To say Twilight Sparkle was not having a good day would be the understatement of the century. She silently made her way to the cafeteria tent for some warm food, Spike nervously jogging behind her. The snow made it hard for him to keep up, but Twilight was cognizant enough to simply slow down so he could keep pace instead of just throwing him on her back.
“Well, that could have gone better.” Spike sighed and shrugged. “At least she listened to your side of the story.”
“Spike, just because she listened doesn’t mean that I’m just gonna be able to walk free.” Twilight fought the urge to snap at who she saw as a younger brother. “Celestia said she wanted to talk to Luna and Storm first, not that she accepted what happened.”
“I’m sure it will be fine.” Spike put a claw on Twilight’s withers in an attempt to console her. “Princess Celestia didn’t get where she is today with being hasty after all.”
“I guess so.” Twilight gave Spike a small smile and nuzzled the top of his head. “Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Spike blushed and rubbed the back of his head with one claw. “Aww, thanks Twilight.”
“Princess Twilight?” A unicorn Night Guard stepped over to the two, breaking the moment. “Princess Luna wishes to speak to you.”
Twilight swallowed hard and nodded, using her magic to lift Spike up onto her back. “Very well, lead us to where she wishes to meet, sir.”
Stepping back into Celestia’s private tent was both a comfort and oddly worrying for Twilight. On one hoof, it was warm and inviting inside, kept at a stable temperature via magic woven into the very cloth itself. On the other hoof, Luna wanting to meet Twilight there was not a good sign in the slightest. Luna herself sat on the cushion that Celestia had taken just an hour previously.
“You wanted to speak with me?” Twilight asked, letting Spike slide off her back without any complaint.
“Yes, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna nodded and gestured to the two smaller cushions in front of her. “Please, both of you take a cushion. I’d rather you remain sitting for this.”
Twilight walked over to her cushion, her throat as dry as a desert in apprehension. Spike scurried over to the cushion next to her, glancing at the two princesses nervously. Thankfully Luna took the helm, clearing her throat with one hoof against her muzzle.
“My sister and I spoke before she ventured into the mines with Storm.” Luna shifted slightly, not bothering to hide her irritation with such a decision. “Between the two of us, we have decided what your punishment should be.”
Twilight tilted her head slightly in confusion. “Celestia told me she was waiting to speak to Cadance before making a decision? Why the change?”
“We decided that involving Cadance and Shining Armor would prove...hazardous.” Luna gave a small huff of frustration. “It would be too personal for them, cloud their judgment.”
“I see.” Twilight looked down to the ground, her feathers slowly ruffling to match her anxiety.
“So, uh, what’s the verdict?” Spike interjected nervously, wringing his claws in anticipation.
“Cutting straight to the chase, Spike? Very well.” Luna nodded and turned her full attention to Twilight. “You will attend basic Guard Training, along with grief counseling.
Twilight blinked in surprise, a bit taken aback. “Grief counseling?”
“Yes.” Luna nodded and let out a small sigh. “As an alicorn you are long-lived, if not immune to aging itself. Unfortunately, this means you must be used to ponies around you dying and be prepared to handle it without cracking like you did with...with Flurry Heart.”
Twilight nodded slowly before facing the ground again. “I understand.” She frowned for a moment before giving a low chuckle. “I will admit, I expected a lot worse.”
Luna’s hoof touched Twilight’s chin, making her flinch slightly before allowing her head to be lifted. “When Celestia spoke to Storm, she was worried that you’d be banished or exiled. It was a little surprising hearing a concern like that from one so hurt, but it warmed our hearts as well. While our original punishment was quite a bit more...restrictive, we were persuaded to be more gentle with our decision.”
“I-I see.” Twilight frowned slightly, her brows creased in thought. “That is good.”
Luna nodded, a grimace slowly forming on her face. “Indeed. While not forgiveness, Storm is not quite as willing to write you off as we thought. Hopefully, time will help heal that wound.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow, not bothering to hide her interest. “What about you and Celestia?”
Luna pulled back from Twilight and sighed, rubbing her muzzle with a hoof. “I will still respect you professionally, princess to princess. But I will need time before I can come close to forgiving you for Flurry Heart. As for dear Tia, I cannot say.”
Twilight nodded and gave a disappointed sigh, her ears flicking back in sadness. She opened her mouth to ask a new question but was cut off by a swell of magic. Both princesses felt their feathers ruffle slightly and their horns spark in response to the magic swell. Twilight and Luna whipped their heads towards the source of the swell, towards the Crystal Empire as the swell broke into a wave. Twilight flinched for a moment as a wave of love washed over and around her, bringing up old memories of her both being loved and giving love.
-A young Shining Armor sat on Twilight’s bed, reading her a bedtime story while her foalsitter Cadance tucked the filly in.-
-Celestia smiles as an adolescent Twilight giggles and hops in place, excitedly showing the princess the new spell she learned.-
-Twilight sheds a tear as she sits next to Flurry Heart’s hospital bed. The young princess gave her niece a kiss on the forehead and made a promise: she would fix her mistake and make her loved one whole, or die trying.-
Twilight grit her teeth and shook her head to clear her mind. A glance around showed that Luna was similarly breaking free of her memories while Spike still lay on the ground. Twilight began to cast a teleportation spell as she turned to Luna.
“That must have been the Crystal Heart, but that was a lot more energy than I’ve ever seen before. I’m gonna try teleporting into scope out the situation if you can follow behind with the guard.” Twilight requested from the Lunar Princess, her horn now glowing with a bright light as the teleportation spell fought against being held.
“Go, but be safe,” Luna responded, rubbing her head with a hoof. “Don’t do anything too hasty either, please.”
Twilight nodded and let the teleportation spell fire, disappearing in a flash to the Crystal Heart plaza.
With a burst of harsh purple light, Twilight appeared in the plaza near the Crystal Heart. A quick glance around let the Princess of Friendship absorb the basics of the situation. Celestia and Cadance sat nearby, groaning and rising from where they fell. Two dozen feet away six guards were similarly dazed, far more than the alicorns. Twilight glanced around in a panic, the lack of a certain pink filly making her imagination spin wildly.
A thestral filly lay by the Crystal Heart itself, groaning as she rubbed her head. Her coat was a simple grey with a few black stripes, while her mane and tail were far more colorful. They were composed of streaks of pink, light blue, and dark pink, ending with yellow and red. The near rainbow almost reminded Twilight of her friend Rainbow Dash to be honest.
“Storm? Storm, where are you?” Twilight yelled, trying to keep a level tone but panic still seeping in.
The thestral filly groaned in pain and irritation, her ear flicking towards Twilight. “What do ya want, Twilight? Ah’m sleepy...”
Twilight blinked and recoiled in surprise at a familiar voice coming from an unfamiliar body. Or well, a familiar voice with a strange new accent. Concerned but curious she stepped closer to the thestral, brushing some of her mane from her forehead. “Storm, is that you?”
The thestral opened her eyes wide in surprise at the touch, her eyes scouring Twilight’s face. Her eyes were pinkish-blue and slitted like normal for a thestral. “Wait, are ya the real Twilight? Not a fake one?”
“Uh, yes?” Twilight couldn’t help but look down at herself for a moment. “Last time I checked I was the real Twilight.”
The filly leaped up and tackle-hugged Twilight, causing her to fall over, unable to prepare for such a forceful hug. Nearly immediately she began to cry into the crook of Twilight’s neck, her forelegs wrapped around the alicorn’s barrel in fear and a need for comfort. Twilight awkwardly hugged back, a bit too confused to properly console the filly.
“Ah’m so happy ya’re here, Aunt Twilight. Ah thought ah saw ya when ah was talking to Cadance but ya looked like a monster and ah was scared and ah saw ya again but ya said ya weren’t ya and then a shadow thing turned ya into a rock and shoved ya in my chest and-” The filly rattled off with the power of a terrified child before Twilight was forced to cut her off to get clear answers.
“It’s okay, I’m here now.” Twilight stroked the filly’s mane comfortingly, wrapping ‘Storm’ in her wings for some extra security. “But first...you are Storm, right?”
The filly looked up into Twilight’s eyes with confusion. “Y-yeah, it’s me. Ah know it’s been a few hours but ya’ve already forgotten my name? Ah’m Summer Storm, not Flurry Heart.”
Twilight couldn’t help but frown slightly, her mind whirring at full steam. The filly claimed to be Storm and sounded like her, but everything else was all wrong. To be honest, the filly even sounded more like an Apple than anypony else. She opened her mouth to ask a bunch more questions but was once again cut off by the arrival of another Princess.
Luna crashed into the square with enough speed that even Rainbow Dash would be impressed. Before the dust even had a chance to settle she pushed forward, scanning the crowd with wide eyes. “Storm? Storm where are-”
Storm jumped out from Twilight’s embrace, the force of her hooves on Twilight’s stomach making the mare wheeze in pain. Once again the filly impacted an alicorn, this time however the alicorn was able to stay on her hooves. Luna looked down, her eyebrow raised in clear confusion but did not remove the thestral filly.
“Mom!” Storm cried out and hugged Luna, forced to stand at her full height to wrap her forearms around Luna’s neck due to the sheer height difference.
“Storm? Is that you?” Luna echoed Twilight, her eyes wide and jaw almost hanging open in shock.
The filly let go of Luna’s neck and landed gracefully on her hooves, pouting cutely in frustration. “Yeah, it’s me! Ah know Twilight got confused but that doesn’t mean ya should be!”
Luna blinked and cleared her throat, looking over the filly for a moment before responding. “If that is truly you Storm, what happened to your body?”
The thestral rolled her eyes and shrugged, gesturing to her chest with one hoof. “Yeah, ah know ah got hit in the chest by Cadance but that doesn’t mean ah look that different.”
“Storm, look down.” Luna gestured towards the filly’s chest with one hoof, one of her ears flicking back.
“What did it leave a brui-” Storm started before looking down and stopping what she was saying. “Wait, why am ah black? No, that sounds racist. Ah mean...” Her ears flicked back and she began to look over herself in a panic. “Oh my god, that shadow thing was real and not just another weird voice?!”
Luna set one hoof on Storm’s shoulder and lowered herself to the panicking filly’s level. “Breathe Storm, breathe. What happened?”
“A-Ah spoke to some weird shadow thing that offered me the chance to actually have my wish.” Storm frowned, prompting Luna to wrap her in her wings. “The wish to be what Ah would be if Ah was born as ya child, Mom.” Storm looked up with her sad filly eyes, fluffy ears fully flicked back. “Ah thought it was just another voice but ah guess it was real.”
Twilight stepped over carefully, nervous at the sudden attention from Luna and Celestia, who was watching carefully from the sidelines. “Storm, you mentioned that you saw me earlier. Have you been seeing and hearing things that aren’t there?”
Storm blinked and looked up at Twilight, her ears flicking back. “Uh, no, no ah haven’t.” One of the filly’s ears perked up for a moment and a frown crossed her face. “What? She won’t hurt me again. Ah think.”
Twilight gave an uncertain look to Luna, not wanting to force the issue herself. Luna nodded slightly and lifted Storm’s head with a hoof, giving her a calming smile. “What Twilight is trying to say is that you can tell us if anything is bothering you. If not now, then when you are more comfortable. Do you understand dear?”
Storm gave Luna a nod before tightening her hug. “Yes, Mom.”
Luna gave her daughter a small loving smile before giving a look up at Cadance and Celestia. “Good. Are you going to be okay hanging out with your uncle Spike for a moment? Mom has to talk with your aunts and uncle Shining in private.”
Twilight couldn’t help but gulp at the ominous choice of words.
“So...Spike the Hero eh?” I let out a small giggle, rolling my eyes a little. “Pretty cool ah’ll be honest. How did ya end up saving the Crystal Empire?”
Spike and I were sitting in one of the small side rooms of the tower-palace-thing while the ‘adults’ spoke in the other room. We started with just reading comic books, but the two Spike had on him were quickly run through so instead we started just chatting.
“Oh, that’s easy!” Spike grinned excitedly and waved his claws in a charade to match his story. “Twilight was stuck by some trap that Sombra put to protect the Crystal Heart, so it was up to me to make sure that it was safe! I grabbed the Crystal Heart with both claws and was forced to valiantly leap off the tower to the crystal ponies below.
“Sombra was rising up on some kind of dark crystal thingy towards me but I was steadfast in my defense of the Heart. Nopony was going to touch it while I breathed! I stared him down and was prepared to fight but Cadance swooped in and grabbed me before I could kick his flank. Once we landed I let her do her thing as Princess and banish Sombra.”
I blinked, my head tilting in equal measure curiosity and surprise. “Woah, that’s pretty intense.”
“Yeah, but it was no biggie.” Spike shrugged, waving it off. “I mean I’ve been in more death-defying adventures. This time I was just appreciated for my efforts.”
I felt one of my ears flick up as someone yelled angrily in the other room. Probably Shining Armor based on how deep the voice was. That was one cool thing about this weird bat-pony body, I had better hearing for better or worse. A door slammed loud enough that even Spike jumped a bit.
“That ain’t a good sign,” I grumbled.
“Yeah.” Spike blinked before rubbing his chin with one claw. “By the way Storm, what’s with the accent?”
I tilted my head, my brow furrowing in confusion. “What accent? Ah’ve always sounded like this.”
“Uh, no you haven’t.” Spike crossed his arms in irritation. “You sounded normal before, now you sound like an Apple.”
I frowned and narrowed my eyes at the dragon. “Are ya saying Ah ain’t normal?” My voice admittedly dripped with far more venom than I meant. Then again, he was insulting my manner of speaking so eh.
Spike was thankfully saved from having to awkwardly apologize by the door to the small side room slamming open. Both Spike and me whirled around to see a really pissed-off Shining Armor standing in the doorway. He glanced over Spike before staring me down with narrowed eyes.
“So, you must be ‘Summer Storm’.” Shining Armor stated flatly, raising his eyebrow.
I gave a nervous smile, my bat wings extending a bit and closing in a crude imitation of how I would have ruffled my feathery wings if I still had them. The stallion raised his other eyebrow, staring at my mouth for a moment. I remembered the incisors I had that other ponies didn’t and quickly closed my mouth.
“Y-yeah, Ah’m Summer Storm, sir.” I quickly got to my feet hooves and stood at the most respectful attention I could. He entered the room and looked down at me, forcing me to crane my neck to look up at him. Stupid child height! I saw him raise a hoof and-
[Watch out, he’ll hit you!]
I flinched, my mind going on autopilot as I stepped back and raised a hoof protectively over my head. As I waited for him to strike me I instead was met with silence. A gentle pressure pushed my hoof back down to the ground, the sound of something heavy hitting the floor making me whimper.
“Are you alright?” Shining’s voice came from a much lower place than I remembered. I carefully opened one eye to see him sitting in front of me, his angry look replaced with one of concern.
“A-Ah am, sorry sir.” I gave a nervous smile, my ears firmly flicked back. I saw him raise an eyebrow for a moment before lowering it again.
Shining sighed, rubbing his cheek with a hoof. “You don’t have to say sorry to me, Storm. I should be the one to say sorry. If I was there, if I didn’t have Twilight watch you, none of this would have happened. You’d still be...” He sighed again before suddenly reaching out his forelegs and pulling me into a hug.
I winced, expecting the pain of a broken rib but surprisingly didn’t feel the familiar pain. Instead, I just felt a sense of warmth and love from the hug. I slowly untensed in his embrace, enjoying it while it lasted. After a few moments I felt something wet drop onto my mane, so I looked up and gasped as I saw him crying.
“Storm, I know that you aren’t my...my little girl. But I will always be here if you need it, understand? I don’t know why Luna wants to adopt you other than...” Shining frowned and cut himself off. “Regardless, please write. Please visit.”
I smiled and resettled into the embrace, this time wrapping my own wings around him. “I promise, Uncle Shining.”