Living Elements of Harmony: Neo Elements

by Intellect Stretcher

The New Prodigy (Prologue)

Princess Celestia is taking a stroll through the Canterlot gardens thinking about the new student she is going to have today. Just yesterday Celestia had registered Twilight Sparkle to become her personal protege.

Of course she had met young unicorns with a special talent with magic before, but only rarely and not at all like Twilight Sparkle.

She stops at a bench in the middle of the garden aside a fountain. She thinks back to yesterday.

“What was that energy? That was no power of an ordinary unicorn.” She thinks quietly out loud to herself. A small purple bird has stopped to perch next to her on the bench. Celestia welcomes its presence.

As she looks at the peaceful bird she thinks, “I wonder if there’s more to Twilight Sparkle than just her magical abilities.” Celestia let out her hoof and the bird perched up on it, the princess goes back to her thoughts “Twilight’s power that she released when she went out of control….. Maybe-” her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a voice and the bird flew away as it too was surprised.

“Princess Celestia, I ‘m sorry to have interrupt you but your new student is here,” a royal guard spoke as he bowed. Celestia seemed as though she wasn’t paying attention to him; she was looking at the bird as it flew away.

“Alright, then take me to her.” She didn’t turn her head to face him; she only moved her eyes to look at him.

They both strolled out of the gardens, the guard leading the way. Celestia was thinking to herself as they walked. “I guess we’ll have to see,” she thought.

----------

“You should really honor this moment of your life,” General Cyclone said. He was escorting Twilight to where she will begin her training along with two other guards. “Rarely has anyone gained the privilege of being the princess’s student.”

Twilight, who was walking closely behind, said, “I know how much of a privilege this is. I‘m not gonna lie, I ‘am pretty nervous.” However she was also very excited.

“Ya, I remember when I first got the job as one of the princess’s generals,” General Cyclone looked back at the little filly when he continued to speak, “it feels exciting but also nervous, but believe me... you’re going to feel something else when you’re in her presence.”

Twilight wasn’t entirely sure what he meant, but she kept herself from giving a confused look. As they continue walking, she couldn’t help but imagine what it is she’ll be learning and doing here. After all this the Canterlot castle with Princess Celestia; not even the special prep school can match for what will be taught here.

What was even more unbelievable is that they sent The General Cyclone to pick her up. She instantly recognized him when he knocked on the door of her home, his bright blue coat and solid blue spiky mane with red eyes. Not only that but also his white cutie mark of a cyclone with a black center. She wondered if she’ll meet anyone else. She was just glad that she made it her duty to read up on everything about the ruler of Equestria; that included her generals. If she hadn't then she would most likely have offended somepony by not recognizing their status.

A bit of walking later they reached the ‘training room’. The doors to it were made of pure silver and are several times bigger than even the general. In fact General Cyclone had to stand on his hind legs and push open the doors with his front hooves to open it. When the doors opened it revealed a white and very large empty stadium; a pink and red figure was visible in the distance.

Twilight had to narrow her eyes to just barely get a clear vision. “Is that… The Princess?” Twilight gasped as she just got a little more nervous. The princess stood at the far side of the room talking to an all red mare, and boy were they far away. Cyclone nodded in response to Twilight’s question, and with a smile he flew up ahead toward the princess. Twilight watched as the three talked.

“Why am I so nervous?” Twilight thought, “I’ve been in her presence before; even spoken to her.” Before she could come up with a way to calm herself, she saw that the three suddenly turned to look at her. Cyclone came back flying with the same smile.

“Good luck, kid,” he said as he was leaving the room and taking the two guards with him. Twilight was looking back at the door as it was closing; she didn’t want it to close. When she finally turned back to be ready to walk to the princess she was instantly surprised by a towering figure.

“Eeeep!” Twilight squealed in fright and fell back. The figure turned out to be the red mare that Cyclone was talking to not a moment ago. How could she have gotten this close this fast? She didn’t even here any hoof steps.

“Oh, sorry if I scared you there,” the mare giggled. Her voice sounded young and tomboyish. “Don’t feel bad, that gets even Cyclone at times.” She continued her giggles with a nice smile.

Twilight started to slowly get back up, but was stalled with her sudden gasp of disbelief. She knew who this pony was but just couldn’t believe it. The bright cherry coat, red and pink mane, the blue eyes that oppose the rest of her and the dark red cutie mark of a red star were all unmistakable.

“I know you; you’re the famous Maroon Mars, also known as Red Star!” The little lavender filly squealed like a crazed fan girl.

“Oh, so you’ve heard of me?” Red Star leaned the front half of her body to be at eye level with the filly.

“Heard of you? You’re my idol!” Twilight started to jump up and down. “Who else can achieve being the Arch Mage and one of Celestia’s generals and being The Best Magic User EVER?!”

“Well I’m not much for boasting.” The mare’s smile grew. “But it’s nice to know that Twilight Sparkle admires me.”

“Y-you know who I’ am!?” The ecstatic filly gasped an unbelievable amount of air.

“Well everyone knows who you are.” The mare got back to standing at her normal stance. “Very rarely does anyone get to become Celestia’s student, and never have they been as young as you.”

“Well I can see you two are getting along nicely.” The excitement sparked between the two suddenly stopped.

Both Twilight and Mars turned to face the new voice and were suddenly reminded that they weren’t alone. Twilight felt nervous again; she completely forgot about where she actually was.

“Yep, I like her already.” Mars spoke with the same tone as she did with Twilight and didn’t even bow, as if Celestia’s status as ‘princess’ doesn’t mean anything to her. Twilight found it disrespectful; however Celestia didn’t seem to mind the red mare.

“Twilight Sparkle.” The echoes of the princess’s sudden address made Twilight shake. “It’s good to see you again.”

“I-it’s good to see you too, Princess.” She leaned herself to bow. “And I have to say, it’s an honor to be here as your student.” She even spoke in a formal tone. The immediate reaction to Twilight’s formality was Maroon Mars giggling and trying to suppress her laughter.

“There’s no need to be so formal with the princess, Twilight.” Mars spoke as Twilight rose from her pose. “It’s not like we’re hiring soldiers.”

Celestia spoke next. “Indeed, in fact I find it to be my honor to be teaching somepony with immense potential, such as yourself.”

“I agree.”

Twilight suddenly didn’t feel as anxious as before. “Oh, well I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good, now that we got that out of the way, Mars mind taking the lead?”

“Gladly.” Mars gave a grin and walked in front of Twilight and Celestia stepped back. “Twilight Sparkle, welcome to your training area!”

“Training area?” Twilight was confused. “This is just a large empty stadium.”

“Incorrect. This is a simulation room.” Mars corrected.

“Simulation?” She seemed even more confused.

“Yes, this room is made of special matter that is of pure magic. I’ am able to use my own magic to manipulate that matter’s physical form and capabilities, thus making a virtual simulation room.”

“I’ve never heard of such a matter.”

“That’s because we keep its existence secret from the public. It is very dangerous when used incorrectly and is nearly impossible to find. Also I’m the only one who knows how to control it properly.”

Twilight seemed a bit skeptical. “Then why are you telling me all this? Aren’t you afraid I’ll reveal this or something?”

Mars giggled before speaking again. “Silly. If we didn’t trust you then you wouldn’t even be this close to the Princess or even the castle. Also no one would ever believe you if you were to tell.”

“Oh okay then…” Twilight wanted to try to change the subject. “So what is it I’ll do today?”

Celestia spoke next, “Today we’ll see what your magic strength and range is as well as see what level you are in magic. The way we will teach you magic is this: to see your actual ability in magic you will train in this simulation room with Maroon here; for studying, learning and to increase your knowledge, you will have private sessions with me. Understood?”

“Understood.” Twilight’s anxiety was now completely gone and left only excitement.

“Good, now how about we start by seeing how much you know.” Mars said with a wide smile.

“Very well I’ll be seeing you in two hours for lunch; then we can move on to tutoring.”

As Celestia was about to leave out the door she looked back and smiled at the little filly. She had never had such a young student; her potential is also far beyond any expectation. The doors closed and she was gone.

“So what are we going to do first Ms. Mars?” Twilight looked up with the innocent look of a little filly.

“Please, no need to be so formal with the name. Call me Red or Red Star.” She couldn’t help but smile at the lavender filly. She wasn’t one for teaching but knew the basics and how to use kindness with the little ones. “Well let’s get started.”

----------

The tutoring for the day is done. Right now Celestia and Mars are waving goodbye to Twilight as she walks out of the castle with her parents. Once she was out of sight and they both went back inside, they both looked at each other; Red was the first to speak.

“She is SO CUTE!” Red Star squealed while she cupped her cheeks to squeeze them. “And I almost died when she started to hop up and down! Simply ADORABLE!”

“Well, I’ve never seen you act like this before.” The princess started to walk toward her office; Red shortly following.

“Aw, tell me you’re holding back, I mean did you see those eyes?!”

“Yes she is very young and little, but you should learn to have more control.” She looked back and smiled at Red. “After all I’m sure you were just like that once.”

“Ya, but so were you.” Red said with a grin.

“Anyway back to serious talk, what level in magic does Twilight score in?”

“She scores a level of 2.42! Talk about prodigy; no wonder her special talent is magic.”

“So do you think it’s possible if she is…. You know” Celestia hesitated to speak out in the open. Thankfully Red catches her meaning.”

“She could be, we’ll just have to keep going at this training thing.” They reach Celestia’s private study and went inside. “So how is she doing with her studies with you?”

“She learns and understands magic faster than I first expected.” She took a seat in her office chair. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Before anything else can be said there was a knock on the door.

“You can come in Cyclone.” Red said as she found a seat on the side of the room. Cyclone came in and sat down in the seat on the side opposite to Red.

“So how did it go?” he said with a smile.

“She has a magic level of 2.42, and she is excelling in her learning skills” Celestia answered.

“Is 2.42 good?” Cyclone seemed confused; he didn’t know much about magic and unicorns.

“Most students at our prep school don’t get into the 2’s until their second to third year in advanced courses.” Red answered to give the general some perspective.

“So does that mean that she is…” before he could finish he was interrupted by Red.

“We’re not sure. We need to keep tutoring her to see if she is or isn’t or if something else is going on.” The room got quiet for a few seconds. But then Celestia spoke.

“Then we’ll wait for tomorrow then.” Celestia rose from her seat. “I didn’t expect results on the first day, but now I expect then any day now. I’m certain I don’t need to tell both of you why this is important.”

“Of course not, Princess.” The two generals spoke in unison.

“You two are dismissed.”

The two generals stood up and walked out of the room.

Celestia was now alone in the room and she turned to look at the moon. Something is weighing deep in her mind. “I really hope we’ve found them.” She whispered to herself as she continued her gaze on the moon.

She turned her chair back to her desk and levitated a blank scroll and an ink pot with a quill. She remained there writing down her notes and thoughts. “No matter what the time will come; in fact I even know when. But I worry if I’m prepared when it does.” She thought this as she wrote it down.

Comments

[Adam95F]

Neat story. I don't have any advice in grammar since I am not exactly excellent at it, but everything seems awesome to me.

[Zuabug]

There are a few errors, but this is the one that stood out to me:

“I’ve been in her presents before;

Um. Unless Twilight was somehow getting past security, I don't think she was in Celestia's presents ;)

[Intellect Stretcher]

3393278
Season 1, episode 23: The Cutie Mark Chronicles-- In a flashback scene, Twilight's magic went out of control during her entrance exam and Celestia had to get involved to power her down. This chapter takes place soon after that incident. Therefore, Twilight has been in Celestia's presence before.

[9string]

3394843
I think he's referring to presents as in gifts
gotta love / hate homophones