Truth and Lies: Mistakes

Even in death, his discoveries and accomplishments flourish in the world of today. His magic surges through every spell that is cast, infecting even the darkest of hearts with a spark of good intent. We owe it all to the highly skilled and utterly talented unicorn of his day.

We thank him for protection.

We thank him for his help during the depression of Nightmares.

We thank him for our newest princess.

To Starswirl, we thank for giving his life to protect the harmony of Equestria.

Here lies Starswirl the Bearded

The godfather of modern magic

Celestia wiped a tear from her eye with the back of her hoof before it could spill down her cheek. She smiled at the massive memorial headstone with the thankful words carved into the stone pedestal. She then looked up at the statue of the mighty bearded unicorn perched on top.

“Princess?” A familiar voice asked from her left. “Are you alright?”

Celestia turned her gaze to find a smaller lavender alicorn standing next to her, looking up at her with worried eyes. Twilight had grown much in the course of her short time as a princess, now standing as tall as Luna once had when her sister was younger. A knot grew in her chest, but she forced it away. The sun princess chuckled instead. “I assure you, Twilight. I am quite alright.”

“But… I just saw you…” Twilight trailed off when Celestia shook her head.

“It’s best not to bring up the past, my dearest former student.” Celestia sighed and turned her gaze back to the statue. “Though I do find it hard not to myself… He was such a faithful friend. I learned so much from his work.”

“Celestia…” Twilight placed a comforting hoof against Celestia’s side. It was hard to watch her former teacher, the rock hard foundation in her previous life, show herself in such a heartbroken state. She never realized Starswirl had been more than just a skilled unicorn to Celestia.

Twilight’s ears perked up when she heard a soft whimper. She quickly turned her gaze up to the sun princess’ face. Her eyes widened.

Tears spilled from Celestia’s eyes like a stream, dripping from her chin as they continuously flowed. “H-he… was my closest friend… I-it... should have been… me…” She said weakly.

Twilight was stunned speechless. Was this the emotional pain of loss an alicorn endured? It made her sick to her stomach watching Celestia cry in front of her. What could she even say? She had never dealt with the loss of a friend. The conflicting emotions in Twilight brought tears to her own eyes. She helplessly searched for something, anything to say that could change what she was seeing. Nothing came to mind.

“He… he kept me from… killing myself after I banished Luna…” Celestia whimpered. Her knees became too weak to stand, so she sat back on her haunches. “I was so close… I-I would have done it… But he stopped me… H-he was such a caring friend, Twilight. He worried for me…”

Celestia was suddenly caught off guard when she felt Twilight’s hooves wrap around her in a comforting embrace. She looked down at the smaller mare.

Twilight was now crying as well, trails of tears staining the fur of her cheeks. “S-stop it… S-stop talking about it… I can’t look at you when you’re like this…” She whispered to the larger princess.

The knot in Celestia’s chest tightened even more. There, latched to her side, was somepony else that worried for her. She picked up Twilight in her magic and brought the lavender mare out in front of her. Celestia smiled, despite the tears in her eyes. “Oh, Twilight… You mustn’t worry yourself with an old alicorn such as myself.” She said, forcing her voice to work properly again.

“But… b-but… but…” Twilight attempted at a reply, but it was lot in her concerned whimpers.

Celestia placed a gentle hoof against Twilight’s lips. “Shhhh… Let me be the one to apologize. I am sorry you had to see that, Twilight… But it is simply something that an alicorn must endure. One day you will lose somepony precious to you… I have lost many, but I gain more every day. You, Twilight… I hold just as dear to me as my own sister. Nopony could ever bring me back if I were to lose you, or my dear sister for that matter.”

The lavender alicorn sniffled a few times and forced herself to calm down. “R-… r-really?”

The knot in Celestia’s chest tied itself even tighter at that. It almost made her burst into tears again, but she kept herself composed. “Really.” She pulled Twilight into a warm hug. “You… are my closest friend.”

The memory from the previous day ran through Twilight’s head like a movie as she stayed lying in her bed, staring at the ceiling. She had been awake for at least an hour now, but hadn’t felt like moving at all. What Celestia had said was continuously played on a loop in her mind.

Twilight had spent so much time just sitting there that she didn’t notice the sunlight shining through her window. She didn’t even care. She didn’t care about getting up, about getting Spike up, about reading, about checking on her friends. All she cared about was what Celestia had said.

“I’m her closest friend… She said I was the equivalent of Luna…” It had utterly baffled Twilight when she had heard those words in her previous mentor’s voice.

Twilight rolled onto her side, tugging the blanket over her shoulder. She was met by a framed picture of Celestia and a younger version of herself before she became a princess. Next to it was a picture of her and her friends. It had been the first one she had taken with them as new friends and the first picture she had sent Celestia. Celestia had given it back as a memento to Twilight.

“I can’t possibly be as important to Celestia as Starswirl was… Could I?” The question only confused Twilight even more. She groaned and rubbed her temple. “Despite being the princess of friendship, I still, for the life of me, can’t understand my friendship with Celestia…”

A loud groan came from next to her bed. “Twilight… Stop talking to yourself...”

Twilight’s mind didn’t recognize the voice at first, but soon her mind caught back up with her. She looked over the side of her bed down at a sleeping pallet on the floor. Laying in it, while glaring up at her, was Spike. The little purple dragon wasn’t quite so little anymore, having reached adolescence. Twilight had to get rid of his old bed and replace it with something larger, though she wanted to get him a full bed. Spike had insisted he stayed on the floor, saying beds were too soft for him.

“Oh… Sorry, Spike. I was just… thinking.”

“Well, think in your head. You know how sensitive my hearing is.” The teenage dragon growled as he tried to curl back up and go back to sleep. He snorted in irritation, sending a puff of smoke from his nostrils.

Twilight rolled her eyes. ‘For that, you get to clean dishes today.’

The lavender alicorn sighed and groggily pushed herself out of bed and made her way out of her bed chamber. Dragging her hooves, Twilight slowly made for the kitchens, where she knew her royal servants were already working to make breakfast.

Twilight had walked these crystal halls so many times by now, that even in her groggy state, she could still navigate well enough find what she was looking for. Eventually, after a slow walk, she arrived at the bustling kitchens.

The smell of pancakes and hashbrowns drifted toward her, filling her nostrils with their mouth-watering temptation. It was too good to even think about passing up. Her stomach growled as hunger gnawed at her gut.

Twilight pushed the door open with her purple magic and walked into the kitchen. It wasn’t nearly as busy as it would have been earlier when they were also cooking for the servants, but it was still busy as a few cooks and assistants scrambled around to get the kitchen prepared for the lunch shift.

As always, Twilight’s personal chef noticed her walking in. The griffon smiled as much as a beak would allow. “Ah! Prinzezz! I vas vondering vhen jou vould arrive! Come, come!” He waved her over.

Twilight returned the smile and trotted over to her chef. “I hope that’s what I think it is, Appetizer. I smelled it on the way here.”

Appetizer shrugged. “Vhat can I zay? I know vhat jou like. Even if it iz far more zimple zan ven I vas vorking for Zeleztia and Luna.” He picked up a steaming plate of blueberry pancakes and hashbrowns in his claws and handed it to Twilight. “I know how jou hate having zervantz vait on jou hoof and ving, zo don’t tell zem, jes? Zey might get upset again.”

Twilight shivered, remembering the last time her servants got upset with her for not letting them wait on her. “Heh… I should let them do more, shouldn’t I?”

“Zey feel like zey owe it to jou, prinzezz. Jou did zave zem a great many times.”

Flashbacks of the confrontation between her and Celestia flashed through Twilight’s mind again. She shook it off though and took the plate in her magic. “I’ll consider it, but I really don’t like degrading my ponies like that.”

“It iz not degrading, prinzezz. It iz ze only zing zome of zeez poniez can give back.” Appetizer replied, his expression neutral.

That struck a tender cord in Twilight, the impact almost knocking her over. “I… I hadn’t considered that…”

“Let zem do zeir job, vile jou do jours. Jou have enough to vorry about. Juzt my two bitz, prinzezz.” Appetizer shrugged again. “But enough about zat. Vhy don’t jou go eat, zo jou can keep jour ztrength? I vill prepare master Zpike’z meal for vhen he vakez.”

Twilight nodded. “Thanks, Appetizer.”

“It iz my pleazure, prinzess.” Appetizer replied, before going back to work.

Twilight sighed as she carried her meal out of the kitchens to the public mess hall. She liked using the mess hall instead of her personal dining hall. She could always find somepony to talk to there.

She took a seat next to her favorite group; three servant mares and a stallion Dusk guard.

“Good morning, your highness.” The Dusk guard spoke up. He was a wide-set unicorn with a dark purple coat and a black mane. The black and purple armor he proudly donned was enchanted like any other to change a pony’s appearance based on who they served under. Twilight’s guard was no different. “To what do we owe the honor?”

“Just a friendly chat, Gilded Shield.” Twilight replied with a smile. “How’s the family?”

Shield smiled back. “Flourishing, thanks to you, your highness. My son’s magic is stable again. He can finally start advanced magic training in your school.”

“Wonderful! I expect he’ll be enrolled by next month?”

“Next week!” Shield exclaimed excitedly. “The little colt is gifted, I tell you!”

Twilight chuckled. “He wouldn’t be in my school if he wasn’t.”

“I could never, ever thank you enough for what you did for him. A permanent horn injury would have ruined his life.” The Dusk guard stood from the table and walked around it, before bowing to Twilight so low to the floor that his face almost touched it. “I am forever in you dept, princess.”

Twilight flushed. “Shield, please. It was nothing, but a simple healing spell.”

“No doctor in the world could have done what you did. And you saw it fit to decline any offer of funding we tried to offer. Your chivalry is only matched by Celestia herself.”

Twilight struggled to find words to argue with, but her mind drew a blank. The silence was finally broken when Twilight’s stomach growled loudly. This only caused her flush to deepen.

Shield gasped and quickly moved away. “A-apologies, your highness. I didn’t mean to keep you from your meal.”

“Gilded Shield!” Twilight yelled, causing the stallion to flinch. “I came for a friendly chat with my loyal subjects. I’m not in the mood yet for formalities. Can I please have a casual breakfast without anypony thinking I’m about to turn them into a stain on the floor?”

The guard looked away in shame. “My apologies, princess…” Shield walked back around the table and retook his seat.

Twilight sighed and rubbed her hoof into her temple. “Look… I know what I am to you all, but it doesn’t mean you have to throw yourselves under the chariot every time a mistake is made. I may be a princess, but I took care of myself for years.” She levitated her fork in her purple magic aura and began forking hashbrowns into her mouth. The relief of food on her stomach calmed her mind enough to continue the conversation. “Besides, I don’t like punishing my ponies. Sure, I won’t hesitate to do it if the crime was bad enough, but surely not over something as trivial as breakfast.”

“Yes, your majesty…”

The lavender princess sighed again. She reached across the table and placed her hoof on Shield’s own. She felt the guard almost pull away, but her eyes meeting his stopped him. “I understand what you all think you owe me, but I’ve never been fond of making a profit. I help ponies and I improve living where I can. I’m not just the element of magic, after all.”

Shield looked down, avoiding her eyes as he slowly nodded.

Twilight gave a slight smile. “Now cheer up. I don’t have any work today, for once. I want everypony but the high ranking generals and my captain to just relax for today. Go read a book or something. Just take it easy, okay?”

“Your generosity is appreciated, princess, but I would feel more comfortable to keep at the ready.” Shield replied in a quiet tone. “I can rest when I’m off-duty.”

Twilight’s smile faded. “I see…” She finished her hashbrowns and began working on her pancakes next. She didn’t even feel like talking anymore as uncomfortable silence settled in. ‘Maybe the dining hall would have been better....’

“Twilight, I’m starting to get worried about you. You haven’t sent Celestia a letter in weeks. I’m sure she’s getting worried about you too. You haven’t been yourself lately.” Spike said to the lavender alicorn as she stared off into the distance at Canterlot castle. Despite how much he had grown over the years, Twilight had grown twice as fast.

Twilight didn’t hear him. Her mind was elsewhere, focused on distant memories from before she was a princess.

Spike nudged her shoulder. “Twilight?”

This seemed to snap Twilight out of her thoughts. She turned to look down at her number one assistant. “Hmm? Did you say something, Spike?”

"I said, maybe you should send Celestia a letter."

Twilight tilted her head in confusion. “What for?”

Spike sighed. “I mean, I know you went and saw her yesterday, but you haven’t sent her a friendship letter at all in weeks, probably months. I just think maybe you should talk to her more often. She get's worried about you, you know.”

“Spike…” Twilight looked back out at Canterlot castle. “I appreciate the concern, but… I’m not her student anymore.”

“But, Twi-”

“Spike.” Twilight cut him off. “Enough. Can... I just have some quiet time? Alone?”

Spike looked down, but nodded. “Okay…” With that, the adolescent dragon left Twilight alone to her thoughts. The door to her chambers closed with a soft click, signaling he had indeed left.

Twilight sighed. Memories of her life as the young prodigy of Celestia drifted aimlessly through her mind. Memories of her friends, the elements, their adventures. That was all pretty much over now. Twilight was a princess now. It had been great at first, but work always kept her busy. She barely had any time to spend with her friends.

The walls of the very castle she lived in spoke of their times together before all the royal formalities. When Twilight was just the Ponyville librarian. Nopony saw her for that mare anymore. Now she was the princess that they were forced to bow to. Twilight didn’t hate being an alicorn, but it did get frustrating at times when ponies would grovel at her hooves for the simplest mistakes.

Twilight’s horn flashed as she charged a teleportation spell, before popping out out of existence. She reappeared deep in the Everfree forest. A skeleton of a former stronghold stood before her; the shattered Castle of the Two Sisters.

Before she had become a princess, this would be where she came to be alone. She would busy herself by exploring it’s secrets and get lost for days on purpose. Just for the sake of having something to do by herself. After ascending, though, exploration of the ancient castle stopped all together.

“Long time, no see…” Twilight whispered half to herself. She felt ancient magic shifting to the presence of her alicorn power, calling for her to discover its secrets.

The lavender princess walked toward the neglected castle and entered through the shattered archway. She had seen for herself the battle that took place within these very walls, thanks to a potion Zecora had created. She knew the history behind the castle’s demise.

As Twilight stepped hoof into the castle, she felt the magic that had been left behind embrace her like a scared foal. It felt warm, like a pleasant memory.

Twilight smiled. “You missed me, hmm?” She fed some of her own magic into it and felt the entity strengthen. Suddenly it began tugging on her. Not physically, more like a mental tug. She hesitated. “What are you trying to show me?”

The ancient magic only pulled harder. It reminded Twilight in every way of a foal as it tried to drag her off to show her Celestia-knows-what. After a long decision, she finally complied and let the magic lead her deeper into the castle.

The deeper Twilight walked, the stronger the mental tug grew. She had been through here many a times, but she’d never felt anything like this before. Part of her began to worry that it was some sort of trap, while her more curious side continued on. Twilight cursed her own unsatable curiosity.

As the tunnels grew darker, Twilight was forced to illuminate her horn as she struggled to see. Normally the tunnels would have been cold and drafty, but the insistent magic continued to warm her. She wasn’t complaining.

Twilight, by now, had completely lost track of where she was. Her hooves were acting on their own, losing herself deeper into the castle’s labyrinth depths. The silence gave her the one thing she hadn’t had the pleasure of obtaining over the last year.

Peace and quiet.

No insistent servants. No overprotective guards. No politics. No paperwork. No letters. Just silence. Normally the silence would have unnerved her to no end, but to a busy princess, it was ecstasy in it’s gentlest form. Twilight took full advantage of it as she was led into the abandoned corridors of the shattered castle.

The only sound came from the soft clop of her hooves on the ancient stone floor and her steady breathing. She busied herself with gazing at what few relics still stood in the once great halls.

After what felt like hours of walking, the magic compelled Twilight to stop; which she did. She gasped at what lay before her.

The archive vault. Something Celestia had said was long buried. Twilight hadn’t dared to explore this part of the castle, for fear of it collapsing. And yet, here it was. Unharmed and perfectly preserved, even after so many thousands of years. Not a speck of dust deflowered it’s complexity.

“So that’s what you wanted me to see…” Twilight whispered in awe. Despite her quiet tone, her voice still echoes off the walls. “I wonder why Celestia wanted to keep me away from this.” She walked up to the massive door and rubbed her hoof tenderly across it, the purple light from her horn reflecting off of it’s pristine surface. It looked like it hadn’t aged a day; completely out of place from the rest of the castle.

Twilight had the sudden desire to open the door, but her conscience conflicted with it. ‘Don’t you dare open that door, Twilight! There’s a reason Celestia kept you from seeing it!’

She pulled her hoof away from the door.

‘But I want to see what’s in there. I’m a princess now. I can handle myself.’ Twilight argued with herself. She placed her hoof back on the door.

‘What if it’s a trap?’

‘Then I’ll be prepared for it.’

Twilight slipped her horn into the arcaned lock and let her magic flow into it. She heard heavy gears and tumblers creak and slide into place, before a loud *Clang* signaled the door had been unlocked.

‘You idiot! You may have just killed yourself!’

Twilight ignored her fickle thoughts and opened the door. It’s hinges were as silent as the rest of the castle as the massive door swung outward. She had to step back to keep from being hit by it. The magic from before surged out from the dark vault to greet Twilight, embracing her fully. The alicorn giggled.

It was massive in quantity and it willingly flowed into Twilight’s body, filling her with powerful ancient magic. It sent a thrilling shiver through her. It was so warm and friendly and absolutely overwhelming. She felt like she would burst from it all, but it continued flowing into her; not once slowing down.

By the time it was done, Twilight felt heavy. Her whole body felt weak and sore all of a sudden, just like it had when all three princesses had given her their magic. Her horn tingled with power and her magic reserves felt bloated beyond their normal capacity.

The lavender alicorn panted as she struggled to keep her balance. “What… was that...?” She asked nopony in particular. She felt positively massive amounts of power running through her veins as it mixed with her own magic. Soon her disorientation subsided and Twilight was left confused as the overwhelming feeling of power faded.

Twilight shivered again. “W-wow.”

She shook her head to clear her state of shock and shined the light from her horn into the vault. The purple light illuminated shelves and shelves of one-of-a-kind artifacts, some of which hadn’t seen the light in over a millenia. Twilight was speechless. ‘Why would Celestia leave all of this behind? There’s so much stuff...’

Twilight, with slight giddiness about her, stepped into the vault. It was amazing. From ancient weapons and armor to priceless tombs that the library lacked, the shelves held the secrets from before Canterlot ever even existed. She let her gaze wander over Equestria’s deepest secrets from times most have forgotten about.

“Oh… my… gosh…” Twilight breathed. “This… This is everything! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!” She bounced up and down in excitement, giggling uncontrollably.

The magic she had absorbed shifted suddenly, snapping her attention to a particular row of books. Twilight took a few hesitant steps toward the shelf and skimmed over the titles across the spines. There were a few written in Cosmic Runes, the alicorn tongue she was only just learning about. Her eyes, though, were only focused on one book in particular.

It was a thick, blue tomb with golden letters across the spine. She tilted her head to the side so she could better read it. Her eyes grew wider than they had ever been. “St-… S-St-... Star…STARSWIRL’S JOURNAL!?” Twilight squealed in disbelief.

Twilight snatched the book off the shelf and stared at it. In her hooves, her hooves, she held the journal of Starswirl the Bearded! This had to be the most exciting day of her life! She clutched the tomb to her chest and spun in circles. “OH MY GOSH! I have it! I have it! Starswirl’s journal!”