Arrival at Canterlot Palace
The night was cold and starless. Black clouds boiled in the sky, white flashes of lightning lit the empty streets of Canterlot, filling every corner of every alley. Young fillies and colts pulled their covers up tight over their heads as thunderclaps shook them to their bones. The normally white, gleaming towers of the palace were now shrouded in shadow, as if every window of every high room had a secret. There was no rain yet, but all a pony had to do was sniff the air to know that the clouds above were full to bursting, and wouldn’t hold for long.
In an ordinary house on an ordinary street, a tiny little yellow filly was wide awake, shivering in her bed. Every shadow in her room was the entrance to a timber wolf cave. Every thunderclap was the footstep of a dragon. She shuddered silently, too young to go back to sleep, but too old to call out to her parents.
She looked out the window – a lightning bolt flashed, BOOM, and for an instant the street outside was gorged with light. She jumped; she had seen something out in the street. Somepony. She peered into the darkness again. A flash, BOOM – yes, somepony was walking up the street, the full terror of the night storm bearing down on him. It was the figure of a young unicorn, a pony that seemed to trail shadows behind him, as if he wore a great cloak. He proceeded up the street as if there were no storm, as if the shadows were not about to pounce on him, not about to swallow him up forever.
But they are, thought the little yellow filly. I just know it, something’s going to gobble him up, something’s going to get him. Why doesn’t he go back? Why doesn’t he go home?
It was too much for the little filly. She dove back into the safety of her blankets. There she lay, quaking under the sheets, as the figure of a colt made its way surely and steadily up to the gates of Canterlot Palace.
Princess Luna was at her post as the young colt was escorted into the palace by the guards. She stood on the balcony of her bed chamber, up in one of the high towers of Canterlot Palace, staring up into the inky sky, her starry mane whipping around her in the wind. As hard as she tried, she could not break through the clouds with the brightness of the moon. It was full that night, but no one in Canterlot would see its silvery glory.
Not that they ever do, thought Luna. They sleep as I work. I play my part for the benefit of an empty theatre.
Luna sighed and closed her eyes, the wind a cool comfort on her face. Canterlot was overdue for rain, so the pegasi had set up a storm for that night. But the rain was late, and the night was oh so much darker than Luna or anyone else had expected. But still she stood there, on her balcony in the sky, hoping that the world would have a chance for moonlight before the dawn broke.
The sound of a hoof knocking on the door in her chamber released Luna from her trance.
“Come in.”
The door opened, spilling yellow lamplight from the hall into the otherwise dark room. A royal guard stood in the doorway.
“Princess Luna. Your guest has arrived.”
Luna turned her head. “So early? Very good. Please escort him to the library. I shall be there presently.”
“My lady.”
The door closed. Princess Luna took in one last breath of the tumultuous night air and smiled. With the sureness and grace that can only come from a princess, Luna came out of the storm and descended from her tower to greet her guest.
Down in the Canterlot Library, in an ornate wooden chair at an ornate wooden table surrounded by shelves of books, a young unicorn was waiting patiently for his new life to begin.
He gazed around at the countless tomes towering over him, his coat of gray fur shining dully in the lamplight. He was a pony of moderate size, no longer a child by any means, but not quite yet adult. His blue cloak trailed on the floor behind his chair. He sniffed the air – it was a good smell. The smell of old learning.
A door opened behind him. Star Swirl stood up and turned, to see Princess Luna standing in the doorway, gazing coolly at the gray pony.
“We were expecting you in the morning, Star Swirl,” she said. “You’ve taken us by surprise.”
Star Swirl returned the gaze with his own dark eyes. “If you thought I’d be a nuisance, you shouldn’t have invited me.”
They looked at each other for a moment longer, but it was far too difficult for either of them to keep a straight face. Both of their stern frowns blossomed into wide grins, and they threw themselves at each other, laughing and embracing.
“Princess Luna, it’s a joy to see you again!”
“Oh, Star Swirl! It’s been far too long! How long has it been? Months! Months at least!” Princess Luna removed herself from Star Swirl’s embrace. “You must tell me everything. Your position at Mossenbock’s Antique Shop, did they understand?”
“Oh, yes. Mr. and Mrs. Mossenbock have always been fascinated by my studies. In a way, I suspect they feel that they’ve contributed to my education by letting me go.”
“And that they have.” Luna glanced around. “Did you pack nothing?”
“I sent it all ahead of me last week.”
“Oh, yes, yes, of course you did! Oh, my faithful student, I am so excited for you!” Luna’s eyes flashed – an idea. “Ah, Star Swirl, I’d forgotten! You have not seen your wing yet, have you?”
“My wing? You mean, this is the very library?”
“Of course it is! Follow me.”
Luna magically lifted a lamp off the wall and led the way through a maze of tall, dusty shelves, until they had reached a locked, barred door. Luna opened it and ushered Star Swirl inside the near pitch-black room. With a flick of her horn, suddenly the room was ablaze with candles and lanterns. Star Swirl’s jaw dropped.
The wing was magnificent. All of his works – all of his essays for Princess Luna, all of his recreational spells and scrolls, all of his finest prodigious tomes – were neatly stacked on a series of shelves which exploded outward from the center of the circular room, like the radiating arms of a star. In a daze, Star Swirl walked among the shelves, reading the titles of his volumes. Princess Luna followed, smiling behind him.
Star Swirl magically lifted a tome from one of the top shelves and leafed through it. “This is remarkable, Princess. I can hardly believe that I’ve written all this.”
“Well, after ten years of tutelage under me, I should hope that the results would be extraordinary.”
Star Swirl laughed and re-shelved the book. Luna let her eyes roam over the walls and shelves of the wing. “But I must tell you,” she said, “to see it all before me now, to see how your work has accumulated… I can hardly believe it myself. You may not feel it, Star Swirl, but you are still very young. And already, you have wrought such wonders, such things that most unicorns never accomplish in a lifetime. Tomorrow, when you finally begin your training with Princess Celestia, please remember how much more life you have ahead of you. This may be only your first of many wings in the Royal Canterlot Library.”
Star Swirl turned and looked up at Luna, the lights of the candles and the lanterns dancing in his eyes. “Thank you, Princess Luna.”
“You are more than welcome, my faithful student. Come, it’s late. Let me show you to your room.”
Luna led the way out of the library, up one of the great spiral staircases of the towers. She spoke as they climbed. “Tomorrow morning, your first lesson with my sister is to begin just after breakfast. A meal will be brought to you in your room, and a guard will escort you downstairs. Princess Celestia will be waiting for you in the throne room.”
“Will I see you there?”
“I’d be happy to be there for your first lesson, Star Swirl. But know that I won’t always be there – the day is my time to rest from my duties of the night. Ah, here is your room.”
They had reached the top of the staircase, and were faced with a large, dark wooden door, exquisitely decorated with all manner of black iron rivets and plates. Luna opened the door, revealing a magnificent circular chamber in the light of her lantern, with a bed tucked up against the far wall and a pair of tall glass doors leading to a small balcony. Star Swirl galloped inside and looked around, like a child in a candy shop. There were shelves of books here, too, and a table equipped with ink and quills and empty scrolls, and a crystal ball on a stand in the corner, and all the things an aspiring unicorn could possibly need. He took a deep breath of the old air of the palace towers. He whirled back around to face Princess Luna.
“This is it, Princess!” he cried. “I just know it – this is the place. This is where I solve the Puzzle, where I answer the Question. I don’t know what it is about this place, but being here, breathing the air… I’m sure that it’s going to happen!”
“As am I,” said Luna. “I never doubted that you would. Good night, Star Swirl. Have a good rest.”
“Thank you, Princess. Goodnight.”
And Princess Luna left, closing the door behind her. As she made the descent back down to the halls of Canterlot Palace, she could hardly contain her joy. What a sight, to see Star Swirl so happy! He was usually such a thoughtful pony. Of course, he was always as kind as the night is long, but to see him genuinely excited…
Luna smiled to herself as she made the trip back up to the balcony of her bed chamber.
Up above her in the towers, Star Swirl threw off his blue cloak and climbed into bed. Outside, the air grew denser – and the bellies of the great black rainclouds hanging above Canterlot finally burst, spilling streams and rivers down into the city gutters, the sidewalks, the streets. The lightning crackled and the sky lit with heavenly fire.
With the rumbling of heavy rain drumming on the windows and the roof, Star Swirl drifted off to sleep, out of his chamber, out of Canterlot Palace, and into the wild jungles and busy streets of a beautiful and powerful imagination.
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I have to say, your first chapter has me intrigued.
I think I'll have to stick around to read this fic. :)
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I'm glad you're liking it, Fez Head! And thanks for the favorite!
I'd nominate the opening paragraph for an Edward Bulwer-Lytton award.
Seriously, though, good first chapter. There seems to be a little bit of this going on, but I like it overall.
Okay, this chapter has my interest. Fantastic read, and written quite well.
With your permission, I would like to feature this on my blog.
I write an underrated fanfic spotlight post for the Las Pegasus Tribune fanpage.
This story has piped my interest: as a massive fan of the unexplored Equestrian backstories, almost anything involving the princesses, the founders of harmony, or Star Swirl will have a particular gravity to me.
Bear in mind though, that this page doesn't see too much traffic: as of now, we're working on setting up a massive network of multiple major brony sites, including Discord's Domain, Equestria Forever, Bronystate and Derpy Hooves News. Still, if you'd like it featured, hit me up.
I look forward to further installments.
The eloquent descriptiveness and splendid similes really make the first half or so shine! I particularly liked Luna's line about playing for an empty theater, it really shows realistic resentment, and why she will be kind to SS(or anypony who visits her in the night), as he appreciates the night, as shown by his desire to walk unseen and be unheard. The second half shone because of the great dialogue betwixt Luna and SS.
I just wish I could do my English reports on Fanfics like these.
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I'm thrilled you're enjoying it, Fervant - thanks so much for the read! (And the very thought that someone might wish to use this story for an English report compels me to dance a merry dance.)