Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Twilight’s hoofsteps echoed through the large hallways of the castle. Her stride was at a slow and calm pace, but this was not reflecting what the thoughts in her mind. The new alicorn was anxious and curious. Why was she summoned to Canterlot to have a private audience with Princess Celestia this evening? Had she done something unprincess-like? Was it due to a lack letters on the topic of friendship that Twilight had not sent? Or did it have something to do with Princess Twilight Sparkle choosing to take residence in Ponyville and not in location more fitting for royalty? These thoughts, among a thousand more, plagued the purple pony as she trotted through the vacant castle.
The guardpony had given her directions of where to find Princess Celestia. At the observatory, she was told, a place she was all too familiar with. The echo of her hoofsteps was the only sound that she could hear as she thought back to her days as Celestia’s star pupil. While staying in the castle as a student, Twilight would often wander out of her quarters to find the castle’s library to read more. One particular evening, the little filly got lost among the maze of hallways and found her way to a strange part of the castle with a door that read ‘Star Room’. Opening the door carefully, she found the princess seated on a balcony, observing the stars through a telescope. Celestia welcomed Twilight into the room and explained that she was observing the stars and other heavenly bodies of the night sky. From that night onward, the two would often be found together, studying the night sky and cataloging their findings.
A little smile appeared on Twilight’s face as she thought about all of the time that they spent together watching the heavens. It was something she would never trade for all of Equestria. Almost getting completely lost in her thoughts, Twilight noticed the familiar door. It still read ‘Star Room’, just as it did years before. Carefully pushing the door open, Twilight entered.
As the door gently opened, the circular room looked untouched by time. The room’s high ceiling still had the beautiful mural of Celestia raising the sun and Luna lowering the moon over the land of Equestria. The walls of shelves were still stuffed to the brim with books about astronomy, star charts, and so much more. The seats in the center of the area still enclosed the table that held many star charts. At the opposite side of the room was Princess Celestia on the balcony, looking through the telescope at the clear night sky. The white alicorn turned to see the pony standing in the doorway.
With a smile, she greeted her student, “Hello, Princess Twilight. Please, come in.”
Twilight did as she was instructed. She closed the door behind her and trotted into the room. A wave of nostalgia hit her as she trotted in the room: the laughter they had, the learning they experienced, and the love they shared.
“Is something the matter, Princess? It’s highly unusual to summon anypony for an audience at this hour,” Twilight spoke.
Turning her attention away from the telescope, Celestia trotted forward to her student, “It’s nothing serious. Rather, I wished to speak with you about something of importance.”
“Am….Am I in trouble?” the purple pony asked, worried about getting scolded.
A soft chuckle escaped from Celestia’s mouth, “No, no. Far from it, actually.”
Twilight was visibly relieved to hear that, “Oh, thank goodness.”
The content expression on the white princess disappeared. Trotting up to a shelf of books, Celestia observed the title of the books as she spoke, “Twilight, do you know the old nursery rhyme ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?’”
Almost snorting, Twilight replied with amusement, “Of course! Every little filly knows that song.” She started to sing part of the rhyme, “Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are.”
“Well, tell me, what do you know the movement of the sun, the moon, and the stars?”
“First, both you and Luna use your powerful magic to cause the moon and the sun to rise and set every single day. This is done using the powerful magic learned and recorded by the unicorns of old. Of course, when Luna was banished to the moon, you took her role as well, rising the moon along with the sun. As for the stars, they are the shining remains of the sun from long ago. It basic school knowledge,” Twilight listed out all she knew about the topic.
Using her magic, Celestia pulled a book off of the shelf, “While that is true that all of that is basic knowledge that’s taught in schools, what if I told you all of what we claim to know about our world and it’s celestial mechanics are all incorrect?”
The statement caused the young princess to gasp and widen her eyes, “Princess Celestia, what do you mean?”
Opening the book with her magic, Celestia started to speak, “Many years ago, I had another student, a very logical and scientific mind such as yourself. Her name was Gossamer Starlight and she loved to study the night sky more than anypony I have ever met. By night she would watch the stars, and by day she would tirelessly work on the mathematics of what she had just observed. Often, she wouldn’t sleep for days, relentlessly burying herself in her work. But through her work, she developed a unique theory.”
“A theory?” Twilight Sparkle tilted her head.
“Gossamer projected the idea that what we believe to be fact is false. She hypothesized that our world coexists with numerous other worlds.”
“I’m afraid I don’t follow.”
Flipping through the pages of the book, Celestia stopped on a page and set the book down on the center table, “The stars we see in the night sky are actually like our sun, surrounded by worlds of all kinds, include ones similar to ours.”
Twilight seemed to have trouble grasping the concept, “Wait….according to her theory….every belief we’ve held close….is a lie?”
“Not exactly. In her research, Gossamer states what we have believed for centuries is not entirely wrong, but what we believe is only partially right,” Celestia pointed to a page on the book, “Such as with the rising of the sun and the moon, for example.
While the alicorn magic that Princess Luna and myself possess does aid in what seems to be rising the sun or the moon, our magic is actually only aiding in the natural rotation of our planet. Our magic can only do so much.”
The purple unicorn looked down at the book, reading the theory for herself, “So….instead of the sun and moon orbiting us, we orbit the sun and the moon orbits us? This claim is….so bizarre.”
"The theory doesn't end there. In fact, our world is not the only orbiting the sun, there are others that do the same," the princess looked toward her pupil who was still fixated on the book. Using her magic, Celestia created a magical display for both of them to examine, complete with a visual of the sun, the moon, and Equestria, "This is a rough idea of what she hypothesized. The sun is at the center of this display, large and using it's gravity to keep Equestria in orbit. And next to our world is the moon." With her magic, Celestia added more planets to orbit the sun, "However, along with us orbiting the sun, there are others as well."
Looking at the display, Twilight's eyes were wide and bewildered by the information she was given, "Are you serious?"
Ceasing her magic, Celestia spoke, "Twilight, what I'm trying to say is that we are just beginning to open our eyes to something that is far bigger than anything Equestria has ever known."
"This is....all too much to take in. Gossamer Starlight's theory, other worlds, even just the rising of the sun and the moon...." Twilight sighed as she looked up at Princess Celestia.
The white alicorn nodded, “Which is why Gossamer kept her speculation to between herself and me. She didn’t want to release anything that might startle anypony. It was even ground shaking to me when I first heard of it.”
Turning the pages with her magic, Twilight asked, "What are some of her other findings or theories?"
"A number of other ideas are touched upon in her work here. Such as that the stars in the night sky are similar to our own sun," Celestia explained.
The statement left the purple pony stunned, "That's....astounding....to think, there are other suns out there. And at each one, numerous other planets." Examining the pages, Twilight summed up what she had read, "The stars are not uniform in size, heat, brightness, energy, color, and so on. This is incredible! She theorizes that every single one is unique amongst the stars—the billions upon billions of stars. These findings are just magnificent!"
Princess Celestia couldn't help but smile as she saw Twilight Sparkle becoming fascinated about the new information.
Twilight furiously examined the book, in hopes to gain as much knowledge from it as possibly could, "Did Gossamer catalog the stars by chance? Or did she learn which of the stars is closest to us?"
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Twilight, but even she had her limits, despite what she might have thought," Celestia chuckled slightly before trotting to the bookcase, "However, I can provide you with everything she has written on the subject of the stars." Using her magic, the princess levitated all of Gossamer's books from the shelf and placed it on the table next to her student.
She began reading the titles, "'A Metropolis of Stars', 'Pale Blue Dot', 'The Theory of the Heavens', 'Principles of Natural Philosophy', 'On the Motion of Bodies in an Orbit', 'Introduction to the New Astronomy', all of these books are just remarkable! All written by Gossamer herself...." Twilight was awestruck by this wealth of knowledge. She then looked to Celestia, "Princess, why are you sharing all of this with me?"
A gentle smile appeared on the white pony's face, "Because I believe that if there is anypony that can pick up where Gossamer Starlight left off, it's you Twilight Sparkle. Many years ago, Gossamer came to a conclusion that we are just a speck of dust in an infinite universe. Everything we have done as a civilization, our culture, our lives, are all almost microscopic in comparison. But through her research, we have learned so much about what lies beyond Equestria. We are just scratching the surface, and with a brilliant mind like yours, we can learn even more."
Twilight looked back at the pile of books next to her, "All of this scientific knowledge....I don't know if I could do Gossamer justice in such a field of science. How can I with any sort of certainty begin to comprehend this sort of science....this sort of knowledge? "
"Science is much more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking. This is central to its success. And you, my faithful student, are far more than ideal for the task, I know it."
The purple pony stared at the stack of books again, scanning the titles on the bindings. She still seemed to have her doubts.
"We wish to pursue the truth no matter where it leads. But to find the truth, we need both imagination and skepticism, both which I know you have. And those books you have there, will start you on your journey to that truth," Celestia nodded to the books, "Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors. Gossamer knew that to be true, and you certainly do as well."
With a wide smile, Twilight nodded to her mentor, “Thank you, Princess Celestia. It is an honor to be given such a task." The purple pony paused before she continued, "If you don't mind me asking princess, whatever happened to Gossamer Starlight?”
Celestia smiled as she spoke, “What happens to all of us eventually. She fell in love with a stallion, became a devoted to her friends and family, but never stopped learning,”
Twilight smiled back, "I just hope I can follow in her hoofsteps."
"As long as you keep learning, Twilight, you'll do fantastic job."
A proud expression was on the purple pony's face.
Princess Celestia trotted to back to the telescope on the balcony and tilted her head up towards the heavens. Twilight followed behind and looked up at the cloudless night sky with her. The cool night air filled their lungs.
"I got so much to learn about the realm beyond our own...." Twilight mumbled as she gazed at the stars.
"We have only just begun to understand the universe beyond our own, small reality," the white alicorn spoke, turning her head to her student, "But I'm positive the universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our understanding to grow. They're waiting for you, Princess Twilight Sparkle."
END
