Twilight Sparkle the Dragon

by PlutoMilo


Royal Summons - EQG Arc

Twilight stared at the scroll that lay innocently on the table. The seal marked it as an official summon by the Princess. It’d been months since her official Canterlot summon. Her last summon was by Celestia and while she wasn’t the ruler anymore, that seal still brought up bad memories. She took a deep fortifying breath and slowly broke the seal to unfurl the parchment.
“Good Morrow Archmage Sparkle,” The letter began, “As thou know, the Canterlot Castle staff have been clearing out the numerous storage rooms that have been laying around. We have come across an enchanted mirror. I believe it tis a portal that connects our realm to another. Would thee please come and take a look? My sister remains tight-lipped about it. Regards, Princess Luna of the Moon,”
Twilight let her huge head collapse onto the table with a thunk. Predictably, the pony-made table cracked and cratered a bit. Spike glanced up from the library floor where he’d been shelving some of the leftover books.
“Are we going to Canterlot again?” he asked, putting another book away.
Twilight was a little surprised to hear him so matter-of-fact. Her face twisted into a grimace at the thought.
“Unfortunately,” came the dry, muffled reply, “The Princess found a portal,”
“Celestia the Wise and Overlord-y can’t solve it?” Spike sounded genuinely interested in the answer and Twilight snorted, singeing the table.
“Apparently she won’t even go near it,” Twilight could hear Spike’s eye-roll from a floor up.
“Maybe this time you’ll let me bring home a pike,”
Twilight rose to her paws and repaired the table with a thought, “Fat chance, bud. The day I let you bring home a weapon like that is the day Celestia declares war over pony-kind,”
Spike continued to shelve books as he clicked his tongue and said, “Ah, so in the next year or so. Good to know I have something to look forward to,”
Twilight nearly tripped into the kitchen, (not that Spike could see), as she roared with laughter.


Fire hissed and roiled in her mouth as she rounded the corner and came upon her former mentor. Celestia looked rather odd without her ceremonial bands and crown. Savagely, Twilight hoped they were melted down for guard armor, but in the back of her mind she knew better. Twilight harshly padded past, sparing the old alicorn no more of her immediate attention.
The Hall doors were opened with a slight rumble and Twilight proceeded down the carpet. The muffled hoof steps behind her told her that Celestia followed. Twilight resisted the urge to growl. Princess Luna looked haughtily down her nose at them as they approached.
“Greetings, Head Archmage, Sister,” she boomed, thankfully quieter than the Royal Voice, “We have a matter of greatest importance. Would thee like to explain now? I have done as thou requested,”
Twilight’s eyes narrowed and she glared at the tricolored mane that seemed determined to wave and flutter in her face. Whatever Celestia did to her mane to make it constantly look like it was in a light breeze was annoying. Twilight much preferred Princess Luna’s mane style. Her navy blue mane acted like flickering flames. It was enough to intimidate, but not look cheap and tacky.
“The portal cannot be closed under any circumstance. My student is in the other world,”
Twilight was wholly prepared for the eruption of Mt. Luna this time. Interestingly enough, her mane flared with her wings and Twilight had to bite back inappropriate laughter.
“SISTER! WHEN I THINK THEE CANNOT BE MORE OF A FLEA-BITTEN MONGREL-!” She cut herself off to breathe deeply through her nose.
“And pray tell, what did your student do to end up in another world?” Twilight sneered sarcastically, refocusing on the situation at hand, and deciding to use one of Rarity’s sayings since it was very appropriate for the occasion.
“Sunset Shimmer was a magical prodigy,”  Celestia began proudly, “She was magnificent in all areas of magic but she delved too far into the Dark,” she finished gravely as if she were reporting a death.
The dragon’s heard Celestia talk about death. She talked about it airily like an Elite talking about starvation. It existed, but it wasn’t their concern. But it was the way Celestia said that name that made Twilight’s head spin. Pride colored her tone but it was also pitched in disappointment like Sunset Shimmer was a failed experiment of hers.
It took all of Twilight’s considerable willpower and control to prevent her fist from flying across the room and decking the old alicorn across the face. Princess Luna had no such qualms and shrieked something unintelligible in Old Ponyish. In her fury, she reared up and stomped her hooves to smash all of the tiles on the dais as she came down. Silently and unmoving, Princess Luna’s council worked quickly to repair the shattered marble. The tiles knitted together seamlessly and settled back into their original form. Princess Luna thanked them curtly.
“Knowing darker magicks was grounds to banish her to another realm?” Twilight asked when her claws stopped itching to hit something, “That’s all?”
Celestia blinked, bemused, “Well, yes,”
“Oh for the moon, sun, and stars,” Twilight swore, only to get interrupted.
“Sunset knows she’s free to come back whenever the portal opens,” Celestia pointed out, “It opens once every thirty-six moons. She’s not banished,”
“Are you sure she knows?” Twilight hissed, indignation for Shimmer rose through her, “You’re notoriously known for not giving clear information. What of her parents? Do they know where she went?”
For once, Celestia looked unsure, “I believe she was an orphan. She was left on the castle steps,”
Twilight dug her fists painfully into her eyes as she spoke, “So you banished your own kid. Great Equestria, you’re a horrible parent. So let’s get this straight. You sent Sunset Shimmer, your own kid, through a magical portal because they decided to learn a few dark spells, and they’ve been in that world for how long now?”
Disdain flooded the dragon when Celestia had to pause and think. What parent had to think about how long their child went missing? 
“Thirty years, give or take? She left when she was fifteen summers,”
Stunned silence filled the Hall. There was a gasp and slight sob from one of the Advisors and Twilight didn’t blame them. Her claws rattled on the marble floor as anger and disgust flashed through her.
“Fine! The portal stays open. Put it in a safe room and have a guard rotation for it. Nothing goes in and out of it without the Princess knowing. Is that ok?” Twilight growled.
Princess Luna nodded, sparing a glance behind her to see if any of the Council objected. None did and she immediately began to draft the new Royal Order. 
“DISMISSED!” the Princess roared absentmindedly, prompting one of the Advisors to spring up as if electrocuted. Twilight’s horns sparked from her surprise and she quickly waved it away before it could catch anything on fire. Celestia was the only one that didn’t flinch.
Celestia rose to her hooves, sniffed, and then wandered to the doors and disappeared. Seeing they were dismissed, Twilight stomped back down the Hall. As she stalked past the alicorn, she snarled, “One day, all of your crimes will catch up to you. One day, you will pay for all you’ve done. I will make sure of it,”
She didn’t hear Celestia’s response. She was too busy finding the fastest way to the guard’s barracks to fetch Spike. She would not let him bring home a dagger, like last time. (She only realized he had one when he came to dinner with a bandage wrapped haphazardly around his hoof and waited silently in disapproval until he cracked and admitted he had a dagger in his room.)


A week after that debacle, Princess Luna sent another official letter that said she would be sending every spare book that Celestia collected over the years, to her. Apparently, they stumbled upon some in another storage room. Upon seeing such a notice, Twilight recruited Spike and her friends to help make space. By the day’s end, an entire wall had been cleared out in preparation and Twilight thanked everyone profusely.
But when seven wagon loads arrived via the Canterlot Pegasus Delivery Service, Twilight knew she severely underestimated how many books she was getting. Townsfolk gawked at the delivery pegasi and Twilight wanted to sink into the floor. Why did they need to land in the town square? They couldn’t have just dropped them off in front of the library?
After unloading and spending several days sorting through them, Twilight happened upon some journals. Looks like Princess Luna didn’t bother having her staff actually check over what they were sending her. Shoving the journals into her room to deal with later, Twilight continued to look through all of the old texts. Half of them were in Old Ponyish and a quarter of those were in an early dialect that Twilight had no dictionary for.
Twilight had no regrets when she set Celestia’s Manual of Hair Care on fire. Somehow, the alicorn owned twelve volumes of it. It looked like she updated it every ten years and then gave up after a while. Each volume was as thick as a brick and Twilight wondered how anyone could write that much about mane care. As the books burned in the backyard, Twilight sighed.
Even after declaring that Twilight wouldn’t speak to the senile alicorn anymore, she still had to interact with her because of how many hoof-holds she had in all parts of Equestria. She was such a control freak that even now Princess Luna was figuring out exactly what Celestia had to personally see to and do it herself.
Her eyes turned to the blue sky as she wondered if she would ever be truly free from Celestia. Her paws went cold when she wondered if Spike would ever be completely free from Celestia’s influence. Ash floated away in the breeze as the books smothered at her feet. Twilight set her jaw and curled her talons. She promised that she would assure that Spike would be left alone if it would be the last thing she did.