//------------------------------// // First Equestrian Sunrise: A Surprise Visitor // Story: Per Speculum in Aenigmate // by Shrouded Lunes //------------------------------// The first rays of the sun started filtering into my old room as I yawned. Books splayed out on the floor around me. Some were basic magic theorems, others more advanced, and still others were actually various historical documents. What interested me the most, frankly, was the rise of the Elements of Harmony during the Discordant Outbreak: the extremely talented alicorn general who stood alongside her troops and fought from the front lines, the loyal pegasus commander that rallied all of Cloudsdale behind her, the earth pony head of the kommissary who was honest to a fault and expected her fellows to be the same, the unicorn chief of requisitions who tended to be a bit more generous that was absolutely necessary, the shy bat pony doctor that tended to support the others from behind the lines and was seen by many wounded as a Princess-sent angel, and the elusive earth pony Captain of the Security Committee who didn't even seem to know what physics was. Reading of their exploits, if I could get even one of them to support me... 'No, that's not the way to think about this...' True, every one of these listed ponies were powerful in their own right, but they were all just well placed cogs in a machine. Remove one, and all you have is a machine in need of repair and a useless cog. While Discord himself might have been a decent enough choice, possibly even powerful enough to overwhelm my Celestia and bring about my reign in my Equestria, how about I dispose of him afterwards? To my knowledge, there were no Elements of Harmony in my world to subjugate him after his purpose was fulfilled. Those that did exist were destroyed generations ago by Princess Celestia, weren't they? "Of course they exist, silly filly!" In an instant, I jumped to my hooves and backed up as far into my room as possible. The only problem was, doing so resulted in my flank smacking into something. Turning around quickly, I saw a giggling pink pony with a cotton candy fluffy mane. "Who are... No... How did... No... WHAT?!" Her smile simply grew wider and more feral, her hair seemed to deflate before my eyes as her coat took on a more monochrome shade. "You were attempting to create a plan to capture either an Element of Harmony from our world or Discord himself in order to overwhelm whatever pitiful defenses your Princess might have set up in order to gain control of the country and rule as the leader you believe you deserve to be, while still needing to find a way of promptly disposing of the means of securing your power in order ensure that nopony could use it as a means of dethroning you." "How did you know all that?!" My eyes grew wide as I noticed the gorget around her neck, a stylized gemstone representation of a single blue balloon being stabbed from behind by a dagger upon it as it seemed to thrum with power. I'd figured out who my surprise visitor had been this morning... The Element of Laughter herself, Captain Pinkamena "Pinkie" Pie. "I am sure you understand that we cannot allow you to remove any means of defending this land from the looming threat of Daybreaker, correct?" I nervously swallowed and nodded my head. No mere earth pony should have this amount of thaumatic power... "It would be wise if you dropped those unicorn superiority thoughts, Sunset Shimmer. For your own good. But, for now..." I watched the color return to her coat as her hair returned to it's previously fluffy appearance. "We totally derailed from the fact that I was supposed to come here to invite you to dine with Princess Luna and General Sparkle! So, get yourself ready, silly filly. The guard out front will escort you to the dining hall." I didn't want to take my eyes off of the dangerous feeling pony before me, but I my head still turned to look at the door she was pointing her hoof at for the briefest of seconds. Even still, by the time I turned by head around, she was gone. In her place, there remained a small, hoof-painted image of a pure white pegasus with golden hair and a triple purple balloon cutie mark... I sat rather nervously at the royal table as the castle staff brought out our food. The simple truth was, my micro-interrogation this morning still had me on edge. That pony had appeared out of no where, seemed to know exactly what I was thinking, and disappeared without a trace. It was hard not to think that she might have been hiding behind any of the pillars surrounding the room. I mean, sure, there were guards stationed around the room. For that matter, were they even guards like back home? After being intercepted by those three when I first arrived, they seemed to be better organized that the Royal Guard was. So, if she was a threat to the castle, they might be able to stop her. Right? "Pinkie?" "What? Where?!" For the second time this morning, I was instantly on my hooves and trying to find some place to hide. Though, I calmed slighty when I hear two stiffed, feminine chuckles. "Looks like I was right, Mother. It would seem Pinkie did grace Sunset with a visit this morning." "You need not fear, dear niece. We have sent the dear Captain on a mission, so she will not be interrupting Our meal." I let out a sigh of relief as I returned to my seat, turning just enough to grace the approaching alicorns with a smile. "Auntie..." 'Ugh, that still feels horrible on my tongue...' "Good morning. And to you as well... cousin? I trust you slept well." "Just Twilight is fine, Sunset. I can already tell the term 'cousin' doesn't seem to sit well on your tongue." Twilight started to spread from raspberry jam unto her morning toast, before she suddenly started to smile. "Though, I would like to discuss your apparent de-alicornification as well as what has happened to you in the intervening millennia since you first stepped into that portal with Star Swirl the Bearded. How were you able to reverse the natural effects of your birth? Was it some result of interference from the prototype mirror? Possibly even due to The Gyre itself? For that matter, how were you able to specifically locate the castle mirror as your exit point? Or was that pure happenstance? After your and Star Swirl's disappearance, portal mirrors were all but abandoned for centuries! To have one of the founders of its studies return..." Princess Luna, through all of her daughter's ranting and questioning, remained silent. "Uh... Wait... What... What are you talking about cous... Twilight?" I watched as she blinked in confusion. "Oh... Could it be? I... I never even thought about the possibility that millennia in The Gyre could induce a state of amnesia. But, it would make sense, wouldn't it, Mother?" Princess Luna nodded as she went about eating her meal in silence. "Ah, but either way, I'm keeping you from your food! Please, forgive me, Sunset. Eat. Eat! I insist. The royal chef is an absolute whiz in the kitchen, so it would be absolutely foalish to let his meal get cold. Let's get together afterwards to discuss things." I just dumbly nodded as I looked down at my oatcakes, barely missing the conspiratorial grin on Twilight's face.