Good morning, Princess!

by starfox365

Ch.5 The Gift

As Twilight continued to give Luna her magic she felt this strange feeling coming from inside of her. And at that moment she locked eyes with the mare and noticed the sinister glare in them.

She tried to pull away but when she saw Rainbow Dash fly into the wall she lost her focus.

She let out a groan of pain as she quickly had her magic drained. Luna started to speak and Twilight tried to look up to her and stop but she was loosing the ability to even move at this point. Getting her magic drained like this was just too much. But it wasn't even that.

As she could feel the last bit of her magic being sucked away out of the corner of her eye she saw her wings slowly dissipate and then in a small white flash, just vanish.

Her horn then did the same thing and then, with a fizzle, she felt all of her energy fade, and she slid to the ground.

---

Chapter 5

The Gift

---

"TWILIGHT!" The call was in unison as all hooves in the room went galloping to the purple, magic-drained mare.

Her eyes were no longer their same color but instead a vacant, faded silver version of what they once were. She was confused and felt like she had just been punched in the gut, "As...if. I didn't think things could get any worse..."

She shuddered out a mirthless laugh, though she was hardly able to move. She looked between all of her friends and then stopped on Rarity. The only Alicorn now.

"Well..Rarity.." She gave a humorless smirk to her. "Looks like..you're the princess now. I've...always had a feeling...that...that's what you wanted."

Honestly she would have put up more of a fight and not said the things she did. But..she had been through too much already and then to have this happen. And the only thing gripping her heart right now was sadness and a profound feeling of emptiness. Friendship seemed like a far off myth.

She just wanted to give up...and just embrace her new earth pony life...go far away from everypony, live her days in the new darkness. She tried to tell herself she had to stay strong, but her own conscious fell to silence in her mind.

Rarity was standing with her friends, who were trying to help Twilight up, about to reach for Twilight as well, when she heard the sharp words dig into her, and her eyes welled with tears, her cheeks a tint of pink as her nose crinkled in a sniff.

"I...I never wanted this, Twilight!" She half-yelled half-whimpered at her purple friend, her heart aching as she saw the empty husk of an earth pony dissipating into hopelessness before her, "You....You should know me better than that!"

She openly cried now, no excess drama, simply honest, endless tears that flowed down her cheeks like a waterfall, "I love you, Twilight! I...I love all of you! I'd never want this! This....this is all wrong!"

She hiccuped, her wings lowering for the first time since they had appeared as she openly wept, "This...this isn't what Celestia showed me....I don't want this! I don't want any of it!"

She shut her eyes tightly, biting her lip before gasping and turning sharply on her heel, galloping out of the throne room and into the unexplored corridors of Twilight's castle, not truly knowing what she had meant or where she was going, her sobs echoing after her as she vanished into the dim halls.

Pinkie Pie stared after her, her mane completely depleted of all of its normal plump pizazz. She kept a hoof on the small of Twilight's back, rubbing her softly. She looked down at Twilight through glossy blue orbs, looking a little disappointed with the princess, "...Even when you weren't....you've always been a princess to Rarity..."

She spoke with a strange knowing that was eerie, and yet exclusively Pinkie. She did not run after Rarity, nor directly tell Twilight what to do, just had a simple moment of wisdom. Against the wall, Rainbow slowly clambered onto her hooves, groaning and stumbling over to her friends, her wing hanging limply at her side, obviously sprained.

Twilight moved her head away from Pinkie as to not look at her after what she just said. Way to make her feel better Pinkie. Really doing a good job. She let out a soft sigh and still kept her head turned. They way she spoke about her. She felt like it wasn't supposed to cut so deep or leave these feelings but it did. Might have been intentional or unintentional but still, Pinkie was a strange mare.

It wasn't every day you have your idol killed and your whole being stolen. So how was she supposed to feel? If they honestly looked at this from Twilight's point of view she felt that they would understand how she felt. The way she saw it...Celestia and Luna came back..Celestia just up and dies and then Luna takes her powers away and..comes back to being Nightmare Moon, leaving Twilight an earth pony..and on top of all of this..the prime thing that Twilight was confused about, Rarity was now an alicorn.

Twilight turned her head over and looked to all of her friends. AJ continued to look to Twilight with her gaze shifting from the others in the room, her hat somewhere on the Castle floor.

Fluttershy still stayed quiet and was doing the same, her eyes lowered but flickering between friends.

Rainbow limped up to Applejack, who allowed her pegasi friend to lean on her and Rarity just..ran off. Dramatically, as usual.

Twilight put her hooves on the ground and started to push herself up but she found her strength failing. With a soft grunt she fell to the floor again but she didn't give up. She grunted again and this time she was able to push herself up.

She looked to Pinkie with a cold and exhausted stare, her tone a hiss, "Even though I'm sure you weren't meaning to I appreciate the...harshness of your words. But I sure hope you can understand where my changed feelings are coming from."

She still had this small feeling inside of her that somehow they though that this was her fault, or she could have prevented it.

Still, she kept her same hard gaze on as she looked between all of them. She honestly felt like just falling over again. "Well...one of us should go find Rarity...right..?"

Pinkie returned Twilight's glare with a fierce reflection, steadfast in what she had said. She pulled her hoof away from Twilight and clambered over to the three-ballooned throne, "Well, I'm not going to get her. AAND I know who should."

She crossed her hooves across her chest and slumped into the chair. Despite looking like a pouting, bratty child, she was obviously hurt by Twilight's harsh snap at her statement, and there were tears in the corners of her eyes. Dash was a little confused as to what had transpired, but could tell from what had passed between Pinkie and Twilight, where her loyalties needed to lie at present. So, she bit her lip and lowered her head a little before clambering back onto her own throne, swallowing hard as she looked across the room at Pinkie. Pinkie, surprised to have any support in her thoughts, smiled very weakly at Dash, who managed to nod, if not smile, in return to her pink friend.

She looked at Twilight, "Pinkie's right...you were being a real jerk. You, of all ponies, should relate to SUDDENLY HAVING WINGS one day! We're all just as shocked by...everything....as you are...but that's no excuse for taking it out on your friends!"

She huffed in exasperation, tears in the corners of her eyes, then stomping her hoof down onto the marble she sat upon, she barked, "I'm not going, either!"

Fluttershy and Applejack stayed quiet and watched as Rainbow and Pinkie both said what they wanted to. Twilight stayed quiet as she tried to think of something to say back to the two friends. She was being a jerk, huh?

"Ah agree with Rainbow Dash..." AJ said quietly. Twilight looked to her and she looked at Pinkie and Rainbow, with a sigh, Applejack turned away and climbed into her throne, muttering in disappointment, "...honestly Twilight...you could have handled that situation better..."

Fluttershy gave her wings a small flap. Biting her lip, she too climbed into her throne and looked down at her hooves, her voice a soft whisper, “It was awfully rude...”

Spike, obviously stunned by everything that had gone on and not sure what to do, glanced down the hallway that Rarity had fled into, biting his lip, and then looked up at Twilight with wide, concerned eyes.

Twilight closed her eyes and still said nothing. She just felt like...no. Her friends could probably read her face at this point so better to just not think and do. And you know what? If they were going to just not care...then...that was fine!

The drained and weak purple earth pony put her hooves on the ground of her castle and very slowly started to make her way down the hall Rarity had headed down. When she was in about the middle of the room her front left leg buckled and she gave out and fell on the floor. She knew they wouldn't care though. This was her fault right?

So Twilight let out a groan and pushed herself up and after her hooves wobbled for a bit she slowly set herself in motion and started to walk towards the are where Rarity had run off towards. She continued to limp around and would keep herself from buckling as she slowly searched for Rarity. Just...try and find the sound of crying and follow it right?

Waiting until Twilight had stumbled off down the hallway after their white pelted friend, resisting the fibers of loyalty that tugged at her heartstrings and told her to follow. There was a rift in the glue that held the six of them together, and it was between those two, so she forced herself to stay seated. Dash then turned to the others in the group when Twilight was out of earshot, "She's not gonna be of much use to us in that state, and we have a serious problem on our hooves, girls."

Pinkie nodded in agreement, looking around at the other two elements that remained, "What are we gonna do about Queen Meanie?"

---

Rarity had galloped until she could gallop no more into the depths of unexplored castle halls, and although she still sniffled occasionally, she was mostly quiet as she looked around the halls, seeing paintings she had never seen before. She came across one of Twilight Sparkle's mother, which she admired a moment before moving on, finding another painting of Twilight's brother, Shining Armor. She tilted her head. They were lovely images...very...real. She turned a corner and was surprised to see a painting of Apple Bloom on one wall. She stared at it awhile, then looked down the hall. It was insanely deep, and coated with many members of the Apple family. She turned away and looked down another aisle, where Pinkie Pie's family seemed to be upon the walls, and at the end of that hall she could see a stallion with a rainbow mane. That must be the 'Dash Hall.'

She trotted down the remainder of the 'Twilight Hall' as she had now dubbed it in her mind, passing a painting of what she assumed was Twilight's Father, then one of Princess Cadance. She stopped a few moments as she came to a lovely, somber portrait of Celestia...and a less than notable one of the old Princess Luna... then each of her friends--Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy...and then there was a frame. Just a frame. The frame had her cutie mark on its four corners, yet the huge canvas inside was empty. She sniffled and a few more tears ran down her face. She wiped her eyes on one of her wings, then stared at the appendage angrily, shoving it away only to have it bobble back at her. She cursed and grabbed the thing in her teeth, "This...is all...your...fault!"

She tugged at the thing furiously, more tears splashing down her cheeks as she felt the pain on her back. She gave a hard yank and got a mouth full of white feathers. She spat them out and sighed, hating the gift of princess-hood more and more. She stared at her empty picture frame, then turned away, finding herself in her own hallway, where the first painting she saw was of her sister, Sweetie Belle. She smiled fondly at it and moved on down the aisle, passing her mother, her father, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Pinkie...and coming to a huge wall, she stared with wide eyes at the largest frame she had seen yet, and it was by far the most beautiful. It was Twilight Sparkle...the mare as she had been when gifted with the trifecta of alicorn powers, her mane sparkled, her wings were half-open, her horn glistened in the soft golden lighting, even her eyelashes seemed to sparkle. Rarity was awestruck by the beauty of the portrait. And...it was in her hallway...the thought made her cheeks turn rosy...

She sat down in front of the huge frame, lost in its beauty, studying every inch of it. Was this how...she saw Twilight Sparkle? She could not even move from her seat, her jaw slightly slack as her eyes flicked all over the gorgeous painting.

As Twilight continued to slowly move through the unexplored halls of her Castle the things she saw brought back memories to her. The various statues inside the vacant halls and the vast area that she was completely unaware of made her a bit uneasy. This isn't how she wanted to venture through these halls. She wanted to do it..when she felt she deserved it. And with her friends. But now she had this to deal with. And the...feelings.

But then Twilight made it to the various halls that housed the many portraits on the walls. She looked past all of them and when her eyes landed on a rainbow maned stallion she quickly realized she was in some kind of..Hall designated for Rainbow Dash. She quickly moved on and found herself face to face with a portrait of Sweetie Belle. She almost fell over at this point but she was able to catch herself on the wall nearby. At this point she tried to open up her wings to catch herself...but they were gone.

With a soft sigh she looked up and past the portraits she spotted a white alicorn on the ground looking up at a portrait. The largest of them all, and it was a portrait of herself.

She looked away from it as it was her when she was an alicorn and it only brought back the harsh feeling of being stripped of those gifts. It was too...painful.

Still Twilight had a reluctant job to do or else she would have to face the wrath of her friends again. She pushed down the hallway until she was a little behind Rarity.

"I've never explored these halls..." She said loud enough for her to hear her. Twilight was surprised to not hear her crying. "But I guess now is as good as a time as ever...I guess."

With that said a sharp twinge of pain came from her forehead and surged through her body quickly. She shuddered from the pain and shifted where she stood but she was able to regain herself quickly.

"Rarity..." She said through a soft sigh. "I was sent to get you..because...they want you back...and some stuff has to be...discussed, I suppose..."

Shaking softly as she stood, she could feel herself slowly but surely gaining her energy back as well.

Rarity turned an ear to Twilight, but did not face her friend. Instead, she continued staring at the portrait in front of her, entranced with the beauty of it, "Did you see your own...hall of ponies important to you...?"

Rarity did not know what to call it but that, for that seemed to be what these halls were. Pictures of ponies they all cared about. Well, ponies and Spike. He seemed to be the only non-pony featured in any of the halls. The rest were friends, family members...those important to each of the six of them.

"My portrait is empty," She said softly, referring to the blank frame with her diamond cutie mark upon it that was in the Hall of Twilight,

"Yet...this is my hall...and look at this portrait of you. It's bigger than anypony else's portraits...."

She trailed off, glancing at Twilight a moment, her expression somber. There was one hall, though, that she had yet to explore. She rose to her hooves, folding her wings as a strange, somber calmness came over her. She headed down the hall, which was filled with six tapestries on the right and left wall, each the color of the six friends, and having an emblem of their individual cutie marks at the base, and there were six windows, one between each of them, mirroring each other. But it was what was at the end of the hall that caught Rarity's eye. She trotted on the long carpet that led to the end of the room, where there hung an enormously wide painting, and at it's center were Rarity—as an alicorn--and Twilight Sparkle—also an alicorn--the two of them each with one hoof around the other's shoulders, smiling happily. But...the portrait also seemed to be void of much content. For, as wide as it was, only Twilight and Rarity were in the middle.
There was a great amount of blank area between the two of them and the edges of the painting.

She sat down again, her brow furrowed, and finally she spoke, still not facing Twilight, "Do you want to know what Celestia showed me?"

As Rarity moved along Twilight followed her to the best of her abilities. She came face to face with the portrait that Rarity was looking at. The one with the two of them, with wings, hoof around each other smiling happily. She understood the point of the portraits in that moment and it didn't surprise her that much. She felt like she was being guilt tripped at this point but she wasn't going to make that obvious at any moment.

But then Rarity asked her if she wanted to know what Celestia showed her. At the mention of that name Twilight tensed up and looked away. She fought back the tears and instead let out a soft sniffle while still looking away. "The...the vision was meant for you..but if you'd want to share it with me..then I guess I can't stop you."

Rarity turned her head to Twilight, smiling sadly at her friend. She felt...for the first time since Twilight had become an alicorn...that she truly understood what her element, and what she, now as a Princess, was meant to do. Meant to...be.

So it was that she walked across the room to her purple friend, and rather than say anything, simply sat on her haunches and wrapped her forehooves around Twilight, pulling her into a gentle embrace, rubbing her hoof gently over her friend's mane, much as a mother would gently rub the back of a child's head when they were crying. She closed her eyes, sighing softly, "I'm sorry, Twilight....none of us have been very sensitive to what you have lost...Princess Celestia was like another parent to you...I can't imagine what that's like to lose...."

She did not allow Twilight to leave, even if the mare had tried to struggle, continuing to stroke her, "But...this isn't what she would want for you, Twilight. Celestia loved the spark you had...the ingenuity...the wit...the courage..."

"...But that will return...in time....for now...you haven't even had the chance to cry," She said the words tenderly, cradling Twilight against her with a generous amount of tenderness, "I think it's time you do."

Twilight stayed still as she had nowhere to go to. She was being held down by Rarity, and was forced to listen to her words and feel her stroke her like some child. While a part of her appreciated the kind words she was saying the other part of her, the more emotional part of her was doing its best to block out what she was trying to do.

Rarity pretty much, just sort of gave her a kind of 'Okay' to start crying. Twilight glanced up to her but still didn't let the waters flow. She stayed quiet for a few seconds longer. Eventually she gave this sort of little grunt that would perhaps make Rarity think she was about to cry but instead she looked up to the painting above, her eyes dim, her tone dark, "That love for my spark, the ingenuity, the wit, and the courage is dead."

She gave a small shrug to Rarity before looking down, limp in the white mare's arms, "Yeah. In a way she was like a second parent. Perhaps more, tell that to them in the throne room..."

She gave that small little soft grunt again and this time she actually almost let the tears come forth. But she was able to hold them back yet again. "In a way it makes me think...maybe...maybe I've done too much. I mean why else would..."

This time Twilight tried to shake herself free but Rarity's hold was stronger than she thought. So she stopped herself and just sat and accepted it. "I know..that sitting here and crying about it isn't going to fix anything."

Rarity refused to release her friend, knowing that the first step to accepting a loss was, in fact, to grieve, and she felt Twilight was still holding back, "I understand what you're saying....and I respect it....but forgive me...if I may be so bold..."

She sighed and hugged Twilight a little tighter, cuddling to her a little, "But I know you, Twilight Sparkle...and...what Celestia saw in you....will never be gone...no matter if you lack wings, horn, or even your very life. You'll always be Twilight Sparkle. Element of Magic, and Librarian extraordinaire!"

She laughed a little, sadly, "I fear you're being too hard on yourself. Be hard on me...blame me, if you need to....but never yourself..."

Rarity's lip quivered, and a tear slipped down over her muzzle, "I can't...be this...I can't...do this...without you, Twilight..."

She sniffed, trying not to openly sob as she was so prone to, trying to be strong. Yet the tears flowed, dripping down her cheeks and onto Twilight's shoulder and mane, but she did not snivel or whine, but just cried quietly, hopelessly, "I need you..."

Twilight was only able to sit quietly as her friend spoke. She still did not cry, but again tried to get away from her friend as she let the waterworks flow on her shoulder and part of her mane. But still, her death grip was strong and she had no way of escape. Besides, even if she did get out of the grip...where would she go?
Twilight let out a soft sigh and then decided to just stay put again.

"Rarity." She said to mainly get her attention.

"When I became a Princess I felt the same way you are now. I did things I wish I wouldn't have, but.... You can't just sit here crying about it. Celestia chose you for a reason...and it's for you to know so..you need to accept this. Besides." She gave a small shrug,"While I appreciate your words there really is nothing I can do in this state."

She gave a small smile to Rarity before looking away to come to a new found found acceptance of what she just said to herself, "I'll still be here though...just..."

“Less useful.”

Rarity finally, still feeling Twilight needed a good cry, regretfully, released her friend, standing before her, she managed a smile despite her tears, "Nothing you can do?"

She repeated Twilight's words, scoffing at them, "Did Nightmare Moon take your brain? Your courage? Your cutie mark? Did she take who you are?!"

Rarity beamed at Twilight, her expression determined, "No. She took your wings. Your horn. She took...she took your appearance of being a princess--you are still Princess Twilight Sparkle! You are still what holds all of us together! Still...still....what makes our friendship...magic!"

She turned and rose her hoof, gesturing up to the partially blank portrait on the wall, where the Princess Rarity and Princess Twilight stood arm and arm, happiness plastered upon their immobile faces, "Look at this painting, Twilight! It sees you as you are! A Princess, through and through! And you know what's missing from it!?"

She gestured to the large blank space on either side of the two of them in the portrait, where it did, indeed, look like something was missing.

"Our friends! We...We are the Elements of Harmony! If...If we can defeat Nightmare Moon once...I just...I just KNOW we can do it again!" Rarity stomped her hoof down onto the marble, "There must be something we can do! In your library...or at the old castle...or....I don't know! There simply MUST be something!"

Twilight still kept her head down as she listened to what Rarity had to say. At this point she didn't really care that much about what was missing from a painting. And yes, they had beaten Nightmare Moon before and yes, she knew that she was still who she was. But at the same time she felt like...she wasn't.

She had fully convinced herself that this was somehow her fault but she wasn't going to say anything. Just because of the circumstances and the events that had happened she was thinking like this.
Yeah she was still the element of magic..but she didn't feel like it. How could she be the magic element wielder if she couldn't even use magic? It was demeaning, to her at least.

The purple mare gave a soft sigh and looked up to Rarity. She made eye contact with her. "Both of those would be good places to start....tell that to the others in the throne room. "

She nodded her head in that direction and then looked back to Rarity. "While the words..motivate something inside of me. I'm sorry Rarity but..I just can't do anything....I can barely even walk..." She shrugged to her again and this time just one tear was able to break free from her tear duct and it started to slide down her face. She quickly wiped it away and gave a small sniffle.

"I'm sure that you all can do it!" She said with forced optimism. "It'll be easy right..?"

With that Twilight slowly placed her hooves on the ground and stood herself up. She shook a bit but she had regained a bit of strength and was able to move, even if it was slower than an old mare. She stood there silently and looked to Rarity, her greyed eyes desperately sad, before turning to head out the door.

Rarity frowned, scrunching her face in agony, not knowing what to do with this new, depressed Twilight. It was something she had not had to deal with before. She...didn't like it. Even when Tirek had stolen all of her powers, and the powers of the three alicorns...she was still...still TWILIGHT.

"Fine...if you think that way...then..." Rarity's horn began glowing as she concentrated every bit of magic she could muster, "If this is what it takes..."

She bit her lip and braced herself as she aimed her horn and fired every bit of everything she had inside her at Twilight, into Twilight, not knowing what spell she was using, or what she was doing, just concentrating with all of her might on what she wanted to do. In whatever way it was that magic could 'know' anything, her magic 'knew' what she wanted, and gave it generously. Her wings were first, of course, fading from her back and reappearing on Twilight's back. She felt drained already, as if she would crumble at a moment's notice, yet she kept going, her magic whiter than her pelt as it was so purely given away.

Finally, as her body gave out, her horn vanished, too, and the last of the magic vanished into Twilight, bringing the purple alicorn a new horn, it's tip strangely dipped in a soft white, like Rarity's pelt. Her wings, too, had this slight discoloration upon their ends.

Rarity wobbled and slumped to the ground, panting, and managed to mutter, "If...someone...has to be useless...."

She rested her head on her hooves tiredly, her eyes glossy, but she had no tears left to give, "I'd rather it be me."

Author's Note:

Sorry it took so long....I didn't have as much time as previous on reviewing this so if you see any blurps or missed spelling errors, I apologize....thanks again for reading...

Comments

[Hillbe]

Twilight Rarity ? I'm here to help I'm not a humdrum!
I have wings!?!
Nightmare Moon!
Useless?
Don't think so. . .
Why did I ever come to this shindig?
Spike still has no wings!
Wut? Angel Bunny has no wings!
Spike kill it with fire!

Could of been better it sorta had an idea that fizzled out

[Peachy Keen]

The element of generosity everyone! That's the Rarity that I like to see in fan fics. I love the idea that transferring the wings and the horn from one to another would make the recipient's wings and horn have a small bit of color from the original bearer. That's really ingenious! It makes you wonder if that's why Cadence's wings are like that. Hmmm...headcanon accepted.

[starfox365]

6246249

He's mentioned. He stays with the five.

[starfox365]

6209837

Ye ask and ye shall receive!

[Carolusrex1]

keep going please

[Eclipse Moonshine]

Moar...

[Earthen Forge]

I would like to ask for more, please.

[Eclipse Moonshine]

Will this ever be updated?