Twilight and Luna's Lessons in Teaching

by dracone

Chapter 2: Eclipse Touch's First Experiences With Ponyvile and Sharing a Memory with Everypony

Eclipse Touch's first experiences with Ponyville and sharing a Memory with Everypony

Twilight watched as Eclipse Touch began to stir on the couch that she had laid down on, Spike was still working on converting one of the spare rooms in the castle from storage into a new living space. When Twilight had selected the room that would serve as Eclipse Touch's personal space one of the first things she did after removing the books that were stacked up against the wall opposite of the door was give the wall its own little window that was almost the same size as the one in her own room, complete with sill that could act as a bookshelf should her new student wish to only use the window for the source of potentials like it would provide during the day and some of the brighter nights. On the way from the station, at which point she was carrying the sleeping filly on her back, Twilight made quick stop into the furniture store to inquire about their selection of beds and nightstands and taking note of where she was told they were so that she could more ably assist the young filly in the appropriation of furniture for her dwelling arrangements during her time as Twilight's student.

Afterwards Twilight headed straight for the Castle. When she, Spike, and the sleeping filly on her back arrived there were some sizable wooden crates marked with Rarity's cutie mark and notes in Rarity's recognizable stylish script stating what state each of the gems inside were in and asking for the return of any gems that were unblemished. After bringing the luggage into the Castle Spike quickly rushed the crates to the small unoccupied cave he was using as a temporary lair, knowing full well that in a few decades either he or his treasure would no longer be able to entirely fit inside. While Spike busied himself with the crates of gems, Twilight carefully positioned a purple couch in the castle's den area before gently lifting the sleeping filly with her magic and placing her onto the couch, as soon as Eclipse was on the couch she started reaching out with her forelegs as if trying to wrap them around something comforting. Twilight wondered for a moment what she should do before floating the first book of Beginner's Basic Magic's into the legs of the sleeping filly, who immediately seemed more at ease with something between her hooves. Twilight came to the conclusion that the twins had never slept without somepony nearby to provide comfort, but Twilight herself wanted to make sure the room she had chosen for Eclipse Touch would be able to house the filly and the furniture that she would be using before settling down next to the filly put her at ease.

Just as Twilight was finishing her inspection of the room, after the addition of the window, she heard a gentle knocking at the door and went to see who it was. Opening the door she saw it was Fluttershy and gave her gentle greeting while telling her about the fact that there was now a sleeping filly in the building.

Trotting over to the couch Fluttershy said, while lightly stroking Eclipse's mane, in her soft voice that Twilight remembered as basically being a hallmark of the pink maned yellow pegasus, “she really is quite beautiful, and the fact that she's asleep when she just met you this morning says a lot about how much trust she has in you, and the fact that Princess Celestia decided that she should be your first student instead of deciding to teach this filly herself or leave her education to any of the known capable instructors at her school says how much she really trusts your ability to guide her.”

“It's nice to see again too, Fluttershy,” said Twilight maintaining her own low gentle voice, “but we still have a few days before everypony is supposed to meet.”

“Oh,” said the yellow pegasus with a few paws at the floor, “the new animal clinic and adoption center I've been working towards will be opening next week, and when I saw that you had returned I came to ask for few books to borrow about some of the lesser known animals in Equestria and possibly beyond its borders. I want to make sure if an animal that I'm unfamiliar with shows up I don't offend it.”

“Sure thing Fluttershy,” said Twilight, “keep the bestiaries as long as you want, I'm trying to make room for Eclipse Touch.”

“Her name sounds interesting, I've only met one other pony with eclipse in their name before,” said Fluttershy, “she looks like she might be as shy as I was at that age, I hope being with you makes her as comfortable being with other ponies as it has for me.”

“I'm hoping so as well,” said Twilight softly as Fluttershy and her turned their attention to the black filly and noticed her stir and awake.

When Eclipse Touch awoke she first stared at the book in her hooves and then hugged it closer and the 2 mares heard Eclipse whisper to the book, “if you were in the library of my mother or grandmother you would be removed from me and placed out of my reach with them saying something about how proper unicorn learning comes from instructors and books are to only sometimes be referenced,” before leaving it on the couch and sliding off before noticing Fluttershy and Twilight watching her with caring eyes, to this Eclipse gave a soft squeak of fear and crawled under the couch before saying in a soft terrified voice, “Miss Twilight who's the pony next to you? What's your relation with her? Is she nice?”

“Fluttershy is the kindest and most caring pony I know, she's one of my best friends,” said Twilight in her usual voice.

“I heard you would be learning from Twilight,” said Fluttershy in her usual soft voice, “you're very lucky, Twilight is one of the smartest ponies around and she's willing to take foal steps with you in your lesson until you both find the way you learn best.”

“Really?” said Eclipse coming out from under the couch with a wary look.

“Oh yes,” said Fluttershy and then turned her attention to Twilight and said, “Owlowiscious is doing well, you can pick him up tomorrow, and when you next see Pinkie Pie could you tell her that she should bring Gummy in for a checkup, I want to make sure everypony's pet is in good health as soon as possible,” with that she turned to leave while saying, “I've got to go now, somepony's coming by later today to try and see if any of the pets I have are compatible with them. They could be at my house at any time.”

“Okay Fluttershy,” said Twilight, “I'll gather up some of the bestiaries with lesser known creatures into a box or two and bring them to you, it'll also be a good chance to help Eclipse get acquainted with Ponyville.”

“Thanks Twilight,” said Fluttershy as he made her way out the door.

“She really is a nice pony,” said Eclipse in voice that was half question and half statement, “you said she's your friend, that's nice. I wish Dream and I could try having friends like that, but in Bridleton it's not considered socially acceptable for members of the unicorn nobility to socialize with non-unicorns outside of a work environment, and even then the relationship is as master and servant,” she said folding her ears back the moment she said not.

“That's horrible,” said Twilight, “does that mean they don't like unicorns associating with alicorns, like me or the Princesses?”

“From what I've been told, most of Bridleton thinks that alicorns are myths, legends and lore,” said Eclipse with a bit more confidence, “alicorn is used as a title for the royal family and its closest advisers. To be honest most of the unicorn nobility, are of the firm belief that Equestria is not even real and have done everything they can to prevent expeditions to find the nation. We only found it because of Dream's magic somehow guiding us to the town that we met Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.”

“Well then,” said Twilight, “they're going to have to reassess that notion once their emissaries meet me or the other Princesses.” At this statement Eclipse's ears perked up.

“The way you said that indicates that you and the Princesses in Canterlot aren't the only alicorns,” said Eclipse with an interest that confirmed Twilight's hopes.

“You are mind is much sharper than I hoped. My sister-in-law is Princess Cadance,” said Twilight, “she married my big brother, and now she's ruling over the Crystal Empire.”

“Wouldn't that make her an empress then?” inquired Eclipse.

“I'm not familiar with the term,” said Twilight.

“An empress is the female ruler of an empire if it's a male ruler you call him an emperor. Bridleton was part of an empire long before the establishment of the nation. Of course before it was Bridleton it was Bridletania, and it was ruled by the original Artanus in much the same way Equestria was ruled over by Princess Celestia in the thousand years that followed the defeat of Nightmare Moon.”

“From what I know about your nation I'm going to say he must have had an amazing unicorn guiding its course,” said Twilight.

“Many are unaware the original Artatnus was an Earth Pony,” said Eclipse, “but he did have an amazing unicorn as a teacher who instructed him the ways of being a good ruler.”

“What was the unicorn's name,” inquired Twilight.

“His name was Myrraldin,” said Eclipse with a hint of pride, “he later became known as Myrraldin the Great after the loss of the original Artanus, Myrraldin also disappeared from all known history about a decade before the fall of Artanus believing the nation was in very capable hooves. Nopony knows if either had any descendants.”

“What happened after Artanus was lost? How was he lost?” asked Twilight with a hunger to know.

“Somepony stole Artanus's shield, and sword,” said Eclipse, “but more importantly somepony made off with the scabbard of Artanus's sword almost 5 years before the king fell.”

“What was so special about those artifacts?”

“The shield had the power to ensure the innocent and pure were kept safe, the sword had an enchantment that made it so no ordinary weapon could best it and could return to the wielder if lost in battle, but the scabbard for the sword had the greatest enchantment with the ability to protect and rescue life. Almost everypony from Bridleton will say the shield was useful and the sword was the greatest thing that Artanus had. It was after the last of his artifacts was stolen that Artanus fell in battle to a challenger in his own kingdom who was driven by pride and a desire for power, which are now the primary driving forces for most of the unicorn nobility I am aware of.”

“But you think that his greatest of his possessions were the scabbard and his good heart.” Eclipse only nodded and then Spike came in through the door.

“Okay, I got my practice cave all set up, I never thought I'd see so many star sapphires in one place,” said Spike excitedly, “I can help you prep the room for Eclipse now Twilight.”

“Thanks Spike,” said Twilight with gratitude, “let's get to work, Eclipse how about you do some reading while you wait when we're done I'll come and ask you what kind of bed and night stand you want and head out for it.”

“I already know what kind of bed I want,” said Eclipse.

“Here we go,” said Spike thinking he knew what Eclipse Touch was going to ask for pulling out his check list and preparing to write.

“I would like a simple bed, preferably something like what you have in your bedroom,” said Eclipse Touch while looking at Twilight, “and a simple night stand as well.” Spike gawked after noticing what he had just written.

“Your brother said you came from a distinguished aristipony house,” stated Twilight, “so we were kind expecting a set of requests that were a bit more demanding.”

“One of the original Artanus's tenants was 'the greater ones station the greater their responsibilities' and that is an edict I like to hold myself and others to,” said Eclipse, “my sister said she likes that philosophy and has told me she would like to follow it as well.”

“That's a good social standard,” said Twilight, “one that I'm sure the princesses follow and hold me to as well. You have a good heart Eclipse, now let Spike and I prepare the space that will be your room and you can look it over while we go and get the furniture for it.”

“I can tell by the open door and towering collection of books in the room that it will take some time,” said Eclipse before going to settle down on the couch to read the book Twilight had placed in the Filly's hooves while she had been asleep.”

Before heading back to the room Twilight said, “Eclipse leave the book for a moment and come over here,” to which the filly did after staring at the title page for a few seconds, “you've been through a lot and you're acting like a mare who holds it all in, that's not healthy for you.”

“Dream Step and Storm Walker told me I had to be a big filly, and big filly's don't cry or say what they're feeling, before our escape I was already used to being a filly that keeps the bulk of my emotions hidden from other ponies.”

“Well that ordeal is over now,” said Twilight, “come close to me and let it all out, it'll make you feel better.” Immediately upon standing next to Twilight, almost as if a spell had been lifted, Eclipse Touch buried her face in the lavender alicorn's chest and started bawling and saying everything that had scared from the moment her mother began lecturing her on magic up until the moment she started feeling safe around Twilight.

“I dunt wulma glow baulk foo dult phlace dey sud wuz moi holme,” Eclipse kept saying repeatedly through sobs and kept telling Twilight everything that had made her feel uncomfortable or scared.

“Because a home is where you feel safe, secure and loved,” Twilight said gently as she put a hoof and her wings around the little unicorn, “you never felt any of those back there, did you?”

Sniffing a bit and pulling her face out of Twilight's chest and in a more insecure voice that felt more natural to Twilight, “we only felt loved and safe when we were with Storm Walker, and those moments were short.”

“That's why you won't say mom or grandma?” The little unicorn only nodded, at this moment Spike quietly made his way to the kitchen figuring that a small snack might be helpful.

“Your brother mentioned you have an older sister.”

“Yes, Sunshine Bottle” said the filly pulling her ears back while keeping the insecure tone, “for some reason the only 3 known to have an immunity to her false happiness magic are Storm Walker, Dream, and me. I automatically cancel it out, but I don't know why it doesn't work on them, I don’t always feel safe around her and I’ve never felt safe around my parents or grandparents, there were fleeting times when I started to start feel secure around her before she did something to ruin the moment.” At the last part her ears slightly perked and she gave a little smile, “but around you I just feel like everything will turn out right, you don't just make me feel safe and secure. You make me feel like we are family, better than anything else. I know it sounds weird, me just saying that when we haven't even known each other a whole day and me being a pony that was just dropped in your hooves by one of the rulers of the nation almost out of the blue.”

“I'm thankful for the opportunity,” said Twilight, “I felt the same way when I realized the ponies that became my best friends were my friends, and all that took was quest to save kingdom from eternal night. You traveled who knows how far just to get out of the shadow of a family you felt was doing things wrong.”

“Most of that was Dream,” said the black filly pulling her ears almost flat on her head, “it was her ability that lead us to Equestria, it was her research into nations outside our former home nation.”

“But it was you who thought to remove a book might be hoovy and a spell book that really should not be used as anything other than a reference for why the creation of certain kinds of spells is bad. In fact I think I'll copy some spells that might be useful from that book of you brought to help us see through your memories into another book so that we have a reference without spells to tempt us like those to alter a pony's entire mind.” After that the 2 just just stood together in silence for a few minutes, Twilight with her wings around the little filly and holding her head gently on the filly's head as Eclipse let out a few light sobs.

Spike stepped out of the kitchen and said, “I thought you might be hungry, I made some daisy salad sandwiches and large pitcher of lemonade for when you're ready.” At the mention of food the little filly's stomach gave a surprisingly loud grumble, to which Twilight just gave a silent smile. The little filly looked at her with a silent question asking if it was okay, Twilight released her wings from the filly and made sure she was in full view of the filly before giving an approving nod. Looking over at the book on the couch Twilight noticed on the table beside the couch were the sweets Pinkie had given the filly, they looked mostly untouched aside from a set of small dots that indicated that the filly had brought her nose to contacting the lollipop while sniffing it. She returned her attention to the filly who was surrounding the top sandwich in a little purplish-green glow and managing to lift it a few inches off the others before cutting out, out of frustration after her fourth attempt as Twilight watched the filly just grasped the top sandwich in her hooves and took experimental nibble before having her eyes almost light up and munching at the rest in the manner that a filly does when they discover how much they like a food for the first time. Twilight just smiled as she watched the filly, and using her own magic filled the glass next to Eclipse about half way. The filly looked at the liquid in her glass like she had never seen it before and just like with that first sandwich gave a test taste while holding it in one hoof in a manner that indicated she didn't trust her own magic and then after that first taste chugged the rest of the glass with a look of glee.

After the filly had finished off half the sandwiches and a third of the pitcher, which Twilight happily emptied into the fillies glass, she went back to the couch and instead of leafing through the book merely tucked her legs under herself next to the book and laid her head on a nearby throw pillow and was once again asleep. “I thought she would eat the whole plate with the way she reacted to that first sandwich,” said Twilight in a soft voice so as not to disturb the sleeping Eclipse Touch as she and Spike began to reorganize the room in preparation for becoming Eclipse's personal space, “but I guess she wanted to make sure you and I had something to munch on later, she's a courteous filly that has managed to maintain a what looks like something that could grow into any one of the elements of harmony.”

“Where should we place the boxes Twilight,” inquired Spike in his own soft voice, “the doorway to the basement is blocked by a bookcase that can't move because of massive towers of books up against it.”

“Right,” said Twilight, “Spike amend the checklist so that the bookcase door to the basement is free to swing open,” then more to herself than anypony else, “I wish other ponies would stop bringing me books and never returning for them.”

“What was that Twilight,” said Spike, “I didn't catch that last thing you said.”

“Oh, just talking to myself about how I'm going to make sure Eclipse Touch has an enjoyable experience in learning,” said Twilight. Twilight and Spike spent the next three hours clearing books from in front of the book cases and room that would soon be where Eclipse spent her nights in Ponyville. When the room looked less like a collection of boxes with books in them and more like a room with shelved books, and the basement had a corner dedicated to all the books in boxes neatly organized Spike went to sleep in his bed and Twilight folded her legs under herself in front on the couch carefully setting the book next to the untouched sugary treats and positioning herself next to the sleeping filly who reached out with her hooves instinctively the moment she felt a disturbance on her sleeping surface and hugged one of Twilight's forelegs, Twilight just smiled looking down at the filly with awe and concern at what she had been through and managed to accomplish. A few hours later Spike came back down and Twilight floated over a small bag of bits and the list telling him what to look for and what to tell the furniture ponies. And he was off. He returned twenty minutes later with a pair of moving unicorns, one floating the bed and the other floating a nightstand, and directed them to where they would be putting the furniture. After the work was done each of the moving unicorns were given 12 bits each as they headed out the door wishing Spike, and Twilight, a good day and even stopping to ask about the sleeping filly that seemed to have attached herself to Twilight's leg to which Twilight politely explained as the ponies headed out the door.

The next day Eclipse opened her eyes to find that she was in a bed hugging the top sheet. Yawning she walked out of the room to see a tremendous food spread on the table with 3 different kinds of juice in clear pitchers to accompany it. The 3 juices were colored orange, blue and purple. As for the foods she saw small piles of nearly flat discs of cooked dough, toasted slices of bread, rings of baked dough that were also horizontally cut in half so as to keep their basic shape, what looked like large circles of cooked dough with rising hashes to form what looked like a diamond shaped monocolor golden checkerboard. “Oh good you're up,” said Twilight, “didn't know what you would like so Spike and I made you some toast” she gestured to the toasted bread slices, “pancakes,” she then gestured to the almost flat cooked discs that were slightly golden, “waffles,” she gestured to the hashed cooked circles.

“And I picked up some bagels from Sugarcube Corner,” said Spike gesturing to the small dough rings that looked like they had been cut in half.

“I also got out the orange juice,” said Twilight gesturing to the pitcher of orange liquid, “blueberry juice,” pointing to the blue liquid, “and grape juice,” she gestured to the purple liquid.

“Um maybe a waffle and blueberry juice,” said Eclipse unsure of her choices. Twilight levitated a waffle onto a plate and used her magic to pour some of the blue liquid into a glass before setting it next the plate. Eclipse took a sniff, then nibble at the waffle and her eyes flashed again before she began chomping at it, then when the waffle was half gone she levitated the glass of blueberry juice to her lips and sipped a test before chugging it like the lemonade from the day before, when the glass was half gone she finished off the waffle then chugged the rest of the blueberry juice, then lightly blushed when she noticed Twilight and Spike watching her before she floated 2 more waffles to her plate and used her magic to almost fill her glass with more blueberry juice. Just as she was beginning to set the pitcher down Eclipse's magic sputtered out, and Twilight quickly caught the pitcher with her own magic to prevent it from spilling.

“I was going to have apple juice for you,” said Twilight, “but when I talked to AJ yesterday after tucking you into bed and she convinced me to not do it so that she could introduce you to it herself.”

“We have apples in Bridleton too,” said Eclipse before taking a big bite out of one of her new waffles and then after some big chews of delight swallowed her massive bite and said, “we never had raw apples or this juice you speak of at the manor that our family lords over, we did however have a hard apple cider stashed in the wine cellar every couple of months that mother, father and grandmother would drink and there were a variety of fancy apple cakes and pastries for a variety of meal options.”

“Really,” said Twilight with piqued interest, “AppleJack would love to hear about those, she might not of heard of some. After we drop the bestiaries off at Fluttershy's cottage, we'll go down to Sweet Apple Acres and I can introduce you to the Apple family.”

“I'm afraid I won't be able to do that, I never got to try them but only got to see them,” dejectedly, “you mean that different kinds of ponies have their own land,” said Eclipse in surprise dropping the rest of her waffle from her mouth while just enjoying the feel, taste and smell of it before finishing it off back on to her plate, “such a thing is not possible in Bridleton.”

“Their loss,” said Twilight, “Earth ponies like the Apples have an incredible connection with their crop of choice. The Apples have been on, and owned, Sweet Apple Acres for generations. One more thing pancakes and waffles are sometimes better with syrup,” as she said it Twilight floated bottles of a molasses colored substance, a dark purple substance and a dark blue substance, gesturing to the molasses colored substance she said, “we have maple,” then the dark blue, “blueberry” and final the purple and “boysenberry, or if you prefer you could spread jam on them,” she said as she gestured to a small collection of jam jars with different colors inside the clear jars.

Taking a purple colored jam jar and a spoon from next to her plate Eclipse opened it with her hooves and set the lid down next her glass then took her spoon in her empty hoof and took a small scoop out of the purple jiggling lumpy substance and spread it about her half eaten waffle before eating it again, once again her eyes lit up with delight all that escaped the filly's mouth for a moment was the sound of, “mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmh.”

“I think she likes the grape jam,” said Spike as he downed a small stack of pancakes slathered maple syrup with what looked like crushed gem flakes in the syrup.

After finishing her waffles Eclipse said, “grape jam isn't something I never saw in Bridleton, the only grape substance I was aware of there was wine. And that's basically grape juice that's been fermented, only adults are allowed to drink it.” And with that she went back to the silence of enjoying her left over waffle, after adding a thick coat of grape jam to it and in addition gulped down her glass of blueberry juice afterwards. After she finished and slipped out of her seat Eclipse looked a little wobbly for a few seconds before coming out of her stupor.

“Come on,” said Twilight while floating a few pieces of toast and magically spread some strawberry jam over them and began munching one of the pieces as she walked, “we need to find an empty box for some the bestiaries we'll be taking to Fluttershy, Spike gather up all the bestiaries and set them someplace noticeable and out of the way. Eclipse follow me to the basement to look for an used box or two.” A few minutes later Twilight and Eclipse were looking around the basement, which was mostly neat and tidy, looking for a box to hold some books.

Twenty minutes later Eclipse was coughing and saying “I think I found one, it looks like it hasn't been touched in a long time. When will my lessons begin?”

“You need to get a little used to the castle and Ponyville before you start your lessons, some of the exercises I give you will be a bit like running errands across town.”

“Oh, I suppose that makes sense,” said Eclipse with another sneeze that sounded so cute Twilight grinned.

“You're talking like a mature mare again,” said Twilight, “I want you to talk the way you should at your age. Shout at me for how unfair you think something is, tell me if something frightens you, and most importantly I want you to show me the real you.”

Eclipse folded her ears back on to her head and looked at Twilight like she believed Twilight had told her she was in trouble as she carefully pushed the dusty box to where Twilight was and then in a very insecure voice said, “I've always had to hide the real me from everypony before I met you. I had to hide it from my mother and grandmother because I was afraid of their punishments, from my father because of what he might say to my mother, my older sister out of fear she would tell mother, my brother because I didn't want to worry him and my twin because I didn't want her to worry about me more than she already was. I'm the one pony that always feels scared in a crowd,” tears began to well-up in her eyes as she continued, “the one pony that doesn't want to be seen in a public spectacle, the little filly that always wants to be with somepony to protect her, the silly little filly that knows she's the damsel in distress and wants to be the heroine in stories she imagines in order to kweep hlerzelf suwavfe,” said Eclipse finishing bawling beside the box next Twilight.”

“Sh sh sh,” it's alright,” said Twilight in a voice filled with gentleness and concern reaching out and pulling the crying filly next to her with a gentle smile, “nopony is going to hurt you in ways like that as long as I'm here. Eclipse your an amazing filly, I only had a fraction of the talent you displayed at breakfast when I was your age. I know that there will come days that you will be hurt, but with me and your future friends there for you to fall back on the pain won't be as bad as when you tried to bear all on your own. You care so much for your siblings that you chose to hide your real feelings about everything so they could focus on their own problems. You're a smart girl Eclipse, maybe even smarter than I was before I met my friends. You have an amazing memory, maybe just as amazing as Pinkie's, and I can see you have a good heart like me and all my friends. Whatever comes our way I know we can face it as long as we have each other, it'll be like that for you too after you make some true friends of your own,” she smiled a bit more and nuzzled Eclipse before saying, “so the real you just wants to cry until all her pain is gone.”

“No,” Eclipse sounding a little more confident and slightly perking up her ears, “the real me wants to cry for all the ponies I know refuse to cry and hopes that one day she can stand up for her own convictions when she finds out what they are.”

“You really are going to be an amazing pony someday,” said Twilight picking up the box with her magic and inspecting it carefully. Looks like this box will do just fine, all it needs a little cleaning, I have few spells that should take care of that. Come on let's go check on Spike,” she said heading for the stairs with Eclipse half galloping and half trotting close behind her. When the 2 were back up the stairs they saw a small pyramid of books on the couch.

“I'm guessing those are all the bestiaries,” said Eclipse looking with a sense of uncertainty at Twilight.

“That would be correct,” said Twilight, “I'll look through them for lesser known monsters, you go finish some of the food on the table.”

“But I want to help,” moaned Eclipse in a voice that indicated she wasn't putting on an act.

“Sorry, but you can't right now,” said Spike walking up next Twilight, “Eclipse you probably can't tell Equestria's native animals from newly introduced creatures or Equestrian wildlife from somepony's pet.”

Eclipse's ears folded back flat on her head and eyes went big as she began to pout and head towards the kitchen.

“Is it just me or does she look cute when she does cute when she does the whole sorrowful look,” said Spike as he grabbed one of the top books in the pyramid and began leafing through it.

“She's of a mindset that she' just barely gotten out being a foal,” Twilight said igniting her horn and pointing it at the dust covered box that Eclipse had found brought to her, “but the truth is she's still very much a foal, a smart and highly capable filly, but still very much a foal,” she smiled as the box glowed with the same light lavender aura as her horn and then was clean, what was now before Twilight Sparkle was a wooden box that had a red apple branded on its sides, “Applejack said that she lost one of the smaller crates around here 3 or 4 years ago,” said Twilight with a bit of a smile, “After we unload the books with Fluttershy we should take this back to AJ.”

“It was at this point both Twilight and Spike heard Eclipse Touch in a frightened voice saying, “no I don't wanna play with you, you're scaring me, puleaz jwust bweeb gee ulome,” then crying that indicated fear, confusion and a need for safety. Twilight immediately teleported into the kitchen after quickly telling Spike to keep at the bestiaries and was greeted to all the items from breakfast in the form of Discord.

“Discord she's a little filly who has no idea what is going on,” said Twilight in an annoyed tone with Eclipse still weeping in the background, “this game ends now,” and threw up her wings as her horn glowed and all the food stuffs were in the fridge while the dishes were in the sink and condiments back in their shelves and cupboards. At Twilight's display Eclipse's weeping stopped and honest red crying eyes greeted Twilight just as Discord flashed into the room.

“You are no fun these days miss Sparkle,” said Discord in a tone that almost mirrored the annoyance Twilight had displayed before her magic display and then in more excited voice said, “this must be the new student you're taking on, I ran into Fluttershy on her way home yesterday and she mentioned something along those lines, but to truly make her your official student maybe she should have an appearance closer to yours, black and white are not a color pallet a student of yours should have.” After snapping his lion paw he noticed the filly's horn glow as she tried to hide under the table and then nothing, “well that's odd, my spell was a dud, that's never really happened before.”

“She naturally has the ability to cancel out other magics,” said Twilight, “it's more of a defensive reflex than purposeful casting.”

“We'll see about that,” said Discord with a bit more annoyance in his voice snapping his talons and a plush doll Twilight hit the floor in front Eclipse, who then picked up with her magic and dusted it off with her hooves and hugged the doll as her magic ceased.

“I was trying to make the floor under her turn into little ride on wheels so I could get a better look at her,” said Discord with a very notable surprise.

Eclipse looked from her new doll to Discord and back again before saying in delight, “thanks for the gift mister silly face. It's my first real gift.”

“Wait, what?” cried Twilight and Discord in perfect sync.

“What do you mean first real gift?” cried Discord, “what kind of pony doesn't give their foals genuine gifts?”

“I was just about to say the same thing,” said Twilight, “and I'm going to be using her new nickname for you all week now.”

“Do you know how many colts and fillies called me that before I was freed from my stone the first time?” said Discord in annoyance again, “a lot, that little foalish nickname doesn't bother me as much as you might think Twilight.”

Sniffing and hugging the Twilight doll closer Eclipse said, “grandmother always gave my parents gifts with my name on them, they told me I could have them when I was as old as Sunshine Bottle. The gifts were never intended for me anyway, they were always tomes and volumes my parents were after. Gifts given by my parents were much same way, gifts that they had gotten for each other, but wanted to make look like it was for their foals before they were old enough,” she folded her ears flat against her head, “we never saw a gesture to give us toys that hadn't been used by the manor's work force in their colt and filly days. This is the first thing that has ever felt like was meant for me have and share with anypony I want.”

“How did that get there anyway,” inquired Discord.

“It was probably a reaction to your Chaos magic,” said Twilight while watching the filly gleefully huggle the doll of her, “instead of fizzling out the spell like the first time it used the power to create something. Eclipse Touch what were thinking about when the doll appeared?”

“How warm and soft and comfortable you are miss Twilight,” said the filly with joy while nuzzling one of the doll's wings.

“Next time you try that the 2 magic's will probably create another toy based around whatever or whomever she's thinking of at the time. It'll still be chaotic, just not the way you want it to go.”

“I'm alright with that,” said Discord with a genuine smile, “seeing this filly happy is more than enough to drive away my annoyance, but I am very angry at her family.”

“Her big brother and twin sister are wonderful,” said Twilight, “I met them, but I agree her parents and grandmother need to learn what it means to be proper parents.”

“She didn't call them mom or dad or grandma or gran-mum or mum or da,” said Discord, “she's just as approving of them as you are.”

“For now,” said Twilight with a hint of irritation, “Eclipse brought a book with a spell that will enable us to experience another pony's memories as an observer, she's a really smart girl.”

“Ooh,” said Discord with noticeable excitement, “I think that I would like to take part the experience as well.”

“Multiple viewpoints are appreciated,” said Twilight, “After running some errands Eclipse and I are headed back up to Canterlot, last I knew Princess Celestia was studying the spell. Although we probably won't be able to confirm with Eclipse until she has that canceling magic of hers to a more manageable state.”

“I'll see you there then, and I'm sure from what you said about her that the little issue you mentioned will be under control within the week.,” said Discord with glee and in a flash he was gone.

Twilight just smiled for a few minutes as she pranced back the collection of bestiaries, as she leafed through them she stole quick glances at the filly just sitting by the door hugging the doll in Twilight's likeness with a genuine silence of joy and look of real happiness. After about a half hour of leafing through the books only 12 of the dozens Spike had arranged in a pyramid were put into the small crate, “come on,” said Twilight to Eclipse, “it's time to show you some of the town.” On the way out Twilight grabbed her saddle bags and them placed 6 quills, 5 bottles of ink and a blank book.

“Okay,” said Eclipse in a dejected tone putting the doll on a stool that Twilight had by the door.

“What's wrong? Eclipse, you know you can tell me what's bothering you,” said Twilight.

“It's Dream,” said Eclipse in the dejected voice, “she's been through the same things I have, I'm the younger twin, she's the one who lead us here, I don't deserve any of this.”

Twilight said, “Do you know what the Apple family would do if they heard you say that,” more out of curiosity at the filly's response than an actual question, “they'd knock you upside the head and tell to stop that kind of thinking, so let's get going,” with that she floated the small crate beside her and they heard Spike say he'd cleanup the place while they were out and then they were both out. Twilight was explaining every building they passed with what it's purpose was and who it was associated with it. Then after about 10 minutes she stopped in front of Sugarcube Corner and she said, “This is Suguarcube Corner, it's run by the Cake family and Pinkie used work here. The Cake family also lives here, so did Pinkie when she was living in Ponyville. Pinkie got her Party Palace in Canterlot 4 years ago and has been living there, but she's going to be moving it to Ponyville in the next few months. This is the town where all my friends and I lived while trying achieve our dreams. Carousel Boutique was Rarity's primary place of business until she got the Fashionable Gem boutique in Canterlot a year after I became an alicorn, she's been backlogged for months now, if we hadn't forced her to take a few days off later this week she'd burn herself out, we convinced her that the business will be fine with all the help she has running around. Rainbow Dash finally became a primary Wonderbolt 5 years ago, for a whole year she pushed for a school that would help young pegasi increase their odds of becoming Wonderbolts if they wanted to and a year later the Jr Wonderbolt Academy was up and asking for its first batch of students. I think you'll like Rainbow Dash, she's brave and very loyal, also a little reckless and a bit of a showoff. You've already met Fluttershy and heard what she's been up to. Alright we've stood around long enough, Fluttershy's cottage is on the edge of town.” With that they were back to a brisk trot and Twilight kept saying things about different buildings, occasionally giving greetings to other ponies and telling Eclipse who those ponies were. Fifteen minutes later they were at Fluttershy's cottage and Twilight lightly knocked on the door. Fluttershy opened the door and Twilight explained why she couldn't leave the box with Fluttershy as she levitated out the books and stacked them in neat rows of 4 on the table by the couch. Fluttershy gave a gentle smile and softly petted Eclipse's mane, and flinched when the filly did.

“Twilight, did you notice the streaks in her mane?” came Fluttershy's soft voice.

“When I set her down to sleep on my couch before she had a bed at the castle,” said Twilight, “the streaks on the same color as her twin's eyes.”

“So they have an even more special connection,” said Fluttershy with an affectionate look at Eclipse Touch.

“Dream Step and I have never been apart like this,” said Eclipse Touch in a tone that reminded both of what Fluttershy was like when they had met each other for the first time, “miss Twilight makes everything feel secure, she's what I think mother should be like.” Both Fluttershy and Twilight looked at each other in amazement.

“Twilight a mother,” said Fluttershy with a sense of wonder in her voice, “I'm sure she would be a wonderful mother, but you've only known her for a few hours.”

“And in that time,” said Eclipse Touch with a shy confidence, “she's shown me more acknowledgment and care than that the mare who calls herself my mother. I would rather imagine myself miss Twilight's foal than remember how bad everything was before I met her.”

“But you'll have to recall some of those bad memories for us to observe with the spell.”

“And it scares me to pieces,” said Eclipse pulling her ears flat and while pulling herself under Twilight's wing.

“Come on, I'll introduce you to the Apples, and return this crate,” said Twilight with a little smile. Thinking about being a mother was both exciting and frightening to her, just like she figured learning magic was for Eclipse Touch. Nineteen minutes later the 2 were coming up to the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres when an orange mare with a long bunched up blond mane and tail almost galloped out.

“You found et, Twi, I'm so relieved,” said the mare in her distinct country accent as Twilight lowered it on to the mare's back.

“Applejack,” said Twilight gesturing to Eclipse Touch, “meet my new student, Eclipse Touch. I've been mostly calling her Eclipse during her stay.” The little black filly made a sound of being scared and curious as she tried to hide behind Twilight the moment she noticed she was being looked at.

“Not the most sociable filly is she,” Applejack drawled.

“While that may be true,” said Twilight, “she'd be a lot worse if she didn't know I was here, for some reason despite not knowing each other for a full day she's found my presence comforting to point that while visiting Fluttershy a few minutes ago she effectively called me the mother she always felt she needed.”

“Now t'aint that sweet,” came a younger sounding country drawling voice as a mare with a lighter yellow-orange coat and reddish pink mane and tail with a red apple decorated green bow in the mane and pair of blue coveralls that hid her cutie mark.

“Hey Apple Bloom, is Big Macintosh in,” said Twilight, “I want everypony to mee...”

“Ay yup,” came an older sounding lazy male country drawl from behind them and when she turned around Eclipse Touch squeaked in fear and tried to hide behind Twilight with a greater fervor as she looked up at the towering red pony.

Twilight gave a sigh and said, “Eclipse Touch meet the Apple family, well most of them. Granny Smith is taking isn't in right now on account she got note from an old friend and had rush off to meet her in Manehattan in time before she got out of reach again.”

“Well come on in, I got refreshments for ya'll, me an' Apple Bloom just finished making sure the trees have enough water fer the week,” said Applejack as she lead the way with Apple Bloom next to her, “Twi I wasn't really expecting you, but Rainbow Dash should arriving in a few, she'll be so happy to see you back from Canterlot.” The whole time Eclipse Touch kept close to Twilight out uneasiness.

“She reminds of how Fluttershy was back before Twilight came to Ponyville,” Apple Bloom drawled, “but with Twilight there Ah'm sure she'll be more like Twilight by this time next week.” After their short trot over next to barn Twilight, Applejack and Apple Bloom all started talking about how things used to be, with Eclipse Touch listening with interested care and watching the other ponies wearily.

Half way through the story about how they first met Trixie everyone heard thundering crack then saw rainbow ring sweep over the farm in the wake of the forceful thunder, and everpony's mane was tussled as if it were caught in a strong wind for a few seconds only for everypony to see a cyan blue pegasus mare with a rainbow mane descend next to Twilight and hug her excitedly and say with a voice just as excited as she looked, “Twilight I thought I wouldn't be seeing you for a few days, you know the Jr Wonderbolt Academy, of course you do because you know just about everything, well Cloudsdale decided to move the academy to Ponyville. I'm still the only instructor at the school, but with you there it might up some attendances.”

“Nice to see you too Rainbow Dash,” said Twilight calmly while using her magic to gently pry the blue pegasus of herself, “you must really miss Pinkie Pie, because you just talked and acted like her.”

Rainbow Dash gave a little blush and said, “Well there is that, but a few hours before I started my trip back to Ponyville I was told the news about the academy,” her eyes went wide after this because she noticed a little black unicorn with a white mane trying to hide under Twilight's wing and a smile crawled over her muzzle just as she started to say, “so Twi, whose the precious bundle next to you?”

“My new student, Eclipse Touch,” said Twilight, “she's really shy right now and is feeling very uncomfortable around so many new ponies, she hid under my couch when Fluttershy dropped by yesterday.”

“So, who duped you into foalsitting her,” said Rainbow Dash knowing the answer already, “the Princess, right.”

“Princess Celestia put me in charge of her education,” said Twilight with assertion and flapping her wings as she stamped the ground with a forehoof.

“That's all nice and dandy,” said Rainbow Dash, “but you are just going to turn her into another egghead.”

“There is nothing wrong with teaching somepony the quality of a proper education,” said Twilight with authority while giving Rainbow Dash a glare and then they both burst out laughing.

“I missed that sort of thing while you were gone Rainbow,” said Applejack, “extreme obstacle race through Ponyville the day after tomorrow?”

“You are so on, and if I can't use my wings then you have to check the hurdles for damage after every jump, we have to keep things fair right,” said Rainbow Dash with a grin.

“Works for me,” said Applejack, “it'll give me chance to find out if yer rigging the game.” During all of this Eclipse just tried to hide under Twilight's wing.

“She really is uncomfortable with all this,” exclaimed Apple Bloom while watching the filly, maybe this will calm her down,” with that she reached into a cooler that Eclipse had mistaken for an old fashioned table and pulled out a bottle which was green and had a red apple on it and passed over to Twilight who popped the top with her magic and gently slid it between the filly's hooves.”

“Here you go Eclipse,” said Twilight during the gesture, “you might like this.”

“Won't she jus' use her magic on the bottle,” inquired Apple Bloom.

“She has an ability that cancels out magic from anypony, including herself,” said Twilight, “she still can't reign it in, so she's scared of using her own magic out of fear that it might stop working.” They both watched as Eclipse stared at the bottle then took a test sip and then immediately chugged down the rest of the bottle after her first sip, “that means she likes it,” said Twilight with a smile.

“What did they feed you back home,” asked Applejack as she and Rainbow Dash trotted up next to everypony.”

With a scared look and hung head Eclipse Touch said, “all Dream Step and I got fed was wheat and lemongrass salad, it didn't taste very good and a bit before coming to Equestria I learned that it was enough to barely meet our nutrient requirements,” then in a mocking female pretentious tone said, “'you get better food when you show better magic',” then in her normal voice, “that's what mother would say and that's why I get excited with all these new foods, they taste so good, mother only let us drink some kind of mineral water she claimed would enhance our coats and magic,” she finished with a sad tone and started crying.

“Now I want to see those memories even more just see if she was exaggerating,” said Applejack, “who promises and threatens a foal with better food as a reward when they clearly have the resources to properly feed them?”

“Her mother doesn't sound like somepony that hasn't been out of Canterlot,” said Rainbow Dash with a note frustration in her voice.

“Come on girls,” said Twilight, “the princesses have had access to the spell since yesterday and have probably been studying it very closely,” with that Twilight started trotting towards the train station with Eclipse close behind.

“Wait, what spell?” said Rainbow Dash practically leaving an afterimage of herself as she aerial dashed to float almost over Twilight.

“That little filly brought a spell book that lets a pony witness a another pony's memories,” said Applejack trotting up next to Twilight, “personally I want ta experience the spell myself, an' maybe Twilight can use it on some of the animals that keep wandering off to find out why they keep doing it.” A few minutes later they had their tickets and were on the train headed for Canterlot.

Three minutes into the ride Rainbow Dash moaned, “couldn't we have just flown there? Twilight can't you just teleport us there?”

“A few reasons those plans won't work,” said Twilight, “Eclipse's spell canceling ability will most likely terminate the spell before it can activate or make the spell cut out part way, and on the matter of the part way we could end up anywhere from the cloud cover to who knows how far underground and possibly with one or more limbs in the material of where we reappeared. As to the second one we have 4 ponies, only 2 of which are fliers, and the amount of energy for both of us to carry another pony is determined by their weight and mass, not to mention the experience would most likely be very foreign to Eclipse and she might end up accidentally hurting somepony out of fear or we could find out how effectively her ability affect pegasi.”

“Okay, so flying with a unicorn that does not have experience being held while in flight is bad, got ya,” said Rainbow Dash looking with concern at Eclipse Touch, who was once again trying hide under Twilight's wing, “you know she's really quite cute when she does that,” said Rainbow Dash with a warm smile. After the train Ride Rainbow Dash asked about Fluttershy, but before anypony could answer the yellow pegasus mare fluttered down to greet them as stepped into the station from the train. When they arrived at the castle both Pinkie Pie and Rarity were standing next to the princesses, Rarity was actually looking over the spell herself when the other 4 trotted in with Eclipse.

“It's so good to see you all again,” said Rarity with a prim and proper sounding voice after looking up from the book, “the princesses said the more ponies that observe the better.”

“Then start with me,” said Eclipse with an assertive nervousness, “I know just the memory to start this off.”

“But sister,” said a little white unicorn with a black mane and indigo eyes, “your ability will cut it short if not prevent the spell entirely.”

“Miss Twilight mentioned what she thinks of that ability after watching me yesterday and this morning,” said Eclipse in a soft voice scared voice that made everypony take a quick look at Fluttershy, “and I really want to get this all over with.”

“I believe we've found a way to show everypony the memories,” said Princess Celestia, “Luna, Twilight, Rarity and myself will be taking part in a modified version of the spell. Alright everypony taking part gather 'round Eclipse Touch.”

“But I haven't studied the original spell yet,” said Twilight with her ears falling back slightly.

“And Rarity just skimmed it a moment ago,” said Luna, “are you sure this is wise sister.”

“While ideally I would have liked to start things off with Storm Walker, Eclipse's volunteering will help us understand her ability's effect on the spell better so that if it does falter we can make the required adjustments. Also from the conversations I had with him after sending the twins off in your care and Twilight's I believe we might have to rush a few things.” With that she placed her horn on top of Eclipse's and the others touch the tips of their horns to Celestia's and each other's. And then everypony was surrounded in magical sphere just as Discord popped in with a bag of gummy worms and movie theater style soda that were both half his size wearing a pair of 3D glasses.

***********************************************

The motion of a young filly rousing from an extravagant bed greeted them as they heard an overbearing pretentious mare stating, “foals like you don't need this much sleep, you will go down eat your meals and like them, then an hour of study before your classes,” said the condescending regal sounding voice, then a white unicorn mare with well cared for black hooves and an equally well cared for dark green mane came into view and for a moment everypony's gaze went to her open tome within a magic circle cutie mark, and all the observers just watched as she verbally abused the host of the memory they were viewing before arrogantly trotting off.

After the mare had left a soft concerned voice to her right that sounded like slightly younger Dream Step said as they made their way through a lavishly decorated set of corridors in what appeared to be an extravagant manor, “you just let our mother vent like that and never say anything, I'm not sure if you're the braver one or the scarier one, we have to get out of here before we become like...” a bright yellow unicorn mare with dark a dark orange mane and cutie mark of a smiling sun in a bottle greeted them at the stairs with a demeanor that looked like a poor imitation of Pinkie Pie, “Sunshine Bottle,” hiccupped Dream Step.

“Mother is disappointed with your progress from yesterday again,” said Sunshine Bottle in a disturbingly chipper voice.

“We're going to be late for breakfast,” said a younger sounding Eclipse Touch with noticeable fear trying to pull her twin with her hoof towards a fancy spiral staircase that made Rarity elicit a slight gasp of awe. The 2 foals continued down a large hall at the bottom of the stairs that was covered in lavish tapestries and art, and thanks to the magic of the memory spell everypony could feel how plush the crimson carpet of the hall was, and then the polished fire marble that it gave way to as the twins entered the dining hall and went to sit at seats that were just as posh as everything else, only to begin munching at a simple salad that really did taste bland and only had a single glass of water that despite being able to taste the minerals within was also bland tasting.

As the twins headed for the library they heard their mother's posh demeaning voice say, “...if you want something flavorful as oats, apples or strawberries for them then I suggest you actually have them show some results.”

“You never taught them the basics, Grand Spell,” said an equally demeaning sounding well groomed all black stallion as he came into view near the library, everypony watching immediately noticed his overlapping set of magic circles cutie mark.

“For those with a natural talent for such difficult and rare spells the learning of the basics is beneath ones such as them, Grand Seal, and furthermore...” said Grand Spell as the 2 trotted off past to the library. Dream Step immediately went to tome that just had an image of a unicorn on it while Eclipse went over to a book that said “Nutritional Intake and Magical Aptitudes and How They Correlate” Dream Step looked over at her for moment.

“I'm learning the family history like she wants and you're reading up on what foods are good for magic, she's not going to like it.” Eclipse actually ignored the filly and was leafing through with her hooves when Grand Seal's voice boomed through the room saying in a condescending voice, “you should be using your magic to flip the pages, you must flip the pages with your magic.” Eclipse quickly dropped her hooves to her stool and showed a great deal of strain flipping through the pages of the book before stopping at 'wheat and lemongrass' then they could hear the sound of their father clopping away, Dream Step loudly sigh with relief when the sound faded away.

Turning her attention back to the book's article everypony read along with Eclipse how the mixture was good for maintaining health and magical abilities, but was not useful for developing in any way shape or form. After almost a full hour of reading about plants, most of which Twilight was unfamiliar the 2 left the library and ended up in a lecture hall that looked like it could hold dozens of ponies and only had Sunshine Bottle, Dream Step, Eclipse Touch and their mother.

“Now as you remember from yesterday the precepts of plant manipulation are simple, all you have to do is command the plant with your magic to grow or regress. She floated a sunflower seed on to the desk in front of Sunshine bottle, a tulip bulb was set in front of Dream Step and a cherry seed was dropped in front of Eclipse Touch, “I want you to grow all of these to point their flowers are blooming,” continued Grand Spell, “you have the whole 4 hour class period to work on it, at twenty minutes to the end of class I will be checking more closely on your progress, begin.” A half hour later a fully mature sunflower was already in front Sunshine Bottle and a quarter grown tulip was emerging from the bulb, but Eclipse Touch had been straining the entire time and all she had managed to do was get one of the smaller books behind her to hit her in the back of her head.

Eclipse Touch looked like she was breaking down and just tapped her horn to seed and in a very light flash of her purplish-green she quietly said to herself and the seed, “you were never alive to begin with, you were gone before I even got a chance to see you, I hope that someday I can see what you could have become.” 2 minutes later, while Sunshine Bottle still had a stable plant the progress that Dream Step had made was completely undone and every attempt she made to regain her progress was met with failure. When their mother returned she praised Sunshine Bottle and just gave disapproving looks at the 2 fillies. After class was a lunch that was identical their breakfast, except Sunshine Bottle was there enjoying a daffodil and crocus flower salad with chilled apple cider just across the table from them without a care in the world. After lunch a 3 hour class on the exact same thing, this time with Eclipse receiving a peach pit while Dream Step and Sunshine Bottle got lilac bulbs. Once again a fully matured flower was in front of Sunshine Bottle and this time just bare whispers of seedlings were before the twins by end of the 3 hour period.

“It's an improvement,” said Grand Spell with a highly disapproving voice, “you 2 study, 2 hours now,” said the mare and then in a condescending voice continued, “if you aren't reading up on any spells then no supper tonight or breakfast tomorrow.”

“Yes mother,” said the twins in an identical uninterested defeated tone as they left the lecture hall and headed for the library.

“Keep an eye on your baby sisters,” said Grand Spell in an approving tone to Sunshine Bottle who immediately nodded and walked with the twins to the library.

Once at the entrance to the library they noticed a younger looking Storm Walker who just said in a monotone voice, “her regalness, our mother, has insisted I watch the door to ensure you do not attempt another escape and I am to accompany you to dinner this evening,” then in a more animated yet bored voice he said, “I don't know why she even bothers with the formality anymore, non-unicorns aren't allowed in the dining hall, but all family members must be present for special event meals. You would think that... Sunshine your horn is glowing again why is it glo...” Storm Walker gave blank stare for few seconds before shaking his head after a dark yellow aura surrounded his head, “will you stop trying to use that joy spell on me, we already know it doesn't really work on me and when it does manage to affect me it doesn't even last a full minute. And don't try it with the twins remember what happened last time.”

“But you need to be happy, mother insists you be happy whenever you're in the manor,” said the yellow unicorn mare with a less animated voice that actually sounded like her masquerade was being undone.

“You don't know what true happiness is, none of us do,” said Dream Step as she used her magic flip through large tome with a magical symbol overlaying a flower embedded in the spine, “I suspect we never will as long as we're stuck in this place.” Eclipse Touch after that managed to pull a book that looked exactly like the one that original spell had come from and tossed it open physically with her horn and began rapidly flipping through the pages only paying attention to chapter titles and page numbers before stopping at the page for the original memory spell and focusing in on the page number only a couple of seconds before quickly closing the tome with her hooves and pulling out a smaller tome that was sky blue with the image of a magic circle and some unknown creature on the spine, the title page said it all 'The Principles of Summoning: an Introductory Guide' everypony watching took a quick look at Eclipse Touch who was now looking so tired that she looked like she was going to pass out then back to the memory. 2 hours later the 4 were walking in to the marbled dining hall and everypony stopped seeing a magnificent dark blue unicorn stallion with silvery gray mane in a regal purple cloak with a fancy looking crown and an elderly looking bright blue mare with a graying teal mane and a cutie mark that looked like an extravagant charm anklet with a jack playing card and wand all close together.

“Grand Charm,” said the crowned stallion with a self-important arrogance, “am I to assume these are your grandchildren.”

“Indeed, my king,” said the elderly mare with a disapproving voice, “the ones that interest you the most have unfortunately made very little progress in their magical studies, our curriculum is superior so there is no need to change it, those 2 fillies just seem to lack the ability to learn.”

“A pity,” said the crowned stallion, “if it were not for that one little problem that persists we could more effectively negotiate an alliance of our houses, the ability to neutralize any spell is of particular interest to me and my war plans, there is talk that revolution is rumored now more than ever, we must remove the threat to our power before it comes undone.”

“My king,” said the tall black Stallion, “if I may be so bold? Would you not think it wise to increase our likelihood of supporting your efforts should such a travesty befall us by having one of our own and one your own in each other's manors so as to more effectively correspond with one another.”

“An excellent suggestion Great Seal,” said the crowned unicorn, “I will leave my most trusted lieutenant in your care and you will leave lady Sunshine Bottle in mine, agreed?”

“Sadly that cannot come to pass,” said Great Spell, “while Sunshine Bottle is an incredibly capable unicorn in the ways of magic she is also a simple minded thing that would forget half of what you told her the moment she left the room, no I'm afraid for such a transaction to be effective then Great Seal would have to be your correspondent, after all I'm still instructing foals and lady Grand Charm is our matriarch. We simply can't have such ponies taken from their territories without allies and enemies trying to take advantage of such absences.”

“Agreed,” said the crowned unicorn, “who knows when allies will become enemies in an effort to pad their chances of remaining in power during and after the revolution. What is that orange pegasus doing here? He could be a spy.”

“He's worse than that,” said Great Spell, “he's our shame, a stain on our proud lineage; a pegasus born from 2 pure unicorn bloodlines, going back over two-hundred generations we have been unable to find so much as a rumor of any of our ancestors dallying with a lesser class of pony.”

“I see,” said the crowned unicorn narrowing his eyes, “and since the edict that all family members must be present at meetings such as this is effectively a law of our land that even I would not dare remove or alter we have a slight problem here, make sure to rectify any behavioral issues he has before our next meeting.”

“As you wish, King Artanus, for you are our greatest alicorn,” said Great Seal, Great Spell and Grand Charm in unison as they bowed before him. Then the memory flickered out and Eclipse Touch collapsed on the floor and looked like she needed to sleep for week.

**********************************************

“How much are you willing to bet that 2 of those snakes in pony coats are going to play the foreign diplomat card just so they can find these here fillies,” said Applejack in an angered voice.

“There are nowhere near enough gems and bits to cover a debt that large,” said Rarity with sense of importance tossing her mane back with hoof in an elegant manner.

“I was aware of Canterlot nobles making similar arrangements from time to time,” said Celestia as evenly as possible, “but did not think that an entire nation would be founded on such principles, it is a disgrace.”

Keeping a calm voice herself Luna said, “what they won't know is that we've already seen the memories of the ponies they ask about, then we'll just have them allow us to view their memories in that correspond to the ones we've witnessed, but it seems the longer the memory the more draining it is for the one providing it when viewed by others.”

“Which makes sense to a degree,” said Twilight leaning down to comfort Eclipse Touch, “we're effectively forcing copies of memories to display themselves around us with this modified spell, it could be draining on anypony for a few minutes worth of memories and we just watched what amounted almost 8 hours worth of memories, I'm surprised she didn't pass out, from now on we'll have to do all memory viewing in bursts that each have a maximum of twenty minutes in order to give the pony providing the memories to time to recover.”

“Here ya go,” said Pinkie Pie presenting Eclipse Touch with a variety of sugary treats.

“Pinkie Pie that's not what we give an exhausted filly; it could ruin her body, not mention her coat and mane,” said Rarity floating away the sweets away and presenting the filly with a tea cup that had a still steaming liquid that smelled of honey and peppermint. Eclipse took sip of the warm liquid then downed the rest in a hurried gulp, then blushed with embarrassment and hung her head with her ears flat like she thought she'd be in trouble for drinking the tea wrong. “Twilight, darling,” said Rarity as she scooted closer to the lavender alicorn, “from what we just witnessed I would say that the very act of taking those books scared her more than anything in the world, but she was afraid of how much worse things would be if she hadn't brought them, also she seems to think I'm going punish her over tea etiquette in a way that is worse than when I taught Sweetie Belle the proper way to have tea, she obviously knows the rules but never practiced them which is a worse crime of etiquette far the ones who taught Sweetie.”

“She obviously has had rules drilled into her since she was a very little foal, which is actually worse when you think about it,” said Twilight, “she was never given the chance to truly be a filly and was prevented from making friends. I'm going to make sure the mistakes I made in friendship before meeting all of you don't happen to her, she's looks like she's near a point in her life that she'll need friends to lean on when or risk falling further apart,” She petted the little filly gently and just gave Applejack a look that said the mare should have some snacks on her that aren't filled to the brim with sugar, Applejack picked up on the look and placed 2 shiny green apples in front of Eclipse Touch from inside her hat, Dream Step's eyes went wide when she saw the 2 green orbs, and almost instinctively Eclipse floated one of the apples over to the white filly while she started taking joy filled chomps out of the apple in front of her.

“Oh, but cupcakes and lollipops,” said Pinkie Pie watching the joy filled filly munching on an apple, “oh who am trying to fool, seeing her happy is worth more than anything, especially after seeing how much she never smiled before coming to Equestria.”

“It seems I tormented the wrong nation with my chaos,” said Discord with a sense of self-reflection and then snapping his lion paw and hearing Applejack stammering about something and Pinkie Pie giggling and chanting something about being next, he slapped his face with his talon hand and his eyes moved to the back of his head where he saw Eclipse Touch hugging a new Applejack plush doll along with a Fluttershy doll, “note to self,” he said to a self-writing notepad that resembled his head that appeared as his eyes flipped back around to the front of his head, “find a way to make that annoying reactive ability of Eclipse Touch bring about glorious chaos and not heart meltingly adorableness... Oh who am I fooling, there's always time cuteness,” at this he made his own cute looking plush of himself, then took a double take when realized he was holding three in his paws. Heading back into the room he heard Celestia saying that it would be in everypony's best interest to go through the next set of memories in a few days. The memory had been very long, and was exhausting for both Eclipse Touch and the ponies that had done the memory projection to a lesser extent.

“I say we convene back here in 4 days,” said Rarity, “that should give everypony time to rest and also allow us to be a bit more familiar with the spell.”

“I agree,” Twilight floating a blank book, quill and ink from her bags then jotting down the memory spell as it was in the book, then after that copying the memory projection spell derived from it and a short term dream walking while looking at where Princess Celestia had written the projection spell's formula and instructions down. Afterward Twilight, all her friends, and Eclipse Touch were back on the train to Ponyville. They chose to pass the time by regaling a noticeably drowsy Eclipse with adventures from the first time Twilight arrived in Ponyville and up through their many experiences and were half way through their tale of their first encounter with Discord when the train came to a stop in Ponyville. While on train ride home the sun and went down and the moon rose.

When they arrived back at Twilight's castle Eclipse was still holding tight to her new Applejack and Fluttershy plushes and subconsciously picked up the Twilight doll with her magic as she passed by it, “I'm hungry and tired, but more tired than hungry,” said Eclipse in a groggy voice and Twilight wondered what was keeping the filly on her hooves as said filly headed to her room. Eclipse placed Applejack and Fluttershy on the windowsill and crawled into bed snuggling the Twilight plush with a look of genuine comfort on the filly's face.

“Sweet dreams, little Eclipse,” whispered Twilight as she shut the door gently behind her and heading into the kitchen, ignoring how tired she herself was. Once in the kitchen, alongside Spike whom was now much better at keeping late hours, Twilight floated a pair of white picnic baskets that had her main star emblazoned on them and set them on the table before getting out the ingredients for dandelion leaf and daisy sandwiches and ingredients for mint and daffodil wraps then began making a couple dozen of each and setting the sandwiches in the closer basket and the wraps in the further basket. After she was finished and closed the basket lids Spike carefully placed them in the fridge and with a wide yawn from both he and Twilight headed up to her room, with Twilight realizing just how tired she was.

here

Author's Note:

Something you'll notice is that 2 chapters will focus on Twilight and Eclipse Touch and then pan to 2 chapters around Luna and Dream Step which are taking place at around the same time Twilight and Eclipse are having their things going on. Send me your thoughts on this setup. I would also like to thank zachary56 for having the commitment and kindness to go through each of the chapters of this story and send me a version with my little typos and hiccups corrected, you sir have a nobility that should be on display more often, and I consider you a knight among the Bronies.