The History of the World: Revised Edition
The place that Twilight Sparkle had selected for the interview was a study on the floor above the throne room, a space that had no official designation beyond being an area where visiting dignitaries could find a little bit of privacy to collect themselves or to work on pressing matters. This made it a perfect place for Twilight to conduct her interview because not only did it have a decent sized desk already supplied for her, but it was also furnished with around a dozen wooden chairs that were clearly meant to be used by the dignitary’s attendants. The crystal walls were dotted liberally with bookshelves and, with the wall across from the desk lined with the aforementioned chairs, it really did give them everything they needed for a private, thorough interview; Twilight smiled happily to herself as she swept her gaze across the ponies seated along the wall before focusing on the singular pony sitting before the desk, her chair slid as close to the wooden surface as she could get it so that she could access the paper and quill that Twilight had laid out for her. After all, who knows – she might need to draw something to explain it properly, or she might have a symbol that needs to be put down on paper to be understood!
“I know that we already introduced ourselves, but if I could please have you state your name again, for the record.” Twilight shifted a small stack of papers to her left before sliding the top one down onto the table before her, an ink quill hovering steadily in her magic in spite of the excitement coursing through her. “It probably seems silly,” she admitted with a lopsided smile, “but I’m sure you can see the benefits of having an official record of you and your story, and official records require official procedures!”
The alicorn filly across from her sighed and hesitated for a moment before answering. “My name is Skyla,” she said, her lips forming a thin line.
Twilight’s quill hovered just above the paper, its tip not quite touching. “Is that your full name?” she asked. “Remember, this is for the official record.” Skyla stared at her for several heartbeats, as if trying to figure out whether or not Twilight was being serious; Twilight took a deep breath and let it out before offering the smaller pony a gentle smile. “I’m sorry, Skyla, but I am going to have to ask you to answer my questions as thoroughly as you can.” Her eyes rose to the ponies sitting behind Skyla. “I’m sure you can understand why we might want as much information from you as possible, right?”
“There’s no pressure, Skyla,” said Celestia, who sat at Twilight’s far left. “We do need information, but please know that whatever you have to say will not be held against you. You won’t be punished for anything, even if you decide to lie,” she smiled at Twilight, “though I think our interviewer might be disappointed if you did.”
The other ponies in the room laughed lightly and, to Twilight’s relief, the sound seemed to relax Skyla. She reached a hoof up and played with one of the large curls at the front of her mane for a moment, but after another quick sigh she dropped her hoof back to her chair.
“My full name and title is Princess Mia Amata Skylark, by the Grace of Celestia, High Princess of the Crystal Empire.”
Twilight’s quill dropped to the page and began to scribble furiously, the magenta of her magic shimmering along her horn as she offered the filly a sympathetic smile. “Wow, that’s a mouthful,” she muttered. “So Skyla would be…?”
“Something I like better than the whole thing,” answered Skyla with a shrug. “It’s kind of a pain to have to say all that stuff every single time you want to introduce yourself.” Twilight nodded as her quill stopped, her eyes darting over Skyla’s head to the ponies who sat against the wall. Everypony save Celestia had been mostly silent since they’d entered the room, but Luna, Cadence, Shining Armor, Starlight, and Sunburst all sat with their ears perked and their eyes riveted to Skyla. Of them, only Celestia and Luna looked completely relaxed, and as Twilight’s gaze flitted over them they each gave her a confident nod, a vote of confidence that she would be able to do just fine. Twilight smiled slightly and refocused her attention onto Skyla.
“Nicknames are good for making introductions quicker,” she agreed. “Now, could you tell me the names of your parents?” In Twilight’s peripheral vision she saw Cadence and Shining Armor shift in their chairs, but she kept her gaze settled firmly on Skyla as the younger alicorn nodded.
“My mother is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Songstress of the North and Queen of the Wendigos, and my father is Prince Consort Shining Armor of the House of Twilight, High General of the Armies of the North.”
Twilight’s eyes widened and her quill scrawled with lightning speed as she wrote down Skyla’s words in sharp, precise script. “D-did I hear you right when you said ‘Queen of the Wendigos’?” she asked softly, her stomach clenching. Skyla simply nodded, her curls bouncing gently as she did.
“Yes, Princess – you heard correctly.”
Now Twilight’s gaze jumped back to her sister-in-law, and the look of horror on Cadence’s face mirrored the disgust that she felt inside. That sounds pretty terrible, thought Twilight. Songstress of the North, Queen of the Wendigos… I really can’t imagine Cadence becoming evil…
Her eyes darted to her left, where Luna and Celestia glanced meaningfully at one another. Of course, an alicorn princess becoming evil isn't unheard of, I suppose…
“All right then, um…” Twilight cleared her throat and glanced down at her paper, her mind working furiously as she tried to decide where her interview should go from here. This is important, Twilight – everypony’s counting on you to ask the right questions here, and if you don’t then things are just going to get more complicated later. “Let’s jump back a little to what you said in the throne room about Celestia and Luna being… dead.” It feels so wrong to say that, she reflected as she scratched a header onto the page she’d been writing on: Names and Titles of Ponies from Skyla’s World. “I assume that’s ancient history where you’re from?”
Skyla nodded. “It is, Princess – though everypony knows the story of the Saint of the Sun and her fight against the Nightmare.”
“Well, why don’t you tell me what you know about that event?” said Twilight, her heart leaping into her throat. “And please, you can just call me Twilight.” This is it: a real, first-hoof account of another world’s history! thought Twilight as she quickly scribbled down a note about Celestia and Luna’s names on the Titles page. I don’t care how dark or scary her world might be – figuring out how worlds like hers differ from our own is something that not everypony gets to do! She shuffled the first page off to her right and removed fresh page from the stack, at the top of which she wrote World History, According to Skyla as she turned her gaze back to the filly. “Whenever you’re ready,” she said as she slowly lost the battle against the smile that was determined to find its way onto her face.
“Okay…” Skyla arched an eyebrow up at Twilight’s grinning face, but after a moment’s pause she took a deep breath. “It was written in my history books that Celestia and Luna, the two alicorn sisters, brought order to chaos and ushered Equestria into a time of unprecedented prosperity and happiness. This lasted for a long time…” she frowned and blushed, “…but I honestly can’t tell you exact dates. I… was never very good at my history classes, Twilight…”
“Well, don’t you worry too much about those pesky ol’ dates,” said Twilight dismissively, her ears perked straight up as her quill scratched frantically in a jerky, frenetic dance across the paper before her. “You just tell me what you do remember, and maybe we can piece things together later, hmm?” Skyla cocked her head to one side and gave Twilight her strangest look yet, but it only lasted a moment before she shook her head and continued.
“This lasted for a long time, but it ended with Luna falling to her own selfish desires and becoming the Nightmare.”
Twilight frowned and her quill paused. “You mean Nightmare Moon,” she said, but Skyla just frowned at her again.
“She was called the Nightmare in my world, or the Great Calamity.” Skyla shrugged. “Whether she called herself Nightmare Moon or not I have no idea, since few if any official records survived from that time.” She shifted in her chair and leaned forward, propping her elbows up onto the smooth top of the desk as Twilight’s quill darted to the Titles page for a heartbeat before shooting back to her current one. “We were always told that Luna became the Nightmare because she was unfulfilled, and lacked the spirit of good will, charity, love, and compassion that Celestia embodied.” Skyla winced and her head twitched to her right, as if she longed to look behind her and see what the reactions of the ponies in question were going to be, but as Twilight’s quill moved against the page she glanced up to see that both Luna and Celestia were simply listening, with no strong outward emotions on their faces. Although it must be strange, listening to an account of you killing a pony you love, she thought.
“And what happened after she transformed into Night-… into the Nightmare?”
“The legend says that she brought up the moon to eclipse the sun, refusing to give way to the daylight. Celestia rose to meet her in battle, and their fight was so incredible and so magically immense that it rendered parts of the Everfree forest completely uninhabitable due to the residual magic, even after one thousand years.” Skyla sat up straight again, her hooves scraping across the edge of the desk as she did. “In the end, both Celestia and Luna were found dead in a crater…” her ears drooped, “…’slain not by magic, but each by the hooves of her sister’, I think the verse went.”
A frown blossomed on Twilight’s face. Wait a second… “So, she didn’t use the Elements of Harmony?”
Skyla frowned as well. “The… what?”
Twilight’s frown deepened, and behind Skyla she could see all six observers to her interview shift in their chairs. “The Elements of Harmony,” she repeated, ensuring that her words were clear. “She didn’t use them to defeat Luna?”
“I’m sorry, Princess,” said Skyla with a small shake of her head, “but I’ve never heard of those before.”
If the silence in the room was deep before, it became absolutely unfathomable at Skyla’s words. Twilight couldn’t stop her mouth from dropping open in shock as she stared at the smaller alicorn, her mind trying its best to grasp the information she’d just been given. Celestia didn’t use the Elements of Harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon, she thought, repeating the words to herself over and over as she tried in vain to consider the ramifications of such an event. That’s… that’s absolutely crazy. Why wouldn’t she use them? Unless…
Twilight inhaled deeply and let it out in a loud, quick rush, and the sound quickly filled the room, breaking the spell that had held everypony in the room transfixed. “So you don’t know what the Elements of Harmony are,” repeated Twilight, her mind churning as her quill continued its quiet scritch-scritch across the parchment. “Maybe you could tell me everything you know about Discord.”
“Discord…” Skyla’s brow furrowed in concentration, “…I remember hearing that name, but it wasn’t brought up much. There was… something in one of my books about Luna and Celestia defeating him, though most of the historians didn’t talk about him by name.”
“So there was never any mention of how the Princesses defeated him?” Twilight’s quill finished the line it was on and darted down below it, poised to write Skyla’s answer. The younger pony’s eyes darted to the quill for a brief moment before coming back to Twilight’s own, her bright blue gaze distant as she concentrated.
“I… can’t really remember,” she said after a moment, her ears drooping. “The only thing I can remember is that they couldn’t do it by force. The one book that talked about it said that the Princesses had to use some other kind of magic to beat him, a magic that was stronger than any known at that time.” She shrugged slowly and she lowered her head in shame. “I’m sorry, Twilight, but that’s all I can remember.”
“Uh-huh…” The quill began its frantic journey once more, Twilight’s script quickly filling the page. That sounds vaguely like it could have been the Elements, she thought, her gaze rising over Skyla’s head to look at her friends and family. But if they were there when Discord was defeated, why didn’t Celestia use them against Luna? Why did she choose to-, Twilight winced and dropped her gaze back to the desk. All right, enough of that, Twilight – there’ll be plenty of time to speculate once this is done. Back on task!
“You did fine, Skyla,” she reassured the filly, her smile returning. “Maybe we should move on from that point.” She shifted another piece of paper into position in front of her as she pushed the now-full page off to her right, the quill leaping to the new page and scribbling World History, According to Skyla Pg. 2. “So without Luna or Celestia there to guide them, what happened to Equestria?” A chair creaked, and Twilight’s eyes rose to find Celestia sitting forward, her eyes intent on Skyla’s back. Her large wings rustled against her, and Twilight was surprised to see a look of deep concern slide across her former mentor’s face.
“History says that the sun and moon stayed in the sky for almost a week while ponies mourned and struggled to figure out what to do next. By the end of that week, however, the world had started to grow colder and the ponies of Equestria did the only thing they knew how to do: work together.” Skyla offered Twilight a rare smile. “The Princesses had instilled in their ponies a sense of community strong enough that all three races banded together and began to make their world work again.”
“Well, that’s certainly good to hear,” said Twilight with a smile, and she was surprised at how good it felt; the curve of her lips felt like the first rays of the sun melting away tendrils of frost on a window pane, and a quick glance over Skyla’s head showed the same kind of relieved smile on Celestia’s muzzle. “Perhaps you can tell me how they organized things,” she said as Celestia sat back in her seat, her eyes closed as Luna patted her hoof. “I know that it must have taken more than one pony to move the sun and moon again.”
Skyla nodded and sat forward in her chair, clearly eager to talk about different subject. “It did – twelve, in fact. It took twelve of the most powerful unicorns that could be found to move the sun and moon back into their proper places in the sky, and to ensure that the cycle would never again be broken, those ponies founded the Monastery of the Celestial Cycle and went off to live in seclusion. There, they can focus on their magic and their eternal task.” Skyla sat back, her wings shuffling against her sides. “It is considered a great honor to be granted a place at the Monastery, especially for second or third children of nobility.”
“That sounds very noble,” said Twilight as she wrote. “So what happened to the pegasi and earth ponies? And you said that everypony in Equestria still chose to work together – does that mean that they ran the country together?”
“The pegasi formed a group they call the Sky Weavers, and they make sure the weather in all of Equestria is taken care of.” Skyla shook her head slowly. “There’s not much communication between the pegasi and the rest of Equestria from what I hear: just a few cities where their merchants buy and sell goods. The rest of them are entirely devoted to keeping their end of the world spinning – something that is mirrored by the earth ponies.” A smile touched the filly’s lips once again. “The earth ponies of Equestria dug in hard and worked themselves to the bone to provide enough food for everypony, and working together all three races saved everything.”
Twilight’s smile returned as well, and she shifted another empty page to the space in front of her. “I’ve never been happier to hear that everypony was working together,” she admitted, “especially knowing what we all do about Hearth’s Warming and the story behind it. So that answers my question about the pegasi and earth ponies – what about ruling the country? How did they go about it?”
“They decided that the only fair thing to do was to have a ruling council made up of two ponies from each race, a mare and a stallion. It was the only thing that they thought would give them a fair government.”
“And did it work?”
“Oh yes, it worked perfectly – that is, until…” Skyla’s words trailed off into silence, and Twilight felt her eyes narrow at the filly.
“Until what?” she asked, her quill pausing in its journey across the parchment.
Skyla squirmed in her chair, looking even more uncomfortable than she had when they’d talked about Luna and Celestia killing one another in battle. “Well…” She bit her lip and closed her eyes, her whole body tensing up as if she were going to spring out of her chair and make a run for the door. Twilight’s frown deepened and she felt a wave of irritation spread through her like a hot cup of tea spilling across a pristine white tablecloth.
“Skyla, please remember that this is for our official records of your home world. We need to know what happened as best as you can tell us so that we’re not writing down misinformation.” The very idea that she might be scrawling lies across her paper made Twilight feel anxious, and she couldn’t stop her pinion feathers from shifting across her flanks as Skyla winced.
“I… I know. I’m sorry, Twilight… I’ll keep going.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she managed to open her eyes and meet Twilight’s gaze once again. “The Equestrian parliament was extremely successful in running the country, and for almost a thousand years they did so in peace and prosperity… and then the Crystal Empire returned.”
Behind Skyla, Celestia and Luna turned to look at Cadence, who sat up a bit straighter at the mention of her country. “Which must have been a pretty big surprise to the ponies of Equestria, right?” mused Twilight as she wrote. “Since Celestia and Luna were the only ones who would have remembered it in the first place.”
“Exactly as you say,” agreed Skyla with a nod. “Everypony was shocked, especially when it was discovered that an alicorn – that is, my mother, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza – had taken back her throne there.” Skyla shifted in her seat, and again Twilight saw the urge to turn around and look at the ponies behind her course through the younger filly, but again she resisted. “According to my mother, she, my father, and my aunt Twilight-,”
Twilight’s quill scribbled even faster and she couldn’t stop an excited squeak from escaping her lips at the mention of her name. Now I’ll get to find out what kind of pony I am in this world, she thought eagerly. I mean, I’ve seen other worlds before and seen what other ponies are like in other worlds, but this is going to be the first time that I’m going to hear about another pony version of myself from another pony first-hoof! She giggled softly and turned her gaze back to Skyla, who had paused mid-sentence and was staring open mouthed at Twilight.
“Ahahah… P-please, continue,” managed Twilight, her voice still quavering with anticipation. “I’m very sorry, Skyla – I’ll do my best not to interrupt you again.”
The smaller alicorn closed her mouth and swallowed audibly, but she nodded and continued despite the trepidation in her eyes. “According to my mother, the three of them fought against King Sombra, the evil unicorn who had taken over the Crystal Empire before it had vanished, and defeated him.”
“So you found the Crystal Heart?”
Along the wall Cadence tensed visibly, and to everypony’s shock Skyla shook her head sadly. “No. The artifact that my mother called the Crystal Heart was never recovered. According to her, Sombra claimed that he had hidden it away and would not reveal the location of it.”
For the second time that day, Twilight felt her mouth drop open in surprise. “B-but… if they didn’t find the Crystal Heart, how did they defeat King Sombra?” she asked, her voice quiet.
“With brute force,” replied Skyla, her eyes never leaving Twilight’s. “My mother, father, and Aunt Twilight all combined their considerable magical power and killed Sombra in the square in front of the Castle.”
“B-but how?!” said Cadence, her voice filling the room though it was little more than a hoarse whisper. “How did they do it without the Heart? And if they didn’t find the Heart, isn’t the kingdom filled with snow and ice?!”
Skyla’s whole body seemed to sag as she turned in her chair to look back at Cadence, her right hoof grasping the left armrest so that she could keep her body at the appropriate angle. “My father added his shielding spell to the one my mother had used to hold off King Sombra, and together their magic was enough to hold back the northern weather.” She shook her head, her curls bouncing around her shoulders. “And as for how they defeated him… each of them bears a different scar on their bodies that they all claim came from the Unicorn King. I… have never asked for the full story… I’m sorry.” She held Cadence’s gaze for a moment before turning back around in her chair, her eyes full of sorrow. “All I know is that they did it, and that they’ve had to use immense magical power to keep the city safe since then.”
Twilight’s quill scribbled like mad as she watched the smaller alicorn closely. “I only found the Heart because Celestia told me how to look for it – it’s honestly no wonder that you didn’t find it.” Her smile returned. “Now, how did this affect the Equestrian parliament?”
Now Skyla sighed and placed her hooves onto the desk in front of her. “My aunt went to the parliament after the Crystal Empire was free,” she said, her words coming slowly and carefully. “She had spent much time roaming the world, gathering magical knowledge and artifacts. When she arrived back in Equestria, she arranged a meeting with the entire governing body to discuss something that she felt was vital to the continued success and safety of the nation.”
Twilight sat forward eagerly. “And what issue was it that she wanted to discuss?” she asked.
Skyla’s hooves shifted the papers around, her eyes avoiding Twilight’s gaze. “She wanted Equestria to select a Princess again. She claimed that it was what Celestia would have wanted, and also said that a single ruler would allow them to be ruled more efficiently and effectively.”
“And how did the parliament take such a suggestion?”
“They were very interested,” admitted Skyla as she stacked all of her papers together, the pads of her hooves tapping their sides gently. “At least, they were very interested until Aunt Twilight suggested that she be allowed to be the sole ruler of the country.” Twilight’s smile died on her lips, and she felt her heart drop into her stomach as Skyla sighed. “She told them that she was the only pony fit to rule, with her vast knowledge of magic, science, and history to draw upon, and she also said that it would give them an ironclad ally in the Crystal Empire, since she and Cadence were like sisters. Naturally, the members of parliament told her to get out… and my Aunt Twilight decided that she would not.”
A chorus of murmurs rose from the observers, and Twilight swallowed audibly before she was able to speak again. “A-and then?” she croaked.
“Two weeks later, Equestria crowned its first single leader in a thousand years: Twilight Sparkle, First of her Name, Grand Sorceress of the Tower of Starswirl and Queen of all Equestria.”
Twilight’s magic flickered and almost dropped her quill as she stared in abject horror at Skyla, who lifted her right hoof and coughed gently against it before sitting up straight in her chair once more, her hooves returning to the seat in front of her. Twilight tried to speak, but even though her mouth opened and closed several times she couldn’t make a single sound for the better part of a minute. Finally, after clearing her throat as Skyla had done, she managed to find her voice.
“She… just walked into the ruling body of Equestria and… said that she could do a better job?” squeaked Twilight, her lips quivering on the edge of a half-smile. “That sounds… um…”
“Crazy?” Skyla shook her head sadly. “Unfortunately, it was not. My Aunt Twilight is still just a unicorn, not an alicorn like you, but there wasn’t a pony in Equestria or beyond that dared to try to stop her.” She managed to give Twilight a smile, even if it was a small one. “If it makes you feel any better, she was right – Equestria was doing well as it was but it began to do even better during her reign, with its economy growing stronger and the ponies of the land having an easier time making deals and accords with one another beneath her banner.”
“Oh… well, that’s a good thing…” Twilight’s quill slowly continued its journey across the paper, its movements much more reserved and hesitant than before. “At least she proved to be an effective ruler…” She let out a sigh and swiped a hoof across her forehead, the sweat that had beaded there leaving dampness on her foreleg. That was… unexpected, she thought with another, smaller sigh, but at the very least it sounds like alternate-world me is holding up her kingdom. There’s some comfort in that, I suppose. Twilight glanced down at her notes, her eyes scanning them for any issues with her writing before her gaze returned to Skyla. “So now we have Cadence in the Crystal Empire along with Shining Armor, and Queen-,” she coughed lightly, “Queen Twilight ruling in Equestria. Everypony seems to be in place, though I would assume that’s not the end of your story since you haven’t shown up in it yet.” Just keep writing your notes, Twilight, she reminded herself. This is just an alternate world’s history, not your world’s history… you haven’t done anything to anypony.
“That’s correct,” replied Skyla, and Twilight watched as her ears drooped back towards her mane. “Unfortunately, my birth is the very thing that throws the whole world out of balance.” Twilight’s brow furrowed as Skyla’s eyes flickered to her left, where Cadence was sitting behind her. “It wasn’t long before my parents welcomed me into the world, and as luck or fate or whatever would have it, I was born an alicorn.” Her right hoof rose to her forehead where she touched the horn that sat there, her eyes slowly losing focus as she stared into her past. “This normally would have been cause for great celebration because the only other alicorn in the entire world was my mother, and by her own admission she was not born one. My birth marked the first alicorn birth in history, as far as anypony else knew… and to my mother, that meant only one thing.”
Twilight smiled half-heartedly. “That… she had a really wonderful daughter?” she offered softly.
“No… unfortunately not,” said Skyla, her muzzle dipping towards the desk along with her eyes. “She saw it as an opportunity to…” she swallowed, “…to lay claim to Equestria.”
Twilight’s eyes flicked to Cadence, who looked as if she were going to throw up everything she’d ever eaten. “But Queen Twilight is ruling there – what claim could she possibly have to the throne?” she asked, but as Skyla took a breath to respond Twilight felt a knot form in her stomach.
“Simple: I’m an alicorn. Princess Celestia, the Saint of the Sun, was an alicorn, and her blood and the blood of the Sparkles runs through my veins.” Skyla winced. “My mother always said that my bloodline meant that I was destined to rule over both kingdoms, that it was my divine right to lay claim to all of the lands that my great aunt once controlled…” Her ears nestled down into her broad curls, her mouth pressing into a thin, unhappy line as she spoke. “My mother had been launching small attacks on Equestria for years before my birth. Nothing major, just small skirmishes against villages that were made to look like bandit raids… but even though nopony ever found out that my mother was commanding those raids, Queen Twilight began to suspect.” She raised her eyes back to Twilight, memories flashing in their blue depths. “I’ll never forget the day that my aunt found out about mother’s plan to put me on the throne. Thunder exploded in the sky above the Empire, and a huge illusion of Queen Twilight appeared outside the Castle. She stood almost as tall as the central spire, and she looked real enough that ponies scrambled to get out of the way of her hooves.” Skyla shrank in her seat slightly. “She demanded to know what my mother was thinking, and my mother, who had always showed the utmost respect to Queen Twilight, said that I was the only one who could truly claim either throne. My aunt got very cold, and leaned her face down until it was even with the balcony on which we stood… and then she said that if mother was going to put me on her throne, then she was going to have to storm Canterlot with an army.” A single tear ran down Skyla’s cheek, and when she spoke again her voice quavered slightly. “Mother said that she intended to do just that… as soon as I was able to lead them myself.” The filly sniffled, but after a moment she shook her head and swiped a hoof angrily at her eyes, the bangs of her mane bouncing gently with the motion. “She made me the figurehead of an army when I was still just a foal, to fight in a war that I didn’t care about… but what could I do? I was stuck, and there was nowhere in the world that I could go.”
Twilight shook her head and her quill began to write again, its movements even faster as she struggled to catch up with the story from where she’d trailed off. “Wow, Skyla… it sounds like you went through a lot,” she said softly, and the filly nodded.
“Yeah… and that was before the wendigos came.” She sighed. “Once the Crystal Empire was gearing up for war, the aura of hate became so powerful that even my mother and father’s strongest magic couldn’t keep the winter away any more… and with the winter wind came the wendigos.” She shivered as she spoke and hugged herself with her hooves, as if doing her best to ward off a cold that nopony else could feel. “Mom became Queen of the Wendigos and the Songstress of the North… but by that time I was almost done with my mirror, so I didn’t really care anymore.”
“Oh yes, yes! Your mirror!” Twilight shuffled another piece of paper into place, the quill jotting down the heading Skyla’s Mirror. “I wanted to ask you about your mirror before we finish. I don’t mean to brag, but I’ve had a little bit of experience with mirrors that let you travel between worlds, so I’m very interested in how you managed to make yours, Skyla.”
The filly nodded and managed a smile, clearly glad to be moving away from the subject of her family, even if it was just a little bit. “Sure… I used an existing mirror, but I had to use every bit of Starswirl’s texts on the subject to get me here.”
Twilight’s quill scratched eagerly along the paper once again, its previous hesitance forgotten. “And what books did you use to find your spells, exactly?”
Skyla held up her right wing and began to tick off spells, her muzzle scrunched in concentration. “The Theory of Temporal Dissonance, the Principals of Space-Time Equilibrium, Alternate Worlds and You: A Reference Guide, Gravitational Waves and Temporal Anomalies, How to Punch a Hole in Space, and Connecting Everywhere: Mirrors as Travel.” She sighed and dropped her hooves and wing back to their places. “It was hard to connect all the dots that Starswirl left laying around, but I managed to do it… even though it took me a long time.”
The quill finished its side list of all the books that she’d mentioned, and Twilight returned her attention to the filly. “I’m going to guess it was more than just hard, Skyla,” she said. “Starswirl himself took forever to manage that, and you did it at…” She frowned. “How old are you?”
“I’m fifteen,” said Skyla, and Twilight’s smile returned in full force.
“At fifteen you built a portal mirror and connected it to another world, from scratch?!” Twilight pressed a hoof to her head and just barely managed to curtail the burst of praise that was trying desperately to free itself from her lips. “O-okay, so… whew… um…” her eyes darted back to her page of notes, her mind trying its best to stay on task instead of leaping onto the tangent of Skyla’s work on the mirror. There’ll be plenty of time to talk to her about the mirror – and if there’s not, I’m gonna MAKE some, she thought fervently. “There was something else that I needed to ask you… Oh yes.” Her quill jumped down a little on the page to an open spot. “The mirror on this side shattered upon your arrival. Do you know why it did that?”
Skyla nodded. “Yes – because my portal was unstable. I built it in such a way that it manifested an identical mirror here in this world, so it was more like forcing our two worlds to touch in that one exact spot rather than building a tunnel through our universes, like Starswirl suggested.” She shrugged. “I really didn’t want anypony following me, so I had to make the gate as fragile as I could while making sure that it wouldn’t collapse on me when I went through.”
Twilight couldn’t keep herself from smiling broadly as her quill recorded everything in detail. “Fascinating, absolutely brilliant,” she muttered under her breath. “And after you built the mirror..?”
“I had to contact Flurry Heart. I…” Skyla blushed slightly. “I knew that she was here, in this world, so I used the mirror and a modified amplification spell to try to speak directly to her, but I ended up speaking to her mentally instead. I needed her as an opposing force on the other side of the mirror… like a key to open the door.” She shrugged. “When I finally got her attention she came down to the basement, and the rest I’m sure you know.”
Twilight smiled and nodded as her quill made a few final scratches at the parchment. “I do, thank you, Skyla.” She glanced at her papers and nodded. “That was everything that I wanted to know from you – at least for now.” The quill lifted off of the papers and dropped down onto the desk, its task complete. “You’re free to go now, Skyla,” said Twilight happily. “May I find you and ask more questions if necessary?”
The smaller alicorn nodded and hopped down from her chair. “Of course, Princess.” She offered a smile to Twilight and to the other ponies in the room before hurrying to the door, her magic lighting up and glowing around the doorknob as she approached it. She gave a deft flick of her horn and opened the door just enough so that she could slip through, her tail swishing against the doorframe as she did so. Twilight’s smile remained on her face until the door closed behind the small alicorn, but once Skyla was gone her smile slowly evaporated as she brought her gaze back to the papers on her desk. She let out a long, loud sigh and, after taking a moment to check her notes, brought her eyes back up to the other ponies who shared the room with her, her wings and shoulders sagging.
“Well… I think we have a few things to discuss,” she said softly.
Stats
Page generated in 0.021 seconds
Total duration
947 users online
244,941 hits today, 2,244,100 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
That was a really Great chapter
now i want more 
Great chapter!
I'm suddenly very suspicious about the lack of Elements in Skyla's home universe. I don't know how yet, but I'm sure that's going to come up again.
The plot thickens...
Awesome I hope to see more!
Aaaaand.. how did she know?
SKYLA IS SPY
7607718
SPYLA. It makes perfect sense!
Yep, I was right. Fave easily earned.
Please don't take too long with the next chapter!
Unfortunately, it seems that the other Equestria is already in a downward spiral; the Elements and Crystal Heart are missing, the Crystal Empire is allied with the Windigos and attacking Equestria, and the only living alicorns have either succumbed to power lust or nope-ed right out of the universe itself.
Either the war ravages the continent and leaves them defenseless against whatever threat comes next (my money is on Discord), or they're already defenseless and the bad guy is just taking his sweet time getting there.
I've got a feeling that Skyla's story isn't entirely what she says it is. She was pretty detailed up until the Windigos showed up, then it suddenly skips to her escape. I wonder if the war was already over when she left, and the pony she was running from at the end of the first story wasn't Cadance, but Twilight, because she'd won.
I do bet not all of it is true, because there a few things that seem off.
Like who was the Mare chasing her when leaving her world?
When Skyla mention Queen Twilight, she sounded more scared than anything.
And a little odd about the way she talk about her Mother. Like that she might have been a better pony until something happen when her aunt found out about the plans. (I think it's possible Shiny might be dead because he was never mention...)
Anyways I really love the History of that world, though I thought it might have been darker but that was a great one!
Only things missing are Sunset & Changlings.
7608368
The mare chasing her was AU Cadence, I think. Though it could've been AU Twi.
Skyla seemed more scared of AU Twi than anything because she was. That Twilight was very powerful, and very evil, and Cadence expected Skyla to fight her to the death in a few years.
Also I'm guessing Shining isn't dead because he was still using his shield spell when the windigos came. Though I suppose they could've killed him.
7607520
Ah, yeah -- I forgot that. I'm so used to writing Cadence as being blood related to Celestia (thanks to other projects in other AUs) that I just kinda plowed ahead. That and I was so geared up to write Skyla's history that Twilight's bit with Flurry just kinda slipped out. XD I've edited it in "Princesses of Equestria", but that phraseology is remaining in "History of the World" because AU Cadence very much believes that she IS the bloodline of Celestia, since she was able to become an alicorn and all, and since no one can really challenge her on it, she's going to ride it as far as she can. XD
7607718
7607852
Don't worry, it'll all make sense in the future. Probably. Maybe.
7607769
7607921
I'm glad you're enjoying it so far! :D And I'll do my best with the chapters! Things have been flowing very smoothly so far, so here's hoping that it continues to do so.
Interesting... So the divergence point of the timelines appears to have been at the end of the Age of Chaos. Did Celestia and Luna return the Elements to the Tree of Harmony in Skyla's home universe?
This brings up an interesting point to me. Each side is working for everyone's good, but they don't seem to actually be working with each other. A bit like an assembly line. Everyone does their part because you need all the pieces to work together, but no one works with the ones putting the pieces together, and they don't work with the ones giving it the pretty casing.
You know, parliaments, councils, ruling bodies in general always seem to do this. As if someone is going to just walk in and ask to be made the sole ruler, and NOT back their "request" with force.
I like that you kept the gender consistent through that, it shows attention to detail. It's just a nitpick, but if French is any indication, think in this case, it ought to be Mia Amata, though. Italian is a gendered language, so what you've got there means specifically "my [male] beloved," which is of course a bit unfitting.
Alternate Cadance is apparently neither patient nor a good schemer, if she had just waited both she and Skyla would have probably outlived Twilight
7609397
I've always assumed Celestia and Cadence were related and a third sister ruled the Crystal Empire and was slain/imprisoned by Sombra.
The very same claim "Queen" Twilight had, "I'm too strong for you to stop".
9088810 Naw, Queen Twilight would either have them assassinated to ensure her own rule, or just turned herself into a lich.
So she was named after the mythical Roman who killed herself because of a conflict between two men who would marry her daughter. Kind of fitting?
I hope I didn't spoil myself by looking up the meaning of her name.