In another time and place…
“Princess Twilight Sparkle, if you can hear…”
Spike the dragon sat up. The cucumber slices flew from his eyes and hit Owlicious, Princess Twilight Sparkle’s pet owl, in the face.
“Was that…” he said to himself. He looked out the spa door and peered into the library across the hallway.
“Whoo?” Owlicious said.
“It couldn’t be…”
“Whoo?”
Spike spun on his heel and looked at the owl. “Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, that’s who!” He spun around and around, as if he was confused. After five minutes of spinning, Spike grasped Owlicious’s perch for stability and shook his head. He smacked his head with a clawed hand.
“What am I doing? TWILI-I-I-I-IGHT!” he screamed as he ran down the hall. He didn’t even stop to talk to the masseuse pony who was coming to check on him.
“T-T-Twilight!” Spike gasped. He grabbed the gold doorjamb opening into the throne room of Princess Twilight Sparkle. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Princess Twilight Sparkle all stared at the panting dragon.
“Why, whatever is the matter, Spikey Wikey?” Rarity asked.
“Oh, oh, oh!” Pinkie Pie shrieked. “Is it Discord? Is he being a naughty lizard-pony-goat-dragon? Oh, or is it Cheese Sandwich? Is he back? ‘Cause I wanna throw a party right about now!”
“Let’s just let Spike tell us what the problem is,” Rainbow Dash butt in, pointing to the baby dragon.
“What? Problem?” Pinkie cried. “If Cheese Sandwich is back, that’s no problem! Parties are not problems!” The pink party pony stomped her hooves in frustration. She wanted to see Cheese Sandwich the Super-Duper Party Planner again.
“Pinkie!” Applejack sighed.
Spike collapsed onto the floor from exhaustion.
“Oh, goodness!” Fluttershy exclaimed. She flew over to the unconscious dragon and got down on her knees. “Spike!” She turned to the nearest soldier. “I need a bowl of sapphires, STAT!”
“Yes, miss!” The unicorn ran off. Twilight blushed, for that unicorn was Flash Sentry, the royal guard she had “feelings” for.
Twilight alit from her throne. She trotted over to her number-one assistant and lifted his head with her hoof.
“Spike? What’s the problem?”
Spike cracked open one eye and looked at his friends. Once again breaking the fourth wall, Pinkie Pie stuck her head around Twilight’s shoulder.
“Is it Cheese Sandwich? Please say it’s Cheese Sandwich!”
“No,” Spike croaked. Fluttershy lifted a blue sapphire to his lips. Spike crunched the gem and swallowed. His eyes cleared and his pupils focused. “Not Cheese Sandwich.”
Pinkie Pie frowned.
“It’s… it’s… it’s…”
“What is it, Spike?” Applejack asked.
“Celestia and Luna.”
Twilight almost dropped Spike in surprise. “What?”
Spike nodded. “In the library. Portal.”
“Cadence!” Twilight Sparkle yelled. A pink alicorn with purple, yellow, and pink mane ran into the room.
“What is it, Twilight?” she questioned.
“They need us, Cadence,” Twilight whispered.
“I see… Let’s go!”
Twilight gently set Spike down onto the floor and ran for the library, with Princess Mi Amore Cadenza by her side.
“Oh, no!” Twilight and Cadence cried at the same time. They looked at each other.
“Nightmare Moon,” Twilight said softly.
Princess Cadence nodded. They turned back to the mirror portal. There was no noise, but the image said enough.
There was a group of humans crouched on the ground, and two familiar-looking people stood side-by-side. They were holding a gem in the air. Twilight recognized the jewel as the gem that had been set into Princess Celestia’s gold collar. She had brought something from Equestria. Next to Celestia and Luna crouched a young girl of… fifteen, sixteen summers? Somehow, Twilight Sparkle knew that the girl was Princess Celestia’s daughter. What caught her attention were the two figures floating in the air. One was a pony… no, a shadow. Nightmare Moon. The other figure was a girl, but this girl had wings, a horn, and Celestia’s crown. Twilight had seen this before. When she had gone to Canterlot High in the human world, Sunset Shimmer had taken her crown and upon wearing it, became a monster.
“Cadence?” Twilight said, still staring at the image.
The princess of love turned to look at Twilight Sparkle. “Yes, Twilight?”
Twilight smiled grimly. “I think that it’s time to use that defense spell Luna and Celestia taught us.”
Cadence nodded. The two pony princesses crossed horns and started to give each other their magic, which strengthened them. Twilight and Cadence spread their wings and made a curtain with their wings, shielding their faces from view. Before Princess Luna and Princess Celestia left Equestria, they had told the two remaining princesses that when they did this spell, that they were to cover their faces with their wings. The spell would cause their faces to glow so brightly that any non-royal pony would be injured when they saw the light. The two ponies kept their horns crossed for five minutes, and then they shot a purple-and-pink bolt of magic toward the mirror portal, straight at the image of Celestia and Luna. The surface of the mirror rippled like water when the bolt hit it, but then it stilled.
The two princesses collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath.
Cadence laughed. “They made it look so easy!”
Twilight smiled and nodded. “They usually do… did.”
“That. Was. AWESOME!” Rainbow Dash yelled. She bolted up into the air and punched the air with her hoof.
Princess Cadence and Princess Twilight shakily stood up. Spike barreled into Twilight with a hug.
“Great job, Twilight!” he exclaimed.
“Sure was amazin’!” Applejack agreed.
“That was fantastic, dah-lings,” Rarity approved.
“I agree,” Fluttershy whispered. She gently blew a stray strand of mane out of her face.
“Uhh…” Pinkie Pie sighed. “I’ve seen better!”
All of the other ponies giggled.
“Wha-a-at?” Pinkie wanted to know. Ponies usually laughed because of her, but Pinkie was positive that she hadn’t done anything funny. “What’s so funny? What’s so funny?”