Arc 1: Chapter 3
Twilight’s eyes fluttered open as a soft warmth radiated over her body, rousing her from the darkness of sleep. The blurry image of her former mentor quickly came into focus and she gasped, jumping off Princess Celestia’s lap.
“Princess! I’m so sorry; I don’t know what came over me!” Twilight reacted, looking shocked.
The Princess brought a bare hoof up to cover her mouth as she giggled. “It’s perfectly fine, Twilight. I simply saw you and wondered if you would like some quiet company?”
Pressing a hoof to her chest, Twilight took a deep breath and held it, calming herself. She looked around, trying to remember where she was. Wasn’t she in the mining camp?
She was standing in Canterlot Castle’s botanical gardens. A great greenhouse that spanned at least two hoofball fields and was home to several hundred species of fauna and flora, many of which Twilight had personally studied.
The area they were in was heavily filled with flora of all sorts. Hanging vines, carnivorous fly traps, sticky creepers and other oddities only found in the gardens.
Twilight’s eyes widened at the sheer amount of nature and turned back to the Princess, a grin on her face. She could feel her cheeks warm at the sight of the mare sitting there, without any regalia. Was her chest always so fluffy?
“I would love for your company, Princess!”
“Please, Twilight. How long have you known me?” Celestia replied, that playful smile appearing across her lips. “Call me ‘Tia.”
Twilight swallowed out of nervousness. “Oh no, I couldn’t possibly. That’s for your sister,” she stammered.
“And for my friends,” Celestia said, before tilting her head, which caused Twilight’s heart to jump a beat. “Are you not my friend?”
Twilight was having a tough time keeping her cheeks from exploding into color. “Of course, I am!” she replied, stepping forward, almost hurt by those words. She then bit her bottom lip and mumbled, “I would love your company, ‘Tia.”
Celestia’s face lit up upon hearing that and slid off the stone bench. “Perfect. What were you doing in here anyway?” she asked, looking around.
Not knowing what to say, Twilight frowned and brought a hoof up to rub her chin in thought. “I-“ she began, looking up to the taller Princess. “I can’t remember.”
Raising a brow down to the Unicorn, Celestia chuckled and used a wing to pull her close as she began to walk.
“Well, we can just make something up, can’t we?”
Twilight simply replied with a nod as she pressed her cheek against Celestia, nuzzling her. A warm flush had made its home on her face, but she didn’t seem to mind.
The pair wandered along the outer edge of the gardens, simply taking in the sights that it had to offer. It was a clear and sunny day, despite the fog that had rolled in. Something which Celestia had assured was nothing to worry about.
As the pair walked, Celestia glanced down at Twilight and asked, “What have you and your friends been up to lately? Anything fun? A new adventure perhaps?”
Twilight paused for a second, before being buffeted by Celestia’s wing and pulled along. Quickly resuming the walk, she shook her head. “Oh, no. Not much has been happening. Rarity is making some quite strange clothes, Pinkie is, uh, I’m never really sure what Pinkie is doing, but I’m sure it’s something sticky,” she explained, hearing a soft laugh from Celestia. “Rainb- oh yeah! Rainbow and Rarity are dating now! I’d never have thought that those two would be together- Not that it isn’t great, of course.”
Twilight let out a sheepish chuckle as she looked away.
“Twilight? Something the matter?"
Looking up at her. “Have you ever dated?”
Celestia let out a twinkling giggle. “Of course not, Twilight. A Princess must remain pure if they are to rule a country.”
“But doesn’t it get lonely? I know I would be.”
Celestia shook her head. “Of course not. A Princess never gets lonely.”
Twilight hesitated, finding something off about the Princess’s reply. “Are you okay?” she asked, taking a step back, easily brushing past the mare’s feathers. “I’m sorry if I sai-“ She cut herself off with a scream as she looked on in horror.
Sticking out of the side of Celestia’s bloodstained barrel was an arrow.
“Twilight please, some of these plants need peace and quiet,” Celestia chided, turning back to run a hoof over a creeping vine and letting it wrap around it.
Springing forward, Twilight reached out and felt the arrow, despite the Princess’s calm exterior and found it gushing blood, soaking her hooves. She stepped back and found it hard to breath; the gardens spinning as she grew lightheaded.
“’Tia,” she whimpered, the world fading to darkness.
Twilight jerked awake, finding herself sitting across from Celestia from within the Princess’s personal tearoom. She pulled herself up from the table and rubbed her eyes, looking around.
“Pri- ‘Tia,” she started, catching herself. “Weren’t we just in the gardens?”
Celestia looked amused. “Oh goodness, on a day like this?” she asked, gesturing to the near hurricane that was raging outside of the windows. Though, even with the storm, there was no sound coming from it, leaving the tearoom in silence.
There was something worrying Twilight, but she didn’t know what it was. It was like an itch in her brain telling her that something was wrong.
Looking down, she saw the steaming tea that she had left to cool sitting there.
“Go ahead, it’s your favorite,” Celestia stated, using her magic to stir her own cup, before continuing. “So, Twilight. Do you have anypony you have your eye on?”
The mare’s eyes shot open and she kept her gaze firmly on the cup before her. “What?! No, of course not!” she spluttered, looking horrified that the Princess would even ask her, a common unicorn that.
“Oh? Why ever not? Somepony as talented as you could find any stallion,” the Princess said, yet raised a brow once she didn’t see Twilight react. “Or mare.” Twilight’s cheeks betrayed her, causing Celestia to smirk.
“Nopony would want somepony like me,” she muttered, ears flopping back.
“Don’t be a silly pony, Twilight. You’d be able to pick anypony you want. Why, you rival even my sister’s beauty!”
Twilight’s eyes flicked up to the Princess in disbelief and saw the warm smile that threatened to take her breath away.
"Even you?" she whispered, not even realizing she asked it.
Celestia's ear flicked from the question and a playful smirk appeared on her face.
"You know the answer to that, Twilight. All you have to do is ask her." Celestia stated as her body changed in an instant. In her place sat a smaller, pink maned version of her.
Twilight took a double take. 'Did the Princess always look like that?
"Moon Light, what is wrong?" Celestia asked, looking worried. "Are thine wounds painful again?" she asked, eyes flicking over Twilight's legs.
Twilight followed her eyes and saw that her legs had numerous cuts peppering all the way down, ending with a pair of torn hooves. "Princess, what's going on?!" she whimpered, as the world around her melted, leaving her tumbling into the abyss.
This time, Twilight's eyes opened slowly and deliberately. She could feel pains and aches flare up across her entire body, which had become a regular occurrence, but nothing that would stop her from moving about.
Blinking to clear her sight, she found she was staring right at a bare stone wall which the bed she was currently laying in was pushed up against. Letting out a groan, Twilight shuffled and rolled over to see that she was in a rather bare bedroom.
The only other thing in the room was the table sat next to her, upon which was a wooden mug and her saddlebag, as well as a metal tub for washing in. A soft morning light illuminated the room from a circular window that sat near the sloped ceiling.
A circular plate holding a daisy and daffodil sandwich was laid next to her saddlebags, which Twilight hastily scooped up to munch down, forcing away her hunger pains.
Her eyes went wide as she realized that the sisters could have rummaged through her saddlebag, having left the sides open.
Levitating it over, she opened both sides and sighed in relief to see that nothing had been tampered with. At least, nothing she could notice. Leaning back against the cold wall, Twilight's mind raced for something she could say that would make sense.
Obviously, her trader story wouldn't work anymore, that much was clear, but what would be used instead? The Princesses never mentioned any other Alicorn, so she knew not to change that.
"Perhaps I could bend the truth?" she mumbled, looking her legs over and finding that they had mostly healed. "That's it! I'm immortal. I'll just say I can't die!"
Grinning at her quick thinking, Twilight's thoughts were brought back to her own surroundings and she was quite aware that her clothing had been taken off her. This normally wouldn't have bothered her, but Rarity had made it for her.
Sliding back down, Twilight curled up under the itchy bedding and ran a hoof up and down her leg, feeling where the maul had sliced her open. There was barely a dent.
This was all a new experience for her, after all. Twilight had fought many battles, but none of her villains seemed to have really given it their all, always underestimating her and her friends until the last moment where they'd get slammed by the elements.
Was she lucky? The mare didn't know, but what she did know was that if the Princesses in this time period could be taken hostage in a mine, then they needed her.
With a bust of newfound pride and accomplishment, Twilight threw the covers off with her magic and slid off the bed. As soon as her back hoof hit the wooden floor, it crumpled under her weight
She tumbled down with a heavy 'thump' and let out a huff of annoyance. Clearly, she wasn’t healed enough.
Using the bed to hold herself up, she leaned her weight on the three working legs and hobbled towards the door on the far wall, eager to learn where she was.
Using her magic, she pushed the door open just a crack to see if she could hear any voices. She pushed her face between the door and the frame, eager to look outside, but cried out as the door was suddenly surrounded by an azure glow and was pulled open.
Stumbling back and landing on her rump, Twilight watched as Luna turned the corner, then stopped, surprise on her face. That surprise quickly settled into concern as she entered through the portal and into the room proper.
“We did not expect you to awaken so soon, Moon Light,” she said, gently lifting the mare and placing her back into bed. “You are still healing and must save your strength.”
Luna trotted over to the bed and slid the covers back over Twilight to make sure she was tucked in.
Twilight struggled and placed a hoof on Luna’s chest, pressing against her floof. “Luna, stop. I’m okay, really.”
Luna’s face flicked between several emotions but stepped back. “Fine,” she stammered, looking anywhere but Twilight. Her face settled on concern. “Please be careful. We would not wish for you to hurt yourself.”
Twilight scrunched her muzzle and let out a sigh. “Fine, I’ll stay put.”
Luna instantly grinned and clopped her hooves on the floor. “You have put me at ease,” she said, showing relief. “My sister will likely be coming to find us; she has been most clingy as of late. While I am happy she is showing her love, she keeps me up at night with her snoring.”
Twilight couldn’t help but giggle as she looked the mare over. Luna’s coat was at least several shades brighter than her older version with her mane being made of the darkest onyx. Her wings ended with their tips fading into a light silver. The most interesting feature, to her, was that Luna seemed to be the same height as Celestia.
She could barely look away as the mare entered the room, eyes glued to Twilight. The look on her face was one of calm, one that Twilight had seen oh so many times before.
It was a look that caused her to grow nervous.
Walking up to the bed, Celestia sat next to her sister and took a deep breath. “Moon Light,” she began, glancing to her sister. “I am eternally grateful. You saved my sister. Yet we require you to answer our questions.”
Twilight looked away from the celestial mare and squirmed in the bed. “Of course, Celestia. I’ll try to answer anything I can.” Even now, Twilight was trying to come up with ideas. Her initial idea was a good base, but if the Princesses asked her anything more rigorous, it would throw her for a loop.
“We do not know how you fought those ponies,” she started, looking over to Luna. “nor how you are still alive. Pray tell, who, or what are you?”
She glanced between the two sisters, her mouth was beginning to open, but she caught herself. Was is a promising idea to go down this route? It wasn’t as if she couldn’t simply teleport away. But no, these were the Princesses and she doubted she would be able to look her Celestia in the eye knowing what she did.
With a deep breath, Twilight replied with: “I’m immortal.”
Both sisters sat there, unblinking, for the longest time until Celestia broke the silence. “Truly?” Her voice was barely containing her emotions. “You are,” she paused, glancing to Luna, “like us?”
Nodding, Twilight pulled the covers off herself and gestured to all of herself. “That’s why I came to find you two. There’s nopony else that could understand. I wish it was under different circumstances.”
Luna was the first to move forwards, ignoring Celestia’s gaze and taking hold of Twilight’s own. “We do, Moon. We never thought we would find somepony else like us.” Unable to hold herself back, she jumped up on the bed and nuzzled Twilight’s cheek, causing the mare to blush wildly.
“Luna!” she laughed, barely holding the mare back. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
Celestia look on with a growing smile. “You must be wanting to move about. Come, we will show you around the village.”
Twilight followed the pair out of the room and into a similar looking hallway. Doors were placed every so often down one side, along with a thick rug that ran the length of the hall. At the far end was a set of stairs that descended.
Twilight could hear chatter coming from below, which grew in intensity as the three of them neared.
“We brought you to the village’s inn, once those filth were dealt with,” Celestia started, “You were asleep for several days from magical and physical exhaustion.”
‘That explains the healing’ Twilight thought, descending the creaky stairs. Turning at the bottom, Twilight was taken aback by the scene in front of her.
It was as if one of her adventure novels had come to life. The room was filled with ponies chattering, yelling, fighting or laughing.
Next to them, spanning the wall, sat a bar with, who Twilight presumed to be the owner, worked to serve the ponies their drinks. Plenty of rickety tables were scattered about the inn. Along the far wall, with several ponies gathered, was a large fireplace that lit the room up with warmth.
As soon as the trio entered the room, eyes were drawn to them. Most of the ponies smiled and waved, some even cheered, drumming their hooves against the tables in celebration.
Twilight looked around and found the ponies not looking at the sisters, but at her, and she gave a sheepish wave which only caused them to cheer harder.
Celestia wrapped a wing around Twilight and pulled her forward towards a curiously empty table near the fire. As they wandered through the room, Twilight was patted and thanked for her intervention in saving the ponies from bandits, which caused her to pop a blush at the praise.
Making it to the table and sitting down, she looked about the room to find that the other ponies had quickly returned to their previous activities, leaving her and the sisters alone.
“You are strange, Moon Light,” Luna said, tilting her head. “You jump into a fight but are embarrassed from praise. I have not met anypony like you before.”
Twilight brought her eyes down to the table and ran a hoof along its surface. “I don’t like fighting, but hearing that you were a slave, I couldn’t-“ She flicked her eyes back up to Luna, her anger and guilt rising. “I couldn’t let them do that to- to one of us!”
Luna blinked and a soft redness appeared over her cheeks at the sincerity of those words. “You are strong with your words, Moon. We admire that.”
Meanwhile, Celestia had flagged down a bar pony and ordered a few drinks, which had just been placed at the table. “Ah, tis a fine drink. I believe you will enjoy this, Moon. Do you have this where you are from?” She asked, levitating the drink over to Twilight.
Blowing the frosted top off the mug, Twilight saw the bubbling concoction and replied with a shake of her head. “No- at least I don’t think so. I was never one for drinking.”
Celestia placed her drink down, looking worried. “You do not drink? How do you calm down after a long day?”
“Well, uh, I mostly read,” she answered, smiling. “I had a whole library back home!”
Luna tilted her head. “You enjoy reading?” she gasped, “So do I!” She clopped her hooves against the table and grinned, causing the other mares to levitate their drinks off the table in case she spilled them.
“Luna, calm yourself!” Celestia asked, gently nudging her sister, only to receive a nudge back, which quickly devolved into a scuffle on the floor.
“She enjoys reading, ‘Tia!” Luna whined, rolling about and hoofing Celestia.
“Yes, I heard!” Celestia groaned, pinning the struggling mare down. With a glance back towards Twilight she chuckled. “My apologies. My sister gets emotional.”
Twilight stared at the two, her cheeks starting to burn from the compromising position that the sisters were in. Celestia had Luna pinned down, legs being held above her head as they rested against each other.
“Uh, oh, it’s quite alright,” she mumbled, averting her eyes. “So, uh. Do you own any books? Is this your village?”
Celestia gave a strange look down at Luna, before climbing off her and returning to her seat. Luna did the same after, shooting Celestia a glare, then turned her attention back to Twilight, her smile quickly returning.
“Our village? Neigh. We have rested here several times during our travels. We know the village elder well now, and,” Celestia explained, gesturing around, “we have seen many of these ponies grow up.”
“We love them!” Luna shouted, snorting a little as she laughed.
“So, where is this village? I was told you were here, but no pony knew the name of the village.”
“Trottington,” Celestia answered. “You must have travelled far to find us?”
“You have no idea, Celestia,” Twi replied, chuckling.
Yet, her mind had started to crank once again. ‘Trottington?’ she thought, trying to remember why it sounded so familiar. ‘That’s it! Trottington was renamed Trottingham several hundred years ago, or rather it would be in the future!’
The pair looked to each other in confusion while Twilight sat there in thought.
She broke out of her head and glanced at the pair, giving a sheepish giggle. “Sorry. I tend to overthink things.”
“Tis quite alright, Moon. Now, drink up, for we are to take you to the elder. He wishes to thank you.”
“Oh, uh, sure,” Twilight said, pulling the drink closer. ‘When in pone’ she thought to herself as she pressed the drink to her lips and began to gulp the still-bubbling liquid down.
Halfway through, a flood of warmth emanated through her, making her feel all tingly, but she continued and slammed the drink down.
“Huzzah!” Luna celebrated, clopping her hooves on the table once more, grinning as she watched Twilight hold a hoof to her own chest to stop herself from spewing it back up.
It hadn’t taken the sisters long to finish their own drinks and pull Twilight out of the inn. The village was much like many of the ruins that Twilight had visited on her adventures, only this one was more alive than the others she had seen.
Majority of the buildings were built out of the same bare rock that the inn was, as well as their roof being a covering of hay or some other plant material. Along the perimeter of the village was a wooden palisade, almost identical to the one at the mining camp, only several meters taller, with guard posts attached every so often.
Luna held a wing around Twilight and led her towards the largest building in the village.
The village Elder’s home was covered in vines and plants, giving it an even more rustic feel than the rest of the village. It was clear that these ponies were downtrodden and barely surviving, at least Twilight thought, seeing the state of some of the fields through the open entrance.
She had to remind herself that it wasn’t her place to change the past, even if her being here was altering things very minutely. Suddenly, she felt like a headache was going to hit her and decided to stop that line of thought.
‘Bucking time travel.’
Trotting into the Elder’s home, the scent of bubbling Sulphur and ground peppers reached her muzzle.
The inside of the home wasn’t as spartan as she had come to expect. Moving through the entrance, she was greeted with a long hallway that seemed to run the length of the home, with two doors on the left and two on the right. The door furthest on the right was kept open to let a thick green smoke billow out and up through an open window at the end of the hallway, which provided light.
On the walls were several masks as well as crudely drawn pictures on slate which depicted two, black and white, foals circling each other.
“Wait here,” Celestia told Twilight, pulling her out of her focus, then moved further inside, ducking under the smoke to enter the room. She returned several moments later with an old Pegasus stallion.
He looked quite unremarkable, save for the wrinkles peppering his face and the lack of one of his forelegs. The stallion had brown fur along with a steel grey mane. His cutie-mark was of a scroll with a quill writing down on it.
His eyes met with Twilight’s and he raised a brow, confused, before turning back to Celestia. She leaned down and he whispered into her ear, causing her to giggle and gently nudge him in the shoulder with a hoof.
“Indeed, this is the travelling mare that saved us, Book.”
The stallion once again looked over to Twilight and hesitantly hobbled over to stand in front of her. He began to use a wing to turn her head to and fro, casting a suspicious eye over her.
Twilight, on the other hoof, froze up, not knowing what to do. But thankfully it didn’t take him long to let out a short huff and turn back. “Neigh. She is not strong enough to help.”
Both Princesses did a double take and stepped forwards. “Book. You have seen her body when we arrived. She told us that she is one of us!”
Book froze halfway through the door. “Truly? This mare is one of you?”
“Indeed.”
Book turned his head back to Twilight and gestured with his head. “Follow.”
The bookish mare did as she was told and walked into the smoky room, making sure not to breath any in. As soon as she was inside, the stallion turned to face her. He held a dagger in his wing that flicked out to slice Twilight across the shoulder, eliciting a cry of pain from her.
“What the buck!” she cursed, taking a step back and lighting her horn.
“Truly remarkable!” Book gasped, his eyes watching as her cut knitted itself back together slowly. It was still many times slower than the celestial sisters, but she didn’t feel any pain from it.
Dropping the dagger on the table, he flicked his gaze up to meet hers. “Apologies. I had to make sure. These two have a habit of exaggeration,” he stated, frowning at the pair, who quickly moved out of eyeshot.
Twilight rubbed her cut and followed his eyes out into the hallway. “I know that all too well,” she muttered, grumbling. ‘I really hope being attacked out of nowhere is not going to be a running theme in the past’
Book glanced to Twilight as he asked, “You have sisters?”
“Oh, no. I just know two ponies that act very much like them. Nothing would be the same without them.”
Book kept his eyes on Twilight for a couple of seconds, thinking, then smiled.
“Those two have requested that you accompany them on their journey. I am here to tell you the details, for I am sure that they would not be truthful with you.” He let that sink in, before continuing. “They have found their special talents, as I am are sure that you are aware, but they are unable to command their celestial bodies.”
Twilight frowned and stepped forward.
“Their respective bodies are being controlled by another. I do not know who, but they must take back control. They would not dare tell anypony here, but they grow weaker.”
Twilight felt her pulse quicken and she took another look at the empty doorway. “From not being connected,” she mumbled. “It would make sense; sun and moon giving would give them their immortality. How do we get them back?”
Book sighed. “With their help, I have created a ritual to return control to them. But without knowing who stole the sun or moon, we cannot cast it.”
“So, we have to find the villain and stop them?” she asked casually, smirking.
“Uh, I would think so,” he said, confused. “But we have no idea where to find the being,” he continued, nearing her. “But we do know a pony in Stonewall that can help you. Her name is Sunset Swirl. She is employed at the imperial college. Tell them that Book Mark sent you.”
Twilight nodded as she etched the name to memory. “Do they know how to get to Stonewall? I don’t.”
Book copied the nod. “Of course. They are over one hundred years old. They’ve been all over the place,” he said, as if it was common knowledge.
Now that the trio had a destination in mind, they had returned to the inn to grab Twilight’s saddlebag. During which she had found her clothing laying on her bed and a very giddy Luna pushing her to wear it.
Sliding into the clothing, she found that it still fit her rather lithe frame and stretched, feeling the fabric give a tiny bit more than normal. Her sword holsters were gone, replaced with twin plates along her sides to provide her with a little bit more protection. Several more iron plates were melded with the outfit to provide some defence, most notably around her chest as well as her front legs, which were not almost completely covered down to her fetlocks.
Twilight turned around and found the pair of sisters sitting just outside of the room, watching her.
“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked, seeing their smiling expressions. “Does it not fit somewhere?”
Luna quickly grinned and shook her head. “It looks perfect!” she squeaked, giggling like a little filly and rushing off down the stairs, leaving Twilight to her confusion.
“Do not mind her, Moon. She stayed up to repair thine clothing and takes great pride in it. You look rather dashing, as you should do, if you are to be our escort.”
Twilight felt her cheeks flush crimson at the compliment and scuffed the floor with her hoof.
“But we think that a warrior such as yourself needs to tie thine mane up,” she continued, moving inside the room and using her magic to take hold of Twilight’s mane.
The warm aura pulled it up and wrapped it around itself until there was a soft bun at the back of her head, in addition to some strands of hair framing around her face. Her usual bangs were left, which were parted by her lavender horn.
Twilight’s face was simply crimson as she let this happen, unable to do anything but stand there. “Thank you,” she whispered, eyes moving up to connect with Celestia’s.
The solar mare was the first to break the gaze and turn away. “Make sure you have everything. We will only be stop at nightfall,” she ordered, turning the corner.
Twilight could just barely see a light tint to her cheeks.
Gathering her saddlebag, she placed it on her back and trotted out, meeting the sisters near the door to the inn. Quickly, the trio left the inn and made their way to the entrance of the village. Various ponies stopped and waved to them, some even offering small prayers for their safe journey.
Twilight took in as much as she could, finding every little detail worthy of study. From the different ponies, to the architecture of the buildings, to the various crops that were planted around, it was all so different than what she was used to.
Exiting out of the village, the sisters stopped and turned around, giving a small bow and a muttering of a prayer.
“You should not worry, sister. We will return soon,” Celestia said, pulling Luna in close and giving her a reassuring nuzzle.
“I know, but it still hurts, ‘Tia.”
Twilight spoke up. “I’m sure they’ll miss you, but as long as you come back, that wait will have been worth it for them. They adored you both, Luna.”
The mare looked at Twilight and cracked a smile. “They’re our little ponies, Moon. Even if it takes a thousand years, we will always return to them.”
Twilight blinked, not ready to hear that. “I, uh, great!” she said, her lips curving into a forced smile. “Let’s go, though. Wouldn’t want to be caught outside at night, would we?”
Twilight’s tone caused the sisters to glance at each other, as she watched her trot away, confused. The pair split up and followed Twilight, who had begun to trot down the road, away from the village.
Several meters around the village, as well as the path, had been deforested for safety, but further away, the jungle was left pure and untamed. The sisters quickly caught up with Twilight and flanked the mare as they neared the cliffside path.
Twilight slowed and gazed up, finding the construction to be rather limited, at best.
“Have either of you teleported before?” she asked, receiving shakes of their heads. “Well, uh, take a deep breath, okay?”
The sisters shared a look of worry, then nodded.
Twilight closed her eyes and lit her horn. The glow brightened until it rivalled that of the sun and with a snap of magic and a burst of light, they were at the top of the cliff.
Celestia pushed away from Twilight and lurched forwards to her knees to empty her stomach onto the grass. Luna fared slightly better and only looked a little green as she let out a groan while holding her stomach.
“You are the most remarkable mare, but,” she paused to dry heave from the sound of Celestia’s chunks splatting onto the grass, “do not do that ever again!”
Twilight gave a sheepish chuckle and rubbed the back of her neck. “Sorry. I forgot how it feels for first timers.”
Celestia, glancing back at Twilight glared. “You could have warned us!” she spat, then turned back and vomited once again.
The mare winced once again and took a step forward. “It will pass shortly. The digestive system isn’t particularly designed for atomisation. Always best to teleport on an empty stomach,” she stated, giving a nod.
Luna stared at the mare, confusion on her face. “You say the strangest things, Moon. But we would like you to train me in this ‘teleport’?” she asked, moving closer, a smile forming. “Would you tutor us?”
Twilight’s eyes widened as she heard that. Here she was, being asked by Luna herself to tutor her! She didn’t hear of a time when either Princess were tutored by any pony other than Star Swirl and even he didn’t know much about the Princesses past.
“Yes,” she replied, almost unconsciously as she stared into those cyan eyes.
Luna gasped and squealed, jumping about in happiness. She suddenly pulled Twilight towards her with her magic and wrapped her up with a leg, cuddling her. “Huzzah! You will not be disappointed!”
Celestia pushed away from her pile and stumbled over. “Are you done? We have a long journey and I would rather rest somewhere that no pony can see us,” she said, gesturing to the lack of trees on this side of the canyon.
“Oh, right,” Twilight said, giggling while she pushed away from Luna, who was now pouting. “I guess you should lead the way then, Ma’am. If I am simply a humble escort?” she teased, bowing.
The Solar mare chuckled and rolled her eyes. “You are funny, Moon. I like that,” she stated, honestly, walking past. “You will be enjoyable company on the journey.”
Twilight smiled and pulled herself up, before trotting back in line with the Princesses, feeling a little better.
The area on this side of the canyon was more in the way of savanna, than grasslands, and held little in the way of trees for shade. This made Twilight’s job quite a lot easier as she was now constantly looking around. She didn’t know just how far this Stonewall would be, but Twilight would keep them safe!
The group of ponies had been wandering for several hours, of which had been generally small talk. While Twilight wasn’t really that experienced, especially not with her two idols, she tried her best and slowly but surely, they were nearing a river surrounded by a small forest.
“Moon, do you know any stories from your home?” Luna asked, hopping around and nuzzling up against her. “I wish to know about your homeland. It must be divine if you hail from there!”
Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle, her mind turning to the stories that she knew. ‘Most of them would spoil their own future, but maybe I could embellish one of my own?’ Twilight wondered, nodding as she chose to tell of her own friends.
“Alright, so, back home we have the legend of the five ponies,” she began, glancing between the pair. “These ponies represented the very ideals that everypony was taught to strive towards: Generosity, Loyalty, Kindness, Laughter and Honesty.”
As Twilight continued, she found her smile widening at the thought of her friends. They wouldn’t even get to know where she had been, or what she had done. ‘For the best,’ she thought, shaking her head.
“All of them were amazing ponies on their own, but together, they were unstoppable. Even when disasters and evil attacked their home, they banded together to overcome, using each of their ideals to pull together. Yet, none of them were soldiers.
Generosity was a simple, yet elegant seamstress.
Loyalty was the best weather pony and, dare I say it, the fastest flier anypony knew.”
Twilight giggled, imagining her friend puffing her chest up in pride.
“Kindness looked after the forests animals. She feared her own shadow at times but stood up to a fully-grown dragon to save her friends!
Laughter could make anypony smile, even if her methods were a little unorthodox at times.
Honesty was the most hard-working pony anypony could know and she told it like she saw it.”
Just as she finished that, the group had arrived at the start of the forest and Twilight felt like the dark path ahead stretched into eternity. A warm hoof laid on her shoulder and Twilight looked over to see Celestia smiling.
With a nod, the three walked into the forest and Twilight continued with her story, trying to keep upbeat.
“As I said, the group were unstoppable, but in the end, it took a full-scale siege of their homeland’s castle to stop them. They were cast out of their homeland, reduced to looking for allies in far off lands under the sea.
Strange magic transformed them into underwater hippogriffs, but-“ she paused for a second, “but they received no help!”
Luna gasped, causing Celestia to giggle.
“Surely, they found help somewhere, right?” Luna asked. “Or does your homeland enjoy sad legends?”
Twilight shook her head. “No, they did find help. In the form of a cat and a group of sky-pirates! A vicious battle took place in their castle, of which a horrible villain called the Storm-King had taken the palace over, draining the ruler’s magic for himself!”
While Twilight had been telling the story, Luna had rushed over to Celestia’s side and was wrapped up in a white fluffy wing, despite having a grin on her face.
“Finally, the five ponies were in front of the Storm-King, their rulers having been drained! They battled for days, until the Storm-King fell. His lieutenant risking her life to turn against him. The ponies welcomed her as a friend.”
With the end, Twilight sighed and turned to see the pair having stopped and were looking at her with concern. Confused, she moved over and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“You are crying, Moon,” Celestia said, to which Twilight rubbed her hoof over her face.
“Oh, uh,” she coughed, turning around as she rubbed her face with her leg. “I don’t know what came over me. I don’t do that normally.”
“Moon?” Luna asked, pulling away from Celestia and placing a wing on Twilight’s back. “Are you alright?”
“It’s, uh, close to my heart,” Twilight chuckled, shrugging. “It’s been a while since I’ve been home,” she lied, feeling Luna give a nuzzle to her shoulder and a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry too much. Let’s just get to Stonewall, okay?”
Stats
Page generated in 0.036 seconds
Total duration
1,114 users online
1,878,934 hits today, 2,156,967 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
So Twilight unintentionally invent 'teleport' spell? Which was later taught to her future-self a thousand of years later?
HUZZAH! I wonder why Twilight didn't include herself....
Ok after this chapter I'm convinced. This is going to be great. Looking forward to seeing what happens next.
9896107
this is the same universe that she tryed to warn herself not to freak out only to cause it so paradoxes arent out of the question. The question is did luna and celestia in the presnt remember her?
Okay, I loved the chapter. But I do feel the need to point out that you may have rushed it. There were FAR more typos than in the prior two. Nothing terribly wrong, but little mistakes here and there where I think autocorrect failed you. Ex: asked my Luna herself - asked by Luna herself
As for the story itself, look at Twilight go! Who knew she could be such an adorkable player!
I quite liked the thought of Luna repairing Twilight's outfit to make her look more "dashing". I'll be looking forward to seeing how they grow closer together, and how long it'll take Twilight to buck her "rules" to the curb and spill the beans. Or at least, explain more of her situation.
Omg i now have an addiction towards this fic! It’s awesome! Also I think it’s really cool that Twilight be the one to teach them
I really am in love with this story, but I have to ask about the update frequency. Are we to suspect a new chapter daily? If so, has all of arc one already been writen? If not are you writing everyday and aren't you afraid of getting burned out?
Sorry, I don't mean to pry, but I'm just abit worried if your pushing yourself too hard. Either that or I am just being a worry-wort.
Keep up the brilliant work, but just keep in mind, I don't mind if there is a bigger time gap between chapters if it means less likely chance of burn out because it sucks and we've all been there.
Also Luna is cutest Pone!
Jesus, that's fast.
Update speed aside, the story's pretty good, I can see myself really liking this
I do declare Luna the cutest pony!
(and why do we not have an emoji of her? 
)
On another note, I wished someone would draw Twilight in her new outfit 👀
I love this story concept, reminds me of another one I lost track of that I read ages ago, where Twilight had gone back in time more on accident than anything and ended up babysitting the sisters... You've got me hooked!
9896221
Hey there.
Thanks for the thoughts. I will say that I agree with that. I guess I was just excited.
I'll be going over the chapter tomorrow and trying to find any mistakes to iron them out. <3
9896322
Heya.
There won't be a new chapter everyday; that was just for the weekend. Most likely, it'll be once every 3-4 days to a week as I have irl stuff to deal with.
But I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it! <3
9896339
9896171
9896510
9896236
Glad to have you peeps here <3
Still well done. And seeing the BS (in a good way) healing, maybe my criticism of the previous chapter
Was a little much. However I still suggest toning it down in the future to prevent a Tonel(?) Disconnect.
Gee, that's original. Let me guess, she'll have an orange coat and a long white beard? She'll be rude and egotistical, but also very intelligent?
9896510
You probably mean this story.
Loving things so far! Keep up the good work!
9896678
There's nothing to assume that old Equestrian couldn't be spoken by modern day ponies, other than getting tiresome, of course.
All of the Pillars of Equestria, as well as Star Swirl are released from Limbo and can speak perfect Equestrian instantly. The only thing Twilight or the others had trouble with was the old texts and even then, Twilight states she's an expert in the old language.
Plus, the only pony shown to use any form of differing speech is Luna and she quickly learns not to.
Good chapter! I'm really looking forward towards more of this.
Skyrim
9894625
I'm sure you've realized your misunderstanding by now, but I really want to ask: WHat on earth gave you the impression that this story was dead?
So, is this story going to get a mature rating in the future? When in pone, right?
Seriously though, I'm loving the story so far. It's top notch and I'm eager to see what happens next.
9898099
Haha.
Probably not. I just want to write a nice non-mature rated fic, for once.
That sort of stuff could be saved for separate mature chapters which are uploaded on their own.
Still, thanks for the kind words!
Tbh the exclamation marks are getting on my nerves. It's usually a better idea to leave those solely in dialogue, otherwise they appear forced unfortunalely. Otherwise a good story mate, keep it up
Aw, I'm really enjoying this story! I think the concept is great and I for one am glad it's not going to be a mature story, I'm in it for fluff and adventure.
I would suggest looking up "shakespearian english pronoun conjugation", though. (Or just reading a lot of shakespeare). You're using "thee" in place of "thou" more often than not: I think "thee" is when it's the object and "thou" when it's the subject, so "Thou art brave" but "We saw thee (acting brave)". And verb endings aren't changed for all pronouns, it's just a different conjugation set. Ex, iirc: I am, thou art, she/he is, we are, you are, they are. I do, thou dost, she/he doth, we do, you do, they do.
Don't worry, I love your story even if the grammar isn't accurate to our history (I mean tbf this is another planet right?), I am just mentioning this because I'm a massive nerd.
Thou. Thee, thou, and thine (or thy) are Early Modern English second person singular pronouns. Thou is the subject form (nominative), thee is the object form, and thy/thine is the possessive form. Thee should only be used when someone is the subject of an action- Thou art funny, because Twilight is acting, but I give this to Thee, because Twilight is being acted upon.
Additionally, Luna and Celestia should not be referring to themselves with "we" in this context- the use of "we" Luna showed was a result of her position within the government, it's used symbolically to remind anyone being spoken to that the monarch(or duarch, as the case may be) speaks with the weight and force of the nation.
9898827
Do you think it would be better if I simply did away with that and used normal speech? Having to remember everything is becoming a pain and I got some commends that it was tiring.
Though, I'd hate to have the quality go down because of it.
I could go back and edit everything to be normal, rather than 'old Equestrian'.
9898843
I think you'll find most people would find it less frustrating if it felt more natural(IE used correctly), but if it's a pain to write I recommend you write them with modern formal language(IE a lack of contractions) rather than the weird mix of old English and modern that the show came up with, to convey the different methods of speech. Either way, when you use this kind of language it's important to get it at least passably correct(I don't think anyone short of a scholar will get it 100% correct), since it's not too uncommon to know the basics, and it takes people out of the story when it's incorrectly used.
9898849
Hm okay.
I'll change the chapters when I upload my next one.
9898669
Heya. I agree.
I made changes to tone down the amount of exclamation marks so that they're only in dialogue, as well as remove some of the more excessive ones.
I'll try and keep them out, unless neccessary, going forward.
<3
Awww que linda ❤
You know, if the ponies in the pic were humans or anthros, Twily would be looking at Tia's breasts and feeling Lulu's "privates" rubbing againts her...
9899135
In that position she still can take a peek at Tia's tits though and Luna's mare bits are still here.
9899496
Hmmm... You have a point.
9898974
Much appreciated mate, keep on doing what'cha doing
Noooooooooooooo! There must be more!! XD How long until the next chapter?
9900585
Actually, can I point out that she only ever kills the two ponies, the pegasus and earth pony because she was blinded by pain.
She even stops once the unicorn starts to beg and whimper, thus letting her go.
Every other bandit is knocked out or stopped without killing them.
Of course, you're free to dislike it. Thanks for the criticism though!
9900637
Aw thank you for the kind words!
9900624
Patience, young one. Very soon ;)
It had a much better original name than Snottingham did.
Not sure why you find that worth noting. Ponyville has enough thatched roof cottages that a TROGDOR! attack is due any day now.
Really am loving this story and hope it continues.
9933288
Yo, thanks ^^
I'm very nearly done with the newest chapter(s) ;3
9900817
I agree with you. I also think of all the main 6, Twilight and perhaps Rainbow Dash are the most likely to consider "anything it takes" to defend those they love.
Twilight doesn't seem to hold back when Tirek blows up her house and threatens her friends. Also also n the movie, she steals the pearl.
Twilight is the most pragmatic of the group when she's on a mission. Even more so than Applejack. Throw in her devotion to the Princesses and the results are what happened to the "slaver scum."
I think if Rainbow where there and saw what was happening to Twilight, Rainbow probably wouldn't let any escape
10459641
rainbow would overestimate herself and got taken out.
god damn it its been years since ive seen a pony pun that makes me some what mad until today.