//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - Precursor // Story: Where Gods Rest // by Quick Fix //------------------------------// Twilight's Castle, Ponyville December 25th, Year 22 under the Four Princesses Even under regular circumstances, sunset over Ponyville was a spectacle quite a few ponies desired to see at least once in their lifetime. A cascade of light filtering through the mountains to the northeast and reflecting off the castle of Princess Twilight Sparkle to bathe the entire town in a full spectra. During the Hearth's Warming period, the effect was amplified significantly with light reflecting off the snow and countless decorative lights helping to create a display of organised chaos that bathed the town and surrounding area in techicolour beauty. For those lucky enough to know the right places to see it, the view was as unique as was possible in Equestria. Twilight was thankful her balcony provided such a view. It was easy to let her thoughts wander away from the rigors of duty and simply relax in the face of such beauty. The princess of friendship sat leaned up against the railing of her overlook of Ponyville, smiling gently to herself, watching the light show as the steadily sinking sun steadily shifted the display to the south. It felt good to be able to find a little time to unwind by herself, especially when she couldn't remember the last time she had truly had such time. It felt far longer than thirty years since she had been an innocent filly that was able to study the wonders of magic for both the approval of Princess Celestia and her for own enjoyment. Before her life had become a steady stream of adventures, dangers and tribulations that few ponies should have to go through and fewer still would desire. She knew each of the Elements of Harmony had been worn down by years of being Equestria's first line of defence that seemed to come up every few months, but none of them could deny she had taken the worst of it. As enduring a pony as she was, there was still only so much she could handle and the results of her showdown with Starlight Glimmer had resulted in months of therapy with the support of the other princesses and working herself back up to a position where she could fully resume her duties again. It had paid off though as she had been able to commit herself with even greater vigour over the past few years. The months she had spent tutoring Princess Celestia's student, Sunset Shimmer, along with her initiatives that had resulted in the foundation of the Canterlot Institute of Development, had been boons both to Equestria and herself. As she had grown back into her role again, she had changed in more ways than one. Her body had finally begun to feel the influence of her alicorn magic over the past few years, steadily adapting and growing. Physically she was now equal to Cadance in every regard, to the point that they could be mistaken for twins. The Twilight of today though, had grown overall as well. Though still capable of her neurotic moments she was wiser, more level headed and far more magically adept. She was now a leader that could truly do her part to help Equestria. At least, she hoped so. Her thoughts were disturbed by a steady clacking of claws on stone behind her. She didn't need to look round to see who it was though, that sound was so familiar to her that what it signalled was comforting. She only needed to spare a welcoming smile as Spike came up by her side, sitting down and taking in the view with her. Her number one assistant had grown even more than she had, now standing as tall as the average stallion, or eye to eye with Celestia if standing fully on his back legs. His body had filled out and gained some muscle to it, giving him a slightly bulky look when on two feet that evened out when on all fours. Although his body was still clearly intended to be bipedal and he could switch between two and four legged movement at will, he seemed more comfortable when he had his hands on the ground these days. "It's quite a display this year." Spike commented as he took the scattered light show in. Twilight's ear twitched slightly as he said it, taking in the smooth, hybrid dragon-pony accent he had picked up alongside his maturity. "Almost as beautiful as Rarity?" She teased, grinning slightly as he shot her a playfully unamused look and shook his head. "I'd say it's more, pretty as Flash Sentry." He countered, getting a chuckle out of her in turn. "Alright, I walked into that one," Twilight said with a gentle sigh, turning toward the dragon she still saw as a brother. "You finished up your ambassador duties for the day?" "Yep. I don't have to head out to the Dragonlands until next month though so, we can just focus on tonight for now." "Great," Twilight pulled her view away from the town completely and turned back toward the castle. "What do you want to do first, hanging up the dolls or presents?" "Oooh, tough call," Spike commented, sucking some air between his teeth as he mulled it over. Most ponies would be wary of giving a dragon a choice that involved material gain, but Twilight knew him well enough. "Gotta go with the traditional order." With that decision made, the two of them headed back into the castle. It almost felt a little strange for it to be empty right now, most years the castle was completely open over the Hearth's Warming period to anypony who wanted some company or an ear to their concerns. With Pinkie Pie throwing one of her classic parties today though, everypony for miles around had had their attention focused there. In this case though, a little time to themselves was just what Twilight and Spike wanted. A room had been set up near the library for their traditions tonight, decorated with tinsel and ribbons in purple, green and red, along with wreaths along the walls and both their presents laid out next to the fireplace at the far end of the room. Spike still referred to it as the gift room since they'd been using it for this purpose since they had first moved into the castle. These days he had the patience to wait for Twilight to be ready before getting started at least, eyeing up the various presents and sorting them while she fetched a pillow and placed it in the fireplace. Being ready in case Pinkie dropped in was something of a tradition too. "Well, feel free to dig in," Twilight said once everything was ready, stepping next to Spike. "Happy Hearth's Warming." "Happy Hearth's Warming, Twilight." He said in return, turning to face her and wrapping an arm around the back of her neck to pull her into a hug. She returned it in kind. It still surprised her a little when he was able to supress his draconic instincts when offered a change to freely indulge them, but that only made her all the prouder of how much he'd grown up. For the next few minutes, little was said between them, only really exchanging comments on the gifts they'd received. Twilight's presents were of the kind she was accustomed to; Personalised mementos from the other element bearers, books to peruse for both study and leisure from the princesses, a wide variety of well wishing gifts from fans and grateful ponies across Equestria. Spike's haul was more modest, though he received similar gifts of thanks from ponies of the Crystal Empire who still knew him as Great and Honourable Spike the Brave and Glorious. There were even a few awkward but well meaning items from the Dragonlands, steps of progress from those that were fully embracing his and Dragon Lord Ember's efforts. "Feels good to know how much you're helping others doesn't it?" Twilight asked happily as she watched Spike place an opal geode down and open up his last present, a simple scroll from Rarity. "Yeah, ca-" Spike started before pausing and putting it down again, holding a claw up for a moment before holding it out and belching a burst of fire that materialised into a scroll with the seal of the royal sisters. He let it drop into his waiting hand as he sniffed the air where the fire had been and grinned. "Mmm, sunflower." Twilight couldn't help but chuckle softly at the sight. It had been something of a shock the first time she had heard him claim he could pick up scents coming from magic but after a week of tests she realised it was genuine. Her conclusion came from the fact that his ability to send and receive such scrolls came directly from alicorn magic Princess Celestia had gifted him with when he had started assisting her. Decades of constant use had attuned his body to magic in curious ways, though smelling it was the most obvious so far. "As I was saying. Can't deny it's nice playing a part in keeping the world safe and happy," Spike finished as he passed her the scroll and read through his own. "Huh...Wow. Thanks, Rarity." "Are you ok?" She asked as she put her scroll down, a simple well wishing letter from Celestia and Luna. She'd noticed how he'd tensed up slightly while reading and his wellbeing was her first concern right now. "Of course. Just some things are hard to let go of completely, y'know?" Twilight just nodded knowingly, all too aware of how it felt to move on from things you'd held to dearly. She let him digest whatever had been written down and brought her gift back over to her. She only had to glance at the writing style on the tag to see it was from her nephew, Aurora , and that he'd got her a book as well. What he'd included on there caught her attention though. 'I found this deep in the castle library but we don't have any translators in the city right now. I thought you'd enjoy it.' Curiosity piqued, Twilight opened the wrapping up and let the book fall into her hooves. It was in something of a state, not dissimilar to how her old journal of friendship had been when she recovered it in the aftermath of Tirek's rampage. Her focus was more engaged with the writing on it though, a collection of symbols and icons that would be indecipherable to the average pony. She'd spent enough time in the empire to recognise the language of the ancient crystal ponies though, as well as a partial translation. What she could figure out resulted in a happy squeal as she opened it up and started studying the semi-faded inside cover. "Haven't heard the nerd side come out in a while. How good is it?" Spike asked, slightly amused as always to see one of the most important figures in the world sounding like a filly that had been allowed extra ice cream. "This, is a history book from the earliest days of the old Crystal Kingdom!" Twilight exclaimed, turning it round to show him. "If I'm translating the date right, this book is at least four thousand years older than Equestria itself! Think of just how much we can finally learn about that time!!" "Woah...They don't make books like they used to." Twilight barely heard his quip as she opened the book up again, intently studying everything about it. Both of them knew where the rest of her day was going. "Twilight, it's nearly eleven o'clock. Should I fetch a pillow?" Had it been that long already, Twilight thought as she managed to pull her eyes away from the ancient history book and look up at Spike. She'd hardly been able to wait as the two of them had cleaned up, hung up their Hearth's Warming dolls and taken their presents to their rooms before heading into the library to study it in intricate detail. The fact she was having to work on translating at the same time had delayed things considerably but she was finally making some headway. Or had been before he had joined her. Now that her focus was broken though, she was aware of the steady drain of her magic from holding multiple books, quills and parchments around her, as well as how thirsty she was. "Oh. No, Spike. I'm going to start winding down now, I promise." "Define how long starting to wind down takes." He really did know her too well. "Twenty minutes at most." Twilight admitted. "Heh, maybe I should get my old comics out so you can be one giving me a bedtime again." Spike said with a chuckle, placing a glass of water down on the table for Twilight. "I mean it this time," She replied with a slight pout before giggling herself and stretching slightly. "Really, I'll be up soon. You get some rest." "I know you do," He said softly, turning and heading for the exit. "Goodnight, Twilight." "Sleep well, Spike." She said back, waving farewell to him before taking a few gulps of water and getting back to her studying. For the next few minutes the only sounds in the library were the scratching of quill on parchment and Twilight's quiet breathing, her eyes straining slightly in the dimmed light of the stars and her own horn as she checked her translations of the old crystal language and copied it over to equestrian. While the book had spare illustrations, its condition left them largely indistinguishable and she didn't want to chance any restoration spells when tired. As she stifled a yawn as she put everything down and went over what had been written so far, the yawn stopped in her throat as the reading let what she had seen sink in. Suddenly sleep was the last thing on her mind as a confused tension flooded her senses and she darted up out of her seat. What she had written, assuming the translation was flawless, was unlike anything she had expected when she started. She had to tell somepony about this right now, but who? Princess Celestia and Queen Cadance would both be sound asleep by now. Princess Luna was awake but she had said she would be busy tonight with some task crucial to the Equestria Defence Force. Even if that was done by now she'd be busy guarding the dream realm and that would require sleep to get to, something that seemed impossible right now. The only one of her friends who might be awake at this time would be Rainbow Dash, probably out celebrating with the rest of the Wonderbolts. Important as this was, she couldn't bring herself to interrupt her friend's happiness for something she might not understand. Spike? That seemed to make the most sense, he wouldn't be deep asleep just yet and both he knew about the book and how to help her out of the incoming panic. Not ideal, but it would have to do. Twilight quickly gathered up her translation notes and the book, barely keeping a hold of it all in her rush. She couldn't wait, not with information that might shatter every preconception of ancient Equestria as ponykind know it. Her horn was engulfed in its light purple aura and she teleported up to Spike's room, barely waiting long enough to materialise before calling for him. "Spike!" "Whazzappened?" Spike asked quickly as he shot up in bed. The sight of an alicorn hyperventilating slightly, legs quivering in restrained panic, was enough to shake him awake and he immediately clambered over the foot of the bed and up in front of her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Slow breaths Twi, hoof over the heart, just keep focusing on me." Twilight nodded and pressed a trembling hoof over her chest, keeping her eyes locked on Spike's as her breathing steadily slowed and she got her heart rate back under control. The two of them had developed the techniques for bringing her out of these freakout moments while she'd been recovering from the aftermath of the Starlight incident, but in all these years after that Twilight had never forgotten just how invaluable his help was when she needed it most. "Okay...Okay..." She said quietly after a full minute, looking down and seeing her hooves had stopped shaking before sitting down and nodding. "That was a bad one..." "What happened?" He asked gently, his voice filled with concern. Twilight knew he already knew what the cause most likely was and placed down the book and notes in front of them. "Page thirty-three, paragraph four." Spike nodded, making one last check over to be sure Twilight was calm and settled again before reading the relevant translated note. 'Although the unexpected conditions meant the Ferruci coast ultimately proved incapable of supporting a permanent settlement, the expedition was not a total loss. Explorers tasked with searching for rare resources in the inland hills described finding a mural carved into a rock face, thirty square feet and depicting a trio of equines unlike any in recorded history. Each appeared to have a pair of wings along their sides and a horn atop their foreheads. The bottom of the mural contained a line of what is presumably these beings language, though any attempts at translation have met with failure. Speculation on the origin of the mural, as well as the fact it remains in prime condition today, has lead to a common belief among those who know of it that these beings are in some way connected to the surge.' "I still haven't figured out where Ferruci is meant to be," Twilight said quietly, taking a slow breath. Now that the tension of her momentary panic had subsided, the exhaustion resulting from both staying up and stressing out was starting to weigh down on her like a lead blanket. "But that expedition mentioned took place around forty-seven hundred years before Equestra was founded." "And they found a wall carving of a bunch of alicorns?" Spike mused, putting the papers down and scratching his cheek in thought. "Now that I think about it, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have never mentioned anything about an alicorn race. Or even implied anything..." "Exactly. If this is true...Why has there been no evidence of any other alicorns? How much of an influence have they had? So, many questions." "Yeah, I can see why you'd react like you did. I'm guessing you're gonna want to follow up properly tomorrow?" "Maybe. Right now, just going to take a few minutes here. Wake me if somepony comes by." Twilight murmured, her already drained endurance losing out to her shock exacerbated weariness. She could feel Spike moving over and placing his hands under her as she leaned against him and slipped into a dreamless rest.