//------------------------------// // Everything is Going to be Fine // Story: I Wasn't Prepared for This // by canonkiller //------------------------------// Twilight took a few steps back as a pale blue bat-winged pony landed on the edge of the balcony, front legs having wrapped around her attacker mid-charge. The pony spun and slammed him into the stone, holding him down with a back hoof as she flared her wings for balance. As she spread her wings, the light refracted through thousands of small pearly scales on the underside of her wings, coating them in dancing rainbows. Pale blue scales raced down from the base of the wing to her shoulders, dappling her cerulean coat with a darker blue. She looked up through a multi-hued forelock, thin draconic pupils hovering over rose irises. Her rainbow tail flicked around her Cutie Mark. "Rainbow Dash?" Twilight whispered. The mare dropped down to all fours, balancing on the back of the pony she had blocked. She folded her wings, tossing her mane behind her split-tipped ears with a grin. Short fangs gleamed in her smile. "The one and only." "S-sorry we're late, Twilight." A second batpony landed beside Rainbow, edging her butter-yellow hooves around Rainbow's victim as her pink-scaled wings fluttered anxiously. "T-there was a lot of yelling, and we-we couldn't really get through." Twilight turned at the familiar sound of claws on stone, seeing the last of her five friends. Applejack stood tall, her front half seemingly normal save for her eyes and ears, which mimicked those of the Pegasi. Her hind end, however, was almost fully scaled, and her broken back hooves had turned to a pair of talons, standing without the need for some cart. Beside her, Pinkie hopped around in small circles, her claws being the ones scraping obnoxiously as she pranced. Rarity ducked her head in respect beside them, one side of her face and her whole back coated in glittering silver scales. Her horn twisted in a more controlled spiral than Twilight's but it was visibly different. Her eyes and ears, along with Pinkie's, had changed as well. "Twilight, that horrible colt didn't get to you, did he?" Rarity galloped over, fangs glinting as she pouted and fussed over the nearly unconscious pony still pinned under Rainbow. "N-no, I'm fine, but you girls-" "We gave up less than you did." Applejack interrupted, walking up to her and giving her a friendly shove. "Ah even gained a bit." "Don't worry at all, Twily-wily!" Pinkie grinned, skidding over. "Claws are super-duper fun!" "G-girls... you... you did this for me?" Tears streaked down Twilight's muzzle, and she fell onto her haunches. "Y-you... you..." "We're not the only ones." Pinkie smiled. "So many ponies came out of that crowd after it got hostile! There's a whole wall of ponies blocking entry to the castle, and even more are grounding the hostile Pegasi! The guards are being way way way outdone!" The sky rocked with a crack of thunder and filled with bright flames, a second roll mixing dashes and streaks of ice and night between the dancing tendrils. "Ponies of Equestria, halt!" Princess Celestia landed with a crash on the edge of the balcony, coat glowing gold with the flames from her mane. A second mare, similar to Nightmare Moon save for her official Regalia, landed beside her, dancing with wisps of shadow. Luna raised her voice above the crackling skies above. "Save your judgement, Celestia!" The flames above died down, and Celestia seemed to shrink and cool back to her normal self. Luna did the same. "Continue, sister." Celestia turned a wrathful gaze on the assembled ponies. "What in the heavens above made you decide to turn your anger on an innocent pony? You are lucky your fellow ponies stood up against you in the skies and at the gates, or my judgement would not have been so easily repelled." Luna trotted back to Twilight, helping her to her hooves and beckoning the other five to come stand with her. Celestia waved a hoof at the group. "Her friends sacrificed nothing to stand by her side. They are the same ponies they always were. They are no more monsters than she is, or than I am." The crowd, shocked into silence, muttered and growled, but more and more ponies showed shocked recognition. "I will not force you to accept her, but there will be responses to acts of violence, as there always have been." Celestia took a step back, letting the six mares take her place. With a flourish, she summoned the Elements and gently placed them around their owners' necks. Twilight felt nothing short of amazement as Celestia placed her crown on her head. "Behold, Twilight Sparkle, Princess of the Stars!" And the crowd erupted in shocked and stupefied cheers. ----- Twilight wound her way down the spiraling steps, smiling at the ponies who looked rather worse for wear. The guards had withheld any ponies who had helped protect her, but many of them had slipped away into the crowd, not wanting recognition for basic kindness. She knew most of the remaining faces from Ponyville. The mailmare, Derpy Hooves, her little sister between her wings; Rose, going from bashful to flat-out shocked as she realized she had seen Twilight after the accident; Lyra and Bon-Bon, leaning on each others' shoulders as they rested wounded limbs. She thanked them hurriedly, shaking hooves and smiling, and rushed past them into the main lobby of the castle. A few VIPs had been waiting for her for quite a while. She skidded to a stop - she'd pay to fix those scrapes later - and grinned, shaking her mane into a semblance of 'place'. "Mom, dad, Shiny, Spike." Her parents, misty-eyed, smiled and withheld sobs, Shining managing to choke out 'it's liquid pride' before breaking down. Spike ran over, wrapping her into a hug. "You'e grown so much." She whispered, hugging him back. He sniffled, looking up at her. "You've changed more." "I guess so." She muttered, wrapping him in an even tighter hug. "I'm so sorry, Spike. It was never your fault." He cried, burying his head into her neck. "I-I-I thought you were d-d-d-d-d..." "Sh, sh." Twilight sat back on her haunches, rocking him gently. "It's okay." She looked up, locking eyes with her parents and her brother, and her friends arriving on the scene. Celestia, Luna and Cadence watched from a respectful distance away, a small book with a dragon-wing insignia floating in Celestia's magic as she glanced over to a small crowd. A few ponies had already been given their new status, marked by scales and slitted pupils. The Guards stood at attention, the Nocte Pegasi joining them as the sun began to set. Twilight nuzzled Spike's back, small wings fluttering at her touch. "Everything is going to be just fine."