How to Friendship a Comet

by Fylifa

Chapter 4

The following morning, Twilight set herself in her study and brought the books Luna had given her in tow.

Going to bed with new books for Twilight often meant going to bed with said books while reading them under the covers with a lit horn. But she had promised Luna that she’d take better care of her sleep schedule.

Twilight started with the smaller book. First was the cursory sniff and tasting on one of the book’s corners. Good binding. Cherrywood fiber stock for paper. As for reading, the book proved to be more visual than actual literature. Most pages had drawings of pony likenesses and cutie marks. It relieved Twilight as getting through all the thees and thous of olden works was often tedious.

Curiously, she went to her own family and saw an array of familiar cuties. Twilight saw the branch of her brother connected with a crystal heart, which lead to a placeholder. Flurry Heart hadn’t gotten her mark yet, though it suggested that the book was still being updated despite its age.

The relative length of Cadance’s line surprised Twilight. While Cadance was an alicorn in Twilight’s youth, she never seemed that much older. In retrospect, Twilight reasoned the fact of becoming an alicorn must have meant Cadance had plenty of experience before.

Cadance always acted like a big sister, even before she became Twilight’s actual big sister. It was a little disconcerting to think that Cadance was closer to Velvet’s age. How much had their foalsitting adventures been just an adult humoring a child? What about Shining?

Twilight shook her head. She couldn’t start down this path of doubting every alicorn. Especially Cadance! Her sister was genuine, of this Twilight was certain. So, what if Cadance was ten, fifty, or a hundred years older? She will always be the pony that Twilight had fun mischievous adventures with in her youth.

Besides, now that she had wings of her own, Twilight could appreciate yearning for simpler times. It won’t be too long before she’d be seeing Flurry in much the same way. One of Twilight’s hopes was when Flurry came of age, Twilight could be as fun of an auntie. She’d already picked out a whole curriculum of bedtime stories!

Twilight paged backwards in the book and found more curiosity than outright surprises for her friends. It amused her to find a long-limbed branch of the Apple family cross with Rarity’s several generations ago. Rarity, for all her fanciful aspirations in present, had more connections with Applejack than say... Blueblood.

For Blueblood, she felt relieved to see he had no crossings anywhere near the alicorns. How in Equestria did he even get that title?

Twilight paused and began flipping the book backward until she found the sun and moon symbols. Celestia and Luna were indeed sisters, though for all the gossip ponies had for their rulers, they were a lonely sibling linked pair with nothing in front. No blood children, brothers, cousins, or later relatives. She supposed that was reasonable, though not nearly as exciting.

Then again, if it were Luna who was keeping this book updated, there might be a thousand-year gap in accuracy.

Twilight rubbed that blank spot in front of Celestia and Luna’s marks and thought on it. After seeing the lively connections before of her own family, seeing the void here made her sad. There were plenty of expressions of Celestia being mother to Equestria, but it seemed so impersonal. No family or connections for a thousand years.

Something caught Twilight’s eye then, and she blinked. There was a family line for the alicorn sisters… just in the other direction. Twilight flipped the page back to reveal a cutie with a quill and ink pot. Twilight stared at it. She had never considered the thought that Celestia and Luna could have a mother. On reflection, it was a silly thing to be astonished over. The princesses had to have come from some place after the tribes united at hearth’s warming.

Would ponies marvel at Twilight Velvet the same way, generations from now? A unicorn with a princess alicorn daughter, prince for a son, princess alicorn daughter-in-law and a princess alicorn granddaughter. Twilight suddenly burst into giggles at the thought of her mom, who did ordinary mom things like baking cookies and reading bedtime stories, being regarded as some mythical figure.

Twilight started flipping back even further. The bloodlines became much sparser, and the branches narrowed into three bristling trunks of unicorn, pegasus and earth pony. Sure enough, King Bullion and Princess Platinum were there, as well as Commander Hurricane, Puddinghead, Clover, Smart Cookie, and Pansy. She might have to tease Starlight for thinking it was all folklore and stories for foals.

The book was fun from a trivia standpoint, though Twilight wondered just what she was supposed to glean from it regarding the comet. Did Luna just give her something to keep her busy? What was it that Luna had said? That these were her books when she studied under Star Swirl?

That thought got Twilight to move forward a little more slowly until she spotted a cutie mark with spiraling stars arranged behind the alicorns’ own marks. Twilight felt some gratifying smugness for her childhood hero, older than Celestia herself!

Something about the placement drew her attention, and she spent some time comparing before and after. It seemed that Star Swirl, Celestia, and Luna were at the focal point of when unicorn naming conventions swung from being mostly precious metals and jewelry over to stellar and starry names. She wondered if that was Starswirl’s doing or the alicorn’s? It was hard not to notice the less-than chaste lines that seem to sprawl from the old wizard. She felt tempted to see if she could trace a path through the pages to the present day Sparkles. Granted, if there was, she probably had as much Starswirl in her as any other unicorn with how prodigious the family branches were.

Twilight stretched and shut the book. She would have to give it another look later on lest she waste the whole day on her curiosity. She sighed. That meant addressing the other title. She steeled herself against ennui and started on the second book.

---

Starlight floated a tray in front of her as she entered the study, already explaining herself as she did, “Okay so… at first I was going to get you coffee like before, but then I remembered you weren’t going for that anymore. Spike suggested hot chocolate, but that seemed more like something to send you back to bed than perk you up. So, we figured breakfast was the safest bet since you were up here for so long. I said how about waffles, but Spike said pancakes.”

“We got into an argument about it and I umm... maybe... used a little magic... and well... haha! You got wafflecakes. Enjoy!” said Starlight somewhat hastily as she set the covered tray beside Twilight.

Twilight had only been half paying attention, so engrossed in her transcription. She startled at the tray landing on the desk next to her. “Oh! You didn’t have to do that, Starlight. I don’t expect you to be room service.” Remembering Luna’s words, Twilight echoed the same message. “I might be your teacher, but I’m your friend first and—” she stalled as her brain caught up with the rest of the sentence, “—waffle what?”

Starlight put herself in between Twilight, and the tray as she leaned over the desk. “H-Hey are you working on some new magic?”

“Be my guest,” said Twilight nonchalantly while floating the book over.

Starlight flipped to the first page and began reading. “In this tome we shall expl’re the useth of magicka and the f’rm it doth take focus’d by...” she stuck out her tongue. “Ugh, dense, isn’t it? Though why does that sound so fami—” Starlight’s ears perked and she turned the book over to squint at the cover. “Principa Magicka? You’re reading Principa Magicka?”

Twilight’s lip quirked. “This is Luna’s copy. As you can see, it’s an early edition.”

“Is she mad at you?” asked Starlight with some amusement.

Twilight chuckled. “She hinted that there might be something in this that the later revisions don’t have, so I’m comparing a modern copy with this one.” She threw Starlight a hopeful glance before asking, “You don’t happen to be fluent in olden Equestrian, are you?”

Starlight coughed. “Would you be surprised if I said that I dropped out of school after blowing up one of my teachers?”

“You mean blowing up at,” corrected Twilight.

“Yeah… let’s go with that.”

Twilight opened her mouth before closing it. There would be time to work on that particular knot later.

Starlight made a nervous smile and started for the door. “I guess I’ll just leave you to it. Just call if you need lunch or something—”

Twilight drew Starlight back with a powerful pull of magic. “Oh Starlight, I may be busy with something, but I haven’t forgotten your lessons. What kind of teacher or friend would I be if I left you without one for a day?” She floated a pair of saddlebags laden with scrolls and books onto Starlight’s back. “I even packed for you!” she announced, positively beaming.

Starlight whimpered.

---

After chaperoning Starlight through her daily lesson, Twilight lingered on the outside. Re-writing Principa Magicka was a mind numbing task that even she needed breaks from.

Maybe she missed something physical rather than magical about the comet. It may have been grasping at straws, but it was worth trying to practice like Rainbow had suggested.

Currently the straws in question involved Applejack’s hay pile when a boulder impact had one going up in a ‘foosh’ high enough to give the hovering Twilight a sneeze.

“Ya gonna go for three, princess?” asked Applejack as she reloaded the catapult they used for festival events.

“Yeah. Let’s try the biggest one you got!” said Twilight after sniffing some, she hovered above Applejack’s field where they had set up a large bullseye on a sheet. With some placement of hay and targets Twilight had come up with the rudimentary physics challenge to adjust the launched boulder in flight.

The key was to push it during the arc of its course, short corrective bursts of magic to get it to change its arch and strike the target. It landed with a dust up. Not quite a bullseye.

Twilight headed down for a break and landed beside Applejack.

“This might sound a little dumb, but why can’t ya just lift it wholesale? Heck ya lifted the whole gang once,” Applejack inquired before adding further. “A pony like Starlight can strip half the trees in the orchard bare if they put their horn to it.” Applejack peered at Twilight’s own horn. “Just what stops yah? If you don’t mind me askin’.“

While Applejack wouldn’t voice the sentiment, Twilight imagined an earth pony must find it unfair that a unicorn can seemingly do all that work without lifting a hoof.

After a moment of thought on how to explain, Twilight said, “It’s a matter of leverage.” She pointed towards the catapult for a prop. “Not so different from that actually. There is a beam and fulcrum. Only with telekinetics, they are invisible to the naked eye.” She started to demonstrate by lifting a pebble and moving it at right angles, pointing with a hoof where she pivoted the pebble from. “It’s not bound to one direction, as I can change the length and bend point.”

Twilight paused and peeked sidelong to Applejack. Usually this was the part of a lecture when most ponies decided they had other things to do.

Applejack surprised her by looking at the pebble in the air with a critical eye. She waved her own hoof in between Twilight and the pebble. “I don’t feel anything between yer horn and the stone...”

Excited to be offering this impromptu lesson, Twilight continued. “Magic in Equestria is… well everywhere. Most of what we do is focusing it as well as putting it out. Think a magnifying glass and sunshine. You might see it and feel it, but it’s not until it’s all gathered in one spot does it do something like make a fire.” For Applejack’s sake, Twilight left out the esoterics of particle physics and radiation wavelengths. Keeping to foal steps.

“Hmm, I can git where ya comin’ from. If ya put a blindfold on me, I could tell you whose farm I was on just by the feelin’ in my hooves. Granny can always tell where the best apples will grow from a sniff on the air.” Applejack tipped her hat back to rub at her brow before she said, “Though that’s magic in the ground. Why do ya get all a sweaty and a puffin’ when ya move stuff around?”

Twilight smiled at the questions. Teaching always required a pony to have interest. She was quick to answer, “Because I’m the other end of the lever. If I lift something, I’m usually shouldering the weight and having to push off the ground. If I’m moving, sometimes I can get away with throwing an object forward and ‘catching’ it with my magic at the other end. For the really heavy stuff, I have to use more magic to lighten it temporarily. But using two spells in tandem is its own challenge.”

“So, when y’all up in the air you have to flap against it? Okay, but this comet yer goin’ for... It’s way out there,” said Applejack with a furrowed brow. “Say ya manage to erm... lever it up. Wuddint be like us tryin’ to pry up a rock with a really long stick from over the field? Ya’ll be flattened out like one of Granny’s pancakes.”

Twilight had to choke back her excitement. A very rare pleasure of seeing understanding in a pony’s eyes. “I think you’ve spotted my trouble more than any pony I’ve tried to explain this to.”

“Shuck’s nothin’ to it. You unicorns always make it sound so mystical.” Applejack lifted the round stone and eyed it. “Heh. If ya could just spin Equestria ‘round that’ll make yer big snowball look like it’s goin’ up and down too you know.”

Twilight snorted at the idea before she replied, “Now you’re just teasing me. Even if I could, spinning the planet would mess up Celestia’s and Luna’s schedules for the sun and moon. That’s way too much trouble.”

“Just a thought!” Applejack placed the pebbly representation on the ground and stared at it some before suddenly asking, “What if ya had a counter weight?” Like with the catapult. Somethin’ that could yank on the comet on the other end of yer lever thing. Instead of it bein’ yerself.”

Twilight thought on that. “That... could work. But I would still need something at least as big as the comet. Or at least as heavy as it.”

Applejack shrugged and tipped her hat back into place. “Sorry if I sound a little dumb about it. I don’t pretend to know as much about this kinda thing as other ponies do. Wish I had somethin’ to help ya with.”

Twilight reached to give the boulder beside her a small tap with a hoof. “You’ve helped me already. My aim has gotten better today at the very least.”

Applejack grinned and sniffed at the air when a slight breeze brought with it the smell of baking apple. “Mmmhmm! I think Granny’s got us both a little pick me up goin’ in the oven if ya wanna have a break for some pie.”

---

Full of baked goods, Twilight was in a cheerful mood on the way back to the castle. Though she found a surprise waiting for her in the main room.

“Spike... what’s going on here?” Bottles and buckets were scattered everywhere. Twilight lifted one and tried to read a label. It was written in Prench Fancy lettering.

“Spikey Wikey has been a very good dear for me and help set the room for our session.”

“Rarity! You’re looking… prepared,” said Twilight after spinning to face the mare standing in the doorway.

Prepared in a way that only Rarity could be: Her salon smock had accents along the edge and studded jewels on the collar like rank pins. There was even an embroidery of her name on the chest and a three diamond logo. Twilight doubted Rarity would ever use this same smock ever again, though it didn’t stop the boutique owner from going all out in sewing it together.

Rarity in all her fashionista regalia bowed theatrically. “Indeed! Now just step right to your chair and we can begin.”

Twilight looked over her cutie-iconed chair and observed the array of mane-tending gear in front of it. All neatly polished and very professional looking. “Rarity, you already did my mane yesterday. How about we just book a time with Aloe and Lotus next week?”

“Uph uph uph! That was only a temporary measure! A way to help you survive the night. One does not keep a bandage on when surgery is needed!” declared Rarity with a clop of her hoof on the table for emphasis. “Aloe and Lotus are wonderful, but they have very busy schedules and could only afford an hour.”

Inwardly, Twilight had been hoping for that very thing.

“We, however, have the afternoon to us! I checked with Spike and you didn’t have a thing to do.” Rarity looked smug. “Pinkie can’t be the only mare to do surprises. Though this is a surprise of Fashion!” She made a fanciful puff of magical sparkles appear into the air as she spoke. “La la la lah!” Soon after, in a more matter-of-fact voice she said, “Besides, you need the rest, and this is my way of making you stay in a chair.”

Twilight would have to have a talk with Spike about all this easygoing appointment making.

“Now just be still and let a mare work her magic!” Rarity proudly stated before clarifying, “Well, that is... fashion magic, not magic magic. Oh you know.”

“I’ll try to avoid using magic magic if I can help it,” answered Twilight wryly before tensing at Rarity’s hoof touch. She felt the press followed up by the sudden snuffle of hot breath on her.

“Rarity!”

“Oh Twilight, I’m so sorry, but how often do I get a chance?”

“Plenty of times before.” Twilight puffed.

“Yes, but that was before you were a princess! Just look how it feels under a hoof now.” Rarity made a circular rub with her hoof. “That’s princessness right there, to be sure!”

“You can’t look at how something feels, Rarity,” argued Twilight.

It was Rarity’s turn to puff. “You’re a clever enough pony. You get my meaning.”

Twilight shifted from the new tickle of that breath. “Do you ever wonder... that you might be... too much into appearances?” she asked carefully.

Rarity leaned over to bump her cheek against Twilight’s in a companionable press. “Why I don’t know! Do you think you’re too much into your books? Something more floral scented would suit you better than mmm… stationery store.”

Twilight didn’t so much relax as much as slump in defeat, sighing, “Fine. You win. Just don’t go crazy, okay?”

“Sweetie! It won’t even hurt,” assured Rarity as an ostentatiously jeweled comb floated up on blue magic, the gems glinting ominously.

---

Twilight let Rarity go through her routine of fussing, obediently following her directions to dunk, soak and dunk again. She deferred to Rarity’s expertise and ultimately; she found that she at least could get back to work on her transcription. The occasional dunks of water kept her mind from wandering too far.

Eventually, she found a paragraph that had her brow furrowing. With no analogue in the modern edition, she had to rely on her notes to translate the old language.

“Some ancient magic, darling?” said Rarity as a way of conversation, peering at Twilight’s efforts from over her shoulder. Her mouth was full of mane-pins as she used hooves and horn to work on Twilight.

Twilight let her head get tugged towards Rarity’s brush. “Something like that. It’s umm... Principa Magicka,” she said patiently.

Rarity’s squeak nearly had her swallow a mane-pin. “OH! That book? What in Equestria are you reading that dreadful thing for?”

Twilight smirked. If she could count on something, it was the camaraderie of fellow sufferers. “This is an older version. I think I’ve found a passage that isn’t in the newer texts, but I can hardly make mane or tails out of this language.” She sighed.

Rarity inclined her head and leaned in to peek at the page. “That word, dearest? It means ‘flow’. Celestia knows​ why they spelled it in a way to twist your tongue in knots, but those old ponies were su—“

“You can read middle era Equestrian?!” exclaimed Twilight. She immediately straightened up and tried to look over her shoulder. Rarity, used to Twilight’s fidgeting by now, deftly avoided a scissor mishap.

“Of course. I make nearly every costume for the renaissance fairs in both Ponyville and Canterlot nowadays.” Rarity frowned as she brought a comb out. “I thought you of all ponies would appreciate the historical accuracy. One can hardly expect to make period accurate fashion without being able to delve into that setting, swim about and arise dripping with ideas and culture.” She gave the sigh of a put-upon auteur, lonely and misunderstood.

Twilight smiled. “Right now, I can forgive every one of your foibles. Oh Rarity, I could just about kiss you!”

Rarity flounced her mane with a hoof. “Only after getting a lady dinner first, dear.”

---

“The flow of aether between celestial bodies follows set paths written into the darkness of the firmament. Usage of the eighth metamagic form has shown to have an effect on aether and its pathways…” Twilight read carefully from the translated passage.

“Are there eight? I always thought there were seven,” commented Rarity before making a muffled noise of delight when she took the bite from a spoonful. “Gracious this is delicious. What did you say it was again?”

“Wafflecakes. And you only remember seven forms because there are only seven forms,” said Twilight with her brow furrowing as she re-read the passage. With Rarity’s knowledge and Twilight’s rosetta notes, the quillwork was going smoothly. Yet Twilight didn’t feel quite as enlightened as she thought she would be.

“If you say so. I could only do the first three myself.” Rarity’s expression darkened with concern as she cut into another slice. “Do you think this has double the calories?”

“Would it stop you if it did?” Twilight muttered, still flipping pages and trying to find any previous mention of this missing form. Twilight felt herself perturbed by the idea of not knowing about this eighth magical building block. It was comparable to being an artist who, midway through their career, discovered that they had been working without the color blue. Frustration put her in an unkind mood.

Over a mouthful of confectionery, Rarity mumbled, “Mmhmmhph! You could at least save me and have a bite of it yourself. Isn’t self-sacrifice part of being a princess? Though maybe it’s asking too much, it’s not like your flank has room to grow...” Rarity added the last part sotto voce.

That got Twilight to look up and frown. Though Rarity waggled the spoon at her. “Uph uph uph! If you still want that kiss you’ll have to be a little sweeter to me, darling.”

Twilight paused then and reconsidered. She shook her head. “Sorry. I shouldn’t let this irritate me. You’ve been a lot of help, and I know you took a big chunk of your day to help me with this.”

Rarity smiled around the next dainty mouthful and this time Twilight joined in with a bite of her own.

“Hrm! It’s actually not that bad. I’ll have to tell Starlight she might be onto something,” Twilight remarked, “Though I’m going to be careful about how often I eat this. I swear between you, Rainbow, and the tabloids, it’s like everypony has this fascination with my—”

“Back!” called Spike while carrying a double armful of stacked bags and boxes.

Twilight nearly choked on a lump of syrupy cake, sputtering, “What’s all this now?”

Rarity tutted, “Now Twilight, remember you were still in the middle of being appreciative. I had Spikey fetch me ten of my best hats and some additional treatments for you to keep the maintenance up.”

Twilight silently mouthed the word maintenance. Manes needed maintenance?

Spike set the boxes down and gaped when he finally got a good look at Twilight. “W-Whoa!”

Twilight had gotten so involved with the bookwork that she forgot the other reason Rarity was here. She sighed. This was becoming a routine. She looked towards the nearest polished surface.

Despite herself, Twilight ended up gasping anyway. “Rarity! What did you do?”

“What needed to be done!” Rarity answered with fierce certainty. She looked pointedly unapologetic with her hooves crossed in front of her.

Where before Rarity had dyed Twilight’s mane back into some kind of normalcy, this time around she had gone the other way, accentuating the shades to nearly day-glow brightness. With a few turns of her head, Twilight thought she could see spots of glitter and the occasional sequin woven in.

“Rarity, you made me look like... like a...”

“Like a… ?” Rarity dared Twilight to complete the sentence.

Of course, ‘like a princess’ was a silly answer for Twilight to say. She had the wings, a castle, and had met with foreign ambassadors. She might not have an entire city-state like Cadance, but she was a princess.

Seeing victory in Twilight’s silence, Rarity softened her gloating. “I only want you to look your best, dear. Treat yourself once in a while to the things you more than deserve.”

When Twilight first became an alicorn, she had worried that it would set her apart from her friends. After all, they couldn’t all be princesses like her. Still, with that separation of office and physical differences, they remained her friends.

That Rarity and Rainbow, two mares who stood at opposites yet echoed the same thought, threatened to have Twilight get a little misty eyed from the sentiment.

“Thank you,” Twilight said with a warming smile.

Rarity grinned and gave her hair a small toss. “It’s all a plot, you know. Since that disastrous affair with Blueblood, courting a Sparkle is my best bet to get into royalty.”

Twilight giggled. “I think you’ll have better luck breaking into the Royal Canterlot treasury than prying Cadance’s hooves off my brother.”

Rarity lidded her eyes at Twilight, complete with a flutter of her long lashes. “Oh sweetie, your brother’s a catch, but I wasn’t thinking of him.”

Twilight rolled her own eyes, but kept her smile. She had her magic and books, but Rarity always beat her in verbal sparring. “I need to get going. I promised Luna I’ll be there early tonight. Spike, I have a very important task for you.”

Spike was still trying to work out who Rarity meant and if he should feel glum over it. “What is it?” he asked with a sigh before waggling as Twilight lifted him in a purple bubble. He flew over to Rarity, who caught him in her hooves.

“Giving Rarity something I promised her, in my place,” replied Twilight.

“Wha—” Spike managed before turning a deep extra purple from the kiss Rarity dotted on his nose. The mares and eventually dragon shared a laugh.

---

Twilight appeared on Luna’s balcony a little while later. She was in good spirits, but she felt a lingering apprehension. What would be expected of her tonight?

Luna’s room had the curtains already drawn open and the Princess herself was not in her study. Instead, she was by her dresser. Hearing Twilight approach, she turned to look. “Welcome Twilig—“ she stopped mid-sentence, eyes widening as she caught sight of Twilight’s mane.

“Yes, yes, I know. Rarity fixed me up before I came here. I hope you don’t mind. I’m not trying to imitate you or make it seem like—” Twilight rambled before quieting when Luna raised a hoof.

“Worry not, I know you are a humble mare, but—” Luna tipped her head with her horn lit and Twilight felt a magical tingle dance along her nape, “—‘Tis more than just coloring in your mane.” Luna confirmed.

“I went up high with Rainbow the day before to try to see if I could use direct magic,” admitted Twilight while feeling like she was caught with a hoof in the cookie jar. Though Luna seemed more interested by the fact than accusatory.

“A dangerous endeavor if not prepared. I hope you kept your eyes and horn covered.”

Twilight fidgeted at that, but pressed on. “Why did it change color? I thought maybe the sunshine?”

Luna smiled then and turned back towards the dresser. “We will take a trip ourselves and see if we cannot find the answer to such.”

Twilight gave a sigh, “Now you’re sounding like Celestia.”

“Should I take that as a compliment? I remember you did say you preferred this method.” Luna peered at her from over her shoulder.

Twilight shook her head. “Sorry. I guess I’ve gotten a little flustered lately about the things I have been missing. I read Principa Magicka and found out about the eighth form. I feel like I’m more inadequate than ever, especially when I have to move that comet in the next two days.”

Luna turned to face Twilight again. “The eighth form has been overlooked by many despite its underpinning nature.” She looked thoughtful. “‘Tis important to remember, Twilight. While we build upon the knowledge of others before us, it also builds boundaries in our thinking of what is possible. Had you been a contemporary of Starswirl when magic was new and raw, I am sure you would have discovered all eight forms yourself or even come up with new ways of categorizing them completely.”

Luna smiled warmly before continuing. “I have been doing some studying of my own. I asked my sister for her notes on you and ‘tis quite clear that you have great potential. In the years to come, you will certainly surpass the two of us in magic.”

Twilight blushed at hearing that, but her ears perked at the mention of personal notes. “She kept notes?” Twilight blurted in surprise. Of course, on her end of things, she had kept every scrap of paper ever given to her by Celestia organized by topic and date. But those were words of the princess. Those were special. A curiosity struck her now. “I suppose it would be a real long shot to ask if I could see them?”

“Forgive me, but they were written in her personal journals. She bade me not to remove them from her room or reveal too much of her personal musings,” said Luna with her tone turning apologetic. “‘Twas her condition before allowing me to read, but rest assured that my sister cares for you and has every confidence in you.”

Luna inclined her head then and her expression became more pensive. “Although something occurred to me when I read and it becomes important to answer as this comet approaches. Did you ask Celestia to become an alicorn? Was this an aspiration of yours?”

The question startled twilight, and it provoked a new fidget from her. There was only one truly honest answer to that. “No,” she whispered, breaking eye contact. Her mind swirled with speculation at those notes.

“I was afraid of that. All of Celestia’s planning seemed to be… singular.” Luna sighed. “I would not have managed it that way, not with something like this.”

The air hung heavy with the statement and Luna looked towards the moon while Twilight wrestled with what to say or even feel. Right back at square one and with the vision of Discord’s laughing face occupied her thoughts.

Several moments passed before Luna spoke again, quietly murmuring, “I have found with my sister, things I do not understand from my perspective makes sense from her own.”

Twilight tensed at hearing that. She had to know now more than ever and said, “Luna, when I talked with you and Celestia on the balcony, Celestia made it sound like this comet just happened to be on its way here…” Twilight left the thought hanging, unable to finish with ‘Was she lying?’

Luna held Twilight’s gaze for a long beat before finally responding, “We did move this comet long ago. But for it to come this close? She must have corrected it even further. Recently, as well, by several months if not weeks.”

“So... not an accident,” said Twilight quietly, feeling numb. Was Discord right? She slumped in place, feeling lost. “Why wouldn’t she tell me? Is this all a setup?”

Luna stepped close and reached with a wing to gently lift Twilight’s downcast muzzle. “I see your fear. But... consider my sister. Know that for most of the past thousand years she has had to act with no confidant or any pony who could share her burden.” Luna shook her head. “We both suffered an exile. Mine was on the moon, her own was in a palace.”

Twilight thought of the genealogy book and its endless blanks in front of the sun symbol. She heard the echo of something Celestia once told her: “For many, the summer sun festival was a celebration of my defeat of nightmare moon, but for me it was always a terrible reminder.”

Luna watched Twilight’s thoughtful expression. “I can understand her judgement behind her methods, but ‘tis not her whom this matters most. I ask before we begin. Do you regret becoming an alicorn? Would it be a path you would have chosen, if had given a choice?”

Twilight spread her wings, suddenly self-conscious of them. It had taken awhile to get used to the physical changes, but those were minor over the fears of separation from her friends. After the crisis with Discord’s vines, that fear never did really come to pass. Her friends accepted her and so did other ponies. Not to mention, Shining becoming a Prince before her made it even easier for her family to accept her new status. Twilight Velvet and Nightlight were probably the proudest pair of parents in Equestria.

“Maybe not at first. But I think I would now. Though I can’t pretend that I don’t miss the simple life of being a librarian and student. But… I guess a filly has to grow up sometime,” Twilight finally answered.

Luna relaxed visibly. “Often said that those who ought to have power are those who come into it, not those who seek it. ‘Tis a lesson I myself had to learn.” She gestured with her head. “Come here, Twilight. I have something for you.”

Comments

[Nali]

“Magic in Equestria is… well everywhere. Most of what we do is focusing it as well as putting it out. Think a magnifying glass and sunshine. You might see it and feel it, but it’s not until it’s all gathered in one spot does it do something like make a fire.”

This is a delightfully succinct analogy.

[Yutah123]

Would ponies marvel at Twilight Velvet the same way, generations from now? A unicorn with a princess alicorn daughter, prince for a son, princess alicorn daughter-in-law and a princess alicorn granddaughter. Twilight suddenly burst into giggles at the thought of her mom who did ordinary mom things like baking cookies and reading bedtime stories being regarded as some mythical figure.

Wow, when you put it like that, Twilight's family is very... Royal. Hell, if we go by numbers it's more royal than Princess Celestia and Luna's – admittedly small – family! Twilight must have some very proud parents.

[tsaukpaetra]

You know, now that the two sisters are retired, perhaps they can seek to produce their own progeny?