Embracing The Changes

by -Key-

Chapter 5: Friends

Twilight slowly awoke to find the sun high in the sky, its rays filtering through the curtains and into her room. After slowly standing up and stretching, Twilight began to make her way down the stairs and towards kitchen, once she made it down the stairs, she noticed the chalkboard was exactly the same as the previous day, with no new lesson. Shaking her head and wondering what the lesson would be for today, Twilight walked into the kitchen and began to make herself a daffodil sandwich.

Twilight walked out of the kitchen happily munching her sandwich, but before she had even finished half of it, she heard a trotting noise from upstairs. Luna suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs swaying from side to side. Twilight resisted the urge to laugh at the sight of her, she looked as if she had just woken up with a bad hangover. Her mane was still flowing, however it no longer gave Luna the royal appearance it usually did, instead it was swept across her face with small strands going off in other directions.

"Are you ok?" Twilight asked, concerned at the state the princess was in.

"We are fine, we are not used to being up at this time of day."

Once Luna was sitting on the couch Twilight quickly got up and put on the kettle, leaving Luna to rest and wake up properly. Soon after Twilight came back out of the kitchen with two cups of steaming coffee ready, when she looked up however, Luna was lying down on the couch fast asleep and lightly snoring. Twilight smiled at the sight of her and carefully placed the coffee on the table before walking over to Luna, Twilight tentatively lifted a hoof to wake her. Sighing Twilight carefully shook Luna to wake her up, Luna's eyes fluttered open and looked up at the concerned face of Twilight.

"Sorry" Twilight smiled tentatively. "You probably just want to sleep."

"It's fine Twilight." She mumbled groggily as Twilight helped her sit up properly. "We need to get used to being up during our sister’s day anyway."

Twilight quickly used her magic to hand Luna the cup of coffee who took it from Twilight's grip and carefully lifted it to her mouth, eyeing it cautiously.

"Don't worry, it'll help you wake up." Twilight said nodding to her.

Luna eyed it suspiciously for another second before she decided to take Twilights word and carefully took a sip, her eyes widened and she quickly drank the rest of it in large gulps.

"This is wonderful, what is it called?"

"Coffee." Twilight said trying not to laugh at Luna reaction. "You should be fine in a few minutes."

Twilight sat down on the couch beside Luna and began to drink her coffee, they both sat beside each other contently before Twilight finally finished her coffee and carefully stood up stretching. Grabbing their cups, Twilight walked into the kitchen and placed them in the sink to be washed up. When she came back Luna was standing up again and shaking her head.

"We didn't have time to prepare a lesson today so you can spend it with you friends if you wish." Luna said before sitting back down again and closing her eyes, happy she could no longer see the blaring light.

"But what will you do?" Twilight asked concerned.

"We will probably just stay here and read or sleep or prepare a lesson."

"Why don't you go outside?"

"And do what? We are not very social."

"I could introduce you to the rest of my friends, I'm sure they would be happy to meet you."

"Really" Luna said brightening at the thought "Just wait one second."

Luna's horn lit up and less than a second later as she bounced off the couch in excitement, all of a sudden she began a white glow as her body slowly shrank, she shone brightly for a second before the light slowly began to fade away. When she could see again Twilight gasped, Luna was now the same height as her, her coat was the same colour however her hair and tail no longer flowed as if they were in the wind, instead they were both light blue with locks.

"How do we look?" Luna asked.

"Fantastic" Twilight answered, “Although…”

"I-is something wrong?" Luna asked worried, now checking herself over again.

"No it's fine, but you looked exactly like that right after you were freed from Nightmare Moon”

"Oh" Luna said, "We will, explain that another time."

"Ok then, but you might want to hide either your wings or horn, and your cutie mark gives you away."

Glancing at herself again, Luna blushed realizing that she had nearly left with her wings, horn and cutie mark showing. Quickly casting another spell, she hid her horn from view and changed her cutie mark to a water droplet before smiling happily.

Twilight and Luna both trotted out of the house, "So who would you like to meet first?" Twilight asked looking around. It was a beautiful day with the sun high in the sky and not a single cloud in sight, the pegasi must have been working extra hours to keep it sunny with a cool breeze drifting through the town. Everypony was bustling around happily running errands and having a good time.

"Hmm... Well we don't believe that we have met your friend Rarity yet, we didn't see her during Nightmare Night."

"Oh of course" Twilight said trotting off towards the boutique. "She spent the entire night resting, after all that is the busiest time of the year for her. Everypony needs costumes to be made or fixed, I don't think she got any sleep the in the nights leading up to the celebration."

Luna was quite surprised at this, she hadn’t realized how much work went into the costumes from the night, to her they all looked like random household objects put together to look like some sort of creature. Luna was pulled back from her thoughts as she heard the jingle of a bell, right after she looked up and saw a white unicorn with a very stylish mane trot forward.

"Twilight" she sang "and..."

"We are... Umm" Luna said trying to think up a name on the spot.

"Oh my!" Rarity exclaimed quickly bowing down "I did not recognize you Princess, please forgive me."

Twilight and Luna both gave each other a questioning look before Luna stepped forward. "How did you know it was us? We thought that our disguise was quite convincing." Luna said as she carefully checked herself over again just to make sure she hadn't missed any details.

"Well princess, I heard all about Nightmare Night from Twilight here." she said, causing Twilight to blush and look off to the side "And well you are the only pony who still uses the royal we."

Off to the side Twilight facehooved as she realized her mistake "Of course princess, you will have to stop using the royal we, otherwise everypony will know it is you straight away."

Luna came forward "Um.. I, think that we can do that." she said before perking up, happy with herself and looking over to Twilight for approval.

"You used we again" Twilight pointed out, much to Luna's dismay "Don't worry princess, you just need practice speaking to people."

"Yes however if w-I speak to people they will realize who we are."

"Well princess what if we talk to, Applejack or Rainbow, you did say you wanted that book off her." Twilight said looking at Luna

"That could work" she said smiling happily "And just Luna is fine."

Rarity, Twilight and Luna spent the next few minutes talking to each other; Rarity spent most of her time fawning over Luna, while Luna kept looking over to Twilight for approval and encouragement. By the time they left Luna rarely slipped back into the royal we and always managed to use her fake name.

"Goodbye princess." Rarity said, bowing to Luna as she left.

"Goodbye Rarity" Luna called out as she walked away, missing Rarity’s smile and happy look.

After a short walk they arrived at Rainbow's house and both stood on the ground looking up quite stumped "How are we supposed to get up there." Twilight asked confused.

However before Luna could answer, Pinky bounced out from behind a house "Oh hey there Twilight, watcha doing?"

"Im tr-" Twilight began before she was cut off by Pinky.

"Of course you're trying to get up to Dashie's house. Wait right there." she said before bouncing behind the house again, before Twilight could say another word, Pinky came flying out on a strange bicycle that flew through the air. Skidding to a stop just before Twilight and the princess, Pinky jumped off again "You and the princess have fun." she called bouncing away.

Luna stared after pinky in shock, she was about to ask Twilight how Pinky knew who she was before she began to laugh. Twilight was staring after Pinky with a confused and fustrated look on her face, her eye was twitching and her mouth was slightly open. She couldn't understand how Pinky managed to do it, she always knew exactly what was happening no matter how much you tried to hide it. Realizing that trying to understand Pinky would just make her tear her hair out and bang her head against a wall, Twilight turned to Luna to ask what she was laughing about.

"What's so funny?”

"You, you should have seen your face, you looked ridiculous." Luna giggled.

After a couple of seconds, Twilight couldn't help but begin to laugh as well. Their fun was cut short when they heard a shout from above them, they both jumped up looking around and blushing furiously. Seeing Rainbow Dash they stepped off to the side and watched as she flew down towards them gracefully.

"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash called out waving to her "Hey, who's this pony?" she asked seeing Luna beside her.

"I am Rainy Night" she said quite proudly.

"Hmm... I don't think I've seen you before, where are you from?"

"I am from Canterlot however w-I'll be staying in Ponyville for quite sometime."

"What was so funny?" Rainbow asked looking from one to the other curiously

"Oh, just Pinky being Pinky." Twilight answered.

"So what is it you came here for?"

"I wanted my Daring Doo book back from you." Twilight said quite annoyed "You've had it for weeks now, you were supposed to give it back days ago."

"Oh come on Twilight" Rainbow Dash whined "It's not like many people actually go to the library anyway and what's the chance they would want this book."

Twilight's eye started to twitch again when Rainbow mentioned the library making Luna giggle again.

"The library gets plenty of business thank you very much, and for your information Lu-Rainy Night here wants the book." she said almost slipping up in her annoyance.

"Oh" Rainbow said realizing that she was wrong “I'll go grab that for you." Rainbow Dash said, not noticing that Twilight nearly used another name as she quickly flew back up to her house to find the book.

Twilight and Luna looked at each other trying not to smile, so far everything was going well. Rainbow still didn't know who Luna really was despite Twilight's obvious slip up.

Rainbow quickly flew down with the book in her hand smiling "Here you are… Rainy Night wasn't it?" Rainbow said, turning to Twilight “Anyway, I was wondering if you had the next book."

"Yes of course, you can go grab it from the library if you want, although I'll probably be out all day."

"Thanks Twilight, see ya round Rainy Night." Rainbow called out as she flew off towards the library.

"Who would you like to meet next?" Twilight asked turning to Luna.

"Hmm... How about Fluttershy, I never did get to have a proper conversation with her.”

"I wouldn't be so sure." Twilight mumbled to herself quietly as they made their way to Fluttershy's cottage shaking her head.

After a long walk through the town and many introductions to the ponies they found themselves outside Fluttershy's front door. Both Twilight and Luna were happy with their success, Luna had not once slipped up when speaking to other ponies, she had come close a couple of times but had quickly corrected herself. Smiling broadly Twilight knocked on the door and took a step back.

"Who is it?" Fluttershy asked tentatively from behind the door.

"It's me, Twilight."

"Oh, it's you Twilight" She said as she slowly opened the door and peeked around at Twilight. "W-who's that with you?" she asked, almost completely closing the door again.

"Fluttershy, meet Rainy Night."

"Umm... Hello." Fluttershy said, looking at the ground nervously as she slowly opened the door again.

"Hello Fluttershy." Luna said raising her hoof. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Luna was quite surprised that despite her friendly attitude towards Fluttershy, she was still scared and timid. "Is something wrong?" she asked, quite worried she had ruined her disguise or said something wrong.

"No, I'm fine." Fluttershy said, taking a step back.

"Fluttershy." Twilight said with an exasperated voice "It's fine, she's new here and I'm showing her around, why don't you to talk for a bit." She said, moving behind the door and pushing Fluttershy out into the open, causing her to squeak and hide behind her mane.

"So, is this your house?" Luna asked trying to start the conversation.

"Mmhph" She said quietly.

"Do you live here all by yourself?"

"Mm"

Everypony stood still, while an awkward pause hung in the air. Seeing that this wasn't going to get them anywhere, Twilight quickly walked forward again.

"Okaaaay then, Rainy Night, why don't I introduce you to my other friends, I'm sure Fluttershy has some things to do. It was good to see you again Fluttershy." Twilight said as she steered Luna away and waved back at Fluttershy.

"I don’t understand why she is still so afraid of me." Luna said, clearly disappointed.

"Don't worry Luna." Twilight said once they were out of earshot "She is like that with everypony. When we first met, she had trouble saying hello properly. At least she didn't realize who you were."

"I guess so"

"So… who do you want to meet next?"

"I am actually quite hungry, where would be a good place to eat?"

"I think I know just the place." Twilight said smiling.

A few minutes later, Twilight and Luna walked into a small restaurant, as they made their way to the counter, Twilight noticed Rarity waving to them from a table off to the side. Twilight nudged Luna and pulled her towards the table.

"Hello Twilight, Princess, how are you?" Rarity asked.

"We're good thank you." Twilight said smiling.

"Did any of the others notice?"

"Nopony noticed who Luna was, you did great Luna." Twilight said as she turned to her and gave her an encouraging smile.

"Yes, but I would have liked to speak with Fluttershy properly." she said still disappointed.

"Oh" Rarity said perking up "I know just the thing, all you need to do is ask her about her animals.”

"Really?" Luna asked perking up "That sounds great."

"Oh yes, when I first met her she didn't say a single word to me for weeks. One day I told her I would like a pet, and the amount of animals she had was simply amazing. She spent weeks worrying about Opal once I got her and would barely leave me alone, but I think she trusts me now."

Rarity smiled as she thought back to when she first got Opal. "Well I'm sure you two would like to grab something to eat, so I’ll be on my way, goodbye." she called back to them as she walked away towards her boutique.

"I don't know why I didn't think of that." Twilight said "Why don't you come with us for our next pony pet play date, then you can meet all of my friends and talk to Fluttershy."

"That would be wonderful, I've heard so much about them."

"Really?" Twilight asked "From who?"

"Uhh, well you see, my sister decided it would be a good idea for me to become more integrated in society. So she decided that, your friendship reports would help with that." she finished cautiously.

"She what?!" Twilight exclaimed before turning away in embarrassment and hiding her face.

"Oh don't worry Twilight, it's not like I was the only one to read them. Lots of ponies at her school have seen them too." Luna said before she realized what she had just told Twilight.

"B-but that’s the s-school." She stuttered, her face turning red. Luna quickly came up behind her and placed her hoof on her shoulder. Twilight looked up and Luna could see how much she was panicking.

"Come on," she said helping Twilight stand. "How about we take you home so you can calm down." she said, slipping back into the royal we for a second.

Twilight looked up at Luna and nodded, still thinking about all of the students that would have seen her reports and read them. Before she could dwell on this too much, she was surrounded in an azure glow, there was a bright flash. When she opened her eyes, she was standing in her room with Luna next to her. Twilight walked over to her bed and collapsed on to it.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that everypony thinks that they are fantastic." Luna said optimistically.

"Or hilarious" Twilight mumbled, her face buried in her pillow.

"What was that?"

"I’ll be the laughing stock of the whole school by now. I don't think I will ever be able to return to the school again."

"It's not that bad, I'm sure they will forget about them eventually."

"Typical teacher" Twilight muttered into her pillow, thinking about what the other students were most likely saying about her.

"Oh" Luna said, feigning offense. "I thought I was a good teacher, I'm clearly just a mediocre teacher and am the same as all the others."

"No" Twilight said, turning to Luna worried that she had upset her. "I didn't mean it like that, your a fantastic teacher, it's just that most teachers don't realize what the students are actually like, or what they say ou-" Twilight began before she realized that Luna was grinning at her. "Oh" was all she said as she realized what Luna had done.

"See, you look much better now. How about I send Celestia a letter and tell her you're embarrassed about them being on display. I have to go raise the moon, but when I get back I will send the letter. Now have a good night." she said, smiling back to Twilight as she walked out the doorway and turned off the lights. Twilight sighed as she watched Luna walk out, she felt better when Luna was with her and not as worried as she usually was, but realizing that it was late, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Luna walked back inside after raising them moon and picked up a quill and a piece of paper, she licked her lips before she began to write.

Dear Sister-

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Celestia was sitting at her desk when she was greeted by a small whisp of smoke that floated into her chambers. The smoke stopped in front of her before its colour and shape began to change until there was a pop and all that was left was a scroll with a blue ribbon and Luna's seal.

Celestia grabbed the scroll with her magic before it could hit the floor and opened it, wondering what her sister could want to speak to her about at this time of the night.

Dear Sister

I was talking to Twilight Sparkle when I mentioned that, not only had I read her reports but also that they were available to see at the school.

Celestia sighed realizing what the entire letter would be about, she couldn't fathom how that had come up in a conversation, or how it only took Luna two days to do something wrong but continued to read anyway.

She seemed to become very embarrassed and worried about what the other students would think, I believe that she would like them taken down and removed from the school. As always I hope you enjoy my night and I look forward to your day.

Celestia smiled as she finished reading the letter, ‘formal as always’ she thought. After tucking the letter into her desk drawer, Celestia began to write.

Dear Headmaster

Author's Note:

Editor’s notes:
Sorry about the delay, Kripkey was going to upload it earlier, but then I moved countries, and took a 2 week detour through London and New York. We were going to grab another editor to fill in for me, but we’re lazy. I have some good news though, I finally have an ultrabook running Windows, so I don’t have to use pages to edit anymore, so hopefully you will notice fewer errors.
-zagzig17

Actually I had lots to do and you wouldn't have gotten it until now anyway (and by had lots to do I actually mean I spent my entire holidays lying in bed thinking I should really write this and didn't because I'm lazy) so hope you enjoyed the chapter, I'll try to get something interesting to happen soon.

Comments

[Shielded Myth]

nice chapter, liked the little bit of comedy in there

[Mossflower]

"This is wonderful, what is it called?"

interesting first reaction, most usually don't like coffee the first time they taste it

the punctuations are still a little messy in some places, commas to be specific, they appear in places where they aren't supposed to be while being neglected when they are needed. not a huge problem, it's mostly small mistakes that drown in the flow, but nevertheless; i thought i should tell you guys.

Twilight was staring after Pinky with a confused and furious look on her face

furious seems a little inappropriate. furious means "extremely angry, to a violent degree"; which i don't think pinkie deserves. was thinking dumbfounded and annoyed/irritated.

"Who from"

isn't it supposed to be the other way around?

great chapter!

[debio]

Just seems a tad weird, not what she does, just the phrasing I think

Did some editing notes get left in?

[-Key-]

Oops I'll fix that

[appledash2011]

MORE

[DarkSnowGaming]

"Oh don't worry Twilight, it's not like I was the only one to read them. Lots of ponies at her school have seen them too." Luna said before she realized what she had just told Twilight.

Not helping, also she does what? Why? I didn't know it was a friendship school.

I hope this story gets continued, would love to read more.