Chapter 1 - Being a Princess
Chapter 1 - Being a Princess
"I always thought that being a Princess would be one of the best things which would ever happen in my life... But being a Princess has its burdens and I had to face up to that."
Canterlot Castle. Situated in the prestigious capitol city of the land of Equestria; and the new home of the most recent Princess, Twilight Sparkle. She had hoped to reside in Ponyville with her 5 friends, however that was not the case; it was in the interest of her own safety to stay in Canterlot whilst she learnt more about her Princess-hood.
One fine sunny day...
A white Pegasus guard stood beside the large wooden door. The door creaked open very slightly,
"Ugh, What time is it?" The pony behind the door groaned. The guard immediately stood up straight with a serious yet somewhat relaxed look on his face.
"9am Princess!" He declared in a somewhat monotonous voice; well at least to her it seemed all too monotonous. The doors swung open quickly; almost hitting the guard stood beside the right door. The purple mare stepped out into the hallway; wings drooped lazily each side of her and her mane brushed in a scruffy style which didn't seem to compliment her appearance to well.
The guard, without moving his head, looked at the Princess. A slight sense of shock could be seen in his eyes at her current appearance.
"Princess Twilight, good morning." A soft voice echoed down the corridor originating from the Princess of the Sun herself, Princess Celestia. Twilight turned slightly to face her former teacher; left ear twitching frantically.
"Good? Good morning? I haven't had one of those in a long time!" She snapped, furiously stamping her left hoof against the marble floor. Princess Celestia approached her slowly but with a confident stride and placed her left hoof on Twilight's head.
"Calm down Twilight. I know that this change may have been rather a lot for you to handle but you have to understand that it is your duty... no, destiny to be a Princess. And as such you must remember to present yourself as a Princess should." Twilight placed her right hoof on her chest, took a deep breath, and breathed out, her right hoof stretching out in front of her along with the breath.
"I'm sorry Celestia... I guess I haven't been myself lately. Maybe I miss my friends..." Twilight sighed. Celestia stretched out her right wing and guided Twilight back through the wooden doors towards the dressing table. The small purple brush lifted into the air; enveloped by a golden glow.
"Let's sort out that mane of yours." The brush began to smooth out Twilight's mane, carefully going through the small knots and untangling the clusters of dark blue.
"There, all sorted." Celestia smiled warmly. Twilight looked at herself in the mirror in front of her, especially at the wonderfully combed hair smoothed out by the brush. Before she knew it Celestia was already by the door about to step back out into the hallway.
"I will be in the throne room if you need me." Celestia then began to walk out of sight down the hall. Twilight took another look in the mirror before laying on her bed with her head resting comfortably atop her crossed hooves.
"I wonder how they all are... Pinkie Pie, Rarity, AppleJack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy..." She muttered to herself. She looked up at the mural on the ceiling of the six elements of harmony. She looked at the light blue gem picture,
"Pinkie's probably checking her mail box for a letter by now..." She then turned to the red gem,
"Rainbow's probably practicing for her audition with the Wonderbolts..." She gazed over at the green gem,
"Fluttershy's probably taking care of her animals..." She looked to the purple gem,
"Rarity's probably working on her latest fashion line..." Last but not least the orange gem,
"AppleJack's probably working hard on the farm..." Twilight stared at the dark violet gem in the center of the other 5. The image seemed to glitter in the single tear in Twilight's eye.
"And Twilight... Well I'm sitting here alone thinking of my friends..."
Twilight curled up on her plush bed partly crying from her distant memories. She spent a moment to herself, contemplating this, pondering that, the usual. She had already read all the books in the castle library and was well on her way to reading all the books in Canterlot!
"Twilight?" A voice called. Twilight jerked upright suddenly and pulled herself together as it were.
"There you are Twilight! Sister sent me to fetch you." Princess Luna casually walked into the room as Twilight returned to a sitting position on her bed; she looked over at her in wonder about her statement.
"Really? Is there something important I'm missing?" She asked Luna; she jumped off her bed.
"I'm not quite sure... She, she didn't exactly tell us why she requests your presence." Luna turned back towards the hallway but stopped before she disappeared from sight.
"She said it was important... We would suggest you see her immediately. Now I must rest." Luna then stretched her wings and flew off from the balcony at an incredible speed.
'Important?' She sighed, 'Now I really won't be able to see my friends in a while... She's probably going to give me some task.' Twilight walked over to her wardrobe and using her magic got dressed into a simple magenta dress. She took a deep sigh and checked herself in the mirror quickly before trotting towards the door. The guard smiled to Twilight as she walked out into the corridor, however she took no notice and began to steadily walk down the hall. She was engrossed in thought, wondering about why Celestia wished to see her.
"Twily!" She heard a familiar voice coo; her brother, Shining Armor, stood before her grinning sheepishly wearing a full set of celestial armor.
"Hello brother." Twilight sounded monotonous, her face blank of all expression.
"Hey, what's up Twily? You don't seem like yourself today." His voice was reassuring, however Twilight didn't seem to perk up to match his mood.
"I have to see Celestia about some sort of assignment." Twilight began to walk again but was closely perused by her brother.
"Then why the sour mood? You're usually much happier when given a new assignment..." There was a brief pause. Twilight stopped; eyes closed, head still drooped lazily.
"Yeah... Before I became a Princess."
She eventually left Shining Armor behind, he still had his duties to attend to after all. Twilight approached the grand throne room. Her hooves sounded loud in the silence as she walked cautiously down the stairs of the right wing of the castle. She reached the grand door to the throne room and peeked in from the side to see Celestia sat in wait on her grand throne. She took a deep breath, then, continued into the throne room with a much more confident stride. The two guards watched her carefully at each side of the throne and she stopped by the steps up to Celestia's throne. Celestia didn't move. She simply watched Twilight for a moment in a silence which could only be described as awkward and ominous.
"Um... You wanted to see me?" Twilight started after waiting for someone to react to her appearance in the room. Celestia nodded and stood from her throne.
"Yes. I must give you a very important task. One which may change the way you see this world." Celestia announced. She seemed to be different than earlier; much more commanding.
"Change the way I see the world?"
"Yes. You must leave Equestria. Explore the rest of the world and see what lurks beyond our land." Celestia ordered. Her voice sounded serious in a sense that you could not argue against nor speak back to.
"Leave... Equestria?"
