Target: Princess Celestia
The timing had to be perfect.
My math teacher (who’s name I’d never bothered to remember) had called me up to Principal Celestia’s office. How someone managed to both rule a kingdom and find time to be the principal of a school of magic was beyond me, but Celestia certainly had the power and influence to pull it off.
It was a confrontation I had been waiting for since I’d snuck into her magic school as an earth pony. Based on what little info of the show I could remember about Twilight’s school days, Celestia was always out on the lookout for talent, although the specifics about *why* were never clear. Did she secretly prefer unicorns?
In any case, this encounter had been unavoidable from the very beginning. It had taken a couple weeks, but Celestia had finally made her move.
My contingency plan required me to be suitably prepared though. To go in empty-hoofed into the enemy territory would be foolish, particularly an enemy as powerful as this one.
Thus began stage 1.
Every other foal had filed out of the classroom, with more than a few ribs thrown my way about how ‘in trouble’ I was. I had more important things to be worried about however, such as how to get to my weapon. It was too conspicuous to carry it around in my saddlebags, and if it ever fell out of them then rumors might spread and the jig would be up. I couldn’t afford to give Celestia the slightest hint of what was coming.
The teacher had stayed at the front of the room, probably waiting for me to stand up from my desk to escort me to the principal’s office. I spoke up before she could get a word in though.
“Excuse me teacher, can I go get my locker first?” I threw in the best puppy-dog eyes I could make considering I was a horse. “There’s something I want to show the Princess, I’m very proud of it!”
The best lies always have a hint of truth in them.
“The principal’s time is very limited Mr. Hope…” The tired teacher began, but then seemed to realize that I’d just given her the perfect excuse to not have to escort me up to the principal’s office. Since we’d just finished our last class of the day, that meant she could leave. “...On the other hand, the chance to show something so precious to the Princess doesn’t come every day and should be done in private, yes? I trust you can find her office by yourself?” She raised an eyebrow at me, but I could see the hint of desperation in her eyes.
“Of course! It’s on the highest tower, with that huge window right?” I left unsaid that it was a window facing the castle, allowing the princess to go back to the castle quickly if it was ever needed.
“Yes, if you climb to the top of the stairs you won’t miss it.” The teacher turned to leave then turned her head towards me, “I would advise you not to keep the Principal waiting Mr. Hope. To have our Princess at this school is a privilege, one that everypony should be thankful for.”
With that she left, her step noticeably lighter than anytime she’d been in the classroom.
I could only smile. The setup for the climax of the third act had been completed. All side characters had been removed. It was time for the final confrontation between the hero and the villain.
The only question remaining was, which one was I?
…Okay, maybe not every side character had been removed.
Everything was going just fine, I’d intentionally walked to my locker at a moderate pace in order to make sure I avoided almost everyone rushing out of school now that classes were over.
I’d just completely failed to account for the whirlwind of chaos that was an excited Twilight Sparkle along with her other unicorn friends.
“OHMYGOODNESSHopeIcan’tbelieveitLemonHearttoldmeyouwerecalledtotheprincipal’sofficebutthatcan’tberightbecauseyou’reagoodstudentandyoucan’tbeintroublebutyougottomeettheprincessandit’sPRINCESSCELESTIAbutyou’reintroubleandmrrhfhrmhr” I cut off Twilight’s increasingly more erratic ramble with my hoof.
The fact Twilight’s exciting journey into incoherence only got a laugh from Minuette, a jiggle from Lemon Heart, a bright smile from Twinkleshine and small hints of redness in Moon Dancer’s cheeks told me all I needed to know about their friendship.
“Twilight. It's alright. I don’t think I’m in any trouble, it’s more likely that Celestia just wants to meet her first earth pony student.” I quickly reassured, removing my hoof from her mouth while looking around quickly.
If these four are here, then surely…
“Oh? So the Princess called for you and you haven’t answered yet? Awfully bold to keep her waiting, you know.” And sure enough, standing next to my locker and behind Twilight and her friends, my ‘pupil’ Sunset Shimmer.
...Crap.
I had to be careful here. The week before, I’d entrusted Sunset Shimmer with the task of befriending Twilight Sparkle as her first step as an ‘illusionist’. I had been meaning to ask how she was doing on that front, but I could see quite clearly now what had happened.
Sunset Shimmer did not have the faintest idea how to make a friend, even if it was just pretending to do so in order for me to teach her more things that she saw as ‘powerful’.
I could practically see it in my head. Bright, talented Sunset Shimmer probably hadn’t had to try to make a friend in her entire life. Any pony who admired her for her intelligence and status as Celestia’s personal student already kissed the ground she walked on and anyone who wasn’t attracted to those traits was discarded as either ‘useless’ or ‘tool to obtain more power’ and exploited.
The pride of the school, Princess Celestia’s personal student and impossibly gifted magical student Sunset Shimmer didn’t have the slightest clue how to befriend magic-obsessed, Celestia-worshipping and overall total nerd Twilight Sparkle. Will wonders never cease.
I was so busy thinking about Sunset’s total social ineptitude that I hadn’t realized the effect her words would have on Twilight.
“YOU HAVEN’T GONE TO THE PRINCESS YEMMrhrhffh-” This time, it was Lemon Hearts’ hoof that prevented Twilight from breaking every glass pane in the school. While holding her hoof to Twilight’s still mumbling mouth though, she turned to me.
“Uhm, maybe I wouldn’t put it as loudly as Twilight, but she does have a point. Ignoring the Princess is a little crazy.” Both her and Lemon Hearts seemed a little apprehensive about the idea. Colg-I mean Minuette immediately interrupted though.
“Nah, I kinda dig it! I mean, in a you’re-totally-gonna-get-in-trouble kinda way, you know?” With a smile and a wink, she then raised a hoof to her face and stage-whispered, “How do you know the princess’ student, anyway Hope? We haven’t even seen her since she gave that introductory speech, but she seems pretty familiar with you.”
Chance!
I lifted my hoof up to my neck and pretended to rub my shoulder bashfully. “Would you believe me if I said we just bumped into each other by chance? I was reading this book- Actually, let me show you!”
I speed-walked past Twilight, her friends and Summer and opened up my locker.
Have to be subtle. First, grab their attention with one hoof…
I took out my magical theory book, then turned around with my back still facing the locker. “You see, I was actually reading this page on my way to a different class…”
And now with the other hoof, behind the back…
Being subtle while using hooves was difficult, but with my still opened locker door and my book as cover, I felt around my locker for the object I needed…
*squeak*
Got it! Now, just gotta make a quick distraction.
“...Actually Summer, I’m sure you can explain this way better than I can!” I turned so I faced Summer directly while hiding half my body from the others, then shoved my still opened book at Summer’s hooves. “You’re older than us, I’m sure you’ve seen this stuff a million times over.”
She looked down at the book in my hooves, then picked it up with her magic. “Hmm… Yes, I’ve covered this a while ago, and you were reading it when we met…” As she talked, I used my hidden left hoof to put my weapon inside my saddlebags. Twilight and the others couldn’t see it, but Sunset probably could. She frowned. “But why-”
I interrupted her. “-It’s settled then! You can stay here with our friends and tell them all about that story!” A one-eyed wink, all but invisible to the others. “Maybe you can even teach them a little of your magic? From what I remember, Moon Dancer is a huge fan.” I took a step back.
The shy unicorn, who had been silent until now, predictably blushed and stammered out, “Well… I would love to learn some of the things you know about magic… I-If you’d be willing, that is!” Another step back, almost there...
“Hmph, of course. Something as simple as this is no trouble for me… Wait, where are you going Hope?” Was the last thing I heard, as I turned tail and ran.
“See you gals later, Princesses to meet!” I said behind my shoulder as I escaped towards Celestia’s office.
There may have been a couple of loud noises in my wake but I was sure they’d get along just fine. With the ice broken between them, Sunset should have no trouble making connections with Twilight’s group, if only through shared frustration with me and a mutual love for magic.
I quickly put them out of my mind however. Stage 2 was done. It took more time and work than I’d expected, but I’d finally managed to get my weapon.
Now it all came down to execution.
The principal’s office was spartan.
A big desk in front of a large window, with a couple scrolled up papers and an inkpot on top. The only signs of any personal touches were the general plushness of the seat behind the desk and a hanging bird cage which was empty.
Of course, the room could’ve been as decorated as Dumbledore’s infamous office and it still would have been impossible to ignore the pony sitting behind the desk.
Princess Celestia stood taller than any other pony I’d met so far, even while sitting down. To claim that she dwarfed my foal body would be an understatement. Standing on my hooves, my head barely came up to her shiny chest piece. If she were to stand up, I probably wouldn’t have been able to reach past her legs.
This is going to be difficult…
Celestia hardly paid attention to me coming in, she seemed completely absorbed by the scroll she was reading. I had no doubt she heard me coming in, but I decided to start our interaction by ignoring the chair in front of the desk and bowing as well as a horse could. Hind legs extended, one front leg forward, the other across my chest. This left my hoof conspicuously close to my saddlebag.
That got a reaction. “Oh please, Hope, there’s no-”
Time slowed down.
The critical element to any assassination was the element of surprise. A direct confrontation between me and the Princess would only end one way, to compare our respective strengths was ridiculous. Tomato to nuclear warhead.
The only chance I had was to take her completely off-guard. Celestia should have numerous ponies bow down to her every single day, what’s another nervous foal meeting her for the first time?
My saddlebag was already open and it took only the slightest of movements from my bowing position to grasp my weapon. The next moment I had already jumped on top of Celestia’s desk, scattering papers everywhere.
“DIE CELESTIA!!!”
I thrust my weapon forward, tip first. The next second would decide everything.
The average pony would have been hit with ease. An attack made with lethal intent is something they would hardly even consider a possibility, as they are almost entirely pacifistic. It’s even possible they would have considered it a mistake, or a joke.
The royal guards I’d occasionally seen in town would likely fare better. A trained unicorn might be able to get their spears in the way of my attack using magic, although they would still be hit by it. I could see the pegasi being able to react fast enough to flap their wings and push me away. If his use of barriers during the changeling invasion was any indication, Shining Armor may have been capable of producing a shield between me and him before my attack hit.
The main characters of the show would do even better than the guards. Having seen their fair amount of combat, I was certain they’d be able to react in time to avoid any damage.
Twilight might be able to teleport out of the way, but more likely she would try to immobilize me with her magic, or if she was truly caught off guard simply blast me with a magic beam in a panicked burst. Rainbow Dash was more than fast enough to simply dodge out of the way and counter-attack. Applejack was so strong that she could stop the momentum of my whole body by grabbing my hoof, then hit me through a wall if she wanted to.
Princess Celestia was an alicorn that had been alive for at least one thousand years. I didn’t know anything about alicorns as the show was particularly stingy about them and the local library hadn’t been any help either. The most I got was a small description about how Celestia had ‘attributes’ from all three species and had enough magical power to lift both the sun and the moon into the sky every day. Odds were, she could probably do all of the above and more.
The odds of success were infinitesimal. I was putting my life on the line, but I had to know.
As my attack approached Celestia’s neck, I internally braced for pain… But nothing happened.
My attack had connected. Celestia hadn’t moved at all.
For a moment, nothing but the sound of papers hitting the floor could be heard.
“Heh. Was I too slow? When did you see through me?”
I dropped my weapon, which was still pressed against Celestia’s neck. Gravity took effect, making it land against Celestia’s hooves and then the floor with a squeak.
A bright yellow rubber duck with an orange beak sat on the floor of Celestia’s office.
“Well, to be completely honest with you Hope, most of my little ponies simply forget to bow at your age. They are simply too excited to meet me to think about it!” As I looked up at her face, I could see a warm smile. “You certainly know how to make a unique introduction though! In all my years, I have to admit you are the first pony to do something this brazen in our first meeting. Would you please step off my desk? I did have some important work there, you know.”
“Oh, right. Sorry.” I awkwardly jumped off her desk and sat in the chair in front of it. I then got a first seat show of Celestia’s magic as she levitated everything back on top of her desk. Fallen scrolls re-rolled themselves, a fallen inkpot righted itself and even the spilled ink flowed back inside it.
“As amusing as that was however, I have to ask, what motivated you to do that Hope?” Her smile didn’t completely fade, but it lost some of its warmth. Those eyes of hers, two magenta pools of endless time, were serious. “Your actions may have resulted in you being injured if I had less restraint.”
Time to come clean I guess…
“Princess Celestia. You are the ruler of our nation and simultaneously the only pony responsible for lifting both the Sun and the Moon into the sky every day. That makes you an obvious target for anypony looking to destabilize Equestria, as long as they are willing to deal with an endless day or night.” I met her eyes, expression solemn. This was a security concern that came to mind the very first time I had watched the show. If there was only a single pony who lifted the sun and moon for a thousand years, what would happen if that pony wasn’t there?
“A pony as young as you are shouldn’t be worrying about such things, Hope” Her smile was completely gone now.
“I disagree. Age can be faked. My teachers have probably told you all about my supposed magic, yet you didn’t have a single guard here on our first meeting? What if I was a changeling? It would certainly be easier for them to fake magic than it is for an earth pony to do it.”
“A changeling… Why, Hope, have you been reading texts that you shouldn’t?” I resisted the urge to lower my gaze. There was a moment of silence, and then she continued, “I suppose I won’t fault a young colt for having an interest in history… But changelings have not been seen in 1000 years! Besides, I suspect that even changeling magic is incapable of replicating the incredible moment a young pony obtains his Cutie Mark.”
“What are you talking about? I don’t have a…”
I took a cursory glance at my flanks.
Oh God no
Contrasting brightly with my light blue coloring, a yellow duck with an orange beak surrounded by sparkles could be seen. I had obtained my Cutie Mark, but at what cost?
“Please tell me my special talent is not being a rubber duck in somepony’s bath” I begged the ruler of Equestria, praying to every god I didn’t believe in she’d give me a negative answer.
“Well, I suspect you’d be quite good at that, but no.” A wave of relief passed through my entire body and I almost slumped into the chair I was sitting on. “Instead, I think your talent lies in your unique and very special form of magic. You were trying to trick me, correct?” And the tension was back immediately! I never seemed to catch a break with this pony.
“In a way... I needed to know that the pony with so many important duties on her shoulders would be able to defend herself, so I pulled out all the stops in trying to convince you.”
Maybe that’s why it only revealed itself now. I knew that the only way to make it convincing was if I convinced myself I was going to do it and I tried so hard to believe a lie that it manifested itself into this pony body of mine… But what does that mean? Am I so good at lying to people that it’s my special talent? Or is it just supposed to represent doing magic tricks?”
“Duties… Yes, somepony such as me has many duties to fulfill…” Then suddenly Celestia’s eyes widened and she seemed to light up. Her smile returned, and I almost felt as if I’d seen a beautiful sunrise. “But you spoke of one of my duties in particular, did you not? The Sun and the Moon are what have you concerned, enough to attempt something as reckless as what you did today. Lost Hope, your true worry lies in your friends, does it not?”
That’s the first time she’s called me by my full name.
“Well, I’m concerned for the rest of the kingdom too but I won’t deny that.”
“Then it is decided.” That smile still hadn’t left her face as she inclined her head in question.
“Lost Hope, would you like to become my own very special student?”
what
It probably took me at least a minute to fully reboot to try to respond to her question. I went with the immediate concern.
“Don’t you already have one of those? Sunset S-something, she was part of the introduction right?” Even in my disoriented brain state, I managed to not fully give myself away, although it was a close call.
“Sunset Shimmer, yes. She is one of my special students, along with your friend Twilight Sparkle. She has told me much about you which is part of what I wanted to talk to you about today before you so thoroughly distracted me!” She lightly giggled at that, looking very entertained, but I wasn’t paying attention.
I was too busy realizing the weight of my colossal failure.
Celestia can have two special students. This whole time I thought Sunset being her student was because I’d changed the timeline already, that I’d somehow prevented Twilight from demonstrating her magic for Celestia when we met before her Cutie Mark came around… But Celestia must’ve offered Twilight anyways and she simply never told me in fear I’d get jealous. So because I thought the story was already changed, I encouraged Twilight to make friends and effectively made her not a loner who only studies and has to learn the Magic of Friendship… Effectively changing the story.
Who’s going to stop Nightmare Moon?
“Well Hope? Are you going to accept my offer? I hope you don’t feel obligated to agree because it’s me asking, I promise that your stay at this school or the orphanage are not in question here. I would simply have you join alongside Twilight in some of her lessons and occasionally have you work on individual projects.”
Why, when you put it like that, it sounds easy!
If I’d learned anything at all from this first meeting, it was to never meet Celestia on the other side of a poker table. She had managed to pinpoint my motivations while I hadn’t even begun to understand her own, even with outside knowledge. My only choice was to go fishing.
“But why me? I don’t have anything to offer you. I’m pretty sure if you so much as say the word any pony will fall over themselves trying to satisfy whatever you desire.”
“Which makes it all the more interesting that you don’t. I have made similar offers countless times in the past, but you’re the first to take this long to either accept or deny it. You don’t have to worry so much Hope, I promise I won’t be offended.”
“No, it’s not that it’s just-” I’m a creature from another dimension who potentially ruined your utopia. “-Why have you been calling me that? I’m pretty sure most principals don’t call students by their nicknames when they first meet?”
Celestia raised an eyebrow, acknowledging the fact I switched topics, but let me off the hook and sighed, “Sometimes I wish ruling didn’t make me give off such an aloof image to my little ponies…I never wished to be unapproachable. Even in this minor role as a principal it seems I am followed by my crown. The truth is Hope that I’ve called you by that name because it’s what Twilight told me you prefer your friends call you as.”
A crack in the mask. Her eyes reveal a small hint of sadness with a wistful smile. “In time, I’d hoped that we too would become friends, beyond our role as teacher and student.”
...You’re making it really hard to say no, you know?
Ultimately, there was only one choice.
“Princess… No, Celestia.” I gave her my best smile, knowing this would be a new beginning.
“I accept your offer.”
This is the best chance I’ll get to make up for my mistake. All I have to do is convince Celestia that Twilight is the correct pony to send to Ponyville when the time for Luna’s return comes, then make sure she befriends the other Bearers.
All of that happened in the original timeline without any of my intervention. How hard could it be with me pushing things along?
It had been an exceedingly long day for the Princess of Equestria.
From courtroom drama to legislation all the way to attempted assassination, it had been an eventful and tiring day, but an important one.
After almost 1000 years of doing the same thing, one might expect that lifting the moon would’ve grown to become a simple task, part of the routine… And yet every single time it seemed a little bit heavier. In fact, her little ponies might not notice but occasionally she’d extend the daytime an hour or two, both because it gave her an opportunity to clear some of her overloaded schedule but also because the very idea of raising the moon again was exhausting.
As her sister’s celestial object finally rose to the star covered skies and she let it go from her magical grip, gasping and almost falling to her knees, she wondered if the reason for it’s apparent increase in weight was her sister’s slowly growing influence or whether her magic was being affected by the growing worry of the seal breaking.
Regardless, her most physically exhausting duty done, Celestia turned around from her skyview platform into her bedroom. Thankfully, she had managed to establish several centuries before the sanctity of the raising of the sun and the moon, so none of her little ponies were aware of her growing struggle. Hopefully it would only be a couple of years until she could share the burden.
In order for that to happen though…
Celestia walked over to her favorite cushion and sat down. As tired as she was, she would push on using sheer willpower for this. It was too close to her heart not to.
With a small moment of concentration and the feeling of drawing water from an almost empty well, four different scrolls appeared. Within each one of these scrolls lay potential unrealized, and the tiniest spark of hope.
At the top of each page, they read:
Subject 1: Twilight Sparkle
Subject 2: Moon Dancer
Subject 3: Sunset Shimmer
Subject 4: Lost Hope
She hated it. The dispassionate naming, the cold analysis of personality traits, talents, friendships, backgrounds…
It was the only way she could think of though. Her sister would arrive somewhere within a decade or two and she had to be ready for every eventuality. There was a small possibility, if she was lucky, that 1000 years of imprisonment had removed the taint of Nightmare Moon from her sweet Luna… But any faith in luck or destiny had been lost a thousand years before.
She knew she could not use the Elements of Harmony against Nightmare Moon again. When she and Luna had used them against Discord they had each represented half of them, but when she later attempted to channel their cleansing power against Luna they had failed. The Elements turned into stone after being used against another wielder and instead of ridding her sister of the corruption there was only enough power for a stopgap solution. Now that stopgap had almost run its course and she had to figure out what to do.
Perhaps if her niece Cadence were older and more experienced she could have wielded the Elements alongside her… But she didn’t think it would work. The Elements had already rejected her once after her misuse of them. To risk them doing so again, this time possibly without vanishing Nightmare Moon would be foolish. She had decided that the best course of action was for her to be as far away from the Elements as possible whenever they were in use.
The only solution then was to have six of her little ponies each wield an Element. Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty and Magic. In order to find each wielder, she had established a tradition of registering name, Cutie Mark and an approximation of the special talent along with personality whenever somepony finally obtained their Cutie Mark. Young colts and fillies would happily tell their parents their unique talent and shortly after a congratulatory party, said parents would go over to their local registry and add it to the child’s record. Should anything particularly relevant to the Elements stand out, numerous past students had enchanted the registry books so that the name and talent would be added to one of her scrolls, which she checked every three months. She despised the breach of her little ponies’ privacy but she was growing desperate, in fact she still worried it wouldn’t be enough.
In the many years while the Elements recharged from their improper usage, a number of names had been added to the scroll, but she knew that the Elements would not choose new bearers until they were almost fully charged. This meant that her system would probably be able to detect the new bearers, but that other ponies could also have talents that were similar enough to get added to her list. Magic in particular became an issue, as her scrolls became full of talented unicorns who could push their unique power in unexplored ways.
Ultimately she had decided to remove Magic from the equation by scouting them out herself. It had taken the work of the last century, but her school had been established within Canterlot, the heart of her kingdom, and she had tried her best to send out as many scholarships and offers to every corner of Equestria to give herself the best chance of the Element of Magic being one of her students.
There had been many talented students since then, all of which she had found pleasure teaching. But it was these four that stood out among the crop of students from this generation, the ones she would have fight her battles for her, as much as she might wish otherwise.
Sunset, as the oldest, had been the first. Bright, ambitious and talented it had been inevitable that she would catch Celestia’s attention. But there was a reason that she was only added to this specific group third. The Element of Magic would undoubtedly be a powerful magic user… but that was not enough qualification alone. The only way for the Elements to properly function was for there to be true friendship between the wielders, as otherwise their true power would be locked away.
This was the one area Sunset failed at. Despite Celestia’s many attempts to instill the value of the magic of friendship onto her oldest student, she could tell that her words were being ignored as Sunset only seemed concerned with gaining more power or influence over others. She never seemed to learn to form friendships, rather she seemed to prefer to have others follow her lead out of admiration for her strength.
But something had changed.
During their latest lessons on friendship, Celestia had noticed that her student was paying much more attention than usual. She actively asked questions about making new friendships and seemed to take her teachings as seriously as her magical studies rather than as a chore forced on her that could only barely be tolerated, so Celestia had decided to dig a little deeper into her and added her to this select group of candidates… Even though something still felt off. The change had been too sudden, and she had a feeling that somehow Sunset was being oddly self-serving about it. Hopefully the additional scrutiny would reveal the truth.
Twilight Sparkle and Moon Dancer had come next. Both were probably as talented as Sunset Shimmer if not more and yet because of their disposition they would never show it. They would never attempt to overshadow somepony else, they were too shy and embarrassed by attention to do so. It was because of those traits that Celestia had decided against publicly revealing Twilight as her personal student, as she had done for Sunset. But here was something special about Twilight that she had only glimpsed when she unlocked her Cutie Mark, something no other unicorn she had ever met could do.
The ability to do the impossible.
The magical egg test had been done many times in the past. A panel of judges set up in a back row for safety, each bearing frightful expressions. Impatient and cross, they were to encourage the prospective students of her academy to shake a dragon egg on top of the cart, which had a small picture at the bottom of the egg hatching. Of course, no student had ever hatched the egg as otherwise there would be a dozen unicorns walking around with pet dragons!
The test was meant to encourage the students creativity under pressure. A dragon egg was an extremely dense object, so being able to move it at all required extreme magical might. Other students were passed if they used creative methods to move the egg, such as growing a plant underneath it, changing the size of the carts wheels so it fell over, among other solutions.
Twilight Sparkle had done something extraordinary. She had not only managed to hatch the egg through sheer magical might and force of will, but also cause the dragon inside to grow to full maturity in an instant, turn her own parents into plants and levitate the instructors despite their attempts to break free. It had only been sheer luck that Celestia had been nearby in order to distract Twilight and get her magic back under control.
Such a display of magic could not be ignored so she had immediately offered Twilight her place as her second personal student. Moon Dancer had not been given the same opportunity yet, but she made sure to encourage Twilight to tell her friend about her lessons privately to see if she was interested. So far, Moon Dancer had been more receptive towards theoretical practical knowledge rather than it’s practical uses, which is why she was only Celestia’s second candidate. The ability to do something that should have been impossible put Twilight as the first.
But that very day she had found a fourth. Somepony who his teachers claimed was able to do the impossible as well, who had managed to get into a school that should have disqualified him by default. Somepony who that very day had done something as extreme as pretending to kill her just to gauge her reaction. He was Twilight’s friend before she met Celestia and had an attitude that didn’t fit his background at all.
Lost Hope was a mystery.
The princess didn’t claim to have a perfect kingdom. No matter what laws she approved or the general peaceful disposition of most ponies, injustices happened every day. She had met many ponies in circumstances similar to Hope’s, usually asking for her help, and they had very different concerns. Food, health, a desire for parental love and a general distrust in adult figures were just a few examples, yet this colt seemed to be worried about things far beyond himself.
Changelings, her kingdom and ultimately the effect both of those would have on his friends. Magical theory that shouldn’t concern him. Stories that almost no pony alive still believed in. His special talent required him to know things other ponies didn’t in order to succeed. Most important of all though, even having met him only once she could tell, he was dangerous.
No pony born within the last one thousand years had seen war. Her control over the sun and the moon along with ponykind’s general pacifistic views had kept any conflict from her lands. It would take a truly desperate situation for any pony to resort to violence, yet it had been his first choice. He didn’t bother asking her what security measures she had in place, didn’t stop to consider whether or not he would offend her with his act.
He was so distrusting of her that he would risk everything in order to gain a small glimpse of her true self. There was no doubt that Lost Hope thought in a way alien to most ponies.
But perhaps that would be the solution. Celestia and everypony around her had failed to stop her sister when she first became that monster. No matter their attempts to reason with her or force her into submission, Nightmare Moon had been too powerful and full of hate to be stopped by any means beyond the most desperate. Maybe, if someone more unorthodox had been there, someone who didn’t blindly follow her lead…
She would have to be careful. An extended background check into this mysterious earth pony was a priority. She knew the orphanage he went to as she was one of the founders, but she didn’t know the ponies that currently worked there. She hoped his inclinations towards violence hadn’t been founded there, although she struggled to think of where else they could’ve come from. His parentage would also have to be investigated, a name such as Lost Hope didn’t come from nowhere…
If his proclivity towards violence could be curved and his unorthodox approach to magic developed further… If his main concern was to stay with his friends and not himself…
It was the type of dramatic irony that her teacher would have loved. Whoever heard of the Element of Magic who can’t use magic?
It was probably insane. But Celestia’s world had shattered a millenia ago, and she was finally getting a chance to make it right. Even if she was wrong, she couldn’t afford not to teach him because…
For her sister, her kingdom and the Balance of Harmony, she would do anything.