Vice-Principal Luna. You're shorter than I expected.
The moment Luna passed through the statue's portal, her vision turned into a swirling whirlpool of colours and her body felt like it was stuck in a hurricane without up or down. She felt her body change, hands, feet, even her face, but the assault on her senses made it impossible to tell how everything was changing.
Then, in the same instance it all started, it ended, and Luna found herself shot out of the other end of the portal. She barely had time to realize she was out of the portal at all, certainly no time to scream. Luna hurled through the air straight into a giant tower of something that immediately collapsed on top of her.
The sweet embrace of darkness was almost welcome after that, if it wasn't accompanied by being buried under something rather heavy. Or many somethings. As her senses slowly returned to her she could hear muffled voices on the other end of the somethings that smelled like... Books, I'm buried under a pile of books. She groaned, more in confusion at her situation than knowing what happened, and pushed against the books. In the back of her mind she somewhat groggily registered that her hands weren't doing what they were supposed to, but what little of her senses had returned demanded she get the pile of books she had somehow buried herself under off her first.
Luna vaguely registered the sound of voices on the other end of the bound paper barrier, but still couldn't really register what they were saying. What she was clear enough to register though, was the books beginning to glow purple and red, before flying off her. She winced as the sudden light blinded her, and vaguely heard a familiar voice talking about... height?
She groaned and slowly opened her eyes, trying to do so slow enough that the light wouldn't just blind them again. She still only saw blurs, a purple one the other an orange and red one. With a few more blinks, the blurs started to solidify into something recognizable. For a given meaning of recognizable.
Two ponies were staring down at her with the biggest, most adorable eyes she had ever seen. Those same remarkably expressive eyes seemed to be filled with concern. Was that for her?
"Vice-Principal Luna? Are you alright?" the one with the fire coloured hair -mane?- asked, with a voice Luna recognized and cleared the last of the haze in her mind.
"Sunset Shimmer?" She asked the pony.
"It's me. How many fing- okay, yeah, that's not going to work. How many hooves am I holding up?"
"One, since you're standing on the other three."
The corners of Sunset's mouth... -Snout? Muzzle?- curled upwards. "Okay, I think she's back with us. "
Luna made an effort to sit upright, only to feel her back refusing to respond like she expected it to and fell right back. Her eyes crossed as they caught something blue in front of her face, beyond where her nose usually was. She raised her hand to try and touch the strange new thing, only for her eyes to widen in surprise at the hoof in its place."
"...Sunset Shimmer?" she asked, her voice strangely calm given the turmoil her mind was in.
"Yes, Vice-Principal Luna?"
"Why am I a pony?"
"Same reason either of us turns into a human on the school's end. We're not entirely sure whether it's an effect of the mirror portal itself, or a more primal aspect of crossing planar boundaries, but long complicated magical theory cut short: on the other side, we're human, on this end, you're a pony," Sunset answered. Then, almost as a afterthought, she added "welcome to Equestria, by the way."
Short though it was, the simple explanation did a lot to calm Luna down. All I have to do is walk through the portal and I'm back to normal again, she reminded herself.
"Can you stand?" Sunset asked.
Luna tried to raise herself into a sitting position again, but just like last time her back just wouldn't respond as it would have when she was human and she slumped back again. She turned to Sunset in exasperation. "Maybe? With a bit of advice?"
The eyes of the purple pony widened in panic, but Sunset merely smiled.
"Yeah, don't try to sit just yet. Just roll over on your stomach for now."
Luna did so, working her way around her backpack -that had mysteriously migrated to her side somehow- and laid down on her stomach. To her surprise, the position was significantly more comfortable than it would have been as a human, as she could easily raise her head without her neck feeling like it was straining to keep it up.
"Okay, now push your legs up, front legs first, then your back legs." Sunset Shimmer said.
Luna did so, and found herself standing on four wobbly hooves. She had figured standing like a pony would be like being on hands and knees, but was nothing like that. Standing on four equal level legs felt... alien. She wobbled again as she tried to take a tentative step and slipped, tipping forward and barely managing to steady herself, her face an inch from the floor.
"Ooooh, I remember being on two legs for the first time. Try to take it easy, Vice-Principal Luna, you'll be shaky for the first few hours at least," the purple pony spoke for the first time, and Luna's eyes widened as she recognized the voice.
"Your Highness," she said. She tried to bow, but only managed to sweep her front hooves from underneath her and land in an ungraceful pile of pony.
Sunset and Twilight shared a glance. "So much for easy," Twilight muttered, as a light purple glow enveloped her horn. Luna felt her body being pulled in what could be described as a weirdly comfortable blanket hug before being lifted into the air. Her eyes widened, but before she so much as found her voice to yelp she was placed back onto her legs and the glow and strange sensation stopped.
Blinking at what just happened, Luna opened her mouth to ask but noticed Sunset Shimmer had started pacing around her.
"I have to say, you're shorter than I expected," Sunset said.
"...Pardon?" Luna replied, utterly confused.
"Sorry, it's just that I met this world's Princess Luna last night, sort off, and you look a lot different."
"Princess?"
"That must be because Vice-Principal Luna never ascended to become an alicorn," Twilight spoke up. "I remember seeing Princess Luna like this shortly after we used the Elements of Harmony to heal her. Well, plus a horn and wings." Twilight's eyes lit up. "Oooh! Does that mean Princess Luna used to be an earth pony before she ascended?"
Sunset stopped her pacing and stared at Luna's rear. "No cutie mark either."
"Wait, what, really?" Twilight rushed to Luna's other side and studied her flank. "Huh, you're right." She raised her head to look at Sunset over the Vice-Principal. "But humans don't get cutie marks, do they?"
Sunset shook her head. "No pony, no cutie mark. I guess that doesn't transfer no matter how similar our other selves are to us?"
Twilight rubbed her chin with a hoof. "I wonder if humans who become ponies can get their cutie marks on this side of the mirror."
"Only one way to find out," Sunset said with a grin.
"Please don't let the Crusaders hear that," Twilight sighed in response.
The two magic students, still on an experiment high, likely would have gone on for hours. It was at this point though that Luna's frustration caught up with her confusion.
"Excuse me!" Luna's voice thundered. While no Royal Canterlot Voice, the Vice-Principal had years of practice making herself heard over crowds of students. The effect was immediate as both ponies jumped back. With the immediate Pony Inquisition out of the way. Luna took a deep breath and continued in a much calmer voice, "I would greatly appreciate it if I could be included in this conversation about my body."
Princess Twilight looked half away and laughed awkwardly, a gesture that reminded Luna much of the girl she so briefly got to know during the Fall Formal. "Sorry Vice-Principal," Twilight spoke up.
"Yeah, sorry. Bit of a geek-out moment there," Sunset added with that awkwardly embarrassed grin Luna had become so familiar with since the girl turned around her life.
"Over me?" Luna asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, yeah. You're the first human to cross the mirror. We... kinda don't have a lot of reference," Sunset answered, still sporting that awkwardly embarrassed grin.
Princess Twilight on the other hand -hoof?-, seemed to have recovered and was almost bouncing on her hooves. "And it's so exiting! Already you've thrown half the theories I'd made about how our worlds mirror one another in the bin, while reinforcing several others. Ooh! This is so exciting! I have so many questions!"
"Easy, Twilight. " Sunset said as she put a hoof on Princess Twilight's shoulder. "Why don't we go have that tea first?"
Princess Twilight put a hoof to her chest and took a deep breath, before pushing her hoof out while slowly breathing out, a move that oddly reminded Luna of something a colleague working at Crystal Prep, Cadance, tended to use to deal with stressful situations.
"Right, tea, let's do that," a now much calmer Princess Twilight said. "Do you think you can walk? The tea is right over there," she continued, and pointed to a low table, surrounded with cushions and with an elegant tray with a kettle and three cups. "I figured it would be easier to keep things close together. Less stumbling that way," she added with a sheepish smile.
Luna hummed in acknowledgement as she stared down at her new legs where her arms used to be. Would this be like crawling all the time? Legs didn't move like arms though, since arms didn't have the elbow facing forward like the knee does. She cautiously lifted her right foreleg and set it back down a bit forward. She blinked as the strange, new sensation registered and raised the leg again, this time she brought it closer to her face and bend it around in various angles. Luna was baffled by how flexible the leg was, even able to turn it around to stare at the frog of her new hoof, something she was pretty sure no pony on her world would be able too.
It took a bit of practice, and no small amount of tripping and stumbling (it was definitely nothing like crawling) but eventually Luna made her way over to one of the large cushions and sat down. Studying the table she noticed an impressively classic tea set, and several plates with all kinds of treats. As she looked at the cups though, Luna tilted her head in confusion.
"Is something wrong, Vice-Principal Luna?" Sunset Shimmer asked.
Luna blinked, and looked back to Sunset. "No, I'm just wonder why this cup here has a holder," she said as she pointed to the cup resting on its place right on front of her, a little handle on its side that would have fit a finger just fine, but was impossibly small for the hooves she had now.
Sunset raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to answer, but blinked and between the cup and her hooves in confusion, and shut her mouth back with an audible clack. "That's... a good question. Twilight, why do our cups have handles?"
Twilight hummed and raised her head to look at the ceiling in thought. "If I recall, the first modern tea sets didn't appear in Equestria until we had established trade with the minotaurs. Drinking tea with your clients, especially when discussing big business ventures, was tradition among minotaurs back then, so it became commonplace for the wealthy to drink tea from minotaur tea sets. Then the popularity exploded as Princess Celestia was gifted a very expensive set a few hundred years back, after which they became desirable by the rest of the population the very next day. They've been a common sight in pony homes all across Equestria ever since.
Luna nodded in acknowledgement. This was remarkably similar to how tea sets had arrived from the east back in her own world. She stared down at the teacup, then at her hooves, then back at the cup. She reached for the cup with both hooves and gently clamped it between the two surprisingly flexibly hooves, carefully and with some wobbling, raising it up to her now far longer mouth and took a small sip. She glanced at her hosts, who had been looking at her with smiles on their faces.
Luna could feel her ears flopping down on her head. "Don't laugh", she muttered.
Sunset snorted, and Princess Twilight chuckled. "Don't worry, Vice-Principal Luna", the Princess said. "You're with the two ponies in Equestria who completely understand what you're going through."
At Luna's confused tilt of her head, Sunset added "remember the Fall Formal and the movie clip discrediting Twilight?"
Her eyes widened as she remembered the rather embarrassing video. "I'd thought Sunset Shimmer had caught you just having fun playing with your dog..."
"Nnnno that was all real", Princess Twilight said and chuckled awkwardly. "Hands aren't as easy as they look at first glance. Not to mention walking on two legs. I got the hang of them, though. Eventually. Sort of."
Luna turned to Sunset, who shook her head with a bitter smile. "I wasn't much better. I just have about a decade more practice than Twilight."
"So what was with the smiles?"
Princess Twilight and Sunset shared a look. "Well, when you look like a younger version of our thousand-plus year old Princess of the Night drinking tea for the first time, you can't help but smile," Sunset said.
Luna choked on a sip of tea, and sputtered between coughs. "A thousand year old what!?"
"Princess of the Night and Guardian of Dreams. The you in this world raises the moon every night." Princess Twilight tilted her head, levelling an accusing stare at Sunset Shimmer. "Didn't Sunset tell you this?"
"Hey, in my defence I only really met Princess Luna last night," Sunset Shimmer shrugged. Princess Twilight rolled her eyes in reply, but with a smile on her lips.
"Move the moon..." Luna murmured in a daze, swaying on her cushion. "My pony self moves the moon..."
"And watches over the dreams of her subjects," Twilight added.
"Of course she does. How much more fantasy will this get..." Luna murmured, trying to piece together this bombshell. Trying to make sense of it, she blinked as she found a piece that didn't fit. "Wait a minute, how can I be a thousand years old over here? I'm barely 36!"
Sunset scratched the back of her head with a hoof. "Yyyyeah, we haven't really figured out how that worked yet. Sometimes your world mirrors Equestria to a frightening degree, such as our... friends both here and there, at other times it's almost completely different. We've tried to make sense of it, but it just doesn't seem to make any."
"There has got to be a logic to it though," Princess Twilight said. "Maybe a parallel influence? But the timelines just don't match. Something with the phases of the moon perhaps? Oooh, if only the events on your world had been documented here for longer, we-"
"Easy Twilight," Sunset interrupted with a gentle nudge. "Guest first, unravelling the mysteries of alternate realities later."
The Princess's ears drooped and a blush coloured her fur. The small part of Luna's mind that wasn't crooning at how adorable it looked wondered how exactly blushing fur worked.
"Sorry," the Princess said, before clearing her throat to change the subject. "So! You mentioned in your message that you wanted to talk about Sunset's education?"
"Ah, yes, the teachers were generous enough to made copies of the lessons they've had planned for the week, as well as a schedule for their homework. We didn't know how long your hiatus would take, but these should keep you on the track at least until the holidays. They're in my bag, let me just..." Luna reached for one of the bags on her side with a hoof and pawed at the strap for a moment. "uhm..." she turned a helpless look at her hosts.
Sunset Shimmer smiled. "Here, let me get that for you" she said, and Luna gaped as the unicorn's horn lit up with a red glow. At the same time, her bag started glowing and the strap unbuckled by itself, the bag opening and all the paperwork started flying out, surrounded by the same red glow as they hovered in front of Sunset.
"... Convenient," Luna managed.
"I know~" Sunset crooned, flipping through the notes and books as they hovered in front of her. "I can't believe how I never realized how much I missed this."
Luna Shook off her surprise -and with considerably more effort her bouncing curiosity- at seeing real, actual magic on display in a not-deadly situation for a change. "Unfortunately, we weren't able to find any of your schoolbooks or notes in your locker."
Sunset's smile faltered. "Ah, no you wouldn't. I left those in my apartment."
"I see. Would you like for me to get them?"
Sunset Shimmer bit her lip and seriously seemed to consider the offer, but after a moment she shook her head. "No, I think I can get them myself."
"Are you sure, Sunset? You didn't seem to be very comfortable with the idea of returning this morning." Princess Twilight asked.
Sunset Shimmer gave the Princess a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "It's just a quick trip to get my school stuff. In and out, with a bit of luck nobody will notice."
It was obvious to Luna that Princess Twilight wasn't really comfortable letting Sunset Shimmer go, but she didn't stop her either.
"You're going now?"
"Might as well get it over with," Sunset answered with a shrug as she made her way over to the portal. The fiery coloured mare seemed to pause at the mirror, taking one deep breath and letting it out before jumping through.
Luna watched the ripples on the mirror recede until Princess Twilight spoke.
"I hope she doesn't land into more problems before we can start to fix the current ones."
"I think you've already started fixing them, your Highness," Luna returned. The Princess hummed an unsure agreement.
"This does give me the chance to broach a subject that would have been a bit more embarrassing if Sunset was still here, though," Luna said.
"What is it?"
"I- that is, my sister and I, may not have given Sunset Shimmer the kind of attention a girl like her needs."
Princess Twilight tilted her head. "Meaning?"
"Well, we are human, and she is a unicorn. Not to mention she is from Equestria, a world with its own culture, and we really have no idea how much this difference matters."
Princess Twilight tilted her head. "I thought we were pretty similar. Sure, there are so many things in your world is so much different, and so many things I want to ask questions about, like those smart phones or cars or how a world without magic can even function..." the young Princess let her eyes roam for a moment as she imagined how that might work. "But, when I first got to your world I also found how much we had in common. Our worlds may be different, but I don't think we are."
Luna couldn't help but smile at the conviction radiating from the purple pony in front of. She hoped the Princess would not lose that optimism as she grew up. "Thank you for your confidence, your Highness, but all the same I would hope to learn more about your people, if only to make sure Sunset gets all the help she needs."
Princess Twilight beamed a smile of pride and gratitude. "Let me see what I can do."
The Princess closed her eyes, but remained seated. Before Luna could ask what was going on, her horn lit up in a magenta glow, and books started floating off the shelves rounding the library and circled around their table. Princess Twilight opened her eyes and scanned the books.
"Hmm, Ancient Equestria goes into history but doesn't have enough on modern culture... The Three Tribes and Their Skills is more about practical use of abilities... Hearth's Warming Tale fits the season but isn't much for culture studies... Oh, here we go, 'A Guide to Equestria: Customs and Traditions.' A popular book for tourists, I hear it's been selling really well in the Crystal Empire after its return.
Luna nodded politely at the unfamiliar name as the book in question hovered towards her in a magenta field of energy. It kept hovering in front of her and Luna hesitantly reached out with her hooves, only to yank them back right before a ripple in the field could hit them.
Princess Twilight chuckled behind a hoof. "Don't worry, it's just a magic field. It won't harm you."
Luna blushed and felt her ears go flat against her head. She reached out with her hooves again, this time with less hesitation, and clamped the book between her two forehooves. The field surrounding it vanished and the weight of the book dropped in her hooves. She lowered the book to the table and carefully wedged the cover open with a hoof, and stared at the unfamiliar characters.
"Uhm, Princess? I... might have forgotten about a little problem that I really shouldn't have."
"Hmm?" The Princess glanced over at Luna's lightly sheepish face, and her eyes widened and ears twitched in realization. "Oh! That's right, and just after Sunset and I had the same problem. Don't worry though! You've actually come right on time." A pair of glasses floated over to Luna, and settled on her muzzle. "Sunset and I just finished enchanting these just before you came. Try it now."
Luna blinked to adjust to the glasses, noticing the lack of a prescription strength. She turned back to the book... and read.
She couldn't explain how, the writing was still alien to her, but somehow she understood what it said. There was no knowledge of the letters, the grammar or syntax pumped into her head, she just... understood what she was reading as if someone was translating the text in her brain. She lifted the glasses up and the understanding vanished. She still remembered what she had read before, but could no longer connect the words she remembered to the text she had read. The moment she lowered her glasses back to her muzzle, the understanding returned.
"Is it working?" the Princess asked, almost bouncing in her seat.
"I- I can read this. I don't know the language, but I can read it." She looked back up to Princess Twilight. "How?"
The Princess sat up straight and proud. "It's a variant on a translation spell we have. The glasses translate the understanding of the intent behind the writing, so you're not technically reading the text, you're reading what the author tried to convey through the text."
"...Would it work on any language?" Luna asked. Princess Twilight tilted her head.
"It should. Why do you ask?"
Luna worked her jaw for a moment wondering how to reply to that. The Princess had just given her professors of many a field's dream. Even if the glasses didn't translate text directly, just being able to understand what was written would make translating a language infinitely easier. "I... can't quite express what an academic gift these are. Do you think the Queen would approve of you just giving this to me?"
"Uhm... I guess? We just created these today, but the spells used for them aren't restricted so I don't see a problem?" Princess Twilight answered in confusion. "What Queen, though?"
Luna returned the confusion with a blink. "The Queen of Equestria? This Kingdom's ruling monarch?"
Princess Twilight brightened in understanding, and she chuckled. "Oh! Oh, don't worry. We don't have a Queen."
"Really? But Sunset always made it sound like Equestria was a Kingdom."
Princess Twilight nodded. "It is. Well, Principality might be a better description. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna never adopted higher titles when they ascended the dual throne. Neither did Cadance, even though she could technically call herself an Empress nowadays, what with her being the ruler of the Crystal Empire and all."
Luna felt an icy chill creeping up her spine. "Wait, so a Princess in Equestria holds the same amount of power a King or Queen would in another nation?"
The Princess tilted her head. "Well... yes? I mean, there's still the more symbolic use of the title. Prince Blueblood comes to mind. But generally, alicorn Princesses rule Equestria."
"Alicorns?" Luna asked, the chill creeping up a bit more.
"Ponies with both a horn and wings." Princess Twilight answered.
"Your Highness..." Luna carefully ventured "...you have both a horn and wings."
"Aaahh," the Princess said, turning and raising one of her wings to take a look at it. "Would you believe I'd had these only for a few days when I first visited you?"
"But you just said that ponies with both horns and wings rule Equestria."
"Well, the actual balance of power and influence is a teeny bit more complicated than that -Celestia has a lot more practical influence than any of us after having ruled Equestria for the last thousand years- but on paper all four of us share an equal amount of authority." Princess Twilight wrinkled her nose. "Which still sounds incredibly weird to say."
Luna took a deep breath to calm her mind. "I apologize for flying off the handle like that, your Highness. It's just that as a teacher it feels incredibly..." she paused a moment as she tried to choose her words carefully "...premature to put so much responsibility on the shoulders of someone your age."
Princess Twilight raised her head up high, her face turning into a look of confusion mixed with... indignation? Luna bit her tongue inside her mouth, praying she hadn't stepped on a diplomatic landline by questioning royalty.
"I know I am the youngest Princess right now, but Cadance was barely into her teens when she ascended."
"... Teens?" Luna parroted, as a few more puzzle pieces started sliding into place.
"Hmm-hmm, I was still deep in my studies at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns back then. I wouldn't have had the time for Princess duties, much less the knowledge of friendship!"
"So you've finished your schooling, then?" Luna asked as she put the book she was holding away. The pieces were starting to form a picture that she wasn't quite sure she believed.
Princess Twilight nodded. "Oh yes, top marks. I was considering a further field study into Starswirl's magical theorems, but then Predictions and Prophesies distracted me, I got sent to Ponyville and everything just sort of tumbled on from there until I got these," she spread her wings and pointed at them, "as well as this," she said as she waved her hoof around in a wide arc, and Luna realized she meant the palace.
Luna swallowed, momentarily hesitating on whether or not this was a polite question to ask of alien royalty, but if her hunch was right then she and her sister might have misunderstood Sunset's predicament even more than they'd thought.
"Princess Twilight..." Luna began hesitantly. "Forgive me for asking a potentially rude question, but... how old are you?"
"Huh?" Princess Twilight lowered her wings and hooves and looked at Luna in confusion. "I turned 24 this year. Why?"
"And Sunset Shimmer?"
Princess Twilight seemed to ponder that question for a moment. "I never really asked her about her age before, but given that she was Princess Celestia's student before me, and from what I gathered she disappeared before she'd finished her studies... I'm going to say in her early 30's."
The last pieces fell into place, and Luna let her head hit the table with a loud thunk as she groaned. "So she's almost as old as me? If not just as old?"
"I guess? Is... that a bad thing?" Princess Twilight asked, shifting around on her pillow as she started to realize something might have been misunderstood.
"Your Highness, Canterlot High is a high school, both junior and senior. Our students run between 12 to 17 years old, and Sunset Shimmer herself is listed as 15, around the same age as her friends and classmates."
When she saw Princess Twilight's eyes go wide and jaw drop, Luna realized that the Princess hadn't realized this , nor had Sunset shared it, so she decided not to push the Princess on it. This did help answer a few questions though, like how a supposed teenager had ran circles around the faculty for years, but at the same time it raised others as well.
"Do you have any idea how this happened?" she asked.
That seemed to snap the Princess out of her shock. It only took a moment of pondering, during which the Princess's eyes narrowed in thought and her ears lowered, before they perked back up again and Princess Twilight's eyes had taken on a scholarly seriousness. "Likely the portal's transformation spell. It applies a transformation that is intended to blend into the crowd, so with the entrance close to a school's worth of teenagers, a teenager would best blend into the closest crowd." The Princess groaned and rubbed her temples with her hooves. "I didn't spend a lot of time with the other teachers, and you and Princess Celestia are taller than the average pony over here as well, so I just assumed the length and build of the bodies was the norm for people on the other side of the mirror."
"Fooled by your own camouflage?" Luna jabbed lightly, and smiled when the Princess chuckled.
"I guess," she giggled, then groaned. "Ooooh, this is going to be so embarrassing next time I meet the girls on the other side. I've been treating them like they were of the same age as their counterparts over here."
"Is that also why you left Sunset Shimmer in their care?" Luna asked.
"Yes, it's not the first time we've had a reformed villain in our midst over here so I thought they'd be up to the challenge to take care of a..." she twirled her hoof in the air "...misguided mare."
"If I may, I think you might have jumped to a conclusion there."
The Princess laid her chin on the table and groaned again. "You're right. I was just so caught up in the uncanniness of your world," she said, and let out a deep sigh. "We need to get the girls around a table, all of them, and talk things over. Even if we don't catch Anon-a-Miss yet, we can't leave this fighting and arguing lying around to fester."
"Do you think Sunset is up for that?" Luna asked.
Princess Twilight sat upright again, and for some reason her posture was just a bit more regal, her eyes hardening just a tinge. Not with anger, but with strength and determination. "No, she isn't. Not after her reaction to this world's Rarity this morning. Nothing bad!" she quickly added as Luna's eyes had widened and ears had unwittingly perked in alarm. "She just had a bit of a panic moment and teleported back to the castle from the local spa. But it does show me that she needs a bit more time to calm down."
"Yes, my sister and I agree on that. I know we've asked this before, but please take care of her. At least for the holidays."
The Princess smiled. "Don't worry, I will. Though I will admit I'm also doing this out of selfishness as well. At least a bit." Princess Twilight looked down at her hooves for a moment before she continued. "I hadn't really seen Sunset since the Battle of the Bands. We talked over the journal, and sometimes I popped over for a quick visit now that the portal is stable, but it was always just short visits, and always there. I've asked her to come visit me a few times, but she's always refused. Now that she's here... I want to use this opportunity to let Sunset reconnect with her homeworld." She chuckled. "Just this morning Sunset realized she had her magic again. She was so fascinated by it, it was like she was a filly who learned her first spell. And it's selfish, no matter how many other reasons I have, but to a unicorn our magic is like your hands are to you, and it felt so strange to see her so excited about something that should be natural to her.
The Princess sighed. "Not to mention the reason she hasn't accepted my invitations is that she is still running away from the things that made her leave. I'm hoping that by letting her reconnect to Equestria, she can take another step to move on from the past. Maybe not now, but I'm hoping to at least give her a little nudge in the right direction."
Luna nodded in agreement. "That sounds like a good idea. I have noticed Sunset spends a lot of time writing to you in her journal, so perhaps spending some time in her homelands is just what she needs. It also gives Sunset an alternative, should the worst happen and we can't clear her name."
"Please don't say that," the Princess said, reaching out to lay a comforting hoof on Luna's own. "I know things are rough now, but true friendship is a strong thing that can't be destroyed by deception so easily. We'll make things right, I promise on my title as Princess of Friendship."
"you're really set on helping her through all this, aren't you?" Luna asked.
Princess Twilight Sparkle smiled in return. "I'm the Princess of Friendship, and Sunset is my friend. It's what I do."
Luna felt the warm hoof of the Princess on her own, the alicorn's eyes reflecting confidence and kindness. It was... uplifting. Looking into those eyes Luna could almost feel some of that confidence pouring into her, stoking the embers of her own confidence in Sunset Shimmer.
Perhaps there was something more special to this alicorn Princess thing than Luna first thought.
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I understood the reference in the chapter's title, bout time you updated.
Now Twilight realizes her stupidity for relaying on people almost half her age
Star Wars reference FTW in the title
Inexcusable!
*Cracks Whip*
Oh yeah, the Mirror universe dosn't make any sort of sense. Though when it comes to Sunsets age, I put her more around her 80s then 30s (not that even she is really aware of it). and the introduction of magic into the mirror universe broke it.
Though skipping past that, it's a good chapter and I like the interactions with Luna here. Looking forward to more.
Glad for update for tiny Luna. Princess Celestia, or Princess Luna... or both :3 Need to make an appearence xD Vice-Princepals reaction to 'Princess' Celestia ... -.- "Oh' great... an even bigger older sister." Not sure how long Luna will stay... But if its at least over night... Could have a Luna-ception xD Big Luna entering little luna's dream, little luna freaks out...
Hope to see more soon.
Yay, a new chapter. And the story is just as strong as ever.
I love chapters that have the "stranger in a strange land" POV
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I think a lot of it has to with the rate ponies mature, the length of the Equestrian year (it's likely months and years have even numbers of days and and a day's length is exact), and how long ponies live. Pony Granny Smith is over 100 but her human counterpart is likely in her late 60's/early 70's. Biology and cultural norms for Equinoids and Humanoids aren't going to be 1 to 1.
Luna will have some fascinating things to tell when she gets back. And Harshwhinny might literally murder her to get those glasses.
I always thought that time moved slower in the human world so while 10 years may have passed in Equestria only 3 passed in the human world.
This was a great Luna focus chapter & worth the wait.
Poorly...
Making a schedule for myself to manage my free time has always stung a bit too much like Work for me, and just sucks the fun out of things I would otherwise enjoy. Instead I write a little here, a little there, whenever the mood strikes me, and eventually I get a few chapters down. It's not very productive, true, and the Fandom will probably have faded and moved on before I finish any of the stories I'm working on and publish them, but then I'm not being paid to write them either, so I'm in no real rush.
Your writing process is probably different than mine, so I don't know how much use any of this will be, but you asked...
-The Portal, Ages and Time-
I've always chalked the difference between Twilight and Sunset's Ages across the Mirror Portal to Time Shenanigans during the periods when the mirror is "Closed". In My headcanon, the passage of time, subjectively, normally travels faster in EQG-verse, but there are "waves" in its passage where it slows down and syncs up with the subjective rate of time in Equestria, and during these brief periods is when the Portal naturally opens. The device Twilight built that Forces the portal open in Rainbow Rocks serves the dual purpose of opening the portal as well as anchors the time dilation between the two worlds and more or less permanently syncs them up. So long as the anchors remain active, even if the portal itself is manually "Closed", time between the two universes remains in sync. Without these anchors, the portal would also be "Naturally" open more often on EQG-verse's side than it is in Equestria. If the portal is naturally open roughly every ~2.5 Years in Equestria, it would be open roughly every ~10 Months in EQG-Verse...
This means that in my headcanon Sunset was a year or two "Younger" than Twilight in the Season 1 Pilot when she first went through the portal, and has only spent 4~5 years in EQG-Verse compared to the ~15 or so that passed in Equestria, so depending on how you finagle Twilight's age, she could actually be Older than Sunset in terms of years-lived, even if Sunset is older than on her on the technicality of having been born several years before her..
Personally, I think there was some temporal dilation between the two worlds, i.e. one second in one doesn't always equal one second in the other (prior to Twilight's stabilization of the portal anyway). Means Sunset would be younger than her birth year suggests, probably lining up to around Twilight's age. As for the disconnect between being considered an adult in Equestria but a teen in EQGverse... well, WE used to consider 13 the start of adulthood. Didn't change that until the Industrial Revolution necessitated child labor laws for physical health reasons, and something tells me that Equestria might not have had an equivalent event.
How Sunset knew about the Element of Magic though... yeah, I've got nothing satisfactory for that snafu.
At the time of EqG 1, I’m pretty sure the ages worked out fine. Faust commented at one point that the Mane 6 were meant to be 12-17 (also ponies were supposed to age like real life ponies but that’s been scrapped) and it wasn’t until well later (seasons after she left) that a writer said early to mid twenties. Plus, it’s been confirmed time travels at different rates between worlds and can be assumed to have worked that way since EqG 1. Doesn’t help that FiM time makes no sense whatsoever...
With a time difference between and Twilight originally meant to be a teenager, both characters being high school age works out perfectly. Add to that that we have no clue for how long Sunset was Celestia’s student (she could’ve left after a year or after 30) or if Equestria’s years are even the same length. It’s fully possible a child Sunset went through the mirror. All the information we have is open to interpretation and has different answers from different writers, not to mention that Confalone said EqG doesn’t make much sense and Big Jim answered cartoon logic as to how the mane 6 have time to teach...
Side note, I’ve heard a rumor that in the files or something all the EqG characters are 18 as to avoid any issues with minors doing things they aren’t supposed or something of the sort. Would be funny if that’s true.
Edit: Confalone or Rudell tweeted about the time difference when Forgotten Friendship aired (and demonstrated it in said special). Also, that was a fun chapter.
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She didn't know they were that young. It's not stupidity for relying on people half her age when she thought she was relying on competent, independent adults who were forward-thinking enough to continue their education in order to better themselves. Instead of youngsters still required by law to be educated.
That's just forgivable ignorance.
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Honestly, headcanon states that Granny Smith might have some sort of extreme pony longevity due to eating the original Everfree-growing Zap Apples or something. Twilight said Ponyville's been around for hundreds of years. Linguistics says it's common to say "a hundred years" and "a couple hundred years", but 'hundreds of years' and beyond tends to be 300+. Granny helped found Ponyville, so by what logic one uses in this thought process she's easily 300+ herself.
Interesting to see where this'll go from here!
How do other authors manage our writing schedules? We don't. All my mlp fics are on pause for my fma fics, and my serious fics are on pause for a fic that was supposed to be the 'let's work on this so I can push through writers block' fic.
Also, My personal headcanon on the Age Issue between worlds is just a combination of species/culture differences. Ponies can walk, start talking, and access their Magic within a month of being born, putting them more equal to a Human toddler. After that they age at the same rate, so a 15 year old Pony would be equal to an 18 year old Human. The original Mane 6 are the equivalent to 19-21 year old Humans(just moving out, starting their careers, etc.), but are only 16-19 years old. Their Human Counterparts are also 16-19, but they're still high schoolers. Sunset also fits into the age range, having been 13 when she left. I also have headcanons on how Sunset learned about Twilight, the Crystal Empire, etc., but that's a little complicated and also not really supported in Canon and this comment is long enough already.
Nice chapter.
Yeah, I really never understood the whole of the two different worlds things and the age difference thing. And then when you add in Rainbow Rocks, where you bring the Sirens who were banished to that world a thousand years ago by Starswirl and still look like teenagers. The whole thing is an absolutely confusing mess.
The only positive thing is that an author on here came up with an idea about the Sirens being in the right place and right time to see the Laser Rainbow Wave that set off the events of Rainbow Rocks. Basically, they postulated that when Starswirl banished the Sirens, they were not spat out in that other world a thousand years ago. There was a time dilation and they had actually only been there for a couple of months (which would explain how they could have been in the right place for that exact moment to occur and set everything off).
If the Sirens had been spat out into that world a thousand years ago, even with their weakened powers, they could have caused some of the major wars and things that that world had just by trying to feed. And I honestly just can’t see that happening.
Of course, the way that Twilight acted after crossing the portal didn’t make a lot of sense either. Course, I just chalk that up to having to deal with the sudden influx of teenage hormones that led to a lot of her more dumber decisions. And, as I’m sure some of us remember our teenage years and remember how much we were hormonal idiots.
As for Sunset, she’s been in the other world a lot longer and has managed to get a better control over herself, though she has made a few dumb decisions (dark magic overload notwithstanding). I can’t understand her (if she is in her 30s) wanting to date a teenage boy (not being evil and using said boy for popularity). Unless she’s got some kind of older woman/younger man thing going on.
Anyway....just ignore my stupid rambling.
An interesting chapter. Really hope that we get to see the Princesses (Celestia and Luna) get to me VP Luna. I really do think it would be an amusing experience to see.
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I've been throwing movie references in my chapter titles since the second one, finally someone noticed!
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That also doesn't make much sense though. A drastic time delay would have meant that every time when Twilight crossed the mirror, whether it be to chase Sunset or to help with the Sirens, days would have passed on the other side. Even if we assume the portal opening anchors thing, that still raises questions for the journal, as replies to it wouldn't be instant, they'd take hours. Forgotten Friendship actually contradicts itself on that account.
EQG is confusing.
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Me too. It's the biggest reason I started this story in a nutshell.
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I'm pretty confident Equestria has child labour laws by virtue of being Equestria. That said, the lack of an industrial revolution is something I considered as well and will be addressed in a later chapter.
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I'm also under the assumption that the portal when open forces the flow of time between the two worlds to line up as travel between the two might not be possible if time moved at different rates while the portal is open, by the time that Sunset starts using the journal the portal is constantly open so time between the two worlds would be lined up. I find it likely that Sunset is actually younger then Twilight due to a difference in subjective time.
woot something to read
Mirror universes sound cool in fiction, but they really never make any sense.
Also it's too bad there's not a camera on VP Luna so they can take a picture of her to send back to Principle Celestia, because then Luna would never, ever hear the end of it on how cute and adorable she is as a pony.
Oh happy day!!!
I've been waiting months for this story to move again. Thank you keroko.
In any case the chapter was well detailed for VP Luna's experience. I'm a little surprised that Sunset went back on her own instead of waiting for Luna. All in all a good chapter, hang in there.
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I only noticed this one.
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For some reason I don't remember that.
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The portal being open may affect the time difference between the worlds, and it’s possible the difference fluctuates. Plus, seasons 4-Movie would’ve have to happened in 1 school year (last day of school was after Mirror Magic and that takes place during the Movie, or at least that was the original intent). Then again, the Cake twins still act like babies in season 7, so they’ve got to be under 2...
Why would the journal responses take hours? A 4 to 1 time difference wouldn’t effect that much at all. If anything, the speed of Twilight’s responses when Sunset writes supports a time difference as she responds super fast. It’s not like Sunset takes minutes to write, and on Twilight’s side she could go even slower (4 minutes for her would be 1 for Sunset in a 4 to 1 situation). Plus it means 2 years of Sunset in the human world would be 8 in Equestria. A variable time difference that’s also effected by the portal being open or closed makes things even more convenient. The only hole different flows of time opens up is why wasn’t it mentioned in the first movie, but it can be explained away easily enough (Celestia told the others after Twilight went through the portal as to not worry Twilight about being gone for longer than 2 and a half days or time syncs up when the portal is open). The only other times someone went through the portal besides Forgotten Friendship (where it was shown) aren’t affected by different flows of time (Twilight staying 2 days in RR and both hops in Mirror Magic just mean the character was gone for a week in a more dramatic different time flow).
Time difference is canon (as stated by either Confalone or Rudell on Twitter). How much, whether fixed or variable, and whether the portal being open or closed affects it, we don’t know, but it’s there.
I’d also argue that making Sunset older than a teenager (and Twilight as well in the early seasons) detracts from the character. It handwaves all of her skills and booksmarts (which are less than SciTwi) as her having them because she’s older while making all her mistakes and growth seem very immature (not saying it doesn’t happen to adults but her entire character acts like a cartoon teenager). It adds nothing to the canon character and needs to be explored to be meaningful in a fanfic version (not a problem here as it does seem to actually matter in this story).
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Well MLP seasons 1, 2 and 3 all take place in 1 year (with the opening to season 4 being the first Summer Sun Celebration since Luna's return), 4 and 5 are another year going by the Hearth's Warming episode, and by that time Starlight has joined the crew so we're safe from any Mirror Magic paradoxes.
And while I admit that hours is an exageration, the communication between Sunset and Twilight is still instant. The portal streamlining the time dilation doesn't really work as an excuse here, since this means that the portal is always open, eliminating the time dilation as a factor. Not to mention that the first movie made a pretty big deal about the whole 30 moons bit, which would be a far lesser inconvenience if there was a significant time delay between worlds. Not to mention that, even in Forgotten Friendship, Sunset travels to Equestria to do a research and returns with no noticeable time delay in between. If a dilation exists, it's so minimal it's impossible to notice on a minute, or even hourly basis.
As for age... well, according to the IDW comics all the mane 6 are over 20. And we can't really say ponies grow up faster than humans since we've followed both the Cake babies and the CMC for... I think a total of 4 years by season 8's end? So if anything ponies grow up slower than humans. It's more that all ponies act like cartoon teenagers mixed with adults. Ponies just seem to keep this sense of childhood wonder that many of us put away because we 'have to grow up' in our societies. Sunset has an extra excuse on top of that, being an incredibly socially awkward pony slowly reintegrating into normal society. We only need to look at Luna or Starlight to see just how awkward that can be.
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Time dilation actually helps explain the instant communication as we always see the writing from Sunset’s perspective. Time would be moving faster in Equestria than in the human world, which means a minute for Sunset would be 4 for Twilight. All the extra waiting would be on Twilight’s end, which we never see. And in Forgotten Friendship, Sunset goes from the beach to the portal to Canterlot Castle and does research and makes it back to the beach in the same day. As for the aging thing, I said that it was the original intent and scrapped, alongside the original intent of the mane 6 being teenagers. They’ve recently changed it, but at the time of EqG 1, that could’ve still been the intent.
Also, while moons is a nonsense unit (has no real life equivalent according to the EqG 1 director so it’s not a lunar cycle), Twilight being trapped for 30 Equestrian moons means no Element of Magic for 30 moons. Being trapped for 30 human world moons would be even worse, as it could be something like 120 Equestrian moons. Either way, she’s trapped in another world away from her friends and family with a very important magical artifact and no way home for a significant amount of time.
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Hmm, I kinda doubt that the change in age is a recent thing, given that as far back as season 1 Rarity already owned Carousel Boutique and has an established name popular enough to attract famous music stars. That's not really a teenager kind of thing. A teenager would be doing what EQG Rarity does: work in an established store while trying to spread her name.
And there's still some hiccups with the time dilation. One of the big ones being Sunset knowing about Twilight in EQG1. Now this is a big plothole to begin with, but if the delay exists then Twilight wouldn't even have been a big deal the last time Sunset visited, much less became a Princess. Not to mention the portal itself, which if not artificially opened remains open the exact same amount of time on both ends, which rather suggests a parallel flow of time. And if we say that the open portal stabilizes the time flow, then we're still in a conundrum since Friendship Games showed us that the portal is pretty much always open since Rainbow Rocks, so even if time dilation was a thing it'd still have no influence on any of the events post-Rainbow Rocks, which kinda renders a lot of the handwaving it does irrelevant.
We also know from "My Past is Not Today" that Sunset has been in the EQG world for at least four years of that world's time by the time of the song (three victories in the Fall Formal, with her attempt during EQG 1 being her fourth). If she she is a bonafide teenager and time dilation applies, then she would have first entered that world when she was somewhere around 11 or 12. That's... really young for someone to build a life on her own in a completely alien world.
"Dear Princess Luna,
Your counterpart is coming to visit. You should show up.
You friend,
Twilight Sparkle"
:P
I believe her magic's blue... Yep, checked the movie.
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Yeah, the Sunset knowing about Twilight thing was weird. I wonder what the internal explanation was for it, if they even had one. Maybe she slipped on an exposition newspaper after going through the mirror?
Honestly, the whole thing (both FiM and EqG) is a mess filled with retcons and different visions when it comes to timeline and mechanics. There’s also so much we don’t know about ponies (what do they do after elementary and how long do they stay as lanky teenagers, what age is adulthood, and so on). My only points in this whole thing is that it’s fully possible for Sunset to be the same age as her friends and that time dilation has been confirmed. Plus, there’s also the massive elephant in the room of a thirty year old manipulating a high schooler into a romantic relationship for the sake of popularity...
Anyways, it was definitely a fun chapter and the age difference is actually being used in a way that matters here. This was more a response to the author’s note.
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Yeah, it was blue in EQG 1, but they changed it to red starting from Rainbow Rocks. A colour palette thing, I think. Lets Sunset's colour stand out more among the group and matches her physical colour scheme better.
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Don't worry, I enjoyed our little debate.
And yeah, EQG 1 was very poorly thought out. Sunset Shimmer is arguably one of the worst villains in MLP and almost none of her actions in the movie make sense. If it weren't for Rainbow Rocks absolutely nailing her redemption and turning her into one of the most sympathetic characters in the show, I think most would have forgotten about her.
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May you never thirst.
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i.redd.it/diejyfdyo2401.jpg
The Mane 6 (or some of them anyway) could well be teenagers. Yes, they're young adults. But historically, teenagers were young adults.
High schools typically only deal with 14 to 18-year-olds, the latest is 21-year-olds by law. Are you trying to say that they merged with the Middle School to explain the CMC?
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The Princesses were born Alicorns. That's Canon. I mentioned that last chapter. The show writers not only helped "with an official mlp:fim book", but it's referenced and used in the show itself.
And even with that. Luna having a Special Talent in crafting the night sky as well as dream walking wouldn't be possible without a horn.
So this makes no sense on multiple levels.
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I'll read the rest later. Casting her as an Earth Pony (when her and Tia are sisters. And her Canon cutie mark story of her raising the sun on her own. Had Flutters dressed up as an alicorn) just is a bit much for me atm.
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Yeah, I'm going with the idea that CHS is a junior high/senior high combination school. That stretches the age range a bit more to include 11 or 12 year olds.
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The canonicity of the Princesses being born alicorns comes from one of the books written on the side, which have a tendency to be used or ignore on the show writer's whims. I'm basing my idea on the Crystalling, where Celestia and Luna say that "the birth of an alicorn is something Equestria has never seen" and it is "beyond even their understanding." Which rather heavily implies Flurry Heart is the first of the alicorns we see that was actually born one, while Luna and Celestia ascended like Cadance.
Ascension is also more poetic for the two sisters, as it would explain why they became the Princesses of the day and night, something intrinsically tied to their magics, when the sun and moon were moved by unicorns before they took over that task from them.
Also I like the idea that Celestia and Luna were earth ponies. Make the alicorn ascension set complete, gives earth ponies something cool, and gives the sisters the humblest origin possible.
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Faust and Megan helped with it, and it was officially stated as Canon by them. And "In Equestria" which they predate. And they must have had sex at some point, but alicorns are apparently recessive rather than dominant genes (something Equestria apparently doesn't know about.)
And how would they ascend in your AU?
Celestial Magic had existed way longer than them.
Celestia got her Cutie Mark as an alicorn (Canon in the show) by raising the sun on her own. And if Luna got hers the same way. Their is no possible way for them to have been Earth Ponies.
Now an AU where they were Unicorns? Goes against Canon, but way more believable than an EP. But being an AU (and adding an additional time change) makes the whole "it sounds more romantic" usable. I'd still ask "how did they ascend in your AU?" But it'd be less immersion breaking.
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There been a theory that you can get a "glimpse" of Equestria without actually activate the portal.
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Source? I don't remember anything about "crating the night sky" in canon.
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I'm one hundred percent sure that this writers f**ed-up and don't even bother to read lore before they start to write episode scenario. IIRC after "Crystalling" one of the show big-wigs tried to save the situation and present some elaborate explanation like "Celestia and Luna born before Equestria". "they don't know anything about their own birth" and so on.
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I'd figure that the ascension and getting their cutie marks happened at the same time. Earth ponies is entirely my headcanon, but Celestia and Luna ascending is more in line with the show's Crystaling episode.
Besides, if we're talking plotholes, them being born alicorns raises just as many questions. Who were their parents? Why weren't they there to unite the tribes? Why did they abandon their children? Did they die? To what? How did that kill all alicorns if alicorns were a 'fourth tribe?' And why did the other ponies survive a cataclysm strong enough to kill all alicorns? If alicorns are a naturally born 'fourth tribe', how come Cadance and Twilight ascended to become one? Is it something any pony can do? Why aren't there more alicorns then?
Questions either way. Personally I prefer alicorns being the product of the world itself ascending ponies to provide something it's lacking. Unicorns were losing magic left and right to raise the sun and moon, and so Celestia and Luna ascended to keep the world in balance. Love was being threatened, and so Cadance ascended to be the shield against all those who would steal love from the world. Friendship was needed to unite the beings of the world against greater threats, and so Twilight ascended as Princess of Friendship.
Alicorns embody their aspect to a deeper degree than most ponies. Luna is the best example of this: She is not just the 'Princess of the Moon', she is the Princess of the Night, with everything that the night entails. Just raising the moon shouldn't give her access to dream delving, but she does because she embodies not just the moon, but all aspects of the night, including dreams.
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According to Tia she was a filly when she first raised the moon. So that's why they didn't unite them earlier. Not to mention the fact that unification was something culturally had no reason to happen till the windigoes. It was the real sign that their culture's way of doing things was broken.
And Earth Ponies at that time had no way of knowing or caring about magic and it's affects on the sun and moon. Tia and Luna were taught personally from Star Swirl. And unicorns back then had no reason to teach a lesser tribe.
As for "how were they born and who were there parents!" Two possible answers.
1) They were born ascended since the EoH (which we see are sapient and are able to exist outside of normal time) set them up that way. Or some other omnipotent force used them (like the Aetheric Plane we see when Twilight ascended).
Or
2) Their parents and other alicorns either fell to Discord or some other malevolent force (and we see that there quite a few beings that alicorns can't beat without the EoH). And were killed / removed (after all throwing shit through random portals was the main solution to all big problems in Starswirl's day). And your average pony isn't about to face off against (Discord / Tirek / the Smooze / Grogar / etc.) so they wouldn't March towards their dooms.
Or they simply went to some higher plane of existence ascending to a Greater Scope Paragon. After all according to Word of God Twilight and Cadance won't outlive their friends / loved ones. Yet Tia and Luna are biologically immortal. So alicorns being only the first stage of Ascension is plausible. After all the system that ascends ponies is intelligent and has it's own agenda (as seen in the tree of harmony being created showing Tia, Luna, and Twilight as it's bearers. And all three alicorns).
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Of course there is another case for Luna being an Alicorn ... Even if this point still enrages me after what they did to Sunset.
SciTwi. Did not do a d**n thing to be ascended. Made no new magic, didn't remake a destiny spell, didn't do anything princess worthy. But Twilight Sparkle in one Universe became an Alicorn and so did she. So in turn even if Canon is ignored and they weren't born Alicorns, it's Canon that one person when a pony becomes an Alicorn if their pony alt is an Alicorn.
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As for Earth Ponies ... Why? They state that the Blue Blood's are distantly related on the mother's side (Canon), were students of Starswirl's (Canon), and there is no way they would be Earth Ponies I'd those were so.
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Well, we know the Elements of Harmony have nothing to do with Celestia and Luna either way. They were created by Starswirl and his companions shortly before they set off to stop Stygian and they don't seem to have any temporal power on their own, as that was all Starlight using one of Starswirl's spells.
I still don't really like how the Elements got reduced to another "Starswirl did it", but eh.
As for SciTwi... personally my theory on the EQG ponying up is that they don't really channel their own power, but rather channel the magic of their Equestrian counterparts. So SciTwo isn't an alicorn, she just channels Twilight's alicorn power. Going into spoilery territory for EQG, the teaser for the upcoming EQG special does seem to hint at that, as even in the blurry video we can see that SciTwi doesn't have wings when she transforms into a pony.
And the sisters having been earth ponies is 100% my own headcanon. Earth ponies are kind of the forgotten child among ponies. Despite having the most background ponies, there aren't really many earth pony characters doing anything of note. AJ has a loooong reputation for being 'the background pony' and Pinkie's exploits are more focused on her unque Pinkie sense. Beyond that, all the special things we see earth ponies do is... farm. And that's it. Pegasi get the Wonderbolts and Cadance as their alicorn, unicorns get all the cool stuff, all the magic, all the alicorns, all the villains and so forth.
Earth ponies get, uhm, Dr. Caballeron?
So yeah, I like to headcanon Luna and Celestia as earth ponies because earth ponies are probably the most humblest of origins. And earth ponies deserve more cool things.
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Starlight used Starswirl's spell, but it needed the Cutie Mark Map born from the EoH to do. And we see that the Tree of Harmony is sapient. As is the fact that before Celestia, Luna, and Twilight even knew of tree, it put their cutie marks on it. Even the powers of friendship that the tree uses for it's power source have nothing at all in common (to very little) with the Pillars. It's Laughter (not hope), it's Honesty (not strength), it's Loyalty (not bravery), it's Generosity (not beauty), etc.
So it's not out of question that Harmony simply used the Pillars tree as a conduit. Even the outcome of what tree was, was beyond what the Pillars thought would happen.
And I added the addendum. Some other sapient force (after all the Aetheric Plane seems to know everything that a pony has done or gone through before their ascension. And is tied to the EoH, albeit to an undefined quantity).
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And Earth Ponies had Mage Medowbrook (the greatest medicine woman / healer in all of time. Who was able to create healing potions that not even modern ponies could replicate), Rockhoof (the most powerful Earth Pony in existence, a pony of legends, and even more powerful than all of the Pie Family combined), and they have not just Pinks, but Cheese Sandwhich. As well as the Pie's ability to do the 1000 hoof strike that can turn ponysized boulders to dust in seconds. As well as Maud's ability to toss stones with nuke blast force (basically she was the "real life" example of the Savage Skie's series Celestial Knights).
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Still while they might need some other "cool ponies". How could "in your headcanon" they be related to the Bluebloods (Pony nobility with a strong sense of "propriety"), and taught by Starswirl. When in that day and age Earth Ponies were as you stated, mostly regulated to farming and treated as background ponies? In a day and age when that race was constantly shat on, and would neither be taught by the most prestigious of unicorns, or cared one iota of magic. Since back in the day, no ponies but unicorns cared about magic.
So while they "might need some love", how? If you were to look at your head canon, and look beyond "Earth Ponies need love", how would a race that cares nothing about magic have lead to them being taught by Starswirl? And how would they be related to the Blueblood's when the Bloodblood's wouldn't marry outside their race because they're a bunch of "old fashioned" wankers?
I didn't know I wanted Ming Dynasty minotaurs until now. I now want Ming Dynasty minotaurs.
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In my headcanon I find it rather silly to think that Celestia is a thousand year old virgin, so she's had her share of lovers and descendants over the years, and Blueblood is a distant relative of one such relationship.
Earth ponies have magic. It's actually an annoyance of mine that this is so often overlooked in the show, and one of the reasons I think earth ponies deserve more love. Not that they need unicorn magic to encounter a special scenario in which they ascend. Cadance was a pegasus, yet she still found herself in a situation that let her ascend. Then, after they became alicorns, they needed an instructor in their newly found access to unicorn magic. Enter Starswirl.
And we need more Meadowbrook! Sure, she kinda pinches on Zecora's turf with the whole potion thing, but we need more cool earth ponies doing cool things!
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Like this?
i.imgur.com/VcwXzsb.jpg
(I swear you can find art for anything if you look hard enough).
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She specifically states they are related on her mother's side. By 52 generations.
And yes, Earth Ponies have magic, all ponies do. But their magic is more subtle than unicorns. Which are more flashy, noticable, and act on a grander scale in shorter amounts of time than Earth Ponies. While I do agree with Tia and Luna not being virgins (which is why I state that Alicornism is recessive, and ponies have no idea how genetics works), it goes to show just how recessive it is that with all of their potential lovers they haven't birthed a single alicorn.
And we see that those not born alicorns are ascended tied in some way with their Special Talent. An Earth Pony wouldn't have raising the sun as their cutie mark (seeing as how Tia got her Cutie Mark as an alicorn filly), nor would they have a Cutie Mark over shaping the night or dream walking. Then we have the point that your original statement of "they saw how magic was effecting the Sun Raisers and ascended", makes no sense. Since as I stated. The Earth Ponies at that point in time wouldn't care one bit. That type of magic is something they would have no idea about, and it was a system that was working uptill the Windigoes so nopony outside Unicorns would know or care. To them "The Unicorns raise the Sun and Moon" was all that they knew or needed to know.
So ... Earth Ponies just don't make sense. Like at all.
I mean sure they do need some love (since even you seemed to overlook some awesome Earth Ponies when you were bringing up whom the Earth Ponies have on their side.). But "Tia and Luna were Earth Ponies because Earth Ponies need love" ... doesn't really make a lot of sense on a technical point.
And yes. We need some more Meadowbrook ... although I will also add that Flutter's is pretty much an honorary Earth Pony. So she should definitely get added to that list. And Octavia Harmony is one amazing musician, both in fanon and canon. Which adds even more awesome Earth Ponies to the list.