//------------------------------// // Chapter 23 - Home Coming (WARNING! SLIGHT RAINBOW ROCKS SPOILERS!) // Story: The Princess and the Foals // by Autum Breeze //------------------------------// Chapter 23 Home Coming ___________________________________________________________ Sunset rolled over and looked at her sister as she snoozed. She couldn’t help but smile. She loved having a sister. For all her life as a human she’d been an orphan, with no place to really call home or even any friends. Yet, her being turned into a pony had not only given her a sister, but a mother. Twilight had to be the best mother she could have ever asked for. She was kind, smart and magic. Sunset couldn’t help always thinking about that phrase, “you can choose your friends, but not your family”. Ironically enough, she’d proven that wrong. She had chosen her family and she wouldn’t ever change her mind about it. A yawning caused her train of thought to derail and she saw her sister opening her eyes. Sunset smiled. “Mownin’ sis.” Scootaloo blinked sleepily, a small smile on her face. “Hey, sis.” She yawned again and pushed herself up, stretching her legs and wings. “Wondew when Mama’s coming back?” Sunset sat up and nodded, then frowned, looking down. Scootaloo noticed her sister’s frown. She crawled over and nuzzled her. “Hey, what’s wong?” Sunset sighed, looking to the Pegasus. “Do you tink Mommy might go back dere?” Scoootaloo raised an eyebrow, confused. “Back whewe?” “Da hooman wowld,” Sunset said, wiping a few tears from her eyes. Scootaloo hugged her little sister and nuzzled her again. “Hey, hey. It’s otay. Mama wouldn’t send you back.” Sunset shook her head. “Dat’s not what I meant.” She sniffled, then looked to Scootaloo. “I dweamed she went back dewe and she was fighting twee monstuws.” Scootaloo frowned. “What kind of monstuws?” Sunset buried her face in the orange shoulder offered. “Dey... Dey kinda wewe wike da siwens. Monstuws fwom da hooman wowld dat sing others to theiw... theiw...” She didn’t— no, she couldn’t— say it, but Scootaloo had lived on the streets long enough before becoming Twilight’s foal to know what she was implying and held Sunset closer. “It’s otay. It was just a dweam, wight?” Sunset only sniffled. She wouldn’t tell Scootaloo, but the dream had felt so real. She’d seen Twilight as a human, with what looked like human versions of Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Vinyl Scratch, a dog that had looked a lot like Spike, if her were a dog and not a dragon and even the other version of herself. Her dream had ended before she’d seen how things had gone, but she’d seen three creatures blasting them with a dark magical sound wave. It had been really scary. ___________________________________________________________ Scootaloo and Sunset watched from the porch as Applejack taught her two new children about Applebucking. They both were happy the two ex-orphans had been given a home. As former orphans themselves, they knew how painful it was to not have a family and how wonderful it had felt when they’d finally gotten one. Scootaloo couldn’t help but snicker when Bright Skies extended a wing during one of his buck, disturbing his centre of balance and causing him to flop. She knew she shouldn’t laugh (she always cringed when she looked at where his missing wing used to be, since a Pegasus’ wings were an extension of themself, and to lose even one of them was like losing a part of your soul), but Bright made it too easy to laugh. He didn’t really seem bothered by the loss of a wing. True, she’d known him since the orphanage and he’d been even worse at flying than she’d been, but he’d also never seemed that interested in flying, so it was almost like he didn’t care he lost a wing. It was like nothing had happened. As she was thinking this, she couldn’t help noticing Sunset twitch and start looking around. “What’s up, sis?” she asked, cocking her head. “I sense Mommy!” Sunset’s eyes were as wide as the smile on her face, a smile that quickly took over Scootaloo’s face too. They both started looking around, trying to spot their mother from the sky, searching for a lavender dot amongst the wide blue. Suddenly there was a flash of purple from in front of them and an exhausted sigh was heard, immediately followed by dual cries of, “Mommy!” Both of them shot forward (Scootaloo using her wings, Sunset her magic) and tackled the purple Alicorn that had just appeared in front of the house. The sudden tackle knocked the still jetlagged mare over and they lay in a pile for a few moments, the two foals cooing and nuzzling into her chest. When Twilight finally realized what was going on, she smiled and wrapped her hooves around her two daughters. “I missed you, girls.” Scootaloo suddenly pulled away, looking around in confusion. “Whewe’s Spike?” Twilight blinked, then shook her head. “Really?” Her horn glowed and Spike appeared right next to them. However, he seemed to have been running for some reason and, not able to stop himself from the sudden location change, continued and slammed into the closed front door of the Apple family house. This caused the foals to giggle like crazy, while Twilight gave a small chuckled, getting up, holding her daughters in her wings and walking over the dazed dragon. Spike shook his head and looked up to see Twilight standing over him, a cocky smile on her face. He rolled his eyes and got up. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Don’t rub it in.” Scootaloo cocked her head. “What’s he tawking about, Mama?” Twilight shook her head, chuckling again. “I’ll tell you later. Then she blinked. Wait. Scootaloo, you just flew! And Sunset, you just used magic!” “Howdy, Twi. Good ta have ya back.” They turned to see Applejack walking towards them, a smile on her face. Apparently the ruckus they’d made had caught her attention. Twilight smiled and nodded to the farm mare. “Thanks, Applejack. It’s good to be back.” She let out a long, exhausted sigh. “You have no idea just how good.” Applejack cocked an eyebrow. “How come?” At that moment the two younger ponies came over and froze when they saw Twilight, their eyes going wide in awe. The lavender mare smiled. “Oh, these must be the filly and colt you adopted, am I right?” The two younger ponies gaped, causing her to chuckle. Applejack looked to the lavender mare. “And just how did ya’ll find out Ah adopted two little ones?” Twilight gave a coy smile. “Celestia has been observing the orphanage for some time now, since Firm Hoof’s discharge. And Luna was watching over the dreams of all fillies and colts within the orphanage to make sure they didn’t have nightmares leading to them waking up and thinking Firm Hoof was still in charge.” Applejack nodded. “Makes sense.” She frowned, looking her friend (she tried not to think future wife because of what Pinkie said) and noticed just how tired she looked. A glance at Spike showed he looked just as tired. “What happened up in Canterlot, anyway? Looks like it was mighty tiring fer you two.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Oh, you have no idea, Applejack. Let’s go inside, I’ll let the others know I’m here and then I’ll explain. And you can tell me just when my foals suddenly started flying and using magic.” ___________________________________________________________ “... Thus, with all the evidence I have provided to all present, I assure you that to remove Ponyville in any sense of the term would be to rip out the very centre of the stock exchange throughout most of Equestria and the lands beyond. This would result in the total structural collapse of the Equestrian economy and the downfall of the whole kingdom,” Twilight concluded, taking a long gasp and using her magic to point at several of the many diagrams she had been presenting with over the last four days. The room she was standing in had once been, and on occasion was still used to plan battle strategies, however for the last week or so it had been converted to a debating room on whether or not Ponyville should be destroyed, with her fighting for against. Those throughout the room all looked at her, the majority with expressions that said they whole-heartedly agreed. Nobles and dignitaries, along with Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Shining Armour were among them and voiced their agreement. However, there was one pony who did not agree, if his posture of his forehooves folded across his chest and the frown on his face were any indication. “Well, Prince Blueblood?” she asked, setting the stick she had been using to point with down on the table. “Can you honestly tell me you still wish to destroy Ponyville, when it will leave hundreds of ponies homeless and destroy our very economy?” The alabaster stallion snorted, tossing his head up, his blonde mane flipping up as he did so. “Ponyville still needs to be destroyed.” Twilight’s jaw dropped, while the rest of those in the room all stared at the stallion as if he were mad. “Are you serious?!” Twilight’s eye twitched as her calm tone turned to one of shock. “Even after all that you have listen to, for the last four days, you still want to destroy Ponyville!?” He nodded. “If we do not, the reputation of the Royal Family remains at risk of dishonor. We must arrest the ponies responsible for what happened at the Gala and punish the town that dared to harbour them.” He smirked. “Besides, it isn’t as if anypony important happens to be there. Nothing but worthless ponies come from that town.” Twilight’s eyes narrowed and her body glowed with her magical aura. “My daughters are in Ponyville, Blueblood, one of them even having been born there. Are you saying my daughters or not important, worthless?” He then glared at the Alicorn, his tone becoming aggressive. “You dare to speak to me like that? You dare to not address me by my title?” He slammed his hooves on the table, meeting Twilight’s glare. “If not for that spell, you would still be the lowly unicorn mare you always were. You do not deserve the title of princess and those daughters of yours are nothing but trash and deserve to starve when their pathetic excuse for a town is finished, like the lazy, good-for-nothing wastes of space they are!” There was a sound like the sound barrier being broken and all around the table were thrown against the wall, the table disintegrating. Twilight’s eyes were pure white, flowing with the magic deep within her as she hovered in the air above the cowering form of Prince Blueblood. “YOU DARE! YOU DARE TO INSULT MY CHILDREN!” she bellowed in the Royal Canterlot voice, her mane and tail flowing with the excess mana trying to escape her body. “MY DAUGHTERS ARE A BILLION TIMES MORE THE PONIES THAN YOU WILL EVER BE, BLUEBLOOD! YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO THE ROYAL FAMILY! WHILE CELESTIA AND LUNA RUN THIS KINGDOM AND MY BROTHER AND PRINCESS CADANCE RULE OVER THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE, WHAT DO YOU DO? ALL YOU EVER DO IN BOSS OTHERS AROUND AND ACT AS IF YOU ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PONY IN THE WORLD!” She flew up, right to his face. “WELL, GUESS WHAT! YOU’RE NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT PONY, INFACT, YOU’RE PROBABLY THE MOST USELESS! EVEN I DON’T HAVE A KINGDOM TO RULE, AND YET I HAVE DONE FAR MORE FOR EQUESTRIA IN MY SHORT TIME AS PRINCESS THAN YOU HAVE IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE!” The wind started to grow stronger and she glowered down at the unicorn. “IF YOU EVER INSULT MY DAUGHTERS AGAIN, I PROMISE YOU, BLUEBLOOD, THAT YOU WILL WISH YOU HAD NEVER BEEN BORN!” An alabaster hoof sudden placed itself on Twilight’s shoulder. She turned to glare at the pony it belonged to, but saw it was Celestia, who was giving her a firm, yet understanding look. Slowly, Twilight calmed down, the winds blowing through the room slowly down as her magic dissipated. She landed on the ground, her mane and tail returning to normal, as well as her eyes and the glow fading from her body. As soon as things had calmed down, Blueblood pointed at Twilight, his eyes focused on the taller Alicorn. “Did you see that, Auntie! She’s mad! And you heard her! She threatened me for no reason! She’s insane! Banish her to the moon!” Celestia’s expression, which had remained the same as it had when Twilight had looked to her, suddenly turned dark, causing the unicorn to cower. The much taller Alicorn stood over him, glaring down, her wings extended to their fault length. “Blueblood,” she said, not with the Royal Canterlot Voice, but in a tone that clearly made him wish she was using it as a chill visibly ran down his spine. “I have held on to hope that you would become a better pony, learn to see others and treat them as you would wish to be yourself.” Her eyes narrowed. “However, it is now clear, from hearing you not only insulting another member of the Royal Family, but also the callous way you would willingly condemn hundreds of ponies to being homeless that I see you require a stronger teaching on what life is truly like.” “B-bu-b-but, Auntie—” Her eyes made him stop. “Do not call me that. You no longer have the right.” His eyes widened. “What?” his voice was barely a squeak. Celestia looked like she was in pain, but also had anger behind her pain. “Prince Blueblood the Third, for your actions against your fellow ponies and your treatment of even the Royal Family itself, I hereby strip you of your title.” His eyes went wide with horror and he flung himself at Celestia’s hooves. “Please, Auntie, NO! Don’t—” “As of this moment, your belongings, accounts and houses are withheld,” Celestia continued, not even listening to him. “You will be left with whatever money you have on yourself and are forbidden on bane of banishment to set hoof within the castle or any of your homes unless with express permission.” She turned as tears streamed down his eyes, but there was anger mixed with the horror and sadness. “Why? Why am I being punished because of those commoner?!” It was more of a demand than a question. “I have done nothing wrong! They are the guilty party, not I!” Celestia bowed her head, sadness clear in her posture. “This shall not be lifted until you can prove to me that you have learned what it truly means to be a part of this family. Guards!” The doors to the room opened and several Royal Guards walked in, all of them pausing for a second as they took in the state of the room and Blueblood lying on the floor, glaring and crying as he looked to Celestia. “Take Blueblood and escort him out of Canterlot. After that, leave him to his own devices.” She looked over her shoulder at the unicorn. “For your sake, Blueblood, I hope you will not do anything foolish.” The guards nodded, walked over to Blueblood and began dragging him out of the room. “Wait! Stop this! Do you know who you’re touching, you filthy peasants!” he shouted at the guards, his voice clear as he was led away. “Take your dirty-ridden hooves off me! Stop! I order you to stop! Celestia’s gone mad! Do not listen to her! She is...!” His voice faded away and Twilight slumped, exhausted beyond anything she’d after felt. Celestia walked over to her and gave a weak smile. “Tired?” She nodded, her eyes drooping. “If it’s alright with you, Princess, I think I’ll just go back to Ponyville, get my daughters and sleep.” Her mentor nodded, an understanding smile on her face. “Very well, Twilight. I hope the next time we meet, when the dignitaries from Maretonia visit the Crystal Empire, it will be under much better circumstances.” Twilight nodded, lit her horn and vanished in a flash of purple. ___________________________________________________________ Twilight yawned as she finished her tale and rubbed her eyes with a hoof. She and her friends were all gathered in the Apple Family’s living room. Rarity huffed. “Well, about time he learned his lesson. I doubt he’ll even last a day in the real world, that pompous windbag.” Applejack nodded, her expression firm. “Darin’ ta call our town worthless. The nerve alone make me wanna find that no good stallion and buck him one upside the head.” Pinkie Pie also had an out of the ordinary frown on her face, her hooves folded across her chest. “Anypony mean enough to say two sweet innocent little fillies like Scootsy and Sunny should starve doesn’t even deserve a “Best of Luck” party, which he’d need.” Twilight nodded, then looked down at her two foals. They were sleeping sounding against her barrel, having fallen asleep during her tale after enjoying a nice meal from their mother. She then looked around the room and sighed at the lack of the two pegasi she’d expected to see. “I still can’t believe Dash and Shy aren’t back yet.” Applejack nodded. “Well, Dash is still fillin’ in fer Spitefire and Fluttershy wouldn’t miss a single show Dash’s in even if it killed her.” She chuckled. “Smitten pegasi, always an interestin’ thing.” Twilight nodded, then yawned again and got up, lifting the sleeping foals onto her back with magic, then holding them in place with her wings. “I think I’d best get home, girls. It’s been a long week and I really need some rest.” There were murmurs of agreement, before Pinkie raised a hoof. “Why was Spike running when you teleported him.” Twilight smirked as the baby dragon blushed furiously. “Let’s just say Spike’s learned never to go snooping in the kitchen when they’re busy and leave it at that.” After all chuckling at the baby dragon’s embarrassment, the others all agreed, said their goodbyes, then went on their way. When she and Spike had returned to the library, they went inside, upstairs and to bed right away, even though it was only mid-afternoon. They were really tired and a long afternoon nap sounded like a wonderful idea. Twilight decided to let her daughters sleep with her this time and laid the two of them on either side of her, wrapping a wing around them and blew out the candle, wondering what other insanity could be waiting for her when she awoke. Extra Author Note again, a big thank you to Princess Glitzy for the cover art. i couldn't have asked for better and an aspecially huge thanks to all of your for enjoying my first ride on the writing a foalfic express with me. Til next time, later everypony