Everything You've Ever Wished For..........Right?

by Mystic Weaver

Chapters

Prologue - Dreams and Reality
Chapter One - Lessons, Old Memories, and New Beginnings

Prologue - Dreams and Reality

I suppose, young one, I should start at the beginning of his story.

Like all grand tales, the hero never knows of the part they will come to play,

and neither did he.

It all started with a dream,

made into reality.

Prologue

Dreams and Reality

At the sound of someone loudly clearing their throat, Sam jolted awake. Still half asleep, and momentarily forgetting where he was, he briefly wondered what cruel monster would interrupt his rather spectacular dream of fighting off a giant avocado demon with his flaming chair of righteousness. Blinking slowly, his vision steadily coming back into focus, he rubbed the crust from his eyes and looked at the heartless monster before him. Except, it wasn't a monster.

Looking at the middle aged woman standing on the other side of the counter, his brain still didn't register what he was seeing at first (as it wasn't something that happened all to frequently). She was holding what appeared to be two books in her hands and continued giving him a rather unnecessary look of scorn and impatience. He could clearly hear what sounded like a foot being fervently tapped against the hardwood floor.

Eventually, the cogs in his brain finally kicked in to overdrive as he stood straight up and put on a polite and apologetic smile.

"Sorry about that miss," he quickly stifled a yawn, "bit of a, heh, slow day."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Uh huh, may I pay for my books now?" she replied in a patronizingly curt tone.

"Right, of course." He quickly took her books, scanned them, taking her money and giving her the appropriate change; placing them in a bag while tearing off the receipt, he gave her both items back. With a strained smile he said "Sorry about the delay, thank you for shopping at Unlimited Pages, have a great day Mam."

Rolling her eyes the woman briskly walked away without another word. Letting go of the forced smile, Sam slumped back into his chair. He quickly looked around the store, hoping the manager hadn't seen that little display, but breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her on the other side of the store chewing out the new kid for coming to work stoned. He couldn't exactly blame the guy, he was young, and stupid, and probably felt a bookstore was the dullest place to work in the world; so it was only natural that he felt the only way to get through the day was to be high.

In fact, scanning the rest of the store Sam noticed only three, possibly four customers that were there at all. One was a man in his early thirties; their standard window shopper, only there to look at the covers but never actually buy anything. The second was an elderly woman dragging what looked to be her grandson around extolling the virtues of books compared to those devil machine pads of his (Sam assumed she met tablets). He pitied the kid, as he looked like he would rather eat a million cans of fried spinach than be there.

The last person he could see however, was a frequent customer. A rather attractive (he thought so anyway) woman in her early to mid twenties with auburn hair tied up into a ponytail. She wore petite red rimmed glasses and ear buds connected to an iPod as she read a thick book in one of the guest chairs. She would come by three to four times a week in the afternoons to peruse the shelves, sit down, and read the ones she picked out and usually buy multiple books including the ones she had already read. Sam didn't know her name, but had made a game of trying to guess it. Currently he was going with "Ashley".

Deciding that he'd had enough of people watching, he picked up the book he had fallen asleep reading and continued where he left off. It was a story about a woman who had been left to die by her parents as a child and forced into slavery; she was then rescued and taken in by a rather taciturn elderly man, who she later found out was a powerful sorcerer. Though refusing to do so at first, after years of pleading with the old man, he finally agreed to teach her the ways of the arcane. Sam had just gotten to the part where the two were attacked by a vengeful necromancer seeking penance for a perceived slight the old man committed in his youth. The scene was thrilling so far. Sam briefly wondered why he had fallen asleep at such a climactic moment.

Unlike his drugged out co-worker (and probably half the country) Sam had always loved books from a young age. While they weren't his only interest (he loved video games as much as any other nerd) they were often times cheaper than other hobbies; and coming from a somewhat poor family, that was a huge bonus. People he had known before (as well as certain customers) often joked that print was a dying art and that digital media had and would continue to make it obsolete. In those scenarios though Sam would often be the first to point out that books didn't cost as much as a tablet; making it easier for poorer people as well as poorer countries to have an opportunity to enjoy, grow and learn from them. He would also point out that books never lost their charge, especially right in the middle of a climactic battle that ended with the combatants falling off a cliff next to a waterfall; or when you finally got to learn whether Gandalf ever casted anything but light spells.

After a rather large yawn interrupted his train of thought, he recalled why he had been so tired today. He had spent hours last night in line for the latest game in a fantasy franchise he adored. A franchise that happened to be inspired (in part) by the very series of books the one he was reading came from. Sam hadn't actually gotten a chance to play it, but he was looking forward to getting home so he could dive right in.

A coquettish laugh interrupted another yawn, "I always thought that book was one of the more exciting ones in the series,"

Startled, Sam quickly looked up at the new intruder to his space, though this one was far and away more pleasant to deal with.

"though I suppose what's interesting for me isn't always the same for everyone." The girl he referred to as "Ashley" continued, holding a handful of books ranging from science textbooks, to advanced poetry, to high fantasy novels.

"Uh, I...wait, what?" he responded with as much deftness as he could deliver.

"Your book? It's one of my favorites. Though I have to admit they might of spent a little too long talking about the technical side of the magic system instead of just getting to the action but" she held up one of the science books she had, "I suppose I'm one to talk huh?" She ended her rambling with a smile.

Tilting his head and blinking like a dog who's been asked what the answer to life the universe and everything was, his brain eventually caught up with reality.

"Oh uh, right. Well I've always loved it when fantasy stories take the time to focus on the magic side of things instead of just knights and swordplay. Anyone can go out, buy a sword and learn to use it if they really want to, but Magic?" His eyes grew brighter as his speech quickened, "Magic is something that none of us can see or experience (despite what some charlatans might say). It's a force that if we had, the world would be a much more remarkable a place to live in! In fact, I've always wished I had....." He stopped himself, as he realized he was ranting; and getting dangerously close to revealing to a perfect stranger his deepest wish.

Loudly clearing his throat, and pointedly ignoring the baffled look on "Ashley's" face he hurriedly grabbed all her books, scanned them as fast as possible, taking her money and giving her receipt saying "Thank you for shopping at Unlimited Pages, have a wonderful day."

Giving him a wide eyed, thoroughly shocked look, she awkwardly stood there a moment and with a small wave, walked away quickly; "Uh, you too. H-hope you like the book?" she said, her pace slowly increasing until she practically ran out of the store.

As counter met head, Sam mumbled "This is why I don't talk to people."

Trudging down the busy street that led to his home, Sam briefly wondered why he needed a mouth when his was obviously defective.

There was a very good reason he avoided most close relationships. Not because he hated people. Well, not most people anyway. The world was far too big for everyone to be kind, cordial and fair; it was just that he didn't really like to reveal too much about himself.

His, beliefs, shall we say, often times colored how he acted around other people. When he was younger he had made it very clear his...........opinions, on how the world should be, why it should work like that and what could be used to do it; but as more and more people ridiculed him for it, over the years, he had learned to alter how and what he spoke to other people (even if his mouth occasionally disobeyed him).

When he was in his late teens and early twenties because of constantly having to hide how he really felt, he had become bit cynical because of it; but you couldn't go through your entire life hating everything (the world was already chock full of people like that), and after twenty eight years of living, he found he much preferred looking on the positive side of things again. Though there were the rare occasions when his old self came back in full force, (usually when dealing with other cynics).

For some reason though, even in instances where other people felt they were persecuted or wronged in some way or another they would became socially awkward; he never did.

He knew how to talk to people, how to deal with them; he could even carry on interesting conversations that would go back and forth and keep everyone's attention. On the outside, many would say (and had said) that he was a completely kind and charming individual, many over the years having tried to become his friend; but due to his experience dealing with people finding more about him and his wishes, he never let them get too close. There was always a disconnect with what he said he felt, and what he actually felt.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as he jumped, hearing a loud crash followed by someone shouting. Looking over towards the disturbance, he could see the building that had been under construction for almost a year now (judging by the current shape, he guessed it was to be a McDonald's or some other fast food place). Focusing on the yelling, he could see that someone had driven a bulldozer right through the safety fence and over the sidewalk. Rolling his eyes and silently pondering how fired the driver probably was, he continued on his way to his apartment.

It wasn't the fanciest place, but it was fairly decent for someone working full time at a brick and mortar bookstore. It had all the things he really needed, bedroom, bathroom, a decent television and computer; as well as plenty of wall space for his bookshelves to store his myriad of books (mostly fantasy). As he closed the door to his place, setting his book in it's appropriate spot on the shelf, he passed by an object leaning against one of the bookcases. Looking at it, he smiled.

It was easily one of his most treasured possessions, though he would be hard pressed to explain to someone why. Picking it up, he once again marveled at it. To anyone else, it was nothing more than a simple staff. But to him, it was a work of art.

It was made of eastern hardwood with a dark walnut finish. Down in the middle of the staff, the wood twisted before straightening out towards the bottom. A black leather grip that served as a handhold was near the top; above the grip, copper wiring that served no function come out and wrapped its way around the staff. Embedded in epoxy at the top, was a simple calcite crystal that completed its simple look.

Sam had found it in an antique shop that he just happened to visit on one of his days off. The owner had charged him seventy five dollars for it, saying he didn't even remember having the damn thing in the first place. As far as Sam was concerned, it was a steal. Ever since, he treated it with the utmost care and love. Deciding that every good wizard staff needed a name, Sam had racked his brain every so often to come up with a good one, but none of the ones he spit-balled sounded right to his ear.

Bringing the end of the staff down to the ground, he pretended that the ground shook, imagining that it briefly stunned a giant manticore before taking the opportunity to aim the staff at his head and shooting a burst of brilliant blue lightning at the monstrosity.

Chuckling at his own antics, he placed the staff back in it's place, and proceeded to collapse in his TV chair. Peeking at his computer, and at the brand new unopened game waiting to be installed and played, he decided he was far to exhausted to play it right now. He'd dive into it tomorrow (it being a Saturday and a day off from work) when he'd be able to play it all day long.

Picking up the remote, he turned on his television and opened up Netflix. Overall, today had been an off day for him, so he needed something that could boost his spirits. Grinning, he queued up exactly what had always managed to do just that.

He'd discovered the show six years ago. At first he didn't even know it existed; but after browsing some random forum posts, he saw humorous Gifs of the characters in the titular program. Skeptical, as he didn't really seem to be the intended target audience, he gave it a shot anyway. What he found, completely took him aback.

The show seemed to tickle every single interest he had. It took place in a magical world that was rich with classic fantasy elements that he had grown to love. Populated with familiar creatures such as dragons, minotaurs, hydras, manticores, chimeras, to unfamiliar ones like wolves made of wood animated by some unknown dark magic; as well as sentient insectoid creatures who could take on the forms of others to drain them of their energy. Not to mention cragadiles (what ever those were).

The monsters though were just the beginning. The kingdom the story took place in was ruled by two sisters; demigoddesses who controlled the very heavens themselves. The very first episode in fact, told the story of the betrayal of one of the sisters and her ultimate return for revenge. Ultimately, she reconciled with her estranged sister and began to make amends for the sins of her past.

The villains were just as fascinating, from the power hungry ruler of parasitic insects, to a spirit who could rip apart the very fabric of reality and sow chaos and destruction wherever he went; they were always a treat to see rise to power and eventually defeated by the heroes of the story. All of that could absolutely have been enough for him, but that wasn't what had initially drawn him in to the show; and is not what kept him coming back week after week. It was the very first character that the show introduces to the audience.

The main character of the show, the one who's adventures the audience follows throughout all of the current seasons, was a wizard. And not just any old wizard, one of the most powerful wizards in their entire world. The show begins with her predicting the return of the fallen sister, and eventually leads to her gathering new friends along the way to defeat the threat to the kingdom. Right away the character had grabbed him. From her initial belief that she didn't want nor care to have any friends whatsoever, to her adorable quirkiness and socially awkward behavior; not to mention her obsession with books that sometimes bordered on creepy. It was the type of character he could relate to, (and sometimes wished he could be).

The shows main theme was also something that was very rare, not only in fantasy, but stories in general these days. Above all, the show championed camaraderie and friendship, believing that it could overcome any obstacle, tackle any foe, and bring peace and harmony back to the world. The message the show championed had grabbed his jaded mind and gave him a fantasy story that wasn't dark, or depressing and always, by the end of each episode, managed to put a smile on his face.

With a contented sigh, he queued up a random episode, and sat back to enjoy his favorite show.

Placing his depleted bowl of cereal in the sink, Sam stretched his arms, making several popping noises. With a satisfied groan he briefly contemplated his upcoming thirties. Choosing not to go down that particular road at the moment, he walked over to his computer and sat down with an excited air. He'd waited for this game to come out for a while now. While it was based on one of his favorite book series, it didn't have any of the same characters or plot, choosing instead to focus more the world of the novels to create an original story. Which he ultimately preferred, as it gave them more creative freedom with the license.

After waiting what he was sure was an eternity squared (but was probably more likely to be 30 minutes or so) the installation process completed and he could finally dive into the game. Hearing the opening theme and seeing the title screen sent goosebumps all over his skin.

This is gonna be good.

After getting through the title screen and menus, it was finally time to create a character, starting with his class. Glancing over to his beloved staff he smirked.

As if there was any doubt.

Your other standard character classes were fine....he supposed, but none of them ever interested him. Warriors or knights were just armored strongmen who swung around a sharp piece of metal. Assassins, thieves and hunters were the same, just with the added option of using bows as well. Priests, clerics and paladins were out too, as he felt maces and hammers were just silly. They all lacked that one thing Sam was fascinated with more than anything else in the world. The one thing that, since he was a child, had always dreamed of being able to use, experience or even just see.

Magic

Since he was a young boy, his role models had always been fictional spell-casters. Intelligent mages who could translate their knowledge into a real world force that could be shaped, molded and weaved into powerful spells. Sam had never been all that strong as a kid (or now). Often picked on and bullied in the playground because he preferred to spend his time reading rather than running around like an idiot, the idea that he could use his smarts and quick thinking to conjure the forces of the arcane to defend himself or others was a powerful thought. When he got older, and he got to the age where other kids were expected to give up on the fanciful ideas of magic and fantasy, he never did. He wasn't delusional though. He knew full well that magic and sorcery existed only in the realms of fiction, but that never mattered to him. Being introverted and solitary by nature, he often spent his times alone coming up with scenarios involving heroism at the hands of a powerful sorcerer, himself.

Finishing picking his class and customizing the look of his new character, it was time to pick a name for him. Without even a second thought, he typed in his go to name for all games he played, Mythrin Arcacia. All of the times he imagined himself as a talented wizard, for some reason he always gave himself this name. For the life of him, he couldn't remember where or when that started. He had just always used that name for his ideal alternate persona.

Finished creating his new character, Sam dove right into what he was sure was going to be a great game.

With a furrowed brow Sam watched the credits roll by. It was well past midnight, with the only light coming from the glowing computer screen.

It......had been a good game. He supposed. Objectively speaking, it had even been a fantastic game. However, as the credits ended and the game returned to the title screen, only one thought dominated his mind.

He absolutely hated this game

The game-play, was phenomenal. The characters, were intricate and deep and were positively likable beyond any doubt. The story had been unbelievably complex, worthy of being a movie script, tackling deep philosophical and hard issues, never letting you go until the very end.

And he loathed, every. Single. Solitary. Moment of it.

Yes, impartially speaking, the story was a spectacular fantasy. But it had undeniably everything that he hated about his beloved genre. The world, the plot, everything was so unbelievably depressing. Every plot twist, every moment, every single, solitary turn the story or the world took was heartrendingly dismal and bleak. And by the conclusion of the story it all ends in one final gut wrenching tragedy that tears your heart out, and sends it into the wood chipper.

He was fine with adversity. In fiction, every hero needs a tragic back-story. They need to have some challenge or great task to overcome. A test of will, a summit they need to climb, fears that have to be faced. All heroes need to struggle, they need to face down their demons (be they figurative or literal) and go up against the impossible. Ultimately though, those hardships need to be worth it. There has to be some point, an ultimate goal to reach, whether they know it at the time or not. They need a happy end to things or else all their pain, all their suffering, all the things they lost would be for nothing.

Happy endings where the hero rides off into the sunset wasn't popular now a days. He understood that. Many considered it by the books or cliche. Calling it sappy and uninteresting. He could get it. Watch the same kind of ending enough times and you long for anything edgy or different. But he felt that going down that path was the antithesis of what fantasy was meant to be. To him, the whole point of fantasy was that hardships were bound to happen,

That out of no where, when the harshness of reality comes crashing down;

and the darkness closes in, to burn the world around you to ashes,

A phoenix shall rise from them, and strike down the darkness instead,

giving back to the world, that which it had thought lost.

Magic

Hope that the world isn't as black as it is, hope for the impossible to happen; that was why Sam got into fantasy in the first place, that was why the idea of a wizard coming in and eradicating the evils of the world had been so compelling for him; and it was because of those wishes, those beliefs, that he had been laughed at and ridiculed.

Just because he believed magic could save the world.

At the end of the day, as far as he cared, the wish to make the world a better place should never be seen as trite or old fashioned. It should be something celebrated and shared by all individuals, be they reader, gamer or just your average person.

Taking the disc out of the tray of his computer, Sam placed the game gently back in it's box.

And proceeded to violently hurl it in the nearest dumpster outside of his apartment.

Sitting back in his TV chair he queued up his favorite show. A show that knew and understood the real power of magic, optimism, friendship, and happy endings.

Mornings are usually the most difficult part of anyone's day. Dreams being what they are, they're often times far more interesting than the monotonous day you were likely to have at work. So when Sam's phone started blaring at him, telling him that he should probably wake up now and abandon his rematch with the avocado demon of death, he quickly contemplated the density of his phone and whether it would shatter the glass of his window, or just bounce back hitting him in the face. While his calculations said both would probably break, the number he calculated for the cost of replacing both items caused him to shuttle the project entirely.

Realizing that he was doing math so early in the morning that he hadn't even had his daily fix of coffee, he begrudgingly rolled out of bed and began his morning routine. After drinking his poison, and eating a cereal he decided had far too much sugar that was safe for regular humans to consume, he left his apartment and made his way to work. The sun was out in full force, but not in an unpleasant way. Enjoying the amiable breeze, Sam wound his way through his usual route to the Unlimited Pages bookstore. In spite of his cup of coffee, his eyes were still a little heavy from staying up so late playing.....that game.

Snapping to attention as a loud clattering noise overtook the street, Sam glanced to his right across the road and was only mildly surprised when he saw a bunch of rebar littered on the other-side's sidewalk. Seeing two construction workers almost coming to blows, the one who seemed to be the superior swore that if something like this ever happened again, he'd finish the job by shoving the rebar so far up the other ones......place......he could use him for the drywall reinforcement . Continuing on his way shaking his head, Sam wondered if that site had ever even seen one safety inspector.

Sitting in his usual spot at the counter, Sam sat staring wide eyed at the inconceivable sight that had presented itself to him. The store was, for the first time in all the years he'd worked here, full to bursting with ravenous customers each pushing the other to be first in line.

All of them, he noticed, were in between their late teens and early thirties. Studying the long line before him, he noticed they were all carrying the same type of books. Looking more closely at the book the first customer in line brought he was astonished to see a book from his favorite series of novels. The ones that game had been...........................

With a suspicious glare he warily asked, "If you don't mind me asking sir, what made you pick this particular book?" afraid he already knew the answer.

With a blissfully unaware smile, and obviously not noticing the death glare he was receiving, he jovially replied "This series is based on this awesome new game that just came out. After I played it, I had to go and see if the books where just as good! But I have a feeling they won't live up to it. I mean, how can a book live up to that?"

If looks could kill, they'd have to ban Sam's eyes as a global threat to mankind.

Five excruciating hours later, the multitude of customers had dwindled down to it's usual four or five. The only noise in the store aside from the occasional shuffling of books, was the repeated banging of Sam's head on the hardwood counter. That damn game had to go and ruin one his favorite series. If he had to hear another person say how incredible that piece of gutter trash passed off as a video game was, he'd keep banging head on this counter until nothing but a mushy pulp remained.

Before he could start with the formula that would determine how long that would take, a polite cough interrupted him.

"Um, are you.....are you okay?" a familiar voice tentatively asked.

"Oh, just contemplating whether or not the fall of mankind is imminent. Other than that? Pretty good, all things considered. You?" he mumbled against the counter.

"Oh, well, uh, hah, p-pretty good also.....as well! Or umm, ya......I'm good." a shaky voice responded.

Not expecting such a response (and recognizing the voice) he glanced up and saw the Unlimited Pages most loyal patron, "Ashley" (or whatever her real name was).

Realizing he had a customer on his hands; as well as remembering their last encounter, he awkwardly jumped to his feet. She was nervously biting her lip and was pointedly looking anywhere but him.

"h-heh, sorry about that," running a hand through his hair, seeing her he continued, "bit of a demoralizing day."

Brightening up she looked him in the eyes and smiled, though blood seemed to rush to her head and quickly looked down and started biting her lip again.

Not sure how to salvage an obviously scared customer, he quickly went back into his old routine. "So, can I check out something for you?"

Startled, she looked up at him, her face redder than before, "C-check out who!?"

Befuddled, he tilted his head and and repeated himself "I was just asking if you had a book you wanted to check out."

Face met hand as she mumbled to her self "what the hell are you doing to me brain?" As quick as a humming bird, she handed him the book and the money to pay for it.

Treating her as a scared, cornered animal, Sam slowly reached forward and took the book and money; as he was Scanning the book and tallying how much it would be, she blurted out "I actually already have this book!"

Stopping what he was doing, he looked at her. She was stock still and didn't seem to be breathing.

"Uh, you already have this book?" he queried,

He received a rapid nod followed by a squeak probably meant to be words, "I-its my favorite."

Looking at the book and once again tilting his head at her, "Sooo if you already have it than, you're what........buying for someone else?"

She started to shake her head but than seemed to remember something and gave him another rapid nod.

Raising his eyebrows he slowly nodded head his own head, "C-cool, so, uh your change is going to be $5.43. Here you go, thank you for shopping at Unlimited Pages." He finished with an uncertain smile.

Taking the book and holding it against her chest like battle armor, she gave him an uncertain smile of her own. "Thank you, I.....yes thank you, goodbye." She finished as she scurried out the door.

Sam stared at the door, wondering if this day was going to get any weirder. Before he could contemplate this however, thirty seconds later, the store doors opened again and in walked the very subject of his consternation. She was holding something behind her back and seemed a lot more calm and collected. With a deep breath and a firm nod she presented the item behind her back to him.

"This is for you." she said resolutely.

The item in in question, was one of those pre-made gift boxes. It was blue with a beautiful gold ribbon surrounding it. Alternating between staring at her and the present, he figured out that he'd spent to long staring, as he noticed she was starting to sweat a little. Slowly reaching out, he took the gift and held it in his hands, taking note that it seemed as if he'd taken a great weight of her back. Wondering in the back of his head if this was some bizarre gag or prank, he untied the gold ribbon and opened the box. The contents of which he hadn't expected.

It was the book. The very book she had bought not even a minute ago. Both eyebrows shot up as he, for the first time actually looked at the book she had purchased. It was perhaps one of the most gorgeous books he'd ever seen.

It was astoundingly thick, so much so, that it seemed as if it should be far heavier than it felt, being thicker than even the most complete dictionaries. It had a leather hardback cover that was a deep blue, with gold trimmed letters for the title (in a language he couldn't read) and gilded pages that gave off a brilliant golden reflection. He also noticed it had a purple ribbon book mark as well. Looking at the cover of the book, the sparkling golden letters surrounded a shiny deep lavender magic circle.

How I had I not noticed this book before? He asked himself. Thinking back, he couldn't recall what the book looked like when he scanned it, in fact, he couldn't even remember the store stocking anything like this.

"....magic."

Ripped from his revelry, he looked at the giver of such an astonishing gift, "What?"

With a mysterious smile, she continued. "Magic. The way you talked about it with such.......fervor, such excitement and passion," with a melancholic smile she continued, "I haven't heard anyone talk like that about magic in a long, long time."

With an owlish stare Sam hesitantly responded "Most don't talk about it at all...."

An inscrutable laugh was her response "Maybe not here."

Even more perplexed than when all this began, Sam just gazed at the book wondering what it was as he started to open it. As he did, he felt his hair on the back of his neck stand on end before a cry made him snap it shut once more.

"Wait!" the gift giver exclaimed.

Startled at the intensity of her voice he backed up a smidgen.

Looking rather embarrassed at her outburst, she made a polite cough and tried to smile. " I mean........don't read it now. Later. When you get there." eyes going wide she quickly blurted "HOME!! Ha, Ha, w-when you get home, i-is what I meant!" With and almost manic grin, she turned and walked robotically away towards the door shouting as she left "W-Well I have to go walk the time, see you next dog!!"

"Wait!!" He yelled back, reaching towards the door trying to stop her, but it was to late, she was long gone.

Slowly he put his arm down and rested his hand on the lovely tome. Still staring at the door.

"I wanted to ask if your name was Ashley."

Collapsing in his chair, he contemplated what in Gods name had just happened.

Sam sat in his chair at home. He carefully examined the strange book he'd received, twisting it this way and that, but he couldn't find the bar code anywhere on it, or even that weird sticky stuff that's left behind after you rip it off. He put it on his lap, thinking back to his bizarre encounter. While he was no idiot when it came to social interactions, for the life of him he couldn't pin down what the hell any of that was.

Was she flirting with me? He pondered, but quickly dismissed the idea.

Despite preconceptions about nerds, he was fairly in shape. Walking to and from work every day helped counter his sedentary lifestyle, (though he was by no means shape or form an "athlete"). His looks were apparently good too, or so he'd been told before. (He never saw what the appeal in his looks were, nor did he care to try). So being in the rare class of "pretty" nerds apparently held some cache, and as such, he had been hit on a few times before. And none of those times were anything like this. The entire encounter had just felt........off.

Shaking loose his jumbling thoughts, he put that mystery to bed for now. Focusing once again the book in his lap he reached forward to open it. When he grabbed the cover to lift it however, his entire body froze. An unsettling chill rushed up his hand, going through his arm and than all throughout his body. He felt a strange foreboding penetrate the room, and an ever so subtle wrongness with what he was about to do. with Quickly pulling his hand back, the foreign feeling vanished as if it had never been there at all. Wiping the the sudden sweat from his forehead, he slowly got up, walked over to one of his bookshelves and placed the tome on an empty part of it.

Walking away shaking his head he muttered, "I'm losing my mind."

A few days later, his abusive friend of a phone began it's morning routine of victimizing the poor dreamer. Sam sighed, he at least got to defeat the giant avocado this time, but was rudely interrupted during the Kumquat Kings party thrown in his honor. With as much grace as he could muster, he plopped out of his bed onto the floor and began getting ready for work. As he was leaving he passed by his staff. Picking it up, he smirked as he remembered blowing up the avocado demons head with a blue ball of fire. Quickly reenacting that scene with it, he placed it back in its spot when he was done. As he passed by the bookshelf however, he stopped and looked at the gift he'd received a few days ago.

He hadn't seen "Ashley" since, and he looked for her each day. He also hadn't tried to open the book again. Every time he even thought about it, the memory of that unsettling feeling came back, and he always decided not to even try. Giving the book one last glance, he headed out and locked the door behind him.

As Sam made his way through the, by now, well worn path to work, he prayed to any spirit, deity or flying pasta monster that might be listening that there wouldn't be anymore rabid fans of that trash that must not be named at work today. As he wondered what a pasta god would sound like, or if it would answer any prayers that weren't Alfredo based, his train of thought was halted.

Looking at the other side of the street, he could see a woman standing next to the construction site. She was wearing ear buds and bobbing heard head as she read a book she was carrying. Squinting Sam could see she had auburn hair, tied into a ponytail, and wearing red rimmed glasses.

Taken aback, Sam collected himself as he raised his hand and shouted "Ashley!" When no response came he slapped his forehead, hard. Ears burning, he muttered sarcastically "Great job calling a girl by a name you made up for up for her. Your a freakin' genius, you idiot!" Before he could decide how to get her attention however, his world stopped. Across the street, a shadow had descended upon the unsuspecting woman. Hearing a loud noise from above, Sam Looked up, and his blood ran as cold as ice.

A giant steel girder was dangling from a crane, with one of the cables holding it up having already snapped. Without thinking, Sam bolted forward, racing across the street. His lungs burned, struggling to breath as he simultaneously tried to get enough oxygen to fuel his dash, and scream any words he could think of to get her attention. A loud honking followed by a screeching sound came as he felt his world tumble from underneath him. His vision dazed, he looked up as finally "Ashley" looked in his direction. He looked up, as the final cable holding The Sword of Damocles snapped. All of time seemed to slow down. Sam struggled on the ground as he desperately tried to get up, while frantically pointing her in the direction of her incoming demise. Finally, she looked up.

And Time sped up again.

Sam sat at the checkout counter in the Unlimited Pages bookstore. No customers were there, but he wouldn't notice if there were anyway. Head buried in his hands, he fought violently to stop the shaking. Every time he thought back to the day before yesterday, his trembling doubled.

It was the scream. That was the worst part. As long as he lived, he.............he would never be able to forget that scream.

He doubled over fighting back the urge to vomit. The manager walked over, putting her hand on his shoulder she spoke softly, "maybe you should go home and get some rest. Take the next week off." Not responding, he staggered to his feet and gave what could be interpreted as a vague nod. Using the wall as support, he made his way to the door and left. Like a dazed and confused zombie, he haltingly made his way home. Without realizing what he was doing however, he once again found himself in front of the now shut down construction site.

Looking down, he could see the faded blood stains the workers had probably tried desperately to wash off. As his trembling redoubled, he sat down and pulled his knees into a tight ball, fighting desperately against the urge to vomit as he stared at the grisly mark.

She had survived.

Somehow, someway, she had survived.

Barely.

After the.........scream, Sam rushed over to her, vision still spinning after his run in with the car. The steel girder had pinned her legs underneath it. And miraculously (though Sam didn't think so) she was still conscious. Her hair was messy and her glasses were still on her though they were cracked. Coughing up blood she blearily looked around her till she saw Sam, and smiled. "h-hey the-" loud coughing sounds interrupted her. Swallowing what was most likely her own blood she continued, "hey t-there."

Tears streaming down his face, and trying with every fiber of his being not to throw up at the sight, he forced on the best possible smile he could, as he breathily replied, "H-hey yourse-" a sob escaped his throat as he swallowed his currently dry throat,"Hey yourself."

Her smile brightened before looking around. "well, I-" she took a tumultuous breath and sighed, "I certainly didn't plan for this," she said with a feeble laugh.

Another strangled sob as Sam tried desperately to think of something to say. Grabbing her bloodied hand, he gently placed it between both of his and said with a very forced casual banter, "You know, all this time I've never know your name. Y-you came to the store practically every day and yet I never found it out. In-" swallowing again, "In fact I had made a little game of it. Every day I'd come up with a new name for you. First it was Christie, than Sarah, followed by Felecia and Mary, then Alexandra and so on and so on. C-currently, I had settled on Ashley."

Looking up, despite how mangled she looked, she practically glowed. Giving an unusually pain free laugh she said with a smile "that's a beautiful name......" her eyes started to drift closed.

Panicked, Sam shook her, saying "no no no no! You h-have to stay awake, alright! I mean-" Looking around frantically he continued "I mean I never..........got to find out! What's your real name? Bet it isn't as good as Ashley, right!?"

As she lost her fight with consciousness, and her eyes drifted closed with a smile on her face she mumbled, " My name....is....Harm-" and finally passed out.

Trembling to his very core, Sam started to move his hand haltingly up to her neck. Pushing two of his fingers to her throat and closing his eyes he waited. And for the longest two seconds of his entire life, he made another prayer to whoever would listen, that he would feel a heartbeat.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................thump-thump........................thump-thump..............................thump-thump.

With a strangled cry of relief mixed with a wet sob, he put his forehead to hers and cried harder than he'd ever had in his entire life.

Shortly afterwards, the paramedics and fire department arrived; the driver had who had hit Sam having called 911. The next several hours where a blur. He remembered them cutting the girder off what was left of her legs. He recalled following the paramedics, asking if she was going to be okay. Responding that the injuries looked worse they were, and despite appearances, she hadn't lost too much blood, they said as long as they got her to the hospital in time she would most likely survive (though probably without being able to use her legs anymore). Trying to climb into the ambulance with her they said that unless he was family he'd have to stay and let them do their jobs. Reluctantly, he complied. He vaguely remembered being questioned by the police, telling them what happened, and them asking if he wanted to press charges against the driver that hit him. Replying with a vehement no, they went to question other witnesses and cordon off the area.

The day after that had almost been as bad as the last. Sam spent hours upon hours looking for the hospital that they had taken her to. But every single one of them told him that there was no one that matched her physical description and injuries.

The third hospital he went to offered to look her up in their database to see if other hospitals had a patient matching his description of her; however, when they said that there was no place in the entire city that had a patient like that, Sam began shouting at them, demanding to know how in the hell they could just lose a patient. After that, he was encouraged to leave the premises by multiple security guards (many of whom could take quite a punch).

After that, he continued to visit every hospital in the city; and with each one giving him the same answers, he began to fear the worst. Beginning to believe she might have.........................

Defeated, he had trudged back home, and collapsed into his bed.

His dream that night was incredibly vivid. He was back on the street were it happened. Everything was the same. The Falling girder, the blood curdling scream, all of it. This time however, he was fast enough to get to her in time, pushing her out of the way before the beam pinned his legs instead.

The next morning, he woke with a smile, which quickly faded when he realized it had only been a dream.

Slowly closing the door to his apartment, his shakes having subsided, he shambled over to his TV chair and collapsed in it. Shutting his eyes, all he could hear was that petrifying scream. Gripping the chair he violently shook his head and tried to put his mind on anything but the accident.

Looking around he saw his TV remote. Hoping it would boost his wavering spirits, he opened his Netflix queue and popped on a random episode of his favorite show.

The story of this episode centered around the once fallen Night goddess sister. In it, it's revealed that she had created a parasitic nightmare monster to infect her own dreams and give herself nightmares; to punish herself for her past transgressions. The demon however, escaped her own dreams and started to affect her own citizens, only adding to the demigoddesses pain and guilt. Ultimately, after an epic battle in the ever-shifting dream world, the heroes discover that the only way to defeat the nightmare demon is to get the goddess to forgive herself. Not willing to do so at first, as she felt she wasn't worthy of forgiveness, her friends convinced her that she was in fact worthy as they, and all of the kingdom, had long ago forgiven her; knowing full well she wasn't the monster she had once been.

As the credits rolled, Sam shut off the television.

Forgiving yourself

Is that what I need to do? he thought.

He thought back to the episode he'd just watched. While he wasn't quite at the point of wanting to summon a demon to torment him for the rest of his life, he still felt responsible for what happened. He knew there was no rational reason to feel this way. He had done all he could to try and save her.

But that was the point.

He had wanted to help her, to rescue her; to stop the tragedy before it even happened. Gritting his teeth, he thought back to that moment of truth. Seeing that tower of steel crush down upon her, seeing all the blood, the look on her face, all of it; and all he could do was hold her hand, and hope everything would be okay.

Pounding his fist against his knee, a trickle of blood fell from his mouth as his teeth clamped on his bottom lip.

I was powerless! I couldn't do anything! I had to sit there and watch as I lied through my teeth to a dying girl, pretending that everything was going to be okay!

His wave of rage and surge of adrenaline slowly faded. Loosening his fist, he slowly put his head back against the chair. Drained, he absentmindedly scanned his book shelves, and the myriad of novels they contained. They all told stories of heroism. Tales of people who suffer through tragedy and come out all the stronger for it. Overcoming great peril and sorrow, they eventually use there power to vanquish the darkness and put right all the things that had gone wrong.

Standing up, he slowly walked over and ran his hand across the spines of his collection. For all the similarities these stories had, there was one thing that, above all else, that was the same. The one thing that bound them together. A power that that would always arrive to save the day.

Magic

Walking over to his staff, he held it gingerly and gazed at it. He'd thought about it. Dreamed about it. Wished for it. All his life, he had molded himself in the belief that if magic existed, the world could be made into a better place. A place where there was no grief, no strife; and everyone had a bright shining smile on their faces, living blissfully unaware that there had ever existed a time when the world was any dimmer than the shinning utopia they had known all their lives.

A deep sigh escaped his lips. If he'd had magic, if he was a powerful sorcerer, right now a bright faced innocent young woman would be walking home, reading the latest book in her favorite fantasy series.

Closing his eyes, placing both hands on his staff and putting the crystal against his head, he made a wish. A wish that had been made by him countless times in his life; but for the first time, this desire came from somewhere deep inside his soul.

His heart, mind and body cried out together in unison for the first time, and made what was quite possibly, the most powerful wish this world had ever seen.

I wish I had magic.

As Sam held the crystal against his forehead, he heard a strange noise. Opening his eyes, he looked around his apartment. Not seeing anything, he almost dismissed it.

Moving to put the staff back in it's place; he then heard the same noise again, though this time, he recognized the sound........it was a voice.

Looking towards the point of origin, he was shocked to discover that the source of the sound of the voice was coming from the staff itself. It was very faint, but the sound of a strangely familiar voice spoke to him.

The time has come

Briefly wondering if the past few days had finally made him snap, he leaned an ear forward to try to make out what it was saying,

I call out to you unnamed staff; Bring to our world, the one with the will, to change it.

The only word he could make out was staff. Before he could lean in further to try and hear more however, the crystal in the staff started glowing a flaming bright yellowish orange, as it started shaking violently. Tightening his grip on it, Sam struggled to hold on; as it flailed him about, sending books flying, breaking his electronics and toppling his shelves. The whole of the staff started crackling with a sparkling blue electricity as his body started to glow the same color before Sam felt himself being stretch and twisted, than everything went black.

The apartment went still.

Bookcases, a television, as well as countless books were scattered everywhere; waiting for the apartments owner to clean the mess up.

But he never would.

The stars twinkled in the night sky as they continued watch over all of creation. The pale blank moon cast it's loving light across the denizens of the world as they slumbered, trying to silently assure them that everything would be all right. A cool gently wafting breeze made it's way through the dormant farming town. All was silent and peaceful; in fact it was easily, the most spectacular night the tiny village had seen in years.

And Bronzed Berry absolutely hated it.

The pony in question bore a coat of deep navy blue with a fading yellow mane. He was average in height, and despite his slowly advancing age, he bore muscles that only came from countless years toiling on a berry farm. As Bronze berry walked through the middle of town with his trusty rake draped across his back (the one he used for picking up the berry's he our any of his family members trampled on). The metal part of the tool next to the cutie mark of his namesake kept scratching at him but he had long ago learned to ignore it.

He eventually reached the end of the road. Groaning, he begrudgingly turned around, and once again made his slow march through town.

He knew he had no right to complain. Complainers were a waste of everyone's time, and there was never any room for it on a farm. Keeping that in mind though, he still lamented is current fate. Sure, it may have "technically" been his turn for the night watch; and of course he knew it was one of the most important rotating duties of the townsfolk. The world was a cruel, and harsh place to live in. And at no time was it any more dangerous than at night; under the cover of darkness, night was the perfect chance for a whole manner of horrors and monstrosities to attack a completely unsuspecting village.

Of course, he knew and understood all of that. Of course, OF COURSE.

But it didn't stop him from loathing it.

Bronzed Berry was an Earth pony, a farmer. The only thing he had ever been good at, was making the best berries in all of Equis. An undeniable fact he couldn't be prouder of. The last thing he wanted to do was become a soldier and go off to join those winged birds in the shape of ponies. He had never even really been in a fight, and wouldn't have the slightest clue on what to do or how he'd react. With another agitated grunt, he looked towards the sky. The moon was still in it's zenith, which meant it would be hours before the Unicorn tribe lowered it and he could get some much deserved rest.

Damn spike head's. Can't they cut me some slack, and hurry dawn up already?

Before he could rant about the uselessness of unicorns however, his hooves were kicked out from under him as, with a deafening CRACK, a searing streak of energetic blue lightning came striking down from the cloudless sky a few feet behind him, sending him, and a cloud of rubble flying forwards. Coughing up dust and shaking dirt and pebbles out of his mane, Bronzed Berry fought against the pounding of his head and the loud ringing in his ears. Slowly standing up, he tried to peer through the cloud of dust to see what had sent him flying farther than a farmers hoof to a varmints face.

Seeing a bright blue pulsating glow, Bronzed squinted as the dust cleared. Where the lightning had struck, in its place, floating a few feet from the ground was a giant.......well........a giant flaming ball of fire. Hesitantly, Bronzed carefully got as close as he dared for fear of being reduced to ashes. The golden orb of fire flickered and shifted, twisting and expanding than slowly receding almost as if were alive, as if it was.......breathing. Slowly, the the fire shifted from a blinding gold, to a cool comforting blue. As it did, it started to contract, almost seeming to sigh as it gently began to change shape. After finishing its bizarre metamorphosis, an azure figure, glowing dimly before the light started to fade and in it's place, stood a creature the likes of which, Bronzed nor this entire world had ever seen before. Bronzed gawked at the strange being before him. His brain almost seemed to be working on automatic as it studied the creature.

It looked hairless. Mostly hairless anyway. It seemed to have very small patches of fine brown fur on its arms and......claws, as well as a big tuft of brown fur on top. The parts of its skin that weren't covered with fur had a light peach quality to it. It seamed lean in musculature but still generally fit.

Then Bronze's brain took note of something else. It wasn't naked. The creature was wearing clothes, and not just any clothes either. It looked like something those hoity toity pointy heads would wear to compensate for their lack of a backbone. It was a deep black robe that almost blended into the dark of night. Trimmed across the edge of the sleeves, skirt and pulled back hood were what resembled billowing golden flames, that out of the corner of your eyes, one might say were moving. Flowing from the flames were intricate patterns that ran all around the robe and resembled the azure color the orb of fire had briefly taken before disappearing. A dark blue belt held the robe tight, its design resembling that of a electricity making its way around the waist to the buckle bearing a curious star that had a circle running around it. On the left side of the belt, a large deep blue tome with fancy inscriptions was strapped to its hip. Transitioning from clothing, the farmer shifted his gaze to the object in the creatures right claw. It was a staff, made out of some type of dark wood with a twist near the middle. Above some kind of black material (that seemed to be currently functioning as a claw hold), the very tip of the staff had a simple yellow crystal embedded in it.

Bronzed Berry's brain, despite having only been used solely for the purpose of growing and harvesting berries of all kinds up until now, processed all this information in a matter of seconds. During his introspective research, the being before him was frantically looking around. Darting its head this way and that, its bright purple eyes taking in everything, from the buildings around him, the small crater he was in, to his staff and the strange clothes he was wearing. Then, unfortunately, his gaze fell upon Bronzed Berry.

As it did, its jaw went slack and its eyes went as wide as they possibly could. The following minute, nothing made the slightest peep. If someone at that particular moment dropped a pin, anyone around would have shouted at them to keep it down. As the two contradictory beings stood stone still gawking at each other, they proceeded to have, what many experts and historians still to this very day agree, to be the single most important, world changing, staring contest of all time.

Seeming to recover first, the creature straightened its self out. Looking incredibly unsure how to proceed, it reached its left claw towards Bronzed Berry and said "Hello?"

That being the proverbial final piece of wood holding the barn up, it was pulled out, and it all came crashing down.

A loud, almost feminine scream pierced the night as whatever spell had held him in place for so long broke and Bronzed Berry fled like his flank was on fire and his life depended on it (which as far as was concerned, it probably was). Crashing through an empty fruit stand, the farmer dropped his forgotten rake, leaving it in the shambled remains of the cart. Not that he even noticed, the farmer turned Night Watch had only one thing on his mind.

The bell

Feeling what he was sure were that claws of that terrifying lightning-fire demon, his speed doubled as he made his way to the middle of the village where the towns Emergency Bell lay. The rest of his mind was a panic induced haze. So he focused on the one thing that mattered. His duty. He had to warn the town, he had to get them to rally against this denizen of Tartarus and drive it back from whence it came. If he didn't make it to the bell, the town he'd lived in all his life......would be destroyed.

Ducking and dodging the stones being thrown at him, Sam sprinted as fast as he could away from the town, glancing only briefly at the glowing horde composed of torches, angry shouting, and pitch forks behind him. Seeing a forest up ahead, he veered to the right and dove into the wooded trees, continuing his marathon for another ten minutes, before realizing that the dull roaring of the mob had long since disappeared. Gasping for air, he slowed his sprint to a brisk jog, then a walk, followed by him collapsing against a nearby tree. Feebly, he folded himself into a ball and held his staff against himself like a shield, almost instinctively hoping it would protect him somehow.

That guy was a..............they all were.........and they almost.......

He looked around, What happened to me? Why did my staff glow like that? And WHY AM I WEARING A FREAKING ROBE!!!

The question of where he was however, never entered his mind. Sam had never really been that slow on the uptake. Judging by what he had seen, he was in......................closing his eyes, he felt the pain in his legs, the burning of his lungs, and his body shaking from near exhaustion. Just to be safe though he pinched his cheeks, HARD.

I'm not having a nightmare.

Opening his eyes, he put his hand on the dirt ground next to him, testing the solidity of it. It was as solid as a rock. Tearing off a piece of bark from the tree he had his back against, he tried chewing on it only to spit it out at the expected taste of wood and splinters.

I'm not crazy either.

Though confirming that didn't ease him in the slightest. If this wasn't some surreal nightmare and he hadn't finally boarded the last bus to cuckoo town, then that left only one, inescapable truth.

He was in a fantasy world that couldn't be real.

In a land that shouldn't exist.

In a world populated by sentient creatures of all shapes and sizes.

A world governed by magic.

Somehow....

Someway....

He was in his favorite show.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

He looked up at through the leaves and branches at the starry sky peaking through.

"I'm in Equestria."

Author's Note

This started as an idea in my head that refused to go away. The premise of the story was much simpler in the original "draft" of the prologue I had released; but after I wrote it, I wasn't happy with it.

As I began rewriting it and after I re-released it (only to move on to redoing the other chapter I had also released) something rather odd began to happen. Every night I went to bed to get some sleep; only to have to get up because I had to write down new plot threads, new scene ideas, possible dialogue, character motivations and chapter outlines, as well as outlines for the entire plot of the story. And when I would wake up each morning, I would do the same thing all over again.

With all the outlines becoming big enough to be a story in their own right, this rather simple tale had morphed into something I hadn't expected, but definitely welcomed; because even though I've not had enough sleep since this whole thing started, I get to tell you what (I hope) will be a grand epic tale that Sam himself would be proud of. :scootangel:

Or maybe he'd through it in the dumpster. :raritywink:

Only time will tell.

May Harmony Guide You My Friends :twilightsmile:

Chapter One - Lessons, Old Memories, and New Beginnings

Chapter One

Lessons, Old Memories, and New Beginnings

Closing her eyes she could feel it. The tiny flicker of a brilliant lavender flame steadily making its way towards her chambers. Her wonderful guest would be here any minute. Opening her eyes she glanced outside her window at her charge. It hung roughly 187° due south over Canterlot in the afternoon sky; shimmering as brightly as it had the very first day she had taken control over it. The corners of her mouth curled upwards.

12:45

She's fifteen minutes early.

She Tittered. It was a vast improvement over her students first day, where she was so terrified at the idea of being tardy, she arrived a whole two hours ahead of schedule. Deciding that she should prepare herself, Celestia's horn glowed, encasing several books from her shelves, as well as five cast iron weights of varying sizes; as they gently glided over in front of her, they began arranging themselves on the table she sat behind.

Remembering something, she levitated one of the books back to it's place on the shelf; it was Whisper Wind's Guide to Spell Concentration, Focus, and How to Not Blow Yourself Up. They had begun it yesterday, and were supposed to finish it in today's lesson, but she knew her student far to well for that.

The tiny pitter patter of hoofsteps sounded from outside the hall, reaching the door to the Princesses quarters, followed by a small rapping noise against the door. Putting on a regal smile, Celestia opened the door with her magic as she got up from the table and went over to greet her beloved pupil.

"Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student," she exclaimed as she leaned her head down to give the tiny lavender filly a gentle hug.

Twilight reciprocated the gesture eagerly, "Princess Celestia!" Even though she saw her everyday, no matter how many times it happened, her student always greeted her with such fervor and joy as if she hadn't seen her in years. Which always warmed her teachers heart to no end.

Twilight kept the hug going for several seconds, seemingly forgetting her purpose in coming here. After an amused cough from the Princess, Twilight quickly broke the hug and smushed her face into the carpet; passing it off as a bow. "I'm here for my lesson your highness!!" she exclaimed.

Stifling a giggle, Celestia replied, "So I see."

While Twilight's burgeoning intelligence, and hunger for knowledge was remarkable, she was still somewhat lacking in standard social graces. Which suited the Princess just fine.

"So," Celestia began, " I assume you stayed up reading through yesterday's textbook all last night; despite your parents (as well as myself) not wishing you to do so?" She finished with a sly voice and a twinkle in her eye.

Her face going as red as a beet, the filly looked down and away, mumbling in a small skittish voice, "....m-maybe,"

Resisting the urge to coo at her adorable apprentice, she asked , "And did they find out?" An unsteady nod was her response, "And what did they say?"

Her face somehow becoming more red than red had any right to be, Twilight reluctantly answered, her voice getting progressively smaller, "They said that if they caught me doing it again............they wouldn't let me build my..... book castles anymore."

Celestia trembled slightly. Trying as hard as she could, she used a millennia's worth of skill and practice to not fall to the floor in tears.

"A-are you mad?" the little filly asked with watery eyes.

Taking a deep breath to calm her self (which Twilight just knew was a bad sign), Celestia schooled her features and put on an authoritative look, "Well, I suppose as your teacher, I should take some sort of action." Twilight trembled, preparing herself for her incoming punishment. Celestia lit up her horn; lifting a whimpering Twilight into the air, she brought the filly close to her face,

And proceeded to blow raspberry's on her belly.

"Now, while many unicorns assume that with the levitation spell, the sole factor in determining how hard an object is to lift, is in the weight of it; but they are in fact, quite mistaken. While the weight of an object does add to the strain put on the caster, there is another limitation few ever consider."

"What's that princess?" Twilight asked with a grunt as she held up three Identical ten pound cast iron weights .

Walking over to the iron weights, Celestia pointed a hoof at the the sparkling glow surrounding them, "The magic field itself."

Putting her hoof down she elaborated, "The levitation field has three major points of weakness. One of them we've already established. If an object exceeds a weight more than the mental strength and will of the caster can handle, the field will break and the item in question will fall."

Beginning a slow pace around Twilight, she continued her lecture. "Problem Two is the trouble most unicorns have when first learning levitation, multitasking; being skilled enough to lift multiple objects at once while focusing on where each one is, where it needs to go, and maintaining a strong enough field to manipulate and hold all of them at once." She glanced at Twilight with a proud smile, "Which, by the way, you are showing remarkable improvement in."

Beaming at the praise, the field around the weights momentarily stuttered as Twilight lost her concentration. Quickly redoubling her efforts, she managed to catch them before they fell, giving a sheepish look to her mentor.

Chuckling, Celestia resumed her pacing as well as her lecture, "But as I mentioned, there is one major weakness most unicorns aren't even aware of. It's a problem known as, "The Coverage Quandary" which explains what the major flaw of all levitation fields is........"

"Surface area."

"S-surface area?" Twilight asked, straining against the chunks of Iron.

Nodding Celestia went on, "Hypothetically speaking, any spell-caster can get past the first two issues. Multitasking eventually comes easily to most unicorns with enough practice. And the weight issue can also be overcome simply by training your will and mind like you would any other muscle, through vigorous training and exercise; though if the object was small but dense enough to pose a problem, it would take thousands of years of training to compensate for the weight." Stopping in front of her pupil, she posed a question. "So Twilight, if anyone can simply overcome those two problems with practice and exercise, why than would any object be impossible to control? Like say, for instance," walking over to the window, she pointed out of it without looking, "the sun?"

Enraptured by the lecture, as well as fighting to keep the weights aloft, Twilight just stood staring for a moment before realizing she had been asked a question; causing her to momentarily panic. Thinking about it, she knew the answer was obviously surface area; but no matter how much she racked her brain, she couldn't figure out why. Realizing she was taking too long, and not wanting to let her idol down, she went with it anyway, hoping she could wing her way through it and act like she knew what the princess was talking about.

"Um....s-surface area?" she asked more than stated with a nervous grin.

Giving an encouraging nod Celestia pressed, "And do you know why?"

And just like that, Twilight's brilliant charade came crumbling down, along with the iron weights. Lowering her head she replied feebly with misty eyes "sorry princess, I don't."

Celestia walked over to the downtrodden little filly and lifted her head up so she would look her in the eyes. Giving her a warm motherly look she said gently "Oh Twilight, my precious student," wiping away Twilight's tears with her hoof, she gave her a loving nuzzle. "It's never a bad thing to not know something," she said pulling away, "It just means you get to have fun learning it!".

Standing up and casting a glorious smile down on the pony, Celestia finished with "And someday, if your very, very lucky, you'll have an adorable little apprentice of your very own; and you'll get to have fun all over again teaching them the things they don't know."

Her tears dried and fears forgotten, Twilight beamed at Princess Celestia, "Then, can you tell me why surface area is so important Princess?"

Chuckling she responded, "Of course my little pony."

Resuming her *lecture pose* Celestia started her lesson once more. "The sun, being what it is, has a mass roughly 333,000 times the mass of Equis. Which sounds like it would be too heavy to move, but remember, in space, there is no weight. So even though its mass sounds like in would be an issue, it isn't. Now if that's the case, why do you suppose then, it took a team of roughly sixty-five unicorns to move the sun and moon in olden pony times?"

Twilight pondered for a moment when suddenly her face brightened, "It's not that the sun is too heavy," she exclaimed, hopping in place "It's too big!"

Celestia beamed, "Precisely! The weight is inconsequential, the real issue is how much of the suns surface the levitation field has to cover. Compared to Equis, the surface area of the sun is approximately 10,000 times larger than our world."

Sitting on the floor in front of Twilight with her back straight, she expanded on the point. "The magic field produced by the levitation spell, is composed of pure magical energy. Energy that comes (she placed her hoof on Twilight's chest) from in here. And every pony only has so much magic inside of them; a reservoir that has a limited supply, and can run out. The more surface area the levitation field has to cover, the more magic you have to expend to do it. This increases almost exponentially until you reach the point where the surface area of an object you have to encase inside your magic, exceeds the amount of magic you have stored inside of you."

"And that Twilight, is why it's called "The Coverage Quandary"

Twilight contemplated her mentors words, "Meaning........even if you trained your mind like you said, to strengthen it so that you could handle the weight of, like a mountain, you still couldn't lift it; because you probably wouldn't have enough magic to cover all of it?"

The Princess practically glowed with pride, "That's exactly correct Twilight!"

Her tone shifted, and took on warning edge. "So keep this lesson in mind my faithful student; if you tried to push beyond that physical roadblock, you could very well end up hurting yourself." Celestia cautioned.

Twilight emphatically nodded her head. Stopping, she gave her teacher an almost reverent look, "So your magic tank must be huge!!!"

Caught off guard by the question, Celestia tilted her head and asked "My magic what?"

"I mean, if you can move a surface area as large as the sun, you must have must have more magic than all of us put together!!" exclaiming as she put her arms in the air.

The Princess stared for a moment before devolving into a giggle fit.

Hooves still in the air, Twilight just blinked at her convulsing teacher.

"O-oh," the Princess fought back another waves of the giggles before taking a deep breath, and said to Twilight in a thoroughly entertained manner, "Oh goodness no Twilight. My magic is no more stronger than any other well trained unicorn."

"W-what?" a dumbfounded Twilight responded, hooves still in the air.

Tittering Celestia explained, "It's not so much that my magic is stronger than anyone else's, it's just that it's......unique."

"Unique?" Twilight asked, her arms starting to get tired.

She gave an affirmative nod, "Yes. My power is unique because of my alicorn physiology; and as such, my alicorn magic grants me a specific connection to something, in my case, the sun. Because of this special connection, the sun "lends me" its power to assist in creating enough magical energy to surround it; and ultimately, move it where it needs to go." She finished.

Nodding along, the student seemed to remember something, and looked up at her teacher desperately, "Hey, um, Princess? Who.................................who came up with "The Coverage Quandary?"" she asked, sounding hopeful.

Winking Celestia replied, "I think you know." Which made the filly grin.

Getting up she said "Okay, I think that's enough of the theoretical for today."

Walking over to her closet she pulled out a massive one hundred and fifty pound cast iron weight that was as big as her desk, and dropped it right in front of Twilight (whose grin disappeared).

"Let's move on to the practical."

Twilight gulped.

And her arms burned.

Princess Celestia sat behind her desk while she observed Twilight struggling (and failing miserably) to levitate the gargantuan hunk of metal. As she watched, her mind began to wander.

Looking out towards the window, watching the sun slowly work it's way through the western sky, her gaze landed on the patch of sky the moon would soon rise in. As she did, her eyes grew distant. Her constantly active mind slowing to a halt as only one thought dominated her mind.

Time was not on her side

Holding back a sigh that almost escaped her lips (as she knew Twilight would read it as disappointment in her efforts) she began contemplating the past, as well as the rapidly upcoming future.

It had been just under one thousand years ago.

Briefly marveling at how long it had been; Celestia thought back to what was, unequivocally, the worst day of her life.

She had been betrayed. By a family member, no less. One of the closest friends she had ever had the pleasure of having. The one she had trusted more than almost anyone else, had broken the bonds they shared and tried to usurp her throne; and in doing so, endangered the lives of every creature on the face of Equis.

Celestia thought back to that night. She had been lured to her throne room under false pretenses, the usurper claiming that they deserved to rule Equestria; that their kingdoms subjects didn't appreciate them, so they would make them. Celestia begged and pleaded that this wasn't the case, only to be forced to watch, as her friend was twisted by powerful magic that turned them into a wicked creature of darkness. Her former ally then proceeded to attack and almost kill the Princess. Left with no other option, and even though doing so would tear her soul to shreds, she harnessed the Elements of Harmony to banish the monster that had once been her family; inside the moon forever.

Doing so had come at a great cost for Equestria however. The usurper had been a fellow bearer to the Elements of Harmony, and the Elements had never been intended to be used against one who had wielded them. In fact, Celestia should not have been able to wield them in the first place. But the Elements (most likely sensing the threat to Equestria) allowed her take take them up one final time, before cutting off their connection to her forever. Becoming dormant, they had remained in their original resting place in the ruins of her old castle for the past nine hundred and ninety-nine years.

The threat to Equestria however, was not truly gone.

A few months after that fateful day, it became apparent that the spell the Elements had used to seal the betrayer inside the moon was ever so slowly weakening; the usurper using the magic from the stars to aid in their escape. Her calculations had tallied that on the longest day of the thousandth year the spell would finally break. The only hope of stopping her fallen friend, was to find the ponies that were the true bearers of the Elements of Harmony; however, as far as Celestia was concerned, things would play out differently this time.

She had no absolutely no intention of banishing her family again.

As much as the betrayal had hurt, at the end of the day, she still loved her dear friend. The Elements had been weakened when she used them before; only having enough magic left for a banishing spell, not a full blown cleansing/reformation spell. But if she found the true bearers of the Elements, they would have more than enough power to harness them to save her companion. And then she could do what she should of done all those years ago to prevent any of this.

Talk.

She had only nine years left.

She looked back at Twilight, who realized the weight was too big to lift; so had instead taken to closely examining it with the Princesses magnifying glass, while apparently taking notes.

What is she doing?

And how did she get that from my desk?

Putting that mystery aside for the moment, she went back to her silent contemplation.

Currently, Twilight was the best candidate to take up the Element of Magic. She had sensed it the moment Twilight's magic went out of control during her entrance exam, the signature of which felt eerily similar to the magic that had always radiated from the corresponding Element (That being said, she still hadn't found the other bearers, though she was working on it).

She wasn't going to push Twilight too hard simply to accomplish her agenda though. The fate of Equestria may have stood in the balance, but Twilight's well being was first and foremost her top priority. She would prepare her as best as she could, teach her to the best of her ability; but ultimately, the choice to do something was Twilight's to make, not hers.

She looked towards Twilight once more; who was currently banging her head against the wall of iron out of frustration (or hoping it would break first, Celestia wasn't quite sure).

Deciding that her student had already passed her little test, she got up from her desk and walked over to the currently head banging Twilight; taking notice of her discarded note pad that had theorems and strategies on how to move the hunk of metal with ways other than magic (one including a rather bizarre pulley system made from Celestia drapes).

As she stood behind her pupil she made an amused polite cough *Ahem*, "I think that's enough, exercise for today."

Not noticing her teacher was right behind her, with a high pitched, "Meep!!!, Twilight hit her head harder than intended and ricocheted onto her back into the nice plush carpet with a muffled *thud*

As the stars cleared from her eyes, Twilight saw Celestia standing over her looking concerned, which made Twilight's face resume it's almost forgotten shade of clown nose red, as she hid her face between her hooves and squeaked.

Slowly, she peeked her eyes out from behind her hooves, followed by a tiny miserable voice "Sorry I couldn't lift the weight Princess."

Laying down next to Twilight, relieved to see that the little filly was okay, Celestia engulfed the little ball of shame in a massive wing hug; followed by a flurry of feathery tickle attacks.

"You, my little filly did wonderfully," she spoke in a playful tone over twilight's frenzied giggling, as twilight tried (and failed) to escape the sudden winged onslaught, "Not only did you stop trying to lift the weight, recognizing your current magical limit, you instead tried to confront the problem scientifically." She relented her attack and let Twilight catch her breath before continuing "Maybe one day you'll be able to lift this weight, but for now? I'm just happy to have a student as spectacular as you." She finished with a tender nuzzle.

Returning the affection, Twilight pulled back with an almost too sincere of a smile, "Soooo, If.........if I do eventually lift the weight..........could you convince my parents to let me say up at night reading?" She finished with the biggest puppy dog eyes as she could muster.

Celestia's only response was a ominous laughter, as she lifted up her wings.

Twilight gulped.

And her arms were tickled.

The sun had set an hour ago, and the moon hung high in the sky; casting its gentle rays over the slumbering kingdom.

Celestia sighed serenely as she sat on her bed reading her favorite novel. Twilight had been escorted home by her usual guard an hour and half ago, (after she recovered from what she would now forever refer to as, Tickle-geddon).

Once more she thought back to her beloved apprentice.

Never before had Celestia been as close to a student as she was with Twilight. Over the past three years of being her teacher, their bond only seemed to grow stronger and stronger everyday.

No parent should have to outlive their children; and no one was more aware of this than Celestia. Outliving friends and loved ones was hard enough, but your own child? She shivered; She couldn't handle that. So she had forever put the idea of having children of her own out of her mind.

Until she met Twilight.

At first, she was worried that she might unconsciously be trying to be replacing Twilight's mother. So one day, she went to Twilight's home and talked it out with her parents, explaining to them that she had grown to see Twilight as the daughter she never had; worried what they might say, she lowered her head expecting the worst.

Night light and Twilight Velvet sat staring at her for a moment, looked towards each other, and began laughing their flanks off. The Princesses head shot up as she stared at them, waiting for things to make sense again.

Eventually getting herself under control, (though still giggling) Velvet explained,

"Well of course you love her like a daughter!" she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Picking a frame up with a picture of Twilight, she pointed at it, "I mean look at this face! How could you not fall in love with that face!?" She then proceeded to make kissy faces at it.

Chuckling at his wife's antics, Night light got up and walked over to the Princess, "Our little Twily absolutely adores you. Besides, she's too special a filly to have just one Mom; so, as far as we're concerned," He said putting his hoof on her shoulder, "Welcome to the Sparkle family Princess."

Celestia was more than willing to admit she cried a little...................or a lot.

Realizing she had been reading the same paragraph for five minutes now, she closed her book with a sigh and absentmindedly scanned her room with a contented gaze; as it always did around this time of day however, her gaze fell on a small box sitting on her dresser, and her good mood faded.

The box was simple but elegant, it was made out of a polished black wood material with blue trimmed edges and a design of the sun and moon on the top of it; and while it didn't have a traditional lock, it had an enchantment that prevented just anyone from opening it.

Levitating it over, she once again, tried to do what she always did.

Everyday.

For the past three hundred and sixty-one thousand, seven hundred and fifteen days.

She tried to open that damn box.

She had tried the whole gamut of scanning spells, counter spells, disenchantment spells, and once (out of desperation), she had even tried a couple of low level dark magic spells; but nothing ever worked. The enchantment was just too intricate and complex. So after all those attempts failed, she tried to open it through brute force; however it would take the combined magic of all of Equestria to even make a dent in it.

It still didn't stop her from trying though.

"Hnggg...........*zap*....*zap*......C-come.......on.....rrrrrggghhh..........you....................s-stupid..............thing...............open.....up..............." *chomp*

After the box refused to yield to her Nibbling of Doom, she (once again) gave up.

"Nine hundred and one years and I still can't get you open."

Taking the box with her to the balcony, she placed it on the railing and gave it a huffy look as she (not for the first time) asked,

"Why did you leave me this if I can't open it?!"

Just like after every other failure, she was momentarily tempted to chuck it off the balcony and be rid of it. And like always, she couldn't do it.

There are certain things ponies hold on to. Sometimes it's something intangible, be it a memory, or a feeling that they lock up inside their heart so that it can never escape, never be forgotten; other times, it's something physical, something that you can look at or touch and remind you of days long gone, when the world was a bit simpler.

For Celestia, this is what she held on to. What she wouldn't let go. Even if she could never open it, if she abandoned it; it would be tantamount to admitting she had lost something far more precious to her than some silly box.

Maybe I should give it to Twilight and let her have a crack at it. she thought humorously. I know she wouldn't let you defeat her. Quietly, Celestia chuckled, Wonder where she picked that up.

With a distant melancholy, the Princesses gaze drew distant as she looked from the box to the soothing orb floating in the heavens. Staring right back at her, was the face that had been inscribed on the moon for the last nine hundred and ninety one years. Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke to the figure,

"She's remarkable you know. One of the most kind, caring, and intelligent students I've ever had. I love her more than a teacher probably should, but I don't care; the way she looks up to me, the way her eyes light up whenever she sees me, I wouldn't trade that for anything."

Celestia gave a dry laugh, "She would be over the moon if she met you though." wincing at her unintended faux pas.

Slightly shaking her head she went on, "I've caught her more than once, trying to sneak into your wing of the library; so much so, that I've had to schedule an entire three months dedicated to studying you and all your spells just to satisfy her. She's so excited for it she can hardly wait."

Her head snapping up desperately she exclaimed "Don't worry though! She doesn't know about, well........... you know; no one does." She quietly added as she looked down, "I made sure of that.".

Looking back up her eyes began watering, "Your nothing but a true hero to her."

With quivering lips, as tears rolled down her face, she whispered "I wish you could meet her."

Her head fell to her chest, tears dropping to the floor; when she suddenly heard hoofsteps behind her, followed by a concerned voice,

"Tia? Are you alright?" the familiar voice gently asked.

Quickly hiding her face as she furiously wiped the tears from her eyes, she replied in a forced casual banter,

"Oh, h-hello Luna."

*sniff* "I-it's good to see you."

Not being fooled by her tone for a second, the night princess walked over and sat beside her grieving sister. Leaning in and putting a downy wing around her, squeezing tight; she gave Celestia a tender nuzzle as she whispered, "You know you don't have to pretend around me."

Sniffing, Celestia welcomed her sisters affection and leaned her head on Luna's shoulder, "I just don't want you worry about me."

Her body shaking in a silent laughter Luna responded, "Isn't that the whole point of a sister Tia? I worry about you as much I'm sure you worry for me."

Luna grew quiet as she saw the box on the rail and levitated it over.

Celestia glanced up at her sister, and saw she had tears in her eyes as well. Putting the box in between her own hooves, Luna looked back at her sister with a watery smile and said "I miss him to you know."

Almost simultaneously, they pulled each other into the kind of loving hug only family can give, comforting one another and sharing in the pain of memories past; as they spent the rest of the night in each other's arms, thinking of days long gone, when the world was a bit simpler. And as they did, watching over them, was a figure pulled straight from the legends of Olden Pony Times.

The fallen hero of myth.

The first bearer of the Element of Magic.

The Man in the Moon.

Mythrin Arcacia.

The sun was out in full force today. It wasn't unpleasant though, nor was the extra light painful to the eyes; casting its warm gentle rays in through the throne room windows onto Princess Luna, Celestia's sun just seems a little brighter for some reason.

Luna sat on her throne next to Celestia's empty one, thinking heavily.

When her sister had taken on Twilight Sparkle as her pupil, they had both concluded that, do to her potential importance as a possible candidate for the Element of Magic, Tia needed to have enough time to do the filly's education justice; as such, they had agreed that Celestia would take court duties during the mornings, and Luna would take the afternoon.

That wasn't, however, what she was currently pondering.

She was in the middle of extensive calculations on the trajectory and escape velocity it would take, to launch the insufferable oaf before her into her sister's sun.

"I just don't understand why I'm not talking to both of you. Surely auntie could put off what ever she's doing to hear my request. Am I not worthy enough to be afforded an audience with both the rulers of Equestria?" the "oaf" in question (known as Prince Blueblood) droned on.

Noticing he hadn't gotten a respond from Luna as she studied him intently however, he asked again, "Well?"

"About 100 micrometers per second should do it." Luna mumbled to herself.

Tilting his head, he cluelessly inquired, "What was that Auntie?"

Hearing her "nephew" using the moniker she loathed, she snapped out of her revelry.

"I'm sorry. What was it you said.................nephew?" she asked, saying the last word with an incredibly strained voice.

"I said why isn't auntie here to listen to my proposal?" he pouted in a childlike indignation.

"Because.......Nephew," Once again struggling with the word.

He wasn't actually related to her and Tia by blood (a fact Luna rejoiced to the heavens every night); but, as he was descended from Princess Platinum herself (who was far more worthy of her title in Luna's opinion), she and her sister were forced into the old tradition of "adopting" him into their family, and giving him the official/unofficial nickname of "nephew". It was purely ceremonial, but over the generations of "adoptions" there had been plenty ponies in the Platinum line who Luna where proud to call niece and nephew.

Blueblood wasn't one of them.

"My sister is busy teaching her student, and as such" Luna continued, sounding very much like this wasn't the first time she'd had to explain it to him, "will be busy for any and all future afternoon court sessions."

Snorting derisively, Blueblood responded with, "Surely she could take one day off from her charity case to help her family."

Gritting her teeth, Luna rolled her jaw and took a deep calming breath. "Right. Of course. Family. Well, as "family" why don't I see if I can help with your petition." she finished in a patronizing tone.

Which he didn't seem to notice. "Hmph, very well I suppose." Turning, he called for the guards to let someone in.

A brown stallion wearing a golden tie, with a quaffed silver mane, and a cutie mark on his flank of a bar of silver inside an open spellbook, walked in to the throne room. Luna took note he was trying to count the ceiling tiles as he walked towards Blueblood (or more likely he was just stuck up). Luna rolled her eyes, she knew exactly who he was before the Prince even introduced him.

"May I present to you, my Master Enchanter, Silver Chaser." He said with a flourish.

She gave her guest a curt nod. Silver Chaser was a talented spell-caster who had graduated from Celestia's school for gifted unicorns and had gone on to sell his knowledge and talents to only the riches ponies in Canterlot.

Only the wealthiest and most elite could afford a permanent mage on staff, so Prince Blueblood snatched him up right away as his personal wizard and new pet; and in order to rub his new found prestige in his snooty friends faces, the Prince gave him the moniker of "Master Enchanter".

"As you are no doubt aware," he began almost condescendingly, "Silver Chaser here is my own personal court wizard."

Don't you need a court for that? Luna thought.

The Prince went on, " He is dedicated, loyal, and has served me faithfully for many years. He is also, with out a doubt-"

"Is there a point in all this Blueblood?" Luna interrupted "Or are you just trying to introduce me to your new coltfriend? If so than you have my approval. I'm sure he'll make a fine husband one day."

A snort came from one of the guards before he could stop it.

Sputtering, his voice seemed to raise an octave, as a now red faced blue Blood angrily stomped his hoof and shouted "He is not my coltfriend!!"

Sighing, and shaking her head in disappointment, Luna said "Nephew, I'm ashamed of you." she scolded, "Didn't your parents teach you that one should never cheat on their beloved? And certainly to not tell let the cat out of the bag when their standing right next to you?"

Two more more snorts came, the guards training slowly starting crumble.

"But do not worry nephew!" Luna said proudly, "I would be more than willing to give you two couples counseling!"

The guards training failed.

As snickering prevailed the throne room, the Prince was seemingly struggling to remember what words were. Silver Chaser himself looked as if he was pondering if he'd reach terminal velocity by jumping out from the height of the throne room window.

Seeming to recover, Blueblood shouted, "That is not why I brought him here!"

Sighing, Luna said in a resigned tone of voice, "Very well. Carry on with what you were saying then."

Huffing, the Prince straightened his bow tie and cleared his throat, "Thank you. As I was I was saying, Silver Chaser here has been a steadfast servant to me over these many years."

He continued extolling the many "accomplishments" of his lackey. "In addition, I have even lent him to some of the most elite in the city. And with his talents, he has helped many of Canterlots nobility solve their magical conundrums with his myriad of spells."

Any spells that would make you less obnoxious?

"He is, without a shadow of a doubt, the preeminent scholar of the schools of arcane magic and is easily the most talented and intelligent spell-caster in the entire kingdom."

I think your thinking of Twilight.

"His repertoire of spells have proved useful in several instances, including-"

Luna inwardly groaned. The only reason her "nephew" would talk up anypony other than himself, (especially someone so obviously in his pocket) meant he wanted to push him for some official position so he himself could gain more influence and prestige among the nobility. He probably wanted Silver to be the new Head Chairpony at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns (as that title was more or less fluff, the Headmaster being the one who actually ran the place), having a pet of his hold such a title, would be more than enough to gain the extra status the Prince wanted; though it was (unfortunately) a common tactic among the nobility, and while it wasn't technically illegal, the Princesses had always been careful about letting it go too far.

Rubbing her temples, Luna mentally braced herself as she decided to cut to the chase; bringing her attention back to the yammering Prince.....

"His spells have also been useful in-"

"Alright nephew," she said with exasperated sigh, "why don't we just get to the real reason in you bringing Silver Chaser here today?"

Slightly indignant at being interrupted, Blueblood straightened up; walking over to his Master Enchanter he swept his arm across the room in what he obviously hoped would a grand gesture.

"I came here to put forth Silver Chaser as the next Archmage!"

Luna grew still.

"What?"

Blue blood impatiently repeated himself, "I said, that my Master Enchanter should be made the next Archmage."

Luna didn't respond, so the prince continued, "As I've already proven, Silver Chasers many accomplishments, as well as his contributions to the upper echelon of-"

"No."

Luna's eyes grew distant as she glanced out the nearby window.

"W-what.....what do you mean no?" he stammered, but regained his composure and rudely pointed a hoof at the princess...

"I-I mean, the position of the next Archmage has been vacant for centuries!!" he paused, fumbling with his words, "Countless ponies have asked for the position,"

Stamping his hooves like a petulant child, he yelled, "Why haven't you and Celestia filled it yet!?"

Luna's eye twitched.

She turned her head as she brought her focus back on the Prince. "Because," she said through gritted teeth, "the title of Archmage is only for the ones worthy enough to wield it."

Blueblood brightened "Well then, you need look no further! Silver Chaser here, comes from the finest stock; and is positively adored by Canterlots nobility!" He chirped, describing his guest the same way one would describe a prize winning puppy.

Rolling her eyes Luna responded, "I think you miss the point of what an Archmage is."

"The point," said Blueblood, his voice sounding more and more like a foal who who didn't get the toy he wanted, "is that my Master Enchanter is more than qualified to take on the role of Archmage!!"

Princess Luna, having had about enough of this, sat straight in her throne and narrowed her eyes at her "nephew" and spoke in a commanding voice..........

"No, Prince Blueblood. The point, is that you want someone in your pocket to be Archmage, so you can gain even more power over the common pony than you already have."

Not expecting her to be so forthright, the prince's face froze with his jaw slightly ajar. "I-I, um, t-thats not-"

"An Archmage is one of the most important and meaningful roles in all of Equestria's history; and will not be filled by somepony who's only goal is to gain influence over others."

"Besides, the position of Archmage," She hesitated, looking slightly down as her voice grew a bit softer, ".............is already taken."

"What? No it's n'-" he tried interjecting.

Luna resumed her attack, "Now. If you push this matter any further, I may consider ways to take away some of your authority instead; not only amongst the common pony, but your "friends" in Canterlot as well."

What little color he had in his already pale face drain out of him.

Thinking that the discussion was over, Luna tried moving on "So, unless you have anything else to discu-"

"This isn't fair!" Blurted out Blueblood. With all other avenues exhausted, apparently deciding (again) to take a cue from foals, and throw a temper tantrum.

With contempt he said "If auntie where here she would have given me what I wanted; but instead she had to go and play teacher with that gutter trash student of hers."

Luna froze, her blood turning to ice as one of her hooves gripped the armrest of her throne so hard in cracked.

Now, Princess Luna may not have been Twilight's teacher; however, there were many times when court was particularly slow, so Luna would often ditch to sit in on Tia's lessons with her (much to her sister's chagrin, as Luna would often play pranks on "The Teacher" and tried to encourage Twilight to do the same).

Even the few times where something came up during one of their lessons that required Celestia's attention, Luna happily agreed to watch the purple filly, taking the opportunity to play hooky with her and go have fun (usually hiding in the castle's kitchen so they could eat hot fudge sundaes). So over the years, while Celestia had grown into a mother figure for Twilight, Luna had become like a big sister to her; and like every big sister should be for their sibling.............

She was incredibly protective of her.

Getting up from her throne, she slowly stalked over to Blueblood; stopping in front of him, she gave him a a dangerously sweet smile, and said in a non threatening tone of voice,

"Did you know, that I had a bit of a reputation back in the day?" she asked, wiping some dust from his shoulder.

"You see, I had a rather nasty habit of, losing my cool, so to speak." pausing, she began wiping the wrinkles from his suit as she continued, "And when ever something or, someone, hurt anyone close to me, I would go into a bit of a," she gave a bizarre laugh, "state."

She began fixing his hair as Blueblood had, for some reason, begun to tremble. "The olden enemies of Equestria who had faced me in battle even had a cute little nickname for me. I never much cared for it personally, but over the years it caught on anyway."

"You might also be interested to know, that the filly you referred to as....." she paused, moving onto adjusting his bowtie. "....hmm.....what was it you called her? Oh, that's right," giving a painfully artificial laugh, "gutter trash, is like a daughter to Tia, and a sister to me, " As she finished, her facade disappeared; replaced by the righteous furry of a Night Goddess.

Roughly grabbing his bow tie, as Luna brought his face half an inch from hers, her eyes began to radiate a blue smoke, and her starry mane grew darker as her voice took on a loud bone chilling magical echo, "So the next time you insult a real family member of ours, you shall find out why the enemies of Equestria once referred to me as............NIGHTMARE MOON!!!"

As her eyes dimmed, and her flowing locks went back to normal, the Princess dropped him where he stood, making her way slowly back to her throne. Sitting down, she smiled a genuine smile and asked pleasantly, "So, do you have anything else to discuss?"

On his royal flank, wide eyed, and quivering with indescribable terror, "Prince" Blueblood made a noise similar to that of an accordion being shoved down a cats throat, as he, with as much poise and dignity that was required of his station, ran away squeaking like a rat mercilessly being chased by a tiger...........that was on fire.

Princess Luna tilted her head quizzically, "Hmm, I guess not." She looked over to the forgotten "Master Enchanter" who was currently on the floor whimpering, "You know, I hate to tell you this, but," she said with genuine concern in her eyes,

"I don't think he's going to make a very good husband for you."

Luna stalked down the halls to her chambers, her hoofsteps slightly cracking the marble as she walked. She had decided to close the court three hours early. When the ponies waiting in line started complaining, she had angrily said that if they wanted to, they could go blame the " Worthless, Discord spitting, Tirek loving, walking hay for brains passing himself off as royalty."

They had kept quiet after that.

When she got to her chambers, she proceeded to take her still pent up anger out on a random pillow from her bed as she pretended it was Blueblood's face......................it didn't survive. As the feathers gently glided around the room, Luna thought back to the discussion she was having with his royal prick before she had exploded.

The Archmage.

Luna snorted, blowing some feathers away from her in the process. "As if that spineless Silver Chaser could ever live up to the title." Her anger slowly started to fade as she laid down on her mattress putting her head on her hooves, getting lost in her own thoughts.

The title of Archmage hadn't been given to anyone in just under a thousand years. Many (Like his royal flank) had asked over the years why they hadn't replaced the last one; but they never gave the real reason, even though it was a simple one.

There was already an Archmage.

Puffing her cheeks, Luna stood up on her bed. She wasn't about to spend her time wallowing in memories past; life was to precious after all to not focus on the here and now. Besides, she was the Princess of the Night, and had important duties to attend to. Slapping her cheeks with her hooves, she jumped off the bed; and with a determined trot, walked over to her desk and sat down, as she took care of one such duty. Levitating over some paper, ink, and quills, she got to working on a plan for tomorrow's lesson with Tia and Twilight.

A Princess of the Night had to prank her sister after all.

The purple filly scowled as she gave the clock another look. It sat impassively on the wall; mocking her.

Every tick a torment, every tock a terror of time based tension as slowly; all of time, all of creation, all of infinity, from the birth of the stars to the last breadth of the slowly decaying particles in the universe were condensed into the form of one limited edition Daring Do clock.

Twilight looked up again,

The minute hand still hadn't moved.

"Grrrrrrr! Why won't you go faster you stupid clock!" She growled at the infernal mechanism with as much ferocity as she could muster, (Which was about as much as a chipmunk).

She had waited so long for tomorrow; and yet no matter how hard she tried to barter with the infernal contraption, negotiations fell through; as the "Twilight - Timepiece armistice" was broken.

She had no choice but a preemptive strike.

*FLING*.....................................*squeak*

Her ballistic Smarty Pants doll had proven ineffective.

Losing the battle, but not willing to lose the war; Twilight imagined that the wall the clock hung from was the shin of Hoofstraan Haygens, ( inventor of the first magically-driven clock ever made).

Venting all of her frustrations on him for not making clocks that went faster, she began her flurry of BBBFF patented 'Blows for Bullies'; as the clock, not willing to just stand by and have it's creator besmirched, decided that if it was gonna go down, it was gonna go down swinging.

So it went down.

*THUNK*

"OW!!!!"

Twilight rubbed her head as she sneered down at her would-be attacker; and with it's final parting insult, it snickered at her,

*Tick*.....*Tick*.....*Tick*,

*sigh* "Don't rub it in." she said dejectedly.

Deciding that she'd had enough of losing wars to inanimate objects, Twilight went over to her desk; when she looked at the calendar and at the circle with stars around it for tomorrows date, she grinned and hopped from one hoof to another with a not so restrained glee.......

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, YEEEES!!!"

It was finally, after a whole year of waiting, so close she could practically taste it; the beginning of the three months the Princess designated for the sole purpose of teaching about; and finally getting to hear the real story, of one of her most beloved idols in the entire world.

Second only to second to Princess Celestia of course. She clarified.

The uniter of the three tribes, bane of all who would threaten "His Little Ponies" the Master Spell-Weaver; said to have been blessed by harmony itself...................Mythrin Arcacia.

She'd read all the books about him but, who hadn't? From before she had even learned to read, her parents would regal her with bedtime stories of the strange creature who arrived from another world. Stories of how when he first arrived, he was hated and feared only to prove himself as a friend to pony kind.

She had always been enchanted with stories of his adventures; like when he explored the ancient decrepit tombs of the Mad Queen Soulful Zeal in "The Shivering Wizard" or when he found the lost dragon city in "Scales for the Dead."

Her favorite story though, was "The Library of Unlimited Pages", where Mythrin had supposedly discovered and explored a mysterious library that had materialized out of thin air. Exploring the structure, he found that it contained an infinite amount of tomes, spanning all eras; past, present, and future. The Archmage, recognizing the potential havoc such power could cause, hid and sealed the library where no one with ill intent could ever lay a hoof on it.

To be honest, she had never believed that one was real, even when she was younger; but that didn't stop her from rereading it fifty seven times.

Twilight ceased her frantic bunny hopping and went over to one of her many bookcases; eyes becoming resolute as her giddy smile gave way to a look of absolute determination, she looked over the myriad of tomes that filled her shelves. Every one of them told of stories of Mythrin and his adventures; but that's all they were. Stories.

Twilight Sparkle didn't just want stories.

She wanted the truth.

The tales were wonderful, some, defying explanation; and that was the problem. They were so fantastical and beyond the realm of common sense, that Twilight's ever growing skeptical mind didn't believe half of them. If even that much. Everyone of them, most likely, written by authors who simply wanted to sell books.

She was twelve years old now; and it was time to abandon silly childlike notions of unstoppable heroes, who's only goal was to spread friendship and harmony.

That's just silly, she thought. Mythrin must have had other reasons; other motivations than just friendship.

It's not that she questioned everything however. Mythrin was a very real historical figure who had accomplished many great things; but over the centuries, his accomplishments changed and twisted and grew until even the experts and historians couldn't agree on what was real and what wasn't. Twilight however, had an ace up her sleeve. Or to be more accurate, two.

The Princesses.

It was a widely known fact, that the princesses were very close to the wizard; countless tales involving Mythrin usually included the sisters in someway shape or form. They themselves confirming this on multiple occasions, admitting that where ever he went, they often followed. There were wildly varying accounts and theories on the exact nature of their relationship however; some claiming they were simply friends, others saying that one (or in some of the more insane theories) both of them were in love with him.

Whatever the case may be, the sisters, were not talking. When ever asked about their relationship or their adventures with him, they always gave vague non committal answers and otherwise kept their collective lips sealed. Leaving historians to stick with unconfirmed written accounts, rumors and hearsay to decipher the mysteries of the famous Archmage.

But of all the mysteries of Mythrin Arcacia, one answer had forever eluded academics for almost a thousand years.

How did he die?

No one knew.

In the ruins that were once the Castle of the Two Sisters, their had only been two ponies who bore witness to his final moments, The two sisters themselves. It was said that when he had died, the sisters grief was so great, that Princess Luna carved his face into her moon, so that the world would never forget the famous wizard.

Over the years, many had asked about how he died, and why the Castle of the Two sisters was destroyed. But no matter how many ponies tried to get them to reveal what had happened that night, they would always give the same answer,

"He died Protecting Equestria."

Why they kept the circumstances of his death a secret was up for much scholarly debate; the prevailing theory being, that the memory of watching the one they cared for die in front of them was too painful to relive.

Some more............fringe, researchers had crazier theories though; one including a massive government conspiracy to hide the fact that the Princesses had been turned into Humans, and that the "pony versions" of them were just decoys to throw Equestria of their scent.

Twilight rolled her eyes. No matter what the truth was, she was going to find it. She had to, she needed to; and not just for the sake of the truth (though that was important).

More than anything, she had to reconcile the Mythrin of her stories, and the one that had actually existed. After the first time she saw Princess Celestia raise the sun, Twilight had fallen in love with magic; putting her heart, mind, and soul into learning the ways of the arcane. And despite his many stories, one thing above all others was prevalent. His love of magic. It was easy for Twilight to Identify with someone who had devoted their lives to the pursuit of knowledge like she had; so over the years, like Celestia, he'd become another inspiration to her in terms of studying the arcane.

The desire for the whole story had been so strong, the thought too pervasive, that exactly one year ago to the day, it had all come to a head. After not being able to sleep one night wondering what in the stories was a fallacy or not, the next morning she had made her decision; one way or another, even if it meant breaking into the gates of Tartarus itself, she would find out the truth.

So that's when she started her stealth recons.

Dressed in a spy costume her parents had given her for Trick-or-treating on Moonlit Night, (a night devoted solely to celebrating Princess Luna), she had snuck into the Canterlot Archives and tried to break into the sealed off Mythrin Arcacia Wing.

Unfortunately however, it was protected by a door enchanted by the Archmage himself; which had once, allegedly, held off an entire horde of dragons. (But Twilight doubted that).

Of course, even if the stories weren't true; no matter how many nights she spent, no matter how many times she tried, she couldn't get past that. Stupid. Door.

The enchantment in place had only ever let three enter; Celestia, Luna and of course, the infamous mage himself.

Twilight sighed as she walked over to a tall ornate glass case her parents had bought her. Standing up on her hind legs, she put both of her hooves on the glass, as she wondered at the object held inside; her gaze softening as her eyes grew distant.

It was a gift from Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. She had been given it after being caught trying to break into the forbidden wing. Again.

A gift that was given to sooth her when, in her lowest moment, Twilight had revealed to the princesses a fear that she herself hadn't even known she had.

She thought back to that night.

One Year Ago....................................

The moon hung softly in the sky as its gentle rays peaked through Celestia's windows, silently observing the scene unfolding in her chambers.

"Thank you for letting me know Gravel Shield. I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused" the Princess said whispering apologetically as she slightly bowed her head.

He gave a sharp salute. Quietly he replied, "No problem at all your highness. Everyone in the squad adores the little scamp. She's practically one of our own." He dropped the salute, giving a short good natured laugh, "Even if her stealth techniques could use some improvement."

She gave a rueful smile, "I hope your not thinking of giving her tips?"

His response was a gravely chuckle " Well, uh, no offense to your student mam, but I think it would take a thousand years to train that one; when we found her, she was pretending to be a chair."

Tittering, she shook her head and took a deep breath, "Well then, I suppose I should go and have a talk with my little recliner. You are dismissed sergeant."

With an amused glint in his eyes, Gravel Shield snapped another salute "Of, course your Highness."

As the princess closed the doors, she could hear a deep gravely chuckle recede down the hall. Taking another breath as she steeled herself; looking towards the issue that had awoken her from her slumbers.

Sighing she said, "What in the wide, wide, world of Equestria am I going to do with you twilight."

A dejected filly sat on the floor, head bowed low, looking very much like she was about to be prepared for her execution. Sitting next to her placed on the floor was a neatly folded skin tight black spandex suit. Her teacher walked over to her as she looked down at her with a look that (Twilight felt anyway) burned with the disappointment of a thousand suns.

"You know your parents are probably worried sick by now." the princess scolded as Twilight whimpered. "This makes what...........the fifteenth time?" Celestia asked rhetorically.

"......seventeen......" her student quietly uttered.

"This has started to happen so much, that the guards had to change the name of the code word for a possible break in to the Arcacia wing." She lectured, "Do you know what they call it now?"

"...................code-sparkle....................." she responded miserably.

"You know that sneaking out without your mom or dad knowing is wrong, right?" Celestia asked, getting a small nod as her pupil started to shake.

Letting out a small breath of air, Celestia walked over to her student sitting down next to her, putting a wing around her to sooth the trembling filly, "I'm not angry with you Twilight. I know that you love to learn; and that the Arcacia Wing is probably very tempting for you, but you can't let your search for knowledge hurt those closest to you. It isn't worth it." tilting her head to get a better look at her students face, she finished softly, "Do you understand?"

A shaky nod, "I do princess. It's just-" The filly stopped her self, and looked down avoiding eye contact.

"What's the matter Twilight?" Celestia asked with a concerned tone.

Twilight responded as her voice grew progressively smaller, "I just......I-I........ha-" she paused, wiping her muzzle and sniffling, "I h-had to know."

"Know what, my little pony?" the princess prodded softly.

Twilight grew still.

Squeezing her with her wing Celestia spoke in a small voice, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want; I just want to know why this is so important to you." She nuzzled her tenderly to try and draw out the despondent purple filly.

Celestia felt Twilight relax slightly, as she took a mouse sized breath, trying to build up courage.

"What ever it is, I promise I won't be upset with you." Celestia said encouragingly, asking her question once more, "What is it you want to know Twilight?" Finally, a tinny voice gave the Princess her answer,

"If he was really a hero."

Celestia froze; her words dying in her throat. She stared at her still depressed pupil with wide unblinking eyes for several seconds before responding in a strangled voice,"........w-what?"

Twilight's voice slowly started regaining some of it's strength as she continued "A-all the stories say he was..............b-but, they can't be real................ I mean, how could they be? No one could have done all of that, they have to be made up; and............if they are made up than...." Her voice once more grew quieter, "What if he didn't love magic."

The room grew silent as Celestia didn't, for the life of her, know what to say. All the Princess could do, was watch, stock still, as the little pony waited for her teacher to respond .

Slowly looking at the silent observer in the night sky, Celestia began pondering for several minutes; until she finally made a decision then and there.

The filly currently sitting before her was family to her and her sister. She was a little sister to Luna, and a daughter to her; looking from the moon to her daughter, her face became resolute.

It had been nine hundred and ninety years; and as far as she was concerned, It was long past time Twilight got to know her other family member. The one she never got to meet.

Using her hoof, the princess brought Twilight's face up so she could look her in her in the eyes. "Twilight, come with me."

As she said so, her horn glowed and Twilight was encased in her soft warm magic, lifting her on Celestia's back. The Princess slowly made her way out of her quarters, stopping by Gravel Shield as he patrolled the halls; telling him to inform Twilight's parents that she was safe with her, and that she would be staying the night in the castle.

As she went down the corridor from her room, carrying the confused purple pony, she finally made her way to a room on the other end of the hall. Reaching the door, a brilliant silver moon was inscribed on the middle with with a flowing field of magically produced lights resembling stars. She gave a loud knock.

Hearing the *thwap* of a pillow being thrown against the other side of the door, a voice shouted, "Go away, its Luna time!!"

"Luna its me. Open up." Celestia half-shouted through the door.

"Look, if this is about me filling your desk with melted ice cream, I want you to know I had nothing to do with it!"

"You did what!!!"

"................................I did what now?" the sweetly innocent voice replied.

"You-" Huffing, (ignoring the giggling coming from her back) she remembered her purpose, Celestia sighed mumbling, "Fine, I'll deal with that later," Resuming her half-shout she said, "Luna I need your help! It's for Twilight."

She heard a crash as hoofsteps quickly approached, the door almost slamming open as it revealed a panicked blue alicorn, "What?! Where is she, is she okay?!"

Showing the happily waving Twilight, Celestia said "She's fine Luna, but-" she sighed, another in a long line it seemed, "Just come with me, I'll explain on the way."

The two alicorn sisters walked down the corridor of the menagerie of stained glass windows; all of which told stories of bravery and friendship. Some depicted the harsh times of Equestria, only to make way for the peaceful ones; showing that even in our darkest moments, when we think the world will burn, friendship will always win out.

As Celestia carried the now baffled filly on her back; she could feel Luna get unconsciously closer to her while they passed a particular set of windows.

Each one told tales of heroism and courage and the many, many accomplishments of a creature from another world. A creature who valued the lives of ponies more than his own. Celestia absentmindedly put a wing on Luna's back; whether to comfort her sister, or herself, she wasn't quite sure.

They approached an intricately made vault door. It's frame was lined with glittering jewels of all colors; while carved into the door, where the pictures of the sun and moon each with a unicorn horn lock. As they stood in front of the massive vault, Luna whispered to her sister,

"Are you sure you wish to do this?" she asked hesitantly.

Looking back at the filly, who cutely tilted her head, she smiled and said, "He would have wanted her to have it."

Luna, looking towards Twilight as well, grew a smile matching her sisters, "Yes. I think he would have."

They both simultaneously lowered their horns, placing them into their corresponding locks, as blue and gold fields of light softly lit up the darkened corridor. A surge of shimmering blue light abruptly flooded the room; as a cacophony of mechanical whirring, clicking and unlocking noises shattered the silence around them. The vault door began to gradually slide open; Luna giggled at the soft "woooooooow" that came from Celestia's back.

Moving into the now open vault, the sisters heard a large gasp as Twilight feasted her eyes on a room three times the size of her own house; stocked from floor to ceiling with glittering items of various shapes and sizes. The filly's head was abuzz as she saw objects that shouldn't even be there, objects that shouldn't and couldn't exist. The most treasured and priceless artifacts in all of Equestria's history. Feeling the filly's head frantically turn this way and back, Celestia walked through the veritable treasure trove; literally taking a stroll through their nations past.

As her head whizzed about like a humming bird, her prodigious mind began to furiously take notes, as Twilight tried to catalog everything she was seeing.

Turning her head left, Twilight saw the mythical Lantern of Keelwrath, which as the tales were told, summoned a dark genie that put a curse on the Sultan Monar Sand Hoof, the one who summoned him. The curse forced him to start everyday as a newborn foal, as he rapidly grew older until he died of old age by time the moon reached its zenith; only to have the process happen all over again the very next day ad infinitum, doomed to live and die forever. That is, until his wife Alia Sand Hoof, took up arms against the genie Keelwrath to break the curse once and for all; after a death defying battle, the Sultana slew the the dark genie, releasing her her husband from the dark curse placed upon him.

Turning her head right, she saw the Ruby Horseshoe of Valnir, which had many myths and legends surrounding it. It was said to have been forged by an ancient dragon lord Aqurdio Leather-Tail The Ruby Collector who had given the shoe to a powerful Zebra King as a gift, granting him the ability to turn into a dragon whenever he put it on. It was a ruse however; if one wore the horseshoe for too long, they would remain a dragon for the rest of their lives, increasing Leather-tails ranks. He kept tricking zebra and ponies alike to wear it, until a simple merchant by the name of Quick Cart, stole the ruby shoe and took it to a shaman to have the effect on it changed. Confronting Aqurdio, Quick Cart threw the horseshoe down the dragons throat causing the new magic to take hold; transforming the dragon lord into a pony.

Looking up, Twilight saw that the ceiling was completely covered by an enormous tapestry with intricate hoofstitched depictions of events Twilight couldn't recognize. Racking her brain, Twilight for the life of her couldn't remember what the tapestry was called; but she did remember the story. It was supposedly forged by a mare who claimed to be able to see into the future. Wanting to chronicle what she saw, she forged a tapestry that told the tale of the fall of her homeland at the hooves of the Yak Kingdom. Going to the Queen, she warned her of the impending onslaught; which gave the kingdom just enough time to build up a force large enough to drive the invaders back, saving the lands. Hailed as a hero, the mare was given the title of "The Mare of Many Sights"

Wanting to soak up all she could see, Twilight hadn't noticed that her fluffy transportation had stopped moving. Looking up she saw that the countless shelves of treasures had opened up into a wide empty area at the end of the vault; in the middle of which a spotlight of soft lavender light (which had no apparent source) was highlighting a single black wardrobe, standing roughly eight feet high on a silver pedestal.

Celestia and Luna walked over to it, and placed one hoof each side of the door; as they did, a blazing silver M inscribed itself on the door as the sisters pulled their hooves down and took a few steps back. The the M continued its glow, as it split itself down the middle, the wardrobe creaked open piercing the otherwise still vault. Inside the night black wardrobe was a single object on a stand; and when Twilight saw what it was she made a (surprisingly) loud gasp,

"Is....is that...?" she asked, awed by what was before her.

"It is indeed my little filly." Luna said using her magic to pick up and place Twilight in between the two Princesses.

Levitating the object, Celestia slowly glided the object in front of her student as she said, "We want you to have this Twilight."

Not understanding what was happening at first, Twilight looked between the object and the two princesses as she blubbered,

"I, uh.....you..........me.......wh............bwah?"

The sisters chuckled, "We would like you to keep this," Luna reiterated, "If there is anyone in this whole wide world of ours that is worthy of it, it is you my little sister."

Her brain, finally catching up with reality, Twilight blurted out, shouting "Are you crazy!?!? I cant have this!!! T-this.....I mean, it........it has to be........it's the one of the most priceless artifacts in Equestria!!!!!"

"It isn't one of," Celestia clarified, "It is the most priceless and valued relic in not just Equestria, but the entire world of Equis. To us at least; and as such, Luna and I think you to have it, as we believe no one in the entire world would love and care for it like you would." She explained.

"And you need not worry Twilight; it lost its power ages ago, so not only is it completely harmless, but no other individuals seeking to claim it will be able to locate where it is." The sun princess assured.

"Not to mention anyone who dares approach you with ill intent, will suffer in the pits of Tartarus until the end of time itself." Luna said a little too casually.

Twilight, who whose brain was slowly beginning to transform into mush, stared at the treasure before her and reached out a hoof to touch it, but quickly pulled it back as she quietly asked, "Are, are sure it's really okay for me to have this?"

Celestia calmly sat down next to the filly, saying in an encouraging voice, "Of course my beloved little filly, " looking down, she continued hesitantly, "you.......you are right my beloved student. I think it's time I told you the tale that I've been putting off telling for such......"she sighed a long sigh, "such a long time."

Looking back at Twilight her voice picked up, "It is quite a long story however, and now isn't the time to tell it, it would take far too long."

Enwrapping her in a multitude of feathers the princess squeezed Twilight, and said in an encouraging voice, "So how about this. You and I, will dedicate a whole three months to studying the life of Archmage Mythrin Arcacia. Not just his story, but his various discoveries, adventures, as well as the spells he forged; everything you have ever wanted to know. Does that sound like something you'd like?" she asked with a wink followed by a playful smirk.

With a mouth wide enough for a gopher to crawl down, and saucer plate sized eyes, Twilight Sparkle simply responded with a bizarre squeaking noise that Celestia assumed meant yes. Putting a caveat on the surprise though, she went on, "Such an extensive lesson will take time to craft however; not to mention that your current courses are already planned out for the next year. So, if you think you can wait that long, when the time comes I will gladly teach you the truth you so desire."

Luna sat down on the other side of Twilight. Putting a wing on top of Celestia's and squeezing her two precious family members she interjected, "We both will" saying with a smile. Celestia gave her loving sister a look of pure relief and gratitude.

"Come, its late and I think its past time we all got some sleep." Celestia said as she stood up and summoned a blue and gold silk blanket from her room, wrapping Twilight's gift up in it. Gliding it over into the still catatonic filly's arms, she leaned down and spoke softly to Twilight face to face " Be sure to take extra precious care of it Twilight; it means more to the both of us than we could possibly say." Finishing with a kiss on her daughters head.

Seeming to snap out of her revelries, Twilight looked down reverently at the most wondrous gift she had ever received in her short life and said, as she lovingly hugged it,

"I Promise."

One Year Later......................

Twilight continued to stare through the glass.

She smiled as she thought of the Celestia and Luna again. The Princesses, one who she saw as the big sister she never had; and the other who she saw as a second mother, had thrown her a life raft. Something her analytical mind could latch onto and hold on for dear life,

The Truth.

After that night she still couldn't sleep, but for an entirely different reason. The truth that had been buried for so long would would finally be revealed and she could find out if Mythrin Arcacia was what everyone thought he was.

She refocused on her most prized possession, and made an oath to it; that once she found out the truth about its previous owner, she would accept it, no matter what.

As she shut off her lights and went to bed, she dreamt of wizards and heroes. As she did, one of the post powerful relics in the history of Equis watched over her as she slept; the once prized possession of another great wizard. His weapon that he had used countless times to drive back the evils that had threatened this world, and those in it............

The Sunset Phoenix Staff

Princess Luna sat in the dark working. It was late at night, everypony having long ago slipped into their nightly slumbers. Luna however, had stayed up planning. It wasn't difficult for her; she was after all the Princess of the Night for a reason. Though it wasn't as if she didn't sleep at night, its just that she often chose not to; choosing instead to guard her subjects from any and all nightly terrors they might be forced to confront in their varying dreamscapes. She chose to sleep through the mornings instead, only waking to attend afternoon court.

Luna paused her endeavor, thinking back to that night a year ago. Knowing full well how increasingly difficult and possibly painful the upcoming three months would be for her sister; she had, without a moments hesitation, offered to teach twilight right along side Tia.

And while she defiantly didn't regret that decision in the slightest, doubt still gnawed at her. Both Princesses had agreed that Twilight needed to hear the truth; but they'd had more than one discussion, on whether or not to reveal the whole truth.

They'd gone back and forth over the past year of preparation for Twilight's lesson plan; remembering as much as they could, writing down all the stories and adventures they'd gone on with Mythrin, chronicling all he'd done. Crafting as accurate a description of the Archmage's story as they possibly could. But for the longest time they couldn't reach a consensus on whether they should reveal the.......................ultimate conclusion of the story.

After much debate, they had decided that do to the impending future; as well as Twilight's role in it, they couldn't take the chance on unleashing an unbearably heavy weight of responsibility that would no doubt crash upon the poor filly.

So they would give her what they promised. The truth; just, not all of it.

Luna resumed her task, as she thought about the absolute headache it had been to explain to the sycophants playing at nobility that afternoon court had been postponed for the foreseeable future. They had almost rioted (which for them probably meant they would just say mean things behind your back). They had then brought up someone who they thought could force Luna to repeal her decision.

Though after their "leader", the regal Prince of the house of Blueblood took one look at the Night Princess; he fell into a fetal position, eyes unfocused, and rocking back and forth whimpering, "I'm a good boy now auntie, I'm a good boy."

The Nobles had shut up after that.

Smiling as she thought back to her now most treasured memory; Luna continued through the rest of the night, working on what was, with out a shadow of doubt, going to be her ultimate masterpiece.

As her poor carpet began organizing a rebel movement to stop the common rug from being trampled underhoof, Princess Celestia continued her pacing across her room. Morning court had adjourned over forty-five minutes ago; and forty-five minutes had (coincidentally) been exactly how long Celestia had been pacing around her chambers.

She wouldn't do this. She couldn't do this.

It wasn't to late; she could go and cancel the whole thing before the proverbial snowball went too far down the mountain to be stopped. She could make it up to Twilight somehow; maybe give her half, no, ALL of the books in the Royal Library.

She stopped, "YES! That could work! She would get a lifetime supply of books, enough to keep her beautiful mind occupied for the rest of her life, and I won't have to relive anything!!!

"HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!! I"m a Genius!!! "she cackled, like a Mad-Mare who was planning to freeze half of Canterlot with her newly made "Party Cooler of Death".

A few seconds before she could enact her fool proof plan however, something happened she wasn't quite in the state of mind to notice.

Through her open window, an arrow came whizzing into her room, hitting a red and white target that had been placed on one of Celestia's bookcases without her realizing.

As the arrow hit dead center on its mark, knocking into small shoe box sized generator, it sent a magical charge of energy surging through multiple wires that had been put up around the walls of her room. As they traveled, each one lit up a different metal plate that was connected to a box As the arcane electricity traveled to other metal plates, (each one holding the same looking box) a ding could be heard for each corresponding plate.

Finally, upwards of twenty boxes hummed with the glow of potential energy; and on the sound of three loud dings, all of Tartarus was let loose.

Celestia; being momentarily sidetracked from her panic attack, brought her head up on the third ding, as every box that she hadn't even noticed until now, unleashed a cavalcade of cakes of all shapes and sizes, all flying straight toward the ruler of the sun.

"I'm calling a press conference tomorrow." one voice informed.

"U-uh, h-huh" the other voice replied, sounding like it was struggling to hold something back.

"Do you want to guess what it's going to be about?" the first voice asked.

"I-I could probably take a s-shot in the dark if you gave me a moment." the second voice said, struggling to breathe.

The first voice carried on, ignoring the other,

"I'm going to proclaim that anyone older than three-hundred, with teal eyes; isn't allowed to eat hot fudge sundaes anymore."

The second voice hitched, as a voice filled with dread hesitantly replied,

"You...................y-your bluffing."

The first voice replied,

"I never bluff."

"But I need my fudgy fix!!!!!"

The first one sighed mournfully,

"Fate is inevitable."

The voices grew silent.

"...................Luna?" the first asked.

"............what Tia." Luna replied, pouting.

"..........thanks." Celestia said softly.

"Anytime."

Twilight was trying to be calm; she really was. As she walked behind the two royal sisters (who seemed to be walking closer together than usual), the purple filly buzzed like a humming bird flying along after them. A whole year; a whole year of waiting, a whole year of slowly watching the X's fill the gap in her calendar until the fateful day had finally arrived.

But no matter how she tried, no matter how much she pleaded with her body, it refused to be curtailed into being still. She attempted her foal sitters tried and true calming technique;

"Breath in.....breath out, breath in.....and out.", as she did however, the pace quickened until it was less of a stress reducer; and more a lesson how how to hyperventilate.

As the trio gradually made their way down the halls of the Royal Canterlot Archives, the fluttering of Twilight's heart grew quicker and quicker. She could tell that they were about half way there; she'd been here enough times in pitch blackness to know the route by heart. A left, a right another right two lefts and then straight ahead would bring them to a door that would open to a large empty chamber. And inside, would be the magical door that had stumped Twilight seventeen times; though to be fair, it was less of a door and more of a solid wall.

Every turn they made brought them closer and closer; she was about to get the answers she had wanted for so long. After years of wondering, she was finally going to know the real story.

Celestia and Luna exchange worried glances at the filly who looked as if she was having a seizure. As they reached the simple locked gate, using their magic, they unlocked the chamber.

The chamber itself was large, but barren. The dark blue marble reflected the hanging torches in an otherwise darkened space; as the marble tiles clacked against their hooves, they made their way to the center of the chamber holding the entrance to the forever sealed off Arcacia wing. On the back of the chamber, stood the entryway itself; in the golden frame, stood barrier of pure polished obsidian that shimmered against what little light was in the room. The "door" had no handle, no lock, and indeed, no seems or crevices of any kind; just a solid wall of blackness.

As they neared the center of the room, they slowed to a halt not twenty feet from the entrance way. The sisters stared at the door for a moment and a half before turning to each other and giving a quick reassuring nuzzle.

Turning away from the door, they looked down upon the ball of concentrated energy that had decided to take pony form. Celestia cleared her throat and asked, "Twilight, do you remember the vault; the one we took you to and gave you The Sunset Phoenix staff?

Twilight, who had taken to imitating a bouncy ball replied energetically. "Oh! Of course Princess! How could I forget that?" she exclaimed.

Celestia spoke "Twilight, that vault is home to many things that the ponies of Equestria are sure don't exist; artifacts of myth and legend that are said to have great and fantastical power."

Celestia paused, looking like she didn't want to say the next part. "But the cold hard truth that I am forced to tell you, is that many of those wondrous objects said to have at one time changed the world, and revealed true heroes, are nothing more than that. Objects." Twilight stared back at her, eyes wide, not saying a word.

Seeming to not want to go on for a moment; looking at the little filly, her sister picked up where Celestia left off, "The world of days long gone was a tumultuous place at best Twilight. It was a world where peace.............was only a distant and fool hardy dream."

She looked her in the eyes, "So that's what they did Twilight; they dreamed. Dreamed of stories where their lives weren't filled with daily struggles and strife. They invented stories that could keep their hope alive in the coldest of nights; hope that one day maybe, like their stories, they to would have a happy ending."

Celestia, apparently finding her voice again continued, " And in all of the stories Twilight, there was one prevailing theme that was always there; one thing everyone of them had in common.

The two sisters stepped forward, their voices sounding like they were reciting something from memory,

That out of no where, when the harshness of reality comes crashing down;

and the darkness closes in, to burn the world around you to ashes,

A phoenix will rise from them, and strike down the darkness instead,

giving back to the world, that which it had thought lost.

Magic

As they spoke there almost chant, the sisters turned around and put a their wings protectively around Twilight; and as the last word wrung in the air, a luminous flash of bright blue energy filled the chamber and cast the darkness aside as a blazing inferno burst forth from the door, and overtook them.

Twilight screamed and closed her eyes; the sisters squeezed their wings to get her attention as Celestia cooed softly, "Its okay Twilight. Look." Petrified, Twilight almost refuse to open her eyes but, trusting her mentor, they slowly started to creep open until they snapped wide at what she saw; and what she saw made her gasp in wonder.

A swirling cavalcade of colors swam and spun around them stretching to the ceiling of the cavernous chamber; as flickering around them various shades of bright azure, gold and orange swirled about in a veritable tornado of color. The conflagration stood only a few inches away from them; and getting the filly's attention, Luna put her hoof into the flames. "Princess wait!!" she shouted; but then she noticed that Luna was smiling pleasantly,

"These flames only hurt the wicked souls who seek to do harm to others. They cannot burn the innocent." she explained as she walked forward through the the pillar of fire, disappearing on the other side.

Hesitantly testing it, Twilight put her hoof forward, moving it inch by inch until it was actually in the inferno, when her hoof made contact; the orange, blue and gold flames lovingly held her hoof, as if welcoming her. She giggled uncontrollably as a warm fuzzy tickling feeling overtook her. The flames not only didn't sear, burn or scorch her, they instead seemed to refresh her; as if she had become infused with limitless energy. Her fears of the inferno abated, and seeing Princess Celestia walk through following her sister, she held her breath and dove through the torrent of flames.

As the filly emerged on the other side unharmed, the pillar of fire began changing shape. Slowly but surely morphing into what appeared to be an ethereal phoenix; which was engulfed completely in flames made of the same color as the fire that had not moments before, engulfed them.

It flew high above above; and as it took notice of the two alicorns, the glowing phoenix called out to them with a sound of recognition, as it respectfully bowed its head towards them.

The Princesses returned the gesture; when suddenly, the phoenix leapt into action. Flaring it's wings, the otherworldly bird quickly dove straight down towards the obsidian door crashing into it. As it burst on contact engulfing the door in brilliant flames, they rapidly started to swirl around the entrance before abruptly disappearing, and where the door had once stood, nothing but air remained.

Celestia and Luna (wanting to see how Twilight had responded to the breathtaking display), tittered as they saw Twilight had fallen to her belly opening and closing her mouth like a gasping fish.

Lifting the currently air deprived filly on her back, Celestia walked towards the new entry way, her sister steadfastly beside her. With a deep soulful breath The sun Princess began the tale she swore she'd never tell anyone,

I suppose, young one, I should start at the beginning of his story.

Like all grand tales, the hero never knows of the part they will come to play,

and neither did he.

It all started with a dream,

made into reality......