Chapter 1: Disappointment
1
Canterlot, May 5th, 5528
It was night. About all in Canterlot was still and quiet. Luna patrolled the skies, as was her duty. But Celestia was awake. She knew the time had come. She had to do it while Twilight and the Elements of Harmony were nearby. Her mind made up, she made her way through the palace to the room where Twilight was sleeping. Seeing the sleeping unicorn, the alicorn hesitated. The sleeping unicorn still looked so much like the sweet filly who’d become the hope of the ruler of Equestria. It just felt wrong to wake her, to interrupt her well-earned holiday. But it had to be done.
Now.
“Twilight, wake up,” she said.
Twilight sat straight up and looked directly into the eyes of the Princess. To the longtime faithful student her mentor’s eyes somehow seemed different. What was it? Fear? Worry? Or maybe… guilt?
“What’s wrong, Princess?” Twilight asked, rubbing her eyes with her hoof. “Are the Changelings back? Have the Griffons declared war?”
“No, Twilight. I just need to tell you something, urgently. Come with me,” the Princess whispered.
Twilight got out of bed and followed the Princess.
“I’m sorry to ruin your holiday like this,” the Princess said apologetically.
“That’s alright, Princess. As your faithful subject, I would always be willing to listen to what you need to say, whether day or night.”
Celestia smiled grimly. “Thank you for your faithfulness, Twilight, but I do not think I deserve such a high level of devotion.”
She truly was fortunate. To find a student as good as Twilight was hard enough, but to find a subject faithful as this was even harder. She really did need the Elements of Harmony now, with Myst coming back earlier than expected. She shuddered at the thought of the letter she received a few hours ago:
Dearest niece,
It’s wonderful to announce that I shall be coming home soon. I have found a way to get past the banishment spell you cast upon me so many years ago (you remember that don’t you?). Prepare your army, ready the warriors you have, for my homecoming celebration will be grand!
Your beloved aunt,
Myst
Meanwhile, student dearest was trying to figure out whatever seemed wrong with Celestia. Waking her up in the middle of the night was totally strange, and looking preoccupied and worried was another.
The Princess led Twilight to the Throne Room. Then she began to tap her horn on some of the tiles on the floor. Soon after, faint rumbling sounds began to come from the floor. A chasm opened in the floor, revealing a flight of stairs leading to a darker room below.
Celestia lit the way down with her horn and motioned for Twilight to follow. When they reached the base of the stairs, the floor closed up above. The alicorn lit a few lamps while the unicorn took a good look around. The dim lighting unveiled many bookcases sagging with crumbly old scrolls.
“What is this place?” she asked, marveling at the sight.
“This is the emergency hideout, which also contains the Secret Archives. No one else knows about it.” Celestia seemed at a loss for words. “Once again, I’m really sorry to interrupt your holiday like this, Twilight. But I really need help, as does all of Equestria. I made a huge mistake when I was a filly, over a thousand years ago. I made an agreement with my aunt, Myst, my father’s sister. I have been telling you lies all these years. You see, my father was… was Starswirl the Bearded.”
“Um… excuse me?” Twilight asked, unsure of what she just heard.
“I’m so sorry to startle you like this, Twilight, but it’s true. Starswirl wasn’t just a magic sage, he was my father and the previous ruler of Equestria.” The white pony paused, letting that sink in. “Starswirl was an alicorn… like me. He was the king of Equestria before me. He would have finished his one thousand year reign peacefully, and Chrysalis would have succeeded him as Queen, if I didn’t help Myst. I helped her by turning Starswirl into Discord, I helped her get him to banish Chrysalis and the Changelings… I helped her turn Luna into Nightmare Moon.”
Silence. For once, the smart-cookie unicorn was totally blank, but a hurt expression was slowly replacing the blanked-out face.
“Oh, Twilight! Don’t look at me that! I made mistakes and I’ve been trying to fix them for so many years! Right now, you are the only hope I have. Help me, please,” the Princess pleaded.
“L-look, Princess, I respect you as ruler of Equestria, I love you as my second mother, a-and I look up to you as my idol. Y-you’re the one that made me want to learn magic, master every spell and such… I-I’m disappointed in you! That you would… that you would be so… so EVIL! And the fact that you bore the Elements of Harmony is doubly upsetting!” Twilight began to talk faster and faster until Celestia placed her hoof gently on the worked-up unicorn’s mouth.
“I’m sorry to disappoint you Twilight., but I never bore the Elements of Harmony. I’m not the perfect princess I seem to be.”
“Obviously!” Twilight was shouting louder now. “But why did you do it? What for?”
“I was jealous. Starswirl and the ponies always ignored me. They honoured and revered Chrysalis, my eldest sister, who was beautiful as an alicorn. They loved and adored Luna, who was the youngest. As for me, the one in the middle, they always ignored me. I hated it. All I wanted was to be recognized, to be appreciated. Nopony ever noticed me. I was cast away, ignored, while all the ponies gathered around Chrysalis and Luna!” Celestia explained bitterly.
“One night,” she continued, “when I was twenty six years old, Myst approached me. I was crying in my bed. The Grand Galloping Gala had happened earlier that night. And nopony had asked me to dance. So Myst took the opportunity she had been waiting for, to take revenge on the brother that took every privilege she had been given. She asked me if I was willing to help her get back at Starswirl. I was willing. Then both of us conspired against Starswirl to remove him from the throne and get me on it. We lied, bribed, manipulated. We were disgusting, less than alive. We hurt innocent ponies for our own advantage. Forgive me.”
Twilight had been listening closely to this monologue while staring hard-eyed at Celestia. She took in deep, angry breaths, trying to compose herself. “So, what are you going to do about it?” she asked coldly.
“The Elements of Harmony. But Cadance and Shining Armor have to bear the Element of Love to destroy Myst. All eight of you have to return to the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters and reveal the Seventh Element,” Celestia replied. “You have to hurry. Myst is probably coming later tonight, much earlier than I expected and could even foresee. You have to get started now.”
But Twilight didn’t move. She took a few steps toward the pony she’d wanted to be like all those years, the pony she’d loved, and the pony she’d believed in. “Princess Celestia, I can’t believe this. Ever since I can remember I’ve always wanted to be just like you!” she screamed, as hot, salty tears flowed from her deep purple eyes like a waterfall. “And now, I don’t! I don’t want to be you! You failed me!”
Celestia felt her heart stabbed again and again by the daggers Twilight was driving into her chest. The sight of her crying, hurt, and feeling betrayed was intense. The only student she’d ever truly loved was rejecting her. Before she could stop herself, Celestia wrapped her arms around the sobbing mare and began to cry herself. “I’m sorry,” she repeated for the umpteenth time.
But screams from the other side of the palace cut the scene short. Celestia looked up, eyes filled with terror. She knew those screams, she’d heard them before long ago. She’d heard them the night she turned Luna into Nightmare Moon.