//------------------------------// // chapter one: a dark night, a bright star // Story: Waning Moon // by salukiseason //------------------------------// After dropping her sister off at school, Rarity trudged her way through the Everfree forest to make her way to the Lunar Castle. She carried with her a saddlebag filled with a book, requested by Nightmare Moon from the Ponyville Golden Oak library. The Elements of Harmony; A Reference Guide. Rarity had gone to check it out on the way home with Sweetie Belle at the request of the Princess herself, only to find that not a single pony had checked it out in it’s entire time at the library, though, maybe that had something to do with the fact that there wasn’t a librarian to check the book out from.  Honestly, how can one call themselves a library with no way to properly check out a book!? Rarity scoffed to herself at the thought, If I were anypony else, I might have stolen this book without a second thought! Though, Nightmare Moon may not share any of the same reservations she did- and with the insistence she had upon adding this book to her collection- Rarity was certain that if Ponyville did have a librarian, they would surely never see that book again, so perhaps it was a good thing that there was nopony there to monitor the comings and goings of their collection.  With her horn, Rarity levitated a silver badge with a bright teal magical aura that surrounded it, overpowering her own ice blue colored magic- Nightmare Moon had given them to each of her employees, they contain a certain poignant magic that warded off the timberwolves so that everypony could travel safely through the Everfree forest into the castle- if you asked Rarity, however, the greatest threat one could come across in these woods is the scourge of mud clinging to their hooves. For this, she wore a pair of blue rubber boots on her way to the castle, We may live in a state of eternal midnight, but just because nopony can see us in the dark does not mean that we must sacrifice basic hygiene! Rarity insisted to Sweetie Belle just about each night.  After a brief trek through the forest, she came across the cobblestone bridge that led to the grand Lunar Castle. She quickly trotted across it and past the two royal guards stationed at the front door, flashing the silver badge which signified her employment at the castle. “Good night, Dame Heartstrings, Sir Thunderlane.” She greeted the two guards with a respectful dip of her head while they examined her badge.  “Good night, Madame Belle.” The unicorn guard Lyra saluted to her as she gestured to the pegasus, Thunderlane, to open the doors for her.  Rarity rolled her eyes, “Lyra, dear, you have known me since there was sunlight, you can simply call me Rarity.” She muttered in a hushed tone, knowing that even the mere mention of the former rule was something considered to be rather taboo.  She didn’t respond, but she cracked a simple smile as the grand wooden doors opened with a slight creak.  “Oh!” Rarity exclaimed, “What a noise! I simply must have that fixed, thank you, Sir Thunderlane, for alerting me to such a horrendous inadequacy in our castle- this simply will not do.” She called back as she entered the doors, scribbling her note of the creaking entryway into a summoned notepad, quite certain that neither Thunderlane nor Lyra were listening to her in the slightest.  As she entered, the motion sensing lights had turned on two by two, blue flames lining the grand entryway that leads to the, currently unoccupied, throne. Rarity had thought it somewhat tawdry to have the Princess’s throne be the first thing one sees upon entering- but she insisted that the display of power was worth it, so who was she to argue against her Highness? The lights, however, were all Rarity- she prided herself on her flair for the theatrics, and those lights were some of her finest work in the castle.  Without much fuss, she marched with her head high past the rows of guards standing in the halls into her own personal quarters. They were decorated just as the guards quarters were, but she had turned it into something more of a dressing room than a sleeping quarter- though there was a small mattress and bedframe in the leftmost corner, the far more utilized piece of furniture was the large vanity desk and full length mirror affixed to the wall (and of course, a similar chaise lounge to the one she had at home- she insisted that no room was complete without one). She levitated one of many clean uniforms out of the drawers and quickly, magically ironed them out before stepping into them behind her curtain- just in case anypony were to somehow enter- and applied her makeup in the mirror, a dash of blue eyeshadow and mascara over her false eyelashes, just as she wore every night. She pulled her mane back into a businesslike bun, and followed suit with her tail. “Another night, same as always.” Rarity looked at herself in the mirror and affirmed. She knew that tonight would be an easy one, there were no tours to orchestrate, so all she had to do was make sure the insides of the castle were running smoothly, maybe even help out with the decor, as she so often enjoyed doing on her slower nights.  She stepped outside of her room to see more guards in the hallway, “Greetings, Dame Blossomforth,” She grinned to a pegasus standing guard just outside her door, “Have you any idea if Captain Rainbow Dash is here, tonight?”  She nodded with a salute, “Yes, Madame Belle!” She extended her left wing further down the hallway, “At the archives, Madame!”  With a satisfied “Hmph!”, Rarity trotted down to the archives to see if her closest friend at the castle was available to chat- although, technically, she had nothing scheduled for today, so she wished to get a head start on her tidying up, and perhaps fixing that creaky entryway as well, and certainly the best way to do that was alongside a friend. Making her way through the winding hallways, she eventually made her way to a grand door leading to an even grander library. Stationed at the front of the door was a short guardsmare pegasus with a blue coat and an elaborate suit of armor, complete with two steel bat’s wings- and a somewhat more intricate helmet indicating her high rank as the Captain of the Lunar Guard. “Rainbow Dash!” Rarity grinned to the stoic-faced mare, “It is a delight to see you, are you free to accompany me on my rounds?”  The pegasus stood silent for a moment, before removing her helmet to reveal her buzz-cut rainbow colored mohawk. “Heya, Rare!” She smirked, without a salute or proper title, never one to be nearly as formal as the other guardsponies, much to the dismay of Nightmare Moon, of course, but there was no denying that Rainbow Dash was one of their most valuable guards, if not, the most valuable, as the Captain, so alas, there wasn’t much that anypony could do about it. “Sure, I can come with, lemme just get somepony to watch over the door.” She wriggled her wings out from under her uniform with a groan, “Rarity, these armors aren’t very practical for the pegasus guards, you know, our wings are stuck under here! What if we need to fly?”  Rarity hummed to herself in response, “Well, normally my motto is fashion over function, but I suppose that’s not quite as important when the responsibility of the Princess's life may rely on one’s ability to fly… I will see what I can do, for you, Dash!” She made her small spiral bound notepad appear with her horn, and then began to write on it with a quill that was summoned alongside it, making note to sketch out an updated and more practical pegasus armor that still adhered to the Princess’s personal, rather gothic aesthetic.  Rainbow Dash nodded before she flew off down the hallway and asked a nearby guard to cover the library gates as well. Within a moment or two, she flew back towards Rarity and nodded, “We’re set!” She looked over at Rarity’s notes, “So, whaddya have to do tonight, Rare? Press conference, write a speech?”  “Nothing like that, thankfully,” The white unicorn shook her head no. As Nightmare Moon’s private secretary- it was Rarity’s responsibility to manage all interactions the Princess had with the public, including, but not limited to, organizing appearances, press conferences, celebrations, holidays, castle openings, tours, and of course- meetings with foreign dignitaries from outside of Equestria. However, is was a rare moment in which she had none of those things to do, other than simply reading a few letters sent from ponies who wish to have her Highness attend an event and sort them into potential ‘yes’ or ‘no’ piles, which, if anything, is a rather quick activity- not much interests Nightmare Moon, and over the past couple of years, Rarity had become something of an expert in determining what she would deem an acceptable appearance- which, happens to be nearly nothing. So, she had instead decided to spend the night working around the castle, changing the tapestries, rearranging some of the tables- things like that were what she found to be relaxing, and is, technically, an important part of her job. As well as being one of the ones to design the newer castle before she was hired on board as a full time employee, it’s also important to make sure the Lunar Castle is in top shape for anypony who wishes to attend- after all, nopony should step out of the palace of the Princess of Equestria feeling disappointed! “As a matter of fact, I think this may be a good night for some redecoration, do you not agree?”  The pegasus shrugged her shoulders disinterestedly, “The decor looks fine to me, besides, you just changed it, like… a month ago.”  “Has it really been that long?” Rarity emitted a scandalized gasp, “If I changed the decor a month ago- all that means is that we are a month behind the trends, and I can not allow that to happen!”  Rolling her eyes, Rainbow Dash added, “I don’t think the Princess cares about the aesthetics enough to notice that we’re not on trend…”  Aghast, Rarity scrunched her face, “Well she most certainly does! For a Princess who ‘doesn’t care about the aesthetics’, she surely spends quite a lot of effort maintaining our state of eternal night!”  To that, Rainbow Dash let out a snort, “Alright, I’ll give you that one,” She continued scanning over Rarity’s list of daily activities, “You know, there are servants who will dust off the library, right?”  “Yes, yes,” She moaned with exasperation, “But they are not allowed access into the restricted sections, and I will not allow them to grow filthy with disuse.” She trotted around a corner before she arrived at the entryway to the library, the doors carved with Nightmare Moon’s cutie mark, and atop them, a plaque reading “The Royal Library” and in much smaller letters, “Books are not to leave this room.” Which, admittedly, defeated the purpose of a library, but it wasn’t as if many ponies actually made the journey all the way through the Everfree forest just to check out a book or two. She nosed her way through the door, past the guards in front of it, and began passing by dozens of rows of bookshelves, all with exceedingly complicated and specific section titles, What in the Princess’ name is “Arcane Brunch Recipies”, and why did it take up three entire shelves? She groaned as she passed by various sections.  At the very back of the library was a lone door with a massive plaque on it, Restricted to the Public, guarded by two ponies- which Rarity thought seemed rather excessive for such a small, single door. But, nonetheless, she paced forward, “Greetings, Sergeant Flash Sentry, Sir Compass Star.” She smiled, “Just heading in to do some cleaning, don’t mind me!”  Suspiciously, both stallions narrowed their eyes to her, before Rainbow Dash flew in, “Don’t worry, colts, she’s with me- and we’ve got level four clearance.” She smirked confidently.  Nightmare Moon’s castle had five clearance levels- five being the highest. The first clearance level is reserved for common guests to the castle, tourists who wish to see the sights and schedule visits, mostly. Level two is for lower-ranking employees of the castle, servants, kitchen staff, and maids, who are provided access to certain areas of the castle that the public isn’t, but still not allowed into the most crucial rooms. Level three is for those visiting on important business, allowed to hold meetings with the Princess in private meeting rooms, but unable to go into protected rooms, and most non high-ranking guards who have worked there for less than a year and haven’t yet proven themselves to be trustworthy enough for higher clearance yet. Level four is held by direct employees of the Princess, such as Rarity, and high ranking guards like Rainbow Dash or Flash Sentry- these ponies have full access to everywhere in the castle other than the Princess’ private quarters and rooms that she has kept off limits to all but herself, such as her private library. Level five includes access to those rooms, though it is held only by the Princess herself, and can be temporarily granted when necessary, but this privilege is rarely given out- as a matter of fact, in her entire time working at the castle, Rarity had only seen it granted once.  Flash Sentry and Compass Star both saluted Rainbow Dash, before stepping out of the way of the door to allow them access to it. The unicorn mare opened it with her magic as she confidently strutted past the two stallions. “I must admit, it never gets old telling ponies I have high clearance.”  Rainbow Dash laughed, flying upward into the tall, narrow spire where the restricted library was held. “Even with high clearance- I don’t know how anypony is expected to get around this library without wings! It’s gotta be 70 feet high with no stairs! How’re you even gonna clean it?”  Summoning two large feather dusters, Rarity looked up at the pegasus pony and batted her eyelashes, “Well, then, it’s a good thing that I brought a pony with wings, is it not?” She laughed, floating one of the dusters up to Rainbow Dash, who was already halfway up the spire, flicking it under her nose.  “What?!” Rainbow Dash groaned, “You mean you dragged me away from my post just to wipe off a bunch of dirty old books? You realize I could’ve been-” “Bored out of your mind staring down an empty hallway for three hours and saluting at everypony who walks by?” Rarity began, “Why, yes I do realize, and I know you are so very grateful for your best friend Madame Rarity Belle, for she has granted you an escape from this treacherous task and something to do for the next couple of hours, and the chance to stretch your wings! No, no, you have no need to thank me- your assistance is all the thanks I require.”  Staring down in blank eyed shock for a few moments, Rainbow Dash grabbed the feather duster with a reluctant groan as she began gliding lower to dust the books that were just out of Rarity’s reach.  “Hmph! I thought so,” Rarity sang quietly to herself as she watched Rainbow Dash work.  For the next couple of hours, the two worked on dusting off the shelves and the books themselves. Rarity stopped to give a quick look at the titles of the books while she took them off the shelf one by one, most of them were books about Nightmare Moon written during the Celestial Era, propaganda stating how she had only turned against her sister and “become evil” out of jealousy- surely written to turn generations of ponies against her. Otherwise, they were ancient spellbooks containing recipes for powerful magic- banned from the public due to their outdated and dangerous understandings of the way magic worked. In order to prevent ponies from practicing this dangerous magic, it was to be kept from the public.  “Starswirl the Bearded’s Almanac of Artifacts,” Rarity read out loud, projecting her voice enough for Rainbow Dash to hear, “Oh, but this amulet on the cover is simply to die for, what a shame!”  Rainbow Dash laughed, pulling out another book and dusting it with her tail, “Alicorn: Understanding Equestria’s Most Dangerous and Elusive Threat? What does that even mean?”  “Oh, please! I bet the Princess banned that one on account of it being plain inaccurate!” Rarity scoffed, pulling out another one, a blue book bound with a silver ribbon on its inside, “The Mare in the Moon: Princess Luna before her Darkest Day…” She hesitated as she reached the end of the title. The Princess’s former name, Luna, was so infrequently used that Rarity had found herself somewhat surprised to see it written out that way. She contemplated taking a peek inside, but didn’t want Rainbow Dash to get curious- knowing her, she’d rat the both of them out to the Princess, and they’d both be in trouble. She quickly dusted off the book without another word on the subject.  As if she wasn’t even paying attention, Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the ceiling, before she fluttered her wings until she reached the very top, “Hey, Rare?” She yelled, “You seen this?” Without waiting for a response, she swooped down and picked up the unicorn in her arms and flew her up to the top of the spire.  “Rainbow Dash!” She yelled in protest as she got carried, “My hooves were meant to stay on the ground!” Flailing her hooves while Rainbow Dash continued flying as if she weighed absolutely nothing.  “Rarity, look!” The pegasus gestured upwards by turning her nose towards the ceiling. “See that? A hidden door! It looks like it leads to the top of the spire!”  The unicorn mare rolled her eyes, “Honestly Rainbow- we must’ve seen every inch of this pla…” She trailed off, as she noticed that Rainbow Dash was certainly correct, there was a hidden panel in the ceiling that led to yet another room- one that she had never seen before, “… Well that is quite odd- I thought I’d seen every inch of this place I’m allowed, and even then, I know the doors I’m not meant to enter! What in the Princess’ name is this?” Rainbow Dash squinted her eyes to look at it, “Maybe it’s another floor of the library? Not sure how any grounded ponies would get to it, though- but I guess the same goes for just about everything else in this room.” “Perhaps it’s an extra layer of security?” Rarity thought, suddenly no longer paying attention to how high off the ground she was, “That you must ask a guard for approval before entrance, because otherwise nopony could fly you up!” “Eh,” Rainbow Dash continued, “That works fine for earth ponies and unicorns, but what’s stopping a pegasus pony from flying straight in?”  Cautiously, Rarity asked “… Should we find out?” “But- what about-“  “The Princess would’ve told us if there was any room we were forbidden entrance to- she had all of them marked off on the guards maps!” Rarity reminded her, “But none of us have even heard of this room- and if it is an extension of the library, should we not finish what we started and clean it?” The pegasus smirked, “Works for me! Any chance to go through a weird door sounds like an adventure to me! Come on, my hooves are a little full right now, you’ve gotta open it!” “Oh, right!” Rarity blushed, suddenly recalling just how high off the ground she was, “Let me just…” She extended her hoof to the door, but found that it was somewhat jammed. “Oh, hold on!” She hit the door with a simple spell, hearing the door unlatch itself and open on its own.  “So you need a pegasus to take you up, and a unicorn to open it!” Rainbow Dash confirmed excitedly. “Whatever’s in here must be top secret! Let’s go!” She zoomed up, before Rarity could even think about changing her mind.  When she was placed on the ground again, Rarity couldn’t help but look around the newly found hidden room. They were right in assuming it was the top of the spire, when she looked up, she could see through the glass dome atop the ceiling, making out the stars and moon from the massive window. Below the dome, the walls were lined with even more bookshelves, however, unlike the others in the main and restricted libraries, these were unlabeled and seemed to be entirely disorganized. Rarity briefly thought about putting a system in place while she was up there, but she of all ponies understood the value of organized chaos- thinking back to the way her boutique must look to other ponies, the sheer lack of accord must give more organized ponies a heart attack. There were no chairs or tables, or even pillows scattered about the ground, not any way in or out other than the single hidden trapdoor in the floor. But the most interesting thing in the room was a glass display case, held up by a carved marble podium in the direct center of the circle, on which all of the bookshelves were pointed at, and the moonlight from the dome window reflected almost exactly upon. Inside the small, oblong glass display was a single purple egg, dotted with darker purple spots. “Rainbow Dash… is that?” “Holy shit!“ Rainbow Dash’s eyes went wide, “I mean- I knew it was in the castle, but Nightmare Moon never told anypony where it was, not even me or Flash! I always assumed she just kept it in her quarters!”  What she was referring to, of course, was the fabled dragon’s egg. Rumor had it that when the former Princess Celestia was in control of the kingdom, even before Nightmare Moon’s original banishment, Celestia came into care of a dragon’s egg. Neither Princess was able to properly hatch the egg, and so they had held onto it just in case it ever decided to crack open on its own- after all, the workings of dragons were a mystery to Ponykind, for all either Princess knew, this egg could take thousands of years to hatch! It did, however, seem to be pretty much indestructible, even before it was hatched, so it had become somewhat of an invaluable tool for testing magic. As a matter of fact, after Nightmare Moon’s banishment, Princess Celestia kept it as a test for potential applicants to her school of magic, supposedly, to determine their potential in the methods they use to attempt to crack open the egg, although, nopony was ever expected to actually be able to crack it, and clearly, nopony did. After Nightmare Moon returned, she chose to keep the egg in the hopes that it would eventually open on its own, or that she would soon figure out the spell- or at the very least, find a wizard powerful enough to complete it.  “I can’t believe it…” Rarity’s eyes widened, “Do you really think that it’s been here for thousands of years? And nothing has happened?”  Rainbow Dash inched closer to the egg at the center, “I guess so!” She laughed, “Woah, do you think that when it hatches it’ll be like… already thousands of years old?”  Chuckling, Rarity said, “Don’t be silly, Rainbow Dash! It’s just a little baby!”  “What do you know about dragons?” She huffed with irritation, “Nopony has seen one in, like, a thousand years!”  Rarity found herself stepping closer to the display case alongside Rainbow Dash, “Do you think it’s close to hatching yet?” She narrowed her eyes and nearly pressed her nose up against the glass, “Wait! Dash, come here!”  Rainbow followed suit, pressing her eyes as close to the glass as possible, “Huh? Do you see anything?”  The unicorn inspected even closer to make sure that what she was seeing was real, before confirming, “Look, there! The egg is… quivering!”  Eyes widening, Rainbow Dash confirmed the egg was in fact moving. Although it was difficult to notice from a distance, the closer one got, it was clear that it was rocking back and forth rather intensely, as if whatever was inside it was banging on the sides of the walls, “Oh fuck! You’re right! Do you think it’s about to hatch?”  Rarity twitched her nose in contemplation, “It would be a terribly interesting coincidence if it began to hatch at the exact time we arrived, would it not?” She thought about it more intensely and concluded, “Perhaps it hears us! Do you think that eggs can hear?”  The pegasus pony shook her head, “Probably not,” She thought, before noticing Rarity’s motion from the corner of her vision, “Woah, Rarity, what are you doing?!” She yelled.  Rarity had her head lowered slightly, and her eyes shut while she raised her horn, “Well, obviously, Rainbow Dash, I’m opening the case,” She rolled her eyes at her friend, “After all, if it can not hear us, it’s shaking because it is either about to hatch at any moment, or the poor dear is cold. Either way, I will not allow it to be born within a glass container and left here for the Moon knows how long before somepony checks on it again! Or at the very least, not without a blanket to keep it warm!” Using her magic, she summoned a scarf from within her own quarters, and opened it into a large piece of fabric. “There, that should work.” “Uh-” Rainbow Dash protested, “Are you sure that we’re even allowed up here? I mean, I’m all for breaking the rules, but I don’t think the Princess is gonna be happy with us if we mess with her egg- and I’m not planning on losing my job anytime soon-”  Rarity briefly wondered if Rainbow Dash was correct, and if this was something that Nightmare Moon would be upset with her for, before she immediately shook out her head and responded, “Nonsense, Dashie. Do you not think that the Princess would be happy that we’re taking such measures to make sure her prized possession is comfortable and safe? Honestly, she would thank us for it!” Without waiting for another word from Rainbow Dash, Rarity levitated the glass containing the egg.  Within a second of Rarity cracking the glass from the table, and just barely managing to slip in the piece of fabric she’d summoned, there was a blinding blue light from the edges shining directly into her eyes. She thought she heard Rainbow Dash calling to her, but it was quite drowned out by the sounds of a loud alarm coming from every direction. It went on for a few rings before the light dulled down, allowing her to see that the sole entrance in the floor was suddenly closed, despite both ponies leaving it open before.  “Rainbow Dash!” Rarity shouted above the noise, “What in the name of the Moon is happening?!” She dropped the glass to the floor with a startled fizzling out of her horn’s magic, smashing it into several pieces of sharp glass shattered at their hooves. With that, instantly, there was a dark blue smoke from the remains of the case that swirled above the entire room, enveloping the two ponies as if they were caught in the eye of a twister. Rarity pushed her back against Rainbow Dash’s and closed her eyes, hoping that she’d wake up in mere moments to learn it was all a dream. The pounding roar of whirling wind filled her ears, and she slowly began to feel herself losing grip on the ground beneath her hooves. Behind her, she felt Rainbow Dash flap her wings to try to escape, but it was clear that it was to no avail.  Oh please, please let this be over soon! Rarity pleaded silently, entirely unsure what could possibly be happening, much less willing to entertain the possibility that this was anything more than a strange dream. After all, what are the chances that on the same night, she’d find a hidden room in the library that nopony had even heard of prior to that, find the fabled hidden dragon’s egg in it, and then be slain in a freak tornado of smoke? Absolutely impossible! There was no way in all of Nightmare Moon’s kingdom that she wouldn’t open her eyes and find herself…  Back in the throne room? There was no more wind in her ears, no more piercing sirens, and no more smoke clouding her vision. Slowly, she opened her other eye to make sure that what she was seeing was real, and she had confirmed what she already knew- somehow, she had teleported to the throne room.  Behind her was Rainbow Dash, with one eyebrow arched in surprise. She pointed a hoof at the unicorn with a quizzical stare.  Rarity shook her head, she knew that there was no way her own magic had transported them- the most she’d ever been able to teleport are light objects like pencils and small pieces of fabric, much less two full grown mares. Although she had heard of unicorns finding somewhat abnormal amounts of magical strength in times of intense fear, she hadn’t even intended to teleport- so there was no way this was within her small magical capabilities.  Before she could bring herself to audibly question what just happened, a bright teal beam of powerful magic shot from across the room directly at Rarity- just narrowly missing her thanks to Rainbow Dash swooping out of her way to assure her safety. Instead, the beam had only hit a tapestry on the wall- but it was clear through the gaping burned hole in its center that had the beam hit Rarity instead, she would surely not have lived to tell the tale. She stared in horror at the burned tapestry, both because it was an incredibly poignant visual of just how lucky she was to be alive, and because she knew that the moment this settled down she would have to replace it again.  Putting on a more formal, threatening tone of voice that was considered typical of the royal guard, Rainbow Dash stepped in front of Rarity, “Halt!” She ordered, “Who dares attack a servant of the Princess?!” She looked around the hallway to make eye contact with the other guards that lined the hall- but none of them came to her defense, or even slightly budged. Instead, they all stared at the source of the attack magic… Princess Nightmare Moon herself.  “A servant of the Princess?” Nightmare Moon’s harsh voice dripped with intrigue, “Why, what servant of mine would slink around the castle to steal my prized, priceless belongings?!” She hissed, her snakelike tongue wavering threateningly over her lips. With a single flap of her wings, she shot up into the sky and back down, her slitted eyes staring directly into Rarity’s eyes. “Why, Madame Rarity Belle?” She widened her eyes with a twinge of genuine shock, “My loyal secretary… Surely, you have an explanation for such treason?!”  Rarity felt her hooves sink nervously into the ground, she felt as though she could hardly move. The unicorn shot a glance to Rainbow Dash, who stood hovering in the sky, staring nervously at Nightmare Moon, surely just preparing for her own turn to be interrogated. She opened her mouth to speak, but found that no words came out.  “Well?!” The princess insisted, lowering her head threateningly above the much smaller pony, “Give me one good reason to justify why I have allowed you to live after your betrayal?”  Swallowing her nervousness in a literal gulp of air, Rarity tried to keep her composure as she talked to her ruler. “Why, why- yes, your highness, you see-” She started, trying to keep a wrap on the nervous stuttering as best she could, though to no real avail, “I had little work to do today, so I thought I would clean around the castle, and I figured since nopony ever cleans the section of the libr-”  “Silence!” The princess growled into the unicorn’s face, “Do not reveal the locations of my assets to the entire castle!”  “M-my apologies, your majesty,” She continued fearfully, digging her hooves into the ground subtly, “I figured since nopony ever cleans a, um, that certain area in the castle, that I would try to dust it off, and I brought a pegasus pony to help me reach the high, um… parts! The high parts, when I came across the room, and, well, I thought it was just another ah, um, extension? To the room, that is? And I-”  Frustratedly, the Princess grinded her teeth together, “Agh- this is ridiculous! Guards!” She yelled to the rows of guards in the hallway, “I have granted you relief from your duties for the next minutes! Exit the throne room!” Watching all of the guards anxiously slink out from the room one by one, she added with a sharp hiss, “Not you, Captain! I’m not finished with the two of you!” After each of them left the room, she continued, “Now, tell me what happened in words I can actually comprehend!” She yelled.  “Oh, well certainly!” Rarity let out a nervous giggle, “Well, after Rainbow Dash and I found the hidden door in the, ahm, restricted hall of the library, we thought it was just more books, when we saw your egg!” She explained, “And, well, the egg was shaking, and we thought it was going to hatch! But I thought- wouldn’t that be a terribly strange thing, were the egg to hatch as soon as we found it!”  Rainbow Dash intercepted Rarity’s rambling by adding, “So then, Rarity thought it must be cold! So she wanted to give it a blanket!”  Realizing how ridiculous that sounded, Rarity sighed, “I simply did not want you to lose an incredibly valuable egg if I could help it!”  Suspiciously, Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow, “That egg has quivered for more moons than I can recall!” She looked up outside the window to see the moon, and squinted to see the face of a pony within it, “Long before I rose to power again, that egg remained shaking! What makes you think you know better than your Princess?”  Suddenly feeling calmer, knowing that Nightmare Moon was at least willing to hear out her side of the story, Rarity continued speaking, “Oh, not at all, Princess!” She groveled, somewhat dramatically, knowing that the Princess appreciates seeing the fear in ponies eyes- even if it’s just a little bit dramatized, “I simply knew not that this is what dragon eggs did! I thought that if I were to help you keep the egg safe, I would be doing my part to be the best servant to you I could possibly be!”  Nightmare Moon sighed, though not quite angrily this time, instead, in a rather disappointed manner, as if a foal asked a silly question to her face, “You should consider yourself lucky, Madame Rarity Belle, Captain Rainbow Dash, that the only punishment I am giving you is this warning;” She proceeded, making intense eye contact with Rarity to make sure she was listening, “Neither of you are to return to that room, neither of you are to touch that egg, and when it hatches, neither of you, under any circumstances, and I mean any whatsoever, are to socialize with that dragon. The only pony in my kingdom to wield the might of dragons shall be me!” She opened her wings intimidatingly, before adding on a final, “Do I make myself clear?”  Immediately, Rainbow Dash and Rarity both nodded their heads anxiously, “Yes, Princess Nightmare Moon!” They bowed courteously in unison.  “Good.” She turned her head, as if she was no longer interested in seeing the two of them. “You’re dismissed. Continue your duties elsewhere.” She commanded, already walking back to her throne.  The two ponies walked out of the room- Rainbow Dash gave a somewhat frightened scamper, while Rarity left slowly, deliberately making each and every hoofstep with her head held high in indignation. She found that as she walked away from the Princess, knowing certainly that both her life and job were safe, the only thing she could find herself feeling was irritation and anger at being scolded like that in front of her friends, and for such a silly mistake, at that. How dare she accuse me of such disloyalty?! She thought to herself, After all I’ve done for her, she nearly obliterates me with a magical blast before even giving me time to deign an apology? Unbelievable! She imagined turning back and looking the Princess in the eyes and telling her exactly how she felt, before remembering that had she wanted to, Nightmare Moon could do a lot worse than just fire her. She thought back to the hole in the tapestry that was nearly a hole in her waist, and she sighed, continuing to walk back out.  Outside, there were several guardsponies staring at them with intense looks of curiosity. Among them was Lyra Heartstrings, who had since changed shifts since working the front gate in the morning. She walked up to the two ponies and asked, “What happened in there?! Are you two… fired?” The last word was whispered in a hush, as though it was a great scandal, though every other pony in that hallway looked just as eager to know the answer as she was.  “...No.” Rarity blinked plainly, not expecting to be asked the question so blatantly, already irritated by Nightmare Moon’s interrogation, but even further so by having to answer ponies asinine questions.  Everypony in the hallway’s eyes went wide, “Woah, really?!” Strawberry Sunrise, a pegasus chef who must’ve overheard the ordeal had asked. “I’ve seen her fire ponies over way less!”  Rarity pondered, realizing that Chef Sunrise was certainly correct- in her time working at the castle, she’d been witness to Nightmare Moon firing ponies over all sorts of missteps, even as minor as leaving the door to the cafeteria closed a few minutes longer than it should be. For all she knew about the Princess, it seemed as if she should’ve certainly been preparing to pack up her belongings and head out of the castle never to return.  “Heh!” Rainbow Dash smugly cut off Rarity’s train of thought, “I guess the two of us were just that irreplaceable! I’m not surprised, where else is she gonna find such an awesome guard?! Come on, Rarity, we should celebrate our not-getting-fired with some hay burgers!” “Why, I suppose you’re right!” Rarity grumbled at Rainbow Dash with a slight roll to her eyes, “Where in the wide, wide world of Equestria is Nightmare Moon to find another guard who is so wrapped up in gloating that she forgets to return to her post?”  As if she suddenly remembered the order she was given no more than a few seconds ago, she perked up in wide-eyed surprise, “Shit! I’ve gotta get back to my post at the archives!” She said, flying off in less than a second, leaving behind nothing but vague remnants of a rainbow trail.  Rarity sighed, and tilted her head to the guards who still continued staring at her after Rainbow Dash had left, “Now, it appears that you ponies truly have nothing better to do but stick around and gossip,” She hissed, turning her back to them, “But I, on the other hoof, have actual work to do- so you simply must excuse me while I replace the tapestry.” She trotted off in a huff.  One might be surprised by the sheer amount of fabric Rarity had in her quarters. She wouldn’t go as far as to say the Princess had made a habit of wrecking decor, but it wasn’t infrequent for a carpet to get horrifically mudstained by tourists who trudged through the forest on a rainy night, or for a guard to tear their uniform while doing something ridiculous, like having a hoof-wrestle on their break. The tapestries, on the other hand, were near priceless- even Rarity hesitated to replace them when slight tears appeared in them, out of fear of ruining such an artifact. In fact, she had only had to change them two times.  The first time was when Nightmare Moon had first come to power. She sought to claim her original castle, but found it to be simply lousy with reminders of her turncoat sister, and demanded that they be changed from head to hoof as soon as possible. She looked to find the finest artists in Equestria to decorate for her- and somehow landed upon Rarity. At first, she was fearful, she’d heard the legends about the allegedly horrific Mare in the Moon, but she knew that if she were to refuse an offer from her, Nightmare Moon could do terrible things to her, or worse, to Sweetie Belle. She asked of Rarity to design windows and tapestries to show the true story- that she was not the one to betray Princess Celestia, but rather, that Celestia betrayed her and imprisoned her in the moon, then spent a millennia making sure that her own little sister went down in history as Equestria’s greatest traitor. Of course, Rarity was horrified to learn that everything she’d been taught about the former princess was nothing more than mere propaganda, and had decided to dedicate herself to telling the truth about the Princess, and even became her first official employee, her own personal secretary. She’d made brand new tapestries for each and every hallway- in the armory hung beautiful works of art depicting the banishment of Princess Celestia. In the library, there hung a mural of Nightmare Moon’s escape from the moon after being assisted by the four cardinal stars. And, most importantly, the throne room’s tapestries depicted the transformation from Princess Luna to Nightmare Moon, and shows how she bestowed her gift of eternal night upon Equestria. She’d spent weeks sewing each and every one before she got the chance to hang them up- she’d never expected in millions of moons to see herself as the premiere decorator for the castle, and she still considered this to be her proudest accomplishment. The second time she’d replaced them was certainly infinitely less climactic- they had simply gotten dusty and dirty, and she’d put it off for as long as possible, but she found that it was impossible to ignore the way they were falling apart at the seams (at least, in part due to the fact that Rainbow Dash, Thunderlane, and Flash Sentry had both crashed into them hundreds of times in various hallway races). She’d spent a few weeks attempting to restore them, but found that it was easier to replace all of them one by one, so she spent some time chipping away at them whenever she found the time, slowly but surely replacing every single tapestry in the castle.  Of course, this was merely a month ago, so of course, she was somewhat infuriated that she already has to create a new tapestry from scratch all on her own. Luckily, though, this one was one which had appeared several times throughout the castle, a simple image of the Princess raising the moon over Equestria, so she’d not only done these patterns dozens of times, but had already had the beginnings of one stashed away in her quarters. She’d locked herself in her room to keep working, figuring that if she’d truly focused, she could have finished it with an hour of the night to spare. Besides, it was much easier to pour all of her energy into working on her tapestry as opposed to focusing on the disaster of what happened with Nightmare Moon earlier, anyway.  She hummed to herself while she worked, gently tapping her hoof onto the presser foot of her machine- it was much less state of the art than the one she’d had back at her boutique, but it surely got the job done just as well as any other. In fact, she had proven herself right, in just a few hours, she had finished placing all of her additives onto the tapestry, and it looked ready to be hung. With a sigh of relief that it didn’t take too long, she levitated the long sheet of fabric and trotted into the throne room to replace it.  She was immediately acutely aware of the eyes of the Princess staring intently, although she was cloaked in shadow, there was no doubt that she was sitting there, silently in her throne. Without acknowledging her presence, she used her magic to transport the tattered tapestry back to her quarters, hoping that at least a small portion of it would be salvageable. She stepped across the hallway with her head held high, refusing to give Nightmare Moon the satisfaction of seeing her grovel after being unfairly screamed at just mere hours before.  Or maybe I can take a quick peek- just to see the look on her face when you ignore her menacing glares- Rarity mused to herself, No, no, Rarity. You must maintain your composure, however do you expect to be respected if you give in to your each and every impulse… though, I suppose a glance couldn’t hurt. Subtly, she looked to the throne with just the corner of her eye to find that, much to her surprise, Nightmare Moon wasn’t even looking in her direction! The unicorn scoffed under her breath, thinking that there was truly no point in making such a dramatic gesture of indifference if it was to be met with indifference as well. She proceeded to walk onward to the other side of the hallway, when suddenly, she heard a familiar sound- a loud creaking coming from the main entryway.  Oh, damnit! She thought, I was supposed to fix that, too! She figured that a new shift of guards was entering the castle, considering that some were only there for the first half of the night, and others for the second half. She continued going about her business as though she didn’t acknowledge their entrance.  “This place looks a lot cleaner than I remember…” A voice, seemingly belonging to a young colt, questioned out loud.  Well, at least somepony notices when I clean up! She smiled, Even if it is just a colt… wait, a colt? Who in Equestria is bringing foals into the castle? Dismissing her questions, she picked up the tapestry on the ground to finally put it up, she’d stalled enough, and it was clear her efforts were barely appreciated by anypony other than… foals, seemingly.  Though, she was stopped short by an unfamiliar mare’s voice, calling out towards her with a strange sense of… relief?  “Rarity!” She had called out excitedly. Curiously, Rarity finished levitating the tapestry up towards the railing on the ceiling before looking at the mare- a purple unicorn with a long, straight mane, dark blue bangs, with two colored streaks of dark purple and pink. Her cutie mark was a pink and white six pointed star as a cutie mark, surrounded by five other stars. It was something that seemed familiar, even if she couldn’t quite place where she knew it from. She was quite tall, surely taller than Rarity, though that didn’t say much- but nonetheless, her stature seemed to be greater than that of most other ponies. More importantly, she looked rather disheveled, her eyes dropped with a sense of exhaustion. But, as predicted by her voice, Rarity was absolutely perplexed by the fact that as much as she seemed to know her… she had never seen this unicorn in her entire life.  Had she been in her boutique, or even alone in her quarters, the first thing that she would do would be to offer this exhausted looking mare a glass of water and a quick mane washing- but she knew that she was being watched, and if she were to make one misstep in front of the Princess she was already in so much trouble with, well…  Most ponies didn’t know, but there was a protocol for uninvited guests to the castle. In order for a pony to schedule an appointment with the Princess, they must conquer numerous hurdles- and most of the time, she says no. However, that doesn’t stop certain ponies from rushing in and demanding an audience on their own. It was Nightmare Moon’s rule that these ponies were to be treated without welcome, not allowing them to feel comfortable, lest they get the wrong idea that they were able to barge in without warning or permission whenever they pleased. Most of the time, a guard escorts them out of the castle, but if they insist upon staying and having themselves be heard- they are met with what they desire: an audience with the Princess… though, it’s never quite as friendly or open-minded as they hope.  Cautiously, Rarity put on the most insociable voice she could muster, and said, “The castle isn’t open for viewings today. The tapestries all need changing… again.” She huffed curtly, providing the image that she was irritated that she was being bothered.  As if he didn’t hear what she had to say, the creature from which the colt’s voice had emitted had run straight up to her with a childlike excitement and extended his arms into a hug, proclaiming, “Rarity, it’s me!” Though, upon taking a single glance at him, Rarity realized that the unicorn mare had not brought a young colt alongside her, but rather, a young dragon! He was much smaller than she was, and had luminescent purple scales, alongside large green spines going down his back from the top of his head.  She recalled the still-watching Princess’ words from earlier, ‘Neither of you are to touch that egg, and when it hatches, neither of you, under any circumstances, and I mean any whatsoever, are to socialize with that dragon. The only pony in my kingdom to wield the might of dragons shall be me!’ She had demanded.  Echoing her words, Rarity scrunched her nose and disgustedly responded to the small dragon, “I don’t socialize with dragons,” She winced, seeing the pained look on his face, “I don’t know anypony who would.” She turned away, hoping for that to be the end of their interaction. She’d hated seeing the look on the poor young dragon’s defeated face… though, it seemed as if they did truly know her. Her mind quickly began running wild with every face she’d seen in recent years- she wasn’t one to forget a pony all that often, but she surely wasn’t one to forget a dragon, and she was absolutely certain she’d never met one in all her moons. She thought back to the egg back up in the study- if she hadn’t known any better, she would’ve assumed that the purple dragon came out of it! Its scale color perfectly resembled that which was on the egg from earlier, but, clearly, it wasn’t hatching. Perhaps this may be its cousin, or a brother. She looked back up to Nightmare Moon, who had one eyebrow arched in curiosity at the two newcomers- knowing the princess as well as she did, she was absolutely certain that at any given moment, once they reveal information about themselves, she would reveal that she’s been listening the entire time- that was one thing she knew, and admired about the Princess of the Night- she enjoyed a dramatic entrance.  The purple unicorn leapt out in front of Rarity and pleaded, “Rarity, you have to listen to me!” Her face reflected anxious desperation in her purple eyes, “The future of Equestria is at stake!”  Briefly, she contemplated asking the unicorn just what she meant, but she knew that she was to leave such questioning to the Princess, and instead, just throw up a wall for as long as possible. Besides, she knew that whatever she was saying was likely to be nonsense, it would be far from the first time that somepony had come rushing to the castle with their horn in a twist talking about things that were patently false- had it not been for the fact that she had a dragon with her, chances are, Nightmare Moon would’ve sent her away the moment she stepped into the castle without her permission. Ultimately, she inhaled through her nose and turned her back to the other unicorn, “I don’t know how you know my name,” She started, “But I am far too busy to entertain some tourist’s ridiculous fantasies!”  Continuing her desperate plea, the mare anxiously yelled to the back of Rarity’s head, “I have to get back to the map so I can stop Starlight from changing the past, because every present I come to is worse than the last!”  Starlight? Who in Equestria is that? It was another name that Rarity didn’t recognize, despite the fact that the purple mare spoke as if she’d known for a fact that Rarity knew everything she said with intimate detail. And how in the wide, wide world is she talking about changing the past? And different presents?  Before she got the chance to ask any more questions, even to herself, Nightmare Moon’s booming voice erupted from the throne which the room was centered around, “Time travel you say?” She grinned, peeking her head out from the envelope of shadows she had surrounded herself by.  The pony and the dragon had both looked horrified by her voice, once again, as if they’d known it- though, that was surely far more reasonable, considering that she was the Princess and all. They looked around, staring anxiously at the stained glass windows and tapestries around the room, before the Princess spoke up once more.  “Now, that’s something I’d like to see…” She bore her fangs towards the ponies, allowing each and every one of the guards to circle around the newcomers. “Tell me how you came across this magic to travel through time?!” She demanded.  The purple mare gulped, and for the first time, now that she saw her from a different angle, in better light, Rarity had realized something she wasn’t able to see, previously- she was wrong, this pony wasn’t just a mere unicorn, as she had wings. In all her life, she’d only seen three alicorns- Former Princesses Celestia and Cadence, and of course, the Princess Nightmare Moon herself. Though, she was surer than ever that she’d never encountered this alicorn mare in her life, as she would’ve absolutely remembered if Equestria were to have welcomed a fourth Princess.  The smaller alicorn gulped nervously at Nightmare Moon’s demands, met with a response by Rainbow Dash, who stood at the right side of the circle closing in on her, “The Princess asked you a question!” She barked, “And unless you wanna end up in the dungeon- you’ll tell her what she wants to know!”  The both of them, alicorn and dragon, looked at Rainbow Dash with a sad stare, briefly stunned beyond words.  “Nopony in my kingdom should possess a magic powerful enough to travel through time!” Nightmare Moon towered over the pony angrily, pressing her for an answer.  Though, instead of a legitimate response, all she got was a rather uncouth question of his own from the dragon’s mouth, “Y-your kingdom?” He asked nervously.  His companion shot him a warning glare, before nudging him on the shoulder.  Nightmare Moon contorted her face angrily, before craning her neck back up to emphasize her imposing appearance, “Who else?!” She huffed.  “Um,” He started, “Celestia, of course?” He stuttered.  From the corner of her eye, Rarity noticed all of the guards casting nervous glances at each other while Nightmare Moon cackled in the two traveler’s faces.  “My sister has been imprisoned in the Moon for years!” She guffawed, pointing her hoof towards the window where one could visibly see the outline of Celestia, stuck in the moon. “But it is no less a fate than she sentenced me to! … Now, reveal to me the source of this time magic!” She stamped her hoof.  The alicorn looked conflicted for a moment, before heaving a resigned sigh, “Alright…” She looked up at the Princess.  “Twilight, no!” The dragon called, visibly afraid.  Twilight, Rarity made note of the name to herself, That must be her name, or, perhaps, it is more likely that she is called Princess Twilight, whatever her kingdom may be. She thought to herself that it had a nice ring to it.  Comfortingly, she rested her hoof around the dragon’s leg, “We have no choice, Spike.” She flattened her ears with defeat… or rather, perhaps, determination? “I can take you to it… but you’ll have to get past the Timberwolves!”  Why, that’s not going to work, Twilight! Rarity thought to herself, instantly realizing what she must be intending to do. Rarity rolled her eyes, not expecting Nightmare Moon to even entertain the idea of destroying the Timberwolves, allowing her to escape unchallenged.  Dismissively, Nightmare Moon laughed, “I am the ruler of all of Equestria,” She narrowed her eyes and grinned, “Do you think I can’t deal with Timberwolves?”  “No…” She frowned, lowering her head towards the ground, “I know you can.” To this, Nightmare Moon frowned, seemingly seeing straight through any plan Twilight may have had. “And if you are thinking of trying to escape,” She lifted the small dragon, Spike, with her horn, before levitating a heavy chain to surround him, “it would be very unfortunate for your friend.” She grinned.  Twilight let out a gulp, before reluctantly walking Nightmare Moon out from the castle, followed by three guards, including Rainbow Dash. Each hoofstep left an echo in its wake. As they walked away, Twilight shot a final, longing glance Rarity’s way, as if it was a final plea for help, or at the very least, acknowledgement.  Although her exterior was disinterested, Rarity was genuinely curious. Who was this mysterious alicorn? Where did she come from? How did she learn time travel magic? What about her dragon? She wanted to ask all these questions and more, but found herself unable to respond. Instead, she just stood there- frozen in place with cold, judgmental eyes latched onto her as the alicorn and dragon walked away- just as it seemed everypony else in the castle was, until the door creaked open and shut once more, and just as quickly as they appeared, Twilight and Spike were gone.  There was silence in the throne room for a moment as the door closed- Rarity even expected for them to all stand in place until Nightmare Moon returned. But, after a few moments, excited stirring came from the cluster of remaining guards, and strangely enough- it was all pointed at Rarity.  “Who was that, Rarity?” Spearhead asked with wide eyes and excitement. “I’ve never seen that pony before! And how did she have a horn, and wings?!” Crème Brûlée nodded, “And what was up with that dragon?! I thought the Princess was the only pony who had dragons- and even she only has just the egg!” Gallant Gallop asked, “Is she some kind of wizard that knows how to open it?”  Those, and dozens of other questions came from the guards, overwhelming Rarity, “H-how should I know?” She spat.  “She knew your name!”  “W-well, yes.” She stuttered, “But I promise, I’ve never laid eyes on that mare in all my life! I’m just as confused as you colts! Besides, she will surely return later once Nightmare Moon brings her back- and you can ask her all your questions to her face.” They each looked confused for a moment, before seemingly collectively deciding to let go of the interrogation of Rarity and instead turn to gossip amongst themselves.  She walked away from them, still trying her hardest to listen in on what they had to say, but finding herself lost in her own thoughts.  Twilight. Princess Twilight. She thought the name to herself over and over, repeating it, dissecting it like a puzzle she could eventually crack. But of course, nothing came of it. She used her hoof to invisibly trace the strange pony’s six-pointed star cutie mark into the floor. She knew it wasn’t a real, tangible note she could return to, it was simply her miming above the ground, but if she kept picturing it, she knew that any knowledge of this pony she had hidden in the depths of her mind would present itself.  Princess Twilight. She repeated.  Six pointed star… Six pink points… Six white points behind it… Five smaller stars surrounding it.  Princess Twilight. Six pointed stars. Five smaller stars. She let these words play over and over in her head, refusing to let herself forget anything about it in the short moments they were gone. At some point, she thought she must’ve accidentally been mumbling them to herself instead.  She continued doing so for several minutes, until once again, she heard the obnoxious creak of the castle doors and winced at its sound. The trotting of infuriated hooves came barreling through, as Nightmare Moon pouted back to the throne, all the while muttering incoherently to herself. The other guards looked defeated, while they hung their heads low to report back to the ones who stood behind. But, more obvious than anything else, the mysterious alicorn and dragon were nowhere to be seen.  Rarity tilted her head in confusion towards Rainbow Dash, who glided towards her with a concerned expression, “What happened, Rainbow?” She narrowed her eyes, “Did the Princess escape?” “Princess?” Rainbow Dash blinked, “What Princess?”  “Oh- I mean, she may not be a Princess,” Rarity conceded, “But, she has wings, and a horn, and I thought that only happened to Princesses-”  Without letting her continue her tangent, Rainbow Dash shook out her head, letting her short mane loose from her helmet, “The alicorn escaped, it was weird…” She whispered, “Some portal came out of a crazy table in the middle of the forest!”  “A table?!” Rarity blinked, “Who in Equestria would leave a perfectly good table in the middle of the Everfree forest?”  “That’s the thing!” Rainbow Dash’s eyes went wide with excitement, “It’s a magic table! I think it came from her world, because it left when she did!”  Rarity tried to contain all of her confusion, “So she truly is from another world?”  The pegasus guard shrugged, “I guess so, she said something about a pony from her time using a spell to change the past,” She explained, “I don’t really get it, but it seems like she…” Rainbow Dash trailed off, eyes affixed towards Nightmare Moon, who stood beside her throne with anger in her eyes, “Shit, I gotta go, the Princess said that when we get back, the guards need to have a meeting- you better come too, Rarity. I bet she’s gonna wanna have you there.”  “Right away!” The unicorn nodded, head still spinning as she followed the pegasus towards the throne, where all of the guards were beginning to crowd around a door beneath the floor, leading to one of the many meeting rooms in the castle.  She couldn’t help but wonder just what happened- it felt as if absolutely none of her questions were answered, and it appeared that without Twilight sticking around any longer, they might never be.  Well, that’s fine. Rarity thought, That’s just one more thing I don’t have to think about. I can return to my duties the same way I always have… After all, I only need one alicorn Princess barking orders at me! She told herself.  Yet, she couldn’t get the strange mare out of her mind. The way she called out her name with such excitement… such relief… such certainty… Do we know each other, Twilight? She asked silently, knowing that the otherworldly alicorn couldn’t hear her, much less respond. More importantly, a single question weighed on her, far more than any of the others. In fact, it was far less a question, and more a feeling. A looming sense of dread, of curiosity- as if it was fate itself that she encountered this pony. Although every rational bone in her body told her that she was meant to stay put, and let this strange meeting be just that, somehow, she knew that there was more to it, because she couldn’t help herself from asking the question that was plaguing her more than any other.  Twilight… Who are you?