If there is one thing I have learned through trial and error, it is to never underestimate life’s way of ever-studiously churning out a healthy, heaping helping of the unexpected.
As Twilight Sparkle approached the marble table where the two Princesses sat, she had no idea what was about to transpire.
And so, dearest reader, neither shall you.
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“Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student!” Princess Celestia called out upon the unicorn’s approach, standing to receive the customary nuzzle that the two of them had taken to sharing.
“Princess Celestia! It’s so good to see you!” Twilight practically gushed, galloping forward into her mentor’s embrace. The two of them smiled at each other, and - much to Celestia’s delight and Luna’s surprise - Twilight nuzzled the still seated Princess Luna as well, causing the night Princess to blush ever so slightly.
“It... it is good to see you again as well, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna managed to say, suddenly becoming very interested in the teapot on the table before them.
“Canterlot is just beautiful this time of year - why, you should have seen the view on the way in! The waterfall was absolutely resplendent in the autumn light!” Twilight exclaimed.
“Hee hee,” Celestia chuckled, “Well, I am glad that you think so, Twilight. Would you care to sit? I believe the castle staff has prepared an excellent brew this evening, one from the territories North of the Everfree.”
“Sounds delicious,” Twilight agreed, gingerly sitting down on one of the many open cushions seated around the ornate table.
“So!” Twilight began, silently preparing the tea out of courtesy for her company - one does not simply expect the royal sisters to fix tea for themselves, though the two of them had indeed insisted on several different occasions that Twilight allow them to fix their own cup. “Professor Finder’s... well, findings - how exciting! Do you think the recovered contents will contain Starswirl the Bearded’s translation of the Encyclopaedia Equestria? Oh, I have so many questions to ask-”
“-and ask you shall, in due time,” Princess Luna interjected, holding up a dark blue foreleg. “What we... that is, what my sister and I have to say to you regarding this matter is of dire importance.”
“Indeed, Luna. Twilight Sparkle, what we are about to share with you is to be kept an absolute secret - and though it pains me to say it, the punishment for breaking this oath is banishment. Will you swear to me to maintain absolute secrecy on this matter, unless - and only - if instructed otherwise by either myself or Princess Luna?”
“I- …” Twilight began, swallowing. “I agree. I promise not to breathe a word of this to anypony. You have my oath as your faithful student.”
“As I expected. Excellent, Twilight. Now, prepare yourself. What Luna is about to say is not normally meant for ponies to know... but times are dire, and the situation is indeed as dire as the times have become.”
Luna breathed inward. “Long ago, long before either myself or my sister trotted along this planet, there was an ancient race of ponies that predicted - and succumbed to - their own downfall. These tales are regarded as little more than period lore and allegory; believe me when I tell you, Twilight Sparkle, that this simply is not the case. There were indeed a great race, a vast civilization of ponies that encompassed much of what makes up modern Equestria.
“As the story goes, the wisest among this race began to suffer from debilitating nightmares, waking and sleeping visions of the world ablaze, dark, ancient and powerful beings laying waste to all that stood in their path. As unnerving as it may sound, these beings did indeed descend from the heavens and destroy all that they had sought to create, leaving nothing behind but ruin and forgotten tales. And as unnerving as it may sound... those very beings that destroyed this great civilization are absolutely real.”
“Wha-what?!” Twilight spat out, the shock plainly evident on her face. “But how is that possible, Princesses? I mean, I was following you up until the whole ‘ancient civilization’ and ‘foretold their own demise’ part, but do you mean to tell me that the ‘old ones’ that tales always speak of actually exist?”
“I’m afraid they do, Twilight,” Princess Celestia replied. “I know that what you are hearing goes against a great deal of what you have read in many books published throughout the ages, but this is the real truth of what happened so many thousands and thousands of years ago. The ‘elder ones,’ as we used to call them... they come from another world entirely. A world of pain, of suffering, of unspeakable horrors the likes of which I would not wish upon the kingdom’s worst enemies. Discord’s realm of chaos pales in comparison to the cold, mad, maliciously calculating hatred that comes from this place. The elder ones indeed hold nothing but contempt for all forms of life, and they seek to eradicate, without question, all which lay in their paths.
“Discord, Nightmare Moon, even the Changeling nation - they are all creations of this realm of elder ones - for the elder ones also have the power to create as much as they destroy. Every time our fair lands have come into contact with this world, nothing good has ever come of it.”
“Wait - ‘every time’?” Twilight asked breathlessly. “As in, more than once? This has happened more than once?”
“Indeed it has,” Princess Luna answered. “If our count is correct, no less than two dozen times since the planet was formed. My sister and I have personally dealt with the vast majority of modern instances, but...”
“What my sister means,” Celestia said, “is that we don’t know if we can stop it this time.”
There was absolute silence in the Gardens. Even the birds ceased to chirp, as if the entire landscape was hanging upon every word.
“What... what do you mean, you don’t know?” Twilight asked nervously, true fear beginning to form in the pit of her stomach. “I mean, yeah, there was that one time with Queen Chrysalis and everything, but... the two of you together! Surely you could-”
“-as you are well aware, Princess Luna and I no longer hold the right to bear the Elements of Harmony,” Princess Celestia said, calmly. “That right lies within yourself and your companions.”
“These... these ‘elder ones’...” Twilight began. “... are they really as awful as the tales say?”
“Probably much worse,” Princess Luna said, her expression grim. “Many instances of their true powers have been redacted from ancient tellings, in order to protect the public.”
“Wait - does that mean...”
“I am afraid so,” Princess Celestia confirmed. “Though your studies into this matter are in no doubt rooted well within reality, certain facets of the tellings have been altered, in the interest of safety. You see, Twilight - there is one particular being from this realm - mad as all the rest of them, but brilliant as well. Plotting. This being has the power to affect the written word, twisting and turning the pieces and parts of a story to its advantage, always planning its next move. All it takes is a written instance of its name for the whole process to begin.”
“Goodness gracious!” Twilight said, her pupils shrinking into little pinpricks. “Does it have any effect on the spoken word? Would we do well not to speak its name?”
“It is more than likely a wise course of action to refrain,” Princess Luna answered. “You continue to impress us, Twilight Sparkle, with your innate ability to think on your hooves, always dissecting a situation as it unfolds. You have our commendations.”
“Th-thank you?” Twilight stammered, blushing. “It’s nothing, really... I’m just well-organized, is all.”
“Indeed you are, Twilight,” Princess Celestia confirmed. “Are you feeling well? You seem to be taking this rather... disturbing turn of events rather well, which is commendable. Most ponies simply do not have the stomach for such things.”
“Nor do I blame them,” Twilight practically laughed. “Heavens, could you imagine poor Fluttershy, hearing all of these things? I wouldn’t even dream of exposing her to this sort of thing.”
“You have the right of it, my student. Again, a commendable analysis.”
“Here’s one thing I am not quite understanding,” Twilight said. “You said that these ‘elder’ beings are from another world entirely. Does that imply that there are also other worlds out there? Or is this world just existing as an opposite to ours?”
“That... is perhaps a question better answered at another time, and in another place,” Princess Celestia said neutrally, her expression betraying no emotion. “There are still some things left to discover one one’s own, my student.”
“I... see,” Twilight said. “No matter, anyhow. As far as an answer to your earlier question goes, Princess... I’m not really quite sure what to think of it all, to be honest. Part of me still wants to blatantly reject the notion that such a world of horrors could even exist, let alone the claim that our worlds have been unfortunately linked a number of times in the past... given Princess Luna’s admission to strategic redactions in ancient texts, it would follow that accounts of this ‘other realm’s run-ins with Equestria throughout the ages would be omitted as well. That, coupled with the fact that I had to swear an oath to even hear any of this in the first place... I suppose I can arrive at no other logical conclusion. There must be some form of world other than ours containing otherworldly beings that mean us harm, and... and...”
“I believe your student begins to see the seriousness of the situation, sister,” Princess Luna spoke.
“... oh no. My friends! Canterlot! Ponyville! Professor Finder! What if - the Elements! Can we-”
Princess Celestia, harnessing an old, old spell originally developed to quiet a cranky foal, silenced Twilight with a gentle display of magic. Luna smirked ever so slightly, recognizing the spell in a wave of nostalgia.
“Twilight Sparkle. You are right to worry, but rest assured that you, your friends and all that you hold dear are, for the time, in no imminent peril. My sister and I are well aware of the situation at hoof, which is why we already have a contingency plan in place, should the worst occur. Similarly, this is why my sister and I are entrusting you and only you with this precious, if not unnerving information: we trust your judgment, your expertise and your thoroughness to see Equestria through this situation. We trust that you and your friends will rise once again to defend our fair nations, should the need arise.” Celestia released her magical hold on Twilight’s muzzle, allowing the purple unicorn mare to speak in an admittedly meek, quavering tone.
“But... but what if I’m not good enough? What if things go wrong and it’s all my fault and there’s nothing I can do fix it?”
“Try to relax, my student. If the rulers of Equestria have the utmost confidence in your abilities, shouldn’t you have some faith in yourself as well?”
Her mentor’s words stirred up something within her, almost like a burning anxiousness mixed in with a distinct sense of pride.
“You’re... you’re right, Princess. Princesses. We’ve saved Equestria before... we can do it again, if that’s what it comes down to. Our duty has never been in question. But as far as questions go...”
“You may ask, Twilight Sparkle.”
They conversed for a time after that, Twilight’s fears eventually dying down, replaced by a voracious need to consume new, previously unknown knowledge. Princesses Celestia and Luna talked amongst themselves well into the early evening, pausing in their conversation every so often as a maid or butler quietly refilled the still steaming teapot seated on the ornate marble table before them. What Twilight learned from that conversation was incredible; indeed, it would be several days before her overworked brain would be able to work through the massive amount of information gained on that evening.
The plan was this: Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie Pie would be placed on the official research team tasked with the deciphering and translation of the recovered ancient Equestrian texts. Twilight would be secretly on the lookout for instances of a name she had never heard of in her extensive readings on the subject - indeed if Professor Finder happens upon the word, she was to confiscate the offending article and report it to the Princesses immediately. Supposedly, the written instance of the ancient, elder thing’s name gained potential power for every set of eyes that read it; Twilight was to be certain that it did not become distributed amongst the researchers or worse - be leaked to the media, which would be a cataclysmic event, if the Princesses were to be believed.
It was all a matter of time before things were truly set in motion.