After one of pinkie's parties, Twilight wakes up to find herself a foal and Fluttershy is her mother. Wait, what?
To celebrate Tirek's defeat, Pinkie has a huge party at the Friendship Castle. During this party, Fluttershy says how she wishes she had a foal, but doesn't think she'd be a good mother.Twilight tells her she'd be a great mother and that, if Fluttershy had been her mother, she'd have been a great one to her. Pumpkin, hearing this, casts a spell, just as Discord, for a joke, is about to turn Twilight into a foal for the night. When Twilight wakes up the next morning, she finds she's become an alicorn foal and fluttershy is her mother.
They both remember that that isn't how it use to be, but other than Discord and Pinkie nopony else seems to remember it and, for some reason, Discord can't reverse the spell. What will they do now?
the new cover art is by Princess Glitzy, but the blog was what inspired this fic.
In case you were wondering, no, twilight isn't a unicorn in the picture, she's an alicorn; you just can't see her wings because she's laying on her back is all.
"Wow, Pinkie, you really outdid yourself this time," Rainbow Dash smirked as they looked around the ballroom of the new Crystal Palace.
Though it had been such a long day for them and all of Ponyville, what with Tirek taking all the magic they had, only to have the mane six return it all, everypony was enjoying the party, dancing and having the time of their lives.
"Pumpkin, no!"
They all turned to see Mrs Cake pulling Pumpkin off of the head of one of the guards that had just arrived, pulling his helmet off with her as the little unicorn foal held onto it with her mouth, a wide smile on her face. Fluttershy sighed, looking down.
"Somethin' wrong, sugarcube?" Applejack asked, noticing the Pegasus' mournful expression.
The timid mare looked up, shocked they’d noticed, then looked away. "Do... do you girls think.... think I'd be a good mother?"
The question caught everypony off-guard, even Pinkie.
"What makes you asked that, darling?" Rarity asked confused.
Fluttershy sighed, a few tears welling in her eyes. "Back at the Crystal Empire, I saw a mother and her filly. They looked so happy. It made me wonder if I'd be a good mother. Though I know I probably wouldn't be. Any foal would probably be miserable if I was raising them. I care for animals. How could I care for a foal? It’s not the same."
Not liking to see their friend so sad, they all crowded around her, giving her a group hug.
"Don't you go and say that now, ya here, sugarcube?" Applejack said firmly. "Ya'll're great with fillies and colts. Ya'd be a great mom."
"Applejack's right," Twilight said, nuzzling the Pegasus. "Why, if I were your foal and you were my mother, I know I'd be one of the happiest fillies in Equestria.
Dash nodded, smirking. “Twilight as Fluttershy’s foal? That’s would be hilarious!”
Rarity and Applejack glared at the Pegasus.
“I don’t think so in the slightest,” the fashionista huffed, turning away from Dash.
Applejack just scowled at the cyan mare.
There was a popping sound and Discord appeared behind the six mares.
“I whole heartedly agree,” he said, giving a distasteful look at Rainbow, folding his talon and paw across his chest. “Fluttershy would make a wonderful mother.”
He inwardly smirked. In fact, just for fun, I’ll make Twilight a foal for Fluttershy to care for. Just for tonight, of course. I don’t want to ruin our friendship after I almost destroyed it not so long ago.
Fluttershy smiled meekly. "Thanks, girls. I—"
"Pumpkin, what're you doing?"
The mares all turned to see the little unicorn focused on them, her horn glowing brightly with her blue aura. At the same moment, Discord clicked his talon, his eyes going wide as he realized his mistake and his talon glowed with the same aura as Pumpkin’s horn.
Uh oh.
"Duck and cover!" Pinkie cried, bounding under one of the food tables and putting her hooves over her head.
Twilight glanced around at the others in fear, realizing Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense was telling her something dangerous was about to happen. However, they had only seconds to react before everypony present was blinded by a white light.
Twilight moaned as she rolled over in her bed. Her head was pounding. It felt like... well, like she’d been fighting a power-mad centaur. She inwardly chuckled.
I must have drunk too much and passed out and somepony brought me to my room, she thought, then frowned. But how did they know where it was? I don’t even know where it is. I didn’t exactly get to explore the castle yet.
She stopped frowning for a second, but it soon returned.
Something felt... off. She couldn’t place her hoof on it but something seemed out of place.
She shifted, trying to get her blanket into a more comfortable position, but became very confused.
She could hear the sound of the blanket shifting, but it didn’t feel like it had shifted. In fact, it felt the same as before. Surprisingly snug to her body... save her wings?
She slowly opened her eyes and pushed herself up, hearing a crinkling sound.
She hesitated. Something about that crinkling sound was... familiar.
Her eyes finally were able to focus and her frown became more confused.
There were bars in front of her. Purple, crystal bars.
“What?” she asked, then blinked. Her voice was unusually high. It hadn’t been that high since she was a filly. “What’s up wif my... WHY AWE MY HOOVES SO SMALL?!”
She had just noticed as she lifted a hoof up to scratch her head that it look tiny and stubby, not like her hooves at all.
There was a fluttering sound from behind her and she glanced back, only for her eyes to widen in shock. Her wings! They looked even bigger than Scootaloo’s wings! How was that possible?
Worried about what else on her body could have shrunk, Twilight glanced up at her horn and felt her heart stopped for a second. It... it was as long as Sweetie Belle's! What happened to her nice, slightly longer than a regular unicorn’s horn?!
She started hyperventilating. Her hooves were tiny, her wings were tiny, her horn was tiny...
She looked down at her hooves again and suddenly took notice that they were covered in a purple, woollen fabric, like the kind hoofy pajamas had, or snuggies, as most ponies referred to them.
“But...” she whimpered, her high voice squeaking to a somehow even higher level, “why would I be weawing snuggy pajamas? I’m not a foal...?” Her eyes widened. “Am I?”
She pushed herself up fully, the blanket coming off and that crinkling sound happening again, followed at once by Twilight noticing the feeling of something warm and snug around her flank that wasn’t the snuggy.
She started hyperventilating again.
What was going on? Why was she a foal? Why was she still in the castle? Where did the crib, for she now saw that was what the bars belonged to, come from?
“Oh... Angel,” a soft, sleepy voice said from somewhere. “Not so loud, please? I have a really bad headache. What did Pinkie put in that punch last night?”
“Fwuddewshy?!” Twilight cried, putting her hooves to the bars, looking out.
Now that she wasn’t focused on her strange transformation, she noticed the room she was in was crystalline in design, yet similar to Fluttershy’s bedroom from her cottage.
She’d been in there a few times to care for the Pegasus when she’d gotten sick with Feather Flu days after Tornado Day.
However, she knew this wasn’t Fluttershy’s cottage for several reasons.
The first, and most obvious, this was definitely the castle and two, Fluttershy’s cottage was destroyed when Tirek had gotten all the alicorn magic and gone and a rampage.
The Pegasus was laying in a bed a few hooves away, covered in a blanket of fine wool.
“Twilight?” she said sleepily, rolling over to face the direction of the foal’s voice and slowly opening her eyes. “Why’re you in my cottage...?”
“Fwuddewshy!” the alicorn cried, banging her hooves on the bars. “Down’t you see someting weiwd about me?”
The Pegasus frowned in confusion and sat up a little. "Twilight?” she asked, rubbing her face with a hoof. “Why’re you a foal?”
The words that left her mouth suddenly seemed to register and she snapped awake, her eyes wide with horror.
“T-T-Twilight!” she cried, pointing a hoof at her in fear. “You’re a foal!”
“Jee, tanks. I newew wou’da guessed,” Twilight deadpanned.
Fluttershy’s fear suddenly vanished and she put a hoof over her mouth, slight giggles escaping her.
“Fwuddewshy!” Twilight pouted, which only made Fluttershy’s giggles grow louder.
“I-I so sorry, Twilight—” the Pegasus struggled through her giggles. “Y-you just look so cute wh-when you d-deadpanned and p-pouted—” She couldn’t finish, lost in a fit of giggles.
“Dis is sewious!” Twilight shouted, her anger at Fluttershy’s reaction making it hard to keep a level head. “I became da Pwincess o’ Fwienship onwy yesewday and now I’wm a foal! We need to teww da pwincesses!”
Fluttershy, now over her giggle fit, suddenly stared in horror as the dawning of the situation hit her.
Twilight was a princess of Equestria. She was the Element of Magic. If she was just a foal, there was no telling how Equestria would react to this.
“Oh, no,” she said, her voice turning into a squeak. “What do we do?”
“Teww da pwincesses!” Twilight said, shaking her head at how Fluttershy seemed to have forgotten she’d only just said that a few seconds ago. “Fiwst we teww ouw fwiends, den we teww da pwincesses.”
Fluttershy nodded. That was the most reasonable thing to do.
Twilight’s face darkened and she looked away. “But... fiwst...”
“But first, what, Twilight? I-if you don’t mind my asking, that is?” the timid mare asked, looking at Twilight from her bed.
Twilight scowled, looking away. “Can you get me ouwt o’ dese snuggies an’ change me? I tink I went wast night.”
Fluttershy blinked, then wrinkled her nose as a strong smell reached her senses.
She put a hoof over her nose, saying in a squeaking voice you always do when pinching you nose, “Oh, Twilight. What did you eat last night?”
Twilight just glared at the floor. “Wike I’d know.”
Surprisingly, or, maybe not, considering how weird it was already that Twilight had woken up as a foal in Fluttershy’s room of the castle and in a crib at that, there was a changing table, fully stoked and ready for a foal to be changed.
Twilight, despite her humiliation at her current circumstances, had to admire Fluttershy’s skill in diaper changing.
“I change a lot of baby animals,” Fluttershy answered the unasked question on Twilight’s mind.
Twilight nodded.
That made sense. Before Tirek had destroyed her cottage, Fluttershy took care of every manner of animals, some from birth to adulthood. And that wasn’t really very different now.
When the castle had grown, it had a room specially suited for her and all her friends. Fluttershy’s room was a lot like her cottage, with bird houses and small critter houses hanging from the ceiling and around the walls and they was a ledge so that the animals could come and go as they pleased, with vines for the non-winged ones to climb up and down.
While she was being changed, Twilight noticed something that both confused her and made her happy. She still had her Cutie Mark. This was odd because, when Trixie had used age spells to turn Snips and Snails into foals, they'd lost their Cutie Marks until they were returned to their normal ages, so why did she still have hers?
She pondered this. Maybe it was because she'd finally found what she was princess of and that was now tied into her, despite her new age? She'd need to do some research, as soon as she was back to her normal age again, that is.
Once she’d finished changing her diaper, Fluttershy picked Twilight up and put her on her back.
“I tink Wainbow would stiww be downstaiws,” the alicorn foal said, frowning, deep in thought. "She'ww pwobabwy tease me about dis, but we need hewp."
Fluttershy wouldn't tell her, but Twilight looked so cute with that look on her tiny face. She'd noticed it during the changing, but hadn't said anything and hidden it from her face as best she could.
Fluttershy frowned. "Something I don't understand..." she murmrued, looking back the foal Alicorn, "is your eyes, wings and horn."
Twilight blinked, then cocked her head. "Huh?"
Fluttershy trotted over to a draw and opened it, moving thing around until she'd found a mirror and held it up so Twilgiht could see.
Twilight blinked, not sure what to make of what she was seeing. She looked like a foal, true, but there was some key differences between her and other foals she'd seen throughout her life time.
For one, Twilight eyes seemed more defiened than a foal's should be. On top of that, now seeing her reflection, she could confirmed that her wings were indeed bigger than a foal her age's should be, as well the length of her horn.
Twilight blinked, realizing something. She'd never heard of an Alicorn foal being born before. She wasn't even sure if the princesses had been born Alicorns. She knew Cadance had been born a Pegasus.
At that moment a knock came from the door.
Both Twilight and Fluttershy flinched and glanced at each other, fear in both their eyes.
"Miss Fluttershy?" a mare's voice called from the other side, muffled by the large crystal door. "Are you and the princess up yet?"
Their eyes widened and they glanced at each other.
How did this unknown mare know Twilight was in the room too? Did the princesses already maybe know and they'd put her in the Pegasus' room while they figured something out?
That made sense, Twilight supposed. Putting her in Fluttershy's care ensured she would be safe until they figured out a solution to the problem.
Fluttershy opened the door and a yellow Earth Pony mare with a green mane, tail and eyes and a lemon Cutie Mark was waiting for them.
Twilight frowned. She could remember this mare. Her name was Lemon Dreams. She was a pony that had, for some many years, thought she was a lemon, but had been fine recently.
"Um, hello?" Fluttershy asked nervously.
Lemon Dreams smiled warmly. "The princesses sent me to guide you to the dinning hall. You still seem to have a little difficulty, finding your way around here. Though, since you've only been living here for a few days, I can't be surprised. I've still no idea how I've figured out how to move around this place after I volunteered for an extra job. Guess everypony that works for royalty gets some weird knowledge to navigate the halls."
Twilight frowned. Either Lemon Dreams hadn't noticed she was a foal, or the princesses had briefed her enough for her to know not to say anything.
Lemon looked to Twilight and smiled. "Good morning, widdle pwincess. Did you have a nice sleep."
Twilight looked away, so as not to give away how angry she was at being talked to like a foal.
Lemon Dreams, however, just saw it as a cute foal reaction "Come on," she chuckled, turning down the hall and heading down it."Can't keep the baby princess waiting."
Glancing at Twilight on her back, Fluttershy waited for her confirmation to move on.
Twilight nodded and they followed Lemon down the hall, both still wondering what the hay was going on.
Lemon Dreams left the two as they entered a large dinning hall, with a long table that was at least half as big as the one in Canterlot Castle. Seated at he table were Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity. However, along with their friends, Celestia and Luna were seated too, along with Shining Armour and Cadance.
"Good morning, Fluttershy," Luna smiled, then winked at Twilight. "And how is our newest little niece doing this morning?"
Twilight looked away, embarrassed. She wished Luna hadn't said that. Her situation was bad enough already. Twilight's humiliation only continued as she was levitated by Luna into a high chair next to where Fluttershy took her seat. A bottle of milk and a jar of what looked like apple sauce foal food were on the tray in front of the little alicorn, whose stomach chose that moment to rumble, quite loudly.
Blushing with even more embarrassment and, deciding she didn't really have any other choice right now and knowing she couldn't possibly get anymore embarrassed than she was already, Twilight took the bottle in her hooves, stuck the nibble in her mouth and began suckling.
At once, she noticed it wasn't formula. She could still remember how that tasted from when she was a little filly and this wasn't formula. It tasted like milk. It was warm and sweet and, despite herself, she couldn't help but smile and purr a little as she enjoyed the taste.
As Twilight drank her milk, Celestia looked to Fluttershy. "Is she sleeping well?"
Fluttershy, unsure how that question should be answered, decided to lie, hoping AJ would forgive her later. "Oh, yes. She slept soundly. Thank you for asking, princess," she said, glancing at Applejack and inwardly frowning at how the farmer didn't seem to detect the lie.
Celestia nodded, then looked apologetic. "I must apologize again, Fluttershy. I know it's been days now, but I still feel sorry we had to use your daughter to store our magic so Tirek couldn't take it from us... as failed a plan as that turned into, anyway."
Twilight spat out her milk, getting Pinkie covered in it before she started coughing, a small amount having gone down her wind pipe. Did... did Celestia just say Fluttershy's daughter? But, she'd been the one they stored their magic in. She could still feel slight remnants of their magic inside of her. Small amounts that would always make her feel like they were really related to her, not simply referring to her as their relative just because she'd become an Alicorn.
"I still do not understand how young Twilight fought him off as long as she did," Celestia shook her head.
After patting Twilight s back to calm her breathing, Luna turned to her sister. "Remember, sister, along with having all our magic within her, she also had our wisdom. I can only assume that she accessed it and put it to good use."
Twilight, now able to breathe normally again, just stared, wide-eyed. Were they saying Fluttershy was her mother?
She thought back to the morning. The crib in Fluttershy's room, the changing table, the fact that nopony seemed the least bit concerned that she was a foal... It all added up.
Somehow, though she couldn't figure out the how, she'd been turned into a foal and the reality around her and Fluttershy had changed, placing them in a reality where Flutterhy was her mother.
Twilight suddenly looked at Shining Armour sitting next to his wife and her heart broke, tears welling in her eyes before she started wailing. If Twilight was Fluttershy's daughter, then that meant Twilight Velvet wasn't her mother, which meant Shining Armour was not her brother. She'd lost her BBBFF and he didn't even know it. The knowledge of that tore at her now little heart.
Fluttershy, on an instinct she questioned a second after, grabbed Twilight out of her high chair and held the tiny princess close, trying to sooth and calm her. Taking both of them by surprise she did, a little. She still cried into Fluttershy, but her volume, which had been extremely loud because she'd gone into the Royal Canterlot Voice, had gone down to the volume of a regular foal's crying, which was still pretty loud, all things considered.
Cadance looked at the foal, worry on her face. "What's wrong?"
Her husband nodded. "Yeah. Why did Twily just started crying like that? Does she have a tummy ache or something?"
Though she didn't go back into the Royal Canterlot Voice, Twilight started crying louder at the mention of the nickname her now former brother had given her when she was a filly.
Celestia looked to Fluttershy, a smile on her face. "I think she needs some alone time with her mother. Maybe you should take her back to the nursery in your room, Fluttershy."
Fluttershy nodded and, holding the crying Twilight in her forehooves, Fluttershy flew out the room, heading back the way she'd come with Lemon Dreams.
Fluttershy held the wailing foal in her hooves as she sat on her bed, trying her best to hush Twilight. Like Cadance and Twilight's brother, she was curious as to why Twilight had suddenly started crying like foal she currently was. Though her main priority right now was to calm her down.
However, something struck her as odd. She felt she needed to calm Twilight down, she didn't want her to cry, but it wasn't like the other times she comforted the alicorn when she was in distress, even back when she'd been a unicorn. It felt stronger than that. It almost felt... maternal.
Her eyes widened as she realized that was the label for this feeling and remembered what Princess Celestia had been saying prior to Twilight's crying. She'd apologized to Fluttershy for putting her daughter in danger by putting all the alicorn magic in her. And Princess Luna, when her sister had said she didn't understand how Twilight had managed to fight of Tirek, implying she'd been a foal at the time, had said it as because Twilight had had their wisdom to guide her as well as their magic.
However, what had her mind locked was what these two things put together meant. If the princesses had put thir magic into her daughter (the idea she even had a daughter both stunned and overjoyed her), but Twilight was the one who'd been fighting Tirek with the magic... that meant Twilight... was her daughter.
The shock of this alone would've been enough to make the petit Pegasus faint on the spot, but something kept her conscious. Something that was crying into her coat, wailing at the top of her lung, but not going into the Royal Canterlot Voice, and clutching onto her.
Taking a breath, Fluttershy wrapped her wings around the crying alicorn and, in her most soothing voice said, "Shhh. It's okay, Twilight. Let it all out. It's okay."
"Sh-Sh-Shiny's not my bwodew anymore!" the foal sobbed loudly, rubbing her head against the Pegasus' fur.
Fluttershy blinked, confused. "What do you mean, Twilight? Oh, if you don't mind my asking, that is?"
Twilight pulled her head away, looking up at Fluttershy with red, bloodshot eyes. "C-C-Cewestia said y-youw my mommy," she managed through her sobs. "D-dat means, my mommy,Twiwight Vewwet, iwn't my mommy no more. An iwf she not my mommy, Sh-Shiwning Awmouw iwn't my bwodew!" she finished in a wail, blurring her face back in her mother's coat.
Fluttershy could do nothing more than hold her daughter and comfort her as best she could and let Twilight cry all her sorrows out into her fur.
After about half an hour, Twilight's wails had turned to sniffles. She was only know, after having gotten all her pain out, realising just how warm and calming Futtershy's embrace was. Makes sense, I guess, she thought in a slightly miserable tone. She's my mother now. Even if I don't want to believe it, my foalish instincts think otherwise.
Fluttershy nuzzled Twilight's small mane, which the alicorn found she rather enjoyed. It made her feel better and right now, she needed all the cheering up she could get.
Now that she'd calmed down enough to think clearly again, however, she now started wondering how in Equestria this had happened. As she tried to think of what could have happened to do this, vague memories of, what seemed to her, last night, started coming back.
She could vaguely remember talking with Fluttershy about how she would've made a great mother, which she could now confirm true, since Fluttershy had done so well in helping her deal with the pain that had overwhelmed her. She remembered saying if she were Fluttershy's foal, she'd have been happy being raised by her. There was something about Pumpkin Cake using a spell and Discord's talon glowing with the foal's magical aura—
Her eyes widened. Discord! She should've figured he'd have had a part to the play in this. He'd told her that they truly were friends when he'd given her her key to open the chest, but he obviously wasn't going to stop with his mischief making ways.
Twilight looked up at her mother, a firm look on her her face that just seemed to make Fluttershy have to withhold a giggle, no doubt because it looked cute.
"Discowd did dis," she said, in a tone that said there was no doubt at all that it was the truth.
Fluttershy looked shocked. "Twilight, you don't really think he'd have meant to make me your mother, do you?"
"I most certainly did not." A popping sound later and the mismatched creature was standing in front of the bed, giving a very disapproving look to the young alicorn. "Your becoming Fluttershy's daughter by blood and everypony forgetting about who you used to be certainly was not what I had in mind."
"You mean, you were responsible?" Fluttershy glared at Discord. She was happy to be able to call herself a mother, but what he’d done had upset Twilight, and nopony made her little filly cry
Discord twiddled his paw and talon. "I might and I mean might have planned on turning Twilight into a foal. But, it would've only been for the night, I swear!" He'd started backing up, waving his paw and talon in front of him as Fluttershy's glare started turning into The Stare.
The new mother raised an eyebrow. "Promise it was only meant to be one night and not permanent?"
He nodded frantically.
"Pinkie Promise?" it was such a silly sounding thing to ask, but Fluttershy's tone made it sound more like a death threat.
Discord went through the motions, then sighed, scratching his head. "This is so beyond what I had in mind at all. Who'd have thought that little unicorn had it in her?"
"Unicorn?" both females asked, before they remembered. "Pumpkin Cake!"
The chaos master nodded. "At the same moment I was using my chaos magic to turn Twilight into a foal, she used a spell with the same intention. Her magic somehow mixed with my own and... well, the results are all around us."
Fluttershy looked down at Twilight, who was crying again, silently this time, the Pegasus looked up at Discord. "Can't you just undo the spell?"
To hers and Twilight's dismay, he shook his head. "This was raw magic mixed with chaos magic. Even I can't just fix it like that. Believe me, I've tried since I woke up, but nothing happens." He looked away, a sad and ashamed look on his face. "I haven't felt this useless since Tirek betrayed me and took my magic away."
Both ponies winced; that memory would haunt them all for a long time.
Fluttershy looked down at the foal in her forehooves, then up at Discord. "So, nopony aside from us remembers this isn't how things were? Nopony remembers who Twilight used to be?"
Discord shook his had sadly. "No. Not one pony or living creature in is world aside from the three of us remembers that Twilight wasn't always your foal." He frowned. "Well, maybe Pinkie Pie does. I certainly wouldn't put it passed her. I swear, that pony's powers boggle even me and I'm the master of chaos."
Twilight sniffled. Her whole life, everything she'd ever done, everything she’d ever accomplished, all the ponies she'd ever met, her parents, her brother, Cadance, even Celestia, none of it had ever happened now?
Fluttershy seeing Twilight sadness, leaned down to nuzzle her when a loud voice made the three jump in fright."Hey, Twilight! Don't worry, Pinkie Pie will always be your best friend!"
Discord leaped away, slamming into the wall as the pink pony just seemed to appear behind him. Several chunks of crystal dislodged from the ceiling, hitting Discord on the head. Due to the magic of the castle, the spots now empty of crystal quickly healed themselves, leaving the ceiling fully intact, as if nothing had happened.
Twilight, however, couldn’t see it too well. Upon Pinkie Pie’s sudden appearance, Fluttershy had clutched onto the little foal, holding her tightly. Twilight could tell this was a mixture of Fluttershy being Fluttershy and her new motherly instincts to protect her child from a possible danger. Which, considering this was Pinkie Pie, wasn’t too far off from danger anyway.
Pinkie looked at Discord in confused. “Dizzy, why’d you slam yourself into the wall? That didn’t look very fun.”
“It wasn’t,” the Draconequus grumbled, rubbing his head, which was now sporting a large red lump. Sometimes, being a being of chaos sucked when your own magic amplified things like bumps.
Twilight, however, after having pulled herself enough out of her surragote mother’s grasp to breathe freely again, looked up at Pinkie. “You wemembew me?”
Pinkie turned from Discord to the foal and nodded, grinning. “Well, duh. Just because you’ve turned into a foal, Fluttershy’s become your mom and the whole world’s forgotten everything that happened since you were originally born and our whole reality has changed to suite that you're a foal doesn’t mean I’ll ever forget my best friend.”
Twilight could do nothing but blink as she absorbed everything Pinkie had just said and felt a headache coming on.
“But, how come you remember everything, but everypony else doesn’t Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked, then hid behind her mane. “That is, if you don’t mind my asking?”
Pinkie nodded. “Well, of course I remember. Why do you think I hid under that table and shouted “duck and cover”?”
Twilight looked up at Pinkie, having been holding her head in her hooves for the last few seconds. “You mean, you wemembew... jus’ becauwse you hid undew a tabwe?”
Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Duh. And lucky there was a table, because a place-mat was too far away to reach in time, so I chose the table.”
“But... how...?” Twilight moaned and flopped onto her back, looking up at the crystal ceiling. “You awe so wandom.”
She lay there for several seconds, pondering over what other changes this new world had compared to the one she’d grown up in, when something occurred to her. If she was a foal, she’d never been Celestia’s student. So... if she hadn’t become Celestia’s student, who had?
When she posed this question to Pinkie, her jaw practically dropped. Sunset Shimmer. In this version of her world, Sunset never left for the human world, remaining Celestia’s student. Though, apparently, she’d never gone far enough in her studies to warrant Celestia testing her for the right to become an alicorn.
Twilight almost fell off of the bed. Had the Pegasus not darted forward and caught her, Twilight probably would’ve needed the hospital during her first living memory day of being her daughter.
Pinkie, oblivious to the shock in the foal’s mind caused by the learning of this information, pulled Twilight into a hug, rubbing her cheeks against the foal’s and, try as she might to fight it, Twilight giggled at the feeling of Pinkie rubbing her cheeks.
Fluttershy smiled, walking over and nuzzling her daughter. Sweet Celestia, that was still hard to understand. Twilight was her foal, her child.
Suddenly there was a loud crashing sound from outside, followed by, “Consarnit! Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, what did Ah say ’bout runnin’ in the halls?!”
The male voice took them all off-guard. It sounded like...
“Bwaebuwn?” Twilight glanced at Fluttershy, very confused, as was the Pegasus. “What’s he doing hewe?”
“Oh, yeah!” Pinkie chirped, passing Twilight back to Fluttershy. “Braeburn’s your daddy.”
“WHAT?!” they shouted, their eyes wide, even Discord stared at Pinkie in shock.
Pinkie just tilted her head to the side. “What what?”
“How... How is Bwaebuwn my daddy?!” Twilight shouted, mentally cursing herself for saying “daddy” instead of “father”, like she’d intended.
Pinkie grinned. “Oh, it was about a year before Nightmare Moon arrived. Braeburn was visiting Sweet Apple Acres in order to tell Applejack that the fields would soon be ready for Bloomberg. To celebrate, Applejack and the rest of the family had a big party, planned by yours truly. Fluttershy came by with Winona after having taken care of some fleas she’d gotten.
Braeburn asked her name and she told him, then Applejack said, since you were already there, you should join the party. Wow, you drank a lot of cider, so did Braeburn. They both got really drunk and... well...”
Twilight blushed, realizing what Pinkie was saying. She’d been born because Fluttershy and Braeburn had been drunk and... She face-hoofed. Great, so she’d been conceived during a night of drunken passion.
Suddenly, her mind went at a million miles an hour as something clicked. Braeburn was her father and he was an Apple. That meant, if she was his daughter, she was an Apple too. But if that was true, she and Applejack and her family were cousins. But if that was true, then that meant she was also related to—
“Yep!” Pinkie chirped, ruffling Twilight's mane. “I’m your fourth cousin twice removed. Nice to meet ya, cousin.”
Twilight said nothing. She couldn’t. Her mind had just stopped as she stared at the smiling pink pony standing in front of her she was now related to.
“Um, why is Braeburn here? If it’s alright my asking, that is?” Fluttershy asked, looking at Pinkie, completely oblivious to Twilight’s mental strike. “Isn’t he meant to be in Appleloosa?”
Pinkie nodded. “Yep. But you didn’t learn Twilight was in your tummy until he went back and when you told Applejack he was the daddy, she marched up there and dragged him down to figure it out.”
“And... wha hawppen?” Twilight asked dizzily, still reeling from the mass of information her now tiny head had already had to absorb today.
Pinkie giggled. “Well, he couldn’t stay in Ponyville, because he needed to help Appleloosa and Fluttershy couldn’t go with him, because her friends and whole life are here, in Ponyville, so they both agreed that he would come and visit you guys and vice versa from time to time and have shared custody of Twiney.”
Twilight snapped out of her stupor and scowled at Pinkie, though it’s menace was lost on the pink pony because her foalish face just made it look cute. “Down’t caww me Twiney.”
The Earth Pony countered with a pout. “Aw, but it sounds so cute.”
The door suddenly opened, revealing the Cutie Mark Crusaders as they charged towards Fluttershy and Twilight, the former suddenly stiffening from the sudden noise, the latter burying herself deeper into the former’s fur on instinct.
A stallion easily recognizable as Braeburn stopped in front of the door, panting heavily. “How... How da ya’ll handle these three, Fluttershy? Ah barely lasted five minutes with ’em.”
Twilight wanted to get a good look at her “father”, but the CMC were jumping up and down in front of her, cooing and daa’wing at how cute she was, making it impossible to see passed them.
“She’s so cute!” Sweetie Belle practically screamed, making said foal and her mother flinched.
“I still can’t believe such a little foal managed to save Equestria so many times,” Scootaloo nodded, grinning as her wings buzzed.
“Ah still can’t believe Ah’ve got a princess for a cousin,” Apple Bloom chirped, leaning up and nuzzling Twilight.
Said alicorn had stopped at what Apple Bloom had just said. She’d vaguely forgotten that being related to Braeburn, thus being related to Applejack meant she was also related to Apple Bloom.
Braeburn walked in, gently pushing passed the three excitable fillies and nuzzled Twilight, who, despite herself, cooed as he did so.
“Let’s leave them alone, shall we?” Pinkie said, pushing the fillies out before they could protest, though that didn’t stop a trio of moans from sounding through the doors as they closed.
Fluttershy looked away from Braeburn, blushing, the thought of just how she and he had become Twilight’s parents made it impossible for her to look him in the eye.
“Um, did Ah do somethin’ wrong?” She glanced at him, seeing a slightly worried look on his face, before she looked away again.
“N-no,” she stuttered, gulping. “I... I just can’t stop thinking about... um, that night.”
Braeburn suddenly wore a blush equal to Fluttershy’s. “Yeah. Ah still have nightmares about how Granny first reacted when Applejack dragged me over to sort everythin’ out.”
Fluttershy gulped. “So, um, how’re things in Appleloosa?”
Braeburn’s blush faded and he smiled wide. “We’re doin’ great. Ya should bring Twi around more often. Strong Heart’s always wan’n’ to know how she’s doin’.”
Hearing about the young buffalo, Fluttershy gave a small smile. “Oh, well, I suppose we could go sometime, if it’s okay with her, that is.”
Braeburn nodded. “She’ll be happy ta hear that. Let me know when ya’ll can come.”
Fluttershy gave a meek nod, then the slightest frown. “Braeburn, why’re you here. Um, if you don’t mind my asking.”
The stallion shook his head, then nuzzled Twilight, who giggled in response. “After Ah had my magic taken, I was so worried ’bout our little girl I had to find out how things went here. Glad it wasn’ as bad and ya’ll're both okay.”
Fluttershy’s frowned went from curios to confusion. “If you came as soon as everything was okay, how come you’re only coming now?” As soon as she said it she regretted it, thinking, maybe he’d been here since after Tirek had attack and now she’d just made things really awkward.
Braeburn looked away, an ashamed look on his face. “Ah’m real sorry ’bout that. The train broke down half way here an’ it took a day an’ a half for the repairs.”
Fluttershy looked very apologetic. “Oh, I’m sorry, Braeburn. I should’ve known you’d have a good reason for not being here sooner. ”
He grinned. “No prob, Fluttershy. Now, Ah think somepony here’s hungry.” As if on cue, Twilight’s stomach growled loudly, causing the little alicorn to blush.
Fluttershy smiled. “Well, I’m sure breakfast isn’t finished yet. Let’s head for the dining hall.”
Braeburn nodded, Fluttershy put Twilight on her back and the three headed out and Fluttershy led the way back to the dining hall.
As the trio of ponies returned to the dining hall, Celestia looked to them, slight worry on her face. “Is everything alright now?”
Fluttershy glanced back at Twilight, who nodded and the new mother replied, “Oh, yes. Thank you, Your Highness. Twilight just had some things to get off her chest, that’s all.”
Celestia chuckled. “I told you, Fluttershy, just call me Celestia. We are family, after all.”
Fluttershy pondered what she meant for a second, before she understood Celestia’s meaning. Since she was Twilight’s mother and Twilight was a princess, by default, Fluttershy was part of the Royal Family too.
“Well, howdy, cousin,” Applejack greeted Braeburn, who nodded, grinning. “Wha’ brings ya here t’ Ponyville.”
Braeburn nuzzled Twilight, who, having not expected it, was helpless against her foalish side that caused her to coo in response. “Ah had t’ make sure mah little girl was alrigh’. Glad t’ see she is.”
Rainbow Dash smirked. “So, you gonna ask Fluttershy for her hoof in marriage yet?”
Fluttershy and Twilight almost choked on, well, nothing really and a loud crashing from the door showed Discord had just tripped, his eyes wide, while Pinkie bounced in passed him, as oblivious as ever.
Braeburn just glared at Rainbow Dash. “Now, ya’ll know that Fluttershy don’ feel tha’ way ’bout me and I don’t her. We’re not gonna go marryin’ each other when we don’t share feelin’s fer one another. 'Sides, marrying just cuz we're Twi's parents ain't the right thing for her.”
Rainbow held up her hooves. “Okay, okay. No need to get angry.”
Fluttershy, having recovered from that little shock, put Twilight in her highchair and tied a bib printed with Twilight’s Cutie Mark around her front.
Twilight glared at Fluttershy once the bib was on, but hid it when she noticed the others turning to her, in order to not arouse suspicion.
Fluttershy opened the jar of apple sauce, took a spoon, scooped some up and brought it to Twilight’s mouth. At first, the alicorn looked away, keeping her mouth closed.
“Come on, Twilight,” Fluttershy said in a regular voice as apposed to a babying one. “You need to eat.”
Twilight sighed, nodded and opened her mouth. Fluttershy put the spoon in and Twilight closed, chewing the apple sauce, more out of habit, since she didn’t need to chew.
As she did, she found it tasted really good. She’d expected to gag when the taste hit her tongue, but instead, it was one of the tastiest things she’d ever eaten. She smiled, opening her mouth for another spoonful.
As Fluttershy fed Twilight, everypony else daa’wed at the situation, watching mother and daughter sharing a tender moment.
Applejack, pulling herself away from her baby second cousin, turned to her other relative. “So, how long’re ya’ll hangin’ around, Braeburn?”
The stallion turned to his cousin, tipping his Stetson. “Sorry, cuz, but Ah only had enough time to come check on Twi. Ever since that Tirek fella attacked, the town’s been all crazy-like. Me an’ sheriff Silver Star’ve been workin’ together to keep everypony calm.”
“A shame,” Celestia said, looking to Twilight as she finished her last spoonful of apple sauce, having emptied the whole jar. “I think Twilight would’ve liked to spend some more time with her daddy, wouldn’t you, Twilight?”
Twilight looked to the princess, giving her a confused look. In truth, a small part of her wanted Braeburn to stay longer, if only so she could learn more about how his being her daddy could affect her future.
But the other part of her, the part that liked keeping things in order, knew he had to go back to Appleloosa. He was one of the most important ponies there, after all and a lot of the town looked to him for guidance, the same way ponies now looked to her and her friends as the Council of Friendship—
Wait a minute. Was there a Council of Friendship anymore? How could there be when one member is a foal? She decided to ask her mother to ask the others. “Fwuddewshy?”
“Yes?” the Pegasus replied, smiling.
Twilight fidgeted. “Can... can you ask if da Fwiendship Couwncil is stiww... you know...?”
Fluttershy caught on and turned to Luna and Celestia. “Um, I was wondering...”
“Yes?” they both asked.
Fluttershy shied a little. “Um... about the Friendship Council...?”
Celestia nodded. “Yes, I know, Fluttershy. While she is a foal, Twilight cannot be a direct member of the council, but once she is old enough, she may join. Until then, it will just be the five of you.”
Twilight sighed. Well, it was better than there being no council at all. Still, she was sad she wouldn’t be able to take on the duty she’d been given, what was to her, only a day ago.
“Well, Ah’d best be headin’ off,” Braeburn tilted his hat to all present, then nuzzled Twilight. “Mah train won’t jus’ wait for me forever. See ya’ll the next time ya decide to visit A-A-A-Appleloosa!”
Twilight, though not sure why, found that last part funny and couldn’t’ stop herself from giggling as Braeburn left, the doors closing behind him.
“Wait,” Applejack frowned. “If’n he’s leavin’, where’re—?” A loud crash from outside stopped her and both she, Rarity and Rainbow face-hoofed.
Fluttershy walked down the streets of Ponyville, smiling and waving to each passersby, the day seeming more normal than it had not too long ago.
“Fwuddewshy!” a small, very annoyed voice said from her side. Fluttershy glanced to her right and saw a small frowning face looking up at her from the cream-coloured foal carrier she was wearing, with tiny hooves crossed. “Why did you put me in a foaw cawwiew? I feew widicuwous!”
Fluttershy giggled. “Well, you can’t really walk yet, Twilight. And I don’t won’t you getting tired before we say goodbye to your dad.”
Twilight looked away, pouting. “Bu’ I down’t wanna say g’bye ta him.”
Fluttershy frowned, taking on a firm motherly tone she normally reserved for Angel Bunny. “Twilight, he’s your father. It doesn’t matter that we don’t remember this reality and still remember the original one we lived in, in this version of our reality, Braeburn is your father and we have to accept that and respect him as your father.”
“No, we don’t!” Twilight retorted in a slightly whiny way. “I don’ wanna.”
Fluttershy sighed. “Twilight, I know this is hard for you; I’m still having trouble coping with this myself—”
“At weast you din’a wose your famwiy!” Twilight snarled, yet tears were in her eyes. “I did! Shiny, my mommy and daddy, dey’re not my famwiy no more!”
As she started crying, tears running down her face, Fluttershy stopped, walked over to a bench and sat down, taking Twilight out of the foal carrier and held her close.
Twilight sobbed for a few minutes as she tried to resist the warm feeling encompassing her as Fluttershy held her, feeling she knew were that of a daughter to her mother.
Once she’d calmed, Fluttershy nuzzled the foal. “Better?”
Twilight sniffled. “Beddew.”
Fluttershy nodded. “Shall we go say goodbye to Braeburn now? I mean, if that’s okay with you, I mean?”
Twilight rubbed her eyes with her stubby hooves, sniffled and nodded. “Otay.”
Fluttershy got up, putting Twilight back in the foal carrier and they headed to Ponyville Train Station at a brisk trot to make up for the time they’d lost.
As Fluttershy walked onto the platform, she saw Braeburn stepping up to the train, ready to board.
“Wait.” The soft voice caused the stallion to turn as she as Twilight came up to him. “We wanted to say goodbye and to have a safe trip.”
Braeburn smiled. “Thanks, Fluttershy.” He leaned forward and nuzzled Twilight, her resisted for a second, then returned the gesture as best she could.
“Guessin’ family think alike.” They turned to see Applejack, Apple Bloom, Big Mac and Granny Smith walking up to them.
“Well, don’t this make me feel special,” Braeburn blushed. “Didn’ know Ah’d get such a big send off.”
“Come back soon, ya hear?” Granny Smith said, giving her grandson a hug. “Ah wanna know how things’re goin’ over there.”
“Will do, Granny,” Braeburn patted her back, pulled away and looked to his two adult cousins. “Keep holdin’ the fort here, ’kay you two.”
“You got it, Brae,” Applejack tilted her Stetson.
“Eeyep,” Big Mac gave a small nod.
Braeburn turned to Twilight and nuzzled her, causing her to giggle. “Be a good girl for yer ma now, ’kay, Twi?”
Her foalishness taking over, Twilight gurgled, holding his muzzle with her tiny hooves, a huge smile plastered on her face.
The train whistle blew and the conductor shouted, “All aboard. Train to Appleloosa now boarding. Repeat, next stop, Appleloosa!”
“Guess Ah’d best be off,” Braeburn said, boarding the train, then opening the window to his cart and waving to the ponies gathered to say farewell to him. “See ya’ll next time Ah come round, or the next time ya’ll come visit A-A-A-Appleloosa!”
The train started moving as the ponies all waved. They all stood there til the train was out of sight and the sounds of its engines had disappeared.
“Well,” Applejack said, taking off her hat and dusting it before putting it back on. “Big Mac an’ Ah’d better get back to work. What about you, Fluttershy? Any plans for today?”
Fluttershy blinked, then looked down. “Oh, um, not really. Twilight and I were just going to walk around Ponyville for a while.”
“Can Ah join ya?!” Apple Bloom asked excitedly, bouncing up and down. “I wanna play with mah little sister longer.”
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Apple Bloom, Twilight is not yer sister. She’s yer second cousin.”
Apple Bloom gave her sister a withering look. “Ah know that, Applejack. Ah jus’ like thinkin’ o’ her as mah little sister.”
“Oh, it’s okay, Applejack,” Fluttershy said, smiling at Apple Bloom. “She can think of Twilight like a sister if she wants.”
“It’s not wike it’s any weiwdew fow me anyway,” Twilight muttered, knowing only Fluttershy understood her. “I’m alweady her cousin becawse I’m now da daughdew o’ Bwaebuwn.”
Actually, that brought something interesting to mind. How come Fluttershy, Discord and Pinkie could still understand her, but nopony else could?
Well, in truth, it wasn’t that hard to figure out, which was disappointing. A nice hard equation would’ve taken her mind of how strange this all was.
The spells used on her and Fluttershy had been focused specifically on them. With the mixing of chaos and raw foal magic, it made sense that an unintended side affect would be that Twilight’s new mother would be able to understand her. Discord wasn’t hard to figure out, either. He was the master of chaos. Had he not been able to understand Twilight, that would’ve been weird. And as for Pinkie Pie... well, she was Pinkie Pie. No need to question further than that.
Twilight was pulled from her inner thoughts when she felt Fluttershy moving and looked around to see they were heading out of the train station, Apple Bloom walking alongside them as the rest of her family headed back towards Sweet Apple Acres.
The trio of ponies walked through Ponyville, being greeted by other ponies such as Derpy Hooves, Berry Punch and Bon-Bon and Lyra. As they walked through town, Apple Bloom was telling Fluttershy about what she and her fellow crusaders had been trying for their Cutie Marks. It was what had caused the crashes that had come within the castle whenever the trio had been out of view.
As Fluttershy said that as long as nopony gets hurt, the crusaders should do what they feel is best suited to them, Twilight gave out a cry of shock.
Fluttershy stopped, following where Twilight was looking and was shocked. Twilight’s library was still intact, as if Tirek hadn’t destroyed it. In fact, it looked like it hadn’t been touched.
Both Fluttershy and Apple Bloom were shocked when suddenly; Twilight started buzzing her little wings, flew out of the foal carrier and flew straight towards tree/house/public library. Just as she reached the door, it was suddenly opened. Unable to stop herself, Twilight slammed into whoever had opened it and they tumbled into the library.
Fluttershy hurried inside, Apple Bloom right on her tail, to find Twilight in a tangle with a small purple dragon with green spines.
“Spike!” a voice neither Fluttershy nor Twilight had heard in a long time called from somewhere in the back. “What’s going on? You’re not riding the wheeled-ladder for a game again, are you?”
Spike sat up, rubbing his head. “No, Sunset. I was going to check on Rarity and see if she needed any help with—”
“Pike!” Twilight cried, hugging the baby dragon. Being so small, she was almost the same size, so it was almost like hugging somepony her new age.
“Help with what?” a voice with a slight slyness in its tone asked as a yellow unicorn with green eyes and red and yellow mane and a sunset designed Cutie Mark came around the corner, then blinked in surprise. “Oh. Fluttershy...” she looked down and saw the foal hugging the dragon and smiled, “and baby Princess Twilight. I didn’t expect to see you today. What brings you here? Need a book for something?”
“Oh, um...” Fluttershy had been about to say Twilight had flown in, but something had stopped her, something had also drawn the attention of the other two ponies and the baby dragon.
Twilight was still holding onto Spike and tears were sliding down her face, slowly wetting Spike’s scales. “Um, is everything okay?” the baby dragon asked, as he held Twilight, patting her back, trying to comfort the crying foal.
Fluttershy closed her eyes so nopony saw the sadness in them. Twilight was crying both from joy and sadness. She was happy that Spike was still around and that he was living in the library, but she was also unimaginably sad because he wasn’t exactly the Spike she knew. She hadn’t raised him. From the looks of it, Sunset Shimmer had.
Fluttershy opened her eyes and looked to Sunset, who had an eyebrow cocked in confusion. “She’s... She’s been through a lot recently, Sunset. Please, just... let her cry. She needs it.”
Sunset’s ears drooped at the look on Fluttershy’s face and her tone. She nodded and they all just stood in silence as Twilight cried into Spike.
After a few minutes, Sunset looked to Fluttershy, then back to Spike. “Spike?” He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Maybe you should take Twilight upstairs. I think she wants to be with you for a bit.”
Spike nodded and, with a little difficulty, picked up the little alicorn and took her upstairs. They all watched until he was gone and the door closed behind him.
“Um, Sunset?”
“Hmm?” the unicorn turned to the Pegasus.
Fluttershy looked away, then back again. “Um, I’m not sure if I remember if you already told me or not, but, um, how did you become Princess Celestia’s student? If you don’t mind my asking, that is?”
Sunset sighed and nodded. “Well, I guess I never really did tell you or your friends everything. Though, seeing as you’ve been dealing with an upset Twilight today, I think I’ll tell you.” She cleared her throat. “First of all, I’m not technically related to Shining Armour. I’m adopted.”
Fluttershy gasped. “You were an orphan?”
Sunset nodded, then looked down. “I’ve tried to be the best student Princess Celestia’s ever had because of it.” When Fluttershy gave a confused frown, she chuckled. “Let me explain.”
Princess Celestia grumbled as she held her umbrella in her magic, looking around the streets as the rain bucketed down around her.
I had to decide to sneak out for the day, didn’t I? she thought grumpily as she tried to focus her eyes on the castle. She grunted. Oh, for my sake! I can’t teleport in this weather. I can’t even see the castle now. I can’t very well just teleport when I can’t see. I could end up landing on one of the castle staff. Or one of the nobles. She chuckled at that last thought.
A small shuffling sound caused the sun goddess to pause and turned her head to a small alley way a few hooves’ distance from where she was standing.
Curious, she moved forward and looked inside the alley. It wasn’t much. A dumpster, pieces of trash like bottles and paper (now soggy from the rain) lining the ground, a small dirty plush doll of a yellow pony that was sobbing...
Celestia paused, frowning. What?
She stepped closer, getting a better look at the plush doll, gasping and stepping back. It wasn’t a plush doll. It was a small filly, maybe three or four years old.
Her mane was matted and raggedy, her eyes barely open, just staring ahead, or rather, down at the ground. She was horribly thin; it must have been days since she’d had something decent to eat.
Celestia looked around, searching for somepony to help. In the distance, she could see the lights of a house through the rain. They were the only lights on, so it was her best chance to save the filly. She needed to get her inside a warm place before she caught pneumonia.
She levitated the filly, the filly’s lack of acknowledging that she was being lifted off the ground worrying her immensely, lower her onto her back and brisking walked towards the light. She’d have run, but with the ground so wet, tripping would be too easy and, besides that, it could hurt the filly.
She reached the door and knocked quickly on the door. She heard the sound of confused voices before the door opened, revealing a mare silhouetted by the light from within.
The mare gasped upon seeing her. “Princess Celestia? Oh, dear; what’re you doing outside in this weather—?”
“Never mind about me!” Celestia said, showing the filly on her back. “This filly needs help far more than I do!”
The mare gasped, her horn glowing with a magenta light, the same light encompassing the filly and carrying her inside, the mare hurriedly running off, the filly levitating behind, leaving Celestia standing on the step with an unusual mixture of relief and confusion.
A groan came from somewhere inside, followed by some hoofsteps and another silhouette appeared in the doorway. “Honestly, just leaving you here. Come inside, Princess. This weather’s no place for a mare like yourself.”
Celestia hesitated, then walked inside, blinking several times as her eyes adjusted to the light. She was in a small living room with modest furnishings, and several portraits around the white-painted walls.
She turned to thank the pony who’d let her in. He was a blue stallion with a dark-blue mane and tail, yellow eyes and a Cutie Mark of a yellow crescent moon with a smaller white crescent moon in the empty space facing in the opposite direction.
The stallion levitated over some towels, which she used to dress herself off as best she could while saying, “Thank you. I hope your wife is able to help that small filly.”
The stallion nodded. “I’m sure she’ll be able to help. Aside from her job as an accountant, she works part time as a nurse. In the mean time, let me get you something to drink.”
He walked off into the kitchen, while the sounds of his wife running around upstairs pulled Celestia’s attention to the ceiling. He’d she gotten to the filly in time. She hated the thought that she mightn’t have been able to save one of her little ponies.
Just like I couldn’t save you, little sister.
As she was lost in these fearful and heartbreaking thoughts, the stallion returned, levitating a mug of warm tea, steam wafting from it. “Please, Princess,” he said, startling her out of her thoughts, “stop worrying. You’ve done all you could, considering the circumstances. All we can do is wait for my wife to be done and see what happens from there.”
She reluctantly nodded, walked over to the couch and sat down, accepting the mug and taking a small sip.
For several minutes they waited in silence as they listened to his wife doing whatever it was she was doing to care for the filly.
After an agonizingly long fifty minutes, the sound of hoofsteps coming slowly down the stairs could be heard. The two turned two the stairs to see an alabaster mare with a purple and white mane and tail, blue eyes and three purple stars for a Cutie Mark step down and walked towards them.
“How is she?” Celestia asked, anxious as to the filly’s condition.
The mare sighed. “Well, it was a bit touch and go for a while, since this isn’t a hospital and I wasn’t fully prepared,” she walked over to the couch and sat next to the monarch, “but I was able to get some fluids into her and some liquid food I had leftover from my last shift and was able to stabilize her. She’s sleeping in our room. I think Shining’s awake. This’ll be hard to explain to him.”
Celestia blinked, confusion momentarily overriding her worry for the filly. “Who?”
“Our son,” the stallion answered, leaning back in his chair. “He’s eight. Still yet to get his Cutie Mark.” He cleared his throat. “Sorry. We haven’t introduced ourselves. I’m Night Light and this is my wife, Twilight Velvet. Our son’s name is Shining Armour.”
Celestia nodded. “It is nice to meet you.” She sighed in exhaustion, levitating her regalia off with her magic and rubbing her face. “Thank you for taking us in. I honestly wasn’t sure what to do.”
Twilight Velvet nodded, then frowned. “What happened to that poor filly?”
Celestia shook her head. “I don’t really know. I found her in an alley. If I had to guess, though, I’d say she’s homeless.”
“An orphan?” Velvet whispered, looking down, her eyes becoming misty. “How horrible. She looks so sweet.”
Celestia nodded. “I will contact Foal Services tomorrow and see if anypony has reported a missing foal matching her description.” She sighed. “Though, if nopony claims her, I’ll have to send her to an orphanage.”
Velvet’s head shot up and she looked to her husband, a determined look on her face.
Night Light sighed. “I know that look.” He chuckled. “No point in my arguing, is there?”
Velvet smirked. “Nope.”
“Did I miss something?” Celestia asked, looking between the two unicorns, very confused.
Velvet looked to Celestia. “Until you find out if she is an orphan or not, and if she is, can we have her, Princess?”
Celestia blinked, very surprised. “You’d... you want to adopt her, just like that?”
Night Light shook his head. “We’ve been trying to have another foal for almost two years, your highness. Sadly, thing’s haven’t been working out. If it is alright, provided the child is an orphan, we would love to adopt her.”
“A little filly,” Velvet closed her eyes, a warm smile on her face. “Shiny would love to have a little sister.”
Celestia looked to the two ponies, then smiled. “Of course. If it turns out she is an orphan, which I do believe she is, I would be happy for you both to adopt her. In fact, I will even help you, if that is the case.”
Velvet leaped forward and hugged the monarch. “Oh, thank you, Your Highness. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“A few weeks later it was confirmed that I was an orphan and I was adopted into their family,” Sunset finished as the three of them sat in the middle of the library. “I suppose I never did mention that when Shining got married to Cadance, did I?”
Fluttershy shook her head.
Sunset chuckled. “I really should’ve told you all back at the wedding, I could see you were all confused when you compared me to Shining and my parents.”
Fluttershy nodded, though it was a lie, since she didn’t remember this reality’s version of Shining Armour and Cadance’s wedding, only the other version.
Sunset shook her head. “I still can’t believe Twilight saw everything the same way I did.” She chuckled. “Didn’t really help convince you or anypony that I was right, having a foal backing me up, did it?”
Fluttershy, only because the idea was funny when she put aside what was really happening at that time, giggled and played along. “I did want to scold Twilight for that. Though, I’m glad I didn’t.”
Sunset nodded, then chuckled. “I remember Cadance’s confusion when she saw Twilight with me when we found her in those crystal caverns. That won’t stop being funny for a long time.”
Fluttershy nodded, then decided to move the conversation on. “So, you grew up as a member of their family and became Celestia’s personal student?”
Sunset nodded, then shook her head. “I still can’t believe I managed to hatch Spike’s egg. It wasn’t even meant to be possible. Celestia had a few stern words with the ponies testing me about why a filly needed to hatch a dragon egg in order to pass the test. Come to think of it,” she frowned, looking confused. "That's something that's always bothered me. Celestia told me Spike looks the way he does because of the magic that hatched him, but... I'm the one that hatched him... right?"
“Hey,” a voice whispered from the stairs. The three ponies looked up to see Spike standing at the top, holding a sleeping Twilight. “Twi fell asleep.”
Fluttershy stood up, flew to Spike, picked up Twilight and gently placed her in the foal carrier. “I think she’s had a long day. I’ll take her back to the castle for a nap.”
Sunset and Spike nodded and the three ponies left, Apple Bloom watching Twilight as they walked back towards the castle. “Can Ah stay an’ watch Twilight while she sleeps?” the filly asked.
Fluttershy smiled at her. “Of course, Apple Bloom.” She yawned. “I think I could use a little nap myself. Will you keep an eye on Twilight while I sleep?”
Apple Bloom nodded excitedly.
A few minutes later they reached the castle. Fluttershy led the way to hers and Twilight’s room. Apple Bloom silently closed the door as Fluttershy took Twilight out of the foal carrier and gently laid her in her crip, then, with a warm smile on her face, went to her own bed and fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Lightning flashed, bathing the room in an eerie white glow, followed by a boomed that seemed to come from the bowels on the world. Twilight screamed, rolling around as she tried to get out of her crib.
She’d gotten over her fears of thunder storms a long time ago, back when she was a little filly. But, now she was a foal, her fears had returned. Even though her adult mind told her she didn’t need to be afraid, she was terrified beyond anything.
Fluttershy, hearing Twilight’s cries, hurried out of bed, and bent over the crib, picking the little foal up and held her, trying to calm her.
Twilight clung to Fluttershy tightly, trying to find somepony to comfort her and scare the fear away; make her feel safe.
It had been three days since the two of them had awoken to find their reality had changed, leaving Fluttershy as Twilight’s new mother.
So many things were different, yet so many were still the same. Trixie’s two visits to Ponyville had happened (both ponies had been rather horrified when they realized it meant, in this version of reality, under the influence of the Alicorn Amulet, Trixie had knowingly and intentionally separated a mother from her daughter, leaving a foal on its on to fend for itself), the Equestria Games had been and gone, with Ponyville wining the medal count and so on.
One thing they did learn though, was that Twilight not been born an Alicorn in this reality, like they'd thought. According to their confused friends when Fluttershy mentioned such a thing, they learned that Twilight had been born a unicorn, but had somehow ascended to Alicornhood after reading a book that had been shipped to Sunset's library.
It so happened that this had been after Discord's reforming, so the Elements had been nearby when Twilight, surrounded by the other Bearers as Sunset and Spike were in the kitchen getting drinks and snacks, finished the spell Star Swirl never did and became an Alicorn.
But something that startled them both was that, within those three days, they both realized how strong their bond as mother and daughter was.
At first they’d tried to ignore it, doing their best to try and figure out a way to return things to the way they remembered them. Pinkie Pie was no help, for she saw this reality as fun and wanted Twilight to stay a, in her words, “Cutie wootie tootie ootie”.
However, despite pouring through every book she could find on the matter (though that wasn’t really many, twenty-five at best), the end result was the confirmation that nothing could be done. This reality was now their reality and they had to live in it, whether they wanted to or not.
It was after coming to this conclusion that they’d learned about the bond they had. In anger and despair at the loss of her old life, Twilight had flown out of the library, not looking where she was going and went deep into the Everfree Forest. There, she’d accidentally flown into a fight between two Manticores and a pack of Timber Wolves.
Despite being the Element of Magic and having wings she could’ve flown away with, Twilight’s inner foal had frozen in fear at the sight of the monsters and her wings snapped to her side, leaving her stuck on the ground, at the mercy of the creatures glaring down at her.
Twilight had put her hooves over her eyes; bracing for the end, when a loud scream had caused her to look up and the creatures to freeze in terror.
“STAY AWAY FROM MY BABY!”
There was a flash of yellow as something shot passed Twilight, slamming into the creatures, which all started to run in absolute fear. Twilight watched as Fluttershy, the meek, timid pony she’d known for so long; using her new Rainbow Powers to increase her strength to beat the tar out of each monster, all the while doing considerable damage with each attack.
Several minutes later, Fluttershy landed in front of Twilight, snorting, her face pulled back in a snarl as the beaten and battered creatures all stared at her, cowering.
“Never come anywhere near my little Twily again, do you hear me?” she ordered, going into the most intense Stare Equestria had or would ever see. The creatures all nodded frantically, scared she would attack again. “If I ever find out you’ve harmed even a single strand of her mane, you will wish Tirek had destroyed you when he was a giant. UNDERSTAND!?”
The all nodded again, before fleeing at a speed none would think possible as they tried to escape the worst, most terrifying creature known to exist: an angry mother.
Fluttershy calmed down, returning to her normal self and turned to Twilight, pulling her into a hug. “Don’t scare me like that, Twilight,” she sobbed, tears pouring from her eyes. “I thought I’d lost you.”
“Mommy!” Twilight cried, clutching Fluttershy like she was scared she’d disappear. She didn’t care that she was calling her best friend her mother. She’d been so scared, so certain that her life was going to end then and there, that she didn’t care anymore about who was and wasn’t her mother now. Fluttershy was there for her. She had saved her. “I’wm sowwy! I’wm sowwy! I was so scawed!”
Fluttershy stroked Twilight’s mane and rubbed her back, trying to hush the understandably terrified foal. “Shh. It’s okay, Twilight. Mommy’s here. Mommy won’t let anything bad happen to you, I promise.”
Fluttershy hushed her daughter as she cried into her, terrified by the thunder and lightning as rain hammered the windows of the castle. Being so small, something like this was understandably scary for a foal, but she knew it was her job to keep Twilight safe and to make her feel better.
“Shh. It’s okay, Twilight,” she murmured soothingly, rubbing Twilight’s back. “The big nasty storm is outside. It can’t get to you, Mommy promises.”
Twilight’s reply was only sniffles and to bury herself deeper into Fluttershy’s fur.
Flutershy smiled. “How about you sleep with Mommy tonight, hmm? Would that make you feel better?”
Twilight nodded and Fluttershy returned to her bed, gently put Twilight down, wrapping her wings around her and covering them with the blankets.
Fluttershy leaned over to the bed stand, opening the top draw and took out a purple pacifier with Twilight’s Cutie Mark on it, placing it in the alicorn’s mouth.
Twilight, knowing what had happened, despite her adult mind telling her not to, started suckling the pacifier. As the sound of her suckling joined the sound of the raging storm outside, she started calming down, her eyes slowly closing.
Fluttershy smiled as Twilight gave a loud yawn around her pacifier and snuggled into her chest. Within moments, Twilight’s breathing was slow and steady, showing she’d fallen asleep in her mother’s embrace.
Fluttershy leaned down and kissed Twilight on her horn’s tip. “Goodnight, my little filly,” she whispered, then closed her eyes and went to sleep herself.
Twilight glanced at Fluttershy as she and Pinkie talked while watching the three foals playing on the padded floor of the Cake twins’ bedroom. Whatever they were talking about it was scary serious. Why scary serious? Pinkie Pie had a firm expression, not at all like her usually happy self.
“Wat wong, Twiwight?”
Twilight rolled her eyes and turned to Pumpkin Cake, a very annoyed look playing across her face. Along with Pinkie, Fluttershy and Discord, it seemed Pumpkin still remembered the way things used to be too. “Why did you do dis?”
Pumpkin cocked her head. “Do wat?”
Twilight indicated to herself, then Fluttershy. “Why’d you make me a foaw and Fwuddewshy my mommy?!”
Pumpkin frowned. “Didn’ you wan' dat? You said so at da pawdy.”
Twilight glared. “No, I didn’! You took away my whowe wife, Pumpkin! My pawen’s, my bwoddew, pwincess Cewestia, eweyting!”
Pumpkin’s eyes widened. “You mean, you aweady had a famwiy?”
Twilight nodded. “But when you cast dat speww dat mixed wif Discowd’s magic, eweyting changed. I wost my moddew, my faddew, my bwoddew, eweyting. Now, all anypony knows about me is dat I’m da foal Pwincess o’ Fwiendship, biwfed by Fwuddewshy.”
Pumpkin’s eyes started to water, before she wailed. “I’wm sowwy, Twiwight! I didn’a know! I tought you meant you wan’ed a mommy!”
Twilight, realizing she’d said something the wrong way, quickly crawled over and hugged the crying unicorn. She didn’t blame Pumpkin for this. She didn’t blame Discord either (though blaming him would’ve been easy, since this was a little his fault for not waiting til at least a day before messing around again).
But then, neither of them could’ve known they’d both been planning on using the same spell, at the exact same time; nor that their magic would meld together and cause the whole of reality to shift around them all.
Fluttershy was discussing why she wouldn’t wean Twilight off breast milk and onto formula because she didn’t believe in formula, really didn’t care for the processed foods other ponies ate. She preferred natural ingredients, as was to be expected with her communion with nature, when a loud wail caused the two to jump and turn to the foals to see Pumpkin crying, her hooves over her eyes.
Before either of them could react, however, Twilight crawled over to Pumpkin and pulled her into a hug, which the unicorn accepted and hugged the alicorn back.
“Aww,” Pinkie smiled, putting her hooves to her cheeks. “Twily’s making Pumpkin happy.”
Fluttershy smiled as she watched her daughter comfort her fellow foal, when something occurred to her, something that worried her and broke her heart as she saw the difference between Twilight and Pumpkin.
Twilight was an alicorn, but not a natural born one, like Celestia and Luna. Did... did that mean she was immortal, like them, or was she still mortal? Her heart ached as she suddenly imagined Twilight, a full grown pony again, standing sadly over a grave with Fluttershy’s Cutie Mark, tears streaming down her face.
Pinkie noticed Fluttershy’s inner discomfort. She decided she should let her know. Or at least, point her on the path. “Fluttershy?”
The Pegasus turned to her, her eyes watering as tears threatened to spill forth. “Yes, Pinkie?”
Pinkie put on a smile. “You should go talk with the princesses!”
Fluttershy blinked, her sadness suddenly lost in confusion. “Huh? But... why? Oh, if it’s alright I ask?”
Pinkie looked to the foals, her smile becoming small. “I’m sure they want to know how their little niece is doing. Why not tell them?”
Fluttershy thought about that. Though it had only been three days, she guessed it would be nice to let the princesses know how their niece was doing almost a week (by this reality’s time) since Tirek attacked. She saddened as she realized she could also learn whether or not Twilight was immortal.
The idea that her baby girl might one day have to bear losing her hurt her more than could ever be expressed in words. She couldn’t allow it, for the reason that Twilight had already lost one family; her heart would shatter if she lost another.
Fluttershy sat anxiously outside the throne room, waiting for the meeting the princesses were in to finish. She’d been told she could speak with them once it was over.
The day Pinkie had suggested it; she’d made plans to visit Canterlot. She’d arranged for Applejack and her family to look after Twilight while she was away, making sure to leave plenty of milk, since she didn’t want Twilight having any formula.
After that, she’d gotten a ticket bound for Canterlot and arrived a few hours later. She’d been greeted by several guards, having gotten Sunset to ask Spike to send a letter to the princesses prior her leaving, letting them know she needed to speak with them and that it regarded Twilight.
Fluttershy waited, trying to think how best to ask the princesses such a touchy question. She knew being immortal couldn’t be all happiness.
Luna had told on her one of her visits to the Pegasus’ cottage, back in the other reality, though probably in this one too, that she had lost all those she cared about, save her sister, thanks to Nightmare Moon. When she had been freed, she had realized too soon that every pony she’d cared about, made friends with, had all died long ago.
Celestia had no doubt suffered in much the same way, only she’d had to watch as hers and Luna’s friends each grew old and fell to time as those thousand years of Luna’s banishment passed.
“I do not believe this!” a loud, arrogant male voice shouted.
Fluttershy only had time to turn her head before she was knocked aside by somepony and fell to the floor.
“Watch where you’re standing!” the voice shot at her as she hurried to stand. “Don’t you know who you just bumped into? I should...”
The stallion paused, frowning at Fluttershy, who suddenly recognized him. It was Prince Blueblood, the stallion who’d been horrible to Rarity and the Grand Galloping Gala. If she remembered, Rarity also told her that Blueblood was the least popular of the Royal Family, nopony liking him due to his tenancy to treat others like they were beneath him.
“I remember you,” Blueblood’s eyes narrowed and Fluttershy eeped, sinking to the floor. “You’re that commoner that spawned that fraud of a princess!”
Fluttershy twitched at those words, her fear disappearing and a scowl appearing on her face. “What did you just call her?” she asked as she slowly stood.
Blueblood returned her scowl. “You dare to talk to a member of the Royal Family without addressing me by my proper title?” He snorted. “My aunt must truly have lost her mind.”
Fluttershy breathed heavily. She could suddenly see why Rarity had spoken so sourly about this stallion. She was a very patient mare, but even she was already starting to lose her patience.
“Letting the child of a commoner be a princess? Not only that, but she gives her her own castle in a backwater town filled with nothing but pigs that wallow in their own filth? The nerve of her!” he stomped a hoof, then pointed it to himself. “She should have ascended me to an alicorn and given me place to rule instead of to that abomination of a pony. Manehatten certainly has the sophistication I would enjoy.
But what does she do? She gives it to a foal born, not from a noble, royal bloodline such as my own, but that of a common Pegasus that lives in a place the equivalence of a mudhole! If I had my way she’d have her wings and horn removed and left to wallow in the mud like she was born to—”
Blueblood never finished the sentence, for he suddenly found himself slammed into the wall, pinned against it, Fluttershy’s forehoof pressed against the wall, mere inches from his head.
She glared into his eyes, her own filled with rage. “Care to repeat what you think of my daughter, Blueblood?!” She said his name as if it were a curse word.
Blueblood, who had been filled with the confidence being better than everypony else always gave him, now cowered against the wall as he stared into the eyes of one who was clearly insane, a madpony.
Fluttershy leaned closer, her eyes narrowing. "Insult me all you want. But do not insult my daughter!"
At that moment the doors to the throne room opened.
“What is going on here?”
Fluttershy and Blueblood turned their heads to see Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and the dignitaries from Maretonia that Fluttershy had seen only four days ago in her own time, each looking at them with confusion.
Blueblood, taking advantage of Fluttershy’s diverted attention, shoved her away, causing her to hit the ground and turned to the princesses.
“Auntie! You have to lock her away! She assaulted me without reason!” he said, in an almost whiny voice.
Luna’s eyes narrowed the tiniest fraction. “Do you mean to tell us that Fluttershy, bearer to the Element of Kindness simply attacked you without warning or reason?”
“Are you sure you did not say anything that may have offended her?” Celestia asked, her tone and face neutral.
Blueblood scoffed. “I did nothing of the sort that she should have reacted that way to. I only said the truth in that her child is an abomination to our kind and is unworthy to be deemed royalty.”
Luna’s right eye twitched, which Fluttershy noticed, having learned Luna’s signals of irritation from her visits to her cottage and the times Angel had been rather rude to her.
Celestia’s reaction was less noticeable, but at the time, Fluttershy was able to see it. Her eyes had flickered the tiniest fraction.
“Honestly, auntie, I don’t see why you pampered that sorry excuse for an alicorn and give commoner that spawned it such leniency is beyond ludicrous. I am far more worthy of ruling than that plight on our halls. I mean, she is an affront to us. You already have endangered our royal image among the high of society by allowing her to continue even existing. If you keep pampering and wasting time on her she will become a useless waste of space. If I had my way, her horn and wings would be removed, leaving her the worthless pony she truly—”
“ENOUGH!”
Thunder boomed and the castle shook as both princesses used the Royal Canterlot Voice.
Blueblood went silent and cowered under the gazes of the diarchs.
Fluttershy watched, both in fear and interest. While Celestia’s glare looked as hot and fierce as the sun, Luna’s was cold and stony as the moon.
“YOU DARE TO QUESTION WHOM I ALLOW INTO THE ROYAL FAMILY AND INSULT THEM AS IF YOU ARE BETTER THAN THEM?” Celestia boomed, her mane billowing faster than usual as she looked down at her nephew.
“TWILIGHT SPARKLE AND HER MOTHER ARE TWO OF THE PONIES THAT SAVED ME FROM THE NIGHTMARE!” Luna practically roared, her eyes glowing white. “TWILIGHT SPARKLE WAS THE ONE WHO STOPPED DISCORD FROM PLUNGING EQUESTRIA INTO CHAOS! SHE FIGURED OUT WITH SUNSET SHIMMER THAT THE CHANGELINGS WERE USING CADANCE TO INVADED AND TAKE OVER! HER MOTHER REFORMED DISCORD SO THAT HE USES HIS POWERS FOR GOOD! THEY WERE TWO OF THE PONIES THAT SAVED US FROM THOSE PLANTS THAT ATTACKED EQUESTRIA AND THEY ARE TWO OF THE PONIES THAT STOPPED TIREK FROM RULING ALL OUR LANDS! TELL ME, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO WARRANT PRAISE HIGHER THAN THEM, NEPHEW?! TELL US! WE ARE INTERESTED TO KNOW!”
Blueblood was quivering, having dropped to the floor. “W-well... I petitioned to have those ponies that ruined the Gala last year arrested and their town destroyed?”
“WRONG ANSWER!” Celestia boomed, her mane almost igniting as her eyes glowed white. Fluttershy could see it sizzling. “FLUTTERSHY AND TWILIGHT SPARKLE ARE TWO OF THOSE PONIES! YOU WOULD ASK US TO ARRESTED A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL FAMILY, AN INFANT, HER MOTHER AND PUNISH THEIR TOWN WHEN THEY DID NOTHING TO EARN SUCH TREATMENT?!”
A squeak was his only response.
Celestia slowly calmed down, her mane settling to its usual movements and her eyes no longer glowing. “Return to you room, nephew,” she said, no emotion in her voice. “Do not ever question our actions or insult any member of the Royal Family again. If you do, you will be striped of your own title and left to live your life, thinking about your mistakes.”
Blueblood shakily got up to leave, but as he turned, Luna, who had also calmed down, spoke. “And do not think we are unaware of how you treat others. Tread carefully.”
Blueblood hurried down the hall, not looking back once.
Celestia turned to the dignitaries, who were shaking ever so slightly. “I do apologize. You should not have needed to see that.”
“We... we understand, princess,” the stallion nodded, seeming to regain his composure. “I too have a family member who tends to overstep his place.”
“May our next meeting end with a more... uplifting conclusion,” Luna bowed, as did the dignitaries, before they turned and left.
Celestia turned to Fluttershy. “I apologize for that, Fluttershy.” She sighed. “I don’t know why I keep hoping Blueblood will grow up.”
Luna nodded. “Indeed. Despite his age, his is more of a foal than any in Equestria. Even newborns have more manners and sense than him. However, that is not why you are here, Fluttershy.”
The princesses turned and walked back into the throne room, followed by the Pegasus.
The princesses sat on their thrones and Celestia turned to the guards. “This matter is private, so I must ask you all to wait outside.”
The guards all saluted. “Yes, Your Highness.”
Once the guards had left and the doors closed behind them, Fluttershy looked up nervously at the princesses. How was she going to explain this? One thing was for sure, she couldn’t fully emphasize how important this was unless she told them the truth. She had to tell them she and Twilight weren’t just a mother and daughter.
But how could she do it? Should she even do it? How would they react? Would they be angry? Would they simply think she’d gone crazy? Would they take Twilight away from her?
She closed her eyes, bracing herself as best she could, forcing her tears to remain inside.
“You need not worry, Fluttershy,” Celestia’s voice caused her to open her eyes and looked up. Celestia had a sad smile on her face. “We know about you and Twilight.”
Fluttershy’s jaw drooped and she gaped as fear flooded her mind. How did they know? What were they going to do? Maybe, if she flew fast enough, she could get back to Ponyville, grab Twilight and they could hide in the Everfree. They’d be safe there. They could—
“Indeed,” Luna nodded, her eyes downcast. “Discord informed us as soon as we returned to Canterlot. At first, we did not believe him, thinking it was a joke he was setting us up for.” She sighed. “That is, until I saw Twilight’s dreams that night.”
Fluttershy winced. She knew which dream Luna was referring to. Their first night in this new world, Twilight had awoken, screaming from a nightmare in which all her original family had evaporated around her and she’d been left alone, with nopony else.
It had taken some time to calm her down, since, back then; neither had realized the mother daughter bond they had.
Celestia nodded. “Though this did trouble us, we knew you were both still the Fluttershy and Twilight we know.” She sighed. “Or, at least, that we thought we knew. I cannot believe our whole reality changed and we completely forgot about it.”
“Oh, don’t blame yourselves,” Fluttershy looked down. “It wasn’t your fault. If anything, it is my fault. If I hadn’t talked about having my own foal, Pumpkin wouldn’t have overheard Twilight trying to comfort me and turned her into a foal at the same moment Discord did it as a joke.”
Celestia shook her head. “Do not blame yourself, Fluttershy. You couldn’t have known what would happen. And it is no crime to want to be a mother.”
Luna sighed. “This was not what you wanted to talk to us about though, is it?”
Fluttershy let a few of her tears slide down her muzzle. “Please, tell me, I need to know, since Twilight became an Alicorn is... is Twilight immortal, like you?”
Their silence made Fluttershy look up. Both princesses had their heads bowed, their faces showing only sadness.
It was all the answer she needed. “Oh, Twilight!” she sobbed, sitting down and putting her hooves over her eyes. “I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry I did this to you!”
“Wait. What are you talking about, Fluttershy?”
The weeping Pegasus moved her hooves away and looked up at Celestia as her tears blurred her vision and slid down her face. “Sh-she’s already lost one family and now she’s going to have to lose another!”
Luna and Celestia glanced at each other, their sadness overdriven by slight confusion.
“We do not understand, Fluttershy,” Luna said, raising an eyebrow. “How is Twilight losing another family?”
“Losing Shining Armour as her brother and her parents as her parents tore her apart,” she wailed, looking down at the floor. “Now she’ll have to watch Braeburn and I grow old and die, while she remains young forever.” She fell to the floor. “And just as we were bonding as mother and daughter. Now I wish I could free her from this! I wish I’d never said anything about being a mother!”
“Fluttershy.” Celestia’s tone, quiet, yet firm, caused the mourning mother to look up at the sun goddess. There was a sad, yet happy expression on her face. “You are immortal too.”
Fluttershy blinked. “What?”
“Twilight Sparkle will not have to deal with losing another family,” Luna said, nodding. “Not completely. She will always have her mother.”
“But... but how?” Fluttershy asked, looking slightly distant, as if she wasn’t quite registering the conversation.
Celestia sighed, looked to Luna, who nodded in conformation and continued. “You think that being an Alicorn makes one immortal, am I correct?”
Fluttershy nodded. Wasn’t that how it worked? Luna and Celestia had been alive for over a thousand years. Surely it was because they’d been born Alicorns, right?
“That is not the case,” Luna shook her head. “And being an Alicorn does not change that. We are not even the first Alicorns to walk the plain.”
Fluttershy’s jaw dropped to the floor, quite literally, since she was still lying down at the time. Luna and Celestia weren’t the first Alicorns? Then who was?
“Queen Emaryalis,” Celestia went on, as if hearing Fluttershy’s thoughts. “She was the first Alicorn and the queen of the Crystal Empire in its beginning.”
Fluttershy slowly stood up, her mouth still hanging open.
“We were but fillies at the time,” Luna continued. “I was a Pegasus, while Celestia was a unicorn.”
“What?” Fluttershy’s eyes widened in a way that would have put Pinkie Pie to shame. “You weren’t born Alicorns?!”
Celestia shook her head. “No. We were born normal ponies, just like all others. In fact, Queen Emaryalis was not born an Alicorn either. No pony has ever been born an Alicorn. Your daughter, however, is the first case of a foal ascending into an Alicorn. Our parents, Artichoke and Crimson light, both Earth Ponies died during a conflict between the unicorns and the pegasi. Luna was no more than a month-old foal at the time.” That last part had been said with sadness.
“Emaryalis took as in and raised us like we were her own,” Luna said, lowering her head. “But when rumors of a being able to warp reality, though we did not know it was Discord at the time, reached the Empire, my sister and I knew we had to do something. We could not let the world our parents had created be destroyed by this demon.”
“You know, I would say that’s a bit harsh, but I really was horrid back then.” Eye balls appeared on the wall above the throne and peeled away, turning into Discord. He bowed; his face solemn. “Please, go on. Don’t let me interrupt you.”
Celestia nodded. “As we were saying; we needed to have a way of protecting our land from Discord. Though they were but teenagers at the time, Emaryalis found a way. She asked the Crystal Ponies what they thought and they told her we needed to find a way to harness the greatest elements of our kind. Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty and Magic.”
Fluttershy gasped. “The Elements of Harmony!”
Celestia nodded. “It was difficult, but we found a way to imbue six gemstones from the Empire with each Element. In doing so, we created new magic, and became Alicorns.”
“However, for them to have enough magic in order to stop a being such as Discord, they needed a life-force,” Luna went on. “Thus, the Tree of Harmony was created.”
“Through a difficult combination of magic and crystal, the Tree of Harmony was created and planted where the Everfree Forest now resides.” Celestia went on. “Since we were now Alicorns, we were princesses, so we built a castle and began our rule over Everfree City, which was abandoned after Luna's banishment and I went to rule in the recently built city of Canterlot.”
“However, when Discord was first sighted, we felt a strange energy within us,” Luna looked down, then back to Fluttershy. “Later, though I did not know it until after Discord’s defeat, Celestia went to check on the Tree of Harmony and found that our Cutie Marks had become embroidered on it’s trunk.”
“Several hundred years after Discord’s defeat, I learned it was because our Cutie Marks had appeared on the tree that we had become immortal,” Celestia murmured. "This broke my heart, for I realized my sister would spend years upon years trapped on the moon."
Fluttershy nodded, then frowned. “Then how come I’m immortal? I still don’t understand that.” She hid behind her mane for a second. “Oh, um, it’s you don’t mind my asking?”
Celestia nodded. “It is fine. But the answer to your question, Luna and I are immortal, because our Cutie Marks are on the Tree of Harmony, binding us to the magic of the world itself in ways few others can understand.”
Fluttershy cocked her head. “But, my Cutie Mark isn’t on the Tree of Harmony.”
Luna chuckled. “Oh? I am afraid you are wrong, dear Fluttershy.” She grinned. “If I recall, you and your friends and daughter gave something to the Tree that saved it, did you not?”
Fluttershy nodded. “The Elements of Harmony. But I still don’t understand, Princess Luna. How does our returning the Elements to the Tree make me immortal?”
Luna smirked. “What shape were the Elements in when they were returned.”
“I still don’t see what...” Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “Our Cutie Marks!”
Celestia nodded. “Your are all bound to the Elements and each one has been shaped like your Cutie Mark since the day you all saved my sister.”
“And when you returned the Elements to the Tree of Harmony, they were still shaped like your Cutie Marks,” Luna continued. “And after you all opened the chest that grew from the Tree, the same chest that turned into the Friendship Castle, you were all endowed with an energy the likes of which nopony has ever seen.”
Fluttershy nodded. “The Rainbow Power.”
Celestia smiled. “It has given you all a connection to your respective Element in ways none could ever have believed.”
Fluttershy blushed at the praise, then it faded and she frowned. “But, I don’t think my body could handle being immortal. Isn’t it the body of a mortal?”
Discord clicked his talon and a large rectangle appeared in the middle of the room, hovering above them all. On the screen, Fluttershy watched as Twilight seemed to explode with purple energy. Immediately after, all six of them each changed into the colours of their Elements as they seemed to become nothing but the light and poured into the chest.
This was followed by each of them reappearing, their forms silhouetted in a sphere the colour of their Element before they all appeared, now as their Rainbow Powered forms, now infused with its energy.
The rectangle vanished and Celestia looked to Fluttershy. “You saw the moment you all became light?”
Fluttershy nodded, a shudder of fear suddenly going down her spine. Now that she thought about it, she’d felt something when that had happened. For the briefest of seconds, she’d felt as if she’d left the world and wouldn’t return, only to feel like she had awoken from a deep, long sleep, more refreshed than she ever could imagine. it had been terrifying, yet wonderful at the same time.
Luna glanced at her sister, then turned to the Pegasus. “Do you have any injuries from your past? Anything that has remained over time?”
Fluttershy thought about that, then nodded, awe, confusion and fear entering her eyes. “Yes. When I was a filly, back in flight school, I had several accidents that left my right hind leg a little stiff and one of my wings ever a bit sore.”
“Do you feel them now?”
Fluttershy shuddered again. “No. I-I don’t feel them at all. In fact, I feel like nothing’s wrong with my body at all. No aches or pains of any kind.”
Luna nodded. “That is because the shell you now inhabit is not the one you were born with, but one that was created from the Rainbow Power. It will never age past a certain state, remaining as you are then for all eternity.”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “Sh-shell?”
Celestia and Discord scowled at Luna. “Don’t you think you could’ve worded that at least a little bit better, princess?” the dragonequus said, folding his arms.
Celestia sighed and looked to Fluttershy. “While she could have said it better,” she shot Luna glare, before looking back to Fluttershy, “she is right. Each of you now have new bodies, so any injuries you acquired during your lives until that point are no longer present. They are young and strong and will never age.”
Fluttershy looked shocked beyond words, before fear re-entered her eyes. “Ne-never age? Y-you mean Twilight will...?”
All their eyes widened as they realized what she was thinking and Celestia moved forward to squash her fears. “Fluttershy, Twilight will age just like any normal foal. When I said you all won’t age, I meant from a specific age, one Twilight has yet to reach and will reach. You all will not age, but she will until she reaches the age that is right for her not to. After that, she will stop aging and remain like that for all time.”
Fluttershy wanted to feel relieved, but the large amount of news she’d just received was rattling through her mind. She was immortal. Twilight was immortal. All six of them were immortal!
Suddenly, something Celestia said caught her attention. Something to do with another member of the Royal Family and close to Twilight, whom, though she was different than before, was still a pony Twilight held in her heart.
“Um, Princess?” she said, shying as they looked at her, but kept going, for the sake of her daughter. “If having your Cutie Mark on the Tree of Harmony makes you immortal... does that mean Cadance isn’t she doesn’t have hers... well...?”
Celestia shook her head. “Cadance is immortal. However, the reason why is very different from us, yourself, your daughter and your friends. As repayment for creating the Elements and the seed that grew the Tree of Harmony, Queen Emaryalis asked that we use its power to gift one of her descendants with the same magic it would give to us. ”
Luna nodded. “At the time, we did not realize that meant the gift of immortality, so we agreed, not knowing what was to come.”
“After Discord’s defeat, we went to give to the good news to Emaryalis,” Celestia sighed. “It was then that we learned of what had befallen the Empire.”
“S-Sombra?” Fluttershy squeaked.
Celestia nodded. “We were able to save her two children, her son, Prince Purity and her daughter...”
“Cadance?”
Celestia nodded. “After we were able to save them, we returned to the Empire to defeat Sombra and stop his evil rein.” She sighed heavily. “I, however, was unable to do so and fell to him. Had Luna not come to my aid, I will surely have perished at his hoof.”
Luna looked down, ashamed. “However I was not really the one who defeated him. During the battle, he used the same spell he did to incapacitate my sister on me and... it was all she needed to awaken.” She shuddered. “That day, Nightmare Moon came to being within me. I used her power and defeated him and she went to sleep, lying in wait to take full control of me mere months after.”
Fluttershy winced, realizing what Luna meant. It was why Discord, Sombra and Nightmare Moon all happened within the same thousand years.
“Purity was born a unicorn,” Luna went on, returning to the other matter. “A rare thing to happen within the Empire. Cadance was born a Pegasus, like myself.”
“However, after she fulfilled her destiny, she ascended into an alicorn and the Tree granted her immortality,” Celestia said. “Since the Tree is crystal itself, it needn’t her Cutie Mark on the Tree for immortality to be given to her. This, however, was after Luan's banishment, so it was not til she returned that my sister learned of a third princess.”
“Her brother wished to have similar ruling rights as her, thus he went on his own,” Luna sighed, “marrying a unicorn of nobility, with the idea that would ascend him as well. When it did not, he vowed the bloodline would remain pure until it did. Hence, Bloodblue’s line came about.”
Discord growled. "He will be sorry for what he said earlier. I overheard every word."
Luna looked to him, nodding. "I was planning on giving him some rather horrid nightmares, myself. Maybe you could give me some ideas?"
Discord nodded, a sinister sneer appearing on his lips. "I'd be honored, Luna."
Fluttershy sighed, her head drooping. This was so much. She’d expected it to be simple, but this was so much deeper than she’d thought. She’d never expected to learn this much.
“Is something wrong, Fluttershy?” Celestia asked, concerned for her well being, causing Luna and Discord to halt their revenge plans against Blueblood, both concerned for Fluttershy.
Fluttershy gave a small nod. “... If you don’t mind, princesses, Discord, I think I’ll go home now.”
They did not stop her as she turned and walked on the throne room, her head hung low.
As the train made its way back to Ponyville, she thought over everything she’d been told. History had never spoken of any of the things she'd learned. Though, she guessed she’d been foolish to think things had been so simple as Sombra deciding to rule, Celestia and Luna simply stopping him, Discord’s defeat, not knowing that Sombra had been the true one responsible for Nightmare’s birth.
She leaned her head against the window, looking out at the night sky, a few tears sliding down her face. How am I supposed to tell Twilight and the others that they’ll all outlive their families?
Fluttershy was rocked awake as the train came to a halt in Ponyville Station. It was already late in the afternoon. The train had had to make a stop due to sheep being on the tracks and it had taken a while for the shepherds to move them all, by which time, Fluttershy had fallen into a little nap.
She stretched, extending her wings, getting any stiffness (though there was barely any) put on her saddlebags and exited the train, only to find Pinkie Pie waiting for her on the platform.
This wouldn’t have surprised her, Pinkie normally always welcomed any of them when they returned, however, Pinkie wasn’t wearing her usual larger than life smile as she always did. Instead, it was a small, quiet smile.
“You know now, right?”
The quietly asked question was an oddity for the pink mare, but Fluttershy understood it and gave a small nod.
She’d not wanted to admit it, but as soon as she’d left the throne room, every pony she’d looked at, whether a guard, a member of the royal staff, ponies on the streets, even her fellow passengers on the train, she’d always thought the same thing: they would one day be gone, while she remained.
Pinkie nodded. “So, do we tell the girls? Or do we pretend like nothing’s changed and tell them later?”
Fluttershy closed her eyes and sighed. “I... think we should tell them. They have the right to know.”
Pinkie nodded. “And Twilight?”
“NO!” Pinkie took a step back at Fluttershy’s sudden outburst. The Pegasus looked away, tears in her eyes. “Twilight may have her memories from the other reality, but she’s still just a foal. I don’t want her spending all her foalhood thinking that everypony around her will all die.”
Pinkie sighed, smiling. “Yeah. We can tell her some other time, right?”
Fluttershy nodded. “Maybe... maybe when she’s a teenager I’ll tell her. For now, I don’t want to make her any sadder than she’s already been.”
Pinkie walked up to her and patted her shoulder. “So, I’ll get Rarity and Rainbow, you get AJ when you go get Twilight back. Okay?”
Fluttershy didn’t respond and headed out, her destination: Sweet Apple Acres.
Fluttershy knocked on the door to the farm house. She was nervous and worried, but hid it from her face. She didn’t want Twilight to worry.
A few moments later, the door opened to show Big Macintosh standing there. He smiled and let her in.
As she walked in she heard laughter, Twilight’s laughter, sounding innocent and full of cheer. She entered the living room and saw Twilight sitting on the floor with Apple Bloom, looking through what looked like a photo album.
Fluttershy smiled warmly as she watched them. Twilight looked so happy, a wide smile on her face that melted the mother’s heart.
It almost made her want to leave quietly and let Twilight continue having a happy, ignorant life, but she knew, for Twilight’s own good, that could only last so long.
“Howdy, Fluttershy.”
She turned and smiled at the orange Earth Pony as she walked in from the kitchen. “How was she?”
Applejack smiled. “She was fine. She slept like a baby without a problem all night.” She turned to the living room. “Twilight. Yer ma’s here.”
Twilight and Apple Bloom looked up from the photo album and Twilight’s eyes brightened. “Mommy!” she cried, buzzing her wings and fly to Fluttershy, who caught her in her forehooves and hugged her.
“Did you have fun with your cousins?” Flutershy asked as she nuzzled Twilight’s cheeks, to which the foal repaid in kind.
Twilight looked at her and smiled. “Yeah. Abble Bwoom was showing me all my new famwiy. I newew wealized just how big da Abble famwiy is. I weally wanna stawt wesearching deir famwiy histowy an’ wearn more!”
Fluttershy’s smile grew at hearing that. She was happy Twilight was growing used to her new family. She’d been so sad when she learned her original family wasn’t hers anymore, it was good to see her so happy. And hearing Twilight talking about doing researched warmed her heart. It showed that, despite how much she’d changed since they’d woken that day, she was still the same Twilight Fluttershy knew and loved.
“Aww,” Apple Bloom pouted as she got up and walked over to the mares and foal. “Is she goin’ already? Ah wan’ed to play with Twi a bit longer.”
Fluttershy’s smile faltered ever so slightly and she knew Applejack had noticed. She sighed and looked at Apple Bloom. “Actually, I need to talk with your sister and the others about something. While we’re gone, will you look after Twilight for me, Apple Bloom?”
The filly’s eyes sparkled. “Ya’ll can count on me, Fluttershy! Ah promise, I won’ let ya down!”
Fluttershy couldn’t help but brighten her smile. Apple Bloom was full of so much joy and innocence. She knew Apple Bloom would be a very important part of Twilight’s life as she grew up and the two would be closer then Fluttershy could probably hope.
Applejack glanced at Fluttershy, an eyebrow raised. “What we meetin’ the girls for?”
Fluttershy shook her head. “I’ll explain when we get there. We should be done in a few hours, Apple Bloom,” she held Twilight out to her. “Take good care of her, okay?”
Apple Bloom saluted, then took Twilight in her forehooves, smiling. “Ya’ll can count on it. Ah won’ let’cha down.” Apple Bloom took Twilight back to the photo album and they continued from where they were before Applejack had interrupted them.
Fluttershy kept her smile, but a few tears slid down her muzzle.
“Uh, Fluttershy?” Applejack whispered, slightly worried by her friend’s tears.
Fluttershy wiped her tears away and turned to leave. “Come on. We shouldn’t keep the girls waiting.”
“Alright, surgarcube,” Applejack said as the five mares stood in a circle the throne room. “Just why did ya ask us all here? An’ why did ya leave Twi outta this? Ah know she’s jus’ a foal, but Ah feel we shouldn’ leave her outta important things.”
“Indeed,” Rarity nodded. “This is rather unusual, dear. And so soon after you’ve returned from your meeting with the princesses.”
“What’s up, Shy?” Rainbow cocked an eyebrow. “You’ve been acting a little weird ever since four days ago. Pinkie didn’t really say why we had to be here other than it was important.” Then muttered, "And I was really enjoying my nap."
Fluttershy closed her eyes. “Before I tell you, you have to promise that you’re willing to listen.”
All three mares raised an eyebrow.
“Uh, whadda ya mean, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.
A few tears slid through her closed eyelids. “Once I’ve told you, your whole perspective of life will change. And once you know this, there’s no going back. Are you ready for that?”
The Earth Pony, unicorn and Pegasus looked to each other, slight worry on their faces. Fluttershy had never spoken like this before. What could be so huge that it would change their very perspective of life? Was this bad or good?
Rainbow, as brashheaded as ever, grinned. “Whatever it is, I know I can handle it. No sweat!”
“This isn’t a joke, Dashie!” Pinkie almost seemed to snap, glaring at the cyan mare. “This is serious! Like, worse than if you were told you had to leave the Wonderbolts Reserves and would never be a full Wonderbolt, serious!”
Dash’s eyes widened in horror. “I’m leaving the Reverses and can never be a Wonderbolt?!”
Fluttershy shook her head. “But think about how you just felt. It is even more impacting than that.”
“How...? How is that possible?” Dash took a step back, not able to think about anything that could impact her life harder than that.
Rarity and Applejack glanced at each other, both thinking of the things that mattered to them the most as much as being in the Wonderbolts was for Dash, then gulped.
“Once you know, you can never go back to the way things are now,” Pinkie said firmly, which shocked the mares just as much. “Everything will change. You will never look at anypony the same way again.”
Dash, AJ and Rarity looked at each other, unease clear on their faces. They gulped and, slowly, each of them nodded.
Fluttershy sighed. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna told me how they’ve lived for so long. They’re immortal.”
Dash cocked an eyebrow. “Uh, I think we all knew they’re immortal, Shy. What’s that got to do with us? Twi’s the only alicorn aside from them and Cadance.”
Fluttershy shook her head. “They’re not immortal because they’re alicorns.”
Rarity blinked. “Then, if that’s not how they’ve lived for so long, how did they do it?”
“They’re Cutie Marks are on the Tree of Harmony,” the Pegasus sighed. “And so are ours.”
Rainbow frowned. “Uh, no, they’re not. I only saw Luna and Celestia’s Cutie Marks on the trunk and Twi’s in the centre before she... returned...”
“Sweet, merciful Celestia,” Applejack whispered. “The Elements.”
Fluttershy nodded. “Each Element is shaped like our Cutie Marks and now they’re back in the Tree of Harmony.”
“So, cuz our Cutie Marks’re on the Tree o’ Harmony... we’re all immortal?”
Fluttershy nodded. “Twilight will continue to grow until she’s about our current ages, then she’ll stop growing and no longer age... just like us.”
Rarity’s eyes sparkled. “You mean, we have eternal youth? Oh, thank Celestia! I was dreading the day I’d start getting crows’ feet. Oh, the shame it would have been to go through.” She frowned when she noticed none of her friends shared in her joy and turned to see both Applejack and Rainbow wearing solemn faces. “Is something wrong?” she looked at all four mares, only Pinkie wearing a smile, yet a sad smile.
Applejack slowly looked to her, shock mixed with sadness. “Rarity, we’re all gunna live forever. Don’cha see what tha’ means?” She looked down again and whispered, “Apple Bloom.”
Rainbow, tears brimming in her eyes whispered, “Squirt.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow and looked to the ceiling, wondering why they’d just mentioned their sisters when they were the ones who were immortal, not... their...
“By Celestia,” she whispered, looking down, tears welling in her eyes. “Sweetie Belle.”
Pinkie nodded. “That’s why we asked if you were ready and warned you you’d never see anypony the same way again.”
“Ah... Ah can’t believe this,” Applejack murmured, tears trickling down her muzzle. “Ah’m gunna have to watch my little sister grow old, while Ah don’t change at all?”
Fluttershy nodded. “And that’s why I don’t want Twilight to know about this. Not until she’s at least a teenager again.”
Rarity turned to Fluttershy, clearly flustered from learning she’d outlive her little sister. “No offense, Fluttershy, but I’m sure Twilight wouldn’t even understand...” She frowned. “Wait. Again? How could she be a teenager again?”
Applejack and Rainbow both looked to Fluttershy, equally confused.
Pinkie nudged Fluutershy, who sighed and said, “Twilight isn’t any ordinary foal.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Yeah. We kinda already know that. She’s the first alicorn foal to be born since the princesses.”
“No.” Fluttershy took a deep breath. “She’s the first alicorn born since Queen Emaryalis.”
Rarity’s eyes went wide. However, Applejack and Rainbow just looked more confused.
“Are ya’ll sayin’ that Celestia and Luna weren’t born alicorns, like Twilight?” the farm mare asked, looking skeptical.
Fluttershy nodded. “They were born a unicorn and a Pegasus. It was only after they made the Elements that they became—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Rainbow held up her forehooves. “You’re saying Celestia and Luna created the Elements? What about the Tree of Harmony? Who made that?”
Fluttershy looked away. “They made it too, with the help of Queen Emaryalis.”
Rainbow frowned. “And just who is this Queen Emaryalis?”
Rarity glared at the cyan mare. “How dare you, Rainbow Dash! Queen Emaryalis was the Crystal Empire’s first... and last queen. How could you not know this?!”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “I suppose you looked it up back when we were last at the Empire?”
Rarity huffed. “I started reading into the Empire’s history after we saved it, yes.”
Applejack shook her head. “Ah think we’re gettin’ a little sidetracked here.” She looked to Fluttershy. “Now, what were ya’ll talking ’bout, with Twi not being a normal foal, sugarcube? Well, aside from bein' apparently the first ever Alicorn by birth, anyway.”
Fluttershy looked to Pinkie, who nodded, took a deep breath and began. “Did any of you wake up with powerful headaches four days ago?”
They each blinked, shocked, before nodding.
Fluttershy sighed. “Me too. There was a reason for that. It was because you were all adapting to your new memories.”
Confusion appeared on their faces where shock had been.
“New memories?” Rarity asked, confused. “What ever do you mean, darling?”
Fluttershy gulped and did her best to explain to her friends about the other reality they’d all lived in, how Twilight hadn’t been her daughter there and had come to Ponyville on the day Nightmare Moon returned and they’re time together as six friends had all started.
She told them how Sunset Shimmer hadn’t been Celestia’s student for long and had stolen Twilight’s crown and taken it to the other world. And how, during the party Pinkie had after they’d defeated Tirek, she’d told them all about wanting to be a mother, Twilight saying how she’d have been a happy foal had Fluttershy been her mother and how Pumpkin Cake and Discord’s magic mixed together and created the reality they all were standing in now.
At first, they thought she was joking, until Applejack’s eyes went wide. “She... she wasn’ lyin’, ya’ll,” she whispered in shocked, turning to the Pegasus and unicorn. “Ah’d know if’n she’d lied ’bout any o’ that. She wasn’ lyin’.”
Both Rainbow and Rarity’s jaws dropped as they looked to Fluttershy, who nodded meekly.
“You mean, that’s why you were acting so weird these last few days?” Dash asked, staring with eyes wider than she ever had before. “Because, you don’t remember this reality at all?”
Fluttershy nodded, not meeting her foalhood friend’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“No,” Dash shook her head. “No, you don’t have to be sorry, Shy. You couldn’t have known... Sweet Celestia. We really just forgot about a whole reality?”
Applejack held her head low. “Now Ah see why ya’ll don’ wan’ Twilight knowing ’bout her immortality.”
Rainbow turned to the farm mare, confused. “Well, I don’t. Could you explain it for me?”
Applejack looked at Rainbow, a fierce look in her eyes that made the Pegasus take a step back. “Twilight’s a foal, Dash. A foal! She’s got years before her body’s gunna stop like ours. She probably don’t even know she’s immortal right now. Would ya’ll really do that to her? She’s got a whole new foal and fillyhood to go through. You really wan’ her to be sad through it all, always thinkin’ that, no matter what friends she makes in kindergarten or school, they’ll all grow old and fade away while she doesn’t? Could ya really do that to her?”
Rarity nodded, her expression just as firm. “Indeed. If I were in her position and was told such a thing, I would never want to make friends ever again.”
Dash frowned, even more confused. “Why? What’s so bad about being a foal and knowing you’re immortal?”
“UGH!” Applejack cried, glaring at Dash. “Twilight has an adult mind, Dash. We’re barely taking this immortal news well enough ourselves and we’ve already stopped agin’ fer the most part. Imagine being a foal an’ havin’ to spend the next twen’y or so years, growin’ up and knowing that!”
Dash blinked, then closed her eyes, thinking about that for several moments. Her ears drooped as she opened her eyes, realizing what they meant. “Oh... jeez.”
Applejack nodded. “An’ even if’n it weren’t how things were in that other reality, in this one, Twi’s a member o’ my family. She’s an Apple an’ Ah don’ wan’ her havin’ to suffer from the age she’s at because she’s immortal. Ah don’ wan’ her to look at Apple Bloom or her dad and only think, “One day, they’ll be gone, but Ah’ll still be here” while she’s still just a foal.”
Fluttershy nodded, tears in her eyes. “That’s why we can’t tell her. At least, not until she’s ready.”
“When’s she gonna be ready to be told that?” Rainbow asked incredulously.
Fluttershy closed her eyes. “Trust me, Dashie. I’ll know.”
Rainbow was about to protest, when Applejack put a hoof on her shoulder. “She’s her ma, Dash. Ah think mas know things. They just know ’em”
Dash frowned. “But she just said she doesn’t remember being Twi’s mom until four days ago.”
Fluttershy frowned. “Yes. However, in that time, I’ve felt my bond with my daughter, Rainbow Dash. Even if I don’t remember the last year or so of my life, it doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten that bond. I’ve felt it, stronger than you’d ever imagine.”
Fluttershy took a step forward and Applejack quickly got between them both. “Whoa! Hold on, everypony. We’ve all learned a lot today and it’s a lot to take in. Let’s not react too quickly here an' do somethin' we'll regret later. Let’s all just go home an’ think about all this ’efore we act, okay?”
They all nodded and the meeting was ended and they went their separate ways, Fluttershy following Appejack back to the farm to get Twilight.
When they arrived it was already dark. As they walked into the living room where they’d left Apple Bloom and Twilight, they found the two of them curled up next to each other, an open photo album next to them. They were both fast asleep.
Applejack smiled at the scene, however, that smile became sad as she looked at her little sister.
Fluttershy looked to Applejack. “Applejack?” She turned, tears just visible in her eyes. “Would... would you like me and Twilight to stay tonight? Um, if that’s okay, I mean?”
Applejack’s eyes softened and she let a few tears slid down her face. “Ah...” she sniffed. “Ah’d love that, Fluttershy. Ah really would.”
The two ponies walked over to the smaller ones, gentling nestled down beside them and readied to sleep.
Twilight yawned, turning and curled into her mouth’s barrel, not knowing that was what she was doing as she continued to sleep soundly.
Fluttershy looked to Applejack, who had brought Apple Bloom closer, the filly curling up to her sister just as Twilight had to Fluttershy.
“I’m... I’m sorry I told you... Applejack,” Fluttershy whispered, guilt filling her with the knowledge that if she hadn’t told her, Applejack wouldn’t be so sad right now.
The farm mare shook her head. “Don’ be, Fluttershy,” she smiled. “Ah’ve found out sooner or later anyway. At least this way, Ah know not to waste any o’ the time Ah have with my friends an’ family.”
She frowned, then looked to Fluttershy. “Yes?”
“Ya’ll should do the same.”
Fluttershy blinked. “What?”
Applejack sighed. “Ah know you an’ Brae sorted things out and ya’ll don’t have any more feelin’s fer him than he does you, but he’s still Twi’s pa.” She glanced to the small foal sleeping against the Pegasus. “Ya’ll should take Twi to see ’im. He’d like that. Ya don’t gotta tell ’em bought the immortal thing; just... let him spend some time with his daughter. She’ll thank ya, someday, fer doing that.”
Fluttershy gave a sad, yet happy smile as she looked down at her sleeping foal. “Thank you, Applejack.”
Applejack tilted her Stetson, before taking it off and curling up to her little sister. “Tain’t nuthin’, sugarcube. Yer family. It’s what we do.”
Fluttershy nodded, then leaned down and wrapped a wing around Twilight before the lights were turned off a few minutes later, no doubt by Big Mac, having spotted the scene and left them be and let sleep take her.
Twilight rolled over, unable to sleep as she felt the floor shaking as the train went down the tracks. She just couldn’t sleep. Something seemed... different.
The morning she’d woken up in Applejack’s house, she’d found Fluttershy and Applejack had come back whilst she’d been sleeping and had gone to sleep laying next to her and Apple Bloom.
When the adults and Apple Bloom had woken up, Twilight and her mother had joined her new cousins for breakfast (Twilight had cursed that she still couldn’t eat solid foods beyond foal food), where Fluttershy had revealed that the two of them were going to go to Appleloosa for a week.
When Twilight had questioned this spontaneous decision (one she’d not been informed about until this moment), Fluttershy had gotten a sad look in her eyes for a second, so fast, Twilight could’ve mistaken it even being there, before she gave a small smile and told her that she thought Twilight should just spend some more time with Braeburn, since he was her father.
Something told Twilight Fluttershy wasn’t telling the whole truth. She wasn’t lying, but there was something she was hiding.
Twilight had then, for a split second, wondered how she’d known this, before she remembered that she was now a member of the Apple Family by blood, meaning she had the same instinct they all seemed to have for detecting lies or mistruths, something she’d asked AJ about a while ago, back in the other reality.
So, here she was, riding a train bound for Appleloosa, to spend a week with her father, who she was still struggling to think of as that without feeling a little weird.
She looked up and tried as best she could to see outside the window, which she could just see from her fold-out crib. True, she could’ve flown up to check, but somehow Fluttershy always knew when she did get out of her crib, whether back in Ponyville or the few times she’d tried during the train ride.
Twilight just chalked it up to mother stuff, like Twilight Velvet had always seemed to have and Fluttershy’s slightly better hearing after the whole Vampire Fruit Bats/Flutterbat incident.
From what she could see of the window from her vantage point, the night sky was very beautiful tonight. Luna had outdone herself.
Twilight sighed, laying back down and closing her eyes. She still didn’t feel sleepy, but she knew she couldn’t go looking around the train to pass the time.
Somehow, even though she was an alicorn and could easily use her magic to do what she wanted to anyway, Fluttershy was able to stop her by just saying Twilight’s name sternly, which made Twilight suddenly feel guilty and she’d do as told by her mother.
“Aw! This is boring!” an agitated voice whispered.
Twilight blinked. She knew that voice.
“Scootawoo?” she asked, getting up and putting her hooves against the bars of her crib.
“Huh? What was that noise...? Oh! Hey, Twilight!” the orange Pegasus said, leaning down from her bunk and waving to the foal princess.
Twilight cocked an eyebrow. What was Scootaloo doing on a train bound for Appleloosa?
The filly glanced around, then jumped off her bunk, buzzing her wings. She didn’t fly, not that that surprised Twilight, but her wings slowed her decent enough that she landed without a sound on the carpet.
Twilight watched as she tiphoofed over, stopping in front of the crib.
“Bet you’re wondering why I’m here?” she asked, a small smirk on her muzzle.
Twilight nodded. This really was confusing. She knew school holidays had started, so Scootaloo didn’t need to be home for school in the too near future, but what was she doing on the same train to Appleloosa that she and Fluttershy were on?
Scootaloo giggled. “It’s cause my dad’s a Royal Guard and he wanted me to come with him.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow, cocking her head. That didn’t sound right.
Scootaloo chuckled at her response. “I’ll explain. See, it was the last day of school and my dad came in. I hadn’t seen him in ages. He told me he’d finally been able to return after his latest mission for the princess.” She sighed. “But, just this morning he got told he had another mission.” She brightened. “But, when he learned it was simply guarding you while you’re in Appleloosa, he told me I could come with him.”
Twilight blinked. Now that she thought about it, she had seen several Royal Guards on the train. She’d just assumed they were there to watch over the train for any suspicious characters, but, now that she thought about it, the idea that they were here to watch over her made a lot more sense. She was just a foal, after all.
Though, that begged the question of just which of the Royal Guards was Scootaloo’s father.
Scootaloo smiled, seeming amused by Twilight’s expression as she tried to remember which guards could have been the filly’s father. “He’s the Pegasus currently standing outside the sleeping cart,” she waved a hoof at the door at the end of the rows of beds. “He’s the guard with a white coat, red mane and blue tail. Oh, and his eyes were light-blue.”
Twilight frowned, thinking through the guards. She had seen one who matched that description. Never would she have thought he was Scoots’ father.
Though, that brought up another question, one Twilight was surprised she’d never thought of asking her back when she’d been an adult and not Fluttershy’s daughter, not to mention able to actually ask it directly to the filly. Where was Scoots’ mother?
Scootaloo smiled sadly. “Bet you’re wondering about my mom, huh?”
Twilight nodded and Scootaloo sighed, sitting down in front of the crib. “She died... giving birth to me. I never got to know her. My dad’s told me about her, but I never got a chance to meet her myself.”
Twilight’s ears drooped and she looked down. Scootaloo had never known her mother? That was horrible. That must have been so hard for a filly her age to know.
Now she felt guilty for how she’d complained at first when Fluttershy had become her mother. Sure, she didn’t have her original parents anymore, but she still had a mother and father. Scootaloo only had her father and it seemed they didn’t get to see each other too often.
She felt a hoof on her head and looked up to see Scootaloo, giving her a small smile. “Hey. Don’t feel guilty that you got both your mom and your dad. I’m okay with things the way they are.”
Twilight gaped. How...? How had she known she was feeling guilty? That shouldn’t be possible!
Scootaloo winked. “I’ve seen that look enough times to know it when I see it.”
Twilight frowned. She had a sneaking suspicion that Scootaloo was not simply talking about other fillies and colts. Now that she thought about it, she’d seen her and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle with guilty looks after that whole incident during their Twilight Time... which never happened now. Sometimes it was really depressing, thinking about all the things that had never happened because of her being Fluttershy's foal.
A moan that sounded very familiar came from another of the beds. “Squirt... it’s late. I’m tryin’a...” there was a yawn, before the sound of snoring came.
Twilight blinked. Why was Rainbow Dash on the train too? Scootaloo, after she gave the explination about her dad being a Royal Guard and her joining him, she could understand. But Rainbow Dash? That didn’t make any sense at all.
Scootaloo shook her head. “Don’t quite know why, but ever since that meeting she had with your mom and her friends, she’s been more clingy to me than I ever was to her.” She grinned. “Not that I mind. She decided to come along and hang out with me. This is great!”
Dash’s moan could be heard again. “Scoots!”
Scootaloo blushed, her ears drooping. “Uh, think I’ll go to bed. Sleep well, Twilight.”
She walked back over to where Twilight had seen her come down from, climbed the ladder, got under her blankets and went to sleep.
Twilight sat in her crib, going over what Scootaloo had just said. Rainbow had become clingy to the filly after the meeting Fluttershy had with Applejack and the others. Come to think of it, Fluttershy hadn’t suggested this trip until after that either and she was sure Braeburn didn’t know anything about this. some of the guards had actually been annoyed she’d made such a spontaneous decision, since it meant some of them had to come along to guard the foal princess, when they’d have rather stayed in Ponyville for some downtime.
Rarity and Applejack had been similar. Applejack had said she wanted to spend more time with her family and Rarity had said she was going to take Sweetie on vacation to Manehatten so they could do some sisterly bonding.
Pinkie hadn’t seemed too different, though, considering Pinkie, you couldn’t expect anything. There was no telling what was going on in that pony’s head.
She counted each of them off, not noticing she’d used her magic to make a checklist and quill appear, the latter starting to tick a box next to each of her friends as she counted off. All her friends and her now mother had been acting odd ever since that meeting. What could it have been about? Nothing had seemed wrong until Fluttershy told her about this trip. After that, things had changed.
Twilight didn’t notice that, as she busied herself, she was getting tired, until she flopped forward, her checklist and quill dropping to the floor and she was sound asleep.
The train doors opened and Fluttershy stepped out, Twilight in the foal carrier, Scootaloo standing by her, Dash on Scoots’ right, her dad on her left.
They all looked around at the western-like town that was Appleloosa. There were cowponies walking around, chatting, transporting goods, fillies and colts running around.
Fluttershy smiled. This was a good idea. This town seemed a lot quieter than the last time she and her friends had all come.
“There ya do, Sheriff,” a familiar voice said from not too far off.
All the ponies turned to see Braeburn hooving over several colts, teenagers, just barely stallions to the pony Fluttershy recognized as Sheriff Silver Star. The two colts had wooden stocks on the forehooves, keeping them from running off.
“Nice job, Braeburn,” Silver Star said, tilting his hat. “Myabe ya’ll be the sheriff after Ah retire in a few more years.”
The sheriff nodded. “Yer a mighty fine stallion, Braeburn. Strong, honest and a believer in justice. Now, if’n ya’ll will excuse me, I got some colts to teach the rules of the law.”
With that, he walked over, the two colts grumbling as they followed in his hoofsteps.
Braeburn sighed, turned and saw the ponies looking his way. He gaped. “Fluttershy? What’re ya’ll doin’ here?”
Fluttershy smiled and walked over to the sire of her daughter. “I thought Twilight should spend some more time with you, so we’re staying in Appleloosa for the week.”
Braeburn’s eyes went wide, then brightened. “Really? Ya’ll came to stay fer the week? Ah get ta spend seven whole days with mah li’le Twily? ”
Fluttershy nodded. “I’ll be staying too, but I want you to spend a lot of time with her.” While you and her can.
Braeburn was so happy he didn’t notice the sadness in Fluttershy’s eyes. He leaned down and nuzzled Twilight. She bopped him a few times playfully, finding she couldn’t help herself.
Braeburn showed the ponies to his farm. His farm house and barn were pretty big, almost twice the size as Applejack’s. Though, Fluttershy and Twilight supposed that made sense, since Appleloosa was still a relatively new town and needed more stoke and supplies for everypony.
Braeburn led them inside, where Fluttershy was surprised to see little Strong Heart sitting at the kitchen table, serving what looked like an apple-themed lunch. Well, little wasn’t really the right word for her now. Since their last visit, she’d grown a lot and looked like a young buffalo mare, ready to start her own family.
Braeburn explained that she’d been called little back when they’d met her because she hadn’t had her growth spurt. She was actually the age for buffalo females to start looking for suitors. Fluttershy didn’t need telling that she’d already found her suitor. The look she gave Braeburn when he came in was evidence of that.
Rainbow Dash was the first to speak. “Yo, Strong Heart. How ya been?”
“Hello, Rainbow Dash. Very well, thank you. And how have you been?” the buffalo asked as she set the plates down and then took notice of Fluttershy, Twilight, Scootlaoo and Scootaloo’s father. “And Fluttershy and... I’m not sure who you two are.”
Scootaloo’s father stepped forward. “I’m Speed Strike. I am here to guard Princess Twilight Sparkle during her stay.”
Braeburn raised an eyebrow. “Are ya’ll saying mah daughter would be in danger?”
Speed shook his head, smiling warmly. “Not really. It’s just protocol. In truth, I’m using this as a chance to spend more time with my own daughter.” He indicated to Scootaloo.
“And I’m here to spend more time with the squirt too,” Dash said, ruffling the filly’s mane.
“Well, I didn’t think we’d be having company, but we’ve some spare rooms upstairs that you can stay in,” Strong Heart smiled, coming over and nuzzling Twilight.
Now, Twilight had expected it from Braeburn, but Strong Heart? She was so shocked, her foalish nature briefly took control to aid her and she gurgled and cooed like the foal she was.
Fluttershy giggled and, as Strong Heart led them upstairs to show them to their rooms, she whispered, “Somepony’s really getting into the spirit of things, isn’t she?”
This snapped Twilight back to reality and she glared at Fluttershy. “I cou’d’na hewp it,” she pouted, folding her forehooves. “I did’na espect Stwong Heawt to do dat too. I bwanked and my foaw mind took owew fow a widdle.”
Fluttershy gave a small smirk. “Okay, Twilight. Whatever you say.”
Fluttershy’s room was modest. Small and homey, much like Applejack’s room, back at Sweet Apple Acres. One thing Twilight noticed though was there was a crib.
Fluttershy turned to Strong Heart and smiled. “This is very nice. Thank you.”
Strong Heart smiled back. “Well, we always have these rooms vacant, just in case we get surprise visitors.”
Fluttershy looked down. “Sorry about that. It’s just... I think it’s really important that Twilight spends more time with him.”
Strong Heart held up a hoof. “No need to explain, Fluttershy. And no need to apologise, either. Brae’s always happy to have Twilight over.”
“Eeyep.” Fluttershy jumped as Braeburn walked in, chuckling. His impression of Big Macintosh’s voice had been perfect. “Always happy to have friends over. Also, Ah know she loves readin’, despite her still bein’ a foal, so here’re some—”
“Books!” Twilight cried, her eyes lighting like stars. By Braeburn’s hooves were a stack of books. And not just any books. They looked like family history books. Technically half of them were photo albums, but those were like history books, in a sense.
Scootaloo, Speed Strike, Strong Heart and Braeburn stared at Twilight, their eyes wide.
“What?” Twilight squeaked, shying away a little, covering her face with her wings.
“She... She spoke,” Braeburn said, sounding breathless.
Fluttershy’s eyes went wide. “You understood that?”
“We all did!” Scootaloo said, punching the air with a hoof. “Twilight just said her first word.”
Rainbow Dash snickered. “Typical Twilight. Shoulda guessed that’d be her first word, with all the books she reads.”
Braeburn looked like he might cry, pride etched on his face. “Mah little girl just said her first word.”
Fluttershy smiled as she realized what had happened. Though she could still understand everything Twilight said, even if it was foalish talking, everypony else had just heard her say her first word that all could understand.
Twilight blushed. “My fiwst word? Weally? “Books” was my fiwst word? I wike books, but come on. Books?”
Fluttershy giggled and nuzzled her, which she returned, feeling warm and happy.
Fluttershy looked to Braeburn and smiled. “So, are you ready for some daddy-daughter time?”
Braeburn nodded. Fluttershy took off the foal carrier and helped him put it on. It was technically designed for pegasi, with holes for the wings, but it still fit Braeburn and it wasn’t like the holes would be a problem for him.
As he nuzzled Twilight, Fluttershy put a hoof to her mouth and coughed a few times.
“Fluttershy, are you okay?” Scootaloo asked, looking concerned.
Fluttershy gave a slightly strained smile. “Oh, I’m fine, Scootaloo. It was just a tickle. But thank you for asking.”
Twilight glanced at Fluttershy. She'd had a few “tickles” on the train too. It had been one of the reasons she hadn’t been able to sleep until after her one-sided chat with Scootaloo. She’d heard her coughing a few times and had wondered if something was wrong.
Hearing her cough again, she felt slightly worried. Was Fluttershy catching something? These questions would have to wait for later though, as Braeburn started heading down the stairs, taking her away from the Pegasus.
She decided to put her worries aside for now. She was curious about what Braeburn was going to show her. He would have her all day, after all, which left a fare amount of time to see a lot, even though it was almost noon already.
Twilight couldn’t help but glance around as she bobbed up and down in the foal carrier as Braeburn trotted through Appleloosa’s streets. He was greeted by ponies he passed, many of home daa’wed when they saw Twilight, which caused her to blush, which only elected more daa’ws.
The Earth Pony frowned, looking around at the top of some of the buildings. Twilight followed his gaze and caught a few glimpses of sunlight flickering on armour.
The stallion snorted. “Well, Speed might be okay, but Ah don’t like how all these guards’re hidin’ around town the way they are. It’s down right unnervin’.”
Twilight had to agree that, aside from Speed Strike, the other guards were taking this way too seriously. Sure, she was a princess and protecting her was their duty, but what kind of danger could she possibly run into out here in Appleloosa? The most dangerous thing they’d dealt with, aside from when Tirek attacked and took their Earth Pony magic, was that misunderstanding between the town and the buffalo tribe, which was long settled.
Trying his best to ignore the guards that thought they were staying out of sight, thus out of mind, though he could see them no problem, Braeburn showed Twilight the Apple tree fields, which she had to admit were very impressive. She giggled as she saw several buffalos running through the open path left within the trees.
Braeburn smiled down at Twilight as she giggled. “It sure does look great, don’ it? Only orchard to shame us is yer cousins’.”
Twilight assumed he was talking about Sweet Apple Acres, though he could easily have been talking about another of the Apple family farms throughout Equestria.
Braeburn showed Twilight where he, the sheriff and Chief Thunderhooves normally hung out; talking about the things the town and buffalo tribe were doing to continue working together in peace, occasionally sharing a few mugs of cider between each other.
Twilight was fascinated as she saw the recent additions to the town, like the cultural school, in which fillies and colts got to learn more about the buffalo tribe, their past, their beliefs and their connection to the land, a connection that even Earth Ponies didn’t understand unless they took the time to do as the buffalo do.
After a few hours, she and Braeburn started heading back towards his house. Twilight yawned, she was ready for a nice nap. As they neared the house, however, they noticed Scootaloo standing outside, glancing around worriedly.
As soon as the filly spotted them, she hurried over. The anxiousness in her eyes caused Twilight’s heart to skip a beat. Something was wrong.
“What’s up, Scootaloo?” Braeburn asked as the Pegasus stopped in front of him.
“It’s Fluttershy!” Scootaloo said loudly, moving from hoof to hoof. “She’s sick!”
Twilight blood froze. Fluttershy was sick?
She tried to get out of the foal carrier, she had to find out what had happened to her friend/mother. However, Braeburn beat her to it, bolting inside, fearing for his daughter’s mother’s well being.
He passed by Speed Strike, who shouted something as the Earth Pony hurtled upstairs, but neither he nor Twilight were able to catch it as they neared Fluttershy and Twilight’s room.
Just as they were about to reach the door, however, Strong Heart walked out, closing it behind her and held up a hoof. Braeburn skidded to a stop, his muzzle gently pressed against the outstretch hoof.
“Is it true?” he asked, glancing at Twilight, who had tears welling in her eyes. “Shh, it’s okay, Twi.”
Strong Heart sighed. “It is. Fluttershy has the Feather Flu.”
Braeburn frowned, confusion overriding her worries in an instant. “What in the hay is that?”
Strong Heart sighed. “I had a similar reaction. Scootaloo and her father explained it to me. It’s a type of flu only those with wings, such as pegasi like Fluttershy, can catch. It lasts a few days, but isn’t too harmful. As long as we take good care of her and she gets plenty of rest, she should be fine a day or two before they head home.”
Braeburn sighed with relief; only to tense as Twilight started to quietly cry, though not so quietly that they didn’t hear it. He leaned down, picking Twilight up and holding her in his forehooves.
“What’s wrong, Twi? Yer ma’s gunna be just fine. A few days and she’ll be as chipper as a dunebug in the morin’.”
Twilight only continued to cry and buried her muzzle into his fur. He looked to Strong Heart, who looked very upset.
She glanced back at the door, then at Braeburn. “Those with wings can catch the Feather Flu.”
Braeburn frowned, confused. “But, Twi ain’t a Pegasus, she’s an alicorn. How would she...?” He blinked, then looked down at Twilight’s wings, before looking back to Strong Heart, his eyes wide.
She nodded. “Twilight may not be a Pegasus, but she does have wings, which means she could catch the Feather Flu from her mother. She’ll have to stay away from Fluttershy until we can be sure she’s better and the flu’s completely gone.”
“Can’t she even just go in an’ see ’er fer a li’le?” he asked, not liking to see his little filly so upset.
Strong Heart shook her head. “Feather Flu is very contagious. It’s why I’ve moved Scootaloo and her father’s things to the downstairs guest rooms. Since they're pegasi, they could catch it too if we're not careful.”
“But, what about Twi?” Braeburn asked, looking down at his crying daughter. “How’ll we feed ’er? Where’s she gunna sleep, if not with her ma?”
Strong Heart blushed a little and scuffed a hoof on the polished wooden floor. “She’ll be staying with us in our room. I've already disinfected her crib after taking it out of the room. As for feeding her, Fluttershy strictly told me that she doesn’t want Twilight having formula.”
The stallion frowned. “Then how in the hay is she gunna eat? Ah know she c’n eat foal food, but what about her milk? Ah don’ think nun o’ the mares in town are gunna feel like feeding a foal that ain’t theirs, princess or not. We ain’t got that far yet.”
Strong Heart’s blushed grew deeper. “Well, actually, I decided I’d feed her, until Fluttershy gets better.”
Twilight stopped her crying and turned to look at Strong Heart, her mouth hanging open, just like her father’s.
After a few minutes, Braeburn managed to close his mouth as he stared at the buffalo. “Is... is that safe? Can pony foals drink milk from buffalos?”
Strong Heart frowned, thinking. “I don’t see why not. Breast milk is breast milk, no matter what race it comes from. It should be okay.”
“And if it doesn’t work and Twi can’ keep it down?” Braeburn asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Strong Heart shuffled a little. “Well, I know a few mares who’d be willing to act as nurse mares for a few days. They’ve been lookin’ fer work in that area, since their own jobs are slowin’ down a bit lately.”
Braeburn nodded. “Okay. If’n Twi can’t keep down yer milk, we’ll ask one ’r more o’ those mares fer help.”
As if on cue, Twilight’s stomach chose that moment to rumble loudly, causing her to blush and the two adults to chuckle and giggle respectively.
“Guess we’ll see soon enough, won’t we?” Strong Heart asked, taking Twilight, putting her on her back and heading downstairs to the living room.
Twilight was set down on a cushion in the living room and Strong Heart lay down in front of her, putting a blanket over the foal to give her some privacy.
Twilight covered her eyes with her hooves, feeling embarrassed and like she was doing something wrong as she caught sight of Strong Heart’s teats.
In truth, she hadn’t breast-fed from Fluttershy, at least not in her memory, anyway. Maybe the foal her of this reality had, but she didn’t remember if that was the case. Whenever she’d drunk Fluttershy’s milk it had been from a bottle.
Strong Heart laughed lightly at Twilight’s reaction, then gently pressed Twilight closer to her teats. The movement caught Twilight off-guard, and she looked up, not knowing how close she was and the teat slipped into her mouth without resistance.
As soon as her mouth covered the teat, the tiny amount of pressure caused a squirt of warm milk to go into Twilight’s mouth. Her foal instincts kicking in, Twilight started suckle, despite telling herself not to.
After a few moments though, and feeling the warm milk entering her hungry stomach, Twilight settled down and fell into a steady rhythm as she nursed. Strong Heart’s milk tasted very different from Fluttershy’s. The Pegasus’ milk was light and fluffy, almost like tasting a cloud that was filled with sugar-water. Strong Heart’s, on the other hoof, tasted strong, with a slight musk that reminded her of the feeling of the dirt beneath her hooves the first time she’d touch the ground as an alicorn, but different. Stronger, somehow.
Five minutes later Twilight was full and burped, followed by her blushing, which only caused Strong Heart to smile and nuzzle her.
Twilight spent the rest of the day in the living room with Scootaloo, with Rainbow and Strike watching them, both smiling warmly.
Twilight tried to show Scootaloo how to fly. Scootaloo didn’t seem pleased that a foal was trying to teach her to fly (her ego had already taken a beating, what with Twilight having larger wings despite only being a foal), but she didn’t give Twilight any spit. She’s a foal, after all.
When it was dinner time, Twilight was sat in a high chair next to Scootaloo and a bib tied around her neck. Dinner looked amazing. Apple fritters, apple bread, corn, some daisy sandwichs; her mouth was watering.
However, she deflated when a bowl of apple sauce and a bottle of milk were placed on her high chair’s tray. She sighed. Being a foal, she still had a long ways to go before she could enjoy the foods she highly enjoyed.
Not paying attention to Strong Heart reaching for the spoon to feed her, Twilight lit her horn, levitated the spoon, scoop up some of the sauce and popped it in her mouth.
Despite her disappointment at not getting to enjoy the same foods those around her were, she couldn’t deny that the apple sauce was very tasty. She could just faintly detect a hint of cinnamon... and maybe a tiny bit of kiwi?
The other ponies looked at her with slight surprise as she levitated another spoonful and ate without anypony’s aid, but all just smiled, said their blessings and began eating, Strong Heart briefly leaving to go give Fluttershy her dinner, a special soup made in her tribe, said to help recovery from illness easier.
However, Twilight wasn’t giving up on the food spread out in front of her yet. She waited for the right moment, when everypony was occupied with dinner conversation as Strong Heart returned and, lighting her horn, levitated an apple fritter into the air and brought it to herself quickly.
Before anypony or buffalo could do something, she popped the fritter in her mouth and started chewing. She was lucky she already had all her teeth, even if they were only her foal teeth.
Each pony gasped, watching and waiting as Twilight finished the fritter and swallowed, a wide smile on her face. That had been good.
For several moments, nopony moved, they all just remained still, watching Twilight, waiting. After about ten minutes, then all seemed to relax, then smiled.
“Looks like Twilight can finally keep down big pony food,” Scootaloo grinned, then her grin faltered. “Pinkie’s gonna want to throw a party for this, right?”
Rainbow nodded, then shook her head. “She’s also probably gonna want to throw a “Twilight Spoke Her First Word, Books, party” alongside the "Twilight Can Finally Eat Normal Food party”." She sighed. “We’d better enjoy the rest this trip gives us. She’s not gonna let us rest for a while once we get back.”
Twilight couldn’t help but giggle at that thought. It would be just like Pinkie Pie to do that. Heck, she wouldn’t be surprised if the party pony suddenly was standing next to her like the pink mare that was—
Twilight yelped, leaping from her seat and flying behind Scootaloo.
Okay. So she was surprised. So sue me.
“Pinkie?” Rainbow asked, her eyes wide. “What the hay’re you doing here?”
Pinkie bounced over to Twilight and ruffled her mane. “When I heard Twilight said her first word and can eat big pony foods I came to congratulate her and give her these.” As she spoke, she procured a large box of cupcakes with yellow icing, like Fluttershy’s coat and Twilight’s Cutie Mark on top. “And don’t worry, Dashie. No ponies were harmed in the making of these cupcakes.”
“Um... what?” the cyan mare asked, only to realise Pinkie was nowhere to be seen.
The adults spent the next few minutes looking around the house, trying to find where the pink maned mare had gone, but she seemed to have just vanished.
Once they’d decided that Pinkie wasn’t around anymore, though how that was possible or how she even got there in the first place they were all still puzzling over, they returned to the table and opened the box of cupcakes. There were enough for one each, even one for Fluttershy, with a note from Pinkie saying it was specifically meant to be given to her to make her feel better.
When dinner was over, Twilight and Scootaloo had their bath, Twilight being bathed by Braeburn while Scootaloo bathed herself.
With bath time finished ten minutes later, Twilight was diapered and put in the snuggy Fluttershy had brought for her from home.
Despite Scootaloo’s insistence that she didn’t want to, she also was wearing a snuggy. It was yellow with patterns of Rainbow Dash’s Cutie Mark on it that apparently had been left by Pinkie, with a note saying, since her friends weren’t around, Scootaloo didn’t need to be embarrassed about liking to wear them.
When she looked at the ground, her ears drooping, Dash told her that, back when she’d been a filly, she too had enjoyed wearing a snuggy. The brighten Scootaloo’s mood greatly and, though she still complained about going to bed, she did so.
Twilight watched from in her crib as Scootaloo walked down the hall and out of sight. Soon, Braeburn walked in and nuzzled her. Twilight yawned as he pulled the covers over her and her eyes started to close.
“G’night, Twi,” he whispered, turning the light off and quietly closing the door. “We’ll be quiet when we come ta bed ourselves. Sweet dreams, my li’le filly.”
Twilight didn’t want to go to sleep, not without Fluttershy. In the months since they’d accepted this was now their reality, she’d grown fond of being close to the Pegasus when she was going to sleep and to not be with her now hurt and made her feel alone.
However, after that last bottle of milk a few minutes ago, she couldn’t stay awake, no matter how hard she fought the urge to sleep. "G'night, Mommy." She yawned, closed her eyes and drifted off to the realm of dreams.
Twilight awoke to find herself under comfortable silken sheets.
Sitting up, she looked around and found herself back in her bedroom in her castle.
Looking down at herself, she was relieved to find that she was still a full-grown pony.
A snore from beside her made her turn and see Spike laying sprawled in his bed, fast asleep.
Chuckling, she got up and made to get ready. She and the girls had that picnic today they'd had planned since before learning about Tirek today and she wasn’t going to be tardy.
“Hey, girls!” she called as she and Spike walked up the hill where the picnic mat was set.
“Hey, Twilight!” the other five called out, waving as the Alicorn and drake came over.
Sitting down, Twilight looked around at all her friends, noticing them giving her odd looks.
“What is it?” she asked, looking around.
They all shook their heads, simultaneously saying, “Nah!”
“What?” Twilight laughed, looking from one pony to the other. “What’s the joke?”
“I had this really weird dream last night,” Rainbow Dash chuckled, pointing at the Alicorn. “You were a foal and Fluttershy was your mom.”
Twilight blinked, her eyes widening a bit. “Really? Huh. That is strange. I had a similar dream last night too. I dreamt the party didn’t end like it did and that I then woke up as a foal and Fluttershy had a room in the castle.”
“Yer not the only one, Twi,” Applejack chuckled, nodding around at the others. “Seems we all had odd dreams like that last night.”
“And I don’t think I could ever live in that castle,” Fluttershy said, before hiding behind her mane. “I mean, um, I don’t mean to offend or anything, Twilight. It’s a lovely castle and all, but, I just couldn’t live there when so many of my animal friends couldn’t join me.”
Twilight giggled. “It’s alright, Fluttershy. I’m still adjusting to it myself.”
“So, anyone got any idea what gave us those wacked up dreams anyway?” Rainbow asked, looking around.
Pinkie giggled, causing all head to turn to her. “Well.... Discord and I might have addeda teensy, weensys omething to the punch. Just a bit.”
The other five all rolled their eyes.
“Should’ve figured,” Applejack said, shaking her head. “Ah mean really, can ya’ll imagine Fluttershy bein’ Twi’s ma?”
Twilight just shook her head. “Considering we all got our connection from Dash’s Sonic Rainboom, I don’t honestly see it would be possible. It couldn’t work if I wasn’t even existing inside Fluttershy at that point.”
They all nodded, before deciding to put those odd dreams behind them and returned to their regular lives, which would soon coincide with Starlight Glimmer going back in time and making a bunch of whacked up alternate timelines because she was too stupid to read a news paper and figure out the Mane Six getting their Cutie Marks from the Rainboom was so important to Equestria that messing with that moment was a really dumb idea.
Twilight shifted, her muzzle scrunching as she searched for the warmth of another body. After several moments of not finding one, she opened her eyes, looking around in confusion.
This wasn’t her room. Where were the crystalline walls? Where was her crib? Where...?
She heard the sound of light snoring. Looking in the direction of the sound, her muscles eased as she saw Braeburn and Strong Heart sleeping in their bed and it all came back to her.
Fluttershy had arranged for them to spend some time in Appleloosa so she could get to know her new father better.
Looking around, she could see it was still early morning, so it would be wrong to wake anypony up this early.
She pouted, folding her forelegs. What was she supposed to do til everypony else woke up, huh? She wasn’t feeling sleepy, so going back to sleep for a quick nap was out of the question.
Moving her eyes around the room, they fell upon a large stack of books, which she suddenly remembered Braeburn had gotten her yesterday, but that she hadn’t gotten a chance to read due to him showing her around the town.
She blushed, still embarrassed at the memories of all the Appleloosans who’d spoken with her new father, all saying how adorable or cute she was.
Putting those thoughts aside, and realizing she finally had a chance to do some serious family history studying, Twilight lit her horn, pulling the stack of books into her crib.
Setting them down, she took the top one, opened it and began to read.
The crowing of a roaster roused Braeburn from the realm of sleep. He slowly sat up in bed and stretched, smacking his lips, before turning to Twilight’s crib, only to smile.
Twilight was laying on top of a book, fast asleep, her nose scrunched up and a cute little smile on her face.
Shaking his head, Braeburn got out of bed and moved over to the crib. Leaning down, he tried to pull Twilight out, but found, the moment he tried to move her, her horn light and, as she rose, so did the book.
He blinked, not sure what that meant. He found out a second later as he tried to pull the book away, only to have it pull against him, as if an iron bar was holding it back from his grasp.
Realizing trying to take the book from Twilight would be a bad idea, he simply left her and the book on his back, before heading downstairs.
Reaching the living room, he saw Speed Strike coming out from the guest bedroom. Nodding to the Pegasus, he headed for the kitchen to get breakfast ready.
A few minute later, everypony and buffalo else was up, save Flutershy, who will still in bed with the Feather Flu.
All sat down, Twilight being put into a high chair. On its counter was a bottle of milk and a bowl of apple sauce.
The little foal pouted for some reason, babbling in a way the yellow stallion could swear was mumbling, but shook it off.
“So, where’re ya taking yer kid t’day, Braeburn?” Rainbow Dash asked, munching on a red apple.
Braeburn paused, trying to think about that, before there was a knock on the front door.
“I’ll get it,” Strong Heart said, getting up and leaving to do just that.
They all listened, able to her some murmuring, before Strong Heart returned.
“Sheriff Silver Star needs your help, Brae,” she said, seeming both worried and disappointed.
The farmer stallion cocked an eyebrow. “What about?”
She shook her head. “He told me he couldn’t say much right now. Only that it involves problems at the rodeo out in Hoof City.”
Braeburn stiffened slightly. “Uh oh,” he murmured, putting a hoof to his chin. “It can’t be him again, can it?”
“Can't be who?” Rainbow asked, cocking her head a little.
Braeburn shook his head and stood up. “Ah gotta see what this is about.” He turned and nuzzled Twilight. “Sorry, Twi. Guessin’ we’ll have t’ try again t’morrow.”
With a nod to everypony else and a quick nuzzle to Strong Heart, Braeburn donned his hat, grabbed a few hash browns and an apple and hurried out to meet with the sheriff.
“Well, that was weird,” Scootaloo said, blinking.
Rainbow nodded, a confused frown on her face. “Wonder what’s up.”
They all decided to put it aside for now and returned to breakfast.
For the rest of the day, Scootaloo kept trying to get her wings to help her lift more than a little off the ground, whilst her father and Rainbow watched, each giving the younger Pegasus pointers whenever they felt it needed.
Strong Heart spent the time tending to Fluttershy, to help make sure she was better sooner rather than later, so the Pegasus could spend time with her foal again.
Twilight chose to do something they all found quite odd. Unlike the times Dash remembered before, when Twilight would fly around, using her magic whenever and teleporting, she just sat on the floor in the living room, pouring over several Apple Family history books.
At least, she found it odd until she remembered Twilight didn’t have the mind of a foal, but of an adult mare from an alternate timeline where she and the little pony had been good friends.
It irked her that she couldn’t remember that life. She wondered what might have been different in her life in that reality compared to now. Was she on good terms with Scoots’ dad? Did she and the squirt even have the sisterly relationship they do now?
They were questions she wanted answers to, but the only two ponies nearby who could give her any answers were either in bed with Feather Flu, or only able to say “Books”.
It didn’t exactly leave her with a lot of options.
Inwardly sighing, Dash walked over to the little foal and sat down next to her.
Twilight looked up at her with innocent eyes and Dash gave a small grin.
“So, whatcha readin’ there, Twi? Anything good?”
The baby pony then began babbling away in a fashion that Dash found she could now recognize as a lecture in a sense.
She had to stifle a snort and the cuteness and absurdity of a little baby like Twilight giving a lecture. It was hilarious, but seeing it happening was so damn cute as the little Alicorn pointed out parts in the books, using a tone Dash remembered from her teachers back in Cloudsdale.
It was just too funny and adorable.
After several hours of a lecture from Twilight, the first time Dash was ever able to sit through a lecture without falling asleep due to this just being too damn precious; Twilight gave a big yawn, before crawling a little closer to Dash.
The Pegasus was confused at first, until Twilight used her magic to lift Dash’s wing, crawled a bit closer, then let the wing fall back down, this time over the little pony.
Dash blinked, before a small smile came to her face and she settled down a bit. True, letting a foal nap under her wing wasn’t something she’d normally do, but Twi was Flutters’ kid. She’d make the acceptation this one time.
Everypony sat down for breakfast. Twilight was very happy, hugging her mother as said mare tried to get her to take her seat.
That morning, as Braeburn had been changing her, Strong Heart had come in with the surprise that Fluttershy was better. Well, mostly better. Her Feather Flu was gone, but she wasn’t back to full strength yet.
“I know, Twilight,” Fluttershy giggled softly, nuzzling the foal, before finally getting her into her seat. “I’m happy to be up too. But, breakfast first, okay?”
Twilight gave a tiny pout, but smiled and nodded.
“So, what’re the plans for today?” Scootaloo asked as Dash took a bite of an apple.
Before anypony could answer her, Twilight reeled, putting her hoof to her head, her horn lighting up. Somepony was casting a REALLY powerful spell and there was no stopping it.
Suddenly, her mind was blinded by images and feelings of things she’d never experienced before. She remembered the feeling of waking in a cold world, before feeling the warmth of her mother around her, the lack of fear of Nightmare Moon upon her return and instead a strange happiness, meeting Fluttershy’s parents— her grandparents, and them dotting on her, nearly falling out of the house because Fluttershy’s brother, Twilight’s Uncle Zephyr Breeze, hadn’t been paying attention when he pushed her pram out of his way to get some snacks.
So many memories that she’d never had flashed before her eyes, before the forceful feeling finally went away and she slummed forward, her head on the tray of her highchair.
After a few moments, Twilight groaned, slowly opening her eyes and looking around. Everypony else around the table seemed just as out of it as she felt. They were all holding their heads, frowns on their faces as their eyes were closed.
Sitting there, watching them all, it took Twilight’s addled mind a few seconds to finally realize what had just happened.
Somehow, I gained all the memories I should have had as this version of myself. But… why is everypony else acting this way? It doesn’t make any sense.
“Oh, come on, Twily,” a young voice Twilight didn’t recognize suddenly said from nowhere. “As you were so usefully told way back when: what fun is there in making sense?”
Before Twilight could try to understand the meaning of those words, there was a flash of white light and Discord was hovering above the table. However, he was not alone.
Floating next to the Lord of Chaos was a pink filly with a curly white and purple mane and tail, wearing a propeller beanie on her head, who had a Cutie Mark of a screw and a baseball.
It was the filly’s eyes, though, that really grabbed Twilight’s attention. They had no pupils. They were just pink and purple spirals and moving.
“D-Discord?” Fluttershy asked groggily, looking up at her with bleary eyes. “I don’t… how did you…? What?”
“Wow!” the filly said, floating over to Twilight and picking the little Alicorn up, before nuzzling her. “Looks like I was wrong about Alicorn babies being different than normal foals. I’ll keep that in mind for later.”
“Discord, who… who is that filly and… and what just happened?” Fluttershy asked, looking from the filly holding her daughter to the draconequus.
Discord smiled. “I’m ever so glad you asked, my dear Fluttershy.” He flopped back in the air, as if resting in an invisible hammock. “As you know, I have been having no luck trying to remedy my little… um… boo-boo. At least on my own.”
“That’s where I come in,” the filly said, Twilight disappearing in a puff of smoke, omly to reappear in her high chair. “Name’s Screwball. I’m from another dimension and happened to stumble on this one when going for a scroll between realities.” She folded her forelegs, before whistling loudly. “Yeesh. You guy's sure did a number of this reality. It’s a wonder Dissy and me working together was even able to fix what we could.”
“Fix?” Twilight asked, cocking her head.
Screwball turned to the foal and winked. “Eeyep. That’s right, Twily. Fixed.”
“I… I remember everything,” Dash gasped, turning to stare at Twilight, her eyes wide. “I… I remember everything... both ways.”
Screwball nodded. “Like I said, a wonder we could fix what we did. Unfortunately, I’m nowhere near as powerful as Dissy is, but, working together, we were able to pool our Chaos Magic together to fix some things in this world.”
“Yes,” Discord scratched his chin. “To think, fixing everything means we ended up having the human Sunset Shimmer raised as Shining Armour’s little sister as a pony here in Equestria, while the Equestrian Sunset still lives in the human world?”
“And, man, it’s good the movie’s events didn’t play out,” Screwball shrugged. “Can you imagine how Twilight would’ve been able to get the crown back if she’d gone in there as she is?”
Discord shook his head. “I’d honestly rather not think about it. At least things worked out somewhat over there on their own.”
“Um… care to actually explain what the hay you two are talking about?” Rainbow Dash frowned at the pair, looking from one to the other.
Screwball just shrugged. “It’s pretty simple, really.” She pouted for a second. “Which actually makes it kinda boring, now that I’m thinking about it.” Her expression returned to cheery. “Dissy and I pooled out powers together and reverted what we could of this world to match it’s original baseline. Most of the changes are minor, really, when you think about them, but they work in the scheme of things.”
“That includes the memories of everypony directly affected by Twilight,” Discord continued for the filly. “To a majority of the realm, Twilight has still always been a foal, born from Flutterhsy and whom found a way to turn into a Alicorn before she even got out of diapers.”
“I feew wike I shouwd be owffended by dat,” Twilight frowned, folding her forelegs.
“However, most of Ponyville and a select few in Canterlot, now have memories of both Twilight as a foal and as a full grown mare,” Screwball took off from the draconequus. “That includes family. Yikes. Talk about having a big family.”
Twilight blinked, before her eyes widened. “You… you mean Shininw and my woonicown pawents… dey… dey wemembew me?”
Screwball nodded, though looked uneasy. “Yeah. I have a feeling you all are gonna have a LOT to talk about the next time you meet. Anyway,” she dusted her hooves, turning to Discord, “my work here is done, so I’ll take my leave. Nice meetin’ ya Dissy.”
“The pleasure was all mine, Screwball,” Discord stood up, a suit and top hat appearing on him, before he took of his hat and bowed. “I wish you the best in your own world.”
Screwball smirked. “Thanks. You too.”
There was a popping sound and the filly was gone.
There was silence for several long moments, nopony really sure how to react.
“Who… who was that filly?” Dash asked, looking to Discord in shock. “And how come she was able to do thing like you can?!”
Discord stroked his goatee. “She’s a filly from another dimension, one where she ended up absorbing all the Chaos energy the Elements dispelled after you all sealed me back in stone.”
Dash blinked, before face-hoofing. “Forget I asked.”
“Wow, this… this is really weird,” Scootaloo looked to Twilight. “I remember you both as the adorable foal you are now, but also the mare who…” She shook her head. “My head hurts.”
“You think the rest of your friends remember everything too?” Speed Strike asked, still looking dazed from the sudden memory deluge.
“I… I wouldn’t be surprised,” Fluttershy said uncertainly. “That is what you said happened, isn’t it, Discord?”
He nodded, tilting his hat. “Indeed. They remember. Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a certain unicorn stallion I have to a visit to for… reasons.”
With a mischievous smirk, he popped away in a burst a sprinkles.
“Well…” Speed said, looking around the table. “This is certainly going to be interesting.”
Fluttershy sighed as she (with Twilight riding atop her back), Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo and Speed Strike, stepped off the train in Ponyville station.
The rest of their time visiting Braeburn had definitely been interesting. With all their memories restored, both he and Fluttershy found it very hard to look each other in the eye.
Fluttershy, of course, had more things on her mind, that did not help with the renewed awkwardness that had come between her and Applejack’s cousin.
Fluttershy could now remember everything about raising Twilight from birth. It both thrilled and weirded her out, having memories of herself interacting with her friend as a full-grown mare, as well as remembering carrying her around for eleven months and the year that followed.
It was actually a bit embarrassing, remembering how over protective of the little Alicorn this version of herself had been, regardless of the time mostly being when Twilight was a unicorn foal. A unicorn foal who somehow had gotten her Cutie Mark before birth, but a unicorn foal, all the same.
She blushed just thinking about how much she’d fretted over her foal’s safety. Sure, it made sense that she’d be worried, but it really showed how she’d grown as a pony in their original timeline compared to the her that had been created in this timeline.
Dash seemed the most out of it after Fluttershy, though, always seeming shocked whenever seeing Twilight as a foal after having gotten her old memories back.
“Well, if you’ll excuse us, Lady Fluttershy,” Speed Strike said, bowing to the yellow Pegasus. “Scootaloo and I will be returning to her aunts’ house.” He then gave a slightly uncertain nod to Twilight, the idea that the foal before him having an adult mind and understanding everything still seeming to unnerve him a little, “Princess.”
With that, the two headed off, leaving Fluttershy, Dash and Twilight on their own as they headed back towards the castle.
“This is just… wow,” Dash muttered as the three of them made their way through town, it not escaping any of their notice the confused and uncertain looks of each Ponyville resident they passed. “Both sets of memories. It’s just… this is so bizarre.”
“Teww me aboudit,” Twilight muttered, her frown furrowed in confusion as she sat atop her mother’s back.
Dash cringe slightly. “That feels really weird too.” She shook her head. “I mean, I have my memories back, so I understand why Twi can talk… but the fact I understand her, with the memories this reality gave me, it’s just… ya know?”
Fluttershy gave a small squeak. True, she was used to being able to understand Twilight, but with her other memories now in place, it did feel a bit weirder than it already had.
They reached the castle, the two white unicorn guards standing out front saluting the trio.
“Lady Fluttershy,” the one on the left said, before nodding with slight uncertainty to the foal on her back, hesitation entering his voice for a moment. “Your Highness. The rest of the Element Bearers have already arrived and are awaiting the three of you in the throne room.”
Shortly after they had gotten their memories back, Fluttershy had asked Speed Strike to send three of his guards out to meet with the rest of their friends, to meet at the castle once they’d finished their time with their families.
The three nodded to the guards, before heading inside. When they reached the throne room, they found Pinkie, Rarity and AJ sitting in their respective thrones.
Upon seeing the three of them enter, the others waved.
“Hi, guys!” Pinkie cheered, waving more energetically than the other two. “Glad you got to meet Screwball. She’s fun, right?”
That made Dash and Fluttershy pause mid-step, them and Twilight turning their eyes to the pink mare.
“How did you know we met a filly named Screwball?” Dash asked uncertainly, her tone clearly showing she wasn’t really sure she wanted to know the answer to that question.
Pinkie waved a hoof. “Eh, we go way back. She showed me the other world a long time ago. Even got the mirror set up so we can go in and out whenever we want, just like Twi had back in the old world.”
There was silence for several long moments, before everypony in the room decided it was better to leave that can of worms alone and NEVER OPEN IT!
Dash moved over to her throne at sat down. As Fluttershy moved towards hers, however, Twilight flew off her back, give her own, currently far too big, throne a try, out of foolish curiosity, she deduced, if nothing else.
Fluttershy hesitated for a moment, but smiled and sat down on her own throne just moments before Twilight landed on hers.
“Now, fiwst owdew o’ buishness,” the little Alicorn set, glancing around at all of them, intent to ask about their time away, before her eyes caught something. The Cutie Marks above each of the others’ thrones were glowing
Glancing behind her, so was the one above her, as was the one on her body.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake, before crystal shot out from each of their thrones, coming together in the centre of the star in the middle of the room, before more crystal burst from the point of contact, spreading out in a circle, before stopping, revealing a large crystal table, with a magical projection of a map that looked like it covered all of Equestria.
They all just sat there for several long moments, their jaws hanging open.
“Wh… what in tarnation just happened?” Applejack finally managed after about half a minute of total silence.
“Dis ish amashing!” Twilight cheered, flying up and looking around the map, her eyes furrowed in interest. “It’s wike a whowe map o’ Equestwia!”
“Hi, Mom and Dad!” Pinkie giggled, leaning down to what they all recognized as the projection of her family’s rock farm.
Suddenly, the glow of their Cutie Marks grew brighter, before projections of them flew into the air, before moving to one very specific spot on the map.
Fluttershy blinked, looking around the map in confusion. “But if this is Ponyville, why are our Cutie Marks over there?”
Twilight landed back on her throne and frowned, tapping her chin, before rolling her eyes as the daws that came from several of her friends. She guessed looking serious was out of the question for the next couple years. “I don’t know. But it seems wike da map wants us to find ouw. Da Twee, da chest, dis castle, and now da map. How can we not fowwow it?”
Dash flew over the map, grinning. “Y’know what? There’s a ton of room for dangerous adventure along that route. Count me in!”
Applejack tilted her hat. “Aw, shoot, Ah reckon yer right.”
Pinkie Pie looked up. “Well, I was planning on organizing my baking sheets,” she smiled, “but okay!”
Rarity sighed, before nodding. “Very well.”
“Mama?” Twilight looked to Fluttershy, who looked around at them all, before nodding. “I may be Twilight’s mother now, but I know I wouldn’t be able to convince her to stay and I would be a horrible mother to send her out on her own. So, I’ll go too.”
“Gweat!” Twilight cheered, flying over and hugging the mare. “Wooks Wike it’s time fow a woad twip.”
“And we can talk about our times away while on the train,” Dash said, flying into the air.
Twilight blinked, noticing something flash over Fluttershy’s eyes as she looked up at the cyan Pegasus. “Dash?”
They all paused in the doorway, the mare in question glancing back. Yeah, Shy?”
Fluttershy gave a slight frown. “How come you came to Appleloosa instead of going to see your parents?”
Twilight cocked an eyebrow. Why did that matter to her? Dash had just chosen to hang out with Scootaloo. Why was Fluttershy question Dash hanging out with her sister instead of going to visit her parents?
Her confusion grew as a look passed over the rest of their friends, Dash looking a little downtrodden, rubbing the back of her neck. “They were away on vacation in Las Pegasus. I didn’t want to interrupt their time there. I’ll just go visit them when they get back.”
Twilight looked around at her friends, feeling like she was missing something. They were all acting off all of a sudden.
Her train of thought was pulled off the tracks, however, when she felt a slight tug on her tail as Flutterhsy brought her down onto the Pegasus’ back, before moving over to the now grounded Pegasus and wrapped a wing around her.
The six of them stood looking down at where the map had sent them.
“It’s just an ordinary village full of ordinary pony folk,” Applejack observed.
Rarity cringed. “It could certainly use a few more architectural flourishes. Or any architectural flourishes.”
“I think it’s lovely,” Fluttershy murmured.
Pinkie Pie glared. “I don’t like it. I don’t like it one bit.” The others all looked to her. “I know smiles. And those smiles?” she pointed down at the ponies they could see in the village, who all indeed had very unnerving smiles. “They’re just not right.”
Twilight shook her head, pointing down. “Fowget da smiwes. wook at da Cuwie Mawks.”
They all looked closer, before noticing each and every pony with a Cutie Mark had the exact same one, a pair of grey rectangles, looking like an equals sign.
Rainbow’s expression became slightly uncertain. “Okay, that’s weird.”
Twilight frowned. “An entiwe viwage wit da same Cuwie Mawk? How can dat be?
Rainbow grinned. “I bet there’s some sort of horrific monster behind it.”
Twilight cocked an eyebrow at her. “Wha’ makes you say dat?”
Rainbow’s grin widened. “‘Cause fighting a horrific monster would be super-awesome!”
Twilight deadpanned. “O’ couwse you wouwd.”
Dash frowned, leaning down to her. “Hey, listen, Twi, I don’t need any lip from a foal, ya got that.”
“Ah reckon we just ought ta head into town and talk to some locals, find out what’s goin’ on,” Applejack said quickly to stop a fight she could easily see coming. She remembered the last time Twilight as a foal lost her temper. It did not end well. Diamond Tiara learned foals aren’t like dolls.
“Great idea, AJ. Let’s go!” Dash cheered, shooting off towards the town before anypony could stop her.
Rolling their eyes, the others followed, though Twilight couldn’t help hearing Pinkie saying as they moved down the hill, “Those smiles are bad news.”
The fact Pinkie Pie was saying smiles were a bad thing left the little princess feeling very anxious… which was not at all helped when they reached the town and everypony called out “welcome” in a way that made the fur on Twilight’s body stand on end.
Fluttershy didn’t feel to notice this reaction either, her motherly instincts telling her something was making Twilight scared, even if it seemed things looked perfectly lovely around the town.
Had she not been Twilight’s mother, she likely would’ve just enjoyed the pleasantness, but Twilight was thankful her mother was taking her reaction into consideration.
Twilight wasn’t sure if it was her connection to the Element of Magic, because she was an Alicorn, because she was a foal, or all of the above, but something was really making her skin crawl, even if she couldn’t figure out what it was.
Dash, however, was clearly more focused on her disappointment of how nothing seemed overly dangerous enough for her. “Ugh. Thanks a lot, map.”
A stallion with a blue coat and darker blue mane stepped forward, leaning a bit too close to Twilight for either her or Fluttershy’s likely, the latter lifting her wings to slightly shield her foal. “Welcome! Pardon my forwardness, but is that foal an Alicorn?”
Applejack nodded, giving a friendly smile. “That there’s the Princess of Friendship!”
The pony’s smile deepened. “Well, you’ve certainly come to the right place for friendship.”
Twilight squeaked and Fluttershy stiffened and alarm bell neither understood going off in their heads.
Another pony, a white stallion, stepped forward while the other moved over to stand in front of Ratrity and continued dto give that smile that made Twilight’s skin bristle as if she were covered in bugs. “What brings you to town?”
Fluttershy glanced to Twilight, before speaking uncertainly. “We’re not entirely sure.”
The white stallion nodded. “I see. Well, all are welcome here in our little village. My name is Double Diamond, and this is Party Favour,” he indicted to the other stallion.
Applejack nodded. “Howdy, Double Diamond. Ah’m Applejack, and this here’s Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and her daughter, Twilight Sparkle.”
Double Diamond moved a bit closer. “And you all have your own unique Cutie Marks.”
Twilight managed to get a bit of her confidence back, doing the breathing tequnice Cadance had taught her, before tapping her mother’s neck and asking her to translate without letting on she was actually the one asking.
“If you don’t mind,” Fluttershy asked, “has there been any sort of... trouble here, lately?”
Double Diamond just continued to smile. “Trouble? Why, I don’t think we’ve ever had trouble in our little village.”
Party Favor nodded, his smile becoming a little more unsettling for some reason. “It’s true. You’ll see. Hm.”
“Perhaps you’d care to speak to our founder, Starlight Glimmer,” Double Diamond offered, indicating for them to follow.
Pinkie Pie frowned as they followed the stallion. “I’ve got my eye on them. Something’s rotten in... whatever the name of this village is that we’re in right now!”
They reached a house that, unlike all the others, wasn’t part of a straight line. Twilight frowned, wondering why.
Double Diamond led them inside, before knocking on another door. “Starlight, we have some new visitors.”
Fluttershy nuzzled Twilight, who felt much calmer than she had before as Rainbow said something to Applejack.
The door opened, revealing a pony that caused Twilight to do a double take. Her colours were very similar to that of one of the Sirens from in the other world, but she was clearly a pony, so couldn’t be the same being… right?
“Welcome!” said mare called, walking up to them. “I’m so pleased to have you here.”
Double Diamond pointed to each of them in turn. “This is Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and her daughter, Twilight Sparkle.”
Starlight Glimmer looked to Twilight, who fluffed her wings to get at a small itch. “Forgive my bluntness, but I’m assuming it’s Princess Twilight Sparkle? We don’t get many Alicorns around here.”
“Yes, but Twilight is fine,” Fluttershy translated automatically as Twilight spoke, before blushing, hoping nopony would figure it out, saying to cover her tracks, “She prefers just Twilight.”
After a bit more chatting, during which Starlight told them the village was willing to welcome anypony who wished to learn, true friendship for the first time, as she put it, Starlight gave them a small tour of town, leading it being very heavily hinted to the currently in Mama Bear Protective Mood Fluttershy, that Starlight was just expecting them to want to give up their own Cutie Marks.
True, she didn’t really see a problem with these ponies having chosen to live this way, but that didn’t mean it was the way to live for every pony.
Twilight certainly seemed more uncomfortable the longer they were there. Not to mention, the idea of giving up her own Cutie Mark didn’t sit well with her, which she confessed to Twilight in murmurs.
Twilight stayed on her mother’s back the whole time they were there. She didn’t trust that something wouldn’t go wrong if she left her mother’s side, even for a moment.
Her gut instinct that something was wrong was all but confirmed when a mare named Sugar Belle secretively whispered for them to come into her house, making it clear she was worried about something.
Getting Pinkie Pie to eat the large amount of muffins they’d ordered so they’d have an excuse to go inside the bakery gave them a good cover.
“Nice wowk, Pinkie,” the foal sat as they went inside.
There was a small thumping sound from behind them, Pinkie Pie, saying in a clearly shocked and rather unhappy tone, “I’ve accidentally eaten cardboard tastier than that...”
That made Twilight feel a bit bad, but when Applejack had said Pinkie’s stomach was the only one likely to handle the muffins, it seemed she’d been right. If even Pinkie couldn’t find something positive to say about them, there wasn’t much chance they’d have been able to eat them at all.
“Hello?” Applejack called out as they all stepped into a dark basement, stepping out into a circle of light in the middle of the wrong. “Sugar Belle?”
“Thank you for coming!” said mare’s voice spoke from the darkness, herself, Party Favour and a Pegasus mare with a grey and white mane and deep-blue coat they’d met named Nigh Glider stepped forward.
“Why did you want us to come down here?” Fluttershy translated for Twilight.
Sugar Belle smiled. “So nopony could see what’s about to happen.”
The three started moving in, causing the other six to brace themselves, before Party Favour asked Fluttershy politely, “Is your daughter really the Princess of Friendship?”
Night Glider flew right up to their faces. “Do you know Princess Celestia?”
“I love your Cutie Mark!” Sugar Belle said wistfully, touching Pinkie’s rump.
“How can you be friends with different Cutie Marks?” Night Glider asked Dash. “Don’t you end up hating each other?
Sugar Belle went up to Rarity. “Oh, look at this one! This one’s great too! I’d love to have my special talent back even just for a day!” her expression saddened. “Make something besides those disgusting muffins...”
Rainbow cocked an eyebrow. “So what’s stopping you? Go get your Cutie Marks back.”
Party Favour looked to the other two. “Daydreaming is one thing, but you mean actually having it put back on? That seems extreme.”
Sugar Belle wilted. “I’m not sure Starlight would like that. She wants us all to be happy in our sameness.”
“How do you take somepony’s Cutie Mark anyway?” Fluttershy translated.
Night Glider got a wistful expression that didn’t enthuse the rest of them. “The cutie unmarking is a beautiful experience! Starlight uses the Staff of Sameness to magically take them away and replace them with these,” she finished by indicating to the equals marks.
“But nopony should keep you from your Cutie Mark. It represents such an essential part of who you are,” Rarity decided to translate for Twilight this time.
Night Glider shook her head. “Oh, we’re not kept from them. They’re in the vault up in the caves. We can visit them any time we like to remind us of the heartache of a life with special talents.”
Half an hour later, Starlight Glimmer led them up into a cave, before declaring. “Just through here! Behold! Our Cutie Mark vault!”
The other mares and foal were shocked by the wall of Cutie Marks before them.
Starlight moved over to a fancy looking stick of wood. “And here is the Staff of Sameness. It was one of the great Mage Meadowbrook’s nine enchanted items.”
Twilight’s eyebrows narrowed. Wait. Meadowbrook didn’t have nine enchanted items. Only eight. She was sure of that.
“We are incredibly fortunate to have it here. This is the tool that allows us to free ourselves from our marks!” Starlight frowned slightly. “I’m curious – how did the subject of the vault come up?”
“Oh, some ponies were telling us how much they missed their Cutie Marks, and—”
“Pinkie!” Twilight snapped.
Pinkie puts her hooves over her mouth. “Oops...”
Starlight’s smile became far less friendly. “Were they? Well, it seems you inspire all sorts of free thinking,” her eyes narrowed, “don’t you?”
Rarity laughed nervously. “Well, w-we certainly didn’t intend to cause any disruptions to your charming little—”
“Good,” Starlight cut her off. “Let’s just make sure of that, shall we?”
Twilight looked around, seeing all the village ponies coming out form the darkness, boxing them in.
“It’s a twap!” she cried, leaping into the air, lighting her horn.
Starlight didn’t seemed phased by the foal Alicorn, firing a beam of magic from the staff held in her own magic.
It hit Twilight, halting her in place. The feeling was so painful; Twilight hadn’t ever felt anything like it. It felt like something was being pulled right out of her.
Suddenly, her foal instincts took over. She felt something welling up inside of her, before she opened her mouth and loud out a loud wail, accidently blending it with the Royal Canterlot Voice.
The soundwaves were so strong; it startled everypony into freezing in place, along with the magical glass holding back the Cutie Marks to crack.
“What?” Starlight cried, turning around and gaping at the cracks.
However, nopony had any time to try registering beyond that. The room filled with a white light, before, holding Twilight protectively in his arms, with a look of pure rage on his face, was Discord.
“What in Equestria is that?!” Starlight cried in alarm, her eyes wide with fear.
“Discord?” Fluttershy gaped along with the rest of her friends. “Wh-why are you here?”
Discord stroked Twilight for a few moments, before looking to the Alicorn’s mother. “Did you really think, after I made such a huge mistake, I would leave Twilight unprotected? I placed a charm on her that would alert me whenever she was in utter distress. Not to mention I felt the magical disturbance caused by her cries blending with her emotions. Now,” Twilight suddenly appeared in Fluttershy’s forelimbs, while Starlight was hovering in front of the draconequus. “I see right through your ruse, Starlight Glimmer, even if you yourself don’t see it. I think you and I need to have a little word with princess Celestia.”
There was another flash of light, and they were both gone.
