//------------------------------// // The Search for Answers // Story: The Tale of Princess Celestia and Jake // by Sky Hawk //------------------------------// The next morning Celestia woke and felt refreshed. She trotted over to the mirror and examined it closely. There didn’t seem to be anything different about it, just a normal mirror. Had it been a dream? Was Luna responsible for what happened last night? She wondered as she set about raising the sun. At breakfast her sister joined her as she always did. Dinner and breakfast were the two times of day the sisters saw one another and spoke. “Good morning Luna,” Celestia said with cheer. “How was your evening?” Caught off guard at her sister’s sudden change in mood, Luna stared at her and then answered, “It was fine. You seem to be doing well this morning. What happened to you last night?” “First, I have a question for you. Did you come into my dreams last night?” the older sister asked. “I did not. Why do you ask?” “Did you cast a spell on the mirror in my room?” “No, what is going on with you?” Luna giving her a curious look. At her sister’s reply, Celestia’s smile grew on her face. Her sister would be the only one powerful enough to enchant the mirror to another world. She was also the princess of dreams. She could enter a pony’s dreams and help them if nightmares were too bad. “Something happened last night I can’t explain. After you left despite your council I was still feeling depressed. Then as I was laying in my bed, the mirror came to life. I saw a world not of our own. I met a child from that world. He listened to me and offered his friendship. His name is Jake and he is from the planet Earth.” The younger sister listened to every word without interruption. “Sister, you must let me see if this really happened, or if it was a dream. May I look into your mind?” “Please do. I must know if it was real or not. It seemed real but I must know for sure.” With that Luna came around the table and placed her horn on Celestia’s. Luna saw everything that happened that night in a quick replay in her mind. When she finished, she pulled away. “This was real, it was not a dream. I did not detect any hostility towards you or the kingdom. However it is strange that I do not know how the spell happened.” “I don’t know either. That is why I’m heading for the library to look for answers.” The younger princess looked confused. “Why not ask the royal mages for help? You could also ask Twilight. She is always good at research and--” “No,” the older sister cut in. “No pony else will know of this for the time being. I want to look into this myself. I can ask if you have ever heard of Earth.” “The universe is vast, Tia. For every star in my sky there are an untold number more beyond those. For every star, countless planets circle each. I’m afraid I can’t help unless I know more. At dinner this evening let me know what you discover. I will help you in your research this evening, I’m just glad to hear joy in your voice once more,” she said, (a warm smile crossing her face.) “Whoever this Jake is, we own him a debt. He has done what no pony else could do. I hope I get the chance to meet him,” she said as she returned to her seat. The sisters finished breakfast and Luna went to bed. Celestia handled her morning reports with the kingdom. Once she had finished, she went to the library, where she hoped answers could be found. At first she went through the normal areas of the library. Then she turned her attention to the Starswirl the Bearded section. The wizard had been THE source of knowledge when it came to the obscurities of magic. He had lived longer and done more than any other unicorn in history. Hours passed and she poured over volumes of texts. She couldn’t remember the last time she had spent this long in a library. Finally she came across a journal of the old wizard’s. In it he spoke of the oddities of magic, and how sometimes it had a will of its own. As if everything in the universe were connected somehow. That part sounded like the definition of harmony, which Celestia was very used to. However, the old wizard always did have trouble understanding harmony, because he desired knowledge over friendship. Then she came to a part where the wizard spoke of opening a portal to a strange world. In this world there were creatures called humans. They were the dominant species there. They owned horses and treated them as property. The horses could not speak and were no more than animals, unlike the pony tribes of Equestria. Celestia read on for what seemed like hours. Apparently the old wizard had spent awhile there. The name of the world was Earth, and they seemed to have some of the same problems that had plagued Equestria during the early part of her reign. The princess remembered those dark times and a shudder ran down her back. One day Starswirl couldn’t open the portal to Earth. He concluded that the universe is in constant motion. Due to this a portal between worlds could only be possible for a time. After that, travel to the world would be impossible until the universe came back into alignment. There was also a side note scribbled in, but the writing was unreadable. Time had worn it down. Celestia flipped to the final page and saw an illustration of a mirror…her mirror. The description read how the wizard had used this magic mirror as a way to communicate over great distances. But there were no instructions on how to operate it. How long has that been hanging in my room? She thought back and then it hit her. Ever since she had moved to the new castle from their old one, after she had banished her sister to the moon. Over 1000 years and it just now wants to work? Then she remembered what the journal had said, “Magic has a will of its own.” In her early years when she was being trained in the ways of magic, her teacher had said that nothing happens without a reason. At dinner Celestia told Luna everything that she had found. The younger sister vowed she would keep looking for anything more about the mirror. After dinner she returned to her room and started to experiment with the mirror. She tried casting spells on it, looking deep into it, even calling out Jake’s name and demanding he appear but nothing worked. She walked out to her balcony and looked into her sister’s beautiful night sky. She wondered if Jake was doing the same. She wondered if she would ever see him again. It seemed cruel for the universe to grant her wish only to turn right around and take it away again. Then there was a knock at her door. “Who is it?” The door opened and Dusty stood in the door way with a glass of milk and a cupcake. “Good evening my lady. I hope I’m not bothering you but I thought this might cheer you up.” Celestia smiled at the gesture. “You can put it on the table. Thank you Dusty.” The maid came set the tray on the table and then looked at Celestia. “If you don’t mind my asking, is everything alright?” “Everything is fine,” the princess said as she walked over to Dusty. “I’m just doing a little late night work.” The maid gave Celestia a worried look. “If you insist, but if there is anything I can do please let me know. I’m concerned for you.” “Really, I’m fine Dusty. It’s sweet of you to be concerned for me but I’m alright.” Besides you wouldn’t be able to help me with this problem anyways. “Very well, goodnight,” and with that she curtsied and left. With every passing day Celestia became more frustrated with the mirror. Luna had found nothing. She even had a guard posted by the mirror when she wasn’t there, to watch it. If anything happened she didn’t want to miss it. Still for 7 days nothing happened. She was starting to give up hope when on the 8th night she felt a longing in her heart. Somehow she knew Jake was thinking of her. She walked over to the mirror and sat before it. “Oh Jake, where are you?” she asked as she closed her eyes. Suddenly she heard a voice. “I’m right here. Where have you been all this time, Tia?” She looked up and into the eyes of a much older Jake. She was stunned into silence as the two stared at each other. Jake had his arms crossed and was obviously waiting for an answer, but still wore a grin. “What happened to you? I’ve been trying to reach you for over a week and how do you look so old?” “A week?!” The shock on Jake face was undeniable. “It’s been 8 years here! I was starting to think I had just dreamed you up.” Celestia didn’t know what to say. Nothing in the journal had said anything about the time being this off between the worlds. Then she remembered the side note that couldn’t be read. That was what it must have been about. The wizard would never have left out such an important detail in his research. She quickly regained her composure. She wasn’t sure how long she would have to speak with him and she didn’t want to waste any time. “How have you been?” Jake smiled, “I’m fine but maybe you should go first. It’s only been a little over a week for you and years for me.” She told him of all the research she had done on the mirror. How her kind had visited his world once before a long time ago. She had no idea about the time difference and why was he not aging before her eyes. Once again he had no answers for her. He was just glad she had been trying to reach him all this time. He said how he had done the same for awhile and then had given up and just waited. He told her of his life; it had been a good one. He still dreamed of her, which only made her blush. He was not the boy she remembered. When they had first spoken he was 7. Now he was 15 years old and growing quick. They spoke on just about everything, from school to what he was planning on doing when he was finished with school. His dream was to be a pilot. After Jake explained what a pilot was, it made more sense to her. When Celestia told Jake about the ability to open a portal to Earth, he was eager to find out when that could happen. “I would love to have you over for a visit,” he said, beaming. “We would just have to wait for my grandparents to get out of the house. I don’t know how I would explain you to them.” “Well don’t worry. If you came here I would have to keep you secret. No pony else knows of you except my sister.” At the mention of her younger sister Jake started in on a flurry of new questions. “What does your sister do? What does she look like? Do you like her?” Celestia was careful not to tell him that they were royalty. She smiled. “Well she raises the moon and watches over the dreams of others. She is smaller than I and dark like the night sky and yes, I love her very much.” They talked for hours. Soon it was getting close to the time to raise the sun. The alicorn looked concerned. “I have to go soon, Jake. I don’t know when I will get to speak with you again. I have missed you and I hope this will not be the last time we speak. You’re not angry with me about so much time going by, are you?” Jake reached out to the mirror as if to touch her beautiful face. “How could I ever be angry with you? You’re my friend and I yours. It isn’t your fault for so much time going by. Who knows, maybe one day you will figure out how to open that portal and we can finally meet face to face.” “I would like that,” Celestia said, smiling at the thought. Then she got an idea. “Why can’t I come? I will find out how to come to you. I can use magic to create a disguise to look like a human.” “Can you really do that? Change from one creature to another?” “It is very powerful magic but I can do it. That way you can show me around and no one will ever know.” “Brilliant!” Jake jumped to his feet. “How soon can you do this?” “I don’t know. Time is moving so fast for you. It might be years your time before I can figure out the portal.” She didn’t want to kill the mood but it was the truth. If she took too long Jake may be dead of old age. Also the universe must be in proper alignment and there was no telling if that would even happen in his life time. As if he had read her mind he quickly responded, “Don’t worry. This is the second time we have gotten to speak. Like you said we may not get another. If we do or you figure this out before I die then so be it. If not then it was fun while it lasted. No matter what, I don’t want you to blame yourself.” The alicorn looked hurt at the mention of this might be the last time they would get to speak. Then resolve came to her. “It’s not fair. I don’t want to lose you. I have to figure this out. I WILL figure this out.” She looked outside and saw the moon setting. “I have to go Jake. Please don’t forget me.” Her eyes were pleading. “Don’t worry Tia. It would be impossible to forget you. Now go do what you have to do.” Jake bid her goodnight and once again his image faded. They had talked all night and it didn’t even seem that long. It never was long enough. At breakfast, Celestia was practically falling asleep. “What happened?” Luna asked. “I spoke with Jake last night…all night,” she said barely able to keep her eyes open. “How did you do it?” “I don’t know. I just wanted to speak with him like always and he was there but something happened. Time moves quicker for him than it does for us. One day our time is one year his time.” Luna was floored. “I’m so sorry Tia. At that rate…” she trailed off not wanting to state the obvious. “How long do humans live?” “I’m not sure. I’m assuming as long as the mortals of our world live, but that’s just a guess.” Celestia’s head was starting to drop slowly towards the table. “Go to bed. You are in no shape to perform your royal duties. I will handle things today,” the young princess announced. “I can’t go to sleep. Time is short. I must find a way to open a portal. I want to see him.” “I will look. You must sleep. Just look at yourself. You’re going to sleep whether you want to or not.” Unable to argue the point any longer, Celestia gave in to her sister. She went off to bed without another word. She awoke hours later feeling better but still tired. As she put herself together to see what Luna may have found, she glanced at the floor in front of the mirror. Lying there was a folded piece of paper. She unfolded it and started to read. It was from Jake. It looked like a journal entry. How did it get here? What if the mirror worked for letters the way she sent them to Twilight? She quickly scribbled down a note to Jake. Jake, if you get my note write me back. Just put it near the mirror. Your friend Tia As she finished the note, it began to glow. Then it floated over to the mirror and vanished. A few moments later another note appeared in front of the mirror and dropped to the floor. Celestia ran over to the note and read it. Tia, received your note. This is great! Now we can write each other. Your friend Jake Reading the note she forgot her royal bearing and pranced around the room like an excited filly. She grabbed the note and took off to find Luna. She found her sister in the Library pouring over a book in the Starswirl the Bearded wing. She laid the note in front of Luna, “It’s from Jake! The mirror allows letters to be sent as well as verbal communication.” “When did you find this out?” she asked thankful to have a break from the book she was reading. “Just now, I woke up and there it was in front of mirror.” “Well that is better than what I’ve got, which is nothing so far. For exploring a new world there is surprising little about it. One would think that such a discovery would be not so difficult to look up.” Celestia frowned at this and went over to the journal where she had found the first notes of the wizard. Flipping through it she noticed that at the end there was an illustration of the mirror then nothing. A closer look revealed that some pages were missing. “Some pages are missing at the end, here come and look.” “You are right. We should have caught this sooner. So where do you think they went?” Luna asked. “I’m not sure. I can’t imagine any pony purposely vandalizing these books. Not to mention this wing of the library is kept under lock and key due to the sensitive subject matter that is contained here. However, there has been no break-in and we are the only ponies who have been here lately.” The sisters stood and thought but without the last pages of the wizard’s journal the knowledge they were seeking might be lost forever. With no leads they retired from the library for the evening. Dinner was the quietest it had been in days as both seemed lost in thought. Finally Luna broke the silence. “We shouldn’t just give up. There has to be a way,” the young princess said. “I know what you mean but the answer will come. We must be patient and keep investigating. Also thank you for helping me today. You were right about needing the sleep.” “It was nothing. I have a chance to see ponies and events I don’t get to see during the course of a normal night. I’m sorry I didn’t find anything though,” she said with regret in her voice. “You have nothing to apologize for. You have been a big help. You covered for me, listened to me and have been there the whole time. I couldn’t have asked for more. No matter what happens, I am grateful for you.” Luna smiled at her sister’s comments. “I have to go. If I can think of anything I will let you know.” With that, she was off to perform her nightly patrol. Tired, Celestia returned to her room, her mind still working on her current dilemma. When she got there, she found Dusty inside. This wasn’t unusual since it was her job to keep her ruler’s chambers in order. However this time, Celestia found her reading from a pile of letters in front of the mirror. She walked quietly in and cleared her throat. Dusty jumped and spun around to face the princess. “What are you doing?” Celestia asked. Dusty dropped the letter and quickly bowed. “I’m sorry your Highness, I didn’t hear you come in.” “That’s not what I asked you. What were you doing reading those letters?” “These are from your friend Jake, the child from another world?” “This isn’t like you Dusty. You have never invaded my privacy before. What is going on? Please just tell me.” Dusty looked away feeling embarrassed. “I had to know. I have overheard your conversations with him. I wanted to know his intentions for you.” “And what did you discover about him?” “He is telling you how his life is going. He misses you and hopes to see you soon. I apologize for all of this, my lady, but I know what you have been looking for in the library.” The princess was shocked but curious at the same time. “Please go on.” “For months now I’ve noticed your depression. The tear stained pillows, the soft crying as you fall asleep. I tried to get you to talk about it but you would pretend like nothing was wrong. Then something in you changed for the better. Your mood lightened up, and you seemed genuinely happy for the first time in a long time. I noticed you were spending an unusual amount of time in the restricted section of the library. After I overheard your second conversation with Jake, I could only assume you were looking for a way to operate Starswirl’s mirror and get to Earth. Then today I came in here to straighten up and noticed the mail on the floor. I thought nothing of it till I read one of the open letters.” She knows everything?! The princess had underestimated the resourcefulness of her servant. It was taking everything she had to not show the shock on her face. “That still doesn’t explain why you invaded my privacy.” Dusty looked directly into the princess’s eyes. “My family has faithfully served the kingdom for many generations, as far back as the time of Starswirl himself. A relative of mine even did the same job as I do now for the wizard during the day. She helped him with his research on the side and because of this was entrusted with a great secret. Starswirl realized the danger of mixing the two worlds. It was his fear that either evil would come here from Earth or some corrupt ruler would go conquer there. He felt pony kind as a whole wasn’t ready for such knowledge. So he removed the last few pages of his journal. These pages contain the location of Earth, how to open the portal and what to look for to make sure the universe is in proper alignment. It also tells how to operate his mirror.” As Dusty spoke Celestia eyes grew large. The missing pages, finally. The problem was about to be solved and she could go see Jake. The maid kept going. “The pages were entrusted to my family. It was thought no one would ever find out but in the event someone did they had to be of good character. Also if contact was made with the other world that person must also be of good character. As you know the early rulers of the three tribes were not as kind and loving as yourself. I know how important this Jake is to you. I have watched you over the years at events and holidays. You put on a brave face but I know how lonely you are. And though I wish I could offer my hoof in friendship it isn't the same. You needed a special pony. Happy as you were to get your sister back after the Chosen one and her friends freed her, it still wasn’t enough. I had to be sure of him. If all I had to go on was his letters and the conversations it would be enough. If you wait right here, I will bring you what you seek.” The princess didn’t know what to say. She walked over to maid and without a word embraced her. A tear of joy ran down her cheek. Dusty was surprised by this for a moment and then she returned the embrace. The two stood for a moment holding one another. She brushed the back of Celestia’s mane. “It is alright. You have done so much for every pony. You deserve to be able to go out and find happiness for yourself.” “You have nothing to be sorry for, I’m sorry. I should have had more faith in you. I have to be so strong all the time for all my subjects. I..I didn’t know who to trust with this information.” Dusty squeezed the princess harder as she began to tear up. “Thank you, my lady. You were right to keep this to yourself. However royalty should never apologize to a servant like me.” Celestia released the maid and wiped away her tears. “That’s the right of royalty. I can apologize to whomever I choose. You have an answer that I needed, for my friend doesn’t have the luxury of time.” The maid wiped her eyes and gave a curtsy. She quickly left only to return with an old leather pouch. In it were the last few pages of the wizard’s journal. She then took her leave of the princess.