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Oldnew Luna

by arandompenguin

Chapter 1: Prologue: The Letter

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Oldnew Luna


Prologue:


"Twilight?" The purple baby dragon asked the mare standing in front of him. The pony in question was staring out into space; her many thoughts were almost tangible. The dragon waved his hand slowly in front of the mare’s face, before sighing and resorting to clicking his fingers to gain her attention.

"Huh?" The purple mare said, snapping back to reality and looking about herself, confused for a short moment before taking in the scene. "Sorry, Spike, I was spacing out again, what were you saying?"

She lowered her gaze to the dragon as he cleared his throat before continuing, "I said that you just received a letter from Princess Celestia," Spike reminded her, holding out the letter in question to Princess Celestia’s prized pupil. Her eyes widened in response as she magicked the letter out of Spike’s hand, unfurling the scroll in the process. She started reading aloud:

My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,

A matter of grave importance has occurred at Canterlot Castle that requires your immediate attention. You may be staying for a number of days so pack accordingly, anything you forget can be provided for you at the castle, so do not worry too much about it. A chariot will be sent to collect you exactly fifteen minutes after this message has been received. I await your arrival.

Yours Sincerely,

Princess Celestia

Twilight was silent for a few moments as she re-read the scroll, turning it over to see whether there was anything on the back. She seemed deeply perturbed by the letter.

"You okay?" Spike asked her, obviously worried.

"Yes... It’s just that she doesn’t even explain what the matter is, or what is needed of me!" Twilight exclaimed, giving off a short sigh before continuing, "How am I supposed to prepare, if I don’t know what to prepare for?!" The lavender unicorn questioned, the frustration evident in her voice. Spike sighed in relief, fears instantly assuaged, even if he was still a bit jumpy from being yelled at.

'She’s simply stressed out by not knowing how to get ready; she’s not even scared,' Spike thought to himself. However, he remembered something that should be of greater importance to Twilight than what she had to do once she got there.

"Umm... Twilight? You know you've only got like, fifteen minutes before the chariot arrives, right?" Spike asked her. Almost instantly, the mare half-jumped into the air and rushed off to pack her bags, muttering a quick 'thanks' to her assistant. Within the first thirty seconds or so, she had pulled her saddlebags from the wardrobe and began piling in clothes, not really caring what colour they were, or whether she actually planned to wear any of them -- miraculously, however, she managed to perfectly fold each and every one without missing a beat.

She next turned to her personal bookshelf next to her bed, where she kept her special books; the ones that she was either currently reading, or were her favourites. She briefly debated which volumes to bring, then realised that the Royal Canterlot Library would likely have multiple copies of any book she desired. Mentally shrugging that dead-end off, she instead chose a single slender, velvet-bound book. It was her diary, where she wrote about her deepest thoughts and feelings, and kept sealed shut from any eyes but her own, by an enchantment.

It was her most personal possession, and for all of the sixteen years she had it she had placed several different and complex spells upon it—one of the hardest spells she had enchanted it with was when she was twelve, and had run out of pages. At the time, she was Princess Celestia’s protégée, much like the present, but was nowhere near the level of magical skill she had today.

Twilight had told Celestia she wasn’t feeling well and was going to stay in her room for a few days. Even though she felt admittedly guilty about lying to her mentor, she still persevered. She’d spent the first day finding the necessary spell from the spell books she had snuck out of the library. She then spent two days straight without food, or water, performing the spell on her diary.

The spell would mean it kept its original size, but never ran out of pages. Infinity spells, as they are called, remain one of the hardest spells to do, as they require a constant, if almost imperceptible, amount of magic to keep active. This meant that she had to always make sure she never used up all of her magic or the infinity spell would fail, shutting off all other spells on the book too, due to the way that they were linked. Twilight primarily wanted the security spell she had enchanted it with to remain active, especially after she caught Spike attempting to open it.

Even though she had placed a proximity spell upon it that would make it jump to the bookshelf closest to her, she also knew that it might exhaust her magic too much if it had to jump all the way from Ponyville to Canterlot, so she decided it best to just bring it along. Twilight placed the book beneath everything else in her bag, flung it on to her back and trotted to the library’s main room. She then proceeded to look for Spike; she had something to tell him.

"I’m really sorry, Spike, but you’ll have to housesit for me while I’m gone. There just isn’t enough time to find anyone else; is that alright?" Twilight asked him, biting her lip at the necessity of the question. But she took solace when she remember what little number of ponies actually came into the library on weekdays.

Spike nodded and turned back to the box he was sorting through. Twilight knew that Spike had already known this as he hadn’t packed anything, but she still felt as if she needed to confirm it. A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts and she glanced over at the door, before turning back to Spike.

"Well, goodbye, I guess," she said to her assistant, never sure how to say goodbye to somepony without it sounding awkward.

"See you, sometime," he replied absentmindedly, still focused on the box between his claws. Twilight knew that Spike was just trying to show he could handle himself, but the way Spike’s hand shook slightly belied his true feelings on the matter. Twilight smiled reassuringly at him and moved over to the door, opening it with her magic. There were two Royal Guards standing on either side of the doorway, ready to escort her.

"Ms. Twilight Sparkle, we are here to escort you to Canterlot Castle, upon the orders of Princess Celestia," The guard ponies stated in unison, their voices monotone and strict from years of training. She sighed, then nodded at each of them, while walking towards the chariot and upon reaching it hopping in, quickly settling into the lavish interior.

The guards turned back to the chariot themselves and jumped into the front, one taking the reins and the other sitting stationary in his seat. Even though the carriage only needed a single pony to pilot it, the Royal Guards always worked in pairs. Twilight placed her bag beside her and sat back in the seat, attempting to get comfortable. It was going to take a while before they reached Canterlot.

The carriage was a simple oak frame, it looked almost exactly like the one she had ridden in on her first trip to Ponyville, except it was a lot simpler and more worn. However, this chariot seemed to be infused with some sort of magic, making it fly a lot faster. Twilight could instinctively sense this to be Celestia's own, it had that sort of ever-maternal feeling to it, which Twilight remembered from her youth. She missed Celestia, and some guilty part of her was looking forward to what was ahead, just because it would be an opportunity to spend time with her beloved teacher. Twilight’s mood was tempered somewhat though with the unknown problems she faced at the castle.

She thought about how rushed everything was, she barely had time to pack, and she didn’t even have time to say goodbye to her friends. The events at the castle must be an emergency for there to be such short notice; usually ponies were given a minimum of twenty-four hours notice prior to being summoned to the castle. Twilight looked back at Ponyville, which was gradually getting smaller in the distance. She hoped that Spike would inform everypony of where she had gone, but even though she had forgotten to ask him, she trusted him and did not worry. On the horizon, Twilight could see Canterlot getting closer by the minute.

Next Chapter: Chapter 1: The Bubble Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 43 Minutes
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