The Solar Steward

by kissfromarose2

Tea and Gossip

Back among her books and sipping tea with her new acquaintance, Twilight had come to the belief that all was once again right with the world.

Rarity seemed a perfectly nice pony, polite and hard working. Her taste in reading left something to be desired, but Twilight supposed you couldn’t have everything.

The library itself was much smaller than the libraries Twilight was used to back in Canterlot, but that just seemed to add to its charm. Built within a great tree, the Golden Oak library brought a sense of peace and tranquillity Twilight could only remember feeling in Luna's private rooms or faded memories of her foalhood. And this one came with books!

Though she longed to catalogue and reorganise the books she could see out of place on the shelves, Twilight restrained herself. Princess Luna had given her a mission: to talk to and make friends with other ponies. She could read books anywhere. She looked longingly back at the books. Ponyville being so close to the Everfree was renowned for its extensive sections on the mythological and supernatural...

"I'm sorry dear, am I boring you?"

Twilight blushed at being caught distracted. "Not at all Rarity, it's just my position as Princess Luna's ward doesn't really give me much opportunity to follow the trends of the nobility."

Rarity hid her look of disappointment. "Surely as the Princess's protégé you must come into contact with the nobility. It's my dream to join them some day. Open a store in Canterlot. The good and the great."

"Honestly she always told me to stay away from them. Princess Luna hates the fact that she can't get rid of them. Apparently she's been trying to get rid of them for the last two centuries, but they keep wriggling out of it."

She looked at Rarity nervously. "You can’t tell anypony I told you that. The Princess told me that in confidence."

"Don’t worry Twilight, your secret is safe with me, I promise. Whatever is said between ladies like us, stays between us."

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. She really didn’t want to betray Luna like that. But Luna's distaste of the nobles was common knowledge, and Luna had never told her not to tell anypony. Besides Rarity was trustworthy.

A secretive smile grew on her face. "Rarity, do you want to know a secret? It has to stay between us though."

The fashionista nodded eagerly.

Twilight giggled. "Once when Blueblood tried to sit on the Empty Throne, Princess Luna set up a shocking spell so the moment his flank came within two inches of the seat it shocked him so badly his hair stood on end!"

Rarity gasped. But Twilight wasn't finished.

"Then during the next open court she dressed him down in front every pony there. Had him gaping like a fish! Finally she casually told him she didn’t think the size of his flank would have allowed him to sit in it anyway. He checked it every time he passed a mirror in the castle for a month!"

Rarity tried to hide her burst of laughter behind her hooves at first but soon enough they were both laughing uncontrollably as Twilight regaled them with tales of the secret war going on between Luna and the nobles.

"So she added extra mirrors, just to make him late for court?"

Twilight nodded. "And then she told him off for being tardy!"

Rarity was just about to topple off her chair from laughter when a dragon burst through the door.

"Twilight! Thank Luna! I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to find you."

Twilight's hooves automatically rose to catch Spike as he practically threw himself across the room towards her.

"Hey don’t worry little bro I'm fine, see." she reassured as he clung to her neck. Thoughts of the pink pony from before reasserted themselves. Pulling back she looked him over checking for pink hoofprints. "Are YOU ok? Dear Luna! I left you behind, I'm so sorry!"

"Hey don’t worry Twi I'm fine. She wasn't actually that bad."

"That bad!? She practically squeezed me to death!"

"I think she thought you were choking."

"Oh."

"Anyway I don’t think she meant to hurt you. She was just a little too enthusiastic."

"If you say so, Spike."

Shrugging Spike had already turned to examining the library. "Hey Twi this place is actually really cool! Luna did a good job with the…"

His eyes widened. A vision of loveliness stood before him, sipping from a porcelain cup. She glanced up. Spike froze. The angel had seen him. His legs began to give way.

"Who's your little friend, Twilight?"

"Oh this is Spike. He's my number one assistant, and my little brother. I hatched him when I was younger. Spike, come say hello to Rarity."

Spike waved a claw distractedly. He was far to caught up in daydreams of this new vision of beauty to pay attention to whatever it was Twilight was saying. Already he was busy imagining writing Spike and Rarity over the covers of all the books he owned.

He snapped out of it. Those books were Twilights. Twilight valued said books. Greatly. Spike valued his life too much to die so young. Particularly when such a vision of loveliness had just entered.

He finally pulled himself out of his daydream to find the conversation had moved on without him.

"So what exactly is the princess like? She's so mysterious! Can she turn to smoke? Does she look good in turquoise?"

"She's amazing! When we were on the streets she just showed up and took us in, even after Sunset broke into the palace! I know she doesn't leave the castle a lot, but it's because she works so hard. She's a really great teacher too. She tried for weeks to teach me her smoke trick, even though only she's supposed to be able to do it. In the end I couldn't make it, not for lack of trying. I ended up accidentally learning to teleport instead. I left such a big purple smoke bomb in my wake we laughed for hours. After she managed to find where I'd ended up that is!"

"You can teleport darling? That's an incredibly high level spell. I don’t know a single unicorn in town who could do something like that!"

Twilight blushed. "Well, like I said, Princess Luna's a good teacher."

Smiling reassuringly, Rarity reached out to wrap a hoof around Twilight's shoulders. "Of course dear. But does she like turquoise?"

Twilight shrugged "I don’t think she really wears dresses."

Rarity gasped, her white coat paling. "You can’t be serious darling!"

"Usually she just wears her regalia. And she really only wears that when she's in public."

Rarity began to sway on her feet.

Spotting a fainting couch tucked away Spike pulled it over just in time for his crush to land on it.

Breathing a sigh of relief the duo peered over the swooning unicorn.

"Are you ok?" Twilight asked.

"I will be darling" said Rarity with renewed vigour. "When this affront to fabulousity is rectified."

Twilight's eyes widened, as Rarity's gained a manic glint.

"Now would you say you were of comparable size and build to the Princess? What am I thinking! You're definitely too far on the short side for that. Nevermind, I can work off a mannequin, at least for the initial design tests. And your insights will be invaluable. I mean a Princess going around without an evening gown, just horrific! There's nothing for it. I'll have to make an entire wardrobe. It'll take a lot of time of course, but it will certainly be worth it in the end!" She paused to look around.

"Now then Twilight…Twilight?"

The library was empty.

Rarity sighed. "Perhaps I may have gotten a little carried away. Perhaps if I bring something to apologise... A dress maybe, or a cloak? Silver or lilac perhaps?"

Exiting the library she looked towards the main square where a familiar duo were talking to an orange mare. "Well at least she's in good hooves. Applejack is as straightforward as can be. There's no reason for anything to go wrong there."

She looked up at the town clock. "Well Rarity, you had better move quickly if you're going to have that cloak ready in time."

Ideas running through her mind she cantered back towards her shop.

Author's Note:

Updates are likely to slow for the next few days as I fight to finish coursework.

Next chapter should be up by the end of the week

Comments

[Composer99]

Correction:

Nevermind, I can work off a manikin, at least for the initial design tests.

Should be mannequin.

Actual comment:

Definitely a neat spin on the series' origin story. Looking forward to seeing more!

[kissfromarose2]

7678105
Well I can promise no Pinkie Pie at least for a couple of chapters.

On a more positive note see the new chapter for Blueblood's comeuppance.

Mostly the short chapters are to keep the writing moving whilst I'm snowed under with coursework and exams.

Once again thanks and enjoy the next chapter

[swyrl]

I love the subtle effects of the "princess swap" through the whole story- coming into it, I expected a story that was more or less the same as Canon with only minor differences, but the characters' differences actually play a part in the story, instead f just being secondary. Very nice ++.

[Knight of the Raven]

Twilight and Rarity hitting it off over gossip? Twilight really is different in this story.

Corrections;

"I'm sorry dear am I boring you?"

Add a comma after "dear"

Don’t worry Twilight your secret is safe with me, I promise.

Add a comma after "Twilight"

"If you say so Spike."

Add a comma after "so"

"Who's your little friend Twilight?"

Add a comma after "friend"

Twilight's eyes widened as Rarity's eyes gained a manic glint.

Maybe find a way to remove the second "eyes" to avoid repetition?

Comments;

Her taste in reading left something to be desired, but Twilight supposed you couldn’t have everything.

Priorities.

And this one came with books!

See above.

Apparently she's been trying to get rid of them for the last two centuries, but they keep wriggling out of it.

I like Luna better as the ruler of Equestria than Celestia already.

Besides Rarity was trustworthy.

You met her less than one hour ago, Twilight. Besides, don't you know? Ladies do it from behind. All of Ponyville will know about it within five minutes of leaving Rarity.

"Once when Blueblood tried to sit on the Empty Throne, Princess Luna set up a shocking spell so the moment his flank came within two inches of the seat it shocked him so badly his hair stood on end!"

Luna > Celestia confirmed.

Can't say I like "flank" being used to refer to a pony's rump though, but the show started that stupid trend with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon calling the Overrated Crusaders blank flanks.

"Then during the next open court she dressed him down in front every pony there. Had him gaping like a fish! Finally she casually told him she didn’t think the size of his flank would have allowed him to sit in it anyway. He checked it every time he passed a mirror in the castle for a month!"

CONFIRMED I TELL YOU!

"Hey don’t worry little bro I'm fine, see."

Twilight saying "little bro." Does not compute.

Already he was busy imagining writing Spike and Rarity over the covers of all the books he owned.

He snapped out of it. Those books were Twilights. Twilight valued said books. Greatly. Spike valued his life too much to die so young.

Spike knows his sister well.

Rarity gasped, her white coat paling.

So much, in fact, that she was transparent for a few seconds.

Spotting a fainting couch tucked away

There's a fainting couch in the Golden Oak library?

"Now then Twilight…Twilight?"

The library was empty.

This Twilight truly has a better survival instinct than the original one.

[Knight of the Raven]

7688786

Well I can promise no Pinkie Pie at least for a couple of chapters.

Best news of the week.

On a more positive note see the new chapter for Blueblood's comeuppance.

Seen and enjoyed.

Mostly the short chapters are to keep the writing moving whilst I'm snowed under with coursework and exams.

At least you have the wisdom of realizing these are more important than fanfiction. I've met people who didn't.

Once again thanks and enjoy the next chapter

You're welcome.

[kissfromarose2]

7703808

Haha I'm glad you liked Blueblood's comeuppance. That one one of the things that wrote itself. It was'nt the main reason for Twilight taking a moment just to chat but it was definitely a fun one.

Twilight and Rarity hitting it off over gossip? Twilight really is different in this story.

Well I figured she needed a small break after the chaos of her arrival. That this ended somewhat badly as well is just Murphy's law.

Her taste in reading left something to be desired, but Twilight supposed you couldn’t have everything.
Priorities.
And this one came with books!
See above.

Well you can take Twilight out of the book fort but you can't take the book fort out of Twilight.
Give her a library.....

Apparently she's been trying to get rid of them for the last two centuries, but they keep wriggling out of it.
I like Luna better as the ruler of Equestria than Celestia already.
"Once when Blueblood tried to sit on the Empty Throne, Princess Luna set up a shocking spell so the moment his flank came within two inches of the seat it shocked him so badly his hair stood on end!"
Luna > Celestia confirmed.
"Then during the next open court she dressed him down in front every pony there. Had him gaping like a fish! Finally she casually told him she didn’t think the size of his flank would have allowed him to sit in it anyway. He checked it every time he passed a mirror in the castle for a month!"
CONFIRMED I TELL YOU!

Haha I'm glad you like my Luna so much.
Certainly I'm trying to differentiate her from Celestia in a positive way which I'm glad comes across. I tend to like my Princesses human with their own flaws and strengths. Lets just say there's a reason its taken so long to get rid of the nobles. Luna;s not all that great at being subtle.

"Can't say I like "flank" being used to refer to a pony's rump though, but the show started that stupid trend with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon calling the Overrated Crusaders blank flanks.

Hmm I don't much mind either, but if you can think of an alternative that works I'll be happy to change it.

Hey don’t worry little bro I'm fine, see."
Twilight saying "little bro." Does not compute.

Yeah one of those big differences from the cannon I guess. Twilight and Spike (at least at the beginning) have a much more clearly established sibling relationship and closeness.
I guess it comes from already loosing a sibling.

Spotting a fainting couch tucked away
There's a fainting couch in the Golden Oak library?

This I will take from cannon. It's Rarity's greatest magical talent, summoning a fainting couch, wherever she is.

Already he was busy imagining writing Spike and Rarity over the covers of all the books he owned.
He snapped out of it. Those books were Twilights. Twilight valued said books. Greatly. Spike valued his life too much to die so young.
Spike knows his sister well.

Spike also has an excellent self preservation instinct. Must be familial.

Once again thanks for the awesome comments.
I'll get on those corrections now