“You must be so proud Auntie,” Princess Cadence her main bejeweled as the custom of her Chrystal Empire demanded of its monarch on formal occasions, said standing in a chamber just off the throne room with Celestia and Luna.
“I knew my little sister would take after our mother,” Shining Armor said as he adjusted the high color of his uniform.
“I am, I am, I just knew it was a matter of time before she broke the spell and would be seen for the alicorn she is,” Celestia said with pride.
“Spell, what spell, it was the completion of Starswirls spell that elevated her to alicorn,” Luna stated at the same time asking for clarification.
“Well, yes and no,” Celestia said trying to find a way to cover her slip up but knowing that Luna and Cadence would hound her until their now peaked curiosity was satisfied decided to come clean. The solar monarch sat on a pillow and tried to avoid the gaze of her two closest relatives and confessed. “Twilight has been an alicorn since the magical surge that triggered her cutie mark. I panicked, fearing for her safety and cast a very powerful spell that would hide her true nature.”
“Tia! You didn’t,” Luna said shocked and angered at the revelation.
“Mother!?”
“Auntie, how could you?” Cadence said with a more sympathetic tone.
“I did and I don’t regret it. She was far too young to have that kind of power,” Celestia tried to explain. “She would have been a target for foal napping.”
“Tia, she already was a target, Twilight is daughter of a diarchy of Equestria,” Luna countered. “You have robbed your own daughter years of self discovery.”
“I was just older than her,” Cadence said.
“Yes, but others had seen you after your transformation. I couldn’t hide it,” Celestia explained. “I had guards stationed near you 24-7 until you became an adult. Absolutely nothing happened around you without my knowing.”
The princess of love was shocked at this revelation about her own life. “Evvv- evvv-rething?” she got out and looked over at her husband.
“Yes, everything,” Celestia stated a sly smile directed at her niece who was turning more red than her normal pink color.
“I still don’t understand how you could do this to her,” Luna said. “Do you know how she must feel right now? She may seem happy on the outside but I guarantee she is in turmoil on the inside as she copes with new powers and the new responsibilities not to mention immortality. She was happy being the simple librarian of Ponyville.”
“Luna, I know my own daughter. She is strong. She will be fine and she was NEVER a simple librarian. She was a princess since the day she was born,” Celestia said her voice slight raised but never losing its calm tone.
Luna bit down on her own tongue to hold back revealing what else she knew about Twilights past, her true past. Cadence reached over and put a hoof on the midnight blue alicorns back exerting a calming effect and Luna began to relax. “Aunties, you can discuss the ethics of leaving Twilight in the dark later. We have to get out there stand on the stage and be the example of regal stability Equestria expects.
“Cadence you are the voice of calm and reason as always,” Celestia said her calm returning. “This is Twilights moment.”
The three alicorn princess of Equestria one beaming with pride, one with serene grace, and the third still boiling under a calm façade, walked out into the throne room awaiting the newest alicorn for her coronation.
A chorus of voices rung out singing the praises of the repeated savior of Equestria. The large doors of the throne room were magically guided opened followed by the entrance of the princess Twilight Sparkle. The beautiful sight of her best friend, Twilight, dressed in finery and regalia was simply enough to calm the princess of the night and let all her recent frustration drift away, at least for the moment.
Twilight stood outside the doors to the great hall and throne room a place as common to her as the average ponies living room, but she was so nervous she was about to be sick. The eyes of Equestria and the know world would be on her soon watching every step she took down the red carpet. She looked at the ponies around her as they finished their enchantments turning their coats identically white before cinching down saddles to their back to support long poles with banners emblazoned with her cutie mark. The platoon of guards, in their armor of celestial gold, stood on either side of her the opposite of the chorus frenzy of last minute preparation. The guard had no need for a unicorn to turn their coats from pink, yellow, or orange to white their armor was enchanted to do that the moment they put it on. The ceremony may have been put together in the rush of a week but Rarity had taken to it with gusto. Twilight thought the fashionista must have not slept at all with the planning and decorations not to mention the elegant dress she had sewn for her.”I need to do something extra special for her to thank her for all her hard work,” Twilight thought.
The lavender princess’s thoughts then began to float to the past, and something she did that truly changed her fate. She wasn’t thinking about banishing Night Mare Moon and returning Luna, but a simple heartfelt wish that was granted all those years ago.
“Twilight I am so proud of you,” Princess said wrapping her daughter up in her forelegs. “I just knew you would be the one to free my sister.”
The small purple unicorn grinned at the praise.
“I can’t wait for us to get back to Canterlot and for you to get to know Luna,” Celestia said. “You, Shining, Spike, it will be so nice to have our whole family under one roof.”
“I just happy that I didn’t disappoint you,” Twilight said stepping back from the embrace.
“Twilight you could never disappoint me,” Celestia said literally beaming.
“Good, because I don’t want to go back to Canterlot,” she said looking down at the floor.
“Why? May I ask?” Celestia said tilting her head and raising an eyebrow.
“I wish to.., to, stay her in Ponyville,” she got out. “I wish to have a chance to live a normal life. The ponies here treat me like a normal pony and I have friends. I’ve never had friends before.”
“But, Twilight you aren’t a normal pony. You are indeed a very special pony. You are my daughter. You are a princess,” Celestia tried to reason.
“But, I want to stay,” Twilight pleaded. “Please.”
“I’ll think about it,” Celestia said not certain she truly would.
“Thank you mother, that is all I ask,” she said.
“We should go see your friends,” Celestia said walking toward the door of the library. “I believe the pink one is planning a town wide party.”
The soon to presented princess jumped with a squeak as a hoof was placed on her shoulder, “Its time princess,” one of the guards said as the large doors began to open in front of her. She nodded then looked down the aisle took a deep cleansing breath as her cousin, now sister in law Cadence had taught her as a way of calming her nerves and carefully began placing one hoof in front of the other.
“You can do this,” she said to herself. “You’ve been in this room a thousand times. You are in your home. You’ve always been a princess, this is nothing new, you’ve just got wings now. You’re also being presented to the world. It’s just like a cutesinera…. But with global repercussions and a lot more added responsibility.”
The world in front of her began to turn white and she was suddenly afraid she was going to faint when at the last second her vision came into focus and she realized that the white was the flank of one of the guards she had gotten uncomfortably close to. She slowed down her pace and settled back into the ranks as the thoughts of how that would have played out in the press if she had stumbled. A bouncing flash of pink in the distance caught her eye and it only took a second for her to realize that it was Pinkie Pie. The smile on the pink pony was from ear to ear she looked like she was going to explode into a pile of confetti she seemed so excited. Twilight then looked down the line at her friends and smiled at a group of ponies she didn’t know three years ago and now didn’t know what she would do without. She saw her brother standing off to the side, then Cadence somehow making the traditional bejeweled mane of Chrystal Empire royalty look good. Her mother’s coat always glowed a little with the energy of the sun but it was downright bright as the oldest alicorn Princess literally beamed with pride as she looked at her daughter. Twilight looked back and smiled at the mare who had raised her and loved her then put aside all the uncertainty about that relationship and smiled back with all the adoration she had for her. The midnight blue alicorn, she had at one time feared, the aunt she had grown up without, the princess she had saved, and had become her closest friend, stood next to her mother. A friend that had helped her discovers things about herself for better or for worse. She couldn’t help but look at Luna and think at the awkwardness that shrouded the beginning of their relationship several years ago on Nightmare Night.