“Come on Twilight! Its easy, see?” Ocellus shouted as she hovered next to Cadence. Twilight stood near the edge of the waterfall looking down her wings spread out but she wasn’t moving.
“Yeah, its easy...just gotta flap my wings, and step off the ledge...that’s all. Just gotta keep it simple.” Twilight said nervously as she looked down at the water below. Twilight knew Cadence wouldn’t let her get hurt from this and the water below was deep enough that if she fell she’d only get wet. But it still didn’t make it easier knowing she’d have try and step off the ledge and fly. Sweetie sat a short distance away watching Twilight,
“You’re gonna try to fly though right? Cadence and Ocellus are right there to help Twilight.” Sweetie asked. Twilight took a nervous step towards the edge and looked up at Cadence smiling and waiting for her.
“Yeah, I will...just...just need to get the nerves to do it.” Twilight replied. A second later a flash of magic popped up beside Sweetie revealing Sunset who shouted as loud as she could,
“TWILIGHT JUMP!!!” Sunset shouted. In a panic Twilight leapt forward and over the ledge, the moment she realized her hooves weren’t over solid ground anymore she frantically began to flap her wings eventually rising up to Cadence and Ocellus’ level. Twilight was flapping her wings fast and hard the look of panic on her face only lessened, but then she lifted her head and shouted back.
“That wasn’t funny Sunset!!!” Sunset and Sweetie giggled in response however. Cadence flew over to Twilight and held her front her hooves lifting her up a little higher.
“She got you in the air though? Look, your flying just fine.” Cadence reassured her, Twilight looked around her and saw how far up she was and was genuinely surprised.
“Now try moving a little, fly over to Ocellus.” Cadence said as she moved to the side giving Twilight a clear path. Twilight looked over at Ocellus who waved back,
“Okay...just need to move forward...just a short distance, nothing big.” Twilight said, the unease in her voice returning.
“You can do it Twilight!” Sweetie shouted,
“Go on, its not even ten hooves! You got it Twi.” Sunset added. Twilight began to move away from Cadence slowly, her flying was unbalanced she constantly bobbed up and down in the air occasionally wobbling from side to side. Twilight was flapping her wings too hard though and she was getting tired quick, just as she was about halfway to Ocellus she suddenly dropped plummeting to the water below. Every creature shouted in a small panic as Twilight fell the purple horse shrieking as she tried to get herself airborne again. Just as she was about to hit the water though she found herself slowing to a stop. She opened her eyes and saw a green glow around her, Sunset standing near the waters edge her horn glowing.
“Oh come on, you didn’t think we were gonna let you fall did you?” she asked Twilight. Ocellus and Cadence flew down to Twilight, Sweetie on Cadence’s back,
“Are you okay Twilight? You’re not hurt are you?” Cadence asked.
Twilight shook her head no, “My wings just got tired, I think I was flapping them too much.” she answered.
“Well that’s alright, it is your first time trying to fly. We’ll get you to do some wing-ups and other exercises later, build up your wings strength. It’ll help out a lot I promise.” Cadence said. Twilight groaned in response to Cadence saying she’d need to do exercise,
“Do I really have to? What if I decide to just not to use my wings? I can still teleport just fine.” Twilight asked, before Cadence could answer though the glow around Twilight vanished and she dropped like a rock into the water below a moment later her head popping out of the water as she gasped for air.
“Sunset! Not funny!” she shouted. Sunset trot over and helped Twilight out of the water and fixing the front of her mane so she could see better.
“Well maybe you should remember that next time you take the attitude of ‘Not gonna use my wings’. You’re an Alicorn now Twilight and whether you like it or not you’re probably gonna need to use those wings of yours one day.” Sunset said. Twilight wanted to argue with Sunset but like usual, she knew that her friend was right, instead she smiled and nodded.
Cadence and Ocellus landed next to the two and with a smile Cadence spoke up. “How about we take a break and get something to eat? Its almost lunch time, plus we’ve got one day left of vacation before we head back to Canterlot. We need to make the most of the last little bit of vacation we have left.” Every creature nodded in agreement with Cadence, Sweetie springing up onto her hooves on Cadence’s back.
“Can we get hayburgers? I want something yummy for lunch today! None of that fancy stuff we’ve been eating for dinner.” she asked. Sunset and Twilight smiled at one another as they all began to walk to the food court.
“I think we could make that happen.”
Celestia and Luna sat on the edge of the beach, Luna taking a sip of the Iced tea she had before turning to her sister.
“I have to admit, Twilight and Sunset were right. This was exactly what we both needed, a weeks vacation just to unwind and not have to worry about anything.” Luna said. Celestia nodded in agreement before lifting her sunglasses to look at her sister,
“I agree completely, and I certainly wasn’t expecting Shining to propose to Cadence the way he did. Though I am curious as to how he got Discord to help him. I half expected him to do something that would make things, well...chaotic. But I guess Spike, Shining, and Cadence are proving to be a good influence on him after all.” Celestia replied. The two princesses sat watching all the other ponies on the beach going about their day enjoying the soft breeze and sound of the waves gently crashing against the shore.
“As much as I love the moments like this I feel can’t help but shake this bad feeling I’ve got. It just feels like were missing something, like some pony is conspiring against us without our knowing. Before I became Nightmare Moon, beings like Discord or Chrysalis were never so bold. Do you remember Tia? There was always a long period of harmony before the next threat managed to rise up. But now…” Luna said a worried tone to her voice now.
Celestia leaned back in her chair and looked up at the sky and said, “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think the same. But, I also feel a lot better about it now than I did then. All those years ago it was just us, we didn’t have any other pony to rely on when things got bad. But now we have Twilight, Spike, Cadence, Shining, and even Sunset Shimmer to help us when these threats rise up.” Luna leaned back in her chair looking at the sky along with her sister,
“That’s true, I should worry less I suppose. I have the utmost confidence that Twilight and Sunset are both destined for great things in the years to come. I mean, Twilight’s become an alicorn with little help from either of us. And I know that Sunset has that same potential in her, she just needs to find what it is that’ll give her that final push is all. Then I’m certain she’ll be a better princess than Twilight even on her worst day.” Luna snickered looking at her sister with a sly grin. Celestia looked back at Luna with a slight competitive grin as well,
“Oh I don’t think so, my little Twilight is the best pony around. Sunset won’t ever get the better of her for long.” she replied. A brief silence fell over the two mares before they both leaned back in their chairs again and laughed loudly.
“Oh it doesn’t matter who’s better, what matters is what they do with their gifts.” Celestia said. Luna turned her head to the side and licked her lips seeing the ice cream stand a short distance away.
“I’m going to get some ice cream, do you want some too?” Luna said as she got up to get her snack.
“I’m fine, but better be careful last thing you want is the papers publishing articles about your favorite snack Luna. I’ve been there before, and it tends to stick in the minds of every pony.” Celestia said. Luna rolled her eyes, doubting her sisters words and trot off to get herself a sweet treat.
Elsewhere a trio of black airships slowly began to lift from the dock where they rested, on board the lead ship a purple mare clad in black armor walked to the front of the ship to look ahead in the direction of their destination.
“How long until we reach Canterlot Grubber?” she asked, the small yet walked beside her nervously twiddling his fingers.
“It’ll be a few days, we have to stay in the cover of the storm clouds otherwise we’ll give away the ships presence before were even halfway there commander Tempest.” he said nervously. Tempest took a few more steps forward and then paused to reach for the broken horn on her head,
“That’s fine, I’ve waited this long...I can wait a little longer.” she answered.