Prologue : The Last Problem
"Harmony is the most beautiful thing in the world, for it allows us to create powerful bonds between all beings on our earth. "
"And as long as we are honest, kind, generous, loyal and optimistic towards each other, nothing can destroy the bonds that bind us to Harmony."
"Especially since these bonds are strengthened by the most powerful magic of all."
"And this magic, this power that can make us do the impossible..."
"...This is the magic of the friendship ...."
Canterlot High School was a modest public school located somewhere in a respectable suburb of a pleasant little North American town called Canterlot City.
Founded in September 1986, Canterlot High School was not as old and prestigious as its competitor, the famous Crystal High School, but it still had a certain charm and offered all its students an environment perfectly suited to their education. It had a huge outdoor courtyard, several classrooms, a well-stocked library with books and textbooks, a cafeteria providing all kinds of healthy meals, a gymnasium which also served as a ballroom and an amphitheatre, a stadium dedicated to its own football team, and a magnificent display case in the entrance hall showing the various awards won by several students in the years before its creation.
Add to this a teaching staff that is both tough and fair to their students and you get pretty much what you would find in any public school of the kind there are thousands of throughout the country.
That is, banality.
Indeed, at first sight Canterlot High School seemed perfectly normal and nothing unusual ever happened there. Which of course led one to believe that it had absolutely nothing to hide and that it was indeed a perfectly ordinary public high school.
But what most people didn't know about the school was that it held an incredible secret.
A secret that no sane person on this planet would ever have imagined even in their wildest dreams. For in the centre of the school's outer courtyard, just below a large white marble statue of a proudly rearing horse, was a magical portal that once every thirty moons opened a passageway leading directly to another world. A parallel world populated by all sorts of mythological creatures and countless fantastic animals. A wonderful world in which there is a peaceful and prosperous land on which a kingdom of love and friendship was built long ago.
An enchanted kingdom called...
Equestria.
The kingdom of Equestria, somewhere deep in the vast and mysterious continent of Equus, was a beautiful land where three great tribes of equine animals of the pony race had lived for generations.
The first was that of the unicorns, people of the mountains, creators of precious objects and powerful horned mages whose mastery of magic was such that they were able to move the stars of the infinite space of the firmament.
The second was that of the Pegasus, people of the clouds, valiant winged warriors and meteorologists whose ancestral knowledge of this science allowed them to control and modify the weather as they wished, thus being able to trigger rain or shine.
And finally, the last of the three great tribes was that of the terrestrials, people of the plains, unquestionable feasters and farmers with a big heart, without wings or magic horns, but who on the other hand worked every day from sunrise to sunset, cultivating the earth with the sweat of their brow in order to feed the kingdom and all its inhabitants.
Once in conflict, its three tribes united to become one homeland, living for thousands of years in perfect harmony and unifying their strength against all kinds of enemies.
For Equestria was not the only kingdom in this wonderful Garden of Eden.
Distrustful and hostile to each other, some of these kingdoms scattered all over the immense continent of Equus coveted the land of the ponies with a formidable greed.
Equestria was often the target of numerous invasion attempts because of its abundant treasures.
Precious stones of many colours, fresh air of great purity, fertile and green lands, this peaceful kingdom with its paradisiacal appearance was indeed the object of all covetousness, but the greatest wealth of the kingdom of Equestria was in fact much more precious and much older than all the buried treasures of the country combined.
And this wealth was called :
Magic.
As pure as a blue diamond and as white as snow, the magic of Equestria was so powerful that it could become extremely dangerous once it fell into the wrong hands.
Some of them had managed to get hold of it and had almost plunged all the kingdoms of the continent of Equus into darkness, thus reducing all the free peoples of this immense sacred land to slavery.
Until a young princess emerged from the depths of the darkness and with her light defeated the evil forces, uniting the kingdoms of Equus against their formidable enemies.
Once the balance was restored, the continent of Equus entered a new era, without borders, governed by love and friendship, and where all the creatures of the kingdoms existing within it lived together in perfect harmony.
And to celebrate this union between the peoples of Equus, every year a day of festivities was organised in the capital of the pony kingdom in honour of this glorious unity, which was named the festival of friendship. It is in this city, during this same day, that we introduce the fabulous story that will be told to you.
Only inhabited a few years ago by unicorns, pegasus and land ponies, the city of Canterlot (named after the American city where the mirror is located to enter this enchanted world) had become a haven of peace welcoming many creatures coming from the different kingdoms found in the four corners of the imposing continent of Equus.
Working paw to paw, ponies, dragons, griffins, changelins, yaks, hippogriffs and other fantastic animals had risen early this morning to prepare for the huge fiesta that would take place that evening.
Music, style, atmosphere and banqueting all had their part to play in welcoming and entertaining the many guests invited to this crazy evening celebrating peace, freedom and unity between the peoples of Equus.
But as the stalls began to be set up, the food began to be prepared, the streets of the city began to be decorated and the sweet melody of harmony began to be played for the festival of friendship, a young griffin in blue plumage and golden armour made his way through the crowd aided by other creatures in armour who shouted at the top of their voices, "Let Captain Gallus pass! Make way!"
Appointed Captain of the Royal Guard of Equestria only a few months ago, Gallus Bluefeather was the first griffin in the history of the pony kingdom to achieve this high and noble office. Of course, for a while it was not to everyone's liking, but thanks to the support of his mentor, he had managed to prove that he was worthy of this high responsibility. And while we're on the subject of his mentor, the captain of the guards was on his way to the royal palace to pay him a little visit.
For his mentor was none other than Princess Twilight Sparkle, the mare who, with the help of her friends, unified all the peoples and defeated the dark forces that had once tried to conquer the continent of Equus and enslave all the kingdoms within it.
Carrying in his right paw a parchment intended for the princess, he and his escort entered the throne room where the beautiful and resplendent ruler of Equestria stood, who turned her attention from a conversation with one of her ministers for a moment to give a look of tenderness and pride to the man who had once been her devoted pupil.
The minister fell silent as the captain of the guards and his subordinates approached and bowed respectfully to her once close enough to the throne, saying serenely, "Your Highness, I convey to you on this glorious day my most sincere greetings."
Once her subordinates followed her example, the princess in a voice as soft and warm as the dawn joyfully pronounced: "Captain Bluefeather I also greet you and your soldiers with all the respect that is due to your office. "Once she had spoken her words, she turned to the minister still speaking with gentleness and kindness: "We will resume this discussion later, I must speak with the captain of the guards in private."
"Yes Your Excellency."
With that he withdrew, soon followed by the captain's subordinates who closed the door behind them, leaving them alone in the huge throne room.
"Your Highness, I know it is not my duty to do this sort of thing but-"
But before the griffin could finish his sentence, the ruler of Equestria pulled him into a warm, but perhaps a little too strong, embrace.
"I am so happy to see you again, my little Gallus! Forgive me if I have not yet congratulated you on your nomination, I have not had a single minute to myself! But I want you to know that I am really proud of you! You can't imagine how happy I am for you, my dear little griffin!"
The poor thing was so tightly bound by the royal mare's embrace that he could hardly breathe to the point of becoming as blue as the feathers of his own plumage.
"Oh sorry! I'm sorry, I got a little carried away by my emotions." She said, blushing slightly in embarrassment as her guard captain tried to catch his breath.
Normally he would have reprimanded the first creature who dared to do such a familiar act to his own person, but looking at his mentor he knew he couldn't stay angry at her, let alone for the show of affection she had just shown him.
A great beauty, Princess Twilight Sparkle was what was known as an alicorn, an immortal being similar to a pony, but much larger than most of her kind and possessing all the attributes of the three great equestrian tribes, namely the magical horn of the unicorns, the powerful wings of the pegasus, and the prodigious strength of the earth ponies.
Possessing powers equal to those of a god, the princess could easily subjugate all the kingdoms of Equus to her will and crush anyone who stood in her way if the thought crossed her mind. And yet all that emanated from the princess goddess was kindness and benevolence towards her fellow man.
Proudly wearing the crown of Equestria on her head, the royal mare was quite a bit taller than the young griffin in armour. She was dressed only in shoes and a golden collar, highlighting her sublime body of an intense purple colour, which matched perfectly with her eyes, and which could give the captain of the guards a deep feeling of well-being.
Using her hoof to remove a lock of her long mane as blue as night from her amethyst eyes, itself floating magically behind her back (another alicorn peculiarity) she looked at her former student in a way that could make him follow her to the end of the world if she gave him the order.
"So, Captain? To what do I owe the honour of your visit? Nothing serious, I hope?"
"Well, before I was attacked by His Royal Highness," he chuckled slightly as he saw his mentor blush even more, "I was about to offer you a missive of the utmost importance. Admittedly, it's not my job to do this sort of thing, but I wanted to be the one to hand it to you in clean clutches."
He handed her the parchment in his right paw, which aroused Her Highness' curiosity.
"What is this?" The princess inquired as she unrolled the scroll.
"This is a list of the names of the guests who will be present at the festival of friendship."
"But then that means that-" she began as a huge smile of happiness formed on her face to the delight of the captain who already knew that this news would enchant his beloved sovereign.
"Yes Your Highness, they have almost all answered the call."
"Almost?" Princess Twilight Sparkle asked as her enthusiasm began to disappear almost as quickly as it had come.
"Yes, only two of the names on your list have yet to send a response to your invitation," the griffin clarified, "The first of those names is the 'great and powerful' Trixie who demands that you come to her house and invite her in person."
"Decidedly, she will never change," she smiled, rolling her eyes. "And who was the second name not to respond to my invitation?"
At this question, the griffin hesitated for a long time before giving her an answer. "You're not going to like it."
"Why is that? Who is it about?"
Outside the royal palace, the streets of the capital of the pony kingdom were already bustling with activity, especially with the preparations for the many festivities that would take place that evening after dark.
Food, drinks, songs, games, traditional dances of each kingdom, beauty contests, plays, fireworks and other festivities were waiting for all the inhabitants of the glorious city who seemed to be impatient to be able to attend the festival of friendship to which they were all invited.
Yes, everyone was eager.
All but one.
For inside a sumptuous mansion not far from the royal palace was a sad and lonely young unicorn female who was trying to ignore what was happening in the busy streets of her home town at this early hour.
Considered Princess Twilight's best student, this poor little unicorn with the pink coat and golden mane was named Luster Dawn.
And although she had no animosity towards the Friendship Festival, the young unicorn always managed not to attend every year.
Of course, she knew perfectly well the context in which this festival was created, but the victory over the forces of evil and the unification of the peoples was, according to her, due to strategy and a great military strength reinforced thanks to the union of the kingdoms which, faced with a critical situation, had to ally themselves to have a chance against a common enemy, friendship had nothing to do with it.
Friendship.
Of all the words that existed, it was probably the one she feared the most.
Introverted by nature, the young unicorn had never had many friends in her life. And with the colossal amount of work that her high magic studies required, she had little time to devote to them.
Especially since she had a certain opinion of friendship that she would love to share with her fellow students at the prestigious Celestia Magic Academy, the school where she was enrolled.
But when you have a princess as a teacher, and not just any princess, since she was nicknamed the Princess of Friendship, it was difficult to express that kind of view to anyone without denigrating the teachings of the one who literally held her future in her claws.
And of course, not to make things any easier, the ruler of Equestria had given her a very important task that she had to carry out with one or more strangers, no doubt to encourage her to make friends or to make her understand the importance of solidarity and team spirit. Probably both at the same time.
However, this did not help the situation, which was already complicated enough for the young unicorn who, seeing a group of friends passing in the street, felt a ball forming in her stomach. Why was everyone giving so much importance to something that she didn't think was important?
She had to find a way to convince the princess to let her work on the assignment alone. Easier said than done though, but at least she could always find an excuse not to go to the festival. She would explain to her teacher in a letter that she was ill at the time and could not attend the festivities. This would allow her to stay at home for the rest of the week to prepare the request she intended to submit to the princess and thus avoid anything remotely related to friendship for at least five days.
But before she had time to write her letter, someone came knocking at her door.
Not particularly expecting any visitors today, she went to open the door, wondering what was wanted, especially as she had hung a sign with the words "Do not disturb" written on it:
DO NOT DISTURB!
While she expected to see the face of Mrs. Ditzy Doo, a grey pegasus working at the post office, with a blond mane and squinting eyes who had surely once again made a mistake in her address, she was finally surprised to see a member of the Royal Guard.
"Luster Dawn, Her Highness Princess Twilight wishes to speak with you at the palace as soon as possible," He said in a loud and slightly authoritative manner.
Hearing this, the pink unicorn petrified: was the princess a mind reader now?
"Are you all right?" Asked the stallion in golden armour who was obviously very worried by the pale complexion and lack of reaction of his interlocutor who, for several seconds, remained motionless and silent in front of him, with a blank stare and a wide open mouth.
"W-What? Oh uh... Yes! All right, just give me time to get ready and I'm yours!" She said in complete panic before abruptly closing the front door before the guard even had time to understand what had just happened.
If she wasn't sick, she was seriously starting to get sick, or at least she would have preferred to be, because the young unicorn knew precisely the reason why the princess had summoned her to the royal palace only a few hours before the Friendship Festival. And unfortunately for her, there was no escaping it.
How was she going to explain to her beloved teacher that she did not want to attend the festivities that evening? And more importantly, how was she going to explain to him that she neither believed nor wanted to believe in friendship?
How would she react?
Would she be angry?
Would she shame Equestria if everyone learned that Luster Dawn, the best student of the Princess of Friendship, did not believe in her teachings, which everyone considered to be the very foundation of the unification of all the kingdoms of the continent of Equus?
In any case, if she had to tell him something important, it was now or never, for better or for worse.
A few minutes later, the young candy-pink unicorn escorted by the royal guard arrived at the palace, her nervousness growing as she approached the throne room.
Once she reached the door, the guard accompanying her politely asked her to wait and let Princess Twilight Sparkle know of her arrival, which only made her more anxious.
"Your pupil Miss Dawn has arrived, your highness," she could hear from the other side of the door leading to the throne room.
"Show her in please."
At these words the large door opened before the young unicorn, allowing her to see Princess Twilight sitting on the throne with the captain of the royal guard. Seeing her favourite pupil she smiled with great tenderness as she was wont to do in recent years.
"Perhaps she has summoned me today to talk about something else?"
The thought had the effect of reassuring her a little, especially seeing that no form of anger seemed to emanate from her mentor.
"Hello Luster, I'm glad to see you again," she said in a tone as soft as a sunbeam on a wheat field on a summer's day.
"Greetings your highness, the feeling is mutual and I am also glad to see you again Captain Bluefeather," The young unicorn replied cheerfully as she bowed respectfully to her teacher and the Captain of the Royal Guard who offered her a kind smile.
"How may I be of service to you your highness?" Luster Dawn asked her teacher politely as she gently straightened up on her paws after the ruler beckoned her to stand up.
"Oh don't worry I don't particularly need you today my dearest Luster Dawn," replied Princess Twilight in a rather friendly tone.
"Then why have you summoned me?"
"Does there have to be a reason to discuss and spend time with my young apprentice?" Asked the ruler of Equestria, raising her eyebrows.
"Forgive me your highness! I meant no disrespect! I misspoke!" She confessed in apology, obviously very afraid that she had done something stupid to the princess.
"Calm down, calm down, don't worry my child, you didn't offend me in any way," assured the princess, trying to reassure her protégée who inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
"You really must be very careful what you say in front of her in the future, otherwise things will get very hot for you."
Said poor little Luster Dawn in her head as she berated herself.
"I think you can retire Captain Bluefeather, I'll leave you and your subordinates to enjoy the rest of your day," Said the princess as she turned to the blue griffin in armor.
"Are you sure your highness? Not that I mind, but I remind you that there will be a lot of people at the festival tonight, not to mention representatives from all the kingdoms of Equus, security will have to be greatly increased and who knows what might happen to us tonight!"
The princess chuckled softly delighted to see that her captain was actually taking her job seriously before calmly telling her while gently placing a hoof on her shoulder." Don't worry about that my dearest Gallus, I've made arrangements with the rulers of the other kingdoms who have agreed to lend us a few soldiers to keep Canterlot safe during the festival of friendship."
"Really!?"
"Yes you can go home and rest and enjoy the festivities with your wife." She said with a wink that had the effect of making the griffin blush immensely.
"Oh... well... m-thanks your highness and have a great day!" Said the griffon nervously as he bowed respectfully to the ruler of Equestria before quickly leaving the throne room as red as a peony, leaving the princess alone with her student.
"Would you like some tea Luster?" She asked the young pink unicorn.
"No thank you your highness."
"Perfect, more for me then," she said mischievously as a maid brought the ruler of Equestria a beautiful plate of chocolate cookie and a small cup of chamomile tea delicately placed on a silver tray. "So? How is your school year going?" She asked Luster Dawn quietly as she ate one of the cookies.
"Well, it's going very well, Your Highness! Last week I got an A+ in Applied Magical Science, we started studying a new chapter in History, well it's true that I still have some gaps in my potion knowledge but Professor Nova promised to give me a private lesson on what I didn't understand but other than that I finished all my homework for the week and the next few weeks!" Said Luster Dawn, euphoric to be able to share her academic exploits with her teacher.
"So you found someone to work with on the assignment I gave you?" Princess Twilight suddenly asked with interest while taking a sip of her warm, sweet, fragrant drink.
"I... I beg your pardon?" Inquired the young unicorn as the large lump that had disappeared from her stomach earlier suddenly resurfaced.
"You did say that you've been working on every assignment for the past week and the ones to come, so I take it that you've found a friend or friends to work on the assignment I gave you, am I right?"
Realizing that she had just betrayed herself, the young unicorn tried to give him an explanation, but unfortunately for her no words came out of her mouth.
Dying of shame, she sadly lowered her head and ears, not even daring to look the princess in the eyes.
The latter gave a long sigh as she descended from her throne to approach her young protégée.
"Luster, I'm very worried about you, you know? Yes, you are a very bright filly, I don't deny it, but the problem is that everyone around you has told me that you have a very unsociable behaviour, you always stay by yourself during lessons and playtime! Said the princess of friendship in an almost maternal tone. And when you're not at school working, you stay locked up all day in your flat, working continuously without ever stopping to rest or even have fun! Here is the proof!" She exclaimed, showing her apprentice the parchment that Captain Bluefeather had given her in the morning. Gallus, well I mean Captain Bluefeather reported to me this morning that you still haven't given an answer to the invitation I sent you for the friendship festival that will take place tonight!"
"I'm sorry your highness, I didn't mean to disappoint you in any way but... but...", she couldn't finish her sentence because she had just burst into tears which broke her mentor's heart who hated seeing her like this.
She then came to take her gently in her paws to pull her into a soft and warm embrace whispering softly, "Shhhh, let's calm down Luster, forgive me, I shouldn't have spoken like that, it's okay."
The princess' embrace had the effect of soothing the little unicorn who stopped crying immediately, raising her head towards her teacher, plunging her golden gaze into those of her mentor who gently wiped her tears with a feather from her gigantic purple wings.
"I don't like to see you like this Luster," she said as she stroked his mane, "Tell me, what's got you so upset?"
"I... I... I'd rather not talk about it..." Replied the unicorn, looking away from her, which the Equestria princess's hoof immediately brought back to her.
"Please my darling, I can see that you are suffering a lot and I can't help you if you don't tell me, keeping problems to yourself brings much more suffering than you think." She said as she gently released the unicorn from her embrace so that they could once again look each other in the face.
"You... you promise not to get angry?" She said soothingly, but still with some fear in her.
"You have my word Luster, cross my heart, iron cross, if I'm lying I'll eat my iron," Princess Twilight promised as she made a sign of the cross over her heart with her hoof before putting it over her left eye. "You can trust me."
Knowing she could trust the princess, she tried to explain the precise reason for her problem, but she couldn't manage it not knowing where to start. "I... I don't know how to explain it to you... everything is running around in my head... it's awful."
"Take all the time you need, don't be afraid to say what you're feeling inside, as your teacher I'm here to help you and not to push you down," the princess assured with a gentle smile, "And then if it helps close your eyes, take a deep breath and sum up all your problems in one word and together we'll try to find a solution to this."
Upon hearing this, Luster Dawn nodded, closed her eyes, took a deep breath of oxygen and slowly and distinctly pronounced the reason for all her woes in one word as Princess Twilight had advised her student.
"Friendship."
Expecting to see a face full of disappointment and incomprehension on her mentor's face as she opened her eyes, to her surprise the princess seemed rather calm at the young pink unicorn's unexpected revelation to say the least.
"So it's friendship that puts you in this state?" She asked Luster Dawn.
"Yes your highness," the unicorn replied shamefully, lowering her head and ears.
"Is it making friends that is causing you problems?" She asked him, trying to get a good understanding of her student.
"Not only that... I think I just don't believe in it..."
Faced with her student's harsh answer, Princess Twilight decided to remain silent for as long as it took to allow Luster Dawn to develop her point of view on friendship, which seemed rather negative to say the least.
"Everyone thinks that friendship is the most beautiful thing in the world, but honestly I think it's the stupidest thing ever invented and I don't understand why everyone puts so much importance on it!"
The unicorn then exclaimed, finally releasing everything that had been on her mind for a long time." The history books say that it is thanks to the magic of friendship that all the peoples of Equus have united, but if that were true there would have been no more wars for a long time! It would be if all the battles had been won with hugs and cupcakes!" continued Luster with some anger.
"And seriously, what are friends for, except to waste your time? You're living proof of that! You once had countless adventures with your 'friends' and yet now you hardly see each other! So what's the point of making friends if you end up losing them? What I'm saying is that friendship is pointless!"
Realising that she had perhaps gone a little too far in her words, she then came to bow to her teacher and sovereign who now looked at her with an indescribable expression on his face.
"I beg your pardon your highness I meant no disrespect to you, your teachings, your friends and all that you have accomplished together, but I had to express my resentment of what is called friendship, so if you wish to punish me or no longer have me as a pupil I will fully understand your decision."
As the young unicorn mentally prepared herself to be banished, locked in a dungeon or worse expelled from her school forever, something truly unexpected happened.
"Uh... Your Highness?"
The ruler of Equestria was currently laughing out loud while crying with joy, was she laughing devilishly as she imagined the punishment she was about to inflict on him or what?
"Princess... are you... are you laughing at me?" Luster inquired as he saw the princess laughing like that.
"No Luster, I'm laughing because you see, I had said exactly the same thing when I was your age," she said smiling fondly.
"W-what!?" Asked the young unicorn with the pinkish coat and golden mane, wondering if she had heard correctly or just imagined what her mentor had just said.
"You heard me right, my darling," she chuckled as she stroked her protégé's mane with her hoof.
"You know, I wasn't always the mare I am today," said the princess. "When I was a teenager, I was a really horrible person, and that's not a strong word."
"I really can't believe it," said Luster Dawn, trying hard to imagine her teacher and role model like that.
"And yet it's the truth, I was a mean, angry, selfish, manipulative, lying filly and I despised anything to do with friendship."
She laughed softly with nostalgia as she thought back to who she was before she ruled the pony kingdom," and just like you my dearest Luster, nothing mattered to me in life except my studies of high magic."
"But, I don't understand, if you really were that horrible mare and hated friendship so much, what made you change so much?"
Smiling in a satisfied manner as if she expected her student to eventually ask that question, she began to walk out of the throne room motioning for the young pink unicorn to follow her as she asked softly, "Come on Luster, I'd like to show you something."
Moments later, the Princess of Friendship led her young apprentice to the highest room in the highest tower of the palace, the young pink unicorn unaware at the time that she was about to enter one of the most important rooms in the kingdom.
When the doors of the room in question opened before Luster Dawn's astonished eyes, she was at first dazzled by the light emanating from within before giving a small cry of surprise as she discovered in wonder what lay on the other side of the two doors.
"Wow."
Inside the mysterious room were countless coloured stained glass windows with sublime designs etched and drawn in the glass, some of which depicted a much younger version of the current ruler of Equestria.
"But where are we?" Luster asked, looking at a stained glass window that had particularly caught his eye.
"We are in the stained glass room," replied the Princess of Friendship, also admiring the stained glass window wistfully.
"The stained glass room?"
"Yes Luster, this is where we have transcribed the greatest events in the history of our kingdom since its inception," she said pointing to all the stained glass windows in the room as she made a great motion with her gigantic wings.
As the young unicorn admired each of the stained glass windows around her a question crossed her mind, "So you really think that one day I would do something important enough to appear on one of them?"
"That is all I hope for you my child," replied the princess with a gentle smile, "But it is not to show you that that is why I have brought you to this place."
At her words she led her pupil into the middle of the room where rested on a red velvet cushion itself resting on a white marble desk a large book, many years old, brown in colour and decorated with small golden designs on each side of it, with the head of a golden unicorn in the centre, its eye encrusted with a tiny emerald.
To the eyes of an ordinary pony it might be a simple book like so many others in the vast world of theirs, but to our dear Luster Dawn it was an immense and fabulous treasure.
"What do you think? What do you think?" Princess Twilight asked, amused by the starry-eyed look in her student's eyes.
"Your Highness, it's really beautiful! But there's something strange about this book," she replied as she approached the book to examine it a little closer with the help of her beautiful golden eyes.
"What is it?" Inquired the princess.
"Well, I have read and studied countless books in my lifetime, whether it be at school, in the Canterlot library or even in the one inside the palace and yet this is the first time I have seen this one," replied the young pink unicorn intrigued. "Why have I never heard of it before today?"
"It's very simple my young apprentice, if you've never seen this book before, it's because no one knows about its existence except you and me," said the alicorn as she gently placed one of her hooves on Luster's shoulder.
"Really!?" The pinkish unicorn exclaimed in shock at this revelation, "But come on, why would you hide such a magnificent book in a remote place like this?"
"Well, let's just say I was waiting for the perfect time to show it to my best student," replied Princess Twilight Sparkle with a wink.
"You mean you wrote it!?" Asked a complemented Luster in awe because she had just heard.
"Yes my child, I was going to give it to you on your graduation day, but I think you need it more than ever," said the princess as she made the book avoid her by using the magic of her horn to her hoof.
"My dear Luster, you once asked me if I had told you everything about my adventures," the princess continued, clutching the large book to her heart.
"Although I may have told you the truth, I may not have told you everything and I think it is high time you knew what really happened and hopefully you will find in my memoirs the answers to all the questions you have about this strange and wonderful thing called friendship."
As she spoke her last words, she gently handed the book to her pupil who took it gently in her little hooves.
When she opened it, the young unicorn quickly noticed a detail that piqued her curiosity, "But your highness, your book has no title!"
The ruler of Equestria laughed at the young unicorn's remark.
"The only problem I have never been able to solve since I became a princess, I have written it over and over again and yet I have never managed to find a suitable title for it, but perhaps when you read it you will be able to succeed where I have failed."
She said in a tone full of confidence and respect towards her favourite student, while slowly starting to walk her towards the exit.
Back in her home Luster Dawn had hesitated for a long time before tackling the untitled book her teacher had written, for still not believing in friendship she had considered putting it away somewhere in a drawer and returning it to its owner a little later, but the poor old grimoire had most likely spent many years locked in a tower without even being read once.
Besides, Princess Twilight must have gone to a lot of trouble to write this book.
No, her behaviour was really unfair, sure she still didn't want to open up to others and her opinion on friendship wasn't about to change, but her mentor had chosen her to be the first person in the world to discover the fruit of her hard work and she had even given her (indirectly) the mission to help her find a name for it.
So she went upstairs to lock herself in her room, double-locked the door with her magic, sat comfortably on her desk and used her magic to open the first page to start reading the famous book:
'Once upon a time, in the magical kingdom of Equestria, there were two princess and sister ponies who kept the peace.
The older one used her alicorn powers to make the sun rise at dawn.
The younger one made the moon rise at night.
In this way the two sisters kept the balance in their kingdom for the happiness of all the ponies.
But as time went by the younger sister developed a feeling of jealousy, the ponies played and basked in the sun that her older sister had made rise, but feared and slept through her beautiful nights.
Until one day the young alicorn refused to let the moon set to make way for the dawn.
Her older sister tried to calm her down, but the grief that had taken over her heart had finally turned her younger sister into an evil mare named Nightmare Moon who swore to plunge the whole world into eternal night.
Reluctantly, the older girl resigned herself to using the magic of the most powerful artifacts in Equestria.
The elements of harmony.
With the magic of these elements she was able to defeat her younger sister and banish her to the moon for good.
So the older sister took charge of the sun and the moon.
Since then, peace reigns in Equestria.'
"Hmm, the elements of harmony, I'm sure I've heard of them before," Luster Dawn said aloud to herself, interrupting her reading. "But where?"
Putting that question aside for later, she immediately dove back into the book her royal mentor had entrusted to her earlier that day.
For her part, Princess Twilight Sparkle had returned to the stained glass room for a moment's respite to once again contemplate the stained glass window she and Luster Dawn had spent time on earlier in the day.
Depicting a much younger version of herself surrounded by five colourful mares and a young purple dragon, she gently placed a hoof on the beautiful glass panel before closing her eyes to gently let the magic of nostalgia lull her.
Remembering all the crazy and wonderful adventures she had once had in her incredible youth with her best friends.
From the beginning.
