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!”
(Accidentally) Playing God
Celestia shot upright in her bed, gasping for breath. Her head was relentlessly pounding. She rubbed her hooves into her temples in a futile attempt to relieve the pressure behind her eyes. The ancient alicorn had felt something she hadn’t felt in a long, long time. She had even nearly forgotten about it’s existence. Her eyes were wide in shock.
“The… vault… Somepony opened the vault!” Celestia cringed as her own voice caused white hot pain to stab through her brain. It felt as if somepony was standing on her head and drilling into her scalp with a jackhammer.
Whimpering, she helplessly curled into a tight ball and waited for it to pass. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, the pain was so intense. Luckily for the princess, it subsided just as fast as it had come.
Celestia panted as she tried to catch her breath. She felt drained. Not tired, but like her magic had been drained from her body. She couldn’t even move, much less cast a scrying spell to find who had been foolish enough to open the old archive vault. There were too many dangerous secrets in that vault. Any one of them falling into the wrong hooves could spell disaster for Equestria.
“Who... could have possibly been ignorant enough to open the vault?” Celestia whispered to herself. “It’s sealed with alicorn level arcane magic, just like the one here in Canterlot. Besides, it’s not as if there are any alicorns ignorant enough about it to have tried to-...” The alicorn seized up as realization dawned on her like the early morning sun.
“Twilight!” Celestia screamed and leaped out of bed.
“This is incredible! I’ve never even heard of some of these spells!” Twilight exclaimed as she read through the perfectly preserved writings of one of the greatest unicorns of his time. The alicorn herself was back in the vast library of the Castle of the Two Sisters, sprawled out on an old cushion she had cleaned off with her magic. The journal she had found was wide open on the floor in front of her.
Twilight flipped through a few pages, the corners glowing in a purple aura. Eventually the writings came to an abrupt end. The remaining third of the pages were left completely blank. She thumbed through them aimlessly, until something flashed across Twilight’s vision.
She stopped immediately.
“Hello… What have we here?” She looked over the vastly complex layout of the one page that had managed to catch her keen eye. It was odd, to say the least. The diagram of the spell circle showed relations to a summoning spell, but the center held a complex design she had never seen before. It confused Twilight to no end.
She lifted the page with the circle in an attempt to find some sort of explanation of it, but all she found were empty, blank pages.
Twilight hummed in irritation. Why would Starswirl create a spell circle this complex and leave out every possible bit of information on it? Furthermore, where were the runes? Every magically inclined unicorn knows a spell circle can’t function without proper runes to hold the magic in the circle. The circle itself was simply to channel the magic in whatever direction is required by the spell.
Without these two very important aspects, one or the other would simply be a pretty picture or an unreadable language. The spell would then either sputter out or explode, depending on what the function of the spell was originally intended to do.
But why was it just randomly placed amongst a sea of blank canvases?
Twilight chewed on her lower lip as she lost herself in thought. Her ever expanding knowledge of magic was then brought forth into the cascading curiosity that is her thought path. She knew exactly what the outer ring of the circle was meant to do. It’s design was intended to summon a solid object, be it organic or inanimate, but what it summoned and where it summoned it from was decided by the second and center layer.
The second layer, on the other hoof, was normally a representation of a certain point in space. This one seemed to be a representation of interdimensional travel. There was no way to tell what dimension, unless one knew what exactly the center layer represents.
And that was Twilight’s current problem. Without knowing what the center layer was meant to do, she couldn’t add the proper runes. This only seemed to frustrate the young alicorn further.
Based on her current knowledge of interdimensional magic, the placing of the runes would be fairly simple. The same goes for the summoning ring. The runes would be simply used to spiral the magic in a specific direction. What direction would be determined by the shape of the layers of the circle.
Twilight’s curiosity soon got the better of her.
She stood from her slightly comfortable cushion and walked to middle of the stone floor of the library. The journal floated next to her, suspended in her magic. Using a chunk of corroded stone that had crumbled from one of the many walls, she began drawing the circle on the floor. She copied each and every line perfectly on a much larger scale than in the book.
Next, Twilight drew ancient spell runes in two of the three layers of the circle. She was then left with the problem of the center, and final layer.
Twilight snorted in irritation and rubbed her temples as she stared at the confusing drawing. “What is it missing...?” Her eyes flicked frantically over the complex circle, as if the answer to her problem would just jump out and say ‘Here I am!’.
In a random fit of irritation, Twilight marked down three runes around the very center of the third layer of the circle. Each rune represented a limit to how much power would be allowed to flow through it. It was a safety precaution, just in case the spell was meant to summon something rather nasty.
Despite her precautions, Twilight was shivering. There were a number of ways this could go wrong and every one of them shifted through her head. Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a tugging in her mind. Remembering it was the magic she had absorbed from before, Twilight let it pull her gaze toward the circle.
A feeling of warmth and comfort washed over her, calming every fear that had reared it’s ugly head. Something caught her eye that she hadn’t seen a moment before.
“The center circle is reversed… That means it reverses polarity the moment the magic reaches the center.” Twilight whispered to herself. She scratched her chin thoughtfully. “That means my runes are wrong.”
Twilight trotted to the center ring of the spell circle and erased the three runes, before redrawing them in reversed order. She looked it over again to make sure she wasn’t forgetting anything, but nothing else caught her attention. Satisfied, she resumed her place outside of the drawing, making sure she had a clear way of escape beforehoof.
The lavender alicorn let out a deep breath as she readied her magic, her horn slowly glowing brighter as she channeled intense amounts of magic into it. It was an easy feat for an alicorn such as herself.
“Here goes nothing…”
Twilight angled her horn toward the drawing of the summoning circle and charged up even more magic. A vortex of her own power began spiraling around her, increasing speed with every passing moment. Wind from the vortex kicked up dust and debris, as well as forcefully blowing the pages of the aged journal, which was still floating in her aura.
She grit her teeth as she released the pent up energy. A beam of pure purple arcane power arked from her horn and funneled itself into the circle. The runes ignited the same color purple as they forced the magic to bend and shape to their specifications.
But something was off. Twilight could feel it in the way the spell latched onto her magic and forced it from her, like a starving changeling would if it were stealing love. She gasped and tried to cut off the flow of power from her horn, but it was no use. She tried yanking her head away, but it held her there.
Twilight panicked. “No! No no no no! L-let me go! No!”
Her vision began to blur as more of her reserves were drained, forcing her to her knees. Her breathing became labored as her strength was drained by the second. She could no longer focus on the spiraling vortex of power that steadily grew from the circle she had created and soon all she could see was the stone floor as it rose up to meet her snout.
She blacked out.
Twilight moaned as her peaceful sleep was interrupted by a bright light. She didn’t want to get up. The blankets were so warm. The mattress was so soft. She tossed and turned in her struggle to stay asleep, pulling the blankets over her head.
She groaned when her efforts grew fruitless. Throwing off her warm cover, Twilight sat up in her bed. She yawned loudly and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, while stretching her painfully stiff wings. If there was one thing she hated about having wings, it was how cramped they could get if one didn’t move them often enough.
Which meant stiff wings was an everyday morning issue for Twilight.
Twilight held her head in her forehooves and yanked it to the side, sighing as she felt the kink in her neck pop. “Ahhh… Much better…” She finally opened her eyes to take a look at her surroundings. Her eyes snapped wide open in surprise. “W-why… Why am I in Celestia’s bed?”
She glanced around frantically, searching for any sign of her former mentor, but she was alone. She rubbed her temple as her sluggish mind attempted to wrap itself around the situation. She didn’t remember being in Canterlot last night.
Memories of a crumbling castle and an ancient book drifted lazily through her mind. Something clicked. “The spell!” Twilight screamed. She frantically searched her horn for any injuries and checked her arcane reserves. Nothing was damaged.
This only served to confuse the young alicorn.
“Could I of dreamt it?” Twilight asked herself, while rubbing her horn with a forehoof. She glanced to one of the windows. A thick golden curtain covered it, but light still leaked through the fabric.
It’s definitely morning. What happened?
It was at that very moment that Twilight felt something shift in the bed next to her. She squealed in surprise and fell out of the bed, only to land in a heap on the floor. Unluckily for her, Celestia had wanted hardwood floors for her personal chambers. Her cherished head smacked against the hard surface, causing her vision to swim along with dull pain.
“A-are… are you alright?”
Through the swiming of her mind, Twilight thought she had heard a voice. That couldn’t be right, could it? She was alone, wasn’t she?
“Are you hurt?”
Twilight groaned and looked up at where she fell from, noticing the soft sheets wrapped around her hind leg. She then looked up at the small pony standing at the edge of the mattress with a worried look on his face. He was familiar, but only slightly. His coat was a deep blue, almost a navy, and his mane was a dull silver. His gray eyes stared down at her.
Twilight’s eyes grew wide as saucers.
There’s a foal in Celestia’s bed with me! Why would I have woken up in Celestia’s bed with a foal!? Is he mine!? Am I a mother and I completely forgot the last however many years!? If not mine, who’s is he!? What’s going on!?
She screamed.
Twilight.
Twilight groaned when she heard her name uttered in a gentle voice. She tried to move her hoof to wave off whomever was trying to rouse her, but she couldn’t. She didn’t want to wake up. She simply ignored the voice and tried to settle back into her slumber.
Please, Twilight. Wake up.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Twilight began to come to. She groaned louder in frustration as it became harder and harder to stay asleep. Again, she tried to tell off the pony trying to get her attention with an angry hoof, but again she couldn’t.
“Twilight! Wake up, now! Its a matter of great importance that you wake up now!” Celestia demanded in a stern tone.
Twilight jolted awake as soon as she realized who the voice belonged to. Upon opening her eyes, she noticed her surroundings had changed from what she last remembered. No longer was she in Celestia’s chambers, but she was instead in the castle infirmary. White walls surrounded her on all sides and and bright fluorescent lights shined in her face from above. Before she could look at anything else, her vision was blocked by a white paper cup levitating in a golden aura. “Wha-”
“Drink.” Celestia’s voice spoke from Twilight’s left. The cup floated closer to her and tapped her snout insistently, until Twilight compiled and put her lips to the rim of the cup. The golden aura tilted the cup and allowed Twilight to drink the ice cold water it held. Twilight let out a soft moan as the cold fluid soothed her parched throat. She hadn’t even realized how thirsty she was until that moment. She grabbed the cup in her own magic and downed it’s entire contents. The empty cup was then taken from her as soon as she finished.
Twilight finally had the chance to turn to look to her former mentor, but there wasn’t the gentle, loving look she was used to seeing. As the regal alicorn sat in the guest chair next to the bed. She stared at Twilight with eyes that could have been mistaken as magenta daggers. The younger princess shrunk away under the hard gaze. “P-princess? Did… D-did I do something wrong?”
“Yes.” Was the only reply Celestia was willing to give at the moment.
Twilight flinched at the right jab to her self esteem. She opened her mouth to speak again, but stopped when Celestia held up a hoof. The elder alicorn’s gaze softened, easing Twilight’s fears slightly, but she was still unnerved.
“But I am kind, merciful, and generous. Your only punishment will be knowing that you did something wrong.” Celestia stated with a gentle smile. “And so that you will know why it was wrong, I will tell you exactly what you have done that Starswirl has neglected to explain in his journal.”
Twilight’s ears perked up at the sudden promise of information, even if it were explaining something stupid that Twilight herself had done. If she had any parchment and quills, she might have even taken notes, but fate has wounded Twilight yet again. She opted, instead, to simply listen.
Celestia took a deep breath. Her horn ignited into a brilliant golden flare as all four walls were covered in a glowing layer of a silencing spell, before she began her lesson. “As you already know, Twilight, the vault of any castle is heavily guarded. Many of the items powerful enough to cause harm to Equestria, even items that aren’t particularly magic, are stored there. The vault here in Canterlot is a fraud. Of course, I keep some items in the vault here, but the most dangerous are locked away in the deepest, darkest part of our old castle. I meant to tell you this sooner, but I wasn’t sure you were ready for the responsibility of that knowledge quite yet.”
“Oh, I…” Twilight looked away, rubbing a hoof against her foreleg timidly. “I-I’m sorry…”
“You’re already forgiven, Twilight. Like I said, you didn’t know and I should have told you. That mistake is on me.” Celestia replied. She lightly brushed a stray hair out of Twilight’s face with her magic and placed her hoof under the young alicorn’s chin, making her look into Celestia’s gentle gaze. “But I also understand that you absorbed my magic to break the spell holding the vault secure. How?”
Twilight was stumped by the question. The truth was, she didn’t have a single clue how that warm, welcoming magic gained conscious control over itself. “I… I-I don’t know. Some sort of magic energy from the castle itself led me to the vault and showed me how. I just did it by feel. I didn’t know what I was doing.”
Celestia nodded as she let go of Twilight’s chin. She began pacing back and forth in front of the bed as she thought. Everypony used to think pacing was Twilight’s trademark habit, but in truth, she picked it up from watching Celestia think on many occasions. Twilight normally saw her do it when they were playing chess and Twilight had her cornered. Celestia stopped suddenly, her eyes wide. “Could it be…? No, no… It couldn’t possibly… But… Hmm…” The alabaster alicorn shook her head, before turning her attention back to Twilight. “You said magic from the castle itself?”
“Y-yes. Umm… Why? Is there something wrong?” Twilight asked curiously.
“Uhh, no. It’s just…” Celestia glanced around the small room, as if she were searching for somepony. It was then that she cast a second distortion spell around the room. The thin layer of gold intensified. “Twilight, everything I’m about to tell you does not leave this room. You do not speak of it. You do not write of it. This is between you, Luna, and I. Not even Spike may know.”
The suspense was killing Twilight. She needed to know what had gotten Celestia so riled up. She cocked her ears forward and nodded in agreement.
“Starswirl was a male alicorn, the only one in Equestria since before my father's first visit. Canterlot castle belonged to him before it ever belonged to me. It was his final parting gift to me before his unfortunate death.” Celestia explained, obviously having chosen to condense her lesson. “But an alicorn never truly dies. Their body eventually withers away to nothing and all that is left is their spirit. If done properly, an alicorn can gain the assistance of a living being to create a new vessel for the spirit, but that is the very thing I didn’t want him to do. Yet there you were; the alone, and all powerful, princess Twilight Sparkle.”
“Wait, wait, wait wait!” Twilight interrupted. “Are you telling me that I brought, not only an alicorn, but Starswirl back from the dead? The Starswirl? As in Starswirl the Bearded?”
Celestia shuffled on her hooves a little at the question, but nodded. “Though, he’s not exactly bearded anymore… Or should I say… Not bearded yet.”
Suddenly everything clicked into place. Twilight’s heart nearly stopped, but her precious brain wasn’t so lucky. Every train of thought she had, from the eleven o’clock Frontal lobe to the six-thirty Serrabellum, suddenly collided in a heap of twisted thoughts and emotions. Her pupils dilated to mere dots as one thought floated around in her startlingly quiet mind. “Th-the… Th-the c-c-colt… The c-colt is… S-Starswirl!?”
Celestia flinched at the sudden screech in Twilight’s voice. She had expected a reaction like this and already had the paper bag ready, levitating it over to the hyperventilating purple alicorn. Twilight snatched it out of the air and began breathing into it, inflating and deflating it with each shaky breath. “Twilight… Please calm yourself. This is what some alicorns do. I only said you did something wrong because an alicorn is normally not permitted to resurrect another alicorn. It is highly frowned upon by the elder family. But you cannot take the blame. You didn’t know better.”
“Elder family!? What elder family!? And there are more alicorns!? Starswirl was an alicorn!?” Twilight hugged the paper bag against her chest and took a deep breath. Remembering the calming method Cadence had taught her, she held her breath for a moment, before slowly releasing it. Her head felt clearer now than before. “How… How much have you been keeping from me?” She asked in a shaky voice
The sun princess sighed, lowering her head. Her regal form was seemingly broken by that very last question. Twilight made to apologize, but Celestia held up her hoof. “Everything… I have kept everything from you, my dearest Twilight.”
Twilight fumbled over her already damaged grand central mental train station, causing another crash. “I… I don’t understand…”
“Then allow me to explain.” Celestia lifted her head and looked at Twilight with as much pride as she could muster, but it was only a thin mask. Her eyes showed every ounce of her self resentment. “You were always an alicorn, birthed native of Equis, reincarnation of the wisest alicorn known to the multiverse. Your reincarnation was forced by necessity; a necessity that no longer exists. Discord is reformed, my sister is healed, and Tyrek is back where he belongs. But even when you served the purposes I intended, I told you nothing of your true identity, and for that I am forever sorry. Princess Twilight Sparkle I have been overstepping my bounds from the beginning, for my sister and I are not even the rightful rulers of this world. Our places are on the sun and moon. You… The elder in spirit... are the true ruler of Equis.”
The younger alicorn could only stare in blank awe at her former teacher, whom had stopped talking for a moment to let the information sink in. The mental image Twilight held of the two royal sisters she alway looked up to suddenly shattered. She felt suddenly exposed and vulnerable. Then something slowly began to boil in the back of her mind. It was anger.
“Luna and I could only watch in horror as your mortal body was destroyed by Tyrek so many thousands of years ago.” Celestia continued. “It took years to defeat him. We had honestly intended to kill him, but it was fruitless. His soul and body are both immortal, even as weak as he is now. We imprisoned him in Tartarus for that such reason, because there was no other prison strong enough. Then came discord and Sombra, the twin demons of chaos. They were once both proud alicorns, but greed and foolishness deformed them. Together they created the windingos and froze the world with hatred. My sister and I couldn’t take it anymore. We were given a castle castle together on Equis and vowed to defend it best we could until your return, but you didn’t want to return. It took banishing four threats for a thousand years to force the question…” Celestia paused and looked away. “What happens when I can’t defend Equis anymore?”
“C-Celestia… Tell me you didn’t… Please tell me this is all just a joke… Please don’t tell me what I think you’re about to…” Twilight pleaded. “You reincarnated me, didn’t you?”
Celestia opened her mouth and hesitated. It was a moment before she spoke, but Twilight suddenly wished she hadn’t. “Not in the way you did for Starswirl, Twilight… You see, there are three ways to create a new body for an alicorn; two any experienced unicorn could do, and one only another alicorn can do. The later involves mating and the elder family can do nothing about it. Y-you’re… my daughter in body, Twilight Sparkle… Sired by a unicorn, birthed by an alicorn... ”
Twilight’s world came crashing down around her. She watched as everything she knew, everypony she saw as family... was suddenly snatched from her. She fainted for the third time since the castle, falling into the cold embrace of her subconsciousness.
