Prologue

Canterlot 977 BNM (Before Nightmare Moon)

(Twilight: Age 6) (Cadence: Age 23)

Twilight and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or Cadence, as she preferred, were in the Canterlot public gardens.

Cadence had finally been able to get Twilight out of the house, and convinced her to play hide and seek.

Cadence was counting to 60, and Twilight was frantically looking for a place to hide. Right as Cadence said 17, she saw a tree with a filly-sized hole in the trunk. As Cadence said 33, she dove into the hole.

When she jumped inside, she bumped into a hard, black object. As she was rubbing her horn, she heard a gasp in front of her. Looking up, she saw a figure sitting down. It was a black pony with green hair and a crooked horn, but the biggest surprise were the two insect-like wings on its back.
As the pony looked up at her, it gained a fearful expression on its face.

Seeing this, Twilight smiled in a reassuring manner whilst extending her hoof towards the pony. The pony flinched and stepped back, fearful of what she might do. She was expecting to be attacked.

“Hello my name is Twilight. What’s yours?” Twilight asked her with a smile.

The pony looked at her in confusion. “A-A-Amaryllis.” she stuttered.

Still smiling, Twilight asked, “What kind of pony are you?”

Still feeling nervous, Amaryllis said, “I’m not a pony I’m a changeling.”

Surprised, Twilight tilted her head to the right. “What’s a changeling? I’ve never heard of that before.”

Amaryllis then felt her nervousness completely evaporate. It was now her turn to feel surprised. “Huh? But- But- Mother always said ponies tried to hunt us.”

Twilight now felt even more surprised. “Hunt you? Why would we ever do that?” she asked.

“She always said it was because of how we looked, or because we can change.” Amaryllis responded.

Twilight blinked, now feeling perplexed by what she just said. “Change what do you mean by that?”

“Are you really sure you want wanna see?” Amaryllis asked with a bit of hesitation.

Twilight felt excited. She could barely contain herself at the prospect of this new information. She almost jumped up and down out of excitement. “Oh yes absolutely!” she exclaimed.

Starting to look happy, Amaryllis stepped back. “All right just, please don’t be scared.”

After she said that, Twilight stared mouth agape and on the verge of panic as green flame engulfed Amaryllis. After the flame was gone, it was and if she was staring into a mirror; for there is an exact copy of her.

“Um, you’re not scared, are you?” Amaryllis asked, her voice sounding exactly like Twilight’s.

Twilight was astonished. “Scared? Why would I be scared? This is amazing! Think of all the research papers I could write! I may even be able to be Princess Celestia student! Wow this is just amazing!” Twilight could barely contain her excitement. “We gotta tell everypony!”

Amaryllis panicked as she frantically turned back into her normal form. “No! No you can’t tell anypony! If you do, I might get in big trouble!”

Twilight’s excitement subdued when she heard Amaryllis plea. “Trouble? Why would you get in trouble? Wouldn’t it be good for changelings to not fear ponies anymore? I mean, you said you were scared.”

“Well, you see, I’m not exactly supposed to be here. Mother said I couldn’t leave the hive until I turn 17.” Amaryllis said, starting to feel nervous again.

Twilight felt something click in her brain, and she gasped. She forgot that she was supposed to be playing hide and seek with Cadence! “Oh no, me and Cadence were supposed to be playing hide and seek, and it quickly flew out of my mind! She’s likely looking for me right now! I was about to jump into that hole in the tree before I met you. Come on, we gotta hide!”

Amaryllis suddenly felt even more nervous. “Cadence? As in Princess Cadence? You’re right, we’ve gotta hide! The hole is just big enough to fit both of us. Come on!”

Moments later, they heard Cadence shout, “Twilight I’m gonna find you!”

Through the bushes, they could see a slight amount of pink. She was just on the other side of the bushes but they were lucky they were able to hide in time.

Passing the time, Twilight and Amaryllis started to tell stories, talking about things they enjoyed, and genuinely just having fun.

Seven minutes later, Twilight said goodbye to her newest friend, promising to see each other again.

Soon, Twilight went to make sure Cadence wasn’t worried about her. When Cadence spotted her, she gave a relieved smile. “Twilight I’m not sure whether I’m supposed to be worried that I couldn’t find you, or be impressed.” she said as she immediately started rushing towards her and began to hug her.

“Please don’t worry, I’m fine. I just found a really good hiding spot. I only came out so you wouldn’t be so worried about me.” Twilight reassured her.

Cadence gave another sigh of relief. She looked up at the sky. “Well it’s getting pretty late,” she noted. “I should probably get you back home before your parents start to worry; and remember that Shining has to go back to guard training tomorrow morning.”

Twilight suddenly felt very excited. “Oh! I almost completely forgot! Come on, we’ve got to go home!” she said as she tried to pull Cadence along.

Looking down and noticing she wasn’t moving, she let go of Cadence’s hoof as they walked to the Sparkle residence. Cadence asked if she was excited about being able to go to the entrance exam at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.

And as always, Twilight exclaimed, Yes I can’t believe I was excepted to take the exam! I sure hope I pass.” she said with a nervous smile.

Cadence smirked reassuringly at her. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you pass. You’re the smartest filly I know.”

After she got home, Twilight immediately went to the kitchen and said hello to her brother as Shining hugged her and ruffled her mane. Looking down, he asked how her day was. Filled with excitement, she began to tell him about her day.

After she finished telling her story, she and the rest of their family had dinner, talking about their day. Afterwards, her parents reminded her that she had to study for the entrance exam that would be happening in four days.

Meanwhile, Amaryllis snuck back into her room. Luckily, her mother hadn’t noticed she was gone.

She got onto her bed and grabbed her diary, writing down what she did today. As she did any day there was anything interesting happened she wrote:

Today, I snuck into Canterlot public gardens and made my first friend…

Author's Note:

Hello this is my very first story here on fimfiction hope you all like it