learning how to hover properly? Will I-“Twilight started but was cut off as Celestia raised her hoof to silence her.

“No, this ceremony will not test you in any way.” Upon hearing this, Twilight gave a sigh of relief she has been holding up for the past few days. “This ceremony will only require you to cast as much pure magic as you can muster into a very special artifact” Celestia continued.

“What is this ‘artifact’, and how will it make me a princess of Equestria?” Twilight asked, her eyes sparkling with eagerness to learn.

“Explaining the means of how the artifact works will take well over the amount of time we have until the ceremony,” Celestia replied, upon hearing this Twilight’s ears dropped down slightly, this did not go unnoticed by Celestia, “but I will be happy to discuss it later when we have more time on our hooves.”

Twilight perked up her head slightly and asked, “What about the artifact, what is its name? How does it look like?”

“You will find out in short notice,” Celestia replied. Changing the subject she asked, “Do you have any questions not regarding the ceremony?”

“Yes, one actually” Twilight replied, “Since I am an alicorn now, am I immortal?”

Celestia did not expect Twilight to ask this question this early, but she had to somehow break the news to her. “When I gave you your wings I made you into a full alicorn, which means yes you are immortal.”

Twilight began to ponder and suddenly it hit her, “Will I outlive my friends?” She asked wearily.

There was a prolonged pause which lasted for 2 minutes until Celestia said “Yes, you will outlive your friends,” Twilight was about to retort but Celestia beat her to it, “The only reason I did it was because I had to, Me and my sister will not be here forever I’m afraid”

This took Twilight by shock, she will outlive her friends and her mentor said she would probably not live forever, she was an alicorn and she could not die!

“But I thought you were immortal!”

“All alicorns are immortal, we cannot age or obtain diseases, but however we can get injured.” Celestia continued, “If anything happens, my sister and I would be the primary targets, so we need somepony to take on our rule or else Equestria will fall into a state on anarchy and disorder.”

Twilight sat in seat, letting all of the information sink in until finally, “I’ll do it, I’ll take the throne if anything happens.”

Celestia couldn’t be more proud of Twilight, she just made a decision that would change her life forever and she accepted it, she did it for the greater good, for Equestria. “Thank you Twilight, I know you would make a fine ruler one day”

“And to add to make you feel better about being immortal” Celestia added, “Spike is also immortal”

This caught both Spike and Twilight by surprise.

“How” Twilight asked.

“Spike comes from a very special dragon species, Draconius Immortali” Celestia said.

“The Immortal Dragon,” Twilight said barely audible as she looked ad Spike, “I thought they were extinct, how are you so sure?”

“Let me ask Spike a few questions, if they match, then he is as I presume” Celestia said.

“First question, Spike, are you shorter than dragons your age?” Celestia asked turning her attention to Spike who was eating gem cereal.

“Umm, when I went to the dragon volcano, the other dragons that were only a few years older than me were a lot taller than me. In fact they some were over 5 times my size!” Spike replied, excited that his short stature might actually be a normal.

“Second question, where are your wings?”

“I never had any, though I do have very small sharp nails on my back. I think those are supposed to be the claws on my wings” Spike replied.

“Last question, how old were you when you could breathe fire” Celestia said, smirking as the answers supported her theory completely.

“Well, I am not sure but the earliest I could remember was when my memories started, Twilight, was I able to breathe fire even when I just hatched?”

“I remember, when you hatched you set one of the exam judge’s toupee on fire!” Twilight giggled reminiscing the memory.

“Those are all characteristics of Draconius Immortali, there is no doubt about it!” Celestia concluded.

Spike could not believe it, He only heard myths about dragons like himself from the elders at the volcano. Draconius Immortali are supposed to be the most fearsome, wise, powerful, and influential dragons in all of Equestria! And he was going to spend forever with his older sister, Twilight. Even though she can be annoying at times, he loves her more than anything, apart from Rarity of course.

“Well, I guess we are stuck with each other forever” Spike said to Twilight.

“Thankfully yes, I could not bear to imagine what I would do without you, LBBFF!” Twilight said, giving Spike a hug.

“Am I really your LBBFF?” Asked Spike, tears forming in his ears.

“Of course Spike, you have been with me in the hardest of times and helped me when I needed it. Thank you Spike” Twilight said.

Celestia has been watching their bonding session with a single tear falling from her eyes, it reminded her of how she and Luna had been with each other whenever they needed each other.

The doors creaked open as Luna walked in, she noticed Twilight and Spike hugging and she looked at Celestia asking for an explanation.

‘Later’ Celestia told her telepathically.

‘Ok, but don’t leave out any details” Luna replied through the same method.

It took barely 2 seconds for Twilight to notice Luna behind them, she looked up and said “Good Morning Luna! We were just waiting for you”.

Just as Luna was about to reply Spike also added “Last night was beautiful Princess, also guess what! I found out that I am a Draconius Immortali!”

Luna smiled at the young drake’s enthusiasm, she was elated that somepony had commented on her work last night. She had rearranged the stars to add a new constellation in honor of Twilight. She replied “Thank you Spike and congratulations on thy- I mean your discovery!”

She turned to Twilight and said, “Sorry I was late, I ran into Blueblood who asked for a raise in pay. Well he sort of demanded for a raise,”

“Did he get what he wanted?” Celestia asked with a hint of annoyance towards her nephew.

“No, I teleported away so he couldn’t take me to court for breaking his ego along with half the bones in his legs, not that he would win anything but it would save a lot of hassle.” Luna said smirking at the last comment.

They all laughed at Blueblood’s expense. “How have you been Twilight?” Luna asked.

“Oh, I’ve been” Twilight paused, “I’ve been fine” She continued with a hint of despair in her voice.

“Tell me what bothers you my little pony?” Luna asked.

“I just figured out that I would outlive almost all of my friends” Twilight said at the verge of tears.

“Ah, the curse of immortality as some may call it” Luna said trying to think of something to say to brighten the young alicorn

“Look at the benefits, you can learn as much as you can, time would never slow you down!” Luna said.

“I would like it if my friends were with me so I could share my knowledge” Twilight replied sadly.

“You could make new friends and honor the ones who have passed,” Celestia intervened, “That is what me and my sister have done ever since I could remember”

Twilight seemed slightly less depressed at this statement. It was nearing 9:30, the ceremony begin in 30 minutes.

They all finished up quickly and began to head to the balcony which is where the final ceremony will take place.

Twilight's friends were already there waiting for them at the entrance, all wearing the dresses they wore for the coronation. Rarity seemed a bit annoyed at this, she never believed that you could wear the same dress twice in the same week.

“What took you guys so long?” Rainbow started, “We have been waiting for FIVE minu – ouch Applejack!” Rainbow continued as Applejack nudged her in the side ti stop her from talking.

“Sorry we had a little discussion earlier,” Celestia said, eyeing Twilight and Spike from the corner of her eye, “but we got it all settled out in the end”

“Let us begin!” Luna exclaimed!

The guards on each side of the door leading to the balcony stepped aside and opened the doors. In the center of the balcony, there was a lone rusting goblet in the center and Celestia and Luna stood next to each handle. They looked down to the citizen of Canterlot, who were all standing in the castle grounds.

“BY NOW ALL OF YOU KNOW YOUNG PRINCESS TWILIGHT” They both shouted in their Royal Canterlot Voice.

“HOWEVER, FOR HER TO TRULY BECOME THE NEWEST PRINCESS OF EQUESTRIA, WHE NEED TO LET THE MAGIC OF EQUESTRIA REACH OUT TO HER AND MAKE HER ONE WITH THE LAND” They both said as they signaled Twilight to step forward, departing from her friends she did as told.

“TWILIGHT, WHEN YOU ACTIVATE THE GOBLET, YOU WILL GET ONE WISH. ONE WISH THAT WILL COME TRUE AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT TELL ANYPONY WAT YOU WISHED FOR AND AS LONG AS IT BENEFITS EQUESTRIA AS A WHOLE” The sisters said.

They both charged up their horns and shot an intense beam of gold and blue magic at the goblet, instantly the goblet began to shine brighter than the sun would on a hot summer day.

They signaled twilight to give her contribution. She charged up her horn and shot the most magic she ever released. As she did so the rust and cracks on the goblet began to disappear and began to shake vigorously.

With the magic of all Three Alicorns, the goblet shot out a massive beam aiming for the sky. The crowed oohed and aahed at the lightshow that is until the beam hit something in the sky.

They began to cry in panic when they realized that the object falling form the sky was a smoking pony.

~~~~~In the Balcony~~~~~

All 5 mares and Spike were looking aghast at the pony who was falling from a height of at least half a kilometer!

Rainbow Dash got to her senses and began to chase the pony, as soon as she got close enough she began to yell “Never fear your friendly neighborhood Dash is here!”

The pony took notice and began to panic, then it all happened to fast for anyone to comprehend. Rainbow suddenly stopped with a painful crunch and the pony clapped his wings together to stop spinning. And then there were two, at least until Rainbow regained consciousness and began to speed towards him again.

She saw that there was no hope of catching up to him and he was headed for the Everfree forest. She noted where he landed and flew back to Canterlot.

~~~~~Back at the Balcony~~~~~

The alicorns all recovered from magical overexertion and the 4 mares filled them in with what happened while they were out. A Rainbow streak entered the balcony as Rainbow landed.

“I couldn’t make it,” Rainbow said morosely.

“Is the pony” Fluttershy paused, “dead?”

“I don’t think so” Rainbow said a hint of hope in her voice, “He landed in the Everfree forest, the foliage should have muffled his fall. But I doubt he will be in any position to get out of there himself”

“Do – you know – where he – landed” Celestia said between breaths.

“He landed around one mile southwest of Fluttershy’s cottage” Rainbow said, “I could have made it but I hit a solid wall of air! I don’t know how but it was just air” Rainbow added emphasizing the impossibility of crashing into air.

“Umm girls…” Fluttershy tried to say but was interrupted by Luna.

“Hmm, it could have been a ward spell,” Luna added.

“Umm girls, I really think…” Fluttershy tried to say but was interrupted, yet again, by Celestia this time.

“But it would require a very skilled unicorn to cast such a spell at a target moving that fast” Celestia added.

“But somepony placed a ward spell on him, how did Rainbow break it with one hit?” Twilight added, “If he was that skilled to place a ward on the falling pony, he surely would be able to maintain it for a few good hits” but before anyone could say anything else

“GIRLS!” Fluttershy yelled breathing heavily, but she began to cower at everyponies gazes.

“If you got something to say dear, then please do tell” Rarity said.

“Umm if he really did survive that fall, shouldn’t we be searching for him before it is too late?”

Celestia automatically placed her hoof on her face for being so ignorant, “Thank you Fluttershy, I will send a squad of my best guards to find and retrieve him”

“Why do we need to send a whole squad, two will do fine in a search and retrieve mission.” Luna said.

“Because he landed deep into the Everfree forest, in case there is any trouble we will be prepared” Celestia said. “Captain Steelhoof, you and your squad are to head into the Everfree forest to search for a pony who crash landed a mile southwest of the cottage near Ponyville.” Celestia said to one of the guards guarding the door.

“On it your highness” he replied as he teleported away.

“Let’s hope we are not too late” Twilight added as guilt tugged at her stomach. This was all her fault, her fault that a pony was in the forest, clinging onto his life on a thread.