Not All That Sparkles Is Twilight

by Stellar Light Sparkle

03 - Empowerment

"Dying?" Twilight asked, as most of her friends moved back to let Nurse Redheart work.

"Yes. Remember when I told you your mana levels were way down, Twilight?" She asked. Twilight nodded. "Hers were far worse. Whatever just happened has drained the last of her mana out of herself, and her body's going into shock. If we can't find a way to boost her levels immediately, she's going to die as her body shuts down."

"But don't you have measures against this?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, but that's at the hospital, not here!" Redheart told Twilight as she tried to keep Stellar alive. "She needs a mana infusion right now, and frankly, not even with three alicorns here is it going to be enough without putting you at risk."

"Then there is only one thing to do." Celestia then said, her voice full of conviction. "We need to get her outside, right now. Luna? If you will lift her?" Luna nodded and they moved outside quickly, getting a good distance from the castle as Luna kept Stellar in a stasis spell. "I need to impose on your night, dear sister." Celestia said, as the others stopped a small distance away. "I need the Sun."

"As you wish, sister." Luna replied, as she laid Stellar down on the ground.

Celestia nodded. "You'll know when to drop the stasis spell, Luna. Just stand back a ways, please." Luna nodded as Celestia's cutie-mark glowed and, with a gesture from Celestia like she used at Summer Sun, Celestia's sun rose and quickly ascended to its zenith, bathing the land in its brilliance.

Celestia's horn glowed brilliantly as she spread her wings again and spoke aloud, the Royal Canterlot Voice echoing over the hills as Celestia said "UTMORKHAI SOLARI AMBORISHA!" And the Sun darkened to half its brilliance...

Of all those there, only Twilight and Luna knew the ancient language Celestia had spoken, invoking the enormous power of the celestial body she was linked with. And of the pair, only Luna had ever seen this done before. An enormous tendril of solar energy shot down out of the heavens and lanced in to Celestia, her body changing as it filled her. Her mane and tail transmuted from their multi-hued look into a brilliance almost too bright to look at, her wings and body flashed into yellow and orange flame, and her eyes and horn glowed brighter than the sun did normally. Then Celestia lowered her horn, and the white brilliance shot forth and bathed Stellar's body, just after Luna lowered her stasis spell.

Stellar's body heaved upwards, literally pushing itself off the ground, her wings and legs spread wide, her cutie-mark glowing again as were her eyes, horn and her wings as well, and her body was soon glowing almost as brightly as Celestia. Just as it looked like it would combust, like Celestia's, the beam from the Sun ended, the Sun flashing back to its brilliance as Celestia's body slowly returned to its normal state, but she was breathing faster and her entire body had a soft glow that only grew as the sun returned below the horizon again. She moved forward and nudged Stellar's floating body towards a guerney that Nurse Redheart and Applejack had managed to get out of the castle.

Twilight looked at Celestia as Stellar was wheeled back inside, marvelling at her mentor's enhanced appearance. "By Faust, Celestia... I never had an inkling you could do that!"

Celestia chuckled. "What? Did you not feel the immensity of the power I wielded when you had my magic, Twilight?" She asked in a voice almost as powerful as the Royal Canterlot voice. "Maybe a good thing, then. You might have vaporised the planet trying to fight Tirek if you had've tapped into my full power."

Twilight cringed a little. "Yeah, a good thing indeed." She nervously grinned as she rubbed the back of her neck. Then Celestia touched her and Twilight's eyes glowed with brilliance while Celestia's faded, the mana flowing into Twilight, who took a deep breath and relaxed a great deal. Once Celestia had let her go, Twilight shook herself. "Wow! That's... more mana than I've ever had!" She told Celestia.

"Indeed, Twilight. Now you are fully-charged again, as is Stellar." Celestia explained.

"So... why was Stellar so low on mana anyway?" Rarity asked. "Normally, we can tell when we're like that and allow our reserves to fill again fairly quickly.

"I think I know." Twilight explained. "Stellar's body is only a few days old. Plus she's never had a full quantity of mana to draw on, ever." Twilight slipped into lecture-mode as everypony started walking inside. "You see, most ponies, especially unicorns, get mana from their mother when they're in the womb. They have a small capacity at the beginning of their lives, so they're usually full by the time they're born. That's why Flurry Heart was so powerful as a baby. She was fully-loaded with mana and, being an alicorn, that was a huge amount more than most unicorn foals. Stellar, on the other hoof, was like a new-born starved of mana. Plus her new body was having trouble drawing mana out of the air, so she was recharging at a much-reduced rate. Small spells like the ones we were using to retrain her body didn't drop her mana level down much, but she couldn't recharge enough to do more than keep up with the drain. Then, when her cutie-mark changed... you know how much power something like that takes. It left her completely drained and dying."

"Very astute, Twilight Sparkle." Luna said, as Celestia smiled and nodded. "And now she is fully-charged, almost to overload, but that will drain a little as she heals herself."

"So, she ain't in trouble any longer?" Applejack asked.

"That remains to be seen..." Celestia said, her voice still resonating with the power she held within her, but with less volume. "But for now, she will stabilise and be out of danger."

"Well, that's good news." Rainbow Dash said.

"Indeed, how horrible it would be to die, just after finding yourself like Stellar did." Fluttershy spoke up, making everypony look at her. "Well, it would be. She just got her name and her cutie-mark. I can't imagine how tragic it would have been if the first time her name was used, it was on her tombstone." Fluttershy shuddered.

Everyone there, even Celestia and Luna, nodded in solemn agreement as they walked through the castle and headed for the guestroom where all the monitor instruments were.

=======

Stellar slowly opened her eyes to feel like she was floating. It was better than any drug-high she had ever felt, but felt cleaner, purer, nowhere near the way she'd felt coming down from a cocaine high, as far as she remembered. And it wasn't going away, either. She was on her barrel and she stretched, feeling better than any other time she'd been there, even better than when she'd felt the power of the Elements of Harmony flowing through her. That had made her feel jittery, overwhelmed, and somewhat nervous. This felt peaceful, calming, like it was meant to be there. She opened her eyes and looked around, to see Nurse Redheart and Twilight watching her. Stellar smiled softly, still feeling a little... detatched. "Heya, Twi. 'Morning, Nurse Redheart." She greeted them, her mind becoming perfectly clear for the first time since she'd found herself on Equestria.

"Good morning, Stellar." Twilight greeted her new sister with a big grin. "How are you feeling?"

"That's my line." Nurse Redheart butted in, grinning as the girls giggled. "Good morning to you, Stellar. So, how are you feeling?"

"Well, apart from the same stiffness I was still feeling before what happened, I'm feeling incredible." Stellar answered. "What happened?"

"Well, when you spoke your name... it triggered your cutie mark to change from mine to one that's definitely your own." Twilight answered.

Stellar looked back at her flank, then grinned. "Cool." She said as she looked at her new mark. "Still a Sparkle." Stellar commented.

Twilight giggled. "Oh yeah." She replied.

Then Stellar frowned. "Hey, I don't remember that being there." She gestured with a wing-feather to something that was different from what she remembered.

Twilight looked. She saw that, whereas before the sword in Stellar's cutie mark was unadorned, it now had a solar disk like Celestia's cutie-mark across the cross-guard under the Sparkle Star. "You're right, that wasn't there before. Maybe it's because of what Celestia had to do to save you." Twilight suggested.

Stellar frowned. "What she had to do to save me?" She asked, sounding unsure.

Twilight nodded, but it was Nurse Redheart who answered. "Stellar, right after your cutie-mark changed, you collapsed. You were suffering from severe, almost total mana depletion." She explained. "You were dying."

Stellar took that in, then nodded. "So, what did Celestia do?" She asked.

"She invoked a spell that, while Luna said she has used before, I have never seen." Twilight explained. "It used very, very old magic: the language it used is so old, I'm pretty sure only a very small number of ponies even know a small bit of it, let alone the entire language. She raised the sun again, then pulled a great deal of its energy down into herself. Once she was charged up, she transferred a good deal of it into you, as mana... I think. You were glowing so brightly, I thought you were going to change like Celestia did. But then she stopped the flow and we brought you back in here." Twilight smiled. "She also used the remainder to give me a full recharge."

Stellar nodded. "Is... that why I'm feeling so euphoric now?" She inquired. "I'm feeling so charged up, it's even more than when we invoked the Elements."

"That's probably correct." Nurse Redheart told Stellar. "You've gone from almost total depletion to almost having a mana surge due to being overfull. But healing yourself seems to have drained enough to prevent a surge from happening, thank Celestia."

"Yes, thank Celestia." Stellar muttered softly, no bite in her voice. "That's something I'm going to have to do."

Twilight nodded, her face serious again, as Nurse Redheart stood up. "Well, you seem to be recovering well. Come by the clinic tomorrow and we'll scan you again. Your mana levels should have settled down by then." She smiled at Stellar. "And congratulations." She added.

"Thanks, Doctor Redheart." Stellar thanked Redheart.

Redheart chuckled. "Not yet, not yet, but soon." She promised. "I'll send some technicians for the monitors." She told Twilight.

Twilight nodded. "I'll make sure she gets there." She promised Redheart.

Redheart nodded. "I hope I never see either of you two in the hospital again." Redheart told them. "Save for social occasions."

Stellar looked at Twilight with a grin and got one in return. "We'll try, Doc." They both said, then giggled.

Redheart grinned. "Oh, you two are going to be terrible together." She said before she gripped her bags and settled them on her back. "Just don't prank Shining Armor. I don't know if his mind could take it."

"Promise, Redheart." Twilight said, and Stellar just nodded.

Redheart hugged them both, then left, grabbing one of the wraps Spike was bringing in as she passed him. Spike watched her leave, then moved to where Twilight was, helping Stellar to slide off the bed unto her still-unsteady hoofs. "It's okay, Twi, I got this." Stellar said, using her wings to help maintain her balance. She walked carefully away from the bed, then shook out and furled her wings. "There." She turned slowly and grinned at Twilight. "It just takes a little time. After all, I've been stuck in bed for how long, now? Not to mention being blasted, thumped, drained and solar-charged."

Twilight nodded, smiling. "Well, you're on your hoofs again, and we can keep working until you're steady again." She told Stellar. "By the way, where did you get your name from? It almost seems... familiar."

"I don't know, Twilight, honestly." Stellar replied. "It's like I told Pinkie: One minute my mind was blank, then there it was, on the tip of my tongue, and it just came out."

Twilight's smile widened to a grin. "Well, however you got it, it really suits you, I think." She said as she moved to Stellar and hugged her with a fore-leg, a gesture Stellar returned with a little shakiness, but she stayed on her hoofs. "Now, we'll just have to get you up to full speed on everything else, including magic. I've got a checklist here somewhere, to help you with your rehabilitation..."

Stellar noticed Spike roll his eyes and stifle a chuckle, and she just grinned at him as she moved past Twilight and grabbed a wrap from Spike's tray. "Mmm... Fish wraps! Thanks, Spike, these are delicious."

"No problem, Stellar." Spike answered.

"Fish wraps?" Twilight asked as she turned around and walked up beside Stellar.

"Damn, that's creepy." Spike said softly as the twins stood beside each other. "I can't tell who's who from this angle."

Stellar looked at Twilight, and they both burst out giggling. "Maybe Twi should wear her crown while I'm around." Stellar suggested.

"Or maybe a bandanna for you around your neck." Twilight suggested.

"Mmm-mm-hmm." Stellar replied, her voice muffled by a mouth full of fish and veges.

Twilight rolled her eyes, then took one of the wraps and bit into it, this time without hesitation. The succulent flavors of the grilled fish bathed her mouth in delicious flavor, and she gobbled it up almost as fast as Celestia ate cake. "Oh Celestia! Why didn't you tell me how delicious fish was?" She asked.

"Maybe she did, and you didn't listen?" Stellar suggested.

Spike tried to suppress a chuckle, and Twilight frowned at Stellar as her new sister took another wrap and munched into it. Once she'd finished, Stellar started slowly walking around the room, finding her hoofs again. "Something about this..." She commented. "I think my autopilot's coming back on-line again. If I don't think about where I'm putting my hoofs, then they seem to work just fine. If I think about them, then I trip."

Twilight nodded as she munched down another wrap. "I think that's something we've found about a lot of ponies who've had some kind-of mental damage. Our brains seem to have an automatic guide for using our legs, as long as we're not too conscious about the movement."

Stellar nodded as she stopped and stretched. She barely avoided falling over with a sweep of her wings, as she'd had her legs too close together to maintain her balance properly. "Okay, autopilot good for walking, not so good for other things." Stellar said.

Twilight giggled, but moved to help her new sister. "Maybe I should put together an exercise routine for you." Twilight suggested as Stellar stretched her legs out one by one.

"I thought you said you already had a checklist for that?" Stellar reminded Twilight.

Twilight went blank for a few seconds, then face-hoofed. "Yeah, you're right, I did say that." She confirmed.

Stellar smiled. "So, if I get what you know about alicorns, we're a combination of all three pony sub-types, and not only have the abilities of all three, but also have features that are unique to us alone."

Twilight nodded. "Yes. Unfortunately, there's not been much written on Alicorn physiology or anatomy since, for nearly a thousand years, Celestia was the only alicorn in existence. Plus it's only very recently that our medical knowledge has moved from a semi-magical basis to one of scientific reasoning." She explained as Stellar jumped in place a few times and flapped her wings, to loosen them up.

"Yeah. Kind-of hard to get a proper analysis of physical differences when one is focussed on the mystique of the subject." Stellar agreed as she shook her wings out. Frowning, she started to preen her wings as Twilight watched, fascinated to see someone who was essentially physically herself, doing things she did as a matter of routine now.

"Yes, well, I've been trying to write such a treatise on just that subject." Twilight revealed. "I already have a number of books published on magic and other subjects, but this is a far more involved subject." She said. "And it's not exactly a book that will have much of a practical application, considering there's only six alicorns in existence now." She sighed. "Maybe I should find a different subject to work on."

"Hey, how about writing a magic primer for those ready to go onto schools of advanced magic?" Stellar suggested. "I know I'd like one very much. Maybe one you can load with the writings of older books, making them available to the latest generation."

Twilight's ears pricked up. "How the... how did you know I was thinking of doing just that?"

Stellar laughed as she flipped her wings closed. "Twilight... I'm you, remember? Got ALL your memories."

Twilight blinked, then chuckled. "Yeah, I keep forgetting that." She said. "Althought it should be obvious to me by now. You're starting to sound... different. I don't know if it's just the way you speak, or what, but your individuality is coming out, I think."

Stellar nodded. "Yeah, and that's a good thing. As much as I love you, dear Sis, I don't want to just be a clone of you. I have a feeling I'm here to contribute to Equestria and the Pony Race in a much different way."

Twilight smiled as Stellar flicked her tail around in a fan-shape. "But there's times when I do see you're still a huge amount like me." She told Stellar. "You care as much about our people and country as much as I do... but it's starting to go in a different direction, at least a little."

Stellar grinned as she started trotting around Twilight. "Wait until I find my niche, Twi. Then I'll know what to do and where to go."

Twilight nodded as she got to her hoofs again. "Then we'll visit the archives again when we go to Canterlot. We can see what interests you." She told Stellar. "Of course, you have as much raw magical power as I do, which, according to Celestia, is even more than she does..." Twilight sighed. "Although I can't see it myself."

Stellar could see that Twilight had a tendency to suffer from a personal confidence problem. She moved to her sister and hugged her with a foreleg. "Hey, Twi, you held the sheer raw power of four alicorns inside yourself, with only a few minor control issues at first, until you really started to use them." She reminded Twilight again. "That shows your capability. And I bet your magical body system... what do they call that? Oh yeah, the Itineris system... I bet that is far more developed because of that." Stellar pointed out. "What you and I lack is experience, nothing more." She said. "That's why we really need to delve into magical lore and work out what we can do with what we have." Stellar nuzzled Twilight, getting a soft nicker from her twin. "After all, research is what you do best."

Twilight gave a soft laugh as she sat down again. "Now I know why I need you and what you're here to do with me." She told Stellar. "You give me focus when my own wanders or is fractured."

"What are sisters for?" Stellar replied, hugging Twilight closer. "You and I, Twi, we're gonna give our world so much." She said confidently.

Twilight grinned. Stellar's confidence was infectious and gave her a much needed boost to her own. "Yeah. And I have a way to start." She told Stellar as she got to her hoofs. "I have something for you."

"For me?" Stellar asked.

"Uh-huh." Twilight answered, grinning. She led Stellar to the Castle Archives, where she had Stellar sit down and then disappeared into a workshop, returning with a very plain-looking large tome, with a single large, round, flat jewel set into the cover and a lock on the opening side. "This is what I was working on before we got called away to Canterlot, two days before you showed up." Twilight told Stellar. "I'm making a tome that can act as a library in itself, for agents in the field." She explained. "It can be locked and only opened by one person if it's set that way, with a ton of safeguards against unauthorised access. I'm going to be making a generalised version that will be a magic primer for those moving from basic to advanced magical studies, and a specialised version for those with either very advanced skills or those with a need to keep the most sensitive material from general access." Twilight showed Stellar how the access safeguards worked. "Okay, I'm going to authorise you as this tome's primary user and owner."

"But if you're already authorised, shouldn't I be able to access it as well?" Stellar asked.

"Uh..." Twilight looked unsure. "Only one way to tell." She said, and closed the tome, showing Stellar the proper way to lock it without causing the safeguards to go off. "Okay, put your hoof over the lock and say 'Unlock'." Twilight told Stellar.

Stellar nodded, put her right hoof on the lock and said "Unlock."

The tome actually gave a soft chime and unlocked. "Well, seems you're biologically close enough to me to actually trigger the authorisation codex." Twilight said. "Maybe there's some way to prevent this from occuring."

"Is there a way to enter another word needed to unlock this?" Stellar asked.

"Sure, but that's not the problem." She said. "The problem is you being able to access all the additional tomes I'll be making, since your authoriser and mine appear to be identical."

"As we are." Stellar pointed out.

Twilight sighed, but grinned and giggled. "I knew there had to be a downside to having a twin." She grumbled unconvincingly.

Stellar laughed and tickled Twilight, making her burst out laughing. Eventually Starlight found them lying next to each other on the floor, out of breath and giggling uncontrollably.

"Never mind, I don't want to know..." She said as she headed back out of the Archives.

Once they'd stopped giggling, Twilight briefed Stellar on how to use the Tome. "Okay, so all need to do to load books into here is place them on top of the tome after activating the crystal on the cover, then say 'Load'."

"That's right. The tome will scan the book and download it into the storage matrix." Twilight confirmed. "Eventually, I want to scan every book into the Master Tome that I'll be keeping, and just be able to remotely load the saved books into one of the production tomes from even a huge distance away."

"So... I can tell this tome's different from the other two you have over there." Stellar said. "What's so special about this one?"

"It's... not exactly the same." Twilight admitted. "It's one of the prototypes I used to codify what I needed to put into the production tomes. It's got a much bigger storage capacity and it doesn't have a dedicated link to the Master Tome, which is this one." She showed Stellar a much-bigger tome that had her cutie-mark done in jewels on the front cover. "So whatever you put in here isn't going to show up on the Network. I can add a connector page if you like, so you can keep in touch with me through the Master Tome and be able to download books as I scan them." Twilight suggested.

"Maybe make it an insert that I can activate from this end only if I need to access or talk to you." Stellar suggested back.

Twilight nodded. "Okay. I can do that." She said. "The holo-matrix viewer is really advanced. It took me nearly a year to make the spells into a repeatable incantation set to permanently endow one of the hard separators with a way to project a full-size image that can talk in real-time, no matter where you are or I am." She said. "Plus it can act as the index page for the tome." After opening it, Twilight showed Stellar how to access what was in the tome already, and then loaded what other books she'd already scanned for loading into the tome's memory matrix. "The hardware I managed to create for these tomes is really strong. Not even dragonfire can hurt one of these once everything's been completed and sealed tight. I even bet these could survive Celestia's wrath, if nothing else could." She grinned.

"Handy to know. Does it have any type of self-destruct?" Stellar asked.

"Yes. Basically, if anyone but you manages to get the tome open by breaking the lock, all the information in the tome will lock down and be inaccessible. If they manage to break the front cover, everything erases as the memory will self-destruct. All they'll end up with is a book full of blank pages and a few hard sheets of metal which are the dividers." She explained. "But the force needed to break the covers of my tomes... well, you'll probably destroy the entire tome before that happens." She explained proudly.

Stellar nodded, impressed. "Nice one, Twi. These will be good for that new Guard-group you've been thinking of starting."

"The Dusk Guard? Yeah, I was actually making the advanced versions of these for them. They've got every trick I could think of, that I tried out in this one and that worked." She told Stellar. "You might say this is the prototype Dusk Guard Tome."

"Okay, Twi, that's definitely impressive." Stellar said, smiling. "So why give it to me?" She asked.

"Because... it's not really suitable for a Dusk Guard tome, because a lot of the prefaces and beginning stuff they have aren't in this one." Twilight explained further. "Consequently, it suits someone like yourself better, because I can explain everything to you personally as we work with it, and you won't need to learn it from the tome itself. It also gives the tome a lot more room for storage because of that. Oh, and it's also loaded with translation programs, so if you load a book you find in the field into the tome and it's not in a language you know, the tome can translate it straight away, if it knows the language; or if it doesn't, it can work on translating the language even while it's closed or locked down."

"That's going to be handy." Stellar admitted. "Can I load languages I know into it as well?" She asked.

"Yes. You can interface with the control structure in this tome using your horn and download from yourself into it. It's one of the features I used to construct the original tomes, but that the production ones don't have." Twilight answered.

"Nice." Stellar commented as Twilight showed her the interface structure on its page. Stellar downloaded all the languages she could remember into her tome, grateful that whoever was making her forget things hadn't taken information like languages, just her personal information. A lot of what she still remembered would be very helpful to her in this new world.

=======

That evening in Canterlot Castle, Celestia was sitting with Luna as they ate dinner/breakfast, both of them deep in thought. "All I am saying is, does she need guidance?" Luna asked Celestia.

"I think she does." Celestia answered. "Not as much as Twilight did, that much is certain. Having Twilight's knowledge means most of what I could teach her is redundant, because she already knows all of that." Celestia looked at Luna. "But something was revealed to me when I touched her mind while I was recharging her."

"And that was?" Luna asked.

"Once I ignored Twilight's memories in her, what was left shows she was from a technologically advanced race, even if the race is a mystery. They have advanced electronics, the Internet information web, and fast world travel, amongst other markers." Celestia revealed. "But what was most telling is that she has a very well-trained military mindset and education. Even her new cutie mark reveals that."

"Military." Luna snorted. "Are you saying she could become a threat?" Luna asked sceptically.

"No, that's not what I am suggesting." Celestia denied. "But I do think her niche involves learning how we fight and how our military works." She looked at Luna. "You often said that the Wonderbolts would be far better off learning some of the training you received before your 'time-out'." Celestia used their agreed phrase for her millenium on the Moon, since it was a lot less accusatory than 'Banishment' or other normal phrases were. "Since Captain Spitfire does not seem to agree with that, see what Stellar wishes to learn. I am sure she is going to seek you out, Luna. All I'm saying is, that if she does, just... give it a try." Celestia urged gently. "You know the joy I have had working with Twilight. Maybe you'll find a kindred spirit in Stellar."

Luna bowed her head. "Very well, Tia. I will talk with her." She sighed. "But if she is a former member of the race you felt she could be..."

"We both know that that race... is unique. They can ascend to the purity of Elysia with consumate ease, or delve into the depths of Tarterus just as easily. No other race we have ever viewed throughout the infinite cosmos besides our own has that capability to fly so high, or sink so low." Celestia shuddered.

"Then why do this?" Luna asked.

"Because... Stellar is a Pony. Through and through. She is as much a pony as Twilight is. All we need to do is guide her into a niche where she can use the training she has, but as a pony." Celestia explained. "And... she wants this, Luna. She wants to be one of us, not just because she's found herself with no alternative, but because it feels right to her." Celestia smiled at Luna. "She has the discipline and the mindset... a mindset that is as yours was so long ago, before..." She sighed. "Before we fell out. Before I abandoned you in my..."

Luna moved to Celestia and hugged her. "You know I forgive you, Tia, as much as you've forgiven me." Luna looked up ay Celestia. "And I thank those who watch over us that I have managed, with Twilight's help, to forgive myself. Maybe you should do the same."

Celestia looked sad. "But what if..?"

Luna put a hoof over Celestia's muzzle. "I did not say to forget, Tia. I will never forget what I did to you or to Equestria. I cannot afford to. But Forgiveness is not forgetting. It's acknowledging one has made mistakes, no matter how big, and that you wish to do better... No, allowing yourself to move on to do better in the future." Luna smiled at Celestia. "The one advantage in living as long as we shall, is that we have a lot of time to make up for the mistakes we make."

Celestia nodded, a single tear trickling down one white cheek. "I could never forgive myself if you hadn't, dearest sister. What I did to you was far worse than what Nightmare Moon tried to do to me." She nuzzled Luna lovingly. "But if you have truly forgiven yourself, then I shall endeavor to do the same for myself, too."

"That's all I ask, Tia." Luna affirmed to Celestia.

Celestia nodded. "So, will you take Stellar if she asks you to?"

Luna thought for a second. "I will, depending on what she asks."

Celestia nodded. "Then I will not ask again, Luna. There is no need to." She told her beautiful little sister, hugging her close.

Luna smiled. "Maybe one day, if those two learn well, we can take a vacation for a while and let them raise the Sun and Moon."

Celestia chuckled. "Yes, maybe this time Twilight won't use our celestial bodies to draw squiggly patterns in the heavens and give the stars anxiety attacks."

The sisters laughed with real delight and sighed happily, having one last snuggle before heading their separate ways for the night...

=======

The next morning, Twilight took Stellar into Ponyville for the first time. "You should meet a lot more ponies, Sis. After all, they're my friends and they should get to meet you and become friends with you, too." She told Stellar.

"Sure, Twi. I like that idea." She agreed. "As long as it doesn't weird them out too much."

Twilight gave a shrug with her wings. "I guess only time will tell. At least Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy will be spreading the word that you exist, especially after what Celestia did the night before last."

"Yeah, kind-of hard to cover that up." Stellar agreed as they trotted along. "Anyway, it's going to be good exercise, and I need to get more of that."

"Yes, as do I." Twilight admitted.

As they entered Ponyville, Stellar found that she liked the little village. Its quiet, homey air made her almost instantly feel welcome. She did notice a lot of ponies staring, some rubbing their eyes, as if to see whether they were seeing double, but soon they were gathering around, curiously looking but smiling at Stellar and Twilight. Stellar had actually put a bandanna on for the day, just until people got used to her and learned to tell them apart.

Then Pinkie Pie found them.

= = = = =

Four hours later, Pinkie's welcome party had turned into a minor street festival, as more and more ponies joined in. The arrival of half the extended Apple Family with wagons full of food and three types of cider just extended the festivities, as Ponyville welcomed not one, but two alicorns into its embrace. Even after she'd been separated from Twilight, Stellar found herself talking to a number of other ponies who felt familiar to her. She spent a good deal of time taking with Octavia and, through her, Vinyl Scratch, about music and other things, and had lunch with a pony called Time Turner, whom Stellar felt was known to her somehow, and his assistant Derpy Hooves, who Stellar learned was the post-pony for Ponyville.

She also felt something familiar from a unicorn known as Lyra Heartstrings, although the fact that Twilight had been friends with Lyra before she moved to Ponyville might've accounted for that. But Lyra was amazed to find that Twilight had a twin sister, and introduced Stellar to her marefriend, Bon Bon.

It took nearly an hour and three mugs full of non-alcoholic cider before Stellar had been introduced to all the Apple Clan. She was also stuffed full of the most delicious treats she could've found in all of Ponyville. Not even Spike's fish was quite as good. "Ahhh... Applejack, I must thank you for bringing everypony along." Stellar told her.

"No problem, Sugarcube." Applejack grinned as she sat by Stellar. "Pinkie's parties are famous as bein' tha best place ta get fed and drunk in tha best pah-sible taste. An' she wus waitin' on ya comin' ta town ta do her best... although, ya might be right in sayin' she went a teensy-bit overboard on this wun." Applejack rubbed the back of her neck, as the full band played from the steps of Ponyville's town hall while ponies danced, ate and drank their fills in the markets and eateries that had moved to the square for the occasion.

"Overboard? Why?" Pinkie then said, appearing at Stellar's elbow as if she'd teleported there. Applejack was amazed, though, as Stellar didn't jump or seem surprised by the Pink One.

"How many times has one of your parties involved the entire town, Pinkie?" Stellar asked.

Pinkie giggled. "A few." She replied. "But how many towns can say they have two alicorns making their home there?" She asked.

"Well... ya got a point there, Pinkie." Applejack had to admit. "Ah think tha only other wun is Canterlot."

"See? Now we're almost as important as Canterlot!" Pinkie said as she grinned.

"Indeed! It's only fitting that we get to celebrate our place in Equestria." A voice said, and they saw Rarity and Sweetie Belle walk out of the crowd towards them. "No other village in Equestria can boast what we have, considering Canterlot IS our capital, after all." Rarity gave a smug smile.

Stellar grinned. "Hello, Rarity. And hello to you, Sweetie Belle." Stellar said as she got up and came down to meet the teenage filly.

"He... hello, Your Highness." Sweetie Belle said nervously, but Stellar looked at her with a soft look.

"Sweetie Belle, have I been coronated, like Twilight was?" She asked.

Sweetie Belle looked confused. "Uh, no." She answered.

"Then it's not right to call me Princess, is it?" Stellar told her. "I haven't got the title yet, so please, just call me Stellar, okay?" She asked Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle's face brightened. "Sure, Stellar." She replied.

Rarity sighed. "And it took us such a long time to get Twilight to accept us calling her by her title, as is proper." She lamented. "Are we going to have to do the same with you, Stellar?"

"Not coronated yet, Rarity." Stellar reinforced.

"But..." Rarity began.

"IF it happens, Rarity, then we shall see." Stellar interrupted her. "Until that time, just Stellar is proper. I may be the sister of a princess, but I do not have a title beyond 'miss' yet."

Stellar put a wing around Sweetie Belle, who was thrilled, as Rarity subsided. "I guess you are correct, Stellar." She admitted with a great lack of enthusiasm. "I shall... restrain myself until you are coronated." She agreed.

"Good." Stellar smiled as she gave Sweetie Belle a tickle, getting a giggling filly under her wing. "Now, let's all enjoy Pinkie's party. Has anypony seen Twilight?"

"I did!" Said Pinkie. "She and Rainbow Dash were chugging it out again near Big Mac."

There were groans from the others. "Not again!" Applejack said.

"I take it this is a regular thing?" Stellar asked as they moved off as a group.

"Ee-yup. Dash don't understand that she can't beat Twilight at drinkin' any more." Applejack explained. "Twi's got tha stamina of a' earth pony now. An' that means she can almost keep up with me when drinkin'. But Dash keeps tryin' ta beat Twilight an' get her 'mojo' back." Applejack snorted.

Stellar chuckled. "I see." She said as they circled the stalls, to eventually find Big Mac standing by a wagon with three huge barrels on it, people getting mugs-full of wonderful-tasting cider, and Twilight and Rainbow Dash going at it hammer-and-tongs as Fluttershy looked on, muttering in a worried voice.

"Will you stop, Dash?" Fluttershy asked Dash as she downed another mug of cider.

"Not a chance, Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash replied as she placed the tankard beside four others. Twilight finished hers, then put it beside four more. "I am gonna beat Twilight this time, for sure!"

Fluttershy sighed sadly as she found she was surrounded by friends. Applejack just gave her a hug. "Leave it be, Fluttershy. Ya know she's not gonna be happy until she's either drunk or beats Twilight, and it ain't gonna happen."

Fluttershy nodded and sat down. "I know. I just hate to see her hurting herself." She told Applejack.

"Then maybe I should break this up." Stellar said, as she walked forward and around to where Twilight was seated. "Twi, we're heading to Canterlot in the morning, remember?" She asked Twilight

"I know." Twilight answered, after finishing her sixth tankard.

"Remember the last time you got drunk?" Stellar reminded Twilight. "You ended up with me in your head."

Twilight nearly dropped the next tankard. "Oh... yeah." She said, a shudder going down her spine to her tail. She handed Stellar the tankard and got down. Stellar sniffed the hard cider and licked her lips, then downed it faster than Twilight had done. "No sense letting it go to waste." She said, more to herself than anypony else.

"Aww!" Rainbow Dash said. "Are you forfeiting, Twilight?" She asked, a triumphant grin on her face.

"Lay off, Dash." Stellar said, eyeing her. "We've got to go meet the 'rents tomorrow, and do YOU want to explain to Velvet why Twi is hung over?"

"Uh..." Rainbow Dash began, sobering up a little as she imagined the tongue-lashing Velvet might deliver. "Um, okay, I guess we can call this one a draw." She agreed.

"Smart move." Stellar replied with a grin, then moved to Twilight's side as they looked for something for Twilight to eat.

= = = = =

Eight hours after walking into Ponyville, Stellar had eaten and drunk her fill three times over, danced and even sang with a large number of ponies, even Big Mac, and she would have sworn on a stack of tomes that she'd met every pony in Ponyville. The strange thing to her was that everyone was so familiar to her, thanks to Twilight's memories, but there were those here that seemed to be triggering other memories, ones NOT from Twilight's memories alone... and she had no idea why.

Later, as she bedded down for the night at the castle, Stellar was feeling far more confident in herself. She'd made more friends for herself that day than she could ever remember having... not that she had many memories to compare them to, but she found that didn't matter any longer. Her past would only help her in this new life she had, she wouldn't let it hinder her. And every hurdle she tackled would only make her stronger in her new self. She had faced being torn apart, being paralysed, being almost set ablaze by an almost-goddess, and now survived her first public appearance. She was thinking she could handle just about anything that this life could throw at her. But tomorrow was the biggest challenge of all: meeting the folks...

=======

Canterlot was a very strange city, Stellar had concluded. Its construction seemed to defy some laws of physics, but here, that wasn't that unusual. Still, it was a fairly nice city to be in, although she understood there were areas where one did not go if one was looking to keep 'civilised' company; in other words, slum areas. She wondered how that worked in such a place as Canterlot, but she'd hardly seen anything of the city, really; just parts of the castle, the view from the train and the very lovely train station. Now Stellar was enjoying a carriage ride from the station to the more upper-crust areas. Twilight and her memories had informed Stellar that Twilight's parents were still considered only minor nobles; as even having a member of the Family marry into Royalty had elevated their status only slightly, as far as the other Noble houses were concerned. "So, not even Shiny marrying Cadance made the entrenched nobles give our family more than grudging or token respect?" Stellar asked Twilight.

"Mmm-hmm.." Twilight replied from behind the book she was reading.

"They sound very insular." Stellar commented.

Twilight snorted. "Try 'extremely' instead of 'very', and you get closer to the truth." Twilight corrected Stellar. "They are so set against anypony outside their 'circle of breeding' or 'noble bloodlines' even looking like they're considering themselves a tenth as good as they are, that they even objected to Celestia taking me as a student." She said.

"Yeah, I remember seeing that from your memories." Stellar admitted.

Twilight sighed. "Shiny marrying Cadance gave us credibility, not a better social standing, at least for Mom and Dad." Twilight explained. "I have no idea how they're going to react to you. Probably stick their noses in the air and look so far down at you, you'll think you're looking up at them from the bottom of Mount Canterhorn."

"So, par for the course, then." Stellar said back.

"Yeah, that's true." Twilight agreed as she looked up from her book. "I have written to Mom and Dad and explained what happened, as well as Shiny and Cadance, who should be here today as they were going to be, anyway." Twilight smiled.

Stellar smiled back. "I hope they don't freak out too much."

Twilight giggled. "Watch out for Shiny, though." She said, suddenly serious. "He's very protective of me, so you'll probably get the once-over from him."

"I kind-of got that from what you remember of him." Stellar replied. "At least I have a massive head-start in that respect. I know your/our family as well as you do."

Twilight nodded. "Yeah. That is a major advantage." She agreed.

"Hey, want to see if Cadance wants to do a three-way 'Sunshine' greeting?" Stellar said with a mischievous grin on her face.

Twilight actually laughed at that, closing her book. "Now THAT would be something to see!" She admitted, as the taxi-carriage pulled up outside what could be described as a 'modest' mansion, in this area of very large, over-self-important buildings.

Stellar paid off the two ponies that had pulled the carriage, tipping them well, to their delight, then she and Twilight walked up to the gates and through. "Wow! Nice gardens, I have to say." Stellar commented to Twilight.

"Yeah, they were so fun to run around in, growing up." Twilight sighed with happy memories. "I didn't spend all my time with my muzzle buried in books, despite what others might tell you."

"Yeah, Shiny dragged your plot out of the library often enough to make sure you had a life." Stellar reminded Twilight, and they giggled.

"Yeah. I guess it's no wonder I always call him my B.B.B.F.F." Twilight said as they headed for the front door. "No sister could ever want for a better big brother, not even Applejack."

Stellar nodded. "Hopefully he'll realise he can be my B.B.B.F.F. as well." Stellar said.

Twilight had to agree. "So do I." She said as she pressed the doorbell. Normally she wouldn't have bothered, but having Stellar there just made it a bit more sensible.

The door was opened by the Sparkle family butler, Grey Stone. He blinked for a moment as he thought he was seeing double, but then he remembered that he literally was seeing two Twilights standing there, from what Master Night Light had told him to expect. "Miss Twilight." He said to the one carrying her saddlebags. "Miss..."

"Stellar Light, but, please, call me Stellar." Stellar answered him.

Grey Stone gave a curt nod. "Very well, Miss Stellar." He replied. "Your family is waiting in the center parlour." He told them as he made way for them to enter.

"Thank you, Stony." Twilight said as they walked past. Grey Stone then saw their cutie-marks and noted Stellar's much-different one, filing it for reference in his prodigious memory. He walked on past them, as the mares walked at a much slower rate to allow him to preceed them to the entrance to the parlour.

"Miss Twilight and Miss Stellar." Grey Stone announced them, as four others in the room rose to greet the newcomers. Grey Stone took Twilight's saddlebags as they entered.

Stellar barely stopped herself breaking up into giggles at the momentary looks of surprise and even slight shock on their faces as the Twins walked in together. They stood there with identical smiles on their faces, as Velvet, Night Light, Shining Armor and Cadance took them in.

Cadance was the first to move toward them. "Welcome..." She started to say, but both the Twins grinned and crouched down, their tails in the air in a very familiar position. Cadance broke into a grin, then crouched as well.

"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake!"

"Clap your hooves and do a little shake!"

Cadance and the Twins all broke up into fits of laughter at their usual greeting, and it shattered the sheen of tension in the air like nothing else could. Stellar did step back and let Twilight hug Cadance first, but she was surprised when Cadance hugged her as well.

"As I was about to say, welcome to you both." Cadance continued. "So wonderful to see you again, Twilight, and welcome to you, Stellar."

"Thank you, Cadance." Stellar replied.

Shining Armor was taking all this in, as Cadance welcomed the newcomer. His sense of wrongness wasn't telling him anything apart from the fact there were two of his only sister in the room now. He scanned this 'Stellar' alicorn, but nothing unusual showed, apart from the fact that her cutie mark had a completely different feel to Twilight's... and he guessed that was to be expected. No two cutie-marks ever 'felt' the same. But something was bothering him, a feeling that just nagged at him and wouldn't stop. Then he saw their parents move towards the pair.

Velvet and Night Light's smiles had broadened and were much less strained than before. Somehow, the simple greeting that Twilight always gave to Cadance, seeing it done by both ponies that resembled their daughter, it just made everything just a little more... what they'd expected. "Yes. I will also say 'Welcome' to you, Stellar." Velvet said, as she and Night Light moved to greet them. "I must say, even with Twilight's warning, the resemblance is..."

"Confusing?" Stellar asked, giving a soft smile.

"Frightening?" Said Shining Armor, as he came up to the others, no smile on his face.

Stellar looked him up and down. "Tell me, Shining Armor, do you know your sister?" She asked him.

Shining frowned. "I'd like to think so." He answered.

Stellar walked up to him and whispered something in his ear. He looked shocked and took a step back. "You... know that?"

Stellar smiled. "I know everything about Twilight." She told him. "And she knows everything about me, literally." Stellar explained. "There isn't a single thing about either of us we don't share.. well, up until we were split." She told them all. "Twilight and I are about as close as identical sisters can be, far more than even normal twins."

"Yes, B.B.B.F.F." Twilight agreed as she walked up beside Stellar and the pair nuzzled each other, Shining and the others seeing the deep affection and trust they had.

Shining was a little taken aback by this. He shook his head, and that feeling that had been running through him finally identified itself. It was an emotion he'd never felt before: jealousy... and it scared him.

Then both Twilight and Stellar moved to him and hugged him together. He felt them touch their horns to his, an extremely-intimate act, but the love he felt from both of them flowed through into him, and he shivered with emotion at the strength of it. "We both love you, Big-Brother-Best-Friend... Forever!" They emphatically stated in unison, and Shining actually felt a tear well up in his eye, for the jealousy he'd been feeling fled far away as their love suffused right through him.

They moved back from him and gave him a loving smile. "You're not losing your L.S.B.F.F., Shiny." Stellar told him.

"You're gaining a new L.S.B.F.F., who loves you as much as the old one." Twilight added.

Shining sniffled at that, then they heard Night Light chuckle. "Now THAT'S a Sparkle Family greeting!" He stated.

Velvet and Cadance tittered, then Twilight and Stellar broke up into giggles and hugged Shining Armor again, this time with him nuzzling them back.

Later, as they sat talking things over, Stellar sighed with happiness. There were no memories of her own family still existing in her mind, and to feel the Love of a Family as close as this one was, made her feel privelaged that she was part of it now. She'd found herself sitting between Night Light and Velvet Sparkle, with Twilight sitting opposite between Cadance and Shining Armor. There was still a part of her that told her that she and Twilight should be in each other's places, but Velvet had insisted that Stellar sit where she was, and Stellar just couldn't say No to the two ponies who had just welcomed her into her new family.

= = = = =

After a wonderful lunch together, with lots of talk from Shining and Cadance about what was going on in the Crystal Empire and about Flurry Heart's new school, Stellar took a walk in the back gardens. They weren't as big as some she could see as she walked down the stairs to the main path, but somehow she felt that they were nothing to be ashamed of. She sniffed a rose, delighting in its delicate scent, then nipped it off and chewed. She then understood why Twilight had a predeliction for munching on roses. The flavors reminded her of something from her own memories, something that hadn't been erased... Turkish Delight, a sweet confectionary, she remembered. The recipe fixed itself in her mind, just as the reference to whatever 'Turkish' was faded. Sighing, she figured it wasn't anything to do with turkeys, at least.

She was looking at a large pond that had fish swimming slowly in it, when she felt someone beside her. Looking to her left, she saw Night Light there, smiling down at the fish. "I was hoping to catch you alone." He said to her in a mellow voice.

Stellar smiled softly. "I hope that's a good thing." She replied.

Night Light chuckled. "Ah, memories." He said. "Twilight said, and I think you told Shining, that you have every memory Twilight had, up until you... separated?" He asked.

"Yes. The process that separated us also merged our memories." Stellar explained. "My own memories are heavily-edited to seemingly remove any reference to who or what I was, so Twilight's memories are far more complete."

Night Light nodded. "Almost as if we raised you together." He said.

"Well, save for the fact there weren't two of us being raised together. Our memories would still have been very different if that had been the case."

Night Light nodded as he smiled fondly. "You even talk like Twilight does, at times." He commented. Then he sighed. "Velvet and I had often wished we'd had more foals. Not that we lacked anything for having only two, Celestia knows Twilight was a surprise. After so long between births, we thought Shining Armor was going to be our only offspring. Then our little miracle showed up, and Velvet was... I guess you could say it renewed her." He shook his head with a smile. "Then Twilight was taken in as Celestia's personal student. Even thought she realised the incredible privelage Twilight had been given," He sighed sadly, "It almost broke Velvet's heart." He revealed.

Stellar nodded. "I can understand that." She replied.

To Stellar's surprise, Night Light moved closer and nuzzled her gently. "I'm no longer big enough to hug you like you were a filly, Stellar, but Velvet and I have agreed on one thing: If Twilight wants to treat you like her sister, and Shining Armor no longer objects, then we decided that we would also treat you like our daughter." He told Stellar. "No-one deserves to be alone, ever, so never think you're without Family. Not now, not ever."

Stellar's eyes welled up with tears. "You don't know what that means to me... Dad." She replied, hugging Night Light lovingly.

Night Light chuckled. "Now that sounds good... Dad. Yes, I like that." He said, grinning.

"Then I'll keep using it." Stellar said.

"I'd like that, too." Night Light agreed.

They walked along through the gardens, talking over things and it made Stellar feel... so much more comfortable with herself and who she now was. "The biggest problem I have now is finding where I fit into Equestrian society." Stellar told Night Light. "Twilight is an unmitigated nerd, even if she is incredibly powerful. For her, the study of magic in all it's many forms and extrapolations is perfect for her." She explained. "For me, I feel better actually learning something by doing it. I want to cast magic, to use it, to feel myself manipulate it and shape it. I want to fly, I want to learn how all the different pony-types fight, and do other things." Stellar shook herself, flicking her wings down then furling them. "I am a... warrior." She said the term that came to her. "Twilight's a mage, but I'm a warrior. I know there has to be schools of magic that evolved around fighting styles and other such things, because it makes sense. But I'm not sure where to start."

Night Light thought about this. He was an astronomer himself, but he knew a lot about things from researching the archives with a very young Twilight. Then a thought hit him. "Princess Luna." He said.

"Luna?" Stellar asked.

"Yes." Night Light said. "Before the Fall, Luna was renowned as a warrior-mage, even killing King Sombra, an enemy that not even Celestia could defeat." He told Stellar. "Perhaps she and you might find yourselves as kindred spirits in that regard. I am sure she knows battle-magics and fighting styles that have long since vanished from being used in the Guard or anywhere else."

Stellar thought this through. "That's... a very good idea." She admitted. "So, how will I go about seeing her?"

"Try the Night Court." Night Light answered. "I know she's never as busy there as Celestia is during the day. "But," Night Light cautioned Stellar, "do some research first. The Royal Archives is always a good place to look through."

Stellar nodded. "You got it, Dad." She said with a grin, which Night Light returned. "Since Twilight knows the Archives back-to-front, maybe this is another instance where her memories are going to be very helpful."

"I don't doubt it." Night Light agreed.

They walked on for a while before retuning to the main house. "You will be staying here for a few days, won't you?" Night Light asked Stellar.

"Maybe longer." Stellar replied. "Twilight has duties in Ponyville, but me? I don't have anything like that hanging over my head yet, so I can stay a while."

Night Light nodded. "We've added another bed to Twilight's refurbished room, so you two can share. I hope that wasn't pretentious of us..." He told Stellar.

Stellar giggled. "Not at all! I'd love to stay here while in Canterlot." She told Night Light.

"Good. We'll make sure you're as welcome here as we can make you." Night Light assured Stellar.

"Thanks, Dad. I'm sure that you and Mom are going to make me feel as welcome as Twilight has." She assured Night Light.

"And there you two are." Velvet said from the terrace as Stellar and Night Light climbed the stairs. "Come on inside. Dinner will be ready in half-an-hour."

Stellar decided to treat Velvet the same way she'd done Night Light. She moved to the older mare and hugged her close, nuzzling her lovingly. "Thanks, Mom." She replied, and the look on Velvet's face was reward enough.

Velvet sniffled slightly, the look of joy on her face not spoiled by the welling of tears in her eyes. "You're welcome, Stellar Dear." She replied, then hugged Stellar again.

Night Light watched this touching scene with a growing joy in his heart. While he knew that Stellar wouldn't be able to spend all her time with them, he felt that having two daughters now might just make the time they could spend together a little more than what they'd been able to spend with Twilight alone. And it made Velvet so happy when one of her children was home... even if it was one that she'd never truly borne from her. Stellar was just that close that it didn't matter.

As they headed inside, Night Light felt that, perhaps, things had just become a little more... right with their world.

Author's Note:

Author's Note:
Okay, I know this chapter's got lots of feel-good moments after Stellar's recovery, but the show has a lot of those as well. It's not all doom and gloom...

That's next chapter.

Comments

[Da Fennec]

pondering why you reuploaded these chapters

[Stellar Light Sparkle]

I was just about to blog why.

I split the first chapter, but they wouldn't just accept the 'new' chapter in place when I tried to move it, so the only way to get it in the proper order was to re-title and re-publish every chapter after it.

[Stellar Light Sparkle]

If there was another way, I don't know it yet. First time I've ever done this.