The whole idea of the Cutie Mark Crusaders was always met with a short snicker and rolling of the eyes. Most ponies were seeing it as a cute way for three fillies to stick together for a long time after school, and also a reason to give ourselves a cool title, a treehouse and some capes. Harmless, so everypony else was just fine with it.
Maybe it really was that way, back when the whole thing started.
Stuff changes, right?
We had our mission, an actual goal important to three of us that kept as united - making up time. Most of the fillies and colts in our school already had their Marks, so they could focus on developing their special talents; heck, many of them were already showing lots of progress back then! Meanwhile, we were in our clubhouse, each one struggling to find her thing by basically trying out everything we were able to put our hooves on. Failing miserably, and for way too long.
I'm not saying that we didn't get any help at all, in fact Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, even my Big Sis tried their best, but in the end they all gave up, waved a hoof and advised to just wait a little longer, like everypony else did. Of course that was downright unimaginable for the Cutie Mark Crusaders and our list of ideas kept getting extended with the stapler I borrowed from Rarity.
At some point however, we just couldn't figure out anything else to do. Our Cutie Marks still nowhere to be seen and that just made us feel a tiny bit down. Stuck, basically.
Thankfully, the help came soon after, from where we didn't really ask, but looking back on the whole thing should have long ago.
Twilight Time.
Yup. The only pony in Ponyville who was willing to take her time and put the effort to help the Crusaders solve the problem, that didn't really exist for anypony outside our club, was the freshly crowned Princess of Magic Twilight Sparkle herself. Let's just say the hopes were sky high.
So we agreed. Pretty enthusiastically. We may have started to jump and scream from the top of our lungs, but for some reason she seemed even more ecstatic than we were. I guess she just had this dream of having students of her own. We didn't really care about her reasons, being too happy to think clearly. Also, that was still Twilight Sparkle we already knew for a while and expecting the unexpected had always been a part of the deal with her.
We started next afternoon. It was a completely different thing to what we had back in school. Cheerilee was great and all, but she had to teach everypony about the same necessary basics from the program. The other, more interesting things could be done in class, but it was on our own with her sometimes checking on us.
Twilight gave us a free choice of whatever we'd like to learn, a lot of knowledge to back it up, support and a gentle push.
Apple Bloom wanted to do practical stuff that would be useful during the work hours on the farm, but it had to be awesome as well - potions were perfect for her. Scoots was working on some basic mechanics, with Twilight actually learning something new along with her. They both had fun figuring all the technical stuff out, with some help of the all-mighty books.
As for me, well, I'm a unicorn. A unicorn not capable of any magic whatsoever at the time.
Ok, to be fair it wasn't an exception for that age, but Twilight had started even earlier than that, and she was, like, super powerful. Absolutely magical. Most unicorns are capable of some basic levitation and that's it, they don't need anything else, so they don't bother trying. But when you met Twilight Sparkle in person, saw what she could do, you couldn't help but want a bit more. Well, it used to be that way, before...
You can't really meet her anymore, but trust me, she was absolutely shining while making the magic happen. Not that I was ever aspiring to her level, even back then I tried to think realistically. More or less.
Our weekly meetings were happening for about three months, at least in that form. All three of us finally got their cutie marks - Apple Bloom has this white flower, Scootaloo's got a little, black wheel with a lightning. I have a musical note that's kind of heart shaped. For singing, which apparently was no surprise to anypony except me.
It's nice, and all the excitement was there when it appeared. I was happy, Pinkie Pie threw a party and everypony else was celebrating it along with me, but there was also a feeling that I didn't expect for this grand moment when the mission of finding my special talent finally comes to its close. The feeling that I'm not done yet.
There was no official end of Twilight Time, Bloom and Scoots just ceased to appear there because of some kind of training, or job, or any other stuff that needed to be done.
I kept coming back.
Twilight was as supportive as ever and shared my excitement to always try just a little more. She usually seemed almost surprised when I showed up, maybe thinking I'll drop my studies like the others did, yet immediately knew what we could do each time. She had long-term plans for the future, four or five years at least. I think she seriously thought of me as her personal student, and that's fine for me since I already treated her like my mentor.
Three years. It's been quite a while.
I was there, on the funeral I mean. I feel really bad for it now, but I didn't want to go, only forcing myself to come as a support for my sister. I remember thinking it was all a mistake, a horrible, horrible misunderstanding. Twilight couldn't be dead. I'll see her tomorrow.
And then I saw her, sleeping peacefully behind the thick glass of the coffin she was meant to rest in. Smiling.
My whole body went numb. My legs were shaking and I started to breathe heavily just to keep myself from fainting, but I remained there for the rest of the ceremony. I was just starting to realize what had happened - Twilight Sparkle was dead. There won't be another friendly talk, no new lesson, no more meetings, nothing. She was gone and wasn't coming back.
And you could still feel the aura. She was surrounded by an immense amount of alicorn magic, but all that power was for nothing. Up to this day it is still there, serving as a memento for the pony she once was, as well as a reminder of what she could do.
I was rarely leaving my room for quite a long time after that; mostly just sitting on my bed; staring blankly through the room's only window and thinking, often aloud. I sometimes wanted to bury my face in the pillow and start crying, but somehow never snapped. I remembered what she had left me with. I knew my goal well enough to keep me in one piece.
My training wasn't over yet.
Three long years. Enough for the most of us to come to terms with her passing. The library seems empty, and most of the time it really is. Nopony lives there anymore. Nopony has ever taken her place and only few of us got the keys. The tree still stands right in the middle of Ponyville, but everypony just passes by; they all turn their heads the other way and pretend it's not there. For them this place is not even dead. It doesn't exist.
I keep coming. Twilight Time.
She really did prepare a lot of program in advance. Two hard-cover books with "Sweetie's Magical Studies" written in silver letters on their spines, both about an inch and a half thick. I never took them home. I wouldn't dare to. The books stay in the library, where they're stored in Twilight's old desk. This is where they're supposed to be, but I am still using them and I won't stop until I can do whatever is described there. Sometimes there's a purple or a pink hair between the pages. Knowing her I wouldn't be surprised if she sometimes fell asleep out of exhaustion.
Ironic, isn't it? Twilight wanted to popularize the use of technology, making life easier for those not able to cast spells. She wanted change - that's what everypony knew for sure, but for whatever reason many unicorns assumed her plan was to make magic unnecessary at some point. They were talking about it behind her back and Twilight knew about that. She was just way too busy to care.
She spent countless nights trying to pass her art on the others, writing not only for me, but also for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns where she often visited. She worked really hard on keeping the magic alive, despite the lack of time and sleep. And what did she get for that!?
My mentor did her part, better than anypony else would have in such a short period, and now it's my responsibility, as a student, to make sure her efforts were not in vain. I want to make my teacher proud. To master levitation, transmutation, prepare myself for teleporting. I want to prove I wasn't a waste of her time. With her guidance it's possible, I'm sure of it.
*
Four o'clock. The streets of Ponyville feel deserted, with only a few ponies roaming around them. The sky is invisible through a thick layer of grey clouds, from which it starts to drizzle.
Upstairs the Carousel Boutique the door opens swiftly. Quietly and with no hurry I make my way outside, trying to avoid being seen, as well as the other obstacles this place is full of. Rarity notices me leaving. She looks at me with sad eyes, but says nothing and quickly turns her head back, resuming the work. The bell rings faintly.
With my head down, I slowly make my way through the town, my mind calmed by the surprisingly relaxing coldness of the rain. I try to enjoy the walk, as short as it is, before reaching my destination.
The library door opens with a loud screech. The thick smell of paper and ink makes the air heavy, but also comfortingly familiar. The soft smudges of daylight come through the windows, illuminating the dust floating in the air.
I slowly reach the desk and open the drawer to find both books exactly where I left them, untouched. The tomes surrounded by light green aura swiftly float out of their place and position themselves on the floor in front of me. I know I'm going to only use one of them, but it feels wrong to let the other one just lay in the shadow, gathering dust. It remains unopened though. The second one with a golden ribbon placed inside as a bookmark will soon end. The corner of my mouth goes up a little at the realization of my slow, yet constant progress.
I open it on the first page, where the dedication is written down. The letters so beautifully stylized they make me realize just how precise a levitation spell can be, but more importantly, there are words of the pony who helped my mind take its current shape. Helped me realize the potential I wasn't aware of.
Her voice reads it in my head.
On this path of knowledge the lights are shining ahead of you.
Each one is a lantern, every lesson is a new place to explore.
Let the book guide you through this journey.
Let yourself fully experience it.
Let me accompany you.
- Twilight
I let out a soft sigh and slowly close my eyes. Curtains go down. Light spell is cast.
Twilight Time.
The Student had never returned to the world she had left behind.
Seeking a new beginning with the guidance from the stars.
Shaping The Path with the light of her own.
With the song of knowledge always on her lips.