Prologue
The aroma of pancakes wafted through the air as Twilight wearily opened her eyes. The sound of sizzling haybacon coming from downstairs confirmed that her assistant was busy working on breakfast. An overwhelming sense of tiredness washed over her as she tried to sit herself up. I can't have stayed up that late last night, could I? She wondered to herself. Looking over to the window and seeing the first rays of morning shining through, she glanced over at the clock, noting that it was only 7 in the morning. The alicorn momentarily wondered why Spike would be up making breakfast so early, then suddenly remembered that this was the day she had agreed to help Fluttershy put together a new dam for some of her beavers. Twilight pondered why the pegasus needed to help build a home for the animals when they could do it themselves, but put the thought away, knowing the animal caretaker would always do anything to help out one of her critters.
She sluggishly got out of bed and walked over to her bathroom. Twilight turned on a hot shower for herself and stepped in, trying to wake herself up. She let herself soak for a few minutes, letting the hot water run down her body, and then turned off the water and began toweling herself off. Once again, drying herself off without making a mess of her feathers was proving to be a challenge.
“I swear I’ll eventually get used to these things. They’re such a hassle to take care of,” she sighed to herself. “I wonder how long Rainbow and Fluttershy spend every day making sure they’re in good condition. I can't even dry myself off without getting my feathers all out of place.”
After going through her morning routine, she slowly made her way downstairs, still not feeling fully there. The stairs creaked with her steps and she half-wished that she could just tell Fluttershy that she had stayed up late the night before and was too tired to do anything this early.
Maybe next time I know I need to be up early for something I could try going to sleep on time for once.
She stepped through the doorway into her living room and was greeted by the voice of her assistant calling out from the kitchen.
“Morning, Twilight. I didn’t expect you’d get up this early yourself. I was just about to come up and wake you,” Spike said.
“Well, it is a little hard to resist the smell of pancakes and haybacon, though I am really tired still,” she replied. She sat down at her kitchen table as Spike was setting out the food. She noticed a steaming mug of coffee over on the counter and levitated it over to herself. “Thanks, by the way. If you hadn’t gotten up early I would have definitely overslept.”
“Aw, it’s nothing. That’s what I’m here for,” he smiled at her, "You sure you're not too tired to go help Fluttershy?"
"Honestly, not really. But a promise is a promise, and I did agree to help her. I'm not going to let one of my friends down," she said.
Breakfast went by without much commotion as Twilight let her body absorb food and caffeine. The library wasn’t going to be open for a while anyways, and she didn’t feel like it was a morning for much talking. Finishing up her breakfast, she levitated her plates over to the sink, then got up and started walking towards the door.
“So Spike, you sure you’re not coming along, right?” she asked the drake.
“No, you go help Fluttershy with her animals. I’ll just be here taking care of the library. Do you know how long you’ll probably be gone?”
“Not really, but I’ll probably have lunch over at her place even if we’re done working before then. I’ll see you when I get back.”
“Alright, I’ll see you later, take care!” Spike said, waving her goodbye as she stepped out into the streets of Ponyville.
The morning sun was still making its way up through the sky as Twilight walked. Ponies all around were setting up their stalls for the day and the streets were awash in the soft tones of ponies working, only a few quiet voices being heard here and there. She was planning to meet Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy at Fluttershy’s cottage. The rest of her friends were busy this morning, Applejack always being up at the crack of dawn to start working the apple fields, Pinkie Pie getting started on the baking for the day, and Rarity having a large order she needed to fill by next week, not that Rarity would really want to help with a job like this.
Just a few minutes on her way through town she spotted a family of blue jays in a nest, perched in the branches of a large oak tree by Town Hall. The mother blue jay was busily feeding a trio of young hatchlings, who looked like they had just popped out of their eggs a day or two before. Twilight flew up to the nest to get a better look, curiously drawn to the heartwarming scene. Upon closer inspection, it looked like some of the mother’s tail feathers had been damaged, a few of the feathers bent while some looked clipped off, probably caught in some kind of machinery at some point. I wonder how well she can still fly, she thought to herself, suddenly conscious of what it would be like for her to try to fly with damaged wings. Twilight stared at the scene for a few moments, then hovered back down to the ground and continued on her way through town.
She was stopped several times by ponies, not all of them familiar, greeting her on her way down the street. Most of them would tell her “Good morning, Princess,” or “You’re up awfully early today, your highness.” She smiled and greeted them back, feeling very awkward about all the attention. Twilight still struggled with the idea of being royalty now. Of course, she didn’t really feel any different, aside from now having to deal with her troublesome wings. She wondered how the other princesses put up with it.
Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice call out her name from above.
“Hey Twi!” She looked up, seeing the distinctive cyan of Rainbow Dash hovering above her. The pegasus quickly descended down to the ground and landed beside Twilight. “Don’t see you up this early much. Glad to see you’re actually coming!”
“Hey Rainbow,” she smiled back. “Yeah, I know. I didn’t really get enough sleep last night. I don't think I'd even have gotten up if Spike hadn't been up early making breakfast, but I did say I’d come help. Can't let Fluttershy down, after all.”
Rainbow didn’t reply for a moment, then looked back at Twilight with a coy smile.
“So, Twilight. I noticed that you have wings now, but you're still walking," she said, "Think you're still not used to hanging up in the sky with me?"
"Hey, I can fly just fine! I'm just not really used to getting everywhere without my hooves," Twilight responded.
"Well then, since you're so good at it, how about we race from here to Shy’s place?”
Twilight hesitantly looked back at her. “I don’t know, Rainbow. I mean, if I wanted to get there fast I could just teleport. Besides, I’m still getting used to these wings and I haven't really flown for any long distances yet.”
“Oh come on, Twi. You know what I mean. Just race for fun? I just want to see how good you’re getting with your wings," Rainbow said, readying herself for takeoff. "Alright, catch you at Fluttershy's place! Ready, set go!”
Twilight struggled for a response as Rainbow Dash flew by her. She had just opened her mouth to speak when she was greeted with Rainbow shouting back at her.
“Hurry up Twilight! Don't fall too far behind!” she yelled, quickly disappearing in the distance.
Not wanting to let Rainbow down, Twilight quickly regained her composure and started flapping her wings. She struggled to fly at a fraction of the speed Rainbow had taken off with, but she still pushed herself forward as hard as her wings would let her. Feeling the wind beat down on her body as she flew, the alicorn began to see why Rainbow loved this so much. Cutting her way through the air, she just felt free, like the whole world was only herself and her destination. It was the fastest she had ever flown, and she was loving it.
Halfway through the town, her wings had already started to burn and ache, telling her to slow down, to stop. She pushed forward, something in the back of her mind telling her to try her hardest. Her wings hurt and she heaved for breath, but she felt a certain thrill in pushing herself to the limit like this. She grit her teeth and kept flapping, pushing harder and harder until all of a sudden she saw her friends on the ground looking up at her. Turning her head back up, she panicked as the sight of Fluttershy’s roof appeared just a few feet in front of her.
Madly flailing in the air in an attempt to stop, she quickly fired up her horn and teleported down to the ground, where she slammed down in a crash landing a few feet from where Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were waiting. She heard the loud laughter of Rainbow as Fluttershy quickly ran to her side and started checking up on her.
“That was HILARIOUS, Twi! We have to do this more often!” Rainbow said, laughing so hard she had fallen onto her back.
“Twilight! Are you alright? You didn’t break anything did you? Why were you even flying here that fast?”
Twilight dizzily stood up. “I’m… I'm fine. We just had a little race is all," she said, looking over at the pegasus still rolling around on the ground in laughter. "I guess I know how Rainbow feels every time she crashes into something now." She shook her head, trying to clear the stars from her vision.
“Hey, I’m still getting better about it. I haven’t flown through your window in over a month!” the cyan mare replied, getting off the ground. “When I said I wanted to race, I definitely didn’t expect this to happen though.”
“Twilight, you know I don't really like it whenever I see Rainbow doing dangerous things in the air, I’m not sure you should start copying what she does,” Fluttershy said.
“Hey, she started it,” Twilight replied. She looked over to meet Rainbow’s smile, and the two of them stared at each other for a moment before breaking into giggles. “On the other hand, I am feeling a lot more awake than I was a few minutes ago! Alright, well, we’re all here. Want to get started, Shy?”
Fluttershy looked inquisitively at her friends. “Oh, uh, sure,” she said hesitantly, suddenly remembering why her friends were at her home this morning, “There’s a pile of sticks in my backyard that I collected yesterday. Could you grab that, Twilight, and bring it along? Just follow me and I’ll show you where we’re going.”
“Sure thing,” Twilight responded, following the pegasus as she led her way behind her home.
Twilight and Rainbow Dash followed Fluttershy behind her house, where she had laid out a large pile of sticks and tree branches. Twilight levitated the pile up as the two of them continued to walk with Fluttershy out into the outskirts of the Everfree forest. They walked for a few minutes before reaching a small river where a small group of beavers had already started working on what looked like the beginnings of a dam. She set the pile of wood down as Fluttershy began explaining exactly what they would be doing.
“So, I hope you two don’t mind getting a bit messy, but I’m sure you were already expecting that. This family of beavers just moved over here recently and they need to get their home set up. They could put it together themselves but it’d take a few days, so I’m hoping with us working together we can get it done today,” she said, “This is awfully close to the forest, and I want these little guys to get their home together as soon as possible. Living out here can get awfully dangerous at night. The bottom few layers are made of mud and rocks, and are already set down, so we’ll just need to bring these sticks over and stack them up on top, and just make sure that it all fits together tightly.”
With that explanation, the three of them got to work. The lower layers of the dam were hidden under the water, so the three ponies had to wade out into the mud in order to work. Twilight would levitate the branches over one by one, and they would try to fit them on top of the growing pile of wood that made up the dam. Lightly stamping down on the structure as they piled more and more lumber onto the dam, they kept making sure that the pile of sticks were held tightly together. Out in the river, they worked side by side with the beavers, and as the hours passed the structure rapidly grew in height.
With the efforts of all three ponies and the help of Twilight’s magic, they managed to get the dam built up high enough that it would hold back several hooves of water by noon. The three mares were wet and tired and covered from head to hoof in mud by the end of it, but they all had beaming smiles on their faces as they walked back to Fluttershy’s cottage.
“Let me clean myself up, and then I can come down and start on lunch, if that’s alright with you two,” Fluttershy said. There were no objections from either Twilight or Rainbow, and the three of them stepped into Fluttershy’s living room after making sure to wipe the dirt off their hooves. Fluttershy disappeared up her stairs, leaving Rainbow and Twilight alone to talk in the living room.
“So Twilight, about earlier,” Rainbow spoke as soon as Fluttershy had vanished from the view, slightly startling Twilight. “It looks like your flying has really improved. I really didn’t think you’d try so hard you’d almost crash into Fluttershy’s house, though," she said with a snicker.
“Well,” she responded, “at least I was going faster than I've ever gone before. I’m not sure if you can really call that improving, though.”
“Hey, faster is always better! And more awesome!” Rainbow said, "I think you are definitely getting better though. I didn't even think you could put that much force into your wings before.
“Whatever you say, Dash,” Twilight said. They sat around and chatted idly for a few more minutes when a dirt-free Fluttershy descended the stairs.
“Alright, you two can use the shower upstairs to get yourselves cleaned up. I’m gonna go prepare some lunch for us in the kitchen. I hope daisy sandwiches sound alright to you,” she said.
“Shower? Ooh, me first! The mud's drying out and it's starting to feel all itchy!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she quickly flew up the stairs. Twilight and Fluttershy both stared over at the staircase that their friend had just ascended with blank faces, then turned around and decided to just let Rainbow Dash be herself.
Twilight followed the butter-colored pegasus into the kitchen and sat down, letting her friend work.
“It’s really nice of you to make lunch for all three of us,” she said, “You didn’t really have to you know.”
“Oh, of course I have to. You two spent your whole morning helping me out with something, it’s the least I could do to repay you,” she replied.
“So Fluttershy, I had actually been meaning to ask you something. Why are you always doing so much work for all these animals? They have to come and go all the time, and they can take care of themselves in the wild, can’t they?” Twilight asked.
“Well, first of all, I love what I do, so it doesn't really feel like a lot of work most of the time. I love all these little critters and I just want the best for all of them. As for your second question, it depends,” she said. “It’s true that a lot of the animals come and go, and a lot of them stay with me for a few days then leave for the wilds on their own, but not all of them can actually take care of themselves.”
“Hm? Why not?”
“Well, a lot of them come here because they’re separated from their families. Maybe they lost another critter very close to them, maybe their families abandoned them. I get a lot of injured animals out here too, and they need my help to get back into a condition where they can live on their own. It’s always hard to say, especially when a lot of them come from the Everfree, where they're always surrounded by other dangerous creatures. I make it my mission to show all these animals the kindness they deserve, especially when they’re coming from a terrible place.”
“That sounds… really noble of you. It seems like such a huge burden, to be there for all these animals. I suppose that comes with your element, doesn't it?”
“Well, it really is the least I can do. All living things deserve kindness. One way or another I think all these animals end up here for a reason. Ponies, animals, I think deep down all of us know that when we’re at our lowest, we just need a friend to be there for us, to help us pick ourselves back up.”
Twilight pondered the thought. The room grew quiet, and the sound of Fluttershy working filled up the kitchen. The calm serenity was suddenly broken when Rainbow Dash came down the stairs.
“So, is lunch ready? I'm starving,” she said expectantly.
“Almost,” Fluttershy replied, “just a few more minutes. Twilight, why don’t you go and clean yourself up? We can all eat when you’re done.”
“You two don’t have to wait for me,” Twilight said, making her way to the stairs.
"Oh, but it wouldn't be right to start eating without you," Fluttershy replied. Rainbow Dash nodded at her side.
"In that case, I’ll try to make it as quick as possible. Would hate to keep you waiting.”
She trotted up the stairs, finding Fluttershy’s bathroom and hopping in the shower to rinse the dirt off of herself, the mud having long since dried out already. It took her an especially large amount of effort to get the dirt out of her mane, a fact she resented because it had only gotten dirty when Rainbow Dash had decided to splash her with the muddy river water while they were working. Still, it was hard to really blame the pegasus too much. Everything that the blue athlete did screamed out she was a pony who truly loved life, and she did it better than any other pony that Twilight knew.
Having gotten herself cleaned up and rinsed off, she made her way back downstairs. Fluttershy’s dining table had been set up with three seats and had sandwiches and tea laid out for the three ponies. They ate and chatted about the little things happening in their lives, what experiment Twilight was working on at the moment, when the weather team had scheduled the next big storm, and what new animals had moved in around Fluttershy’s home in the last week.
“It was nice hanging out, and good luck with those beavers, Shy.” Rainbow Dash said as they finished their lunches, “I’ve got some cloud kicking to do, though, so I’ll see you girls later!”
She hastily made her way out the door and flew off into the distance.
“Well, thanks for the food, I’ll see you around Fluttershy,” Twilight said as she made her way out as well.
“Oh, it’s nothing. You two were a big help. I’m not sure what I would’ve done without you,” she replied, waving Twilight off.
The way home was significantly more chaotic than the trip to Fluttershy’s house, the morning calm of ponies working replaced by the hustle and bustle of large crowds of ponies shopping. It did mean that far fewer ponies went out of their way to notice Twilight, though, and she was thankful for that. Despite the activity all around Ponyville, the trip was actually quite uneventful, and it wasn’t long before Twilight was back at the massive tree that was her home.
“Spike, I’m back!” she said out loud as she entered the door. Walking in and closing the door behind her, she spotted her assistant by one of the bookshelves rearranging a large stack of books.
“Hey Twilight, welcome back. You got a letter from Princess Celestia while you were gone, by the way,” he said. Her eyes grew wide with excitement.
“Really? What did it say?” she asked.
“I don’t know, it was sealed and I didn’t want to open it until you got back. It didn't really look that urgent. Here, I’ll go get it.” The drake put down the books he was shelving at the moment and went over to Twilight’s desk, picking up a small letter with a wax seal of Equestria on it, addressed from Celestia to herself. Twilight gripped the letter in her magic as she removed the seal and brought it up to her eyes.
Dear Twilight,
I understand that you have been trying to continue living your normal life as before in Ponyville. I have no doubt that you've started to see differences in how everypony around you treats you, though. As a princess and the bearer of the Element of Magic, I think you will definitely have to take the time to get used to your station and truly embrace it for what it is. With that said, I have a very big offer for you.
The research you have done prior to now has mostly been focused on spells that have been recorded a long time ago but never adopted into modern-day use. You became an alicorn through developing your own new spell, something very few researchers can actually do. Now that you are a princess and Element of Magic, you're going to be doing more work developing magic instead of just researching old magic, Twilight. However, what you did when you became an alicorn could have created a lot of chaos and permanent damage throughout Ponyville. Because of this, I want to make you this offer.
I want you and Spike to come back to Canterlot for a year and live in the castle again. I will supervise your work on further magical developments, and hopefully teach you more about accepting all of your responsibilities as a princess. You need to fully come to terms with what it means for yourself and all the ponies around you. I know it’s a big thing to ask of you, but keep in mind that you’ll only be gone for a year, and then you can return. I don’t have any concerns about you living and working in Ponyville, but I would like to keep a closer eye on the spells you work on for a while, just to make sure nothing very bad happens again. I think that the two of us working together in the same place can lead to a lot more progress than having us work far apart from each other, at least until you become more independent in your magical research.
Think about this carefully. I’m not giving you any kind of strict time limit to decide, because I trust that you will make a decision once you are fully sure of what you want to do. I do expect a response within the next few days, however. I know this is a lot to ask ask of you, but keep in mind that you are now a princess of Equestria, and no matter what, your life can’t be the same as it always was any more.
Sincerely,
Princess Celestia
“So? What does it say?” Spike asked.
“Uh, Spike? I-I think we need to go get the girls and have a long talk,” she said, making her way over to her couch. Her whole body vibrated with nervous energy as she sat herself down. “I’ve got a really big decision to make, and I don’t think I can wait too long on this.”
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Good story can't wait for more
3973488 Why don't you like TwiDash? I am just wondering because I've never really learned why people dislike TwiDash
3973488
3973738
Twilight and Rainbow Dash are very dissimilar to each other and it can be hard to reconcile the idea of those two getting together. I don't disagree with that premise. I don't know if I want to say that those reading the story purely for shipping will be disappointed, but this is going to be a story more about the relationships between people (ponies) than a more character-driven take on shipping. At the end of the day, I don't want to think of this as a shipfic; I want this to be a story that uses its characters to say something about us as emotional beings.
Not to bad so far...
Trad light full. This story can be over before it even began
Great job!
good, i'll be waitin for the next chapter.
3973738
I can answer that. They just don't have personalities that go well together. If you think the whole daring do thing helps, I agree! But what other evidence do we have that they would be good together? I don't mind twidash, though I only read it for the rainbow dash romance that isn't appledash. I prefer flutterdash.
I expect one thousand chapters
3977351 to me I guess it just seems that the brash nature of Rainbow Dash can only be sated by Twilight's caring nature... Or maybe it's because I just like how Rainbow seems to be more tempered when I read stories about her with Twilight than my impression of AppleDash and FlutterDash
3973488
*Sees name, starts crying*
3973864 thing is, I look for stories that either are a straight shipfic (that sounds like I'm saying M+S instead of M+M) or ones that lead in to the love in a more elaborate fashion such as you are planning to do. I however avoid stories that conflict deeply within themselves as a whole.
Celestia seems really cold in her letter. Otherwise I really enjoyed this and it was an excellent connection between Rainbow Dash and Twilight. Tracking this.
Also, the Spike bro-code is strong in this one. 
Holy prologue, Batman! Lol, but seriously, I'm liking this a lot. The fact that she has to go back to Canterlot for an entire year hits home with me. I left my friends and family to join the military, and I know how hard that is. It seems cruel to me, for Celestia to send her there to make friends, have her build these solid relationships, then make her leave them. A year apart from some one can seriously strain any sort of relationship you may have with them. I'm interested to see how far you go with this concept. Please, take my like and fave with a smile, knowing you made someone feel a flurry of real emotion with just your prologue.
3973488
Oh look, a pointless ship hate comment. Alright, maybe not hate, but dislike. Seriously, what the hell was the point of this comment? You don't like Twidash? Good job; who cares? Now, had you given a reason why you were letting it slip, or perhaps some helpful advice on the story itself, I'd have left you to your devices. But could you do that? No. Instead you left a pointless comment where all you establish is you are reading a fic (something that can easily be determined by either a favorite to track the story or a more useful comment) and the fact that you dislike a ship.
Sorry, but I really hate pointless comments like that,
*ahem*
As for the story... excellent start. Don't have any problems with grammar and no noticeable punctuation errors. Like the monotonous beginning mixed with the ending. Like the style.
All in all, very good start.
3994169
I'm not about to argue with you over a comment I wrote as masked compliment, sort of comment. So I'll simplify this again as to the reasoning of the, now deleted comment,
It is about something I hate, but I like the story so I'll read it anyways.
You really need to work on developing a distinct voice for each character. Right now, all the dialogue has a common blandness to it, with each character letting words flow out of them in a stream-of-consciousness that lacks style. Very little of the dialogue in this chapter read like something that anypony would say, let alone the specific characters that were supposed to be saying it.