Written, translated, edited and post corrected by me: Nova Star Sparkle
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Twilight Amicitia Aurora Sparkle: serene goddess and guardian of magic, faithful mistress of the stars; trustworthy alicorn of peace - or harmony as it was often also known too; youngest of the kind sky gods; vanquisher of the great evil and a lot more, just to name a few of her titles.
That was undeniably her and she was supposed to be happy and smiling as her life was currently going. Twilight was in possession of everything one could ever wish for. She was one of the three most important and powerful creatures in all of Equestria, namely a royal alicorn princess of said kingdom for crying out loud.
Yet it was with various mixed emotions and a slight grimace that she stood on the balcony of her chamber in her own personal tower of Canterlot Castle. Her bright shining eyes overlooking the capitol - the castle itself her home for ages and the place where she had been ‘born’ and raised. For she was part of Equestria's royal family. The highest and most influential bloodline in all of Equestria and also on the planet Equus itself, as that same family ruled the mighty pony kingdom the world had. Equestria was by far the largest and strongest kingdom on the planet and that for more than seven millennia to be exact, even though she didn´t live nearly that long on Equus.
Also calling it her bloodline was maybe a little bit falsh as there were in total only three beings that could ever be called among said line of royal blood. The current regents of Equestria never had any offspring’s and like it seemed wouldn’t also have in the next near future. There simply were no need for that.
Even though her mind was quite busy right now, not only with the wonderful view of her kingdom's capital, which swelled her heart every day anew at its beauty. But also with the thought of how she was going to arrange the stars in the sky tonight. She, despite the evening hour and the recent Events, remained attentive enough to be able to follow the hustle and bustle on the streets below her tower and outside the gates of her castle. Twilight also tended to wave automatically at each pony in a skill perfected over many years, and smiled whenever one of her subjects caught sight of her large form and delightedly waved up at her.
Positioning every single of her stars in the sky was a task that she had acquired upon reaching her 10th birthday and since then had performed on a daily - or rather, evening - basis. After all, she was the goddess of the stars and responsible for helping the night sky every evening to it´s fantastic splendor and twinkling beauty.
Despite all that, her thoughts kept constantly wandering to today's tribute ceremony honoring five brave young mares. They all proved to be extremely bold and courageous, encountering and having saved Equestria two days earlier from the looming threat of the lava giant Urghnows.
This nearly 200 feet tall creature of burning lava, diamond hard granite and incredible hot hellfire, had been sleeping for the last 10,000 years or so deep in a previously inactive volcano near the Lavalands. Therefore, the princesses had not noticed the creature sleeping deep within to core of old Equus. The time, when they encountered the ball of rock and fire, which at that time was still very uneconomic. The surface of the ball had been very similar to the Lavalands. They had to reshape it according to their imagination in order to sow the ponies on this new planet Equus, created by their design.
Of course, they could have created a completely new planet from scratch. It wouldn’t even have been that much more elaborate and not that hard for an alicorn. Let alone three of them. But the way they had done it, it had been much more relaxed. A fact, they all three had decided together.
Twilight also pondered how such a creature had even come to be, and how it had even managed to evade the alicorns' very precise magic scan of the entire planet. But Urghnows was no real being, so to speak. He did things yes, but not because he thought logical about them. The creature had no mind of it's own and that could very well be the reason they hadn’t found his “life” signature as they had scanned old Equus.
But as said, the monster had awakened from its slumber two days earlier and was about to plunge Equestria, and presumably also the surrounding lands, into eternal, burning mayhem. Not exactly Twilight's favorite environment to start the day with. True, sometimes "sunbathing" was relaxing and helped uncramp her figurative muscles and many things in her head. But as should be more than clear, for her beloved ponies, it was an extremely hostile habitat to reside in.
She would have gladly taken on the task herself - after all, it was the primary task of the alicorns to watch and rule over their subjects. Giving them shelter to prevent them from getting into any danger. And she would always stake her life for her ponies - well, metaphorically speaking, since an alicorn was incredibly hard-wearing and immortal. Nothing and no one had been able to overcome the passive strengths and abilities of an alicorn and hurt or even kill one.
Nevertheless, she would always work to ensure that the inhabitants of Equestria could live in peace and harmony without fear. And not just because she was the supreme master of peace, more widely known as harmony.
But she had been on her way back from a diplomatic meeting on Mount Aris at that time. After all, the task of keeping in touch with the other kingdoms and neighboring lands to conduct negotiations usually fell to Equestria's Crown Princess - and that was precisely her. Which meant that she had to leave the borders of her kingdom at least once a month.
And even if an alicorn with ease was able to reach a multiple of the speed of sound when flying with the help of magic. So the five mares had already managed to solve the problem with the aid of the legendary Elements of Harmony - temporarily embodying one each to use it´s powers. By the time she got within the borders of Equestria, or at least close enough to the borders to reach one of her prototype teleport anchors the deed was already done. Said which, after all, included half the distance from Canterlot to Mount Aris.
Unfortunately, the anchors were still a fairly new technology for her and it would probably take several more months of research before the distance and recharge time had improved enough to get from one place to another quickly and effectively. Also the amount of energy necessary was presently immense, what with the magical level of mana an alicorn possessed though nowhere near as much fell in relation as for any other pony. Still, the network needed some work before it was of any real use for the public. And she intended to release the technology once it was stable and efficient enough.
Besides, she had made a rather striking mistake while repeatedly improving the protection of her kingdom a few decades ago. But this time, it had been with a rather powerful leap.
That was what you got by creating a perfectly working anti-teleport field all around Equestria. All to hinder the process of moving and getting dangerous objects or persons within the boundaries of their Pony Kingdom. A good thing in itself by far – if you didn´t simply forgot and oversaw to inscribe yourself into it to bypass your own protection. Alicorn magic casted protections were impenetrable and couldn´t be bypassed by any means, not even by the caster itself. You had to either remove the protection and cast it anew entirely with yourself, or others already integrated into the matrix while casting the necessary magic. Or like Twilight intended to do, find and create a solution to even break the one limit alicorn magic had – it´s fact it was the only thing that could withstand itself.
That shouldn´t be taking her more than a few weeks however. She also didn´t believe she could actually find a flawless way to break even an alicorn magic created protection. That sounded even for Twilight to extreme and impossible. A rather funny thought if the alicorn mare considered it.
Her thoughts drifted further from her to another matter entirely.
Over the centuries, many had wondered how the elements of harmony would work. For it was known throughout the kingdom that the youngest of the three princesses incarnated the strongest link – the element of magic in its essence. There was also nothing wrong with that statement, either. She was indeed the pure essence of magic and thus the harmonious element of magic was inevitably connected to her on the deepest level of the souls.
After all, she had created them from a part of her own spiritual alicorn powers – a microscopic part of her own soul. And also the remaining five elements sprang from her innermost abilities. A knowledge that she nevertheless guarded well, not only because said ability could only be master by an alicorn without going mad or die. She intended for others to better not know in order not to be tempted to even try.
Casting such magic with one's own soul was something that was like trading a part of one's very being for power. Only the soul of an alicorn could stand unaffected and still prosper the desired result. Leaded by the fact their soul was absolutely gigantic and a normal pony couldn’t even comprehend it’s real size.
The mysteries surrounding her mighty Elements of Harmony and their origins was one thing she was keen to keep a secret. There were simply too many beautiful fantasies and stories, as well as lovers of these, to destroy the crafted image.
What was less known, however, was the fact that the soul or, more simply, the essence of an alicorn was not firmly bound to its body. It could be astral projected without much of an issue and work independently from it´s bodily vessel. The body of an alicorn was just it’s shell to look familiar to others. The real godly powers came from an alicorns spiritual form, like their magic, reactions and senses. In contrast to that it rendered their physical powers a literal joke, even if these were also far greater than that of any normal creature.
Also their souls were too partially anchored by them deep within the planet Equus itself to strengthen it and uphold any live. At the time of creation she and the other alicorns had created the ball of Life in the cold expanse of the universe. Thanks to that they had had a focal point to start their first try to create life and as it stands by fact it worked rather well. It was also a mean to always know where their home was, as the planet needed the alicorns to remain fruitful and be able to grow.
Twilight had used said fact to send a part of her essence to the other essences of harmony whenever it was needed or she wanted to control them. The essences itself of course, not the current pony’s that embodied them at that moment. With her powers that obviously would be no challenge for her. An alicorn could technically rather easy control other ponies with their abilities. Yet it was the single most thing Twilight despised off. It was simply wrong for an pure being like her. Real Power came not from submission but trust, good will and benevolent.
Her split essence was also the reason why the elements were mysteriously always there where they were needed the most. No one ever said it was cheating or forbidden to aid her beloved ponies, if she possessed the skill to do so why not use it.
Also, the elements possessed thanks to all that a kind of semi-intelligence; since a small part of them consisted of the very soul of an alicorn. Through that connection Twilight could sense the status of each element and its current bearer. It also enabled her to reinforce the gemstone of the element of magic at any time and increase the protective effects of it when it was required, in order to avoid unintentional injuries of the wielders.
Twilight was pretty confident that she didn’t need to mention what level of protection she could give the wielders with her powers. It was fact, that alicorn magic was flawless and Energy independently after its cast. Also every spell that was used for protection remained indestructible, even against other alicorn powers and could only be canceled by the caster itself.
As creator and alicorn of peace, which was also just another term for harmony. Twilight possessed naturally the ability to control all six essences herself - if she so chose. They were after all kind of her and just an extension of her very own body and powers. An endeavor she nevertheless counseled no other pony to attempt. The raw power was only second to that of an alicorn and could not be endured by a mortal body at all. Obnoxious things would happen to the pony, letting them wish death had been instant.
But she, as the Goddess of Harmony was truly the only one who could easily handle the full force without payback. Luna and Celestia would be able to stand in for her in an emergency situation as well, but since they were not as in tune with the elements and its forces as she was. Using all six of the elements alone or three of them each, it would be a great strain, even on their alicorn bodies.
Both would be left severely weakened for several hours afterwards, until their mana pool was reasonably replenished. With every second of use, costing an almost unbelievable amount of mana for the two of them - alicorn magic pool or not. Not even they could wield them longer than a day or two at most until they had to recover.
A problem she was able to compensate with her own, much larger mana pool than usual for even an alicorn - deriving from the status of being the alicorn of magic. Thus not only embodying all magic, but also truly being every single bit of it in the universe. Multiverse even if she could finally finish her research in that matter and work beyond the borders of their own cosmos. She was sure her powers would go even there.
Continuing to sort out her thoughts, Twilight's gaze slowly wandered over Canterlot. She extended her wings slowly and at length out to either side until they trembled with tension and popped quite a few joints. Ah relaxing.
Even her two older sisters, Luna and Celestia, the responsible regents of the kingdom, could not take care of the Problem. Both had been fully occupied with preventing their dear ponies from panicking due to the unfolding events.
It had worked rather well also. Except for some frightened ponies, which even now did not dare to venture into the streets again, and some damaged items, dropped and abandoned by the rising panic, there was nothing worthy of attention. So all in all, Twilight decided with a smile that it had been a pretty good outcome.
Yet, when she thought about it in retrospect, the fact that there were no riots or worse was all thanks to the alicorns. She certainly didn't want to make herself look better than all the other ponies. That was already enough given by the respect, politeness and sometimes statements from her subjects like 'we will forever be in debt to the alicorns, your majesty' or ´all hail the divine goddesses of the heavens´. One thing that still bothered Twilight after so many years. No one owed the alicorns anything. She did it not for recognition or out of self-interest, but out of her deepest and most instinctive conviction to make Equestria the safest place of all. The more prosperity and harmony her Pony kingdom had, the more in tune and peace she could be with herself. The same was certainly true for her sister in their own sences.
She took the liberty of speaking for her two sisters, but each of them was glad to be able to grant the ponies - as well as the rest of the inhabitants of Equus - such a peaceful and safe life. And having tried long enough herself to dissuade her ponies from worshipping and addressing her as a goddess - with no real success. She had simply resigned herself to it and accepted the praise. If her ponies felt she was a goddess, then so would she be for them. After all, just because alicorns were immortal, couldn’t be killed and embodied every other implausibility one could think off. As well as moved bodies like the sun, moon, or stars with ease didn't mean they were divine beings - somehow....
Arrgh, now she wasn't sure herself, Twilight chided herself in thought as she smacked one of her front hooves hard against her brow.
Anyway, what mattered much more was that regardless how scared the ponies of Equestria were and how great the impending danger might be. They could blindly trust that their princesses would protect them by all means. For the lava giant may have been fearsome and huge. However, he was not even remotely a danger or problem to an alicorn and his powers. Her sisters and Twilight herself were as strong, so that a simple flick of their horns would be enough to put him in his place.
With truly its full power, that an alicorn possessed, it could even have supreme influence on the cosmos and reality and shape it as it wished. Ok...she was a goddess at heart after all...benevolent, trustworthy and loyal beyond means…she had just convinced herself anew. Damn!
Shifting her thoughts, the lavender mare once again pondered her own thoughts and the events, momentarily losing herself in old memories and the story of how Equestria became what it was today.
All three of them had equally worked to create the planet, while both of her elder sisters had undertaken the more violent parts. Like Celestia the core of Equus, Luna had started to work at the flora and fauna on the surface and the general shape of the landscape. Like valleys and mountains, cliffs and deep oceans. She herself had took over the fine work and set to work on the magical network that spanned the entire planet.
A work, that although it didn’t require the raw force she had as an alicorn was still a very energy consuming task. Literally everyone could smash things together, but precisely edging an entire frame of magical leylines into a Planet-sized structure was a wholly other thing.
A fair division as she considered between the three, the sun was well known as an eternally surging ball of fire. At first glance it seemed uncontrolled and raw, the moon the opposite, cold and desolate. At second glance, though, that was completely mistaken. Neither the sun nor the moon were grim or uncontrolled. Both celestial bodies were powerful objects in the sky, possessing almost infinite energy just like her own stars, bringing life and security to the ponies on a daily basis. She, on the other hoof, stood in the middle of her sisters, neutral and at peace, her stars a guide to all.
´Older sisters' did also not fully apply to her, a mare who liked to describe everything very precisely and in detail. It was true she was 4 years younger than her younger sister Luna, who was again 5 years behind Celestia. But to be precise, they were all three likely of the same age. After all, the alicorn species was, as far as they knew, the oldest prehistoric life form that ever existed. And Twilight as well as her two sisters were often referred to as the 'Sky Goddesses', 'Those Who Descended' or ´The ever present three´.
Hence, it could not be determined if she was in fact younger than her two siblings, or perhaps even the eldest. A fact that Twilight had been trying to establish for a long time, even though the other two alicorns – especially her dark blue sister Luna, jokingly liked to tease her about.
She herself had little objection to the ponies' titles for her. After all, the three alicorn goddesses had ruled over their ancestral home, the Astral Plane, subdimension of the Astral Dimension, for an indeterminate amount of time. It Was the source of all supernatural powers and predominant over it, their own alicorn magic. It was from there that the alicorns had created Equus and his ponies to watch over, guide and protect each and every one of them. Ponies were intelligent and a highly social enough race to be able to survive on their own. Also, their abilities were great enough to terraform the planet for their own benefit.
We never let them go hungry and never left their thirst unquenched. All they had to do was ask, and I or one of the other two of us would provide them with everything they could wish for and more. I gave them warm beds, full bellies, and happy moments. It had some ...Advantages of being such a powerful being as we were.
But as much as we watched over our ponies like mothers, and as much love and care as we provided. It was with a heavy heart that we had to watch the pony tribes slowly turn on each other and begin to quarrel and bicker.
As much as none of us had wanted to, we were tired of watching the ponies ruin themselves. Therefore, we created the Wendigos, ice spirits strengthened by the ponies' differences with each other. A threat that affected all ponies equally. Hoping to promote peace between the races in the view of such a threat. It is well known that a common enemy brings ponies together.
However, we alicorn were not an unpony and the Wendigos nowhere near as dangerous as our subjects themselves believed. And even if they were. It would have been easy from the heavens to bring the Wendigos back under our control and free our ponies.
At first, the ponies were still stubborn and did not want to give in to their own, so ingrained honor. But soon, as the world became covered with snow and the climate became more and more unfriendly and hostile, they all saw that the danger posed by the Wendigos was very real.
They formed an alliance and drove the Wendigos from the world so that they could in future live together in peace. Not long after, they all traveled further south to find a place where they could establish a combined land. The old territories of the tribes too little accessible to the other pony species.
Having found their new home, they formed the country that everyone is familiar with today - Equestria. But the three leaders of the assembled ponies did something shortly thereafter that none of us would have expected.
They prayed and looked up to the sky - our celestial home - and begged whoever was watching over them from up there to have mercy and guide them. They themselves no longer would be worthy to lead the ponies into the new age upon completion of this tragedy, which almost led to the extinction of all ponies.
Already having toyed with the idea of descending from the heavens at an appropriate time to live with our ponies. We the alicorns had sent various calming dreams to the leaders of the tribes and guided them in ways that would prevent the ponies from turning on each other again. For as all-powerful as an alicorn was, that was also their biggest obstruction. We had needed to make arrangements in order to descend from our homelands to Equus first and for that we needed a little more time than just today.
An alicorn was powerful - tremendously powerful. Our basic output of energy could level an entire city with a single easy thought. If we had just descended from our home all at once, the danger of overloading one or more of the planet's leylines would have been far too great. It probably didn't need to be said twice what a single fundamental main line of force spanning as well as pervading the planet would do if it was overloaded with energy. She was the best, when it came to magic and obviously knew what would have happened, but alone knowing what to expect, she didn´t even want to give it another thought.
Something like that should by all means be prevented. So she had also trilled her sisters to have an eye on their output of magic when casting a heavy amount of it. Even after they descended from their home, there still remained the relatively small risk of overloading one of the lines if they expended far too much of their mana at once. She could still make up for overloading a main leyline and repair it without too much trouble. Her supreme mastery of magic to be thanked for. But if it didn’t even come to that in the first place, she much preferred it.
Therefore, it had been necessary to prepare exact calculations and evaluations regarding the place and time interval of their descent, as well as to descend to Equus just one at a time. Well, only the latter, but she herself liked to make mind-blowing equations only a god could possibly grasp. On top of that it warmed Lulu's and Tia's hearts every time they saw the playful sparkle in her third sister's eyes. Even after countless years, the lavender alicorn was and remained as thirsty for knowledge as ever.
The order was even quickly found. Although each of them embodied one of the three important functions of Equus, the sun as well as the moon, representatives for the ponies of Equestria, as a direct symbol of fertility and life. The sun thereby for all day active plants and animals, just as the moon for everything night active. Her stars were the third great force driving Equus and a guiding one at that for every creature lost or needed compassion. Yet it was not a direct symbol for life. After much consideration, their ponies would have been able to get used to the sudden appearance of two powerful alicorns much faster once they had something to hold on to as a comparison or felt somewhat familiar to.
Her stars were a sweet and reassuring Embrace in a blanket of deep blue-black speckled affection that welcomed every plea, pray or petition and helped fulfill them to those who deserved it. Twilight at all times was able to hear as clearly as if she were standing next to them, any request aimed at her stars and if she so chose use the power of those to grant the wish or apply reinforcements to them. The same was true in a way for Luna and Celestia, but unlike her, in most cases they could only hear the requests and pleas, but were not directly able to fulfill them. That alone was a talent that only she possessed.
She - the master of stars and harmony had stayed longer in her old home for the time being, to keep and protect the still so fragile peace among the ponies. At least long enough until Celestia and Luna had gained enough trust among the ponies to take over the task themselves down on Equus.
It hadn't taken more than a few years, as the ponies had already made up their own stories about their origins and powers, so an alicorn was held of high status. After that, she herself had descended from the sky to join and live among her ponies.
As beautiful and imaginative as the stories and legends were, none of them corresponded to the truth...Well, that was part of the concept of legends. But she was a mare for the scientific and always loved to set things right, even if she hadn´t too. Although she herself probably embodied the most scientifically and biologically illogical species in the entire universe. Not even her own basic biology could really be explained, since alicorns did not conform to any existing norm. In fact, depending on the day, date and time; alicorns showed different results to the same test. They didn't need sleep, oxygen, food, or any of the other things to live that a being should need - even though they could still feasibly do and enjoy all of those things.
Alicorns were an impossible creature to describe. At least that's what they said, but Twilight couldn't just leave it at that.
She had begun to write a book detailing the entire history of the alicorns' origin and duties. As well as skills, abilities and other important information further back in said book. True, the book was currently still undergoing progress and was perhaps only half done - if at all.
But she would take her time and work as long as it took - why stress if one was immortal and had literally eternal time? She never liked to rush things - none alicorn did in fact - if the book was to be detailed and accurate to their powers, then it would simply take a little longer - and she had plenty of time as said. She even had already a title for the publication and wavered between "The alicorn Book" and "A Tale About Sun, Moon and Stars". Whereby she preferred the first one, it was simple but still meaningful enough.
Refocusing her gaze back on the streets of Canterlot below and shaking her head slightly, Twilight fluffed her wings in frustration at herself. She then struck her head vigorously with her gold-rimmed hoof to completely her annoyed expression. An action that, due to the physical strength of an alicorn - even far greater than that of an earth pony, would have caused at least a violent headache to even the mightiest dragon, if not worse. Fortunately for her, however, the lavender mare was an alicorn herself and therefore up to the task.
Shoot. My mind was wandering again. The honoring ceremony was long over and the guests had all gone to their homes.
With a quick glance at the clock, Twilight confirmed to herself that the castle's servants had probably already cleaned up all traces of the celebration. Even the five honorary mares of the festivities had left the Castle shortly after and gone home. Although they were offered by Twilight to stay in the private area of the castle, they had reclined. There definitely was enough room in the suite reserved for delegates from other countries for them to stay all night, but still they said no.
According to their own statements, they had no wish to cause any trouble. A fact that Twilight found equally as unfortunate as pointless.
The palace itself had exactly 371 guards and 974 servants working in all the inner areas of the castle. The outer sections of the royal palace and the city itself were guarded by even more guards than the inner, and half of Canterlot had some direct connection to the crown. Be it as a supplier of food and beverages; as an outfitter and producer of clothes, fabrics and materials; as an iron manufacturer or blacksmith and much much more.
In the end, the entire city was one extension of the castle. The statement that one did not want to make any trouble was therefore invalid. Twilight could name at least 2,500 people in the time of a millisecond, who could have taken care of the matter or direct them to someone who could.
Moreover, the girls had been extremely nervous in her presence and had apologized several times that they would now have to leave as soon as possible.
She could easily comprehend. She herself was one of the three princesses. One of the three divine regents of this land and thus in a position to order anyone to do whatever she wished. While Twilight may be following the widespread opinion of interfering as little as possible in the ponies' affairs. Letting them make their own decisions, as long as it did not lead to problems, the ponies still stepped up to her plate. Nevertheless, the ponies were just as cautious and 'distant' towards her as they were towards all nobles - only on an even larger scale. All just because she and her sisters had the supreme controll of about just anything on Equus and certainly all of Equestria.
There was just something about the five of them that made Twilight feel they were destined for greatness. And maybe, just maybe, she would have found her harmony champions who would help keep the peace in the long run. Besides, she didn't own a whole lot of close friends herself, and most of them were just nobles she tended to call "friends" anyway. A generally curious thought, considering that friendship, as a way of bonding with one another, was a subspecies of Equestria's all-encompassing harmony. And she was, after all, the highest mistress of said harmony.
The whole affair was bad enough, were it not for the fact that in a little less than four full days it was also her 3000th birthday. A day Twilight should be happy about - and she certainly was. The party would shake Equestria to its foundations and possibly last for more than a day, as it had with Luna’s last round millennia. However, it was hardly helpful to make new friends with this critical fact in mind.
After all, she inherited her nature as an alicorn ever since she was ‘born’. Thanks to that and the occupying status, since her youth, most pony’s believed, that they would have no chance to build a friendship with one of their princesses. Up to a certain degree and age, it had been possible for her to convince others that they should just venture in and dare try. But she herself had been much more reserved and cautious with other ponies in her younger years than she would be now. Simply for the fact that even if she didn't want to separate herself from them, she was nevertheless very different than they were. Not alone in appearance, but powers, skills, biology, physiology and kind of every other point she could think off.
Unfortunately, over the years, that changed and fewer and fewer of her ponies believed that they could form a friendly bond with her. For a few years she had been quite depressed, but over time she had simply come to terms with it. What other means were there than simply accept? – none as she had thought so far, but would change now.
Flexing all of her body muscles, pulling her wings higher and closer to her body, and putting on a certain look, Twilight made up her mind. She would sort out that particular problem. She would make new friends and invite them to her third millennium birthday as honorary ponies of Equestria's crown princess. And in maybe a few decades also to her official crowning as the supreme Princess of Equestria. Tia and Lulu had mentioned to her about one year ago, that it would be more than time to let her take the reins and try to run the kingdom herself. And she already knew exactly where she would start with these five young mares.
But first she had to take care of her last daily tasks as a princess and after that, the daily evening court was on the agenda. However, Luna would certainly not mind managing the court alone for a few days.
The lavender alicorn mare scratched her chin briefly. Yes, that seemed right to her.
Lighting her horn in brilliant raspberry, she conjured up a roll of parchment as well as a quill from her study corner to hoof and began writing the letter to her younger sister. Already with her mind on something else, her letter was short but precise.
Dear Luna,
Due to my own private affairs, I will be unable to attend the evening court in the next few days. I therefore ask you sincerely to take over for me. If need arises, I will also bake you your favorite strawberry blueberry pie to show my appreciation. Furthermore, I will be traveling to Ponyville for the next few days to take care of said things. Please inform all other servants and guards in the castle where I have gone and that they can contact me at any time in case of urgent emergencies.
As you will notice by tomorrow morning at the latest anyway. My personal guards, will not accompany me. Ponyville may be close to the Everfree Forest, but we both know how irrelevant said is to an alicorn. Besides, the small town is far from being a dangerous place - even for normal ponies.
However, I promise you, as well as Celestia, that I will be back in Canterlot in time before my birthday to help with the preparations.
Love your sister
Princess Twilight Amitica Aurora Sparkle the first
Third princess of the mighty Equestria; Crown princess of Equestria; Alicorn of Stars, Peace, Harmony and Magic; vanquisher of the great evil; Headmare of the magic institute and the school of magic of Canterlot. Above all, Your loving sister.Ps: We really need less titles....
With the letter written, Twilight added her personal royal banner. It was attached to and hung out of each parchment written by a princess, marking it as extremely important and of royal occasion. The banner itself was matched to the coat color of every princess, in her case lavender and so it was possible to tell at a single glance from who of the three the scroll came from. She then rolled it up and finally added a small wax seal with her cutiemark pressed onto a crimson ribbon around the parchment.
With a practiced flick of her alicorn magic, Twilight dispatched the letter to her sister's chamber. Convinced that the dark blue mare would find it within a few minutes, most likely even before the first supplicants for the evening's court would arrive at the doors of the throne room. Once they had been examined by the guards at the entrance, sorted according to desire, rank and importance, and then added to a list in order.
Almost all personal tasks for the day completed, Twilight turned back to her balcony and the sky emblazoned above. As she did so, a smile crossed her muzzle as she thought about her most favorite thing of the day to do. She closed her eyes and began to recall a beautiful moment she would use to bring splendor to today's night sky.
Her perpetually-flowing mane slowly blew steadily past the side of her face as usual. A thing that had irritated her somewhat for the first few years she had gotten her rather large walling mane. Now, however, Twilight didn't even notice the hairy appendage anymore. The many constellations; galaxies and stars within, were a perfect reflection of the sky above her, pulsing in a slow but steady rhythm. Matching the heartbeat of the lavender alicorn. Her tail also exhibited the same characteristics.
Stretching her massive wings to their utmost, Twilight relaxed even more than she already had. Taking a few quiet breaths that, while of no consequence, gave her an inner calm like nothing else did, and went as deep as she could within herself. The outermost Primal feathers of her wings, reached so far that they touched nearly both sides of the railing of her balcony. Her wings sparkled in the last evening rays of Celestia's sun in all their multicolored splendor, giving the large alicorn an even more divine radiance than she already possessed.
Currently, her feathers were rather bright, but as it was soon approaching evening and thus night the lavender alicorns wings changed their colors as well. Changed to darker and better to the night matching gradients. The same would occur again in reverse in the morning, generating an eternal cycle of moving colors in all of her feathers.
With an ease and precision that reflected centuries of work and skill, she activated her horn in an almost entirely pure white light - unlike the last time she used her magic. The white magic was surrounded by the colors of the rainbow as the outermost corona.
Also whirring around her horn were several runes; reinforcements and other magical symbols. Some even in 20 to 30 layers so deeply interwoven and so artfully drawn that many would be envious of the filigree alone. The raw power output from only lightening her horn alone, was something most would not even be able to produce while using all of their magic at once. For Twilight however, it was nothing compared to the mana she had stored in her body.
The Effects circling her horn were normally invisible when normal magic was cast. Yet it was ordinary for an alicorn’s magic.
At the tip of Twilight's long, slightly curved horn, an orange-sized ball of almost blindingly bright magic began to form within seconds. Growing denser, mightier and slightly larger with each passing moment.
Eventually, centrically beneath the gold-rimmed hooves of the imposing alicorn, a circle of runes about 6 feet tall formed that was absolutely breathtaking in its sheer complexity. It consisted of so many interwoven signs, rings and shapes that only a divine being could possibly understand its true meaning. It also pulsed with a raw and yet so calm power that even the elements in the immediate vicinity were submitted to its sheer power.
She had finally found her moment, which she intended to use today to show her subjects the love and care she felt for them. She let the feeling flow through her entire body and escape through the tip of her horn with a broad smile. The ensuing white/rainbow colored magic beam that rose higher and higher into the sky from the magic ball on her horn ended after a few moments high up in the sky. It was a totally silent, but massive and impressively colorful explosion across the entire heaven. The ‘explosion’ soon faded into the very background of the night sky itself, enhanced it to it’s core.
All of that was a truly spectacular event – at least for creatures not native to Equestria. The locals were well used to such a spectacle, even if most of them still were marveled at the sheer beauty of the event each and every day. As after all, it happened virtually every twilight on exactly the same time. Only on extremely few occasions, the appearance of the stars in the sky was not as impressive as today.
Nevertheless, probably half of all creatures native to Equestria and still walking along on the streets would now look up as the stars gradually appeared in the sky. Thanks to her highly improved alicorn vision, Twilight was also pretty sure that she could see quite a few ponies sitting on picnic blankets and at tables on the hills in and around Canterlot, or other nearby cities. All of them just waiting for her stars to emerge, something that made her big immortal heart swell in sheer joy.
So many creatures just waiting for her every evening. She their princess who brought out the stars for them as she did every evening. As some times before and also today, a single tear of joy ran down her cheek as she took the thought deep into her heart and held it dear.
Slowly thousands and then millions of stars appeared in the sky, as they tended to do by her will every evening. Each one shining more brilliantly than the last. A reflection of their mistress's joy at the peace and safety of her ponies that reigned again in Equestria after the last few days.
Dazed in her own thoughts, Twilight's sharp eyes continued to roam over the landscape as her stars fully manifested in the sky, before landing on a mountain almost obscured by fog in the distance and locking on it. The mountain nearly approached the height of the tallest mountain in Equestria, Canterlot Mountain. The same mountain their royal castle, home and capitol was build onto the side of. Still, it lacked nearly 300 feet in height, but that was made up for by its nearly twice as wide base. The mountain itself had no name defined in books, but was often considered the "Mighty Dragonlair Mountain" by her ponies and other surrounding kingdoms.
A name that sparked confusion among many ponies, as over the last few centuries the reason it was given its name had been all but forgotten. Only very few, like scientists, historians and other interested ponies studying the history of Equestria in and out, still knew what his name stood for. Plus, of course, the princesses themselves; after all, they had been residents of Equestria for millennia.
Twilight herself, of course, knew best of all why the hill had been given its name. After all, it had been she herself who had named the mountain and declared it a protected, but also forbidden place for ponies. At least the upper half of it.
The mountain by itself, was not dangerous. In fact it was not even an inactive volcano or a construction made of dangerous terrain or rocks, nor any other dangers. No, Twilight had used her status as a princess for a single and very personal reason. She was determined to prevent any pony from finding the entrance to the cave in the north side of the mountain. The entrance well hidden under trees and illusion spells and protected by a powerful force field, fulled and uphold thanks to her native alicorn mana. After all, no one was supposed to fall in by accident.
According to her, that was the biggest mistake most magicians made. An illusion spell protected by the natural barrier of flora and fauna was quite something. Very hard to find depending on the skill of the caster and also a way of disguising something for a very long period of time. Yet, if the object, or in this case entrance, under the illusion spell had no solid ground for creatures to stand on, one still fell through it, might got injured or even killed and the entire endeavor was done the drain.
Unfortunately, the cave entrance was about 200 feet tall and such a large force field, not even Twilight, despite her undisputed magical skills as alicorn and mistress of all magic, could completely hide from the most skilled magicians. Creatures able to recognize the signature of such a level of disguise spell from her were very rare, but they nevertheless existed.
It almost came to pass 72 years ago that the force field had been discovered by a pony. Only thanks to a well-placed, small rockfall down the slope, she was able to scare the curious red-brown unicorn stallion from heading directly upon her shield. Had that happened, he would have inevitably discovered it by doing so. After all, it was hard not to notice a level 10 concealment spell right under your hooves. Even if it had been created by the alicorn that was most skilled in magic. Or if someone was only moderately gifted in magic, he could have noticed the spell as well.
Yet that stallion had been far from bad in magic. Especially since he was the second deputy of the “magical institute for magic purity” at that time. And as the highest authority of all institutes, schools or anything else that dealt with magic. Twilight selected only the best of the best and the most talented for such positions.
Celestia even once said that she was a little too strict in her selection. But to be entirely honest. Twilight herself was sure that her older sister was just teasing her about it. Secretly, both mares knew that Twilight only desired the best for the future of Equestria and therefore tried to push the progress as fast, but also careful and direct as possible. All without exposing her ponies to serious dangers, with untrained or unqualified ponies gaining positions that could lead to catastrophic problems afterwards.
The biggest disgrace you could inflict on yourself was to deceive one of the princesses and claim that you had way more in store than was true. Or to try to deprive others of their rightful position for one's own benefit. It was rare, but it happened. And an alicorn ALWAYS knew if you tried to screw them or not, so there was no need trying.
However, under all circumstances, if a pony ever found its way in. It would have to pass huge and glowing bright red-blue crystals, each as tall as an average pony and about a quarter of the diameter of the height. All of them adorning the walls of the passageway. The crystals themselves had the primary task of both illuminating the path and keeping out uninvited guests – like curious ponies. In doing so, they triggered a gentle fear effect to discourage any pony or other creature from wandering deeper into the cave.
Twilight had not done so without doubt. She was an alicorn after all and that meant every fiber of her being was driven to strive for harmony, peace and shelter in any case. In her view, however, it was the only way to ensure as peacefully as possible that no one could advance to the main cave and find what lay there.
It wouldn't be dangerous to get to the end of the passage, but if a being ever succeeded and discovered what was hidden there, it would cause mass panic at the absolute latest. Which was something Twilight was more than willing to forego. So fear infused crystals it were.
The main cave itself was more than impressive with its over 2000 feet in diameter and ceilings nearly a fifth as high. Countless pillars to support the structure, wide alcoves; crevices and indentations, as well as hundreds of artfully placed and powerful runes or spells along the walls. The walls itself flattened and adorned with many more crystals to give off light.
All in the cave would definitely be worth the look and effort should one get as far as there.
Yet it was another thing that made it even more worth the visit. Namely the incredible wealth of valuable metals like gold; platinum; shade and alicornite. Topped with gems like emeralds; rubies; diamonds and other valuables, piled meters high throughout the entire cave. It all was guarded by a massive creature that was now just a myth in the eyes of many ponies and other inhabits of Equus. Considering that the last known descendants of said species had died off decades ago.
As for why it happened, not even the princesses knew for one hundred percent. But given the facts that over the last millennia the basic climate on Equus had changed dramatically. As the planet had been significantly cooled from a molten wasteland to a blooming flora and fauna of green plant live by the alicorns for their ponies. Slowly, the species had began to fade from the landscape, as the climate no longer suited them.
Yet Twilight was sure, somewhere, probably not that far away, there would be a planet that was just right. A planet on which hundreds, if not thousands, of creatures of this kind could be found. There was no way they simply faded from existence entirely, somewhere these creatures would have gone, Twilight simply knew. Maybe she would someday go on a little trip into the vastness of space to look for said planet. In any case, she put it on her mental to-do list, she decided.
The creature present in the cave was a dragon. Enormous and powerful. Its body almost as long as the entire cave itself. Its 450-foot-long tail covered with 12-inch-long, razor-sharp spikes. So was the beast's back up to his head as well. The tip of his long tail culminating in a fin as impressive as it was lethal. Its muscles massive and strong, stronger than a whole battalion of royal guards and sturdy like nothing on the planet itself. His impenetrable purple scales nearly as solid as infused alicornite. The only element on Equus that was truly indestructible.
An element so rare and precious that only the fewest could possibly even afford it. Used only for the finest of the finest items. Primarily for the equipment and accessories of royalty. Like the princesses crowns, set with incredibly pure jewels framed in obsidian; equally elaborately decorated peytrals; ceremonial armor and gowns or other items and fittings.
While it was not forbidden to acquire and use the metal-like element for your own benefits by any means. Over time, alicornite had obtained an even more peculiar status as already given by its unique properties. By now just about every pony had a kind of personal code of honor not to use the element for their own purposes.
Twilight's sisters just as little as Twilight herself, would have minded in any way if their ponies used alicornium for their own purposes or not. But she would not interfere in such matters and events of her ponies. They had an independent attitude and that was the way it was supposed to be.
Even more impressive, however, was the dragon's head. Two massive, slightly twisted horns protruded vertically from the top of the creature's skull. Each as wide as a stocky earth pony and thrice as long as Twilight herself was tall. Its mouth was peppered with rows of countless teeth, each as long as the horn of an average adult unicorn.
Would the dragon not sleep heavily on the almost infinite riches of Equestria and had he opened his eyes. Anyone standing in front of the beast would have been able to see his sharp, inspecting as well as piercing green eyes locked onto them. They would scrutinize you from top to bottom, and even the strongest of wills would have difficulties withstanding his gaze.
At present times, the dragon was still sleeping its first and moreover impenetrable two-hundred-year dragon sleep. He had to take it about every 3-4 thousand years to stay in healthy conditions. Whereby the duration of his first lasted almost 100 years longer and also occurred about a millennia earlier.
Nevertheless, in a little less than 15 years he would awake and his deep and mighty yawn would shake half of Equestria.
Her majestic star goddess Twilight, currently still standing on her balcony in front of her chamber and now doing some stretching exercises, was already looking forward to this day. The day when she could finally hold her dearest friend in her hooves again - well, at least one of his claws as long as she didn´t use a size alteration charm. As well as to be able to introduce him properly to her little ponies.
Twilight certainly wouldn't want Equestria to fall into anarchy because of senseless panic. Merely by believing that a primordial creature had awakened from its slumber of beauty and now intended to immerse the kingdom in eternal flames, lava and fire.
The dragon was many things. Gigantic, possibly even the largest of its kind that had ever lived. The third most powerful creature on all of Equus. While first, still only with the fraction of a percent of power far behind the princesses and the species of alicorns themselves. And on third position behind a very good friend of all of them. He nevertheless remained incredibly powerful. Indomitable and evasive as well at the side of the alicorns, whatever might come.
Yet he wasn’t one thing, however. And for that, Twilight would put her hoof into the fire at any time given - dangerous.
At least for her dear ponies. How it stood for others, who tried to disturb the peace of Equestria by submission and aggressive force, she could not say. Yet she did not recommend anyone to find out. A dragon remained a dragon, no matter how good of a friend he was of the royal princesses. And these creatures were not known for their temperament for nothing.
Especially Spike, who had a kind of mother/son relationship with her. He therefore had an extremely intimate connection with the lavender alicorn goddess and would defend her decisions at any time and at almost any price.
Twilight had to say that even without his sleep, Spike had become more than impressive in the last hundreds of years. True, she had expected him to grow quite large. Twilight knew after all what kind of dragon he represented. But that he was nearly full-grown already after just four millennia, even she would not have expected.
Sleep was important, however, and what had to be, needed to be done. A Celestial Dragon, like Spike was, needed it’s celestial sleep every few thousand years to reset his ageing cycle. Spike might get along without any sleep for years, at best even decades, but he was not an alicorn who didn´t need any sleep at all. True, he was in no need of the day-to-day essentials that a pony would need in the same way as an alicorn. Considering his body had enough magic of its own to take care of its own, also the same way as alicorns. Though unlike an alicorn, he still required sleep at some point just like any other living creature that was known except an alicorn of course. The magic of these ponies so great they could literally endure eternity without sleeping, breathing or nutriment at all.
Therefore, just before the day came when Spike would have to embark on his first big sleep, the two of them had decided that Twilight would be the one to take care of him in the time he was sleeping. What better way was there to be protected by the skilled arcane magical powers of an all-powerful alicorn goddess, that saw one as her son or brother – depending on who you asked?
For this purpose, Twilight decided to create a cave in the mountain, big enough, so that Spike would have enough space there, even if he would still grow in his sleep. What he also did by at least 50 feet the last time Twilight had checked some months ago. Yet she was sure he might maybe get another one or two of such growth spurts until Spike was finally fully grown.
In addition, the two of them decided to stash all the wealth that Equestria had as a last reserve there as well. The only thing that could wake a dragon out of his deep slumber was a creature trying to steal from them after all. Also, who would dare to steal the wealth of a celestial dragon? Even if no creature on Equus knew there was still one alive not far away from them sleeping deep done in a cave in a Mountain. There remained still many legends telling what a dragon like that was capable off and how exactly it looked. Gigantic, with impenetrable and magic resistant purple scales and green spikes and fins along it’s body.
And even if you didn’t know what a celestial dragon looked like. Spike was impossible to miss and his size alone kept anyone from trying to steal.
Not even she herself would most likely dare to withdraw the wealth from Spike, but in her case out of fear for the safety of her ponies and not her own. She knew Spike would never hurt her dear ponies and was also pretty good at not doing it accidentally either. But just to have it said. It was after all the wealth of the Kingdom Equestria, the same land she co-ruled and therefor she would hurt herself in controversy if she stole these wealth’s.
She herself was immortal and invulnerable as an alicorn after all and as mighty as Spike might have been. He nor any other being as well couldn´t overcome the passive resistance of an alicorn’s body and magic by any means if he tried.
Deep in her thoughts Twilight made herself a promise she had done many times before. She would absolutely never allow Spike to be feared by her subjects. Traitors yes, but not them. She had been working too hard for the last hundred years, to have it all purred down the drain. All of it to get her ponies to understand that all the stories their parents told them about dragons and the celestial ones by extension were not true. Well, most of them anyway.
She herself had been present when the dragons still dwelled on the edges of Equestria and Equus - it was hard to argue against said fact, she made up her mind.
Still, her dear little ponies, while very intelligent and independent, still had the primitive primal instinct of being afraid of a predator like a dragon ingrained to deeply in their being’s. And Twilight refused to intervene here with her magic. Changing the emotions and instincts of her ponies was the last thing she wanted to do.
She would wait for Spike to awaken and then take care of the matter with delicacy and calm – At least with as much calm as was still possible by then, given that a 1600-foot-long, four-legged and sleepy dragon was crawling out of its cave in the mountain. Her ponies however trusted their alicorn leaders without fault, so she didn´t think there would be much of a problem, once she addressed them and the ´danger´ that seemed to be upon them.
Spike was an extremely smart and friendly dragon. Also thanks to her good tutorage and the things she thought him alone their both long lives. He would instantly know that her little ponies were only afraid of him and attacked him out of pure instinct. Also the fact stood that no weapon or magic was able to come close to penetrate his scales reinforced by native celestial dragon magic. Even if Twilight had helped there as well with her own arcane might just to be on the safe side.
Scratching her chin, Twilight almost lost herself in her thoughts for like the tenth time today.
"Little ponies…Heeh!” A group of very very few who didn't know any better and were fond of their own view of the world. Might say that was an insult or demeaning of us, their "selfish and arrogant rulers of this kingdom and it’s lands" to them the ponies. But that would be wrong on so many levels that it nearly would be right again. Twilight was happy to know that the number of said group of ponies was decreasing over the years – it had been about time for that.
Still, compared to an alicorn, the four individual pony species of Equestria were truly not particularly large. In fact, the average was just 3'7". Whereby the Thestral marked the lower end of the range. Followed by the Pegasi, then the Earth Ponies and finally the Unicorns. Still, even the largest unicorn ever to live had been no taller than about 6 feet, jet just under 2 feet shorter than Luna - the smallest of the three royal alicorns.
Her second sister Celestia was quite a bit taller and came in at 8'6 feet respectively. She herself was technically physically the youngest of her sisters. But with a little more than 9 feet, she was the tallest of the three and at the same time the tallest pony in all of Equestria.
A fact Twilight had only loved to mention more than once to her sisters. Usually when they tried to tease her about being the youngest or lovingly passed her over when making decisions. Of course, such was just the normal sibling rivalry turned up to eleven after an alicorn's banter could quickly win the over hoof for a standard pony.
If you were as immortal as an alicorn, you could literally drop a stabilized miniature black hole onto the heads of your sisters. Or wake them up with an beam of energy fulled by the might of an entire star directed onto their Queen sized beds. All without hurting them even a tiny bit.
But there was one other thing for her. For Twilight, from a pure heart and soul, loved to see the longing look on her sister's face. As she gazed at the strawberry-banana-vanilla cake glazed with smooth nut chocolate and decorated with moon raspberries. Shielded behind the protective force field of Twilight's arcane alicorn magic. So close and yet so out of reach.
The slightly forlorn approaches of her snow-white alicorn sister were also as sweet as the cake itself. That Celestia was uncreative could definitely not be said about the ancient mare, with her great knowledge of many thousands of years. Unfortunately for her, Twilight was just as old as she was and had an even far greater knowledge of magic than the snow-white alicorn. And no idea her sister could think of brought her even once close to her goal.
The cake was and remained out of her reach as long as Twilight maintained her protective field. And Twilight had to smile alongside Luna more than once, when Celestia hoofed Twilight's shield and looked at her with big puppy-dog eyes. Begging her to lift the spell, because she herself was quite good and strong in magic as an alicorn. Yet Twilight, as the alicorn goddess and mistress of all magic, still had significantly finer control over the magical realms.
As she did every single time, Twilight would shake her head and promise her sister that she would get her cake when dinner was over. She never understood how anyone would be able to eat an entire three-tier cake after a three- or four-course dinner anyway –alone! Yes an alicorn had a very high energy requirement and could practically eat without end. All of which was met by their magic when they ate less in calories than their body needed - a fact that was present most of the time as an alicorn really needed A LOT of magical energy. But still, it was a mystery to her how Celestia managed to eat the entire cake within minutes almost every day.
In the end, it was not uncommon for Celestia to try to gain access to the delicacy by "brute" force. Firing the shield with the strongest and most powerful spells she knew. Spells so powerful that they would shatter any unicorn or artifact shield regardless of its strength into thousands and thousands of tiny, sparkling pieces. So fast in fact the shield was down, even before the magical flow could even register it had been disturbed. As well as disarm the spell caster(s) through the magical recoil. The most violent spells Celestia had used so far would have leveled all of Canterlot and probably half of the mountain within a second.
Even though Celestia knew she would not succeed, as usual – she nevertheless tried it every single day at supper. For just like her other two sisters, she knew very well that any protective spell triggered by alicorn magic could not be broken in the slightest. Not even considering it was her - the caretaker of magic - who had cast the shield spell. Divine magic – like that of an alicorn – unfortunately possessed, much to the chagrin of a certain cake-loving alicorn, the unique property of being flawless, instantaneous and, once cast, energy-independent and thus unbreakable to an infinite amount of time.
Nevertheless, it never stopped Celestia from venting her frustration onto the shield. Constantly attacking it with spells powerful enough that they could flatten entire cities, but where so precise on the other hoof that standing more than a meter away from the needle big point of impact wasn´t of any danger. She remained doing so until the servants, who were familiar with the procedure as they witnessed the spectacle almost daily. Began dishing up the first course at the 50-foot-long ebony table decorated with elaborate ornaments of gold and obsidian in the castle's dining room.
Like every time it came to such a situation. Celestia would pause in her attacks, inhale and exhale once or twice deeply with her hoof held out in front of her chest. As well as then sit back in her own big, almost throne like seat and act as if nothing had happened in the first place. What followed could only be described as the great feasting of royalty, for her sister had an enormous appetite every single day.
Celestia definitely seemed to like the dished food a lot. And that would have pleased Twilight, too, if Celestia wouldn't eat half as much as the rest of the castle on her own. Did this mare even need her alicorn magic to sustain her energy needs? Twilight was well in the range of capabilities to sense the magical level, depletion- and recharge rate of every creature, plant, object, artifact or other magical related thing no matter the distance. Yet even she wasn't too sure about said fact.
Their servants and staff of Canterlot Castle working directly in and around the kitchen, of course, held their royal oath to the princesses and kept all that happened at the table secret from the public. Even if the entire castle, as well as large parts of Canterlot and even half of the kingdom of Equestria, knew of the sweet fondness of one of their monarchs. Over hundreds of years such a thing did not remain undiscovered and had to seep into the light of day at some point.
On the one hoof, it earned Celestia the benevolent title of "Cake Princess" or "Goddess of the Mighty and infallible Cake". On the other side, the snow-white alicorn mare was treated to free cakes and other sweets in almost all of Equestria's bakeries by now. Something she definitely never complained about yet.
Continuing to grin, Twilight neatly folded her wings back to her sides to where they belonged. She then stretched her back thoroughly one last time, letting some joints pop. At the same time she took another brief glimpse at her stars and gave them a caring wink. Her stars twinkled back delightedly in response, as each time their mistress gave them a moment of her attention.
Twilight turned away from the edge of her balcony and slowly trotted back through the cedar-lined reinforced glass double doors into her chambers. Once there, the lavender alicorn mare briefly looked around, seeking, before finding what she was looking for and activating her magic to get it. As a result, a large brown saddlebag, adorned with a brooch of a magenta six-pointed star set in a golden frame and surrounded by five smaller replicas - her own cutie mark or soul mark like some referred to - came floating out of one of the far corners of her room.
As the bag soared towards Twilight, it proceeded to fill itself with quite a few spell- and reference books specially selected by the lavender mare from her own small private library one floor below. At least Twilight said her library was small, albeit it held over 5,000 special books. Each one read at least several times by the mare herself.
But in contrast to the royal Canterlot Library located in the capital. With it’s more than 1.4 million books and the underlying archives containing more than 2.6 million scrolls and other parchments. It simultaneously rendered it the largest collection of written materials in all of Equestria and Equus. So in contrast to that, her library was relatively small. Then again, the massive and impressively adorned building, with it’s sturdy walls and foundation to ward off the knowledge within. Had been solely constructed in her name, and she was also the head mare of the same, which basically made the Canterlot Library her property....Yeaaah. Forget about that!
In addition, feathers; parchment scrolls and other small items that might come in handy teleported into the storage space of the bag, magically enlarged by an enhanced spacious spell. Sure, Twilight could just stash all her belongings in her own pocket dimension, a dimension possessed by every alicorn. But she loved to take her saddlebag with her whenever she left the castle - it had simply nostalgic reasons for the ancient mare. And whether she carried an extra 200 books on her back or in her pocket dimension, it made no difference for her. Alicorns, as mentioned, were clearly very strong.
Once the last item had gone into her saddlebag, it closed by itself and a soft click was heard as the many protective spells on the item activated to fulfill their purpose.
With a final sly look, Twilight darted towards the exit of her chambers and with a deft flick of her magic, she swung open the heavy cedar door. The protective spells that lay on the door were deactivated as long as one tried to open the door from the inside. Still, it was not possible for just any creature to open the door from the inside. That by itself would be much too easy and careless. One had to be either her or a close confidant of Twilight and be integrated into the magic Networks of protection, security and transport. All of it to even begin to try to open the door from the inside, without suffering a paralysis spell.
From the outside it was even more complicated than that and apart from the respective princess herself, the door could not be opened by anyone. Not even the onces integrated into the network. Sure an alicorn possessed strong enough magic to break even these spells at some point. The spells were powerful, but an alicorn had the ability to get through them with brute strength as there was currently no other material other than alicornite that could be enchanted strong enough by an alicorn and it´s magic to withstand the same without breaking at one point. And casting their magic onto the door to create a alicorn magic force field – one that was indestructible like they were normally from them, was not a option either. Several magical inconsistencies permitted it – even for her. But someday she would manage to solve the equation…
However, it may well have taken even her sisters hours to do so. Probably that long to even get a tiny crack into the door. For her, the whole thing would be a matter of minutes maybe the quarter of an hour if she was lazy. Or she could just knock and be accepted through the door within seconds. Why use your force when there were far easier ways?
Upon fully opening the door, Twilight slowly strode through it, closing it behind her as she fully passed the broad frame. As it closed, the nearly innumerable runes, wards, and locking spells placed on the door by Twilight subsequently activated with a soft click. It caused a slight smirk to flit across the mare's muzzle, each time delighted anew at her own capabilities.
Twilight took a fleeting glimpse out of one of the many tall and wonderfully colorful decorated windows, scattered along the corridors of the entire castle’s halls. There she was able to catch sight of Luna's moon sparkling brightly through the window beside her own stars in an almost breathtaking grace. Leaving the floor below the stained glass window lit up in a spectacle of hundreds of wonderful individual splotches of color.
* End of Chapter One *