//------------------------------//
// chapter 5 
// Story: Arranged happiness 
// by cealdra 
//------------------------------//

The moment Twilight stepped from behind the curtain the entire room fell silent. No gasps of awe, no murmur of recognition. Just surprised silence. The little filly and later on shut-in bookworm many of them had seen but dismissed as a nopony or servants daughter or even flat out ridiculed in the past was now standing in front of them not only as a national hero but turned out to be Celestia's apprentice and a well published scientist.  

The silence was broken by Celestia. “There will be time for you to ask questions to these mares in a few minutes. But first let us complete this gathering. Luna and myself have not called you here for a mere introduction. Girls, if you could come forth and stand in front of my sister and myself.”

Curious glances became visible on the faces of the six avatars but without hesitation they fell in a single line in front of the princesses.

“In olden times, those who served without question and were willing to give their all to defend those who could not where given titles, land and fame and recognition beyond comprehension. But all thou have gotten was a cold stare at most. Two even paid with thine hearts freedom through our mistake to keep you in secrecy.”

“But no longer shall the shadows of legend shroud you. For in this age, an age in which many ancient foe rose up only to be forced back by your heart, courage and strength we re-instate the ways forgotten by time. Kneel now, young ones.”

Absolute silence reigned as the six kneeled in front of the diarchs. Everypony present looked in anticipation of what followed. Two ethereal blades shimmered into existence. One as dark as the night with the hilt coated with small twinkling lights, its twin was pure white and seemed to radiate light.

Both blades touched the front of the head of each of the six mares at exactly the same time each while the sisters spoke likewise the exact same words at the exact same time.

“Touched by day and night, blessed by harmony herself you have risen to defend our very way of life. You have kneeled in front of your rulers, but now rise as peers. Rise as knight guardians of Equestria.”

A faint glow came from within the elements, as if they were reacting to both the touch of the ethereal blades. From within their glow six glyphs started to take form. Not a second later the glyph had taken root around their necks in the shape of a simple medallion on a golden chain. Celestia smiled as she saw them.

“Remember these signets well my little ponies for these are now your personal seals, a badge of status and office so to speak.” In a softer whisper she added “I will give Twilight a small notice on what they are used for, she will be able to tell you more later on.”

“With recognition given and status restored, we Celestia and Luna of Equestria also grant you land to which you may call your own.

Honest Applejack, for years your family have worked on your acres to supply our nation with produce. From now and until the end of years, it shall be yours fully.

Generous Rarity, in your designs one can often find various precious metals and stones derived from the mountain region near your home. Till now, you had paid an exploration sum to search there. No longer shall that be needed for this region and all within it now falls under your property.

Merry Pinkie Pie, for one who is keen on the moods of others I doubt any stretch of land will suit. On that notice, the crown shall sponsor a theme-park to be constructed on the fields between Canterlot and Ponyville. One that you may call your own. Expect the leader of it’s architects to visit one of these days.

Loyal Rainbow Dash, for a true pegasus as yourself land holds no meaning only the sky and freedom matters. Because of that we choose not to grant you land but instead we absolve you from all flight and cloud home restrictions safe for military regions and sport grounds.

Kind Fluttershy, Flora and Fauna brighten in your vicinity and care. Your meadow is a peaceful oasis for all. We hope your influence will be able to extent itself to all what lives in the area of Ponyville, Therefor we grant to you the area known as the Whitetail Woods.

And lastly wise Twilight Sparkle, knowledge and the unraveling of secrets is what your heart seeks. And no library could ever sate your mind. The land we grant is a mystery on its own, for we grant you the ancient castle-site and its surrounding lands and all mysteries within; the Everfree Forrest as well as all of the possessions remaining within its many ancient ruins.

Lands and obsolesce usually come with a tithe. But not these, they will be in your possession until the day your final breath is drawn as is the title granted to you. These and all their rights are yours and yours alone, contrary to normal gifts bestowed by the crown they will not be passed into the clan fold and will pass when you yourself do. May they serve you as well as you have served your nation”

A moment of silence was the prelude to a massive roaring, the media were shouting all kinds of questions, many of the nobles were outraged by the granting of free lands and titles to mere commoners and those neither noble nor media were simply cheering for both the princesses as the six now recognized heroes.

This time it was Luna who scraped her throat, indicating that they were not finished with the ceremony. How she had been able to overpower the cascading noise in the rather acoustically made room had been beyond the comprehension of many. Celestia shoot her sister an approving glance as the noise started to die.

“And now, please enjoy the remaining few hours of this festivity. You can ask the Avatars your questions however please keep in mind that they are under no obligation to answer you.”

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

The barrage of questions the mane six had been expecting was even worse than they ever imagined. The journalists and reporters had almost literary asked them about everything and then they kept on asking about more random stuff concerning their personalities and lives.  That was until one question came which silenced all others.

“Newsflash, Canterlot gazelle. Princess Luna claimed something about having to pay with hearts freedom. What did she mean with that?”

Applejack stepped forward to answer the question “Ah'm sorry, but that question...”   It was then that Twilight and Fluttershy glanced at each other and with a simple nod from the Pegasus Twilight placed her hoof on Applejacks shoulder indicating that it was alright. That she would answer because the truth would come out anyway.

“What Applejack means to say is that the story behind it is rather personal. But know that we will not say the full story. We will not reveal names other than the two of us involved. For even though they attempted to ruin our lives with greed it is not for us to go down to their level.”

Twilight felt something rubbing up against her side right before something soft, fluffy and warm was draped over her back. A quick glance told her that a very nervous and scared Fluttershy had joined her in front of the others and even went as far as draping a wing over her. Giving her own silent support and indication of her role in all of this.

“Several weeks ago, two stallions close to Fluttershy and myself used an ancient relic in an attempt to further their own goals. A document so old that it stems from the very beginning of our Princesses' rule. The short of it is that the both of us are to marry each other come spring. Should we fail to comply the consequences are dire.”

Twilight swallowed a bit and continued her little speech. “But before you ask anything else, this is all we are going to say about it.

And with that, the real trouble with the press came, a storm of questions were unleashed. Leading so far that the guard were forced to step in and draw a protective circle around the six Avatars. Luckily most caught the hint, all but a single stallion withdrew from the scene.

The stallion bore a familiar face to both Twilight as Fluttershy, there stumbling drunk off his hooves was Bright Shine. His face scrunched into a scowl he swaggered towards the group, stopping right in front of his niece. Only to raise his hoof and slap Twilight hard, slamming her to the side with a strength usually reserved for Earth Ponies.

“You Bish, al thihs time you coulda spoken to the prinsjesh on our beni, beh, damsh it. To our housjname. I whash right to sjell your blashted hoof to that pehashy. Your worhlesh.”

Just before Bright Shine could strike again he could feel the tip of a rather sharp spear to his throat, one with a very angry Guardspony on the other end.

From the other side Shining Armor and a small detachment of guard walked in. The captain of the royal guard had a large smile plastered on his muzzle, something he was very clearly trying to suppress. “Lord Shine, you are hereby under arrest for the unprovoked strike on a lady of the court. Please come peacefully and regain at least a bit of your dignity.”

Turned out, he did not come peacefully. He had been dragged to a nice damp dungeon under full scrutiny of the press while shouting and screaming like a little foal, albeit a very very drunk little foal. And the parasites known as journalists were eating it up like nothing else ever had mattered.

Twilight could not help but to give a little smirk, while the mare that had been right at her side had simply stood there shell-shocked.

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

It had taken a long time for the five remaining mares to snap Fluttershy out of her trance. But to no avail, the rather rude mannerism of Bright Shine combined with pestering from the so called higher nobility, they of course wanted to enlist these 'heroes' into their own small groups of followers, had certainly done a number on the events of the evening for both Twilight as well as Fluttershy and therefor they had retreated to the room they had been given. But with the large amount of nobles requesting shelter as well they had been forced to share a room, luckily though Celestia had been kind enough to make sure they had two rather spacious single beds instead of a single double.

Now within the silent seclusion of their chambers snug under their blankets their troubles had started to fade away a bit. Resulting in the normal chatter one could find during a sleepover between friends.

“So ‘Shy, did you see that stallion trying to flirt with Applejack? I mean, come on. I doubt he`s done a single honest day of work in his entire life. You think he`ll take her up on the offer to come down to the orchards?”

“Ooh yes, he was not a very nice pony.“

Their bantering went on for about half an hour. Although to be honest it had been more Twilight talking and Fluttershy listening and nodding a bit. That was until the subject of their own love-lives came up. A topic they both had dodged around off for different reasons.

“So Twilight, how about you? Have you had any crushes or coltfriends if you don't mind me asking?”

The lavender mare looked up at the semi hidden form of Fluttershy with a bit of a smile and a large blush. “Well before coming to Ponyville I thought it would be pointless. But since you girls opened my eyes a bit you could say there had been one or two ponies who have caught my eyes.”

Fluttershy was puzzled by that statement; Twilight had not mentioned a gender. Could it be that she too was 'defective'? But that would be impossible; it had been made very clear to her during flight school that she had been a unique case.

“But I never acted towards it; I mean at least at that point my uncle had been right. Who would want to be with somepony like myself? Who in their right mind would like to be with a nerdy know-it-all shut-in who fails at basic social acts?” Had the room not been dark Fluttershy would have seen the crestfallen look on her fiancés face. But the voice she had spoken of told the pegasus that the words she had heard were not her own, but rather those what she had heard often enough to make sure that the mare believed they were true. This was once more a small reminder just how insecure she was. Throughout the years she had shown time and time again that although she had great power and potential there had something completely off about her self-image. At times she seemed to drive to excel, but most times it looked as if someone had took her confidence and self-worth only to simply shatter it. Leaving behind a brilliant mind, but one unable to accept that fact or function properly in anything social. Something Fluttershy herself could relate to, having been subjected to something similar herself. She could only hope that one day Twilight would open up to her or any of their friends. But right now, showing the mare she was not alone anymore and providing at least a bit of comfort was more important.

The soft clopping of hooves were not registered by Twilight's ears. Her thoughts had been with the voices of many of her classmates and former so called 'friends'. They had all started to treat her like a freak after one to many straight A on a difficult test and especially after she lost control of her powers once more during an exercise meant to measure the depth of the Unicorns lay-energy reserves. Afterwards they had dropped her like a stone, just being content on hammering on every flaw they could detect. In the end she had chosen to simply withdraw completely from the remainder of the world. Slowly but surely a fragile shell started to form around her soul. A shield to rebuke the hurtful comments. At first it worked, she was no longer really bothered by them when she started to appear less in public or ignoring their harsh words and gestures.

But it worked too well, even though she no longer felt their remarks hit. They still had power, and with that her shield backfired. Instead of allowing her to vent her feelings about them they too were locked within. Slowly festering and knawing upon the depths of her being. Until all that remained were the echoes of those very words she sought to keep out.

Echoes she could now hear clearly, but then from seemingly nowhere she felt a soft warmness press against her when a soft voice simply lulled them away “Shh, it will be ok. All will be alright. And you are not unlikable.”  A soft kiss just below the horn was felt and followed by an almost inaudible squeak “And even though you are no Flitter, I can say for sure then most stallions would be jealous of me for having a mare like you.”

Fluttershy's last words never registered fully in Twilight's brain. All the lavender mare could think of was the comforting warmth of her fiancé / friend. A warm embrace which seemed to drive all worries and doubts away. A single thought filled her mind as she slowly fell asleep. 'Now I know why animals love being around her. Fluttershy does not equal free food and easy shelter to them, no far from it. She equals comfort and safety.'