The Princess that Equestria Always Had

by rillegas08

15: Equestria

The Fire of Friendship continued to melt the ice inside the chamber as Twilight gave her explanation: how she and her friends had met, how she'd ascended to alicornhood, how she'd traveled through time, how she'd come to be Star Swirl's and Princess Platinum's assistant, and how she was so sure that they would survive.

"I believe that by combining a heat spell with the illusion spell I learned as a filly we use in winter pageants to commemorate this event, I was able to make that illusion spell into a functional fire. Furthermore recalling my memories of my friends and I proving ourselves worthy of bearing the Elements of Harmony made the two spells more powerful. But it wasn't just my other friends, it was you two as well."

"Us?"

"Mhm. Cookie, you have a lot of similarities to my friend Applejack: you're honest, strong-headed, and stand up for your friends. Pansy, you have similarities to Fluttershy: you're kind, soft-spoken, and can be very strong despite appearances. So you see, it wasn't just me or the memories of my friends; it was also the three of us, joined together in friendship."

"And what about them?" asked the earth mare, pointing her hoof toward the three leaders, who were still frozen solid.

"I believe they also share similarities to my friends. Chancellor Puddinghead seems to use humor a lot, so she'd be like the Element of Laughter. I've seen Princess Platinum be generous, and as for Commander Hurricane, he must be Loyalty, though I haven't really seen much of how he acts until today. Six ponies, six Elements of Harmony."

"I meant if they'd be all right, actually. They're still frozen, and that can't be good."

"Oh. They'll be fine, eventually. All six of us are credited with founding and documented with leading the new nation for years."

Pansy sat down. "What will we do until then? We can't exactly leave yet."

"In the legend, the three advisers told each other stories and sang songs, keeping the Fire of Friendship stoked until all the ice and snow melted." Twilight paused. "You're... taking all this really well. I expected I wouldn't be believed."

"Clover, not even an hour ago I didn't know windigos existed, or that you were an alicorn. Before you knocked on my door a few months ago, nopony'd ever heard of Clover the Clever. A pony showin' up out of nowhere and somehow knowin' everything that's about to happen is either very convenient or... well, I don't know what else it would be. It's hard to believe it's true, but it's hard to deny if it's false, too."

"What about you, Pansy?"

"Oh, I don't really understand time travel or most of what you talked about. Right now I'm just glad we're all safe." There was a moment of awkward silence before the yellow pegasus broke it. "You said something about songs. Do you know any?"

Twilight smiled. "Of course I do! The holiday that commemorates this day is by far one of my favorites! I don't want to be the only one responsible for creating some of my favorite carols, but just one couldn't hurt. Everypony sings this one after every reenactment. It's called 'The Hearth Carol'"

As dawn shines on us every morn

The Fire of Friendship is reborn

And all the friendships we have made

We cherish in every way

Loyalty binds us and makes us strong

Honesty shows that we belong

And kindness shared will unite us through each day

The Fire of Friendship lives in our hearts

As long as it burns, we cannot drift apart

Though quarrels arise, their numbers are few

Laughter and singing will see us through

Here's where some ponies harmonize with

Will see us through

And then the full choir.

We are a circle of pony friends

A circle of friends we'll be to the very end

Though the winter brings all its cold and storm

The glow in our hearts keeps us warm

The friends we now call our family

Will always see us through

Loyalty binds us and makes us strong

Honesty shows that we belong

And kindness shared will unite us through each day

The Fire of Friendship lives in our hearts

As long as it burns, we cannot drift apart

Though quarrels arise, their numbers are few

Laughter and singing will see us through

Will see us through

We are a circle of pony friends

A circle of friends we'll be to the very end

Smart Cookie and Private Pansy added their voices to the last chorus. Twilight smiled, their voices echoing around the chamber. "That was great, especially for the first time hearing it. Once the song is written down and set to actual notes, it'll sound even better!"

"I'm sure it will, Clover. By the way," Smart Cookie continued, "is that your real name? Not tryin' to be rude, but I was just wonderin'."

"I understand, Cookie, and no, it's not my real name. I'd rather not say what it is. Like with my wings, my real name was never documented, other than in genealogical records, until after I was born. Or will be born a long time from now."

"Time travel seems pretty confusing," the pegasus mare said.

"It can be, but once you realize there are a few rules it follows, it's actually not so bad."

There was a quiet moment as nopony knew what to say after that, and the only sounds were the crackling of the Fire of Friendship and the dripping of the melting ice. Then Smart Cookie cleared her throat, breaking the awkward silence.

"Anypony want to hear a funny story from when Puddinghead and I were fillies?" The other two agreed. "All right, so we were walking by a river one day..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The three advisers kept the Fire of Friendship alive by telling stories to one another and by singing songs. Soon, the warmth of the fire began melting the ice around the three leaders' bodies. Their ears, since they were closest to the Fire of Friendship were among the first to thaw, and each leader's attention was turned toward the three ponies who sang and laughed as friends. Each tribe leader, unable to see their advisers, were left encased in the melting ice as they listened; each tribe leader wondered curiously about how three ponies from opposing nations could hold themselves in such mirth. Eventually, their mouths were freed and they could finally ask for their companions' help.

"Pansy, come help me out of this!"

"Clover, come quick! I can hardly see!"

Pansy, Twilight, and Cookie hurried over to their leaders and started removing the ice around them. Smart Cookie started kicking the ice from her friend. Twilight pulled the ice off Princess Platinum's body with her magic while the gray mare waited patiently for her adviser to free her. Commander Hurricane grew impatient as Private Pansy pulled at the chunks of ice, trying not to hurt her superior.

Eventually the blue stallion was the only one still stuck in the ice. Pansy pulled a chunk of ice from his forehoof, and he pushed his leg through, breaking it the rest of the way. He then proceeded to stomp his hoof against the rest of the ice as Pansy backed away.

"Don't you start!" Smart Cookie raised her voice, her head and ears lowered as she looked at the three leaders. Her voice echoed softly throughout the chamber. "Arguing again is only going to bring back the windigos!"

"The what?" asked Hurricane and Puddinghead simultaneously. Twilight prepared to explain what the windigos were, but Princess Platinum interrupted her.

"The windigos are a type of creature that feed off negativity and as a result bring about a harsh winter." Hurricane and Puddinghead looked at the unicorn princess, who continued. She lowered her head and her words had the sound of regret to them. "Several months ago, before Clover had even become my adviser, Star Swirl the Bearded himself sent my father a letter detailing these creatures and what they could do after we'd asked his opinion on why the weather had become so unpredictable. I dismissed them as unlikely, but after seeing the frost move as quickly as it did in the other room, I now believe that was too hasty a decision."

"I want proof," the blue stallion said suddenly, stamping his hoof on the cave's floor. "If these windigos do indeed exist, then they should still be around somewhere, correct?"

"Theoretically," Twilight replied. "The tunnel was iced over when I cast the spell, and it's not like there's another way out of this chamber. I don't know enough about them to know if they can camouflage themselves."

"What about this hole at the top of the chamber?" asked Private Pansy, pointing to a small hole where the sunlight passed through.

"I don't get it." Smart Cookie scratched her head. "There was no way out when we entered this chamber before. Where on earth did that come from?"

"Well, it's possible that the blast of magic was strong enough to break a hole through. Or maybe the windigos were able to break through. Were any of us really paying attention to them after I cast the spell?" She turned to Private Pansy and Smart Cookie, who shook their heads.

"Wait a minute..." Chancellor Puddinghead stared at the hole as the other five looked at her. Suddenly she walked toward the hole and started knocking on the wall near it.

"Chancellor, you already checked all the walls. There's no other way --" Hurricane was cut off as the earth mare shushed him and continued to knock on the wall, holding her ear against the stone. Twilight, of course, had figured out what Puddinghead had as well; if there was sunlight coming through that hole, then they were near the edge of the mountain and could break through with enough effort.

"A-ha!" She turned to face the others. "This part of the wall isn't as thick as the rest of it is."

"Why didn't you notice that before?" asked Princess Platinum.

"Hey, give me some credit. It's such a small difference in thickness that it's almost undetectable if I'm not specifically listening for it. Should we bust through?"

"Maybe Private Pansy should fly through that hole first and see if we'd even survive once we broke though," said the pegasus commander. "Wouldn't do much good to break through if it's a sheer cliff, now would it?"

"Why me, Sir?"

"Only the two of us can fly, Private, and you're smaller than I am. Believe me, if I thought I could fit through that hole, I would've been through and back already."

"Yes, Sir." Private Pansy flew up and squeezed through the hole, pulling herself through at the end. After a few moments of silence, the five other ponies heard a gasp, muffled through the small hole.

"What is it?" asked Commander Hurricane. "Is it a sheer cliff?"

Private Pansy started speaking, but there was too much stone between her and the others to let her voice carry. Hurricane told her to talk louder.

"Actually, no," she said again. "There's a big ledge with plenty of room out here."

"That's great!" he exclaimed.

"If there's plenty of room," Twilight called out, "then why did you gasp?"

"One of the windigos is out here. I... I think it's hurt."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once Private Pansy had flown back through the hole in the ceiling, they began discussing how to break through the cavern wall. Pansy, having seen where the windigo lay, told them where to break through so that as little debris as possible would strike its ethereal body. Twilight asked Puddinghead to check the wall for the weakest spots, which the vanilla-colored mare then marked by scraping her hoof against the wall. Once she had found several weak spots, Twilight asked her to step back so that she could weaken the stone. Her horn glowed, and Twilight fired multiple blasts of magic against the markings. Once she had finished, each mark had been replaced with a divot that appeared to have been burned into the stone. Then, all six ponies lined up, facing away from the wall. The two earth ponies and the two princesses stood on the floor while the two pegasi flew up into the air to reach the top, as well as distribute the force to weaken more of the stone at once. On the count of three, all six ponies bucked as hard as they could, and some of the stone gave way. They kicked again and again until finally, there was plenty of room for all six to pass through the opening.

Immediately, Private Pansy hovered over to the fallen windigo.

"Fall back, soldier. It could still be dangerous."

She complied, and stood next to her commanding officer as the others joined them around the fallen windigo, watching it. Its chest heaved with heavy, labored breaths. In some places, its translucent body was either transparent or colored to a nearly solid white.

"What should we do with it?" asked Chancellor Puddinghead.

"I think we should ignore it," replied the gray princess. "That creature has given us nothing but trouble for many moons!"

"I want to help it!"

"Help it?" asked Princess Platinum. "Pansy, that thing just tried to kill us, and you want to help it?"

"Look at it! It's obviously in distress, and we can help. What kind of ponies would we be if we didn't help it?"

Slowly, the oddly colored spots on the windigo's body grew smaller as the six held their discussion, the discussion slowly turning into an argument. Its ears turned toward the discussion, and its breaths became steadier and more controlled. It blinked its eyes open, and soon the blurred colors it saw before it came into focus. Its eyes widened as it saw on the purple pony, and its heart started beating against its chest. It clawed at the ground, pulling itself away from the ponies.

"Where's it going?" asked Princess Platinum.

"I think it's afraid of us," Twilight said. "We did quite a number on it."

"You did," replied Smart Cookie. "We didn't do anything."

"Does the windigo know that?" responded Twilight, to which the others had no answer.

The six ponies watched as the windigo neared the edge of the cliff and pulled itself over.

"It's going to fall!" Pansy's eyes were wide, a panicked look on her face. She could barely hold herself back from running toward the windigo

The windigo's tail disappeared over the side as Twilight hurried near the edge. She watched the windigo fall down, down toward the ground below. Much of the snow had already melted, and spots of green shown through the white. Twilight's horn lit up, and the windigo was caught in a bubble, saving it from death. The windigo squirmed, recognizing the magic as the same as the one that had wounded it. Meanwhile, the other five had reached the edge and looked over.

"Why won't it fly?"

"It must still be injured."

"Do you know any healing spells?"

"I know a few, but I don't think any of them would work on a windigo. The Fire of Friendship helped us, but harmed the windigo. Did any of you see anything different about the windigo between when we first saw it and when it jumped off?"

There was a pause, but then Pansy spoke up. "It seemed less injured than when I first saw it."

"And we were arguing before it crawled away."

"Exactly. I think negative energy such as arguing keeps them healthy." Twilight sent a bit of the shadow magic down to the windigo. She'd cast this magic only twice before: while she was trying to protect the Crystal Empire against King Sombra, and in Applejack's barn in the alternate universe she'd accidentally traveled to almost a year earlier. Her eyes went white, and purple licks of flame spread behind her eyes for only a moment. Her five companions stared at her as she cast the spell, having never seen anything like the magic she was now using. None dared to approach Twilight, wary of what getting to close to what appeared to be dark magic emanating from her. Below, the windigo stopped squirming inside Twilight's levitation spell, and turned its snout toward the dark magic. It closed its eyes and breathed it in. The coloration of its body became more uniform, the rest of the spots on its skin disappearing. Twilight released her levitative hold, and the windigo flew away.

"Well," said Chancellor Puddinghead, "that solves that discussion."

The six ponies watched the windigo disappear into the sky and looked out upon the landscape. The bright midday sun pierced through the dark snow-filled clouds, dissipating them. The breaks in the clouds brought the sun's light and warmth, melting the snow, revealing once again the bright green grass they had seen only hours before. The light glistened off the snow-capped mountains surrounding the valley below, where the crops that the duo of earth ponies had planted weeks before still grew.

"I've never seen a landscape look so... divine!" Princess Platinum exclaimed.

"We've been living here the last few weeks, Your Highness."

"Yes, but not like this," Princess Platinum replied.

"Chancellor, Princess, our advisers have been correct all along. Despite all our bickering over our differences, we're all ponies , and when a pony is stranded on the battlefield, his or her comrades have a duty to assist. We should choose a name that reflects that unity."

"Equus?"

"No, Chancellor," said Platinum, rolling her eyes, "we're not naming it after your deity. We had plenty of trouble with that debate a few weeks ago."

"He's not technically a deity," Smart Cookie said. "Truth be told, long ago we earth ponies found out that unicorns and pegasi had their deities, and made up Equus and his wife so we wouldn't feel left out. Their names literally just mean "pony". We only made them earth ponies out of convenience."

"Well anyway, it should at least roll off the tongue better."

After a few minutes of discussion, as well as some nudging by Twilight, the six ponies decided to name the land they'd discovered Equestria. Princess Platinum suggested they build the capitol city on the very ledge they were standing on, and the others agreed.

"Shall we move to matters of governance?" asked Twilight.

"Let's leave that for when the rest of our tribes come to join us."

"Agreed," stated the stallion, stepping beside the two mares. "Our mission was to discover a new land to which we can relocate our citizens, and I assume yours as well?" Twilight and Smart Cookie both nodded. "We have discovered that new land, so logically we must now bring our fellow ponies here to Equestria."

Comments

[Dravkwn]

Have this these few words of mine.

Here is a taste it's hardly fitting.
I'd like some more before I start spitting.
A sordid tale we've come to read.
It's just not enough we've agreed.
More and more we do acclaim.
Bring it quickly before we flame.
Now you know these words of mine.
Quickly now more story time.

[Greenhorn]

Does this mean Twilight has to stay around for awhile as one of the founders?

[rillegas08]

7708723 Correct. We still have yet to get to the events in The Journal of the Two Sisters

[Snow Shimmer]

Yay!!!! It is such a treat when there come out! Woohoo! Great addition too, I can't wait for more!

[sakuralovelight]

I really enjoyed the new chapter hope to read another one soon

[Void Runner]

7708794 I wonder what Luna and Celestina's reaction to finding out Twilight's true identity as another Alicorn will be...

[Ocean Man]

I have only read 5 chapters. And i will probably do a better review after i finish catching up. But i thought i should mention. I think it could have been interesting if Twi. Was sent back in time on accident. By some mistake she made. Other then just have Celesita send her back in time.

[Ocean Man]

So finally just caught up with the story. I enjoy i. Its fun and just the thought of it makes it worth reading. Although i have to wonder why is this a sequel to The Princess that Equestria Never Had ? It has almost nothing to do with that story. Don't know if it would will take away from the story in the future. Such as it being a smaller story or something . But i don't see a point in it being a sequel.

But when i compare this to The Princess that Equestria Never Had. The grammar and the pacing is much better. And i find this story has more of my attention the the previous. There is not much that is wrong with the story. There are some things that might make it more interesting.

Just to name some. 1. I already mentioned it. But have her end up in the past on accident. 2. Make her reveal of her being a Alicorn. More astounding. Although the reveal was only to the advisors . And not Starswirl or any of the leaders but could have made it more interesting if you had Twi's initial seconds of her having to tell them in there. 3. With Discord. When he comes in. You could have him aware of her being from the future off the bat. But not do anything besides mention it to her and tease her about it. And then finally someone mentioned this Before and i know its unlikely. But Twi being Celestia and Luna's mother. I find that idea honestly awesome. Don't know who she would fall in love with theres the obvious choice of Starswirl. And then there's Discord that is an option and i know that the chance of you doing is small but its a fun idea

That entire paragraph was just things that could make it more interesting and things that you could do later on. Sorry if that bore you or anything just saying some stuff in my opinion that could make the story better. Although the entire story is really good and hope this is continued on.

[rillegas08]

7713388

Sorry if that bore you or anything just saying some stuff in my opinion that could make the story better

Don't worry about that, friend. I appreciate any critiques of my work, and even some suggestions if I'm stuck with something, as they help me improve as a writer.

The main reason I have this novel as a sequel to Never Had is because it happens within my personal canon. If you've ever read any of Piers Anthony's Xanth novels, it's kind of like that, where every story is independent of the others but still interconnected, but all 27 in the trilogy are still considered sequels of the first. I do have a few references to Never Had once in a while in this story.

As for the quality of Never Had, I do plan on rewriting it eventually, but I'm also going to keep the original version up. Despite its many flaws, it's one of my most favorite things I've ever written because of what it means to me. Before writing Never Had, I hadn't written creatively that wasn't for a class for seven years, since high school. During that time, I'd gotten busy with college, I'd been occupied with student groups and TV shows, and, most importantly, I'd begun doubting my abilities as a writer. Until Never Had, I'd only completed poems and short stories, and was doubting if I'd ever finish a longer work or get published. In short, Never Had was what I needed to bring my muse back to life.

1. Accidentally traveling back 1000 years, while a great idea that presents its own opportunities, isn't what I wanted for this particular story. I'd already done the accidental traveling in Never Had, and more importantly, I wanted Twilight to meet with the Princesses before her journey because she'll meet the younger them in future chapters. Like Celestia said at the end of Chapter 2, "She learned how much Equestria has depended on her friendship with her friends. This time, she learns how vital she alone is to Equestria."

2. I'll review the reveal later on, and consider this.

3. I definitely have plans for Discord in this fic. Stay tuned

Thanks for reading and commenting!

[rillegas08]

7750867 That's cool. I'm going to start using that term. And possibly edit the cave chapter to include it at least once.

[Dragon of Shadows]

is this story going to continue on from here?

[rillegas08]

7979554 Yes it will. I'm working on the next chapter on and off. There's a lot more to Clover the Clever's story.

[Dragon of Shadows]

need moar

[Nysa Eyayah]

When will you upload the next chapter?

[rillegas08]

8365715
As soon as I read the "Legends of Magic" comics. All five are written from Star Swirl's perspective and one of them deals with issues they had building Canterlot, and I'm at that point so I want to see what to incorporate.

[Nysa Eyayah]

8365960
Oki

[aalelu]

8365960
They can be found from YouTube fairy easily.
[url] https://www.youtube.com/results?q=mlp%20legends%20of%20magic%20&sm=1 [/url]