"... And after several months living here, I can say for certain something about this town," Luster Dawn said with conviction, sipping on her coffee as she and Princess Twilight shared time together in the Friendship Castle's Dining Room.
Princess Twilight sipped her tea calmly. She enjoyed these monthly visits to her old home and catching up with her Faithful Student. With no way to send letters except through the Pegasus Post, this was the only easy way for them to talk normally. "What would that be, Luster?"
Luster thumped her head on the table with a groan. "Everyone in this town is crazy!"
Twilight held her poise for a moment, before breaking into un-very princess-like giggles. "A wise lesson to learn, My Faithful Student. One that I myself had to relearn all of the time. Just ask my friends. They can tell you plenty of stories about it."
Luster nodded. "I just wish someponies would understand things already. Ponies still think that I'm Headmare Starlight's daughter. Even after I've shown them pictures of my family. I admit that I do look like I could be. Or how they greeted me when I moved here. But that's a dumb way of thinking. My friends at least don't."
Twilight nodded as well. She had heard of this from Starlight and Sunburst, but there was nothing any of them could do about it. "I truly am sorry, Luster. But there is little we can do about it or how ponies think. Some still think Applejack and Rainbow Dash are a couple. Even when those of us who know them well will know they would never be mature enough. At least with each other, for this."
Luster smiled. She'd been taken aside by the two and explained, in detail, why it would never work after she had asked them about it. Neither mare had been angry, thankfully, but it had cleared things up for the unicorn.
The same could be said for Fluttershy and Discord. While there was a deep bond between them, doing something like love didn't feel like something the Lord of Chaos would do. It also didn't help that Fluttershy was seeing Tree Hugger anyway.
Twilight, though, saw there was something else in her student's eyes, and it worried her. "Luster. You know you can tell me anything. Please. Tell me what is on your mind? This cannot be all of it."
Luster nodded sadly, her ears falling at the thought that came to mind. "Am I your successor?"
Twilight blinked. "What do you mean?"
Luster shook her head. "Someponies think the only reason you chose me as your student is that you're grooming me to take the throne one day. Or, gods forbid, make me an alicorn and pass all of it to me. Some are rather vocal about it as well."
Twilight's eyes twitched. Oh, how she hated that line of thinking. Ever since she had taken the throne from Celestia and Luna, some ponies seemed to think that she could never live without her friends and that the only reason she ever took a student was to groom them to take her spot.
The best had taken their concerns to her during court, and while Twilight wasn't thrilled at their way of thinking, she respected them for being civil about it. The most delusional complained every chance they got as if it would change anything. She tended to boot them out of the castle personally.
Twilight shook her head and smiled gently as she lay a hoof on her student's. "No, Luster. I admit that the thought has crossed my mind several times. But I never picked you just in the hope you could succeed me. I picked you because I saw in you much of who I used to be, and I wanted to nurture that."
Luster tried to smile, but it came out strained. "So you're not planning to unleash some ancient evil for me and my friends to defeat to prove my worth?"
Twilight scoffed, offended at the very idea. "Luster Dawn. I thought you knew me better than that. I would never do that to you, or any of my students." She winked. "Besides. Even if I wanted to, there's none left. Either they're reformed, in stone for all eternity, or locked away in Tartarus."
Luster breathed an audible sigh of relief. "Oh, good. Now I don't owe Discord any bits. He was so sure you would do all of that. Out of boredom if for no other reason. I bet him you wouldn't. Looks like I win."
Twilight's eyes twitched again. She would be having words with the Lord of Chaos about this later, but for now, she just wanted to relax, as she took another sip from her tea.
Luster, though, still had another question, as she looked into the Main Library, and at an odd mirror connected to all kinds of things that she couldn't name that sat in one corner. "I do have one more question, Princess Twilight. What is that mirror over there? I've been meaning to ask for some time now. I feel some kind of magic coming from it. A kind that I've never felt before."
Twilight smiled as she looked at the World Mirror. "Ah yes. I was wondering when you might ask about that, Luster. It is no ordinary mirror."
Luster wasn't convinced though. "How? It looks like one to me. Just connected to a bunch of things I don't understand."
Twilight nodded. "Indeed. But that is to keep it safe. That mirror is a gateway to another world. One that I have been to several times myself."
Luster linked. She had not expected that answer. She of course knew about the Multiverse Theory, that there were an infinite number of universes out there, all different in some way or form to another. "What is that world like, princess?"
Twilight giggled. "It is hard to explain, My Faithful Student. It is one that must be experienced in person to understand. My friends can help you with that, for I see it in your eyes that you are curious about the other world."
Luster blushed. Her teacher knew her all too well. She was right of course. She was curious to see this other world, and what it might be like. "Could I go to this other world?"
Twilight nodded happily. "Of course! This castle is still mine, and therefore I have the final say in what happens to the mirror and who uses it. I keep its key with me in Canterlot for just that reason. No matter what Starlight might say." She smiled. "So, Luster. Ask the question I know you now have."
Luster Dawn took a moment to think about it, before she finally did. "So when do I get to visit this other world?"