//------------------------------// // A thousand years? // Story: Alicorn: The Legend of Twilight. // by FaelaArts //------------------------------// Twilight opened her eyes slowly, looking at the white roof of her room. Giving a groan, she sat up and rubbed her forehead, glad to see everything was still in working order. Turning to look around her room, she realised she was in a simply furnished infirmary of some sort. There were a few empty beds perfectly aligned in a single row, and one door to exit. Looking to the desk next to her bed, she picked up the purple feather and narrowed her eyes at it, before tossing it toward the ground. “Oh good, you’re awake.” Turning her head, she saw the two ponies walking into the room. The earth pony and unicorn were quick to give her a smile. Looking to the hooves of the earth pony, she saw a bag with what looked like some bread in it, her stomach growled. The unicorn was carrying a teapot and some cups in her light blue magic. “Ahm-I am Applejack, and this is Princess Rarity. Mind if I ask what you name is?” Placing the bag down, Applejack pulled out the bread and offered it to Twilight, who took it and dug in greedily. Pausing briefly, she noticed the one named Rarity grimace at her behaviour, and slowed down her eating so as not to be as ‘uncouth.’ “I’m Twilight, one of the unicorn nomads.” Pausing after finishing the bread, she beamed them a smile and held out a hoof in greeting. She retracted it a moment later when she saw the two share a glance. Frowning, she opened her mouth to ask about it. However, a cup was shoved into her face, and she paused to take a few sips. It was jasmine tea, a favourite of hers. “Soo, Twilight. Just a quick question if I may. Where were these unicorn nomads heading too?” Rarity glanced to Applejack, who was also frowning. A unicorn wasn’t that odd an occurrence in Unicornia, but a unicorn nomad? The last nomads had been thought dead a long time ago, seeing as they had all been wiped out while they slept one night, so they thought. “We were heading to Pegasopolis, I know a pegasus there by the name of Private Pansy. We were planning on going to show them a better way of creating rainbows.” Twilight chucked as she thought of all the things she would have done with Private Pansy. If they were lucky, they would be able to sneak down to the surface and go for a swim together for an entire day before getting caught. “Uh, well, I see…” Rarity and Applejack sighed, and rubbed their heads. Twilight finally decided it was time to speak up on their behaviour. Putting down the tea and cup, she moved her legs out from under the covers, ready to stand up if she needed too. “You keep giving me those weird looks, what’s the problem?” Seeing both ponies jump, Twilight quickly grew impatient. Looking to each other, Rarity pointed to Applejack who sighed, giving a roll of her eyes, and turned to Twilight seriously. “Mainly because the unicorn nomads are thought to be extinct. None have been seen for almost a thousand years.” Applejack watched as the emotion’s rolled across Twilight’s face. First her eyes widened, her mouth opening slightly. Then they narrowed into slits, her mouth downturned. After that she sighed and glanced toward the window, standing up to head toward it. “That’s impossible, I left the main group not long ago, it couldn’t have been more than a few days.” Twilight opened the window and looked down upon the city of Unicornia, and her eyes widened. In the centre of the city sat a large part that was ruins. The worst part was, Twilight recognised the ruins as the once bustling city of the unicorns. Holding her head as a headache hit her, she fell to the floor. “No, this can’t be right.” Twilight’s horn began to spark, and Applejack began to back toward the door. Rarity was quick to follow suit, both knew the signs of emotional magic explosions. Twilight held her head and continued repeating ‘no’ over and over again as the magic began to build. Her body began to emit a strange glow, and her hair began to ripple in an unknown breeze. Suddenly, her eyes turned pure white and she began to hover mid air, still repeating the same phrase. “Twilight, stop!” Applejack spoke from the door, trying to reach Twilight through the gale starting to tear through the corridors around them. However as her own cries couldn’t be heard in her own ears, she gritted her teeth and began to try and crawl towards Twilight. It was only when the wind suddenly silenced for a moment, and she looked up, did she see the things coming out of her side. A small shape dive bombed Twilight, and gently knocked her on the head, causing her to lose concentration and the spell to vanish completely. He was a small purple dragon with green spikes down his back. Twilight opened her eyes, and as she saw the dragon they filed with moisture, and she began to hug the baby dragon, breaking out into sobs between breaths. “Spike,” she sobbed, to which the dragon gently patted her on the back. Applejack quietly left the room, and closed the door to join Rarity in the hallway. Rarity's hair had been completely messed up by the wind, but that seemed to be the least of her problems. Applejack picked up her hat, and placed it back on her head. “Applejack my dear, tell me what Twilight looked like while casting that spell, and be honest with me.” Rarity locked eyes with Applejack, who gulped and glanced toward the door. As she thought about it, the feeling of dread she had felt was quickly turning into hope. What had been fear that Twilight might wipe out half the city, was replaced with the realisation of what she had seen signified. If her hunch was right, there may be hope for the land. “Like an Alicorn.”