Chapter 1

View Online

Disclaimer: MLP is not mine. It is the product of the great Faust and owned by the evil empire known as Hasbro

“Welcome my little pony, I-”

“Huh? Wha? I…Prin-*yawn* Celestia?”

“Umm Rainbow Dash? Are you al-”

“Friendship report! Gotta… *thud* Zzzzzzzzzz.”

“Well, this is a bit…different than last time.”

Chapter 1: Realizations

Rainbow Dash awoke with a headache and the memories of an odd dream involving Princess Celestia and…space?

She groaned at the sunlight streaming into her cloud home that kept her from drifting back to sleep. Still, as the most awesome pony on town, and arguably the most lazy as well, a little sunlight wasn’t going to stop her from trying to make up for lost Zs that were sorely needed thanks to last night’s activity.

I should have let Spike write that stupid friendship report after all, she thought before turning away from her window and looking at the reason for her loss of sleep.

After her friends had revealed themselves to be Mare Do Well, Spike had offered a report he wrote on friendship to be sent with Rainbow’s name attached. Rainbow Dash had declined and decided to write one herself. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. After all, she had no idea what Spike wrote and...in all honesty, her feelings were a little conflicted on the matter even after they had all been written down. When she had run out of room on the paper that her friends had watched her write in that alleyway, Dash had run home to add onto it until she had managed to get all her thoughts down on the matter.

And she had a lot of them, more than thirty pages in fact. Front and back.

What had started out as a simple explanation as how a friend shouldn’t rub her awesomeness in the faces of others exploded into something so much more when she started to retell the series of events to the princess. Then it turned into a rant about Twilight and the others doing the exact same thing. That in turn led to Dash explaining how the mistrust and opinions of her friends made her feel before she started questioning just why having five ponies with negative opinions of her had so much more weight than an entire fan club before trying to explain all on paper. After those musings came a dozen other things that the incident brought to mind, which in turn led to even more ideas and things to write, and kept her writing until nearly four in the morning.

Now that she was actually looking at the stack of paper, Rainbow admitted she might have gone a little overboard with her thoughts and explanations. It had been like when she was been in the zone while practicing her flying techniques, only…on paper. That must be what its like with Twilight and Rarity.

Just thinking about her friends made her think about their solution to her ego problem. Which made her heart ache. While Dash admitted she had been pretty egotistical, instead of just telling her, Twilight and the others had concocted a huge plan to take away her fans. They didn’t think enough of her to just sit down and talk to the mare about something.

It still hurts, Dash told herself. The fact that her friends thought so little of her that they decided to destroy her reputation because they didn‘t even think she would listen to them…

Rainbow Dash shook her head. I told myself I wasn‘t going to dwell on that, she thought. Dash didn't like it, but she had to admit that the others had a point. While their methods stunk, she had decided last night could forgive them and move onward to prove to the girls she was better than what they probably saw her as.

Or I could just talk to them about it…you know, like I thought they should have done with me? Rainbow told herself.

But she didn’t want them to feel guilty about the whole thing. Like she had written last night, friends don’t guilt trip each other for revenge, or to get them to do things. Friends helped friends because they wanted to make their lives better, not out of some twisted sense of obligation.

Stupid egghead zone, Dash told the part of her brain that was coming up with the contradictorily thoughts. Soon as cider season gets here, I’m shutting you up permanently with some of the hard stuff. If she went and whined to them about her feelings like a baby, it would probably kill her image even more.

Taking herself out of the argument with…herself, Dash looked over to the cloud clock and grit her teeth at what it told her. Gah! How is THAT the time? I’m gonna be late for weather assignments!

The top weather pony in Ponyville jumped out of bed and frantically looked around her home for something to carry all the paper to Twilight‘s house. Without any time for her rather haphazard morning grooming, she put on her saddlebags to hold the miniature novel that was her friendship letter and took off towards the Ponyville Weather Office.

The cloud building wasn’t much to look at. A small town meant a small budget, and only enough concrete cloud material to cover a 10x10 area to give solid ground to the solid objects that she needed to run presentations and hold the paperwork. So Rainbow Dash made do with just a square formation of clouds large enough to hold a briefing room for the weather team positioned above the ground office that gave the weather reports to all the non-flying ponies of the town. It wasn't much, but it was still hers, to look after for Cloudsdale anyway.

Sure, it wasn’t anything glamorous as a bigger city like Las Pegasus or Manehattan had, but plain also meant it was simple to run and keep up with. Dash didn’t have much problems running the thing on top of training for the Wonderbolts and catching a nap every now and then when her energy burnt out.

Luckily, Dash made it into the cloud building before anypony else did. She didn't waste any time before she slipped into her office and start the morning's work. She grabbed the daily schedule that she had made at the start of the week off her desk. She put her saddlebags down in the corner, then did a quick check to make sure everything was in order. By the time she was ready, Dash could pick up some water cooler talk coming from the main room in the building.

She couldn’t make out any individual words, but had a pretty good idea what was the topic of conversation.

Oh boy this is not going to be pretty, the weatherpony told herself when she realized what else she would be having to deal with. Considering what happened with the Mare Do Well celebration the other day, Dash had a feeling that a few ponies would have some questions about what happened to their new hero after Dash had chased her off.

Just suck it up and take it Dash, the pegasus told herself. Then, after looking around her office for a moment, she saw the head weatherpony sash that was the ‘uniform’ of her position. After a brief internal debate, she decided to put it on. Since Dash had become a bit of a laughingstock, she would probably need a reminder to the others about who was in charge to get through the meeting without too many jokes at her expense. Not to mention all the questions, if not demands for answers about happened with Mare Do Well.

They wouldn't just let the town think I chased off their hero, would they? the pegasus asked herself.

Then she shook her head at her foolishness. Oh come on Dash, have some faith in your friends. They probably explained the whole thing to everypony after you went to write that report, she told herself to crush the growing anxiety in her gut. That reminds me, I got to deliver that letter to Twilight after the briefing.

With the faith in her friends removing her anxiety, Rainbow Dash took the assignment sheets and headed out to face the proverbial firing squad.

The whole weather team was in attendance. Cloud Kicker and Raindrops were talking to each other over in the far corner. Thunderlane was waiting patiently at attention in his usual spot next to the presentation area, while Blossomforth was looking out the building’s East window, probably daydreaming like usual. Even Ditzy had managed to make it on time today, despite the fact that Rainbow didn’t have any work for her. The gray mare was just an auxiliary weather pony, not an official member of the team.

I haven’t been able to find her something all week, Rainbow Dash scolded herself. Thanks to Ditzy’s condition and other quirks, Dash couldn’t put her on the roster. But despite her problems, the mare had a good heart and always tried her best at whatever she did. So Dash always tried to guide a little extra work her way either in weather or odd jobs around town in order to help her pay the bills.

She closed the door to her office and walked out to the presentation room before stomping her hoof on the ground. “Okay guys front and center, and listen up,” Dash said loud enough to be heard across the room. “We’ve got-”

“Dash I know you’ve got a weird sense of humor and a thing for pranks, but that’s not funny,” Thunderlane said with a frown on his face. “Take it off.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at Thunderlane’s weird, and rather gruff comment. “Excuse me?”

The dark gray pegasus let out a frustrated groan and flew up in Dash’s face. He glared at her for a moment while Dash shot him the same look, then reached up and swiped aside her hair. “What the? There‘s no seam-”

“Hey!” Dash shouted as she knocked the pegasus’s hoof away from her face while glaring at the winged-ass. Murmurs in the back she could stand. Mumbling behind her back, Dash could survive. But when somepony just up and dissed her right in front of the room like a punk, Rainbow was not willing to let that one go. Thunderlane fell to the floor of the cloud building and landed on his flank with a soft thump while staring up at her with a gaping mouth.

“This past week may have turned me into the town joke, and you can laugh at me all you want while we’re off the clock,” Dash told the pony who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. The fact that the first thing another pony did was disrespect her caused some of the pent-up frustration Dash had have boil over, and she didn’t bother to hide it. “But while we’re on the clock, I am still the head weatherpony of this town and YOU WILL RESPECT MY POSITION!"

Dash blinked when she realized Thunderlane was less than a foot from her face and cowering on the floor while looking like he wanted to be just about anywhere else. The blue pegasus realized she had been shouting and backed away from the terrified pony before she broke eye contact. “Sorry, this past week kind of has me on…edge?”

The confusion in Dash’s mind only mounted when she noticed all the other ponies in the room were staring at her in shock, and looked to be halfway to the floor in prostration. “What?”

“Sweet Celestia, she’s really-”

“Don’t talk that way in front of one of them!” Raindrops told CK before the other pony could finish.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and looked over to the podium where everyone’s individual folders were. She just wanted to get the hay out of Dodge as fast a possible and forget the day had started, or that yesterday even existed. “Look, it’s the same as yesterday. CK and RD are on Everfree border patrol to keep the stray clouds in. Blossom’s got apple farm duty and Thunderlane’s-”

“Sick!” Thunderlane yelled, the panic in his voice evident.

The interruption made Dash flinch from its ferocity. She looked over to the pegasus in confusion. “Uh…no you’re not," the lead weatherpony mumbled before she frowned. Thunderlane took more sick days than three other pegasi combined.

Thunderlane flinched, and continued on, in a panicked state. “Then I gotta file a repor-I mean! Personal day! I got to take a personal day!” He looked over to Dash, then moved his hoof halfway up to his face before catching himself. After that, Thunderlane quickly slammed it back onto the cloud and turned around to run towards the exit, yelling in a panic as he went. “Gotta go, Derpy can cover for me!”

The whole frantic explanation was over before Dash could react, and Thunderlane was jumping out the door when the rainbow pegasus had finally recovered. “I told you guys not to call her that!” she shouted to the retreating stallion.

“I don’t mind it that much anymore Dash,” Ditzy/Derpy said happily from the back of the room.

Rainbow Dash let out a sigh and shook her head. “Okay, come up and get your assignments.” They might have been the same as the day before, but it didn’t mean there wasn‘t paperwork involved. Each one of them had to sign the papers saying they received their orders.

The guys up top loved their paperwork. It was probably how they kept in practice for singing thier own checks and giving themselves raises every year.

“Um, can’t you just float the…never mind,” Blossomforth trailed off when Dash gave her an odd look before trotting up behind Cloud Kicker and Raindrops.

After she had given everyone else their assignments, Dash motioned for Ditzy to follow her into the back office so they could fill out the proper forms. It didn’t take long to get what was needed and give them to the wandering-eyed mare. She also took off her badge of office, and put the saddle bags back on while Ditzy was looking everything over slowly.

“It’s just outlying farm duty,” Rainbow assured her. “Even if you put them all together, its not even half as much as the apple orchards. I’ll finish up clearing the clouds in town a bit early and come and see if you need help after lunch, okay?”

Ditzy nodded. “Thanks Dash. I should be done in time for my route if its just basic cloud cleanup though.”

Once she had gotten everything put away and her bags strapped on tight, Dash looked over to Ditzy with a hesitant expression. “Okay…go ahead an ask me. I know everypony else is dying to.”

“About the horn? I like it! It‘s really shinny,” Ditzy told her.

Dash blinked in confusion, then looked back at the emergency weather flugal horn that was supposed to warn the town in case of a weather emergency. “Thanks I uh…polished it a few days ago,” Dash replied, completely confused by the other mare’s sheer randomness. She could be as bad as Pinkie sometimes.

“I was talking about that Mare Do Well stuff,” Dash informed her before looking away from Ditzy. “I’m surprised nopony mentioned it yet.”

“Oh that…yeah, I didn’t really like her,” Ditzy told her with a wave of her hoof as she just blew the question off. “She just shows up, and everypony goes crazy over her in less than five seconds? I just didn’t get it. The Doctor said it was because of a…um…something to do with fields…I think? He said it didn't work on me because of my eyes, but I don't see what my eyes have to do with grass.

“Even Dinky was bugging me to get a costume from Rarity’s shop, even when she knows we didn’t have the money for it. Then The Doctor snapped her out of it.” Ditzy shook herself out of her recollection and looked over to Dash as the other mare found herself a little miffed about how quickly all the foals of Ponyville had just tossed away her memorabilia like it was trash. “Ah don’t worry about it too much. The Doctor says everypony will completely forget about her in a few days long as she doesn’t come around again. Bye Princess.”

Once again thrown off by the other pony's randomness, Dash just waved goodbye to her friend. “Uh…bye?”

With Ditzy gone, Rainbow Dash took a few moments to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be. She locked the door behind her, then stepped out into the air and glided down towards the library at the center of town. After catching a few more weird looks from passersby and more than one disgruntled glare from a pony reading his paper across the street, Dash knocked on the door.

“Spike you there? I got my letter for Princess Celestia,” she said.

A few minutes later, she heard Twilight and Spike talking. Another minute of waiting, and the dragon opened the door after the muffled words had quieted down. “Oh hey Rain-bow…Dash?” the little dragon asked as he looked the newcomer up and down, then shrugged. “Uh, pretty sure impersonating a princess is treason you know. You better come in before somepony sees you.”

Dash frowned at the comment, but followed Spike into the library and kicked the door closed behind her. “Hey Spike, can you send a lot of pages in one breath? I kind of got a doozy of a friendship report here,” she told him as she reached into her saddlebag and pulled out the several sheets of paper in her hooves.

All the pages put in front of his face made Spike frown before he looked back up to the blue pony. “Is this a letter, or a dissertation?” The multi-page letter looked more like something Twilight would write than Dash.

“Hey Rainbow, I was just-” Twilight cut herself off halfway into the room from her basement lab. “What the heck are you wearing!?”

Dash blinked and looked over to Twilight in confusion while the irate unicorn glared at her. “Uh…my saddlebags?” she asked before looking back to the twin carrying cases with her cutie mark on the sides.

“Take it off!” Twilight demanded while Dash continued to give her a look that said she was completely lost. “Ugh fine!” Then Twilight’s horn began to glow with her magic.

The mild headache that Dash had been experiencing all morning became a full on migraine, and Dash felt something pull her forward. “Twilight! What the buck are you-”

“What? Is that thing actually-oh no!” was all the purple unicorn managed to get out before the world went white.

Twilight stumbled as she tried to get her footing on the grass that she found under her hooves after the forced teleport. Behind her, she heard Spike collapse and groan. She didn’t blame him, Twilight felt like she was about to lose her lunch too.

What the heck just…oh Celestia don’t tell me that was a REAL magical aura reaction, she thought to herself before looking around. Much to her confusion, she found Ponyville several yards behind her. The magical safety measures in her lab had sent her beyond the city limits.

Even from the edge of town, she could see the remains of her tree house and the numerous areas where the rest of it had fallen down after the expulsion of force blew the tree that held the town library to pieces.

“But that means…” Twilight mumbled to herself before she stopped at just what everything that just happened meant.

She had pulled at what she thought was a prop Rainbow Dash was wearing on her forehead, but got a reaction as if Twilight had been messing with another unicorn’s source of power directly. In other words: the horn on top of Rainbow Dash’s horn was real, the unicorn told herself in horror.

Although that realization only raised more questions, the studious unicorn kept her mind focused on the current problem. She could think about what it meant that Rainbow had somehow become an alicorn when the current crises had been taken care of.

Twilight focused her mind on the actual force of the explosion, which was a twofold surprise. She knew whenever magic from one unicorn touched the epicenter for magic of another, the incompatibility always resulted in a mystical blow-back that left both of them with a headache and some slight property damage around the one who had her horn messed with. That was thanks to the mixing of magic when a tiny portion of the unicorn’s mana pool is used to expel the offending magic in a knee-jerk defense reaction. Added to that was Twilight emergency procedures. Thanks to the experiments Twilight ran in her lab, she had made sure to create dozens of wards and safety measures in case something ever went wrong. If there ever was an adverse magical reaction, several spells would activate to contain, drain, and safely funnel the magic into the sky and away from the town.

As a third precaution, Twilight had laid an emergency escape spell to teleport anyone that was in the building and in danger of being hurt away from the unfettered blast radius. The range was placed as such just in case all her other fail-safe spells didn’t work and she needed to get to safety. That spell sent her outside the town’s borders.

Okay…okay, Twilight thought to herself as all the information in her head told her exactly how bad things were. Somehow, Dash…and I can’t believe I’m thinking this…Rainbow Dash actually achieved enlightenment and became an alicorn. The adverse reaction to my magic touching her horn…oh Celestia, she blew past all my wards and overloaded the magic funnel with just an adverse magic reaction? And if my wards really had failed the entire town would have…oh no, Rainbow Dash!

“Spike stay here,” Twilight told her assistant before she gathered her magic and focused on a target. A moment later, she had teleported over to the wreckage of what had been her home. A second after her appearance, Carrot Top jumped in front of her and filled Twilight’s vision. “Twilight you’re okay! But if you’re here, then-Oh my gosh! Rainbow Dash blew up your house!”

“WHAT?” Twilight shouted before knocking the crazy mare aside and made her way past some other ponies. How in Tartarus can they possibly think something like THAT? Twilight asked herself before she moved pass the crazed carrot farmer. That sounded about a silly as the rumors she had heard just this morning saying Rainbow Dash had kidnapped Mare Do Well and was holding her in some super villain base for showing her up!

The disaster zone that had once been the library was…well, a disaster zone. Twilight pushed her way through the small group of ponies that was quickly forming into a crowd to see down inside. The crater that had been caused by Dash’s horn had actually pushed the dirt down further than Twilight’s lab, and there was nothing left of the tree at all.

In fact, the only thing in the crater was a frantic former pegasus-turned-alicorn that zipped around the destruction as she went through destroyed bookcases, debris, and an assortment of normal rocks that were sharing the crater with her. All the while leaving a rainbow trail that zigzagged through the devastation.

“TWILIGHT? TWILIGHT WHERE ARE YOU?” Rainbow Dash shouted frantically as she ripped up a bolder nearly twice her size with her bare hooves and tossed it aside to look underneath.

Holy cow, I knew alicorn’s were physically strong but… Twilight was unable to finish her thought when she noticed the sheer look of panic on her friend’s face. Buck, friend’s mental stability first, scientific observations later.

“Rainbow Dash I’m right here!” Twilight called out. However, as the pegasus continued her frantic digging through the area that had once been her lab, Twilight doubted her words had been heard.

With words being ineffective, Twilight leapt down into the wreckage, and poked her friend in the flank. Rainbow immediately spun around and Twilight sucked in a breath. The tears collecting on the edge of the blue alicorn’s eyes and the panic on her face was like a knife in her own heart.

“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed before she grabbed her friend in a hug and lifted them both into the air.

“Rainbow…can’t…breathe,” Twilight gasped while the alicorn crushed her rubs in a bear hug. When the sensation didn’t let up, Twilight gathered the last bit of breath in her lungs and shouted. “RAINBOW!”

The pressure disappeared and Dash held her at arms length. “Sorry, I can barely hear you for this stupid ringing in my ears.”

Twilight sighed and looked down at the crowd. She could see Applejack had abandoned her stand in the market to come and take a look at what was going on, and Pinkie was also among the throng of ponies looking up at them. Then Twilight looked around the rest of the town, and pointed with her hoof towards Rarity’s boutique. They needed to talk with their friends somewhere private.

“Are you sure you’re both okay?” Rarity asked as she waited by her stove for the tea to come to a boil. As soon as it did, the white turned to look at the others gathered around her table. Fluttershy hadn’t been in town, so the impromptu meeting of the Element Bearers inside the living space of Carousel Boutique only included Rarity, Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and the newly altered Rainbow Dash.

The alicorn nodded. “Yeah, my ears have stopped ringing.”

“And the safety spells in my lab actually teleported me and Spike out before the explosion occurred,” Twilight assured her. “I don’t even have a headache. Spike did have a bit of warp sickness though. I’ll have to try and refine my teleportation runes targeting parameters the next time I set up a lab.”

Rainbow moved her attention over to Twilight. “Hey, how come I didn’t get teleported out? And what the hay happened down there anyway? One moment I've got this splitting headache, and then everything goes white...or a weird light pink anyway, and then I look around and it looks like a bomb went off in your house."

I accidentally set off some of your ethereal energy and if you had been teleported out before it went off, the entire town might have been blown away, Twilight thought to herself while she tried to come up with an explanation that didn’t sound like ‘I almost made you blow everypony in town to kingdom come’.

“Okay, if nopony’s gonna ask about the elephant in the room, then Ah am,” Applejack said before she pointed to her best friend. “WHAT THE HAY IS RAINBOW DOING WITH A HORN ON HER HEAD?”

Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes. “Duh, waiting for her tea silly.” Then she looked down at her table space as a telekinetic field dropped a cup off. “Thanks Rarity.”

“Applejack, what’re you talking about?” Rainbow asked, a confused frown adding to the dust and dirt marring her face.

Everypony in the room froze. Twilight blinked. Applejack just sat there slack jawed. Rarity could barely keep her teacups from dropping. Pinkie managed not to scream despite the fact that when it come time to freeze, she had the unfortunate timing of having to stop what the cup of tea was titled to her lips, but before her mouth was opened to accept the drink so that it spilled over and into her lap.

“Say what now?”

“You mean you don’t know?”

“Haven’t you taken a look in a mirror this morning darling?”

“Ow hot! It burns! Towels, icepack, somepony help!”

And so after Pinkie had gotten the attention she needed and Rarity wiped up the liquid on her floor with a towel…

“Here,” the fashionista told the alicorn as a full length mirror floated in from her inspiration room and over to Rainbow Dash.

The blue alicorn with the rainbow mane took one look at her new head accessory, and blinked. Then, she reached up and poked the point of it with her hoof. A weird shiver ran all the way down her back to her tail, and she cried out in surprise before falling back out of her chair and flapping her wings to get into the air. “What the hay! Why is there a horn on my head?”

“Oh, Oh I know,” Pinkie said as she jumped out of her seat. “Maybe Rainbow Dash is really the secret love-child of Princess Celestia! And the snooty nobles in Canterlot didn’t like the princess having a pegasus foal, so she had to ship Dashie off to Cloudsdale to live with a super-special adopted family while she secretly watched Rainbow Dash her whole life, and now that Dashie’s horn has finally grown, she’s going to make a surprise visit and suddenly announce me and Dashie are actually sisters!”

Twilight held up a hoof to stop the pink pony before things could get even more bizarre. “Pinkie, please stop,” she begged while she rubbed her temples. “You’re not making any sense, and its causing me to get a headache. And how would Celestia being Dash’s mother have anything to do with the two of you being sisters?”

Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Cause Dashie’s and me had the same dad in that fic, duh. Do I need to explain to you where foals come from Twilight?”

“NO!” everypony at the table shouted as the collective thought not to try and examine Pinkie’s reasoning as to just why her theory also had her and Dash being sisters ran through their heads.

“Pinkie…Princess Celestia is not my mom,” Rainbow Dash told Pinkie Pie in an even tone.

“Then why’s your mane all rainbowy huh? Explain that!” Pinkie said as she pointed an accusing hoof at Rainbow Dash.

In response, Rainbow Dash shrugged. “It’s a family trait. My dad had a rainbow mane, and my grandma, and great-grandmother. Every firstborn of my whole family has them.”

Twilight frowned in confusion. “Just the firstborn? Uh Dash, that’s…not normal.” She didn't even want to try and calculate the odds of such a thing occurring. Although, complicated math problems did help calm her down...

“I wake up with a horn, and you’re asking questions about my hair,” Rainbow Dash deadpanned. “That’s what’s not normal.”

The statement had the unicorn rolling her eyes. “No, I’m just curious about how this one family trait is passed down from firstborn to firstborn, that’s not how genetics is supposed to work! I know what caused the horn,” Twilight said before frowning and rubbing her chin. “Although I’m lost on why you don’t remember it.”

“WHAT?” the other ponies in the room shouted.

Twilight blinked, then repeated her last statement. “I’m just surprised she doesn’t remember becoming an alicorn.”

“Not that!” Applejack yelled. “How in tarnation can you explain Rainbow suddenly sprouting a horn overnight!”

“She got it from Princess Celestia,” Twilight told them simply, like she was saying rain was wet.

“You mean she really is Princess Celestia’s secret love-child?” Rarity shrieked. With the information being too much for the white unicorn, she pulled her fainting couch in from another room, and promptly collapsed on it.

Pinkie danced in joy. “I knew it!”

“I AM NOT PRINCESS CELESTIA’S SECRET LOVE-CHILD!” Rainbow Dash roared.

Twilight barely had time to grab her tea before she saw Rainbow’s mane ignite with her mana to change it into an aurora lightshow while her eyes glowed and the anger induced surge of magic amplified her force to the point where everypony else was knocked onto their flanks. The display of power untwined Twilight’s hair and she had to force herself to keep from shaking.

Rarity fared much worse. Although not a magic talent like Twilight, the other unicorn could still detect magic in use when it was around her; and Rainbow had just shown the tsunami that was her mana pool to any unicorn who bothered to look. The sight had sent the fashionista cowering behind her tipped over couch like it was cover for an incoming attack.

It also didn’t help the pissed off alicorn was actually focusing her attention on the white unicorn. Standing like an angry goddess while the terrified seamstress looked up, knowing she could be crushed like a bug at any moment.

“Are you guys even listening to me?” Dash demanded as her mane and tail blazed behind her. “My parents were a pair of awesome pegasi from Cloudsdale! NOT CELESTIA!”

“But hey, you’re all, let’s not bother talking to Rainbow Dash about it!” the alicorn continued as she stormed around the room and looked at the others, causing them to flinch and tip over the table to hide behind. “Let’s make some stupid plan and try to convince her we’re right! I know! You can dress up in a Celestia costume and tell everyone that she’s really Celestia’s daughter and rub it in her face when she screws up and gets outshone by the mare in the costume when a building collapses, or a balloon crashes, or a BUCKING DAM BREAKS!”

Twilight ducked behind the table with the two earth ponies and gulped. Sweet Celestia, her mane is etherealized, her eyes are glowing…her steps are causing miniature EARTHQUAKES! Cadence never did anything like this, Twilight mentally screamed.

But then, Cadence was an older pony who never had to deal with her friends placing a bad luck spell on them while another pony wrapped in enchanting clothes that made everyone admire them did all the heroics, Twilight’s memory reminded her.

“I think Dashie is just a liiiiitle bit angry about the whole Mare Do Well thing,” Pinkie reasoned as she braced her back against the table.

“YA THINK?” Applejack shouted before she looked over to the purple unicorn. “Twilight, do somethin!”

Twilight grabbed her hind legs to try and keep them from shaking. Thankfully, opening her mouth to talk kept her teeth from continuing to chatter. “I would, but terror is keeping me from moving or talking above my current volume,” she squeaked. “My flight instinct would have already kicked in and teleported me away, but the amount of mana Dash is emitting right now is reeking havoc with the surrounding ethereal void. So any attempt at crossing it would probably end with me being burnt to ash by Dash’s uncontrolled mana storm.”

“Oh for-” Applejack cut herself off then jumped into the sights of what Twilight could only call an angry god. “Dash simmer down! We’re sorry about all that, okay? I know we wounded your pride an all-”

“YOU THINK I CARE ABOUT THAT?” the alicorn raged, forcing Applejack back. “YOU…I mean, sure it hurt but…you guys…”

Twilight blinked as the energy in the air around her quieted down as she looked over the table to see Dash was starting to clam down and…cry?

“You guys did all that,” she said in her normal voice before while the alicorn’s tears continued to run down her cheeks. “But…why didn’t you just TALK TO ME?”

“Did you think I wasn’t going to listen?” she demanded in a pleading tone as she looked over to Rarity as the unicorn peeked her head out. "That I didn't care what you guys thought?"

The question made Rarity look away. “Well no. But, that’s…umm, you see…”

“Twilight did it!” Pinkie explained as she pointed to the purple unicorn.

The unicorn in question blanched. “Uh, Pinkie-”

“Did what?” Rainbow asked, now somewhat confused.

“Okay look,” Applejack cut in. “We were getting kinda fed up with yer ego antics, which you agreed were over the line.” The earth pony poked the alicorn to emphasis the point. “And we were going to get together as a group to have you turn it down. But then Twilight came up with this whole harebrained scheme and those magic costumes to put you on the receiving end and shrink yer ego down a bit.”

Twilight let out a breath, thankful she didn’t tell the others about the bad luck spell she had placed on Rainbow Dash as well. “Don’t worry,” Twilight assured her. “In a few days without seeing the Mare Do Well costume, everypony will forget she ever even existed and everything else that had to do with her.”

“I SAID I DON’T CARE ABOUT THAT!” Dash shouted at them before she sat down on the floor and the tears began to flow in earnest. “I…I don’t care if everypony in town thinks I’m a loser. You guys…the fact that you guys…is that how you see me? You really didn’t think I wasn’t going to listen did you? That I didn’t care about your feelings? That…that I… Isn’t that one of the whole points of being a friend?”

The realization of what Dash was talking about hit Twilight like a hammer. Dash isn’t mad with us because of Mare Do Well…she’s upset because we… because I thought Mare Do Well was needed in the first place. “Rainbow…”

“Oh darling of course we know you care about us,” Rarity was quick to respond as she rushed over to embrace the alicorn in a hug.

Applejack was quick to join her. “Ah have to admit, Ah might have been a bit angry over the whole photo-op thing,” she said before taking off her hat. “Ah shouldn’t ta let that get to me and just gone along with Fluttershy’s suggestion and talked to you.”

“Huh?” Rainbow asked.

“Everypony did just wanted to tell you to knock it off Dashie,” Pinkie told her. “We were even going to tell you at a super-secret tone it down party, which wasn’t really a party cause then that would have just helped feed your ego, so all I made for it was some chamomile tea so you would relax and listen…better. Opps. Hmmm, guess what’s why I went with Twilight’s plan after she showed us all those funny numbers. Cause you know, I thought you needed help before you‘d listen to us.”

The pink pony paused for a minute and took a breath while she steadied herself before looking Rainbow Dash in the eye with a serious expression. “I’m sorry I didn’t have faith in our friendship Dash.”

A metaphorical arrow pierced Twilight’s heart, and she had to steady herself thanks to Pinkie’s last sentence. Was that what I… No! I ran the numbers, I showed them the equations. When Rainbow Dash gets on a stubborn streak and competitive…she didn’t even listen to me when we had the Running of the Leafs! Based on all previous evidence, there is no way Rainbow Dash would have done as we asked and stopped being so egotistical!

Twilight remembered that Dash had been open to new ideas after the race once it was shown how wrong she was. Dash needed to be set up for failure before she would accept a new viewpoint, so Twilight had made it impossible for her to succeed.

We needed to… I needed to place a bad luck spell on her so she couldn’t…save the balloon pilot…

Or nearly get crushed under construction equipment…

…and…nearly drown…when the dam…Oh sweet Celestia, what have I done?

Twilight noticed her vision had become blurry, and wiped away her tears before she walked over to Rainbow Dash. “I’m sorry,” she told the alicorn before she wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow‘s neck. “I’m sorry…I’m so…so sorry.”

The alicorn returned the hug. “It’s okay Twilight.”

“No it’s not!” she cried as her mind listed everything that happened because of that stupid spell. Twilight had heard what other ponies were saying about the former pegasus behind her back. Rainbow Dash was fast on her way to being the town laughing stock.

“Rainbow Dash blew up your house!” Carrot Top’s words echoed in her mind.

Or the town pariah, Twilight told herself before she started to focus her magic. She needed to get rid of the bad luck spell before it got any worse.

A hard banging on the door killed Twilight’s concentration, and all the ponies broke from the group hug to look at Rarity’s kitchen door before a familiar voice reached Twilight’s ears. “This is the royal guard! We know you’re in there, open up!”

Shiny? Twilight asked herself as the voice was connected to a face. What the hay is he doing here?

Chapter 2

View Online

Chapter 2: Revelations

Shining Armor was not having a good morning.

It wasn’t thanks that fact that he had been awoken before dawn, that was par for the course when you were a royal guard. It wasn’t because he had been put on escort detail to Princess Celestia for a trip to Ponyville, that would have allowed him to see his sister. It wasn’t the fact that he had to put on his ceremonial armor, which still fit him pretty well despite putting on a few pounds since he worn it last. It wasn’t even the fact that his presence was completely unneeded since the being he was protecting could arguably be called a god that was the cause of his bad morning.

No, it was the fact that halfway to the quaint little burg, Shining Armor had to watch the house his sister lived in explode.

Then, Princess Celestia left everyone behind and zoomed off to Ponyville on her own while Shining Armor was left standing in a chariot for an agonizing twenty minute ride. On top of which, when he did land, the place where everyone said Twilight, who thankfully survived the explosion because she wasn’t home as according to eyewitnesses, was at the center of a mana storm that either sent every unicorn in town running in terror or made them pass out in fright. Oh, and of course when he DID arrive at the shop where Twilight was, Princess Celestia had FORBIDDEN him from entering the building while something with enough magic to turn everything to dust from Manehattan to Vanhoover was apparently throwing a temper tantrum!

It was only ten agonizing minutes after everything had calmed down that Princess Celestia had finally given him permission to approach the boutique ‘in a respectful manner’.

So he walked up to the building all prim and proper, then dropped the act and pounded on the door before issuing demands. “This is the royal guard. We know you’re in there, open up!”

Inside the unicorn's kitchen, Twilight opened the door and moaned in embarrassment when her big brother leaped into the room and after taking a look around, grabbed the purple unicorn and zipped over to the wall before putting her behind him as well as a shield around the both of them. “Princess Rainbow Dash, I’m asking you to please remain calm.”

“PRINCESS?” Applejack and Pinkie yelled.

Rarity put her couch back on all fours and got into position. “You’re a princess Rainbow?”

“No!” Rainbow exclaimed.

Twilight answered at the same time. “Yes.”

“I’m not a princess!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she looked over to Twilight.

“Actually, I think you are now,” Twilight cut in after she stepped out from behind Shining Armor. “See, with the horn, wings, and-”

Shining Armor put a hoof over Twilight’s mouth. “Don’t argue with the princess. If the princess says she’s not a princess, then don’t call her a princess.”

“…Okay…now Ah’m confused,” Applejack mumbled.

Pinkie gasped. “I thought you were Applejack. Hey, did anypony know that Applejack had a twin sister? And while we’re on the subject of new ponies, who’s the pony in the shining armor?”

“Shining Armor,” Twilight supplied before her brother looked back at her.

“What?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “No, I was telling her your name.”

“Yeah, I wanna know the shinning armor pony’s name,” Pinkie said.

“HIS NAME IS-”

“Captain,” a voice all the ponies in the room knew spoke up, making Twilight bite her tongue in startlement. The last thing she wanted was for Princess Celestia of all ponies to see her friends like this! “Do you deem it safe for me to come in now?”

“...Yes.”

As the co-ruler/deity of Equestria made her way into Rarity’s kitchen, the owner of the establishment looked at the mess it had become since Rainbow Dash’s…event. The mare’s face became pale at the fact her goddess was seeing her pride and joy in such a state. “Oh sweet Celestia.”

“Yes?” the alicorn asked, at which point Rarity probably noticed her goddess just noticed her abusing Her name in such a way, and dove back onto her couch.

There was a brief moment of silence at the sight, and then…

“Hi Captain, my name’s Pinkie Pie!” the pink pony said as she offer her hoof in friendship.

“…how did she get in my shield?” Shining Armor mumbled to his sister.

“Shhh! The amount of impossible problems I can work on in the back of my mind and still function enough to carry on a conversation is only one, and I’m still calculating he odds for the firstborn of every member of Rainbow’s family having the exact same hairstyle.”

Applejack leaned over to whisper in Rainbow Dash’s ear. “Why is Celestia here? You don’t suppose you and her really are related, do ya?

“Oh for the love of,” Celestia mumbled before she looked around at each pony while belting out an answer to each of their questions. “His name is Shining Armor. No need to be embarrassed Rarity. The odds are actually one hundred percent Twilight, and yes.”

“Awwww, I didn’t ask about my horn in time,” the blue alicorn moaned while Rarity recovered from her fake fainting spell.

The purple unicorn frowned at Celestia’s words. But how could you always…wait…” Twilight’s brain processed the last word her teacher had said before she looked over to the white alicorn. “You mean you really ARE Rainbow Dash’s mother?”

“Well, down I go again,” Rarity mumbled before she fell back onto her couch.

“WHAT?” Celestia exclaimed in a rare moment of suprise. “No! I’m…” she sighed and looked around the room. “Can we please get some semblance of order here. And where’s Fluttershy?”

“Probably hiding under her bed since Rainbow Dash blew up Twilight’s house,” Applejack informed the princess.

Rainbow Dash frowned at Applejack. “I didn’t do that!”

“Yeah, that one was my fault,” Twilight confessed before Celestia’s horn lit up to start cleaning everything.

-And so a few minutes later-

“Okay so, how the hay did I get this thing on my head? Uh, Princess.” Rainbow Dash demanded politely as she could once they were put back to normal, remembering to add the princess at the last second. “And what’s all this manure about you being my mom? Dad took pictures of me right after I was born, and you sure as hay weren’t in them!”

Rarity looked around at her shop. “The floors have even been cleaned. I don’t know whether to be amazed or embarrassed,” she mumbled to herself as she shook her head in denial of her words. “Princess Celestia cleaned my kitchen floors.”

With Rarity out of commission, Twilight filled in the mare’s usual role. “Rainbow Dash! Manners!”

“Then shouldn’t you be calling her Princess Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie asked Twilight.

“I’m not a princess!”

“Yes you are,” Twilight, Shining Armor, and Celestia corrected her at the same time. The latter continued to add, “and no Rainbow Dash, you are not my daughter. You’re actually my great-great-great…you know, I’m not going to say all those. You’re my 50th great-granddaughter.”

The entire room went deathly silent at the declaration. All the little ponies just gaped open-mouthed at Celestia’s news, then they looked back and forth between Celestia and Rainbow Dash.

“What?” the rainbow alicorn finally mumbled. “But…how?”

Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes. “What? I gotta tell you too?” she asked. “Okay, once upon a really, really long time ago in the kingdom that we’re standing in now. Princess Celestia had this really itchy itch that needed a special kind of scratching.”

“PINKIE!” Twilight shrieked. “You do not talk about that-gah! I don’t even know where to begin with how wrong that is!”

Celestia chuckled. “It’s quite alright Twilight. But I think I’ll tell the story, if you don’t mind Ms Pie.”

“Does your story have zombies?” she asked.

“Um…no,” Celestia told Pinkie with confusion on her face. “But I’d still like to tell it all the same.”

“Weeeeelllllllll okay,” Pinkie agreed. “But mine woulda been better. It has zombies.”

With that, Celestia cleared her throat and began. “Before Discord and Nightmare Moon, during the first hundred years of our life, Luna and myself had no idea we were to live as long as we have. We were simply born into this world, the children of the rulers of the unicorn tribe.”

Twilight frowned in confusion, then raised her hoof. “Wait…I thought you and Luna were born after the three tribes united.”

“We were,” Celestia told her with a nod of her head. “But just because the three tribes had agreed to unite and settle in Equestria, it did not mean that all tribes were considered equal. Earth ponies still toiled in the fields, and pegasi still served as a military force while the unicorns still used their control of the sun and the moon to lord over everything. If anything, the pegasi had been reduced in status from when the three tribes were separated, as they served as weather farmers and were required to live on the ground with the other ponies.”

“Say what?” Rainbow Dash shouted. “Why the hay did you make pegasi live on the ground?”

The question made Celestia shake her head. “You misunderstand, I was alive at this time, but I did not rule. I was a simple filly living in my parents castle with Luna and my elder sister.”

“ELDER SISTER?” most of the ponies in the room shouted.

“You had a…but…there’s no…there’s another royal alicorn sister?” Twilight sputtered.

Celestia sadly hunger her head and shook it. “No. My elder sister Andromeda was a unicorn. Although, perhaps that is not giving her enough credit. She was the most powerful unicorn of hr time, the most powerful in generations in fact. Perhaps even approaching Twilight in raw power.” Then the goddess closed in on herself. “My poor sister, why couldn’t that have been enough?” she whispered.

“But…how would your older sister be born a unicorn while both you and Princess Luna be born alicorns?”

“Well you see Twilight, when a unicorn king and a unicorn queen get together-”

“Don’t even start Pinkie,” she warned.

“It probably has to do with the circumstances of our birth,” Celestia mumbled just loud enough to hear. “Andromeda was conceived before the royal family moved into the castle above The-well, that‘s not really important.” She cleared her throat and got back on track. “The point is, the three tribes were hardly equal. Then I was born, a creature with traits of all three races. And for obvious reasons, everything changed.”

The smaller ponies at the table shared a confused look. This time, it was Rarity who spoke up. “What reasons?”

“Right…I keep forgetting Luna and I managed to eliminate racism twelve hundred years ago,” Celestia mumbled to herself. It had been a gradual process, but Celestia’s long term plan paid off in the end. She hated to think what might have happened if they had gone with Luna’s ‘mind control a generation’ solution.

“Race what?” Applejack asked.

“I think I know the kind of race she‘s talking about,” Rainbow Dash told her. “It’s when ponies tie their back legs together and-”

“Racism is the idea of a pony tribe being more important than the others based on nothing but birth,” Celestia explained dryly before Rainbow could finish embarrassing herself. “The most extreme cases didn’t even take the different abilities of the tribes into account.”

Twilight scrunched up her face. “Well that’s stupid! Sure, each different type of pony has a natural inclination towards certain things when it comes to our jobs, but we’re all ponies. And so what if Rainbow can-”

“Pretty much do all our jobs now?” Applejack asked.

“Okay, bad example,” Twilight admitted. “”So what if Pinkie can’t teleport-”

“Then how’d she get inside my shield?”

Twilight banged her head on the table and didn’t bother looking up. “Just continue with the back-story.”

“Anyway,” Celestia said between snickers over her student's reaction. It had been a long time since she had such a conversation with the little pony, and the goddess had found her protege's responses a breath of fresh air. “At the time, nearly all the unicorns, and many members of the other tribes had come to believe that unicorns were superior to the other tribes. This mostly stemmed from the fact that after a central government was formed, a generation of studies were conduced on the different types of magic among the tribes, allowed unicorns to make spells to move the clouds and grow plants. These spells in turn negated the pegasi’s and earth ponies’ greatest contributions to Equestrian society. So, while the unicorns could make do without the other two tribes, the unicorn’s council of thirteen were needed to raise the sun and the moon. Put simply, unicorns believed they were were better because they had horns.

“Then I was born, a horned pony with the wings of a pegasus, and as we eventually came to learn, the strength of an earth pony. After the accusations of infidelity were answered with a paternity spell, my mother forbade them from declaring me some type of mutation and tossing me out the nearest window. Then came the questions of if I would ever be a…useful winged-unicorn.”

Rarity frowned. “Why? Certainly your wings could have been nothing but an asset. Trust me, I'm speaking from experience.” Although, the memory of that little event did make her give Rainbow Dash an apologetic look. They had grown a bit closer since Cloudsdale, but Rarity had to admit, making a ballroom dress for the pony who saved her life hardly seemed to even the score.

Celestia nodded at the question. “At the time, many of the scholars thought my magic would be divided between the three aspects of my race. I would be the weakest of unicorns. This would have been a shameful mark to my family with Andromeda being the strongest unicorn in several years, and the fact back then a unicorn’s level of magical power was what gave them status thanks to the existence of the Council of Thirteen.”

The thought of everyone actually considering Celestia weak made Twilight giggle. “But it was fun when you showed them wrong.”

Once again, sorrow filled Celestia’s voice as she regarded her student. “No, it was one of the worst days of my life.”

The foal Celestia skipped down the castle’s hallway as she hummed a song to herself. The song had no real words, having just been invented by the filly, but it helped show the ponies around her just how happy she was at the moment after hearing the good news. It was still supposed to be a secret, but she heard Mommy and Daddy talking to the royal alchemist about the new child on the way. She was going to have a new sister soon!

Well, she hoped it was a sister, but Celestia supposed that a brother would be okay too. Either way, Celestia promised herself she would play with her new sibling every day. They could dress up, and have tea parties, and play dollies, and fly together… Oh please have wings too little sister.

But even if she didn’t, Celestia would still play with her like she was always asking to play with Andromeda…who never wanted to do anything fun.

“HOW DARE YOU BRING ME THIS YOU LOUSY DIRT CLOPPER!” Andromeda’s voice echoed through to the hallways a as Celestia heard a metal tray strike stone and clatter to the ground. A second later, Celestia stuck her head in the room where the noise had come from to see her sister looking down at one of the 'mud ponies' as she called them. She really didn't understand the reasoning behind the term. After all, the ponies with no wings or horns worked in the earth whether it had rained or not. Mud had nothing to do with it.

“B-But Princess, you asked for snozberries,” the earth pony servant stuttered as he cowered from the princess‘s wrath.

Celestia watched in confusion as the pink unicorn with the golden mane and cutie mark that looked like a pentagram stood over the dark gray earth pony with her horn surrounded by a blue glow. With a tiara upon her head, Andromeda was in all her regal glory, positioned over the meek servant.

“But sister, you like snozberries,” she pointed out. They were her sister's favorite treat, next to those apples that didn't grow on pines, no matter what their names said. Celestia really didn't understand the reason for their name either, now that she thought about it.

On the far side of the room, Andromeda looked back at her sister with a barely hidden sneer. “I ordered you not to call me that,” the princess said.

Celestia giggled and trotted into the room. Andromeda never used her name in private, it was always ‘you’ or ‘child’ and ‘moo-tation’. The last one always made the filly smile. It was her secret nickname that only her sister called her when they were alone.

With Celestia around, Andromeda abandoned her torment of the servant and motioned for him to run away with an inclination of her head. Once they were alone, the turned to her younger sister and frowned. “What do you want mutation?”

“Let’s go flying!” Celestia said.

In response, Andromeda rolled her eyes. “I have no wish to share a sky chariot with you.”

“No, just us,” Celestia corrected her sister as she flapped her wings and held a hovering position. “Come on, I’ll carry you. It’ll be fun!”

Andromeda looked the young filly up and down with an apprehensive eye. “You may be freakishly large for a six-year-old, but there is no possible way you could support my weight even if I desired to accompany you.”

To Celestia, the solution was simple. “I’ll use my horn,” she said before a golden glow enveloped Andromeda.

“Bah you ignoramus of a child,” the unicorn grumbled before she tilted her head as if to focus the magic of her horn. A blue glow surrounded her horn and…her legs began to kick as she was lifted into the air by her little sister’s magic.

Andromeda’s face became one of deep concentration, then strain, and slowly gave way to fear as Celestia brought her big sister closer without even noticing the older unicorn’s struggles. By the time Celestia had walked over to the room's window, Andromeda had taken on a panic as she kicked wildly in a futile attempt to escape the powers of the young goddess.

“C-Celestia stop this!”

The young filly ignored her sister’s begging and opened the window. “It’ll be fun, I promise!”

“No Celestia please, put me-”

“Weeeeeeee!” the filly shouted as she jumped out the window with her sister in tow.

“I flew two circuits around the castle while carrying my big sister, with her fighting me all the way and me completely oblivious to her struggling,” Celestia continued. “By the time we returned, everyone in the castle and the village surrounding it had seen the humiliating sight of my sister being marehandled by a being fifteen years her junior. Nopony else except my parents found out it hadn’t been at Andromeda’s request, the townsponies thought it was simply two sisters having some fun. And even after that, I didn’t learn that I was so much more powerful than my big sister until several year later.

“Still, the damage was done. Andromeda was terrified of me, and when Luna was born, she became even worse. She thought we were going to take her future throne away from her…that we were going to completely destroy pony society thanks to our wings and magical strength.”

Celestia took a deep breath and shook her head. “And ironically, thanks to her…that’s exactly what we did.”

The statement had Twilight trying to come up with an explanation. “But…how? I don’t understand. Okay, so unicorns thought they were better than everypony else, and all the unicorns thought you were part pegasus. But if your parents and sister where unicorns, then why would they think you would turn against your family?”

“Two reasons,” she said. “The first was that I just didn’t understand their ideas about automatic superiority of unicorns. Although unicorns had developed spells to grow crops quickly and control the weather, they still couldn’t fly like a pegasus, and quick-grown food never tasted right. Added to that was my love of flight, and my young mind just couldn’t wrap my head around it.

“The second came later when I was old enough to take an interest in stallions. He was Morning Mist…the pegasus I fell in love with,” Celestia explained before a wistful smile spread across her face. “He was a weatherpony who specialized in light morning showers. He was gentle, and kind, and funny…and he had a way of looking at the world that made it seem so beautiful. He didn’t care about tribe or social status. He would greet everypony he met with a smile and an open mind.”

As Celestia’s eyes began to water, Rarity levitated a tissue over to Celestia, who took it with her magic and wiped her tears away. “Thank you,” Celestia said as the purple haired unicorn inclined her head and Celestia continued her story. “After a month of morning meetings in secret, I knew mother and father would never agree to our relationship. So I followed Morning to an earth pony chapel where my sister and our handmaidens acted as witnesses to our union. All three tribes were joined under that roof. Then, Luna and I bid our maids farewell, and we went to live our lives in secret.”

“You just...ran away?” Rainbow Dash asked in surprise as she tried to wrap her mind around what her ancestor was saying. It seemed a little...cowardly to her, not to mention shameful. The unicorns had been abusing their positions over the other tribes, and the alicorns, the beings whose whole lives revolved around making sure everypony in Equestria was treated fairly just...ignored it and left.

Celestia smiled at the other alicorn's anger and nodded. “I was twenty five at the time. I had grown old enough to see the darkness in my home, and fully taken my power as an alicorn. By myself, I was more powerful than my parents, my sister, and all the council combined. With Luna, no one could hope to touch us. And by leaving, Andromeda would hold onto her throne. It was the best solution to all the ponies involved.”

Twilight frowned at the missing piece of the puzzle. “But you eventually took over the country. What happened?” She assumed that Celestia had seen how miserable the other ponies were and finally decided to take action. While she understood that her mentor had also been young once, the thought of Princess Celestia not helping another pony in need just...didn't make sense to her.

“The same thing that happens to all wives, Twilight,” Celestia replied. “I became pregnant. And that scared my big sister more than I ever could. She found out, and decided to end the threat that was my bloodline to secure her own child’s claim to the throne.”

“But that makes even less sense!” Applejack exclaimed as she quickly voiced her reasoning. “You woulda had yer hooves full with yer foal.”

“Yeah,” Pinkie agreed. “And a little filly would have you and your husband too busy to take over a kingdom, even with Princess Luna for a babysitter.” She knew from personal experience just how much trouble little babies could be.

The purple unicorn gasped. “She thought you were going to have an alicorn foal.”

Celestia smiled at her student and nodded for her to continue, watching as Twilight put the pieces together in her mind before voicing them. “But it obviously wasn’t or we would have known about her. I’m guessing since Rainbow Dash is your great-granddaughter by several generations, then it stands to reason that your original foal was also a pegasus like the father. But even if your child was a pegasus, if alicorn pregnancies are anything like unicorn pregnancies, then you couldn’t of used your magic during the final month!”

“Actually Twi, it’s that way with all ponies,” AJ corrected her. “Unicorns just have the most showy magic so its easier to notice.”

“And that’s why all pegasi spend their last month on the ground,” Rainbow added. “The clouds-walking magic we have tends to give out at the worst possible times.”

Celestia nodded. “In my last month of carrying my daughter, Andromeda staged a plot to overpower and slay both me and my child before my lineage could become a threat. She gathered an army and sent them towards the farm the three of us had built for ourselves. But that was just a distraction for her to personally creep in and do the deed. I still don’t know if our old handmaidens were working for Andromeda when we learned of the threat, or if they were merely her pawns that alerted us to what was just a distraction. Luna left to deal with the army, and left me alone with Morning Mist.”

“What happened?” Twilight asked.

“Whether by chance, or fate, I had the unfortunate circumstance of Andromeda arriving while I was at my most vulnerable; during labor...

“Breathe and push Tia, just remember to breathe and push!”

The white goddess did as instructed as she kept her eyes on her husband for support. Only a shade darker than herself, Morning Mist’s mane was a deep blue like the ocean. Although fit for a pegasus, he was only half her full height, something he took in stride with an occasional quip about his wife’s plot that she could only roll her eyes at. It wasn't her fault she had such a big plot!

“I…Tia I think I can see the head! I can see our foal’s head!”

Celestia laid her head back down on the custom bed Luna had built for the couple as a wedding present and began another sequence of breathing followed by a push. The pain was agonizing, but it was nothing beside the fact that she would soon be able to greet her first child.

“Oh maker her hair, it’s so beautiful T-”

The sound of a door slamming open cut Morning Mist off, but Luna’s customary greeting did not follow. Celestia started to look up and see if her sister was injured, but a wave of pain interrupted the goddess and kept her head on the blanket. Sheer willpower kept her from crying out in pain, but the pain left her unable to offer greetings to Luna.

“You! What are-Urk!”

A voice Celestia hadn’t heard in years slithered into her ears. “Ah that’s better. I do so hate it when you sky farmers look at your betters with…well, when you look at us at all really.”

Dread filled the alicorn's body at the new voice. It was different, but recognizable. However, her mind was only on the other pony in the room. “Morning? MORNING!” Celestia shrieked.

“It’s late afternoon actually,” Andromeda’s voice corrected her. “And I doubt he can hear you. I drove those daggers rather deep into his eyes. I think there’s actually a bump on the other side of his head where they impacted.”

The pain in her body was swallowed up by the pain in her heart, and even that quickly gave way to rage. Celestia clenched her teeth and seethed. “Sister? What did you? How could you?... You…I‘ll make you pay for you have done!” she finally shrieked as the emotions swirled through her like an emotional torrent.

A hoof touched Celestia’s face, and the visage of her sister filled the goddess’s vision. “I rather doubt that! You can’t even move, can you?” she asked before a laugh escaped her lips.

“Oh how perfect this is Mutation!” Andromeda exclaimed. “You know, I had all these plans. I was going to let you try and run away and chase you across the fields. I was going to fling you around a bit like you used to do to me, do you remember that Mutation? When you humiliated me above the skies of Trottingham? Do you know the plebeians still sing that song about that day? I cut out their tongues! Feed their foals to bears, and still, STILL THEY MOCK ME BECAUSE OF YOU!"

“I only did that once!” Celestia cried out in terror. “And I apologized when I learned how it scared you! All my life, I have never done you any harm! Luna and I have both left the palace and abandoned our titles! Why do you persist in this? What true harm have we ever done to you?”

“YOU WERE BORN!” Andromeda screeched into her larger sister's face, the unicorn's expression a twisted expression of rage. “You and that other freak you call sister! Once you had left the palace, I had poisoned mother to ensure another one of your kind would never draw breath! But that wasn’t enough, was it? You had to lay with-with THIS!”

Celestia heard the sound of Andromeda’s hoof impacting flesh, and winced as her husband’s corpse was struck. “And now another one of you…monsters is about to enter the world! How many will you breed? How many more of YOUR KIND WILL YOUR CHILDREN MAKE?” the princess screamed into Celestia’s ear.

“But I won’t let that happen. I’ll secure the future of my Blueblood and our entire tribe when I will kill your abomination before it leaves the womb!”

"Luna will-"

"Come home to find your husband missing and that you have died in childbirth. I remember little Luna's temper. If she believes that was what truly happened, then she'll think your dear husband botched the birth and decided to get away before she returned. By the sun and moon, if I'm lucky, she'll even think your kind can't bear children, and solve the problem for me."

The threat to her foal's life made the goddess freeze, despite the pain. And just like that, panic overtook Celestia’s mind. “No…not my child! Please, I will do anything you wish. I will swear serve you faithfully for the rest of my days as a scullery maid if you will it. Just please, PLEASE DO NOT HURT MY BABY!”

Andromeda’s hoof patted Celestia on her head. “Oh, if only I could believe you. But one day the child would grow up and decide I needed to be dealt with, or you would see an opportunity and strike me down.”

“But now that you mention it…the timing of this moment does present itself with an opportunity,” Andromeda told the alicorn. “I am still a bit worried so what our youngest will do once she finds your body…but, oh now there's an ideeeeeeaaaaa!

"Okay, new plan. I’m not going to kill you Mutation. I’m going to cut off your wings, and your horn. It’s obvious that all your magic is going to the monster inside you right now, so I don’t have to worry about any…eruptions. Then a quick stab into your gut to ruin your womb, a little healing magic and…hmm, I‘d better gouge out your eyes while I‘m at it to make sure you don‘t get any more ideas.”

Celestia gulped as an image filled her mind. She was alone, mutilated and chained in a tower, while Luna wore a collar around her neck and served as Andromeda’s personal slave. “You…you said you can’t risk it. You said… If I would one day rise up, you know Luna isn't as gentle as me. She's impulsive. If she found out about this, she would strike you down in an instant in a fit of rage!”

The mocking laughter that came from her older sister made Celestia cringe. “Oh sister we know our youngest hasn’t the spirit for such a thing. The way I saw her trot after you when we were younger. That little twit isn’t smart enough to see two inches past her own muzzle. You're right about her brashness, but she would lick my hooves and call it divine nectar if I were to threaten you without ever bothering to even try and think of a rescue plan.

"Oh my, I just realized! She'd be my little slave! Oh-hohohohoho how I like the sound of that! Kiss my hooves Luna! Eat my manure Luna.What's that you stupid whore? You want me to beat you? Oh how fun! Yes, I do like the idea of making her my pet! With a special collar to wear that changes color with her mood. That way, I know just when to make sure she knows her place! Yes, what fun we shall have.

Another wave of emotional pain washed over Celestia at the prospect of her sister being made to do such things because of Celestia's current weakness. “Luna!”

Andromeda laughed. “She-”

“Is right outside the door,” the dark mare’s voice cut through the air.

Andromeda’s voice went dead, and Celestia could feel her elder sister’s hoof begin to quake with fear. Slowly, her head turned towards the voice. “L-Luna.”

The dark goddess stepped through the doorway of small house, and seemed to suck most of the light from the room with her very presence. Her usual joyous greeting held none of its usual mirth, but was flat and as dark. “Hizah dearest sister. Rejoice in my return. Let us crack open a barrel of cider, and I shall regal you with tales of mine conquests, while thou do the same.”

“B-But my guards, the army,” Andromeda quivered.

“I flung your guards into the horizon before they were alerted to my presence. They should be halfway to the sun by now,” Luna told her with a tilted head. “Did you know Tia and I could do that? Travel to the sun? I rather enjoy the moon myself. As for your army…their shield lasted a whole ten seconds before I blew through it and turned them to stone. I was rather impressed.”

The princess gulped. “Luna…please listen.”

“Yes, little elder sister?” Luna asked as she came all the way into their home, and her eyes fell upon Morning Mist‘s body laying in the corner. A small whisper escaped her lips. “…brother?”

Then, Luna became enraged.

“You,” she seethed at Andromeda.

Celestia’s eyes darted around as she felt an impossible build up of mana in the area. The home that she shared with her husband and sister trembled under the weight of a power that threatened to tear the very fabric of reality apart. “Sister-”

“YOU DID THIS!” Luna shouted right as her power erupted. The roof of and their little home was torn away, and Celestia watched as the walls of her home fell apart. “YOU KILLED MY BROTHER! You killed the only stallion who could make Tia smile brighter than me! I’LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THAT!”

Celestia’s ears rung from Luna’s words. It wasn’t simply that her sister was shouting, the mare’s very speech was infused with her magic, her presence. She saw the darkness take Andromeda. It crept up from the floor and washed over the small unicorn, threatening to swallow her up into the same dark abyss from wherever it had come from. The mare’s mouth was open in a scream, but no sound come out.

Then, right before the darkness could cover her completely, Andromeda was able to say one last thing. “Please…stop. You, you can't do this to me. I...sister, we are family.”

“Then I shall treat you in the same manner that you have treated us,” the dark alicorn said.

“No. Do not kill her Luna.” It was soft, barely a whisper, but it was hard all the same.

The darkness froze, and Luna turned to Celestia. “Tia. Since the day I met him, never have I seen your husband, my brother, do an unkind thing to any stallion, filly or foal. And this MONSTER killed him! Let me take our vengeance upon her. There is no need for you to sully your hooves with the act.”

“No.”

“WHY? For what she has done, for what she was about to do-”

Celestia didn’t allow herself to be effected by the raging tempest of power that swirled around her sister. Despite it’s terrifying effect on Luna’s voice, eyes and mane, she didn’t shy away as her little sister seemed to warp the area around them with nothing more than her willpower and stray thoughts.

“I do not wish for my child to come into this world surrounded by death,” Celestia wept. “Please Lulu…I can’t take holding her in much longer. Take me away from here. Take me away from this.”

Then, after looking between the unicorn and the alicorn, the Goddess of the Night flung her oldest sister away with a cry of rage, and gathered the one she loved an a protective aura of magic. With Celestia next to her, she regarded Andromeda one last time while their elder sister cowered in the dirt. “Know that there is no place you can hide from me little unicorn. I have grown since we parted ways and found who I am. I am a creature of the dark night. There is no shadow that can hide you from me, no dark pit to offer sanctuary. No matter how you try to hide, I will find you. And when you close your eyes tonight, I will be waiting for you in your dreams as well.”

An hour later, half travel and half resumed labor and Celestia let out a final cry of pain that reverberated through the inn's room the sisters had gained admittance to for the promise of future labor as she gave one last push. Another voice joined her own. A new voice, one that she had never heard before.

Relief, joy, wonderment, it all flooded through her as she fought to turn her body and get Luna in view. “Is…is that?”

“Oh she is beautiful sister!” Luna exclaimed as she finished cleaning the foal, thankful for the training offered by the local town's midwife in how to deal with such a situation. “It is as if she is the sky itself, with a rainbow upon her head! Sister look upon your daughter, Look upon my niece!”

The white goddess propped herself up and took in a breath as she took the child in her now returned magic. Then, she frowned at the unexpected oddity. “No horn…she’s a…pegasus?”

Luna smiled while she wrapped the child in swaddling. “Well it seems she does favor her father in that respect, yes.”

“Then it would seem Andromeda was worried for nothing,” Celestia mumbled. “Funny. The child was already showing her head. Had she but bothered to look, Andromeda would have seen that there is no threat of our kind replacing all of the pony tribes.”

“No, not from this little one. However, I am another story,” Luna told her sister as her face darkened.

“Luna-”

“I will not let this go sister!” the dark goddess said through clenched teeth. “She threatened us with slavery and death! She killed Morning Mist! She was even going to kill little…oh sister, a name!”

She looked over to the little filly, then back to Celestia. “Hurry and give my niece a name so that I might give proper introduction!”

“A name?” Celestia asked. “Oh! Oh yes! A name…let’s see…”

Celestia looked the child over, and could only think of one to go with her looks. “Hello, my darling little Aurora.”

As Celestia's story concluded, all of the ponies at the table looked on in shared wonder at the princess who had just shared an unknown piece of their history. Although the goddess had tears falling down her eyes once again, not a single pony drew attention to it, out of both understanding and respect.

“Aww, I was hoping that it would be Rainbow Dash,” Pinkie whined.

“Pinkie, how in the hay could Celestia’s daughter and Rainbow Dash be the same pony?” Applejack asked. “I’ll say, it is a might odd that they had the same mane and all-”

Rainbow Dash took a moment to cut in. “Not really, all the firstborn kids in my family have a rainbow mane, remember?” she said before looking over to Celestia. “But Princess, what does this have to do with me becoming an alicorn?”

“Oh for crying out loud,” Twilight grumbled. “Dash, anypony can become an alicorn if-”

“Twilight manners, the Princess is speaking,” Rarity told her.

Celestia sighed as she took hold of her emotions again. “Well, there’s not much else to tell in depth.”

“No more flashbacks? Awww I was hoping to see the big fight between Luna and all those mean unicorns.”

The strange comment had Celestia blinking in confusion, but she managed to regain her bearings faster than the others. “Well, Luna did end up having to do something about the unicorn nobility. Since she had already decimated the royal army, the unicorns tried to stop us the only way they could think of: they dropped the moon on the inn we were staying at.”

“…what?” Twilight managed to say. The thought of the unicorns actually doing something like that was just…nuts. In a fit of curiosity several months ago, Twilight had actually calculated just how large the moon was. If it had actually fallen on Equestria, then she didn’t think there would have been a country left!

“It didn’t work of course. Although, they came quite close to actually killing us,” Celestia said. “Luna managed to rip control of the moon away from the unicorn council. Then, before they could try the same with the sun, I counterattacked the palace and removed the unicorn council and my family from power. Shortly after that, I took control of the sun myself and bound it to me.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “But…wait. Your cutie mark…you mean to tell me you didn’t get your cutie mark till you were over twenty five?”

In response, Celestia let out a giggle. “Oh Twilight of course not. I caused the sun to set when I was a filly, and Luna raised the moon that same night. It was just one of those foolish things children do while looking for their special talent. Honestly, I was a little disappointed.”

“Disapoi-YOU RAISED THE SUN WHEN YOU WERE TWELVE YEARS OLD!” Twilight shouted. “You did something it took more than a dozen unicorns to do, BY YOURSELF! HOW COULD YOU BE DISAPPOINTED?”

Celestia shrugged. “I was twelve. I wanted a flying cutie mark. Magic wasn‘t really my thing. Or was I into colts by then? It’s been awhile. I can’t really remember.”

Twilight just gaped at the sun goddess and most powerful magical being in the world. “Flying…cutie…mark?”

Since it seemed Twilight had gone catatonic, Rainbow Dash sat a little higher up in her chair and took up the conversation. She didn't see the reason Twilight was so freak out. Flying cutie marks were awesome. “So then what happened?”

“Well, Luna and I took over the government and either banished or imprisoned anyone who resisted,” Celestia continued. “I replaced the unicorn nobility with a new group of lower ranking unicorns and abolished the laws that forbade pegasi from living in cloud homes and others that said earth ponies had to work as farmers or in some food industry. And I named Aurora my heir to the throne.

“Then…well, remember my explanation about racism?” she asked rhetorically. “Not many unicorns liked the idea that a pegasus was supposed to be next in line for the throne and there was a small string of rebellions that needed to be put down. These were a little harder than when Luna and I took over. Tying ourselves to the celestial bodies, it severely limited the amount of power we could use for other magic while in...mortal...ahem, anyway.

“It was about the time that we finished consolidating power that I noticed a disturbing fact. Aurora had grown into a full woman, but both Luna and I were still in our prime when we should have been approaching our twilight years.”

Rarity nodded in understanding. “You noticed your immortality.”

“Yes, as did everypony else,” Celestia added. “It helped stop some of the dissatisfaction among the unicorns. There was no need worrying about a pegasus taking the throne if the current rulers were never going to die.

“But I didn’t care about that. I all saw was the fact that in just a few short decades, I would have to watch my daughter grow old and die. I couldn’t take it. I threw myself into magical research. If I had immortality, then there must have been a way to give it to my children. I scoured the land to find the secret of my own immortality, to find a way to make my daughter an alicorn.”

Applejack cringed. “Ah think Ah can see where this is goin.”

Celestia ignored the comment and continued on. “After many years of searching the land, I finally discovered the reason for my and my sister’s birth. Ironically, it was right under our muzzles. From there, I had to learn why it didn’t change every child born…or conceived, on castle grounds into an alicorn. After that came several years to try and recreate the process on a fully grown pony, and it was only after three decades of hard work that I finally went to see her.”

“It took you thirty years to create the alicorn ascension spell?” Twilight asked.

The question was answered with a shake of Celestia’s head. “Longer actually if you add in the searching. By then, Aurora had moved out of the palace. I don’t blame her, I had barely talked to her in favor of my research for several years, and life at the castle had been…hard for her.”

“How?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah, living in a castle must have been super neato!” Pinkie Pie added.

Celestia sighed and shook her head. “Racism, remember? Oh, no one was fighting any wars over it anymore, and nopony would openly decry another based on his or her tribe, but it still existed, especially in the government. Cracking down on it simply made it more covert, and the ponies with irrational hatred in their hearts even more determined to hold onto their beliefs.”

“But wasn’t your daughter super-duper nice?”

“Yes Pinkie, she was the most loveable pegasus who ever lived,” Celestia assured her with a wistful smile that only a mother talking about her daughter could have. “Aurora had something…special about her. She was the best flyer of her generation. The Sonic Rainboom was her invention. But that wasn’t what made her special.

“She was amazing in a way that inspired others. Aurora made the impossible possible, and then made everyone think that they could do impossible things too. That is what the nobility hated about her. I could make all the laws I wanted and give every opportunity to pegasi and earth ponies that it allowed, but she gave them hope and the power to believe in themselves.

“But it…it was more than just that. Aurora could…she could change a pony’s life with nothing more than a few words. It was like…like she had a touch of destiny about her, one that she could share with everypony she saw.”

Twilight smiled in realization. “Dash has it too, doesn’t she? Like when I was taking my entrance exam. Her Rainboom is what let me pass.”

“Or led me home,” AJ added.

“It gave me my inspiration,” Rarity said.

“It filled me with such super awesome happiness that I just couldn’t contain it all,” Pinkie shouted.

“Yeah okay we know all that!” Dash exclaimed. “Wait, is that why I got this thing?” She tapped her horn. “Because I did a Rainboom when I was a filly? That was years ago! Why didn’t you show up then?”

Celestia flinched at the accusation. “Yes, about that. It took me a few days to get Twilight settled in. But I left for Cloudsdale at the end of the week to look for you. Of course I kept a genealogical record of my family, so I knew you had been born. But until then, I had no reason to look for you.”

“Geee thanks Grandma,” the other alicorn mumbled. “Don’t bother to visit my dad or his mom only cause they were just hardworking weatherponies instead of super stars.”

Twilight looked over to Dash and frowned. “Rainbow Dash!”

“You misunderstand,” Celestia said as she tried to console her great-granddaughter. “At first I tried to keep in contact with all my child’s children. But…whenever I do, it never ends well for them. I don’t know if has to do with some type of curse, or just my lot in life, but before Luna returned, whenever I met with one of my children… Do you remember what happened during the junior flyers competition that I came to watch when you were a filly?”

Rainbow Dash flinched. “Uh…you saw that?”

“Saw what?” AJ asked.

Dash scratched the back of her head nervously. It wasn't the type of thing she like to talk about. “It’s sort of like the young flyers competition, only for little fillies and colts. I was in the middle of my routine and I thought I heard someone call my name. So then I turned my head and…ran strait into a pole at full speed.”

Celestia closed in on herself. “I did call out…and teleported down to catch you before you hit the ground when you fell out of the stadium. When I brought you to the doctors, they said you were lucky to be alive. If you had flown into the pole and struck your neck or your face anywhere else, then it would have been the end of you. As it was, you only suffered a broken collar bone that I healed with my magic before leaving you in peace.

“The news frightened me. It was the first time in years I had visited one of my kin, and it nearly ended in your death Rainbow. Whatever curse I believed to be under, it would appear it still keeps me from seeing my family on a whim. To be honest…a part of me even blames myself for the library.”

Twilight frowned at the rather large hole in Celestia’s logic. “But you’ve been to Ponyville plenty of times. “You were here just a few weeks ago!”

“For you Twilight,” Celestia said as she attempted to explain. “Not for Rainbow.”

When she noticed her descended frown at the news, the goddess immediately tried to placate her. “I do try and help my descendents when I can. I send a job offering through the channels if they’re in need of work…or make sure a transfer request is approved. Even when it’s to a little out of the way town on the edge of a wild forest that is too out of the way for a talented pegasus.”

“Okay so…wait, back the story up a second,” Dash said as she raised her hooves. “Before you started talking about your foal, you said you failed to make a spell that turns ponies into alicorns. But I got this horn.”

Celestia smirked. “I never said I failed, I just stopped working on it.”

“But-”

“I had worked out most of the kinks and was finally ready to use the magic to give my daughter what I thought she needed,” the sun goddess explained. “I found her living in a small cottage near what is today Las Pegasus with her family. She was over fifty years old by then, retired from politics, and the sight of her face being older than mind terrified me to death. I flew up to her, babbling about how I had finally found a way to save her from old age.

“Aurora didn’t take the news well. She was furious with me for even suggesting it. Like me, she had no desire to stay the same while everyone around her withered and died. While I had squandered the past several years looking for a…cure to death, she had been out living them. She had son, who had a wife with foal on the way. I had been there for my daughter’s wedding, but on the day she had come to tell me she was with child I had…I hadn’t even bothered to let her in my laboratory because I didn’t want to waste time talking about childish things.

“So when I offered the spell to her, she asked if it could also giver her children and grandchildren eternal life. But…I couldn’t. The spell I had designed was meant to work solely on her, and her alone. I had never even considered making someone else an alicorn. So, like the idiot I was, I didn’t talk to her, I didn’t try to make up for the decades that I had ignore her needs. I just assured her that I would find a way to do just that as I left.

“Another decade passed. I discovered a method that would work on other ponies besides just Aurora. It was taxing and experimental, but I knew it would at least expand her family's lifespan threefold. I hoped that would be enough, and I returned to my daughter’s cottage to tell her of my success… I found her gravestone waiting for me out back. The sight of it crushed me. I had finally found a way for us to be together, only to find Aurora was beyond my reach.”

The other ponies remained silent while Celestia’s eyes misted and she muttered quietly to herself for several minutes. Then, after drying her tears, she took in a deep breath and continued. "The rest of the family wanted nothing to do with me. I might have been the ruler of their land and the progenitor of their line, but I was also the mother who abandoned her daughter. To many I was kind and just, but to my grandfoals...I was just another uncaring unicorn; if a giant one with wings.

“I returned to the castle Luna and I shared, and came out of my bedchambers after several days of mourning. Then, for the first time in a generation, I took a look at my nation. Luna was never one for politics, and in my absence, several things we had worked to undo had started trying to creep their ways back in. The tribes were once again on unfriendly terms, and corruption had found its way into our government.

“For a short time I thought that my spell of ascension was the answer,” Celestia said before a pause. “But…I quickly learned that giving everyone a pair of wings and a horn were not a solution to the problems we faced. Besides, such a solution was impossible. In order to give the status of an alicorn, it…takes something from me. And the time it takes to recover is exponential. I could not simply hand it out to everypony like candy.

“So I created a spell that would search for worthy candidates. They had to have been tested and willing to defend their fellow ponies from whatever might threaten them. They had to view our people as one whole, not three separate groups. And finally, they had to have a full understanding of themselves, as well as well as the a full understanding of their connections with others. They would be the ones to lead this world into a new age of enlightenment. But…as any of you who knows your history might surmise, I did not find a single worthy candidate among all my people. Not for many, many centuries.”

Celestia, once again wrapped up in her mask of perfect serenity despite the topic she had been discussing a moment ago, watched a Twilight visibly counted off the requirements. Her student mouthed the words ‘Nightmare Moon’ and ‘Discord’ during the explanation. “And Cadence faced that witch, so that was how she met the criteria, and nopony thinks any other groups is better than the others, but the last two,” she said to herself before her eyes widened at the last one, and she looked over to Dash. “Cadence understood love, but…wait…you’re telling me you actually understand all the facets of the magic of friendship?”

“Thank you for sounding so surprised,” Rainbow Dash deadpanned before chuckling at herself and lightening up. “But yeah. And it wasn’t something that just happened. I mean, I sat down and wrote my letter to Princess Celestia. But, I just wrote about what happened, and what was on my mind and…well, more ideas kept coming and I just didn’t stop.”

Then Celestia took up the conversation. “Ah, so that was the letter you were mumbling about when we met upon the celestial plain. I’ve always found writing things down helps me organize my thoughts.”

Rainbow Dash blinked in confusion. “Oh…so, that wasn’t a dream? That starry corridor thing?”

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight nearly yelled as she slammed her hooves down on the table. “You mean you actually wrote down your thoughts up until the moment you ascended?”

“Uh…yeah.”

“That…that makes it the single most important document in the history of pony!” Twilight exclaimed with a frantic tone quickly building. “Do you know what this means? With that, we…we could revolutionize our society! We could usher in a new golden age of harmony. Princess, I’ve got to read that friendship report!”

“I never actually got it,” Celestia informed her.

“Then its still at your house?” Twilight asked the rainbow alicorn.

Rainbow Dash chuckled nervously and scratched the back of her head. “Yeah…about that. Remember when I came over to your library this morning and I was talking to Spike?”

All the color drained from Twilight Sparkle’s face and her eyes shrunk down to pinpricks. “No…nonononononononono!” she repeated before her body slumped forward and she banged her head on the desk over and over again. “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!”

Shining Armor, who had been respectfully silent this whole time while the Princess addressed the Elements, stepped toward to wrap his little sister in a levitation field and stop her from hurting herself. “Twily!”

She turned to her brother, tears running down her face. “It’s my fault Shinning. We had something that might have changed the world, and it‘s my fault it‘s gone.”

“Why’s that sugarcube?”

Rainbow Dash filled her in. “She thought the horn on my head was fake and tried to pull it off with her magic.”

“So that’s what caused the-” Rarity paused in mid sentence. “But a magical surge from a horn shouldn’t have done nearly as much…right, alicorn. Never mind.”

“No need to beat yourself up Twilight. The whole thing was an accident. Not your fault,” Rainbow told her.

“BUT IT WAS MY FAULT!” Twilight wailed. “I cast that spell on you.”

“Again, not your fault, your unicorn float spell-”

“Not that spell! The other one!” Twilight shouted. When everypony’s faces showed none of them were following her, the purple unicorn broke free from her brother’s grip, dropped to the floor and quickly got back into her spot. She took a deep breath, and began her confession.

“Look…this Mare Do Well plan we-I mean, I had,” Twilight said as she paid everything out with her hooves. “I had calculated that even with a charming enchantment cast on the costumes to get everypony’s attention, there was still a good chance that Dash would be able to outshine us if something happened. Not to mention the fact that there was no guarantee that there would be any problems that needed heroics to fix. So I cast a spell to…fix that.”

Rainbow Dash frowned in confusion as she looked over to her friend. “What?”

Pinkie Raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “What spell Twilight?”

“It was a bad luck spell,” she explained.

Celestia let everyone in the room mull over the information for a minute. Most of them reacted the same way, with a mixture of confusion, shock, and concern. Rainbow Dash however, just stared at the mare with a blank expression on her face. The princess of the day chuckled and shook her head. “Twilight, there’s no such thing as a bad luck spell.”

“Yes there is! I learned it from the same book as Want-It-Need-It, and Charm!” Twilight told her before alicon's face became confused at her personal names for the three ancient spells. “Okay well, those weren’t their real names. But they sound better than Possession, Obsession, and Ruination.”

Those names, Celestia recognized. She had seen the effects of the first only a few weeks ago in Ponyville, with Possession, a spell that made an object so desirable that a pony would do anything to possess it. At the time, Celestia had just chalked up the event to Twilight’s natural genius. It was not the first time she had seen a unicorn ‘invent’ a spell that had been around for years, but forbidden to learn even by her personal students.

She took a deep breath, and forced herself to stay calm.

The fact Twilight knew their actual names meant that she had actually learned them. She knew their limits and their purposes. Then there was the part where Twilight had knowingly cast Ruination upon one of her friends. That fact made it feel as if Celestia’s own heart had been ripped out by her student.

It was just like…

No! Celestia assured herself. Twilight is not Sunset Shimmer! Her former student had been demanding, insubordinate, and egotistical in the extreme. She had knowingly practiced dark magic and became obsessed with power.

Twilight was different! She is brave and kind…although the use of the Ruination is starting to suggest otherwise. Celestia paused in her thoughts. I shouldn’t have foregone her punishment when I was here last.

The fact that she had apparently been using the magic to try and teach a lesson, if in a foolish way, helped ease Celestia’s mind. But at the same time, the fact that Twilight had cast the spell in the first place could not be ignored. The fault lays with me, not her. I avoided even mentioning dark magic to Twilight in our lessons in hopes to avoid introducing her to the temptation. It was something she needed to set right.

Channeling her magic into her horn, Celestia looked over to Rainbow Dash and examined the curse Twilight had placed upon her.

“Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked in response to the sun goddess’s actions.

The words went ignored as Celestia examined her student’s handiwork. The spell that surrounded the other alicorn had built itself up to the point the catastrophe that the spell would cumulate in promised to be massive. Judging by its size, Rainbow Dash had already seen the destruction of her reputation, her self-worth, her dreams…and Celestia had a feeling that the calamity that happened earlier today was what destroyed the mare’s ultimate achievement. Which meant that the spell was now in its final hours.

But…shouldn’t the spell have put a stop to Rainbow Dash’s ascension then? Celestia asked herself. There was no way the magic of a curse like Ruination would allow such an achievement for its target. The enormous oddity perplexed her.

Still, she used her magic to wash away the curse surrounding Rainbow Dash, and took a deep breath before addressing the group. “I have taken care of the lingering magic surrounding you Rainbow Dash.”

“Umm, thanks?” she asked, obviously not understanding what was going on.

“Shinning Armor,” Celestia spoke before looking to the stallion. An order formed in her mind, but never made it to Celestia's lips. Oh no, I…I can not ask him to arrest his sister. But then what could be done? Celestia knew Twilight needed to be punished, needed to face consequences for her actions. But she did not, no she just could not bring herself to bring Twilight the pain such harsh actions as imprisonment would cause.

She took in another breath to help her focus. “As Twilight’s home has been destroyed, she will be returning with us to Canterlot for…a short while,” Celestia lied. At the moment, she was unsure if Twilight would ever be leaving the city again.

“Rain-no, Princess Rainbow Dash, you will accompany us as well,” the goddess told her granddaughter. “We will be needing to plan your coronation. Say your goodbyes and collect your things. We will be departing within the hour.”

“Say what?”

Celestia let the little ponies work through their surprise as she considered what to do. When it eventually came to Rainbow Dash’s reluctance to leave her home, Celestia had to speak. “You are a princess of Equestria now Rainbow Dash, and have responsibilities to be fulfilled.”

“I can’t just pack up and leave in the middle of the day!” she exclaimed. “Thunderlane just up and ran off this morning and we’ve only got one pegasus as a backup on the weather team.”

“Your body guard returned with me this morning, we met him on the way here,” Celestia explained.

“Body guard?” all of the ponies asked.

Celestia sighed and shook her head at her slip. It seemed all the craziness around the town was affecting even her. “After you freed my sister from Nightmare Moon, I had a royal guard assigned to each of you in case something were to happen. I also informed them not to interfere with your lives, or inform you of their presence.”

Then came Twilight Sparkle’s reaction to her decision. “P-Princess? I know I shouldn’t have done what I did. But…look at what’s happened! Rainbow Dash is an alicorn! She would never-okay, she might not have ever ascended if I hadn’t used those spells.”

I forgot how good she is at reading when I’m in a bad mood, the goddess thought to herself. “Yet here we are Twilight. I had thought you had learned that the ends do not justify the means during our time together,” Celestia told her sternly. “It would seem you are in need of some remediation.”

“Y-You mean, magic kindergarten?” Twilight squeaked.

Oh for the love of…you make one empty threat and she remembers it for the rest of her life. Celestia looked away from her student as an idea came to her and she had to hide her smirk. Twilight could think that way all the trip back to Canterlot. Dreading her punishment for more than half an hour would be a nice warm-up for when Celestia did manage to think of something fitting for the little pony.

Chapter 3

View Online

Chapter 3: Separation

“So, that’s why I need you to take care of Tank for the next week or so,” Rainbow Dash said as she finished explaining to Fluttershy the events of the past morning as she finished petting her turtle.

Fluttershy tried not to stare at the new headgear her friend was sporting as she was taking it all in. “My gosh Rainbow this is all so… I mean, you being a princess now-”

“Don’t call me that.”

“And related to the Princess.”

“Pffft, yeah like, from a bazillion generations ago,” Rainbow reminded Fluttershy. After all those years, half of Cloudsdale could probably claim some kind of Celestia-relation, and that was only if her great-great-however-many-times-grandparents kept to pegasi.

“Well I think it’s amazing, and I think you’ll make a wonderful princess Rainbow Dash, congratulations!” Fluttershy finished before she jumped on her hind legs to hug her friend. Although Dash had a hard time showing it, Fluttershy had seen the mare with the rainbow mane be kind as well as brave, giving of herself, honest to her friends when the chips were down, and she always did her best to help spread joy to others with her aerial performances. It made since that Celestia would pick her for a crown.

Then, something else occurred to her. Fluttershy got back down on all fours and gave Dash a worried look. “But…if you’re a princess then won’t you be living in Canterlot like Princess Celestia?” As happy as the mare was, and as bad as she felt for feeling selfish about it, she didn’t want to say goodbye to her oldest friend.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Please. The last time I went there to watch the Wonderbolts, all I did was run into stuck-up unicorns. I’ll show up, get my stupid crown, wave a few times, eat the free food and come home so I can get back to kicking clouds between stunt practice sessions.”

“But…you’re a princess, an alicorn!” Fluttershy exclaimed in a voice .00001 decibels above her usual volume. “You-you can’t just be a weatherpony. I mean…it‘s just…not…um…”

Rainbow Dash just waved off her concerns with a hoof. “Yeah well it can’t be that important. Some other pegasus became an alicorn more than two decades ago and I’ve never heard of a Princess Cadence.”

“Hmm, well I guess wonder if she’s a relative of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?” Fluttershy said as she tapped her chin. “She’s the kingdom’s head ambassador you know.” So, it made since that Dash would get a more important job. Although, the thought of Rainbow Dash of all ponies mediating a dispute seemed kind of silly. She was more suited for what came when the talking failed.

The comment had the blue alicorn smirking. “See, they’ve already got all the princess-level jobs filled. Twilight even said Cadence worked as her foal-sitter. I mean come on! There can’t be much for alicorn’s to do if one of them is stuck babysitting before Princess Luna even came back.”

“I suppose you have a point there,” Fluttershy replied before she brightened up at the news her oldest friend wasn‘t leaving her. “Well I guess we really will be seeing each other soon enough. Will Twilight be back by then too?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “No idea. I guess it depends on the time it’ll take to build a new library.”

“The birds are really going to miss that tree,” Fluttershy mumbled in disappointment over its loss. She hadn’t cared much for the library portion, but it had made a good place for nesting.

“Well, looks like I’m out of time,” Dash muttered to herself as she looked at her friend’s clock. “And hey, it’s like a ten minute flight from here to Canterlot, so I can swing by even before the weeks up if you need me to.”

Fluttershy immediately tried to put her friend as ease. “I’ll be okay.” She smiled as something came to mind. “I’m more worried about you. It’s ten days until Twilight’s birthday, so please don’t forget.”

“Meh. Ten days and we’ll be back in Ponyville.”

“So we’re moving back to Canterlot?”

Twilight shook her head at Spike's question as they watched the guards dig through the remains of her tree, looking for things that had survived behing crushed by Dash's magic. “Not forever, just until they can get a new library built here. Think of it as a vacation!” Twilight said. She couldn’t bare to tell him that their vacation might last until she graduated grade school again.

The rather poor attempt to lighten the mood, look on the bright side of things, and do something with silver lining failed to perk Spike up. “Don’t you usually go somewhere new when you go on vacation?” the dragon deadpanned before picking his expression up for a moment before dying down again. “Besides, we barely know anypony in Canterlot…which is kind of sad now that I think about it.”

“Yeah yeah, poor Twilight the shut-in,” the unicorn grumbled as she looked over to one of the larger pieces of her former home that had landed in the center of town. “Just go help the guards see what they can salvage from what’s left of the second floor before we leave.”

As soon as Spike left, Twilight let out a sigh and dropped the mask. She made her way over to the princess and waited for her to finish addressing the mayor. The unicorn was able to pick up the tail of their conversation. “The crown will pay for the damage as well for the reconstruction,” the princess assured the mare. “And I’ll send someone with experience in these matters to assess the extent of the damage to the local community as soon as I return to Canterlot.”

Once the mayor had bowed, Princess Celestia turned and walked away from the female pony. Twilight quickly followed on her heels. “Princess,” she spoke. “About your sister.”

“Hm? Oh yes! That reminds me Twilight,” Celestia gave Twilight a bright smile before continuing along Twilight at her side. “She still speaks about her time here on Nightmare Night, what was it, four weeks ago? I can’t thank you and all your friends enough for what you did for her then. The guards at the castle are even starting to become more at ease around her, and how did you talk her into putting aside the royal-” she looked over and saw Twilight’s slight frown, which prompted a dark change in her own mood. “Oh, you’re talking about the other one, aren’t you?”

Before Twilight could try and follow that rather ominous tone, they came to the carriage where Rarity was waiting for Twilight with some luggage she had decided to donate to the purple unicorn since most of her belongings were now ruined. Twilight just hoped that there was a casual dress in the donation, along with some other basic necessities.

“Twilight, I’ve got some things for you since most of your belongings are either buried or…er, crushed,” she said as her voice began to trail off a second before she switched to another topic. “Now, I’m going to be headed to Canterlot in a few days-”

“I’ll be sure to return everything to you then Rarity,” she said, hoping the other unicorn would finish so she could get back on track of trying to discuss lost Equestrian history with Princess Celestia.

“Oh nonono, this are a gift Twilight,” Rarity insisted as she placed the bags in the chariot. “I was just hoping we could all meet up for lunch and make a day of it.”

The idea managed to turn her away from the prospect of discovering lost Equestrian history for a moment as an idea came to her. “That sounds like a great idea Rarity,” Twilight said. She knew Rainbow Dash would be happy to see another friendly face. “Oh, you could even stay in the palace! I mean, if that’s okay with you Princess?”

Twilight looked over to the large alicorn and gulped when she noticed the slight frown on the face of the goddess. She had known Celestia long enough to tell the slightest of such facial expressions were indicative of an outright scowl. “While Rarity is more than welcome within the castle anytime she wishes it, I would like to remind you the reason you’ll be in Canterlot, Twilight.”

The excitement that Rarity had managed to build within her quickly shattered, and Twilight’s ears wilted as her body slumped. She gulped at the coming humiliation she was to face. “Right.”

“Princess, please tell me you aren’t actually going to be sending her to a school meant for foals,” Rarity mumbled. Then, when Celestia’s stare focused on her, Rarity gulped, then stepped forward to help hold her ground. “And, if Twilight is going to receive a punishment, then I should too!”

“Rarity!”

The white unicorn ignored Twilight and continued on. “I made those foalish costumes after all,” she said before letting out a snort. “If anything, I’m even worse than her! Several of schoolyard fillies and colts had their parents hire me to make them costumes. Twilight had just been trying to help a friend, if in a rather odd way, but I actually profited from this whole debacle. Much to my shame.”

Celestia sighed and shook her head while Rarity’s head drooped and her ears pulled back. “Oh very well,” she mumbled before looking down at her student. “I was going to let you sweat over it during the ride Twilight, but know you will not be sent to magic kindergarten.”

“Really?!”

“That is not to say there will be no punishment!” Celestia told her sternly, killing Twilight’s new-found hope before the princess started mumbling to herself. “I just don’t know what it will be yet.” Celestia was hardly an advocate for imprisonment when the pony in question didn’t present a danger to others, but the problems that surrounded Twilight’s use of black magic also meant that such an act might not be far off. It was a complicated situation she would need some time to reflect on as she studied Twilight's mental state for adverse effects.

With that out of the way, Celestia turned her attention to Rarity. “And if you feel guilty over making money off this…event, then simply donate the money to charity or something. While I suppose some might say your actions make you an accomplice to the crime of Twilight’s lesser evil enchantment, I also can’t ignore the fact Twilight’s friends kept her spells from causing collateral damage to Ponyville.”

In truth, she was more worried about the effects of the dark magic on her student, than what the magic had caused to happen to the town. Nopony had been hurt, and the regret felt by Twilight's friends had been true. All in all, the situation was much better than Celestia had been expecting to face when they had explained the Mare Do Well plot and the events that unfolded from it.

“Uh Princess…”

“Collateral damage as in loss of life Twilight,” she said in irritation while the purple unicorn indicated the sate of her former home, and several roofs it happened to land on as well as the other damage caused by Rainbow’s mana burst.

Twilight let out a breath and shivered. Thinking about her spell had almost caused somepony to get hurt made her stomach turn. Celestia was right, she didn’t deserve magic kindergarten, she deserved worse. She deserved to be locked away in a dark dungeon and only fed moldy bread and water for the rest of her days, while the guards who also ate their lunches outside her cell were allowed the highest quality cakes made by the finest chef just to torture her! She deserved-

“A cupcake!”

The confectionery treat in question nearly made Twilight choke as it was shoved down her throat. After managing to swallow it, Twilight coughed for a few seconds and gave the pastry chef a glare. “Pinkie!”

“You were getting all frowny-downy Twilight, so I had to step in,” the pink pony interjected. She pulled out a box of cupcakes from behind her and set them on top of Twilight’s luggage. “Here’s some sweets for the road. Just a dozen-not a baker's dozen! Just the normal kind of dozen.”

Before Twilight could thank her, Pinkie zipped over to Princess Celestia and hoisted herself up to whisper in the large alicorn’s ear. “Don’t give her thirteen cupcakes, it makes her go crazy,” she said while her hooves made circling motions around her head to emphasize the point.

Twilight could only groan as the pink pony came back to the ground. “You know Pinkie, there’s something really disturbing about you calling me crazy.”

“No, I’m just have a slight bit of schizophrenia, a tiny bit of ADD, a few paranoid delusions, and I seem to be stuck in a constant manic phase of a bipolar disorder thanks to the fact that everyone in town is always happy around me,” she explained with a cheerful smile.

The barrage of information made Twilight’s legs wobble as she tried to process the fact all that just came from Pinkie Pie. “W-What?”

But Pinkie didn’t seem to hear, and looked over to her left and up into the sky. “Hey there’s Princess Dashie! Dashie, I made not-really-goodbye-but-so-long-for-now cupcakes!” the pinky pony shouted before she ran to intercept her friend.

“Sometimes, I worry about her,” Rarity mumbled as they all watched Dash take Pinkie‘s farewell girl and share a quick hug.

“Only sometimes?” Twilight deadpanned.

As soon as Rainbow Dash came over to the group, Rarity said her goodbyes to the new alicorn while Twilight did the same to Shining Armor since he was staying to assist with the cleanup.

Princess Celestia motioned for everypony to board the chariots and ordered them to take off. The newest princess lasted for about five minutes riding with Spike in the chariot a few meters to their left before she ditched her saddlebags in the transport, then took to the sky to fly alongside the chariot Twilight was sharing with Princess Celestia.

“So uh, Princess Celestia, about this whole princess coronation thing, we’re only going to be gone a week, right?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Cause I told Fluttershy that, and I don’t know if the weatherponies will like being short hoofed for longer than that. I really don’t want to hold off my Wonderbolt training longer than that either or I might start falling out of shape.”

For some reason Rainbow couldn‘t understand, Celestia gave Rainbow Dash a raised eyebrow and a look of confusion. “Weatherponies? I’m afraid I’m at a bit of a loss here Granddaughter.”

Rainbow flinched. “Can you, uh, not call me that? It‘s kind of weird.”

“Very well Princess Rain-”

“On second thought, stick with granddaughter.”

Celestia smiled at the decision and got the conversation back on track. “Why do you think we’re only going to be in Canterlot a week?”

“Twilight explained the whole alicorn thing to me while you were telling all those guards what to do,” Rainbow Dash explained. “I suppose it’s cool and all. But I really don’t want to be gone longer than that. Plus, won’t Canterlot fall off its cliff if were in the same room too long or something?”

“We were together in Ponyville while a curse that would cause harm to you and those around you was in effect, and the sun did not fall out of the sky to burn everyone to death. I’m willing to risk it.” The she raised an eyebrow and looked down to Twilight. “What does she mean by alicorn thing?”

“I told her about what’s expected on an enlightened alicorn,” Twilight replied, a bit confused by Celestia’s hesitant question.

“What exactly did you tell her?” the goddess asked as she raised an eyebrow. Cadence and Twilight may have been old acquaintances, but Celestia knew they shared almost nothing in the way of correspondence since the unicorn had become her student.

“Just the stuff Cadence told me when she was my foal-sitter,” the lavender unicorn said in her own defense. “She said enlightened alicorns serve as examples to the community. They don’t have any real political power and responsibilities.”

Celestia stifled a groan and shifted her gaze back to Rainbow Dash for a moment to give her great-granddaughter a hesitant look, then moved her attention back down to her fellow passenger. “That was because Cadence was still going to school at the time Twilight,” Celestia informed her. There was also the matter of Cadence’s reasoning for wanting to take care of certain foals with good looking stallions for older brothers, but Celestia didn’t think that was her information to be giving out. “When her education was complete, she became the head ambassador to the Griffon Empire.”

“But…no, that’s supposed to be some…Me A-mor-eeee Cadenza princess,” Rainbow said weakly. “Twilight said Princess Cadence didn’t have some big job in the government.”

Oh dear, Celestia thought to herself. She looked over to Rainbow Dash, then back to Twilight.

“Princess Cadence is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. Cadence is just the common name she goes by, like your friend Pinkie Pie,” she told Rainbow. “And I’m afraid you may be in Canterlot for a little more than a week. There’s a lot more to do than just fit you for a crown.”

Rainbow gave Celestia a wary look. “Like what?

“Well, your magic lessons for one,” Celestia informed her before her hesitance returned. “There’s some other things that we need to decide, but I think we should wait for when we are back in Canterlot.”

“Oh…okay,” Rainbow dash mumbled. She didn’t understand the wait, but didn’t see many other options if Princess Celestia wasn’t going to volunteer the information. Although, she supposed leaning how to float things around like unicorns might be nice.

They flew along in silence for another minute, with Rainbow casually speeding up, banking left, then dropping back and banking before speeding up again. She did it about three times before Twilight told her to stop flying circles around the chariot.

A few seconds more, and Twilight’s memory kick her. “I almost forgot! Princess, I was wondering if I could ask about your sister. When Rarity and Pinkie showed up I got sidetracked and completely forgot about it. But since we have some time before we get to Canterlot…I was…wondering…” she trailed off when she saw the stern expression on Celestia’s face.

“I don’t like to talk about her,” Celestia told Twilight in a tone that translated the words to: stop asking questions.

Another moment of silence overtook the group, and Rainbow Dash decided she would have to be the one to break it. “So…you are just joking about that magic kindergarten thing, right?”

Why does everyone discount that but me? Twilight asked herself.

“Yes, whatever punishment I do decide for her will fit the crime,” Celestia told her evenly.

“No! You can’t!” Rainbow pleaded, drawing both ponies undivided attention.

“Rainbow-” Twilight began wearily.

“Granddaughter,” Celestia said right on top of Twilight. “Twilight Sparkle broke the law on several separate occasions. She endangered the lives of several ponies, and even believed herself in the right while doing so.”

The rainbow alicorn flew in front of Celestia and turned her body around as she tilted up so her wings would push her backwards as they flapped. “Yeah she did something stupid,” Rainbow Dash said before she shot Twilight with a little glare to tell the lavender unicorn that she was still miffed about the whole thing. “But nopony really got hurt, and Twilight apologized. You can’t just lock her up for something she’s never going to do again anyway!”

She looked back to Twilight. “You’re not going to do that again, right?”

The mare in question shook her head, struck dumb for a moment by the fact that somepony was actually arguing with Princess Celestia!

“Good, then…I pardon you, or whatever,” Rainbow Dash said as she waved her hoof like she was knighting Twilight from long range. Then she looked over to Princess Celestia. “I can do that right? Pardon ponies? You know, being a princess and all.”

Celestia’s eye twitched at Rainbow Dash’s antics. “Not when I’m the one having them brought in, I outrank you,” she explained before her voice became harsher at the suggestion that she would imprison her student. “And I’m hardly going to send her to the dungeons!”

“Well then what’s the problem?” Dash demanded, her own voice rising as she flew a little closer to the larger alicorn.

“Twilight apparently needs to be re-taught a few lessons on patience, restraint, good judgment, and be lectured on the dangers of dark magic,” Celestia shot back before looked away from the alicorn and letting out a long sigh. “The former having not been covered enough, and the later not at all. A problem that I intend to correct once we reach Canterlot.”

With Celestia’s temper calmed down a bit, Twilight was able to find her voice. “Princess, you don’t have to worry. I know those spells are dangerous. I’d never use them on another pony.”

“I am more worried about the harm they have inflicted upon you my student,” Celestia told her with a sad expression.

Twilight’s train of thought was completely derailed. “Come again?”

“Yeah, I lost you there too,” Rainbow chipped in, back to her original position now that the threat to Twilight's freedom had been removed.

Celestia looked back and forth between the two ponies, then towards the city on the mountain. “Well, we have about ten minutes left. So I suppose I can give a brief explanation. Twilight, listen carefully, and Granddaughter, it looks like you’ll be having your first lesson on magic today.”

“Twilight, explain to Rainbow Dash the basics how magic works.”

Twilight blinked, then looked over to her friend. Looks like I’ll be going through a magic kindergarten class after all. “Well, magic works by drawing in the energy of the world around us into our bodies. Although all ponies can use magic, unicorns are the only ones that can consciously focus it to create a variety of active effects, in exchange for the passive abilities possessed by the other two kinds.”

“And how do you focus that magic?” Celestia asked to guide the lesson along.

“… well, there are several ways,” Twilight replied after pausing to think about it.

Celestia nodded. “True. But let’s go with the most basic shall we?” she asked. “And I suppose I’ll take over from here Twilight.

“At is core, unicorn magic runs on desire and belief,” the goddess explained to Rainbow. “No matter how complex or fancy a spell is, a pony’s deepest desires are the driving force. For example, if I were to use my magic as a weapon, its effectiveness would be greatly determined by my desire to injure my opponent. However, as Luna would tell you given half the chance, any offensive spell I were to cast would be meager in power compared to hers because harming others is so against my nature.

“On the other hoof, if a pony who can use magic is overcome with a great deal of fright and an intense desire to get away from danger, she might find herself able to teleport thanks to the situation when such a spell might normally be outside her ability.”

“Think about it in terms of me and Rarity,” Twilight added when she saw confusion blossom on Rainbow Dash’s face. “Normally, I’m better at magic than her in every way. But, I’ve seen her when she’s making dresses and let me tell you, if I tried to move that many things at once with that amount of precision, I’d have a headache inside ten minutes.”

Rainbow cocked her head. “Yeah but isn’t that because of her special talent?”

“You mean the special thing about her that she’s so passionate about and desires to do so much?” Twilight asked with a smirk. She had read several articles when it came to unicorn cutie marks on whether their magic worked so well because of the cutie mark itself, or because it was just something they were so into. It was a debate that had raged long before anypony but Celestia had been alive.

Then Celestia picked up the conversation. “To use healing magic, a unicorn has to genuinely want their patient to get better, they have to be sympathetic and kind. A pony who has defense magic must believe his shield cannot be broken, they must be steadfast and resolute,” she said before her face darkened. “However, black magic is…different.

“Black magic requires emotions such as anger and jealousy, and therein lies the danger. While kindness and resolve must be nurtured, emotions like anger and jealousy can fester inside a pony’s heart. The more you draw on them, the worse it gets, and in a very short amount of time emotions like anger turn to hatred.”

Rainbow Dash frowned at the explanation. “Yeah…not really buying that Princess,” she said. “Twilight cast plenty of those spells, but she’s not some dark empress of the apocalypse.”

“It was three spells, with one cast several times Rainbow,” Twilight grumbled. She could understand where the princess was coming from. In order to use that magic, Twilight had gone to a dark place inside her heart. She had pictured Rainbow failing, focused on her annoyance of the then blue pegasus to get what she wanted. The same with the costumes, and those had been disturbingly easy towards the end.

The realization that she had thought like that, that she had wanted Rainbow Dash to look like a failure in front of everypony and think it was a good thing... It was a blow to her self-image that made Twilight need to steady herself for. Am I really a...bad pony? Twilight asked herself.

“Oh yeah? Well then why haven’t we heard of any super evil pony that went all crazy…with…jealousy and…” Dash slowly stopped talking as something dawned on her. “This happened with Princess Luna, didn’t it?”

Sadness crept onto Celestia’s face. “Yes, although she is the most extreme case. Her level of power and some extraordinary circumstances actually gave life to the darkness inside her heart.”

Twilight gulped. “Princess Luna uses black magic?”

“You have to understand something Twilight,” Celestia said. “Our land wasn’t always so peaceful. While I governed the day, Luna had no love for politics and took up the duty to defend Equestria. To do that, she sometimes had to call upon violent magic to drive away threats. By the time we no longer faced danger of invasion from other powers, the seeds that would turn Luna into Nightmare Moon had already been sewn. They took thousands of years to grow, but black magic was the root cause of Nightmare Moon.

“After I banished Nightmare Moon, I went about ensuring another pony would never fall prey to black magic. I made the study of it illegal and had nearly all the copies of dark magic books destroyed, save for the copies I kept in the restricted section of the Canterlot Archives. To make sure I wouldn’t be corrupted, I also created the prison of Tartarus to deal with threats in a way that wouldn’t damage my soul. I even had to hide the truth of my sister’s downfall. I made everyone think her corruption came solely from the fact that she was angry and jealous over being shunned when in fact that was just what the anger of her magic latched onto.”

Twilight rubbed her chin in thought. “And a thousand years later, everyone’s forgotten about it.” However, Twilight found a major hole in Celestia’s logic. “But that doesn’t mean a pony can’t come up with a spell that falls under the classification of dark magic.”

“True,” Celestia admitted. “But Twilight, when was the last time your heard of a unicorn deliberately killing or seriusly injuring another pony using magic?”

The question immediately had Twilight running through her rather vast historical knowledge, followed by the information gained from years of arcane study. “Well, never. All the textbooks say that unicorn magic can’t be used…that…way,” she mumbled towards the end. “But, from what you’ve just said…that’s a lie, isn’t it?”

“Desire and belief, remember?” Celestia reminded Twilight with a tiny smile.

Twilight’s eyes widened at the implications of her words.

Rainbow Dash on the other hand, wasn’t as observant. “Um, somepony want to clue me in here? I kind of lost you girls about five minutes ago.”

“Magic works because the pony using it has to want something to happen, and believe they can make it happen,” Twilight explained half in awe over the implications, and half excited that she had just learned something about the foundation of all magic in Equestria. “And because unicorns don’t think they can really hurt another pony with their magic, they, well…they can’t!” The most offensive spell Twilight knew of only knocked other ponies out or stunned them. She supposed a hard enough telekinetic burst might have been able to do something, but if the unicorn using the magic didn’t think it could actually kill her opponent, then it wouldn’t matter how much energy was applied to the spell, it would only do as intended.

She turned to Celestia and tried to contain her excitement. “You lied to all the unicorns for a thousand years, and that made the lie come true! This is…wow…just, wow.”

“But its hardly a perfect solution,” Celestia said. “The problem is if another unicorn should come across a spell that says otherwise. Like you did Twilight. Luckily for your friends, I think those were extremely weakened versions because you didn’t want to do any real harm.”

Rainbow Dash frowned. “Uh, you saw the whole town fighting over a stupid doll, remember? That spell didn’t look all that weak to me.”

“At full power, that spell would have had ponies killing each other for that stupid doll, then doing all they could to make sure no one else claimed it,” Celestia informed Rainbow before her expression darkened and she addressed them both. “Before Twilight used it, the last victim of the spell had been a pony who found a cursed leg band while fishing. He murdered his best friend for it, then ran into the mountain caves so that no one would take his ‘precious’ away from him.”

The revelation had both Twilight and Rainbow cringing.

“Twilight?”

“Yes Rainbow?”

“Princess order, you’re never casting that spell ever again.”

“I think you mean royal decree…and, yeah.”

As soon as they landed at Canterlot Castle, Twilight met up with the chariot carrying Spike and they collected their things while Rainbow put her saddlebags back on before she looked up and around. “Is it me, or does this place look bigger in the daytime?”

A minute later, the chariots were being pulled back into the sky and the door opened to admit a pair of white unicorn guards in their trademark golden armor and another unicorn wearing a dark coat that still showed his pocket watch cutie mark with a large mustache covering a good deal of his muzzle. The unicorn in the tights took a look around and then trotted up to Princess Celestia before giving a slight bow of his head. “Princess, where have you been? Your return from Ponyville was scheduled hours ago!”

While Princess Celestia spoke with the old pony, Rainbow Dash leaned over to Twilight. “Who's this geezer?”

Twilight groaned at the sight of the old pony. “His name’s Kibitz,” she mumbled. “He’s Princess Celestia’s…scheduling manager.” Although that was his official title, some pony’s referred to the old stallion as her boss. Twilight couldn’t remember just how many times her lessons had been interrupted by the old stallion when he came in to drag Celestia to some stupid meeting or other appointment.

“B-but Princess! The day’s court has yet to begin, and with so few hours left in the day I still have to reschedule many of your meetings and…and…we might just have to cancel a few!”

“Excellent idea!” Princess Celestia agreed with the pony. “Cancel all my Head of State appointments for the day.”

Old stallion Kibitz stood there gaping. “But…it…you haven’t broken from your schedule in twenty years!”

“Oh, and cancel all my appointments for tomorrow as well, including court,” she added as an afterthought.

Kibitz stood there silently for a moment. Then, his body began to shake and he dropped to the floor before curling up into a little ball. “This isn’t happening, this isn’t happening, it’s all a bad dream.”

“Guards, take Twilight Sparkle-”

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed before she flew over to hover in front of Celestia’s face. “You said you weren’t throwing Twilight in jail!” The blue alicorn’s face was scrunched in anger, and her hooves were also shaking.

Celestia gave Rainbow Dash a warm, yet reassuring smile. “And I have no intention to,” she said before looking past the other alicorn. “Now, please take my student to the southern tower, where she will remain until lunch, at which time she will escorted to the dinning hall.”

“You’re still locking her up!”

“Rainbow that’s enough!” Twilight shouted. She gave her friend a displeased frown over her actions, then turned back to Princess Celestia. “Sorry, she’s-”

Celestia cut in before Twilight could finish. “Protecting her friend. I would expect nothing less from the bearer of Loyalty.”

Rainbow still didn’t move.

“I’m going to the tower anyway, it’s where I lived while I was in the palace,” Twilight told her. “And I haven’t got anything to do till lunch. So it's okay Rainbow.”

Finally, the former pegasus dropped to the ground. “Fine, then I’m coming with you.”

“No,” Celestia told her firmly. “I need to speak with you privately.” When that didn’t make her move, she added, “about that raised voice you used earlier today.”

Rainbow Dash looked back up to Princess Celestia for a moment, then dropped her head and sighed. “Oh…you, um...saw that?”

“Come along now Granddaughter. And leave your bags, I‘ll send a servant to collect them,” the goddess told the other alicorn before she headed through the doors.

As soon as Rainbow Dash dropped off her stuff and caught up to Celestia, the larger alicorn checked her over with a discerning eye. She could tell the mare was tense, angry and confused, and more than a little bit frightened. The way she had nearly exploded on the flight over, and just now in front of the castle, Celestia could tell she was struggling with a great many emotions.

“How are you feeling Rainbow?” she asked the shorter mare.

Rainbow Dash looked over to Celestia, then back around at the empty hallway before she refocused on the princess and frowned. “How do you think I’m feeling? I woke up a whole different species this morning! Then I scared my friends half to death! What the hay was that anyway? I felt so angry and then everything just got all hurricane-like, and now Twilight’s getting taken away from Ponyville, and-”

“Would it help you to know whatever punishment I do decide for Twilight, it will only be beneficial to her?” Celestia asked as she tried to diffuse some of Rainbow’s tension.

Rainbow cocked an eyebrow back up at the princess. “You trying to make Twilight’s deal one of those, ‘you’ll thank me later’ type of things my mom used to say before she grounded me?”

“Something like that,” Celestia assured her with a disarming smile. “And as for your…hurricane, that’s what happens when an alicorn looses her temper. Our powers are much closer to the surface than a regular unicorn’s.”

The smaller alicorn looked away form Celestia. Remembering how Rarity had been looking at her during those moments was…painful. Rainbow Dash hung her head in shame at the fact she had frightened her friend like that. The fact she been so wrapped up in herself she hadn’t even noticed until it was early over made Rainbow feel even worse. “I scared her so much.”

Celestia reached down and picked the mare‘s head up so their eyes met. “But that was all,” she said. “When Luna and I were able to achieve that state, our magic would react to our desires without the need of focus. Petrifaction, transmutation, translocation, I’ve done all this and more to ponies who were simply in the room with me after I entered a foul mood. All in all, you‘re lucky she didn‘t simply burst into flames.”

For a moment, the information rolled around in Rainbow Dash’s mind, then she glared back at the princess for her accusation for even suggesting something so horrible. “I would never hurt my friends!”

“If you believe that so strongly, then there’s no need for you to be so afraid of yourself, is there?” Celestia asked with a smirk.

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to argue with the princess again, cause she was in that type of mood, then closed it when she realized what Celestia had just done while memories of the ride over played in her mind. “Oh…you’re good.”

Celestia chuckled at the comment. “Thank you,” she said before her face became more serious. “But please try and keep your temper in check from now on Rainbow. I know some things in Canterlot will be aggravating for you…the heavens know I run into at least four a day while another one follows me around all the time with a list of things to do, but I would appreciate not having most of the city’s population panicking over a mana storm.”

“I’ll try,” she mumbled. “I don’t wanna turn anypony into stone or nothin.”

Celestia nodded her head in thanks as they reached the doorway to their destination, and Rainbow Dash spoke up again. “So uh, can I go see Twilight now?”

“No.”

“Why not?” Rainbow Dashed whined. “We had our little…family chat thing, and you got me all calmed down. I’m not going to go all super rainbow on anypony, promise!”

“Because you need to see the workings of our government,” Celestia informed her, “you are a princess after all. You need to know how your country runs.”

The news didn’t sit well with the rainbow alicorn. “Yeah…about that. I thought I was just going to learn a few magic tricks. I mean, what the hay am I supposed to do now that I got this thing?” she asked while pointing to her horn.

“That all depends on your deific portfolio,” Celestia told her simply.

“My what?”

“We’ll discuss it later.”

“Ugh, didn’t anypony clean this place while we were gone?”

Twilight had to agree with her assistant’s displeasure. From the looks of things, nopony had even bee in her old tower since she left it. Everything was covered in dust. Her desk on the far end of the circular room still had the old inkwell that she had left the day she’d gone to supervise the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville months ago, and most of the other things that Twilight hadn’t ordered brought over.

“Well Spike, looks like I know what we’re going to be doing until lunch,” she said.

“Yeah, I’m going to clean the place and you’re going to help until you find some book you’ve only read twice instead of ten times,” he deadpanned.

“Spike, don’t be silly, I-oh my gosh!” Twilight exclaimed as she noticed a book halfway under her old bed. “Look Spike, this is Twinkle Star’s study on the life and reproductive habits of celestial beasts!”

The purple dragon rolled his eyes when Twilight just plopped down on the floor and started reading. “Yeah huh. Called it.”

Spike’s comment made Twilight frown at him. “Hey, I’ll have you know I’ve only read this book once!”

“So uh, you do know that Celestia isn’t going to be sending you to magic kindergarten, right?” Spike asked as he ran a feather duster over the lowest self of books.

And that makes everybody who figured it out before I did, Twilight told in a huff. However, as his chariot was ahead of hers during the flight over, she doubted he had heard anymore about the dangers of dark magic. “Yes, she hasn’t actually decided on a punishment yet though.”

“Are you worried?”

Was she?

Twilight sat up and thought about it for a moment. From Celestia’s reaction, use of black magic was a pretty big deal. In fact, it was probably the biggest big deal that had happened in the past 500 years! What kind of punishment would fit that sort of crime?

Banishment?

Imprisonment in Tartarus?

Execution?

“GAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! The princess is going to kill me!”

Spike groaned and shook his head. “Oh come on, stuff like that hasn’t happened in over a thousand years.”

“That’s because Luna wasn’t around!” Twilight shouted in a panic. “But now that she’s back, she’ll execute me! Then Luna will get mad at Celestia because we’re friends, the darkness will take over Luna again and she’ll turn into Nightmare Moon 2.0 and bring eternal night and nopony will be able to stop her because the Element of Magic won’t have a Bearer!”

The speech had Spike rolling his eyes halfway through and looking for a solution to Twilight's comming panic attack beforr it could begin. He dug through a pile of books and pulled out a pulled one out before handing it to Twilight. “Here, read this.”

She blinked and looked down at the hardback. “Cognitive Disorders & You, the Reason Why Everypony Says You’re Nuts. Spike! This is that book that says the cure for all my problems is getting married!”

“Actually it said the solution was the stuff that came after getting married,” the dragon corrected her.

“…just get back to dusting,” Twilight grumbled before tossing the book aside.

“So that’s what you do all day, listen to ponies whine?” Rainbow Dash asked as she followed the larger alicorn down the large hallway and into the room where the food was going to be served. At the last second, she stopped to look around at the hallway as they made their way towards the dinning room.

“Well listening to her subjects concerns is the responsibility of every ruler,” Celestia told her granddaughter.

Brought out of her inspection of her surroundings, Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes at the comment. Okay, some of those things ponies brought up I can understand, she told herself as she remembered the open court that Celestia finished holding a few minutes ago.

Rainbow Dash’s appearance had caused a huge stir, and Celestia had made a short speech about how another pony had joined the ranks of the royalty. She also said there would be a full press conference later in the day to discuss the matter, but told everypony inside her throne room to let the matter rest for the moment as they had come to see her about concerns closer to home. Surprisingly, that seemed to satisfy nearly everypony there, and only a handful asked a few parting questions to Rainbow Dash before the Sun Court ended.

As for the activities of the court itself, although it looked like over a hundred ponies came to see the princess, only a handful had any real time to talk to her about anything. A few ponies came looking for permits to open shops in Canterlot had to get her personal approval, a responsibility Rainbow Dash thought could be delegated to another pony like the Cloudsdale Weather Office did with each individual city’s weather. Then there was that group of miners who thought Canterlot had some precious gems in the mountain it was attached to, Celestia had turned down their request for funding and mining rights. There was also some kind of land dispute between some farmers who had been related over who got what when their grandparents passed on without a will. Those things Rainbow could more or less understand Celestia needing to solve, even if some of them could be handed off to another pony.

It was the less…sensible disputes that made Rainbow scratch her head. There had been two mares who dragged a stallion they had both been dating at the same time and demanded Celestia make him marry one of them. Another case involved the Ponyville resident Lyra Heartstrings on her weekly visit to Canterlot, who demanded Celestia released the truth about something called humans. There was also this one unicorn who had his mane all twisted about an increase in the number of batponies in Canterlot.

The two mares fighting over the stallion got escorted out of court for wasting everypony’s time. The refusal of Lyra’s proposal was met with an insistence that she would be back next week, followed by a short conversation with Dash about what Bon-Bon had been up to recently. The unicorn who had a problem about the batponies was told to bring the matter up with Luna, and then he got extremely pale before saying it wouldn’t be a problem and taking off like his tail was on fire.

“Yeah but…seems to me some of those things the ponies were yakking about were just a waste of time,” Rainbow Dash grumbled.

Celestia chuckled. “Perhaps some were a bit foolish, but hearing them and letting my subjects see me holding court wasn’t,” she replied as they made it to the dinning hall. “Ah, we’re here.” The white alicorn’s horn lit up with a golden glow, and the double doors opened to admit the royal pair.

“Announcing Princess Celestia!” an earth pony guard next to the doors said in a loud voice that was just a tiny bit short of a shout. “Ruler of Equestria! Bringer of the Sun! Conqueror of Discord! Defender of Harmony! She who did unite the tribes under her divine wings and guides us towards a brighter tomorrow!”

After the weirdo fell silent, Rainbow Dash cocked her head to the side at the pony standing next to her. “Uh, what’re you doing?”

“Oh, right,” he said before clearing his throat and taking in another deep breath, “and Princess Rainbow Dash! Uh…also, sort of ruler of Equestria? And um…she of the rainbow hair who…yeah sorry, I haven’t gotten the memo with all your titles and stuff.”

“What? No, wait, I don’t care,” Rainbow Dash mumbled before going back to her previous question. “What the buck are you doing?”

The guard’s nervous look at Rainbow’s displeasure turned to confusion. “I’m announcing you Highness.”

As Celestia giggled at Rainbow Dash’s confusion, she looked around the chamber. The dinning hall looked a lot like the court to the rainbow-haired mare. In other words, the ceiling was too high, the windows were too decorative, and the table looked as if could fit about two hundred ponies if they squeezed together. In short, it was too big and gaudy for her tastes.

There was also the other thing Rainbow noticed. “There’s nopony here! Why is there a guy just standing here yelling stuff when-”

Rainbow’s rant to nopony in particular was cut off when the door on the far end of the dinning room opened and the loud guard pony started up again when they saw who was coming into the room. “Announcing Twilight Sparkle! Personal student of Princess Celestia! Trusted Keeper of Knowledge!”

“Trusted Keeper of Knowledge?” Rainbow Dash asked the older alicorn with laden eyes that told Celestia what she thought of the thing.

The other alicorn raised her shoulders in a shrug. “She is a librarian now. I thought her profile needed an update.”

And how come my intro was so lame? Rainbow Dash asked herself. Then again, if it did reflect my awesomeness, it would probably take me thirty minutes to get into a room around here. The fact that actually being a little humble might just serve a purpose made Rainbow’s hackles rise since it brought up the events of the day before. Still, those memories were quickly tempered by everyone’s actions from earlier in the day.

How long does this forgiveness stuff take to make my gut stop feeling twisted every time I think of them? Rainbow asked herself before she and Twilight met up on opposite sides of the table and took their seats near the end where Celestia sat.

The appearance of the purple unicorn combined with the reminder from just a moment earlier made Rainbow frown. As much as she tried to stop herself, the blue alicorn couldn’t help but bring her thoughts towards Twilight’s actions of the previous week. She also couldn’t help but wonder just how far Twilight would have been willing to take that stupid spell. Rainbow had lost her fans, become a laughing stock, nearly…

Okay that’s enough, Rainbow told herself. She had made up her mind to forgive her friends for that stuff before they even apologized for it. The fact that they had…

But they didn’t really apologize, did they? Dash’s less than forgiving side asked. They had said they were sorry about not trusting her friendship, but not for their actions that came from it or the pain it caused her. Then there was Twilight’s ‘bad luck’ spell. Rainbow had only found out about that after everypony had their make-up session. So, did it really count?

Twilight and Rainbow shared a look, the hesitant look on the unicorn’s face told Rainbow she was unsure of how to continue, while the blue alicorn was in the same boat. But Rainbow wasn’t about to let Twilight be the one to break the silence. “Hey.”

“Hey Rainbow.”

…

…GAH! What the hay? We were fine next to each other all morning! What’s up with all the hesitation now?

Was it the curse? Twilight had apologized for that…sorta. She had apologized before Dash had known what she was apologizing for, but still counted.

Right?

Was it the fear of another explosion like she’d had at the boutique? Rainbow knew about that stuff now. She knew she couldn’t go off the handle like that again. Even if she didn’t turn anypony to stone it still… The realization hit her like a ton of bricks.

Twilight wasn't hesitating, she was afraid. She was afraid... Of me, the alicorn told herself. The thought made the alicorn feel as if sh had been bucked in the gut by twenty Applejacks and ran a chill through her body that went to the core of Rainbow's very soul.

“I’m sorry,” Rainbow Dash told Twilight, catching the purple unicorn’s attention. “I’m sorry about what happened in the boutique. I’m sorry I scared you.”

Twilight’s eyes widened a bit, then a reassuring smile “It’s okay Rainbow. I forgive-”

“Introducing Princess Cadence! First of the Enlightened! Alicorn of Love! Head Ambassador of Equestria! She who speaks with the voice of the sun!”

“Oh for crying out loud,” Rainbow grumbled. Although, she did make a mental note to see if The Alicorn of Awesomeness was a title she could put on the introduction whenever it came time to make hers.

Rainbow looked around to catch sight of Princess Cadence as she entered the dinning room. The alicorn of love pretty much looked like Rainbow had expected. She was pink, but it was a stylish pink that mixed with a bit of purple around her wings and hair. Like Rainbow, her mane was a multicolored mix of pink, lavender, and a soft yellow. She was also quite a bit taller than the average pony, although still a bit shorter than Luna.

“Oh my gosh, Cadence!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Twilight?” Cadence before the purple unicorn teleported across the table and run up to her. “Twilight!”

Then, Rainbow Dash had the opportunity to watch something that had been occurring with disturbing frequency lately. Namely: Twilight just completely going off the deep end. This time she even took somepony else down with her.

“Sunshine sunshine! Ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves,” both Twilight and Cadence said before turning around and sticking their flanks in the air. “And do a little shake!”

“…you got to be kidding me,” Rainbow mumbled as the two of them broke into laughter and hugged.

Celestia leaned over to Rainbow’s ear. “I seem to remember a certain group of fillies at a flight contest having their own little dance not too long ago.”

The comment made Rainbow slump in her seat to hide her blush. Not too long ago for Celestia might have been a good decade in Rainbow Dash terms, but she had actually repeated that same chant when she had met her old friend Gilda despite it being so many years later.

After the pink alicorn and Twilight had laughed, shed a few tears at their reunion and hugged for a solid minute, they both took places at the banquette table across from Dash, with Twilight sitting closest to Celestia. Rainbow stared at the other alicorn for a moment, and was studied in return. Cadence was the one to break the stalemate with a tiny smirk. “So you’re Rainbow Dash. Twilight’s written a lot about you and her other friends,” she said before leaning in closer. “Thanks for finally dragging her away from those books. I was afraid she’d spend her whole life with her muzzle buried in them.”

The comment made Twilight cry out in protest while Rainbow Dash laughed. “Well, thanks.”

“And what do you mean I’ve written a lot about my friends?” Twilight demanded. “I haven’t written you in…well, forever! Are you reading my friendship reports to Princess Celestia?” She supposed that Cadence would have access to them, and being academic in nature they were meant to be shared.

Cadence laughed and waved the question away with her hoof. “Oh no! I’ve read some of those letters you sent to Shiny.”

“Shiny?”

“Shining Armor, my brother, the stallion you met this morning?” Twilight half-explained, half-asked Rainbow Dash. It took a few seconds before the blue alicorn nodded.

“Oh yeah. Gotta say Twilight, I’m still kinda shocked anypony related to you isn’t some kind of ultra nerd.”

Cadence let out a tiny laugh at the comment when Twilight groaned and slumped forward. As much as she hated to bring up the fact even to herself, Shinning was a little out there on the dweeb scale. He might have been one of the most fit and powerful unicorns around, but he still played those table top RPGs while trying to rationalize them in a way that didn‘t tarnish his image. Battle simulations my flank.

“So Rainbow Dash, tell me about yourself,” Cadence asked.

The chance to talk about her favorite subject perked Rainbow Dash’s enthusiasm up a bit. “Oh well I’m-” But then the alicorn cut herself off when she saw Twilight out of the corner of her eye. Despite the way her friends went about it, Rainbow Dash supposed that Twilight and the others might have had a point about her being a braggart. The last thing Rainbow wanted was to be seen as another Trixie by the ponies she cared most about in the world. “I’m…nopony special.”

“WHAT?”

Twilight’ outburst drew everypony’s attention. The lavender unicorn stared at Rainbow Dash for a moment. “Are you kidding me?”

“What happened to wanting me to stop being a braggart?” Rainbow Dash accused Twilight, her tone becoming slightly annoyed. “If its so important to you Twilight that you start throwing curses around, then I’ll stop!”

The purple unicorn gaped at her friend’s response. “I never said you should stop…” her mind trained off, unable to complete the thought. Twilight had only wanted Dash to stop being so annoying in her bragging, not give it up completely. If she were to do that, then the mare in front of her might as well not be Rainbow Dash at all!

“I just…”

“That’s exactly what you wanted!” Rainbow Dash accused. “You wanted me to lie about who I am, so it would be easier to get along!”

“What do you mean lie? I’ve wanted anything from you or any of my friends but the truth!” Twilight replied. It wasn’t until the words left her mouth that she realized she had been shouting.

“Give me a break Twilight! We lie to each other all the time! It may not be about facts, but we sure as hay do it about who we are!” Rainbow Dash replied in a huff.

“Fluttershy would barely leave her cottage without us dragging her out to go do something, and we have to walk on eggshells whenever she‘s around. Applejack has to keep her mouth shut half the time to suppress her million and one ‘I told you so’s from getting out while the rest of us have to smile and nod whenever she can‘t. Rarity has to bite her tongue every time she sees my hair, and everypony else has to put up with her whole frou-frou act. Pinkie has to tone it down around everypony she sees and the rest of us have to just roll with her being Pinkie when she can’t; and don’t try and deny that didn’t drive you nuts when you first met her. That it still doesn’t make you wonder from time to time. And then there's you!

"We all have to bend over backwards and plan stuff two weeks in advance if we want to do anything with you at all! Do you have any idea how insulting it is to have to take a backseat to you reading a bucking stack of paper because it’s what you scheduled for that day weeks ago? It’s like you’re telling me a bunch of stupid words scribbled on some pages that will be there tomorrow are more important than your friends of right now!”

Twilight’s ears drooped. “I…I had no idea you felt that way.” She looked over to Celestia for a moment to try and ask for some kind of forgiveness or guidance, but didn’t wait for a response before breaking eye contact. What could Celestia give her? It was Rainbow who was angry with her, and this time Twilight didn’t even really understand why.

The fact she couldn’t understand her friend’s feelings only made Twilight’s mood worse. If friends were supposed to be able to understand one another with minimal explanations, then what did it say about her inability to give meaning to Dash’s anger?

Seeing her friend’s expression a second before she looked away made Rainbow clench her teeth. Oh buck… “Look, Twilight…” Rainbow tried to think of something to say to make her friend feel better, but her stupid tongue couldn’t find the words.

Yeah well maybe she needs to hear it after what happened with that stupid curse of hers, a tiny part of Rainbow Dash’s mind spoke up before she crushed it for sounding smug over the sight of Twilight being so sad.

“I’m not hungry anymore. If somepony needs me, I’ll be in my tower.”

Rainbow Dash raised a hoof and say something to try and get her to stop, but Twilight was already gone before she could utter the first syllable. With Twilight gone, the words died before they left her throat. She saw Cadence was giving her a well deserved glare while Celestia looked upset over the whole situation.

Stupid! Some Princess of Friendship I am. Applejack isn’t the only one who needs to keep her mouth shut sometimes.

Chapter 4

View Online

Chapter 4: Days End

“Well, that could have gone better.”

Rainbow Dash winced at the sound of Celestia’s voice. It didn’t sound all that harsh, but it was a long way from her usual melodious tone that she had almost always used back home. Cadence however, had none of that restraint.

“How could you say something like that to Twilight! Don’t you know how fragile she is? I though you were her friend!”

The fragile comment had her confused. Twilight was the mare who’d single-hoofedly challenged Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony and walked away from their first encounter with Discord with her sanity still intact. Second bravest and third toughest pony in Ponyville was what she was; and that made her the top unicorn of both categories. Fragile didn’t even come close to describing her.

Still, the harshness of the other alicorn’s tone put Rainbow Dash on the defensive. “It’s not like I meant to make her upset!” Rainbow mumbled as her ears wilted under Cadence’s glare. It was also pretty disturbing how somepony that pink could still come off so threatening.

“So, do you want to handle this one, or the other one?” Celestia asked Cadence.

Twilight was glad Spike had gone to the treasury for lunch when the guards had come to get her. He wasn’t in the tower to watch her cry into her pillow.

The worst part of the whole thing was Rainbow Dash’s words rang true. Before Ponyville, books and studies had always been more important to her than other ponies, and even after making all her new friends, they still played an important part of her life. Twilight could remember several times off the top of her head where she had to reschedule appointments with her friends in order to complete research because of all the crazy things that happened about once a week.

“Twilight?”

The sound of her name being called out made the purple mare look up to see Cadence hovering in the air for a moment before she came down on the upper alcove that served as Twilight’s bedroom. “Do you want to talk?” she asked.

“About what?”

Cadence gave her a small but kind smile as she walked forward and sat down on the floor next to Twilight’s bed. “About what’s wrong you silly filly.”

It was an offer that Twilight had to think about for a moment. Not just the offer, but what exactly needed to be asked. “Cadence…am I a bad friend?”

“What?” Cadence asked as her head reared back in alarm. “Twilight, how could you ever think something like that!”

“Because…because it’s true!” Twilight told Cadence before giving the alicorn all her evidence that led her to such a conclusion. Twilight told Cadence about her first sleepover, when she practically forced Rarity and Applejack to spend the night with her, her experimentation on Pinkie Pie to try and understand her unexplained abilities, the time she practically forced Rarity to make her two dresses for the Galla, and then finished with the undisclosed truth abut her Mare Do Well plot.

All throughout the explanation, Cadence nodded and paid close attention while Twilight gave her ever minute detail. Then, when everything was finally done, she let the unicorn rest her nerves for a moment before replying. “So, you made two casual friends who could hardly be in the same room with each other closer, indulged your curiosity with the full consent of your friend Pinkie, got a little too picky over a gift and…okay, I’ll agree with you that you did cross the line when it came to your plan to teach Rainbow Dash humility, but I don’t see how this makes you a bad friend Twilight.”

“But then why’s Rainbow Dash so angry?” Twilight asked franticly. “I thought it was because she thought that I didn’t think we could trust our friendship to reach her, but I apologized for that and she’s still mad!”

Once Cadence had followed Twilight’s logic, she sighed shook her head. “Twilight, in all honesty, what you’re feeling right now…it’s my fault.”

“Huh?”

“How many big fights have you had with these friends of yours? Not just some little disagreements where you‘ve made up in twenty-four hours, I mean things were you didn’t talk to each other for days, maybe even weeks,” Cadence clarified.

Twilight blinked at the question, then frowned at her bed as she tried to think of the answer. “Well…none. But, how is that your fault?”

"When you were a filly and your parents asked me if would be a good idea to put you in some play groups with other foals your age, I told them no,” the alicorn explained. “You were so smart and ahead of your years that I thought you wouldn’t interact well with other children, and while it may have helped your education, I can see now that you’ve had a very stunted social development, and…I think that might be the root cause. I never let you go out and try to make friends when you were younger, so when you grew older, the lack of companionship might have just felt so natural that you didn’t bother to make any.”

Thanks to the logical path Cadence provided, Twilight nodded at the explanation. “Okay,” she drawled. “But, I’m not really seeing how what’s going on right now is your fault.”

“Your reaction to it is,” Cadence clarified. “If you were to have had as many friends as a normal filly when you were younger, then something like this would have already happened and you would know how to deal with it. What’s going on right now is just a really big fight and...well, it’s going to take a little bit of time for you two to work through it.

“I can tell you care for Rainbow, and I can see her love for you written on that mare’s face plain as day when she saw you disappear,” Cadence continued. “But it’s because of the love you have for each other that your both so upset right now.”

The cheeks on Twilight’s face turned red. “I’m not in love with Rainbow Dash Cadence!”

Twilight’s declaration got a giggle from the alicorn. “There’s more than one type of love you silly filly! You love your parents, your brother, me, Celestia and your friends. And if I were to ask you to describe each one, they would all be so drastically different that using a single word to define them all would seem foalish.”

“Well…okay, that makes sense.”

“And from what you’ve written about Rainbow Dash, and from what I’ve seen…this little fight of yours is over more than just some misguided magic,” Cadence told her.

When Cadence didn’t seem to be anymore forthcoming, Twilight prompted her. “Like?”

The pink alicorn looked up in thought for a moment as she began speaking. “A lot of things. For example, when she was yelling at you earlier I noticed Rainbow Dash talked about how everypony else tempered themselves a bit to fit in and how you didn’t. But, she never mentioned herself either.” As Twilight cocked her head in confusion and Cadence looked down at her gave the unicorn the full explanation. “I think Dash is the type of pony who holds everypony to the same standards that she holds herself.”

The extended explanation didn’t help very much with Twilight’s comprehension. If anything, it only got in the way of understanding. Rainbow Dash wasn’t anything like Twilight. One was a unicorn, the other had been a pegasus up until twenty-four hours ago. Rainbow Dash was impulsive, Twilight was methodical. If Cadence’s theory were true, Rainbow Dash would have hated her guts because they were so different.

Maybe she does, Twilight told herself. What if all this time, Rainbow has resented me and is only going through the motions? We’ve never really done anything together. We don’t have any interests, and the only time we’ve ever really been around each other without the others as a reason for being in the general vicinity is…

Twilight wracked her brain for an instance where she and Rainbow Dash had truly tried to connect. The pet contest that happened the other week was more of a spectator thing, Twilight had just watched Dash be her usual self until the end where she made the surprising choice of the tortoise over the falcon. The only other time she could remember doing something for Rainbow Dash was…

“Cloudsdale!” Twilight exclaimed as she leaped off her bed in a bust of energy that came with her inspiration.

“Twilight?” Cadence mumbled as her old friend started prancing around the room and talking to herself. A second later, the purple unicorn pulled a chalkboard from its corner and began writing an equation to prove her friendship with the other mare wasn't just some half-lie.

“When Rainbow Dash had her contest in Cloudsdale, she was really nervous and needed emotional support from all her friends. So I found out this spell that lets other ponies walk on clouds so we could cheer for her!” Twilight exclaimed as she quantified the positive effect her actions. “Well, except for Rarity, I found a spell that actually gave her wings…and then she started getting all the attention, and that made Dash feel so much more nervous…before she even entered the contest…and came out at the same time as Rainbow…before her wings evaporated mid-flight and she almost…died.”

Twilight stopped her calculations and dropped the chalk upon factoring in the last event. Even if she was generous and counted the presence of each friend as a positive in themselves instead of just one single good point, the fact that Rarity and Rainbow had been competing at the same time nullified their value for Rainbow thanks to Rarity’s presence. If anything, bringing everyone was a negative, since Fluttershy would have been in Cloudsdale anyway to cheer Rainbow Dash on, and Rarity’s presence removed her positive support at the competition from the equation since Twilight had been rooting for both of them.

Then there was all the negative events that Twilight was the root of. She was unable to take her eyes off the chalkboard as she added them up, unopposed by any positive impact she had managed to make during the competition. The fact that Rainbow had won the competition in the end was a non-factor since it had nothing to do with Twilight’s involvement, and Twilight was just glad Rainbow had been carried away by her friends and gone off to hang out with the Wonderbolts before Twilight managed to screw something else up. All she had done was talk with Princess Celestia after Rainbow Dash won the… Correction, Twilight thought to herself as this morning’s information was factored in. All she had done was monopolize Celestia’s time instead of giving Rainbow Dash a few precious moments to spend with her ancestor.

That earned another mark against her.

“Twilight, what’re you doing?” Cadence asked, her voice full of worry when Twilight finally looked away from the chalkboard. It had a disturbing resemblance to the ‘romance calculation’ Cadence had done several years ago when she had decided to date Shinning Armor, when she thought love could actually be spelled out via mathematics. What made it even creepier was that Twilight’s calculations had ended in a negative. Negatives were never a good sign.

Then, she flinched when Twilight spun around to face Cadence with tears in her eyes again.

“I…I’m a terrible pony!” the lavender unicorn wailed. When her knees started to shake, Cadence bolted up and supported the smaller unicorn before she could fall onto the floor.

“Twilight, that’s the most foolish thing I’ve ever heard,” Cadence said. “You are the most wonderful, caring pony anypony could ever ask for.”

“But it’s true! Look!” She said while pointing towards her chalkboard. “The math says so!”

Oh boy, Cadence thought as she looked down at her friend, then up to the chalkboard before turning her attention back to Twilight. “Well, how about you walk me through your equations and we’ll see if you missed anything?”

Twilight looked back to the chalkboard and gulped. She didn’t want Cadence to know about something like that. Twilight also doubted she had made a mistake. The math was so simple and straightforward that the whole thing might have well of been a comparison chart if not for the fact that it also accounted for the size of the actions along with their status as a positive or a negative.

Still, if there was anypony who could find something Twilight had missed, it was-

Downstairs, the door slammed open to announce a new arrival. “Hey Twilight you here?” Rainbow Dash called out as the sound of flapping signaled her ascent. “You disappeared before the waiter-guy-whose-not-really-a-waiter showed up to ask what we wanted to eat, but then got all weird when I told him I wanted some carrot dogs and hay fries and stormed off. Then the cook went missing, so I just made you some daisy sandwiches mysel-Twilight, are you okay?”

Rainbow Dash gaped at the tears in her friend’s eyes, then set the tray of sandwiches down on the railing before zipping over and glaring at Cadence while demanding an explanation to her friend’s sorry state. “What did you do to her?”

“ME?” Cadence asked as she had to back up when Rainbow got right in her face. “Twilight was on the verge of tears when she left you!”

“That was like, ten minutes ago!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “Nopony cries for ten minutes strait!”

Off on what had become the sidelines, Twilight hesitantly raised a hoof to try and stop what could become something very bad.

“I don’t know what you think you know about Twilight,” Cadence shouted right back at the other alicorn. “But she is a very delicate mare, and ponies like you that just run their mouth off without thinking have no business being anywhere near her!”

As Twilight watched the anger on Rainbow Dash’s face blossom into a full on rage, her ears wilted. “Please stop.”

“That’s bull!” Rainbow Dash responded in an even louder voice than Cadence’s previous one. “TWILIGHT IS THE TOUGHEST UNICORN I’VE EVER MET!”

“She-huh?” Cadence managed to get out before Rainbow Dash’s statement detailed her train of thought. Twilight also found herself lost on that one.

But while Cadence had fallen silent for the moment, Rainbow Dash capitalized on the opportunity and just kept going. “She’s brave too! And hello, magic? That’s her cutie mark and her element! She’s like the me of magic! She practices it every day, and even with her stupid schedule stuff, she drops it all in an instant if one of her friends are in trouble! She’s the best friend any pony could ever ask for and-and the most awesome unicorn ever!”

Cadence blinked, not sure how to argue with that without doing even more damage to Twilight’s self-image. “Umm…”

“Rainbow, I’m really not-humph!”

Twilight stared at the hoof covering her mouth as the blue alicorn landed and kept her from talking. “Is that’s about that stupid Trixie bragging stuff again?” Dash demanded. “Okay look, I’m bad with the bragging and I get that, and I’ll tone it down from now on. But you need to learn how to start telling people how awesome you are!” As far as Rainbow was concerned, that modesty junk was just as bad as being a braggart.

No, it was worse! Instead of a pony believing their own words and biting off more than she could chew, and maybe even doing enough hard work to live up to the hype one day, an overly modest pony discounted her own achievements no matter how cool they were until one day she really was the loser she sold herself as.

“But I’m not!” Twilight argued.

“Yes you are!”

“No I’m not, look!” Twilight said before she pointed a hoof at the damning evidence.

Rainbow Dash turned around and looked at the chalkboard with its nonsense that she couldn’t made heads of tails of. “What the hay is that?” she asked before looking over to Cadence. The thing obviously upset Twilight, but Rainbow just saw egghead stuff that made no sense. “Did you do that?”

The question made Cadence raise an eyebrow. “No,” she mumbled, the pink princess’s earlier anger at the other alicorn gone after watching the odd interaction between her and Twilight. “And don’t ask me what it means either.”

“It means I’m an awful friend and a terrible pony!” Twilight explained.

Rainbow Dash titled her head in confusion. “Say what?” She looked back over to the thing in question for a second, walked over to it to try and make more sense of it, then turned around to face Twilight. “It’s just a bunch of stupid numbers!”

“It’s math Rainbow, and the math says I’m a lousy friend!”

“Well then buck the math!”

And that’s just what she did.

Both Cadence and Twilight winced as the blue alicorn raised her rear hooves and struck the chalkboard with her hind legs. Upon making contact with the offending information, Rainbow’s hooves blew the chalkboard into a thousand pieces and scattered little bits of green all around the floor.

Then, while Cadence and Twilight were still just staring in confusion at Rainbow’s antics, the blue alicorn flew over to Twilight and poked her in the nose. “Twilight Sparkle is the most awesome unicorn ever!”

“Rainbow?” Twilight asked

“Say it!”

“Ummm, Rainbow-”

Rainbow Dash cut her off. “Princess order! Now say it!”

“Twilight Sparkle is the most awesome unicorn ever?” Twilight mumbled.

Rainbow Landed rain in front of Twilight and stomped her hoof on the ground. “Louder!”

“Twilight Sparkle is the most awesome unicorn ever!”

“I can’t hear you!” Rainbow shouted.

“TWILIGHT SPARKLE IS THE MOST AWESOME UNICORN EVER!” Twilight yelled at the top of her lungs as she stood at attention.

“Because she would do anything to help her friends!” Rainbow continued before she indicated Twilight should say it too a second after the unicorn just stared at her.

“BECAUSE I WOULD DO ANYTHING TO HELP MY FRIENDS!”

“And she’s the coolest magic user around!”

“AND I’M THE MOST COOLEST MAGIC USER AROUND!”

“And there’s nothing more important to her than her friends!”

“AND THERE’S NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT TO ME THAN MY FRIENDS!”

“And-huh?” Rainbow felt somepony put their hoof on her shoulder and found herself cut off when Cadence stepped forward to continue the pep talk. “And she only lets the best of intentions guide her actions.”

Cadence’s more gentle words threw Twilight off, but after Rainbow eyed the other alicorn up and down and gave an agreeable nod, Twilight snapped back into her military stance. “AND I ONLY LET THE BEST OF INTENTIONS GUIDE MY ACTIONS!”

“And even though she gets these silly little ideas in her head about her own self worth, she’ll listen to her friends when they’re making sense, and realize that she might not be as bad a pony as she thinks,” a gentle voice told her as a third alicorn ascended the stairs.

Twilight gaped at her mentor’s appearance. “P-Princess Celestia?”

The Goddess of the Sun kept her smile, but gave the purple unicorn a playful frown as she leaned down to look Twilight in the eye. “Now say it…princess order.”

“You heard all that?” Twilight squeaked in embarrassment.

“I came with Rainbow Dash and was waiting for her to apologize before I came in, but this seemed a little more important,” Celestia told her student before the smile disappeared. “And that isn’t what I ordered you to say.”

Twilight Sparkle forced out a chuckle and took in a deep breath. Despite the length of the command, she could remember it in its entirely. Although Twilight didn’t have a photographic memory, she could always remember anything important, and everything Celestia said was important.

“AND EVEN THOUGH I GET THESE SILLY LITTLE IDEAS IN MY HEAD ABOUT MY OWN SELF WORTH, I’LL LISTEN TO MY FRIENDS WHEN THEY’RE MAKING SENSE AND REALIZE THAT I MIGHT NOT BE AS BAD A PONY AS I THINK.”

The tower was silent as Twilight finished repeating everything Celestia had ordered her to. This was mostly because the three alicorns were a bit surprised that Twilight had managed to say the whole thing correctly. It was also because Twilight’s voice was a little sore, and the other three ponies needed to wait a few seconds for their ears to stop ringing. But, the silence was not to last. The lack of a breakfast, a missed lunch, and the stress of the situation finally aught up to Twilight, causing a riot in her stomach that demanded food.

A blush formed on Twilight’s cheeks from her organ’s outburst. “Can I have a sandwich now?”

Celestia let out a melodious laugh, and floated the tray of food over where all the telekinetic able members of the group grabbed something to eat. As for Rainbow Dash, she reached to try and get herself one, only to have the golden aura block her attempts. “Ahem, I think somepony else has something to say as well.”

The comment made Rainbow Dash drop her hoof and look back to Twilight. “Twilight, I’m sorry I yelled at you back at the table. I… Okay look, this whole scheduling thing you do does get on my nerves, but its nothing next to how awesome it is to have you as a friend.”

“Rainbow-”

“And I think that’s why I got so mad about the Mare Do Well thing too,” she went on. Although she raised an eyebrow when Twilight shared a weird look with Cadence, the blue alicorn kept going. “One of the coolest things about you is you don’t try and change who you are in front of other ponies. You show everypony who you are all the time! You don't lie about who you are or hide things about yourself. Then you of all ponies just comes up to me and says to stop bragging?”

“It’s not that,” Twilight said to stop Rainbow before she paused herself for a moment to try and collect her thoughts. “It was… Look, there’s a difference between taking pride in your accomplishments and rubbing everyone’s faces in them! I’m not saying stop bragging, you wouldn’t be you! But…well, try not to brag about the same thing for three days strait, okay?”

Rainbow thought about it for a minute, then smirked at Twilight. “Deal,” she said before reaching for a sandwich. After grabbing one and re-balancing herself on three hooves, Rainbow Dash looked around at the three other horned ponies in the room and sighed. “Twi, you really gotta show me how you girls do that floaty stuff.”

The description of her telekinesis made Twilight giggle. “You want me to teach you magic Rainbow?”

As the three smaller ponies conversed among themselves for a few seconds over the contents of the lunch tray, Celestia’s eyes widened at her student’s words. “That’s it!” she whispered.

Twilight’s ears flicked and she looked up to her mentor. “Hmmm? Did you say something Princess Celestia?” she asked after swallowing the last bit of her first sandwich. Rainbow remembering she liked daisy sandwiches was one thing, but the fact the blue mare had remembered the honey surprised Twilight.

A moment later, the warm expression on Celestia’s face disappeared and she looked down to the lavender unicorn. “Twilight Sparkle, as punishment for engaging in the black arts, you are to be sentenced to teaching Princess Rainbow Dash how to fully utilize her magic as an alicorn in a responsible manner.”

“Awesome!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed before she let her wings take her weight and she kicked off the ground to fly over the group and land behind Twilight. “Hey sorry for doubting you Princess! Number one unicorn in Equestria teaching me magic? Twilight this is so going to rock!”

The fact Rainbow Dash picked her up in a hug that put an undo amount of stress on her chest before pulling them both into the air had nothing to do with the nausea welling up in Twilight’s stomach. That feeling was the result of the words Celestia had chosen to describe her sentence.

I have to teach Rainbow Dash…responsibility? Twilight asked herself as the blue pegasus pulled the two of them backwards and landed on the empty bed. I’m doomed.

Cadence raised an eyebrow at Celestia’s decision. “Auntie, are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“I have learned over the years that the best way for a pony to learn something is to teach it themselves,” Celestia explained to her adopted niece before looking back to Twilight. “You’ve shown a lack of foresight and judgment these past few weeks Twilight, but I know you, I know that your actions had no ill intent.” At least, it was not at the forefront of your mind, she told herself. “Your mornings will be spent in remedial classes on ethics with me, while Rainbow Dash will be your student in the evening.”

As Rainbow Dash and Twilight rolled onto their stomachs to lay next to each other on the bed, Cadence looked back to Celestia. “Um, Auntie… I know Twilight has an incredible talent. But, you know the old saying. Those that can do, those that can’t teach. But those that do, can’t teach.”

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash grumbled as she unfolded her wing and used it to cover Twilight’s back. “Twilight will be an awesome teacher!”

The other mare‘s actions made Cadence’s eyes shoot up, but she decided not to draw attention to it. “Rainbow Dash, take it from another former-pegasus, magic is a headache to learn.”

Rainbow Dash seemed to ignore the other alicorn’s comment, and simply yawned before shifting around in the bed.

“Well, I suppose it would be best to let the two of you have the rest of the day to prepare for yourselves,” Celestia told them. “Twilight, I will also need to approve whatever curriculum you decide upon before it is implemented.”

“Princess Celestia! Princess Celestia!” a voice cried out from outside the tower’s door, its tone suggesting a level of panic reserved for the end of the world.

The princess in question simply sighed. “And it would appear my scheduling adviser has recovered from his mental breakdown sooner than I had hoped,” she grumbled before turning to Cadence. “I might need you to fill in on a few public appearances for me today.”

Cadence groaned. “Okay. But if he tries to stick me with the royal pet walking duties again, you’re on your own.”

As the two princesses made their exit, Twilight’s mind was already going over all the things she would need to teach Rainbow Dash magic properly. While Twilight used her horn to gather materials for writing a checklist, her mind assaulted her with the horrid possibilities of what Rainbow Dash would be like as a student. An image formed in her mind, where Twilight stood with her back to the class of one while using a pointer to bring attention to a certain part of magical text written up on the chalkboard, the chalkboard that was covered in spit wads and Twilight herself had a paper airplane stuck in her tail.

Oh come on Twilight, it can’t be that bad, she tried to assure herself.

But, the image didn’t simply disappear with her reassurance. So, Twilight furrowed her brows in thought and remembered a time when she had first been Celestia’s student.

“So Twilight, what would you like to learn today?” her mentor’s voice asked in her head.

That’s how I’ll do it, Twilight reasoned. If she started with things that Rainbow wanted to learn about, it would be easier to keep her attention and interest. Then I could move onto the less interesting stuff once Dash has a base of knowledge to draw from. She might actually LIKE learning magic by then!

“So Dash, what would you like to-”

“Zzzzzzzzzz,” the blue alicorn snored. After a night of almost no sleep, the mentally exhausting morning, and finally getting some food, sleep had come in moments of laying down on Twilight’s comfortable bed.

Twilight sighed an shook her head. I wonder if its too late to ask for a prison sentence.

It was well past sundown as Rainbow Dash trotted down the empty hallway of Canterlot Castle, feeling better about herself than she had all day. Although she knew from personal experience what wonders a little rest could do, it was more than that. For the first time since talking to Princess Celestia (she still had a little trouble thinking of the ancient sun goddess as her 50th great grandmother) that morning, everything felt…right.

Twilight wasn’t in trouble.

Okay, well, she was, but it wasn’t the kind that would ruin her life. If anything, her so-called punishment just made Rainbow Dash all the more happy. She was going to be learning magic from Twilight! That was like…like having Spitfire as her personal flight instructor!

Dash stopped as a sudden realization hit her with the last thought. Can I do something like that?

She was a princess now after all. Being a princess gave her super authority powers. If she told Spitfire to do it…

No, Dash decided after letting that particular scenario play out in her head. It might have been cool to dream about, but just throwing her authority around like she was better than everypony else was a really a douche kind of move. Not cool at all.

Deciding she’s done enough thinking on the subject, Rainbow Dash looked around the palace some more or something to do. It has been real awesome the way Twilight hadn’t woken her up from the long nap she had taken, but six hours of unconsciousness had completely destroyed her sleep schedule.

After Twilight had gone to bed and Luna had raised the moon, the palace had practically shut down. The only thing Rainbow had seen while wandering around were a few of the cleaning ponies getting their work done when they wouldn’t be underhoof, and a few guards doing patrols.

She had thought about doing something like pranking the guards or messing with the servants, but the way they all bowed and scraped when she walked by made Rainbow Dash decide against it. Having another pony bow to her just because of a horn kind of creeped her out, and she doubted any of the ponies she messed with would respond how she wanted to some harmless fun.

“Man, isn’t there anypony in this place who isn’t going to-oh wait, Princess Luna!”

The sudden realization had Dash flying through the halls for a few minutes before she got in her head to ask a guard for direction to where the Princess of the Night was, then she found herself on the palace balcony that overlooked Canterlot, Ponyville, and a good bit of Equestria.

The location made it the perfect place for the magic telescope Luna was currently using to check up on her subjects for any problems before she headed out into the night.

“Um, Princess Luna?” Rainbow Dash spoke when she stepped out onto the balcony.

“Hm?” she turned around after a moment, and her eyes widened a bit upon seeing Rainbow Dash. “My word…Tai said you looked like A…ah, yes, Rainbow Dash wasn’t it? We encountered one another on Nightmare Night. You were missed at breakfast-or dinner for you I suppose. Twilight Sparkle said you needed your rest.”

Rainbow Dash blinked at the disjoined sentences. “You okay Princess?”

The question had Luna shaking her head. “Apologies, when we saw you on Nightmare Night, your features were mostly obscured. Seeing you such as this…well, no matter. To what do we owe the pleasure of thy company?”

“Oh, I was just wandering around and got a little lonely, and well, no one else is awake this late, and then I remember your up all night so…I thought we could hang out. I mean, if you’re not really doing anything that is. But…hey, what exactly is it you do at night anyway?”

The rather chaotic jumble of sentences had Luna staring at the younger princess for a moment, then her eyes softened when she translated it into something understandable in her mind. “Your company would be most welcome,” she said as a memory from played itself out in her mind. She remembered that like Twilight, Rainbow Dash had also been willing to approach her towards the ends of the festivities in the hopes of pulling a prank. Although the children had stopped fearing her…in a way, the fact that the brazen young mare had been willing to try and do such a thing to royalty… It seems the centuries and diluted bloodline hasn’t stopped her from inheriting some of Tia’s bad habits.

“And in answer to your second question, we do a bit more than raise the moon and paint the night sky,” Luna said, the last part coming out as a grumble at the bad memories it brought to mind. She had seen the star charts from when Celestia had been in charge and the travesty of that work still left a bad taste in her mouth. What was worse was the fact the modern astronomers were lodging complaints about how Luna was restoring the night to what it should be instead of Celestia’s imitation that had become the norm while she had been sealed in the moon.

“Tis our duty to oversee the safety of our subjects while they slumber, both in mind and body. We were simply making sure the creatures of the Everfree stayed within the forest boundaries before moving our attentions elsewhere. A thousand years of our absence has made the wilds a bit…restless, so the last year has been rather hectic. Tis still a bit early for our dream walking, in which we ensure the peaceful slumber of our nation’s citizenry.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened when she finished translating Luna’s words. “You get to fight monsters? That is so cool! The heck with listening to old stallions and mares bitch about everything all day, I want to tag along on your job!”

With the onslaught of praise for her work, Luna couldn’t help but blink. “Pardon?”

“Hey can I take a look through that thing?” she asked before walking up and taking a peek through the telescope, then she adjusted the thing and grinned. “Cool I can see my house from here. Hmm, is that mail in my…great, I forgot to tell Derp-Ditzy to keep my mail at the station.”

Luna leaned down so she was on eye level with Rainbow Dash. “Might I see?” When Rainbow backed off, Luna look a look through her telescope and gasped. “My, that is a truly spectacular abode Rainbow Dash.”

“Thanks, built it myself,” she said with pride.

The deceleration left Luna stunned for a moment. “You built that? On your own?!”

Rainbow Dash blinked at the fact Luna was making such a big deal about it. “Well, yeah. Dad was a bigwig cloud architect before I was born and he sort of retired. You grow up around that stuff and you just pick it up I guess.”

“But enough about that boring stuff! Let’s find a monster! Oh this’ll be so awesome! Hey, can we fight a hydra? There was this one my friends ran into a few months ago at a bog, and I never did get to teach it not to mess with ponies!”

Luna blinked at the sudden assault of odd requests. “We do not think our sister would take kindly to the fact of you being put into danger so soon after your…promotion.”

“I took you on, remember?” Rainbow Dash reminded her with an accusing hoof.

The point made Luna scowl at the memory of events it brought. She had remembered her last day as Nightmare Moon perfectly. She remembered how the demon had wanted to kill the ponies in that forest. A thousand years of battling the monster for control of her body on the moon had given her some say in how things were done. Luna had raged against it after the landslide nearly ended their lives, and kept the thing from doing more than setting up harmless roadblocks after that.

“That...thing was not me,” Luna told Rainbow in a tone that wilted the other alicorn’s ears.

Rainbow Dash gulped and nodded. “Right, sorry. I know you’re not…sorry.”

“A slip of the tongue,” Luna said with a nod to the smaller alicorn before she turned away to look out over her kingdom again. “You are forgiven.”

“Thanks P-Lu.”

Luna’s neck stiffened. “W-What?” she asked before looking back to Rainbow Dash. “What did you just call me?”

“Princess Luna?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“No you called me…is this Tia’s doing?” she demanded. “Did she tell you…”

When the other alicorn just trailed off, Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Are you okay?”

“No, even her sense of humor wouldn’t be cause for that,” Luna mumbled before she looked back at Rainbow Dash. “Look at me!”

Rainbow Dash gulped when the princess of the night got right up to her face and bent down low enough to look eye to eye. As Luna stared at her, Dash felt…exposed. She became more nervous than when she was at the best flyer's competition and everyone had been watching her. She couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think!

Then, Luna broke eye contact and Rainbow Dash gasped for air. While she was recovering, the darker alicorn circled Rainbow’s body and inspected every inch of her before settling on her cutie mark. A few more seconds of study, and Luna headed towards the door.

“Thank you for your company tonight dear niece, I am sorry for losing my temper for a slip of the tongue,” she apologized. “If you would like to visit me on the morrow, I promise to be much better company. Now if you would excuse me, I must speak with my sister.”

Rainbow Dash aid her goodbyes, then cocked her head in confusion. She was going I and me at the end there… Naw that was probably just me being all weirded out.

Luna stormed through her sister’s private quarters before knocking open the doors to her bedchambers loud enough to bring her older sister out of the dream she was having. Luna’s eyes caught sight of the larger alicorn dancing in a land made of chocolate before the dream vanished completely and Celestia raised herself from her bed.

“Sister?” Celestia asked as she fought back a yawn. “Is it time for dawn already?”

“WHAT DID YOU DO TIA?” Luna demanded. Behind her, she saw the four palace guards walk into the first room on trembling hooves. No doubt they thought this would be another coup attempt by Nightmare Moon. At the moment, Luna didn’t give much of a damn if this spawned a million fanciful tales of a second ‘nightmare rebellion’, or whatever tripe the idiots who called themselves historians came to dream up in the next thousand years.

Celestia was a bit more caring. She looked over Luna’s shoulder at her guards and waved them off. “Everything’s fine, leave us.” As soon as the doors to her bedroom were closed and warded against eavesdropping, Celestia looked back to her sister. “Is something wrong sister?”

“I was having a conversation with my new niece and discovered something very interesting,” Luna told her as she frowned at her sister. “Now, tell me. What did you do?”

“Sister, I’m still a bit confused. Is something wrong with Rainbow Dash?”

“DID YOU THINK I WOULD NOT SEE?” Luna shouted as she reared up and placed her forelegs on Celestia’s bed. “That I would be so blind not to notice?”

Celestia frowned. “You mean the resemblance? I’ll admit there is some-”

“While a change of hairstyle would make her the mirror image of your daughter, we have both seen uncanny amounts of physical resemblance in in our ponies for the past four and five thousand years! I looked past the blood and the bone and into her soul!”

The declaration sent Celestia’s thoughts racing while Luna continued on. “All my way here I have tried to find an explanation that would make sense. There is only one twisted school of magic that I know of that could do such a thing. But I know you of all ponies would never stoop to such levels. So tell me I am wrong. Tell me! What. Did. You. Do?”

Chapter 5

View Online

Chapter 5: Echoes

Luna paced back and forth as Celestia finished her explanation. By the time she had herd the whole thing, she was leaving cracks in the floor. Luna didn’t know whether to be sickened, or angry at the things Celestia had just told her. “Tia, this is…how could you?”

“It was my daughter Luna! If it meant saving her I would have done anything! So I took every option open to me!” Celestia defended herself.

“YOU USED NECROMANCY!” Luna shouted. “That art is an affront to everything we stand for! A bastardization of life!”

“Andromeda’s experiments-”

“DO NOT SPEAK THAT NAME IN MY PRESENCE!” Luna shouted as her eyes began to glow.

Celestia frowned at her sister's reaction. “Do not act as if you are the only one she caused pain sister.”

The two goddesses locked eyes and wills, and Celestia turned away. “It didn’t even work,” she said before lowering her head to hide the gathering tears. “What did come of it only seemed to mock me. Every one of them mock me.”

As she watched her sister cry, the anger drained from Luna and she sat down on the carpet. “She called me that stupid name…you know, the one she made for me when she was still too young to say princess, right?”

Celestia giggled. “You hated that name. I think that’s why I encouraged her to keep doing it.”

Luna was silent for a moment. “No I meant,” she said before shaking her head to clear the confusion. “No I meant Rainbow Dash, she called me P-Lu. You‘re right, it is rather confusing. If it wasn‘t for the cloud, even their cutie marks would be identical.”

“…wait, what?” Celestia asked before her brow furrowed.

“Their cutie marks,” Luna repeated. “I know it’s odd to see a rainbow lighting bolt but plenty of ponies have identical or similar-”

Celestia raised a hoof to silence her. “No not… Is Rainbow Dash asleep at the moment?”

The question made Luna quirk an eyebrow. “Sister?”

An hour later, the two sisters walked out of the new princess’s bedroom while Rainbow’s snoring echoed throughout the halls.

“That’s not possible.”

Luna raised an eyebrow as she finished closing the door to Rainbow’s quarters and followed her sister down the hallway while the larger mare slowly shook her head in defiance of what she had just seen. After catching up with Celestia, she let out a soft humph. “Oh, so now you believe me. Well, give me a fitting explanation then.”

The pair turned down the hall and came out to a balcony that overlooked the castle gardens. Celestia looked down at her hedge maze and sighed. “Thankfully I cleared my schedule for tomorrow,” she mumbled to herself before addressing Luna. “I’m going back to our old castle to check up on my research notes. I want you to pay our sister a visit.”

“Sister-”

“I know this might be…hard for you Lulu,” Celestia told her with empathetic eyes before the goddess steeled herself. “But I just studied Necromancy, Andromeda invented it. If anypony knows what’s going on, its her.”

The goddess of the night let out a growl, but nodded in consent. “Very well. But you know how much I hate pulling an all-dayer.”

The one thing that Rainbow Dash absolutely hated about her apartment in the palace was that it had a perfect view of the rising sun. The onslaught of light that awoke her far too early wasn’t stopped by the frilly pink curtains that covered her window. Even when she didn’t have work to do, her mother’s celestial object kept her from sleeping in.

Of course, the knocking on the door didn’t help much either.

Rainbow Dash let out a moan and rolled out of bed before getting the kinks out of her wings and flapped over to the door. “Hey, what’s so-oh, it’s you,” she mumbled as she noticed Cadence was the one standing on the other side of the door instead of Twilight.

“Good morning Rainbow Dash,” Princess Cadence said a little too chipper for someone who had just gotten out of bed. “I thought we might do something together this morning since we got off to a bit of a rocky start.”

“Isn’t it a little early for…hay, anything?” she asked.

Cadence giggled and her horn lit up to float Dash out of her room. “Oh come on. I’ve been wanting to talk to you since yesterday and the spa is the perfect place for some mare bonding.”

The word spa brought a shiver down Dash’s spine, and she struggled with her four legs to get out of Cadence’s telekinetic grip. “Okay seriously, if you don’t put me down right now. I’m going to start trying to use this thing,” she told the pink pony. “And I will not be held responsible for whatever I turn you into.”

As Rainbow Dash lowered her horn at Cadence, the pink princess quickly released her and Rainbow Dash fell to the ground. “Happy?”

“No,” Rainbow replied before she got back on her hooves. “And what the hay are you trying to drag me to some stupid spa for?”

Cadence frowned and threw her caution to the wind and went with the bold truth rather than sugarcoat it. “Because your mane’s a mess, your hooves look like they haven’t ever been treated, your tail looks like its had something living in it, and…actually, your wings are in pretty good shape.”

Oh great, it’s an alicorn version of Rarity, Rainbow thought with a frown. Then she kept the expression focus at the pink mare before she spoke. “My mane, my hooves, and my tail, none of them your business.”

Since her disagreeable companion was throwing out all semblance of manner, Cadence thought it best to do the same. While some negotiations worked on courtesy, she knew from personal experience being blunt was a tactic that was sometimes needed. “What’s your problem? I’m trying to be nice!”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t drag me out of bed and try and ship me off to some stupid spa!” Rainbow shot back.

Instead of taking the bait Rainbow was offering and getting into an argument about the merits of a spa treatment, Cadence decided to use reason to persuaded her. “You need to have your appearance done before your interview today!” Good old angry reason.

“I-my-wha?” Rainbow Dash managed to get out as Cadence’s words derailed her train of thought and sent it off a bridge to crash into a river of confusion below.

“Celestia scheduled an announcement yesterday in which she intended to show you to the kingdom and take questions. However, you fell asleep and Twilight begged her off,” Cadence explained with a frown. “So, you need to be made presentable.”

Rainbow grit her teeth. “You mean I gotta prop myself up like some kind of…” She didn’t even know a bad enough word for what Cadence was suggesting.

“Fake? False idol? Beauty pageant contestant?” she supplied before her expression softened. “Trust me, I know what its like. When I’m away at the Griffin Empire, it’s even worse. At least in the palace I can show everypony the real me. Over there, I can’t even use my preferred name. Mi Amore Cadenza, ugh.”

The new topic didn’t last long, but Dash felt some connection to the other princess. “So how come I have to get all…glamored up? I thought this title would let me do things my way. Isn't that one of the princess perks?”

Cadence gave her a small smirk that seemed to radiate warmth. “I’ll tell you a little secret about being a princess. We may be the rulers of this nation, but our people’s expectations are what rule us. We have to be their definition of perfection in order to make them feel safe and secure.”

“You stole that from Luna,” Rainbow said with a smirk.

“…Celestia actually,” Cadence corrected her with a blush at being caught mimicking another princess’s wisdom.

“No, pretty sure it was Luna,” Rainbow argued. She could remember her aunt giving that long speech on her private balcony after…when… Well, she was pretty sure it had been last night. That was the only time Dash really talked to Luna before.

The other alicorn’s stubbornness brought a frown to Cadence’s face. “Care to place a wager on that?” she asked. Luna had been imprisoned for her entire life up until Twilight and the others had freed her from the Nightmare, the fact that Rainbow Dash was arguing on her with such an impossible point irked the rational pony to no end.

“Okay! What do you want to bet?” Rainbow asked.

Cadence got a slightly less than loving smile as her head swam with the possibilities, but she settled on something that would help her task of preparing Rainbow for her interview. “If I’m right, we go to the spa.”

“Okay, and if I’m right…you have to…um…dye your hair green!”

“I…where did that come from?” Cadence asked. When Rainbow looked as clueless as her and just shrugged, she held out her hoof. “Deal.”

Once the agreement was made, Cadence motioned with her head for Rainbow to follow her down the hall. “Come on, Celestia’s teaching Twilight at the School for Gifted Unicorns.”

-Meanwhile at The School for…you know what, we’re just calling it SGU-

“Oh no you don’t!”

…

Pinkie Pie?

“We are in no way shape or form ever going to make any connection to that horrible spin-off series which ended the Stargate franchise!”

But-

“NO!”

Sigh

-The School for Gifted Unicorns-

Twilight worked furiously to take notes as Celestia continued her lecture on the ethical use of magic. It was times such as these why Twilight realized the sun goddess only took the best of the best for her personal students: Twilight didn’t think there were that many ponies who could keep up with her verbal instruction.

Although an all around wonderful teacher overall, Celestia’s one weakness was when it came time to give academic lectures to her students. In her defense, Celestia was more of a hands on doer kind of teacher that liked to teach via demonstration and interaction. There was also the fact that she had to cram a lot of teaching into a rather limited schedule. Because of this, when it came to lessons that were strictly explanation, Celestia doled out the information as fast as possible and woe be to any of those who would ask a question.

“Now we come to the question of the subject of the constructs themselves,” Celestia said as she continued her lesson while Twilight nodded. Although the class was a ‘refresher’ course in ethics, it seemed to deal more with the ethical considerations surrounding ancient magic that Twilight didn’t even know existed before Celestia mentioned it.

The question of why Celestia was teaching her such things did enter Twilight’s mind, but she had no idea as to what the answer was and had yet to ask.

“As I stated previously, the power and desire of the caster shapes the construct’s will and complexity. Some of them can do little more than follow simple commands, while others have the full range of emotions. But what is the ethical ramifications for this magic? Certainly it would seem that creating simple constructs to say…assist the less-able ponies that are getting on in years around would be a good thing?

“But what of say…well, any job really,” she continued. “Construction? Labor? Perhaps we could also use them as guards and soldiers in case something should threaten our nation. While it would save lives, could there also be a downside to such an action?

“What of the constructs themselves? Is it right to create them in the first place? If a being can respond to commands, then it must have some measure of intelligence, and as the spark of life comes from magic, can their existence be called a form of life?”

Twilight blinked slowed her note taking process when she heard the door to the lecture hall open. Celestia didn’t seem to notice and continued to talk while Cadence and Dash walked into the room. “Hey girls, what’re you doing here?”

“Great, Princess Celestia’s in hardcore lecture mode,” Cadence mumbled. “Looks like this turned out to be a waste.”

Dash frowned. “Hardcore what?”

“It’s some magic theory lesson that she’s got so memorized she can put herself on autopilot to the point where nothing else in the world reaches her,” Cadence explained.

“Wait…she’s like, sleep teaching?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Yes.”

“Okay, then a good kick should get her-”

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight shouted as soon as the words left her friend’s mouth. All attempts of taking notes vanished as she turned around to glare at the rainbow-mane alicorn. “You did not just suggest kicking Princess Celestia!”

The accusing tone made the newly ascended goddess flinch, and she gave an innocent chuckle while cowering from the purple unicorn‘s disapproving glare. “Slip of the tongue?”

Cadence rolled her eyes, then sighed. “Well, I guess this is a bust.”

“Hey, we made a bet!” Rainbow exclaimed ass he stood back up to try and match her face to face. But, she was a good deal shorter than the other alicorn. “You can’t just back out now.”

“The whole point of going to the spa was to get you looking presentable for your interview,” Cadence said. “Plus, by the time Celestia is done, it will be time for lunch and your lessons with Twilight.”

In response to Cadence’s comment, Twilight shook her head. “No, I only went over my plans with Rainbow last night. I still need Celestia to approve everything I plan to teach her-oh no, my notes!”

As Twilight whirled around to see where Celestia was in her lecture, Rainbow shook her head at the sight and Cadence frowned at Twilight’s panicked reaction to falling behind her teacher. Although it had been a few years since they’d last seen each other, the Twilight that was descending into a mess over a few missed comments by Celestia seemed a long way from the carefree and loving filly she had used to know. “What the?”

“Yeah…she kind of does this sort of stuff when it comes to tests and Celestia,” Rainbow explained rather poorly.

“Oh my…this is…is there anything we can do?” she asked.

Rainbow Dash frowned for a moment and tapped her chin with her hoof. Then, she looked up as if a light bulb had come on over her head and cleared her throat. “Shoo-be-do.”

Cadence frowned. “What-”

“SEA PONIES!” Celestia shouted out a second after Cadence tried to speak.

All three of the smaller horned ponies in the lecture hall felt their hackles rise as Celestia cried out and leapt into the air. Her horn ignited with a blinding light that Twilight had to shield herself from in order to prevent permanent damage to her eyes while the alicorn’s were able to get away with simply looking away from the sun goddess’s blazing horn.

However, before she could release her power and level half of Canterlot in a blind panic, Celestia noticed where she was and powered down. Then she slowly floated back towards the ground while her mane blew around to hide the blush on her cheeks. “Ah-hem…well…” The goddess shook her head fiercely, then cleared her throat. “Any questions?”

In her later years, Twilight would constantly remind Celestia that she asked for it.

“WHAT THE HAY WAS THAT?” the unicorn demanded as she threw out her hooves in exasperation.

Celestia took a few moments to look around the room, her gaze settling on Rainbow Dash for a moment before she moved her attention back to Twilight. “To what are you referring to my student? The ethical choice of making a living creature for the sole purpose of servitude, or its long-term effects on society at having a labor/fighting force-”

“SHOO-BE-DOO!” Twilight yelled while pointing a hoof at Celestia.

A shiver crept down Celestia’s spine and her body visibly trembled. But, before she could reprimand her student for her use of…that term, a snicker came from higher up the flight of desks, and Rainbow Dash broke out into unbridled laughter, much to Cadence’s confusion and Twilight’s horror.

“Uh, what’s going on?” Cadence asked.

“Rainbow Dash! Stop laughing at Princess Celestia!”

“Can’t…too…much…funny,” the blue alicorn got out between laughs.

The Goddess of the Sun groaned at the sight of her confused niece, her accusing student and…Rainbow Dash laughing her flank off at Celestia’s outburst. Then it’s as Luna said. No one still alive except for her sister should have even been aware of that…musical phrase, and Celestia’s aversion to its creators. But, two oddities and a single night of research were not enough for her to draw any real conclusions on her descendant’s condition.

“Okay seriously, how did you do that?” Cadence asked as she looked at Rainbow rolling around on the ground.

As Rainbow was still too caught up in the hilarity of the slip, Celestia covered for her. “Aurora.”

Twilight and Cadence looked over to the large Alicorn, while Rainbow Dash’s laughter ended and she peeked up from behind the desk. “Hm?”

“Rainbow Dash is a descendent of my daughter,” Celestia explained. “Considering our relationship at the end, I wouldn’t be suppressed if she has a few half-remembered family stories about me, including my aversion to…ugh, sea ponies.”

The explanation seemed to satisfy Cadence and Rainbow Dash, judging by the way the confusion lifted from the mare's face. Twilight just found more questions to ask. “Okay so…what’s a sea pony?”

“Something you never have to worry about my student,” Celestia assured her. She had sealed the last of those creatures away in Tartarus shortly after its construction.

With Twilight taken care of, Celestia turned her attention back to the other alicorns. “Did the two of you need something?”

Cadence nodded. “Yes auntie. I was wondering. You were the one who told me…”

“I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

“Shh! Do you want to get caught?”

Four cloaked figures moved through the back alleys of Canterlot, careful not to draw attention to themselves. Intent on a hidden purpose, they quickly darted in and out behind cover, careful to avoid being seen. Luckily, the few ponies that did notice them were too put off by their dark appearance to investigate.

They hurried up to the rather rundown side of a building and came to a stop at a door that had been boarded up. The lead pony reached up and knocked on the door, then waited for the eye slot to open. “Password?” a gruff voice on the other end asked.

“Hooficure,” the lead pony whispered before she slot closed and she stepped back.

The door opened outwards, taking the boards with it and showing to the two robed ponies that had not been here before the boards were simply for show. Then the herd of four rushed inside before the door slammed shut behind them. Once they had passed through the hidden entrance, a pair of ponies approached the four and waited for them to disrobe.

Twilight went first, using her horn to remove her robes before she helped a struggling Rainbow Dash with hers. Cadence had no problems. As for the fourth member of their group, Twilight was witnessed to the odd sight at being eye level with her teacher for a few moments when the sun goddess shook off her clothes, then she took a moment to adjust her size from that of a normal pony to a divine alicorn.

As soon as the glow faded from Celestia’s body, she stretched much like a dog awakening from a long sleep to readjust its spine. “Ugh, I’ll never understand how Luna’s able to shift her shape so casually,” she grumbled while accidentally treating the other three mares to the sight of her upraised plot while she wiggled a bit to get her spine to pop.

Cadence and Twilight had the decency to look away and not mention it, Rainbow on the other hand…she hummed a little tune to herself for a moment that sounded eerily familiar to the other two ponies before finishing with, “and do a little shake.”

The reactions were immediate. Celestia noticed the awkward position she was in and immediately shot up to look at the ponies behind her. Cadence glared at Rainbow, Twilight sputtered out an apology to Princes Celestia for her friend’s crude behavior, and Rainbow simply guffawed.

“Princess I’m so sorry! Rainbow, apologize!”

When Rainbow Dash opened her mouth, only more chuckling came out. She shook her head and wiped away a tear, only met with the face of Princess Celestia herself when she looked back.

“Rainbow Dash, do you know long it has been since a pony has laughed at my actions before today?” she asked in a cool tone.

All of a sudden, Dash found it easy to quiet down. She became focused in the moment and gulped from looking at the goddess‘s frown. “Ummm…no?” she squeaked.

Then Celestia straitened and shrugged. “Guess that means it’s been a bit too long then,” she said with a smirk before turning around and taking a few steps towards the ponies waiting for her. “And be careful, it’s said those that mock another for their appearance are secretly jealous.” Then, just to emphasis the fact, she shook her rear in Dash’s direction.

“Wha- H-hey!” Dash cried.

Twilight…just…gaped at the sight.

With her three companions silent for the moment, Celestia walked through the door at the other end of the room and came out into one of the Canterlot Spa’s back hallways. She looked to one of the ponies that had taken their robes and nodded a greeting. “My companions and I would like to start with a massage. Princess Rainbow Dash also needs her mane groomed, but I suppose that could wait until after a drip in a therapeutic hot tub.”

“Very well your highness, would you like a single table or massage room for two?”

“Two,” she replied before looking back towards her little ponies. “Come along Twilight. Cadence and Rainbow Dash can share a room as well.”

The smaller unicorn ignored the groan of protest that came from behind and hurried to catch up with her mentor. “So Princess, I was thinking about…”

Twenty minutes later, both of the magical mares were laying on their respective tables as the spa ponies worked on the various kinks in their muscles. Both of them had quite a bit of tension in their system, thanks to Celestia’s transformation and the past two hours of Twilight’s life.

After exhausting all the conversational topics that quickly came to mind, such as Twilight’s plan for Rainbow Dash’s education, thoughts on her family, learning about Cadence’s engagement to Shinning Armor over breakfast this morning (which still had her pretty miffed since it happened the day after Discord’s return and Twilight hadn’t heard a thing about it until today), Twilight finally relaxed enough to ask something that had been bugging her.

“Why Rainbow?”

“Hmm?” Princess Celestia asked before she turned her head towards the purple unicorn. “What’s wrong Twilight?”

Twilight took in a breathe to steel herself. “Why her? She…she’s [Rainbow Dash! She’s loud, and annoying, and a braggart! Just look how she’s been acting since we got in Canterlot! She doesn’t give you proper respect, she barely ever thinks of other ponies feelings and…and… I’m your student! Why her and not…me?” she finally got out with a whine before her face twisted in emotional pain.

The sight of the purple unicorn about to break down and cry made Celestia get off the Massage chair. “Leave us,” she told the other two ponies before walking over to Twilight. “Is there anything else you would like to say?”

Celestia’s kind and sympathetic voice hurt more than her scolding one ever could. Twilight knew she shouldn't have been acing like she was, that she should be happy for her friend; especially after the events of yesterday with Rainbow Dash shocking Twilight out of her depression spiral.

But she just couldn't!

However, Celestia's encouragement did allow Twilight to speak again. “It’s just…I’m the Element of Magic, the strongest element! I’m the leader. I’m the one with the most friendship reports. I’m the one who defeated Nightmare Moon and Discord! I’m…I’m…”

As Twilight finally went silent and let the tears roll down her face, Celestia did her best to collect her thoughts. “And that is where your problem lies.”

“Hmm?” Twilight asked while Celestia stroked the unicorn’s mane.

For a moment, Celestia wondered if she should take the roundabout parable way of teaching Twilight a lesson, but decided on the direct method instead. “You put yourself above others Twilight.”

The unicorn in question looked up at her mentor with a frown. “No I don’t!”

“Oh?” Celestia asked. “Then why was the Element of Magic a crown, while the others wear necklaces?”

Twilight frowned. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“The reshaping of the elements was a subconscious thing,” the alicorn told her. “You may deny it on a conscious level, but your actions say otherwise. In fact your hard-line aversion to boasting may be you are aware of this flaw in your character and your inability to root out your own prideful nature.”

Celestia was also painfully aware that such feelings inside Twilight might have very well been the alicorn’s fault. After her last student’s fall, Celestia had been quite sure to give Twilight several lessons on modesty. The fact of being the best unicorn mage and student of a goddess must have been so conflicting with the constant doses of humble pie Celestia put into her diet.

“You lead, but it is by dictation rather than example. You order and force others into actions rather than lead them onto the right path by your own hoofprints,” she continued. “And what’s all this about magic being the most powerful of Elements? How can the Elements work in harmony if they are unbalanced in importance and power?”

The question threw Twilight for a loop. “But…it…the symbol for Harmony and all the books on the Elements shows magic at the center! And…and it even says so!”

Celestia let out a tiny laugh. “Twilight, does the drawer in the middle of a dresser have any more importance than the one on the top or the bottom? Does the page in the middle of a book always have the most important information? And who told you Magic was the strongest and most important Element? Who wrote all these books? Ancient Unicorns? The ponies who lorded their magic over every other tribe and creature on this planet?”

“It…well…” Twilight stammered. She frowned in thought and tried to remember. She was certain she had heard someone exalt her element as the best. It was… It was…

“Discord!” she finally exclaimed. “Discord told me…”

When Celestia raised an eyebrow, Twilight realized how insanely stupid that sounded and pulled in on herself. “Oh…maybe I shouldn’t trust what the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony says, huh?”

“I agree, it doesn’t sound like the best of moves,” the goddess said with a smile.

Twilight took in a deep breath, and let out a cleansing sigh. “Princess Celestia…do you think I really put myself above other ponies? I… I try not to be better than anypony else. Or, think I‘m better, I mean.”

“Well, I have no simple answers for you on this Twilight,” Celestia told her. “Being able to achieve more and having more gifts isn’t a bad thing. If everypony were ordinary, then the world would never advance. In fact, being extraordinary may very well be called a burden in the case of you and your friends. You’re expected to put yourself in danger to protect others. You’re held to higher standards, and harsher punishments should you happen to fall.”

Like with Rainbow, Twilight told herself.

No, that’s not fair, she told herself. How many other ponies had bragged about their achievements in town? How many more of her friends had engaged in boasting and showing off and just gotten a roll of the eyes at their antics while Rainbow got… Twilight sighed at the numerous comparisons running through her mind. Note to self, apologize for that again.

“I…I think I understand what you’re saying Princess Celestia,” Twilight said. “But…I still feel pretty jealous.”

Celestia shrugged. “Well that’s normal Twilight,” she said. “But don’t resent your friend for her achievement. Instead…try and match it.” When that got a surprised look from Twilight, Celestia laughed. “What? You think Equestria can only have one new alicorn every couple of decades or something?

She bent down to whisper into the mare's ear. “In a year or two, I think Rainbow might have to give you flying lessons.”

When Twilight finally got down from the high Celestia’s vote of confidence gave her, she got her smile under control and nodded. “Thank you Princess Celestia. I…I know this isn’t the normal way we do things-”

Celestia cut her off. “No, but I’m starting to think it should be,” she said before giving Twilight another affectionate embrace while her mind wandered. Always have I kept my students are forearms length…perhaps that…no, that was my error, and it’s time I started correcting it.

“The bet was whether I had learned the phrase from Celestia, not who said it first.”

“I still say you cheated.”

Cadence rolled her eyes as she moved onto a more important topic. “So, there’s something I wanted to ask you about Twilight,” the alicorn of love said while the spa pony above her worked on her back.

Despite the massage treatment, Dash felt herself stiffen. “Y-Yeah?”

“How often does she…freak out?” Cadence asked after taking a second to choose her words carefully.

Rainbow resisted the urge to laugh. “What, you mean that stuff at the lecture hall? When she started messing with all her notebooks and parchment? You haven’t seen Twilight lose it if you call that freaking out.”

“I saw her in her tower too, remember?” Cadence asked sadly.

This time, Dash was a little more sympathetic. “I think that was more of her confidence problem. She has moments like those too…and likes to try and spread them around,” she grumbled a the end.

“Oh…she was such a happy and carefree filly when she was younger,” Cadence said more to herself than Dash while she shook her head in confusion. “I just don’t know what happened to her.”

Rainbow Dash was silent for a moment as she mulled over whether or not she should explain things to the other alicorn. It wasn’t just Twilight’s stuff that would be put out there, but hers as well. “I…” She let out a sigh. “It’s cause she hit her big achievement so early.”

When Cadence looked over to her with a face that asked for an explanation, Dash gulped down the last of her reluctance. “When I was a kid, I performed a Sonic Rainboom, you know what that is?”

“Former pegasus,” Cadence reminded Rainbow Dash she fully unfurled her wings. “But what’s Twilight have to do with that?”

“I’m getting there,” Dash consoled her. “Right so…I was just a little filly and I did the ultimate aerial stunt for a pegasus. It was awesome, only, when I failed to do it again, and failed again, and again…well, it bucked. It got me in such a bad mood, I just gave up, moved away from Cloudsdale and started over in a middle of nowhere town that didn’t remember what the Sonic Rainboom was.

“Twilight’s the same. Same day I did my Rainboom, she was accepted as Celestia’s pupil. She had to learn all this junk, and take test after test, and unlike me, she actually passed. But, while I just lived with the pressure for a few years before giving up, she kept going. Hay, I even bet every time she passed a test, things only got harder for her. She lived with the pressure so long, freaking out just became…normal for her.”

Cadence shook her head. “Oh my…if only I had stayed in Canterlot, I could have helped her.”

The news that Cadence had apparently abandoned her friend brought out a snarl from Dash. “And what exactly was so important you had to go off and leave Twilight all alone anyway?”

“I never wanted to do that Dash…but when you’re a princess, sometimes you have to choose to do something for the greater good, even if it means causing some pain along the way,” she explained.

A roll of the eyes told Cadence what Dash thought of that idea. “And that greater good was?”

Cadence sighed. “The Griffin Empire needed a new ambassador, and I was sent to fill the role. Talks with them weren’t going well at the time, and my presence showed our nation’s sincerity to work things out.”

“Pfft! What’re they gonna do, invade?” Dash asked rhetorically. “Everypony knows the three tribes are the only things that can live on this continent cause we got to be the ones to work nature. The griffin trade outpost near Fillydelphia has to get us to do everything from growing crops to making rain clouds for them.” Griffins might have been able to sit on clouds and move them, but only pegasi had natural production capabilities. The Empire had to rely on other methods for their weather making.

Knowledge about anything even closely related to foreign affairs coming from Dash of all ponies surprised Cadence; even if it wasn't quite correct. “That’s…how do you know about griffins?”

“Used to know this one called Gilda. She used to be my friend till…well…we went different ways. When we met each other again, things weren’t like I remembered,” Dash admitted. I still don’t know if it was me that changed, or her.

Cadence gave her a sympathetic smile. “Well…I’m sorry to hear that. It’s always hard to loose a friend to distance and time.”

“Yeah well…Twilight’s probably the same as you remember since she’s always had her nose in a book since she was born. She’s just a little more stressed than when she was as a foal,” Dash assured her lazily as she felt the pony kneading her back muscles work out a knot.

Wanting to get onto another topic, Cadence cleared her mind of Twilight for the moment. “So, you’ve performed a Sonic Rainboom and became an alicorn, what’s next for Princess Rainbow Dash?”

Dash rolled her eyes. “Well the princess thing was never really planned so I can’t really count it as some big lifetime achievement. But soon as I’m old enough, I’m going to join the Wonderbolts! Just one more year and I’ll be…what?”

The pink princess looked away from Dash to hide her downcast expression. “It’s…nothing. That’s a nice dream Rainbow Dash, I…that’s a nice dream.”

“Huh. Okay well, I’m done. You ready to head to that overgrown bathtub we saw on the way back here?”

“I can’t believe they put that on the sign above the door,” Rainbow Dash grumbled as she let herself sink lower in the hot tub until her head was barely above the water.

Twilight frowned in confusion. “What sign?”

“The one that says bath room! I expect someone to come in any second to try and uh…use the facilities,” she explained, briefly pausing when she noticed Celestia out of the corner of her eye.

With her friend showing some manner, Twilight found herself a little impressed. “Oh please Dash, no pony is going to make that kind of mistake.”

“Hey, it happened back home when I messed with the letters on your laboratory door,” she explained.

“THAT WAS YOU?” Twilight yelled.

Celestia let out a laugh, and Cadence cocked her head in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

The question made Rainbow Dash grow a guilty smile. “I used a little paint and made the sign spell lavatory instead of laboratory.” When Twilight let out a growl, Rainbow held up her hooves in defense. “Hey, I just thought it’d be funny cause you always keep it locked! I didn’t know someone looking for a book would break the lock and actually…go.”

And this is the new face of our nation's royalty? Twilight thought to herself without any real malice, although she had quite the bit of annoyance. What made it even worse was Celestia was actually laughing from the news.

A few seconds later, when Celestia had apparently had enough merriment, she took a deep breath and shook her head. “Okay. Well, now that I have a moment of your time Rainbow Dash, I need to talk to you about your…duties.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Celestia saw Cadence’s eyes widen before the pink alicorn waved her hooves in front of her neck in a ‘cut’ motion, but she ignored it. “Now, as an alicorn-”

“Say auntie I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Cadence barged in. “Why exactly did you shout sea ponies back at the school?”

“I-”

Twilight tapped her chin. “Actually, I’ve been wandering that myself.”

“That’s not important!” Celestia insisted.

Rainbow Dash laughed as she began. “Oh, you guys gotta hear this. We were flying out over…Horseshoe…wait,” Rainbow Dash’s face twisted in confusion as she blinked several times while looking at Celestia. “Why would you…we never…what?”

The three other mares in the tub shared a look of concern as Rainbow’s speech became less and less coherent. Twilight watched her friend bob back and fourth in the hot tub before she fell forward and became emerged in the water completely as Twilight cried out for her friend.

“RAINBOW!”

Chapter 6

View Online

Chapter 6: Dreams & Darkness

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and looked around her bedroom before mentally frowning at the slightly different layout. Huh, that’s weird, she thought before getting up to walk around. There was something off about the room. Although the room was the same size as always, same bed, rugs, paintings, and curtains, it felt…different.

She took a moment to examine the best young-crown that rested on her nightstand, then banished the last bit of sleep from her mind and slid to the edge of the bed to clap her hooves and call the servants. A minute later, a pair of pegasi and an earth pony came into the room and bowed to the princess-heir. “Highness?”

“Morning to you all,” Rainbow greeted them with a nod of her head. “I’ll break my fast in here today and…” she looked at her wings before heading to the desk with the mirror on it. “I think I need some preening this morning as well.”

Rainbow blinked at the sight of her hair. It was…neater than she had expected for some reason. But the confusion only lasted until her servants began combing her mane and tail. “Blossom, how is your foal doing?”

The pegasus combing her tail looked up. “Still keeping me up all night I’m afraid.”

“Do you need more time off?” Rainbow asked. “Or I could move you to evening work if that is what you would prefer. More time to sleep in.”

“I find enough time for naps. Just need to make sure I'm out of the way enough when I take them.”

Rainbow chuckled. “Yes. That I understand.” Too many times had the cloud she been snoozing on dispersed by some random unicorn fooling around with their magic.

“I heard you missed your lessons yesterday Highness. Napping?” the earth pony hoofmaiden asked.

The accusation made Rainbow roll her eyes. “I blame Mother.”

“Pardon me to question you Highness, but…”

Rainbow didn’t wait for the other pegasus mare to find the proper words, it wasn’t as if she was going to be offended by some candid speak. “I am the daughter of a goddess, within the body of a mortal. I am the fastest and strongest pegasus alive. Surely you do not think that comes from my father? Mother may speak of his artistry and kindness, but I have yet to hear her comment on his athletic prowess and ability in battle.” It was as if her body couldn't keep up with her magic, which was most likely the case.

“By the way Highness, she summons you to the dinning hall,” the earth pony told her.

The news made Rainbow groan. “Guess I’ll be eating with Mother then.”

The Royal Canterlot Hospital was an interesting mix of the technological and the arcane. As the most unicorn populated city in the nation, it had access to all the best mages, magisters, alchemists, and every other mystical profession that existed. As the center of Equestria’s government, it also had access to all the latest medical technology from Manehattan.

Eldritch insignias made by Celestia herself lined the walls to eliminate any chance of infections or other contagions from making recovering ponies sicker. Inside the room that had been put aside for Rainbow Dash, half a dozen crystals, each with a different enchantment floated in the air above her bed, while the beeping of a heart monitor kept everypony in the room aware of the slumbering goddess’s condition.

However, other than the fact she was alive, that was all they knew.

“How long has she been like this?”

Twilight looked up from the tiny desk where she was reading and over to the clock. “Going on thirty-eight hours Fluttershy.”

As the yellow pegasus let out a worried whine, Twilight looked around the room at the rest of her friends. Although they had arrived more than an hour ago, all of them were still crowded around Dash’s bed. Concern covered both Rarity and Applejack’s faces, while Pinkie Pie looked ready to burst into tears about any moment from what Twilight could see from the eye that wasn't covered by her unusually strait mane.

“Twi Ah read the letter ya sent, so I know ya’ll didn’t know what caused her to go under when she had her…whatever it was. So…have any of these fancy doctors figured out what’s wrong with Rainbow since then?”

Twilight shook her head and sighed. “No, and I doubt they’re going to be able to,” she added in a whisper before going back to the large tome in front of her, taking a second to look at some of her notes, then she spared a glance at one of the smaller books that also occupied her desk. Part of her understood their concern, a very large part, but another part of her wished they would just leave her alone for the moment and let her read. The book in front of her might offer a clue to helping her friend, but she needed to be able to understand the thing, and that took concentration.

For a moment the unicorn's rational mind reminded her that she would probably be better off back in the castle library, but Twilight's heart quickly did away with that option. If Rainbow Dash woke up, she would need somepony there for her. Twilight would be that pony, she needed to be that pony.

Rarity looked away from Rainbow and over to Twilight. “Whatever do you mean Darling?”

“Rainbow Dash is an alicorn now. Alicorn’s aren’t normal ponies,” she explained without looking up from her work. “Their anatomy and physiology isn’t just…a pegasus who got a horn and some extra height.”

Pinkie Pie frowned as she studied the unconscious pegasus. “So Dashie did put on a few pounds. I thought she looked a little heavier.”

“Rainbow’s mass has increased by about twenty percent since she fell unconscious.” The absent reply was followed by something a little more emotional as it was the focus of her attention. “Shoot, I don‘t know that symbol,” Twilight mumbled to herself before she began to go through the various other books in front of her.

The four of the five conscious friends that were currently not huddled over a desk shared a worried look as Twilight sat at a small work desk in the corner of Dash’s hospital room that had obviously been dragged in judging by the marks on the floor. Half a dozen old tomes and various notebooks were scattered across its surface, while Twilight constantly consulted an ancient book right under her nose and scribbled notes from time to time on a floating piece of parchment. At the bottom of her desk, Spike sat curled up in a basket, fast sleep despite it being nearly noon.

“How much you gals wanna bet she’s been goin’ like this since Rainbow hit the ground?” Applejack whispered to her friends.

Fluttershy flapped over to Twilight. “Twilight. Is there anything we can do to help?”

“Do you read Unicornian?” Twilight demanded loud enough to make Fluttershy back away from her. “Cause I don’t, nopony does! Celestia decided that it would be better for everypony to speak the same language thousands of years ago, so there isn’t even a modern scholar that does. So I had to get Princess Cadence to go with me into the Canterlot Museum and commandeer this!” Twilight grabbed one of the smaller books she was reading from with her telekinesis. “Which is a Unicornian copy of this!” She raised another book that had different writing on it. “Which is in ancient Equestrian. A language so old not even Luna bothers to speak with it anymore!

“But of course nopony bothers to study ancient Equestrian anymore either! So to get a modern translation, I had to ask my mom to talk to her book friends and get a first edition copy of The Epic of Beohoof so I at least have something that might in some way resemble my ancient Equestrian copy that I can hopefully use to help me translate my Unicornian copy and hopefully learn a four thousand year dead language that might have a completely different sentence structure!

“And if that’s not enough, this is all for me just to try and translate THIS!” she said before pointing to the large tome right in front of her. “Do any of you know what this is, huh?”

While most of the assembled ponies gulped in worry for their reply, Pinkie Pie gave a hopeful smile. “The make Dashie get better real soon instruction book with infinite cupcakes cheat codes on the back?” she asked nervously.

“This is the one, one attempt to study alicorn anatomy, and it’s mostly just useless THEORY!” she shouted at the bound pages. “This stupid thing was written when ponies still believed the liver, the liver, was what pumped blood through our bodies!”

The four other conscious ponies in the room shared another worried look with each other before Rarity stepped forward. “Darling, perhaps it would be best to take a break. We could go across the street to a café I saw on my way in and have some lunch.”

Twilight looked up at Rarity and frowned. “You’re trying to trick me.”

“Wha-”

“Physical exertion combined with large nutritional intake usually results in the activation of a hibernation cycle. You’re trying to make me go to sleep like Shinning did! Well I’ll tell you something, the record for prolonged consciousness in ponies is eleven days! That means I’ve got a good two hundred and sixty four hours before I start hallucinating, have problems speaking, concentrating, or just carrying on a simple conversation!”

Pinkie Pie frowned and cocked her head to the side. “Umm, don’t you mean two hundred twenty six?” she asked.

“Huh?” Twilight responded as she looked away from the ancient books.

“Well,” she drawled. “You’ve already been awake for at least thirty six hours, so the time you could stay awake now is two hundred and twenty six hours, and I say closer cause I’m pretty sure you were awake before Dashie fainted, so it’s probably more like two hundred and sixteen hours.

“Then there’s the problem of diminishing returns and the fact you’ve got all those empty Starbucks coffee cups, which is weird since we usually have to adapt brand names to fit in with ponies, but this time we don’t! I guess those things really are everywhere. Although, with the way we use the word buck, it makes you sound like you’re doing something really nasty to Luna’s mane and tail, and I mean her actual tail, not her plot, booty, tooshie, rump, trunk, ass-”

Applejack poked the pink pony with her hoof. “Uh Pinkie, Ah think you lost us all for a second there. Including yourself”

“Hm? Oh, right! Okay so…diminishing returns!" Pinkie pie said after pausing a second to remember her place. "The longer you keep going the less work your super-smart brain is gonna do until you end up like Applejack!”

“Hey!” the apple farmer yelled at the apparent insult to her intelligence.

Pinkie looked over to her and blinked in confusion. “What? It’s just like the time you tried to harvest your whole field, and we all remember how that ended.”

“…oh yeah,” Apple mumbled as she hug her head at that particular memory.

“But…” Twilight weakly argued.

“And what about Princess Celestia?” Rarity cut in. “Isn’t she doing anything to help Princess Rainbow Dash? I know you’re a genius Twilight, but…this is Princess Celestia we’re talking about.”

Twilight shrunk in on herself further. “I… Princess Celestia declared Cadence her regent a couple hours after Rainbow Dash went into her com-fell asleep,” she corrected herself. “I haven’t seen much of her since.”

“Then that must mean she’s working super-duper hard on helping Dashie if she can’t do her princess thing,” Pinkie Pie told her before her voice became one of concern. “So you need to get some food and rest Twilight. Please?”

The mention of food had Twilight’s stomach grumbling for attention. She was extremely hungry, and had only subsisted on the hospital’s food that consisted of fruit and grains mashed together in some kind of weird pasty stuff that had an odd texture. The thought of real food made her mouth water so much Twilight found herself needing to swallow before she could talk.

“But…”

“That settles it then,” Rarity said before her horn lightened up, and Twilight found herself being pulled away from her desk and towards her friends. Although Rarity wasn’t at Twilight’s level when it came to the manipulation of living creatures inside telekinetic fields, which was a great deal harder than simple objects thanks to all the moving parts, she could move around a purple unicorn who barely had the energy to struggle against the pull.

A thought occurred to Twilight as Rarity dragged her towards the door. “Wait! What about Rainbow? What if she wakes up while we’re gone?”

Fluttershy looked over to her oldest friend. “Is that possible?”

“Well…alicorn’s can quickly regenerate from nearly any kind of damage,” Twilight informed everypony. “When the doctors checked her over, they couldn’t find anything wrong with her physically, and I didn’t see any major disruptions to her magical aura when I examined her either. So, it’s entirely possible she could wake up in the next two minutes.”

After digesting the information, Applejack looked back at Rainbow Dash and frowned. “Well if there ain’t nothin wrong with her, why’s she still…sleeping?”

“And how come she’s not snoring?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Dashie snores really loud.”

Ignoring Pinkie Pie’s question for the moment, Twilight looked over at Applejack. “When Princess Celestia pulled Dash out of the hot tub, she had a nose bleed. That points to either something in the lungs, or brain. Considering that she’s unconscious now and nothing‘s physically wrong with her, it would have to be something like…like…”

“Like what sugar cube?” Applejack asked.

“I don’t know!” Twilight exclaimed. “I told you, alicorns are different than normal ponies! Hay, this may just be some kind of weird hibernation period while Dash adjusts to her changes or grows into her new body! It could be that Celestia botched the spell! Rainbow Dash isn’t a normal pegasus, she’s Celestia’s great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandaughter! There may be something different about her from Cadence that caused things to go wrong! And then there’s the fact that Dash was still under the effects of Ruination when Celestia turned her into an alicorn, which means that something did go wrong and this whole thing is MY FAULT!”

As Twilight began to cry and hyperventilate at the same time, Rarity deactivated her magic and rushed over to wrap the poor pony in an embrace. “Oh no darling, this isn’t anypony’s fault. Now, slow down, come on now, just breathe normally. There we go.”

With Twilight starting to breathe normally again, she apparently lost to strength to argue, and let Rarity lead her towards the door.

“Huh wha?”

The new male voice in the room made Rarity look down to see Spike stirring from his slumber. Poor dear, but we are causing a bit of a racket. “Spike, would you mind staying and looking after Princess Rainbow Dash while we take Twilight out for some fresh air?”

The purple dragon looked up at the white unicorn and smiled. “Oh hi Rarity,” she said as hearts practically formed in his eyes. “Something you needed?”

“I’d like to stay too if that’s alright,” Fluttershy spoke up. “If Rainbow Dash could wake up any minute, then I want to be here when she does. I can’t stay in Canterlot too long, my animals need someone to watch over them and the news was too sudden for me to find a long-term sitter.”

“You want us to bring you anything?” Applejack asked.

Fluttershy hesitated for a moment as she thought of the least burdening item for her friend’s wallets. “Oh um, some fruit would be nice, if its not any trouble.”

“Sure thing,” the orange apple farmer told her.

“Excellent! We shall partake in some fine Canterlot cuisine, get Twilight some rest, and return to Princess Rainbow Dash’s room to keep her company and await her recovery!” Rarity exclaimed.

Applejack rolled her eyes at the fashionista’s words. “Rarity, why’re you callin her Princess Rainbow Dash all the time now? Ah don’t think she’s overly fond of the title.”

“This is the first princess I’ve known on a personal level, let me enjoy it while I can,” Rarity replied. “Oh and soon as she gets better I can design a whole new wardrobe for her!”

However, Rarity’s excitement was far from contagious. “You mean if she gets better,” Twilight mumbled.

“Come on Twilight! Stay positive,” Pinkie said as she bounced over to her friend. “Cheer up! You just need to…Listen to the jingle jangle of my gypsy tambourine!

Cause it’s cords are hypnotizing
And the whole world’s harmonizing
So please Sparkle stop your crying
And just sing along with me!

“Pinkie, I really don’t think-”

“Hey a scene change!” Pinky said as she dropped out of her random song for a second, confusing the rest of her friends even more. “Oh when I was a little filly.”

The dungeons of Trottingham's old palace were never pleasant, but Luna had to say their disrepair had made the things only more repulsive. Moss lined a good deal of the wall, all manner of vermin made their nests with the cracks, and the cells were a good deal more claustrophobia inducing than she remembered.

Then there was Tia…

Luna’s eye twitched as Celestia paced back and forth in their sister’s cell. Since the place afforded little room as it required no comforts for its only occupant, Celestia managed to walk two steps before she needed to turn around and back to the other end of the cell that could barely hold her alicorn body.

“What’s taking you so long?” Celestia asked, her usually calm voice filled with anxiety. “This was supposed to done days ago!”

“Pardon me sister, but the thousand years that I was busy on the moon, Andromeda’s mind was able to craft several layers of defenses that it takes time to break down,” Luna replied in a snarky tone. “Of course if you had actually kept up with her punishment-”

Celestia stomped her hoof and pointed to the statue standing in the center of the room. “This is punishment!”

The roll of eyes by the dark alicorn went unseen by her elder sister. “Yes, being trapped in a dream world where every wish is fulfilled simply by desiring for it,” she mumbled in anger. “If you had done such a thing to Nightmare Moon, I doubt she would have ever dared return to Equestria for fear of an even greater torture!”

“Luna…are you alright?” Celestia asked while trying to clear the worry from her voice.

“…it’s nothing,” Luna said after a moment’s pause. “Three layers left.”

Luna’s attempt to steer the conversation away from her didn’t work. Celestia sat down next to her little sister, and put a wing around her in a hug. “Luna, please talk to me.”

There was a brief silence as Luna considered just ignoring her sister‘s inquiries, but she had been down that road before and cared not to repeat it. “I’m just like her, aren’t I?” Luna asked as she let out a sigh.

Celestia reared her head back in surprise. “ABSOLUTELY NOT!” the goddess shouted, causing Luna to look away from her target of her mental magic and over to the larger alicorn.

“I think you lie to yourself sister,” Luna told her sadly before pushing Celestia’s wings away with one of her own. “I was jealous and petty, consumed by greed and anger. By the stars I even…remade myself to-”

“That was Nightmare Moon! Sombra’s magic had infected you. The bits and pieces of his mind that were left inside your after that whole Crystal Empire debacle are what made the demon,” Celestia told her sister through gritted teeth. “My first memories of our sister were of her cruelty! Her heart was as dark as pitch before she ever opened a black tome. She chose to become an abomination, not be possessed by one as you were!”

Luna looked away from her sister’s angry gaze and sighed. “I’m down to the last layer.”

Celestia could tell Luna was trying to end the conversation with the shift in topics, but she had to get in a few last words. “Sister, Harmony Itself judged you innocent,” she said as she embraced Luna once again. “Do not let this shade from the past plant the seed of doubt within your heart.”

“Okay I’m through the last of her wards,” Luna told her before peering into Andromeda’s dream. “Well, you’ll be happy to know she’s currently dinning in Trottingham Hall while sitting on a throne. No pegasi or earth ponies, and…oh there we are. The dinning table is a large U with room for jesters and performers in the center.”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “So she’s imagining us a fools now?”

“No, we look more like mangy dogs with a broken horn and wings and…yes, she has just thrown us a bone to fight over. I appear to have the upper hand in the contest by the way,” Luna added.

The bit of merriment in Luna’s announcement brought a smile to Celestia’s face. “Well, I will take note to avoid any scraps with you in the future.”

“My humor may be a thousand years out of date, but even I can tell that was a horrible pun sister,” Luna replied evenly. “Now, shall I head into the dream?”

Celestia shook her head. “There will be no need for that. I ask that you return to Canterlot and check up on Rainbow Dash. She is in need of your expertise.”

The half-order made Luna cock an eyebrow. “Did you suddenly develop a dream dancing talent while my back was turned sister?”

“No, but I did learn how to pull a creature’s mind and soul from its body,” Celestia replied.

“Sister,” Luna growled.

Celestia sighed and held up a hoof. “In the strictest form of the words Luna, that is hardly Necromancy. I do not reanimate corpses or enslave spirits to my will. I do not deal with…death,” the goddess said, spitting the last word from her mouth like a sour lemon.

The declaration softened Luna’s expression a bit. “No, you simply walk up to the borders the abyss and teeter on the edge,” she said before switching topics. “And why not send me?”

“Would you know the right questions to ask, or have enough knowledge on the subject for Andromeda not to play you false?” Celestia asked before she also raised an eyebrow. “And while we’re on the subject of magic that can turn dark, is not dream dancing a dangerously temping power? You walk into a pony’s mind. You can remake it, break it…unhinge it.”

Luna reluctantly nodded. “Very well. I shall head back to our home and check on the foal.”

As her sister departed, Celestia conjured a soul tether made from her own magic and plunged the strand of energy into Andromeda’s statue. Connected as she was to the tether, Celestia could hear the scream reverberate through the ether as Celestia tore her sister’s spirit form from the statue and unbound the connection to her own body before whisking them both away into the ethereal plane.

Celestia looked around the endless expanse of color that was the ethereal plane as she floated though the void. It had been centuries since she had last visited this place, a place out the outer fringes of existence where reality, magic, and will were all one in the same. It was a place where the physical was determined by the mystical, rather than simply influenced by it.

A stray thought ended Celestia’s drifting and turned the nothing beneath her into solid ground, or the experience of solid ground. There was still nothing but rolling waves of mana beneath her, but she was standing and walking all the same. She had simply wanted to walk, and so she did.

Another stray thought entered her mind after seeing her main out of the corner of her eye, and Celestia’s ears could hear the sound of a raging inferno. She sighed and stopped the sound a few moments later before looking over herself. Gone was the flesh and blood form, the one that brought joy and feelings of peace to her subjects. Instead, Celestia watched her mane lash around like the surface of the sun, while her coat had a distinct golden hue and shone with such brightness that any physical eyes would have been turned blind by its luminescence. It was the sun goddess in all her unbridled glory, her true self.

Celestia hated seeing it.

But, while the dimension itself was malleable, she was immutable. So the sun goddess was stuck in a form that looked like her physical self set ablaze and appearing as a terrifying version of what her little ponies had come to know and love.

“Enough,” the sun goddess thought/said to herself before she got to work. Celestia looked down at the soul tether and willed it to retract as she raised the hoof it was wrapped around to hold her prisoner up at eye level.

Like Celestia, Andromeda had undergone a change from her previous physical form. The ethereal princess was made of a light blue energy with a horn sharpened on the end. Like Celestia, her new body had been fashioned by her magic potential and strength. In terms of size, she would have been eight, if not ten times larger than the biggest stallion in Equestria if a normal pony were to stand next to her at the moment.

However, Celestia’s powers had grown so far beyond the minds of mortal ponies that the comparative miniscule size of her sister's ethereal form gave her reminder of a small fish that dangled from a line after being caught. Although, Celestia supposed that a bug metaphor would have been better. As such, Andromeda was more akin to a cockroach in comparison to the Goddess of the Sun.

“What is this? Afraid! The fear consumes me. Where am I? What is this creature that holds me aloft like a toy?”

“I am Celestia. Have you forgotten me so soon my little big sister?”

Andromeda let out a scream of terror upon feeling Celestia’s voice vibrate through her being. “What happened to my castle? Celestia was beaten, I had made her and Luna into entertainment for my court! Why is she here? How is this possible? Can this be a dream?”

To dissuade her from continuing with her rambling, Celestia focused her will on the tiny unicorn and she was engulfed in the sun goddess’s magic. Andromeda flailed and howled at the burning presence before Celestia ended her torment. “No dream sister. That was what I had pulled you from. One thousand years you have slept without Luna to intrude on your fantasy. Now, tell me what I wish to know, and I will allow you to return to your slumber.”

“No! Denial! Untrue! I’m afraid… Question, why can I not stop talking?” she demanded to the ethereal void.

“This is the realm of the mind sister. To think is the speak. Here there are no secrets, no lies or deceptions. Now, listen and answer my questions, and I shall let you return to your false kingdom.”

Then, Celestia told the necromancer of what she had done using the magical knowledge she had gleaned from Andromeda’s research journals and notes. “I pulled Aurora’s soul from the ether and implanted it in the womb of her granddaughter. However, when she eventually had a child, it had several of my daughters features, but was born male. His first child also had things in common with Aurora physically but was nothing alike in terms of personality.

“Recently, one of my descends has exhibited several attributes like my daughter as well as similar mannerisms and has knowledge that only she could know,” Celestia told her. “I want to know how this is possible.”

“I’m curious. I wonder how many years have passed? A hundred? A thousand? A million? Several traits you say, I find that interesting. Research on reincarnation was thrown away. Even if it was my soul, without my mind I would not have the ability to recall anything. Possibility of basic personality traits being transferred is also unknown. There must have been something different about your daughter. I theorized that. Wish I could have gotten my hands on her. Wish I could have experimented on-AHHHHH PAIN!”

Celestia willed the flames around her sister to subside after a good minute. “Keep your mind on task and away from such thoughts, or the next reminder to do so will last several hours.”

“Theories yes,” the comparatively little unicorn said/considered as she rambled at a breakneck speed. “Must have been something different about your daughter, yes. Not physical or mental. Yes, spiritual, third piece of existence. Caused physical change but not mental, curious. But this time mental is also changed. Curious, what was the difference? What? What? What? What? What? Not enough information. I am unable to form an absolute confusion without information.

“Still, interesting concept. I can theorize a few things though. If it was passed from son to daughter and the son was still alive, can’t be reincarnation. Possibility, soul transference. Not actually part of the whole but along for the ride? True owner acts as a host? Plausible theory, accounting for physical inheritance with divine soul. Rhetorical Question, are talents also effected? Cutie Marks? No, not important. Would she be conscious of events of all previous hosts?"

“I can’t help but wonder about ramifications. Only just now remembering things you say? From one life or all of them? No, not important. Even one would cause a mental breakdown. Multiple lifetimes of memories would cause faster breakdown, greater suffering. I like that thought. I’m feeling happy, gitty! Thoughts of your daughter’s pain makes me happy. I like the idea of her being driven mad.”

“SHUT UP!” Celestia roared before she ignited her sister again. The sun goddess kept a tight reign on her thoughts as she watched her sister burn. As promised, Andromeda was left ablaze for some time before Celestia doused her again.

Andromeda looked over to her titan of a sister and smiled. “The pain may hurt, but I take more joy in knowing of your suffering. Problem, can two souls survive in one body? Obviously has happened before, but…no something wrong this time, something different. Combining? Joining? No."

Instead of loosing control and striking the mare down in a rage, Celestia clenched her teeth. “Stay focused. How do I save them? Tell me how to save my daughter and her host!”

A smile crossed Andromeda’s face. “There is no them you can save. No, saving even one would be impossible. The damage has been done. Melding? No. Contamination is occurring? No. Spiritual essence cannot be combined, my own experiments proved that. Devoured. Yes. One soul exterminating the other. But who would win? Divine soul obviously superior to fully mortal one in a contest. Still, doubtful mind and body would accept a foreign soul, insanity would soon occur after.

“The solution is…death. End the hosts life before process completes.”

“No. I can‘t do that,” Celestia muttered.

“Then host mind will become insane.”

“I can’t accept that.”

“Based on fact that Aurora’s soul might have partial divinity status, it will win in a contest for existence without outside interference. Still I wonder how integration has been accomplished.”

“Would the elements of Harmony interfere with the process?” Celestia asked herself.

“My curiosity rises. I have a question, what are the Elements of Harmony?”

Before Celestia’s mind could form a coherent answer, she quickly shoved her sister out of the mystical plane and jammed her back into the mare’s petrified form. Then, she joined with her own body and laid down on the cold stone floor as she considered what Andromeda had said.

The small café that Rarity had chosen for their luncheon wasn’t exactly across the street from the hospital, but it was close enough. As promised, the patio seating it provided did give plenty of fresh air, something that the purple unicorn had found herself lacking for over the past day and night.

Twilight jerked her head up as she fought to stay awake, or at least keep herself from face planting into her tomato soup. As much as she hated to admit it, she had needed this. Good food and time with her friends had managed to let Twilight calm herself down a little and gather her thoughts. She still had no intention of getting some sleep like Rarity had suggested, but the short break she was on now did help Twilight to clear her head of some of the tension and anxiety that had been plaguing her.

“You know Twi, Ah was thinkin, and Ah’m wonderin’ why we don’t break out the Elements to try and solve this little problem?” Applejack said. “They put Ponyville back to normal after Discord. I think they can fix whatever’s alin Rainbow.”

It was a suggestion that Twilight had asked herself so many times she had already gone to the princess with it. “Princess Celestia says with Rainbow unconscious, the Elements may not work at all, or have unintended effects. She doesn’t want to risk it. At least, not until we‘ve tried everything else.”

The news wasn’t taken well, although Twilight couldn’t blame them. The Elements of Harmony were the most powerful magic in existence. With them, the six mares could do anything. But hearing what was probably their greatest hope was rendered useless put everyone in a funk for several minutes.

Twilight was the one to break the silence. She needed to talk with somepony other than her own thoughts, but not about Dash. That topic was just too depressing and would get her focused on working again. It was only after she looked around at all her friends from Ponyville that what she should ask about became so blindingly obvious Twilight felt the desire to kick herself. “So…how is the new library coming along?”

“Some unicorns from Canterlot showed up the morning after you left and grew a new tree. But, it’s going to take some time for them to hollow it out and put in all the necessities,” Rarity told her. “The tree is a bit bigger this time around and I took a look at the plans. Apparently Spike is getting his own room. At least, that’s what I’m guessing the extra space is for. Unless you want a walk-in closet.”

Guess they’re designing this one with me and Spike in mind this time, Twilight told herself. She had to admit, although the old library had been nice, there were a few problems with using it as a living space. Her bedroom had been little more than a glorified storage area, and the basement really didn't have the proper setup for a lab when it came to mundane ventilation.

“Hey Rarity, you still going shopping later today?” Pinkie asked.

The fashionista sighed. “That is a conundrum isn’t it?” Rarity replied while shaking her head. “I had originally planned this trip to give me some time to design a new dress for your birthday Twilight. Although…with what’s happening…”

Before Twilight could assure Rarity that everything was fine and she understood, Pinkie pie let out a gasp that lasted a good fifteen seconds, then banged her hoof down on the table. “No way! We’re not canceling Twilight’s birthday party because Dashie is a little nappier than usual!”

“Pinkie-”

“If,” Pinkie continued right over Twilight, “and I mean IF, like a plus thirteen sizes big if, Dashie doesn’t wake up to come to the party and just a few days later, then finds out we’ve not been having fun because of her, she’ll feel horrible!” She shook her head and sighed. “Just because something bad is going on doesn’t mean we should feel guilty for having a bit of fun, or not even have it at all. If that were the case, then parties would be canceled all the time for the littlest of things, and nopony would ever be happy.”

When Pinkie looked back and forth between Rarity and Twilight as if daring them to challenge her logic, Applejack cleared her throat. “Well, she’s got ya’ll there.”

All around the table, she ponies shared a look, unsure of how to follow that topic. Then Rarity looked over to Twilight. “So, now that you’ve had a chance to calm down a bit Twilight, tell us, is your research capable of helping Rainbow Dash?”

Twilight took in a deep breath, then let out a sigh and lowered her ears. “I don’t know. I haven’t been able to translate more than a few pages, and most of them are just asking the questions that we still are today, and giving a bunch of weird theories.”

“How so?” Rarity asked.

“Well…” Twilight thought about it for a moment. “Okay, the stuff I have translated so far only relates to questions about an alicorn’s memory storage capabilities. While medical science was still pretty backwards at the time, most of the…well, they’re supposed to be medical professionals but they didn’t know as much as the doctors of today, so I can't in good conscience call them doctors. Still, even these morons were able to deduce that an alicorn’s memory storage and recall abilities can’t work the same as a normal pony‘s.”

Applejack leaned forward on the table. “Alright Twi now you done and got me curious about something,” she cut in. “Just how does our memory work anyhoo?”

“Oh that’s simple,” Twilight began, glad to be covering something she understood. She quickly explained the process of short-tem and long-term memories, as well as gave a basic rundown as to how the brain cells in the hippocampus stored them. Then she switched to the ancient school of thought to draw a comparison, “but ponies back then didn’t know anything about cells or how the brain worked, and they just theorized that the mind could only hold so much information before it popped from being too full, kind of like a balloon. They even thought certain mental problems were the cause of the brain becoming overfilled and the top overflowing or the mind breaking under the strain of too many memories.

“While they're facts are junk, when it comes to their theories of an alicorn’s mind…they may be onto something.”

Rarity cocked her head to the side. “How so?”

“Well think about it,” Twilight told them. “The brain of a pony can only hold so much. But Celestia and Luna, they’re thousands of years old, and they remember things, lots of things. Even if a normal pony’s mind can never be...well, filled to overflowing during a normal lifetime, there’s no way Celestia or Luna could contain thousands of years worth of knowledge. There has to be some key difference in the mental makeup of an alicorn from a normal pony, and if that’s true, then there might actually be something wrong with Dash that the doctors can’t identify.”

“Oooookaaaaay,” Pinkie Pie drawled. “But, how does knowing that help Dashie?”

Twilight sighed and lowered her head. “It doesn’t,” she said before hesitantly looking back up. “But…I have to do something, and that old book is the only thing that might hold an answer!”

“You are doing something,” Rarity consoled her. “You're being there for her, and I’ve heard instances of coma patients hearing their loved ones while they were unconscious.”

For a second Twilight wanted to argue with Rarity those results were inconclusive at best, but she just shook her head. “It’s not a coma. There’s no…damage. That means she’s just asleep.”

“But didn’t you just say a few paragraphs ago-”

Applejack cut Pinkie off with a hoof to her shoulder before she could continue. “Okay sugar,” she told Twilight. “That just means she’ll be waken up soon. So you should probably get your sleep now so you’ll be able to say good mornin when she does come round.”

Another argument died before Twilight could get it off her tongue when she saw the looks all of her friends were giving her. With the concern etched into all of their faces, she knew she was fighting a battle she wouldn't be able to win. “I’m making you guys worry too, aren’t I?”

“We know you’re concerned Darling, it’s just…we’ve learned you don’t handle stress very well,” Rarity told her. “I’d hate to think what would happen if you were to have another episode.”

Twilight felt as if her gut had been punched, then quickly shook her head. “No! I’ll never use that spell again!”

“I’m not talking about that!” Rarity exclaimed, scandalized that Twilight would even think Rarity would consider her capable of knowingly doing such a thing. “You became so worried and…you were suffering! I don’t want to see any of my friends like that. Please, get some rest Twilight.”

As the white unicorns eyes became pleading, Twilight couldn’t help but sigh in defeat. “Okay, I’ll get some sleep. But promise me you’ll wake me up if anything happens with Rainbow.”

“Cross our hearts and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in our eye,” the all replied in a chorus.

It was with a bit of shame that Fluttershy had to admit it, if just to herself, but it seemed that the ponies at the hospital were a little callous when it came to picking out comfortable furniture for the friends and family of sick ponies. While she was sure the hospital beds were as comfortable as you could get short of a cloud, the chair she was sitting in left her flank feeling a little sore.

And Twilight was using one of these things all day? It must have been torture.

Still, there wasn’t much she could do. Fluttershy had already helped Spike clean up the room, arranged the books Twilight hadn’t been using in a neat pile while making sure to keep away from the stuff she had been looking at, then replaced Rainbow Dash’s pillow with a new one. Although she was a little worried that the last thing hadn’t been a good idea, she didn’t know much about ponies who were so sick and injured they couldn’t wake up and that might have disturbed Rainbow in some way and wouldn’t be able to tell anyone because-

A knock at the door made Fluttershy look away from her injured and possibly uncomfortable friend. “Come in.”

The door opened and Fluttershy’s eyes widened at the new visitor. “Oh, Princess Luna!” she said before the mare with the nighttime mane stepped into the room. A second later, a memory from Nightmare Night came to the forefront of her mind and turned her bow into a cower. “Y-You’re not going to shout again, are you?”

“Dear-”

“Because Spike just got back to sleep,” she said. Then, Fluttershy eyes widened as she spoke again. “Oh I’m sorry, it’s just-”

Luna up a hoof to cut her off. “We shant be needing the Royal Canterlot Voice for this Fluttershy. Now rise, it is not seemly for one of our friends to bow for so long.”

Visibly thankful, the yellow pegasus stood back up. “Sorry.”

After Luna moved to the foot of Rainbow’s bed, Fluttershy licked her lips and gulped. She didn’t want to bother Luna, since the princess was probably in the middle of doing something important, but her concern for Rainbow outweighed her manners. “Excuse me, Princess Luna? Are you here to help Rainbow Dash, or are you just checking up on her?

“Checking up on her is good too of course,” she quickly added. “I know she would be happy that you cared so much. But…I think she’d be even more happy if you could help her wake up.”

Luna didn’t know whether to smile, or frown at the shy pegasus’s antics. It was as if she were dealing with another little pony that thought she would turn back into Nightmare Moon at the drop of a hat. But on the other hoof, she had seen Fluttershy on that costumed holiday and she had come a long way from someone unable to leave her own house.

“We give our assurance that we shall do everything we can,” Luna told her with a smile before looking over to her sort-of niece and alighting her horn.

Several minutes passed with Luna simply standing there with her horn glowing and Fluttershy too afraid to move as to avoid distracting her. Then, Luna finally spoke. “Tell us, Celestia spoke of sending a missive to Princess Rainbow’s family about her achievement and coming coronation, but we never heard reply. Has Rainbow’s father passed without my sister’s knowledge?” she asked without looking away from Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy looked over to Rainbow Dash at the mention of the sensitive topic. Although she didn’t agree with her friend’s choices not to talk about her past, she understood that it was Rainbow’s decision. But on the other hand, it was a princess who was asking this time, and the way she asked it…

“No, I think Spectrum is still okay, at least, the last I heard from Rainbow Dash he was,” she explained, trying not to give too much away. "I just think he's not coming."

“Puzzling,” Luna muttered. “Pray tell us, who not?”

I shouldn’t have said that last part, Fluttershy realized. Still, it was kind of out there now. It wouldn’t be fair to Luna to just give her a tease on an answer like that. “Well, from what I understand, Rainbow Dash and her dad don’t really get along,” she explained. “She moved out of her father’s house the first day that she could…her eighteenth birthday.”

“And the mother?” Luna prompted.

“…she passed on a long time ago,” the pegasus explained sadly.

Surprisingly, Luna’s expression turned to one of sympathy. “The poor girl. We too know the pain of saying farewell to a family member before her-BAH! Curse this blasted mess!” she yelled as her voice slipped back into its usual public volume as the serenity on her face disappeared.

Fluttershy let out a small eep and darted under the table that Twilight had been using before she covered her head with her hooves. A moment later, the two winged ponies could hear a little scuffle outside the door and Twilight rushed in with a basket of fruit floating behind her. Outside, Fluttershy could hear AJ and Pinkie arguing with the pair of guards that had been standing outside Rainbow’s door.

“Princess Luna you’re here!” the purple unicorn exclaimed before she nearly tossing the food that was Fluttershy’s lunch onto the desk being used for her research. “Princess Celestia said you were away on business and, you had better mind magic than her, and…can you help Rainbow Dash?”

The pleading look on the purple unicorn’s face made Luna visibly steel herself. She was not used to dealing with such requests as this. Even before her banishment, Celestia was the alicorn everypony turned to for aid. For ponies to come for her with pleading hope in their eyes instead of fear was somewhat disturbing. “It is…unsure as of yet.”

As Twilight’s face began to fall, Luna quickly collected her words. “We…” Luna shook her head. Such a time as this was not one for distance from her subjects. “I am exhausted from several strait days of work Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow Dash’s mind has been…confused, I think is the best word for it. If I am to help her, I must first rest. But be assured, when I wake fresh and ready, I will solve this."

“Thank you,” Twilight said before she discarded all formality and latched onto the Princess of the Night in a hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Luna froze at the physical contact, then wrapped her foreleg around the unicorn as she began to shed tears. The trembling little pony in her forelegs gave a sob, and Luna held her as she began to cry in relief.

“-and I believe that you should begin attending me as I hold court so that you can come to understand-”

Rainbow stopped paying attention and looked away to the window for a moment, and across the table to the white alicorn sitting there enjoying her breakfast in the dinning hall of the castle. “Apologies mother, I thought I heard something.”

“-the matter you brought up yesterday at dinner. I do think that allowing the pegasi to build an entire city in the clouds isn’t a good idea,” her mother continued without stopping to listen to Rainbow Dash.

“But you’re letting them build houses around the city, why not a city of clouds? A whole pegasi colony?” Dash asked.

Celestia shook her head. “That is different Rainbow. They are still part of this city, even if they sit above it.”

“So its okay for pegasi to build houses in the clouds, as long as there’s a unicorn there to boss them around?” the blue pegasus demanded.

Rainbow Dash felt the odd urge to gulp as Celestia narrowed her eyes. “It would be the first step to the separation of the three tribes. Soon, earth ponies would be demand room be made for their own separate settlements.”

“Well maybe we should have a little breathing room!” Rainbow Dash replied. “Hay, I’ve seen how the earth ponies around the capital live. They’re making do with wood and mud and thatch while everypony else on the ground gets four walls of stone.”

“Do not lecture me on the living conditions on mine own subjects! I am well aware of the inequalities and am taking steps to fix them.”

Rainbow Dash slammed her hooves on the table. “And what makes you think its even fixable?” she demanded. When she noticed the scuff marks on the wood, the pegasus back down and crossed her forearms. “I’m not saying we take anything away from the unicorns, not the ones that stuck around anyway, the ones that ran off with the goat-humper deserved to be stripped of their titles. Just…let the other ponies try doing things there way for a time.”

“And before long, we’ll have three tribes again,” Celestia pointed out.

“And forcing ponies to live like this after promising to make things better is only causing resentment!”

“Things are better! Or are you honestly saying that my rule is the same as my parents? Or their parents before them?” Celestia nearly shouted.

Both of the royal ponies let out a sigh and looked away from each other. Rainbow Dash was the one to beak the silence. “Mother, just one pegasi settlement. Call it an experiment, or a necessary evil to make enough weather for everypony. You know some of the villages aren’t getting what they need.”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “I’m well aware of the rain shortages in the North, Daughter,” she grumbled before taking a sip of tea. When she looked away from her cup, she saw the blue pegasus giving her a begging look. “Fine, you win. One settlement for the purpose of mass producing rain. Now I’ll just need to find somepony to-ooooohhh no!”

The grin on Rainbow Dash’s face didn’t slip. “Oh come now Mother, I’m a full grown sixteen-year-old mare. A little fiefdom in the sky is perfect for a somepony my age.”

“You-”

“And being safely nestled in the clouds would mean Andromeda’s lackeys would have quite the hard time getting to me,” Rainbow Dash continued. “And I do need some experience ruling if I am to take over for you one day.”

Celestia’s eye twitched. “It’s times like this I wish I had taught you not to speak your mind to me so freely instead of the other way round, to say nothing of your brashness.”

The comment made Rainbow Dash laugh. She knew that her mother was just blowing hot air. If Celestia really wanted her to be quite, then she could simply clamp the pegasus’s mouth shut with magic. “Taught me? Please mother, I was born this amazing. So for the name, I was thinking Cloud…something.”

“You only have half a name?” Celestia asked as she raised an eyebrow. “Pray tell, are the rest of your plans as equally detailed?” When Rainbow Dash didn’t respond, Celestia frowned. “You do have a list of ponies you want to serve under you and administrate the city, correct? Some advisors? A couple of magistrates to administer justice?”

“…ummm, you might want to give me a few days on that.”

As the moon finished rising into the night sky, Celestia walked out to the lookout balcony of Canterlot Castle where their telescope rested. Luna was already in the process of giving the kingdom a quick once-over with the magical viewing device.

“Are you recovered sister?” Celestia asked the shorter mare.

“More or less, I could have used a few more hours, but my concentration is restored to full if that was what you were referring to,” she replied.

Celestia took a deep breath to prepare herself. She needed Luna to hear this. “Sister, about Rainbow Dash…” How best to do this? Celestia asked herself. “There is something I must tell you…”

“NO!” Luna cried out causing Celestia to jump back.

“Apologies sister,” Luna spoke in a rush. “A group of bugbears is heading from the Smokey Mountain, I must intercept them before they come across any of the ponies in that region. I will meet with you upon my return to awaken Rainbow Dash from her slumber!”

Before Celestia could say another word, Luna leaped off the balcony and into the night while calling to her followers. “Come my guard, tonight we shall have a bug hunt!”

As her sister flew off into the night with a group of her batponies trailing behind her, Celestia hung her head. Perhaps this is for the best, she told herself. If Luna knew of her plans, there was a chance the Alicorn of the Night would react poorly. It was better to ask for forgiveness than permission after all.

Focusing her magic, Celestia willed herself away from the palace, and into the mostly deserted hallway of Canterlot Hospital. She nodded to the royal guards positioned outside Rainbow Dash’s room, then walked inside to find some of the young alicorn’s friends sitting beside her bed.

Fluttershy was hunched over the desk Twilight had the guards bring into the room with a book her her hooves. Unlike Twilight's recent choice in literature, it was a modern Equestrian work that had to deal with care of fowl if the parts of the title Celestia could see were any indication.

Applejack had her Stetson pulled down over her eyes, and was leaned up against the wall in a rather uncomfortable-looking sleeping position. It was a surprise to see her rouse herself when the princess walked in and go into a bow alongside Fluttershy.

“There is no need for that my little ponies, not here,” she told them. Considering their accomplishment in the past month alone, Celestia didn’t think they should ever need to bow to her again. Although she had gained power over Equestria before she was one hundred, the goddess hadn’t truly been acknowledged at the ruler of the fragmented nation until after Discord’s rise and fall. If she had been judged worthy of a crown for the same actions as they had performed, then she saw no reason not to remove some of the distance between them.

Heaves above, in the old days, such an action would have gotten them mountains of bits, estates, and the most impressive titles I could bestow. Modern times gave them a pat on the head and a stained glass window. It was like a cruel joke had been played. But, what would such rewards give them other than more problems to deal with? Simple lives were often the happiest, as the princess who had lived on a farm in her youth could attest.

“Everything alright Princess? You got that far off look in your eye, like the one my granny gets when she’s remberin' something fierce.”

Celestia giggled. “Are you calling me old Applejack?”

The orange pony froze. “Umm…well…”

“Because I am you know,” Celestia told her with a mirthful smile as she watched her subject realize the farm pony's previous words could have been taken as an insult. “In fact, I am probably the oldest thing you have ever seen. I am older than your apple orchard, your house, your town, this castle your standing in. In fact, I am probably older than most of the topsoil you’ve ever seen. Although a better way of saying that would be, I am quite literally older than dirt.”

The apple farmer gave a nervous laugh while Celestia flicked her hat down to cover the mare’s eyes for a moment. “By the way, if you are tired, the benches in the lobby can serve as beds. And, I would like a few moments alone with my granddaughter.”

After the two ponies left, Celestia looked back to Rainbow Dash and sighed. She closed her eyes for a moment to help clear her mind, then reopened them with the intent to look deeper. The world became a tsunami of colors as she looked around the room. The various protection enchantments that kept diseases from infecting patients and their guests left the marks on the walls while the crystals above Rainbow Dash glowed with various lights that showed her their functions.

Then there was Rainbow Dash herself: an unbound alicorn inside a mortal shell. The smaller mare's body glowed with the light of the sun, while a blazing rainbow mane danced atop her head. Celestia poured more power into her sight and looked deeper. She looked through the colossus of power that was Rainbow’s outer shell, past her skin and bone and into the depths of her soul.

One soul, her daughter’s soul. From everything Andromeda had said, that meant there truly was no saving either Rainbow Dash or Aurora. It was too late. It had probably been too late from the moment Celestia cast the ascension spell.

[She’ll go insane, Celestia told herself. If I end things now, it would be a…mercy.

The sun goddess choked back the tears that were threatening to flow, and prepared to do what was required.

The light from the full moon coming in through the windows of Twilight's tower gave enough light to the unicorn to see the basic shapes in her room as she laid in bed awake. For the sixth time in the past hour, she shifted in her bed in an attempt to find a more comfortable position that would return her to a state of slumber. But, after an agonizing twenty minutes, Twilight sat up in her bed and sighed.

Three hours, she thought to herself as she looked at the clock across from the window. Although Twilight had managed to find sleep after laying in bed for far longer and drinking several relaxing teas, actual time spent in REM was severely lacking. “Why am I just laying here, I should go back to seeing if there’s anything I can do to help Rainbow Dash,” the unicorn scolded herself.

But that idea was quickly abandoned when she realized her friends would still be at the hospital waiting by Rainbow’s bedside where all her research materials were. If she went to them now, they’d all know she’d gotten out of bed much sooner than she was supposed to.

However, it wasn’t as if she could simply lay around and do nothing either. “The hay with it, I’ll just tell them I’ve been in bed all day.” It wasn’t a lie, technically, since Twilight had laid down when she first got back home. She had just read a bit to try and tire her eyes out, and it did help her get to sleep…eight hours later.

Hey, three hours is more than good enough, Twilight told herself. I mean, Princess Luna was gone for days and since the moon’s out she’s awake now so she couldn’t have gotten that much sleep eith-LUNA!

With the realization that the Alicorn of the Moon was awake and had already painted the night sky came the possibility she might have already cured Rainbow Dash’s problem. Twilight had her horn create a soft light to guide her down the stairs without disturbing Spike, then made her way out the door.

As she raced through the empty halls, two possibilities weighed on her mind: either her friends had awakened Rainbow Dash and simply forgot to go get her, or Luna’s attempts had failed and there had been no reason to rouse Twilight from her supposed slumber. If the first was true, Twilight knew she wouldn’t even bother to bring it up, and the second was too horrible to contemplate.

Not even bothering to head downstairs, Twilight ran to the nearest window and teleported her way out of the castle. She took two steps, then thought of an even faster way to get to the hospital and teleported back to the room she had been in moments before, scanned the city’s skyline for the telltale cross and disappeared in a flash of light once again.

Ten minutes of walking down stairs and opening doors later, and Twilight had made it from the hospital’s roof to the front of Rainbow Dash’s recovery room. Since the royal guards were different from the ones that had been there in the morning, it took an agonizing three minutes to confirm her identity and make it inside. She found a princess inside the room, just not the one she was expecting.

“Princess Celestia!”

The sun goddess was sitting at the foot of Rainbow’s bed much the same way Luna had been hours earlier. Her head shot up and she looked up to her student in surprise. “Twilight… What are you…I mean, couldn’t sleep either?”

“I…um…” she paused and looked around the room. “Where’d my friends go?” Although it was past midnight, she would have thought at least one of them would have been in the room.

“Fluttershy and Applejack are down on the first floor, didn’t you see them when you came in?” she asked.

Twilight gave a nervous laugh. “My route was a little unorthodox.” She cleared her throat and switched topics. “And everypony else?”

“I gave them apartments in the castle for their stay here,” the goddess explained before she looked over to Twilight’s research station. “Lord Inquisitive’s Theoretical Workings of Alicorn Anatomy. Don’t tell me you’re looking for answers to Rainbow Dash’s problem in that silly thing.”

A bit of irritation crossed Twilight’s face, but she forced it down. “Well, there isn’t a lot to go on when it comes to problems dealing with alicorns.”

Celestia nodded. “Point taken,” she mumbled before her eyebrows bended into a frown. “How are you translating it?”

“Very slowly with a huge margin for error,” Twilight admitted with a grumble.

The answer got a hollow sounding chuckle from the goddess before she fell silent for a few more minutes.

“And have you found anything of value?”

Twilight sighed and shook her head. “Just a bunch of stupid theories on how alicorn’s store their memories isn’t done in a normal way and some spiritualist mumbo-jumbo.”

Celestia froze and slowly turned towards Twilight with wide eyes. “…what?”

“Well it’s only a theory…or more of a bad translation of a theory, so it’s a theory of what a theory says but-”

Before Twilight could finish, she found the copy of Theoretical Workings of Alicorn Anatomy shoved in front of her face with a golden glow surrounding it and Celestia speaking into her ear. “Show me the passages.”

The purple unicorn pointed at the page in front of her. “Well I was just translating them. So it’s this one and the previous two. That‘s as far as I got.”

A second later Celestia raised the book to her face and began mumbling to herself in a language Twilight didn’t understand that she guessed to be Unicornian. If she hadn’t been in Rainbow Dash’s hospital room, Twilight would have been in awe of hearing a language that predated Equestria itself.

After she was done with the three pages, Celestia continued on for several more. Nearly half a hour later, the book slammed closed and put off to the side with Celestia gritted her teeth. She turned to regarded Twilight for a moment, then let out a sigh that visibly removed the angry tension all over her body. “Twilight, this is important. Do you remember the spell you used on your friends to remind them of their friendship when you defeated Discord? The one you wrote me about?”

“Yes?” Twilight answered in a questioning tone, wondering where the princess was going with this.

“With your permission, I would like to see any memories you have on your interactions with Rainbow Dash,” Celestia said. When Twilight’s expression turned hesitant, the goddess pressed on. “Please Twilight. I wouldn’t ask this unless it’s very important.”

Twilight gulped. “Why? Does this have to do with what I found?”

The question brought a smile to Celestia’s face. “Yes Twilight. With that information you gave me, I think it is possible to help her. I just need your memories of Rainbow Dash.”

“How? How are you going to help her? Twilight asked hesitantly. “I thought Luna was the mental magic expert. And where is Luna? The moon is up, shouldn’t she be here?”

Celestia paused for a moment before looking from Twilight to the sleeping alicorn. “I spoke with Luna before she had to go deal with a pack of bugbears she spotted while examining Equestria earlier tonight.”

So that’s where she is, Twilight thought. A bit of resentment found its way inside her gut over the fact Luna thought some monster control was more important than Rainbow Dash, but Twilight managed to quell the feeling. She didn’t know the circumstances, it was unfair to make a judgment based on partial evidence.

“She said Rainbow Dash’s mind is…confused, I think that would be the best way to put it,” the goddess continued. “If I knew more about her life, it would greatly help with the recovery process when Luna returns.”

An unease crept over Twilight as she realized the attempt to mislead her. None of that answers my question. “But how would knowing more about my interactions with Rainbow Dash help you fix her? And now that I think about it…if Luna’s the one who’s going to help her, then why do you need to know about Rainbow Dash? Shouldn’t she be the one I give the memories to?”

“Twilight,” Princess Celestia spoke, her tone loosing all the gentleness it had before. “As the ruler of Equestria I am ordering you to show me your memories of Rainbow Dash!”

Before she knew what was going on, Twilight found herself backing away from her mentor. Now, she knew something was wrong. “P-Princess Celestia?” she asked while trying to get her knees under control. “What…why do you want my memories of Rainbow Dash?”

“Are you going to disobey me Twilight?”

The purple unicorn gulped as she wondered where her loving teacher had gone and who the stranger looming over her was. She had never seen Princess Celestia act like this, even when she was afraid of receiving punishment, there had always been a love that radiated through the disappointment. Now, there was…Twilight didn’t even know what to call it.

But, she was still Celestia, still the Princess of Equestria, and Twilight’s sovereign. So the unicorn bowed her head in obedience. “Very well Princess.”

A moment later, she felt Celestia touch her own horn with Twilight’s tip, and the memories were exchanged. Twilight found herself remembering every moment she ever spent with the pegasus as the thoughts passed through her and were given to her teacher. She wanted to laugh, cry, shout and roll her eyes at Rainbow Dash’s antics all at the same time. Their entire life together from the moment she crashed into Twilight till Twilight stood in the room she was in now replayed through her mind in a matter of seconds.

When it was over, Celestia stepped back as the memories finished playing out in her mind.

A smirk appeared on her face.

A tear ran down her cheek.

And a tiny laugh came from her throat.

“She…hehe…she was always good with pranks…heheha…and weather…hahaha…and…and she…hehahaha…she loved to fly so much!”

Why is she talking about Rainbow in the past tense? Twilight asked herself as she blinked in confusion, the was pulled into an embrace by Celestia’s magic and the larger pony wrapped her forelegs and wings around the purple unicorn and lifted her into a hug. “P-Princess? What? Is everything going to be okay?”

“Everything’s going to be perfect my student!” the goddess told her before Celestia’s voice dropped to a whisper Twilight didn’t think she was supposed to hear.

“You almost had me Andromeda, almost.”

As the light of dawn began to shine through the windows of Dash’s hospital room, Luna finished examining her patient's mind. The glow of her horn faded, and she stepped back to turn and face the only other pony in the room. “Well, it certainly seems what you suggest is true but…there is an oddity you are discounting in your enthusiasm. Fifty generations passed, and now Rainbow…Aurora’s spirit inhabits a body? How can you simply shrug that off?”

“The ethical ramifications can be discussed later sister,” Celestia told her. “Right now, we have a mind to mend.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “And we will do that how exactly? I tried Tia, her mind is…not as I expected.”

“When my daughter was alive, several of my advisers theorized she inherited several physical attributes from me, but now I believe she inherited something spiritual that was strong enough to effect her physical body. And according to other theories, alicorn’s have a special way to store our memories. We imprint them on our souls.”

A groan escaped Luna’s mouth. “Sister, just because the goblets of our minds are a bit larger than normal ponies-”

“Lulu, you really need to read some modern medical journals…or talk to a high school science teacher,” she told her sister. “Actually, you might want to try going halfway through a primary education facility. With your shape shifting magic-”

Luna stomped her hoof onto the ground. “I am not enrolling in an academy simply because I messed out on a few measly centuries Sister!”

“Hmmm, I suppose its for the best,” she muttered. “I mean, if ponies just dissing your moon caused you to go nuts, I’d hate to see what the Canterlot High social clicks would make you do.”

A frown crossed Luna’s features. “I know what you said was in jest Sister, so I will refrain from stomping you into the floor at your insult.”

Celestia cleared her throat. “Yes…perhaps that was a bit too far a bit too soon,” she said before looking away from Luna’s gaze. “I’m sorry.”

After Luna nodded to show her acceptance of Celestia’s apology, the sun goddess continued her explanation. “From what you told me of what you saw in her mind, I believe Rainbow’s mind is being overloaded with memories from her past life. You have magic that allows you to access and dominate the mind of ponies, while what I learned from our sister allows me to access their soul. Together, we can create a dam to slow the memories to a manageable trickle and allow her to adjust.”

The expression on Luna’s face became on of apprehension. “Together? You desire that we should…combine our magic?”

Celestia let out a nervous cough. “Yes.

“You do recall what that means, correct?”

“…yes. I would not do this if we had another choice.”

Luna sighed and shook her head. “Very well, let us prepare,” she said before steeling herself and taking a deep breath. “Twas I who ate the last of the cheesecake.”

“I’m the one who shaved your new pet’s backside,” Celestia admitted.

“I was the one who enchanted your toilet to become a geyser when the handle was pulled,” Luna told her.

“You are not wetting the bed Sister, I am just poring a potion on your mattress that soaks in and expunges itself during midday.”

Out of things to confess, Luna motioned for her to continue.

“I also mixed the strawberry jam with hot sauce, enchanted your dinning chair to make flatulent noises when ever you said the word thou, and slipped some laxative into your night guards rations.”

Luna’s eye twitched. “Is that everything you’ve done to upset me in recent memory?”

“Oh!” Celestia exclaimed at the reminder. “And whatever you do, don’t eat any of the moon pies before you go to bed tonight sister.”

“…sometimes I wonder if you’re trying to cause another solar eclipse Tia,” the moon goddess grumbled.

After letting her nerves clam down, the two sister’s touched each others horns and intertwined their magic. For a moment, the two were as one. All their memories, thoughts, emotions and dreams were shared.

“Now let us begin the wait a moment…THAT WAS YOU?” Luna shouted.

“Oops, forgot about that one,” Celestia admitted.

Rainbow Dash followed her mother down the palace hallway with slumped shoulders. “It was just a little joke,” she mumbled. “Besides, he deserved it.”

“You humiliated one of my closest advisers daughter,” Celestia scolded her.

The pegasus flew up into the air and whipped around to face Celestia face to face. “He made a mockery of me in front of everypony! I am supposed to simply let that go?”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “He was talking about the pegasi, and he was correct, they do not have the proper education or ability to complete your endeavor.”

“You don’t know that!” Rainbow accused. “We have several books on cloud construction in the library! They just need to brush up and refine their technique. I‘ve already mastered several of the styles shown!”

“All of which are in books which no pegasi besides a handful can read,” Celestia reminded her fiercely.

“Then have teachers show them how,” Rainbow replied.

Celestia rolled her eyes. “That would require an education, something few pegasi can afford.”

“Then have the crown pay for their education! Teach a few pegasi with the talent for cloud construction how to, and they can show others, and within a few years we’ll have enough hooves to do it!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“I will not show favoritism like that!” Celestia told her fiercely. Then she sighed. “Morning Star may come off as blunt sometimes, but he is correct. The days of the cloud cities died a generation ago. The few cloud homes that exist here are little more than boxes with a few holes for windows. I am sorry daughter, but you must face the fact that your little project might have sounded nice, but there is no way to complete it.”

“SO SPEAKS THE UNICORN WITH WINGS!” Rainbow shouted in Celestia’s face before she dropped to the ground and grit her teeth in anger. “You say you want things to get better, and I believe you Mother, but if all you do is remove the old restrictions without offering opportunities, then barely anything will ever change!”

Celestia slammed her hooves into the floor hard enough to crack it. “And would you suggest we give them that so-called opportunity then?” she demanded. “It is not that simple! For something of that level to be given, I have to take resources away from another group!”

The stubbornness of the alicorn had Rainbow Dash cry out in a rage before she turned around to storm off…

…and found herself staring at a town hall full of ponies and flanked by a pair of unicorn guards. The place was packed to the brim with pegasi and earth ponies. There were so many that several stood in the isles and pegasi hovered in place along the walls. Other ponies peeked in through the windows, and still more stood outside. Confusion washed across her mind. Wait, wasn’t I just in the castle? What the hay is going on I…

Then, she remembered. She had called a town meeting for all the pegasi in the city, and later amended her statement to include earth ponies as well. As much as Rainbow Dash hated to admit it, her mother was right about one thing: she could not try to raise one tribe above the others. They all deserved what she was offering.

“Thank you for coming,” she told their assembled equines. “Recently, I have began having ideas of a grand construction project that would…well, let’s just say that it would be an amazing undertaking that at this point would be beyond Equestria’s reach. So I’m going to start changing that after the pass of this night.

“I intend to open a school. The curriculum will revolve around basic mathematics, geometry, and literacy of all three languages. Admission will be free to any pony who wishes to enroll.”

As soon as she said that, the room erupted into a thousand different murmurs as the ponies began to converse among themselves at the news. The talking spread out into the street, and Rainbow Dash could hear some of the ponies by the windows shouting the news out into the night for those who weren’t close enough to hear.

Rainbow motioned to her guards and together they pounded their hooves on the ground to signal everypony needed to quiet down. “However, I cannot hope to do this alone. So I am calling on volunteers from all of those gathered here. Anyone with knowledge of math, the sciences, or literacy who is willing to share that knowledge with others, please stay after the meeting so that I might take your name and area of expertise. I will conduct interviews during the following week to decide who will be filling the rolls of instructors.”

“The Princesses are really going to open a free school?”

“How much is the pay going to be?”

“Where is this school being built?”

“Is there an age limit, can I send my children, or am only I allowed to enroll?”

“How am I supposed to attend an academy and feed my family?”

The wave of questions caught Rainbow off guard. She hadn’t expected most of them. It took her a moment to gather her thoughts to form a coherent answer. “Foals of age ten and up are welcome. The location for the school will be on Canterbury Hill, half a mile south of the city. And at the moment, this is a side project of my own creation. As such, the crown will not be able to offer wages for any volunteers as neither Celestia or Luna approve of my actions.”

With the mention of no promised pay, and lack of real royal support, the crowd began to grow despondent. Several began grumbling, even shouting at the princess-heir, while others began to walk out of the hall.

“Oh daughter no. I never disapproved of this. I did everything I could to help you along. I gave you estates with income to pay for the instructors, and the guards that were assigned to keep order also gave lessons in how to read. I sat in awe as your idea lifted the common ponies out of the darkness and poverty to build a better tomorrow.”

Rainbow Dash blinked as a spike of pain shot through her head, and looked around the… What the? Where the heck am I?

“This is but a memory Sister, she cannot hear you.”

She looked back to the crowd of people and gulped. Something…she was supposed to do something…

“WAIT!” Rainbow cried out as the memory crashed back into her. “Please, I know that I am asking a lot, but if just a few of you are willing, we can finally change things for the better! I only need a few of you to volunteer your time as teachers.”

“And how’re we to eat without the bits to put food on our table?” one of the ponies demanded.

“Then…then I will find a way to pay a wage for five of six scholars. It won’t be much, but I’m begging you. Just five of you with the time to spare could help the earth ponies and pegasi to regain what all of our people have lost in these past few generations!”

“She sold her wardrobe and jewelry to do that. Considering that barely educated farmers and bricklayers were paid a professors wage, I think she got swindled.”

“Oh please Tia, how often did she actually wear those things anyway?”

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and shook her head before she looked around the room. Now, she knew something was wrong.

“Now come sister, let us finish our work.”

“Please wait Lulu, this is the beginning of Aurora’s greatest achievement! Please let me watch just a bit-”

“Hey! Who the buck keeps doing that?” Rainbow Dash shouted as she emphasized her last word with a hoof slamming to the ground.

*crack*

“Did she just-”

“Impossible, this is just a-”

“CUT THAT OUT!” the pegasus shouted before the world trembled and the cracks spread to the walls, the ponies and the guards.

“It’s the link, she must be connected to-Luna! Hurry and finish the barrier before she-”

Rainbow Dash let out another cry of pain as she fought back against the pain running through her mind and soul before striking the stage she was standing on one last time.

Everything shifted. Rainbow found a horn on her head once more. Then, the world shattered.

The blue alicorn fell into the darkness below.

Twilight paced back and fourth in front of the two royal guards while the rest of her friends stood on the other side of the hallway. With it just past dawn, both Applejack and Fluttershy looked about ready to collapse from trying to sleep at the hospital, the rest of her friends looked only slightly better. Apparently, Twilight wasn’t the only one having trouble sleeping.

“Twilight, juppin around like a June bug don’t help anypony,” Applejack told her. “How bout you simmer down and read that book you snagged from that nurse? That‘ll help take yer mind off things.”

The suggestion had Twilight jumping down Applejacks throat in an instant. “You mean this book?” she said before shoving a copy of Daring Do and the Sapphire Stone in Applejack’s face with her magic. “This book about an adventurous pegasus with a multicolored mane and magenta eyes that gets hurt? THAT’S supposed to take my mind off Rainbow Dash?”

“Uh….”

Twilight whirled around and continued her pacing. Ugh what was I thinking getting a Daring Do book? So much for escapism!

“Um, Twilight…maybe you should try to calm down a little,” Fluttershy suggested.

“Under the circumstances darling, I’m going to have to excuse Twilight,” Rarity said before gulping. She hadn’t taken her eyes off the door since their arrival.

Twilight could understand her friend’s apprehension. Rainbow had probably terrified Rarity during her outburst in Ponyville, and now the goddesses of Equestria were channeling just as much magic in an attempt to fix Rainbow Dash. If one of those tsunamis of magic didn’t have the warm glow of her teacher, Twilight would probably have been in the same boat as Rarity.

As if I wasn’t a few hours ago, Twilight reminded herself when she remembered Celestia towering over her, demanding Twilight send a copy of her memories of the newest alicorn.

Twilight shook her head to clear the dark thought. Celestia had just been…frazzled. That was all, ponies did crazy things when they were emotional. Even tall ones with wings and a horn…who’re supposed to be above all that, she tried to reassure herself.

But even the most perfect of ponies must have had the occasional slip every now and then. For Celestia, that probably translated to once every hundred years or so. Yes, that’s it. She must have just been due for a little…relief. I’ll be long gone before something like that happens again.

Only, her own memories of the day before seemed to make that theory invalid. Twilight’s mind replayed the moment in the Canterlot Spa when her teacher had embraced her. While Celestia had always been a kind teacher and mentor to Twilight, that was where their relationship ended. She gave praise, a few pats on the head, a little encouragement hen it was needed, but not…what Twilight had experienced.

Twilight had just accepted it at Celestia giving her what she needed at the time but after the roller-coaster of reactions that Celestia had given her before ending it all with another embrace that still had Twilight feeling…different, flustered, proud, and afraid all at the same time.

And then there was the mention of Andromeda. Celestia had spoken her name in a way that sent a shiver down Twilight’s spine.

What did it mean? What did Andromeda have to do with Rainbow Dash?

“AAAAAAH!”

All five of the mares looked up to the door on Rainbow’s room upon hearing the scream a second before the floor shook with a wave of magical force, and two large objects hit the wall from inside Rainbow’s room hard enough to leave the mark of their impact on the other side of the wall.

The two pegasi guards were the ones to react first. They let out a startled cry and burst into the room, quickly followed by Twilight and the others to find the alicorns picking themselves off the ground.

“Princess are you alright? What happened?” Twilight asked in a panic.

The sun goddess let out a grunt as she stood to her full height. “That is a very good question Twilight,” she said before looking over to her sister. “Well?”

“I think it’s rather obvious Sister. She kicked us out,” Luna explained harshly with a frown. “Not to mention gave us a splitting headache. I told you not to go poking around. Walking through an alicorn’s mind is obviously not like strolling through that of a normal pony’s. Those weren’t even dreams she was experiencing, they were memories.”

Celestia frowned. “Thank you for stating the obvious sister. Now get us back in. I promise not to poke around this time.”

The promise had Luna rolling her eyes before she looked back to Rainbow Dash in concentration. “Oh…that is not good.”

Displeasure turned to worry, and Celestia found herself edging closer to Luna. “What is it?”

“She has disconnected herself from the realm of dreams,” the night goddess informed her sister.

The look of near-panic on Celestia‘s face sent a shiver through Twilight‘s body. “Then why isn’t she awake?”

The question had Luna lowering her head. “You misunderstand sister. She is awake. Our actions…the screen we placed within her…I think it is interfering with the connection between her body and mind. She is awake, but she does not hear nor see.”

A disturbing thought occurred to Twilight. She might not of understood everything that was going on, but the unicorn did know enough about the interactions of the mind and body for the worst interpretation of what they were talking about to rush to the forefront of her thoughts. “But if her mind and body have been disconnected, is her brain still telling her to breathe and her heart to keep pumping blood?”

“Silly Twilight, you just got to look at the…oh, that little boom we heard earlier broke Dashie’s heart monitor,” Pinkie mumbled.

Everypony in the room tensed.

“Retrieve a healer, NOW!” Luna ordered her guards. A moment later, they were gone.

The sun goddess was next to Rainbow’s bed in an instant. The blue alicorn’s sheets were flung away in a furry of golden light, and Celestia had her ear placed next to Rainbow’s chest a moment later.

The time that followed was the longest ten seconds of Twilight’s life.

Then, Celestia let out a relived sigh. “Her heart still beats, and I can feel the breath from her nostrils,” she said before turning to Luna while every other pony in the room visibly relaxed. “Is there another way into her mind?”

Luna shook her head. “We both know the consequences for entering a pony’s conscious mind,” she explained before pausing. Luna’s face then twisted as if she was sucking on a sour lemon. “What of the…method you used to speak with you know who?”

“That’s external, whatever is wrong with her is internal,” Celestia answered. She looked back to the other ponies in the room and sighed. “No choice then. We shall attempt to use the Elements of Harmony.”

As Celestia’s horn lit up and she gathered her power to summon them from within their safe room, Twilight felt as if she had been kicked in the gut by Applejack. “But Princess, you said that the Elements were a last resort!”

There was a bright flash, and after Twilight’s eyes readjusted, she saw the jeweled box containing the most powerful enchanted items in existence floating next to the sun goddess. “Yes Twilight, I did.”

“But…but Twilight said we might not be able to use the elements with Rainbow being asleep!” Rarity said.

Celestia cast the Elements to their respective owners and her magic snapped the five necklaces into place before placing the tiara onto Twilight’s head. “But she is not asleep anymore.”

That’s right, Twilight thought to herself as she found herself truly hopeful for the first time since Dash‘s head had gone under. “Come on girls, let’s save our friend.”

The Elements of Harmony gathered around her, and Twilight reached out through hers to begin connecting them all. As each gem lit up through their bond, she could feel the power welling up inside of her. It was warm and bright, good and true. The five of them began to float in the air from the sheer level of ethereal energy that they wielded.

Magic powerful enough to crush gods and remake reality flowed through her as she linked herself to the four friends standing behind her. She reached out to the final piece of the puzzle, the magical lighting bolt resting on Rainbow Dash’s neck. With it the magical circuit would be complete and its power put to use.

Celestia and Luna stepped back in order to let the magic do its work.

The magic of harmony reached out for its final piece…

…and found it unresponsive.

More quickly than the magic had begun, the lights of the Elements winked out, and the five friends found the power holding them aloft disappearing so fast even Fluttershy didn’t have time to open her wings and stop her flank from hitting the floor.

“…no…no No NO!”

Twilight let out a tiny groan. Light slowly made its way back into her eyes as she raised a hoof to try and massage away the pounding headache. She looked over to find her friends passed out from the effects of the mana surge that came as a result of the failed activation before she looked up to see Celestia crouched over Rainbow Dash’s bed with tears in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry,” she said she shaking her head.

“Sister, the little ones should not see you as such,” Luna told the other goddess.

“Do not tell me not to grieve what could be the second loss of my-”

Luna looked over to the Bearers before Celestia could finish. “Twilight Sparkle, are you alright? It seems you dealt a bit better with the backlash than the others.”

The words had Celestia’s mouth snapping shut before she turned her gaze over to Twilight. “Oh Twilight, I am…I am sorry. It…it would appear that it will take a bit longer to help your friend.”

However, Twilight couldn’t stop from connecting the facts in her mind. “But you said the Elements were our last option.”

“Then we will find another one!” Celestia nearly shouted, causing Twilight’s ears to wilt.

“Sister!” Luna scolded Celestia at her outburst.

The sun goddess glared back at the moon goddess, then let out another sigh and hung her head. “My apologies Twilight I…I must go meet with Cadence and delegate to her my affairs for today. I fear I will be…too busy looking into other options.”

Before Twilight could accept Celestia’s apology, the Alicorn of the Day disappeared in a flash of light.

Luna sighed and shook her head. “Come Twilight Sparkle, let us help your friends and see to retrieving a potion for the headaches they’ll have upon awakening.”

Twilight sat at the side of Rainbow’s bed, the beeping of the new heart monitor kept pace with the alicorn's pulse and the IV continued to drip. Her stomach rumbled with a demand for food, but she ignored it. She had chosen to stay behind while her friends were out getting breakfast.

She reached up to touch the tiara on her head, then looked to the necklace Rainbow Dash still wore, and the other Elements that had been left in the room that once again rested in their chest. It just didn’t seem right, the Elements had the power to fix anything.

But Rainbow Dash was still laying in front of her, in need of help.

“I um…I don’t really know if ponies can hear other ponies when they’re…” Twilight paused, then shook her head. “I just want to say…”

What? What did she want to say?

Did she want to apologize? How often had she apologized in the last few days? No, Twilight didn’t want to apologize anymore. She wanted to move past simply talking about her mistakes, she needed to…

“I think you’re amazing,” Twilight said. “Did I ever really tell you that? I’ve said it to others, I’ve been in crowds and cheer for you plenty of times but…” She shook her head to try and clear her thoughts. That wasn’t what was needed right now. It was just another way of talking about her mistakes.

“I think I’m jealous of you,” she began again. “Not…not for the alicorn thing… Well, okay I am a little jealous about that too, I’ll admit it. But, I’ more jealous of you for being…you. The way you could just go out there and show everypony what you could do and have them cheering your name. It went against everything that Princess Celestia taught me. Ponies aren’t supposed to show off, they’re supposed to be humble, but you…weren’t, and other ponies loved you for it!

“I think that’s why I…UGH, why does everything I say always keep coming back to that!” Twilight yelled at herself.

I need something to distract me, she thought before looking around. Her eyes caught sight of the Daring Do book, and the used her magic to bring it over to her before she opened it to read. Before getting past the first sentence, she peeked over the book’s edge. “Hey Dash, would you like to hear a story?” Twilight asked the unconscious alicorn.

“How about I start with the action, huh?” Twilight asked her unconscious friend before she opened the book. “It’s okay if I skip the boring parts, I’ve read this book about eight times already.

“Daring Do tracked through the tropical jungle the wet heat sapping her energy with every step. If only she could escape this oppressive atmosphere and fly up into the cool blue sky but her crash landing in the jungle had injured her wing and she was grounded for a few days.”

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, only to find darkness. Her hears tingled, and her mouth felt dry. Strange sensation permeated her body as she realized she wasn’t floating, flying or falling, she was simply…there.

The realization was fallowed by a jerk at just how creepy the sensation was and she rolled around to flap her wings and try to find some normality.

A second later, Rainbow Dash flew through the darkness so pitch she couldn‘t even see her own muzzle while looking cockeyed. She flapped her wings, but with nothing to guide her, the only guiding fact that told her anything about where she was going was the movement of her body.

“What is this place?” she asked herself, or tried to. When she moved her lips, no sound came out.

The only response was what her body could tell her. It was cold, and dark, and silent. A chilling thought occurred to her. This…is this…death? AM I DEAD?

“But…I’m an alicorn! I can’t be dead!” Rainbow silently shouted while she darted around in the nothingness.

“A few days, it might as well be a few months, or a few years!”

The sound…no, it wasn’t a sound, it was more like the memory of a sound, and warmth, and safety, all rolled up in a warm blanket of comfort. The not-sound drew Rainbow’s ears as she sought it out.

“The mosquitoes buzzed loudly, and the crows cawed from the high trees.”

Rainbow’s ear twitched, and she turned to the direction from where the not-sound was coming from. A twinkle in the distance caught her attention. It appeared only for an instant, but she was certain she had something besides nothing in the darkness.

“Predators following her every step.”

“It’s a voice,” she mouthed. “…I know that voice.”

The voice came again, and Rainbow flew towards it. “Twilight is that you?”

“Safely landing on the other side,” Twilight continued to read aloud. “Daring allowed herself a moment to breathe. She turned around to find herself face to face with the ancient lost temple she had sought tirelessly for, for sixty days and nights!”

Twilight closed her eyes and closed the book before lowering it away from her face. This…this just isn’t any fun, she told herself. As she leaned back in the chair she was sitting in. The book help distract her from the guilt, but…Twilight found herself unable to enjoy the suspense of the story since she knew it by heart. For that, she supposed she was a bit greatful, as even fake stress was something she didn't need at the moment.

“Hey…why’d you stop? It was just getting good.”

The voice made Twilight’s eyes shoot open, and the hold on her magic dropped the fiction onto the bed as she stared at the blue alicorn laying in the hospital bed. “R-Rainbow Dash?”

“Twilight, you got any water?” the alicorn weakly drawled, “my throat’s kinda dry.”

“You… RAINBOW DASH!” the lavender unicorn shouted before leaping over to wrap her friend in a hug so fast it unbalanced the tiara on her head and caused it to fall to the ground.

“Twilight-”

The unicorn picked herself up off the alicorn and looked down to her. “But, it you…how?” she asked with a look somewhere between confusion and hope.

The alicorn looked past Twilight and up at the ceiling as she tried to gather her thoughts. “I heard a voice in the darkness and followed it into the light,” she spoke softly before looking back down to Twilight as the little unicorn buried her face in Dash’s shoulder again. “Um…I’m not going to get that water anytime soon, am I?”

Chapter 7

View Online

Chapter 7: It’s Not So Great To Be A God

Rainbow Dash looked down at the unconscious unicorn resting on her chest as she tried to decide what to do. After Twilight had practically jumped onto her bed to give the alicorn a hug and cry her eyes out for about two minutes, she had quickly fallen asleep on top of Dash’s chest.

She thought about just rolling Twilight off of her, but a dozen little things about the situation told her Twilight probably needed the sleep. The unicorn’s hair was uncombed, her eyes had bags under them, and the mare smelled like it had been awhile since she’d bathed. Added to that were all the books piled up on the desk in the room made Dash pretty sure of Twilight’s location during all that time too.

Then there was the fact she was wearing her Element. Dash didn’t want to even consider how bad things were if her mother had dragged those things out of storage.

That brought Dash to the disturbing thought that they were actually in a hospital. How in the hay did I get in here anyway? Dash wondered. Had she been hurt? Was that even possible for alicorns? Tartarus, the last time she had been hurt had been… well…

“Ow!” Rainbow Dash cried out as her mother touched the injured wing with her hoof. She glared at the white alicorn towering above her for the curious poke.

“What were you thinking child?” Celestia asked the rainbow maned mare while examining her injury.

“That your flank was too big to-OW! Fit through the braches in the-ow! Tree. And stop doing that!” the pegasus demanded as she swatted away her mother's giant hoof.

Celestia poked Rainbow’s wing again. “You know, I have half a mind to let this heal on its own to teach you a lesson.”

“Pffft!” Rainbow replied as she shorted a burst of air through her nostrils. “So you’re a sore loser now huh?”

“Excuse me?” Celestia asked as her eyebrow raised.

“You didn’t follow me through the trees, that means I win our wager!” Dash told her with a triumphant grin.

Celestia rolled her eyes at the declaration. “Yes, I failed to break my wing on a tree and crash into the ground hard enough to make a trench. Clearly that proves your superiority in the air. Come along now.”

A glow surrounded Rainbow Dash as Celestia lifted her into the air. “Hey-what? Unhorn me Mother!”

“If you insist,” Celestia replied before planting a small kiss on the pegasus’s cheek and placing her on the alicorn’s back. Even though Dash was almost full grown, the size difference between the two still made her seem like a foal barely off her mother's teat.“Come along now Daughter, we shall retire to the castle.”

“Hey! Put me down! I am not some foal to be carried bareback! Mother!” Dash shouted as they shot into the air.

…

Rainbow Dash blinked as her recollection of that event came to an abrupt end with Celestia carrying her off to Trottingham Castle. She stared at the wall on her upraised bed for several minutes with her mouth hanging open while she tried to process what had just happened, and came up with nothing but confusion. What…that…WHAT THE HAY WAS THAT?

It had been like she was remembering something, but Dash knew bucking well that had never happened to her before. And then there was the image of Celestia her mind had conjured up.

Celestia was cool and all. Any ruler that could keep Equestria together for as long as she had was 100% awesome in Dash’s book, but she sure as hay wasn’t some fantasy mother Rainbow Dash dreamed about having!

Her mother was a fiery pink pegasus named Firefly. She had been an amazing stunt flier and winner of the Best Young Flier’s competition, as well as a shoe-in for the Wonderbolts until a celebratory night with her very special somepony had put those dreams on hold. Then…

Dash shook her head roughly to try and stop that train of thought. She didn’t need to be thinking about her mother outside of visits. Doing that always made her feel all kinds of bad.

Okay, need something to do. Come on and think, Dash told herself before looking back down to Twilight. Can’t get up. So her hope of a drink was now gone.

She looked over to the book laying on the side of the bed that Twilight had thrown to the side before she had hugged Rainbow Dash. Not an egghead…

…but, it wouldn’t be cool just to stop the story like that, she reasoned. Stopping something halfway was too much like quitting, and Rainbow Dash wasn’t a quitter. Unless, of course, she was quitting something because it wasn’t cool; but those things were special exceptions.

So, her awesomeness fairly secure, Rainbow Dash reached for the book at the foot of her bed while making sure not to disturb Twilight. But the book being quite a ways away from her forelegs as she was sitting up at the head of the bed while it rested on the end, meant the object was far out of reach.

For a moment Rainbow Dash looked up to the tip of her horn and considered using it. Although she didn’t know the inner workings of magic, Rainbow had seen it done plenty of times by Twilight, Rarity, Lyra, random Ponyville unicorns 2-6, as well as both her aunt and mother plenty of times. It can’t be that hard, she reasoned.

Rainbow Dash frowned at the book, and pictured it being surrounded in a magical aura that changed every few seconds while she tried to decide on a color before it floated over to her and opened for easy reading. But, in defiance of her desires, the book sat on the edge of the bed.

Her brow furrowing in concentration, Rainbow tried again.

…and again.

She tried throwing out her hooves towards the book in an attempt to make the magic work better.

She added vocal commands and incantations…

“Here book.”

“Come here book.”

“Magic go get book.”

“Allakazam.”

“Wingardium Leviosa.”

“Darkness beyond twilight. Crimson beyond blood that flows. Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows…wait, that one’s probably not a good idea,” Rainbow muttered as a memory played in her mind of the time a dragon invaded Equestria and her aunt blew up a small mountain along with the creature.

Seriously, you’re doing that again? Rainbow shouted at her brain before she knocked herself on the side of the head with her front-right hoof. Maybe she was in the hospital because her horn started growing in the wrong direction and was causing brain damage. It would explain why every time she brought up the image of her mother, a memory of Celestia would creep into her head.

Just thinking about it made her remember the last time her mother had come to tell her goodnight. It had been a rather harrowing day of exploration and secret passages inside Trottingham…

Stop it, Celestia is not my mom!

Even if Rainbow Dash could remember all the times Celestia had tucked her in at night, or kissed her on the forehead, or ticked her stomach in that way that made her let out an embarrassingly squeal of a laugh…

I SAID STOP IT!

To reaffirm reality. Rainbow Dash reminded herself her mother was Firefly of Cloudsdale. From what Dash knew, she had been a warm, kind, sweet and caring pegasus and the best flier anywhere. Sometimes, if she closed her eyes, Dash could remember things like the smell of her mother’s mane, the mare's kind eyes and matching smile, her cutie mark. Rainbow Dash tried to clear her mind and think of other things, but like always, she couldn’t remember the sound of her mom’s voice.

Rainbow sighed and shook her head as she gave up on trying to recall her mother’s voice before more memories of Celestia could creep their way into her head.

“What’s wrong with me?” she mumbled to herself.

Was she going crazy?

Was she really in some kind of mental hospital?

Before the universe could give Rainbow Dash a proper answer, the door to the hallway started to open. “Hey Twilight we’re back and we brought muff-DASHIE!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she finished opening the door before she zipped in and started jumping around in joy. “Dashie’s awake! Dashie’s awake!”

Rainbow blinked as the rest of her friends rushed in and gave celebratory but tearful greetings before Dash managed to quite them down with a shush to avoid waking Twilight. “Hey guys, you’re all here?”

“But…you…how?” Rarity mumbled.

“Course we are Sugarcube,” Applejack replied to the alicorn's question. “How you feeling?”

The billion bit question made Rainbow rub her head. Thanks to her horn it took two tries before she succeeded without hitting the thing. “Confused. What happened?”

“We were rather hoping you could tell us that Darling,” Rarity said cautiously. “We heard you had some kind of episode at the Canterlot Spa…”

Rainbow groaned. “Right, I lost a bet with Cadence, and had to go to the spa…and then…sorry guys, it gets a little hazy after that. I think I was talking to M-…Princess Celestia, and…then... I got nothing.”

Fluttershy stepped forward and gave her a reassuring smile. “Well as long as your back, that’s all that matters. Oh, the princess is going to be so relived.”

“What about her?” Rainbow asked as she raised an eyebrow at the pegasus.

“Rainbow you shoulda seen it, Ah never seen anypony that out of sorts since the time I saw Granny hear about Ma and Pa,” Applejack said as she took off her hat to hold it over her chest for a few moments.

As a somber mood seemed to overtake the room, Rainbow Dash tried let out a reassuring chuckle. “Come on girls, it couldn’t have been that bad. I must have just slipped and hit my head or something.”

“Slipped and-Rainbow! The Princesses couldn’t heal you!” Rarity exclaimed. “We even used the Elements, and they didn’t work! You…how are you even awake?”

Rainbow Dash looked at the sleeping unicorn in her forearms. “Twilight did something…I was someplace real bad and I heard her voice talking to me and I dunno followed it or something…not too sure after that.”

Everypony in the room looked down to the sleeping mare and Rarity stepped forward to look her over. “Is she alright?”

“Yeah-”

“Let’s find out!” Pinkie Pie said right over Dash as the pink pony reached into her mane to pull out a megaphone. “HEY TWILIGHT, ARE YOU OKAY?”

Everypony in the room shook with the sound of Pinkie’s amplified voice. Of course, with it being right in Twilight’s ear, it had the added effect of getting a panicked yell form the unicorn as she bolted upright and out of her slumber, then quickly fell out of the chair she was in since Twilight had been on the edge of it.

“Pinkie!” Rainbow yelled at the pink pony as her wings unfurled for dramatic effect, something she almost immediately regretted, the things felt sore, like they hadn’t been used in days.

“Ow my head, did somepony get the license number of that cart?” the unicorn mumbled.

Rainbow Dash temporarily forgot about Twilight as she looked over to massage her wings. However, the second she looked at the things, she froze. In the back of her mind, she was aware that Twilight was getting up and everypony was asking if she was alright and what kind of magic she had used to fix Rainbow, but that hardly seemed to matter at the moment.

As an expert flier that did her best to maintain her physical form, Rainbow Dash knew everything there was to know about her wings. She could feel when even a single feather was out of place, and now that the blood was flowing freely behind her back again she could really tell something was off. Her wings were different. It wasn’t a simple loose feather or cramp, the whole structure of her wings were very different.

Disbelief filled her mind as she looked at the altered appendages. This isn’t real, the alicorn told herself. She had been having weird hallucinations and junk since she woke up, seeing her wings in the state they were was probably just another one.

She reached out to touch the things, and found them quite solid. Okay…maybe it is real. But if it was real that meant…her wings were different!

Could she fly like she used to?

Could she even still fly at all?

Panic overtook her mind and Rainbow Dash threw off the bed sheet before getting herself up in the air, and grabbing the attention of her friends. For a moment Rainbow ignored the questioning words of the mares as she savored the relief of putting some of her fears to rest until she heard the purple unicorn shout at her.

“Rainbow don’t touch the-”

A shock ran through her system and Rainbow found herself crashing into the empty corner of the hospital room.

“-crystal matrix above you or you’ll break the circuit,” Twilight finished while the alicorn picked herself off the ground.

“You okay there Sugarcube?” Rainbow heard Applejack ask as she felt the familiar farmpony’s hoof on her shoulder.

“Yeah I-” Rainbow cut herself off when she noticed she was looking at the top of AJ’s hat barely creeping into the bottom of her vision. “-bwa?”

Applejack looked up at Rainbow and tilted her head a bit. “You sure?”

“W-WHAT THE HAY?” Rainbow Dash shouted as she jumped back to try and gain some vertical distance and hit the wall, then she fell on her rear.

After shaking off the weird sense of crashing onto the ground yet again, Rainbow Dash looked around the room for an answer about what the hay was going on. As Twilight was in-between bites of her breakfast, the alicorn went for the shortest route to find answers by just asking her. “Twilight, what the hay happened to me?”

The purple unicorn stopped mid-bite on her muffin, and looked over to the distraught princess. “You mean your height? Well, while you were unconscious for the last few days, your body had been catching up with its changes. Considering your relationship to Celestia, you may not even be finished growing.”

A wave of panic overtook Rainbow’s mind as she processed that bit of horrid information. “This is bad, this is bad, this is very, very bad!”

Twilight sighed as she watched Rainbow do a pretty good impersonation of the unicorn when she was in full panic mode, trotting back and forth in front of her while Twilight finished off her muffin. The power nap she had taken while her friends had been gone had helped alleviate a bit of her exhaustion, but she needed good food and some real rest before she would be back to her normal self.

“Ah quit bein’ so fussy Rainbow, so you put on a few pounds. It ain’t no big deal,” Applejack told her.

An instant later the alicorn was towering over the farmpony for all she was worth. “Says you Appleteeny!” Rainbow Dash told her before getting back into the air. “You can probably put on a hundred pounds and it wouldn’t matter cause you get to throw your weight around kicking trees! I got to keep a slim and fit profile if I want to be a fast flier!”

“I like the new you Dashie, your booty is extra squishy,” Pinkie Pie said as she poked the alicorn’s posterior with her hoof.

Rainbow Dash slapped the pink pony’s hoof away and looked around for answers. Part of her considered for the briefest of moments flying through Canterlot and asking her mother some questions, but experience had told her that the sun goddess never gave strait answers that weren’t fifty percent lies and she would have to wait till P-Lu was out and about to…

Rainbow Dash froze in mid-flight, then fell on her flank again. For a moment her weight gain and new wing anatomy was completely forgotten as she realized what she had just let run through her mind. What was worse was the fact she could think of at least ten separate occasions to back up the opinion she had of her moth-Celestia!

“I…I gotta get some air!” the alicorn told them before rushing out the door despite a few cries for her to stop and wait.

“Rainbow Dash wait!” Twilight shouted right as the mare disappeared into the hallway before she could snag her in a TK field. A second after Dash was out of sight, Twilight let out a disgruntled sigh. “Great.”

“What’s wrong Sugar? If Rainbow’s needin some air, I don’t see the problem of letting her get some,” Applejack told her.

Twilight shook her head. “It’s not that, she’s still wearing her Element! Princess Celestia will freak if something happens to it!”

The comment was waved away by Rarity. “Oh please Darling, not even Princess Rainbow Dash is that irresponsible,” she assured the unicorn. “Princess Celestia knows I’d be having a fit if I woke up with a magic deficiency that cut into my seamstress abilities.”

For a minute Twilight thought about bringing up the fact that had nothing to do with putting the safety of an Element of Harmony in danger, but she didn’t see the point. Rainbow Dash was gone, and the rest of the Elements still needed to be returned to Celestia for safekeeping. With food in her stomach, no friend in reach having a crises of species, and the promise that the energy gained from her power nap would soon wear off, Twilight decided she would be the perfect delivery mare for the Elements and the good news before casually mentioning that one tiny flaw in this morning’s events and hope her teacher didn’t banish her to the moon or something.

So she let out a yawn and nodded to her friends. “Well girls, I need to catch up on my sleep.” Then, before anypony could ask her what she had been doing for a good amount of the day before when she had supposed to be getting sleep, Twilight headed out into the hall where the guards were waiting. “Gentlecolts, with your charge gone and you having nothing to do, I need an escort to the palace so I can return this box to Princess Celestia.”

Thanks to the early hours, the trip through the city took far below par as there were not many ponies out trotting about. As soon as she made it to the castle, Twilight lost her escort and asked for Celestia’s location before she headed to Princess Celestia’s private chambers.

For a moment she stood outside the door, then raised a hoof to knock. When no answer came, she tried again, and a third time. Finally, the purple unicorn threw caution to the wind and slowly opened the door to stick her head in. “Princess, it’s me, Twilight. I need to talk to you.”

Across the room, the Goddess of the Day was hunched over a desk looking at a small but old magical tome with dozens of pages of parchment scattered abut the desk and the floor around it. Another three books floated open in the air above her. From the things she could see on the floor, they had something to do with magic. “Twilight I’m…”

Celestia paused for a moment and shook her head before she continued in a warmer tone than before. “Is there something you need to see me about?”

“I have the Elements, Princess,” Twilight told her before levitating the box into the princess’s bedroom. “Well, all of them except Loyalty…um, Rainbow Dash still has it around her neck.”

The goddess nodded. “I see. Well, it will be easy enough to retrieve. I-”

“And Rainbow Dash is awake,” Twilight told her when she saw her mentor wasn’t going to explode over Twilight’s lapse in judgment. Or if she was, the second bit of news had preempted it.

The books Celestia was holding aloft fell to the ground and made Twilight wince at seeing the damage to old tomes that had been around longer than her own father. “What did you say?”

“I tied to stop her Princess!” Twilight said in her own defense. “But she just started acting crazy over nothing and ran out with the Element of Loyalty still around her neck!”

Celestia continued to stare at her for a moment, and Twilight found herself becoming nervous. Celestia looked…stunned. In all the time she had known the princess, Twilight had never seen her at a loss for words.

“…Rainbow is awake?” she finally asked softly. “How?”

“Well I…I don’t know! After everypony left to get breakfast, I just started talking to her and then when I couldn’t think of anything else to say I started reading her a Daring Do book because it was the only thing I had on me that wasn’t-well, okay I could have read Beohoof too, but that story is just too old fashioned and not really her style…even if Beohoof does have some of Rainbow’s traits-”

Celestia cleared her throat to get the unicorn’s attention. “Twilight, what were you doing when Rainbow Dash woke up?”

“I told you, I was just reading her Daring Do!” Twilight exclaimed. "Then, I stopped, and she looked over and told me-no wait, she asked me why I stopped, then I hugged her and…I think I may have passed out.”

The goddesses gave her a scrutinizing look. “That’s it? You read her a book?”

“Well…” Twilight began as she tried to think of anything else that had occurred. Her mind replayed the memory over and over again, listing all the variables it could find.

She had started apologizing to Dash again.

She had confessed her jealousy to the alicorn, both old and new.

She had read the Daring Do book.

Then Dash woke up when she stopped and Twilight had hugged her. She had been so thrilled she had even bothered keeping the poise needed for the Element of Magic to stay on her…head.

“I was wearing my Element!” Twilight exclaimed. “And Dash was still wearing her’s…that must be it! I opened up to Rainbow and The Elements must have used our bond to…well, she said she had been lost somewhere and it was like following a voice.”

Celestia was silent for a few moments. Then, she nodded in understanding and shot Twilight a smile. “It seems that I underestimated the magic of your bond,” she said before letting out a chuckle a few minutes later. “Perhaps this time I should be writing you a letter about the lesson you just gave to me.”

The mirthful statement had Twilight tilting her head in confusion. “Princess Celestia?”

The sound of paper being torn only deepened Twilight’s confusion as a small bit of parchment floated up from underneath the larger tome in the middle of Celestia’s desk before it was joined by a quill. “Dear Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia said as the enchantment she placed on the quill began to write for her.

“Princess you don’t need to-”

“The magic of friendship is truly an amazing thing. The bonds it forms can reach further and do more than even my sister and I are capable of. So you should never doubt in its power to see you through the darkest of times. Your mentor, Princess Celestia.” Then, the goddess moved out from her desk and walked over to Twilight before bending down to pull the unicorn into a hug, and kissed her on the top of her head. “You are truly amazing Twilight Sparkle.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, with Rainbow Dash awake I no longer need to research those old books quite as much and the state demands attention. I need to attend to other business,” she said before her horn lit in a golden light and she disappeared in a flash of light.

After Celestia vanished, Twilight turned her head to look around the room, settling her gaze on the desk and books that Celestia had been hunched over. Even from halfway across the room, Twilight could tell the tomes were of an ancient lore that no pony besides the princesses had seen in over a thousand years. Still, the energy boost from her nap had long since worn off, and Twilight was tired.

Her body ached and demanded sleep, but her mind was a different matter. She couldn’t help but wonder what sort of magic Celestia was looking through in her attempt to help Rainbow Dash. Twilight saw the several tomes of arcane knowledge Celestia had assembled and demanded a look.

The battle between her exhaustion and curiosity lasted a moment, and Twilight found within herself a new source of energy as she trotted up towards her teacher’s desk to look around. As she got close enough to look at the titles, a bit of hesitation crept into her mind. Wait a minute Twilight, remember the LAST time you researched some old magic without Celestia’s permission? Twilight asked herself while the fact replayed in her head.

It had been nearly two years ago, during the nine-hundredth-and-ninety-nine Summer Sun Celebration. Thanks to an error on her morning checklist, Twilight had forgotten to cross out a date on her calendar and found herself looking for Princess Celestia when the goddess had left Canterlot in order to attend to the festivities in another city. Twilight had gone into the princess’s room and discovered an old book half shoved under Celestia’s bed that described spells she had never even knew could exist before.

A spell to make an object irresistibly desirable.

A spell to make a pony irresistibly admirable.

And another spell that made a pony incredibly unlucky.

Those were the only ones Twilight had time to go over in detail before Shinning Armor came by to take the younger unicorn out to lunch for her day off and correct Twilight on just what day it was. By the end of lunch, she had forgotten all about the book on black magic.

Twilight shook her head quickly to clear away her doubts. Oh come on Twilight, this kind of stuff was meant to help Rainbow Dash, how bad could it be?

She lifted herself onto her hind legs to see over the top of Celestia’s giant desk and took a look at the various books. Her gaze ran over their various titles. The sight made Twilight’s eyes widen in horror as she went from title to title.

They…they’re all…all…

“They’re all in Unicornian!” Twilight shouted as she looked at the evil tomes that were next to illegible to her without the translation notes she made. And even with her notes... “I can’t read any of these!”

Angry at the cruel trick that circumstances had played on her, Twilight put her forelegs back onto the ground and got ready to just walk off when she noticed a small book underneath one of the larger tomes. Unlike the others, it had modern binding and lacked any signs of age. With the oddity enough to peek her curiosity, Twilight snatched the book out from its hiding place with the power of her horn to examine it.

It had no title or anything that made it seem important enough to share space with everything else Celestia had collected on her desk. It wasn’t even that thick, just two inches of bound paper inside a plain white cover. Still, Twilight opened the tiny book and was pleasantly suppressed. It was horn written (being too neat to be done by hoof or mouth) in modern Equestrian by what she knew to be the princess‘s own script, and the dates weren’t that far from today. In fact, they started from the day before Dash had fallen unconscious.

“It’s a…research journal?” Twilight mumbled before she began reading.

After Luna’s accusations and observing Rainbow Dash in her sleep, I have decided to investigate the oddity that we have discovered within my granddaughter. As my own foray’s into my sister’s dark magic have merely scratched the surface, I believe it prudent to consult with Andromeda over this oddity rather than trying to understand the magic behind the event with my limited knowledge of Necromancy.

Current observations on subject on Rainbow Dash by myself shows her soul-self and aura manifestation to be identical to her's. Luna also heard Rainbow Dash use knowledge that should have been unavailable to her. At this time, I have no conclusions as to the cause or if this is all just a strange resemblance.

Final note, Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark is nearly identical to Aurora’s, with a cloud placed atop the rainbow bolt my daughter possessed.

Final note: Rainbow Dash’s Element of Harmony is a lightning bolt, no cloud. Important?

Twilight blinked as she lifted her head from the book and frowned in thought. “Okay that’s…confusing,” she mumbled. By the date on the book, Celestia had started the journal before Rainbow Dash had gone into her coma. Had she known something was going to happen?

Then there was the snippet about Andromeda. It sounded like she was still alive somehow. The whole thing just made Twilight feel like she had started in the middle of some great novel. And what in the heck is Necromancy?

In search of answers, she read on. Unlike before, the writing on the second page was much more sloppy and a few parts had telltale signs of splotches where water had dripped onto the ink.

Where to begin?

Luna has yet to return from our old palace, I should go check on her to see if anything went wrong. But that’s not for these reports. ORGANIZE YOUR THOUGHTS TIA.

I confirmed Luna’s claim about Rainbow Dash possessing knowledge she should not have. When she and Cadence intruded on my lesson with Twilight earlier today, she knew of my aversion to Sea Ponies and their shanty as well as a speech of Luna’s I quoted when instructing Cadence on her duties as a princess. Rainbow Dash also seemed to be displaying several similar personality traits as well as an undue formality, but I do not know enough about her to guess if this is just the way she acts naturally or if it is also a symptom of her condition.

At first I intended to accompany Cadence and Rainbow to the spa in order to instigate further, however I changed my mind when it came time to place us apart from the group and chose Twilight instead. She had been looking uneasy. When I found out why I-Note to self: show more understanding and affection towards Twilight. You mean more to her than just some magic teacher you idiot. Look at what happened with Sunset, maybe if you had been more loving and understanding and actually explained some things instead of just telling her-burn it all, stupid transcribing spell.

After meeting up with Rainbow Dash again, she started to explain why I was so against Sea Ponies when she became confused and passed out. So far my only theories to this is that she noticed for the first time she was accessing old knowledge and fainted, or had an overload in her mind with too much information and passed out from that. Judging by the look on her face, it’s the former.

Supplemental entry: It’s been two hours and Rainbow has yet to awaken. If she is still unconscious by moonrise, I’ll have to get Luna.

Twilight gulped before turning the page as fear rolled around in her stomach. “I shouldn’t be reading this,” she told herself before turning back to the previous page and looking at what Celestia had said/written about her. Despite the information on Rainbow Dash and her impossible knowledge, it was those lines that drew Twilight’s attention. Hesitant, and yet eager at the same time, Twilight turned the page to find a much shorter entry than normal.

Two days of reading up on my sister’s magic and I’m not any closer to finding the cause or finding an answer to Rainbow’s condition. But then Sister was always about slavery and death, I shouldn’t have expected her work to help me save lives without a great deal of study when it comes to its internal workings.

Twilight is also doing her own research into the matter. I need to check and see where that’s headed.

Supplemental: Twilight’s research is a dead end, but it‘s keeping her busy instead of moping around. Am I doing the right thing by letting her chase red hearings?

I should have been more comforting to her.

Twilight closed her eyes. This…this isn’t just some research journal. I shouldn’t be reading this. But, despite the unease in her gut, she continued on to the next page. She had already started reading it after all, leaving a book half done would be…unsettling.

The meeting with Andromeda was as disastrous as I’d feared it would be. I pulled her from her stone prison into the ethereal to prevent her from hiding secrets from me. Seeing her as she used to be was disturbing.

Luna’s attempt to awaken Rainbow Dash failed, she blames exhaustion; will try again tomorrow.

Information I gained from Andromeda explained what would eventually happen to Rainbow Dash. Correction, what has happened. I killed her. I made a stupid and selfish decision thousands of years ago, and that has cost what is one of the greatest pegasi alive her soul.

And now I have another impossible task to perform.

Why does this keep happening to me?

Why am I having to lose all the ponies I’ve ever loved?

I just got Lulu back. I thought I was getting another chance with Rainbow, and Twilight…

Oh Heavens, Twilight! I-what am I going to tell her? I know she’s been doing her own research on the matter. I’d bring her into this, but ancient languages were never part of her curriculum.

I should check up on her.

No, she had friends for that, I’m still just a teacher.

But.

No, she has her friends now. That should be enough. They can comfort her after I do what must be done.

She’s going to hate me for this. They’re all going to hate me for this.

Supplemental Entry: Removing Rainbow Dash is not an option.

I couldn’t do it. I sat there for hours just staring at her and I just couldn’t do it. I was able to banish my sister to the moon after a five minute temper tantrum, but this time, I just couldn’t do it.

Even with the evidence Twilight gathered to support a new theory of Rainbow Dash’s condition, I can’t help but doubt myself. What if something does go bad and I am unable to do what needs to be done?

Special Notation: The theory I now hold thanks to Twilight’s research and her memories of Rainbow Dash have me hopeful that something has occurred to stop the soul transfer from occurring-no, it did happen, only this time she wasn’t riding along as a passenger. The reasons for this are known own and I feel as if I’m grasping at straws when I reread this. Until I can explain how this happened, I will be working under the assumption Andromeda gave me.

Also, the Elements of Harmony failed to awaken her. I’m still unsure if that means she is no longer Rainbow Dash despite their similarities, or the Elements cannot be used while Rainbow Dash is unconscious.

Of course that also begs the bigger question of what happens if Rainbow Dash is gone. One thousand years passed before Twilight and the others gained control of the Elements, I’m not foolish enough to think the Element of Loyalty will simply find a new bearer. The Elements remade themselves in the image of the Bearers. It’s possible that the Elements will never accept new masters. The horrors that possibility raises are too terrible to contemplate. I have to keep focused on my work. I’ll just have to cross that bridge when I come to it.

Tonight I will try another option. Once the Elements are returned to me, I will take them and Rainbow Dash to the Tree of Harmony and beg it to save my daughter. Until then, I need to do more research into the Soul Implantation spell to understand how this all happened in the first place in case the theory I gained from Twilight pans out.

Twilight blinked as she finished the last page, then re-read several of the last bits as the questions formed in her mind.

What was the Tree of Harmony?

What did Celestia know about Rainbow Dash’s condition?

And why in the Pit of Tartarus was she calling Rainbow Dash her daughter?

Rainbow Dash flew above the skies of Canterlot.

She flew up, down, turned left, right, weaved side to side and did a few barrel rolls followed by a loop. She flew as fast as she could, she slowed down and accelerated several times. She flapped her wings as hard as she could to gain altitude, tucked them in to let herself fall into a dive before spreading her wings and puling out of it.

However, all of this was in an attempt to change her mind about something she had figured out five minutes after taking to the air: it was all wrong.

She was too heavy. Her wings were too long. Her feathers were too big. Her body was the wrong shape. Her stupid horn didn’t help her profile at all. Then to top it all off, there was Rainbow’s habit of thinking about stuff whenever she was just flapping around. The problem was the thoughts that came to mind made no sense!

While she was above Canterlot, she found herself comparing the castle to what had been Trottingham back before it was an overgrown forest and the ruins known only as The Castle of the Two Pony Sisters. She wondered if her mother’s new castle had any of the secret passages that the old one did, or what the citizenry did when it was time to expand the city, or what was the tribe ratio compared to one of the older towns.

Every time she would catch herself thinking such thoughts, Rainbow would fiercely shake her head and try more experimental flying to see how badly her skills had fallen thanks to her ascension into an alicorn.

When she ran out of things to safely test, Rainbow zipped away from the city in preparation for one final test of speed to avoid shattering every window in the city like she’d done the first time she performed a Sonic Rainbom over Trot…

“GAAAAAH! THIS IS SO FEATHERING ANNOYING!” Rainbow Dash shouted to the empty sky as she grabbed her mane in frustration.

Shouldn’t these stupid coma dream things have disappeared by now? Rainbow Dash asked herself with a frown. That’s the way dreams had always worked for her before anyway. Even the worst of nightmares was gone in an hour after she awoke.

But what made everything even worse was that these bucking coma dreams weren’t just sticking around, they were so bucking detailed and fragmented. She could ‘remember’ dreaming about a bunch of snooty unicorns that were looking down their noses at her all the time. Morning Star was the worst of the lot, she knew that plot-hat’s whispering into Mother’s ear sounded all sweet and dutiful, but the results of all his advice had always been so catastrophic in the end that Rainbow had no idea why neither Mother or Luna had been able to see through the red unicorn’s manipulations for so many years.

It had only been after Rainbow had left the court and settled down to start a family that…

“BUCKING TARTARUS!” the rainbow pegasus shouted as more than a dozen other images and experiences came to mind at that particular thought. Experiences like being with a stallion, getting married, having sex, having foals…

Rainbow knocked herself in the head a few times to try and clear her thoughts. “Flying! Focus on flying!” she told herself.

Went through all the basics and tried the tricks, too big and wonky for some of the tighter stuff, what’s next? Rainbow Dash asked herself while checking off things on the list involving all her moves. Right, Sonic Rainboom.

“Okay here we go,” she told herself as she rose into the air to get the distance from the ground she needed.

Then she dove towards the ground at an angle. As she flew, Rainbow Dash adjusted the position of her wings for maximum effect and concentrated on going faster. Like several pegasi with unicorns for friends, she had heard the idea that a good deal of pegasus flight was magically based, and some even argued that they might not even need to flap their wings to fly.

Of course being wingless, they had no idea what they were talking about.

As she felt the air beginning to bend around her, Rainbow Dash willed herself to push forward and snapped her wings to give herself an extra little bit of push. The cone of air bent…

…and strained…

……and then…

………Rainbow Dash stopped moving forward before she felt the air around her launch her back like an evil invisible trampoline that also sent her body into a spin-out.

Dash unlocked her wings and adjusted them to pull out of her air tumble when she realized something very bad: she had absolutely no experience correcting her messed up flying with a body as big as she was. This is gonna hurt, Rainbow Dash told herself a second before she went limp and hit the ground. She managed three rolling bounces, followed by a long crash that left a two foot deep trench for a good five yards.

Rainbow’s vision went white for a moment and there was a brief ringing in her ears as she mentally checked herself out while moving as little as possible to avoid aggravating any injuries. She could still feel her wings and all her legs. Her jaw wasn’t broken and no teeth were missing.

The only thing better that having no injuries was the fact that no one had saw her mess up.

“Are you alright?”

The calm but slightly worried voice drew Rainbow Dash’s attention. “Mother?”

She rolled onto her stomach and looked up to the sun goddess that was standing over her with a barely contained look of surprise in eyes that were slightly wider than normal during a day in court. Which meant she as surprised as hay. “Bucker.”

Celestia blinked. “Excuse me?” she asked, slightly perplexed.

“Mother-bucker!” Rainbow Dash said as she got to her hooves while trying to sound upset, although it sounded more like a squawk than a shout. “I…um…new trick! Couldn’t do it! Really upset! Needed to curse!”

“…I see,” Celestia replied before the confusion on her face turned to concern. “Now, are you alright?”

As she had checked everything she could, Rainbow Dash put her wings back to her side and looked over to Celestia. The sight of the princess’s neck at eye level had her staring. Yeah, so not going to get used to that anytime soon, the blue alicorn told herself before speaking. “I’m okay. I stand by my record, over one hundred crashes and not a single fatality.”

The look on Celestia’s face showed she didn’t appreciate the humor. “I see.”

“So uh…what’re you doing here?” Rainbow asked before she found something interesting to focus on in the dirt. Just looking at her mother brought those stupid phantom memories pouring in.

“After I finished my courtly duties for the morning, I decided to look over Equestria before lunch was prepared and saw your…accident,” Celestia explained.

Rainbow Dash hung her head. “So you did see me…uh…”

“Attempting your Sonic Rainboom before hitting the wall and going out of control?” Celestia asked before she answered her own question. “Yes.”

The information made her groan. The fact that her mother of all ponies…that Celestia of all ponies had seen Rainbow screw up on something that she should have been able to do made it even worse.

“What’s wrong?” the goddess asked.

“I…I just…” A thought occurred to her, and Rainbow Dash looked up to Celestia again.

A dozen memories flashed through her mind of events so similar to this one, the two of them just talking away from the trouble of the capital. She could ask her mother anything, talk about anything and she would never laugh at her, or be too judgmental. All her mother ever did was listen to her problems and offer advice and love.

Thankfully, this time her delusions worked in Rainbow’s favor and she found herself being able to ask Celestia what she needed to. “Can you turn me back into a pegasus?”

The question left Celestia floored, literally. Her rear hooves fell out from under hr, and the alicorn's plot hit the ground with a loud thump “…what?”

She collected herself rather quickly and looked down at the alicorn in confusion. “Granddaughter, why would you want something like that?”

“Because being an alicorn sucks!” Rainbow Dash before going into a nearly panicked tirade. “I can’t do all that princess stuff like holding court and dealing with snobby unicorns! I’d buck them in their teeth!”

“Well-”

“And what if something like the Solar Empire or the Lunar Republic happens again?” Rainbow continued. “What if some neighboring country decides I’d make a good ruler but they don’t like you or Aunt Luna and they just want me to boss them around in return for special considerations?”

Celestia tilted her head. “Those were annexed into Equestria thousands of years ago. Equestria covers the whole of the land now. How did you even know about-”

But Rainbow wasn’t going to let her mother calm her down or stop anytime soon. “And look at me!” Rainbow Dash nearly yelled before taking in the air to hover. “I’m huge! I’ve got the crappiest aerodynamic profile in the history of Equestria, my wings are too long, my fathers are too big, and my plot is so bucking fat! I’ll never get back to where I was when I won the Best Young Flier’s Competition! I’ll never be able to do another Sonic Rainboom again!

“I never asked for this junk! I just made a stupid friendship report and you just yanked me up to your little starry hallway and stuck this horn on my head!” she finished before coming back down to the ground and gasping for air. "I...want...out."

Her mother stared at her in silence for a long moment, then took in a deep, calming breath. “Is flying truly that important to you?” she asked.

“It’s all I have!” Rainbow actually shouted at her. “It’s the only thing I’ll never really be good at! It’s my talent! And if I’m not the best flyer, then I’ll never be a Wonderbolt, and if I’m not a Wonderbolt then…then…it means Mom wasted her…”

Rainbow Dash found herself unable to continue until her mother reached out with a wing and placed it on her shoulder. “It’s alright my child.”

The words sent a sock of realization through Rainbow Dash. Once again, she had been thinking as if Celestia as her mother. The fact that this had been going on while Rainbow was talking about her mom made the blue alicorn nearly throw up. It was the most horrible betrayal of Firefly’s memory that Rainbow could think of.

“Tell me about her?”

“Huh?” she asked before looking back up into the eyes of the goddess.

“Your mother, could you tell me about her?” Celestia asked.

Thankfully, the question gave Rainbow an excuse to get her mind off the mountain of crazy standing in front of her and focus on something else. Even if it was just a little something. “Well she was a great flyer, best young flyer of her generation and was a shoe-in for the Wonderbolts. They practically begged her to join! She was in their training program when she found out she was pregnant.

“Truth is, I don’t remember much about her personally. She…she died when I was just a filly. I’ve seen pictures and stuff, but…I don’t know. Sometimes it’s hard for me to remember if the stuff I do remember about her was some really young memories and junk, or just stuff I made up as a filly by hearing a bunch of second-hoof stories.”

The feeling of a wing even larger than her own being draped across Rainbow’s back made the alicorn repress a shudder. Part of her was telling her, screaming at her to bury her face on Celestia’s shoulder and let out the pain that was welling up inside her heart, that the larger alicorn would be able to soak up that hurt and take it away. But the part of her brain that wasn’t a total idiot remind her that Celestia wouldn’t understand. It was that stupid coma fantasy thing that was making Rainbow think along those lines.

“And your father?” Celestia asked as she continued down the obvious line of questions.

Rainbow Dash sighed and shook her head. “Dad is…complicated.”

For a moment Celestia was silent, then when Rainbow looked up at the goddesses expression to see the small bit of tension, she wished she had kept her mouth shut. The only time her mother got that kind of look on her face was when she had already made up her mind about somepony, but was holding back passing the sentence till she had something she could make the judgment seem justifiable. “In what way?”

“He’s not a bad pony!” Rainbow Dash tried to reassure the goddess. “It’s just…look, my dad hated my guts. He, he always said how I ruined his life, how I was like some kind of curse or something.”

“I fail to see how your father taking such actions does not make him a bad pony!” Celestia told the smaller alicorn with a dark look on her face as she stared off in Cloudsdale‘s direction.

Almost on instinct, Rainbow threw Celestia’s wing off and spun around to face her. “You’re one to talk!” Rainbow shouted in anger. “Me and Dad may not of gotten along, but he did his job! He put food on the table and made sure I came home at night, which was a lot more than you ever did after the bitch queen was…finally…ummm, oh mare.”

Rainbow gulped as Celesta examined the blue alicorn with her head half turned away as if she was looking at something that might bite her at any second like a wild snake. Then, she closed her eyes and hung her head. “I suppose you’ve got me there.”

The two alicorn sat in silence for a moment. After Rainbow managed to calm herself down, Celestia picked her head up. “Well, I have some good news, and some bad news for you then Rainbow Dash.”

“Let me guess. This horn isn’t going anywhere,” Rainbow said as she tapped the extra extremity with her hoof.

Celestia nodded. “What has been done by the magic of Harmony cannot be undone. However,” she said before pausing while Rainbow focused her attention. “Need I remind you of our trip to the spa? An alicorn can come in any shape or size that she wants…if she knows the magic.”

The information made Rainbow want to bash her own brains in. “Of course! Alicorns have shape shifting magic! You and Luna did it all the time back in Trot…uh, the old castle where you used to live…I think. Maybe? Least…that’s what I’ve heard from my old family stories you know…got to keep Celestia’s ego in check with all kinds of embarrassing stuff. Pranks, sea ponies…you know. Eh-he.”

“Yeeeeeees,” Celestia drawled out cautiously. “Well, before you start learning alicorn magic, I would suggest starting with some unicorn spells. In fact, I believe your first magic lesson is scheduled to begin after lunch. Although you may need to rouse your instructor from her bed with the odd sleep cycles your friends have been keeping lately.”

Rainbow blinked, then hung her head as she remember just why Twilight had been so out of it so many hours ago. “Right. And, I should probably go and check on everypony else, make sure they’re okay and all.”

Before she could take off, Celestia spoke again. “About your plans for the Wonderbolts…”

“Hm?” Dash turned around and rolled her eyes. “Um yeah, about that… I don’t want any special treatment just cause I got this horn.”

Celestia gave the mare a hesitant look, then shook her head while muttering something that Rainbow Dash couldn’t make out before she addressed the rainbowed alicorn directly. “So, shall we race back to my chambers? I need to store that Element around your neck.”

Another memory surfaced, and Dash gave her mother an accusatory frown. “No teleporting.”

“Okay, use your horn.”

“Ugh!”

“Harder!”

“Rugh!”

“Come on harder!”

“GRAAAAH!”

“HARDER!”

“….look, I just can’t get it up, okay?”

Twilight sighed and backed away from the blue alicorn before she looked over to the small round stone in the middle of the empty lecture hall. Perfectly round on all sides, it was one of the best things to start teaching telekinesis with as it had good balance and easy to grab.

“It’s okay Dash. Unicorns have a bit of an emotional-depended block when we start trying to consciously access our magic for the first time in any real way. I just need to find the proper motivation to get you to do it,” the unicorn told her friend before she crossed out the ‘sports coach encouragement’ method.

A quickly forming headache had Rainbow drop her plot to the floor and sigh. “How’d you do it?” she asked.

Twilight gave her friend a nice smile. “This really cool pegasus caused an explosion of light and color to happen outside that window behind you,” she said with a gentle voice. “It completely freaked me out, and then…boom.”

Rainbow eyes widened, and she found herself having to gulp from all the saliva forming in her mouth before she looked away towards the window Twilight was indicating. “So uh…this is…um, you know…where you got your cutie mark?”

“Yeah, I thought it might bring us some luck. One second, the sun’s starting to go down, I should open the blinds some more” she said as she trotted over to said window to do just that.

As the unicorn walked away, the alicorn found herself moving her gaze closer to the floor and focusing on Twilight. The lavender mare was probably in the most…average condition Rainbow had ever seen when it came to unicorns, she was not fit, but that was a long way from even pudgy like Ms Cake.

Rainbow blinked as she realized what she was beginning to do and looked away from Twilight’s cute plot. No, she told herself. You do NOT need to be doing this right now.

Twilight was cool and all, but… Well, she was more than just cool. She was talented, sweet and kind. She always tried to do what was best for her friends, even if the actions to get those results turned out to be a little disturbing. But she was working on that last part.

She was also responsible. Spike had to be only five or six years her junior, but Twilight took care of him like a son. She was just as hardworking when it came to her magic as Rainbow was when it came to flying, and…

Rainbow remembered Twilight hugging her while she had still been in the hospital bed. The little unicorn had passed out in Rainbow’s forearms with relief and the alicorn didn’t need a bunch of stupid coma fantasy memories to tell her that probably meant Twilight had been up researching a cure for her condition since Dash had gone under.

She was smart, dedicated, loyal, caring, and willing to push herself past her limits for those she care about. In short, she was…perfect.

“-bow, RAINBOW!”

The alicorn let out a startled cry as her wings made her airborne. She didn’t bother landing before moving her attention back down to Twilight. “What’s up?”

“I said we’re calling it a day,” Twilight told her.

Rainbow’s face twisted in confusion. “But…it’s still daylight out,” she said before looking out the window. The sun was starting to hide behind a mountain range in the distance, but they could get another hour of practice in at least.

Well, attempted practice at any rate. It was kind of hard to practice something when she couldn't even start to do it.

“We have to meet the girls for dinner in half a hour, remember?” Twilight reminded the alicorn.

Rainbow Dash blinked as she recalled having lunch with Applejack and Pinkie, and the party pony's plans for a big dinner in the ballroom. Of course, if it was Pinkie’s idea then dinner probably meant a party with lots of food. Added to the fact that it was the first day out of Dash’s coma, and the alicorn would have bet her wings on it.

“Oh right, kind of slipped my mind,” she said. It's be good to hang out with the girls, Dash supposed. She had kind of left them hanging after freaking out about how big she was. That was pretty uncool of her. She hoped they would forgive her for it.

So Dash dropped to the ground, and looked over to a stack of papers and books that Twilight had brought in with her. At first she had thought they were some kind of teaching aids, but Twilight didn’t even bother looking at them throughout the lesson.

“So what is that stuff anyway?” Dash asked before she took at look at the page on top of the stack.

Twilight chuckled and trotted over to her. “Oh just some old magic research project I wanted to look into,” she said.

“Aren’t you being schooled by M-Princess Celestia when you’re not with me?” Rainbow Dash asked.

The color of Twilight’s cheeks reddened a bit. “I have some free time you know.”

“Oh…” Dash looked over the unicorn’s shoulder. “Need any help?”

For some reason the alicorn couldn‘t understand, Twilight let out a laugh. “Come on Dash, you can’t even do basic levitation. I doubt you could read what’s written on that page. I copied it from…a book I got from Princess Celestia.”

“Soul Transference,” Rainbow Dash read as she went over the almost blockish lettering next to some other kind of letters. There were other annotations on the page written differently too, but Dash could recognize her mother’s hornwriting in all three. “The transfer of a soul from one container to another is best accomplished in the middle of the eleventh hour on…”

Dash stopped and frowned at the information about the spell before looking away from the book and back to the unicorn. “Twi you sure Mother wants you looking at this? It sounds a lot like Necromancy.”

The lavender unicorn just stood there with her mouth hanging open.

“Uh…Twilight? You okay?”

Chapter 8

View Online

Chapter 8: Things Better Not Known?

“Aliud quo animus est, a rerum optimus unus efficitur in media hora.”

As hard as she tried, Twilight couldn’t find a way to explain what she’d just heard. Although her knowledge of Unicornian was pathetic at best, she would bet her horn that was what Rainbow Dash had just spoken. It wasn’t just a change in language either, the alicorn’s whole speech pattern seemed to alter. There was no Equestrian accent like she'd heard when ponies spoke Griff or Dragonese, or even her usual energetic way of speaking. It was as if some other pony had been saying the words.

Then Rainbow turned back to look at with a disturbed frown on her face. “Twi, you sure Mother wants you looking at this stuff? It sounds a lot like Necromancy.”

Twilight’s mind raced in confusion. She tried to say something, but her mouth wouldn’t work properly. Did she just…wait, Mother? But I told her that… Twilight found herself unable to complete the full thought. She was a bit too hung up on the first part of it to care. Did she just call Celestia her mother?

“Uh, Twilight? You okay?”

The question snapped Twilight out of her inner dialogue and she trotted up to the larger pony before looking up into her eyes. “Dash, what did you just say?”

“I asked if you were-”

“Before that!”

Rainbow backed up a few steps as Twilight advanced on her until she ran into the table Twilight’s notes were resting on. “You mean when I was talking about my…ah horse apples,” she said before mumbling something to herself Twilight was barely able to hear. “Gotta learn to think before I open my mouth.”

The alicorn looked above Twilight’s head. Several past experiences with her friend let Twilight prepare herself just in time to snag the end of Rainbow’s tail before she could get completely out of sight by taking to the sky in an attempt to escape. Then, things got rather uncomfortable when Rainbow stopped flapping her wings and dropped out of the air right on top of the purple unicorn.

Twilight let out a squawk of surprise when the newest princess of Equestria came crashing down from above her, pinning the unicorn to the ground thanks to Rainbow’s newly gained larger than average pony size and weight. Unfortunately, as the unicorn's magic required line of sight to target her telekinesis and all she could see was a coat of blue, Twilight found herself unable to see all of Rainbow’s body and thus couldn’t wrap her in a telekinetic field to throw the larger alicorn off her back.

“Rainbow?”

“…yeah?”

“Can you get off and talk to me now?” Twilight asked while doing her best to control herself since her best friend’s lower-rear anatomy was pressed against her cheek. When the alicorn didn’t respond, Twilight rolled her eyes. “I may not be able to grab your whole body with my magic like this, but I can keep hold of parts I already have. So either you tell me what’s going on, or we can just stay tangled up.”

Twilight did her best to try and adjust her position, and a tiny tremble ran throughout Rainbow Dash’s body when the unicorn bushed up against her lower regions. With any options left open to her, Rainbow let out a sigh. “You win.”

After Twilight stopped channeling magic through her horn, Rainbow got back on her hooves and helped Twilight back up. They looked at each other for a fraction of a second before Rainbow Dash broke eye contact, and seemed to shrink in on herself. “Look it’s…after I woke up from that coma,” she began.

Twilight listened as Rainbow Dash began explaining her situation, saving her questions for the end. She told Twilight about all the ‘strange ideas and stuff’ that kept popping into her head at odd moments and how she found herself thinking of Celestia every time she tried to think of her own mother Firefly, as well as how she found herself comparing Canterlot to Trottingham before smacking her face with her hoof when she grumbled about the differences between the two educational systems of the past and present. That was when Twilight had to put a stop to it.

“Rainbow! Don’t you ever do that again,” the unicorn scolded the alicorn as she grabbed the larger mare’s hoof with her own to try and do it by force.

For a moment Twilight met the alicorn’s eyes again, and sucked in a breath. Rainbow’s eyes were wide and frightened, her hoof trembled slightly, and Twilight looked back to see that her friend’s wings twitched every few seconds. All the physical signs added up to one obvious conclusion: Rainbow was terrified.

It was a rather frightening revelation for Twilight. Up until a few days ago, Rainbow Dash had always been a rock that Twilight knew she could depend on when things got tough. But after the costume stunt, she was starting to think that the alicorn’s bravado was just a mask she wore to hide a fragile interior.

“I… It helps clear my head when…” Rainbow Dash gulped and turned her head back towards the table, away from the unicorn’s face. “Twilight…am I going crazy?”

Twilight hesitated for a moment as she examined the situation. Based on what Rainbow Dash had just told her and everything gleamed from Celestia’s journal, Twilight knew without a shadow of a doubt that her friend was not losing her mind. At least, not in the traditional sense. However, the worry the situation was causing Rainbow was another concern.

Just giving her an answer wouldn’t help her friend. Judging by her emotional state, the alicorn might have been already thinking something along the lines as what Twilight had theorized, and denying it for some reason that Twilight had yet to fathom. What it boiled down to was that even if Twilight told her, Rainbow Dash’s stubbornness wouldn’t let her accept anything but what she currently agreed with.

So she decided to lead the larger pony to the answer.

“Are you having delusions when you’re awake?” Twilight asked before she thought of another question to help clarify things for her. “Do you just stop and talk to ponies who aren’t there?”

“Well, no,” Rainbow mumbled.

“Did you just wake up and start going Celestia is my mom all the time, without remembering the mare who gave birth to you?”

“No.”

“Do you think you’re a pegasus who’s been dead over two thousand years, and that the Everfree Forest is really the capital, and one of Equestria’s largest cities?”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Uh no Twi. Now, you going to tell me where this is going?”

“Crazy ponies don’t think they’re crazy Rainbow,” Twilight explained to her. “If you were crazy, then you’d be constantly zoning out, wouldn’t care about any of the facts that contradicted your memories, and wouldn’t even question yourself.” She did her best to give Dash a reassuring smile. “So no Dash, you’re a long way from crazy.”

“…then what’s happening with my head Twi?”

Twilight clenched her teeth as she thought of how she should answer that. She knew from her own experience and Celestia’s journal that something was indeed going on with her friend, but…that something was as of yet, unexplained.

The idea that she could tell Rainbow not to think about it came to mind, but seeing her friend standing there looking so afraid made Twilight throw that option out the window faster than Dash could fly. Lying to her was out too, she wanted to help Rainbow, not let the alicorn delude herself. So that only left a half-truth or full disclosure. The fact she even considered one of those options for a few seconds made the unicorn want to buck herself.

Still need to be careful how I handle this though, Twilight thought. However Rainbow was doing what she was doing, it wasn’t on a conscious level. She needed a way to shock the alicorn into realizing what she was doing on her own.

And for that, she needed some kind of absolute proof that said ‘look at this Rainbow, the stuff in your head really happened.'

“Tell me, was what you mentioned earlier accurate?”

“What do you mean if what I mentioned earlier was accurate?”

The question left Twilight frowning at her friend. “You mentioned Necromancy after reading about a spell in my notes.”

Rainbow frowned at the smaller mare, but Twilight could see the fear still present in her eyes through the confused anger. “That’s just some stupid delusion-thing Twilight!”

“I’m starting to think that isn’t the case,” she replied before making her face as serious as she could to help put her point across. She didn’t need Rainbow arguing with her over this. “I’ve never even heard of that school of magic before today, it was just mentioned by name in the journal I read. And even then, I don’t know what it does like you apparently do!”

The alicorn flinched. “Twilight, you know the only thing I can do is Aeromancy, and only that cause I‘m a pegasus.”

Aero-what? The unicorn shook off the confusion. “Rainbow look at my notes,” Twilight ordered. When the alicorn did, Twilight continued on. “Can you read them?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes and looked back at Twilight. “Uh yeah,” she said while rolling her eyes. “Just cause I’m not a egghead doesn’t make me illiterate.”

“How?”

“Huh?” Rainbow asked, her visible annoyance fading to confusion.

“How can you read those words Rainbow?” Twilight demanded as she took a step closer to her friend.

Once again, annoyance blossomed on the alicorn’s face. “I look at the page and read, duh. Geeze Twi, you do it all the time.”

Twilight’s eye twitched and she jumped up on her hind legs to force Rainbow Dash to turn her head towards the paper before she pointed at the top line of words. “I can’t read this Rainbow! Nopony can except for Princess Celestia and Luna! Aside from them, nopony has spoken this language in thousands of years!”

As Twilight let the alicorn go, and backed away, she watched Dash struggle with idea. “Look at the symbols, that’s not Equestrian! You were even speaking Unicornian when you read it!”

“No that’s…” Dash looked back to the pages and grit her teeth. Judging by the rapid movement of her eyes, Twilight could tell she was reading the words. “Well then that’s not what it really says. Just more of this stupid delusional stuff.”

Twilight got as far into Rainbow’s face as she could thanks to their new difference in height and frowned up at her while trying not to think how less intimidating she was without them being equal height. “And how do you know that?”

“Mother would never do something like this Twilight!” Rainbow Dash shouted at the unicorn, driving her back.

After she recovered, Twilight cocked an eyebrow at Dash‘s wording. “You mean Celestia?”

Rainbow’s attitude changed in an instant. Once again, her trembling increased and she sunk to the floor. “…I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” she said in a voice that sounded closer to pleading than anything Twilight had heard Rainbow Dash say in her life.

The sight made Twilight’s heart ache. She wanted to pull away, tell Dash everything was okay and she could just forget about it.

But, then her questions would be forever unanswered, and her friend would just go back to pretending everything was alright when it obviously wasn’t. Twilight just couldn‘t accept that. “Why?” she asked as low and sympathetically as she could. “Rainbow, please tell me. I…” Her mind searched for the right words. “I… If it’s embarrassing, I won’t laugh, or ever mention this to anypony ever again. Why do you keep calling Celestia your mom?”

Rainbow stopped shaking for a moment and glared back at Twilight. “She’s not my mom!”

“Then why do you keep talking about her like that?” the unicorn asked as gently as she could.

“Because…it’s…”

When Rainbow Dash just stopped talking, Twilight coxed her on with a sympathetic look in her eyes. “Please tell me.”

“BECAUSE SHE JUST SHOWS UP LIKE THAT OKAY?” Rainbow yelled. “Every time I think about M-Celestia or see her, or try and talk about her, I get all these stupid images in my head and freaky feelings and I DON’T KNOW…why. Look, this is stupid, I’ll just work through it like everything else.”

As Dash stopped for a second time, Twilight reexamined the situation. She had expected Rainbow to dig in her hooves and resist with everything she could if Twilight just outright told the alicorn what she thought was going on. She hadn’t expected Rainbow to be afraid. Twilight had no idea on how to deal with that.

It was time to switch tactics. “Earlier today Princess Celestia left me alone in her quarters where I found those spells and a research journal from the past few days. I read her journal and…well, she…wrote some stuff about you.”

That got her attention, Twilight thought as the other mare looked back at her with widened eyes. “She wrote about things like Andromeda’s magic, and the Tree of Harmony, and…and a bunch of other things I’m still trying to puzzle out.”

Should I tell her about Celestia’s theory? Her inner Applejack said to do so, but the scientist in Twilight knew revealing a half-finished hypothesis might cause more harm than good. She still didn’t know the cause of all this, even Celestia didn’t know. If Princess Celestia hasn’t told her, then I shouldn’t either, the unicorn reasoned.

Rainbow frowned at her for a moment, then sighed and looked down at the floor in thought. “Never heard of the Tree of Harmony,” she said before looking up. “But Andromeda’s magic, Necromancy…my bucking head wont stop ever since you mentioned them. Stupid magic junk.” She rubbed the side of her head with a hoof for emphasis, maybe to stop what was probably a splitting migraine.

“Are you alright?” Twilight asked as she prepared to use her magic to delve her friend’s body for any damage. Her knowledge of healing magic was mostly theoretical, but Twilight was certain she could heal anything short of a broken bone.

“Did…did Mother’s journal…I mean Celestia’s…” Dash stopped to shake her head again. The rainbow alicorn let out a cry of frustration. “Look Twi, this is just me being stupid. In a few days I’ll be fine!”

Twilight shook her head. “No. I‘m not just going to leave this alone,” the unicorn said. “Rainbow Dash, what’s going on? Why’re you so scared?”

“I’m not scared!” Rainbow Dash defended herself looked down at the ground for several moments before she gulped and looked back up at Twilight. “What about that dinner party? Pinkie will be mad if we’re late.”

“Rainbow, what’s going on?” Twilight asked again, making the alicorn even more nervous.

Twilight wracked her brain for a moment. She was hurting her friend, every emotion in her mind was yelling at her to stop. To just drop it and let Rainbow go back to being her usual bragging self. But her logical side saw a problem with her friend that needed to be fixed, even if the path was a painful one.

Like the whole thing that started this? Twilight asked herself. That was a mess that needed to be fixed too, and look at where we are now. The unicorn crushed the rouge thought beneath her existential hooves. She had made a mistake and learned from it, that was the end of it for now. She didn’t have time to feel guilty while one of her friends was suffering.

“Can you read that page I copied?” she asked.

Rainbow frowned at her. “Can you?”

“Ummm…well, no,” Twilight admitted.

“Then how do you know I’m reading it right?” the alicorn demanded as she rose to her full height and glared down at the unicorn. She had apparently found her counter to Twilight’s logic, and was using it for all it was worth. “If you can’t read that stuff and tell me what it says, then it’s just me making up junk because of all these crazy things in my head!”

Twilight blinked as her thoughts hit the wall that Dash’s argument created. Okay…Dash might actually have a point there. She rubbed her chin for a moment in thought before inspiration struck. “Then, we should do something to prove it.”

“What?”

She looked back up at the larger pony and smiled. “You’re not going crazy Rainbow, and I can prove it,” Twilight assured her. “Just, wait until after the party.”

“Twilight.”

“And if you are…having problems, we’ll fix it.” Twilight’s ears twitched and she nodded before positioning herself so her face fill the princess’s vision. “Rainbow, whatever’s wrong, I’m here for you okay? We can figure this out. And whatever’s got you worried, we’ll take care of it, together. I promise.”

Pinkie Pie hated being the focus of a limited 3rd person narrative when the author was taking her 4th wall breaking powers to the extreme. She also hated it when her plans for a party got hijacked by royalty to turn her Welcome Back Dashie Party into something it wasn‘t supposed to be. But as this was the first time such an event had occurred, she was willing to let the whole party thing slide.

The author thing on the other hand…

“Seriously, cut it out. The fourth wall isn’t the only thing this pony can break,” Pinkie grumbled before she took off her Gala dress‘s hat and set it on the dinning table she was sharing with her friends.

“You say something Pinkie?”

The pink party pony pulled herself back into the story and looked at the orange earth pony sitting on the cushion across from her. “No just arguing with-wha-oh!”

All of a sudden, Pinkie felt her heart go all-aflutter, her lips moisten, and her lower female body parts become extra specially…uh, special! It was a triple combo of her Pinkie-sense that she had felt a few times before and knew what it meant! Unable to hide her excitement, Pinkie jumped for joy. “Hey guys! My Pinkie-sense just said somepony I know just fell in love!”

Spike cut his conversation about how life was now that he had moved back to Canterlot with Rarity short and turned to face Pinkie with a hopeful expression. “Really?” he asked before looking back to Rarity.

“Beg yer pardon?” Applejack asked as she fussed with her attire. Lots of hard work kept her in shape as not to need any alterations for her fancy dress that Celestia had shipped over from Ponyville while they’d been asleep, but that didn’t make it comfortable.

Rarity was a bit more enthused. “It can do that?” she asked.

“Who is it Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked with a bit more excitement than most ponies had seen her show about social things.

Pinkie held up a hoof to stall any other questions as she closed her eyes and listened to her sense. A second later, she was rubbing the top of her head. “Itchy scalp! Must me a uni-wait!

“Now I’m getting a scratchy back?” she told everypony before a tingling in her hooves made her look down. “And now an earth pony?” Confusion crossed her face as she looked over to her friends. “Hey girls, do you have any idea why I’d be getting signals that a pony with pegasus, earth pony, and unicorn parts just fell in love?”

Her three friends at the table just gaped, which of course offered no answers to the confused pink pony before the scene changed again.

Rainbow Dash followed the purple mare down the hallway that led to the ballroom as she struggled with her thoughts. A part of her was surprised at the new record of thirty minutes she had clocked for thinking about any one thing, but she was mostly concerned what these thoughts were about. As for as Rainbow Dash could see, there were two possibilities.

The first possibility was that she was just plain crazy. Being turned into an alicorn had also driven her slightly nuts and mildly delusional. Everything she was experiencing was just something created by her crazy subconscious.

The second possibility was that she was not crazy, and the stuff in her head actually came from some several thousand year dead princess. Which in turn meant everything in her head was true.

All in all, Rainbow was just hoping for a mild case of insanity. If her delusions actually ended up being true, then insanity was the lesser of two evils by far.

Then there was Twilight, and Rainbow’s changing opinion of the little nerd. In all honesty, she didn’t know what to make of it.

Part of her wanted to chalk it up to the past life insanity that seemed to be plaguing her since she woke up from the coma, but that didn’t seem right. Especially since her delusions said she had married a dork of an Aeromancer who had a bunch of silly ideas about how to incorporate cloud with land-based construction to make a type of building that gave a level of comfort to all ponies. In contrast, Twilight was definitely not a pegasus, or male.

Not that any of that stuff was real of course, or had any determination on Rainbow’s choice in partners. Although Rainbow could appreciate a fast stallion with some big wings, she had gotten into mares a short while after her move to Ponyville thanks to a kind earth pony who recognized all the signs of an unsure homosexual. Their relationship had only lasted a few weeks before the passions cooled and Rainbow realized the affection she felt wasn’t really the romantic kind, but they had parted on good terms with an invitation to talk should the pegasus-turned-alicorn ever need it.

“Hey Rainbow, you coming?” Twilight called out from down the hallway, knocking the alicorn out of her musings on the past.

Unfortunately, it also put her attention back onto the lavender unicorn as Rainbow trotted up to Twilight. She found herself going over everything she knew about the unicorn to try and dissuade herself from getting completely gaga.

Twilight’s not really all that cool, Rainbow told herself. She completely freaked out in the most adorkable way possible at the littlest of things after all. While cute and endearing, remembering how the purple unicorn was so worried over nothing just a few weeks ago made her pretty un-cool.

[Or radical, she continued. She was a unicorn mage, and while useful, it didn’t have the same amount of flair and expert in pegasus magic did. Even if he was the best of the best at it with several tricks under her belt that made even a show mare like Trixie seem to be even more of a hack than her way of dealing with competition for her attention.

Or awesome, Rainbow thought. Even the most built of unicorn’s were hardly athletes, and Twilight was the most non-athletic unicorn Rainbow had ever met. All she ever did was study…unless her friends needed her for something of course. Then she’d drop everything and do whatever needed doing like when AJ and Rainbow had asked her to judge the Iron Pony competition before the running of the leafs…where Rainbow remembered she had tried to help the pegasus keep her cool before Twilight placed fifth out of at least thirty other ponies.

Rainbow should still remember how proud the unicorn had been to place that high…and she knew Twilight had more than earned it. The image of the cute little unicorn wearing her medal was one the athlete would never forget. The fact she had been so…not bragging about it also ran through Rainbow’s mind to strike another mark in the ’good things’ column of that memory. After tying for last, the former pegasus didn’t think she could take it if Twilight had been…

Ah buck, Rainbow thought to herself when she realized her opinion of Twilight had just risen even more despite the attempts to make her less desirable. Even her less desirable traits just made her seem…cute.

A little dismayed at the failed attempt to make Twilight Sparkle less awesome, Rainbow joined the most desirable unicorn in all of Equestria at the entrance to the ballroom before Twilight opened the door for them to wait for the inevitable Pinkie surprise. What they got was much more jarring than the pink pony’s usual party welcome.

In fact, it left them both floored.

“Got to hand it to Pinkie, did not expect this,” Twilight mumbled.

Rainbow Dash could only nod to agree as she looked around.

There were no balloons, party hats, or other such celebratory things that the pink party pony was known for. There was also no homemade banner, streamers, ribbons, confetti, little flags, or a barrel of monkeys. Although to be fair, she had only brought a barrel of monkeys to a party once and they ended up trying to steal everypony’s food. So Dash didn’t hold it against her for not trying that again.

Instead of just her friends and family, what Dash guessed were nobles from across Canterlot and perhaps a few of the outlying estates filled the room, along with a few guards for show. Throughout the crowd, she saw serving ponies caring around bite sized food on trays. The same group from the Gala was playing that slow music that Rainbow Dash could barely stand, and her mother was at the top of the stairs surrounded by several important-looking ponies.

“Well, now I think we know why that dress carrier was left on your bed,” Rainbow Dash mumbled. Apparently, Rarity hadn’t been hit by a quick wave of inspiration like Twilight had thought.

The naked unicorn moaned and nearly face-hoofed.

“ANNOUNCING PRINCESS RAINBOW DASH, AND TWILIGHT SPARKLE, STU-umph!” Rainbow silently thanked Twilight for zipping the announcer pony’s lips shut before she trotted into the room with the lavender unicorn trailing behind her.

Common sense told Dash it would be best to try and appear as regal as she could, but since she had no desire to look like a snob, the alicorn marched in and looked around in confusion. Out of the corner of her eye, she made sure Twilight was keeping up. After all, Twilight grew up in these noble situations. She had to know how to deal with this kind of stuff. Socially inept or not, Celestia had to have dragged Twilight to some social functions in her life.

A few seconds after she entered into the room, the sea of ponies parted for Celestia, and Dash found herself wondering if she should be bowing. It was a little disconcerting to find that Twilight was right beside her and doing just that. Being cheered at was cool, cheers had to be earned. Dash supposed that Celestia earned her bows, but the thought of anypony bowing to Rainbow Dash herself was just weird.

“Welcome to your coming out party Granddaughter,” Celestia said with a little nod before she turned towards Twilight. “Twilight, I had instructed Spike and the pegasi who went to Ponyville with him to fetch your Gala dress to deliver it to your room. Was it not there?”

The question had the unicorn up and in a fit. “Gala dress?! Was that what that package was? Oh, I knew it was important! Oh Princess I’m sorry I-”

“It was my fault!” Rainbow Dash blurted out, being careful not to add the word Mother. She stepped in front of Twilight to block her view of Celestia. “I kind of held Twilight up at the university, then we needed to rush over here, and we just threw her notes and stuff into her room before coming down as fast as we could.”

Celestia nodded calmly, apparently not caring about their lack of attire. “I see.”

With the brief lull in the conversation, Twilight looked around at the room, and then back to the largest pony there. “Princess, this party…um…how…”

“I’ll admit, I had to take the reigns away from Pinkie Pie,” Celestia told her as she looked over to Rainbow Dash. “These past few days of scaring the hay out of us hasn’t allowed you to get acquainted with the public on schedule, so I had to skip ahead to your coming out party and give the nobility first crack at you.” The alicorn’s expression morphed into an apologetic one. “Sorry, but…it needed to be done.”

Rainbow Dash blanched and looked around the room at all the ponies in fancy clothes. She didn’t even need her fake memories to give her a feeling of disdain for the whole affair, her time at the Gala did that all on its own. “So uh…where’re the girls?” If Rainbow put enough of her friends between the nobility and herself, she figured she might make it through the night without kicking somepony’s teeth in.

“They have a table near the buffet with Spike,” Celestia informed her as she turned her head to face them for a moment. “Now come along, let us make our announcement and introductions to the heads of state.”

A feeling of panic quickly settled in Rainbow Dash’s stomach at just what that entailed. “What?”

“I think I’ll head back to my room and change,” Twilight said.

Rainbow turned around to plead for Twilight not to abandon her with a look, but was only able to catch a glimpse of her before she disappeared in a flash. As Celestia led her towards the steps, the younger alicorn made a mental note to learn teleportation as soon as she got the telekinesis stuff down.

That way, she could actually get away from crap like this without her mother dragging her back with telekinesis.

Surprisingly, the introduction went about as well as she could have hoped. Celestia got everypony’s attention, called out Rainbow Dash’s name to everypony, Rainbow made a quick bow, and then spent the next half an hour saying hello to various important ponies from around Canterlot that had big responsibilities in the government. Thankfully, they didn’t ask her any questions about what she thought about anything, and Rainbow was headed back down the stairs before trotting over to her friend’s table as fast as she could while they practically swarmed Celestia after Rainbow’s departure.

Least its not a coronation, she told herself. The last time she had one of those her unicorn speech writer had… Done nothing, because its not real, she reminded herself.

Although, Twilight seemed to think something was going on beyond simple craziness, and she was freakishly smart…

When Rainbow came to the table where her friend's sat and all the mare’s eyes turned towards her, she gave a nervous laugh and cleared her throat. “Hey girls…uh, sorry for just running out on you all like that this morning. I tried to see some of you earlier but…some of you were out of it, or gone, or asleep, and…uh…”

Thankfully, Rarity rescued Dash for the awkwardness. “Oh think nothing of it Princess,” she said, getting a wince from Dash. “But if you really want to make it up to us, mind telling us who the lucky stallion is?”

“Rarity you don’t need to-” Rainbow Dash managed to get out before the second half of the fashionista’s words hit. “Wait, what lucky stallion?”

Applejack chuckled. “Come on now Princess, you know ya ain’t got nothing to be hiding from us,” she said with one of her mockingly knowing smiles. “Sides, you know ain’t denying Pinkie and that sense of hers.”

“Yep! I was all like, hey guys I just felt somepony I know fall in love, then I got all these confusing signals telling me it was a uni-pegi-earth pony, and they were all like, duh! That’s Dashie! And I was all kinds of relieved cause the only two other alicorns I know of were Princess Luna and Celestia, oh! And Princess Cadence, but she’s not really Princess Cadence, you know, she’s Princess Mi Amori Cadenza! Which makes me wonder why some people spell it Cadance when Cadenza has the E.”

Dash blinked as her brain worked through what Pinkie had managed to get out before becoming completely unintelligible. Wait…Pinkie sense…alicorn in love? That’s stupid, the only pony I was around all day other than Mother was…

“Hi girls, I’m here.”

“TWILIGHT!” Rainbow shrieked as she jumped into the air and flapped her wings to stay aloft. A few seconds later, the attention from the surrounding party goers made her slowly come back to the ground with a blush on her cheeks. “So uh…that was fast.”

The unicorn smirked. “Hey when you’ve got telekinesis, getting dressed is a snap,” she said before looking over to the buffet table. “Think I’ll go get something to eat.”

Rainbow took one look at the group of friends that were waiting for her to confess her newfound appreciation for the lavender unicorn, and quickly took off after Twilight. “Think I’ll come with you.”

“Oh you’re not getting away from me that easily Princess,” Rarity told her as she joined Rainbow at her side.

For a moment, Rainbow forgot about the horror of having Twilight finding out her affection and looked down at Rarity. “You don’t have to call me that Rares.”

Instead of thankfully nodding, Rarity’s face became a pout and her voice took on a pleading tone. “Oh please Rainbow Dash? I know you’ll never wear gowns or anything proper so can’t I just have this one tiny thing from you?”

For the second time Rainbow prepared to tell her no, but the image of the unicorn cowering in her own home from the alicorn’s magical outburst several days ago ran through her mind. “Okay,” she relented softly before giving more strength to her voice. “But, no bowing or anything else. Deal?”

Rarity squealed in excitement as she quickly cantered for a moment. “Deal, Princess Rainbow Dash.”

“So does that mean I can bow if I just call you Rainbow?” Twilight asked with a smirk.

The image of Twilight bending down ran through Rainbow Dash’s mind and caused her to shudder. “No,” Dash told them as she fought off the image. “A lot of ponies think they’re better than others just because of a horn or some wings. I’d rather all ponies stood as equals rather than one putting their face to the floor thanks to some stupid piece of anatomy.”

A moment later, Rainbow noticed that both of the unicorns were giving her an odd look. “What?”

“That’s a very interesting thing for a princess to say,” Rarity told her with a grin that became a chuckle.

Rainbow frowned back at her. “Oh come on. Sure the sisters deserve it, especially Celestia, and maybe Cadence now that she’s talking with the Griffin Empire or Dragon Tribes, or whatever it is, but I’m just a fast weather pony who wrote a book. Hay, I’m not even sure I want that kind of stuff happening after I do enough awesome things to actually earn the title. You girls have seen how much everypony freaks out when Princess Celestia comes to Ponyville. All anypony seems to see is the Princess, and none of the Celestia. They all get so afraid to ask her things and tell her something as a bird might be sick. No leader should be so apart from her people that they can’t tell her their problems.”

Twilight was a bit more cryptic in her response as her mouth hung half-opened at the alicorn’s declaration. “She was right about you,” the unicorn mumbled before she looked ahead towards the buffet with wide eyes, as if something had just shaken the foundations of her world.

Before Rainbow could ask what all that was about, the trio of horned ponies reached the group of long tables that stretched the length of the room, loaded with food. It was little disconcerting to see that, unlike when the Gala was going on, Rainbow could actually name most of the foods this time.

At least she thought she could until she realized where most of that info came from. Then Dash decided to try and stick to the fruits that looked naturally grown and the other stuff that she was pretty sure was some kind of cake. She looked over at the plates, but the top one alit with a blue telekinetic field before she could make a move on it.

“Allow me Princess,” Rarity told her. “I wouldn’t want a plate getting in your way of telling me about this new stallion you’ve become enamored with.”

“Stallion? You’ve found a coltfriend Rainbow?” Twilight asked, in surprise.

She didn’t know what was worse: Twilight’s lack of disappointment, or Rarity’s incorrect assumptions about Dash’s sexuality. The mare was practically the gossip queen of Ponyville, how had she not heard about the relationship history of every single pony in town was a mystery to the pony with the chromatic mane.

“I don’t have a coltfriend,” Rainbow growled.

“Oh come now Princess, there’s no need to be so shy,” Rarity assured her.

For a moment Rainbow Dash wondered if it would be worth it to just ditch Rarity and head back to the table with her friends, but the presence of the two unicorns were keeping the nobles at bay. If she jumped ship now, it would have been even worse than the Triple-G, since the rich snobs would actually be trying to talk with her this time instead of just making comments behind her back for wrecking the place.

Rainbow blinked when she noticed that she had missed part of the conversation between Rarity and Twilight. “-ell if Pinky had one of her…things, I guess there’s no denying it,” the purple unicorn said. “So, Rainbow, who’s the lucky stallion? I don’t know that many ponies even around the castle, but Spike has a few friends and might be able to give you some information.”

Just then, a stallion broke apart from the crowd to come to the rescue of the alicorn princess. He was dashing, handsome, well dressed, and perfectly groomed with a bit of magic around him that made his mane shimmer. He was also a stallion Dash remembered from her past. “Prince Blueblood.”

“What?” Rarity shrieked at the princess while Dash and Twilight looked on in confusion.

Of course that past had mostly involved a few days in Rarity’s boutique after the Gala where the two of them played darts using a picture of aforementioned price tapped to a ponequin where the face was with only fifty points and the crotch with one hundred.

“Why in the world would you even bother with that ill manned, childish, buffoon of a pampered simple-” Rarity blinked and cut herself off for a fraction of a second as Twilight and Rainbow motioned for her to stop, “-ton that needs to be thrown in the mud with pigs so he can at least pick up their level of manners! And yes, I can tell he’s right behind me you two! I am not completely blind to facial cues!” she said at last before turning to glare at what was probably the biggest insult to the name of royalty in the past thousand years before addressing him. “Do you need something?”

The large stallion ignored Rarity completely and simply addressed Rainbow Dash directly. “Ah, so you are the new commoner that Auntie has seen fit to elevate. I find its best to let ponies such as yourself know you wont be having any real royal duties as soon as possible. Auntie and I run the kingdom, but I’m sure we can find you a nice-sounding job out where you’re not going to cause any trouble.”

Before Rainbow could break his face, Twilight stepped forward and let out a grunt of displeasure. “You and Princess Celestia run the kingdom, huh?” she nearly growled at him. “I’m sure Princess Luna would love to hear that.”

For a minute Rainbow thought he was simply going to ignore Twilight as well, but Blueblood eventually turned his head towards her. “You look familiar. Have I seen you in the castle perhaps? One of Auntie’s attendants?”

“I’m Twilight Sparkle,” the unicorn said with a frown that only deepened when no showing of recognition downed on Blueblood’s face. “Element of Magic? Leader of the Elements of Harmony? One of the six ponies who cured Nightmare Moon and defeated Discord?”

When there was still no recognition from the prince, Twilight Sparkle let out a groan. “Princess Celestia’s personal student!”

The last bit finally seemed to get through to the white unicorn. “Ah yes, the urchin Auntie took pity on,” he finally said before a shiver passed through his body. “Hm? I say did somepony open a window? I feel a terrible draft.”

Rainbow frowned as she noticed the change in temperature as well, then purposely focused the cold on him while unfurling her wings a bit to generate a pocket of heat around Twilight and Rarity. Her Aeromancy was a bit clumsier than it should have been, but she just chalked that up to the alicorn transformation. It was a little disconcerting to find the one thing she might have been better at her mother at had been so stifled by her ascension. “So what exactly do you do for the kingdom?” Rainbow asked with a voice that was colder than the atmosphere.

The desire to brag about his duties apparently warmed the station enough to stick around, as he held his head up high. “I am in control of the realm’s finances and tax collection, as well as the creator and head authority in the Equestrian Revenue Service!”

So this guy’s in charge of taking money from other ponies and invented the ERS? Rainbow asked herself. It was then that she decided to be like Twilight, and run an experiment. This particular test was to see if stallion balls really could freeze off.

Unfortunately, such an action would probably take a few minutes, and Blueblood didn’t stick around long enough for it to work. Another shiver passed through his body, and he began to trot off. “Bah, when I find the imbecile who left that window open in late Fall, she’ll be having to find a new job!”

“And I’ll be telling Princes Celestia that mare deserves a promotion,” Twilight said with a smile. Although it faded a second later and the unicorn gave off a shiver. “Still, it is a little cold in here.”

“Sorry about that,” Rainbow apologized before flapping her wings once to dispel the effect and adding some much needed warmth to the area at the same time.

She looked back to the table and started telling Rarity what foods she wanted on her plate while the white unicorn rolled her eyes. “Don’t go apologizing for that beast. We need to speak of more important matters anyway, such as that stallion you’ve fallen for Princess Rainbow.”

Actually, I’m pretty sure talking with Blueblood just killed the last of my heterosexuality, Rainbow mentally told Rarity, although she was wise enough not to voice it. “There is no stallion,” Dash insisted as they moved down the table to grab more food. They crossed the ice sculpture in the middle of the layout that separated the main course items from the deserts, and Rainbow found herself wondering if she could just take a whole cake back to the Elements table.

“Come on Dash, I learned what happens when you try to argue with Pinkie-sense,” Twilight added with a smirk.

The comment increased Rarity’s excitement. “Oh that’s right!” she said while trotting in place. “On second thought Princess Rainbow, keep denying it. I want him to walk over here so we can meet him.”

Unfortunately for Rarity’s theory, the next pony that came up to talk to them was not a stallion, but she was a welcome sight for Rainbow. Spitfire of the Wonderbolts walked through the crowd and up to the party of three, much to the princesses delight. The fiery orange mare was dressed in her officer uniform instead of the flight suit Rainbow had seen her in most of the time, but she could have cantered around naked and Rainbow wouldn’t have cared.

OhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygosh, the blue alicorn thought to herself as her personal hero approached while Rainbow fought to keep herself from dancing in place.

Would it be cool to strike up a conversation?

What could they talk about? Well, other than flying of course!

Would it be okay to ask for Spitfire’s autograph on a napkin?

But, before Rainbow could ask any of these questions, the Captain of the Wonderbolts put a stop to her fangasm and fantasies of actually being able to hang out with Spitfire during he party before it could truly begin. She walked right up to Rainbow Dash, and prostrated until her nose nearly touched the ground.

“Princess Rainbow Dash, allow me to be the first of the Wonderbolts to…”

The rest of the pegasus’s words were lost to the alicorn as she found herself unsure of what to do with the sight of a bowing Wonderbolt. While her first instinct was to tell the soldier to stop doing what she was doing, another part of her reminded Dash that wouldn’t be the best of ideas. It might have been okay for Twilight and the others to get a pass on the bowing and princessing, but Spitfire was a soldier.

Even without the fake memories screaming at her, Rainbow knew that telling Spitfire never to do what she was doing in front of Canterlot’s nobility was a very bad idea. And she was in front of the nobility at the moment, even her mother, Luna and Cadence had broken away from the officials and were looking down at her for some reason Rainbow couldn’t understand.

So what? Rainbow told herself. I just got done telling Twilight and Rarity how much I hate this junk, I’d be the biggest hypocrite in the world if I just took all that back now.

But if she did do such a thing in front of the unicorns, it would be shown as a sign of weakness that they would use to excuse every action they could think of to undermine her authority. Most of them would even consider it a reason to rally against her. As if being a pegasus who had been promoted past them thanks to an accident of her birth wasn’t enough.

The scariest part of that realization was: she didn’t know if it was her messed up memories telling her, or Rainbow Dash’s personal experience with Canterlot snobs.

A nudge in her flank brought Rainbow out of her ruminations, and she looked back to Twilight with a frown and an expression that was demanding to know why she had been telekinetically smacked in the rear.

“Tell her what you think about the idea,” the purple unicorn whispered through her teeth.

What idea? Rainbow thought to herself before she looked back to the bowing Wonderbolt as Spitfire looked back up to the alicorn. Hadn’t Spitfire been talking to her?

Instead of acting like an idiot and asking for her idol to just repeat the question, Rainbow Dash simply nodded in agreement. “Uh, great! Yeah, totally think that’s a great idea! And, uh…you can get up now.”

After Spitfire rose to her feet, she looked back to where Rainbow had been talking to Blueblood. “Nice work with the temperature by the way, how’d you get it to stay in one place like that?”

It took everything Rainbow Dash had not to do a back flip in joy as Spitfire praised the alicorn on her Aeromancy. She was even able to waved a hoof as if it was no big thing, playing it cool as ice. “Oh it’s no big thing,” she said, hoping nopony noticed the sudden change in volume at the start of her sentence. “You just need to create a tight vacuum wall around the affected area that your creating the cold, or the ambient temperature air will keep getting sucked in. Course it still does that anyway, but the wall keeps the majority of the heat away with redirection so you can keep lowering it instead of constantly fighting to keep things cool. It also helps keep the change around for a bit even after the effect is dispelled.”

“A vacuum wall?” Spitfire asked as she gave Dash a confused look. “Is that a new technique you invented?”

“Uh, Dash?” Twilight mumbled.

Rainbow frowned at the pegasus’s question. “No,” she said slowly, a little confused at Spitfire’s response. She might have been the first to use that type of Aeromancy since the unification, but the Pegasi Tribe had done tons of stuff like that when they had been a separate nation. “It’s just been out of use since forever.”

Spitfire’s eyes widened a bit. “Really? So, it was Princess Luna who showed you how to do it?” she asked. “I’ve been meaning to ask her about Sky Shaping. Princess Celestia is always telling us Princess Luna was the better Sky Shaper, but none of us can get up the nerve to ask her for training. Still, I suppose what we know is enough if the Wonderbolts ever have to see action on a large scale.”

The senseless comment confused the hay out of Dash. What in Equestria is she talking about? Luna had shown some interest in Aeromancy, but she had never gotten around to reading all the old scrolls that explained how to manipulate the air on so many levels like Dash had needed to study and teach to others in order for the pegasi to begin her pet project of a cloud…city…

Wait a second, Rainbow Dash thought as her mind ran into a conflict that had nothing to do with some stupid memory of Celestia.

While the average pegasi had the ability to move clouds and stuff on an instinctive level like all unicorns could move stuff with their horns, creating of things like cold fronts, storm clouds, and other weather phenomena had to be done at Cloudsdale using machines or weather alters powered by runic magic imported from the Griffon Empire. On their own, pegasi could produce things like storm and rain clouds in a very inefficient way.

But the Wonderbolts could, they did it all the time during their air shows. Dash had always thought it was some enchantment added to the Wonderbolt flight suits, but she knew differently. She knew she could do it herself.

She knew she could do more. She could craft sculpted ice, create wing blades, gather storms with only her wings, and direct lightning. No real memories accompanied the knowledge, it was simply fact; like how everypony knew Celestia raised the sun, or that the sky was blue during the day.

“Well, I think I’ll take my leave Princess,” Spitfire told her. “I know that is a bit out of line, but it’s a shame you ended up becoming an alicorn. A sky talent like yours would have made-”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened as another piece of information floated across her mind, completely drowning out Spitfire‘s words in light of a more important realization.

I…I know how the Rainboom works, the alicorn thought to herself. The emotional drive that accompanied all Aeromancy was part of it, but she understood there was more than just the mad rush of speed to push past the sound barrier and an extra burst at the right time that Rainbow Dash had always just chalked it up to. It was more than just a bright flash of light that spread out in all directions.

But something she found even more amazing that was even with her added size and weight, she could still do a Sonic Rainboom. The realization made her eyes go wide.

But…I…wait, she thought to herself as she tried to right her thoughts. Just how did she know all those things? Was it more of the made-up junk? But…I…the Aeromancy I used to change the atmosphere…

“Darling, perhaps we should go sit down,” Rarity suggested as she placed a hoof on Dash’s shoulder and snapped her back to reality.

The alicorn looked down to her friend and was surprised at the worried look in Rarity’s eyes. Rainbow didn’t think she had been distracted all that long. Oh mare, don’t tell me I’m actually doing what Twilight warned me about.

“What? Why?” Dash asked before she looked back at where her atmospheric tampering had occurred. Spitfire was walking right through the middle and examining the alicorn’s handiwork.

Twilight took up the question as she gave the alicorn a questionable look. “Because you’re obviously in shock, and I don’t think Rarity brought her fainting couch.”

“O-Kay,” Rainbow Dash drawled out before the two unicorns led her back to the table where everypony and Spike were waiting for them. Dash took her seat on the large cushion while the two unicorns flanked her on the table.

“-and then I said, peaches? Are you crazy?” Pinkie Pie said before she looked up and saw her friends had come back. “Oh hey girls, what’s up? Find out who Dashie has a thing for yet Rarity?”

The question made the fashionista’s head spin away from the alicorn and over to the pink party pony. “Oh um, well…something more important came up.”

“It wasn’t that Blueblood fella again, was it? I saw him crowding ya’ll from here,” Applejack told them.

“That did seem a little rude of him,” Fluttershy added softly. “I mean, every other pony was keeping their distance and all. Well, except for Spitfire, but she only came after Blueblood, so she probably thought it was okay.”

Rainbow Dash bent down to grab a bite to eat off her plate, but froze when she saw a few of the unicorns in her table's area giving the new alicorn a disgusted scowl. For a moment she thought about just ignoring it, but picked her head back up to look for some forks for a few seconds. Even if she could only see a few nobleponies from her seat, Rainbow was certain that all eyes in the room were upon her. She needed to at least make some effort to fit in. The least she could do was use utensils.

The kind of stuff unicorns don’t need to use, she told herself after remembering it was Rarity who’d carried her plate earlier. Of course the white pony with a horn hadn’t taken any.

Rainbow Dash looked around at her friends for a moment, just picking up the end of Rarity’s offhand comment about Blueblood as she looked for any unused eating utensils that her friends had grabbed. When none could be found, she started to rise and her wings brushed against both Rarity and Twilight. “Be right-”

“So what did you talk to Spitfire about Rainbow? That must have been exciting for you,” Fluttershy said before Dash could move more than a few inches.

Dash felt both the unicorns go completely rigid, and frowned at their sudden stiffness. What the?

“Fluttershy,” Twilight practically whined between gritted teeth while slightly shaking her head back and forth.

Rarity apparently decided to be a bit more vocal. “Bah! That mare was even worse than Blueblood!” she exclaimed. “Can you believe she just came up to Rainbow and after some cheap complements about our dear princess’s weather talents, she has the gall to tell Rainbow Dash she can’t join the Wonderbolts due to her newfound royal status?”

All of a sudden, food and the perceptions of other ponies became the furthest thing from Rainbow Dash’s mind. “Wait…” she mumbled before turning to look at Rarity with an empty expression as she tried to process what her friend had just said. “What?”

Author's Notes:

Untranslated Unicornian was created using an online translation program from English to Latin.

Aeromancy was taken from more Latin and...well, common sense. Luna is able to do tons of stuff on NN without a glowing horn in regards to weather, and the pegasi had to have done stuff to manipulate the weather back before the industrial revolution and the rainbow factory. For the purpose of this fic, Rainbow Dash is the equivalent of a pegasus magic talent and pretty much do everything pegasus with an amazing amount of skill from building her house and working weather to flying fast (which is pegasus magic unlike what she thinks to herself in the last chapter) like with Twilight and her magic being so good she could actually do Rarity's special spell.

The same goes for the rest of the Wonderbolts who act as the defense of Equestria (not the ground crews and support teams), they're six magically talented pegasi that Celestia has allowed to learn dangerous magic in case of emergencies, but they're the only ones who even know about it. To the rest of the pegasi, its just some cool tricks, but for them it’s a usable weapon they just don't talk about with other ponies because of Celestia's efforts to curb harmful magic.

Chapter 9

View Online

First impressions were important. No matter where a pony went in life, everypony who saw her would remember the first few moments that they met. If Princess Celestia were to end court one day, then go down to the Apple Farm and roll around with the pigs, everypony would remember she had gotten off a throne to do it. Even if Rainbow Dash had trashed the Gala, the Wonderbolts would remember she performed a Sonic Rainboom and saved their lives.

For Rainbow Dash, this party was her first impression when it came to the majority of the ponies in the room. So far, all she had done was shake a few hooves and say hello to her mother’s cabinet, nothing of any real importance. While it was nothing of note, it was also a long way from causing any huge screw ups. To make it through tonight, all she would have had to of done was stick to her friends, and let them be a block to all but the rudest of ponies. High society would think of her as a social wallflower, but an unknown was better than anything negative, and she could deal with that. It wasn't as if she needed to make friends with high society anyway.

The panic attack she was on the verge of having changed that. Now, she knew she looked like some sort of social phobic pony that couldn’t deal with being in large crowds. But for the life of her, Rainbow could barely seem to care.

All she could think about was the information Rarity had relayed.

Part of her screamed at how stupid she was being. Of course a Princess of Equestria wouldn’t have been able to join the Wonderbolts. Her own mother had made Cadence the ambassador to the Griffin Empire. Twilight might have said being a princess didn’t really effect a pony’s life, but Celestia had corrected her as soon as she could. Rainbow just hadn’t wanted to listen.

It might not be that bad, Rainbow Dash tried to tell herself. I might end up leading the Wonderbolts one day.

…because I wrote a book, she reasoned. Even then, it would be the kind of leading she didn’t want to do, like leading them into battle, or just telling the Wonderbolts to go deal with a dragon problem. Rainbow wanted to join the Wonderbolts in order to partake in the air shows, to entertain and inspire. While she would never balk from going on the front lines if the situation demanded it, having that be her sole involvement with them made the idea of such experiences seem so…tainted.

“Rainbow, are you alright?” Fluttershy asked.

The question sent a shiver through Rainbow Dash’s body.

She tried not to sneer. She really, really tried not to sound like an irate donkey, or a huge flank face, but…that question…that idiotic question coming from Fluttershy of all ponies, her oldest friend, the empathic one, the one who knew what Rainbow Dash was feeling before Rainbow knew herself half of the time, it made a tiny bit of the infinite depression she felt turn into something else.

“How do you think I feel?” the alicorn asked through gritted teeth.

“Dash-”

“The dream I’ve had since before I can even remember is dead!” she told the yellow pegasus at a much more normal volume. “Everything I’ve ever worked for has been taken away!”

A white hoof placed atop her own. “Rainbow Dash, I’m so sorry,” Rarity told her.

The apology made the alicorn tremble as she practically felt herself pulled in two emotional directions. She knew it wasn’t Rarity’s fault. She had just been the one to repeat what Spitfire had said. But that also made Rarity the one who had added this extra weight on Rainbow’s chest. A weight that already included so much.

“Dash, please calm down,” Twilight begged as she grabbed onto the alicorn’s shoulder.

Calm down? Rainbow Dash mentally screamed as she felt her anger over the situation growing worse by the second. How the hay am I supposed to calm down?

“Ah thought one of them light shows was enough con-sarnit!” Applejack mumbled.

“Time for the big princess magic scene,” Pinkie Pike said as she dove under the nearby buffet table and grabbed some cake to take with her.

The alicorn knocked Twilight’s hoof away and glared at her with enough force to make a minotaur cry for his mommy. “Why?”

Twilight didn’t budge. “Dash, look at where you are!”

“I know bucking well were I am!” Rainbow Dash hissed as she flapped her wings to ruse a few inches into her element and glared back towards the room when she heard a few unintelligible mumbles. For the first time since coming in, Rainbow actually took a moment to really look around at the ponies in the ballroom.

It wasn’t like the distribution of ponies during the Grand Galloping Gala, where admittance was brought with money rather than prestige. Instead of around a third of the crowd being earth/pegasi/unicorn with a tiny smattering of other races, the numbers favored unicorns by a margin that approached nine to one. The fact that all the ponies carrying around serving trays, not to mention the band, were earth ponies just added to her growing fury.

Thousands upon thousands of years had passed, hundreds of generations had come and gone, cities had risen and fallen, Celestia’s Equestria had grown to encompass the continent…and things hadn’t changed at all. The unicorns were still on top, the earth ponies still lived at the bottom, and the pegasi were still sent out to the front lines when they weren’t farming the sky.

I’m here in the middle of Equestria! In the center of our government! And what do I see? she mentally shouted before looking over the crowd. A crowd of stuck-up, self-important unicorns who are just waiting for an excuse to look down on the big pegasus with the horn!

A tiny part of her told Dash that wasn’t true, that things hadn’t been the way she remembered, that it was all just some delusion. But… Rainbow Dash remembered the magic she had used a few minutes ago, magic that even an expert Aeromancer like Spitfire hadn’t been aware of. If that had been real, then it meant everything else in her mind was true as well. It meant that the page from the spell book she had read had been correct.

It was the proof Twilight had been talking about just a few hours gone.

With that realization came another, and another, and a dozen others, one right on top of the other.

It meant that Celestia had taken the life of the pony she had been to replace it with her daughter’s like the spell Twilight had found said.

It meant that her children were dead.

It meant that the ponies that had been her friends were not really her friends.

It meant that her husband was gone.

It meant that the love she had for five mares whom she considered more than family was a lie.

It meant that her own mother had betrayed her.

It meant that Celestia had betrayed her.

The confusion, anger, sadness, and pain all flooded Rainbow’s mind as she looked to the cause of her distress standing on the area overlooking the ballroom. The giant white alicorn was looking down at the smaller light blue one with a frown on her face. Like always, Celestia was judging her, and finding fault.

Rainbow felt a bile rising up in her throat over the whole situation while her heart rate increased and her anger at everything in this room started to boil. Past and present, she had never wanted to be a princess! She hated this! She hated all of it! She wished-

“I would never hurt my friends!” Rainbow Dash’s words rang in her mind.

The interruptive thought stopped the alicorn’s unformed desire before it could fully manifest. She remembered what had happened at the boutique, her friends in a panic and her mother’s own words from a few days prior repeated themselves while her emotions continued to push against their bonds.

“When Luna and I were able to achieve that state, our magic would react to our desires without the need of focus. Petrifaction, transmutation, translocation, I’ve done all this and more to ponies who were simply in the room with me after I entered a foul mood.”

-wished that she could just get out of this stupid castle!

Celestia looked down on the blue alicorn from the top of the stairs that led to the balcony overlooking the ballroom, a little concerned about the evening. The princess was rushing things far too much, and she knew it. The smattering of nobles the sun goddess had gathered were mostly the social climbers and the herds her nephew ran with; all that could be expected when the notice for the gathering had been sent out only shortly before lunch.

But with everything that had surrounded Rainbow Dash the past couple of days, Celestia knew her granddaughter had to make some kind of public appearance. The rumors were already circulating as to why she hadn’t had her coming out party before now, and after her coma became public knowledge, none of them were good. So, this party would be used as a quick introduction to high society, and when it came time for the Canterlot Garden Party, Rainbow Dash would be making another appearance in front of the more nationwide movers and shakers.

The goddess turned her attention away from her reborn daughter for a moment and motioned for the Secretary of Foreign Affairs to join her. Although Lord Fancy Pants had long since graduated from the exciting part of foreign relations that actually involved talking to other lands and now just handled all the paperwork, the stallion was still a master conversationalist and partygoer. “Yes my princess?”

“It would seem my granddaughter is hiding behind her friends like I feared she would,” Celestia mumbled. “Signal your wife to approach the filly and strike up a conversation with them in about ten minutes.” From there, Fleur could make her away around the room to some of the other ponies, who would undoubtedly ask about the new princess, and the seeds of beneficial gossip would have been planted.

A movement at the corner of her eye caught Celestia’s attention, and she looked down to see Rainbow move away from the table she was at. Ah, she is going to mingle that’s…oh, she’s just getting something to eat, the princess thought as she watched the smaller alicorn head to the food while flanked by Twilight and their friend Rarity.

Although, it seemed somepony else wasn’t going to let the impromptu royal guards stop him. “Well, it seems my nephew is doing as I asked at least,” she mumbled.

Fancy Pants turned his attention away from the far corner of the room where his wife had positioned herself, and took a moment to follow the princess’s gaze. “You asked that…your nephew strike up a conversation with the princess?”

“Yes, just to give her a heads up and tell her what’s what,” Celestia explained. Her elder sister’s several times great grandson did have a way about him, and being the ‘most eligible bachelor’ in Canterlot had to have meant he really knew how to play the political games Celestia found herself having little interest in.

For some odd reason Celestia couldn’t fathom, Fancy Pants’s eyes became filled with concern. “I…see,” he mumbled before looking around for a moment, then turned his attention back to the princess. “You mentioned your granddaughter had a passion for the Wonderbolts, yes?”

Celestia nodded hesitantly, remembering Rainbow’s declaration from earlier about her desire to join them. She would need to find a way to let the poor filly down as gently as she could when it came to deliver the bad news about her future as a stunt flyer. As if destroying a pony's hopes could ever be a gentle process. “That’s correct,” she slowly agreed, unsure where this was going.

“Hmm, stands to reason she might enjoy a minute or two with Captain Spitfire,” the unicorn said as he rubbed his chin. “Think I’ll go arrange it, with your permission your majesty.”

“Seems as good an idea as any,” the princess agreed absently while her mind shifted to consider the captain of the Wonderbolts in another way.

Shortly after her reborn daughter had awoken and set off into Canterlot, she had easily managed to loose a pair of pegasi guards that had been positioned near the hospital should anything disastrous were to occur; and from what Celestia could tell, the filly hadn’t even noticed them tailing her before she lost them completely while simply experimenting what with Rainbow considered less than capable flying skills.

It brought up a problem that needed to be addressed. Rainbow Dash was a princess, and a princess needed royal guards. If Rainbow Dash was anything like she had been in her previous incarnation (and Celestia knew for a fact she WAS) then the filly would kick and scream till the sun exploded if Celestia tried to tie a pair of guards to her that would slow the young alicorn down.

Being thoroughly trounced during her race back to Canterlot had proven to the sun goddess that none of the pegasi in the royal guard were ever going to be keeping up with her. She needed another trained Aeromancer, a Wonderbolt. So she had passed the idea to her captain, and Spitfire had agreed to be Rainbow Dash’s personal guard for a week while she evaluated the alicorn to see which of her squadron or a reservist would best mesh with the new princess’s personality.

The sound of approaching hooves drew Celestia out of the past, and she looked up to see the other two alicorns coming towards her.

“Ah sister, Cadence was just telling me the most delightful-”

“What is she doing?” Cadence asked as she looked over the railing.

Celestia turned a bit to follow her adopted niece’s gaze and raised an eyebrow at Rainbow‘s display of displeasure. “I wonder what caused that?”

“She’s manipulating temperatures, with her wings,” Cadence stressed, “in a confined space and-wow that looks cold.”

Apparently ignoring Rainbow Dash giving Blueblood Aurora’s patented cold shoulder, Luna raised a quizzical eyebrow at Cadence. “Pardon? Were you not a pegasus before your ascension? While not all of you are skilled in Aeromancy, I would at least think you could recognize a mare giving a stallion the cold shoulder when…” she paused for a moment and looked over to Celestia. “You cannot tell me that changing temperatures fell under your magic ban for safety, sister.”

“Temperature? No,” Celestia assured her. “However, unfettered vacuum creation was most certainly left out of the general populace’s knowledge.” She hadn’t even shown the Wonderbolts the theory behind that particular technique.

With that bit of trivia out of the way, Celestia turned her attention back on her reborn daughter and gave her a pensive frown. “What in the world is going on down there anyway?”

Cadence let out a groan. “Ugh, probably the same thing he did to me when I was moved to the palace,” Cadence said before she changed her voice to a heavy Canterlot accent most would call ‘snobbish’. “Hello I’m Prince Blueblood, I don’t care that you’ve proven yourself worthy to lead ponies rather than being born with a title like I was, but just let me show you my complete lack of intelligence by insulting you the very first chance I get while showing you what a self-important pompous plot I am.”

“What? Celestia asked as she blinked in confusion, not quite sure what she was hearing had been right.

Luna chuckled at Cadence’s comment. “You as well niece?” the other alicorn asked before she also broke into an impersonation of the prince. “Mine was a bit more like this… Nightmare Moon! Oh you may look like just a young filly but I shall still cower before your expected presence within the castle and… Actually, it’s not all that funny when I think about it. But after learning I would not flay his soul, yes that was the general impression he has left on me as well.”

“Don’t even get me started on what he tried once he found out I was the Alicorn of Love,” Cadence continued. “Well then let us retire to my bedchambers and make you truly worth of that title. Ugh! If it wasn't for that stallion's title, I think Shiney would have snapped off his horn and shoved it right up Blueblood's-ahem, sorry, got a little carried away there."

The white alicorn’s gaze went back and forth between her pink and dark blue counterparts. “What in the world are you two talking about? Blueblood would never say such things!” Celestia exclaimed. “He is the most respectable and mannered stallion in Equestria and-why are the two of you looking at me as if just grew another head?”

“Sister…surely you jest,” Luna said uncertainly.

“Auntie, he’s worse than the guy I went to prom with,” Cadence continued. “You remember that stallion right? Blueblood is that guy with a royal title. Tartarus, at least Buck grew out of it.”

Luna blinked at the information and looked over to the pink alicorn in confusion. “Wait a moment…a pair of parents actually cared so little for their foal to name him Buck? Is that not a euphemism for-”

Celestia groaned and turned away from where this particular conversation was going to look at her daughter. It seemed she had already met with Spitfire and was heading back to her table.

She had to suppress a smile for Rainbow Dash’s choice in companions and seating for this night. As much as Celestia had loved Aurora, the mare always did have a thing against unicorns, her views had always been a bit tainted by a few harsh experiences and the commoner’s view of the third tribe. In truth, they were just as noble and foul as the other two when it came down to it. Celestia simply had to do a bit extra cleaning to get the decent ones in power.

But Rainbow Dash had made friends with members of every tribe equally. Even with everything going on within her, she still counted Twilight and Rarity among her closest friends. It was good to see the filly’s heart hadn’t been overcome by old memories that had been filling her head.

“Yeah, it’s best not to think about it,” Cadence said as she shook her head before she looked back to Celestia. “And Auntie, you can’t seriously tell me you don’t-”

Cadence cut herself off and lost the white alicorn’s attention when Celestia felt a major buildup of mana coming from the area below her. A second later, the sun goddess looked back down to see what all the commotion was, and caught the telltale signs of a teleportation spell aimed somewhere to the West.

“WHAT IN THE NAME OF LOVE WAS THAT?” Cadence shrieked.

Luna groaned and looked over to her sister with a frown. “I thought you said that we weren’t going to be in danger of any more of those outbursts Tia.”

The alicorn of the sun looked back to her sister with her own pensive frown. “You knew there was no guarantee of that Luna,” she said before turning to Cadence. “And that was simply a…mana surge. You know that ponies untrained in the use of their horns have them from time to time.”

“Funny, I don’t remember anything like that happening to me after I got my horn,” Cadence deadpanned over the obvious lie.

Still, she didn’t press the issue, so neither did Celestia. “Cadence, I require you to explain Rainbow’s…abrupt departure,” she told the alicorn before turning to Luna. “Will you please check Rainbow’s quarters…and perhaps Twilight’s tower to see if she ended up there?”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “I think we would be able to feel it were that the case sister.” Still, she disappeared in a flash of light all the same.

“Auntie, what’s going on?” Cadence asked as the light from Luna’s teleportation cleared.

“It’s…nothing,” she said, voicing her hopes more than lying. “I will need to speak to Twilight and other others.”

“What happened?”

Twilight wilted under Celestia’s demanding gaze and saw that the rest of her friends weren’t faring much better. Fluttershy was hiding behind her hair, Applejack had her hat covering her chest as if it were a shield, Rarity was…glistening bullets as she would say, Pinkie Pie looked ready to bolt at any second, and Spike seemed to be shedding scales he was so nervous. Thankfully, they had been called out of the ballroom for the audience with the princess and there wasn’t a mob of panicked unicorn’s running around Canterlot this time. That little miracle was thanks to a combination of explanations from Princess Cadence and two other tall unicorns; one of whom Rarity had identified as Fancy Pants.

“It was all my fault Princess!”

Twilight closed her half-open mouth and looked over to Rarity in shock.

“We were talking to Spitfire, and she mentioned to Rainbow Dash about how her new status wouldn’t allow for Rainbow to join the Wonderbolts,” the white unicorn explained in a panicked voice. “And well… Rainbow never has been one of the brightest mares, so I guess it never occurred to her that becoming a princess meant giving up her chances of serving in the military. Then, the poor dear must have been in shock, because she just stood there, and we led her back to our table, and I had the most foolish of ideas to mention it to her again and-”

Twilight shook with anxiety as she listened to Rarity throw herself down on the sword. Part of her told the purple unicorn to simply be quiet, to let Rarity take the fall and everything would be okay. It wasn’t even that big a deal, Spitfire had been the one to mention such things, Rarity had simply been repeating what she’d heard.

Yes, Twilight told herself, Spitfire can be the one to be banished, or thrown in prison, or imprisoned in whatever land she gets banished to.

Because…all she had done was tell Rainbow Dash something she hadn’t wanted to hear. So see, it probably won’t even be that bad.

All Twilight had to do was keep her mouth shut, and everything would be fine.

All she had to do was be the exact opposite kind of pony Princess Celestia thought she was, and punishment would be avoided.

All that needed to be done was stay silent, and nopony would know all the other stresses being put on Rainbow Dash’s mind at this point in time had been brought to bear thanks to Twilight’s foolishness. Everypony would think everything was perfectly fine and...

Oh buck it all. Twilight let out a sigh, then took in a deep breath. “It’s my fault Princess Celestia.” The words weren’t said very loudly, or even with much gusto. Still, they stopped Rarity mid-sentence, and brought everypony’s attention down on the purple unicorn.

But the distraction lasted only a moment. A second later, Rarity had recovered and was back to sacrificing herself. “Oh hush Darling, all you did was try to calm her down. I’m the one that-”

Twilight ignored the other unicorn and simply spoke to the princess directly with a little louder voice. “I showed Rainbow Dash some old spell book papers that I found in your room and copied down earlier today and…she…read them. Then she said something about the magic in them being Necromancy. I think that, combined with the stress of her...memory problems, finally exploded when Rainbow Dash got word about the Wonderbolts."

Although Twilight had spent the majority of her life with Celestia, reading the attitude of the sun goddess had always been hard; with the exception of when she was angry. Celestia’s mane would take on a more fiery hue, and what Twilight know knew as the Royal Canterlot Voice would be employed.

This was not one of those times.

Celestia stood frozen. Even the alicorn’s ethereal mane seemed to droop, becoming more like strands of sparkling hair than untouchable bands of light. Her eyes widened, and she made an audible gulp. Then, she looked over to the other assembled ponies. “You may all rejoin the party. I need to speak with my student in private.”

“Uh Princess, what’s goin’ on?” Applejack asked as they all turned to leave, the question giving the group a pause.

“I said-”

“Princess please, they’re Rainbow’s friends too,” Twilight spoke, cutting off the tall alicorn. After the words left her mouth, a part of Twilight’s mind told her she had just interrupted Princess Celestia of all ponies, but the voice that said it wasn’t very loud in contrast to the worry building in the unicorn’s gut. “We’re all worried about her, and I only know a little bit about what's going on, but I know that Rainbow is in trouble and...I...I just want to help her Princess."

A silence fell over the room that lasted far too long in Twilight opinion. But after a few minutes, the alicorn began to speak.

Princess Celestia told them everything. She explained to the Bearers about her past with Aurora, picking up on the events of what happened after her daughter’s death. She explained how she took the pegasus’s soul and placed it within an unborn child, hoping to give her daughter a new life where they could be together. It would have been a life where Celestia could make up for the mistakes of her past; thus beginning the line of rainbow pegasi that would eventually lead to Rainbow Dash, thanks to its failure. She explained how it was obvious Rainbow was showing knowledge of things she should have no information about, and possessed mannerisms thousands of years dead. But she also told them that for some reason, unlike with all the others, Rainbow did just seemed to have not only Aurora’s mane, but her personality as well; even before alicorn-hood would have given her the memories that were causing Rainbow so much confusion now.

When she finally finished her explanation, Twilight started to understand why Rainbow Dash might have been so upset. “So, the original spell called for placing a soul in an empty vessel, but you put it in an unborn child, hoping that Aurora would be reborn as that child? But instead she…well, I guess the most logical explanation would be she road through each life in the back of that stallion or mare’s essence somewhere. Although the question of why Rainbow, or Aurora, was reborn now still comes into question.”

“Pardon me for asking Princess, but…somethin just don’t seem to add up,” Applejack said as she scratched her head. “If Rainbow is like yer daughter born again and all, then…wouldn’t she be…not yer daughter?”

The question only got a confused expression from the princess, along with all the other ponies gathered…except for one that is.

“Are you talking about the conflict between the idea of nature versus nature Applejack?” Pinkie Pie questioned, making everypony in the room give her an even more confused look than the one Applejack had earned a second before.

However, Pinkie didn’t even seem to notice as she tapped a hoof to her chin. “You know, how environmental influences are supposed to account for more than the ones your born with? I can kind of understand that in regards to things like buffalo, griffons, dragons, people, orcs, Jake the Dog, and nine-tailed foxes, but I don’t think it works that way with ponies.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “And why is that Pinkie?”

In response, the pink pony turned around to face Twilight with a somber expression. “Because, every pony is born with a gift, and in that gift, lies our destiny. Where we’re born, how we’re raised and who we are pales in comparison for that one moment in which we realize our place in the world,” she said before brightening up. “Least that’s what my Mom said before I moved out. I just like to sum it up with…” she stopped to shove her flank into Twilight’s face, “it’s because of our cutie marks, silly!”

Then, the party pony turned to look at Celestia with a grin. “And I bet Dashie has the same cutie mark she did back when she was Princess’s Celestia’s daughter.”

When all the ponies turned to look at the princess, the alicorn cleared her throat and looked away. “There are definite similarities,” Celestia admitted, “however, Aurora’s cutie mark was just a lightning bolt with a rainbow coloring. While it is true that Rainbow Dash possesses that, her cutie mark also contains a white cloud.”

The news didn’t deter the pink party pony at all. If anything, she became even more excited. “Then that just means she’s even better than before! Her destiny’s even bigger and her talent’s are even cooler! It’s like having two friends in one! She’s both Dashie AND Aurorarararara!” Pinkie exclaimed, earning another confused look from all the ponies assembled. “Hey, let’s see you guys come up with a nickname for Dashie’s past life on the fly!”

While Princess Celestia still stood there speechless, Twilight found herself understanding what Pinkie was trying to explain. After getting over just how much being able to understand Pinkie-level randomness terrified her and wondering if she needed to see a therapist when this was all said and done, Twilight looked up to the Princess. “Pinkie’s right Princess.”

“We already got that part Twilight,” Pinkie reminded her. “And if anypony out there’s been keeping track, it means I’ve been right since Chapter 2! Now all that’s left is for Princess Celestia to explain how zombies are involved…or is it zomponies? Cause that pun might actually work, at least until we met an undead that wasn‘t a pony. Hmm, this one’s a toughie.”

Twilight simply ignored the crazy mare and continued on. “I think you and Rainbow Dash have approached this problem the wrong way; and I think that’s what’s really scaring her. When I spoke about things with her before the party, she was so afraid of what was going on in her head and I couldn’t understand why. But after talking to you…I think I get it now. Rainbow Dash is afraid of admitting the truth because, I think she thinks she will stop being Rainbow Dash if she admits that the memories she's experiencing are real. But…I don’t see why she can’t be both Rainbow and Aurora; because like you said in the hospital when I showed you my memories of Rainbow Dash, that’s who she is.”

The news didn’t seem to sit well with Celestia. Her head drooped, and her mane wilted even more. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

“How come?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Because of everything I’ve done to her, “Celestia began. “Because I abandoned her out of my own selfish fears, because I ignored her own desires for my own.”

Rarity stepped up to the goddess, and placed a hand on her hoof. “Recently, my parents have begun to leave my litter sister with me more and more as they go off on some trip or another,” she said, getting a raised eyebrow from Celestia. “And more and more, I seem to feel that I am just a free foalsitting service to them so they can go off to do whatever they want while abandoning responsibilities. But no matter my anger, it does not mean I do not love them, and would accept an apology should they give it. Stop beating around the bush and go talk to her. If she truly is your daughter, then she will forgive you.”

For a full minute, Celestia simply stood there, unmoving. Then she took a deep breath and let it out. “You know, when Rainbow Dash started remembering things, I was so afraid of what she would tell me. I was even a little relived when she fell into unconsciousness from the flood of memories, and I had to create a wall in her mind to keep them from leaking through too quickly. I thought to myself ‘if she only remembers the good things, then we might be a family again’ and avoided putting any pressure on her, or causing any pain for fear of what it might bring,” Celestia mumbled before looking up to her little ponies. “But I think the time has come for me to stop running.

“Twilight, Rainbow Dash made a blind teleport while at her full power,” the goddess said as she looked to the purple unicorn. “That means she would have been guided by instinct, and had enough magic flowing through her to reach anywhere in Equestria. Where would she go?”

The answer didn’t even require a second of thought. “Well her home, obviously. At last that’s what happened when I teleported for the first time on accident.”

Behind her, Spike let out a humph. “Not to mention what it did to me.”

“Then I shall send you all to Ponyville, while Fluttershy and myself head to Rainbow Dash’s old home in Cloudsdale.”

The princess’s words brought a look of confusion to all the faces of the assembled ponies. “Cloudsdale?” Twilight asked.

“Where else would a child in need of comfort go, but to the wings of her parent?” Celestia asked.

Applejack was the next to ask the obvious question. “And why Fluttershy?”

“Because I have no idea what Rainbow’s address was back then.”

Fluttershy cleared her throat, then did her best to hide behind her hair when everypony looked her way. “Well, sorry…it’s just…Rainbow Dash doesn’t have the best relationship with her father…I think,” she mumbled. “Oh! that’s private, I shouldn’t have said something like that…I hope Rainbow will be able to forgive me.”

“Still, it was her first home, and holds a special place in her heart,” Celestia explained. “And logic is not what guides a mare who teleports blindly. Now, are you all repaired? I shall be sending you to Ponyville myself.” The goddess’s horn lit up, and she looked at the assembled ponies. “Spike, please go and inform everypony that a matter of state has come up, and I will not be able to rejoin the festivities. Explain only to my sister what is truly transpiring.

A nod from the Elements was all Celestia apparently needed, and then the purple unicorn saw the world disappeared in a flash of light.

The next thing Twilight knew, she was standing on a field of green grass on the outskirts of Ponyville with her friends surrounding her. Overhead, a terrible storm was brewing. The wind blew her mane into a jumble, and she had to light her horn to provide illumination since neither the stars or moon were visible.

“What in tarnation?” Applejack cried out over the wind, “weather schedule didn’t say nothing about no storms this week! Specially not one like this.”

Twilight wanted to explain her theory of the cause, but the magical aura she was feeling in the distance gave her pause for a moment. “I think it’s Rainbow Dash!” Twilight shouted over the wind. “I think her magic is what’s creating the storm.”

“You mean Dashie’s flying around causing this?” Pinkie asked.

The possibility didn’t quite match everything she knew about the mare, so Twilight shook her head. “Remember when Luna came to Nightmare Night and blocked out the sky with clouds without any help or source? This is basically like that, just on a bigger scale!” She didn’t want to explain the other half of her theory, that would cause a bit of a panic.

“Well then let’s hurry on over to her house and make her simmer down before she kicks up a twister!” the farm pony replied.

“That could be a problem,” Twilight yelled.

“Why’s that?” Applejack called back.

Twilight looked over to Rarity, who had already come to the same conclusion judging by the direction she was looking. Without need to explain to her, Twilight looked back to the two earth ponies. “You remember how Celestia said Rainbow might teleport to her childhood home out of instinct? Well, she did…as in her FIRST home! From what I can tell, Rainbow Dash is in the castle in the middle of the Everfree Forest!”

Rarity finally looked away form the forest and back to the others. “Not to sound selfish or anything, but if that’s the case, shouldn’t we just wait for Rainbow to calm down? I do feel dreadful for whatever’s hurting the poor dear, but she’s hardly in any danger. With as much mana as she’s putting out, I doubt anypony short of the sisters could even hope to hurt her.”

“That’s the problem!” Twilight yelled back over the rushing wind. When everypony looked at her with confused glances, Twilight rolled her eyes. If they weren’t going to help her without a good reason, then… “The weather of the Everfree is feeding off of Dash’s wild mana and creating this storm!”

Applejack stepped forward and grabbed Twilight at her shoulder. “All the more reason for us to bunker down somewhere till morning Sugarcube.”

The suggestion had Twilight shaking her head. “Don’t you girls get it? Dash made this after just five minutes! She isn’t controlling it, but she is feeding it! Luna and Celestia move heavenly bodies with the kind of power she’s using. If we don’t go and calm her down and the storm keeps getting worse, THERE ISN’T GOING TO BE AN EQUESTRIA BY MORNING!”

Aurora wandered the halls of her former home in a huff, barely noticing the ethereal rainbow mane that danced along the back of her neck, or its matching tail. Everywhere she looked just made her angrier. Dozens of memories ran through her mind, telling the goddess how the place should look, reminding her of the past that she belonged in; where the few friends she had managed to make despite her royal status had been left behind at.

Every now and then, Aurora would notice a small change to the castle: walls restoring themselves to match her memories, paintings and tapestries becoming refurbished, a torch appearing in its proper place before lighting. The unrestrained magic made little changes to reality here and there in order for her memories to match the here and now.

A random thought brought the princess to her old bedroom, and another restored the alicorn’s bed to pristine order before she slumped down on it in depression. Thankfully, it was a royal bed and made for a filly several times the size of a normal pegasus, so she had plenty of room, but that did little to change her mood.

Now that Aurora had realized the truth of things, she was angry, depressed and confused. Angry at her mother, depressed over what the loss of Rainbow Dash meant, and confused on what she needed to do about it. She wanted to find Celestia and pound the living daylights out of her, but those thoughts were stopped by feelings of guilt images of her mother laying beaten the ground brought up as well as realization of what five other mares would do once that particular action was taken.

The mental images of Rainbow Dash’s old friends made the alicorn want to cry. The memories of them were so wonderful and full of joy, surpassing anything she had back in Old Trottingham thanks to the distance between ponies being a royal created.

Then there were her dreams, her aspirations and desires…which numbered nothing. Even before her rebirth. Aurora had never wanted to be a princess and lead ponies, she had just wanted to fly. She had wanted to explore and have daring adventures; to travel to mysterious lands and meet creatures that cared nothing for her titles. But with alicorn-hood upon her, the princess knew she would be pulled back into the world of politics somehow.

I just want to…I just want…

Memories of Rainbow Dash’s life flew by, and tears leaked from the alicorn’s eyes. A life surrounded by friends who are closer than family, of fun times and adventures, of ponies who saw me for me, who celebrated my accomplishments on their own merit and not because of a title… That’s all I ever wanted.

The stab of guilt that came with that came with those memories made Aurora curl into a ball and whimper. The pony she had been had everything Aurora had desired in her own life, and the princess had taken everything from her. But she couldn’t do anything about it. So what am I supposed to do now?

Nothingness surrounded her, enveloped her, was her. There was no sight, no sound, no touch and no taste. All that existed was her will, and the task at hoof which forced her to concentrate everything on her work rather than spend even a stray thought in creating an illusionary landscape.

It was no loss, Luna had left her in so many dreamscapes over the years after stripping Andromeda of her awareness that it was indeed a dream to leave her to nightmares that would eventually fade, becoming fantasies as the weeks, months, and probably even years wore on.

For a brief moment, Andromeda spared a bit of concentration to wonder how many years had passed. Fifty? Sixty? It had to be about a generation, considering what Celestia had been babbling about when she arrived.

It mattered little, once she was free, the unicorn queen intended to pay a visit to her sister and ask how it felt to murder her own child. Andromeda supposed she could even gloat to the freak about how she had found a loophole in her interrogation method, further humiliating the sun monster before bidding it farewell.

The only problem was, she had yet to escape her corporeal prison to do so. Although Celestia had started the process by ripping Andromeda’s soul and mind from her body, the unicorn queen still needed to escape it after her little sister foolishly placed Andromeda back in it without Luna’s magic to make her slumber.

Thanks to that mistake, Andromeda had already severed the connection to her stoned flesh once again, and was ready to make her escape. Once free, she could find a new body to hold her essence, and rally support against Celestia for stealing the throne.

But moving within ones own self without a guiding point was a difficult task. There was no up or down, no distance or form within her own mind. She could not simply take herself and step out of her body. So Andromeda was left to roam the expanse that was herself for…however many hours she had been left in such a state by her little sister. Eventually, she would find her way out and…

An immense feeling of power washed over the unicorn, and after settling from the shock, Andromeda was able to grab a frame of reference before she ‘looked’ up at where the feeling was coming from. The feeling was certainly different than what she remembered…and it was definitely not Celestia’s presence that accompanied the tsunami of mana that just entered close proximity. So process of elimination made her guess it was Luna.

Whatever the reason, the presence served as the point of reference that Andromeda needed, the guiding light to judge her position by. With that, she willed herself to move forward, and floated outside of her body.

The darkness that was once a pony princess seeped out of the statue that had been her body and congealed into a mass of black light on the floor. After waiting for a moment to adjust to the change of existing as a shade and all the sensory changes that came with it, the unicorn’s essence slithered forward and through the unkempt prison, and into her castle.

Author's Notes:

And so we come to the penultimate chapter for this arc of the story. What took so long in updating this fic was the fact that while writing this chapter, I seriously derailed the path I was intending to go. The original version had Rainbow and Celestia duking it out over Rainbow getting pissed off at her realization instead of running away.

But...that's just not MLP. Despite all the crap that happens with the mane cast, they don't really get violent towards each other. They're Hasbro's Ponies, not Marvel's Avengers.

Plus, I had always planned for the evil stepmother to escape her prison as a show monster, but couldn't really think of a reason to get a unicorn/alicorn in close enough proximity without it being really tact on. So, this is how its all been set up.

Next chapter, everypony dies! Celestia is found out to be Derpy's mother, and Big Mac decides to try growing pineapples.

Oh and yes, Cadence really DID have a boyfriend named Buck...just read the comics.

Chapter 10

View Online

Chapter 10: Tribulations and Coronations

Celestia looked at the cloud constructed home in front of her with more than a bit of trepidation. She didn’t need to go inside to learn what she needed to know, the alicorn’s senses already told her only one pegasus resided in the house. Her granddaughter wasn’t in there.

However, her grandson of forty-nine generations was.

A part of her just wanted to shrug and go on, to teleport to Ponyville and go to comfort her reborn daughter. From the little Celestia knew about the man in the house, Rainbow Dash didn’t think much of him, and yet…

“Made sure I came home at night, which was a lot more than you ever did!” Rainbow’s voice accused her.

Considering the strong connection Rainbow had with her past self even before her transformation, Celestia had to wonder if the reason she defended her father was simply because of his presence. Of course, it could also be explained away by Rainbow’s defining trait showing through…even to a pony who might not deserve it.

“I have to know,” the goddess mumbled to herself.

As Celestia started to walk forward, a voice from behind brought her to a halt. “Princess?”

She looked back to the Bearer of Kindness and smiled. “I will be just a few moments Fluttershy. I wish to speak with my great-grandson, Rainbow Dash’s father.”

The existence of a shade would have been confusing to anypony who didn’t know what they were getting into. There was no solid mass, and no real sensory input that the body could provide, as their was no actual body. The only sense a shade had was its magical one, and the input given by its presence as its ethereal mass slithered around. However, as the inventor of the art that would create creatures such as she, the necromancer Andromeda was well prepared for the change.

But, the environment she was deposited into was something she hadn't been ready for. With nothing but her magical senses to truly see with, the queen of Equestria felt as if she were looking into the sun up above. The area beneath her was worse. There was an area of harmonious energy that promised the spirit a painful end should she try to approach it, but surrounding it and woven throughout the area was something…alien.

The tendrils of shifting magic, as different to the magic of harmony which Equestria ran on as her own. But it wasn’t like the brand of power she had invented either. It was…new. Certainly interesting, but still a magic of life and creation rather than un-life and endings that powered her in recent years. Had she time, Andromeda would have studied the event. But the mass of shadow that was her body would not survive the dawn without a suitable host, and she needed time to finish adjusting to her new-found existence.

After what were probably several hours, Andromeda managed to learn control of herself and slithered across the ground, doing the closest thing a being like her could do to feeling her way around without a sense of touch. She moved through her castle, making rather disturbing discoveries as she flowed, slithered, and oozed through passages, across broken floors, and through tiny cracks. She felt the ruin and dilapidation that had come to her home, and was troubled.

What is this? the queen of Equestria asked herself as she moved around. What has happened to my old castle? She could feel that the servants were gone, as were the guards and all the other plebeians who swept the floors.

Had there been some great disaster? Had one of her followers assaulted the younger sisters while the elder slept and removed them from power?

It would have made sense, only… Celestia did visit me only a day or two prior at most. She could feel the shapes of what could only be dust, dirt and mold where there should be none. Even if the castle had fallen, it would have had to of lain destroyed for months, if not years, for vegetation to creep through the stones.

The troubling realization made Andromeda, turned her magical senses upwards towards what had to be Luna, standing several floors above her. Luna had the answers she wanted, but approaching her youngest sister was paramount to suicide as Andromeda stood now.

A tingling of her senses drew the former unicorn’s attention, and she discovered a group of hr subjects approaching rapidly, already well within the castle grounds. Andromeda cursed the odd magic below and the mutation above clouding her senses. As she was now, detecting another pony’s presence could have been done from miles away if not for their interference!

In need of information and nourishment, Andromeda flattened herself against the ground and waited for her prey to come upon the mass that was her form. Then she could feed, and all that they were would be hers.

There were four of them in all, two unicorns with their earth pony serfs, but no pegasi for guards. Their magic seemed a bit…odd, but strong. Even if none of them was a viable host, Andromeda would still be able to feast on their souls to extend her existence in the open air.

As they came closer, she could sense their communication. Like her sense of touch, it wasn’t done by hearing sound, but rather the intent of their words that flowed through the air.

“Was it just me, or did the forest seem…less full of monsters than usual?” the earth pony that wasn’t bouncing around said.

“I wouldn’t know, I tend to avoid this dreaded forest as much as possible,” the lesser unicorn replied.

“Maybe they’re all staying indoors to keep out of the rain? And the lightning, the hail, the wind that’s uprooting trees, and…hey, how did we get through all that anyway?” the serf that…bounced around a lot asked the unicorn in the lead.

“I put a force field around us, remember, Last Digit on a Clawed Creature Baked Good?” the leader asked, making Andromeda wish she had eyes to roll. Names never did flow across the understanding medium very well; it was why translation spells always ended up being a waste of time.

As soon as the lead unicorn, one that Andromeda could feel would make a fine meal, stepped onto her, she stopped. “Hold up girls, there’s something-”

Andromeda didn’t allow the child to finish her warning. She surged what was mostly the bottom part of her form halfway out the exit, across the ground and swept up all of the little pony’s in her essence, entangling their hooves before her top half curled around much like a tidal wave. And now to feed.

The bouncy one let out a scream as the dark mass of tentacles ensnared her legs and climbed her body. “It’s Evil Luna’s big sister!”

“EEEEK! IT’S BLACK SNOOTY’S BIG SISTER!”

Almost on automatic, Twilight turned her head to correct Pinkie about Luna. But the mass of magic energy that covered her body flowed into her mouth before she could say a word. Although the substance appeared to be like some think oil, ink, or tar, the feeling she was getting from it was far worse than anything of the like.

Physically, it made her skin crawl and the shadow’s magical presence was simply…wrong. It made Twilight want to wretch until every particle of food that she had ever eaten lay on the floor in front of her; and that was before it crawled into her mouth.

Twilight tried to scream, focus her magic, or do anything! But the presence of the strange substance made her almost too panicked to think. She just wanted out! So she focused on that thought and…

… felt as if she had been yanked back by a dragon when her body attempted to move through the ethereal and slammed into something hard. Confusion accompanied the pain, as she was more than far enough away from Rainbow Dash as not to be effected by her outpouring of mana. What the hay hit me?

The disorientation ended when the darkness crawled up her face and she could feel it reaching into her eye sockets. Then things got really intrusive.

Twilight had read once that a pony’s eyes were a window to the soul. She had passed this off as romantic nonsense, as a good amount of expression could be given with just a look. However, when the shadow monster reached her optical orifice, the unicorn could feel it reaching deeper into her, deeper than blood and bone, down to the very core of her magic and self.

The unicorn was overcome with feelings of helplessness, terror, fear for her friends, and an overwhelming urge to run that made her panic grow even more when her legs refused to move. She couldn’t even form a coherent thought as the monster touched the core of her being…

“RAAAAAGH!”

The next thing Twilight knew, she was laying on the ground. Her ears rang, and a hoof on her shoulder was shaking Twilight like crazy.

“Come on Twi git up, we gotta it movin!”

As the ringing in her ears started to die down and vision slowly returned, she looked up to see the orange farm pony was the one standing over her. “Applejack?”

“Hurry and snap out of it filly! I don’t think the Pony of Shadows is gonna be lying down fer long! She’s already puttin' herself back together!”

The what? Twilight asked herself before she looked over and saw that the shadow stuff the creature seemed to be made of had been scattered throughout the room. However, it was slowly reforming on the opposite end from the girls.

As Twilight began to stand, she felt another magical aura encompass her body, lightening her load before its owner walked up to stand beside her. Although Rarity’s magic wasn’t enough to lift a full-grown pony, as moving around living creatures was far more difficult than simple cloth, the help was more than enough to get Twilight back on her hooves.

“Not to be a nag or anything darling,” she said. “But would you mind blasting that thing again? At least until it stops moving.”

Beside the unicorn, Applejack let out a shiver. “Y-Yeah, thanks for the save and all Twi, but really think this isn’t the time to be letting up on that thing. I…it was like I felt it reaching inside of me and…” The farm pony stopped talking and let out another involuntary shake of her whole body.

Twilight frowned at the creature and looked back to the other unicorn. “Me? I didn’t do that!”

The final member of their group gulped. “Oh well then…guess we’re bucked,” Pinkie said. “So…time to run away?”

“Hey! we’re hardly defenseless!” Twilight exclaimed as the darkness finished reforming into a single mass. Considering what Celestia taught me on the way to Canterlot, I’m probably the last pony in the world this thing wants to mess with, she told herself while thinking back to the rather startling realization Celestia had guided her towards. Unicorn magic could be used to hurt, or even kill another creature if the pony wielding the horn wanted it to.

Although Twilight considered herself one of the most nonviolent ponies around, all hesitation disappeared when she thought of what had almost happened to her, and her friends. Twilight gathered her energy into her horn, and focused on the dark desire of destruction before throwing the magic at the reformed shadow. The beam of purple magic connected with the black mass…and was swallowed by its darkness.

The apparent failure of her magic made Twilight cringe. “Ummm, okay yeah, time to run.”

“Over here girls!” Applejack called out, dragging Twilight attention to her left. The orange pony was standing next to a rather dilapidated pillar, that was next to a staircase that led deeper into the castle.

A second later, Twilight and the other two ponies headed towards the stairs with the shadow following after. The three of them passed Applejack, who knocked over the pillar and caused it to fall on their pursuer before she also made her getaway.

As the large stone came tumbling down on the dark mass, Twilight turned and extended her magical senses to their utmost. What she detected was disturbing to say the least. The darkness…or whatever it was, seemed to be like a dark hole in the world. The magic of the air around it seemed to just cease existing where ever it was, and became filled in by the ambient mana as it left. Although, she couldn't sense any changes in the positioning of background field that were the telltale signs of a vampiric creature.. It’s not absorbing magic…just…canceling it out wherever it stands, Twilight reasoned.

Then, as the toppling pillar struck it, Twilight felt the essence of the creature shifted, as if its magical color changed from one shade to another. The unicorn watched the large stone passed through it without even effecting the monster. Another sift in color made the mass seem less...opaque, and several tendrils that ended in sharp points reached out to strike at the farm pony.

NO! Twilight mentally screamed before she lashed out with her magic on instinct to form a shield behind Applejack before the shadow’s tendrils could piece her friend. As soon as she did, Twilight cursed herself for the futility of the act. If the shadow negated magic, then it didn’t matter how much power she threw into it.

Time seemed to slow down, and Twilight’s eyes widened in horror at what was about to happen. One of her friends was about to be hurt, or even…die! The unicorn’s breath caught as she remembered all the times she had spent with the mare, helping on the farm, playing games at parties, enjoying her cooking…and it was all about to come to an end. Twilight held no illusions as to what would happen when the shadow caught them a second time.

But all she could do was watch as the darkness impacted her shield and recoiled, as if in pain.

“Thanks Twi!” Applejack said as she ran past the mare.

Wait…what? Twilight asked herself before the monster assaulted her shield again. This time, the two magics collided, and Twilight felt the impact, but she could also feel her spell resisting the negating powers of the shadow. Her confusion grew, and by the time her defenses were struck a third time, the unicorn’s defenses crumpled like they weren’t even there.

“Okay, time to go,” Twilight told herself, teleporting to the top of the stairs where her friends were waiting. A second later, a rather large suit of armor covered in Rarity’s magic went sailing past her to impact the monster. This time, the solid object didn’t go through it and the darkness reacted more like it was made of water than something immaterial.

However, that only slowed the creature down for a moment. The dark mass simply moved around the armor as the metal sunk through the moving mass of dark water.

“Would somepony mind telling me what the hay that thing is?” Rarity yelled.

“Well, Granny Smith used to tell me about how this here castle was haunted by a shadow pony made up of leftover from Nightmare Moon, after her fight with Celestia,” Applejack said.

Twilight thought about the option for a moment as she gathered her magic. “I doubt it’s something like an old mare’s tale Applejack. No offense,” she added as an afterthought. “I mean, we were here when the real Nightmare Moon showed up, remember? If something like that had existed, I think it would have either joined with the Nightmare, or helped her when we fought.”

“Uh girls, not to sound like the scared pony or anything, but why aren’t we running?” Pinkie asked. “That meanie is uh…flowing towards us again.”

“…good question Sugarcube. Twi?”

Twilight frowned and focused on her target while mentally performing a series of calculations in her head. “Because whatever this thing is, it seems to shift from intangible to solid at will. I think that’s why the suit of armor hit it when the pillar didn’t.”

As the monster continued to approach, the three non-purple ponies shared a look of apprehension before Rarity looked over to Twilight. “As fascinating as that is Darling, I still don’t see what that has to do with us just sitting here.”

In answer to Rarity’s comment, Twilight released all the mana she had stored onto the stairs. Her magic flowed into the rock underneath the shadow, some of it dissipating as it touched, but much more went far enough underneath to continue on till the entire flight of stairs was saturated with Twilight’ magic.

“Because I’m knocking the floor out from under it,” Twilight explained before a short telekinetic burst broke apart the stepped stone incline the shadow was standing on, sending the whole thing crashing to the ground along with the large piece that it had trailed across before Twilight could activate her spell.

With the threat taken care of for the moment, the purple unicorn turned back to face her friends. “Now let’s find Rainbow, calm her down, and get the hay out of here before that thing finds another way upstairs.”

Unless of course it can fly, she told herself before gulping. I really hope it can’t fly.

“On it!” Pinkie exclaimed before she ran off down the hallway and turned a corner.

Twilight called out to her and followed after the pink pony, but of course by the time she made it to where she had seen Pinkie last, the party pony was already gone. “Great,” she mumbled before looking up in the direction where she could feel Rainbow Dash. “Now what?”

“Uh, Twi?” Applejack said before he pointed back to the hole Twilight had just made.

A tendril of the dark mass stretched up from the ground and latched into the edge of the hole, slowly increasing in mass as it seemed to bring more of itself from the floor below.

Yeah…technically, that may not count as flying, but it’s still pretty disappointing.

Aurora sat in her newly restored bed room alone.

I hate being alone, she told herself with a mental snarl.

But then, it was the only thing she could do. With her magic filling her as it was, she couldn’t be around other ponies. However, the power flowing through her at the moment also filled her with a strange sense of comfort. It helped her stay angry at everything, and an angry depression was better than simply being depressed.

For over an hour, she just had laid on the bed, thinking about how much this whole situation sucked, then the following thoughts went about looking for a target of her rage.

At first, Aurora’s anger focused on her mother, Celestia. After all, she was the one who started this whole thing with her stupid ascension spell, and the necromantic spell the goddess had employed. They were good reasons for her ire, just even. But after half an hour of gnashing her teeth, Aurora had found her anger waning, no matter the reason she brought to the forefront of her mind. Celestia had been in pain, a mind numbing pain that only a parent could hope to understand, stemming from the loss of a child. She tried to find another reason to hate the mare, but the thousand years of peace and utopia Rainbow Dash had experienced in Cloudsdale, followed by the even more perfect Ponyville silenced her arguments. The fact Celestia had been right in regards to the living arrangements of ponies, with all three tribes living together like in the country town simply made any old arguments the royals had seem irrelevant. Worse, they proved Celestia right.

So Aurora tried to focus her anger on the pony who sent the series of events in motion: Twilight Sparkle. That lasted all of ten seconds before the alicorn found herself forgiving Twilight for everything that had happened. What she had done had been done in a bout of foolishness that was never to be repeated. The unicorn had even apologized for the pain she had caused. Even with their past negated, Aurora couldn’t bring herself to even be angry at Twilight.

All of Rainbow Dash’s friends were summarily off the hook. Trying to stay mad at anypony who wasn’t a murderous, meat-eating psychopath was pretty much beyond Aurora. They had their faults and made a bad decision, in fact it was the only bad decision she could remember any of them doing in regards to Rainbow Dash. Well crept for that whole competition thing me and AJ did awhile ago…but that was just as much me as…her, the alicorn thought to herself, her thoughts trailing off when she noticed the error in her thoughts.

“They’re not your friends Aurora, that wasn’t you. They wouldn’t even want to know a pony like you. Even without the whole Rainbow Dash thing.”

“Why’s that?”

The goddess sighed and shrugged. “Mother may have built a perfect place to live in the past thousand years, but when the sisters first came to power, there were tons of problems to deal with like invasions from the diamond dogs and raids from the buffalo, not to mention the griffons. Then there was the Andromeda and her attempt to retake the throne. They‘re not things anypony would want to hear about.”

“Awww, but I like stories.”

Aurora blinked in confusion as she came to the realization she wasn’t alone in the room, and looked up to see the face of a pink pony nearly muzzle to muzzle. “Pinkie?”

Pinkie Pie grinned and jumped away from the goddess to wave at her. “Hi Dashie! Good to see you again, although you might want to stay in super god mode for when Twilight shows up, she was reeeeeeeeeeeaaaalllly mad on the walk over because of all the wind, then the rain, oh and the hail.”

“What?”

Apparently Pinkie Pie took that as an invite to continue, rather than the expression of confusion that it was. “Yeah, she didn’t show it though, I think she’s really worried about you,” the pink pony explained.

“Wha-why the hay are you here?”

The question seemed to just confuse the pink pony. “Because you’re sad of course,” she explained. “We all came to cheer you up. Well, except Fluttershy. Celestia went to go see if you ran off to Cloudsdale and she took Fluttershy with her to find your old house. But me, Applejack, Twilight, and Rarity are all here. So we can have a Stop Dashie from Causing the Pony Apocalypse Party!”

As the pony’s party cannon was removed from her mane to blast Aurora in the face with streams of confetti, the goddess just looked on in confusion. A part of her wondered where Pinkie had managed to hide something that big in her mane, while another part of her was curious as to how the pony had gotten so close without the goddess knowing. Still, the majority of her mind was quickly focused on what the pony had said. “The WHAT PARTY?”

“Oh yeah, you can’t hear it here because Twilight says were in the eye of the storm, which is funny since storms don’t have eyes…although if they did I bet it would really be bad for them because of all the wind, the rain, and-”

“PINKIE!”

“Hmm? Oh right! Well apparently you getting all celestial woovy hair is making the weather in the Everfree make this perfect storm two days before the day before the day after tomorrow, which is going to probably do a lot of damage to everypony in Equestria unless we cheer you up!” she explained before turning her cannon to point at Aurora’s nightstand and firing again. This time, a tablecloth with party favors flew out to be deposited.

Once she had managed to break down the explanation and process it, the goddess looked up at the ceiling. Now that she mentions it… Aurora could feel something tugging on her magic at its end, where it was dissipating in the atmosphere. She would need to get closer to the event to manipulate it properly though.

Still, she could calm down easily enough and stop the surge of magic, removing the storm’s power. Aurora took a deep breath and…blinked when she noticed something wrong.

“Wait a second,” she mumbled before standing up and turning to at the single pony in the room. “Where are Twilight and the others?”

Pinkie looked back at the door. “Huh, thought they would have gotten here by now,” she said. “I took a shortcut, but even Twilight and Rarity should have ran fast enough to catch up.

“Oh! unless Black Snooty’s big sister caught them…um…then they might be in trouble.”

Aurora raised an eyebrow at Pinkie explanation. “Black Snooty?”

To which Pinkie replied with a shake of her head. “No silly! Everypony knows Black Snooty turned back into Luna when she tasted the rainbow! This is Black Snooty’s big sister! She‘s all dark and shadowy, except when she‘s all dark and oily, of and she‘s got these freak tentacles that aren’t really tentacles cause they’re more 2D than 3D, and she tried to stab Applejack with one, but Twilight was all Ker-SHEILD! And then BSBS was all Bwaaaaa! At least until she got even more stabby and broke through it. Then Twilight was all-”

Letting Pinkie’s voice drift to the background, Aurora dissected what she had just said. She got about a third of the way through before she realized something. Twilight and the others are in trouble, and I’m just standing here!

“Get on my back Pinkie.”

“Thanks for the offer Dashie, but I like riding stallions, not mares.”

“Wha-NO! Just get on my back and guide us to where the others are!” Aurora exclaimed. With the pink party pony’s penchant for up and disappearing at the drop of a hat, she didn’t want Pinkie just getting lost.

“Oh, okay Dashe!” Pinkie exclaimed before she mounted the larger alicorn. “High-ho alicorn with a silly identity crisis away!” the pink pony shouted before slapping the princess with her knees.

Ignoring the embarrassment for the moment, Aurora headed at the door, then frowned at Pinkies words. “What did you just say?”

“Oh well, Princess Celestia figured that when you teleported, you instinctively went to your home, but we didn’t know if it was, take a left…well, we didn’t know if it was Ponyville or Cloudsdale, so she went, umm strait ahead…so she went to Cloudsdale with Fluttershy, and we went to Ponyville. Only when we noticed you weren’t in Ponyville and actually in the Everfree Forest, I thought you might be having an identity crises because of all those extra memories swimming around in your noodle.”

The news nearly made Aurora loose her footing. “Y-You know about that?” she asked before looking back at Pinkie Pie in fear.

“Yep!” she exclaimed with a big goofy smile.

“Pinkie! HOW CAN YOU BE HAPPY ABOUT THAT?” the goddess demanded.

Pinkie cocked her head to the side. “Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked. “Oh, and take a right.”

“BECAUSE I’M NOT RAINBOW DASH ANYMORE!”

“Uh…yes you are,” Pinkie told her.

Aurora grit her teeth and looked away from the earth pony as she ran down the hall in search of the Bearers. “You don’t understand. Mother cast a spell using a forbidden magic called Necromancy-”

“And then she put your soul in your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather,” Pinkie cut in. “Which didn’t turn out to be you, because he was born a stallion, but it did start that firstborn of every generation gets a rainbow mane thing. Then when you were born…or maybe before you were born, something happened, and this time your soul got put in a new body all by itself instead of having to take a backseat to another pony! Then after Princess Celestia made you into an alicorn, you started remembering everything, because alicorns remember stuff differently than normal ponies. And head down those stairs on the right.”

“WHAT?” Aurora shouted as she turned.

“The stairs on the, well we’re already going down them so-”

“Not that! This whole rebirth junk,” Aurora told her. “Where in the hay did you hear something like that?”

Pinkie giggled. “Your first mommy told us silly, oh and I think Twilight figured some of it out too. She’s smart like that Dashie.”

“Pinkie, that doesn’t…if you know I’m not Rainbow Dash you can stop calling me Dashie,” Aurora told her.

“But you are Rainbow Dash,” Pinkie countered. “Just because you remember a little extra from way back when doesn’t change who you are, does it?”

“I-”

“Plus, it’s a lot easier than saying Aurorarararara all the time,” she continued. “I think even my jaw would get tired if I had to keep doing that!”

Thankfully the glowing eyes made it impossible for the pony on her back to tell that Aurora was rolling them at the mare’s explanation. “Pinkie, that’s not how the spell Mom used works!”

“Whoa! Hold up here Dashie,” Pinkie said before she pulled back on the goddesses neck, bringing her to a stop.

Aurora skidded to a halt and looked around. They were still in the middle of an empty hallway, but Pinkie had told her to stop so… Maybe its one of those Pinkie Sense things, she reasoned.

Instead of getting more instructions like she was expecting, the weight disappeared from Aurora’s back as Pinkie jumped over the alicorn’s head to land right in front of her. “So, what you’re saying is…you’re not Dashie?” she asked with an expression that looked one step away from heartbreak.

“Ye-”

“You don’t remember all the fun we had? The time we gave Rarity those flowers covered in sneezing powder, or painted Applejack’s apples with watercolors, or switched Twilight’s normal ink with the gag stuff that disappears? You don’t get all happy after remembering all the fun times we had?”

“Ummm-”

Despite the indecision, the pink pony didn’t let up. “Don’t you get all fuzzy in the tummy when I do this?” Pinkie asked before she leaned forward and hugged the alicorn before giving her an affectionate nuzzle. A second later, the earth pony little out a giggle. “Dashie, your magic mane tickles.”

“It’s not that simple Pinkie!” she said before dislodging her forelegs backing away from the earth pony.

Pinkie took a deep breath, and looked at the princess with a strait face. “Dashie, I know I’m not a smart pony, the stuff I know can be counted on four hooves, but one of those things is friends,” she told the goddess before getting muzzle to muzzle with her. “And if you can look back at the fun times we’ve had and get a warm feeling in your heart that makes you smile when I do the same, how does that not make us friends?”

Aurora flinched at the simple logic, but kept her resolve. “Things are different now Pinkie.”

“All that’s different is some extra stuff in your head,” Pinkie told her. “I’m asking about what’s in your heart! So take a good long look at what’s inside there and tell me, do you still care for me, and Applejack, and Twilight, and Fluttershy, and Rarity? Do you think of us as your friends?”

The pink pony’s raised voice brought the goddess’s arguments to a halt. She couldn’t say no. Not because it was…

Well…

Aurora didn’t know what she could say. Telling Pinkie no would break her heart. The goddess knew she couldn’t do something like that. But…

But what? Aurora asked herself.

Even if she had managed to translate the gibberish Pinkie was saying correctly and Celestia had done something different than what was written on the pages Twilight had shown her, how much did that really change? Even if what she had experienced before the events of this week had indeed been her, and not another, she was still a princess, an alicorn, a goddess. She would still be expected to perform the duties expected to take her away from everything she loved. She would be expected to change, to become a pony that couldn’t have personal connection with others, a pony without friends.

It was a terrifying thought.

“Uh Dashie, not to interrupt your inner monologue or anything, but are you ready to go save Twilight and the others now? she asked. “If they haven’t found us by now then they’re probably in trouble.”

The goddess stared at the pink pony for a moment, then cursed her own idiocy. Oh bucking Tartarus! Twilight and the others need my help, and I’m standing here like an idiot, whining about my own needs like some stupid little filly…like Aurora.

Because that was what Aurora always did. She ran away from her duties, her mother, and as much as she hated to admit it…marriage had been a desperate attempt to hold onto a connection hen she had nothing else. When Celestia had offered her alicorn-hood the first time around, she had turned it down out of the same fear that drove her away from politics and simply dragging the goddesses out of her lab like she should have done in the first place; the fear of letting everypony down, of being hated, of ending up alone. It was the same thing that drove her into hiding once again at the party when all those eyes were on her.

It was the same thing that had brought her friends into this castle, and into danger.

“Well I’m through with running away,” she mumbled to herself. I’m through with just leaving ponies hanging.

“And yeah Pinkie, we’ll always be friends.”

Then the wall exploded.

As she ran through the hallways of the castle, Twilight was starting to wonder if whatever force controlled a pony’s destiny hated her. After managing to drop the darkness monster through the floor, she and the others had followed the unicorn’s magic senses through the castle towards where Rainbow Dash was waiting. While she was worried like crazy for Pinkie, Twilight knew the best course of action was finding the pony they could locate easily.

It didn’t help that there was a little voice in the back of her mind screaming at Twilight about how she abandoned her friend to the monster.

Which she was pretty sure she didn’t. After all, three minutes after Pinkie disappeared, the mass of darkness had pulled itself out of the hole where the stairs had been, and resumed trying to kill the remaining three ponies. So if anything, Pinkie’s safer than we are at the moment, Twilight told herself.

Then there was the other problem, Rainbow Dash was apparently on the move. While she may not have been the fastest pony on the ground, an alicorn with longer than average legs and earth pony stamina that might very well be overcharged thanks to her current state of mana infusion could easily outrun Twilight Sparkle.

The past ten minutes made Twilight feel as if she and the others were casing their tails. So when it sensed Rainbow had finally stopped moving around, Twilight took the most direct route to her she could think of, even if she did knock down three walls to do it.

Since the area had become so saturated with Dash’s mana that Twilight could barely sense Applejack’s presence beside her, she took that as a sign they were getting close. Unfortunately, the presence of a disturbed alicorn didn’t seem to deter their pursuer much.

Twilight didn’t know if that was a good thing, as it meant Pinkie would have been able to roam around freely, or a bad once since it might mean the earth pony had already been caught and… DON’T THINK LIKE THAT! Twilight shouted at herself.

Focusing her mind on a task, Twilight charged her horn and fired a concussive blast at the wall in front of her with enough distance between it and her she could still turn away if it opened into empty air. Something she sincerely doubted since the mana saturation was only getting thicker.

The wall exploded, and the trio ran into a new hallway, right past a pair of ponies…and skidded to a halt when they noticed who those two ponies were. “Rainbow?”

“Twilight?”

“Jaw later!” Applejack shouted before she pointed a hoof towards the floating black mass that had come to a complete stop. The thing almost…felt like it was frowning at something. “Just point that new horn of yers at that thing and do something!”

Rainbow looked over to where Applejack was pointing and frowned. “Oh buck…which one of you girls broke a necromancer statue?”

“A what?”

“Nonne tu es Luna.”

“IT CAN TALK?” Rarity screeched.

A shiver ran up Twilight’s spine upon hearing the creature’s words. Like Rainbow’s, they seemed to be infused with magic and were felt as well as heard, but while Dash’s carried a feeling of power and confidence that seemed to pick Twilight up, the monster’s felt terribly wrong. And is that Unicornian?

“Motus proctul paulum umbra,” Rainbow Dash threatened the monster before her wings spread and Twilight felt the atmosphere change. Her hair started to stand on end, and there was a definite chill in the air. “Aut aspico en lumen ex sol.”

The alicorn and the shadow stared each other down for a moment, and Twilight blinked when she noticed Applejack leaning in close to whisper in her hear. “Uh…Twi? What the hay are they saying?”

“Something about…uh, darkness…and I think that last word had to do with the sun,” she mumbled. The little Unicornian she did know all revolved around the sisters, which wasn’t much. But anypony who wrote about Celestia and Luna used the words night, sun, moon, day, darkness, and stars so much Twilight had learned them without even trying.

“Dimitto et ego sino vos in servo qualis paulum tempus vos teneo usque matris sol interfico vos.”

“…Aurora, est ut vos?”

The question got a growl from the alicorn, and she raised up on her hind legs. “My name, IS RAINBOW DASH!” she shouted before bringing down her hooves.

As soon as her hooves touched the ground, the temperature dropped considerably and the moisture in the air drastically increased. The next thing Twilight knew, she was staring at a giant block of ice that filled the hallway in front of her. Then Rainbow raised herself on her front legs, and kicked backwards. There was a bright flash and the sound of thunder, before the wall behind her exploded outwards to reveal the night sky with the storm Rainbow’s mana was feeding raging in the distance.

A second later, Twilight felt the alicorn wrap her hooves around the unicorn’s midsection. “Twilight, grab everypony in your magic, we gotta go!”

“I can’t teleport Rainbow, your mana is-”

“Use Telekinesis!”

If her legs had been free, Twilight was pretty sure she would have smacked herself. “Oh…right,” the pony mumbled before she surrounded her friends in her magic before Rainbow took off. The unicorn felt a jerk on her horn, but she was able to hold onto the other ponies as Rainbow took off into the air.

“Well now that we have a bit of a breather Princess, would you mind telling us just what the hay that thing is?” Rarity demanded as Twilight brought them closer to the alicorn.

Rainbow grit her teeth and frowned at the hole in the castle she had created. “It’s called a shade. They’re what’s left over when a pony uses Necromancy for too long, then dies.”

“You mean that creepy death magic Princess Celestia told us about?” Applejack asked with a shiver. Twilight didn’t blame her for looking…unwell. Applejack’s whole existence revolved around growing things, creating life, a magic that existed that was such an antithesis to the core of her being was…Twilight didn’t even have the words to describe how wrong it was; and if Twilight didn’t have them, they didn’t exist.

Pinkie let out a humph. “Well at least you got that meanie…um, you did get it, right?” she asked when the alicorn flinched at her declaration.

“Ummm…I can’t really take down a shade with the kind of magic I know,” Rainbow admitted with a grimace. “That ice coffin I put it in was about the best I could do, and she’ll work her way out of that in about ten minutes.”

“WHAT?” all of the ponies not being held by an alicorn shouted.

“Hey, they’re cheaters. They’re quasi-ethereal!” Rainbow explained. “Aeromancy is purely physical. A shade can alter how much of itself is actually in the physical realm to avoid damage. The only type of magic that works on them is a unicorn’s.”

Twilight turned her head and looked up as not to poke the pony currently holding her aloft in the throat. “Then you’ve got eight minutes to tell me just how much you know about that thing so I can come up with a way to beat it.”

Then, the most important cram session of Twilight’s life began.

Within the ice, Andromeda raged as she worked to free herself. It was a slow process thanks to the ethereal storm raging in the air around her, and the ice holding her physically.

That creature that she had detected across the hallway, the words it had spoken and the way it felt…it had to have been Celestia’s daughter.

She didn’t know what irritated her more, the fact that her ploy for Celestia to kill the spawn failed, or that her magical signature being so close to Celestia’s own meant that the mutation had succeeded in remaking life where Andromeda herself had failed to add the magic of other ponies onto herself. Although her research and experiments hadn’t been a total failure, in fact Andromeda considered the end result a success when it came down to it, but it paled in comparison to what Celestia had achieved.

But how? she asked herself. I was the superior unicorn! The brat may have had power, but my art was far more refined than anything she could ever do!

Then there were those other ponies. When she had touched their souls to feed, something like she had never felt before repelled her. It was akin to positive energy, but far too pure to come from any unicorn she had ever known.

After feeling that, she had switched to physical attacks in an attempt to kill them before they brought such power to bear against her. The unicorn had managed it when she crafted a defensive field, but whatever power they were using seemed to be unstable as it only burned the shade for a moment.

Still, the thought of this new magic that she had just encountered…

No, she told herself before focusing her senses downward. Although Andromeda couldn’t feel it anymore thanks to the mana saturation, what she remembered from the strange energy below the castle she felt upon her escape had been disturbingly similar to what she felt within the lesser ponies.

The smartest option was to fall back. Faced with such forces, her defeat seemed only a matter of time. But that wasn’t really an option either. Freed of her body, Andromeda had nothing to protect her from the sun’s light, which would consume her upon daybreak.

Going back to her prison was out, and Aurora was the only creature within any distance that possessed a blood-tie that would allow for the unicorn queen to gain ownership of her body, which also required the shade to overpower her vessel with magic. Taking on a creature of Celestia’s power was not something she had been up for before her petrifaction; much less now.

But without a way to retreat, she needed to find an edge, an opening, something to use s her advantage.

“Okay so you got it?” Rainbow asked the little purple unicorn standing in front of the other ponies.

It was strange seeing them again as she was. She hadn’t noticed at the party, and her study session with Twilight had the alicorn sitting down, so Dash had forgotten about the head’s worth of height difference until they were once again standing around her. They look so much…smaller.

Twilight nodded. “Yes, the middle stone, then two stones over in each direction.”

The fact that Twilight repeated the information perfectly didn’t dissuade the alicorn’s worries. If anything, they only increased, along with her guilt. Her friends were about to go cantering off into danger, and Rainbow was going to abandon them again.

I wonder if Mom and Luna feel like this, Rainbow asked herself. Was it part of being an alicorn to worry so much about little ponies? She had never felt like this before, and they had all handled much worse creatures than a shade. Nightmare Moon and Discord had enough power to make what they were facing now seem like nothing, and Rainbow hadn’t been afraid of those creatures at all.

But that was before I remembered…everything, Rainbow told herself before repressing a shudder. By the time Andromeda had come back Aurora had been considered an adult, only seventeen, but old enough to fight in the army. She had seen real war and loss.

It was something she wanted none of her friends to ever experience.

“Something wrong Rainbow? Anything else you need to say?”

Twilight’s question brought the alicorn out of her thoughts, and she looked back down to her friends. “Yeah, I was thinking…maybe you girls should head back to Ponyville now. I’ll take care of the storm and then…well…I’ll think of something with the shadow pon-”

A hoof in Rainbow’s mouth stopped her from talking. She looked down, and blinked at the glare she was getting from Twilight. “And how are you going to do that?” the unicorn demanded. “If I had been able to show you how to use your horn, then…hay even then, a shield or attack spell would have taken too long to teach. You deal with the weather, we’ll take care of this shadow pony so it doesn’t get to town and hurt anypony there, okay?”

Almost without thinking, Rainbow snatched Twilight up in one of her forelegs, then Pinkie in the other, Rarity and Applejack got nabbed by her wings. The others returned the fierce group hug, and Rainbow nuzzled the mass of their intertwined manes. “I’m sorry, if I hadn’t of freak out at the party…”

“That wasn’t yer fault Sugarcube.”

“We know it wasn’t just the party,” Twilight added to Applejack’s attempt at comfort. “I should have done something as soon as I saw something wrong. But when we’re done with all of this, I promise we’ll make everything right between all of us, okay?”

Pinkie nodded in agreement. “Yeah, we’ll have a real party! Not some snooty-fest with boring music and food I can’t pronounce.”

“Princess,” Rarity spoke up. “You have your duty, and you have tasked us with ours. Now we shall handle everything.”

Rainbow Dash held onto them a moment longer, waiting for Fluttershy to speak up, then felt a little silly since the yellow pegasus wasn’t around. And she could have probably stared that thing into the ground too, the alicorn thought with a smile before breaking her grip.

“Okay girls, I’ll see your all there in a min-what am I talking about. This is weather, I’ll be done in ten seconds flat!” she said before spreading her wings and kicking off with the flap downward.

As Rainbow Dash climbed into the sky, she remembered a day from her first life when she had asked a question that would guide her current actions.

“Mother, how did you take control of the sun?” Rainbow Dash’s voice echoed in her ears.

“Well my dear, one day-”

“I don’t want to hear that old bedtime story about you making friends with it. How did it really happen?”

As she had heard in a past life while Rainbow Dash entered the absolute maximum altitude possible for clouds, the alicorn closed her eyes and searched inward towards her magic; the magic emanating within her wings. She felt it flow outwards, already connected to the quickly growing weather pattern that had spread beyond the Everfree, and was currently covering Ponyville, Dodge Junction, Appleloosa, and currently expanding towards Canterlot.

But she didn’t stop there. Rainbow Dash spread her magic further, then let it flow along the winds and continue on to Manehattan, the Crystal Mountains, the Swamp of New Horseleans, and the Prancing Planes. She felt her magic cover all the skies of Equestria and go even further, across oceans and shores, desserts and forests. She felt the wild weather that surrounded her, the tamed skies of Equestria, and stagnant air of the Griffin Empire.

Rainbow Dash felt the sky in its whole, and made it hers.

As soon as Rainbow Dash disappeared into the sky, Twilight and the others took their positions at the entrance to the castle and waited for what they knew was coming. As the seconds ticked by, Twilight did one last review of her lesson on spiritual monsters.

“Okay…let me start at the beginning,” Rainbow Dash’s own words ran through her head. “Remember how Celestia said black magic twists the ponies who use it too much, making them darker? Well Necromancy is that times about a million. It messes with a pony so bad, they’re not even a pony anymore, just something that looks like one on the outside, with that thing you guys just saw inside.”

A bit of wind from the storm surrounding everything made its way into the eye, causing a shudder to run through Twilight’s body.

“It twists their essence in a way that they can’t rejoin the ether when they die like a pony is supposed to. Mom says its like some sort of…essence inversion. Yes Rarity, I just called Princess Celestia Mom. It’s what she is…sort of.”

Twilight looked around at the throne room as they made their way inside the dark building. She lit up her horn and took the lead while Rarity covered the back with her own light. Oddly enough, Pinkie also pulled out a flashlight from her mane and turned it on while her curls held it in place.

“Because of this, normal magic doesn’t work on them. It’s like…oil and vinegar? They just don’t like to touch. No…that’s not right. Uh…no Twilight I wouldn’t say it cancels out normal magic, more like it…finds the cracks in it and…well, you remember what Mom said about intent and dark magic, right? If a unicorn has any dark intension, then the necromantic essence can feed off it and break the magic apart. They called it negative energy back during the war.”

A rat scampered across the group’s path, but thankfully, Rarity didn’t notice it with how she was making sure the shadow didn’t creep up on them from behind. So, the four ponies made their way into the dungeons without incident.

“But its not like unicorn magic is completely ineffective, the unicorn just has to be…pure, I guess. Look, I’m not a unicorn, I never really studied this stuff, okay? I just remember one of the arch-mages talking about how he thought of his foals, and puppies and ice cream, and all those other happy thoughts whenever he needed to use positive energy magic against a shade!”

Carefully following the princess’s instructions, Twilight came to the end of the row of cells, then pressed three stones in the back wall. There was a small click, and the floor in the cell to her right slowly tilted until it became a ramp into a deeper level of the castle.

“The real problem is, you can’t think about kittens and hugs when you’re trying to blast a monster into oblivion. The intent to damage another creature, even one as sick as a shade kind of makes the whole process moot, and…well, that’s all I know about it, really. Sorry.”

After heading down through the secret entrance, a ten minute walk through another long hallway and down a spiral staircase brought them to a pair of large iron doors inscribed with faded runic markings that had long since lost their magical charge.

“I still can’t believe we’re betting our lives on a magic lesson Twilight Sparkle got from Rainbow Dash,” Rarity mumbled when the floor of the cell finished realigning.

Applejack chuckled. “Hey if It was the other way around, RD would have probably slept through it, and then we’d all be in trouble.”

“…good point,” Rarity admitted.

Twilight shushed the girls, then led the way through the passage into what Rainbow had called the first version of Tartarus. From what Twilight could see, it didn’t live up to the hype.

All in all, the place looked like just another worn down section of the palace dungeons. Rusted iron only covered about half the cells, while the others had been completely left unusable by the fact the doors to them were bent open, missing, or fallen over. A puddle of water existed in one of the cells, announcing to all the poor condition of the sub-basement’s roof. Other cells that had caved in made Twilight even more uneasy about being where she was.

“Okay girls, start looking for one of the sun runes,” Twilight said. “The floor, ceiling, and walls should be lined with them.”

From her place beside Twilight, Applejack mumbled barely loud enough for the unicorn to hear. “Thing I don’t get is, how come sunlight is supposed to take care of these shadow things?”

Glad to be able to fall back on some familiar knowledge, Twilight started explaining. “It’s because the sun radiates pure positive energy, letting plants grow and everything else. That’s why the wards and circles down here were empowered by it when they needed to keep…uh oh.”

“What?” Pinkie asked as she looked away form a cell with a broken statue inside.

Twilight found herself unable to answer as she walked up and down the hallway looking for a single intact magic circle. Since the things were made with gold, they should have lasted through the years, but… Everything she saw had been broken, bent, and there were some spot of the wall where the light circles had been completely removed. “What the hay happened? Rainbow said their should have been dozens of enchanted circles down here!”

“Same thing I’m guessing to what happened to some of the missing statues,” Rarity said as she ran a discerning eye along the wall where something had obviously been removed, judging by the indentation. “Somepony took them.”

The ridiculousness of the theory had Twilight tilting her head on confusion. “What?” she shook her head to clear it, then moved over to talk to Rarity. “You mean Princess Celestia moved them?” It was the sensible theory after all.

Rarity looked back at the purple unicorn, then pointed with a hoof over to the cell Pinkie Pie was peeking into. “Well, not all of them obviously,” she said before turning to another cell and glancing at the floor that was littered with broken statue pieces.

“And I don’t think it was Princes Celestia either,” she said while indicating one of the doors that had fallen down. “You see here Darling? I usually work with jewelry, but even I know metal doesn’t bend this way naturally due to age and other warping methods. Somepony did this to open the cell’s door.”

“Wait a minute,” Applejack mumbled. “I thought Rainbow said all the ponies turned to stone and locked away down here were suppose at be them death magic unicorn kooks. Why in tarnation would anypony come in to rescue them?”

This time, Twilight was the one to explain. “Well, this castle had been abandoned for a thousands years, and Celestia had banned all information regarding Necromancy from the history books. So…it’s possible if a pony stumbled on this place, they may not of known what was so important about it.”

“Twilight, how in the hay woulda pony stumble onto this?” Applejack asked as she gestured to the area around her. “We had to go so deep underground, I can practically hear Neighponese coming from under my hooves!”

“Who said it was a pony?” Rarity asked calmly. “I can think of at least one subterranean species that would have gone digging around this place looking for the treasury and carting off anything they could find to trade for gems.”

Pinkie stepped between the unicorn and the earth pony and pulled out a detective hat along with her bubble blowing pipe. “And since these things let out evil shadow meanies when they break,” she said before inspecting a shattered statue with a magnifying glass. “That’s probably where the Pony of Shadows legend comes from. And since the big black snooties all go poof when the sun rises, there’s no monster to find. Least until another statue breaks.”

A thought occurred to Twilight, which she voiced after gulping. “Uh girls? Just how many of these things are left down here with us anyway?”

All of the ponies shared a worried look, then quickly went through the small cellblock, checking every room they could find to try and get a headcount of the remaining artwork that were soul-sucking monsters. In the end, the number they came up with was: just one.

The cell with the single remaining statue was unlike the others. The entrance was more immaculate, as if the whole prison had been designed for the stone pony inside it alone, and all the other cells had been added on as an afterthought; or more likely, a necessity.

The door’s frame inscribed with numerous glowing runes that still contained magic after all this time. However, Twilight could tell that none of the magic surrounding the empty doorframe was not the kind they were looking for. It only gave off alarms in case the door guarding the stone prisoner had been destroyed, something which had happened years before Twilight had even been born.

Inside the cell, Twilight could see the strangest pony… Wait, is it even a pony? Twilight asked herself.

The statue of the creature defiantly had four limbs ending in hooves and the build of a pony, but other than that…the creature had a unicorn’s horn, as well as two more on each side of where a horn should be. It also had two pairs of wings, with the short wings of a pegasus on top where they were meant to be, as well while another pair of much longer wings that undoubtedly belonged to a griffin had been…

“Are those…stitches?” Rarity asked, making everypony in their group stare at the statue in surprise and the griffon wings that had been stitched into its sides.

“What?” Twilight asked the other unicorn.

Rarity walked forward, stared at the griffon and pegasus wings, then examined the horns for a moment. Then she looked at the mouth for a moment before she turned back to the others. “The wings are definitely stitched on, but the horns…I’m not sure how they were attached. And, I’m not sure with the mouth half closed, but…the teeth don’t look like a normal pony’s.”

“Okay that’s gross,” Applejack mumbled.

“What’s it mean Twilight?” Pinkie Pie asked. “I’m actually lost on this one.”

The purple unicorn slowly walked in and circled the statue, examining not only the petrified pony, but the room around them. Although the enchantments on the room itself were also interesting, it wasn’t anything like what she was needing.

There was also something off about the statue, besides it’s grotesque shape that seemed to make it look like a half-pony version of Discord with its mismatched parts. It’s…I don’t know…lacking?

“Okay girls, looks like we’re going to need to come up with a new plan,” she mumbled before looking through the empty doorway and sighing while focusing her horn’s light to shine down the hallway.

A frown crossed her face when it didn’t make it to the end of the hall. It just stopped halfway there, like…it had been eaten by the darkness.

“Oh pony feathers,” Twilight mumbled.

Completely filling the hallway, the shade began to creep closer, its tendrils reached out along the edges of the corridor, creeping ever closer to them before spreading out in a sick kind of web that promised to catch its prey.

Rarity gulped. “Twilight, perhaps it is time we made a retreat? If you would be so kind as to teleport us out of this place, I’m sure we can come up with another plan.”

“I…I can’t,” Twilight mumbled. “Most of this room is spelled to block teleportation, and that thing in front of us exists half-way on the ethereal plane. The last time I tried to teleport when it was touching me, it felt like I had been yanked by the scruff of my neck. If I try and teleport through it, we would basically be running into it as Rainboom speeds.”

“Soooo, if we did that?” Pinkie asked.

Applejack supplied the answer. “We’d all be turned into applesauce.”

Okay Twilight think! No sun runes, and Rainbow’s explanation of positive energy…ugh! Why couldn’t she have paid attention at least for one of her lives? Twilight mentally screamed.

But getting angry over things like that now wouldn’t be changing anything. She was the only hope her friends had of getting out of this alive, and she needed to focus. Her knowledge of magic made it unlikely she was simply going to stumble on a solution from what she’d gained under her tutorage to Celestia. So what do I have to work with, the unicorn asked herself as she looked around.

The wards in the room were ancient and powerful, made by Celestia herself. They were spells to prevent anything from hiding within the room, enchantments to keep the walls from being breached, and a spell to sound a mystical alarm that could be heard across Equestria if the door was destroyed.

Twilight’s eyes widened at the last one as a thought struck her. “The door…that’s it!”

“Uh, this doors been dust for centuries darling,” Rarity mumbled.

A smirked crossed her face as Twilight lit up her horn and pointed it at the aforementioned mess. “Well it’s a good thing I know magic that can do this!” she said before casting a reformation spell on the area. A second later, the particles of dust and bits of wood left rotted from a thousand years of decay put themselves back together, remaking the wooden door.

“Well, I suppose something is better than-”

“Applejack!” Twilight shouted, cutting Pinkie Pie off, “BREAK IT DOWN!”

The farm pony only gave Twilight a confused glace for a moment before she raised her hind legs and bucked with all her might, shattering the wooden barrier into little pieces. Not a second passed before the runes in the cell glowed with the light of the sun, and Twilight felt the urge to laugh when the shadow stopped its slow advance to freeze on the spot.

“Twilight…what’d I just do?” Applejack asked.

The unicorn smirked. “Oh nothing. By destroying the door I just rebuilt, you triggered an enchantment that tells two certain ponies the necromancer in this cell has gotten free.”

“Why did you learn a spell like that anyway?” Rarity asked as the runes flared to life.

Twilight giggled. “Well, Rainbow does like coming through my front door a little too enthusiastically sometimes. So I found a spell to repair the damage.”

Celestia looked down on her soon to be disowned grandson, not quite believing what she had just heard. If what the half-drunk stallion in front of her had just said was the truth, and she had no reason to doubt him, then… The reason Aurora had been reborn instead of just passed on like normal is because he-

All of the sun goddess’s thoughts were thrown to the side as a rush of magic drew her attention south, and she gasped in recognition as the magic washed over her. An old detection ward? But how?

Activating another, hidden spell within her old castle, Celestia’s eyes widened at the information it sent back to her. Within the confines of her sister’s cell stood four familiar ponies, and the necromantic soul of Andromeda was nowhere to be found within the room. “No!”

Ignoring her grandson’s confusion, Celestia rushed out into the street and looked around until she saw the mare who had accompanied her. “Fluttershy to me, your friends are in danger!”

“W-What?” the butter-yellow pegasus stuttered.

Celestia didn’t waste a moment before she leapt to where her daughter’s oldest living friend was standing, then wrapped the pegasus in her white wings and cast a spell to travel through the ethereal void, the magic of Andromeda’s prison shut down, allowing access to the goddess that had crafted it.

A moment later, she felt the ground beneath her hooves again, and dropped Fluttershy to stand with her friends. While the ponies’ connection to the elements was weak without the objects of power around their necks, they still had a tiny spark of its magic within them. As long as they stood together, a shade wouldn’t be able to touch them.

Of course Rainbow Dash is also missing…but it matters little with me here, the goddess told herself as she felt her sister appear in the castle do deal with the other problem.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed in obvious relief and joy.

A quick glance around the room told the goddess why her alarm had been triggered. “You repaired the door linked to my warding…an excellent solution to your predicament, my student. Now stand back, I will handle this…thing.”

“Sister,” the shade practically growled in the ancient language of their parents.

“You and I share no ties of blood anymore monster,” Celestia replied. “Now, be a good little thing, and get back into your cage. I sentenced you to an eternity of stone for your crimes, and you will not escape it.”

Celestia’s senses tingled, and she felt the shade’s essence creep in from all around her, coming through the cracks of the walls now that her spell had been deactivated. “I think not, little sister. I shall not go back!”

“THEN FACE THE LIGHT OF THE SUN!” Celestia roared as she reared up, channeling her magic throughout her entire body. A moment later, the white color of her coat was replaced with a shinning golden glow, while her mane and tail became a blazing inferno equal in heat to the star she controlled.

A golden shield surrounded Twilight and her friends to protect them from the presence of her demi-goddess form, and Celestia heard the cries of her sister as the shade’s tendrils were burned away by the very presence of the sun goddess. “Did you actually think to challenge me, insect?” Celestia shouted, her magic carried along with her words. “I am the bringer of light and life to this world! I am the antithesis to all that you are! And the void of death has no power within my presence!”

Stone melted beneath her feet as the goddess of the sun walked forward, and the seized the shadow in the light of her power before it could escape, using the foul creature’s own spell for ensnaring souls to hold onto something that could not usually be touched by normal magic.

The darkness struggled in the tether that was Celestia’s grip, and burned at the touch of her magic. As the light of the goddess consumed the shadow from her simply approaching it, the creature grew smaller until it could have been stepped on by the alicorn without notice.

“I do not know how you got out of your prison. But I shall not allow such a thing to happen again,” the goddess told the quivering mote of shadow that floated in her grasp. “I shall take your prison back to my garden. Every morning, I shall wake to the sight of you frozen in time. Every evening, I shall lay down to sleep with the image of you imprisoned outside my window. I shall have Luna visit you nightly to ensure a new terror is born within your mind upon the setting of the sun so you never again know the comfort of your delusional dreams.

“I tried to forget you and all memories of family upon failing my sister, but that was a mistake. So for killing my beloved, for threatening my child, for harming my ponies, and now for endangering the life of my dearest student, naught but suffering shall wait you in the future little sister. And this time, I will make sure the sentence is carried out.”

And with that, Celestia tossed the creature back into her stone shell with a flick of hr horn.

“P-Princess Celestia?”

The goddess turned to regard her subjects with trepidation. Even with only some of her divinity showing, Celestia was fearful of their reactions; especially Twilight’s. There was a reason that ponies used her name to swear to, why a church to her existed and Luna had been regarded as some ultimate evil despite the short incident involving Nightmare Moon.

In her true form, the one gained after her link with the sun had been established, ponies felt compelled to revere the divine alicorn. It was as if something in the core of their being told them to bow down in worship.

And Celestia hated it.

“Do not fear, my little ponies,” she said, immediately cursing herself for giving a command while as she was. In such a state, only the strongest willed pony, or one with a seething hatred like Andromeda would be able to disobey her. “This is a glimpse of my true self, laid bare for all to see.”

Although she would need time to suppress her glory, Celestia did remove the heat from her flames and knelt down to look them all in the eye. “Rise my subjects, and calm yourselves. It’s still me.”

Twilight looked across the doorway, and nervously licked her lips. “Why do you say it like that, Princess?”

A tingling at the edge of her senses made Celestia look up. “Because it seems Luna will need some aid in showing Rainbow Dash how to suppress herself and fit into a presentable form once again,” the goddess told them before looking back down. “And I believe she will require a little motivation to do so.”

After taking the last turn into the wing of the castle that held the royal apartments, Twilight walked halfway down the hall until she came to the door she was looking for. Unlike Celestia, Cadence, and more recently Luna, the doors to Rainbow’s quarters had not been overly decorated with designs matching her area of expertise. Although, Twilight fully expected to see lightning bolts carved from rubies and silver clouds adoring the walls in the coming weeks.

She took a moment to knock on the door, then cleared her throat when the golden-yellow mare that had been selected as Rainbow Dash’s personal bodyguard came out to greet her. “Name?” the Wonderbolt asked.

Twilight didn’t bother to hold in a groan. “I’m…Princess Rainbow’s personal magic teacher,” Twilight said before adding her name at the end. “She hasn’t come to her lessons for some time, and-”

“The princess doesn’t want to be disturbed,” Spitfire told Twilight cutting her off.

The rather curt attitude made Twilight abandon all attempts at civility. “Then she can take it up with Princess Celestia,” the unicorn told her before moving past the soldier.

Thankfully, Spitfire didn’t try to stop her. After Twilight had seen what a pegasus trained in combat could do, she really didn’t want to have to repeat such an experience. Not that anypony here would react so violently, she assured herself.

Once she saw the first room of Rainbow’s living quarters didn’t have the princess inside, she moved for the door in the back. Twilight Sparkle did her best to creep into the princess’s bedroom to check on the ethereal-maned mare’s mood. The goddess’s multicolored mane blazed like a fire while she looked down reading a book. A bit of movement that she saw out of he corner of her eye made Twilight look over to notice the pegasus that was the alicorn’s personal bodyguard. Thankfully, she didn’t make a sound to draw attention.

Twilight found herself frozen at the sight, remembering what she had seen outside the castle the night they had come back; the real reason she hadn’t tried to approach Rainbow Dash for nearly a week and had been quite thankful the goddess was skipping out on her lessons. Even now, she felt her legs buckle at the need to show her goddess the proper respect.

But, thanks to hours of reminders and practice, Twilight managed to keep herself upright as she approached the divine creature in front of her that looked like a pony with an odd mane. “Rainbow?”

The alicorn’s head bolted up, and she looked at Twilight with wide eyes. A panicked glace swerved over to Spitfire, who was standing behind the unicorn by then, simply got a shrugged response as the princess’s eyes screamed ‘why the hay did you let her in’?

“You haven’t come to your magic lessons in three days, and I was worried. I mean, I know Celestia told us you needed time to adjust to being connected to the sky, but well…let’s face it, you nap half of the day away already so I don’t think you’d be needing that big an adjustment and…so…um, is that Daring Do?” she asked, steering away from what she was here for. If they started the conversation on a happier note, then Twilight figured it would be easier to keep her talking when they got to the hard stuff.

Rainbow cracked a tiny, almost guilty smile, as if reading books was something she should feel guilty about. “Well I do need to find out how it ends,” she told Twilight. “Can you believe this is the first book I’ve read…this time around, I mean. I…the other me, Aurora…ugh, this is going to get confusing…”

Somehow, the confession didn’t surprise Twilight, nor did the confusion making Rainbow’s mind go in circles. It wasn’t as if there was a book explaining how to deal with past lives, Twilight had checked. “I’d think that having more experience to draw from would be a benefit.”

“Not all the time,” Rainbow said with a dejected sigh.

Twilight cocked her head. “Well I suppose there would be some bad memories, and then there’s all your friends that have passed on…sorry, you probably don’t want to talk about stuff like that.”

A shake of Rainbow’s head helped dispel Twilight’s building guilt. “It’s okay. Luna told me what happened to my foals and all, they got to have good lives. That…that’s good enough for me to know. To be honest, everypony who wasn’t related to me…I don’t have much when it comes to them. It’s the stuff that comes with all the memories and experiences that I’m starting to hate.”

“Like what?”

“Perspective.”

Once again, Twilight’s face twisted to show a lack of understanding, and Rainbow let out a sigh. “It’s just…last week, everything was awesome, or a least I thought it was. Now…not so much.”

“Well-”

“Even the stuff I thought was awesome isn’t awesome anymore,” Rainbow continued. “I mean, remember back in Ponyville when I was still signing autographs and everything?”

Twilight looked away from the princess to help hide her cringe. Why did she have to bring that up again? Wasn’t it enough that the whole Mare Do Well incident was over? Twilight just wanted to forget the whole stupid thing and get on with her life.

“I actually told some poor filly not to aim too high when she said she wanted to be like me,” Rainbow Dash continued with a chuckle. “You guys were right, I did need a hoof upside the head for all that. Telling a filly not to reach for the stars is about the lamest thing a mare like me can do.”

“Well-”

Twilight’s attempt to console her friend were cut short by Rainbow Dash just continuing on. “Then there’s all the other stuff you learn by the time you’re an old woman,” she said before her gaze fell on Twilight again. The mare’s eyes softened a bit, and the smile on her face became a bit more relaxed. “You get to understand just how amazing your friends really are. You really are the most awesome unicorn in Equestria, Twilight Sparkle, and don’t let anypony ever tell you different.”

The complement brought a blush to Twilight’s cheeks. She really wasn’t that great. There were dozens of unicorns throughout history who’d done things far more impressive that her. “Come on Rainbow, I’m no Starswirl.”

Rainbow’s face scrunched into a frown. “That hack?” she nearly yelled. “Please, he had one good spell he managed to pull from his polt-hole thanks to Mom holding his hoof all the way and everything else was taken from other unicorns he met in this magic mir-”

“Wait a minute,” Twilight mumbled as she looked up at the living library of ancient knowledge just sitting on the bed in front of her. “You knew Starswirl the Bearded?”

The exclamation just made Rainbow blink in confusion. “Well yeah. Back when he was Mom’s student anyway. I left just two years after he managed to kiss enough flank to get a position as Mom’s advisor on…uh Twilight, what’s with that look, and…are you drooling?”

Why oh why did I have to open my big mouth? Rainbow Dash asked herself as she laid on her bed in misery. Stupid old woman perspective. Stupid ye olden dating experience. Start off by showing an interest in the same stuff she does my plot…I should have tried talking about Daring Do.

The alicorn of the sky looked over to Twilight as the unicorn gleefully went through the numerous pages she had managed to charm out of the alicorn with her cute little curious face which the goddess found herself powerless to resist. Stupid perspectives telling me just how much I like her.

But didn’t make any sense! Look at her flanks, there’s nothing there! No muscle or padding! Her athletic abilities are at zero…except for that time she beat me in a race, but… But what the hay did all that really matter? Twilight wasn’t an athlete, or a model and Rainbow didn’t care one bit about that, the talents she had were in other areas. It wasn’t even her abilities that made Dash attracted to her, it was her kindness and bravery. She was empathetic as Fluttershy, but had the guts to act when she did see her friends in pain.

It was like Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had a foal with… Ugh, no bad thought, bad alicorn! No biscuit! She quickly cut that train of thought off and brought herself back to reality…

…looking at the angry face of Twilight Sparkle.

“-are you even listening to me?” the unicorn yelled in her face, making Rainbow Dash cry out in surprise before she jumped into the air and hovered there.

“Geeze Twilight! Warn somepony before you do that!” the goddess of the sky said before she floated back down to her bed.

Twilight rolled her eyes at Rainbow. “Well maybe you should try listening to me when I’m talking.” she said before rolling her eyes. “How in the hay you had an identity crises when you act the exact same after getting your memories…ugh! Listen, before you distracted me with your…”

“Anti-Starswirl heresy?” Rainbow Dash offered with a smirk. The added vocabulary that accepting herself was just one of the dozens of things the alicorn enjoying about being her old-and-new self.

The comment made Twilight frown. “I wouldn’t put it that way,” she muttered before breaking Rainbow gaze for some reason the young goddess couldn’t understand.

“Oh come on Twilight, you put him on a pedestal equal to Celestia,” Rainbow told her. “They guy took a hat from a hobo for crying out loud! He was the court jester! Why they hay do you think he had bells on his hat!”

“Starswirl was the princess’s adviser on magic Rainbow,” Twilight countered. “Just because he got his start pulling rabbits out of his, you know what? I’m not going through this again! Princess Celestia sent me to-oh no! The princess!”

Rainbow Dash frowned in confusion while Twilight looked over to the clock on her wall. “What?”

“Princess Celestia sent me to deliver a message, she wants to talk to you,” Twilight told her as the telltale sights of a code red level panic were beginning to form on her face.

“Yeesh Twilight, that’s-”

“THAT WAS TWO HOURS AGO!” the purple unicorn shouted.

Celestia sat at the table in her bedroom’s antechamber, although she supposed that description was a bit misleading as the room that stored her bed was actually smaller than the one she was currently in. Although the changing times no longer allowed her to call her living quarters an apartment like in the old days before apartment buildings had come into being.

The tea resting in front of her had long since grown cold. It was a very old and specific blend of jasmine, hibiscus, and peppermint that hadn’t been served in ages. At least not in the castle, Celestia supposed somepony knew the recipe of her daughter’s favorite tea, but she had fired the cook who brought it to her shortly after Aurora’s death and ordered it never to be served in Canterlot again during one of her more…emotional moments.

Why am I still sitting here, it’s obvious she’s not coming, the sun goddess both asked and told herself.

But then, what else could she do? Sleep came in hours few and far in-between, with dreams of guilt gnawing at her when she did finally find unconsciousness.

The opening of a door drew Celestia’s attention, and she looked up expectantly. It was the idealism of a foal of course. Nopony would be two hours late.

“Oh Princess I’m so, so, so, sorry!” Twilight wailed as she came into the room, practically in tears.

Celestia reached out to touch the unicorn who was her student and…whatever their more open relationship was turning her into in regards to Celestia. It wasn’t quite the status of pseudo-daughter, but Twilight was already more dear to the goddess than any other of her previous protégés. “It’s alright Twilight.”

“I just got so distracted when Rainbow mentioned Starswirl, and then we got to talking about history, and she started bragging about some of what she did, and-”

“Yeah I opened my mouth about egghead stuff in front of Twilight, sue me already.”

Celestia’s gaze shot up to the door as the other alicorn entered. The newcomer looked absolutely…radiant. Rainbow’s ethereal mane appeared to look much like it had before her link with the sky, coming down to cover a good part of her forehead while dancing ever so slightly unlike the vastness of movements that accompanied Celestia and Luna’s.

She took a seat on the rug across from Celestia, and averted her gaze, choosing to look at the newest painting hanging on the princess’s wall. “Geeze, you still have that thing?”

“Still, so…wait, that’s the old you?” Twilight asked, referring to the life-sized picture of Aurora hanging above Celestia’s fireplace. “Huh, you two do look very similar…although, you really need to brush your mane if that’s what it’s supposed to look…oh, uh, guess you really can’t do that anymore, huh?”

Grateful for something to talk about, Celestia moved to correct her student’s misconception. “Actually, all of us still possess hair Twilight. It is just that the thin strands of hair cannot encompass the magic like the rest of our body so it creates the ethereal effect that makes it appear a if my hair is made of light, Luna’s is made of night and…um…”

Celestia paused and widened her eyes as a thought occurred to her. What did the alicorn across from her want to be called? Aurora? Rainbow Dash? Something new? She didn’t know!

If she tried for Aurora, then Rainbow Dash might believe her to be trying to actually supplant her current identity with the past one. But if Aurora had truly been brought back then…Celestia didn’t know what to think if that were to be the case.

“Uh…you okay Mom?”

Celestia shook her head. “Sorry I…what did you just call me?” she asked in a whisper.

“Mom,” the other alicorn repeated before she reached up to scratch the back of her head with a hoof. “Well it’s better than matercula, which keeps popping into my head every time I open my mouth around you so I might as well just stop fighting it. I mean, you did raise me…sort of.” Then she lowered her head and sighed. “And it’s not like I’m going to be calling anypony else that.”

“I saw a picture of Firefly at your house when I paid my respects,” Celestia told her. “I can see where you got your physical attributes from.”

The goddess of the sky didn’t seem to take the complement well. She let out a single mirthless laugh and looked herself over. “Not anymore,” she aid before looking over to the painting. “Maybe not ever. Did I get anything from her at all?”

“Her love.”

The noise brought both alicorns’ attentions to the third mare in the room. Twilight Sparkle was looking at the sky goddess with concern showing in her eyes. “Rainbow, she was your mother. She gave you her love, just like Princess Cel-”

Rainbow cut her off. “Twi, don’t talk about stuff you don’t know about,” she said before turning to the sun goddess. “So, are we just here for tea, or…what?”

“Yes well…I called you here to do more than chat about our relationship, or lack thereof,” Celestia told her daughter. “You see…I know why my daughter was reborn as you, rather than simply a passenger in your body.”

Although Rainbow’s expression didn’t change much beyond a raised eyebrow, Twilight’s lit up like a tree on Hearth’s Warming Eve at the final mystery being solved. “Really Princess? How?”

“I met with Rainbow Dash’s…father,” Celestia said with gritted teeth, as if the stallion actually deserved such an honored title of respect. “Apparently, when he learned of Firefly’s pregnancy, he added a life prevention potion to her drink during their celebratory dinner.”

It wasn’t much of a surprise for Celestia to see Rainbow Dash’s face scrunch up in confusion, Twilight had said the former pegasus cared little for things outside her chosen sphere of talent, and such things hadn’t existed in Aurora’s time either. However, Twilight Sparkle reacted much as Celestia expected her to.

The unicorn’s face became a mix of sock, pain, revulsion, and rage. “He what? But that’s…he…wait, Princess, from the way you’re talking…did Rainbow’s mother not know about it?”

“From the way the stallion spoke, I do not believe so,” she explained.

“But that’s illegal!” Twilight exclaimed.

The blue alicorn looked back and forth between the two magic experts. “Okay um…would somepony mind cluing me in on what’s going on here?” she asked.

Twilight was the one to give the explanation. “A potion of life prevention is a magic potion that can be taken the first month of pregnancy in case the mother of an unborn foal decides she…doesn’t want it,” she explained. “Depending on which theory of unborn child development you ahead to, new or old, it either snuffs out the soul of the unborn child, or prevents it from taking root in the body.”

“Wait a second…Dad…you’re saying…” Rainbow took a deep breath and shook her head slowly. “I’m…not sure what you’re saying actually.”

Or you don’t want to admit it to yourself. Celestia thought. She remembered Twilight had said Rainbow Dash was good at doing that. “Depending on which theory you adhere to, the soul to the original occupant of the body was destroyed, or a soul never took root to begin with. Both options would leave the conceived child vacant for a soul to inhabit. In the first option, your soul would have simply moved into the void, while the second simply had you there all along with nothing to shove you into the background.”

On the other side of the table, Twilight rubbed her chin in thought at the words of the goddess. “You know Princess, considering the how the carrier cycle for Rainbow’s soul seems to work, I might actually be able to prove which one of those theories is true if-”

A groan from Rainbow cut Twilight off. “Ugh, please no egghead talk.”

Twilight looked up to her friend’s face, her own an odd mix of pain and joy. “Rainbow, your father tried to abort your birth in the month after conception. If Princess Celestia hadn’t done what she did all those years ago…you never would have been born.” The blue alicorn tensed visibly as Twilight gave her a reassuring nuzzle. “So…I’m glad that things turned out the way they did or else…oh wow, I…”

The unicorn’s eyes widened as she stopped her reassuring action, and Twilight looked over to her mentor. “But if Rainbow had never been born, then…I would never have gotten into magic school, and never been sent to Ponyville, and met my other friends and… Princess, Nightmare Moon would have won! Everypony…griffon, dragon…all the plants…everything on the planet would be dead right now if you hadn’t…oh wow.”

“Wait,” Rainbow spoke up as she tried to wrap her head around Twilight’s words. “You’re saying…what? This was all some destiny thing? Mom didn’t have a choice or something? The Elements made her choose to try and bring Aurora back to life?”

Celestia shook her head. “No,” she answered. “I will not try and excuse myself by putting the blame on an unseen force such as destiny. I did what I did because I did not want to loose my child. It was a purely selfish act. As for any deeper purpose…well, perhaps is one, or none. But thinking about it will not change if it’s there or not.”

“But this can’t be all coincidence!” Twilight cried out. “Events linking together across thousands of years! That’s…there has to be some kind of deeper meaning!”

“Well, when you put it like that,” Rainbow mumbled at Twilight before she looked to Celestia.

To appease her student’s panic before it could become worse, Celestia spoke. “What it means Twilight,” she said before looking over to her daughter’s face. “It means you get to try again Rainbow. It means you get to find friends to laugh and cry with. It means you get a second chance at happiness, and at love. And it means…if you let it, that I get a second chance with you.”

She tried not to sound pleading, not to let her desperation show on her face, but Celestia knew it was a lost cause. Whatever she did end up looking like, it obviously unnerved Twilight, and as for Rainbow herself…

“Twi…can you give us a moment, alone I mean,” the blue alicorn asked.

After the unicorn had nodded and left, Rainbow Dash looked back towards the larger alicorn with a frown. “Look, this is probably the only time I’m ever going to say this, so don’t come asking for a repeat performance,” her daughter said.

A minute passed by before she was able to talk again. “You were right.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow at the declaration. “About what?”

“About everything!” Rainbow shouted as she threw her hooves up. “When I died, Equestria looked three years from tearing itself apart, and now it’s a bucking paradise. You were right about the tribes needing to stick together, about the ponies you put in charge…about everything okay!”

The older alicorn couldn’t help but be stunned at her daughter’s words. “Pardon?”

Rainbow just crossed her forelegs and grumbled. “Well I’m not saying it again. At least…look, that whole making the tribes live together so they could learn to get along…you were right about that. I lived in Ponyville remember? So-”

“Oh that. No I wasn’t,” Celestia said, stopping the blue alicorn before she could finish. “Rainbow, you were the one who was right. I…after you passed on and my final attempt to bring you back failed, I took a good look at the kingdom I had been ignoring in favor of myself for so long, and I didn’t like what I saw. So I allowed open and free expansion into the northern and eastern lands where the tribes once lived for any pony who wanted to claim it. They created towns based solely on tribes. Heavens, even Ponyville was an earth pony settlement at one point, and it isn’t even one hundred years old!”

The explanation obviously confused Rainbow Dash, judging by how her head cocked to the side. “But Ponyville…there’s tons of pegasi and unicorns in that town.”

Celestia shrugged. “But I did not put them there, they decided to move in on their own. I gave the ponies an option for breathing room, and after a bit, they decided they liked living with one another rather than on their own. If I had tried to force them like in the old days, I can assure you it wouldn’t have ended well.”

“And the magic…censoring?” Rainbow Dash asked hesitantly.

For a moment, the absurdity of the question made Celestia frown. “Do you honestly believe that magic like the Black Earth and Death Cloud schools of magic deserve to exist in Equestria?” she asked before adding, “and I think it goes without saying you are refrained from crafting any Clouds of War. That type of magic has no place in this world anymore.”

Rainbow slowly nodded. “Okay, I’ll give you that.”

In order to try and lessen the tension, Celestia channeled a bit of magic into the tea to heat it back up, then after they had both had a little, she smiled at her daughter. “Anything else you want to discuss?”

“So how long do I have till you want me to move back to Canterlot?”

The question had Celestia frowning in confusion. “I’m afraid I don’t follow.”

Rainbow Dash groaned and rolled her eyes at the other princess. “Look, I get it okay? I let you down last time. I ran off, I stuck with my family when my country needed me, I was about as Disloyal and selfish as you could get!

“But that’s over now,” she said before letting out a sad sigh. “I need to learn how to handle all these new nobles and stuff. Not to mention get my horn to work. So…how long till I have to move here permanently?”

For a moment, the goddess was stunned and silent. What she was offering…Celestia had thought it would take weeks of coaxing in order to get any sort of fixed visitation with Rainbow Dash. But what the new alicorn was offering was a permanent residence.

It took all her power to remain clam and not jump for joy. Once Rainbow was in Canterlot on a permanent basis, she could finally spend time to truly get to know her daughter. She could make up for all her old mistakes! She could…

She could watch day by day as her daughter became more and more miserable thanks to the separation from her friends.

“You will remain in Ponyville for the foreseeable future,” Celestia told her evenly getting a wide-eyed look from Dash. “And by that, I mean years.”

The response Rainbow Dash was able to muster came only at a whisper. “What?”

“It makes the most sense of course,” the goddess continued as if she had been thinking this all along; an old trick from holding court for so many centuries. “Ponyville is at the center of Equestria, so you will be able to respond to any threats I detect quickly enough thanks to your location.

“I will also have to task you with the protection of the Bearers personally. I must apologize for this, but your friend Pinkie Pie hasn’t left her personal guard alone since it was let slip I have one of them watching each of you. They’re supposed to be a secret, and she made him a T-shit that actually says Pinkie Pie’s Super Secret Service Guard Shhhh!”

Celestia paused for a moment, as Rainbow Dash blinked back tears. “Mom.”

“Luna and myself will of course need to update you on the events of the kingdom every few days…say, over dinner?” she asked. “Three times a week? And…we could inspect the kingdom personally once a week, perhaps?

“Yes,” Celestia continued, her unease quickly covered up once again. “That should do. Now, I was also thinking about your past with the military, and those Wonderbolt aspirations you talked about…

Twilight tried to keep her nerves from getting out of control as she paced outside Celestia’s private quarters. The physical activity kept her from freaking out…for about three minutes.

“What could they be talking about in there?” she wondered aloud.

A second later, the door was cloaked in a golden glow and opened to the reveal the two ponies she was waiting on. As Celestia walked out, she gave a polite nod to the smaller unicorn much to Twilight’s surprise. “Twilight.”

As Celestia left, the unicorn was joined by the blue alicorn, and they walked down the hall together. “So…can I ask what that was all about, or…is there some big secret-”

“Mom wanted to talk about what I’d be doing now that I’m a princess.”

“So, where does that leave us?” Twilight asked.

Oddly, Rainbow’s entire body jerked as if she’d been struck by lightning. “Us?”

How can she still be this dense? Twilight asked herself. Rainbow’s mental age had to be approaching one hundred! “You know, us. You, me, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity.”

With the reminder, Twilight trotted in front of the alicorn and turned to stop her. “What happens now Rainbow? Are…” Twilight tried not to look too apprehensive, but…the doubts that preceded her words made it feel as if there was a terrible weight on her chest. “Are you staying in Canterlot, or…”

“Pfft, oh that,” Rainbow said, waving the question off with a hoof. “Yeah, I’m going to be spending a few nights in Canterlot and once a week visits on Sunday with Mom. Plus, I got to spend one weekend a month and two weeks a year strait meeting with the military. Apparently, I’ve got the most battle experience for anypony under the age of four-thousand.”

She looked down at the unicorn and raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you thought I was leaving you guys.”

Twilight did her best to hide her relived sigh. “Well, you are royalty now Princess Rainbow,” she said. “You’ll have duties.”

In response, the alicorn grinned down at the purple unicorn. “Apparently Mom thinks I did my duties. Can’t exactly argue with her too, I mean, I built a city and helped show the pegasi how to work the weather again while Mom was playing with her immortality experiments. I had to deal with so much junk before everypony learned the words love and tolerance! Whatever duty I had to Equestria is done! This time I get to party! Trust me, beats the hay out of having to be involved with politics.”

Twilight giggled. “No kidding, I’ve seen Princess Celestia come in with the worst frowns after she meets with some noble-ponies before…oh! Magic!”

“Huh?”

“We can still squeeze in your magic training for today! Come on! I bet now that you’re connected to the sky, it’ll be a snap!”

Rainbow Dash groaned. “Fine, but no more flashcards!”

Rainbow Dash leaned on her balcony’s railing as she not only watched, but felt the clouds go by. A force of will made the two combine, then reshape themselves into various forms, from a lightning bolt, to a star, then she decided to change it into a likeness of a pony…although, it seemed a lack of fine control only left Rainbow with a generally pony-shaped blob.

“May I ask a question Highness?”

The voice made Rainbow dismiss the cloud that she had created with a wave of her wings, then she turned to face her temporary personal guard. The fact that the Wonderbolt’s captain would be following her around for the next few days didn’t fill Rainbow with the joy it would have a week ago. Back then, she had dreams of being one herself and reality had yet to intercede. Now, Spitfire was just…an awesome mare that did what Rainbow told her to. Cool, but nothing to fangasm over.

“What’s up Spitfire?”

Unease showed on the Wonderbolt’s face. Whatever she was wrestling with internal was obvious pretty difficult. “So if you can control the sky, all the sky and weather…I was kind of wondering where that left…us.”

Rainbow Dash did her best not to laugh, and managed to hold it down to a chuckle. “Oh yeah, that. Well don’t worry, it’s not like I’m going to put all the pegasi out of a job or anything,” she assured her guard. The later half of the explanation took a few minutes to think up. “I mean, I know Mom and Luna got the sun and the moon from the unicorns back in the day but…well…how best to say it?

“Okay well…the sun and the moon are really big and important, and all that, but…they’re just two things,” Rainbow explained. “The sky is like a million, billion little things all scattered over Equestria and beyond. I’d go nuts trying to manage it all. If there’s a big problem at the weather factory or a small town needs help with hurricane duty, or there’s some kind of big accident, then I’ll be there in a flash, but all the cloud stuff and the rest? That’s going to be all weatherponies doing the work.” She looked back at the pegasus and gave her a smirk. “I’m lazy like that.”

Upon hearing the explanation, Spitfire let out a huge sigh of relief. “Thank Cel-uh, well…I guess it’s thank you now.”

Rainbow Dash let out another sigh and lowered her head while the rainbow image that was her mane danced a little slower. “I am so not going to ever get used to that,” she muttered to herself. “So not ready to be a deity.”

“It’s what you are Highness,” Spitfire replied simply.

“Gods demand worship and sacrifice,” Rainbow told her evenly without turning around. “The only thing I want is to go back home and be with my friends. Well, that and…you know.”

Her guard nodded in understanding. “The Wonderbolts,” she said before becoming slightly hesitant. “Umm…permission to speak freely Highness?”

The question made Rainbow want to shudder, but she hid it and nodded. “Anytime Spitfire.”

“You need to grow up.”

Rainbow blinked and chocked her head to the side. “Uh Spitfire, if you count both my ages, I’m like one hundred and one.”

“Not what I mean ma’am,” she said before shaking her head. “You’re a…no, even before you became a princess, you were way up on the importance totem pole, way ahead of me. I’m not supposed to tell the Elements this but…well since you are you now…ugh!

“Okay, let me just go out and say it like this,” she began again. “During a emergency, be it national or personal, as per royal decree, the Bearers of Elements of Harmony are given full and complete authority unless counter ordered by one of the princesses themselves; and even then, if one of them losses it the Elements become the absolute authority because Celestia doesn’t trust herself to make a rational decision in the matter. Technically ma’am, you’re my boss, and you’ve outranked me since you earned that necklace. You and your friends have saved the world twice, and all of Equestria more than that if you get down to it. Joining the Wonderbolts, even before your ascension, it would have been a step down from where you were.

“Not to mention the nightmare that would have come about if you did get in,” Spitfire continued, now practically ranting. “Think about it, a rookie Wonderbolt with the authority of an Element? Who the buck would everypony follow? Me or you? I don’t even want to imagine the scenario of you going to the Academy. I’d have to stick you with the position of wing pony just on principle! The best thing I can even imagine you getting is a spot in the reserves so you have all the training, but none of the responsibilities! But you don’t even need that anymore since you literally wrote the book on Weather Working!”

“Aeromancy,” Rainbow corrected her by force of habit.

Spitfire sighed and shook her head. “Look your Majesty. I remember the day when we all met you after that competition, and you were excited and everything about one day joining us. But we’re more than just a cool stunt team that performs shows. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s amazing how you want to do that too and inspire the next generation of pegasi, but…you’re meant for better things that turning tricks for a crowd of ponies.”

“I know,” Rainbow Dash admitted. It hurt to say, but she wouldn’t hide from that particular truth. “It’s just…do you have any earthbound friends?”

“…not really,” Spite told her, her voice unsure. Obviously confused over the reason for the question.

“All of my friends are earthbound,” Rainbow said. “I mean, there’s Fluttershy, but she stays on the ground for like…ten hours for every one she’s up in the air. And I love flying! It’s the most amazing feeling in the world. But I can’t share that with them! Do you know what that feels like? There’s always going to be this…wall between us because they can’t fly over it. I’d do anything for them to experience flight like I do for just one day, but I can’t! Even if Twilight showed me how to slap magic butterfly wings on all of them, it’s not the same!

“But you guys, the Wonderbolts? You do understand, and you understand it in the same way I do! No pegasus can fly like you do unless you love it. When it really comes down to it, that’s why I wanted in the Wonderbolts. I wanted somepony to share the sky with me.”

Spitfire chuckled and stepped forward onto the balcony until she was standing beside her charge. “Well then your Majesty,” she said before spreading her wings wide before waving her feathers at the alicorn. “Shall we go then?”

The action made Rainbow Dash’s eyes widen. The stance Spitfire was taking and the way she wiggled her feathers…it was a challenging gesture from her days back in flight camp and before, dating back to the days when the pegasi stood on their own. Although…Rainbow was pretty sure they got rid of the part where the looser becomes a slave to the winner for a year and a day.

The alicorn chuckled and spread her own wings, dwarfing those of Spitfire’s and covering the smaller pegasus in shadow. “Just don’t whine to much when I beat you, little pony.”

“Oh Princess, I think that flank of yours is going to drag you back a bit too much,” her bodyguard replied.

In response, Rainbow looked back and shook her plot a bit. “Now you’re just sounding jealous little miss flat-flank.” Rainbow did rather like her extra curves.

Spitfire rolled her eyes. “Please, you could bounce a bit off mine. Yours on the other hand… Okay so, first to the racetrack wins?”

The sudden end to their trade of empty insults made Rainbow frown, for a minute, it was like she had been talking to a…friend. The reality of everything had disappeared, and it was just two friendly rivals going at it like her and Applejack did sometimes. “Yeah…racetrack. We’ll uh… Oh hey! The derby’s today, right? Ugh, and me without tickets.”

“Yeah, because we don’t have a royal skybox reserved for alicorns anytime they want to drop in,” Spitfire said with a roll of her eyes. “Not to mention the Wonderbolt’s private seating I could get us into.”

Rainbow Dash blinked as the obvious was stated. “Oh…right. So-”

“321GO!” Spitfire quickly said before she took off like a rocket.

As Dash followed her into the air, she would place the blame on so quickly catching up to her idol on earth pony strength giving her an extra kick to help with liftoff and the sky bending to her subconscious will to help create a bubble of perfect flying conditions around her. But once she had caught up to Spitfire, Dash matched her pace, and the race became a game of one-upmanship as Spitfire rolled around from Dash’s left side to her right one.

They did loops, dives, flew backwards, and even a super speed strut across the houses of Canterlot that only allowed each hoof to touch a particular roof one before moving onto the next one. They dove, rose, twirled and danced throughout the skies of Canterlot, taking ten times longer to complete the race that it would have taken even Fluttershy to make it to the derby track on her own.

When the two winged ponies began their final approach, Rainbow Dash solidified the air around Spitfire to slow her down a bit, then looped upwards around the pegasus while the Wonderbolt worked free of the alicorn’s Aeromancy. In the two seconds it took Spitfire to free herself from the field of condensed air, it was already too late. Dash came down from above and snatched the pegasus up in a grateful hug.

Spitfire struggled for a moment, then gave up when she apparently realized what was happening.

The alicorn put her head on Spitfire’s neck to whisper into the mare’s ear. “Thank you.”

“Anything for my number one fan,” Spitfire told the princess, repeating what Rainbow had declared back when she had been given a day to spend with the Wonderbolts. “Now uh…can you let me go, Princess? There’s tons of cameras at the derby and I really don’t want to make Princess Celestia angry at me because the Daily Equestrian starts printing about how I’m trying to hook up with the newest princess. After that party, I’m on thin enough ice with her as it is.”

Rainbow chuckled. “I dunno, me and a Wonderbolt would be a cool combo…but, I’ve already got my eyes on another mare,” she said before letting Spitfire go. The golden pegasus didn’t even drop an inch before she took over her own flying.

“Yeah, that Sparkle’s a lucky filly,” Spitfire said, earning a gobsmacked expression from Rainbow Dash. “Although I think she may be just a little young for you Ms 101.”

“Wha…it…you…does everypony know about that?” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“Well, I’m pretty sure she doesn’t,” Spitfire said before her smile became a full-on grin. “Would you like me to inform her, Highness?”

“Try it and you’re-hey! Where you going?” Rainbow shouted as the pegasus took off towards the track at was obviously her full speed, much faster than what she had started with.

“Racing, remember?” Spitfire shouted back, her words carried on the wind thanks to the captain’s magic, “and when I win, I think I’ll make you write out a love letter confession to her as a prize.”

“WHAT?” Rainbow shrieked in horror before finally chasing after her. “Get back here, that’s an order!”

Too far ahead of her for even Rainbow to catch without causing a massive disruption to the air around her, Spitfire laughed. “Sorry Princess, a personal guard’s first duty is to give her princess what she needs more than what she wants.”

“SPIIIIIITFIIIIREEEEEEE!” the goddess of the sky cried out in anger.

The day of the coronation came, and everypony who was anypony was in attendance. As the date fell upon the same day a the Canterlot Garden Party, Celestia had redesigned the event a little, making the crowd much smaller than what one would normally think such an event would draw. All the important members of Equestria had gathered to see the crowning of the new princess.

Aide from Luna…who was probably sleeping…and Pinkie Pie, who was planning a private celebration.

Her daughter’s dress (and Rainbow would officially be her daughter once the paperwork went through) was a pure white gown with a hemline of colors that matched her dancing hair and a few gold accents. Rarity’s work even seemed to have a bit of magic about it, making the ascended pegasus look all the more radiant.

The procession and the actual crowning of the princess had gone off without a hitch, and Princess Rainbow Dash approached the edge of the railing to speak, shifting her mother’s gaze out towards the crowd.
“PONIES OF EQUESTRIA! TIS WITH GREAT PRIDE THAT I TAKE UPON MYSELF POSITION AS THY PRINCESS OF THE SKY!”

Celestia did a double take and stared at the pony standing beside her, looking deeper than the illusionary aura that composed her dress. Then, as the crowd let out an uproars cheer, Celestia stepped forward and used years of practiced ventriloquism so the crowd wouldn’t see her talking. “Luna? Where is Rainbow Dash?”

As far as Pinkie Pie parties went, Rainbow Dash was finding her birthday bash for Twilight to be particularly enjoyable. The punch was gator-free, the cake was good, and all of her friends were in attendance. Twilight had even liked the simple dress that Rarity had made for her because of the…thing she had concocted for Rainbow’s coronation taking up all her time.

One thing new and old Rainbow could agree on was that fancy dresses bucked rotten apples. But Rarity could at least make them halfway comfortable and easy to slip out of, so she’d be getting orders from the princess till the boutique was shut down.

A slight tingle in her horn made Rainbow look up a second before a bright light that signaled teleportation appeared in the middle of the room, then grew to encompass a good amount of Sugar Cube Corner once all the ponies around it had moved out of the way. An explosion of light and sound quickly followed, and Rainbow blinked when the other three princesses of Equestria appeared in the middle of the room.

Everypony in the room stopped cold…although Pinkie took a few seconds longer than the others.

As per the plan, Rainbow called out before her mother could say anything. “Mom, Auntie…uh, Cadence, are we cousins or…what?”

“I’m pretty sure that would be the correct term,” the pretty pink pony princess replied.

“Okay, glad you could make it to Twilight’s birthday party!”

The surprise on Celestia’s face was controlled down to a mild level, and she managed to hide her anger completely. Then, when Rainbow saw her look back and forth between Cadence and Luna to see an innocent shrug from the alicorn of love and simple innocent whistling from the goddess of the night…

“Yes…Twilight’s…birthday party,” Celestia managed to say with a strait face.

Twilight stepped out from the small crowd. “You actually came…Rainbow said you would but…oh, I almost forgot!”

The hesitation on the sun goddess’s face vanished a second later and she held out a hoof to keep Twilight, or anypony else from bowing. “Not tonight my little pony,” Celestia told her student. “We are here for you. So for tonight, let us all stand as equals.” With that, her horn lit up to remove the crown from her head and place in on the counter.

“Excellent!” Luna exclaimed as a box wrapped in midnight blue wrapping paper appeared behind her and floated over to Twilight. “Add this to your pile of gifts my friend, and direct me to the libations!” With that, the goddess headed off towards the bar.

A few seconds later, after Pinkie had given the princesses their party hats, one of which had to be resized to fit the sun goddess with her magic, the day princess of Equestria made her way across the room.

“You skipped out on your own coronation,” Celestia grumbled as she lowered herself to sit next to Rainbow Dash. “And how did they not know about it? I told you to…you didn’t tell them, did you?”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Yeah right. They think its tomorrow. I’m just glad nopony put up any posters in the castle to advertise the thing.”

The explanation got an annoyed grunt from the sun goddess. “Technically, this means you’re uncrowned.”

“Only if people think I’m not…and now, I guess we’re even for the whole reincarnation driving me half-insane on the account of you just didn’t come out and tell me thing,” Rainbow countered. “As for them…well…I don’t want them to ever see me with a crown on my head.”

Celestia let out a snort. “Do you honestly think it will change anything between you and them?”

“Of course it will change things,” she growled. “It already has! Rarity still has to stop herself from bowing, since the party started I’ve tried to trip up three things Pinkie always booby traps and found nothing, Applejack’s all respectful and junk, Fluttershy is still the same but I can’t imagine her getting even meeker, and Twilight…I don’t even know where to start with her.”

A raised eyebrow from Celestia was directed at the purple unicorn as she had Cadence danced next to each other like they were both in the middle of some kind of spastic fit. “Are you talking about how she views you, or how you’ve come to view her?”

The question made a shiver run up Rainbow’s spine, and she looked up at her mother with wide eyes. “Oh not you too,” she moaned.

“Well you keep putting your wing around that filly and everypony’s going to notice,” Celestia told her. “Of course, today’s traditions are nothing compared to what that promise used to mean.” She looked down at the shorter alicorn and smiled. “So which one do you follow now Daughter?”

Rainbow Dash frowned at her mother, then looked over to the dancing unicorn and smiled. “I think we both know the answer to that.”

“You skipped out on a coronation to…this was to drag me here, wasn’t it?” Celestia asked.

“Duh.”

“Why?”

Rainbow glared at her mother. “Are you blind?” Rainbow demanded through gritted teeth. “Twilight idolizes you the way I used to with the Wonderbolts. A simple nod from you means the world to her. I’m not asking you to give her a pat on the back for crossing the street, but if you want to stay on my good side, then start paying more attention to her.”

“So, the ancient pegasi wing tradition it is,” Celestia replied with a smile. “Then I guess I should start becoming more familiar with Twilight. She may very well be a new in-law one day.”

It took everything Rainbow Dash had to keep glaring at her first mother without blanching.

“Okay everypony! Time to head outside for games!” Pinkie Pie called out. “Who wants to hold the four corners on the bouncing sheet to sent Twilight flying?”

Three minutes later, four nervous alicorns looked up as the screaming unicorn flew off into the night sky without wings or magic to hold her up.

“So uh…one of us should probably fly up there and catch Twilight before she starts to come down,” Cadence suggested.

Luna looked over at her adopted niece in confusion. “I thought the purpose of this game was to catch her with the blanket.”

“I’d go but uh…still no idea how to use my horn,” Rainbow told everypony.

“Okay, okay I’m going,” Celestia grumbled while Twilight hit the mile high mark of her ascent. “Honestly, I thought the point of this was to launch her into the air!”

The night continued, and once the games had ended, food was passed out by Pinkie, who ended up seating the three goddesses at the same table with Twilight along with them. This of course led to some very interesting conversations thanks to Twilight’s interest in history.

“Well yes, he did get his hat from a homeless pony,” Celestia admitted.

“HA! Told you Twi!” Rainbow exclaimed as she pointed a hoof at the unicorn.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “I never said he didn’t Rainbow. And how does that prove Starswirl was a fraud like you claim anyway?”

“Why do you claim him as a fraud Daughter?” Celestia asked.

“More than half of his magic came from visiting alternate-”

Celestia groaned and thumped her head against the table. “Oh why did I ever show you that thing?”

Luna raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “What thing sister?”

“Nothing sister, just a stupid little project Starswirl and I worked on during the beginning days of our kingdom,” Celestia assured her.

“Oh well in that case,” Luna said before raising her voice to allow the whole room to hear. “Tell us subjects, who wishes to hear the story of Princess Celestia and the Ultimate Transgression of the Sea Ponies?”

And things kind of went downhill from there…

In front of Celestia the several conscripts she had drawn from the ranks of the Ponyville populace stood with their weapons ready.

“Instead of a princess you shall have a queen! As glorious and magnificent as the sun! All shall love mine or despair!”

On the other side of the town’s main street, the other princess was also preparing her troops that consisted of the other half of Ponyville’s population.

“There may come a time when the age of pony comes crashing down! But I say to you that it is not this night! This night we fight!”

“ALL HAIL THE SOLAR EMPIRE!”

“FOR THE LUNAR REPUBLIC!”

“LET THEM EAT CAKE!”

“THROW THE PIES INTO THE WHITES OF THEIR EYES!”

On the sidelines of what would soon be the biggest food fight in Ponyville since its founding, thanks mostly to the two goddesses able to create an infinite supply of ammunition from thin air with their magic, a blue alicorn and a purple unicorn watched as the streets and buildings were covered in frosting and crust.

Twilight’s head cocked to the side, her brain not quite comprehending what she was seeing, or how it even really started. “But…all Pinkie and Applejack did was ask if they preferred cake, or pie.”

“Pfft, this is nothing,” Rainbow assured her as a stray pie flew towards them and was blown away by a miniature tornado she erected to keep them out of the fight. “Now if somepony had started talking about apples and oranges, then we might need to break out the Elements.”

When Twilight looked up at her in horror, Rainbow couldn’t stop the smirk from forming on her face. Then the little unicorn frowned at the taller pony. “You’re joking.”

“Yeah,” she admitted. “But…hey Twi, you have fun tonight?”

She giggled, and nuzzled Dash’s neck as the alicorn wrapped a wing around her. “Yes. Thank you for getting Celestia to come. I can imagine she was pretty steamed about you just skipping out on your coronation,” she said, causing Rainbow to freeze.

“W-What?”

“Oh please Rainbow, we’re not stupid…and Rarity’s probably going to chew your ear off tomorrow morning,” she added after a moment. “But…I did like having the ponies that mean so much to me here tonight. Thank you.”

Rainbow chuckled. “Anything for you Twi…and I’d better make my first royal decree give Rarity tax exempt status if I want to keep my skin.”

“Don’t worry Rainbow, I’ll protect you from the marshmallow unicorn monster,” Twilight assured her.

The promise of protection made the goddess chuckle, and she looked at her wing as it draped over Twilight. While modern pegasi simply took it as a sign of friendship and something a little deeper between lovers, the ancient tribe traditions that Rainbow had found engrained in her coat this past week made the gesture all the more important.

It was a promise to all ways be there for the mare under her wing, to be what she needed, be it protector, friend, or more. It was a promise that transcended the selfish greed for another that sometimes accompanied the feelings of love and be the emotion in its purest form.

And that’s the problem with perspective, Rainbow told herself.

At the moment, Twilight Sparkle didn’t need a lover, a complicated romance, or anything like that. She needed a friend.

And so that was what Princess Rainbow Dash would be.

“So, do you remember anything about that letter you wrote to the princess?”

“Some, why?”

“Homework assignment.”

Epilogue

View Online

Not Another Alicorn Epilogue

-The Night of the Coronation-

“Come along peasant, that’s right, with me now,” Blueblood said, his speech thankfully not slurring as he finished off the bottle of wine that he had brought along with him.

Grass crunched under his hooves as he led the mare through the twists and turns of his aunt’s garden maze; one of his personal favorite places to assert himself. Princess Celestia thought her garden was so wonderful and pure, it was one of Blueblood’s several secret victories over his white oaf of an aunt that every bit of the place had felt his presence in one way or another.

The dirt pony’s name was…well, he didn’t really know. She was just some maid from the castle that had caught his eye. Ponies without money, title, or magic were all dirt in his eyes, so he just decided to call her that and be done with it.

The reason for her presence was simple, she had a nice plot. It was the one good thing about Dirt and the ponies like her, their plots were always the most developed. They also had the most stamina, which sometimes suited his purposes. But it was the mare’s plot that interested him tonight.

“Oh my prince, I had no idea the garden was so lovely at night,” Dirt spoke, earning an eye roll from the price. If he had wanted an intelligent conversation, then Blueblood would have been talking to himself.

Another moment of blissful silence followed, then the mare spoke again. “Prince Blueblood, where were you during the coronation earlier today? I bet you had gotten a good seat along the princesses!”

The reminder of the coronation made Blueblood glower at the area ahead. He had in fact, not gone to the coronation. That was just a stupid event for the common rabble to observe and gawk at the latest commoner to be brought above her station. The real important event that happened two days prior to that had him gritting his teeth.

Before the spectacle in front of the crowds was even arranged, Celestia had called all the various heads of her government, the most affluent lords, dukes and other important officials as well as the highest ranking ponies among the military such as Captain Shinning Armor and Captain Spitfire. There Celestia had announced the latest commoner to be granted a horn as her heir apparent, and next in line of authority after the sisters themselves. Then, to add to the insanity of it all, she had the room at large bow and swear fealty to the newest princess for both them, and their houses.

Even Princess Cadence was put on bended knee!

Then it had come time for Blueblood’s turn…and he had refused to bend knee to such an inferior. Cadence had at least been kept in her place! For this newest commoner to be given such a high station was insanity!

Of course, he had told Celestia such not a moment later after refusing to submit to this…whatever her name was.

“I will not force subjugation on you child, all were asked to accept my new daughter, not ordered. However if you do not whish to support your newest leader, I hereby seize all lands and assists currently under your control and strip you of your position as the head of the head Equestrian Tax Collection Agency. You may continue to call yourself Prince for now and reside within the castle. But after several disturbing rumors recently coming to light about your behavior, I will be launching an investigation into your activities involving your treatment of fellow ponies.

“But I do not intend to stop there. You have been given the best education that can be provided, as well as the opportunity to use it for the betterment of Equestria. Instead, I find you do little more than count bits in the treasury and use your connection with me to advance your social status. I gave you the best this country has to offer, and you have squandered it!

“Therefore, I give you one year to prove that you are worthy of what you have been given. Show me that there is a reason to call you Prince, Blueblood…or I shall strip you of your royal titles and privileges, as well as cast you out of my home!”

The memory of Celestia’s words left a bad taste in his mouth and a boiling of his blood as Blueblood came to its end, then took the last turn on the long trek to find what he had been looking for.

“Oh my, what is that thing?”

The Stallion looked up at Celestia’s latest…acquisition. The statue was done by some unknown artist, and showed a freakish mishmash of parts atop a pony that made her look something akin to Discord. Like all the statues in Celestia’s private garden, it stood on a small pedestal that allowed it to be seen over the walls of the hedge maze. “Just something Celestia brought with her after that mess a few days ago.”

“When that terrible storm nearly hit Canterlot?” Dirt asked. “I must say, I was quite thankful for Princess Luna’s return that night. Did you know she directed the clouds away from the city all by herself?”

Blueblood rolled his eyes at the praise for Nightmare Moon’s antics. “Disgusting thing,” he grumbled. Why Celestia had welcomes such a monster back into the halls of Canterlot and offered her a position of rulership! The creature should have been killed on the spot! But instead, Blueblood had found it was placed above him in the standings of government!

“Indeed!”

The comment made the stallion look over to the mare with a frown. He hadn’t been addressing her! Or have I been talking out loud too much again? Blueblood asked himself. He was certain the single bottle of wine he’d drunk wouldn’t have done such a thing.

Then he realized that the mare was speaking of the statue. After all, it would have been odd to hear her praise Nightmare Moon, then condemn her a breath later.

A thought occurred to the stallion to have a bit of fun before rutting the dirt pony he’d drug out into the garden to claim victory over Celestia’s newest addition to her stone garden. “Shall a slay the creature, my dear?” the prince asked in a heroic tone.

“Oh yes! Save us from the beast my prince,” she replied.

After a minute of concentration, Blueblood seized the pedestal under the statue and toppled it over before using the same object to destroy the Frankenstein-ish monster by repeatedly smashing it with the heavier piece of marble to the fake cheers of the mare he planned to rut in celebration of his victory. Within seconds, the grotesque statue was in pieces, and Blueblood was frowning at the odd smoke that seemed to be rising from the wreckage of the artwork.

And that was the last thing Blueblood would ever see.

A few minutes later, the body that had once been Prince Blueblood walked away from the restored visage of the thing that had once been its prison. The body of the dead mare who witnessed the event of its release floated alongside. It’s soul having already been twisted and placed within the statue in order to make it appear she was still within her cell.

Considering the mental damage that such quick work had done to the mud pony, it was doubtful even Luna would know what to make of her dreams.

A year to ‘prove’ my worth, little sister? Andromeda thought to herself as she finished rifling through the information given to her by her descendent's mind; or himself as the case now was. You make this too easy.

Dear Princess Celestia

As I sit here writing this letter to you…I really don’t know what to say.

A few days ago, I saved some people around Ponyville and found the town cheering for me louder than they ever have before. I’ve always been a bit of a hero, but this was more than I had ever experienced before.

Oh, and in case you don’t remember me, I’m Rainbow Dash, the mare who won the Best Young Flier’s competition. And my dream is to be a Wonderbolt.

So I was being my awesome self, saving lives and everything, and all of a sudden my little town loved me for it. They started wearing Rainbow wigs to look like me and asking for my autograph and doing everything that, well, you’d expect them to do for a Wonderbolt.

It was as if, in this small part of Equestria, my dream had come true.

Then Mare Do Well appeared. I don’t know how much news about some middle of nowhere town you get up in Canterlot, but the long story short is, everypony thought Mare Do Well was some mysterious pony when in fact it was a group of four ponies posing as one; those four ponies being my friends.

Sort of friends?

Former friends?

See that’s just it…I honestly don’t know anymore.

I can’t really be angry at them for the stuff they did in costume. I mean, they helped other ponies so, I can give them a pass on what they did, it’s how and why they did it that’s got me wondering if I can still call Twilight and the others my friends.

I mean, they made the town think that four ponies were a single one. And I mean a pony than can fly, a pony that could do magic, and a really strong earth pony, and Pinkie Pie with her Pinkie Sense. So with me against all of this, of course even I’m going to be outdone! But they made the town think it was a single bucking pony.

They made the town forget about me! ON PURPOSE!

I HAD MY HOOVES ON MY DREAM AND THEY CRUSHED IT!

…

Okay, had to go out flying for a bit to calm down. And, it wasn’t really my real dream, but it was…it was like the best of both worlds, you know? I know I’m going to have to leave them for the Wonderbolts one day.

But, if I could have gotten just a piece of the Wonderbolts, and keep my friends at the same time…then I have to wonder if my dream would change. But that’s gone now. And I know that when the day comes, I will leave Ponyville to fulfill it.

…

Okay, sorry, had something to do so I had to take a break from writing the letter. I don’t know why I’m so distracted. I mean, choosing Ponyville or the Wonderbolts had always been a killer decision for me, you know? I should be taking them for making it easier for me.

So why does it hurt so much?

…

Oh right, the lesson I learned. Apparently, heroes aren’t supposed to brag.

I just don’t get it.

Okay well, maybe Twilight is like that, but AJ and the others, they brag about everything. Remember that whole running of the leafs thing you looked in on that one time? Well it had started because AJ was going on and on about how much of a better athlete she was than me, then she had this competition, where I apparently ‘cheated’ to win because I was BORN WITH WINGS. You know I didn’t whine about most of the events being stolen from a rodeo INCLUDING a roping event, which she has a blue ribbon in, or her earth pony strength and stamina. Was I whinnying about how SHE stacked the deck?

Here’s a clue: NO!

When my friends accomplish something, I give them the praise they deserve. When Twilight saved the town from a giant space bear, I was telling her how awesome she was. When AJ was getting a bucking trophy for herding cows, I was there to sing her praises, but what happens when I get the spotlight shown on me? They undermine me at every turn.

And what really ruffles my feathers is, this isn’t the first time it’s happened!

Remember the Youngest Flier Competition? Remember the UNICORN that came to the performance? The one I SAVED FROM DYING AFTER SHE STOLE MY SPOTLIGHT? Well guess who made the Mare Do Well costume?

So you know what? Buck them and their stupid no bragging rules! If they weren’t a bunch of high horse hypocrites, I might actually listen to their crap for five seconds before noticing the smell, but as things stand, those losers aren’t any friends of mine.

…

So what does that make me then?

I’m supposed to be Loyalty, right? I actually had to go and look that up. Other than just being loyal (go figure) it means a feeling of devotion, duty, or attachment to somepony or something.

Okay, I’m loyal to Equestria. Even Discord couldn’t beat me there! Stupid draco-whatchawhozits made me think Cloudsdale was going to be destroyed if I didn’t do something when he made everypony else lie, be greedy, and do a bunch of other junk. If he had done a disloyal thing, I probably would have been like Fluttershy or something when he made her mean, or tried to help him take over Equestria.

So that’s my something to be loyal to, but what about my somepony?

I’d say I’m loyal to you, but, well you ARE Equestria. So…yeah.

Does that mean I have to be loyal to Twilight and the others, even when they buck me in the teeth?

Does that mean I can never leave them to be a Wonderbolt?

…

Had to take a break again, do some thinking.

I don’t think I want to not be friends with them.

Is that wrong?

Is there something wrong with me?

Awhile ago, one of my old friends came to town, she was a griffon I met while in Junior Speedsters, and loved flying like I did. She acted like a jerk to Twilight and the others, and so I kicked her out of Sugarcube Corner and told her we weren’t friends anymore. And I had known her for longer than any of the others except Fluttershy. She was my flying buddy, it’s kind of this thing I call the pony (or griffon in this case) that I like to fly with the most.

And I love flying by the way, it’s the most awesome thing in the world. But hey you got wings too so, you know how it is.

So a griffon acts like a jerk to my friends, and I stop being friends with her.

My friends act like jerks to me…so shouldn’t I stop wanting to be friends with them?

I should.

…

I hate being alone, and it always feels like I am. Even when there’s a hundred ponies around me, cheering my name, none of them really know me. Because of that, I’m alone, even when a hundred ponies are around me.

But it wasn’t like that with them. With my friends, it’s like…they’re really there instead of just there to be next to me.

I don’t know. Never mind.

…

Is it like that for you? Being princess I mean?

Do you feel alone, even with all the ponies around you all day?

Never mind.

You’re Princess Celestia. You’re perfect. You probably have what it is I’m missing when I’m with a crowd of ponies, but still feel alone.

…

Do my friends look down on me? Do they hate me?

What did I do to make them hate me?

…

Don’t even know what I’m still writing this thing. A stupid book says when you don’t know what to write, just write whatever pops into your head and the ideas will come. So here I am writing what’s in my head.

What’s in my head?

What do I feel?

I feel hurt.

Why do I feel like this?

I…don’t know.

I hurt because my friends did what they did to me.

Why did they do that?

Do they hate me?

This is stupid.

…

Went flying again, it helps me think. I don’t know what to write anymore. I don’t know what to think.

I keep asking myself, why did they do what they did?

Okay, they wanted to fix me. That I get. But does that mean they don’t like the current me? If they don’t like me, then why are they my friends? I can’t seem to answer that question.

…

Just why are they my friends?

Applejack is somepony I can compete with. Rarity tries to bring out the best in ponies. Pinkie is fun. Fluttershy is my oldest friend, and Twilight likes helping other ponies. These are why I want to be friends with them.

So why do they think I’m their friend, if the thing I want to be is so bad?

No idea.

…

Is obligation the reason we’re still friends?

I’ve either saved their lives, or helped all of them out at one time or another. I thought we were even because of stuff later, but…now I’m not so sure. Do they really just hate me and only feel they need to hang around me because of stuff I did?

…

Is the reason I still want to stay friends with them because I’ll be alone otherwise? Is that it? Fear?

That’s not a reason to keep wanting to hang out with somepony.

…

Okay, maybe I’m not a perfect pony either, nopony is.

That’s another thing that just gets to me about all this. They stood around me, judging me, looking down on me, and it wasn’t the first time either. I saw Twilight and Applejack whispering to each other out of the corner of my eye the week before when I was trying to pick out a pet, and the looks on their faces said they didn’t approve.

They didn’t talk to me of course, they never do.

They never do. It’s just judge, judge, judge. Like they’re perfect and I’m some big loser.

…

Maybe that whole just judging thing was a little harsh, I mean, Twilight did try and talk to me during the Running of the Leaves.

Maybe it’s just AJ. I know sure as hay she thinks she’s perfect. Stupid Applejack, see how good her farm works when I’m not sneaking her a little extra rain from the Everfree.

…

Why didn’t Twilight just try and talk to me? Why didn’t Fluttershy?

I thought that’s what friends do, trust each other.

…

Okay so, last page I got in my house here, so had to think a bit on what I learned from all this junk. Heroes aren’t supposed to brag, that’s bull crap. If anything, heroes need to brag, WE need to do amazing things to show other ponies that it can be done. If I didn’t spend most of my childhood looking up at the sky and seeing the Wonderbolts, seeing what heroes were supposed to do and asking for autographs and hearing how they chased off dragons and rescued ponies trapped on mountains, I never would have gone into that forest with Twilight and the others, I never would have tried to follow in their footsteps of being a hero and we’d all be having to look up at a moon 24/7.

Or be dead, Twilight says if Nightmare Moon had kept the night going all the plants would have died, so…yeah. Don’t really like to think about that kind of stuff.

Without the hero to stand up and go “LOOK WHAT I CAN DO” we don’t have other ponies thinking ‘maybe I can do it too’. What we get is a bunch of Twilights who stand around and do nothing when some jerk shows up and picks on ponies because they’re afraid of looking awesome. And if they’re afraid of looking awesome, they never are, and then nothing awesome is ever done, and if we’re not doing awesome things then what’s the point of even getting up in the morning? Because the world would be full of the same, dull, ponies that never even try to do anything better than what‘s already been done, change anything, or make anything better. That’s not the type of world I want to live in.

Friendship lesson?

Well, I went back and reread this whole thing, and I noticed I started calling Twilight and the others my friends somewhere halfway through all this. So…yeah, I guess there still my friends, or I’m at least willing to hold off on the whole throwing away everything we’ve been through on one event. Okay two events, although Rarity apologized for the whole Fliers thing, so I can’t be mad at her for that anymore. She said she was sorry, and I forgave her, cause that’s what friends do. So I’ll forgive them too.

But, having friends is hard you know? It’s not all sunshine and rainbows.

If some plot-head were to try something like this to me, I would have just shrugged it off and pointed out how he was cheating at the hero thing while being more than one pony in that costume. I mean, that’s competition. But when my friends did it? It hurt, bad.

It’s like…you know how pegasi have magic to protect them from crashes and junk? Air cushions and windshields or whatever the technical name is? Well it’s like normal ponies I just walk by on the street are outside that shield, and when they do something, it’s like a normal crash. I just get up, get hurt a little, then shake it off and go on being awesome. But friends, its like they’re underneath that shield, and when they cause a crash, it hurts, bad! Really bad. So bad it makes you think that not having them there at all is better.

Is that what it’s like for you?

I mean, when I wrote that question earlier, I as thinking about it a lot and I realized something, for everything we really know about you, I can’t think of anypony whose really your friend. Hay, even Twilight didn’t know about your pet phoenix and seems to think you’ll banish her to the moon if she forgets to write a letter to you every week, but anypony with half a brain knows you’re way too nice and cool to let something as stupid as that get you so worked up. Are you afraid of being hurt because of something your friends do too?

I guess I can see how somepony’s would want that. Can’t crash if you never fly, right?

But hey, if I got a choice of risking being hurt sometimes, or being cold and alone all the time, then it’s way better to let ponies in and crash sometimes, then ever fly at all, at least to me anyway.

So, yeah I forgive them. Hay, I know sometime down the line, I’ll probably do a few things to make them mad, and actually be in the wrong, but they’ll forgive me for it too. It’s what friends do. And for the Wonderbolts thing, I hope they can find a way to support my dream, or else I really will have a decision to make.

But I guess I’ll have to cross that bridge when I come to it.

Your Subject, Rainbow Dash.

Twilight looked up from the last page of the letter, then over to the alicorn standing across from her. “You know…I never connected the whole heroic to the Wonderbolts,” she mumbled. “No wonder she was angry. And now, she’ll never be one. All things considered, with her ascension tied to this letter…I really did crush her dream, didn’t I?”

When the other pony in the library didn’t reply, Twilight gulped. The look on Princess Celestia’s face was one of sadness as she finished reading her copy of Rainbow Dash‘s homework. The unicorn tried to find something to talk about. “Um…it’s smaller than her first copy, apparently Rainbow scratched out a lot of stuff when she wrote it the first time. So…yeah.”

The silence continued on for a bit more, and Twilight looked around a bit. Then, she looked behind her and giggled. “Well, no wings, so…guess this isn’t the great revelation that would change pony society that I was hoping for, huh?”

“Actually, I think the spell choosing her has to do more with Rainbow Dash’s age than anything else,” Celestia spoke in an empty tone. “I based the qualifications for ascension on her past actions, when she was in her prime. By the time she was twenty years and six months old, the day Cloudsdale was founded. Since she’s technically the same pony that did that, the spell just snatched her up when she met the age requirement.”

Twilight blinked and looked away from her mentor for a moment, to gather some courage, then back to the goddess. “Princess Celestia, what’s wrong?”

“She’s right about me, you know? I don’t really have any friends,” she said in a solemn tone. “I haven’t had any for years, centuries even. I keep everypony I knew these days at forelegs length, and it’s because I’m afraid of the pain they’ll cause me. That’s why the Elements rejected me, with Luna gone, I no longer had the connections needed to power their magic, and…I’ve been alone ever since.”

The Princess’s declaration sent a shiver down Twilight’s spine. “W-What do you mean Princess?” she asked. “How…how can somepony hurt you?

Celestia looked up to the purple unicorn with unshed tears in her eyes, and for the first time Twilight thought she understood some of the weight that the goddess in front of her carried.

“They die.”

Not Another Alicorn!

by LordBrony2040

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Epilogue