Several years before the fatal Summer Sun celebration.
Twilight Sparkle has been in the library for days, again. Everypony who knows her is not surprised at all because she is twilight. But this doesn’t mean nopony complaints. For example, her mentor.
Celestia wanders her way along the grandiose corridor, with a file carried by her golden magic. The file was sent by one of her agent, reporting an anomaly is spotted during her way passing a village near Canterlot. Celestia has browsed through the report sketchily. The residents of the said village is described to have “joy above average”.
“It might just be something happened recently in the village or the ponies there are really happy out of some reason.” Celestia thinks. “I always want a small vacation to the rural. So let me have a little investigation. But it must be after twilight’s class.”
Mentioned her faithful student, Celestia’s expression darken a bit. Her student has possibilities to become a second Starswirl, which she would be pleased if it wasn’t for her plan, the plan has be carried out for a thousand years to remedy for her fault. Her former student had some … problems, and escaped to another world. The longest day of a thousand years is impending, so twilight is her last hope of the plan if she want this ends well.
The princess of the sun opens the gate of the library and immediately finds her student reading a book on a cushion, disheveled but cordial. “She needs some friend to wield the elements, not books.” Celestia adds in her mind. “At least she needs to go out.”
“Twilight, my faithful student.” Celestia says while approaching her student.
“Oh, sorry for not seeing you come, princess.” Twilight raises her head from the books, unwillingly.
“You need to go out and make some friends after this class.” Celestia suggests.
“Err… but I was planning to do some research on these books.”
“I see. So maybe you can share the problem with me and see if I can help.”
“Right, princess, it ‘is’ a period of history you actually participate in.” Twilight responses. “I have compared many versions of the war between griffons and us nearly a thousand years ago, together with several autobiographies. Then I found this war is weird: It started with small conflicts, just like others. And according to some autobiographies, militaries were suffering from a kind of depression which might be caused by a concrete important pony’s absence. It was a war that we had no chance to win as they once assumed. But suddenly the war ends without any signs: The griffons retreated and signed a peace, without anypony knew why. I assume the only pony knows about the truth is you, maybe.”
“Where did you get the idea of researching on this? Just out of curiosity, I must admit.” Celestia asked.
“From a spell book by a soldier, he mentioned about this weird war, saying solving this anomaly will benefit a lot.” Twilight looks at her mentor with pleading eyes.
‘I remember him, it seems this was not properly dealt with. But not big deal.’ Celestia mentally thinks, but says: “I am pleased to see you are interested in history. To answer your questions.” Celestia presumes and wears a warm smile before continues. “I can only say it was a miracle because I don’t know the reason either.”
“O…K.” Twilight hesitates, clearly not buying the princess’ bluffing.
“So are you going out after this class?” Celestia tries to change the subject.
“Not until I finish this subject. I may do it later.” Twilight buries her head in the books once again.
“Fine, then the class we are having is changed to the field work. You are going to investigate an anomaly with me.” Celestia announces. “Here is the briefing.”
“Well, Ok.” Twilight obviously don’t want to leave her books.
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Celestia lets her cart stopped by the entrance of the said village. She ambles towards the village on the dirt road, enjoying the scent of mud and wheat, with her student wandering impatiently holding a book and two guards as escort.
The sun princess moves on, with her eyes closed, feeling the rustles as her hooves smash the leaves, on purpose, of course. It remains her old times shared with her sister when played together as fillies. Before…
“Err… princess Celestia, they ‘does’ looks weird.” Twilight suddenly pronounces.
“It may be resulted from your lack of socializing recently.” Celestia does not bother to open her eyes. “Which make you think everypony is weird.”
“I’m serious.” Twilight urges. “Please, princess. I’m not kidding.”
“Neither am I.” Celestia retorts without thinking, but finally opens her eyes. Then she concludes: “The residents do look weird.”
The ponies of the village are doing their harvest, normally. But their facial expression are anything but normal. They smile stiffly and it looks like the smiles are fake.
“Ugh… Creepy, they smile like they are forced to do so.” Twilight concludes.
“No, they smile stiffly because they smiles for too long and they are truly inspired by joy.” Celestia changes to a stern face and seems realizing something.
“But how could these possible. Maybe we should ask the mayor of this village.”
Celestia doesn’t response to her student’s advice and her horn glows. “I can sense… magic, the villagers were forced to feel joy.”
“What does it mean?” Twilight feels nervous and speaks.
“Mind-control magic, I was once familiar with this kind of magic. This…” Celestia presumes and relocates her head for a better angle for detection. “This one has a source. Not far…”
Celestia spins around and orders her escorts: “Get your fastest one and fly back to call for reinforcement.”
“But the fastest is watching the cart.”
“Screw the cart, Do it, NOW!” Celestia orders flatly but with irresistible force in her voice. “Rest of my guards and, Twilight. Stay here. You are no match for the kind of magic. And, no buts”
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North of the small village stands a small stone hill with grass and vines all over it. The hill itself must has witnessed the ages but there is a door at the base of it hiding in the bushes which seems new. All things seems quiet but this doesn’t last for long.
Celestia blasts the door open and enters the chamber inside. On witnessing the device which is filled with green goo and shaping frames, plus the much more normal ponies inside, Celestia understand the situation immediately. Rage filled up her mind, Celestia scans the skeleton of the cave and find no more room to hold potential victims. The sun princess shouts: “Changelings, SCREW you all. Run and tell your queen, screw with my subjects again and I will knock her horn off and plug it into one of her holes. Now get out of here because the only thing in my mind is blow this place up.”
Celestia shoots beams even before she finishes shouting. The cave begins to shark and rock falls from the roof as all the changeling inside runs for their lives. Debris and goo spread all over the cave and the hill shatters apart, remaining a sphere shield with angry princess inside who holds it.
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“Princess, what happened?” Twilight asks while she and the princess amble to the cart they left behind.
“Enemies.” Celestia answers, doesn’t want to explain much. “I will teach you this when time comes.”
Silence engorges the small group as they take on their leaving. But things don’t always go as expected.
“What’s going on?” Twilight’s squeak wakes Celestia from her absent-minded.
In front of the small group, everything is floating, including their cart. Rocks are moving with the wind at multiple speed and leaves of the trees are at strange angle.
“Gravity magic.” Celestia prods the floating sphere of water and trots into the range of the anomaly, murmurs. “Interesting, hope this one won’t disappoint me again.”
“Princess, isn’t it…” Twilight tries to stop her mentor’s abnormal behavior.
“Dangerous? No, this magic is special. It doesn’t affect us, see?” Celestia keeps on walking, with her head spins around to scrutiny the surroundings. “Now we only need to find the source.”
Celestia pauses as other ponies rush to their princess. Follow the princess’ gaze they find a little unicorn filly floating in the air, white coat and blue mane, with eyes emanating white magical light.
“Magic surge.” Celestia verdicts and wraps the filly with her right frontleg, trying to calm the surge down. Then she asks. “Guards, are we have missing pony reports in that poor village.”
“No, your highness, all the record in the town hall have found their counterparts. This filly is not in the records. Perhaps this filly is one of these monsters.” One Guard says.
“No, my magic says otherwise.” Celestia says. “How long has these ponies be affected by this nasty magic? Maybe she is a newborn during these dark years.”
“Maybe you are right, according to primal research, the victims don’t actually remember what happened nor the length of their suffering. What they remember before these event are too fragmentized and trivial to find the corresponding part of history events. So, we don’t know the accurate time. For the same reason, they don’t know what they have done during these dark period. So find this foal’s parents is nearly impossible, nor would the filly herself know her parents if she was one of the victims. Even successfully find her parents, it is hard to imagine a filly living in a family that her parents hardly love or even know each other.”
“I found this filly elsewhere, her parents were both killed in accident.” Celestia has made up her mind and announces in royal tone. “I will personally be her guardian, maybe mentor. I’ll tell her the truth when she’s ready. Keep this a secret, understand?”
“Yes, your highness.” They all chords.
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Few hours later, in the private room of Celestia.
“May I know your name?” Celestia coos to the filly she just brought back in a motherly tone with smiles on her face.
“They call me Izsha.” The filly cringes a little before answering.
“Izsha? Strange name. Who’re ‘they’?”
The filly starts to shiver as Celestia speaks a little more aggressively. “I don’t know, it’s like a dream.”
Celestia feels strange to find the filly much more sophisticated than expected if she really lived and managed through the dark time, unconsciously. She knows when I become aggressive. She should not even be able to speak or use magic if the villager is at the condition she and her student once witnessed. Just like she knows…
Celestia drives the idea of a lying filly out of her mind. ‘Cuteness is justice.’ Celestia thinks to herself. Maybe it is just an instinct just for foals to observe the adults’ mental state. Maybe she has a talent of observing and self-learning. Maybe she has an advanced tolerance on psyche magic. Some test will prove her resistance of psyche attack… No, No test, No old mistakes.
“Do you know your parents?” Celestia coos and tries to extract more useful information.
The filly shivers more severely and answers like whispers. “No.”
“Do you afraid of me?” Celestia feels weird because she herself was always welcomed even in foals but this filly shows nothing but fear. Probably she saw the destruction of the cave.
The filly cringes a bit and curls up more like a ball as response.
“I won’t hurt you.” Celestia coos in a much more soft tone. “I promise.”
The filly relaxes a bit on hearing the promise. Celestia rubs the back of filly’s head and cuddle the filly in one of her frontleg. “It will be Ok, don’t worry.”
“Izsha, right? Weird but special.” Celestia coos and nuzzles the filly. “I will take care of you. Maybe teach you something.”
“Ok!” Izsha mumbles.