Chapter 1: Message Recieved
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Journey of Self-Actualization

Chapter 1: Message Recieved

Friendship. Of course, while every word in the Ponish language is important, there is not a single one that I know of, that takes precedence over that one. While other words gave me knowledge, friendship had not only given me my destiny, it had allowed me to help so many others. It led me to my friends, helped pull my mentor's sister out of darkness, thwarted the efforts of a shapeshifting species that attempted to conquer us all, warded off a tyrannical king attempting to lay claim to a kingdom that wasn't rightfully his, it had even allowed me and my friends to reform the lord of chaos, a being whose very purpose in life is to bring the destruction of harmony. Surely there was nothing it couldn't accomplish.

As I sat on the hilltop, I looked inward and focused on these pleasant thoughts and memories.

Why?

Well, aside from it being stressed to me how important it was to focus the mind on friendship twenty four hours, seven days a week, these thoughts provided some solace, as I looked up into the night sky.......and saw a meteorite coming straight towards me that, measuring the diameter, multiplying that by all the sides and angles, and dividing by the epicenter, could safely be estimated would wipe out about ninety eight percent of all life on the planet.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed, shielding my eyes, and bracing myself for the inevitable end.

Upon impact I went from shielding my eyes to shielding my ears. I heard a loud explosion, and huge gusts of wind flying in every direction. Just barely over top of that I swore I could also hear a sound not unlike a sonic rainboom, if you took said "boom" sound and multiplied it by a thousand.

Amidst all this chaos however, I had a sudden realization. It was highly difficult, scratch that, nigh impossible, to survive the heat, and weight of a meteor of that size crashing down on you for even a fraction of a second. I then also realized not only had I not tasted death, I had not even felt a sting of pain. Shouldn't I have at least felt enough dust go down my throat to suffocate. Could it be, could I have actually survived?

Once the noises around me subsided, I reluctantly, VERY reluctantly dared to open my eyes.

What I saw held the potential to completely shatter the long held, laws of collision.

The planet did not float in broken chunks, around the area of where a core once lied. Judging by the fact my face wasn't turning a more darker shade of purple than it already was, the atmospheric layers were still very much intact.

Okay, I will admit it may have been a slight overreaction to believe the entire planet would be destroyed, but what truly baffled me was that despite the giant rock almost being the size of the planet itself, it appeared that every thing remained unscathed, from a global scale to a microscopic one.

The trees stood upright, completely free of flames, mountains didn't decrease in size at all, not even the very top of a single blade of grass had been so much as singed.

I am prone to miscalculation, when under extreme stress but compared to this screw up, the time I first attempted to drive one of the relevantly new automobiles and thought all the letters next to the gearshift stood for different types of fuel, seemed like one of my greatest strokes of genius.

Had I hallucinated the whole thing?

I did have a pretty justified reason to be stressed what with my coronation happening soon.

Wait, I just now remembered tomorrow's date is July the first......THAT'S TOMORROW!

Actually no, looking at the trajectory of the moon, it appears to be past midnight which can only mean...............IT'S TODAY!

Okay, I just needed to calm down, despite my very late remembrance of upcoming events, I had everything planned out. The only real monkey wrench is that for the coronation to be a success I have to attend it, and it will be very hard to attend when looking around I currently find myself in the middle of nowhere!

How did I even get here?!

All I remember is laying my head down to rest, and then waking up on this hilltop surrounded by mountains I've never seen before.

I would attempt a long distance teleport, but I don't have enough information to make precise enough calculations.

To travel along magical ley lines through teleportation, you have to have not an exact, but at least a very close idea of the distance between where you are, and where you want to go. On top of that you need a general pathway laid out in your head, that didn't risk intercepting other ley lines and potentially altering your course. I had neither of those things.

Maybe I wouldn't feel so bad if I wasn't so alone.

It was then, I saw a dim white light shining from the one place I had never looked. I was so focused on the sky, and the mountains around me, I had neglected to look at the bottom of the hill that I stood on.

There were only two explanations for that light, either a piece of the moon had broken off onto the ground, and I was looking at reflection of sunlightception, or there was another pony down there.

Excited at the prospect of not being alone, I hurriedly rushed to the edge of the hilltop to get a better look at who was down there.

I had expected to see many possible things, like a unicorn casting a basic horn ignite spell, a pegasus wearing that trending suit that let's them absorb lightning and channel it into their speed, maybe even just an earth pony holding a flashlight, but I never in a billion years expected to witness what I truly saw.

At the bottom of the hill, from the ashes and smoke, rose the tallest, brightest, most divine and regal-like alicorn I had ever seen. Her height surpassed that of even my beloved mentor, her coat was a shining yellow and white that glowed like the very sun, her mane and tail moved in the wind gracefully looking into it, seeing the way that the stars and space mixed together, felt like looking into the universe itself.

Personally, I consider it a deadly sin to judge a book by just it's cover, but as I looked upon this ethereal mare I only had one feeling, safety this mare would provide me with all the safety and security I could ever need, she would hold me and provide protection from all that may wish to harm me.

I just had to stop standing there gawking like an idiot, and actually approach her.

Ironic that divinity is often associated with ascension, because as I descended the hill very, very slowly, I felt like I was approaching heaven itself. Sorry Celestia, but if this mare was willing to teach, I think you might have to find yourself a replacement.........no, I wouldn't go that far, nopony could be better than her, but this mare was a close second.

Disregarding all that Pony-Wan Kenobi had taught me in the Pony Wars films, I stepped off of the high ground, now she was the one towering over me. Feeling her warm soothing light radiate off of her body, and completely encompass me, I looked up from her hooves up to her eyes. They were focused ahead not down at me like I had expected, though it isn't like I deserve that much attention from one so amazing as her anyway. From what I could see of her eyes by craning my neck up though, they appeared soft, gentle and full of wisdom.

This was a mare who possessed great knowledge. Well, my friends always told me I needed to take the initiative in conversations more often, so I stood on high legs to try and get at least a little more eye level with her, I mentally prepared myself to speak with a goddess, I opened my mouth and, "U-u-um e-excuse me but do y-y-you know ho-how to navigate a-around this area?"

I now see why I waited for others to take the initiative more often than not.

What was that, I am presented with the opportunity to speak with a goddess, and the first thing I say is a question you ask any basic cartographer whenever your GPS is being unreliable again! No bowing, no respectful greeting, just blurting out the first thing that popped into my head.

That was it, I was dead she was going to incinerate me, or banish me to another realm, or banish me to another realm and then incinerate me or- or...... she might do nothing?

I opened my eyes ,expecting to be met with the most horrifying death glare one could ever witness. However the alicorn mare simply stared gazed around the landscape, completely unfazed by my question.

That was......unexpected, but even more on my mind, it was kind of impolite, even a negative response is better than no response at all, and to think I was the one being disrespectful.

No, no, I should not judge this mare so harshly. I mean she looks too divine to have any flaws. Maybe she just couldn't hear me. It is possible that all the magic and power that must surely have swirled inside of her, had shortened out her hearing, there have been rare instances of unicorns overexerting their magic, and causing permanent damage to their cochlea. Or maybe I was just overthinking an explanation, and she had heard, but as I a calm, patient, wise mare, she was formulating a thought pattern in her head that she would impart onto me in the most civil way possible.

"CELESTIA X LUNA BAKEM BA APGIMBAGSA BAMPRO BA VET TAMOAEK GA AEEMPEM X HETAM!" the alicorn suddenly boomed.

Having only assumed he shouts had to be a hex directed at me, I quickly ran from her no longer so comforting light and hid behind the nearest tree I could find.

As I examined my body however, I quickly realized that my skin was not peeling from my body like layers of an onion, in fact I was completely fine, and given that she was making no attempt to come after me, that message, whatever it meant, could not have been directed at me. But if not for me, than who?

Turning around, I saw that the smoke from impact had almost completely cleared, and from what little remained stepped forward two alicorn fillies.

One had a plain white coat that was till beautiful to gaze at, but it didn't glow like the tallest one. She also had a rosy pink mane running along her head.

Wait a minute, white coat, pink mane, adorable little baby horn and wings, from all the books I had ever read in my life, and believe me I have read quite a lot of them, none of them could give many details about Celestia in her youth years. But the one detail that was common consensus among all of them, was how she looked as a filly. Oh my gosh, I couldn't believe it, I was actually witnessing something so many ponies would only ever dream of.

Of course, right beside her emerged her younger sister, Luna. Her coat was a much lighter shade of blue, almost as light as Rainbow Dash's, and her mane was noticeably lacking it's wavy features.

But wait a second, in my excitement I had just now realized, the two rulers have been full grown mares for over a thousand years, how was I seeing them here, now, as foals? Had a time spell gone wrong AGAIN?

Realizing that if they saw me they wouldn't recognize me, and having learned the hard way the dangers of talking to one in the past, if even for only a few seconds, I resigned myself to simply lying in cover, and watching their conversation play out.

Even if I had absolutely no clue what they were saying.

"Nebrfa, oii joa mis iees ho sanus sadsu elgo nel?" filly Celestia said looking down with fear in her eyes.

"Mu, nos soqus, honkoinimgi guni fme kiizefziun iumel kere esigarermi bi pai lus biqribeburis si esasteren," said the alicorn in a manner that seemed to be calming and reassuring.

"Qur pai henus vimodu aqao?" asked filly Luna, in a slightly impatient tone.

"Tavonus e Luna, mu hedoe utre uqcoum," said in a tone that a mother has when trying to remain patient with her kids, I know it well, because I heard Celestia use it all the time back at Canterlot when dealing with nobles.

Okay, this was starting to get frustrating, those three could be having potentially the most important discussion in all of history, and all I can do is just take wild guesses, at what they might be saying. If only just one of them knew Ponish.

"You could never understand why we had to leave, not at your age."

Oh, so the tallest one can speak it, well that certainly makes things easier.

"The past, our home, to have stayed there would have been to always surround myself with the memories of what happened."

Their home? What could have happened there, that was so horrible, and does this mean the royal sisters, aren't native to the planet Equus? Has our kind been extra-terrestrials this whole time, how fascinating, if slightly disturbing.

"But never mind the past, now is the time to look to the future, this world is a second chance, and I shall not allow the same fate to befall it."

She turned back to her daughters and spoke,"He lligebu il nunimtu, lodirimsi bi lus ilinimtus."

The two fillies nodded in what I could only assume was understanding, before they suddenly glowed bright, even brighter than their mother standing over them.

Than in their even more divine appearances, they proceeded to vomit all over the ground. Thank goodness there were no photographers around, otherwise that might have just been "The Scandal of the Century," as I'm sure all the papers would have said.

The tallest mare, with a slightly disgusted look on her face, ignited her horn, and wrapped her levitation magic around specific parts of the pools.

"I wish we had a more conventional way of transporting these intergalactically, but unfortunately linking them to my children's organs was the only way to safely transport them through the vacuum of space.

Once the final drops of bile had fallen, I saw what she held in her magic. The same crytals that resonated with the power of a thousand stars, the crystals that could wipe away entire armies, could imprison the mightiest deities, the single most powerful relics known from here to the ends of the world, the very crystals that had brought me and my friends together. She held the Elements of Harmony.

The mare examined the crystals for any imperfections, actually I'm pretty sure she examined them six times over before finally sighing and saying, "These crystals are what shall hold us together, they shall be our cornerstone."

Oh now I understood, despite the many modern advancements made in science, there were so many things about the Elements of Harmony that were still unknown. What was known however, was that the Elements themselves were just crystals empowered with extremely strong magic. Scientists are still proposing theories of where this magic came from, and how it was transferred to the crystals, but the point is the actual minerals that comprise the structure of the crystals is Hoilo.

Holio is an extremely rare type of crystal, currently the only known method of obtaining it is provoking Windigos into creating it. For a long time it was assumed that Wendigos produced regular ice and snow, tests revealed however that ice created by the ghostly figures was more durable than ice you could get out of any freezer when the two were kept at the same temperatures. Upon examination of this much more durable type of ice, it was discovered that the specimen's properties were much different form the properties of ice. One property that the crystals did retain however was discovered in an Equestrian Space Program experiment.

You see, based on the water phase diagram, water cannot exist as liquid below the triple point, 0.006 atmospheres of pressure and 0.01 degrees Celsius. A true vacuum such as space would have no pressure, so the Holio did not melt into a liquid. It did, however, sublimate into a gas in a matter of seconds.

That's why the alicorn mare, tied the Elements to her children's insides, to shield them from the vacuum of space.

I just went on a mental nerd ramble and missed an important part of those threes' conversation didn't I?

Fortunately it appeared that the three alicorns had just been communicating complete gibberish between each other while my mind was occupied.

After their conversation concluded, the mother telekineticly pulled the Elements up toward, and around her horn saying,"however in the wrong hooves, these symbols could just as easily destroy us all, and I no longer trust myself to wield them alone, if at all. Therefore I shall create six new beings, one for each crystal, together they shall be a light unto this new race."

I honestly felt sad that this mare was being so hard on herself, I would have initially trusted her with my life, at least until she blew my eardrums out.

But enough with sadness, this was a great occasion I was going to witness the birth of the very first Element bearers, oh what joy!

Wait a second, speaking of babies, how does she plan to create them without a stallion? Alicorn or not, she would still need one of those, right?

I quickly got my answer, as the Elements began to swirl around the alicorn's horn. A bright orb began to glow atop the very tip of it as she spoke,"may this species not repeat the mistakes of ours, may this language I speak now flow into them and become their natural dialect, once my kind has been restored, may both races find peace."

The orb shot down to the ground as a beam of light, and once it had ended, I saw a mini crater had formed in the ground where it had hit.

The alicorn foals rushed to their mother's side, and gazed in, their faces could be described as curious. The mother meanwhile, was gushing beyond belief at what she saw.

Not being able to take it anymore I left the solitude of my tree, and carefully approached the trio.

"Hey excuse me, I didn't actually run off, I've been listening to your whole conversation, (what I could understand anyway)- NOT THAT I WAS TRYING TO EAVESDROP, it's just I am such a huge fan of your daughters, and when would I ever get to see them as foals again, and - and you're still not hearing any of this are you?"

As a last ditch effort I reached down to pick up a nearby stone and chuck at the mother's head, I didn't care if she vaporized me for it, I was going to get some kind of response.

However, as I reached down I felt nothing, no rock, not even grass. Looking down, I saw my hoof fazed right through it.

There were only two explanations for this, either these ponies were so divine, I had to become a spirit in order to be worthy of their presence, or I WAS DEAD!

Okay, calm down Twilight, let's not jump to conclusions there could be many more alternatives to your current circumstances beyond necromancy.

Besides, once you're a ghost, theoretically nothing should be able to harm you, right? Therefore, I can approach the mini crater without fear of vaporization.

Stepping forward, I passed right through the tall mare, and stepped down into the crater.

I had expected to find six foals, but what I saw was very different, what I saw were creatures only spoken of in fables, and legends.

I saw six human babies.

The pictures shown in all the fillie's books really weren't that accurate, wow a book containing false information, kind of hard to comprehend. Their heads were the size of apples, their necks were practically invisible, they all had short, stubby arms that wouldn't have been able to reach my femur, to summarize they all looked like Yoda if he had shorter ears, alot less wrinkles, and much chubbier cheeks.

Though it was immediately clear to me that humans were alot less distinct in design than ponies, they did have some features to stand apart from each other.

On the very right was the skinniest baby off them all, it looked like wacking him with a stick would be enough of a crushing blow to shatter his bones, he also had shaggy hair atop his head.

Most noticeable about him was that while all the other babies were tearful over having been pulled from the magic womb, and summoned onto the cold, dirty ground, this one was giggling with what I assumed to be delight over finally beginning to start it's new life.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over me, the mother of the royal sisters had come to account for her six new children.

Her eyes focused over the same child, that mine did. Looking into this child's eyes I saw friendliness, and happiness.

"This child who laughs in delight, shall bring happiness and joy to the many friends that surround him, he shall be named, Sweeney."

The mother, than wrapped the child up in her telekinesis magic, and pulled him to the safety of her embrace.

The second child, could clearly be identified as a female, her ginger hair was long and flowing for one who had just been born a couple of minutes ago, but that's what magic does to you I guess.

Though she could not hold in all the waterworks, she was clearly making the most conscious effort to hold back tears, while the others still on the ground wailed away. Looking into this child's eyes, I saw strength and determination, if also the ashes of a fire that could grow and consume the forest around her. But like all fires if kept under control it could provide warmth to those around it.

The mother suddenly spoke up again, " This child shall be a pillar of strength for those around her, her honesty and aspirations shall be an inspiration to others, she shall be named Anna."

As she was pulled up towards her mother's back, she made a very noticeable kicking motion towards her mother's head, the mare simply chuckled.

The third child was, um how exactly could I say it, he was the most round out of the children. His hair was pitch black and dropped down to his temples.

Looking into this child's eyes, I saw a beast that could often strike out at others, however this beast would also show the upmost fidelity to it's companions.

The mother laid her hoof upon the child saying,"This child shall be one who despite appearing quite vicious at some times, will remain loyal to their friends when no one else will, he shall be named Matthew."

She seemed to have to exert some slight more effort to lift this child than the others, but she succeeded none the less.

The forth child was the shortest of the children though not by much. He too had black hair, though it was not nearly as long.

Looking into this child's eyes, I saw a being who was often tranquil, but knew when the right time was to express joy. Something I felt I still needed to learn.

As the mother leaned toward the child, he grasped a small acorn in his hand and reached out offering it to her.

The mare had a subtle look of surprise on her face, but graciously accepted the gift.

"Offering that to me when you must surely be hungry and could have eaten it for yourself. I believe I already know what you shall come to represent, you shall be named Price," she spoke.

The fifth child was by far the tallest of them all, he also deviated from the trending hairstyle by having a plain brown color.

Looking into this child's eyes, I saw a great sadness and a great desire to be idle. However within that lied a logical being who wished to use that logic to educate others. We probably would have gotten along well.

This was the only child to shy away at their mother's approach at first, but after she presented "that look," the one that a mother gives to assure they have no intentions of harming you, the baby reluctantly reached for her hoof.

"Despite this child's reluctance to connect with others, he shall show great kindness to the friends he can make, he shall be named Coleton."

The final child was the most averaged size baby out of them all, well at least judging by what the books said about them. His brown hair and eyes stood out much clearer than the others' due to the fact his skin appeared to be as pale as the moon, I even had to squint a little to look at him due to the moonlight reflecting off of him.

Looking into this child's eyes I saw-oh my- I SAW INNOCENCE INCARNATED! This being was so bright, held so much potential to be smart, loving, to bring good to so many people, so many places!

Yet deep down buried in the darkest crevices, I could swear I saw something, even if it was only the tiniest spot, I saw- a filly Princess Luna jump out from behind her mother shrieking with excitement, and begin smothering the child in her barely puffed out chest fluff.

"Am qibezu ba laz bi Luna, nebri, qaibu paiberni cum il?" she started speaking rapidly.

The mother chuckled then responded,"Is am hanemu, mu am qibezu bi le balzare bi le laz bi le Luna, qiru so, bi hichu lu cumsirverinus."

Luna nodded in understanding, than with a awkward smile on her face slowly released her firm grip over the baby.

Celestia then with much more grace floated down to the child, she leaned in close to it giving sniffing it, and then giving it a small lick, inciting some small giggles from the baby who proceeded to boop both alicorns on their noses.

The mother spread her wings, and gently pulled the two fillies back from the child before stating,"Legends throughout the world shall speak of this one's name, he shall bring peace and harmony not only to the creatures of this world but the ones that lay in the cosmos as well, the shining torch he shall bear will give light to even the darkest of places he shall be named, Lucas."

Well it was clear that omniscience wasn't this mare's strength because I had never heard the mention of this child in a single legend my whole life. And trust me if there was some obscure hidden book that contained his name, I would have read it at some point.

With all her children now safely in her embrace, the mother flapping her wings, gently hovered over the sky.

"I do not know if any predators could still lurk here even after what happened, but those are risks I cannot afford to make. The children I have had for years, and the ones brought into creation now, they shall be the seeds of our future, and I MUST ensure they have a safe environment to be nurtured in."

Slowly, the Elements around her began to swirl, the quickly gained speed until you could not distinguish one from the other. The alicorn's eyes opened glowing pure white, and from the Elements fired a tornado of color quickly engulfing everything around it.

You know getting to see the Elements be used from a distance was actually kind of beautiful.

Wait, could the Elements destroy ghosts as well.

Uh-oh.

Suddenly a wave of color engulfed me, I felt so much power upon me I could not cry, speak or even breathe. Is this how Nightmare Moon and Discord felt?

Then just when I was ready to resign myself to total annihilation, the barrage of colors faded away into an empty black.

*** *** ***

My eyes shot open, and my body shot upwards off of something soft feeling onto the cold hard ground.

Pulling myself up, I threw something soft off of my head finally seeing light again.

I jerked my head around in a panic trying to figure out where I was, had I been banished, had I been KILLED,- wait, what is my Smarty Pants doll doing here?

Now that my vision had fully adjusted, I saw that the soft surface I had thrusted my body from was my dark blue bed held in it's wooden frame.

Looking down I saw the cold, hard surface I had landed on was my white,(and if I may brag a little, thoroughly scrubbed and tidily kept) oak floor.

Laying beside my hoof, I saw the cloak that had tried to keep me entangled in everlasting darkness, was my star-spangled bed sheet.

I had in-fact not been whisked away to the deepest pits of the nether-realm, but to the safety of my bedroom.

Are you serious?! Here I was thinking I was witnessing a key moment in history play out, and in actuality I was just experiencing a falsified succession of images, thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations, completely involuntarily in the confines of my own mind!

I swear if this was just some kind of prank from Luna, a thousand years on the moon will seem like a light punishment compared to what wrath I will bring upon her. You do NOT make light jokes out of such important historical events!

I need to check my calendar, when will I have an opportunity to meet with the Princess of the Night?

Wait a second, wasn't something happening at Canterlot today?

My face turned ashen as I suddenly realized what I had forgotten, my face becoming as white as a ghost. It was so obvious, so important to my and everypony elses' future and yet I would soon miss it. Making a fuss over what I saw in the Dream Realm, and what I saw here now in reality, I just now remembered the most important part of this day. At that moment all anger I felt was replaced with a feeling of panic that felt insurmountable.

“Oh my Celestia, I forgot about my coronation!” I shouted in mental pain. Every breath I gave was short and ragged as I struggled to maintain calm composure. Okay, so I forgot the most important part of the day, just remember the breathing technique Princess Cadence taught you a few weeks ago I need to stay calm and collected that is the best mindset to solve any problem.

Okay, it's not working. Well time to embrace my nature. I began running in frantic circles, ranting to anypony who might have been close enough to hear me.

“What I am I going to do? if I don’t get there in time there will be no new princess; if there is no new princess anarchy will break out; if anarchy breaks out a lot of ponies will die; if a lot of ponies die the Princess will become disappointed; if she gets disappointed she will crash the sun into the entire planet; if she does that all organic life will cease to be!” I fell to my posterior and smothered my face in my hooves. Small dribbles of tears began to leak down my face, penetrating the otherwise calm, quiet atmosphere outside as they collided with the floor.

I stood up, wiping my tears away, and donning a determined look on my face.

What was I saying to myself?

I am Twilight Sparkle, personal protege of the ruler of this land, wielder of magic untold, I had brought together the wielders of the elements and my best friends with my mere existence, I had managed to complete a spell that even Star Swirl the Bearded could not, the Princess was ready to bestow upon me wings, and the rank of royalty, was I really going to let a late night sleep doom me to destruction?

NO! I simply needed to make my way to the train station in a bit of a more timely manner than usual, and I would still arrive at Canterlot with minutes to spare, I wouldn't have time to say greet any of my friends who were HOPEFULLY already there, but at least I would make it on time.

I strode out of my bedroom confidently, I am Twilight Sparkle and nothing is going to get in my way!

Following these lines of thoughts, another one quickly came into my mind, WATCH OUT FOR THE- my hoof caught in a hole in the floor, courtesy of some termites that I had yet to seal up, and while the upper half of my body kept leaning forward, the bottom half of my body remained locked in place until the inevitable happened.

My hooves and wings madly flailing in every which way, I began to tumble down the stairs. My body rolled down the steps, a low speed, and I landed on my back right on top of a pile of books scattering them everywhere, my vision wafting and stars forming circles in front of my eyes.

Groaning, I slowly lifted myself up, I really need to get that hole sealed that's the third time this week.

Once my vision adjusted I saw I also really needed to clean the second floor of my library, looking around I saw books scattered everywhere, big splatters of ink all over the floor, loose leaf paper strung about all over the place, and dust, lots and lots of dust. Good thing all of the trending books are on the first floor so only a few customers ever journey up this far.

Whatever, I would have to deal with this later, I have a train to catch.

Taking care to avoid falling on my back for the THIRD TIME this morning, I made my way down the next flight of stairs and reached the front door.

Placing my hoof on the knob, I stopped for a moment and reflected.

How did the library ever get this messy? I mean I try to keep it organized, I have to quell my ever raging OCD somehow, but I live here alone, and there is only so much that one mare can do.

My friends offer to come and help clean up when they can, but they lead such busy lives, and can only come to provide assistance on a few rare occasions.

The second floor has already become a total wreck, even before my little slip this morning, I would probably have to label it off-limits to the few customers who used it until further notice. How long before my bedroom, my basement/laboratory, and even the first floor got that bad?

Sighing, I opened the door leaving behind the disheveled mess my library was, and stepping out into the day.

It sure would be nice to have some assistance around here.

*** *** ***

I walk through the streets of Ponyville at a pace that while certainly brisk, is not full on sprint. After all, this is a really important day in my life and I don't want to spend the proliferation of it in full panic mode.

I begin looking around at the details of the town. Soon I will become the princess of this place, and who knows, maybe I could spot a potential design flaw and use my newly acquired Pony Princess Prerogative (or P.P.P as I like to call it) to make renovations for the safety of normal class citizens.

The infrastructure of Ponyville consists of mostly medieval village-style architecture, though more modern homes and appliances were starting to be integrated. The typical house structure is timber-framed (potential fire hazard officially noted) with distinct thatched roofs and overhanging upper floors. The town hall reside at the very center of town square, it is a very reliable building when it comes to structural integrity, though the it has had it's incidents such as when Rainbow Dash was repairing the building for a ceremony to honor Applejack, and Derpy generously lent her "assistance". Plus the earth pony sculpture in the pool has been known to fall over due to it's rearing position.

We also have our own schoolhouse, granted it has been forever since it's received any sinking funds but it works well enough. There's a bell on the top of the building... that regularly collapses and falls through the roof, a flag in the front........ that has become so torn and ugly to look at citizens are considering taking the thing by force and burning it, and....... okay maybe the building could use some renovations.... a lot of renovations. But a project of that scale would cause the students to have to be relocated interfering with their education, and it is my personal belief that you NEVER interfere with one's education. Even if after the whole Gabby Gums incident the whole basement has become such a mess foals literally have to put on a hazmat suit before going down there.

You know, speaking of that gossip column, I wonder what those three fillies are up-

"WATCH OUT!"

To my right I heard a soft humming sound quickly getting louder before something slammed into my legs propelling me head over heals into the air, until I landed face first into a patch of dirt.

“Scootaloo, I told ya you were going too fast!” Apple Bloom said, rushing out of her wagon to check on me, with Sweetie Belle by her side.

I slowly lifted my face up, and spat dirt out of my mouth with what I could tell was a big gaping look.

“Well Rainbow Dash always told me, if you're not five minutes early, than you're ten minutes late” Scootaloo said dismissively.

Wow, that actually sounded like rather intelligent advice for somepony like Rainbow Dash, shame it had resulted in my total humiliation.

“Um, Twilight you’ve got something...” Sweetie Belle placed a hoof on her own face. “Right there.”

"I noticed," I replied sliding my hoof down my face to try and remove the remaining specks of dirt.

“Sorry about that,” Scootaloo said, lowering her head in shame. She than tightened her helmet. “We're just in a major hurry! This may be the ultimate chance to get our Cutie Marks!” She gave a energetic smile.

I hesitated to respond then inhaled deeply and said. “S-sure… no… problem…whatsoever.”

I swear these three were going to burn down the whole town one day.

"Just be more careful next time, where exactly are you going in such a rush anyway?" I asked.

Sweetie Belle than pulled a paper out of nowhere saying,"We found these papers nailed to the doors of all three of our homes."

Apple Bloom continued the explanation," Whoever made em gave a time and a place to meet, and claimed that they got a guaranteed method to git us our Cutie Marks!"

Looking at the poster, I saw the writing had the hoofmanship of a third grader, the time to meet was twelve 'o clock, and the location was.....the Everfree Forest?

"Uhm girls, do you know who made these papers?" I inquired.

"Nope!" Apple Bloom said, a big grin on her face.

"Well do your sisters at least know that you're going?" I asked.

Please say yes, please say yes, please say-

"Nope!" Sweetie Belle replied with an even bigger grin on her face.

Great.

"Are you all sure that this is safe, and not some big elaborate scheme to lure you all into the woods and kill you when nopony else is around?" I asked.

Scootaloo turned her head back to my direction saying with a cocky grin on her face,"it'll be fine Twi, if we do come across anything dangerous, Apple Bloom has her strength, Sweetie Belle has her magic, and I have my speed."

"You realize those are all skills you have still barely developed right," I countered.

Her face became more annoyed,"Exactly! Which is why we need to go now, so we can get our cutie marks and develop those talents," she motioned her head toward the wagon as a signal for her two partners in crime to get back in their escape vehicle.

"Fine, I guess there's nothing I can do to stop you from going, since I have somewhere to be, but just promise me you'll be careful," I said with pleading eyes.

"We promise Twi, it's us what's tha worse that could happen?" Apple Bloom said.

Two words, love potion.

They were about to take off when Sweetie Belle suddenly turned around and said,"Wait you have somewhere to be?" She gasped,"You must mean you're coronation! It was all my sister could talk about this morning, that's in an hour, you'll never make it on time on your own!"

She leaned towards Scootaloo,"We have to get her to the train station, Scootaloo you're fast enough on your scooter to make it in time."

Oh no, not that riding in a cramped wagon flying through town at a high velocity with the constant threat of serious injury didn't sound appealing but.... well it REALLY doesn't sound appealing.

Scootaloo groaned,"Uhhhhh, we don't have time Sweetie Belle if we help her make it to her special event on time we'll be late for ours."

Oh thank Celestia.

Sweetie Belle adopted a stern look,"Now Scootaloo, what's one of the fundamental aspects of friendship?"

Scootaloo sighed then replied, "Generosity."

"Good, and what is generosity?"

Scootaloo looked down and answered,"Putting someone else's needs before your own."

"Exactly, now do you think the pony, or ponies we are meeting with will care if we are just a few minutes late?"

Scootaloo suddenly looked up with a confident grin,"Oh I would simply love to take Twilight along for a ride, but you see we just don't have enough room in our wagon for her, oh truly tragic indeed."

Was she implying that I'm fat, I mean they were able to fit the sugar loving Pinkie Pie in that thing without the wheels breaking off.

Apple Bloom piped up,"Oh, I have a solution fer that," she pulled from the wagon a lasso, and I in terror realized where this was going.

I bucked myself backwards quickly stating,"Oh no it's fine girls, I'm really capable of getting there on my own!"

Turns out my reared back position gave Apple Bloom the perfect opportunity to throw her lasso around my front hoof, then tie the other end to the wagon.

"There all set, now giddy up partner!" Apple Bloom said with a little too much glee in her voice.

"Uhhhhh fine," Scootaloo said before quickly altering her course and flying for the train station.

So, turns out I was not going to fly through town in a wagon, I was going to fly through town while getting dragged along gravel!

And they wondered why I always get so apprehensive when they're around.

Apple Bloom leaned over the side of the wagon and said,"Ya know Twi, that one day when we was going round asking all your friends how they got their cutie marks, we was never able to get a story outta you."

My eyes went wide, well wider, like this wasn't already unpleasant enough.

I slowly, and painfully leaned my head up growling,"I said this last time and I'll say it again,I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!"

Apple Bloom jumped back a little at my outburst, then solemnly lowered herself back down and turned around.

I hated to be mean to three fillies who took time out of their day to offer me transportation(however torturous that method of transportation is) but I had trusted them to clean out my library for a cutie mark only for them to make the mess worse, I had trusted them to use their talents well in a talent show only for them to destroy the stage and make complete fools of themselves, I had trusted them to use my Hearts and Hooves Day history book to expand their knowledge not brainwash their school teacher into falling in love with my friend's big brother!

But that information, I wouldn't trust that to them I hadn't even trusted my own friends with it. The only ponies who know how I get my cutie mark are my mother, Princess Celestia, and Board of Review members who were there.

And I intend to keep it that way.

*** *** ***

Perhaps it wasn't very noble-like for a pony to shove citizens out of the way, at one point with so much force that one got knocked onto the ground, but given that I only had twenty minutes before I could officially be declared tardy it had to be just a little bit justified.

Besides I'm sure most of these nobles would be appalled at a pony for simply daring to gently tap them without having a fancy dress, and loads of bits on hoof, so frankly they kinda deserved it.

In a way I saw it kinda fitting that my journey ended here, right where it began. This had been my previous residence, studying under Celestia's tutelage.

I had to admit I was at one point a little proud about living in the capital of Equestria, but I've learned what I prefer, and besides I never let it get to my head nearly as much as some of the other residents here.

I still remember sometimes walking to the very edge of the mountain the city is built into at night, just to gaze at the stars. I was always so focused on what was in the sky that I never looked down to view from a distance the quaint little town that would become my home one day.

But that was all in the past, I needed to focus on the here and now, if I just keep galloping and don't stop for anything I can make it in time.

Oh, thank Celestia Canterlot Castle's entrance is in sight, right over the hill, I'm actually going to make-

I suddenly heard a sharp cry, come from my left.

I screeched to a halt, turning my head in that direction to make sure everything was okay.

Looking into the darkened alley I could barely make out an average sized light blue stallion, a stark contrast to the big beefy mare he was talking with. Both her mane was a bright yellow flowing straight down the sides of her neck like lava, and her coat was a pure white, her two wings were flared out looking straight and pointed like daggers.

Only her head was visible, the rest of her body was covered in a black jumpsuit. Lined on the sides were white stripes that all came together on her barrel as one big white spot resembling a shape not unlike my cutie mark. Fashioned onto the jumpsuit was a small microphone, couldn't tell you what that was for.

Good thing Rarity wasn't here or she might have just died at the fashion disaster.

It's also a good thing Fluttershy wasn't here or she might've died of a heart attack.

Looking at the mare's face I saw a look of pure hatred, her eyes appeared to glow red with rage, and her teeth appeared to be pointed when she growled.

The stallion in contrast looked sad and scared, his knees were bent giving the mare even more height over him, his face was directed towards the ground away from me and the mare, and his hoof was gently rubbing the side of his face that I couldn't see, likely where he had been struck.

I slowly creeped towards them, using the darkness as a cover to eavesdrop without being noticed.

The mare whisper-shouted,"are you serious we've come all this way together and you're backing out on me," as she said this she made further advances on the stallion backing him into a corner.

"I-I'm sorry, I just, I can't do this anymore, I don't want to do this anymore, I never knew it would get this bad, and after this, I- look at me I need to get myself to a hospital!" he stared off weakly, but then made no further attempts to be silent.

Just then the pale yellow mare shot out her and struck his rear knee generating a disgusting, ripping pop a clear sign of damage to one of his joints. He collapsed to the ground, screaming in pain as his assaulter moved to stand over him. The huge pale mare spat on him, grabbed the top of his mane, lifted his head up, and slammed it back down to the ground dazing him into stunned silence. “You seem to be sorely mistaken, you agreed to this, you don't get to quit, you agreed to be mine!” She brought her hoof down onto his face as he attempted to curl up into a tight ball. “He that is not with us is against us,” she said with a deathly grin on her face. “By the time I'm done you're going to need more than a hospital, more like the morgue.”

I had seen enough, I stepped out of hiding, “ What do you think you are doing?” I asked as the mare applied firm pressure against his ribs before proceeding to smash down on him with her hooves yet again.

“Saving our hard working nurses and practitioners some time by providing one less injured pony to treat, ” she said as she grinned at me. “Look kid, if I were you I would run along this really isn't any of your business or concern, and besides I keep up with the news and upcoming events, don't you have a coronation to attend?”

Was she serious did she actually believe I cared about that right now? “You have no right to treat him this way! Besides even if I do leave what's to stop me from alerting the authorities?” Was I actually threatening her with the prospect of the Royal Guard? The military unit that couldn't punch their way out of a paper bag if they had too? What was I thinking?

“Oh, you really think they could stop me” the mare said circling him as lion circles it's prey, she then slammed her hoof down onto his pulsating wounded knee. “Besides by the time you could convince them and bring them here, he would already be long dead, and I long gone.” She brought up one of her giant forearms and flexed it saying,"and I highly recommend that you don't try to take matters into your own hooves," she said with a sadistic smirk on her face.

And right there and then, she proceeded to beating him to death right in front of me. I stared on in horror just hoping this was some kind of nightmare that I’d wake up from… but as he cried out in agony, I knew that this was real, I couldn't take anymore, I clenched my eyes closed and turned the other way to leave. She was right I did have somewhere else to be, just walk on out of here and it won't be your problem anymore. Just do worry about it, Twilight. Don’t think about it…

Don’t listen to it. Don’t listen to the loud thumps of hooves smashing against bone, and the screams of pain, and the sobs of sadness, and the begging for mercy.

I reopened my eyes, what was I saying?

Sweetie Belle was prone to destruction like her two comrades, but she had been right about one thing this morning.

Generosity is an aspect of Friendship. Generosity was putting the needs of others before your own. I don't care if I am late to my coronation, or if this mare beats me to a pulp for my interference. I was about to give out a healthy dose of generosity.

I narrowed my stance on the mare beating her spouse in glee and charged exerting as much body strength as I could, running as fast as I could. Last thing I needed was for her to have time to react to my upcoming attack. Her azure eyes widened in shock, then slammed shut as I slammed my body into her then threw myself upwards with so much force that she tumbled over onto her back. Though it was clear that hadn't been enough to put her down for the count, not by a long shot.

As she rose, her look of surprise morphed into one of fury. “What exactly do you think you’re doing? I told you to stay out of this! You're dead!” She charged, and in response I tried to recall anything I had learned from the brief jousting lessons Rainbow Dash had given me at our time at The Crystal Empire.

You're supposed to close your eyes right at the moment of impact right, or do I have that backwards?

Looking forward, I realized I didn't have time to think of a strategy, and simply charged forward to meet her. Our barrels collided, and I had to exert all of my strength to avoid being knocked back onto the ground by her. Seriously, did this mare work out twenty four hours a day?

As we struggled, though, I still had one advantage by virtue of being a unicorn. My horn flashed purple and I prepared to lift her up in in my magical grip and slam her against the wall.

However, once my telekinetic field wrapped around her, try as I might I couldn't move her an inch. It wasn't because of her huge size either, I had lifted an Ursa Minor for Celestia's sake, this was different I couldn't even really feel her through my magic. It was like my aura around her wasn't even really there.

I struggled with my telekinesis: pouring into my mind every image of her being lifted up, but it just wasn't happening. She then finally physically overpowered me, shoving me to the ground and then lifting me up by the throat.

Over the next few moments time slowed almost to a stop as she landed her attacks on me perfectly. All three of them went straight to the head.

The first strike was clearly enough to give me a black eye. The second broke my nose. The third went right into my stomach knocking the breath out of me. She then threw me to the ground and time returned to it's normal speed, as I layed there winded, and stunned. Looking up she stood over me, rasing her hoof and preparing to smash down onto my head.

Then suddenly the intercom built onto her jumpsuit crackled to life, saying, “Remember, she said NOT to kill her, not yet.”

Her face developed an even more angrier expression than it already had.

“You know what, forget it. You and this pathetic stallion aren't even worth it. you or him can go ahead and report me if you want, they'll never find me before it's too late,” she said sourly as she gave one final sock to my bleeding nose and then glared daggers down at me. “This is not the last time we will meet Twilight. I can promise you that.”

I swallowed, trying my hardest to keep my blury vision focused on her. “Maybe, but this Stallion has been freed from your hate,” My breath wavered in my lungs, my heart pounding like a drum in my chest. Despite the fear that engulfed me, I tried to put on a brave front.

She gave one final angry grunt before shooting her wings out and rocketing up into the sky like a bullet, scattering dust out in every direction, a lot of it blowing into my mouth.

I cough it out and slowly rise to my hooves, the stallion attempted to do the same but his condition wouldn't allow it.

It took a few seconds to readjust myself mentally so I could walk straight again, but once I could I approached the stallion carefully. I knelt down and began to examine him.

Yikes, that mare really did a number on him. Aside from his many bruises, the most busted up part was his leg. It was bent in almost he completely wrong direction, a bone was noticeably attempting to poke it's way out of the skin. I swallowed some blood as began looking around, a feeling of panic overcoming me. I barely knew the basics of modern medicine, or healing spells. I could barely heal a scraped knee let alone a broken one!

“You shouldn't have done that,” I suddenly heard him mumble, looking into his eyes I saw nothing but pain and regret. “It was pointless, you should have just let her kill me, I'm dead anyway?”

I couldn't believe what I had just heard,"Hey don't talk like that it's over, she can't hurt you anymore, if you need help walking I can get you to the nearest hospital."

"NO!" He shouted, and then somehow despite his injury managed to bolt up from where he was laying and hightail it right out of there, before I could even tell what was going on.

I suddenly turned towards the exit, running, and shouting,"Hey, wait where are you going?"

Stepping out onto the street, and looking around, I couldn't see him, he was long gone, and I didn't have time to look for him.

Looking in a window, I saw a terrible sight. I had a black eye, there was dried blood near my nostrils, was this really how I was going to look for the most important event in my life?

Maybe they'll have really skilled make up artists.

Turning, I run to finally reach Canterlot Castle.

*** *** ***

“Well you don't look the best that you could, but it will have to do.”

After I stepped into the castle, the makeup artists stationed at the entrance nearly had a heart attack upon seeing my busted up condition. Of course not at the fact that I had been brutally beaten, but at the fact they had to work with the abomination that was the current state of my face, and they had less then 10 minutes to do it. Having my eyes closed throughout the entire process, I suddenly heard the sound of levitation magic right in front of me, signifying the stylists were done and were holding up a mirror for me to see their masterpiece.

I hesitated, did I really want to see this?

Well, it can't be that bad after all how could you break something that's already broken.

I opened my eyes, and gazed into the mirror, seeing what the stylist had wrought, I didn't scream in terror, but I didn't smile either. My-sister-in-law, Princess Cadence had formally requested, that my mane be stylized in the same manner as the Crystal Empire ceremonial headdress. Judging by the look of it, it was clear the stylist had thought step twelve was optional.

She had also decided the only way to make my black eye look good, was to give me a second one through makeup. As for the dried blood, she had painted thin streaks of red coming out of my nostrils and going up to my eyes?! This is a coronation not a rock concert.

I also discovered why I was having such a hard time breathing, and that was the fact that the dress they picked out for me was way too tight.

“Well........what do you think of it?” Looking further into the mirror, I saw the stylist behind me, with an apprehensive look on her face, she was also undoubtedly anticipating an insult to be hurled her way. A part of me, a very large part of me, wanted to verbally annihilate her, but then I took into account that she had only had ten minutes, and what she had to work with.

“It’s, um, It's grreeeeaaat.” That was a passable response, I made sure to put extra emphasis on the "great" part of it, I said it in a respectful tone that was in no way fabricated, I even made sure to give it a touch of Canterlot accent. Judging from her relieved smile, she had bought it. “Now, can I get out of this chair?”

“Why, of course.” At that, I tried to rise up out of my seat, however the constricting dress around me made it rather impossible, I wiggled around until I eventually collapsed to the floor.

The stylist made an admirable attempt to help me, working her way underneath me, she helped me rise to my hooves then undid one of the knots on my back. Just one, really.

"We start in two minutes. Good luck out there, because no offense but I really feel you're going to need it."

That earned a wavering smile from me, and the stylist stepped out of the dressing room without another word.

Yeah, I'm fine by the way, thanks for asking.

Having a few minutes of alone time, I reflected on the past few years of my life, and my current feelings right now.

Truth is even after I grew out of fillyhood and reached my teenager years, I had never really gotten over caring about what other ponies thought of me. Even in my new home of Ponyville, I had received hostile stares of judgement, heard gossip about how anti-social I was when I walked down the street. Compare that to my mentor, the shining example of everything I aspire to be, Princess Celestia, I'm honestly a little bit jealous I could never be as perfect as her. But hey once I'm a princess everything will get better; nopony will ever judge me again, I'll be loved by more than just my friends and family.

*** *** ***

This was it!

The only thing separating me from my official title as princess was two collosal doors and a walkway. Placing my ear against the door I could hear the chatter of ponies in anxious anticipation, and the sparkling of my royal tiara. This was my moment, who knows maybe everypony will be so entranced by the magical nature of the event that they won't even notice my appearance.

Suddenly, the doors glowed with magic, and were pulled open, and giving that my ear was pressed against them, it meant that I did fall for the THIRD TIME that day.

I quickly hopped back up, and donned a regal stature, trying to brush off what had happened, as Princess Celestia began her speech. I tried to focus on it, but looking at the crowd, I could already see looks of shock and disgust on ponies' faces.

No! I can't afford to focus on that right now. This is it. I'll become a princess. And everything will get better after this.

I walked along the carpet laid out for me, trying to move in as straight a line as possible.

I did take a couple of looks at the crowd, but for a new reason.

I tried to see if my so-called "mother" Twilight Velvet had decided this was worth attending, can't see her, probably not let's be honest, because why have a presence in your child's life.

Lined up on the stairs leading to the podium I saw my friends all in their own attire, and varying looks on their face at the site of me.

Pinkie Pie was trying to keep a noticeably forced smile on her face, Applejack and Rainbow Dash simply stood there with their jaws hung open, and Rarity and Fluttershy, oh they must be so proud, their crying!

I finally stood face to face with the Princess.

“Are you- oh my- I mean are you ready?” she asked. I shook my head up and down rapidly, then bowed myself in front of her. I could feel my mentor’s magic enveloping me, I slammed my eyes shut in anticipation. For what felt like a century, I waited, waited for the pain of bones and flesh comprising my wings to burst from my back, or did they get placed there magically?

Well, guess I'm about to find out, here we go Twilight your life is about to change forever!

I fell from my mentor's magical grasp, collapsing to the floor. Brimming with confidence, I shot up onto my hooves, then turned to face the audience. Preparing to wow them all, I mentally ordered my primary motor cortex to unfold my newly developed wings.

And that's what would've happened, had there been any wings there to unfold.

In my excitement, I had failed to notice the lack of any feathery appendages. What I did notice however, right then was the look on the crowd's faces, they were all likely very dissapointed, and very frustrated, at their time being wasted.

I developed an awkward smile so wide it held the potential to dislocate my jaw. I dropped my gaze to the ground under the illusion of pulling off a bow, all of my confidence shattered. I was supposed to become a princess. Everything was supposed get better after today. Then that's when it began, they all began whispering among themselves.

“She was going to be placed in charge of all of us?"

I'm pretty sure I was just going to be put in charge of Ponyville, not all of Equestria.

“She makes Celestia look competent by comparison."

Hey! Princess Celestia is the most wise, intelligent pony in all the land!

“And to think purple was once my favorite color.”

If this was all it took to make you abandon your favorite color, I'm pretty sure you're the one with the problem.

“She thought she could be a princess, she's not even princess material.”

That last one really cut deep, the qualities of a good princess are integrity, the ability to inspire others, passion, and delegation skills. Did I really not fit any of that criteria?

I lifted my head up and began combing over the crowd with my vision, looking for just one pony who wasn't disappointed, furious, or a combination of both. But I saw no such pony; even my friends were backing away from the podium trying to blend in with the crowd, while my mentor stepped in front of me and gave some overly magniloquent speech about expectations versus reality.

Initially I just stood there and took the shaming, that all changed however when a certain unicorn mare stepped from the crowd, onto the carpet like she owned the place.

Uncloaked from her starry dark-violet cape, her bright azure coat shone in the light through the windows. Her grayish violet eyes were wrapped in curled eyelashes. Atop her head lied a conic horn, the same color as her fur. But easily the most recognizable feature was the image of a star-tipped wand, on the sides of her flank.

She raised her head up high, pointed an accusatory hoof in my direction and shouted,"The great and powerful Trixie declares this indisputable evidence of Twilight Sparkle being unworthy to rule!"

Oh hay no! I was not going to hear anything more from this narcissistic, self absorbed, egotist.

I leaped from behind my mentor then rushed along the carpet to confront her,"Trixie, what exactly are you doing here?"

"Oh Twilight, if anypony holds the right to witness your spectacular failure, it is your nemesis Trixie."

"First, say it all you want on your Foalbook account, you are not my nemesis! Second of all, your right to witness this? Trixie you were on the list of ponies who were specifically NOT to be allowed in."

"Well how was Trixie supposed to know she wasn't invited?"

I rolled my eyes,"It was trending online, several public announcements were made about it."

She sighed,"Okay Trixie knew she wasn't invited, she just simply didn't care."

"So you admit to defying royal decree, to breaking the law?"

She developed an angry glare,"It is the fault of the guards for not catching Trixie in the act!"

Was she being serious?

She spoke up again,"Regardless, Trixie did not come here to squabble with you Sparkle, she came here to claim what is rightfully her's. Besides this shameless display has demonstrated to us that you are unfit to become an alicorn, or royalty."

"And you are?" I asked rhetorically.

"If you recall, Trixie was once able to disenfranchise your entire town single hoofedly."

"Disenfranchise is just a fancy way of saying enslaved, and the only reason you were able to do that was because of the Alicorn Amulet, plus I was able to reclaim the town after simply stating that by using an external power source it wasn't really your,"Great and powerful" magic that had won so you took it off. After that the citizens of Ponyville had little trouble overthrowing you. You never even apologized, you just ran off! If anything that whole incident is proof enough of why you shouldn't receive any power."

I had to admit, it felt nice to have the crowd's judgmental gazes honed in on somepony else for a change, that feeling quickly dissipated however when Trixie rushed past me knocking me to the floor towards the podium.

She looked up to Princess Celestia with pleading eyes before saying,"Oh great and mighty ruler, Trixie is aware that you are almost as great and powerful as her, given that Trixie is likely about to be arrested, she would appreciate it if you could transfer all of your power over to her. Of course, Trixie is more than capable of escaping from jail all by herself, she would just like the extra assistance."

I was fuming. ALMOST as powerful as her! Princess Celestia is not only the smartest, but she is also the strongest pony in all the land, and I would not stand by and watch her be insulted like this.

Looking to the floor, I saw a stone that a guest had unknowingly dragged in through their horseshoe. I levitated it up in front of me. I wasn't going to kill her, simply get her attention. Once lined up, I fired it straight at her.

Unfortunately at that time Trixie decided to display possibly her first and only act of humility, she bowed. The rock sailed over her head, right towards the princess.

Luckily, she had fast reflexes and threw up a magical shield to block it.

Or rather, it would have been lucky, if the rock hadn't ricochet off of the barrier and flown straight into the stained glass window of me and my friends purifying Luna.

The crowd erupted into panic, shouting and galloping all over the place in an attempt to dodge the flying shards of glass.

One pony rammed right through the line of tables knocking Pinkie's confectioneries onto the ground, and other guests. Pinkie herself gasped, and began eating up all that she could before it got trampled over.

The birds drafted for the music, flew from their perches and began pecking at the ones caked in sweets, because of course out of all the birds Fluttershy could've brought, it had to be Black throated blue warblers, (or Setophaga caerulescens if you want to get technical) literally one of the few types of birds that eta sugar. Fluttershy hovered over to the birds and politely requested that they stop pecking ponies to death, but they aggressively refused.

Hearing all of the commotion, Rainbow Dash jolted awake from her half asleep daze. She assumed everypony was cheering meaning that it was her cue.

Wait, oh-no.

As Rainbow dashed out the window, I tried to halt with my magic, but she was already out of reach, meaning the only option left was to take cover.

Rushing over to the one table that had managed to avoid getting knocked over, I pulled the cloth up and crawled underneath it.

Outside I could hear Rainbow Dash descending like a torpedo, constantly gaining speed until it happened.

A loud BOOM sound went off and the room was awash with color, it became apparent to everypony what just happened.

It became even more apparent when Rainbow's close proximity to the throne room caused every single window in the whole room to shatter.

By the time the glass had settled, I dared to bring myself out from underneath the table.

Ponies had cuts of varying sizes on both their skin and their clothes, the site made Rarity collapse but lacking her fainting couch, she just fell backwards onto a unlucky stallion who had run behind her at that exact moment.

Applejack stood next to her, I looked at her and she looked up at me. We had a few brief moments of eye contact before she pulled her hat down over her face and shook her head.

In it's current state, if Discord fed off of chaos, then this room would've been a breeding ground for him.

Okay Twilight, just think you are a princess so how are you going to-

Oh who am I kidding? I'm no princess, hay it was my rock that had started this to begin with. I didn't have the authority to stop this, so who did?

From the podium, Princess Celestia's voice boomed,"ENOUGH!"

She slammed her hoof to the ground and a golden glow of telekinetic energy shot out in every direction.

When it passed over me I found myself unable to move anything except my mouth and eyes. Looking around I saw every other pony in a similar situation.

The room went tumultuous to dead silent, no one dared to speak.

That silence was broken however when the doors to the throne room slowly creaked open. Standing there was my BBBFF Shining Armour, and his wife and my sister-in-law Cadence.

Shining Armour spoke up without thinking,"Hey everypony sorry were late for the coronation, but there was a huge mound of snow on the Crystal Empire's tracks that needed to be cleared out, so is the coronation-" he paused upon processing the state of the room,"over."

Princess Celestia developed a cold gaze before stating,"Yes Shining Armour, it's over."

The couple stood there for a few seconds wide eyed, until Cadence activated her magic and slowly pulled the doors closed.

Princess Celestia inhaled deeply, then said,"Everypony out, NOW."

She released her hold on all except me, everyone promptly rushed out of the room, including my friends like sheep running from a wolf.

I was left alone with her unable to run, she slowly approached me taking care not to step on any shards of glass.

Eventually she stood over me, encasing me in her long shadow.

Was there a spell to shrink yourself microscopic, so you couldn't be seen? And if there is, how do I do it?

She lowered her head down to be at eye level with me,"Be in my personal quarters in five minutes, we have some things to discuss," she said finally releasing me from her magical grasp.

I recognized that tone in her voice, I was doomed. She was going to explain to me how disapointed she was, and worse she was going to do it in a calm polite way, despite me deserving so much worse.

Despite her giving me a five minute time limit, I didn't have anywhere else to be so I might as well head up there now.

As I walked out, I accidentally cut my hoof on a shard of glass. She would probably heal that, she would probably heal the damage done to my face as well.

Even if I didn't want her too.

*** *** ***

As I sat on the edge of Celestia's bed, I attempted to remain positive by contemplating the ways it could've been worse.

I honestly can't think of any other way it could've gone worse.

My friends, either made fools of themselves or expressed the upmost disappointment in me, the windows that displayed are greatest triumphs together lied in broken shards, and three members- actually no just two- didn't even arrive on time. I had made a complete fool of myself on what was supposed to be one of my most dignified moments. And Princess Celestia… she had never looked so disappointed in her life, not even when I sent, "Cadence" running out of the throne room crying on my brother's wedding day.

Minutes felt like hours as I waited for Princess Celestia to arrive, I decided to read one of the books stacked on her dresser next to her bed, it was about premonitions in dreams, she said I could read any of her books at any time I wished, and it kept my mind occupied away from what had happened.

A sudden knock on the door made me jump a little and instantly throw the book back down onto the dresser.

“Twilight? Are you in there?” she called, I felt like it might as well have been an assassin knocking on that door.

“Yes,” I replied meekly.

When Princess Celestia pulled the door open, I immediately rolled off the side of the bed to avoid the spears being thrown at me. Turns out Princess Celestia had brought two guards along with her, who could be described as somewhat trigger happy. She quickly leaped in front of me and unfurled her wings as an indicator to stop.

Scooping me up and laying me on the bed, she gave the two golden armored guards a nod as an indicator to leave, they obeyed. She then sat down onto the bed next to me, I instinctively leaned against her, and closed my eyes, she just felt so warm.

Princess Celestia cleared her throat indicating she was about to begin.

Okay Twilight, as rare as it is every time, whenever Princess Celestia shows even the slightest amount of disappointment in you, you always break down crying. But not this time, I'm a big pony now, time to show Celestia how much I've matured.

Don't cry. DON'T CRY.

"My faithful stud-"

“I’m sorry, Princess!” I shouted tears streaming down my face. “I didn't mean for this to happen, I really didn't. But I felt so much pressure and stress from everypony watching me, and how I was supposed to get wings but nothing showed up. And some stallion was getting attacked along the way, and in the process of trying to help him I got beat up, and he wouldn't even go to the hospital. Plus my dress was really tight, and it was hard to breathe, oxygen wasn't going to my head properly and when I Trixie started insulting me and then insulting you.....” I curled up into a little ball of sadness and threw myself underneath the blankets to hide. “I just reacted.”

“Oh, Twilight.” Celestia pulled the blanket out from over top of me and began stroking my mane. Her horn lit up, and I felt a warm, pleasant feeling pass over my face.

Once it was over, I looked to the mirror too see my eyes were no longer darkened, and my nose no longer felt like a freight train had slammed into it.

If only the rest of my physical condition looked as pleasant.

The dress I had been wearing had tears in all sorts of places and was wrinkled like a folded piece of paper. There were big glops of frosting, and other sweets so wide spread among the fabric that it would be more efficient to just permanently dye it pink and save the laundrymare some time.

I magically undid the knots, and let the dress fall to the ground, there now I looked just a little bit better.

Celestia reached out with her magic lifted a brush, and began stroking it through my mane.

She said soothingly,"It is as I have said many times before Twilight, if you're going to become a princess, you need to learn to quell your emotions, high ranking political figures like me are verbally attacked regularly, I don't respond to those attackers by throwing stones at them.

Tears began to well up in my eyes again,"But that's just it princess, if I was meant to become a princess, then why didn't the spell work? Why didn't I gain any wings?"

"Twilight, there is a reason why artificial alicorns are so rare in Equestria, the spell is difficult to perform. In fact, when it came time for Cadence's coronation, I accidentally gave her an extra pair of wings," Celestia replied chuckling slightly.

The comment earned a slight chuckle out of me too.

"What happened to Trixie?" I inquired.

"She escaped the throne room during all of the chaos, I wouldn't worry though, she may have high amour propre, but on her own she isn't much of a threat."

"And my friends?" I added on.

"I reserved them a state of the art royal hotel, to stay in over the week."

"The week? But the coronation, failure or not is over, we're going back to Ponyville tommorow." I replied confused.

"No, I'm afraid you're not, you will need to stay in Canterlot for a time, just in case."

"What do you mean,"just in case"?"

She sighed,"I told my sister, and niece to meet us here, we shall discuss it further then."

Right on cue, the door opened and in stepped a dark blue alicorn with a translucent starry mane, followed by my sister.

Upon seeing me, Cadence rushed passed Princess Luna and grasped my face saying with a sympathetic look,"Twilight, I heard about what happened at your coronation, I am so sorry!"

I replied,"Well there's nothing that can be done to change it now, just be glad you were late and got to miss it."

We both chuckled.

Princess Luna unfolded her wings drawing attention to herself,"We are most apologetic, for our failure to attend your honoring ceremony, young Twilight, but our sister have given us the most important of assignments."

I see Princess Luna still hasn't abandoned the dialect of archaic ponish, just give her time Twilight.

"What were you doing exactly?" I asked.

"We were perched upon the highest balcony in Canterlot Castle, should any threats have arrived we would've noticed and slain them quickly.

Slain them? What reason did Princess Luna have to be so worried?

I was about to ask her, but Cadence did for me,"Why did auntie send you up there Luna, why did you think you might have to slay someone?"

It was clear that Cadence and Princess Luna had grown slightly accustomed to each other, evidenced by her referring to the night princess by just her name, but not to the point of calling her auntie, like she does to Princess Celestia.

Or maybe just because Cadence is also a princess there's no need for formality being on mostly equal terms. I guess it will be a while before I know what that's like.

Princess Luna developed a serious glare,"With time and experience Cadence, thou shalt come to understand that being a ruler and defender of thy kingdom, requires one to always be ready to spar exorbitantly. As to why sister had us placed up there-"

Princess Celestia raised a hoof up silencing Princess Luna,"I shall explain that part to them but first, Twilight do you know how many nightmares I've had over the past few years?"

I was caught off guard by the sudden inquiry aimed at me,"Um, zero I guess."

She deadpanned,"Honestly Twilight, you place me on to high of a pedestal. Even I am vulnerable to night terrors, however that changed once my sister returned from her exile and was reformed."

Princess Luna raised her hoof calling our attention back to her,"As we have said before, we can not express gratitude enough for your kind gesture in that act young Twilight, not only did you make my nights much easier, but the ones of my sister's were of much more preferred quality, for every night before beginning my dream walking escapades I begin at the door of my sister, to ensure her dreams are bliss."

Princess Celestia replied,"Indeed and I do appreciate my sister's assistance in helping me sleep soundly however over the course of this year, I have had a hooffull of dreams that were, troubling to say the least."

Cadence asked for me,"What kinds of dreams auntie?"

Princess Celestia closed her eyes, opened them again and spoke,"Well the night before my siter's return from the moon, I dreamt of a great darkness enveloping the sun, the night before Discord's return I dreamed of a stone breaking as a cacophony of chaotic colors spewed from the cracks, before Chrysalis's invasion I bore witness to Canterlot engulfed in green flame, before Sombra's rise I saw a frozen barren wasteland, well it was barren until dark crystals began to grow from the ground surrounded by a black mist. The notable thing about all of these dreams, is not only did they precede great strife, on the night of their occurrence, my sister was unable to access them. She could not enter my dreams."

Princess Luna said,"When we would arrive at her door in the dreamscape, we would find it to be wrapped in chains."

Princess Celestia continued,"You see I have the gift of.....premonitions when something of significance is about to occur I have a dream, symbolizing it's approach, this gift was bestowed upon me by somepony very wise, and very powerful, and only I am permitted too see these visions, and last night I was tortured by another one, possibly the worst one I have ever had."

Wait a minute, a magical gift that allowed you to catch brief glimpses of the future, think of all the possibilities! All the disasters that could be prevented, all the lives that could be saved, how to make it big online by knowing what will be trending soon!

Ignoring the context of what had actually been said, I rushed right up to Princess Celestia's face, jumping up and down, saying,"Ooh, ooh, tell me more about this ability, who gave it to you, do you control when it happens, has it ever happened before this year, what was your favorite occurrence of it happening, any chance I might be able to get it?"

I was suddenly lifted up and pulled away from mentor by Cadence.

I blushed,"Sorry, get a little excited when hearing about new magic."

Princess Celestia smiled,"That was always something I loved about you when you studied under my direct tutelage. Anyway as for the dream. I stood at the top of some sort of metal platform, all around me were dark clouds that shot out lightning, shades of green, purple, blue and red. Below me all I heard were shrieks, some sounded of fear others of anger. For as far as the eye could see was a dark red mist. The mist reached the highest mountain tops, spread across the longest landscapes. I could feel myself constraining physically and mentally. I felt the urge to destroy all I came across whether they be friend or foe. I looked up and saw a bright blue light, like a new star, it quickly grew to be dark shade of crimson, suddenly an ocean wave of red towered above me and the platform I stood upon. In the water I saw a face, the face of a creature you have never witnessed, the wave came crashing down on me...and then I woke up.

Princess Celestia was panting heavily now, the mere act of recalling the dream had taken it's toll on her. Cadence and Princess Luna rushed to her side, and placed their hooves on her comfortingly.

All this talk of dreams had given me questions however, and reminded me of something that I had saw earlier,"Um Princess Luna, I know this is a bit off topic, but well it's not really off topic because it relates too dreams, but-"

"Speak your mind young Twilight," Princess Luna said plainly.

I swallowed,"Okay, last night when you came too my door in the dreamscape what did you see."

Princess Luna's eyes went wide as if she had just remembered something,"Ah yes, we had intended to converse with you upon this matter."

Oh, so she knew about the strange dream I had about her and Princess Celestia as fillies.

Or at least that's what I thought until she teleported a book into the room, and levitated it over to me.

I grabbed it in my own telekinesis and looked at the cover, it was about the benefits of sleep?

"Um, Princess Luna, no offense but why do I need this?"

She smiled,"Well young Twilight, we are most aware of your appreciation for the written word, and your tendencies to adhere to it's guidelines, so we provided you this tome in hopes that it may sway too rest more abundantly of nights."

"What?! Princess Luna I go to sleep every.....most nights, why would you think I'm not?"

"But young Twilight, for many nights now, we have approached thy door to find it not locked, not even chained, but completely absent."

"Well I can assure you I have been sleeping, in fact I wanted to talk about the dream I had last night with you, but if you weren't there, I guess there isn't much you could-"

"Do not deceive thyself, we hold knowledge of many subjects, mostly from old Equestrian days, but we are slowly becoming more modernized we believe the term is, so ask and if we posses the knowledge we shall give meaning to your reverie."

Well If I tell her I can at least say that I tried.

"Well princess, my dream was that I was alone on the hills-"

"Social isolation! That must be the meaning," Princess Luna interrupted.

Well she does make a point, anyone who says I don't have social isolation problems is a liar.

"I wasn't finished, next a giant ball of light collided with the planet, but somehow left zero collateral damage on anything."

"Perhaps it represents thee losing confidence in thyself, and life represented in a dream where natural physics fail you."

I was certainly losing confidence in myself, but I don't think that was the message either, if there even was a message.

"Still not done, from the ground rose an alicorn, she had a glowing yellowish white coat, and a mane that looked kinda like yours."

Princess Luna dropped her soothing smile, and simply said,"Continue."

Well no backing out now.

"She also had two other alicorn fillies with her, they looked a lot like you, and Princess Celestia."

Princess Luna began to breathe heavily.

"The alicorn, the big one I mean, brought out the Elements of Harmony, talking about something that happened at home that could never be repeated."

Princess Luna's eyes went wide, she looked like she was struggling to restrain herself. Princess Celestia was looking off into the distance, a solemn expression on her face. Cadence had a look of captivation, the only support I had to keep going.

"She shot a rainbow beam into the ground, and from it came six human babies. They were, oh what was their names again? I do remember there was one she made a really big deal about. I think his name was Lucas."

I felt a sharp pain on the side of my cheek as Princess Luna's hoof slid across it.

Cadence looked on in shock, and Princess Celestia looked back over to us.

I rubbed my cheek when I suddenly felt Princess Luna standing over me.

She looked down at me and said,"Listen to me Twilight, and listen well, for as long as you walk this Earth, for as long as you draw breath, you are to never again speak that name! Do I make myself clear?!"

"Yes,"I squeaked.

But then I caught something she had just said in her mini tirade.

"Earth? What exactly is earth?"

Princess Luna's look went from angry to apprehensive,"U-um well you see Twilight we meant Equss, it's just you know with them both starting with an e it's easy to make the mistake."

Princess Celestia whispered something to Cadence then said,"Me and Luna have some things to discuss."

"Okay," I replied sitting down.

All three alicorns in the room just looked at me, Cadence made a nodding motion towards the door.

"Oh! You mean in private, sorry,"I said before following Cadence outside.

Once we were both out Princess Celestia closed the door behind us.

I began rubbing my cheek again, like I hadn't already been hit enough today.

Cadence placed her hoof over mine,"You'll have to excuse Luna, she's only been back for less than a year, she's still learning the modern ways that royals are supposed to treat commoners."

Modern way, how about the moral way.

"Yeah I learned that last Nightmare Night, it's just even then she's never hit me before, what is it about that name that upset her so much?"

"I wish I had an answer for you Twilight, but don't worry I'm sure once she's cooled down she'll give you some kind of answer."

Actually maybe I could get one now.

I looked to Cadence,"Hey sister-in-law think you could go get me a drink?"

She replied,"Sure, be back in a minute," and walked down the hallway, around the corner and out of sight.

No guards check, no Cadence check, and the security cameras that were being newly installed hadn't been placed here yet.

I hated eavesdropping, but after what Princess Luna did too me, I felt she kinda deserved it a little.

I could hear their muffled conversation through the door,"You don't think the dreams could be connected could you?" Princess Celestia asked.

"They can't be, I-I don't want them to be, HE was banished millennias ago, and the other's went missing not soon after, they all have to be dead by now," Princess Luna replied, desperation sounding in her voice.

"As mush as I would like to believe that sister, it doesn't explain why Twilight is having these dreams, or why you can't access them."

"It could be just a side effect of- when are we going to tell her?"

Tell her, tell who? Tell them what?

Princess Celestia sighed, "I can't say for sure, but we have to wait, until she is ready."

Princess Luna groaned,"We hold no more desire to discuss this sister, it is late, and after the disaster that was the coronation, I would imagine all here in this castle tonight including you, desire rest."

Princess Celestia moaned, likely from stretching,"Agreed, I will lower the sun then I am retiring to bed for the night, sister I wish you luck on your travels through the dreamscape, hopefully my dreams tonight will be more pleasant."

Princess Luna said,"If possible sister, I shall ensure that they are."

With that I heard Princess Luna flap her wings and fly out of Princess Celestia's bed chamber, looking out the nearest window, I could see the sun begin to descend below the horizon, and the moon began to elevate.

I wish my understanding could be like the moon right now. I listened in on them to get answers, not more questions!

When I'm frustrated I tend to just look around at random objects in the area, I guess it's something to do with the potential that lies in everything, it just helps me calm down.

It was while doing this that I turned around and saw the same blue stallion I had helped earlier that day approaching me, he had a camera around his neck.

Upon realizing I saw him, he stopped in his tracks a few inches away from me.

We just stared at each other awkwardly for several long seconds.

Well, guess I can't always wait for someone else to take the initiative.

"Hello, I'm Twilight Sparkle, what's your name?"

He looked to the ground then said,"My name's, Harbinger."

"Ooh, that's a fascinating name what's your cutie mark?"

He turned the side of his body to me, and displayed what were a bunch of strange looking symbols.

He looked up at me then said,"Hey can you do something for me?"

I pepped up,"Sure! Always glad to help a friend out. What do you need?"

"Can you take a picture of my flank?"

Well.....certainly wasn't expecting that.

"Um, if ponies find out I've been photographing a stallion's, ahem, hindquarters trust me that wouldn't go over well."

He took the camera off his neck,"Don't worry this picture isn't what you think it might be for, I just really need you to take a picture of my cutie mark."

He had a worried look on his face, a look like his whole life depended on me fulfilling this request.

"Okay," I levitated the camera from his hoof, and snapped the picture, from the camera came the strange display of signs, he had for a mark.

"Thank you," he said tears began to well up in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked trying to sound as comforting as possible.

He looked straight into my eyes,"Listen, I know I didn't show it back in that alleyway, but looking back I appreciate what you did for me, that mare would've killed me if you hadn't stepped in."

"You're welcome, by the way who was that mare? We need to have her reported so she doesn't do anything like that to anypony else."

"No. No more questions," he replied.

"If you don't answer these questions, I can't help you."

Harbinger reached behind himself,"I know, so let me help you."

He pulled something out from behind him.

It was- IT WAS A KNIFE!

He suddenly lunged at me, in an attempt to drive the knife into my heart. I fell backwards and he landed right on top of me holding me down with his weight. I tried to scream for help, but he placed his hoof over my mouth muffling it.

Just when I thought I was done for a blue glow enveloped Harbinger and he was pulled from off top of me, the knife was so close that as he sailed past my head it managed to split one of my hairs.

Standing up, I saw Cadence had arrived just in the nick of time, she was now holding Harbinger against the wall, taking care to avoid his widely frashing arms.

Eventually he ran out of energy, and stopped, it was then I slowly approached him.

"Why? I save your life and you repay me by trying to kill me."

He raised his head up,"You'll understand in due time, the picture, the marks, they contain the instructions for what you need to do next."

"Why would you give me instructions, and then try to kill me."

Then he did something I had never seen him done, he smiled,"They aren't my instructions I was just supposed to deliver the message, but I-I just couldn't go through with it, it would have brought too much harm."

"So you're alternative was to kill her,"Cadence added in.

His eye lids closed slowly, and once they were completely shut, he whispered one final phrase.

"Believe me deary, death is a preferable fate to what is coming."

Then, his vitals, his breathing, it all stopped, and he dropped dead.

Author's Note

Hey everyone, hoped you were able to get at least some sort of enjoyment out of this. This is my first time writing a story on here, so I understand if you don't think it was that good. Criticism is welcome positive or negative, though given that this was my first try please be just a little bit gentle. Anyway thank you all for reading.