Goddess of the Stars

Written, translated, edited and post corrected by me: Nova Star Sparkle

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Twilight Amicitia Aurora Sparkle: serene goddess and guardian of magic, faithful mistress of the stars; trustworthy alicorn of peace - or harmony as it was often also known too; youngest of the kind sky gods; vanquisher of the great evil and a lot more, just to name a few of her titles.

That was undeniably her and she was supposed to be happy and smiling as her life was currently going. Twilight was in possession of everything one could ever wish for. She was one of the three most important and powerful creatures in all of Equestria, namely a royal alicorn princess of said kingdom for crying out loud.

Yet it was with various mixed emotions and a slight grimace that she stood on the balcony of her chamber in her own personal tower of Canterlot Castle. Her bright shining eyes overlooking the capitol - the castle itself her home for ages and the place where she had been ‘born’ and raised. For she was part of Equestria's royal family. The highest and most influential bloodline in all of Equestria and also on the planet Equus itself, as that same family ruled the mighty pony kingdom the world had. Equestria was by far the largest and strongest kingdom on the planet and that for more than seven millennia to be exact, even though she didn´t live nearly that long on Equus.

Also calling it her bloodline was maybe a little bit falsh as there were in total only three beings that could ever be called among said line of royal blood. The current regents of Equestria never had any offspring’s and like it seemed wouldn’t also have in the next near future. There simply were no need for that.

Even though her mind was quite busy right now, not only with the wonderful view of her kingdom's capital, which swelled her heart every day anew at its beauty. But also with the thought of how she was going to arrange the stars in the sky tonight. She, despite the evening hour and the recent Events, remained attentive enough to be able to follow the hustle and bustle on the streets below her tower and outside the gates of her castle. Twilight also tended to wave automatically at each pony in a skill perfected over many years, and smiled whenever one of her subjects caught sight of her large form and delightedly waved up at her.

Positioning every single of her stars in the sky was a task that she had acquired upon reaching her 10th birthday and since then had performed on a daily - or rather, evening - basis. After all, she was the goddess of the stars and responsible for helping the night sky every evening to it´s fantastic splendor and twinkling beauty.

Despite all that, her thoughts kept constantly wandering to today's tribute ceremony honoring five brave young mares. They all proved to be extremely bold and courageous, encountering and having saved Equestria two days earlier from the looming threat of the lava giant Urghnows.

This nearly 200 feet tall creature of burning lava, diamond hard granite and incredible hot hellfire, had been sleeping for the last 10,000 years or so deep in a previously inactive volcano near the Lavalands. Therefore, the princesses had not noticed the creature sleeping deep within to core of old Equus. The time, when they encountered the ball of rock and fire, which at that time was still very uneconomic. The surface of the ball had been very similar to the Lavalands. They had to reshape it according to their imagination in order to sow the ponies on this new planet Equus, created by their design.

Of course, they could have created a completely new planet from scratch. It wouldn’t even have been that much more elaborate and not that hard for an alicorn. Let alone three of them. But the way they had done it, it had been much more relaxed. A fact, they all three had decided together.

Twilight also pondered how such a creature had even come to be, and how it had even managed to evade the alicorns' very precise magic scan of the entire planet. But Urghnows was no real being, so to speak. He did things yes, but not because he thought logical about them. The creature had no mind of it's own and that could very well be the reason they hadn’t found his “life” signature as they had scanned old Equus.

But as said, the monster had awakened from its slumber two days earlier and was about to plunge Equestria, and presumably also the surrounding lands, into eternal, burning mayhem. Not exactly Twilight's favorite environment to start the day with. True, sometimes "sunbathing" was relaxing and helped uncramp her figurative muscles and many things in her head. But as should be more than clear, for her beloved ponies, it was an extremely hostile habitat to reside in.

She would have gladly taken on the task herself - after all, it was the primary task of the alicorns to watch and rule over their subjects. Giving them shelter to prevent them from getting into any danger. And she would always stake her life for her ponies - well, metaphorically speaking, since an alicorn was incredibly hard-wearing and immortal. Nothing and no one had been able to overcome the passive strengths and abilities of an alicorn and hurt or even kill one.

Nevertheless, she would always work to ensure that the inhabitants of Equestria could live in peace and harmony without fear. And not just because she was the supreme master of peace, more widely known as harmony.

But she had been on her way back from a diplomatic meeting on Mount Aris at that time. After all, the task of keeping in touch with the other kingdoms and neighboring lands to conduct negotiations usually fell to Equestria's Crown Princess - and that was precisely her. Which meant that she had to leave the borders of her kingdom at least once a month.

And even if an alicorn with ease was able to reach a multiple of the speed of sound when flying with the help of magic. So the five mares had already managed to solve the problem with the aid of the legendary Elements of Harmony - temporarily embodying one each to use it´s powers. By the time she got within the borders of Equestria, or at least close enough to the borders to reach one of her prototype teleport anchors the deed was already done. Said which, after all, included half the distance from Canterlot to Mount Aris.

Unfortunately, the anchors were still a fairly new technology for her and it would probably take several more months of research before the distance and recharge time had improved enough to get from one place to another quickly and effectively. Also the amount of energy necessary was presently immense, what with the magical level of mana an alicorn possessed though nowhere near as much fell in relation as for any other pony. Still, the network needed some work before it was of any real use for the public. And she intended to release the technology once it was stable and efficient enough.

Besides, she had made a rather striking mistake while repeatedly improving the protection of her kingdom a few decades ago. But this time, it had been with a rather powerful leap.

That was what you got by creating a perfectly working anti-teleport field all around Equestria. All to hinder the process of moving and getting dangerous objects or persons within the boundaries of their Pony Kingdom. A good thing in itself by far – if you didn´t simply forgot and oversaw to inscribe yourself into it to bypass your own protection. Alicorn magic casted protections were impenetrable and couldn´t be bypassed by any means, not even by the caster itself. You had to either remove the protection and cast it anew entirely with yourself, or others already integrated into the matrix while casting the necessary magic. Or like Twilight intended to do, find and create a solution to even break the one limit alicorn magic had – it´s fact it was the only thing that could withstand itself.

That shouldn´t be taking her more than a few weeks however. She also didn´t believe she could actually find a flawless way to break even an alicorn magic created protection. That sounded even for Twilight to extreme and impossible. A rather funny thought if the alicorn mare considered it.

Her thoughts drifted further from her to another matter entirely.

Over the centuries, many had wondered how the elements of harmony would work. For it was known throughout the kingdom that the youngest of the three princesses incarnated the strongest link – the element of magic in its essence. There was also nothing wrong with that statement, either. She was indeed the pure essence of magic and thus the harmonious element of magic was inevitably connected to her on the deepest level of the souls.

After all, she had created them from a part of her own spiritual alicorn powers – a microscopic part of her own soul. And also the remaining five elements sprang from her innermost abilities. A knowledge that she nevertheless guarded well, not only because said ability could only be master by an alicorn without going mad or die. She intended for others to better not know in order not to be tempted to even try.

Casting such magic with one's own soul was something that was like trading a part of one's very being for power. Only the soul of an alicorn could stand unaffected and still prosper the desired result. Leaded by the fact their soul was absolutely gigantic and a normal pony couldn’t even comprehend it’s real size.

The mysteries surrounding her mighty Elements of Harmony and their origins was one thing she was keen to keep a secret. There were simply too many beautiful fantasies and stories, as well as lovers of these, to destroy the crafted image.

What was less known, however, was the fact that the soul or, more simply, the essence of an alicorn was not firmly bound to its body. It could be astral projected without much of an issue and work independently from it´s bodily vessel. The body of an alicorn was just it’s shell to look familiar to others. The real godly powers came from an alicorns spiritual form, like their magic, reactions and senses. In contrast to that it rendered their physical powers a literal joke, even if these were also far greater than that of any normal creature.

Also their souls were too partially anchored by them deep within the planet Equus itself to strengthen it and uphold any live. At the time of creation she and the other alicorns had created the ball of Life in the cold expanse of the universe. Thanks to that they had had a focal point to start their first try to create life and as it stands by fact it worked rather well. It was also a mean to always know where their home was, as the planet needed the alicorns to remain fruitful and be able to grow.

Twilight had used said fact to send a part of her essence to the other essences of harmony whenever it was needed or she wanted to control them. The essences itself of course, not the current pony’s that embodied them at that moment. With her powers that obviously would be no challenge for her. An alicorn could technically rather easy control other ponies with their abilities. Yet it was the single most thing Twilight despised off. It was simply wrong for an pure being like her. Real Power came not from submission but trust, good will and benevolent.

Her split essence was also the reason why the elements were mysteriously always there where they were needed the most. No one ever said it was cheating or forbidden to aid her beloved ponies, if she possessed the skill to do so why not use it.

Also, the elements possessed thanks to all that a kind of semi-intelligence; since a small part of them consisted of the very soul of an alicorn. Through that connection Twilight could sense the status of each element and its current bearer. It also enabled her to reinforce the gemstone of the element of magic at any time and increase the protective effects of it when it was required, in order to avoid unintentional injuries of the wielders.

Twilight was pretty confident that she didn’t need to mention what level of protection she could give the wielders with her powers. It was fact, that alicorn magic was flawless and Energy independently after its cast. Also every spell that was used for protection remained indestructible, even against other alicorn powers and could only be canceled by the caster itself.

As creator and alicorn of peace, which was also just another term for harmony. Twilight possessed naturally the ability to control all six essences herself - if she so chose. They were after all kind of her and just an extension of her very own body and powers. An endeavor she nevertheless counseled no other pony to attempt. The raw power was only second to that of an alicorn and could not be endured by a mortal body at all. Obnoxious things would happen to the pony, letting them wish death had been instant.

But she, as the Goddess of Harmony was truly the only one who could easily handle the full force without payback. Luna and Celestia would be able to stand in for her in an emergency situation as well, but since they were not as in tune with the elements and its forces as she was. Using all six of the elements alone or three of them each, it would be a great strain, even on their alicorn bodies.

Both would be left severely weakened for several hours afterwards, until their mana pool was reasonably replenished. With every second of use, costing an almost unbelievable amount of mana for the two of them - alicorn magic pool or not. Not even they could wield them longer than a day or two at most until they had to recover.

A problem she was able to compensate with her own, much larger mana pool than usual for even an alicorn - deriving from the status of being the alicorn of magic. Thus not only embodying all magic, but also truly being every single bit of it in the universe. Multiverse even if she could finally finish her research in that matter and work beyond the borders of their own cosmos. She was sure her powers would go even there.

Continuing to sort out her thoughts, Twilight's gaze slowly wandered over Canterlot. She extended her wings slowly and at length out to either side until they trembled with tension and popped quite a few joints. Ah relaxing.

Even her two older sisters, Luna and Celestia, the responsible regents of the kingdom, could not take care of the Problem. Both had been fully occupied with preventing their dear ponies from panicking due to the unfolding events.

It had worked rather well also. Except for some frightened ponies, which even now did not dare to venture into the streets again, and some damaged items, dropped and abandoned by the rising panic, there was nothing worthy of attention. So all in all, Twilight decided with a smile that it had been a pretty good outcome.

Yet, when she thought about it in retrospect, the fact that there were no riots or worse was all thanks to the alicorns. She certainly didn't want to make herself look better than all the other ponies. That was already enough given by the respect, politeness and sometimes statements from her subjects like 'we will forever be in debt to the alicorns, your majesty' or ´all hail the divine goddesses of the heavens´. One thing that still bothered Twilight after so many years. No one owed the alicorns anything. She did it not for recognition or out of self-interest, but out of her deepest and most instinctive conviction to make Equestria the safest place of all. The more prosperity and harmony her Pony kingdom had, the more in tune and peace she could be with herself. The same was certainly true for her sister in their own sences.

She took the liberty of speaking for her two sisters, but each of them was glad to be able to grant the ponies - as well as the rest of the inhabitants of Equus - such a peaceful and safe life. And having tried long enough herself to dissuade her ponies from worshipping and addressing her as a goddess - with no real success. She had simply resigned herself to it and accepted the praise. If her ponies felt she was a goddess, then so would she be for them. After all, just because alicorns were immortal, couldn’t be killed and embodied every other implausibility one could think off. As well as moved bodies like the sun, moon, or stars with ease didn't mean they were divine beings - somehow....

Arrgh, now she wasn't sure herself, Twilight chided herself in thought as she smacked one of her front hooves hard against her brow.

Anyway, what mattered much more was that regardless how scared the ponies of Equestria were and how great the impending danger might be. They could blindly trust that their princesses would protect them by all means. For the lava giant may have been fearsome and huge. However, he was not even remotely a danger or problem to an alicorn and his powers. Her sisters and Twilight herself were as strong, so that a simple flick of their horns would be enough to put him in his place.

With truly its full power, that an alicorn possessed, it could even have supreme influence on the cosmos and reality and shape it as it wished. Ok...she was a goddess at heart after all...benevolent, trustworthy and loyal beyond means…she had just convinced herself anew. Damn!

Shifting her thoughts, the lavender mare once again pondered her own thoughts and the events, momentarily losing herself in old memories and the story of how Equestria became what it was today.

All three of them had equally worked to create the planet, while both of her elder sisters had undertaken the more violent parts. Like Celestia the core of Equus, Luna had started to work at the flora and fauna on the surface and the general shape of the landscape. Like valleys and mountains, cliffs and deep oceans. She herself had took over the fine work and set to work on the magical network that spanned the entire planet.

A work, that although it didn’t require the raw force she had as an alicorn was still a very energy consuming task. Literally everyone could smash things together, but precisely edging an entire frame of magical leylines into a Planet-sized structure was a wholly other thing.

A fair division as she considered between the three, the sun was well known as an eternally surging ball of fire. At first glance it seemed uncontrolled and raw, the moon the opposite, cold and desolate. At second glance, though, that was completely mistaken. Neither the sun nor the moon were grim or uncontrolled. Both celestial bodies were powerful objects in the sky, possessing almost infinite energy just like her own stars, bringing life and security to the ponies on a daily basis. She, on the other hoof, stood in the middle of her sisters, neutral and at peace, her stars a guide to all.

´Older sisters' did also not fully apply to her, a mare who liked to describe everything very precisely and in detail. It was true she was 4 years younger than her younger sister Luna, who was again 5 years behind Celestia. But to be precise, they were all three likely of the same age. After all, the alicorn species was, as far as they knew, the oldest prehistoric life form that ever existed. And Twilight as well as her two sisters were often referred to as the 'Sky Goddesses', 'Those Who Descended' or ´The ever present three´.

Hence, it could not be determined if she was in fact younger than her two siblings, or perhaps even the eldest. A fact that Twilight had been trying to establish for a long time, even though the other two alicorns – especially her dark blue sister Luna, jokingly liked to tease her about.

She herself had little objection to the ponies' titles for her. After all, the three alicorn goddesses had ruled over their ancestral home, the Astral Plane, subdimension of the Astral Dimension, for an indeterminate amount of time. It Was the source of all supernatural powers and predominant over it, their own alicorn magic. It was from there that the alicorns had created Equus and his ponies to watch over, guide and protect each and every one of them. Ponies were intelligent and a highly social enough race to be able to survive on their own. Also, their abilities were great enough to terraform the planet for their own benefit.

We never let them go hungry and never left their thirst unquenched. All they had to do was ask, and I or one of the other two of us would provide them with everything they could wish for and more. I gave them warm beds, full bellies, and happy moments. It had some ...Advantages of being such a powerful being as we were.

But as much as we watched over our ponies like mothers, and as much love and care as we provided. It was with a heavy heart that we had to watch the pony tribes slowly turn on each other and begin to quarrel and bicker.

As much as none of us had wanted to, we were tired of watching the ponies ruin themselves. Therefore, we created the Wendigos, ice spirits strengthened by the ponies' differences with each other. A threat that affected all ponies equally. Hoping to promote peace between the races in the view of such a threat. It is well known that a common enemy brings ponies together.

However, we alicorn were not an unpony and the Wendigos nowhere near as dangerous as our subjects themselves believed. And even if they were. It would have been easy from the heavens to bring the Wendigos back under our control and free our ponies.

At first, the ponies were still stubborn and did not want to give in to their own, so ingrained honor. But soon, as the world became covered with snow and the climate became more and more unfriendly and hostile, they all saw that the danger posed by the Wendigos was very real.

They formed an alliance and drove the Wendigos from the world so that they could in future live together in peace. Not long after, they all traveled further south to find a place where they could establish a combined land. The old territories of the tribes too little accessible to the other pony species.

Having found their new home, they formed the country that everyone is familiar with today - Equestria. But the three leaders of the assembled ponies did something shortly thereafter that none of us would have expected.

They prayed and looked up to the sky - our celestial home - and begged whoever was watching over them from up there to have mercy and guide them. They themselves no longer would be worthy to lead the ponies into the new age upon completion of this tragedy, which almost led to the extinction of all ponies.

Already having toyed with the idea of descending from the heavens at an appropriate time to live with our ponies. We the alicorns had sent various calming dreams to the leaders of the tribes and guided them in ways that would prevent the ponies from turning on each other again. For as all-powerful as an alicorn was, that was also their biggest obstruction. We had needed to make arrangements in order to descend from our homelands to Equus first and for that we needed a little more time than just today.

An alicorn was powerful - tremendously powerful. Our basic output of energy could level an entire city with a single easy thought. If we had just descended from our home all at once, the danger of overloading one or more of the planet's leylines would have been far too great. It probably didn't need to be said twice what a single fundamental main line of force spanning as well as pervading the planet would do if it was overloaded with energy. She was the best, when it came to magic and obviously knew what would have happened, but alone knowing what to expect, she didn´t even want to give it another thought.

Something like that should by all means be prevented. So she had also trilled her sisters to have an eye on their output of magic when casting a heavy amount of it. Even after they descended from their home, there still remained the relatively small risk of overloading one of the lines if they expended far too much of their mana at once. She could still make up for overloading a main leyline and repair it without too much trouble. Her supreme mastery of magic to be thanked for. But if it didn’t even come to that in the first place, she much preferred it.

Therefore, it had been necessary to prepare exact calculations and evaluations regarding the place and time interval of their descent, as well as to descend to Equus just one at a time. Well, only the latter, but she herself liked to make mind-blowing equations only a god could possibly grasp. On top of that it warmed Lulu's and Tia's hearts every time they saw the playful sparkle in her third sister's eyes. Even after countless years, the lavender alicorn was and remained as thirsty for knowledge as ever.

The order was even quickly found. Although each of them embodied one of the three important functions of Equus, the sun as well as the moon, representatives for the ponies of Equestria, as a direct symbol of fertility and life. The sun thereby for all day active plants and animals, just as the moon for everything night active. Her stars were the third great force driving Equus and a guiding one at that for every creature lost or needed compassion. Yet it was not a direct symbol for life. After much consideration, their ponies would have been able to get used to the sudden appearance of two powerful alicorns much faster once they had something to hold on to as a comparison or felt somewhat familiar to.

Her stars were a sweet and reassuring Embrace in a blanket of deep blue-black speckled affection that welcomed every plea, pray or petition and helped fulfill them to those who deserved it. Twilight at all times was able to hear as clearly as if she were standing next to them, any request aimed at her stars and if she so chose use the power of those to grant the wish or apply reinforcements to them. The same was true in a way for Luna and Celestia, but unlike her, in most cases they could only hear the requests and pleas, but were not directly able to fulfill them. That alone was a talent that only she possessed.

She - the master of stars and harmony had stayed longer in her old home for the time being, to keep and protect the still so fragile peace among the ponies. At least long enough until Celestia and Luna had gained enough trust among the ponies to take over the task themselves down on Equus.

It hadn't taken more than a few years, as the ponies had already made up their own stories about their origins and powers, so an alicorn was held of high status. After that, she herself had descended from the sky to join and live among her ponies.

As beautiful and imaginative as the stories and legends were, none of them corresponded to the truth...Well, that was part of the concept of legends. But she was a mare for the scientific and always loved to set things right, even if she hadn´t too. Although she herself probably embodied the most scientifically and biologically illogical species in the entire universe. Not even her own basic biology could really be explained, since alicorns did not conform to any existing norm. In fact, depending on the day, date and time; alicorns showed different results to the same test. They didn't need sleep, oxygen, food, or any of the other things to live that a being should need - even though they could still feasibly do and enjoy all of those things.

Alicorns were an impossible creature to describe. At least that's what they said, but Twilight couldn't just leave it at that.

She had begun to write a book detailing the entire history of the alicorns' origin and duties. As well as skills, abilities and other important information further back in said book. True, the book was currently still undergoing progress and was perhaps only half done - if at all.

But she would take her time and work as long as it took - why stress if one was immortal and had literally eternal time? She never liked to rush things - none alicorn did in fact - if the book was to be detailed and accurate to their powers, then it would simply take a little longer - and she had plenty of time as said. She even had already a title for the publication and wavered between "The alicorn Book" and "A Tale About Sun, Moon and Stars". Whereby she preferred the first one, it was simple but still meaningful enough.

Refocusing her gaze back on the streets of Canterlot below and shaking her head slightly, Twilight fluffed her wings in frustration at herself. She then struck her head vigorously with her gold-rimmed hoof to completely her annoyed expression. An action that, due to the physical strength of an alicorn - even far greater than that of an earth pony, would have caused at least a violent headache to even the mightiest dragon, if not worse. Fortunately for her, however, the lavender mare was an alicorn herself and therefore up to the task.

Shoot. My mind was wandering again. The honoring ceremony was long over and the guests had all gone to their homes.

With a quick glance at the clock, Twilight confirmed to herself that the castle's servants had probably already cleaned up all traces of the celebration. Even the five honorary mares of the festivities had left the Castle shortly after and gone home. Although they were offered by Twilight to stay in the private area of the castle, they had reclined. There definitely was enough room in the suite reserved for delegates from other countries for them to stay all night, but still they said no.

According to their own statements, they had no wish to cause any trouble. A fact that Twilight found equally as unfortunate as pointless.

The palace itself had exactly 371 guards and 974 servants working in all the inner areas of the castle. The outer sections of the royal palace and the city itself were guarded by even more guards than the inner, and half of Canterlot had some direct connection to the crown. Be it as a supplier of food and beverages; as an outfitter and producer of clothes, fabrics and materials; as an iron manufacturer or blacksmith and much much more.

In the end, the entire city was one extension of the castle. The statement that one did not want to make any trouble was therefore invalid. Twilight could name at least 2,500 people in the time of a millisecond, who could have taken care of the matter or direct them to someone who could.

Moreover, the girls had been extremely nervous in her presence and had apologized several times that they would now have to leave as soon as possible.

She could easily comprehend. She herself was one of the three princesses. One of the three divine regents of this land and thus in a position to order anyone to do whatever she wished. While Twilight may be following the widespread opinion of interfering as little as possible in the ponies' affairs. Letting them make their own decisions, as long as it did not lead to problems, the ponies still stepped up to her plate. Nevertheless, the ponies were just as cautious and 'distant' towards her as they were towards all nobles - only on an even larger scale. All just because she and her sisters had the supreme controll of about just anything on Equus and certainly all of Equestria.

There was just something about the five of them that made Twilight feel they were destined for greatness. And maybe, just maybe, she would have found her harmony champions who would help keep the peace in the long run. Besides, she didn't own a whole lot of close friends herself, and most of them were just nobles she tended to call "friends" anyway. A generally curious thought, considering that friendship, as a way of bonding with one another, was a subspecies of Equestria's all-encompassing harmony. And she was, after all, the highest mistress of said harmony.

The whole affair was bad enough, were it not for the fact that in a little less than four full days it was also her 3000th birthday. A day Twilight should be happy about - and she certainly was. The party would shake Equestria to its foundations and possibly last for more than a day, as it had with Luna’s last round millennia. However, it was hardly helpful to make new friends with this critical fact in mind.

After all, she inherited her nature as an alicorn ever since she was ‘born’. Thanks to that and the occupying status, since her youth, most pony’s believed, that they would have no chance to build a friendship with one of their princesses. Up to a certain degree and age, it had been possible for her to convince others that they should just venture in and dare try. But she herself had been much more reserved and cautious with other ponies in her younger years than she would be now. Simply for the fact that even if she didn't want to separate herself from them, she was nevertheless very different than they were. Not alone in appearance, but powers, skills, biology, physiology and kind of every other point she could think off.

Unfortunately, over the years, that changed and fewer and fewer of her ponies believed that they could form a friendly bond with her. For a few years she had been quite depressed, but over time she had simply come to terms with it. What other means were there than simply accept? – none as she had thought so far, but would change now.

Flexing all of her body muscles, pulling her wings higher and closer to her body, and putting on a certain look, Twilight made up her mind. She would sort out that particular problem. She would make new friends and invite them to her third millennium birthday as honorary ponies of Equestria's crown princess. And in maybe a few decades also to her official crowning as the supreme Princess of Equestria. Tia and Lulu had mentioned to her about one year ago, that it would be more than time to let her take the reins and try to run the kingdom herself. And she already knew exactly where she would start with these five young mares.

But first she had to take care of her last daily tasks as a princess and after that, the daily evening court was on the agenda. However, Luna would certainly not mind managing the court alone for a few days.

The lavender alicorn mare scratched her chin briefly. Yes, that seemed right to her.

Lighting her horn in brilliant raspberry, she conjured up a roll of parchment as well as a quill from her study corner to hoof and began writing the letter to her younger sister. Already with her mind on something else, her letter was short but precise.

Dear Luna,
Due to my own private affairs, I will be unable to attend the evening court in the next few days. I therefore ask you sincerely to take over for me. If need arises, I will also bake you your favorite strawberry blueberry pie to show my appreciation. Furthermore, I will be traveling to Ponyville for the next few days to take care of said things. Please inform all other servants and guards in the castle where I have gone and that they can contact me at any time in case of urgent emergencies.
As you will notice by tomorrow morning at the latest anyway. My personal guards, will not accompany me. Ponyville may be close to the Everfree Forest, but we both know how irrelevant said is to an alicorn. Besides, the small town is far from being a dangerous place - even for normal ponies.
However, I promise you, as well as Celestia, that I will be back in Canterlot in time before my birthday to help with the preparations.
Love your sister
Princess Twilight Amitica Aurora Sparkle the first
Third princess of the mighty Equestria; Crown princess of Equestria; Alicorn of Stars, Peace, Harmony and Magic; vanquisher of the great evil; Headmare of the magic institute and the school of magic of Canterlot. Above all, Your loving sister.

Ps: We really need less titles....

With the letter written, Twilight added her personal royal banner. It was attached to and hung out of each parchment written by a princess, marking it as extremely important and of royal occasion. The banner itself was matched to the coat color of every princess, in her case lavender and so it was possible to tell at a single glance from who of the three the scroll came from. She then rolled it up and finally added a small wax seal with her cutiemark pressed onto a crimson ribbon around the parchment.

With a practiced flick of her alicorn magic, Twilight dispatched the letter to her sister's chamber. Convinced that the dark blue mare would find it within a few minutes, most likely even before the first supplicants for the evening's court would arrive at the doors of the throne room. Once they had been examined by the guards at the entrance, sorted according to desire, rank and importance, and then added to a list in order.

Almost all personal tasks for the day completed, Twilight turned back to her balcony and the sky emblazoned above. As she did so, a smile crossed her muzzle as she thought about her most favorite thing of the day to do. She closed her eyes and began to recall a beautiful moment she would use to bring splendor to today's night sky.

Her perpetually-flowing mane slowly blew steadily past the side of her face as usual. A thing that had irritated her somewhat for the first few years she had gotten her rather large walling mane. Now, however, Twilight didn't even notice the hairy appendage anymore. The many constellations; galaxies and stars within, were a perfect reflection of the sky above her, pulsing in a slow but steady rhythm. Matching the heartbeat of the lavender alicorn. Her tail also exhibited the same characteristics.

Stretching her massive wings to their utmost, Twilight relaxed even more than she already had. Taking a few quiet breaths that, while of no consequence, gave her an inner calm like nothing else did, and went as deep as she could within herself. The outermost Primal feathers of her wings, reached so far that they touched nearly both sides of the railing of her balcony. Her wings sparkled in the last evening rays of Celestia's sun in all their multicolored splendor, giving the large alicorn an even more divine radiance than she already possessed.

Currently, her feathers were rather bright, but as it was soon approaching evening and thus night the lavender alicorns wings changed their colors as well. Changed to darker and better to the night matching gradients. The same would occur again in reverse in the morning, generating an eternal cycle of moving colors in all of her feathers.

With an ease and precision that reflected centuries of work and skill, she activated her horn in an almost entirely pure white light - unlike the last time she used her magic. The white magic was surrounded by the colors of the rainbow as the outermost corona.

Also whirring around her horn were several runes; reinforcements and other magical symbols. Some even in 20 to 30 layers so deeply interwoven and so artfully drawn that many would be envious of the filigree alone. The raw power output from only lightening her horn alone, was something most would not even be able to produce while using all of their magic at once. For Twilight however, it was nothing compared to the mana she had stored in her body.

The Effects circling her horn were normally invisible when normal magic was cast. Yet it was ordinary for an alicorn’s magic.

At the tip of Twilight's long, slightly curved horn, an orange-sized ball of almost blindingly bright magic began to form within seconds. Growing denser, mightier and slightly larger with each passing moment.

Eventually, centrically beneath the gold-rimmed hooves of the imposing alicorn, a circle of runes about 6 feet tall formed that was absolutely breathtaking in its sheer complexity. It consisted of so many interwoven signs, rings and shapes that only a divine being could possibly understand its true meaning. It also pulsed with a raw and yet so calm power that even the elements in the immediate vicinity were submitted to its sheer power.

She had finally found her moment, which she intended to use today to show her subjects the love and care she felt for them. She let the feeling flow through her entire body and escape through the tip of her horn with a broad smile. The ensuing white/rainbow colored magic beam that rose higher and higher into the sky from the magic ball on her horn ended after a few moments high up in the sky. It was a totally silent, but massive and impressively colorful explosion across the entire heaven. The ‘explosion’ soon faded into the very background of the night sky itself, enhanced it to it’s core.

All of that was a truly spectacular event – at least for creatures not native to Equestria. The locals were well used to such a spectacle, even if most of them still were marveled at the sheer beauty of the event each and every day. As after all, it happened virtually every twilight on exactly the same time. Only on extremely few occasions, the appearance of the stars in the sky was not as impressive as today.

Nevertheless, probably half of all creatures native to Equestria and still walking along on the streets would now look up as the stars gradually appeared in the sky. Thanks to her highly improved alicorn vision, Twilight was also pretty sure that she could see quite a few ponies sitting on picnic blankets and at tables on the hills in and around Canterlot, or other nearby cities. All of them just waiting for her stars to emerge, something that made her big immortal heart swell in sheer joy.

So many creatures just waiting for her every evening. She their princess who brought out the stars for them as she did every evening. As some times before and also today, a single tear of joy ran down her cheek as she took the thought deep into her heart and held it dear.

Slowly thousands and then millions of stars appeared in the sky, as they tended to do by her will every evening. Each one shining more brilliantly than the last. A reflection of their mistress's joy at the peace and safety of her ponies that reigned again in Equestria after the last few days.

Dazed in her own thoughts, Twilight's sharp eyes continued to roam over the landscape as her stars fully manifested in the sky, before landing on a mountain almost obscured by fog in the distance and locking on it. The mountain nearly approached the height of the tallest mountain in Equestria, Canterlot Mountain. The same mountain their royal castle, home and capitol was build onto the side of. Still, it lacked nearly 300 feet in height, but that was made up for by its nearly twice as wide base. The mountain itself had no name defined in books, but was often considered the "Mighty Dragonlair Mountain" by her ponies and other surrounding kingdoms.

A name that sparked confusion among many ponies, as over the last few centuries the reason it was given its name had been all but forgotten. Only very few, like scientists, historians and other interested ponies studying the history of Equestria in and out, still knew what his name stood for. Plus, of course, the princesses themselves; after all, they had been residents of Equestria for millennia.

Twilight herself, of course, knew best of all why the hill had been given its name. After all, it had been she herself who had named the mountain and declared it a protected, but also forbidden place for ponies. At least the upper half of it.

The mountain by itself, was not dangerous. In fact it was not even an inactive volcano or a construction made of dangerous terrain or rocks, nor any other dangers. No, Twilight had used her status as a princess for a single and very personal reason. She was determined to prevent any pony from finding the entrance to the cave in the north side of the mountain. The entrance well hidden under trees and illusion spells and protected by a powerful force field, fulled and uphold thanks to her native alicorn mana. After all, no one was supposed to fall in by accident.

According to her, that was the biggest mistake most magicians made. An illusion spell protected by the natural barrier of flora and fauna was quite something. Very hard to find depending on the skill of the caster and also a way of disguising something for a very long period of time. Yet, if the object, or in this case entrance, under the illusion spell had no solid ground for creatures to stand on, one still fell through it, might got injured or even killed and the entire endeavor was done the drain.

Unfortunately, the cave entrance was about 200 feet tall and such a large force field, not even Twilight, despite her undisputed magical skills as alicorn and mistress of all magic, could completely hide from the most skilled magicians. Creatures able to recognize the signature of such a level of disguise spell from her were very rare, but they nevertheless existed.

It almost came to pass 72 years ago that the force field had been discovered by a pony. Only thanks to a well-placed, small rockfall down the slope, she was able to scare the curious red-brown unicorn stallion from heading directly upon her shield. Had that happened, he would have inevitably discovered it by doing so. After all, it was hard not to notice a level 10 concealment spell right under your hooves. Even if it had been created by the alicorn that was most skilled in magic. Or if someone was only moderately gifted in magic, he could have noticed the spell as well.

Yet that stallion had been far from bad in magic. Especially since he was the second deputy of the “magical institute for magic purity” at that time. And as the highest authority of all institutes, schools or anything else that dealt with magic. Twilight selected only the best of the best and the most talented for such positions.

Celestia even once said that she was a little too strict in her selection. But to be entirely honest. Twilight herself was sure that her older sister was just teasing her about it. Secretly, both mares knew that Twilight only desired the best for the future of Equestria and therefore tried to push the progress as fast, but also careful and direct as possible. All without exposing her ponies to serious dangers, with untrained or unqualified ponies gaining positions that could lead to catastrophic problems afterwards.

The biggest disgrace you could inflict on yourself was to deceive one of the princesses and claim that you had way more in store than was true. Or to try to deprive others of their rightful position for one's own benefit. It was rare, but it happened. And an alicorn ALWAYS knew if you tried to screw them or not, so there was no need trying.

However, under all circumstances, if a pony ever found its way in. It would have to pass huge and glowing bright red-blue crystals, each as tall as an average pony and about a quarter of the diameter of the height. All of them adorning the walls of the passageway. The crystals themselves had the primary task of both illuminating the path and keeping out uninvited guests – like curious ponies. In doing so, they triggered a gentle fear effect to discourage any pony or other creature from wandering deeper into the cave.

Twilight had not done so without doubt. She was an alicorn after all and that meant every fiber of her being was driven to strive for harmony, peace and shelter in any case. In her view, however, it was the only way to ensure as peacefully as possible that no one could advance to the main cave and find what lay there.

It wouldn't be dangerous to get to the end of the passage, but if a being ever succeeded and discovered what was hidden there, it would cause mass panic at the absolute latest. Which was something Twilight was more than willing to forego. So fear infused crystals it were.

The main cave itself was more than impressive with its over 2000 feet in diameter and ceilings nearly a fifth as high. Countless pillars to support the structure, wide alcoves; crevices and indentations, as well as hundreds of artfully placed and powerful runes or spells along the walls. The walls itself flattened and adorned with many more crystals to give off light.

All in the cave would definitely be worth the look and effort should one get as far as there.

Yet it was another thing that made it even more worth the visit. Namely the incredible wealth of valuable metals like gold; platinum; shade and alicornite. Topped with gems like emeralds; rubies; diamonds and other valuables, piled meters high throughout the entire cave. It all was guarded by a massive creature that was now just a myth in the eyes of many ponies and other inhabits of Equus. Considering that the last known descendants of said species had died off decades ago.

As for why it happened, not even the princesses knew for one hundred percent. But given the facts that over the last millennia the basic climate on Equus had changed dramatically. As the planet had been significantly cooled from a molten wasteland to a blooming flora and fauna of green plant live by the alicorns for their ponies. Slowly, the species had began to fade from the landscape, as the climate no longer suited them.

Yet Twilight was sure, somewhere, probably not that far away, there would be a planet that was just right. A planet on which hundreds, if not thousands, of creatures of this kind could be found. There was no way they simply faded from existence entirely, somewhere these creatures would have gone, Twilight simply knew. Maybe she would someday go on a little trip into the vastness of space to look for said planet. In any case, she put it on her mental to-do list, she decided.

The creature present in the cave was a dragon. Enormous and powerful. Its body almost as long as the entire cave itself. Its 450-foot-long tail covered with 12-inch-long, razor-sharp spikes. So was the beast's back up to his head as well. The tip of his long tail culminating in a fin as impressive as it was lethal. Its muscles massive and strong, stronger than a whole battalion of royal guards and sturdy like nothing on the planet itself. His impenetrable purple scales nearly as solid as infused alicornite. The only element on Equus that was truly indestructible.

An element so rare and precious that only the fewest could possibly even afford it. Used only for the finest of the finest items. Primarily for the equipment and accessories of royalty. Like the princesses crowns, set with incredibly pure jewels framed in obsidian; equally elaborately decorated peytrals; ceremonial armor and gowns or other items and fittings.

While it was not forbidden to acquire and use the metal-like element for your own benefits by any means. Over time, alicornite had obtained an even more peculiar status as already given by its unique properties. By now just about every pony had a kind of personal code of honor not to use the element for their own purposes.

Twilight's sisters just as little as Twilight herself, would have minded in any way if their ponies used alicornium for their own purposes or not. But she would not interfere in such matters and events of her ponies. They had an independent attitude and that was the way it was supposed to be.

Even more impressive, however, was the dragon's head. Two massive, slightly twisted horns protruded vertically from the top of the creature's skull. Each as wide as a stocky earth pony and thrice as long as Twilight herself was tall. Its mouth was peppered with rows of countless teeth, each as long as the horn of an average adult unicorn.

Would the dragon not sleep heavily on the almost infinite riches of Equestria and had he opened his eyes. Anyone standing in front of the beast would have been able to see his sharp, inspecting as well as piercing green eyes locked onto them. They would scrutinize you from top to bottom, and even the strongest of wills would have difficulties withstanding his gaze.

At present times, the dragon was still sleeping its first and moreover impenetrable two-hundred-year dragon sleep. He had to take it about every 3-4 thousand years to stay in healthy conditions. Whereby the duration of his first lasted almost 100 years longer and also occurred about a millennia earlier.

Nevertheless, in a little less than 15 years he would awake and his deep and mighty yawn would shake half of Equestria.

Her majestic star goddess Twilight, currently still standing on her balcony in front of her chamber and now doing some stretching exercises, was already looking forward to this day. The day when she could finally hold her dearest friend in her hooves again - well, at least one of his claws as long as she didn´t use a size alteration charm. As well as to be able to introduce him properly to her little ponies.

Twilight certainly wouldn't want Equestria to fall into anarchy because of senseless panic. Merely by believing that a primordial creature had awakened from its slumber of beauty and now intended to immerse the kingdom in eternal flames, lava and fire.

The dragon was many things. Gigantic, possibly even the largest of its kind that had ever lived. The third most powerful creature on all of Equus. While first, still only with the fraction of a percent of power far behind the princesses and the species of alicorns themselves. And on third position behind a very good friend of all of them. He nevertheless remained incredibly powerful. Indomitable and evasive as well at the side of the alicorns, whatever might come.

Yet he wasn’t one thing, however. And for that, Twilight would put her hoof into the fire at any time given - dangerous.

At least for her dear ponies. How it stood for others, who tried to disturb the peace of Equestria by submission and aggressive force, she could not say. Yet she did not recommend anyone to find out. A dragon remained a dragon, no matter how good of a friend he was of the royal princesses. And these creatures were not known for their temperament for nothing.

Especially Spike, who had a kind of mother/son relationship with her. He therefore had an extremely intimate connection with the lavender alicorn goddess and would defend her decisions at any time and at almost any price.

Twilight had to say that even without his sleep, Spike had become more than impressive in the last hundreds of years. True, she had expected him to grow quite large. Twilight knew after all what kind of dragon he represented. But that he was nearly full-grown already after just four millennia, even she would not have expected.

Sleep was important, however, and what had to be, needed to be done. A Celestial Dragon, like Spike was, needed it’s celestial sleep every few thousand years to reset his ageing cycle. Spike might get along without any sleep for years, at best even decades, but he was not an alicorn who didn´t need any sleep at all. True, he was in no need of the day-to-day essentials that a pony would need in the same way as an alicorn. Considering his body had enough magic of its own to take care of its own, also the same way as alicorns. Though unlike an alicorn, he still required sleep at some point just like any other living creature that was known except an alicorn of course. The magic of these ponies so great they could literally endure eternity without sleeping, breathing or nutriment at all.

Therefore, just before the day came when Spike would have to embark on his first big sleep, the two of them had decided that Twilight would be the one to take care of him in the time he was sleeping. What better way was there to be protected by the skilled arcane magical powers of an all-powerful alicorn goddess, that saw one as her son or brother – depending on who you asked?

For this purpose, Twilight decided to create a cave in the mountain, big enough, so that Spike would have enough space there, even if he would still grow in his sleep. What he also did by at least 50 feet the last time Twilight had checked some months ago. Yet she was sure he might maybe get another one or two of such growth spurts until Spike was finally fully grown.

In addition, the two of them decided to stash all the wealth that Equestria had as a last reserve there as well. The only thing that could wake a dragon out of his deep slumber was a creature trying to steal from them after all. Also, who would dare to steal the wealth of a celestial dragon? Even if no creature on Equus knew there was still one alive not far away from them sleeping deep done in a cave in a Mountain. There remained still many legends telling what a dragon like that was capable off and how exactly it looked. Gigantic, with impenetrable and magic resistant purple scales and green spikes and fins along it’s body.

And even if you didn’t know what a celestial dragon looked like. Spike was impossible to miss and his size alone kept anyone from trying to steal.

Not even she herself would most likely dare to withdraw the wealth from Spike, but in her case out of fear for the safety of her ponies and not her own. She knew Spike would never hurt her dear ponies and was also pretty good at not doing it accidentally either. But just to have it said. It was after all the wealth of the Kingdom Equestria, the same land she co-ruled and therefor she would hurt herself in controversy if she stole these wealth’s.

She herself was immortal and invulnerable as an alicorn after all and as mighty as Spike might have been. He nor any other being as well couldn´t overcome the passive resistance of an alicorn’s body and magic by any means if he tried.

Deep in her thoughts Twilight made herself a promise she had done many times before. She would absolutely never allow Spike to be feared by her subjects. Traitors yes, but not them. She had been working too hard for the last hundred years, to have it all purred down the drain. All of it to get her ponies to understand that all the stories their parents told them about dragons and the celestial ones by extension were not true. Well, most of them anyway.

She herself had been present when the dragons still dwelled on the edges of Equestria and Equus - it was hard to argue against said fact, she made up her mind.

Still, her dear little ponies, while very intelligent and independent, still had the primitive primal instinct of being afraid of a predator like a dragon ingrained to deeply in their being’s. And Twilight refused to intervene here with her magic. Changing the emotions and instincts of her ponies was the last thing she wanted to do.

She would wait for Spike to awaken and then take care of the matter with delicacy and calm – At least with as much calm as was still possible by then, given that a 1600-foot-long, four-legged and sleepy dragon was crawling out of its cave in the mountain. Her ponies however trusted their alicorn leaders without fault, so she didn´t think there would be much of a problem, once she addressed them and the ´danger´ that seemed to be upon them.

Spike was an extremely smart and friendly dragon. Also thanks to her good tutorage and the things she thought him alone their both long lives. He would instantly know that her little ponies were only afraid of him and attacked him out of pure instinct. Also the fact stood that no weapon or magic was able to come close to penetrate his scales reinforced by native celestial dragon magic. Even if Twilight had helped there as well with her own arcane might just to be on the safe side.

Scratching her chin, Twilight almost lost herself in her thoughts for like the tenth time today.

"Little ponies…Heeh!” A group of very very few who didn't know any better and were fond of their own view of the world. Might say that was an insult or demeaning of us, their "selfish and arrogant rulers of this kingdom and it’s lands" to them the ponies. But that would be wrong on so many levels that it nearly would be right again. Twilight was happy to know that the number of said group of ponies was decreasing over the years – it had been about time for that.

Still, compared to an alicorn, the four individual pony species of Equestria were truly not particularly large. In fact, the average was just 3'7". Whereby the Thestral marked the lower end of the range. Followed by the Pegasi, then the Earth Ponies and finally the Unicorns. Still, even the largest unicorn ever to live had been no taller than about 6 feet, jet just under 2 feet shorter than Luna - the smallest of the three royal alicorns.

Her second sister Celestia was quite a bit taller and came in at 8'6 feet respectively. She herself was technically physically the youngest of her sisters. But with a little more than 9 feet, she was the tallest of the three and at the same time the tallest pony in all of Equestria.

A fact Twilight had only loved to mention more than once to her sisters. Usually when they tried to tease her about being the youngest or lovingly passed her over when making decisions. Of course, such was just the normal sibling rivalry turned up to eleven after an alicorn's banter could quickly win the over hoof for a standard pony.

If you were as immortal as an alicorn, you could literally drop a stabilized miniature black hole onto the heads of your sisters. Or wake them up with an beam of energy fulled by the might of an entire star directed onto their Queen sized beds. All without hurting them even a tiny bit.

But there was one other thing for her. For Twilight, from a pure heart and soul, loved to see the longing look on her sister's face. As she gazed at the strawberry-banana-vanilla cake glazed with smooth nut chocolate and decorated with moon raspberries. Shielded behind the protective force field of Twilight's arcane alicorn magic. So close and yet so out of reach.

The slightly forlorn approaches of her snow-white alicorn sister were also as sweet as the cake itself. That Celestia was uncreative could definitely not be said about the ancient mare, with her great knowledge of many thousands of years. Unfortunately for her, Twilight was just as old as she was and had an even far greater knowledge of magic than the snow-white alicorn. And no idea her sister could think of brought her even once close to her goal.

The cake was and remained out of her reach as long as Twilight maintained her protective field. And Twilight had to smile alongside Luna more than once, when Celestia hoofed Twilight's shield and looked at her with big puppy-dog eyes. Begging her to lift the spell, because she herself was quite good and strong in magic as an alicorn. Yet Twilight, as the alicorn goddess and mistress of all magic, still had significantly finer control over the magical realms.

As she did every single time, Twilight would shake her head and promise her sister that she would get her cake when dinner was over. She never understood how anyone would be able to eat an entire three-tier cake after a three- or four-course dinner anyway –alone! Yes an alicorn had a very high energy requirement and could practically eat without end. All of which was met by their magic when they ate less in calories than their body needed - a fact that was present most of the time as an alicorn really needed A LOT of magical energy. But still, it was a mystery to her how Celestia managed to eat the entire cake within minutes almost every day.

In the end, it was not uncommon for Celestia to try to gain access to the delicacy by "brute" force. Firing the shield with the strongest and most powerful spells she knew. Spells so powerful that they would shatter any unicorn or artifact shield regardless of its strength into thousands and thousands of tiny, sparkling pieces. So fast in fact the shield was down, even before the magical flow could even register it had been disturbed. As well as disarm the spell caster(s) through the magical recoil. The most violent spells Celestia had used so far would have leveled all of Canterlot and probably half of the mountain within a second.

Even though Celestia knew she would not succeed, as usual – she nevertheless tried it every single day at supper. For just like her other two sisters, she knew very well that any protective spell triggered by alicorn magic could not be broken in the slightest. Not even considering it was her - the caretaker of magic - who had cast the shield spell. Divine magic – like that of an alicorn – unfortunately possessed, much to the chagrin of a certain cake-loving alicorn, the unique property of being flawless, instantaneous and, once cast, energy-independent and thus unbreakable to an infinite amount of time.

Nevertheless, it never stopped Celestia from venting her frustration onto the shield. Constantly attacking it with spells powerful enough that they could flatten entire cities, but where so precise on the other hoof that standing more than a meter away from the needle big point of impact wasn´t of any danger. She remained doing so until the servants, who were familiar with the procedure as they witnessed the spectacle almost daily. Began dishing up the first course at the 50-foot-long ebony table decorated with elaborate ornaments of gold and obsidian in the castle's dining room.

Like every time it came to such a situation. Celestia would pause in her attacks, inhale and exhale once or twice deeply with her hoof held out in front of her chest. As well as then sit back in her own big, almost throne like seat and act as if nothing had happened in the first place. What followed could only be described as the great feasting of royalty, for her sister had an enormous appetite every single day.

Celestia definitely seemed to like the dished food a lot. And that would have pleased Twilight, too, if Celestia wouldn't eat half as much as the rest of the castle on her own. Did this mare even need her alicorn magic to sustain her energy needs? Twilight was well in the range of capabilities to sense the magical level, depletion- and recharge rate of every creature, plant, object, artifact or other magical related thing no matter the distance. Yet even she wasn't too sure about said fact.

Their servants and staff of Canterlot Castle working directly in and around the kitchen, of course, held their royal oath to the princesses and kept all that happened at the table secret from the public. Even if the entire castle, as well as large parts of Canterlot and even half of the kingdom of Equestria, knew of the sweet fondness of one of their monarchs. Over hundreds of years such a thing did not remain undiscovered and had to seep into the light of day at some point.

On the one hoof, it earned Celestia the benevolent title of "Cake Princess" or "Goddess of the Mighty and infallible Cake". On the other side, the snow-white alicorn mare was treated to free cakes and other sweets in almost all of Equestria's bakeries by now. Something she definitely never complained about yet.

Continuing to grin, Twilight neatly folded her wings back to her sides to where they belonged. She then stretched her back thoroughly one last time, letting some joints pop. At the same time she took another brief glimpse at her stars and gave them a caring wink. Her stars twinkled back delightedly in response, as each time their mistress gave them a moment of her attention.

Twilight turned away from the edge of her balcony and slowly trotted back through the cedar-lined reinforced glass double doors into her chambers. Once there, the lavender alicorn mare briefly looked around, seeking, before finding what she was looking for and activating her magic to get it. As a result, a large brown saddlebag, adorned with a brooch of a magenta six-pointed star set in a golden frame and surrounded by five smaller replicas - her own cutie mark or soul mark like some referred to - came floating out of one of the far corners of her room.

As the bag soared towards Twilight, it proceeded to fill itself with quite a few spell- and reference books specially selected by the lavender mare from her own small private library one floor below. At least Twilight said her library was small, albeit it held over 5,000 special books. Each one read at least several times by the mare herself.

But in contrast to the royal Canterlot Library located in the capital. With it’s more than 1.4 million books and the underlying archives containing more than 2.6 million scrolls and other parchments. It simultaneously rendered it the largest collection of written materials in all of Equestria and Equus. So in contrast to that, her library was relatively small. Then again, the massive and impressively adorned building, with it’s sturdy walls and foundation to ward off the knowledge within. Had been solely constructed in her name, and she was also the head mare of the same, which basically made the Canterlot Library her property....Yeaaah. Forget about that!

In addition, feathers; parchment scrolls and other small items that might come in handy teleported into the storage space of the bag, magically enlarged by an enhanced spacious spell. Sure, Twilight could just stash all her belongings in her own pocket dimension, a dimension possessed by every alicorn. But she loved to take her saddlebag with her whenever she left the castle - it had simply nostalgic reasons for the ancient mare. And whether she carried an extra 200 books on her back or in her pocket dimension, it made no difference for her. Alicorns, as mentioned, were clearly very strong.

Once the last item had gone into her saddlebag, it closed by itself and a soft click was heard as the many protective spells on the item activated to fulfill their purpose.

With a final sly look, Twilight darted towards the exit of her chambers and with a deft flick of her magic, she swung open the heavy cedar door. The protective spells that lay on the door were deactivated as long as one tried to open the door from the inside. Still, it was not possible for just any creature to open the door from the inside. That by itself would be much too easy and careless. One had to be either her or a close confidant of Twilight and be integrated into the magic Networks of protection, security and transport. All of it to even begin to try to open the door from the inside, without suffering a paralysis spell.

From the outside it was even more complicated than that and apart from the respective princess herself, the door could not be opened by anyone. Not even the onces integrated into the network. Sure an alicorn possessed strong enough magic to break even these spells at some point. The spells were powerful, but an alicorn had the ability to get through them with brute strength as there was currently no other material other than alicornite that could be enchanted strong enough by an alicorn and it´s magic to withstand the same without breaking at one point. And casting their magic onto the door to create a alicorn magic force field – one that was indestructible like they were normally from them, was not a option either. Several magical inconsistencies permitted it – even for her. But someday she would manage to solve the equation…

However, it may well have taken even her sisters hours to do so. Probably that long to even get a tiny crack into the door. For her, the whole thing would be a matter of minutes maybe the quarter of an hour if she was lazy. Or she could just knock and be accepted through the door within seconds. Why use your force when there were far easier ways?

Upon fully opening the door, Twilight slowly strode through it, closing it behind her as she fully passed the broad frame. As it closed, the nearly innumerable runes, wards, and locking spells placed on the door by Twilight subsequently activated with a soft click. It caused a slight smirk to flit across the mare's muzzle, each time delighted anew at her own capabilities.

Twilight took a fleeting glimpse out of one of the many tall and wonderfully colorful decorated windows, scattered along the corridors of the entire castle’s halls. There she was able to catch sight of Luna's moon sparkling brightly through the window beside her own stars in an almost breathtaking grace. Leaving the floor below the stained glass window lit up in a spectacle of hundreds of wonderful individual splotches of color.

* End of Chapter One *

Past and present

View Online

*2*

Twilight briefly surveyed the glorious feats of Equestria's most important figures. Their deeds forever engraved and on display for all eyes to see. It was one of the greatest honors to be depicted in one of the windows of Canterlot Castle. Alone for the fact it was the hearth of Equestria. The place where thousands of ponies daily walked along and could see the great colorful glass panels and the things they told in beautiful silence. As only those who had performed a truly extraordinary and universally beneficial deed for Equestria were depicted in one of them in perpetuity.

Of course, there were windows for the coronations of each of her two sisters and Twilight herself as a princess. Yet she had seen these ones enough times in the past centuries to recreate them blind and from memory alone. And while it was truly a breathtakingly majestic sight for the rest of the ponies in her kingdom each time, Twilight herself rather enjoyed the deeds of others on display.

The most recent among these windows, her two sisters and she had unveiled only yesterday in the southern wing on the almost other side of the castle during said celebration. Which had been in full swing until recently. Yet that was currently only a minor side thought for the lavender alicorn. Presently, she was all too happy to recall the event from the window she was standing in front. The happy moment had taken place at a time so long ago.

It had not been a ceremony for her ponies, but one for another land beside Equestria. The window depicted a young minotaur with nevertheless stocky dark brown-haired torso, blond hair and only a simple red cloth tied around the hips as clothing. The minotaur was kneeling in the stained image of the window with his left knee on the floor. His right hand faithfully placed over his heart. His head was equipped with two light gray, yet long and slightly curved forward and very pointed horns. Both reverently lowered before the absolute majestic creature facing him. Although it could not be seen in the glass window, it was not difficult to imagine how nervous and tense the boy must have been that very day.

He was after all currently kneeling before the most powerful of the three purest beings that had and probably would ever roam Equus. The other figure opposite him was also almost three times his size and none other than Twilight herself in her full, radiant presence as an alicorn.

As Twilight remembered, she was in the epitome of expressing her heartfelt gratitude to the young Minotaur for his selfless deeds, which had saved the lives of hundreds of ponies and Minotaur’s alike. In addition, to pay him the highest honor that his nation knew. It was on the same day that she had made him a Deimos Lord. A rank that was awarded on average only once every 250 years and thus only worn by a small circle of dignified ever.

For the Minotaur, named Zutnof, it must have been the most important, beautiful, but equally frightful day of his entire life. And also, for Twilight, as well as Celestia and Luna, who were not pictured in the window, but nevertheless had stood behind the youngest and largest of their kind, it had been an extraordinary day as well. It was the first time one other than the two of them had granted such a high title to someone not from their own kingdom and they had been incredible proud of their third sister said day.

The young Minotaur had endangered his life to the utmost on that day and just barely escaped his ultimate demise. He had faced the great danger, for his good but still very inexperienced fighting skills rather well and marched victoriously out of the confrontation – or rather limped out of it, but that was of no consequence here.

Twilight had been seriously surprised that Zutnof could still walk at all after all that happened. According to statements, the poor guy had suffered some hard hits, but still didn't give up his fighting. Not many would have dared to do what he had accomplished that day, and even fewer would have been spared in the end as good as he had been.

Some would accuse the young taur of just being damn lucky and not skillful. But Twilight herself knew that it had been his special talents in the areas of perception and quick decisions that really saved his butt. In the end, it was his special insight and quick decision-making that helped him defeat the threat of Sirius Blackstone - one of his country's most feared and ruthless minotaur’s.

Sirius Blackstone was a minotaur and illegal substances trader who had been running most of the minotaur lands for nearly two decades with iron hand. As the Minotaur had such a high influence, even in the highest ranks of business and politics, nothing could ever be proved against him and his minions. Not even the alicorns of Equestria were able to hold something against him in the six months they knew. All three of them had had a rather good assumption what he had done, but even they couldn´t accuse another country of things they couldn´t flawlessly proof. It all had brought the Minotaur Kingdom on the verge of ruin. Yet bravely, as Zutnof had been on that day, he confronted the hideous Minotaur almost entirely without outside help and ended his reign of terror for good.

Upon catching wind of the deed, the leaders of his country had sought out the royal alicorns of Equestria and had requested to bestow upon him the aforementioned honor of rank. For it had been a tradition since the first communities of life on Equus that the sky goddesses of Equestria bestowed the highest of the highest honors by proxy for the respective lands. A law that had been requested not by the princesses of Equestria themselves, but by the surrounding countries ever since the beginning of their time on Equus. A task the three had accepted with due respect.

Whoever received a rank, distinction, title or the like from an alicorn was, beside his new title, also regarded as an utmost respected personality among his people. They were remembered and honored even after decades - in rare cases even centuries past their death. Something many whished, but very few ever accomplished. That was why it had been such a great honor for Zutnof to kneel before Twilight that day and to pledge his eternal allegiance to his people and to the alicorns of Equestria alike.

After the ceremony, the poor mino almost immediately fainted at the festivities that were held afterwards for him. The same second as Twilight had summoned Zutnof to join her in a by guards secluded area of the ball room, so that she could congratulate him once again in more privateness and person.

Only after several hours and two vain attempts to awaken him, at which point he almost immediately fainted a third time. The palace guards were able to calm him down and successfully reassure him – that Twilight Amicitia Aurora Sparkle, yes the same Princess Twilight Amicitia Aurora Sparkle merely wanted to talk to him. And not, I underline NOT intended to throw him into the deepest corners of Tartarus – however one could think of such a thing 2 hours after receiving the highest title of one's own country from that very mare. It probably was just the impressive influence of us alicorns on the rest of the planet's inhabitants by just being present. Well, shucks.

Twilight had found it hard to keep from smiling right from the start and after the young minotaur had tried to stutter some words several times, but had failed hopelessly every time when he stood in front of her. She, too, despite her high self-control and centuries of perfected princess mask, could no longer hold on to herself. She had started to first giggle mischievously and then to burst out laughing.

It had not helped the young Mino at first and even worsened his condition in the short term. However, immediately after he realized that the Star Goddess did not want to laugh at him, but with him. It vanquished all his fear and worry almost immediately so that he had joined in to the laughter of the, for him imposing and majestic alicorn. It had taken almost a reliving quarter of an hour before one of the two no longer had to laugh too hard to be able to form basic words.

Their laughter back under control, the two had an extensive and friendly conversation, in which both parties got to know each other a little better. Many facts about the other land unknown so far, were exchanged and more. Zutnof realized that Twilight was perhaps an alicorn. Literally the most powerful, majestic creature on Equus. Also an ancient and immortal species no less – according to many tales and stories, possibly even the oldest of the entire universe. Quiet, in every sense a god, as many said.

Nevertheless, she was much more than just an alicorn goddess and a royal princess. The mare was also good-natured, righteous, funny, highly intelligent and caring. Yet she could also be strict, very forthright and decisive if the need arise. She also had a rather poor record of being calm under stress, yet with three thousand years worth of life experience even that came to pass someday. That were all points that the young minotaur deeply respected and not just because his counterpart was one of the three regents of the largest, richest and most powerful kingdom of the entire planet Equus.

After that much hour long talk about their different nations, the two had still further discussed how they could expand the friendship between the two folks. A point that Twilight had determined more. As it was a fact to say, that she was like the guiding avatar of the mentioned aspect.

But even these memories of Twilight, were more than 300 years old. Zutnof had long since handed over the task of keeping the peace in his country to his descendants. Nevertheless, the ties between the two kingdoms remained as strong as ever and the general well-being in the realm of the Minotaur’s had continued to rise ever since.

Three century’s…and nothing at all had changed about her. She remained looking as impressive, young and full of live, like she did for countless of generations - Some would say immortality was a curse, but that was plainly wrong. Neither immortality nor mortality were a curse or a blessing, it was what you did with it that really mattered. And having a literal eternity to live, she could make decisions that would last for centuries or even millennia and witness the effects of her actions with her own eyes.

Though, she had become almost lost in old memories again, so Twilight shock her head and turned her body away from the stained glass window.

Letting her sharp eyes roam over the currently entirely empty hallways. Twilight was able to see that the corridors were really absolutely devoid of any other creatures, not just subjects – even those who worked inside the castle for the royal princesses had gone home for the weekend. Except the secret guards no one knew off, that were positioned inside their castle off course. One couldn’t let the royal place entirely unguarded after all.

The numerous, elaborate and gold ornate decorations along the walls and ceiling nevertheless made the hallway appear in a light worthy of that of royalty. The moonlight streaming through more of the windows at the sides of the hallway also helped to make the image even more impressive.

Briefly reflecting, Twilight perfectly timed the last 43.572 seconds to 7pm. The time when her loyal, long-time Seneschal and, from her point of view, also good friend, would trot around the corner of the corridor. Ready to consult with her about the evening's plans and appointments, such as the evening court. A point that Twilight still had to discuss with him. After all, it would be extremely rude off her, to abandon her planner and disappear from the castle without a word.

Being the faithful seneschal of one of the royal princesses was a great honor and it was aposition that didn´t let any wishes unfulfilled. Not only because it was probably the best paid job in the entire kingdom but one got a livelong status of honor throughout the kingdom in performing his tasks.

In total there were three seneschal, one for each of the alicorn’s. Each one not only the head of planning for the princesses and third in general power in Equestria. But also the pony that was in power leading the cavalries and royal guards in second. There was only one other being that was above them except the divine alicorns of Equestria.

This special person was loyal without fault to the alicorns and would obey every single command they gave him - no matter what it might entail. Over the centuries of his service, this had earned him the fearsome name of Warlord, and anyone who encountered him for the first time knew exactly why he was given that name. His real name was known only to a few and those who knew it did not reveal it. That was solely at the disposal of Warlord himself.

The long-time servants and guards of the castle knew, however, something that not many others knew. The two meter humanoid, with it´s incredible pack of muscles, armor and other gear. Consisting of a long sword, dagger, sniper rifle, bow, two small caliber weapons and other things made out of indestructible alicornite and using magical energy to function...was a rather nice guy and posed no real danger to equestrian inhabitants or allied forces.

His solemn oath, sworn to the goddesses of Equestria, sealed his duty to do everything possible to safeguard them, their subjects and allies. To neither harm nor allow them to be harmed.

However, if one were to attempt to attack the kingdom and its allies without compassion or out of pure hatred, merely to do the worst to them. Oh it would have been better to have left said undone, for Warlord had absolutely no problems or hesitation in putting an end to it all. No matter what that goal entailed.

After all, one didn't get the nickname Warlord just for petting his enemies. You needed special conditions for it and every enemy that had only the single reason to hurt and enslave Equestria was no more after Warlord took the case into his own hands – literally.

Yet Twilight didn’t want to think about that at the moment. There were far busier things to take charge off for now.

Exactly 40 seconds later, she could hear hasty hooves trotting down the hallway. They were accompanied by a steady hard clank of metal on stone floor with each approaching step. One of her personal ‘dawn guards’ seemed to be accompanying the stallion today.

Just a few seconds later, Hard Rock rounded the corner. His gait hasty and a bit of a stumble.He was after all of a rather advanced age. He also seemed to be slightly out of breath.

Fairly sure, he had forgotten the time of day and therefore was a bit late coming out of his office. But as punctual and loyal as he was, he didn't want to be late for his service to Twilight a second more than absolutely necessary.

A truly noble gesture in her eyes, though she wouldn't mind waiting a few more minutes if it meant Hard Rock's health wasn't at stake. After all it wasn’t like she was actually in the need of counting her own remaining lifetime…

With a quick strengthening spell of her own, she helped her personal assistant to regain his Energy. It caused Hard Rock to look up in surprise and smirk knowingly thankful in the direction of his princess.

Despite his advanced age, his dark gray fur; crimson mane and tail were still quite colorful and only at the tips already completely white. His deep blue eyes were also still quite brite, indicating that although physically the stallion was no longer the youngest, his mind was as quick as ever. Yet his eyesight had lost a lot in the interim and he had to wear glasses with high diopter values for about two years in order to still be able to see everything sharply.

Hard Rock and his Pegasus’s companion Swift Blade - one of the youngest of her guards in the castle, were still only a few meters away from Twilight, as the alicorn mare raised her gold-tipped hoof to calm her accountant right from the start. Hence he could apologize for being a mere 27.9 seconds late for his duty to her.

Twilight herself was always precise on the point, but she was also an alicorn. A being that had stamina, strength and abilities way beyond that of mortals and so it wasn´t really a challenge for her to be on the point. It rather was harder for her to not be.

"Easy, easy! There's no need to rush in like this. Remember your own health, will you? If you collapse right here before me from exhaustion, it won't help anyone," Twilight quipped with a broad grin on her muzzle.

While the old earth pony stallion slowed his gait and then as every evening bowed deeply to Twilight once, the Pegasus guard also halted and saluted to her dutiful. After which he also made a bow and returned a polite greeting to her.

"Your Highness!"

His armor, held in a lightly colored purple hue and discreetly illuminated by the moon furthermore, was as pristine and highly polished as ever. The young stallion, definitely put a lot of emphasis on making a fabulous impression as a palace guard.

Twilight was deeply pleased. Even though she suspected that he had taken extra good care of his armor today after being told that he would step in front of her - Princess Twilight. Not only one of his Princesses but also his direct Boss. And as every other pony in Equestria he valued the royal alicorns deeply.

Swift Blade’s entire armor was made of star steel, enhanced by spells cast by herself. Each of her own guards wore one of these in fact.

Luna and Celestia had their own special metal variants to craft the armors for their guards from. Yet technically it was the same element. Just with different additives to give it a unique and suitable appearance for each of them three.

To say it clear, her sister Celestia ones had a very much brighter shade of orange color. Luna’s was way darker than hers and almost resembled a deep black.

While technically everyone could forge these kinds of metal if one had at least a remote talent for forging. It was only the royal certified blacksmiths that were allowed to craft the material into armor and weapons of all kinds. And then only the royal guards of all there princesses had the privilege to wear these same gear in return.

Using the metal for gear and weapons of your own design uncertified was a reason of great crime. At the very least it could get you into prison up to a year or in front of the princesses to justify your actions.

Yet, the alicorns were no monsters, they did make exceptions if you had valid reasons for using these three kinds of special metals. So it was better to ask first and use it then if you got the validation. Therefor it came that only twice a pony got into prison because of using it illegally and not wanting to let the case slide. But even that only for a month.

The single reason behind the special status and legation of Star steel for example, was that it was almost 20 times as durable as forged steel and therefor to impenetrable for common means – as silly as it sounded.

One single pony with ill means and a full set of star steel armor would be a terrible danger. That was then the reason it was by default not allowed to craft the metals into gear without permission.

One also shouldn´t try, as the princesses quickly found out if you did, even if no one knew how they did so – it was probably thanks to some alicorn ability.

The armor clanked lightly as the stallion bowed to the alicorn princess. In total, the armor carried more than 50 helpful spells on it’s frame. Every one of which Twilight had perfected herself, placing the strongest ones in the course of a day there herself after all the needed equipment for her guards had been finished by their blacksmiths.

The whole procedure of forging, fitting each guard and putting the finishing touches on it, had taken several weeks, many sleepless nights for the fitter and smiths, hundreds of ponies and a lot of work in general. Yet in the end, Twilight was pleased and delighted with what a fabulous job the royal smiths had done. Manufacturing nearly 17,000 pieces of armor at a stretch in three shifts a day was a rather unusual task. Also one not received from the royal house every day, but it had been absolutely worth it. Not just moneywise.

Her Personal Royal Guards, spread throughout the kingdom now possessed the highest level of protection that their princesses, to whom they had sworn allegiance, could possibly bestow upon them. Although most of them were stationed in Canterlot, there was still a good amount of them in Cloudsdale and Ponyville.

Most runes, distributed among the armor, were tasked with giving the royal guards an advantage against their opponents. Such as improved endurance, speed and agility.

The armor by itself, consisted of several perfectly intermitting parts that left no space for attack in between. The main part was a gracefully decorated breastplate, reaching over the entire chest and upwards, even over parts of the back where it did join the next plate of armor.

On the front of the armor of Twilight’s guards - as on the other two bodyguards of her sisters - was a gemstone shaped in the image of their respective cutie marks - always engraved in two borders. The inner and first made of platinum, the less practical of the two, but all the more impressive looking as a results. The outer, which doubled as a stabilizer for the gem, was entirely made of Obsidian and locked the gem firmly in place.

Furthermore, the stallions and mares of her guard wore leg and hoof covers made of the same material as the entire rest of the armor. Leaving only the ends of his dynamic pegasus legs bare in the before her presented case. But even that weren´t uncovered entirely, the undersoleof each of his four legs was further enforced and protected by a horseshoe each. Enabling the guards to walk at virtually any ground without difficulty and further strengthening there already powerful hits.

A short sword, also adorned with some gems and runes, hung on the side of his flanks, fastened just in front of the base of his wings. The stallion's flanks, as well as the back rest of his body, were also wrapped in individual segments of guards armor. The individual pieces so finely fitted into each other that the gap between them was invisible to the normal eye of other ponies and creatures. That were if you weren’t an alicorn or used a high version of magicalenhanced vision.

In fact, the gaps between the individual pieces were so minimal that even without enchantments, the armor effectively protected the wearer from the effects of any magic. As the magic had no way to possibly penetrate to the body and star steel by default granted extremely good protection and steadfastness from magic, heat, and cold anyway – as well as physical forces.

Stars steal was the third most hardest element native to Equus, after Shade and then alicornite in both it’s unrefined and refined form. Therefore it was almost entirely impossible to damage the metal before the magical wards were even applied. With them applied it was an entirely other thing.

Most of the guards, thanks to the armor, would not even notice or be hurt if they were hit by a creature up to about the size of a medium dragon.

There was only one thing strong enough to bypass the armor and it’s protecting wards. The overpowering magic of an alicorn could still fairly easy overcome the natural magic protection of the armor and even the affixed spells "only" protected against about 70% of all spells available to an alicorn.

Still, even though the equipment fitted together so perfectly, mobility was not limited in the instance of combat. That was also due to several enchantments that Twilight had designed herself and had them engraved by the castle's magic smiths there, since no alicorn magic was necessary for that.

The helmet, which was also a crucial part of every royal guard's armor, was currently hung safely attached to the other side of the stallions flanks. The helmet, when put on, did not leave more than the eyes and nostrils uncovered.

The crista on the top of each helmet, completed the look of every royal palace guard. It consisted of reddish hair for the normal guards, the commanders possessed a white crista and officers a black one. Only the captain of each of the three groups of royal guards owned a fin of two colors - the largest part of it was golden and showed only at the tips the respective fur color of the princess, whom they served. In addition, the size of the fin was about 50% larger than every other fin of the guards.

And although it sounded rather unexpected to be true, but all the individual used enchantments had been listed in a book and could be freely consulted in the Canterlot library. And while some feared that this might give the enemy or misguided mages an advantage it was still something that held true for more than 1.200 years and was not a fact one had to worry about. The last significant battle between Equestria and another nation was several generations ago, and the pony kingdom enjoyed also unbroken internal peace ever since.

Alone for the fact, because the ponies and other nations knew that it would in general be a bad idea to turn against Equestria. The far strongest, greatest and oldest kingdom on Equus, that furthermore had been ruled for millennia by the same immortal and incomprehensibly strong beings. Ruled by alicorns caring above all means else for the safety of their ponies and lands and would do literally anything to protect them.

The will of the alicorn's alone was enough to hold others at bay.

In the end, peace was always the better idea, because no matter who won in the end, both sides had lost something. For a war always brought destruction, suffering and sacrifice, and that was not worth it in any case. Whereby in the case of a war with Equestria...well the winner was determined from the start.

But how came it, that it was no problem at all that all the enchantments that were placed on the armor of Equestria's guards were at the free disposal for every creature? Well, in the end the enchantments turned out to be very strong and effective, but at the same time they had no chance against alicorn magic and would break instantly if they were not personally applied by an alicorn directly. On the other hoof, there were specially crafted runes etched on the weapons of the royal guard that could likewise counter the illegally placed enchantments with ease.

It worked like this. If the charms were not placed on a registered weapon, armor or item by Equestria´s rulers, the runes would lose their effect as soon as they were hit by one of the mentioned weapons. The registration itself was straightforward and for it´s effectiveness extremely simple. To complete every piece of armor Twilight cast the final enchantment on each piece with her alicorn magic. That in turn gave the equipment its unique alicorn magic signature, which in turn acted as a magical sigil.

A simple and effective system that was also the only thing that couldn´t be faked or broken with magic or other means. It gave everyone free access to potent and effective protection, yet prevented them from using the enchantments to successfully attack Equestria and its elite.

That said, Equus, and even Equestria to some extent, had become a much friendlier, harmonious and peaceful planet with all its kingdoms in union. All of it for the last hundreds or thousands of years - given the kingdom you talked about.

Indeed, even black wizards had become rarer and rarer over time, and the darkest days of Equestria's beginnings, shortly after its founding, were long since past. The kingdom of ponydom now flourished in its almost second millennium of pure harmony. It was mostly due to the royal Alicorns leading the country with faith, but the will of all the individual ponies in Equestria also contributed greatly.

Even necromancy was not generally forbidden or allowed anymore. The once dark art was by now used exclusively for many good purposes. Except some very rare cases of misguided attempts lead by some crazy ponies to use it for terrible reasons.

Since the power of the soul surprisingly turned out to be an extremely potent source of energy for cures and care of rare and sometimes nasty diseases. It got quickly well known for being something other than the synonym for terrible, darkness and misguidance. Even against those illnesses, that no one had ever heard of before, could easily be trifled with. The last belonged to the rarity with the collected knowledge of three ancient beings as regents, but it came to be.

A shift that had surprised even Twilight at the very beginning. She herself was honest, at first the lavender alicorn mare had not been particularly eager to learn about necromancy. Yet now even she was fascinated by the principles. As time got by she got rather fast intruded by the basics and soon intended to learn everything there was about it – even if she would never be able to cast them for herself.

The reason for that was very simple. As an alicorn was incapable of using any kind of dark arts, due to its own pristine powers. There abilities were even so different in contrast to these darker powers, that Twilight – or her sister destroyed corrupted energies and objects merely on contact with their own powers and body.

Still, all these things considered, it was possible for Twilight, or an alicorn in general to learn the knowledge of necromancy. Thus, she was capable to inherit the knowledge and pass it on to later generations for even better results.

It had perks for a kingdom being ruled by the same immortal beings. For they had a knowledge, skill and wisdom of hundreds and thousands of years to fall back to.

On top, alicorns had a photographic memory. So they never forgot the facts, that were truly crucial to let their kingdom blossom.

Likewise, it was still a subject about which even she, as the avatar of magic and the well-read alicorn – most interested in any kind of magic, knew relatively little about.

And that meant something if she, as protector and mistress over the concept of magic, could reveal little about an area of magical arts. A fact, which bothered her only slightly however - time, she certainly had enough to acquire and implement the knowledge into her being.

The art of necromancies was a weird kind of magic. It contradicted the natural rules of magic, as necromancy used completely different foci of the magical arts. However, her own existence as an alicorn also contradicted just about every known rule, so theoretically she herself was not in a good situation to complain. Taking into account that she would, which she didn’t.

Yet necromancy was one kind of magic, that if taken with skill and care, led to truly magnificent and fruitful results in the long run.

Necromancy, sometimes called the dark art, at its genesis from the basic essences of the universe, was known to all as an "impure" magical art. For where there was light, there had to be shadow. Even if the alicorn goddesses of Equestria represented a beacon of unattainable strength in the universe and led the general balance of cosmic forces more and more towards the direction of peace and light.

Nevertheless, Twilight was rather happy as she thought about what had happened in the last hundreds of years. The image of the concept of necromancy had slowly began to be changed over time, and necromancy was now a topic that was addressed at least once in the higher schools and grades.

Those who performed exceptionally well could even be taught some of the simplest basic spells of necromancy by their professors.

Of course, one needed a certain qualification, knowledge and also the approval of her – Princess Twilight Sparkle herself. For she was and remained in every respect the mare that decided which magic may be practiced and taught and which was not. Even if the latter part contained only very few spells, there were still some that fell under said category. There was no denying her, if she forbid the teaching of a certain art or spell it had to be followed. Yet that wasn’t a problem. With her thousands of years of knowledge and experience very few ever ignored her decisions at all. It just kind of made the most of sense for the alicorn of magic - a three thousand year old being, to choose which magic was to be called save and which not.

In most cases, the forbidden spells contained those that had the unpleasant side effect of killing the one who cast them. Not exactly a practical thing, if one was allowed to say so and rendering the spells entirely useless. Luckily it was a kind of spells that had ceased to be created almost 800 years ago and there had never been a mentioning of another such created spell ever since.

How were such spells even be created in the first place? In order to discover new spells – after first establishing the basics, the old try and error method had to be used. For that was how every new spell was invoked and tested for the few first times if it had nothing to do with alicorn magic.

How an alicorn invented a new spell however, was a totally other thing for that matter entirely. It was something that also couldn´t be fully explained thanks to their entirely unique powers. Once a spell was created by Twilight or one of her two sisters - it simply worked on first try.

The best explanation they got for that was that, as an alicorns abilities worked without fault that was also the reason they could create a perfect version of every spell they thought off.

As a try and error method always had a chance of going not as intended, it was the reason why most laboratories and facilities specialized in developing new spells were built to be fire and explosion-proof as well as highly robust in general.

Yet Twilight was still - even after so many years of being alive, lost for the simple reasons why to create such spells.

Why and better yet how, did someone create a spell that killed the one that cast it? What reason was there for some spell like that to exist?

Most of the spells even accomplished little more than that. Yet were described by their creators as the greatest achievements of the pony age.

Twilight still hoped that the creators of such spells would try them themselves and not use innocent ponies to help them. Yet her hope was most likely short lived and more than one pony had over the hundreds of years fallen victim to these stupid mages.

It was also the single thing that could make Twilight as an alicorn truly mad and she sweared as the single most powerful user of magic in the cosmos, to those ponies. If she EVER bucking found out where they had lived, she would go back in time, literally strip them of their magic for all eternity and bring them to justice by her own design.

For an alicorn that still didn´t mean she would kill them herself, for an alicorn never did such a thing. But whoever really knew the cunning mare, knew that she could practically lecture someone to death and if that didn´t work, there was still her good ally and friend Warlord.

As known, he was a generally friendly guy, yet only to those who deserved it. And Twilight didn´t consider ponies that created spells with the single intend to kill the caster as such. Warlord likely would also have the same opinion as her and manage the case by his own design in her stead. While she knew perfectly what that meant…she also knew he was a trustworthy guy that made his job fast and without suffer. Even while being against killing, it gave her the peace to know she did the right thing.

Such a necessary was sad, as even as a literal god, an alicorn couldn´t save everypony or creature – well they could but that was in some cases rather a matter for the side. Some of them had to either save themselves or be done with it. As dark as it all sounded.

Shacking her head Twilight got back on track with her own thoughts. She never liked to talk about death and avoided doing so if possible. Mainly because she couldn’t ‘really’ understand what it meant. Not because she didn’t knew what the word death stood for, that was silly. But because an alicorn was immortal without fault and therefor would never actually experience it in the first place.

Either way, among the spells to be learned of necromancy were, for instance, the power to use one's soul to help others or to strengthen them at short notice.

The basic necromancy spells up to level two out of six, could even be used danger-free and without much knowledge or general high magical strength of the caster. All given that a pony did not actually had to use it’s soul to cast such spells, but only went into oneself to generate a deep inner peace. Which, in turn, produced different effects depending on the application and what one focused on.

The advanced and heavier practices from level three to six were not directly open to the public of Equestria - at least at the moment. They were even so restricted that other than herself (and her sisters obviously) there was currently only one other pony that knew how to cast the two highest level of said spells. Two for level five and one of the design of level six. More, even for him – or rather his soul to great of a strain to be able to learn and cast.

To be allowed to cast, one had to make a direct request to Twilight herself and describe the exact motive, which was also checked by her at least three times a year at unspecified times. That was necessary as, well you just had one soul and it was your entire being and who you were. Serverly damaging it, simply said killed you. In addition to this, several physiological, physical, spiritual and emotional tests had to be submitted once at the beginning and every two years thereafter. If one failed to pass said test they were stripped of the right by Twilight to use more than the two basic levels of necromancy. Or in specific instances the third.

Trying to spoil her – the mistress of magic, afterwards and still intending to use the acquired knowledge was also a task one should better never even think of. She would knew faster than one could even begin to perform ones magic. Twilight was magic after all.

That all sure was a lot of work for something that sounded so simple on first glance, but Twilight did it out of pure love and care for her dear ponies. For as long as necromancy was still a delicate and little researched subject, she would not change her mind very much. Nevertheless, she had made up her mind to check the progress completely at least once a year; to compare it with the last year and to reconsider changes and easing.

Yeah, that was still the best idea to ensure I´m able to protect my little ponies from hurting themselves. They might be very smart and independent in their own decisions, but still…there´s a reason we have me, the supreme master of magic. If not even I would use every kind ofmagic there is without being careful, than others shouldn´t even get the idea to be able to use it in the first place. And that’s considering my alicorn magic doesn’t make mistakes while casting…I do it for their own good.

Twilight was almost lost in her thoughts, but she composed herself. She had always done the best with her abilities to protect the inhabits of Equestria from dangerous or unknown magic’s and that gave her peace. Shacking her head, she focused back on the scene before her.

The two stallions were still in their bows and had lowered their heads in deference to Twilight. They would not rise until they were prompted to do so by her - their princess.

Twilight smirked, she wouldn´t want to let the both of them wait any longer, their bow already lasted about 10 seconds and by now the stallions would soon begin to fear they had displeased their princess in some way. A silly thought yes, as if two so loyal and grateful stallions could ever displease her. For that it would need MUCH more, but sadly it was a truth, that all ponies were rather fast in worrying that they had displeased the royal alicorns of Equestria.

That probably was the thing she all three had still to work the most and hardest on. If Twilight remembered correctly – and she did with her photographic and undeceivable memory, able to remember everything for eternity rather well. Than it was a fact there had been only five instances ever where someone had angered or displeased her. And each time they had done so it had been justice to be furious at them. They had…No, I won´t think about them anymore. It´s the past and what happened to them so long ago was unfortunate but necessary andentirely their own decision.

Tipping her head slightly to the two stallions as well in greeting, Twilight returned the address in an exceedingly smooth and majestic voice. She knew that most creatures were cautious around her and the other alicorns, even if they never had a reason to. For that reason her sisters and her had found a simple solution to ease the minds of their subjects. Their ever kind and motherly voice when addressing them was the final product of it. Something that had worked rather well since their descend from their true Home – the astral heaven.

"Please arise you two and stand to attention and likewise a good evening Swift Shield. To what do I owe this delightful encounter?"

While Hard Rock rose and already began going through the first items on tonight's to-do list with his eyes, Swift Shield also stood up with another salute. His head was held proud, but his gaze lowered and not meeting hers for that would be an insult to the crown. One was only permitted looking a princess directly into the eyes when they allowed it. An also hundreds of years old law that to this day held still strong.

As he did so, Twilight's keen eyes did not miss the slightest movement and so she spotted the stallion trembling slightly with tension. He was still visibly a little unsure in her direct presence. Understandable – he was still young and rather inexperienced in the arts of being a royal palace guard.

The young Pegasus had completed his training as a palace guard not half a year ago - and had also done so extremely well. Twilight knew that from her own observation. The princesses themselves frequently observed the training of the next generation of guards and the commanders reported to her and two sisters almost daily about the most reliable and promising new recruits to protect them and their country.

Speaking of that, the second – the protection of the country was the main goal for the princesses. It was after all matter of fact that an alicorn didn´t exactly need extra protection from other ponies, as they were themselves more than suited to defend their lives.

His good training and excellent competition was also the reason why he had already graduated to become one of Twilight's ‘star guards’. Even though normally one had to have at least 5-10 years of professional experience for even remotely of a chance. Well the young Pegasus, was extremely promising as said.

Swift Shield saluted another time.

"Your Highness. I was sent to you personally by Commander Comet Starshine to ensure your highness safety. He ordered me to ensure that your majesty safely makes it through the entire night." The young stallion afterwards paced nervously on his hooves and the feathers of his wings also rustled softly back and forth.

Continuing to smile amiably, Twilight returned Swift's comment.

"Thank you Lieutenant. I'm sure Commander Starshine had only the best in mind when he sent you to me. Both concerned for my safety and to improve your own skills. Regrettably, however, I must say that your services are not needed today."

Turning her head slightly to the left to her accountant, she also faced Hard Rock. Upon which he looked up, intuitively knowing as usual when the lavender alicorn was focusing on him.

"And also your efforts will not be needed today. I have already informed Luna that I will be heading to Ponyville. I do have some private business there. Luna will take over my duties for me until then. Please refer to her for anything you need to know. Also let the other members and ministers know to, that their princess is not available for the moment and they are to refer to my sister Luna."

Hard Rock and Swift Shield had no time to respond anything as Twilight was blessed with a sudden idea and continued to speak.

"Hard Rock why don't you take the next two, hmm no rather three days off and go visit your sister Melody for a change. That would be the perfect opportunity in my opinion. I heard her two filly’s are supposed to start school soon and they can't even wait until that time is upon them."

Nodding slightly, Hard Rock put his clipboard away and turned his full attention to the alicorn princess. His smile was broad and sincere.

"Your Highness! I am fascinated every time how it is possible for you to know all of that. At times I almost believe you to be omniscient. But there is no such thing as that - right?"

Even though the two had known each other for many, many years. It seemed that Hard Rock was still not completely sure what he knew of his alicorn princess and what not. The alicorn’s were after all kind of known as gods on Equus and most also believed such rumors. The alicorns never in any way forced others to acknowledge them as deity’s, but they also never denied it. So it was up to everyone to form own conclusions.

Laughing, Twilight responded to her faithful Senegal’s statement.

"No Hard Rock. I am almost certainly not omniscient or even omnipotent. I just possess an extremely good grasp as well as good communication." Twilight smirked anew. "Well that and a mind that can´t be fooled or does forget things on top of the fact an alicorn has incredible strong abilities does help as well. Still, there is relatively little that you couldn´t ask me or that I am prevented from accomplishing. There are several advantages to being a princess and an alicorn."

Her response seemed to have been enough for the older stallion, as he only briefly nodded once.

"As you wish. I will visit my sister then. You are right, I have not seen her for some time and a visit is long overdue."

"Give my regards to her and your family as well," Twilight interjected while she began to turn away from the older stallion.

"I will, your highness. I'm sure they will be very pleased to hear a friendly greeting from one of our princesses. For I know one thing, my two nieces are infatuated and fascinated by you and the things you have done already. Even with their rather young age they know a lot of the deeds the Star goddess and her two sisters have done.”

Hard Rock turned beat Red. “Well…that´s also probably my own fault as I told them all the things about you and you'r sisters once they asked, but anyway.”

Hard Rock rubbed his fore’s together. “No matter how much I told them about our three royal regents, the stories of the sole and mighty Star Goddess has enraptured their interest by far the most. They talk about how powerful, beautiful, impressive and majestic she is by no end. Even while I still doubt a bit they even fully know what all of these words mean. In my sister's letters, she hardly writes of anything else when she talks about the two of them and what they like to become one day."

The older stallion, fell silent in response and seemed momentarily caught before pulling himself together. "Ehh, I hope you know what I mean Highness. It´s not that we don´t talk about anything other than you in our letters. Yet...I…I should stop talking – Yeah! Telling you more kind of makes it even more awkward for me."

Hard Rock had shrunken quite a bit in the last few seconds. Whatever his problem with his statement was, it was a seriously embarrassing subject for him. Twilight found it more amusing than odd, but she wouldn´t press the matter. There were things she didn´t have to know…or understand.

Turning back to him and with a reassuring hoof gesture, Twilight steadied the stallion's nervousness. "Don't worry, I'm well aware of what you mean," she joked. "I can well understand it too, the three of us have an impressive effect on many and that effect is even greater for unicorns."

While she said that Twilight quickly remembered back.

The family Rock had been serving the princesses for several generations and most of their work had been dedicated to herself. Twilight took it upon herself to know at least well about the families most closely associated with royalty. Even though she kept a certain distance for several reasons to her ponies. She didn't want to meddle too deeply in the lives of others unless invited to do so.

Smirking and with another slight bow of his body, Hard Rock looked up at her. Although he was relatively tall even for an earth pony and his advanced age usually made him standing a head length above any other pony. He still came just to the bottom line of Twilight's belly and at all times had to crane his neck high to be able to look the alicorn into her bright and caring eyes.

"Sorry no your highness. Interestingly, it is my younger niece who is more intrigued with your presence. I would like to emphasize once again; she is very very interested in your deeds. She sees your highness as an idol and would like to become just like you one day in about 15 years, when she is 20 herself, like you.” Hard Rock now looked even a bit more embarrassed than before.

“Even though, unfortunately, I don't think that will be a known possibility – or is right in the first place. I just don't know how to tell her... like how do you explain to your five year old niece that her idol is actually much older than she looks... and that significantly so."

Nodding her head in sympathy, Twilight returned Hard Rock's remark. While bowing her head gently a bit before the older stallion.

She stopped about one fourth of the way as that indicated a friendly gesture. By Equestrian law a princess was not allowed to bow her head more than that in front of anyone else than other dignity’s. She never understood why such a law was made by the ponies, but it was one that was older than the three of them wandered physically on Equus. And as no one had ever complained about the law either and it didn´t give her any disadvantage, for her that eliminated the problem entirely. She followed it and that was all that counted.

"I regret no, becoming like my sisters and I will not be possible in any way. We are truly unique and special beings. All of us three embody fundamental aspects of reality and forces. Some would say we were born from them, but I would rather go for the fact that we are like the mothers for said forces. Our existence dates even further back than the explosion that sparked the universe, and not even I know a spell or force that can bypass said rule.”

Twilight giggled into her hoof. ”On top of that your fairly right, we would have to at least add six to eight zeros to my age to even come close to my actual time of living.”

“Still - Sunny?", enquired Twilight curiously. "I must confess, though I already knew they both had an affinity for me. Still, I didn't expect her to be the one who expressed the most interest. Well, you never cease to learn, do you?", Twilight joked.

A new sudden thought, made Twilight continue while Hard Rock stayed silent. He always had a pretty strong sense whenever the alicorn princess still had something to say and highly respected it.

"Hmmm, now that I think about it. How about the weekend after next. Do you and your family already have something for that night or could we have a nice dinner together on that day? If so I'd like to invite you and your family to the castle's banquet hall for that very evening, to have an extensive more course dinner together in friendly company. And who knows, maybe I might be able to think of a few cool 'alicorn only things' to show and teach your two nieces in the process," the princess winked at the earth pony stallion.

"Izzy may even manage to get into my private school of magic if she is of age. The magical abilities of your blood line have piqued my interest more than once over the decades. So it could well be that Izzy has some talent as well, and I would love to find that out sooner than later. After all, it' s my field of expertise and I’m the headmare for magical studies. Besides – I think at least one of them is definitely willing to learn from my 'old', 'boring' self," Twilight quipped.

"For even if she's not a unicorn. There's still a lot I can teach her. I´m an alicorn and the one of magic no less and that means I have vast expertise in all three fields of pony magic. Earth pony magic has more potential as most of our ponies even know. I'm aware that’s a rather sad thought but we slowly get to it and bring the secrets of terrestrial magic to the light", concluded Twilight as she scratched her chin, partially in thought to herself how to best grab the problem.

However, as she looked back at Hard Rock, she met an extremely puzzled and also a bit horrified face of an old stallion that was lost for words. In the corner of her eye she could also spot Swift Shield, who had been standing at attention next to the much older stallion all this time with the same wordless expression but no horror in his case.

The pegasus guard had been silently waiting for his turn to speak. But now he sparked an equally surprised expression on his face. Also his muzzle stood slightly open.

"A-but your highness. I could never accept such an offer. I am just a normal attendant working for royalty in Canterlot castle and you - you are one of our beloved princesses of Equestria. Practically omnipotent and all knowing I-".

Hard Rock was abruptly interrupted by a lavender golden plated hoof settling forcefully over his muzzle, but not hurting him while doing. Heavy amounts of pure godly magic flowed from the hoof and eased his mind while lovingly forcing him to stay silent.

Twilight's voice was louder than normal and determined to a degree that made the fur stand on end all over both stallions' bodies.

"Oh no no no! Not another word of self-deprecation. You are one of my most longtime friends and by far loyalist serving members. Moreover, your entire family line has served the royal house and primarily me, for quite a few generations. All with devotion, trust and great honor. If it is inevitable, than as a princess, I insist that you accept my invitation. Merely for me to be able to repay a small part of the gratitude back to you."

All was now completely silent. Both ponies gazed deeply into each other's eyes. One pair determined beyond all means, friendly and caring. The other also friendly, old but still sharp.

Finally after a few seconds Hard Rock lowered his gaze and fell into a low bow, his nose almost touched the ground in the process.

"No need to worry, your majesty. There will be no need for that. If it is so, then my family and I gratefully accept your grand hospitality to dinner in your castle."

Twilight extended her hoof under the chin of Hard Rock and lovely tapped it to the base of his muzzle to ease him to stand. She then help the old stallion stand up with some of her magic.

"Oh, and one more thing. Call me Twilight, simply and plainly Twilight when we are seated together at dinner. I insist on it and will not be dissuaded."

With a last small bow but no more words, Hard Rock agreed to the request.

Turning her head back to the Pegasus stallion, he sprang even more to attention and returned another salute to her. Yet the friendly expression he received from the majestic alicorn opposite him melted away his tension entirely.

"Sorry to have let you wait so long Swift, but truly an excellent conduct lieutenant. There should be more of your kind among the guards.”

“Now please see Luna and report to her. She should know by now that I will be traveling to Ponyville. As long as I am gone, she is the one your getting your commands from. Also the pony who will be running my Star Guard here at the castle for me."

"T-thank you, your highness. I am honored by your compliment - truly."

The poor stallion's entire body trembled with respect and fried from the praise of the alicorn mare. Twilight couldn't help but feel a slight smirk cross her muzzle.

Well, it´s not the best first meeting someone has managed with an alicorn. But at least he didn´t faint on the spot like so many others did. He´s rather strong and confident. That much´s clear. Twilight pondered in her mind while she set up an even more calming smile for him.

"Don't think any of it, lieutenant. Something like that needs to be acknowledged," Twilight confirmed with a slight nod to the young guard.

She was about to turn away in order to make her way to Ponyville, but was stopped by Swift Shield once again boldly speaking up. It surprised Twilight a bit as he had been incredible reserved just some seconds ago to even look her in the eyes.

Yet she welcomed it. Twilight loved it when others got their wits and spoke their mind in front of her – the alicorn princess. She liked to hear the opinion of others and it was also a thing she considered necessary as her position as the alicorn of harmony and friendship.

"Pardon me princess. Permission to speak freely?"

Twilight turned back to him and gave her consent with a short nod of her head.

"Your highness! You can't just travel to Ponyville without protection. The small village may be indeed quite safe and serene and the ponies from what I have heard are very accommodating and helpful. Besides, the last danger reported there was a long time ago. But Ponyville is right next to the Everfree Forest. That’s by far the most dangerous forest we have in Equestria."

Twilight smirked. "You're partially right about that lieutenant. The Everfree forest is a certainly very dangerous place for all creatures not native to it, no matter their kind. Yet it is by no means as dangerous as it once was.” Twilight paused what she intended to say to ponder about something she just noticed.

“Hmmm. However, now that I think about it, the forest is by now even a relatively minor threat to ponies, as long as you don't anger the forest itself. It´s not just a rumor, but the forest really has a mind of it´s one. It knows if somepony is respectful of the flora and fauna and will favor the one that respect it’s presence. I won´t deny to have had a hoof in it myself – but that just so by the way.”

“Furthermore, I would be significantly less concerned about my personal safety. An alicorn is incredibly resilient and better armed than it appears at first glance. I think we all know rather well what kind of powers the three royal sisters really do hold if they wish to express it – and I’m one of them. Nevertheless, I thank you for your care, but prefer to travel alone."

With a salute, Swift Shield quickly took his departure from Twilight with a quick march down the hall. If the alicorn wished it to be like it was, then it wasn´t his place to argue about that. "All right Highness. If that is your wish, then so be it." After a short time, he disappeared around the next corner.

Hard Rock had also turned away from Twilight in the meantime and began to trot back to his office as well. But not before he bid farewell to the lavender alicorn with some final words. "Goodbye your highness. May you arrive safely in Ponyville and good luck in your affairs."

"And you travel safe and sound to Appleloosa. Don't forget to give my regards to all, I will see you in three days then. Tell your sister, Saturday after next at seven o'clock just before the gates of Canterlot´s castle. The royal guards will permit you to enter the castle unhindered and escort you as far as the dining hall. I will already be there to welcome all of your family."

"I won't forget and thank you again - Twilight." Hard Rock´s reply came still a bit shaky, but it was after all only the first time he addressed her as simply Twilight and not by one of her royal titles or anything else.

After Hard Rock also turned the next corner, Twilight also made her way at a slow walk to the grand castle gates facing south. Every guard or servant the star alicorn passed either saluted or bowed to her and Twilight, friendly as she was known to be, greeted just about every single one back by name or nodded to them.

Soon she passed the gates and greeted the four guards stationed their as well with her friendly attitude.

Leaving the castle grounds, she spread her two massive alicorn wings wide. They shone in even more magnificent colors in the bright moonlight than they did in the day. She was after all a dawn and night attuned alicorn like her sister Luna and her powers were greatest in the dark times of the day.

With a few strong wing beats, she catapulted gracefully high into the sky heading for Ponyville.

Some ponies were still trotting along the streets of Canterlot. As the alicorn flew overhead they looked up and soon began waving and shouting joyfully after her.

Something that filled Twilight's heart with a warmth she never thought possible and she spontaneously activated her horn with a single bright thought. As she overflew the outer walls of the noble district of Canterlot, stretching once around the castle of the city, behind her. Each of her strong wing beats generated streaks of multicolored magic in the air and late twilight of the day, slowly moving across the sky like auroras.

It was certainly a very fitting phenomenon for someone who was named Twilight and Aurora by two of her names.

Her million of stars also now shone even brighter in the sky and soon they began to surpass even the mild light of Luna’s moon. The mild white starlight shining down on the peaceful Lands of Equestria a symbol of her mistress' protection and care for all ponies and other creatures that were keen to follow the ways of harmony.

* End of Chapter Two *

Author's Notes:

You have no idea of how great if feels to have exactly 11k words on the point. While it botters me a great deal, that not every chaper has a round number I´m not gonna chance it in retrospect. (I already do it and you can believe me it´s sometimes rather stressful to find 40/50/60 words just for a round number) :D

I thought it to be neat to have specific magic colors for the capabilities of the magic of Equestria. So here you go!

The specific kinds of magic:

[The "colors" of magic do not necessarily define the appearance when casting each type, rather they are just a simple categorization for better differentiation and classification. Nevertheless, both "white" and "black" magic often exhibit the associated coloring when cast. It is also possible for a spell to contain the properties of more than one type of magic at the same time. Few spells can be clearly assigned to a single type - most, as suspected, to the white and black type].

White [Deity Magic]: Peace, Harmony, Truth and Hope - most pure form of magic - can only be used by gods, solely to cast good. Cannot be learned by others who do not possess the required skills to begin with. This type of magic is without flaws and always produces the exact desired result without generating side effects. White magic is universal and thus includes any positive effect that can be brought about with other types of magic.
Black [Diabolical Magic]: Casting wicked spells and negativity - exact opposite of white magic - can be used only for the worst, but in theory by anyone, since the magic is so corrupt. A god with the abilities of white magic, is not able to use any black magic and completely destroys any evidence of black magic when trying.
Still, they can learn the concept in order to better combat the dark arts. This form of magic is an over-arching term for everything that can be classified as dark arts and includes far more than just necromancy, the latter is just the most widespread known form of black magic when asked.
Unfortunately, it lends necromancy a bad reputation, one that is increasingly unfounded. Necromancy is now widely studied and taught in Equestria for healing and support purposes.
Green: Enhances prosperity, luck and fertility - one of the most difficult arts to learn. A certain talent is needed to be able to cast it successfully. However, should one master it, much good can be done with it. Due to circumstances that have not been clarified to this day, it is almost completely impossible to do harm with it. It is therefore considered one of the safest types of magic.
Blue: Healing of mind, body and soul, forgiveness and tranquility - After white magic the purest and safest of all positive magic forms. Due to the relatively simple structure, it is the most widespread form and is actively learned at schools, universities and also privately. It is almost exclusively possible for anyone to learn this type of magic and gives help in a variety of situations.
The strength and abilities of that kind of magic are strongly related to one's own limits - the stronger someone is, the better he can use the magic as well. The only real limit this kind of magic has is a fatal injury, poisoning, etc. (Only white magic can really bypass the limits of life, death and reality. Black magic also to a certain degree -> see Necromancy).
Yellow: joy, friendliness, friendship, reinforces good character traits - brings out the best character traits of a person and amplifies them. No new traits can be obtained through yellow magic, they must already be present. The individual bonds between friends benefit the most from it, as the description of the most important characteristics already suggest.
Due to the close connection to emotional bonds and emotions, there are very few spells that can be truly learned. In most cases, this type of magic works intuitively and by itself between the different parties.
It is thus one of several types of magic that do not necessarily need to be learned in order to exist and function -> Friendship or harmonic energy, as a special and incredibly powerful form of magic, also falls to some extent into the yellow category, although in most cases it is to be counted among the divine (white) magic due to the extreme power it possesses.
Red: Courage, confidence and strength - is mainly used to support oneself or others and to generate confidence, courage and strength. The magic reduces anxiety or suppresses it completely. The increase of trust among each other also plays an important role, which means that both effects occur almost exclusively together.
Finally, someone can be strengthened with red magic. Both the caster and others on whom the spells are cast can be strengthened. Some spells even exhibit all three characteristics at the same time, one of the best examples being "The spell of faith". A spell that grants the one it is cast on a decent power boost in combination with higher trust in allies and reduced fear. Red magic is closely related to orange magic and in many cases overlaps with it.
Pink: Love, sex, passion, beauty and romance - most often used in love spells or potions. In most cases, it is used to present a distorted image of reality
-> Love Spell: Changes the feelings and emotions of someone who is under its influence. For example, to establish a relationship with someone with whom none would otherwise come about. Of all the magic colors allowed, this is the one that is most avoided, as it is often known as "the magic of seduction". It generally has no good name therefore.
In addition, using pink magic does not make one a favorite among others, which discourages most from ever using it. The only known intuitive use, is the natural bonding of two people in love/passion/etc., as this is often also described as a magical moment.
Violet: spiritual enlightenment, creativity and wisdom - this magic type is a very difficult one. On the one side, it is extremely popular, and on the other, despised by some. [It is however never permanent and the effects eventually wear off and disappear completely. Again, only white magic can cross these boundaries and create a permanent effect].
With Violet magic it is possible to give oneself or others a higher imagination, intelligence, or otherwise mental strengthening as well as abilities. Hence, the participants of contests where such things matter are always scrutinized for indications of this type of magic - all of which is the part that is despised.
The exact opposite of this is respect, as it can be used to give others a better impression of things. Thus, it is possible for a professor or otherwise very intelligent person to explain, show, and make others think about things with ease that they would not otherwise be able to comprehend.
The permanent effects suggested by white magic users can include anything that could be associated with the above topics and only knows the limit of the caster's own imagination - which in most cases doesn't present a limit anyway. If even gods who can work this type of magic don't know the answer, no one probably does.
Orange: energy, ambition, success and motivation - is very related to red magic and overlaps in many ways, which makes most spells that contain orange magic also contain red and vice versa.
The most popular spells of this magic color include general strengthening spells for physical powers or similar abilities. Improved self-esteem, which in turn encourages one to take more risks that lead to success - motivation is so closely related to success that it is listed as a separate item, but in the end it accomplishes the same goals.
Brown: Stability, Humility and Mental Strength - Stability alludes to a person's intellectual strength, so again it is a strengthening/improvement of the mind. Unlike purple magic, however, it does not strengthen a person's mental abilities, but rather consolidates the ones they already have.
In most cases, it involves the reduction or suppression of effects that are primarily psychological, such as depression, loneliness, etc. Consequently, very often this magic works passively, for example, between couples, friends, married people and does not need to be actively cast at those occasions.
Humility is another aspect that is triggered by brown magic. Virtually no spells exist that can enhance said effect, which means that a modest and helpful person natively has increased amounts or capabilities of brown magic.

--> To conclude, most colors of magic, therefore, also occur passively and naturally and do not have to be caused by spells first - even though it is also possible to do so in most cases. Love, for example, is a great indicator of pink magic, modesty one for brown, or friendship with others a good one for yellow. Whereby it must be mentioned once again that many of the colors overlap or work together in their effects, creating even superior effects.

A Princess and Thief in Town

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*3*

*A few minutes later*

Before long, I began to catch sight of the top of Sweet Apple Acres' barn roof in the distance. The farm served as Ponyville's most vital food supplier, and also accounted for a high profit factor for the little village. Even though, recalling it, I just remembered that the village recently had added a few more very promising businesses to it´s rather small size.

Recently I had heard of a boutique, a newly opened bakery, a small but efficient weather control team, and an infirmary and care center for all kinds of animals. Thinking about it, that did sound a whole lot like the work of five special mares in my mind. Based on their general personalities, at least, it would fit.

By now I had skimmed the far edge of Sweet Apple Acres and was on my way directly to the Golden Oak Library - the only public library in Ponyville and started by me personally. There had been some nobles in Canterlot who objected, since Ponyville was not exactly a densely populated place in terms of population, and it would therefore be a waste to take so many bits on one's hoof to build an accumulation of knowledge in such a diminutive place.

In retrospect and to their own misfortune, they probably shouldn't have brought it up in front of me. Me - the alicorn who was also known as the alicorn and protector of knowledge, among other things. The rioters were silenced rather quickly with their tails between their legs, and the library was erected within a few weeks. It was one of the many practical advantages of being a princess. And no matter how arrogant some of the nobles in Canterlot were, none of them could even begin to compete with the stern and piercing gaze of an alicorn.

They tried several times already, yes. But that was a case they could only loose and never win. So much for that, I smirked inside my mind.

The residents of the village had been incredibly pleased and promptly refused to let me appoint a librarian from Canterlot to come to Ponyville to run the newly built library. It passed as a duty of honor to work in the remodeled tree and help other residents find what they were looking for.

Having said that, I wasn't interfering further there, as I was always delighted, when our ponies took something in their own hoofs and it warmed my heart that they were so pleased with my gift. Even if I had done it also likely for the reason, as it was important to me that everyone had unrestricted access to knowledge.

As I continued my way over Ponyville, a certain structure on the outskirts of the small village near a waterfall caught my eye. A broad smile curled up my lips as I thought back to this more than unexpected yet pleasant memory.

It had been a gift from the residents of the entire village to me for my birthday, the following year, after I had had the library in Ponyville built and officially opened by myself.

How the inhabitants had been able to build something like that in such a short time, and then also in secret from me, was still something of a mystery to me. Whereby I had to owe the latter probably to my two sisters, who had intentionally kept me several months from visiting Ponyville.

The costs and planning had almost certainly been taken care of by the Apple family and the Rich family, otherwise I couldn't imagine where all the bits could have come from.

You're probably wondering what kind of building I'm talking about, aren't you? Most of all one that immediately catches one's eye and obviously must have been quite expensive if I´m specially mentioning that point.

Well...

It was a massive building, certainly more than worthy of a princess of my status - though I would settle for much less and that was more the general opinion of all our ponies.

In detail, my gaze fell upon the 72 meter high castle in the shape of a huge tree. Built entirely of some kind of magically reinforced and strengthening gemstone and adorned with many elements of gold, obsidian and Shade. Shade an incredibly durable and slightly purple-blue shimmering metallic.

The front door of the castle itself was also gigantic and consisted of a gilded double door with two large pink hearts in its center. A staircase, also golden, led to the entrance door, and in front of it, there was a well-kept and wide path that meandered all the way to Ponyville.

In the center of the huge crystal tree were the living quarters, which were directly above the massive and beautiful throne room with a map and six thrones. One of them significantly larger than the others. Obviously the throne intended for me, the princess and my cutie mark in the form of a pink gem integrated into the top of the backrest only further solidified that statement. The other thrones were also evenly spaced around the map, but there was no gem forged into them yet.

The inhabitants had even taken the trouble to suspend an all spanning chandelier from the roots of a tree directly in the center of the throne room. Hundreds of different gemstones hung from the chandelier, distributing the light perfectly throughout the room.

Hmmm, but why the six thrones and not just one? After all, there were only three princesses in all of Equestria, and the castle was also built solely for me.

The answer was simple. It was common knowledge that I could wield all six elements of Harmony on my own. A task none other than myself should try - their combined powers were just to great and the result would be deadly for any mortal. For each of them, except for the element of magic - which was, after all, myself - I had selected a lifetime champion. Although the last time I had done so, had been almost 250 years ago…There surely wasn´t a better time than now to find new champions I pondered.

For this reason and that reason alone, there were six thrones in the throne room. One for each of them and me. So that we could hold conversations and important discussions in a regular place.

Rounding off the entire crystal castle was a gigantic version of my Cutie Mark's large center star at its top. As well as several banners with my full Cutie Mark and crystal ornaments hanging all along the balconies and recesses.

All in all, a truly fantastic residence for an alicorn princess and I had been speechless the first time I saw the castle. I even considered it to be so large that it could be considered a palace.

Of course, I had expressed my gratitude to the inhabitants and clarified how honored I felt that they had built something so impressive just for me. Whereby I mentioned in addition that it would not have been necessary and I would come up with pleasure for the resulted costs. After all, I didn't want others to have to cut back because of me. The crown of Equestria as well as Equestria itself possessed after all a limitless wealth at precious stones, precious metals and other valuable resources. Therefore, it would never pose a cost problem to pay for something like this.

My offer was kindly but directly declined. For Ponyville´s pony´s it was an honor to have created something like this for me out of their own strength and they wanted it to stay that way.

Of course I accepted, but in return promised to keep the library always and at all times in best condition. Also to protect it, its contents and the visiting ponies and to supply it with the latest books at any time. That was my own condition of the deal and no pony had had a problem with it ever since.

I was abruptly torn from my thoughts when a sudden movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention, zipping through the darkness. As then not one second later also the calls of three me very well-known stallions and a mare came to my ears, I knew immediately which or better said whom it was down there, who fled.

Oh gee, really Quick Pick - again? You're kidding me, right? This is the third time this month you've tried to pull this off.

With a slight irritated sigh, I quickly sorted out my thoughts, flexed my wings, and with a single hard stroke, catapulted myself forward. Within no time I had built up a tremendous amount of speed.

Thanks to my now almost triple speed of sound, achieved with ease thanks to my superior alicorn physiology, I now shot towards middle Ponyville at an insane speed. Straight into the direction the young stallion was fleeing.

Due to my unnatural nature as an alicorn and associated abilities, my massive acceleration, speed and breaching of the sonic barrier within a fraction of a second nevertheless produced no sound at all. Aside from my unique magic aura that permanently surrounded me as an alicorn and hinted to others what true power we possessed. An alicorn only caused an effect on the surrounding when we specially wanted to.

In the 1.21 seconds it took me to land in front of the fleeing thief and to spread my wings beside me, I had used my magic to call upon my personal armor from my peytral. At the same moment, I had also stowed my saddlebags in my pocket dimension so they wouldn't get in the way.

The armor and the peytral it was stowed in had been made for me by my good friend Warlord several centuries ago, and up until now I had only had to use it once in a real fight. Well, rather I had activated and used it to increase the effectiveness of my appearance.

The armor had no real sense of protection for me as an alicorn. Even if it would keep away any damage from the body of a pony by the material, the spells and protective shields which were worked into it.

But for me, the armor was nothing more than a nice feature. My body far too immune and invulnerable to whatever the universe could throw at me for me to really have any need of it. I was a true goddess after all - being invulnerable just came packaged with it by default. Still, it was a very neat and stylish gesture from Warlord and in any case a good specimen to test and improve the equipment of our own guards on.

And given his name, it wasn't surprising that a gift from him would have something to do with military equipment or weaponry.

However, my sisters and I were not bothered by it in any way. The nature of an alicorn was peaceful minded to the extreme and all three of us did everything we could to never have to use physical force, unless it really couldn't be prevented. Even then we would never go so far as to hurt or even kill someone, yet we understood that not everyone had this perfect spark of peace in them - we were probably unique.

That's why Warlord took over for us the tasks in the vastness of the universe that demand exactly that from oneself. The universe was gigantic, after all, it was all that was known to the mortal mind, and so, unfortunately, it was not far-fetched that there were beings who wanted nothing more than to hurt, subjugate, or kill others.

A sad but true fact.

As usual, we would try to talk to them first, after all we possessed a non-negligible level of power and were also highly respected by all our other fellow Immortals. Unanimously elected as their leaders too. So the trust in us did not come from anyhow.

If that didn't help, well...we requested Warlord to take care of the matter. But first without using excessive force - his way of dealing with such difficult individuals proved to be very functional in most cases, and so it was compatible with our conscience.

Should even that not work... then sorry, but in that case even we couldn't help and Warlord was free to decide how he would like to proceed.

My thoughts briefly wandered further, before they focused back on the previous topic.

Since he couldn't hurt me, Warlord had no need to worry about that either, and could try with every fiber of his body to get through the defense of his own designs of the armor. Which, in the first few weeks and up until about the 10th revision of the armor, he actually succeeded in doing surprisingly often. Whereby...he had designed the equipment after all also and knew it´s "weaknesses" thus exactly. In the meantime, we were at the 91st revision, if I remembered correctly. So there was a lot of work and will in Warlord's work obviously.

Now, however, it was almost completely impossible even for him to penetrate my armor and hit the underlying fur. It should also be mentioned that I did not defend myself in our test fights and always only tried to avoid his attacks. In direct comparison, the reactions of an alicorn and Warlord were on about the same level. Although an alicorn of course had much stronger magical powers, which he made up for by massively better physical strength.

And that in itself was saying something, for as an alicorn I could pull the entire, fully loaded, Friendship Express from Ponyville to Canterlot. All without having any trouble and even arrived 5 minutes sooner than if the train drove the route itself.

Still, my friend Warlord's physical strength was many times greater than the one of an alicorn.

I once saw him hurl an almost two thousand meter long ship at a rather horrible guy in another dimension who claimed he was the most powerful being in the entire universe and unavoidable. Moreover, this psycho intended to wipe out half of all life in the universe with six colorful stones. The stones themselves even reminded me quite distinctly of our own Elements of Harmony. Number and texture matched at least and both were gemstones. These stones, however, possessed entirely different abilities and had a degree of reality-altering power that our Equestrian elements had nothing in the least to oppose. Although I had never created them for that in the first place. So it was rather unfair to compare them side by side.

Yet as powerful as these little stones were - if I remember correctly they were even considered to be by far the most powerful of that entire universe and had been created during its creation. So relatively ridiculous remained nevertheless their combined strength in the comparison to, for example me as alicorn.

Please, but all that the stony guy tried to fling at Warlord and me was stuff I could conjure up half asleep before my first cup of coffee - after just getting out of bed. And I didn't even get any sleep....

So his aspirations and statement had been an absolute joke, I really expected a lot more than that from him. So at first, Warlord and I could do nothing but start laughing. Then we proceeded to show him how serious in strength his claims really were - or not, in his case.

If we are all honest. At that point, even my compassion ended and I simply constructed myself a nice avocado smoothy, popcorn and a beach chair out of my magic and left him to whatever fate Warlord could offer him.

But back to the topic. I didnˋt want to think about what my friend did that day for the moment.

Still, it would be a simple matter for me to dodge his attacks and then attack him. With all the other powers I additionally possessed as an alicorn, I could anticipate just about any of his attacks and dodge them with relative ease.

Still, I had to give him credit, it was not easy even for me with my more than supernaturally skilled powers to dodge his attacks and I had to give just about everything not to get hit. Then again, Warlord possessed almost absolute skill in the areas of combat and fighting and no matter who went up against him would immediately lose by a landslide.

Only we, as alicorns, could still outclass him and theoretically defeat him at some point with our magic. But as long as he wore his armor and it didn't run out of power, even we were unable to do so. All four of us had taken care of that together, and his armor protected him perfectly against any form of magic, even that of an alicorn.

Also, the energy for his armor was fed by a direct connection to the alicorns' energy source - the astral dimension, or heaven as some called it. We could sever his link if we needed to. But so far there has never been even the slightest need to do so.

All things considered; without his armor it would be a fight of a maximum of one second. His body did not have the slightest spark of its own magic resistance and even a simple alicorn powered telekinesis spell could paralyze his body.

My thoughts strayed a bit further from me, but I quickly focused back onto the real world around me.

As the whole armor wrapped around my body I had to grin slightly, and got a spark of pity for Quick Pick as a result. The poor stallion might have been a thief, but not a really bad one. Just a little pickpocket who only stole as much as he needed to live. Which, in a kingdom where the crown supported the needy so much that really no one had to suffer poverty, was rather pointless....

My new appearance would certainly give him a heart attack. Not to mention the fact that I was also a pretty impressive alicorn by myself already - but hey, maybe he would finally understand that stealing in Equestria was of no use. In the end he was still caught by one of us three or a guard. For as many times as he had stolen something, he still remained terrible at it.

The moment my hooves struck the earth beneath me all at once with a noticeable tremor of the ground, my keen eyes went over the stallion and what he was carrying in his muzzle.

At the same time, I had for good measurement, conjured also about a dozen of magical created swords and other weapons to my side. As I landed the weapons struck the ground behind me in a semicircle around my alicorn body. Each of them send a bright and trembling explosion into the environment and proceeded to glow with tremendous alicorn power afterwards.

The item in question was a gold chain, glittering brightly in the dim light of the moon, made of many interlocking rings. A square sapphire about the size of a hoof in its direct center rounded out the chain. The necklace had quite a bit of value, even by Equestrian standards. Gems and gold were, after all, not uncommon in the kingdom of Equestria, and one could even buy clothes in Ponyville that were studded with tiny pieces of gemstones.

Still, I didn't need a second glance to realize that this piece of jewelry most certainly did not belong to the young stallion. After all, where would he even have all the bits to be able to buy such expensive jewelry all at once.

While he was actually a pretty honest and friendly pony, the fact that he was stealing didn't necessarily make him the most trustworthy pony. Also, the last time we met, he didn't have a girlfriend or another pony worth buying such things for. For recently, he was running away from four of our personal royal guards and I trusted those enough that they wouldn't chase after a pony for no reason.

"STOP IMMEDIATELY AND GIVE UP; OR I MUST RESORT TO MORE DRASTIC MEANS”, thundered my voice in that of the royal Canterlot voice to Quick Pick, who was running in a fast spurt directly toward my position.

In a bubble about 30 meters around us, I had also created a silence spell to scare Quick Pick with my loud voice, but to let the rest of Ponyville sleep undisturbed.

Should he still try and flee, he would slam into the interior of my shield rather quickly. For I was known for many things, but stupid was far from being one of them. From the outside, my current shield could be crossed without difficulty by our guards or other ponies I allowed. From the inside, however, it was impenetrable and rejected any attempt to escape from it.

It did not matter what it was, no one and nothing was able to penetrate my shield of pure godly alicorn energy. In this way, I had even saved some of our subjects from worse several times. A suddenly erupting inactive volcano in the middle of a village 420 years ago would have caused quite a bit of damage and claimed at least more than one victim.

"By the holy goddesses above!!!", with an almost cartoonish maneuver and some dust, Quick Pick fleeing towards me decelerated immediately within a few centimeters. He still tried to use his two wings to slow down further, but they were buzzing around aimlessly rather than being of any use to him. His cry caused the jewelry he was carrying in his mouth to fall out and would have landed with a soft clang in front of his hooves. But I caught the golden necklace without difficulty after only two centimeters in my raspberry-colored magical aura.

I had to smile at his but so fitting statement.

"You called?"

Quick Pick had had more than one encounter with me in the past for the same reason as right now and even if not...as the most capable of the three alicorns of our kingdom in magic I would be more than recognizable even so. Thus he knew that he had landed in the truest sense of the word no 'Quick Pick' and once again completely in the ~~claws~~ ehh hooves - like usual...

Having placed one of his front hooves over his chest and seemingly finding that his poor pony heart was still beating, he breathed a sigh of relief. However, this sense of relief lasted only for a second, for when he got over his shock, his logical thinking reactivated as well. Suddenly, he realized exactly WHO was towering just a horn's length in front of him.

His ears flattened backwards, he sank trembling on his hind legs until his buttocks touched the ground, then looked up at me with his eyes wide open in fright.

Almost immediately he tried to stutter out something quietly, though his apparent fear of me paralyzed him almost completely. And while he tried to stutter, I had slightly changed my expression so that my armored face had changed to a frown.

"P- P- Princess Twi-"

I interrupted him by lifting a front hoof before he even got to stutter my titles and names completely to himself. That didn't change his situation either. I hadn't caught him in the act, but it wasn't the first time he had stolen. So who was he trying to deceive?

In addition, the necklace that clearly belonged to a mare and the four guards that had by now nearly reached my shield were two clear indications that I would be right with my notion.

My gaze slowly changed to a friendlier one, even though I still silently let him know that I in no way approved of what he had done.

After all, I had only wanted to frighten him for a little and not to seriously hurt him. That would be absolutely not my way to deal with someone and far below my dignity and Quick Pick knew that too. He knew that he had to answer for his actions, but that I also was not a serious lethal threat to him. No matter how much power I carried in my body, everyone knew that an alicorn would never use his potency against their own subjects.

We ruled through faith and good will not submission and fear. That we happened to carry the raw power of an entire universe around with us at all times was just a nice bonus.

Despite that he knew, it was visibly difficult for him to communicate the facts to his body. His posture was tense to the utmost and he was still shaking quite a bit with his eyes held wide open at me.

Slowly I lifted up the necklace and brought it closer into the mild light of my sister's moon. Meanwhile, I waited the last remaining seconds for the three stallions and one mare to join the two of us.

Quick Pick's look said all it needed to as his gaze darted back and forth between the golden chain in my magic aura and knowing eyes. It was utterly clear to him that he couldn't fool me, no matter what he said.

When the quiet metal clacking hooves of my guards came to a stop behind him, he simply lowered his gaze to the ground and hung his ears.

That - was something completely new even for me. As far as I had seen and heard from the reports of my guards, so he had never reacted until now when he was caught. So far he had always tried to defend himself and talk his way out of it. Something he was almost as bad at as stealing.

While the only mare of the squad of Elite Royal Guards stepped forward and saluted me, the remaining three stallions bowed before me slightly. I only caught it on the periphery of my attention and merely nodded to Flower Petal, the commander of the Ponyville Guards, with a presence of mind. My thoughts were occupied with something else entirely right now and it largely involved Quick Pick's behavior in the given situation - especially in regard to me.

I awaited the necessary seconds for the Pegasus stallion opposite me to lift his gaze and speak. Yet it seemed that for the time being he did not do so. So I turned to Flower Petal with a friendly expression.

"Commander Flower Petal, what a surprise to see you here. I thought you had traveled back to Canterlot yesterday for important military meetings to meet with the other generals, ministers and my sister Luna."

Flower Petal saluted me once more and then spoke.

"My Princess! Good evening. Yes! - That was supposed to be the plan your Highness. Yet there was a small incident in Ponyville yesterday afternoon. Fortunately, my presence is not really needed until tomorrow, so I have agreed to take matters into my own hoof."

"But don't worry, the incident was really nothing of great importance and it has already been taken care of. If you don't mind, I won't bother your Majesty with further details."

I just nodded my head mutely in agreement. Flower Petal then turned her head a little further to the left and faced Quick Pick.

"As it seems to me, however, staying here one more day was beneficial. He just can't leave it be it seems to me." She sighed. "I really thought that after the eleventh failed attempt in Ponyville alone he would finally learn, but it seems to me he has not."

With a firming of her shoulders, she continued. "Even though we only have a small repeat pickpocket here, I will still be happy to take care of the case."

Flower Petal then nodded her head in the direction of the pegasus stallion and the remaining three guards stepped forward in unison. Before they could take any more steps, however, Quick Pick jumped up on his hooves and opened his muzzle to say something in return to me.

Explaining why, as a multiple thief and therefore not exactly considered the most trustworthy pony abruptly jumping up right in front of a princess of Equestria was a bad idea I don´t think needed to be said. Especially when four top trained guards were present.

Before he even got to get up on all fours, so he was again mercilessly thrown to the ground by all three stallions. One of them even raised his spear and pointed the tip at him.

Flower Petal, a commander who took her job very seriously, had instinctively positioned herself wide-legged in front of me and spread her wings to ward off any attempt to attack me.

I was more than impressed, but her defense would not be needed today. Gently touching one of my own wings on her shoulder in a specific pattern, I let her know that her protection was not needed for me.

The tension immediately drained from Flower Petal and she folded both wings neatly back to her sides. She then remained standing were she had taken her defence position just seconds before. All while the mare remained firmly looking at the three guards subordinate to her, Quick Pick still pressed to the ground by them.

He struggled to worm his way out of their grasp, but his efforts were in vain, the stallions were just too strong. In addition, unlike him, the three guard ponies had gone through a two-year period of learning and training to become guards. Of course, the training didn't just end thereafter and each guard continued to be trained almost daily by their superior to improve proficiency. Said routine was also put to the test twice a year, supervised by the captain of all the guard personally and sometimes one of the princesses if the opportunity arose.

All in all, it was not the easiest training. After all, the same ponies were responsible for National Security and also the protection of the princesses and their residences. They just had to be in good condition, there was no way around it.

After a few seconds, he dropped his limbs to the dusty ground in desperation. And before I knew it, he began to cry softly and then the tears were flowing like a damn was broken - welp now I really felt quite sorry for the poor stallion. Yes, he was a thief, but a rather small and bad one, not somepony that would actually physically hurt another to get what he wanted. Also I had rarely seen a pony so completely broken like him now - whatever his reason for the sudden change was.

Clearing my voice, I requested the guards to let go of him. An order they didn´t disobey a single second. Thereupon I lifted Quick Pick back onto his hooves with my magic.

As I went to release my magical hold on him, his legs began to buckle immediately, but two of the guards were right there propping him up. A subtle but for me extremely important gesture in terms of cohesion. The pegasus stallion and the two guards were like direct 'enemies', but without needing to say anything, they helped him not to kiss the dusty ground with his muzzle.

I certainly would keep that in mind for possible later cases. As the alicorn of harmony, not a single spark of friendship, however small, eluded me. I could still clearly remember each of those many thousands of gestures in my long life from other ponies to each other. It was simply something that I considered essential - maybe even one of the most important things except magic, my sisters and knowledge.

We all patiently waited some minutes until Quick Pick's crying and then sobs eventually subsided and he could avert his gaze back to me. His eyes were bloodshot red and he was still sniffling, but he seemed to have regained his speech. He also didn´t meet my eyes directly and focused onto the upper end of my chest.

I certainly couldn't accuse him of having bad manners in the presence of an Alicorn Princess of Equestria. Perhaps even the best that a criminal had ever had towards me. Whether his parents or the school had taught him not to cross the gaze of an alicorn without being asked to do so, I did not know. But that didn't matter to me either. He didn´t and that was certainly something I hadn´t anticipated.

"High Princess Twilight? Your' royal majesty? Am I permitted to speak?" His voice was hushed and petty, but I could still understand him without any problem thanks to my extremely keen alicorn senses.

I bend and raised one of my hooves into the air, a tad bit in surprise about this unique request. Then I regarded him for a second before I gave him my answer.

"Certainly I will allow you to speak. May I ask what you wished to say? But keep in mind that any accusation against me or my guards is subject to exceptionally harsh punishment. So far, we're just at stealing and by me and my sisters, it would be better if it stayed that way. Do you understand that?"

My eyes were questioning to Quick Pick as I also raised my eyebrow and awaited his own answer.

My words, which were expressed rather kindly apart from the slight things I warned him about seemed to be met with quite a bit of horror from the stallion. For he instantly denied what I had implied.

"WHAT?!, oh no, no, no! I would truly never dare to offend your divine majesty. I may be a thief - a pretty rotten one, but I have still honor in me.”

“Besides, without being sullen. You High Princess Twilight, goddess from the heavens above are the most respected alicorn of the three for me. I'd rather go into self-imposed exile or worse before I could even begin to think about insulting an alicorn like your highness."

A few seconds of absolute silence followed, but for everyone present it felt like hours. In the time it took us all to get around the things that were said, Quick Picks face began to redden in embarrassment. Like it seemed, he only now registered what he had just said in front of me and the four royal guards.

While his hooves began to fiddle on the dusty ground of Ponyville and he waited for me to respond his wings also began to rustle in a quiet and almost soundless manner. It was still loud enough for me to hear it.

My voice was the first to break the silence around us and all eyes turned towards me.

"I am flattered, quite even. But surely that was not the real reason you requested to be allowed to speak?"

My question was meant rhetorically, for I knew the answer would be yes.

"You presume correctly princess...I wanted to, well...I wanted to...", it was visibly difficult for Quick Pick to put his words together as it seemed. After the first failed attempt, he raised his front hoof and performed a simple breathing exercise to calm his nerves. After several times doing that, he tried again and this time he was able to speak his mind.

"Ok, no more talking around the bush. I feel incredible guilty for all the attempts to steal and vow by the honor of the alicorns - you, the goddesses who watch over us and Equestria to stop stealing entirely and live an honest life from now on. At least, that is, if I am not punished for my latest misdeed."

Quick Pick slumped onto his hindquarters, with these words his legs seemed unwilling to carry him for the time being. As the two guards meanwhile no longer supported him either there was nothing holding him up. In his immediate vicinity they nevertheless remained, their gazes as unreadable and neutral as they were trained to be.

Quick Pick also lowered his gaze from my chest back to the ground and awaited my judgment. His ears had dropped once more and flicked in a mix of anxiety and tension. He nevertheless made one last remark.

"Phew, now it's out, no way back."

There was silence a second time in not five minutes, but this time it was one of the three stallions, the oldest of them to be more precise, who spoke first. He was also the only one besides Flower Petal not directly standing near Quick Pick.

I remained wordless for the moment, my mind racing and my response calculating.

"Mister Quick Pick. I have to remind you that you are in absolutely no position to make demands from the princess. Under no circumstances will the charge of repeated stealing be dropped against you. I..."

"Agreed," came from me as a flat reply that stopped the old stallion dead in his tracks.

Merely a single word, but one that carried far more authority than an entire speech by another pony could ever hope to have.

"Pardon me high princess? I do hope I misheard something? Surely Your Royal Highness is not seriously considering granting his request and releasing him from his deserved punishment? He's a repetitive thief, and even if he promises to go clean, we all know it won't be a week before he breaks his promise."

Our eyes meet and he instinctively lowered his head and shut his muzzle. More than a normal guard or not he still had to remain within protocol and the laws binding him to the throne and us.

"Yes! Yes exactly that is what I am considering and I trust that he will be honest when he says it. I may look like I'm in my early twenties, but not only thanks to my age, but also because I've always been good at recognizing the truth behind a creature's words. He speaks the truth; of that I have no doubt."

“Also, he just made an oath in the behalf of the goddesses from heaven - my sisters and me. We all know that we alicorn´s would never judge someone by breaking such an oath. Yet faith strangely always seems to catch up with the one doing so at some later time. Therefore it would be a rather terrible idea for Quick Pick to seriously consider being unfaithful to his given promise.”

"But...", the older guard tried it a second time to voice his concerns.

"Butts are for sitting on, my dear second lieutenant. It´s my decision and it is final. I believe you might respect the decision of one of your princesses and rulers?"

My statement was never meant as some kind of threat, heaven forbid. But it was still the easiest way to avoid starting an emerging disagreement in the first place. Sometimes you just had to let the princess hang out a bit.

The older stallion just bowed his head to me in response and stepped back into line with his other two colleagues.

Flower Petal, who until now had only stood silently to my right, watching Quick Pick with eagle eyes, stepped forward, past me, and addressed Quick Pick himself.

"All right it seems like it´s your lucky day. You heard her majesty, Princess Twilight. Under her will, we will not pursue or take up the latest case of theft. You are thus free to go your way. But if I hear of your theft ever again, not even the benevolence of Her Highness Twilight will be able to save you from me." She paused, but just for a second. "By the way, you should thank the princess for your reprieving. I think that would be appropriate."

Quick Pick rolled his eyes as he met Commander Flower Petal's gaze without batting an eye. He then grinned back at her.

Quick Pick chuckled. "My dearest. Do you really think I wasn't going to do that anyway? I might be an ex-thief but I still learned how to behave myself, especially before an alicorn."

He then took a few steps forward and bowed to my hooves so low that his muzzle brushed the ground lightly before him.

"Your Highness. Divinity Princess Twilight. I thank you for your indulgence and promise again never to abuse it. You will never hear from me again, and if you do - it will be for good."

He then rose, turned tail, and slowly trotted past all four guards. All our eyes followed his gait until he rounded the corner of the next house. Then he was gone. Commander Flower turned to me one last time and nodded.

"I think that settles the matter. Unless you mind, my squad and I will now continue our patrol through Ponyville.

"Your dismissed," was all I said as I gave an additional curt nod.

As Flower Petal turned away from me and used her hoof to indicate to the other guards which direction to move, I called her back after all.

"Flower Petal!"

"Your Highness?" The mare turned back to me. Her face showed more than a tad of surprise.

"Please give Guard Captain Shining Armor another friendly greeting on my behalf when you meet him tomorrow. Otherwise, I wish you an event-free rest of the night."

Flower Petal smiled. "It will be no problem for me to tell him Princess, and thank you. I myself hope that nothing else will happen tonight. I find the balmy and quiet nights without any incidents to be the best."

I stayed standing for some time, looking after the departing patrol of guards, before I set off again myself. Towards the place I had planned to go to in the first place.

I was confident that I would find the five young mares I was looking for there. After all, I could still see the light burning in the distance and the library had its own floor where one could easily live. Besides the five of them, who else should be there at this late hour? After all, the library was long closed at the current hour and as far as I also knew, the mares had agreed to run the Golden Oak library during the absence of the pony normally in charge. Second, I hadn´t seen any more lights left on at Sweet Apple Acres anyway as I crossed over it. And that, was the only other place the five of them could have stayed without any problems besides the library.

So Golden Oak Library it was.

* End of Chapter Three *

The Alicorn Warrior

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*4*

It wasn't long before I found myself just a few yards away from the wooden front door of the Golden Oak Library.

Once there, I paused for a moment to think. Theoretically, I was free to enter the building as I pleased. It was mine and the protective spells to keep intruders out would not be beyond my abilities – by far. That is, of course, if I hadn't designed and conjured the wards and runes myself and hadn't forgotten to enroll myself in the magical network. Not like the last time I had done something like that and created the protection all around Equestria , I pondered with bitter mind. If my princess duties did give me the free time someday this month I for certain would solve said problem. Shouldn’t cost me more than the quarter of an hour to recreate the protection around my kingdom from scratch anyway.

However, simply stepping inside the library would be more than rude and frighten the poor mares out of their wits. For after all, once the library was closed, the door should only be able to be opened from the inside or the outside using the only existing key.

A key that none of the five would give away or carelessly leave under the library's foot scraper. It was also protected against being copied by my magic and well, nothing could beat alicorn-magic – especially not mine. So it should be impossible for someone to open the door from the outside and just walk into the library without said key.

Therefore I did what any normal pony without powers like mine would do.

I raised my hoof and knocked firmly against the door three times with my golden hoof-shoe. I then waited for some movement on the inside.

I must have knocked a little too hard, though, for I was wearing my full royal assessors and my enthusiasm was quite high. Instead of a gentle and friendly knock on the door, as I had intended, it sounded more like an entire herd of buffaloes had just crashed into the door of the library. In the back of my mind I mused that the door itself had only withstood it all because my magical protection was on it. Otherwise the door probably would be lying shattered behind the tree in the garden or even further away now.

Remember, Twilight - alicorn strength added to anticipation equals for a tricky combination when it comes to everyday objects and their destructibility.

I didn't have to wait long before I heard hoofbeats from inside. Curious and scientific as I tended to be, I tried to work out from the sound, speed and a few other details which of the girls was on her way to the door to welcome me. Well they obviously didn’t know it was me, but a knock usually meant someone wished to get inside, didn’t it?

Hm, the steps are flat and even, so a young pony with healthy legs – well that’s true for all five of them. Next! No much too faint and quiet to belong to a stocky earth pony, but that leaves us still with three possibilities. Even a unicorn, with its slimmer, daintier legs, doesn't fit. So its one of the two pegasi - but which one.

My one hoof began scratching the dirt below me in some upcoming nervousness as I thought about the only two left possibilities.

Oh, I hope not the shy yellow one. She's quite nice and far to kind for her own good, but I doubt she would survive my unexpected sight at this moment. Besides, I don't think she'd volunteer to open the door this late at night in the first place.

Furthermore, the cyan pegasus mare had caught my eye with her enormous ego and self-confidence rather fast the moment I had all five. I was therefore very confident that she would be the one to open the door for me.

And I was proven right with my assumption.

A second later, the unmistakable voice of the cyan pegasus sounded through the still closed door before me. What the mare precisely said, even I could not understand. I had added also a couple of vocal disorientation spells onto the building to mess up potential spying and to most extends these worked on alicorn's as well. But from what I could discern she must have wondered aloud who it could possibly be so late in the day. Just like probably the question of why the hell the knocking had sounded like half the world had just come undone.

As Rainbow Dash opened the door for me, the look on her face was beyond annoyed. Who the heck was trying to get something from the library this late anyway? Visiting hours were long over for today and by rights every pony should know so. Of course, it could always be a lonely wanderer who was still out and about at such a late hour, looking for shelter. But although the library upstairs had enough space for up to seven ponies without problems, Dash didn't really seem to be interested in inviting anyone into the tree today.

Without looking up from the doorstep, her response was less than friendly.

"WHAT?! Can't you see the library is shut for today? Be back tomorrow and good luck finding a place to stay this late at night." Her voice at the end sounded almost like a…laugh? Did she make fun of the fact a stranger would have trouble finding a resting place in Ponyville today and at that time? I knew the pegamare to be rather self-assured, straight-forward and blunt, but certainly not unfriendly.

Maybe she had a bad day? – Probably!

It was also untrue that one wouldn’t find a place to stay tonight here in Ponyville. It wasn’t that late already and in the worst case one could always seek shelter in the guard posts distributed all around Equestria. It was a basic right of every Equestrian citizen and duty of the guards to grant shelter in their quarters and protect said if needed.

I wouldn’t say I was mad or anything the like, but a tiny fraction disappointed of Dash. Therefore it came, that the calm, regal, kind voice, and one so familiar to her, made the mare's ears perk up in fright in an instant. At the same moment, her head jerked up to full height.

"Hmmmm! Is that the way you welcome a supposed stranger wandering aimlessly around searching for shelter? I would have expected a little more hospitality, after all, that's what Ponyville is known for and I know your not usually like this Miss Dash." My voice had lapsed into a monotonous, expressionless tone, but I had meant it more as a joke than as genuine annoyance. Yet just hearing my voice, especially in that pitch, triggered things in some ponies that I didn’t intend. It was something I unfortunately had to come to terms with all the time, whether I liked it or not. It was the burden I had to carry as an alicorn, princess and a being that was seen as a goddess by many of my subjects.

With Dash's gaze focused on me, her eyes grew wider than they anatomically were allowed to be and she took a few slow strides back. Her ears now tipped back in panic and her eyes aimlessly wandering.

Before I could say anything else to defuse the situation Dash cry-stumbled - crybled? several things at once in a volume I had not been expecting from someone so relatively small.

I was fairly certain that she would have woken up at least half of Ponyville with the volume her voice had alone. Fortunately for all the sleeping inhabitants of Ponyville, my body - or rather horn - still worked its silence magic and the outcry of the cyan pegasus remained only between ourselves.

How that worked without my horn glowing in the process? Well alicorn magic, just like my body didn't like to stick to what was generally considered a possibility. Having cast a spell, it remained active and independent of my native mana until I deactivated it again. Saying that it came invisibly from my horn was simply the easiest way to keep curious minds from asking further, even if that was in theory wrong. Unfortunately, I had no alternative idea how to explain it so far any better to mortals. How could I, if the concept of alicorn-magic – and most of my abilities too – far surpassed the comprehension of mortal minds in at least one way. Even after hundreds of years, the scientists who studied magic did not want to admit that alicorn spells could last indefinitely and without additional energy fulling them. Well that was their misfortune and not mine then.

"P- Pr- Princess. Oh no no no! I - I- I'm so sorry, I...ahhh! Oh god, what have I done.

Well, she at least made the effort to find words, so credit to her for that. I just couldn't figure out why the pegamare seemed so frightened. Yeah my statement was made without emotion and I was an alicorn princess, one of their highly respected godly rulers. But then, my sight wasn't THAT scary or...Ohhhh! – Shit!!!

I'd completely forgotten after my encounter with Quick Pick that I still wore my armor, which I'd used to scare his former-thieve ass. And that meant, Rainbow Dash was now facing me – an expressionless alicorn in her full battle armor whose height alone was almost three times her own.

Not to speak of the stories that were spun about our abilities and powers. Most of them were accurate, even quite detailed, but some of them were also completely misguided and not even close to the truth. Like we temporarily ate very misbehaving little ponies to become stronger and punish them for their crimes. I didn't know where that idea sparked from but it was one thing I was still trying hard to spread and prevent.

Let me explain. Apart from my general stature as an alicorn and all that it means to be one or was said about me and my impressive abilities. As well as the fact that I was one of the three immortal regents of a kingdom of millions of ponies and thus also possessed a gigantic bureaucratic power in addition to my alicorn powers. Divine abilities that no one on Equus could compete with should I ever use them against them, though I would never consider it, there was now also the matter of my battle gear.

There were five major elements to my armor, seamlessly blending into one another, just as it did for my guards. The headgear, breastplate, waist protection, leg guards and wing stabilizers. Whereby my armor, unlike that of my guards, did not extend over my entire body covering every millimeter of my coat.

In the end, as an alicorn, I didn't really need the entire piece of armor. After all, as mentioned, there was no weapon that could injure an alicorn's physical body. All that aside, the material of my gear was also quite different. It was pure infused alicornite, the same material from which our crowns and other royal accessories were made. It was also found in minimal quantities in all our cells; blood and bones, giving the material its name and us our impressive survivability.

My friend Warlord had even taken the trouble to finish my armor in a light and dark grey shade with a special varnish as he made it. The coloring ensured that the different parts of my armor were highlighted even further, giving me an all the more imposing appearance.

Warlord had done quite a job on that one and was likely the only one that could successfully use alicornite to create objects besides an alicorn. I personally had never tried to use alicornite directly to craft something for me, but I was sure I would manage.

To use alicornite successfully, one only had about ten minutes after heating to create something from the liquid metal before it had cooled too much. For once cooled, the bonded carbon was separated out and the raw alicornite converted to its flawless, or better known as infused form, thus making it absolutely indestructible.

And by indestructible I really meant impossible to destroy, for that was also the secret behind an alicorn's incredible resistance to any kind of damage. The tiny fraction of a percent of infused alicornite in our bodies was sufficient to give us the ascribed invulnerability. It was also an incredibly potent super-conductor for magic and enhanced our abilities many times over.

Conveniently, alicornite could also be only converted into its perfect form with the help of our magic. Not only due to the fact, that alicornite in order to become a liquid had to reach over one and a half million degrees. But even if one would ever manage to melt alicornite, using it was still a terrible idea. In its pure form, it was highly toxic to any organism into which one tried to integrate it, but it could still be touched by them without any problems. The same valid for it´s molten form but then lethal even by merely coming in contact. Like us alicorns, alicornite apparently had no interest in sense or consequential possibility and was in fact, given by its name an alicorn only thing.

That thought made me smile for a moment, I really liked our humanoid friend. He could be a quite fun guy one could mess around with if he wanted to, but also he was a skillful and efficient wielder of every imaginary weapon. Then I focused and continued to think about my armored appearance.

My helmet went over my entire head with only two openings for my ears and eyes to stick out. Further on it expanded down the bridge of my muzzle up to the tip of my nose and then along my neck and chin, enclosing almost my entire face in infused alicornite.

Where my helmet ended, my chestplate began, expanding with many elements of reinforced shade as a second highlighting. Also an element that was very sturdy and expansive, but still nowhere near as infused alicornite.

All along my chest plate there were also many skillful carved engravings, which were my personal design towards Warlord. They helped me channel my magic through my armor much more effectively. According to own calculations by a factor of about ¼, an extreme plus with me being the alicorn of magic.

Directly in the center of my chest was a large pink gem in the shape of the inner star of my cutiemark. Most of my engravings ran to it and it was also the heart of my armor. Not only by design or magic channeling, it literally was the space my armor was stored if it was not in use. If I worked my magic, it glowed with it’s power and amplified my magical strength by another 10% or so on top of what I had already achieved before by also using to connection to my stars. Yet even without the armor, I was already far unbeaten in my magical abilities, even in contrast to my two sisters.

Celestia, however, was a much better prankster and Luna the better strategist.

My chestplate went behind to my spine, just like the ones of our guards. There it joined the third part of my armor, the torso guard. It ran all the way down my spine, along my flanks, over my thighs to my cutie mark and ended around the base of my tail. A standard overall armor of my back basically. Lots of engravings were also there, most of them arcing down the middle of my flanks to my wing attachments. Only a few went to my hips and ended at my cutie mark or curved downwards and merged into the second to last part of the armor I was wearing.

A pony's cutiemark was an important part of its body and even if it did not store the magic of the pony – it was still essential for the successful casting of magic as it represented the special talent of each creature.

For actually storing magic, the magic core within the chest of each pony was responsible. It could be described as an orange sized ball of brightly glowing light the color of ones own magic. If damaged or destroyed it rendered the being it belonged to unable to use partly or all of it’s magic – forever. Well at least as long as the magic core remained in its broken state. If the complete destruction of a magic core would also kill the pony even I didn’t know for sure, but it would be terribly agonizing for certain. So far I never heard such a thing had actually happened and repairing the cores of our subjects was no biggy for me. I had done so hundreds of thousands times – usually even without them noticing as they requested an audience at our consils.

Mostly it was just a tiny crack or the like as wasn’t exactly uncommon to happen. There were many cases you could slightly damage your core throughout your life without even knowing you did. Straining your native magic for to long or hard was, however, the most common reason and happened almost equal between all three pony races. Actually serve cases were a case along thousand and that also never remained unnoticed as the consequences were vast and plainly visible. Of course…that was all different for me as an alicorn, as was only to be expected.

An alicorn had no such thing like a magic core, its entire body was a single gigantic "battery" for storing our magic. The entire concentrated magical power of my alicorn self surged directly beneath my coat. A pool of untold size and depth, best described as the raw power of an entire galaxy squeezed into a tiny pony-shaped speck.

It seemed like it was brutal and uncontrolled how it always surges like a great maelstrom inside of me but an alicorn’s body was probably one of the most controlled collection of magical energies that existed. I could either concentrate my entire alicorn power onto a pin needle sized point and do likewise extreme results or cover the entirety of Equus with it to do something big. As well as everything in between of course, my grasp onto magic was and would be remaining unbeaten, even if my sister’s also did great things with their powers in the past.

With the focus point of a pony’s magical capabilities toyed around enough inside my mind I disregarded the thought and moved my concentration to something else. Following the lines down, they soon passed over onto my leg protection and ended no sooner than at the sole of my fetlocked hooves. That was exactly where the protection of my personal armor also ended.

Unlike our guards, my armor had no protection for the underside of my hooves. However, I did not need them either.

Out of all the parts, the leg protection was in fact the least important; it was…well nothing more than a protection for all four legs. While important for standing and getting around, damage to the legs – or it’s sole for that matter, was in comparison to all the other vital parts of the body a relatively minor issue.

Oh yes, I had almost forgotten about that. Inside all of the armors parts lay an exoskeleton that could amplify my already immense power as an alicorn many times over. Physically and without strengthening spells, my strength was thus about ten to fifteen times its normal value. For our guards the technic wasn’t as advanced as it simply was to great of a deal to forge hundreds if not thousands of such advanced exotec. Lighter variants, however, weren’t a deal and granted our soldiers still about 2-2,5 times their basic physical strength.

That sounded like a crazy lot, because it also was and not an unimportant fact why Equestria was considered such a mighty kingdom with an entire army that used such technic. Nevertheless, even my augmented strength remained still far below the default of Warlord, who naturally also had such an advanced exoskeleton integrated into his armor.

It all led to the final and, for me, coolest part of my armor - the wing stabilizers. They extended obviously from my shoulders in multiple connected elements, along the bony structure at the front of my wings, to the tips of them. My feathers itself had no protection of their own, it would only prevent me from flying or even allow me to take off in the first place. It wouldn't give me any additional advantage either - feathers were naturally part of the body and that made them just as resistant as the rest of my alicorn me.

At each transition of one element into the next on the wing stabilizers, there were small spherical joints that made the movement of the individual parts to each other possible to begin with. They were also the focus points through which I could concentrate and use my pegasus magic more strongly. When I did, they glowed in the characteristic color of my native magic and sparked with calm lighting.

The wing stabilization yet had still another use. Not only did they protect the structure of the wings from being injured or broken, but they could also be utilized for attacking. As an aside, it was a feature that our personal guards and the rest of Equestria's royal guards also possessed. At least as long as they themselves had wings at their sides obviously.

In order to do so, each stabilizer at the front sharply converged and formed a blade at the foremost edge that ran along their entire length. As Warlord called it, a 'nano-blade' composed of shade-alicornite alloy even on all the guards.

As its name implied, it was only as thick as a nanometer and forged from shade with tiny specs of alicornite molded into for incredible toughness. Nevertheless, in spite of its thickness, it was incredibly sharp and could cut through any material except itself, while also remaining constantly in top condition. A nano-blade was always inherently double-edged and self-sharpening. It therefore always remained just as effective as it was manufactured.

My armor, however, went one better, for the infused alicornite in my equipment meant that it did not wear out at all and remained indestructible like all the other parts. A significant role, however, the more stable material of my armor didn't play. Even with constant daily use, a single blade of our guards would last for at least a century and remained in perfect condition until then.

Given the frequency with which they were actually brought into use, though, they almost certainly never needed to be replaced, even until our sun had burnt out.

The latter, incidentally, a fact we had never had to worry about anyway. Celestia, just as I did with my stars, supplied all our suns with enough energy to keep the reaction going for all eternity. In comparison to our level of alicorn magic even an entire star was like a drop into the ocean. We were primordial, immortal, godly beings with an entire dimension of constantly refreshing alicorn-power to back us up after all. Of course, that went against every law of physics and logic I knew and I remembered them all.

But let's face it! Even as well-read and scientific a mare as I was, that didn't bother me at all. Even I didn't complain about things that my powers could solve with the flick of a hoof - after all, why should I? It just didn´t make any sense. I had the power for doing it and that was all that should ever matter.

Having lost myself almost in my own memories and thoughts I refocused and regarded the pegamare in front of me with another glance. To sum it up briefly in a single sentence. For the smaller pegasus mare, the sight of me was probably the most frightening thing she had ever seen in her life. Understandably, seeing an alicorn standing in front of ones door in all its battle gear didn't exactly give the impression that it just wanted to talk.

Granted, that was what I intended after I had so coincidentally bumped into the five mares, for that was the sole reason I had even come to see them. Rainbow Dash, however, certainly wouldn't be able to read my lips and so didn´t know she had no need to be frightened.

The fact that my wings were also extended far out to my sides to stretch them through properly while I waited didn't help the situation much either. As each of my wings was as long as my body was high to the tip of my horn, the wingspan I had in no way made me seem less imposing. The wing blades that adorned the same on the front of each of the stabilizers glinted in the light of my sister's moon, further adding to my intimidating appearance. I could relate to Dash in a way.... alicorn ruler.... 9 feet tall... 19 feet of wingspan...immortal and insanely powerful…regarded by most as a goddess - yes, I looked pretty impressive, to say the least.

So I changed my gaze to a friendlier one to avoid appearing even more unintentionally threatening to her and folded both wings neatly back to my sides. With a relaxed posture and greeting on my tongue, I took a bold step forward.

That had been a great mistake... Under a truly deafening scream, Dash zipped away from me and deeper into the library. So fast, in fact, that even the light was puzzled by the pegasus fast retreat. It needed a second before it realized that the pegasus was no longer in front of me and it no longer had to cast the shadow of Rainbow upon me.

I thought about it for a moment - ah, that's where the community room of the library was. A room with several cushions and two couches on which one could make oneself comfortable and read in peace. Or just to relax, but what could possibly be more relaxing than reading a book?

Until a moment ago, faint voices had been heard from there, but with Dash's panicked behavior they suddenly had ceased.

Before I took another step into the library, I returned my armor to my peytral. Having scared the hell out of two ponies with it had been quite enough for me for the time being.

Trotting through the door, I closed it carefully behind me, heaved a light sigh and began to mentally prepare myself for what would happen in the next few minutes. I just hoped that everything would go smoothly.

* End of Chapter Four *

Deity and mortal in contact

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*5*

I trotted deeper into the tree and quietly shut the door after myself. After a few more steps I heard several voices coming from the living room. Unlike before, however, they no longer sounded amused and cheerful, but rather concerned and caring. The voices were also quite over lapsed and repetitive. Therefore, I couldn't really tell who was saying what, especially from here.

"Rainbow? Oh my goodness Rainbow!"

"Rainbow?! Hey Rainbow, whatever you're doing under the couch?" That voice sounded deeper than the previous one and was also quiet and a little skeptical. So my best guess fell on the orange earth pony mare Applejack.

"Why won't you talk to us and tell us what's got you so spooked?"

"You're all pale. Was it so terrible what caused the noise at the door? Oh no, that something is not here in the house, is it?"

That was only some of the things I could pick up and that last voice had also sounded quieter and more timid than the others. Pretty surely, then, the buttery yellow Pegasus Fluttershy. 'Poor thing,' I tossed back and forth in my thoughts. She must have suddenly become quite scared after Rainbow Dash had rushed in so quickly. Of course, I couldn't blame her for that. I had noticed right from the start that this Pegasus mare was highly reserved and easily frightened when I met her for the first time. The fact she didn't faint immediately upon meeting me in person for the first time and when I informed them that they would all be publicly honored by me later for what they had done had been truly quite a surprise. Getting her out of her comfort zone involved a lot of empathy, a gradual approach and a steady demeanor. Things I had fortunately learnt pretty well thanks to my long life and accumulated experience of interacting with all our ponies. But still, I would be as sensitive in my approach as I possibly could. I still remained to be an alicorn and even some of the boldest ponies had become too intimidated by my mere presence to speak out clearly anymore.

Rainbow Dash herself, however, was known to claim never to be afraid. So her panicky attitude and, based on the questions, apparent refuge under the couch didn't help to really soothe the others.

"HA Rainbow. You're acting almost like you've seen death in person."

Said last voice had been somewhat deeper than the others and had now an undertone of amusement. As I recalled, it matched to one hundred percent that of the orange earth pony mare Applejack. She, just like the white unicorn Rarity, of all five struck me as one of the most rational. I also concluded from the manner and tone of the statement that it had been intended as a joke. Yet, thinking about it, it was indeed a possibility that Rainbow Dash may have had such a thought like the other mare had implied.

With a soft sigh, I rounded the corner to the room the five mares were gathered in, halted in the frame and raised my voice. Meanwhile, I had bent my head down a little to fit through the door and not get caught in it with my horn. While the doors in the library were quite grand by pony standards, they were still not alicorn level. Also, due to my excessive size, a wide shadow now fell into the room and even dimmed it a bit since most light had come from the hallway behind me. In the living room itself, only some candles were lit for reading and furthermore, for a cozy atmosphere, the small fireplace in the far left corner on the wall.

My soothing and yet quite certainly familiar voice caused half the mares' bodies to flinch marginally in abrupt fear. First and foremost that of the cyan Pegasus, of whom I could only see the flank peeking out from behind the couch. But even that shred of what I had been able to see of Dash so far now scuttled away beneath the back of the furniture with a startled yelp.

"Well, it really depends on how one sees and perceives it my dear ponies. Judging by her reaction, I strongly assume she currently surmises something like that. Yes!"

Nearly in perfect sync, the heads of all four mares shot around to face me, and after about a second in state of shock, all of them simultaneously dropped into a full bow so violently that the off-white unicorn - er Rarity, smacked her nose with an audible 'thump' on the ground.

Ouch! My nose wrinkled in sympathy for what I had unintentionally provoked. But I was also awed that despite the spike of pain, Rarity didn't flinch beyond a slight twitch and never let out a noise. She definitely had quite some discipline.

Uuuuuhhh, what else. Why do I still harbor the hope that one day it won't be just like that with our dear ponies?

“Your divine majesty Princess Twilight Amicitia Aurora Sparkle! We are so honored that our everyday selves are blessed by a visit of your radiant grace," they greeted me in chorus with a normality that still soured my heart even after so many years of existence.

Like I had already experienced hundreds of times in my life, the five other mares in the room with me behaved no differently than any other of our pony’s. They saw me and went straight into a reverent bow before me as I was an alicorn, of royalty and one of their regents. But what they added afterwards was much worse for what I had in mind and knew about the five of them. Yet even that, in principle, I had heard several times before from other subjects.

"We are aware that we are not deserving to dwell in your divine presence, but we do hope that your highness will allow us to do so. We pledge to do whatever your divinity ask of us without question. Whatever it may be. No matter how unusual. It is our deepest desire and urge to fulfil it.”

Soaking up the greeting and worship, I continued to spin my thoughts. While simultaneously folding my wings fully back to my flanks and stepping to the side to let the light stream back into the room. If my mind wasn't completely mistaken, then even they apparently considered me to be a goddess. Accordingly, I had to approach them with caution and precision so as not to trigger unwanted effects from them.

Well, great…juuuuust great!

It was all understandable. Given my abilities and the widespread belief among our ponies about their alicorn princesses. But still, something I would rather not hear, especially from these five. I much preferred it if we didn't have to start from such a position, but whatever. I could still work with that. If I can run a kingdom for more than three milenia I also will be able to connect with these five. That's something I can manage.

Putting on my very best relaxed and friendly smile, I began to address the mares bowing to me.

“If so, then I have a single request. Just a single, important thing that under no circumstances do I want you to ignore."

The mares' bodies tensed even further in reverence at what I was about to request of them which didn't escape my notice. So I tried to sound even more friendly and affectionate than usual. Something I had not thought to be possible myself. Of the three royal sisters, I was the one who was the most loving to our subjects. Celestia wasn't bad at it either. My natural affinity with the elements as an alicorn, however, made me a true professional at spreading harmony and peace throughout Equestria and also all of Equus.

Kind but still firm voice activated I spoke. "Please rise! All of you, and without repetition that you do not have the right to do so. You have. There is no need to bow to me today, as all of you have been declared extraordinary heroes of Equestria. You have earned your respect - mine as well." Then I started to giggle but quickly suppressed it after, as it was likely to cause further panic among the mares. "Besides, while we're on the subject. I'm by no means here as a princess or regent on royal business.”

I firmed my body and stood as straight as I could. “Hence my second command. Please treat me like any other pony... I'd honestly prefer it a lot more. After all, I am only here to thank you once again in person for what you have recently accomplished, not to be a princess."

I paused. "Call me Twilight. Plain and simple Twilight - not Miss, Lady, Princess, Highness, Divinity, Mistress, any other of my titles or the like. Just! Twilight! Or if you do wish by the rest of my name. You are more than welcome to choose that for yourselves, I’m fine with it."

As I spoke, one by one the girls began to look up at me and slowly rose as well. They had sworn not to contradict me and to do whatever I demanded, regardless of how outlandish it sounded. Therefore, they promptly complied.

Even Rainbow soon dared to come out from behind the couch and stand with the rest of the four. Yet she remained half-hidden behind Applejack, still regarding me with an uncertain look. With a single glance I quickly knew that she had all her muscles tensed and was ready to bolt back to her hiding place at any moment.

Apparently, despite my very calm and friendly voice and the fact that I said I was only here for purely friendly, personal reasons, she didn't quite trust the situation. I could relate, even if I didn’t intend to come around as imposing and commanding, I was still two and a half times her size. Also royalty and an alicorn no less. With a smirk I secretly had to muse to myself how truly ineffective a simple soft canvas couch would be against an alicorn, should it come to the worst.

Without giving any of the five a chance to say anything to me, I continued. "What you have done recently, not many would be capable of. Possibly no one currently other than an alicorn. Yes, not even the most gifted magicians, guards or warriors."

"I have to praise you also from the elements of harmony. They consider you most capable and harmonious as they like to put it themselves. According to them, each of you would be perfect as the newest bearers of them, an opinion I myself also share with my ‘friends’. However, I wish to get to know you better in person first to be sure that it is the right decision we make.

More I didn't say and allowed the other mares to say their pieces. I was already eager to know what they would respond, even if I didn't show it visibly. Only those who had looked very closely would have seen the feathers of my wings quivering ever so gently in anticipation.

Unfortunately, I still was quite sure that they would try to explain to me why it could never be allowed for them to treat me like an ordinary pony. In their view, I was, after all, one of their rulers. An eternal, immortal alicorn and, as I had already realized from the way they spoke to me, an almighty goddess from their point of view.

They were right, yes. Yet to form a true bonding friendship such things only stood in the way more than they helped. I might never had many, or even any, ponies in my life I could call real friends – sad yet true. But I was the embodiment of harmony beside other things. I were well aware how a friendship bond worked, how it initially formed, what it meant and the benefits of it – at least in theory.

The orange earth pony with the blonde mane - Applejack, was the first to open her muzzle and speak. I had even expected that from her. From what I had already ascertained from the elements and my observation. The orange mare embodied the essence of honesty – or strength as it had once been known. The elemental essence that always had been the most straight forward, confident and well…honest of all.

"Your Divine Highness, we could never -"

"Oki, doki, loki Twi Twi. Pleased to meet you. Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie, but you probably already knew that. Nice of you to come visit us in Ponyville again so soon. Do you want some pie or tea? We were just about to put on some more. What's your favorite? Oh never mind, forget what I said silly filly. I will get both! Now move your flank over here first and sit with us for a while and make yourself comfortable. I- mmmmph."

Completely horrified, Applejack had jumped forward and thrown her hoof over Pinkie's muzzle while pulling the pink earth pony mare back into line with her other front hoof at the same moment around the pink mare’s neck. For while Pinkie had been talking, the energetic mare had leapt joyfully forward and been only a horn's length away from me with her last hop.

"Pinkie! You can't just talk to the heavenbound goddess of knowledge like that!" Applejack shrieked in a high-pitched squeaky voice, which was increasingly overlaid with profound panic as she spoke. Quite possibly the rest of Pinkie's friends would have said something too to the pink party pony, but my very voice prevented any further comment. The tone of my voice was level and low, but in the total silence that reigned in the room now that I had started speaking, my voice echoed like the loudest scream ever made.

It also caused all eyes to once again lock on me, having wandered to Pinkie and what she had just been doing.

"Hm, now that title you Just mentioned is definitely new, even for me. Is it one that's used a lot here in Ponyville?"

It was Rarity who shakily replied to me. Any sign of the amiable atmosphere I had been trying to establish had vanished. She'd fallen right back into the normal formal routine that I was pretty much always greeted with as a princess. It didn't require a professional to see that her entire being was imbued with deepest fear and dread in regard to me.

"Y- Yes your d- divine majesty. Indeed, it is a v- very widespread and honored title we have given your royal highness. We felt it would suit someone like thee, seeing as your graze have been so very generous in gifting us with such a formidable library and amount of ancient knowledge in it. Entirely unwilling to demand anything in return from any of us devoted subjects. How else could we better honor a refered goddess?"

Fluttershy also contributed a bit, which, given the visible reactions from the rest of her friends, seemed to surprise even them. "W- we are nevertheless v- very grateful for it and hope that the title does not displease your graze. Should that be the case, we will inevitably ensure that your regality never hears of it again. We couldn't be any more pleased that our little insignificant village, and we for that matter, have been given the privilege of receiving such a selfless gesture from someone of your status Lady Twilight."

"Very interesting!," was all I let out in a deadpan tone to the two mares words. My voice was absolutely serene and, thanks to my princess mask, betrayed nothing of my true emotions or thoughts.

I was deeply furious.

The mares all looked at me warily. None of them could even begin to tell from me what I was really thinking. Yet in the face of what Pinkie had just so irreverently spoken to me in regard of my royalty, surely none of them were expecting anything very gentle....

Slowly, one by one, the five mares began to back away from me with slow steps. All the while, more and more insecurity and dread started to show in their eyes. Soon the first mare began to bow to the ground in submission to me until her nose made contact with the ground without words. It just took some seconds and the rest of them followed silently.

Soon the mares' eyes were all directed on the floor. Their bodies trembling with anxiety for the punishment that was about to be inflicted on them by me for their terrible inability to properly appraise me as the true deity I was.

There was no sound in the room other than the soft, nervous rustling of pegasus' feathers and hooves scraping the ground. Even a pin dropped would have sounded like the explosion of a ton of dynamite.

* End of Chapter Five *

Consequences

View Online

*6*

The dead silence in the room lasted all of ten seconds until it was broken by the sound of my magic becoming alive. My horn flashed its bright characteristic raspberry color along its entire length. The sheer intensity of the first flash brightening up the entire room like the sun where to be directly into it. For me as an alicorn the brightness wasn’t an issue but the other mare’s likely would have to shield their eyes to not be permanently blinded. Instantly, before anybody in the room could even budge, my magic surrounded the bodies of the bowing mares within a millisecond.

The girls would probably have tried to flee or protest directly, but my divine alicorn magic kept them completely immobilized, helpless and quiet in place. They could do nothing more than what my magic allowed them to do and that was to look up at me as my magic steadily raised their heads. Whether they wanted to or not, they were forced to look up at me and directly into my eyes. Not at my chest, the tip of my horn or any other point on my body. No! Directly into my deep, determined violet eyes as their bodies were slowly lifted off the ground. Caught in my inevitable alicorn magic beyond escape.

With my alicorn magic preventing any of the mares from speaking or moving, my determined voice was the only thing that was audible other than the low hum of my magic.

"NO! How ever do any of you five dare?”

I took a short breath in and out, while entirely useless for me as I hadn’t the need of breathing, it still calmed my mind. My eyes still closed to concentrate my thoughts. “Never again dare to submit yourself to me when I have explicitly allowed you to treat me as a good friend instead of the alicorn princess that I normally am. Refrain from paying homage to me and apologizing for actions and words you had every right to utter just because you consider me a goddess."

I was about to switch my voice back to its friendly tone now that I had clearly voiced my opinion, but I abruptly froze. For as my now wide-open eyes saw what was happening in front of me, I was dumbstruck and a little furious. And it was at myself and what my magic had automatically done rather than at the other mares.

About half a meter from the ground, the five mares I had wanted to form a close friendship with floated helplessly trapped in the bright white glow of my pure alicorn magic. That in itself would not have been all that bad. After all, I had intuitively intended to help them up while I clarified the situation once and for all. But as it had unfortunately happened to me more than once in my long life, my magic had once again gone beyond that. Even as an alicorn and master of magic I was still not perfect and my emotions could take the better of me and my abilities when it came to the brink. Even after innumerable years alive, gifted with knowledge and control of magic like no other pony but an alicorn would ever have.

At it’s core an alicorn was just an ordinary pony with feelings and emotions – just gifted with over godly powers and knowledge. Because emotions and feelings where what made us what we all were - equine. Without them we would just be a hollow shell acting on nothing but simple reasoning without considering the effects of our actions. And that would be simply terrible and, considering a single alicorn’s strength certainly had brought the entire reality down to it’s knees by now.

As the mares hovered motionless before me in alicorn-magic, what I saw in all their eyes and features was something I wished I had never seen. Not even among my worst enemies. Mortal fear and profound despair for the situation they were mercilessly caught in.

Rainbow and Applejack came off best, with only tiny, individual beginnings of tears showing at the edges of their eyes. Next came Pinkie, still trying convulsively to keep up her usual grin. Even in this hopeless situation. Truly impressive. The tears shimmering in her eyes, however, betrayed that she was in no way as cheerful as she pretended to be. Of the four, Rarity had been affected the worst and the fact that the unicorn mare had not fainted was surprising but not unwelcome to me. All their faces were mixed with various levels of fright and Rarity's makeup was heavily smeared by her tears by now. My tight grip of alicorn-magic might render their bodies completely physically motionless and unable to speak, but it didn’t restrict them from reflecting what they felt.

Yet what really broke my heart was the expression Fluttershy gave me. I had truly never seen such strong hopeless emotions in a being. And considering my life and existence was longer than any mortal could ever grasp that said something. The fact that I could meet her gaze at all without perishing was probably only due to the fact that I was an alicorn. My own immortality saved me from dying of guilt at the sight of her.

I quickly loosened my magic after noticing that the grip of my alicorn-magic was lying far too tightly on the poor mares due to my sudden frustration at myself. Even quite a bit tighter, in fact, than it had been at the beginning of my realization of my grave error. Again, I had gone about it completely the wrong way and had automatically let my magic act on my behalf. Funny in a crazy morbid way that it could still happen to someone like myself with the control, age and knowledge of my magic and body that I had.

As quickly as I could, my magic transformed into the warmest and safest feeling any of them had ever felt in their lives by the time I lowered them back to the ground as carefully as possible. Likewise, I sent every spell I knew to verify and heal injuries through the individual bodies of each of the other mares.

Oh, and there were a lot of them, you can take my word for it. I had not only read but personally approved of every available book on magic and associated in Equestria. Therefore, I had an arsenal of just under a million distinct spells that I had in the back of my mind and could cast without thinking. Not counting any alternative versions. Alicorns never forgot anything they had learned or seen and so it was very easy for me to remember all the overwhelming knowledge.

From this almost infinite amount of arcane knowledge I drew seven hundred seven and seventy scanning spells and four hundred twenty physical healing spells. As well as almost as much that would help against mental trauma just to be on the safe side. I even consulted Predilection, a spell that was usually entirely prohibited for our subjects to cast, for it contained some dangerous and forbidden rites. The spell made sure to force everyone to see what we want to see, not what there is to see.

Changing the way another sees the world is a dangerous and forbidden thing, as it was simply too dangerous for mortals to get astray in the process. But for an alicorn? Well, as an immortal being and with magic that was flawless to cast, I had no such problems and could act without worry. I used the spell to strip the mares of their mortal fear and replaced it with a sense of assurance. I owed them that at least.

Generally, I held no interest and position in mental magic, aside from distance, and highly forbade myself to wield it except in the most urgent of situations. I absolutely detested interfering with the natural free will of any cognitive being - especially our dear loved ponies. However, precisely such a situation had just occurred and justified my decision to do so.

From the superior and imposing alicorn on the other side of the room went out a lot. Godlike energies, tremendous strength and beauty the most noticeable. Yet anger, hatred or something comparable, however, belonged in no way to it.

From the lavender goddess still emanated the calm and secure aura that every alicorn generated permanently around themselves. The same aura that granted them their loyal trust of their subjects and calmed their moods and spirits in multiple ways. An aura, now that the fright of being on the brink of death was gone was realized by the mares to never have ceased to emit strongly from Princess Twilight the entire time today. Moreover, its intensity seemed to increase drastically with each passing second.

Within four seconds, all feelings of primal fright, shock and despair disappeared from the mare's present facing the alicorn mare. These vanishing feelings were replaced by pure confusion and the tightest embrace of warmth, shelter and safety.

With my head bowed in shame, I tried again. But this time without giving the five the suspicion that I was about to mercilessly squash them with my magic. My voice's normal assurance and authority as princess and alicorn having completely drained or been repressed from it. I willed it to be as obvious as possible that I was honestly guilty and to seem as harmless as possible.

"My dear loved subjects, I – Princess Twilight Amicitia Aurora Sparkle; one of the three alicorn sisters; co-ruler of Equestria; embodiment of magic and harmony have failed you. I am deeply sorry for what just happened, it should not have been allowed to occur. I sincerely hope that you can forgive me for my grave error and almost critical outcome sometime in the future. It was never my intention to cause you such despair and fear. NEVER!"

"As an alicorn, I should represent security, trust and confidence, not insecurity, distrust and resignation. I should be a kind and sheltering princess watching over each of my ponies as if they were my own foals. Ensuring their lives are as perfect as they can be and they life in peace. As an alicorn my magic should never be used to cause harm and discomfort to others – especially our ponies, but it unfortunately did…" Tears now ran from the corners of my eyes and down my muzzle for the shame I felt upon myself. Soon dripping from the tip of my snout down on the wooden floor and beginning to form an ever increasing puddle below my front hooves.

„Princess it really is no…”, one of them started. Which one exactly eluding me through the sounds of my heartbroken sobbing. With every second I felt even more miserable and sincerely disbelieved they would forgive me for my actions. Why should they? Each of the mare’s had profound right to be furious at me.

“No, what I did is inexcusable and someone of my status and with these powers shouldn´t be able to fall as low as I just did,” I interrupted them instantly with my reacquired determined voice. There was no valid room for arguments or justification of my latest actions in any way. What happened was terrible, no argument. I would not let the mares try to justify something of mine that was not justifiable.

Now with all my usual amiability in my voice - perhaps even a little more to dispel any last doubts and reassure the mares once more, I continued. "Thank you Pinkie Pie. Truly thank you. Precisely as you have done, I roughly imagined it to go. If a bit less energetic,” I tried to giggle, but it sounded faked given my occasional sobs. “I don't want my royal status, being an alicorn or considered a goddess to come between us. Not between the six of us - NEVER," I added with extra emphasis as I looked up shortly with my bloodshot, tear streaked eyes into the faces of the other mare’s.

"I want to get to know you guys. Really get to know you as the ponies you are, not as what you pretend to be just to please me, as one of your princesses. It is of naught importance to me if you too see me as a goddess like many other of my subjects. Please try to forget it and treat me as a pony worthy of your true nature." After a little pause, I did add. "Scratch that, I myself don't want to treat you as 'normal' subjects or even subjects I rule about at all, but as true friends and allies. Just as I hope you will be able to see me someday."

There was dramatic silence all around us in the living room again and the five mares all looked at me equally with blank stares. After a few seconds, they looked at each other and seemed to be silently discussing what their answer would be. I myself was just as quiet as they were and did not speak a word. No matter how much time they might need to answer me, I would give them their time.

My sobs slowly subsided, but that didn’t help. Because the less sadness and shame I felt for my actions, the more these feelings were replaced by uncertainty. Uncertainty about whether all or at least some of the mares could forgive me for having almost unintentionally murdered them. Neither way I would face the consequences with dignity and bear it with my head held high – they still had the right to reject me.

Time seemed to stretch into infinity. It could have been minutes, hours or even days, but in reality it wasn't even a full minute before the first other mare in the room as me dared to say something.

“We will forgive you under one condition,” Applejack said as she moved her head back into my direction.

“Anything!,” I swiftly said while nodding my head. Suddenly my hopes soared high. ”I will grant you anything you want as an apologize.” Then I reconsidered. “Ehhhhm well kind of anything…,” I added sheepishly.

Applejack left of a tiny laugh before she continued. “Please don’t be sad anymore and stop sobbing as well as feel bad about what you have done princess. While it shouldn’t have happened it was just a tiny accident.”

“A ‘tiny’ accident that almost took all of your very lives. I almost killed you!”, energetically I replied to the earth pony.” Not fully believing what I was hearing from Applejack. Could it really be…?

“Yes, but an accident nonetheless”, the orange mare stated. “I don’t know much about alicorn’s but from the legends that are spun about you and your sisters an alicorn’s capabilities are tremendous and surpass everything on Equus – likely even further than that. So I would say it’s fine as no pony has seriously been harmed in the end. The moment your highness realized what your magic would or could cause you set out to fix it instantly.”

Applejack swirled her hoof around in the air. “While I was mighty scared for my dear life your magic has already easily done enough to compensate for any hurt you have done. The others are safe, I am safe and that´s all that matters for me. Whatever your magic did…it is enough for me to forgive you.” Applejack lowered her head before me, hat held in hoof before her chest.

The others also gave me likewise kind smiles and then mirrored what Applejack had started one by one.

I was speechless. Completely speechless. I genuinely hadn't expected so much selfless honesty, trust and kindness. Never even from one of them, and they all had forgiven me. My respect for the mares was even greater now.

“T -thanks,” was all I could press out from between my lips as I also bowed my head a small distance in gratitude.

The next ten seconds were spend in silence. It was a rash voice then that broke it with something I hadn’t also expected to hear ever.

"Oh wow! Princess Twilight is much more easy-going and accommodating than I would have expected her to be for an alicorn. Apart from that...er little slip of yours Highness. Though I guess for once, in consideration of their power, that can be passed off as an alicorn's average emotional lapse." The last sentence was said with a dry laugh.

I gave Rainbow Dash an exceedingly skeptical look in reply as I looked up, and after a second the cyan Pegasus apparently realized herself what she had just uttered. She then fell into another deep bow before me and her legs trembled for the second time today within a quarter of an hour as well.

Oh great! This again? Inwardly I rolled my eyes. Just how could it be that these mares' behavior was able to shift completely by one hundred and eighty degrees within one second?

One second they were acting like friends towards me and suddenly they were once again seeing me as their alicorn ruler.

Should I bring this up? – meh, better not directly. Wouldn´t go right anyway. Better let it run it´s course. I have enough confidence in them that they will sort it out themselves after what I have seen of their trust.

"Uh uh, no criticism your esteemed Highness,” Rainbow Dash began to stutter at first. “Not that you misunderstand me, please allow an explanation." Dash sounded pleading in her request and it was obvious too that she was already secretly ashamed and condemning herself for saying all that out loud in the first place.

"If you will do me the pleasure of rising first, and refrain from addressing me by any of my titles as I requested then with pleasure," I responded to her in my melodic sweet voice. Then I tilted my head. "But let it be known, I'm still very surprised that despite my magic nearly crushing you to dust minutes ago, you're still being so polite to me. Even now I don’t really understand why. I couldn’t blame you for annoyance and resentment at the moment. While you five said you forgave me for my magic going out of control… Each of you has every right to want to disrespect me."

I wondered for the reasons and my thoughts worked in overdrive but sooner than later I would get my answers.

No sooner said than done, Dash rose back to her full height onto her four hooves and was about to meet my eyes. But then she paused with her gaze on my chest and did not raise her head any further.

I said nothing to this usual behavior. It would be slightly too early to ask her - or any of the others - to refrain from doing so. Especially after said almost deadly event. First each of them should get used to the idea of leaving out my titles then we could work further from there. I was clearly aware that for everyone present it was a massive change from the norm they were used too and that none of them would ever have anticipated to be exposed to. Moreover, they were obviously still insecure towards me and my life-threatening behavior had certainly not made it any better for them.

Their words had said it was all forgiven and forgotten, but I was not so easily deceived. I could see it. Emotionally internally, the five girls were still strongly torn back and forth. They would continue to treat me for the time being as carefully as if they were walking on eggshells, but I could understand. It was after all partly also my fault.

My spells indeed had the effect of taking away their fear and replacing it with security no matter how strong the emotions may be, but I had already let the effect wear off again. I still did not allow myself to intervene more deeply in the lives of others than I had to. What they now felt was how their feelings truly were for me.

"I just really hadn't expected that such a legendary being as an alicorn of such status as yours could be so...so...normal." It was visibly hard for Rainbow Dash to find the right words before me. "I-I mean look at yourself." Dash lifted up her hoof and pointed up and down my body.

"You are you. A truly impressive and fetching alicorn. Able to soothe your subjects and make them feel completely safe with your appearance and demeanor alone. A being so incredibly calm and strong nonetheless."

Rainbow paused to catch her breath for a second. "An immortal and all-powerful goddess who, with her two sisters in equal, has created; ruled and protected a truly successful and prosperous kingdom for thousands of years. The forces possessed by an alicorn surpass anything Equus could muster if united. You could litteraly take anything you wanted and nobody would be able to do anything about it. Yet the sole desire of an alicorn is to bestow peace and prosperity onto the world. Entirely without ulterior motive or expecting anything in return for the security that you provide. I don't think anyone else on Equus could even come close to accomplishing such a thing like your highness does each and every single day. Yet you make it seem like it's nothing and the most natural thing in the world."

Rainbow bowed her head down to that in respect, then continued to wave her hoof around in the air."Besides, I too can't be mad at ya. Yes, what you did was genuinely wrong and could have ended badly for all five of us. But AJ kind of has already said what I believe is actually the only thing that is important – no pony got hurt in the end.” The cyan pegasus than cracked me a mischievous smile. ”And if only half of all the tales about an alicorn's abilities are true, then it is within the realm of possibility for me Lady Sparkle. Besides, it would equally mean that an alicorn can also vanquish even death with its abilities."

"First of all, thank you for the praise and still firm faith in me. It really warms my hearth to hear that I haven´t lost your faith in me. Even with what I accidently have done," I chuckled kindly in reply. I then flashed them all a warm smile but mostly Dash. While still none of them met my eyes directly I knew they had indeed seen me smile and that was already enough.

"I heartily promise you by the honor of all my royal titles, that it will never come to something like that ever again.” I coughed. ”Normally I have complete control of my magic and can mastermind it even in the most difficult scenarios without even having to actively think about it or see what I am actually doing. I really don't know what went wrong this time.”

My gaze returned solely to Dash. “Besides, what you said is indeed the truth Rainbow Dash. Most of the legends about us alicorn´s and in extension also our abilities clearly correspond to reality. Only at some points maybe a little more embellished than true. Thus, yes, your last notion is as well."

I heard Rainbow Dash gasp audibly as I also confirmed her last utterance. Apparently the pegasus mare had intended it as a joke and was now very surprised at herself for hitting the bull's eye with such a crazy idea. It was also quite a slap in the face of logic that an alicorn itself could overpower even the death, I had to admit, and it made me smile in equal measure.

But as we always used to say in the Council of Immortals every century when we called all our fellows together again: "Those who wield the power we grant are enforced to use it with utmost caution, pay attention and decide wisely what they want to employ it for. The power to determine both life and death must never be carried lightly. It is a matter of the greatest respect and honor to be deemed worthy by an alicorn to possess such power. Those who do not prove themselves worthy of it lose their powers forever with no chance of regaining them and shall be shunned and exiled forever."

It sounded fairly harsh, but I only thought it was fair. For considering how powerful even the other immortals in our council were, there ought never to be even the attempt to abuse one's powers. We alicorns were known to be equitable, tranquil and always striving for lasting peace and harmony. But we had supreme authority and power of everyone in the universe, and we took the right to take back our gift should it be necessary.

Our gift itself was to bestow upon each immortal a special spell that only an alicorn could cast. It granted the capacity to tap into a small portion of the alicorn magic stored in the Astral Dimension, the alicorn's source of strength. Since alicorn magic was not known to abide by any laws, it was easily possible to save even the doomed. With a single small gesture, even the worst mortal wounds, diseases and harms could be scattered to the four winds. The magic did not even stop at beings having just died, regardless of consequences.

The only ones who could not be called back into the world of the living with it were those who had already been dead for so long or had been legitimately put to death. Such a power was too potent to be granted, the risk of temptation too grave. We alicorns alone reserved that right of decision for ourselves, and it was unanimously voted by all the members of the Council that it was to remain the same. Immortals in contrast to mortals had the small but subtle advantage that they did not only think ahead until next Tuesday, but for millennia or even millions of years to come.

Shaking my head, I gathered my thoughts in order to be able to answer Dash. That my mind had wandered was not noticed by anyone as only a fraction of a second had passed while I had been mentally absent. As an alicorn, my thinking was extremely rapid and efficient.

"But back to the subject," I began. "We have a great many ponies in the castle; throughout Canterlot and Equestria, who help us run our sprawling and thriving kingdom on a daily basis. So, my sisters and I are far from running the whole of Equestria with only the three of us. Even if we could probably do it," I added after a short pause. "Furthermore, an alicorn is in no way truly omnipotent. Yes we are incredibly strong and our powers go far beyond what the mortal mind can even comprehend, but even then we have limits. To be truly omnipotent, we ought not to have a single limitation or ending to our abilities.”

"At least theoretical ones," I added so quietly that no one but me heard it. I had never been able to delve deeply enough into my abilities to find any serious limitation in them. And having been so thirsty for knowledge, I had been dealing with them since I learned to read. Yet I still knew that my mana pool, for example, even as the alicorn of magic, wasn't absolutely infinite. It did have an end, only I'd never managed to consume enough mana for my magic to reach its limit in the time it needed to be recharged.

Even immersing myself into the furthest corners of my mana pool had brought me no results. I only had found out that at the bottom of my mana pool it extended into innumerable connections to my stars and my mana both flowed to and brought energy back to me from them. Added to this, my vast neural magic nervous system drew all the mana it needed directly from the astral dimension into my magic core to power my abilities and dear stars. The same sub-dimension of our universe from which had sprung the primordial energy for its creation.

Now I had to smirk again, knowing that what I was going to tell them next was some highly guarded information. Information that virtually no pony had ever known in Equestria's long history and I looked forward to the girls' reaction. In the distant past, my sisters and I had tried to share it with our subjects once before, but they hadn't been forthcoming. So overwhelmed, in fact, that we found ourselves in need of a planet-wide oblivion spell to avert the evolving blight. The only ever known planet wide oblivion spell we alicorns ever had to use on our dear ponies. Or well, at least it would be the only spell known if the purpose of the magic wasn't to make sure that NO ONE under the influence could remember it.

I adjusted the pitch of my voice so that it still had the same friendly tone, but it also conveyed how serious I was. "And last but not least, something that no pony has had the pleasure of hearing in centuries. So I kindly ask you not to share it with anyone unless I give you specific permission. Can you promise me that?" I awaited confirmation from all the mares before continuing. "No matter what stories and legends you may have heard about my sisters and me. However true they all may be. Even an alicorn is and remains a pony in its core. An eternally living pony with divine qualities and powers yes, but a pony nonetheless. We have created our subjects according to our own physical appearances. Even some of our simpler powers we were able to replicate on them and to this day a few still display them."

"The extraordinary swiftness, endurance and elegance of some pegasi in their flying and maneuvers as one example. Alternatively, gigantic strength of some earth ponies, as well as the rare ability to understand animals better than would be usual. The impressive creativity of some unicorns or indeed even the ability to accomplish some things that shouldn't be a possibility."

With that, I glanced around the room, explicitly at one of the mares as I spoke. They still refused to look me directly in the eyes, even though Pinkie and Rarity already held their gaze a little higher than the rest of the three - thus almost at the level of my muzzle. A small step forward so far in not treating me as an alicorn and princess but as a friend, though nevertheless a step in the right direction now that they were no longer stubbornly staring at my chest.

"The fact that an alicorn appears as graceful and attractive as we do is simply an aspect of the fact that my sisters and I combine all the extraordinary aspects of a pony that one could have. We are, after all, obviously the source. I hope that's understandable so far?" I tilted my head to the side a little questioningly, waiting.

Receiving no rejoinders, I cleared my throat. "Let's start by taking your good friend Rarity as an example. I am almost three millennia old physically alone and have seen and met hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of ponies in my lifetime. To say nothing of how long we have watched over our ponies and the home we have created for them from our heavenly home. But I find it hard to decide if I've ever seen a pony that came closer to the natural beauty of an alicorn than she did."

I skillfully ignored Rarity who was now frantically trying to hide behind Pinkie in the same way Fluttershy liked to do when she was feeling uncomfortable. The off-white unicorn mare also hid her blushing cheeks behind her purple mane, so I wouldn't see how utterly embarrassed she was that I was speaking so highly of her. Towards me she still felt not particularly important and very small, just like the others, which was not due to her height. Obviously, it didn't escape me that my words had quite caught her and while continuing steadfastly, I winked at her good heartedly. At least Rarity didn't try to bury herself behind her mane any more, but her cheeks were still heavily flushed.

"We can spin this further to prove that each pony is individual, but will always have something in common with an alicorn. Therefore definitely 'worthy' to dwell in its company and be recognized for his worth, to take up your point." Sharing the last with them was still of utmost importance to me and so I would continue until I brought the point across. No matter how long it might take.

I completely shifted my face to the younger mares and lowered my gaze on them more energetically. "Dash, you yourself are one of the most talented and fastest pegasi when it comes to flying, tricks and agility. While Applejack here has raw stamina and strength like I haven't seen often. Fluttershy for her part has the natural empathy of an alicorn in her blood and also the gift of being able to talk to wildlife. Something I myself have never even seen before in another pony that isn´t an alicorn. And well Pinkie for her part... that even I can't fully explain to you. I'm sorry. But the sheer joy and energy I feel from her is very much in line with what I can sometimes say about myself too."

The mares' snouts were now wordlessly wide open and it made me grin and I barely suppressed a chuckle. Apparently they actually hadn't quite understood what I had been trying to point out earlier and just blindly agreed in my favor. It also seemed that my specific look to them while I was speaking had also escaped their notice. Of course, I could technically hold that against them now - but why should I? I was pretty sure I even knew the exact reason why they had done it and just agreed with me. They still couldn't quite stop trying to either agree with me in every possible situation or not disappoint me. At least they weren't shamelessly lying as some others had tried to do. I could see that. The fact that an alicorn could not be fooled - at least not so incredibly lightly, none of them had any way of knowing. I myself would probably try the same in their position, that honest I had to be.

"You see, there is at least a small part alicorn in all ponies. I reckon there's no denying that now." I snapped my muzzle shut and waited to see if I got a question, objection or comment. After several seconds of silence I decided to continue.

"To get back to the topic I'm here for in the first place. Out of all ponies currently living in Equestria, you more than anypony else embody more than just small parts of the six things that truly define an alicorn."

My horn lit up and pulled the elements of harmony, the gemstones that served as physical representatives, one by one to my side from the pocket dimension each alicorn natively possessed through their magic as I spoke.

Strength, loyalty, generosity, joy, kindness and magic," I enumerated. Then, however, I swiftly corrected myself. "Excuse me five, for magic is and will forever be me. I couldn't give up that particular aspect like the others, even if I wanted to, as it is inevitably soul-bound to my being. It is, after all, an eternal part of my alicorn essence or as the scientists like to call it, soul. Could be a bit difficult...", I joked. "But anyway, I think you see my point now and I hope I can get to know you better in the near future."

Then I did something I doubt anyone in the room would have expected in the face of the way I was still being seen by them. I pleaded as I sheepishly rubbed my right front hoof against my other leg.

"I beg you, please consider giving it a try and getting to know me better. I would really love it if we could become friends. Good friends even, as all my powers a goddess like me has do me no good if I lack the most important thing in life - true friends." I didn't hide any of my genuine emotions and it was clear to see how much I longed for it.

I then tilted my head deeply downwards. Much further than the norms and laws would theoretically allow me to in front of my subjects. But I didn't care at the moment, for I wanted to show that I was genuinely serious about what I was saying. The fact, that I wanted to form a true and close friendship with them. Not a platonic relationship like I had with some of our servants. Hard Rock for example. The older stallion himself had served me as a faithful advisor and manager of my day - or more appropriately night - schedule for almost five decades now. His father and grandmother before him had also loyally provided me with their services for many years, not as direct advisors but in high positions nonetheless.

Besides - who was to judge me, an alicorn princess; a loyal and fair ruler ranked by her subjects even above Equestrian law; a true goddess with the sheer power of a universe in her body anyway? An alicorn was untouchable and absolved from all laws and punishments our pony kingdom had without equivocation or objection. Only on the rigorous condition that we did something that really could not be justified in any way as good will, was an alicorn to be drawn to righteousness for it. However, such a thing had not even remotely happened before and I strongly doubted that it would ever come to that. I knew both my sisters and myself very well, what we believed in and what we were standing for in the universe.

As I raised my head again, I saw pure surprise in all the other's eyes. They were well aware of what I had just done and couldn't quite believe that it had really just happened in front of them. Who would believe that a being considered so divine would ever ask for a favor? For the general public, that story was too far-fetched to be believed.

Blessed with a sudden idea, I made a new request upon the five. Interested to see if they would comply and actually do it for me. In any case, it would be quite a big step forward in my attempt to form a friendship with them. Moreover, to convince them that they could treat me naturally without restraint. Why not, at least it's worth a try. Sooner rather than later.

"Look me in the eyes! Not just at my chest or neck but directly into them and nowhere else," I stated with as much gravity and force as I could without coming around as commanding. Now all I could do was wait and see how it would go.

* End of Chapter Six *

Elemental

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*7*

Only seconds passed before the first reactions began to manifest themselves. Much to my happiness and joy, they weren't verbal steps that the mares made towards me, but physical ones. Very cautiously, Applejack was the first to lift her head higher, going so slowly that there would be more than enough time for me to reciprocate. I did not, however, and just waited in silent anticipation.

Applejack's action was also copied slowly by Rarity, then Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and finally Pinkie Pie. The pink mare, however, jerked her head up so quickly and directly towards my eyes that I was worried her neck might break. Fortunately, it didn't and I let out a relieved breath that although I didn't need it, helped to dispel my unease.

Even after less than an hour with these mares, it was clear to me that Pinkie Pie was not to be questioned. She definitely embodied the aspect of an alicorn's ability to accomplish things that simply should not be physically, mentally or otherwise feasible.

I flashed the five girls an encouraging and very kind smile as far across my muzzle as I could. Now that they were all looking me straight into the face, neither their nor my true emotions were hiding from each other. Therefore, a moment later, I inclined my head slightly towards them again in thanks as they regarded me with a mixture of surprise, admiration and respect.

"I do thank you from the bottom of my heart. You don't know how much it genuinely means to me that I was able to gain your full trust so quickly. Thank you also for accepting my offer to try a genuine friendship. Besides my sisters and the well-being of all our subjects in Equestria, this is the most precious gift I have ever received."

Rarity and Rainbow started to open their mouths for something to say in reply, but I stopped them with the lift of one of my gilded front hooves before they could get to it.

"No, I beg you. Don't tell me it's a given or that I shouldn't expect anything else because I am who I am. For you know as well as I do that that would be a denial. Your trust, despite me offering to meet my eyes, to actually do it, is not a self-evident thing. I am well aware of the struggle it requires."

Everyone nodded wordlessly, accepting what I just said. Silence fell again for several seconds before surprisingly it was Fluttershy that spoke up. Although with great uncertainty in her voice and very quietly, she nevertheless was able to express herself without her voice trembling in front of me.

“Miss Twilight Sparkle?" Well, at least it was a start, that she didn't address me as princess or goddess anymore... "May I ask a question?"

"Sure, but still it's only Twilight for you all. Friends don't use Miss; Lady; Princess or Highness, just the basic names," I smiled warmly. "By the way, you are more than welcome to ask me more than just one question. I'll be happy to answer them all for you, no matter how many there may be."

I pointed my head more towards the rest of the ponies. "The same goes for the rest of you as well. I came here to forge a friendship and the more we learn about each other in the future, the better that will be able to work out. I will not keep secrets unless you are to ask a question that I cannot reveal for the betterment of Equestria and its safety."

Fluttershy very carefully nodded she had understood, giving good honor to the 'Shy' in her name. "Ok, I have this question. You see..." Fluttershy drew in a deep breath then exhaled." "I have this question, you see. I - I"

“Fluttershy!”

"Y-Yes Twilight?" Fluttershy had slumped at my friendly but stern voice and now looked at me with nervously wandering eyes and legs trembling slightly with fear.

"It's all right, there's no need to be nervous my dear," I began in my melodic voice. "I know that receiving any kind of attention is an insane stress for you. I can only imagine how much of an effort it must be for you to even have the courage to ask me something. In any case, you have my respect for that. But please look at it this way - even if it may sound a bit strange. Yet, if I really wanted to hurt or punish you or any of the others...wouldn't I have done that already?"

Fluttershy's eyes grew wide with surprise as she realized and she straightened back up to her full height. "You're right, I really haven't thought of it that way. You've only shown us kindness and been nothing but accommodating since you showed up. How could I ever have thought that you could mean me any harm? I´m sorry!" Fluttershy lowered her gaze, but moved her eyes up again as I began to speak.

"The answer you seek is deep-seated fear and insecurity my dear Fluttershy," I replied with a friendly chuckle. "Also, I won't deny that you probably still see me as a goddess, as many do. I won't deny that either, because given what I am and what I can do with my powers, nothing else simply holds true. If you wish, I will be more than happy to personally help you overcome them as soon as possible. At my age, even without having studied it, one learns quite a bit about it and how to help out."

"Not that I haven't studied it anyway, of course," I muttered only to myself.

"I can also get in touch with psychologists from Canterlot for you if you prefer. I can confirm from my own experience with some of my close allies that they do indeed know what they are doing. They will certainly be able to help you."

Fluttershy nodded gratefully relieved for my understanding. "I will have to think about it carefully if I really want to, but thank you for the offer."

I smiled in consent with a slight nod of my head.

Fluttershy took another deep breath as she held her front hoof in front of her chest and at the same moment moved it away from her in a gesture while exhaling. She repeated it four more times, then finally found the courage to get her question out.

“Is it really true what the ponies say about alicorn's? You don't have to answer my question if you don't like it or if it is to remain a secret but I would be intruded to know."

"What exactly?" I asked, cocking my head.

"That you, as an alicorn, literally can't be killed or hurt in any way. It's something I've heard so many times, but I'd like to have it confirmed by someone who knows the true answer."

"Let me answer that with a question of my own," I began. "Can you erase basic concepts like light, shadow, emotions or magic? Not just hurt them, but completely wipe them out from ever having existed anywhere and in any time?"

Fluttershy perked up her ears in surprise. "No, of course not. How could anyone do that, even with unlimited power? They are fundamental concepts. The things the universe was built on and holds it together in the first place."

"Volla, you just answered your question," I grinned, giggling again as I saw the other mare's lost glances.

"Let me explain. My sisters and I are not only very good at what we do, we ARE what you know us to be in essence and soul. I am magic, and in order to really kill me, you would have to wipe out the very concept of magic itself. Levitating things, casting spells and rituals, transformation, transfiguration, to name but a few".

"We're not completely invincible, though, even though the legends of the alicorns make us out to be. As far as we know, it is technically possible to harm an alicorn, but not even our closest ally has the ability to do so." I grinned broadly over my muzzle. "He is, to put it mildly, known to be the second most powerful being in the universe after an alicorn. And I think that is a fair indication of how hard we really are to hurt."

"That makes sense. Thank you for answering my question, Twilight," Fluttershy replied kindly. She then bowed slightly, with a friendly smile on her face as well. I nodded in acknowledgement, surprised that she had accepted my answer so easily. Fluttershy didn't even seem very surprised, and neither did the other four mares.

But since I was an alicorn, I figured they would probably believe anything I told them about myself. After all, we didn't want to be worshipped as goddesses any more than we already were, so our subjects didn't know much about my species for obvious reasons.

Before I could say anything else, or ask if there were any more questions I could answer, Rarity raised her voice.

"If I may, from what you just said, you said that you embody all the magic in the universe itself, embodying it at the deepest level in your essence and soul."

I nodded at Rarity, "Yes, that's what I was referring to."

"But if you are the physical essence, how do the Elements of Harmony work? I mean, how can the elements seek and find new bearers each time, when one of the six essences is bound to your soul? The strongest of them, no less."

I winked at the mares, but especially at Rarity. "Well, has it ever struck anyone in all these years that the Elements of Harmony just happen to be there when they're needed most? Or that I have overseen and watched the selection of the newest bearers each time? Or that at any one time there were only representatives for five out of six of them, and it was never the essence of magic that received a new bearer. To me, all of this is consistent with a being who is in control of gigantic powers that defy the laws of nature and are eternal. Wouldn't you agree?" I left it at that. I was sure it wouldn't take them long to see the connection.

Rarity's eyes widened as wide as plates, and when she spoke her voice was low and incredulous.

"You!”

“You are the element of magic at its very essence, now I see. That is why the Elements of Harmony are always present when needed, because you are the one who ensures it. That is also why only five of the six change, while the sixth remains eternally faithful to its bearer. As an alicorn you are eternal and therefore never will there be a need for magic to seek a new representative. If the physical embodiment cannot die, then it doesn't need to be replaced."

"That is indeed true," I confirmed. "But I will go one step further and shall now tell you the complete mystery of the Elements of Harmony. Not only the parts that have been written down in books for centuries and can be consulted. It's also the things that no one but three royal alicorn's and a trusted ally ever knew about."

I pulled one of the cushions from the couch with my magic and multiplied it five more times for the rest of the mares, then placed all six cushions between us. Then I walked over and lowered my hindquarters onto one of it, gesturing with my right hoof for them to join me.

"It would be best if you sat down for this, as you may be knocked off your hooves in a moment."

I laughed briefly as Applejack gave me a sceptical look.

"Believe me, my dear, the possibility exists."

Nodding, Applejack sat down with the rest of her friends, who by now had already complied with my request.

I began, "You may have guessed it yourself, but I am not merely the essence of magic in my soul. It makes too much sense that if I created one of the Elements of Harmony from tiny pieces of my alicorn soul, the other five wouldn't be any different.

*BUMMMS!

"Told ya," I chuckled as I carefully used my magic to help Rainbow Dash back onto her hooves, after the cyan pegasus had fallen backwards in astonishment. I took extra care to follow exactly what my magic was doing, even though I didn't expect it to do anything unexpected. But I wanted to avoid a repeat of what had happened before.

After my magic had released her, Dash rather embarrassingly dusted herself off, wings flapping. It took her much longer than it should have, and I was sure I had a good idea why. She was trying to hide her ashamed face behind her wings, waiting for her cheeks to regain their natural color.

"Okay, wow," Rainbow Dash finally said after folding her wings neatly back to her sides. Her cheeks were no longer flushed. "You were definitely right, that did knock me out of the horseshoes - well, if I was wearing any, that is, because they pull me down too much when I fly and do my awesome stunts." Rainbow Dash spread her wings wide as she jumped up from her pillow and began to strike several poses.

"You mean your reckless and neck-breaking attempts to set a new record for getting splattered on the floor?" asked AJ sarcastically.

The orange earth pony mare also raised an eyebrow as she looked at the posing Pegasus. Rarity just rolled her eyes at Dash. Pinkie giggled as usual and cheered loudly for Rainbow and Fluttershy... well, she was Fluttershy and didn't react at all - at least not verbally. Still, she gave Rainbow Dash a faint smile and just watched as her long-time pegasus friend enjoyed the metaphorical spotlight.

Rainbow Dash dropped to all fours again. "Ge'ez thanks, AJ. No need to be more specific." She rolled her eyes and fell back onto her pillow, crossing her front hooves and snorting in offence.

I chuckled and held up my hoof as a cover. The perfect moment to lighten the mood. "I think I'd better not say anything more about it. But I am well aware of the stories about Rainbow Danger Dash herself."

"Wow, I even have my own nickname already? So cool!" Rainbow's wings once again spread wide, mesmerized, and she stood there trembling with excitement. Meanwhile, a wide grin spread across both cheeks, her eyes practically turning into stars. She wouldn't make such a bad alicorn of the Stars herself...

"Sugar cube, I don't honestly think that was meant to be a compliment...", Applejack tried to retort, but the cyan pegasus nearly burst with glee at the thought of her own nickname. With another sceptical look, Applejack simply dropped the subject under the table and turned back to me.

"How is it that so far no one realized that you personify the element of magic with your essence, Twilight? Over all the centuries since the existence of the Elements of Harmony, shouldn't a pony have picked up on that eventually?” Applejack lifted her hoof and pointed at my flank. "I mean the Element of Magic is a pink, star-shaped, six-pointed gem. It's almost an exact replica of the one on your hip, Princess, and there are five smaller white stars surrounding the larger one. A large main star for the leading element of harmony and five smaller ones for each of the other elements. How could the ponies never have made the connection?"

Applejack then sheepishly kneaded her front hooves on the ground. "In retrospect, it all makes incredible sense. Yes, I know I didn't see it myself, let alone would have. But then again, I'm not one of the smartest ponies in Equestria, nor have I studied such things in depth.

I nodded in agreement. "From a purely visual standpoint, you're right, Applejack, but there's a simple reason no one ever noticed. Several, actually, when you get right down to it." I winked at the orange mare. “Also your far from dumb Applejack, in fact no pony - no matter how cunning or well-read - had the slightest chance of figuring it out. Why I will explain now."

"Firstly, every time I have been asked about it, I have never openly confirmed or denied that I myself physically embody the element of magic, either in the flesh or in my alicorn essence. I suppose that put most off the track and out of any interest in investigating further."

"The really curious would try to find out more, but if I can say that we alicorns are really good at something, it's keeping things that should be secret. Just think of what that alone could have caused - not to mention all the other secrets we have to keep for the safety of all our subjects. It's not always an easy task, and we sometimes feel guilty about what we can't reveal, but so far we've always been right. Any secret kept would have caused much greater damage if it had come to light. Of course, I can't prove this to you now, but I hope you all trust me?

I waited a moment to see if there were any objections, but I only received short, understanding nods.

"Unfortunately, however, there will always be at least one pony who wants to rebel against the system and who would certainly have found my soul-bound involvement as an Alicorn to be highly unfair."

"The aspect of magic is by far the strongest of the six, and it binds the other five together. Moreover, without the element of magic, none of the other elements would function at all. If these sporadic individuals knew all this, they would surely accuse me of taking the best for myself, of not trusting my subjects or something like that. It not only sounds sad, it is the case. Some are so incredibly myopic that they cannot see the big picture. As long as they can oppose it, that's their policy. I sighed at the thought, but refused to be discouraged. It was just the way some things were.

"The most important thing, though, is this," I said as I lifted my hoof with the bottom facing up. Above its sole, a glowing magical hologram appeared, showing only my element of magic in the centre. One by one, the other five soon followed as I spoke, slowly circling around the large replica of my symbol in the centre.

"As I mentioned before, the essence of magic is not only by far the most powerful, but also the link between all the other essences. Therefore, I would say that even those who suspected that there was a secret to the Elements of Harmony would come to the conclusion that I keep the identity of the bearer of magic secret for the sake of security. In my opinion, this is the most logical line of thought based on the facts that have been made public. If something terrible were to happen to one of the Elemental Bearers, it would be tragic, but a new bearer would be found quickly. However, the element of magic is also very unique there, as it is known to require extraordinary skills to wield. Replacing the bearer of the Element of Magic would be even more difficult than the other five combined.

I nodded at the younger mares, indicating that I had nothing more to say. They were now free to ask me their questions, if they had any.

"That was some pretty amazing stuff you told us, I'll give you that, Twilight," Rainbow Dash said. The pegasus mare then raised one of her wings and pointed in my direction. "Would you mind giving me a minute to process all this? You have to admit, it was a lot, and so many secret and unbelievable things, too. Before I can do anything else and have any questions, I need to really take it in."

I smiled kindly as I nodded. "Of course you do. Take as much time as you need, I'm in no hurry and have no appointments to keep. We have all night if we need it."

Thankfully, Dash glanced at me briefly, then turned her eyes back to the pillow at her hooves. Meanwhile, deep in thought, she began to nibble at the tips of her wing feathers. It was actually quite cute, ignoring the fact that Dash was an adult mare.

"Why did you come here at this time? You said there were more reasons besides the fact that you wanted to thank us and become our friend," Fluttershy suddenly asked me in a dreamy voice from my left. The butter-yellow Pegasus mare had been looking up at my muzzle and deep into my encouraging eyes ever since I had started talking about the Elements of Harmony and my deep soul connections with them. Fluttershy, however, began to look at me so intently that I felt she was beginning to lose herself in the depths of my friendly eyes, while her gaze seemed to drift further and further into them. It was then that I remembered a critical fact about my Alicorn persona.

Oh shit!

Waking up to what was happening, I blinked slowly and just as carefully averted my gaze from hers, trying to break visual contact as gently as possible. Cutting the connection too quickly could have consequences, and I certainly didn't want that.

A few blinks of her own brought Fluttershy back to reality, and she blushed slightly as she noticed me looking at her with intense curiosity. She was completely unaware of what had just happened. I would bring it up later, though, as it was of the utmost importance that the girls knew about it. But I would wait until Dash had emerged from her thoughts and everyone was listening to me again.

I gave Fluttershy another encouraging wink to dispel her sense of embarrassment, for so far I was the only one who knew what had transpired and the natural enchanting effects and more that we alicorns had on our subjects and other creatures.

There was a clear reason, apart from the laws that forbade direct eye contact with an alicorn, why almost no one had ever looked me straight in the eyes. They reflected not only the kindness and confidence I always exuded, but also the direct and immensely powerful arcane wisdom of the realms I embodied. Such infinitely deep, unprotected, vast insight was something that the mortal mind failed to fully comprehend, becoming more and more confused and lost the longer it looked.

Not even we knew what would happen if a mortal soul was exposed to the direct effects of our arcane alicorn knowledge for too long. But I really didn't want to find out the hard way here and now. In fact, I didn't want to find out at all! For whatever might happen would never be worth the risk of inevitably shattering another's spirit. Especially one as gentle and innocent as Fluttershy. There was no doubt that my divine powers would be able to restore even a broken mind, as some of my abilities could even affect time, but it was still far better not to let it come to it.

A mental note made sure that I did not forget to point out the five mares later, and my focus shifted back to Fluttershy and what she had asked. "That's right, thank you for reminding me, Fluttershy. But shouldn't we wait for Rainbow to listen too? It would be a shame if she didn't hear about it. It's probably something none of you would ever think of, but you'll be trilled anyway. I tilted my head to the side again, questioning.

"Oh, well, she's always preoccupied and bored anyway, unless it's something about the Wonderbolts," Applejack said with a laugh. But I could tell by the way she said it that there was no serious malice in her words. Still, she wasn't going to deny me the hard truth. "So I would be relatively unconcerned for her. As usual, we'll sum up everything you say for her neatly and succinctly. We're used to that from her by now."

Pinkie added something to Applejack's statement. "But if you ask her to really listen to you, she'll fulfil her loyalty element."

I was about to ask how Pinkie had already figured out that Rainbow Dash embodied the harmony element of loyalty, but then I decided against it. Either it was another one of Pinkie's natural hunches or, as I suspected, it was quite obvious which of them embodied which element.

I chuckled. "Well, if she knew what she was about to miss, she'd be annoyed that she hadn't listened to me, but as far as I'm concerned, it's all right to start now."

I sat more comfortably on my cushion, hooves tucked underneath me, and fanned my broad wings out to my sides in a relaxed manner. "You may already know this, but my birthday is in a few days, and it will be a very important one, marking a significant milestone in my life in Equestria." I paused and scratched my chin thoughtfully. "Just because I'm interested, but do any of you even know how old I am? Even if you do not, please do not be discouraged, for very few in our castle in Canterlot actually know the age of those to whom they have sworn their eternal loyalty and service. I may look twenty-five, but I certainly am not," I chuckled.

At first no one dared answer my question, but then Rarity took a metaphorical step forward.

"Considering that you may be the youngest of the three Alicorn siblings by a few years, but Equestria has enjoyed its uninterrupted peace for more than a thousand years, after a tumultuous age at the beginning. I would estimate you to still be a little over sixteen hundred years old, then."

I laughed again. "Well, that wasn't so bad, and your logic was reasonable. However, I have to be honest with you, as you weren't even close to my age, because believe it or not, I'll be celebrating my third millennium very soon."

The mares' muzzles fell open and they stared at me for at least a minute in complete surprise.

Three...thousand...years... More than twelve times longer than the oldest known earth pony had ever been.

"Ok, wow, you really have kept up. What moisturiser and anti-aging products do you use?" Applejack joked, winking at me.

"Well, eternal life, virtual invulnerability and a body that constantly reverts to its most flawless state and requires no external nourishment helps a lot. I don't even need any creams or other remedies to maintain my royal beauty," I replied to the orange earth pony with a good-natured wink of my own.

Applejack chuckled and winked at Rarity. "I know at least one pony who might be quite jealous of you now, Twilight." Rarity blushed and rolled her eyes, but smiled anyway.

"Oh hush, how could I ever be jealous of someone who simply has unique biological abilities? I wouldn't mind having a body that stayed pristine all the time, of course, but that would just be unfair to Twilight."

A small but delightful round of laughter ensued, and we all joined in wholeheartedly until we finally calmed down enough for me to continue.

"That little joke aside, the reason for my anniversary is the same reason I came here today. Not only do I want to form a friendship and get to know you better, but I also want to invite you to a private celebration at our castle. Normally, only noble guests with the necessary privileges show up, along with a few of their friends who also have the right to be invited. As a princess, however, I am free to choose who I would like to invite to parties and events at the castle. It doesn't matter who I invite, because as an Alicorn I am above the law, as long as I don't commit any serious crimes. Something that is probably impossible for me to do anyway.

Then I raised my hoof. "But wait, it gets even better." With a burst of magic, I materialised five rolls of parchment, rolled up and tied with red ribbon, in front of me. I then floated them to the hooves of each of the mares and placed them there.

"This special invitation is no ordinary one, for not only has it been written by an alicorn princess and personally signed by me. It further designates you as guests of honor on my behalf, and you will be personally announced upon entry, before any other attendees at my birthday party. No doubt some nobles will not appreciate this and complain, but this is still my birthday party.

I weighed my head from left to right as I continued. "Although we love all our ponies equally and would leave no stone unturned for their welfare." My voice lowered. " Yet those who insist on brushing against my fur and constantly get on my nerves by claiming to be something better...Well, I don't need or want to be around those ponies and they shouldn't have the privilege of access to private events either."

As I lifted my muzzle, I noticed some doubt in the eyes of the other mares, and I knew immediately where it was coming from. My sweet, soothing voice would surely help to calm their nerves in a moment.

"You're probably afraid that if you accept my invitation, with all its benefits, the nobles will push you around and humiliate you, aren't you?"

All four of them nodded sheepishly at me, as I had so easily seen through their doubts. But they were sitting in front of an all-powerful alicorn mare, thousands of years old, who was also incredibly cunning. Harmony also had a strong emphasis on emotions and feelings, and I was clearly its mistress. So it was incredibly easy for me to relate the emotions I saw to the thought processes, as it was one of my natural talents.

"I wouldn't worry about that at all. As an honored guest of a royal alicorn, any individual offence against any of you will be dealt with as harshly as it would be against me. Even if you do not know the laws of Equestria by heart, you should have some idea of how bad an act it would be to attempt such a thing.

We alicorns tend to be very peaceful and wish nothing more than to bring peace and harmony to every corner of the universe, especially me as the Alicorn of Harmony. But in no way do we allow ourselves to be pushed around and insulted. We stand above such base acts and will deal with them fairly, but harshly and swiftly.

The mares' worries melted away instantly, and Rarity's magic and Pinkie's mane had already seized the scrolls in front of them when Rainbow Dash's gruff voice made them stop.

"Hey, where did that scroll come from?" With her wing already reaching for it, Dash glanced around the group, finally settling on my mischievously twinkling eyes.

"Well, I think it's best if your friends tell you themselves. Once they've done that, and you've made up your mind, I have something very important to tell you myself. Especially the last part you should listen to carefully, because it has to do with Fluttershy's past behavior and it is very important for me that you know about it".

* End of Chapter Seven*

Royal Friendship

by Nova Star Sparkle

Goddess of the Stars

Past and present

A Princess and Thief in Town

The Alicorn Warrior

Deity and mortal in contact

Consequences

Elemental