• Published 30th Nov 2015
  • 3,351 Views, 146 Comments

The Princess that Equestria Always Had - rillegas08



Twilight has been given the opportunity to study under Star Swirl the Bearded. But... how is it even possible? And how did nopony realize who she really was?

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16: Mandate to the Masses

Although the journey had started simply enough, as each tribe approached their native land it soon became apparent that things had only gotten worse. The snow was piled deeper, and the wind blew colder than it ever had before they'd left. Princess Platinum and Twilight had initially tried keeping the cold away by telling stories, but the bitter cold soon devolved their conversation to quick games for foals that required less thinking.

"I spy with my little eye something white."

"It's not snow again, is it, Clover?"

"No, Your Majesty. It's the fringe on your cloak."

"Oh, thank goodness."

"I don't know how much more of this I can take."

"I spy something green!"

Twilight looked around for a moment, trying to find the green the gray princess had spoken of. As she looked, her attention became focused on the unicorn princess, who was grinning. Her body shook with both the shivers of cold and the anticipation of home. Twilight followed Platinum's gaze forward and, sure enough, she caught a glimpse of green peeking over a gray stone wall that rose above the snow on the horizon.

They both took off, hurrying towards King Bullion's castle as quickly as they could through the thick layer of snow. As they approached, it occurred to Twilight that she could see the shimmer of the shield spell's magic still protecting the land around the castle from the harsh elements.

The two guards at the gate recognized their princess and her adviser, and opened the gates for them. Twilight and Princess Platinum burst through the snowbank into the warm protected area. Breathing heavily, their pace slowed as their bodies grew accustomed to the warmth inside the castle grounds. Once the unicorn princess had caught her breath, she asked the guards of her father's current whereabouts.

"I'm told your father and Star Swirl the Bearded are usually in the conference room behind the throne room," replied one of the stallions.

"Star Swirl the Bearded is here?" asked Twilight. "Why?"

"The shield spell you two put up has been weakening, so His Highness asked him to return to strengthen it," said one guard.

"I think it's because the effort required to maintain it requires more magic than most unicorns here are willing or able to give each time," quipped the other.

"Shall we go meet them, Your Highness?" Twilight asked as the two mares walked toward the castle.

"While we're wet, dirty, and tired, Clover?" the princes scoffed, and the two passed through the castle's doors. "Of course not! We need to bathe and change our clothes first. As a member of the royal family, I do have some standards to uphold. Oh, servant," she got the attention of a passing worker, "can you pass a message to my father for me?"

"I'll start the bath, Princess," Twilight said, and started walking toward the Princess's suite.

About an hour later, the two mares were ready to meet with the king. They made their way toward the throne room, and then behind the thrones to the conference room. Once Platinum and Twilight entered the conference room, King Bullion stopped speaking and beamed, seeing his daughter for the first time in many weeks. He approached her and wrapped his forelegs around her shoulders. "Welcome home, Princess. Welcome home."

"Our apologies for our tardiness, father."

"No need for apologies, Platinum. You've returned home, safe and sound, and no doubt with much to tell from the last several weeks. Come, let's sit and catch up."

Twilight smiled as she watched the reunion of the two, but her expression faded when she saw Star Swirl's expression. Star Swirl blinked at her, clearly not as pleased to see her as the king had to see his daughter. He didn't smile, nor did he approach his assistant to greet her. He just looked at her, and Twilight felt he was silently telling her that they, too, had much to discuss, but not just about what had happened the last few weeks.

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

Once the meeting was over, Star Swirl and Twilight walked in silence toward their room. Star Swirl opened the door, let her go first, and then closed the door behind him as he followed her in. Once the door was closed, Star Swirl turned to face Twilight.

"Your magic wasn't depleted after moving the sun that day."

Twilight closed her eyes, lowered her head, and spoke softly. "How did you figure it out?"

The stallion pulled Twilight's letter out from under his hat. "One of your letters," he replied. "The words have the same elegant script after your magic should have been depleted as the notes you've made during our studies. I'd imagine, as a unicorn, using your hooves doesn't result in a script nearly as fancy."

Twilight sighed. "You're right. My magic was still strong, even after most unicorns' magic would have been gone forever." She took a step toward her mentor. "You're mad, aren't you?"

Star Swirl held up his hoof. "I was at first, furious even, but I've had some time to think while you were away. Now I'm more cautious than anything, if you recall my previous experiences with ponies who just wanted the privilege of calling themselves my student. Even when we met, I had a feeling you were hiding something, and while we worked together sometimes it felt less like you were helping me, but that I was helping you. As I got to know you I figured there must have been a very good reason for you to keep secrets. I decided to give you the benefit of the doubt."

Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "There's no good way to ease into explaining this, so I'll just start at the beginning: I haven't been born yet. I was born in a city that has yet to be founded, in a nation that has only just been founded." Twilight told Star Swirl the story of her life, purposely neglecting to reveal names. She told him about how she grew up, to the release of her power that hatched Spike, to her years of studying under Celestia's tutelage, and how she was sent to learn friendship in Ponyville. "While in that town, I and five mares who would become my closest friends were able to defeat a powerful foe with some very old and very powerful relics. My first encounter with time travel was with a spell you have yet to write. It allows the caster to travel a week back in time, but only for a few seconds. Very useful for sending a message to yourself, as long as past you pays attention."

"So time travel is possible."

Twilight nodded and continued. "It wasn't long after that that my life changed forever into something I never expected. It started with a spell you'll never finish. I accidentally cast it, and the destinies of my friends became swapped, and nopony seemed to realize that something was wrong! I was able to use those relics I mentioned earlier to set everything right, as well as complete the spell. Finishing that spell brings us to one of the most important events in my life."

At this, Twilight levitated the cloak off her body, revealing her wings bound against her body. She untied the rope with her magic and spread them out, displaying them to him. Star Swirl was speechless, his eyes wide in wonder at the sight before him.

"You may have been right when you said that I was more powerful than you. It's hard to understand, but basically, completing that spell created a new magic, and my alicorn mentor transformed me into an alicorn princess. Only a couple months after that, I was given a great responsibility. There was a powerful villain with the ability to absorb a pony's magic, and had set his eye on the alicorns he knew existed. He didn't know about me yet, so I was given the responsibility of keeping the other alicorns' magic from him. Since they had no magic, I had to move the sun and the moon for them. That was... difficult... to control such powerful magic that I'd never had before.

"A few months ago -- the day before we met, in fact -- my mentor gave me an incredible opportunity, to meet and study under you. Knowing what I know now, though, I'm pretty sure that I was sent here to fulfil my destiny as Clover the Clever. I suppose you probably still have some questions about why I asked you to use that name in public?"

"Yes."

"There are several reasons why we chose to keep my identity a secret. For one thing, there's no record of an alicorn in Equestria from this time period until the alicorn sisters arrive. My name also doesn't appear in this time period, but Clover the Clever's does."

"Hold on..." The stallion rubbed his chin, processing this new information.

"What is it?"

"You took the name of a notable historical figure, then became the historical figure you named yourself after."

"That's what will be called a causal paradox in the future."

"It seems confusing, but I'm sure if we talk more it won't be too hard to understand.Twilight, it seems our destinies are very much intertwined."

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

"Hear ye, hear ye!" the town crier called in his village, and across the land each village's town crier did the same. Unicorns in their homes poked their heads out open doors and windows, and those in the streets turned to face the messenger ponies. "'His Highness King Bullion of the Unicorn Kingdom has decreed that all able Unicorns are to arrive at his Castle in three Days for a very important Announcement concerning the Future of the Kingdom.'"

"Three days?" one stallion asked the town crier. "That's tomorrow! It takes two days to get there, so that message is two days old, and we won't be able to get there until the day after tomorrow!"

"Not to worry. I was given this message yesterday and a separate message telling me to wait until today to relay this message, to account for the time it takes the farthest unicorn village to travel to the castle."

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

On the day of the announcement, the grounds at and surrounding King Bullion's castle had become much busier than they usually were, as unicorns from across the land had begun arriving from their towns and villages to the king's castle for the meeting that King Bullion had called. As their numbers grew, Star Swirl began recruiting unicorns to increase the size of the protective dome so no unicorn would be forced to pitch their traveling tents in the snow. The tents themselves were cramped together outside the castle wall with barely enough room for a pony to squeeze between the tent stakes. Within the wall, walkways had been designated against the wall and against the castle, with perpendicular paths located every twenty to thirty feet.

When it was time for the king to make his announcement, some of the castle guards made their rounds, declaring to the visitors that they needed to move toward the courtyard. They guided the unicorns along a passage inside the castle that had been designated for the traffic.

The courtyard was nearly filled when unicorn heralds appeared on the balcony. They raised their horns to their mouths and played the royal fanfare. Any conversation among the unicorns went silent, and one of the king's aides stood at the balcony's railing.

"His Majesty King Bullion, and his daughter Her Highness Princess Platinum!"

The aide stepped aside, and King Bullion, his golden coat adorned with a bright golden cloak, stepped up to the railing with his daughter Princess Platinum by his side.

"My unicorn citizens, hear us speak. We bring news regarding this winter. Three months ago, my daughter Princess Platinum and her adviser Clover began a journey to find a new land to call ours in order to escape this terrible winter. They returned the other day, with good news: we have found the perfect land to immigrate to!" At this, the unicorns below broke out into cheers and applause. "My daughter will now describe our new land."

"Me?" the gray princess asked as her father stepped aside. "Daddy, I've never spoken to a crowd before."

"Don't worry, my daughter," Bullion replied. "Clover was in the new land as long as you were, and will support you if you need assistance."

"I have been absent from my home for many seeks searching for a new home, and we have found one in this new land. This new land is beautiful, untouched by civilization. The trees are tall, and the land is fertile for all kinds of crops. The skies are bright and clear, and the mountains sparkle with gems. We have called this wonderful new land that will become our home Equestria!" The crowd below started murmuring excitedly. "What's more, Clover and I have begun making peace with the pegasus and earth pony nations." Some ponies cheered, but were shushed by others, who kept silent or who were not pleased about cooperating with the pegasi and earth ponies.

Princess Platinum looked over her shoulder at her father and her adviser with an uneasy expression. King Bullion started forward, but Twilight put her hoof on his shoulder. Twilight stepped up to the railing and cleared her voice. "I was expecting this mixed response. It is news, after all, that has many implications. This means that when we shop for food and supplies, we will not have to travel clear across town just to buy food. This means that we can get to know each others' cultures and work together using the strengths of one tribe where another has weaknesses. This also means that those of us who fear or hate the pegasi and earth ponies will have to confront their prejudices. I may not have the same experiences you all may have, but I do know this: if we don't try to leave our comfort zones, we may never learn what wonderful things we'll miss.

"Most of you believe that this winter was caused by the pegasi, and that the earth ponies have been hoarding food. Star Swirl the Bearded, Princess Platinum, and I know otherwise, and Princess Platinum and I have seen and fought against the cause of this winter. This winter is not caused by the pegasi as many unicorns and earth ponies have come to believe, but by a supernatural creature that feeds off negativity and strife known as windigos." Twilight used her magic to project an image of a windigo over the crowd. Some gasped and started moving toward the exit. "Don't worry! This isn't a real windigo, just the image of one. This can't harm you."

High in the clouds above the castle, a windigo, enticed by the potential dissension of a growing crowd scowled. It recognized the two mares below and flew down, not noticing the magical barrier. It collided with the magic and screeched as electricity from the dome surrounded it momentarily before flying away.

The ponies looked up at the barrier at the muffled sound of the impact. Everypony gasped, including Twilight, who dropped her illusion.

"That one won't hurt you either! That's a real windigo up there, and it doesn't feed on ponies but on emotions like anger and fear. So don't be afraid!"

King Bullion stepped forward and spoke up once again. "We have discovered a land where we can live in harmony with our fellow ponies, both unicorn and non-unicorn. My daughter and I will lead those willing to cooperate with the other tribes to the new land. We depart in one week. Thank you for coming."

As the king and the two mares turned away, a murmur arose from the unicorns below. It started quietly, then grew in intensity. Princess Platinum's pace slowed to a stop as she heard the commotion. She turned around and approached the railing once more to address her nation. Twilight and her father turned around as well, and stood behind her.

"You're concerned," she began, and the crowd went silent, "about leaving your homes and your families behind for a future with ponies we've fought against for so long." Nodding heads and sounds of agreement rose in a moment, and as they died down Princess Platinum continued. "Your houses are your homes, it's true; but your home is where you feel most at home." The princess paused, and looked at her father. Her father looked back at her with kind eyes and nodded. Encouraged by her father, she smiled and continued. "This castle may be my home now, but it won't be forever. This castle is merely thousands of stones stacked upon each other. My home is where my father is and where my family will be, wherever that may be. I will be giving up this castle to go to a land where we can thrive, but we can only thrive if the three tribes can cooperate. Commander Hurricane of the pegasi, Chancellor Puddinghead of the earth ponies, myself, and all our advisers have all agreed to cooperate, and I hope you all may join us in making Equestria our new home."

King Bullion stepped up to his daughter with a smile and wrapped his foreleg around her. She turned to him and returned his embrace.

"Perhaps," Star Swirl said to Twilight quietly, "it is time to make our own preparations. But first, tell me more about windigos. I've never actually seen one, and they sound like incredible creatures!"

Author's Note:

Originally my idea for King Bullion's declaration was to cut among the three tribes making their own announcements, but decided not to for a couple reasons. For one thing, I'd received some criticism for doing that in a previous chapter with the three advisers meeting up for the first time. For another thing, and more importantly, as I thought about how to make that happen, I realized I needed to focus just on the unicorns due to Platinum's character arc about what makes something a home that I'd introduced in "Platinum and Bullion".

It's taken a very long time for me to complete this chapter for a few reasons. One, and most importantly, I was in the process of writing this chapter when Star Swirl became a relevant character and not some historical sorcerer surrounded in mystery, and I wanted to be as close to the canon representation of the character as I could be. Two, with Star Swirl as a recurring character in the show I want to figure out a way for neither Star Swirl not Twilight to know what happened in this fic without it feeling like a shoe-in or a cop-out, such as erasing their memories. Three, it's a lot of exposition. A LOT. I basically summarize all of seasons 1-5, plus add a whole bunch of new lore to the founding of Equestria.

Comments ( 17 )

8366020
8273849
Chapter 16 has just been uploaded! Sorry about the wait. The very, very, very long wait.

9122286


ITS ALIVE YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!

*Opens up fimfiction*

Oh hey a new chapter
I wonder what story it is......

*Opens up Tracking*




HOLY ****

New chapter! My eyes truly not deceiving me... and it is beautiful.
Now Twilight can lead Starswirl to Celestia and Luna... or will she relate to them somehow?

9122286
quite the understatement lol

2 years is a loottttt of wait time

this was a very good read I look forward to more

9122400
9122980
By far my two favorite comments about this fic coming off hiatus.

Good chapter hopefully you can keep up the good work.

9129149
Lol if you do die before this is finished I'll have to stalk you, steal your body and forcefully revive you just so I can see my second most favorite story finished!:pinkiecrazy:

9129171
Wow, second? That's quite an accomplishment. What's your first?

9129200
Im super picky about what I read but Rites Of Ascension is my number one favorite lol, I really love Starswirl and the way you wrote him. Good fortune to you and your story!

9129227
That title sounded familiar, and as it turns out it was already in my "Read Later". Thanks!

9129227
The "Rites" is one of my favourite stories too. :pinkiehappy::twilightsmile:

Yeah I never understood that head canon just never made sense

9498424
The whole twilight is somehow clover the clever thing

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