24. To Be or Not to Be
One fine day at Sugar Cube Corner, Pinkie Pie was making cupcakes as she was decorating the said pastries with icing and toppings such as sprinkles and berries, just before Yellow Bright and Krona arrived to the counter.
"Why, hello Yellow Bright and Krona! What a great day to stop by Sugar Cube Corner, isn't it?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"Yes, it is!" Krona agreed.
"So, Yellow Bright, why'd bring your yak bestie here today?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"Don't you remember, Madam Pinkie Pie? We've ordered two birthday cakes, cupcakes, doughnuts, tarts, and party supplies such as balloons, banners, ribbons..." Yellow Bright began listing, until he was cut off by Pinkie Pie.
"Oh, yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Silly me, I totally forgot!" the pink Earth Pony quickly dashed off to grab everything on the list and bring it to her customers,"Here's your party supplies, all in this sack! And here are all the pastries, each box containing only one of each kind!"
Pinkie Pie handed the towering tower of blue boxes to the creatures, making Krona comment, "Krona sure wish there was a unicorn here..."
"Did some creature say 'a unicorn'?" a familiar voice asked.
The creatures turned to see Pumpkin Cake, who used her magic to levitate the blue boxes into a small cube-shaped wagon that could carry eight boxes when filled to the brim, leaving the additional four stacked on top.
"Thanks, Miss Pumpkin Cake!" Krona thanked.
"Happy to help!" Pumpkin Cake happily replied.
"Just one more thing!" Pinkie Pie announced, as she took out two white boxes from the counter, "Or maybe, two! The two birthday cakes you creatures ordered are in these white boxes!"
"But the wagon's full!" Krona reminded.
"We'll just have to carry them the old-fashioned way." Yellow Bright figured, as he opened his mouth to bite the string on one of the boxes.
"Maybe I should go with you, in order to help you carry these final boxes so you won't have a lot of trouble." Pumpkin Cake suggested, levitating the last two white boxes with her magic, causing Yellow Bright to release the box he had.
"Thanks, again Miss Pumpkin Cake!" Krona thanked.
"I already said, I'm happy to help!" Pumpkin Cake giggled.
"You kind of remind me of how Luster helped Alkali and I back when we first met her!" Yellow Bright commented.
"Speaking of Luster, I remember that you ordered all of this to celebrate her birthday this year." Pumpkin Cake recalled.
"Indeed! Luster's turning twenty!" Krona exclaimed.
"No, she's actually turning ten!" Yellow Bright argued.
"Twenty!" Krona protested.
"Ten!" Yellow Bright disagreed.
"Twenty!"
"Ten!"
"Twenty!"
"Ten!"
"Twenty!"
"Ten!"
"Will you two stop?!" an annoyed Pound Cake came down the stairs, "What are you even arguing about?! Numbers?!"
"Arguing about how old Luster is this year! She's turning twenty!" Krona declared.
"Correction, she's turning ten!" Yellow Bright argued.
"Actually, you're both right to some extent: Luster is turning both twenty and ten!" Pound Cake told the two creatures.
"Of course Krona's..." Krona began, before she paid more attention to Pound Cake's latest words, "Wait..."
"Both twenty and ten?!" Krona and Yellow Bright asked in unison.
"Don't you remember the real story? Head-mare Starlight and Head-Stallion Sunburst's only biological child, had one of the most amazing and out-of-the-ordinary backstories of growing up! Since her parents are too busy, they send her to Sire's Hollow to be taken care of by their parents, then, when Luster wasn't in kindergarten anymore, she enrolled in the School for Gifted Unicorns, passed the exam, but her happiness made her magic react with her magical project that resulted the irreversible age spell that made her ten years older than she actually is!" Pound Cake reminded.
"So, that's how she can be both ten and twenty! Twenty is her biological age, ten is her chronological age!" Pumpkin Cake explained.
"Is that why there are two cakes with two different amounts of candles instead of one?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"Yes, that is..." Yellow Bright answered.
"Krona and Yellow Bright couldn't agree on how many candles to put on the cake, and made Mr.Cheese Sandwich so annoyed that he shouted..." Krona recalled and was about to quote, but Cheese Sandwich showed up to say the quote for her.
"Why don't you have them BOTH?!"
"Yup, that's exactly what he said!" Yellow Bright nodded.
"Do you think I will forget what happened on the day a party order is made, when the day that the party order is supposed to be delivered on arrives?" Cheese Sandwich asked.
"Obviously, wouldn't!" Krona answered.
"Wrong!" Cheese Sandwich strictly snapped, before immediately changing his tone and expressions, "The correct answer is 'Certainly won't!'"
"What?!" Krona was speechless to hear the correct answer.
"Look at the time! We best be going! Can't have a party without all of this!" Yellow Bright announced.
In the Castle of Friendship, Alkali was skating on soap bars on her four hippogriff feet like she always would whenever it was cleaning time.
Sunshine Rays was cleaning the walls with sponge, while Buffer delivered water around, as he had a wagon loaded with the said liquid attached to him.
"The castle is looking fabulous!" Starlight Glimmer commented.
"Glad you said so! It felt like we were cleaning for days!" Falcon Dive exclaimed.
"We hope that this birthday party isn't too hard to manage, as we have quite a lot of guests." Natue Bloom told the Head-mare.
"Don't worry, every creature. This castle has welcomed all of Ponyville before! If it can handle a whole town, why can't it handle a hundred guests?" Starlight Glimmer asked.
"Are you sure that we have a hundred guest this time?" Falcon Dive asked.
"It's just an expression." Starlight Glimmer replied.
"Well, our siblings are coming, accompanied by one of their parents, and since there are 9 of us, 9 times 2 is 18..." Buffer stated.
"Don't forget Gloss Semblance! He's not a sibling, but he is the sibling of one of the former students of the School of Friendship, and he's friends with our siblings! And Luster went to fetch him here because his family knows that she can be trusted!" Alkali reminded.
"Adding him to the guest list makes 19..." Buffer counted.
"Don't forget that the Council of Friendship and their children are coming, and some of their children's friends/relatives." Sunshine Rays informed.
"19 plus 7 plus 10 makes...36!" Buffer calculated.
"Don't forget Nightfall Dusk and Mitigate," Nature Bloom added.
"Adding them makes 38!" Buffer figged.
"And since it's Luster's birthday, her old caregivers are coming, too." Starlight Glimmer told the creatures.
"Plus 2 more that's 40!" Buffer counted.
Just then, there was a knock on the Castle Door.
"I will get it!" Sunshine Rays called, flying to the golden doors that allowed creatures in and out of the castle.
The white pegasus opened the door to find a huge number of ponies on the other side.
"Oh, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their families are here, including the huge Apple and Pear Family..." Sunshine Rays said out loud, before gasping as she realised what she recently said, "Huge family!"
"Hi, Miss Sunshine!" Pear Sweet greeted.
"We're here for Luster's birthday party!" Pear Treat added.
"You all invited us?" Scootaloo reminded.
"Yes, and I completely forgot..." Sunshine Rays answered, speechless.
"The more the merrier! Come on in!" Alkali cheered.
"No, wait!" Sunshine Rays tried to stop the process, but failed.
The ponies walked into the castle quickly, only to slip on the slippery floor just as fast, falling flat on their backs.
"Whoops, I forgot that I just soaped the floor to clean it, major apologies and a thousand sorries!" Alkali apologised.
"You're lucky that Grandpa Boiled Pear's at home with Haystack, or he might have been doomed to be involved in this fall." Apple Bloom groaned.
"Adding the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their husbands, and their children and a huge family makes...a total of 55 guests!" Buffer calculated.
"55 rounded off to 3 significant figures, is 100!" Sunshine Rays stated.
"Matter of fact: When you round 55 off to the nearest hundred, you also get 100!" Alkali added.
"How about 57 guests?" Yellow Bright asked, as he, Krona and the Cake Twins arrived.
"Wait, the Cake Twins are invited, too?" Sunshine Rays asked.
"Actually, not. But since they helped Krona and Yellow Bright, why shouldn't they attend the party?" Krona asked.
"As they say, the more the merrier!" Starlight responded, being the cheerful pony she was.
"But that would leave Mr. Cheese Sandwich all alone running Sugar Cube Corner!" Nature Bloom reminded.
"He can handle it." Pumpkin Cake assured.
"Besides, he's done that before a hundred times!" Pound Cake added.
"But are you sure he won't complain about missing the party?" Falcon Dive asked.
"He can handle it, we told you so!" Pumpkin assured.
Soon, the birthday party was on, with every creature having a good time playing and talking, before it was time to cut the cake.
"Attention, every creature! It is time for the moment we've all been waiting for: Cutting the birthday cake!" Princess Twilight Sparkle announced, catching every creature's attention.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Pinkie Pie called, "You meant cut the birthday cakes!CAKES! There are two birthday cakes, not one!"
The party pony raised the two white boxes in the air for all to see, making the guests confused.
"Say what?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"A birthday party with two cakes instead of one?" Spike asked.
"Maybe it's for feeding more guests?" Rarity suggested.
"Actually, it's because Krona and Yellow Bright couldn't decide between twenty and ten candles, so..." Krona began, before Yellow Bright filled in.
"We ended up ordering two cakes; one with twenty candles, the other with ten! Other than that, the cakes are identical!"
"But, why would you have to choose between two numbers with a great difference of 10?" Fluttershy asked, makan Luster Dawn feel uncomfortable, knowing what was coming.
"Because Luster's biological and chronological ages are different by 10!" Falcon Dive answered.
"Don't you all know her Real Story?" Evergreen asked.
"At first, it is only a lecture at the School of Friendship..." Buffer began
"But when Luster became a heroine of Equestria and Beyond, the story is known worldwide!" Volcano went on.
"For every creature to know!" Yellow Bright finished.
"Can we just go on with cake cutting?" Luster asked, getting very uncomfortable.
"Wait! Wait! Wait! I can't remember the story! How did Luster get to have different biological and chronological ages?" Juicy Apple raised her front right hoof and asked.
"That? It's because of an irreversible age spell that she unintentionally casted on herself when her happiness made her magic react with her magical project at the entry exam for the School of Gifted Unicorns." Volcano explained, making Luster even more embarrassed as the craziest part of her backstory was told or reminded to the whole crowd.
"Now can we please forget this story and cut the cakes?" Luster asked.
"Hold on, we have to light them first!" Princess Twilight Sparkle said, getting ready to light the candles as she approached the cake that was closer to her, the one on her left with the twenty candles, but was stopped by Yellow Bright.
"Wait! Wait! Wait! Luster is actually ten, and since there are ten members of the team she is in, and a digit 1 in the number 10, you should light the cake that has ten candles first!"
"No! Luster is biologically twenty! With the intelligence of some creature who's twenty! And twenty is considered her age now! So the one with twenty should go first!" Krona argued.
"Ten!" Yellow Bright insisted.
"Twenty!" Krona protested.
"Ten!" Yellow Bright argued.
"Twenty!" Krona disagreed.
Seeing that the two arguing creatures would not be happy either way, Luster decided to light the candles herself, lighting both cakes at the exact same time as she sent a magic wave that was small, but enough to do the trick.
"There you go! Two cakes lit up at the exact same time!" Pinkie Pie announced.
"That way neither of them is first, nor last!" Applejack added.
"And you creatures have nothing to argue about!" Fluttershy continued.
"Make a wish, Luster, that's what we always do on our birthdays!" Princess Twiliht Sparkle told her faithful student gently.
Luster silently though for a while, before getting ready to blow out the candles, but was interrupted by Yellow Bright.
"Wait! You should blow out the ten candles before blowing double the amount!"
"What?! Luster will get tired! She should blow out the twenty candles then get half the work to blow out ten!" Krona insisted, starting another argument.
"Ten!"
"Twenty!"
"Ten!"
"Twenty!"
Knowing that she had to make sure neither went first nor last again, Luster asked Rarity, "Madam Rarity? Do you have 2 fans for fanning?"
"Indeed, I do!" Rarity replied in a friendly tone, levitating 2 fans out of her clothes, and giving them to Luster.
Luster levitated the fans and had one facing the cake with ten candles, and the other facing the cake with twenty candles, and fanned both at the exact same time until all the candles were out.
"There you go, another tie!" Pinkie Pie announced.
"Both blown out at the same time!" Rainbow Dash continued.
"And started getting blown at, at the same time." Spike added.
"Now that the candles are blown out, it's time to take them off and..." Princess Twilight Sparkle said, lighting up her horn, ready to use magic to take the candles off the cake, but was interfered by Krona.
"Princess Twilight Sparkle should remove the twenty candles first! Because it's better to have more work first than more work later!"
"But the one with ten candles would take lesser time! That should go first!" Yellow Bright argued.
"Or maybe they should both go at the same time." Princess Twilight Sparkle figured, using her magic to levitate all the candles off at once.
"Now, to cut the cake!" Sunburst declared, giving his daughter the cake-cutting knife with his magic, like unicorns usually would.
"Finally!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
"Wait!" Krona called, "Luster is twenty, so she should cut the cake that had twenty candles on it! and there's a lot of guests! And twenty is more than ten!"
"Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! The number of candles doesn't determine how many pieces the cake can be cut into, nor the size of the cake! And Luster is really ten years old! So she should cut the cake that had ten candles on it!" Yellow Bright disagreed.
"Twenty!" Krona argued.
"Ten!" Yellow Bright protested.
Luster groaned and used a duplication spell on the cake-cutting knife, making a clone appear. But before she could cut the cakes at the same time..
"Wait! Luster is really ten years old! The cake that had ten candles would be cut with the real knife!" Yellow Bright pointed out.
"But she doesn't have to be treated like a ten-years-old! She's twenty! With the mind and appearance of some creature twenty! So the real knife should cut the cake that had twenty candles!" Krona argued.
As the two began another argument, Luster asked out loud, "does any creature have a real spare knife for cake cutting?!"
"Right here!" Pinkie Pie handed one to Luster in a flash.
"Thanks!" Luster thanked, before undoing the duplication spell to send the clone life away, followed by cutting the two cakes with two real knives at the exact same time and in the exact same way.
"Glad that all that argument was over." Fluttershy commented, watching the events unfold.
"Alright, every creature! Step right up and have some cake!" Luster announced, signalling the crowd to come over.
Soon, after every creature had cake, Luster was about to take a piece for herself, but was interfered by Yellow Bright and Krona's augments and suggestions, again.
"Wait! Luster is turning twenty in age, so she should have a piece from the cake that had twenty candles, first!" Krona insisted.
"No! She's really ten years old, so she should take a piece from the real deal!" Yellow Bright argued.
Irritated, Luster quickly got out two real plates and two real spoons with her magic, and got one real slice rom each cake and divided them equally by the plates. Scooping about the same amount from each slice with each spoon, Luster then challenged herself to consume both at the same time, bringing them towards her mouth, allowing them to stop right in front of their destination and wait for the entrance to open as she sent the food right into the starting point of her digestive system.
"Or...that could work..." Krona commented.
That evening, all the guests were leaving the Castle of Friendship, with Luster waving them goodbye.
"Goodbye! Hope to see you all soon!" the unicorn called and waved, before turning around and accidentaly bumping into Nightfall Dusk.
"Sorry, Nightfall! Didn't see you there!" Luster apologised.
"Don't worry, accidents do happen." Nightfall Dusk responded, understandably.
"Hopefully when we see each other again, this won't happen so often." Luster said, slightly blushing.
"Hope so, too. See you someday, Luster Dawn." Nightfall Dusk responded, before walking off.
"See you , someday...Nightfall Dusk..." Luster replied, dreamingly, before walking back into the Castle of Friendship.
Inside the Castle, Alkali was skating on soap bars once again, skating towards the birthday mare, greeting her, "Hey, Luster! Happy that you've become a decade older? And had a great big party? And never had to set it up nor clean up after it?"
"Kind of," Luster gloomily replied.
"Kind of?!" Falcon Dive asked, "Hello?! It's a huge party with lots of work to do to prepare it and clean it up! And you don't have to do any of that!"
"And it's your party in the first place!" Sunshine Rays reminded.
"And you got something like sibling time with Gloss Semblance, whom we figured that you treat like a sibling of yours." Buffer contributed.
"And even Nightfall Dusk came! How can you not be happy?!" Evergreen asked.
"I'm actually unhappy about something else..." Luster answered.
"What are you unhappy bout?" Nature Bloom asked in a concerned tone.
"Is it Krona and Yellow Bright's constant arguing about which number should go first?" Volcano asked.
Every creature turned to look at the two creatures mentioned by Volcano recently, who responded sheepishly as they gave out nervous laughter.
"That only irritated and annoyed me." Luster answered.
"Then what was the real thing that upset you? Please don't say it's Mitigate being one of the guests!" Nature Bloom asked.
"Nope, every guest is fine, too." Luster replied.
"Then, what is the thing that upsets you?" Sunshine Rays asked.
"It's my..." Luster paused, before admitting, "Age."
"Your age?!" all nine of the listeners gasped.
"But, why?" Krona asked.
"If it's because it made us argue so much and annoy and irritate you so much, we're really sorry!" Yellow Bright apologised in a way like some creature would apologise to royalty.
"Not because of that," Luster answered, "It's because it makes me so...different..."
"Well, that's understandable, because mot of the creatures in the land are obviously as old as they really are!" Evergreen apprised Luster
"I may not like the idea of changing ages through age spells since it can be unnatural, but I know that your case is an acceptable exception, because it was unintentional, and irreversible, and you actually tried to reverse it." Sunshine Rays contributed.
"I still have no idea how it was irreversible, I mean, no creature has sen anything like it!" Lustr exclaimed.
"There's always a first time for everything," Nature Bloom assured.
"Like the first time you talked, the first time you made something, the first time you participated in a competition!" Alkali listed some examples.
"Those are all basic things, Alkali. Not something so rare that the world has never seen before!" Luster informed.
"But on the bright side, you forget about trying to reverse it and moved on!" Yellow Bright reminded.
"Yes...but it makes me uncomfortable whenever some creature asked me how old I am." Luster sighed.
"Just say the age that the age spell made you into!" Krona figured, "Because you have the appearance and mind of some creature that old!"
"But I chronologically am ten years younger than that!" Luster reminded, "What if they asked which year I was born in? Once they calculate, they'd be shocked!"
"Tell them not to calculate?" Yellow Bright asked, "Or just tell them to never ask which year you're born in, just ask how old you are?"
"Wouldn't that be a little weird of me?" Luster asked.
"Speaking of weird, there are a lot of weird things in the world!" Volcano showed up, with a science magazine in his claws, "Like, the blob fish!"
The dragon showed an image of the mentioned fish in the magazine to every creature, surprising them in not a very pleasant way.
"What is that?!" Sunshine Rays shrieked.
"A blob fish, and Queen Skystar as a sea pony, playing games with it, as they are friends." Volcano explained.
"I love the blob fish already! I can't wait to go back to Mount Aris for a visit, and dive into Seaquestria to play with one! Or more than one! Or many!" Alkali exclaimed.
"So Luster, now that you've seen something weird, do you feel any better?" Volcano asked.
"No...there's more things for me to be uncomfortable about, that makes me very, very different from every creature I know..." Luster sadly responded.
"Is it still the age spell?" Krona asked.
"More than just the age spell!" Luster cried, "My whole backstory! I was born in Ponyville, but got sent away to live in Sire's Hollow with my grandparents, was raised by them until I enrolled in the School for Gifted Unicorns, when the age spell happened and changed my life!"
"It's not super rare to find children not raised by their biological parents: I mean, they might hire babysitters or caregivers not related to the family by blood, to take care of the children while they, the biological parents, work." Volcano explained.
"And your parents actually didn't have a choice!" Nature Bloom reminded.
"They got a School to run!" evergreen contributed.
"And you know how bad things were without them..." Falcon Dive ended, reminding every creature about the incident that happened when Starlight Glimmer and Sunburst cared more about spending time with Luster than about the school, resulting total chaos on the family's final vacation day.
"But look on the bright side! When you came to Ponyville, they were happy to see you, and offered you castle life!" Yellow Bright reminded.
"That you...kindly rejected because you don't want to have privileges that we can't have." Buffer went on.
“I know, but something that I do will like to know, is..." Luster gulped, before revealing what she was going to say, "Whether am I better off without the effects of my backstory or not."
The nine creatures gasped to hear what their leader said.
"Luster...why will you think of that?!" Krona asked.
"That backstory is crazy and unlike what most creatures could have gone through!" Luster answered.
"But there's always a first time for everything, even for the world." Buffer reminded.
"Even if I wasn't the first creature to experience a crazy backstory like mine, I don't think I'll feel any better..." Luster sighed.
"But Luster, don't you remember what Princess Twilight Sparkle learnt about timelines and effects when your mother hadn't reformed and altered the past?" Sunshine Rays asked, "Not to make you think of your mother being...not good."
"They both learnt that every friendship is important, and every little thing is important too, as everything in the past leads to the present, and even the future." Luster replied.
"I bet Sunshine is trying to tell you, that if it weren't for your backstory, the present will not even be the present it is," Volcano informed.
"We might never have met you nor become your best friends!" Nature Bloom added.
"And might never became the Heroic Ten!" Alkali dramatically exclaimed.
"And what do you think Equestria will be like if none of that happened?" Evergreen asked.
"Eclipse will not be defeated nor reformed?" Yellow Bright figured.
"And we all might be brainwashed!" Falcon Dive ended.
"I know it's great that we saved Equestria, but I'm still...different from every creature else..." Luster reminded them about the main point.
"But if you were biologically as old as you chronologically are, you will be a kid like the Council of Friendship's children!" Buffer pointed out.
"And you might not even get to lead us!" Nature Bloom added.
"Nor be Element of Leadership!" Krona ended.
"And, you might always needed one of us to be with you, how inconvenient will that be?" Volcano asked.
"But, what if I was born in the same generation as all of you! Being biologically and chronologically in my twenties like you are?!" Luster asked after thinking for a while.
"But, will your parents be old enough to have you?" Evergreen asked.
"According to my calculations, and biology knowledge, the answer is can, but difficult and risky." Volcano answered, after silently thinking for a while.
"And, if you were born in the same generation as we are, wouldn't you have made friends with Ponyville residents and never wanted to go to the School For Gifted Unicorns?" Sunshine Rays questioned.
"I never made friends because I liked reading and studying more than anything!" Luster reminded, "So, I probably would have went to Canterlot and become Priincess Twilight Sparkle's student!"
"But, how can you learn nothing about friendship through that scenario? I mean, your parents run a friendship school, Princess Twilight Sparkle is still the Princess of Friendship." Falcon Dive asked.
"I was sent to Sire's Hollow to live with my grandparents! They probably won't teach me anything about friendship!" Luster claimed.
"But your parents are still about the same age as the Council of Friendship! And if their children were born years after we were, shouldn't it be more right for you to be born in the same generation as the said children?" Sunshine Rays asked.
"And not to wish that your Mum gave birth to you so soon and put her and your Dad in the situation that Volcano just described !" Falcon Dive contributed.
"Or...what if I wasn't their biological daughter! As in, some creature else's biological daughter!" Luster asked after thinking again.
"WHAT?!" Krona asked.
"You don't want to be your parents' biological daughter?!" Yellow Bright asked out loud.
"No! I mean yes! I mean...It's not that I don't want to be their biological daughter, I was just asking wha if my biological parents were other ponies, and not Head-mare Starlight Glimmer and Vice Head-stallion Sunburst, then I can be born in the same generation as you are, and be Princess Twilight Sparkle's student, and got sent to Ponyville to meet you all?!" Luster clarified.
"That sounds...complicated..." Alkali commented.
"And not quite possible if you ask me!" Sunshine Rays went on, "Only your biological parents can make you exist, like their biological parents and ancestors can!"
"What are you all talking about? It's getting late!" Eclipse Instant asked, showing up into the hallway where the party was held.
"Head-mare Starlight figured that you would have cleaned up fast and took your shower sby now, but you haven't!" Shapeshifter explained, showing up as well.
"Whoops! We kind of...forgot?" Yellow Bright nervously laughed and replied.
"What?! You've been living here longer than Shapeshifter and I have after we finished going around Equestria and Beyond!" Eclipse responded.
"How can you forget your routine of bathing after hosting a party here?" Shapeshifter questioned.
"We were busy talking through something!" Buffer answered.
"Something that makes Luster feel uncomfortable!" Krona added.
"Don't worry, I'll clean up the remaining things with My Magic, while you all shower!" Luster told her best friends.
"Are you sure? It is your tenth birthday..." Yellow Bright asked.
"Twentieth!" Krona insisted.
"Tenth!" Yellow Bright snapped.
"Twentieth!" Krona disagreed.
"How about a Multiple of ten, term birthday?!" Alkali asked.
"Or, maybe Shapeshifter and I shall clean while you all shower." Eclipse Instant suggested.
"Besides, we really realised being good is good, so as every good thing regardless of size!" Shapeshifter added, flying down to get a broom.
"I couldn't be any happier after seeing that Princess Twilight Sparkle knew that I am currently living with you ten like she hoped for back when you saved Equestria for the first time, and making her happy does make me happy, so now I'm going to clean up for all of you, so you won't be upset." Eclipse Instant apprised the Heroic Ten.
"Actually, we won't be upset if we couldn't clean up this time..." Alkali pointed out.
"Doesn't matter, we'll clean up for you while you shower." Shapeshifter responded.
"Shower! Of course! We haven't showered yet!" Evergreen said out loud.
"And we should shower a minimum of once a day!" Volcano added.
"Luster, shouldn't the birthday mare go first?" Alkali asked.
"If you all insist..." Luster replied.
Later that night, every creature was sound asleep, with the exception of Luster, who flipped around in bed, unable to sleep because of what she could not get out of her mind.
"That age spell! Caused so many problems such as making me unable to sleep!" Luster groaned, "I would have been happier if it weren't for it!"
"I wouldn't say so." a familiar voice could be heard saying.
"Xian Zhe?!" Luster asked, knowing that the voice was his.
"Outside the Castle, Luster." Xian Zhe's voice said, causing Luster to teleport outside and ind him in front of the Castle's golden doors entrance.
"Xian Zhe! What are you doing here so late?" Luster asked.
"Came to give you your birthday present from me because I had a feeling that it's better for you to see me now instead of the exact anniversary of your birthday, which is actually more than a week before today." the ancient serpent answered, using his tail to place down a brown book in front of the unicorn.
"More than a week before today?!" Luster asked.
"Actually, one day is 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds to be more accurate, and a year is 365.2422 days to be more accurate. And there are 2 leap years contributing 2 extra days after you were born. And those little differences multiplied to become a big difference. And as an ancient serpent, I know very accurate things." Xian Zhe explained, pushing the book forward towards Luster with his tail.
"Wow, thanks, Xian Zhe..." Luster thanked, but she was obviously no where near happy.
"What's bothering you, Luster? You usually get excited to have a new book, and I know that the book I got you is extremely rare and unique with nothing like it." Xian Zhe asked.
"It's not the book, Xian Zhe! It's my backstory! How crazily complicated it is, how unusual, and most importantly, the irreversible age spell!" Luster exclaimed.
"And you're thinking that you might be better off if it weren't for it?" Xian Zhe asked.
Luster did not use words to answer, but nodding as she moved her head up and down allowed the ancient serpent to know what her answer was.
"Well, I was planning to give you just the book for your birthday, but it seems like it's time for my stronger powers to come in." Xian Zhe figured.
"Stronger than accurately knowing how old something is by examining them?" Luster asked.
"Indeed, now Luster. What question will you like to ask now?" Xian Zhe asked, preparing a brew in a short but wide black cauldron.
"Whether I'm really better off without that crazy backstory of mine." Luster answered.
"Sorry, but you have to be more clear than just that. Like, ask what if...whatever you want to know!" Xian Zhe explained.
"Well...in that case...What if the age spell never happened?" Luster asked.
The cauldron bubbled before forming a bubble as big as a ball that could get stuck in the cauldron's circular area. The bubble managed to float up, losing contact with the cauldron, but stay directly above it by a small distance.
"Go ahead, pop the bubble." Xian Zhe instructed the unicorn.
Luster reached out one of her front hooves to touch the bubble, causing it to release a very bright white light.
Luster opened up her eyes and looked around, everything was different: It was not night, it was day. And she was not in Ponyville, she was in Canterlot, right outside the School for Gifted Unicorns.
"Canterlot in the afternoon? The School for Gifted Unicorns?" Luster asked, "Xian Zhe, what did the bubble do?"
There was no reply from the ancient serpent, who was no where to be seen.
"Xian Zhe?" Luster asked again, "Looks like I'm on my own."
Just then, a pony walked right through Luster, causing her to gasp, "I'm...intangible?! And, no creature seems to notice me?!"
Luster rushed to a nearby group of creatures consisting a hippogriff, a yak, and a griffon, asking "Excuse me? Do you know where to find Princess Twilight Sparkle around now?"
The group not only did not reply, but did not respond to Luster at all, as they continued chatting as if she never existed.
"Did they just...not seem to know I was here?!" Luster asked herself, in a panicked and shocked tone, before noticing some familiar ponies nearby.
"Everything's going to be alright, Luster, we're there for you." Luster's paternal grandmother Stellar Flare said to a filly Luster Dawn, accompanying the said filly to the school.
"Even though we won't be able to cheer nor say much, but we're sure our presence is everything you need." Luster's maternal grandfather Firelight, who was also accompanying the filly Luster, said.
"This is the day I had that entrance exam! And my grandparents took me there! Did I just went back in time?!" Luster asked, before closing her eyes to scrub them with her front left hoof for a second, and finding herself seeing how her younger self took the exam, completing the project and impressing the examiners.
"Congratulations, Luster Dawn. You are accepted into the School for Gifted Unicorns, and welcomed to stay here in Canterlot." Princess Twilight Sparkle told the filly.
"That's odd," the real Luster said to herself, "Unless I remembered wrongly, this is the part when the age spell happened."
"Please ensure that our Luster is in good hooves." Stellar Flare told Princess Twilight Sparkle.
"Don't worry, I know how to handle kids like her, like my mentor did with me." Princess Twilight Sparkle assured.
"Wait till her parents find out." Firelight added.
"I'm sure they will very soon." Princess Twilight Sparkle responded, "I'll send a letter to them, and get room for one more student."
The alicorn then walked away, leaving filly Luster with her grand parents.
"Stay strong, without us, Luster." Stellar Flare told her granddaughter.
"If you needed us, tell the princess to snd a letter to us." Firelight added.
"Dn't worry, Grandmare and grandpa, I will." filly Luster assured, hugging her grandparents.
"We will come back in a week to check on you," Stellar Flare informed.
"What?! So soon?" young Luster asked.
"Because we're your caregivers, we have to make sure you are in good care." Firelight responded.
"Especially when your parents trusted us enough to let us take care of you all these years." Stellar Flare added.
"We don't want to disappoint them, especially after how we never heard from them for a while in our life times." Firelight continued.
"Don't worry, every creature. Luster Dawn's parents, who are friends of mine back in Ponyville, agreed to let me take care of Luster for as long as she needed, so you all can be assured that you have nothing to worry about. She probably will have enough to eat, drink, and enough space to do what she has to do! Starting with her own place to sleep in for as long as she studies here!" Princess Twilight Sparkle announced, upon returning to the room.
"That's great news, indeed, Princess Twilight Sparkle." Firelight replied.
"Can we take a look at how you are going to take care of our granddaughter her in Canterlot? We just wanted to make sure that it's completely alright." Stellar Flare asked.
"Indeed, you may." Princess Twilight Sparkle responded, leading the family of unicorns out the room.
The real Luster remained quiet, but by the looks on her face, she was curious and decided to follow them.
"Students came from all over Equestria to attend the School before, so we have Dorms for them to reside in during their stay." Princess Twilight Sparkle explained, leading the family to the dorms and stopping in front of a door.
The alicorn then used her magic to open the door, revealing a dorm with a bed, a desk, a closet, a water cooler, a small freezer, a clock on the wall, a small rainbow-coloured carpet on the floor and a door leading to a smaller room that was the washroom.
"Just like any other dorm, his dorm has everything a student needs, other than food before they get some and put it in the freezer for keeping. The food is given at the beginning of every day: Enough for breakfast, and to store for lunch and dinner. But for new students who just enrolled, they will get their meals right after everything is settled for them." Princess Twilight Sparkle explained.
"How very thoughtful of Princess Celestia to provide an environment like this for every student!" Firelight commented.
"Not every student: Students who actually live in Canterlot and not come from somewhere else without their parents of guardians moving with them, don't get to have dorms, as they sleep where they live, outside of the School." Princess Twilight Sparkle corrected.
"Oh, right. That way, there will be plenty for those who need the dorms." Stellar Flare replied.
"Enough about the dorms, can we know what is usually served here?" Firelight asked.
"Well, oats with nuts and berries is always breakfast in the morning, lunch can be rice or noodles or hay with some vegetables, or fruits, dinner is something similar, but not the same as the lunch of that day." Princess Twilight Sparkle explained.
"Sounds healthy and just right." Stellar Flare commented.
"And one more thing, in case a student needs help urgently, there is a hidden button they can press to alert me, or whoever is watching the school." Princess Twilight Sparkle swept the carpet aside, revealing a metal hatch that stood out from the floor's wooden texture. The metal hatch could be easily opened with a pull on the handle, revealing a red button under it.
"This system may have replaced Princess Celestia's old system of how to call for help, which was ringing a bell, as it could take a while to find out which room's bell was the one ringing, but the change was worth it." Princess Twilight Sparkle explained, "With this system, any creature can easily tell which dorm needed help."
"This place has everything!" Stellar Flare exclaimed, after knowing everything she needed to know.
"Not everything. I don't see any books around here!" filly Luster exclaimed.
The grown-ups giggled upon hearing what the filly said, before Princess Twilight Sparkle answered, "Oh, Luster, the books are in the School Library. Come on, I will show you."
The real Luster, who had been with them in the dorm, seeing and hearing everything, was amazed, telling herself, "Since that age spell did not happen, the tour is the number one thing after the exam! What a waste of time that age spell costed!"
The School Library was the final stop of the tour that Princess Twilight Sparkle was giving to filly Luster Dawn and the latter's grandparents.
"The library is the place to be, for quiet and research, and study. Like a real library, books can be borrowed from here, and had to be returned on the day that t's due. If not, it's one bit per day after one month passed the due date unless returned." Princess Twilight Sparkle warned.
"Don't worry, our granddaughter had read lots of books that she borrowed from the library back in Sire's Hollow!" Stellar Flare informed.
"And they are always returned before the actual due date, there's no way she can have an overdue book." Firelight added.
"I sure hope so, because it is never a good thing to have an overdue book, even if you're a princess." Princess Twilight Sparkle responded.
"I know that, Princess Twilight Sparkle. And I promise I will make sure every book I borrowed from this library, or any other library, is returned before it can be overdue!" filly Luster Dawn saluted, causing the alicorn to laugh before replying.
"Thanks, Luster Dawn. I'm sure the School For Gifted Unicorns will be welcomed to have you hear."
The real Luster stared at the scene, "That's what I said after Princess Twilight showed me the library! Although, because of the age spell, there are some differences, but...everything's alright here."
What Luster saw then faded into blackness, causing her to ask, "What?! Is that supposed to happen?"
Colour and light then returned to make a view for Luster to see, only a different view compared to what Luster last saw. This time, Luster could see her filly self, with her parents visiting both the filly and Princess Twilight Sparkle.
"Luster is having a wonderful time here." the alicorn told the unicorn couple.
"Mum, Dad! You should have seen me earn my cutie mark during the entrance exam!" filly Luster exclaimed.
"Sorry we missed it, Luster." Starlight Glimmer apologised.
"We have to take care of the School of Friendship unless it's a school break. And the day of your entrance exam was not a school break day!"Sunburst added.
"That's alright. Now that you're here, we can talk all we want in my dorm!" filly Luster exclaimed.
"Alright, alright, we're coming!" Starlight Glimmer replied.
The view then faded and was replaced by happened that night: Princess Twilight Sparkle and filly Luster Dawn waving goodbye to the latter's parents outside the School For Gifted Unicorns.
"Goodbye now, Twilight. And please ensure that Luster is and remains in good care." Starlight said, hugging the alicorn before they parted.
"Don't worry, Luster is just like I was when I was Celestia's pupil. I'm sure that everything's going to be fine." Princess Twilight replied.
"Don't worry, Mum! I can take care of myself! You all figured I'm a child prodigy because of how fast I learnt to read and do things!" filly Luster reminded.
"Yes, but you still got to be careful!" Sunburst pointed out.
"I will!" filly Luster chirped.
"Then see you both at the same time, next school break at our school..." Starlight Glimmer responded.
"We will be looking forward to it." Princess Twilight Sparkle gratefully answered.
"Princess Twilight Sparkle is right! We will be looking forward to it!" filly Luster aded, causing the three grown-ups to laugh.
"The age spell...it never happened!" the real Luster said to herself, before gasping as she realised something "So this is the answer to my question!"
The vision Luster saw faded once again, and was replaced by a terrifying view of dark skies in Equestria,and every creature being brainwashed as their eyes glowed green. She then saw that Canterlot did not look like the capital city she knew: Instead of towers, she could see a huge building shaped like an unicorn with an evil smile.
"Is that...a building modelled after Eclipse Instant?!" Luster asked herself, before hearing the voice of some creature she thought she knew well...
"That's right, every creature! Bow when you see me, and do not stop until you can't!"
Luster gasped to see who was pulling the princess' chariot: Siverstream and Ocellus in the latter's hippogriff form!
"Professor Silverstream?! Professor Ocellus?!" the pink unicorn called, but there was no response, as the creatures continued to pull the chariot with Twilight, wearing a crown and a queen's royal robes, riding in it.
"What is going on? That's not like Princess Twilight at all!" Luster cried, before she realised something after some quick thinking, "Unless...that's not really Princess Twilight Sparkle! But Eclipse Instant, in Princess Twilight's body! And Eclipse not being reformed! And conquered Equestria!"
The vision faded into blackness before in reality, Luster opened her eyes to find Xian Zhe looking at her.
"What happened?" Luster asked.
"What you saw for the last 2 hours, 18 minutes, and 34 seconds is an alternate reality that answers your question." the ancient serpent explained.
"In that reality...I saw myself...remaining a filly after the entrance exam...because the age spell never happened!" Luster exclaimed.
"That's because your question was, and I quote, 'What if the age spell never happened?' So the cauldron made a magic bubble that when popped, shows you what happens according to that scenario." Xian Zhe explained.
"But...it ended with showing me a terrible world...where all of Equestria had been conquered and brainwashed...by who I think was an unreformed Eclipse Instant, still having Princess Twilight Sparkle's body!" Luster cried.
"Why do you think that what you described, happened in that reality?" Xian Zhe asked.
"Because Eclipse wasn't defeated?" Luster asked.
"And, why wasn't she defeated?" Xian Zhe asked.
"Probably because the creatures who stopped her in this reality didn't stop her in that reality!" Luster answered.
"And why didn't they stop her?" Xian Zhe questioned.
Luster thought for a while, before gasping, "Because in that reality, I never got to be biologically ten years older than I really am! It's only because of my age...I mean...my biological age, that I could be sent to Ponyville the way I was sent!"
"So...summary is: Because the age spell never happened, never got sent to Ponyville, resulting in no creature stopping Eclipse Instant, who conquered and brainwashed all of Equestria." Xian Zhe figured, "So...do you think that the age spell is still a bad thing?"
"Not completely bad...but it still makes me feel uncomfortable!" Luster complained, "I can't believe something that makes me so uncomfortable is the one key to making Princess Twilight Sparkle snd me too Ponyville!"
"The cauldron can still take a few more questions before needing to recharge for sure. Any more questions you'd like to ask?" Xian Zhe asked.
Luster thought for a while before asking, "What if I was born in the same generation as the rest of the Heroic Ten?" Luster asked, causing another bubble to form.
Just like before, Luster touched and popped the bubble, getting to see the alternate reality that answered the question.
This time, Luster saw a young adult unicorn who was herself, but talking to two creatures whom the real her, did not know.
"Which way out?" the Luster in the alternate reality asked.
"I think it's this way," the blue dragon said, her voice revealing her gender to the real Luster.
"But I think it's that way!" the yellow Kirin pointed at another tunnel, revealing her gender through the sound of her voice.
"This place...is the Catacombs underneath Canterlot!" the real Luster gasped, after looking around.
"If we don't find our way out, Princess Twilight is going too..." the alternate reality Luser gulped, finding herself unable to finish the sentence.
"Control every creature once they attend the celebration today?! We know!" the blue dragon replied.
"But which way out?" the yellow Kirin asked.
"I hope we find the right way...for as long as we've been friends for longer than one and a half decades!" the alternate reality Luster said, making the real Luster gasp.
"Longer than one and a half decade?! That means that the age spell never happened here, too!"
"When we were all three, we met at the Friendship Festival hosted to get creatures together in harmony as Equestria and Beyond were still adjusting to the changes made since the former rulers retired." the yellow Kirin remembered.
"You were at first unwilling to make friends, since you were dragged to the festival by your grandparents, until you returned the ball we lost to us when we accidentally bounced it out of the three-year-olds' playpen!" the blue dragon recalled.
"After returning it to you, and having to toss it back after you kept knocking it out several times, I found it fun and joined you two playing."the alternate reality Luster continued.
"Then when our parents and your grandparents came to fetch us, they decided to take us to Canterlot once every two weeks so we can play while they have a good time." the yellow Kirin resumed.
"And when we're finally old enough to look after ourselves, you, Luster, went to the School for Gifted Unicorns, while we meet up with you once a week!" the blue dragon went on.
"And got through everything together!" the three females in the alternate reality hoof and claw bumped as they said in unison.
"We will find a way out of this." the alternate reality Luster declared.
The real Luster was stunned to hear everything the friends said, asking herself, "Not being born in the generation I was born in, resulted in me making other friends?!"
The vision faded and was replaced by the terrifying vision of the world with Eclipse Instant unreformed, and still in Princess Twilight Sparkle's body, ruling over Equestria as a tyrant.
"Eclipse is still unreformed even under these conditions?" Luster asked, "But, if the me in this world discovered her plans, wouldn't this world's me, and her...I mean...my...whatever friends have stopped her?! As in, wouldn't this reality's Eclipse Instant be stopped by this reality's Luster and this reality's Luster's friends?!" the real Luster asked, before getting to see what the creatures she mentioned were going through:
The creatures were lost in the catacombs, as it was nothing other than a huge maze. They grew hungrier and hungrier and soon, they could not go any further as they were too hungry and had no energy. While outside the catacombs, the unreformed Eclipse Instant, still in Princess Twilight Sparkle's body, had conquered the areas even further beyond Equestria.
The vision faded as in reality, Luster opened her eyes to see Xian Zhe again, who asked her, "So...how did things go this time?"
"Not so good, still." Luster answered, "In that reality, I...I mean that reality's me, made friends, but not the same friends I have in this reality, and in that reality, the friends never succeeded in helping that reality's me get out of the catacombs underneath Canterlot to defeat that reality's Eclipse Instant! And worse, the vision showed the friends...suffering from starvation to the point that they could not move much!"
"So, they probably never defeated Eclipse, and the reality...is doomed." Xian Zhe figured.
"I sure am glad that in this reality, my best friends and I got out and managed to defeat Eclipse." Luster said, sounding grateful, as she had a bit of a smile on her face after she finished her sentence.
"So, does that answers your ultimate question?" Xian Zhe asked.
"My ultimate question?" Luster asked.
"You know, whether you are better off without the age spell or not?" Xian Zhe clarified.
"Actually, I still got lots of questions I will like to ask..." Luster responded, turning to face the cauldron.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Luster Dawn, don't forget that this is a real magical cauldron, not a toy! You can't ask it countless questions in one go! Nor in one night! Please, think wisely before you ask it a question!" Xian Zhe warned Luster, blocking the former's way to the cauldron.
"Alright...let me think for a while." Luster replied, before pacing and talking to herself as soft as possible, "I could have asked what if the age spell never happened, but I got sent to Ponyville because my parents live in the said town! But I might wind up making different friends who couldn't help stop Eclipse Instant again, so it's not worth asking. What if I was born in the same generation as my friends but still got to become best friends with them?"
"You got to think twice about that, Luster! And use what you saw as your answer the past two times!" Xian Zhe called.
"You overheard what I said?!" Luster asked.
"I can as an ancient serpent, but sometimes, I don't reveal that ability through my response." Xian Zhe explained.
"Let me think. I saw a reality that showed what happened if I was born in the same generation as my best friends, but winded up making other friends and being best friends with them instead, at a Friendship Festival hosted to get creatures together as Equestria and Beyond is still adjusting to the changes made since the former rulers retired. And according to that reality's creatures, I was dragged to the festival by my grandparents! That's how I winded up meeting those friends there in the first place!" Luster said as she thought, "So...what if I was never dragged there?!"
"You got to think more than that, Luster! Try thinking what else could happen to you in that reality yourself, before asking a question that is mostly worth asking." Xian Zhe advised.
"Alright...even if I was never dragged to the festival, there probably be the experience of every creature adjusting! I managed to avoid other creatures in this reality, but I had lesser time, too! In a reality where I am born in the same generation as my best friends, I'd had plenty of time and chances to make friends, especially when I'm the daughter of the heads of a friendship school, and in a world where friendship is cared about so much, and in a kingdom under the rule of the Council of Friendship! I might never had met my best friends in those conditions as many creatures could have tried introducing me to other friends!" Luster figured.
"So, asking if you were born in that generation, isn't going to be a good question to ask anymore, is it?" Xian Zhe asked.
"It isn't...unless I asked what if I was born in the same generation as my best friends, but was not the daughter of Head-mare Starlight Glimmer and Vice-head stallion Sunburst!" Luster asked out loud, causing another bubble to be formed and released.
Once again, Luster saw a vision of the alternate reality's creatures and their world. This time, she saw a small village that was like no place she had ever seen, and her filly self in a house, reading a book, just as a unicorn mare with a coat that matched the filly's coat colour, walked into the room.
"Luster, guess what? You get to take an entrance exam to get into the School for Gifted Unicorns, run by the Ruler of Equestria, Princess Twilight Sparkle!" the mare informed.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" the filly exclaimed, hopping around, "I can't wait to get in, Mum!"
The real Luster was stunned to see the alternate reality's her being the daughter of some creature she did not know.
"I could have been the daughter of a regular unicorn?" Luster asked, before seeing clips of what happened down this alternate reality's line.
"Congratulations, Luster. You've passed the exam, and got your cutie mark, and got to have this school as your school for as long as you study here! Which can actually even go up to a decade unlike most schools!" Princess Twilight Sparkle informed the filly Luster, with the latter's parents nearby to listen as well. Seeing a stallion with a blue coat, mane and eyes that matched hers, made the real Luster feel a bit uncomfortable, as she never imagined having some creature else as her father.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" the filly happily leapt around in joy, while her parents talked to the princess.
"So, our daughter will have everything she needs to survive in here, for sure?" the unicorn stallion asked.
"Of course she will! Alongside the other students! I mean, what will all of Equestria and Beyond think if a school ran by the Ruler of Equestria never provided such basic and important needs?" Twilight assured.
"You have a point, your majesty. But is it alright if I came and checked on her once every two days?" the unicorn mare asked.
"Mum!" the filly Luster complained.
"If you felt that there's a need to, you can. But please, don't make it a routine for more than a month." Princess Twilight replied.
The vision faded and was replaced with clips of the alternate reality's Luster growing up, avoiding the other students in the school, and not caring much about creatures nor their activities when outside of school, as she just walked pass them.
Soon, the vision showed the Council of Friendship in the throne room with the reality's Luster, during the latter's young adulthood.
"I know exactly where to send you, but do you think your parents will allow it?" Princess Twilight Sparkle asked.
"Better make sure they'd approve." Luster responded.
The scene faded and a new scene, taking place at night, took place, with the alternate reality's Luster being embarrassed in front of the other members of the Heroic Ten in that reality, at the entrance of the School of Friendship.
"Make sure you send letters to us, everyday and every night!" the mother unicorn reminded.
"Mum! Calm down! I will!" Luster insisted.
"And make sure that you don't make any bad friends!" the unicorn father added, offending the creatures in that reality.
"Bad friends?! Why, unicorn stallion just..." Krona angrily responded, ready to give the stallion a lesson, but was stopped by Buffer.
"Krona, it's not worth being mad!"
"The School of Friendship is always in good care nowadays!" Starlight Glimmer informed the parents.
"Your daughter will be in good care here." Sunburst added.
"I can never imagine my parents not being my parents!" the real Luster said to herself.
The vision then faded to show what happened after the defeat of Eclipse Instant. The parents of Luster in the alternate reality rushing up to their daughter.
"Oh, Luster! Thank heavens you are alright!" the unicorn mare exclaimed, rushing to hug her daughter.
"We can't believe that you just defeated a villainess!" the unicorn stallion added.
"Can you please don' address some creature by that word you just said?" Nature Bloom asked.
"Now that you've graduated, are you moving back home with us?!" the unicorn mare asked her daughter, giving a big smile in an attempt to persuade the alternate reality's Luster to do as she said.
"Sorry, Mum and Dad, but Princess Twilight Sparkle just figured that me and my best friends here should move into her old castle, in Ponyville, a very centralised in Equestria town, so we won't be too far away from anywhere." Luster informed.
"Actually, Ponyville is far from some places in Equestria, but since it isn't in the North, South, East nor West of the land, there's no place that's the furthest from it, as there's no position being the opposite of the center." Volcano corrected.
"But...a castle's too big for you! You'd get lost!" the unicorn stallion panicked.
"Don't worry, Sunburst and I live in the castle, you can count on us to guide her and her best friends around!" Starlight Glimmer apprised the parents.
"We are not convinced so easily! I'd say we move into the castle, too!" the alternate reality mother of Luster declared, to the shock of every creature.
As a result, not only was moving in harder for the Heroic Ten, but helping Eclipse Instant earn every creature's forgiveness was nearly impossible with the overprotective parents being overwhelmed by the disguised Shapeshifter's deceptions. Causing the parents to hurry their daughter back into the Castle.
"We're sorry Luster, but you're not safe here with that unicorn who might do bad again!" the unicorn stallion apologised.
"We'll ask Princess Twilight Sparkle if it's alright for you to stay somewhere in Canterlot, where it's safer." the unicorn mare added, to her daughter's shock.
"But, my best friends and I just saved you and all of Equestria! I can handle risks like they can!" Luster argued.
"Sorry, Luster. But we can't risk you taking such risks." the unicorn stallion informed.
Soon, the alternate reality's Luster waved goodbye to her best friends in front of the Castle of Friendship.
"We will miss you." Evergreen said sadly.
"Don't worry, at least you'll come to visit," Luster assured.
"As soon as we can finally help Eclipse earn forgiveness after what happened at Sweet Apple Acres..." Sunshine Rays pointed out.
"Poor Eclipse, she can't go anywhere until her name's been cleared!" Alkali added.
"Don't worry, we won't let any of those four creatures spread more lies!" Yellow Bright saluted.
"If we knew how!" Falcon Dive contributed.
"Right now, Eclipse's going to stay in the Castle Library with Miss Sunset Shimmer!" Krona declared.
"Until her name's cleared!" Buffer added.
"And not just her. The Council of Friendship and their families are all affected by those creatures' lies!" Sunshine Rays reminded.
"Excluding Madam Fluttershy's family and Princess Twilight Sparkle's unless you include her adoptive family-in-law due to her adoptive brother being married to Madam Rarity, who is affected." Volcano corrected.
"Not to forget that whole school!" Nature Bloom reminded.
"Hopefully you all can fix things without me." Luster responded.
"We will try our best." Falcon Dive answered, before they shared a group hug, and let Luster leave.
The next thing the real Luster saw in that reality was Lil'Cheese's immediate family alongside the Cake Twins suffering from the absence of customers, and left with no choice but to move to the Castle of Friendship, to the foal's dismay.
"But Sugar Cube Corner's our home!" Lil'Cheese wailed.
"Sorry, Lil'Cheese. We couldn't earn anything to live in that place!" Pinkie Pie sadly apologised, "Look on the bright side, at least we've got a castle that's a lot bigger and better!"
"But it's not Sugar Cube Corner!" the colt complained.
"I can't believe that some creature's got to be Captain of the Wonderbolts because the team isn't convinced that we're not under a spell!" Rainbow Dash complained to her husband Soarin, as they flew home to Rainbow's cloudominium.
"I can't believe it, too, Rainbow. But at least we still have each other and the kids." Soarin reminded.
At a closed Carousel Boutique, its residents were moving out.
"Goodbye, Caoursel Boutique! I will miss you and everything we've been through!" Rarity dramatically cried, as her children, and helpers Yona and Sandbar watched.
"Come on, get over that already, Mum!" Sparity called.
"We don't want to leave too, but had no choice because no creature ever wants to buy stuff from you recently!" Precious Treasure added.
"That we have to move to a glorious castle!" Rarity responded, "But leave our home!"
The white unicorn dramatically cried once again, just before being interrupted by a sad Apple Family from Sweet Apple Acres.
"You're not the only ones who have to leave home." Applejack sadly informed, "Because of every creature thinking that all of the apples of our farm are cursed, no creature dares to visit us nor buy apple products from us anymore!"
"We have no choice but to move into Princess Twilight Sparkle's old castle." Caramel added.
"Eeyup." Big Mac nodded.
"But at least we're all together!" Sugar Belle stated.
"But we'll miss the farm!" Sweet Caramel Apple said.
"Really, really miss it." Big Sugar supported.
The vision vanished and Luster was once again seeing and hearing things in the reality she belonged in, as Xian Zhe questioned, "So, what answers did you get?"
"Not good ones." Luster explained, "Eclipse Instant may be defeated, but she couldn't earn forgiveness because of four creatures claiming that she was up to no good in public, and not only framed her, but also caused problems for a majority of the Council of Friendship, who had to leave their homes to move into the Castle of Friendship!"
"And, why did that happen in that reality, but not this one?" Xian Zhe asked.
Luster tough for a while, before gasping, "Because, my best friends and I stopped Shapeshifter, and cleared every creature's names! But in that reality, my parents...I mean, the parents of that reality's Luster Dawn, prevented her from living in the Castle with her best friends, which resulted in Shapeshifter not being stopped, and every creature whom he affected, remained affected!"
"Now are you finally convinced that things in this reality are the best?" Xian Zhe asked.
"I am more convinced, but I still got questions!" Luster admitted.
"You got to make a wise one, because by the looks of the cauldron, it can only answer one more question before it needs to recharge." Xian Zhe informed.
Luster paced and whispered to herself, "Maybe I should ask what if the age spell is finally reversed somehow after all this time! But, that will cause inconvenience for the Heroic Ten, something we all figured, so that's not worth asking. I can ask what if I was born in the same generation as my best friends and still get to meet them! But, that will be like...still getting sent to Sire's Hollow before the School for Gifted Unicorns! What if I was raised by my parents? I would have known about friendship and made some other friends!"
"If you got nothing, you can just admit it." Xian Zhe told the unicorn.
"I got it!" Luster sad out loud, before walking to the cauldron to ask "What if, I was born in the same generation as the rest of the Heroic Ten, but made friends that managed to defeat Eclipse Instant and Shapeshifter?"
This time, instead of seeing creatures in the alternate reality, Luster saw nothing but a doomed world, with no plants, no creatures, no water, no clear blue sky, nor anything but a city of buildings with machines that stopped working.
"What happened here?" Luster asked, walking downtown to investigate.
"Hello?! Any creature here?!" Luster called, before she remembered, "Oh, I'm intangible and invisible to everything in this reality I'm seeing."
After a walk that seemed like forever, Luster found a board that showed the population of Equestria and Beyond on a bar graph throughout the decades. The bars were long at fist, but became shorter and shorter, then finally at zero.
"It's saying that every creature went extinct?!" Luster gasped, "But, how can this be?!"
She looked around once again, and saw not a single living creature in sight, just before the vision faded as Luster saw Xian Zhe in the actual reality again.
"That took a lot shorter than the last times." the ancient serpent commented.
"Xian Zhe, this time...I didn't see a creature...not a single one!" Luster informed.
"Why do you think that's possible?" Xian Zhe asked.
"I don't know! All I saw was a dark world with tall concrete buildings, machines that aren't working. And a bar graph that showed the population had decreased and went to zero!" Luster exclaimed.
"Put all that together, what do you think happened?" Xian Zhe asked.
"Well...machines are used to do things and some work for us creatures, so those machines must have...or had done that before stopping. Creatures in the cities live in buildings, so those buildings used to be homes for creatures, before the creature population went down!" Luster figured.
"But, why do you think that the population went down?" Xian Zhe asked again.
Luster thought for a while, before figuring it out, "Because...the machines might have made them have lesser work to do, that they think that they do not need to work, nor do anything, and became very lazy!"
"Anything else?" Xian Zhe questioned.
"Not that I can think of..." Luster answered.
"Here's a hint: What did you tell me about your Best Friend Sunshine Rays? About why she can be quite...homophobic?" Xian Zhe asked, making Luster figure it out.
"Because, she knew that if we don't have opposite sex couples to produce children, we will have lesser and lesser of us in the future, and the economy and society will collapse!"
"And, why wasn't that stopped, when your question was what if you were born in the same generation as the rest of the Heroic Ten, but made friends that managed to defeat Eclipse Instant and Shapeshifter?" Xian Zhe reminded.
Luster gasped as she realised something that shocked her, "In that reality, the Luster Dawn there must have made friends with a different group of creatures, who have stopped Eclipse and Shapeshifter, but not the disastrous futures that the Heroic Ten are doing everything to prevent from happening!"
"Exactly! The cauldron must have figured that you can figure it out." Xian Zhe commented.
"With help from you, Xian Zhe. Thank you so much..." Luster thanked, hugging the ancient serpent, who warmly accepted the hug.
"Let me guess, for answering those questions of yours?" Xian Zhe asked.
"More than that. You showed me that my backstory may be crazy, but it's really for the better. Although, I might have a lot of other questions to ask the cauldron, but seeing those realities is enough to make me realise, that not only am I better off with the age spell happening, but every creature and the world is. And most importantly, learn a valuable lesson through realisation." Luster explained.
"A valuable lesson? Shouldn't that be reported to a certain princess?" Xian Zhe asked, causing Luster to chuckle.
"Indeed." the unicorn then quickly teleported off to get a scroll and quit, and returned to where she was, saying her letter for the princess out loud as she wrote it.
Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,
I just learnt a valuable lesson through the realisation that my backstory of being sent to Sire's Hollow to be raised by my grandparents instead of my parents, and then performing an irreversible age spell on myself by accident, before being sent to Ponyville, may all sound crazy and make me uncomfortable, but is really for the better. If it weren't for it, I might never have been best friends with the creatures who could save Equestria's present and future. The main point is, even something uncomfortable can be what is best, as my backstory may make me uncomfortable, but since it prevented all the bad things that can happen if it weren't for it, from happening, it really is for the better. This lesson is one valuable lesson that I hope to always remember in my heart, and hope that you and every creature will, too.
Signed, your faithful student,
Luster Dawn
After sending the letter away with her magic, Luser saw the sun coming up.
"Looks like I learnt all that just in time." the unicorn commented.
"Indeed. The princess is awake to receive it, and your breakfast time is about to start." Xian Zhe responded.
"Speaking of breakfast, will you like to have breakfast with my parents, and my best friends?" Luster asked.
"Ancient serpents may usually avoid society, but, I have a feeling that your society, is a good exception." Xian Zhe answered.
Later in the Dining Room, every creature was waiting for a certain unicorn.
"Where's Luster?" an impatient Falcon Dive asked, "Doesn't she know it's breakfast?!"
"Right here!" Luster replied, rushing in by galloping, "And I brought a guest! Every creature, meet a friend of mine whom Gloss Semblance and I met when the Map called us: An ancient serpent named Xian Zhe!"
Xian Zhe appeared through the door right after Luster said his name, surprising every creature.
"An ancient serpent?!" Sunburst asked.
"That's right, every creature. I am Xian Zhe, an ancient serpent, and friend of Luster Dawn's. Ancient serpents like me usually don't interact with creature society, but knowing that Luster can be trusted, you're all an exception." Xian Zhe announced.
"That's good to know!" Nature Bloom responded.
"But, why are you visiting so early in the morning?" Starlight asked.
"He didn't. He visited last night to give me my birthday present from him!" Luster informed, using her magic to levitate the book that Xian Zhe gave her, showing it to every creature, "He actually wanted to give me this book on my exact birthday anniversary, but figured that it was better for him to visit me, after my birthday party, which turned out to be true as it was indeed, better for him to visit me after my birthday party, as he managed to prove to me that my crazy backstory is actually a good thing! Despite leaving me different from every creature as my chronological and biological ages don't match!"
"I was actually going to tell you a True Story of a pony being stuck frozen in ice for fifty years having the same situation as you do once he was freed: His chronological and biological ages did not match! But...I think that you're all better, even without that story about some creature else going through something very similar!" Volcano notified.
"And one more thing. Luster, Krona and Yellow Bright wanted to say that we're sorry for causing so much trouble with their constant arguing yesterday..." Krona apologised.
"Yeah, we were foolish to argue over something not so important!" Yellow Bright added.
"From now on, whenever it's Luster's birthday, whichever cake or number that goes first, doesn't matter!" Krona saluted.
"We'll just celebrate!" Yellow Bright summarised.
"Thanks, you two. Although, your argument is not completely bad..." Luster began, before being cut off by Sunshine Rays.
"Be careful with your words, Luster! They can be an influence! And I'd apologise for saying this, but I won't say that arguments can be a good thing."
"I know Sunshine. I don't support arguments, but their argument lead me to learning that something uncomfortable can be really for the better." Luster clarified.
"Now how did you learn that?" Sunshine Rays asked.
"I have a role to play in that. And I can't wait to tell you all about it." Xian Zhe responded, before beginning to tell the creatures what happened,"It all began last night as I came to Ponyville to give Luster her birthday present..."
Stats
Page generated in 0.027 seconds
Total duration
738 users online
914,419 hits today, 1,960,719 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®