A lavender filly stalked nervously through the Everfree Forest, the noon sun did little to illuminate her way. Everfree Forest had haunted her dreams for years. It had been no small trick to get away from her parents. They would be furious with her for having run away, let alone venturing into the dangerous forest, but this was something she had to do.

Twilight Sparkle paused and looked around. She was deep into the forest and had no idea where she was or where she was going, but her bones ached to go further. There was something calling to her from the depths of the Everfree. Maybe, if she was lucky, she would even earn her cutie mark. A small compensation for the trouble she would be in.

Her pulse quickened when she spotted an old rope bridge. She was getting close. Her books had told her about a mighty castle town that had once existed here, before the forest had gone mad. The castle had been the home of two sister that had ruled Equestria. It was said that they were goddesses and their rule had lasted a thousand years, but that was legend. A fable to explain away the rise and fall of unified Equestria.

Twilight scurried across the bridge and through the clearing on the other side. Slowing down she saw a crumbled stone wall, then a pillar. She was at the outer wall of the city. The legends were true. Or, at least this much. But, she knew all stories started somewhere. Climbing the collapsed wall Twilight found a perch above the shrub line. She could see lines that had been roads, and piles of rubble that had been houses and shops. It was all overgrown now, but she could see where the city had been. A few sparse trees blocked her sight of the town center. The castle would be there, her every fiber demanded that she go to it.

The overgrown streets were thick with bramble and briar. While the stone work had hindered the growth of trees it had provided a haven for the thornier growth. It made her progress slow and painful and the crumbling ruins cast a haunted air that made her wish she could move faster all the more.

When the old castle’s turrets finally showed themselves they were a beacon to her. Ignoring the pain of the briers, she pushed through them till the rest of the castle came into view. Compared to the other buildings she had seen, it was in good shape. Doors were missing and windows grimed over, where they weren’t broken, but the stone was still standing and the roof almost looked new. The invading plant life seemed repelled by some virtue of the structure that forbade the wilderness to spoil it. Emerging from the bush, she found herself near the grand stairway. The keep’s open doors demanded her to go inside, it was a call she didn’t even try to resist.

Twilight found the ruined interior held little to look at. Even by the poor light provided by the grimy windows, it was obvious that the contents had been hauled off long ago. The throne room proved more creepy than interesting, its massive space badly damaged, the stone charred and broken by some powerful outburst.

When she found a stairwell her gut prodded her to continue her search on the upper floors. While the ground floor had been a series of huge rooms and courtyards, the upper floors were a honeycomb of normal-sized rooms and long hallways. It was a vapid complex that did nothing to sate her desire to explore the palace.

The fifth and final floor broke the pattern, here the rooms were larger, the hallways wide, and the roof eves allowed for much higher and elegant ceilings. These were the private rooms for those god-princesses so long ago. These walls would have hidden the mortal lives of the rulers of unified Equestria. In the dim light she almost missed a double door of dark wood and banded iron. It was remarkable for being the only door still intact. Examining it by the light of her horn, she found figures of the sun and moon embossed where a handle should have been.

Twilight leaned against the door hard, but it held fast. Appraising the symbols where a latch would normally be, Twilight recognized them as a magic lock. Placing the tip of her horn against it she willed arcane energy into her horn. Her magic was advanced for her age, but she was still very young to be trying to force a warded door open. The door thudded when the lavender spark jumped from her horn to the lock. Twilight jumped back in surprise as the door creaked open to reveal a large antechamber.

Standing in the doorway, Twilight winced at the light coming from a still intact and crystal clean floor-to-ceiling window; the tops of trees could just be seen through its shimmering glass. Letting her eyes adjust, she looked around at the fine tapestries and furniture that adorned the room. Marveling at the room spared from time and looters alike, she stepped through the threshold and onto the lush carpet. Once in the room, she could see in the recesses of the antechamber, two doors opposite each other. One door was of marble and gold, and the other of ebony and silver.

Delicately, the filly investigated the room, carefully not touching anything. It was a motif of contrasting day and night theme. Gold and silver gilded everything in the room. In it’s center, between the black and white doors, stood a short pedestal. It was relatively unadorned, holding only a large green and white egg-looking object. Whatever it was, it had to be priceless to earn the status of centerpiece for such a decadent room.

She turned to the ebony door and pressed against it, only to find it locked. Her horn still ached from the last one. She would try rattling the other door first.

Heaving into the cold marble door she found it locked solid as well. Curiosity overcoming fatigue: she pressed her horn to the golden sun and tried to manipulate the lock. But, the little spark did nothing to this door. Twilight sat down and breathed. She was so close. Her destiny was behind these doors, she just knew it.

Again she touched the pad, and again she concentrated, letting her magic feel out the spells on the door. They were more powerful than anything she had ever felt before. Taking a deep breath she put everything she had into unraveling the locking wards. Her head spun from the output of magic. But, she kept at it, pouring more and more of herself into the door’s wards till her magic was so intertwined with it she started to lose track of where she ended and the door began.

Twilight pressed her magic to its very end, she had found the bottom of her reserve; or so she thought. Then the sky exploded. The blue sky became ribbons of color. The magnifying effect of the window turned the room into a spinning kyleidoscope. The floor rumbled and the door shook. Her ears rang from the deafening boom. The sudden shock and sensory overload pushed her magic just a little harder. Something inside her mind broke.

The world went white. Twilight’s magic surged into the door and beyond, every inch of the castle was known to her. She could see everything, every when. Flashes and lurches of memory poured into her. Twilight now knew that the gods were real as echoes of their laughter filled her ears. Luna and Celestia had been alicorn goddesses. They had ruled Equestria for a thousand years. The sisters ruled a golden age from this castle. They laughed, played and cried in these halls.

Her body shook as her magic tore away the castle’s memories. The vast knowledge threatened to split her, but she could not stop it. Then a shrill crying rang her ears. It was a painful sound that did what her will could not.

Twilight gasped, thrown back into her body she stumbled forward and pushed the marble door open. Her mind raced to understand where she was. The memories of the thousand years were receding and clouding. She tried to hold onto them, but they were too many. The crying sound still ring in her ears. Turning she saw the ebony door ajar and the egg on the pedestal had been replaced with a crying dragon whelpling.

“Shh...” Twilight whispered. Picking up the little hatchling, she comforted it best she could. After a moment in her arms it looked up and became silent.

“Well now, who are you?” she asked the little one. It’s only response was to clutch to her neck and go to sleep.

Twilight blinked and looked around the familiar room. Her head ached and the events of the day were fogy in her mind. With practiced ease she commanded the magical fireplace to lite and sat in it’s warmth.

Running a hoof down the back of the sleeping dragon, she felt its predominant vertebral scales. “I guess I should give you a name,” she mused. The green scales jutted straight from the spine. They were soft now, but she imagined soon they would be hard and spiky. “Spike. I’ll call you Spike,” she told the sleeping hatchling. “I hope you’re a boy dragon,” she chuckled.

The shaking laughter aroused Spike just long enough for Twilight to look into his emerald eyes. The sleepy face touched a maternal instinct within Twilight and she gave him a coo. “Hi Spike,” she said. “My name is...” Twilight's eyes went wide in surprise. Her memory was shattered, her own name would not come to her lips.

Suppressing panic, Twilight forced herself to stay calm. Letting her mind go blank she took a breath and allowed words to come out without thought, “My name is Twilight...” She couldn’t find the second word. It hung in the air, but she could not voice it. At least her first name had come out.

Again she cleared her mind, “My name is Twilight, and I live in the Everfree castle.” No, that wasn’t right. She had not lived her before today. Yet, everything was so familiar. Try as she might she could not trace back her steps from a time before she had seen the castle turret.

Laying her head on the carpet she cradled the little dragon, and closed her eyes. Tired, mind and body, she let the comfort of the room wash over her. A nap would clear her mind. She could figure out what to do after that.