Chapter 1 – A Thousand Years
Celestia awoke.
Ever since she’d first raised the sun and earned her cutie mark, she had cast a spell each night to wake herself up before it was time for sunrise. She was afraid of sleeping in and being late. Equestria was depending on her more than ever before, after all.
However, that didn’t mean she enjoyed waking up so early. She breathed in deeply and forced her eyes open. As expected, her room was dark. The sun wasn’t up yet. Luna wasn’t here. She had her own room, now, and at any rate she didn’t sleep at night, anymore.
Celestia recognized that she was wasting time. Pulling the silk covers off, she swung her legs towards the side of the bed and stood up. First things first: she needed to put on her regalia, then she would go out on the balcony and raise the sun. Her crown was right where she left it, on her nightstand –
That was odd. It was not, in fact, on her nightstand, though now that she looked at it, she didn’t think it looked like her nightstand at all, nor did she remember placing that bouquet of flowers atop it.
Perhaps somepony had come in the middle of the night and … replaced her nightstand? That didn’t make any sense, but she couldn’t afford the luxury of stopping to ponder a more reasonable explanation. She lit her horn to find her crown, which she discovered was in a chest on the other side of her bed, along with her necklace and horseshoes. Celestia had never kept her regalia in a chest before, but she would have to deal with her growing sense of unease later. It was almost time to raise the sun.
She had been taught to always move with grace, but she was so rushed that she cantered to the balcony anyway, where she caught sight of Luna lowering the moon. Immediately, she leapt into the air and strained with her magic, but oddly, the sun was not as heavy as she had expected. As though it were an extension of her will, it peeked over the horizon, shining its light across Equestria.
With the sunrise on time, she should have been relieved, but instead she only felt confusion. She was used to things going as expected, but this morning, nothing was. As if to emphasize this, Luna was gliding from her tower towards Celestia’s. It seemed like dawn always ended with Luna walking out of the sunlight without a backward glance, but today Celestia’s little sister was coming to speak with her.
The younger alicorn touched down with the soft sound of horseshoes brushing marble. Celestia schooled her face into a warm smile. If the times that Luna would willingly talk to her were rare now, then she would simply make her sister feel welcome to do it more often.
“It is not every sunrise you see fit to visit me, Luna.” she said by way of greeting. She walked forward to give her sister a brief nuzzle, glad that Luna didn’t back away.
Luna looked a little embarrassed. “Well, no, but this morning is a little different, I think.” Celestia watched Luna with an open expression, inviting her to explain, which she did. “It is a relief to have our magic again, is it not? I had only just discovered the extent of my abilities. To have to give them away was … not pleasant.”
Celestia’s happiness drained away. Luna might have deigned to speak with her, but even she didn’t make any sense this morning. What was she talking about? “Again? Give them away?” she repeated.
Luna raised an eyebrow, slowly. “We gave all our magic to your faithful student, in the hope that she would keep it safe from Tirek. We spent hours magicless, imprisoned in Tartarus with our niece. Surely you did not enjoy it?” Celestia’s face only showed more confusion, to which Luna responded with incredulity. “You’re kidding. You’re kidding, right?”
“No, I would not kid you now. Who is Tirek? What is Tartarus? I have a student, and a niece?” Something clicked in her mind and she hurriedly assured herself that Luna had in fact said “our niece” and had not implied anything about a daughter Celestia didn’t know about.
Meanwhile, Luna’s mouth had slowly dropped open. She didn’t want to believe it, since they were both incorrigible pranksters when they had the chance, but it looked like Celestia really didn’t know anything. Luna knew she wouldn’t easily forget her time in Tartarus, but it appeared that Celestia had done just that. “Is … is this a side effect of losing your magic?” Luna wondered. Celestia asked what she was talking about, but Luna ignored her.
“If it is a side effect, why did it appear now, and why am I unaffected? Could it be triggered by using our magic?” The thought frightened her. If it was true, it would be dangerous to try to help Celestia herself, but she knew only one other pony with enough magical experience to trust. Celestia was anxiously trying to get her attention. Luna came to a conclusion and turned back to her. “Very well. We shall summon your student at once!”
Celestia’s relief at being noticed again was overridden by her complete lack of knowledge regarding the pony Luna was talking about. “Who?”
Luna rolled her eyes at her sister’s cluelessness and walked into Celestia’s room to find some parchment and a quill.
In the library of Castle Friendship, a baby dragon and an alicorn princess looked at a newly delivered scroll. Spike held it in one hand and rubbed his throat with the other. “I don’t think this letter is from Celestia, Twilight.”
Twilight looked at Spike with concern. “Why would you think that?”
“It felt different. Cold, almost.” He shivered at the thought of breathing cold fire. He didn’t mind cold, ice cream was great after all, but that just wasn’t right. His fire was very personal.
Twilight nodded, thinking. “You’re right, maybe it’s somepony else’s magic. Let’s see who sent it, then.”
Spike slipped the seal off and opened it up. “It’s from Princess Luna!”
Dearest Twilight Sparkle,
I hope this letter finds you well. I am sorry to call on you once again so soon after you saved us all from Tirek, but I find that I must.
This sunrise, I spoke with my sister to find she did not remember yesterday’s events. Further questioning revealed that she does not know anything about you, her faithful student, or Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, either, though she does at least remember me.
I fear this loss of memory is connected to the magic transfer we performed. If this is the case, both Cadance and I may be at risk of the same consequences.
This is a matter of utmost importance. I request your presence in Canterlot to investigate this issue further.
Your friend,
Princess Luna
Spike looked up from the letter to see Twilight staring at him in shock. Worried, he asked, “Oh no, Celestia forgot everything? What are we gonna do?”
His worry was nothing compared to Twilight’s. “This, is bad. Celestia lost her memories? She can’t lose her memories, she’s – she’s Celestia! She’s the ruler of all of Equestria! How is she gonna raise the sun if she doesn’t know anything? How is she gonna be wise and kind and understanding? How is she gonna be Celestia?” She paced back and forth, going from bad thoughts to worse thoughts. There were legitimately world-ending consequences here! The fact that her dear mentor didn’t even remember her was the least of them, even if her feelings disagreed.
Spike bit his lip. Twilight overreacted to bad news fairly often, but this time her reaction might be appropriate. It was still his job to be her number one assistant, though, no matter what, so if Twilight didn’t know what to do, it was up to him. He looked down at the letter again. “Well, we should probably let Luna know we’re on our way –“
Twilight spun to face Spike, interrupting him. “Nonono, we’re going right away. Celestia needs us now, there’s no time to waste!”
With a flash of purple light, they disappeared.
Celestia watched the letter vanish in a flash of blue light. With an approving nod, she said, “Very impressive, Luna. Not just teleportation, but matter transference keyed to a magic signature. Did you come up with that spell?”
Luna coughed, flattered that Celestia would think her capable of creating such a thing, but at the same time aware that she had not. “Ah, no. You did.”
Celestia frowned. “I think I would remember if I ever cast something like that before.” Granted, the way everything was going this morning, she should have expected Luna’s answer to be something like that.
Luna huffed, not looking forward to the challenge before her. “Apparently not. From what you have asked me this morning, there is much you should know, but have forgotten.”
Her words sounded uncomfortably true. The elder sister looked at her nightstand and the open regalia chest beside it, then remembered the feeling of the sun easily obeying her magic. Nothing was like what she expected.
There was a knock at the door. Celestia glanced at Luna before calling out, “You may enter.”
The door opened to reveal an aging white unicorn stallion wearing a pince-nez and a red tailcoat. He greeted them, “Good morning, your Highnesses.” At their reply, he continued, speaking to Celestia, “Princess, have you been here the whole time? I was waiting for you in the throne room, we’re over five minutes behind schedule!”
Celestia answered, not knowing why she felt guilty for it, “Ah, yes, I have been here,” She wanted to add, ‘Who are you?’ but he acted like she should already know him. Instead, Celestia gave Luna a look, pleading for help.
Luna noticed it and directed a long-suffering sigh at the stallion. “Kibitz, my sister here is not up to fulfilling her duties today, nor am I willing to fill in for her. Could you see to it that, the schedule –“ Here she allowed herself a vengeful grin at the schedule’s misfortune, “- is delegated to the appropriate officials?”
Kibitz raised an eyebrow at her disturbing expression. There was nothing wrong with the schedule, except that they were now six minutes behind it. Celestia looked perfectly fine to him, but this wasn’t the first time he’d had to run the itinerary without her because of outlandish reasons. “As you wish, Princess.” He turned, but paused before he left. “Shall I send up some coffee?”
Luna leaned forward, eyes wide. “YES, THANK YOU!” Kibitz nodded and departed to carry out his orders.
Celestia’s previous concerns about the stallion and her duties fell to the wayside at Luna’s sudden and loud enthusiasm. She grinned at her sister. “I suppose this coffee is a refreshment you rather enjoy?”
“Oh, it’s wonderful, I don’t know how I lived without it before.” Luna paused. Celestia had been the one to introduce her to coffee after her return. The beverage had been invented several hundred years ago, but evidently Celestia no longer remembered it. It shouldn’t have surprised her, if her older sister didn’t even remember Tirek from the first time, but she hadn’t considered what else Celestia might have forgotten.
“How much do you remember?” Luna asked.
So, Luna’s love of coffee wasn’t so great that she would ignore the problem at hoof, but Celestia hesitated to answer. As far as she knew, she remembered everything. A bit of a tautology, that. She might as well say what she knew. “Well, we weren’t crowned terribly long ago.” Luna’s face was already grim. “We built our castle down in the Everfree Forest, near the Tree of Harmony, although we rule from here, in the unicorns’ capital at Canterlot. We’ve been all across Equestria, and we’ve talked with the zebras, the griffons, and the Crystal Empire.”
She was running out of big events to talk about. “We earned our cutie marks by raising the sun and the moon?” It had been awhile, but nothing really important had happened since then, just day-to-day running of Equestria, even though that made it sound much simpler than it was. There was only one other real thing to mention. “You – you’ve been growing more distant with everypony, so I’ve been relying on Star Swirl to help me instead.” Luna’s eyes were downcast.
The thought of a time when it was Luna who was always at her side tore at Celestia’s heart. Her sister had been as open now as she had been in a long time: Celestia had things she needed to say while she had the chance. “Sister, I’m sorry if I did something wrong. I’ve just been so busy, I don’t know how to help you. It was such a relief to see you coming to me for once. Please, tell me what’s wrong.”
“It is – not your fault.” Luna replied, jerkily. “I –“ There was another knock at the door. Guiltily taking the chance to put off her confession, Luna gave a small smile and said, “Well, there’s our coffee. You should answer that.” How was she going to explain this to a Celestia who knew nothing about darkness?
Celestia glanced at the door, then looked back at Luna before reluctantly letting in their visitor.
It was a purple … alicorn. On her back was what looked like a small purple … dragon, holding a tray of drink mugs. Celestia blinked.
“Celestia?” asked the alicorn in the doorway. She seemed uncertain about something.
“Yes?” Celestia glanced at her sister, beginning to suspect that this was who Luna had sent that letter to.
Luna confirmed it. “Ah, Twilight Sparkle, Spike. I did not expect you to arrive so quickly.”
Twilight Sparkle gave Luna a sad smile. “I wasn’t going to keep you two waiting.” She trotted into the room. To Luna, she said, “How is she?”
Luna developed a clinical detachment, speaking about her sister as if she wasn’t there. “She’s as much herself as ever, but her memory stops not long after we earned our cutie marks.” Celestia was aware she was being talked about, but she had noticed Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark, causing enough surprise to overwhelm any feelings of annoyance she might have had otherwise. Luna noticed her wide-eyed look and smirked. “Yes, her cutie mark is the six pointed star. I think we both noticed the first time we met her.” Twilight looked at her own flank, as if checking to see if it had changed.
“You must be a very special pony, then.” Celestia murmured. Star Swirl had known she would meet Twilight Sparkle: she had seen it in his eyes when she asked him about the six pointed star on the Tree of Harmony.
“Oh, well,” Twilight blushed at receiving such praise from a pony who didn’t even remember her. “I owe a lot of it to you, and to my friends.” She smiled at Spike as she said this.
Celestia didn’t remember doing anything this humble alicorn would owe her for, but neither did she want to disagree with Twilight. Luna had said Twilight Sparkle was “her faithful student,” after all. A thought crossed her mind. “And I owe as much to my mentor.” She turned to Luna. “What did Star Swirl say when we met her? You know he knew about the six pointed star.”
Twilight looked taken aback. Luna’s distant amusement darkened into solemness. “Sister, it’s been a long, long time. I haven’t seen Star Swirl for … years.”
Celestia caught her serious tone. “How long?”
Luna glanced at Twilight, who could do nothing to help. To Celestia, she said, “It has been over a thousand years since Star Swirl disappeared.”
Luna’s words echoed. She spoke quietly, but her words must have been loud enough to break something, because it felt like the tower was falling down. Why was all the furniture staying still? Celestia stumbled. Both Luna and Twilight rushed to her side to help steady her. “A thousand – a thousand years?” she repeated, not wanting to believe it, but knowing Luna wouldn’t lie to her. “That’s – that’s not possible. Ponies don’t live for a thousand years.”
“Alicorns are different,” Luna said regretfully. “You know this, sister.”
“But – but it wasn't supposed to happen so fast,” Celestia protested weakly. “A thousand years? I don’t remember any of it.”
“That’s why we’re here, to help you remember.” Twilight said, trying to be encouraging.
Celestia turned towards the stranger, asking desperately. “But what happened to Star Swirl? To Princess Platinum, and Commander Hurricane– to all our ponies?” Celestia shook her head, already knowing the answer. “They can’t – they’re all gone.”
Twilight glanced at Luna. This was the part of alicornhood the youngest princess was most apprehensive about. It seemed even Celestia had trouble with it. Luna nodded to her, then turned back to Celestia.
“I cannot say for certain what happened to Star Swirl. I do not know, but remember that he had his time spells and he did know about Twilight Sparkle. Him at least we might see again someday. Until then,” she braced Celestia and held up her distraught sister’s head to look her in the eyes. “Until then, we have each other, and our little ponies.”
Celestia returned her gaze. In Luna’s eyes, she saw kindness and wisdom that hadn’t been there the last time she checked, but most importantly there was love. Luna was telling the truth. Celestia fell forward to hug her. “Thank you, sister.”
After some time, Celestia felt a little better. She lifted her head and let Luna go. Quietly, her sister told her, “I think I need to speak with Twilight, to see about getting your memories back.” Celestia nodded and stepped back. As Luna went to consult with the purple stranger, the dragon handed them mugs from his tray, then approached Celestia.
He picked up another mug. “Here, Celestia. I know it won’t help much, but, uh, it’s still warm.” Here he stopped to breathe a little jet of flame under it, making his words true before he held it out to her. Curious about the drink, she thanked him and took it in her magic.
Meanwhile, Luna turned her attention to the youngest princess. Twilight had been watching the two sisters with a mix of emotions on her face. Luna guessed what was on her mind. “You know, she told me it is not so bad, when I asked her. A long life means there will always be the joy of meeting somepony new, and of watching them learn and grow.”
Twilight swallowed, knowing what Luna hadn’t mentioned. “And what about, when they …”
“Then we celebrate the times we shared with them in their lives, and remember them as they were.” She was paraphrasing Celestia, of course; she had not quite come to terms with it herself since her return, so she was compelled to add her own piece. “But, it might be possible for ponies to escape the ravages of time. Star Swirl may have done it and I daresay if anypony could rival Star Swirl for his magical ingenuity, it would be you.”
“Me? I’m not …” Twilight started denying Luna’s claim, before her eyes widened. It was categorically true, she had completed a spell that Star Swirl could not, and she had easily cast one of his time spells before.
Luna smirked at the look at Twilight’s face. Perhaps something would come of her hint. “You might want to speak with my sister about this, when she has her memory back. She has a way of seeing the bright side of things.” Thoughtfully, Twilight turned to watch Celestia, who seemed to be talking with Spike about coffee. “As I mentioned in my letter, I suspect she lost her memories because she gave you her magic, as did Cadance and I. I am uncertain how to retrieve her memories, or to prevent my own memory loss, if necessary.”
“Well, our first step should be seeing if we can establish a link between the transfer and the memory loss,” Twilight said, shifting into problem solving mode. “The timing is close enough to be suspicious, but we need to find out why she lost her memories, even after she regained her magic.”
Luna nodded. “Therein lies the rub. It would have been understandable, if unfortunate, if all three of us had lost our memories with our magic.”
Twilight thought for a moment. “Why does she have any memories left at all?”
The magic transfer theory was starting to look less plausible. “Perhaps there is an event that Celestia refuses to forget? But why wouldn’t she mention such a thing if it was so important?” She had a guilty feeling that Celestia had mentioned it obliquely, because it had to do with her worrying over Luna’s troublesome behavior.
“Maybe she doesn’t recognize that it’s important. We need to find it. She’s already told you as much as she thinks she knows, but … I have a way to view her memories directly.” Luna looked intrigued, so she continued. “It’s a friendship-based memory spell. Now, my friendship with Celestia only goes back so far, but yours is a lot longer. With your help, we should be able to see what she remembers about the time while, uh, you two were friends.” Twilight rubbed the back of her neck.
Luna didn’t miss the implication. A thousand years was a long time. She looked to the side, disappointed. “That will have to be enough, then. How shall I help?’”
“I’ll need you to link your magic with mine. That way, I should be able to incorporate your magical signature into my spell.” Twilight explained, double checking her harmonic-arcane casting theory in her head.
Luna nodded. “Very well. Let us begin.” They both turned to speak with Celestia.
Spike was offering his untouched mug of coffee to her. “I don’t really like it, I prefer hot chocolate, myself. You can have mine.”
Both Twilight and Luna rushed forward. Twilight chided the startled dragon, “Spike! Are you trying to make our job harder? Mental magic is hard enough on one cup of coffee!”
Luna was worried for a different reason. “Ah, you don’t want to do that, sister. I remember my first coffee binge, trust me, I regretted it.” Granted, her binge had involved a lot more coffee, but there was no reason to let Celestia drink more than one cup, not when there were four in the room. She carefully took the mug away from Celestia and set it down. Celestia’s face was a study in disappointment.
Now that they were safe from coffee, Twilight composed herself and started explaining, “Alright. So. Celestia, Luna and I figured out a way to review the memories you do have. We’re going to work together and cast a spell on you. That should help us find out what went wrong.”
That sounded interesting. She hadn’t encountered such a memory spell before, much less one that required multiple casters. However, she was concerned over letting this stranger root around in her mind. Some of her reluctance must have shown on her face, because Twilight looked mortified and said, “Uh …”
Luna glanced at the little alicorn, before reassuring Celestia, “I know you don’t remember her now, but you have known her for years. You took her as your protégé when she was just a filly, and she has surpassed you greatest expectations. If anypony can be trusted to help, it is Twilight.”
Celestia thought about it. Though she wasn’t suspicious by nature, she would prefer to keep her mind private. She was being asked for a lot, but it was Luna who was asking. Of course she could trust Luna, so she didn’t hesitate long before she nodded.
With that, the blue and purple alicorns arranged themselves for the spell, with Twilight facing Celestia and Luna by her side. Since she wasn’t much taller than the average mare, Twilight asked Celestia to lower her head, which she did. With a glow of magic, they crossed horns -
-the morning sun shone on the grass by a lake. Celestia looked down beside herself at a tiny blue filly who was just waking up -
-two sisters without a care in the world were playing in a wooded valley. All the wildlife that saw them came to join in and, now with an audience, the fillies crowned each other as princesses –
-strange but kind alicorns taught them everything about ponies and life on Earth. Little Luna tried out the Royal Canterlot Voice for the first time and shouted Celestia head over heels-
-Luna didn’t want to eat her greens. Neither did Celestia, but she knew growing fillies needed to, so she took a bite – then she teased Luna about it-
-now young mares, the sisters were discovered by little ponies. Word of alicorns, with magic from all three tribes, spread-
-an eccentric old unicorn came to see them. He explained all about the founding of Equestria and asked them to be their princesses. His name was Star Swirl the Bearded-
-they were crowned princesses for real, and adventures were had. They made friends with manticores, unicorns, earth ponies, zebras, pegasi, griffons, and crystal ponies-
-Star Swirl came to them, weary and magicless. Celestia and Luna leapt to his aid, earning their cutie marks and restoring his magic -
-Celestia recognized their cutie marks on the Tree of Harmony. She asked about the third symbol, but Star Swirl knew better than to tell them about the future-
-Both of them grew, but where Celestia became a warm and caring ruler for all their ponies, Luna changed from a cheerful little filly into the proud and fearsome Princess of the Night. The sisters spent less time together now, which made it all the more precious.
The spell ended, leaving the alicorns breathless. Twilight had already known about the princesses’ past, thanks to Zecora’s potion and their old journal, but there was a key difference between those and what she had just seen. As she recovered, she turned to Luna with a huge grin on her face. “You were adorable as a filly, Luna!” Was she allowed to call a princess adorable? Whatever, she was a princess now, it was allowed for her.
Luna looked embarrassed. “Oh, well,” Her personal sense of decorum demanded that she be seen as a regal princess, not a little filly. “What about Celestia? Was she not more ‘adorable’ than I?”
Celestia blinked. Her whole life had just flashed before her eyes. Slowly, she recognized that Luna had said her name. She found herself agreeing with the purple stranger. “It’s true, Luna, you were adorable, and you still are.” Luna’s eyes widened in surprise, as if she didn’t know how she could still be adorable instead of dignified like she strived to be. Celestia continued, undeterred. “Why, if I could show everypony how adorable you are, I think I would.”
Luna scoffed. “Everypony? I should think not! Some of us have to work for our reputations.” However, she knew she couldn’t be too upset. “I am glad that you choose to remember those times, though, rather than – ah, my later self.” Just in time, Luna stopped herself from mentioning too much, but she had said enough. Celestia seemed to know Luna had meant to say something else.
Twilight looked slightly nervous and tried to change the topic. “Uh, yeah, sorry, we’re getting kind of distracted, we should get back on track.” Luna shot her a thankful look, while Celestia appeared disappointed, but cooperative. “I was expecting your last memory to be some kind of significant event, but nothing caught my attention. It doesn’t look like there was anything particularly memorable, right?” The older alicorns shook their heads. “Maybe there was something that was supposed to be forgotten, instead? Luna, you were there, what happened next?”
Luna thought back, trying to remember. “At the time, I was … not terribly active in my royal duties, so I cannot say for sure, but …” Her eyes widened and she turned to Twilight. “I remember hearing reports of Tirek and Scorpan’s arrival.”
Twilight shared her concerns. “Celestia doesn’t remember that at all.”
The alicorn in question confirmed the point. “Who are they?”
In response, Luna summoned a book embossed with a golden unicorn design. She flipped through the pages to show her sister the story. Spike, who hadn’t seen it before, looked as well. “They were villains, intent on stealing every pony’s magic. However, Star Swirl was able to make friends with Scorpan, so he warned us and returned home, instead of attacking.”
Twilight continued. “Tirek was imprisoned, but he escaped recently. He nearly succeeded in taking all the magic in Equestria, but you came up with an idea that would keep him from getting our magic. Since Tirek only knew about three alicorns, you, Luna, and my sister-in-law transferred your magic to me.” Celestia glanced at Luna, silently asking if any of this was true. Luna nodded. Slightly hurt to see her mentor doubt her, Twilight made herself go on. “I wasn’t able to keep the magic safe, but in the end my friends and I found the Rainbow Power and sent him back to Tartarus.”
Luna watched her sister’s eyes roving the illustrations in the book. “That happened yesterday. You were with me and our niece the entire time.”
Celestia hesitated, but while the story was difficult to believe, there was indeed another alicorn in front of her. She touched the book’s pages with a golden-shod hoof. “It really happened, didn’t it.” She looked up with beseeching eyes. “Why don’t I remember?”
“That is a good question.” Luna paced to the balcony, a stormy expression on her face. “It is suspicious that you would forget everything about Tirek the day after he was defeated.”
“Could he have cast a spell on her to make her forget, in case he lost?” Twilight asked.
“I did not see him do it, and it would not be like him to take further revenge on an enemy he did not think would rise again.” Luna replied. “However, I do not know who else would have cause to do such a thing.”
The room fell quiet. After everything they had done, it felt like they hadn’t accomplished anything. They apparently had an enemy capable of overpowering an alicorn, yet they had no idea who it could be.
It was Spike who broke the silence. “Well, if it looks like somepony made her forget everything, how would they do it? Wouldn’t there be clues?”
The three alicorns looked at him, before Twilight exclaimed, “You’re right, Spike! Of course there’d be clues! Everypony’s magic has a signature aura – that’s how your scroll sending fire works!” Twilight joyfully picked him up and gave him a hug. “If Luna only noticed the memory loss this morning, it might have happened overnight, here! Maybe there’s something in this room right now that we didn’t notice!” She lit her horn and examined the background magical auras around them.
There was the familiar warm glow of her mentor, the less familiar but welcoming light from Luna, and of course Spike’s little flame. Twilight briefly basked in their presence before tuning them out, looking for dimmer magic.
Usually, traces of ponies’ magic faded away fairly quickly. A signature had to be repeatedly applied for a long time before it would become ingrained in an object or place, so normally the room should contain only Celestia’s background aura.
Twilight was looking for something that didn’t belong in an ocean of Celestia’s magic, so she thought she would have to look pretty hard. Instead, it was obvious there had been an intruder the moment she opened her magical senses.
“There’s definitely something here, and it’s strong.” she said. It was clearest right next to Celestia’s bed, so she trotted over to get a better look. “They must have come here overnight. That shouldn’t be possible, right? The palace is full of Royal Guards, but, well ...” She examined the magical signature. It was … oddly familiar. Time had already faded it slightly, and it was somehow mixed with a signature she didn’t recognize, but at its heart it was very similar to …
She narrowed her eyes angrily. “Discord.”
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I'm quite enjoying this have an upvote, tracking, and follow.
i can't wait to see where this is going
Remember: Twilight won't outlive her friends, and we have seen Cadance aging on the show (A Canterlot Wedding). We can assume that Twilight and Cadance (a Pegasus who became an Alicorn) aren't immortal.
Okay, now that that nitpick is out of the way, back to the story! :D Which is awesome!
5358102 Well, "Twilight won't outlive her friends" could mean anything in a world of magic. I doubt the issue of their mortality is going to be raised in the show and as long as it isn't, it's really not something we need to care about.
Besides, this is fanfiction. If an author says Twilight is immortal/as long-lived as Celestia and Luna, then she damn well is xD
And personally, I don't really see why Twilight and Cadence would be different from Celestia and Luna. Were the Royal Sisters even born as alicorns themselves? If they weren't and transformed through some method or other as Twilight and Cadence did, then there's no reason the latter two wouldn't have the same sort of lifespan.
Ah, but there are plenty of head cannons that say Alicorns age very slowly and live for a very long time. I like one that shows they age to full adult hood the stop aging. Also, that "nonimorality" thing is just out there so little girls don't cry thinking about 5 of the six passing on. We don't know in cannon if Celestia and Luna were born Alicorns.
5358102
Or her friends will continually ressurect, resulting in her functionally never outliving her friends as they come and go, or they're going to turn alicorn as well, or who knows...
Or, you know, growing up as an alicorn takes a while, and what we saw were the twilight (heh) of Cadance's absurdly long teenaged years.
5358389
If memory serves right, in "The Journal of the Two Sisters" (which is presumably canon because one of the writers on the show did write it), Celestia and Luna were born as alicorns.
It also states that alicorns "age differently" than the others, but it's unclear whether this refers to only natural-born alicorns or also includes transformed alicorns.
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small issue. i think the sissters are far older then you are putting them. At minimum I put Discord dethroning at 3000 years ago. That gives time for the sister's to cement their rule and for Luna to have the issue that make her NMM then we have the thousand year solo rule and finally the current age.
Holy crap that premise. Yeah, this is going in my priority RL.
5358784 I did not know that. But, not to be contrary for the sake of being contrary, I honestly don't trust outside material to be properly canon unless it's explicitly stated to be and even then canon can be bent for the sake of a good story.
And in the case of the Journal of the Two Sisters, I'll take anything it says with a grain of salt since I can't be sure all the writers and creator agrees with it. For all we know, the show may state otherwise. It wouldn't be the first time that's happened in the world of entertainment, after all.
Hmmm. Unless it's directly stated on the show I think I will consider Twilight's mortality to be optional and dependent on whether or not it fits the story. That way I have less reason to get into arguments about it xD
5359054 Personally I think 3000 years is way too much. IMO the sisters were likely only a few hundred years old at most when Luna flipped her shit and turned into Nightmare Moon.
Still, opinions. I don't think anyone has ever stated how old they are, so at this point we're just guessing.
Twilight isn't her student anymore. They're equals
5359269 true but the author of this story is putting them at just over a thousand years. That is way to young.
5359333
That's right, agh ...
Luna said it.
5359054 Yeah, I didn't want to put an exact number on it. I used "over a thousand years" because we know they're at least that old, and it sounds good.
I love the story but Why does it Always have to be 1 thousand years? Why not longer?
NMM was a thousand years ago and so was Sombra AND Tirek!
oh yea the Wendigos too from Hearth Warming eve happened then because Platinum and the others were still alive .... (I always assumed that one was at least a few thousand years ago ...)
5359269
Has anyone read the Celestia/Luna diary book?
It might give a clue to their age but I have not heard anything about what is actually in it ...
5359607 fully agree there.
5359601 better use would be thousands of years ago. NMM was a thousand years ago and frankly it would take longer then a century to get to that point. while no dates are given we can assume the Sister have been well entrench as the rulers before NMM.
Admittedly head canon here but i figure that the Sister never met the founding leaders of Equestria and were born either before or during Discord's reign. THen assumed rule after defeating him. I figure at least a couple hundred years for those ages.
5359356 Why is that too young? I'm not sure where it implies that the royal sisters had ruled for a very long time before Luna's banishment.
I mean, if it's something like... 1050 years old then yeah, that's probably too young. But I personally doubt it's something like 1800 years old.
5359879 Consider how entrenched the sisters are in Equestria. They built a castle and the flag bear them on it. any less then what i said really whacks Luna that it didn't take long for her to go NMM. Give her more credit. I could buy them being 1800. but 1050, HELL NO
...What the D'AWW? THIS. IS. ADORABLE PONIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5359652
That's not headcanon, that conflicts with canon.
Starswirl mentored Clover the Clever and was still considered "young" before Tirek attacked, which was during Celestia and Luna's reign. They assumed power after Discord and it's heavily implied Discord ruled after the founding of Equestria, which means it was a very short period of time between Equestria's founding and Celestia and Luna taking power, all within Starswirl's lifetime and therefore most likely within the lifetimes of the other founders, who would be younger than Starswirl.
Also, I don't know where it is, but I think somewhere it's mentioned that Celestia taught Starswirl.
5359952 Starswirl himself is a mystery. Heck we know he traveled through time. So he could teach the sisters during one of his jumps. and we don't really know how long ponies live. Granny Smith at minimum is one hundred. is it concieveable the unicorns have a long life time, yes. But using Starswirl as a reference is not the best idea.
5359909
Well... That's not really all that impressive and not a very good indicator of how long they've ruled. Consider that we've had rulers in ancient and not-so-ancient history who have built up regimes in less than a human lifetime and they didn't even have the benefit of magic or modern day technology.
Also, I find the idea that it took Luna centuries to turn into Nightmare Moon ridiculous. That implies that Celestia was blind to her plight for hundreds of years and I have a very hard time buying that. I'm also not keen on the idea that Luna could resist the kind of mental stress that would cause her to turn into Nightmare Moon for the same amount of time.
It's considerably more realistic that Luna crumbled over the course of a generation or two and even that much is a sign of incredible willpower. Most people are unlikely to endure the kind of issues Luna did for more than a few decades at most before they'd go weird.
Edit: I'm also pretty sure the writers played fast and loose with the timeline of Equestria.
5360069 the second part is what i'm saying. Look at Heir to nightmare. Polaris does what i think was most of what caused Luna to go NMM. he adds in one of the best things to really trip her over.
Luna did simmer on the issue for awhile and Celestia thought it would blow over. she was wrong.
No matter what each of us believe we both think 1050 is too short.
5360124 Yes, 1050 years is definitely too short, on that we agree.
Oooh... This is good. I eagerly await the next chapter.
5360028
The only example of Starswirl traveling through time is a a near-useless spell that lasts ten seconds.
Giving Starswirl the kind of Time travel you claim he's capable of would make him godlike.
5360165
5359909 You guys are right, I've changed it. The first time I wrote it, I picked "not even 50" to give "over a thousand" more weight, but I think I can manage without it.
5360463 it was a small thing and I am interested to see where it goes.
*grabs popcorn*
5359269
I think that is reasonable. Of course any writer may have it otherwise, but three centuries seems like plenty of time for disputes and animosity to creep in.
5359607
Implication is that the Nightmare Moon incident occurred during Celestia and Luna's reign. Thus, if Luna was banished a thousand years ago, those other events must have happened at least a thousand years ago and after Celestia and Luna came to power. It's also a span of time that's long, but not so long that ponies will have completely forgotten if they had records and stories to remind them. The apparent legend makes it seem a bit like Celestia went out of her way to erase certain things from public knowledge. Sombra had to have happened at a similar point; that is, after Luna and Celestia's birth and/or them became the rulers. Thus the exact dates depend on whole old Luna and Celestia were then. and are now. Hearth's warming might have occurred before then, but it seems unclear. Also, if Cadence is Celestia's niece and has her cutie mark how old is she? One might assume that she could have been born before or during the reign of Sombra and wonder what she's been doing in the mean time. Perhaps she was born after and her cutie mark was a symbol that the crystal empire was returning. If she wasn't born before and Luna had a hand in Sombra and the crystal empire then where and when did Cadence show up? Who did Celestia have relations with? Or is she only distantly related?
5359909
The fact that the castle bears their standard doesn't mean much. By the reckoning of mortal, or at least short-lived ponies, three hundred years is a long time. Five hundred is probably more than long enough to relegate the time before the Two Sisters to dusty history books.
5360069
I'd expect it to have taken at least 5-10 years. A century or two seems adequate at the far end to have developed abiding distrust/dislike/spite. It would have taken time, barring the use of dark magic and assuming there was a proper conflict, to build up an army and opposition to Celestia among the pony races. Otherwise she would have gone it alone which is a different scenario and allows for a shorter time, but doesn't explain the apparent terror to ponies that she was.
5360442
Perhaps his other work was deemed harmful. A ten second time jump is significantly limited in the harm it can cause, and can serve as a useful lesson that time travel doesn't work... even if it does. Letting everyone know about that spells makes it easy for ponies to see Starswirl as a really interesting pony, but dissuades them from researching time travel themselves.
Perhaps Starswirl was exceptionally long-lived. I can't say, but living to 150 would be a significant difference if most ponies live to be 100.
5360442 yet he KNEW of NMM return and seemed to be around befpre the founding of Equestria yet be the pony to get Scorpan to betray Tirek. That whole wing is dedicated to him and only found on of his spells. You could say Starswirl was near Twilight in power when she was a unicorn. and since the lifespan of ponies is not known Unicorns could be long lived.
5360596
My headcanon puts Earth pony lifespans at about 200 years maximum, maybe a little over a century for unicorns, and even less for pegasi (mostly because Earth ponies seem long lasting, unicorns seem like they'd have a fairly high standard of living, and pegasi seem like they'd wear themselves out faster by flying everywhere). I also put Founding of Equestria, Discord, Tirek happening within a 60 year period about 2000 years before the show, and the Crystal Empire disappearing 1500 before the show (which puts 1000 years or so between Discord and NMM).
5360713
What? Where does it say he knew of NMM's return?
Actually, going back to the episode transcript, I found something intriguing...
It never says Starswirl invented the spell! It says time spells are kept in the Starswirl the Bearded wing, but it never says why the wing is named that, never says it only contains time spells, and never says any of the spells are his!
For all we know, that spell could have been written by Clover the Clever, or Celestia, or anyone.
5360463 well this sir has caught my attention, im assuming your going to go into alot more detail about the star swrirl thing and how he knew about twilight.
This is looking awesome!
Please don't stop in the middle of the fic like so many others c':
Pretty pretty please
5360800 Who else would have done the prophecy.
And time traveling Starswirl is not out of the question.
Luna - "So, back a thousand years or so, we kiiiinda had a fight."
Celestia - "Oh? Was one of us hurt?"
L - "Well... you may or may not have... sent me to the moon."
C - "!!!"
L - "For a thousand years"
I can't wait to see how THIS talk turns out.
5361091
Uh... any other being with a knowledge of astronomy? We don't even have knowledge that Starswirl was alive when Luna was banished!
It's not out of the question, it's just that your argument hinges on Starswirl being able to perform rather complex magic that he hasn't been shown to have the ability to do, while my argument relies on simple chronology shown in the show.
5361363 the show leaves so much in the air. all we know for sure was a thousand years ago Celstia and Luna fought eachother. that's it. No time is given for anything else.
Promising premise.
Twi should be freaking out way more. As should Luna.
Celestia is freaking quite a bit but there should still be a level of denial.
Edit:
And damn. Celestia is going to have a conniption when they tell her Discord is not only free by her own choice but "reformed" by the shyest pony alive.
*peaks from bed covers*
Huhm. Celestia didn't kill herself or anything. That's a good sign... *inches a bit*
5360442
Newsflash, Starswirl the Bearded is godlike.
He is the go-to deus ex machina for the defeat of half of the apocalyptic evils of the Mythic Age of Equestria (the Sisters take the other half).
That line is so heavy with thousand-year-overdue retroactive feels.
Oh right, to Celestia, that conversation was fairly recent and Star Swirl is still around!
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Awesome idea, loving it.