Twilight stood atop the tallest tower of Canterlot Castle, taking in the cool, fresh morning air with a delighted breath. She felt so lucky on mornings like this. In the far, far distance she could just about make out a few tiny sparkles of light in the town of Ponyville, her old home.
She thought lovingly of that town and her friends who lived there. She was sure one of those lights was Mrs Cake, up early as usual baking buns and morning treats. Another would probably be Rarity; she had some kind of big designer's charity costume competition in Manehatten in a few days, so she had probably been up all night working.
And there, just to the east, one of those lights was almost certainly Applejack making pies, or preparing for harvest. Something of the like.
She turned her attention back to the matter at hoof.
Canterlot stood proudly in front of her, she could see over the whole city. She couldn't help but smile at how far she had come to get up here. Then she picked out a small round object from her satchel, the item Celestia and Luna had given her when she ascended to the throne. She hovered it up in front of her, observing the wondrously engraved sun and moon on the front of the dial, their design worked in harmony together.
The golden trim of the circular talisman sparkled under the clear summer moon.
She pulled a half turn on the dial, and felt a shock of magic influence her body. Then she let herself become weightless, floating up above the ground as her horn lit with the most powerful spell cast by any one pony. The darkness of the night sky started to retreat as Twilight prepared herself for what was to come.
She felt herself become one with the sun and moon, her body feeling tingly as she did so.
Gradually, slowly, peacefully, the moon sank beneath the horizon to the west of the sky. At the same time, on the eastern horizon, the sun, in its might and glory, rose to blanket Equestria in its light. The sky gradually became lighter, fading until it became a lovely light blue.
Somewhere a rooster crowed.
Twilight enjoyed fusing some of her own magic with the device. She hoped that one day, she might be able to lift the sun and moon without needing the talisman, but she was still young in relation to the princesses who had ruled before her, so there was still time to learn.
She turned from her post and headed downstairs to the office, where Spike was waiting for her, eager to start the day.
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"Perfect timing as always Spike." Twilight chirped as she made her way around her desk to the filing cabinet in the back corner of the room.
"Well you learn from the best not to be lazy or she'll have a freak-out and start calling the royal guards to wake you." Spike mocked.
Twilight sighed. "That was ONE TIME. And it was an important day, Pinkie and Discord had organised a custard festival and it was definitely getting off to a rocky start."
Spike laughed. "I know, hehe, I was teasing you." Twilight smirked and went back to her files. "Anyway what did you need me to do today?" he asked.
"Today I need you to go to Ponyville and get these official delivery notices to Applejack for the Two Sisters Celebration cupcakes. Pinkie left the order here with Lemon Hearts and can't remember now what she needed. Then take this note to Gabby please, it's an invitation for Grandpa Gruff. I would have sent it to him by royal post but I figured you would end up meeting Gabby anyway if I sent you to Ponyville, so here, you can take it."
She passed him the apple list and the nicely enveloped invitation.
"If you could also head to Starlight and tell her that I'll gladly be a guest lecturer at her school concerning the foundations of the element's of Harmony, but I'll be around to talk to her over dinner about it at eight-thirty."
"Consider it done." Spike gave a salute.
"Thanks Spike." She walked around the table and gave her dragon brother a hug. "I know I can count on you."
"Absolutely. Good luck with all your work today too. I'll see you for dinner at Starlight's then." She let go and Spike made his way towards the door.
"You're more than welcome to join us, of course. I'm sure Trixie and Sunburst will be there as well."
"Sounds like a blast. Anyway I had better get going if I'm to catch the first train to Ponyville. See you later!"
And with that, Spike ran down the corridor and jumped over the edge of the balcony. His wings caught him on the breeze and he soared through the air, over Canterlot to the station. The morning shops were just starting to open up, and the fruit and veg market place was bustling with farm ponies setting up their stalls of fresh vegetables.
What a great morning, Twilight thought.
She picked up her satchel and made her way to the staircase, ready to start the day.