> The Sun and her little Sparkle
>  by Dark0592
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What’s wrong princess?” Quill, Celestia’s advisor, asked her. They were currently overlooking a small group of young unicorns. They all had one or more adult with them, parents. All but one of them. There was a small purple filly in the corner that didn’t really seem like she was paying attention to anything besides a book she had on the ground in front of her.

“I thought I made it clear the parents of the foals should come with their child...” Celestia said, pointing to the filly.

“Well, that’d be a bit difficult for that one. She’s an orphan, the only reason she’s here is because she showed incredible magical prowess at her orphanage. According to one of the staff there, she nearly leveled half the building in her sleep.” Quill said.

“In her sleep?” Celestia asked.

“Yes, she has nightmares. Some of them insomnia induced, but the staff believes it might be because of her past. She never talks about it though. And before you ask, her insomnia is self-wrought. She stays up late reading every night.” Quil answered.

“You seem to know a lot about this filly... What is her name?” Celestia asked.

“Twilight Sparkle, and I was the one they called about it. Princess, I met the filly and tried to talk to her... She’s... Different.” Quill explained.

“Of course she is. All orphans still in an orphanage are. We might as well get this over with. It breaks my heart every year to see so many hopefuls’ sad faces,  though I think I’ll be secretly rooting for this filly.” Celestia sighed. The standards for this exam to enter her school for gifted unicorns were brutally high. They were set long ago, when she first started the school; when most unicorns were raised to the task instead of the little nudges they were given nowadays. The ponies really in charge of this, the nobility, were too stubborn to change anything. She could only interfere if she really, really wanted to and even then it would be frowned upon.

Back then, a Unicorn could levitate twice their weight at age three. Now levitation tended to be a problem for young unicorns around age six or seven. These unicorns were twelve.

Celestia had to step out of the room for a little while after the eighth or ninth hopeful. They had all failed. She had to keep her composure up, but on the inside it was destroying her and she had to let it out. She stood in the hallway and let out one of the biggest sighs she’d ever sighed. Even her mane and tail, which should be flowing brilliantly, seemed like a trudgy old river.

“P-Princess Celestia? Are... Are you alright?!” She heard a small voice gasp. It startled her, she didn’t think anyone would be out here. She found the source of the voice. It was Twilight Sparkle.

“Oh, oh I’m sorry. I’m fine.” Celestia said, her composure building back up almost instantly. 

“Um... No disrespect, but when I sigh with that much  effort there’s normally something wrong... And your hair is all... Droopy.” The little filly said, cautiously taking a step towards the princess. She smiled lightly before sighing again. She quickly looked around to see if there was anyone else in the hall before plopping down on the bench.

“Oh it’s just all of these little unicorns... When they fail it just makes me so sad to see my little ponies so downcast. But so many in a row...” Celestia explained. She looked over at the filly a couple feet away, awkwardly standing in the middle of the hall. She rolled her eyes and beckoned her over.

“Well come on then, come sit next to me.” She said. Twilight was surprised by the offer, but very slowly did as she was told. She sat on the very edge of the bench. Celestia was having none of that, though. She used her wing to sweep the filly closer.

“You don’t need to be afraid of me, nor of being informal. Now, what are you doing on this side of the testing hall?” Celestia asked.

“W-Well... I... I um. I didn’t know the way and I saw a sign back there...” Twilight said, pointing back towards where she came from.

“I see. Well, miss Sparkle, tell me about yourself. My assistant told me a little bit but I want to hear it from the filly herself.” Celestia said. Twilight looked at the floor. The mood definitely dropped by a landslide.

“If... If it’s alright with you I’d rather not talk about it...” The filly said. The tone of her voice sounded like any positive feeling was beaten into the ground.

“Twilight, You can tell me whatever you want, whenever you want. I didn’t mean for your mood to dampen like this, I had only meant what attracted my assistant’s attention and maybe a little bit about your life in the orphanage.” Celestia said after a moment.

“...Oh...” Twilight said softly.

“Its alright, I’ve soured your mood enough. You should hurry to the right door so you’re not late for your exam. I need to get back. Good luck, Twilight Sparkle. Do me a favor and pass with flying colors, I don’t like seeing you so distraught.” Celestia said, standing up and walking over to the door. She looked back at the filly and winked.

“Wait, how do you know so much about me?” Twilight asked right before she opened the door.

“I did my homework, at least a little bit.” Celestia answered before quickly entering the testing hall again.

---

There were another seven hopefuls, at least that Celestia saw, and four of them managed to pass. She was still already starting to lose her composure again, though, so she perked up when she heard the tester call in Twilight. The little filly slowly entered the room.

“Alright miss Sparkle.  This is a very simple but difficult test. Hatch the egg, using any magical means you possess.” The instructor said, nodding towards where there was a large egg being wheeled out in a cart.

“Oh that’s just cruel, dragon eggs are the hardest to hatch...” Quill, who was sitting next to Celestia, breathed lowly. Celestia grumbled in agreement.

“Um... What if it breaks? I don’t want to kill a poor little innocent baby animal...” Twilight said.

“Well, all of these eggs have been ready to hatch for a while. There is simply a series of spells and such keeping them dormant. Unless you completely destroy it the animal should be fine.” The instructor replied. Celestia was surprised he said something besides ‘Then you fail’ like he had for the others. She guessed it was to make up for the difficulty of the test.

Twilight tried and tried, but she could do little more than make the egg shake. After five minutes the instructors looked like they were about to agree on failing her. Celestia caught her eye, though, and tried her hardest to get a message through the contact. 

Go on, I believe in you. I asked you a favor.

It was almost as if she had physically said it, The filly nodded slowly and let out a long breath. Her horn lit up once more and the magical aura enveloped the egg once more. Her concentration far exceeded that of what she showed her first try. Very slowly but surely, the egg showed movement. A crack formed and spider webbed along the surface of the shell.

Celestia’s eyes widened when she could literally feel the explosion of magic that sent the room into chaos. Twilight’s eyes were glowing white and she started floating as random chaotic things started happening. The egg shattered and the baby dragon inside grew to the size of an elder, breaking through the ceiling. The instructor and the few others sitting in were turned into random objects or animals. A few chairs and tables started floating around and bumping into each other.

It was then that Celestia stepped in. It didn’t take much, just a hoof on the Filly’s shoulder to snap her out of it and a magical nudge. The filly seemed to ‘wake up’ after a moment and everything slowly calmed down and returned to normal. The instructors were confused but ponies again, the furniture was disheveled but back on the ground and the dragon was a hatchling again.

Twilight collapsed when she touched back to the ground. Worried, Celestia used a quick spell to examine her and found she had passed out from exhaustion. She sighed in relief and looked at the instructors.

“Well I’d say that’s passing, no? Make her my personal protege, I see too much potential in her to leave it be.” Celestia said. She proceeded to levitate the filly onto her back and start towards the door.

“Princess, where are you going?” Quill asked, getting up from where she had fallen out of her chair.

“Twilight was the last one. I’m exhausted and this one needs a rest too. I’m too tired to have a room arranged for her so we’ll just be taking a nap in my chambers.” Celestia answered.

“I can have the old astronomy tower fit for living again by tonight if a normal room won’t suffice.” Quill said.

“Please do then, but for now she’s earned a royal nap.” Celestia said, giggling softly.

“So have you. I’ll uh... I’ll make sure to set someone on this mess.” Quill said, looking around the room.

“Much appreciated, Quill. I’ll be awake when it’s time to set the sun and raise the moon, come and get us then.” Celestia said and left the room.

“What... What just happened?” The instructor said as he and the others finally got over their transformation induced disorientation. 

“Twilight Sparkle is now the royal protege and your job here is done for now. Thank you for your time.” Quill said to him before following Celestia out.
> C.1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia was woken up by the pull of the moon later that evening. She remembered the day’s events and smiled at the little filly snuggled up next to her. He chuckled to herself when she realized how strange it must have seemed to bring the filly to her chambers with her, but she couldn’t help herself. She liked this Twilight Sparkle, and besides; if she was going to be her personal protege she was going to have to get used to things like this. 

There was a light knock on the door and she opened it with her magic to reveal Quill.

“The tower’s ready, Princess.” She said simply.

“Thank you, We’ll be there once I raise the moon.” Celestia said. Quill nodded, closed the door and left. Celestia got up from the bed without disturbing Twilight and made her way to the balcony on the other side of the room.

Twilight awoke, feeling a strong wave of magic in the room. She looked around and was confused as to where she was. Another wave of magic washed over the room, this time it was vaguely familiar. She felt it almost every night, at least faintly, right about when the moon rose or fell. She looked towards its source and gaped in awe as she saw the princess. 

Her horn was giving off a faint blue glow instead of the normal bright and shining one. Her wings were stretched to their full wingspan as she slowly followed the sun’s progress down, and then the moon’s progress up, with her horn.

No... She wasn’t following them, they were following her.

“Ah, you are awake.” She said with a smile as she trotted back into the room.

“P-Princess Celestia? Where am I?” Twilight asked, looking around again.

“My chambers, you were exhausted and we both needed a nap.” Celestia said. As the last rays of sunlight faded and became moonlight, the room darkened significantly. Celestia lit a few candles with a tiny flash of magic and Twilight was surprised to find that instead of the normal rainbow of color, her mane and tail were pink.

“It’ll be in a lesson later on. For now we have to deal with your lodgings.” Celestia said, anticipating the wave of questions.

“My... Lodgings? I passed?” Twilight asked.

“With flying colors. In fact, you did so well I made you my personal protege.” Celestia answered. “And look, it’s just another testament to your skill.” She continued, motioning towards the filly’s flank where a six pointed star had appeared. She gasped and nearly leaped into the air.

“My cutie mark!” She exclaimed and continued to exclaim as she bounced around the room.

“Alright, Twilight. We can celebrate when we get to where you’ll be staying. It’s not very far at all.” Celestia said, foregoing her regalia that was on a stand next to the door and going out of it. She looked back at Twilight, who had stopped and was staring at her, and beckoned with her head. The filly dashed after her new mentor.

They arrived at the tower and Twilight was even more awestruck than when she saw the princess raising the moon. It was massive with multiple floors and scores of full bookshelves. There were tons of astronomical equipment, but that was to be expected of an astronomy tower.

“Now, since this is the astronomy tower you might occasionally get ponies wanting to use the equipment. There’s a small section through that door up there that are living quarters and the bathroom and such so it’s not like they can invade your privacy.” Celestia explained.

“Is there a specific reason why you gave me the tower instead of a normal room?” Twilight asked after a few moments.

“Not really, it was my assistant’s idea. Maybe it was because of all the books. You’ll have to ask her yourself. For now, though, there is something I would like to teach you before you settle in.” Celestia said, walking up to the massive observation balcony and sitting down. Twilight cautiously joined her.

“It’s not a spell, more like meditation. It allows you to pretty much enter your mindscape at will, almost like dreaming. This is useful for a great number of things, like pulling out forgotten memories. For you, though, we can use it to face these nightmares I’ve been hearing about. I can enter your mindscape as well, if you will allow me, once you’re in this state of waking dreams. In order for this to work, though, you’ll need to be able to fight off your nightmares without my assistance.” Celestia softly explained.

“I... Why is this important? It’s just occasional nightmares...” Twilight asked, looking away.

“According to the orphanage staff you have them more frequently than just occasionally. Reportedly you nearly destroyed half of the building because of one.” Celestia retorted.

“That... That was different... It... It wasn’t a nightmare, more like a memory...” Twilight said.

“Well some day you’re going to have to talk to me about this, but I think we can wait until we know each other much better for that. For now, though, I can’t have my faithful new student having nightmares. Insomnia will hamper you in your lessons, they can be incredibly trying.” Celestia said.

“I’m used to not sleeping all that often...” Twilight said softly.

“That may be, but this will be the first thing you do and until you make progress it will be the only thing we do. I will know when you have nightmares if I were to be so prying. Now, relax every muscle in your body. Think of it as if you’re getting ready to sleep, but keep your mind fully awake. It’s not the easiest thing to do, and if you can’t do it then there’s a spell that you can use, but like I said it can be used for far more than nightmare hunting.” Celestia explained. 

Twilight sighed in defeat and nodded. It was a full hour before Twilight finally achieved it. There wasn’t too much of a difference, since she had closed her eyes in concentration. If she were awake or standing, this would merely look like she zoned out. But there was a feeling in the air around her, it felt as if there was nothing behind those closed eyes. Celestia then used a small spell to link their minds as she entered the same state.

She appeared next to Twilight in what seemed to be a black abyss.

“This... This is what it is most of the time. Just empty nothingness... Not even stars to look at in the sky, or dirt to push around at your hooves. No echo to talk to, no shadow to play with... Just nothing.” Twilight explained softly. She was shaking slightly. Celestia watched with worry as she slowly dropped to the ground and curled up.

“It just goes on forever... The loneliness...” Twilight started. “It’s the worst part...” She finished in a voice so tiny Celestia barely heard it.

“... This is going to be tough for you to fight... There’s no monster chasing you to face down, to embarrassment you could ignore...” Celestia said softly. Twilight’s vision snapped up to her, apparently she forgot the Princess was there. SHe had tears streaming down her face as she quickly rushed and clung to Celestia.

“Please... Don’t go!” She exclaimed. She screwed her eyes shut for a moment before slowly opening them and looking at Celestia’s worry-filled face, as if she was supposed to disappear.

“You’re... You’re really here...” The filly said with relief. It was the kind of relief that made Celestia never want to leave her. Funny how the universe likes to be cruel. She looked away as she felt Quill entering the astronomy tower. It was time for the night court.

“Oh Twilight... I’m afraid I’m going to have to leave you for a little while... I can’t just ignore the rest of the world. My presence will still be here, though, and if you need me you need only call. I can afford to zone out for a minute or two.” Celestia said after a few moments. Twilight looked up at her, almost horrified, and clung to her even harder.

“Don’t leave me alone!” She exclaimed.

“No, not alone. You’ll never be alone again. As I said, you need only call for me and I’ll be back. Our minds will still be linked, so perhaps your first real lesson can be to reverse the bond so you can see what I’m doing. Remember one thing, though. This is your mindscape, your world. You control it, so don’t let it control you.” Celestia said, leaning down and pulling the filly into an embrace.

“Now, be strong and try to turn this place around.” Celestia said as she started to fade away.

“Wait! What if I can’t?!” Twilight asked frantically.

“Then try again. Keep your mind busy. Try reversing the bond. Fending off recurring nightmares doesn’t happen in one day. You must really want to be rid of them and try your very hardest to make even the slightest bit of progress. I will come back to you when the court is over.” She explained before completely fading.

Twilight just stared where the princess used to stand. It was a full five minutes before she turned her head. She looked at the vast emptiness and took a deep breath. She could still feel Celestia’s presence, like she said, but without her really there the loneliness quickly set in. She took a few more deep breaths and focused on that presence. She heard a violent sigh, one that she had heard before. She looked up and she was back in the hallway where Celestia had stepped out.

It was different, though.

She could see them talking, see Celestia from different perspectives.

The scenery changed again. It was when she tried to hatch the egg. She saw what happened to her, though she didn’t actually remember it. Her subconscious had remembered it and now she was seeing it all.

She saw herself napping with Celestia. That she somewhat remembered, the warm feeling all around her. The feeling connected with another feeling she had felt a long time ago. She couldn’t remember what that was, though. She thought and thought, but the memory of the familiar feeling would not come. She sighed in resignation and sat there silently for a while as the world faded back into black.

Before the loneliness could set in she decided to do what Celestia had suggested. Reverse the link so that she could see what Celestia was doing.

She once again focused on Celestia’s presence and concentrated as hard as she could. She read about mental links before and the memories flooded into the area. It took her nearly twenty minutes, but she felt something. It wasn’t very difficult to reverse a link like this, it only took an extreme amount of concentration.

‘Oh hello there, so nice of you to join me.’ She heard Celestia’s voice. It was disembodied, but she saw a grinning Celestia sitting on a throne in front of a mass of blurred ponies. The scene focused slowly, revealing rather snobbish and annoying looking ones. Then sound came.

“Princess? I can hear you?” Twilight said.

“Well you are in a small portion of my mind right now. I’m afraid you came at a rather boring time... This pony that’s speaking right now is so full of himself and he doesn’t care about any potential consequences for what he’s asking.” Celestia explained, the scene’s vision suddenly focusing on the pony who was speaking.

“-t would be incredibly prosperous to the mining operation and would leave the village situated on the mine extremely wealthy.” The pony said.

“But there is a river there, it runs underground through the middle of where you want to start this project. Using magic detonation charges to clear out an entire cavern would not only cause instability for the entire thing, but it would pollute the water.” Celestia explained, apparently for the umpteenth time.

“But Princess, the wealth it would bring them would counter any potentially negative aftereffects. There’s only one city and a few villages down the river and if we do this to the mine then let it be unstable. It’s not like we need to go into it anymore.” The pony retorted, as if it was obvious. Celestia facehooved.

“But that’s stupid, it’s hurting other ponies... And in use or not, an unstable mine creates cave ins that are deadly even if you’re not inside.!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Exactly right...” Celestia mumbled to herself. “No, if you want your village to be prosperous you need to earn it with hard work. Sacrificing the lives of your fellow ponies for wealth is a terrible thing to do and I will not let you stoop to that level.” Celestia said. Her tone made it clear that the discussion was over. The pony growled and threw a map he had with him onto the ground and stormed off.

“Princess, go ahead and talk to Twilight for a little bit. I’ll rouse you if you’re needed.” Quill whispered to her as another pny started speaking. Twilight saw the pony’s face turn into some random thing that started blabbing, earning a giggle from the filly. Celestia nodded to quill in think and seemingly zoned out.

---

“So did you make any progress?” Celestia asked, back in Twilight’s mindscape.

“I don’t really know... I didn’t have a nervous breakdown again, though, and I was able to focus on your presence and keep the loneliness away at least a little bit...” Twilight answered.

“Very good, just work at it little bits at a time. Find something that abates it, I’ll definitely be spending more time with you. We’ll try to give you lots of good memories to review whenever you have this nightmare. By the way, I’m still very impressed you were not only able to enter the waking dreams state, but reverse the link in our minds. I think saying that you have a gift doesn’t do it justice.” Celestia said.

“Well... A lot of the books I read are at least somewhat related to magic...” Twilight said.

“You must have some pretty advanced books to be able to do all of it first time.” Celestia said.

“Well... The orphanage I live in lets me go to the royal library sometimes, with chaperones and stuff of course...” Twilight explained.

“Well then, now you get to have your own personal library. If you’d like I can even get you access to the private and restricted sections of the royal library. Only the best for my protege.” Celestia offered.

The look of utter happiness and awe made Celestia burst out laughing. She stopped suddenly and burst into laughter once more.

“What?” Twilight asked.

“Apparently I snorted rather loudly in the night court.” She said when she stopped laughing.

“Speaking of that, I should probably give them my full attention again. It’ll be going on for a while so you should at least try to get to bed soon. I’ll come around at midnight to check on you. If you’re still awake I’ll think of something to do. If not I’ll see you in the morning.” Celestia said.

“Um... Alright. I’ll probably be up looking through the books in the library.” Twilight said.

“Well then I’ll see you then. I’m afraid I’ve angered the nobility with my inattentiveness again...” Celestia said with a sigh before fading away once more. Twilight’s smile fell after a while and she sighed. She didn’t know why, at least aside from the obvious reasons, but she never wanted the princess to go. Her mood went from giddy happiness to near depressing the second she faded away.

“It’s fine, Twilight... You’re fine, let’s just get out of here... Go read books!” Twilight ort of rambled to herself. She concentrated long and hard but she couldn’t figure out how to ‘wake up’.

‘By the way, just try and use magic. That normally works’ She heard Celestia’s voice. 

“Alright?” Twilight said to herself. She thought of a basic levitation spell and the second the magical energy began to build up in her horn she opened her eyes to see the night sky. She quickly looked around and remembered where she was, the astronomy tower at the palace. It was such a big difference from her drab room in the orphanage. She didn’t even really have anything she wanted to go back and get, save a few journals and books.

Speaking of books... she now had walls of books to go through.
> C.2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Please read the author's not at the bottom, please and thank you.
“So you are still awake.” Celestia said when she entered the astronomy tower to find Twilight amidst a practical fort of books. She giggled when a lavender head poked out of it.

“I got bored...” The filly said with an embarrassed grin.

“I noticed. Now, there’s something I need to talk to you about... Then I’ll have to leave for my own chambers.” Celestia said, extricating the filly from her book fort and sitting her down next to her in front of the grand fireplace. She lit it with a spark of magic and sighed in content.

“Is it something really important?” Twilight asked, apprehensive of what the princess had to say.

“Somewhat. It’s about your orphanage. Quill told me they arranged it so you would stay the night and return, pass or fail. If you passed then further discussion would commence afterwards. Quill will escort you there and take care of everything during day court and we’ll meet for lunch and go straight into your next lesson.” Celestia explained. Twilight’s mood dampened slightly and her smile fell into a line.

“But... I don’t want to go back there... Why can’t it be you who does it?” She asked after a moment.

“I could, if you really wanted me to. But the way I see it, if you do it when I’m busy then we’ll have more time together. And besides, Quill such a good friend of mine. She’s less of an assistant and more like that relative that helps you out all the time.” Celestia replied.

“Oh... Alright then... Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?” Twilight asked, perhaps hopeful to change the subject.

“I wasn’t planning to, but now that you mention it there is one thing. The nobility can be bigots sometimes, so if they treat you terribly just ignore them. Some of them might even try to have you thrown out if they don’t know who you are, so just stand your ground and get a royal guard’s attention. They all know you now. I made sure of that. 

Your privileges are just a bit more than Quill’s when it comes to the palace and such. That’s mainly your library access though. I’d wait a few days to try and make use of some of the more high up privileges like free roam of the palace. At the very least I need to get it across to everyone that you belong here.” Celestia explained.

“But... Why would they do that? I didn’t do anything to them...” Twilight asked.

“If I knew I’d tell you. They’re just stupid like that most of the time.” Celestia replied, earning a giggle from the filly. “Well, I’m off to bed. Try and sleep, you’ll need it for tomorrow’s lesson. You are incredibly fast to learn new things so I want to test not only that, but your reserves as well.” Celestia replied.

“I’ll... I’ll try I guess. Probably not for a little bit though, I just found this really interesting passage in a book.” Twilight said, quickly going back to her fort and pulling out a book to show her.

“‘Basic magical theory’ eh? It’s a good read for the unicorns in the school for gifted unicorns. I’m glad you have an interest in it.” Celestia said. Twilight nodded enthusiastically and proceeded to get lost in the pages of said book. Celestia chuckled as she left the room. Different she may be, but Celestia genuinely enjoyed working with the filly.

---

“Well that was a rather drastic change in mood.” Quill said as she and Twilight rode in a carriage away from the palace. Celestia had seen them off and Twilight’s mood went from a giddy and happy mood to a depressing reluctance.

“I don’t like the orphanage... The only time I like being there is when I find someone who’s nice to me. They always get adopted right away though...” Twilight explained.

“Ah, I see... Well, you don’t have to worry about it anymore. The Princess gave me this special seal right here. Do you know what it meant?” Quill said, pulling what looked like a solid gold replica of Celestia’s cutie mark on it. It was small, but Twilight could almost feel how important it was. She shook her head.

“This seal pretty much says that I am acting on Celestia’s behalf and whatever I say will be treated as if the princess herself said it.” Quill finished.

“What does that mean for me, though?” Twilight asked after a moment.

“It means that no matter what I’m getting you out of there. The personal protege of the princess doesn’t deserve to live in an orphanage. She deserves the best we can offer.” Quill said with enough confidence and force to make Twilight smile again. She nudged the filly’s shoulder with her hoof, earning a giggle. Twilight seemed hesitant, but after a moment she playfully shoved back. That sparked a five minute shove war that ended with Quill upside down on the seat and Twilight on the floor of the carriage.

“You’re pretty fun for a little filly as old as you.” Quill laughed.

“I’m not that old! I only turned nine recently! You’re the one who isn’t acting your age.” Twilight giggled back. Quill froze, shocked by this.

“You’re only nine years old? I could have sworn that staff member told me you were twelve...” Quill said.

“You didn’t see my exam registration forms?” Twilight asked, now confused. Quill shook her head.

“No, she put them in an envelope and sealed it before she gave it to me. She had me take a peek at it so that I know it was there, but I never read much of the details.” She replied.

“Oh... She kept telling me to be as mature as possible when I got to the palace... Maybe we can ask her about it?” Twilight continued.

“I think we should...” Quill agreed.

“Is it a really big deal that I’m not as old as you thought I was?” Twilight asked, worried it meant something terrible.

“Well... Not really. At least not that I can think of. We can deal with that when we get there, though. There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.” Quill said, getting sort of serious.

“What is it?” Twilight asked. Quill seemed to think for a minute, probably on how to word her question.

“The princess told me that you didn’t really seem to react all that much when she started teaching you. It was like you accepted it all without hesitation, and you already seem pretty close. I’ve seen her take on students before, I was one of them. We were never that close with her, Only after nearly a full year of spending time with her did we get to the level of comfort you show.” Quill said.

Twilight seemed surprised by the question. She definitely wasn’t expecting something like that out of nowhere.She looked at the floor and thought for a minute or two before she spoke.

“Well... Normally... I’m not exactly the best with talking to other ponies... I’ve never been so close to another pony, I think... It’s just that... I don’t know. I saw her true self, not just the mask she puts up in public. She was upset and she was sad. Before that I was terrified of meeting her, I felt as if I would be so tiny and insignificant in comparison... But seeing her like that... I guess It made me think that she’s still just another pony... Then she was so nice to me...” Twilight explained in a sort of slow way.

“Well, I guess I can see how that would work out... But you’re quite a bit behind when it comes to getting closer to other ponies, right? I have to think there’s something else. You can’t really change who you are that easily.” Quill said.

“Who I am?... I never wanted that to be part of who I am... But there is something else. When I’m with her I get this really weird feeling... It’s strange, because I recognize it. I can’t ever remember where I know it, though. It’s this sort of feeling that tells me I’m safe. It tells me I can be me, be who I want to be. It makes me feel comfortable and at home... I don’t really know how else to describe it.” Twilight said, finishing with a sigh.

“Well that’s certainly interesting. You’ll have to meditate on it sometime and try and figure out what makes you such good friends with her. For the record, though, I haven’t seen her act so giddy and careless  in my entire life; and I’ve known her since I was seven. Like when she snorted during day court yesterday. She just giggled and waved it off like it was nothing. It was hilarious, mind you, but it’s not like her to be so informal.” Quill explained.

“Really? Maybe I shouldn’t interrupt her when she’s busy anymore then...” Twilight said.

“Oh hush you, I didn’t mean to say it’s your fault. It’s good she’s letting loose a little bit. The heavens knows she needs a bit of fun. And while I’ve only known you on a level closer than just your name for the length of this carriage ride, I have no doubt in my mind you’re just a ball of fun.” Quill said, nudging the filly again. Twilight refrained from starting another shove war, but she did giggle lightly.

“A-Alright... I’ll do my best!” She exclaimed. The carriage stopped not long after that. Twilight’s mood fell again when they exited the carriage to see the large orphanage. It was one of the biggest in Canterlot and wasn’t too far away from the palace, it was very prestigious.

“Alright let’s just get this over with.” Quill breathed as she stepped towards the large old fashioned gates.

“Do you want us to stay?” The leader of the ponies drawing the carriage asked.

“Yes please, this shouldn’t take too long. I’ll buy you lunch afterwards if it does.” Quill said. The pony chuckled and nodded.

When they entered they were immediately greeted by a staff member. It was the one that Quill spoke to and arranged the exam with. 

“Miss Care, was it? Before we get to business you’re going to have to tell me why you lied about her age.” Quill said. The white coated pony sighed.

“Oh, I was worried she was too young to get into that exam proper... I don’t like seeing any of the foals suffer and I knew she just doesn’t belong here. It was all I could do to help get her out.” The mare explained.

“I see. You do know that the exam can be taken as young as eight, right?” Quill said.

“Well... I didn’t know that young... I was just trying to make sure...” Care said. Twilight looked at her. Their eyes met and the mare smiled and winked. Quill thought for a moment. Normally this mare would be in a bit of trouble, but she was only trying to help Twilight. She decided to let it go.

“Alright, I guess it’s alright. There was luckily no harm done. Now, to business. The Princess herself sent us to get her out of here. If memory serves, a pony in your care is allowed to move out and into their place of education if they have proper lodgings. Am I correct?” Quill asked.

“You are.” Care replied.

“Good. Twilight here is the Princess’ new protege and she has been provided with more than proper lodgings at the palace, which technically is her place of education now. I have this as proof.” Quill said, finishing by pulling the seal out of her bag and showing it to the white mare. Care looked at it and smiled.

“Good job Twilight, I knew you were great. That’s genuine as far as I can tell, just let me go get the paperwork. I’m afraid the princess will need to sign it herself, unless it will be you caring for the filly instead of her.” Care said.

“That won’t be a problem.” Quill said. Care just nodded and quickly trotted off. Twilight looked at her strangely, though.

“What?” Quill asked.

“How are you going to get it to Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked,

“Oh it’s a rather simple spell, really. She’ll probably teach it to you eventually. When I was a foal I used to use it to bug her in the middle of day or night court, sending her little trinkets and notes.” Quill replied, giggling in remembrance. After a few minutes, Quill got bored and suggested they go pack what things she had.

Twilight’s room was rather bare. There were two beds, though one looked like it hadn’t been used in a while; name the fact that there were dozens of books stacked on top of it. Twilight was silent as she combed through the books and picked a couple out. Quill didn’t see most of it, though, as Care found them again and they talked for a bit before she gave Quill paperwork to be signed.

---

The pony from last night’s court was talking again, this time suggesting a different method of making his village rich. He was in the middle of describing a violent magical drill when a stack of papers and a letter appeared in front of Celestia.

“Oh, excuse me. Go on... I’m listening.” Celestia said. She could have sworn she heard the stallion mutter ‘yeah right’ but she chose to ignore it and him along with it. Luckily the other royals of the court had similar thoughts against this stallion, so she could zone out without fear of the stallion ruining the lives of many ponies.

‘Well I know how much you love paperwork. Twilight has a few things to talk to you about, but that can wait until lunch or your lessons. Enjoy!
-Quill’
The letter read. Celestia chuckled lightly at it and quickly looked through and filled out the paperwork. She sent it back with a flash of magic and returned her attention to the speaker.

“Sorry about that, urgent matter. Go on, you were explaining to us how much safer a drill would be?” She said.
> C.3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So quill tells me that there was a staff member that was very kind to you, yet you still hate the place.” Celestia said to Twilight when the two of them were eating lunch. Twilight looked down at the table for a moment before answering.

“Well... I guess she’s the only reason I never wanted to run away... A terrible place can’t be made unterrible because of one nice pony.” She answered.

“Oh, I see. I know what you mean. Anyways, I hear you’re a lot younger than we thought. The instructor in charge of the exam never shows me the registration papers unless I ask for them personally and I almost never do. It just makes your magical talent and level of maturity that much more impressive.” Celestia said.

“Miss Care always said that all of my reading was going to put me way ahead of the other orphans... I thought she just meant like smarter.” Twilight said.

“Well you must have been reading since you were able to walk, then, with how smart you are.” Celestia said with a giggle.

“That’s... Actually true.” Twilight said after a moment.

“Oh... Well that explains a lot, then. Anyways, I want to try something with you for our lesson today. We’ll be entering the waking dreams again, but instead of nightmares we’ll be reviewing some of your memories. Good times or bad, you can learn from your past. I also want to know a lot more about you. In return for invading your privacy like that, I’ll show you some of mine to learn from. Deal?” Celestia offered. Twilight looked up at her, then back down at the table and was silent for a few seconds.

“But... I don’t want to invade your privacy like that either...” She said.

“Oh don’t worry. I’ll control what I show you, and you can do the same with your own memories. If I delve into something that you’d rather keep private you can just tell me and I’ll move on without question.. We can talk more about it when we get started, I think I smell the chefs coming.” Celestia explained, finishing by sniffing the air and looking towards the kitchen doors. Twilight giggled at that. In the small amount of time she had known the princess, it was obvious that she rather enjoyed food. She never gorged herself or ate too much as to be rude or disrespectful, but it was a very thin line.

---

“When was this?” Celestia asked when the scenery of the waking dreams turned into the large yard of the orphanage.

“Um... Not too long ago. It was before I turned nine, though.” Twilight answered. Celestia looked around and saw Twilight sitting in the very far corner of the border with a large book. None of the other orphans would pay her much mind. That is, until a few colts walked up with not so friendly looks on their faces.

“Oh no... Is what I think is about to happen going to happen?” Celestia asked when they started calling insults at her.

“I learned how to deal with bullies a long time ago...” Twilight said softly. She hadn’t asked the princess to move on, though, so it couldn’t have been all that bad. Celestia returned her attention to the scene unfolding in front of her.

“Come on you weirdo! Say something!” One of the colts yelled. Twilight looked up from her book.

“Please, go away...” The filly said calmly and returned her attention to the book. The colt growled and tried to wrest the book from her magical grasp with his own magic, but she didn’t seem to notice. He tried to physically throw it to the ground, but she fought it.

“Heheh, wups!” He exclaimed when he ripped a few pages off. The filly gasped and gave the ripped pages falling to the ground a horrified look.

“This is from the royal library! How could you?!” She exclaimed, giving the colt a mean look. Her horn started glowing and he took a step back, but something came between the two. It was Miss Care.

“Now Twilight, you know you shouldn’t use your magic against another pony in anger...” The mare said. Twilight’s horn stopped glowing and she huffed.

“And you...” Care started again, turning to the colts she probably just saved. “Everyone knows that it’s not alright to ease your fellow orphans. You destroyed private property from the royal library and you tried to instigate violence between a filly you really don’t want to get violent with.” She continued.

“Has anypony gotten you violent before?” Celestia asked.

“I kind of accidentally threw somepony onto the roof before for kicking one of my books into a puddle... And a few other things... I never actually hurt them or anything!”  The real Twilight explained. Celestia nodded slowly before returning her attention to where Care was using her magic to mend the damaged book. The colts had run away and the memory-Twilight didn’t look like she was in a good mood.

“Now Twilight, you really need to make sure you stop going straight to magic. You could really hurt somepony.” Care said.

“But Magic is all I have... I’m not strong and no matter what I say they don’t listen... I even asked them to go away nicely!” Twilight retorted. Care sighed and tried to find a way to say what she wanted to say.

“I know it’s the only thing you really have, Twi... But if you’re going to use it against bullies don’t do stuff that can possibly hurt them. You threw that one colt onto the roof and he almost fell off. If you were to ask me, I say just scare them a little bit, not scar them for life. Make some flashes or something. I’m worried you’ll really hurt somepony someday and you’ll feel absolutely terrible about it. I’ve seen you when you’re miserable and I do not want to see it again.” Care explained.

The Twilight in the memory sighed and nodded.

“Good. Now go back to reading your book.” Care said. Twilight smiled and nodded again, accepting the mended thing with a big thank you.

“You know... Back then I didn’t really understand what she said here completely... Now that I know the extent of what I can do, I think I understand it...” The real Twilight said. The scene froze in place after she said that.

“Well, let’s hear it. I’m interested to know what you made of it.” Celestia said.

“Back then, I always thought that when she told me things like this she just wanted me to stop being disruptive or something shallow like that... But now I think I see what she really meant.” Twilight started. Celestia gave her a look that said ‘go on’ and Twilight thought of how to word it.

“I guess it’s exactly what she said... I need to learn how to control my magic so that I don’t hurt anypony with it on accident... She wasn’t just scolding me, she was stopping me from doing something I regretted... I don’t really know how to word it...” She said.

“I think I get your meaning. It’d be hard to iterate it without just repeating what she said though. Let’s move on, shall we? We delved into one of your memories. How about one of mine?” Celestia offered.

“I-If it’s fine with you.” Twilight agreed. Celestia closed her eyes for a moment and the scenery started moving again. Twilight slowly recognized the palace’s main hall, where the day and night court were held. Celestia was there, but she looked much younger. Her mane was pink like it was before, and that made Twilight think while the memory was still constructing.

“Princess, if you don’t mind me asking, why did your mane turn that color before?” She asked. Celestia smiled.

“I thought you’d ask about that sooner or later. It’s rather simple, really. My mane and tail are pink, as you see now and saw before, but my affinity with solar energy and solar magic cause the majority of the spectrum of colors to show. I can store some of that energy to keep up that look, since it seems it’s become expected of me... We can talk about that more after today’s lesson. This was nearly a thousand years ago.” Celestia explained.

Twilight looked out upon the room. The place gave off a feeling of depravity, like something was missing. The Celestia in the memory kept looking to her side to find nothing there, and it seemed to annoy the pony who was talking.

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.

“We just moved the palace into Canterlot and... I had just lost one of my best friends before the move. It took almost a year for me to make it look like I got over it.” Celestia explained softly.

“But you’re not over it, are you?” Twilight asked. Celestia met the filly’s eyes and smiled sadly. She motioned back towards the memory with her head and, with some hesitation, Twilight returned her gaze to it.

“Princess, would you like to just suspend the court for a little while?” A pony next to Celestia asked. 

“I think that would be best... I can’t do this on my own... Not yet...” The Celestia in the memory said. She quickly made her way out of the room while the pony made a few excuses. They followed the Celestia all the way back to her quarters, which were much more bare and empty than the current version.

“Princess, why are you showing me this memory? It seems like a really bad time for you... I don’t think I can learn anything positive from watching you be miserable...” Twilight said when the Celestia in the memory silently laid down on the bed.

“It’s the fact that I was miserable. Any living thing has feelings, and they can be devastated. I’m always seen as that indomitable will, the princess that is perfect. Some even call me a goddess... But even I have my vulnerable moments... We first met during one of them, actually, though it wasn’t nearly as bad as this.” Celestia explained.

“But what’s the lesson I need to learn here?” Twilight asked after processing the information for a little bit.

“I can’t tell you. Every time I review this memory, it only strengthens my resolve to make sure I keep that perfect image up for my little ponies as best I can. Equestria was miserable with me and I never want even a single pony suffer because I’m not well. The lesson you learn from this will be something different and that makes sense only to you. I don’t have anything else planned and it’s still another hour until suppertime. Take as long as you wish.” Celestia said.

“But... I... A-Alright... I’ll try.” Twilight said and she concentrated on what she saw. Celestia chose to jump back into Twilight’s memory they saw before. Twilight didn’t even seem to notice. She watched the filly being bullied and she felt just a tiny bit of rage and a huge wave of protectiveness when she saw it again. It surprised her. She guessed she never liked seeing anypony suffering in general, so that’s why she had that feeling. Right?

It was during supper when Twilight spoke again. She was in the middle of bringing a spoonful of soup to her mouth when it froze and slowly floated back down into the bowl.

“Is there something wrong with your soup?” Celestia asked. The chef who had made it gave her a dejected look, as he had just peeked out to ask them how it was.

“N-No! Of course not! It’s the best vegetable soup I’ve ever had.” Twilight started, the chef sighed and returning to the Kitchen. “I think I know what I can take from what you showed me...” She continued.

“Really now?” Celestia said. Twilight nodded.

“I told your assistant that I saw you without your composure and that it made me feel more comfortable around you... Now that I’ve seen you so bad... It’s more than just your composure or even a mask. Like you said, you have your image to uphold- and for very good reason. But with me, you don’t bother with a lot of it. I think what I learned from it is that it’s alright to be yourself around those you’re comfortable with. When things are going bad, though, you need someone who you can be yourself around.” Twilight explained.

“I see, I think I get what you’re saying.” Celestia started. She giggled after a moment, though. “Maybe I should start calling these friendship lessons, for the both of us. We’ve learned more about making a good friend than magic in these two days.” She continued.

“Both of us?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, you’ve probably seen it but Quill is probably the only one here that I can actually call a friend. We have an employer-employee relationship, though, so we can’t just go out and have mindless fun like real friends do and ultimately I am her boss... You, though. I can do whatever I want with you and as long as it has some semblance of education or instruction I won’t even get in trouble with the nobility.” Celestia replied, a bit playfully at the end. Twilight giggled and continued eating her soup.

“I never spent much time around other ponies, mainly because stuff like what you saw happened, so I’ve never really had any friends.” Twilight said after a minute or two, going back to the original subject.

“Well then I’m glad I can be your friend. Quill wants you to think of her as a friend too and, according to her, the two of you partook in a bit of mindless fun on the way to the orphanage.” Celestia said.

“She’s really fun, she acts like a little filly when she wants to.” Twilight giggled.

“She’s always poking fun at me. I think it’s the reason I made her my assistant after she graduated from the school.” Celestia said.

“I know I’d want to keep a pony like her around... Especially with how boring your work is.” Twilight said.

“The only thing worse than the courts is the paperwork...” Celestia agreed. “But fortunately it’s only mundane and tedious and doesn’t take very long.” She continued.

“Would you like dessert for tonight, Princess?” The chef came out once more and asked.

“Oh, how about one of those cakes you’re always so good at making. The ones with all the waffles and syrup.” Celestia replied.

“But it is so big... Are you sure the two of you could finish it after eating dinner?” The chef asked.

“Probably not, it is a breakfast cake so we can finish it in the morning.” She answered. 

“As you wish, it will be ready in five minutes.” The chef said with a small bow and returned to the kitchen.

“Breakfast cake?” Twilight asked.

“Of course! Little known fact, I have quite the sweet tooth. I once had him make me cake and ice cream for every meal. My metabolism stops me from fattening up, but he didn’t know that at the time. Chef Iron is a genius when it comes to food, he invented a few different types of cakes that could be considered a normal breakfast, lunch and dinner.” Celestia explained.

“A dinner cake would certainly be interesting...” Twilight said after a moment, trying to imagine what it would look like.

“Perhaps another time. I have night court soon, I have a lot of paperwork to get through with after so I’ll be quite a bit later than last night to check on you so we’ll say goodnight after dessert.” Celestia said.

“Alright, I’ll try to get some sleep without you having to make me.” Twilight said.

“Good. Ah! Can’t you smell it? An aroma fit for a god.” Celestia said as a heavenly aroma wafted into the room.
> C.4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took a full week until Twilight had started being generally recognized around the palace. She accidentally skipped one of her lessons with celestia the day she got access to the entire royal library, but that was instantly forgiven. They had started actual magic lessons after a few days as well. It was also at the one week mark that Twilight finally noticed something.

“Princess, I have to ask you something.” Twilight said during a simple endurance test.

“Go ahead, I’ll answer to the best of my ability.” Celestia replied from where she was gradually increasing the force of her magical pull on the small sphere the two of them were ‘fighting’ over with their magic.

“How come I haven’t even seen the school for gifted unicorns yet?” Twilight asked. Celestia opened her eyes and thought a moment, the sphere inching towards twilight for a moment before shakily returning to float equally between them.

“There are a few reasons actually. One of them being the fact that your instruction with me would mess with the school’s scheduling. Your impressive display at the exam convinced me that normal means of educating you wouldn’t be best. You’d soar ahead of everypony else and learn next to nothing from your instructors. There’s another reason, but I can’t tell you about it. You’ll find out soon enough.” Celestia.

“Speaking of the exam,” Quill started, entering the tower with a light knock. “There was apparently a pretty awesome sonic rainboom in cloudsdale caused by a little filly pegasus. It happened during the younger foals’ exams yesterday.” She continued.

“So that’s what that loud noise was...” Celestia said to herself.

“What are you doing here Quill?” Twilight asked, able to talk without losing her concentration.

“It has to do with that last reason she didn’t tell you about.” Quill replied.

“Well I guess soon enough is right now. Let’s see it.” Celestia said. Quill nodded and levitated what looked like a basket filled with blankets  into the room.

“The way his kind age is with the gradual buildup of their magic. I did a ton of research on them and apparently they have a type of reincarnation in which the power and experiences of past generations pass down to the hatchlings. Bits and pieces unlock over time as they get stronger. Your magic kind of gave him a jump start because he’s so big and he can talk in just a week.” She explained.

Confused, Twilight looked at the basket properly and saw that there was a purple reptilian head poking out of the blankets. It was a baby dragon, but not just any baby dragon. It was the baby dragon she hatched for her exam. It had purple scales and green frills and a green crested spine barely grown in. He was fast asleep and didn’t look like he’d be waking up anytime soon.

“I’m still totally surprised you actually hatched him.” Quill continued.

“W-Why? Was I not supposed to?” Twilight asked, not sure how to react to this new development.

“The test this year was a type of manufactured egg. When they were created, they took many different sizes and colors and textures and the likes. The younger hopefuls, the ones that were your age, weren’t expected to get any reaction whatsoever from them. Instead, they were supposed to show how persistent they were and how large their reserves were.” Celestia started.

“The group you tested with, though, were expected to have minimal to violent reactions, depending on what egg they were given. There were things like small lizards, big lizards, birds and a bunch of other types of animals that hatch from eggs. Different types of eggs are harder to hatch or even get a reaction from. I heard that somepony manufactured an alligator egg to have no teeth... Apparently it got lost.” She continued, ending on an almost completely different subject.

“Well, how hard is it to hatch a dragon?” Twilight asked.

“Because of the intricate magics involved in creating a dragon egg combined with their own innate magical connections and uniqueness of the egg... well... let’s just say it blew my mind.” Quill answered.

“And apparently the magic that made him grow huge like he did wasn’t completely removed when you calmed down. I decided that you could use something to keep you company away from our lessons and learn responsibility at the same time. I want you to take care of him and treat him as if he’s your little brother.” Celestia said.

“What? You... you think that I can take care of a baby dragon all by myself?!” Twilight exclaimed. The sphere that had been teetering towards Celestia nearly hit her in the face before she stopped it. 

“Oh don’t be so loud, you’ll wake him up!” Quill exclaimed back, albeit in nearly a whisper.

“Don’t worry Twilight. I believe in you. You can do this, I know you can.” Celestia said, putting the sphere on the ground and laying a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder.

“B-But... I don’t know how to take care of a baby dragon! I barely know how to take care of a foal from books.” Twilight said.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got a little baby shower gift your you.” Quill said jokingly, using her magic to retrieve a large package from her bags. “Books on anything you’ll need to know in order to care for a baby dragon.” She continued.

“Oh stop it Quill, don’t tease her about it.” Celestia said ,rolling her eyes. 

“So... you said he was older than he should be and that he can talk? Why didn’t I just get him when I hatched him?” Twilight asked after opening the package to find a couple various books on dragon care.

“I’d say he’s about six. And yes, he can talk. Well... for the most part anyways. It’s like talking to a little foal being carried around by their mother grocery shopping. You can understand almost all of it but it’s not the most coherent. We decided to wait until his scales hardened up, which means that he’s entered adolescence. A hatchling is too much for a little filly to take care of in the middle of all of your lessons.” Quill explained.

“Well, first order of business. This baby dragon needs a name.” Celestia said, lightly clapping her hooves together in delight. “If you would be so kind as to do the honors?” She continued to Twilight.

“A name? I can do that I guess...” Twilight said. She looked at the sleeping thing and started smiling after a while. He was adorable, especially now that he had moved a bit and his tail was now sticking out of the bottom of the blanket. It looked almost like a spike.

“Oh! I know! I’ll call him Spike.” Twilight said after a minute or two passed.

“Spike... Spike Sparkle. I like it.” Celestia giggled. “There’s something else I need to talk to you about. Do you think you’d be alright for a few days without Quill and I?” She continued.

“What? Why?” Twilight asked, her mood changing from confused joy to confused worry.

“We have to go to the country of the Griffons to try and smooth over a bit of hostility that’s recently developed along the border cities. I would leave Quill with you, but I need her help. You’ll be all on your own for a day before a foalsitter I know gets here. She’s on her way from Stalliongrad so she’ll be exhausted when she gets here. After that, though, she’s even more of a ball of fun than Quill when she wants to be. You’ll know her when you see her.” Celestia said standing up.

“Wait, you’re leaving right now?!” Twilight asked frantically.

“Not exactly right now, in an hour or two after I raise the moon. I need to go prepare, though. I was kind of hoping you and Spike here would keep each other company.” Celestia answered.

“But... but I don’t want you to go...” Twilight said. The look on her face melted Celestia’s heart.

“Oh Twilight... Come here.” She said, pulling the filly into a tight embrace. “It’s only for five days, and Cadence is a good pony.” She continued. They just sort of stood there, hugging, for a little bit. Suddenly there was what sounded like a sneeze and a puff of green fire appeared above the basket a few feet away.

“Well looks like he’s awake. I need to go prepare, say hello to your now little brother. I want you to continue our lessons, Cadence knows the strength test we do so she can help you with that. When I have free time I’ll project my consciousness into yours so we can at least talk.” Celestia said, holding Twilight at hoof’s reach from a moment. She quickly hugged the filly again and turned around.

“A-Alright...” Twilight said. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll take you to see us off when we leave.” Quill said, bumping Twilight’s rear with her own. Twilight smiled a very small smile and nodded. Quill ruffled her mane before turning and the two left the tower. Twilight sighed and turned towards the basket. There were two slit pupil green eyes watching her.

“Are you my mommy?” He asked.

“No, I’m your big sister.” Twilight said, her smile becoming genuine as she looked at the baby dragon.

“I’m hungry...” He said.

“Well then, Spike, let’s go find you something to eat.” Twilight said, first picking up the baby dragon with her magic and putting him on her back, in which he laughed at the ride, and then levitated one of the dragon books in front of her.

“Spike? Is that my name?” He asked.

“Yep. Do you like it?” Twilight asked. The dragon nodded furiously and clung on to her when she started walking. It was small so she wasn’t having much trouble with his weight.

“It says here that dragons eat mostly meat or gemstones... Well we ponies don’t even think about eating meat, do you think you’d be fine eating things like fruit and vegetables?” Twilight asked.

“I don’t know... I know I’m supposed to remember what dragons before me remembered, but I can’t think of eating anything besides what you said.” The dragon replied.

“Well it can’t hurt to try. I’ve got an idea, too.” Twilight said. Twilight was smiling big as she walked towards the treasury. Spike definitely cheered her up.

---

“I’m sorry miss Sparkle, but while you are granted an allowance by the princess, I can’t think of how a little filly like you would have use of three large gemstones.” The royal treasurer said to her when she asked.

Gemstones were actually fairly common in Equestria, so what little a week of saving the small amount Celestia allocated to her was more than enough to exchange for the gems.

“I just want to have a backup plan if Spike doesn’t like pony food.” Twilight said, looking back at the dragon now napping on her back.

“A baby dragon? Oh, Princess Celestia told me that there might be a dragon to feed... Fine, but you had better make sure you don’t exchange for more than you have. A royal debt is not something you want.” The Treasurer sighed. She walked into a back room and came out with three good sized gemstones of different shapes and colors. “She allocated a hundred bits for you when he made you her protege and that’ll go up by fifty every week. Your balance is down to fifteen now.” She continued as she returned to the table and transferred the gems into Twilight’s grasp, albeit a bit hesitantly.

“Maybe I should buy gems in the city then, they’re expensive here.” Twilight said, examining the stones.

“That’s because they are of the highest quality. These ones are some of the more common types, though, I wasn’t going to intentionally clean you out.” The Treasurer said.

“Thank you so much, is it alright if I can get those fifteen bits too? I want to try something that isn’t Chef Iron’s cooking for once.” Twilight asked.

“Alright. It’s rather risky to bring your balance to zero, but I think you’re responsible enough to keep it out of the negatives.” The Treasurer replied after looking at Twilight for a while. She got Twilight the rest of her allowance, Twilight said thanks again and she walked out with the gems in a little pouch floating next to her.

When she reached the kitchen, Iron waved her over to where he was working on something unfamiliar. Twilight had no idea what it was, but it smelled absolutely divine.

“Ah Twilight! There you are! I heard the Princess was leaving so I decided to make her a little snack for the fly over. What do you think? Ce magnifique, non?” He asked, accentuating his accent at the end.

“What exactly is it? It looks like a cupcake, but also like waffles...” Twilight said. She could only see the icing and the bottom, but the bottom looked like it was wrapped in waffles or something. The icing seemed a bit too light to be icing, though.

“I have no idea what to call it... It is the ultimate mini breakfast though! It is filled with syrup and jam, the top is pancake while the bottom is waffle. The icing is whipped cream. Care to taste?” He explained, finishing with a knowing look.

“I’d love to!” Twilight exclaimed. He levitated it to her and she took a bite. It not only lived up to the smell, but the taste blew it out of the water. When she was telling him how absolutely amazing it was, he noticed Spike on her back.

“Mon Cher, is that a baby dragon on your back?” He asked.

“Oh! Yeah, his name is Spike. I’m going to be taking care of him from now on. He’s actually the reason I’m here. I don’t know if he’ll eat pony food, but I was thinking you could somehow combine a gemstone with a meal.” Twilight said quickly, pulling out one of the three gems from the bag. It was an emerald.

“Combine gemstones with a meal? I heard that dragons like treasure, but I didn’t know they ate them.” Iron said, putting a hoof to his chin in thought.

“It’s the only thing my book says they eat besides meat. I hope he’ll like fruit and vegetables, but if you can add the gemstone for good measure I’d be really thankful.” Twilight explained.

“I see, I see. Hm, now this is a challenge. Even more of a challenge than that one time I had to create forty different dishes using only two different kinds of fruits and two different kinds of vegetables.” He said. It was a few moments, in which he had taken the gem and examined it closely, before he perked up and grinned wide.

“I think I know what I can do. Give me ten minutes!” He exclaimed, rushing off towards another part of the Kitchen. Twilight smiled and exited the kitchen into the dining hall.

“You know, you get kind heavy after a while... Carrying you around all day is going to make me really strong.” Twilight giggled as she levitated the sleeping dragon onto the chair next to her.

“I heard that...” The dragon mumbled tiredly.

“Oh... Well something for you to eat will be here in a little bit.” Twilight said.

“Good, if my tummy growls any louder it’s going to sound like it’s me...” Spike said.

“I believe it.” Twilight giggled. “So, what was it like growing up so fast?” She continued after a moment.

“I don’t know... I never growed up like normal.” He replied. Twilight giggled, she forgot how young he really was. It didn’t really show in his tone, but she noticed that some words he had trouble pronouncing.

“You’ve got a point.” She agreed.

“What about you? Didn’t you grow up really fast?” Spike asked.

“Not really, I’m just a lot smarter than other ponies my age! I read lots of books and the Princess talks to me like I’m a grown up.” Twilight replied.

“I remember the princess... She was really nice! Is she your mommy? Or your big sister like you are mine?” Spike said. Twilight froze.

“N-No... She’s my mentor, my teacher... I’ve never thought of her like...” She started. Spike gave her a confused look when she didn’t finish.

“Uh-oh... Did I say something bad?” He asked. Twilight glanced at him and shook her head.

“No... it’s... just...” She started but once again trailed off.

That feeling from before. That one that she had felt before but didn’t remember where. When she heard the word ‘Mommy’ and Celestia in conjunction with each other that feeling came back. She was starting to remember that feeling. It was so long ago, and she only remembered feeling it once for a short time, but it was when she was being tucked in by a pony she only knew as ‘Mommy’.

“-cher? Mon cher? Are you alright?” She heard. She snapped out of it and shook her head to see a concerned looking Iron and scared Spike.

“I-I’m fine... I was just... Remembering something I haven’t remembered in a long time...” She said softly.

“If your mood falls so much when you remember it, maybe it is for the best you forget. Good news, though! I call it ‘L’emeraude Secousse’!” He said, finishing by floating a glass of what looked like a glittering fruit shake onto the table. It held true to its name, as the shake itself was colored a lime green. The glittering stuff sprinkled around it was what looked like powdered emerald. There were chunks of fruit and the emerald floating around in the concoction.

“I did not use the whole thing, only half, so perhaps it will be sustenance if the shake does not fill him up.” He continued, floating a perfect half of the emerald next to the glass.

“Oooh...” Spike said. He looked at Twilight, who nodded, and he grabbed the straw and took a tentative sip. He did a weird twitch for a moment before he greedily Drank from it. Twilight was about to ask about the twitch, but Iron answered the question with a laugh.

“I used a lot of lime to get the green color, perhaps a bit too much.” He chuckled.

“I like it! The sourness of the emerald fits perfectly!” Spike exclaimed.

“Do not drink it too fast, lest you get brain freeze. That is not a fun time.” Iron warned. Spike nodded and slowed down. He munched on the emerald half whenever he took a break from the shake.

“Thanks a lot, if you can think up other stuff like this I’ll supply the gems, though they won’t be so high quality in the future. Unless it’s a special occasion of course.” Twilight said, turning to Iron.

“You know I love inventing new dishes. It’d be my pleasure.” Iron said with an exaggerated bow, earning a giggle from the filly. With a thought she pulled five of her fifteen bits from her bag and gave them to him. 

“My compliments to the chef.” She said in an exaggeratedly sophisticated way. 

“Oh no no, I cannot accept your money for doing my job. I get paid enough.” Iron said with a laugh.

“You’re always so nice to me and make whatever I want. You deserve a tip.” Twilight argued, quickly floating the bits into a pocket of his chef coat. The stallion sighed in resignation. 

“Fine, but this is the one and only time I accept a tip from you. And Spike, I’ll be expecting you for breakfast tomorrow.” Iron said, turning towards where the dragon was patting his belly in content.

“Oh boy you bet. That was the best thing I’ve ever tasted. Way better than the rhinestones they gave me when I was smaller.” Spike said. He yawned big and wide and his eyes drooped.

“Oh now you ate too much.” Twilight said with a laugh.

“I ate too much, but I ate too much of a good thing.” Spike retorted. Iron laughed and returned to the Kitchen. Quill entered the room just as Twilight was levitating the drowsy dragon onto her back.

“Are you guys leaving now?” Twilight asked.

“We are. Looks like he ate well.” Quill replied. Spike grumbled in response, already falling asleep.

“Wait just a little bit to go to sleep, Alright Spike? I want you to say goodbye to the Princess too.” Twilight said, looking at Quill and nodding. Quill smiled and turned to lead her to the courtyard. Spike grumbled an ‘Mkay’ and barely managed to stay awake.

“There you are. I’ll miss you, but I’ll do my best to try and come home early.” Celestia said when They got to the courtyard where a regal chariot was waiting. Celestia was standing in front of it, but she walked over and hugged Twilight when they got there.

“I’ll miss you so much too...” Twilight said. Celestia smiled and put a hoof under Twilight’s chin. She nuzzled the side of her head and turned towards the chariot.

“Take care Twi.” Quill said, joining the princess. Twilight looked around a bit to see if there was anyone there. There were only a few guards.

“Goodbye... um... M-Mom.” Twilight said right as the Chariot started moving. Celestia was utterly surprised by this and turned to watch Twilight when they took off. She was startled when Quill bumped her with a hoof. She was laughing.
> C.5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Princess, what’s up? You’ve been zoned out for the entire trip!” Quill asked when the Griffon capital came into view.

“I... she called me... Mom... You heard it, right?” Celestia replied.

“Of course I did. What’s the big deal?” Quill asked.

“I don’t really know... It just felt... right... like that’s how it should be...” Celestia said.

“Oh lord, I see where this is going. I’ll get back into contact with her orphanage when we get back, I’ll have them send over the adoption papers.” Quill said.

“Wait, what?” Celestia said.

“Oh come on. You’re already her mother figure and if you really loved it when she called you mom it’s only natural you should make it official.” Quil explained.

“... I guess you’re right... Funny, me being left speechless because a little filly called me mom. I’ve dealt with dragons in a fit of rage and I’ve had every griffon insult thrown at me and I never even batted an eye...” Celestia said.

“Well then now you have something to look forward to getting back to, besides the obvious of course.” Quill said. Celestia chuckled and wrapped a wing around the mare for a moment in an embrace.

“Thank you.” Celestia simply said.

“Of course.” Quill replied with a chuckle of her own.

---

Meanwhile, Twilight was in her tower reading her dragon books when there was a knock on the door. She looked over at Spike sleeping his meal off in his basket and looked at the door.

“It’s open!” She called, returning her gaze to the book. It opened and she heard somepony step in.

“Hello there! My name is Cadence, nice to meet you.” A tired voice said. Twilight looked up and gaped in awe at the pony standing in front of the doorway. She was a light shade of pink and had a multicolored mane of a light purple, tan and a darker purple. The thing that amazed her, though, was the fact that she had both a horn and wings folded at her sides.

“Oh! H-Hi! I didn’t know there were any other alicorns...” Twilight said.

“It’s not exactly an everyday thing... but here I am. If you wouldn’t mind I’d really like to take a nap... A trip from Stalliongrad isn’t the best...” Cadence said.

“If you go up the stairs there are a few doors. Bathroom is on the right and the bedroom is on the left. There are a couple beds, Princess Celestia asked me to set one up for you so it’ll be the bigger one with blankets and stuff.” Twilight explained, pointing to the stairs.

“Thank you. You sure you’ll be fine on your own for the night?” Cadence asked.

“Mhm. I hope I don’t wake you up when I go to bed, though. I stay up really late reading.” Twilight replied.

“Oh don’t worry about it. I sleep like a hibernating dragon.” Cadence said. It was then that Spike grumbled in his sleep and let out a small burp. “Oh... I guess I’m not the only one.” She giggled.

“That’s Spike. He had a big dinner so he’s sleeping it off.” Twilight said.

“Celestia told me I might be watching over two little ones... I’m off to bed now, though. We’ll definitely get better acquainted in the morning.” Cadence said. Twilight smiled and nodded before once again returning her attention to the book. Cadence watched her for a little bit as she made her way to the stairs. She was good at reading underlying feelings and expressions, it was a gift she had. She definitely looked like there was an empty spot in her heart. She must have been really missing Celestia.

“Oh, before I go... what do you want for breakfast in the morning? I’ll make sure Iron cooks you whatever you like, that is if he’s still here after a few years.” Cadence asked when she was almost up the stairs. Twilight looked up and smiled.

“He knows what I like. Tell him to surprise me. Oh, and if you’re getting breakfast take one of the gems in the bag on the desk up there to him for Spike.” Twilight said. 

“Gems? Alright, I’ll try to remember...” She said. She proceeded to give a massive yawn, earning a giggle from Twilight, and enter the living area.

“I like her.” Twilight said to herself as she turned a page.

---

Twilight woke up, after going to sleep around midnight again, to the door opening and closing. She looked up and saw Cadence trying to sneak up to her in the dark. Twilight turned the light on and startled Cadence.

“Aww! I was going to surprise you with breakfast in bed...” She pouted.

“I’m a light sleeper.” Twilight giggled, getting up with a stretch.

“Apparently so... I told Iron that you said to surprise him, just like you asked, and he came up with this.” Cadence said, putting what looked like a sandwich on the table in the room. It wasn’t just a normal salad, though.

“He told me what it was. Apparently it’s cinnamon syrup stuffed french toast with a pancake stuffed with like five different kinds of fruit in the middle. He made one for me too, but I ate it right there and it was probably the best breakfast I've ever had.” Cadence explained. Twilight looked at the thing. She didn’t hesitate to devour the thing in the shortest time possible. Cadence fell onto the floor laughing.

“Whubt?” Twilight said, her cheeks bulging with the divine breakfast. That just sent Cadence into another fit of laughter. Twilight deadpanned and quickly finished chewing.

“It was good!” She exclaimed in her defense.

“Oh man, you and I are going to get along SO well.” Cadence laughed. Twilight huffed and left the laughing mare to go check on spike. He was still fast asleep in his basket, but he was stirring.

“Come on then, wake up Spike. Time for breakfast.” Twilight said, gently nudging him with her hoof. He groaned and turned over. She rolled her eyes and used her magic to levitate over a plate of what looked like a belgian waffle with chunks of a ruby in each of the divots. She wafted it over towards him and he almost instantly bolted upright.

“That... Smells... AMAZING!” He exclaimed.

“Well then dig in, try not to make a mess. Cadence isn’t down yet, maybe she literally died of laughter.” Twilight said, shaking her head and turning towards the stairs again.

“Who’s Cabdence?” Spike asked, mouth full of ruby waffle.

“She’s the pony Celestia had look after us. She got here late last night.” Twilight replied. He seemed to have lost interest in the middle of her explanation as his full attention was back to the waffle.

Twilight returned to the bedroom to find a still chuckling Cadence wiping tears off her face.

“Geez, it wasn’t THAT funny...” Twilight said.

“Oh probably not, but you were so mature and collected last night... Then you went and did that and I lost it...” Cadence explained, shakily getting to her feet. She took a few deep breaths and her breathing evened out. “Right, well let’s go downstairs and talk. I wanna get to know you.” She continued, finally totally calmed down.

“Alright.” Twilight agreed.

They sat down, watching the sun rise, as Spike decided it was a good idea to go back to bed. It was still early. Twilight was waiting for Cadence to start.

“Well, I’m Cadence. I live in Stalliongrad with my royal guard boyfriend and sometimes Princess Celestia calls on me to do odd jobs. You’ve probably already noticed but I have the maturity level of a filly your age when I want to have fun. I know how to foalsit, but only like kindergarteners and stuff. I have no idea how I’m going to handle you, but from the looks of it and what I heard from Princess Celestia you don’t even need me here. I guess She just wanted to be sure.” Cadence explained.

“Well um... I’m Twilight Sparkle. I just moved here a week ago when Princess Celestia made me her protege... I normally just sit and read or practice my magic when I’m not having lessons with the Princess. There really isn’t all that much to me, I guess I’m a straightforward little filly. I’m a lot smarter than other foals my age, though, and now I have Spike to look after like a little brother.” Twilight explained in return.

“Hm... So what are we going to do today?” Cadence asked after a moment of thought.

“Well... I don’t think you really want to read all day with me, but the Princess did say that you know a lot of her lessons. We could try some of those.” Twilight suggested.

“Well I know the sphere, the guessing game, the magic charades and a lot of her multitasking ones.” Cadence said.

“Guessing game and magic charades?” Twilight asked.

“Oh they’re so fun! In the guessing game one of us describes anything in eye sight and the other has to not only guess what it is, but pinpoint it with their magic. We normally used dots like a pointer.” Cadence explained.

“And the magical charades?” Twilight asked.

“You use your magic to make something, like in normal charades, except you can do it anyway you know how. Transformation, manipulation of senses. Celestia liked to just make blobs with her magic and mold them into whatever it was. She was good at that, I never had the precise control like that though.” Cadence answered, smiling in remembrance.

“So, guessing game or charades...” Twilight started. She was thinking, trying to decide which to try, but she felt a very familiar presence touch her mind.

“Um... don’t freak out. I’ll be right back.” Twilight said before she entered her waking dreams state. Cadence was confused and was more than just a little worried when Twilight slumped over in her seat.

---

“Princess!” Twilight exclaimed, running up and hugging the princess in their conjoined mindscape.

“Normally I’d say something like ‘oh it’s only been one night’ but I’m the one taking the very first chance I get to come talk to you.” Celestia said, pulling the filly closer. “You know you really gave me a start calling me that. I was speechless the entire ride.” She continued.

“O-Oh... I’m sorry... I... I won’t do it again...” Twilight said sadly.

“No! No no no no, that’s not that I meant! I had the biggest grin on my face, according to Quill at least.” Celestia said quickly.

“Wait... so... It’d be ok if I call you mom?” Twilight asked.

“Ok? I’d absolutely love it if you did. Quill already said that she’d get your adoption papers ready when we get back.” Celestia said. Twilight froze and stared at Celestia for a little bit. Celestia was about to ask her what was wrong, but the filly nearly tackled her in an embrace again. WHen she looked down at her, though, she saw that the filly was crying.

“I-I... you... thank you...” Twilight said, her voice cracking as she just clung to Celestia. Celestia smiled and returned the embrace in full once more.

“Of course.” Celestia simply answered. It was a full minute before Twilight looked behind her and stepped away from the embrace.

“Um... I-I kind of left Cadence... Can you excuse me for just a moment? I think she’s starting to freak out...” Twilight asked.

“Go on, I’m not going anywhere.” Celestia said. Twilight nodded and quickly faded away. She was back in about three minutes.

“Alright, I explained what’s happening and she calmed down. So are we going to have another one of our lessons?” Twilight asked when she appeared.

“We are, but we’re going to be doing something different. Now that I’m adopting you, I want to know more about your past. I won’t delve into it, though. I want you to choose one of your memories this session, instead of me choosing. It doesn’t matter to me how important or how long the memory is, or even how vague.” Celestia replied.

Twilight nodded and thought long and hard. The scenery fluctuated a few times, as if she had chosen, but it always just faded back into the black abyss of nothingness.

“Alright... I barely remember anything, I don’t even remember what they look like... But I’ve been holding this in for a long time and you deserve to know... I only remember what happened...” Twilight said as one of the fluctuation spread into a whole scene. 

-Warning. There be violence ahead.-

It was an alleyway, and it was raining. There was a very small Twilight, what seemed like two blank ponies, and another four blank ponies standing in front of them.

One of the blank ponies was holding Twilight in their magical grasp, at least that’s what it looked like. The other one had royal guard armor on.

“My dad was a guard here in canterlot and my mom was one in Edinspur... She was on leave to come see us. My brother was in the academy, though I think he’s a guard somewhere closer to the borders...” Twilight explained.

The mouths of the ponies on the other side of the alley were moving, but no words came out. They all pulled sharp objects from bags or pockets and threateningly put them up.

“Take Twilight and run. I’ll keep them off of you as long as I can...” The one wearing armor said. The mare said nothing but instead huffed, turned and started running. One of them yelled something and the sharp object was sent flying towards her. A wall appeared in its way, but it was a second too late and the object kept going. Their vision of the stallion and the four assailants went dark and it looked like the entire city wasn’t there except when illuminated by a light emanating from the memory-Twilight and the blank mother.

The object caught up quickly and was embedded into the mare’s ribs when she tried to duck into an alley. She yelled in pain and nearly dropped Twilight as she collapsed onto the ground.

She yelled in pain again as she ripped the thing out with her magic and flung it into the alleyway with enough force to shatter whatever it was. She huffed and tried to get back up, but yelled in pain again as she couldn’t and collapsed. Very slowly, as the mare frantically looked around and called ‘Help!’ with a pained voice, the face slowly appeared. The second it was completely clear, the mare set Twilight down and looked at the little filly.

“I’m... I’m sorry Twilight...” She said softly. She then curled up around the bundle that was Twilight, shaking and in pain. The two watching the memory both had tears running down their faces, Twilight nearly sobbing, as the mare’s shakes and spasms slowly stopped and all movement ceased.

-Violence over... 

The memory-Twilight started crying loudly, and that’s when the current Twilight couldn’t take it anymore. The scene dissolved into fragments and into nothingness again as Twilight turned towards Celestia and started crying into her chest.

“I... I-I remember this case... Two royal guards attacked and killed by a group of assailants linked to a large and very dangerous gang the stallion arrested... Three of the assailants were found unconscious and the fourth was found the next day in the gutter with nearly every bone in his body broken.” Celestia said.

“H-He was going to make captain, I think...” Twilight said, calming down a little bit.

“I’m so sorry... I can only hope I can be even an ounce as good a pony as they were...” Celestia said in a near whisper.

“W-What? Of course you’re as good a pony as they were!” Twilight said, reeling back and staring at her.

“Oh maybe not... Your father sacrificed himself in a fight he knew he couldn’t win alone just so that your mother had a chance to escape with you... And even when she was seconds from death, she still shielded you from the cold and rain... They were completely selfless in their care for you...” Celestia retorted.

“But I don’t even remember who they were or what they looked like...” Twilight said, looking at the floor.

“But you will never forget what they did for you” Celestia said.

“... I’ll never forget what you’re doing for me either...” Twilight retorted softly. Celestia was caught off guard by that. Her eyes softened and she pulled Twilight into another embrace.

“Oh, Twilight... I just hope I can be a good mother for you...” Celestia said.

“You already are... I love you, Mom.” Twilight said.
> Intermission
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Private Armor?” A runner asked, panting, as he found a group of stallions in the barracks of the Stalliongrad royal guard academy. They were all packing their things to visit home before their deployment after graduating.

“Yes?” Shining asked, stepping towards the runner.

“Really, really bad news apparently... The commander wants to see you.” The runner said.

“Wait... How bad?” Shining asked.

“Bad enough to leave him speechless for half a minute.” The runner said and dashed of to his next task. Shining was scared now. He looked back at his fellow graduates, who gave him worried or supportive looks, and quickly made his way to the commander’s office.

Commander Steel was just that, made of steel. Not literally, of course. He was the toughest pony he had ever met. Not just physically, either. Last time the commander had news bad enough to make him speechless he had just found out that his elderly mother had finally passed on.

Shining hadn’t even heard of him reacting to news that wasn’t for him... That really, truly scared him. He had a sinking feeling that with all the worry and fear he was feeling now, it couldn’t even compare to what he was about to hear.

Boy, was he right. He had never wished he was wrong more in his entire life.

---

For the first time, Commander Steel had been almost... sincere. He gave Shining the choice of an honorable discharge to care for his little sister. Shining wanted nothing more than to take it, but he hesitated and he didn’t know why. Steel told him that he’s expecting all of the graduates back in Stalliongrad for deployment and that the decision could be made then.

“So why did you hesitate?” Cadence asked. She was his current best friend and she had refused to stay in Stalliongrad, instead staying with him to offer her support. They were currently on an express train, which was fueled by magic and coal instead of just the latter and therefore much faster.

“The message was from the captain in Canterlot. It said it was a murder from a group of ponies affiliated with a very dangerous gang that my father had recently put behind bars. The fact that something like that could happen in the middle of Canterlot... I don’t know... I feel like I need to do something from within the guard... 

The message said that my sister would be put into the best orphanage they could find, so if I choose to stay in the guard I won’t be abandoning her...” He explained.

“But you wouldn’t be abandoning her! She could stay with me in Stalliongrad.” Cadence suggested. He gave her a look. “Right... Maybe a place like Stalliongrad isn’t the best place to raise a filly...” She resigned.

“All of the hostilities with the Griffons have subsided somewhat after the treaty, but there are still bandits and rogue griffons all around... And besides, I would be so busy and so focused on working my way up the ladder to somewhere I can actually do something that I would be neglecting her. I’d rather some stranger adopt and raise her than have her neglected.” Shining said.

Cadence watched him for a moment, stood up, walked over and sat down right next to him instead of across from him. He sighed hard and leaned his head against her shoulder, in which she rested her head on his. They stayed like that for a little while before Shining spoke again. Cadence looked deep in thought the entire time before he spoke, though.

“I know what you’re going to say, but we can’t afford to switch out ambassadors for the griffon alliance... They’ve only just begun trusting you. We’re going to probably be set back a week’s worth of progress just because you’re taking this little impromptu leave...” He said.

“...Why do they have to be so stubborn and traditional...” The mare growled rhetorically.

“Look, I’ll check on my sister and get every detail I can. We’ll get there rather late, so if she’s awake I’ll have to stay and put her to sleep again... Hopefully she didn’t see or won’t remember any of the gruesome details... I’d fine if she didn’t remember any of it at all. But if she did and does, then that’ll be the deciding factor.” Shining explained, taking his head off her shoulder.

“What’s the deciding factor?” Cadence asked, his explanation unclear.

“If my she’s scarred and needs my help and support... If she can handle herself then I’ll most likely come back to Stalliongrad...” Shining replied, though when he started the part about leaving his voice cracked and he slowly returned his head to that comfortable shoulder. He was too well trained and too desensitized to actually cry over something but pure happiness, but this soft little rambling he was doing was the closest thing. She stayed silent as he continued.

“I...I just don’t want to leave her all alone... Am... Am I a bad big brother if I would rather follow my ambitions instead of taking care of my now orphaned baby sister, even just a little bit?” Shining asked. Cadence was getting worried now. It sounded like he was actually going to cry. She quickly wrapped her forelegs around his head in a gentle embrace and started stroking his cheek lightly.

“No! No no no of course not! It’s not even that, you’re not choosing your ambitions over your sister. You have a newfound need to make changes for the better. Your ambitions just happen to fall into what that entitles. You are not a bad big brother. In fact, you couldn’t be a better big brother. You want to make sure something like what happened never happens again, especially to your little sister. You’re even refusing the possibility of neglecting her, instead giving her a chance to get a family that will care for her as much as you want to yourself.” Cadence slowly explained softly into his ear.

It was a full five minutes before he finally reacted. He looked up at her from in her embrace, sniffled a little bit and then kissed her.

“I love you...” He said softly, returning his head to its previous position. The contact surprised Cadence, but she quickly got over it.

“I love you too, it’s about time you kissed me.” She said, as if scolding him for being late. That earned a very faint chuckle.

---

Twilight was, indeed, sleeping when he arrived at her room at the Canterlot Orphanage around midnight. Cadence was asleep in the carriage that brought them here. She had talked to a staff member and she told him that, in the few days since the incident, the filly had been mostly silent. She was quickly recovering, though, since a mare by the name of Care started reading to her. 

The staff he talked to was also a psychiatrist, since this orphanage specialized in helping orphaned foals who lost their families to the more sinister events. She told him that she would recover in time and that she is too young to remember much of it anyways. The little filly had shown an immense intelligence, though, because the mare could tell that she knew her parents were dead. 

Shining asked why that was a show of immense intelligence. The explanation involved a lot of big words that he didn’t understand, but he got the gist of it. Foals that young don’t have much of a developed mind yet. It wasn’t like they were just mindless animals, but there was little room for anything besides basic functions and recognitions. There had been foals in very similar situations as her, and as much as a year or two older, that merely thought their parents were hiding somewhere or that they would be fine.

Not Twilight. She knew that they weren’t coming back. She couldn’t speak very comprehensively yet, and would wind up barely speaking at all for much of her stay, but she could make out some words. She understood questions, though, and would answer them with nods or shakes. 

She shook her head when asked if she was alright.
She shook her head when asked what was wrong.
She nodded her head when asked if her parents weren’t coming back.

Shining was furious with the mare for asking such a terrible question, but that was an hour ago. He had spent the last half an hour looking down at the sleeping filly. 

“I won’t let this happen to you or anypony else again...” He said softly. He proceeded to kiss his baby sister on the head and turn around.

“Big Bwadur!” He heard when he took a step away from the little crib. His heart nearly stopped at the pure joy in that sleepy voice. He turned to see two eyes shining back at him in the moonlight.

“Hey Twily...” He said softly.

“Aw you big awmd swong now?” The little filly mumbled out. He gave a miniscule chuckle at her choppy speech. She had gotten better since he last saw her. She was six months old at the time and could only say a very garbled version of ‘Mommy’, ‘Daddy’, ‘Big Brother’ and ‘Hungry’. That was more than six months ago.

“Yeah, I am. I’m gonna get even bigger and even stronger... To do that, though, I need to go away for a little while again. I need you to stay here for awhile.” He said, going back up and nuzzling the little filly. Her grin fell. He thought his heart stopped for a second at that.

“Buh Mommy amd Daddy awre gone...” She said softly, stumbling over the words. It sounded like she was really trying to talk. It seemed like she didn’t think he knew what happened.

“I know, Twilight... I know... And I need to get bigger and stronger so that I make sure you aren’t gonna be gone and that nopy else will be gone either. I have to go now, I love you Twilight. He said after a few moments of silence. He proceeded to nuzzle her again, but before he moved away he felt something. It kind of seemed like the little filly had said something, but there was no voice. He just felt it.

‘I’ll be ok, make bad ponies go away’

Shining looked at the filly with surprise. Telepathy was advanced magic. When he looked, though, he saw that the filly had fallen asleep to his touch. He must have been imagining it then. Even so, he felt the need to reply.

“Don’t worry, I’ll do the best I can. For everypony.” He whispered and proceeded to leave the room.
> C.6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight opened her eyes to find Cadence almost in her face, worried, and that she was in her bed instead of the tower area. She sat upright and looked around.

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.

“Oh Twilight, I’m so glad you’re alright... After you... fell asleep again, I moved you to your bed and you suddenly started crying and I was worried something was wrong!” Cadence said quickly in one breath, quickly hugging the filly.

“It’s alright, I’m alright. I was just... Going over an old memory with Celesta...” Twilight explained softly.

“An old... memory? You mean like why you’re an orphan?” Cadence asked. Twilight nodded. They stayed silent for a moment, but then Twilight spoke.

“Do you want to hear it?” She asked. That surprised Cadence.

“Why would you want to tell me? I’m just your foalsitter...” She said.

“Well... Celestia trusts you enough to leave me and Spike alone with you... I’ve had lots of fun with you and I don’t think I can ever have a more awesome foalsitter. I trust you.” Twilight explained.

“Well... As long as you don’t start crying again... I don’t want to see you all depressed.” Cadence said.

Twilight knew she was going to get a reaction when she told what she remembered, but Cadence was staring at her. Gaping in awe. Very slowly she started to move again, and when she did she quickly pulled Twilight into a tight embrace.

“What?” Twilight asked, surprised by the sudden action.

“You... You’re Shining’s little sister...” Cadence said. It was Twilight’s turn to freeze and stare at the other.

“How do you...?” Twilight started.

“My boyfriend back in Stalliongrad...” Cadence cut her off. After a solid minute of piecing things together, Twilight perked up and shot off into a very quick and breathless tangent.

“OhmygoshishealrightIheardthatthereweregriffontroublesthereIhaven’tseenhiminsuchalongtime!” she exclaimed. Cadence was taken aback by the even more sudden action.

“He’s fine. He made commander of the Stalliongrad guard last month so he doesn’t do all that much dangerous work anymore...” She explained. Twilight sighed in relief. Cadence’s smile fell and she facehooved. Rather hard, actually. Twilight gave her a look.

“I can’t believe I couldn’t put two and two together... He used to talk about you all the time, when we first got together, which wasn’t long after that all happened. Princess Celestia told me I’d be watching over a filly names Twilight, who’s an orphan at the same orphanage... and is even the same age as you would be...” Cadence explained.

“It’s fine... Twilight is actually a really common name in Canterlot. A lot of things like ‘Twilight Shine’ or ‘Twilight Night’ or things like ‘Sparkling Twilight’; though that particular pony is one of the most eccentric stallions I know of...” Twilight said.

“Oh now I KNOW we’ll be the best of friends. You’re like my little stepsister!” Cadence exclaimed, giggling as she rustled Twilight’s mane.

“What’s all the noise... it’s early~” They heard a young voice say behind them. They turned and found Spike standing at the door, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Twilight smiled and walked over to him. She giggled as he stepped towards her and clung on to her.

“It’s not that early, Spike, though you do need a lot more sleep than I do.” Twilight said, picking him up with her magic and placing him on her back.

“But he’s not that much younger than you...” Cadence said as they walked back into the tower.

“Well, my sleeping habits aside, dragons by nature sleep more than ponies do. Spike also went through his massive magical growth spurt, both physically and mentally, and everything is all mixed up and trying to get back together properly. So he sleeps it off.” Twilight said, said dragon already back to sleep on her back as she levitated him back into his basket-bed and nuzzled him slightly after tucking him in. Cadence giggled at it and it took all of her strength not to go into a fit of D’aww.

“What?” Twilight asked.

“That... You two are just so adorable!” Cadence exclaimed softly. Twilight blushed ever so slightly and looked down at the sleeping dragon.

“Well, he’s my little brother. Until a week ago I didn’t have parents I could remember, now I have Celestia as a Mom. Last time I saw Shining was when I was three and I’ve never really had friends... Now I have him as my little brother and I want to make sure I’m the very best big sister he could ever imagine.” Twilight explained.

“Oh Twilight, I can’t imagine you being anything else. Now come on, Celestia made me promise that we’d work on your endurance at least once a day.” Cadence said ,walking over to the large window where a familiar sphere sat in an open box.

---

It was around Noon when the two of them finished with their magical exercises. Spike was relatively awake by then and it was about time for lunch. There was still a small chunk of the ruby from earlier left, so Twilight took it with them to sprinkle it over the lunch they decided to go out into the city to procure.

After a rather simple lunch of sub sandwiches, they decided to just walk around the city for a while. They were currently sitting in the park, about an hour after they ate, when Twilight felt Celestia’s presence touch her mind once more. She looked down at Spike, who was sleeping in her lap, and at Cadence, who was watching them with a content smile on her face.

“What is it?” She asked, her smile falling slightly.

“Celestia’s trying to talk to me again. I was making sure nopony was around so that it wouldn’t look weird if I just slumped over.” Twilight replied.

“Oh you’re fine, it’d just look like the two of you fell asleep together. Don’t take too long or I’ll have to carry you both back home.” Cadence said with a smile, reclining and closing her eyes. Twilight nodded and let the little tug that Celestia’s presence made take her into her waking dreams.

Celestia was standing there with a big grin on her face. They embraced tightly for a little while before she spoke.

“Good news, I won’t be nearly as long as I had thought. If things go well, which I’m pretty sure they will, I should be back by the morning after next.” Celestia said. Twilight made a noise, something similar to a happy squeal, and quickly hugged her again. That earned a bout of laughter from Celestia.

“So what happened that makes you think that?” Twilight asked after a moment, now curious.

“Well apparently the city of Stalliongrad had been instigating a few of the hostilities many of the border cities are experiencing. The guard there recently cycled out command and the instigations stopped. In fact, the current commander apparently found out about it only very recently and has since been trying to smooth things out before I got here. I do believe you know him.” Celestia explained.

“Cadence told me it’s Shining. I’m glad he’s helping out.” Twilight said, though her smile wavered slightly.

“Don’t worry, love, I’ll make it an order to come visit you as soon as he can be freed from his duties. They are vast and many now, unfortunately...” Celestia said.

“I understand... It’s just... Cadence and I were talking about him over lunch a bit ago and I just want to see him soon...” Twilight said.

“Don’t worry, He definitely wants to see you. Especially when I told him of our plans. I have to go soon, but first how is Cadence? I can’t imagine the two of you not getting along.” Celestia asked.

“She’s like the big sister I never had. She literally is, I guess. The three of us decided to walk around canterlot for a bit and get lunch. I think both Spike and Cadence now are asleep on a bench in the park.” Twilight explained.

“Well today is a rather nice day. Make sure you do your exercises with her if you haven’t already. We’re going to get a little vacation for a few days after my return. Otherwise I’ll have to stack up multiple lessons at once.” Celestia said, trying and failing to sound stern at the end. She was smiling too much.

“Don’t worry, we have a lot of time to pass and that’s what we did all morning.” Twilight said, giggling in response. 

“Well I can’t say I’m surprised. If I plan on getting home as fast as possible, which I do, I won’t have time to contact you until I’m actually on the chariot and that won’t be until even you are asleep.” Celestia explained. Her tone hinted that she was a bit saddened by it.

“That’s alright. If I have to not talk to you tonight so that you’ll be here when I wake up tomorrow, then so be it. I’d rather hug you in real life than in here.” Twilight started. “ALthough, a hug goodbye is good either way.” She finished. Celestia laughed sweetly and pulled her into an embrace.

“You are just the most adorable thing.” Celestia giggled. Twilight replied by nuzzling into the embrace further. A minute or so passed as the two just enjoyed the contact. Celestia felt Quill tugging at her conscience, basically saying ‘if you’re not here in two minutes everything’s going to fall apart’ so she rolled her eyes and held Twilight at Hoof’s length.

“I have to go now. See you soon.” She said, quickly kissing Twilight on the forehead and disappearing. “Love you.” She said before she completely faded. 

“Love you too.” Twilight replied and the presence was completely gone. She sighed at the absence but smiled big as she ‘woke up’. She looked down to see Spike still sleeping and Cadence just waking up.

“Oh, man... I fell asleep didn’t I?” The mare asked when she saw Twilight looking at her.

“It’s alright.” She Twilight said, looking up at the sky. The sun had made some progress across the sky. She had been talking to Celestia for maybe an hour, so she estimated it was about three or four. 

“Well now I’ve slept too much and I won’t be able to get to sleep tonight. Let’s go back and do some more exercises before dinner to burn some energy.” Cadence said.

“I like that idea.” Twilight agreed, gently levitating the sleeping dragon in her lap onto her back as they walked. She was right, when she thought that carrying him would make her stronger. She hadn’t needed to stop and take a break from carrying him all day, even though she had thought that very recently.
> C.7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was nothing but black abyss. It looked a lot like the waking dreams she had grown used to being with Celestia in.

But something was wrong.

There were dozens upon dozens-no, hundreds upon hundreds of little specks of light everywhere in the distance.

Twilight looked around and she realized something else far more important.

She wasn’t Twilight. That is, unless Twilight had mysteriously turned blue. That wasn’t it, though. She was suddenly bombarded with an immense wave of emotions. Loneliness, deprivation and hurt the most prominent among them. She was crying, but she had no idea why. She knew it had something to do with why these strangely familiar emotions were domination everything else.

How could she be this distressed? It’s like there was absolutely nothing she could do to make things better, there was nothing good for her. But that was impossible, she had Spike and Celestia.

Celestia... for some reason thinking that name sent her into a fit of sobbing.

Why did she feel like this? What happened? And most importantly, who was she? She was definitely not Twilight Sparkle

After a little bit of thinking, trying to remember who she was if not that little filly in Canterlot, she noticed more of her surroundings. There was a monotone plain of white under her. She looked up and saw a great sphere of green and blue.

...It was the planet. She looked down. and that was a very intimidating mare with a black coat and eyes filled with hate.

“It’s almost time.” She said, giddy with malicious intent.

---

“Twilight?!” She heard exclaimed softly as she was shaken awake. Her eyes fluttered open and she recognized two things. First, she was Twilight Sparkle again. Second, Celestia was staring at her with eyes full of worry. 

There was a third thing that she noticed after those. There were tears steadily running down her face.

“Twilight?” Celestia asked, much less panicked, though the amount of worry on her face didn’t change. 

“M-Mom?” She said. Without even letting Celestia speak further, she quickly bolted upright and clung to the alicorn.

“Talk to me, love, what’s wrong?” Celestia asked.

“I... I don’t... I had a dream, but it was so strange... I wasn’t even me, and all of my memories I had from here weren’t right and... and...” Twilight sputtered out and explained her dream. When she finished, Celestia looked horrified.

“That... Are you sure that’s what you saw? What you heard?” Celestia asked. Twilight nodded, confused by Celestia’s reaction. The Princess thought for a moment before picking the filly up and placing Twilight on her back. She quickly penned up a letter for Cadence, who was surprisingly still asleep in the other bed nearby, and left the tower.

“What’s wrong, Mom?” Twilight asked. She peeked at the tower’s clock before they left and it was about three in the morning. Celestia must have just gotten home and decided to check on her. Celestia didn’t answer her right away, and that was enough for Twilight to know that it wasn’t just a bad dream. The Alicorn looked to be deep in thought before she finally spoke.

“Twilight, I have never wanted to keep even a single secret from you... And I don’t want that to change, but I’m going to have to leave you in the dark with this. At least for right now... There are certain things in my past that haunt me even to this day. I’m exhausted right now, and I don’t think I could handle talking about it right now...” She explained. She thought for another moment before continuing. 

“But... I also don’t want to ruin our little vacation I told you about... I promise I’ll tell you after that. I just really hate keeping things from you...” She continued. Twilight was starting to get confused now. Whatever it was, it was really causing Celestia distress.

“Don’t worry Mom, it’s alright. You don’t need to worry about keeping secrets from me, everypony is entitled to have them.” Twilight said, nuzzling into Celestia’s back. She couldn’t see it, but Celestia had the biggest grin on her face from that.

“I love you, so much.” Celestia said, looking back and nuzzling Twilight when she stopped to open the door to her chambers. Twilight just giggled and nuzzled back in response.

“The same to you. If you don’t mind me asking, though, why did you take me to your room?” Twilight asked.

“Oh a few reasons.” Celestia started as she entered and levitated the filly onto the bed. She proceeded to begin removing her regalia as a brush floated over and started going through her mane. 

“The biggest one being I want a snuggle buddy. There are a few more, though. I have a few surprises for you. Most of them are souvenirs, but the main one is a really big surprise we need to be up early for and I’ll need you to wake me up. The surprise starts at ten, so we’ll need to get breakfast and leave by nine.” Celestia explained, joining Twilight on the bed and curling up around her. Twilight had no objection and got comfortable.

“Alright. You’ve got me excited for the surprises now, though! I’m not sure I can fall asleep.” Twilight said. A massive yawn a few seconds later betrayed that thought, though. Celestia giggled and nuzzled the filly.

“Good night, my little Sparkle. I love you.” Celestia said softly.

“Love you too...” She said, her voice trailing off. Within the next minute the filly was asleep again. Not one to be left behind, Celestia followed suit just as quickly.

---

Twilight was in a bit of a predicament. It was about 7:30, an hour and a half from when Celestia said they had to leave, and said Alicorn wasn’t stirring to her gentle nudges.

Right now she was debating whether she should just keep trying, or whether she should so something else...

You know what? It’s about time she started acting like Celestia’s daughter. And besides, it was her own fault for getting the filly so excited over the surprises. She looked at the pink maned princess and thought of something that wasn’t too much, but would still get the job done. Practically leaping onto her adoptive mother’s head, she giggled.



“Wake up! Wake up!” She exclaimed loudly, though not excessively so. Celestia slowly cracked her eyes open and looked sideways at the filly. A tired smile appeared on her face as she chuckled.

“I’m up, I’m up...” She mumbled. Twilight giggled again as she let the Princess get up. She did a few stretches, yawned wide and looked at the little filly practically bouncing with excitement.

“A bath, first. We’ll get to the surprises at breakfast.” Celestia said. Twilight nodded and turned to go to her own bathroom, but Celestia picked her up with her magic and turned towards her own.

“Not so fast, I haven’t been able to bathe you yet and it’s something I’ve wanted to do since we met.” She explained.

“What about Spike?” Twilight asked after a moment.

“He’ll be alright, I left a note with Cadence. She was supposed to stay another few days so now that I’m back so soon she has nothing to do. I think taking care of a little dragon for the morning won’t be too hard, right?” Celestia replied.

“I guess.” Twilight said. Anything else she wanted to say was lost as they entered Celestia’s private baths. They weren’t baths. They were waterfalls flowing into a miniature hotspring. 

“Nice, isn’t it? One of the very few things I just couldn’t give up. Bathing in a waterfall is much more relaxing than a tub.” Celestia said. She walked towards one of the smaller ones and set Twilight down as she levitated a number of soaps and scents into the water.

“You take a dip in this one to get your coat all nice and soaped up, then we move into the bigger one to shampoo our manes and tails and then relax for a little while.” Celestia explained. Twilight noticed there were a few other smaller pools connected to the one Celestia was entering. Celestia seemed to notice her looking at them and smiled, gesturing for the filly to join her.

“This chamber hasn’t changed at all since it was first built nearly a thousand years ago. Back then, at least after that negative phase you saw, other ponies used to join me all the time. Mostly emissaries and ambassadors or captains, or even sometimes just a stranger that had traveled long and hard to get here. That stopped not too long ago.” She explained. When she was finished she took a breath and dipped under the water for a moment. Twilight followed her lead and they resurfaced at the same time.

“What happened to make it stop?” Twilight asked as they moved on to the larger pool, the humid heat of the room keeping them from getting cold during the transition.

“The nobles happened. Before them there was just a council and my role wasn’t so much a title and a public figure as a pony who went out and actually did things for her kingdom. You know how the nobles of today are, they’re not much different from two or three hundred years ago. While they don’t have the authority to bar anypony from using this place, they instil enough fear so that nopony asks or refuse if I offer. Normally something about not being worthy, usually.” Celestia answered. As Twilight sat down in a particularly comfortable spot, Celestia walked over to one of the large waterfalls and quickly put her head under it.

“Oh, that’s better... Nothing like a cold waterfall to wake you up.” Celestia said, shaking her head a bit as she pulled her head out and joined Twilight. “Now turn around and close your eyes.” She continued, levitating what looked like a porcelain bottle over. Twilight did as she told and soon found shampoo covered hooves going through her mane.

“If you don’t like them, why do you let them have so much power? Why do you let them change so much if what was there before was so much better?” Twilight asked, relaxing and nearly reclining into the alicorn behind her. Celestia giggled at that.

“Well, everypony craves progress. The council wasn’t enough to handle the growing population, to nobles were chosen to represent everypony else. They originally did exactly as the council did, but they all lived in canterlot instead of spread across Equestria. It was much more convenient to simply fetch the nobles instead of wait a week for all the council members to get here.” Celestia replied.

“Well what happened to them?” Twilight asked.

“Well, the power they held kind of went to their heads and before I realized what was happening they turned into what they are today. They’re not exactly power hungry, but... well... They tend to have a really bad holier-than-thou complex. And you’ve seen how they are. They’ll probably throw a fit when I announce your adoption and make it official, since you’re not from the higher circles of nobility. If I remember correctly, though, you do come from minor nobility.” Celestia answered.

“I do?” Twilight asked as Celestia finished shampooing and had her put her head under the waterfall for a bit to rinse off.

“You do, it’s an old bloodline but your parents were captains. I talked to Shining about it when I was in the Griffon country and your bloodline is an old one, from the first nobles. That’s why you're not egotistical snobs like most of them are.” Celestia explained. She looked down at Twilight, then sideways at her own mane and then back to Twilight.

“Hm... I’d say it’s my turn, but you’re not quite big enough to reach.” She chuckled, using her magic to start the shampooing process on herself.

“I can still nuzzle up to you.” Twilight stated and did just that. Celestia giggled and used her magic to alter the flow of part of the waterfall to rinse her mane instead of moving. When she was done with that she unfurled her wings and looked at them with a bit of distaste.

“Hm... you think you could help me with the lower feathers? It seems my rushed departure and arrival has left my wings in a bit of a sorry state.” Celestia offered. Twilight looked and saw that some of the feathers were crooked or bent, some of them even nearly falling out. She was confused as to what Celestia was asking, but then she started straightening and fixing and plucking the feathers.

Preening another’s wings was something you only did if you had absolute trust in them. THe wings, at least the undersides, were quite sensitive and one mistake like pulling out a healthy feather or biting the wrong place could cause serious harm. 

Twilight looked down at the lower feathers and saw that none of them were loose, but quite a few were crooked and bent. Very cautiously, she leaned over and started straightening them out. It got easier over time as she moved on to the next one. After the fourth or fifth one she got a feel for how the feathers were supposed to be and the rest went much quicker. Every now and then Celestia would let out a sigh as Twilight unintentionally massaged a few knots of the wing’s muscles.

“You’re very good at that, I have to say. I can’t remember the last time I had help with that.” Celestia thanked her when they were done not much later.

“Well, I have read a few books...” Twilight admitted.

“Oh I think it might be the fact that it was you doing it. Thank you, Love.” Celestia said, nuzzling the unicorn. She got up then and gestured for Twilight to follow. They entered what looked like a little cave. It was cooler than the other room and not nearly as humid.

“Brace yourself.” Celestia warned before she used her magic to move a rather large chunk of earth from the wall. What used to be a little draft turned into a very powerful wind. The aerodynamics of the small cave created a sort of wind tunnel. Twilight couldn’t help but burst out laughing as their manes and tails were flung backwards.

“No matter how many times I do that, it’s still so amusing to see another pony’s first time.” Celestia said as she replaced the chunk of earth when they were dried off.

“How does that work?” Twilight ask as they made their way out of the room and out of the bathing room.

“There are a few strategically placed holes and tunnels on the other side of the mountain that Canterlot is built against. They speed up the winds that go through them and all come out here.” Celestia answered as they returned to her bedroom. She replaced her regalia and used her magic to carry a few wrapped packages with them as they left. It was about an hour until they needed to leave for the surprise, so they were heading to breakfast.

“If you haven’t guessed already, these are some of the souvenirs I brought with me. There are more, which are special gifts to you courtesy of the captain of the Griffon royal guard, but you won’t get those until you’re older. For now, though, have at it.” She said as they waited for their breakfast of massive waffles to arrive. She levitated the three packages in front of Twilight.

Twilight wasn’t dumb, they were books. That particular fact excited her to no end as she ripped the packaging open on all of them at once. There were three books. ‘Dictionary of Glyphs’, ‘Griffon Dictionary of Glyphs’ and ‘Griffon Magic’. She read the names out loud and Celestia seemed surprised by them.

“I didn’t know you could read Glyphs and Griffon...” Celestia said.

“Well, the royal library has the DIctionary of Glyphs, but now I have my own! And this one and the Dictionaries in other languages are all in a series so they teach you a little bit of them. I only know how to say the book titles, though. Thank you thank you thank you!” Twilight finished, pausing before the last part and nearly tackling Celestia with a hug. 

“I knew you’d like them.” Celestia chuckled. “And now this.” She continued, levitating a small paper rectangle to Twilight. The filly took the thing in her own grasp and gasped when she saw what it was.

“A Wonderbolts ticket?!” She exclaimed.

“Yep, front row seat. Better, actually, you’re in the VIP box.” Celestia said.

“Wait, what about you? I wouldn’t want to go without you.” Twilight asked. Celestia grinned and gestured towards the ticket. There was a short description of the event.

“‘Celebrating peace with the Griffons, a public Wonderbolts performance congratulating Princess Celestia on her success.’” She read.

“Who do you think asked for the performance? I’ll be right next to you, I just don’t need a ticket.” Celestia giggled. Twilight grinned and made a happy little squeal. She had always wanted to see the Wonderbolts.
> C.8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

They went to the tower to say hello to Cadence and Spike, who had just found out that sapphires were his favorite gem; to which Twilight promised him that she’d pick some up for him, and they were on their way to the Wonderbolt Stadium.

There were a LOT of ponies there. There were also a very small amount of other ponies in the VIP box. When they got there, Twilight was utterly surprised to see Spitfire, the captain of the most successful team of the Wonderbolts, chatting with one of the other VIPs. She turned and bowed to Celestia, who nodded in return, and they sat down next to each other.

“I have to thank you again for letting my team perform for such an awesome occasion.” Spitfire said to Celestia.

“Of course. I can’t think of any other kind of performance that would yield such a turnout on their own, let alone celebrating a renewed peace treaty. And besides, I had to make it something my Daughter would enjoy.

“Daughter?” Spitfire asked, peeking around Celestia’s side to see where Twilight was shrinking in her seat. “Oh, I heard rumors you adopted a little filly. I guess they’re true.” Spitfire said, standing and walking to the Princess’ other side.

“Hey there, I’m Spitfire.” The fiery mare said, holding a hoof out.

“Twilight sparkle. I love what you guys do, even though I can’t fly myself I’ve always been fascinated by it!” Twilight exclaimed, shaking the hoof.

“Thanks, it’s always awesome to have a fan.” Spitfire said, choosing the seat next to Twilight instead of her previous one.

“Is there a reason you’re in here instead of out there?” Celestia asked when the performance started. Spitfire unfurled one of her wings to reveal a large patch of seared feathers.

“I got hit by lightning in that big storm not too long ago, still recovering. It’s given me the chance to see my team perform from the perspective of the audience and let me tell you, they are absolutely amazing.” She explained.

“Oh that must have been painful...” Twilight said softly. Spitfire looked down at her and smiled. She unfurled the wing again and pointed towards the scar.

“Yeah, but it’s doing better. And now I have this really cool scar so that I can say I got hit by lightning and I’m still the captain of the wonderbolts. That’s not something you hear every day.” She said. Twilight examined the scar a bit closer and noticed something before the mare folded it back up.

“I think I know why you’re so alright... It looks like the bolt went between the bones there where there’s nothing but membrane really.” Twilight said. Spitfire was surprised by that. She first looked at the filly again, then at Celestia, then back at the filly.

“That’s one smart kid you have here. That’s exactly what the doctors said.” Spitfire said, shaking her head and returning her attention to her team as they did a rather impressive series of coordinated barrel rolls and corkscrews to create a series of miniature tornadoes that started ‘fighting’ and smothering each other out until it was one massive one. The team then suddenly broke off, taking a bit of the visible winds with them, and created what looked like a flower in the sky before the winds faded away. The stands were filled with applause as a break started and Celestia passed Twilight a small bag of bits.

“Go ahead and get yourself something to eat at the concession stand. If you’d be so kind as to bring me back a large drink I’d appreciate it.” She said. Twilight nodded and turned towards the exit.

“Hey, if it’s not too much to ask can you make that two?” Spitfire asked sheepishly, apparently guilty for asking a filly to fetch a drink for her, as she passed her a few bits.

“No problem!” Twilight assured her and left.

The line was long, so she decided to wait a little bit. When the break was almost over everyone would be rushing to their seats and the line would be clear. She was standing off to the side, looking at the big signs to see what she wanted. Apparently somepony thought she was a second line.

“Hey, you in line?” She heard another filly’s voice asked.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash... I don’t think that... um... she’s in a line...” She heard a much smaller voice say. Twilight turned around to find two pegasi standing there. The one who spoke first was a cyan filly with a rainbow colored mane and tail. The smaller voice was a yellow filly with a pink mane and tail. They looked like polar opposites. The rainbow one was confident and tough looking, while the yellow one was shy and hiding behind the other.

“No, I’m just looking at the menus and waiting until everypony is in a rush to get back to their seats.” Twilight said, rubbing the back of her head. She wasn’t all that good with talking to other foals her age.

“Hey that’s pretty smart. Mind if we join you then?” The rainbow one asked.

“Um... not really.” Twilight replied.

“Cool. My name’s Rainbow Dash, but everyone just calls me Dash. This here is Fluttershy, she’s obviously super shy.” The cyan filly introduced them. She bumped hooves with Twilight, FLuttershy settled with cautiously shaking instead.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you. What do you think of the show? I’ve never been to a Wonderbolts show before.” Twilight asked.

“It’s amazing! But to be honest it could be much better. I haven’t seen Spitfire yet and she’s the best one!” Dash exclaimed in response.

“Well she got hit by lightning a little while ago and is still recovering. She’s alright, though.” Twilight said.

“Oh yeah, I heard she got hurt... Man, you must be a bigger fan than I am if you know that. I would clip my wings just to shake even one of their hooves... I would die if I actually met Spitfire!” Dash said, ending with a giddy bounce. Twilight got an idea, then. Maybe Celestia’s slight prankster attitude was starting to rub off on her, but this idea was going to be funny.

“Well my mom knows one of the wonderbolts, maybe she can set something up.” Twilight said. There was a loud bell, signalling five minutes until the break ended, and so everyone either gave up on snacks or hurried through their orders. The three fillies quickly got into the line, Dash dragging Fluttershy.

“Really?! That would be so cool!” Dash exclaimed.

“That would be... um... so nice if... um... that’s alright with you.” Fluttershy squeaked.

“It’s perfectly fine. My mom’s very friendly and nice. You two go first, I’m ordering for three.” Twilight said. The other two got medium drinks and a large order of hayfries to share. Twilight got three large ginger ales, since she heard it’s supposed to help with healing for some reason, and an extra large order of hay fries.

“So where’s your seat? My dad is a royal guard, but he got called in and couldn’t make it so he told me to bring a friend so I brought Flutters here. He got some really good seats, too, halfway down from the VIP box.” Dash asked, almost too fast for Twilight to follow. She was practically bouncing, sometimes she WAS bouncing. Her wings fluttering and making her hover for seconds at a time.

“Not too far from yours. Right over here.” Twilight said. Dash didn’t notice that they entered the VIP box, but she had to give Fluttershy the biggest smile she’s ever given to anypony besides Celestia to get her to enter.

“I hope Ginger Ale is alright. And I got a super big order of hay fries so we can all share.” Twilight said, levitating two of the drinks and the fries over onto the little table next to their chairs.

“Thanks a million kid, friends of yours?” Spitfire asked, accepting the drink and taking a sip. Celestia looked over. The Cyan one was babbling away about how awesome it is that Twilight’s mom knows a wonderbolt. The little shy one had shrunk to the floor and was gaping in awe at her.

“Sort of. Rainbow Dash here was saying how awesome it would be to meet a wonderbolt and I kind of told them my mom knows one. It wasn’t a lie.” Twilight said. Dash stopped rambling when she heard the word ‘lie’ and completely froze. There was Spitfire, who was trying her hardest not to bust out laughing, and Princess Celestia smiling a rather warm smile. She dropped her drink, which Celestia managed to catch

“They were pretty nice and I guess I thought why not?” Twilight finished, giggling at Dash’s reaction.

“Who IS your mom if she knows not just a wonderbolt, but Spitfire herself, AND Princess Celestia?!” Dash exclaimed.

“That would be me, actually, as of today.” Celestia said, sipping on her drink with a rather mischievous grin on her face. If Dash’s jaw was any lower to the ground it’d be touching it. The cyan filly stayed completely silent for a full minute, the others were starting to get worried. THey worries melted away with one exclamation.

“THAT IS SO AWESOME!” She exclaimed. Spitfire and Celestia started laughing. Even Twilight was smiling. 

“Well, a friend of Twilight’s is definitely a friend of mine. Would you care to join us in here? You can go back to your seats and bring your parents. It’s rather empty in here.” Celestia offered. Dash was back into her awesome induced silence, and so it was Fluttershy who spoke.

“Oh... um... our parents aren’t here...” The shy filly stuttered. Twilight told them what Dash told her.

“Oh I see. How are you getting back to Cloudsdale, then?” Celestia asked.

“My Dad’s supposed to come pick us up an hour or two after the show. Edinspur, where he’s posted, isn’t very far from here.” Dash replied. 

“Yikes, kid. There’s a big storm scheduled to hit Edinspur before the show ends. Even a royal guard can’t fly through that safely.” Spitfire said.

“But... then...” The pegasus started. Celestia looked to be in thought a moment and Twilight knew what the alicorn was thinking and she wanted to give her the biggest hug ever because of it.

“Well then it can’t be helped. Friends are friends, no matter how long you’ve known each other, and friends have sleepovers. I’m sure the tower is big enough to house more than a few fillies.” Celestia said. Twilight grinned and did hug her, while the two were utterly surprised by the offer.

“You mean, like, in the palace?!” Dash asked. Twilight nodded and pointed towards where they could barely see said palace.

“That tower right there.” She said. Fluttershy would have fainted, but her shock and surprise was so much that her body wouldn’t let her. Dash was back to rambling about how awesome they were before Spitfire interrupted them by clearing her throat.

“The breaks over guys, and they were saving the best for the second half.” The fiery mare said with a grin.

---

“That was so many spins I don’t even know how to say the word! The pivots were so perfectly timed with each other and everything!” Dash exclaimed after the team of six did a synchronized drill-like attack that broke apart right before it hit the VIP box. Each individual pegasus was spinning incredibly fast one way while the whole formation was spinning around each other the other way.

“You’ve got an eye for this kind of thing. I’m gonna guess... top of your class in flight academy?” Spitfire said.

“And the next two classes up!” Dash exclaimed proudly.

“Niiice.” Spitfire said, bumping hooves with the filly. Said filly proceeded to stare at the hoof like it was a deity. “How about you, Fluttershy was it?” She asked the shy filly.

“Oh! O-Oh um... I’m... not the best flier...” Fluttershy admitted.

“Ah, well, not everypony is good at the same things. You definitely seem like more of a down to earth kind of pony.” Spitfire said. Fluttershy nodded ever so slightly.

“Flutters is really good with animals. She can talk to them and it’s really cool. This one time there was this really mad falcon that was attacking flight students. Nopony could catch it, not even the instructors, and she just fluttered up and talked to it!” Dash explained.

“Did you find out why it was so mad?” Celestia asked, curious. Twilight gave her the same look.

“Oh... um... she was mad because one of the colts kept messing up her nest... They got in big trouble.” Fluttershy eeped. 

“That’s one of the big rules, don’t mess with other fliers. Pony or not. I have to go, the performance is almost over and I gotta be there. I’ll probably see you guys around, and thanks for the fries Twi. I’m surprised nobody asked for an autograph.” Spitfire said, getting up and tossing away her finished drink.

“You hoof bumped me... That’s like, god status right there. AN autograph can never compare!” Dash said.

“Heh, true that. You’re pretty cool, Dash. Pass the flight academy and I’ll definitely be keeping my eye on you.” Spitfire said before leaving. Dash, for the third time that day, went into an awesome induced silence.

“I have a few errands to run after the show. I trust you know the way home and that you can show your new friends around?” Celestia asked.

“Mhm. I promised Spike I’d get him some snacks on the way home so we’ll have to stop somewhere.” Twilight said.

“Then here, so you don’t have to go all the way to the treasury.” Celestia said, making a small bag of bits a bit bigger than the previous one appear and levitate it to her.

“Thanks, I’ll pay you back later.” Twilight said and made to leave, gesturing for the other fillies to follow. Celestia rolled her eyes but didn’t protest.

“Man this is so awesome! You’re awesome, Twilight! Because of you, We not only got to meet THE Spitfire, but the Princess AND stay at the palace for a few days. I don’t think anything could make this day any better.” Dash exclaimed as there was a mass of ponies filing out of the stadium, talking about the show as well.

“It’s no problem. You two are the first friends I’ve had, really.” Twilight said. Dash stopped, Fluttershy nearly running into her because of this.

“Wait, so the Princess was serious when she said that?” Dash asked. Twilight turned around and nodded. They resumed walking after a moment and Dash continued. “Alright, if we’re having a slumber party it’s definitely going to be a slumber PARTY.” She said.

“Alright. Let’s go in here a moment, I need to grab a few things.” Twilight said with a laugh, turning towards a jeweler’s shop.

“Jewelry?” Dash asked, almost disgustedly. 

“Not exactly.” Twilight replied. She walked up to the counter. “Excuse me, do you have any gemstones en masse?” She asked the stallion. He looked down at her for a moment, then to the other two and pointed somewhere. They followed his sight to where there was a large bin full of gemstones of varying size.

“Size and type determines price.” He said and went back to what he was doing.

“Why do you need gems?” Dash asked as the purple filly used her magic to pick out and seemingly weigh different stones.

“I told you I need to get some snacks for Spike. His favorites are Sapphires so I’ll get a bunch of those...” Twilight replied.

“Wait... Your friend eats gems? What kind of pony eats gems?!” Dash exclaimed, eyeing the stones.

“He’s my little brother, and he’s not a pony. He’s a baby dragon.” Twilight replied. Dash looked surprised, but Fluttershy’s wings fluttered slightly as she was suddenly in front of Twilight.


“Ohmygoshyouhaveababydragon?!” The shy mare exclaimed quickly. Twilight nodded and selected a good amount of many different kinds of gems and put them in a few bags. She walked over to the counter as Fluttershy seemed to realize what she did and was now trying to back out of the shop. Dash caught her and walked up to the counter next to Twilight as the clerk started gathering up her choices for inspection.

“Hmm... do you think this would look good if mom ever let me?” Twilight asked as she levitated over a rather beautiful set of earrings. 

“Nah, even though you’re not exactly tough like me it’s too girly. I think those would be best on you.” Dash replied, pointing to simple silver bands. They looked like they would go on the curve of your ear instead of the lobe. There were also much more than just one. There were many of different things on them, designs and even little gems embedded into them. It looked like you could fit maybe ten, just barely, on one ear.

“Ooh, I like those...” Twilight agreed, replacing the first ones.

“If I might recommend clip-ons? Cheaper, no actual piercing and minimal trouble with parents if they don’t know about it.” The stallion said, levitating over a similar set of four.

“Hm... Should I?” Twilight asked her new friends.

“Totally!” Dash replied.

“Um...maybe... would your mom be alright with it?” Fluttershy replied.

“I can just take them off if she doesn’t like them. I’ll take the set, thank you.” Twilight said, turning to the clerk.

“Right. That with the gems will cost you a total of 113 bits. Can you handle so much?” The clerk asked. Twilight nodded and the coin bag Celestia gave her appeared. An exact amount floated out, leaving the bag half empty, and he accepted them with a smile.

“Have a nice day.” He said. Twilight nodded and they left, the gems and the money disappearing. They stopped so Twilight could put the clip-on rings in. She could probably only fit six on one ear, since she was still small, but instead of evening them out she put all four on her right ear.

“Now that looks awesome.” Dash said, nudging the filly.

“Um... it... really does.” Fluttershy agreed.

“Good. Now let’s head back in full, apparently you really want to meet Spike.” Twilight giggled.
> C.9
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Oh hi, you make some friends?” Cadence said when Twilight entered her tower with Dash and Fluttershy in tow. The mare had been playing around with Spike. Apparently she was looking for him in a game of hide and seek.

“I did, they’ll be staying here until a big storm passes so they can get picked up. Where’s Spike?” Twilight replied.

“I have no idea. He is incredibly good at hiding and I promised him no magic...” Cadence said, looking around the room again.

“Oh Spiiiiike~” Twilight called, shaking one of the bags of gems. A book halfway up the shelf suddenly popped out of its place, which was probably thirty feet in the air, and the baby dragon in question crawled out of the space and carefully climbed down. Both Cadence and Twilight freaked out and ran below him in case he fell.

“Spike! What are you doing so high up?! You could have gotten hurt!” Twilight exclaimed, Cadence saying something similar.

“It’s alright, my claws wouldn’t let me fall! Oh, by the way, I found this in that secret compartment.” Spike said, picking up the book was was knocked off the shelf. Her attention now on the book, Spike’s dangerous action was forgiven... for now.

“‘Elements of Harmony and the Mare in the Moon’?” She read the title. Spike shrugged and looked hungrily at the bag of gems. Twilight sighed and pulled a small sapphire and a topaz from it and levitated them to him.

“Oh you are just so adorable!” Fluttershy exclaimed, appearing next to him and nearly tackling him in a hug.

“Um... who are you?” Spike asked before shoving the topaz in his gullet.

“Oh! I-I’m s-sorry... I don’t know what came over me...” Fluttershy said, quickly letting go of him and backing away.

“Spike, this is Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. I think you heard what I told Cadence, right?” Twilight said. The dragon nodded and finished the topaz. Instead of wharfing the Sapphire down, he started sucking on it like a lollipop. 

“Well unless you have a bunch of beds sitting in a closet, I’m guessing we’re going to have to figure something out for them.” Cadence said.

“We can worry about that later, if push comes to shove we can just sleep on these chairs.” Dash said, plopping down on a large bean bag-like chair that the observatory room they were in was littered with.

“We can probably drag two of them into the bedroom, since the observatory is technically public.” Twilight said.

“That’ll work. I could just take your bed and they can share the spare if you decide to sleep in Celestia’s bed again.” Cadence said. Twilight thought for a moment. It was actually a pretty good idea.

“I don’t think she’d mind that one bit.” Twilight said with a giggle.

“Whoa seriously? I mean, I know she’s totally adopting you... but you guys are that close already?” Dash asked.

“You should see them together. Celestia acts like she’s Twilight’s age.” Cadence said.

“We saw... um... a bit of that...” Fluttershy said. It was then that Twilight picked up Spike and the book he gave her and sat down in one of the chairs with Spike in her lap.

“It was awesome! She let us meet Spitfire and Celestia at the same time! You’re awesome, Twi!... … Twi?” Dash started, but looked at the unicorn to see her so encroached in the book it would be almost impossible to get her attention. Spike was reading it too, but he still had his gem to keep half of his attention.

“She gets like that sometimes... Hmm... You guys are going to have to tell me two things. FIrst, how did you guys meet? And second, why is she wearing those and you better hope to Celestia they’re clip-ons.” Cadence said, finally noticing the four silver rings.

---

As the evening rolled in, and Twilight had managed to extricate herself from the book, there was suddenly a frantic knocking on the door. Cadence was teaching Dash and Fluttershy how to properly preen their wings, as Fluttershy was an Orphan and Dash’s dad had never been able to, so Twilight opened it.

“It is true?!” A mass exclamation sounded the second it opened. Standing there was a great number of nobles. In front of a group was a noble she had never seen before, but heard of from Celestia. Her ‘Nephew’, Blueblood. He seemed to only barely be in his teens years, but his presence alone was enough to give Twilight a headache.

“Is... what true?” Twilight asked.

“Is it true that the Princess is adopting you?” One of the nobles asked. Twilight was confused.

“Um... yes... what’s the big deal?” Twilight replied. Blueblood scoffed.

“You are but of minor ancestry! Somepony as unimportant as you doesn’t deserve to be in this family!” He exclaimed. Twilight actually facehooved. He was only Celestia’s nephew in title, as a favor to his more kind father.

“One thing I miss about Stalliongrad, there’s no such thing as nobility there...” Cadence said lowly as she appeared next to Twilight. Dash and Fluttershy, the latter just barely, appeared on either side of her.

“Twilight’s not some nopony! She’s awesome!” Dash exclaimed.

“Oh, and she brought in more peasants.” Blueblood said, rolling his eyes. “‘Tis a shame that this palace is reduced to such a state as to let such common riff-raff in.” He continued. It was around this point where the other nobles behind him started giving him uneasy looks. It seemed that they thought he was going a bit too far.

“Hey, not only is most of the palace open for public, this tower is one of the few parts that is completely public- save for the living area. They have express permission from Celestia herself. If I recall, it was her idea no?” Cadence said, turning to the two who nodded. Blueblood just made a dismissive noise and stepped in. The four gave him room, albeit with a bit of hesitation, since it was really public and they couldn’t stop him without good reason.

“Hm... At least you keep this place relatively up to standards.” He said, looking around. He ignored Spike, who was napping on one of the chairs, and noticed all of the magic books scattered about the tables. “Oh right, you are her student in magic as well. My auntie is much too soft sometimes, I think it’s time somepony with real noble blood teach you a few things.” He continued, turning back towards her. Cadence burst out laughing, but Twilight narrowed her eyes.

He just slandered Celestia, maybe just a little bit but he did it.

“You’re on.” Twilight said lowly. She was NOT going to let some pompous moron talk about her mom like that.

“Twilight?” Cadence started. Twilight looked over and Cadence winked. “Teach HIM a lesson.” She finished. Twilight smiled at her and then turned towards Blueblood. He was about twice her size, but when he started gathering magic in his horn it was extremely weak. At least compared to what she was used to.

“Shall we make it an official duel, then?” He asked. The other nobles had peeked in and were now about ready to start yelling at him.

“Whatever you want. Just don’t destroy anything.” Twilight agreed. They faced off for a little bit, Twilight not even bothering to gather up energy. Dash decided she wanted to be the one who started it.

“Begin!” The pegasus exclaimed and with that Blueblood started.


Twilight had to admit, the noble may be a moron, but he was good at making it look like he had no real power. He still broadcasted exactly what he was going to do.

Blueblood charged at her, his horn suddenly engulfed in a torrent of greyish blue magic. Twilight felt herself leave the ground. He flung her across the room with a great feat of magical strength. Instead of smashing into, and possibly through, the observatory’s wall of windows, the filly landed on the wall lightly. She stood up, even though she was still on the window, and started walking down it.

Without a word, she opened up one of the larger windows and Blueblood felt himself in the same situation Twilight did. She didn’t let him go, though, and simply hung him out the window. He was yelling and flailing and begging for her to stop. With a small flash, she appeared on the outside of the window and brought him closer.

“Do you concede?” She asked.

“YES YES YES YES YES!” He exclaimed in response. With another flash the two appeared on the floor. Twilight was much more composed and didn’t seem to be even breathing hard after the use of such strong magic as gravity manipulation and teleporting two ponies at once.

“If the books I’ve read are correct, the winner of an official noble’s duel gets one unquestionable favor from the loser.” Twilight said. Blueblood shakily got to his feet and nodded at her with a glare.

“I... will not back down...” He said. Well, at least he had SOME semblance of honor.

“It’s simple, then. All I want you to do is to never slander Princess Celestia again. If you do, not only would you lose any dignity you have, I’d have to ACTUALLY throw you out of a window.” Twilight explained. Blueblood nodded and quickly scurried away.

“Alright, seriously Twi. You get more awesome every time something happens.” Dash said. Cadence was still busy laughing and the other nobles followed Blueblood.

“Oh... Oh man. That was priceless. I’ve got the strangest feeling that Celestia announced your adoption in today’s day court.” Cadence said when she finally got over her laughing fit.

“Oh, what made you think that?” Celestia asked as she appeared in the doorway. Dash and Fluttershy made to get up from their seats to bow, but Celestia just shook her head at them and they stopped themselves.

“I saw the whole thing, by the way. While I normally wouldn’t condone dueling, my ‘nephew’ can be quite a hooffull.” She continued. She walked over and hugged the Filly, who hugged back without hesitation, but from when she pulled away to look at her. Twilight smiled sheepishly, Celestia noticed the earrings. She sighed and chuckled lightly.

“I suppose you’re going to want real ones, aren’t you?” She asked.

“Well...” Twilight started and never finished, looking off to the side.

“When you’re older, perhaps... Well, I think definitely when you’re older. I have to admit, they suit you rather well.” Celestia said. Dash let out a huge sigh of relief.

“Oh thank Celestia... er... you... We convinced her to get them and if you would have been upset with them or mad we would have felt so bad.” The cyan filly breathed. Celestia chuckled and turned to the two pegasus fillies.

“One of the first errands I ran was getting into contact with the Edinspur guard via magic messages. Rainbow Dash, your father knows where to pick you and Fluttershy up now. The last message had instructions specifically for you, Rainbow.” Celestia said. Dash looked at the Princess curiously. Twilight and Cadence both noticed the playful grin on her face.

“‘Treat Twilight as you would a sister and respect Celestia like you would me. They’re kind enough to let you stay with them even though they just met you so if I hear anything negative at all I’ll have your flank mounted in the flight academy barracks.’ While I believe it’d be very hard to offend either of us, I’d avoid the nobles. Don’t leave the tower without Cadence, Twilight or I with you or somepony might try and throw you out.” Celestia recited and explained. Dash flushed up at the message, unconsciously sinking further into the chair.

“The only thing I’m worried about is what we could do for two or three days... Cadence, Spike and I can just sit and read to pass the time. Dash, I doubt you’d even be able to sit still long enough to read a book.” Twilight said.

“You got that right! I need somewhere to practice my flight routines!” Dash exclaimed.

“Your father did ask for something else, but there’s a condition to it that involves you, Twilight.” Celestia said.

“Oh?” Twilight said. Celestia nodded and walked towards the window. She pointed out a building on the palace grounds with a large field attached to it. The three fillies walked over and looked. Cadence peeked over Twilight’s shoulder and bore a look of surprise.

“Do you know what that is?” She asked. Fluttershy and Dash shook her heads but Twilight answered.

“That’s the royal guard training barracks right? And that’s the training field.” She answered.

“Close enough. That’s not for all royal guards, more of the elite of the royal guard. Sometimes they bring foals from scattered academies to go through a few days of various training. Your father asked me to put you through the pegasus regiment, Rainbow. He suggested that you take the medical regiment, Fluttershy. Apparently you help fix up Rainbow when she crashes at the flight academy.” Celestia explained.

“He really asked that? And you’ll let us do it?! That is so awesome!” Dash exclaimed. nearly bouncing on her hooves.

“I pulled a few strings for the two of you. As for you Twilight, It’s going to be a regular thing. I don’t exactly want you to become a guard or anything of the sort, but you’re my daughter and you’re entitled to both the good and the bad of the position. The bad being rather sinister, I don’t want you relying solely on getting help should anything happen when I am not there.” Celestia continued to explain. She had a very serious tone and her expression was unwavering.

“So you want me to know how to defend myself?” Twilight asked.

“Both physically and magically. Now, I know this is sudden, but I had been thinking about it ever since seeing the border cities again. You can’t stay in Canterlot your whole life. I had planned to wait until you were older to start you on self defense training, but your fight with Blueblood made up my mind about that.” Celestia replied.

“I was wondering if seeing how dangerous those cities were would have any effects on you here.” Cadence said.

“Huh?” Dash asked.

“She just got back from the peace talks with the Griffons, remember?” Twilight asked the cyan filly. Apparently she forgot the entire reason the event that caused their meeting even happened.

“Oh... Right...” She said, rubbing the back of her head.

“Well, anyways, we can talk about it more tomorrow when it’ll actually start. For now, though, I need a power nap if I’m going to survive the night court. I’ll join you for dinner and be back at the normal time. My chambers are open for you, Twilight, should you wish a repeat of last night. I haven’t slept that well in ages.” Celestia said.

“I’ll take you up on that. It makes sleeping arrangements much easier.” Twilight said with a grin. Now that the Princess mentioned it, Twilight could see the exhaustion in her eyes. Celestia grinned and turned to leave.

“Oh, and miss Fluttershy? The gardens are especially peaceful all day, the animals in the day are easily frightened but the nocturnal ones are quite friendly. And Miss Dash, the field down there isn’t exclusive to the elite guard. Use it whenever you like to practice.” She said before leaving. Dash looked like she was about to go into another awesome induced silence, but surprised them with a simple “Coooool!”. Fluttershy said nothing, but instead looked out to where you could barely see the edge of said gardens.

“Elite Guard, eh? Shining told me your parents were part of that, but he decided on the path of a normal guard. Felt he could do more generally that way.” Cadence said. Twilight looked at her and was about to say something, but Dash cut her off.

“I’ve only heard rumors about them at the flight academy. One of the ponies three classes up got chosen to go see what it was all about and they didn’t come to the academy for a month afterwards. It’s supposed to be super tough.” Dash said.

“Well they have to be trained very well. From what I’ve read, they’re like the first ponies that are called on when things get really bad. I didn’t know that my parents were elite guards, I only knew they were guard captains.” Twilight said.

“He found a few records of them, apparently. It was recently, so he didn’t know much when I left for here and he was all busy with helping Celestia out.” Cadence said. Twilight nodded and looked at the other two fillies, who were still looking out the wall of window panes.

“I never thought you’d make friends so quickly, and you already seem like you’ve been friends for weeks.” Cadence said, changing the subject when she noticed Twilight looking at the two.

“Gee, thanks.” Twilight said, rolling her eyes in a joking way. Cadence giggled at that and nudged her with a hoof.

“It’s just that, at least according to Celestia, you were pretty reclusive before.” Cadence said.

“Well she did seem kind of like Fluttershy here when we first met. It kind of went away after a bit though.” Dash said, entering the conversation with the yellow pegasus in tow.

“Well... you guys were so nice...” Twilight started.

“Either way, it’s a good thing. Friendship is magic, as Celestia likes to say a lot. And it’s very true. Now, I need to stretch my legs a little bit. I trust you three and Spike will be fine without me until dinner?” Cadence asked.

“We’ll figure something out to pass the time.” Twilight assured her. The mare smiled and left as well.

“So I was thinking, since this is supposed to be a slumber party...” Dash started. Twilight ,remembering a book she read about common happenings at slumber parties, knew exactly where this was going as the cyan filly eyes the area of the tower full of cushions and pillows.

“Pillow fight of epic proportions?” Twilight asked.

“Pillow fight of epic proportions.” Dash agreed. Fluttershy suddenly had a feeling that ‘of epic proportions’ was going to be an understatement.
> C.10
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Needless to say, the three fillies weren’t bored as Dinner came around. The meal was rather uneventful, save for Chef Iron freaking out at having so many ponies to feed, and so they were back to being bored as Celestia’s night court was held. Their boredom was alleviated when night first started to fall by a knock on the door. Dash and Twilight were currently trying to find the energetic pegasus a book she would at least look twice at, so Fluttershy answered the door.

“Fluttershy! Darling! So it IS true that you’re staying at the palace!” A white unicorn filly exclaimed, nearly tackling the shy filly in a hug. INstead of freaking out, though, Fluttershy returned the embrace with a smile.

“Oh Rarity, it’s so good to see you! What are you doing here?” Fluttershy asked. Twilight and Dash walked over to see what was going on.

“Well my parents, Celestia bless them, passed away last week so I’m currently living with a friend until I’m old enough to live in the Boutique by myself. I actually left the day after we met. Anyways, I heard about the storm and knew you didn’t have a place to stay so I asked around a bit. ” The white filly explained. The shy more put a hoof over her mouth in a gasp.

“Oh I’m so sorry Rarity, I didn’t mean to bring anything like that up...” She said in a whisper.

“Not at all Darling, while I’m not exactly thrilled about it... I’m not exactly devastated. Well, I was when I first found out, but they lived good lives. They died smiling ,or so I’m told, so I’ll live the same way.” Rarity explained.

“Wow, Rarity was it? That’s really intelligent of you.” Twilight said. Rarity blinked and looked at the two new ponies. Well, new to her.

“Thank you Darling, and yes. Rarity is my name. You two are...?” The white filly asked.

“Rainbow Dash.” Dash said.

“Twilight Sparkle. Nice to meet you. If you’re a friend of Fluttershy’s why don’t you stay a bit?” Twilight offered. Rarity seemed utterly shocked at the offer, but she appeared to recognize the name.

“Twilight Sparkle... Are you that little filly that impressed the Princess so much she made you her protege?” Rarity asked after a moment of thought.

“Protege AND adopted daughter!” Dash exclaimed. Rarity’s surprise meter skyrocketed and she felt the sudden need to bow. Twilight managed to stop her, though.

“It’s a recent development, but yeah. Come on in, we were just trying to see if Dash likes any books while we wait for Spike to wake up.” Twilight said, stepping backwards and letting the other unicorn in.

“Whadaya whatsa whoosit?” Said sleepy dragon mumbled, rubbing his eyes as he walked over from a rather messy basket-bed. Rarity’s demeanor instantly changed as she had a reaction to the dragon that was very similar to Fluttershy’s.

“Ooh~, you are just the most adorable thing ever!” She exclaimed, picking him up with her hooves and hugging him suddenly. That woke spike up. The scales on his cheeks lit up at the contact.

“Whoa... you’re pretty...” He said, earning a laugh from the other three.

“We were going to see if he can control his fire breath enough to heat up a kettle without burning the place down. I’ve set up some fire proof spells around it.” Twilight said when the white filly finally but the dragon down. He shook his head after a few seconds and ran over towards where there was a slight distortion in the air around a kettle.

“You already have it all set up?” Spike asked.

“I got bored waiting for you to wake up.” Twilight shrugged. She then turned to Rarity. “I read in a book that a dragon can send and receive messages using their fire breath and a bit of draconic magic.” She continued. She didn’t know why, but she didn’t feel shy around this filly she had never met. The thought confused her, but she decided to think it over later.

“Ready?” She asked, Spike gave a thumb-claws up and picked up the kettle. He took a breath and blew. Green flames engulfed the pot and exploded out, stopped in its tracks by the distortion.

“Spike? You alright?” Twilight called. Fluttershy had cowered behind Dash, Dash let out a ‘Whoa!’ and Rarity had yelped in surprise. The flames quickly died down to reveal a red hot kettle and a slightly blackened Spike. He gave another thumbs up.

“Oh my gosh is he ok?!” Fluttershy and Rarity exclaimed.

“He’s fine, dragons bathe in lava.” Twilight said. Her horn flashed and the kettle and the surrounding area went back to how it was. “Spike, maybe you should start small instead of big.” She continued. He nodded and repeated what he did before. This time, though, it produced a small stream of fire. He stopped and took another breath, this time the fire came out bigger. He kept doing this until it was just big enough to encase the lower half of the kettle. He held it there for a little bit and then the kettle whistled.

“Good job!” Twilight exclaimed when he stopped, panting.

“Yeah... I... need to... work on my... endurance...” Spike breathed.

“We can talk to mom about that spell now.” Twilight said, walking up and hugging the dragon.

“Well I’m happy that you managed such an amazing feet, and it was very nice meeting all of you, but I need to return. Thank you for you hospitality, Twilight.” Rarity said, turning to leave after eyeing the big clock above the door.

“Oh, um so soon?” Twilight asked.

“I’m afraid so... If I stay much longer I’ll worry my caretakers. I’m already a bit behind.” Rarity replied.

“Well, you’re welcome back any time. It’s always nice to make friends.” Twilight said.

“Hey, if you’re friends with Fluttershy then why not come back tomorrow when we go down to the barracks? I want to get down there and practice some stuff before we do anything so we can all hang out for a while.” Dash suggested.

“That sounds like a great idea.” Twilight said.

“Hm... I agree. I’ll try, that field right down there?” Rarity said, pointing at the field through the window.

“That’s the one.” Twilight said.

“Very well. I’ll see you tomorrow, then, I hope.” The white unicorn said. She gave them a little curtsey and left.

“When did you meet her?” Dash asked after a moment.

“Oh... um... remember when I fell off of cloudsdale? Well, I landed near Ponyville... She found me wandering around talking to the animals with a whole bunch of gems following her!” Fluttershy explained.

“Wait... you fell off of cloudsdale? How does that even happen and how were you ok?!” Twilight asked.

“She’s not the best flier, and when something startles her, her wings snap shut and won’t open. Ever since she got back, though, I’ve been doing it on purpose to get her used to it.” Dash explained.

“And... um... a bunch of butterflies helped stop my fall... oh it was such a wonderful place filled with so many wonders!” Fluttershy said.

“That’s... That sound really unlikely but... I guess anything’s possible...” Twilight said.

“That’s what I remember happening... um... And she was so nice to me and she took me to the Ponyville spa and even used some of the gems she had to pay for me! It was so generous of her, and she wouldn’t let me promise to pay her back! Though I refuse to not do so, so next time we meet in ponyville I’m going to treat her to a spa day.” Fluttershy explained rather confidently for her personality.

“Well that’s very kind of you. You guys know where the shower is, right? I’m going to go use Mom’s baths. Saves time, y’know?” Twilight said.

“Right, or maybe it’s because it’s an awesome hotspring waterfall thing.” Dash said, rolling her eyes. Twilight grinned sheepishly. She had told them about the baths and Dash was kind of jealous. She had always wanted to shower under a waterfall.

“Once I come back we can see if we can find you a book you like. I have to admit, it’s quite a challenge.” Twilight said. 

“Pfft. Good luck with that.” Dash said, turning towards the bathroom to shower first as Fluttershy sat down next to where Spike was practicing writing messages using a stack of things Twilight penned up for him for that very reason. He asked her for help every now and then, things like what a word meant or if his clawwriting was decent enough.
> C.11
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The group spent the rest of the night trying to find Dash a book she actually enjoyed, though Twilight eventually passed the task on to Cadence at around 11. Fluttershy and Spike were already asleep, by then. Twilight had to admit, the two of them curled up together on a beanbag chair was absolutely adorable. She was feeling strangely exhausted, though she normally wouldn’t be this tired for another few hours, and said goodnight to the awake ponies. She decided that she wanted to sleep in her mother’s bed tonight, and not just because of how simple it made sleeping arrangements.

Twilight had made it to Celestia’s room without incident, but it was strange. The room didn’t feel right, but after a moment she brushed it off as having not been in here enough to really know the feel of it. Noticing a stack of books open on the desk, she walked over and climbed up the chair to see what it was.

“Hm... ‘Royal Adoption’? But she already adopted me...” Twilight said after reading the title and started reading. What she saw worried and somewhat horrified her. According to this book, it was impossible for an alicorn to adopt a normal pony. If one did, then it could incite riots and violence all through Equestria. The law about royal adoption is one could only adopt from a family of equal standing or higher. Nopony was higher than the Princess.

She was just minor nobility.

It made sense, her now panicked mind told her. Why else would Celestia put her in self defense training? Blueblood did try to duel her, and even though she won she had a feeling it wouldn’t be the last of it.

As she read on, the words genuinely scared her. She was starting to fear not only for her own life, but for Celestia’s. That fear escalated as there was a pounding on the door.

“She’s in here!” Twilight heard a hoarse yell from the other side. Celestia’s chambers were enchanted to protect against spying, dragons, griffins and any other type of threat.

Except for a mob of her own guards and servants, it would seem, as the door shattered and ponies spilled into the room. Twilight would normally have frozen in fear, unable to move, but something called her to action. She used a blast of magic to propel herself away from the guard snatching at her, blast him back into the mob to hold them up and try and escape.

As the crash of broken glass sounded, she realized that she had succeeded in escaping. She opened her eyes, having closed them to shield her sight from the blast, and saw the night sky. A bit of red slowly detached from her head, to slowly fall behind as she fell.

She blasted herself out of the window, head first it seemed, and was now concussed. Disoriented and unable to formulate a spell or even a train of thought, her life flashed between her eyes. Little things that made her happy, like getting her cutie mark. That one time she tried to cook. The last time she saw her brother.

She fell quick and hard, but to her it was as if it was in slow motion. As she neared the ground, she could feel her imminent demise. She looked up at the moon, one last time, to say goodbye to it. One of her only friends.

She closed her eyes and resigned to wait until the end, and therefore she did not see the flash of light on the surface of the moon. Nor how the flash broke off from its prison and left a trail of moonlight as it streaked towards her.

She heard the sound of something impacting the ground with speed, though she barely felt anything. So this was what dying was like? She felt no different, so she opened her eyes to see if she could see anything. She saw the night sky. A soft smile graced her lips.

“Even when I’m dead, the night is still there for me...” She whispered.

“You... are not... dead... little one.” She heard. It was a powerful, but feminine, voice. It was also spoken between great gulps of breath. Slowly turning her head, she saw midnight blue eyes looking sideways at her.

That midnight blue coat, mane like the night, horn and wings both. She remembered seeing this pony before... No, she remembered being this pony. At least in a dream.

Then she remembered who she was.

She looked down at this pony under her, how she was firmly planted into a four inch crater she had probably created impacting the ground to catch her. Princess Luna was there, not on the moon and not consumed by a Nightmare.

Said princess finally caught her breath and straightened up, the disoriented filly still on her back. There was a flash of midnight colored magic and Twilight’s vision cleared and the pain in her head subsided.

With another flash, they were gone from the base of the tower. They reappeared in a small alcove on the side of a very tall mountain. Twilight was lying on the ground and Luna was right next to her. Twilight blinked and realized they had been moved, and was promptly startled as Luna nuzzled her.

“P-Princess? W-What... what happened? How are you here?” Twilight asked.

“You freed me, Twilight Sparkle." Luna started. "A few nights ago, I felt the presence of a very powerful entity. Nightmare Moon felt it too and thought that her return was nigh. To me, though, it was too compassionate and innocent to help a monster like her.” She continued.

“But... but how are you here? I mean, I did dream about that happening, but how did that free you?” Twilight asked, incredibly confused.

“In my banishment, I can still dive into dreams. Unfortunately, the Nightmare follows and turns the dream into an abomination. A Nightmare. That presence, though... I did not know who it was or why I felt it. I traced it into a dream, a dream of yours, and found that the Nightmare could not follow. She was repelled by the pure harmonious energy you have within you, and it was that pure harmonious energy that gave me strength to fight back.

So I fought, and I fought and fought until I was broken and battered. I fled into the world of dreams and hid, and the only place I could hide was your dream. As punishment for fighting back, she tried to break through to the familiar presence I know is you. Only a little bit ago, though, a blast of magic from that familiar presence gave me a second wind and I banished the Nightmare into oblivion. I followed the source and found you here, so I helped.” Luna explained softly. Twilight processed the information, turned it about and looked at it at every angle. 

No matter how she saw it, something still seemed off. It was the same thing that was off in Celestia’s room. What Luna said implied something, and Twilight figured it out after a few minutes of silence.

“But wait... You never left the dream, did you? This is all a dream?” She asked. The Alicorn nodded and nuzzled the filly again.

“A dream may be where we meet now, but dreams are as real as any castle- or dungeon. At least to me. What I told you is not just a dream, everything I said really happened. And thanks to you, Twilight Sparkle, I am finally free... Finally free...” Luna explained, though she gradually laid her head down on the ground and her voice came slower and slower. As she whispered the last syllable, the Princess seemed to be asleep.

Twilight had no idea what to make of this.

She had no idea how to try and even make anything out of it.

Her mind overloaded and she passed out, entering the land of unconsciousness.

---

“Hey y’all, she’s wakin’ up!” Twilight heard.

“Oh hush darling! She hasn’t met you yet!” She heard after the first voice. The voice was right, that first voice was unfamiliar. The second, however, belonged to Rarity.

“Well everypony here knows each other one way or another, Rarity. Applejack and Pinkie are both of our friends, but we only just met today.” That was Dash’s voice.

“Oh... um... Maybe we should give her some space...” Definitely Fluttershy.

Twilight opened her eyes and was surprised to see six faces staring at her. Three of them were her new friends, two she didn’t know and the last was a worried yet joyful Celestia.

“Mom?” Twilight said sleepily. She tried to move, but something was holding her back. She looked down and was utterly surprised to find a filly only a bit older than her sleeping next to her. Well, holding her like a teddy bear but sleeping nonetheless.  She had a blue coat, a moon for a cutie mark and a dark teal blue mane and tail. She looked like Luna, but if it was Luna why was she so small? Celestia seemed to anticipate all of the questions she had.

“I don’t know, love. But whatever happened happened and I have my sister back.” Celestia said, slowly walking towards the bed and nuzzling the both of them.

“Sister?!” The other five exclaimed.

“Not biologically of course, we’re a century or so apart, but we thought of each other as such... Princess Luna... You’ll have to tell me all about it when you wake up; but for now I think you would like to know why these fillies are here, Twilight.” Celestia said softly. Twilight looked at her friends and the new ponies and nodded.

“I have no idea why, but not long after you left we all suddenly started glowing. It was weird, but suddenly I knew I needed to go somewhere and do something. There was this flash of light, like when you teleport, and suddenly I was here on the floor. All of us were there too, but I dunno what they felt. I just felt like I needed to give everything I had, all of my strength, and lend it to something.” Dash explained. The others nodded in agreement.

“That’s when I arrived. The first thing I saw when I opened my own door was a blinding light and something I’ll discuss with you later. After the light subsided, a rainbow of pristine and pure harmonic energy burst from the six of you and flew out the window. I looked to the sky and it lead to the moon.

It took a few minutes, but the energy returned carrying her. The energy placed her next to you and dispersed. These five passed out after that and I was in disbelief for heavens knows how long.” Celestia explained.

“We all woke up an’ there was a might ol’ fuss, but we got everythin’ sorted out in the end.” One of the two unfamiliar earth ponies said. Connecting the voice and the name from earlier, Twilight assumed this was Applejac and the pink one had to be Pinkie. She felt a strange bond between them, and now that she noticed it she felt it with the rest of her friends too.

“Do you feel that, Twilight?” Celestia asked. Twilight looked up at her, surprised. She had her eyes closed and was smiling brightly. “I once wielded the elements of harmony, I know the feeling. I may not have the right to them anymore, but I can feel that they are yours to command now. The six of you.” She continued.

“But... but there’s only five elements.” Twilight said, confused.

“You have singlehandedly brought to life a sixth element, the element of magic. With it, you can probably wield the other elements yourself, but united you are at your strongest.” Celestia continued to explain, meaning the six of them.

“Looks like you just made two more totally awesome friends, eh egghead?” Dash said. Twilight was still trying to wrap her head around everything that was happening. It was so much in so little a time. 

There was Luna, who was currently using her as a snuggle buddy after a mysterious end to her millennia long banishment. There was what Luna had told her, about her somehow being able to free her. There was the fact that she somehow summoned her friends and these two ponies she had never even seen before, and unconsciously at that. And lastly, all of this about the elements of harmony and her ushering in a sixth element.

It was too much for her to handle. Confusion, mental strain and exhaustion all combined in one sleepy force and she was out in an instant. The others had worried looks, and Celestia made sure she was alright, but eventually she asked them to please return to their rooms- and for the two new ones to follow Dash and Fluttershy. She then smiled at the two little fillies dozing on her bed. 

Her adopted daughter, who had a very eventful and bright future ahead of her, who was the bearer of the newest element of harmony. And her adopted sister, who she hadn’t seen for a thousand years. The strains of a princess’ day finally caught up to her, so she did the most logical thing. She curled up with the two on her bed and fell asleep with a smile.
> C.12
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight awoke to something she had never heard before. She heard a light humming that sounded almost like a lullaby. Every now and then the hums would turn into singing, but so lightly she could barely understand it.

“Lonely moon princess, goodnight sister mine, rest now in moonlight’s embrace...” She heard and then it dissolved back into humming. She recognized that voice, and as she opened her eyes she found Celestia sitting next to the balcony doors, looking up at the moon.

“Sleep... Sleep... Sleep” She sang after another bout of humming. The last syllable was drown out for a long time. She smiled, then, and got up.

“I know you’re awake, Twilight.” She said softly, turning towards the bed and smiling wide at the groggy filly. Twilight still felt Luna wrapped around her, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.

“What was that?” Twilight asked. Celestia smiling and crawled onto the bed, gently pulling the two filles closer to her with her wings.

“I was just feeling a bit nostalgic... For a few centuries, every night I would sing that lullaby to the moon, hoping it would reach my sister... I don’t know if they ever did, but she is with us now and I can ask her myself.” Celestia explained. Twilight looked at the dark filly dozing next to her and her expression fell slightly.

“What’s wrong?” Celestia asked.

“It’s just... I have no idea what really happened... I think she tried to explain it in the dream, but I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. And how the others were somehow here, how did that happen? I’m just confused... It all happened so fast.” Twilight explained.

“We will have to wait until she wakes for her side of it, but I got the full accounts of the others if you’d like to know in detail.” Celestia offered. Twilight thought for a moment.

“The others that were in the tower when it happened I can understand, at least kinda, but I have no idea who those earth ponies are.” Twilight said.

“They’re from Ponyville, a nice little village you can actually see from here on certain days...” Celestia started.

---

“What in tarnation?” Applejack said to herself. She was out on a late night apple bucking run, at least that was what she’d tell her big brother. Really she was just taking a nap out under the stars. She had just woken up and was about to get back to the house when she noticed something glowing in front of her.

She stepped towards the tree that had a strange glow to it, and found that the glow shifted. It must have been behind her, then. She quickly turned and out of the corner of her eye saw that everywhere shifted. The patch of apple trees she was in had a glow to it, but the source was her. She looked at her hooves to confirm this and indeed they were giving off a faint glow the same color as her coat.

That’s when she heard it.

Well, not really heard. She felt something. Her mind just perceived it in word form. It was a simple “I need your help, please.”.

What everypony in Ponyville knew about Applejack is that she was loyal to any and all that needed her help.

“Gosh darnit, where are ya?” She asked, wondering where this thing that needed help was. That’s when she felt it, something deep inside of her very being. She felt power, but not like when you get an adrenaline rush. It was more like that one time Rarity tried to levitate her. The unicorn had been unable to, Applejack’s stubborn nature combatting the weak wisps that was the spell’s energy.

This, though. It could have dragged her to the other side of the world without any trouble if it wanted to, and with a flash she thought it had. That’s when she heard a groan, a giggle and a few startled outbursts. She couldn’t see anything, though. There were six different light sources in the room, and all of them were blinding.

There was her own orange, there was a very familiar teal and pink, a deep magenta that seemed to not stay as one color, a light pink and finally an overpowering lavender. 

The source of the lavender was what needed help. She didn’t know what it was, or why, but she still lent it her energy. Her power.

All five of the summoned ponies passed out simultaneously as a beam of multicolored light shot out of the window and impacted the moon.

After a few minutes, very slowly, what looked like a starry night given shape and form started appearing next to Twilight’s sleeping form. The night faded to reveal the blue filly that was Luna.

---

Pinkie had been in canterlot, at the palace actually, delivering a rather special delivery of baked goods to the palace chefs. She was bouncing down one of the halls to leave the palace to head back to the train station when she noticed something that she hadn’t seen before. She was glowing.

“Ooh! This is so cool! I can hang from the ceiling and be a disco ball! DISCO PARTY!!!” Pinkie explained, bouncing even higher as she started spinning around before she vanished in a flash.

She appeared and started giggling, she always loved being teleported. She heard thumps around her and looked around. For once she wasn’t thinking about a party, though, as a rather desperate presence filled her attention. Her face got serious as it asked for help and she gave it all she had.

---

“So, what was that glowing everypony had? I don’t know what could have even brought them here.” Twilight asked.

“Those were the elements of harmony at work. You are the element of magic, which is a sort of combination of the others. The others are Loyalty, Honesty, Laughter, Kindness and Generosity. Your connection to the elements is so strong that it pulled them through to you, and they readily gave you their aid. True friends, even though you barely knew most and didn’t even know some.” Celestia explained.

“I read and researched all of them, can they really do that?” Twilight asked.

“Apparently so.” Celestia said. She proceeded to nuzzle Twilight and settle down. “Now rest, we have a lot to discuss in the morning.” She continued. Twilight’s mind was still in overdrive trying to process everything, but when you’re already half asleep and the princess tells you to sleep? She was out before Celestia herself was.
> The Sun, The Moon and The Stars
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight was once again awoken, but this time it was from something that she vaguely remembered. It was a voice. Well, not really an actual voice, more like somepony was mumbling in their sleep.

She and Luna opened their eyes at the same time. Celestia had to keep herself from bursting out into Laughter as both of their eyes widened.

“You’re awake!” Twilight exclaimed, forgetting they were intertwined and nearly dragging them both off of the bed.

“Well that was quick... I thought I would be out for longer.” Luna said. Her tone was intelligent and wise, but her voice was adorable and high pitched. She used her magic to untangle the two of them. She proceeded to shoot towards Celestia, nearly tackling the towering Alicorn’s head. They both started laughing. A twang of sadness went through her, though, as they embraced. Where did that come from?

It was obliterated when Celestia swept her up in a wing too and for the next minute or so the three of them rejoiced in each other’s embrace.

After that, though, Celestia gathered the two of them up onto her back and proceeded to fetch the other five fillies for breakfast. There was a lot of conversation, though none of it overly important. Mainly they were all just asking Luna random questions. That is, until they finished and Celestia asked a question.

“So tell us, Luna, what exactly happened? Twilight was unsure about it all, so you would be the only one to know.” She asked. Everypony quieted down and gave the filly their attention.

“Ever since I realized that Nightmare Moon wasn’t going to do anything helpful I’ve been taking every chance to fight back. Every single time, though, she would beat me back into submission. Even on the moon, she would not let me regain control. What I know now, which neither of us actually knew all that time, is that you banished the Nightmare and not me. If I were to regain control in full then I would have been able to return.

Unfortunately she was too proud and controlling to let me even wallow in my regrets in my physical form. Not long ago, though, I felt an immensely powerful magical presence. We both did, and we both rejoiced. We both hoped it was our own salvation. Fortunately for me, I was the one who was right.

After that, I started searching through dreams. I would leave as soon as the Nightmare tried to follow me, but one particular dream caught my attention and I couldn’t bring myself to leave. She did not follow, couldn’t actually. I spent a whole night in that dream until I figured out why she couldn’t and I found it to be pure harmonious energy combined with an incredibly powerful pool of magic.

Unbeknownst to me, I had tapped into that harmonious energy and that pool of magic. It was only just a little, but it was enough to take the Nightmare by surprise and nearly defeat her.” Luna explained. At this point, though, she stopped and took a few breaths. She seemed to be calming herself, at least that’s what Twilight thought. They all looked at Luna with worry before she continued.

“That was the first time she ever came that close to ending my life... The only reason she didn’t completely snuff out my existence was because I managed to slip away into the dreamscape, and in her rage she lost track of where I was. I found my way back into your dreamscape, and that’s where she found me. All of her strength went into trying to break through whatever was blocking her, and a bit of her Nightmare managed to slip through. 

Just as the dream warped into a nightmare, though, I felt a massive surge of harmonious magic. That gave me enough power to completely eradicate the nightmare. Revitalized, I had to at least try to return the favor. I banished your nightmare as well and here we are.” She finished explaining. Everypony waited a few moments, probably to see if she would continue, but when it was obvious she would not Twilight hugged her.

“Well thank you for that, and glad I could help.” She said. Luna smiled and hugged her back.

“Hey, hey! We helped too!” Dash exclaimed, jumping into the two to join in. Pretty soon all of the fillies were hugging, even Celestia had enveloped the group hug in her wings. Needless to say it was a big ball of cute just waiting to burst.

And bursted it was. Quill came in, followed by a guard.

“Princess, This is...” She started. The group disengaged the massive hug in an instant and Dash jumped from where she was, even flying to gain speed, as she crashed into the guard.

“Dad! I haven’t seen you in a couple days!” She exclaimed, though instead of worry or sadness her tone was filled with playfulness.

“Yeah, guess so. Maybe I just needed a break from the little ball of energy that is you.” The stallion chuckled, ruffling her mane. Fluttershy flitted up to them and he smiled at her as he got to his feet.

“Princess Celestia, I can’t thank you enough for looking after my Daughter and her friend. I don’t think I could ever repay you.” He said to Celestia, bowing low. Celestia just laughed lightly and walked up to him.

“Cloud Dash, you needn’t ever worry about that. For starters it was for Twilight as well as them. You serve Equestria every day as a royal guard, and that is more than enough compensation.” Celestia explained. He smiled and bowed his head after he stood.

“Thank you. Now, I’m sorry we can’t stay, It isn’t exactly just a few wingbeats to get back, but if Dash and Flutters wants I can always bring them back.” He said to the other fillies. There was general disappointment about them leaving, but general joy about them coming back. Celestia smiled and gave Twilight a wink. She would make it happen if need be.

“Well unfortunately for the rest of you, it’s about time for you to go as well. Families and Guardians are waiting outside.” Quill said. 

That said, all of the little fillies engaged in one more group hug before dispersing, leaving only Twilight, Luna and Celestia in the dining hall.

“It’s too quiet now...” Luna said softly.

“Hopefully that’ll change soon. I think I’ve grown accustomed to having fillies at the palace, and I’ve grown to love the sounds of them having fun, and I tend to keep around things that I like.” Celestia said in a rather playful tone as she stood up. Twilight and Luna got up as well.

“And besides, friendship is magic. You’ll both be seeing a lot of them I should hope. For now, though, I have day court. I’d like the two of you to join me so we can get everything out in the open. Then I’m going to plan a vacation for once. I need to have a nice week to have the both of you to myself, I’ve been much too busy to properly mother you, Twilight, and I don’t want to be a bad sister.” She explained as she led them towards the throne room. “Any objections?” She finished, turning before the door.

“None at all.” The two fillies replied with grins. Celestia grinned back and opened the door.