Princess Alba is the happiest pony in the New Lunar Republic. She has the most wonderful parents. She has the coolest siblings. She has access to all of the books in the world. And today is the best day of the whole month. Today is her monthly magic lesson with The Great and Powerful Trixie.
Alba walks through the palace grounds. She levitates a dozen books with her as she looks for a place to read. She always likes a light reading session before her magic lessons. Instinctually, she makes her way to her favorite reading spot, the statue of Twilight Sparkle in the middle of the Royal Gardens.
Twilight Sparkle is Alba’s favorite historical figure. As a young mare, Twilight Sparkle was assigned to arrange the Celestia Sun Festival in Ponyville. There, she subconsciously sought out and united a group of friends who became the Elements of Harmony. Together they had lots of fun and adventures. She even dated Alba’s father. They were going to be married. Then... Alba does not like the next part of the story. A lot of sad things happened. Twilight was dying. Daddy had turned into the monster Discord. To save both their lives, daddy transferred his soul from Discord to Twilight. Discord was sent away, never to be seen again. Daddy and Twilight become one, and now daddy is the new Twilight Sparkle. It all makes sense if you do not think about it too hard.
Alba sets her books down and looks up at the statue. ‘Hi, Twilight! It is me again!’ the princess greets.
Alba gives the statue a stern glare. She levitates her tiara off so she can use it as a mirror. After examining herself and the statue, she sighs and replaces the tiara.
‘I need a manecut,’ Alba growls.
Alba, in her hero worship of Twilight Sparkle, has matched her appearance to Twilight’s as well as possible. It helps that Alba has similar mane and coat color. Sure, her coat is a deeper purple, and she lacks the pink streak in her mane that Twilight had, but she does her best. Her cutie mark is also a set of six-pointed stars.
Alba sighs and levitates her first book. As soon as the book opens, a series of loud fireworks explode behind Alba.
‘Prepare for The Clever and Spectacular...’
‘Hi Gordie!’ Alba greets.
‘MOOOOOM!’ Gordie, a teal unicorn with a dark silver mane, cries. ‘She is cheating again!’
Trixie laughs as she trots into the garden. ‘Now, Gordon. Calm down. You keep trying to surprise her with that entrance, but it never works.’
Gordie pouts and trots over to his mom. Trixie trots over to Alba. She levitates off her hat, robe and saddlebag. Trixie’s crystal wand sticks out of her saddlebag. The wand is Trixie’s Element of Friendship. Trixie became the new Element of Friendship after Twilight died. Trixie turns to face the foals and clears her throat.
‘Alba, have you been practicing and not just studying?’
‘Yes, ma’am!’
Trixie levitates a small pony figure from her bag. ‘Animophic spell. Go.’
Alba focuses her magic and zaps the toy with a spell. The toy starts moving on its own. It looks around before letting out a loud ‘neigh’ and darting away. Gordie’s jaw drops. Trixie giggles.
‘Aww. It ran away.’ Alba frowns.
‘Very good, Alba.’ Trixie praises. ‘Don’t worry. If the guards don’t find it, it should revert to normal.’
‘That is no fair!’ Gordie protests. ‘She shouldn’t be able to do that.’
Trixie raises an eyebrow and turns to Alba. ‘Invisibility?’
Alba nods and focuses. Her horn starts glowing, but the spell backfires. Alba tumbles back as the spell explodes on her horn. Trixie helps the young filly back to her hooves.
‘See, Gordon, not every magic user has the same aptitude. ... And don’t you dare claim you haven’t mastered invisibility. I know how to count cookies, mister.’
Gordie blushes and looks away. Trixie smiles and pats her son’s head.
‘Now, let’s begin today’s lesson.’
Luna looks out her office window when she hears the laughter of foals from outside. She smiles out at the magic lesson taking place below her. Her assistant goes over and looks out as well.
‘The princess appears to be having fun,’ the assistant says.
‘Yes, she does.’ Luna sighs. She thinks for a moment. ‘Send for the new intern.’
‘You... mean your son?’
‘Just because he is my son and the prince does not exclude the fact that he is also our new intern.’ Luna grumbles. ‘Yes, send for Helios.’
The assistant giggles at the queen and leaves to find Helios. Luna returns her attention to her daughter. Alba charges a spell, but her magic backfires and causes a large explosion. Guards quickly rush to investigate but find Alba, Trixie and Gordie laughing. Luna laughs from her vantage point. There is a knock on the door as Luna’s assistant returns with Helios.
‘You wanted to see me, boss?’ Helios asks.
‘Yes. May we speak in private?’ Luna replies.
Luna’s assistant bows and leaves the office. Helios turns his head to the side.
‘Mom?’
Luna motions Helios to the window. ‘What do you think?’
Helios looks down and analyzes the magic lesson. ‘She is holding back. She is messing up on purpose to make Gordon feel better about not being as advanced as her but still better than most unicorns his age.’
‘Besides the obvious.’
Helios shrugs. ‘I don’t know what you’re asking.’
‘Should we tell Trixie about your new toy?’
Helios looks at his mother. ‘Duh. She has to know. I might not be the only pony with a new Element of Harmony. We don’t want her to be alarmed if hers disappears and ends up in somepony else’s hooves.’
Luna nods. ‘Agreed. We’ll make room in my schedule. Go inform her of the meeting.’
‘Yes, ma’am’
Helios turns. Before he can open the door, Luna magics it closed.
‘Wait. One more question.’
‘Yes?’
‘Why did you choose to work in my office? You could have gone anywhere and had a more important position.’
‘Well, I preferred to work for you or dad since you spend most of your time helping everypony, and I went with the office that, you know, actually does work.’
Luna smiles. ‘Make sure to tell your father that later. I am sure he will be as proud of you as I am.’
Helios smiles and nods.
Trixie finishes up her magic lesson with the foals and gathers them in to the statue of Twilight Sparkle. The foals take a seat in front of their teacher.
‘Now, that is all for today. You both have come very far.’ Trixie smiles.
Alba and Gordie smile as well.
‘Which story would you like to hear this time?’ Trixie ask.
‘OOO! OOO! The Ursa Minor battle!’ Alba cheers.
Gordie groans. ‘Ugh. You always want to hear that story. Don’t you have it memorized by now?’
‘Yeah... but it is my favorite!’
‘It is okay Gordon.’ Trixie calms. ‘She doesn’t get to hear everything all the time like you do. We can give her a special treat.’
Gordie sighs and settles in. Alba sits up taller in anticipation of the story. Trixie’s horn starts glowing as she readies to tell her story. Trixie’s magic starts creating illusions to match the story.
‘It was a warm autumn day when I arrived in Ponyville for the first time. I was to do a series of evening shows in the town square. I was performing my usual routine of simple illusions and metamorphic spells. The lovely Lady Rarity allowed me to perform some simple mane and tail color and shape change spells on her. The generous Miss Applejack performed some rope tricks which I assisted in. Even the courageous Rainbow Dash used her weather manipulation skills to aide in a few illusions. I ended the show with the tale of how the legendary Star Swirl the Bearded vanquished an Ursa Major.’ Trixie’s illusion even shows an illusory Trixie telling a story using her magic. ‘Now, it seems two young foals were taken in by my tale. While I was thanking my new friends after the show, those foals snuck out of town and into the Everfree Forest. There, they roused an Ursa Minor from its slumber. The fearsome beast chased the foals back to the seemingly defenseless town.’
‘This is my favorite part,’ Alba squeals.
Trixie smiles at her student before continuing her story. ‘The Ursa Minor was in for a big surprise. One of the town’s residents was none other than Twilight Sparkle, the most powerful magic user in the whole New Lunar Republic. After hearing my tale, she was researching how Star Swirl had defeated the Ursa Major by himself. When the Ursa Minor arrived, Twilight was ready. She called upon my help to distract the beast while she readied a spell to return the Ursa to its slumber and send it back to the Everfree Forest. Just as my illusions were about to fade, Twilight’s spell was ready, and the beast was sent back to where it came. Twilight Sparkle was exhausted from energy she exerted, and I helped her back to her home. She thanked me for my small part in the battle. From that day forward, Twilight Sparkle and Trixie Lunamoon were the two best of friends and had many more exciting adventures together.’
Trixie’s illusions fade as her story ends. She closes her eyes and sheds a tear in memory of her lost friend. Alba swoons for a moment after hearing her favorite story. Gordie stops playing with the grass under hoof as soon as the story is over. A royal guard approaches and whispers something into Trixie’s ear. Trixie nods and stands.
‘It seems I am summoned for some royal business. Gordon, will you be a dear and take my bag up to our suite?’
‘Yes, mom,’ Gordie replies while levitating Trixie’s bag to his back.
The two unicorns trot away with the guard escorting them. Alba sulks for moment before looking for her books she brought with her. When the group reaches the pathway to the palace, Helios steps out of a doorway.
‘Trixie, my mother would like to speak with you if you are free,’ the prince reports.
‘Oh, sorry,’ Trixie replies. ‘I was summoned by the king already.’
Helios growls, ‘Dang it, dad.’
Alba hears the conversation and gallops up. ‘Oh! Maybe I can help!’
Everypony looks at the young filly as she starts casting a spell. Suddenly, she disappears in a ball of purple magic. The entire party is shocked to see a pony as young as Alba casting teleportation magic. Moments later, Alba teleports back. She plops down on the stone walkway as her head spins.
‘Mommy would like to join daddy for your conversation if that’s okay.’ Alba says before completely collapsing.
‘Well, that would be my honor.’ Trixie replies. ‘Um... I guess you should inform your parents?’
Helios lifts the drained Alba onto his back. ‘I’ll tell my mother to find you and father.’ The prince bows and trots away with his sister balanced between his wings.
Trixie is meeting with the Queen and King in a small conference room. She is deep in thought.
‘To be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t be upset if I lost mine.’ Trixie says with a shrug. ‘I mean, it is not really much of a burden. I quite enjoy having it actually. It is just... Twilight and the others were just older than your oldest son when they got them. I just feel that it it right if they belong to a younger generation.’
Luna nods. ‘Just as you thought, my love. Must be Twilight’s instincts at work within you.’
James sighs. ‘What about the other part of my theory?’
‘Theory?’ Trixie asks.
James groans and stands. ‘If the Elements are realigning themselves, they must have a reason to do so. I am just worried for our kids.’
‘You are right to worry,’ Trixie agrees. ‘Since I have a good feeling who the next Element of Friendship could be.’
Alba wakes up the next morning with a huge grin on her face. Whenever Trixie comes to visit, she puts on a show for the local schools. That means that the palace gets a lot of visitors from the local schools. That means loads of foals Alba’s age for her to play with!
Alba quickly washes up and grooms herself before her attendants notice she is awake. She sneaks to her guards’ post and makes a mad dash past them. She hurries down stairs, through hallways and under her waking brother. She skids to a stop in the main entrance hall right when a tour guide leads the first group of students into the palace. Alba takes a moment to fix her mane and put on her widest grin before greeting the students.
The tour guide continues a speech she started outside. ‘... No touching of any of the artefacts. No going off the tour route. No talking to the guards. Do not bother any of the royals as they...’
‘HI!’ Alba calls out to the group as she trots up.
‘Princess Alba!’ The tour guide panics. ‘You should not be here!’
Alba trots past the guide to the students. ‘Great to meet all of you! I can’t wait to get to know you all!’
‘Princess, stop!’
Alba turns and glares. ‘Your tours are boring. I am here to make this one more fun. Don’t like it, tell my parents.’
The tour guide growls and turns to find a guard. She comes face to face with the Queen and King. Luna looks impassive. James yawns.
‘I’m with Alba,’ the king yawns. ‘You’re fired. Tour over. Feel free to look around. I’ll be back in bed.’
James tries to leave, but Luna and James’ personal assistant, Lucas, closes in and trap him. He groans and stands his ground. Luna steps forward.
‘Welcome to Canterlot Palace.’ Luna greets. ‘I hope you enjoy the tour and the show later.’ She smiles down at her daughter. ‘And be nice to our daughter, but do try to keep up with her. She has a lot of energy.’
Alba smiles back at her mother. ‘Thank you.’
Luna waves the group past. ‘Run along. We don’t want to keep the other groups waiting.’
Alba gallops ahead. ‘Come on! You have to see the gardens! They are so cool!’
All the students gallop after Alba. The tour guide and teachers try to keep up with the herd of foals stampeding through the palace. James yawns again and gets poked by Lucas.
With Alba in the lead, the school group gets an inside view of the castle they never expected. They get an especially detailed tour of the royal library and statue garden. Most of the students are nervous or awed being in the presence of Alba, but her cheery and friendly attitude eases everypony into seeing her as one of the gang. She even brings the students snacks from the palace kitchen at lunch time. During Trixie’s magic show in the afternoon, Alba gets her new friends to be the most engaged and even volunteer to participate in the show. By the end of the day, Alba has tired herself out playing with her new friends. She barely has the energy to read two new books before falling asleep early.
In a family room below the royal bedchambers, Luna, James, and Helios are chatting with Trixie. Trixie is examining Helios’ Element of Kindness closely.
‘The design is definitely more appealing than a fox,’ Trixie comments. ‘Have you spoken with Silver about it?’
‘We sent messages out to all of the other Elements after it appeared.’ James replies.
‘Most seemed surprised,’ Luna adds. ‘Blueblood and Derpy seemed to react calmly, though. I summoned them all so we can discuss the matter. It will be about a week, since Blueblood and Silver are away on business.’
‘Hmm... And Lyra?’ Trixie asks.
‘She is looking into magical surges like the one detected when the Element manifested,’ James explains. ‘If one of the members of the Republic detected anything, we should be finding out shortly. I have been meeting with ambassadors for the various nations. We’re... It is a little tricky right now.’
Luna sighs. ‘We are bringing the ambassadors to the meeting once all of the Elements are in Canterlot. We don’t want to leave them out.’
‘We should tell the public,’ James says. ‘They have a right to know what is going on.’
‘Or it could cause a panic. They might think we lost six more great ponies. I keep telling you that not everything should be made public in these days,’ Luna warns.
James snorts. ‘We founded this government on transparency and openness. That is why the people trust us so much. We can make a big public spectacle of the announcement. All of the former Elements, us, the head of the senate, and all of the ambassadors we can muster. Spike would love a giant public party.’
‘That’s because that is the only time when he can get dragon-sized portions.’ Luna groans.
‘I don’t know if it is my place to weigh in,’ Helios interrupts, ‘but I am on dad’s side. We should make some public announcement.’
‘And if we are having problems with the other nations, I have experience with goodwill tours,’ Trixie adds.
Luna sighs. ‘Those are all good points. We will discuss them once everypony is back in Canterlot.
The unicorn rises and bows. ‘Very well. There is one last thing I wish to do before I retire for the night.’
Trixie levitates her wand from her saddlebag. The parents nod and allow Trixie to ascend to Alba’s bedchamber. Trixie enters and finds the young filly sleeping in her bed. Trixie smiles and sets the wand on a stand besides Alba’s bed before leaving to return to her guest room. Alba rolls over in her sleep. The wand glows brightly and morphs into a big crown thingy with a jewel in the shape of Alba’s cutie mark at the top. The young filly just smiles in her sleep as she looks forward to another fun day.