The Castle of the Two Sisters was filling rapidly with a mass of ponies milling around in a carefully organised if unorthodox looking ballet.
Twilight was at the centre, alternately taking questions and shouting out orders as more ponies arrived with supplies. It was the busiest the castle had been for a thousand years and it was no doubt grateful to feel its deserted rooms and corridors filled once again with activity as it had so long ago. It was almost as if the castle sensed their need and instead of things going wrong, ponies were pleasantly surprised when they found the condition of what it had to offer.
Mr and Mrs Cake had even managed to fire up the old wood burning ovens with a little help from Applejack and the smell of freshly baked bread wafted appetisingly throughout the castle. Everything was good, provided that one chose to ignore the rather large hole in the roof.
A nagging feeling had been growing within Twilight, but she had been far too busy bringing her organisational talents to bear to stop and think, especially as a stream of items had been pouring in as well as the first patients from the hospital seeking safe refuge. Ivory had claimed an annex to the library to be their centre of operations; this would be where either her or Twilight would be available at any time of the day or night.
The nagging feeling got worse and Twilight excused herself for a breath of fresh air and saw the sun suspended above the horizon – then it hit her; the sun had been giving her reminders about the time. From where it was hanging, the sun could see the moon waiting patiently just below the horizon and was awaiting the formal command to be allowed to rest.
Twilight had become no stranger to the sun picking her up on her tardiness and once again had to offer her apologies before the golden orb sank and the sky darkened through the rich pinks and purples that bore her name. She hoped that Nyx was ready and worried whether she would be able to handle herself tonight, but couldn’t allow herself to get wound up about it as she had much more pressing issues here, protecting Ponyville.
The dark clouds were rolling in faster now and it was clear that the storm would be upon them within the hour. Indeed, she had been watching the clouds form and had forbidden any more ponies from returning back to Ponyville two hours ago, but still watched as the constant exodus of ponies continued arriving like an unending stream.
The clamour for her attention was rising again and she returned to help out. A team of unicorns was taking it in turns to maintain a constant sealing spell over the roof as family after displaced family claimed a space on the floor of the old throne room.
Finally the last stragglers arrived, damp from the first falls of rain that heralded the leading edge of the storm. She stood at the doorway and cast her eyes around outside to make sure nopony was still making their way along the path that led from the bridge, then she looked up at what remained visible of the night sky. She smiled as she saw the cutie marks of her and her friends, gasping as she noticed a new addition that she could have sworn hadn’t been there last night; a crescent moon next to her six point star - Nyx’s cutie mark next to hers! The tension of the day coupled with the lack of sleep the night before and the worry she felt for her daughter overflowed and she started crying. She didn’t feel any shame or any need to hide the outpouring of her emotion and let it roll over her, wishing she was with Nyx but realising she was much safer where she was.
“I love you, Nyx” she said to the night sky.
She pushed the door closed and dropped the bar across with her magic. They were ready for whatever the storm would bring.
Twilight threaded her way through the sheltering throng, exchanging pleasantries and allaying fears as she went, making her way up to the annex in the library where she greeted Ivory and aimed for a blanket, falling asleep almost before she lay down.
Nyx looked out across the peaceful night sky. She had been briefed by Twilight’s aide and the general left in charge about what had happened during the day. Skies were clear over Canterlot and it was hard to believe the reports from the weather team that a once in a lifetime storm had been diverted and was currently heading towards her mother and her friends in Ponyville.
The general had told her about the civil defence plans and outlined how the long forgotten shelters had been accessed, cleaned and prepared, while in parallel, the castle and garrison had been readied to accommodate the population of Canterlot. Ponies had been made aware of the dangers and the measures being taken to avert them, but ultimately the weather team had managed to pull off the dangerous and risky feat of diverting the storm away and now the city of Canterlot was stood down.
She had felt useless in the face of so much planning having been done while she slept and wanted to go and join her mother as soon as she had found out, but her mother’s note had been explicit. She had watched the sun waiting to go down and began to worry why it wasn’t making the last step in its daily journey, but finally to her relief she had watched it sink and she knew her mother was alright.
It had felt odd raising the moon while standing completely alone; no Twilight or no Princess Luna by her side, but she had remembered what she had been taught and promptly busied herself with decorating the night sky, sending a special message in the stars to her mother, if she had time to see it.
The first half of the night had gone well, but now she faced the prospect of going to the dining room, which she seriously considered missing, and then dream walking, something else she had never done alone. Her self-doubt was starting to rise within her once more and she just wished that somepony she trusted could be there to help her.
Feeling both fragile and alone, she had no wish to expose herself to anything that may upset her as a chance comment had the night before. While she appreciated that such fears may seem irrational to most ponies, nopony had ever been brought into the world with the baggage that she was forced to carry.
To remedy the first of these problems, she had requested a sandwich be left for her on the balcony, thereby mitigating the need to meet the serving staff in the dining room. As she nibbled around the edges of the freshly prepared sandwich she looked out over Canterlot and thought longingly of the Royal Sisters and especially her mother whom she knew was in the middle of a terrifying storm right now. Suddenly this thought quashed her appetite and she pushed aside the barely tasted food as even the thought of it was too much for her at the moment. She really missed her mother.
After a period of reflection during which she had stared forlornly over the balustrade, she forced herself into the mindset to attend to the second half of her responsibilities and turned back to the castle. “The ponies of Equestria expect me to protect them in their sleep” she reasoned, “I lost their trust once and I must work to regain it. It won’t matter to them how I feel, but I owe it to them all to play my part.” Summoning all her courage, she set off down the deserted corridors to Luna’s study, alone.
Following the customary exchange of codewords with the guards, she entered the study, everything seeming somehow more sinister and threatening than it had when she had been accompanied by another pony. Nonetheless, she got on with her duties and set about calming the dreams of the ponies in Canterlot. She would have rather tended to those in Ponyville, including her friends whom she knew were hunkered down as the storm swept over them, but her mother had also been explicit about that in her note. As it turned out, anxieties had been running high in Canterlot and she spent her time reassuring ponies that they and their loved ones would be safe; once she had done the first one or two, it became a simple repeatable task, which suited her in her current state of mind.
Finally, she left the dream realm, utterly exhausted. It had been a busy night and she left the study heading for the balcony, thinking about how her mother had coped and wishing for all the world that they could be together. At the allotted hour she lowered the moon and waited for faraway magenta alicorn magic to reach out and start the day.
The storm had passed over Ponyville and was now losing strength fast as a team of very tired weather ponies led by Rainbow Dash descended on the Castle of the Two Sisters. She banged on the door with her forehoof, rattling the latch rings and the solid wooden securing bar behind.
“C’mon guys” she called, “Storms passed, how ‘bout letting us in?”
A rough grating sound signified the securing bar being dragged away from its mounts on the other side of the door and the Mayor appeared silhouetted in the doorway as the door was opened by a strong earth pony to her side.
“Pegasi” observed the Mayor, “Do come in; you must be the weather team.”
“Thank you Madam Mayor” acknowledged their rainbow maned leader, counting all of her crew in before going in herself.
“How does it look out there?”
“Worst has passed. It’s too dark to tell, but when the moon comes out, you can see big lakes where there never used to be lakes before, if you get what I mean.”
“Please come in and warm yourselves. We have fresh baked bread, apples and hot potatoes if you want.”
Rainbow had been in the Castle of the Two Sisters when it was abandoned and spooky, but couldn’t believe seeing every square foot of floor being filled with ponies in family and friendship groups, all sheltering from the storm. There was a gentle hubbub of subdued conversations and snoring as most ponies were trying to sleep.
The friendly warmth of camaraderie seemed to banish all the scary ambience for which the old castle had become renowned over the last thousand years and the smell of warm food wafted invitingly up from the kitchens.
“Yes please” said Rainbow, “We could all do with some hot grub and a place to sleep. We’re beat.”
“You’ve done a grand job and all of Ponyville is proud of you” said the Mayor, “Thank you all.”
The Mayor had been up all night too and was feeling tired herself, so went up to the library to wake Twilight. She stretched out a khaki forehoof to the lilac alicorn who had not moved since she had collapsed on a blanket last night.
“Wha … What time is it?” asked the bleary eyed Princess.
“It’s still dark” replied Ivory, “But the weather team says the worst of the storm has passed.”
“Yes, but what time is it?” she persisted.
Ivory rummaged around and found a timepiece somewhat bemused by Twilight’s obsession with the time. Celestia hadn’t raised the sun, so what was the problem?
Twilight was getting increasingly agitated and when Ivory finally told her the time she made a hasty excuse and left their cosy little library annex to find an unoccupied room with a view of the eastern horizon. Finally she found a window in a store room at the top of one of the towers and gave it a nudge, but it stuck so she pushed it a little harder and the whole window fell from its hinges, tumbling away down the outside of the building and embedding itself in the saturated ground below. Twilight groaned and felt a sprinkle of drizzly rain on her face as she peered into the darkness, lighting her horn.
The sun was unimpressed at having been kept waiting yet again and Twilight had to apologise profusely before it deigned to rise for her. As soon as it rose, she cast her eyes around and saw a new landscape littered with little lagoons, sparkling in the first rays of sunshine.
Twilight made her way down into the castle where she followed her nose towards the smell of fresh baked bread. There she found Rainbow Dash and the weather team sat at a trestle table tucking into a meal with such ferocity that it appeared they had not eaten for a week.
“Twi, Twi” said Rainbow, mouth full of baked potato, “That was one hell of a storm last night! The team here did a fantastic job diverting it, but … hey, I’m really sorry about Ponyville.”
“That couldn’t be helped Rainbow” she replied sadly, “It was my call.”
“You took a tough decision” said the pegasus, ”Hey, d’you want to fly reconnaissance with me so we can report back?”
“You’re too tired, surely?”
“Nah, just want to see if you’ve remembered how to use those wings” she replied.
“Well, if you’re up for it” said Twilight uncertainly, “But, finish your breakfast first.”
Once they were both ready, the two friends found their way onto the old Royal balcony and launched into the air.
“That’s funny” said Rainbow sounding confused, “I’d swear there was a lot more water out here earlier; you should have seen the rain, Twi.”
“Hmm, I don’t know how, but I believe you’re right. I’m sure I saw more settled water when I looked out earlier too.”
They swung by over Sweet Apple Acres and Rainbow suddenly shouted, “Look! Look down there!”
Twilight saw it too, and they both went lower to investigate further.
“It’s a whirlpool!” called Twilight in disbelief.
“Err, yeah … but … don’t you just get them at sea?” said Rainbow, “Kinda unusual in an apple orchard, don’t you think?”
“Quick, follow me!” said Twilight, “There’s something I want to check out.”
She led them down into the Everfree, and pointed with glee as more whirlpools came into view.
“Say what now?” said Rainbow looking perplexed, “One is weird enough, but all these - that’s just plain wrong.”
“I do hope the Princesses are alright” said Twilight under her breath, then to Rainbow she said more loudly, “Come on, let’s go check on Ponyville.”