//------------------------------// // Relearning History // Story: A Pony's Guidebook to Becoming a Grand Duchess // by RuanQingSi //------------------------------// Unsteady sounds of clip and clop rang throughout one silent hall as the footsteps of one person continued, the absence of any noise only enhancing the volume of Celestia's steps. Halting, the former pony turned to her right to face a succession of windows, which was lined up from the door she exited to another door at the end of the hallway. What greeted her was both an unfamiliar and familiar appearance. Celestia's new face was pale, very pale, almost pure white to be exact. Compared to the other humans with a more tannish skin tone she saw before, her skin would've looked sickly if not for the slight blush of pink in its color. If the substance covering her body was fur, Celestia wouldn't even spare her effort to worry about it, but this was skin. How was she supposed to know if this was healthy? Although the former pony knew nothing about human beauty, she knew the owner of this body shouldn't be considered by others of her kind as having a bad appearance. The face she saw in the windows clearly proved this. Her reflection showed someone with natural peachy lips, violet phoenix eyes, and wavy aurora hair that stretched down to half her two legs. Celestia was deeply surprised when she first saw the features of her new appearance; it was very similar to her appearance as a pony: pale fur, violet eyes, and a cyan, green, blue, and pink mane. She had asked herself if this was her in an alternate world, and after contemplating the odds for awhile, it should be very likely. Done with her appraisal, Celestia returned to her walk down the hallway, but her golden heels was increasingly becoming an obstruction to her ability to appropriately walk. It was already challenging for her to move without stumbling, but to walk with these high things, it would be impossible if she wasn't using her hands to hold on to other objects for her dear life. Luckily, Celestia had came up with the pretext that due to her long coma, her body was weak and unable to walk properly, which was true when she first woke up, or else she didn't know how much suspicion she would attract. It wasn't that Celestia wanted to make her experience as a human more arduous, but the previous Celestia had no other footwear except a large, large collection of high heels, from different colors to different styles. WHAT WOULD YOU NEED THIS MANY HIGH HEELS FOR!? If she were still alive that is, Celestia really wanted a peaceful, calm, conversation with the previous owner of this body face to face. Yes, peaceful. When Celestia entered through a tall hollow arch, which couldn't even be called a door, she saw her "mother" and a strange man who she guessed was some kind of librarian from his clothing. The room they were in was three times the size of the chamber she woke up in. To say it was spacious was an understatement. Looking at the decorations of this place, one of Celestia's eyes twitched. There were twice as many golden and precious objects in this room than in the chamber. Across the walls were several paintings of different people framed with gold, and a huge glistening pearl that rested in display next to one painting. The top of all the pillars in the four corners of this room was made of gold, the chairs were partially made of gold, with valuable stones emblazoned on it, and even the tables were wholly made of gold. Celestia wanted to ask. Are they not afraid of these things being stolen!? Noticing Celestia's entrance, her "mother" immediately stood up from her chair and walked forward to hold her hands. "Celly, you're here," said the woman as she lead Celestia to the table she sat, "You don't know this, but after the doctor diagnosed you with amnesia, I've been telling Thrifty Scroll to compile together a list of history books for you to read." The woman then tenderly pushed Celestia to sit on a chair with a table full of books and stacks of paper. "Who knows, maybe reading could somehow evoke your memory!" She added enthusiastically. Celestia did not refute nor did she find an excuse to escape, but instead complied and smilingly said, "Thank you, mother." There was a flash of astonishment in the woman's eyes, and despite her quick recovery, Celestia was still able to discern the change. She was actually quite nervous, did that sentence give anything away? Pretending not to notice, she picked up a large, dusty, random book from the pile. "We are family, there's no need to be so formal." Said the woman with a slightly forced and bitter smile. Celestia then smiled and responded with an 'okay'. The title of the book she was holding was 'Anecdotes of the First Empress'. Celestia restrained herself from raising an eyebrow. So, the term used to call one's ruler in this world was Empress and Emperor then? Does this mean that the place she was currently residing in was an empire? After all, when the Griffonian Empire still existed, the griffons did called their rulers Emperors. Seeing Celestia staring at the book, her body's mother asked, "Celly, do you remember anything about our empire's history?" Celestia shook her head. Smiling, the woman explained, "Around 80 years ago, our empire was still a weak puppet kingdom of the Griffonian Empire. We were ruled by a fatuous king, broken and battered by war, with corruption rampant due to the rotten officials and nobility." Celestia was a bit stunned. There was still a Griffonian Empire here? "That was until the then unknown General Nightlight rose up in rebellion. He waged war against the corrupt king and aristocracies, allying himself with peasants and angry local powers. To create an alliance with the Crystal Empire and gain their support, he made the king's relationship with them turn sour, then married his son to their princess. He managed to gain control of the central and eastern part of the kingdom in six years. Later, his daughter was able to defeat the nobles and warlords in the west and south after four years of strenuous fighting. Unifying the country, she proclaimed herself Empress Twilight, or, as she is better known, the First Empress." Celestia lowered her head to hide her shock. Before this, she had infered that this world's history would be somewhat similar to her world's. She was proven wrong however as besides parallel identities, there was almost no resemblance! The librarian who had been standing silent commented with regret, "General Nightlight spent most of his life on the battlefield, it was a shame he could not witness the unification of his homeland." Her body's mother heard this and nodded, saying, "Luckily, he had an outstanding daughter who was able to fullfill his dream and establish a prosperous empire." Based on Celestia's observation, it seemed these people had a high opinion of the First Empress and her father. Though, judging from the Empress's title and their words, she wondered whether the First Empress was still alive. "Mother, who is the current ruler of our empire then?" Celestia inquired. Again, there was that layer of sadness that appeared in the woman's eyes when Celestia spoke these words. It was only her speculation, but it seemed the word 'mother' was a bad word to use when she talked with this woman. The woman hastily hid her emotions, answering, "The current ruler is Emperor Macintosh Pierre de Renaud, or Emperor Pierre I. He is the eldest child of the First Empress and one of her consorts." "C-consorts?" Stuttered Celestia. This time, she really was not able to contain her shock at all! "Yes," Replied the woman as if they were just discussing about the weather, "The First Empress bore His Majesty in a barn when she was on one of her campaigns. After his birth, the First Empress gave his father, who was a farmer's son, the title of consort as a reward." Celestia's eyes twitched. "Oh, and the First Empress already had 5 consorts when His Majesty was born." Eh!?