//------------------------------// // 07: The Bearded, the Clever, and the Smart // Story: The Princess that Equestria Always Had // by rillegas08 //------------------------------// Since it was nearly time to lower the sun and raise the moon, Princess Platinum had a servant direct Twilight and Star Swirl to their room for the night. They set their bags down, and Star Swirl left to ask the unicorns around the castle if they wished to assist him with the daily. Twilight watched out the window as the day turned night, and pulled the covers over her, letting sleep wash over her. The next morning, however, was a different story. Many declined, some of whom had already helped him, and some of whom had been told of the consequence of their magic being permanently rendered useless and didn’t want to give up their magic. Nine, however, volunteered their services. This presented an obvious problem, however; there was one spot available, nopony else was willing to volunteer, and time was running out. Star Swirl gathered the volunteers in the center courtyard and found his way to the king. “Your Highness, may I have a word?” King Bullion nodded and led him back to the conference room, where he told the king his issue. “I don’t suppose you would be willing to join us tonight?” “Hmm,” the king responded, his chin on his hoof. “That’s quite a conundrum. Volunteering would set an example to those less than positive about the consequence. However, as the king of the unicorns, I fear losing my magic could bring about war if enemies were to find out I was powerless.” “What about your daughter?” “Of course not,” he said immediately, his brow furrowed. “Even if I were to allow it, she surely wouldn’t. Although she barely uses her magic, she is very fond of it when she does use it.” Star Swirl nodded his head, understanding. He asked the king's leave, and the king bid him farewell. Having no other options, he concentrated on any other way to raise the sun again as he followed the halls back up to the room. "What to do?" he asked himself. "Nopony wants to help, but we need just one more unicorn. Just one more is all I ask." Then, as if he had just said the right sequence of words to light a candle without a flame, his eyes lit up. "Well," he hesitated, "there is one more option..." He reached their room, woke up his apprentice, and told her the situation. “You’ve exhausted every other option?” “I’m afraid so.” Twilight sighed. Sure, she’d lowered the moon and raised the sun alone before, but that was when she had the combined powers of three other alicorns as well. If the movements of the sun and moon then were any indication, she knew she would need a lot more practice before trying again. In truth, she had no idea if she could even do it with her own power. As she had read in the two sisters' journal, Celestia and Luna had done it practically effortlessly their first try, but raising the sun and the moon were their special talents. She wasn't sure how well a special talent of "magic" could compare to such destinies as theirs. “Twilight,” her mentor said, “I promise I’ll find a way to restore your power while you’re advising the princess.” Twilight knew, once again from reading the alicorn sisters' journal, that he would eventually find such a way with Princess Celestia's help, but it was far too soon, she assumed, for him to figure it out. "Try not to worry about it, Star Swirl," she told him. The irony of telling him not to worry when only a few weeks before she was the one worried about meeting him was not lost on her. "Yes, it's regrettable that losing one's magic is a necessary consequence of doing this duty. Actually," she put her hoof to her chin, "I've never thought about it before. Why do unicorns have to raise and lower the sun and the moon?" "You don't know the legend?" Twilight shook her head. "Well, it is said that long ago there was a beast with a very powerful magic, the magic to do whatever he wished with no consequences. According to the tales, the sun and moon used to move across the sky on their own, but he decided to stop them in the middle of the sky. It created chaos, and ever since unicorns have had to use their magic to move them." Powerful magic, chaos, the sun and moon in the sky at the same time? He has to be talking about Discord, she realized. "Does anypony know what happened to this beast?" "Not that I know of. It's merely a legend, after all." She thanked him and joined the other ponies in the courtyard. She waited patiently as the moon was lowered, and then joined the rest to raise the sun. She had expected it to be harder than it was before, but with Star Swirl’s direction and the combined effort of the other five ponies (who were clearly exerting a good deal of effort), it was actually slightly easier than she remembered. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “We can’t just teleport back?” “Not unless you can still use your magic.” Twilight paused, closed her eyes, and concentrated hard on lifting a small stone nearby as Star Swirl kept walking along the path away from the castle. A few sparks spurted from her horn. “Nope.” They hurried back to Star Swirl’s workshop, aiming to arrive before sundown, discussing when and where the advisors would meet . “I’ll go tell Smart Cookie,” said Twilight after they figured out the details. “Who?” “Smart Cookie. She’s the advisor to the earth tribe’s chancellor. I actually met her not long before I met you. I’ll go to her house and let her know the details.” “Very well then. I’ll let the pegasi know. I’ll see you back at the workshop after sundown then.” Twilight said goodbye and turned off the main path, heading toward the earth pony village she arrived in. Soon she recognized the landscape where she’d first seen Star Swirl, and headed toward the forest. It would take a little longer to navigate through the trees, but she was alone, and with the trees as her shield she could stretch out her wings. She couldn’t remember how long it had been. When she was adequately hidden, she removed her cloak with her magic, which was still weak from the exertion that morning (though slowly being refreshed), and untied her wings. Immediately pain shot through her body, her legs grew weak, and she winced, groaning with the pain. She lay on the forest floor as the cramps continued. She didn’t know how long she’d been laying there when the pain finally subsided, but she stood up, finally able to flex her wings with minimal pain. “I don’t know how long between stretches I’ll have, and I don’t want my wings to atrophy.” She packed her cloak and the rope into her saddlebags, then flapped her wings. She rose into the air and navigated through the trees toward Smart Cookie’s house. She started slow, but eventually grew more confident, flying faster until the trees blurred as she passed them. For a few minutes, she forgot she was in the past. She forgot the pain that still lingered in her joints. All that ran through her wings was the wind, and all that ran through her mind was the exhilaration of flying freely. There was no aerial battle, no planned flight path, and in that moment she felt what Rainbow Dash must feel several times each day. Soon the image of a house peeked through the trees. Since Twilight had only seen Cookie’s house at night, she wasn’t sure at first if it was hers, but remembered that she hadn’t seen any other lights in the forest. She turned around, flying until she couldn’t see the house anymore, and landed. She removed the cloak and rope from her saddlebags, retied her wings to her body, replaced her cloak, and walked the rest of the way to be safe. “Sorry, wings. You'll have to be tied up for a bit again.” “I’m comin’,” Twilight heard after she knocked on the door. When the door opened, the tan earth mare smiled as she recognized Twilight. “Didn’t think I’d ever see you again, stranger. How’ve you been?” “I’ve been well, and I’m actually here on business.” Smart Cookie nodded and beckoned her in, closing the door behind her. “You gonna tell me your name before we get started?” “I’m Clover the Clever, Star Swirl’s newest apprentice, and personal advisor to Princess Platinum.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Twilight told her new friend what had happened since their first encounter, from meeting Star Swirl to becoming his apprentice, to the issue of the abnormal winter. A natural segue from personal to business matters, Twilight noted to herself. She talked of Star Swirl’s and her 89meeting with the king and the princess, and what had been decided. Smart Cookie stayed pretty much silent as she listened to Twilight talk. “On our way home from King Bullion’s castle, Star Swirl and I decided the advisors would meet after sunrise next Thursday along the border of the nations. Here,” Twilight took one of Star Swirl’s maps out of her saddlebag and pinpointed the location of a waterfall which bordered the unicorn and earth territories. “That’s more than enough time to talk to the Chancellor about it.” “So we can expect you there?” “You bet. Who else will be there?” “You, me, Private Pansy of the pegasus nation, and Star Swirl as moderator.” “Do you think it’s wise to have two unicorns and only one pegasus and one earth pony?” “What, like a conflict of interest?” Twilight asked, to which Smart Cookie nodded. “He plans on being a neutral party, but I understand your concern. I’ll talk with him about it. Do you have another neutral party in mind that could replace him?” Smart Cookie sighed. “The first thing that comes to mind would be an alicorn. They got the strength of earth ponies, the wings of pegasi, and the magic of unicorns. One a them’d be perfect, but nopony’s seen hide nor tail of one a them in a very long time. I doubt anypony even knows where to start lookin’.” Twilight’s wings flexed instinctively against the ropes. Yes, I know I’m an alicorn. “You’re right about that. Can we expect you at the meeting?” “You bet,” the earth mare replied. “It’s our responsibility as the advisors to remain open-minded even when our leaders ain’t. Otherwise, there ain’t no point in advisin’.” Twilight smiled. “I look forward to the meeting, then.” Smart Cookie opened the door. “Hopefully we can figger out how to fix this mess.”