Prologue - The Pony Who Lived
- 31/Oct/2001
PROLOGUE - THE PONY-WHO-LIVED
It was night on Ponyville, with owls flying across the large, dark sky, the only lights that were visible were the ones that came from the lamps, all ponys were sleeping at that hour, which made them uncapable of seeing the mare that had stepped in while they sleep on their beds. The mare was extremely tall and lean, her old age not matching the young face that the mare had. Wearing a long white-colored dress that swept across the ground as she walked, high heeled buckled boots, along with armlets, both were made of pure gold. Her eyes were a light grayish-magenta, her lips covered in lipstick, her mane and tail were both wavy, and were both colored a pale pink, but they had multiple streaks of turqouise and a pale green, and a albine coat. In her forehead, the mark of a sun. Horn and wings that were so long that would let both, unicorns and pegasus jealous, the albine pony was an alicorn. The alicorn was called Niveus Celestia.
Celestia stopped walking, and a light came from her horn, as the nearest street lamp light had dissapeared, and then the next one dissapeared, and the lights dissapeared again and again.... Until not even if there was a pony awake, they could see the alicorn, nor the cat that was a few feets away from Celestia. Celestia's head turned to the cat, and she let a chuckle get out. "I should have known you would be here... My dear sister." The cat tilted his head, and started walking onto Celestia's direction. In one second, the cat was there, and in the other, a pony had replaced it.
"How did you knew it was me?" Asked the pony
"My dear sister, I had never saw a cat looking so... stiffy..." Celestia answered, with a smile on her face. The pony looked slightly offended by the comment
"Oh, I want to see you sit at a brick wall all day and do not look stiffy!" She shot to her
"All day?" Asked Cekestia, "When you could been celebrating?" She said, before adding "I had seen at least a dozen of partys and feasts on my way here." The pony sniffled angrily.
"Oh yeah," The pony said, "everyone's celebrating and everything, like there's no tommorow. Why should we care about the muggles?" She added the last part with a tone of sarcasm, and added another more words with even more, with her irritability following it " They aren't even realising anything, no suspection at all! Flocks of owls.... shooting stars.... I'm sure no one is releasing it!" Celestia let a little giggle follows her sister words. Celestia's sister, Luna Sommium was the youngest, and the shorter one of the two, but just like her sister, she wasn't young nor small. Luna was taller than a male earth pony, which is on average taller than the other two species, pegasus and unicorn. Luna, just like her sister, had the face of someone who was on theirs 20s, but someone with three times their age would be considered someone young and full of life compared to their real age. Her dress and accesories were pretty much the same, except the gold and her lipstick was painted on black, and the white became a dark shade of blue, which matched her coat color
"We can't really blame them, can we?" Said Celestia gently, "We had little to nothing to actually celebrate on the last years,"
"I know that, but this isn't a actual reason to lose our heads." Said Luna irritated "It wouldn't be a good thing if the day you-know-who is seemingly gone, will also be the same day our existance is discovered by the muggles..." A silence followed right after she said that, but Luna broke it after a few seconds. "Is he... really gone?" She asked.
"It certainly seems so...." Said Celestia.
"I heard.... Rumors, they said that You-Know-Who-" "My dear sister," Celestia interrupted "certainly someone as sensible as you is able to call him by his name?" She said, "Grogar." Luna shivered, flinching at the mention of the name.
"Well... I was saying, they say that G...." She sighed before finishing the name "Grogar.... Tried to attack the Sparkles, and he had.... Is true?" She asked, she didn't wanted to believe it when she heard, and she believe it if her sister confirmed the story for her, she would actually believe. Celestia bowed her head. Luna was wrong, she still didn't believed the story.... Or perharps she just didn't wanted to, and was hoping her sister to say it's actually fake.
"No... It can't be.... They are.... Are...." "Dead..." Celestia finished for her "No.... So, the other part is true too? They said that Grogar tried to attack their daughter, Twilight Sparkle, but he...." "Vanished after he attempted to do so," Celestia once again finished for her, Luna was stunned. "So, after everything he has done, everypony he killed, he... Was defeated simpy because he couldn't kill an one year-old?... But... how?" She demanded,
"I still don't know so myself, Luna.... But I will try to discover it soon enough," She said,
"But.... What about the baby?" Luna demanded again
"Cadence's bringing her." Said Celestia, Luna looked thoughful about that.
"You really think it is wise?" Said Luna, "I mean, don't get me wrong, Cadence's heart is on the right place.... But to trust her with such important task?"
"I would trust our niece with my own life, Luna."
"And who are you gonna give her to?"
"To her uncle and aunt," Said Celestia, looking thoughful
"Are you sure they are gonna be competent enough to raise a kid like her?" Asked Luna
"I'm.... Not sure, Luna." Luna didn't liked her answer.
"Oh, you don't know?" She demanded with a mix of sarcasm and irritability, once again.
"No.... But I won't be leaving her alone." She said, Luna still looked doubtful. "I am going to leave people here, of our kind, or just related to it, to watch her, hidden of course, but to still see the signals, in case something goes wrong." This seemed to ease Luna's doubts, but not fully. Celestia looked at her clock.
"And Cadence will be here in, 3,2... 1" The sounds of wings cutting through the air was heard by both alicorns, before a third one arrived. "Cadence, my dear nice... Everything happened fine, I suppose."
"Yeah... But their house was destroyed, but I did get her out before the muggles came, she fell asleep on the way here." She said, showing them a baby covered in blankets. Luna was quick to release there was a large cut, than ran from the top of the baby's forehead, to the bottom of her chin, that strongly resembled the shape of a thunder.
"Wait... Is that where-" "Yes...." Answered Celestia, Luna's head snapped to Celestia, she didn't needed to speak to Celestia knows what was passing through Luna's mind, her eyes was more than enough... The eyes of someone who wanted to help.
"I'm sorry Luna, but we can't do anything about it...." She said, turning to Cadence next. "May you give her to me now?" She asked gently
"Here she is," Cadence gave her, as Celestia took the baby, still covered in the blankets. Cadence had a look on her face.
"Can I.... Say goodybe?" She asked, Cadence, or her real name, Mi Amore Cadenza (Even thought no one called her like that), like her aunts, was tall and lean, but she wasn't old, her face matched her age, the face of someone who was on her early 20s, perhaps, the alicorn was actually a teenager who didn't even get to her adulthood yet. Her clothes were more casual, she wore a pink jacked, with a yellow t-shirt below it, and dark cotton suit. No lipstick, no golden accesorries. Her mane being colored in a moderated tone of violet and rose, with golden streaks.
Celestia gave her a smiler, "Of course, Cadence, just be quick." Cadence had bent her head in order to gave the filly covered in the blankets a little kiss, suddenly she had let out a sound that looked like that of a wounded deer.
"Shhh!" Hissed Luna, "You will end up awaking somepony"
"Sorry, it's just.... I can't stand it.... Her parents are dead, and she's now going to live with muggles now."
"You don't need to worry, Cadence, everything's is explained on a letter-"
"Wait, wait, wait. A letter?! You want to explain everything on a letter?" Snapped Luna as silently as she could. "Nopony will be able to understand it, she will be famous, a legend, books will be written about this girl, damn it, I wouldn't be suprised if today would be known as Twilight Sparkle Day"
"Well, fame isn't always a good thing, is it Luna?" Said Celestia, as she put the baby on the doorstep, before placing temporarily spells on her in order of she not freezing to death outside. "You two may go, I will stay hidden here until she's taken in.... Just in case"
"Okay then, goodbye, sister." Said Luna before dissapearing at the same spot she was standing in.
"Goodbye...." Said Cadence, before flying away.
Celestia gave the baby a look before saying, "Good luck, Twilight Sparkle." She watched the baby roll in her blankets without waking up until she was taken inside by her uncles, unaware of her fame, unaware of the legacy her name will carry, unaware of how the ponies meet in secret, raised their glass of vine, and said in hushed voices "To Twilight Sparkle.... The pony-who-lived!"