//------------------------------// // Chapter 1:The second that changed history // Story: Equestrian Paradox: "Worlds at war" // by An Sturmmann //------------------------------// It is said, that a mere second, is a paradox by itself... Something so small, so short, in such a degree that very few things can be done in one, perhaps a blink, a glance, an smile, or even a mere thought, all of those, by themselves are small... short lived, just like a second. In stark contrast, history is huge, in fact, it is so great, so magnificent, so beautiful and majestic, that a mere day, or a month, or even a year is but a blink... a mere unit of measure, for events that are the reason the world is like it is today! And now, things were going like usual, in a beautiful and green land, one wich was blessed with beauty and lore alike, as its inhabitants lived their lives, like everyone does. The sun on the sky shone bright, as its gorgeous golden rays, bathed the streets of what could only be said, was a city of gold and marble, and marvels too, since everything was so perfectly built, it was as if the very own heavens had come down to te mountains, to bestow them with a city made for a god to live in. At least, that would be the description that many would use, to refer to that place, one wich was clearly just "home" to the many small equines wich were the inhabitants of the city of gold and marble. Creatures who merely called this majestic place with a simple name. "CANTERLOT TIMES!" The high pitched voice from an small equine could be heard, as it walked in the sidewalk of the city center, it was clearly a young one, with a gray mane and a pale fur, trotting with a basket floating by it's side, held by some kind of strange pale energy, wich seemed to come from the horn in the head of the little one " CANTERLOT TIMES, HARMONY IS RESTORED, MYSTERIOUS STRUCTURE RISES IN PONYVILLE!" A papercolt it seemed, albeit, the word filly could be better used, due to the feminine aura it had, the small one, kept trotting, as many other ponies were walking, some of them a bit tired looking, while others seemed with pretty high spirits, whatever had happened, it was the talk of the day, as not only the paperfilly, but pretty much everyone was in one way or other, speaking about this event. "I, if I am allowed to speak, had the honor to see how the youngest of the four alicorn princesses, managed to vanquish the magic-eater" "I don't believe such a tale, there is no way you were at ponyville during the final confrontation bewteen the elements and the centaur" "Oh really?, and why do you have such an negative view of my tale?" "Because you were hiding under my bed like a little colt!" Conversations as this one, were all over the city, called, Canterlot, as many mares spoke to each other, in many different places, some where resting on the clouds, other ones were standing near a construction site, another ones were at fancy cafe's, but the truth was, that everypony was minding their own business, while also telling this incredible tale, some of them speaking from experience, others speaking from the few they saw, but most having quite their share of empiric experience. But, the truth is, that this place, Canterlot, is by itself the home of two beings, two who are currently silently looking over the city, at the top of one of the tallests towers in a building wich was the epitome of the city herself, a building with a regal aura, wich presides over the whole city, a beautiful castle. On one of the towers, there laid the pair, silent, calm, peaceful, on a pair of rather simple, albeit comfy looking chairs. "See?, told you the sunset was a beautiful scene Luna, perfect to prepare everypony for the moonrise" Spoke a tall Equine, with extremely long wings and horn alike, with a beautiful flowing mane wich seemed almost hypnotic "Yeah... it is quite the sight sister, albeit, I'm still recovering my strenght... do you think you can help me raise the moon tonight Celestia?" "It will be a pleasure!" Answered up Celestia, as her horn was shining with quite the light, just as the Sun itself seemed to be slowly lowering itself, to make way for another light, one wich seemed to rise at a slow pace, just like the beautiful glow from Luna's horn " Oh, I almost forgot, Congratulations Luna!" " Congratulations?" She couldn't avoid asking taken by surprise "Yes sister, you are speaking in a less formal way, It's a great step towards getting new friends!" "Hehe, I guess that now that Twilight has her own duties as a Princess, you are taking me as a new student" Luna replied, to wich Celestia held quite the nostalgic smile "Maybe Lulu... maybe" Luna tilted her head to the side a bit, watching her sister, empathy making her stand up and walk closer to her, gently giving her an small hug with her right wing, while the light from her horn slowly diminished. "Feel free to open your heart sister, don't be an stupid mare like me a milennia ago" Luna said, a little self-conscious, however, Celestia was quick to speak "You weren't stupid, I was, just like in this milennium I'm still the greedy mare that thinks that everything revolves around her... even now, after Twilight has become something greater than even myself, i'm still adamant on keeping her pretty much tied to me, just like when she was a filly, and I refused to have her leave Canterlot" "You aren't some greedy mare sister, It's just, that Twilight is by now, pretty much your daughter, I threw a Tantrum over myself, you are refusing to allow your little filly to leave the nest, It's normal, every single Mother and Father feels that way, but few can actually let their young ones grow... just like mom did for us" Celestia chuckled a bit as she gave the hug back, but slowly but surely stood tall and proud again. "I'm still amazed at your growth Luna, it took me a thousand years to learn from my mistakes... and yet, you are here teaching me things" She praised as Luna blushed a little "Well, ponies these days have this kind of problems way more than back in the days of yore, besides, I'm still in need to learn lots of things... "Well... then I guess we can teach each other sister, and stop being such crying colts" Celestia joked a bit and Luna chuckled "Yeah... I need to throw less tantrums and you need to be less of a worried father, you do lack the filly pursuing legs still." "What do you say lulu, want to brighten the mood with some old school jokes?" She asked, getting a little kick from Luna left hoof in answer "The likes of 'Mare, I hate my husband'?" "Not that kind of old school jokes, those stopped being funny around a hundred years ago" "Sure, why not?, Most stallions were almost offended by some little jokes i made after helping them with their nightmares... but the mares?, they told me that I needed more recent ones" "Luna, you were telling old school jokes to stallions?" Celestia questioned and luna held a little nervous smile " Yes?" "Lulu, I believe we are WAY overdue a little talk about modern day ways of living... and, another thing now that I remember, you need to hide your 'magazines' in a better place, the cleaning gentlecolt got scared once he found those" "Ugh... now here you are again in 'mother Celestia' mode... guess another Scolding is on its way?" Luna couldn't avoid joking a bit, while Celestia rolled her eyes "Not exactly... but, We do have lots of things to talk about... you teached me something now, so I need to teach you something too" Luna couldn't avoid snorting in a bit of reluctance, just as her horn finished glowing... however, the moon wasn't fully raised when that happened... it was barely half on it's way, almost as if the night was somewhat young. The princesses had no way to know about that little detail, specially now that they were inside the tower, but, even if they weren't aware, the moon seemed to be static, but in fact, was moving in a slow manner, completely by itself. That second, that very exact second where the Princess got distracted, would eventually fade to history, as the harbinger of great changes, but in this night, there wasn't any single one who noticed something strange. Most slept over, others were busy, some others were throwing parties all around the nation, not a single soul noticing the moon slow pace, in contrast to it's normal rising, no one ever. And it was to be expected, because, a second is small, such a change is pretty small too, everypony had sleep, business or parties to attend, and... sometimes I wish we could go back to those days, back when the powder for fireworks... wasn't attached to the word "Gun". "Princess Luna dairy, year 1004 of Celestia Era/Year 0 of new world Era"