Three months had passed since Twilight and her brothers had been adopted by Celestia, though there had been some rough moments throughout those months they were adjusting to their new lives at the castle. Shining was back to spending as much time as he could with Cadence, Twilight continued to go to school and get her regular magic lessons from Celestia. Spike was finally starting to learn to walk on his own, which resulted in Celestia having to keep a more vigilant eye on the young dragon so he wouldn’t hurt himself by accident.
Twilight sat at her desk talking to her friends, bragging about all the fun times she had been having at the palace. Her friends were a little jealous of her, but not in a bitter way. Eventually the teacher entered the classroom and asked the class to take their seats, the young unicorns all sat waiting for the teacher as she made her first announcement.
“Class, before we start I’d like to introduce you all to our newest student.” she said, she raised her hoof towards the door and a young yellow unicorn with red hair entered the room nervously.
“This is Sunset Shimmer, she’ll be starting class with the rest of you starting today. So lets all do our best to make her feel welcome.” The young foals all greeted Sunset together, she smiled back but didn’t say anything it was little embarrassing for her to be given this much attention.
“Now then, why you take the empty seat next to Twilight and Moondancer, Sunset. I’m sure they’ll be eager to help you get settled in.” the teacher said as she pointed to the desk. Sunset walked across the classroom and sat down, she looked over to see Twilight and Moondancer both smiling at her, they knew better to talk during class however and waited with excitement for the chance to talk to the new student.
The school day had come to an end and Sunset began to pack her books into her bag when Twilight and her friends approached her. She looked up and smiled,
“Hi, um...Twilight, right?” she asked. Twilight shook her head yes and replied,
“Yup, these are my friends, Moondancer, Juniper, and Wallflower. Its nice to meet you Sunset.” as she motioned to each of her friends standing around her.
“So did your family just move to Canterlot?” Moondancer asked, Sunset gave an uneasy look.
“I don’t really have any family, I’ve been living at the foster home the last couple of weeks.” she said, Moondancer gasped,
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to be mean.” Sunset smiled and reassured her it was okay,
“I’m not bothered by it really, but...” Sunset’s uneasy face changed to a confident grin as she bragged,
“I was picked by Princess Celestia herself to come to this school. I’m just that awesome at magic it turns out.” Twilight and her friends all gasped and smiled with excitement, Sunset was enjoying the attention when Juniper looked at Twilight.
“Just like you Twilight!” she said. Sunset was surprised,
“You know the princess too?” she asked Twilight. Moondancer stepped towards Sunset and announced,
“Twilight spends time with her all the time, she even gets to live at the castle!”
“We only got to go there once for Twilight’s birthday a few weeks ago.” Wallflower added. Sunset was awestruck she looked at Twilight and asked,
“Are you...her daughter or something?” Twilight face became a little disheartened as she sat down,
“No...I...lost my parents a few months ago. But the princess was really good friends with them, so she decided to take care of me and my brothers.” Twilight explained, Sunset started to look nervous she was afraid that she’d upset Twilight.
“Oh, but I’m ok now! I was really sad at first, but the Princess reminded me of all the good things and ponies that I still have.” she answered. Sunset sighed with relief,
“So do you want to be friends Sunset?” Twilight asked,
“Its not easy being the new pony in class, and we’d love to show you around.” The rest of her friends smiled eagerly excited to hear what she had to say. Sunset thought for a moment and finally replied,
“Sure, I mean I don’t really know any pony else. Plus, I might need some help with my homework.” The four of them cheered with delight,
“I know let’s all study at my place tomorrow! We can show Sunset around the city after!” Juniper said. They all looked at Sunset who blushed and agreed.
The young pony’s eventually went their separate ways each going back to their homes, Twilight walked back towards the castle a small cheer in her step as she’d made a new friend. She paused for a moment and looked over her shoulder, a short distance behind her she noticed a trio of griffons. She was curious as to why there were griffons in Canterlot, but it wasn’t unheard of either. One of the three seemed to be watching her which made Twilight nervous, she turned and began to walk back to the castle in a more hurried pace, bothered by the griffons presence more than before.
Cadence walked into the study hall with Spike bouncing on her back, she noticed Shining sitting at the table in the center of the room his school books out, attention focused on his work. He hadn’t noticed Cadence come in, she looked back at Spike and motioned with her hoof for him to be quiet. She slowly snuck up behind him and levitated Spike off her back, she put Spike on the back of his head and Spike playfully let out a small
“Rowr” as he grabbed Shining’s mane. He jumped in surprise and quickly turned to see Cadence laughing,
“Ha ha, very funny Cadence...” he sneered. He took Spike off the back of his head and turned to face Cadence,
“So, decided to do your homework in here for a change?” she asked as she sat next to Shining looking at the books and papers scattered across the desk.
“Yeah, I thought that maybe I could use some of the books in here it’d make it easier. Wasn’t as easy as I’d thought it be though. Not sure how Twily can love going through all these books so much and not fall asleep.” he said. Spike eagerly reached for Cadence, wanting attention, she leaned towards Spike and played with him as Shining held him.
“Soo...um, Cadence...” Shining said nervously, she looked up at him with a smile.
“Since its just the two of us here...I was wondering...if maybe you’d want to go do something this weekend. Like, go to the theater, or spend some time at the park...or you know, whatever...” he asked nervously, his gaze constantly moving from Cadence’s face to the rest of the room. Cadence smiled with glee, and hugged him and Spike,
“Of course we can!” she shouted. Shining smiled and responded,
“Really?! Uh, I mean...yeah that’s cool.” Cadence laughed at him trying to play off as being cool and not nervous about this. But she decided not to tease him about it. The two sat for a moment looking back at each other, Shining slowly started to lean towards Cadence to kiss her. The doors to the study suddenly swung open with a thud, Shining and Cadence both immediately sat upright looking away from each other nervously. A pair of guards stood in the doorway,
“Princess Cadence!” one shouted as he rushed over to her, the other close behind.
“I’m sorry to bother you, your highness, but we thought you might know where Princess Celestia is at. Its an emergency!” Cadence and Shining looked at each other,
“I know where she is right now, what’s the problem?” she asked. The guard handed her a tattered piece of paper and explained to her that it had been delivered to the guards at the castle gates just a few moments ago. Cadence levitated the note over to her and Shining with her magic and unfolded the paper, they read it the note and gasped in horror.
Twilight awoke in a dark room dimly lit room, she tried to move and soon realized her hoofs were bound by rope. A thick piece of cloth was wrapped around her muzzle keeping her from talking. Twilight was terrified, she was just walking home from school, how did this happen? Why was it happening? She thought. She squirmed around eventually sitting upright, she tried to get the ropes off her, first with her hooves then with her magic. It was no good though, the ropes were too tight and she wasn’t strong enough to get them off. Voices arose from behind her, she turned to see a rickety door on the far side of the room, a small flicker of light shining from the crack along the floor.
“How long is this gonna take?” a voice shouted,
“Once Marco gets the bits, we ditch the kid and get on the first train out of town. Quick and easy...” another voice added. The voices spoke back and forth, Twilight frantically searched around trying to find something she could use to escape. Her fear grew as she realized there was nothing in the room aside from her, her abductors were too smart to take chances it seems.
“I still say we should’ve grabbed the pink one...she’d have been worth more.” one the voices groaned,
“Oh right, trying to kidnap an Alicorn, that’s absolutely brilliant. We’d be lucky if she didn’t tear us in half.” the other replied.
“Whatever...what’s taking Marco so long anyway? Been almost two hours now.” a brief silence followed,
“I’m gonna go check on him, shouldn’t take a group a guards this long to bring us some bits.” the other said. The sound of footsteps creaking on wood floors was suddenly interrupted by a massive crashing sound like thunder followed by an explosive thud that shook the building. Twilight froze, her mind raced with what was happening now, her fear quickly was dashed as she soon heard a familiar voice shout aloud.
“WHERE IS SHE!?!” Twilight crawled towards the door,
“Its the princess!” she thought,
“What the buck? Why’s the princess here, I thought you said the note said only for the guards to bring the money!” a voice screamed.
“Your friend was a coward, he gave away your location without so much as a fight. Now I won’t ask again, WHERE IS SHE!?” Celestia demanded. Twilight reached the door, she lifted her hooves to make noise when the sound of fighting erupted from the other side of the door. She sat frozen, she could hear the sound of her abductors shouting in pain as flashes of magic light briefly lit the perimeter of the door as well as the sounds of crashing against the walls. Then there was nothing but silence, Twilight sat still, she couldn’t tell who’d won, she just sat silently.
“Twilight! Twilight! Are you in here!?!” Celestia shouted, Twilight quickly began banging her front hooves against the door making as much noise as she could. The sound of a metal lock snapping interrupted her before the door swung open, the light from the room briefly blinded Twilight. Her eyes adjusted and she looked up to see Celestia standing in the doorway an overjoyed look on her face.
“Twilight!” Celestia’s magic quickly removed her bindings and scooped Twilight up and into Celestia’s front legs. She held her as tight as she could, Twilight instantly started to cry happy to see the princess.
“I’m so sorry Twilight, are you alright? Did they hurt you?” she asked as she held the tiny pony close.
“Momma...” Twilight sobbed, Celestia was surprised to hear her say that. But she didn’t say anything she just wanted to hold her close and make her feel safe.
The guards arrived not long after Celestia’s rescue and quickly detained the griffons responsible. Celestia sat outside the building holding Twilight, she’d managed to cry herself to sleep, and Celestia refused to put her down.
“Auntie!” Celestia turned to see Cadence and Shining approach,
“Oh thank the stars, you found her!” Cadence said as she walked up and hugged Celestia and Twilight.
“Is she ok?” Cadence asked, Celestia nodded with a reassuring smile.
“Yes, she’s shaken but they didn't hurt her at least...” she replied. Cadence and Shining sat on both sides of Celestia,
“I honestly never expected this sort of thing to happen, I didn’t think being connected to me like this would make her a target. Now, I don’t know what to do...Should I take her out of school, teach her myself? Should I give her an escort everywhere she goes? I can’t decide...” Celestia muttered. The three sat silently, Cadence eventually spoke up saying.
“Auntie, I can’t begin to describe how horrible today was...or how scared we all were when that note came...but you know you can’t just lock Twilight away from the rest of the world either.” Shining nodded in agreement,
“She’s right, Twily’s too much of wildcard to try and cage. I think the best thing is just to take things one day at a time. It’ll be a while before she’s back to normal, but we’ll be there for her when she needs us.” he added. Celestia smiled, she thought how amazing it was for her to have these kids in her life, even after after all the misfortune she’d been through, she wondered if she even deserved it.
“Maybe...I’ll just...double the city guard for now, and once she’s ready to go back to school I'll walk her there myself.” Celestia said smiling. Cadence leaned over and hugged Celestia tight, Shining followed,
“Let’s go home Auntie, its about time you lowered the sun anyway.” Cadence said, Celestia nodded and looked at the evening sky, her horn began to glow and slowly the sun set. The stars began to shine one by one, then the moon rose lighting up the night sky. Celestia looked at the full moon and began to wonder, what will she do to protect them...when she returns?
Will the rest of the Mane Six appear?
Yeah, there are several blind spots with canon to be honest. I mean, have we haven't really seen Cadence interact with Celestia much either. I think the chapter book and the IDW comic very briefly touch on this and that's it.
9868104
Haven't decided yet, I plan to at least use Rarity.
9868170
It was an accident, I can't say anymore for the sake of what I have planned though.
it's always nice to see good old sunset shimmer. if you want to know how sunset ended up having a falling out with celestia there is an entire issue about it in the comic books My Little Pony 2013 Annual
pretty much she believes she was better than anypony else, and (my guess is Celestia spoiled her), eventually Celestia decided to teach her a lesson on humility, looking into the Mirror to the human world she saw her self as an alicorn, and she wanted the power to be Celestia equal, when celestia banned her from studying the mirror due to her not being ready she went behind her back to study it anyway. she then found out that Celestia could turn her into an alicorn. and when Celestia and the guards caught her in the act, sunset demanded that she turn her into one, Celestia then dismissed her as her student and when the guards were escorting her out of the castle she made a break for the mirror to the human world
Interesting looking forward to seeing what happens next.
Story made the feature box on the home page which is how I found it.
9868442
Perhaps Nightmare Moon had a good in it.
9868520
Oh. Well there goes my theory.
Hrm
You have to bring in the mane 6, maybe they visit Canterlot and make friends with her? Also...Cadence and Shining were about to kiss!! Why did you hafta cut them off? Whyyyyyy?!
Well that escalated quickly. Nice to see Sunset here, and Twilight has an interesting group of friends. Looks like she’ll have a unique “Mane 6” group.
9868523
Thanks for posting that btw, gives me better idea of where to take Sunset's arc now.
great story i like that you added sunset into the story i hope you don't make her go bad but judging by your tags i'm not sure after all you had Twilight kidnapped in the first 5 chapters so i don't know what your plan is for sunset. I only hope you don't turn sunset bad/evil.
Hmmm.. I mean we do know about their fallout and how it happened...
- mumbles thinking - if I remember correctly.
and ya almost had me there imagine if Celestia would have yelled "where is my DAUGHTER!" In almost full sun goddess mode And twilight yelling out "momma!" now that right there would have been a Spear to the heart.
Whoa. Twi getting foalnapped was some intense stuff. And, yeah, I DID love the scenes in school before that with Moondancer and the others as they met Sunset. Of course, Sunset was actually Celestia's pupil BEFORE Twilight was, but this IS an alternate universe, so we can let that bit slide. And, yeah, I ALSO liked the inclusions of pony counterparts to EQG characters.
And, yeah, LOVED seeing Celly go into Mama Bear mode on the foalnappers as well as her wondering what to do now.
Once more, the exchanges, characterizations, action and future chapter set-up are all well done.
I'll very certainly be looking forward to more of this.
9869674
true but sadly we can one guess as neither of us is the author of this fic but i will still hope sunset doesn't go bad/evil
This story needs some editing to make it more readable and clear. Other then that, nice start.
9869674 maybe it changes to she joins then. She did mention being In a foster home.
I love this concept! Can't wait for more!
There are few things as terrifying in this world as a mother protecting her young.
And an angry Mom-lestia definitely counts.
Their Fallout is in the comic book series. But you don't have to buy the comic because it's also on YouTube and it's tiled the fall of Sunset Shimmer as for anything else I'm not sure
I like to think that in the show Sunset was about 5-10 years older than Twilight and possibly knew her in passing before she went through the mirror portal.
10621961
I agree wholeheartedly.
Activate trap card 'Mother Bear'
Nice. Sunset introduced and Twilight gets kidnapped.