Chapters [Please note, this story is incomplete, and will not be continued. I am currently working on a collab with GaruuSpike called ' Expectations ' that borrows inspiration from this story, and I urge you to read that instead. Please read the description]
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The blue pegasus stirred as the early morning light penetrated the room. Fashioned from clouds, the white room cast a bright glare, turning the soft walls into a makeshift glow cube. A natural alarm clock.
Rainbow Dash rolled out of the cloud bed and yawned, stretching her legs and wings. As much as she loved her sleep, she was the head of the pegasus weather team for a reason. The nightshift team had spent the night working on a light shower to ensure the plant life didn't dry up in the summer heat, and the morning team were set to clear the sky to allow for a warm and dry Summer Sun Celebration in two day's time.
Giving her spread wings another stretch, Rainbow Dash gently flapped them, hovering in the air for a few seconds, before touching back down. No harm in a few pre-flight checks. When no pony's looking.
Confident she was sufficiently awake, Rainbow Dash kicked into the air, flying out from the top of her home among the clouds. Formed from clouds, the 'building' lacked a roof, because, of course, what could she need shelter from? Dash bounced on a small nearby cloud to stimulate a small rain shower, then hovered underneath it. When she felt freshened up, she whipped up small whirlwind to dry off. One final mid-air stretch, and she felt ready for morning weather duty.
Morning weather...
Wait...
Dash gave her bird-eye view of Ponyville a quick scan. Something did not sit right with her. It was morning, yes. The sun would not be that low otherwise. But the air felt different. It felt...
It felt like...
No.
It felt wrong. As a weather pegasus, Rainbow Dash was acutely in tune with the world. She knew the air. The air told her things in a manner that no words could. She could tap in to the heart of the wind with a beat of her wings. If she could trust anything, it's her wings.
Rainbow Dash's wings asked the wind, what is wrong?
The wind responded in kind, nothing is wrong. The wind tussled Rainbow Dash's mane. Nothing is wrong, with me.
Dash's eyes widened. There was no fresh feeling in the wind. The air did not feel like the world had just awoken.
The sun was just grazing the horizon, yet the air was adamant.
It was midday.
And the sun looked like it was creaking.
___
"It's awful kind of yer to offer your help, Twi, but I really can manage on mah own."
Twilight Sparkle turned to face her friend. "Oh, it's no trouble. Besides, we can get the job done twice as fast."
Applejack brought a hoof to her chin, thinking. "Well, if you put it that way..."
Having studied late into the previous night, Twilight had promised herself to spend her day out and about, doing some work around Ponyville. Where better to find practical work than Sweet Apple Acres? Indeed, Twilight had soon found Applejack fixing up one of the smaller storage barns in preparation for Applebuck Season, and promptly offered her assistance. Soon, both ponies found themselves hard at work, Applejack insisting on doing the bulk of the work and Twilight assisting with her magic.
Even when accepting help, AJ sure is proud of her work, Twilight observed. Regardless, the two enjoyed each other's company.
The pair finished their renovations come what felt like mid-afternoon. Applejack stepped down from the stepladder Twilight was steadying and cast an eye over their work, dropping the hammer in her mouth gently to the ground.
"Whoo, that'll do nicely" the earth pony assessed. "Now all she needs is a lick o' paint and she'll be fit fer storin'."
She turned to the unicorn. "Thanks fer the help, Twi."
Twilight assured the earth pony it was nothing, feeling pleased with their handiwork.
Applejack opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a commotion coming from Ponyville. The two ponies turned to find Spike running towards them, shouting Twilight's name and waving a scroll around above his head.
Twilight blinked, "Spike, what in the..."
"Twilight! Letter from the princess! It's important!" Spike's young face bore none of the good-hearted childish humour that usually graced it.
Spike skidded to a stop in front of Twilight and Applejack, panting heavily and holding aloft the scroll. Using her magic to hold it, Twilight inspected the seal. The seal itself was not gold, but crimson red, yet held the seal of the royal family. The band that held the scroll together was coal black.
Unfurling the scroll, Twilight read aloud;
My Faithful Student Twilight Sparkle,
I sincerely hope this message finds you well. Unfortunately, a matter of utmost urgency has arisen, and I'm afraid I must request you join me in Canterlot. A royal escort has been sent to bring you here, and should arrive within the hour. I humbly beg your pardon for giving you such a short notice.
Princess Celestia
Twilight finished reading the flowing script, and glanced around. The princess didn't normally withhold information in her letters.
Applejack was the first to recover. "Sounds mighty urgent, draggin' you all the way back to Canterlot."
Twilight agreed. What could possibly be so serious she had to be there in person? Had something happened to the princess? Twilight bade Applejack farewell, who in turn promised to explain the unicorn's sudden absence to the others, and returned to the library with Spike. As promised, the royal escort that brought her to Ponyville arrived shortly after. As stoic as the pegasus guards were, Twilight swore she could see a glint of emotion in those proud eyes. They rustled their wings.
"Hey! Twilight!" Rainbow Dash slowed to a sudden halt next to the carriage, having flown at full pelt. "I've got something to... where are you going?"
"The princess summoned me to Canterlot." Twilight responded, a little annoyed at Dash's informality in front of the royal guards.
"But Twi, I..." Dash started.
"Sorry, Rainbow, but I'm afraid it'll have to wait. This is important." Twilight looked into her friend's eyes. "We'll talk when I get back, ok?"
Dash watched as the royal escort took off into the sky.
___
The heavy oak doors, gilded around the edges with deep gold and bright silver, creaked on their hinges as they were swung slowly open. The famous great doors of the royal castle of Canterlot had held their proud place in the world longer than most any lord or lady or figurehead of power.
As the polished doors opened, Twilight was greeted by a large marble-white stone throne room. A long regal-red carpet ran from the entrance up to the end of the room, flanked on either side by vivid tapestries and tall marble columns. At the head of the room rested a large gold throne, adjacent to a smaller silver one, each sporting a plush, comfortable-looking seat of red and blue respectively. The smaller throne was unoccupied, but at the larger seat lay the ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia.
Twilight took a step forward and bowed, "Princess?"
The princess did nothing to indicate she had acknowledged anyone had entered the throne room. Instead, the ruler continued to lie there, flank to the visitor. The princess was writing something to a roll of parchment, and did not divert her attention away from her work.
Twilight stood there awkwardly for a minute, rising cautiously from her bow. Had she done something wrong? Was the princess mad at her? No, don't be silly. She probably didn't hear the first time. Perhaps, no, don't call out again. The princess is busy.
But... But she never ignored her student.
An age seemed to pass in the period of little time at all, when the princess magically placed the quill back in the ink pot and rolled up the scroll. She lowered her head and closed her eyes.
She called out gently, "Thank you most kindly, guards. Could you give us some privacy please?"
The guards bowed as one, then left the throne room, shutting those great doors behind them.
Celestia lifted her head and managed a smile. "My dearest, most faithful student! How have you been?"
"Erm... well, thank you." Why was she nervous?
The princess paused before resuming, "I'm so sorry to have to drag you all the way over here."
"No no, not at all! You know I enjoy talking with you." Nervous... What was going on? She couldn't just-
"Twilight," Celestia began, pushing herself up into a standing position. This took visible effort on her part, as the princess nearly stumbled and collapsed. It seemed only through pure willpower that her expression remained calm and gentle.
"My dear pupil," Celestia continued, approaching the horrified unicorn. "I'm..."
"Princess Celestia?"
The princess looked straight into the eyes of her pupil. She smiled, yet her facade had broken.
She drooped her head.
"I'm so sorry.
"I'm dying."
“I’m dying.”
The princess’ word reverberated around Twilight’s mind, now so far detached from reality. There was no room, no floor, floating in thoughts.
It can’t be right. It’s impossible.
How can... A thousand years...
The princess is an alicorn, a DEITY! How can this be possi-
“Twilight?”
The distant sound of her name shook the unicorn from her stupor. She glanced slowly up at the weakened regal figure before her. The princess would never lie. What she was seeing was real. This was real. It couldn’t be, yet it was.
“P-princess?” she stammered.
Celestia responded, “Yes, Twilight.”
It was all the confirmation the little unicorn needed. Her world collapsed. Her eyes saw images so vivid and yet so unimportant. Time seemed to stop and stretch and pass without any warning. Her body burned with a numbing cold. Sharp pain registered faintly.
And then she opened her eyes to find them drenched in tears, her whole face cold and soggy. The world looked blurred. She tried to think. She tried to walk. Walking is easy; she could remember how to do that. Who was she? Walking. It’s not working. Move legs, right? Panic. No, don’t panic. You’re just lying down, she told herself.
She gulped, and was surprised to find her breath shaky and cold. The logical part of her mind reinitialised, working out that she had been crying and hyperventilating. She felt surprisingly warm.
A large, feathered blanket. Panic?
Something gently nudged the back of her head.
Twilight’s mind awoke. Taking in details from as many senses as possible, she found herself lying curled up like a foal, her face and forelegs cold and wet from tears. She was lying on a cold stone floor. It was deathly quiet. Most shockingly, she found her princess and tutor lying beside her, wing draped over her, tenderly nuzzling her neck. She thought in a moment of post-shock delirium how much they must look like a mother mare comforting her foal.
Bleary-eyed and as embarrassed as she’d felt in her life, Twilight lifted her head, “Celestia?”
“I’m here, my dear. Take it easy.”
The cold logical part of her mind noted the irony. “Princess,” she sniffed. “Y-you’re...”
“Yes, I am. Luna and I both.”
Twilight blanched, or as much as one could with a pastel-coloured coat. She gulped and blinked hard to try to clear her eyes of tears. Luna too?
“How- how long have you known?”
She heard her tutor chuckle. “Oh, for the longest time.”
The princess looked ahead dreamily, as if collecting her thoughts. The mother deciding what bedtime story to tell her daughter.
“Twilight, what do you know about winged unicorns?”
The question caught the student off-guard. She sniffed, “Erm, w-well, winged unicorns, so-sometimes colloquially called ‘alicorns’, are ponies with tremendous magical power, and who represent the unity of the three types of pony.” Twilight looked up at her teacher. The princess seemed to smile at her pupil’s textbook recitation.
“That’s the general definition, yes,” Celestia confirmed. She smiled dreamily. “Can you remember which book that description comes from?”
Twilight frowned at the direction the conversation had taken. “I... I think it was The Origins of Equestria , by Bócere Starlight.”
Celestia chuckled heartily. “Ah, yes, that’s the one. Mr Starlight interviewed me personally on the subject of alicorns. He was such a gentlecolt.”
The princess sighed wearily, then turned to face her student. “I have lived more than one being’s fair share of lifetimes. In all my years I have only ever seen two alicorns. One of them stares out of mirrors at me,” she added smiling. “To my knowledge, my sister and I are the only winged unicorns in Equestria. I don’t know exactly if any lived before us, so any information on alicorns, whether in book or folklore, probably came from either me or Luna. The definition you gave me just now is almost word-for-word the definition I myself gave Mr Starlight.”
Twilight’s features gave away her confusion. Where was this going?
Princess Celestia closed her eyes for a moment before continuing. “Twilight, I want you to listen very carefully, this is important; winged unicorns are not born.”
Twilight blinked, “Wha-, but... huh?”
“We are not born as winged unicorns. Luna and I actually started out as nothing more than unicorns, much like yourself, actually.” Celestia’s aged eyes seemed to glaze over as she focused on the distance. “The world was very different when we were young. I don’t know if you can imagine it now, but there was no order to life. There was no day or night. The sun rested on the edge of the western horizon, and the moon hid behind the mountains in the east. The western lands were scorched by the sun’s glare. The east, as the warmth of the sun never reached it, was a frozen tundra.
“But in the middle, there existed a valley, just far enough away from the sun that light and warmth still reached it without it burning or freezing. It was in this land of perpetual twilight that life strived to endure.”
Twilight lay still, hardly daring to breath. The princess had never spoken openly about the world before her rule.
The princess paused before continuing. “My sister and I were born into a world of no order. Ponies would do anything they could to survive. You owned nothing but what you took with you. It was a world of anarchy.” Her expression hardened, “Shortly after Luna was born, our mother was... taken, from us. Our father couldn’t feed three mouths on his own, so he left the two of us.” The regal voice began to break, “We were left to fend for ourselves. I remember sitting on a hill with my sister, barely a foal, looking at that rust-orange sky with the world below tinted cobalt blue, wondering what I was supposed to do.”
Celestia took a deep, rattling breath. In the brief interlude, Twilight noticed that her throat was closing up, and that the world seemed to blur. She blinked to clear her eyes.
“I took my sister with me. I promised myself I would look after her. We went deep into the forest, away from... from everything. I raised Luna myself, I taught her everything I knew about the world. We became quite the team, I recall. We built ourselves a little den in the middle of the forest, and we began taking it in turns to sleep, so that one of us could keep an eye out for monsters...”
The princess fell silent. Unsure whether to press her for more details, Twilight held her peace, mulling over how different this world must have been.
“It was Luna’s idea, you know.”
“Huh? What was?”
Celestia gazed out of one of the throne room’s many translucent windows. “Moving the sun and the moon. I guess it was her childish imagination.” She glanced back down to her student, “You see, unicorns weren’t taught how to use their magic. Luna and I had to figure things out for ourselves. I remember I decided to humour her. I had worked out a simple levitation spell, so I tried to move the sun to amuse my sister. Naturally I failed, but Luna insisted, try again! Try again! I’d thought she was playing a game, but she was serious, she wanted the sun and the moon to move.
“So I tried. Every time I woke, I tried to move the sun, and when Luna discovered her control of magic, she began attempting to move the moon. It became our little ritual; I tried when I woke, Luna went to sleep. Luna tried when she woke, and I went to sleep. Twilight, tell me what you know about the sun.”
Twilight took a moment to realise she was being questioned. “Oh, err... It’s a distant sphere that gives off heat and light, right?”
“And can you guess what powers it?”
This wasn’t in any of her books. “... I’d say some kind of ancient magic?”
Celestia nodded curtly, then resumed gazing into the distance. “I’ll admit, even I am not entirely certain, but that is the conclusion I came to. I believe the sun is an orb of untainted magical energy, I think the enchantments were put there by whatever event created it.
“There came a time when my sister became annoyed at the moon’s refusal to move, and demanded I told her what they were made of. She stormed off into the forest when I said I couldn’t tell her.”
The princess lowered her head and closed her eyes. “It may seem like nothing important, but it struck me to my very heart when Luna ran off. We had nothing but one another, and I had never seen my sister so worked up about something.
“There was I, in the middle of a forest with Luna’s question burning through my mind; what is the sun made of? I decided to investigate. Before, I had been trying to force the sun to move by sheer magical force. However, this time, I used my magic to reach not for the whole sun, but to look inside the very being of the sun. I wanted to find out what was inside for Luna.
“I reached out and touched the sun, not with the levitation spell, not with a search spell, but with pure magical intent.” Twilight nodded in understanding. She was somewhat familiar with extending her mind with magic. “Using my magic, I extended myself up to the sun. What I found was not any kind of fathomable solid object, but a burning entity of raw magic.
“I was intrigued, so I reached deeper. I pushed my magic and my mind further and harder against the sun’s being. There, right in the core, what I... what I found was...”
Opening her eyes and slowly raising her head, the princess continued, “It was simply incomprehensible. I couldn’t see, as such, but I remember a brightness, something buckling, like a gate being weighed down by something heavy. There was a screaming, a burning, I felt like my soul was being searched and scoured. It suddenly felt like I had all the weight in the world held on my mind.
“And then it suddenly stopped. The chaos in my mind stopped, and I was left mentally crippled. I remember feeling like all my senses had been stripped away, and I was just floating in the Howling. I don’t remember what happened there, if anything, apart from a faint, cold whisper.”
Twilight cocked her head in confusion. A whisper?
“I don’t know what it said, who said it, what language was used, or even if anything was said at all. All I know is that I suddenly regained consciousness and found myself floating in the air above the forest. At first I panicked, but then I found it was actually me keeping myself aloft. In the time I had spent unconscious, I had become an alicorn.
“I felt stronger. I noticed the world had become brighter, and colours sharper and more vivid, at first I thought it was because of my transformation.” Celestia let forth a small chuckle. “Turns out I had just raised the sun for the first time.”
Silence settled over the pair. Twilight looked up at her mentor. She was smiling once more, but appeared visibly weary after the long narrative. The student lay there awhile, pondering quietly what she had just heard. Eventually her mind settled on one subject. An urgent subject. How could she have forgotten?
“Princess?” How could one handle this? “You... you said you were dying.”
Celestia merely smiled at her student. “Yes... Yes, I suppose I am.”
Long silence.
“Bu-but princess-”
“Don’t worry, my faithful student. You’ll know soon enough.”
Twilight bit her lip. She didn’t like this. The princess had just shared her life story, what more did she have to hide?
Another question came to mind.
“Princess, you said that before you and Luna, the sun and moon were still in the sky. If... if you two go ...”
“Without a guide, the sun and the moon will indeed stop. Only the power of a winged unjicorn is capable of moving them.”
What!? “But you two are the only-”
“Twilight, I have a favour to ask of you,” the princess stated abruptly.
“Uh, of course! Anything!”
“No, Twilight. Don’t promise me anything until you know what it is.”
Oh?
Celestia sighed resignedly. “You know how I said alicorns were not born?”
“Yes.” Where is this going?
“Do you also recall,” the princess gazed pointedly at her student, “how I said I used to be a unicorn, so very much like yourself?”
Just as a heads-up, this chapter is incomplete, and is as far as I got. Even though I had a lot more planned, I am a fairly slow writer, and I sort of gave in around this point, intending to come back and continue later. However, as I am now working on ' Expectations ', which uses some ideas planned for later on in this story, I shall now not continue, and instead focus on 'Expectations'. So as a fair warning, this chapter will cut off at the end of a scene.
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“WHAT!? No! No, no , you can’t be serious !”
“Twilight, please...”
“NO! This... this is crazy !”
Twilight stood her ground and bellowed at her tutor. She found herself shaking with emotion. Princess Celestia lay calmly in the middle of the throne room, regarding the young unicorn with those ancient eyes.
“Please, hear me out.”
“You’re... asking me to replace you ?”
That weary smile graced the regal alicorn’s lips once more. “Luna and I are not long for this world, my faithful student. The throne of Equestria needs an heir.”
“But why me ? Isn’t there anypony else more qualified? What about Prince Blueblood?”
Celestia giggled at this. “My dear, Prince Blueblood is not actually a prince. Technically, he is a duke, yet quite the boast. He is harmless, so I let the formalities slide. Don’t tell him I told you,” she added with a low voice and a sly smile.
Twilight simply stared at her teacher, her mouth agape. She was aghast at how casual the alicorn seemed to be handling what, to Twilight, could very well be the most important conversation of the young unicorn’s life.
“Plainly put, Twilight, Luna and I have no family except each other. There is no pony in line to inherit the throne. As such, we agreed it fitting to name a successor, somepony we believed to be most capable.”
“But I’m no leader! I can’t run a nation!”
“Believe me, I said the exact same thing. Leadership is something you can learn, something that comes with experience. No, I chose you because being an alicorn garners a much more important responsibility.”
The alabaster princess looked expectantly into her student’s eyes. Twilight hesitated, what in the world could be more important than running the nation...
“You... you want me in control of the sun and moon.”
Celestia smiled.
“You want me to control the night and day of Equestria.”
Her passionate defiance had all but faded. Twilight slumped back on her haunches, eyes unfocused.
“Princess, I...” She looked deep into those ancient eyes. “I can’t do this.”
Celestia shook her head, amused. “Twilight, my dearest student; do you trust me as your mentor and princess?”
Twilight looked down in defeat. She knew where this was going. “Yes,” she admitted.
“Then tell me; why would I ask of you something so important if I didn’t think you were the best pony for the task?”
No answer.
“Listen to me, Twilight,” the princess’ voice softened, “Every pony has a special talent that sets them apart from everyone else.”
Twilight glanced at the six-point star adorned on her flank.
Celestia continued, “I have power over the sun, Luna has power over the moon. But you, Twilight, you hold influence over both realms. The Princess of the Twilight, the one that divides and unites the night and day.”
This final statement seemed to reverberate through the empty throne room. The evening light streamed through the tall stain-glass windows, casting a calm orange glow about the room. The echoing rustle as Twilight stood was deafening in the silence of the hall.
Twilight addressed the carpet, “Princess, I would like to go home now.”
___
“So she’ll jus’ be up in Canterlot for a while,” twanged the orange earth pony.
Rarity grumbled, “Ugh, why do we never get invited to Canterlot?”
Applejack cocked her head slightly. “Beggin’ your pardon?”
“Well, first we went to the Gala, which was a total disaster . Then last time, we wound up in labyrinth, and we all know how well that turned out,” the fasionista complained. “I want to look around the city and take in the culture!”
“Rarity, I don’ think Twilight’s been summoned by the princess jus’ to go sightseein’,” the farmer pony reasoned.
“Mmm, I know,” the unicorn admitted, tapping her chin with a hoof. “I just wish it wasn’t so sudden. We could have all made a day out of it.”
“Yea, t’aint fair,” Applejack replied mechanically, without a drip of sarcasm.
Rarity smiled at her friend, not hearing the unenthused tone. “Oh, thanks for letting me know, darling!”
Applejack tipped the weathered stetson. “Any time,” she responded cheerfully, before departing.
The air was cool and crisp for a midsummer’s evening. The sun was starting to graze the mountains in the west, casting a brilliant golden glow over the world. A light breeze graced the town, gently ruffling Applejack’s mane. It had been a truly beautiful end to the day.
The work pony trotted down the streets of Ponyville, drinking in the atmosphere. After Twilight’s impromptu departure, Applejack had taken it upon herself to spread the news to her friends in the unicorn’s place, given the urgent nature of the letter. Between Pinkie Pie’s insatiable thirst for information and Fluttershy’s offer to join her for tea, Applejack found herself spending most of her day since Twilight left spreading the news of the student’s absence, and was looking forward to returning home. Now that she had informed Rarity, that just left...
“Hey, AJ!”
Applejack sighed inwardly, casually stepping one pace to the side. Not a moment later, a colourful blur impacted with the ground where the farm filly had been standing, sending up a cloud of dirt into the air.
Applejack batted a hoof at dust, jadedly eyeing the blue pegasus at the epicentre of the crash. “What is it this time, Rainbow?”
The pegasus leapt to her hooves, shaking muck from her mane. “I saw Twilight earlier leaving Ponyville with some guards. What happened?”
Applejack held a hoof up to her mouth to stifle a giggle.
Dash shot her friend an annoyed glance. “What?”
The earth pony cleared her throat, putting that funny image aside. She could laugh later. “Ahh, yea. Twilight got a letter from the princess tellin’ her to high-tail back to Canterlot. Dunno what for, but it sounded mighty urgent.”
“Ugh, great...” Jumping up into the air, the pegasus beat her wings to bring herself into a steady hover. “Did she say when she’d be back?”
Applejack arched an eyebrow, smiling. “My my, Rainbow, you seem awful interested in that mare,” she teased.
Dash’s cheeks lit up, “No... I just... I need to talk to her about something.”
“Uh-huh, I bet you do.”
“AJ!”
Applejack chuckled. “Well, Twilight didn’ say how long she’d be gone, but I reckon she’ll be back in a day or two.”
The earth pony noticed Dash take a glance at the setting sun before replying. “Right... Thanks, AJ,” she muttered, before shooting off into the sky without a second look.
Applejack gave a casual salute to the rainbow trail grazing the horizon, smiling inwardly and wondering how long it would take her friend to notice the drying mud caked on the end of her blue muzzle. Summoning forth that image in her mind’s eye, the orange pony laughed quietly to herself, and started on home.
___
Feel free to ask me anything about the story if you're interested in it, since this is as far as I'll take it. Cheers everyone!
-Beige
