Celestia sighed to herself as she sat in her room. It was a rare moment right before the day began where she did not have anything urgent to be doing. She could just sit back and think. Of course, this was a lot easier said than done, due to her large vault of memories. Being an immortal meant that at any one moment in time, she would have dozens of thoughts competing for her attention. Today was different, however, because there was only one thing on the forefront of her mind. Twilight Sparkle.
The Princess had arranged for her sister, Luna, to take over her duties the next day, and she was looking forward to a full day of just spending some time alone with her student. She hadn’t spent a proper day with Twilight in a long time, and was looking forward to hearing about everything that her student had learned recently. Receiving letters was fine and all, but sometimes, it was refreshing to talk to her subjects face to face.
She allowed a smile to creep on her face as she thought about what her student must be doing right now. No doubt she was probably stressed to the limit trying to make everything just perfect for the Princess’s arrival. Celestia had informed her that the visit would be informal, and not to tax herself trying to arrange something intricate, but no doubt Twilight would still do her best to prepare for royalty. This was both a source of great amusement for Celestia, and, at times, a slight frustration. She just hoped Twilight didn’t go into a frenzy trying to get the whole town prepared for the visit, as she only wanted to spend time with her student personally.
Celestia decided that, whatever Twilight did, she had no control over it and she should just take it in stride. She allowed herself another sigh, got up from her position on her bed, and headed out to perform the day’s duties. The sun wouldn’t rise on its own, after all. Not in this day and age, at least, she mused to herself.
“Hurry up Spike! The Princess could be here any minute!”
“I’m going, I’m going! Yeesh! You need to calm down Twilight! It’s only an informal meeting, and before you go off on me again saying that there is nothing informal about royalty, I will remind you that the Princess even requested that you keep it informal and not go all out like you have on several past occasions.”
“I know, I know. It’s just that, Celestia is my teacher, even if I have left to go live on my own. What if this visit is some sort of test to see if I am prepared for anything? What if I don’t pass?! What if she has me sent back to school to learn how to be prepared?!”
“Twilight!” Spike yelled “Snap out of it! This isn’t a test! If she wanted to see if you could be prepared in an instant, she wouldn’t have sent a letter one week in advance.” Twilight started to calm down again after Spike mentioned that last bit. He was right, and she should have seen that too.
“Sorry Spike. You know how I get when the Princess visits.”
“Yeah, I know. Just calm down a bit. How about we go outside for some fresh air and wait for the Princess? You know she made it a beautiful day out just for this occasion. It would be a shame not to enjoy it.”
“Yeah, your right. We’ve probably done all we can do for the library anyway.” The library was practically shining from all the cleaning they had been doing. There wasn’t a crumb on the floor (a rare occurrence) and not a single book was out of place (Even rarer).
The both walked outside into the bright sunshine. But that wasn’t the only thing they walked into…
“Surprise!” Pinkie shouted into Twilight’s face the moment she stepped outside. Twilight took a step back from Pinkie and looked around. Somehow, Pinkie had managed to set up an entire party right outside her house without her knowing it. There was a long table with a banquet of food set up on it and a piñata was hung from one of her tree’s branches. All her friends were gathered around a smaller table with a giant cake set atop it.
“Pinkie, how-”she stopped when she saw her friends shaking their heads and making cut-off gestures. “-come you threw me a party?” she improvised. Pinkie, however, seemed oblivious to the pause in her sentence.
“Well~ I heard that Princess Celestia was visiting and you know she hasn’t visited in a while and I started thinking about how to best welcome her because you know I don’t know what the Princess likes and then I was like Let’s throw her a party because everypony loves parties at least I hope they do because if they didn’t like my parties that would mean I was doing a bad job and that would make me sad.” She somehow managed to get that all out in one breath, and not a one of them had caught a single word of it. So they just nodded and decided to go along with it.
“Well, thanks for being here everypony. I was getting kind of nervous about the Princess visiting and all.” Twilght chuckled sheepishly.
“Well that’s why ya got us sugarcube! What else are friends for? Besides, Ah wouldn’t miss a visit from the Princess for the world!” Applejack exclaimed.
“Girls…”
“Oh, absolutely darling. Besides, if the Princess is here, she may not mind telling us about all the new trends in Canterlot!” Rarity’s eyes took on a dreamy look at the prospect.
“Girls, I really think you should look behind you.” Fluttershy tried again.
“Well, actually, I was hoping to ask the Princess about the past of Equestria.” Twilight said.
“Well darling, why don’t you just look in some of those books you are always reading? No offense of course.”
“Girls? I really think you should turn around.” Fluttershy tried once more.
“I can’t Rarity. I’ve looked and looked but there are no books on the subject I want to look up. And the books I have read merely take guesses.”
“And what is this supposed subject?” said a voice from behind the girls.
They all collectively gasped and turned around to see Princess Celestia standing there in full glory. They all sheepishly started to bow to their Princess.
“Now, I will have none of that. This is a visit among friends, as I am your friend just as I am your Princess, and I wish to be treated as such.” She royally stated.
“Princess…” Twilight started
“I would prefer to be called Celestia while I am here, Twilight.”
“All right Pri- I mean Celestia.” Twilight amended.
“Now what is this subject you want to know more about? I am very curious to hear what you want to know that only I can tell you.”
“W-well uh you see, I was wondering if, maybe, if you don’t mind-“ Twilight seemed to be kind of nervous now that she had the opportunity.
“How about we enjoy this party that your friends have set up and you can ask me later, when were alone.”
“Yeah… that sounds good.”
The party was a simple affair, compared to most Pinkie Pie parties. It was, however, the perfect opportunity for the Princess to bond better with the Elements of Harmony. They spent some time simply chatting about recent events that hadn’t been included in Twilight’s letters. When all was said and done, the others decided it was about time that they leave and let Twilight have some time with her mentor.
Now situated in Twilight’s library, Celestia decided it was about time that Twilight asked her what she had wanted to know.
“So, Twilight, what was it you wanted to ask me?”
“Well…” Twilight was still a little hesitant to ask her mentor a question that she thought may be personal. “I was wondering, about…”
“About what?”
“About…about…about the creation of the Universe and ponies.” She suddenly gushed out. She instantly regretted it when she saw the look in her mentor’s eyes too. There was a sadness there that just couldn’t be explained or fathomed by any mortal pony. A sadness that could only have been born of thousands upon thousands of years of mourning.
“So you wish to know the creation story. The one thing that can only be speculated about. The story of which only I and Luna know?” Celestia asked after a pause.
“Y-yes. I mean, if you don’t mind. If you don’t want to tell me, I’ll understand.” Twilight stumbled over her own words.
“No no. I shall tell you. I have kept the secret of the birth of the universe for far too long. If this is truly what you wish to know, then I shall tell you. Under the condition that you must not tell another soul without my permission. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Celestia, I understand.” Twilight solemnly swore.
“The story is a long one at best, as I am assuming you want to know about the creation of the sentient races as well as the universe?” Twilight nodded. “Then I suggest you get comfortable. Before I begin my story, however, where is Spike?”
“I sent him to Rarity’s when she left. She needed the extra work, Spike was only too willing, and I kinda wanted to spend the day alone with you. Do you want him here?”
“No, I merely wished to know why he wasn’t here eagerly waiting for me to tell my story. He does have a lot of curiosity, after all.” She chuckled lightly, some of the sadness seeming to leave her, though it returned when she started her story.
“It all started long ago, with my mother, Sol, creating the universe…”