//------------------------------// // Chapter 18 // Story: A Different Viewpoint of Equestria // by Christopher28 //------------------------------// Captain Bright Lance held his position for a long moment, then another, as he realized that he wasn't yet dead. He opened his eyes slowly, and blinked. A huge purple bubble, hundreds of yards across filled the training ground, it's edge only a few feet from where he sat. He lowered his upraised hoof to stare. The bubble was filled with floating pieces of rock and boulders of all size, all now motionless. At its center, Twilight Sparkle also floated, her horn glowing brightly. Even as he watched, the bubble settled slowly to the ground, along with the masses of stone that the purple alicorn had been holding aloft. The purple bubble winked out, and the stones that remained floating were now moving again, slower this time, as they took up orderly paths through the air to where they were being set down. Twilight herself came to rest on the ground, her four hooves touching as the final stones were set into place. Bright Lance realized that Twilight had set the boulders back where she had first collected them from, and she had even organized them according to size. The purple alicorn frowned, then trotted across the field towards the grey coated unicorn guard. "I'm so sorry, Captain." Twilight said apologetically. "I nearly lost control of what I was doing for a moment there. I really should have asked you to be... well, even farther back than you were. I guess I got a bit overconfident near the end there." Bright Lance hesitated, considering his response. "Well, I'm fine, and nopony else has been harmed, so don't worry about it. Besides, you have really improved an incredible amount in the last few hours. You should be very proud of yourself." Twilight sighed. "I do have to keep reminding myself to be careful. With this much power, it's tempting to try things that I'd never have tried before." Bright Lance tilted his head to one side. "Still, you were amazing! I've never seen the Princess control so many objects at once... or any pony, for that matter." Twilight blinked. "Well, there was a lot to keep track of, but mostly I simply set things in motion and kept maintaining the various weaves. It's not as difficult as it looks. I use a similar spell to catalog the books in my library. It was a lot more weight than I'm used to, but now that I'm finally starting to get the hang of the greater amount of power I have, that part wasn't difficult either." she frowned. "But of course, I should have thought of how dangerous it might be for any observers. Even when I'm cataloging books, if I get distracted I can lose the spell. I shouldn't have been so reckless." Bright Lance smiled at her. "Well, if you managed to get better control over your powers, it'll have been worth it, and you certainly seemed to!" Twilight nodded slowly, glancing toward the pile of rocks. A single small fragment of stone flashed from the pile and stopped in front of her, where she regarded it closely, causing it to float and spin. She nodded again, approvingly. "Yes... I seem to have gotten most of my fine control back." she glanced at him. "Still, to be sure, we might as well follow the Princess's advice. Do you know where we can get a few dozen eggs, Captain?" ********************************* Johnathon Dwire came slowly awake, and was pleasantly surprised to find himself relatively well rested. Washing up and dressing quickly, he left the elegant guest room he had collapsed in sometime just after dawn and headed for Princess Celestia's private quarters. Outside there was a pair of female pegasi in gold royal guard armor. One was obviously Rainbow Dash, but the other was a white pegasus he didn't recognize, noticeably larger than the cyan speedster. "Hey Rainbow Dash." Johnathon greeted her with a nod to her companion. "Who's your friend?" Rainbow Dash just grinned. "You'll never guess." The archeologist blinked. "What is that supposed to mean?" he frowned, turning to the other guard. "I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash has a strange sense of humor sometimes..." The white Pegasus seemed to wilt slightly under his gaze, looking nervous, and Johnathon blinked. The body was larger, more muscular, and obviously white, but the posture, and the body language... "Fluttershy?" he asked in astonishment. "Can that actually be you?" Rainbow Dash looked disappointed. "How did you figure it out?" Johnathon glanced at the cyan pegasus as she confirmed his wild guess and grinned. "Well, the Princess did say earlier that the Royal guard armor is enchanted to make all the guards look alike... and there are only two pegasi in on the secret, last time I checked..." Fluttershy wilted slightly. "I'm not very good at being a guard..." she said softly. "I'm supposed to be... intimidating, and... brave, and I'm neither of those things. And if I try to say anything, it's obvious I'm just pretending....." Johnathon smiled and put a hand under her chin to gently raise her face toward his. "You'll be fine. You look the part, and you don't actually have to say anything. Just stand tall, and stay quiet. Keep your eyes on any pony that comes to the door, and just... stare at them. You'll do fine." he grinned. "Rainbow Dash can do all the talking, if you're nervous." Rainbow Dash yawned. "Yeah! I'll... do..." she shook her head as if to clear it. "Man, this guard duty thing is boring, though. What I wouldn't give for some ninja pony assassins or something." Johnathon looked sympathetic. "Yeah, it can be pretty dull. Unfortunately, we're most likely not going to get any ninjas... just curious ponies who want to see Princess Celestia... but we've just got to stay sharp, regardless." The cyan pegasus shrugged. "Yeah, I know. I'm not going to let the Princess down. But for an adventure, this is a pretty dull one." Johnathon patted her on the head, causing her to glare at him, which he pretended not to notice. "Dull is good. This is one adventure where I hope nothing goes wrong." he glanced at the doors. "So, is everypony here?" Fluttershy spoke up. "Twilight and Captain Bright Lance just got back. Twilight seemed really happy, so I guess training went well? Rarity went to go check on the Princ...I mean, on Elegant Note, and see if she's ready to start studying again." Johnathon nodded. "Alright." he looked at the two pegasi curiously. "Have either of you gotten any sleep?" Fluttershy hesitated. "I did get some sleep on the train going home... and coming back, but Rainbow Dash has been awake this whole time." The cyan pegasus shrugged, yawning some more. "Everypony else needed to get some sleep... besides, neither Bright Lance or Twilight's been asleep yet either." Johnathon frowned. "Has anypony else gotten enough rest?" Fluttershy hesitated. "Well, Pinkie Pie and Applejack went to get some sleep when the... when Elegant Note did, and that was... about six hours ago?" Johnathon nodded. "So Rarity's been up this whole time as well?" Fluttershy blinked. "I think so. She wanted to make some alterations to her armor... she offered to do ours as well, but... I don't really want to stand out." Rainbow Dash shrugged nonchalantly. "I already make this armor cooler just by being me..." Johnathon grinned. "You'll get no arguments from me. Is Cheerilee here yet?" The two pegasi glanced at each other, then shook their heads. "We haven't seen her yet." Fluttershy said nervously. "Do you think anything happened to her?" Johnathon frowned. "Maybe it took her longer than expected to get everything wrapped up in Ponyville? Spike's supposed to be with her, right? If anything happened, I'm sure he'd send word." "He has." Princess Celestia, disguised as 'Elegant Note' was walking toward them down the hall, with Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. Rarity was in a set of royal guard armor, missing the helmet, and sporting an elegant high collar and small blue cape instead, while Applejack simply wore her usual cowboy hat. Pinkie was unencumbered, as usual. "They've been held up outside the Palace." Celestia said with a frown. "Apparently there is a large crowd gathered at the front gate, and the guards have closed the castle off to visitors...." she frowned. "I would normally be accepting petitioners at this time, and I fear that my absence may be causing some anxiety." Johnathon looked concerned. "Are Spike and Cheerilee alright?" 'Elegant Note' nodded quickly. "They are fine, they just don't want to call attention to themselves by forcing their way through the gate. The guards on duty are not ones that Spike is familiar with, apparently, and he contacted me for advice." She sighed. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to wake Luna... somepony needs to reassure the crowd, and they'll want to see one of their Princesses." Johnathon hesitated. "Let's let Twilight and Bright Lance know what's going on. Perhaps Bright Lance will have a suggestion." he pulled the doors open, and everypony save Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash filed inside. "Princess!" Twilight called excitedly. "I've finally got the hang of my extra powers! I think I might actually be able to help Luna pretty soon!" Celestia smiled slightly. "Call me Elegant Note, Twilight... at least while I'm in disguise. Better to get used to it, so nopony slips and calls me the wrong thing while we're in public." Twilight nodded sheepishly. "Of course. Sorry, Elegant Note." The Princess smiled. "Perfectly all right. So... practice went well then?" Bright Lance spoke up helpfully. "I'll say! There were a couple of nervous moments... but Twilight did great! At one point she was levitating every piece of loose rock in the training ground at once... boulders, pebbles, pieces of boulders... she had them all flying about, orbiting each other in these complicated patterns... thousands of individual stones from the size of a pebble to boulders three times my size... it was fantastic." Twilight blushed slightly. "Well, I may have gotten a bit carried away for a little bit... but... I did try the egg carrying exercise as well, and I got up to 39 eggs before we stopped." Johnathon blinked. "Why thirty nine exactly?" Twilight looked embarrassed. "Well, we had four dozen, but I broke a few..." she smiled. "But I got the hang of it. I even practiced teleporting!" Bright Lance shivered. "Yeah... she was popping all around the training yard for ten minutes... and then she wanted to try a group teleport...." he shook his head. "That was weird. I've never teleported before." Princess Celestia looked impressed. "Very good, Twilight! You've progressed much faster than I expected. I'll leave it up to Luna to decide, but I think you may well be up to assisting her as early as tomorrow." Johnathon sighed. "Well, that's one worry out of the way." he glanced at Bright Lance. "We've got a bit of a situation down at the front gates... a large crowd has formed, apparently. Cheerilee and Spike can't get through." Bright Lance frowned. "Well, I can gather a unit and clear the way. But we probably don't want to call any undo attention to anypony if we can avoid it. Might be better to go down and escort them in through a different entrance?" Johnathon nodded. "Good idea. Mind if I come along?" Bright Lance shrugged. "Not at all." he looked over at Twilight. "Twilight, I'll trust you to guard the Princess while I'm gone, alright?" Twilight nodded quickly. "You can count on me, Captain." Princess Celestia frowned. "I still think somepony should go down and reassure the crowd. Captain, could you check on my sister on the way to escort Miss Cheerilee and Spike, and let her know about the situation?" Bright Lance bowed quickly. "Of course, Miss Note." he inclined his head toward Johnathon, and the two of them headed out swiftly. Applejack, hurried after them. "You all don't mind me tagging along, do yah?" she asked asked with a grin. "I've got to stretch my legs some." As the cowpony, palace guard and human left, Twilight turned to Celestia. "Are you all rested up, Princess? I've got some ideas on how to help you with Strangehorn's spell... we've got a whole lot of studying to do!" Princess Celestia sighed but nodded. "It's not that I dislike studying with you, Twilight, but it's a shame to spend all my time as a normal unicorn cooped inside working. I would love to be able to wander the city a bit... talk to some ponies, maybe even make some friends who aren't nervous about me sending them to the moon if they aren't always nice to me." Twilight smiled hesitantly. "If... if everything goes like we've planned, Princess, you will be able to do all that. You really do deserve a vacation, and if I can give you one, I certainly don't mind. For now though, we should make sure we can reverse this first." Celestia nodded, smiling. "I know. And I appreciate it. I suppose it's the anticipation more than anything else that is most difficult for me. For more than a thousand years, I have not dreamed of the possibility that I might one day be freed, however temporarily, from my duties. I had become content with my role, secure in the knowledge that it would be mine for centuries to come. The thought that I might actually get a vacation? I find myself surprised at how strongly tempted I am by the thought, now that it seems to be becoming a very real possibility." she smiled wryly. "Hope can be dangerous sometimes." Twilight looked confused. "I thought hope was a good emotion?" Princess Celestia hesitated, then nodded. "It is... most of the time. My hope that I would be reunited with my sister, Luna, kept me strong... and content, throughout the centuries as I waited for her. But over over my long life, I put away the hope for things that might never come, and decided to simply accept my life as it was." she sighed. "It was easier than wishing and hoping without end for the impossible." she grinned at her faithful student, now her teacher. "But I have realized, Twilight, not to discount the impossible in regards to you." she glanced around at the others in the room, her gaze stopping on Pinkie for several long moments, then giggled. "Or any of your friends, in fact." ********************************* Bright Lance, Applejack, and Johnathon Dwire stopped in front of an ornate double door, before which a pair of black armored, bat winged ponies with cat like eyes stood like statues. "Bright Lance, Miss Applejack, and Johnathon Dwire to see Princess Luna." the grey unicorn guard said with a crisp salute. One of the bat winged guards raised an eyebrow at Bright Wing, "The Princess has given instructions that you... and Shining Star have permission to disturb her at any time, Bright Lance, but not why. The Princess is not one for idle gossip, but I know when we're being left out of the loop on something." Bright Lance shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, Night Shade. Orders. You know." The bat winged guard nodded calmly. "Need to know is need to know." he agreed. Bright Lance nodded back. "Just... keep the speculation private, will you? We don't need a lot of rumors going around." Night Shade nodded curtly. "If it wasn't you, I wouldn't have even brought it up, Captain." he grinned. "Congratulations on your promotion, by the way." Bright Lance rolled his eyes. "I'll have earned it by the end of the week, I expect. Being in charge is a lot less fun than it sounds." "Poor baby." Night Shade said with a chuckle. "Not getting enough sleep?" Bright Lance just sighed. "Just let us in, alright, Night? I'm just tired enough not to find you all that funny anymore." Night Shade grinned unrepentantly, but opened the door behind him. "What about them?" he said, nodding to Applejack and Johnathon. "They're with me." Bright Lance said simply. "I assume you know who they are?" "The Element of Honesty, and the human." Night Shade said with a nod. "Of course. Just checking." they went into the dark room, and Night Shade closed the door behind them. It was dark, heavy curtains blocked the window, letting only faint, heavily filtered light into the room, and Bright Lance lit up his horn so that they could see. "Princess Luna?" he said cautiously. "Princess Luna, are you awake?" A large canopied bed could be faintly seen in the corner of the spacious room, and Johnathon could just barely make out an indistinct silhouette of something in the middle of the bed, moving slightly. After a long moment, the form raised it's head, and he was suddenly struck by the image of a dark, horned head, one eye peering at them, that bought his mind back to Nightmare Night, and the images of the Mare on the Moon that had been one of the more popular decorations. Then the resemblance faded as Luna shook her mane out, causing the stars contained within it to sparkle faintly, and framing her body as she came slowly to her feet and climbed out of her bed. "Captain." she said, sounding tired but calm. "Is there something wrong?" Bright Lance hesitated. "There is a large crowd of ponies gathered by the front gates. Princess Celestia felt that they may be in need of some reassurance, given recent events, and felt you would be best suited to handle the situation, if you feel able." Luna nodded. "Certainly. I will go at once." she raised an eyebrow, curiously. "Did my dear sister have any suggestions as to exactly how I should... handle things?" Bright Lance shook his head. "Nothing specific Princess Luna." The princess looked thoughtful. "I see." she looked thoughtfully at Bright Lance. "What would you think about my going down as myself, rather than impersonating my dear sister?" Bright Lance looked thoughtful. "Honestly, Princess, I don't see why not. While it'll be important for ponies to see your sister from time to time, it can't hurt for you to be seen handling a few diplomatic problems yourself." The princess seemed to shrink in on herself slightly, looking a bit nervous. "I... would like to try... but I am uncertain how I will be received. I have learned how to be... casual, with our subjects, thanks to Twilight Sparkle and her friends, but... I have not held court here in Canterlot... at least, not during the day." Bright Lance looked thoughtful. "Well, now is as good a time as any. Princess Celestia would normally be holding day court about now, and hearing petitioners. I don't see any reason why you cannot take her place." he shrugged. "Although, if possible, you might want to make an appearance tomorrow morning as your sister... just to reassure everypony." Luna nodded. "I'll take your suggestion, Captain." she hesitated, then turned to Applejack. "Applejack... might you accompany me? I would be... comforted to have an honest and loyal pony such as yourself by my side, and I found your advice most helpful this last nightmare night." Applejack swallowed, then nodded. "I'll come along, Luna, if you want me. I ain't never seen the princess hold court before, so I expect this'll be right interesting." "I'm afraid you may be right." Luna said wryly. "Although I'm not sure if interesting is a good thing in this case." Bright Lance bowed slightly to Luna. "Johnathon and I need to go escort Spike and a Miss Cheerilee into the palace. If you'll excuse, me, your majesty?" Luna nodded to him. "Of course, Captain." as he turned to go, she called after. "You ARE planning on getting some sleep at some point, I assume?" Bright Lance snorted. "Is it that easy to tell?" Luna nodded slowly. "I can feel your fatigue from here, Captain, and I can smell your fear and concern. You should rest as soon as you can find an opportunity." Bright Lance sighed. "Just another six hours till Shining Star is back on duty, Princess. I'll be fine." he and Johnathon Dwire headed for the bedroom door. As they were leaving, they could hear Applejack's voice. "Just a tip, Princess? Telling somepony that you can smell their fear ain't a real great way to calm them down, alright?" The doors closed behind them, and Night Shade nickered slightly, looking amused. Bright Lance just glared at him. "Don't even start. You try sitting 20 meters away from a brand new alicorn levitating a couple hundred tons of rock for her first time and we'll see how rosy YOU smell, OK?" Night Shade looked at the ceiling innocently, and Bright Lance snorted. "That's what I thought." Johnathon waited till they were just down the hallway. "I thought Twilight did really well with her training?" Bright Lance shrugged. "She did... that filly is as focused as I've ever seen. Fast too... but... honestly? There were a couple points where I was halfway convinced I was going to die." he sighed. "She's got it down now though, so I'm not going to complain. I wouldn't want to be the one trying to control that much power." Johnathon nodded. "Yeah. I get that. If anypony could handle it, though...." "It would be Twilight Sparkle." the guard agreed. "There's a good reason the princess chose her to be her personal student. I've heard all the stories, and I knew her for a few years when I was just starting out before she went to Ponyville." he shook his head. "Still, I'd never imagine that one day she might end up doing this...." Johnathon glanced over at the unicorn, looking concerned. "Captain...." Bright Lance shook his head. "Oh, I know... and I trust her. I really do. Princess Celestia trusts her, and that's enough for me, and I know her well enough myself to make that call. I just hope that everything works out as they're hoping it will." Johnathon nodded. "We'll do everything we can to support them till it does." "Damn straight." The guard agreed with a hard look in his eyes. "Whatever it takes." Bright Lance led the way out of a hidden side entrance to the palace, and then around to the front gate, where they found Spike and Cheerilee at the back of an anxious looking crowd. Several ponies that noticed Johnathon's approach looked immediately apprehensive, but as soon as they noticed Bright Lance by his side they calmed down. Cheerilee spotted the tall human's face over the crowd and started trotting around toward him. "Johnathon!" she called brightly. "Is everything alright?" she asked as she got closer. The purple earth pony was wearing saddlebags that appeared to be full to bursting, and Spike was riding on her back. Johnathon nodded. "Everything is going fine. Better than fine, we've gotten some good news already." he hesitated. "But let's get inside before going into details." he frowned at the crowd. "How bad is it, do you think?" Cheerilee hesitated frowning. "A lot of ponies are talking about Twilight Sparkle... some are worried that she might want to replace the Princesses... or that she won't be able to handle raising the sun. I think there are a lot of ponies here who just want to talk to Princess Celestia as well. I gather she usually holds her day court about now?" Bright Lance led the way back around the palace as he answered. "That's right. Princess Luna will be taking over the day court today, I think. Hopefully she'll be able to reassure everypony, but I expect there will still be a lot of upset ponies by the end of the day." Cheerilee sighed. "I have to admit, I'm a bit worried as well." she turned to Johnathon. "Did Twilight really...?" Johnathon nodded, putting a finger to his lips. "Yes, but we're not talking about that right now." he told her quietly. "Things are going well so far though." he said, trying to be reassuring. "Twilight's learning the ropes faster than anticipated." Cheerilee looked startled. "Does that mean Twilight really will be raising the sun?" Johnathon hesitated. "We'll see... but Princess Celestia thinks she'll be able to handle it." Cheerilee sighed. "I trust the Princess... and Twilight, of course, but this IS going to take some getting used to." Johnathon nodded. "I can understand that. Still, it's only for a little while, then things will go back to normal." "You hope." Spike said darkly. "I'm just hoping Twilight isn't going to have to stay here in Canterlot forever..." he sighed. "I like it in Ponyville. I don't want Twilight to have to stay a princess..." he looked glum. "I mean, she'd make a great princess... but..." Johnathon patted his shoulder reassuringly. "I understand what you're saying. Don't worry, Spike. They'll figure this out." Spike sighed again. "I hope so." ***************************************** Pinkie Pie had gone outside to give Rainbow Dash a break from guard duty so she could sleep, and Rarity had gone with the cyan pegasus in order to get some sleep herself, so they were alone in the room. Not that they needed privacy, Of course not! Twilight told herself firmly, but it was easier to study without Pinkie serving as a constant distraction, or Rarity fawning over either the Princess or herself with her desire to design some wonderful new fashion for them, inspired by their new looks. Still, despite the quiet, Twilight was still having some trouble focusing. Twilight was laying on Princess Celestia's bed, her feet under her, next to the Princess, levitating a book in front of them both so they could read together. She was suddenly struck, not for the first time in the last two days, of the strange reversal in their roles. Princess Celestia was so much smaller than her now, it was almost as if she was a child... although the same could be said of any of her friends at the moment. Twilight had always felt like a child around the Princess, so it was doubly strange to be the larger and stronger of the two. She felt oddly protective of the white unicorn resting close beside her, and resisted an impulse to put a wing protectively over Celestia's back. And to be teaching her former mentor magic! It was... beyond bizarre. True, it had been several years since the Princess had actively given Twilight magic lessons, but Twilight had never expected her own abilities in any area, even one where she excelled, to exceed that of the Princess. It was so strange. She had always considered Princess Celestia to be practically all knowing... capable of practically anything, and finding herself in the unique position of knowing more about anything... going from student to teacher, it was even stranger than the change in their respective sizes. Princess Celestia herself seemed to be handling the change with considerable aplomb. She was handling being a normal unicorn with remarkably few signs of stress, and seemed to be having no problems taking up the role of student. The Princess was a very good student, actually. She paid close attention, remembered what she read or heard without Twilight having to repeat herself, and followed instructions obediently. That, and she seemed quite willing to study as hard as Twilight could push her without complaint. "I really will." Twilight found herself saying without prompting. "I really will give you a vacation after this." Celestia blinked, then smiled. "I know, Twilight." she looked curious. "You don't have to keep telling me though." she nuzzled her head under Twilight's chin affectionately. "Are you upset about something, my faithful student?" she laughed airily. "Or perhaps I should call you my faithful teacher now?" Twilight lowered her head to hug her mentor's head against her chest lightly. "It's not that anything's wrong, I just...." she tried to think of how to put it into words, and failed, trailing off helplessly. "Hmm?" Celestia looked up at the purple alicorn with a calm, loving, and very patient expression. "You can tell me, Twilight Sparkle. You can tell me anything, you know that." Twilight hesitated, uncertain of how to answer. "It's just... I suppose I still feel guilty. I should never have tried such an untested spell around you, Princess. It was foalishly stupid of me." The Princess frowned very slightly. "You really do need to stop apologizing, Twilight. Honestly, I am just as responsible, and I've had so much more experience with this sort of thing, I really should have been the one to figure out what might go wrong. If anything, I'm the one that should feel guilty. Not only have I burdened you with my responsibilities, but I have dared ask you to take over for me on a regular basis. It's hardly fair." Twilight smiled slightly. "We keep going around and around on this, don't we? I guess we should just forgive ourselves and move on." The Princess smiled at her. "That would be best, I think." Twilight nodded, then hesitated. "It's not just that though. I feel guilty... because for some reason, I'm really happy right now, and I shouldn't be. I made a stupid mistake, and it's like I'm getting rewarded for it." Celestia looked at her again, smiling lightly. "How strange. I feel much the same. I'm quite happy. Giddy, in a way, and yes, I also feel guilty about it." Twilight hesitated. "Well, that's because I offered to give you a vacation, and you're happy about that, but guilty about asking me take over some of your responsibilities... but you shouldn't be! I really don't mind." her head sank slightly. "Actually, I'm kind of looking forward to it. I... I like being this powerful." she blushed. "It scares me to death at the same time... but... part of it is because I like it that makes it so frightening." Princess Celestia simply nodded. "I understand. It is not strange to enjoy power. There is nothing wrong with that. You have trained for many years to become one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria. Yes, in many ways you became what you are because of your natural talent, but part of it is because you enjoy it." she looked Twilight in the eyes seriously and repeated herself. "And there is nothing wrong with that." Twilight blushed. "But... I keep getting lost in it. Earlier... at the training ground, I could have simply practiced with smaller and smaller rocks till I had fine control over my new power level... but instead I started manipulating more and more and more... moving the stones faster and faster. I was so pleased with myself, I almost... I almost ended up accidentally killing Bright Lance. If I'd been a moment slower, he'd have been crushed... or worse. I got so carried away." Princess Celestia thought about that. "Perhaps you did. Perhaps I erred myself, letting you go without Luna or myself to supervise you, although certainly time seemed like a critical factor, and we couldn't know how quickly you'd learn control." she shook her head. "But you did not harm Bright Lance, and you DID learn control. Your method might have been risky, but it worked, and it worked quickly. If you were more cautious, and did not try to push the limits of your new power, perhaps you would not have gained full control for days... or longer. We cannot know for sure how long Luna could raise and lower both sun and moon, so haste was called for." Celestia shrugged. "So again, I will not second guess you. Your actions may have seemed foalish after the fact, but the truth is, you accomplished what you set out to accomplish, and you did it quickly, and harmed nopony in the process. That is enough." Twilight looked slightly frustrated. "But... but what if I get addicted to all this power? What if I do something bad?" Celestia looked at her with a warm smile. "Twilight Sparkle, do you know yourself so poorly? You were already one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria before you gained my powers. You could have done... terrible things. But to my knowledge, with one exception, you have not used your powers selfishly, or to harm anypony. Even the spell you cast on your doll you did not cast with the intent to harm, as you misunderstood how much your power had grown since you had last used that spell. Certainly, I do not expect you to make such a mistake again." Twilight blinked. "I... well, of course I wouldn't, but...." she shook her head. "Why do you trust me so much, Princess?" Celestia smiled. "I trust you because I know you... I'd like to think I know you as well as any pony does. You are a good pony, Twilight Sparkle. You will not become corrupted by my powers. You will feel temptation, but you will reject it, because that is the kind of pony you are." "I will." Twilight agreed softly. "Because you give me the strength to do so. You, and all my friends. I don't know why, really, but they trust me too. I won't let any of you down, I promise." Celestia smiled. "I know that, my little pony." Twilight chuckled. "I'm not exactly little at the moment." The Princess just kept smiling knowingly at her. "You will always be my little pony, Twilight Sparkle, and my faithful student, always. No matter how big you grow, or how powerful you become, you will always be that." they hugged, and Twilight let the book fall to the bed in front of them as she forgot it was there. The soft thud of it hitting the bed reminded them both, however, and they both sighed. "But for now, I am your student." Celestia said with a wry smile as she released Twilight. "And we should keep working. Our fabricated story will hold for only so long before somepony discovers the truth, and I fear the panic the truth, or a distorted version of it, might cause." Twilight nodded, levitating the book once more. "We'll just have to keep working then." she said firmly. "Now, of all the double weave spells that are listed in this book, which are you most familiar with, would you say?" ****************************** In the main court room, Princess Luna sat on the royal throne while a pair of her Night Guards stood before the entranceway, ready to let the first petitioner in. Just to her left, Applejack stood nervously watching the door. "Are you sure you want me to stick around, Luna?" Applejack asked the Princess in concern. "I don't reckon I know much about how to act proper in court... well, I guess I know a bit of manners from when I was a kid, but it's been a while." Luna smiled slightly. "Your etiquette lessons are no doubt more current than my own, friend Applejack, but while we are in court, at least in public, it is probably best to address me as princess. The nobles here in Canterlot expect a certain level of... decorum when we are addressing the court, and it does little harm to humor them, at least, according to Tia." Applejack nodded quickly. "Of course... your highness." she said with a wry smile, her voice slipping into the accent of a cultured Manehattanite. "I just wonder what I can do to help you today? I truly have no experience at court." Luna hesitated. "As you heard me say outside, I will be accepting petitioners on my sister's behalf this afternoon. However, this often will require keen judgement, as a petitioner may have a grievance against another pony, and wish us to render a verdict. Sometimes it is simpler to direct the petitioner then to the proper court of law, or agency, but in some instances, the decision is ours alone. In this, I sometimes fear I am less skilled than my dear sister, and I often worry that my judgement is not as keen. I am hoping, that, as the bearer of the element of honesty, you might be able to see clearly... or at least, to help me see the truth more clearly." she sighed. "Also, I have never hosted the day court before, and I am nervous. I would like a... friend to be near, if only for moral support." Applejack had been looking rather nervous herself at the Princess's explanation, but at her final words, her expression softened into a gentle smile. "I'm not certain..." she began, still in her Manehatten accent. "That just representing the element of honesty will give me any insight into the truth of anything... but..." Applejack let her voice take on her customary accent. "But I reckon that, as a friend, I can at least be here for you, if it'll make y'all feel better." Luna smiled at her, then nodded to her guards. "Thank you, friend Applejack. Your company is most appreciated." she nodded to her Night Guards. "Let the first petitioner in, so we may hear their request!" The doors opened, and they could see a long line of ponies waiting in the hall. Normally, petitioners came forward one at a time, but it was obvious that there were several groups of ponies that huddled together outside the door in bunches. The largest group was right in front of the door, and it seemed at first that they all wanted to come forward together. The Night Guards wings crossed in front of the entrance, and they glared at the group menacingly. "One pony at a time may approach." one of the guards said firmly. The group outside the doors huddled together, then seemed to come to a consensus, a chocolate colored earth pony with a hourglass cutie mark walking towards the throne looking quite nervous. "How may I assist you, my little pony?" Luna asked him in an authoritative but not overwhelming voice. The pony had prostrated himself in front of the throne, and looked up at her slowly. "Er... yes, your majesty. It's just... I'm a representative of the Equestrian time keeper's guild and... and we were wondering..." he seemed to be trying to figure out what to say. "Um... we were wondering when the... er... sun would get back to normal." he hurried on. "Not that there's anything wrong with it! It's just... after your, er... first return, there was a great deal of confusion about what time it was actually supposed to be... and given recent events, we were... hoping for an... update?" Luna blinked, then concentrated for a long moment. "Oh! I see... the sun does seem to be moving a BIT too fast today." she nodded. "I apologize, good timekeeper. My sister let me do the initial lift on the sun this morning, and I'm afraid I gave it a bit too much... oof." The brown earth pony nodded, looking a bit less worried. "Yes princess... that's what we gathered... we just... er... wanted to know what other sorts of changes we might expect?" he grinned at her nervously. "If... if that's alright?" Luna nodded. "We fully intend to keep the sun, and moon in their normal orbits, with their normal cycles. As my sister explained at this morning's press conference, there will be a few fluctuations during the next week or so. I'm afraid that my control over the sun is not as fine as my sister's, but the only way I will learn is to practice." she smiled softly at him. "I apologize if this causes your union any inconvenience. If it helps, I do intend to keep the sun's rising and setting on time to the best of my ability, but there will probably be small errors for the rest of next week." The clockmaker nodded quickly. "That's fine, your majesty. I'll inform my guild, and we'll pass the word throughout the kingdom. We'll have everypony on time again by the end of the week." Luna smiled at him. "Very good. Is there anything else we may assist you with?" He shook his head, rising to his feet and looking quite a bit less worried than he had been. "No, your majesty. I hope your practice goes well." Luna beamed. "Thank you, my little pony. It would please me if you, or another representative of your guild, would return here in one weeks time, with as accurate a time piece as you have, to assist us in making sure that our sun rise and sun set occurs precisely when it should be? We should be able to make the final adjustments at that time." The clockmaker blinked, then bowed. "It would be an honor, your majesty. I will see you in one week then." He bowed again, then turned and started walking. Returning to the large group of ponies just outside the door, he said something reassuring to them, and herded the group away. One after another, more petitioners came. Many were simply concerned about Luna's control over the sun, and how it would effect them. A representative of a coalition of farmers was the fourth pony to come in, and he recognized Applejack on sight. "Well, howdy there, Miss Applejack!" the weatherbeaten old earth pony said to her cheerfully. "Since you're standing here with Princess Luna, I expect that I came all the way out here for nothing, but I guess I'm supposed to ask y'all anyway." Applejack smiled back at the old pony. "Well, howdy, Golden Grain! Congratulations on becoming head of the farmers union!" The stocky old pony shrugged and grinned. "It's more work than reward, but then, that's true of most things, I reckon." he nodded at Princess Luna. "The farmers in my union would like to know if we can expect any change in the season, your Majesty. Iffin we'll be getting more, or less sun then we were expecting. Kinda important to know, you see, on account of we want to know how much more of a growing season we'll be getting." Applejack glanced at the Princess. "Mind if I field this one, Princess?" Luna smiled. "Not at all, Applejack. Please go ahead." Applejack turned back to Golden Grain. "Well, apparently the sun's going to be a bit early or late off and on for the next week or so, but after that it'll get right back on schedule. There shouldn't be any real change to the growing season, so you can quit fretting on that account." Golden Grain nodded. "That's what I figured, but I got a lot of worried ponies who wanted to hear it out of the Princess's own mouth." He glanced at Princess Luna. "Can I take Miss Applejack's word as yours in this case, your Majesty?" Luna nodded firmly, her face serious. "The word of the pony who embodies the element of honesty should always be taken seriously, and she speaks the honest truth." Golden Grain nodded. "That's as good as gold, your majesty. I'll just go on back and reassure my union that everything will be fine. Y'all have a good evening now." Much of the rest of the afternoon proceeded in this fashion. It wasn't until they were halfway through the line of petitioners that they were interrupted. A white unicorn with a blond mane, wearing a black ascot and a blue bowtie, had pushed his way up from the back of the line outside the throne room, demanding to be seen. "I say!" Prince Blueblood said disdainfully. "Let me through! I wish to speak to my aunt." Luna sighed, then nodded to her guards, who moved aside for the Prince to enter. "Aunt Luna." he said with a gracious smile as he entered. "How lovely to see you this fine afternoon. Is Auntie Celestia unavailable?" Luna nodded to her distant relation. "I'm afraid that my elder sister is busy instructing her protege, and has little time for normal court business, Nephew. Is there anything I could assist you with in her stead?" The Prince frowned just slightly. "It is, in fact, the matter of the Princess's... student that brings me to you this afternoon, Auntie." his eyes narrowed slightly. "I have heard some... unfortunate rumors about this... Twilight Sparkle using magic to transform herself into... dare I say it... an alicorn like your sister and yourself? And worse, that she deigns to try and replace you?" Luna frowned. "Twilight Sparkle has indeed managed a spell to change herself into an alicorn, but she has no designs on the throne, if that is your concern. At some time in the future, she may agree to take over the task of raising either the sun or moon for a short period, so that my sister and myself might occasionally take a short respite from our most trying royal duty... but that is the extent of it." Prince Blueblood continued to frown. "Perhaps, Auntie, you misjudge this... student of Auntie Celestia's? Can you imagine, a common unicorn daring to use such powers? I hardly think it is fitting for anypony less than a member of one of the royal houses to take on such an... important position. Why... if one was to look for a pony worthy of taking on the mantel of alicorn, and assist your highnesses with their most important royal duties, why would you look any further than I? After all, who else has the royal blood... the lineage, the breeding for such power but I?" Luna raised an eyebrow. "I think you overestimate your abilities, nephew. Only a pony with extraordinary magical talent and power would be capable of casting the spell. Only a pony with extraordinary control would be able to control their heightened powers safely, even if they were capable of the magics required. And as far as I've been informed, and as far as I've witnessed for myself, of all the unicorns alive today only Twilight Sparkle, embodiment of the element of magic itself, has these qualities in sufficient amounts." she shook her head. "It is not a slight on your heritage, Nephew, it is simply a matter of who is capable, and who is not." Prince Blueblood looked affronted. "Not a slight? Auntie, it is the most grievous of slights! This... Twilight Sparkle is attempting to steal the very heritage of my family out from under me by her... outrageous actions!" Applejack was starting to see red. "Now see here, you puffed up, two bit, mockery of royalty! Twilight didn't set out to steal nothing from no pony! She was just doing what the Princess wanted her to when the stupid accident..." Luna coughed, kicking Applejack lightly in the side. "As my good Applejack is trying to say, Twilight's actions were on my sister's request, and performed with her permission and assistance." she frowned down at the Prince. "Now, if there is nothing else, Nephew, I have quite a few petitioners left to speak to today before I..." she hesitated, then continued. "Before I lower the sun and raise the moon." Blueblood raised an eyebrow. "So it's true that you've taken over Auntie Celestia's job of raising the sun as well? I thought that was just another rumor." Luna frowned. "it is not. I will be doing so for the remainder of the week, under my older sister's supervision, of course." Blueblood seemed to be thinking hard, but finally he simply bowed very slightly, then turned to go. "Very well, I can see that my voice will not be heard in your court, Auntie. I will not bother you further this day." As he trotted primly away, Applejack frowned at the Princess of the Night. "That one is likely to be trouble." she grimaced and spoke in a whisper. "Sorry about that... I nearly spilled the beans there. That there Prince riled me up something fierce." Luna nodded sympathetically. "Our nephew can be... trying at times, although he usually attempts to present a more... charming face to Celestia and myself. Still, I agree. I do not think this will be the last time we will have to deal with him on this matter." with a sigh, she nodded to her guards to let the next petitioner approach.