My Little Pony: Twilight's Reign

by MattTOB

Episode 1: Train to Aris Part 1

Starlight nervously paced back and forth, Trixie by her side, as she read and re-read the scroll Twilight had sent half an hour prior. Surely there must be some mistake!

But her thoughts were soon interrupted when the front doors of the Friendship Castle swung open, and the 5 resident Elements of Harmony ran inside.

"We came as soon as we heard!" Applejack was the first to speak, nearly out of breath.

"And not a moment to spare!" Starlight replied, holding up the parchment in her magic's grasp, "I've been trying to make sense of Twilight's scroll ever since it came!"

"What's there to make sense of?" Rainbow Dash rebutted, her voice lined with enthusiasm for getting back into the fray. "There's something threatening Mount Aris, and we've gotta help; simple as that!"

"Well, I get that much; I'm just trying to figure out why she's sending ALL of us — even Trixie!"

"That's highly unusual!" Trixie concurred.

Rarity offered, "Well, it must be a threat of that caliber!"

Starlight, in return, raised an eyebrow. "Then why not just send Discord?"

A cacophony of voices could be heard for the next few moments as the others discussed the question amongst themselves. Starlight couldn't make out all of their words, but she could hear points like "That would save a lot of effort", "He'd probably want us to do it ourselves", and "Ah don't really trust 'im after that whole Grogar incident". Eventually, the group's discussion died down without finding a clear consensus.

Fluttershy finally stepped forward. "Well, whatever the reason, I'm sure Twilight knows what she's doing."

Starlight took a deep breath to calm herself. "Y-yeah, I'm sure you're right, Flutters."

She then turned her attention back to the scroll. "Anyway, now that we're all here, we need to get to the train station; there's a special train waiting to escort us. Spike will be waiting for us on the train, and Twilight herself will be headed out as soon as she's done in a meeting."

Pinkie Pie was nearly bursting with excitement. "Oh boy, a private train!? I bet it'll be super-duper-uper-ific fun!"

Starlight, trying to be optimistic, agreed. "Yeah, Pinkie's got the right idea; let's just look on the bright side, and try to have some fun!"

---

About fifteen minutes later, Pinkie was asleep in her seat, and everypony else was also incredibly bored.

"Yes, what fun indeed," Rarity snarked dryly as she took out an issue of Glam-erlot Monthly and began to browse the articles.

Starlight could only chuckle nervously in response.

---

THEME

♪My Little Pony, My Little Pony
This is non-canon!

(My Little Pony)
Until you all shared its magic with me!

Friendship is my forté, I know just what to do
Hard work and sacrifice, be honest through and through
Have fun with all my friends, and laugh and dance and sing!
I'll be kind to every creature, and just most anything
Gotta go faster, faster, faster faster—
Rainbow Dash!
...sorry
Generosity's always in season, and I'm always the master
Loyal to my family, I know she can't be beat
I don't need a spell to guide the way, it's such an easy feat!

With us, the journey never ends
You are my very best friends!♪

---

30 Minutes in...

The train car had become decidedly more lively than it had been before, but not by much. Applejack was returning from the dining car, carrying a bunch of snacks with her hat; Spike was reading a Manga; Rarity's attention had been pulled away from her magazine by Rainbow Dash's exercising, and she was now scribbling furiously in her sketchpad; Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were playing 'Train Car Scavenger Hunt'; Trixie was now asleep; and Starlight was going over a file that Spike had given her, detailing what exactly they'd be up against.

The file read as follows:

Name: Tidal Surge
Age: 27
Birthday: September 7th
Species: Unicorn
Body Color: Seafoam Green
Mane Color: Pale Indigo
Eye Color: Coral Pink
Birthplace: Riydeadh, Saddle Arabia
Allegiances: Self
Main Skill: Sorceress (Class B)
Abilities: Rain Dance, Hypnotic Gaze
Secondary Skills: Cooking, Stealth
Allergies: Mayonnaise
Likes: Culinary Arts, Meditation
Dislikes: Singing
What She's Doing: Flooding the Harmonizing Heights
Motives: Unknown
Recommended Course of Action: Slap some sense into her

Starlight blinked, frowning. What the heck was with this profile? She knew that Twilight had a habit of going overboard with details, but this was stretching it. And what was with the 'Slap some sense into her' part? That didn't sound like Twilight at all!

No matter how hard Starlight puzzled it, she couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation, so she decided to drop it for the time being. Placing the pages back into the folder they came in, she set them down on the seat beside her before getting up to stretch her legs.

As she stood up, she caught sight of Pinkie and Fluttershy roaming the cabin. Deciding to be social, she approached and asked, "Hey girls, whatcha doing?"

"We're playing 'Train Car Scavenger Hunt'!" Pinkie beamed. "It's a game I made up after that one time I solved a mystery on a train, except this is all pretend, and no desserts get mangled!"

Thankfully, Starlight had already been told about the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness Mishap, so she didn't need to ask. "Really? That sounds kinda fun."

Fluttershy nodded, "It is! Do you want to join us?"

"Sure. What're we finding?"

Pinkie produced a list from her mane and scanned it. "Alright, the next item on the list is... Baking sheets!"

Starlight nodded, then began her search.

---

Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, was busy with her reps. She pushed down with her wings planted firmly on the ground, hooves held behind her back. "...49...50...51..."

However, as she let her eyes wander, she noticed that Rarity was looking at her with a sketchpad in her magical aura. "Uh, Rarity?"

The white mare, realizing she'd been seen, blushed. "Oh! Sorry, Dashie; I was just making sure I got the muscular anatomy correct for this stylish-yet-flexible sport vest I'm working on. Wouldn't want it to hold back anypony who wore it, now would I?"

Rainbow paused her wing-ups. "Really? Mind if I take a look?"

The fashionista nodded, turning the notebook to face Rainbow Dash. The athlete scanned it for a moment before stating, "Oh, there's a muscle right there under the wing joint that'd get restricted."

Rarity looked back at the drawing, and smiled her thanks as she edited that part.

---

Starlight, meanwhile, was honing in on the location of the baking sheets. She'd already ruled out the undersides of the seats, as well as half of the over head luggage.

"Getting warmer..." Pinkie shook out of excitement as the wizard kept searching. "Warm... Cold... Warmer... Burning! Your cupcakes are burning!"

Starlight gave the mare a puzzled look, before continuing the search. Her magic aura grabbed the handle of a luggage compartment, and opened it.

The baking sheets fell out, getting caught by her magic. Pinkie exclaimed, "You got it!"

Fluttershy cheered in her normal voice, "Way to go, Starlight."

The wizard allowed herself a grin, but got caught off-guard by a sudden lurch of the train. The unexpected movement broke her concentration on her magic, and the baking sheets fell out of her grasp.

Unfortunately, Trixie just happened to be sleeping right in their trajectory. They hit her head with a painful thunk, snapping the mare awake with a startled "Ow! What the hay?!"

Starlight grimaced. "Sorry, Trix! Just lost my grip for a moment there."

The disgruntled illusionist rubbed the spot where the cooking instruments had struck, mumbling to herself, "That's gonna sting for a while..." She then turned to Applejack, who was eating some of her snacks, and asked, "You got any pretzels?"

The farm mare didn't say anything; instead, she silently lobbed a bag of the chosen snack into Trixie's lap.

She nodded, "Thanks."

Starlight, thoroughly embarrassed, turned back to Pinkie. "I think I've played enough for today," she excused herself, before heading back to her seat.

On the way there, however, she caught a glimpse at the comic book that Spike was reading. Its format was similar to the Power Ponies, except the text was in a different language. "Hey Spike, whatcha reading?"

The dragon in question looked up and smiled. "Oh hey, Starlight. I was just practicing my Neighponese by reading some 'manga'."

Starlight raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

He nodded. "Twilight's planning on re-establishing relations with them, and I wanna help however I can. Not only is this helping me practice the language, but I'm also learning about their culture at the same time!"

The unicorn smiled, "That's really considerate of you!"

Spike's cheeks turned red from the flattery. "Aw, shucks."

Starlight leaned in to get a better look at the illustrations. "What's it about?"

He sat up and grinned. "It's about this little griffon who wants to become leader of his village, so he trains in the ways of the ninja— it's really good!"

Starlight nodded, "I'll take your word for it; I was never really good at learning other languages, especially the ones with the complex symbols."

"You mean the kanji?" Spike corrected.

"Gesundheit."

---

"So," Trixie began between mouthfuls of pretzels, "what's Mount Aris like?"

AJ chuckled nervously, "Ah ain't actually been there since jus' after they started returnin'. But Ah hear they've really fixed up the place."

Trixie frowned. "Wait, we're going in blind?"

"Not all o' us," Applejack pointed towards Pinkie Pie, who was tallying Fluttershy's score. "Pinkie's been there a couple times fer their 'Proud ta be a Hippy-griff' festival."

That only got Trixie more worried. "So we're going by the word of Pinkie Pie?"

AJ donned a knowing smirk. "Don't sell 'er so short; she may be odd, but she's more oft'n than not right."

Trixie watched as Pinkie finished checking the list, then ate the pencil she'd used to write it. "If you say so..."

---

1 ½ Hours in...

"Alright, let's go over what we know."

Unable to occupy herself any longer, Starlight had called a meeting between all the passengers. Now, they were all sitting and facing each other.

Spike began, "We're headed to Mount Aris to face a unicorn named Tidal Surge. She's been flooding one of their landmarks, the Harmonizing Heights, for unknown reasons."

Starlight then brought the file back out. "According to Twilight's research, she's a Class B Sorceress who can perform Rain Dances, as well as hypnotize her victims with her gaze."

Pinkie gasped. "Just like in my song!"

Starlight blinked. "Which song?"

In response, the pink pony stood up on her seat and began to chant:

♪She's an evil enchan—♪

Thankfully, Rainbow Dash silenced her with a hoof before she could get properly started. "We get it, Pinkie."

Pinkie slumped down in her seat, her extra energy leaving just as quickly as it'd come.

Starlight blinked, before moving on entirely. "Anyway, any thoughts?"

Rainbow stole a peek at the file. A strange grin graced her face as she read, "Ooh, 'Slap some sense into her'?"

Starlight frowned. "Yeah, I still don't get that."

Spike helpfully explained, "Twilight's already tried sending letters to talk with her. Tidal made it perfectly clear that she was going through with this no matter what Twilight said, so we've been sent to help her 'see reason'."

"But physical aggression? That just doesn't feel like something Twilight would do."

The baby dragon pointed out, "It's not that different from what she did with Nightmare Moon. Besides, she fought you, too."

"Well, yeah," Starlight admitted, "but I just felt that she'd gotten past that, what with the whole Pony of Shadows incident."

Spike shrugged. "She's been running the whole country, raising the sun and moon, monitoring the dreamscape, and planning international relations; it's reasonable to think she'd want to take a shortcut somewhere."

Starlight pondered that one for a while, eventually nodding. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Stress does things to ponies."

"I can relate," Rarity piped up. "Every time I'm behind on an order, I have to make an effort to not rush."

Fluttershy added, "Even with Angel now helping, running Sweet Feathers Sanctuary and teaching at the School are still really stressful for me, too."

"Alright, I get it," Starlight held a hoof up. "So, do we have a plan, or are we just gonna waltz in and wing it?"

AJ put her hoof to her chin in thought. "Ah don't think we got enough info ta make any real plans yet, so our bes' bet is pro'lly ta get there, assess the sit'ation, and work from there."

"I agree," Rarity chimed in. "There are simply too many unknowns to make a proper call at this time."

Rainbow rolled her eyes, "You're starting to sound like Twilight."

The fashionista blinked, then tittered lightly. "I suppose I am, with all this talk of variables, and plans, and such..."

"I guess somepony's gotta do it in her absence," Spike quipped.

Everypony shared a good-humored laugh at that.

Starlight was first to quell her amusement. "Okay, so our plan is to make a plan once we get there?"

Pinkie nodded, "Yepperoni!"

Spike shrugged. "It's better than running yourself ragged trying to plan for every possible scenario."

"Yeah, I guess..." Even though she nodded in agreement, Starlight still wore a frown on her face.

---

2 Hours in...

Now that their plan to improvise a plan was planned, they went back to passing the time. Pinkie now joined Trixie in conversation, Applejack was trying to get her hat back from Rarity, Spike continued to read his manga, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash got to chatting, and Starlight was once again left to choose who to join.

After some consideration, she turned her attention to the conversation Pinkie and Trixie were having.

"I'll admit," Trixie was saying, "it has been a while since Trixie was invited to a party."

Pinkie blinked. "But what about your recent '500th Performance Celebration'?"

The illusionist shook her head, "That was a party for me, not a party I was invited into."

"I see," Pinkie nodded in understanding.

Then it hit her, and she gasped. "You haven't been to another pony's party in a long time?!"

Trixie nodded sadly. "Even now that I'm trying to make amends, ponies still haven't warmed up enough yet."

Starlight piped in, "But you were there for my birthday party."

The blue unicorn blew a raspberry. "Well, that's different. You're the Great and Powerful Trixie's Super Amazing Assistant / Best Friend; I'm talking about other ponies, like Rarity or Applejack. I understand why Twilight has never invited me to a party, but why do the others feel the need to leave me out, too?"

Starlight grimaced as she carefully tried to word her next few sentences. "Well, like you said, you're still learning and making amends, but you... Well, other ponies, er... how do I say this? Uh..."

Spike butted in without even looking up, "It's because you'd try to make the parties about you."

That earned a face-hoof from Starlight.

Trixie, meanwhile, looked offended. "The Great and Powerful Trixie would never do such a thing!"

Pinkie then piped up, "Actually, you did that exact thing at my Summer Solstice Party..."

The Great and Slightly Tipsy Trixie stood on the table in the center of the room, addressing the gathered crowd. "...and for her next trick, Trixie shall make this glass of cider disappear!" She took up a cup in her magic, then downed the whole thing in one large swig. "Voila!"

The crowd rolled their eyes at the showmare's display (apart from Snips and Snails, who were enraptured by her antics as per usual).

Trixie hiccuped slightly, apparently not registering the crowd's disinterest. "Thank you, you're all too kind! Now, if I—"

Before she could embarrass herself any further, however, she was picked up in Starlight's light blue magic. "Alright, Trix," she stated through her forced smile, "show's over."

The drunken mare whined, "But Trixie hasn't even gotten to the flaming knives yet!"

"Sorry to disappoint, but you won't be getting to that any time soon," Starlight pressed, dragging the performer away from the crowd.

"...and then you were all, 'Trixie was looking forward to that part', and then Starlight was all, 'Well, I've got something you can look forward to', and then you—"

Pinkie's ramblings were cut off by Trixie's hoof getting forcefully stuffed in her mouth. "Alright, I get it," the stage mare groused.

Starlight sighed. "I understand where you're coming from, I really do, but I just don't want to see you embarrass yourself like that. You've already had enough of that from your days before you met me, and I don't want to see you slip back down to that level."

Trixie looked to her best friend, and gave a demure smile. "You really mean that?"

Starlight nodded, "Of course!"

The showmare smiled to her friend, then gave her a hug. "Thank you, Starlight; you don't know how much it means to me that somepony cares."

"I think I have a pretty good idea, though," Starlight chuckled awkwardly in response.

---

Meanwhile, Applejack was still trying to get her hat back from Rarity. "Ah told y'all, Ah don't wantcha gussyin' up mah hat!"

"At least let me clean it for you?" Rarity begged, levitating the dirty hat in her magic.

"No means no!"

"But why not?! I just want to help!"

AJ stopped struggling, then took a deep breath and stepped back. "Look, Rare, Ah dunno if ya know this, but Ah like the stains in mah hats."

The fashionista blinked. "Whatever do you mean?"

The farmhand beckoned for Rarity to float the hat closer, and she obliged cautiously. Instead of grabbing the hat back, AJ pointed to one of the stains on it. "This stain, right 'ere? This is from the first time Apple Bloom tried pressin' cider. She was so focused on the pressin' that she didn't realize she was gettin' the juice ev'rywhere.

"An' thiss'n," she moved her hoof to point at a dark spot that sat just under the brim of the hat, "was from when Ah dropped it in the coop the first time Ah gather'd eggs all by mahself."

Rarity looked over the hat again, now considering what Applejack had said. "Each one of them has a memory, doesn't it?"

AJ blushed, "Well, not all of 'em, but enough do that Ah don't want to risk removin' any of 'em. An' it's not jus' this hat; it's all mah hats. Even the one y'all gave me back in Manehattan."

Rarity smiled forlornly as she let go of the hat. "I think I understand now. I'm sorry; I meant no offense to any of your memories."

"That's okay," AJ replied as she donned her stetson once more. "Ya didn't know."

Then Rarity huffed. "Still, I'd like for you to have at least one clean hat."

AJ nodded, "Ah think Ah can do that. Ah'll consider it a reminder of this moment right 'ere."

Rarity gasped, then gave her friend a big smile. "Thank you, Applejack."

The farm mare simply tipped her hat in acknowledgement.

---

"So, how has Tank been doing?" Fluttershy asked her fillyhood friend. "I haven't seen him in a while."

"He's doing fine," Rainbow shrugged. "Since I've been so busy with the Wonderbolts lately, he's been staying with my parents a lot."

Fluttershy smiled at the mention. "Oh my, that takes me back. I haven't seen Bow or Windy in so long; how are they?"

"Still really enthusiastic, but they've been working on toning it back. Not that I really mind anymore; I've come to appreciate their praise."

"Any fireworks incidents lately?" Fluttershy knowingly teased.

Wanting to change the subject, Rainbow then sat up, an uncomfortably neutral face plastered on. "Oh, that doesn't really matter; how have things been with you, huh? Discord giving you any trouble?"

"Oh, not at all," she shook her head, her smile falling away. "In fact, it's quite the opposite; he's barely said a word since the Coronation."

The prismatic pegasus blinked. "Really? Not even a peep?"

"Not a peep." Fluttershy frowned. "I'm honestly worried about him; he seems to really regret what he did when he posed as Grogar."

"Woah," Rainbow took a moment to process. "I didn't realize he was regretting it this badly..."

"I just hope he's okay while we're gone..."

---

2 ½ Hours In...

Spike had just returned from the bathroom, when he suddenly felt a pressure build up in his windpipe. He let out a fiery burp, and a scroll formed.

Starlight approached him, noting the seal and asked, "A letter from Twilight? What's it say?"

The dragon picked it up, cracked open the seal, and unfurled it. "She just finished up her work, and is now en route to Mount Aris via chariot. Given the train line we're on, she should arrive at about the same time as us."

Starlight blinked. "Wait a second, why couldn't she have sent us by chariot as well?"

Spike went to answer, but came up blank. "I don't actually know..."

That pushed her over the edge. "Okay, seriously, what's going on with Twilight?"

Spike was now visibly sweating, but still played innocent. "What do you mean, Starlight?"

"First, there's the fact that she summoned all of us; then, her profile on Tidal Surge recommends physical violence as the solution; and now, I learn that she has a much more efficient means of travel that she didn't choose to use? What—!?"

Suddenly, Spike covered Starlight's mouth with a claw and addressed the rest of the group, "Would you please excuse us for a moment?"

Without even waiting for a response, he led Starlight into the next car forward. Finally broken, he whispered, "Can you keep a secret?"

Starlight blinked, then nodded after a moment. "I just want to know what's wrong."

Spike sighed. "She really isn't handling the pressure well. She doesn't want to make it seem that way, but she really isn't."

Starlight frowned in concern. "Why doesn't she just ask for help?"

"Because she doesn't want you guys getting in over your heads as well. She knows how unfair it's been, roping everypony into the School of Friendship in addition to their day jobs, and she feels like letting you in on her leadership stress would be too far."

"Okay, but that still doesn't explain the way she's handling this situation."

Spike placed his palm onto his forehead. "I was telling the truth earlier; she's really, really overwhelmed right now, and she just wants to get this over with as easily as possible."

Now Starlight's frown was one of disappointment. "She's so desperate for a quick solution that she's getting sloppy."

He nodded, and Starlight groaned. "Once all of this is over, we're going to have a talk with Twilight."

Spike's eyes widened, but he tentatively nodded. "Just don't tell her I was the one who told you, okay?"

Starlight nodded, winking. "Your secret's safe with me."

---

3 Hours In...

Mount Aris had finally come within proper viewing distance. From their vantage point on the train, the group could see that a large collection of dark storm clouds collected atop the mountain.

Rainbow Dash was the first to speak up. "Wow, that is one heck of a storm!"

"Ah got a bad feelin' 'bout this," AJ commented.

Fluttershy didn't say anything out loud; instead, she was internally worrying about all of the animals being affected by it.

As the train drew closer, Starlight began to feel the raw magical energy in the air. "Rarity, are you feeling this?!"

It took her a moment, but the fashionista also began to sense the fluctuations. "My word, that magic is almost as strong as Princess Cadance's!"

That put a worried look on Starlight's face. "Alicorn-level magic from a unicorn? It's like another me..."

Then Pinkie shuddered violently, drawing everypony's attention to her. "I'm sensing a doozy incoming!"

That nearly set everypony off. They all sat there, trying not to panic as they waited for the train to stop.

---

As they made their way up the mountain (it would be too risky to teleport into unknown territory, both because of the storm and because Starlight didn't know where a clear enough space would be), the sound of whinnying caught their attention. They turned, then cheered when they saw a golden chariot approaching for a landing.

The vehicle skidded to a stop on a relatively flat outcropping, and out stepped a very frazzled Twilight Sparkle. "I'm not too late, am I?"

Spike was the first one to reach her, grabbing her in a hug. "Twilight, you're here!"

The tired mare nodded, "I wouldn't leave my friends to face a villain by themselves."

The rest of the mares (minus Trixie) lunged forward to join the hug. Starlight couldn't help but notice just how disheveled Twilight looked; it seemed like she hadn't gotten a full night's sleep in months.

Eventually, Twilight broke the embrace. "Now come on; there's no time to waste."

With that, the group resumed their climb towards their newest threat.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note:

Edit (7/22/21): Changed Spike's text color to differentiate it from Twilight's.

Comments

[Melody Song]

Ooh! This is getting interesting, wonder what'll happen next! Also, poor Twi, she must really be getting flustered if she's getting sloppy

Though, I wonder why she didn't also send the Young Six, which might've helped, since they're not all ponies and have abilities that could catch this Tidal Surge, not to mention Silverstream knows Mount Aries and it's terrain much better than the others. I guess Twi really is getting overwhelmed, poor thing.

[MattTOB]

10665500
That's easy; they're still just kids, despite having already saved the world once (twice if you count them gathering their nations in the Ending of the End). Besides, 5 out of 6 of them aren't Equestrian Citizens, so her tired mind feels that she has no control over them.

Though I will say: Silverstream is already here on Mount Aris, visiting with her family.

[Mlp_Starry_Night]

Well done on this chapter. Really good characterization, as well as dialogue. I'm really looking forward to the next one.

[MattTOB]

10665828
Why thank you!

I'm glad you think I did a good job at the characterization, because that was actually half of the premise behind this Premiere. I want to test my writing skills, so this first part focuses on the characters and their interactions, while the second part will focus on the story and action.

I hope I can deliver on that second part!