//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: My Choices: Twisted Tales Through Time // by koolerkid //------------------------------// Prolouge "...Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, the Princess Sisters defeated the traitor Darklight Star, and banished her permanently inside the North Star. The Princesses took on the responsibility of protecting the Elements of Harmony...” "... and Harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since." Twilight Sparkle closed the heavy tome, digesting what she'd read. "The Elements of Harmony?” she mused. “I know I've read that somewhere before, but where?" It was a simple tale, really. Just a fairy tale for foals. And yet... and yet... Since she was little, Twilight had heard stories of Darklight Star, the traitor who had gone mad and attempted to steal the Elements of Harmony and all Equestria from the Princesses. She’d never quite known why, but she found them fascinating. Now, having finished what was likely to be the most historically accurate accounting of the event available to her, Twilight found herself wondering where the legend came from. All legends had a grain of truth hidden within them somewhere. The Elements of Harmony. The truth was there somewhere, Twilight decided. She’d read about them somewhere before; she just needed to find it again. Focused on her train of thought, she cantered back to the private library reserved only for the Princesses and their students. That included Twilight Sparkle, her assistant Spike, and the pony who was like a sister to Twilight: Trixie, personal protege to Princess Luna. ----------------- Within the private library, Princess Luna was instructing her prized student. "Excellent work, Trixie," Princess Luna said. "Your illusions are getting better." The alicorn walked around the image, examining it carefully. It was a scene Luna knew well, from nearly a thousand years ago: her sister, the regal Princess Celestia, having tea with a blue unicorn pony, a famous pioneer of magical theory by the name of Blue Star. The two were laughing at some joke or other while a flustered maid stood to the side with a teapot. Princess Luna turned back to face Trixie. "You based it on Lionheart's 'The Last Teatime,' didn't you?" "Your Faithful Student Trixie did indeed, my mentor!" A wide smile graced the blue unicorn's face. "However, Trixie did some research on contemporary accounts with your sister's protege, Twilight Sparkle, to get their manes right. Trixie was surprised to discover that Blue Star had such a modern sense of style..." She trailed off as she noticed Luna looking oddly distracted. "Princess?" "It's nothing, Trixie." Luna shook herself from her reverie and smiled at the young unicorn. "One of the curses of an alicorn's lifespan is our long memories. You just happened to get 'Tia’s expression exactly right for that moment. Her mane was slightly lighter then, however." Her eyes took on that faraway expression again, frowning as though contemplating something, or remembering something unpleasant. She quickly recovered, however, and gave her student a look of mock severity. "And what have I told you about referring to yourself in the third person, Trixie?" "That I shouldn't?" Trixie said meekly. Suddenly, the pair was interrupted by the sound of the door downstairs slamming open. “Spiiike! Triiiixie!” Twilight’s voice called from downstairs. Trixie winced. “Sounds like Twilight has something on her mind.” Luna chuckled as Twilight galloped up the stairs. “Trixie, have you seen Spike? I can’t... OH! P-Princess Luna!” Twilight immediately went from the borderline-obsessed expression she got when a new research topic caught her attention to meek respect. “I’m so sorry, Princess, I didn’t mean to interrupt your lesson.” Trixie hid a grin; the presence of one of the Princesses was so far the only thing Trixie had discovered that could snap Twilight out of her “impatient researcher” mode. “Oh, that’s quite alright, Twilight,” Luna said with a kind smile, standing up. “I was just about to leave, anyway. I’m sure you’re quite busy. Have fun, you two!” A bright flare of silvery-blue magic, and Luna vanished. Immediately, Twilight returned to her “impatient researcher” mode. “Trixie, have you seen Spike? I need to look something up and I can’t find him anywhere!” Her horn lit up as she began pulling books off the shelf. “No, no, no... gah! Where is it?” “I think he’s out finding a present for Moondancer’s party,” Trixie said, trotting up beside her. “Remember? You promised you’d go this time.” Twilight’s face turned bright red. “T-that... promises made under duress shouldn’t count! You tickled me! Besides, I don’t have time for that kind of thing, I’m far too busy...” She tried to pull down more books, but found her magic blocked by a bright blue barrier. “With what?” Trixie sighed, her own horn glowing. “We’re on a break, Twilight. I know you’re more comfortable with books than ponies, but... YOW!” Twilight closed her eyes and forced her way through Trixie’s barrier, causing a mildly painful spark to leap from the blue unicorns horn. “That has nothing to do with it, Trixie. As Princess Celestia’s personal student, it’s my responsibility to keep up with my studies, regardless of the time of year. Now help me find my old copy of Predictions and Prophecies, would you?” “Fifth bookcase, top shelf,” Trixie replied automatically. After years of helping Twilight in the library, the positions of the books were printed permanently on her consciousness. Twilight immediately dropped the books she was levitating and yanked the tome in question from the shelf with a satisfied ‘aha!’  Trixie stamped her hoof impatiently. “Now come on, Twilight, it’ll be good for us to get out some! We hardly ever leave this stuffy old library!” “If you want to get out more, you could always go by yourself, you know,” Twilight said with a sly grin. “Elements, Elements, E, E, E....” “B-by myself?” Trixie said, her smile vanishing at the thought. An image went through her mind of being in a huge room, surrounded by dozens of unfamiliar faces... “I-I couldn’t... I mean, b-by myself I... AHEM!” Her posture straightened up, and a haughty look came across her face. “I mean, the Great and Powerful Trixie could hardly attend by herself. It would be beneath her dignity to mingle with such common ponies.” “Which is another way of saying you’re too scared of talking to anypony to go without me,” Twilight said with a smirk, causing Trixie to frown at her. “Aha! Elements of Harmony: see the Story of the Sealed Star.” “The Sealed Star?” Trixie asked, as she levitated the books Twilight had dropped back into their shelves. Twilight was a messy reader. “I didn’t think you were interested in old legends, Twilight, or prophecies, for that matter. Didn’t you tell me that predicting the future was impossible?” “Receiving visions of the future is impossible,” Twilight said distractedly, flipping through the book. “According to Blue Star’s Theory of Arcane/Temporal Entanglement, it is possible for magic to interfere with the flow of time, and actively perceive the future. It’s entirely different than the mumbo jumbo of that Zebra fortune teller you tried to take me to last year. AHA!” She proudly pointed her hoof at the passage. “Here it is. ‘The Sealed Star, a myth from olden pony times. The prison of a powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria. Defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned in the North Star. Legend has it on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will conquer all of Equestria.’” She gasped, her eyes widening. “Trixie! Do you know what this means?” Trixie shrugged as she finished shelving the books. “Let me guess. The imprisonment happened exactly one thousand years ago?” Twilight paused briefly, lips moving soundlessly as she preformed some quick mental arithmetic. “As near as I can tell, yes!” Twilight began pacing frantically. “I mean, it’s impossible to be certain, but by cross-referencing the biographies of Starswirl the Bearded and Blue Star the Enlightened with the History of Ancient Equestria I’ve been reading-” Trixie trotted over and covered Twilight’s mouth with a hoof. “Twilight, take it from a pony who convinced her entire class she defeated an Ursa Major for her entry exam. This is just another story. Even if it was true, I think the Princesses would be prepared for it. Something like this wouldn’t escape their notice.” Twilight shoved her only friend’s hoof away. “We can’t be certain of that! I’m going to go find Spike and write Princess Celestia a letter right away, just to be safe. See you later!” She galloped out the door, predictably leaving the book sitting out. Trixie sighed as she re-shelved it. “What am I going to do with that filly?” ----------------- You are confused. That is understandable. This is not the Equestria you know. The timeline has changed and you, an observer from beyond our borders, are left stranded, wondering what has happened. But fret not. I will explain everything. In order to understand, we must turn the clocks back... then forward again... then twist them sideways to see things as they were. Let us return to an Equestria more familiar to you. A nearby town called Ponyville that is very far away, a long time ago in the near future, with a very different Twilight who is exactly the same. Read on, dear observer. And judge me not too harshly, for I did the very best I could to change things for the better... May Celestia and Luna forgive me one day. -Twilight Sparkle