by ArguingPizza
***
The Canterhorn, the mountain that bore the crown jewel in Equestria’s crown that was Canterlot, stabbed towards the heavens like a dagger aimed at the heart of the sky. Upon its jagged peaks sat the Royal Palace, the great marble and granite fortress which served as home to two Equestrian Princesses, and the home town to another.
Many great decisions had been made on the Canterhorn. It had seen the fate of nations and empires decided upon, ponies give reprieve and harsh sentence both. It had borne witness to the thousand year reign of Princess Celestia, given shelter to the first Alicorn born in centuries, and watched from afar the return of the Mistress of the Night and birth of the Princess of Harmony.
Now, it was forced to watch as the youngest Royal, Princess Twilight Sparkle, plunged helplessly from its highest summit. A shrill, piercing scream echoed over the jagged rocks which sat idle, helpless to save the falling mare.
It takes an object slightly less than 17 seconds to fall from the 1431 meter summit of the Canterhorn. Princess Twilight Sparkle experienced every second as if it was a lifetime in her death spiral. By the time she neared the ground, her lungs had run out of air, and her screams died away.
She smashed against the unforgiving earth like a meteorite, crushing smaller stones beneath her and digging a small crater with her body.
A long silence passed, until it was broken by a voice from high above, magically amplified to carry to the bottom.
“THAT WAS PRETTY GOOD, BUT NEXT TIME SPREAD YOUR FRONT LEGS A LITTLE FARTHER APART!”
Twilight groaned as she peeled herself off the ground. A flash of her horn wiped away the dust and grime that had weaseled its way into her coat and mane. Twilight took a moment to stretch and shake out the kinks from her dive off the mountain before flapping her wings and taking to the air.
It took her a bit longer to get to the top than it did to get to the bottom, but when she reached the peak the sight that greeted her was well worth it.
Princess Celestia sat casually on the edge of the cliff, closer even than most Pegasi would be comfortable with. Her regalia was gone, and in its place was a set of workout gear that Twilight could describe only as ‘retro.’ A fuzzy pink sweatband ran just above Celestia’s horn, matched by the furry legwarmers she wore. Hot pink hair ties restrained her ever flowing mane in something resembling a ponytail. Twilight wouldn’t be able to stop laughing at the style if she didn’t find it so hot.
Twilight pushed the thought aside for the moment to accept the bottle of water Celestia offered to her. She drank greedily; all those flights up the mountain were rough on a mare whose normal physical exertion consisted of carrying around saddlebags stuffed with books.
When she pulled her lips off the bottle, she plopped down next to her fellow Princess and sighed. “I’m just not sure I’m getting this whole skydiving thing.” Celestia shook her head and leaned against her supportively.
“You’re doing much better now,” Celestia assured her. “You’re doing a good job keeping your legs straight, you’ve just got to focus on keeping them in line. If you can do that you won’t keep spiraling out of control.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow at her. “This would be a whole lot easier if we, y'know, used our wings.” As if to drive home the point, Twilight stretched her wings to their fullest length before tucking them back to her side. Celestia only rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue cutely.
“Well then it wouldn’t be extreme skydiving then, would it?”