Author's Notes:

Hi! If you're just starting this story (or refreshing your memory), first of all welcome (back), and thank you for your readership~ (again).

Second of all, I would actually strongly advise against reading this "prelude" first. It reveals more information than I'm comfortable with, and does not properly set the tone of the story. All this is on account of it being the very kernel of an idea this story burst out of like a piece of popcorn, which is the reason why it's still here. If you're interested in seeing it later, then by all means come back to it. But for the best experience I would skip ahead to the next chapter and start there. And then never read this chapter ever, if I'm being honest, but I can't really stop you.

~N

It was not a pleasant feeling, this pit in her stomach. The mere thought of that… thing she had caged in her personal chambers filled her mind with a deluge of anger and fear for the safety of her subjects, washing away the early morn’s mildly irritating parade of smug nobleponies from Princess Celestia’s mind. It was bad enough that it had apparently existed in Canterlot for some time already in its disguise; she had never forgotten the loathsome scent of the Crystal King, and the abomination reeked of it. But fate would have to make it so powerful that it gave even her pause.

She heard the commotion before her guard came to alert her of it; the creature wasn’t exactly subtle. After a rather beautiful and curious wave of prismatic colors washed over the Canterlot sky, a loud crash like the mountains were doing battle rumbled through the palace, and she needn’t get close to see the imminent danger: a dragon, violet and green, had burst through the roof of the school across the royal plaza. Mercifully it was merely a forced-growth infant with no desire to act out its draconic instinct, but the cause of such a sight was something far more sinister.

A cloud of dark magic, so palpable and dense it had solid form. It seemed wild and masterless, but there was no mistaking the imprint of King Sombra that permeated its very being. It had been shockingly simple and painless to subdue, and its visage stayed her hoof from snuffing it out right there. She reversed its random machinations -- returning a trio of potted darkweeds back into ponies, shifting gravity back to normal for the teachers pinned to the ceiling, and shrinking the infant drake back down to size. That was a curious thing, the poor hatchling. She would have to ask exactly where and how her school had acquired a dragon egg.

But that could wait. The reptile was no danger to anypony as it was now. Celestia stepped back through the doorway to her study, her eyes focused solely on the true threat.

It still held on to most of its previous form, but there was no mistaking it. The unconscious little filly before her was betrayed by a curved horn upon its forehead, blackened like it were singed by flame at the sharply pointed tip. A mane and tail so dark a blue they recalled old memories back to the surface, streaked with a single lane of pink alongside a muted red. Ears that curved like a thestral’s, but were far more sinister-looking without the adorable fluffiness. And the smell! It exuded dark magic, for that’s exactly what it was. A massive cluster of twisted, solid thaumaturgy that couldn’t possibly fit in the veins of even thirty unicorns, and could barely be contained by the Princess’s body herself.

It would seem I underestimated you, Sombra, the white alicorn mused. I certainly wouldn’t have expected you to cast so much magic away, even when your defeat was certain. Though I can’t fathom exactly what this gambit of yours is meant to accomplish, if it was going to so readily reveal itself to me.

The form stirred in its cage, and Celestia readied her horn. This monster was unpredictable, as she had seen in her quick analysis of its properties that it answered to no conjurer. She anticipated an attack, an escape, a possession from beyond dimensions, even.

What she did not expect was a decidedly filly-like yelp of pain, followed by trembling in fear. Her determination faltered to confusion, and instead of obliterating the darkness where it lie, she briefly studied it once more.

She scanned its inky-black essence again as it shivered behind the bars, covering its eyes. More shocking than its lack of a master, this being of magic lacked an ingrained purpose. It was contrary to her knowledge, as the magical constructs Celestia had dealt with in the past had all been crafted with a singular goal encoded into their very body, a directive that they could not disobey or else they would dissipate into nothingness. This one… Either it had existed for so long that its purpose and master had faded from its memory, or it had come into being unbidden by anyone but serendipity. Really, Celestia was merely guessing at this point; there had never been a magical being that had existed for longer than a few years, and the latter theory was simply educated speculation, based on the endless unknowns of magic.

What this did tell the Sovereign Ruler of Equestria however was that no matter the reasoning, the monster before her was essentially a blank slate -- no purpose, and no creator. A part of her screamed to destroy it anyway. It was a possible hoof-hold for Sombra to claw his way back to this plane, whether he was aware of it or not. It was also more dark magic at once than she had ever encountered since his banishment, and that alone made it dangerous. It was also speaking now. What had it said?

“Repeat yourself.”

“It’s so bright this time...”

Celestia couldn’t help but be confused by that remark. “This time?”

“This part is never so shiny. It’s asposed to be dark and scary so I can’t see but now it’s too bright to see!”

“This part of…”

“The dream!”

“...I can assure you that this is no dream.” No matter how much I’d like for this old nightmare to crawl back into the pit I left it in, Celestia silently added.

The thing gasped. “Then that means-- That means my dream came true! You’re here to save me, Princess!” It removed its hooves from its eyes, only to be blinded once more by the light. “Owch…”

Now the Mare of the Sun was truly perplexed. In her struggle to make heads or tails of what the creature was saying she idly noted that her curtains were open wide, likely the reason it had complained about the brightness. With a shift in magic and the lightest flick of her horn she humored it and pulled them all shut; it may reveal its true intention through its gaze. “Perhaps you’ll find it more bearable to open your eyes now,” she stated.

The magic being cautiously squinted open its left eye, followed more readily by the right. Celestia took in their visage with concealed disgust and intrigue. Sclera blacker than the pits of Tartarus, but with lavender eyes that seemed almost luminous. And other than the catlike iris barely visible in the center, one could mistake them for the eyes of one of her little ponies; big and shimmering with wonder and… reverence?

It was then that Celestia caught onto the string of logic the creature had spewed forth from its head, “And what do you think I am here to save you from?”

“The Dark Mare!,” the filly-like creature stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, exactly like a filly would say it. “She wants to take me away from Mom and Dad and Shiny and put me back in the orphanage where she can eat me up! You gotta stop her Princess!”

Compassion struck the white mare, despite herself. It was a sadness of hers that she had bore for centuries that her littlest and most defenseless ponies could be thrown to the timberwolves by frightened parents, and as much as she so dearly wanted to shepherd them all personally to a happier life she had delegated that duty to her subjects. Running a country was a very time-consuming job, even after all these centuries.

Her emotions further clouded her mind with doubt. The more she deigned to learn about this being, the less certain she was of its inherent danger. It claimed to have dreamt of her coming to its rescue -- from the Dark Mare, no less; a part of her mind chuckled sadly at that -- and was regarding her with all the awe that any of her citizens would. As well, it was supposedly an orphaned foal, having been one long enough to know the anguish of perceived unwantedness. And she feared the Dark Mare, despite being pure darkness manifest, all by itself.

In that brief instant, all the doubt was turned to a piercing certainty: this creature was legitimately lost and confused, and truly believed it was a little unicorn girl. Pure dark magic or not, it would not pose an immediate threat to Equestria as it was now… but it needed to be monitored. If not for the safety of the nation, then for its own; any other adept unicorn would not have faltered as she did and stricken the poor thing from existence at any cost… or turned it to their own dark plans. She saw in its eyes no untruth, and its voice spoke with the inimitable honesty of children.

And so, Celestia smiled, and told the first of what would be many lies to the creature: “Oh! Of course, my little pony. That is indeed what I came to do. I simply couldn't rest easy at night knowing one of my subjects were in peril.” She undid the lock upon the cage and levitated the construct -- the filly -- out and onto the nearby lounge.

“Perhaps you could tell me the name of the pretty little filly I just rescued?” the princess inquired with a well-practiced sweetness in her tone. Referring to it -- her -- as “the thing” was a rather rude and impersonal for someone she would be watching for quite some time.

The violet filly-creature blushed at that. “Um, I’m Twilight Sparkle, from House Twilight.”

Princess Celestia now had something of a migraine. It had been almost a millennium since she had been so worried and furious and anxious and good grief some tea would be incredible right now. She had spent a few minutes more with the dark filly -- Twilight Sparkle, she reminded herself -- which further served to fuel her conclusions. The little pony-thing absolutely adored her, and she couldn’t help but find her wide-eyed wonder precious.

But their brief time together was brought short by a realization on the filly’s part: she had been slated to take the qualifying test for enrollment into her School for Gifted Unicorns and began to panic, fearing she had failed horribly by falling asleep during the test. Celestia assured the quivering purple mass that she had not only passed, but had performed so incredibly that she would instead become the princess’s personal student, as she was in fact a very special pony with very remarkable power. An elated celebration and discovery of a cutie mark later, Celestia put an exhausted Twilight to a nap, and set hoof outside of her suite -- with a stressing of the command that no one else was allowed in or out of that door to the guards on the outside.

House Twilight. She recalled their registering for an adoption a year or so ago. They would most certainly need to be scrutinized. Subtly, of course; with the way little Sparkle behaved it was entirely possible that they were just as oblivious to the truth as she was. If nothing else, she was sure they'd like to know that their adoptive foal would now be under her care.

She briefly considered visiting them to deliver the news, but if they were half as wholesome a noble house as she had been informed, then they were likely already demanding an audience in the throne room. She could merely teleport there, but the walk would give her time to formulate the web of lies and half-truths she would have to spin for who knows how long a time. And so the princess traversed the pristine white-gold halls of the castle, for once alone with her thoughts. It was an unexpected but welcome solace. The times she could stride through the castle unburdened by servants or guards could be counted on one hoof -- this one time. It ended all too soon when she strode through the grand doorway, into the airy hall that housed her seat of power.

As expected, there was the head of the house, Twilight Velvet and her husband Night Light, wearing identically worried expressions. They stood alone in the audience chamber, looking so small in contrast to the bustling crowd that had previously packed the immense room like they did every morning. Celestia inwardly sighed with relief that they were concerned for the young one; their adoption didn't appear to be for gaining face with the public. Such genuine kindness was rare in the Canterlot elite. Hopefully she could assuage their concern with pretty words that made her mission appear glamorous.

"Mrs. Velvet and Mr. Light. I'd say this was a nice surprise, but I was certain you would be worried sick over little Twilight Sparkle." The sovereign donned a reassuring smile for the couple.

Though their faces did not lose any lines of worry, their eyes gave away a relief that Celestia usually only saw in the rare commoner who had managed to attend her court: that knowledge that they had not been forgotten about in the endless sea of inquiries. "Please tell us, Princess," Night Light spoke, fatherly concern laden in his voice like lead. "She's not hurt is she?"

"The poor thing is more rattled by the event than anything. She experienced an impressively powerful magical surge, but the filly will be able to trot away from it no worse for wear. You needn't fret any longer."

Both the unicorns released their tension with a shared sigh, yet when they looked back up to Celestia they still appeared apprehensive.

"We--", Velvet began, "we would like to know the results of her exam, if that isn't too much to ask. It meant so much to her to even have a chance of attending your school."

The alicorn regarded they gray-coated mare before her. Already she could tell that they were none the wiser to Twilight's ruse than Twilight herself was. That made the situation both easier and more difficult. All they were was a loving family (how merciful it was that even such a volatile being had been blessed with that, she thought) and the happiness of their chosen daughter was incredibly important to them both; it was written plain upon their faces, almost like some fraternity house prank. She would tell them the truth, then. Not all of it, herself forbid, but enough that they would understand without being horrified.

"Young little Twilight managed to impress me with her raw display of power. Although I don't think the instructors were very amused by the theatrics." Celestia allowed herself a light titter to further reduce the tension that still hung in the air. She now remembered why Equestria was a peaceful nation; she absolutely loathed a day without respite from that. "And most importantly, she managed to hatch the egg as instructed. She exceeded all expectations with that display."

At this, the pair of ponies finally broke through their concern and grinned widely. Velvet in particular seemed to be buzzing with excitement. Like mother, like daughter, it would seem. "Th-that's wonderful news-- incredible news! When will she be enrolled?"

"The problem is, that Twilight may be a touch too powerful for her own good," Celestia responded, to the faltering smiles of her small audience. "I feel that placing her in class with other unicorns would be a grossly irresponsible move. Even if nopony is harmed during that time it would be a great disservice to little Sparkle herself; she has so much magical strength, and to waste it on the regular curriculum would leave her with a well of untapped potential for the rest of her life.

"With that in mind, I have decided that instead, Twilight Sparkle shall be my personal student. Under my tutelage, she will blossom into a remarkable unicorn, and I like to think she'll go on to do some truly amazing things." That last bit was embellishment on the princess's part, as she was unsure she would ever want the filly to even leave the castle.

But her words had the desired effect; the grown ponies before her were now sporting smiles that Celestia was certain would hurt tomorrow morning, and stars seem to spangle their eyes. They were left sputtering half-composed thank-yous and jittering with joy, looking for all the world like overgrown foals. Celestia couldn't help but make a good-natured laugh. Making her subjects so happy warmed her heart like almost nothing before had.

When the unicorns had calmed down they practically begged to see Twilight, but Celestia declined them gently, stating that by tomorrow the filly would be well-rested and ready to interact once more. The princess thanked the Blessings that they seemed to have completely forgotten that Twilight's magic was abnormal in appearance that day. A quick scheduling for visitation plans later, and Twilight Velvet and Night Light were practically prancing out the grand double doors back home. Even with the twinge of guilt she felt at misleading them about Twilight's condition, the Mare of the Sun felt much more at ease about this ordeal than before... which still meant she was extremely anxious and uncertain of what the future would hold now.

She chose once again to walk the distance to her chambers, her mind on the ball of admittedly adorable dark magic within, and a good cup or two of tea. She was certainly going to take her sweet time drinking it, that much was certain.

I suppose the best way to look at this, Princess Celestia pondered, is that life is about to be a little more interesting in this palace.

Which reminds me: what to do about that little dragon...?