In a world of Equestria, that is run by two sisters who rule over their subjects with glee and proudness, amazed at the advancement that has come from using a basic candlelight to going straight to magic in a tiny gem that could light a whole room as big as their dining hall in their castle, located in Canterlot. They have been gone past the time of villainy, reign of terror. Queen Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon, Tirek, Discord, Starlight Glimmer, even Sunset Shimmer who comes back every now and then to visit the group. She was originally from there after all.
A new princess has risen as well. Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, and one of the Elements of Harmony. Used to defeat Nightmare Moon, Tirek, Discord twice, and Sunset Shimmer. Of course that was all in the past now. Things start a new and new problems occur. Sometimes right where you live.....in your hometown.
"Spike!.......SPIIIIIKKKEEE!"
"Okay, okay," Spike responded, running down the halls with a box of scrolls, panting and heading for the library as fast as his two feet can carry him. Soon, he burst through the doors, eyes on Twilight urgently turning the pages rapidly through a book, definitely researching. Again.
"Twilight, why do you need a whole BOX of scrolls?" Spike asked tiredly, walking towards her and setting the box down next to her with a grunt. "Can't you just use one for.......whatever the heck it is you're doing?" Twilight sighed and looked over at him with a nonchalant expression that quickly turned into a smile.
"Well." She cleared her throat, forcing a groan out of Spike. Here she goes. "One scroll would be for locations of lands, the other for magical properties of said land, another for chemical properties, another for animals, bugs, insects, food, and liquid, another for dangers, another for-"
"I get it, I get it, you don't have to continue!" He spat out, quickly waving his hands towards her.
"Are you sure? Because everypony has to know abut this."
"Twilight I am absolutely sure I don't need to learn about what goes on at a.....different place that is NOT Equestria. Actually, why are you searching for different places?"
"Well........it's more like a pastime. I haven't been doing anything lately." She closed the book and set it aside before turning to face Spike with worry. "The cutie map hasn't called the elements for so long, I thought it was broken. No more evil villains, my Canterlot High friends haven't been having any problems, and even my friends here haven't been needing anything either. I'm starting to feel a little.......useless. So I've been trying to seem useful by doing things that Celestia and Luna probably haven't even thought of."
Spike walked over and looked through her notes. "Like trying to find places.......past Zebrica and the Dragon Lands?! Twilight, with all due respect, I doubt there's land over there. And even if there were, why would ponies want to leave Equestria for it?"
Twilight rolled her eyes and took the scroll back, placing it back down on top of the books where it was before. "Ponies won't be leaving here to go there. If there were more ponies there, we can bring them here. We could bring more jobs, businesses, food, even fun traditions. Not to mention their education. Think about how much we could learn from another civilization."
"Yeah, like learning how NOT to work ALL NIGHT. Twilight, you need to get some sleep, it's obvious you've been doing this all night." Twilight was staring wildly at Spike with a crazy smile on her face until she sighed and relaxed.
"Yeah, you're right, but this project is more like a personal project. Until Equestria needs it, it won't be used. Instead I'll keep it locked up tight where nopony can get to it." She stood up and stretched, getting the stiffness and cracks out of her back before walking towards the door. "I'm going to get some breakfast. Don't touch my stuff."
"But it's my job to touch your.....you know what, yeah I won't touch it." He grabbed a comic book from his stash while Twilight trotted down the long empty halls of her castle, the area itself so serene. And lifeless. Makes her wonder about her position in Equestrian society. Of course the role Princess of Friendship was important enough to turn her into an alicorn. But how important exactly? Making sure everyponyhas a friend won't last forever. Parents will teach their own foals about that, and everyone else would have gotten to that point by the time Spring was over, according to her calculations. Which is approximately a week and a half away.
She sighed in dismay. Oh how the mighty have fallen. She was the princess, the pony anypony turned to if they had a problem in friendship. Any type of problem for that matter. But the keyword here is "was". It hasn't been that way for a while.
She turned and walked into the kitchen to grab some things, unaware of the figure sitting at the table trying her hardest not to laugh at her geeky friend's total oversight. Twilight grabbed some bread and some flowers, along with some sauce to complete the delicacy.
"HEY, TWILIGHT!"
"Gahhh!" She jumped nearly a yard in the air and landed back down on the floor with a splat on her face. She groaned, sat up and peeked over the edge of the table before sitting straight up, confusion written over her face along with a daisy sandwich on her snout. "Sunset Shimmer? Wha—what are you doing here? This would be your second week this month. If you're staying for that long that is."
Sunset Shimmer continued casually drinking her juice before responding. "Well......Spring Break started, and I have nowhere to go. Everyone else has plans for out of town and I'm gonna be all alone. I don't have any parents on Earth. Or brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles. Basically, I don't know anyone but them. So I was like, 'Hey.......Equestria.'"
"Oh. Well, how long are you going to be staying?" Twilight grabbed the sandwich from off her snout and started eating it while she responded.
"For three weeks. I know right, fun with your ol' pal Sunset! Isn't that great? I haven't stayed in Equestria for more than a week, and this time, I'm staying for three!" Sunset snagged up her sandwich from off the plate in front of her and started chowing down, giving Twilight a sincere smile.
"Okay, that's great." Twilight sat down across from her, still chewing her own. "So, ummm....any problems over there they need help with?"
Sunset swallowed her food and responded, "Nope! Everything's been peachy. Rarity got a boyfriend. Wanna guess who?"
"I don't know anypony over there besides you guys," Twilight deadpanned, slowly shaking her head.
"Oh right. Well.....his name is........Spike." Twilight immediately began choking, beating her chest as hard as she can to get that lodged petal out of her windpipe. Eventually it flew out and floated down to the table with Sunset's amused eyes trained directly on it.
Taking a deep breath, Twilight asked, "Wait, wait.....Spike?! As in.......OUR Spike?!"
"What?! No, Twilight, OUR Spike turns into a dog, I don't think that would work out. Like, at all!" Sunset chuckled. "Are you nuts?!"
"I feel that way," she muttered, leaning on the table and burying her face between her hooves. "Phew, I thought everything was over for that dragon once you said 'Spike.'"
"Oh no, don't worry, the dog still goes after her. And sometimes bites the other Spike on the ankle where Twilight has to grab and scold him. I think it's cute. He still has a crush on Rarity. I really don't think that'll really work out though. For one, it'd be really......REALLY weird."
"Yeah, I agree. Well, it's good seeing you again." Twilight finished the rest of her sandwich and walked towards the entrance of the castle.
"Alright! See ya', Twilight!"
"So.......you don't need.....any help?" Twilight asked hopefully. She was currently looking around for ponies around the sunny and beautiful atmosphere of Ponyville who needed help to make herself feel useful. At least a little bit. So she started the search at Rarity's boutique, where she was currently sewing a dress in rapt attention.
"Sorry, darling but I have this all handled," Rarity responded casually, waving her hoof behind her. She had noticed that Twilight's been doing this a lot lately, but decided not to question it since Twilight was always willing to help out another pony, no matter the reason. "Maybe Applejack needs help with her Apple farm. Why not ask her?"
"Yeah, I probably should." Twilight began walking back down the stairs, headed for the entrance of the building. "She might need help getting some trees to grow or something. Bye, Rarity."
"Goodbye, darling!" Once Twilight exited the tent-like building she flapped her wings and soared into the air, heading towards the northern side of Ponyville, where there was certainly an orange pony wearing a stetson who may need help with bucking apples out of her large collection of orchards. There were so many trees, she was certain they weren't bucking the apples yet—wait! Is that Applejack sleeping on the porch?
Confused, Twilight flew down and landed in front of the household, spotting an orange earth pony sitting in a rocking chair with a stetson cascaded over her face, snoring loudly. She cocked her head to the side and looked around. Weren't there more apples that needed bucking? Applejack never sleeps until the job is fully done.
She looked back at AJ for a second before taking off into the air to get an over head look. There was only one reason Applejack would sleep during the daytime. If there was no more bucking to do. And so far it looked like that was what it was.
There were absolutely no red in the trees, but there were plenty of red in crates all over the land. It seems like she wasn't needed here either. She landed and sighed before looking around. Maybe Pinkie had something she could do. She was probably cooking something or planning parties. With a new plan, Twilight smiled and took off back into the air, heading for Sugarcube Corner. If there was boredom, Pinkie was sure to spice it up.
After a few seconds of flight, which is better than seven minutes of walking, she landed in front of the bakery, smelling the delicious tastes of everything that tasted so good in there. Sighing, she walked forward along the dirt and into the building. Upon entry, her nostrils were assaulted by the smells of dough, chocolate, and other confections. Not to mention sugar. It was great.
"Hey, Twilight!" She looked over behind the counter to see Pinkie taking a tray of muffins out of the oven and placing them on a table setup in the middle of the area.
"Hey, Pinkie Pie! How are you?" Twilight asked happily, walking over and looking at all the treats.
"I'm great-great-great-great-great, thank you very much! Here, try a muffin!" One of the muffins were forcefully jammed into Twilight's mouth, making her cheeks bulge out while she chewed in surprise. "It's good, right?"
Twilight swallowed down the rest of the treat before she nodded happily. "It's great, Pinkie! Ummmmm......Do you need help with anything? Cooking? Baking? How about party planning?"
"Nope, nope, nope, annnnnnnnnnnnd nope! I've already gotten everything done!" She placed the muffins into boxes before she gasped loudly and grabbed Twilight's cheeks, pulling her into her face, a look of shock on it. "Unless you know of a party that's happening! If you do, TELL ME NOW!"
"Uh.....no. There's no party."
"Oh, okay." She let Twilight go and rub her ears while she went back to stuffing boxes. "Well, I don't need anything then."
"Oh.......okay, well......I'll just be on my way then. It was good seeing you pinkie." Twilight turned around and walked out of the store, ignoring Pinkie's waving. The door shut behind her, letting her sigh in peace. Why didn't anyone need help around here? She felt totally useless. It's been that way for years and it's wearing her down, having absolutely nothing to do. Most ponies would say relax and chill, but they didn't understand. She's been relaxing and chilling for awhile. What's the point of being a princess if you couldn't help your ponies? Maybe Fluttershy could use a helping hoof. Rainbow was away on leave as a Wonderbolt, so she wouldn't be around.
Twilight lifted her wings and flew off again, destination for the outside of town towards the lonely cottage that is usually active with animals and critters. But today was silent. She raised an eyebrow at the silence. Shouldn't there be some type of noise, crashes, or something?!
She landed and walked up to Fluttershy's door before knocking lightly, knowing Fluttershy was the type of pony to hide from loud noises. Even knocks was a set off. She waited a few seconds before the door cracked open, revealing a pink mane and a pale yellow coat.
"Oh....hello, Twilight. Is something wrong?" Fluttershy asked shyly.
"No, Fluttershy. I'm just going around and checking if anypony needed any help. Do you need help?" She asked hopefully, a wide smile on her face.
"Uh...no, sorry, Twilight. Everything's been quiet over here. The animals have all gone out for the season to spend time with their families. So....there's nothing to do here."
"Oh." Twilight dropped the smile and replaced it with a sad frown. "Okay. Well, I'm just gonna head home. I'll.....see ya'." She turned around and flapped her wings, heading off towards the purple castle in the distance. Did her friends not need her anymore? Maybe the Crystal Empire needed help.
She smiled, believing she could at least watch over her niece and get some reassurance from that. Maybe that'll help.
"UGGGGHHHHHH!" Twilight groaned. She threw scroll to the side and started pacing around in her room, which was like a little library, definitely made for her by the Tree of Harmony. After sending a letter to Cadance to see if they needed anything, she got the same result just like everything else. 'No, we're fine. Thanks though.'
"Why doesn't anypony need help?!" She yelled to herself. "I'm helpful, I'm a good helper! Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, my brother, and my niece don't even need any help! I'm useful, why can't I be useful?!"
Twilight stopped pacing and took deep breaths, doing what Cadance has always taught her when she gets in a fit. Eventually she calmed down, but still trying to get her mind back on track. "Okay, Twilight. Why don't you just do somebody a favor instead? It's so much easier. But....they have to ask you for a favor, DARN IT!" Twilight fired a bolt of magic and accidentally hit a wall in her room, making a large scorch mark.
"Great......" She sighed and flopped down on her bed. Maybe she should go out to these other lands and see if someone needed help there. She is a Princess of Equestria, she should represent her home. Actually... Is that even allowed for her?
She lifted her hoof and opened a drawer by her bed, pulling out a quill, inkwell, and scroll with her magic to write the letter. Hopefully Spike was still in the library reading. She stuck her tongue out of her mouth while writing, an expression of focus before sh drew it back in and read it over. Smiling and satisfied, she jumped out of the bed and walked downstairs to get her trusty assistant.
***
"SPIKE!.......SPIIIIIIIIIIIKE!!!!" Spike sighed from behind his comic book and grabbed the pineapple filled with juice that was sitting next to him before Twilight ran into the library with the scroll in her magic, floating beside her head. "Spike. I need you to send this to Princess Celestia right now!"
"Twiliiiiiiiiight!" He groaned in frustration, leaning his head back. "We just—"
"No complaints, Spike! As my trusty assistant, I need you to do this for me."
He snarled and snatched the scroll out of her grip and blew flames on it, sending it to Celestia. "I never wanted to be your assistant," he muttered before sitting back down and popping the comic back open in front of him, unaware that Twilight had heard him.
She gasped lightly, before sighing sadly, aware of his true feelings towards her. The alicorn slowly turned around and left the room, her head held low in sadness, thinking about Spike's words that were heavy on her mind. Who would've thought he didn't like being her assistant? Maybe she imagined it. But if so, how would that explain the snatching of her letter? Hmmmm.
In a world far away from Equestria, an orange coated pegasus walked onto the balcony of his humongous castle and looked down, observing the state his ponies were in. Angry, hateful, poor, hurt. Everywhere. Even the foals. It's been like this for years ever since the Ursa Major came in and destroyed everything they had. What for, they had no idea. It came in his kingdom and destroyed everything. Multiple deaths and casualties. It was horrible. And that was over three years ago. His red cape blew with the quiet wind that rushed past him, his red man blowing with it. The warm breeze signalling the start of summer on the island they call home. CALLED home.
"Your highness." He looked solemnly over his shoulder at one of his generals walking towards him, an expression of worry on his face. "We cannot stay here. We don't have anything that can save us."
The King sighed and looked back down onto the ground below. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. "We can fly faster than a hurricane," he said, his voice deepened. "We can build structures that touch the sky. But we could not escape it. How did we not see this?" He slowly shook his head and closed his eyes as a tear slowly trickled down his face, guilt written all over it. "I feel like......I could've done better. I feel like I've let Psera down."
"You didn't let us down, King Madun. You've done the best you could. It was just way too big." The general walked towards him and placed a hoof on his shoulder. "We need to leave and rebuild. This place holds no food, and your Pserateps are becoming frustrated as you can clearly see down below." The king nodded making sure to not show fear. It could ruin his reputation as the one who always holds hope.
"We will hold out a little long, Bold Shoulder. Either way, we will be great again. I assure you." The general nodded before turning around and walking away, leaving the king to stand there by himself, staring down at the ruined city of Cop, the capital of Psera. Hopefully, they'd get some help. And soon.
Twilight laid back on her bed in her room of the crystalized castle, thinking about what Spike said. I never wanted to be your assistant. Those words really hurt her. They were filled with hate. She could tell.
She sighed, sat up, and looked at the mirror on the far side of the room, staring at the reflection of what was a small Alicorn that made history many times in Equestria. Now on the verge of tears. She slowly got out the bed and walked towards it, taking one hoof at a time like she was stalking it. She stopped in front of it and looked at herself, trying to see what made her different than other ponies than the fact that she was an alicorn. But so far......she didn't see anything different. All she saw were wings. That was it. Just wings and a horn. She wasn't even as tall as Cadance, and she was shorter than Luna. It probably just came with age. She was smart in magic. The smartest in Equestria, according to Celestia.
But either way, ponies didn't treat her with as much authority as they did everyone else. Spike was a prime example. She didn't even have guards. Was she even a princess in reality, or was it.........just a title? A label for her wings and horn? What if it was? Would that change everything she thought of herself? Of other ponies? Should it? Maybe, maybe not. Only time would tell.
Something slid through the crack of her door, catching her eyes enough for her to dart her head to the floor and pick it up in her magic. It was already unrolled, so she could plainly see what was on it.
"'Dear Twilight Sparkle. I am sorry to say that only Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, and myself are allowed to establish cross-country relations with other lands per royal law.....'" She couldn't even finish the sentence when her voice began getting wobbly, filled with emotion. She was sad. Sad and upset. Was she even of royal title? Was all of that just a lie? A reward of some sort?!
She wrote down her message and teleported it to Spike, too upset to even speak with anyone right now. She listened to him blow his flames over the letter, shooting it to Celestia before going back to staring at the mirror again. If she was lucky, she could ask Celestia face to face if she bothered about visiting. No one has bothered to visit her for two years except the Elements every now and then. Since the cutie map stopped calling them, they kind of just been doing their own thing. They visit each other, but Twilight? No. You know what, now that she mentioned it, she heard of them hosting a party at Rarity's, which they NEVER hosted a party at. At least not when she herself was around. Raises some more questions.
"Hmmmm....." She hummed, squinting her eyes at the mirror. Something was going on. Apparently she was being excluded out of things. The only one who really visits her now are.........is Sunset Shimmer. Starlight Glimmer has apparently moved on, being in the Crystal Empire while everyone else is doing their own things. But her? She was just sitting around. Like a lump on a log being useless. But how exactly useless was she?
Another letter slipped underneath the door, catching her attention. She grabbed it in her magic without even looking over. She levitated it in front of her face and read it aloud, loud enough to hear herself speak.
"Dear Twilight Sparkle," she read aloud to herself. "The title is formally an advancement in society and is not particularly an advancement.....towards.....royalty. It is merely a sign of respect among the rest of society. Like Prince Blueblood, who in reality is only a prince by name and just happens to be my nephew. He is not actually a Prince. Only a family member. Princess Cadance on the other hoof was the last of the Crystal Empire's royal line, descendant of Princess Amore. Therefore she has rightly inherited the kingdom. Even though you have risen to an Alicorn, you are not formally a Princess.'"
Twilight stared at the letter nonchalantly, trying to understand it. They........lied to her? That was all just for show? THIS was all just for show?! Is the crown even real?! If it was, then that's something, but she really doubted that. Ponies just don't give out gold. Even the bits they used weren't gold, just an alloy of steel.
Still carrying the letter, Twilight turned around and walked over to her dresser where her crown was sitting in a glass case, like it has always been. She didn't have much use for it. And she was just informed why. Twilight used her magic and opened it up before grabbing the crown and looking at her reflection. An upset reflection. It could be real or fake. Only one way to tell.
She cast a spell, checking the chemical makeup of the head wear, the authenticity of the hopefully-authentic head wear. After a few more seconds, tears began to leak from her eyes before casting the spell once again. "It......was a lie," she muttered before flinging the faux crown made of silver and copper alloy across the room with enough force that it shattered against the wall. "It was all.....a lie. Why would they lie to me? Did I not complete Starswirl's spell? Did I not prove myself enough to actually become a princess?! It's like.....it-it's like they....MOCKED me!!" She huffed and sat down, looking at her reflection in the mirror. "And this castle....I get no visitors. No ponies coming in to ask for advice, ask for my opinion. No......authority. I'm...just a fake?" She stood up and opened the bedroom door, walking out and towards the entrance of the castle. She couldn't be in that place right now. Who knew, maybe that was a fake too. She doubted it though. It came from the Tree of Harmony itself...right? Twilight didn't know what to believe anymore.
After opening the door, she walked out a few feet and turned around, looking up at her castle. It was so tall, yet it only contained.....one floor. That should've been a red flag right there! This "Castle" was just a very tall house! That was it! Nothing special about it at all. She didn't even have a throne room! She huffed in anger. Equestria was......just a lie.
"So what do you guys wanna do? Huh? Huh? Tell me! TELL ME NOW!"
"Pinkie...we're trying to not let her know we're out here. That means quiet." Twilight turned around to see her friends walking down the empty streets and towards some other place. Wait...was that Rainbow Dash?! Wasn't she on leave with the Wonderbolts?! Yeah, that is her! Flying right above Rarity! Something fishy's going on here.
She squinted her eyes in suspicion before activating her invisibility spell. Then quickly began making her way towards the group but staying behind a little, listening in. Who exactly were they trying to avoid?
"You told her you were on leave, Rainbow," Applejack stated up to the pegasus as they were walking, unaware of the violet alicorn right behind them. "What happened to that?"
"Sorry, Applejack, but I lied. Had to make sure the egghead didn't bother me. Just like all of you guys here."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Applejack sighed. "I do it because she's......REALLY annoying." Twilight gasped unnoticeably as they continued on their way. "The way she's always around...it's annoying."
"Really," Rarity agreed, nodding her head. "Twilight is great and all, but she's not really......a Princess like she thinks she is. I'm surprised she hasn't figured it out yet."
Twilight stopped walking for a second, a look of disbelief on her face and on the verge of tears. They knew. They knew all this time and didn't tell her. Were they really her friends? Was that a lie too?
"So we just......avoid her until we somehow break the news too her?" Fluttershy whispered. "I really don't want to hurt her feelings."
"Yeah, we've been holding this back for two years, let alone four if you add on how long she's actually been a 'Princess'," Rarity added as they turned onto Sweet Apple Acres. "It's about time she knew."
"Let's wait some more, I don't think she's ready yet," Applejack suggested. Twilight stopped at the gate and watched as they walked towards the barn. Their new hangout spot.....without her in it.
"I was lied to," she muttered as she stopped the spell once they were out of sight. "I was lied to. Deceived. Unwanted. All this time. And they didn't even TELL ME!!!" She fired a bolt of magic at Applejack's fence, shattering it on contact. She stared at the damage in anger before turning around and flying back to the "castle". She had to think about all of this. Everything.