“Is this really where I’m going to stay?” Nova Flare asked, the small filly staring into the huge bedroom. Silvery stars adorned the walls, glistening in the sun’s fading glow as it sank towards the horizon. Gossamer curtains hung over the enormous bed that dominated the far end of the room, easily large enough for any four ordinary ponies to lie on without touching. The deep royal purple of the walls lent the whole room the air of dusk, of a long day coming to an end.

“It is,” Princess Celestia said, beaming at the small blue pony beside her.

“Cool!” Nova bounded into the room, her head turning this way and that before her eyes latched onto a small mahogany bookcase. Almost faster than the eye could see, the little pony zipped over to the books, her horn lighting up even before she got there to start pulling the leather-bound tomes off the shelves so she could examine their titles.

“I’m glad to see you like your new room,” Celestia said as she stepped in after the filly. “I promised your mother that her little star would like it here.”

Nova wrinkled up her snout, turning back to look at the princess. “Really? She called me her little star? In front of you? Ugh.” The unicorn filly fell to the floor, covering her face with her hooves. “Now I’m never going to get away from it. I’m going to be a little star forever.”

Celestia smiled gently as she walked up beside her young charge. “Well, that depends entirely on you, Miss Flare.”

“Really?” Nova peeked out from under her hooves.

“Indeed.” Celestia nodded benevolently. “I will refrain from calling you my little star if and only if you call me Princess Celestia.”

Nova blinked in confusion. “Uhm, okay. That’s what I’ve been calling you, right?”

Princess Celestia smirked. “Well, I might have heard you call me another name when I first met with your mother.”

The filly turned ashen. “You heard that? I didn’t mean it, honest! Please don’t send me away!”

Celestia chuckled, reaching down to pat the filly’s mane. “Now, now, there’s nothing to be worried about. I know that many of my subjects have their own personal nicknames for me. But I suspect that I would never hear the end of it from the nobility if my prized pupil referred to me as ‘Princess Sunbutt’, accurate though it may be.”

Nova relaxed slowly before blinking. “Wait, your prized pupil?”

“That’s right.” Celestia smiled at her. “I did not choose you at random. I expect great things out of you, my young apprentice.”

“Really?” Nova’s ears pricked forward.

“Really.” Celestia nodded. “You will learn many things while under my tutelage, but the most important lesson of all, I will give you first: never doubt that you will achieve great things. You have a very special gift. I know it is hard for you to imagine right now, but I look forward to the day when you can teach me a thing or two.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever be better than you, Princess,” the filly said, lowering her head and dragging her hoof across the floor.

“Not with an attitude like that.” Celestia glanced around the room before lowering her voice. “Can you keep a secret?”

Nova’s mouth hung open for a moment before she shut it with an audible click, nodding her head rapidly as she sealed her lips together.

Celestia gestured for her to approach with her hoof before she spoke. “It is said on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape.”

“Whose escape?” Nova squeaked.

“I believe they were referring to my sister, Princess Luna. The mare you now know as Nightmare Moon.”

Nova’s eyes widened in horror as she suddenly glanced around the room. “Nightmare Moon! This was her room! Oh no! She’s going to—”

Celestia set her hoof on the filly’s shoulder. “Peace. She won’t return for a thousand years.”

A few heaving breaths later, Nova sat back down. “But I thought you had banished her permanently.”

“I believed it to be so at the time, but I now believe there is a way for her to escape. And when she does, I believe that it will be you who sets her free.”

“M-me?” The filly shrank away from the larger pony. “But I’m not a star!”

“Aren’t you?” Celestia lifted her hoof to point at Nova’s cutie mark, a huge star next to a much smaller one. “The stars will aid in her escape. I believe that is referring to a very special pony. A very magical pony. A pony like you.”

Nova waved her hooves in front of her chest. “I won’t free her from the Moon, honest! I promise!”

Celestia shook her head. “It is not the Moon I refer to. I believe you will free her from the nightmare that has her trapped within its power. The stars will aid in her escape, and I believe it is you who will bring my sister back to me.”

“But…” Nova stared down at the floor, shifting one of her hooves over a silvery star sparkling in the stone. “I don’t know how to do that.”

“You don’t need to. Not yet, in any case. It is a long way off.”

Nova’s eyes slid away from the floor towards a calendar hanging on the wall. “The longest day of the thousandth year… this is only the fiftieth year, isn’t it?”

Celestia smiled mysteriously. “There are many things you will learn under my tutelage, but the one I hope most of all extends to all my subjects – that you trust me. I think you will be with me far longer than you think.”

“You mean, I’m going to be your student for a thousand years?”

Celestia laughed. “Not quite. Now, how about we go to the library so you can choose some new books to add to those shelves, hm?”

---

“You mean you have a whole, big, huge library all for yourself?” Stellar Luminescence stared up at her mentor with her big emerald eyes, the filly dwarfed by the shelves which towered on both sides.

“Not just myself. The Royal Archives are open to all the greatest scholars of Equestria. Galiceno. Hippocomtois. And, of course, you.”

“Me?” Luminescence squeaked. “But I’m not a great scholar.”

“You sell yourself short, Luminescence. You are young still, but I have seen in you a spark I haven’t seen in a unicorn in over a century. I spent a long time looking for a pony with your talent. You have a very special gift.”

The cream-coated filly sat back on her haunches, rubbing her hooves together. “But I’m nothing special.”

Celestia arched an eyebrow. “Are you saying that I chose poorly?”

“Oh, no!” Luminescence shook her head rapidly. “I just was just, uhm, you know…”

“You are a gentle soul, Luminescence,” Celestia said, kneeling down and putting her hoof under the small pony’s chin. “But never doubt that you will achieve great things. I believe in you.”

“Thank you, your highness,” Luminescence said, smiling shyly.

“Very good. Now, what is it you would like to read about?”

“Uhm, well, you mentioned that you have almost everything here…”

“Yes. All of the writings of the greatest ponies – and many of the greatest griffons as well – can be found in our archives.”

“Well… uhm… I’ve always been curious about Starswirl the Bearded. You knew him, right?”

Celestia chuckled quietly. “Just how old do you think I am?”

“Uhm… well, you’ve always been around, haven’t you?”

Celestia shook her head. “Not always.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say you were old.”

“I’m afraid I’m a bit beyond such things now.” Celestia pursed her lips. “But let me see what I can do.” The princess’s eyes flicked over to a bookcase, and she smiled as an ancient brown spiral-bound notebook slipped out of one of the shelves, enveloped in her magic.

---

Northern Lights’s horn glowed with green magic, the blue colt’s face screwed up in intense concentration as he tensed. His whole body began to shudder as the light began to expand before it suddenly burst, red and violet sparks raining down onto the grass of Celestia’s garden as the small pony swayed on his hooves. “I’m never going to get this to work,” he grumbled, slumping to the ground as his mane smoldered.

“Few unicorns ever learn the spell, let alone in a week.” Princess Celestia smiled benevolently at her student.

“How long did it take you to learn how to do it?”

“Longer than it has taken you thus far. Worry not; you have a gift. You will get there, eventually.”

The gangly colt peered up at his mentor for a few seconds, looking for any crack in her composure, before he sighed. “It just seems so… impossible.”

Princess Celestia smiled, a twinkle in her eye. “What makes it seem so impossible? Perhaps I can help.”

“It’s like you’re trying to be in two places at once.”

Celestia inclined her head slightly. “Not quite. Observe.” The alicorn took a step back, her horn glowing with golden light as she lifted her head high. Beating her wings once, she rose up a pace into the air before vanishing in a bright flash that put the Sun to shame on this cloudy day. Northern Lights rubbed at his eyes, willing his vision to clear as Princess Celestia reappeared above the castle walls, slowly gliding back down into the garden on outstretched wings.

“Did you see?”

Northern Lights started to nod before he shook his head. “Sorry, Princess. The flash blinded me.”

Celestia smiled apologetically as she landed alongside the teenaged colt. “Hm. Perhaps a different demonstration is in order.”

“Princess?”

The alicorn draped one large white wing over the smaller pony’s back, tugging him in against her flank. “Perhaps I should walk you through it one more time.”

The blue colt looked up at the princess admiringly. “So… how do you do it?”

“Well, the first step is to gather enough magic in your horn.” Celestia lifted a hoof to ruffle her protégé’s mane. “That is the only part of the process which does not require speed.”

Northern Lights nodded his head.

“The rest, however, must be done more swiftly. Once you have gathered enough magic, you must drape it over all that you wish to bring, and swiftly. The spell has a fail-safe to prevent it from teleporting only part of a pony, but should you fail to cast it properly, instead, the magical energy will simply discharge immediately, as you well know.”

The smaller pony lifted one hoof before licking it and pressing it against a still-smoking patch of his mane before he grinned sheepishly. “Right.”

“Now… what you’re doing is moving from one place to another without going in between. You are never in two places at once – indeed, quite the opposite. For a very brief time, you are nowhere at all.”

“Really?” Northern Lights blinked. “But… how? Where are you?”

“Nopony knows.”

“But… but wouldn’t you know?”

Celestia shook her head. “From my perspective, it is instant. It is only to outside observers that there is a delay.” She snorted. “My sister once claimed to have come out with a sock, but, alas, her theory was ignored by the Circle.”

Northern Lights’ mouth hung open. “You have a sister?”

Celestia smiled sadly. “Once. And again, someday.” She stepped away from her pupil. “Now, you need to scan, then set your target immediately, so that the magic pushes you through. The magic will do the rest from there. If you don’t—”

“Got it.” The colt spread his hooves, lowering his head as he braced himself against the grass.

Celestia chuckled. “Show me, then, my faithful student.”

Northern Lights’ whole body trembled as he concentrated, his eyes clenching shut. Magic began to flare around his horn, glowing green as the aurora as Northern Lights drew upon the depths of his magical might. His hooves slid across the grass as he lowered himself closer to the ground, bracing as the light grew brighter and brighter around his horn. Waves of light flared across his coat as he released his magic with a loud pop that echoed amongst the trees as smoke rose from the grass where he stood.

Northern Lights coughed, opening his eyes to see a small patch of blackened grass around his hooves, and a small fire merrily tickling at the tip of his mane, while Princess Celestia stood a few feet away trying not to laugh.

“Don’t worry. You’ll get it eventually.”

---

Night Shine took a long, deep breath, filling his lungs with the warmth and scent of tea. “Thank you for honoring me with an invitation to share tea, Princess.”

“You thank me every week as though it was your first time, Night Shine.” Celestia smiled over the top of her own teacup at her student.

“I mean it every time.” He grinned. “Besides, my mom told me to thank you every time.”

“Well, it is good that she taught you to be polite.” Celestia leaned forward conspiratorially. “You know, she threatened me when she dropped you off? Said that if you were missing a hair in your mane when she came to visit, she would have mine.”

Night Shine cackled. “Is that why you made me wear that wig the first time she visited?”

“It was the second, actually. And yes.” Celestia smirked as only the benevolent ruler of a magical pony kingdom could.

“That’s great. Maybe I should get one in your colors next time, and tell her that I was practicing teleportation again?”

Celestia chuckled. “Have you?”

Night Shine shook his head. “No. I’ve been focusing my studies on that book you gave me. Starswirl’s spells are fascinating.” He lifted his teacup to take a sip.

“Have you made any progress on his final spell?”

The teacup hung in midair for a moment before it rose back to Night Shine’s mouth. The young stallion took a long sip of tea, his cup trembling ever so slightly before he set it back down. “No. Not since I tried casting it the first time.”

Celestia pursed her lips. “Do not be afraid to experiment.”

Night Shine stared down at his cup. “Why do you always ask me about that spell, Princess? What makes it important?” His eyes flicked to his dark hooves. “Starswirl the Bearded created many spells. What makes that one so important?”

Celestia’s teacup clinked quietly as it settled onto her own plate. “Call it a hunch.”

The young stallion lifted his head, his golden eyes meeting hers. “That’s just it, Princess. I don’t have a hunch. I don’t think he knew what he was trying to accomplish. The spell doesn’t make any sense. It doesn’t even rhyme!”

“Not all spells rhyme.”

“Yes, but all of his spells rhymed. Why would he suddenly start on modernist spellcasting on his very last spell?”

Celestia leaned forward over the table. “I believe he was trying to discover a new type of magic.”

“Any idea what?”

“If I knew, I would have finished the spell myself.”

Night Shine leaned back in his seat, narrowing his eyes slightly. “How do I know you didn’t?”

“Hm?”

“I know you studied his works. And I know from my history books you haven’t always been around. What if this is some kind of test?”

“If so, it is not a test by me.”

“But would you tell me if it was?” Night Shine waved his hoof. “A way to see if I’m worthy of being immortal. Or maybe even… maybe even a spell that does so? That might explain why it makes no sense.”

Celestia sighed heavily. “If I had a spell that could turn ponies into alicorns, do you think there would be any other kind of pony left?”

“Maybe. Or maybe you have to discover it for yourself.”

“That is… remarkably astute.” Celestia shook her head. “But I’m afraid my own ascension had little to do with Starswirl.”

“Hah! I knew it!” Night Shine banged his hoof on the table. “Merriweather owes me ten bits.”

Celestia shook her head. “Each pony finds their own way to alicornhood, or does not. My method would not work for any other pony, just as my sister’s only worked for her.”

“And you’re hoping that spell would do it for me?”

“I do not know what that spell would do, were it complete.” Celestia shook her head slightly. “You are a very gifted unicorn – I have not seen a unicorn with so much potential since I was a foal. I simply hope that by steering you onto the right path, that you might fulfill your destiny.”

“Destiny?” The pony glanced down at his cutie mark, the silvery stars gleaming on his midnight blue coat. “I thought I already got one of those. Or do you get another one on the other side of your leg when you become an alicorn?”

Celestia smiled wryly. “Is that why you’ve been falling behind during my lessons in the garden?”

Night Shine coughed before quickly lifting his teacup up to gulp down another mouthful of tea, holding the cup in front of his snout. “No. But it does remind me of a rumor that I heard from C—one of the guards.”

“Oh? And what rumor might that be?” Celestia narrowed her eyes slightly.

“The real reason you got your cutie mark.”

“Is it temperature related?”

Night Shine’s face fell. “It’s older than me, isn’t it?”

Celestia lifted her cup to take another sip of tea. “By about five centuries.”

---

“Ugh. You made me get up early for this?” Morning Glow pouted and crossed her hooves as yet another Canterlot noble marched out of the Day Court, his snout pointed almost straight up towards the ceiling, as if to avoid some terrible smell.

“It is important to listen to the complaints of our little ponies, Morning Glow.”

“I don’t know why you bother. It’s not like most of them have anything useful to say. You could probably have a secretary write down their grievances and then throw them into the fire and save everypony a lot of time and several bits worth of firewood. Most of these ponies just want someone to complain at. They don’t even want us to fix something!”

“Now, now, Morning Glow. Old Money even had a suggestion.”

Morning Glow arched her eyebrow. “Knock down your school for gifted unicorns so he had a better view? Yeah, great suggestion.”

“But because I listened to it, he will believe it was taken into consideration. Besides, it would be a terrible waste of paper.”

“Oh, I wasn’t suggesting you burn the complaints, Princess.”

Celestia glared at her student. “Morning Glow! I taught you better than that.”

Her student flinched.

“Besides, nobles aren’t very flammable unless you dry them out first. And from what I have heard from the guard, that one never is.” Celestia nodded to the guard by the door to let in the next petitioner.

Morning Glow tilted her head. “That’s something else I don’t get. Why do we even have a guard? There’s nothing we can’t handle ourselves.”

“For the same reason that you suggested a secretary write down complaints.”

Morning Glow sat back on her cushion, turning away. “Oh. Right. Still, this is a waste of time!” She rapped her hoof against the stone floor. “I bet if you went out in your chariot and talked to the first ponies you saw on the street who didn’t have their noses glued to the clouds, you’d find someone with something worth saying.”

Celestia stared at her student for several long seconds before smiling. “You know, you are right, my faithful student. I don’t spend nearly enough time outside of this dusty old castle.”

“Alright! Let’s go!” Morning Glow sprung from her cushion, only to find herself wrapped up in the yellow glow of her mentor’s magic.

“Now, I can’t just go and abandon my duties. But I think there is somepony else who is quite capable of dealing with the nobles for today.”

“Oh? Who?”

Princess Celestia rose from her throne. “Why, the most magically gifted unicorn in all of Equestria.”

Morning Glow crossed her hooves across her chest again as she looked away. “Oh, goodie.”

Celestia stepped forward to put her hoof on her student’s shoulder. “Now. I know that this is mostly a waste of time, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good practice. A leader must know how to deal with all sorts of ponies, but especially the ones she doesn’t like.”

“But I don’t like being in charge. I like working with you.”

The alicorn smiled. “Be that as it may, you still have responsibilities, and at times, that means doing things you don’t enjoy as well as those you do. You have a great gift for challenging bad ideas, and it would be a shame to let it go to waste winning arguments with the faculty.”

“If you say so, Princess.” Morning Glow sighed.

“I do. But I think you’re going to need a slightly better seat than that if you’re going to be telling the nobles what to do.”

Morning Glow blinked and looked down at the cushion she was sitting on. “What’s wrong with it?”

“It isn’t quite… regal enough.” Celestia nodded towards the chair she had just vacated.

Morning Glow’s mouth hung open. “The Golden Throne of the Sun? You want me to sit there? But I’m not a princess!”

“I was not always a princess either, but I was given many opportunities to show my leadership. Stranger things have happened. Maybe someday, you will have a throne of your own.” Celestia smiled. “But for now, you can borrow mine.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Morning Glow said, stepping forward to bow low on the stone platform.

“Now, now, you’re the princess for today. There doesn’t need to be any bowing from you.” Celestia turned and began to walk down the stone. “Just don’t set any nobles on fire.”

“Not even Old Money?”

Celestia paused halfway to the door. “Hm.” She shook her head. “No. It would set a bad precedent. Then they would start sending insufferable ponies every day.”

---

“Beggin’ yer pardon, Princess, but I’ve got somethin’ I’ve gotta say,” Harvest Moon said as the sturdy unicorn stuck his head through the door of her office.

Princess Celestia beamed at him. “Come in, Harvest Moon.” She gestured with her hoof. “How comes the spell?”

The big golden unicorn shook his head. “That’s just it, princess. I’m afraid it ain’t. Been lookin’ at that spell for nigh-on five years now, and I’ve learned a thing or two, but one of ‘em’s that I ain’t cut out for this.”

Celestia’s smile vanished. “Harvest Moon. Do not doubt yourself. I do not say it lightly when you are every inch the unicorn Starswirl the Bearded was.”

“I ain’t sayin’ that I’m not. What I’m sayin’ is that Starswirl weren’t half the pony you were, and neither him nor you made nose nor tail of that spell.”

Celestia blinked. “So you’re giving up?”

Harvest Moon shook his head. “You know what they say, Princess. Quitters never win, winners never quit, but if you can’t win and you don’t quit, you’re an idjit. Don’t worry, I ain’t leavin’ ya with nothin’.”

“What do you mean?”

Her student sighed. “I ain’t stupid, princess. I figured there musta been some reason for you pickin’ me out, and it t’weren’t my fine roots. You’re lookin’ for somepony. You ain’t been real subtle about that.”

“I found somepony.”

“Beggin’ yer pardon, but ya didn’t. Don’t get me wrong – I loved it. Bein’ yer student, learnin’ all these things I never woulda learned back on ma’s farm. T’ain’t many Apples who got horns and brains, but I’ll be darned if I don’t put both to good use. But this?” Yellow magic plucked a familiar spiral-bound notebook out of his saddlebags, depositing it onto Princess Celestia’s desk. “It’s a dead end fer me.”

Celestia licked her lips. “I spent nine-hundred and fifty years searching for a pony who was the equal of Starswirl the Bearded. Don’t think just because your farm needs you that—”

“Farm don’t need me one bit. Fact is, I need the farm.”

“If you need some time to consider the matter—”

“I done considered it plenty. Just like I considered this spell plenty.” He tapped his hoof on the cover of the book. “I figured out a thing or two, but one of ‘em was that it ain’t a pony like me who’s gonna figure it out. I ain’t right for it. Fact is, I’m pretty sure Starswirl weren’t, neither. That’s why it don’t work right.”

“Oh?” Celestia glanced down at the book, her horn glowing as she flipped it open to a familiar dog-eared page.

Harvest Moon nodded. “I think what he was figurin’ was that if he took a whole bunch of ponies, and added ‘em all together, you’d get one really good pony. I think he was tryin’ to take ponies’ cutie marks, and use ‘em himself. But it don’t work that way; them marks gotta go somewhere. So it just kind of shuffles ‘em around a bit, messes with ‘em.”

Celestia rose to all four hooves. “Harvest Moon, this is an incredible breakthrough!”

“I know. I ain’t no fool.” The unicorn tapped the side of his head. “But the way I figure, if you’re gonna make it work, you gotta have a bunch of ponies who are sharin’, not givin’, if that makes any sense. That’s the way it worked for Clover, Cookie, and Pansy back in the day.”

“So why are you quitting, then? Surely it would not harm you to stay long enough to finish the spell. Or you could take a vacation if you would like, and come back to it.”

Harvest Moon shook his head slowly. “I tried figurin’ my way through it, but I’ve got the feelin’ I’m still missin’ something. I ‘spect it’s as plain to see as cows in the castle, but it’s like…” He licked his lips. “Somepony who don’t get it, but gets it better’n I ever could, all at the same time.”

Celestia sat back on her cushion. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s like… the founders. They didn’t know they could make friends with somepony who weren’t their own kin, right?” Harvest Moon gestured vaguely. “I think it’s like that. Somepony who don’t get it, then gets it all of a sudden, and don’t let go after.”

“Are you suggesting I find somepony who is racist to cast the spell?”

“Not racist. That ain’t right, not one bit. The founders, they weren’t racist, right? Not once they figured each other out. I think that’s the part that they need. The figurin’. Gotta find somepony who don’t realize just what friendship is, but then, it hits ‘em. See it from the outside, if you know what I mean.”

Celestia frowned. “You mean I should find someone who has no friends?”

“But not cause they ain’t likable. It’s gotta be ‘cause they don’t know no better.”

Celestia stared down at the book on her desk. “Are you certain that you cannot figure it out?”

“I’m sure. And I ain’t lettin’ you convince me otherwise.”

Celestia bowed her head. “I’m sorry.”

“T’ain’t nothin’ to be sorry about. Sometimes things just don’t work out, ya know?”

Celestia rose suddenly, striding around the desk to wrap the unicorn in a hug. “So what will you do now, my faithful student?”

Harvest Moon chuckled quietly and leaned into the Princess’s chest. “Figured I’d go out to Manehattan, spend some time out on the farms. I’ve got this idea for a contraption that would speed up fruit buckin’ by at least five hundred percent. I ain’t had time to work all the kinks out, but the way I figure, the Quick ‘n Sure Fruit Picker’ll be a big hit with the folks out on the farm. On every farm, I wager, if’n I can get it to work right and not squish all the fruit.”

“I’m sure you will do whatever you set your mind to, Harvest Moon.”

“That I will.” He blinked as he felt a couple warm drops hit his mane. “You ain’t cryin’ on me, are ya?” He took a step back, smiling up at the Princess.

“I might be. I shall miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too. But don’t worry, I’ll keep on writin’.” He glanced over towards the journal. “Just… be careful with that journal, okay? I ‘spect it ain’t exactly safe to go messin’ round with that spell willy-nilly.”

---

Celestia’s voice boomed out through the great hall of the castle. “Starlight Glimmer! What have you done?”

“I figured out the spell, Celestia!” The pink unicorn smiled showing far too many teeth as a dozen jars hung in the air behind her, each containing a stolen cutie mark. “If everypony is equal, then nopony needs a cutie mark! And if you set the cutie marks aside, then, when something threatens—”

Celestia’s hoof cracked into the stone floor. “This is not what Starswirl wanted when he made that spell!”

“You told me that I was the most gifted unicorn you’d seen in a long time. Possibly ever!” Starlight Glimmer tossed her striped mane. “But it only ever brought me pain and isolation. But I can see it now. Everypony is unhappy because they don’t understand anypony else. But if everypony was the same, then everyone would be happy! Just look at how happy your guards are!” The unicorn waved her hoof at the group of ponies in armor around her, all lying on the floor, a dull look in their eyes.

“You are unhappy because you never tried to understand anypony but yourself,” Celestia said, snorting. “Now, release your spell and return their cutie marks.”

“But Celestia! You told me everypony was just as important as everypony else.”

Celestia’s eyes hardened. “I said that to teach you humility. The hard lesson – that not everypony chooses to live up to their potential – I had saved for later. But it seems you need it now.”

“You’re wrong, Celestia. Why don’t you join us in equality, and see how happy you can be?”

“No.”

“Oh. Very well then.” Starlight Glimmer sighed, turning her head to the side as her horn began to glow. “Then I guess I’ll just have to force you!”

A teal beam shot through the air from Starlight Glimmer’s horn, only to part upon contact with Celestia’s shield. “What? How? You said—”

“Because you aren’t the most gifted unicorn in Canterlot, let alone in all of Equestria. I said you had a special gift, but it seems I was wrong.” Celestia sighed. “You were an average student in my school, Starlight. The only reason you did as well as you did was because of my personal guidance, which it seems was wasted on you. I chose you because of your name, nothing more. I hoped you would come to understand the magic of friendship better than Starswirl the Bearded did, as destiny said you might. But instead, it seems you can’t even understand yourself.”

“You’re lying! I figured out Starswirl’s spell, and you’re just jealous because I know more than you!”

Celestia set her mouth. “I may not understand Starswirl’s spell, but I understood what he stood for. Clover the Clever was his apprentice, and through her, harmony came to Equestria – not by making everypony the same, but by acknowledging the strengths of every kind and shape of pony. A lesson, it seems, you have never learned.”

A second teal blast struck Celestia’s shield, only to meet with the same fate as the first. “No! Why? It’s not fair!”

“Life isn’t fair, Starlight Glimmer. It came easy for myself and my sister. It came easy for my last student, Harvest Moon. I mastered the shield spell when I was twelve, my sister at eleven, he at fourteen. Is it fair that it is easier for some ponies than it is for others? Of course not.” Celestia shook her head. “But even the second most gifted unicorn I have ever seen lost when she confronted me, and was banished to the Moon.”

“No!” A third beam struck Celestia’s shield, then a fourth as Starlight Glimmer began to back away.

“I’m sorry I failed you.” Celestia’s shield fell after the fifth blast, only for a beam of yellow light to burst out, faster than the eye could see as it struck the bottles hanging over Starlight Glimmer’s back, shattering them. Shards of glass rained down on the pink pony’s back as the cutie marks flew through the air and returned to the flanks of their owners. The guardsponies looked at one another, then turned as a group on Starlight Shimmer.

“No! You’re wrong! Look at the spell—” Starlight Shimmer pulled the precious journal out of her saddlebags, only for Celestia to rip it away with her magic.

“No. You are no longer worthy of his magic.”

Starlight’s chest heaved before her horn began to glow again. Celestia’s shield burst into existence just as a great green glow swept across the entire hall, the guardsponies staggering, a few unicorns throwing up their shields at the last moment as the light swept past them.

When Celestia’s vision cleared, her student was gone.

---

“No.” Celestia tossed the folder aside. “No.” A second one joined the first. “No. No. No!”

“Princess? What are you doing here at this hour?”

Princess Celestia started at the voice behind her. “Ah. Headmistress Glamour. My apologies. I couldn’t find you in your office.”

“That’s because it is 2 am,” the Headmistress said flatly. “I came because one of the guards saw a light on in my office after I went home.”

“I’m sorry, Headmistress. I simply needed to examine the school records.”

“On Starlight Glimmer? I removed her file and sent it over to the castle.”

Celestia shook her head. “Not Starlight Glimmer. I was looking for somepony else.” The alicorn went back to riffling through the filing cabinet, scanning the names on each folder.

The headmistress sighed. “Do you know their name?”

“No. Something to do with the stars.” Celestia paused as she plucked out a folder. “Crepescular Illumination.”

Headmistress Glamour blinked owlishly. “And what business do you have with Miss Illumination?”

“I was thinking of taking her as my new student.”

The old unicorn stared. “Miss Illumination is near the bottom of her class. Might I ask why you have taken a special interest in her?” She stepped towards her princess before pausing, her eyes widening. “Princess, are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Had she heard a tremor in her voice? Glamour’s eyes fell to Celestia’s hoof, still resting on the file drawer, as a quiet rattling reached her ears.

“I see. How about we share a cup of tea and quietly work things out? I’m sure you’d have a great deal you’d like to talk about, given today’s events.”

The princess shook her head. “I need to find the student I’m looking for. The safety of Equestria depends on it.”

“Of Equestria?” The headmistress shook her head. “Or are you merely trying to fill a hole in your heart? Don’t think I haven’t noticed the pattern with the names, Princess. My mother, Morning Glow. Harvest Moon. Starlight Glimmer. You’re trying to replace somepony.”

“I’m trying to find somepony!” The princess boomed, her hoof striking the floor. “Somepony who will save all of Equestria, according to an ancient prophecy.”

Mistress Glamour’s ears fell. “I see. And why do they need to have the right name?”

“On the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and—”

“I see.” The headmistress sighed heavily as she walked over to her desk, sinking into her chair. “Princess Celestia. I understand that this is very important, but have you considered that you’re misunderstanding the prophecy? Any great student might be a star.”

Celestia nodded her head slowly. “I had been waiting to find the one who showed the most signs, but—”

“But you ran out of time.” The headmistress sighed, setting her hooves over her face.

“I made a mistake with Starlight Glimmer. A mistake I do not intend to repeat.”

“And yet, you were asking over Miss Illumination. Tsk.” The old unicorn slowly lowered her hooves from her face to look upon the even older alicorn. “If you’re going to look for somepony who is a star, you are looking in the wrong place. You have a star on your flank, after all.” She pointed her hoof at the sun emblazoned on Celestia’s white coat.

Celestia blinked. “Do you believe that I am the one of who the prophecy speaks?”

“Perhaps. Or perhaps somepony else.” Headmistress Glamour slowly rose from her chair and trundled over to the file cabinet, opening another drawer and pulling out a file before floating it over to Celestia.

“Sunset Shimmer?”

The headmistress nodded her head gravely. “She has a very special gift…”