The midnight moon glistened over the quiet and peaceful serene Ponyville. All was still. All was calm. Everything was fine.
*CLANK* *THUD* *CRASH*
Everywhere, except the library, where a purple Alicorn scattered through the remains of the once organized bookshelves. The floor seemed to be buried in the hills upon hills of books. They were flung across the room as the restless Alicorn peeked for the smallest detail on anything she was looking for. One by one, she skimmed every volume in the library.
"No. No. No. No. No."
The hopelessness finally got to her and she threw the countless books she held in every direction.
"Why isn't there anything about it here!?"
"Why isn't what here, Twilight?"
The tireless Alicorn turned around to see she woke up her dragon assistant, Spike. Spike, however, got used to this routine. Twilight becomes paranoid about something she can't figure out. She becomes determined to figure it out. The longer it takes, the crazier she gets. Spike thought that Twilight would be done with her oversampled study time now that she was an Alicorn. He said to himself, Good thing to know some things never change. He started picking up some of the books while Twilight explained why she had to ruin (for the 14th time) his almost complete dream where he found the largest gem pile in all of Equestria. At least this time, she managed not to wake up half of Ponyville with me.
"I was going over my checklist on checking topics I'd look for in history. Then I came across one: 'What happened between Hearth's Warming Day and Princess Celestia's Rule Over Equestria'. Sounds like an easy topic right?"
Silence. Though Spike thought that statement was rhetorical, he gazed at her under-slept eyes, now bulging and twitching for a response. She needed him to answer it.
"Right?"
Twilight jumped, "WRONG! I've been searching every book in my library on SOMETHING that fit that time frame! But guess what Spike?"
"You couldn't find anythi-"
"I couldn't find anything! ANYTHING!"
Uh-oh. Twilight is starting to go crazy. Gotta find a way to calm her down. "How about we ask the princess about it. I mean, she was there when it all happened. Right?"
Twilight recoiled. She considered why she even needed to throw everything in the library floor looking for a lost story when she could get it from her mentor herself, Princess Celestia. Twilight's eyes calmed as she accepted Spike's suggestion. Spike noticed and sighed in relief. He didn't think his plan would actually work.
"You're right Spike. What better way to research Princess Celestia's rule over Equestria than Princess Celestia herself? Spike, take a letter, to the princess."
With quill and paper at the ready, Twilight began her request:
Dear Princess Celestia,
* * *
The now well rested Twilight woke up quietly and uninterrupted. As she stretched, she looked around. Spike wasn't in his bed. Perhaps I slept longer than I wanted to. That was not often the case. But then again, Twilight woke up later than Spike. Now that was saying something.
As she made her way to the other rooms in the library, Twilight heard a loud belch and saw a green flash of light. His claws grabbed hold of a piece of paper.
"Celestia responded!"
Twilight telepathically snatched the letter from Spike. Her heart was racing as she glued her eyes to the text from the princess:
My dearest most faithful student Twilight Sparkle,
Any subject relating to the origins of modern-day Equestria is unfortunately classified. However, because of your recent coronation, I am allowing you to hear the story, firsthoof, from me. Please bring you and you alone to the castle to receive further instructions. Keep in mind you might not return to Ponyville for a few days. My royal escort chariot will arrive noon today.
-Princess Celestia
Twilight slowly curved up the sides of her cheeks as she read. She became unable to contain her excitement. Twilight sprung up in the air and shouted in delight upon reading it.
Twilight couldn't believe she was allowed to be able to hear top secret information about the establishment of her country. At that moment. Twilight stopped mid-jump. Something didn't seem right. She never once heard about confidential historical events, especially regarding such a huge gap in political formation. Everything unknown in Equestrian history was either a myth or missing documents. What is so important about keeping this all a secret? Twilight's joy quickly turned to confusion. What was her mentor hiding?
"Spike, what time is it?"
"10:15. Why Twilight?"
"The letter says the guards will pick me up at 12. But it also says I might not be back for a couple of days. I better take this time to say goodbye to my friends."
* * *
By 11:45, Twilight was able to say her farewells to her five best friends, all of which went with her to see her departure. Everypony except Rarity. Though she wanted to go, she had little time to work on outfits for a wealthy client who traveled from Canterlot. Twilight understood the importance of the attire.
By the time the five reached the house, Twilight could see the two escorts had already made it to the library a little early. Without any time to waste, she boarded the chariot and waved to her friends until they were not even specs in the horizon.
* * *
As she neared Canterlot's castle, Twilight could already see somepony waiting for her on the front courtyard. When the chariot landed, a familiar face galloped to greet her.
"Twily!"
Twilight braced herself to a full-charged hug. She was glad to see her BBBFF again.
"Shining Armor! Its so wonderful to see you again. Shouldn't you be in the Crystal Empire? What are you doing here?"
"I should be asking you the same thing. Before I could return to the Crystal Empire this morning, I've been asked from princess Celestia herself to brief a guest about a meeting with her. So how about I walk you over to where you two are going to talk."
"You mean, you're going to stay here with me and keep me company?"
Shining Armor frowned. "As much as I would want to stay, after this, I have to take the next train back to the Crystal Empire. I only stayed here to drop you off."
Twilight let out a disappointed sigh. It seems like nopony else will keep me company for the week. Well, one week with the princess wouldn't be that bad. Right then, memories of Twilight's fillyhood flooded her brain. Why should I be worried? It'll be like old times. Just the princess and me.
Twilight and Shining Armor were very quiet on their way there. As nice as it was that the two were reunited, they had been seeing each other often over the past few months. The two didn't really have much to talk about. Shining Armor led Twilight through the castle's many sets of descending stairs. The further they went down, the less other ponies there were, until it was only them two left on the hallway floor. Twilight thought, If there were any more stairs, they would belong to King Sombra.
"Princess Celestia is in the room at the end of the hallway. Is there anything else you need before I head back?"
"No. Thank you for bringing me here."
"Just a soldier doing my duty."
With a final hug, Shining Armor started his ascent up the stairs. The eerie vibe of the underground portion of the castle's dim corridors gave Twilight a chill. The walls held protruding torches. Each step felt heavier as Twilight made her way across the stone floor. An intimidatingly large carved wooden door towered in front of the Alicorn. The figures embedded in resembled some of the worst monsters inhabiting the Everfree Forest. Alright. Here goes nothing.
* * *
The door loudly creaked as Twilight slowly opened it. The room itself seemed somewhat...natural. Instead of cobbled tiles, the ground was made of soft carpet. The walls were decorated with fairly modern paintings. To top it off, the furnished sofas made Twilight feel right at home.
"Good afternoon Twilight Sparkle."
"Huh?"
Twilight refocused to the pony at the end of the room. The sudden change of scenery almost made Twilight forget about why she was here. Sure enough, Princess Celestia was sitting near the opposite wall.
"I'm so sorry Princess. I just lost focus when I saw the amazing design of this room."
Celestia simply nodded slowly. "Its alright Twilight. I refurbished it so you can get comfortable. Come sit down beside me so we can begin."
The princess's horn glowed and the door roared shut. Then, the door flashed a mirror-like barrier with hexagonal magical tiles. Twilight recognized that spell.
"A sound barrier?"
"Yes Twilight. It is for extra security."
Twilight looked confused. She didn't feel like any of the precautions were necessary. Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but could not find the words. She wouldn't dare question the authority of her princess. Twilight made her way to the nearest sofa and sat upwards.
"I understand you have many questions about how I came to power. You wish to know the truth. As much I don't wish to release this information. I trust it with you, Twilight.
"Equestria has had a dark and shallow past. Before I came to power, many ponies were doing the right things for the wrong reasons. When I came to power, it was only because of Discord. After Luna and I wielded the Elements to stop him, Equestria was in ruins. The original ponies in charge of the government died during that period of chaos. Me and my sister stepped in until the ponies had a stable government up and ready to replace us. The citizens were unable to find enough suitable replacements during their lifetimes. As they faded from existence, so did their plans. After a hundred years, everypony had accepted us as the rulers of Equestria. We've maintained this nation forever since."
Twilight could not believe what she was hearing. To think that Celestia and Luna were never meant to rule seemed ludicrous. Celestia's brief explanation of how she came to power just filled Twilight's brain with more questions.
"But the you and Luna are Alicorns! Wouldn't that alone be convincing to be fit to rule over Equestria? Its not like fate that the two of you are immortal with the gift of raising the sun and moon."
Celestia remained silent for a second. She needed to pick her next words very carefully.
"That may be so, but those tasks didn't mean much when it came to government. Though Luna and I were the only Alicorns at the time, back then, that wasn't a symbol of royalty as we see it today. We only stood as the rulers of Equestria then because Equestria would have died without able rulers. Before that, we had little political involvement. Luna and I merely raised the sun and moon."
The room remained quiet while Twilight was trying to think of more questions. This still doesn't make sense. How could society cast away two Alicorns? Perhaps i'm thinking too far ahead. Maybe I should wind the clock back a little more.
"Princess. How were you born?"
Celestia didn't flinch when asked that question. "I suppose you should know about my origin. That story requires some insight before I tell you about what happened."
Celestia turned around and levitated a wooden box in front of her. She revealed the inside of the box: paper, sheets upon sheets of paper. The princess carefully picked up a card and held it in front of Twilight. Twilight grabbed the card herself with her own magic. It was a photograph arranged like a postcard. Wherever the place was, it had tall rectangular buildings at a wide range of heights. Across were buildings floating on clouds. The right side of the photo was a statue of a colt. He had a biped stance and held his left hoof forward and his right hoof back, presenting the masterpiece of the floating city behind him. The text at the bottom said "Greetings from Celestia".
"Is this old Clousdale?"
Celestia briefly chuckled. "No Twilight. Cloudsdale did not exist until much after. That is the floating city of Celestia. I was named after it."
Twilight looked at the card then back to the princess, back at the card, then back to the princess again. "Why did you show me this?"
"Because Twilight, the place had more connections to me than my name. This was my birth home."
Those were the magic words to unlock the muscle's holding Twilight's jaw. Such a glamourous birthplace. Why is it no longer here?, Twilight asked herself. After half a minute of getting her brain functioning again, Twilight asked, "What happened?"
"The story behind the floating city in the sky was that it was a symbol, a symbol of the success and virtues of Equestria. It boasted the power of a very once proud and now long-gone Equestria. However, the city was blinded by their nationalism. Once, they violently attacked innocent griffon towns because some griffons revolted against the Equestrian territories in their land. Canterlot officials asked the leader of Celestia, Zachary Clopstock, to head home because of the trouble they caused. Clopstock refused to step down, and they seceded from Equestria."
"Where were you when this happened?"
"Me? I was in the city itself when it happened. I was... too young to understand the complexities."
Celestia passed Twilight another picture. This time it was unicorn colt. His clothing was old-fashioned and formal. "Princess, who is this?"
"That is a colt of orders. He was hired to go to Celestia, retrieve a mare, and bring her to Manehattan."
"Princess, this is wonderful and all," Twilight looked at all the stuff she had been given, "but what does this have to do with you?"
"In a minute, my faithful student. All will be revealed. To understand my past, you must first follow the story of this colt, whom, without knowing, changed the course of all Equestrian history in more ways than one. You must learn about the colt and the debt."