> Luna's Eclipse > by enamis > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Part 1 - A new life > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Dragon's Kin' Chapter 1 - Luna's Eclipse Part 1 A new life It’s been a few years since their noble adventures. The mane six have settled down and found a life of their own. Twilight sits in her library next to a cup of coffee, its past noon already but she just got back from Canterlot a few days ago, and she had a lot of midnight-book-sorting to do. She had dark circles under her eyes and her eyelids were heavy. The temporary librarian she hired didn’t do a particularly good job keeping up with Twilight’s standards. She yawned. A quiet knock came from the general direction of the front door. At first Twilight thought it was just some foals having a laugh but the seemingly unnoticeable knocking continued, with short intervals of silence in between. Twilight was still incredibly tired and the caffeine hadn’t kicked in yet. She forced herself out of the kitchen chair and slowly made her way to the door. After a few moments she opened the door with her magic and saw a particular yellow figure slowly moving away, “Fluttershy!” The yellow Pegasus turned around, “Oh Twilight! I'm really, really sorry. I must have woken you up, don’t worry I’ll come back later. ” As she turned around continued to walk away, Twilight trotted up to her and said, “Fluttershy you didn’t wake me up, I was already up for hours!” She over-exaggerated just a bit to make Fluttershy feel a little better. “Umm, how about we get inside?” she said the very moment she realized that she had the worst bed-mane known in the universe, the type that would make Rarity pass out on first site, “I’m not going to make you walk across New Ponyville twice just to see me.” “Oh it’s no big deal, really, since the fire, it seems that our homes are closer than ever.” As they walked inside Twilight continued, “Sooooo… umm you came here for something? ... Fluttershy?” “Oh, umm, yes I completely forgot. I just wanted to let you know that Rainbow and Spitfire are coming over from Cloudsdale for a favor or something and that Pinkie is going to throw a BIG party! A-again…” “A welcome back party?” “Not just for them,” Fluttershy smiled, “but for you as well.” “Humph I guess I didn’t even realize, since I came back you and Lyra are the only ones I’ve seen.” “That’s not all Twilight,” she continued, “just like Pinkie said herself this party is also *gasp* happy-one-month-birthday-little-Sky-Apple-and-congrats-on-the-halfway-point-Rarity-and-Spike-and-welcome-back-Twilight-and-Rainbow-Dash-and-guess-what!!!” After she cought her breath, Fluttershy made her cute little ‘squee’ and said in an unusually loud voice “Eeeeeeeeeeeeep! I’m gonna be a mommy!!!” Twilight stood there confused about the shy pony’s sudden outburst. Her eyes stretched wide as she processed what Fluttershy said and all she could muster up was a weak “Congratulations!” Still a little confused, the former-librarian was pulled into a tight but gentle hug. Fluttershy was practically shining with happiness. Twilight had no choice but to smile and be happy for her friend. Twilight threw her thoughts directly out of her mouth not thinking twice as she usually does “Big Macintosh must be so proud.” Suddenly the hug stopped, Twilight slid out of Fluttershy’s hooves confused at what she said wrong. “I… I haven’t t-told him yet…” Fluttershy looked at the ground almost as if embarrassed. “W-why not Fluttershy?” “I don’t know Twi’… I just don’t know… maybe because, he might not like it… maybe Big Mac-y-wack-y just doesn’t want any little fillies or colts running around yet. Oh Twilight I just don’t know what to do!” Fluttershy threw her hooves around Twi and began to quietly sob on her shoulder. Twilight knew that Fluttershy was timid and fearful but not so much that she wouldn’t be able to tell her loved one he’s going to be a father. Twilight picked up all her courage and grabbed Fluttershy by the shoulders and looked her in the eye. “Fluttershy! Snap out of it and look at me! Believe me when I tell you, if he’s ‘the one’ he will ALWAYS be there for you no matter how many times you mess up! And believe me when I say he IS the one!!!” They stood on the library’s wooden floor in an awkward position for a few moments. Fluttershy sniffed and stood up on all fours with confidence gleaming in her eyes. “You’re right! You’re absolutely right Twilight!” she turned around to face the door, “I’m gonna’ run home and look him in the eye, and tell him! And. I. Will. Make. Him. PROUD!” She dashed out the door with her wings flapping into the gentle summer’s breeze, for a second, Twilight thought she heard a “thank you” blown away by the wind. She smiled and shut her door to carry on with her own life. --------- *knock, knock* “HOLD ON!” a familiar voice shouted from the back if the library. It was none other than Twilight. She quickly trotted to the door while cursing the ponies behind it. Can’t they read? Honestly! She’d put up a sign “Under maintenance” is that not enough for ponies these days? Geez! She opened the door while taking a breath, ready to teach somepony a lesson on reading. But before she could even react, she was greeted face-to-face by a very wide smile. A few seconds after she was tackled into another awkward hug. A long forgotten voice was loudly expressing their emotions, “OhmigoshOhmigoshOmigosh!!!! Twilight!!! It’s been sooooooooooooooo long! I'm so-so-so sorry I didn't write, I was busy what the Wonderbolts and all, and you know how I HATE writing stuff. Sweet Celestia I've missed you so much!” It was none other then Twilight’s dear friend Rainbow Dash. While she was on the floor for the second time today, a yellow figure elegantly walked through the door. Spitfire. She looked a bit bare without her Wonderbolt costume, also she had combed her mohawk and was now looking quite classy. As the awkward hug continued, she began to nuzzle Twilight’s neck and it made her feel a bit uncomfortable. “Umm… Rainbow…? Could you please, uh,” Rainbow Dash suddenly shot back and up to her feet, she was blushing a bit, “Oh! Uh, sorry Twi’ I get carried away sometimes, since… well ya’ know… I haven’t had a simple friendly communication in awhile…” Twilight could feel that Rainbow felt like an idiot inside. She kicked around some dust. “No harm done, Rainbow.” Twilight reassured her loyal friend. There was some silence in between, it brought some tension to the both sides. Twilight spoke. “So… Fluttershy told me you were coming over… She also mentioned that you need a favor.” She looked back at the pair while slowly backing up to grab her half-emptied fourth cup of coffee. “Yeah, about that, it’s a bit personal if you don’t mind.” Dash said while not making direct eye-contact. “Not at all!” Twilight abandoned her quest for coffee and trotted over to the door, closing and locking it whit her magic, as well as closing the curtains on her way there. Then she returned to the table and with no further delay grabbed her cup and began to slowly sip it. Rainbow continued in her shaky, embarrassed voice. “Ya’ see… since we and Spitsy are married and all… and ya’ know I'm not the family type or anything… and umm well we were thinking and…well…” “We wanna’ have kids.” Spitfire interrupted in her calm, sexy voice. Twilight spat out her coffee in a demonstrating manner. “Well that was a nice way to just yell it out.” Dash looked at her mate with slight disappointment. “It’s for your own good Dashie.” She smiled. Twilight wiped her mouth off with her hoof and joined the conversation. “So, I’m guessing you need a spell from me?” “If you have one…” “Actually, now that you mentioned it…” she began running around the library with her horn glowing, “Back at Canterlot I remember that I studied some medicine and general health along with the average pony’s body. I found a good book and I KNOW I have one here, but the new damn librarian can’t even COUNT!” she went on one of her rants while she was running around. The two mares vaguely played attention. “EURIKA! FOUND IT!” Twilight was suddenly beaming with joy. Why? Because she’s Twilight, why else? She began ravaging through the book and suddenly stopped. “Ok this might just be the spell that you two need.” “Really? Are you sure? How does t work?” Dash seemed a tad worried while Spitfire still had that “cool” look on her face. Honestly did that mare even have emotions? “Ok so it says here: Impregnation spell best for lone mares who would like a little ball of fur in her life. This spell can be easily cast if you have mastered the C class average magic and it will be almost all natural except that the will be almost no diversity between the mare and her child since there is no other DNA available to mix.” Hmm… sounds good, are you to up to it?” The two mares gazed into each other’s eyes, Spitfire gently placed her wing on Dash’s back while giving her a kind an supporting look. It was her choice. “… I'm in, Spitsy.” Dash smiled. “Thought so.” Spitfire gently laughed. Twilight continued “I think you might need a place to crash for the night, since I heard the spell might work differently with two partners and furthermore…” *BAM* Something smashed into the front door. The three ponies looked at it in total confusion. There was some kind of annoyed mumble behind the large oak door. Twilight opened it whit her magic, but only a small gap. Suddenly (again) in her eye was staring a big blue one, “Hiii-ya’ there!” “Oh geez! Sweet Celestia!” Twilight jumped backwards a bit. Once she got back on her hooves she poked her head outside to door still keeping the couple in the shadow, “Pinkie! Don’t scare me like that!” she was a tad angry but the pink pony didn’t seem to notice, “Scare you? Are you crazy Twi’? Why would I scare you?” she giggled, “Besides didn’t you hear me knock on the door? Actually I'm the one who should be apologized to I mean I ran straight INTO the damned thing, luckily my nose isn’t bleeding since I bumped into it so hard and Twi’ why are you keeping your door locked anyway, in the middle of the day! I guess you were studying but that doesn’t mean you should LOCK your door I mean c’mon Twi’! This IS a library and somepony could have gotten really hurt!” Twilight stood there in the doorway for a quite some time, even her brain couldn’t decipher the pink pony’s babbling. Twilight shook her head as she shook away some of her confusion. It had been awhile since she had spoken to Pinkie and her amazing physic-defying ways, “So umm Pinkie… you needed something?” “Oh yeah, I forgot, I was looking for Dashie and Spitfire, have you happened to see them?” “Umm, not at all Pinkie.” Twilight put up an odd smile, she was never the best of liars. Pinkie on the other hand seemed to pay less attention than she usually does. She said with her voice and eyes drifting away somewhere, “Aww… too bad, I wanted to meet them before the party…” she began to turn around but suddenly became jumpy and her old self again when she saw a red stripe of a mane in between the door’s hinges. Pinkie somehow managed to rocket her way past Twilight and tackle Rainbow on her way in. As that tackle turned into a hug, whit those two on the ground, Spitfire looking more confused than before, Twilight used the chance and opened the curtains letting some bright sunlight in on all of them. “Heh Pinkie get off me!” Dash giggled “Ooof, you’re a lot heavier than I remember.” As they both got up, the gang, only now, noticed Pinkie’s expansive belly. Dash stuttered “Are… are you pregnant?” “Eeeeeeeeeeeeyup!” the pink pony exclaimed whit joy. “Then who’s the dad?” Twilight asked. “Oh I'm really sorry Twi’ but I pinkie-promised not to tell anypony.” The three looked at each other and nodded. “Alright Pinkie, a pinkie-promise is a pinkie-promise. You invented it, I guess you probably shouldn’t break it…” said Twilight. “Hey Pinkie, I overheard you talking about some kind of party. What’s that about?” Dash cleared the silence. “Oooooooooh-my-gosh! You weren’t supposed to hear that!!!” she mildly freaked out. “It’s ok Pinkie, I’ll pretend that I didn’t hear that.” Dash closed her eyes and tilted her head back signaling, that she meant what she said whit all her heart. Pinkie walked over to Twilight and dragged her aside a tad bit, “Twilight, would you be so kind to un-suspiciously get those two over to Sugarcube Corner at around 7:30? And you as well come to think of it…” She drifted away for a second. --------- Later that day the three ponies were making their way to Sugarcube-Corner. The entire way Dash was babbling on about the Wonderbolts and “How fast do you think I can go?” etcetra, etcetra. Only one sentence caught Twilight’s attention and ripped her mind away from over-thinking, about the spell she was preparing for her friend. “… and then we sorta’ hooked up, ya’ know…” Dash dreamingly mentioned. “Wait, you and Spitfire?” Twilight turned to her friend and asked. “Yup’, Me and Spitsy.” Dash replied and huddled a bit closer to her mate. “I'm really sorry, my mind drifted off somewhere.” Twilight pushed out a nervous chuckle, “Do you mind telling that again?” she smiled in hopes to hear ‘a good one’. “Sure I guess…” Dash looked at Spitfire and back at Twilight and began her tale. “Ok, so remember back when we… sorta’ broke up? Everypony went their ways… Rarity got that BIG offer in Manehattan, and you asked that ageing spell for Spike so the two could be together? Yea’ a little while before Soarin showed up in PonyVille, I got a letter…” {… Enter flashback mode …} One morning, when I had just woken up, I walked over to a pile of letters at my front door. Back then I still lived in my old cloud home in the Rainbow District. So, I mostly didn’t give a damn about letters, because they were usually just bills, and with that thought I threw the pile on my kitchen table. After I finished my coffee I decided to look them through. There was just a bunch of spam and, like I guessed, bills. But one letter stood out. It was made from the Nancy’s Sugarcane, the BEST and most expensive paper in Equestria! It was sealed whit a big red mark, and next to the address was a symbol… a symbol that made me skyrocket! It was none other than… [Epic drumroll] THE WONDERBOLTS! The flashback faded while Dash was trying to not faint. As if had happened yesterday. While leaning on Spitfire and slowly pacing forward she continued. “After I opened the letter, I packed my stuff in 10 seconds flat and bolted towards Cloudsdale. Later that very same day I showed off some of my awesome moves and instantly got accepted!” she took a breather. “At dinner the next day, I got seated next to Spitfire and that very day Soarin gave his last speech.” Dash looked over to her mare-friend and Spitfire turned away. “I remember it as if it was yesterday… “Mares and Gentlecolts, since we are gathered here tonight I might as well present my announcement.” I remember so much confidence in his voice… And then he said, “After some time in thought I have made a decision to leave the Wonderbolts once and for all, for you see, I seek a more… peaceful lifestyle… But do not fear, for you will have a replacement, a strong and confident mare, much like me… except, I'm a guy…” everypony in the room giggled, “Rainbow, will you kind enough to take my place and not let the Wonderbolts down?” Then, I suddenly realized… EVERYPONY was looking at me… So, I stood up and: “As much as I dream to be the greatest Wonderbolt, I will never be able to replace you, for you are Soarin, and that says enough for itself.” He smiled and lifted his glass of champagne. And then suddenly, “Cheers for our newest Wonderbolt and a happy future for Soarin!” the rest shouted. … That was the best night of my life.” Dash finished and drifted into happy memories. --------- The door creaked open and the light suddenly came on. A bunch of streamers shot out from… somewhere. “SURPRISE!” The three mares were greeted by the well known Party Cannon and a lot of familiar faces. Spitfire scanned the crowd and after locking on a well-known face she shouted “SOARIN!” and bolted forward even faster that Rainbow Dash herself. Soarin stepped away from a little crib and greeted the yellow mare coming towards him. As Spitfire crashed into him knocking him down to the ground, much like Twilight was greeted twice already, Soarin gently said, “It’s been a while, huh sis’?” While the two were getting up Dash and Twilight were crowded by four other ponies and a familiar alicorn-sized-dragon. “Girls!” Twilight exclaimed while laughing over the undecipherable chattering. “It’s been so long…” she quietly added. It indeed HAD been quite the time since everypony went their ways. Some have been closer than others, but they still have somehow stayed the best of friends despite distance… As the greetings piped down into just a heartfelt stare-off, Pinkie decided it was getting too quiet. “HIT IT!” she suddenly shouted and from the pantry emerged a familiar DJ. The white unicorn mare popped a record disc and suddenly some classical music started to play. “My bad!” she shouted while desperately rusting through a box of records. “Oh for Celestia’s sake! Don’t tell me somepony took it!” She looked around until her eyes (behind a pair giant purple shades) met a small white unicorn in the corner along with a toothless alligator fighting over a record. “Don’t break it!!!” The white unicorn also know as Vinyl Scratch jumped forward and pushed the two small creatures aside. “I should have left you with Octavia…” she quietly and quite sharply expressed. “Vinyl! I thought you were in Canterlot?” Twilight said as she walked over to the DJ who was wiping baby-drool off her record, while a soft-rock one was already playing. “I was, but had to drop by for old time’s sake…” Twilight tilted her head. “OK, ok! I owed Pinkie one, and this was pretty much the best way I could repay her.” she said while swapping the records. “Is that your filly?” Twilight curiously asked while pointing at the small white unicorn. It had an electric-red mane, just as spiky as Vinyl’s. She sighed. “Yes… One night stand… never again…” she lifted up her shades revealing her bright red eyes. They weren’t as cheery as usual. “Octavia had a concert tonight so I had to bring Classic Bass along.” “Classic Bass?” Twilight giggled. Vinyl smiled “Yea’, she was born when me and Octavia were already sorta’ together. Couldn’t decide which side to pick, so we just went for both.” She giggled. “Besides, I thought I’d catch your train tomorrow so those few hours would be spent whit at least somepony I know.” Vinyl smiled again. “Sorry to disappoint you Vinyl, but I'm not going back…” “It’s ok, I can wait a few days and…” “No, I meant I'm NEVER going back.” Twilight sliced the conversation. “Waddaya’ mean?” Vinyl asked in surprise. “I came back to PonyVille for a reason Vinyl, I'm finally home… and I'm staying here from now on!” Twilight slammed her hoof on the ground. “But… thanks, for the offer… Vinyl…” and she walked away while the DJ accidentally dropped the bass. --------- Twilight had a cup. A cup of punch. But the only thing that was bothering her about this punch was… How in Celestia’s name did you make punch orange? She walked around with that random thought circling her mind. Without paying any attention to her surrounding Twilight suddenly ran into a something that reminded her the new age roof paving’s… sharp and scaley. “Spike!” she cried out in joy as she saw her now-not-so-little assistant. “Twily!” Spiked turned around and without warning hugged Twilight. “Spike, it’s been years! How’s my little assistant doing!?” she was almost shouting in excitement not noticing the fact that she was called by her baby-name: Twily. “Better than you’d expect.” His voice was different. It was a lot more manlier… a lot more… un-spikey-wikey… It made Twilight wonder… Was it right for her to ask Celestia for that special aging spell? Did she not screw something up? Was this meant to be? “It hasn’t been that long you know… Remember the wedding two years ago?” Twilight remembered… She remembered clearly. “THIS is going to be the MOST fabulous day of my entire LIFE!” Rarity chirped. She was still admireing her wondrous white dress in the mirror, it took Sweetie Belle AND Applebloom just to be the veil carriers, since Scootaloo was the Ring Bearer. “Ya’ll ready?” an orange mare poked her head through the door. “We’re about to gittit’ all goin’.” “Please, Applejack, don’t rush me!” Rarity replied in such a tone that sounded as if she was going to start whining again. “Well we can’t start without chya’, so ya’ better start moving.” Applejack mentioned before disappearing in the doorway. “She’s right Rarity, we can’t keep them waiting for much longer.” Twilight who was standing right next to her best friend Rarity mentioned. “Ok, ok…” she sighed, “I'm just… just a bit worried…” She looked in Twilight eyes seeking advice. “Don’t think, just go for it! Your already here, there’s no point in turning back.” Twilight smiled. “You’re right Twi’!” her confidence was back and boiling. She walked over to the door and whispered “Thank you…” The door shut behind her. Twilight giggled. “Of course I remember, we didn’t have all that many Double-Weddings back then.” Spike let out a small chuckle and looked Twilight I the eye. “I’ve missed you Twi’…” “Me t-” “Spiky! THERE you are! Until now I didn’t believe I could lose an alicorn sized dragon in a crowd of ponies.” Rarity giggled after she was done interrupting. After a romantic stare at Spike, Rarity turned to Twilight. “Twilight!” without warning she pulled Twilight into a hug. “Mm, it’s been so long BFF…” she whispered. Eventually, Rarity let her friend go and was smiling all across her face. “I’d missed you too Rarity… I’d missed you both, Canterlot is as boring as the mountain it’s built on…” they all quietly laughed. “So,” Twilight continued, “anything big happening in Ponyville?” “As a matter of fact…” Spike looked down at his mate, “A little something, an addition…” he smiled, “AJ’s not the only one who’s been busy.” Twilight was confused at first, but taking a careful look at her best friend she finally caught Spike’s drift. “A-Are you…?!” “Indeed darling,” Rarity confirmed “We. Are gonna’ be… parents…” Spike said with a relived sigh. “I, uhh dduuuu… umm I… c-congrats… Congrats!” Twilight's brain had a quick reboot and she was back on track. She stepped forward and gave her friend another, but lighter, hug. “How far along are you?” Twilight asked out of curiosity. “How much was it? Like, four?” Rarity looked up at her dragon-mate. “Five.” He answered clearly. “Five it is then.” She turned back to Twilight. Spike gently placed his hand on Rarity’s back. Twilight hadn’t seen him like this since… ever… it was enlightening. --------- Twilight was wandering around aimlessly again. She had already talked to Fluttershy and Big Macintosh and was indeed surprised that she had spilled the beans so quickly. Knowing Fluttershy she could have probably stowed the topic for a day or two. And Big Mac was… glad, to say the least. “Twi’! There you are! Come ere’ for a sec, k?” Twilight was interrupted and almost dropped her punch that she was carrying around just for the laughs at this point. Somepony was calling her name. She looked around and saw Rainbow Dash waving. “What’s up Rainbow?” Twilight lightly asked as she approached a group of ponies. “Ya’ gotta’ look at this!” Rainbow chirped and pointed down at a small crib, while balancing a plastic cup of the same, weird, orange punch. “Isn’t he just soooo adorable!?” Dash squealed. Twilight came closer and saw a small colt lying in a crib. His coat was in a shade of very light orange and his short mane was aqua blue. He opened his big green eyes and yawned while aimlessly flapping his tiny wings. Everypony standing in the approximate area just d’awwwwwed. “AJ?” Twilight looked up. Applejack was resting on Soarin’s left side looking about the same as she always did. “Eyup, lil’ Sky Apple’s the name, and he’s my little game.” Applejack rhymed in an unsensible verse. The orange farm pony hadn’t changed the slightest, and that’s the way Twilight had wanted it. She looked at Soarin just for a second and it was no mystery that that was his little colt as well. On Soarin’s other side however, was leaning another familiar figure. Spitfire. The very moment Twilight looked at the two Spitfire stood up. She nuzzled Soarin’s neck and said “I’ll go grab punch big bro’, want some?” “Nah, I'm good.” he replied. It may have not been obvious at first, but Spitfire was actually Soarin’s little sister. After he had left the Wonderbolts Spitfire was seeking comfort, and she had found it in Rainbow Dash. And that’s how they met and eventually even got married… at least that’s how Twilight pictured it. After Spitfire had dived into the crowd, dragging Rainbow along, Applejack looked at her spouse whit slight anger. Without uttering single word, Soarin got the picture. “She IS my sister you know…” he offered a confident smile while raising his eyebrows. Applejack grunted and slightly turned away. “Faain’.” They eventually exchanged a nuzzle, but by that point Twilight had already dipped in the crowd and was gone from sight. --------- They clinked their glasses together, after that wondrous toast, Twilight seemed a bit uneasy. Rarity noticed that. Everypony besides her and Fluttershy were a bit tipsy, though Fluttershy was just tired. “Twilight?” Rarity said as she walked over to her droopy friend, “What’s wrong deary?” “Oh, it’s just…” Twilight paused and let out a sigh “… nothing, nothing at all Rarity…” she kept looking down in her cup. Rarity felt something was troubling her, was it something they said? She thought that it was best to leave her be, though before she walked away she gave her dear friend a light nuzzle and whispered, “I'm there if you need me…” Twilight looked up in her eyes and smiled, it was a weak smile, but a smile non-the-less. Rarity walked away while tapping the only glass in the area while she was walking. Everypony turned to her, “*ahem* Dear friends, it has been a wondrous gathering we had here tonight, but I really do think it’s time for all of us to go home to our OWN families. Though we should never forget that we are still in this together, no matter what…” She smiled and lifted her glass, everypony did the same. They clinked their glasses and plastic punch cup's one last time and after they downed their drinks, the crowd began to slowly “pack up” as they say. It was a wondrous night, it really was… but all good things must end, though that doesn’t mean that they are forgotten… --------- Twilight was exiting Sugarcube-Corner in a slow pace. Her mind was buzzing and her body was tired. She had told the Wonderbolt Couple that they can come around in a few hours since the two were still fairly awake. Then again, Twilight wasn’t all that tired ether… Rarity, who was walking a slight distance before Twilight, slowed down., “Spiky, go ahead, I’ll catch up.” Spike looked down at her mate, “You know how I feel about leaving you alone at this hour.” He gave Rarity a worried look. “Spike, I'm a full-grown mare, I think I can handle myself, thank you very much.” She smiled. “Ok, but don’t take too long.” Spike eventually agreed and laid a gentle peck on Rarity’s soft and well groomed cheek. Rarity slowed her pace until she was trotting right next to her dear friend. She began a conversation. “Are you feeling alright dear? Was it the punch? I told Pinkie to get the plain cherry one but she was all like “nooooo it’s supposed to special” bla-bla-bla.” Twilight looked up at her friend’s odd way of expressing herself. Right when Rarity hoped to see a smile or at least a giggle, Twilight however, just lowered her head once again. “Twilight…” Rarity tried again, “I have known you for so many years now… and I can clearly see that something’s troubling you…” The two had come to a complete stop. The dim streetlight was illuminating the plain stone paving of Ponyville’s centre. After a moment Twilight looked up. The wind was blowing and shadows were out playing. Twilight whispered, “Why am I so alone…?” ------------------------------------------------------------- Major thank you to AzureKaRyu for editing this big mess > Part 2 - That Random night > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Dragon's Kin' Chapter 1 - Luna's Eclipse Part 2 That random night The kettle let out a lout whistling noise signaling that tea was ready. Rarity picked it up with her magic and poured it into two magnificent porcelain cups. Rarity looked at Twilight and offered a smile while waiting for her to grab the cup with her own magic. She sat down on her new-found and quite comfortable chairs, next to a very low, glass coffee table. Rarity began a light conversation, “Well, midnight tea, that’s a first!” she said in her cheery and slightly high-pitched voice. “It’s nothing new for me, except I usually drink coffee at this hour.” Twilight mentioned while slowly sipping the hot liquid. They both sat in silence slurping their hot tea for a few minutes, “Twilight,” Rarity began, while putting down her cup, “what you said is still buzzing in my mind… You’re not alone Twilight, and you know it.” She tried to make eye contact but Twilight refused to meet her gaze. “I didn’t mean that kind of alone, Rarity…” It took a bit, until Rarity saw what was going on and she quickly saw potential as well. In an effort to once again cheer up her friend (which she wasn’t all that good at anyway) she bombarded Twilight with questions regarding… well everything really. “Do you have somepony special in mind, Twilight dear?” Rarity asked in one of her more gentle voices, “That’s the problem…” Twilight sighed, “Nopony wants ME! And the only ones who might be worth my time are like the 90-year-old professors that I used to work with back in Canterlot Academy!” Rarity stayed silent, for once she had no comment. “Look at me, now look at Applejack, look at Fluttershy! Look at Rainbow!!!” She kept yelling “Even Spike has a family!” she shouted. A second later there was a loud thump from upstairs followed by a long and loud “Ooooooow!” and then some quiet mumble. Unintentionally the two mares broke out in laughter. Suddenly Twilight stopped and with a serious look on her face asked Rarity, “Wait, how come he can fit the Carousel Boutique? He couldn’t back when you got married, so you had to go to that… whatever it was, hotel thing...” Rarity slightly tilted her head “We had to rebuild. Don’t you remember?” “The fire…” “It’s been over a year already… hasn’t it?” Twilight whispered. “I wish I could have been here… I-I could have…” she sniffled. “Twilight, you know how terrible Equestria is with news deliveries. You couldn’t have possibly made it in time anyway…” Rarity didn’t like where this was going. This wasn’t at all good in the terms of cheering up. “I still could have helped…” Twilight looked up for a brief second. Rarity bit her lip. “I could have saved him… I could have helped a lot of those ponies too… They could have lived their life to the fullest, not be handicapped and stuck in their houses!” Twilight shouted and broke down in one of the beanbags. “I could have saved him…” Could have… … Twilight stands in the Canterlot library. Everything seems so real, but she knows it’s not… There is no dust on the large, old books, the sand of the giant hourglass isn’t falling… it’s too quiet… Suddenly the library disappears in a black void… Twilight knows where she is… one of her worst nightmares… Just as the library disappeared a large fire rises all around her. Twilight can clearly see the enormous orange and red flames… she can hear vague screams of ponies…stallions… mares… fillies… She begins to run, the fire isn’t hurting her. She keeps running until houses appear on the sides and the empty void is replaced by a simple, stone paved street… The flames are licking the sides of the buildings and burning down the plain hay roofs to a crisp in seconds, she sees ponies running towards her… through her… she doesn’t exist… but why is she running? She doesn’t know but she knows that somewhere, something is calling her… so she keeps running. She sees pegasus pushing cloud’s at Rainbow Dash’s speed. She hears coughs and thud’s as ponies fall to the ground. She doesn’t stop, she still keeps running. In the distance she sees him… her goal… at least she thinks it’s her goal... A yellow pegasus whit a burnt green mane is limping forward carrying a small something, tucked in a wet towel. He coughs and falls to the ground just as Twilight reaches him. She leans over to him, about to help but in a blink of an eye she’s right back at the, once grand, entrance of PonyVille. She feels the smoke, she feels the heat. Its real now and she’s running out of time. Once again she runs inside the burning ruins of her hometown. As she enters she sees ponies exiting… their limbs burned and their coats covered in ash and rubble. She looks away… Running… running… Must keep running… The smoke is thick and it’s filling her lungs. Her mind is too numb to cast any protections spells, she just keeps running… After what seems an eternity she finally sees a yellow blur in the distance. Her mane is covered in ash and her hooves are burned and bleeding from the hot, cracked stone streets. She keeps running… She finally reaches the yellow pegasus just as he breaths his last breath. His hoof loosens and a little lime colored filly rolls out of the ragged and burnt towel. Twilight lifts the little one up in front of her, paying no attention to the flames nibbling on her tail. The little pegasus filly slowly opens her eyes. In a sudden twitch she throws the filly far, far away from her. It flies and hits the ground in a bad angle. Breathing loudly she slowly begins to back up. The filly twitches and rises from the ground. Its body seems twisted and wrong. It gets up on its fours but its head is turned backwards…. Slowly and whit terribly sounding pops and cracks the filly turns its head around. A large smirk runs all across its face, revealing its jagged and sharp teeth. Where its eyes should have been… it’s a pitch black nothingness… Suddenly the smile disappears and she can feel the town fading away in the never-ending void… The filly is slowly starting to approach her, its wings turned into tendrils of darkness and black magic nopony would ever dare to wield. Its eyes, now completely blood red and glowing, like the demons of the tales of the Everfree. A young voice barely able to pronounce its vowels says: “You killed my daddy…” As it echoes in the darkness, the filly thrusts it’s full, tiny body forward and strikes her right in the chest, knocking out whatever air was remaining in her. Twilight tries to use her magic but it’s blocked… The filly is approaching slowly and it pokes its nose right against hers. She feels cornered in the darkness awaiting her demise. The filly whispers, “You killed my daddy…” Just as she thrusts her sharp tendrils at Twilight’s heart, she wakes up with a scream… too close for comfort… --------- It was the nightmare Twilight kept having for about a month after the biggest fire in the Equestrian history. The Ponyville Fire. A witness, her savior, a pegasus by the name of Wind Chaser found her curled in a ball around the little filly that still sometimes haunts her dreams. Twilight was given a medal for bravery but was taken to intensive care to treat her burns. She didn’t have a chance to meet her friends and they didn’t have the chance ether, since everypony who could move, helped on rebuilding Ponyville. And that’s why it’s now named New Ponyville. Months went by and the need to meet her friends was pushed aside for more pressing matters. As Twilight was assigned to study the ancient arcane healing spells and other medical related stuff, her mind had drifted to 99% study mode. The only thing that helped her emotionally recover was the fact that everypony, besides that one stallion, was fine-enough to keep on living again. And a little something that made her heart ease was the fact that most Sweet Apple Acres, Fluttershy’s cottage and her own Grand Tree-Library-Home was fairly fine (besides a few burnt roofs and a few hectares of missing apple orchards). Rarity and Pinkie weren’t so lucky though… (and Dash had used her own cloud home to extinguish the flames) Just like Celestia, Twilight blamed herself for all that happened. As much as she tried to suppress it, it will always haunt the back of her mind… --------- “Twilight… Twilight… Twilight!” a familiar voice brings Twilight back in reality from which she had accidentally slipped away. She had remembered her nightmares… so vivid… But they are in the past now… more pressing matters are at her hooves. “Oh, sorry Rarity… I must have…” Twilight began. “Hush dear,” Rarity gently placed her hoof on Twilight’s lips, “it’s ok. You look tired, we can sleep down here tonight, you no idea how fabulously comfortable these beanbags are!” she tried for the umpteenth time to cheer up her friend with meaningless pep-talk. “I’d love to,” a smile snuck up on Twilight’s lips, “but I can’t. I promised Rainbow and …Spitsy…” she said that name with an odd tone and slightly shuttered. “That I’d…” she stopped and suddenly remembered the promise of ‘patient confidentiality’ she made. “I… umm… keep your mouth shut about this.” Twilight hissed. Rarity widened her eyes a bit but quickly regained her classy lady charm. She cleared her throat and said, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” followed by the appropriate gestures. Twilight had never seen Rarity perform a pinky-promise before, which meant she really did mean it. After a judging glare at her best friend Twilight continued. “Ok,” her tone lowered to a whisper and Rarity was forced to lean forward which signaled the fact that she was about be caught gossiping. Caught by whom? The high-class lady inside her, obviously. “Ok, first of all you didn’t hear it from me,” Twilight clarified, “secondly,” she made a dramatic pause raising Rarity’s tension to its highest, “Dash and Spitfire… wanna’ be moms.” She rushed the last part out of her mouth almost stumbling on her own words. Rarity gasped as she had never gasped before, if a vacuum-cleaner had such power, it would have sucked up an entire house by now. But before that could have happened Rarity choked on plain air and that gasp was cut short. She began violently coughing and Twilight had to pat her on the back and give her a sip of the already cold tea. After the coughing had stopped and Rarity had regained her voice she began questioning Twilight. “How?” she exclaimed almost forgetting to swallow the sip of tea “Are they going to get a guy? A conspiracy? Cheating!?” “No, no, no, no, NO!” Twilight calmed her friend before she managed to think up any more crazy ideas, “They just came around and asked for a spell. That’s it. Magic and nature will do the rest.” Twilight gave the shortest answer possible. Rarity’s pampered eyebrows were as high as they could go. This news was amazingly intriguing and would probably keep her up all night. Instead of saying anything she just coughed. “*cough* I better be going now. They’re probably wondering where I went.” Twilight said as she began struggling to get out of the overwhelming beanbags. “I guess so…” Rarity paused, “but do come around for a visit, here in New PonyVille business is slow but it’s honestly for the best. Manehattan and their nitpicky ponies. Humph!” Rarity did her best to regain her ladylike charm. As she escorted Twilight do the door she mentioned “Don’t worry Twilight, I’ll help you come up with something to solve your… eee, problem.” They hugged and Twilight vanished around the corner. After showing the tea-set in the kitchen and turning off the lights Rarity trotted upstairs. She didn’t bother to turn the light on in her bedroom though, so she just slowly felt her way to the bed from which radiated light snoring sounds. After tucking her tired body under the sheets she felt something touching her belly. She opened her eyes and saw a pair of big, green, glowing, cat-like eyes staring right back at her. “I thought you were sleeping?” she softly said. “I was waiting for you.” Her dragon mate Spike replied. “awww…” was all she said and leaned over for a kiss. After rearranging their different sized bodies Rarity gently emitted purr-like sounds as she settled in Spike’s bosom. Spike gently ran his finger across her big belly. “I love you.” He whispered. “I love you too Spikey-wikey…” she quietly replied and dozed off in her loved one’s embrace. --------- Twilight returned home with a light trot. She never realized that something as simple as talking and gossiping can brighten your day… or in this case night. As she went around the large tree to the entrance of the library she spotted two figures and one of them resembled a lamp. “There you are!” Rainbow Dash said the very moment Twilight entered the small lit area of her porch. “Where were you? We’d been waiting for about 15 minutes!” she didn’t sound angry nor disappointed, she just sounded a bit... worried. “Sorry I got a bit caught up at Rarity’s but I… Spitfire…? Why is there a lampshade on your head?” The yellow pegasus whose head was completely covered by a big red lampshade made out of creped paper spoke. Her voice was slightly muffled but Twilight could still make out her words. “Let’s just say…” she turned her eyes to Dash (at least that’s where her eyes should’ve been, but you couldn’t really tell) “Dash is a bit too energetic for a dancer…” Rainbow blushed. “Ok, we’ll get inside and I’ll see what I can do.” Twilight said in a serious tone but inside she was cracking up as she had never cracked up before. As Rainbow helped Spitfire to the couch Twilight quickly lit the library. After the fire, since the town had to be rebuilt anyway, ponies decided to trust this new and amazing technology know as electricity. Since the old tree was saved and suffered little damage except for a minor flood, there were only a couple of lamps and overall electric devices, so Twilight still had to rely on candles. “Much better!” she said as she lit the last candle. Without saying a word Twilight walked over to Spitfire who was holding Rainbow’s hoof in her iron grip. A swift move with her magic and the lampshade popped off bringing along only a few hairs from Spitfire’s orange mane. As the two lovestruck mares gazed in each-other’s eyes it was followed by an embrace as if they haven’t seen each-other for months. Twilight emerged from a corner whit the same book she held this morning and found the two mares getting ready for a long make-out session. “*ahem* Save it for upstairs will you?” Twilight interrupted while looking away As the two, noticed the sudden interruption Rainbow gently and quickly pushed Spitfire away to the other side of the couch while the two were blushing. Twilight just giggled and sat down in front of them while slowly flipping the pages. Rainbow entered full-on-worry-mode. “So, will it work? Is it safe? Will it work?” “You asked that already, and I'm sure you’ll be fine, just relax.” Twilight replied without even lifting her eyes from the book. “She’s right Dashie, we’ll be fine.” Spitfire smiles as she placed her hoof around Rainbow’s shoulders and huddled a bit closer. “Your right Spitsy, I can always trust my friends. I can always relay on them... I'm loyal like that.” They both giggled. “Ok, I think I'm ready.” Twilight said as she raised up whit her head still in the book. “You’re ready? What about us!?” Dash snapped, it seemed that this was extremely important for her, since she was overacting this much. “Relax Dashie, take deep breaths.” Spitfire tried to calm her marefriend as she imitated loud breathing sounds. “You’ll be doing a lot of that if this thing works.” Twilight tossed out a joke. The two just looked at her weirdly. “I uhh... umm… nevermind…” Her trying to sneak in a pregnancy joke didn’t quite work as well as planned. “Wait, you “think” you’re ready… Does that mean it can… uhh, like, like go wrong?!” Rainbow stumbled on her words trying to find the right ones “All spells are bound to fail at some point, Rainbow. It’s just the way magic works.” Twilight began a lecture “These however, are… different from the regular ones.” Twilight flashed the book’s cover. On it in bold letters was written: “Useless Spells.” “Useless?” Dash questioned while pulling her eyebrows in a matching pose/grin. “Yes, useless. Spells like puffing your pillow, making dust bunnies into living dust bunnies, making yourself smell like hay-fries and other random and stupid ones.” She slightly smiled “Spells that are next to extinct due to their stupidity or uselessness... or just ones that are hard to cast and the finished product isn’t worth it…” Twilight paused and the three were just staring at each other for a while. “But. That doesn’t mean they don’t work.” Twilight continued. “Most of the time…” she mumbled to herself. They stood there for awhile doing nothing again. The clock chimed 4. “Well if we’re gonna’ do anything we better do it now!” Spitfire cut the silence. “Umm. Ok, I'm ready. At your signal girls.” Twilight leaned forward pointing her stubby little horn at her friends. Spitfire looked in Dash’s eyes and smiled. They quickly kissed and took a steady position. Twilight squinted through her hair and saw the two nod. As Twilight concentrated all her magic into her horn a small purple aura began seeping through the very top. Like syrup it lingered awhile and then began lazily floating towards the two pegasus mares. After about the minute the two were completely engulfed in the transparent aura. Not as swiftly as it came, the aura suddenly bursted into tiny star-like sparkles which quickly fell to the ground. Twilight fell to the ground exhausted but the two barely felt anything. “Did… did it work?” Dash asked. Her voice was trembling just a bit. “I… I think so.” Twilight replied while she was picking herself off the floor while slightly panting. The two examined their hooves, stretched their wings but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Suddenly Spitfire was overcome by an odd sensation. She gently stroked Rainbow’s forehoof while she was checking her cutie mark. Rainbow did a swift move whit her head in reflex and bumped her nose into Spitfire’s. For a second they’re both eyes widened but then went into that kinky half-closed position. They began kissing once more and Twilight unnoticeably nudged them in the direction of the stairs. Eventually they got the hint and began swiftly ascending the stairs. Rainbow slightly fell behind and said “I… umm, sorry for the sheets…” Twilight just giggled and replied “Do you have any idea what the substitute-librarian has been doing up there? Don’t worry… eeeh, have fun…” Dash giggled and offered a simple smile instead of words. She turned around and ran up the stairs. “I umm... see you in the morning!” Twilight called out before Rainbow vanished the corner. ---------- As the sound became louder and louder Twilight forced her head under the pillow. She, in all honesty didn’t want to be a witness in this… strange expression of passion and love. She just dug deeper into the pillows hoping sleep will come soon. The painful thought that she was avoiding struck her heart once again. She was still alone… If something as bizarre as Dash and even Vinyl having a marefriend and possibly kids pained her. Overoccupied by that thought Twilight didn’t realize how easily she fell asleep and only woke when the Sun was already out. She yawned and looked around. She was still alone. On her couch. Downstairs. It was 10 in the morning. A light snort came from upstairs proving that she hadn’t dream the entire thing about last night. Twilight fell of the couch and slumped to the kitchen. Maybe that punch wasn’t all that good of an idea last night (knowing Pinkie Pie, Celestia knows what she’d put in there). Twilight hastily prepared two cups of coffee but then she remembered about her two friends upstairs. She made two more and by the time they were done she heard a noise coming from the stairwell. “Good morning Rainbow. Coffee?” Twilight said the very moment she saw her cyan friend. “Eh, why not.” Rainbow replied after a yawn. She grabbed a cup of coffee and gulped it down in one go. Twilight noticed her mane was much tardier than her usual uncombed mess. But she still said nothing as she felt that Rainbow, deep down inside, still felt embarrassed for going after a mare rather than a stallion. Lost in thought Twilight didn’t notice that Spitfire had entered the kitchen as well. “Mornin’ Spits’!” Rainbow’s loud and cheery expression almost made Twilight jump. Luckily they didn’t notice. “How do you feel?” Spitfire gently asked while helping herself to the coffee. Her mane was all messed up even for Mohawk standards. “I dunno’, I feel alright I guess… Do you think it worked?” Rainbow turned to Twilight. “Even if it did it takes about a week for the first… symptoms to show.” After slight brainstorming Twilight replied, “It takes time for that kind of stuff to work, ya’ know.” She added. “Speaking of time,” Spitfire interrupted, “it’s time for us the head back to Cloudsdale and get the sale done once and for all.” “Sale?” Twilight didn’t understand. “Yea’ were gonna sell our mansion and move to Ponyville. I’d thought you’d told her Rainbow?” Spitfire clarified while looking at her mate. “We didn’t agree on that!” Rainbow defended herself. “Well whatever anyway…” Spitfire ended the topic. “Wait, so you came here for literally one night?” Twilight asked while dumping a half-ton of sugar in her 2nd coffee. “We’re Wonderbolt’s Twi’. We come and go just like the wind.” Spitfire slowly waved her hoof as if she was stroking the horizon and the wild blue skies. “But we’re coming back so don't worry!” Dash clarified. The clock struck 11 with a loud ring. Spitfire strained her muscled and stretched her wings. Like a guard dog she looked at a single point in her view for a while and suddenly began shove Rainbow in the direction of the front door. The sudden push made Rainbow spit her coffee and begin an argument, “Woah, woah, woah, woah, Woah! Slow down! What’s the rush?” Dash tried to reason but it didn’t work. Spitfire just kept pushing her until they both slammed int the door. She finally let go and Rainbow lopped on the floor. Spitfire turned to Twilight and moving her mouth about half the speed of Pinkie (which was really fast) said “We really, really gotta’ go, helps for… I mean thanks for everything I will never forget it yada-yada-yada, we’ll drop by soon, BYE!” and she began to shove Dash through the ominously opened door. “WHAT is the rush?!” Dash snapped and dug her hooves in the ground preventing further movements. “I promised to meet Soarin on the way!” Spitfire hissed through her teeth. “Oh… I… I'm sorry I yelled Spitsy… I… Let’s go meet Soarin ok?” Dash smiled and used her hoof to raise Spitfire’s chin. She looked away but then the hugged her mate. They began walking down the road and right before they spread their wings and took off Rainbow turned her head around and mouthed “You’re the best, bye!” to Twilight. She said nothing and just waved as the two took off into the cloud layer. Twilight turned around to enter the library and continue whatever she was doing until she head Rainbow’s voice shouting in the distance “Hi Rarity! Bye Rarity!” Twilight turned around once more and saw a white figure approaching in the distance. As it got closer you could easily tell it was none other than Rarity, just by the sheer amount of makeup she always had on her. “Rarity what are you doing here?” Twilight trotted forward to meet her friend half-way. “I *gasp* thought *gasp* of *gasp* a solution!” She said as she was gasping for air. “Solution to what?” Twilight asked. “Don’t play dumb with me, Twilight, the one that we talked about yesterday?” Rarity said in her ‘I'm better than you’ voice after catching her breath. “Oh… that…” Twilight nodded her head and began to examine the pebbles at her hooves. “Cheer up darling!” Rarity placed her hooves in Twilight’s shoulders. “It’s been staring us in the face all along!” “I'm not catching your drift…” Twilight looked in her friends eyes in confusion. Rarity was gleaming with pride of sorts. “Your killing me! Just spill the beans!” Twilight let out a small laugh and that’s what Rarity was waiting for “What did you use on Rainbow Dash last night?” “A-a spell…” Twilight cluelessly answered. “What kind of spell?” Rarity continued. Like a sledgehammer, it hit it. Twilight understood what all this commotion was about. An enormous smile creped on her lips as she whispered “Becoming a mother…” “Under our noses all along…” Rarity confirmed. “The spell…” So simple. Too simple… ---------------------------------------------------------- Big thanks to AzureKaRyu for editing this beast > Part 3 - Daughters of chaos > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Dragon's Kin' Chapter 1 - Luna's Eclipse Part 3 Daughters of chaos. 9 months ago. Canterlot. The royal palace. Celestial bedding quarters. Eastern sun wing. 11:28 pm. A shadow lurks the hallways, sliding from one corner to the other. It moves silently. The creature avoids the full-moon-light shining from the enormous palace windows. It lurks in the shadow. A white pegasus guard is doing his nightly roundups. The intruder is lucky it’s not a unicorn for they are heavily trained in aura-seeking spells. The guard yawns and proceeds to move forward. So does the intruder. Celestia suddenly shoots up from the bed. Something has disturbed her. She sits up and looks around her bedroom. It’s an enormous almost empty room with a triple king-sized bed in the middle. A light silk canopy is the only thing keeping her bordered from the giant dark room. The sun princess won’t admit it but shes still just a tiny bit of scared of what lurks in the shadows… especially during the full moon. She grasps her blanket just a bit tighter. The moonlight is bright but even though her windows are huge, just like in the rest of the palace, the gentle moonlight still can’t reach the farthest of corners. Suddenly, footsteps. The princess quickly turns to her side. Nothing. She looks again, in front of her she sees that her, of course large, wooden doors are slightly ajar. She thinks to herself: “I-I guess I must have left those open… accidentally. Oh, oh or maybe a guard just checked up on me and couldn’t close the door because it was too heavy…. Yeah that’s right Tia, that’s right…. ABSOLUTELY nothing is wrong… nothing wrong… heh-heh-heh…”. Her pupils were shrunken, despite being in the dark. All the sleep she ever had was gone, all of it. “Assassins!”, the thought shot through her mind. “That damn Griffon King! I’ll buck him in the face next time I…”, her thoughts of swearwords was interrupted by more footsteps. They were getting closer! Tap-tap-tap Closer… clooooser… Tap-tap-tap She heard giggles. Giggles in the darkness. They echoed through the dark room. Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee Closer… closer… They were coming… IT was coming… Celestia just sat there with her muscles locked. She had nothing but her bare hooves and her damn pointy horn. Then something hit her. A simple memory from her fillyhood, it was the time Luna had given her that scare... Tia was outside in the darkness. Her father Cosmos always told her to keep herself and her little sister inside during the dark hours. Yet, Lulu - as she used to call her sister, had lured her outside. Tia wasn't afraid of anything. She was a proud alicorn and the daughter of the Demi-Gods Cosmos and Flare. Yet the weird creepy feeling of fear managed to sneak up on her. As Tia wandered the labyrinths of her families back yard she heard a light rustle of leaves. She spun around and was faced with nothing. She walked further to her sisters meeting point. A couple of minutes passed before Tia reached the centre of the labyrinth. It consisted of a large empty circle with a tree in the middle. That particular tree however was at least a millennium old, if not as old as the castle or the entire Everfree itself. Tia rested her back against the tree and shook off some leaves that somehow gotten into her little wings and tail. As she was busy mucking about she suddenly noticed the wind had picked up to an extreme speed. Tia would never admit it, as she sought superiority over her sister and the acknowledgement of her strict father, but she was afraid... afraid of the dark. Wherever the sun shone was her land, as though the magnificent beauty which brought life to this world seemed somehow tied to her existence. And the light’s only enemy... the darkness... The clouds progressively thickened and the wind became icy cold. Tia shivered and sought help from the ancient tree, hoping that it would be able to offer some form of protection from the darkness that was engulfing her. It didn't respond. As lightning struck she saw a tuft of magic, much like her fathers, approaching her at high speed. Tia had never been so scared in her all life . The very moment before impact the ball of spectral magic turned into a pony-like figure. “BOO!!! Ahahahahahahaha!”, shouted a familiar voice. As Tia regained her breath she saw none other than her little sister rolling on the ground laughing her flank off. “Lulu!!! WHAT are you doing!? You almost scared me to death!” Tia shouted. Her sister just wiped away a tear of laughter and replied, “Oh Sweet Tia, thou didst always gallivant about without fear... now I indeed have given thou a taste of thine own beverage.” She smiled at her angry sister. “Thou see dear sister, none are fearless. Fear is what makes us equines. Without fear we are perfect... and there is no place for perfection.” Luna said in her diplomatic and royal voice their mother had taught them. Tia remembered how they both had laughed it off. And indeed that was what her father wanted from her. Fear needs to be acknowledged. There was no place for perfect. The Princess of the Sun suddenly realised how inappropriate and foalish she had acted over something as a childish fear. She stood up on all fours and spread her extravagant wings wide. She shouted into the void of her bedroom, meant only for the ears of the intruder. “Show yourself!” Suddenly everything fell quiet. Not a single sound… She stood there for maybe a couple of minutes. “Was that a test? Could it truly have been a test sent by Mother or Father? To test me? To remind me? Oh thank you Mother and Father for you have truly-”, she couldn’t finish her sentence in time, due to the sudden interruption of an unknown shadow tackling her. Probably the same shadow she thought she had chased away. Celestia screamed, she screamed in sheer surprise. The intruder was on top of her somehow holding her down with its light body. It had to be a pony… it had to be. Without rational thoughts Celestia just kept flailing her bare hooves in all directions and erratically flapping her wings. Though somehow she had tangled herself in her giant blanket she kept kicking and punching and the intruder was shot off in the wall’s general direction. Celestia managed to untangle herself while breathing heavily, she looked at where the intruder was lying. In the half-darkness she saw… she saw… a pink mane… Her heart stopped, but just for a moment. She fell to the ground in exhaustion all of this had her heart working overtime. She lifted her head to see that the intruder was rubbing hers. “Pinkie…” “Gosh darn it Tia why do you have to be so rough!” The intruder was none other than the pink pony we all know and love. The one and only Pinkie Pie. She sat there with a slightly disappointed look on her face. She was wearing a rubber suit, which was the reason she was able to blend in so well. The rubber slightly reflected the light and the environment making Pinkie look almost invisible. They both sat there. Celestia wasn’t angry though, she was confused and on the brink of a heart attack though. Pinkie glanced at the clock it was 11: 34. “Omigosomigosomigosh Tia get up! We can’t be late!!” she jumped up and ran to Celestia’s backside and promptly began pushing her in an upwards direction with her head. “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon!!!” she kept quietly muttering as Celestia slowly began to move. Her knees were still weak from the scare Pinkie had given her. They began walking down one of the moonlit corridors towards who knows where. Well, they knew at least. --------- “Gosh Tia I can’t believe you actually forgot!” Pinkie looked at Celestia in slight disappointment. Her face was unusually serious. “Pinkie you DO realize I have much more important things on my mind at this given time.” “More important?!”. The pink pony jumped back a step or two. Her serious face lit up in anger, anger almost nopony has ever seen. “Tia!!! This happens once… ONCE in a MILLENNIUM! How can it NOT be important!?!”. She had leaned in Celestia’s direction so much it had almost forced the Princess to kneel. “Pinkie!”. Celestia straightened her body while pushing Pinkies face away with her bare hoof. Only now she realized that she was naked. She felt slightly embarrassed but pushed beyond that. They kept walking towards the massive door at the end of the moonlit corridor. “If this is so important to you did you at least bring the stone?” “Pfft! Of course I did you silly-filly! What’s the point without it?” Celestia lifted her eyebrow while she watched the pink pony struggle to get a ragged piece of a stone tablet out of her rubber suit. She helped with her magic while saying, “Pinkie, I know that what we are about to do will stay only between us until we die, though I’d still rather liked that you call me Celestia.” Pinkie looked at her in slight confusion “But Ti… I mean Celestia, Tia is still you real name, and why I can’t call you by it puzzles me. Which kinda reminds me of this one puzzle I completed like 2 weeks ago, it sure was a doozy! It had almost like a painting on it and… and… and…”. At this point Celestia had shut her out, not to be confused by her constant babbling. By the time they both arrived at the door Pinkie had fallen quiet. Celestia opened the massive door with her magic and it revealed a magnificent garden shining in the moonlight. It was only a few minutes to midnight, so they had to hurry. As the princess and the earth pony walked on the stone paved pathway they came to the center peace of the royal private garden. It was the statue of Discord… “It’s been a while since I’ve seen him…” Pinkie mumbled. “Pinkie can I have the tablet?” “Oki-doki-loki.” She handed the stone over and Celestia grabbed it with her magic. The rugged stone was gently placed at the base if the statue. Discord still had that look on his face… it gave Celestia the chill’s. {…Hi, the author here. I really do believe it’s time to tell you all about the tablet which is so frequently mentioned in this chapter. Let me begin…} Around eleven or twelve thousand years ago, at the very dawn of the sun and moon princesses there lived a council, the Council of the Great. It consisted of two earth ponies, two pegasi, two unicorns and two alicorns, obviously the princesses. Each of the pair was a male and a female providing equality amongst all, but they weren’t the only ones… There were also the Zebras: two from the brown striped tribe and two from the black and white. There were also Dragons, they were divided into four pairs: the land dragons, sea dragons and two kinds of flying ones, the big and the small. And last but not least were the Griffons. The Griffons were feared amongst all and they were only matched by the royal sisters. Only a single pair of the griffons stood proudly for their race, for they weren’t much into diversion. They were the ones that created the tablet which still has remained unnamed disregarding the millennia that have passed. The tablet consisted of the universal laws and had 4 copies made. One copy for each of the races. Through the times and wars which now seem meaningless, the pony-kind’s tablet has since lost many of its laws, some just crumbled away with time. But the most important law had remained in one peace until the first strike from Nightmare Moon. The law of punishment. The words written on the soulless stone had haunted the Sun’s Princess ever since she had banished her sister to the Moon. Haunted by guilt, she could not bare the fact that she had broken one of the last few laws which had united all of the different species. She snapped, but only slightly… enough to do what she did. She broke the tablet. She broke it into 14 pieces and gave a piece to the ones she held dear. They were mostly the ones who served in the royal palace. Two pieces went to her and her sister’s most loyal body guards. One went to her servant, he was always so cheerful. Some went to her gardeners and a few other ponies like that one mail-mare that was always there for her. Another went to her first subject, a white unicorn mare named Twilight, such an unusual and mysterious name. The very last piece went to her favorite head-chef, a purple earth pony named Apple Munchie Louisiana Pie. Her cooking was the only thing worth living for at times and her wondrous smile could cheer the saddest of hearts. A couple of decades had past and she had grown very, very old. Though Celestia had been there when she first saw her newborn daughter and even when she graduated the School for Gifted Unicorns even though she was a simple reddish earth pony. Lu’, as Celestia had called her, had brought some happiness to her dull life. Before she passed, Lu gave her daughter the peace of the tablet and her parting words were: “My dear, you will know when is the time to return it to its place, but for now keep it safe, safe from the world, for I have trust in you… my love…”. And she faded into the afterlife, which Celestia had long awaited, but will never be able to see with her own eyes …ever… Lu’s daughter was never really fond of the Princess and without her mother holding her down she went to travel Equestria. And thus’ the last piece of the tabled was lost for centuries. Until tonight… {…Nice history lesson huh? Get back to the main story, shall we?…} Celestia placed Pinkie’s peace of the tablet on the cold stone base of the statue. With it in place the full stone tablet was finally complete. Little did Pinkie know that Celestia had spent the last 2 and a half years looking all of the pieces. And tonight it was finished, tonight Celestia finally was able to redeem herself… because everyone deserves a second chance… don’t they? Celestia looked towards the sky. The Moon was at its peak. It was time, now or never… she gulped “Pinkie? Do you have the element ready?” “Of course I do!”. The pink pony was excited for some action, because one of the worst things in the world (besides no smiles) was waiting around and not doing anything. Celestia stood in front of the statue and the tablet, she was barely able to see in the dim moonlight but she managed to slowly read it. Pinkie was standing not far from her on her right. From nowhere her pink balloon-shaped-crystallized-element had appeared on her neck, shinning in gold and in all its beauty. She had also ditched her rubber camouflage-suit somewhere, probably in the nearby bushes. Celestia began to read: “From the elders we come. For what have you sinned. Each has a chance. A chance to regret. A lifetime of joy. Not taken away. We each have a chance. A chance to enjoy!!!”. She shouted the last part as her eyes and horn lit up. Her spectral mane began to reach for the sky. She kept repeating those lines over and over again. A ball of pure white and blue energy began to form at her chest, as well as at Discord’s statue and at Pinkie’s chest, right where the element was. The wind picked up as if it was sucking the air into a vacuum of nothingness in front of them. “A chance to regret!!! You must become PURE!!!” She shouted, while in front of her a concentration of energy formed. At first it was a ball, then it began to take shape. A beam from Celestia’s horn shot up into the night sky, tapping into the Moon and the void. She felt power flowing through her, power she would never dare to use. Tentacles of light coming from the three bodies began forming a fourth in the middle… The pure energy began to truly take shape, you could make out a head, ears, four limbs a slick and long tail a… Suddenly there was an explosion! It tossed the two ponies aside like dust, pushing them into the surrounding bushes. The statue remained intact, minus the giant crack where the heart used to be. Somewhere on the other side of Equestria something was blinking… In Cloudsdale, the luxury region, something in a glass case was blinking… a crystal in the shape of a lightning bolt. The residents didn’t notice… In New Ponyville’s outskirts two little gems were also blinking… in an old farm building, nopony noticed. Yet in a small cottage a simple stallion saw, but ignored and returning to his loved one. And in a luxurious boutique somewhere in Manehatten a familiar Dragon saw light from a locked jewel case and chose not to bother with this fancy magic he has grown so fond of. The world was at peace. Celestia dragged herself out of the bushes. She felt numb and powerless, yet still thanked her parents for not getting knocked out cold. In front of her in the moonlight, on the stone paved path laid an odd looking stallion. His head was gray with a small black Mohawk stretching all the way to his back, yet his body was a dark brown, almost chocolaty color. His tail, fur-less and covered in red scales. There was no doubt… it was truly Discord… He twitched and slowly got up. He seemed rather dizzy… no wonder actually. The more Celestia looked at him the more he resembled the real Discord. He looked just like him, no actual changes as she’d expected. He looked literally as if somepony had forced him on all fours and had shrunken him in size. Discord turned around and saw Celestia… a lot bigger then he’d remembered. He spoke in an odd voice, a lot younger than before. And he was missing his eyebrows which made him look young, as well that goatee; giving him a young-rebels look. He spoke, “Tia?” his vision was still a bit blurry. “Might want to explain what’s going on?” Celestia let out a slight giggle “Oh dear Discord… all you need to know is that every being deserves a second chance…”. She looked at her side from where Pinkie was approaching. Her mane looked a lot fluffier then usual, probably due to the strong wind the spell made. She had a giant, wide, honest and 140% happy smile on her face. At first Discord was slightly surprised but then his expressions changed and he face-hoofed. “It wasn’t only about the second chance dung was it…? You brought me back for her as well… didn’t you?” he looked up while still slightly face-hoofing. Celestia had no words and only put on a weak, awkward smile while Pinkie’s was slowly fading. “Lemmie just say one thing Tia… … THANK YOU!” he shouted and his face was burning with happiness (the same kind of happy when he was causing chaos). In two seconds flat he had jumped Pinkie and they were both on the ground making out. Celestia had no other choice but to blush and turn away. Celestia looked up at the sky. It was nearing dawn and the moon was beginning to pass, even though the stars should have still been shinning bright they were dull, powerless… drained. The Moon itself looked a bit unhealthy, “Hope Luna will forgive me…”, she thought. Celestia knew nopony should see Discord and that they had to get back to the Eastern Sun-wing as soon as possible. Before starting an awkward conversation she overheard Pinkie whispering: “I’ve waited years for you…”, and then Discord’s voice: “So have I my little bundle of chaos.” It was followed by more somewhat disturbing smooching sounds. Celestia did an “A-hem”, the couple looked over at her. “As much as I’d like to leave you two be, we have to get inside, I don’t want anypony seeing you two. Especially you Discord.” He sighed “Fine…”, he got up and lent his griffon hand to Pinkie and helped her get up. They huddled close, pressing their flanks together. Celestia couldn’t help but smile, they looked so adorable together. They kept moving towards the side of the garden. Only they went in the direction of the only door they haven’t been to. Celestia went first poking her head in the corridor, scouting to see if there were any servants or guards. A swift wave of her hoof signaled that nopony was nearby. They kept moving to Celestia’s room. There was a sharp turn,which she forgot to scout out and she ended up running straight into a pegasus guard. They both fell over and the guards silver armor made a loud *thunk* when he fell. “My sincerest apologies your highness.” He said while getting up and slightly nudging the Princess as well. “No harm done, umm… Silver Wings was it?” “I am flattered princess. For you know the name of such a young rookie like me.” The young guard blushed, the blush looked nice on his bright green coat. The Princess put on an awkward smile, trying as hard as she could to stand in front of the pony and the draconequus standing behind her . “Your highness?...”, the guard tilted his head to look past the princess through sheer curiosity. She took a step to the side blocking his vision. “Umm…”, the guard was still desperately trying to see what Celestia was hiding. They kept silently moving from left to right, from right to left until Celestia somehow got tangled in her spectral mane and tripped. Discord as well as Pinkie stared at the guard with their eyes wide at the sudden situation. The guard however was a lot more scared… his wings were almost as if they were jammed open from the sheer shock and sudden fear. Also his expression, while priceless, was a tad disturbing. The three kept staring at each other while Celestia tried to get up. The guard let out what was supposed to be a scream, which turned into a silent reversed gasp. With his pupils tiny and jaw wide open he looked comical, if he wasn’t wearing a helmet you just might have been able to see his mane shooting for the stars as they say. Before any more damage could be done Celestia quickly jammed one of her front hooves in the guards open mouth. As the poor pony was tip-toeing on the spot, his words muffled by the princess’s large hoof he looked at her with his big eyes, seeking an explanation. “I will remove my hoof now… but only if you promise NOT to yell and only to whisper.” The guard nodded. Celestia slowly removed her hoof from his mouth, it was all drooly but she just wiped it on the red carpet. The guard pressed close to her legs and looked up in her face. He whisper-shouted, “D-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-discord!”. “It’s OK my loyal subject, he does not need to be feared.” Celestia had put on her calming-maternal-voice, while the couple behind her were barely holding off from completely cracking up, that guard was priceless! “B-b-b-b-b-bbbbbb-but…”. “It’s OK dear child. I have it covered.” She smiled and winked, she could feel that the guard was slowly calming down. “You will be safe as long as you promise me not to tell a single soul what you just saw. And… I’ll make sure you get a raise and a spot in my private guard unit.” She smiled again. Just by looking at her you could feel comfort. “O…OK…” the guard was still shivering. As if he’d seen a hydra on his front lawn. Celestia whispered some stuff to the guard and after rustling in his pocket he gave Celestia a single key on a big keyring. She thanked the guard and told him to get some rest. She waved her head and immediately Discord and Pinkie began to follow. “Here”, she threw a key at Discord and it landed on one of his horns, securing a safe spot until they arrived at their destination. “Room 26, it’s down to the right. You can have it for the day. I’ll come back tomorrow night and I’ll find you a more permanent place to stay. Out of sight and out of reach of innocent ponies.” She smiled while tilting her head back. Discord and Pinkie both looked at each other, they already knew what to do for an entire day… Celestia turned the next corner. This is where their paths went in different directions. They stood there a bit awkwardly for a moment or two. Celestia turned the corner and said “Oh and FYI, you still have some magic… but a lot less, I hope you know that.” They each began walking down their separate corridors and one last thing Celestia shouted was: “Don’t make TOO much noise OK?” they heard her laugh. The doors locked. And so it began. ---------------------------------------- A minor thanks to AzureKaRyu ----------------------------------------------------------- And a BIG thanks to my unspoken friend John ------------------------- For editing all of this > EXTRA: Daughters of Chaos.1.0.2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A/N: I wanted to add this to the last chapter, but it wasn't finished back then. The Dragon's Kin' Chapter 1 - Luna's Eclipse EXTRA: Daughters of Chaos.1.0.2 Back in real-time Thunder. The storm cracks the sky with a bright light. In the middle of the Everfree, a castle stands, a castle that seems ruined, but it is not. While not noticeable from the outside, it’s actually brightly lit and inhabited. The door slams shut and a voice, plain and simple, shouts, “Pinkie I'm home!” A pink mane poked out from the corner of the room, “THERE you are, I was getting worried!” “Sorry Pink’s lost track of time.” A figure walks over to the pink pony. “Ya’ know, you look cuter when you stand on all fours.” The pink pony giggles, its none other than Pinkie pie. She pulls the figure (which resembles a pony) close and gives it a tight hug. “Oh Discord…” she sighs and places her head on his chest, “I wish you would have been able to come to the party… I mean, there were only the elements and their other halves… ok and maybe about half of Ponyville… but still!” “I know Pinkie… but you’ve seen Tia, she’s such a party-pooper.” The stallion like creature giggled along with Pinkie, he was none other than Discord. He leaned over and kissed Pinkie on the forehead. “You should go to bed.” “D-eeeeeee, I'm not a filly anymore, I do what I want.” Pinkie executes a swift move and turns on a dime, her tail lightly smacks Discord in the face sending him to a pink-cottony heaven. Those two, despite the circumstances, were still fresh in love. An odd couple if you ask me. Pinkie quickly finishes whatever she was doing at the kitchen sink and turns around while still shaking off the water of her hooves. “Ok I'm done now.” She walks out of the doorway towards her mate. She blinks and smiles one of her sexy smiles. As she makes her way up the stairs Discord walks over to the doorway and flips a switch. Almost instantly the lights go out, thank Celestia… Celestia had gotten them one of those… electricity generator things or whatever. And it’s a good thing there’s a small stream nearby that can power the thing. Discord quickly flies up the staircase and into their grand bedroom. He softly lands in case Pinkie was already sleeping, and quietly trots over to their alicorn-sized bed. He shakes off whatever was on his hooves during the day, and gently climbs into the bed. He shifts next to his beloved Pinkie. She mumbles something, probably telling him that’s she’s still awake. Discord nuzzles Pinkie’s neck making her giggle. He tries to press her close to him but finds that her pregnant-belly is making it difficult. He sub-consciously he mumbles: “You’re getting a bit chubby lately…” right after it’s been said he immediately regrets it, biting his lip in the process. Pinkie on the other hand, turns around and in a slightly angered voice says, “Well EXCUSE me, mister-who-doesn’t-do-anything-but-just-sits-there-and-waits-for-me-to-do-all-the-work-sir. It’s not my fault that Mother Nature had made these things so big.” She looked offended and shifted around slightly. “I… didn’t…” Discord tried to smoothen the situation. “I KNOW,” Pinkie laughed, “I was just messing with you!” she gently pressed her front hooves against Discords chest and pushed him. Discord giggled “You joker…” he grabbed Pinkie’s hooves and pulled her into a kiss. After a moment they made themselves comfortable and ready to go to sleep. The storm is still raging outside the thick walls of the ancient castle. Pinkie has her head pressed against Discord’s soft chest, while he holds his hands on Pinkie’s shoulders. Their legs crisscrossed under the blankets. They just look so cute together. --------- “D…?” a quiet voice echoed in the darkness. “Mrfh?” Discord wasn’t pleased. He always liked to sleep in, despite his hyperactive wife. After 10,000 years of numb sleep, you’d grown to like it. Discord tuned to Pinkie “What’s wrong? And please don’t tell me it’s the storm…” he wasn’t all that kind at the moment. “No D… it’s… it’s something more…” Pinkie’s voice trembled. “Then what is it?” Discord didn’t bother to turn on the light. Pinkie’s sky-blue eyes almost glowed in the dark, they seemed… off… her cheeriness was gone, now replaced with a worried and painful look. Even her mane had lost half of its fluffiness. It made Discord slightly uneasy. “Pinkie…” he was getting worried. He gently placed Pinkie’s hooves in his own, fingered, hooves. “What’s wrong?” he whispered. “I… I think… urgh!” Pinkie grunted in slight pain. “I… I think it’s time D…” The last sentence she spoke made Discord numb. Cold sweat forced out of his well-kept coat. For a second there, he just glanced in the darkness in total shock. “This can’t be right… not now…” he said to himself. But he knew he was wrong… “D…? I… gah!” Pinkie’s expression brought Discord back to reality. 10,000 years of uselessness… it’s finally time to pony up. Discord jumped out of bed uttering a single nuzzle on Pinkie’s nose, just to wordlessly say he’ll be right back. His eyes had adjusted to the dark and there was no time to light the candles. Right before he dipped down the staircase he noticed Pinkie twirling in a ball. “Poor thing… no time to waste!” he yelled at himself. After a few minutes Discord was rushing up the stairs. If it wasn’t for the… serious situation Pinkie would have cracked right up. He just looked so funny, balancing a big bowl of water on his head, a big medicine bag in his mouth… his wings served as towel racks. Pinkie pushed out a weak smile. Those nine months ago she knew what she was signing up for… enough stories from AJ’ and her friends about what THEY have heard from their relatives. And of course the Cakes… how could she have forgotten… but this wasn’t the right time to dip in memories. A sharp pain in her gut agreed. Pinkie twirled in pain, only now she noticed that she had really gotten big, and touching her own hooves was a chore. Trying to think of anything to ease the pain Pinkie twisted and turned all around their big bed. “Pink’s,” a familiar voice drew Pinkie out of the odd dimension she had accidentally entered, “how are you feeling?” It was Discord, he had dumped all the junk he carried upstairs and was now softly feeling Pinkie’s forehead. “How does it LOOK like I’m feeling?!” Pinkie hissed back. “Right… stupid question…” it was obvious to a blind pony that he didn’t know what to do. Pinkie took in a deep breath. “D…?” she hopefully looked into the obscured eyes of her mate. “Pinkie I’ll tell you right away before I screw something up, I have NO bucking idea on what to do now…” he gently squeezed one of Pinkie’s forehooves he held in his hands. “I... ghh… I don’t ether…” Pinkie forced a smile, “but we’re in this together… that’s all that matters.” --------- As lighting struck, its powerful sound was outdone by the screams of a mare. If a lonely soul had wandered so far into the Everfree at this hour he would probably be scared so much that their coat would turn white in fear. But as the pained screams dimmed down, they were replaces by the cries of a foal. --------- Discord gently wrapped a towel around a small figure. The little figure was as energetic as it could have been, tossing its tiny little legs in all possible directions. As he struggled to keep it in one place he finally won as the little one’s energy ran out. Even if Discord had gotten used to walking on four legs he could still easily walk on his hind legs. So he did. As he held the small figure in his front, claw-like hooves he abandoned an entire pile of towels, and a bowl filled with pink-ish water. --------- She was just laying there. She was panting in exhaustion. No surprise really. Her hair was deflated and as straight as it could be. She was none other than Pinkie Pie. Discord walked over to the bed. The couple exchanged a look as he handed the little bundle of hyper over to Pinkie. He was now a father. A husband of an earth mare. The god of chaos… a daddy… what has the world come to? He smiled. “She’s beautiful…” Pinkie whispered. “How did you know it’s a she?” Pinkie giggled, “Tail’s a-twitchin’.” Discord just smiled. Indeed their little filly looked almost exactly like her mother. Even if her mane was still dirty and sticky (Discord admits that he didn’t do an exactly wonderful job on that), you could still see the endless fluffy curls. The only thing that could differentiate the two was their color. Even if the room was dark you could still see that the filly’s mane was a nice ultramarine blue, and her coat, about the same, only a lot lighter. She looked nothing like her father. Pinkie noticed that. Discord curled around Pinkie’s back making himself her pillow. Pinkie just closed her eyes and licked the newborn’s nose. The sudden feeling made the little one burst open her eyes. Just as Pinkie suspected, they were just as ocean-blue as hers. “D?” she quietly asked. “Yes Pinkie?” he sleepily replied. “I… I was wondering… why doesn’t she look like you in the least?” Pinkie asked. Her face was surprisingly serious and sad. The happy-go-lucky Pinkie had vanished. Discord’s eyes burst open and his slightly confident smile vanished. “I…” he sighed. He turned around and looked Pinkie in her blue eyes. “I guess I have to tell you…” there was an ominous silence. “I… I don’t exist… the Discord you see here is not the real one… Why do you think the statue still stands? I-I'm just an incarnation of everything good that was left in him. I’ll have to go back one day… we will share the same memories though… we have always been one…” there was another silence. “If he breaks free… it won’t be like last time… he won’t go easy on you… none of you… not even her…” he looked at his tiny blue daughter. “He only played around last time… he underestimated you… he won’t make that mistake again.” He looked at Pinkie. His eyes were filled with guilt and hers were filled with tears. “I'm sorry…” he turned away and closed his eyes. He let all the information he had dumped on his loved one sink in. “I don’t care…” she whispered after a few minutes. “What? What do you mean?” Discord turned around again. He saw Pinkie with a smile on her face and a few small tear streaks on her cheeks. “I don’t care about what happens next. I have always lived each day as my last. Why do you think I always party? Why do you think I always smile and stay up until dawn? Because one day it’ll be my last… and I don’t wanna’ miss it… I wanna live like that so I don’t regret any day in which I didn’t do something of my heart’s desire. Because you’ll never know until you regret. Smiles go both ways. I love you D…” she leaned closer and kissed Discord while still holding, the now sleeping, little bundle of energy which was her daughter. “She still doesn’t have a name.” Discord said after the kiss. His voice had changed into that soft one. “Hmm…” Pinkie smiled and looked away. “Blueberry… Blueberry Kathryn Pie.” she giggled. “Sounds perfect.” Discord said as they kissed again. They quickly rearranged themselves with Blueberry in the middle. Both parents twirled around her like a shield. Discord and Pinkie pressed their foreheads together. A small spark of chaos magic dropped a blanket on the three figures as they dozed off for a well-deserved sleep. As Celestia’s sun climbed the horizon it brought forth a new day… and a new life… --------------------------------------------------- A thanks to Midge Mannequin for editing and a farewell and kind regards to my old editor AzureKaRyu > Part 4 - Best Laid Plans > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Dragon's Kin' Chapter 1 - Luna's Eclipse Part 4 Best Laid Plans My most faithful student Twilight Sparkle, I regret to inform you that after your departure my dear sister Luna has become more and more ill. My advisors and royal medics along with the elders of the council cannot find a cure nor even find the cause of this illness. Twilight, your assistance is greatly needed in Canterlot. ~ Princess Celestia Twilight crumpled the letter and threw it in the corner. Not today. Not now. She was lying on her back on the wooden floor of her library. A thought crept in her mind. This was the first time she had been so disrespectful against one of the Princess’s letters. She slowly and unwillingly got up and walked over to the little ball of paper. She picked it up with her magic and straightened it. It was still a bit ruffled, but at this point, Twilight didn’t care. She placed it in one of the drawers nearby and returned to the spot where she lied just a second ago. At first she sat down on the floor but eventually she fell on her back. She stretched out her hooves and waved them in the air. Something about this decision just made Twilight uneasy. She expressed it by not showing any signs of life. She just blankly stared at ceiling for a couple of minutes and pushed herself off the floor once more. Twilight walked over to her kitchen. It was still messy ever since Rainbow and Spitfire left. Twilight remembered the lunch she had with Rarity yesterday as they were going around and about this entire thing. It had been only a day since she used the spell on the Wonderbolt couple so there was no point in trying to wait on any kind of results. All she could do was to see it in practice. Under a pile of papers Twilight finally found the book. She couldn’t remember how in Equestria the library had gotten so messy, but then again, she was prone to sleepwalking. The fact that Rarity wasn’t here with her made Twilight a bit more worried. She knew that these kind of spells could easily knock her unconscious so having somepony with her would be beneficial to say the least. But alas, her best friend was somewhat ill. Ever since she woke up she was cramping up whenever she tried to stand, so she obviously couldn’t make it. That worried Twilight… but she couldn’t wait. Not this time. Twilight scanned through the page containing the appropriate spell. She pushed away some of the books and papers that were on the floor near her. Twilight took a steady position and began to take large breaths. Nothing can stop her this time. Not her friends. Not her conscience. Not even Celestia herself! --------- Her mind was blank. Blanker that it had ever been before. Twilight couldn’t remember the last time she had completely lost track of everything she was doing. But despite that, the extraordinary exhaustion and numbing pain in her stomach assured her that the spell had been cast. Now it was just a matter of waiting it out. --------- Twilight was happily trotting through town. It had been about two weeks since she cast the spell and so far nothing had changed. As Twilight turned the corner of a market stall she ran into another mare. They both fell to the ground but Twilight managed to grab both of their groceries just before they splattered against the ground. “My sincerest apologies, I wasn’t watching where I was…” Twilight’s apology was cut short as she saw the mare in front of her. A cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane. “Rainbow Dash!” Twilight exclaimed as she got back up on her hooves. “Twilight!” Dash replied with the same enthusiasm. They exchanged a quick hug as Twilight handed Dash her groceries. “What are you doing here?! Why haven’t I seen you around? Have you been staying in a hotel or something super-secret?” Twilight asked as the two were heading down an alleyway. This wasn’t the direction Twilight had to go but she didn’t have anything important to do anyway. Besides books… lots of books… “Oh! Twilight, you have to keep quiet about seeing me in Ponyville!” Rainbow looked at Twilight with her puppy-eyes. “Umm... ok? But may I ask why?” Twilight gave her a confused stare as they turned another corner. “Ya’ see…” Dash rubbed the back of her head, “Remember two weeks ago? Spitfire said that we were going to sell our mansion? Well, we did! But I wanna’ make a surprise party since you’re the only pony we told.” Dash lightly smiled. “I understand.” Twilight smiled back “But how did you get the money?” “Oh, well… we’re Wonderbolts! A single areal show gives us the same amount of money that… I dunno’ Pinkie earns in an entire year…” Dash waved her hooves in the air just to show how much she meant. “I'm pretty sure we’re set for life at this point.” She added. Twilight snickered “So that’s why you wanted kids, am I right or am I right?” Dash blushed “I-I guess so… I still managed to live my dream… but I want to stay loyal to you guys… and Ponyville too…” they fell quiet. “It’s alright Rainbow...” Twilight whispered and hugged her friend as they entered the suburbs. --------- After a few minutes of walking Rainbow stopped. “Well, here’s my stop.” “Is it?” Twilight looked up. “I remember it being almost at the end of Rainbow District, we still have ways to go.” “Yea about that… Remember how I rented my home before and after The Fire? Well, let’s just say that family didn’t have anywhere to go so I let them keep my old house.” Rainbow put up a slightly nervous smile. “Besides, this one’s gonna’ have three bedrooms instead of one.” She added. Twilight just smiled, not sure on what to say. Luckily she was saved by something dashing down from above. “CANNONBALL!!!” shouted a yellow figure as it fell on Rainbow Dash knocking her to the ground. About a dozen apples rolled in their own direction. “OW! What’s wrong with you?!” Dash squealed. The yellow figure was rolling on the ground laughing as Rainbow got back on her hooves and brushed the dirt from her hooves. “What in Equestria is wrong with you Spitfire?!” Rainbow angrily poked the yellow mare. “Pfft, how should I know.” She laughed and shot back up on her hooves. “Oh, hey Twilight.” She coldly greeted her as she noticed the purple pony. She turned back to Rainbow, resumed her smile and continued. “Your stupid turtle gave me a random idea… Sorry I'm just a bit too energetic today.” Spitfire gave Dash that ‘I'm sorry I'm a rebel’ look. Twilight wanted to say something regarding symptoms and the spell and all that but for once, she didn’t. It’s not like she and Spitfire were oh-so good friends. Twilight just rolled her eyes and sighed to herself. “Tank is a tortoise Spitsy’. We’ve been over this before.” Dash wasn’t amused. Twilight couldn’t hold back any longer so she managed to interrupt. “Tank? No offence Rainbow but I'm surprised seeing how you held onto him ever since the shenanigans at the wedding.” “Oh that? Hah! It was funny seeing how that slowpoke and Scootaloo got into that fight about whose gonna’ be the ring bearer.” Dash laughed. “It was even more funny seeing him actually win!” she laughed again. “Oh, poor Scootaloo…” her smile slightly dropped. “Wonder what that kid’s been up to… haven’t heard from her for awhile.” Spitfire leaned over and hugged Rainbow. “She’s fine Dashie. I'm sure she is.” Rainbow eventually hugged back and as always Twilight was left in that really awkward 3rd-wheel situation. While the two were busy embracing Twilight drew out a ‘BYE’ in the dirt and teleported away. How she hated awkward moments like that. --------- Time flew by. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned to a month. A month and still noting… Twilight was once again at Rarity’s, wasting away at her coffee table and beanbags. “I'm sure it’s not as bad as you say it is, now is it dear?” Rarity gently asked as she sipped their usual peppermint tea. After everything Twilight had been through she’d finally let the depression sink in. She just shook her head instead of saying a single word as she let her head dangle above the table. “Oh come now dear, I'm sure you can do or think of, at least something!” Rarity said in a surprised tone as she placed down her cup whit a small *click*. “BAH! Don’t you see!?” Twilight snapped at her. “It’s like I'm immune to my own spells! For how long I’ve tried at it just doesn’t do ANYTHING!” Twilight smacked her head on the table and groaned. The impact made the porcelain cups clink and the silver spoons tremble. One even fell off the table and made a slight rattle. Rarity looked even more surprised at the pony’s sudden outburst. She knew Twilight had a couple of temper issues but at least this wasn’t as bad as anything regarding Pinkie and her hunk-a-ba-lulu. She leaned over and gently stroke Twilight’s shoulder with her marshmallowy hoofs. “Why jump to such sudden conclusions? Maybe you’re just not trying hard enough, mmh?” Twilight slightly lifted her head and placed her chin onto the table’s surface. She sighed and looked her friend with the ‘are you kidding me?’ look. “Do you think I haven’t tried? Day after day but the spell just doesn’t work on me…” she let out another grunt of sorts and covered her eyes with her hooves. They sat there for a good few minutes and all of a sudden Twilight shot up almost basing her skull against Rarity’s chin. “You’re a unicorn!” She cried out in some kind of new-discovery joy. “Took you long enough to notice.” Rarity sarcastically replied. She felt a bit offended come to think of it. “No, no, no… I, I mean… you… YOU can cast the spell for me!!!” Twilight cried out in joy smiling all across her face, her depression had suddenly vanished. Rarity stood wide-eyed gazing at her friend for a while until she processed the information. When she thought her eyes couldn’t go any wider they did and she spoke the words extremely fast “Nonono. I can’t. Don’t ask why.” “Why?!” Twilight asked out of sheer curiosity. “It requires a mastery over C class magic’s and I’ve seen you do much, much more than that!” Rarity was chewing her lip and her eyes were all over the place just like when Applejack tried to lie. “I said no.” she cut the conversation. Twilight eyed her a bit weirdly and said something that really struck her. “Element of Generosity much?” Rarity gasped. Now that was an insult. She broke. “BAH! I can’t take it anymore!!!” she followed Twilight’s preview and let her head smack on the table. She sighed. “Who am I kidding?! I'm a failure to magic! I have disgraced my family! All my amazing magic is just gracefully executed levitation!” she buried her face in her hooves and sobbed. Twilight looked at Rarity as if she had suddenly turned into a changeling. She unsurely patted her sobbing friend on the back. Twilight noticed a small tissue box next to an ugly plant on the window frame and levitated it closer while softly saying: “What are you talking about!? You are amazingly gifted!” “You flatter me… but that doesn’t change the truth.” Rarity sniffled. “It may take some skill to make dresses but any earth pony can do it… it’s just much more convenient for us unicorns...” Rarity wiped her eyes with a tissue. “But what about your gem finding ability? I don’t see any pony besides me and you who can do it.” Twilight spat out. “Cutie marks don’t count Twilight. They are special abilities only some have. Say, nopony can grow apples quite like the Apple Clan.” Twilight lifted an eyebrow. “Applejack’s family, dear.” Rarity explained. “And nopony can make a shield like your brother Twi’…” Rarity continued. “How is he doing anyway? I heard he and Cadence are the new ambassadors in Ziberia.” “They’re fine, but don’t change to subject Rarity!” Twilight eagerly interrupted. Rarity sighed once more. “What is that you want from me dear?” “Answers, help, cookies…” Twilight replied, “I can do with just some answers… Like, why exactly you can’t do any advanced magic? I never noticed that…” “Nopony did Twilight… and I was happy they didn’t…” Rarity looked away. “I… Ineverpassedmagickindergarten…” “What? I didn’t catch that.” “*inhale* Ineverpassedmagickindergarten…” “WHAT?! I can’t HEAR you!” “I NEVER PASSED MAGIC KINDERGARTEN!!!” Rarity shouted on the top of her lungs. They sat quietly for a good 10 minutes. “Now you know! *sniff* Now you know what kind of a failure I am!” Rarity blew her nose. “Now you know…” Twilight collapsed in one of the beanbags behind her. “Is there a single pony out there who could help me? A single soul to hear my cries… anypony?” She lifted her hooves above her and waved at the ceiling as if asking for something. “Nopony…? At all…?” She sighed and closed her eyes. “Umm Twilight…” Rarity spoke. Twilight lifted her head just a tad to see her. Rarity bit her lip. If you looked closely enough you could see her brainstorming or maybe just battling herself deep down in her mind. Eventually she closed her eyes and sighed. “There is one way…” She opened her eyes and almost gazed into Twilights soul. “You won’t like it… but it’s pretty much your only chance. And that is…” --------------------------------------------------- A thanks to Midge Mannequin for editing > Cancellation (Sorry!) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- So... I'm cancelling this now... yep... But I will say one thing, this story, this horribly, horrifically written story gave me just the head-start I needed. I look back at it after almost half a year and to be honest I'm a bit embarrassed about it... Nonetheless, the chapters will stick around so you can re-read if you really want to. I may come back to it one day, but it will be a full-scale rewrite if I ever come around, but knowing me, don't count on it. Long story short: Thank you. Thank you for supporting me on this bad example of writing, and for sticking around for as long as you did. I will always be thankful to those 40 people who liked and favorited this thingy-ma-bobber. Thanks you, and have a nice day/night. ... Now, who am I without some shameless advertising? Check out the stores I am and will be working on until their done (and it'll be a long damn time till then). School For Gifted Unicorns - A little something for those of my Twilight/Slice of Life fans. A grand story about young Twilight and her adventure in Celestia's school as she struggles to make friends and defeat and old god that has arisen after a twelve-thousand year long slumber and is ready to rip the world to shreds at his wake. The Skies Belong to Us! - A tale of adventure of a alternate stempunky world with Scootaloo and her mom Gilda, along with Dinky and her sister and a particular baby dragon that's not a baby anymore. Follow as they travel across the Known World and fulfill their role as sky pirates! Thank you for sticking around and farewell! Until another time!