Prologue: Looking back
The Diary of the Two Sisters
By
Quill Trace
Prologue: Looking Back
Princess Twilight Sparkle was exhausted. It was the day after the final battle with Lord Tyrek, and the salvation of all ponykind from his tyranny. Though the young alicorn princess seemed awake and aware when the battle was won, in truth it was a taxing day. She had to learn to handle all the alicorn magic in Equestria, and then was forced into a massive power struggle in which the end result was the magic being stolen from her. And to add icing to the exhaustion cake, she had to harness the rainbow power of the Tree of Harmony to banish the evil centaur once and for all. With these things in mind, it was no surprise that it was well into the afternoon when she was finally roused from slumber; a move she instantly regretted when every nerve ending in her lavender body began to send pulses of pain directly to her brain. Groaning, she huddled into the fetal position under her covers in a vain attempt to escape the soreness washing over her like an ocean of fire. Unlike somepony like Rainbow Dash who spent years training her body into a sleek machine, Twilight was an indoor mare. Sure, she had to go on several exercise regimens when she first got her wings and was still learning to fly, but her body up until the day before had yet to exert the amount of sheer effort it needed in order to go hoof-to-hoof with Tyrek. And now her muscles were reaping their revenge.
Through her pain-addled haze she heard her bedroom door creak open. Shortly thereafter a hushed prepubescent voice called out "Twilight, are you up yet?" The only response that Twilight could give to Spike was another labored groan. Spike paused a moment before continuing, "Would you like me to bring you breakfast?" Poking a hoof out of her covers Twilight began to give Spike a wave to go away, a gesture that sent new waves of stiff pain cascading down the nerves of her foreleg. Spike, getting the message, said "Alright. If there's anything you need, call for me." And Twilight heard her bedroom door shut a second later.
She curled up further under the sheets hoping the blissful escape of sleep would come to take her. But her hours were up and she was given no such reprieve. Fighting her aching back she slowly sat upright in her bed, taking in her new bedroom in detail for the first time. The walls were coated in azure blue wallpaper, a calming, intellectual color perfect for the nerdy princess. Rows upon rows of empty bookshelves occasionally broke the deep blue sea, silently begging to be restocked after her old collection went up in flames when Tyrek destroyed the Golden Oaks Library. She silently promised herself to gather some tomes from the Castle of the Two Sisters when she could move without every nerve-ending screaming in protest.
Speaking of the castle... She looked over at her bedside table, to the one book that somehow didn't get destroyed when Tyrek turned his wrath onto Ponyville. It was the diary that her mentor Princess Celestia, and her younger sister Princess Luna kept when they were fillies. She glanced it over when she and Spike first went into the castle in an attempt to understand the chest that the Tree of Harmony gave them when they returned the Elements to it. In it she found memories of a happier time for her immortal teacher. Days when her and her night-dwelling sibling played and talked like sisters do. Days before Luna's jealousy corrupted her and made her become the feared Nightmare Moon. However in the ruckus that came from her friends scaring themselves to death within the castle's walls, each pony coming for their own reasons, she was not able to finish the diary. And now in her new castle, cringing in the throes of the pain of overexertion, questions she had been wondering for years came to surface. What was life like before the two became royalty? How did the two come to rule Equestria? How did Discord and Tyrek first come to be? And what of Starswirl the Bearded, the one pony Twilight idolized more than the solar princess? She gleaned through conversations between the two that Celestia and Luna knew him personally. So, naturally one would wonder what was he like? Deciding that nothing productive would get done today, she turned over to the book and tried to levitate it to her bed. Her only reward was her head bursting in a fresh wave of pain. Letting out an exasperated grunt, she gingerly reached out to the table with her hooves. Despite her weak muscles threatening to give, she eventually had a hold of the book. Leaning back into her headboard in an attempt to get comfy, Twilight opened to the first page and began to read.