It was early in the morning, too early for most fillies to wake up and attend a lesson, but not to Princess Celestia’s faithful student. After only training her for three months, Twilight had already learned how to use telekinesis faster than most foals her age and she was starting on another important lesson. Both teacher and student stood in the royal garden, sitting down on the well-trimmed grass. With the early morning twilight overhead, the whole garden was quiet save for the chirping of crickets.

“Do you see that ball over there?” asked Princess Celestia, pointing a hoof at a small red ball lying among several pebbles on the sidewalk. “I want you to lift that ball off the ground.”

“I can do that, Princess,” said Twilight, confidently. “It would be easy.”

“But you have to lift it without using telekinesis.”

“Huh? But if I can’t use telekinesis, how am I supposed to lift the ball?”

“Remember your lesson yesterday?”

Twilight paused as her methodical mind worked. “The one where you had to concentrate all of your energy at a single point in the air?”

“Yes, that’s the one. What I want you to do is concentrate your energies over the ball and force it to move with nothing but your mental energies.”

“Okay...” She concentrated with all her might, her face twisting into a painful grimace as she conjured her energy from her horn. An invisible singularity appeared over the ball, but it was so weak, it barely produced any kind of static or attraction. Determined to succeed, her horn glowed a bright purple as she drew from all the energy she could, but in the end, she could only cause the rock to shake a little.

Twilight released her magic with a loud grunt, too exhausted to continue. “I can’t do it.” Her voice shook with irritation.

“Don’t be frustrated,” soothed Princess Celestia. “For your first attempt, you’ve done well since you were able to move it at all. Remember, the goal is to focus all your energy at one point to create a singularity.”

“But I don’t understand. How can I possibly move anything with a sing...gular...ity?”

Princess Celestia chuckled at the look on Twilight’s face as she tried to pronounce the word. “A singularity is a point inside an intense gravitational field where all matter is crushed into an infinite density...” when Princess Celestia noticed the look of confusion on Twilight’s face, she added, “it’s a miniature black hole. By creating a temporary singularity out of nothing, you can use its gravity to move small objects, like this.” The Princess’s horn glowed bright yellow as she channeled her magic.

Twilight looked on with her mouth agape in amazement as she saw the ball and all of the pebbles on the ground move toward a single point in the air where The Princess created her singularity. Although the singularity was invisible, Twilight could see the pebbles collecting together around the ball like the asteroid belt around Saturn. Only when Princess Celestia let go of her hold did the rocks finally topple down back to the earth.

“Princess, I don’t understand. Why do we need to learn this power when we can already move objects telekinetically?”

“Because it is with this power, we can do this.” Princess Celestia’s horn glowed again. At first, nothing seemed to happen, much to Twilight’s confusion, but then the light of the sun began to shine in front of Twilight’s eyes as it rose from the horizon.

“You see, my faithful student, the universe is not manipulated by magic, but by gravity. It is gravity that forces the stars and planets to move and remain suspended in orbit, but gravity can be created by magic. What I just did was I created a singularity over the Earth and used the gravity of that singularity to rotate the planet toward the sun, much like how a string can spin a top.”

Twilight stared at her mentor with bright-eyed wonderment, her childish curiosity keeping her glued to Celestia’s lesson. “Is that how other unicorns used to do it?”

“Yes. It takes study and a lot of power, which is why very few unicorns are powerful enough to control the sun and the moon, but nonetheless, it’s a skill that is a proud mark of a unicorn’s heritage, and with your power, you might be able to raise the sun and the moon all by yourself.”

Twilight’s eyes lit up in wonder. “Really? Then I want to practice some more.”

“Very well, just concentrate on the singularity like I showed you.”

Twilight closed her eyes and channeled her magic, again. Although she could not move the ball by the end of the lesson, her resolve to master the skill drove her on.

“That’s it,” said Twilight, “concentrate on moving the ball.”

It was late in the afternoon in Cheerilee’s class. Today was one of those special lessons where each of the unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies in the class were divided up and given special lessons conducive to their type. Twilight volunteered to teach the unicorns this time, and she was teaching them the secret to controlling the stars.

Every unicorn in the class was concentrating as hard as they could, trying to move the little balls strewn about on the field. While there were a few who could make the ball rock a little, most of the students were struggling to create the singularity, let alone actually use it to move something.

“Okay, that’s enough,” said Twilight.

The foals let out a collective sigh of relief. Some even collapsing in exhaustion.

Sweetie Belle, sweating profusely, said in a breathless voice, “I can’t...do it. How does...The Princesses...do this...everyday?”

“Don’t be frustrated,” said Twilight. “The Princesses had a thousand years to master the technique. But with training and practice, even you foals can raise the sun and moon.”

“That’s easy...for you...to say...” panted Snips.

“Yeah,” agreed Snails, “you’re...already...a princess...”

Twilight sheepishly tucked in her wings as if embarrassed by the comment. “That doesn’t mean I’m all powerful. I still have a long way to go before I’m at Celestia’s level.”

“Can you lift the sun and moon?” asked Dinky, wiping some sweat from her brow.

“No, but I’ve been able to learn how to do lots of other things with my powers.”

“Like what?” asked some of the students, collectively.

“Well, I can summon a meteor.”

The foals’ eyes lit up with excitement as they gathered around her, requesting to see a demonstration.

“Okay, okay, just stand back and watch and wait.”

Twilight closed her eyes and her mind reached out into the depths of space as she conjured a singularity just above the Earth’s atmosphere. The singularity was not just a point of gravitational pull, it was also an extension of Twilight’s senses. As she quietly meditated, her consciousness spread out from the point of the singularity, reaching out in all directions for any signs of oncoming objects. It was not an easy feat since most objects that come near the Earth are no larger than a pebble and often travel as fast as the speed of light.

At last, she felt something. It was moving fast, but she reacted with expert timing. She increased the gravity of her singularity and felt it grab the object and swing it toward her direction. She could psychically feel the object hit the earth’s atmosphere and plummet down. Twilight had to act fast. Once the meteor hit the atmosphere, the Earth’s gravity was all that was needed to bring it down, but Twilight had to telekinetically slow down the meteor’s descent or else it would burn up in the atmosphere. With careful control and precision, she directed the little space rock toward her. After several minutes of waiting she could feel the rock plummet toward her. Once the rock hit the ground with a soft plop, Twilight heard a startled yelp from a stallion. When she opened her eyes, she saw Shining Armor bent in an odd position next to the hole where the meteor hit.

“Shining Armor,” called out Twilight in surprise, “what are you doing here?”

“I was looking for you and Spike said you’d be here,” said Shining Armor, still shaken from nearly having a rock nail him in the head. “Am I interrupting anything?”

“No, I was just demonstrating to the class how to control gravity when—“ Twilight was interrupted by the ring of the school bell. “Oh, looks like class if over.”

Before Twilight could dismiss them, the foals happily skipped away, leaving her alone with her brother.

“So...why didn’t you tell me that you were coming?”

“Well, I was going to write a message to you, but I decided to come to Ponyville to tell you in person.”

“Tell me what?”

“Princess Celestia needs you to come to Appleloosa as soon as possible. We’re going to need your magic.”

“Why, are the Appleloosians and buffalo fighting again?”

“No, it’s not that. Due to the increase in population in Appleloosa, the desert needs more water than is normally delivered from Cloudsdale. In order to survive in the long run, Appleloosa is going to need to build a bigger reservoir, but first they need water. Rather than take water from other towns, Princess Celestia decided to draw from meteors. There’s a huge one made of ice headed this way and it should be within range to draw to the Earth in a few days. She’s gathering up every unicorn to help.”

“But why can’t she do it herself?”

“It’s a rather complicated procedure. The meteor itself is huge and while moving the sun and moon miles from the Earth is relatively easy, moving a large object from space toward Equestria safely is a difficult task, especially since it’s predicted that the meteor will be at least a mile wide and possibly full of rocks that will not burn up in the atmosphere. Not to mention there will be pegasi who will be collecting the water to the reservoir as well as a number of failsafes to ensure that no pony gets hurt. With so much to organize, Princess Celestia is going to need you to help organize the attempt.”

Twilight flapped her wings with excitement. “I’d be honored to.”

There was a lot of activity in the small town of Appleloosa. The normally empty and desolate desert lands was suddenly alive with color from all the various ponies that were up and about. All around, there were the sounds of clinks and cracks of earth ponies digging the reservoir with shovels and picks, pegasi on ground level exercising and stretching out their wings, and unicorns sitting in a circle, quietly meditating as they practiced channeling their energies. Their horns glowed as they slowly lifted every grain of sand and boulder in their circle off the ground and hovering them in the center of their collective singularity.

Twilight was near the other unicorns, watching their progress. “That’s it, every pony! Just keep it up a little longer.”

The ponies who came to participate in the ritual were some of the most talented magic-users in Canterlot. Some were even decorated with jewelry faceted with stones and other objects said to enhance magical ability (or so the jewelry makers say). All of them were focused and powerful, lifting the heavy boulders as if they were as light as a feather.

“Unicorns prepared and ready for spell work, check,” said Twilight as she marked off another item from her list. With a flap of her wings, she took off to oversee the rest of the volunteers. She was so focused on her work, she barely noticed the scorching heat of the summer sun or the inhospitably dry air. She was happy to do her job in any weather, even though she found Shining Armor by the reservoir, panting and sweating.

With his telekinetic powers, he lifted several heavy sheets of metal off the ground as he helped attach them to the inner walls of the reservoir while earth ponies gathered around to fasten the sheets together.

“How’s it going?” asked Twilight as she landed beside him.

“It’s coming along great,” said Shining Armor as he whipped the sweat from his mane with a shake of his head. “The reservoir is almost complete, it should be ready by the time the meteor arrives. How are things going with the unicorns and the pepasi?”

“Fine, although I’m a little concerned about something.”

“What’s wrong?”

Twilight levitated her clipboard up to nose level as she read off it. “Braeburn told me that there was going to be a total of 21 unicorns and 34 pegasi volunteering, but according to my count, there are 30 unicorns and 39 pegasi.”

“So?”

“So!” shouted Twilight, fuming with irritation. “I need to have accurate information about these things.”

“Twily, I think you’re being a little paranoid. I’m sure Braeburn just miscounted or we got some extras at the last minute.”

“You’re probably right. I’m sorry I’m a little short, I just want everything to go right.”

“There’s no need to fret. I’m sure everything will go just fine.” Shining Armor wiped off more sweat from off his horn with the back of his hoof. “I don’t know how you can stand this heat. I’m going to see if I can get some water. Be back in a minute.” Shining Armor’s horn glowed a bright purple, and in a flash, he teleported away. Once he was gone, a single scraggily pony came up to Twilight, much to her surprise. She had a mud brown coat and looked up at Twilight with equally brown eyes.

“Princess Sparkle, I need your help moving some heavy boulders,” said the little pony in a small, squeaky voice.

“I can help,” said Twilight.

Without another word, the pony spun around and pranced off. As Twilight followed the pony, she was surprised to see that the pony was leading her far away from the town and out of sight behind a hill.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Braeburn told me that he needed some fruit bat guano for fertilizer.”

“I didn’t know there were any fruit bats out here?”

“Of course there are. They disguise themselves as prickly pears.”

The pony led Twilight to a cave entrance. When she hesitated to enter, the pony waved a hoof to coax Twilight to follow and she impulsively did so. In the dim light inside, Twilight could see boulders chocking the neck of the cave.

“Do you want me to move those rocks?” asked Twilight.

“Just enough for me to get through.”

“Okay! It will only take a minute.” She telekinetically lifted a rock tossed it to the side with a swing of her head.

As Twilight was about to grab another rock, shadows blocked the sun from her. Curious, she turned around and saw four other figures standing at the mouth of the cave. At first, she thought they were unicorns, but as the figures approached, she could make out their insect-like wings and their solid blue eyes. She gawked at the intruders, stunned to suddenly see changelings standing before her, their horns lowered as if threatening to skewer her.

“Look out.” Twilight telekinetically lifted one of the boulders threatening to toss it, but the pony who brought her down there bucked her over, breaking Twilight’s concentration and dropping the boulder with a loud thud that echoed against the cave walls. She looked up in time to see a flash of green as the anonymous pony transformed before her eyes.

This changeling was different from the others primarily because her charcoal black body had a tinge of red and black like a smoldering lump of coal. The red changeling turned toward her subordinates and said, “Take her.”

Twilight’s horn glowed as she tried to teleport, but she suddenly felt an opposing magical tug. The red changeling’s horn glowed a blood red as she used her telekinesis to hold Twilight in place, preventing her from teleporting. She tried to resist, her horn blazing like the sun, but the remaining changelings used their own power to hold her in their completive grasp. Her body twitched as she tried to move, but every muscle felt frozen against their magic. All she could do was watch as she was helplessly carried down deep into the cave.

As her wondering eyes examined the cave, she saw that the walls were made of solid earth and carved without any finesses or regard toward detail as if they were carved recently and quickly. With the addition of torches lighting up the walls, it felt more like a dungeon than a natural cave. She was dragged into the far off room of the chamber and unceremoniously dropped at the feet of a large black changeling.

“Your Highness, I’ve brought Twilight Sparkle as you commanded,” said the red changeling as she bowed her head.

In response was an otherworldly sounding voice. “Good work, Mirror.”

A chill ran down Twilight’s spine as she recognized the voice. She lifted her head up to the figure before her and there she saw the green glowing eyes of Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings. She was grinning down upon Twilight, baring her fangs.

“What are you doing here?” demanded Twilight, getting up onto her hooves.

Chrysalis ran a hoof under Twilights chin in a mocking gesture. “Despite what happened in Canterlot, I still want Equestria for my people, and after today, the princesses will be no more.” Chrysalis’s wings excitedly fluttered as she said the words no more.

“Whatever you’re planning, it won’t work,” shouted Twilight, trying her best to keep the shake of nervousness out of her voice. “Once Shining Armor notices that I’m missing, he’ll come looking for me.”

Chrysalis let out a loud chuckle. “Hmm, you’re right. I’ll need to find some pony to take your place, and I have several loyal subjects to choose from.” She turned to the red changeling. “Mirror, cocoon her.”

A beam of red energy coursed through Mirror’s horn as it wrapped around Twilight. She struggled against the spell as if it was a rope binding and wrapping itself around her body. She was carried up to the ceiling, smothered as a form of ectoplasm wrapped itself around her. By the time the spell was complete, Twilight found herself hanging upside down inside of a green cocoon. She tried to teleport, but the cocoon dampened her magic. Although she could hear nothing, she could still see Chrysalis talking to the changeling she called Mirror. By the time Chrysalis was done giving instructions, Mirror transformed into the spitting image of Twilight and galloped off to Appleloosa.