Prologue: The test
It was just another ordinary sunset in Equestria.
The ponies were busy making the best of the couple hours of sunlight remaining. They bustled about, going home, or stopping to get a drink after a hard day’s work. The youth were ready to hit the town and spend the night partying.
The monsters of the world were beginning to stir. Bloodthirsty beasts pawed the ground, searching for a meal. Heretics planned and schemed from the shadows, waiting for their chance to destroy the natural order. And you bet your bottom dollar, some big, bad daemon/sorcerer was planning to try and take over Equestria.
Just the standard routine of the day....
“I can’t do it!” The tallest tower of the castle shook from the force of the shout.
....For the most part.
Inside this tower, sat the immortal ruler and sun deity, Princess Celestia. Her white fur glistened in the light of the candles that were set on her desk. Her large wings ruffled about on her backside, several of her feathers were bent and askew. The large white alicorn was sitting at her desk, which she normally did during this time of the day. Usually, it would have neat stacks of paperwork about; the last files of the day to be done before she started the night court. But not now. Now, the files were scattered about the room, the many books that lined her own personal library had fallen out of their shelves, her paintings were slanted and crooked.
But Celestia didn’t care about any of that. She didn’t care about the taxes that needed to be filed away; the reports that needed to be addressed; the laws that needed to be put into action. Nothing mattered. Nothing was worth caring about.
Celestia put her face into her forehooves. “I just can’t.”
It was that time of the day again. She had to lower the sun and raise the moon. Oh how she despised touching her sister’s sacred realm. She wasn’t its shepherd. She wasn’t its avatar. She was its older sister and controlling it made her sick.
A part of her thought after a nearly a thousand years she would get used to it. Celestia tried and tried again to look on the bright side. She wanted to forget the past and move on. But she couldn’t. She could never move on. Her sister’s twisted visage was forever ingrained in her memory. Her insane laughter echoed in her ears. And whenever she did touch the moon and tried to move it, she could always feel that daemon lash out.
“This isn’t fair.” Celestia finally removed her face from her hooves. A few tears leaked out and stained her cheeks. Celestia looked out her window. “Why? Why did this have to happen to me? To her?”
Her old mind played out the events of the past, trying and failing to come to some different conclusion. Yet, none came to her mind. Each and every choice led to the exact same end.
“I failed you….I failed everyone I ever cared about.”
Celestia looked down at her desk. Her horn glowed a bright yellow as she used it to open one of her drawers. Inside lay an assortment of little objects. She picked up each one with her magic.
A small, sacred golden orb, meant to keep evil away. The globe had a large engraving of her cutie mark. It had been given to her by her head priestess, Kind Heart. “You always were a worrywart, Kind Heart.” ‘I think I may have to pay her a visit soon. The old mare is on her last legs.’ A small snort of amusement escaped her. She gently placed it onto the desk.
The next item was a gold necklace, infused with rectangular diamonds. It was a gift from the beautiful griffon Queen Wanda. “And who says the griffons have no taste?”
The third was a blood-red crystal. Celestia’s face contorted into a look of agitation. “You gave me a lot of trouble, you know that?” The chaotic whispers that resounded inside the object stormed about. She was glad that chaos daemon was forever trapped within. He had caused too much pain.
“Ah, there you are.” Celestia’s mood brightened when she beheld the last item. In her magical grasp was but a simple colt revolver. It had been given to her by its inventor a couple decades ago, Samuel Colt. “I was looking for you.”
The gun itself in no way looked extraordinary. Yes, it had some fancy engravings and the quote ‘I will fear no evil’ in Latin. {A quote taken from one of her own scriptures.} But nothing that would suggest the power it held. For this gun could kill anything…Though she didn’t know if that included gods.
“When was the last time you were used, little one?” She asked. “Well, your time has come. I mean to test your capabilities.” She raised the holy weapon, took aim,…and fired at a space near the door.
She saw a figure shimmer into existence as it dodged the bullet. “Really Celestia? Again?” A serene voice echoed in her room, trailed by a small sigh. The figure himself was rather tall, though not as tall as Celestia herself. This deer was as slender and lithe as any other of his kind. He wore form fitting, sleek armor that covered his body including a helmet that obscured his face, leaving only his large antlers exposed. A white staff was held in one of his forehooves. It was simple enough, except for the glowing, ornate, blue jewel at the end. “How many times must you do that? You could have killed me.”
Celestia just smiled. “Could have, my dear friend, but I didn’t. You can see the future, remember.”
“Yes,” the deer grumbled. “But that doesn’t excuse this insane game of yours. I just thank Isha you didn’t sick that blasted bird of yours on me.”
Celestia laughed in response. She used her magic to put all the items, including the gun, back into the drawer, closing it swiftly. “It is nice to see you again, Farseer Anrain. How have you been since we last met?”
“Fine enough, I suppose.”
“That is good to hear. Would you like me to get you some tea?”
The deer shook his head. “This is not the time for tea.” There was no room for pleasantries in his tone, Celestia noted.
“Oh?” Celestia tilted her head to the side and gave him a curious gaze. “Then what time is this? Not the time for peace, since you are armed and ready for war.” She eyed the curved sword at the deer’s side.
“It is the time of destiny.” He said with urgency.
Celestia sighed. “Isn’t it always? Why can it never be the time of cake?” She then gave him a small smile. “Then tell me, Farseer. What vision plagued you enough to visit me? Is it the griffons?”
Again, the deer shook his head. “This has nothing to do with those bird brains.”
Celestia gave him a scolding glare. “Really now, Anrain. Bird brains? I thought you were above such petty insults.”
“I’ll be above such petty insults the moment the griffons give up their bloodlust.” The farseer snorted. “And that’s not likely to happen any time soon; with or without your interference.”
“Then, if it’s not the griffons,” Celestia inquired, “who is it?”
“The one.” Farseer Anrain said, cryptically.
“The one?” Celestia looked confused. She turned to one of her book cases, letting her horn light up in a golden hue as she worked her magic. The book case shifted, moving to the side to reveal alphabetic rows of file compartments. The word ‘Emergencies’ was displayed above in golden letters.
“It’s in the T’s.”
“But you said ‘One’.”
Farseer Anrain shook his head. “I said ‘The One’.”
“Very well then.” The T compartment glowed yellow as it was pulled out. A scroll was levitated out from its holding place and over to Celestia. Opening it, she peered down the list. With a startled gasp, she looked over at the deer. “You don’t mean….”
“No, not that one.”
“Oh,” Celestia looked further down. Her magic flittered over the document…Before it disappeared altogether. The scroll hit the desk, but she didn’t pay attention. Her face was contorted in utter disbelief. ‘This…This can’t be.’
She turned to Anrain, who only nodded. “It’s true.”
Celestia could only think of one thing to say. “Where?”
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Mother Kind Heart’s Orphanage
“Children! It’s time to get ready.” A cheery mare called out. “We have families to meet.”
As always, the children jumped out of their small beds and rushed out of the room as fast as their little hooves could take them. Gleeful smiles adorned their faces as they left the room empty. Well, empty save one yellow filly.
The yellow filly simply ‘humphed’ and went back to reading. She faced away from the doorway, not paying any attention to the fleeing ponies. Her bed was nearly covered with books of several sizes and subjects, ranging from beginner to advanced. Quite a few of them were still open from where she had left off in the previous hours.
“Sunset?” The same mare from earlier spoke up. “Don’t you want to meet anypony?” Seeing Sunset shake her head, the older mare pressed on. “I’m sure some lovely couple will find you absolutely delightful.”
“No they won’t.” Sunset growled. “I’m six years old. Nopony’s liked me enough to adopt me in those six years. Nopony will.”
“Sunset, that’s not true.” The mare went over, moved some books carefully to the side, and sat down. “Once they get to know you, they’ll love you.”
“Lies!” Sunset barked, looking up at her caretaker. She was a peach colored, brown maned Pegasus with a few strands of her mane graying out. She was wearing a dark pink suit over her body so her cutie mark was obscured, but the little filly knew it was a heart with the image of a young pony inside.
“Sunset Shimmer,” The mare known as Tender Care reprimanded, “don’t raise your voice like that.”
Sunset simply snorted and went back to reading, hoping the mare would leave her alone. Instead, Tender Care just sat there beside Sunset, not saying a word. This wasn’t anything new, Tender Care would often come and try to comfort her. Sunset appreciated it, even loved her for it, but she didn’t like getting her hopes built up. ‘Why doesn’t she leave?’
“What’cha reading?” The elder mare asked.
“Goldihooves and the Three Bears.” Sunset answered. Yes it was a kiddy story. Most of the time she’d avoid them, ‘cause she was a big pony. But, she just wanted to read something new and this had caught her attention.
“Sounds interesting.” Tender Care smiled down at her. “Mind telling me what’s happening?”
Sunset simply nodded. “Goldihooves is just finishing up eating the bears porridge.”
“That was very nice of the bears to give her that.”
“But they didn’t. She broke in and ate it when they were gone.”
“Well that wasn’t very nice of her, was it Sunset?”
Sunset shook her head. “No it wasn’t.”
“And why is that?”
“Because stealing is wrong.”
Tender Care nuzzled her head. “Very good.”
“Especially ‘cause it was the baby bear’s porridge.” Sunset explained. “He needs his food to get big and strong. His mama and papa…” Sunset frowned and stopped where she was.
Tender Care noticed her stopping. “Sunset dear, it’ll be okay.” She used wing to drape over Sunset and scoot her to her side.
But Sunset wasn’t having any of that. She used her magic to lift the wing off her, to which she inwardly smiled. She was better than any pony her age in magic. “I don’t want your comfort. I just want to be alone.”
“Sunset, nopony should be alone.”
“I AM!” Again, she shouted at her. “And I like it that way. I don’t have to put up with some stupid ponies telling me what to do. I don’t have to listen to their rules or eat their stupid food. I am a loner pony and it’ll stay that way.”
“That’s not true Sunset. Once they see the real you…”
“THEY’LL ABANDON ME! JUST LIKE MY REAL PARENTS!” Tears were starting to fall down her cheeks.
“Oh, Sunset,” Tender Care moved to brush the away tears. However, Sunset just pushed her off the bed with her magic. Tender Care was able to get her wings going and touch down.
“Just leave me be.” Sunset told her, keeping her eyes on the book.
Tender Care sighed. She wanted to hug her and tell her everything was alright. Yet, she knew better. Sunset was an abnormally gifted unicorn. With those gifts, came terrible consequences. She was lucky Sunset was getting her bearings, else she’d have to deal with the explosive energies of her younger years. Still, an emotional magi was not something she could deal with on her own. So, she started to leave the room. “If you need anything, just come get me okay?” When Sunset didn’t answer her, she sighed.
When Sunset was sure her caretaker was gone, she wiped away her tears. She hated crying. ‘Big ponies don’t cry. The heroes in stories don’t do it, so I won’t either.’ She wasn’t weak like the damsels in distress. She was strong. She was talented. ‘I’ll show them what I’m capable of. When I get big, I’ll be the best unicorn mage ever! I’ll be all powerful and a ruler to boot!’
Sunset read on into the story. She stopped when she saw a picture of the bears together. “Mama…Papa…” She touched the image. “Why does a bear have something I don’t?”
“Sunset!” Tender Care called, poking her head into the room. “You have a very important visitor.”
Sunset looked over her shoulder at her. “Visitor? Me?” While this wasn’t the first time they had an important visitor, being in the middle of Canterlot, nopony had ever wanted to see her.
Tender Care’s smile brightened up at that. She nodded. “Yes, and she really does want to see you. Can she come in?”
Sunset Shimmer frowned. ‘It’s probably one of those important ponies that think it’d be nice to have a trophy kid.’ She thought to herself. But in the end, she relented with a sigh. ‘Might as well.’ She nodded.
“Great.” Tender Care looked her shoulder. “Your Majesty, she’d be delighted to see you.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” A new voice chimed in. It was the most beautiful, calming, motherly voice she’d ever heard. And with it, came someone she’d never thought she’d see up close.
“Princess Celestia!” Sunset cried out in shock.
“That is who I am.” Celestia smiled at her.
She couldn’t believe it. The Princess of Equestria was here to see her. “Uh…Uh…uh…” She couldn’t properly think of anything to say. Just being in her presence was awe inspiring. Celestia had an aura of great power…but it was tempered in such a motherly glow.
“I think you broke her, Princess.” Tender Care smirked.
Celestia chuckled. “That happens more often than I would like.” The Princess walked over to her bed. “Are you always this cluttered?” She motioned to the books strewn about.
Sunset simply nodded, feeling ashamed for causing this mess.
“Do not fret, my little pony.” Celestia said. “I myself have created quite the mess during my studies.”
Sunset’s jaw dropped upon hearing that. ‘Princess Celestia creating messes? That can’t be.’
“It’s true.” Celestia told her, scanning her selection of books. “My, my, my, some of these books are quite advanced for a filly your age. Aren’t they too tough for you?”
Sunset shook her head. “Nuh-uh. I’m a smart pony.”
“Of course you are….Would you mind if I join you on the bed?”
“But…”
Sunset’s remark about the books was cut short as Celestia neatly put the books in small piles next to the bed. She then gently laid herself down beside the filly. The unfortunate bed gave squeaks of protest. “There. All neat and tidy.” She looked down at Sunset noticing her tears. She frowned. “Why are you upset, little one?”
“No reason, Your Majesty.”
Celestia didn’t say anything. She just looked at the picture of the bears that Sunset was touching. Her face became downcast, before she brightened up. “I remember when this story was first printed. Did you know that it used to feature an old mare instead of a filly?”
Sunset shook her head. “No, Your Majesty. I didn’t.” She didn’t understand why they would do something like that. She chalked it up to grownups thinking little fillies were mean. ‘We are not mean...At least, I’m not.’
“Sunset…Do you know why I am here?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
“Just call me Celestia, dear. There is no need for formalities.”
Sunset didn’t know what to think of that. All her life, she’d been told to call the nobility that. But the Princess told her that she didn’t need to do it, so she wasn’t going to. “Okay….Celestia.”
“Good.” Celestia smiled. “Well, the reason I came here was because of how special you are.”
Sunset’s eyes widened. Yes, she knew she was special, but to be noticed by the Princess... That was something she’d never thought of. “Really?”
Celestia nodded. “Yes. And I wish to take you back with me to the castle.”
‘The castle?’ Sunset couldn’t believe that…She couldn’t believe a lot of what was happening. It almost sounded like the Princess wanted to adopt her. Hope flooded her and her face was split in an open grin. Her eyes twinkled with delight.‘Please, please, please. I want to be a princess too.’
“But first, you must pass a test.”
Sunset’s face fell. She knew it was too good to be true. A test by the Princess was going to be hard.
“Do not fret, little one. It is not a hard test. Not for you.” Sunset nodded and moved her book to the side, after closing it. Just then, a golden flash lit the room for a second, momentarily blinding Sunset. When the light faded she was surprised to see a large light purple egg, with darker spots.
“What is it?” Sunset asked.
“A dragon egg.” Celestia answered.
At the word ‘dragon’, Sunset started to worry. She’d heard a lot about dragons and none of it was good.‘Oh sweet Celestia, I’m going to be eaten by a dragon. No, no, no...’
“Have no fear, my little pony. It is just an egg.” Celestia assured her, nuzzling her mane.
“But what does it have to do with my test?”
“This is your test.” Celestia told her. Upon seeing Sunset tilt her head and looking at her quizzingly, she slightly nudged the egg closer to to the filly. “You are going to hatch it.”
Sunset’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open. “Hatch…a dragon? But it’s going to eat us.”
“No he won’t.” Celestia shook her head. “I won’t let him.”
Sunset just stared at the egg, before looking at the Princess. “How am I going to hatch it?”
“Just concentrate. Let your magic flow into the egg.”
Sunset nodded before she returned her attention to her test. She scrunched up her face as her horn started to light up. A teal hue covered her horn and soon the egg. Slowly but steadily, she poured her magic into the egg. For a moment, nothing happened…That is before she heard the first crack.
“That is enough, Sunset. You can stop now.”
Sunset did as she asked, her magic faded away.
Celestia shifted and scooted the egg into her embrace. “Come out, my little drake.” She cooed. “I want to see you.” She whispered tiny little encouragements as the egg broke apart. Finally, the pieces gave way, leaving a small purple, green spiked dragon. The great Princess Celestia nuzzled the creature. “I have waited so long to hold you.” She used her wing to pull Sunset into her happy embrace.
“Princess…” Sunset inquired. “Does this mean I pass?”
Celestia just laughed, hugging the two close.
It was just another ordinary sunset in Equestria.
And Celestia wouldn’t have it any other way.