Draconian Prince

-1000 years ago-

Within the great archives of Canterlot's palace sat a lone alicorn. Stacks of books as high the shelves were piled around her. A dim candle lit the room as the young alicorn added another book to a nearby stack with her magic as she floated over three more to take its place.

"When was the last time you had any sleep?" asked a voice from the doorway. "Last time I had checked, it was your sister that had inherited the nocturnal lifestyle.

Most ponies would not dare to speak to a princess so nonchalantly. Starswirl however was not like most ponies.

"Starswirl you hath arrived! We had requested for thy presence nearly 27 minutes and 44 seconds ago!" said Celestia. Her eyes were dry and bloodshot from weeks of study while her mane was wild and unkempt from negligence. "Never mind, what doth thou suggest? We hath studied every scroll in thy library and have yet to-"

Starswirl raised his right hoof and silenced her. "Celestia, you must calm down. It is obvious that you are agitated since you have changed your speech to that of the Olde Canterlot dialect."

Celestia blushed a bit. "We...I apologize. Old habits die hard I suppose. Especially when I am focused on something so intensely." Celestia turned back to her books, going over page after page of myths and lore. "It's just that I am so close, I can feel it!"

Starswirl trotted over to Celestia and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "I understand your frustration. But if there is anything that I have learned over the years, it is that nopony can learn everything. Just when you think you know it all, something new shall emerge." He looked over all of the books that had been piled on top of each other. He had thought of the many hours that she had wasted all alone. "However, that may not apply to you. You have all the time in the world, a luxury that I do not have. Do not spend an eternity attempting to solve an impossible puzzle. Sometimes, the answer will reveal itself. All it takes is a little time."

"You're right as always, Starswirl," Celestia sighed as she started walking towards her chambers. "And I do have to wake up in time to raise the sun."

Although Starswirl knew how hard Celestia was studying, he had yet to have heard about what she was researching about. "What are you searching about in those dusty old books anyhow?" asked Starswirl.

"Oh nothing," Celestia replied as she casually trotted towards the archive doors. "I was just researching about the dragon egg that was left at the castle door."

"D-d-dragon egg! You found a dragon egg?! I must study it immediately!" Starswirl shut the doors on Celestia's face as he began fumbling around for writing materials. "I need to be alone! I need books!" Starswirl levitated stacks of books around him and furiously turned page after page of information.

"Starswirl! Starswirl, calm down!" Celestia yelled as she hoof-slapped Starswirl across his face. The books stopped levitating and fell to the floor all at the same time. "I've already read every book in this library and there is almost no information about dragons at all!"

Starswirl shook his head and regained his composure. "Oh. Yes, of course. Let me see the egg. I've learned quite a bit about dragons during my journey through their land."

Celestia nodded as she teleported them into a large, circular room with stain glass windows shining down upon them. in the center of the room sat a glass case, and within the magically reinforced glass lay a small, spotted, purple egg.

"Are you certain that this is a dragon egg?" asked Starswirl.

"Yes, the egg's magic is Draconian. It also came with a note written in the Draconian language," said Celestia. "Why? Is there something strange about the egg?"

Starswirl turned to face Celestia and spoke low and carefully. "This is no ordinary dragon egg. Not only are dragon eggs typically plain and white, but they are usually much bigger. However, there is no doubt that this egg is of draconic origin. “Before I say anything else, I need to know. What did the letter say?"

Celestia had never heard Starswirl talk in such a manner. He was usually very calm and lighthearted. But the moment he had laid his eyes on the egg, his attitude and expression darkened. "The note simply contained a single word. Magic. What do you think it means, Starswirl?"

"Heck if I know!" Starswirl laughed. "Magic...hmm." Starswirl waved his horn as magic trailed across his horn's path. His eyes glowed white as he began levitating off of the ground. Wind blew violently around Starswirl's dense, magical aura and the glass case shattered under the intense pressure. When Starswirl had stopped rising, he shot a beam of blinding light at the egg. Celestia had to shield her eyes for the light was bright to look at. When the light dimmed, Celestia turned her head and saw Starswirl lying on the ground, unmoving.

"Starswirl!" Celestia cried as she went to Starswirl's side to help him up.

"I'm fine, just fine," coughed Starswirl as he steadily rose. "I'm just not as young as I used to be is all. More importantly, how is the egg?"

Celestia turned around and gasped at the size of the crater where the glass case and the floor used to be. The egg however remained unharmed "What did you do Starswirl? What kind of spell did you cast?

"Oh that was no spell," laughed Starswirl. "I had just shot that egg with pure, concentrated, Arch-Mage level magic. And it's still in one piece!"

"Y-y-you..." Celestia stammered.

"Yeeees?"

"WHAT HATH THOU DONE!! THY MAGIC COULD HAVE DAMAGED IT!!" Celestia shouted in the royal Canterlot voice. "W-w-what would you have done if it was cracked, or damaged or..."

Starswirl promptly zipped Celestia's mouth shut with a spell as he rubbed his ears with his hooves. "Before you deteriorate my eardrums any further, let me ask. Did you ever attempt to hatch the egg as well?"

Celestia threw Starswirl a glare as she unzipped her mouth. "YES, I did. And like you, I had failed. Then again, I did not simply shoot the egg to oblivion."

"Will you give it a try?" Starswirl asked.

"NO. There's no point. My magic is not yet as powerful as yours."

"Well then, we have reached a dead end. I cannot hatch the egg and you cannot hatch the egg either. And we are the most powerful ponies in Equestria," Starswirl said.

"Then what should we do? Celestia asked. "The only thing that I could find out about the egg was that it was Draconian."

"And now you know that the egg can survive an atomic explosion! Hahahaha!" Starswirl clutched his sides as he laughed until he began coughing.

"Starswirl! Do not strain yourself," Celestia said as she patted him on the back to relieve his coughing.

Starswirl shrugged her off. "Bah, I'm not old just yet! I still have the energy of a full grown manticore! Just...let me catch my breath."

Celestia and Starswirl sat together in silence. Celestia glanced back at the egg at the bottom of the crater.

"So...what now? The egg is impenetrable, and we cannot study it any further," Celestia said. "I don't know what I'm going to do with it."

Starswirl pondered this for a minute. "Celestia, are you not opening a school for gifted unicorns?" asked Starswirl.

"Well, yes...but what does-"

Starswirl interrupted her. "This egg will not open for you, and it won't open for me. And if we can't open it, then we may as well use that to our advantage."

"Starswirl, what are you talking about?"

"I propose that we give those youngsters a test of my own. If they want to be accepted they have to hatch the egg, right in front of the teachers."

"Starswirl, that's not fair! Even I couldn't hatch it and I'm an alicorn! What chance do foals have?" Celestia asked as she stood up. I will NOT accept a test that is designed to make the children fail.

"But that's the beauty of it! We know that they will fail, but they won't. But what is important is what comes after. How will they react? What kind of ponies are they? By putting them through an impossible test, we will be able to see how those youngsters tick!"

"But what about the egg itself? It needs to be tested!"

"What better way to test the egg than with the imaginative minds of children? They have more unique ideas in one day than you and I can count. It's perfect!" said Starswirl.

The more Celestia thought about it, the more it made sense. Starswirl had obviously thought this through. "Alright Starswirl, you win. I will accept your proposal and make this a standard test for new students. But only on one condition."

"What's that?"

"I get to cast spell number 25 on you again. And you don’t get to shave it off until the egg is hatched!" Celestia said with a smirk.

"Deal," Starswirl said with a smile.