//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Dull Skies // by Glacier Frostclaw //------------------------------// Prologue A blue colt with brown mane and tail was wandering around Canterlot Castle, having nothing better to do at the time. His cutie mark was that of an arcane circle, a very unusual circle with odd symbols encircling it. He wandered down random halls, nodding towards passing guards and civilians and thinking about his recent studies on magic. Soon however, he got a bit hungry and started heading for the kitchen. Reaching his destination, he looked around, noticing the busy ponies working on a feast for the coming Summer Sun Celebration in three days, putting up banners of the sun, as well as ribbons, streamers, and other party decorations. He noticed some baked goods on the table and took a cupcake from the plate. Eating the cupcake quickly, he walked out of the kitchen and back into the hall, before nearly bumping into a pair of royal guards. “Oh, excuse me,” he said quickly, moving out of the way. However, they stopped in front of him, looking very serious, though they always looked that serious, even at the princess’s parties. “The princess would like to speak with you before she raises the moon for the night. She’s currently in her study,” one of the guards stated. The blue pony nodded and walked towards the stairs that led to the princess’s personal study to see what his teacher wanted to speak with him about. ****** Twilight Sparkle looked out the window from Canterlot Castle. She was staring towards the setting sun, thinking of Celestia, her old teacher. It had been so long since Celestia and Luna had made the decision to retire and give her their jobs. Before they left, they turned Twilight into an alicorn, the image of a princess, and announced her as the new ruler of Equestria. She then thought about how happy her friends had been, as a sudden memory coming up from long ago. “Oh… that’s right. Tomorrow is the one thousandth year since I first went to Ponyville…” she said to herself, tears starting to fall from her eyes as she remembered her friends. She may have been made immortal by the princesses of their time, but her friends had not. She sighed and looked up at the sky, smiling at the fond memories she still had of their adventures. “I wish I could see you all again…” At that moment she realized that someone had entered the room, and turned around. “Who’s there?” she asked, looking towards the door. A blue colt appeared from around the corner and smiled at her, causing her to smile back. “Ah Rune, it’s you. I wanted to talk to you about the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration. A long time ago, I was sent by a dear friend to a town I’d never been in hopes of getting me to make friends,” she said, trying to hide a pang of sadness from the word. “I’ve been watching you, and you lack proper friendship like I did at the time, so I would like you to go to Ponyville and look over the preparations tomorrow evening, as well as make some friends, as I did. Can you do that for me, my student?” she asked, looking at the young blue colt. He nodded and she smiled in response. “Thank you. I will arrange everything myself, so you only need to worry about what you’re taking. Now, I must raise the moon for tonight and continue preparations here,” she stated, Rune nodding in response with an “Ok.” She smiled yet again and moved towards the door to get ready to raise the moon, leaving the blue pony in her study as she thought of her friends. May you find friends like the ones I did that day, faithful student. She stopped for a moment and chuckled in amusement. Wow I sounded like Princess Celestia just then. She then continued walking, wondering what her teacher was up to. ****** Rune watched his mentor leave the room and sighed. It didn’t take magic to tell that she was upset about something. He was just about to leave the room as well when he noticed an ancient-looking opened book on Princess Twilight’s desk. His curiosity getting the better of himself, Rune walked over to examine the book. The book appeared to be very old, and the page it was on held several photos as old as the book itself. In one of the pictures was a group of fillies about his age. He examined them closer and noticed that the one in the very center looked a lot like Princess Twilight. Then he looked over the other ponies, each one distinct from the other; a pink pony with puffy pink mane and a triple balloon cutie mark, an orange pony with blonde mane sporting a hat and a triple apple cutie mark, a blue Pegasus with rainbow mane and a cloud and rainbow lightning bolt cutie mark, a yellow Pegasus with long pink hair, caring eyes, and a triple butterfly cutie mark, and a white unicorn with a fancy purple mane and triple diamond cutie mark, all surrounding a purple unicorn with purple mane and a six-point star cutie mark. Rune blinked and looked again. “Wait a second… this pony IS Twilight! But she’s not a unicorn, she’s an alicorn! What is this book?!” he exclaimed, turning over the book rapidly to see the cover. It bore Princess Twilight’s cutie mark. Opening the book to the first page, he was met with a thick stack of unrolled scrolls, the first one holding words he least expected: Dear Princess Celestia, I’ve learned that one of the joys of friendship is sharing your blessings, but when there’s not enough blessings to go around, having more than your friends can make you feel pretty awful. So, though I appreciate the invitation, I will be returning both tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala. If my friends can’t all go, I don’t want to go either. Blinking at the letter to this ‘Princess Celestia’ person, Rune levitated the next paper to his view, reading it as well: My faithful student Twilight, Why didn’t you say so in the first place? Princess Celestia This letter confused Rune more. “So, this Princess Celestia really did exist… and Princess Twilight was her pupil?” He quickly closed the book and lifted it, heading towards his room to study as much of this book as he could, forgetting he had never asked for permission… Several hours later, Rune had read through hundreds of letters between Princess Twilight and this ‘Princess Celestia’, and it seemed what he originally concluded was correct. A long time ago, Princess Twilight was in fact a student of Princess Celestia. However, all these letters talked about friendship and Ponyville. Suddenly, an epiphany hit him. “Of course! Princess Twilight’s dear friend was Princess Celestia! But… what happened to Princess Celestia?” he asked himself, and then went for the last paper in the stack: My ever faithful Twilight Sparkle, Princess Luna and I have decided that after nearly three thousand years of ruling over Equestria, it is time for us to retire. It is time I explained why I was looking for a personal student, and why I chose you. Three thousand years ruling over any one land is tiresome, and we feel it is time for us to move on and have some well-deserved rest. The strain has been hard on us, and I believe it holds some fault to Luna’s little… episode, and after another thousand years, I have found you, the perfect replacement to take on our jobs so that we may finally rest peacefully. I will not force this task upon you, as it is indeed a very difficult and selfish task I ask of you. However, I find that you are capable of doing this for us. On acceptance of this task, my sister and I shall transform you into the image fit of the title, an alicorn like us. However, as much as we would love to, we cannot change your friends as well. The spell to turn only you is just too great. Again, we know this is a selfish request, but this was why you were chosen to be my personal student. We await your answer anxiously. Princess Celestia