(A NOTE TO THE READERS: This is only roughly half the Intermission, which has somehow snowballed into a full-fledged fifteen pages, single spaced. The rest of it will be coming around once I get a few more scenes done, but it felt unfair to make people wait any more, now that my workload has lightened a little. In any event, enjoy! And don't worry, there won't be much of a wait this time until the next bit.)
Twilight laughed as she, Spike and Luminous pelted Princess Luna's snow fort with snowballs, arcing them over the chilly fortifications in an attempt to introduce the Princess to the icy projectiles. They'd been playing snow games for most of the day, ever since Spike had woken from his usual winter lethargy. The Princess had suggested a walk through the snow-covered garden to Twilight, who had been entertaining Blackboard at the time, and somehow along the way it had turned into a game of Maidens and Monsters, with Blackboard as the maiden. “Return the fair maiden Blackboard, monster!” Luminous called in a serious voice that was only slightly spoiled by Twilight's giggling, “Or we needs must continue our barrage!”
“Never!” Called Luna from behind her fort wall. Large blobs of snow flew out telekinetically from behind her miniature fortress to drop unceremoniously onto the two unicorns, who squealed indignantly as Spike leapt out of the way.
“Hey!” Twilight called, laughing, “You said no magic! You're cheating!”
“Well of course I did,” Luna said, winking over the fortifications, “I'm the Monster!” With that she started tossing snow with cruel accuracy, sending knight, dragon and squire running for cover, the two unicorns giggling uncontrollably.
“My swain!” Blackboard called in a falsetto voice, appearing over the snowy parapet, dressed in a frilly warm overcoat and posing dramatically, “Let not this wicked creature's ways defeat you! Rescue me, that we might be together forever!” That set off another set of giggles from Twilight and her squire, which cut off into squeals abruptly when Luna used the distraction to dump more snow on both of them.
Twilight stood up and was about to magically launch her own snowballs when a polite cough behind her made her turn. Trixie stood there in her winter gear, watching the scene with a look of bemusement, “Is... Is that Princess Luna?”
“Nay!” Called the Princess, rising from behind her fortifications, “I am the Monster, who hath taken the fair maiden Blackboard hostag-” She was cut off by a well-aimed snowball from Spike, laughed as the snow fell off her face and started magically pelting the dragon's fortifications. “Knave! An underhanded strike! Feel the fury of flying flurries!”
Twilight giggled again and smiled at Trixie, who was still looking bemused, “So what's up?”
Trixie shook her head and levitated out a little appointment book from the depths of her coat, flicking it open and running her eyes down the page, “Well, the Mayor of Ponyville wants to know if you'll be helping with Winter Wrap-Up. The Royal Magic Society would like to know if you'd be so kind as to undergo a few tests for their research. I have a letter here from Trotter and Aqua, aaaand finally, Vinyl's here to speak with you, she's waiting in the library for you.”
Twilight nodded, grinning, “I sure am popular, let's head to the library and I'll deal with all of it at once.” She stepped up to Trixie and teleported them both to the library, severely startling Vinyl Scratch, who was entirely unprepared for a tall pony appearing behind her. “Sorry Vinyl,” Twilight apologized as Vinyl dropped the book she'd pulled out as a weapon, “I didn't think you'd be in the middle of the room.”
Trixie was about to point out that Twilight was dripping wet from the snow, only to find that the knight was perfectly dry, steaming gently even. Her burning mane was licking away the damp, seeming to consume the moisture as much as it was converting it to steam. Trixie, however, was leaving a puddle on the carpet from melting snow, and hurriedly started casting to clean it up.
Vinyl snorted and leapt on Twilight with a hug, causing her to yelp in surprise, “Ah it's no problem, ya tall drink of changeling.” She grinned and nodded to Trixie over Twilight's shoulder, “Still following along I see, how's the training going, Trixie?”
Trixie rolled her eyes as she finished mopping up the water and snow from herself and her surroundings. “Well enough, Vinyl, how's Octavia doing?”
“Yeah,” Twilight said, disentangling herself from the white crystal unicorn and nodding towards the ring she wore on her horn now, “How're both of you doing? With the married life and all,”
Vinyl grinned, “Well it's goin' really good, actually. We were thinking of moving the club though, once you got your place all up and running.” At Twilight's startled look, Vinyl's expression soured a little, “Problems with the neighbors, I really don't want to go into it.”
Twilight nodded, “So what brings you here? I know you're not really a daytime kinda person so it's gotta be important.”
Vinyl grinned, “Nothin' gets past you, Twilight. Alright, well I just wanted to invite you to Tavi's birthday party, you and all your friends are invited, as is every changeling who cares to come along. It's at eight in the evening tomorrow night, over at the club, we're opening early just for the occasion.”
Twilight squealed and bounced a little, “Oh that's wonderful! Sure! Is it alright if I invite Pinkie and Applejack and Rarity and everyone? Oh what should I wear?”
Vinyl laughed, her crystal hair ringing merrily as she flipped it aside, “Of course! That's why I said to bring your friends! Oh and you could come naked for all Tavi and I cared, but we just want to see you! We have, absolutely have to catch up, I've heard so many incredible stories.”
Twilight's excitement damped a little at the mention of her recent adventures, but nodded to Vinyl, “Of course. I'll be there and I'll definitely invite everypony. I've got some more things to do right now though, do you want me to walk you out?”
Vinyl waved a hoof, “Nah, I'll get one of the oh-so-dashing Royal Guards to help me,” she winked at Twilight, “they stare long enough, might as well use it.” Twilight laughed as her friend left with a saunter to her step that was almost irresistibly alluring. Twilight and Trixie caught each other staring as the confident DJ left, and giggled a little self-consciously.
“That mare...” Trixie said softly, then shook her head and turned back to her appointment book, “Alright Twilight, so what're you going to do about the Winter Wrap-Up in Ponyville?”
“Join in, of course, I love organizing the Winter Wrap-Up! All the forms to fill out and agreements to reach,” Twilight shivered with anticipation while Trixie gave her an odd look. “What? It beats hacking my way through the Hedge, and it'd be nice to deal with problems that didn't involve life and death.” Twilight brightened as an idea occurred to her, then waved for Trixie to continue.
“Alright...” Trixie said, frowning over her book, “So the Royal Magic Society wants to conduct some more tests on your magic. They sent a very nice, eloquent letter to say it, but that's what it boils down to. It comes with dinner and a night at the opera apparently, they must be getting desperate. It clashes with Octavia's party though.”
Twilight snorted, inwardly relieved, “Then no, they can put their curiosity aside for a little longer. I'll write them a letter about it later,”
Trixie nodded, “Oh and speaking of letters, here's the letter from Aqua and Trotter,” She levitated over a thick envelope, which Twilight opened readily and found a stack of photographs in with a mouthwritten letter.
Dear Dame Twilight Sparkle,
I'm sorry we couldn't come in person, but Trotter and I are off exploring the world at the moment. He's still getting used to the eye patch, but we're managing together. We're currently in dragon lands, learning of the changelings in their neck of the mountains. It turns out the Beast has more enemies than we first thought, and we're trying to convince the dragons to come help with the construction.
It's funny, we came out here to see the world together, make the most of the time we've got since Trotter's little brush with death, and here we are securing allies for Equestria. I just... Kept thinking about how big the Hedge was, and how much it makes you feel alone. I figured getting some big friends would help with that, and Trotter agreed, and before we knew it we were standing before this great dragon made of ice named Kazarhoth, I took pictures and sent them along, but they really don't do him justice. There are only a dozen or so dragon changelings though, and they're all very suspicious of strangers, so we still spend a great deal of time wandering the countryside.
I've also sent along a package for your little dragon assistant, it might arrive a little later so I had it sent to the library the slow way, rather than by dragonfire. Sorry there's no return address, we'd love to hear from you, but it's hard to tell where we'll be from moment to moment, dragons living as far apart as they do.
Good luck with the castle, and it was an honor adventuring with you!
Your Loyal Servants,
Aqua and Trotter
Twilight blinked at the letter and sat down hard, absolutely stunned. She flipped through the photographs, and goggled at the dragon made of ice, his flesh full of chilly rainbows with eyes like pits of wintery light. He glowered suspiciously at the camera, while Aqua and Trotter grinned beside him. Trotter looked rather roguish with the one glowing eye, while Aqua was covered in ice, presumably from the presence of the dragon.
She passed the pictures to Trixie, who gasped, “Is that... A dragon changeling? But... Then that means...”
“That I may have to expand the design for the castle, yes. I'm just glad the foundation survived the centuries.”
“No, I mean, this is... It means the Beast has been kidnapping not just ponies, but everything, it's terrible! I-I mean,” She added, seeing Twilight grimace a little, “It's good we have more allies and all, and it's gonna be wonderful to have them helping with the castle, I'm just...”
“Sorry it happened at all?” Came the calm voice of Celestia from the doorway. Trixie and Twilight bowed immediately, but Celestia snorted, “Oh come now, I've been bowed to enough today. So many petitioners,” She sighed and flopped on a nearby couch in a most un-ladylike fashion. She looked out the window at the snowy grounds, where Princess Luna and Blackboard had apparently constructed quite the snow fort to weather the assaults of Spike and Luminous. It had towers for Blackboard to swoon on and give stirring falsetto speeches. Spike and Luminous, not to be outdone, were trying to round up Royal Guards to help them, with a little success, Celestia and Twilight could see several of the younger guards joining in.
“I'd forgotten what having a filly in the castle is like,” Celestia said softly, smiling as she watched the guards lead an assault on the snow-fort, and finally pull it down into a heap, with the help of Luminous and Spike, who laughed as they started to pelt Princess Luna with snow. Finally the Princess surrendered, laughing, and Celestia and Twilight grinned at each other. Celestia broke first, chuckling, then laughing, which set off Twilight's laughter, and soon the both of them were giggling with mirth, with Trixie grinning uncertainly nearby.
Soon however, Celestia's merriment gave way to tears, laughter turning into sobs quite seamlessly. Twilight moved to her mentor, concerned, while Trixie looked on in alarm until Twilight jerked her head in a silent plea for solitude. Trixie nodded and stepped out quietly while Twilight comforted her mentor. “I... I do apologize, Twilight,” Celestia said as her sobs gently quieted, “it's... I just... I think of all you've gone through, and I see you,” she nuzzled the violet unicorn affectionately, “I see you standing so strong... You haven't just beat whatever was done to you, it's made you stronger. You remind me of myself, actually,”
Twilight blinked, “How? You haven't visited the Hedge before, have you?”
Celestia sniffed and nodded, wiping her eyes delicately, “Once, long ago, I made a deal with the Beast at hornpoint. He had been ravaging the countryside, whole communities were disappearing to be sold to his customers,” Celestia frowned, “My knight at the time wasn't able to trace him, and ponies were still getting used to my presence, so I was unwilling to look myself in case there was a panic,” She shot Twilight a look, “You remind me of him a little, actually. My first knight, Pages, was known as the Knight of Dawn and Dusk, for he served both my sister and I equally. It was actually his special talent, would you believe it?” Celestia nodded to the symbol on one of the towers nearby: a stylized sunburst with a silver crescent moon inside, “That was his cutie mark, and there has never been a pony more instrumental to Equestria than he.” Celestia smiled a little sadly, “strong, fast, and tenacious, much like you, my student.” She chuckled softly at Twilight's blush, “though he wasn't terribly patient, I'm afraid, always rushing off to solve things himself. He was the first bearer of the element of Loyalty, and...”
Celestia's expression flashed to a deep pain, and she broke off, switching back to the original tale, “Well he couldn't trace the Beast, for all his qualities. So we were content to ward the communities closer to the capitol, which was at the Castle of the Pony sisters, and keep his predations at a minimum. Until...” Celestia's expression darkened, an ancient fury flashing across her serene visage, “Until he took my sister.”
Twilight gasped, “Luna, Princess Luna was taken by the Beast? But... But how? She's an alicorn, she... She should've been able to defend herself. Unless...” Twilight blinked at Celestia's expression, “She went willingly?” Twilight sat down hard as Celestia nodded, “But... But why?”
Celestia sighed, “Luna wanted to negotiate with him, she thought the Beast could be reasoned with. So the next time he went ravaging, she put herself in the path to stop him and demand parlay.” Celestia looked away, out towards the field, where Luna, Luminous, Blackboard and Spike were all chatting easily around a brazier with some of the guards. Celestia's voice dropped a little, as if speaking to herself, “He agreed, and the next day, neither Pages nor I could find my sister.”
Silence fell in the library, “What... What did you do?” Twilight asked, shaking Celestia from her private reverie.
“I burned the forest,” Celestia said, raising another gasp from her student, “hacked it away until the army could surround what was left. That night Pages went in and demanded parlay with the Beast, who agreed on the condition that the peace would last until sunrise. I assented, and he arrived, with Luna in tow, enchanted shackles on her legs, wings and horn. As soon as the Beast was before me, I raised the sun, which released me from my agreement of peace.”
Twilight's stunned astonishment was only broken by her soft murmur of, “Lady of the False Dawn...”
Celestia nodded, her purple eyes sad, “Dishonorable of me, but I was furious, positively furious and ready to kill him for taking Luna...” The white alicorn looked away, “I... I almost did it, and I probably should have, but he was so bloodied and beaten after I was done with him, I could not bring myself to finish the deed. So, in place of shedding blood I forced him to accept my terms. He would return Princess Luna, and never again claim anypony for his own. He would prevent the intrusion of others of his kind, and in return the Everfree was allowed to regrow to give him and his pack space to live, and mention of him would be removed from Equestrian history to prevent all but the most unwary from venturing into his lair. Since he was in no place to disagree, he accepted, but his word was poisoned.”
Twilight blinked, but before she could ask, Celestia continued, her expression pained, “Princess Luna... He had done something to her. She was jealous, spiteful, and... Well it all came to a head, one day. I asked her to lower the moon, that I might bring the dawn... And she exploded. She became Nightmare Moon before my eyes, and declared that the time of the sun was over. She beat me, bloodied me, and left me for dead: my own sister.” Celestia trailed off and was silent for a long time, staring out the window at the chaos below, while Twilight watched her anxiously.
It had turned into a full-scale snow war by that point, with guards siding with one group or another, and even some of the court nobles and servants joining in. She smiled briefly at the sight of Princess Luna declaring Luminous and her band rebels and dissenters, only to be pelted with snowballs. She returned fire from her now extensive snow fortifications, but Luminous blocked them with shields of light, disintegrating the projectiles against her conjured sheets of force. It was hard for Twilight to believe that this was the same little filly that had stood vigil over Applebloom so stoically, and killed a wolf-creature with a shard of Twilight's own magic. She turned her attention back to Celestia, who sighed softly before continuing her story in the softest of murmurs,
“When I turned the Elements of Harmony against her, it broke my heart, I would watch the moon every night, hoping for some sign from her. Something... Anything...” There was a low thump from outside as one of the snow fortifications collapsed, and much giggling and laughing as it dissolved into ponies and princess shoving each other into the snow. The sound slowly died as the guards on both sides were called to their various duties once more, and the library was wrapped in melancholy silence once more. The ticking of the clock seemed to lengthen and amplify, until Twilight rose and walked over to her beloved teacher.
Celestia looked up at Twilight, her eyes just the slightest bit red from tears unshed. Twilight was struck by how old those eyes were, how many hundreds of years they've seen, and how very vulnerable she looked at that moment. Twilight remembered the poisoned dream she had rescued the princess from, and how the puissant ruler had clung to the Twilight-shaped doll. She leaned in and gently nuzzled her teacher's cheek. She whispered softly, “She's better now, she won't leave you again. And neither will I, Princess, for as long as I live.” The promise was perhaps a little bittersweet, but Celestia was calmed by the sincerity behind it.
She relaxed and smiled a little, then nuzzled back up against her student's cheek, “Thank you Twilight,” the princess said in a very soft tone, “All you have ever done, everything, has enriched my life more than any pony in all my years. Now,” Celestia smiled more brilliantly, all signs of her tears wiped away in the sudden flood of reassuring warmth, “Why don't we-” the princess was cut off by a sparkling flash of a magically delivered snowball, which splattered against the side of the sun princess's head. There was a long silence, then both teacher and student burst out laughing. They magically cleaned the splatters of water up, then, still laughing, descended to the courtyard to bring the snowy combatants in for cocoa and perhaps a little frozen vengeance.
“What do you mean there's no signal?” Twilight asked irritably, peering at the cables running through the doorway she'd opened into the Hedge, “The sensor's literally on the other side of the arch, how can the current not be getting through?”
Luminous sighed and checked another item off a list as a rather nervous changeling named Jade checked the printout again, “I'm sorry Dame Twilight, but it seems the gateway is incompatible with your instruments, um...” Jade cleared his throat with a grinding sort of noise, “Maybe... Being in the middle of the Everfree forest has something to do with it?” Twilight looked over at the green pony, who flinched.
He was barely more than a colt, and had a body that looked like it had been sculpted from green jade, hence his name, and strange ticking mechanisms moved within his translucent body. His eyes were a brassy color, and he seemed to blink only rarely, but Jade was very young, for all his strangeness, and held Twilight in a kind of terrified awe. He had been the very first volunteer to help Twilight study the mysteries of changeling powers, appearing as if by magic almost the very hour she had sent out the request.
Others had come after, but Twilight soon found that every changeling had as diverse powers as they had cutie marks. One thing she had established though is that all changelings derive their power from agreements made with whatever force they sought aid from. Beyond that, the limitations of such powers were annoyingly vague, and she had made it her mission to figure it out. So far the only shared powers she'd found was the ability to make innately binding contracts, and to open a way into the Hedge from any door-like shape. This particular power was the focus of the test, and it was proving annoyingly difficult to quantify. They had built an arch out in the middle of the Everfree Forest, which was rife with connections to the Hedge as it was, and hooked up all kinds of equipment to the arch, and Jade when he empowered it and turned it into a doorway to the Hedge.
So far the results showed that neither Jade nor the doorway changed in any appreciable way when the arch was empowered, save that as soon as Jade passed through it, he, according to the instruments, ceased to exist. Twilight heard her squire sigh softly, as frustrated as Twilight herself was, and the purple mare shook her head, “Let's call it for today, Jade, the sun's almost going down,” At Jade's somewhat downcast look, she added, “You did well, Jade, we just have to re-calib-... Wait,” Twilight and Luminous froze as a twig snapped nearby. The knight and her squire backed closer to Jade, who was frozen in the middle of picking up a piece of equipment. The young changeling was so terrified, his ticking internals accelerating, that he was almost entirely motionless, his stone body slick with what passed for his perspiration. Another twig snapped, this time from higher up, and Twilight's body was limned in violet flame briefly until she recognized the red stallion grinning down at her from a nearby tree. “Blackboard!” Twilight shouted, half-angry and half-laughing, “I almost toasted you, get down from there!”
The stallion chuckled and leapt down, landing moderately gracefully by the base of the tree. He was an earth pony this time, but lithe and quick. He was about to joke to Twilight about the method of his arrival, only to be pulled into a completely unexpected hug by the purple unicorn. “I... Uh... Good to see you too,” he said somewhat lamely, patting Twilight with all the awkwardness of somepony who doesn't usually get hugs. He pushed away from Twilight when he noticed Jade and Luminous goggling at him, the latter with disapproval. Twilight looked down at Blackboard with a sniff, and the crimson pony blinked as he saw the tears in her eyes. He coughed a little uncomfortably and smiled at Twilight, “I couldn't help but notice you were having some trouble there... Trying to figure out how gateways work?”
“Yes,” Luminous piped up from the pile of equipment she had resumed shutting down and packing away. They had brought a wagon with, to ease transport, and Luminous and Jade were painstakingly packing it full of all the machines and sensors they had brought out. Luminous gave Blackboard a hard look from around a levitating pile of computing engines, then turned her mismatched gaze to Twilight, “Something keeps disrupting the sensors. Maybe we should bring the Mark V array tomorrow, Dame Sparkle?” Luminous stacked the engines carefully in the cart, looking to Twilight seriously.
Twilight nodded, discreetly drying her eyes with a bit of magic before turning to face the troublesome arch, “Yes, and maybe some of the high-output cables, see if it's not-” She broke off as Blackboard put a hoof to her lips with a smile.
“Won't work, I'm afraid. It's not your equipment, Twilight,” Blackboard lowered his hoof, ignoring Luminous' look of disapproval, which was giving way to curiosity, “It's the nature of what you're looking at.”
Twilight, who had blushed when Blackboard had put his hoof to her lips, now frowned, “How so, Blackboard? We've got every kind of physical and magical sensor we can think of here, barring the extremely sensitive ones of the Mark V system... Unless...” Her eyes widened and Blackboard grinned, his golden eyes dancing with merriment.
“Unless it's not a physical or magical effect,” the both of them said together. Then Twilight frowned, looking puzzled, “Wait, how does that work?”
Blackboard grinned like a foal that knew more than the teacher, “Well, in a sense you're not changing the gate, just the destination.” Blackboard approached the arch, which still showed the Hedge on the other side and stuck his hoof through. “See, when you make a door to the Hedge, you're not making it do anything, you're asking it to. It's... Getting around the physics and magical physics by asking nicely.”
Twilight gave Blackboard a hard look, “Asking nicely.”
“Yep!” Blackboard grinned, thoroughly enjoying himself,
“How?”
Blackboard laughed, “You just ask, like you do when you ask the shadows to let you climb up the wall. They... Nudge physics aside, as it were, and, like that, the gateway changes the place the arch opens to, without changing the arch at all.”
“But,” Twilight protested, “That makes no sense! There's no science to it! It's like...” Twilight broke off, blinking, then finished softly, “Like... Pinkie...” Twilight gave Blackboard a sharp look of sudden inquiry. The red stallion laughed and shrugged,
“Your guess is as good as mine, Dame, but that sounds quite likely. I don't think anyone's explored that possibility though. If you do, you'll be the first! Now, if you'll excuse me,” Blackboard made to leave, but found his progress arrested by a telekinetic grip on his tail. He pulled against the grip for a moment, then sighed and smirked back at Twilight, who was, for some reason, blushing a bit, “Still want me around? Why Twilight, I had no idea you-”
“Blackboard, would you like to have dinner later?” Twilight said quickly, before she could stop herself. The whole clearing stopped. Luminous goggled at Twilight, Blackboard stared in shock, but Jade broke the silence first. He hadn't noticed that Luminous was no longer paying attention, and dropped a rather sensitive piece of equipment where Luminous should have been to take the load. The resultant crash made the whole group of them jump and turn to Jade, who flushed and muttered an apology. Luminous, startled out of her shock, strode quickly over to help the trembling green pony with a quiet apology for her laxness.
When Twilight turned her attention back to Blackboard, he had gone. She sighed and shook her head, disappointed but not surprised, she realized. Something about Blackboard was mysterious and evaded direct confrontation, which led her back to her inner questions of why she had asked the strange stallion to dinner in the first place. However, she didn't have much time to muse, as night was falling, and she needed to help the younger ponies pack before the unfriendly darkness of the Everfree enveloped them all.
That night, Twilight and her friends all set out for Octavia's birthday party. She had been accompanied by Trixie, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and of course Pinkie Pie, all dressed in their very best outfits which were still cut comfortably enough for dancing. Luminous was far too young to attend, but Pinkie had promised to party twice as hard, just for her. Twilight was understandably worried at that prospect, but as their pegasus-pulled chariot approached the club, she was dazzled out of her worrying by the incredible sight below.
Bright spotlights shone from the roof of the previously drab building, and great, snaking brambles made of light and darkness writhed along the exterior walls like living snakes, while curling designs of colored light danced across the dark walls. The thump of the bass was audible even at that distance, and there was a huge crowd waiting to be let in, for they had timed their arrival, at Twilight's insistence, to be precisely at opening. The chariot landed at the edge of the crowd of ponies and changelings which, to Twilight's surprise, parted for her and her friends with a tremendous thudding of applause.
Twilight and the others smiled and waved as they walked towards the door, with the exception of Fluttershy, who tried her very best to look inconspicuous amongst the group. Trixie was in awe, dressed in Twilight's colors at her own insistence and clinging close to the purple unicorn, who was beginning to become accustomed to crowds, in light of recent events. She kept having to nudge the blue unicorn along, which elicited catcalls from the crowd, making the pair of them blush and laugh. Rarity drank in the attention like a flower drinking in sunlight, basking in it and walking with a perfect ladylike poise. Rainbow Dash loved the attention too, and would have been indulging in it more deeply if she wasn't acting as poor Fluttershy's cover, who was trying unsuccessfully to appear invisible. Fortunately Pinkie Pie was visible enough for both of them, bouncing along and waving to ponies with such an excess of good cheer that soon parts of the crowd were bouncing along as well.
Then they were at the door, where the huge bouncer, a changeling who looked like he'd been carved of granite nodded and let Twilight and her friends in, with a sly wink for Trixie, who blushed and hurried along, to the snickering of Rainbow Dash. “This is a pretty sweet setup,” the rainbow-maned pegasus said to Twilight as they walked down the hall of brambles, which seemed to dance and writhe in the prismatic light from the door at the far end, raising her voice as the bass got louder and louder, “We oughta come here more often, in fact-” Rainbow was cut off as the door opened, revealing the inside of the dance floor, which was somehow even more incredible than when Twilight had first attended, and the sight of it caused the whole group to stare.
The group was greeted by suggestively-clad changelings, whose outfits only accentuated what was left bare in a tasteful, yet suggestive manner. They offered trays of drinks to the ponies and changelings, and then bowed the group through, diverting their attention to the dance floor itself, which was entirely different from the way Twilight remembered it.
Bright, shining dance floors made of some sort of glowing crystal floated and circled a glowing central pillar, from which the music emanated through arrays of speakers aligned in a sort of organized chaos up the tower. Rope bridges connected all the moving, turning dance floors, each of which sported images of Octavia's cutie mark, while along the walls, at every level, bars, more dance floors and illuminated hallways to other rooms all beckoned with bright lights and the pervasive bramble motif, which writhed throughout the grand dancing hall and the illuminated dance floors like a living thing.
Rainbow Dash downed her drink in one swift motion, then dragged Fluttershy off to one of the dance floors just as more and more ponies and changelings started pouring in. The others followed suit, and soon all the Elements of Harmony were dancing and drinking in honor of Octavia's birthday. Twilight, who never drank much, got a little fuzzy on the details about halfway through the night, but she remembered it was a magnificent evening, topped off with a cake that, she found out later, had literally been baked with the stuff of dreams. The end of the night was wrapped up in Octavia and Scratch's back room, where Twilight finally passed out from one drink too many, listening to Pinkie try to wheedle the recipe for the cake out of an amused, tight-lipped Vinyl.
Three days later, once Twilight's hangover had finally receded, Luminous and Twilight worked to compile their findings, with the help of numerous changelings, in the very library the violet mare had once discovered the prophecy of Nightmare Moon. “So, in essence,” Twilight dictated, while her squire wrote furiously, “A changeling is granted a kind of ambassadorship that allows them to make deals with objects, concepts, even abstract ideas and emotions.” That had been quite the eye-opener, bargaining with the idea of laughter. It had, in many ways, been like trying to talk to Pinkie Pie about something serious, but they had eventually struck a bargain, resulting in her being able to find the best way to cheer a given pony up. It was a small thing, but for the rather socially inept Twilight, it was an astonishing advantage. “Furthermore,” Twilight continued, pacing back and forth, the burning words in her mane flickering with excitement, “it is entirely possible to use these... Contracts to avoid the limitations of physics, allowing for seemingly impossible feats. Further study is required, but these preliminary results-” Twilight cut off as the door opened, and bowed with the rest as Princess Luna entered.
The Princess waved a hoof, dismissing the need for genuflection, and the changelings got back about sorting Twilight's notes, while Luminous trotted to Twilight's side. The little filly had come a long way, during the time she spent watching over Applebloom. She was still fiercely loyal to Twilight, and her magic had been steadily improving. Twilight hadn't told her squire that the barrier spell she'd used was rather advanced magic, and it seemed not to have bothered her. Luminous' magic was rapidly flourishing into something impressive, but she seemed colder, somehow, more distant, to everypony but the Princesses and Twilight, that was. Granted, she had loosened up a few days before in what was widely being referred to as The Great Snow Siege, but that had only been after Blackboard and Princess Luna had practically dragged the dutiful filly out into the snow. Twilight smiled fondly down at her squire, “Luminous,” she instructed the white filly softly, “Why don't you go find Spike and ask him to pick up some doughnuts from Pony Joe's?” Luminous nodded seriously and was about to walk out, when Twilight called to her, “And pick something up for yourself too, alright?” Luminous blinked, and opened her mouth to protest, to find it suddenly gripping a bag of bits that had been teleported there. Twilight nodded for Luminous to leave, and the filly did so with a last bow to Princess Luna, looking a little puzzled.
Twilight watched her leave with a little smile, and once the door closed behind the squire Princess Luna commented, “She is definitely developing into quite a talent, Dame Twilight. Thy squire does thee proud,” The Princess gave Twilight a look, “Although, it would be good for her to gain some friends her own age. She is very much about the castle, but seldom do I see her laughing and playing.”
Twilight nodded, frowning, “Yes, she does need such, but I... Well I've never looked after foals before,” Twilight flushed a little, a flicker of pink running through her burning mane, “She reminds me much of myself, before going to Ponyville but... She refuses to leave my side, Princess, and I don't want to order her to leave...” Twilight shook her head and sighed, “Hopefully Pony Joe can make friends with her, he's usually good with introverted ponies.” She smiled a little at a memory, then proceeded to inform the Princess of her discoveries, until at last night came, and the discussion hadn't ended. Luminous still hadn't returned, but Twilight was unconcerned, Luminous had long since proved capable of taking care of herself.
“One dozen chocolate, one dozen glazed, one dozen jelly filled, one do-”
“Jeez, Lumi” Spike interrupted, rolling his eyes and ignoring Luminous' scandalized look, “Twilight said some doughnuts, not all of them.” Luminous blushed, and Spike grinned at Pony Joe, who was looking a little dazedly at Luminous and the bag full of bits on the counter, unprepared for such a large order towards the end of the day, “Hey Joe,” Spike called out, getting the pony's attention. “One usual for me, and a... Whaddya want, Lumi?”
“Luminous,” Luminous corrected absently, causing Spike to roll his eyes, “And I'm buying these for Dame Twilight Sparkle and her staff, not my-”
“For Twilight? Why didn't you say so? I know just what she'll be wanting,” Pony Joe interrupted, grinning, “How's she doin' anyway?” He set about getting Twilight's usual favorites together in a little bag, which mainly consisted of chocolate-glazed doughnuts with sprinkles.
Luminous, a little taken aback at the sudden question, responded politely, “She's alright, Dame Twilight Sparkle's research is going well.” Luminous was silent for a little while, then added, “She seems happy, her friends visit often,” Luminous lapsed into silence, which Joe was happy to fill with a chuckle.
“Oh those friends of hers, I only met them a coupla times, but let me tell you, they seemed like a right nice bunch of ponies,” He snorted, then continued, setting about assembling the boxes of doughnuts for the staff members, “You know before she went out to Ponyville, she used to be in here all the time,” he nodded to one of the tables in back, “Right there, in fact, always the same spot, always with a pile of books, a cup of coffee and some doughnuts. Haven't seen her in years though, not since that trouble, with the Princess... I still find it hard to believe little Twilight would-”
“But it wasn't her!” Luminous exclaimed, practically vibrating with indignation. She calmed down and continued more slowly, blushing a little at her own outburst, “I mean, she was being impersonated, and she healed the Princess, and-”
Pony Joe laughed, “Easy, easy, it's alright, I know about all that, I was going to say I find it hard to believe little Twilight could be so well-impersonated. I know she'd never do anything like what they said she did to anypony. Heh, even when she was being teased by other ponies for being a bookworm, she wouldn't do anything to em, just shrugged it off. Always so polite about it, never got mean, like some ponies do,” Luminous shivered unconsciously at a distant memory, which Pony Joe didn't miss, but he didn't ask, “How about you, Miss Luminous? I heard you're Twilight's squire or some such, how'd that happen?”
Luminous tensed for a moment, then straightened, “I... I was offered the place. Princess Celestia... Well, I had been trying to get into the School for Gifted Unicorns and... Well Princess Celestia offered me an assignment, since I was having trouble getting into the school. To be Dame Twilight Sparkle's squire is the most important thing that's ever happened in my life, I mean, I'm like her assistant, really, but I'm learning a lot, and maybe, one day I'll be a knight too, protecting Equestria!” Luminous blushed, she hadn't meant to say the last part, but Pony Joe didn't laugh, he just nodded.
“I used to want to be a Royal Guard once, to save ponies and stuff. Never made the cut though, liked my own baking too much.” He grinned, unashamed, “Now I've got my own bakery, which is a little light on the fighting evil part, but it's a good life.” Luminous agreed, smiling, and the three of them, ponies and dragon, talked well until the night had fallen.
Luminous eventually carried the boxes of doughnuts back to the library, helped by none other than Pony Joe himself since Spike had fallen asleep. Upon their arrival, Twilight and Princess Luna introduced Pony Joe to the research team, which was wrapping up for the night, and they all set about talking until Princess Luna had to leave to raise the moon hold the Night Court. Luminous and Twilight talked with Pony Joe a little longer, until the latter left to get some sleep before the morning doughnut rush. Luminous and Twilight carried Spike up to bed, chatting amiably, almost like sisters, until at last they both went to bed.