//------------------------------//
// Castle Sweet Castle 
// Story: The Little Pony Legend: A Kingdom of Friendship 
// by MaggiesHeartLove 
//------------------------------//


*(~)*

1 John 2:17~

The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God live forever.

*(~)*

Castle Sweet Castle


Twilight was focused on her task….scrubbing every ounce of mud out of the little ferret. The alicorn princess was helping her dear friend Fluttershy in cleaning her dirty animal friends. Big and small. But while the animals were all getting a darn good scrub, the two ponies were now covered in filth as a result. Fluttershy wiped away the sweat from her forehead, sighing in relief once the work was done. 

"Phew! Thanks for helping me get them so fresh and clean, Twilight."

"No problem, happy to do it!"

"You probably can't wait to get back to your castle and take your own bath, huh?"

Fluttershy didn't notice at first, but Twilight's eyes suddenly widened, almost as if she had realized something. The princess smiled at her friend, trying to change the subject. "Aren't there more animals that need cleaning?"

Fluttershy arched an eyebrow at Twilight's eagerness to stay. While it wasn't usually odd for Twilight to lend a hoof to help, but today it almost seemed as if she didn't want to leave. "I think you and I are the only ones left, and I can't wait to get the mud out of my mane." Fluttershy said by trying to at least remove some of the mud with her already muddy hoof. 

Twilight grew anxious, she needed to find some way to remain just a little while longer. She smiled when she noticed Angel Bunny behind her and quickly pushed him into a mud puddle with her back leg. "Oh, no! Angel got dirty!" she said, trying to sound surprised, "I'd better stay longer to help give him a bath too!"

The princess didn't waste a second and began scrubbing the bunny behind the ears in the bucket of soapy water. All Fluttershy could so was comply. Maybe having Twilight stay a bit longer wouldn't be so bad.

She hoped.

(~)

The sun was nearly setting on the horizon and Fluttershy and Twilight were now inside the cottage. The pegasus managed to take a bath while Twilight was still covered in mud, while drying off the newly clean Angel Bunny. 

"Thank you ever so much for staying to give Angel a bath too, but, um... I think he's dry."

Twilight was a bit too occupied in drying off Angel that she didn't know when to stop. She finally did and removed the towel off of the annoyed bunny…right before his fur became as puffy as a cotton ball. At this point, Fluttershy had to find a way to get Twilight to go home. As much as she hatted to admit it, the princess had overstayed her welcome just a bit too much.

"Goodness! It's gotten late! You really didn't have to stay all day. Not that we don't appreciate it. Isn't that right, Angel?"

The bunny only grunted in annoyance. Twilight levitated a feather duster and started cleaning the bird houses inside the cottage. Fluttershy realized she needed to try a different approach. "I for one am exhausted." she yawned, "Plus, I really need to rest up for that big pancake breakfast tomorrow. And I'm sure you have to get the castle ready for when Korra comes back from her trip in the Earth Kingdom."

Fluttershy flinched when Twilight suddenly stopped dusting and dropped the feather duster onto the floor. The princess only stood there with her head held down in depression.

"Twilight? Is everything okay?" Fluttershy asked with concern.  

"She's not coming tomorrow." Twilight responded, after a second of silence.

"What?"

"Something came up in one of the villages so Kuvira and the Earth Queen asked her to stay a bit longer."

"How long will she be gone?"

"She didn't say, probably a couple of days…or maybe another weak." she said sadly.

The Princess Avatar was called personally by the Earth Queen and her second-in-command Kuvira to help in a specific situation in an Earth Kingdom village. Her friends volunteered to come along but Korra insisted she could handle it. It wasn't a dire worldwide crisis and more of a diplomatic situation, besides Korra knew she needed to be there for her two friends. At first, everyone was proud of Korra for taking this approach, however a certain alicorn was feeling rather down due to the Avatar's absence, more so than the others even.

"Well, maybe we can have the breakfast for some other time when--"

"No, she said she didn't want us to cancel on her count." Twilight's ears then perked up when an idea came to her mind, "But maybe I'd better see if Pinkie Pie needs help with the pancakes! Make some blueberry ones, Korra's favorite!"

Without another word, Twilight flew out of the cottage and Fluttershy sighed in relief. Finally she was gone.

(~)

The next morning, the Mane Six and Team Avatar gathered inside Twilight's castle to eat their pancakes. In the dinning hall, the ponies chewed rather noisily as they enjoyed the sweet, tasty treats. They were decorated with strawberries, whip-cream, blueberries, chocolate chips and rainbow sprinkles. While the ponies ate with their mouths, Rarity ate hers with a fork, as did Mako, Bolin and Asami, and even Mako's spirit children; Mika, Ali and San. Even they couldn't help but savor the taste of the food. They were the best pancakes they had ever had. 

Mako swallowed before speaking, "Mm, these are great, Pinkie Pie!"

"I agree!" said Applejack.

Pinkie Pie was face first into the pancakes, and once she looked up, her face was covered in frosting and chocolate chips. She smiled and slurped the frosting and chips from her face with her long tongue. "Thanks! Twilight spent all night helping me pick the flavor!" she said as she stacked more pancakes on top of the ones she already had, "I kept thinking we'd found the right one, but she insisted I make even more to try. And more. And more and more and more and more! It was like she never wanted to—"

"Leave?" Fluttershy said, her ears lowering.

"Exactly!" Pinkie chomped on the tall stack, which didn't even tumble or fall, "Eventually we ran out of time so we just went with every-berry-any-chip-surprise!" she scooted over to Asami and spoke in a loud hush tone, "The surprise is I lost a measuring spoon in the batter. Somebody's gonna get a very special pancake!"

Once she was gone, Asami looked underneath her stacks to make sure she was not the 'lucky somebody'. 

"Up all night, huh?" Flash Sentry asked, "Is that why she's so, uh... out of it?"

All eyes turned to the regal princess, who was snoring in her chair with her head back. Her body was covered in mud, levees and her mane was a complete mess. And, if looked closely, one could probably see some drool coming out of her mouth as she snored. 

"Um, I don't mean to sound unappreciative," said Fluttershy, "but has anybody else noticed that Twilight has been a little too helpful lately?"

Asami sighed in relief, "Oh, thank goodness! I thought I was the only one. Last week she stayed in my garage for hours organizing every single tool I had. Every time I used a screwdriver she'd clean it up and put it back in the tool box…while I was still using it."

Applejack continued next, "Now that you mention it, she was lendin' a hoof at Sweet Apple Acres the other day and stuck around 'til near midnight. Dug up fifty tree-plantin' holes when all I needed was ten."

Rarity continued next, "She spent an entire afternoon rearranging a single gem drawer at the boutique. An entire afternoon!"

Bolin spoke next, "When the boys and I came home, she had cleaned the entire place up! Washed the dishes, did our laundry, even made us dinner. Which, I normally don't mind but, it was a still a little weird."

"She even color coordinated our police files." said Flash 

"And steam ironed my uniform." said Mako.

"You think that's weird?" said Rainbow Dash, "She raced me, like, a hundred times the other day. And lost every time! She just kept goin'! Best out of ten, best out of twenty, best out of a hundred! I mean, I know hanging out with me is awesome, but it was like she'd rather keep losing than—"

"Leave?" Fluttershy said again.

"Yeah. Who does that?"

Twilight Sparkle snored once more before splatting her face onto her pancakes. She nuzzled against them like a pillow, sleeping. 

"This all seemed to start not long after Korra left." said Mako.

"You think she's doing all of this to get her mind off of her?" Asami asked, "I mean, I know they're close and all but, this is a bit much. Even for her."

"I think she might be avoidin' somethin'." said Applejack, while Pinkie Pie tapped her plate, flipping it and releasing the pancakes into the air before eating them all in one gulp. "Soon as she wakes up, we're gonna find out what."

Pinkie began to cough and the measuring spoon came shooting out of her mouth, landing on Bolin's stack, much to his disgust.

"I win!"

At the sound of Pinkie's cheer, Twilight finally woke up, with a pancake engraved into her horn. "Huh?! I'm pancake! I mean, awake…" she smiled in embarrassment as her friends all looked at her with concern. 

Flash spoke first, "Uh, Twilight? Is there something you wanna tell us?"

Mako's kids removed the pancake from Twilight's horn while the firebender himself spoke kindly to the princess, "Look, you know how much we appreciate everything you do for us, right?" he flinched when Pinkie Pie jumped up and took the pancake with her mouth before leaving. "And we love having you around…but…is there, by any chance, that you could, possibly, be avoiding something?"

Twilight lowered her ears, "Oh, has it been that obvious?" 

"Kinda." said Rainbow

"A little." added Fluttershy

"Yes." Bolin said rather bluntly.

"Completely." Asami said in agreement.

Twilight knew that she couldn't keep this a secret for long. She needed to tell her friends, if not they would continue to worry. "Okay. The truth is... I know it's silly, but I... I've been avoiding... this place." she gestured to her large, majestic and crystal-like castle. 

So this was why she had been so distant from it, her friends realized. She had been avoiding her own new magical rainbow castle. Rarity gasped in shock at this revelation, "Why in Equestria would you want to avoid such a gorgeous castle?"

"Yeah, this place has everything!" Bolin said as he stood up, his voice echoing around the tall room, "Big tall ceilings that make you feel tiny!" 

Pinkie Pie looked at her reflection on the floor as she laid on it and shivered, "Shiny new floors that are cold to the touch! Brrr!" 

Bolin and Pinkie both stepped outside as the earthbender gestured to the rest of the palace, "And it even has loooong empty hallways!" 

The word "hallways" echoed out through the castle, which only emphasized more of the theory why Twilight would want to avoid it. As lovely as the castle was, it was far too large with so many empty spaces, it gave the impression that she lived all by herself. No amount of sparkly stones, fancy thrones or lavish architecture would be enough to make this place a home. It anything, it was more of a museum than anything. At least the alicorns had several guards and servants around the house, all Twilight had was Spike, and while he was good company, just the two of them wasn't enough to fill the hallways with sound.

"Okay, I'm starting to get it now." Bolin said, lowering his arms in defeat.

"Me too." said Pinkie.

"The castle is amazing." said Twilight, "With Korra around, I didn't mind being here. She always made it feel less lonely, and with our castles connected she was here all the time. But with her gone, it made me realize that…It still doesn't feel like home." she sadly rested her head on the table while Flash and Mako placed a hand and hoof on her shoulders. "If I can't be comfortable in here without my sister around, then how can I ever really live here?"

Rarity chuckled, "Oh, is that all? Why, you simply need to decorate, darling. Make this space your own!"

"Yeah, we did the same for Korra's palace." Asami stated, "I think it's about time we did the same for yours too."

"It's just so daunting!" said Twilight, "At least Korra's palace gave us a concept. Just look how big mine is! I-I don't even know where to start!"

"You can start by letting us do it for you." said Rarity, "We will make this the castle of your dreams!" 

Flash smiled as he wrapped a hoof around his girlfriend, "While you and I go for a night on the town. Or, day in the town in this case."

"Marvelous, Flash Sentry! You can do that right after she takes a trip to the Ponyville spa." she levitated a mirror at Twilight's face, "I'm saying this with love, but... have you looked in a mirror lately? I've never seen you look this... mmmm…"

"Frazzled?" Fluttershy said.

"Yes! That is absolutely the word I was going to use."

Twilight took a good look at her mane and realized her friend was right. "Ooh, I guess I do need a little help. And so does my castle. You don't mind me going to the spa, Flash?"

"Not at all! I've been meaning to get a hoffacure." everyone then stared at him with both surprised and, kind of weirded out looks. But the pegasus stood his ground, "What? Can't a guy pamper himself every once in a while?"

Twilight smiled at her friends, "Well, I just know you'll all do a great job, because nobody knows me better than you."

"We'll make this place feel cozier than hot cider on a rainy day." said Applejack.

Rainbow Dash and Asami both gasped with delight when they heard this, "There's gonna be cider?!" they exclaimed with glee, their eyes beaming with excitement. Both shared an equal lust for the sweet apple drink. The girls were brought back to reality once receiving a water spray to the face, curtesy of Bolin.

"Down girls!"

The two wiped away the liquid and calmed down. Asami blushed while Rainbow Dash fiddled with her hooves, "Uh, I mean, let's decorate!" 

"Oh, no! Did I miss the pancakes?!" The door opened and a sleepy Spike walked in, holding a blanket and a Rarity blush toy. (Don't ask.) He dropped both once he ran up to the table and prepared to eat. "I sleep like a baby under that cold, cavernous ceiling."

"Spike, I'm so glad you're here!" said Rarity.

"Really?"

"Yes! You and Flash are taking Twilight to the spa!"

"Great! I've been meaning to get my claws done!" 

Flash smiled in triumph, "Ha! Told ya!"

Spike began stuffing his face with pancakes, only to receive stares from the others. "Oh, you mean now." he said with his mouth full. He stuffed a few more into his mouth and took two more. The little guy hadn't eaten yet after all. With Twilight and Flash, the three walked out the door, leaving the others to set their plan into action.

"Come on, y'all!" said Applejack, "We've got work to do!"

(~)

Music filled the halls as the whole team exited the dinning room, and the gears in their heads began to spin, thinking on ways to make this place more personal for their friend.

Rainbow Dash;

Let's all work together

To make this castle shine

Rarity polished the crystals with a blanket, making it shimmer.

Rarity;

Once we add some sparkle

It'll feel, it'll feel, it'll feel...

All;

It'll feel divine

Applejack headed home and filled a wagon with apples, hay and various farm items.

Applejack;

Crates of apples an' bales o' hay

Just makes ya feel at home

Fluttershy had various animals ready as well.

Fluttershy;

Furry friends and some popinjays

So she won't be alone

All;

And we'll make, and we'll make, and we'll make

This castle a home

Pinkie Pie slid down the staircase, grabbing various balloons as she did.

Pinkie Pie;

There's nothing like balloons and confetti

To greet you every time you walk through the door

Rainbow flew around her room, picking posters of the Wonderbolts, and even posters of her and Team Avatar and the Fire Ferrets from their pro-bending days.

Rainbow Dash;

She'll need this and those

Posters us, as heroes

How could anypony awesome ever ask for more?

Mako went off to the book store in the city and bought a pile of history, mythology and science books for Twilight to read. Asami picked out a stunning lamp decorated with mythical dragons while Bolin did the same as Rainbow Dash, grab posters of pro-bending, and even some of his Nuktuk posters.

Mako;

Pages filled of myth and truth

To ignite her creative mind

Asami;

A shimmering light to see what she finds

Bolin;

Reminders of our glory days, to help her shine!

The group made their way towards the castle with all the things they needed. Once inside, they got to work. 

All;

And we'll make, and we'll make, and we'll make

A home she'll adore

Asami;

Bright curtains of flowing silk and lace

Rainbow Dash;

This picture of me winning a race

Pinkie Pie;

Party cannons to give her a surprise

Applejack;

Hoes and rakes and some more garden supplies

Fluttershy;

Getting hugs from this nice, big, friendly bear

Rarity;

Decorate with some gemstones bright and rare

Bolin;

More of this and that

Pinkie Pie;

Don't forget the party hats

Rainbow Dash;

How could anypony awesome ask for more than that?

Mako;

Let's all work together

Fluttershy;

To show that we have shown

Rarity;

Princess Twilight Sparkle

All;

How we make, how we make, how we make

This castle a home

How we make, how we make

This castle a home

How we make, how we make

This castle a home!

*balloon pops*

Once the song ended, everybody took a few steps back to see what they had done….they cringed once they did. Apparently, they were all so caught up in the decorating that, one look at the finishing project, and they immediately wanted to slap themselves silly. 

Birds and Mako's spirits kids ran and flew around, animals dragging dirt and such with their paws, playing around in the hay Applejack had brought, eating the apples from the barrels. Quilts of red, orange and yellow were placed around the floor beside the hay. 

Marble pillars stood around the room, with vases of flowers, standing on top, and even vines with more flowers spiraled around them. 

Curtains with flashing diamonds adorned the windows while several more diamonds hung off the walls, alongside Rainbow Dash's Wonder Bolts posters and Bolin's Nuktuk ones, as well as several of Rainbow's price trophies on the shelves. 

Rarity had vases with flowers almost in every corner as well as a portrait of all of Team Avatar as the "center" piece. Fluttershy even placed a few bird houses here and there, along with a white picket fence for the petting zoo.

Everywhere they turned they saw balloons, candies, pink curtains, lace, flowers, posters, animals, anything but the kitchen sink. In fact, if they searched hard enough they could very possibly find it. It was one big mess of items mismatched together, clashing horribly. The entire castle looked like a hoarder's home instead of that of a princess. 

Bolin was the first one to speak. "Yikes." was all he said. There really was no other reaction other than that one.

Applejack cleared her throat, trying to sound convincing, "Wow, guys! We did a... great job... together…" she laughed nervously.

"We sure did... something." Rainbow said with uncertainty. 

A few birds flew around Bolin's head and little furies rubbed their heads against his legs. "Fluttershy, I love that you brought so many animals." he said unconvincingly. 

Fluttershy noticed one of his posters on the wall, "Is this your Nuktuk poster?" 

"Why would Twilight want that?" Mako asked his brother with an arched eyebrow.

"What? Everybody loves my Nuktuk movers! Besides, I didn't see you add anything."

"That's because I put my gifts where they belonged. In the library."

Bolin did sarcastic jazz hands while pretending to sound impressed, "Oh, wow! Books! Like she doesn't have enough of those already?"

Asami placed her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes in a stern manner. "Bolin!"

"Sorry, honey."

Rarity chuckled nervously as she tried to find ways to compliment Applejack's additions. She had brought items from the farm, such as quilts and even a few gardening supplies like pitchforks and wagons. "My my, Applejack, bringing the outdoors inside, it's... earthy... What a lovely touch!" she levitated one of the red, yellow and green quilts and sniffed it, feeling she would gag, "Are these quilts vintage?"

"Nope, just old!" Applejack shielded her eyes from the shimmering diamond decorated curtains Rarity added to the windows, "Unlike your sparkly window doohickeys which are... why, they're just swell!"

Pinkie Pie, was probably the only one who remained happy about the whole thing, jumped up with glee. "No one said anything about my hidden confetti cannons! Oh, right! They're hidden!"

Mako pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, "Guys, who are we kidding? It looks terrible!"

All eyes turned to the main doors, where Flash Sentry had just walked in. "Hey guys, man that hoofacure was exactly what I needed—Sweet mother of Raava!" The pegasus was undeniably shocked by the scene before him. He had never seen anything like it before. Posters, animals, diamonds, apples, balloons, it was like a wild crazy party that couldn't decide on which theme to have, so it decided on all of them together. 

"Oh, Flash! Are you and Twilight done already?" Rarity asked.

"Don't worry, Spike ordered her the super-deluxe mane blow-out! She'll be a while." he walked in deeper into the room, still cringing at the scene, "Man, what happened? This place looks terrible!"

"Told you!" Mako said.

"It's pretty bad, right?" said Rainbow Dash.

"This place looks like a mishmash of knickknacks." said Applejack.

Rarity tapped her chin, "Hmm, I suppose it is a little cluttered."

"What are you guys talking about?" said Pinkie Pie with joy, "I think it looks super fun!" right on cue, one of her hidden cannons went off, releasing confetti everywhere. The noise startled Fluttershy's animals and the poor creatures began to run all around the castle in fear, tumbling everything they came in contact with. Pinkie Pie joined in the mayhem, running with the animals while wearing a party hat. "Whee!" she cheered. Even Mako's three spirits got frightened and flew around in a panic.

"Mika! Ali! San! Clam down!"

Fluttershy tried to calm the animals down, but with such little space inside with all of the thing stye had, it was hard for the animals to keep calm when they were trying desperately to get out. "Oh! Oh, no! Please don't do that! If you all just take a deep breath and calm down—" she took a step back when one of the pillars fell and broke before her eyes.

Bolin started to scream and run around as squirrels began moving around in his cloths. "Squirrels! Squirrels in my pants! Squirrels in my pants!"

Two chipmunks climbed up on Rarity's curtains, much to her horror, "No! That bunting is embroidered by hoof! Don't you move one more paw!" she warned. But even thought the chipmunks stayed still, their little bodies slid down and ripped the curtain in the process. Rarity's face flushed with red due to her anger and opened up her mouth, her loud powerful voice ceasing the panic. 

"Everybody stop!"

At her command, every animal stopped on their tracks, even the three spirits and Pinkie Pie froze in place. Once the commotion had died down, the group took a look at their surroundings. The animals had caused a serious amount of damage. Posters fell from the walls, the flowers were scattered all over the floor, balloons were popped, hay, confetti and squashed apples were everywhere, vases were shattered, curtains were torn and the pillars had fallen and broken into pieces upon hitting the floor.

"Okay, now it's a mess." said Pinkie with a smile, right before another confetti cannon exploded. 

Mako dusted the confetti out of his hair, "Great, as if we didn't have enough problems."

"What're we gonna do?!" Rainbow asked in frantic worry. 

"I don't know." said Flash, "But Twilight's blow-out won't take that long. If she was avoiding the castle before, she'll never want to set hoof in here now! And I don't even wanna think about what Korra might say if she sees this too."

"Come on, guys, we've gotta do something!" Bolin stated as he gripped his brother's collar, "Twilight's counting on us!"

Rarity spoke to the male pegasus, "Flash, you've got to get back to that spa and stall her! Whatever you do, don't let her come home!"

"For how long?"

"Well, uh, maybe you could manage it 'til... sunset-ish?" she gave him a hopeful smile while she batted her eyes, which only made him arch an eyebrow.

"Okay, okay just stop doing that. It only works on Spike."

"Oops! Sorry, force of habit."

Flash saluted to the others, "You guys can count on me!" he galloped away and out of the room, leaving the others to work things out.

Asami stepped froward, taking the lead, "Okay, we all agree the castle is too cluttered, right? So why doesn't everybody take one or two of their own decorations out and we'll see how it looks?"

Everyone nodded in agreement and got to work. They hoped Flash could buy them enough time for them to fix everything.

(~)

Flash returned to the spa, only to be greeted by Spike. "Flash, you're back! How do my claws look."

"Very nice. Real sharp." he said rather quickly, wanting to get to the point already, "Listen, we--"

"So how's the decorating going? Twilight's been dying to see--"

"We can't go back yet!" he looked around before whispering to the dragon, "Something went terribly wrong!"

"Come on, how bad can it be?"

"Imagine everyone's house just exploded into one room."

"Oohh…."

"We have to keep Twilight occupied before sunset."

"Don't worry, I've got it!"

The two walked into the room where Twilight was underneath a hair blower machine. "Oh, boys there you are. How do I look?" once the lid was off her head, her mane had been styled into a spiky, almost rocker-like style. It was actually rather nice, though probably a tiny but much.

"Great!" they both said rather quickly, trying to hide their obvious nervousness.

"And more importantly, how does the castle look?" Twilight asked, removing strands of her new do from her eyes.

The two looked at each other with worry, "Great?"

"I can't wait to go home and see it!" Twilight got up and prepared to leave.

"Great! I mean, no!" Flash jumped up in front of her, "I mean, uh, I'm not... quite ready to go yet. Uh, why don't we have a massage?" 

"Yeah!" Spike said, trying to help and took one of the brochures, "I was really hoping to get, uh... this thingy!"

Twilight read the words while arching an eyebrow curiously, "The 'Extra-strength-hot-stone-deep-tissue massage'?"

Flash cringed at the very mention of the name and Spike gulped nervously, "Yep!"

"I think we'll just have the traditional massage, but you go for it."

One of the spa ponies, Aloe, walked up to the couple. "Did somepony order massages?"

The wall crashed and Bulk Biceps appeared, shouting his famous phrase, "Yeah! Let's do this, little dragon!" he then took Spike, using his pecks, and smashed into the wall once more.

Aloe rolled her eyes, "Oh, I hate it when he does that. Come with me, you two."

Flash was still cringing over what that poor little dragon could be going through at the moment.

(~)

"Come on, Rarity. Everybody has taken somethin' out except you." said Applejack to the unicorn, who was still deciding. 

"Ooh, I know! I simply can't decide."

Rainbow pointed to a portrait with the entire Team Avatar in a jewel encrusted frame. "How about this?" 

"No! Not that! Anything but that!"

"How about these?" Bolin pointed to a rounded vase of flowers which was placed on the wall. 

"Oh, but those brighten up the whole room! They're my favorite accent!"

"Then let's lose the curtains." Rainbow said, "The room wouldn't need brightening if they weren't making it so dark!"

"Not them! They're my favorite too!"

Rainbow growled in annoyance and Mako crossed his arms, "They can't all be your favorite!" he exclaimed annoyingly with a groan, "Okay, Rainbow, take down the portrait. We all know what we look like."

"Finally!" the pegasus took the image and flew out of the room. 

Rarity huffed in anger. "Well, the room still looks a little bit cluttered, doesn't it? Perhaps I'll take down a poster or two. Only to be helpful, of course!" she levitated some of Rainbow's posters out of the walls, annoying the pegasus. She even removed Bolin's poster.

"Hey! You took away Nuktuk!"

Rarity huffed, "Oh please, it was about as useful as Rainbow's trophies!"

"Excuse me?!" the pegasus exclaimed while placing her hooves on her hips.

"Okay, everypony calm down." said Applejack, ending the arguments, "I'm sure we can find a way to remove the clutter together."

"You're absolutely right, dear." Rarity said…right before removing A.J's quilts out of the room, and Rainbow kicked them out with her back legs.

"Hey, those are my warmin' quilts!"

Rainbow Dash and Rarity hoff pumped, "Together!"

Pinkie Pie noticed that Fluttershy's birds were popping her balloons. "Fluttershy! Tell your birds to stop pecking at my balloons!"

Fluttershy narrowed her eyes, "I guess they must not like being scared out of their wits by exploding confetti cannons or something."

"But we can't get rid of the cannons! I don't remember where I hid them."

Another confetti cannon exploded. And pretty soon, everyone was arguing over what to add or take away. Mako's spirit even levitated Asami's lamp out of the room.

"Hey! Mako, your kids just took my lamp!"

"Like a throne room needs a lamp."

Bolin stepped in between the two, "At least she got something. All you did was buy dusty old books."

"They're not that old! And at least I got her something she might actually use."

Before long, everyone was fighting and removing the others decorations and items. At this rate, they would never finish in time.

(~)

After a the messages, Flash took Twilight to eat at a cafe. The two were sharing a milkshake while sitting underneath an umbrella on a table outside. Twilight sighed in relaxation, "Great suggestion, Flash. I feel totally relaxed."

However, Spike was still feeling strained from his 'massage'. He couldn't even sit up right. "Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow…"

Once they were done with their shake, Twilight got up from her chair, "You want to hop on?" she asked Spike, "Maybe I can get us to the castle faster."

Flash's eyes widened and quickly jumped up as well. It wasn't sunset yet, he couldn't let her get back. "No! I mean…how…nice is this day? I was hoping we could take the scenic way back."

"I don't know."

Spike straightened his back, "I think it's a great idea! Walking is good for post-massage circulation."

Twilight arched an eyebrow, "Really? I've never heard that theory." she, Flash and Spike then walked across town, simply enjoying the day and brightness of the sun. At first, all was calm, until they spotted something that had left a great hole in Twilight's heart.

It was the Golden Oak Library…or at least, what was left of it. After her and Korra's battle with Tirek, the place was blown to bits. Everything within it was gone. Forever. Twilight sighed as she looked upon the tree. 

"I really miss this place. We had so many wonderful memories here."

Spike began to tear up at the scene, "We did, didn't we…?"

"Oh, Spike, I'm so sorry. Of course losing the Golden Oak Library was hard for you too." she welcomed her little dragon in a warm embrace. Flash Sentry wished he could relate to their situation, but he didn't have much memories of this place. And the ones he did was very few, not enough for him to have had a long time attachment to it. But he did know what it was like to loose a home.

"I'm really sorry, Twilight." he said sincerely, "I may not have known this place for as long as you, but I know it was special. It's like loosing someone from your family." 

His ears perked up when he spotted something near the burned tree. It was a little branch, slightly burned, but still in good condition…with a little flower blossoming from it. He took it into his mouth and placed it before Twilight, much to her surprise. 

"I know it's not much but, I hope keeping something from this place might remind you that, even if it's gone, your memories of it won't be. And like this little flower, something new will grown from this."

Twilight's eyes filled with tears as she levitated the branch, admiring the simple little flower. "Thanks Flash. I'll always treasure it." the two nuzzled their faces together and Spike wiped away a single tear. 

"Come on, I know exactly where to put it." Twilight spread out her wings ready to take flight. Spike acted quickly and jumped onto her back, holding her wings and causing her to fall. 

"Ow! What are you doing?"

"I, um…" 

Flash then got an idea, "Hey, why don't we get something for Spike to add to the castle to make it more his home as well?"

"Uh, yeah!" Spike greed, "And I know what I want!"

Twilight arched an eyebrow as she stood up, "Oh, okay. What is it?"

"It's a... well, I want a... it's... I kind of need a... a bed!"

"I thought you said you sleep like a baby in the castle."

Spike scoffed, "Everypony knows babies are terrible sleepers. Let's go!"

(~)

The entire group managed to clean up the place, making less crowded with items. Rarity removed the last poster, "There! Now nothing is cluttering the castle!"

"You're right." said Rainbow Dash, "There is literally nothing cluttering this castle."

By trying to remove a few things, they ended up removing practically everything they had. Now it looked exactly from when they started.

"What do we do now?" Fluttershy asked with worry.

Mako scratched the back of his neck nervously, "I hate to be the bearer of more bad news, but it's almost sunset." he pointed to the window, where indeed the sun was close to setting.

Rarity gasped, "Oh dear! He's right! If we don't figure this out soon, it's going to look like we didn't lift a hoof or finger to help her!"

Rainbow Dash groaned in frustration, "Why is this so hard?! We're Twilight's best friends! This should be easy for us!"

Applejack spoke, "She said it herself – if anybody should be able to make her feel comfortable in her new home, it's us. If we can't do it...

Fluttershy spoke next, "Then Twilight will be stuck living in a castle that makes her feel... sad!"

The word "sad" echoed out through the halls.

"Wow, Fluttershy! I didn't know you could be loud enough to echo!" Pinkie said impressed.

Asami tried to keep the peace between them all, "Okay, okay, let's just think for a second."

"Think for a second?" Bolin asked, "Think for a second?! We don't have a second, woman!" the earthbender started pacing frantically around the throne room. "If Twilight comes home now, she'll be like "What did you guys do?" And we'll have to be like "Nothing!" And then she'll be like "I was counting on you! Some friends you are!" And we'll be like…Nooooooooooooo!"

Asami took him by the shoulders, roughly shaking him back to his senses. "Bolin, calm down! We just need to figure out what we did wrong so we can make it right."

"Well, I didn't do anything wrong!" said Rarity, pressing one hove against her chest. "I did exactly what I would do if this were my home!"

"But it's not your home." Rainbow stated, "It's Twilight's home!"

"Where she keeps all her Rainbow Dash trophies?"

"Touché." Rainbow calmly replied at the unicorn's snappy remark.

"Now that you mention it," Mako began, "it did seem more like you guys were adding the things you liked rather than what Twilight likes."

"That was kind of the intension." said Applejack, scratching the back of her neck, eyes darting down to the floor.

"What do you mean?"

"What's the one thing that made Twilight feel most at home in this castle?"

"Korra." he replied straightforwardly.

"And we're her bonded ponies. When we first came into your world, we always felt most at home when we were with her."

Mako blinked in realization, his eyes softening. "Oh, I get it now. You thought if you added mementos of yourselves it would be like still having Korra around too."

"Exactly."

"But I guess we overdid it." Fluttershy too hung her head, ears dropped and mane partly covering one eye.

Mako stared at the ponies, then at the rest of the castle, pondering. "Well, maybe there is a way so she can still have something of you guys without it overcrowding the place."

"He's right!" Applejack said with reentered enthusiasm, "Come on, y'all. We just need to think about Twilight. What was it she'd loved about livin' in the Golden Oak Library?"

"Oh, everything!" said Fluttershy with a smile as she reminiscent on their old days when the once standing tree-library. "The books, the smell of books, the joy she felt from organizing books. Guess Mako had the right idea."

Rainbow Dash then laughed, "Remember that time I crashed into all those books attempting my sonic rainboom after you guys just cleaned up? That was good times."

Applejack rolled her eyes, "Yeah, for you, maybe."

"Oh, and Applejack, remember when we were stuck having a sleepover there?" said Rarity with a chuckle, "That turned out to be so much fun!"

"Or all of those little random get togethers?" Asami said, earning laughing from the two brothers.

"Remember the time it got blown up to smithereens?!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed excitedly while spreading her hooves wide to reenact the explosion's size. She lowered down upon noticing everyone's lament.

"Wait, no. That was the worst."

"We had a lot of good memories there, though." Applejack said in a sad tone, remembering the place, "That's what made the Golden Oak Library home."

"Yeah…" everybody sighed in unison. It was then, where Applejack gasped with excitement. 

"That's it!"

(~)

Twilight was already growing bored out of her mind. Spike had spent hours trying to find the perfect bed, but no matter what he always seemed to find something to complain about. It kept them there far longer than she would like.

"How's that one? Too soft? Too hard? Too lumpy?"

"Um…" as Spike laid on the bed, he looked out the window, finding it was already sundown. "Just right! I'll take it!"

"Oh, thank goodness. I thought you'd never find one you liked! Let's find a salespony and get out of here."

"Sounds good to meee—" Spike cringed when he spotted the others through the window, walking in the opposite direction, carrying shovels. Asami and Rainbow both saw Spike staring back and them and gestured to the little dragon to keep stalling. 

"I… nn, um, uh, heh... did you hear that?" Spike leaned on the side of the bed, pressing his hand on its surface while imitating squeaky spring sounds with his mouth, "E-er-e-er-e-er. Too squeaky! Better keep looking!"

Twilight groaned in annoyance while Flash stared at the group inconspicuously through the window. He silently hoped they knew what they were doing. Twilight was growing more impatient, and that was never a good sign. 

(~)

The friends stood in front of the destroyed Golden Oak Library. The sight of it up close was even more heartwrenching than they had originally thought. It was like seeing the remains of a loved on long since passed. Applejack sighed sadly. "Maybe my plan won't work after all."

But just as the others were about to give up hope, Rarity gained an idea herself. She smiled. "Of course it will, darling. I can see it! You, Fluttershy and the boys stay here. Rainbow Dash, Asami and Pinkie Pie, you come with me. We're going shopping! We'll meet back at the castle."

The four headed out while Applejack, Fluttershy, with the help of her animal friends, Mako and Bolin worked together to dig. Bolin and A.J. earthbended the earth from their path while Mako dug with a shovel and the critters with their paws.

Mako;

It's not the things that you gather around

Bolin;

It's not how much you own

Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow and Asami walked out of a nearby store with an assortment of bags to take back to the castle.

Asami;

The things that hold the meaning in your life

Are the memories you've sown

Back inside the castle, the team worked together once more in their one group project that, they hoped, would bring a smile to their friend's face. Rarity sowed the diamonds, Applejack and Bolin polished the large root, Asami and Rarity supervised while the others pulled on the ropes, placing their object into the center perfectly. 

All;

So we make, so we make, so we make

This castle a home

So we make, so we make

This castle a home

So we make, so we make

This castle a home!

The deep was done. The friends smiled at their work. It was beautiful. Now, they hoped Twilight would feel the same way too.

(~)

The doors opened and Twilight, Flash and Spike entered. "Hello? We're home!"

"Welcome home!" Twilight was greeted by her friends, who all appeared extremely happy, bright and excited.

Bolin bowed and escorted the princess down the hallway, "Right this way, your highness."

As they walked, Twilight began to feel disappointed. Nothing had changed at all about the castle. Maybe her friends were trying to surprise her or something. She really hoped so, because her heart had already dropped.

"Oh, I, uh... love what you've done with the place." she said, trying not to let her disappointment show, "You did such a good job of... preserving the integrity of the original design."

"Aw, come on!" Spike exclaimed in annoyance, "It looks exactly the same! Do you know how hard it was to keep her from coming back here?! I never want to see another dust ruffle as long as I live!"

"Wait. Keep me from coming back here?" Twilight asked.

Rarity laughed nervously, "It took a teensy bit longer than we thought."

"And a lot of cleaning." said Bolin, only to receive an elbow nudge from his girlfriend. 

Mako squatted down to Twilight's level, "We tried our best to make this castle feel more like a home to you, only we ended up making things worse. But, what really makes a place feel like home isn't what it looks like."

Applejack took off her hat and placed it over her heart, "He's right. It's the memories you make when you're there."

Rarity smiled, "So we've made something that celebrates the memories we've made with you since you moved to Ponyville."

"And when you first came to Republic City." said Mako as he stood up and opened the front doors that led to the throne room.

Twilight gasped, her body froze as she stared in awe at the shimmering new addition to her throne room. It was only one change, but it was a pretty large and beautiful one. It looked like a tree-trunk chandelier, decorated with various gems on strings, colored in the same coats as the Mane Six.

Fluttershy flew near the ornaments, "The ornaments on the chandelier are reminders of all the fun we've had together."

Mika, Ali, and San demonstrated an orange gem which depicted an illustration from Twilight's past. "That one shows your party at the Golden Oak Library welcoming you to Ponyville!" Pinkie explained.

Fluttershy demonstrated a blue gem, "The time we shared donuts after the Grand Galloping Gala!"

Rainbow showed another, "And the time we saw our first pro-bending match."

"We were hoping that being able to look at your beautiful old memories would inspire you to make new ones." Rarity said with hope in her voice, all the while Twilight couldn't stop starring. She finally found the will to move her legs closer. The light dancing off of her coat the closer she got.

"And the best part of it is, it's made from the roots of the Golden Oak Library," said Applejack, "So you'll never forget where you came from."

Bolin fiddled with his fingers nervously, "So…do you like it?"

Everyone awaited hopefully for the princess's answer. She was so silent, not taking her eyes off of the chandelier. They feared this wouldn't be enough. Finally, Twilight turned around to face them. Her eyes filled with tears but her smile was as plain as day.

"It's exactly what the castle needed." 

The friends smiled upon hearing her words. Twilight rushed on over to them and they all welcomed her in their signature Team Avatar hug. But, there was one last person who was not yet included. 

"Hello? Anypony home?"

Twilight gasped with delight upon hearing the voice. They all dispersed and spun around, seeing their beloved Princess Avatar standing at the doorway, smiling happily.

"Korra!" Twilight flew right into her arms in such speed that Korra nearly tumbled. "I thought you were going to be gone longer!"

"Well, I finally found a way to solve the situation. Of course, it did take a little bit of yelling at a stubborn mayor, but I got the point across." Korra then noticed the chandelier and her eyes widened, "Wow! Where did this come from?"

"Our friends made it. While you were gone, I was was having a hard time feeling at home in my new castle. But thanks to them, and this wonderful gift, I'm now ready to make new memories here." she flew up, leading Korra to see the gemstones. 

Korra caressed the roots, "It's from the Golden Oak Library." she said in amazement and looked at the gems, selecting one and seeing the memory within it. "Hey, I remember this!"

"There's only one thing missing." Twilight levitated the single branch with the flower Flash had given her before and tied it to the end of one of the gems. She flew down and smiled at the stallion, "To remind me of the best boyfriend ever."

Flash smiled and hugged his girlfriend. Korra landed, smiling at the two, when Mako wrapped his arm around her. "Good to have you back, sweetie."

"Good to be back. I'm really glad you're feeling more at home here, Twilight. I know how hard it was loosing the library." she smiled at her friends, "Thanks you guys."

Bolin shrugged, "Hey, it's what friends do!" he wrapped his arm around Asami, "Well, one chapter has closed, time to start a new one."

"Then let's start right now with a new memory cake!" Pinkie Pie zipped away only to reappear a few seconds latter with a tall multi-colored cake on her back, "Seven layer what's-that-flavor mystery surprise! These might be chocolate chips or they might be super-spicy black beans!"

"Let's go to the dining room." said Twilight and led them towards said room, "It's a little sparse, but at least there's a table and chairs." her eyed widened the minute she opened the door, "Whoa! What happened in here?" 

Korra was also surprised, "Yeah, last I checked, this place was empty!"

The entire hall was decorated with bright gems, a glass sculpture, flowers around the pillars and am elegant table cloth. There was only one pony who could have done this extravagant job.

"I couldn't help myself!" Rarity confessed, her cheeks bright pink. "It was just begging for the personal touch!"

Applejack bit her bottom lip, "Truth be told... I couldn't either! Your kitchen might have some rustic farm decor, Twilight."

"And there may or may not be some Daring Do posters up in your library." said Rainbow Dash.

Mako scratched the back of his neck, "Or the entire history collection of Fire Nation Art and Folklore."

Fluttershy whispered, "And some stuffed animals in your bedroom."

"Or a Nuktuk doll somewhere in there." said Bolin with his hands behind his back.

"Or a reading light I may have installed on short notice." Asami said while fiddling with her hair. 

They all flinched when another confetti cannon exploded. "What was that?!" Korra asked in surprise. 

Applejack sighed, "One of Pinkie Pie's confetti cannons."

"What? It's not my fault I hid them so well!"

The entire group laughed at the silliness and Korra squatted down, petting Twilight's head. "It really is good to be home."

"With you here, it always is."

The two princesses shared a hug. Not only did the castle feel more home to Twilight, but she was certain to make new wonderful memories.

With her Friends.


*(~)*

1 John 2:17~

The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God live forever.

*(~)*