Luminous tried desperately to keep up with Pinkie Pie, who was bouncing around the Citadel, loudly calling for Twilight and saying hi to every rather surprised pony or changeling she came across, passing out sweets from her rather overloaded saddlebags. “Pinkie,” Luminous tried again, her voice a little strained from her attempts to follow the pink pony, who was bounding towards the Hall of the Elements, “Pinkie, Dame Twilight Sparkle is busy right-” she sighed as Pinkie totally ignored her and continued down the hallway, making a bee-line for the Hall, where Twilight was currently engaged in a rather solemn ceremony.
“Do you so swear, upon your very life, to protect Equestria, its changelings and mortals, and those who need your aid? To serve the common good of Equestria and its inhabitants?” Twilight asked in a stentorian voice that seemed to fill the hall where once she had found the Elements to defeat Nightmare Moon.
“I do,” came the three dragon-changelings' responses, their voices low, but sincere. They had, upon returning to the Citadel, told Twilight of their wish to join her cause. They had left their lands, where they had been treated as freaks, to come and join Twilight, after hearing all that Aqua and Trotter, who had been adventuring in those lands, had said about her. Twilight had, while hurriedly arranging the ceremony, made a note to give Aqua and Trotter a kiss, a party and a large bag of bits each.
Twilight looked seriously over the three dragon-changelings and gestured sharply, “Then by your oaths I hold you, and I proclaim you the first sworn members of the Order of Twilight, by the authority granted to me by the land of Equestria. Between night and day, and blessed by both, you shall keep the light at your back and the unhallowed darkness before you. With might and magic you shall keep these lands safe, and aid those who have need, standing against the myriad dangers of the Hedge and any other threat to Equestria. So long as you remain true, may your efforts be guided by the light of the sun and may you be guarded by the grace of the moon. Rise, members of the Order!” Several changelings stepped back as the dragon-changelings rose to all fours, then a great cheer rose, filling the hall with raucous celebration.
“Excellent,” Luna said next to Twilight, murmuring so only the purple unicorn could hear, “You handled that very well.” Twilight shifted her gaze over to the Princess to find Luna's expression unreadable. The dragon-changelings had insisted on swearing allegiance only to Twilight, and had openly distrusted Luna and the non-changelings amongst the work crews, who were more than a little nervous around the draconic creatures.
Pinkie popped up from behind the Princess, grinning, “Yeah Twilight, that was awesome!” Luna and the dragon-changelings whirled, startled by the sudden appearance of Pinkie, though Twilight, rather used to surprises by this point in the day, merely smiled as her friend babbled on, “It's so great that you're making your own order and stuff, that way you don't have to go around doing everything yourself, but Twilight?” Pinkie asked, grinning a little as she leaned in close, so her voice would go no further than Luna and Twilight, “Don't you think naming it after yourself was a little, I dunno...”
Twilight blinked, then blushed, while Luna giggled, relaxing, “A little pretentious, I would have said. I had feared she had let her success go to her head, but it seems not, judging by her expression,” Twilight blinked at Luna, who winked, surprising her again in a way she was rather less prepared for than the sudden appearance of Pinkie. Princess Luna chuckled, “I'd imagine Twilight felt it would be fitting to name the Order after the place between night and day, to honor both my sister and myself, but,” now the princess giggled at Twilight as she reddened, “I think she forgot her own name for a moment! Now, Pinkie,” Luna turned her smile to the pink party pony, “Whatever brings you here?”
“Oh! I wanted to ask you if I could host a party here! One second, I've got an invitation in here somewhere,” Pinkie started rummaging through her bags while a shamefaced Luminous came walking up. She had entirely failed to impede Pinkie in her quest to interrupt the ceremony, and was quite sure a reprimand was incoming. Princess Luna however looked understanding, while Twilight was thoroughly distracted by her friend's rummaging, which was throwing candy, party favors and other strange nonsense to the floor, much to the curiosity of the dragon-changelings. They had watched Luminous strangely as well as she passed, though she had tried to look dutiful and not let their regard bother her, she still felt their eyes boring into her.
Pinkie finally produced a card and gave it over to Twilight, who took it telekinetically, opened the seal, read for a couple of lines then blinked, “Luminous' birthday? That's this week?” Luna and Twilight's eyes snapped to a very surprised Luminous, who blushed under their regard while Pinkie nodded and bounced eagerly.
“Yep! I figured she might not know when her birthday was, so I checked in the birth records at Canterlot, but I couldn't find her in there, so I asked around everywhere I could think of.” Pinkie started bouncing around at that, thoroughly proud of herself, while Luminous stood there, reddening as the whole hall started to watch and listen curiously, despite Trixie's attempts to urge them out the door, “I looked in Ponyville, Trottingham, Hoofington, all over! And then I-”
Pinkie was silenced by Twilight's hoof plugging her mouth, to a general ripple of amusement in the hall, “Pinkie,” Twilight said firmly, “Maybe we should continue this in private?” Pinkie nodded and Twilight turned to the hall, her voice and manner formal once more, “You have all seen and witnessed the oaths given here today! Now, please return to your tasks. Trixie?”
“Yes, Dame Twilight?” Trixie called, poking her head around the bulk of the dragon-changelings as the rest of the hall filtered out, chatting.
Twilight nodded to the three large new arrivals, “Could you show our new members of the Order to their temporary quarters? I'm afraid they're not much,” she addressed the dragon-changelings now, “But we're building accommodations for you all presently. Please talk to Trixie if you have any concerns.” The dragons all nodded gravely, then, with a last odd look at Luminous, left, hunching to get through the hurriedly widened doorway.
“Now,” Twilight said once she, Luna, Luminous and Pinkie had retired to Twilight's permanent quarters, “What was it you were saying about Luminous's birthday?” She was rather embarrassed that the changelings had insisted on finishing her and Luna's accommodations first, though the wall was long since finished, she still felt guilty about sleeping in brand new quarters while most of the workers in the Citadel were still in tents. The chambers had once been Celestia and Luna's, and the sun and moon design in both rooms was still intact, but otherwise they had been totally redesigned.
The whole structure was oriented north to south, with Twilight's bedroom in the west and Luna's in the east, to ease her raising of the moon. In between their bedrooms was a common area, set with a large table and all the planning documents for the Citadel strewn about the room. Purple featured largely in the hangings and furnishings, emblazoned with silver moons and amethyst stars, while the table was set with an elegantly inlaid sun design that seemed to burn with inner fire when the sunlight hit it.
Both bedrooms had their own kitchens and, to Twilight's delight and Princess Luna's private despair, one shared bath, a miniature of the large public baths out in the Citadel proper, which were now becoming part of a large housing block for those that would be living permanently at the Citadel and would be sharing those baths. Twilight, Trixie, Luna and Luminous had all contributed to the main designs, which would turn the Citadel into a sort of tree stretching up from the canyon floor in which it was situated with rooms and additions sprouting off of it. It was a very ambitious project, and Twilight was sure Luna would still be working on it long after she'd gone.
For now though, Twilight was rather glad for the quarters, even if having hers first made her a little uncomfortable. Pinkie however, had no such reservations and bounced excitedly, “Oh yes! It's Lumi's birthday in three days! And you know how I found out?” Pinkie suddenly asked Luminous, who fell back on her rump in surprise, “Do ya? Do ya do ya do ya?”
“Um... No?” Luminous said awkwardly, looking into a pair of blue eyes that brimmed with energy like somepony watching a knife in front of their face.
Pinkie leapt up onto the table, scattering plans and documents, “I asked! But like I said it wasn't easy, 'cause nopony in Canterlot knew where you'd been born! Not even at the orphanage!”
Luminous blinked, “You... Went to the orphanage?” Luminous had never told anypony but Twilight that she had been an orphan, but she guessed it was on public record. It still seemed like a lot of effort to go through for something as silly as her birthday. The strange pink pony seemed sincere though. “But...” Luminous asked, confused, “Why?”
Pinkie rolled her eyes, “So I could find out your birthday, duh! But nopony knew when it was!” Pinkie started, to Twilight's annoyance, to pace across the papers on the table, “So I went to Hoofington, asked around there, then Trottingham, then even around Ponyville and that was where I found the first clue!” Pinkie was suddenly wearing a rather ridiculous hat and sported a bubble pipe, “It led me all the way around Ponyville, you shoulda seen it!” Pinkie jumped down from the table and started looking around the room, “I searched high and low, and finally I found a pegasus that recognized the name and description! Do you know why?” Pinkie asked intently, leaning in close to Twilight, who blinked. Before she could respond, Pinkie was back on the table, on her hind legs, pointing dramatically upwards, “Because Luminous was born in Cloudsdale! And...” Pinkie grinned and savored the anticipation for a moment then said, "Her parents are going to visit for her birthday!"
Luminous, to everypony's surprise, looked as if Pinkie had just announced the world was going to end. The little white filly had gone entirely white as the blood drained from her face, then passed out, giving Twilight only seconds to catch her squire before she hit the ground.