Princess Twilight Sparkle looked out from her balcony to the city beyond.
“It will always be Ponyville to me,” she thought to herself. “No matter how much they call it Hippopolis now”.
Things had changed so much since she first became a princess over a thousand years ago. Her first circle of friends was long gone and as hard as it was to believe at times so was Princess Celestia and Luna. It wasn’t that things were bad, quite the opposite the whole world of Equus had never known such peace and prosperity. It was just that she had wanted them all enjoy to it.
“Princess Twilight,” She heard from behind her. “There is a problem with the new trade agreement between Griffinstone and Labyrinth.”
Twilight groaned as she turned toward her steward. “But we spent so long to come to a treaty both the Griffins and the Minotaur were happy with!”
“And they were, until they found out the agreement violated important contracts they both had with the Vol Protectorate. Both leaders are on the comm with along with Rupe Elkoss of Elkoss Combine.”
Twilight lowered her head as the anger ebbed from her. “I had a personal appointment scheduled shortly, could you tell them to wait half an hour?”
“Of course, your highness,” the steward said while taking a bow.
Twilight looked back to the horizon. When she first took the crown all those centuries ago she never imagined her duties as a princess wouldn’t just involve Equestria or even Equus but an entire galaxy. It started innocently enough, a risky venture to get Unicorns and Diamond Dogs working together. But what they found changed everything, including Ponyville which was now called Hippopolis and had become the largest city on the planet. The green fields and quaint houses she knew now shared space with acrologies that towered to the up to the sky dwarfing her castle.
But that was nothing compared to the knowledge that life existed outside their world. Now not just ponies but all thinking creatures had spread themselves to a number of worlds out among the stars. But there was always something special about Equus, it was the homeworld and a symbol of what they achieved together and nowhere else in the known universe had the magic she had grown up with.
She then saw a couple of objects moving between the towers, as they came closer she recognized the two large and very old friends.
“Spike! Mina!”
The two Dragons landed gracefully at the base of her castle and stood so their enormous heads were level with the balcony. The baby dragon she had first hatched was now a full grown adult with a mate right by his side. Twilight had changed as well, she was now the same size as Luna was when she had first moved into this castle.
“Twilight!” said Spike. “It’s good to see you again!”
“We haven’t seen you since the last migration,” said Mina.
“Well keeping the Harmonium running is a full time job. It’s not like the old days where I could just pop over to Sugar Cube Corner for breakfast before hoping on a train to the Crystal Empire. But enough about me what’s been up with the two of you?”
“Well,” Spike said while starting to blush. “That’s part of why we’re here. Mina and I have been talking and…”
“We’re going to be parents!” finished Mina.
Twilight had a big grin on her face. “Congratulations! Nice job Spike!”
Spike sighed and blushed even deeper. “What she meant was we decided that we were going try to make a clutch of eggs.”
Twilight flattened her ears. “Oh sorry, still you two are going to make great parents.”
“I would hope so, I learned from a great mom.”
As Twilight felt her chest swell she heard a beeping followed by the steward’s voice on the intercom. “Princess, Mr. Elkoss is getting impatient and…”
“*whish* I am past impatient, Equus Clan!” said an unseen Volus. “*whish* unless the diarch speaks to me in the next one hundred standard seconds *whish* both the contracts to Griffinstone and Labyrinth will be cancelled!”
Twilight gave a growl but then smiled sweetly at Spike and Mina. “I have to take this, I’ll be right back.”
But she didn’t come right back, the dragons had to wait two hours for the Princess’ return and when she did come back she looked worn out.
“Ugh, sometimes I wish we found out we WERE alone in the universe! First a trade agreement that both sides liked was almost ruined because of a volus who had so much ego that I’m surprised his suit hadn’t burst open from it! Then I had to issue an apology to a passive/aggressive Hanar diplomat who one of the Canterlot nobles called a “jellyfish”. And to top it off I almost had an alien RIOT in Manehatten because they thought a changeling’s lecture on the “artistic and engineering achievements of the rachni” was blaming the Citadel races for having the krogan “wipe out a unique and irreplaceable viewpoint of the galaxy”. Keeping the peace between the races of Equus has been hard enough, but when you add dozens of races from hundreds of worlds spreading friendship and harmony seems like a never ending battle!”
After a few moments of Twilight breathing hard Spike looked straight into her eyes. “Twilight, when was the last time you took a break?”
Twilight took a deep breath. “It may not seem like it but I schedule regular breaks to prevent burnout…”
“I think what Spike means is when was your last vacation?” asked Mina.
“It…has been a while,” Twilight said keeping her eyes on the ground. “After…the incident, I tried to keep busy with work, spend time with my friends, anything to keep my mind off what happened.”
“Twilight,” said Spike. “I know what had happened was the most painful thing that ever happened to you but avoiding it will only keep the pain going no matter how well it is hidden.”
“I don’t think a vacation is going to just make me feel better about it.”
“Twilight, remember when Rarity passed away? I was an inconsolable whelp on the verge of drakehood, it was just you and Applejack left, and I spent every day moping about. You sent me to visit Celestia and she suggested that I should be among the dragons going on what turned out to be the first excursion. I thought there was no way I could enjoy any of it, but it turned out to be one of the most fulfilling parts of my life.”
“Really?” Twilight said with a sigh.
“Yes, I learned from the asari about appreciating the time I did have with Rarity. I had seen wonders that I had never even imagined before, I spoke with people about their forms of wisdom and shared mine, finally I matured into a dragon I knew you and Rarity and all of our friends would be proud of.”
“Ahem,” Mina coughed.
“Oh and it was during then I decided to settle down with the most wonderful dragoness and wife in the galaxy.”
“And I couldn’t have asked for a better dragon to share it all with.”
Twilight looked at the starry night that was beginning to peek out of the sky. “I suppose I could take a trip for the sake of Equestria and Equus. Ever since we openly lobbied for a human embassy on the Citadel and supported the Alliance’s expansion in into the Skyllian Verge and Attican Traverse our relation with the other races in the galaxy have soured a bit. I have to speak with Princess Flurry Heart about making the preparations but by next year I can find some time to relax AND mend bridges with the other races in council space.”
Spike smiled. “That’s my Twilight, even when taking it easy she’s thinking about others first.”
“No wonder you turned out so well,” said Whimsy and she planted a kiss on Spike.
After a good laugh the three of them talked about them old days, their future plans, and a few care tips Twilight had for the hopeful parents. While all the laughing and sharing was going on Twilight couldn’t help but think about how all of these changes began…
Goodwill Tour planned. Earth year of tour: 2183…
In the Earth year 1176 ruins left behind by a spacefaring civilization were discovered on Equus. In the years that followed the information gleaned from the ruins produced amazing technology enabling travel to the furthest edges of the galaxy. The foundation of this technology was a force that bent the fabric of time and space.
The people of Equus thought of it as a means to spread harmony and friendship throughout the stars.
The civilizations of the galaxy call it…