Perhaps, the life of a creature doesn't always take the expected turn that one would always expect. One will know how they got to where they were with their choices. You took the chance to go to the library one day and discovered you liked to read. You liked it so much that you learned many different things from those books. You used the skills you found for a tough exam, you passed it, and thus you were set on the path to become a prized student. In turn, you become a hero. Although you may not think it, becoming who you are is not some cosmic plan, sometimes where you end up is because of who you are. For Twilight Sparkle, perhaps becoming the prized student wasn't her ultimate destiny. Perhaps it was being a hero.
()()()()()()()
Celestia. She rules over Equestria, or at least what's left of it. Cataclysm has struck Equestria yet again, and this time there's no escape. Even with her powers, Luna's powers, the power of the Elements of Harmony, there's no chance of victory. Not that the Elements would be at their full power anyway, now that most of the Element Bearers are dead. The attackers singled out the Bearers, targeting them one by one. First Rarity, then Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy. All that remained was Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie, and neither were doing well. Twilight had exhausted every form of spell, every trick she had, and it wasn't enough. And Pinkie, she didn't have anything left in her. Now that her friends were gone, nothing seemed to matter.
With little to no force to battle this threat, she knew a few things would have to happen. One, Discord had to be set free. Two, he would have to be so chaotic, it would mess with time. And three, she would have to reveal to Twilight the many mysteries that surround her.
Celestia led Twilight to the courtyard and told Twilight of her plan to free Discord.
“Princess, you know this decision is a mistake. We have enough problems as it is!” Twilight was finding it very hard to argue with her old mentor. Not because it was impossible to do, on contrary, Twilight found it surprisingly easy to find fault within the Princess's plans. It was hard because this was the ruler, the goddess, that was to protect them. This was the being that promised that no harm would come to them. And here she is now, ready to unleash a being that would most likely do far more damage than good.
“Twilight, in order for my plan to succeed, Discord must be free. Once he is free, we'll convince him to follow our plan,” Celestia said this with her eyes forward, looking straight at the statue that Discord was contained in.
“The plan that you haven't explained yet? The plan that nopony knows about?” Twilight was angry, it had been many months since she felt happy about seeing Celestia. “You've done this before, and you know what happened? Disaster. And every time we asked you to explain your plan, or listen to what he had to say, you know what that ended in?”
“I'm going to say, 'disaster'?” Celestia asked mockingly. Though Twilight had been great at keeping her in line, she was quite annoying.
“Don't push me Celestia. Thanks to your lack of foresight, most of my friends are dead. And my other friend, the one who talked all the time, barely talks at all!” Twilight slammed her hoof down to show the seriousness of her words. Celestia paid no mind to it. “Celestia!”
“Twilight, it amazes me how much like your father you truly are.” Celestia turned around to Twilight with a sly smile. “Dusk would be so proud.”
“What are you talking about? My father's name was Orion.” Twilight hated how the Princess was so vague.
“Looks like argument worked at least.” Celestia turned Twilight's head to the statue of Discord. It began cracking and shined with a yellow light. With a flash, Discord was free.
“Ahhh! It feels so good to be free,” Discord stretched. “I thought I was gonna have to mess with Picard some more.” Celestia and Twilight shook their heads at Discord's rambling. “And what's this? Twilight Sparkle and Celestia freeing me from my prison? It's not my birthday is it?”
“Discord, take a look around.” Discord turned his head around and around to get a full view. The land was dead, the sky was red from fire, and in the distance he could hear screams.
“You dun goofed Celestia. I'm supposed to bring the chaos, not those wannabe destroyers.”
“Which is why I need you to leak a little chaos into the past to prevent this catastrophe,” Celestia calmly said.
“Why would I help you? You who burned my heart, you the actual alien of this land.”
Alien? Twilight thought. What does he mean by that?
“Because, Discord, if you don't help me, our enemy will kill us. All of us.”
“And who would that be?” Discord asked. Celestia sighed and frowned.
“Tundra,” The only time Twilight had ever seen a sign of fear from Discord was when he was entrapped within stone. This time, he looked as is he knew he was going to die for sure.
“Right. I'll get to work on that tinkering,” Discord sat down and closed his eyes, focusing. He opened one eye to Celestia. “And I just want to point out, it's your fault that he's here. Your fault, her fault,”Discord pointed at Twilight who looked surprised, “Luna's fault, Cadence's fault, and that other alien.” Twilight shook her head in confusion.
“What are you talking about? What are you all talking about?!” Celestia appeared sad and cleared her throat.
“Twilight, I'm afraid I haven't been forward with you at all. There's so much to tell, but I think you'll find out in your own time,” Celestia began walking towards Discord but was stopped by a wall risen by Twilight.
“No. You'll explain it to me now.” Twilight, the loyal student of Celestia was not going to let her leave without an answer.
“Pffft. She has the ability to stop you already. Imagine if you had let her grow, she would have stopped Tundra for sure,” Discord said as a bright light started to encircle him.
“Let me grow? What are you talking about?” Twilight noticed Celestia slouching onto the ground. She had a very sad expression.
“Twilight, you are like me, Luna and Cadence. You are an Alicorn.” It was hard for Twilight to take this in.
“What are you talking about? I'm a unicorn. I've always been a unicorn!” Twilight's anger was felt by everyone present. She was filled with confusion, rage, and sadness.
“We've had to keep the truth hidden from you for many years. Your parents were trusted servants of mine. They lived to serve me and when I asked them to raise you, they didn't argue.” Celestia looked u the sky, further reminding her of the coming demise. “I'm sorry, but you'll find out soon enough. Discord. Are you ready?”
“Just about. I'm going to change one aspect of the past, that should make the outcome that much better.” The light Discord omitted quickly focused into his eyes, showing that the power he had generated was at his command. “I'm going to make it so you don't recover Twilight when she first lands.”
“LANDS?! What are you talking about?!” Twilight was about to ask more, but her mindset was interrupted by a large crash behind her. It was the Canterlot Castle, it was crumbling.
“Now or never Discord,” Celestia said, “do it!” Discord closed his eyes and began chanting words to himself. “Twilight, all will be made clearer next time.” Twilight shook her head, but before she knew it, the world she knew was crumbling around her. The dark world that face annihilation, was being eras-
()()()()()()()
25 years earlier
Deep in the untamed land of Equestria was a whole other culture. The wild, uncontrolled by higher society, thrived. The ancient creatures thought long lost to Ponykind lived on. And deep within this land, lived an old earth Pony named Okabo. Okabo was not your run of the mill Earth Pony, he was a master of martial arts. He spent the majority of his life training to reach levels of power beyond what any normal pony could reach. But he was in the later years of his life and found peace within the lands he called home. Everyday was another adventure, another day to train, another day of living and enjoying life.
“Hmm. Some cooked rice sounds delicious for tonight,” the old pony chimed to himself. He was walking along a mountain path, enjoying the sunset. “Celestia gave me a good sunset tonight. Maybe this is her way of saying hello.” The old pony giggled and continued walking along the path. He looked up at the starry night. “She still could do better with the night sky. I don't think she's that imaginative to do it.” As he said this, he noticed a few shooting stars. “I suppose she does try her best though.” He closed his eyes and made a wish.
Another good year would be nice. Maybe add some variety. He nodded, satisfied with his wish, and went on his way. But something was wrong. He turned around and noticed the shooting star he wished upon coming towards him. Maybe I should have asked just for the good year.
Before he knew it, the shooting star crashed into a valley just over a ridge line not too far away from him. The explosion wasn't large, nor was it too loud.
“That crashed with more of a thud if you ask me,” the old Pony said to himself. He galloped over to the crash site and saw a white pod with what appeared to be a red window of sorts. He made his way into the crater and towards the pod. From what he could tell, it was made out of a strange metal. Nothing like he had ever seen before. It didn't have any damage, aside from when it was on fire, which was really strange to him. He carefully walked over to the pod. He inspected it from all sides and closed the distance even further.
He jumped back when the pod made a loud hiss. The pod opened up, allowing what appeared to be fog to escape. Okabo waded through the fog to see what was in the pod. What he found surprised him, a little baby filly fast asleep.
“What a cute little filly,” Okabo went inside the pod and picked her up. She had lavender fur with purple eyes. He looked her little head and saw a small horn. “A unicorn eh? How did you get yourself out here little one? Little experiment gone wrong?” He looked around the little filly to see if there was any indication of where the pod came from. Unfortunately, any markings he could see, he wasn't able to understand. He looked back at the little filly but something caught his eye. Wings. Little wings at her sides.
“You have a horn?” He looked. There it was. “And you have wings.” He looked. There they were.
“So that makes you like Celestia... hmmm.” Okabo squinted at the filly. She was still fast asleep. The pod sealed up, leaving Okabo with many questions. He looked back at the filly and smiled. “I suppose it doesn't really matter now.” The pod started to make sound and female voice spoke up. The noise made the little filly wake up and looked at the pod with Okabo.
“POD IN MAINTANANCE MODE. OCCUPANT NAME: TWILIGHT. STATUS: OUT OF POD. SHUTTING DOWN.” The pod stopped making noise and remained silent. Okabo looked over at the little filly who had a blank expression on her face.
“So your name is Twilight?” Okabo asked. The little filly frowned and started taking swings at Okabo. “Aggressive aren't you?” Okabo laughed and placed the filly on his back. “You've got a fighting spirit little one, but you won't last long out here.” He took some thrush and brush and covered the pod, placing it out of sight and out of mind. Twilight thrashed around on Okabo's back for a little bit, but fell asleep soon afterward. “Still just a filly little one. You need sleep to be strong.” Okabo giggled and made his way back home. “Maybe she'll mellow out a bit after living here for some time.”
()()()()Some time later...()()()
“No Twilight! Put that down!” She hadn't mellowed out. She seemed to have gotten worse. Nothing seemed to make Twilight calm down. She was very aggressive and very angry. Every toy Okabo gave her was thrown back into his face, every time he tried to give her a bath, she kicked him in the chin. And now she was grabbing an artifact that was as old as Equestria itself.
“Twilight. It's rude not to share,” Okabo edged closer to Twilight who was fluttering a bit in the air. She was already a fast flyer for her age. When Okabo reached out to her, she zoomed past him and out the window of his small house, dropping the orb on her way out. The house could fit a pony or two, which was perfect for Okabo's needs.
“Twilight! Come back!” Okabo rushed out of the house to follow Twilight. She was fluttering along the path Okabo would always walk in the morning. A good path to move slowly along, but for a little flyer that could tire very easily, it wasn't safe. Twilight landed on the edge of a cliff looking around at the landscape and growled when she heard Okabo.
“Twilight! Get away from there! It isn't safe!” Twilight was about to flutter away again, but something happened. The ground underneath her gave way and she started falling.
“TWILIGHT!” Okabo ran as fast as he could to the falling filly, but he was too late. Twilight fluttered and fluttered, slowing her down but she hit the ground, and she hit it head on.
“No,” was all Okabo could say. He rushed down the cliff side as fast as he could. When he reached Twilight, he expected to see something that would make his stomach churn. But all he found was Twilight with a bump on her head. With a sigh of relief, he took the unconscious Twilight back to his home. He bandaged her head to protect the bump, worrying like any guardian would and waited for Twilight to wake up. With that time, he thought of how he could be more stern with Twilight. He couldn't allow anyone under his watch to be hurt. Not again. He heard Twilight murmur in her sleep. He turned to see her awake and staring at Okabo.
“Awake I see. That was very dangerous Twilight,” Okabo said. “You could have gotten yourself-” but before he could finish, Twilight started giggling. She gave him a big smile and went to sleep. “My little Twilight,” Okabo said. He tightened the covers around Twilight and smiled. “From now on, I'll be your Grandpa. Sweet dreams little warrior.” He went to the other room to let Twilight sleep. Little did he know, the destiny of some many ponies have been changed forever, and for Twilight, a new adventure begins in Element Z!
“Again Twilight! Hit it!”
“Got it Grandpa,” Twilight charged towards the tree that Okabo had chosen for Twilight to practice on. Since Twilight was old enough to comprehend and speak, Okabo had taught Twilight martial arts. She had a fighting spirit, but Okabo saw a new Twilight born on the day she hit her head. The little filly that growled and kicked at Okabo was gone. In its place, a new little filly that had the same strength, but was kind and gentle. Okabo saw Twilight perform many kind acts when she was able to move around again. He could see that she had the ability to go straight to the top, to be the world's strongest, perhaps more.
“Alright Grandpa! I hit it!” Okabo looked over to Twilight's target. Not only had she hit it, she had demolished it. The tree was in splinters all over the ground. That was one of the strongest trees here... oh well, guess we have to find one stronger.
“That was good Twilight,” Okabo patted the happy little filly on the head, “ready for another set?” The little filly looked disappointed.
“We've been at this set exercise all day Grandpa. I want to do something new!” Twilight happily beamed.
“You need to get your basics down before you advance. And while you've been doing good, you'll need more precision when attacking your target.”
“But Grandpa!” Twilight exclaimed.
“No 'buts'!” Okabo proclaimed. “Remember Twilight, you're not working to defeat an opponent, you're working to defeat yourself.” Twilight slumped onto the ground.
“Alright Grandpa,” Twilight looked over to the next tree and prepared herself.
“Remember Twilight,” Okabo said. “Precision.” Twilight closed her eyes and focused. She remembered everything her Grandpa told her. The way the hoof moves through the air, where the power in the body came from. She focused that energy into her leg and lunged forward, yelling for intimidation's sake. She struck the tree, letting the energy flow from her body to the tree. She saw the energy flow through the tree, and with that energy, causing the tree to break into many pieces. But the pieces weren't random, they were organized, they broke into cuts that could be used for a fire.
“Very good Twilight!” Okabo rushed over to Twilight and hugged her. “You're coming along nicely,” Okabo released her. “Now do that all again, twenty more times.” Twilight sighed, and then gave a big smile.
“You got it Grandpa!” Twilight shouted exuberantly. And so the training continued throughout the day. Eventually, the training caught on. Okabo was amazed by Twilight's potential. She absorbed information like none other, and mastered many techniques some ponies would have the greatest trouble in comprehending.
Eventually, like it happens, the day drew to a close, and Twilight was tired. Okabo smiled at his little pupil and placed her on his back. He walked back, taking a look at another beautiful sunset in the place he called home.
“Celestia did a good job lowering the sun today,” Okabo happily said as he admired her work. Twilight looked at the sunset and blinked.
“Celestia sounds really strong,” Twilight said. Hey eyes suddenly burned with excitement. “I hope I can fight with her someday, I bet it'd be fun!” Okabo laughed.
“Well, give it a few more years, and I'm sure you'll be able to take her on.” Okabo looked back at the road. Although, maybe she's not too far off. She's an Alicorn just like her, so maybe- As Okabo finished he looked up at the moon Celestia had put into the sky. Celestia controlled not only the day, but also the night sky that had been left uncontrolled when the fabled “Night Princess” had left.
“Oh she did a good job with tonight's moon, didn't she Twilight?” As he asked this, Twilight smiled as the night sky twinkled above her.
“Yeah, it looks very pretty up there,” Twilight sighed, and smiled dreamily at the sky. Okabo smiled and laughed a little bit.
“Well, I think my little fighter here could use a nice meal, am I right?” Okabo asked. If a little filly could smile any bigger, he would be very surprised.
“What are we having grandpa?”
“I was thinking... a Monstro-Hawk egg?” Okabo knew he didn't have to ask Twilight if she wanted the egg, it was her favorite. And seeing Twilight's happy face confirmed it.
“Heck YES!” Twilight yelled. “Do we have to get it? Or do we already have one?”
“Final test for today Twilight,” Okabo said as he placed the filly down on the ground. “Go get us an egg, I'll take care of the rest.” Any onlooker would say that Okabo was putting Twilight in harm's way purposely. The onlooker would be right, and this wasn't the first time he had done it either. And this wasn't any filly, this filly was a student in martial arts.
“Got it Grandpa! I'll head for Tori Mountain!” Twilight trotted off, determined to get her dinner.
“I wonder if she'll break my record...” Okabo went inside the get ready to cook. “Five minutes...”
Author's Note
This went through a lot of rewrites. So I figured I'd just write what was certain and give it to y'all.