//------------------------------// // Canterlot: 1808 // Story: Victorian Equestria: The Education of Princess Celestia // by Sky Sprinter //------------------------------// The City of Canterlot: In the year of the human lord 1808 or 1708 years into the reigns of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna A red wave washed over Canterlot, toppling the many architectural works of the city and washing away families. Celestia watched from one of the Royal Palace's towers as the wave reached the gates and eventually knocked them down. She ran to the top of the tower as the red waters moved up the tower carrying the graves of her friends of the past and the present. As the waters lapped at her haunches, she reached the room at the top and closed the door behind her before it exploded, flooding the room and leaving her unable to escape. She swam to the top and took her last breath before the last bubble of air disappeared... Celestia awoke frightened and gasping for breath before realizing she was in her room. Safe and sound. "Yet another nightmare," she said to herself as one of her guards opened the door to her chambers and asked if she was alright. She lied, of course, they should never know when the Princess was genuinely frightened. "Lead by example" was one of her mottos after all. When she later was eating breakfast, she began to think of the other nightmares that had plagued her in the past couple of years. Her ponies cutting each other down, Earth Ponies in chains or worse, Pegasi in constant, agonizing war with the Unicorns, even her beloved sister in some sinister device used for executions with a falling blade. The images never left her, and she was glad she had forbade her sister from entering her dreams. Whilst sipping her tea, a guard came into the room and announced, "Your highness, your former student Princess Twilight Sparkle is currently in your solar, and she says she has urgent news for you." Celestia made her way quickly to her solar. Twilight rarely came by all that often, with world ending crises becoming much less frequent in the past decade or so, and she relished every opportunity to see her former pupil. When she finally reached it, she paused at the door composing herself before entering. "Hello Twilight," Celestia said as she entered the room. Her prized student looked so mature sitting in the chair opposite of her desk. Twilight was such a different pony compared to the little filly that had sat in that chair so many years ago. "I'm so sorry for not visiting sooner Princess. I've just been so focused on helping Mayor Mare with Ponyville's finances and we've finally gotten around to discussing where my authority and her authority begins and ends," Twilight said quickly, "Now now, Twilight. It is alright," Celestia said trying to stop the Twilight rant that she knew well, "You are a very busy pony and I know that you and the Mayor will work out where your lines are drawn." "Thank you Princess," Twilight sighed. "Now, what was this urgent news you wanted to tell me?" Celestia asked. "Oh yes, um, Rainbow Dash was up north in Seaddle visiting her friend Gilda, since she hasn't visited her since King Griff was crowned, and she said that she had heard rumors about two-legged creatures, like minotaurs but less like bulls, more like the humans in the other world," Twilight began. "I assume you came to me on more than just rumors, right Twilight?" Celestia suspected. "Ah yes, she then investigated these rumors and she said she saw these humans on an island in the Seaddle harbor. Apparently they aren't colored like the humans in Canterlot High, but more muted whites and blacks, and she said she saw that she saw a building with columns and a dome, and a rectangular banner on the top," Twilight answered. "Interesting, and do you think that the Griffons have set up some sort of... diplomatic relationship with these humans?" Celestia asked. "I think so. Our last diplomatic mission to the Griffon realm was about four years ago and I don't believe we've had any eyes nor ears in Griff's court since he took the throne of Griffonstone so honestly a whole lot of things could have happened," Twilight responded. "I knew I should have insisted on our ambassador being in Seaddle rather than Olympia," Celestia said vexed. She remembered when she came to Seaddle, then known as Griffonstone, after King Griff consolidated his control over the various city-states of the Griffon realm. Griff had said that he wanted the pony representative in Olympia so that the ponies would have a bigger plot of land for the embassy he wanted to build, but Celestia was just sure that he had wanted the ponies away from his base of power, but she didn't want to force too much upon this upstart Griffon King and so she acquiesced. "Anyways, once Rainbow saw this, she told Gilda and came straight to me," Twilight finished. "And where's Rainbow Dash now?" Celestia asked. "At home," Twilight replied. "Good," Celestia stated, "I need to ask her some questions. It took only a couple of hours of questioning for Rainbow to tell her absolutely everything she saw in Seaddle that was suspicious, and it convinced her that she needed to make a special visit to Seaddle immediately. Thankfully, Twilight and Luna were up to the task of administering the realm while she was away and within a day she was in her sky carriage on her way to Seaddle. The city had seemed far more cleaned up than she remembered it being in the beginning days of King Griff's reign, but to be fair, the city had just started recovering from years upon years of decline at the time and it was encouraging to see the Griffons so prosperous now. Irregardless, she was certain that King Griff would tell her everything she wanted to know about these humans.