Flower, Gleam and Glow
Centuries ago, a single drop of sunlight fell from the sky. Said to be bestowed upon the world by Princess Celestia herself, the sundrop was absorbed into the earth's nutrients, blooming into a brilliant flower which shone above all others. It was said to have power that a mortal pony could only dare dream of, all through a song that Celestia herself had sung.
The power to turn back time on old wounds. The power to heal those who had been hurt. The power to regress the age of anypony who willed it, potentially retaining their youth forever.
It was the third reason which drove a certain ancient mare to seek the mystical power out. Age spells, after all, were for magic-wielders far beyond her own abilities - only alicorns like Celestia herself, and those who were blessed, had the capacity to perform such spells.
In a field guarded by trees and remaining untrodden by anypony, the golden, shimmering flower sparkled in the night as its roots took hold in the earth, its luminescent petals casting faint rays of light on the grass below it.
As such, nopony was around to see the alicorn-like creature emerging from the concealing greenery, staring with an almost hungry gaze at the object she desired.
The decrepit pony's emerald eyes brightened as she stepped out of the shadows of the trees, her bent horn glowing a sickly green to provide some illumination for herself. But as she neared closer to the unique and powerful flower, the magical aura of her crooked horn faded, causing her to blend in with the night once more. The contained sunlight was all that she needed.
The Sun Flower of Celestia cast its warm glow on the aged mare's features. She was a tall, thin, dark-gray-hued pony, her body, mane and wings possessing cavernous holes within them, causing her to appear almost wraith-like. The wings, not birth-given and able to help her fly but rather magically added to make her more beautiful earlier in life, appeared wispy and moth-eaten, as if the wind itself could break them apart at any moment. With the mare's fragmented body, horn bent out of shape, and the cloak that she wore to better conceal herself, she appeared more like some sort of demon creature than a pony. Taking a deep breath, she lowered her head intently to the flower.
This had to work.
The mare - known as Mother Chrysalis - gently cupped her aged and crippled hooves around the precious Sun Flower, taking great care not to damage it. Hoping that the legends of such a flower's healing properties were true, she sang the tune that had been expressed in the stories - the incantation that Celestia herself was said to have created as the drop of her sunlight fell upon the earth.
"Flower, gleam and glow,
Let your power shine."
Seeming to obey her command, the flower's color changed from a steady stream of light to a brilliant, bright golden glow that obscured its finer details.
"Make the clock reverse,
Bring back what once was mine..."
As the incantation was recited, Chrysalis could sense her mane, tail, and wings becoming bright and full as they had once been many years before. The holes in her body began to vanish as she sang, her horn reformed back into its former spiral.
"Heal what has been hurt,
Change the fate's design.
Save what has been lost,
Bring back what once was mine.
What once was mine..."
Chrysalis smiled in satisfaction, feeling much younger and more refreshed than she had in many years. One of her slender, now-smooth hooves curled protectively around it, the smile on her face both loving and sinister all at once.
"You're mine, little flower," the sorceress whispered soothingly, as if the plant were a young, helpless child. "I promise your dear Mother Chrysalis will never let anypony take you away."
And she fully intended to keep that promise.
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Centuries passed, Chrysalis closely guarding her secret to eternal youth. As long as she possessed that flower, she would never have to worry about aging. Never fear the wear of time slowing her down before finally grinding her life to an abrupt halt.
But soon enough, the peace which came with Chrysalis's attempt at remaining young and healthy forever was threatened.
Across the land, a kingdom came to rise into being, which became known to all as Canterlot. The kingdom was adored with the emblem of Celestia's cutie mark, as it was said that the Royal Family were descendants of Princess Celestia herself.
Though the Sparkle family had been happy for many years, things began to go drastically wrong shortly before the birth of the Queen's second foal. She came down with a terrible illness, leaving the entire kingdom fearful for the life of both her and her unborn foal.
No unicorn magic could cure the sickness within her, the most advanced healing spells having no effect on the mare's fading health. Not even the best brews from their herbalist, a zebra named Zecora, could heal the mare's plight.
The Queen would likely live only another week at most, and if she did die, it would be very unlikely that the foal could be saved. The denizens of Canterlot could only think of one solution. A miracle in the form of the magic flower.
"But isn't the Sun Flower of Celestia just a legend, Daddy?" their young colt Shining asked hesitantly. He glanced uncertainly at his father, his bright cobalt eyes clearly harboring the worry they all felt.
"Remember what I told you, Shining Armor," King Night Light Sparkle chided with a sigh as he ruffled his son's mane, "all legends have a basis in truth. If there's anything in the world that can save your mother and sister, it's that flower." Lowering his hoof from his son's head, the stallion stepped closer to his wife's bed and nuzzled her lightly.
The young colt nodded solemnly. "I understand..." He went to his mother's bedside, small white hoof curled protectively around hers like he feared she'd be lost forever if he let go. Tears began to fall from the colt's eyes almost without him realizing it as he clutched his mother's hoof tighter. "I don't want to lose you, Mommy...". He stretched his other hoof over and placed it on his mother's swollen stomach, almost hoping to feel the heartbeat of his baby sister. "Or you, sis..."
Queen Twilight managed a faint smile in reply before breaking into a coughing fit that shook her entire body, causing more some of the castle's nurses to instantly be alerted. It was clear that her health was failing rapidly, and every second counted.
"We won't lose her, son, or your sister," Night said with a conviction that he hoped masked his fear. "We can't lose them..."
Aware that there wasn't a moment to lose, the King had the Royal Guard search everywhere they could for the mystical flower. They all knew the legend, of course - their very kingdom had been founded around the Sun Goddess said to have created it. Celestia's cutie mark was their emblem for a reason.
The problem was finding where the Sun Flower was.
The search parties scoured beyond the kingdom for it, willing to search all over Equestria for that flower - beyond the country, if they felt they must. Fortuitously for them, it wasn't long before they came to the field where the Celestia-blessed blossom rested.
In the darkness of that night, Mother Chrysalis was lowered beside the flower, singing softly to rejuvenate her youthful beauty as she had for many centuries. The shimmering glow of the blossom, however, drew the attention of those from Canterlot who had set out to find it.
"Hey, did you see that light over there?"
Chrysalis felt her heart skip a beat at the voice, and she could hear the murmur of others accompanying it. If she didn't leave now, she and her little flower would be discovered!
Hurriedly, Chrysalis concealed the plant's glow with what looked to be a vegitation-covered stone, a false construct she had created as a cover for her precious flower. With the stone looking just as natural as any other part of the field, her key to immortality could easily be hidden to everypony else. However, the hasty nature of her departure caused her to accidentally topple the stone-like covering, exposing the flower's glow for everypony to see without her knowledge.
"There it is!"
"We found it! We found the Sun Flower!"
There was the pounding of hoofsteps as the Royal Guard hurried over to the source of the light, gingerly lifting it out of the ground with magic so as not to damage it.
Hearing the commotion from the shadowed cover of the trees, Chrysalis fought with all her might to resist the urge to cry out. NO! Her long-kept secret for eternal youth, snatched away all due to a stupid mistake! What did they want with that flower anyway?
She craned her neck, ears pricked upward as she attempted to listen, managing to catch a few words about the Queen of Canterlot being deathly ill. And the flower was the only thing that would be able to save her life.
Chrysalis's eyes narrowed in a determined glare. She would do whatever it took to reclaim the abilities of that flower, no matter what lengths she would have to go to.
Remaining unseen by the guards, she vowed to track them all the way to the Kingdom where the ailing Queen resided, to take her revenge on the ones who had stolen her precious flower from her. Somehow, no matter what it took, she would remain undetected by the guards or anypony who would attempt to stop her from taking her revenge on the Royal Family for snatching her precious flower from her grasp.
Soon enough, the search party arrived at the Kingdom once again, hurriedly explaining that they had at last retrieved the Sun Flower, and that the legends were indeed true. With the Queen's health fading by the the hour, the herbalist Zecora quickly mixed up a herbal tea and placed the Sun Flower's radiant petals within it. With her husband and son by her side as she was given the glowing essence of the flower, the vibrance in the Queen's coat and eyes returned, the magic of the luminescent plant working just as everypony had hoped.
"Praise Celestia!"
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All of Canterlot rejoiced at the revived health of their Queen, and a day later there was a further cause for celebration: the Sparkle family's second foal was born, a young lavender-coated unicorn filly. To those who insisted to be formal, she was known as Princess Twilight Sparkle the 2nd. But to everypony else, the young foal was simply known as Twilight.
There was something rather unique about the foal that they hadn't expected. The filly's mane and tail were a little brighter than expected, one stripe in her dark blue mane being a bright pink as well.
"That vibrance could be because of the Sun Flower's magic," Queen Twilight murmured happily, giving the smiling filly a kiss on the forehead as she was set down into her white cradle draped with the softest material that the Royal Family could obtain. "But what matters is that she's healthy and safe."
"We are surely blessed to have her alive..." King Night agreed as he embraced his wife. "I was so worried that you two wouldn't make it."
Shining trotted over and tilting his head down at the crib, smiling at his baby sister as her curious eyes gazed up at him. "Don't worry, Twily, I'm gonna teach you a bunch of things when you get older, and be your big brother best friend forever!"
King Night chuckled, visibly in much better spirits now that his wife and daughter were well. "You mean like how to be part of the Royal Guard?"
"Uh huh!" Shining nodded in enthusiastic agreement. "I'm gonna be Captain someday, and Twily's gonna get to see me!"
"She sure will," Queen Twilight affirmed, looking more radiant with her family than she had over the past few weeks as she levitated a golden crown over with a bright pink star at the top, gently placing just over the top of Twilight's head seeing as the crown was, at the moment, too big for the foal to wear. "And, remember, Twilight will be crowned Princess when she turns 18. You won't be too distracted from those guard duties of yours to miss that, will you?"
Shining looked at his mother as if she had just forbade him from striving to be Captain in the first place. "No way! I'd make sure all the guard ponies showed up! No, everypony in Canterlot! Or-"
"We'll get there when we get there, Shining," his mother said in a gentle tone, smiling fondly at her family.
As far as everypony in Canterlot was concerned, things couldn't be better. The King and Queen released a bright lantern into the sky, adorned with an purple bordering and a large silhouette in the shape of Celestia's sun to celebrate the birth of another child into the royal family. Everypony came to visit the young princess, congratulating the Sparkles and bringing them gifts to celebrate the birth of Princess Twilight.
However, nearly a week after the Princess's birth, the exuberant happiness around the Kingdom was fated to be cut short.
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Luna's full moon shone brightly in the sky that night, casting its soft glow across the features of the sleeping infant. The moon's far-off beams, however, were soon overcast by a cloaked figure - Mother Chrysalis, who had been waiting until the festivities had died down before she made her presence known. She used her magic to materialize a pair of scissors surrounded by the sickly green glow of her magical energy.
From her limit observations over the past few days, Chrysalis could tell that the flower's magic wasn't gone after all, but had rather manifested itself in the young filly's mane. If she could just got off a few locks, it was all she would ever need. In a quiet whisper, Chrysalis began the song anew.
"Flower, gleam and glow.
Let your power shine..."
The sleeping filly's hair began to glow at Chrysalis's command, just as the mare had wished. Every inch of the filly's mane and tail began to become luminescent, shimmering in a light golden aura, the pink strip in the filly's hair particularly radiating with the golden-white light. The mare lifted a few strands of the mane with her hoof, magically raising the scissors to the locks which she had chosen.
"Make the clock re-ah!"
Chrysalis's song ceased as the scissors sliced off part of the filly's mane, causing the cut hair to instantly lose its power. The entirety of the locks darkened slightly, the formerly bright pink strands instead having turned a light azure shade. The sorceress scowled; it wouldn't be enough to just take a few strands of the filly's mane to keep herself young. If she wanted to hold on to her eternal youth, drastic measures needed to be taken.
With that, Chrysalis lifted young Twilight using her magic, causing the young filly to open her eyes and wail at the unfamiliar presence. This pony wasn't anyone she had seen before, not to mention looking so threatening in the night. But Twilight's cries were heard to late. Just as the King and Queen burst into the room to tend to their daughter, Shining at their heels, they got a brief glimpse at Chrysalis's shadowed form, the child in her grasp, before her black cloak was cast over her and, with a burst of green magic, the pair vanished without a trace.
"TWILIGHT!" the parents cried out at once. They had been prepared to fight for the safety of their daughter if necessary, but they had been roused from their sleep moments too late.
"TWILY!" Shining screamed, tears beginning to fall from his eyes in despair and denial. He ran to his parents and hugged them tightly, trembling as if fearing he'd be snatched away just as easily as his sister had. "We g-gotta get her back!"
The elder members of the Sparkle family, devastated and determined to retrieve young Twilight, roused everyone in the castle from their sleep as quickly as they could. They'd use whatever means necessary to rescue their missing daughter and bring her back home.
Everypony was awoken from their slumbers at once, instantly hurrying out to search for the stolen child and the cloaked figure, intent on getting little Twilight out of danger and returning her to the safety of Canterlot. But as much as they searched, no matter how far they extended their search parties, their searches turned up nothing. No sign of the missing princess.
But the Sparkle family never gave up hope. Even as years passed, they were confident that somehow, someday, their lost princess would return home to them. And every year on Princess Twilight's birthday, the family would release thousands of lanterns into the night sky, spreading their light into the heavens and hoping that, one day, the young princess would see the lights and follow them home.
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Unknown to anypony else, the young princess did see those lanterns as they rose into the night sky on her birthday, but there was no way she was able to reach them. Mother Chrysalis had kept the filly in a tall tower, surrounded by forests and mountains, never letting her go outside as a result. This time, she was determined to keep her little flower hidden forever.
On the night of the Princess's sixth birthday, as the pony she saw as her mother brushed her mane and tail which were ever-increasing in length over time, Twilight was singing the song which her "mother" had taught her.
"Save what has been lost,
Bring back what once was mine.
What once was mine."
Chrysalis smiled gently as she brushed out Twilight's glowing mane, enjoying the youthful feeling that came to her as the young unicorn sang. Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by the young unicorn speaking up as the healing glow faded.
"Why can't I go outside?"
"Because the world is a dangerous place, Twilight," Chrysalis explained without hesitation, smoothing out the ends of Twilight's mane. "It's full of selfish, wicked, and cruel ponies, and I don't want you getting hurt out there. You have to stay here, where it's safe and nopony can harm you." She smiled gently, though the expression went unseen by the young unicorn. "Do you understand, my little flower?"
"Yes, Mommy."
Following their conversation, Twilight traversed up the stairs to the room of her tower, and waited until she was certain that her mother was gone. When she could be sure that her mother wouldn't catch her, the filly silently crept down the stairs, her mane and tail trailing behind her. She steadied the pile of books which she used to climb up to the windowsill, gingerly pushing it open.
The view of the outside world was revealed just in time to see the mysterious lights rising into the sky, outshining even the light of the stars which sparkled in the sky above. They rose with a speed faster than any ordinary light she saw in the sky. Even at her young age, Twilight knew that there was something special about those lights.
Someday she'd find a way to reach the floating lights and discover just what they were. And it was that dream that the young unicorn held onto all throughout her childhood.
Whether her mother believed her or not, it was one dream Twilight would never let go of..