Twilight giggled, slightly manic, deliriously exhausted from a straight night of the best partying the party princess of Ponyville had to offer. Pinkie had pulled out every trick up her sleeve and then some, it looked as if the rainbow factories of Cloudsdale had been dumped out to drain into the streets of Canterlot. It was the decorations in all colors of the rainbow on every single building front, side, and rear. It was the food stations on every single street corner stocked with every mouthwatering food a pony could imagine and then some. It was the heart-stoppingly powerful beats from Vinyl's setup that somehow reverberated through the entire city and shook everypony to the core with every note. And it was the seemingly endless waves of ponies of every color that trampled their way through every single street and alley; chatting, dancing, or whatever. Yeah, Pinkie had really outdone herself this time.
Twilight was dancing with all of the grace of a snail- with some difficulty she added dance to a mental checklist of things she had to learn- and the speed of one as well, causing a knot of ponies to form around her as they were kept by her deliberately clumsy steps from dancing or trotting to where they actually wanted to be. The cheer that pervaded the air that night inhibited any annoyance they may have felt with the half-tripping mare in their path, and they chuckled politely. A few mares even joined in, mimicking her awkward dance steps in good humor. Of course, Twilight herself was flattered by the imitation, exhaustion having clouded her thoughts. A few more missteps though and she was finally ready to turn in for the night.
"Night night, ladies!" If she could have heard herself, a more sane Twilight would have been embarrassed with how breezy and even flirty her voice sounded under the influence of exhaustion and strong cider. She staggered and then bowed, knocking her head against the cobblestone of the street in the process. While she struggled to right herself, the mares before her giggled and smiled.
"See ya!" They spoke in unison and waved. Their coats were similar shades of orange, and Twilight's sleep deprived mind blurred the three or so mares before her into one abomination with six waving forehooves. Twilight's mouth dropped ever so slightly, she rubbed at her eyes as the mare raised it's freakishly long unibrow in concern. The desperate need for rest finally hit Twilight, not that the screaming pain of her abused hooves hadn't already been telling her that. She smiled lopsidedly at the mare that her exhaustion had somehow granted a wing coming out of it's belly, baring her teeth more than actually expressing any positive sentiment, and began to stumble off as the three mares she had left exchanged confused glances.
The party was still going strong, and the going was difficult. She had to force her way through more than a few awkward spots though everypony seemed too caught up in the festivities to care, giggling at the mare drunkenly forcing her way through instead of snapping at her. The world spun around Twilight as she walked, everyone's eyes were simultaneously on her and everywhere else at once. It was as if she weren't walking but the world was flowing past her, the crowds of technicolor ponies and their chatter a river that she was lazily swimming down. To her home, or her home for the night anyways. Canterlot Castle loomed over the tops of the buildings Twilight was working her way towards, it's silhouette ever present no matter where in the city a pony was. Nopony in the crowded streets besides her payed the great edifice mind. The shadow of the Castle was surreal. The crowds were quietly vanishing into the recesses of her vision as she continued to plod her way toward the great castle. Everypony but herself was gone into the night. How she'd just love to nod off right here and now… Her eyes were drooping, her motion having ceased a whole minute ago underneath the frilly awning of a closed boutique. Ponies around her snapped their heads towards some sight that Twilight couldn't see.
"Tw… here?" That voice was awfully close, almost as if it were in her ear.
"I don't know what's here, please let me sleep…" That's what Twilight meant to say, though it came out with much less coherence. It was more like a growl than anything else.
"I th… okay?" That was another voice, a melodic one that made Twilight think of a warm bed.
"Mmm…?"
There was no response, only a strong pressure on her stomach as two sets of hooves hefted her up, with a curious amount of delicacy and reverence. Twilight's head swayed about, she tried to turn her eyes onto something but the veil of exhaustion bested her curious vision. A few moments passed, Twilight felt as if she were flying through space, her hooves weakly twitching with longing for solid ground. The next voice that sounded in her ear was thankfully clear.
"Sugar sweet, go to sleep, when you wake you'll have a treat." It was singsong, but oh so pleasing to the ears of even a grown mare. There was no way Twilight wasn't nodding off after that, but she forced herself to keep conscious for a second longer.
"Thanks, Cadence."
When Twilight had finally curled up into a ball in the newly weds hooves, Shining Armor and Cadence gently set down the slumbering mare in their gold burnished carriage. With a hoof, Shining Armor bade the two guards assigned to the carriage to trot slowly, so not as to disturb their passenger. Shining knew that even when exhausted from a full day Twilight could still spring to wakefulness in a heartbeat. The bride and groom glanced at each other, and silently elected to escort the carriage. The trot allowed them to chat politely with the party guests, who were honored to be able to meet the newly weds in person. They parted in spite of the sheer density of ponies out on the streets to allow the little procession passage. They bowed, praised, congratulated, and while neither pony was used to attention they both bore the comments with poised dignity and easy smiles. By the time the crowd had turned it's attentions away, both mare and stallion were confident they had won over even more loyal supporters. The two glanced at one another, both suppressing giggles.
"I'm surprised you were still good for another foray into the city, dear." Shining was impressed by his bride's energy, he added that to an enormous mental list- a trait that wasn't exclusive to Twilight by any means- of traits her admired in Cadence.
"As exciting as the day's been, I simply couldn't leave you to go out alone." They had intended to retire early, but Shining had suddenly been taken by the impulse to go out for a nighttime pleasure ride, and Cadence had almost immediately sprung up from the bed to join him. She looked at Twilight and supposed that it was more than a coincidence that Shining had been inspired to pick the route he had. Otherwise, his little sister might have slept out in the cold for the rest of the night. "It's so cute! You two really are the best of siblings and friends, aren't you?" Shining smiled sheepishly.
"I'd like to think that, yes." His smile widened along with a slight blush when Cadence planted an aggressive kiss onto his cheek, a reward for his brotherly humbleness. The couple nuzzled their faces against one another, eyes closed as they took a moment to enjoy the soft caress of the other's fur. One of many bass drops from the omnipresent music of Vinyl then smashed through the couple, the two breaking apart and laughing all the while as their moment of peaceful bliss was rejoined by reality. Shining smiled even as he spoke, "I think that's all for tonight then? Shall we?" A gentlemanly sweeping gesture towards the castle. Cadence allowed herself a great yawn, her mouth stretching open as she tried- and failed as the events of the day began to catch up with her vitality- to give Shining a coy look, creating a strangely cute look that Shining couldn't help but grin at.
"… Nonsense. The night is still…" She yawned again, her eyes were beginning to droop. "… The night is still young." Shining tutted playfully.
"And we aren't, we should be responsible and know our limits." Cadence rolled her eyes at the wording, which even Shining recognized as too similar to a lecture to be effective with his bride. He tried different jab. "Besides, you wouldn't want to leave your favorite foal sleeping by herself, would you? Who know what sort of monsters will get at her if her favorite foalsitter isn't there to protect her?" Cadence pouted, her violet eyes even quivering to effect. Shining knew from experience that while Cadence was sweet and unoffensive in most situations, she could playact mercilessly when given reason to. The quivering eyes were a bit much, but Shining's heart skipped a beat or two all the same.
"No fair! Pulling your little sister into this, that is so low!" Shining held his ground, sternly reprimanded his bride while trying to keep himself from erupting into a grin.
"Anything if it means getting the both of you into bed at a decent hour." Cadence held the look for a moment before she let it drop into a knowing smile.
"You win." Her eyes narrowed slightly. The young Princess really was a dramatic actress. "This time." The couple broke into laughter for what seemed like the umpteenth time that night and they continued to horse around all the way to the castle. Twilight slept that whole while, dreaming of small things dancing about chaotically in the abstract winds of her imagination. She didn't respond when she was gently lifted up by Shining and Cadence once more, the two carrying on a whispered conversation about the young mare as they took her to a bed inside the castle.
"My, I-" Cadence grunted slightly as she shifted her hooves with the utmost care to balance Twilight's weight. She continued, "I recall when I could do this by myself. She's really grown!" Cadence had sworn she'd have a wing sprouting out of her belly before she ever got a chance to carry Twilight again. That had been after she had seen the filly for a tearful parting when Celestia had taken on the child as her apprentice. Theoretically she could have continued to foalsit as they were in the same city, but both Twilight and Cadence had known instinctively that Twilight was simply too old by that point to need Cadence anymore. Cadence mulled on that for a while, before muttering to her husband over Twilight's still form:
"Your sister really is the cutest little thing, isn't she?" Shining nodded.
"Even now that we're all adults I think so. Curse of being her older brother and favorite foalsitter I guess." The two regarded the young mare with a fond look as she quietly slept in their hooves. They avoided the stairs, opting instead for a room on ground level that was reserved for guests anyways. A bit of awkward shifting at the doorframe aside, Twilight was put into a proper bed with no incident. The couple even got the chance to tuck the young mare in, magically levitating the thick wrap over so that only her horn was poking out, the way both knew Twilight preferred to be laid to bed. The couple looked at each other over Twilight's prone form, eyelids beginning to drop but eyes sparkling radiantly. Both thought what had happened was simply too cute to be real. They even poked each other lightly with a hoof to make sure they weren't experiencing some sort of mutual dream.
"… This really has been the best night of our lives." This little moment was the icing atop their wedding cake, the sealed ribbon on the best day stallion and mare had ever known. They kissed lightly over the sleeping mare and trotted off quietly to their own shared bedroom.
When Twilight awoke that next morning, she could vividly remember dreaming about being put to sleep by Cadence and Shining Armor- redundancy of being put to sleep in a dream aside- Twilight could almost feel the ruffling of their forelegs against her stomach. She dismissed it as a dream quickly though. There was no way that would have ever happened again.
-----
At the crest of Canterlot Castle, the apex of it's tallest tower, was a balcony adjacent to both Princesses bedrooms. A simple telescope had been set up there almost the moment the word of a threat against the city had been caught, more as tradition than as any practical surveillance fixture. It had proven completely worthless in halting the machinations of Queen Chrysalis of course, and had been forgotten in the chaos that had followed the incident. Only now as Princess Celestia emerged from her domicile was the telescope magically closed with a snap and moved into her room and out of sight. The Princess impassively stretched her wings in the baby light of a new day that she was moving into place without spared thought of effort. Dawn was silent now, with no ponies stirring in the streets below. The Princess had been too fast asleep to hear any amount of the reception, but she had an inkling that it had been tremendous.
And she had an eyewitness. Luna flew up as Celestia tucked her wings snugly against her sides, the Princess of night looking burned out but quite happy. Her eyes were slightly unfocused. Wait, was she drunk?
"Sis… Sis…? Tia...!" Luna spontaneously came close to tipping over and had to thrust her head forward to balance herself out, with the end result being the two sisters both losing significant amounts of personal space. Celestia smirked slightly as she slid a hoof between Luna's face and her own.
"Had fun Luna?"
"You know it!" Luna yawned into Celestia's hoof, her hot breath leaving a bit of clinging moisture in it's wake. Celestia grimaced and rubbed the dirtied hoof into the floor of the balcony.
"Drink?" She knew the answer even before Luna said yes.
"You know it!" Luna lolled her body around Celestia's, at last making her way into her room for a good long rest. She pushed the alabaster white door aside, revealing a room so pitch black that even the rays of the sun couldn't force their way in. Luna began to disappear into the darkness. "That Apple Shoot can sure make great cider!"
"Applejack, Luna."
"Whatever." Luna was gone, and the door swung shut behind her. Celestia rolled her eyes, a motion so practiced and slight that it was imperceptible to even the sharpest observer. So much for getting information on the reception she had largely missed from her sister. She would have to ask somepony else. There would be no shortage of ponies to ask though, as the Castle was hosting a good half of the invited wedding guests. Celestia considered the sun that she was unconsciously raising over the horizon for a moment. It was a dull, murky light, obscured by low hanging cloud cover from the valley of Ponyville. Celestia knew that with so many ponies from around the country gathered into Canterlot for the day, the weather would be a bit rogue in the other parts of the country, possibly for another few days. It dawned on her that such a lack of control had not been had- Discord's escape last year aside- in perhaps a millennium. Perhaps she needed to host more royal weddings where everypony was invited in the future.
Celestia's thoughts were scattered by a squeaking noise from the courtyard below. She trotted to the balcony railing, looked over. An ant of a purple-coated mare was waving at a squealing little pink blur zipping in circles around her. Twilight conversing with her friend Pinkie, though Celestia couldn't catch a distinct word of their conversation. Celestia wondered why the two mares were up with so little of the sun yet in the sky, but she let that go quickly. Twilight was the exact pony she needed to speak to this day. The speedy pink blur disengaged from her friend, zoomed off into the castle belowhoof while Twilight trotted off in the opposite direction. Celestia could actually feel her eyes spinning slightly. She spared a moment of pity for those that would have their mornings rudely crashed by Pinkie, then drew away from the railing.
She could have flown after Twilight, but the Princess normally tried to refrain from flight whenever she could avoid it. She could often feel some pair of eyes or another on her when she took to the skies, and she guessed that her profile was simply too large to be subtle when in flight. Instead of flight Celestia opted for the stairs, a spiral flight between the Princesses bedrooms that was a mite too small for either Princess to comfortably descend though, the smooth stone pressing in on their sides whenever used by either sister. Like the telescope, it was a matter of tradition that the stairs weren't replaced with a more practical application. Celestia payed the obtrusive pressure no mind, it in fact was such a familiar sensation that it gave the Princess some calm and peace with which to start the day.
It was a good thing that she was naturally a fast healer, she might have had no small trouble if she had still been cowed to the injuries Queen Chrysalis had laid upon her yesterday. The blast of hijacked love had not been kind to the Princess. So many of her bones had felt like they had been through a grinder afterward that Celestia had to retire from the reception early before she collapsed in the middle of the festivities and brought them to a screeching halt. A night's sleep had renewed her body and hopefully fortified herself for what she was sure would be a long day. She couldn't afford to have her legs giving out under her today.
She squeezed her way through the undersized stairwell which let out in one of the alcoves of the castle's throne room. Trotting with an urgency so subtle only she could have been aware of it, she made after Twilight. Her guards didn't pick up on it at any rate, they saluted her impassively and didn't seem to be plussed by the fact that she strangely disappeared past them almost as she had appeared. Though the great wooden doors. Through the courtyard. Twilight was picking her way through the gardens, idly enchanted by the fauna sleeping in the bushes and trees. Celestia slowed herself, approached her student nonchalantly.
"Twilight." The young mare was startled by Celestia's appearance, she hadn't heard the Princess until she was virtually on top of her. Twilight spun around in place, made a cursory attempt at a bow before Celestia held up her hoof. "Please Twilight, we're alone."
"I noticed." Twilight sounded very rested at any rate, which Celestia took as a good sign. Twilight offered her mentor a lazy smile, Celestia having allowed for the dropping of any pretense between teacher and student. "What are you doing in the gardens today, Princess?" Celestia trotted up to a tree, idly observing a blue jay asleep in atop one of it's fatter branches.
"I was actually looking for you." The direct statement caught Twilight's curiosity, her eyes widened slightly.
"Really Princess? What's the occasion?" Celestia half extended a hoof to the jay before she changed her mind and withdrew it, leaving the jay to sleep in peace. "I mean, besides the wedding." Twilight giggled slightly at her own mistake, Celestia felt a morsel of pride for her pupil in catching herself. She was quite the sharp speaker now, in contrast to the filly recently turned mare she had sent to Ponyville almost two years ago. They now turned to face one another, teacher towering over student but ground between the two perfectly even all the same.
"I need to tell you something."
"So you weren't going to send a letter?"
"We are in the same city, Twilight." Celestia allowed herself a measured bit of dryness in her tone with that comment, which Twilight didn't notice. She would have been surprised if any pony could have noticed.
"But we almost never meet in person." Celestia felt the slightest twinge of guilt at that truth. Even when they were both in Canterlot Celestia didn't see much of her prized pupil. She realized that in the last year she had perhaps seen more of Twilight's friend Rarity than she had Twilight herself.
"Well then it's time we met and chatted for a while." Twilight looked eager for that.
"Yes, Princess! Should I bring anything?" The Princess shook her head, then gestured it up at the balcony she had been watching Twilight from only a few minutes ago. "Alright, let's go!" A bit of skip was in her step now that she was going to have the rare opportunity to hang around with her mentor, who had been a bit scarce in her life recently. For her part Celestia felt a certain tempered joy at seeing her student so eager to have a talk with her. Perhaps if she had done this earlier, with a less heavy subject… The Princess kept pace just behind Twilight.
They journeyed in silence, except for when Celestia needed to point Twilight to the obscure stairwell. Twilight took a mental note of the compact size of the staircase, a look behind her at Celestia's form being compressed slightly at the sides by the tight passage rewrote that mental note into stone. She would have to ask Celestia about that when she got the opportunity. They passed one door, which Twilight correctly speculated was Luna's, and passed through a door just around the spiral, which Celestia magically shut behind them. In contrast to Luna's room, the Princesses was not overtly revealing of her element. It wasn't overt, even. The solitary bookshelf in a corner, the plain bed, the bedside table decorated only by a lamp, and the whitewashed walls could have been anypony's room. Admittedly the size of the bed was an obvious giveaway, but other than that the room was incredibly generic. The book spines were even blank.
"Sit down, Twilight." Twilight glanced around for a chair, when she found none she gave her mentor a questioning look. Celestia met that gaze, then deliberately shifted her eyes over to the bed. The Princess wanted Twilight to sit on her bed? Twilight tentatively sat on the smallest sliver of the bed's edge possible, imagination churning out some interesting possibilities for what the Princess had in mind for their talk. Instead of approaching her though, the Princess moved aside her bookshelf and began levitating books out of the shelf and flipping through them. Her imagination's hypotheses proven wrong, Twilight allowed herself to sit more comfortably.
"What's in those books, Princess? Their titles seem to be missing…" Celestia didn't turn from her present pursuit while she responded.
"That would be because they're my personal journals." Twilight audibly gasped at that. Did the Princess really intend to tell her things like that? Celestia was diverted from her search by that, she turned a concerned eye to her pupil. "Okay, Twilight?"
"I'm sorry Princess, I was just surprised is all."
"That's quite alright." Celestia had turned back to the journals, and had been through more than half of them by that point. The bookshelf seemed to have at least fifty books of varying bindings crammed into it. "These are things nopony has had the privilege of witnessing in… ever." The emphasis square on that last word was what really moved Twilight to appreciate the full weight of what was happening. She was literally the first mare ever to get a look at the Princess Celestia's private thoughts! Twilight was on the precipice of actually squealing with delight, though thankfully the Princess brought her back into reality as her words cut through Twilight's sudden onset of lightheadedness. "Found it. Shall we begin?" Twilight blushed a slight pink, embarrassed by her near loss of control.
"Y-yes, I am," she murmured. "Sorry, Princess." Celestia smiled at that.
"Again, that's quite alright. Shall I abridge this tale or speak as is written?" It was no question, of course.
"Straight from the page, please." Twilight suddenly wished she had brought something to take notes on, ignoring the fact that the whole affair had occurred without prior knowledge on her part. She hoped her memory was up to the task of storing every little detail the Princess chose to divulge to her. "If only I had a paper and pen…"
"You'll find most of my writing to be devoid of substance."
"I highly doubt that, Princess." Twilight's voice was bright and chirpy with a certain sappy genuineness that she might have cringed at if she had observed it from outside herself. "Anything you have to say is probably important." Celestia neatly opened the journal in hand- the most tattered of the lot by the looks of it, with numerous pages hanging at odd angles out of the book- and levitated it before her eyes, blocking her countenance from Twilight's view.
"We'll see." She began with further preamble:
"
I'm told it had been high noon when I was born, so I suppose being named 'Dawn' was more than a trite ironic, though that never occurred to my parents. Up to now, the distressingly traditional method of announcing a newborn in Canterlot is to use the Royal Voice from the highest towers to announce it to everypony who could or couldn't possibly care. Star hates the Royal Voice with a passion, not that it stops her from using it whenever she wants to emphasize a point. I personally don't mind it, really. It really crashes on the eardrums yes, but the noise reminds everypony of the passion we should have in our lives. At least I think so, at any rate. But I digress.
I was born and announced as the second foal that day, the first being the child of Princess Platinum. Her full title was Princess-to-be Rārus Zirconium, though all my peers just call her Zirca nowadays. Apparently the trend at the time for naming foals was tacking on incredibly fancy-sounding epithets to their given names. I guess that's why I was named In Saecula Saeculorum Dawn by my parents, bless their souls. Foals aren't given pretentiously long names as of now, and I can't imagine it becoming a trend again. I'm great friends with Zirca by the way, though her mother sometimes bristles at our friendship I'm positive it's just dramatic posturing for the press. She slipped me a load of cookies and a wink once when the paparazzi ponies weren't paying attention. Hard to get away with anything in Canterlot when the Royal Voice allows the paparazzi to literally announce every little thing you do to the city at large. I'm thankful I'm not a big name pony.
Mom and Dad are a unicorn and pegasus respectively. Dad's name is Burstwind, he was a solider who apparently served Princess Hurricane back when she was still a Commander and the ponies were making their move from their old land to Equestria. I can't believe I'm part of the first generation to be born in this beautiful new land. Sometimes in class when the teacher gives us free time I'll sit at my desk instead of going outside, put my head into my hooves, and mull that over for a bit. If you really chew on it, you realize just how determined we ponies are. It seems like we've always been here when you look at the impressive skyline of Canterlot or the manicured clouds overhead, yet I'm supposedly one of the first fillies to be native to Equestria. My teacher says I should be going outside instead of chewing the cud by myself, but I can't help it sometimes. Food for thought is pretty delicious. Oh, but I'm going off track again, aren't I? My Dad's name is Burstwind, he was a solider and he's now on Canterlot's weather team.
Mom's name is Twinkle and she's one of the noble unicorns, she's a really kind and--I hope she never reads this--plump young mare who's normally works with the night team to move the moon around so she can kiss me goodbye when I go off to school before going to sleep and so she can wake up to kiss me back from school and make dinner for me. Dad and Mom more or less built their schedules around me, Dad gets back from blocking off the mountain winds that would otherwise make Canterlot a chilly place to live at the same time I get back from school and we all eat dinner together. Oh, and Star eats with us too, but I suppose I should really go back to my birth for the moment. Sorry Star, you're not in this quite yet.
The nurses at the hospital were so used to parents wanting really complicated titles, and Dad says that they presented them him a really large gold embossed book full of translated titles at the same time they handed me to Mom. Here's the cute part, both Mom and Dad say that they were inspired by the bright and sharp little lights of my eyes- their words- to allow me to pick out my title, though Dawn had been decided on before I had even been conceived. I probably flailed my little hooves around and randomly hit the book, but my parents swear to me that I made a very deliberate decision. Whatever the case I landed on 'In Saecula Saeculorum', and that's the title I got. It means 'Forever and Ever', which means my full title is really Forever and Ever Dawn. That does sound really cool, I'll admit. But I don't think I'll ever live up to it. I've got a horn and wings at the same time, but that doesn't really mean anything.
Talking about something besides my personal life for a moment, Canterlot was founded where it was because in Princess Platinum's own words, "the view from this point is exquisitely gorgeous". Imagine the thickest faux accent you can saying that and you'll have it spot on, no offense to the Princess because she really is the sweetest drama queen you'll ever meet. There's another significance to this location beyond the great vista. The natural cavern network that cuts through these parts of the mountain is where Princess Clover, Princess Pansy, and Princess Smart drove back the Windigos and thus where Equestria was officially founded. The historical significance made Canterlot the choice for capital of Equestria, and while the Earth Ponies and Pegasi have their own awesome looking cities I've never seen elsewhere, the six Princesses congregate here pretty regularly. Both to discuss politics and just because the six of them are best friends forever. The paparazzi have a field day whenever the six are together. I personally think it's incredibly disrespectful of them, if it were up to me I would outlaw the paparazzi.
My favorite thing about Canterlot's location isn't the view, as expansive and gorgeous as it is. It isn't the cool weather, as crisp and refreshing as it is. It's the fact that the earth ponies have to bring up caravans of food daily and the pegasi have to zip through Canterlot patrolling between their various cloud cities and usually stop for a drink of cider while in the area. My teacher teaches that while Equestria was founded on the principle of equality, the pony tribes are still largely separated due to circumstance. The pegasus have to have cloud cities all over the place because Equestria's still a pretty untamed land and patrols are needed. The earth ponies need to stick to fertile lands for farming. And the unicorns have to be in places with strong magical effusions to develop their skills. Canterlot's one of the places where they all congregate on a regular basis, and I love it with a passion. Seeing all of the ponies together, haggling over food or eating at cafes or browsing through couture or exchanging some gossip, it's one of those little things about me, like my chewing on cud by myself in class or my thoughts on the Royal Voice.
Another one of my little things is that I love noticing the little things about other ponies. Like Dad and his tendency to clap his back hooves together sharply before walking into our home. Mom always kisses the exact same spot on my cheek, I think I'm getting a bit of a bruise there, which would really stand out against my white coat so theoretically should get my mom to vary her spot a little. But the problem is that I simply couldn't ask someone to change one of the little things they do, I can barely even contemplate it! I couldn't ask Star to stop mumbling the names of spells she's learned under her breath in public. I couldn't ask Zirca to stop intently eyeing the seamlines of dressed up passerby. I couldn't even ask the paparazzi ponies to stop taking a million pictures a second and shouting the most mundane things about their charges, now that I think about it! It just wouldn't be right of me. So I take back that bit about wanting to outlaw the paparazzi.
Now the first day of my life I can recall with clarity was a sober day in the thick of winter, when the rooftops were choked under piles of snow and the biting mountain winds blew freely through the streets because the weather team was off duty. Now, the six Princesses rarely pass national mandates, but when they do they're pretty big. To commemorate the founding of Equestria and reward the hard working tribes who had built up the country virtually overnight the Princesses declared that all of winter was to be a season of play instead of work. School doesn't meet and the weather and sun and moon are all left to their own devices. Mom and Dad and I get to spend the whole season together having fun so I commend our Princesses for their excellent decision. That day in fact my parents and I were at home, I distinctly remember that Dad was flying a happily squealing me around the tinsel bedecked family room.
Mom had been making us hot chocolate, the perfect drink for the season of course, and her finishing touch was always a bright red candy cane left in as a stirrer. I'd spend hours slowly nibbling the cane away after I finished off the soul-warming ambrosia. Now Mom had been--again I hope she never deigns to read this--more plump than usual in the past few months, though I hadn't the faintest clue why at the time. So when I heard the sharp tinkling of a mug shattering against the alabaster flooring and my mothers squeal, I wasn't aware that it was one of delight and thought that my mom was in danger for a heart-stopping moment. Dad flew me over into the kitchen in a split second, and my parents had exchanged this quick look before my Mom's face burst into a big old grin.
"Star's coming, honey!" My Dad had whooped at that, and setting me down gently on a chair he zipped out of the nearest window into the dismal light of an uncontrolled winter's day. I had been franticly trying to catch my Mom's attention, which I of course immediately had.
"Mommy, mommy!" My words, while I was fairly intelligent for my age I was only four at the time. "What's happening? Are you alright?" I was that foal that always helped around the house and threw a fit if my parents told me there was nothing I could help them with. Mom and Dad say it's empathy, though personally I'm positive I'm not reading their emotions at all. I just have a compulsive drive to help.
"I'm great, Dawny!" Dawny, that was my obligatory cute foalhood nickname. "Remember when we said that you'd have a sister this year?"
"Yeah!" I had been bouncing off the walls a few months ago when Mom and Dad had announced it to me over dinner. I had assumed that my sister would just show up on our doorstep, or be carried over by a stork, or be summoned by some magical ritual. The usual cute stories about where babies came from that were prevalent at our schooling age. What I hadn't expected was for us to need to go to the hospital for my sister to appear.
Now while all ponies enjoy their time off they all understand that some work simply can't stop, and the nurses and doctor mares and stallions of Canterlot could be called upon anytime of winter. You just had to know where one lived and knock. My Dad got the same stallion who had delivered me, who in turn brought the two mares he had as nurses to the hospital my Dad had ushered Mom and I to. The funny thing is that none of them were dressed in work garb; I remember that the stallion was even levitating a mug of his own homemade hot chocolate behind him as he entered the delivery room, telling some sort of adult joke I didn't get to my Mom to put her mind at ease. The door had closed behind him, all the grownups were inside the delivery room and I was outside, my parents having evoked the maxim that I would have to a be a certain age to witness some things in this world, the mystical thing happening behind that door being one of them.
It was quiet out in the hallway, the noise from the room was muffled and indistinct. Even if I put my ear to the door I couldn't make out individual voices, let alone words. I was restless, eager to see my baby sister in all her glory. It was then that I began to muse, which was already a common occurrence for me even at such a tender age. I wondered what my sister would be like, if she would be a clone of me- heaven forbid- or someone else entirely. What would she inherit from my Mom and Dad? It's not like I had Mom's gray mane or Dad's electric blue mane, I didn't have their eyes, their coats, their voices. Neither my Mom nor my Dad were disposed to internal monologues, at least I don't think so. I was curiously dissimilar from my parents, and the more I thought of it the more I realized that none of my friends at preschool acted like their own parents. The dissonance confused me, and I was this close to barging in and asking my parents about it when I was startled- to the opposite wall in fact- by the shattering of the silence. From within the room the stallion's voice boomed out for all the city to hear:
"Thou who listen, pay reverence for this day we witness the birth of a new mare. Newborn, thy name shall be Replicare Star Swirl. Rejoice, all!" As suddenly as the voice was there it was gone, but my ears continued to ring for some time. When they finally cleared, the first thing I heard was my younger sister bawling. As the cacophony of a roaring stallion was replaced by this piddly little squealing, my heart was warmed by the unmistakable noise that proved that she was here. Star Swirl, my little sister. I'd like to think she was whining because her entry to this world had been marked by such an uproar. That would be so fitting for her.
I was bouncing on all four hooves when the adults began to exit, looking for any sign of my sister amongst their group. The doctor stallion was sipping at his chocolate while the nurses were giggling, looking over their shoulders at my parents, trotting along just behind. Mom was giggling along with them, looking down into a bassinet that Dad was pushing along in his mouth. Almost the moment he let go hie had the biggest grin on his face as he looked down at Luna, who was still crying with a vigor I was slightly impressed by. Impressed, but I was still more concerned with actually seeing her with my own eyes. I jumped impatiently at the grownups hooves, my Dad hefted me up onto his strong back and held me over the bassinet. He spoke, quietly, reverently:
"Here you go, Dawny…"
She was barely the size of my head and she had no mane and her coat was a dark almost violet blue and she had a pinprick of a horn and poofs of wings, like I did but on a smaller scale. What caught me when I first looked at her though was what I saw in her eyes. They were huge: in scale they were already the size of mine and they shimmered a hue of greenish blue. She didn't look at me or anypony else--probably didn't have control over her eyes yet--but even as she gazed helplessly at the ceiling surrounded by a bunch of virtual strangers paying her an awful lot of attention I could swear that she was looking at me. I could swear that she was thinking just as I was: paralyzed by doubt, unsure of what to say though of course I knew she couldn't actually speak a word yet. I found myself imagining--not planning--her future. She would be a smart filly, even a bit cheeky, she would enjoy magic as her namesake and would become a famous practitioner. She would love fiercely, passionately; would cry if she wasn't able to give the absolute best present to our parents or our teacher or our friends; would refuse to apologize for a wrongdoing even when caught but instead silently work herself half crazy trying to make it up to whoever she had wronged. All this and more I could vividly picture in a split second, just from a single look into her eyes. At that moment the 'bright and sharp little lights of my eyes' made perfect sense to me.
I wanted to touch her, but my hoof wavered and withdrew as her cries continued unabated. The adult mares didn't hold back, and they were all poking at her and giggling amongst themselves. Even the doctor stallion had put aside his chocolate and joined in, though rather than giggling he was remarking on his predictions of Star's strong health to my Dad, who was of course eager to hear such news. Star cried endlessly under the scrutiny and touch of the adults, and while I knew they had only the warmest intentions in mind, I couldn't help but feel that Star needed to be more intimately adored rather than being on the spotlight. I didn't voice my thoughts, my silence and inaction were enough for me.
Star--now I hope she never reads this--didn't stop crying for almost three days, but my parents assured a puzzled me that Star's crying was perfectly normal; they would years later change their minds however and assure Star when she asked that she had been quiet as a mouse from birth. Star's weird biological clock became apparent pretty early on when she started sleeping for less than twenty hours a day. She would chose to doze off in the early morning and wake up when the sun had already moved past it's apex in the sky. At first it was assumed to be a newborn foal phase and it didn't have that much of an effect anyways; Star was active at mealtimes and could be occupied for an entire night with a simple if cute rag doll Mom had made for her. But by the time she was four, when I was already a fully grown filly and attending school and she was to go to preschool, she was still sleeping at her unusual times. She was also less easily amused and would often grow restless being alone in a slumbering household.
It was the first day of school for both of us. I had a new red saddlebag for school, and was prancing around the living room admiring myself in a mirror quietly while my parents fussed over a sleepy Star. She had a saddlebag in the same color, but she had refused to wear it and entreated my parents to let her sleep.
"Mommy, I'm too tired to go to school…" She whined with her head already down in her hooves Her mane had grown out into a velvety blue bush, which she refused to wear in a ponytail like me or even comb to where it frazzled all over the place when she so much as twitched her head to a side. It took on a life of it's own, snapping about wildly as she repeatedly banged her head into her hooves for emphasis. My parents, haggard with their own entreaties, looked at each other with reluctance.
"But Costara, school is important for every growing foal." Costara was Star's foal nickname, frankly less cute than mine but phonetically fitting for a--really hoping Star never gets her hooves on this--drama queen to rival Princess Platinum in the making. "I'm sure if you slept like your sister…" I shrunk a bit in place at that, wanting to avoid being drawn into the argument. Nopony looked at me, but I could tell by the upswing in Star's pitch that she really didn't like the comparison:
"Mommy, that's not fair! Dawn and I are different!" She and I were on great terms, but she had grown weary of the vast differences between us given that they made her the odd one out. As an aside, I had also been absolved of my foalhood nickname and was Dawn to everypony inside and outside my home.
"I guess you really are," Dad conceded, "but how are you going to be schooled then?" My parents and I were very forgiving of Star's isms, but they would not exempt her from mandatory education. I loved school personally, and I would have bet all the three bits I had at that time that Star would love school too. She could be moody at times, but I theorized that Star would made fast friends with her fellows in preschool. Star groaned as she turned her head over, her mane cascading behind her and one eye still obscured by a hoof, to look directly at me. I started a that, though I held my place and her gaze.
"Mmm… well can Dawn come with me, at least?" Both Mom and Dad looked at each other with unrestrained incredulity, unable to quite comprehend the deal their youngest daughter had just proposed to them. I on my part, and to this day, don't regard the request as unreasonable. I could imagine why Star would want me by her side, in a brand new environment with stranger ponies all around while her body was crying at her for sleep. I'm sure if we had turned her down getting her to go to preschool would have necessitated dragging her there against her will. Mom looked from Star to me with a raised eyebrow.
"Don't be silly Costara, Dawn couldn't possibly-"
"I'll do it." It was my turn to make my parents look at each other incredulously.
"But… Dawn. She's two grade levels behind you…"
"I'll get permission from Princess Clover," I offered so matter-of-factly that even Star seemed surprised by my nonchalance, raising an eyebrow. "I think this is the best way." It really wasn't. In retrospect hiring a tutor would have theoretically satisfied all parties involved all the same. But the thought of her not getting to go outside of the house and meet and play with foals like her was one I couldn't tolerate. At this age I wasn't much more worldly than I had been at the age of four when I had spent lunches in preschool by myself in thought, and obviously I wasn't wise, willing to on impulse drop two grade levels for my sister's sake. This was protectiveness, pure and simple. The sort a sister can only have. No offense to my parents, but I think there's a great difference between a sister's protectiveness and a mother or father's protectiveness. I'm just not sure how to explain it.
"… Well… if you can…?" Mom and Dad looked between themselves and their two daughters. Both Star and I had determined eyes, set jaws, and my parents knew that neither of us would back down. I realize now that the thoughts running through their heads were probably that I had, in a moment, grown ten some years before their very eyes. It was the ease with which I made my decision, the confidence with which I made it, that I'm sure sold them on the plan. The bright and sharp little lights of my eyes were burning stronger than ever, forgive me for being a bit sappy there.
"Alright. Go ahead." Mom and Dad smiled these weary little smiles at one another while Star cheered. I just exhaled slightly and gestured for Star to put on her saddlebag.
"That was so cool, Dawn!" Star and I were trotting through the streets of Canterlot five minutes after we had left home--a cozy apartment in the middle of the city--and were en route to Clover's school. My teacher, in case I forgot to mention it earlier, is Princess Clover herself. She and an earth pony mare named Daffodil Smile who wants to become a teacher down in the earth pony cities teach the regular school and the preschool respectively. Clover somehow manages to be both an excellent teacher and the primary administrator of Canterlot at once; whenever she sits down at her desk she'll be hidden by mile high stacks of paper. How she doesn't go crazy is beyond me. Back to the present moment, I was genuinely brushing off my own accomplishment.
"Wasn't a big deal Costara."
"But it was!" She yawned greatly, but continued immediately after with seemingly greater enthusiasm and energy, "I mean, I wish I could sleep when I wanted to but at least you can wake me up if I fall asleep in class now!" I raised an eyebrow, that was a disturbingly calculated move on my sister's part. She giggled and winked at me. "Too late to back out now!" I shrugged slightly.
"No way I'd back out now. But you do realize that the teacher would wake you up if you fell asleep?"
"I'd rather it be you, Dawn." I actually blushed a bit at that. It was normally me who woke up Star at night for dinner, and she would always grumble and complain and otherwise make such a fuss that I was sure she had resented me for my unwanted intrusions into her rest.
"Really? You mean that?" In the background the Royal Voice boomed, something about a market-wide sale, but neither Star nor I payed it any attention.
"Forever and ever, Dawn!" Star began to skip ahead. I was at that moment partially tempted to join her. The idea that I was going back two whole grade levels, which had been such a minute detail before, was now completely negligible. I didn't--I don't--regret the choice I made.
Star wore herself out pretty quickly, and her eyes were already heavy by the time we were at the schoolhouse. I patted her lightly on the head, she leaned into my hoof, searching for a surface to sleep against.
"Not yet, Star." Star groaned and forced herself into something approximating wakefulness while I entered Princess Clover's half of the schoolhouse. My entrance was coincidentally heralded by a ringing repeat of the same sales pitch we had heard but a minute ago. Sometimes I swear to whatever pony god watched over us that someone times the Royal Voice to individual ponies lives, including mine. The Princess looked up at me, waved me in. Even while she did that she was telekinetically signing some document. She doesn't skip a beat, Clover. "Miss Clover!" Another thing about her is that she teaches all her students on day one to not address her as Princess. She feels that as our teacher she can't be our Princess, and I sort of get where she's coming from. It's like a matter of intimacy, I think. She wants to be close with all of us as her students, obviously.
"Hey there, Dawn." Behind me, I heard the distinct thump of a nuzzle hitting the ground. Clover confirmed that Star had bowed, "No need to bow to me, young filly. Are you here for school?" Star seemed to be surprised by being addressed so by a Princess that she had been taught for all of her short life to treat with the utmost respect. She actually hid herself behind me, in vain since we were already similar sizes. I spoke on her behalf:
"She is, Miss Clover. She's my little sister."
"Star Swirl then? It's great to meet you!" Clover smiled brightly and waved at Star, who quickly realized that it was alright and waved back with a nervous smile of her own. "No need to be shy, we're all friends here." Star nodded and stepped out from behind me. I continued, slightly waving to get the Princesses attention back to me:
"We actually kind of agreed to something before we came here. My sister and I." The scratch of Clover's quill was omnipresent throughout the rest of our discussion, and in a few awkward moments where Clover was a trite distracted and unable to respond it would be the sole noise in the room.
"Mmm… Oh, yes. What manner of agreement?"
"I…" I tried to summon a bit of that boldness I had possessed before my parents here. "I agreed to attend school with my sister." A pause, then a hasty clarification, "As in, at her grade level. See, Star kind of sleeps during day and attending school then is a new experience for her. I thought she'd fall asleep often in class, so I wanted to stay with her…" I trailed off at that point, letting the scratching quill take over.
"Mmm… And you couldn't hire a tutor? Or do you not trust Miss Daffodil Smile to be able to keep your sister awake?" Clover shot both of us an inscrutable look. And her quill was still writing; I sometimes think it was writing without her prompting. I murmured something, trying to rally my thoughts. It's strange, I was theoretically more prepared to explain my reasoning a second time, but I was having trouble. And then Star spoke up:
"I'm sorry Prin- Miss Clover. It's my fault. I just really wanted my sister beside me in school, you see." She yawned, a wonderfully timed accident. "And… And I really am a daytime sleeper, too." She inclined her head in deferment to Clover's judgement. Clover continued to scrutinize the both of us for a moment.
"… It's unorthodox?" I had been a bit worried at that. "Unorthodox… which is why I like it! And the two of you seem so convinced, so mature about your decision… I'm going to allow it. What the hay, right?" Star and I looked at each other. The last bit had sealed it with it's carefree diction, we were cleared. Star looked relieved, I'm sure I looked about the same. Except I probably had less weight on my eyelids. "Welcome to preschool, Star Swirl." We both turned to Clover and nodded our thanks.
"And welcome to preschool too, Dawn." We all burst out laughing at that. Princess Clover really is cool, I have to commend her for her open mindedness. By the way, the quill had still been going.
We had been a bit early to school, so the three of us were able to chat for a bit and fill in Miss Daffodil before class began. Miss Daffodil had been honestly surprised, her mouth had been hanging a bit, but the surprise had at least been a wonderful one. She had loved me as a student two years ago, and we would still talk every now and then. And we knew I'd have no trouble with any of the subject material. The idea was even thrown around that I could assist Miss Daffodil with her teaching, which I was really intrigued by. I know now that I could never be a teacher in any capacity, but at the tender age of six the world was still wide open for me to explore the possibilities. In any case, since we were so early Star got a chance to know Miss Daffodil before the hustle and bustle began in earnest. And she had first pick of seats. The two of us were in the front row, next to one another.
When the little fillies began to stream in, their new school saddlebags all colors of the rainbow without even going into the coats and manes of the ponies themselves, I allowed myself to chew the cud as I once had long ago. Perhaps it was even at the same desk, the desks were moved around every year so it was theoretically possible. There were earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns, even another alicorn like Star and myself. There were both fillies and colts. They were all kinds of colors, all kinds of shapes, all kinds of types. But they were all chatting so eagerly. I suppose the older we get the less at ease we are with one another. I even notice that in myself to an extent. It's really a shame.
I stuck out to the fillies like a sore thumb, a tree in the midst of an arctic wasteland, whatever metaphor for a strange sight you can possibly come up with. They were mystified for all of a second, then began whispering to one another. Not so much whispering I guess, since it was pretty audible to me.
"What's an older mare doing in here?"
"You think she's been sent back a grade or something?"
"But Princess Clover wouldn't send somepony back unless she really, really needed to…"
"She must be dangerous…" The murmuring ended on that same note for the group as a whole, and I could already feel the apprehensive glances being shot my way. I hadn't felt the need to speak up for myself for whatever reason; if ponies had whispered negative things about me today I still don't think I'd stick up for myself. However, Miss Daffodil sharply spoke up, with that stern schoolteacher tone that can cow any misbehaving filly:
"Hey now, that's no way to speak of-!" She was then overpowered by Star, who had begun speaking up in my defense at exactly the same time.
"That's my sister you're talking about! Dawn is the coolest, and I'm the reason she's even here in the first place! So why don't you talk about me instead?" Star sprang from her desk, aggressively facing off with the bunch of fillies. Her eyelids were slanted with ire, she even snorted as if she were a bull. You'd have to know her to understand that it was calculated intimidation, though Star assures me to this day that she'll actually attack any pony who dares test her patience any further than this point. The fillies were definitely cowed, huddling together as best as they could. "Come on! Do you have anything to say to me?" She held her stance for a moment before she turned away, letting her hanging invitation round off her performance as she sat back down in her desk.
"… My word." Miss Daffodil didn't know how to react to Star's outburst, I would have been just as confused in her place. "Well… come on in, everypony!" She chose to pretend it hadn't happened and gestured with a little more force than necessary for the fillies to start getting seats. I impassively considered the fillies, who were once more whispering amongst themselves as they slowly got moving. This time they were actually restraining themselves so as to be inaudible. I shifted my glance to Star, who looked like she couldn't have cared in the slightest. The ire was still heavy on her eyelids, and I had been afraid at the time that Star had alienated herself from the rest of her peers. For the first time, I was actually regretting my choice of actions that day.
"Hey, uh…" One of the young colts--an earth pony with a thick accent whose origin I couldn't place--had drawn up to Star's side. Star looked at him, her eyes still set, he stammered upon meeting her gaze. "I--that is, we really didn't mean to insult your big sister like that. I mean, uh, that's actually kind of cool. That you and your sister are together though you're different ages." He was virtually mumbling at the floor at this point. "So um… yeah." He quickly trotted over to his desk, and I realized that the rest of the fillies had been watching him apprehensively. I felt that I had to intervene at this point to make sure that Star wasn't holding a grudge. I poked her back with a gentle hoof.
"Star… It's alright. I'm sure they didn't mean anything by what they said, they were just surprised by my being here." A noncommittal grunt was the only response. "Star, please don't hold it against them! I…" I drew up close, my voice an impassioned whisper into Star's ear. "I'm afraid, Star. I don't want you to be alone by yourself in the house at night with nopony to talk to. I know you don't want to be that pony either. Please…" I was searching for more words when a light ruffling of fur against my mouth stopped me. Star was holding back a foreleg against my mouth, indicating for me to be silent.
"Hey, you." Star was calling, looking at the colt who had apologized for the class. He held her gaze with some fear. "Hang out at lunch?" The colt was taken aback, glanced around at his peers who all nodded insistently.
"Y-yeah!"
"Why don't we all hang out? I've got some stories to share…" She was looking at me for that last part, winking. The fillies were all eagerly affirming the invitation. I had an inkling that I was going to be lauded up into being an idol to a bunch of fillies I didn't know yet.
Lunch came and Star was in the classroom's doorframe, speaking animatedly to an entranced crowd of her peers. I was chewing the cud once more, resting my head on the desk I had no idea I would be sitting at again just yesterday. Star was gesturing with gusto, telling a no doubt wildly exaggerated tale of my exploits to her peers, who at some points even seemed to cheer and whoop. While I was too far to hear my sister's still thin voice with any clarity, bits of it drifted back to me. At no point in my life up to that point had I ever been "flying through flaming hoops" or "narrowly escaping death traps with my trusty whip", of that I'm sure. I was wondering at that time just what it was Star was doing to pass the time while we were all asleep. My speculations were interrupted by a light touch to my mane.
"Are you still up for assisting me, Dawn? You're more than intelligent enough to teach preschoolers, and I bet the kids would love you." Miss Daffodil watched the fillies alongside me for a moment. Star got up on her hindlegs and thrust her forelegs high into the air, the filly crowd stomped their hooves into the ground madly.
"… I bet the kids would love me too, Miss Daffodil."
"
Celestia had reached the end of a page, and she nodded to herself in satisfaction with her progress so far. Twilight had begun to slouch, so caught up in the tale that she had momentarily forgotten that she had a body of her own. She was there a millennium ago, sharing the thoughts and feelings of her mentor as a little filly. Celestia's pause roused her, and with some reluctance she let go of that powerful connection and came back to the present. She stared blankly for a moment, trying to marshal thoughts that for a moment were alien to her before she realized that they were really hers.
"You… you have a really nice writing style, Princess."
"Thank you Twilight."
"But now that I think about it…" Twilight had been so engrossed with the tale that transposing the vivid imagery from beginning to end into her mental banks was ease in itself. As she began to file the facts into memory however some holes in the tale were making themselves apparent. "How did you remember all of these events so well? I mean, my memories don't go back that far…" The first clear memory she had was of her cutie mark, and that had shown up at the age of twelve.
"Well we'll get to-"
"And what happened to Princess-to-be Zirca? She didn't appear after you mentioned her. And when did Star Swirl and Star Swirl--Luna Star Swirl I mean-- meet?"
"Twilight-"
"And how did Star Swirl adjust to having a different schedule than the rest of the fillies? And why did-?"
"Twilight." When Twilight finally looked over Celestia magically brandished the journal that they weren't even halfway through yet. "Patience." Twilight grimaced, internally berating herself for her momentary lapse of judgement.
"I'm sorry Princess. I should have thought of that." Twilight rubbed a forehoof against Celestia's impeccable beddings, nervous. "But uh… one question? Please?"
"Yes, go ahead."
"Did Star Swirl or Twinkle ever actually read the journal after you wrote those things about them?" Celestia snorted slightly at that, something Twilight had never seen her mentor do beforehand.
"Luna did, in fact. She was more amused by what I said about her than anything. After all, it was her suggestion to write the journal in the first place. It all started when..."