Age of the Alicorn

Chapter 4: A Sparkle of Hope at Twilight – Part 2

Twilight’s awestruck face stuck for a little while as she rebooted her, figuratively speaking, overloading brain.

“What’s tha’ matter?” Advent asked with a tiny amount of concern as his glistening peepers glanced over her and then shifted to the side. “You look like you’ve never seen an Alicorn stallion.”

“That’s because I haven’t,” Twilight finally conveyed, breaking her silent shock.

“Hmm,” he responded neutrally, “learn somethin’ new every day, I suppose.”

Her mind was officially blown. Although she had suspected that he was the prince from the tale, she hadn’t in the slightest thought he could have been an Alicorn! Not a single record from the Royal Canterlot Library had ever spoken of a stallion who could be.

“Since we’re on that subject,” Advent pressed forth, remaining where he stood, “would you mind me askin’ uh question?”

“Oh-kay,” she breathed, not entirely sure where he was going.

“I know that you know that I’m the first Alicorn stallion that you’ve ever heard of,” he said with ease, “but am I the only other Alicorn you’ve ever met?”

“No, actually,” Twilight answered calmly, remembering that she had excluded the other princesses from her life’s story beforehoof.

“Really?” he inquired, his eyes wide with expectation.

“Yes,” she confirmed happily, noticing how his mood bettered as they continued talking, “there happen to be four Alicorn princesses in Equestria, of whom I am one.”

“Four,” Advent repeated as if he were having to absorb news of gargantuan proportions. “Forgive me if I appear to be flabbergasted,” he directed his attention back to her, “but this morning I had it in muh mind that I was the only Alicorn in tha’ entire world.”

“Wh-h-at do you mean?” Twilight accidentally giggled a note as she asked as though he were being silly. “You’re parents were Alicorns, weren’t they?”

“They were Unicorns, actually,” he answered lowly, and, for a moment, it seemed that his mane had surged like fire.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she apologized, “I didn’t mean to pour salt on an open wound.”

“No, there’s no need for that,” the stallion assured her, “In fact, I’m glad you brought that up.”

“In that case,” Twilight said, knowing there were no hard feelings, “may I ask how is it possible that you were born an Alicorn?”

“The question is perfectly fine by me,” he stated with a renewed smile, “Ta’ say tha’ least, nearly everypony who knew of muh birth asked tha’ same thing.”

Breathing deeply, he focused his mind, even as his hair flared once more.

“But muh Da’ and muh Mum loved me even if I was the only pony in the entire kingdom to have been born with wings.”

That caught Twilight’s mind in a bind.

“Did you say only pony born with wings?” she neighed.

“Aye,” he answered matter-of-factly.

“There were no Pegasi?” she voiced with a great deal of curiosity.

“So you’re familiar with that race of ponies?” he returned her question with his own.

“Well, yes,” Twilight confirmed knowingly, “my friends Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are both Pegasi.”

“Wow,” Advent admired, “Equestria sounds like uh paradise.”

“I’m… sure it does,” she commented, slightly off-put by his staring into the distance.

“Oap, sorry,” he counter-apologized, “Got carried away for uh bit. Being by yourself for so long… does that ta’ you.”

The eerie look of blankness that ran across his face quickly made Twilight realize she may be losing him to the difficult past he alone had to endure.

“Were there only Unicorns in the kingdom of Steedstone?” she asked from the top of her head, partially longing to learn more about this lost pony-nation, but mostly because she felt a form of connection with him.

“Oh,” he sprung back to his cheery talkative self, “tha’ population of Steedstone consisted of both Unicorns and Earth Ponies.”

“Why, I’d say that it was thanks ta’ our Earth Pony kin that tha’ nation had grown ta’ such uh state of prosperity as it was,” he elaborated.

“Fascinating,” she agreed with him, bobbing her head at a gentle pace.

A sigh slipped from his lips as his eyes drifted to the floor.

“What?” Twilight seriously wondered what could have hurt him, if he had been offended.

“Aren’t ya’ gonna ask?” Advent shot pointedly, although not as if he had intended to drive a wedge between them.

“Ask?” she continued to be lost to his meaning.

“About tha’ curse,” he laid it out plainly.

“Oh,” she groaned, realizing that he was fully aware that she had been dancing around the topic.

“Aye,” the fiery-haired guy concluded, “tha’ shadowy thing that traps us within its canopy.”

“The dome…” she understood his meaning rather swiftly.

“Indeed,” he deadpanned.

There was an awkward pause as they both looked about. But, Twilight knew what she would say next.

“So,” she captured his attention again, “why haven’t you broken free from it?”

“Pardon?” Advent replied.

“Well, from what I’ve learned,” the purple pony proposed, “there’s no such thing as a real ‘curse’.”

“Not ta’ insult your intelligence, because I can tell that it’s matched only by…” he trailed off, coughing into a hoof after shifting his gaze away from her “…That is ta’ say, this curse is very real.”

A fuzzy feeling of elation stirred in her belly as Twilight was stuck on his near complement. She didn’t know what he was going to say, but she knew it had to have been good.

“Umm, Twilight?” he called to her.

“Huh… Oh, yes!” she hurriedly responded. “Then, what have you done to break it?”

She personally couldn’t come to believe that this curse was little more than a trick, like the poison joke incident, but it didn’t hurt to hear about it from another pony’s point of view.

“I can tell you now from firsthoof experience that it can’t be done without tha’ proper procedure,” Advent expressed heartily, jabbing a hoof at the ground, “By my recounting, I’ve tried everything from magic ta’ digging through tha’ ground. I’ve even went straight up an’ bucked tha’ thing, hoping that it would break like glass, to no avail.”

To say the least, Twilight was now uncomfortable knowing that not only was the curse very much real, since she knew that she could trust Advent’s word, but there was no obvious way to just end it.

“Was there a clue to an answer, or something that could help us?” she fervently begged to know.

“Tha’ Commander…” he wavered, cringing a bit as he endured another wave of the flame-like movement of his mane “…said in tha’ curse… that I must find my salvation.”

Taken aback by the unusual word, she uttered desperately, “What’s that even supposed to mean?!”

“I don’t know,” he admitted dishearteningly, “I’ve searched, I’ve read, and I’ve found myself wanting in my solitude…”

The hope seemed to be drifting from his eyes as he bowed his head.

Twilight noticed as soon as she calmed herself and decided that there had to be more that she could do for this tortured pony’s shattered spirit.

“So, how can I help?” she uttered while standing up from her position of relaxation.

“Eh?” Advent verbalized his confusion at the offer.

“How can I help?” Twilight once again stated, taking a few hoofsteps nearer to him.

“Ya’ mean you’ll help me?” he asked as though a great burden was being lifted from his shoulders.

“Of course. What are friends for?” she asserted kindly.

“Friends?” he stated, as if it were a long lost dream that had been forgotten. “You and I are…?”

“Why not?” she insisted. “We know so much about each other, I would think that we could be.”

“I would like that,” he said with a great big smile, “very moch.”

“Great!” Twilight pronounced cheerfully, grinning back at her new amigo. “Since that’s settled, where do we start?”

“Ta’ start, I’ve already examined tha’ city for uh hint as ta’ tha’ answer,” Advent checked off a step on his mental list, “and I’ve gone through tha’ majority of muh books…”

Desperation began to grip Twilight’s mind as she instinctively started questioning whether she would ever be able to escape this depressing situation to return to her friends and Ponyville.

“Well, mostly depressing…” she told herself before unintentionally taking a peek at the tall, handsome stallion who was now the center of her focus.

“But,” he chirped, earning her undivided attention, “there is one section I haven’t thoroughly given uh looking at.”

“Where is it?” she asked, purposely including an excited delight at the potential of finally ending his suffering.

“Tha’ opposite end of tha’ castle,” he revealed, steadily growing more positive in his attitude.

“What are we waiting for then?!” she cried aloud, motioning her hooves in a circular pattern in front of her after rearing back.

“Aye!” Advent chortled gleefully. “Let us be on our way!”

Her smile had grown so wide at the level of lightheartedness that was beaming from the stallion that she had barely caught the appearance of something that took her breath away as he swung around to gallop off.

“Wait!” she shouted, holding a hoof out as if she were attempting to bring him to a halt.

“What’s tha’ holdup?” the impatiently reinvigorated guy-pony whinnied while he arced his head back to glance at her.

“Your flank!” Twilight announced, aiming her hoof at his aforementioned body part. “It’s blank!”

Adopting a face that was seeded with his inner perplexity, Advent aimed his golden eyes at the upper quarter of his left rear leg after sweeping aside his equally fire-swept tail.

“Huh…” he murmured “…It’s been so long since I’ve given that any consideration.” A short snicker escaped his muzzle. “And it used to be such uh source of humiliation for me.”

“Why?” she gave voice to her question, yearning for an answer.

“I’ve never earned muh cutie mark,” he confessed, looking at the ceiling in deep contemplation, “nor discovered my destiny, or even that special talent that makes me unique from other ponies.” In an instant, he reset his vision on the purple mare and extended his wings. “And I never will if we don’t get uh move on!”

His outburst was followed in quick succession by him soaring above the central walkways.

Taking a mere split-second to gather her wits, she suddenly felt a competitive edge enter her system, and a thrill-seeker side emerged in her. So, with a smirk, Twilight charged her horn and zapped right in front of the high-flying stallion.

“Aha!” Advent shared her enthusiasm as he touched down a few hoofsteps to her side. “Follow meh!”

Through the narrow hallways, they danced around corners, passing dark, dusty chambers of all sizes, not missing a beat as Twilight stayed close behind him.

“How did you ever manage to memorize every passageway of this labyrinth?” she delivered her question without abandoning her unique sense of humor.

“Who said I have?” he directed his response to her as he trotted onward. “I still get lost on occasion. For days, even.” A hardy chuckle graced his lips as he pushed forward, lighting the path with his horn.

She was about to join in his merriment, when they passed a doorway. It was like any other door among the many, except that she felt a pull from it.

Although she knew that she would be leaving Advent, Twilight couldn’t resist the tug at her heart strings that drew her back to the room from whence the strange, otherworldly presence radiated.

Peeking into the stone doorframe, she flashed her horn’s light and illuminated the space.

Taking a series of steps into the stale-aired square, she could make out furniture, both plain and decadent, scattered about the room and covered in a layer of dust.

But, it was what was sat at the far end of the chamber that pulled her further into the poorly maintained area, for there was a well-designed wooden throne that was furnished with a crimson cushion for the seat.

And yet, that wasn’t what specifically stuck out to her, for upon the throne’s pillow was a-

“Oi, Twilight!” Advent’s voice echoed. “Where’d ya go?”

“I’m in here!” she called back.

A moment’s notice later, the candles on their stands came to life in the room, making everything a shade easier to see.

“Ah,” he toned his relief as his brightly-colored mane came into view, “there you… are…”

“Is something wrong?” she perplexed, concerned as she watched him clop into the room, wincing every few breaths as his hair sporadically flowed from normal to alive and back again.

“This was…” he struggled through erratic breathing “…muh Da’s audience chamber.”

“I’m so sorry!” Twilight apologized as quickly as her lips permitted her to.

“There’s no need for that,” he assured her, taking control of himself once he was close enough in proximity to the purple pony, “Ya’ didn’t know. And besides,” his golden eyes locked onto her, and a gentle smile graced his muzzle, “you’re muh friend.”

If she had ever felt special before, this overcame any of those times, even when she became a princess of Equestria. Maybe even more than when she first realized she had five of the best friends in the whole wide world!

“I need ta’ get past muh past, no matter how hard it was,” Advent stated, gazing all around the space, “and I can’t think of another pony I’d rather share it with.”

Okay, now she felt like the single most special pony ever!… Even if she couldn’t explain why.

“He used ta’ entertain ponies here,” reminisced the stallion as he paced about.

Twilight shifted her pleased grin to a straight-faced expression as she listened with open ears and wide eyes to the account.

“Muh Da’ didn’t like making other ponies feel as though he were an ‘all-powerful ruler’ who could pass judgment over them without batting an eye,” he elaborated, “so, he had this room changed ta’ allow it ta’ be accommodated for each individual appointment he had with somepony.”

When Twilight thought about it, the usual throne rooms of Equestria’s castles were a bit intimidating to the average pony, especially if they had never been in one before.

“Whether they were uh dignitary from uh booming city, un important town, or uh quaint hamlet, or just uh common citizen,” Advent recounted, “he would learn everything about them, and then he would make them at home.”

“He sounds like he was a great king,” Twilight complemented with careful consideration to the subject on-hoof.

“Aye,” quietly agreed the guy-pony, “and uh wonderful father.”

Her heart ached as she saw a single drop fall from Advent’s face, and she nearly jumped as it hit the floor and evaporated instantly.

“Twilight…” he murmured briefly.

“Yes, Advent,” she answered in-tandem.

“Why…” he said softly, steadily increasing the volume of his voice “…did you step hoof into here in tha’ first place?”

“Um… well…” she attempted to produce a logical explanation to the inexplicably unusual circumstances surrounding her action, but her mind failed to concoct the appropriate solution “…something… pulled me.”

“Something… pulled you?” he repeated, confusion setting on his features as he turned to be able to look her eye-to-eye.

“Well… drew is probably the better term for it,” she answered with an awkward grin, trying to emphasize her innocence.

“Something like?” he continued to question kindheartedly.

“Sort of like… an unknown force,” Twilight seized the opportunity presented by the considerate colt.

Tapping his hoof on his chin as he pondered the possibilities of the lady-pony’s perplexing happening, Advent was obviously puzzled as to what he could next say, or even do for that matter.

“When I entered this room,” she further noted her experience, “it took me a bit to notice anything, but something did catch my eye.”

“Oh?” the stallion went along with her, intrigued at the mare’s curious new additional detail.

“A book,” she insisted while slipping over to the throne.

“Book?” he suddenly spoke up, taking more than a little interest in her words.

“Yes,” Twilight confirmed, aiming a hoof at the object in question, “I don’t know for sure, but I believe this may very well be our source of information that we need to discover an end to the curse.”

She was more than glad to present her discovery to the heartbroken horse, but her cheer fled as soon as she realized the pain that had worked its way onto his visage while he stared at the tome that rested upon the throne’s cushioned seat as if it were a ghost.

“This was muh Da’s journal…” he exhaled.

“If… you don’t think that it’s such a good idea,” she stated slowly, her purple eyes popping open wide at the obvious blunder on her part, “then I understand.”

“I could never bring muhself to read it, even before… that day,” Advent uttered, tensing slightly as his mane momentarily gusted with fire, “Muh family saw too much pain.”

His monologue drove another point against her in Twilight’s score as she heard him unload the burden that had been upon his heart.

“But…” he added with a chipper tone, bringing his guest to worry less and to listen unimpaired by her mistake “…I believe you may be right.”

“Really?” she asked expectantly, her fear of hurting the only other pony around shattered.

“Aye,” Advent addressed her with a soothing smile, “I don’t know what it is, but I think this may be tha’ day that I was meant to.”

The mare’s belly bubbled with the same fuzziness that had washed over her before.

“Sadly,” he said reluctantly, “I’m gonna need some time alone ta’ read it.”

“Oh…” Twilight mumbled, her ears laying against her head as she turned to leave. “I’ll just-”

“If you’re interested,” he offered before she had gone too far.

“Yes?” she responded, whipping her head back around in a heartbeat.

“That is,” the stallion recollected himself while not looking directly at her, “my room is available if you need ta’ rest yourself.”

“Oh,” Twilight murmured, trying her best to not sound offensive to the gesture, “that’s nice.”

“It has everything uh pony needs,” he added, “Uh bed ta’ rest your head if you’re tired.”

Remembering the morning that she had been through, Twilight could still feel the exhaustion from all of the organization and managing she had been responsible for in Ponyville, and a nap sounded perfect at this point.

“An assortment of dishes that you can fill your tummy with.”

The girl-pony’s hungry gut growled its agreement, bringing a blush to her cheeks.

“And, if you’d like,” Advent sweetened the deal, “I’ll give you full access ta’ muh private collection of muh personally favorite written works.”

“That does sound tempting,” Twilight started to see the advantages of his idea.

“Ya’ know what,” the guy-pony said, having an epiphany, “I even permit you, if you want ta’ see me from an unbiased point of view, to read muh journal.”

She couldn’t utter another word at the surprising opportunity that he was so readily giving her.

“What’s tha’ matter?” he asked with a chuckle. “We’re friends now, are we not?”

Realizing that her mouth hung agape, she shut it with a hoof before returning the smile.

“We are,” she confirmed, “but isn’t it a little early for you to just let me peek into the single most private account of your life?”

His grin grew at her honesty, filling Twilight with happiness.

“You’re muh friend, and I have nothin’ ta’ hide from you,” he stated unashamedly.

The level of trust that Advent was giving to her, though they knew each other no more than an hour by her count, was touching.

“Thank you,” she expressed her gratitude.

“Anythin’ for uh friend,” he gladly toned.

For a moment, she clung onto that word, unconsciously wondering if there was more to it.

“So,” verbalized the tall equine, “to get there, ya’ turn right as you leave this chamber.”

“Oh, right,” Twilight broke out of her haze.

“Keep goin’, until ya’ reach uh staircase,” he continued to instruct her, “and ya’ ascend that ‘til you’re up on tha’ second floor.”

“Okay,” she paid her full focus to him.

“Then, ya’ take another right, and by tha’ sixth door, you’re there,” he completed his directions, “Simple, eh?”

“Mm-hmm,” she answered more for the sake of ensuring that he knew that she knew than anything.

Knowing that he had waited long enough, Twilight started off again to make her exit.

“And, Twilight-” he interjected once more.

“Yes?” she returned, accidentally sounding a little too pleased that he had stopped her.

“-when you get there…” he wavered in telling her.

“Yeees?” she drew her inquiry out, hoping that he might change his mind.

“Please don’t be frightened by what you first see,” Advent conveyed his inner fears while gazing at her with restrained pain tearing at the corners of his golden eyes.

“Alright…” was all Twilight could say as she looked deeply into those grief stricken orbs before returning to her leave.

Then it struck her.

“Are you sure you won’t need help?” she asked with a quick glance back.

“This is for tha’ best,” the words came out dry, but were firm.

“But if you do-” she attempted to press the topic.

“I’ll call for ya’,” he put plainly, without budging.

“Okay,” Twilight finally gave in, “I’m going now.”

Advent said nothing.

“I’ll see you later,” she concluded as she stepped through the door and a few hoofsteps away.

Creaking on its frame, the wooden portal shut behind her.

She couldn’t explain it, but it hurt to leave Advent on his own. Every inch further from him, Twilight’s mind abounded with thoughts of him cringing in unbearable pain and she had to keep from hoofing it right back to him to comfort him with her very presence.

She suddenly realized how strange she sounded to herself.

Not once had she ever felt this way about somepony else. The closest she had ever been was… Flash Sentry.

The memory of that blue-haired boy from the other world made her feel as though she were che…

She straightened herself, knowing that couldn’t be the case. After all, she had barely known him. Sure, he had been nice to her, inadvertently helped her get her crown back from Sunset Shimmer, and had appreciated her for herself at the Fall Formal dance, even dancing like she had naturally done on all fours. And yet… she hadn’t really gotten to know him, even when she had returned to his world a second time. He was merely a guy who she, admittedly, had developed a crush for. The cons of their relationship were they were both from two separate worlds, and she was a pony while he was a human. Not to mention that his pony counterpart was nothing like him.

On the other hoof, Advent had gone from a complete stranger to her friend in barely any time, and had poured out his soul to her, going so far as to offer her glimpses into his past in the form of his journal.

There was no doubt in her that she had become much closer to Advent while she could no longer consider her relationship with Flash Sentry to be viable. But… where did that leave her?

Shaking herself loose of the train of thought, Twilight did her best to march on without giving in to it once more… but the increasingly growing mass of questions that her mind produced overcame her mental barriers and she couldn’t stop thinking about Advent.

Her only hope was to get to his journal and alleviate her curiosity.

Thankfully, it was not but two steps from her current position that she found the doorway to the staircase that Advent had spoken of.

Breathing a sigh of relief, the mare began to ascend the steps, and it wasn’t long until she realized something.

Unlike the stairs in certain sections of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, even though these particular ones bore the resemblance of being a looping stairwell that wound its way up a shaft, there was no central opening through which a winged pony could simply fly through to get to their destination.

Twilight knew that somepony like Rainbow Dash would find this frustrating, to say the least. Twilight, on the other hoof, was born a Unicorn, so she was quite adept at climbing the stone steps. Of course, that didn’t mean that she hadn’t become accustomed to flying when needed.

Finally, the doorway to the second floor was in sight, and her heart soared at the potential things she could learn from Advent’s past.

Stepping through the opening, she turned right, as instructed, and immediately began trotting steadily across the stone surface.

Following a dozen or so paces, she passed the first door.

“One,” Twilight began her countdown, “Two. Three. Four.”

She stopped herself before she reached the fifth door.

There, on the wall between the fourth and the fifth rooms, was a painting of two ponies.

On her left, a stallion stood sideways, looking to the mare on the right. She could only see their heads and upper torsos, but that was enough.

The stallion’s mane was bright red, short, and curly, and his body was white. Somehow, he slightly reminded Twilight of Princess Celestia’s nephew, Prince Blueblood, minus the obvious differences. He was also adorned in royal regalia that matched his crown.

The mare was shorter in comparison, and her mane was quaffed nicely as it fell to her side, shining a bright blonde in its waviness. Plus, she was white as well! For attire, she wore a dress that excellently accentuated her natural beauty and the crown upon her head.

They each shared the unmistakable feature of a horn on their heads, protruding from in front of their headpieces.

As Twilight took a good long look, if she didn’t know any better, she would have vowed by a Pinkie Promise that the two ponies in the painting had hearts in their eyes as they stared passionately into one another’s.

In fact, the picture was extremely similar to another that she had seen before, but she wasn’t sure if her theory on it was correct since there were so many key separations. And yet, if she was right, Equestrian historians may have made one or two mistakes.

Below the portrait, there was a golden plaque, written into which was:

“Behold! The first royal couple of Steedstone. The Brayburns.”

“That’s where the name comes from,” Twilight noted the origins of the castle she was within.

Deciding that she would learn more about it later, the purple pony continued her journey.

“Five,” her counting proceeded, “Si-”

Her mind went into a steel trap as she saw an unbelievably gargantuan metal gate in place of the sixth door instead of the ones that usually lined the entrances of the castle’s rooms. It nearly reached the ceiling at its topmost point, and its width was at least five ponies long. Chains and large locks were built into its sides, and their anchors upon the walls.

Thankfully, it was wide open. Unfortunately, that also meant that it was taking up most of the space in the hallway.

The nervous question of “Why?” ran through her mind. “Why such a large slab, and why such great measures to lock it, especially from the outside?”

It made her anxious just to look at the door, but not for herself. Rather, she began to wonder what kind of pain and inner turmoil that Advent could be suffering to want to lock himself away.

Letting it slide for the time being, Twilight edged her way around the hulking mass of metal, and felt miniscule next to it as she kept going.

What lay ahead brought a refreshing gleam to her eyes, for Advent’s room happened to be the cleanest and most well-kept space that she had seen in the castle.

The furniture was dusted, the bed was made, and grandiose at that, and the air smelled of the aroma of something sweet. Candles were lit, and a chandelier illuminated everything as a whole.

There was a bookcase against the far wall, and… an entire section of a wall was taken up by what appeared to be pictures of ponies, emphasized by the dim candlelight that shone from beneath them.

So enraptured by the scene, Twilight was drawn to it.

There were five paintings, framed in gold, but only two really stood out to her.

First, there was the second of the gallery, portraying a strong stallion, posing in a suit of armor, not unlike that of which she had witnessed on the statue in the plaza, with his front right hoof placed on a stand and his left foreleg bearing his helm close to his chest armor. He was an Earth Pony, as she could see from the lack of horn or wings, whose body was mocha brown and mane was a charcoal black. He faced to the side, but his green irises were staring down upon the viewer.

She directed her view to the bottom portion of the frame, where bold lettering read out:

“My dear friend, a brother in everything but blood, and a loyal Captain of the Royal Steedstone Army. Oaken Vale.”

From the context of that statement, Twilight now knew of, possibly, the only friend Advent had ever known, and lost, before the madness he had to endure.

It was yet another reason for her to examine his journal.

At the far end of the portraits, there was a picture of two ponies, a stallion and a mare.

Seated side-by-side, the mare leaned her burgundy maned head against the stalwart figure of the stallion, his own sea green locks rolling down his neck as he craned it from his golden-brown body to peer into her cream orange eyes with his silver-colored irises. With a second glance, Twilight could tell that the mare was completely relying on him to keep her from falling as he held her sunlight yellow form with an overlaid leg.

It was more sentimental to Twilight as it reminded her of her brother and her sister-in-law’s love for one another, how they depended on one another, and how they gave each other strength.

It also caused recurring thoughts of her wanting to comfort Adv-

Getting her mind back on the painting, the pony could see that they were both Unicorns.

Realizing the implications, she swiftly altered the path of her sight and found what she had hoped to find.

“Two of the greatest ponies in the world, two of the most in-love ponies ever, and two of the finest parents I ever could have wished for. King and Queen Brayburn.”

She knew it. She just knew that these two ponies were his parents. But, as she thought about it, she came to the realization that not only had the ancestral first family of royalty in this nation lasted, their descendents had maintained their throne for hundreds of years.

To her, this was a feat in of itself, considering that unless an Alicorn, like Princess Celestia, rules, it was hardly ever heard of that a nation’s throne would be in the hooves of a family lineage for centuries!

Still, that was a passing fancy of recording another great fact for later writing down in her own personal memoirs.

What truly captivated her attention was how she was beginning to scratch the surface of how much Advent had lost.

“Err…” her belly growled.

“He-he,” she giggled embarrassingly, “I guess I am hungry.”

Twisting about, Twilight scanned the room and located, on the other side, a table from which the sweet aroma of food came.

With a grin, she walked over to it, and she gazed at the dishes that sat upon its tabletop.

She was surprised to see that three of them were made with the purple grass that was prominent throughout the city, two more held either whole or partial portions of the bioluminescent flower that she had seen in the graveyard, and the last one….

She had to double-check her senses to make sure she wasn’t making an error, but she knew she was right.

In a bowl to the side, there was a… fruit of some kind that was dark, almost black, and was possibly a melon.

She didn’t dare even consider touching that one.

Deciding to go for the closest resembling item to what she was familiar with, Twilight returned to a plate with what she would call “purple grass hay fries”.

Lifting a single blade of the cooked vegetation with her magic, she inched it to her mouth, nervous at what it might taste like. Taking a leap of faith, she nipped a nibble off of it, and slowly munched.

Her eyes sprung open and her world was lit up with pure ecstasy.

It was so sweet! And the crispiness made a nice touch that made it worth seconds.

Once she was satisfied that she liked the fried goodness, Twilight chose to set it aside as she picked to move on to the next course.

It was with little trepidation that she levitated a bite-sized clump of raw purple grass to her muzzle. Consuming it, she had the same conclusion as before, except that there was a bittersweet aftertaste that somehow enhanced the experience.

Several bites later, she decided to try something else.

Adjusting her sights, Twilight noticed something like a salad sitting in a bowl, consisting of purple grass, petals from the glowing flowers, still bearing a residual shimmer to them, and possibly other ingredients.

Deciding that she would rather take one thing at a time, the pony moved it to the side and found a pair of platters, either filled with the whole flowers or just the petals.

Knowing that it wouldn’t hurt her, she brought a single one of the indigo plant parts to her mouth and inserted it into her orifice.

Immediately, the smooth taste of a nut graced her tongue and she found herself wanting more.

Entertaining her taste buds with a few blooms, Twilight faced the salad. A bite later, the sweetness of the hay and the nuttiness of the flowers worked in a marvelous symphony of flavors. Plus, there seemed to be a savory factor that also chipped into the bunch.

Examining the source, she located dices of bright red mushrooms, something ponies in Equestria didn’t often eat, but she did like it this once.

Gorging herself on the dishes that she had tried beforehoof, her belly quickly found itself full.

Ending her meal with a burp, she excused herself from the table.

Stopping for a moment, she eyed the fruit… and chose that she wouldn’t risk it. After all, she hadn’t found a single type of fruit or vegetable that wasn’t rotten when it was darkly colored.

Taking her time to cross the room to the bookshelf, Twilight halted as the corner of her eyes spotted the silhouette of a book poking out from beneath the edge of the neatly tucked bed.

Curious as to whether it was what she believed it to be, the mare shined her horn and plucked it from its confined position.

Floating it front of her, she noticed that the cover was blank… but she could almost sense that it was his.

Adverse to the… awkward idea of laying on Advent’s bed, Twilight looked until she found a sofa, which she made herself comfortable upon.

With her legs folded under her, she flipped the cover open and saw an inscription:

“I, Ember of the Brayburn family, hereby bestow this journal upon my son, Advent Brayburn the Second, heir to my throne, and the light of my life. May you use this to write down your life, and to look back and learn from yourself.”

“The Second?” Twilight blurted, dumbfounded by what that could possibly mean since his father’s name was Ember.

Adding it to her list, she turned past a blank first page, and there it was, the beginning of written text:

“Day one. Dear Journal,

“This is my first time-”

Twilight stopped, realizing that, although Advent had spoken a good bit differently, his writing was spot on by Equestrian standards. So, she restarted, trying to think of how he would say it.

“Day wun. Deer Jernol,

“This is muh ferst time-”

Rubbing her head, Twilight attempted to soothe the ache that developed thanks to her trying to think like the Alicorn prince. Once she was ready, she proceeded as she normally would.

“This is my first time actually writing down anything about myself, you know, since ever. There’s not much to say, but my Da’ insists that ‘a young colt like me can learn to learn from my own mistakes.’ Whatever that means. Oh well. I’m gonna go bother the butler a few times.”

She had to take a second to comprehend that this first entry was, indeed, the beginning of Advent’s personal writings, and when he was a foal no less. She could only imagine how much of his life that she could learn about.

Turning the page, she began to read the next section.

“Two.”

She paused and noticed that the condition of the page was not necessarily regular due to the spots on it that appeared to be dried watermarks, only they were spread across the surface of the material and they varied from small to large.

“Dear Journal,

“To start with, I know it’s been a long time, so I’m gonna to stop writing the dates and just number these. As for me, I had to deal with some mean foals today. They kept picking on me because ‘it’s my fault that the queen is gone.’”

Twilight’s eyes went wide with astonishment at what she had read.

“It’s not as though I could have stopped my Mum, the mom I never really knew, from dying as soon as I came into the world.”

Those words were written more erratic, and easily conveyed the teary depression that the younger Advent had experienced when he had made this account.

“And you know what? It doesn’t even matter if my friend Oaken defends me, because I’M A PRINCE! And they, they are nothing but commoners.”

Although that statement did sound arrogant, Twilight knew that it had been nothing but a cover for his pain.

“And it doesn’t matter if they, or every other pony my age, have their cutie marks and I don’t! I’m still better than them all!”

Okay. That was a little too much in her opinion.

“So, I’m gonna tell that to all their faces next time. Bye.”

“Well, that was a bit off-putting,” Twilight murmured.

She had come to know Advent enough that she knew that he wasn’t anything like that anymore. So, instead of passing judgment, she moved on.

The sound of paper crinkling announced her flipping the previous page to make way for the continued read.

“Three. Dear Journal,

“It’s been a few years, and the world appears to be changing. The Kingdom of Steedstone, the kingdom I will rule some day, is apparently under attack by a horde of marauding monsters, or at least that’s what the peasants have been whispering rumors about. Well, I say that, even if they are real, I can take them.”

By this point, it was painfully evident just how true Advent’s testimony about himself had been. But even still, she knew there was more to the stallion, and the answers were in this book.

“In fact, I should already be on the battlefront. I’ve proven my skill. I’ve bested everypony, whether they were a teacher or a sparring partner. Even ‘Captain Oaken Vale’ cannot beat me in a match.”

Twilight was starting to get a wee bit irritated with how disrespectful, and pompous, the prince was starting to sound. But, she knew that this was in the past, and everything was different now.

“So what if I’m still a year too young? So what if I don’t have my mark? So what if I’m the Prince? As royalty, I should have the chance to prove myself. To test my mettle, instead of being babied, and coddled, and treated as though I were some helpless foal in need of constant attention. When fate throws me the opportunity, I will grab ahold, and not let go until I am recognized as the greatest pony in all of Steedstone!”

“Wow, how Advent has changed!” exhaled the purple pony with a measured degree of shock.

Flipping forward, she came to the next page, and it was easy to see where it was going to go, considering Advent’s prior retelling. That didn’t take away the anxiousness she felt at reading about it.

“Four. Dear Journal,

“My father is such a fool!”

Twilight couldn’t prevent the gasp that burst from her lips as she took a moment to recover from the overwhelmingly mind boggling insult that Advent had called his own father. It was unheard of for anypony to be so blatantly rude to anyone, especially to their own parents, in Equestria.

“He plays the ‘benevolent leader’ while our entire country falls apart! And now, the ENTIRE ARMY OF DARKNESS IS ON OUR DOORSTEP! Meanwhile, he says that he has ‘nearly found the tool of our salvation’, whatever that means.”

If it wasn’t for the fact that she knew that the stallion was better than this, Twilight would march down the stairs and serve Advent a grade-A whooping. Of course, she had seen the good in him, so she knew there had to be a turning point to his attitude in his journal somewhere.

“Well, while he’s… Wait. There was a noise. The sound of the city alarm! It’s begun. You know what? I don’t care if he does find this ‘salvation’. I’m going to do what should have been done already, especially since we no longer have to deal with those incompetent Councilors from the Steedstone Council! I’ll lead the Army, while he plays around with his books. This is my chance!”

And that’s where Advent’s story introduced him into the battle. She felt as though she may regret it… but Twilight knew that to come to better understand him, she would need to read more.

The page changed with the command of her horn… but what was in front of her nearly drove her to a state of panic.

Along the tannish-white page of the text, there was a combination of the same kind of watermarks as before… and spots of red that stained it.

Doing her best to ignore them, she began to read:

“Dear Journal,

“I’m alone.”

To see those words brought images of a lone stallion, wallowing in his pain, and it caused Twilight to remember just how much Advent had endured, and how greatly it had affected him.

“Everypony… I knew… Every one of the ponies of Steedstone… They’re gone…”

It broke her heart to read such devastated things.

“The battle… claimed everything. My home… My friends… My family… As is said, ‘the king is dead’, but… a prince… is not a prince without his people. And now… I am nothing.”

It ended there, and Twilight was swift to swap the page for the preceding one. She had to recollect herself, focusing on what lay ahead rather than what she had to experience in that half a minute of horror. Gathering her strength, she forced the two pages to flip over, and then glued her eyesight to the next one.

“Dear journal,

“It’s been a month since… Well, it’s been a month. Since I’m alone, I decided that all those who were lost would at least receive the proper dues from the only pony who could. So, I stopped mourning, learned a little, and I’ve begun to dig a hole for each of them.”

Her mind drifted back to the expanse that was the graveyard at the center of the city, and how far it stretched, and how numerous the stones that marked it all. It was sobering.

“I’ve prepared them right and good. I’ve placed each of them with their families. And, most of all, I’ve learned each of their names.”

Twilight had to reread that to get the meaning, and even that didn’t stop her from being astounded.

“It may take a month, it may even take a year, but I will show them the respect that they deserve. They will be remembered, even if I breathe no more.”

The thought of Advent struggling, all alone, to lie to rest the ponies of Steedstone, following such traumatic events, was-

Twilight had to stop herself, as she realized that she was becoming calloused to the very circumstances that had shaped the stallion of whom she was most concerned.

Sure, she had read her share of books on wars, and everypony had to face the prospect of one day no longer living… but it was all so distant. At least, that’s what it felt like for her.

Now, she saw not only the truth of it, but she witnessed firsthoof the horrific aftermath of one of the worst wars she had ever heard of, and she had come to know a friend who had been right in the middle of it.

It gave her a new perspective, and an appreciation. Maybe even a few questions that ponies rarely asked?

But, for the time being, she was most wary of what else Advent’s journal could tell her.

Another flip away, as well as securing her cape again, and Twilight was in position to continue her look into the past.

“Dear Journal,

“It’s been some time, and I made a vow to honor each and every pony who I buried in the graveyard by learning about them and becoming more like them. I read their journals, I learn about the talents that made them special, and I practice to master those talents so that I might one day, when I finally break this curse, teach others and make the world a better place. I may not know what makes me special, but I do know that nopony should be forgotten, and I don’t intend on letting Steedstone, or her people, to be lost to history’s dust bin.”

Twilight was suddenly caught up in the fascinating thought that Advent had been training himself, no matter what he was supposed to be, to be talented at a multitude of things so that he could teach the world. It was as if he was seeking to spread goodness and cheer to the world through learning – a trait she admired, and adhered to.

Interestingly, there was an additional entry a few spaces following the last one.

“Dear Journal,

“It’s been a month, and I’ve done well, if I do say so myself. I’ve learned a few crafts, fixed up parts of the city, and I’ve begun my search for the key to my ‘salvation’. I still have no clue what that means. Even still, the answer must lie somewhere in the mounds of knowledge that I’ve collected from every corner of Hoofland. It’s somewhere in this mess, I know it.”

Eager to see more, Twilight made a quick flip.

“Dear Journal,

“The months have been long. The nights lonely. It’s been getting colder and colder in this dark space, with only my horn to light the way, and fire to keep it warm. Recently, though, I read something interesting. Something about the possibility of ‘willing’ magic to work, without using one’s horn.”

At the mention of this strange form of magic, particularly since it sounded exactly like the mysterious lights and the self-lighting candles she had witnessed across the city, the curious pony was intrigued to learn more.

“It may take some time, but if I do manage to master it, I will be able to solve so many problems, like lights.”

Turning the page, Twilight hoped there would be more about this “willing” and that Advent would have elaborated upon it in his writings. Especially since it was more than likely that he had been using it the whole time that the two had been walking to, and through, the castle.

“Dear Journal,

“It’s been more than seven years since… that day.”

She could see that this entry was more recent than the rest, especially considering the fresher ink stains on the borders of the paper.

“Sometimes… it’s hard to see any hope. Sure, I’ve grown myself a fine crop of nightbloom plants across the open fields of the city, and I’ve learned a lot. I’ve spruced up the city, as a whole, even adding a few new things, and I’ve learned how to properly will the magical energies around me to obey my command. But… I’m no closer to the goal of being free from this prison, and I’m reminded of that every moment I’m awake. I’ve even struggled against the inner demon that was born in the conflict that took everything away from me. I just… hold on. I hear something. I just saw a flash of light in the distance. And is that a voice I hear?”

Twilight stopped for a moment as she realized that this hadn’t been recent, it was brand new, only written moments before her arrival.

“It’s impossible, but… I know I hear a pony’s voice! I have to go. I have to see who they are, and… maybe… maybe I can learn how they got here. There’s a chance! This is my chance!”

Twilight closed the book, and thought over everything from it.

Now, she could say that she had a much greater understanding of the stallion who captivated her every thought. He had been so desperate, so lonely, so needy, and she hurt for him.

And yet, now she had more questions than answers, such as, “Where had he learned his ability to ‘will’ magic to his command?”, and “Had she eaten some nightblooms?”, and “How exactly did ‘willing’ work?” But what struck her as most odd was Advent’s description of his own anger. Maybe there was a more open effect from it?

“Twilight!” the stallion’s voice echoed from the lower chambers of the castle.

Reacting in an instant, she jumped down from the couch and zapped herself right out of her cape.