Twilight nervously paced back and forth across her chambers in her nightgown during the early hours of the morning. She had tried taking deep breaths and many other methods for calming one’s nerves, but nothing worked.
A knocking at the door, startled Twilight, but she quickly regained her composure. “Come in,” she called.
The doorknob turned and the door swung open revealing one of Twilight’s closest friends. Spike the dragon, wearing his steel plate armor held together with emerald green seams. It was just a few years after she had lifted Mjolnir, her mother had taken her and Shining Armor on a tour of the realms that had allied themselves to Equinsgard. The first stop was the home of the Dragon forges, Nidavellir.
They had been shown the many powerful weapons that the dragons had made, yet deemed too dangerous to be used. Shining Armor had seemed particularly interested in these. Twilight however was only interested in learning what she could about the impressive mechanics that made the forges work. During a part of the tour the group had passed a young drake that was begging for scraps of food.
Twilight was curious about the young dragon’s predicament and slipped away from her group to talk to him. She soon learned that Spike’s parents had been casualties in the Windigo War. It didn’t take Twilight any time at all to decide to take the drake under her wing and with the permission of her mother Spike returned with the Royal Family to Equinsgard.
He had since proven himself a valuable and trustworthy warrior after he had been met with much distrust from the citizens of his new home. He had defended Equinsgard from many attacks and every battle he had fought in with Twilight and Shining Armor was quickly won.
“Twilight, their almost ready for you,” Spike announced as he entered the room.
Twilight’s nerves began to fail her again. She was always more confident in combat or her studies. However these ceremonies were her weakness. She always felt like her subjects were judging her.
“So soon?” she asked, nervously.
Spike wore a confused look. “The citizens have been gathered for nearly an hour and I’m not sure if Raindrops can keep them entertained much longer. She’s already told them tales of our greatest victories,” Spike explained.
Twilight rolled her eyes at the mention of one of her comrades. “I understand. Make sure Raindrops knows I appreciate her... stalling,” she told Spike, although it seemed a bit forced, as she walked over to her closet and opened it. Spike only nodded and left as Twilight walked into the spacious closet and eyed the armor in the back.
The silver disks and plates covering the main body shone in the light from Twilights room. The chain mail sleeves and black leather pants hung with care and had a polished look. The red cape lay folded on a shelf next to the display and was Twilight’s favorite part of the ensemble. She had been self conscious about it at first, but quickly grew to appreciate the way it fluttered behind as she flew. Then came Twilight’s least favorite thing about the armor. The silver helm with the decorative wings on either side and a hole for her horn to fit through. She only ever wore it to ceremonial events.
Twilight removed her nightgown and took a deep breath as she used her magic to put on her armor, and mentally prepared herself for the event. Once she was fully clothed Twilight left her closet and walked towards the door leading to the halls of her home. She briefly held out her hoof and Mjolnir flew from it’s place next to her bed to it’s master. Twilight put it through a small loop of leather at her waist she had enchanted herself to hold the weight of her weapon.
Twilight took one more breath as she left her room.
//////////////////////////////////////
Twilight arrived at the doors leading to the throne room. She had regained some of her bravery on the trip from her room and was happy to see a familiar face waiting for her near the entrance.
Shining Armor, also dressed in his armor made of glimmering steel plates and a white cape, greeted his sister with a warm hug. “There she is,” he said smiling, as he pulled away. “Excited?”
“And nervous,” Twilight answered. “This is a big step from the simple training I have received,” she explained, gulping at the thought of the crowd beyond the doors.
“Do not worry, so much little sister. You’ll need to have more confidence if you are to rule this realm,” Shining encouraged, his smile faltering for a moment.
Twilight frowned. “You have told me this many times brother, but I fail to see how words can improve my nerves,” Twilight replied, slightly annoyed.
“And yet you have never heeded my advice. You instead choose to ignore someone who is wiser than you on the matter,” Shining countered, a smirk playing on his lips at the praise he’d given himself.
“Because it is rare to find a subject against whom I am not the wisest,” Twilight argued.
Shining gave her a look of mock hurt. “You wound me little sister,” he said with a chuckle. “Still, I urge you to have more faith in yourself. You always seem confident in battle,” the alicorn stallion pointed out.
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Battle takes strategy. It’s much easier to find an enemies weaknesses than it is to memorize the wording to a several millennia old ceremony,” Twilight replied.
“Well then you just treat it as a battle. So what’s your strategy?” Shining asked, encouragingly.
Twilight thought for a moment. “Well, I must appear confident even if I’m not, so I’ll hold my head up and smile a lot,” she said, more for self-assurance than for her brother.
“That’s good,” Shining told her. “But what about your subjects. You can’t just pretend they don’t exist or you’ll offend them.”
“I’ll wave then,” Twilight said, finding her confidence. She started smiling as she contemplated the absurdity of needing a strategy at the moment.
“Very good. And show off a little,” Shining said, smiling. “You’ll be just fine. You’ll also have our friends and myself to encourage you,” Shining informed her.
Twilight huffed at the mention of her ‘friends’. “Raindrops and Blossomforth are more your friends than mine,” she said curtly.
Shining frowned at this. “As I recall you met them in the battle against the cave trolls on Nidavellir. They saved you from a particularly large enemy if I if memory serves,” he said as he remembered the battle.
“Oh yes they were very brave, but they were simply fulfilling their duty to the royal family and were awarded for their bravery. That is why mother appointed them to accompany me in any future endeavors,” Twilight explained.
Shining shook his head at his sister. “And yet you never requested them to be reassigned,” he argued.
“They are good soldiers and have proven their usefulness,” Twilight defended.
“Even so, you could be a little friendlier to them,” Shining told her.
“Why? They are at my side to serve,” Twilight said as though nothing else could make sense of the loyalty the two pegasi showed her.
Before Shining could argue further a trumpet blast from within the throne room announced that they were ready to begin. The doors opened and Twilight entered as her brother left to take his place at the other end of the throne room.
The room hadn’t changed at all since the day Twilight had first lifted Mjolnir and just like then, the hall was packed with ponies. Twilight looked down the hall to the end where her family was. Luna stood next to the throne where Celestia sat, both in their finest clothes. On the other side of the throne stood Shining Armor and Princess Cadence. Cadence wasn’t part of the royal family, but her devotion to helping the sick in the medical tents on the battlefield had earned her a place among the alicorns of the Royal Family.
Further down on the steps leading to the throne stood Blossomforth and Raindrops, both seemingly excited for Twilight, although Twilight found Spike’s presence mid way up the steps the most comforting.
Twilight waved at her subjects as she approached the throne, smiling and even shaking hands with some. She wasn’t as nervous as she was before, but she still felt ill at ease in front of the crowd. She believed that the simplest mistake would turn the cheering into laughter and that her mother would banish her from Equinsgard. Celestia had never done anything so harsh, but Twilight became irrational when nervous. Once Twilight reached the steps leading up to her mother’s throne she knelt.
Celestia looked at her daughter with pride as she hit Gungnir against the floor, silencing the cheering ponies. “Rise my daughter,” she said, in a commanding tone. Twilight stood up and looked her mother in the eyes.
Celestia stared at the younger alicorn for a moment, before speaking. “It is on this day we witness the beginning of a new era. Princess Twilight Sparkle has proven her loyalties to her family and home in many battles. She has also proven herself wise beyond her years. It is my honor to call her my daughter and successor,” Celestia spoke, more to her subjects than Twilight.
///////////////////////////////
Meanwhile deeper in the depths of Equinsgard a pair of guards patrolled the Weapons Vault.
“I can not believe we got assigned guard duty today,” the first, an earth pony, complained.
“I told you, you should have requested time off. The commander would have surely seen that your patrol was taken by somepony less vested in the ceremony,” the second guard, a unicorn, commented, getting a little tired of his companions constant complaints. “Unfortunately it is too late now. So stop your whining and keep an eye out.”
The earth pony rolled his eyes. “What for? No pony would be foolish enough to try and break in here. Not since the Windigos were beaten.”
“No matter. We must remain vigilant in case of any and all threats,” the unicorn explained.
“I understand what our duty is, but why do they even need guards down here, what with their sentry?” the earth pony asked.
The unicorn smiled at this. “Perhaps it’s punishment for the night you spent with the commander’s daughter,” he suggested.
His partner looked shocked. “Why does everypony know about that?”
“Probably because, nopony expected you to still be breathing. We were simply holding on to a fond memory of the brave young Quillbolt we once knew,” the unicorn joked.
“Very funny Bright Star,” Quillbolt replied, angrily.
Bright Star was about to poke more fun at his friend when he noticed something that looked like it was growing on the wall to his left. Moving closer to the oddity he touched it with a finger tip and yanked his hoand back at the icy feeling. “Frost?” he asked himself as a shadow loomed over him.
Bright Star turned thinking it was his companion. “What do you make of thi- Gahhh!” he grunted as an icy blade was shoved into his chest, pinning him to the wall. The guard looked into the eyes of a Windigo. The creature stood nearly two feet higher than himself. The creature smirked as it tossed the mortally wounded pony to the ground.
The last thing Bright Star saw, before he faded was two more Windigo’s standing over the body of Quillbolt.
//////////////////////////////////////
“Do you swear to uphold the peace in these realms?” Celestia asked Twilight, having finished her speech moments before.
“I swear,” Twilight answered, trying her best to ignore the onlookers in the crowd.
“Do you swear to protect our realm against any force which means us harm?” Celestia asked, her voice gaining volume.
“I swear,” Twilight repeated.
“Do you swear to uphold the treaties made with our allies?” Celestia asked.
“I swear,” Twilight answered.
Celestia smiled at her daughter. “Then by my right as Queen of this realm I name you…” she trailed off before she could finish. Twilight looked at her mother with concern at the pause in the proceedings. “The Vault,” Celestia said, barely above a whisper.
Twilight’s eyes widened as she realized what was happening.
///////////////////////////////////
In the Vault, the Windigos were approaching the treasure they had come to retrieve. The Casket of Ancient Winters. It stood on a lone pedestal at the end of the Vault in front of what looked like a large iron grate covering some sort of opaque white mist.
Without regards for any other defenses in the Vault the leader of the troop walked right up to the Casket and picked it up. A smile played on the creature’s lips as it turned to leave. Before he or his comrades had taken more than a step a dull thud sounded from behind them. The group turned and saw the grating behind the pedestal start to vanish as a hulking form stepped out of the mist.
The thing that came out of the mist looked like a suit of armor for some enormous pony. However the armor appeared not to need a wearer. The front of the helm opened and the armor leaned forward as a blast of energy shot out of the opening. The lead Windigo attempted to use the Casket to defend itself, but was dead before he had unlatched the lid.
Fearing for their lives the other two attempted to flee, but were quickly cut down by two more blasts from the armor.
It’s job done the armor stepped back into the mist and the grating reappeared.
///////////////////////////////////////
Twilight arrived at the entrance to the Vault, followed by her mother and Shining Armor.
“No,” she said in shock at the sight of the dead guards.
Shining put a hand on her shoulder. “They died an honorable death,” he said, attempting to alleviate his sister’s anguish. She had always disliked needless death.
Looking around Twilight quickly spotted the remains of the Windigos. “How did they get in here?” she asked, suspicious.
Celestia observed the scene before her. “It doesn’t matter,” she said, matter of factly.
Twilight looked at her in surprise. “How can you say that? Two of your guards died and you aren’t the least bit concerned as to how it came to be?” Twilight asked, angrily.
“They will be missed, but the attackers were stopped. The Destroyer did it’s job and all is well,” Celestia answered as she spotted the Casket lying next to one of the Windigos. She carefully picked it up.
“All is not well mother. The enemy has breached our borders and broken into our home,” Twilight argued. “I fear what might have happened had they succeeded in their mission.”
“But they did not succeed,” Celestia countered calmly as she set the Casket back on it’s pedestal.
“We must still know why the Windigos have broken your truce,” Twilight demanded.
“We don’t know that they did. King Frostmourne has not declared war on us, so I will assume he still values our treaty,” Celestia replied.
“Then we can go to him and ask him how this happened,” Twilight suggested.
Celestia sighed at her daughter’s desire to know what happened. “An accusation like this, should it prove false could offend Frostmourne to the point of declaring war,” Celestia informed her children.
Twilight looked to her brother, who had remained silent, for support. Shining simply looked on with interest. Twilight turned back to her mother. “This must be dealt with,” Twilight insisted.
“It has been dealt with,” Celestia pointed out.
“As Queen-” Twilight began.
“You are not Queen!” Celestia interrupted, in a commanding tone, quelling any argument from Twilight. “Perhaps it was too early for you to take the throne,” Celestia finished as she turned.
Twilight’s expression was filled with shock and hurt. Two millennia under her tutelage and she doesn’t think I’m ready? I’ll show her, Twilight thought.
“Return to your quarters and do not speak of this again,” Celestia told her children as she left the vault.
Shining and Twilight remained behind a moment longer, before walking back to the entrance.
Shining looked at his sister, sighing sadly. “Twilight as much as I agree with you, mother is also right. It’s best to just let this be,” he told her.
Twilight looked at him, her face full of determination. “No. Mother is wrong. And I’ll prove it,” she said as she exited the Vault a plan forming in her mind.