• Published 16th Apr 2012
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Hooves, Plush, and Magic: The Untold Tales - Harry Leferts



This is the place for side stories, origin tales and plot bunnies for my fic: "The Wizard and the Lonely Princess". So come on in,

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Celestia's Story: Interlude With Twilight

Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is owned by Hasbro and Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling.


With a smile, the young lavender filly pranced around on her hooves as she looked around at all the different exhibits in the museum before she turned. "Oh, wow... this place is amazing Princess!"

A soft chuckle escaped Celestia as she smiled down at the unicorn. "I do say that it is myself, Twilight Sparkle." Slowly, she tilted her head some in thought and hummed. "Though I do say that I did not quite expect you to choose the museum on one of your free days..."

If anything, Twilight blushed as she scuffed the tip of her hoof against the tiled floor. "Well... its an exhibit on the Century of Strife. It's really interesting Princess, especially as... um..."

Having noticed that Twilight glanced at one of the exhibits, Celestia gave her a slightly saddened smile. "Ah, yes. I had forgotten that you were descended from Huǒhuā Huánghūn through the main branch of her family." In reality, she had not forgotten that fact. Not that Celestia would ever tell her student that. "She's one of your personal heroes, is she not?"

Twilight nodded as she walked over to the exhibit which had various personal paraphernalia used by Huánghūn as well as a painting which was entitled "Last Stand of the Dragon Mare". For a moment, Twilight observed it before she started to talk. "It's been tradition for the first mare to be born in each generation of my family to be given either one of her names... And I was named after her and carry her whole name..."

Even though her heart ached at the sight of the exhibit and the memories it brought to the surface, Celestia stepped forward and laid her wing on Twilight's shoulder. "Is that why she's one of your heroes, my faithful student? Because you're named after her?"

Her eyebrows furrowed, Twilight shook her head. "Er... no? Yes? Um... kind of?" The unicorn could not see the smile of amusement on Celestia's face as she continued. "Huánghūn is also a hero of mine because she's so cool... She was a powerful mage and fighter as well as scholar you know!"

A smile of fond remembrance spread across the face of the Princess of the Day. "Hmm, yes, I do know of that..." Her smile slowly fell though. "It was a sad and dark day when she was taken from us."

That comment caused Twilight to frown as she stared at the floor. "I thought that she was known as a hero because of that though, Princess? Because her siblings and herself sacrificed themselves to protect those they cared for..."

Having realized how her comment could have been taken by a young filly, Celestia decided to correct that. "Do not mistake me, Twilight Sparkle. Huánghūn was and is a hero for what she did. Many lives were saved by her on that day through her and her siblings' actions and for that she was honored. However, it was still a sad day to her friends and family due to her no longer being there."


Her mouth open in a round shape, Twilight nodded. "Oh! I get it now."

While Celestia nodded, her eyes became saddened as she looked at the starburst on her student's flank. 'I can only hope that you never know what I have gone through... or that your friends and family experience it themselves...' She shook her head to clear it of the words of Huánghūn in regards to Luna's return. "In fact, so big of a hero she was, when she was buried beside her siblings, almost all of Canterlot turned up at the funeral as well as ponies from nearby towns."

There was a surprised expression on Twilight's face. "Really?" At Celestia's nod, she turned back to the exhibit. "Wow..." It was then that she really looked at the painting. "I wonder if that was how she really looked like..."

Celestia glanced at it and barely held back a snort as she imagined how her old friend would have reacted to it. "Hmm... well, they did manage to get some of her colors correct I suppose... though she certainly did not have a flaming sword nor was her battle clothing that colorful or fancy..." Barely able to hold back a snicker as she could hear Huánghūn's old voice spit insults about the artist in her mind, Celestia's lips twitched upwards. "But it's a decent enough portrait for when it was made..."

Uncertain of why it looked like the Princess wanted to laugh, Twilight shrugged it off as a trick of the light before she looked at a book. "Um, Princess?"

After she shook off the need to laugh, Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Twilight?"

The unicorn gestured at the book before she pawed at the ground. "Um... does the library at the castle have books she may have written? I heard that they have really old books."

At the question, Celestia nodded. "They do, though they might be a bit advanced for you seeing as Huánghūn's notes usually were rather complicated... she was a polyhistor of her day after all and one usually needs a grounded background in many subjects to understand what she's writing." When she saw the serious expression on Twilight's face, Celestia had to hold back a giggle. 'She's so much like you, I think that you might have been rather proud and have liked this one my old friend...'

They spent several more minutes there just talking about Twilight's ancestor before they moved on. They passed several other exhibits which showed artifacts associated with the Century of Strife before they stopped in front of another one. This one caused Celestia to chuckle before she shook her head. Confused, Twilight tilted her head. "Is there something funny, Princess?"

A smile bloomed on Celestia's face as she looked at the exhibit. "Ah, just remembering about dear, old Captain Sunny Days Skies... first of her name and lineage. Quite the mad mare she was in fact."

Still with a frown, Twilight shook her head as she gazed at the beaten and dented armor which had a portrait of the famous (or infamous) unicorn behind it. Also included were her surviving weapons and other items of interest. "Um... I know that is what the history books say most described her as..." Her eyebrows furrowed some. "Same with the rest of her family..."

For some odd reason, Twilight could not help but wonder if there was an inside joke as Celestia's eyes twinkled as she examined the exhibit. "And with very good reason, Twilight Sparkle..." She seemed to be considering something before she nodded. "Perhaps an example would help... I know of one short story during a attack on a rebel held fort which showed exactly how she was... Would you like to hear it?"

Excited, the young unicorn nodded as she held back from jumping. "Yes, please!"

As she chuckled, Celestia smiled as she closed her eyes. "Well, it was during the second phase of the war..."


With a grin, the pink maned Unicorn known only as "Captain Sunny Days Skies" was outrunning the Day Guards that had been assigned to her. As she licked her lips, a small orange ball of light the size of a cherry came into being just above her horn. Then the Captain whipped it forward with a yell. "FIREBALL!" It shot straight for a charging group of Earth Ponies under the command of the rebelling Nobles and detonated, sending their bodies flying through the air. "HUZZAH! ANOTHER GROUP DONE FOR!"

While he sighed, the largest of her group, a massive Earth Pony nearly the size of Princess Celestia sighed and shook his head as he rolled his eyes. Then he looked around and frowned at how far they were from the rest of the Royalist army. "Ma'am, we're far ahead of the rest of the army."

All that happened was the Captain shooting a grin over her shoulder as she continued to gallop, her armor clanking with every movement. "Of course we are! How else are we to lead the charge unless we are at the front?" Another small ball of orange light came into being above her horn before she stopped and whipped it slightly to the side. "FIREBALL!"

A sigh escaped the Earth Pony as he held back a groan as he watched the small stone hut that contained some enemy troops explode into shards of burning stone which trailed smoke as they flew through the air. "Yes, how else are we to lead the charge except being several trots out ahead of anypony else..." He then muttered under his breath. "Tis' a Mad Mare indeed..."

While she smirked, having heard the comment, Sunny Days galloped up onto a rocky outcrop and flung another one, this time at a wooden scaffold for a siege engine which flung enemy soldiers everywhere as it exploded into flaming splinters. "FIREBALL!" Jumping off, they continued to gallop across the battlefield until she suddenly stopped and turned and with a flare of magic, created what looked like a rabbit made from some black liquid and let it sit in her hoof as she showed it to the Ponies that followed her. With a smile, she gestured at it. "Magic..."

Her personal Guard for the most part looked on with either eye rolls or sighs due to having become used to their commanding officer's... eccentrics. Though the newest recruit, who had been just about to light a 'Grand Aid', dropped his jaw as he stared, stunned, at his commanding officer while the rabbit-thing bowed to them. "Wha..."

Then the Captain dropped it and grabbed it by the ears before she flung it at the main fortification, a stream of what looked like smoke trailing from it. "FIIIIIIIRRRRRRRREEEEEEEE-" It struck the inside of the fort and exploded, destroying the central tower. "BALL! HUZZAH!"

And with a leap, she was off as the soldiers behind and around them cheered. For a moment, the leader of Sunny Days Skies personal Guard patted the still stunned recruit. "As you can well see, she is quite the mad mare." And with a pat to get the recruit going, the two followed their captain toward the smoking ruin of the fort...


All was silent as Twilight just stared at her teacher while she tried to say something. Celestia just looked on as her student attempted to reply. Finally, she managed it. "That... I... that didn't actually happen like that, did it?"

With a chuckle, the alicorn nodded. "It actually had happened like that. Dear old Sunny was quite mad and it was perfectly fitting for her to do something of that sort." She then paused for a moment as if thoughtful. "Not that her... descendants are much better in that case..." A grimace then crossed her face as they continued on. "Which is something that I can never figure out why..." Suddenly, she stopped as she noticed another exhibit. "... They visited there, I see..."

As she walked up, Twilight glanced at what looked like blackened glass that contained small flecks of metal. With a frown, she looked up at the description for the exhibit which showed an area of black glass which formed a path of sorts which caused her to suck in a breath. "The Obsidian Road..."

Grimacing, Celestia looked at the picture and then at the shard of glass before she turned to her student. "Some may call that day one of my finest hours, Twilight Sparkle my faithful student. However, I do not consider it as such."

Twilight looked up at her in confusion. "You don't? But wasn't that the battle that ended the war with the rebelling nobles?"

Slowly, Celestia nodded. "It did indeed end the war... but I lost a number of good friends to that foul Glyptapanteles." Her eyes wide, Twilight was shocked at the amount of venom in her teacher's voice. "Too many were lost against him... Who I was unable to save..." The young unicorn's expression was unnoticed as Celestia thought back to that last clash...


Where she walked, death followed. All around Celestia the very ground burned and blackened under her hooves. The grass itself set aflame by her enraged aura. A unicorn teleported close to her and attempted to slay her, only to be cleaved in half as her great sword, Dawnbringer, flashed out. His blood boiled and hissed as it struck the Princess of the Day's superheated orachalcum armor while his body itself burst into flames and became dust upon the wind.

Behind her, Celestia's army carefully followed in her wake as she continued to make her way toward where the bulk of the rebel army waited as did Glyptapanteles. From behind a group of boulders, a squad of heavily armored earth ponies charged at her, not a piece of skin able to be seen between the metal plates... Armor that became their tombs as moments later, Celestia unleashed her magic against them. The metal of the armor flowed like melted wax over the dying rebel soldiers and entombed them as their lances became nothing more then puddles. A few moments later, a flight of pegasi attempted to dive bomb her.

Not even a minute later after a burst of magic, their charred and burning bodies fell from the sky as the Solar Diarch continued her march.

Boulders tossed her way from catapults where thrown back with far more force and they hit, shattering wood, metal, and bone alike. With a bored look, Celestia stopped a ballista bolt mere inches from her muzzle and raised an eyebrow as she looked at the source. The bolt itself, gripped in her magic, started glowing first a dull red before it became white hot. It could only keep it's form due to the magic holding it in place.

Then she flung the white-hot molten metal the way it had come and ignored the deaths and destruction it caused. If anything, as she caught sight of Glyptapanteles and felt his foul magic, her aura grew from rage as the ground no longer burned... the rock itself blistered and melted beneath her as molten rock stuck to her armorshod hooves. Where she walked, nothing was left but glass. Above, the sky darkened as massive amounts of arrows were shot at her, only for them to turn to so much ash and dust with just a glance.

In an attempt to quell the fires left in her wake, as well as weaken her fiery magic, storm clouds rolled in and unleashed a downpour that would have turned the dirt to mud. Instead, the rain instantly vaporized into superheated steam before it even got a chance to touch her. Clouds of steam which she sent rolling into the enemy ranks using a combination of unicorn and pegasus magics she had long ago mastered. It had been said that the sun was kind, gentle, and mothering as it shone down and gifted life bringing energies. But it could also be merciless and cruel as it beat down, scorching what it touched.

And, in many ways, Celestia proved how much of a reflection she was of the object she guided on the battlefield as the opposing rebel army charged. As they reached her position, her sword flashed out again and again. Dawnbringer's blade, nearly as long as it's owner and as wide as her hoof, sliced through the air with an ease that belied it's size and weight.

Any that got too close had their armor, flesh, and bone cleaved apart by Dawnbringer with no difference between them as their bodies were turned to ash. Superheated blood sloughed off Celestia's golden armor and sword as it flashed into steam. She was an alicorn, the Princess of the Day, bringer of the dawn and setter of the sun. One of the two alicorns who had fought Discord and the one who had banished Nightmare Moon despite the wound it left upon her heart.

She was Solis Invicta, the Unconquered Sun, and where she strode in wrath, only death and destruction was left as a path of molten glass formed behind her.


Suddenly, Celestia shook herself from unpleasant memories and looked down at Twilight. "How about we head to another exhibit, hmm?" They walked a bit before they stopped before another, this one held paintings of three different, though obviously related unicorns. "Now this brings up some memories..."

For a moment, Twilight frowned as she read the description and then blinked. "Oldblood? Blueblood and Youngblood? Aren't they related to..."

With a sad smile, Celestia slowly nodded. "Prince Blueblood the VI? Yes, they're related to my nephew." Bringing up a hoof, she laid it against the glass. "He is related to me in all actuality you know, even if he's not my really my nephew."

That caused Twilight to blink. "How so?"

As she hummed in thought, Celestia looked toward the ceiling. "He's rather distantly descended from an uncle of mine. For how he is part of my household." She turned back to the exhibit. "After Oldblood and Blueblood died in my name, attempting to defeat an enemy of mine, I took in Youngblood into my household where I adopted him as my nephew. And so, him and his line became Princes, though in reality they're more like Dukes." A slight smile grew on Celestia's lips as she looked at the portrait of Youngblood. "While Youngblood may not have had the military acumen of his sire and grandsire, his mind was as sharp in the political ring as theirs had been on the field of battle."

It was then that Twilight realized who he was. "Wait... Youngblood was the pony responsible for how we now have a parliament, right?"

With a pleased expression, the Princess of the Day nodded. "After the war with the nobles, there had been many smaller rebellions and uprisings. Most of those were from the non-noble subjects who had become tired of the nobles and myself." She pointedly ignored how Twilight looked shocked at that. "Said feelings had only festered due to the years of war. At the time, however, I had very little idea as to how to solve the issue. After all, it looked more and more likely that the country would tear itself apart in yet another massive civil war."

Having searched her memory, Twilight frowned and then looked at the portrait of Youngblood. "He created the first parliament... though it wasn't called that at the time, instead it was a 'Grand Council'." Her eyes closed as she continued. "Youngblood the First did not call just the nobles though... he called, from each area of Equestria a mare and stallion chosen by the non-nobles in the old earth pony tradition. Said ponies were known as 'Knights of the Soil' and were to speak for the common pony and held as much power as the nobles at the meetings."

The smile that was on Celestia's face only grew warmer as she nodded. "That is correct, Twilight Sparkle." A sigh escaped her as she gazed upon the vestige of a pony long since dead. "I had asked and told him to come up with a solution as I could not besides bloodshed. His work laid the groundwork for the modern day Equestrian political system. Youngblood himself served as the... Mediator, making sure that all got their chance to speak during the debates. That role has since become one with the Speaker of the House in our modern system." Celestia then leaned down to Twilight. "But back then, it seemed he gave up power. However, his methods bore fruit and tensions settled down as all got their say at what was yearly meetings. Twenty years on, I increased the number to twice a year, which decreased tensions even further."

A smile that was on Twilight's face slowly widened as the implications hit. "Then they would become four meetings a year, one for each season. After some time, the number of times would increase until we get our current nearly year round parliament."

With a nod, the alicorn let her student know that she was correct. "That is indeed how it happened, my faithful student..." She seemed to consider something before she frowned. "As horrible as it may be to think it, there was some good that came out of the Century of Strife, Twilight. Before it, our nation was not united. But after, it was all one nation at last. The backs of the nobility were finally broken and the common pony allowed a voice in their own governance for the first time. While other uprisings happened, none were ever so large as the ones in the Century of Strife. Over the next few centuries, the power of the nobility was slowly chipped away in a effort to prevent another Century of Strife.

Frowning in thought, Twilight looked up at her teacher. "Did it work?"

As her eyes twinkled, Celestia chuckled. "Well, there has not been another civil war on par with the Century of Strife, so I suppose that it must have..." Thoughtful, Celestia decided to grant a little bit of wisdom to her student. 'If I am right about her destiny, then she should know.' Having coughed to catch the young filly's attention, the alicorn let out a sigh. "It's all rather strange you know, Twilight Sparkle. If one was to read the history books, they would say that it was me who ended the war with the nobles. And that I was the one who also ended the Century of Strife... both views are wrong, however."

That caused Twilight's eyes to widen. "They-they are? But that's what all the books say!"

While her eyes closed, Celestia centered her thoughts. "While I may have had a hoof in it, I was not the one to end those two things." She then opened her eyes and turned toward the portraits again which she gestured at them. "Oldblood and Blueblood, along with the thousands of nameless ponies... pegasi, earth pony, unicorn... and the other species who fought in my name and died. They are the ones who brought an end to the war with the nobles through their blood, sweat, and tears. Youngblood and those who participated in the early Grand Councils where grievances were aired and solutions hammered out... they are the ones who brought an end to the Century of Strife... There is a reason that I am telling you this, Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student."

Her head cocked to the side in confusion, Twilight frowned. "A reason, Princess Celestia?"

Celestia nodded a bit. "A reason, and a good one for one to learn." Getting down on her belly so that she was at eyelevel with Twilight had been a bit uncomfortable, but one that Celestia had not minded in the least. "As my student, some time in the future you will have ponies who will look toward you to lead them. And the lesson that I am about to impart remains the same no matter if you are the head of a family, a leader of a research team, a Captain in the Royal Guard, or even a Princess. It remains the same no matter what... do you want to hear it?"

With nods that seemed like they could have caused her head to have fly off her shoulders, Twilight grinned at the thought of new knowledge, not knowing that it would shape her in the years to come. "Oh, yes please your highness!"

A smile broke out on Celestia's face for a brief moment before her expression turned serious. "It is simply this... No matter what or whom a pony might be... Nopony can be a leader alone. They will always need others to lend them advice and support. Something that an old, dear friend of mine once said paraphrased is perfect for this: No pony is an island. Trust in those around you my faithful student, listen to what they say and allow them to do what they can do best. As a leader, your job will be to guide and help others work together in harmony. This is a lesson that I have learned myself over and over again, so I now impart it to you."

While she thought it over, Twilight just nodded as Celestia smiled, content in knowing that the knowledge had been listened to. Then she stood back up and looked around before she leaned down to speak with her student. "Now then, there is much here in the exhibits left to examine and I can tell you a bit about each one." And together, the two ponies walked off toward the next one, together.