Clair Ree

Reporting-in to Princess Celestia on the state of Flurry's training, and conspicuously not wanting to mention anything about the other two. "Your Highness, I would like to report I have managed several of the tasks you set me. Princess Flurry Heart is as prepared for her first mission as I can make her."

"You used plural there, Clair. I assume you are counting your cutie mark as another of the tasks?" The princess, even with half her face hidden by her mane, had an expressive smile.

"Yes. I—I realize now what was missing and what I needed in my life. It seemed like something so silly couldn't have such an effect on my life, but now I can't help but think how every experience or bit of knowledge could be crafted into a teachable lesson. It would be terrifying if I didn't walk into this myself." That's when I realized all the Royal Guards in the room had nostalgic looks on their faces and even Celestia looked—well, she looked joyous. "Ma'am, I don't mean to pry, but how did you get your cutie mark?"

The room went silent, but if Celestia noticed, she didn't say anything about it. "It's a matter of history at this point. Books have been written about it, been copied, been copied again, and over and over. The original book—my journal—was written by a young mare who barely knew what the world was about.

"Things were different back then. The sun and moon—the real ones—had been shattered by something. All anypony knows of that is that it wasn't anything we did here." Celestia seemed to have settled into the story, her eyes not seeing me, the guardponies, or even the palace around us. "Star Swirl called together all the unicorns, all the pegasi, all the earth ponies—but especially Clover. Nopony understood the problem better, then or now.

"Clover and Clover alone came up with the plan to create a sun and moon, to direct them with magic, and to rescue the world from the growing darkness as she called it. There was a huge device that would control them, and that way it wouldn't require immense magic to be expended ever again. That was the hope.

"The machine exploded. Nopony was sure exactly what caused it, but we suspect that it was some kind of foul-play. A pony, we believe, rigged the machine to explode, stole an artifact, and then fled through the first portal. Clover headed after them.

"Bereft of the machine to control the moon and sun, Star Swirl and the unicorns organized a shift. Each quartet of unicorns, with Star Swirl to lead them, could move the sun and moon for no more than a week without burning out their magic, and it took a year and a day to recover.

"There wasn't enough unicorns. By the time fresh adults ran out, others volunteered to keep the sun and moon moving if only because it kept the world alive. They didn't perish from it, but there was a great depletion. The weakened unicorns would all return for another day, some managed a second, few a third, and I know of none that managed to assist for a fourth day with their magic intact afterward.

"Horns splintered, shattered, or just lost their spark. Still the unicorns worked to buy time for Clover to return and repair or build another machine.

"Luna, my sister, was in tears. Soon there would be no more unicorns in the world. The pegasi were terrified, knowing their clouds would freeze solid along with the rest of the air as the sun hides—or evaporate off and cook the nation with the sun present.

"But two earth ponies, young and strong, stood up and demanded to be allowed to try. One reached out, their will the only tool they had, to grasp the sun while the second did the same with the moon.

"I studied painting once, worked on it with all my spare time, just to be able to paint a portrait that captured Star Swirl's face when these two little earth pony fillies grew wings and horns and moved the great chariots across the sky."

My heart was beating like a drum to the cadence of her story. "The unicorns?"

"Having the first two alicorns earn their status at the same time created a wave of raw magic. It was the first time new magic had been created in history. As harmony radiated out from Luna and I, the unicorns found their horns repaired and their magic restored. Two little fillies from an earth pony village demanded the world not end—and it still hasn't."

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