Raising Fire

Twilight sighed stepping over the gaurd.

She was not in the mood to be lectured on the importaunce of keeping peace with the griffin kingdom.

Her hourn glowed and less than a second later she was outside the wood varnished door that lead to her mentor's private lounge. She knocked politely on the door, plastering her ready-to-learn smile on in teh the process.

"Enter." came the calm authoritive voice of Princess Celestia.

She opened the door with magic and strode across the book filled room to the wide fireplace and velvet cusion on which her mentor, Luna and Cadnce were sitting on.

Twilight covered her surprise quickly and greeted them with the calm and control of a princess.

Cadence greeted her and beconed for the purple alicorn to sit next to her. Twilight smiled and sat but couldn't help catching the nervous glances she shot at Celestia, the only half genuine smile. Luna was acting strange as well, she had recently aquired 'head phones', one of the more igenius invenstions of Vinyl Scratch, and was listeing to said DJ's music loudly, as if trying to block out somthing.

This was strange since Luna usually paid close attension to her, and she liked to think that they had respect for one another.

Celestia seemed to be the only acting normal, but with practised royal manners, she politely ignored the behavior of the two alicorns.

"Ah, Twilight." Celestia began, smiling gracefully. "I have invited my sister and Candence to reveal to you to most important thing about behing an alicorn is."  Twilight raised a mental eyebrow. If this was going to be some super secret power that alicorns possessed, surly she could have done it with a less dramatic build up? But Twilight for one had more sense than to voice this out loud.

"I'm ready to learn whatever you have to teach me!" She chirped automatically. Celestia smiled, like she was explaining to a fille that Santa Clause wasn't real.

"I am glad you are so egar my faithful student, I only hope your enthusiasm lasts." Twilight tried her best to look past the melodramatic setup of her teacher's dialogs and take the information seriously.

"Sister," Luna spoke for the first time, taking her headphones off and massaging her temples with her fore hooves.

"Prolonging it with dramatic dialogue won't make it any easyer to take." Cadence shuffled uncomfortably. And examined the cushion. Celestia seemed torn between glaring at Luna or talking to Twilight, who had not changed facial expression at all.

After an uncomfortable silence, Celestia spoke. "Twilight, do you know how many alicorns there have ever been in Equestria?"

"Of course Princess," Twilight took pride in memorising every position of power there had ever been in Equestria. "Legend has it, that there were your two parents, you, Luan, Cadence and now me."

Celestia nodded at the carpet. "Well done my faithful student, perfect as always." She exchanged looks with Luna before continuing. "My parent created Equestria, they were alicorns, gods. Alicorns can live forever, any book will tell you that much.

"But if alicorns can live forever, where are my parents? Where are they if they can live forever?" Celestia stopped, looking around at Luna and Cadence for help. Cadence came to her aid.

"From the moment a alicorn become a alicorn, be they at birth or at any other time in their life, they begin having significant increase in magical ability, surely you have noticed?" Twilight nodded, sincerely interested now. "After they have been around for roughly three thousand to four thousand years, the raw energy they posses become too much for any physical body to bare, so they simply...dissolve I guess, into raw energy. But they loose all that they were when they were physical except their power.

"So yes, alicorns live forever, but only three thousand years off that is...real experience, I guess you could put it."

Cadence was silent and they all seemed to await Twilight's reaction.

Twilight had many questions, but the one that survived journey from brain to mouth was;

"But what happens to the things that the alicorn was responsible for? Like the sun, the moon and love?"

Celestia nodded "the energy of the alicorn becomes their responsibility. My parents responsiblities were to simply keep Equestria existing in a state of being. Now that they have.....call it what you will, their energy is doing that, and will keep doing that until the end of time."

Twilight absorbed the information, it all made sense, sense was somthing she could deal with.

"But Twilight," This time Luna spoke; giving her a warming smile. "In a thousand years our time will be up, as physical beings at least."

Ah. That was why she was meant to be upset.

"But, Princess!" She smiled nerviously, "If you are..disolved, then..do I rule Equestria?" She knew she would take up a large amount of responsibility, but ruling by herself? No, she couldn't be serious.

"Twilight, we will be here to help you for another thousend years at least, to help you rule in anyway we can, but you must find a sucsessor before you too..disolve-"

"Needless to say, you won't need to worry about that for quite a while." Celestia cut off her sister, giving her Luna a 'don't over worry her' look. "But your sucsessor will also co-rule with you, as you do now."

"I am sure you have many questions," Cadence smiled warmingly, resting her hoof on the purple alicorn's shoulder. "But it's late try and get some rest." Twilight stood and bid goodbye to the princesses as Luna left to lower the moon.

She walked back to her room deep in thought.

It was a ominmous prospect, finding a suitable sucsessor, not to mention taking on nearly all the responsibility of Equestria, and her mentor, Luna and Cadence fading away into pure energy, the same fate that would await her somday.

She reached her bedroom walked calmly on the balcony, her magic stripping her of her crown and golden slippers as she walked. She stood on the balcony in the cool night air, the hint of dawn on the horizon. She looked up at the beatiful silvery ord in the sky, and saw an alicorn silloet against its ghostly white aura. Luna Flew the moon over the horizon, and soon another orb appeared in the sky, its firery golden light illuminating Equestria. She closed her eyes and felt the warmth break onto her face, savouring the thought that she would enjoy this for the next three thousend years, before becoming Equestria itself.