//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Behind the Doors 
// Story: Behind The Petals 
// by Gboyd 
//------------------------------//

The sound of flipping paper was only thing that could be currently heard at the moment. Well, that and the subtle hum of magic from the Princess's hair. 
He could only stare. Only stare, in pure disbelief, mouth open; a disgrace to one of his standing. But right now, his brain could barely function, much less give his body to command to close his mouth. He was, as most would put it, shocked. But those watching would see it as an understatement. Finally, he found his voice. 
"Wha…..   HOW!!??" The sudden volume caused everyone in the room to jump in fright. Even the princess blinked in surprise.  But the reaction was certainly expected, especially from what had just transpired an hour earlier. 
It was the day of Testing. The Princess's current, and now known as former student, Sunset Shimmer, had disappeared, so as per tradition, the school supers and professors were working with the Equestrian Education Association to find a new student to take her place. Mind you, this normally wouldn't happen so fast. According to Equestria's history, a unicorn above the average magical leverage power only appeared every hundred years or so. Sunset Shimmer had been a special case.  Of course, everyone had questions, and rumors constantly abounded about what happened to the ambitious young girl. However, the Princess absolutely refused to discuss it, proclaiming that the student went to an 'undisclosed location'. But now...  well, it seemed they found their replacement. 
It was supposed to be a normal testing exam. A simple exercise to see how strong she was. A few equations here, a growing plant spell there, a transfiguration hex here--simple. It was the same for all the young people who showed up. Some showed promise, others could barely get their spells to go right, and still others could barely manage to complete a firefly spell. That is to say, past the stage they reached upon turning a year old. 
It had varied that day. They had found at least three who showed enough stability and intelligence, not to mention enough magical prowess to hold the title of the Princess's pupil. Some had shown the usual average promise just enough to be able to enroll into the school. Suffice to say, the judges hadn't been expecting much, especially since all they had seen that morning was mediocre compared to the last promising candidate. In fact, truth be told, they had been quite bored. Until she showed up. 
Twilight Sparkle, a simple filly it seemed, from the lower, middle-class part of Canterlot, had surpassed all the testers and more. She had passed the test. THE test. The test that was deemed impossible by Starswirl himself years upon years ago! 
When Starswirl had established a temporal peace treaty between the three fighting tribes, a new threat came down. Dragons. Great scaly beasts that raged in all sizes and colors. And their nature's gifts that they used to a tee. The Equestrians could never see them coming, no matter how well they might have pre-pared for it. Sure, it was easy to spot the danger from the skies, especially for the pegasii tribe. But the fire-breath was the real problem. So, Starswirl the Bearded the Great came up with a solution... of sorts. It was a vow. A dirty vow, because they fought fire with fire, one would say. Every time a dragon attacked, a chosen individual from the victimized village would trek into the Dragonlands and steal an egg. Suffice to say, the attacks stopped happening pretty quickly. 
Unfortunately, too many deaths occurred when the dragons finally figured out who was stealing their eggs. When they attacked, they left devastation in their wake. This time, without provisions or shelter to call home, the three tribes began to fight against each other all the more fiercely, thus summoning the dreaded wendigos. The blizzard hit their land, driving the miserable Equestrians away from the place they once called home. However, one thing remained from that day. A single dragon egg, carried under the white wing of a Pegasus. 
Celestia found the unsuspecting egg years later, and decided to test it to see if it was fertile or not. Starswirl deemed it to be a dud, and tried to convince to Celestia to get rid of it. But the ancient Lunar princess had other ideas, saying that they needed to save the egg. At least, once it was opened, they could recycle it and use the materials for something else. Starswirl had agreed, and decided to also use the egg as testing device for future generations. Unfortunately, no one had been ever able to even crack the cement-like shell, so Starswirl was forced to label the egg impossible to open. But despite this, young unicorns kept trying to open it. It soon became a tradition of sorts, as the young ones made a clever game of it. They would randomly select one another to see who could open the egg. it was said that you could open it, or even crack, you would accepted into Celestia's school for  Gifted Unicorns. From that day onward, Celestia had put the egg under guard under the false hopes that someone, someday, might be able to open it. It was a well-known fact that the egg would never be opened, and was widely accepted around the nation. Until now. 
The Princess regally turned to face him, a neutral expression on her face. "You seem alarmed, Superintendent. Is something wrong?"
He wrung his hands, unable to form words. No, there wasn't something wrong, but it was shocking and worrisome, especially if the magic she possessed got into the wrong hands. So hence his words: How? Why? When? Was it her bloodline!? Her parents? Was she a descendant of the Princess? Maybe a descendant of Starswirl himself? Did she get hit with a magic blast when she was a baby that no one remembered? Was she secretly a princess? He rubbed his head in frustration. So many questions, with absolutely zero answers.
"It's just.... " he trailed off, trying to find words. "She's.. what? Three, four?" 
"She's currently recorded as being six years of age, Super," an assistant chimed in. He waved a hand. 
"Thanks--six years old, and she cast something that.... that full grown unicorns, LIKE ME, can only dream of!?" He began to pace the room, with a wide-eyed audience. The princess sat calmly, just watching. He threw out his hands again. "How!?" he screamed. "There has never ever been a record of this! Not since the ancient times, at least! Is it her bloodline? Is she from an... an ancient super-powered unicorn race we've never heard of?! She cast a spell that sent me and the others into an immobile bubble!" He turned a one-eighty and faced the princess. "An IMMOBILE. BUBBLE. Me and my coworkers. Couldn't. Move." He turned and continued to pace, voicing the questions that came to mind. "She turned her parents into plants---I mean--that in itself is a feat that only a teenage unicorn can accomplish! And she's SIX YEARS OLD! This isn't normal! This is impossible! I mean---how? Why? When--did she get hit with super-power boost when she was a filly!?" 
The assistant timidly raised an eyebrow. ''I'm not sure about that last theory sir." The Super threw his hands in the air for what seemed like the millionth time today and shot the assistant a deadly glare. 
"I need answers! Who is she!?"
The Princess stood up and held out a hand, palm up, signaling the Super. He instantly clammed up. "First off," she said in a gentle yet firm tone, "You need to calm down, Super. Yelling won't solve anything. Second, this young filly, first and foremost, has extreme raw potential. But while she may have some sort of a grasp over her power, it will only continue to grow. She will need to learn and grow into her power through focused study."
The Super's eyes were wide. "You mean..." 
The Princess nodded. "I have considered taking Twilight Sparkle under my wing. She will prosper, and there is nothing for her to fear."  
***
There were a great and many things for Twilight to fear. And, to prove her point, she ranted and raved, ignoring her parent's amused expressions and the fact that Shining Armor was drooling in the corner, having had fallen asleep, despite his sister's yelling.
"The Princess's student!? Me!? But why? I can barely lift a book, much less be the pupil to a goddess who raises the sun! There's no way I'll be able to do this! The Princess's personal student!" Mid-rant, she flew across the room and grabbed her brother by the collar and began violently shaking him. "Do you know how big this is!? This is big! Really big!" Just as quickly, she dropped him, leaving the teen to groan and his poor brain to wonder why the world was spinning.
As more and more thoughts began to whirl in her head, Twilight plopped to the floor in defeat, tears picking at the corners of her eyes. "I don't wanna be her student. I mean, I would love to-- its a huge honor, but what will others think of me?" As she continued, her voice rose in volume as she ascended into panic mode. "What if I don't live up to her expectations? What if I'm expected live in the castle!? I can't do that! I'll for sure do something wrong and she'll kick me out, or put me in prison, or banish me, or kick me out and imprison me in the place she banished me to!" 
Night Light walked forward and bent down to her level. "Twily, she won't do that. We'll make sure of that." He pulled the now sobbing girl into his arms; the rest of the family practically piling on it to hug. 
"We are so proud of you sweetheart," her mother cooed, soothing Twilight's fears. "Everything will be okay, I promise." After a few more minutes of hugging, her mother stood Twilight up. "Come on, let's go see the princess." Wiping her nose and eyes, Twilight nodded and silently followed her mother down the castle halls. Her stomach was still in knots, but considerably less large now. They turned corners, went down a flight of stairs, and turned so many corners that Twilight briefly wondered if they were lost. 
Finally, they came upon an pair of entrancingly decorated doors. Talking resounded from inside, and the family waited silently, as told by the guards posted nearby to do so. 
Several minutes passed, and the door handle turned, revealing the Superintendent and his colleagues, along with the Princess. At the sight of them, Twilight hid behind her mother, clutching Velvet's pants in fear. However, the Superintendent merely passed by her with a gaze of indifference and lined up nearby with his colleagues. 
The Princess gave them a smile and clasped her hands together. "Well, I have good news, and bad news." She paused. "The bad news is, my staff have decided that you are to train under me, Twilight, and they will teach you as well." The family looked at each other, confused. That was the bad news? Looking up, Shining Armor caught a glimpse of the Princess's amused expression. Realizing it was a joke, Shining Armour shot her a smirk, which the princess responded to with a wink. After a few seconds, Night Light and Twilight Velvet realized the punchline and chuckled. it did wonders improving the atmosphere, and even the faculty staff seemed to relax a little.  The princess knelt down to the little girl's level. "You have an incredible gift, Twilight Sparkle, and I am honored to help you learn how to use it." 
A tiny smile made itself known on the little girl's face. She shuffled behind her mother and peered out at Celestia shyly,  earning a smile from the princess. 
"But first, there's someone who desperately wants to meet you." She leaned to whisper in Twilight's ear. "He hasn't stopped crying since you left." 
The princess stood up and gestured to the open door. "While you go meet them, I need to talk to your parents. Is that okay?" 
Hesitating for a second, Twilight nodded, and began to approach the room, only to freeze as a cooing sound came from inside. Looking back at her mother, who gave an encouraging smile. Twilight rip-toed into the room, following the sounds. The princess nodded and gently closed the door behind her. She turned towards the little girl's family. 
"Well, I can saftly say that she passed the test," the princess paused as the family gasped in joy and tightly hugged each other. "However, that's what worries me." The family looked at her, worry clearly written on their faces. 
"W-what do you mean?" the father stammered. 
"She has incredible potential, but her sheer raw power has a higher rate than anything I've seen." To give them perspective, she continued. "Her magical prowess is higher than Star-Swirl's." 
The reaction of wide eyes and open mouths was expected. Suppressing a chuckle, Celestia turned and began walking down the hall. "There is no need to worry, I will not lock her up. But measures will be taken. I do have questions, though." She turned to face them. "Was there an... incident in Twilight's childhood  that caused her to have a strong magic?" 
The parents turned to face each other. "N-not that we know of... "  There was a long pause, through which Celestia waited patiently. 
The young boy spoke. "Um... Mom, you don't think this has something to do with where she came from... do you?" 
"Where she came from?" Celestia prodded, with a raised eyebrow. 
Taking a shaky breath, the mother explained. "Our daughter is not... biologically related to us. She's.... adopted."  
Celestia was silent. Eyes wide. 
Tears began to glitter in the mother's eyes. "A-after I had Shining Armour," she squeezed the boy's shoulders, "I... had an accident. My stomach...." she trailed off and choked. "I can no longer have children." The mother closed her eyes, clearly struggling to keep her pain in check. Seeing this, the father took over. 
"After we recovered, we went to Canterlot Orphanage, where we found Twilight." 
"We named her," Shining Armour spoke up. "When I saw her, I knew.... I just knew." 
"They didn't know where she came from. The owner and director both said she was found off the coast just above Phillydelphia.... along with the remains of a ship." 
Celestia gasped. 
"We have our suspicions.... but its the last thing we want to think about. She's here with us, and here is where she'll stay. We love her, and she's our daughter, no matter what. When we saw her in that crib, she was just... perfect." 
A smile crept up Celestia face. "Perfect indeed." 
***
Twilight flinched when the doors shut behind her, but the cooing sound continued, calming her nerves. Taking a shaky breath, Twilight took another cautious step forward, encouraged. The room was rather small in comparison to other rooms in the castle that Twilight had seen. It was white-washed, with baby-blue curtains over a white-ribbed crib waving softly in the breeze. A very peaceful scene. 
Giggles animated from the basket. Twilight took a few more steps, only to come face to face with the brightest emerald eyes she had ever seen. Tiny white fangs poked out from under the baby's top lip, and messy lime green hair framed his face. Twilight's heart instantly melted at the sight, and she reached over the bars to pick him up. "Aren't you the most curious thing?" 
He babbled in response. She settled him on her hip and studied him. Emerald orbs locked with hers, and somewhere, deep down, both felt a connection place. Twilight blinked in surprise, knowing the connection was magical, but the baby cooed again and snuggled up under her chin. A realization began to make itself known as he traced her brand new cutie mark. 
"Wait a minute!" she exclaimed, holding him out at arms length, "you're the egg I hatched!" There a squeal of delight from the child. "But wait, does that mean....?" She looked at him again. 
"Nah!" came the response. Twilight broke out into a huge smile and danced around the room, while the baby just laughed and clapped at her joy. "I hatched you! I did it! I passed the test!" She drew him close to her chest, pausing her in celebratory dance. "Wait 'till Clutter sees this! He won't believe it!" The baby giggled and gave another coo as Twilight hugged him tightly once more. The baby giggled. Twilight held him out at arms length and gave him another long look. "You need a name," she mused. 
Emerald orbs blinked curiously at her, and the child cocked his head, spiky locks falling to the side. Twilight smiled as a name came to her. 
"How about....  Spike?"