The return trek through the forest wasn’t anywhere near as terrifying as the journey in.
Nothing else had even looked their way as they had returned through the forest, probably wisely fearing a confrontation with the armed guards, protective Changeling Queen and dragon that accompanied the four troublesome fillies back towards Ponyville. The whole time the four of them stayed in the middle of their escort, not straying from the herd for even a moment. None of them were remotely keen on tempting fate, still heavily shaken by their close encounter with the timberwolves. They allowed themselves to be guided out, avoiding all things dangerous until the density of the foliage finally started to thin out.
And then the forest came to an end, and they emerged from the dark woods exactly where they had started, the path entrance that led to and from Zecora’s hut.
Avia’s relief about being free of that place could not be overstated. No amount of curiosity or ancient castle ruins was worth the level of terror that she had endured. The terror, and…
That one wolf. The one she’d split in half. She’d hadn’t meant to! She just…
She grimaced, unable to meet her mother’s eyes as they walked. An action that Twilight most certainly noticed.
Still, they kept moving in silence. The soft and bright glow of the town ahead of them, paving the way in the depths of the night. The streets, as they returned onto them, were no less filled than they had been during the day. Everyone was still wide awake, or attempting to be, in anticipation for the up and coming finale to the celebration.
All that was bypassed. They even ignored the changelings who all tried to surround the group in a small panic, asking after the Princess’ wellbeing, including the likes of sisters Soronis and Puellula, the brothers Thorax and Pharynx, and so many other drones that you couldn’t count them all. So too did it draw curious glances from all the other creatures around to observe the changelings sense of unease, but things started to quieten down with a quick word of both assurance and dismissal over the hive mind.
Princess Avia was safe and well, but the Queen needed to speak with her. Alone.
When the library came into view, the pony Cutie Mark Crusaders all experienced an odd mix of supreme relief and ultimate dread at the sight of the parents ready and waiting to receive them.
“Apple Surprise!” Applejack was the first to shout, rushing over to the group alongside both Rarity and Scootaloo, all zeroing in on their respective foal. “Of all the… Are you alright!?”
“Yeah, Ma, I’m fine,” Apple Surprise replied, just letting the ensuing glomp occur as the other Crusaders underwent similar reunions.
“The Everfree Forest? Why would you ever wish to traverse such a dreadful locale?” Rarity asked incredulously, the first to release her own child from the death grip. “Sapphire, I was so… terrified! I… why!?”
Sapphire sniffed, trying to hold back the regretful tears. “I’m sorry. But… I’m sorry.”
“We just wanted to see the castle. We thought it would be awesome to explore,” Awesome Blitz explained, sliding from Scootaloo’s grasp. “It… went wrong.”
“There’s nothing awesome about timberwolves,” Scootaloo said with a sigh. “Trust me, I know. Just… Nrgh, we should talk about this at home. But… darn it, Blitz! Don’t do that!”
“I still want to know what in tarnation you were thinking,” Applejack said with a furrowed brow. “But yeah, we’ll talk about it when we get back to the farm, Apple Surprise.”
“Okay, Ma… I’m sorry.”
Applejack gave a deep sigh. “I know, sugarcube. Just… promise me you won’t do something stupid like that again, you hear?”
“I promise.”
“We promise,” Avia spoke up, getting nods of agreement from the rest of the group. “We really are sorry.”
“As you’ve said,” Twilight stated. “Girls, you should probably go. I also want to speak with Avia in private.”
“Yeah, will do,” Applejack agreed. “We’ll see ya’ll when the princesses do their thing.”
Applejack motioned for Apple Surprise to move, and with the filly giving one final look towards the other members of the CMC they departed.
“See you later, girls,” Awesome Blitz said, the next to go as her mother pulled her away from the group.
“Yes, well… I’m glad things turned out as they did,” Rarity said, watching the others leave before turning to Twilight. “But what about you, darling, Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Rarity. We have a handle on this, you should see to Sapphire.”
The mare huffed. “Yes, just wait until her father hears about this.”
“Ugggggh!” Sapphire groaned in sheer dread, before finally leaving alongside the fashionista and leaving the changelings and assembled guards behind.
“In that case, we should also take out leave,” Broad Sword said once the others had left their view. “I hope that will be the last incident for tonight.”
“The princesses should be arriving very soon now,” Vladimir supplemented. “So, we should probably get to that…”
“It’s fine,” Façade told them. “We can handle the rest from here.”
“The gift and curse that is parenthood,” Broad Sword mused with a knowing chuckle. “Good evening, your majesty.”
Twilight gave them a nod of farewell, and then the two captains took their subordinates and departed as well. This left the three changelings and one dragon to themselves, the latter looming over the old tree with a sympathetic look.
“I… think I’ll wait outside,” Spike decided. “Not just because I can’t fit inside but… Well…”
“Thanks, Spike. Hopefully, this won’t take too long,” Twilight said back up to her old assistant, giving him a small smile. “Don’t worry.”
“Hey, I know how efficient you are with punishments. Remember when I ate that magical crystal when I was a baby drake?”
The Queen chuckled behind a hoof. “You were burping bubbles of pure magic for a week. You were a troublesome baby.”
“And now I’m a troublesome adult,” he said with a smirk, before his expression became more serious. “Go on, I’ll be right here.”
Twilight pursed her lip, glancing from Spike and down to Avia. The little nymph still couldn’t look her mother in the eyes, and the Changeling Queen bowed her head sadly before opening the library door and stepping inside.
Once she was in, followed quickly by her husband and child, she shut the door behind her and made sure that it was locked to any would-be interrupters.
“So, now that the others are gone…” Twilight began, laying down so to be on Avia’s eye level. “Is there something else you want to tell me…?”
“No,” Avia denied, shaking her head. “W-we told you everything…”
“Don’t lie to me, Avia. Please.”
“Something else is clearly bothering you,” Façade noted, sitting down next to her. “Come on, what is it? You know you can tell us anything, right?”
Avia was silent for several moments, screwing her eyes shut as tightly as she could manage as she tried not to be taken back to that horrible moment.
The portal closing, the wolf being… being…
“I killed one of them!” Avia cried, launching herself into her mother’s grasp and bawling her eyes out, for what little tears she had left to shed. “I- I didn’t mean to! I was just trying to get away, so I used a portal and it followed me and then… then…”
Twilight sighed, putting two and two together. “The portal closed, right?”
“I didn’t mean to!”
“Hey… It’s okay, it wasn’t your fault. You were just saving yourself,” Twilight cooed, nuzzling her daughter on the head while Façade looked sadly on. “And it was a timberwolf, a wild animal. And one that wanted to hurt you, nobody will blame you. Accident or not.”
“B-but, I didn’t want to hurt it…”
“I know. And that’s a good thing, you’re a compassionate filly. But sometimes… some terrible times, you cannot avoid such things. Be thankful that it was just a timberwolf, and not something… more.”
Avia sniffed, looking up at her mother with bleary eyes. “You’ve… hurt people before, right?”
Twilight flinched as if struck, her mouth gaping for a moment.
Façade bit his lip, but then chose to be the one to answer. “Your mother… Both of us, really. Have had to do things to protect the hive, you know the stories.”
“Does it… hurt?”
“I hope you never have to find out,” Twilight replied with a sigh. “As I said, terrible times. But they are few. For so many times in the past has conflict and other such issues been solved through friendship and understanding. You don’t always have to hurt someone to protect those you love, and never should it be your first option. People like Crudelis and the Empress… they would not accept redemption, not for lack of trying.”
“Even the Empress was only beaten because of your mother uniting with her friends, bearing their powers of friendship,” Façade noted.
“It’s the ideal that should always come first. You talk, you discover, you befriend. Princess Luna, Discord…” Twilight gave her daughter a sad look. “But it won’t always work, despite all the effort you should have given to make it so. During those times you should never be afraid to stop those who would do evil or harm, so long as you do not let it consume you, and you never lose sight of the Magic of Friendship.”
“I… think I understand…” Avia said slowly. “Have… you ever lost sight?”
Twilight paused a moment, but then sighed. “No. Nearly, once. You remember what I told you of your grandmother’s passing. But that’s why you have friends, like your fellow Crusaders. Don’t let that go. Ever.”
“I won’t. Pinkie promise.”
Twilight’s faced morphed into one of relief. “Good. I’m glad, but… now we need to discuss your punishment.”
“Oh please, Twilight. You can be such a killjoy.”
Just above them, lounging on a hammock that hadn’t been there a few seconds earlier, was the Spirit of Chaos.
“And after such a heartfelt talk as well. Truly, you are a strict mama ursa!”
“Discord,” Twilight deadpanned. “The door was locked for a reason.”
“And I ignored it for a reason,” Discord rebuffed, shifting in his hammock to look down at the trio of changelings. “And I, for one, wanted to ensure that there weren’t any pesky misunderstandings between us.”
“What do you mean?”
“Discord told us about the castle in the first place…” Avia muttered.
“WHAT!?” Twilight and Façade shouted simultaneously.
“Thanks for throwing me under the bus there, kiddo,” Discord said with a huff, his shadow being hit by something at high speeds, beeps and honks distantly echoing from nowhere. “Misunderstanding it is!”
“Misunderstanding!? You just said that you knew they were planning to go there!” Twilight protested, a spark of magic coming from her horn. “Not that you told them to go!”
“I didn’t tell them to go!” Discord argued. “I just mentioned it during one of our little talks. I mean, I suspected they might be curious. But, on this occasion, I hadn’t intended for them to willingly give themselves up as timberwolf snacks. Which is, by the way, is why I tipped you off about it before the feast occurred. See? All well in hoof, hand, claw or whatever appendage you might use.”
“You could have retrieved them yourself!”
“I’m hardly omniscient, it’s not like I knew exactly where they were in that entire forest,” Discord said with a shrug. “Besides, why would I ever miss the chance to see the mama ursa in action? Quite the show, I swore I was watching Chrysalis for a moment there.”
Twilight gritted her teeth, grabbing the nearest and heaviest tome she could find and lobbing it up at the hammock. Discord vanished in a flash, alongside the suspended bed, and reappeared behind the changelings.
“Point taken, I assume?” he said with a smug grin. “But all’s well that ends well, the offspring are safe, and I remain the universe’s punching bag for all the blame. Oh, the woe that is me…”
Twilight sighed. “Fine, you didn’t send them deliberately. But please, be careful what ideas you plant into my daughter’s head.”
“It would be easier if she didn’t take after you to an unbearable degree,” he retorted, crossing his arms in annoyance. “But I suppose I could go into the menu and lower the ideas setting. Oh, and Tia is here and probably but a few moments away from knocking on your door.”
“I thought you weren’t omniscient?”
“I’m not, just really good at timing things. See you around, Sparkle! And remember, keep tidying those libraries for fun.”
And then, right as there was a predictable knock on the door, the draconequus was gone.
“Tidying… What did he mean by that?” Avia asked curiously.
“It doesn’t matter,” she dismissed, before her magic wrapped around the front door and unlocked it.
It opened up, and through the entranceway strode the regal form of the alabaster Princess of the Sun, her rainbow mane billowing majestically in a way that always made Avia’s eyes widen in sheer awe. Through the doorway, behind the alicorn, second could be seen alongside an escort of guards both Solar and Lunar. Vladimir and Broad Sword had also both returned alongside the two royal ponies, but all waited outside as Celestia spied the changeling she thought of as a daughter.
“Twilight!” Celestia greeted, moving forward and sharing a quick nuzzle with the Queen. “So good to see you! Sorry we arrived so late, but business in Canterlot was bustling.”
“Don’t worry, Celestia. I understand,” Twilight responded, returning the nuzzle with vigour. “I was just about to inform Avia that she’s grounded the moment we get back to the hive and won’t be leaving her room for a couple days.”
“Aw…” the nymph said, drooping down again. But hey, at least that was after the celebration.
“Oh?” Celestia asked, looking over to the filly with a frown. “Have I missed something?”
“A bit,” Façade remarked.
“I’ll explain later,” Twilight said, levitating her daughter up and placing her down onto her back. “But I think we have a Summer Sun Celebration to finish. So, no more drama or tears, let’s just enjoy the rest of the night while it lasts.”
Avia used a hoof to wipe any remaining moisture from her eyes, and then nodded eagerly. “I will! Let’s go!”
Princess Celestia gave the family a curious look, but then simply chose to wait for Twilight to explain it at a later date.
“Very well then, Twilight. Let us prepare.”