The Element of Wisdom

Stargazing. It was one of my favorite hobbies in life. Every night, I climb to my roof and just watching the night sky. Counting the stars, locating the constellations, finding new ones and even watching the moon slowly turn, to see the formations of the craters. I really love the night.

To be honest, I've been rather lonely during the day. My family barely has time for me. And no-one wants to be friends with me, from school. I'm very smart for my young age, and the other children think I'm a geek or a teacher's pet for it. But, it's not true.

Tonight was different. As I watched the night sky, some of the stars, near the moon, were moving around the moon in a circular motion. And the moon's craters were in the formation of a unicorn's head. I narrowed my eyes at the moon.

The unicorn head turned and seemed to be looking at me. I continued to stare at the moon in curiosity and wonder. The unicorn's eyes and the ruby pendant on my black choker glowed and I felt something surge through me. Like a surge of power, or something that can make your heart race.

Silver stardust and glitter surrounded me like a tornado. I was very lucky I was on top of the roof. The vortex started to make me feel dizzy and sleepy, as the silver turned gold and cyan. Was this stuff sleeping dust?

My eyelids felt so heavy, I couldn't keep them open, or keep myself standing. I collapsed on the floor and closed my eyes, falling asleep. I'm only young. I really shouldn't be up so late. Now, I know why.

*Dream*

Within the darkness, I saw a floating, scarlet quill. A drop of black ink hit a page of paper and the ink performed mesmerizing things.

(A/N: I'm not sure how to describe the dream sequence, so here's a link to give you a good understanding; youtube.com/watch?v=feDlkyYDRqM.)

*Dream End*

"Hey, you okay? Are you hurt?" I heard a young, female voice ask.

I lightly moaned in pain. My head felt like it was hit by a football. What hit me? I opened my eyes and saw that everything was very blurry, but full of color. I rubbed my eyes and the blurs just got worse. I wasn't wearing my glasses.

"You alright?" The voice asked again.

"I'm fine. Can you help me find my glasses? They're black." I answered, the asked, searching the cold, tiled ground around me.

After a few seconds of searching, I felt a pair of furry hands place my glasses ove my face.

"Are these your glasses?" The voice asked.

The blurred images cleared to reveal I was inside a classroom. Occupying the room were a small group of six... anthropomorphic unicorns? Five adults and one foal. Three females and three males. All of them different colors. I closed my eyes and chanted a mantra in my head; I'm dreaming.

(A/N: I'd rather not go through the entire description of all of the ponies in the classroom.

Since they only appear once in the comic. ^_^)

"Uh... Hello? Hairless-Ape-Without-A-Name?" The voice called me.

I opened my eyes and looked beside me. It was the filly. She was around the same height as me, being around 7 - 8 years old. Her fur was a light amber color. Her mane was mid-back length with a natural curl, and was red with yellow streaks. Her tail matched her mane. The color scheme kinda remind me of a sunset. She wore a light purple tank top with a light orange skirt. Her eyes were a normal cyan.

"Yes, Giant-Talking-Unicorn?" I answered.

"What the heck are you, and what's your name?" She asked.

"My mother told me never to talk to strangers. So, I'm not giving my name, unless you tell me yours." I answered.

The filly smiled, "Touché. My name is-"

"Sunset Shimmer, what happened?" An older, more regal voice spoke from the other side of the classroom.

The filly, Sunset Shimmer, and I looked at across and saw another anthropomorphic, very pale pink, almost white unicorn with large wings, walking toward us. An alicorn, no doubt.

Judging by its figure, it was female. She was as tall as my father, which around 6 foot 5 inches. Her eyes were a pale magenta. Her mane was lower-back length, pastel-toned and was flowing, like there was an invisible wind. Her tail matched as well.

The alicorn wore a beautiful Greek dress with a golden belt and trimmings. Upon her head was a golden crown with an amethyst in the center. Around her neck was a matching necklace. She also wore golden bracelets around her wrists and golden 'shoes'. Made her look like she was the Goddess of the day.

"Princess Celestia." Sunset Shimmer gasped, standing still as a statue, "Please, I can explain."

The alicorn, Princess Celestia, looked at me. Her eyes had a gentle, motherly feel to them. She was not cross, but surprised to see me. I guess she's never seen a human before.

Princess Celestia looked at Sunset Shimmer, "There's no need. I just wish to know what happened."

Sunset Shimmer looked at me, then looked at the Princess, "Well, I was casting the growth spell on the vine, and something came to my mind. And the growth spell became a summoning spell." She pointed to me, "Then this creature appeared and well, you came."

I folded my arms and lightly glared, "It's rude to point. And I'm not a thing."

Sunset Shimmer looked at me again, noticed my glare and stopped pointing.

"Do you have a name, young human?" Princess Celestia asked me. I looked at her. She knows what I am, she must have seen one!

I couldn't say nothing to her. I bowed in respect, "Eleanor May Henderson, Your Majesty. But, I also go by Ellie."

"It's very nice to meet you, Eleanor." Princess Celestia greeted with a smile. She looked at Sunset Shimmer, "Sunset Shimmer, I have noticed that your studying has gotten quite rigorous. How would you feel if Eleanor could help you?"

"Like a study partner?" Sunset Shimmer asked, then she smiled, "Of course. There must have been a reason why I summoned her."

I smiled back. First few minutes of being in this world, and I'm already made my first friend. Maybe there is a reason why the moon sent me here. Who knows? This place might be not as bad as I thought.

*The Next Day...*

Sunset Shimmer and I got to know each other better, over time. The books she studied with were most fascinating. Magic, laws of physics, rules on how to use magic, even the history of this world, Equestria.

I learned that this world was full of fantasy creatures. Dragons, griffons, and many others. But, mostly, ponies of three main races; Earth Ponies, Pegasi and Unicorns. The city I arrived in, Canterlot, are mostly Unicorns.

Since I came to this world unprepared, Sunset Shimmer and I had to share clothes. Good thing we were the same size and age, despite Shimmer being unguligrade. Eh, I'm not complaining.

I was dressed in a white shirt with pink sleeves and trimmings, under a red hooded poncho with a tribal design. Olive green combat shorts. Black socks and matching boots. Sunset Shimmer wore what she wore yesterday.

Today was a nice summer day. Sunset Shimmer and I were sitting on a bench, reading some of the advanced spell books. Around us, Unicorns were enjoying the day and having picnics. Across from us, I saw a teenaged male unicorn and a teenaged female alicorn playing with a young female unicorn, around mine and Sunset Shimmer's age. They looked like they were having fun.

"Sunset Shimmer!" A voice called.

Sunset and I looked over and saw five young unicorn fillies. One was yellow with a curly blue mane and tail. She wore a light green t-shirt and darker blue pants.

Another was in a full blue color scheme and wearing a pale blue dress.

The third was in a pink color scheme with blue eyes. She wore a white shirt and a pink skirt.

The fourth was a shade of cyan. Her mane was the a deeper color, but with a white streak, same with her tail. She wore a yellow shirt and matching green skirt.

The last one had a combed, red mane and tail, with a two-toned purple highlights and dark purple eyes. Her fur was a light yellowish grey. She wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses and a very pale grey sundress.

"That vine you made was amazing!" The blue one exclaimed with a smile. Sunset raised an eyebrow.

"Really exquisite." The pink one added.

The green one nodded and asked, "Would you like to come have lunch with us." She looked at me with a smile, "We can get to know your friend."

I smiled and was about to answer, but Sunset Shimmer scoffed and walked off, dragging me along, "Hmph! Ellie and I have better things to do than socialize! I'm going to re-read 'Advanced Elemental Magical Practices', and then Ellie's gonna help me practice for my advanced summoning spells exams. What are you studying for? Nothing, that's what."

I looked back at the unicorns. They looked hurt by Shimmer's words. The light yellowish grey one looked at me. I gave her a sympathetic look then turned to Shimmer.

"Actually, Shimmer. I'd like to get to know some of your classmates. Practice Princess Celestia's lesson on humility." I told her.

Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Fine. But don't take too long. We're study partners for a reason."

I nodded and joined the other fillies. The light yellow filly regained her smile and we got to know each other over lunch. The all-blue filly was named Minuette. Lemon Hearts was the yellow and blue one. Lyra Heartstrings was the green one. The pink-schemed Unicorn was Twinkleshine. And Moondancer was the one in the sundress.

*A Little Later, in Celestia's Castle...*

Princess Celestia has called Sunset Shimmer into the main foyer, so she could talk to her. Shimmer insisted that I'd come along. Just in case something goes wrong.

"Sunset Shimmer, I've heard that you're not getting along well with the other students." Princess Celestia told Sunset Shimmer, "We've talked about the fact that personal relationships-"

Shimmer cut the Princess off, "Personal relationships? Who needs anypony? The most important thing in life is to be the best."

I shook my head, "Shimmer, trying to make friends doesn't make you weak." Princess Celestia smiled and nodded at my words.

Then she looked at Shimmer, "We've talked about friendship and its importance before, and we've discussed that you need to open yourself up to new friends." Then she lightly smiled, "And you remember that talk we had about humility?"

"I remember how boring it was." Shimmer answered.

"I enjoyed it. The other classmates don't think I'm weird, thanks to a chat about it." I answered with a small smile.

Princess Celestia smiled at me, as she lead us to a small room with a strange mirror. There was something about the mirror, that made me feel uncertain.

"Look into this mirror, and tell me what you see." Princess Celestia told Shimmer.

"A beautiful pony that has nothing but power and potential." Shimmer answered, looking at her reflection and touching her face with a smile.

I looked at my reflection. Behind me, I saw two adult ponies. A tall, handsome, dark unicorn stallion and a beautiful earth pony mare. Both of them were smiling and looking at me with loving eyes. I felt like I knew them, but I can't recall where or when.

My reflection began to morph. Her black-streaked rosewood hair turned fully eerie black. Her hazel, near green eyes turned scarlet red. The human figure was replaced by a cute, light green, young earth filly, with fluffier ears and narrow eyes. She wore the same clothing I currently was.

(A/N: A Bat Earth Pony. Since we have normal Bat Ponies, Bat Unicorns and Bat Alicorns, why not the third Pony Tribe? ^_^)

The young filly looked happy where she was. Then the parents vanished into vapor. The vapor flew around the filly and took the shape of a group of 6 fillies; Two Pegasi, two Unicorns and two Earth Ponies. I smiled at the filly's smile.

"I see a loving family. A group of friends. Happiness and smiles." I answered.

Princess Celestia smiled at my answer, but turned to Shimmer, "Care to try that again with our talk about humility taken to account?"

Sunset Shimmer growled under her breath and looked at her reflection again, "I see a pony, who isn't powerful enough. Somepony who could be great, powerful... Somepony that could rule Equestria."

I looked at Shimmer's reflection and saw her as an Alicorn. But something felt off. The reflection smirked and morphed into a teenage human girl. Then she was engulfed in fire. I took a step back in fear, as I saw a pair of menacing eyes and draconic wings sprouting out of the flames.

Princess Celestia must've noticed my fear and moved Shimmer and I away from it, "Maybe we better move on..."

"Wait, what was that? I thought I saw-" Shimmer exclaimed, as Princess Celestia guided us away from the mirror.

"Oh, it was probably a trick of the light. Our lesson is over for today. For tomorrow, I want you to reflect on the discussion we've just had." Princess Celestia answered.

Sunset Shimmer kept her eyes on the mirror. I guess she doesn't know what the meaning of her reflection's actions meant. I shuddered, as the thought came to me.

*A Few Weeks Later...*

It's been a few weeks since the lesson with the mirror. It still worries me that Sunset saw what her reflection did. However, it seemed to have caught Shimmer's attention. Through the past few weeks, Shimmer kept asking Princess Celestia about it, and Celestia kept refusing.

One day, during a windy picnic, Shimmer brought it up again, "You know what's fascinating? Mirrors. About that one in..."

Princess Celestia had enough, "Sunset Shimmer. We've been over this, we will get to the mirror and many other lessons in due time. When you're ready."

The windy weather turned into rain. Worried that this weather will turn into a storm, I cuddled close to Princess Celestia. Celestia saw me, and put her wing over my head. Dang it, I hate rainy weather. Celestia and I walked back to the castle. Sunset Shimmer made her own way back.

With my strong hearing, I was able to catch Sunset Shimmer mutter under breath, "I am ready."

I looked back at Shimmer, as she walked off. My heart sank, she's slowly turning into the demon I saw in the mirror. That's not good.

*Later, that Night...*

I was in my room, in the castle, laying on my bed, staring at the night sky. The moon was in the center of the sky. The moon's eye glowed. I heard a voice speak to me.

"Protect your friend. She is following a path not destined for her..."

With that, the moon's eye stopped glowing and continued its duty. I heard a rapid knock on the door. I walked over and opened the door. It was Sunset Shimmer at the other side. She was wearing her purple pjs and had a large grin on her face.

"Shimmer? It's the middle of the night. We have exams in the morning." I whispered.

"I think I've found something about that mirror. Why we saw what we saw." Shimmer answered.

I sighed. This again? Shimmer is very persistent when she wants something. Whether it be magic or answers.

"There's a section, in the library, that is about certain books on types of magic. I need your help to find it." She explained.

I thought for a second and remembered what the moon told me. I looked at Shimmer and nodded. She smiled, grabbed my hand and lead me into the library. I hope I'm making the right choice in protecting Sunset Shimmer.

Sunset Shimmer lead me to a door, that was locked tightly. The door said 'Dark Magic. No Entry'. A voice inside my head told me to go back to bed. But my gut told me I needed to stay with Shimmer. She needs me. With a simple lock-pick spell, Sunset Shimmer opened the door and we entered the room.

I gotta say, there were a lot of books in this section. Why did Princess Celestia keep this room locked like a secret? 'Dark Magic'......

"Not ready? I'll show her not ready." Shimmer muttered under her breath, then she joked, "You'd think this place would be better guarded."

I suppressed a giggle, then started looking through the books. Sunset Shimmer and read through a bunch of books. 'Crossing Over', 'The First Ponies', all sorts.

"Nothing on the mirror yet, but a few of these spells will come in handy..." Sunset Shimmer said, as we read the books.

I closed my book and set it aside. Then, another caught my eye. 'Canterlot Castle. A History. Vol II'. I picked up the book and started reading it. I smiled, "Shimmer, I think I found something."

I gave the book to Shimmer and she started reading it. She smiled, "Well done, Ellie. You've got really good eyes."

I smiled and pushed my glasses up, "Thanks to these babies."

Shimmer flipped through the pages, "The Crystal Mirror... Every 30 moons, a portal will open to... Another world?"

I shook my head, "I'm pretty sure it's not my world. I would've noticed something."

"That's not really for you two to know, now is it?" A familiar voice asked from behind us.

Sunset Shimmer and I turned and saw it was Princess Celestia and a couple of her guards. How did she know we would be here? Of course, the librarian. She must've slipped past us. The guards grabbed me and dragged me away from Sunset Shimmer.

"Please, let me go." I asked the guard on my left, trying to struggle free.

"I'm sorry. Princess' orders." He answered.

"How dare you keep this kind of magic from me! You know that I'm ready for this, that I can be great!" Shimmer shouted at Princess Celestia.

"You could be great." Princess Celestia corrected in a calm tone, "I thought I saw compassion and sincerity in you, but it was nothing but ambition. The compassion and sincerity came from Eleanor. You're being selfish, you need to step back and reflect-"

In anger, Sunset Shimmer's horn glowed black with a cyan hue. Her eyes emitted a black haze. Oh no. She cut Princess Celestia off, "I'm selfish?"

Her horn fired a strong beam of magic. I forced myself out of the guards' grip and pushed Celestia aside. Shimmer's beam hit me in the chest, where my heart was. A sharp pain struck my heart and my body was overwhelmed with pain. I fell to the ground, holding my chest in pain.

I felt a pair of soft, furry hands over my shoulders. I looked up and saw Princess Celestia's deeply concerned expression.

"That book, right there, says that I could become as powerful as an Alicorn Princess! I could rule here! It's selfish of you to keep me from my rightful place!" Shimmer continued, "I deserve to stand beside you and be your equal... If not, your better. Make me a Princess."

"No." Princess Celestia answered in a low tone, "Being a Princess must be earned. I have been trying to teach you everything you need to know, but you've turned from it. Everytime you say you 'deserve' to get something without the effort just proves to me that you're not ready."

Then she announced, standing up and held me close to her, "Sunset Shimmer. I am removing you from the position of my pupil. If we cannot get past this, your studies end here. You are welcome to stay in Canterlot, but you are no longer welcome in the castle."

"We'll never get past this because you aren't seeing how great I deserve to be. Is that really all you have to say to me?" Sunset Shimmer asked with a sharp glare.

"No. The guards will escort you out." Princess Celestia answered.

With that, the guard walked beside Sunset Shimmer and escorted her out of the building, at the doorway Shimmer hissed, "This is the biggest mistake you'll make in your entire life."

Once Sunset Shimmer was gone, Princess Celestia lowered her head with a sad look, "One of many." She turned her attention to me and helped me back to my feet, "Are you hurt?"

I stood up and answered, "A bit sore, but I think I'll be alright." Then I looked at the regal Alicorn of the day, "Uh... Princess Celestia? Am I in trouble too? Are you gonna banish me as well?" I asked, as my mind raced with paranoid thoughts.

Princess Celestia looked smiled and shook her head, "No, Eleanor. Like I told Sunset Shimmer, I see compassion and sincerity in you. You went out of your own way to help her. I even saw you with the other students. You can stay in the castle, and we'll find you a new friend."

I regained my smiled. Princess Celestia and I entered the room, with the mirror inside. To our surprise, the guards were inside and were knocked out. Sunset Shimmer was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, Sunset Shimmer... No..." Princess Celestia grimaced.

Celestia and I helped the guards back up their hooves. "Sir, what happened?" I asked.

"She took us by surprise and just... Just... Jumped into the mirror. I don't know." One of the guards answered the best he could.

"Shh. It's fine." Princess Celestia assured, then asked, "If you're feeling up to it, would you please help move the mirror to a safer place?"

*The Next Morning...*

While Princess Celestia and the guards were moving the mirror, Princess Celestia advised me to stay in my room and just wait. I laid on my bed and stared at the sky in sadness and wonder.

Will I be able to see Sunset Shimmer again?

Can she be forgiven for what she's done?

Who will be the next pupil for Princess Celestia?

Will she, or he, be as good as Sunset Shimmer?

And what the heck is gonna happen to me?