Formatorium

"Since the dawn of time, the world has been rocked by the strife of ponies and other races. The return of Harmony, caused by Twilight Sparkle and five others, led to the creation of the Harmonic Age..."

– Encyclopedia Orosirianica, 7th Ed., 25 O.A.

Sitting in the throne room of the Crystal Castle, Princess Celestia braced for herself for the conversation to come. The recent... "development" with Sunset Shimmer had given her a few more days to think, but she still wasn't sure how her former student would take the news. The Formatorium needed Twilight more than she could ever have known. The last four thousand years of Equestrian history came down to this point, and Princess Celestia, for the first time in centuries, felt nervous. "Welcome back, Twilight."

"Thank you. Lemme tell ya, I had a great time, but no more surprises for a LOOOOONG while, please!"

"Yes. About that. I have something important to tell you." Celestia shuffled her wings for a second. "In fact, it's one of the most important things you'll ever hear."

Twilight gasped. "Did the Changelings return to Equestria? Or is Discord ruining everything again? Or is this a princess test? Am I doing well? What if I don't pass!?" Predictably, she began babbling and hyperventilating.

"Twilight! Calm down. You are no longer my student. For the sake of Equestria's future, it is vitally important that you know what I'm about to tell you."

Twilight tried to slow her breathing. "Okay, okay, I'm calm. Go."

Celestia began, "Ten millennia ago, in the late Rhyacian Empire–"

"Wait," Twilight broke in. "The ACTUAL Rhyacian Empire? I thought it was a legend!"

"No, it was very much real, although it was crumbling in my time. There was only one pony who recognized this: Midnight Sun. She saw the dwindling days empire had, and the lasting darkness that lay beyond its fall. To end this darkness, she brought all the most powerful unicorns in Equestria to Canterlot to create the Formatorium."

"Hold on a sec," Twilight interrupted again. "Midnight Sun was real?"

"She taught me mind magic. Midnight Sun planned to use mind magic to speed the creation of what she called the 'Orosirian Empire' by shaping the minds of the ponies of the world through a list of spells called ‘the Plan’ that was calculated to bring about the creation of a new empire. Midnight Sun divided the Formatorium into two groups. The first of these two groups was the Heroes. They were charged with protecting the Plan from existential threats, and were originally made up of Clover the Clever, Star Swirl the Bearded and, at his insistence, the other Pillars of Equestria, Luna, me, and nearly any other pony you've heard legends of. This is the group I would like you to join."

"Wow. This is a lot of information. A new empire? Isn't that... what you rule, Princess Celestia?"

"A pony could say that, but our world is still fragmented, and there are wastelands beyond Equestria. It was Midnight Sun's hope to unite all ponies as one again."

"Wow... where do I fit into all of this?"

"You've actually been performing Hero duties for the last 30 moons. In fact, you and your friends initiated the Harmonic Age. I've been training you for this for most of your life, and now that you are not my student, you deserve to know of the task at hoof."

Twilight felt used. She felt anger rushing through her. "You're telling me that this entire time, you've been grooming me to be your attack dog or something? Y'know what? No. I'm gonna need a bit to digest this. I'll meet you in Canterlot." She turned and galloped out of the throne room.

Twilight paced the floor at the Golden Oak Library, muttering to herself, weighing her anger at Celestia against .

"Princess Celestia is using me. But how do I know it wasn't actually this Formatorium that was training me? And she wants me to safeguard the future of ponykind." She made her decision and teleported herself to Canterlot.

"Okay, I'll join your secret society," Twilight announced. "I'm a little peeved that most of my life has been a training program for a group I've never known about, but I'm also honored that I was chosen in the first place."

"You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that, Twilight. Equestria needs you more than you can know."

"I have a question, though. You said the Formatorium has two groups. You talked about the Heroes, but what's the other one?"