The Stars That Come at Twilight

by Ciroton

Prologue - Dreams and Dragons

Wind howled and ash blew across the once fertile fields just outside of the small town of Ponyville. It carried with it many things as it caressed the ravished landscape: ashes, heat, the occasional leaf or two… but most of all it carried with it a stench. It was a smell she had become sadly accustomed to over the course of her life due to a few unfortunate… incidents. It was that most foul, putrid smell of death. With every breath she took, her muzzle was assaulted by the violent and ghastly miasma as it drowned out all other scents.

Trees, once lush and vibrant, jutted out of the scorched earth, charred black and stripped of their leaves, now like the legs of many spiders reaching out from the ground, clawing upwards into the sky. Yet, the sky was not the soft, pale blue she was accustomed to, nor the gentle palette of her namesake, nor the bejeweled velvet of night. Instead, the sky was a dark, black void devoid of anything save the moon… and the sun oddly hanging close beside it.

A thump and the sound of breaking glass broke Twilight from her horror-inspired stupor, refocusing on the cause of this entire mess. It was a massive, undefined shape daubed infuscated blazing white, as tall as mountains, moving towards her on four limbs, and taking great care to step on every single home and business between them. If it had not trampled countless other villages and cities since this calamity started, Twilight would have thought it was doing so out of spite… and maybe it was.

“Is there nothing we can do? Nothing at all!?” spoke the shaken, yet still measured voice of her beloved mentor, just out of eyesight.

“I am afraid not, my child,” another answered. It was a familiar, yet unrecognizable voice that was muted against the screams of ponies, the crashing of buildings and the burning of fires surrounding them. “It has absorbed too many, and is beyond any of our strength, combined or not.”

“So, this is the end of it all? I daresay I am disappointed,” said a second voice that was just as muddled as the first, though it sent chills down Twilight’s spine to hear it. “I was hoping I would be the cause of the apocalypse. I even had a nice stage show planned to send it off on.”

“Oh, can it, you egomaniacal foal gobbler!” Princess Luna replied with no shortage of venom in every syllable. “If there is truly nothing we can do…” she trailed off for a moment, taking a deep breath, “Then I suggest we go out with valour!”

Twilight’s head spun, and not just from the overpowering smell of death upon the winds. Her home was destroyed, her friends and family likely dead… and as the thought crossed her mind, the beast before her unleashed a torrent of flame which engulfed the rest of the town. It turned its head up at the assembled… creatures (for she had no idea if the strange voices were ponies or not) and grinned at them with massive, gleaming teeth. She never thought that she would live to see the end of the world, or that it would be so sudden and so violent. Tears welled up in her eyes as it hit home just how many lives were lost, and were going to be lost.

“I’m with Luna!” Twilight said at last. “If I’m going out, I want to do as much damage to that… that THING as possible!” Just as she charged her horn and summoned forth a blade made of pure mana, the third and final unknown creature with her walked towards the first unknown speaker, simultaneously blocking Twilight’s path forward.

“This is NOT ‘The End’,” she spoke simply, in a voice as smooth as silk and soft as the eye of a roaring hurricane. “Four remain, my dear husband. I suggest we make it three.”

Four what? How could this not be ‘The End’ if they were all going to die!? It was nonsense to Twilight. Utter nonsense! In fact… everything around her seemed a little… off; a little too hard to believe. However, before she could do a quick check if she was in fact dreaming or not, Twilight became awash in two overpowering auras of magic from the two unknowns who spoke with each other. One was as bright and brilliant as the sun, while the other was as dark and cold as the abyss hanging above. And as their horns met (at least they looked like horns), a third wave of power washed over her, wiping away everything into a soft, warm mass of white fuzz.

“Nnnggh,” Twilight Sparkle groaned as she felt herself pressed on all sides by the warm embrace. Yet, as she stretched out, a hoof slipped out of the snugness and kissed the cold, night air. Wait, her tired mind flailed, cold… why is it… She shot up out from the covers of her bed and tumbled onto the wood floor below, landing with a muted thud. Quickly realizing she was just dreaming, she scrambled to her hooves through the tangle of blankets. She had to get to her nightstand, before it was too late!

“Where’s that quill!?” she whispered into the dark as to not disturb Spike, whom was still fast asleep in his bed. Thankfully, she opened the drawer and found it exactly where she left it. With a quick flare of magic, using its glow as a makeshift light, she hurriedly scribbled what she could remember from her dream, but already many of the details were swallowed by her subconscious mind. Eventually, she could not recall anymore and groaned quietly in frustration before slipping back into her bed. This lucid dreaming stuff had better be worth it, she thought before quickly being enveloped in sleep once more.

~*/\/\/\*/\/\/\*/\/\/\*~

Unfortunately for Twilight, the rest of her night yielded no more dreams (or nightmares) that she could recall and so, come the sound of morning birds chirping just outside her window, the groggy unicorn rolled out of bed and took care of her morning ritual. Oddly, there was a slight ringing in the back of her head; it was as if she had been hit by something in the night. Then again, it was probably a consequence of falling out of bed previously, so she gave it no further thought.

“Ah, Good morning, Twilight,” spoke an all too familiar and way too cheerful baby dragon as she finished climbing down the stairs. “Breakfast’s still a couple of minutes off. I thought you’d sleep in longer.”

“Mmm,” Twilight Sparkle muttered as she found a cushion and sat upon it, stifling a loud yawn with a hoof. Not a thought passed through the mare’s head as she sat there silently and dropped her head downwards in hopes of catching a few more minutes of sleep while breakfast cooked. But, between the ringing in her head and the bright light of Celestia’s morning sun shining upon her, she just could not seem to drift off.

Realizing that resistance was futile, she sat up and yawned once more, spying the time the clock on the mantle displayed and scarcely believing her tired eyes. It’s nine thirty and I feel like garbage, a thought bubbled up through the haze of sleep that clouded her cognitive functions. Maybe that study on coffee addiction was right. She had read a recent paper, by some stallion she could not be bothered to remember the name of, which said excessive use of coffee impeded the ability to wake up. But as the lingering aroma of cooking cocoa beans wafted past her muzzle, she quickly decided that she’d rather have the coffee.

Already, the promise of that black ambrosia waiting for her parched lips stirred her brain into action. It was far from wakefulness, but just enough to notice that something was… amiss. Looking around the main room of the library, she saw the stacks of shelves of books she knew well and, at a glance at least, they looked the same as always. However, when her eye lingered on the photographs of her friends and family, things felt a little off to her. Maybe it was just that weird nightmare she had that was messing with her head, for she was still half asleep.

Yes, that had to be it. Once she was more cognisant, she would realize just how silly it was to be shaken by such an absurd and yet vivid dream. Then, she noticed what was out of place. Scanning the wall, even in her tired state, she could see that the big picture of her friends and family all together on the fifth anniversary of her move to Ponyville… was wrong. She stood up and trotted over to it with purpose and examined the picture closely.

Who is she? Where is… What are they doing together? Why is… and other such questions raced through her tired mind as she suddenly became quite curious about all her other photos. Panic began to set in as she examined them and found that, while a few of them remained mercifully the same, the rest of her pictures differed both subtly and bluntly from the pictures she remembered.

Twilight grabbed her head with both hooves as she felt her head begin to swell and ache with a myriad of questions with no apparent solutions. A sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was very, very wrong roared louder and louder. That was when a realization hit her that, thinking about it, she could not remember taking ANY of these pictures… and she could remember taking ALL of them at the exact same time.

“Uh… Twilight? Are you okay?” Spike asked, timidly. Wheeling around, the scholarly mare had failed to hear the signature click of claws on wood behind her. The expression on her face must have been wild or full of mania, because as soon as she turned on him, he suddenly started to look very nervous. “If you’re, uh… anxious about your coffee, don’t worry; I was just coming to tell you it’s ready. Also, you might want to breathe.”

Only when he mentioned it, did Twilight realize that she was hyperventilating. Automatically, she drew a hoof to her chest, inhaled deeply, and exhaled just as deeply while extending the hoof out, feeling just a little more calm already. Where did I learn that!? Cadance? What’s a Ca- Foalsitter, Sister-in… In law? How could I… did she and… but! This time, the panicking mare realized that she was breathing shallowly, but no number of attempts at this calm breathing exercise seemed to do the trick.

Suddenly, she felt a hard, cool sensation against her chest and barrel. Distracted from her panic, she looked down to see Spike giving her a gentle embrace. Her breathing slowed and her mind began to clear as she realized she must have had a really bad panic attack to scare the little dragon that much. She extended a hoof around him and returned his hug gratefully. “I’m okay now, Spike. I’m sorry for worrying you,” she said.

“Me? Worried? I… maybe a little,” he said, pulling himself out of the mutual hug to speak to her face. “Did you have a really bad nightmare or something last night? You looked… really disturbed for some reason. Do you want to talk about it?”

Okay, now Twilight knew she must have had a bad freak out if Spike was willing to hear about her dreams. “Well…” she said, “I can’t remember the details now, but… basically? Ponyville was destroyed by a giant monster, most of the ponies I knew and loved were dead, and the world was coming to an end.” Seeing a little more worry on his face, she hastily added, “It wasn’t you or anything: the monster was a quadruped.” Now that she was calm and startled awake by her panic, she felt rather silly over what had just happened and blushed a little. “I guess it felt so real that I was shaken by seeing all the happy, smiling faces in my photos.”

“Wow. Sounds like a really messed-up nightmare,” Spike said. “Now, how about some of that coffee I made for you? I also made some toasted bagels and blueberry pancakes for break-” However, in mid-sentence, something got caught in his throat, choking him up for a moment before a loud belch of green flame rocketed from his maw, coalescing into a scroll of parchment that Twilight picked up in her magic reflexively.

The royal seal on the letter gave away its sender immediately, not to mention only a couple of ponies knew how to use Dragon Fire as a means to contact her. But what could the princess want with her this early (well, for her at least) in the morning?

My Faithful Graduate and Trusted Friend,

We require the presence of you and Spike in Canterlot immediately. A Royal Chariot is en route as this letter reaches you. Please be prepared for an overnight stay and have Spike bring no more than three of his favourite things.

With urgency,

Celestia.

Twilight read the letter aloud to Spike, who then smacked his face with the palm of his claw, but she was not paying attention to his reactions. The clarity and composure that Spike gave her mind was erased as suddenly as an ocean swell reduces a sand castle to a heap. Left behind by the tide was a tangled mess of questions, panic, uncertainty, and worst of all, a SEVERE lack of her morning coffee!

Before Spike could even utter a syllable, she was off like a rocket; sprinting up the stairs and back into her bedroom, hurriedly pulling book after book off her shelves. Was this a test of some kind? Had a monster escaped from Tartarus and was on the loose? Or, worst of all, was she tardy for an assignment she didn’t know about!? With not even a clue about what was going on, she decided to grab a book from every field of study that could feasibly be relevant, and then some.

In less than ten minutes, she had already accumulated at least two dozen books when a heavy knock sounded on the door. “ACK!” she screamed in surprise. “I… I mean, I’m coming!” Picking up the books in her aura of magic, the panicky former student trotted down the stairs to the front door of the library. Standing in the doorway were two white pegasus stallions clad in gold armour with turquoise stars on their chests. “Ah, good morning sirs, just give me a minute and I’ll…”

“Sorry, Lady Twilight, but there is no time to delay,” one of the guards cut her off. “Princess Celestia requires you both immediately.”

“It’s okay, Twi, I packed breakfast,” Spike side from behind her, carrying a thermos and a basket smelling of the promised meal, and a few other things he was carrying.

Smiling gently at her always-prepared assistant, Twilight nodded her head and stepped outside of the library, attaching a hastily-scrawled note to the door before locking it. Running through a quick mental checklist of everything she needed, she, Spike, and her legion of books piled into the back of the royal chariot. With an awkward lurch, the chariot was off and soaring through the sky in a matter of moments.

However, Twilight could not enjoy the sensation of flight as her mind was troubled by the myriad of questions buzzing around in her skull. She absent-mindedly grabbed the thermos of hot coffee handed to her by Spike and took a gentle sip of it while she stared straight ahead at the sky. Her thoughts quickly turned to her teacher, her mentor, her mother... figure. Where did that come from? Twilight thought. I mean, she’s always felt like a second mother to me, but… She winced as something forceful seemed to knock on the deep recesses of her mind. Soon, she recalled it was from the dream she had last night; she had felt so safe and warm beside Celestia in it, almost as if she was… but that was absurd! She had a loving mother already; and a father and a sis--brother! Her head shook again as this new thought rattled her mental cage.

“Twilight, are you sure that you’re okay?” Spike asked with a slight tinge of worry in his voice.

“I… I don’t know, Spike,” she answered reluctantly. “It’s just… that dream was so… vivid and yet vague at the same time. I’m just not sure how to process it. Right now, for example, I could have sworn I had a little sister as opposed to a big brother.”

“Huh. That IS weird,” he replied. “But uh… I get dreams like that sometimes too! Like, this one time, I was in the Power Ponies and the bad guy Duke Dark Chocolate had trapped them all in chocolate cages and I could have sworn I smelled it.”

Twilight rolled her eyes slightly. “It’s not the same. When you woke up you knew you didn’t actually smell it, right? Well, for me, even now I still feel like my perception on things is skewed.”

“Well, you’ve only just woke up,” he said as she took another drink of coffee. “But if it’s really bugging you that much, why don’t you ask Princess Luna when we get to Canterlot? I’m sure after we take care of what Princess Celestia needs, she would be happy to help you out.”

She closed her eyes briefly and sighed as Mount Canter swiftly grew larger and larger. As always, Spike was there to be her emotional anchor and closest confidant. She dared not think what her life would have become without him, and so she took a deep breath and relaxed. “You’re right,” she spoke, “It’s useless worrying about dreams when we have something more tangible to worry about instead.”

“Yeah, that’s… what?” he started before Twilight pulled up one of the dozen books surrounding them.

“It could be a friendship problem in the dragon lands. Oooh, or it could be some sort of diplomatic parley with the insular Yaks of Yakyakistan!”

Spike groaned loudly, but Twilight ignored it as she quickly leafed through the books she had brought to prepare herself now that she had a couple cups of coffee in her system. It never hurt to be prepared and by the stars above, Twilight Sparkle was a mare who would be prepared for anything that came her way! She just hoped that she had picked the right books to prepare for anything with!

~*/\/\/\*/\/\/\*/\/\/\*~

Touchdown of the royal chariot came far sooner than Twilight had anticipated, not mentioning they were much further from the castle than she imagined for an emergency. Canterlot Castle, and the city that bore its name, were separated by a sheer rock wall that acted as a natural wall between the two with the castle proper overhanging Canter Valley, and the city itself on a more gently sloped portion not visible from Ponyville. Usually, in such situations they would be as close to the castle as possible, but today? Today they had landed on the OTHER side of the natural barrier, on the paved streets of the city. It was not too far from the castle, but it would certainly eat precious time to travel that distance on hoof.

“Excuse me, sirs, but why are we stopped so far away from the castle? I thought this was an emergency!” Twilight asked, rather tersely.

“Our apologies, Lady Twilight,” the guard to her left spoke, “but Princess Celestia asked us explicitly to land here.”

The other guard to her right chimed in, “Airspace was cleared out around the castle today by her decree this morning.”

Far be it from her to question Celestia’s motives, but Twilight was beginning to reconsider the urgency of the letter if she had asked her speedy royal guards to pick her up with all haste only to drop her off a good five minutes’ trot from the castle and through two gatehouses. She stepped off the back of the chariot and opened a rift in space in front of her, placing her books inside the void before quickly shutting it and started down the road at a brisk trot.

“Woah,” Spike said, jumping onto her back. “When did you learn how to do that?”

She could not help but smile at the awe and wonder in his voice when he asked the question. Smiling, despite no one really seeing it, she spoke, “Well, I’ve known it for a while… at least a couple of years now.”

“Funny, I’ve never seen you use it,” he replied. “What book did you learn it from?”

“Well, that’s easy, it was…” Try as she might, she could not remember what the name of the book was. In fact, she was having trouble recalling if she even picked up the spell from a book in the first place. Her mind churned as she looked through her memory banks, but came up empty after a few moments. “I… can’t recall actually. I’ll think of it later. Right now, we have to focus!”

“Oh, okay. I guess that’s why we’re ignoring Twinkleshine?”

“Twinklewho?” Twilight asked before running into the mare in question not a second later.

“Hey, watch where you’re… Oh! Hi Twilight,” the mare in question said, turning towards her. “What brings you back to Canterlot so soon?” She was a white unicorn with a soft, pink mane and turquoise eyes, smiling happily to the dumbfounded purple unicorn. All at once, this was a face both familiar and yet very alien to Twilight and the chaos in her brain made her too woozy to comprehend.

However, she did not betray her inner turmoil and responded immediately, “Official business; very urgent. I am needed at the castle ASAP!” She smiled back and hoped the odd mare would take the hint and leave her be. But since when had things gone her way this morning?

“Oh, well, I’m not busy or anything. Maybe we can have a quick chat while we walk?”

“Er, well…”

“Sure!” Spike interjected. “I mean, we’re in a little bit of a rush, but we can catch up as we go, right Twi?”

“Yeah… sure,” Twilight replied, not exactly sure this was the best course of action. Still, if it got her to this emergency faster, the better in her books. She set off towards the castle once more at a brisk trot; although with her nerves she was ready to break out into a full-tilt gallop at a second’s notice. Unfortunately, the other unicorn was well able to keep pace and converse.

“Moondancer’s made some amazing progress since your last visit, Twilight!” the white mare chirped happily. “Why, just the other day, when we went out into the street to play Hoofball, a little colt came up to us. The poor thing was lost, so Moondancer actually calmed him down and not only told him how to get home, but suggested we all go with him to make sure he got there safe!”

“Uh-huh,” Twilight said automatically as she ran through a list of spells she might need to perform at a moment’s notice. Unbidden, the image of a unicorn very similar to herself in mannerisms and mane style came to mind. Was that this Moondancer character the pony mentioned? Again, the name felt so familiar and yet so foreign to her. She shook her head clear of the thought though; her mind was needed here and now, not dwelling on a dream that had shaken her.

“Are you okay, Twilight?” Twinkleshine asked, looking at her old friend with worry.

“Huh? Oh, yeah… Sorry. I’m just distracted by this urgent and sudden summons and a bit of a bad dream I had last night,” she replied.

“Well, maybe you could tell me about it?” the old friend offered.

“Sorry. I don’t remember much about it other than… well… I wrote it down in a dream journal. Princess Luna said she’d like to talk to me in dreams, but would rather I be lucid for them, so she sent me some material about it. Actually, it’s a really fascinating process to read about.”

“Wow, that sounds really interesting, Twilight!” the white unicorn smiled at her. “I’d love to hear more, but we’re already here. Next time you’re in town, hopefully it’s not an emergency so you can tell us all about this!”

Lo and behold, while they were talking, the two mares and young dragon had already covered the distance between the landing zone and the gates of Canterlot Castle. Honestly, Twilight was relieved to finally be rid of this pony, not because she was unpleasant, but because her face kept starting a tug-of-war in her mind between reality and dreams again. “Well, this is my stop. See you around, Twinkleshine. I’m sorry we couldn’t chat much.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it! We can catch up later,” she said. “Bye, Spike! so long, Twilight!” With a casual waving of her hoof, she turned around and left them to their devices.

“That was a pleasant run-in,” Spike said.

“I suppose, but it cost us valuable time in assisting the princess. We can’t delay any longer!” When she was sure that the mare called Twinkleshine was no longer watching, Twilight broke into a full gallop past some puzzled and concerned royal guards, blowing past checkpoints and bridges with wild abandon only the former protégé of the eldest ruling alicorn could afford.

Stepping into the castle proper, Twilight and Spike found not the chaos and panic normally there any other time Celestia had called upon her. Instead, there was an unnatural calm suffused with an air of fear and unease, present in the several staff watching her approach. She slowed to a more casual gait as she climbed up the main stairs and past a set of doors at the top that lead into the throne room’s antechamber. As she walked, she could not help but feel like things were different about the castle, and not just the mood of it. Twilight closed her eyes and pushed the thought out of her mind.

“What’s with everypony today?” Spike asked, giving her the distraction she needed.

Taking a quick look around at the castle ponies, Twilight did, indeed, notice a lot of eyes upon them. But they were not staring at her: she could tell by the looks on their faces. Instead, they were all staring at Spike. Normally, she would attribute this to the fact he was a dragon. Frankly, ponies in Ponyville still stared at him on occasion, but only the new members of castle staff would stare at Spike. Today, almost everypony was.

“I don’t know, but it’s a little creepy,” she said as the two crossed into the antechamber.

“Good day, Lady Twilight,” the exceptionally rattled secretary greeted. “Princess Celestia is inside waiting for you.” She smiled an uneasy smile like the other ponies in the castle. Even with her limited experience socializing with the castle staff, this immediately sent up red flags. The biggest and reddest of all was the possibility that Celestia was mad at her for something, and suddenly her mind reeled. Was she… tardy… on an assignment after all!?

The door into the throne room suddenly loomed over her unlike any time she had to enter it before. Not even the time she accidentally set a desk on fire and got sent to Celestia to explain why there was a fire at her school made her feel so much dread. Still, as much as she did not want to, she had to answer the summons. And so, as soon as she drew close enough, the doors opened before her, aglow with the magic of the two unicorn guards flanking the door from the other side. What she saw there, however, shook her far more than anything else she had experienced since waking that morning.

Celestia sat perched upon her throne as regally as ever and with a serious, yet calm expression upon her face. But that was not what had scared Twilight. Sitting beside her mentor and friend was a dragon unlike any other she had ever seen! For one thing, it was not as big as she had seen other dragons, standing only maybe twice as tall as the seated ruler of the sun. Its horns were smoother than those of other dragons she had observed, too, closer to the texture of the alicorn horns, gleaming like opals as they swept low beneath its jaw. What really impressed upon Twilight were the brilliantly shimmering scales of pure bronze, and large, black leather wings that twinkled with points of white, as if stars were within them. The expression on the dragon’s face was one that she could not quite pin down, but if she had to guess, this dragon was the reason why Twilight was here. Had she offended her at some point? She failed to see how that was possible since they had never met. Her head was together enough to be certain of that.

Twilight walked closer to the pair cautiously, not noticing Celestia dismissing the guards who let her in, leaving the two mares and two dragons alone together. On her back, she could feel Spike tense up just a little, obviously a bit scared of this dragon as well. She kept her composure as she approached the circle in the centre of the room before the throne. “Princess Celestia,” she said, finally deciding to break the silence. “I’ve come immediately as per your request. May I ask whom we have the pleasure of hosting today?”

“You may not!” the dragon roared. Its voice was not as deep as Twilight expected, giving rise to the theory that this dragon was female. “How DARE you enter this chamber and not show your liege her proper respect!? Not only are you a shoddy caretaker, but it seems you are also an irreverent servant!” The dragon growled in the silence as she regarded Twilight. In the pit of her stomach, she had the feeling this dragon had already made up its mind if it liked her or not, and it was clear which it was.

“Astrale, I have told you, Twilight Sparkle is my protégé and a very close friend and confidant. She is afforded some levity, is she not?” Celestia spoke on her behalf, serene and regal as always.

“I do not care what she is to you, Celestia. To me, she is naught but a fly that I am quite ready to swat.” Acid seemed to ooze with every syllable that she spoke. “I will not suffer how freely she feels she may talk to goddesses. If she TRULY knew her place, she would know mortals are to be seen and not heard!”

“I’m… I’m sorry if I offended you, your grace,” Twilight said, adding in a bow to the both of them. “It was not my intention, I assure you.”

It was a fool’s hope that prostrating and apologizing would be the solution to the dragon’s foul mood. Given the amount of smoke she snorted out her nostrils after Twilight spoke, she quickly guessed that the gesture failed spectacularly.

“Intentions are not unlike fairy tales and myths; they mean little and can be made up on the spot! What matters, pony, is what you DO. Thus far, your actions serve to only condemn you farther,” the dragon named Astrale huffed. “So far, the only favourable action you have done is to bear up the dragon atop your back, which is also the reason why I am here.”

“To what do you refer? Um… I’m sorry, I can’t really give you the proper praising if I do not know what, exactly to praise, your grace,” Twilight replied.

“Fine,” the dragon snorted. “I am Astrale Stellus Draco de Celestus, Goddess of Stars and Creator of Dragons. You, little pony, are accused of improper care and nurturing of the baby dragon known as Spike.”

“What do you mean by ‘improper care’? He has a home, plenty of food, friends and-”

“Be silent you stupid pony!” Astrale shouted, slamming her claw onto the ground and nearly cracking the tiles. “Tell me, Spike, what do you know of dragons?”

“Um…” Spike faltered, startled by being addressed so suddenly. “Well… they’re uh… they’re big, usually mean, and um… they have bad breath? There’s also a Dragon Code and um…”

“Tell me then, Spike, what is the 13th Dragon Code?”

“Er… A-always keep your scales clean?” he guessed.

“It is worse than I feared,” the Goddess of Stars growled. Her horns glowed in a fire storm as a similar aura engulfed Spike and stole him from Twilight’s back. “This young drake knows absolutely NOTHING about his heritage, his culture, or even his biology!” She leaned down, growing somewhat so that she could put her maw right into Twilight’s face. “You are not fit to raise a dragon. You are a FAILURE!”

That word, failure, rang in Twilight’s head, and not just from the volume or proximity of the speaker. In that one word rested a thousand of her darkest fears and thoughts. For a moment, it felt almost as if the dragon was surrounding her, uttering the word from all sides to emphasize the point. But from that, an ember that lay dormant for many years caught tinder and sprung alight. Twilight Sparkle was no failure and she would PROVE it!

“Well, I would be able to do a better job if I had access to such things. Ponies know very little about dragons and their cult-”

“That is no excuse,” Astrale interrupted. “There is always a way to get such knowledge. You were just too lazy or scared to seek it out! No, no, this will not do at all. How can he survive after she expires like this? I’m afraid he can’t stay here with such an irresponsible pony.” She spoke to Celestia, completely disregarding Twilight and placing Spike at her side.

“What do you mean?” Spike said, suddenly looking very scared and confused. “I… I can’t be with Twilight anymore!?” Even from halfway across the room, Twilight could see the tears welling up in his eyes.

“Princess, please say something! She wants to take Spike away. You can’t let that happen!” she pleaded.

“I’m afraid there is nothing I can do,” Celestia replied with calm stoicism. “Astrale is the Goddess of Stars, Twilight. Believe it or not, the sun in the sky is naught but a very close star. As such, though I am Goddess of the Sun, Astrale is my superior in the realm of the gods. I have no authority in this matter. I am so sorry, Twilight.” Her mask of composure cracked for but the briefest moment to show her regret and sorrow to her student.

Several ways to respond crossed Twilight’s mind in that moment, but the only thing she could think of was how unfair this was! Spike had a loving home with her and her friends; how DARE this overgrown bronze lawn ornament come in here like the Foal Protection Services and declare her unfit? If she had the materials and means, of COURSE she would teach him everything about being a dragon. Heck, she would have written a book condensing it all into one handy package! If her mentor could do nothing, she would have to do something about it herself! Summoning her courage and taking a deep breath, she spoke, interrupting a small conversation between the three.

“NO! I REFUSE to let you take Spike against his will!” Twilight shouted.

“WHAT did you just say, mortal?” Astrale turned, looking at her like a cat eyeing an uppity mouse.

“I said I refuse to let you just come barging in here without any knowledge of our relationship and declaring me unfit to raise Spike and take him away!”

“You’d deny him knowledge of his heritage? Knowledge of his OWN BODY!? You truly are a disgusting little pony,” the dragon snarled.

“Never,” she retorted. “I would never deny anyone knowledge! I do, however, take issue with you taking him away against his will, never to see me or his friends ever again! IF Spike wants to go with you OF HIS OWN ACCORD, I would be more than…more than happy to see him go, even if we’d never meet again.” Tears started welling up in her eyes.

The dragoness rolled her eyes. “Like you could do anything to stop me, little pony,” she said.

In an instant, two bright, purple flashes filled the throne room, teleporting Spike from Astrale’s side to behind Twilight. Using her magic, she crafted twin swords made of crackling mana and pointed them at the dragon, fire burning in her eyes. “Try me, you overgrown lizard.”

“Twilight, you don’t need to do this!” Spike exclaimed, coming around to hug her neck, very obviously afraid. “I… I want to go with Miss Astrale.”

Taking a deep breath, Twilight’s horn extinguished, taking the weapons with it. “Okay,” she replied. “I understand.”

“BUT,” he added, turning to look at the imposing dragon. “I want to come home when you feel I’ve learned what you want me to learn. Only if you promise that, I’ll go with you without any trouble. Otherwise, you gotta deal with Twilight.”

Silence hung in the throne room for a moment. Twilight continued to stare up at the dragon, though out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Celestia watching them both carefully. Time seemed to drag on as the ancient drake pondered on what had just happened, but thankfully she broke the silence sooner rather than later.

“Your proposal is acceptable, Spike. Upon my good name, and the stars themselves, you shall be returned to Equestria when and ONLY when I feel you are prepared to. Is this agreeable to you as well, Twilight Sparkle?” The goddess’s eyes seemed to dance as she met the pony’s eyes at last.

“If that is what Spike wants, I am behind it one hundred percent,” she answered.

“Come along, Spike. There is much that you need to learn and I would like to get started as soon as possible,” Astrale said, gesturing to her side with a claw. Spike looked at her, and then back to Twilight, hesitant to leave.

“Well… See you around, Twi,” he said, wrapping his arms around her in a hug which she answered in kind. “Try not to blow up the house or eat your own cooking and die while I’m gone, okay?”

“My cooking isn’t that bad!” she replied, somewhat offended. But her face softened and she continued quietly. “Be safe too, okay? I… I don’t know what I would do without you, my number one assistant.” Flaring her horn, she pulled a blanket, book, and a little stuffed dragon that Spike had brought with him out of her holding dimension and gave them to him.

“I will. Just you watch, I’ll be home before you know it!” he said, taking his things and walking over to Astrale. “Okay. I’m ready.”

“Very well then,” she spoke. “We shall meet again, Celestia, Twilight Sparkle. Goodbye.” Her horns flared with fiery energy once more and erupted into a magical fireball that engulfed both herself and Spike. It shone as brilliantly as the sun in the day sky, making Twilight shield her eyes before, almost as quickly, it shrank and disappeared, leaving not a trace on the alabaster floors.

The room was silent as both mares regarded the spot where Astrale and Spike once stood. Everything had happened so fast that Twilight only now began to take stock of what had happened; that Spike was now gone for who knows how long… and that she had threatened not only a goddess, but her mentor’s superior. Suddenly, she began to feel a little weak in the knees.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia spoke gently, walking over to her from the throne. “It seems you have many more surprises in store for me than I realized. I am very proud of you for sticking to your morals like that.” She leaned in and rested her head upon her back in a quick hug. “I think you made an impression on Astrale as well; not an easy feat at that.”

“I can’t believe I just did that,” Twilight spoke after finding her voice. “I threatened a goddess! I threatened your BOSS! I…”

A white wingtip pressed itself against her lips assertively. “You insisted that Spike be given a choice and enforced it. That was very admirable of you to stick your neck out like that, regardless of consequence.” The wing gently pressed against her face, indicating that Celestia wanted to go for a stroll. She readily obliged because otherwise she felt ready to faint. “Do not fear for Spike,” she added. “I have known Astrale for millennia now and, if nothing else, she always keeps her word to mortal and god alike. You will see Spike again.”

“How long is the only question I have,” Twilight added glumly. “I could be an old mare by the time he gets back.” They left the throne room and took a turn to the left, indicating to her that they were going to Celestia’s office, or her personal chambers.

“Spike is a very smart and capable dragon, Twilight. He has you to thank for that. I would say that, whatever Astrale may wish to teach him, he should be finished in no more than a month or two, as, by my recollection, time flows differently where they are going.”

Twilight nodded her head, but, for some reason, could not find solace in her words. “I kind of surprised myself back there, actually,” she admitted. “I had this really strange dream last night, you see and I’ve been feeling off all day; like everything I know now used to be different or something and it… It’s nothing.”

“Perhaps a chat with Luna later tonight will be of some help in that regard,” Celestia replied. “Her knowledge of dreams and their meanings is second to none.”

The two ponies walked for some time down the marble halls of Canterlot in silence together after that brief exchange. Occasionally, a pony would say good morning or hello to her or the princess, and they would reply, but there were no words between them for a while. That is, however, until Twilight recalled an innocuous part of Celestia’s earlier letter, and decided to ask about it.

“Princess?” she spoke. “Why is it that you asked me to be prepared for an overnight stay, if my reason for being here was simply to drop off Spike, more or less?” As she asked, they turned a corner and started down the short hall to Celestia’s office. The solar mare was quiet for a little bit, until they were upon the threshold of the door.

“Well,” Celestia said, “I had imagined things would become more… intense than they did between you and Astrale. Negotiations wise, preferably. But, one thing I have always admired about my superior is her impeccable timing.”

“What do you mean, Princess?” Twilight asked as Celestia used her magic to unlock her office doors.

“There is something I have been meaning to do for a while now, and only recently have I had the time to draw up the paperwork to get the process started. My hope was that you would assist me in this endeavour.”

“Of course, Princess Celestia!” Twilight smiled. “I’d be glad to help you with anything!” She followed her mentor into her office, unaware of the events that had just been set in motion and how both Equestria and her life would never be the same again.

Comments

[TheStratovarian]

There's a bolding thats sorta left itself in for this?