"The strength of a unicorn is dependent on a few factors. Bloodline, genetics, hereditary illnesses and a large amount of luck. Talisman's family was one of the lucky ones, it seems, and bred powerful unicorns. But in the entire bloodline, never had there been a bigger disappointment than Talisman.
Tal had held the hopes as an heir to their line. First born, male and a unicorn, he was expected to wield the power of his father, his father's father and their fathers before them. What they got was a weak stallion. Although his intellect was impressive and his ability to solve most problems was admirable, his magical skills were lacking in every department. Potency, amount, ability, it all fell apart with him. Our combined strengths could not help him, and even when we poured magical strength into him from us, it just seemed to vanish. Then came his younger sister. We payed little attention to her at first, and she's a mediocre spell caster at best. The family began to talk, asking if perhaps Spell Singer had been fooling around. Talisman had left in the years following, and had been disowned. Then we had our baby daughter and we despaired, thinking we would never have a powerful heir, given that the females in our family, no offense, were never the strongest casters. But when Spell Caller was two years old, she almost blew up the house trying to pick up her fork at the table. The fork itself melted in her telekinetic grasp and we knew she'd exerted much too much force, so we took her away to test in a safe location. We asked her to pick things up, taught her how to do things, and rejoiced. She was the heir we'd been looking for, powerful and joyful, full of life. She lifted even the heaviest things without complaint nor sweat. But we still, despite all of it, missed our son... My son..."
The tired looking stallion looked at his guests with a tired smile.
"And now he's come home, back to us and Canterlot, and I can finally make wrongs right, I can mend the tear in our family that I created in my frustration."
Tan embraced brown as tears fell down two faces, two stallions locked in a tearful hug.
"Welcome home... my son."
~*~
So many ponies, all in one room. A deep blue filly with golden hair ran around from place to place, ecstatic that there was company in her home. A pale orange filly, probably mid teens, was by her mother's side. Spell Singer and Arcane Enchanter, the two parents, chatted animatedly to their guests, and their son. Twilight Sparkle was listening in rapt attention to Spell, and behind them all stood Princess Luna, a gentle smile on her features. Talisman was by Twilight's side, groaning at his father's stories.
"You would not believe some of the results of his attempts at moving things with telekinesis. He froze a very expensive set of silverware once. It was, well I was annoyed at the time, but now that I look back at it, I find it quite amusing."
"Daaaad!" Tal groaned, glancing nervously at Twilight, who was giggling behind her hoof.
"Daddy!"
Arcane Enchanter turned just in time to catch his daughter, the little blue filly with the golden mane and laugh.
"Oh look! A little vagabond come in from the street!"
The little filly giggled a little before blowing some of her mane out of her face.
"Daddy, tell them what happened when I tried!"
Spell Singer, the mother of the trio of younger unicorns, smiled and laughed softly.
"Oh yes. Little Spell Caller is out proud little witch. She must be the strongest member of our family in a very long time. She tried to pick up her spoon at the table and set it on fire instead. The poor silverware melted and Enchanter and I had to work together to put the flames out."
Twilight perked up at this.
"Oh? That normally happens when the vibrations of your magical grasp hightens too far for the item to handle. On fire you said? So the frequency was quite high! Silver normally melts before it's set alight. Have you considered enrolling her in Celestia's school for gifted unicorns?"
Spell Singer smiled broadly as Enchanter put his daughter down.
"Oh, she's not quite ready for that just yet. We do plan to enroll her, but only after she's mastered basic control. We'd hate to give poor Celestia more to clean up. Or her sister."
Luna smiled quietly from the doorway at this, and met Spell Singer's glance with a kind smile.
"But yes, she will join the academy. She's certainly strong enough."
Twilight smiled, then grunted as a flash of pain shot through her head. Tal looked at her in concern, as did his parents.
"Are you alright dear?" Spell Singer asked softly. Twilight smiled in response. The pain had passed faster than it had hit.
"I... yes, just a little pain in the head. I suppose I should have my horn checked for stress points. In any case, if you would like, I could talk to Princess Celestia. A unicorn with that kind of power should have a special teacher."
Spell Singer went to reply, but Luna beat her to it.
"That won't be necessary Twilight Sparkle."
Luna approached the group, a laughing little Spell Caller tightly hugging her foreleg.
"My sister already has a protege and student. You, on the other hoof, might benefit from such a responsibility."
Twilight stared at the Princess in shock.
"I... Me!? But, I've still got so much to learn! There's so much to do all the time, so many of... of everything!"
Luna giggled softly and shrugged.
"Our sister, your mentor, found time to teach you around running all of Equestria on her own. One thinks you could find time to teach the young unicorn around your studies, should she prove as powerful as we've heard."
Twilight looked helplessly at Luna, who smirked.
"We shall inform our sister forthwith~ Tis an excellent idea, to be certain."
Twilight groaned and facehoofed. The ensuing giggles and chortles from around her, especially from Talisman, irritated her.
Silence them then. You know you want to.
Twilight's eyes went wide and she thanked Celestia she had her face downcast. It quickly changed to a frown.
That wasn't my voice I heard... I always hear my own voice when I think, and that wasn't me...
She filed the event away for later analysis. The second eldest was calling that dinner was ready, and she didn't want to worry her hosts.
~*~
Dinner was a simple affair. The eldest girl had only just started learning to cook proper meals, so simple salads and a simple plate of fritters made up the majority of it. Luna had decided to stay for dinner, or breakfast as she called it. She sat at the head of the big table. Talisman softly told Twilight he'd never liked the table, that he thought it was over extravagant and stupid. But, without telling her, she could tell he was glad they had it now. Twilight was trying not to wince every few minutes as she was assaulted by sharp pains in her skull, mostly situated approximately two inches under her horn. It was getting worse the longer the night went on. Arcane Enchanter had just finished telling a joke when Twilight politely excused herself from the table, walking outside for air. Tal looked at his father, who looked just as concerned as Talisman felt, and Enchanter nodded a little to him. Tal excused himself from the table and followed her. He found her outside on the front verandah, if one can call the extravagant exterior of the building that.
"Hey Twi, you alright?"
Twilight huffed a little as she heard Tal's voice.
"Should have figured," She joked weakly, "You would come after me wouldn't you?"
Tal shrugged nonchalantly.
"Well, yeah. You might be able fool your friends Twi, but I'm a little harder to deceive. Are you alright?"
She looked at him and smiled a little. It was weak though.
"Yeah Tal, I think so. My head hurts, but... yeah, I just needed some air."
Talisman obviously didn't buy it, but he didn't call her out on it. Instead, he just sighed and pulled her into a gentle hug. She considered pushing him away, but instead leaned into the hug. He smiled a little and kissed her forehead softly.
"Don't worry Twi, you'll be okay. I won't let anything happen to you."
They stayed as they were for a while until they were interrupted by a giggle. The pair looked at the newcomer. The tiny little filly, Spell Caller, stood looking up at them with a big smile. Blushing, both ponies broke away from the hug and faced away from each other, Tal rubbing at his head.
"Oh... hey sis. I didn't see you there."
The little filly giggled again.
"Big brother, are you and Twilight dating?"
The pair blushed again and Tal shook his head.
"Uh, no Spell, Twi and I aren't dating. Where did you even learn that word, let alone what it means?"
The little filly giggled again, ignoring his question to answer with "Not yet you aren't~"
Tal looked at his sister strangely. She seemed oddly sure of that. He was about to question her further when Twilight inexplicably collapsed.
~*~
Talisman waited. He'd been waiting, sitting by the bedside almost the entire night, since she'd been admitted in fact. The castle hospice wing was useful, and the nurses were pleasant. Luna had just entered and was standing next to Talisman, who sat at the bedside on a chair.
"... You can get some sleep, Talisman. Twilight will understand."
He shook his head no and sniffed stubbornly.
"I won't leave her. I won't leave her until she wakes up. Her friends went to bed hours ago, understandably. They were tired, and deserved rest. But... I promised her I'd not let anything happen to her. I promised it and I meant it. I will stay at her side, with her, until she wakes up whole and well, and that is the truth."
Luna paused for a moment before smiling gently.
"Such dedication is rare among simple friends, Talisman. I hope you know what you're doing."
He didn't answer her, nor did she wait for him to. She gave him a moment to answer and, when he did not, turned and walked away. Tal rested his head upon the slowly rising and falling chest of Twilight Sparkle.
"I won't leave you to be alone, like you took me in, I will watch over you, Twilight Sparkle."