Somewhere beneath Canterlot Castle, steam hissed. It curled through the air and collected in clouds. It condensed on the cool ceiling, falling to the earth as rain. It emerged from the death of bubbles that lived brief and exciting lives upon a boiling sea, only to return to that sea upon its own demise, the drops that fell to the earth collecting in pools. Thus the steam beneath Canterlot Castle remained beneath it. Forever.
All of it, that is, except the steam that, after its passing, was interred in a coffin of silver. The coffin was old, its sides tarnished, and of a cylindrical shape. Into its depths the remains of hundreds of drops were committed, heated until they rested on the verge of giving new life. These drops alone would leave the place beneath Canterlot Castle, that warmth only preparing them for their long, strange journey.
Once the water was ready, Princess Luna added the tea. The drops did not express any feelings on this matter, but privately, many of them felt the teapot was better before this new arrival.
“This place is beautiful, Princess Luna.” Twilight cast her gaze to the steam-filled caverns around them. Natural geothermal pools bubbled and hissed a scant few yards from the two ponies, the air thick with moisture. Stalactites and stalagmites filled the space, and there was not a single artificial item in it, save the tea set, and the small condenser from which Luna drew the pure water. There were not even any torches or lamps; the only light came from Luna’s mane, and it made the individual drops shine like diamonds falling from the sky. “I had no idea anything like this existed near Canterlot.”
“Once, mares and stallions would journey from across Equestria to Canterlot, asking me to bless their foals to be.” Luna poured two cups of tea, placing them on a flat spot on the stone. The two ponies rested around that point, their bodies flat against the floor. “They believed that if my mane shone in the water, the child would lead a magical but unhappy life, while if my stars were dimmed or distorted, they would be content but insignificant.”
“Those both seem like bad options.” Twilight frowned. “What if they wanted their foal to have a magical and happy life?”
“Ponies who believed such things were possible went to Celestia.” Luna sighed, shaking her head. “My ways were the old ways, and when the world grew kind, ponies forgot them. The Elements of Harmony told a bitter truth, when they diminished my form. I know so little of the new world that I am in many ways a child now.”
“Oh.” Twilight’s frown deepened. “I’m so sorry, Princess. I didn’t know.”
“Do not pity me, Twilight. The moment you and your friends stripped me of my dark powers was the grandest of my existence. The thought that once I would have found cruel joy in your suffering now fills me with disgust. The happiness that helping you brings me has more weight than all of Nightmare Moon’s pleasures.” Luna spoke softly, but clearly, pausing only to sip her tea. “Now, tell me what happened to you today.”
“Well... I um...” Twilight looked down at her cup. “I think I made progress today. I feel good, I mean. That is to say, I feel bad, but at the end of it, I think I did the right thing. If that makes sense? I worry I’m reading into nothing.”
“Start at the beginning, then,” Luna urged, with a wave of her hoof.
“Well, after everypony else left to go post bail for Rainbow Dash, Sparkle and I had to go collect Spike from Princess Celestia. The others left him there with her last night, after their train got in.” Twilight looked down at her hooves, the cup of tea held between them. “She was worried that our fighting might have psychologically damaged him.”
“That is a very negative interpretation, Twilight. My sister may just have taken him to comfort him after those events.” Luna’s tone was gentle, but Twilight shook her head.
“No.” She gripped her cup tighter. “When we got there, Princess Celestia explained... She said that second to defending Equestria, raising Spike was our greatest responsibility, and that if we ever fought in front of him again, or she thought we were using him as the rope in some tug-of-war between us...” Twilight squeezed her eyes shut. “She never raised her voice, but I’ve never seen her that mad before.”
“Think, Twilight. Your judgment is clouded by compassion and justified guilt, but it is still clouded. My sister must have known that this would hurt Spike when you first arrived. If she seems more angry now than she did then, it is to impress upon you the importance of your responsibilities.” Luna reached a hoof out to tilt Twilight’s head up. “What happened next?”
“Well, then she brought Spike out, and he seemed happy to see us.” Twilight sniffled, trying to keep her eyes on Luna, chin unconsciously pressing down against that hoof. “But—I messed up right away. It was so stupid—”
“Spike!” Twilight and Sparkle smiled as one when they saw the little dragon emerge from his room. Their eyes lit up, like seeing him had washed away some of their weariness, and they stood up more alertly. For a moment, they were again perfect mirror images, right up to the point that they both leapt forward to hug him.
Their skulls met a few feet in front of Spike, bouncing off each other with a loud knock of impact. Both of them were stunned, their hooves tangling, and they crashed to the floor in a pile. The hard marble floors of Canterlot Castle did not prove gentle in catching them, their teeth audibly knocking together when their jaws hit the floor.
“Twilight!” Spike reflexively cried out, taking a step forward towards the pair. It only took him a moment to realize his mistake, though, and his advance towards them froze, his claws shooting up to cover his mouth. “I—I mean, both of you, I just—”
“It’s fine, Spike,” Twilight assured him, her voice stiff and tightly controlled. Exactly what she was repressing was revealed when Sparkle let out a loud groan, slowly moving to extricate her limbs from Twilight’s. “Just give me a second.”
“I didn’t mean Twilight Twilight.” Spike looked left and right between them, not certain which one he should be apologizing to. His mouth drew into a nervous line. “I mean, I didn’t not mean that either. I just meant both of you! It was a habit and you were hurt and—”
“Spike.” Sparkle reached out to him. She was faster to her hooves than Twilight, and while Sparkle’s mirror copy was still busy getting up, she pulled Spike forward into a tight embrace. “It’s okay.” He hugged her back, tight around the chest, and she leaned in to nuzzle his shoulder. “Everything’s going to be okay. We just bumped heads.”
“Well, yeah, but—” he said, but before he could finish his objection, he thought better of it. “Um. The floor is really hard I mean.” He stepped back, reaching up to scratch the back of his head. “That looked like it hurt.” His gaze still couldn't decide if it should be looking at Twilight or Sparkle, and when he glanced back up at Twilight, he found her giving him and Sparkle the strangest look. Her mouth was drawn, but not quite into a frown, her eyes probing and curious. The expression vanished when he looked at her, quickly replaced by a smile.
“Somehow, I think we’ll survive,” Twilight assured him, turning to look down at Sparkle. “Sparkle.” she used the name for Spike’s benefit, her clear enunciation and directed stare removing any possible room for doubt. “Would you like to carry Spike back?”
“Um...” It was Sparkle’s turn to look uncertain, her face screwing up. She glanced at Twilight, and silence hung in the air for several awkward seconds. Her gaze shifted to Spike, and her expression softened. “I would like that, yes.”
Spike’s nervous expression returned during that long silence, but Twilight showed no sign that anything wrong had occurred. She lifted Spike from the ground with her magic and briefly hugged him as he hovered in the air in front of her, before placing him on Sparkle’s back and turning to face the exit onto the palace grounds.
After a moment in which there didn’t seem to be anything to say, they started walking.
The silence carried with them as they trotted towards what each thought of as her tower. Like a dead weight dragged behind them, it seemed to slow their progress, making every little shock and strain of walking a burden. Twilight looked at Sparkle, and then quickly back ahead. Sparkle glanced at Twilight, and then quickly down to her hooves. Spike stared at both of them, and they returned his gaze, forcing themselves to smile when they did. Still, the silence persisted.
It was Twilight who broke it, drawing a quick breath and letting out an enthusiastic, “So!” She didn’t quite know what was going to come after that word when she said it, but saying it committed her, and that pressure focused her mind to the task at hoof. “We need to think of something to do. Celestia is keeping us here for other ponies’ protection, and so we can work things out, but if we have nothing to do but sit around and brood on our problems, we’re all going to go stir-crazy.” Twilight thought her point was strong, and she had delivered it convincingly, but she did not look at Sparkle’s face to see how it was received. “Suggestions?”
“Your studies?” Spike suggested, raising a claw. “I mean, you talked a lot about being able to combine your powers, but you never actually used that for much. I bet it would let you cast a bunch of spells you couldn't manage before.”
“Mmm. Celestia probably won’t appreciate us setting off any fireworks displays in the city, but there might be a few more subtle high-end spells we could experiment with.” Twilight was careful to keep a relentless cheer in her tone, and she smiled when she saw that Spike was starting to relax. Twilight tried to look at Sparkle’s face as well, but Sparkle kept her gaze straight ahead so that Twilight could not easily read her expression. Twilight frowned slightly, but kept her tone upbeat. “What else?”
“Catching up with your family.” Spike kept the momentum going, energy building in his tone, “I bet they’re worried sick about you. More time with Princess Celestia! Um. Finally going to one of Moondancer’s birthday parties? She did invite you like, every year.”
“All excellent suggestions!” Twilight encouraged Spike, nodding as she went. “I was thinking though, Spike, is there something you’d like to do?” Spike looked up sharply, his body tensing. “Rainbow Dash and I were talking yesterday, and she pointed out that we work you pretty hard. You’re just such an excellent assistant. It’s easy to start relying on you, and you know how much of a mess I make without your help.” Twilight saw Spike’s alarm, but her tone was warm, and she gave it no more acknowledgement than a smile. “So I was thinking, there are probably other spells you can learn to cast with your fire—other than sending letters, I mean. There’s nothing in the library about it, but I bet Celestia could tell us where to find it.”
“Wow. Gosh, Twilight, I never thought of that.” Spike glanced down at the moving ground beneath them, his posture slowly relaxing. “I’m not sure it works that way though. Celestia taught me to send letters, but I think that’s something she does more than something I do.”
“Well then, maybe there are a few other things we can teach you. We apparently have a hidden talent for teaching magic as well, right, Sparkle?” Twilight asked, nudging her thus-far silent counterpart with a shoulder.
“Yeah,” Sparkle agreed, her tone upbeat, but her words clipped. “Yeah, that would be good.” Ahead of them, the tower came into sight, and both ponies subtly accelerated their pace. “We should clean up the tower first, though, and find out what happened to Rainbow Dash. I’m sure the others will have some suggestions as well, too. They are visiting us just to help us get better.”
“Oh, sure!” Twilight chirped, “We could go through the hedge maze again for old time’s sake. Probably won’t be as exciting the second time around, though.”
“Something like that.” When they reached the tower steps, Sparkle opened the door with her magic, lowering and straightening her tail so Spike could slide to the ground. “Spike, could you clean up? Everypony was in a hurry to leave this morning, and I know books got moved to the wrong places when the library was being reorganized. This place just isn’t the same without my number one assistant!”
“Right away!” Spike slid down Sparkle’s tail, giving a salute and rushing in through the open door. His footsteps carried through the library, and once he was up to the second level, Sparkle reached out to shut the door quietly. After a moment, her horn came alight again, casting a muffling enchantment over the door.
“We should go help him,” Twilight said, reaching out to hold the door shut. “Rainbow Dash was right. We do work him too hard. He—”
“Do you have no shame?” Sparkle hissed, her gaze narrowing into a glare. Twilight shrunk back, almost stumbling over her own hooves. “Princess Celestia, Princess Celestia, tells us how wrong it is to let our troubles affect Spike, and you nod and look sad and act like you’re listening. Then not two minutes later, you’re trying to steal his affection. Don’t think I can’t see what you did there. Offering to let me carry him—asking for suggestions so that you can approve or reject them. You’re sick.” Sparkle spat the words, her face curled back into a grimace. The accusation came with an intensity that Twilight had never heard, and her own eyes went wide. “He’s just a child!”
“W-what?” Twilight stammered, her eyes going wide. “N-no! I didn’t! I wouldn't!” She held up a hoof as though to ward off Sparkle’s advance.
“You still think you can lie to me?” Sparkle demanded. She drew back, shaking her head as she shoot Twilight a disgusted look. “Forget it. It’s more important that we not fight in front of him. Just... don’t do that again.”
“I’m not lying!” Twilight hissed. “Don’t you look at me that way!” When Sparkle didn’t immediately answer or change her expression, Twilight leaned in close, narrowing her face into a glare and setting her teeth on edge. “I said don’t look at me that way!”
This time, Sparkle shrank back, but with a far greater urgency than had possessed Twilight a moment ago. She scrambled away, backed against the edge of the stairwell, her tail hitting the railing behind her as her eyes went wide. “I’m sorry,” Twilight pleaded, the glare instantly vanishing from her face. “I’m sorry I’m sorry oh Celestia I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s fine, really,” Sparkle cut her off, shaky in her movements as she opened the door, trying to keep an even pace as she walked past Twilight to go inside. She could not quite manage it though, failing to conceal either the urgency in her steps, or the way she half-shut the door behind her like a shield. “Why don’t you go see about the others? They should be back soon.”
“Y-yeah.” Twilight nodded. “Yeah. I’ll do that,” she agreed, looking up at the door, her ears folded and tail drooping. “I’m so sorry, Sparkle. I didn’t mean—”
Sparkle shut the door.
“She was afraid of me.” Twilight sniffled, squeezing tears out of her eyes. “It was like when I was created all over again. It was horrible.” She forced her tears to stop, taking control of her unsteady breathing and shaking her head as though to clear it. “I was so rattled. I couldn't do anything but lie there. I think I was shaking. Thank goodness Spike didn’t open the door before I managed to get away.” Retelling the story made her shiver, and Luna reached out a hoof to steady her.
“I will ask you a question now, Twilight, and you must not answer impulsively.” Luna spoke quietly and calmly, and Twilight drew comfort from that gentle tone. “Was Sparkle correct? Were you, even if you did not realize it, acting as you did to steal Spike’s affection or to assert yourself over her?”
Twilight nodded, pursing her lips and taking a moment to think. She gazed down into her cup, watching its rippling surface, and she wondered how often Luna had done the same thing in these caves. She hadn’t asked if Luna actually could bless ponies, and for a moment, she tilted the cup to try and see if the tea would reflect Luna’s mane.
“Twilight,” Luna prompted her, after a sufficiently long time had passed. Twilight sighed and put the cup down.
“No, Princess. It was thoughtless. I should have realized what impact my actions would have on Sparkle, but all I was thinking is that that the silence must have been hurting Spike. I had to say something, anything.” Twilight lowered her head, shutting her eyes for a time.
Luna tilted her head as she watched the unicorn’s reaction. “Then why might Sparkle think you were?” She pressed with the utmost care, peering in closely at Twilight. To Luna’s inquisitive eyes, Twilight showed no sign of strain, taking the question as it was intended and shaking her head.
“I don’t know,” she murmured. “I guess because she loves Spike too, and she feels like I’m hurting him. I’d do anything to protect him, so she would too.” Luna allowed herself a silent moment, a ghost of a smile briefly appearing on her face. “If I thought she was willing to hurt Spike just to get at me, or to get at anypony...” Twilight’s muscles tensed, but she forced herself to take a slow breath, and relaxed. “But she wouldn't, anymore than I would. If I think that, I’m just making the same mistake she did.”
“Tell me what happened next, Twilight,” Luna said, her carefully neutral expression returning when Twilight looked back up at her.
“Well, after I recovered, it actually was about time for the others to be getting back, so I went to the palace gates to see if they were there—”
“Ah gotta admit, Pinkie Pie—ah did not see that one comin’,” Applejack said as she trotted through the gates of Canterlot Palace. Her tone was light and her step high, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash not far behind her. “S’pose I should be used to your weird insights by now, but, shucks, we might have been in a real spot o’ trouble if you hadn’t been ready.”
“Oh, absolutely.” Rarity added her own words with gusto, heavy emphasis making the words seem to roll off her tongue in waves. “I still have no idea how you managed to sneak that one-pony band into the station, but I’m certainly glad you did.”
“You were amazing, Pinkie.” Fluttershy agreed, with a happy little nod. “The police and guards were such good backup singers, and I thought the other prisoners’ bit was really touching. You could really tell they wanted Rainbow Dash to get her life back!”
“Guys, I told you, this is a temporary tattoo. It’s just paint on my coat. It rubs off! Look! Look at this!” Rainbow Dash demanded, flying ahead of the group. She turned around to face them, sharply rubbing her hoof against the butterfly that now adorned her ankle. “I’m rubbing it off right now!”
“Oh, that’s wonderful, Rainbow Dash! Remember what the justice said: getting rid of those old prison gang markings is a big step on your road to rehabilitation!” Pinkie Pie cheerfully bounced along, her motions taking her up to Rainbow Dash’s hovering height at the apex of every leap.
“I wasn’t in a prison gang! I wasn’t even in prison! I was in lockup for one night! One!” Rainbow Dash bellowed at the top of her lungs, panting with the effort as Fluttershy floated up to her, putting a hoof on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Rainbow Dash. We understand,” Fluttershy cooed to the other pegasus, her voice gentle. “Prison is a rough place, and none of us like to think of the ponies around us as a gang.”
Further into down the path, Twilight’s ears perked up as she heard a scream of frustration so intense it echoed clear across the castle grounds. She picked up her pace, spotting the pegasi hovering over the gardens and calling out, “Fluttershy! Rainbow Dash!” It was only when she got closer that she saw the others and slowed back down from a canter to a walk. “Hey, everypony! Hey, Rainbow Dash. How did things go?”
“Oh, it was simply awful...” Rarity started, only to pause and wave a hoof vaguely in Twilight’s direction.
“Twilight,” she answered, shooting Rarity a half-lidded glance.
“Oh, it was simply awful, Twilight!” Rarity dramatically sighed, holding a hoof to her forehead as though she might faint. “We hardly even recognized Rainbow Dash when—”
Rainbow Dash stuck her hoof over Rarity’s mouth before she could say any more, answering Twilight with a succinct, “Four hundred hours of community service, less with good behavior. No big deal. I start tomorrow morning.”
“That’s great,” Twilight agreed, though it was a bit of a rote response, and she glanced at everypony nervously. “Um... Sparkle and Spike are in the tower already. Would you all mind running ahead and giving me and Rainbow Dash some time to talk privately?”
“Oh. Sure. No problem,” Fluttershy answered, nodding. Everypony else Twilight had indicated nodded as well, and soon, the four of them trotted away towards the tower. Silence hovered around Twilight and Rainbow Dash as they waited for their friends to move out of hearing range. Twilight scratched at the ground with a hoof.
“So,” Twilight murmured, inspecting the ground around her hooves.
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash agreed, looking up at the clouds.
“Sparkle told me why you were arrested, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight kept her gaze between her hooves, unable to look up. “Why you got angry, I mean. It was really...” She struggled for the words, Rainbow Dash hesitantly glancing down to look at her. “Sweet. It was really sweet of you, Rainbow Dash, but I don’t need you to defend my honor.”
“It wasn’t right, Twilight. She can’t do that to you, and it’s not right that everypony thinks that was just a little mistake.” Rainbow Dash’s wings fluttered quietly when she spoke, left hanging at rest slightly apart from her body. “If she painted herself white and asked Sweetie Belle to call her ‘Rarity,’ everypony would see how twisted that was. This isn’t any different!”
“It is different, Rainbow Dash. She’s not pretending to be me, she just... she wants her life back.” Twilight scraped at the ground again, her gaze not rising. “I hate it, but I had a talk with Princess Luna last night and... I need to let it go, Rainbow Dash. What I said to you, in the library—it was true, but I didn’t say it for the right reasons. I said it because I was bitter and angry and I wanted to make you feel bad. Sparkle is your friend too, Rainbow Dash. You owe her your loyalty as well.”
“She’s not like you though, Twilight! I mean, she is, but she’s not. She’s bitter and nasty and jealous!” Rainbow Dash’s wings finally flared out, and she took a step forward towards Twilight.
“She’s never attacked another pony, Rainbow Dash. She never hurt anypony in a spiteful rage. I have no room to judge her for being jealous.” Twilight’s words sunk until they were almost a whisper, her head falling lower to the ground.
“That was different!” Rainbow Dash insisted, “After what she said to you—”
“Don’t make excuses for me!” Twilight’s head snapped up, and Rainbow Dash stepped back with wide eyes. “Don’t ever try to say that what I did was okay, Rainbow Dash! It wasn’t. It wasn’t, and I don’t know how everypony can be so calm about it. My friends are giving me a free pass on trying to murder another pony and... and you shouldn’t!” She choked the words out, her voice strained. “You shouldn't.”
“Twilight...” Rainbow Dash floated up to her friend, putting a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “We aren’t giving you a free pass. I mean, c’mon. You’re like, a terrifying doom wizard. If you really wanted Sparkle dead, she’d be toast.” Twilight’s ears folded back and she looked down, a faint whimper escaping her. “W-what I mean is… uh,” Rainbow Dash stammered as she backtracked. “We know you didn’t mean it, Twilight. What you did was wrong, but you’re trying to make up for it! So, um… why don’t… I go say sorry to Sparkle right now? We’ll make up, be friends…” Rainbow Dash gave Twilight’s shoulder a gentle nudge, but she didn’t raise her head. The silence between them grew, Rainbow Dash biting her lip. “I can show you my prison tattoos?”
“You have prison tattoos?” Twilight asked, looking back up at Rainbow Dash, her ears perking up.
“Well, I have a prison tattoo.” Rainbow Dash held up her ankle for inspection.
Twilight let out a tepid laugh, a sound more like a stuttering sigh than a giggle. “Rainbow Dash, that’s a butterfly, and I think it’s rubbing off.” Twilight turned back up from Rainbow Dash’s ankles to look at her eyes, a weak smile on the unicorn’s face. “Are you exaggerating to try and impress me?”
“Uh, I don’t think a pony like you could understand how prison works, Twilight.” Rainbow Dash insisted with a wide roll of her eyes. “On the inside, one little mistake can mean your life! Uh… not mine of course. I was in this awesome and totally badass prison gang…”
“How long did you allow her to talk before rescuing her from her falsehood?” Luna asked, a gentle grin on her face that she hid with a strategically timed sip of tea.
“She’d made up names and rap sheets for all the members of her gang, and their nemesis, Rat Fink.” Twilight giggled. “After the shock from earlier, it was nice just to listen to her ramble on. It made things feel normal. Eventually, though, we had to move on. She really did need to apologize to Sparkle, and so did I, for that matter. It was... good.” Twilight nodded. “It was good.”
“You have reservations?” Luna asked, and Twilight lowered her head.
“It was nice, having Rainbow Dash all to myself. She made up with Sparkle later, and I know they spent a lot of time together that afternoon. It sounded like they patched a lot up. I should be happy for her. Well, I am happy for her, I’m just also sad for me.” Twilight gave a weak, humorless laugh. “Is that wrong?”
“Do you really need me to answer that question, Twilight?” Luna asked softly, but pointedly, raising an eyebrow.
“No, Princess Luna, but with everything that happened today... well. That moment with Rainbow Dash was about the only break in a sea of nonstop awful. First Spike, then my parents, things just kept coming. I really enjoyed that time alone with her. It felt like everything was right in the world again, like it was before. I guess...” Twilight nudged her cup. “I guess I did kind of wish that she and Sparkle wouldn't make up. I’m sorry, I know that’s petty.”
“Now you are dwelling, Twilight, which means it is time to move on. Tell me what happened next. You and Rainbow Dash went and apologized to Sparkle?” Luna sat up slightly, but Twilight answered with a shake of her head.
“Not just then. We went straight back to the tower, but something else came up before we could say anything…”
“My lady!” A familiar voice called out to Twilight as she made her way down the palace path towards her tower. Pink Collar emerged from a set of bushes nearby, though not a bramble or twig tore at her dress, an envelope floating alongside her. Rainbow Dash squinted suspiciously at her sudden appearance, hovering over to the bushes to inspect them as Pink Collar trotted up to Twilight’s side. “A letter from your esteemed family.”
“Oh, thank you.” The glow around the letter shifted hue from pink to purple as Twilight took it. She too glanced over at the bushes, looking curiously at Pink Collar. “Did you run all the way to find me from the palace gates?”
“Oh, not from the gates, my lady,” she answered with a reassuring ease. “The letter came to the palace mailroom. It is my understanding that your esteemed parents are not in Canterlot at the moment, but will be returning this evening. While I am not privy to the contents of their message, Princess Celestia has made one of the chambers of the palace proper available to you for just such a reunion, since you are unable to leave the palace grounds.”
“Oh, that would explain why they haven't visited yet.” Twilight glanced down at the letter, and then back up at the servant. “Well, thank you.”
“Of course, my lady. Do let me know if you need anything else.” Pink Collar bowed down on one knee and then turned to the nearest palace building, trotting away towards the servants’ entrance. Rainbow Dash looked up, alert for any sign of where she came from, but her course took her nowhere near the bushes. Quickly, she moved out of sight, vanishing behind a set of wooden doors.
“Well, that was nice.” Twilight turned back to the tower, tearing open the letter as she went, and quickly scanned down it. The contents were heartfelt, but simple—that her parents had heard something had happened but didn’t know what, that they hoped she and Sparkle were okay, and that they were rushing back to the palace as quick as they could. There was nothing about meeting that evening, but Twilight assumed Celestia knew more than she did, and took her mentor’s scheduling as generally valid.
“Mmmhmm,” Rainbow Dash agreed, floating alongside Twilight, her tone playful and teasing. “Just remember. my lady, if there’s anything else I can do for you, or with you, or to you—”
“Oh stop that, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “You’re worse than Rarity. She’s just being friendly.” They were not far from the tower, and their course quickly took them to the stone steps at its door. Twilight hesitated at the door, frowning for a moment. She knocked instead of entering uninvited. “Sparkle? I’m back. I brought Rainbow Dash, and there’s a letter from Mom and Dad.”
Rainbow Dash glanced down at Twilight, her mouth drawn into a tight line, but she made no comment on Twilight’s knocking. The door opened after a few moments, but it was Applejack there instead of Sparkle.
“Howdy, Twi. Sparkle’s just upstairs. Uh... everythin’ okay with you two?” She stepped out of the way to let Twilight and Rainbow Dash inside.
“Everything’s fine, Applejack,” Twilight said, waving off Applejack’s concern. “I just wanted to talk to Rainbow Dash about Sparkle and... well—being more sensitive to what she’s going through.” Twilight turned to the ramp that circled the inside of the building and trotted upstairs with a call of, “Sparkle! Mom and Dad are coming tonight!”
Rarity, Sparkle, and Pinkie Pie all waited on the second level of the tower, looking up to watch as Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash made their way up the ramp. Sparkle sat in the middle of the room, a book open on the floor in front of her, as Rarity and Pinkie Pie clustered around her. A number of objects also hovered around her in a more literal sense, Rarity’s comb, brush, and several jars of makeup all making their rounds. “Twilight! You’re just in time,” Rarity greeted her. “I had the most darling idea! Remember how you’re supposed to be leaving that pen over your ear so we can tell the two of you apart, but you keep forgetting? Well, I thought it would be easier if we just dyed your manes, but what started as a practical idea turned absolutely fabulous once I had some time with a proper color wheel—”
“My idea was that we should palette-swap you!” Pinkie Pie suggested, eagerly hopping clear over Sparkle to land on her other side. “It would be just like that time I went as my photo negative for Nightmare Night. Except without all those foals screaming and thinking I’m possessed.”
“Ah told you, I ain’ a foal!” Applejack stomped her hoof and snorted, but Twilight trotted up to Sparkle without comment.
“Hey,” Twilight muttered to Sparkle, turning around to gesture Rainbow Dash forward with a jerk of her head. “Rainbow Dash has something she wants to say to you.” Sparkle’s face remained impassive as Rainbow Dash floated up to her, awkwardly scratching the back of her head with a forehoof.
“Yeah... listen, Sparkle. I know some parts of what I said might have sounded bad.” Rainbow Dash spoke hesitantly, reaching for the words as everypony in the room looked up at her. “Particularly the part where I called you a hornless, brother-stealing, vampony witch.” The gazes of a few of the ponies around Rainbow Dash intensified, and she hesitated, glancing between them. “But uh... I really meant it in a good way.”
“You never called me hornless, Rainbow Dash,” Sparkle answered through clenched teeth, her tail lashing behind her.
“Oh, really? Phew!” Rainbow Dash sighed, dragging the back of a hoof over her forehead, “That’s good, because I was totally thinking it.” The stares of everypony around her narrowed into pointed glares, and Rainbow Dash quickly stammered, “B-but that’s not the point! The point is—I’m sorry. I should have given you the benefit of the doubt and been more, you know. Understanding and stuff. You’re always so in control. It’s easy to forget you’re going through the same stuff Twilight is. So, um...” She looked around at the other ponies in the room for some hint of approval. “We cool?”
“Rainbow Dash, that was the worst apology ever.” Sparkle glared up at Rainbow Dash, but the glare didn’t hold, and soon she relented with a sigh. “But yeah, we’re cool.”
“Awesome.” Rainbow Dash let her shoulders slump. “I was worried you’d still be upset or something.” She looked around the room, puzzled to find everypony still glaring at her. “So, we’re dyeing Sparkle pink?”
“In a second, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight levitated the letter over to Sparkle, laying it out over her book. “We got a letter from mom and dad. They’re out of town—that’s why they haven't visited—but they’ll be back this evening. Princess Celestia made one of the palace rooms available since we can’t leave the grounds. If you all don’t mind me and Sparkle leaving you alone this evening, I thought we’d make it a family thing.”
“Well of course, darling!” Rarity assured Twilight with a slight wave of her hoof. “I’m sure your family must be worried sick. We’ll be happy to—”
“I’m not going.” Sparkle pushed the letter away from her, letting it float to the floor by Twilight’s hooves. “There will be time to talk to mom and dad later. This is just a lot to deal with right now. I don’t think seeing them will help.”
Silence hung in the wake of that declaration, the ponies around Sparkle looking at her, and Twilight, and at each other. Rainbow Dash bit her lip. Pinkie Pie’s eyes and ears were alert. Applejack scratched at the floor with a hoof, and Rarity wore a stoic mask. Twilight simply stared, her mouth hanging open. It was Rarity who broke the silence with a quick and upbeat, “If that’s what you think is best, Sparkle, we’re all behind you. This visit is about you getting better. Isn’t that right, everypony?”
“And then?” Luna asked pointedly as Twilight trailed off.
“We all agreed with her, of course. What else could we say?” Twilight asked. “Fluttershy came down from upstairs. Pinkie Pie gave her a hug. We couldn't tell Sparkle she was a bad pony for not going; that would have been awful.”
Twilight’s cup was long since empty, and Luna used the natural pause in the conversation to refill it. She was in no hurry to answer, and took her time to return the kettle to its resting place before she spoke again.
“But you do feel she’s a bad pony, don’t you?” Luna’s calm, impassive tone stood in a sharp contrast to Twilight’s own fraying voice.
Twilight looked up at Luna with a trembling gaze. “Our parents were worried sick about us and Sparkle blew them off to go spend time with Princess Celestia.” Twilight’s voice was shaky at first, but it grew hard as she continued, steadily growing in volume. “She couldn't have been more of an uncaring witch if she’d actually called Princess Celestia ‘mom’ in front of them!”
Princess Luna took quiet note of the shift in Twilight’s tone, and her mouth quirked into a frown, but she gave no other reaction. “You are getting ahead of your story, Twilight,” Luna rebuked her with a gentle shake of her head. “But we will stop to examine this matter. What would be wrong with that?”
“Huh?” Twilight blinked, caught off guard.
“Sparkle referring to my sister with a term of matronly affection—so long as my sister did not object, of course.” Luna clarified her question with a dismissive wave of her hoof.
“Wha?” Twilight started, drawing back as her face twisted. The shock only lasted a moment, though, and soon her glare returned with full force. “You mean, aside from telling our real mother that we abandoned her and found a replacement she can never hope to live up to? I can’t see anything wrong with that!” The teacup in front of Twilight trembled, her levitation wavering.
“Is your mother jealous of Princess Celestia?” Luna asked, raising a single inquisitive eyebrow.
“That is so not the point!” Twilight snapped, but Luna raised a hoof before she could go any further.
“I think it is the point, Twilight. You met with her and your father just this eve, did you not? The topic of my sister’s caring for you and watching over you through this crisis must have come up, at least in passing. So, I will repeat the question: is your mother jealous of your teacher?” Luna delivered her last sentence pointedly, her gaze boring into Twilight.
Twilight’s anger faltered under Luna’s stare, and she tilted her head to look down and away. “Well... no. I mean, I’m sure she wishes she could spend more time with me, but... she’s really happy for me, and...” Twilight scraped her hoof over the floor a few times.
Luna shook her head. “The thought of Sparkle’s doing as you have said angers you, Twilight, but not because you are defending your family. Look inside you and see the truth—your anger is not righteous, but selfish.” Luna signaled for silence before Twilight could answer, letting her ponder what had been said. Twilight lowered her gaze to the floor, her ears folding back, and Luna let the silence hang as she took another sip of her tea. Around them, the natural caverns hissed, drops of water falling from the ceiling.
“We will have to discuss your meeting with family, Twilight—” Luna broke the silence sharply, with a clear voice that projected through the space “—but that should wait for last. More happened during the day that we have yet to discuss.”
“Not that much more,” Twilight demurred, her gaze still to the stone. “We dyed Sparkle’s hair, reorganized the library, got Spike settled in. We spent most of the afternoon reading, even Rainbow Dash.”
“Did you not speak to Sparkle during this period?” Luna inquired, her tone pressing.
For a moment, Twilight held to silence, but then she relented with a sigh. “Well, there was one thing...”
“You want to get me and Sparkle together. I understand that, but I don’t think this is really the time to be practicing magic,” Twilight tried to object, but she was helpless to resist Pinkie Pie’s shoving her up to the roof. Every time Twilight would stop on the ramp, Pinkie’s head would shove against her flank, pressing her forward and up. When they finally reached the roof-level exit to the tower, Twilight dug in her hooves, turning around to face the earth pony behind her. “Look, Pinkie. I know this seems like a good idea, but I really don’t think—”
“You listen here!” Pinkie stuck her head forward, looking Twilight head on in the eyes. Twilight started, caught off-guard by this display of aggression. Instinctively, she leaned away—driven back until she was pressed against the wall by Pinkie’s advance. “You two learned that you could cast super awesome spells way back at the beginning. It’s been forever and you haven't done anything with it. We are not going through all of this stress and it turns out that that was the secret solution all along!” Pinkie Pie tilted her head so she was staring with one far-too-wide eye “So you go out there and you cast some spells! You got that?”
“Uh, Pinkie? Did you stop taking your medication again?” Twilight gave a nervous laugh. “You know the doctor said it’s really important”—Pinkie Pie’s eye narrowed into a glare—“that I go out and spend some time with Sparkle. Right. Got it.”
Twilight heaved a sigh when the door was securely shut behind her, with Pinkie Pie on the other side.
The “roof exit” to the tower wasn’t really on the roof. Like many of Canterlot’s buildings, Twilight’s tower was topped with an onion-shaped dome that came to a point, topped with an ornate sun—an impractical design for walking on. Instead, the door led to the cavernous, unfinished space directly under the dome, open to the outside by a series of large arches that opened over the sheer drop at the tower’s edge. The air was still when Twilight emerged and spotted Sparkle sitting halfway across the room. She quickly trotted over and settled down against the stone. The room’s significant elevation and odd design intensified Canterlot’s winds, and she wanted to come to sit before a gust knocked her onto her flank.
Sparkle was reading a particularly thick tome on dream interpretation, her horn projecting a shimming bubble around the book to stop it from getting caught in the breeze. “Hey,” Twilight greeted as she slid down to sit next to her. “Pinkie Pie sent me out here. She thought we could... work on our studies together? It has been awhile since we actually did any serious research.” Sparkle looked up at Twilight, but didn’t speak, and Twilight nervously injected into the silence, “I mean, that’s probably part of why we’re going so crazy. Maybe a small part, but... um.” She rubbed her hooves together.
“I really don’t feel like it right now, thanks, Twilight.” Sparkle turned back to her book, eyes steadily scanning back and forth down the page. Twilight glanced at her and nodded, even though Sparkle couldn't see the gesture. A sudden gust blew through the space, the two ponies’ manes and tails whipping around them. Twilight winced into the wind, but Sparkle showed no reaction, still reading impassively. When the wind died down, Twilight spoke again.
“Princess Luna told me something last night, about us having the power to change the world for better or worse. It made me think of what it was like to cast the duplication spell in the first place.” Sparkle looked up, if lethargically, and Twilight took that as an invitation to continue. “Normally, when we do magic, it’s for an intended purpose, and it does what we want it to do, but that spell was different specifically because we didn’t know what it was for. We were directing an enormous amount of power with no idea what was going to happen. What if it was a fireball, or a summoning spell? What if something awful had eaten half of Ponyville?”
Sparkle looked back down to her book, then up to Twilight, then back down the book again. After a moment’s visible indecision, she closed the book with a hoof, turning to face Twilight more resolutely. Her motions were still slow and unenthusiastic, but her eyes focused on Twilight more completely. “You’re implying that we’re being punished for our hubris.”
“No!” Twilight answered quickly, her tone backpedaling with all haste. “I just meant, I think this is some of what Princess Celestia was trying to tell us, when she said that our powers could harm the ponies around us. At the time, I didn’t really understand. I thought she was talking about our powers going completely outside our control, like they did when we got our cutie mark—or that we’d keep miscasting spells. But I think she meant...” Twilight fell silent, as another burst of wind blew through the tower around them, both of them wincing in the gale.
“Well, it’s just, casting that spell was really...” Twilight tapped her hooves together, her gaze going to the floor as she bit her lower lip.
“Fun,” Sparkle supplied. “It was really fun.”
“Yes. Fun,” Twilight quickly agreed.
“Then she agreed I had a good point, and I went back inside,” Twilight shook her head, gaze back down into her cup. She’d had quite enough tea for one night, particularly so late, and Luna had started refilling it with water instead. Even clear though, the cup made a good target for Twilight’s eyes. She could trace every little crack in the bottom of the ancient china, see every point where the ceramic had worn with the friction of tens of thousands of cups of tea over the years. “I left to see my parents not long after that. The gate sent a messenger to tell me they were here, and I didn’t think I had to dress up or—”
“Twilight,” Luna tried to interrupt, but Twilight just kept talking.
“—do anything special, I mean, it was just a nice informal meeting. Rarity did help me clean up a little bit, but that was just because I was nervous and she was calming me down. I wasn’t really sure how I’d explain only one of us showing up—”
“Twilight,” Luna repeated, more firmly, but to no greater effect.
“—particularly since I’m the copy, I mean, what am I supposed to say? Mom and dad suddenly had another daughter. She should have been in fits, but she took it so well, just asking Princess Celestia if we’d be okay and—”
“Twilight!” Luna shouted, and Twilight jumped, dropping her cup in surprise. Luna caught the ancient china inches before it would have struck the floor, the water spilling out onto the stone. It flowed back across the channels in the floor to the pools around them while Luna returned the cup to its rightful resting place with the rest of the tea set. “You left off in the middle of a conversation.”
“We didn’t say anything else important,” Twilight murmured, but she couldn't meet Luna’s eyes, burying her gaze in her hooves.
“Tell me what you said, Twilight,” Luna insisted, narrowing in her gaze on Twilight’s face.
“It was something... It was something private. Something very private, between me and Sparkle,” Twilight raised her voice, but she couldn't inject anger or strength into it, and the words sounded feeble even to her.
“If that were true, you would not have told me about the conversation at all,” Luna replied with an imperious certainty, raising a hoof to point it down at Twilight. “You desire to be unburdened of this secret, Twilight, but you fear the pain of telling it.” As Luna spoke, her voice sunk, but Twilight heard her clearly all the same. The space around them played tricks with the sound, and the quieter Luna’s voice grew, the more she seemed to be whispering directly into Twilight’s ear. “Remember what I told you about taking the easy path simply because the harder one is emotionally difficult. Tell me what you said, Twilight.”
For a long time, Twilight said nothing, just staring down at her empty hooves and letting the silence hang. When she finally spoke, her voice was a whisper. “I can’t.”
“I have done darker things than you can now imagine, Twilight Sparkle. I will not judge you.” Luna lowered her hoof, reaching around under Twilight’s chin, tilting her head up until she met Luna’s gaze. “Tell me what you said.”
“I—” Twilight stammered. “I...”
“Fun,” Sparkle supplied. “It was really fun.”
“Yes. Fun,” Twilight quickly agreed. “Really, overall, if I had to describe it, I would say it was fairly overwhelmingly... fun.”
For a time, the two sat in silence, another gust of wind blowing around them, whistling through the arches of the tower dome.
“I mean, fun might not even be the right word.” Twilight blurted the words out, her breath tight in her chest. “It was kind of... um...”
“Tense,” Sparkle offered, and Twilight hurriedly latched onto the word.
“Yes! Yes, that’s exactly it. It felt tense, like I was all wound up inside, but in a good way. No, in a great way. Like every part of my body was electrified.” Twilight looked at Sparkle hopefully, expectantly. Sparkle returned her gaze, peering at her more closely.
“It wasn’t a physical sensation though, was it?” she prompted, her tone urging Twilight on.
“No... no, not physical. It was like when you have two good options and you don’t know which one to pick. You’re so eager, ready to go, but you’re tense on the spot. I felt like I could do anything. With a spell that powerful, I really could have been doing anything. Space and matter were turning to putty in my hooves,” she said, rubbing them together as her breath came in spurts.
“You didn’t feel scared though. We’re normally so self-conscious.” Sparkle gave her the barest of prompts, nudging her on.
“No, I mean, you know all this—we both know all this—but it just felt right. When I was training with Rainbow Dash, she said when she gets really into a routine or a trick, she stops thinking—her mind is too focused on her flying for any distractions or doubts. That was me, us. It was intoxicating. I could have destroyed the library with a thought, just with the surplus energy. I could have turned Ponyville into a crater if I’d wanted to!” A quiet giggle escaped her, a smile appearing on her face even as she fought force it down. “I mean, I wouldn't ever want to, but...”
“But the thought that you could...” Sparkle urged her on, watching Twilight intently as the slightest nudging sent her further and further down her path.
“The thought that I could was incredible!” Twilight’s resistance finally broke, the grin she’d been suppressing appearing full-force on her face. “I mean, not that I’d ever want to blow up Ponyville. Explosions and fireballs are novice stuff. Can you imagine casting one of Starswirl’s time spells with that much power behind it? Stuff history class, I’m sending all the little foals to see history themselves. Or a come-to-life spell? Applejack can sit and fume all she likes. I can save Equestria from manual labor forever!” She giggled outright now, a lively, eager sound. Twilight quickly turned to face Sparkle, staring at her head-on with wide, eager eyes. “What about the dreams? Do you have the dreams too?”
“Y-yes,” Sparkle answered, after a moment, pulling back from Twilight. “Yes. I have dreams too.”
“Oh, this is wonderful!” Twilight reached out to pull Sparkle into a hug. “Oh, Sparkle, this whole experience has been a nightmare, but it was all worth it just to get to say that to somepony. We’ve always needed to study to learn more about magic, and I won’t deny it, studying can be pretty fun, but I always felt like I had to act like I got a cutie mark for studying. But I didn’t! We didn’t! We got a cutie mark for magic—wonderful, terrible, beautiful magic we can use to make the world into whatever we want.” Her giggle came again, light and joyful, and she squeezed Sparkle tighter against her, nuzzling into her mane.
“I know that spell we should try to cast together,” she murmured, voice still energetic, but now quieter. Something deeper than simple enthusiasm ran through her words, and she squeezed Sparkle against her. “I know now, and it’s so obvious. We have to raise the sun. Just like Celestia did when we first saw her! You and I together, it’ll be wonderful! She’ll be so proud, and—”
“And...” Twilight trailed off, as Sparkle pushed her away, collecting her book and standing up. “What are you doing? Sparkle?” Her voice trembled, and she scrambled to her hooves as Sparkle moved to the door leading inside. “Sparkle? Did... did I say something wrong?”
“You’re insane,” Sparkle answered back, a tremble in her own voice, though a distinctly different kind. “I just watched you have a giggling power fantasy about destroying Ponyville, twisting time and space into a knot, and making the sun bounce around the sky like a pinball, and you honestly don’t understand what’s wrong with that.” Sparkle shuddered, shaking her head. “Don’t... just don’t say anything, Twilight. Don’t tell me you were joking.”
Twilight’s face contorted, working through three expressions in fewer seconds. Her eyes wide, her mouth falling open as she stepped away like she’d been struck. She tried to compose herself, mouth shutting and breath coming through clenched teeth as she struggled for words. Her facade broke quickly though, those neutral eyes narrowing. “You’re a liar. You knew what I meant. You feel the same way!”
“No, Twilight. I enjoy casting spells, but that was...” She shook her head, taking another step towards the door. “I... I need to go.”
“You can’t walk away from me!” Twilight bellowed, glaring and taking a step forward. Sparkle shrunk back from that advance, her heart racing as she hurried to the door. “I’m a part of you! This is a part of you!” Sparkle’s hooves shook as she wrenched the door open, fleeing inside and shutting it behind her.
Facing the shut door, Twilight’s voice dropped to a whisper. “We were getting along.”
Twilight sniffled, squeezing her eyes shut as her tears fell to the hard stone below her. There, they stuck, until enough water accumulated around them to pull them down the gentle slope, tiny rivers running into the pools around her and Luna. Both of them were long since damp from the steam, their coats faintly puffed up from the moisture, and it made Twilight seem younger than she was. Any of her friends would have been moved by the sight, Twilight’s image like that of a sobbing foal. Luna said nothing, both of her forehooves on the ground as she sat before Twilight.
“A-and then,” Twilight forced herself to continue, choking out the words, “I... I went back inside, but we didn’t say anything, a-and—”
Luna raised a hoof for silence. Twilight stopped talking, but could not stop the tears, and for several minutes, Luna allowed her to sniffle.
“I’m sorry, Princess,” Twilight whispered, her voice cracking. “I’m so sorry.”
“You desire me to absolve you of your guilt?” Luna asked, though it was not truly a question. “Then find your courage once more and speak truthfully, Twilight. Are you sorry that such darkness lies in your heart, or are you sorry that your friends and loved ones will judge you if they know?”
“I’m sorry I feel that way. I don't want to be a bad pony!” Twilight’s words were pleading, but Luna’s gaze grew cold and narrow as she spoke. “I... I don’t—” she stumbled in the face of the Princess’s hardening glare. “I don’t!” The Princess held her expression, saying nothing as Twilight grew increasingly tense. “Sparkle led me on. Even if I shouldn't have said what I said, I can still feel betrayed! I can still be worried my parents will find out, or that she’ll talk to Princess Celestia. There’s nothing wrong with that!” Twilight’s voice rose, but still, Luna said nothing.
“Everypony has some urges they shouldn't act on. There’s nothing wrong with that as long as you don’t do anything. I just found someone who understood me and I was speaking freely. She’s the one who kept egging me on!” Twilight’s breath came more quickly. “I don’t want to be a bad pony.” Luna said nothing, and Twilight rose to her hooves, shaking faintly. “Say something,” she demanded, taking a step forward, but Luna remained still and silent as a statue. “Say something!” Twilight screamed, her voice echoing in the tiny space, reverberating in both their ears.
“Fine!” said Twilight. “Sit there and act like you can judge me! Coming down here was a mistake. You think I’m a bad pony? I’m the Element of Magic! I’m the physical incarnation of the power of friendship and harmony, and you think you can tell me I’m a bad pony!? Who are you?” Twilight sneered at the Princess before her, leaning in close to look her in the eye. “Oh, right, you’re the pony who got herself banished to the moon for a thousand years over a sibling rivalry!”
Twilight, at last, provoked a reaction, a crack appearing in Luna’s impassive demeanor. She started for a moment, drawing a shaky breath and shutting her eyes to collect herself. “Hah!” Twilight shouted, victorious, but her smirk started to fade when she saw the Princess reach a hoof up to steady herself. “I... I mean... I just meant...” She searched for the words. Princess Luna’s struggle to hold her composure became increasingly obvious as she started to tear up, until she finally lowered her head to hide her eyes. Twilight’s face fell, and she stepped away from Luna.
“Oh. Oh, no. Princess, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean it, I didn’t—” Twilight took a step forward, but Luna caught her with a hoof, and pushed her away.
“I’m sure you didn’t want to hurt me, Twilight.” Luna raised her head, releasing a breath and letting her impassive expression return. She wiped the traces of tears from her eyes, her calm mask restored save for traces of red in the corners of her eyes. “Just as I am sure you do not want to be a bad pony. You did not need the desire to hurt me, however. You simply needed to want to be angry.” Luna shook her head. “Did that feel good, Twilight?”
Twilight had no answer at first, looking down at her hooves. She shuddered, sinking to the floor and pulling her forelegs about herself. She looked like a stranger in her own coat, her jaw askance and eyes unfocused. “I feel sick.”
“Now, Twilight, you are sorry for what is in your heart, instead of simply being sorry you were caught.” Princess Luna drew a quiet breath, nodding to herself. “When you are ready, tell me what happened that evening.”
After taking a few minutes to collect herself, Twilight started again.
Twilight’s hooves beat a steady clip-clop against the stone as she made her way across the grounds of Canterlot Castle. Her exit from her tower coincided with the sunset, and she could barely spot Princess Celestia on the balcony of Canterlot’s tallest tower, reaching out to lower the sun. Her path didn’t take her to the Princesses’ wing of the palace, however. Instead, she angled her course towards the guest rooms and apartments that so often held foreign dignitaries, ponies of great renown, and on occasion, Twilight’s friends and family.
The dichotomy had not struck her as odd until that exact moment, but she shook her head to clear away that particular worry—she had other concerns now. She still didn’t know what she was going to tell her parents about Sparkle’s absence—how she was going to explain that their real daughter snubbed them and they got the copy. Her first impulse was to lie, to say that Sparkle wasn’t feeling well or that she thought it was important they meet with their parents individually, but lying to her parents felt wrong. She considered that she could be honest, and say that Sparkle was particularly troubled by these events, but then her parents would ask her just what events had troubled her, and that she didn’t want to explain.
She briefly considered faking her own death, and while that was the most palatable of all the options she came up with, it also felt wrong.
Her hooves passed from the path to the stone steps of the guest tower, and the tenor of her hoofbeats against the rock faintly changed. She had been careful to inquire in advance as to exactly what room Princess Celestia had made available, and her path was efficient and sure. When she reached the appointed room, however, she found the door ajar, and looking inside, she saw a pair of the palace serving staff rushing about an otherwise empty dining room. It was a grand, impressive chamber, a long wooden table running down its center, flanked by two fireplaces.
“Oh! Ms. Sparkle.” They each bowed to her, quick on their hooves. “You’re early. Your esteemed family has not yet arrived.” Twilight frowned at the improper use of her name, but didn’t bother correcting them, casting her gaze over the table. It was adorned as a palace should be, glittering with silver and crystal, and which only made Twilight’s frown tighten.
“This is a reunion—dinner with family—not a state occasion; this setup is too formal. Why are there three chairs on one side of the table but only two on the other?” She pointed out the asymmetry. The servants looked at each other, and then back to Twilight.
“There are five expected guests, Ms.Sparkle. Yourself, your parents, your brother and your sister.” One of them spoke with a hesitant voice, only to grind to a halt as Twilight shook her head.
“My sister won’t be joining us. Make the setup less formal and remove one of the places,” she ordered, tapping a hoof to her teeth as she considered the implications of such a change. “No, the table is too long. That would leave us too far apart if the chairs were evenly spaced, but if we crunch them up together, it’ll look like there’s that barrier between Shining, me, and mom and dad.”
“Uh...” The two unicorns glanced at each other once again. “We could bring in a shorter table if you—”
“Uh, are we even looking at the same room?” Twilight asked, making a wide gesture to the broad dining space around them. “The big table is obviously part of the room’s aesthetic. If we just shorten it, the room will look big and imposing. I don’t want my parents to feel unwelcome in the Princess's palace.” She shook her head firmly. “No, we’ll have to start over. We don’t have much time, but, a simple illusory wall spell will make the room seem cozier. We’ll need to alter the shape of the table too. I don’t want anypony feeling they can’t sit next to anypony else. Do you have a handsaw or something?” For the third time, the servants exchanged a glance, this one considerably longer than the two before it. “You know what? Nevermind. I’ll do it. You two can go.”
The servants were quick to accept their dismissal, scuttling from the room as fast as dignity would allow. Twilight paid little mind to them, turning to the matter at hoof. “Right! First, shorter room.” She lowered her head and focused, boiling waves in the air seeming to emerge from her horn. Halfway across the room, the air rippled like the surface of a pond, the dining room’s far wall seeming to draw closer, stopping just before the fireplaces and cutting the table off midway. “Next: shorter, position-optimized table.” With only four places to set, fully optimizing the seating arrangements didn’t take long. Twilight didn’t even need a quill and paper to double-check her math. A quick blast from her horn transformed the table, turning it from a long, rigid thing into a stubbier, rippled circle. Twilight hurriedly caught the dishware and crystal before it fell to the floor, levitating it over her shoulder as she approached. “Right. Last step. Less formal.”
It occurred to Twilight that she probably shouldn't have dismissed the servants, given that the closest she had ever come to setting a table was witnessing the process, but it seemed straightforward enough, and it was obvious to her eyes that their sense of aesthetics was atrocious. Everywhere she looked in this room, things were subtly off, and she worked with a growing speed to correct them. Table set, everything just so, decorations adjusted, fire lit, lighting tweaked. A hundred little things to make her family’s visit as perfect as it could be. She gritted her teeth, eyes darting back and forth as she worked. “This over here, that over there, Shining Armor likes to be next to dad, just a hair more elbow space for him—” Her pace intensified when she heard hoofsteps on the stairs outside, time running short. “More wood on the fire, adjust the lighting, seats pushed in just so...”
“Perfect!” she proclaimed, with a sigh of relief, finishing just as the door behind her swung open.
“Twilie!” Twilight Velvet’s voice carried bright and clear through the recently shrunken space, and Twilight turned just in time for the older mare to hold her to her chest, wrapping her forehooves around Twilight daughter in a tight hug. Twilight Velvet looked the same as she always did—her distinctive purple-and-white mane closely cropped, and curled at the base. Like many ponies, Twilight had a view of her parents that was immortal and unchanging, and an embarrassed smile rose to her face when her mother’s hug reminded Twilight that she was the taller of the two. Not far behind Twilight Velvet came Shining Armor and Crescent Moon, Twilight’s brother and father pulling apart as though they had been having a private discussion.
“It is Twilight, isn’t it? It’s awful. I can’t tell my own daughters apart.” Twilight Velvet leaned forward to carefully Twilight’s face carefully, probing it for some left-right asymmetry she could exploit.
“Yes, mom, it’s Twilight,” Shining Armor supplied, stepping up to Twilight and ruffling her hair. Crescent Moon wasn’t far behind, Twilight thoroughly surrounded as he put a leg around her shoulders, kissing the top of her head.
“I’m been so worried about you, Twilie. Princess Celestia just told us there had been some kind of incident and you were going to need us soon, but she refused to tell us what happened, and your brother was no help!” Twilight Velvet gave a brief but intense frown, and Shining Armor laughed as she punched his shoulder. “I’m so glad to see you’re alright. The whole trip home, I thought you were turning to stone or something!”
“You didn’t tell them anything?” Twilight asked, puzzled as she glanced to Shining Armor.
“Your brother said it was personal, and that you and Sparkle should tell us yourselves,” Crescent Moon interjected, glancing at the table and counting the number of places. “Where is your sister, anyway?”
“She... um.” Twilight froze on the spot, eyes darting between the three ponies around her. “That is, she, uh... Well, really, what I’m trying to say is that she, um...”
“Yes?” Twilight Velvet leaned in closer, intensely hanging on Twilight’s every word and expression. Twilight’s grimace only grew more intense as she tried to think of something, anything to say, her gaze looking to any of the ponies around her for some sign of help.
“That is... she... I mean...” Twilight swallowed, her breath coming fast. “She has cutie pox!” she burst out, stammering as she quickly followed on her statement. “A-a terrible case, that’s all. She’s been paragliding and-and pole vaulting and playing the cello all day. It’s all our friends can do to hold her down. She just needs a day or two to get over it. Alone! She’s... very contagious. She just needs a day or two, alone, to get over her cutie pox. Which is why she couldn't be here.”
Twilight’s mother leaned in sharply, peering at her, and the closer she leaned, the stiffer and wider Twilight’s smile became. The room felt hot to Twilight, like she could physically feel the stares of her family, and a faint bead of sweat rolled down her face.
“Well, okay then!” Twilight Velvet chirped, letting go of Twilight and taking a quick step back. Twilight nearly fainted with the shock, her legs unsteady.
“And here I was worried it was something serious.” Crescent Moon nudged his wife with an elbow, the two of them sharing a brief, inscrutable look.
“Yeah, I’m sorry for letting you worry,” Shining Armor added, but his tone was less amused, and when Twilight looked up at him, he shook his head.
“She’ll be... fine, I’m sure.” Twilight waved the matter along, eager to change subjects. “I’m sorry you had to rush back to Canterlot. I didn’t know you were traveling.”
“Don’t be silly, Twilie. You know we’re always happy to see you,” her mother assured her, tone light and friendly, like nothing more was amiss in the world. “You always make such a big production out of our visits. It’s embarrassing.”
“I do not make a big production out of your visits,” Twilight tried to insist, with a dismissive wave of her hoof, but Velvet was having none of it.
“You redecorated the entire dining room yourself,” she countered. Twilight went stiff, as she looked wildly over her work to see where she’d made the mistake.
“How did you know that?” she demanded, but when she whirled back to look at her mother, Velvet only smiled, walking past Twilight to her spot at the table.
“Mother's intuition,” she answered, amused, her head raised high as Twilight give her an incredulous stare.
Shining Armor tried not to roll his eyes as he moved to his own place, recognizing it out of Twilight’s arrangement. Of all of them, it was Crescent Moon who took pity on his daughter, leaning over to her and pointing to the table with a murmur of, “Everything is backwards.”
Twilight’s eyes went wide, a hot flush rising to her cheeks. Her eyes darted to the table, the placements, the decorations, the orientation of the table, the illusionary wall she conjured. Every place she had found one of the servants’ mistakes and “corrected” it, the new version was oriented the other way, the room’s decorations a perfect mirror image of what they should be. “I’m sorry! I’ll fix it, I’ll—”
“Don’t be silly, Twilight! And shame on you for telling her, dear. It’s fine just the way it is,” Velvet insisted, taking her seat as Shining Armor and Crescent Moon did the same. Twilight hovered over the table, looking at her changes to the arrangements, teeth set as she considered them.
“It’ll only take a second to fix,” she tried to insist, flustered. “A simple mirror image spell will—”
“Twilight.” Velvet tapped the table sharply. “Sit.”
“But I...” Twilight looked to her mother with wide eyes, and her mother answered with narrowed ones. The more Twilight leaned her horn towards the decorations, the more intense Velvet’s stare became. Twilight’s teeth set on edge as she tried to break that stare, not quite daring to turn away. Shining Armor and Crescent Moon looked between the two, sharing their own worried glance across the table.
Finally, Twilight blinked, and both of them heaved a sigh of relief. “Fine,” she muttered, Velvet smiling as Twilight took her seat at the table.
“So, tell us what happened to you since we last visited,” Velvet urged, looking toward her daughter. “I want to hear everything.”
“Did you tell her everything?” Luna inquired, reaching out so she could support Twilight. Twilight shrunk away from her hoof, however, curling up alone on the stone.
“No.” She drew a breath. “No. I didn’t. I told them about things that don’t matter—the training I did with Rainbow Dash, little things I did with the others in Ponyville. When I ran out of things that just didn’t matter, I started making things up. I told them I’d kept busy helping Applejack on the farm and that Fluttershy had been bitten by one of her pet flesh-eating ice spiders.”
“Hardly a plausible falsehood,” Luna observed, with a raised eyebrow.
“I know—Fluttershy’s pets would never bite her.” Twilight shook her head. “They knew all along though, and it was perfectly obvious they knew. I just didn’t know what else to say. I couldn't tell them the truth and I had to say something.” She shut her eyes and let out a quiet sigh, but kept her head high. “We spent the entire evening saying nothing. Just... nothing, and then it was time to go.”
“That was but a few hours ago, Twilight, and when you arrived here, you seemed under the impression that your day had ended well,” Luna pointed out. “What changed?”
“I guess it was when we saw... It was when we turned to go. Shining and Mom and Dad and I. We were walking across the palace grounds, back to the tower. Dad promised they wouldn't bother Sparkle, but he still insisted they walk me home. We were walking by the palace and... through one of the windows, we could see Princess Celestia and Sparkle. Just talking.” Twilight drew a slow breath, letting it out through her teeth.
“This event obviously troubled you greatly, and it has angered you in this very conversation. How did it make your evening end well?” Luna inquired gently.
“I did everything wrong today. The decorations, what I said. I wasn’t their daughter or Shining’s sister. I was just a guest who looked like her. I knew Mom saw Sparkle as well, and I thought she’d be crushed. I didn’t know what to say. What could I say? She looked at me, and I had to tell her why I was with her and Sparkle wasn’t. I had to tell her something.” Twilight sniffled, but kept her composure even in the face of mounting strain.
“But I don’t know why she wouldn't come. I started to stammer again, to make something up, and mom just... She gave me a hug, and said she was proud of me, and I asked if I could meet her again tomorrow. Just to talk.” Twilight paused for a moment, a breath going in and out. “I told her that there were things I couldn't talk about with her, but that I wanted to, and... and that was it. She said she’d always make time for me, and we went home. They left me at the door. I felt like I was part of the family again.”
Twilight’s voice dropped slowly, and her head with it. “But I wasn’t, Princess. I wasn’t part of the family. I wasn’t their daughter. I’m a fraud. They don’t even know me. If my family knew what I’ve told you here, if Princess Celestia knew what I’ve told you... they’d all hate me. They’d never want to see me again.”
For a time, Luna said nothing, simply considering Twilight’s words and manner. Twilight grew stiffer as the silence grew longer, curling tighter about herself and sniffling, but after only a few minutes, Luna gave a careful, considered nod. “Do you think you Elements of Harmony can be tricked, Twilight?” Twilight seemed to have no answer to that, and Luna reached out to her, tilting her head up.
“If you truly wished harm on another pony, you could not have become the Element of Magic, Twilight. The lure to power is strong in you, but that does not make you evil. It is only recently that the strain of facing your double has caused this to fester in your heart.” Her voice was reassuring and gentle, but tears formed in Twilight’s eyes.
“How can you say that, Princess?” She asked, her voice ragged. “After I told you—”
“You do not know what my sister forgave when she accepted me again, Twilight. I will follow her example. You have done well tonight. I know that telling me what you did brought you great pain, but you are stronger for it.” She waited a moment for the words to sink in and then rose, signaling that their meeting was done. “Now, you must rest. It is late, and you are too tired to do much more than brood on the day’s events, which will help no one. Sleep, and in the morning, all will be clearer.”
“Yes...” Twilight hesitated, but she forced her tears to stop, squeezing her eyes shut. “Yes, Princess.” Twilight rose, and together, the two turned to move out of the little underground space.
“One other question, Twilight. Did you and Sparkle discuss this matter at all after she finished speaking with my sister?” Luna’s eyes were on Twilight, alert for subtle body language, but Twilight simply shook her head.
“No, she didn’t come back to the tower until quite late. She said she went to reflect on things in the statue garden.”