“Are you sure you can handle both the sun and the moon, sis?” asked Lucian.
Celestia had joined Twilight and Lucian at the Canterlot train station. Lucian in particular seemed worried about leaving for Ponyville to make friends, which somewhat reminded Twilight about how she had been worried when she had first gone to the little town. In his case, however, his fear was not due to the possibility of a malevolent entity coming to bring about the end of the world, but the fact that he was leaving his royal duties behind.
“I was able to handle both celestial bodies for an entire millennium. What makes you think I can't handle them for a few months?” said Celestia.
“I’m just saying,” said Lucian. “I mean, it probably wouldn’t look good if both the sun and the moon were hanging out in the sky at the same time!”
“I appreciate your concern, but I can take perfect care of myself. Now, you'd better run along or you'll be late for your train!”
The two ponies nodded at the solar princess' comment, then lifted their bags and trotted towards the platform. The Friendship Express was just about to leave for Ponyville, and Twilight was eager to get back.
“Once we get there, we should go to the library first. We'll leave our stuff there and then maybe go to Sugarcube corner and get something to eat, then head on to Sweet Apple Acres, and-”
“Twilight?” said Lucian. “I'm wondering if we could wait until tomorrow to start meeting your friends. Right now, I just want some time to get adjusted to my new life.”
Twilight turned towards him, offering a quizzical look. He still seemed apprehensive about the idea of getting to know ponies, which was the entire point of going to Ponyville in the first place. However, while she knew that he would eventually have to be friendly with other ponies, she also sympathized with his desire to remain isolated from everypony, especially given his current condition.
“Well, If you want, we can do that,” she said. “I mean, as long as that special hoodie Princess Celestia gave you works, nopony will recognize you, and they probably won't even be all that interested in you. Well, except maybe Pinkie Pie.”
Lucian's eyes widened. He still remembered the hyperactive pink pony who had almost ruined his attempts to socialize at Nightmare Night. To be fair, the entire idea of going to meet ponies on the very night meant for his evil alter-ego to scare the living daylights out of everypony was, in hindsight, a rather poorly-thought plan to begin with. Even so, the fact that he could potentially come face-to-face with the crazy pink pony filled him with dread.
“You think she'd get excited even if she didn't recognize me?” he asked.
“She's always excited,” said Twilight. “It’s just that meeting somepony new always takes her up to eleven, which is why everypony is going to know there’s a newcomer.”
Lucian swallowed nervously. Attracting ponies was the last thing he wanted at the moment, especially if Pinkie Pie had anything to do with it.
“Well, but we won't have to worry about her as long as we don't pass by her, right?”
“Yeah,” Twilight said nervously. “As long as we don’t pass her.”
As the town of Ponyville came into view, Lucian couldn't help but fidget. He knew that he would soon have to meet new ponies, and the thought made him somewhat nervous. He had been quite content with staying isolated from the rest of the world, even if it meant missing a royal wedding or two.
This was not because of any desire for solitude, however; deep within his soul, he knew that he honestly wanted to make friends with other ponies. Otherwise, he would not have demonstrated such enthusiasm at the Nightmare Night party.
However, even though he truly did not want to be alone, there was some part of Lucian that was reluctant to make any sort of emotional attachment, except for the sibling relationship he shared with his sister. After all, the ponies around them grew old and died, but he and Celestia remained ageless. For the lunar alicorn, to form friendships was to be exposed to pain and sorrow as time stole away everypony he knew.
For that reason, Luna had been secretly happy to be the ruler of the night; because there were no ponies who spent their nights awake, there were no ponies to make friends with, and thus, no chance of tearful farewells. Ignored by all, she felt safe.
At least, until he met him.
She just had to find him, didn't she?
“Lucian? Are you okay?”
The lunar alicorn pulled himself from his fantasy. Twilight was looking at him, concern evident in her face.
“What? I mean, y-yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?” said Lucian.
“Nothing, you just seemed to be a bit absent when I spoke to you,” replied Twilight.
“You were talking to me?”
Twilight sighed at this.
“I thought you ought to know that we're just about to arrive.”
Lucian looked out the window. They were indeed entering the town where Twilight had first met her friends, and where Lucian would hopefully get to meet friends of his own. For now, however, he wished to postpone any interaction with ponies other than Twilight. He looked towards her.
“I did say I wanted to wait until tomorrow to meet ponies, right?”
“Yes, you did,” replied Twilight. “And, honestly, I don't think we'll meet Pinkie Pie as long as we don't stray too close to Sugarcube corner.”
“You don't think she'll cause trouble, do you?” Lucian asked apprehensively.
“Oh, of course she'll cause trouble,” said Twilight. “She gets excited whenever there's a new pony in town and decides to throw them a party, regardless of whether or not they want one. One time she spent the entire day stalking an old donkey just to befriend him, even though it was obvious he wanted nothing to do with her! I mean, it worked out fine in the end, but still.”
Lucian cringed. The idea of a hyperactive bubblegum-pink pony trying to throw a party for him was worrisome, to say the least.
“But that won't be a problem as long as we don't run into her, right?”
“Well, I guess if we don’t run into her, we won’t have much trouble,” said Twilight. “Honestly, though, I don't know if we can avoid her.”
“What do you mean?” asked Lucian.
Twilight didn’t respond. She was too busy trying to figure out how they could evade Pinkie until they could get to the library. It seemed like such a daunting task. However, as the train whistled and the conductor announced the train’s arrival, Twilight got up to her hooves.
“Okay, I think I have an idea.”
As the two made their way out of Ponyville station, Lucian held a map of Ponyville in his magical grasp.
“So, let me get this straight,” he said. “You want me to get to the library as quickly as I can?”
“As inconspicuously as you can,” said Twilight. “But I don’t know how long I can distract Pinkie Pie, so I’d say it would be good if you could make it fast too. Now, I’m going to go to Sugarcube corner. Once you’ve made it to the library, you can send me this letter so I’ll know you made it.”
As Twilight finished she pulled out a tightly rolled scroll and passed it to Lucian.
“Is this all really necessary?” asked Lucian.
“Please just trust me on this,” said Twilight, turning away from him as she made her way towards Sugarcube corner. She didn’t have to walk for long, as the large candy shop quickly came into her field of view.
As she walked in, she made her way to the counter. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to keep Pinkie busy, but she figured buying something would be a good place to start.
“Twilight!”
The lavender mare suddenly felt herself being slammed onto the ground by a blur of pink fur. Briefly stunned, she shook herself out of it to look up at the pony who had tackled her.
“Hello, Pinkie Pie.”
“That's me!” said the happy mare. “What's up, Twilight?”
“Well-”
“Oh! Did you want to get some cupcakes today? I’ve got all sorts of great new flavors that I’m trying out today! I’ll bet you’d love the soylent pink cupcakes!”
“I guess,” said Twilight. While she was unsure of what she was going to order, she was relieved that Pinkie seemed quite ignorant of the town’s newest resident.
At least until the hyperactive mare began to twitch uncontrollably.
“Pinkie!” she yelled. “What was that?”
“There’s a new pony in ponyville!”
Twilight mentally facehoofed. She hadn’t thought about taking the pinkie sense into account.
“Oh,” she said, putting on what she hoped was an innocent smile. “Really?”
“Yep!” said Pinkie. “And you know what that means!”
“Well, I can’t know for sure,” Twilight said nervously. “What does it mean?”
“It means that I have to find the new pony in town, welcome them, and then throw a party!”
“Oh!” said Twilight, doing her best to stay calm. “Well, that’s good, but It’s probably not too important. I mean, maybe they’re just somepony passing through town?”
“That makes it even worse!” said Pinkie. “What if they never come back? I need to welcome them now!”
Oops, thought Twilight. “Well, they’re probably going to be here for a while! I mean, Ponyville has so many nice things to see, so why not let them go around town for a while before you-”
“Are you kidding me?!” said Pinkie, suddenly very serious. “I know Ponyville better than anypony else! I need to be there to show them everything, and show them a big helping of Ponyville hospitality!”
As Pinkie began to make her way out of the bakery, Twilight stared at her in horror, then turned her head in various directions, desperately seeking something to distract the determined party pony with.
“Wait!” she said desperately. “What about your customers?”
Pinkie stopped in her tracks. Then, much to Twilight’s bewilderment, she pulled one hoof over her head and lifted herself into the air, rotated herself to face the now-empty counter, and then set herself back on the floor.
“You’re right!” she said, a look of horror on her face. “I can’t just leave their sweet teeth unsatisfied!”
“Well, yes,” said Twilight. “That would be really-”
“Twilight please take care of them!”
Before the confused mare could say a word, Pinkie had already dragged her right in front of the cash register. Then, with speed that would make most Wonderbolts jealous, she ran out the front door.
For a moment, Twilight stood there, struggling to put together what had just happened. She then shook herself and began to run towards the door. As she reached it, however, she bumped into a pair of ponies walking in.
“Excuse us,” said one of them. “Is there anyone to take our orders?”
Twilight shuddered as she tried to think of an appropriate response.
“Uh… out to lunch?”
It was a rather quiet day in Ponyville. Nothing particularly interesting was happening, according to a relatively tall and slender unicorn walking through town. While a few heads turned to look at the newcomer, most didn't give him a second glance. It appeared that Lucian's enchanted hoodie was doing its job nicely, and for that, he was happy.
Well, so far so good, he thought to himself. He then saw a large tree that had been hollowed out into a building in the distance.
Ah, that must be the library. Just as Twilight said.
He began to trot towards the library at a brisk pace, excited to reach its relative safety.
I hope she’s not having too much trouble with Pinkie Pie, thought Lucian. I mean, she was kind of a problem on Nightmare Night, but that was an exciting, once-a-year event. She seriously can't ALWAYS be like that, can she?
As if the universe itself had a sense of humor, it was at that moment that a particularly colorful delivery cart ran over him.
“Hello! I’m Pinkie Pie! Who are you?”
His head still spinning from the impact, Lucian looked upwards to see a pink earth pony staring at him.
“Ouch.”
“Ouch? That’s not a very nice name!”
“No, that’s not my name,” said Lucian. “What do you want?”
“I want to welcome you to Ponyville!” said Pinkie, grabbing Lucian and lifting him back onto his hooves.“Now please tell me your name so we can be friends!”
“You don’t even know me,” said Lucian.
“Well, that’s why you need to tell me your name, silly!”
“Lucian!” said another voice.
The two ponies turned around to see Twilight running up towards them.
“Oh, hey Twilight!” said Pinkie. “Do you know this pony?”
“Yeah, I do” Twilight said. “This is Lucian. He's a student of Princess Celestia.”
While it was the excuse Twilight and Celestia had formed before Lucian had come to Ponyville, it was not a lie, or at least not entirely. Because Luna had always been the younger sibling, she had always learned by following her elder sister's example, and had relied on her to provide guidance on important matters. Therefore, Lucian could indeed be considered a pupil of the solar princess.
“Ooohhh! Have you ever studied with Twilight? Did you get to read all about Nightmare Moon and Discord and the Changelings? Did Celestia teach you to teleport like Twilight?”
As the hyperactive pink pony talked her mouth off, Lucian groaned.
And here I was thinking I’d get to spend the day in a quiet library.
“Oh! I almost forgot!” said Pinkie. “You're new here, so I need to throw you a welcome party!”
“Party?”
“Oh! And I need to sing the Welcome Song!”
Before either Twilight or Lucian could object, Pinkie had pulled up the delivery cart that she’d used to tackle Lucian. While Lucian tried to figure out its purpose, Pinkie Pie pressed a large red button on the side, activating a variety of musical instruments as well as flags and what appeared to be a small oven. As the music started, Pinkie began to bounce and sing along:
Welcome welcome welcome, a fine welcome to you,
Welcome welcome welcome I say how do you do?
Welcome welcome welcome I say hip hip hooray,
Welcome welcome welcome to Ponyville today!!
The two ponies stared in shock, unsure of what to say next. Pinkie didn't seem to notice, as she smiled at Lucian as he merely stood in place.
“Wait for it...”
Before he could ask what “it” was supposed to be, Lucian was hit by a wave of confetti, then drenched from head to toe in thick cupcake batter.
“Oops,” said Pinkie. “I got the confetti and the cupcake batter mixed up again. It happens a lot more than it should, honestly.”
The batter-soaked stallion stared at her incredulously, then sighed in resignation. Seeing this, Twilight quickly reached a decision.
“Well, Pinkie, it’s been fun, but I’m afraid we must get going. Lucian and I have a lot to do since he’s coming to Ponyville!”
Having said this, Twilight quickly began to charge her horn. Then, before anypony else could speak, she and Lucian disappeared in a flash of purple light.
“Well, that happened,” said Twilight.
As Lucian wiped the batter off his face, he was surprised to see that they were now inside the Golden Oaks Library. In addition, he felt somewhat dizzy, and everything tasted purple.
“Did we just teleport?” he asked in surprise.
“Yeah, we did,” said twilight. “I thought it would be best to get us both out before somepony did something stupid.”
“You can teleport?”
“Yeah,” said Twilight. “It’s pretty complicated, but I’ve pretty much managed to get the hang of it.”
“And you never thought it would just be easier to teleport us both directly from the station into the library?”
“Well… you know you could have done the same!”
The two ponies stared at each other incredulously. They then simultaneously slammed their hooves against their faces.
“We could’ve just teleported…” Twilight started.
“...And not had to cross town,” finished Lucian.
The two ponies groaned together as they realized how ignorant they had been.
“Whatever,” said Lucian. “Which way is the shower?”
Twilight turned towards him, and realized that he was still mostly covered in cupcake batter.
“Oh, yes. Upstairs.”
“Thanks. I need to get this stuff off.”
Lucian made his way upstairs, leaving a trail of batter in his wake. Twilight groaned as she saw the floor being covered in cake batter, but didn’t bother saying anything. Instead, she made her way towards the broom closet, making a mental note to give him some other chore once the shock of meeting Pinkie wore off.
Spike was having a wonderful day. Since Twilight wasn't due to return until noon, he was able to spend the morning assisting Rarity in her search for jewels. They also had a particular stroke of luck when they encountered a pack of Diamond Dogs; much to Spike and Rarity's surprise, the Diamond Dogs had been so shocked by their last encounter with the wrathful unicorn that they had come to view her as some sort of deity. They had then made a large number of offerings, varying from their most precious gemstones to their firstborn children. Because of this, she now had a sizable stash of gems at her house, and had been willing to give Spike an entire sack full of jewels.
As the little dragon reached the library, his mouth watered at the thought of all those delicious jewels. What was even better was the fact that Rarity had been very thankful for his assistance, and she had even given him a kiss on the cheek. He giggled as he opened the door.
“Hey, Twilight? You back home yet?”
“I sure am, Spike!” said Twilight. “Just make sure you don't slip! I just finished mopping!”
“Mopping?”
Spike slowly entered the room, surprised that his caretaker had been willing to spend the time after she arrived cleaning. Indeed, there wasn’t even a slight hint of dust or dirt on the floor.
“So, why exactly are you doing the cleaning, Twilight?” asked Spike. “I mean, I'm glad I don't have to do anything about the floor, but honestly, I wouldn't expect you to sweep or mop or anything. Not that I think you're lazy!”
“Oh Spike,” said Twilight as she walked into the main library room levitating a mop. “It's not a problem for me. I just felt that since you were busy doing all of your assignments while I was at Canterlot you deserved a little rest. I can't let my number one assistant get all worn out, can I?”
As she said this, Twilight wrapped one of her hooves around Spike and gave him a hug. Though momentarily surprised by this gesture, Spike quickly hugged her back.
“Thanks, Twilight.” said Spike.
“Also, our guest kind of messed up the floor, so I had to fix that,” Twilight added as she broke the embrace.
“Oh yeah,” said Spike. “Your letter said something about that. Kind of sudden, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess it was,” said Twilight. “It’s a long story.”
“Well, if you say so,” said Spike. “So, who’s the visitor?”
At that precise moment, a certain alicorn flew downstairs, levitating a batter-coated hoodie.
“Hey, Twilight? My sweater thing is still covered with cake batter, so I was wondering if maybe you could... help... me... clean... it?...”
The prince and the dragon stared at each other in shock, neither one sure how to react. However, after briefly observing Lucian’s wavy and transparent mane, as well as his horn and wings, there was only one thing for Spike to say.
After a few tense moments, Spike began to speak.
“Twilight, is it just me, or is there a stallion who looks just like Princess Luna in our library?”
Lucian turned towards Twilight, who sighed.
“Like I said, Spike. It’s a long story.”