It was the kind of shop you’d swear hadn’t been there the day before.

Wedged between a dry cleaner and a convenience store on a quiet stretch of your neighborhood, the crooked little doorway caught your eye like a splinter of sun through cloud. Above it, an old, hand-painted sign read:

"Antiquities & Oddities – Rare Relics & Forgotten Things."

You weren’t looking for anything—not really. Maybe just a change of scenery, a break from the gray routine. The bell chimed overhead as you stepped in, and a wave of warm, candle-scented air wrapped around you. Time felt... slower in here. Dust swirled lazily in shafts of golden light. The walls were cluttered with trinkets, forgotten tools, and tiny statues from cultures you couldn’t place.

But it was the amulet that called you.

Half-hidden beneath a silk scarf on a corner shelf, it glinted like it had caught the last ray of the sun. Gold, etched with swirling patterns. A regal, equine face—long horn, spread wings—and a gemstone at its center that shimmered with pastel hues that danced when you tilted it. Pink. Blue. Lavender. Sunlight and starlight trapped in crystal.

The shopkeeper, an older woman with a faraway look in her eyes, didn’t say a word as you brought it to the counter. She simply nodded once, slowly, like she already knew it would find you.

Later that night, back in your apartment, the city hummed outside as you set the amulet down on your desk. You turned it over in your hands again and again, trying to make sense of the strange familiarity in its warmth. A design so specific. So intentional.

It didn’t feel like jewelry.

It felt like… something waiting.

You hesitated, then slipped it over your head.

The chain settled against your skin like it had always belonged there.

At first, nothing happened. No lightning, no glowing eyes, no sudden surge of magic. Just silence.

And then— a breath. Not yours.

“At last… a voice I haven’t heard in a very long time.”

You froze.

It wasn’t a sound in your ears—it was in your mind, clear and gentle, like sunlight peeking through a curtain. Feminine. Warm. A voice that carried centuries of calm.

“Do not be alarmed. I am Princess Celestia of Equestria, or rather… what remains of me. My essence lies within the amulet you now wear. And you… are the first soul kind enough to listen.”

You stumble back, eyes wide, but the voice continues—soft, patient.

“You are not in danger. I am not here to control, nor to burden. Only to offer. My world once brushed against yours in times of great magic. When that world faded, some of us left echoes behind—gifts, fragments, memories… hoping one day, someone would remember the light.”

A gentle warmth spreads from your chest, a steady pulse behind the gemstone resting there.

“You feel it, don’t you? The radiance? It’s not mine alone anymore. It listens to you, responds to your heart. And if you wish it… it can shape you as I once was. You need only ask.”

You glance down. The gem glows faintly in response to your thought.

“But I leave the choice with you, dear one. Keep this light close, walk among your world, and I shall remain a quiet voice. Or…”

The air around you hums with something ancient. Something immense.

“You may choose to become more. To carry my legacy. To become what this world forgot it needed.”

And in that moment, you realize the decision is yours.

You could take it off. Forget the voice. Go to bed and wake up unchanged.

Or…

You could speak a single word.

And become the dawn.