Celestia began to set the dining table for the rest of her family,
“Morning!” a voice shouted from behind. She turned to see Twilight standing behind her, Spike sitting on her back,
“Oh, Twilight. How nice to see you up first.” Celestia said, Twilight smiled back.
“I woke up Cadence and Shiny too! But I think Shiny might’ve just gone back to sleep.” she added. Celestia walked over and picked up Spike putting him in his baby chair,
“Well the important thing is you told them it was time for breakfast.” Celestia replied, Cadence entered the room yawning, her mane and tail a mess.
“Morning Auntie...” she said as she sat down, Twilight sat in the chair across from her a smile on her face.
“Good morning Twilight, you seem to be in a good mood today.” Cadence said. Twilight nodded excitedly,
“I got to see my friends yesterday, don’t you remember?” Cadence nodded,
“I hope they can come visit again today.” Twilight added, Shining finally entered the dining room looking even worse then Cadence did.
“Good Morning Shining.” Celestia said as she handed a plate of pancakes to each pony at the table. Shining let a low groan, not even close enough to be words before sitting down beside Cadence.
“You look like you didn’t get any sleep last night Shining, are you gonna be ok going to school?” Cadence asked,
“I’ll be fine, just need some breakfast in me is all.” he groaned. Celestia sat down and started to feed Spike as they all ate their breakfast together,
“So what do you want to do today Twilight? I’m guessing you’re not ready to go back to school just yet.” Celestia asked, Twilight looked a little sad but then answered,
“No...not yet, that’s why I wanted to help you out today!” Celestia smiled at her response,
“Oh? What if I need to leave the castle then?” she asked, Twilight thought for a moment but came up with an answer quick.
“I’ll just watch Spike until you get back!” Celestia giggled at Twilight’s answer, and though she did wish Twilight would go to school she was happy to see her getting her energy back.
Celestia walked through the main hall to the throne room, Twilight following alongside her, Spike bouncing on her back.
“So? Are you ready Twilight? My days can get pretty busy.” Celestia asked, Twilight nodded and promised to help her every way she could. The doors to the throne room opened as a small gathering of Celestia’s attendants and a few nobles stood waiting at the base of her throne.
“Ladies and Gentlecolts, I thank you for your patience.” Celestia announced, She walked across the throne room a with the grace of a goddess, Twilight excitedly following behind her. Celestia sat on her throne and looked down at the pony before her, she took Spike from Twilight and held him close in one hoof. Twilight sat next to her, an eager smile on her face.
“Now then, what is the first order of business today?” Celestia asked, a unicorn noble approached and held up a stack of papers.
“Your highness, there seems to be a small trade dispute between merchants in Stalliongrad and Manehatten. Apparently their has been a recent hike in the shipping taxes...” Twilight sat next to Celestia but her smile slowly began to fade, she wanted to help but she didn’t understand what any of these pony’s were even saying. The different pony’s each brought their problems to Celestia, all the while Twilight slowly becoming more and more bored. Eventually Celestia leaned over whispered,
“Twilight, hold on to Spike for me. It’s hard to concentrate with him wiggling around in my hooves, ok?” Twilight smiled and did as she was told happy to finally help in some way. Celestia finally managed to get through all the different nobles and their problems and sighed with relief,
“Are we all done?” Twilight asked, Celestia leaned back in her throne mentally exhausted.
“For now at least, but I’m sure there will be other problems at some point today.” she groaned. Celestia stood up and looked at Twilight,
“Let’s go get some lunch Twilight, it won’t be much longer until Sunset gets here.” she said, Twilight put Spike on her back and followed Celestia to the dining hall. A few servants brought the three a well prepared lunch consisting of salads for Celestia and Twilight and a few small gems for Spike.
“So, what are we doing next?” Twilight asked as she ate, Celestia looked through a stack of papers she had,
“Mostly just signatures, permits, building approvals, nothing too complex.” Celestia answered, she lowered the papers to see Twilight with a confused look on her face, she obviously didn’t understand what Celestia had just said to her.
“Don’t worry, its nothing you need to be concerned with. Now, let’s enjoy our lunch together.”
The time had finally come for Sunset Shimmer to arrive, Celestia made sure that Cadence would watch Spike while she taught Twilight and Sunset.
“All right then, let’s start with multiple levitation today. I’ve got a small group of rocks spread out in a circle, I want you to stand in the center and try to lift as many as you can at once, okay?” Celestia explained. Sunset took her turn first standing where she was told, her horn began to glow with a red aura as eight of the rocks around her began to lift off the ground. The highest any of the rocks was raised was only about three feet, but still impressive considering the number of targets.
“Very good Sunset, excellent work. Twilight, now its your turn.” Celestia said, Twilight eagerly walked past Sunset to take her turn. Sunset of course having a confident smirk on her face as she passed Twilight. The purple pony stood in the center of the stones, she scrunched her face as her horn began to glow, the rocks around her gaining the same pink glow as her horn. All but two of the rocks slowly lifted off the ground, each one staying at the same height and levitating around Twilight, Sunset stood shocked, this was the first time Twilight had been better then her she thought.
“Very good, Twilight. You can stop now.” Celestia congratulated her. Sunset’s face turned red with anger,
“You cheated! What’d you do that was different?” she snapped, Twilight stood back as Sunset approached her angrily.
“I didn’t do anything different, I just followed Mom’s lesson is all.” Twilight stuttered,
“That’s a lie! You’ve never been better than me before! You had...” Sunset continued to shout,
“Sunset! That’s enough, Twilight did nothing different than you. There is no reason to be angry at her for this.” Celestia scolded, Sunset sat back down and looked away annoyed. She didn’t like Twilight being better than her, but she didn’t want to anger Celestia more either. The lesson progressed as usual though Sunset’s competitive nature was showing a little more than usual, but Celestia made sure she wasn't being mean to Twilight about it. After a few more lessons Sunset spoke to Twilight,
“So...how come you’re not coming to school? I mean, I don’t care...but your friends seem to miss you...” Twilight looked away from Sunset an upset look on her face.
“Well...there’s...there’s a lot of scary pony’s and creatures outside the castle...” Twilight answered. Sunset looked confused,
“Their scary how?” she asked. Celestia looked back at Twilight nervous, Sunset wasn’t being mean but she didn’t want Twilight getting upset either.
“They...they might try to hurt me...or take me away from my family...I don’t want that.” Twilight said. Sunset stood up an annoyed look on her face,
“That’s why!?” she marched up to Twilight and scolded her,
“Then fight back Twi! If they’re being mean or scary to you, then show them you aren’t afraid!” Twilight tried not to look at Sunset as she yelled,
“But...but what if I can’t?” she asked.
“Then get your friends to help! Or your family! Or Princess Celestia! And if no one else will, then I’ll do it for you!” she shouted, Twilight began to cower at Sunset’s words when Celestia finally decided to speak up.
“Sunset Shimmer! That is quite enough young mare.” Sunset took a few steps back and sat down more annoyed than before, she was only trying to help and now Celestia was mad at her again. A hush fell over the three of them,
“Do you...do you mean it?” Twilight asked, Celestia and Sunset both looked at Twilight surprised.
“You’ll help if I can’t?” she asked. Sunset looked away her face blushing a little with embarrassment over what she had just said now.
“Well...yeah...I meant it...I mean...were...friends...right?” she muttered. Sunset looked back to see Twilight smiling, she walked over and hugged Sunset tight. Sunset naturally groaned in annoyance rolling her eyes,
“You don’t need to hug me...” she groaned again. Despite her words Celestia could clearly see her trying her best not to smile at Twilight’s hug and affection.
Twilight and Celestia stood at the castle gate, Twilight waved goodbye to Sunset as a guard escorted her home. Celestia was a little upset before but now she was glad that Sunset admitted to being Twilight’s friend.
“Umm...Mom?” Celestia looked down at Twilight a smile on her face,
“Can...you walk me to school tomorrow?” she asked.
“I...I wanna see my friends at school...and Sunset too.” She looked up at Celestia to see her smiling back, Celestia almost felt like she would cry. But instead she just picked up Twilight and hugged her tight, Twilight hugged her back.
“Of course I’ll walk you to school. I’ll walk with you as many times as you want Twilight.” she said.
The next morning Celestia and Twilight walked up to the front gate of the castle,
“Are you ready?” Celesita asked. Twilight nervously hid under Celestia’s legs looking around the streets, she shook her head yes slowly.
“All right, now just stay right next to me as we walk. That’s all there is to it.” Celestia reassured her. The two began to walk to the school Celestia going at a slow pace in order to match Twilight’s speed. Twilight naturally continued to look around her, checking behind her more than anything.
“Are you doing all right?” Celestia asked,
“Uh huh, I’m okay...for now.” Twilight answered, the two continued to walk when a familiar voice called out.
“Twilight!” Celestia and Twilight looked to see Juniper with her uncle, she eagerly ran over and hugged Twilight.
“Are you going to school today!?” she asked. Twilight nodded,
“Yeah...I wanted to see my friends again.” she said. Juniper danced in place excitedly,
“This is so great! We missed you so much!” Juniper and her Uncle walked alongside Celestia and Twilight the two foals talking to each other every step of the way. Before they knew it they’d finally reached the school.
“I’ll see you inside Twilight!” Juniper shouted, she hugged her Uncle goodbye and ran into the building. Twilight stood looking at the school, then looked back to see the castle at the very end of the street.
“See? I got you here safe and sound just like I said.” Celestia said, Twilight looked up at her with a bright smile.
“Cadence and Shining will be right here waiting once school is out to walk you home too. Alright Twilight?” Celestia asked, Twilight nodded excitedly and hugged Celestia once last time. She turned and ran into the school building with a renewed eagerness. Celestia watched with a smile as the door closed behind Twilight,
“Cadence? I’m pretty confident Shining was supposed to be in school himself ten minutes ago...” Celestia looked over her shoulder and after a moment Shining and Cadence slowly emerged from behind the corner of a nearby shop.
“I’m sorry Auntie...” Cadence apologized,
“We just wanted to make sure everything went all right with Twily.” Shining added. Celestia smiled and walked past the two,
“I supposed I can let you skip school this one time Shining...”
Twilight entered her classroom and looked around, she immediately saw her Juniper talking to Moondancer and Wallflower. The three turned to see Twilight and immediately rushed over to greet her,
“Your back Twilight!” Moondancer announced.
“You missed so much! But don’t worry, we’ll help you get caught up fast! We promise!” Wallflower added. The teacher entered the room and told the students to take their seats, Twilight sat at her desk and noticed Sunset slumped over a bored look on her face.
“Hi Sunset!” she whispered, Sunset looked at Twilight out of the corner of her eye.
“Hey Twi...” she replied,
“Glad to see your back.” Twilight nodded and smiled looking towards the front of the classroom eagerly waiting for the teacher to begin the days lesson.