//------------------------------//
// Reign Names 
// Story: 30 Minute Prompt One-Shots 
// by Trish Hankins 
//------------------------------//

	Twilight knocked on the door, and after a moment a reply came, “Come in.” She pushed open the door with her right wing, the sensation still a little odd to her. She wasn’t used to being a Princess, the wings much more than the duties. Her teacher and fellow royalty, Princess Celestia, looked down at her. “Yes, Princess Twilight? What is it?” Twilight cleared her throat a little before speaking. It still felt odd talking to the ruler of Equestria, even if they were now technically the same rank.

“I was wondering, Princess, if you could answer a question for me?” Twilight asked. Celestia arched her eyebrow, a gesture that seemed to say it was okay to speak, but that technically she had already asked a question. Twilight scolded herself mentally at that, her teacher had always taught her to be wary of how she phrased her speech, a lesson that would be much more useful now that her words carried more weight. “Well, it’s just that I’ve been thinking. I wasn’t born a princess. Hay, my family is barely even considered nobles. But through the Elements of Harmony, I became one. An alicorn, I mean. So…” She left the sentence hanging, not quite daring to finish her thought aloud.

It was, of course, unnecessary. Celestia was several millennia old, and could see where her former student was going before she had finished speaking. “What I’m about to tell you is very important, but it’s something you’ll need to know, for your position. I won’t tell you not to tell anypony under any circumstances, because I know that the future is unpredictable, and not even I can guess what dangers you’ll face later on. Instead, I merely ask that you use your best judgment when it comes to telling any of your friends. Is that understood?” She nodded, but that was merely a formality. Celestia knew her student well enough that the speech alone would convey the gravity of this information.

“Good. It all starts a long, long time ago. A think it was…2004? 2005 years ago? I don’t really remember anymore. I was an orphan, as were my sisters. Oh, don’t look too shocked, Twilight. Did you really think Blueblood was related to me by Luna? Yes, there were three of us then. Back then, I was called Brilliant Light, and I was a pegusi. Luna was the youngest and named Darkened Daydream, an Earth Pony. She was but a foal at the time, and can barely remember a time when she didn’t have her wings or horn. Though she has always had that Earth Pony practicality. Our other sister was the middle child, Evening Star. She was a unicorn, and…” Celestia broke off for a moment, and for a second Twilight thought her eyes might fill with tears.

“I…don’t really like talking about her. Outliving the ones you love, it never really heals. Not truly.” Celestia took a breath to calm herself before she continued. “From even before we were born, a tyrant ruled Equestria. He was an alicorn, a pony consumed completely by the power of Order. Us and our friends tried to stop him, and in the end we did, by using Discord. It worked for a while, before he finally went mad as well. We were desperate, and we needed something to help us, to give us the power to stop him. We knew we couldn’t take up the mantle of Order, we’d seen how that power could corrupt a pony. So instead we broke it in two, and both Luna and I took one half for ourselves. We had wanted to share it with Evening, but she refused it. She was pregnant, and we didn’t know what effect it could have.

“Our idea was that each of us would be a counter to the other, only half as strong as we could be, strong enough to stop the other should she turn down the dark path. But even together, we couldn’t defeat Discord, which is when we found the Elements of Harmony. You’ve already seen how that turned out. After that, the people thought we should rule. We had our mentor Starswirl the Bearded advise us, and our friendly doctor would pop up now and again to liven us up, remind us of our youth.”

“Wait, doctor? Like, The Doctor?” Twilight asked.

“Yes. That’s one of the reasons I’m glad you brought this up, actually. Since we still haven’t quite found a duty for you yet, I have a princessly assignment for you.” Celestia looked down at Twilight, her eyes full of a sad determination. “It won’t be an easy task, and it’s won’t be safe.”

“…” Twilight didn’t say anything at first. After a long pause, she finally said, “Is it important?”

Celestia looked gravely at her student. “Honestly, it might be the most important task I’ve ever given you, my faithful student.” Twilight nodded. “Okay then. The Doctor…is alone right now. He lost those dearest to him recently, his assistants. I want you to accompany him, keep him in check.”

“You want me to fly around time and space in a blue box with an insufferable pony who I barely know?” Celestia nodded. Twilight took a deep breath. “I’ll do it, Princess.”