Chapter 1: Truth and Lies

It was a bright and sunny morning. Celestia’s sun rising in the east, banishing the darkness of night and spreading light as well as happiness over the whole land. The ponies were getting ready for a new day. Everything seemed to be alright in the capital of Equestria. Well...almost everything.

The Princess of the Sun was so deeply sunken in thoughts that she did not pay much attention to her surroundings. That was not like her at all. Not even the biggest crisis could destroy her usual calmness and confidence. Of course, there was one thing, one little filly to be exact, that would get Celestia to lower her guard like that:

She’d told her personal protege to come to her private chambers. Twilight would likely be really worried by such an odd request. Celestia knew it perfectly well. She wouldn’t have done that if it wasn’t something personal for her. In order for her plans to work out perfectly, she even had to involve a long-time friend. The princess didn’t like being reliant on others, but in this case, she needed to make an exception. Without her friend, things would not work out the way she wanted them to.It made Celestia uncomfortable nonetheless, knowing that she put such an important task in the hooves of somepony else. It was the only way she could think of that was safe enough. Should she order the royal magicians or the archmages of Canterlot to do it, although she could not fully trust them? They betrayed her in the past, what would stop them doing it again? Maybe, just maybe, she was a bit unforgiving. After all, it happened almost a millennium ago. Still, the little filly was not only an innocent pony, but also irreplaceable for the princess. Just like last time. No...Twilight was just too important for her. Celestia had been betrayed one time too often in the last 1000 years. Never again...

To earn the praise of her mentor was the only thing in the world that mattered to her. Benevolent, kind, intelligent. So many words that could describe her and none of them came even close to showing how amazing she really was. Disappointing the princess would have never been an option. She didn’t need any ‘friends’ or a ‘social life’. It would only diminish the progress in her precious studies, that would sooner or later lead to failing Princess Celestia

After two years of being her student, Twilight had become very paranoid when it came to scenarios that could possibly lead to upsetting the princess. It didn’t make things better that the demi-goddess had told her yesterday that she should come to her personal chambers. The little filly did not even know why; the only answer Twilight got for the question was ‘You’ll see.’

It was very unusual for the princess to call Twilight into her own room. If the princess had something to talk about, she would just talk directly to her during their lessons, and they were always in the solarium for more ‘book-related’ things, or in the palace garden for more practical lessons.

“Maybe the princess wants to talk about the progress I made... or perhaps about the Summer Sun Celebration. It is next week, after all,” Twilight thought to herself. “Or, maybe she found out that I didn’t return Hoofbeard’s Theory About Elemental Magic in time.”

Lost in thought, Twilight didn’t even notice that she had opened the door to the princess’ personal room and that she was almost to Celestia’s bed. It was an alicorn-sized double bed made out of some strangely soft material. The lavender unicorn really did not know why it was so special. Maybe it was extra fluffy or it comforted her back or something. She definitely had to ask the princess if she’d be allowed to take a little bit of that material to analyse its exact structure. Twilight was ripped out of that train of thought when she bumped into a single, white-furred hoof. Looking up, the little filly saw Celestia gifting her with a warm smile.

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry, princess! I didn’t watch where I was going,” Twilight apologized, looking down in embarrassment.

The princess let out a small fit of laughter. After calming down she said, while lifting her students chin with her hoof, “My dear Twilight, there is nothing to apologize for.”

“Okay, I’m sorry,” was still the only thing the purple unicorn could mutter.

“What a lovely morning. Isn’t it, my faithful student?” Celestia asked in a calm and gentle tone, not wanting to embarrass her any further.

“Y-yes, it r-really is… Um… N-no clouds in the sky, the sun s-shines b-brightly and the birds a-are already u-up as well,” the little filly replied, her face still blushing.

“Hmm, I had hoped that you were not worrying too much about why I asked you to come to my chambers,” the princess stated with a little smile on her face. “Stop worrying, my little pony. It is nothing bad, really, and as I know you, you were making up the wildest theories of what would happen in here. I can put your mind at ease; we are here today because you are ready for the next level of your studies.”

“Oh thank goodness,” Twilight replied, visibly relieved. “The next level of my studies? What is it going to be?”

“Patience, Twilight. First, I want to introduce you to someone. She is going to educate you in this part of your studies,” the princess said.

“But why can’t you teach me in this ‘special part’ of my studies? I don’t want to be taught by someone else,” Twilight exclaimed with a bit of disappointment in her voice.

“Oh, don’t worry, my faithful student. She is one of my most trusted guards and also very strong. I am sure that she will do an excellent job as your part-time teacher,” Celestia explained with the same calming voice as before, then threw a glance behind her and raising her voice. “You can come in now!”

Nothing happened for the first 5 seconds. Twilight waited silently for her new ‘teacher’ to arrive. Suddenly, a very bright flash illuminated the whole room, forcing her to cover her eyes. After rubbing her eyes and recovering from the blinding light, Twilight could see her.

The mare had a magnificent yellow coat and a mane that sparkled in the colours of burning ember. It was beautiful. Only then did the little filly notice that her hair was literally ablaze. She had never seen anything like it ever before. The new pony wore the same armour as the other Solar Guards, only hers looked like molten gold that was held together by fire. It was too bright for the unicorn to investigate any further. Although, she wondered: How was it even possible for this mare to endure such high temperatures? Twilight didn’t know much about elemental magic, but she read about it in one of her books. Apparently, it was possible for skilled unicorns to store and release the heat of fire in magical artifacts. With this technique, they would be almost immune to nearly any damage fire might cause. Around her neck hung some sort of magical pendant that consisted of a strange ruby which seemingly pulsated with magical energy. It was also framed with gold. Maybe that gemstone was her artifact. It would explain why it was glowing. On second thought, it wasn’t really all that surprising that this mare was the strongest and most trusted guard of the Princess of the Sun.

“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Morning Blaze, Captain of the fifth division of the Solar Guard,” the mare spoke in a soft but confident voice.

“H-hello. So are you my new teacher?” the little filly asked, with a disbelieving tone. She stared at her with wide-open eyes. This mare was only a normal pony, but she looked like an alicorn without wings.

“Yes, it appears so. It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Sparkle,” Morning Blaze stated, still standing between Celestia and Twilight.

Celestia sighed inwardly. Blaze did a commendable job impressing Twilight. What the little filly didn’t know was that this whole performance had just been for show. Sure, Morning was strong, but nopony, not even herself, could look like this permanently, but her little student would accept a new teacher easier if she was impressed by her. She smiled a bit and said, “Welcome, Captain Blaze."

First, she had to come to Celestia’s chamber, which was strange enough. Then a flaming mare, apparently her new teacher, appeared out of nowhere. She had to know what was going on.

She hated waiting. Her mentor should just tell her what was going on. As much as she would have liked to yell at them, her manners told her otherwise. The little filly idly waited for them to start explaining.

Celestia looked down at her student. She had always been a smart filly. She could deal with it and understand her motivations. “Where should I begin?” she started with her usual composure.

Morning Blaze gave Twilight a last look before she walked to Celestia’s side. The look in her eyes had something the purple unicorn couldn’t really understand. Was it sympathy? Pity? Or even guilt? It was all so very strange today. She should have just stayed in bed.

Celestia took in a breath and started, “I don’t believe you realise how talented you are. In fact, you are one of the most powerful unicorns I have ever met in the last 1000 years. Although you are only a filly, you already have more magical potential than the most powerful archmages of Canterlot. You also learn incredibly fast. Where full-grown unicorns need months of practice, you learn it in days. Every spell I’ve given you to study so far, you mastered it on the first attempt. I’ve seen this only twice in my entire life span.”

“Do you remember that day when you hatched Spike’s egg? Do you remember the surge of pure magical energy? I have made you my student so that you might learn how to control it. I believe now is the right time to start with that.”

Twilight was visibly shocked. She had more magic potential than the archmages? No, that couldn’t be true... right? They were the most magically-talented unicorns in all of Equestria! Maybe the princess just wanted to show her appreciation for Twilight. Sure, she remembered that day. How could she forget? It was the first time in her life that she felt so powerful, all the magic within her. On that day, she even spoke with Princess Celestia in person for the first time. She had always adored the princess since the very first time she saw her at her first Summer Sun Celebration. The princess looked so majestic that day, so powerful, so beautiful and so full of wisdom. But since then, she had never been able to feel this strange power again. She gave up after months of trying it several hours a day. The little filly did not want to lose control over it, like back in this school, ever again. All of it sounded really unbelievable. She was only a filly!

“This is all so strange, princess... I-I don’t know if I am really as strong as you think,” she said with a shaky voice. “Although... I have a question that I want to ask before you continue.”

“Yes, my faithful student. What is on your mind?” the princess said in the calmest tone she could manage. After all, this conversation was very important for herself and her plans.

“You said ‘twice’. You have only seen this twice. If I am one of the two, who is the other one?” the purple unicorn asked curiously.

Celestia had feared that Twilight would catch up on this. But she could not tell her every little detail… at least not yet. “This is a story not suitable for younger ears. Trust me, you would not understand it. However, one day, I will share it with you,” Celestia replied, a hint of sadness in her voice.

This answer didn’t satisfy the filly in the slightest, but she decided to leave it be. If she really wanted to know it, she could sneak into the restricted area of the royal archives. Though that was only a last resort. The princess had her reasons to not tell Twilight, she was sure of it. “Okay, if you say so, princess. Please continue,” the little filly stated.

The Ruler of the Sun cleared her throat and started again, “Very well. As I was saying, you need to learn how to channel this magic. You were never supposed to hatch Spike’s egg. The judges wanted to test the newcomers on how they reacted to unsolvable problems, as well as their behavior when confronted with stress. Nopony should’ve actually been able to do it, especially not at your age.”

This whole thing was, again, only half true and Celestia knew it. The egg was not even fertilized back then. They used it as a test in her school for gifted unicorns for years. Without any real control of magic, not knowing what she was doing, Twilight created a new life all by herself. That was, besides being highly illegal for normal unicorns, also insanely difficult to achieve! Not even one of her ancient enemies, the spirit of chaos himself, could do that without any form of preparation. It should not have been possible. She hated lying to her star pupil, but she could not tell her the whole truth. It would terrify her.

Twilight was better prepared for this answer, but still looked a bit disbelieving. “So… if I hadn’t had this strange outburst of magic, I never would have hatched Spike?” the filly asked. It made her a bit sad that Spike was not even supposed to be born, but it also made her happy knowing that she succeeded. He was like her little brother. Although it was difficult taking care of him and studying at the same time. She loved him nonetheless.

“I believe so, my faithful student. However, you managed it and that is what concerns me. For that reason, I asked Morning Blaze to show you how to control your inner magic. I know it is not what you have expected, but if you need something, anything, please do not hesitate to ask me,” Celestia said, still making eye-contact with her pupil.

Almost instantaneously the purple unicorn ran over to her mentor hugging her, “Of course, princess. Even though I don’t know why we are doing this now, I’ll try my best.”

Celestia embraced her student back. “I believe that is enough for one morning. You can do whatever you please during the rest of the day. Enjoy yourself, my faithful student. Your first lesson with Morning Blaze will be tomorrow morning after breakfast. Oh, and Twilight: please promise me that you won’t stay up all night. I know everything is a bit rushed, but we have to start as soon as possible. It is extremely difficult to learn how to control your immense magic capability. Also, do what Morning Blaze orders you to do. I know you don’t like being ordered around, but she will assure that nothing bad will happen to you.”

Blaze listened carefully the whole time, standing next to the princess. More and more things became clear about the little unicorn as the conversation went on. Maybe training her wouldn’t be as bland as she first thought it would be.

Twilight let go of her mentor and said, still with a bit of confusion in her voice, “Okay, princess. I will see you during dinner.” Then she started to trot towards the door. Before she opened them, she turned around again, looking her new teacher in the eyes. “Until tomorrow, Captain Blaze.” After that, she left, trying to enjoy the rest of the day, even though she had a lot to think about.

Celestia didn’t like this. She didn’t want Twilight learning all this dangerous magic. The Princess of the Sun knew exactly what too much power could do to ponies close to you. It should never happen again, not when the millennia old demi-goddess had anything to say about it.

After Twilight closed the door behind her, Morning Blaze walked in front of the princess and spoke up, “It appears that you were right about the effect of my little display of power. Anyways, I finally understand what you see in her. The similarities are really striking. Nothing will happen to her. Celestia, I promise you, guarding her life will be my top priority. I won’t disappoint you.”

Celestia looked at her most trusted guard and long-time friend one last time before nodding silently. She left her bedroom alongside Blaze. The day was just starting after all. Her nation needed a strong and confident ruler, not a sad and sorrowful demi-goddess.

The rest of the afternoon and the dinner with the princess were not really worth mentioning. Just another day as the prized pupil of Princess Celestia. Twilight was very quiet and sunken in thoughts the whole day. The princess noticed during dinner and asked if something was wrong. Twilight told her that she needed time to understand everything that happened. Celestia understood and decided to not ask any further.

The end of a really strange and confusing day. Twilight was going to bed really early, just how the princess told her to, thinking about the conversation the three of them had.

Sadly, Spike was not by her side tonight. He still lived with her mentor. Princess Celestia said that Twilight was too young to take care of a baby dragon the whole week while also trying to study. Twilight would have loved to tell him how precious he was to her and that she loved him. The unicorn felt that she hadn’t said it enough lately.

He only stayed at Twilight’s tower during the weekends and holidays, but his schooling wouldn’t last forever. Then they could stay together all week, studying, playing, even sleeping in the same bed together.

No matter how hard she tried, she could not sleep. Even after what felt like an eternity of thinking, the little unicorn had simply too much on her mind. The conversation was replaying inside her head over and over again. Especially the part about her abilities confused the little filly. At the same time she felt extremely honored. The very idea of the princess praising her like that still amazed her.

She decided to walk around for a bit. The palace gardens were very nice with the moon shining from above. Or maybe she could prepare for tomorrow on the training grounds. Even if Twilight was not the kind of pony that stayed awake the whole night, she at least wanted to impress her new teacher by showing her how good at using magic she already was.

Twilight made up her mind. “Who needs sleep anyways. I’m going to prepare for tomorrow. Training my focus on magic wouldn't harm at all,” she thought to herself. So the little filly started walking towards the training area of the palace.

Author's Notes:

So, yeah, that's it. The first chapter of my new story. I hope you enjoyed reading it. If you have any suggestions leave them in the comments below. Thank you!