> The Princess' students
>  by King Ice
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Luster Dawn
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

25 years after Twilight’s coronation

That filly reminded Twilight so much of herself before she met her friends; before she went to Ponyville. She was also quite good at magic, definitely above the average unicorn. Those were one of the reasons Twilight had taken her as her student, just like Celestia did for her before. She hadn't known yet if she’d make her an alicorn, and thus a princess of Equestria. Although she still didn’t know if she should. She wasn’t Celestia’s first student, but she sure was the first to become an alicorn. That showed Celestia didn’t just make anyone a princess. No matter, Celestia left her in charge, and she had to make her own decisions. She would have loved to think about this more, but it was getting harder to ignore the annoying rambling in the background.

Twilight sighed after hearing yet another complaint from one of Equestria’s citizen. She loved helping her subjects, but sometimes their requests were simply ridiculous. She was sitting on her throne as a brown stallion, an earth pony, who looked like a farmer was telling his life story.

“So you see, my crops don’t grow without water, and I need that food before winter! It has been several weeks since it last rained, so… could you make it rain or something?” The farmer asked as Twilight deadpanned.

“Did you try watering them yourself? You know… with a watering can?” She asked as the farmer just stared at her in curiosity. Suddenly, he smiled and his eyes sparkled.

“I didn’t even think about it! Thank you, Princess! You’re great!” He rejoiced as he happily trotted away. The guards closed the door behind him, still looking as serious as ever.

“Did Princess Celestia really have to do this every day for over a thousand years? I’m already tired of it after two decades,” She mumbled as she looked at Spike. Without surprise, the dragon was sleeping while standing. That farmer talked over an hour for an issue so simple. She hoped her friends at least didn’t have any trouble dealing with boredom. Then again, she was the only one who had to sit on a big chair for days.

“Princess, you have another visitor,” One of the guard said, waiting for a response.

“Let them in,” She sighed, hoping it wasn’t her parents again. She liked seeing them, but they just wouldn’t stop asking when she would find a special somepony. Fortunately, it was someone else.

“Hello, Princess!” Luster Dawn greeted happily as the guards let her enter. Her voice immediately brought a smile to Twilight’s face as she flew off her throne and landed in front of Luster Dawn.

“My dear student, I am overjoyed to see you!” Twilight smiled as they hugged each other. “Did you come here to talk about the progress you made?”

“Yes, I wanted to see you, so I came here directly instead of writing a letter. I hope I’m not bothering you,” Luster Dawn fretted; however, Twilight laughed and put a leg around her neck.

“Of course, you aren’t! I’m always happy to receive my favorite student!”

“I’m your only student, Princess,” Luster Dawn giggled as Twilight smiled sheepishly.

“Come, let’s go to the terrace, I am sure you have a lot to say. I will have some tea prepared,” Twilight said as Luster nodded, ready to follow her. The Princess turned to look at her dragon friend, “Take care of things here for me, Spike,” She added before going to the doors behind her throne, towards one of the towers of the castle. Meanwhile, the dragon fell on the floor, snoring.

The Princess and her student walked through the long corridors of the Royal Castle, which the young unicorn had always liked. She had thought, since she was only a filly, that it was a magnificent architectural construction. She had never imagined she would be allowed to walk here one day; however, ever since she became the Princess’ student, it became a habit to be here. She felt like it was an honor. Of course, Princess Twilight always told her she deserved all of it. It was only the results of her hard work and her accomplishments as her pupil.

Finally, after a whole minute of walking, the Princess and the student arrived at their usual spot, where a table and two chairs awaited them. As always, the terrace was bathed in the bright usual sunlight. Before Luster Dawn could walk to her seat, Twilight shot a beam of magic at the table. A flashing light blinded the unicorn for a couple of seconds, and she was expecting to open her eyes to a sight of destruction; however, there were two cups of teas instead! She opened her mouth in awe as she ran to them and inspected what seemed to be a spell she didn’t know about.

“That’s incredible, Princess! How did you do that?” She inquired, climbing on her seat with shaking legs as Twilight sat on the second one.

“Magic,” Twilight replied with a sheepish smile. Luster Dawn just stared at her, before cracking a smile, which quickly turned into a laugh. Soon enough, the Princess joined in, too. It took several seconds until their laughter died down, and Twilight took a sip of her tea. “This reminds me of so many memories,” She whispered to herself as she swallowed the warm beverage. “Anyways, how are your friend-making skills evolving?”

“Well… I’d say it’s good. Your song certainly helped a lot! You were right, friends are fantastic…” She answered hesitantly, before looking down. Twilight raised an eyebrow, very well recognising that look.

“But…?” It seemed to be enough to encourage Luster Dawn to continue.

“Well… Sometimes, we argue and it’s annoying… Because it’s for something petty… Or we don’t have the same interests and they never want to do an activity I love!”

“Such as…”

“Playing chess. It’s fun! What’s wrong with it? I mean, you move pieces of wood across a flat piece of wood, with the goal to crush your enemy’s troops! It’s so exciting!” Luster explained as she levitated the cup of tea to her mouth.

“I understand your frustration, but having different interests and hobbies is normal among friends. I am pretty sure one of your friends would want to play a game they love, but can’t because none of you want to. Besides, have you tried doing what the others want? You may end up liking it,”

“No, I didn’t really try… I guess I will, but I’m pretty sure it won’t beat chess,” Luster replied.

“Did you learn anything new today?”

“Trying to plan a party with the help of a book is a bad idea,” Luster Dawn giggled embarrassingly.

“One of the most important lessons of all! And let me tell you now. It is the same for sleepovers,” Twilight laughed.

She loved these moments with her student. It was a time where she could relax and laugh, have a good time with someone she considered a good friend. She felt like she was having a relationship similar to the one she had with Princess Celestia. As time passed, she learned more and more how Princess Celestia felt when she was teaching her. Seeing her pupil learn new spells and explore the true meaning of friendship brought great pride in her, and even reassured her. She had always feared she would be bad as a teacher. That she would make a mistake which would ruin everything she had built with her.

Although Luster Dawn was very similar to her when she was younger, she did have more difficulties with learning the magic of friendship. It came off as something strange to her, and she didn’t spend as much time with her friends as Twilight did in her time. Then again, she didn’t have to fight multiple forces of evil, and the situations that put her in a position of leader were rare. All the requirements weren’t met yet for Twilight to make her a princess and gift her with alicornhood. However, she wasn’t worried; she believed in her prized pupil.

Time passed quickly, quicker than Twilight realised, maybe because of her immortality? At last, a decade after Luster Dawn started learning the magic of friendship, she finally did it. She finally showed all the qualities of a ruler, a princess. Twilight was so excited to gift her with what she deserved, and proud to witness the birth of another princess! Fortunately, Celestia had taught her how it had to be done. Due to the different circumstances, Twilight had to talk to Luster Dawn first, and announce her the good news. She was sure her student would be overjoyed!

“I refuse,”

“Y-You whaaa… you what?” Twilight asked, surprise and shock all over her face, not even knowing what to say or how to react. “I-I think I heard you wrong,” She stuttered.

“You didn’t Princess,” Luster Dawn replied as she placed her hoof on her chest. The unicorn had grown and became an adult mare, now letting her mane down. Not only this, but her horn and her legs had gotten slightly longer. “I am deeply honored that you would make such an offer. You’ve already done so much for me, and taught more than anypony ever did. I could never repay that debt,”

“You don’t need to repay any-”

“I know, but this feeling won’t go away that easily,” Luster Dawn snickered. “To think that now, you would give me something as great as alicornhood… I have no words. However, I’ve never wanted to be a princess or be a powerful unicorn. I really don’t care about these things,” She added as Twilight remained silent, waiting for her to finish. “But I don’t want to live for centuries. My wedding is next week; I’ve found somepony I love, and we’ll even have a family together. My life is complete, and I’m happy with it!” Luster smiled as Twilight sighed, before smiling, too.

“I see… I understand. If it’s your choice, then I’ll accept it. I’m proud of you.” Twilight replied as Luster ran to her as they hugged each other.

“I’m sorry… You will come to my wedding, right?”

“Of course, I will, my student. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

True it didn’t go as she planned, but at least her student had grown to be a responsible and respectful adult. She was a bit disappointed that Luster refused her offer, but she couldn’t really blame her. If Twilight had the choice at the time and was engaged… maybe she would have refused it, too. Not that it mattered now, a long time had passed since she ascended. She couldn't do anything about it.

The wedding went as planned, smoothly and with no issues. There was no evil changeling queen to interrupt it. Although Luster Dawn stopped being her student and followed a new path that life had to offer. Of course, just because she didn’t learn new spells or friendship lessons, didn’t mean she didn’t have anything else to learn from Twilight. The Princess had always been by her side when she needed her. She still had some useful advices, although she couldn’t give any concerning her marriage since Twilight herself had never been in a relationship before.

Years passed by and wrinkles added themselves on Luster Dawn’s face as time moved forward. No matter how strong her magic grew, her body became more and more fragile. Twilight wasn’t surprised of course. It was the natural course of life, and all would end like this at some point. However, knowing this didn’t make things any easier.

Finally, 63 years passed since Twilight took Luster as her student. Her end was closely approaching. The Princess softly landed in front of the large Canterlot Hospital and stepped in. Without any surprise, the ponies around stood mouth agape as they stared at their ruler. She couldn’t really blame them, even though these looks were unsettling; she was used to it. She already knew where she was going, and it didn’t take her more than several seconds to come in front of a door. Just as she was about to knock, a unicorn dressed as a doctor came out of the room.

“Oh, Princess! You’re here! Her family just came out a few minutes ago. I guess you want to see her, too,” He said as Twilight nodded. “Then please, come in. I will leave the two of you alone… I am afraid… she doesn’t have much time anymore,” He said before bowing his head, and walking away.

Twilight lit her horn and opened the door before entering the room. The very first thing she saw was Luster Dawn in her bed. The mare had changed so much since Twilight met her, she was barely recognisable; however, The Princess would never forget anyone. She walked to her bed, seeing her features up close. Her face was filled with wrinkles and her mane had become grey while her coat lost some of its color.

“P-Princess?” Luster asked as she looked into Twilight’s eyes. “I am happy to see you…”

“I had to come; I wouldn’t leave you alone in a time like this,”

“Too bad we aren’t taking any tea now. I miss those moments... when I look at you, it’s as if no time has passed,” Luster Dawn snickered as Twilight gave her a small smile. “How is your new student doing?” She inquired.

“He is learning fast, but he’s still not as good as you yet,” The Princess answered, keeping her lips curved upward.

“I certainly hope not, or else it would have meant I was a really bad student!” Luster Dawn laughed, before going into a coughing fit. Twilight’s smile dropped as the Princess looked away. Luster Dawn sighed. “I am sorry to make you live through this again, Princess. You’ve already lost so many friends,”

“It’s not your fault. Ponies don’t choose to end like this, and you can’t be blamed just because your life… comes to an end,” Twilight bit her lower lip, looking away before locking eyes with Luster’s again. “I can save y-”

“I know you want this for my own good. But the answer I gave you all those years ago was my final… I won’t change my mind. I can’t,” Luster Dawn interrupted, smiling sadly at the Princess. “You know… I told my family to go because I didn’t want them to see me leave, but I had to see you… one last time. I’ve known you for almost my whole life, and you’ve been by my side all this time, guiding me every step of the way. I’ve thought, since I was only a foal, that I would dedicate my whole life to magic and forget about other ponies. They just weren’t my concern… But thanks to you and your friends, I thought “what if I tried? Just once to make a friend, go outside or talk to somepony” and I did. Now… I have a family of my own… My foals became adults and expanded this family even more… Without you, I would have never known what it is like to be loved by so many ponies,” Luster’s voice cracked as tears rolled down her eyes.

“It was all you, I just encouraged you. Everything you’ve accomplished so far was because you persevered and never gave up,” Twilight said gently.

“Even now...“ Luster Dawn started, before going silent. She stared into Twilight’s eyes. “I want you to be here, Princess. The truth is… I am so scared of what might happen if I close my eyes. I-I don’t want to be alone,” She cried; however, a comforting hoof was placed upon hers. She looked towards the Princess, who was holding her caringly.

“It’s alright. I’ll stay here until it’s over.” Twilight whispered as Luster Dawn stopped crying.

She closed her eyes, and even if she could only see endless darkness; there was no cold. Only the warm feeling of the one that stayed by her side during all those years and which still did even now. Finally, her light died down in peace.
> Star Chaser
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

3675 years after Twilight’s coronation

Twilight Sparkle sat alone in her throne room, with only two guards standing on either side of the entrance door. Her appearance hadn’t changed one bit, but her wiseness, and millennia of living could be seen in her eyes. Her subjects didn’t need to look at her to know it, though. Every citizen of Equestria knew she had been their only princess for years, and the only other alicorn most of them knew of was the Princess of the Crystal Empire, Flurry Heart. Some were still saying the mythical princesses of the sun and moon lived somewhere in Equestria, in peace.

Suddenly, the door opened as a small figure entered the room. The guards glanced at him at the corner of their eye, before looking at the Princess, seeing the newcomer wasn’t any danger. It was a colt, very young. He had a blue coat and a white mane. His cutie mark was a big star. He quickly reminded Twilight of Fluttershy. His walk was hesitant and he had his head down, undaring to look at her. She knew she had that effect on most ponies, but it was obvious he was naturally shy.

“Hello… Princess,” He greeted quietly as he bowed.

“Raise your head, Star Chaser; you have nothing to fear. Do you know why you are here?” Twilight asked, smiling comfortably at the young colt. He raised his head in surprise and awe that the Princess knew his name.

“N-No… Is it for the results of my test?” He inquired, tilting his head to the side.

“That’s right. I wish to congratulate you; you have, by far, surpassed the average results. Your score is truly remarkable,” Twilight congratulated as the colt blushed.

“Well… I studied a lot, and wanted to make everypony proud… I knew you would look at some of these tests so…” He stuttered while scratching the back of his neck. He had hoped the Princess would notice him and congratulate him in person. His dream had always been to meet her; however, he still couldn’t believe that was happening.

“I won’t mind if you brag a bit, you know. You deserve it,” Twilight giggled as Star’s blush deepened. “There is another reason for which I wanted to see you. I would like to make you my personal student,” Twilight offered.

“R-Really? Are you sure? Y-You must have made a mistake!” Star stuttered as his heart sped up.

“No, I didn’t. I assure you. I talked with your parents, not only you are a hardworking colt, you’re also generous with the ponies around you. You would fit perfectly as my pupil,” Twilight explained as she walked down the stairs leading to her throne.

“I-I don’t know what to say… I-I’ve never thought something like this would happen to me… I feel so…” Star replied, unable to find the words to express his joy and bewilderment. “I thought you always took fillies to be your students…” He said embarrassingly.

“I admit I had a lot of pupils who were mares, but I had stallions, too. Don’t worry, this isn’t a dream haha. Why don’t you follow me, so that I explain you what is expected of you as my personal student?” Twilight asked as the colt looked away. “I don’t bite, you know,” She laughed as Star Chaser hid his face behind his hooves.

Eventually, he did follow her. In all the years Twilight taught magic and friendship to foals; she had seen every type of personality there was. Even Star’s, so she was used to it and knew how to deal with it. However, she couldn’t deny it was hard to explain everything clearly to the young colt since he was close to passing out every time she got too close to him. She couldn’t imagine she’d meet someone shier than Fluttershy… However, as the minutes passed, he grew a little more relaxed, and started listening closely to everything she said. He was good at this, listening, learning, and deducing. She thought it was essential for someone learning magic, for they had to be patient and study every possibility. Learn from their experiences and what their teachers told them. Moreover, she took advantage of this moment to learn more about him, too. Although she talked to his parent; she wanted to hear everything from his mouth. So she quickly learned he already had several friends, unlike her when she was younger, his studies didn’t take all of his time. That was good, friendship lessons would be learned naturally and quickly.

Finally, their little visit was close to coming to an end, and Twilight had only one last thing to show him. She guided him to a giant room under the Canterlot Castle, in which only a huge ring made of stone was standing. During their walk, Star remained silent, a feeling of fear crushing his guts. Usually, he got that when something bad was going to happen or when he was about to meet someone. When they finally arrived in said room, the colt could only stare in awe at the large ring. He had absolutely no idea of what its purpose could be, but he felt like it was the most important instructions the Princess would give him.

“Lastly, in case of emergency, you’ll come here. I’ll teach you the required spell, but for now: watch,” Twilight said as she lit her horn, then shot a purple beam of magic right at the ring. Soon enough, her magic aura filled the ring, almost making it look like a pool that defied gravity. Star finally understood what it was! A portal! “If Canterlot or Equestria are in danger, and I am unavailable; you will have to come here and go through the portal to ask for help,”

“Help? But from whom? Nopony could be more helpful than you!”

“Haha, I am glad you hold me in such a high regard. I may be the ruler of Equestria, but I am not its guardian. He is,” Twilight replied as she turned her head to the portal. “Follow me,”

She walked towards it as the colt breathed out, mentally preparing himself before closely following the Princess. So close that he nearly stepped on her tail, but could you really blame him? He was scared and didn’t even know what it would feel like to go through a portal. The teleportation spell was already one of the hardest ones, but he was already expected to learn how to create a portal? So much pressure!

Surprisingly, when they crossed the portal, he didn’t feel anything. He had no reason to be scared anymore about crossing it at least. When he looked around, he noticed he was in what seemed to be a cave. It was quite dark, but there were a few lights coming from torches. He stayed behind the Princess, feeling safer there. Suddenly, a huge and threatening voice boomed.

“Who dares to come into my lair?! Leave, or I shall burn you with a fire hotter than Hell’s” The castling voice demanded loudly, so loud that it shook the whole cave. The colt yelled out in fear and hugged Twilight’s leg while shaking. The Princess chuckled before rolling her eyes.

“Spike, it’s me. I already told you to stop scaring ponies like that. You’re going give somepony a heart attack one day,” She scolded as she lit her horn, lighting the whole cave and finally revealing the owner of the voice. Star gasped as he saw it was a colossal dragon with green and purple scales, and a grey beard.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t pick out your smell. Did you change your perfume or something? Nevermind, you know I love doing those jokes! It’s just so hilarious when I see them running in fear!” Spike laughed while Twilight rolled her eyes again. “I do smell someone else with you... Come forward, young one. I will not hurt you,” He said, loving to sound wise and old.

Star Chaser’s legs were still shaking as ever as he hid behind Twilight’s hind legs. The Princess gently patted his head.

“Don’t be scared, he’s trustworthy and also a great friend,” She reassured in a soft and caring voice. Star Chaser gulped as he decided to move forward, trusting the Princess. Even if he was attacked, he was sure she’d protect him.

“What is your name?” Spike inquired as he brought his face closer to his, blowing on him with his nostrils.

“S-S-Star C-Chaser, s-sir,” He answered as he looked down, sweat rolling down his face. “I-I am P-Princess T-Twilight’s new student,”

“I see… her new pupil… Why are you so scared, then? I swear it looks like you’re about to faint!” Spike laughed as Star Chaser blushed in embarrassment, tearing up.

“That’s because you terrified him, you doofus!” Twilight scolded again as he smacked his muzzle with her right wing.

“Alright, alright! I’m sorry, okay? I won’t do it again. Although you can’t deny it’s funny,” Spike replied as Twilight shook her head in annoyance.

“This is Spike, Star Chaser. As you can see, he is a dragon. He has been my assistant and friend since I was only a filly. Unfortunately, even at his age, he’s still playing pranks on others. You two may enjoy each other’s company, who knows,” Twilight explained while smiling. “Anyway, if there is an issue and I am nowhere to be found, he’s the one you should seek out,” She added as Star Chaser nodded quietly.

“Bah, you shouldn’t listen to her! She’s honestly too stuck up lately! Nothing bad will happen anytime soon, so you should visit me whenever you want. A real old hag, am I right?” Spike asked playfully nudged the young unicorn with one of his claws. Star blushed yet again as he didn’t know what to answer.

“Spike!”

“Alright! I’m stopping now! I’m done! You’re not an old hag, but you must admit…” He started before Twilight huffed and turned her back on him.

“Well, it was nice that you two could meet… but now we have to go back to the castle! Follow me, Star. You should go home and rest. Tomorrow will be a long day,” Twilight said as she walked away before Star ran after her.

The dragon stayed behind, chuckling as the lights slowly disappeared, leaving him in the dark again.

That was the day Star Chaser became Twilight Sparkle’s student and met the dragon shielding Equestria from its foes. Which wasn’t hard for him since he was one of the oldest and strongest dragons known to ponykind. Due to his size, he had decided to leave the castle and Canterlot. He now lived in the dragon lands, but far from his own kind, appreciating the life he had without someone else’s company. The Princess had tried to convince him to go outside and befriend his fellow dragons, reminding him of how powerful friendship could be; however, he refused. And nobody ever knew why. Star Chaser, to Twilight’s surprise, regularly visited the dragon and quickly befriended him. It looked like they were building a good relationship, something Twilight was proud of. She knew she didn’t make a mistake by taking Star as her pupil. He studied a lot and was always successful when Twilight gave him tests.

He already had some friends, but had troubles in making new ones due to his timid nature. Years passed, and he became a teenager before Twilight even knew it. She was used to seeing them grow after all. His magic power and friend-making skills evolved at a very acceptable level. He still had a lot to learn, but he was undoubtedly on the right track. In fact, he was slightly better than she was at his age, which was very surprising. Only a few of her pupils throughout the years were this good, so she saw a great potential awaiting to be awakened.

Now as a teenager, he stood proudly on one of the castle’s balcony, looking at the city he grew in. Canterlot was large and was built by changing a mountain’s body to fit the whole city on its side. It had quite a few skyscrapers, some so high that they went through the clouds. He breathed out, feeling a weak gust of wind going through his mane. He suddenly remembered how much he had changed, and how much his parent praised him. All he ever wanted was to live his dreams and make them proud. He had doubted himself so many times through his journey; he had made several mistakes, but the Princess always reassured him.

“I’m sorry I made you wait, Star,” A voice called out behind him. He recognised immediately and turned around to look at Twilight Sparkle, his teacher, standing over him. He blushed so hard his face was all red as the Princess smiled, alright maybe he hadn’t changed that much. “Are you ready for your test?” She inquired.

“N-N-No worries! Let’s go! I feel like it’s g-going to be easy as pie!” He stuttered, his face red as ever.

Twilight’s smile didn’t drop as she walked away, and Star followed closely beside her. Soon enough, they came in the throne room, where there were no guards to be seen. Twilight wanted to be alone with her students when they had to pass a test. It was a private time where they needed to concentrate.

“S-So… Princess. What spell should I cast? I’ve studied all the ones you taught me, none of them has any secrets left for me!” He said with confidence.

“I am happy you are excited. Your task is simple: you must use the creation spell to build a computer and every single one of its components. I’ll give you a book referencing the most popular ones, and you will choose whichever you want to create,” Twilight explained as she summoned a thin book and placed it on the floor as Star’s colors were drained from his face. “I showed you this spell two months ago, if I remember correctly,”

“Y-Yes, I planned some training sessions with it a few times before, but… I have to be truthful with you… It’s the one I know the less. I’m sorry… I don’t know if I can do it…” He bit his lower lip as he looked away, feeling ashamed and embarrassed. The worst part was that he just admitted that to the Princess. He didn’t want to lose her trust; he wanted to make her proud. Although he made mistakes while learning her spells, he never failed one of her tests. However, could he really be blamed now? That was one of the hardest spells she showed him! It’s not like he could summon the items; he had to create them himself with his magic!

Seeing his distress and his shaking legs, Twilight gently patted his head, making him look at her with widened eyes. He felt her reassuring aura making him feel lighter as his heart skipped a beat.

“But you did train with it, didn't you? Then I trust you; I am sure you are capable of this. Just relax, and don’t be stressed. If it makes you feel any better, I believe in you. You are my student after all,” Twilight chuckled as she brushed as she ran her hoof through his mane once, then backed away. “I’ll be standing here; take all the time you need,”

Suddenly, Star breathed in and out, then puffed up his chest, feeling confident again. He lit his horns and levitated the book towards him. He quickly looked through it and stopped at one page. Twilight remained silent as her student read it for over a minute. When he was finally done, he closed it as a blue aura surrounded his horn. He closed his eyes, visualizing what he wanted to create. He stood, unmoving, several seconds with nothing happening. Twilight stared at him, looking expectantly at his attempt while she felt the air was getting heavier. It was barely noticeable, but she saw sweat rolling down his neck as he gritted his teeth. It looked like he was using all of his magic power. Suddenly, a single screw appeared out of thin air inside a ball of magic floating in the center of the room. Then, another screw and another. Suddenly, components started appearing one after another, each being a piece of what would be a computer.

Star’s legs were shaking in exhaustion as he started assembling all the pieces together. Soon enough, he did it! The computer was finally complete! Star smiled in relief as his magic aura disappeared, and dropped his creation. The stallion was about to fall too, due to his exhaustion; however, they were both caught in Twilight’s magic hold before being gently placed on the floor. The Princess took a quick look at the computer, inspecting everything was in order, then turned her head towards the young stallion.

“It looks like everything is good! Congratulations, Star! You did it!” Twilight congratulated as she helped her student stand up, using her wings.

“T-Thank you, Princess. I wouldn’t have done it without you,” Star Chaser rubbed the back of his neck.

“Nonsense! I just showed you the spell, and gave you some advices. The rest was all you! You look tired. I am not surprised; it is a hard spell to master. You deserve to rest a bit, go outside and enjoy your day,” Twilight smiled.

“I-I don’t need to! I’m fine! I wouldn’t mind spending the rest of the day with you, Princess!” Star said excitedly, hoping she would accept.

“You know I love to spend some time with a student. I like when we talk to each other, but I am still a Princess. I am really busy and don’t forget you must enjoy some time with your friends, too.” The Princess calmly answered as Star frowned in disappointment.“I’m sorry, I see you’re not happy with this... We can have a meal together tomorrow if you want, and you’ll tell me how your friendship lessons are moving forward,” She tried to comfort him.

“Yeah… We can do that. You’re right anyway; I have to meet up with my friends. I’d tell them I passed the test,” Star forced a smile as he left the throne room. His long walk out of the castle, and to his house was a walk of shame. He was glad he passed her test, but… He sighed. He should have known. After all, he was only a student and a friend… nothing more.

“Oh, dear, you’re back! So, how did the test go?” His mother, Heavy Cloudy, asked as he closed the door of their home.

“Great, I passed,” He replied with his head down as he walked upstairs.

“That boy… I really can’t understand what go through his head!” Cloudy mumbled as she returned to washing the plates.

Years passed yet again as Star Chaser devoted his time at improving his magic skills. He still spent time with his usual friends and Spike, but he preferred doing his best to be unbeatable when it came to magic. By the time he became an adult, his life changed to an extent he hadn’t expected. He was officially declared as one of the most experienced unicorns at magic (although he still hadn’t finished his apprenticeship with the Princess). And, unfortunately, his father died of old age. He was absolutely devastated when he heard the news; luckily, his friends and mentor were here to be at his side and comfort him. Of course, his teacher only would have been enough to bring his mood up, but they didn’t need to know that. Moreover, the guards respected him a lot while the citizens of Equestria admired him. Was this the result of being the Princess' student? Not that he was complaining!

Today was a new day! He nearly thought it would be a good one, until he saw dark clouds hide the sky above Equestria. Those clouds weren’t the ones you usually got during a storm. No… It was something far worse. He could feel an unspeakably evil magic. The very first thing he did when he saw them was to run to the Castle and ask the Princess about it. However, the instant he came outside, he saw several buildings burning down as ponies were running in fear. A second later, his mother came out of their house, too, and called him to follow her to safety. Of course, he couldn’t do that. He didn’t even answer her and ran to find the Princess and help her stop whatever was happening. However, before he could reach the castle, a pony-like creature made of shadows landed in front of him. He gasped, wondering what that thing was. He couldn’t ask himself any more questions as he heard screams coming from all the directions, he looked around and saw even more of these monsters attacking innocent ponies. Star gritted his teeth before dodging a kick from the creature in front of him. He had no effort to blast it to smoke with only one beam of magic. Just when he thought, beating them would be easy; the shadow he just blasted regenerated itself and came back to life. Star stepped back, getting slowly surrounded by other shadows.

Meanwhile, Twilight reduced all her opponents to dust the second they came close to her. She was flying over her castle, destroying every single monster coming from the sky. She had to hold back a groan as she saw more and more of them were coming. She knew the regular guards would be useless against them, and they would eventually be outnumbered! She glanced down and saw, with relief, that her student was holding his ground and successfully protecting the civilians. She was happy to see them cheering for him; however, it was obvious he wouldn’t be able to hold on for too long.

She had to discover the origin of these things quickly or else…

“Hahahaha! Looks like my little princess is in a difficult situation!” A voice boomed from the sky. Twilight widened her eyes.

“That laugh… That voice… I would recognise it anywhere! Show yourself!” She screamed. The voice laughed again as a familiar unicorn descended from the sky: King Sombra. His horn was redder than ever, his eyes were dark and emptied of any life. An eternal darkness filled them, and was enough to terrify anyone looking into his eyes. “How are you alive?! Speak or-”

“Your petty threats do not scare me, Princess. As long as my horn remains, I will come back! I have become much stronger since you and your friends defeated me! I am now able to create the little creatures you see there, they won’t be destroyed until I die. That’s too bad, isn’t it?” Sombra laughed as he floated in front of Twilight.

“You think you can win this, Sombra? My magic evolved, too,”

“That may be… But your alicorn magic is weak against darkness. That’s a secret only a few know, but I am pretty sure you are aware of that. My children are attacking all of Equestria as we speak, even the land of dragons to keep your friend for coming here. By taking control of Equestria, even Flurry’s magic won’t keep me from entering my kingdom!” Sombra explained as he shot a beam of dark magic at Twilight’s face; however, she easily blocked it.

“You leave me no choice, then,” She mumbled as she charged a ball of light at the tip of her horn. Unfortunately, she was interrupted when several creatures shot magic beams at her back. She noticed them in time to dodge and counter with a spell strong enough that it destroyed three of them.

Sombras smirked as he saw the Princess fight against his children. They kept regenerating and ganging up on her, trying to blast her to splinters. He knew it wouldn’t be that easy, but he surely wasn’t expecting her to resist that long; it looked like she had no difficulties to push them back. Let’s see how she would do when there'll be more of them…

Meanwhile, Star Chaser gritted his teeth as a dome of light surrounded him, then exploded outwards, blasting at least five of his enemies.

“There are too many of them, Star!” A mare shouted as she used her horn to throw a shadow creature against a wall. She had a pink mane and a light red coat. Rose Berry was one of Star’s closest friends. She wasn’t as good as him, but still knew how to defend herself.

“We don’t have any other choice than to fight. They keep multiplying. The whole city will be overrun if we don’t stop them!” Star shouted back while the Canterlot’s guards aided them in their fight.

A shadow creature jumped on a fleeing earth pony and raised its horn to take his life. However, before it could even light it, a beam of magic went through its chest, turning it to smoke.

“Run before it comes back!” He yelled at the earth pony who nodded in response before running away. “Let’s hold them off until everypony escapes!” He shouted at the other defenders. They all let out a war cry in reply as they clashed with Sombra’s forces.

Star looked in the sky, looking around in hopes of finding the Princess there. It was above the castle that he saw her battling a dark unicorn and a load of shadow creatures. Some of them were shielding the black unicorn with their own bodies!

“Princess!” He screamed as he ran towards the castle, blasting his way through the horde of enemies. He knew she was powerful, but he didn’t want to risk her losing. She was his teacher; he had to fight by her side!

Twilight glanced down as she heard someone called out to her. She had to suppress a breath of relief at seeing her pupil still alive, not that she doubted him of course. However, those creatures posed a threat even to her! Unfortunately, Sombra was right; they would soon overrun her... She cut through a dozen of enemies with one blade of magic, before flying towards Sombra to do the same to him.

“You won’t win that easily, Princess!” He laughed as a shadow creature jumped on Twilight’s back.

She grunted in pain, feeling it bite her flesh. She lit her horn to blast it away; however, even more of them came and grabbed onto her. She had to hold back a scream as her vision became completely dark, her body was lost among the black masses grabbing and biting her. Star paled at the sight, seeing everything from the ground below. She wasn’t even visible anymore! He had to do something or else she might... He glared at Sombra and lit his horn before shooting a huge blast of magic. The unicorn wasn’t paying enough attention, and was hit right in the chest. Seeing his screams of pain brought a small smile to Star’s face, and the hope of winning came to be in his mind.

“Leave her alone. You big black goo!” He shouted as Sombra glared at him.

“You must be her student, judging by your power. Good. I will destroy you, too!” Sombra shot a beam of dark magic.

Star Chaser countered it with one of his own beam, imitating the one Twilight taught him. Quickly enough, he was pushing Sombra’s attack back! Soon, he’d destroy whoever this unicorn was, and it would be just another regular day! The black unicorn gritted his teeth in frustration; he coudn’t be killed again! No way! He weakened his own attack to message a command to one of his shadow soldiers to come to his aid.

“Now, to finish this!” Star screamed as he pushed the last remnants of his magic in his attack, ready to overpower his enemy. However, he suddenly felt a burning pain on his side, then another and another! He canceled his attack as he looked around and saw multiple shadow monsters surrounding him… They must have shot him while he was distracted, he quickly deduced before being blasted from all sides. His mind went dizzy while all he could think about was the unimaginable pain he was going through, like his body’s insides were exploding!

Finally, after what seemed to be an endless wave of attack, he fell to the ground. His body was unmoving, not like he would be able to even if he wanted. His eyes were half-closed as he looked at the sky and saw all the shadow monsters attached to the Princess get blasted to smoke while eyes were glowing white. It seemed her anger had fueled her power, and she quickly disintegrated Sombra and his horn. Everything went into slow motion. As if time had slowed down, or was it just his imagination after getting his head blasted by magic? The monsters were slowly disappearing one after another as the Princess flew towards him. He almost thought she was an angel coming to take his soul. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.

Soon enough, even his friend and the other guards came as Twilight held him in her wings. It looked like she was speaking to him; her lips were moving, but he couldn’t hear a thing. What a shame… Couldn’t he get to hear her one last time? He would sigh if his lungs weren’t charred. He did try to speak, but didn’t even know if any sound came out of his mouth.

The Princess brought her face closer, maybe to try and hear him more clearly… or heal him? He didn’t think so; his body didn’t feel a thing. Suddenly, memories flashed in front of him. Memories of his childhood, of his friends… of his teacher… So that's how everything was going to end?! He would die just like that? Without even having the opportunity to confess anything?! How unfair was it?! He didn’t even get to finish his studies under the Princess! He… he didn’t want to die! He begged every deity there was, begged them for mercy. Begged to be left alive! At least long enough to say everything he wanted! To say his final words! He did try to scream them, to scream how he felt for the Princess! To scream how much he loved his mother and his friends! To tell them it was his own fault for getting killed like that, and they shouldn't feel guilty! However… he didn’t even know if he was talking, if anyone was hearing him… he… couldn’t even hear himself… Everything was going dark. The last remnants of light would be gone soon. He was scared… and was cold… What should he do? He asked himself as the very last thing he saw was the face of his teacher. And the lights never came back again.

Twilight gently placed the body of her dear student onto the ground as she let his mother cry on him. Twilight kept a straight face, empty of any emotion as the guards took off their helmet in a sign of respect.

“Princess! I have some bad news!” A pegasus guard shouted as he landed behind her; however, she didn’t turn around. The Princess remained silent for a few seconds.

“I just lost my student and several innocent citizens. Do you think your bad news are bad enough that you need to tell me about it, now?” She asked emotionlessly, still not turning around. The guard gulped, slightly intimidated.

“I-It’s the other princesses! We tried to call them like you ordered… but Princess Luna and Princess Celestia weren’t there!”

“Weren’t there? Did you check their retirement home? It’s on top of a small mountain. You couldn’t miss it. There’s only the two of them there,” Twilight inquired, her annoyance raising as she felt the reason they didn’t find them would be ridiculous again.

“The first thing we checked, but they were nowhere to be seen. We tried your magic tracking spell, but… there are no results! It’s as if… they just vanished away from Equus!”

“This is impossible,” Twilight shook her head, annoyance turning into worriness. “Is it Discord?” She looked at the guard.

“He’s still trapped in stone. His punishment isn’t over yet as you recall…”

“Of course I do! However, we can never be certain… Take some of your men with you. Look everywhere in Equestria, and don’t come back until you found them,” Twilight replied as the guard nodded, then flew away. The Princess needed to go in her chambers or else she just might go crazy. She glanced one last time at Star’s body, sighed and closed her eyes, then disappeared in a flash of light.
> Celestia
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

6897 years after Twilight’s coronation

“Thank you for coming, Princess. I didn’t know what to do anymore,”  Sweet Tooth said as she breathed in relief.

“You are welcome. You said it was something serious, and I always listen to the call of my subjects,” Twilight replied as she looked around.

She was in an orphanage, and talking to its director. She was called to this place because of a very special unicorn. Sweet Tooth didn’t tell her the details in her letter, but it seemed that one of the young foals was quite unique and hard to deal with.

“You see, we have a filly unicorn here since we found her in a basket in front of the entrance door. It was a year ago; it wasn’t the first time someone abandoned their foal in such a way; however, there wasn’t even a name attached to it. The problem started a few weeks ago… every night, she uses her magic in her sleep, and wreak havoc everywhere. She almost lifted the whole building one day!” Sweet explained as she led Twilight to the room where she put the young filly.

“I see… She must have too much magic for her body to handle, and it’s releasing it during night time. What is her name?” Twilight inquired in a serious tone. She saw many cases of the sort throughout the years. Some unicorns had a body far too weak to handle their own magic power. The worst case scenario was the complete destruction of their body.

“Well… She doesn’t have a name…” Sweet answered embarrassingly.

“Didn’t you give her one?” Twilight raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

“We tried, but she said she would only be called by the name her parents gave her. We don’t know it, and she doesn’t either!” Sweet replied.

“How are you the director of an orphanage when you are this bad at your job?” Twilight scolded, sighing in annoyance. Sweet looked down, undaring to talk back to her.

“We’re here… I’ll let you see her,” Sweet said as she pointed at the door at her side. Twilight lit her horn and opened the door with her magic aura.

The Princess glanced inside and saw a small filly with a purple coat and a small horn atop of her head. Her mane was dark pink. The filly dropped the puppet she was holding in her hooves before turning her around to look at the newcomer. She didn’t look intimidated in the slightest, which greatly surprised Twilight.

“Who are you, Lady?” The filly asked as the Princess slowly approached her.

Twilight stayed silent, then lit her horn. The filly stared at her in curiosity as the Princess kept a straight face. A couple of seconds later, her horn lost her light. Now she understood why the filly had these accidents while sleeping. It wasn’t just her body’s fault, her magic reserves were colossal! If she didn’t learn how to control her magic, she could explode the whole city. Who was this filly? Where did she even come from?

“I came to see you, Celestia,” Twilight answered as the filly raised an eyebrow.

“Celestia?”

“Isn’t that the name your parents gave you?”

“Is it?”

“Yes,”

“Oh,” The filly looked down in thought, unsure of what to say. Suddenly, she smiled. “I didn’t know! Thank you, Lady!” She thanked, smiling at the tall alicorn. Then, she walked around her, seeing that she a horn and wings. “You are so weird, Lady! You have wings, but you are a unicorn!”

“That’s because I am a Princess. My name is Twilight Sparkle,” The Princess replied, smiling.

“A princess? What do you do?” Celestia inquired as she sat down in front of the tall alicorn.

“I rule Equestria, mostly. And I teach magic to some lucky unicorns,”

“Magic?” Celestia tilted her head.

“Look,” Twilight replied as she lit her horn. Suddenly, a grey cube appeared out of thin air. Celestia stared at it in awe as it started changing forms, sometimes becoming a ball or even a triangle. “You can do a lot of things with magic. Sometimes, you can even fight the laws of nature. One learns magic to discover the world’s secrets, or even the ones inside themselves. Some would tell you it’s a path to power and supremacy, but they’re wrong. It’s used to bring ponies together,” Twilight explained as the cube slowly turned to dust.

“This was great! Do it again!” Celestia shouted as she bounced up and down.

“I can teach you if you want,” The Princess offered, stopping Celestia in her bouncing. SHe stared at Twilight in surprise.

“Really?” She asked as the alicorn nodded in reply. “I want to! I want to! Please, teach me, Princess!”

“Then come with me,” Twilight replied as she walked out of the room. She threw a quick look at Sweet Tooth. “Prepare the required papers. I am taking her with me,” She said before walking away, not even listening to the director’s reply.

“A-As you wish, Princess!” Sweet stuttered as she followed behind the two.

This was the first time Twilight and her new student, Celestia, ever met. The princess quickly realised the young filly had a gift for magic. Not only was she strong, she also had an incredible talent to learn easily everything Twilight taught her. She was someone the Princess would call a prodigy. She had a great time teaching her; however, she didn’t only teach her spells. She also had to take care of her since Celestia didn’t have any family; she lived in the castle and sleeped with the Princess for the first three years. They spent much time together, which pleased the both of them. However, no matter how much Twilight loved her student and appreciated teaching her, she couldn’t neglect her flaws. As time passed, she quickly realised Celestia wasn’t the friend-making type of pony. In fact, she wasn’t interested in making friends at all, and preferred learning spells with Twilight. Even after all those years, Twilight still gave great meaning to the magic of friendship. She still considered that no matter how many spells she learned and created; it would never surpass that magic.

“You have successfully mastered this spell, and in such a short time at that. I am impressed,” Twilight congratulated Celestia, who was standing proudly in front of her. It had been five years since Twilight picked her from the orphanage. Her magic abilities had greatly evolved.

“Of course, I did! I’m the best!” Celestia bragged, smiling smugly.

“You still have a lot to learn,” Twilight replied in an emotionless tone while Celestia frowned. “What about friends? Did you meet anypony yesterday?”

“Yeah… I tried doing what you said… but I came back home super quickly! I don’t want friends! I want to learn magic!” She answered, already having enough of hearing this question.

“Please, listen to me… I told you that friends were a big part of learning magic,” Twilight reasoned with her while the filly pouted. “Alright, if you try, really try, making friends again today; I will buy you an ice cream. And I won’t bother you with this for at least another month. What do you say?” She offered with a smile as Celestia stopped pouting and thought about it.

“It’s a deal!” Celestia exclaimed as she hugged Twilight’s leg.

“You planned this to have an ice cream, didn’t you?” Twilight smiled as her pupil giggled proudly. The Princess playfully rolled her eyes. She should have seen it coming, then again, a deal’s a deal!

She was disappointed Celestia didn’t make any efforts to even try making new friends, but she couldn’t stay mad at her too long. It had been like that since she took her in the castle. The two of them used to spend all their time together, even when Twilight had important reunions. It was clear the filly loved their time together, and for once in her life, Twilight didn’t just teach magic and friendship. She taught her how to dance, and even cook! It was a relationship the Princess never had before with one of her students, or any pony for that matter. To raise someone… To teach them about life.

“And that’s how you make a cake,” Twilight said as she placed the cake on the kitchen table, using her magic. Celestia, still a filly, stared at it in awe.

“It looks great!” She drooled. It was a strawberry cake, pink and white, and with strawberries placed in circle on its top.

“Well, I had a few millennia to learn,” The Princess replied with a small smile.

“I wish learning to bake one would be less boring, though,” She added as Twilight blinked.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You’re always so serious, Princess! And the way you bake isn’t fun at all. I thought you would-” The filly started before Twilight suddenly interrupted her by placing her hoof on her shoulder.

“I think there’s something wrong with the cake. Why don’t you take a look, so I can see if you learned well?” Twilight offered as Celestia hesitantly nodded. The filly walked close to it and climbed on a nearby chair before leaning her head down. However, she couldn’t see anything wrong with it. It still looked great! Suddenly, the cake was surrounded by a lavender aura, and before the filly could even react; it flew right into her face! She screamed in surprise as she fell onto the floor, cake dripping from her mane.

“So… I am boring, right?” Twilight laughed while the filly pouted for a couple of seconds, then giggled, joining the Princess in her laughter.

It was obvious Celestia wasn’t interested in making friends; however, she did become close to Spike. It reassured Twilight greatly to know the filly still had the potential to learn the magic of friendship. Moreover, it had been a long time since Spike had any company at all. Even though, that huge bag of scales wouldn’t admit it; he liked her. Maybe she reminded him of some friends he had in the past?

“Are you sure Twilight authorized you to do this? You didn’t just use the portal spell while she had her back turned, did you?” Spike inquired as he glanced at Celestia with the corner of his eyes. She was sitting on his colossal back while he was flying high in the sky, even higher than some clouds.

“Of course not! She wanted me to have some fun! Go faster!” She replied excitedly as she felt the air flowing through her mane.

“I’m not sure; it seems quite dangerous. You might fall off and I won’t even notice! That’s why I doubt it was Twilight’s idea,” Spike grumbled, loud enough for the filly to hear.

“Aren’t you her closest friend? I remember her saying you are the most trustworthy friend she knows. That means she trust you, so she’s sure you won’t let anything bad happening to me,” Celestia retorted as Spike remained silent, thinking about it. “Now, do a loop!”

“I guess you are right… I can’t argue with that! I’ll go faster, but no loops!” He answered as he flapped his wings harder.

Celestia clapped with her front hooves as she held to Spike’s scales with her magic. She looked around her, admiring the setting sun, shining above the clouds and bathing them with its light. She got to see the beautiful planes below; nature at its finest. There were no pony constructions; and even the people living down there weren’t ponies! All sorts of creatures; kirins, sea snakes, minotaurs…

“It’s so pretty…” Celestia mumbled in awe.

“Now you know why races with wings totally rule,” Spike said as Celestia widened her eyes in surprise. She wasn’t expecting him to hear through all this wind! “I must thank you. Even I forgot the feeling of flying freely in the sky. I’ve been on the ground for so long…”

“You’re so lucky! I wish I could fly, too!” Celestia pouted.

“Maybe you will; who knows? But for now, I will humbly accept to be your mount,” Spike replied playfully as Celestia giggled.

“Do the Princess fly with you sometimes?”

“Nah… She’s far too busy nowadays. You’re lucky she can even spend so much time with you,”

“I thought she wouldn’t want miss this sight, but I guess she prefers using her horn rather than her wings,” Celestia thought out loud.

“She did have a friend she used to fly a lot with,” Spike said in melancholy as he thought of the past.

“Again with the friend thing… Friends are so boring! I don’t understand why the Princess bothers me so much with it! I’d rather learn cool spells! Fighting bad guys looks much funnier!” The filly complained.

“Believe me, she’s doing it for your own good. Being alone is… She wouldn’t want you to know how it feels,” Spike reasoned with her as the filly pouted in annoyance. “Besides, I thought like you before; that fighting villains and all that is cool. However, it’s not so easy. I’d rather fight to protect my friends than fight to hurt others,”

“There’s a difference?” Celestia raised an eyebrow.

“A key difference… But I guess you’re still too young to see it. Don’t be too harsh on Twilight; she’s doing her best for you to be happy, alright?” He asked as the filly looked away, refusing to reply. “I guess it’s enough for now. I’ll get you down, so you can go back home,”

Celestia sighed, of course even Spike wouldn’t understand. It was obvious he would be on Twilight’s side. Yes, maybe she was throwing too many tantrums lately, but that didn’t mean she was in the wrong! Not having friends and focusing on learning magic was her choice! It was what she wanted to do! She had been alone as far as she could remember, but there always that feeling of someone standing by her side… She felt that presence growing even stronger ever since the Princess took her under her wing. It was strange, but she felt like that presence was magic itself! Was it the only one she could rely on? No… This was pure nonsense! Magic wasn’t a living being! How could it? Spike finally landed on the ground, where the portal to the castle was still open. The filly glanced one final time at the dragon, then entered it.

Several years later, Twilight was walking in circle in her throne room, where stood three containers, each filled with something. Rocks, water, and fire. The Princess sighed in annoyance as her impatience grew with each step she took. Her student was late, yet again. It happened a lot lately, and she didn’t have any good reasons. Her insolence was visible even to the most oblivious guards. Twilight felt like she was the only one to blame; she wasn’t harsh enough on her pupil, and her accomplishments made her arrogant. She must had thought she was so good she didn’t need to be in time for her lessons and test. How wrong she was… Twilight was planning to scold her as soon as she got there!

Suddenly, the doors of the room opened, surrounded by a magic hold the Princess quickly recognised. Celestia, her student, entered the room, looking bored. She had grown a lot since Twilight took her in; she was slowly becoming a real mare. Her mane was long and a mess, unlike one of the Princess’ past friends, she didn’t take care of her appearance that much. However, Twilight also noticed several bruises covering her body. The Princess narrowed her eyes and frowned.

“Where have you been?” She asked coldly, expecting a good justification.

“Outside, it’s obvious, isn’t it?” Celestia sighed as she looked away.

“Please. Don’t play that game with me, Celestia. You’re late; where were you?” Twilight stomped the floor in annoyance.

“I was outside, okay? I just went for a walk around the city. Just because I love magic doesn’t mean I also like being trapped in here,” Celestia answered as she flipped her mane behind her when they got in her face.

“I’m not saying you should be trapped here. You know well enough I’ve always told you to go out and meet new ponies. However, the issue here is that you are late for a test,” Twilight replied as Celestia rolled her eyes.

“I don’t need a test; I already know I am the best. I’ll ace it anyway!”

“Were you in a fight?” Twilight narrowed her eyes.

“I… No!” She stuttered; however, the Princess kept frowning at her. Celestia knew very well she couldn’t lie to her. “Alright… Yes, I was,”

“How can you…”

“It was just random guys! They wanted a drink with me, and I said no. I didn’t want to repeat it a second time,”

“They wanted a drink? Just because they didn’t want to drop it didn’t mean you could beat them up!”

“That’s what I’ve been doing from the start! Beating up bad guys! That’s what magic is for!” Celestia gritted her teeth.

Twilight shook her head. “No… I told you, ponies should only use magic for peace… not for respect, fear or just for your own ego! That’s the first lesson I’ve ever taught you, and you still haven’t learned it,” She explained, before calming herself. “We’ll talk about this later. You still have a test to do. You must use the elements of nature here to build something as detailed and sturdy as possible,” Twilight pointed at the containers.

Celestia stepped forward and lit her horn as her magic aura surrounded the containers. Twilight watched with a stern look as Celestia easily manipulated the elements, slowly shaping them into something. The Princess couldn’t deny it, the way she was doing it was nearly perfect. She had no difficulty at all… like it was a gift. Soon enough, it was over. Celestia had built a statue of herself, fire burning at the tip of her statue’s horn, and water leaking out of her mouth to the floor of the throne room. Twilight inspected it; everything on this statue was the same as Celestia’s body. She hadn’t missed any detail… The Princess wanted to praise her, tell her how proud of she was… but it was impossible. How could she praise her when she had done nothing but disobey her the entire day, when she got into a fight and most likely sent ponies to the hospital or worse?

Celestia smirked in pride at her own creation. That was why she was the Princess’ student; there was no unicorn better than her at magic. It was obvious, of course. That should have been enough to shut the Princess up, and get her off her back. However, Twilight didn’t look proud or amazed; she was frowning, glaring at her very soul. Celestia gritted her teeth; what was wrong now?!

“It’s not bad… You did well, but it could be better. Looks like fighting your fellow ponies isn’t enough to make you a good pupil. Go into your room. You are grounded,” Twilight said.

“What?! Are you serious? I’m 19! I’m not a foal you can ground anymore! A-And why would you, now? What did I do wrong?” Celestia complained.

“If you can’t even see what you did wrong, then you should think about it. You’ll have plenty of time, after all,” Twilight replied coldly.

Celestia glared at her mentor, but quickly looked away, knowing no glares could make the Princess back down. She turned around and walked to her room. As much as she hated it, Twilight had much more authority and power than her; she didn’t have any other choice but to obey the alicorn. As soon as she came in, she locked the door in anger, and hoping nobody would come in for the rest of the day. Although she was sure the Princess would be able to enter if she wanted to.

“You should think about it…” Celestia muttered as she closed the curtains of her windows, not letting any sunlight come through it. “We both know I am not going to think about it. I know I was right! She’s the most powerful pony in the world; she should understand how I feel!” She yelled. She didn’t even know who she was talking to, but she felt like she needed to get all her thoughts out. She wished someone would be here to listen to them, and be on her side. Twilight kept scolding her every time she fought another pony with her magic. She could admit she was too violent sometimes, but it always was for a good reason. It was to improve herself, to become someone as strong as Twilight Sparkle! However, that same pony kept giving her useless advices and instructions! “As if she had any friends either! She doesn’t talk to anypony else than her pet dragon!” She groaned, thinking about Spike’s protectiveness. Why would Twilight restrict so much of her potential? Why would she fill her head with those useless values if it didn’t do anything to improve her use of magic?

She lied down on her bed, and lit her horn, levitating a book towards her. On its cover was written “Equestrian History, Pt 5”. She was supposed to read it months ago, but quickly understood it was useless to her lessons about magic. Who cared about old and dead ponies, right?

Meanwhile, Twilight went back to her chambers. She needed to think about her student. The more the time passed, the more she looked like a lost cause. She already had a few students with friendship problems, but Celestia was on another level. She didn’t have difficulties making friends, she just hated the idea of even trying! She couldn’t control her behavior, and she hated having to be cold and harsh on her… but it seemed to be the only way to talk to her. To make her listen… She tried the soft way, it didn’t work. And now the hard one didn’t either! She walked around her room in thought… Should she strip her of her title of Princess’ student? It was a hard decision she only rarely had to think about, but it seemed more and more obvious Celestia wouldn’t have what is needed for her to become a princess one day.

Suddenly, she stopped in front of a picture frame, a picture of herself and her pupil. As she looked around, there were several more, dating back to when Celestia was only a filly. All of the pictures also included her… She wanted to make her feel like she had a family, that she wasn’t just an unwanted orphan, but it also ended up giving her the feeling of bringing back a family lost long ago. She looked… really happy. Twilight knew it; that mare didn’t have a bad heart. It must have been due to her own fault that she ended becoming like this: arrogant and cold. That was never the Princess’ wish, but she couldn’t change the fact it happened. And she couldn’t punish her because of her own mistake.

If only her mentor, her Celestia, was there… she would know what to do. Maybe she should try the soft way again. However, she would need some advice first! She lit her horn and closed her eyes, concentrating on her spell. A couple of seconds later, a lavender mirror-like plate of magic appeared in front of her face. She finally opened her eyes when she heard soft groans.

“Um? W-Who is this? I’m taking a nap, so be quick!” He groaned as an image appeared in magic mirror. It was Spike; however, only his beard had grown, and not his body. He didn’t only look sleepy, but grumpy as well.

“It’s Twilight, Spike. I hope I’m not bothering you,” Just as she said that, his face lit up immediately as he smiled and raised his head to look at the magic mirror.

“Twilight! I didn’t know it was you! Of course, you aren’t. I was just sleeping, nothing too serious,” Spike answered as he tried to rise a bit higher, and sit in a comfortable position; however, he quickly dropped down again while groaning in pain. “That backbone again! It’s killing me!” He complained as he dug his claws in the ground.

“I’d say you should rest, but you’ve been doing that since the past 500 years,” Twilight chuckled as Spike groaned in response, not amused.

“So… what are you calling for?”

“It’s about Celestia,”

“The teacher or the student?”

“The student”

“Not again! What’s the issue now?” Spike inquired in annoyance.

“I don’t know what to do anymore… I think I should find somepony else as my pupil,” Twilight answered, making the dragon widen his eyes.

“Okay, this is serious now. What exactly happened?”

“She got into a fight, again. It looks like she doesn’t listen to anything I tell her to do. She can’t talk to other ponies without belittling them. She’s selfish and self-centered, and on top of that; I’ve never even seen her defend or protect anypony! Even when the escapees from Tartarus attacked Equestria one year ago!”

“Calm down… She’s a teenager! You know how they are at this age… Insane,” Spike shivered, bringing back memories.

“You know as well as I do that this isn’t the only reason…” Twilight sighed. “You know she was an orphan, she never knew what it was like to have parents. And I’ve never had foals or orphans as students before… I don’t know how to deal with this… I’m not fit to be a parent, I never was,”

“Twilight, this is ridiculous! You and your mother took care of me when I was only a hatchling! I turned out to be good, great even! I promise you, you are not at fault here. If anything, you’re the closest thing she has as the best mother in Equestria,” Spike tried to reason with the alicorn Princess; however, she still looked uncertain and ashamed. “Did you try talking to your friends? What were their names again? The ones who have foals,”

“Roseberry and Candy Crush,’ Twilight answered as the dragon nodded.

“Right. They have two foals each, if I remember correctly from what you told me. That’s quite an amount if put together, they should know how to deal with this. Did you try asking them? I am sure they would counsel you best,” Spike assured.

“I don’t know. I don’t want to bother them with this… Just tell me what you would do, then I’ll make a decision,” Twilight replied as Spike shook his head, but did as she asked anyway.

“Give her another chance, as many as you can. Just… don’t give up on her or she’ll hate you. Nobody wants to be abandoned after all. Like I said, it’s just a phase and she’ll get over it. Show her you care about her or something. You said she didn’t want to make friends since she thought they were useless. The prove her wrong by becoming her very first friend. That worked with quite a lot of villains, didn’t it? So why wouldn't it with her? Trust me on this. Besides, I also saw it in a comic a few years ago. Works every time,” Spike chuckled as Twilight cracked a smile.

“Alright, I’ll do my best. Thank you, Spike,”

“Anytime,” He replied as the mirror shut down and Twilight’s horn’s light was turned off. She walked out of her room and went towards Celestia’s, hoping she wouldn’t make things worse. When she was finally in front of her door, she knocked and waited for a response.

“Who is it?” Celestia’s voice inquired.

“It’s me; I have to talk with you, can I come in?”

“I thought you already said everything you had to. Shouldn’t I be thinking about my behavior?” Celestia spat, keeping the door closed.

“I promise you, I am not here to scold you again. I just want to talk, please,”

“You could come in any way you like… What’s even the point of asking me?” Celestia asked in annoyance.

“Because I want your authorization first,” Twilight replied.

She waited a couple of seconds in silence when she suddenly heard the door being unlocked. She lit her horn and opened it before coming in. Celestia was lying in her bed, staring at the ceiling while a book, that Twilight couldn’t see the cover of, was resting on her belly.

“Listen… I wanted to apologize earlier. What you did at your test was wonderful, and I should have congratulated you for it,” She explained while Celestia looked at her in surprise. “However, what you did outside was still wrong,” The unicorn stood up and walked to Twilight.

“I told you my reasons,”

“You did, and I think there was a better way to deal with this… I don’t know why you are so stubborn to be like this, but if it’s my fault, then I am sorry. I… I want to do what’s best for you. If you really don’t want friends, then I won’t force you. Just… become a powerful unicorn, like you wanted to. I heard you wanted to fight bad guys… then if you are Equestria’s hero, that's fine with me,” Twilight explained as Celestia looked surprised, and uncertain of what to say. She stuttered, trying to say something; however, the Princess only wrapped her wings around her. “I admit I never say it, but I am proud of the progress you made in magic. You’ve evolved so much…” Twilight whispered while Celestia rested her head in her chest, her anger fading as she was in the Princess’ warm embrace. How was she supposed to react to that? “I’ve decided you’ll be grounded for only two more hours, but promise me you won’t get in a fight with innocent ponies ever again,”

Celestia looked away, unsure of what to answer, then sighed. “I promise,” She replied as Twilight unwrapped her wings.

“I’m pleased we could talk things out, and… I apologize if I was hard on you; I’ll be as honest as possible from now on,” Twilight added as Celestia nodded in response. The princess turned around, ready to leave. She was happy that things didn’t get too out of hand; she would need Celestia after all, and it would have been bad enough if she became uncontrollable.

“Wait!” Twilight stopped in her tracks as she heard Celestia calling her just before she could leave. “I wanted to ask you something… It’s about my apprenticeship. What will happen when it’s over?” Celestia inquired, staring into Twilight’s very soul while the Princess turned her head to glance at her.

“You… You will see. Nothing really special,” She replied before leaving the room, not even leaving Celestia any time to say or ask more.

The young unicorn looked troubled, then stared at the book she was reading a few seconds earlier. Finally, she sighed and climbed back into her bed. Was the princess really telling the truth? Was she lying? And if so, why? She wasn’t sure anymore. That book was old anyway, so it could be outdated, which would explain why the princess answered her like that.

However, what if it wasn’t? What if the princess was lying to her, to keep her from asking for more. To keep her from rebelling. She looked mad earlier, but she was now suddenly apologising? Why would she change her mind? Celestia already knew why the princess took her under her wing.

It was because her own power could destroy her body. The princess taught her magic to protect her! They spent years together, and she was sure the alicorn loved her!

But how could be sure of that? She was always treated as a regular student. Moreover, being taught by the princess also meant she was basically under her control. She might have seen her potential, and wanted her as a powerful warrior fighting for Equestria?

That sounded silly!

… But the princess always looked so… disappointed when looking at her. What had she done wrong? She had better magic control than anyone else!

“What am I thinking? This is ridiculous! I know I can be a bit... rebellious… but the princess wouldn’t manipulate me!” Celestia thought as she chuckled, before rolling over on her other side as doubt suddenly clouded her mind. “However, she did behave very strangely towards you these past years...  And she did seem to lie to you a few times already,” She thought to herself.

She guessed it wouldn’t hurt to check and make sure she wasn’t crazy or something. But how could she do that? Asking the princess directly was out of question, of course! If she remembered correctly… the three guys she beat up earlier were talking about a new fortune teller in the city. A seer which seemed to be quite accurate. She never believed in such things, but something told her she should go and see for herself.

She didn’t even know what she was thinking! As soon as she could, she went out of the castle and walked deep into Canterlot. They said the seer had a tent in the peasants’ area. She rarely went there since it was below her, but it wasn’t like she had a choice now. It didn’t take her long, and it was easier than she thought it would be, but she found what she was looking for only a hour later. Then again, a tent in a city like Canterlot was hard to miss.

When Celestia took a look at the outside, she saw nothing out of the extraordinary. Although, the tent’s appearance quite chaotic; it was black, blue, green, pink and even purple! All the colors looked like they were placed randomly. Celestia doubted this seer’s abilities even more… She wouldn’t be surprised if they were a crook and a fraud.

When she came in, she was surprised to see that the seer was unlike what she thought they would look. For a start, it was a stallion, and he didn’t wear any kind of robe to somewhat conceal his identity. He didn’t seem to want to look mysterious. He had a gray coat and a blue horn, which was quite unusual. His horn wasn’t even pointing straight. Celestia looked at him with pity, because of his poor looks, but tried to act normal as she came closer.

“I have been expecting you,” He said as he smirked. That was Celestia’s cue to leave, that cliche line. However, just like when something called here, it now kept her inside. A strange feeling deep inside her stomach. “Come in, Celestia. You have nothing to fear,” He added smoothly as a crystal ball appeared out of thin air on his round table.

Celestia looked around, then decided to come closer. Although, she refused to sit on the chair for her.

“Just to make sure you have any kind of real abilities… Do you know why I am here?” Celestia inquired as she narrowed her eyes.

“To learn about your future,” The seer snickered while the mare simply glared at him. “You’re not the joke type, are you? Anyway, you have many doubts on your relationship with the princess. You think something could be amiss…”

Celestia leaned down, surprised that he guessed it, but still unsure if he was the real deal or not.

“You read quite an interesting book earlier today. About Equestria’s history,”

“H-How did you know?!”

“Oh, I know a lot of things!” The seer laughed while the mare kept a shocked expression. “You are worried because the princess didn’t tell you that she was born a unicorn. And because, she didn’t tell you that the personal student of an alicorn, if all the tests they passed, they should become an alicorn, too,”

“That’s right! Y-You got everything right! Princess Twilight never talked to me about this! I mean… considering my level now; she should be getting me ready to turn me into an alicorn, shouldn’t she? I learn every spell faster than any unicorn; I’m the very best there is! The princess knows it, too! But still… I don’t know what’s going through her head…”

“But do you know what’s going through yours?” The seer inquired, suddenly getting serious.

“W-What? What do you mean?”

“That voice at the back of your head… The one that keeps talking to you. You should listen to it more often,” He answered before snickering.

“How do you know so much...?” Celestia whispered with a fearful gaze, before shaking her head. “Do you… Do you know who my real parents were?”

“I was waiting for that question… Anypony in your situation would want to know, wouldn’t they? I… do know who they are,” He answered as Celestia widened her eyes. “But it doesn’t matter,”

“I don’t care! Tell me!”

“Stop behaving like a spoiled brat and listen for once,” He replied, which made her shut up. Mainly because she wasn’t expecting him to talk to her like that. He shot a bolt of magic at the crystal ball. And a few seconds later, a green smoke danced inside. “Knowing their identity wouldn’t change a thing. I can see it; your future. And it is not bright. You will die, and never become an alicorn. In a mere thousand years, the world would forget you ever existed,”

“That’s impossible,” She stated without a doubt in her voice.

“It’s not. You will never meet the princess’ standards to become an alicorn. However, there is still a way for you to change that future. I can tell you about it, or you can choose to ignore the words of a fool and get out of here. But the future may not change if you do this…”

“... Tell me. And quick,”

“Deep within Twilight’s personal library lies a forbidden section. She is the one that created all the spells there. They are dark and powerful, but there is only one you need to learn. That little voice in this head of yours will tell you which one it is,”

“How can I trust you?” Celestia asked with an eyebrow raised.

“You can’t, but I never tell lies to the pony I like! Let’s just say I’m a fan of yours, so you don’t need to pay,” He answered before laughing. “I’m sure you know which path you should take,”

Celestia didn’t give any answer and simply turned her back on him as she walked out of his tent. He was right; she did know which path to take. She had always known. However, waiting could be quite helpful, too. She still trusted the princess to make the right decision.

30 years later

“How was that, Princess?” Celestia inquired smugly as crops suddenly grew out of a patch of dirt the guards had placed here.

“It was good,” Twilight simply answered as she looked lost in thought. “Listen… I have something to tell you… You will be working with another unicorn; a young filly I chose as my student,”

“Huh? I-I don’t understand. I am your student… Did I complete my apprenticeship?” Celestia asked in disbelief.

“You are a wonderful unicorn, and your talent in magic is very impressive. However, it’s not over yet. You still had much to learn,” Twilight explained.

“Then you can’t have two students! It doesn’t work that way! I don’t get it…”

“You’ve been my student for a long time, and you gave impressive results. I think it’s time I look for a new one. And to be clear, I am not replacing you. She will be learning alongside you, and you will teach her, too. Think of her as a… friend,” Twilight replied.

“Well it feels like it! When is my apprenticeship over?! Hearing you talk about how long I’ve been your student makes me wonder if there is even an end to it!”

“Celestia, please, don’t do this today. Not again. I don’t have time for this. You’re getting a partner and that’s final,”

“You don’t have time? Stop it with that bullcrap! What do you do all day except sitting in a throne?!” Celestia shouted angrily.

“Celestia, the friendship celebration is coming up and we have a murderer on the loose! I can’t listen to your usual complaining, not at such a time!” Twilight snapped back, breaking her impassive demeanor. “The lesson’s over…” She added, trying to calm down. “You have a lot to think about. And I hope you change your tone when I see you again,” She said as she walked out of the throne room.

Celestia narrowed her eyes and clenched her teeth in rage.

“You knew it would happen, didn’t you? It’s time to take action,” Celestia thought as her horn glowed. “This is the last time you will ever talk to me like that,” She muttered as she teleported away.

Twilight and Celestia’s lives hadn’t changed much in 30 years. However, their relationship worsened. Twilight had always been patient, but Celestia had a gift to constantly bring her to her limits. The student hadn’t made any progress in the path of friendship, and Twilight doubted she ever would. She still had some hope her new student would befriend her, of course. However, if nothing changed, she’d have no choice but to tell Celestia her apprenticeship is over, and that she failed. The unicorn actually pestered from time to time to know when she would become an alicorn. The princess never gave a straight answer. And she couldn’t tell her she may be worthy by finding friends, being loyal and honest. She had to figure it out for herself.

Twilight hoped she would at least manage to fix their relationship. Unfortunately, Celestia didn’t show up the next day.

It was only two days after their little argument that Twilight started getting really worried. She trusted her student and knew she would be able to defend herself if need be; however, that was too much time without any news of her. She feared she may had been too harsh on her, making her resentful. She was just about to call Spike and ask him if he knew anything when the doors of the throne room burst open without any warning, forcing Twilight to shield her eyes with her right wing. She also quickly lit her horn, ready for a fight. However, the glow died down when she saw who entered the room.

“Celestia?” The princess inquired in disbelief as the unicorn came in with a smug face. Behind her, the bodies of two guards dropped on the floor. “What is the meaning of this?”

“I’ve had enough of your stupid assignments, I’m ready. Make me an alicorn!”

“I already told you. You don’t have what it takes. Now, calm down and let’s…”

“I don’t have what it takes, do I? Then, how about I show you what I can do,” She replied as she lit her horn.

Twilight raised an eyebrow, before having to keep her balance as the floor suddenly started shaking. She heard crumbling, and several cries coming from outside. She didn’t waste any time and looked through a window. She could only widen her eyes as she realised what was Celestia doing. She managed to lift the entire castle!

“I’m only using a fraction of my magic. I don’t want to sound cocky, but I’m pretty sure I’ve become the most powerful unicorn in history!” She smiled smugly.

“I know you are a prodigy, but you shouldn’t be able to this so easily. How did you get so strong?” Twilight asked coldly.

“It doesn’t matter. I have the abilities to be a good princess, so just turn me already!” Celestia replied, getting impatient.

“Answer me!”

Celestia sighed, suddenly calming down.

“I really tried to make this easy. But since I’ve got no other choice but to force you to make me an alicorn; I guess I can tell you how I became so strong,” Celestia started, widening Twilight’s eyes. “I’ve looked through your book of forbidden spells and learned to steal another creature’s magic,”

“No… Please, tell me you didn’t do this… I made a mistake when I created that spell; it’s dangerous for everypony involved, even the caster!” Twilight explained worriedly.

“I didn’t only learn it; I perfected it! The only thing it leaves behind after I’ve absorbed magic is a corpse!”

“The murdered ponies…” Twilight started in shock, afraid of the realisation she came to.

“Yeah, I’m the one who did it. But they won’t be missed. They weren’t innocent. They were scum. Trash that doesn’t belong in my world,” She explained with a grin.

“You can’t harm ponies; not like that. Even if they commited crimes…” Twilight muttered with shaking lips.

“That’s why I’ll be more fit to rule than you, Princess. You and I were born different, you know it. We’ve always been better than the common ponies. We have to crush those beneath us, and enforce our rule! But… you are a loving ruler, and because of that you are too forgiving,” Celestia explained. “When I’ll be in charge, I’ll make Equestria powerful; and there will be peace and order throughout all the lands. I bet you regret not letting me die when you had the chance,” She snickered while the princess looked down.

Twilight didn’t know what to say or do. A billion questions swarmed her mind: Who put these ideas into her student’s head? Where had she gone wrong? And so on… She even had to keep her balance to avoid falling on her knees as her vision spun around. She had to reason with her. Or else she might do something she would truly regret.

“No,” She finally managed to get out of her mouth. “I never regretted taking you with me. And even now, I don’t. The memories I had of raising you were the best I had in centuries. I’m sorry if I failed you in any way. Stop this madness,”

Celestia stepped back and looked down, feeling unsure and conflicted. Then, she looked at Twilight’s face. The princess looked ready to break down from where the unicorn stood.

“No. No, I won’t. I admit you gave me everything; a name, a life, power, a home and even more. When I’ll take your magic, I’ll make sure Equestria remembers you.” She started calmly. “But what I want more than anything is to be an alicorn! You really think I’d accept living a few decades, only to die and be forgotten like all the other rats living in Equestria?!” She snarled in anger.

“You won’t be forgotten,” Twilight tried to reason with her while speaking in a soft tone.

“Yeah, right! What a joke! Who the fuck remembers any of your student?!” She snapped as she stepped on the floor.

“Me,”

“What?”

“I’ve never forgotten any of them. They all live in my heart, just like my friends,” Twilight explained.

Celestia widened her eyes as a look of surprise painted her face; however, she suddenly guffawed, which turned into loud laughter.

“I didn’t know you were so funny, princess,” She said as she wiped a tear off her face. “You really think I’d settle being in you heart, old hag?! Save the friendship speech for another idiot of the common ponies! Now enough talking! It’s time to meet your doom!” Celestia shouted as she lit her horn and shot a huge beam of magic.

Twilight created a dome shield around her, just in time to protect herself. The attack wasn’t very hard to block; however, the princess could clearly feel it held much more power than a regular unicorn. She still thought she could talk to her student, but it look more and more difficult at time passed. When the attack seemed to be finally over, the dome disappeared. The beam seemed to have left a huge hole in the castle’s walls, but apart from that, there were no damages.

“As expected, you blocked that. That was only a glimpse of my abilities! I’ll use every spell you taught me, against you!” She grinned as she lit her horn again. Her body started levitating in the air, and soon after, multiple clones of herself appeared around Twilight.

“Please, Celestia. I don’t want to hurt you!”

“Shut up, and fight me! Coward!” The student replied as she, and her clones, all shot beams of magic.

The explosion and the dust cloud it left made the princess disappear while the walls of the castle trembled, ready to collapse on themselves. Celestia still smiled smugly as the dust slowly vanished. However, to her surprise, the alicorn wasn’t there anymore. She quickly moved her head up, realising where she could have gone, but it was too late. 

Twilight had used her wings and flew above Celestia and her clones, avoiding her blasts. Her horn glowed in a bright lavender color and multiple purple blades erupted out of it, impaling every clone in the room; and cutting Celestia’s right cheek, drawing blood. The unicorn let out a small cry of surprise.

“Y-You missed! That was your last mistake!”

“You know I didn’t miss, Celestia. This was a warning shot. Stop this, or else,” Twilight warned as her horn glowed again.

“Arrogant bitch…” Celestia grumbled under her breath. “I’m not done yet. I have a lot of magic left! Beside… I also managed to take the power of someone else. Someone much stronger than the peasants you rule,” She stated as the light of her horn became green.

“No…” Twilight realised as she started to grieve.

“Spike had been useful in the end! His magic will be a good tool to kill you!” Celestia shouted as her body glowed brightly.

Twilight was forcefully brought into reality when she understood what spell her student was about to use.

“Princess! We’re here to help!” A guard screamed as he entered with two more of them.

“No! Don’t come here!” Twilight screamed as she hurriedly teleported to them. Not even a second later, a huge blast surrounded Celestia’s body, destroying everything around her.

Unfortunately, this was the last straw. The castle was blasted away while some rooms simply collapsed on themselves. Luckily, a lavender glow surrounded all the rubbles who went flying towards the city. When the explosion stopped, and the dust cloud settled; Celestia returned to floor, looking smug as ever while Twilight’s shield disappeared. The guards she protected quickly ran away as fast as they could.

“Wow, your shield was able to protect you even from that?! I’m impressed, princess! This fight could be more fun than I thought! Unless, you changed your mind…”

“That’s enough! Do you really think this is… “fun” for anypony?! What made you like this?! Who put these crazy ideas in your head?!”

“I’m sick of your questioning! This is a fight to the death!” Celestia replied, only to be silent as she took a good look at the princess’ face. Of course, it was to be expected since the sight her eyes landed on was quite shocking. This was the first time in her life that she saw the princess crying.

“I really tried, but it looks like I can’t reason with you… I’m sorry for what I am about to do,” She whispered loud enough for her student to hear it.

“Sorry? Bring it on! Your attacks won’t stand a chance against me!” She replied proudly only to hurriedly create a shield, completely taken by surprise by the sudden attack. However, the princess’ beam didn’t disappear when it struck her dome. It continuously pushed on her shield, slowly changing its shape. Celestia clenched her teeth, barely able to keep her shield up. How could it be so hard to push back?! However, her efforts remained fruitless as the dome was suddenly destroyed and the beam struck her in her chest. She stepped back, but, surprisingly, it didn’t hurt. “That was your attack? It didn’t even sting! Ha!” She laughed as she lit her horn, ready to strike back. However, her body refused to move. “W-What is happening?! Why can’t I move?!” She shouted in fear while Twilight walked closer to her.

“It’s over,” She said as Celestia opened her mouth to talk, only to feel something crawling up her legs. When she looked down, she realised with horror her body was slowly turning into stone.

“What is that spell?! You never showed it to me!” She screamed as she tried to move her legs again, only to be stuck to the ground while the stone moved past her knees.

“You will be turned to stone soon; for…”

“No, no, no! I-I don’t want to go out like this! Don’t do it! Please! I won’t do it again, I swear!” Celestia screamed in total panic as she continued to struggle, tears slowly showing themselves around her eyes.

“For all the crimes you’ve committed against Equestria and its ponies; you are guilty and your sentence cannot be changed…” Twilight started, ignoring Celestia’s pleas. “You will be turned to stone, but will remain conscient. Your statue shall be left in the deepest and darkest dungeon of the castle, and you will remain there for a thousand years. Think about your mistakes in the meantime; however, if at the end of your punishment, you still haven’t changed-”

“Like hell I am going to change!” Celestia screamed, freely letting her tears loose while the stone arrived to her neck. “I’ll think of all the ways to murder you!” She added only for Twilight to look away.

“... You will be destroyed,” She finished her sentence as Celestia fully turned to stone.

She stayed in front of the statue for a few seconds, before collapsing on her knees. Soon after, the guards came back at her side. Although, they were hesitant to speak since the alicorn wasn’t bothering to hide her tears.

“Princess…” A guard started.

“Take her away,” She said in a low voice as she slowly stood up. “I will repair the castle…”

The guards nodded and started carefully pushing the statue away, to avoid damaging it.

No matter how many weeks or months passed, the civilians never got an answer as to what happened that day. All they knew was that an unknown enemy attacked the princess, but was quickly dealt with. Some noted the disappearance of the princess’ older student, but as time passed… the questions about her stopped coming up.
> Snowy Dawn
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

9980 years after Twilight’s coronation

Snowy Dawn sighed while her mother inspected every hair on her mane, making sure she was the prettiest and most presentable filly in Equestria. Why was she doing this? A couple of weeks ago was Snowy’s 4th birthday, and that meant she was ready to pass the “sacred test”. Something taking place only every 30 years. Only ten unicorns could be chosen to participate, and their grades had to be perfect.

“Alright, you look good enough! We mustn't be late! Have you revised all your spells? Do you know all the theories behind them? Don’t forget about the misleading questions! A lot of foals fall for that trap and they end up failing! Everything you do must be perfect!” Her mother repeated over and over as Snowy’s knees shook in fear. Fear of failure.

Her mother also took that test 30 years ago, and failed, which explained the pressure she was putting on her. However, she wasn’t the only one to have failed it. In the last two centuries, nobody succeeded. Anyone outside of Equestria could only wonder, what was that test? Why was it so important for everyone involved? The answer was simple. Whoever succeeded would become the Queen’s student. The one talented enough to do it would be recognized everywhere throughout Equestria. They would have fame and respect. They would be considered the very best. Who wouldn’t want that?

Of course, that had never been Snowy’s dream. The only reason she even applied was because her mother pushed her to it. Frankly, she wasn’t very confident. And considering nobody was able to be the Queen’s student for two centuries reassured her even less. However, she had no choice but to participate now. When she was fully ready, at least physically; mentally, not so much. Her mother accompanied her to the castle. The walk seemed like it lasted an eternity, and her legs were like jelly after only a few steps. She would soon meet nine other unicorns at least as good as her. Although, they would most likely be better than her. Snowy had her best to memorize the most spells she could from the Queen’s own spell book “Twilight’s 500 unique spells for foals and entertainment”. Spells for foals, but nonetheless hard to learn. Snowy read it multiple times and still didn’t think any of it was entertaining.

But that wasn’t the hardest part. No. She would have a close look at the Queen. Not only that, but she would eventually even exchange a look or two. And that was… terrifying to say the least. A lot of ponies talked about her and her deeds. So many rumors that she didn’t even know which were true. The Queen was the supreme ruler of Equestria; the mother of magic as some called her. She never did anything bad to her parents or other foals, because all the adults told their foals the same thing: “The Queen is always watching, never commit a bad deed, or else you will be severely punished”. When she called her mother because she was scared of the monster under the bed, the answer was always the same: “Don’t be scared; if you are in danger, the Queen would come anytime. She always knows when there is trouble.”

Adults depicted her as an angel and a savior to all ponykind, but a devil to any criminal. When the realisation of who she was going to meet fell on her shoulders; Snowy had to catch her breath and make sure her mother wouldn’t see her being close to a mental breakdown. How could a regular filly; a nobody like her be in the presence of the Queen?! How was she supposed to act?! What was she supposed to say?! That growing fear in her stomach was eating her away, and she didn’t even know what to do!

“Only the examinees can go past this door, please wait here until the test is over,” A guard suddenly said, breaking Snowy away from her thoughts. The young unicorn opened her eyes in surprise and looked around, she was in front of the castle!”

“You heard him! Go in! You mustn't be late! And don’t forget what I told you! Bow to the Queen when you see her and pay your respects!” Her mother said frantically as she pushed her inside.

Snowy simply nodded as she shakily walked deeper inside the castle while the doors slowly closed behind her. Why did her mother have to be like this? It stressed her even more! Unfortunately, it wasn’t even new. She studied and trained herself her entire life (which is only barely four years long) just to be here. She suspected her mother gave birth only for this reason, but she preferred not to think about it.

While walking in the long corridor, two guards met up with her and led her to a room where nine other unicorns of her age were. All of them were sitting behind various desks, all having a certain amount of space between each other, certainly to keep foals from cheating since it was a written test. When she entered, all eyes turned on her, staring at her in silence. She was pretty sure they were all about the same age, but she still was the smallest of the bunch.

“Please, take a seat. The written test will start soon,” The white-maned unicorn sitting at a frontdesk said as she lit her horn and levitated a stack of papers. “You’ll have an hour to complete it,”

Snowy simple gulped and walked to her seat. She only had to wait around a minute before the unicorn, who would most likely keep an eye on them, started giving the test papers. The young unicorn’s sweating only increased when she saw the written test had at least twenty pages! That was crazy! She read through it to see what questions there may be, but her vision got blurry, making it impossible to read anything. When she looked around, all the other unicorns were writing on their sheets at top speed. Were they this good?! As for herself, she could only stare at her blank sheets. She managed to calm down enough to write down her name, but she wasn’t sure she would be able to do more than that.

Suddenly, as all hope seemed to be lost, she remembered her mother's words. Everything she had done until now was so that she could pass the Queen’s test! If she failed… She didn’t want to know what her mother would do to her! The others at school would probably mock her, too! The nerd who failed a simple test! So she calmed down as much as she could and read through the questions. She answered with the utmost care, and explained everything to the smallest details. And before she knew it, an hour passed.

“Pencils down. The Queen will now inspect your papers,” The blue unicorn explained as she took the tests in her magic hold and walked out of the room.

Snowy raised an eyebrow. The Queen was going to look through them, now?! There were at least a few dozens of pages to correct! They would have to wait for hours to get the results! And then, they’ll have the practical exam! However, much to the young unicorn’s shock, the examinator came back ten minutes later with a single sheet in her hold.

“White Horn, Snowy Dawn, and Crystal step. Can you step forward, please?” She read the sheet as the three unicorns perked up. They did as she said. Snowy didn’t know how the other felt, but she was terrified! Did they fail?! Was she going to tell them to go back home?! “Congratulations, you passed the written exam. These two guards will guide to the practical one. As for the others… I’m sorry, but you have failed. One guard will lead you to the exit. You can try next time! Just kidding, you can’t. Please, don’t cry…”

Snowy followed behind the guards and the two unicorns as they were led to the next part. She couldn’t believe she passed! Her mother would be so proud! Unless… She failed what was about to come… In a few minutes, she will meet the Queen herself. The excitement she just felt was quickly replaced by fear.

For the next hour, she had to stay in a corridor, waiting for her turn. Each examinee had to go in a room, alone with the Queen. And they would try to pass the practical exam, whatever it was. The order of passage was designated at random, and fortunately, Snowy was the last one to pass. Or maybe it was unfortunate? She didn’t know which one was more stressful. Although, the first unicorn who went in… came out as a crying mess. It was pretty scary. The second one wasn’t shedding any tears, so it was reassuring. However, it was obvious with the look she had that she had failed, too? And that only left her. She breathed in and out, then opened the door and came in.

There, the Queen stood in all her glory on an elevated platform. Snowy’s legs shook as she walked in front of Equestria’s ruler.  She had a cold and emotionless look, at least from Snowy’s perspective. She was taller than other pony she had seen, and her horn looked really… cool. Moreover, the Queen was prettier than most adult mare Snowy had seen. She was… impressive.

Snowy Dawn bowed respectfully.

“H-Hello, your Majesty. My name is Snowy Dawn. I am honored to be in your presence, and deeply grateful for giving me some of your time,” Snowy said, just as her mother told her to. The young unicorn only met silence. She hesitantly raised her head to look at the Queen. It looked like she was looking at a certain part of Snowy’s body; and she instantly knew which one. The spot where her cutie mark should be! Unfortunately, she didn’t get her yet, and was often laughed at by the other foals. She could only hope the Queen wouldn’t be harsh on her because of her seemingly lack of talent.

“Tell me a little about you,” The Queen simply answered while the young unicorn looked away, afraid to cross eyes with her.

“W-Well… I’m four… I like reading a lot and am good in school. I often play tag with my friends… although, I don’t have many. I love studying, too, but mostly biology,” She answered hesitantly.

“Biology?” Twilight whispered under her breath, too quiet for Snowy to hear it. “I see. Thank you for answering. We’ll start the test now. You’ll have to cast three spells from the book of spells for foals I wrote. Two of your choice, and one that I’ll give you myself. Do you have any questions?”

“N-No… I-I’ll do it. The first spell I’ll cast will be t-the bubble making one… Is that alright?” Snowy replied while stuttering. Twilight simply nodded, letting her focus.

Snowy lit her horn, thinking about the spell she wanted to cast. It was one of the ones she used the most since it was fun. It should be easy to cast for her; however, the fear inside her kept growing and growing until her legs started shaking. Her horn was still lit, but no bubble came out of it. Why?! She always did it right! Why did she have to struggle now?! She didn’t dare to look at the Queen while she tried to cast the spell as much as she could. But still nothing. She was too stressed and scared to cast anything! She still tried her best to hide her heavy breathing, so the alicorn wouldn’t notice her struggle, but she knew it was in vain. It was all over anyway; she’d come back home as a failure…

Suddenly, warm and soft wings wrapped around her, pulling her into a hug. She widened her eyes, surprised by the caring touch. She never felt anything like that. She looked up and looked into the Queen’s eyes. They were gentle; and the smile she had only showed reassurance.

“I see that you are very stressed about this, but there is nothing to be afraid of. Breathe in and out,” Twilight explained, giving her a warming smile. “All you have to do is stay calm, and I’m sure you’ll succeed. You seem like the type of pony who would,” She added as she unwrapped her wings from the filly’s small form, then flew to where she stood before.

Snowy looked at her in awe as the fear inside her magically disappeared. That was the devil some talked about? She found it impossible to believe! She was so kind that she reassured her, gave her hope, and gave her confidence! S-She was like an angel!

She did as the Queen told her, and lit her horn again. A couple of seconds later, pink bubbles came out of her horn, some even had different shapes. Although Snowy couldn’t see it, the Queen had a barely visible smile. When her spell was done, the young unicorn breathed in relief when she saw she succeeded.

The second spell she casted was a success, too. However, that meant it only left one spell… the one chosen by the Queen herself. No matter how hard Snowy studied the book, there were still a few spells she hadn’t learned, and some were really difficult!

“You will have to cast…” Twilight started as Snowy was sweating nervously. The Queen paused and stared at her, inspecting her from head to toe. The alicorn suddenly lit her horn and the door to the room opened, startling Snowy and making her step back. “You will have to hatch this egg,” She stated as a small red egg, surrounded by a lavender glow, floated in the room until it was gently placed on the floor in front of the young unicorn who could only gasp in horror.

“W-What is that?! A spell like that isn’t in the book!” Snowy thought as she stared at the egg.

“Take your time,” Twilight said as the filly breathed heavily.

Snowy shook her head, then breathed in and out. Slowly calming herself. She lit her horn; a few seconds later, multiple strings of magic came out of it and wrapped around the egg. The unicorn channelled as much magic as she could while scanning the egg to find the heartbeat inside. However, the egg didn’t even move, as if the creature resting in was already dead long ago. Although Snowy felt its heart, she couldn’t seem to do anything to hatch it faster. Her horn’s light died down as she fell on her knees, trying to catch her breath. She shot another beam of magic; same result. She tried again and again, but in vain. And the more she tried, the less she even dared to look at the Queen. She felt like a disgrace. She was a failure! There was no way she would succeed after so many failed attempts! Still… deep inside her, something pushed her to try again. Was it the fear of what would happen if she failed? Or the shame she would feel?

“It can’t be helped,” Twilight sighed as she looked at the small unicorn. “Since you can’t do it…” She started only to be interrupted.

“No! I-I can! J-Just look!” Snowy shouted as she lit her horn again. Focusing all the power she could muster while the emotions dwelling up inside her seemed ready to explode.

Before Twilight could tell her anything else, Snowy’s eyes became totally blank and glowed brightly, just as her horn did a second later. The alicorn widened her eyes as the floor shook and the unicorn was surrounded by a bright light. As tears streamed down her face, the filly released her magic at the egg, which seemed to quickly give her signs of life.

The Queen leaned forward as she witnessed the display of magic being released, far above the usual common foals. Soon enough, the egg cracked open and a majestic (and quite big) bird with dark blue feathers flew out of it. Only a second later, Snowy’s magic died down while she stumbled on the floor, about to collapse from exhaustion.

However, just before she did so, the alicorn rushed forward and caught her in a warm embrace.

“Y-Your Majesty… Did I do it?” Snowy whispered with the last bit of her strength drained.

“You succeeded; you can rest now, my dear subject,” Twilight replied warmly as Snowy’s eyes closed while she drifted into sleep.

Twilight smiled as she looked at the young filly in her wings. After all these years; she had finally found a student. Although, unlike a pony she knew very well, this little filly didn’t get her cutie mark during the test.

8 years later

Snowy closed her locker as she levitated a couple of books out of it. She was in Twilight’s school for gifted unicorns; it was still early for a class to begin, but she wanted to be ready nonetheless. She didn’t want to fall behind everyone else since only the best unicorns (among all the foals in Equestria that is) were going to this school. Moreover, she didn’t want to bring shame to the Queen’s name. It had been years since she became her student, and she learned so much about magic. The queen taught her about magic, friendship, respect and more. She felt indebted to her. She couldn’t simply be regarded as a failure here. Fortunately, she was the best in every class. Mostly because she studied a lot. However, just before she could walk away, she was roughly pushed against her locker, forcing her to face her.

It was a blue unicorn; a filly with a light blue mane. Her name was Midnight Candy, and besides her were her two (only) friends which she liked calling lackeys.

“My dear Snowy… You still haven’t learned your lesson, have you?” Midnight chuckled. “I told you to stop cheating!” She added sharply, and angrier than a second earlier.

“B-But I wasn’t cheating! C-” Snowy started only to be shoved again.

“Oh, please! Nopony is better than me! And you still have better grades?! Of course, you’re cheating!” Midnight shouted, drawing attention from the other unicorns in the corridors.

“Midnight’s the greatest-” The first lackey started.

“And most powerful-” The second continued.

“Unicorn in this school,” Midnight finished.

“Well... greatness wise… it depends what you’re referring to exactly since I learned what one think is great is pretty subjective. And power wise-” Snowy started only to be hit by a small beam of magic which only stung her, but made her fall down nonetheless.

“Stop spouting nonsense! Or are you maybe trying to sound pretentious?! You’re not better than me,” Midnight shouted as she lit her horn. “Just because you’re the Queen’s favorite doesn’t mean you are any good, punk! I, on the other hand, am the daughter of the captain of the royal guard! That means, the only way to see who’s really better is a magic duel! Get up and fight me!”

“I’m not thinking I’m better than you…” Snowy whispered as she started standing back up. “I don’t want to fight,”

Midnight rolled her eyes and shot multiple beams restlessly, making Snowy curl into a ball to protect herself.

“Look at that guys! A fight broke out! Come on, kick her butt!” A random colt unicorn with missing teeth: and an apple as a cutie mark, shouted.

“Fight! Fight! Fight!”

“Why don’t you just fight me?!” Midnight screamed as she continued with her nonstop attacks.

Meanwhile, Snowy could only wait for her to get tired of this and leave her alone. One would wonder why she refused to strike back. The first reason was to avoid getting in trouble, and the second was quite simple. She feared that if she wiped the floor with Midnight; then everyone else would believe everything that her bully had said. That she would be showing off her magic; showing to everyone that she was the best. Midnight was actually despised by pretty much the entire school because of her attitude.

“I don’t want to fight. Please, leave me alone,” She begged as tears threatened to roll down her cheeks. “Somepony could get seriously harmed!” She added.

“And that would be you!” Midnight clenched her teeth in fury. “Is that all the Queen’s student has to offer?! You really are a pathetic worm! Why did she even choose you? You don’t even have a cutie mark! She must have lost her mind,” She added, making everyone silent. It was well known that speaking ill of the Queen was… a bad idea. What kind of fool would insult a god? Even foals knew that.

Snowy went silent, too. But not for the same reasons. Her fear soon turned into anger as she heard the insult directed at her mentor! The Queen had always been so kind and so forgiving to her. She showed how much she did for everyone’s safety! How selfless she was! How perfect she was! And some pitiful unicorn no one ever cared about dared to speak ill of her?! A bright white glow filled Snowy’s eyes as she lit her horn, which was soon surrounded by sparks.

The Queen’s student was ready to stand up and blast her all the way to the moon, and make her apologize at her mentor’s hooves! However, before she could do any of that; a kick came flying towards Midnight’s face. The unicorn had no time to react and was thrown back with a bleeding nose. Her lackeys quickly tried to help her up, but in vain since she was unconscious. The glow in Snowy’s eyes died down as she opened her mouth in surprise and looked at the unicorn who delivered the kick.

It was a filly with an orange coat and a yellow mane. As for her cutie mark, it was a set of gym equipment. Yes, this particular pony was a unicorn, and quite good at magic; and her cutie mark had nothing to do with her being in this school. She was known to be one of the most athletic foals here; and trained her body more than she did her magic. If she wasn’t so focused on sports, she would easily be the best unicorn, in terms of magic, in the school, second only to Snowy. Her name was Rune Blazer.

“Anyone wanna mess with me or my friends?!” Rune shouted as she glared at everyone, but got no response. “Yeah, that’s what I thought! Get out of my sight or I’ll punch your teeth out to you too!” She added, making everyone go back to their initial occupation while Midnight’s two lackeys ran away while holding her with telekinesis. “Are you alright, Snowy? I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have left you alone,” Rune said as she helped her up.

“It’s not your fault,” Snowy said as she threw her an apologetic look. “But you’ll get in trouble. All because I couldn’t defend myself,” Snowy looked down.

“Pfft! I couldn’t care less if I was in trouble! I was helping my friend and that’s the only thing that matters!” Rune replied as she pulled the Queen’s student into a side hug. “Besides, if they throw me out; I could always become a wonderbolt!”

“A unicorn wonderbolt?” Snowy looked at her quizzically before bursting out laughing.

“Hey, it could happen,” Rune replied while trying to make a serious face, then burst out laughing too. “Yeah, I admit it’s ridiculous,”

“But seriously though. You’ll be in huge trouble… I guess I can get the Queen’s help. When she’ll know you did it to protect me, she’ll be on your side,”

“How could I not believe you when you don’t stop talking about her?” Rune grinned. “I’d like to meet her for real one day. She looks so cool,”

“I’m sure she’d love to meet you, too! She told me she'd be interested to see what kind of pony my best friend is,” Snowy said excitedly.

“I’m flattered you told her about me,” Rune replied as she put a leg around Snowy, side hugging her.

The young unicorn simply smiled at her, but remained a little worried as she feared the punishment Rune could receive for kicking a student. And it didn’t take long before both of them were called in the headmaster’s office.

The headmaster was an old unicorn with grey hair and a white coat. He had a lot of experience with magic, but students mostly knew him as a real pushover. In front of his desks were three seats, and Midnight was already sitting on one of them with a tissue filled nose to stop her bleeding. Beside her was a blue maned stallion wearing a guard armor. His horn was also longer than most unicorns the two fillies had seen.

“Ah, I see you two are finally here. We have much to discuss,” The Headmaster said as his eyes landed on them. The two other unicorns in the room fiercely glared at them.

“W-Wait! Her dad’s already there?! But we’ve just been called! How did he get here so fast?!” Rune shouted in disbelief.

“I’ve teleported here as soon as I was called, but I guess little brats like yourselves don’t even know how that spell works,” Moonshadow, Midnight’s father, said in a calm tone that clearly hid anger beneath it.

“Actually, we studied it in class-” Rune began, not intending to let him badmouth her. However, Snowy nudged her on the side, stopping her from going further.

“That’s the one that punched me, Daddy!” Midnight pointed at Rune.

“Actually, it wasn’t a punch, but a kick. And I would do it all over again if I could!” Rune replied proudly while Snowy facehoofed. Meanwhile, Moonshadow’s calm demeanor quickly changed. He was fuming!

“You impudent little brat! How dare you harm my daughter?! And you! Are you her accomplice?!” Moonshadow spat at Rune and Snowy before turning to the Headmaster.” Expel these two immediately!” He stepped on the floor in anger.

“Now, now; let’s not be hasty. We should wait for their parents to come,” The Headmaster shook in fear under the captain of the royal guard’s glare.

“Why?! She clearly admitted she kicked my daughter! Punish her already!” Moonshadow replied as he walked closer to the desk. Fortunately for the Headmaster, the door was shot open as a pegasus landed on the room’s floor, nearly crashing down.

“Alright! I’m here! You better have a good explanation for this, Runey!” The pegasus, Cloudy Fire, said. She was a very beautiful mare (at least from Snowy’s perspective) and really looked like what could be an adult version of Rune Blazer. Rune didn’t bat an eyelash, seemingly not afraid of her mother.

“I was just helping out Snowy. She was being bullied!” Rune replied as a smile crept up Cloudy’s face.

“Ha! I knew it! You’d never do anything to disappoint me!” Cloudy said as she ruffled her daughter’s hair.

“What?! You believe her?! My daughter would never do such a thing!” Moonshadow grumbled.

“And who are you exactly?” Cloudy raised an eyebrow.

“I’m the captain of the Royal Guard!”

“Really? You certainly don’t look the part,” Cloudy answered with a chuckle while the fillies looked at the two.

“Why, you!” Moonshadow gritted his teeth.

“Now, let’s calm down-” The Headmaster started only to be interrupted by a green cloud coming from a little black box on his desk. The cloud soon formed what looked like a mirror; although it showed the face of his secretary.

“Sir, Miss. Dawn’s mother called; she can’t come directly, but she asked if she could speak through the spell call,” The secretary explained.

“Alright, put her on the line;” The Headmaster replied. A second later, the secretary was replaced by Snowy’s mother. She looked like she was in a store. Unfortunately for Snowy, she also had a scowl on her face. “Hellos, Miss. We were just waiting for you. I’m glad you were available.”

“Snowy!” Her mother shouted, instantly making her look on the floor, too scared to meet her mother’s eyes. Rune moved one step closer to her friend, to try and reassure her. “What did you do this time?! I thought I told you not to cause any trouble! Do you ever listen to what I’m saying?!” She screamed, almost making the Headmaster go deaf.

“Your daughter and her friend are a disgrace to our kind! They should be ashamed of themselves for attacking an innocent filly like Midnight!” Moonshadow shouted at her, only making the mother more angry. Midnight simply smiled proudly while Rune glared at her, and Snowy stayed still.

“Excuse me? Runey did nothing wrong! Your daughter’s not right in the head!” Cloudy replied, trying to keep her calm, and ready to fail doing so.

“You ruffians!” Moonshadow retorted.

“Now, please-” The Headmaster started, only to be interrupted yet again.

“Snowy?! Did you cause trouble with that Rune girl again?! I told you to stay away from her! Her whole family’s insane! I swear when you get back home, you’ll get the spanking of your life!” Snowy’s mother scolded her yet again while the little filly could only look away.

Before Rune could say anything, her own mother beat her to it.

“Insane?! Have you even heard yourself talk?! “ Cloudy retorted with a yell.

“Teach your kid some lessons, you crazy bag of feathers!” Mother screamed with rage-filled eyes.

“What did you say?! My daughter’s educated and well mannered unlike you!”

“Stop with the bickering and let’s talk about my Midnight! You women are crazy!” Moonshadow screamed just to be ignored. “Listen to me! I’m the Captain of the Royal Guard!”

“Let’s talk like civilized ponies,” The Headmaster said in a low voice, which was barely heard by anyone.

“Your foolish daughter is a bad influence on mine, so keep her in a cage and get her the hell out of this school!”

“Come and tell that to my face, you horned bitch!”

“If you keep ignoring me, I’ll arrest both of you!”

“Oh, shut up will you!”

“Oh, shut up will you!”

Snowy and Rune looked at each other while the adults argued and the Headmaster looked like he was on the verge of depression.

“My Midnight is like a diamond, and the monkeys you call daughters dared to harm her!”

“Captain of the Royal Guard or not, I’m going to break your bones! Don’t talk about my daughter like that!”

“This is all happening because of you, Snowy! Because you never listen to me! You better not return home without a good excuse!”

“This is enough! Since you are all clearly insane; I’ll take you both to the dungeons!”

“Try it! I’m going to break you in half!” Cloudy replied as they both entered a combat stance.

The Headmaster’s eyes drifted from pony to pony every time someone screamed, clear panic visible on his face. Suddenly, a second green cloud appeared beside the one showing Snowy’s mother; it was the secretary again.

“Sir, the janitor wants to see you. You still didn’t give him his pay,” She said as the Headmaster slammed his forehead against his desk.

“You’re under arrest!”

“Come and get me, junk guard!”

“Snowy, I’ll kill you!”

“And then you wonder why your husband left you?!”

Rune and Snowy didn’t even know what to think anymore. Everything was going too fast for them to follow.

“May I know what is happening here?” A calm voice said, making the Headmaster look up again in fear.

“You may if you want to be arrested, too!” Moonshadow answered, not looking at the door frame, where the newcomer stood. However, Cloudy did, and instantly shut up as if she was a foal about to be scolded.

“Are you sure about that, Captain?” The voice asked, making Moonshadow’s eyes widened in terror as he recognised the voice. He looked at the Headmaster with pleading eyes as if asking if it was who he thought it was. The old unicorn simply nodded, making the Captain gulp in fear as he turned around and saw the Queen looking at him. “I… didn’t see you there,”

“Oh! What a bad timing! I’m going through a tunnel!” Snowy’s mother said before the green cloud suddenly disappeared. Cloudy rolled her eyes while Twilight ignored it. She would deal with her later.

“You were saying something very interesting, Captain,” The Queen stated calmly.

“Was I?” He asked while sweating bullets.

“You were talking about arresting somepony just now,”

“W-Well, I must have made a mistake! Happens to anypony! Except you, of course!” He stuttered.

“Daddy, are they going to be punished or not?” Midnight inquired, getting tired of this.

“Shut up, will you?!” Moonshadow snapped at her through clenched teeth. “Anyway, the issue here is taken care of! It was a pleasure to meet you, Milady,” He said to Cloudy, then looked at the Queen again. “But I must be going. Guard matters and stuff,” He said nervously before stepping out of the room.

“Since there’s no issues anymore, I’ll be going too, I guess. Don’t be late for dinner, sweetie!” Cloudy said as she kissed Rune’s cheek; then flew out of the room.

“You can return to class, my little ponies,” Twilight said to the three fillies, who only nodded before going out. Midnight looked at her in fear, Rune with admiration, and Snowy’s look was unreadable.

“Thank you, your Majesty. I don’t know what I would have done,” The Headmaster thanked her as he wiped off the sweat on his forehead.

“Let me just remind you of one thing, Headmaster. The more you will have to thank me, and the less you will deserve the position you have,” Twilight answered in a cold tone, making his legs shake. “Replacements aren’t hard to find these days,” She added as she left the room in a flash of light.

The old unicorn opened a drawer in his desk and got a flask out. Without even thinking twice about it, he started drinking ir all in one go.

“Why did I ever take this job?” He asked himself as his vision was spinning.

The three fillies walked alone through the corridors; all the other students already being in class.

“You got lucky, but next time you’ll pay for hurting me!” Midnight said as she stomped the floor, then walked faster to leave them behind. The other two simply looked at each other before Snowy looked down.

“I’m sorry I got you into this, Rune,” Snowy sighed in shame.

“Hey, you have nothing to be sorry for! I already told you! I liked kicking that prick’s face, anyway! Besides, you really think I’ll leave you on your own?” Rune asked as the other unicorn looked her in the eyes. “You’re not getting rid of me that easy; I’m staying with you as long as I can!” She added.

Snowy remained silent as a small smile crept up her face.

12 years later

Snowy was kneeling down in front of her beloved Queen. The young student had grown into a fine and beautiful mare. Around them, only two guards stood in the room; one of them being Moonshadow. He was glaring at the younger unicorn.

“You have saved Equestria; and on behalf of all of its inhabitants, I must thank you,” Twilight said.

“It was nothing, your Majesty. I did my duty as your student,” Snowy replied with a bow.

“This was your last assignment; and that means your apprenticeship is finally over,” Twilight continued as Snowy raised her head and looked at her.

“Your Majesty, I’ll miss learning under you,” She said as she had to hold her tears back.

“Don’t worry; I can assure you still have much to learn. But for now; I couldn’t be prouder of you,” Twilight replied as she caressed Snowy’s cheeks, nearly bringing her to tears.

Those words… She dreamed of hearing them for years. And now, the Queen had finally said them! The unicorn couldn’t be happier… For all these years… The only thing she wanted was to make her proud.

“What will happen now, your Majesty?” Snowy asked as she took a hold of her emotions.

“You will fulfill your destiny,” The Queen started while her former student raised an eyebrow. “You have grown and learned so much over the years; and the friends you’ve made only helped you further. You have all the great qualities necessary: compassion, charity, devotion, integrity, optimism and finally the leadership of a great leader,” As she finished her sentence; Snowy was suddenly surrounded by a bright light which raised her in the air.

“W-What is happening?” Snowy asked as the guards shielded their eyes.

The light engulfed the entire room, and grew brighter and brighter until it could be seen throughout Equestria!

In the guard’s training camp

An older Rune wiped off the sweat on her forehead as she finished blasting the last training dummy to bits. Suddenly, a light appeared at the corner of her eyes. She turned towards the castle, where the light was coming from.

“What is that?” She asked herself, a tad worried for her friend. “I hope you’re okay, Snowy,”

The Crystal Empire

A tall alicorn looked out of her castle’s windows, focusing all her attention to the light.

“This power… it’s coming from auntie’s castle… You can rest easy, it’s not from an enemy,” She said to one of the guards. “She finally found somepony worthy,” She whispered under her breath.

Somewhere far in the mountains; a draconequus stared at the light. He clenched his fists and frowned with an angered look.

“Looks like the brat has found herself a good guard dog,” He grumbled as he flew back into his cave.

The Canterlot Castle’s garden, where a statue of three people stood.

“Oh, look, Chrys! That light is so pretty!” A young and joyful voice yelled from the statue.

“Not as pretty as you, my bestie!” Another female’s voice replied while snickering. Soon, the first voice joined in, and they both laughed.

“Thank you, Chrys! You’re pretty, too!”

“For the love of Celestia; would you two shut up?!” A gruff voice screamed at them.

“Why don’t you become our bestie, too, Tiwek?” The young voice asked.

“Never! Chrysalis already went completely insane; I’m not going to do the same!” ‘Tiwek’ screamed.

“You heard that, Chrys?! Tiwek is being mean again!”

“Stop making my bestie cry, you animal!”

“Get me out of here! I’ll be good, I promise! Don’t let me be trapped with the two!” He screamed before crying a couple of seconds later.

Back to the Castle, the light died down as a new figure set their hooves on the floor. The two guards were suddenly pressed against the floor by the high magic pressure in the air. Twilight looked with pride and satisfaction at her former student.

Her height didn’t change, but Snowy’s horn got longer. Her coat became white as snow; and finally… two wings stood proudly on her back. A white aura surrounded her body as she inspected it in disbelief.

“I-I feel like I am going to explode,” She muttered as the floor cracked and while the guards were still being pressed on the floor. Moonshadow could only clench his teeth as he witnessed the miracle in front of him. A regular pony just became an alicorn!

“Focus on your magic, and you should be able to control and tone it down,” Twilight explained while Snowy closed her eyes. Suddenly, the white aura and the pressure in the room disappeared, allowing the guards to stand up again.

“I can’t believe it! I-I am an alicorn! I have wings!” Snowy exclaimed as she inspected them. “How is this possible?

“It is an answer I am still seeking… The origin of all magic is also what allows chosen ones like us to be on a new plane of magic: Alicornhood. We will work on it in due time, but we have a lot of duties to attend to now that you have begun fulfilling your destiny,” Twilight explained while Snowy nodded hesitantly, still finding it hard to believe.

“I don’t know what to say, your Majesty. I’m honored,” She said as she bowed her head.

“No need to bow your head, my pony,” Twilight replied with a content smile.

After all these years; she had finally done it. She found someone worthy of becoming an alicorn. Someone ready to protect Equestria. To do what’s right. To help her keep the order and the peace in all the lands. There couldn’t be any more reasons for all of Equestria to celebrate their first princess in centuries. She could easily fight the forces of evil.

Snowy looked out the window, admiring Canterlot’s beauty, and thinking about her future and her friends’. Everything was different now.