Dusk: The Beginning of Twilight Sparkle
Chapter 1: Hurry
BronyInDenial
The Cutie Mark Crusaders have amazingly still failed to earn their cutie marks, even after 143 different attempts. On this day, however, they had decided it would be a good idea to try and become 'Cutie Mark Crusaders Barbers.'
Needless to say, this was exactly the reason Pinkie Pie was going to the library. Her mane was short and jagged, and with her tail appearing to be nearly torn off, she was barely recognizable as herself.
The trip from Sugarcube Corner to the library took Pinkie just under forty-five minutes. Her Pinkie-sense told her if she was going to be seen by anypony, but, being Pinkie Pie, she became paranoid halfway through. She kept backtracking, managing to pass even Sweet Apple Acres before finally ending up at Twilight's house.
Flattening herself out, Pinkie slipped under the door and right into Twilight's hooves, who was about to flip the open sign in the library window.
"Um, Pinkie, you do realize that the door opens, right?", Twilight said.
Pinkie sprung up off the ground as she replied, "I know, but I didn't want anypony to see me."
"I can definitely see why," Twilight said, looking the pink mare up and down. "So what--?"
"Longstorycanyouhelpmebeforesomeponydecidestoreturnabookorsomething?"
"I guess...," Twilight said, already searching for a book on appearance spells.
"Ok, thanks Twilight. If anypony saw me like this, I would probably die of embarrassment."
"Hold still, Pinkie," Twilight said.
"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie replied.
"I can't do this if you keep bouncing, Twilight said, facehoofing.
"What? You silly filly, I'm not-- oh. Ok," Pinkie said as she stopped vibrating for the first time in several years.
Envisioning the party pony's mane in its usual form, Twilight's horn glowed as Pinkie's hair lengthened and expanded back to normal.
Pinkie let out a huge breath as the purple glow surrounding her dissipated. "Whoah! I can't believe how hard it is to stand still for that long. Thanks, Twi!"
Twilight rolled her eyes while Pinkie bounced out the door. Turning around, she called out. "Spike, where are you?"
A muffled voice came from the main room of the library. "In here. I found this new book called 'Daring Do and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Spike showed the cover to twilight as he came down the stairs. "It's really weird though. The dialogue just doesn't fit the characters. It's as if the author just took another book and just changed all of the characters names."
"Okay...," Twilight said walking into the kitchen. "Anyway, we're out of gems, so you're going to have to suck it up and eat a dandelion sandwich."
"Urgh. Fin- BURP!"
Twilight ran into the main room asking, "Spike, what was that? Did you eat too much ice cream again? I don't want you puk--"
"No, Twilight, it's actually a letter from Princess Celestia," Spike said, rolling his eyes. "Besides, that only happened once."
"Well, what does it say," Twilight said, approaching Spike.
"Uh, 'Dear Twilight Sparkle, a matter of great importance has a-rise-n--'"
"Arisen"
"Right. A matter of great importance has arisen and it is imperative that you come to Canterlot immediately so I can discuss it with you and Luna--.' Twilight, do you think that Discord is back."
"You can't pronounce 'arisen,' but you can pronounce 'imperative'? Really? Spike, do you really think that Princess Celestia would just forget to mention something that important?", Twilight asked, facehoofing again.
"Um, no," Spike said, turning red.
"Besides," Twilight said, her face softening as she glanced out the window, "it's not raining chocolate milk."
"Yeah...," Spike said. "Oh- it also says, 'I have sent a carriage to Ponyville to pick you up. Come alone. Love, H.R.H, Princess Celestia.'"
"Okay then. Spike, you can stay with Rarity while I'm gone. Maybe you can help dig for gems. I'm going to make a list of everything I need to pack."
As he was walking towards the door, Spike turned around to face Twilight. "I don't know, Twilight. It seemed pretty important--"
The was a screech out side and a knocking on the door. A glance out the window by Twilight confirmed the carriage was already here.
"And besides, it doesn't look like you have time, anyway," Spike said, handing Twilight the letter before walking out the door.
Twilight was quick to follow, but stopped when she saw the carriage. It was pulled by six armored pegasi. Approaching the nearest pony, she asked, "Sir, what's with so many stallions for only one carriage?"
"We have orders from Princess Celestia to get you to Canterlot as quickly as possible. I suggest you get in so we can leave soon," he replied in a rough voice.
"Oh, right. Sorry." Apologizing, Twilight climbed up onto the floor of the carriage.
Turning around, the pegasi said, "I suggest you hold onto something, Miss Sparkle," before opening his wings with the rest of the team to pull the carriage along the street.
When the carriage reached flying speed, it kept accelerating until Twilight had to use her magic to steady herself. The carriage was launched into the air, and when Ponyville was receding into the horizon, she pulled out the letter from Celestia and flattened it against the floor with her fore hooves. 'It is imperative that you come to Canterlot immediately so I can discuss it with you and Luna...' Usually it was 'Luna and I need to talk to you." This time, however, Princess Luna knew as much as Twilight did. What is Princess Celestia hiding from us? And- and, she signed the letter 'Love.' She's never done that before. Why would she start now?
Luna could just barely make out a speck in the sky from her sister's balcony, assuming it was Twilight's carriage, she turned to Celestia. "Why do you need your student so badly all of a sudden?"
"It pains me to keep secrets from you, Lulu, but you will find out soon enough," the elder alicorn replied.
"Why can't you tell me now though?", Luna whined, moping about like she used to as a filly.
"It would be... best that Twilight is here when I explain. It will take some time. And," Celestia added, "it concerns her."
Feedback would be really good. Thanks for reading.
Dusk: The Beginning of Twilight Sparkle
Chapter 2:
BronyInDenial
When Canterlot swung into view, it grew bigger at a pace Twilight had never seen before. The carriage was speeding like they were trying to outrun Discord. ‘Which maybe we are...’, Twilight thought.
When the carriage passed straight over the Royal Courtyard, Twilight opened her mouth to ask the pegasi where the carriage was headed. Nopony answered her, but no later had the carriage half-landed, half-crashed on Princess Celestia’s balcony.
“Blehh...,” Twilight said, peeling herself off of the carriage. Looking up, she saw Celestia walking towards the closed balcony doors, with Luna not far behind. “Princess! What happened? Who’s trying to take over Equestria? Why did you--?”
“Twilight-.” Before Celestia could continue, the Ponyville librarian kept rambling on.
“-theycamesofastandididntknowhat-”
“Twilight Sp-”
“-andithoughtthatyouwouldreall-”
“TWILIGHT SPARKLE!”
“Yes, Princess?”, Twilight asked, shrinking down.
“We invited you to Canterlot so we could talk to you. I apologize if the Royal Guard rushed you; they definitely weren’t supposed to crash here.” The team of pegasi gave Celestia sheepish grins as she glared at them. “So while they FIX THE ONLY CHARIOT WE HAVE, why don’t you join Luna and I for lunch.
Twilight beamed; she hadn’t spent a whole lunch with Princess Celestia since she had moved to Ponyville.
Twilight soon found herself seated in front of the Princesses and a dandelion salad roughly the size of a chariot wheel. Comparisons were rough, due to the fact that the nearest chariot wheels lay in dozens of pieces.
Celestia had ordered the guards to bring a banquet table into her bedroom, which Twilight found odd. Usually. the Princess would hold another court during lunchtime and eat then. It was supposed to help the public find something in Celestia that they could relate to.
After finishing a third of her colossal salad, Twilight looked up at the Princess and asked about the same issue. “You really didn’t cancel court today just for me, did you Princess?”
“I did indeed, Twilight. What we have to discuss is far more important than tax reform,” Celestia replied.
Twilight looked up at her mentor, confused. “But what about everypony else?”
“Then they will just have to come back another time,” Celestia said firmly, using her horn to pick up a painfully small tea sandwich.
After a few moments of silence, Luna was the first to speak. “Sister, I can hold court whilst you lecture your student,” she said, looking at the white alicorn hopefully.
Looking up at her sister, Celestia shook her head. “No... No. You need to stay.” Motioning for a servant to come over, she continued. “Have the guard evacuate this wing of the castle. Nopony is to approach this room until I say otherwise.”
The servant contradicted the Princess for the only time in her life. “Is that really wise, Your Majesty? To leave a quarter of the castle comp--”
“Yes.”
Taking a step back, the servant spoke quickly. “I shall do as you say.”
After Celestia made sure that her bedroom door was shut, her horn glowed as she cast a sealing spell on the room.
“What is so important that you are the only pony in Equestria who knows about it?” Luna inquired.
Celestia took a deep breath before continuing. “Today... w-we need to talk about immortality.”
Twilight, fearing the worst, jumped straight over the table and onto Celestia. “Princess! Are you dying? How couldyouevendie?Thatdoesn’tmakeanysense!Youcan’tdieprin-”
“Twilight.”
Celestia spoke so loudly that she was thankful for casting the sealing spell. “I, nor Luna, is dying, at least as far as I know. And I would know if we were.”
Twilight’s ears fell as she sat back on her haunches, landing straight in her salad bowl. “I-I’m sorry Princess,” she said, too embarassed to continue.
Luna watched this with a raised eyebrow. “Everypony already knows about immortality. What new facts are there to know?”
Celestia shook her head. “Not new facts; rather, old ones long forgotten.”
Twilight noticed that the princess took another deep breath before speaking again. She kept doing it, almost reflexively, so Twilight made a mental note to ask her about it later.
“Our parents, Ouranos and Gaia, eternal alicorns of the heavens, are the only true alicorns.”
Twilhight blinked, akin to a double take, except for what she had heard. “But that means you--”
Celestia continued without stopping. “They were created during the creation of the universe. Luna and I, being their children, also live forever.”
Twilight had given up dissuading her mentor from her lecture, and moved back onto her cushion to listen to the rambling princess.
“Because of our ancestry, we, as alicorns are greatly more in tune with the raw magic of the universe than most other ponies. It is what gives me the strength to move the sun, and same with Luna and the moon.” Looking down at her student, Celestia noticed that Twilight looked confused. “Do you understand?”
“I- I think so.”
“Good. The most important thing to remember is that we are alicorns because we live forever, and not that we live forever because we are alicorns.”
“Wait-- what?” Twilight asked, cocking her head to one side.
“The magic of the universe is part of our souls. Its life is tied to ours. As long as the universe lives, we live. Since the universe cannot die, we live forever.
“The magic also manifests itself in other ways. Our posession of both a horn and wings, our flowing hair, our large stature; all of these are caused by our bond with the universe.”
Twilight sat up eagerly, happy to be finally having a lesson with her teacher again.
“Every few eons, a pony is born with the gift to see the magic of the universe. To use it like it was another hoof. Princess Cadance was born seven hundred years ago. It was pure chance that she was of royal blood. She was the first noble to be born with this gift.
“The first pony ever to naturally have this gift was born over seventeen hundred years ago. Luna, can you remember who?” Celestia asked.
Luna, knowing the entirety of what Celestia was saying, had sat back and was examining her hooves until her sister’s question snapped her out of her bored stupor. “I believe that it was Star Swirl the Bearded,” she said, not even looking up.
Twilight gasped. “Star Swirl the Bearded? Bet he was only a unicorn! And he died before the Middle Ages!”
“He used an illusion spell to hide his wings, and he wouldn’t get many visitors, living in the Everfree Forest. As for his death, well,” Celestia sighed, looking down, “he created a spell so powerful, it ripped apart space-time sucking him and his house into the void. By the time I got there, it had already sucked in a large part of the forest. The Everfree Lake is where his house once stood.” Her face brightening the slightest bit, “Or we think it killed him. I like to think otherwise, as he was once my student.”
Twilight paused, trying to piece two and two together. “So you brought me to Canterlot... because you wanted to teach me... about Star Swirl the Bearded... really badly?”
