//------------------------------// // Inside Starlight's Castle // Story: Home For The Holidays // by pabrony //------------------------------// "Whoa!" Twi exclaimed as the portal spit us out onto the castle floor. "No matter how many times we go through that thing, I'll never get used to the swirly it gives us." I couldn't help but laugh at her comment. "Did...did you just s-say sw-swirly?" I managed.  "Yeah. Why?" "Do you know...what a swirly is?" "..." I explained what a swirly was through my giggling and how many of them given as the bully of CHS. I also admitted that I wanted to give her one during the Friendship Games while she was stealing everyone's magic. Her reaction wasn't what I expected. Instead of being offended and yelling at me, she just laughed it off like I was joking; which I wasn't.  "How did the girls do?" Twi asked.  I looked at the girls - who had ended up on my back - and saw them looking around the room in awe. It didn't take long after that for things to go haywire. A navy blue aura had enveloped Gleaming's horn and the books in the room began teleporting from shelf to shelf. Solaria, however, just had a bright green aura surrounding hers. "It looks as though they're fine," I said as I tried putting things back. "That's good. Hey, do you think Rarity will be ok? Solaria did a number on her when she swiped her gem creation ability," Twi replied. She stood up to head out of the mirror room and immediately collapsed.  I levitated the girls to the floor and trotted over to check on Twi. "What happened?" "I…I don't know," she said as she attempted to stand again and immediately collapsing. "I can't stand on my own. My left rear leg doesn't have any strength and my left front isn't much better," she explained as she began to panic. I set a hoof on her chest. "Babe, calm down. Give me a few minutes to think of something." "But-" "No buts. Worst case scenario, I'll see if we can get a wheelchair from Ponyville General." With an unsure look, she responded, "There's no way for me to hold onto a cane, is there?" "Probably not." I paused for a moment to ponder some options when it hit me. "Can you keep an eye on the girls?" Twi tilted her head in confusion. "Yeah. Why?" I told her that I had remembered reading about a first aid spell that might help her out. The catch was that I had to see a medical spellbook and didn't know if Starlight had one. After making sure that Twi was going to be okay with the girls, I left the mirror room. I called out to Starlight as I walked down the hall. Must still be at school, I thought. I arrived in front of what used to be Twilight's library and gently pushed the door open. Oh boy. Somepony doesn't have the same organizational skills as a certain alicorn. Resigning myself to the fact that without Starlight's help I would have to check each book individually, I started from the bottom left shelf and worked my way up. I began to mentally read the titles of each of the books as I looked at the spine of each one. Legends Of The Everfree Forest...How To Be A Better Pony...Soup For The Unicorn Soul...Rainbows Rock...The Self-Help Guide To Overcome Bitterness...Friendship Is Forever...Sleepless Snuggles. Geez, she has got everything but spellbooks in here. I pulled a thick book that lacked a title on the spine from one of the shelves to see what it was. Dr. MILFLove? Is this some sort of relationship advice book? After opening it and reading a few pages, I quickly slammed it shut. Okay. I didn't realize that Starlight was into that stuff. "Need help?" I heard over my shoulder causing me to just slightly. I spun around to see Starlight standing in the doorway wearing a white shirt with a gold broach, dark purple skirt, and reddish-violet blazer. "Gah! N-n-no, I, uh, was, ummm…" I stammered as I stalled for time as I felt my face turn to fire. A knowing grin appeared on Starlight's face. "You found 'Dr. MILFLove', didn't you?" I pressed the book against my chest as the blush continued to spread across my face. "No! It's just you, uhhh, caught me off guard. That's all." Starlight let out a chuckle. "Don't worry. Sunburst had the same reaction when he learned what it was," she said. "Where did you get this?" I whispered as I set the erotica back on the shelf. "Well, I was in need of something new of that nature since everything else that I currently have does nothing for me. So I visited your world one day and hung out with Juniper. We stopped in a bookstore and she highly recommended it," Starlight said. "You should really check out the chapter where he-" "No, thank you," I interrupted. "The first half of chapter one was enough for me." "Eh, suit yourself," she said. "So what brings you to my humble library?" "Are you aware of Twi's disability?" "Disability?" Starlight asked, scratching the back of her head. "Yeah. You see on Valentine's Day - which is my world's name for Hearts And Hooves Day - Twi was involved in an accident which nearly killed her." I then went on to explain everything that happened; the details of the wreck, Twi's injuries, and her subsequent depression. "When we arrived in the mirror room a few minutes ago, her limited mobility had transferred to her pony form." "Really? How so?" "Her left rear leg has absolutely no strength-" "That shouldn't be too big of a problem." "Let me finish. Her left rear leg has no strength and her left front is too weak to compensate for that. Because of that, she can sit but not stand," I elaborated. "I remember reading about a spell years ago that might help her to limp along at the very least. You wouldn't happen to have a first aid or medical book anywhere, would you?" "No but I think I know which spell you're talking," she said, rubbing her chin with the back of her hoof. "If I'm not mistaken, it's the 'I Like To Move It' spell." "Yes! Yes! That's it! That's the one!" I exclaimed excitedly as I jumped up and down. "Please tell me that you remember how it goes." Starlight laughed and waved one of her hooves at me. "Pffft. Of course, I do. It was part of Twilight's training to be a staff member of the School Of Friendship. I personally think it's a great idea. It's so basic...wait. You mean to tell me that as advanced as you are in magic you can't perform it?" "Well, it's not that I can't perform it, more like I don't remember it," I replied with a nervous chuckle. "You read the title of it and skipped over it, didn't you?" she deadpanned. "Maybe." Starlight went over to a small desk that was in the corner to pull out a quill and some parchment. She started to scribble something down, however when I tried to see what it was, she put up a barrier to keep me away. "What are writing?" "Nothing that you need to know about," she teased. I rolled my eyes. "Uh-huh. Listen, I'm gonna go check on Twi and the girls. I'll meet you back in the mirror room." "Sure thing," she replied  "SUNNY!!! HELP!!!" I heard Twi scream as I exited the library.  I broke into a full gallop to reach her, thinking that something happened to either Gleaming or Solaria. When I entered the mirror room, I had to do my best to keep from dying of laughter. Twi was flat against the floor with her hooves covering her head. Above her were books floating around the room, surrounded by the same green aura that matched the glow surrounding Solaria's horn; adding to that were books teleporting from place to place. "Having trouble?" I asked with a small snicker. Twi peeked out from under her hooves. "Very funny. Solaria crawled up against me a couple of minutes ago and borrowed my magic," she whimpered. "Almost immediately she had books flying off the shelf. I nearly got a concussion from one of them. Luckily, Gleaming teleported it away just inches from my face." I lit up my horn and moved Solaria away from Twi. "Naughty girl, Solaria. Taking mommy's magic again," I said with a smile as held her in front of my face in my magic. I gave her a kiss and set her down near Gleaming while I levitated all of the books back onto the shelves. It was around this time that Starlight joined us in the room with the parchment in her mouth. She set it down in front of Twi and spun it around so that she could read it. "What's this?" asked Twi as she struggled to a sitting position. "It a first aid spell," Starlight answered. "As long as you keep this active, you'll be able to limp along under your own power." A confused look came across my wife's face as she read the spell multiple times. "Starlight, is there a way you could translate this spell into a visual diagram? I haven't exactly learned how to use magic by reading spells from a book," she explained. "I can't exactly translate it to pictures and diagrams but I can teach it to you." Twi agreed to that and while she was learning to channel her magic from her horn to the left side of her body, I continued to put the books back on the shelves. Easier said than done. For every three books I put away Gleaming transported two more to another part of the room. Roughly five minutes or so later, Twi finally was able to muster up enough magic to attempt the spell. Her horn had a faint glow to it that very slowly intensified as the minutes ticked by. Meanwhile, I enlisted the help of Starlight to distract Gleaming so that I could finish getting all the books put back into place. It had been roughly twenty minutes by the time we were ready to head to the train station for the final leg of our journey to Canterlot. Twi had enough magic channeled through her body to support herself on three of her four legs. I looked in the main hall where the Hearth's Warming tree was and noticed a gaggle of pictures on the wall. "What are all the pictures on the wall over there?" I asked Starlight.  "Those?"  "Mhmm." "Those are pictures of me, Twilight, and the rest of our friends from the last few years," she responded cheerfully.  "I had copies of them made when Twilight moved to Canterlot." "Oh, cool," I said before walking over to look at them. I scanned them one by one to see what each one was. They were mostly pictures of Twilight, the pony versions of my friends, Spike, and others. About halfway down the line, however, my giddy, bubbly, Pinkie-like mood slowly began to sour. After the pictures of her coronation that followed her ascension, there were a half dozen pictures from the Fall Formal fiasco, including one of me holding a mortar trowel. Thanks a lot, I thought angrily. So what else is there? More adventures; the local forest taking over Ponyville, Fluttershy and some local quartet, Rainbow Dash posing with one of the Wonderbolts, and Twilight and her friends posing in front of her newly grown castle. Then came a few photos from the Battle of the Bands. For some odd reason, I was only in one of them. Twi - noticing my sudden mood change - limped up beside me and sat down. "Sunny? Is everything okay?" "No. No, it's not," I grumbled. "Take a look for yourself." She looked over the pictures and scratched the back of her head. "I don't see what you're so upset about." I had her take a second look at all the pictures from our world. "Notice anything?" "Now I do. You're only in two of them." "See how I'm portrayed? One where I'm fixing the school behind a group photo. In the other one, I'm in the background while the others are ponied up and singing," I complained. "I understand not including me in the Fall Formal pics but they could've left that one in their phones. I mean, the selfie that I took with Rarity and Fluttershy that Spike photo-bombed isn't even among these." Twi nuzzled me and told me to ask Twilight about it tomorrow. Reluctantly, I agreed that it was probably the best option and stood up to leave. Just before we left, however, I glanced at the final picture on the wall. "WHAT IN THE  HELL?!"