Many years ago...
All was dark and quiet in the farmhouse as Granny Smith Apple snuggled a little deeper into her blankets. It was a chilly spring evening and the newly built home still hadn’t had every nook and crack chinked against the cold. The earth pony mare stirred in her sleep, slowly rising to wakefulness, something disturbing her.
“Huh?” Granny Smith asked the dark room. “Who’s there?” The room didn’t answer and Granny lifted her head to look around. The light of the full moon overhead streamed into the sparse room. The only items of furniture were her bed and a small dresser with an attached mirror. On the dresser, in front of the mirror, along with a few other items, were a brush and a hoof mirror. Granny smiled as she saw the soft glow coming off the mirror her coltfriend had given her.
Gloaming Gleam was a nice stallion, even if he did keep going on about taking Granny away to the big city and away from the farm. He may not understand the connection she had to her family, but he did understand how to make a mare feel wanted and the enchanted mirror he had given her was partial proof of that. She was just turning to snuggle back into her covers when she heard the faint sound again.
Granny could barely make it out, but she could swear it sounded like crying, as if one of the young fillies had hurt themselves, and as her sensitive ears tracked on the sound she realized it was coming from the mirror. Her hooves thumped to the wood floor and she crossed the room in a few quick strides.
“Gloamin’?” Granny asked. “Is that you?” Granny picked up the mirror to look at it, and as she did the glow from it became slightly brighter, as did the sound of somepony crying. Not just crying, it was somepony in hopeless despair and the sound wrenched at Granny Smith’s heart.
“Hello,” she called into the mirror. “Is anypony there? Hello?” The sobbing broke off.
“Hello!” a strange male voice said back, and Granny could hear a desperate joy in the voice. “Oh please let you be real.”
“Ah’m as real as can be,” Granny Smith answered. “What seems to be the problem, pony? Yer soundin’ like you’ve been havin’ a powerful bad time.”
“You are real!” the pony on the other end shouted. “Where are you? Are you close?”
“Hold yer horses, there lad,” Granny said, trying to puzzle out what was going on. “I’m likely a long ways away from ya. Are you a friend of my Gloaming?”
“I do not know any Gloaming,” the voice on the other end said, and Granny could hear that crushing despair return to his voice. “My name is Lee Ung and I am a miner trapped in a cave-in. If you are far away, how am I talking to you?”
“Never mind that now Lee,” Granny said, worry in her own voice now as she held the mirror. “Are you hurt? Is anypony coming for you?”
“Yes, I think that they are coming for me, but there is a great deal of rock for them to get through and I do not believe rescue will reach me in time,” Lee said, sadly, “but it was good to hear another voice. Before the end.”
“Hold on there, you ain’t dead yet,” Granny said, firmly. “How long do you figure it will take for yer friends to get you out?” Granny began getting out her saddlebags, she knew she was going to need some help.
“Days at least,” Lee said, “and I have neither food, nor water with me.”
“I might be able to help a bit with that,” Granny said, adjusting her saddlebags onto herself as she left her room to head for the kitchen.
“If you can, I would be most grateful,” Lee said, through the mirror. “Can you promise me something though?”
“If it’s somethin’ I can do, I’ll do it for ya,” Granny said, as she entered the kitchen, and got out a half dozen apples from the storage bin.
“If whatever you are going to do does not work,” Lee said, and Granny’s heart nearly broke at the controlled fear she heard in his voice. “Could you stay with me, until the end? I do not want to die alone.”
“Nopony is dyin’ today,” Granny said, as she put the mirror down on the kitchen table. “Now, kin ya see around ya?”
“No, I cannot,” Lee said. “My lantern was smashed during the cave-in. I am in a relatively small area though.”
“Alright then, I’m gonna try to send somethin’ to ya to eat. Get ready now,” Granny said, and then she pushed an apple through the portal the mirror created. Almost immediately she heard a muffled scream of pain and she realized that the pony on the other side hadn’t told her if he was hurt. “Are you okay?” she asked, into the mirror.
“Something fell, and struck my leg,” Lee said, pain clearly in his voice. “Wait...how did this apple get here?”
“I sent it to ya,” Granny said, smiling. “I’ve got a few more here, and what was that about yer leg?’
“It doesn’t matter,” Lee said. “Please, send the food.” Granny eyed the mirror sideways for a moment. She could hear the lie of a stallion who didn’t want to show he was weak and hurt to anyone. The pony on the other side of the mirror needed food though, so she pushed the other three apples through the portal and immediately heard a scream of anguish.
“Lee!” Granny shouted. “Ye durn fool. What’s wrong with ya?”
“I...I,” Lee began, gasping for breath in pain. “My legs are broken and your apples are landing on them.”
“Yer legs are broken?” Granny said, horrified. An immobilized pony was soon a dead pony. “How bad is it? Be honest with me.”
“The bones are poking out,” Lee said, and Granny could hear some hesitation in his voice, even at that admission
“What else?” Granny said, a little testily. “C’mon, out with it.”
“I have lost quite a bit of blood,” Lee said, crunching into an apple, “and I am still bleeding. The food should help though.”
Granny thought for several moments. Lee was obviously hurt, possibly dying and trapped in a mine with rescue days away. Granny knew about mines, and the death traps they could be. Lee didn’t have days to live, he had hours at most.
“Lee, I need to get you help,” Granny said, filling a jug with water. “Powerful help, and I think the only pony for that is Celestia.”
“Who is this...Celestia?” Lee asked, filling the space between words with the sound of eating.
“Huh? You know, Celestia,” Granny said, strapping the mirror to her saddlebags where she could still talk to it while running. “Big white mare, lives up on high.”
“Kanthaka,” Lee said, in a hushed whisper. “You are talking about the celestial white horse, Kanthaka. That explains so much.”
“Kan...who?” Granny asked, heading out of the farmhouse and heading toward the gate at a brisk walk. “Look, sonny. Celestia runs everything around here, not some Kan..whatever.”
“You serve her?” Lee asked, pain still tinging his voice.
“I reckon most everypony does,” Granny said, increasing her gait to a trot as she began up the dirt road to Ponyville.
“Then it is her,” Lee said, with a sigh. “When I realized my situation, I cried out for help and you answered, sending me miraculous food and speaking to me. You serve a great, white mare who rules from on high. It can only be Kanthaka acting through you.”
Poor feller, Granny Smith thought, he must be half gone already. Time to get this caboose in gear. Aloud she said, “Sonny, I need you to be quiet for a bit. I’ve got to put on some speed and I won’t have time or breath for talk.”
“Okay,” Lee said. “I will try to rest.” With that, Granny Smith shifted into a canter. She could maintain the ground eating pace for a time, but it wasn’t the most efficient gait for travelling a long distance. That would be a trot, and for an earth pony, the thirty mile trot it would take to reach the railhead coming toward Ponyville would be an easy day’s effort. The problem was that Granny Smith was sure down to her bones that she didn’t have a day. She had hours.
So, by the light of the Mare in the Moon she held to the punishing canter. Mile after mile pushed by, as Granny followed the pre-graded rail bed, ignoring the pain as the punishing pace continued to wear her down. She could feel her coat becoming matted with sweat, her legs becoming covered in trail dirt and dust, but she pushed on. As the coming dawn began to tinge the horizon with pink, Granny Smith finally saw the rail camp and put on a last sprint of effort, collapsing into the hooves of the camp foreman.
“Get me to Celestia,” the exhausted mare said before she passed out.
Some time later Granny awoke. Her first impressions were of softness. A soft cushion beneath her head, a soft breeze moving across her, a soft voice saying, “Wake up.” Consciousness came roaring back as images slammed into her brain. The mirror, the rail head, the pony trapped in the cave-in, all passed before her eyes, jump starting her brain and she leaped up even before her eyes were fully open.
“Somepony get me to--” Granny began to shout, only to realize she was muzzle to muzzle with her liege. “Oh.”
“Hello, my little pony,” Celestia said, smiling serenely at the earth pony, as the early morning sun backlit her. “What seems to be the problem?”
“Yer Highness,” Granny Smith said, bowing to her ruler. “Sorry to be such a bother, but I wouldn’t have come if there weren’t a need.”
“I assumed so,” Celestia said, helping Granny to her hooves. “It isn’t often a pony runs themselves into the ground begging to see me. What can your Princess do for you?” Speaking quickly, Granny Smith explained about how she had been awakened by somepony in need, calling through the mirror. About their injuries and how Granny believed they only had hours to live.
“Lee, Lee, are you there?” Granny called into the mirror. “Lee, I made it. I’m with Celes...er, Kanthaka now.” Celestia rose an eyebrow at the name, which climbed even higher as a groaning voice came from the mirror.
“Ka...Kanthaka?” Lee’s faint voice came through the mirror. “Is it truly the celestial white mare?”
“Yes, my pony,” Celestia said, her face taking on some of the pain she heard in the voice. “What can I do for you?” A hoarse chuckle came from the other side.
“I was born under your sign, great Kanthaka,” Lee said, his voice strengthening a bit, “but I am not a pony. I am a man, or at least what is left of one. Surely your handmaiden has told you my time is short, in spite of her gifts.”
“She has,” Celestia said, bowing her sad face over the mirror, “and though it pains me greatly to say this. I do not believe I can help you.” Granny Smith looked at Celestia in shock, and angrily pulled Celestia to one side.
“What the hay do you mean, you cain’t help him?” Granny demanded. “It don’t matter that he ain’t a pony. He’s hurt...dyin’, and you can save him.” Celestia looked down at Granny Smith, a brief tinge of anger colouring her face that was quickly smoothed over.
“Even for a Princess there are certain rules that must be followed,” Celestia said. “Certain balances that must be kept.”
“So, there is some kinda price, I get that,” Granny Smith said, looking up in earnest. “I’ll pay it, whatever it takes.”
“You don’t understand,” Celestia said, trying to keep her patience. “He is in another world, and if everything you say is true the only way to save him is with magic.”
“So what?,” Granny Smith asked, frowning. “Make with the zippity zap already.”
“Granny,” Celestia said, frustration at the obstinate earth pony showing in her voice, at last, “that is no pony on the other end of the mirror. They may be good, and deserving of our help, but their world has no magic of its own. I would have to open his world to Equestrian magic in order to save him.”
“I still don’t get the problem,” Granny Smith said. “Either you are a Princess, or you ain’t. Either yer a good pony, or you ain’t. Either yer a pony I can look up to, or you ain’t. So, which is it?” Celestia just stared at Granny Smith in shock. It had been decades, no centuries, since anypony had spoken to her like that and it hurt to hear the accusation in her subject’s voice.
“If I do this,” Celestia began, trying to demonstrate a calm and reasonable demeanor, “his world will be exposed to a force it has never known before. It could destroy his world, even as it saves him.”
“Celestial Kanthaka,” Lee’s weak voice came from the mirror, as both ponies realized that the subject of their discussion had likely been listening in the whole time. “My world has known magic before. Across the world there are legends and stories of magical creatures, like you and your handmaiden.” Granny Smith just looked up at Celestia with a smirk, knowing her Princess’ main objection had been trumped.
“Alright then,” Celestia said, “but I will require a promise from you, Lee.”
“Of course, Celestial Kanthaka,” Lee said. “Whatever you wish.”
“Promise me that you will use what you are given this day to help those around you,” Celestia said, solemnly. “That you use them generously, and with kindness. Dealing honestly with those around you, while bringing laughter to them, and being loyal to your friends and family.”
“Yes, I promise,” Lee said, almost instantly. “It would be my honor to do so.”
“Granny Smith,” Celestia said, still serious and solemn. “I need to ask you for something as well.”
“I already said I’d pay whatever price needed payin’,” Granny Smith, said.
“This isn’t just a pledge from you, but from your descendants as well,” Celestia said, spearing the earth pony with her gaze. “I need you to pledge a portion of the power of you and your descendants.”
“I don’t have any, not yet, anyhow,” Granny Smith said, “but the Apple Family has never shied away from doin’ whatever needs doin’. So ya, you got my pledge. Whaddya need it for?”
“To open the portal to magic,” Celestia said, gathering up some items, “and once I do it, I cannot stop the process. A portion of the power of your line will power the portal for as long as you or your descendants live.”
“No worries, Princess,” Granny Smith said, with a smile. “You just do what needs doin’, and us Apples will back you halfway to forever.” She watched as Celestia finished writing something in the front cover of a large book, and then pulled several good sized gems out of a drawer.
“Lee,” Celestia said, even as she touched the gems and the book with her power, “I am going to be passing you a book and some gemstones. The gemstones will provide you with light, food and air for a few days. I am also passing you a book. When all that gets to you, read what I have written on the front page.”
“If he isn’t a pony, how is he gonna read the book?” Granny Smith asked, puzzled. “In fact, how come we can talk to each other if he ain’t Equestrian?”
“Gloaming put a translation spell on the mirror,” Celestia explained. “Everything that goes through it is translated into an idealized version of what those on the other side of the mirror can understand.”
“Say what now?” Granny asked, suspicion lending a frown to her face.
“It means that Lee is able to understand us, but we sound as if we have a perfect command of his language. It is why he sounds so mature and sophisticated for somepony of his tender years,” Celestia said, explaining. “When the book passes through, my writing should change into something he can read. I’m not too sure about the actual printing in the book though.”
“So Lee isn’t really talkin’ all hoity toity, like we’ve been hearing?” Granny said, suspicion growing to conclusion.
“No. His speech is likely quite plain, and he is without magic as well,” Celestia said, setting one last set of enchantments on the book and gems. Then, the conversation she’d been having with Granny Smith registered, and her active mind put circumstances and what she knew of the two ponies together. “Granny, please don’t take anything I’ve said as a crit--”
Granny held up a hoof interrupting her princess. “Don’tchu worry none about it, Princess. I’ll have me a talk with Gloamin’ about it afterwards,” Granny said. “ Meantime, we’ve got a life to save.”
“Indeed we do,” Celestia said, a sad smile on her face as Granny Smith sounded the death knell of her relationship with Gloaming. “Lee, can you still hear me?”
“Yes, Kanthaka,” Lee said, his voice barely audible. “I think I will be joining you very soon now.”
“Not for a long time yet, I hope,” Celestia said, and then held out her hoof to Granny Smith. “Quickly, put your hoof in mine. We need to pry open that portal now.” Granny Smith did as she was asked and placed her hoof in Celestia's. Moments later, she felt a warm swirling sensation as her spirit was swept up in Celestia’s magic and she felt a gentle tugging sensation as the princess pulled something from her.
“What’s that now?” Granny Smith asked. She knew she should feel scared, or at least concerned with what was being done to her, but the love and trust she had in her eternal princess kept those negative feelings away.
“That’s the spirit of the Apple family,” Celestia said, nodding toward the swirling red-gold energy she had drawn from Granny Smith. “If I ever doubted your family’s commitment to Equestria I can assure you that after today, I never will again. Now hush for a bit, this is both delicate and brutal work.” Granny nodded and watched as Celestia draw off a portion of the ball of energy before her.
Celestia hadn’t told Granny that there might be real consequences to her generosity and her open offer, but Celestia also knew that if she had told Granny about any of them they would have only made the obstinate pony dig in her heels even more. Celestia took the portion of the energy she had brought forth and, merging it with her own, began to use it to pry open the portal created by the mirror.
The universe does not like having holes poked in it, and so the resistance was massive. Celestia could not even have begun to start what she was attempting if a path had not already been laid. With slow care, Celestia began to make the hole in reality larger. Widening it, and making it more permeable to more things, not just sound and matter, but the raw power of magic as well. After what seemed an eternity it was done, and the portal above the mirror was now wide enough to accept the book and Celestia's mystical senses could feel Equestrian magic flowing into and through the opening.
“Granny,” Celestia said to the mare beside her, “push the book and the gems through now.” Without a word Granny did as she was told, and while she was distracted with that task, Celestia returned the energies she had borrowed from Granny Smith and added a bit of her own to help make up for what had been used.
“Oh my,” Granny said, the combined energies sinking back into her at the same time she slid the book and gems through the glowing portal above the mirror. “What in tarnation was that?”
“Shh,” Celestia said. “Lee, do you have the book and the gems.”
“Yes, Kanthaka,” Lee groaned out. “Much light is coming from the very large gem. I can see quite easily.”
“Good,” Celestia said, in a voice of command. “Now open the book and read aloud what I have written there. Do it now, Lee.” Immediately, the two ponies could hear the weak voice take up the chant of the spell Celestia had written onto the first page of the book.
In the name of the Sun
In the name of the Moon
In the name of Equus
The world of Ponies
Ponies of the Earth
Ponies of the Sky
Ponies of Magic
We have become them
There was a strange sound of displaced air and Lee spoke again, his voice much stronger, “It worked Celestial Kanthaka! You have blessed me by giving me your form, and my legs are healed! Thank you!”
“Remember your promise, Lee,” Celestia said, smiling at the joy she heard coming from the mirror.
“Of course!” Lee said, excited. “May I be permitted a question, however?”
“Go right ahead,” Celestia said in response, while Granny Smith hugged her leg in happiness.
“Am I a horse forever now?” Lee asked. “Not that it would be bad. But I am finding it a little hard to figure out how to move.”
“You will get the hang of it in time, Lee,” Celestia said. “But no, you are not a pony forever. The sun is my element and my magic is tied to it. The spell will fade at dawn. The book I have sent you will soak up the power coming from my realm into yours and concentrate it, so you will be able to recast the spell if you need to.”
“Thank you, Kanthaka,” Lee said. “Um, would you terribly mind staying and talking for awhile?”
“I have duties to attend to,” Celestia said, but she was smiling as she said it. “However, my hoofmaiden here would be more than happy to stay and talk, I’m sure.” Granny Smith looked up at Celestia, pointing a hoof at herself and mouthing the question, “Me?” Celestia nodded.
“So...ah, what did you wanna talk about?” Granny Smith asked, opening the conversation as Celestia quietly left the room.