After feeling unwanted and abandoned during the Canterlot Wedding, Twilight leaves to try and make a new start for her only to fall prey to a gang. Now Twilight tries to rebuild a life with no memories of her past until circumstances guide her home.
After feeling unwanted and abandoned during the Canterlot Wedding, Twilight leaves to try and make a new start for her only to fall prey to a gang. Now Twilight tries to rebuild a life with no memories of her past until circumstances guide her home.
Even after losing her memory, circumstances guide Twilight home to Ponyville.
(This is NOT a romantic pairing between Twilight and Trixie)
Words are a powerful tool, something that can make the best of friends and the worst of enemies depending on what it said. They can also become something to bring hope to those in need or the weapon to destroy a ponies heart. It was something that Twilight had learned in the two years that she had spent living in Ponyville among her new friends learning all that she could about friendship. It had been the best time in her life next to hatching Spike, her number one assistant and in her heart, her son.
Through the ups and downs she learned so much about what it was like to have friends, and how much pain they could bring though the happiness they also brought her far outweighed the negative. They all shared so many adventures together starting with coming together in order to defeat Nightmare Moon and restore the Princess of the Night to her true self. Since then they had done so much together, and even though sometimes they hurt each other sometimes they also knew that they would all be their if one of them truly needed it.
Or so Twilight thought.
The Smartypants incident had been something that Twilight deeply regretted, something she was deeply ashamed of. And even though she now knew that her actions were so very wrong, she also learned another lesson. She learned that she couldn't always trust her friends to be there for her. Sure they promised never to take her worries so lightly again, to be there for her from then on, but the damage had been done.
For the first time since moving to Ponyville, Twilight had reason to worry about losing her friends. She tried to push it out of her head, but her heart felt like their were cracks in it that just wouldn't heal. And the more time she spent with them the more she felt the cracks grow with the worse being Rainbow Dash...
Egghead...something other students had often called her as they constantly made fun of her. The few times she tried to socialize because of Princess Celestia's encouragement, the other students would only pick on her and call her geek, Princess Pet, or egghead. Egghead, the same thing Rainbow Dash called her a lot despite Twilight asking the rainbow maned pegasus not to do it. And while it didn't bother her much at first, after Twilight started wandering why her friends cared about her it began to hurt. Twilight began to realize that Rainbow Dash was the same as her old classmates.
The pegasus's careless words becoming the weapon that starting turning the cracks in Twilight's heart into chips.
Since the others were friends with Rainbow Dash long before she showed up, Twilight started paying more attention to the others as well. She observed how they acted around each other, but especially how they were around Rainbow Dash and herself. Her findings weren't too promising...she would think with her birthday coming up in a matter of weeks that they may actually want to spend more time with her.
Instead, they started acting funny around her, and at times even went out of their way to avoid her. It hurt Twilight everyime she came up to a gathering of her friends only for them to all of a sudden become deathly silent then instead of acting like they were happy to see her, they acted as if she was intruding. Of course they didn't come right out and say it, but the way they deflected her questions and quickly excused themselves told her everything.
Twilight had two questions that kept bothering her, questions that she was afraid to answer. First, why did her friends like her? The second question was...did they even really like her? Of course the questions were very similar, yet at the same time both answers threatened to break her. For the first time that Twilight could remember, she didn't want answers to questions that she couldn't answer.
Yet, she began to figure the answer to one of her questions when they went to Canterlot. It appeared that her brother was marrying her foalhood sitter, who turned out to be a princess. And despite knowing that something was wrong with the pony that looked like her sitter, not one pony would believe her. In fact, every one of her friends seemed to rather kiss the imposter's flank instead of listening to her for one moment. It was up to her to confront the evil monster that either possessed or controlled Cadence.
She admitted afterwards that perhaps she went about it all wrong, yet did she really deserve the reactions she got? She learned just how devastating a weapon words can be between her own brother basically disowning her and throwing her out of his life followed closely by Princess Celestia, her second mother, even damaging her heart even more. And as much as those words had crushed her, they weren't what finally shattered her heart.
No, what finally shattered her was the last lesson she would learn within the walls of Canterlot. She learned that as mush as words could hurt, the lack of words could hurt just as much or even worse. She watched as her friends walked away without a word, even Spike, giving her the answers she was afraid of. Her friends didn't care and the only reason they acted like they did was so they could kiss up to royalty. She was alone...
Even as her heart shattered, the imposter returned to send Twilight deep underneath Canterlot into a series of crystal caves where she found the real Princess Cadence hurt and malnourished. If not for Twilight, the princess could have died down in the caves with no pony the wiser until it was too late. And if it wasn't for the princess, Twilight surely would have died as she was having serious doubts that anypony cared enough to come looking for her. Together the two managed to find there way out of the cave system and back to the palace just in time to stop the wedding.
The following few hours went by in a blur as Twilight accompanied her unrepentant friends in an attempt to collect the Elements of Harmony, though she doubted they would work. The Elements needed Harmony among their bearers and there was none at the moment, especially not in Twilight's heart or mind. As she realized this as they were surrounded by the changeling army, she also came to another realization.
Celestia knew...
Celestia always knew Twilight would become the bearer of the Element of Magic and guided every moment in Twilight's life to accomplish pushing the lavender unicorn towards taking up the element. Her whole life was a lie just to become Celestia's attack pony! The princess probably didn't even care about her, because if she did then she wouldn't have just tossed Twilight aside like she did.
Realizing this brought even more realizations to her, ones she wanted to discard as lies that her paranoid mind was creating...but she couldn't deny them. There was too much evidence pointing to her new realizations to simply just ignore them. She realized as the changelings forced them to return to the reception hall where every pony was being held captive by the changeling queen and her army.
Looking to Cadence though brought a little hope to Twilight as the princess had never once done anything to hurt Twilight. No lies, schemes or false words of hope. The pink alicorn was the embodiment of love and here was little room in her heart for hate. Taking a deep breath Twilight went to her while the changeling queen was gloating over her victory. With a little magic Twilight banished the green substance holding Cadence in place so the princess could spend their last moments with the pony she loved the most.
It was a shock to Twilight when both Cadence and Shining Armor combined their power to repel not only the changeling army, but the queen herself. It sent a shockwave throughout Canterlot banishing all changelings as well as filling every pony with a sudden surge of love and confidence. Every pony except for Twilight as she looked around at the ponies around her not seeing one look of apology. Not one of them looked sorry for the way the treated her as they all rushed Cadence letting the princess know how happy they were that she was safe. Every pony that is except for one...
"It looks like you have a real wedding to prepare." Celestia said as she slowly made her way to Twilight with a gentle smile. Twilight wanted to scream and rant at the white alicorn. She wanted to scream at her so called friends and tell them how much they hurt her. She wanted to lay into her brother for throwing her out of his life for an imposter.
"Of course princess." Twilight sighed as she watched the group flow out of the room, Celestia following close behind leaving Twilight alone with the guards that was still there. Heaving a sigh she forced her pain down as her body seemed to flow into autopilot as she directed the guards in cleaning up the mess left behind and directing them in preparing the room for the real wedding. After all cadence didn't do anything to her, she deserved her special day and Twilight was intent on getting it ready for her. Afterwards she could decide what she wanted to do, after all she wasn't welcome at the wedding despite being expected to get it ready.
Despite the amount of chaos that engulfed the reception hall where the wedding was to take place, there wasn't much damage to the decorations. For a moment Twilight couldn't help feeling a surge of anger as Pinkie Pie should be here for this as the decorations was her department. She quickly squashed it down though as a guard came up to her.
"What would you like us to do?" The guard asked making Twilight smile a little. She didn't want to deal with her so called friends, but to make sure everything was ready she would have to check and make sure everything was ready including the food, dresses and entertainment. This guard though gave her the perfect opportunity to do something she normally wouldn't have done.
"Actually, I have an important task I was hoping you could take care of while I helped set the chairs back up." Twilight said, continuing when she was sure she had the guard's undivided attention. "I need you to check in with Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy and make sure the entertainment is ready for the wedding. Then go to the kitchens and check with Apple Jack to make sure the food is coming along nicely. And finally, check with Rarity to make sure that the dresses are ready."
"Yes Ma'am!" The guard saluted with a hoof before turning to trot off from Twilight. With a deep breath, Twilight turned to the chairs which took the most damage of the invasion. With every pony running in fright they had overturned many of the chairs making a mess, but thankfully there was no real damage to them. She set about setting them back up along with two other guards.
It took a little more time than she thought it would, but she finally finished it just as three other guards was finishing up the clean up from the unrecoverable decorations. The ice sculptures and flowers were ok, the enchantments on them to keep them in pristine condition kept them from suffering any real damage as well.
Hearing some voices passing by the open doors drew Twilights attention to see her parents walking with Shinning Armor by the door. He looked confused, yet when he looked in the door and caught her eye, he quickly turned away. She saw a worried expression on their mother's face, but not one of them came in to her to ask how she was doing. Why should they after all, they didn't care about her?
Fighting the urge to cry as the three passed the open door not coming in. A part of Twilight wanted to scream at them, to make her feelings on the matter known. Yet she knew better than that, they would only shun her more just like the shunned her not long ago when she accused the fake Cadence of being a monster.
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Twilight checked everything n the hall one last time. By the time she finished making sure everything was in order, the pony she sent to check in with the others returned. He looked a little winded as if he hurried to complete his task.
"Everything will be ready within an hour." The guard reported, once again saluting her. It was a little annoying, Twilight hated when any of the guards did as it made her feel as if they thought she was better than them. She never believed that, but she was beginning to wonder if she was less than them. After the way all of the others treated her, she couldn't help feeling that way.
"Good, please go inform Princess Celestia that everything should be ready to go in an hour and that she can inform the guests that it is okay to come back." Twilight said, wondering just what she should do. Maybe she should just go pack up and return to Ponyville? Then again, she didn't really want to be forced to see the others every day knowing that the didn't really care about her.
"Right away, Ma'am!" The guard pony saluted again before turning to rush from the hall. With a deep, shuddering breath Twilight took one last look around the room. It looked perfect and it should make cadence happy. Cadence was the only reason Twilight evern bothered with putting things back together as the pink alicorn deserved her happy day. Cadence was one of the only two ponies who haven’t trampled her heart since it all started, but the other pony may very well have if she wasn't sleeping.
With a shattered heart Twilight slowly made her way away from the reception hall and headed to her room. As she was coming close to the door she came across a nervous looking Spike as he closed their door and stood there trying to avoid looking at her.
"Hey Twilight." Spike said, his voice sounding a little funny.
"Spike." Twilight said, her voice devoid of emotion as the little dragon shifted back and forth on his feet.
"Sorry, I have to go. I'm helping Rarity get the Princess's gown ready." Spike said, holding a gem in one of his claws. "I...told her I had a gem that she needed."
"It's fine." Twilight said as she held back a choked sob. Of course he cared more about Rarity and impressing her and the princess, why shouldn't he? He didn't need Twilight anymore...he didn't want her anymore...
"See you later Twi!" Spike said before running around Twilight and down the hall away from the lavender unicorn.
"Maybe not..." Twilight sighed as she pushed into her room and looked around. She had a few things that she brought with her from Ponyville sitting around to remind her that she did have friends and ponies that loved her. Only she realized over the last few days just how little she truly mattered to any of them. Even her own family had thrown her away as if...as if she was trash.
"Maybe I am trash." Twilight sobbed out as she looked at a picture of the girls, Spike and her a few months ago. They all looked so happy, but Twilight knew better now. They never really cared about her, only her position and in with the Princess. Her family didn't care or they would have visited her like she asked them to in her letters. They couldn't even bother to tell her about her brother's wedding since she had to learn about it from a letter from the Princess and not her family.
With a cry f anguish, Twilight picked up the picture in her magic and threw it across the room against the wall where the frame shattered and glass rained down around the photograph that lay discarded on the floor. She couldn't return to Ponyville, she couldn't take it...her heart couldn't take it...
She couldn't go back to Ponyville and she couldn't stay here in Canterlot as her so called family and Princess was here. She needed to go somewhere, somewhere where she wasn't really well known. She wanted a new start, and this time she wouldn't make the same mistakes. She wouldn't try to make friends this time...it wasn't worth it.
Pulling her saddlebags out, Twilight emptied it of everything except a few books, a blanket and a coupe small cloth bags. One of the bags she left on Spike's bed as it was some rare gems she bought for him as a gift before they all abandoned her as the rehearsal. Taking the other bag she split the bits in half despite knowing Spike would be well taken care of by Rarity. The small pile of bits she left on her bed was enough to do Spike awhile and the other half she put back and put in her saddle bag.
Taking a piece of paper she started writing the hardest, yet easiest letter she had ever had to write in her life. She wasn't sure why she did it since she still loved every pony despite trying her best not to. She didn't want to hurt them, yet somehow both her love for them as well as the anger and hurt she was filling flowed out onto the parchment that Twilight left on the bed.
With nothing personal or tying her to her life, only a few books, blanket and a little money in her bag, Twilight walked to her balcony and looked out over the city. She could see a dark alley just on the other side of the palace walls where she wanted to teleport, but she wasn't sure if she could make it that far. Closing her eyes she brought up her magic, her horn glowing just before she disappeared with a pop and reappeared in the alley feeling dazed. It was the farthest she had ever teleported and it left her feeling weak using the amount of power she had to do it.
Knowing that there would be unicorn guards investigating the sudden surge of power, Twilight forced herself to get moving. She needed to make it to the train station since she saw one of the long range expresses just pulling in before she teleported. She wanted to be out of there as soon as possible since she didn’t want any pony to catch her before she could make her escape.
Shoving the slight queasy feeling from the long range teleportation, Twilight ran to the station hoping to make it in time before the train left. She wasn’t sure where she was going to go, but she had decided that she wanted a new start, she wanted to start over and make a new life far away from all the false promises of friendship and the pain of knowing that even her own family didn’t even care about her.
Running around the crown of ponies leaving the station while ignoring the indignant cries of protest when she bumped in to a pony on accident, Twilight skidded to a halt in front of the ticket booth. She looked up at the map that matched the stops for the train resting on the tracks not far from her, studying the most likely places that any pony would bother looking for her if they even bothered. Settling on two stops that seemed so unlike her, Twilight had her decision made for her.
Las Pegasus was far too expensive to buy a ticket for…not to mention she heard things about the place. There were mares who would sleep with others for bits as well as it being well known for gambling and drugs. Of course the Princess has had three different Lords from court trying to take care of the drug and gang problems in the city, but it seemed to be an impossible task.
The other place, one that she was sure would be perfect was Fillydelphia. The ticket itself was actually pretty cheap since there was nothing in the town to really draw tourist. There wasn’t much of a library either as Twilight personally knew the biggest and best libraries in all of Equestria, and the library in Fillydelphia was mostly non existent after a fire a few years ago. The place though had rumors that it could be a hard place to survive if you didn’t know some pony of higher social standing or have a generous amount of bits to your name. Twilight was sure that she could make do with a little hard work, something she wasn’t afraid of.
Something else Twilight wasn’t stupid, and she knew it would be stupid to buy a ticket straight there. If for some reason someone really did care about looking for her, then they would check who purchased tickets to where and come looking. Twilight needed a way to throw the trail off, and the only way she could think of would cost her more money than she planned to use. It would be worth it though if she could find peace.
“I’d like a ticket to Manehattan.” Twilight said pulling out the bits that was required for the ticket. It wasn’t really that far, but the ticket was higher than one for Ponyville since it was a popular location. It also had one of the biggest and best libraries than any other city besides Celestia’s private archives. It was perfect as every pony would think she went there to hide in the library, but she wouldn’t be there. She would cast a spell once she arrived that she knew, but couldn’t hold for too long. She would change her color and use the blanket in her bag to cover her cutie mark so no one would be able to recognize her. And finally she would buy the ticket for Fillydelphia and be on her way to a new start.
After paying for the ticket and boarding the train, Twilight was momentarily surprised to see how empty it was. It didn’t take long for her to understand why though, the royal wedding. Even with all of the chaos because of the changelings, not many ponies were leaving as it wasn’t everyday a princess was married. It was thanks to that that Twilight was able to have plenty of space to herself as she sat by the window and leaned her head against the cool glass.
She was wondering if maybe she made a mistake leaving Spike behind after everything they had been through together. She loved him like a son and he meant so much to her. Then again it was obvious that he really didn’t want to be around her any longer. He wanted to be with Rarity and most of his time had been spent with her and avoiding Twilight.
~~~
It had been a long day having to make up excuses for ordering several extremely high priced books under the library account. Of course the money didn’t come out of the budget for the library, but was paid for by Filthy Rich who Twilight owed several big favors to as he loaned Twilight one of a kind tomes of magic research when needed. They had a somewhat tenous friendship, but a friendship still. Despite their friendship he more or less bullied her into ordering the books that were very rare and turned out to be heirlooms lost to the pony’s family a generation ago. They were being sold by a company that supplied the library with a majority of their books and supplies and offered a sizeable discount on all orders. A discount that Filthy Rich was interested in as he was a very wealthy pony, not a stupid pony. Why pay full price for something when you can get it for a much cheaper price?
The mayor was fuming though when the mare came and dragged Twilight away from the library just as the order that she was waiting for came in. Twilight didn’t even have time to sort through everything, and Derpy had agreed to stop by and pick up a package and deliver it to Filthy Rich. Twilight needed to carefully catalogue the books and make sure they were in good condition before packing them for Derpy to pick up. Thanks to the Mayor though she had to leave Spike to handle it, though he didn’t really know just how expensive or rare the books were. Still, he promised to be careful with them and take care of it before Twilight was dragged away.
For several hours she had to listen to the treasurer and Mayor demand answers for the copy of the invoice that was sent to them. Thankfully Twilight had managed to convince them that the books were important for her research and wasn’t paid out of the library funds. They were furious, but let it go with a warning that if it happens again she would have to find both a new job and a new place to live. The library accounts weren’t there for personal use, which Twilight more than understood.
She was so relieved when they let her go and she was able to make it back to the library just in time to see a letter vanish in the dragon’s green flames as she entered the library. The shocked and worried look on his face told her all she needed to know as it had been happening a lot lately. Every time she left him with important taskes he would drop them as soon as he caught sight of Rarity and ran off to help her.
“What was that letter Spike?” Twilight asked, hoping that she was wrong. Hoping that things went according to plan as Derpy would be there in a matter of minutes.
“Nothing.” Spike said as he shifted nervously.
“Where’s the paperwork and the package for Derpy?” Twilight asked softly, disappointment already filling her as she already knew. His guilty look only managed to confirm her thoughts.
“I…kind of got busy doing something else.” Spike said in an almost defensive tone of voice.
“What were you doing Spike?” Twilight asked, her tone taking on a slightly sharp tone. She was trying not to get upset, but after the day she just had and the pressure from Filthy Rich she felt as if she was going to have a mental breakdown.
“I was helping Rarity.” Spike said as he rubbed his arm in a guilty manner.
“Spike! I told you that it was important that this was done before Derpy got here. She’s too busy to have to wait for this to get done if it isn’t ready.” Twilight said, her voice filling with the disappointment she was feeling.
“I’ll do it now, Twilight, sheesh.” Spike huffed as he hurried over to the desk and picked up the small stack of books. They were surrounded by a purple aura as Twilight tried to pull them from his hands.
“Spike, I understand that you like Rarity, but this was important! You promised you would get this done for me, just like a lot of things lately. You need to realize that when you promise to do something, you need to get it done.” Twilight said tugging at the books with her magic though Spike wasn’t letting go. “Rarity will still be there later, you can’t keep dropping everything to run off with her when I need you here.”
“You aren’t my mother so stop lecturing me like you are!” Spike snapped giving a strong jerk on the books. “I’m going to do it, ok?”
“Spike!” Twilight gasped painfully, tears forming at the corners of her eyes as her magic wavered a little from the pain shooting through her heart. She never dreamed that Spike would say something so…so hurtful to her. “Spike…what…what’s gotten into you lately?”
“What’s gotten into me? What’s gotten into me?! I’m sick of being cooped up in her and surrounded by books all he time!” Spike growled out as the shock caused Twilight to completely lose her grip on the books sending Spike tumbling back. As the dragon fell backwards the books in his claws was sent high through the air to come crashing down in the fire place where the fire quickly consumed the old books before anything could be done.
“No! No, no, no!” Twilight cried out as she ran forward to stare into the fire to see the last parts f the books go up in ashes.
“Chill Twilight, they were just a couple of stupid books!” Spike grumped seeing Twilight starting to freak out.
“Spike, those books cost more than we bring in over three months!” Twilight snapped at the dragon as she felt a cold dread fall over her. Filthy Rich may have been somewhat friends with her, but he would never let something like this go.
“You can’t be serious Twilight, they were just a couple of stupid books!” Spike snapped crossing his arms. The glare Twilight sent him made him shrink back and take a step back before turning to run. “I think I left something back at Rarity’s!”
Spike never saw Twilight collapse with a sob as visions of them losing everything flew through her head.
~~~
They hadn’t lost everything, but Twilight did lose what little bit of a relationship she had with te rich pony. She also lost a majority of her private collection as she had to sell them to get enough to pay Filthy Rich back after he threatened to have her arrested for stealing them. She couldn’t really blame him for being as mad as he was since she knew they were importat to his family’s heritage.
The short time after that incident Spike seemed to spend many of his waking hours away from the library at Rarity’s. It was obvious Spike would rather be with the fashionista than Twilight herself making this for the best. He would be happier being able to stay with Rarity and Twilight knew the white mare would take good care of the baby dragon.
For the rest of the day Twilight spent on the train, disembarking long enough to cover her back and cutie mark with her blanket and changing her body to a pink color and mane to a simple blue. Under that guise she bought a new ticket and finished the last leg of her journey mourning her bit pouch. The last ticket cost more than she thought it would, but she would still have enough money to get by a few days, maybe even a week or two if she was very careful. By then she should have a job and hopefully be started in her new life.
Just as it was starting to get dark out Twilight finally got off the train just in time as it was getting too hard to maintain the color change spell since she wasn’t really a master of it. Still, she made it out of the station and into a dark alley nearby where hopefully no one saw the change back. She looked out from the alley at her new home and wondered if maybe coming here was a mistake.
The city was huge for lack of a better description, and something about it intimidated her. Ponyville was a very small town all things considered, but Canterlot was a large city. Still, something about this city seemed off and much different than the capital. Everything seemed closer together and it didn’t look as…clean as Canterlot. Shaking her head she pushed her worries aside as just cold hooves as she looked out at where she would start over and make a new life.
“Hey there beautiful, you lost?” A blue stallion with a greasy looking black mane and tail asked as he seemed to come out of nowhere. Something abut the way he was looking at her made twilight feel a little uncomfortable, but once again she pushed the feelings aside beliving them to be just nerves.
“Yes, this is actually my first time here. Could you maybe point me in the direction of a cheap place to stay for the night?” Twilight asked softly, avoiding looking in his eyes. It felt as if he was…checking her out?
“Well, your in luck. I can show you a dirt cheap place to stay. But first, why don’t you stay with my friends and me…I’m sure we can show you a good time.” The stallion said flashing a smirk toward Twilight as she heard something coming up from behind her. She started to crane her neck around to look, but a painful blow to the back of her head knocked her to the ground dazed before falling unconscious as she could see shadows of several ponies surrounding her.
Something was wrong, Cadence could feel it deep in her very soul. She tried to push the feeling down as being just stress from her imprisonment under Canterlot, the changeling invasion and her wedding…but she just couldn’t deny that something was…off. She may not know Twilight’s friends very well, but they didn’t seem like the same mares that was spoken so fondly of in the young unicorn’s friendship reports. It wasn’t that they weren’t doing their job in regards to the wedding, in fact they were doing far better than expected. The food was wonderful, the entertainment seemed to be coming along wonderfully, and the clothes were absolutely stunning. Twilight’s friends was shattering any and all expectations.
No, it wasn’t the girls exactly…it was something else. Cadence would have believed that Twilight would have been with at least one of them, or at least cadence herself, but she wasn’t. Everytime she brought it up with one of the girls they brushed it off wich was beginning to get really worrisome. She began to question just how much these girls cared for her little sister in everything except blood.
“There you are darling, are you ready to try on your dress?” The white mare that Cadence knew was Rarity asked as she seemed to be finishing up with the dress on the dummy mare. The others had escorted Cadence as she asked them to after going to each and every one of them a second time telling them that they needed to talk after seeing how their preparations were coming along.
“Actually, I want to know something.” Cadence asked as Fluttershy closed the door behind her being the last mare in the room. Four of the mares now in the room looked nervous as they looked everywhere except to Cadence herself or Rarity. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy all seemed to be hiding a secret and Cadence was going to get to the bottom of it. If these mares didn’t really care about Twilight then she would not be returning to Ponyville with them.
“Of course darling, but we don’t have very much time. I was just informed that everything will be ready to start soon.” Rarity asked as she used her magic to float her glasses off and gently set them on a small table nearby. The unicorn looked at Cadence, but she wore an expression that seemed to scream that she was guilty of something.
“Why is Twilight Sparkle not with any of you? Surely it didn’t take her more than five minutes to set some chairs back up.” Cadence said as her eyes narrowed at the group of mares who looked down in shame, their ears flattening.
“She probably doesn’t want anything to do with us, sugarcube.” Applejack said with her normal accent, her voice subdued as the princess’s expression turned to one of anger as her glare locked onto the element bearer of honesty.
“And why is that? From what I understood you six are supposed to be very close.” Cadence said, her voice sounding frosty as her glare switched from one mare to another.
“It wasn’t our fault that that freak tricked us!” Rainbow Dash spat out angrily.
“We didn’t mean to hurt Twilight, we love her.” Fluttershy said, her body shaking as tears dripped to the floor as Rainbow moved beside her and hugged her with a wing.
“What happened?” Cadence asked, though her tone of voice clearly said it was a demand that would not be ignored.
“How were we supposed to know that when Twilight came bursting into the rehearsal freaking out like she did that she was right. Everything that she had said and done screamed that she was jealous.” Rainbow said softly as she tried to comfort the other pegasus.
“When we saw you upset, well the other you that wasn’t quite you, you know? When we saw how hurt she was we followed her to make sure she was okay and left…” Pinkie sighed, her coat darkening and hair flattening out.
“We left her darling. We left her to attend a fraud while our friend was probably devastated over what her brother said.” Rarity explained, though she wished she kept her mouth shut when she saw fire flash in the alicorn’s eyes momentarily.
“We WILL get back to Shinning Armor in a moment…” Cadence all but growled out at the group gathered around her. “First…how dare you abandon a friend for someone you just met? If I couldn’t feel your love for Twilight and your regret at this moment I would swear that you just used her to get near royalty. It wouldn’t be the first time!”
“We messed up, we know that!” Fluttershy sobbed out.
“Everything will be okay though when we get back to Ponyville for Twilight’s huge surprise party!” Pinkie said brightening up a little. “No pony can stay sad at a party, right?”
“Party?” Cadence asked taking a step back.
“We’ve been planning a surprise party for Twilight for weeks for her birthday. We’ve even gotten Princess Celestia to help by sending letter back and forth to twilight’s parents.” Rarity said, “We wanted to show her how much we love her.”
“You…I have no idea what to say to any of you right now.” Cadence said taking deep breaths while trying to calm her anger. They meant well it seemed, but leaving Twilight to chose a pony they just met over a distraught friend didn’t sit well with the princess of love. “Now tell me what you meant by what her brother said.”
“He…he old her not to bother coming to the wedding. It sounded almost like he didn’t want anything else to do with her.” Rainbow Dash said.
“I’m sure he didn’t mean it, they’re family.” Applejack said, though by the time she finished Cadence was gone with the door slamming shut.
~~~
Luna sat next to the baby dragon in the royal gardens soaking in everything he had just told her. While she was worried about her sister after an invasion she had apparently slept through, Luna knew every pony was okay after what the dragon said. Every pony except Twilight and a baby dragon that was anyways. She wasn’t sure just what to say to Spike as she was still trying to get used to the new world around her and wasn’t sure how to express herself fully yet. She was always afraid of saying or doing something that would offend any pony because she was basically from a different time with much different customs.
“I don’t deserve her!” Spike sobbed out as Luna hugged the baby dragon with her wings and nuzzled him.
“I’m sure she will forgive you, we have seen firsthand just how much love she holds in her heart for you.” Luna said softly. It was a mess, the whole entire thing. Everything from the planned surprise party for Twilight up to this invasion. The dragon was too young to really blame for his choices other than letting his hormones get the better of him. He had it bad for the white mare known as Rarity and the roller coaster that was his emotions and hormones left the poor dragon confused and Twilight never even saw it. How could she? From what Luna understood Twilight Sparkle was very sheltered in many ways and had no personal experience with what the baby dragon was feeling.
“How can I even face her after this?” Spike sobbed from within the alicorn’s embrace. “First I messed up and destroyed those books that got us in trouble and now I followed the others too afraid to face her after what I did!”
“My little…dragon…it isn’t your fault that you are a growing dragon with no one to teach you about your species. Dragons and ponies are much different from each other.” Luna explained softly, “While you did make mistakes, so did twilight Sparkle…however unintentional.”
“Twilight didn’t do anything wrong!” Spike protested, puffing his chest out in an obvious attempt to defend Twilight making Luna giggle a little at his antics while being glad that he seemed to feel a little better.
“Of course she didn’t it, we are not saying she did anything wrong really. She just didn’t know and my sister should have talked to her. She doesn’t know, no matter how many books she may study up on the subject, how a dragon truly matures. I believe once we get this straightened out that I will introduce the two of you to an old friend of minr who will help teach you what you need to know.”
“If Twilight even forgives me.” Spike sighed, “I’m afraid to talk to her, I let her down so badly back in Ponyville before we came here and I’ve been to afraid to talk to her about it.”
“If it helps any, we will speak with Twilight Sparkle together.” Luna suggested, a supportive smile on her face.
“I’d like that, thank you Princess Luna.” Spike replied shyly.
“Think nothing of it, young friend. It is what friends do for each other.
~~~
It probably wasn’t the best idea to use her magic to slam open the doors to Shining Armor’s room where he was getting ready as the unicorn had been in the process of getting ready to leave only for the door to smack him in the head sending him to the floor. A part of Cadence felt a small bit of satisfaction over it because of what Shining did. She wouldn’t deny that she still loved him despite being on the verge of tearing him a new one. No matter what happened between the two though Twilight would always be her little sister in Cadence’s heart and no one said things like Shining did to the unicorn without facing her wrath.
“Uggghhh…Cadence…” Shining groaned from his place on the floor as he looked up at his soon to be wife.
“Don’t you dare Cadence me! How dare you say those things to Twilight!?” Cadence fumed, her anger close to boiling over as she looked into the confused eyes of her beloved.
“What are you talking about honey?” Shining asked as he slowly climbed to his feet earning a momentarily look of sympathy from Cadence before her anger returned full force.
“I’m talking about the rehearsal!” Cadence snapped.
“I…I don’t remember anything about the rehearsal, the last thing I remember before waking up with you is the fake you saying she was healing my headache.” Shining mumbled as he shook his head as if trying to clear away the confusion. Cadence wanted to deny that he was telling the truth, but she knew him. As her anger began draining away she realized that she knew him much better than that. He would never say those cruel things to Twilight of his own free will, and the look on his face supported that. Shining had the worse poker face in history, and Cadence always knew when he was hiding something or lying.
“You told Twilight that she shouldn’t even come to the wedding. I don’t know exactly what you said, but you basically threw her out of your life.” Cadence said softly as she watched Shining’s eyes grow in horror. He tried denying it, but the more he thought about it he more he started remembering some of it. It was like he lost all control of his body during the time with him only seeing snippets of what was going on. He couldn’t remember what he said exactly, but he could see an image. He could see the utterly devastated look in his little sister’s eyes as he glared down her.
“C-Cadence…wh-wat have I done?” Shining asked as his eyes began to tear up.
“Right now, you are going to your sister and making things right.” Cadence said as she steeled her resolve. “You will fix this, bring my little sister back to be my mare of honor, or there will be no wedding.”
“I’m going to find Twilight!” Shining cried out as he rushed from the room. If the situation wasn’t so messed up Cadence would have laughed at her beloved’s antics.
~~~
She had never felt so much pain in her life, her entire body feeling as if it was on fire from whatever had happened to her. Even her head was throbbing as she cracked open her eyes slowly, wincing at the harsh white light filtering through her eye lids. Her surroundings did not look familiar in the least, though she felt as if they should. Everything just seemed so…white?
Gasping she leaned up as she realized that she must be dead…yet if she was then she wouldn’t hurt like this would she? As her eyes adjusted, though her head still felt like little ponies was using her skull as a drum, she realized why the room should have looked familiar. She was in a hospital room, but she couldn’t remember why she was there. Was she in some kind of accident.
As she tried her best to recall what happened, she realized something else…she couldn’t remember her name. She couldn’t even remember where she was from r where she was at. She had a slight image of fighthing some pony, or maybe a couple ponies, but she just couldn’t get a clear memory of it no matter how hard she tried.
“Dr. Redheart, a word please!” A mare’s voice called just outside the door to her room. Even though she couldn’t see the mare that the voice belonged to, the ice lacing it sent shivers down the wounded mare’s back. There was just a cold, callousness evident in the voice that would scare fillies without even having to try very hard.
“Yes, what is it Lady Creed.” A stallion’s voice replied, a wary tone in his voice as if the mare was a bother to him. Then again, the wounded mare thought that she would sound the same if she had to deal with someone like that all of the time.
“Has she woken up yet?” The mare asked coldly, impatience now filling her voice.
“No, Lady Creed, but I was on my way to check up on her again.” The stallion explained.
“As soon as she waked up get her out of here. This is a hospital, not a charity case for street rats.” The mare’s voice growled out making the wounded mare’s jaw drop. Wasn’t a hospital there to help any pony in need no matter who they were? Actually…was she a pony off the streets? Did she have anyone who cared that she was in here? Anyone that cared about her at all?
“Actually…” The stallion began only to be interrupted by the mare.
“She’s a little whore and you know it. They are a bit a dozen here, just like every other piece of filth on the streets.” The mare said, the sneer almost evident in her voice. “Personally I think my husband should just round them all up and put them to work as slave labor. That or just kill them all.”
What kind of mare talked like that? What kind of sane pony talked like that? Was that pony insane or mentally off or something? This was crazy!
“She needs to stay for observations.” The stallion explained.
“Either you get that piece of filth out of my hospital or you can leave. I don’t care which, but if it’s you I will personally throw that filth out myself.” The mare snapped before she must have turned and stomped off if the loud hoof falls was any indication.
“So, how are you doing today?” The stallion asked pushing his way through the door, a chart floating next to him wrapped in an auro of power.
“What happened to me?” the wounded mare asked as she looked at the light brown stallion with a green mane.
“Oh good, your awake.” The stallion said giving her a soft smile. “My name is Doctor Redheart. We were actually kind of hoping you can tell us what happened to you. You were found severely beaten in a trash pile in an alley.”
“I…I don’t remember anything.” The mare sighed.
“Can you tell me your name?” Doctor Redheart asked hopefully.
“No…I…I can’t remember.” The mare said, her voice cracking a little. A part of her mind wanted to do nothing but curl up and cry, but she felt emotionally numb right then. She had to wonder if it was from shock or something, but she couldn’t remember being a doctor or anything so really couldn’t say.
“Can you tell me anything? If you aren’t able to pay for the room I have to let you go.” Doctor Redheart sighed, little hope in his voice. The mare could tell that he was torn up over this choice and decided not to punish him for it as he did try to stand up for her.
“It’s okay, I kind of heard that. It isn’t your fault.” The mare said, “I…I have no idea who I am or where I came from. I can remember things…like reading and magic, but I can’t remember where I learned them from.”
“From the test that we took you were stabbed a few times and beaten very badly. You have a few hairline fractures, but you should be okay other than a little pain. We also found evidence that you…were…raped. We took DNA evidence, but if you don’t remember anything then there really isn’t much we can do here. Not with the people we have in charge here…” Doctor Redheart explained regretfully.
“I…was…are you sure…how…”The mare whispered, tears forming in her eyes as she shuddered. She couldn’t say the word, much less put too much thought in it. Maybe it was best that she didn’t remember because she really did not want to think about it.
“Sadly, I’m sure. We may not be able to do much here, but I can give you directions to a halfway house who may be able to help.” Doctor Redheart explained. “I can also give you a cloak to help keep you warm for now. I just wish there was more I could do for you.”
“I don’t want you to lose your job Doctor, but I would appreciate the directions and cloak.” The mare sighed.
“Of course…I’ll also see what I can do about some pain killers, just don’t show them to any pony on the street.” Doctor Redheart said.
“I won’t, I don’t want you to get in trouble for giving them to me.” The mare said as she tried to sit up.
“Let us get the IV out of you first. Also, I’m not worried about getting in trouble over the pills, I’m worried about someone attacking you to get the pain killers,” Doctor Redheart explained as he went about removing the IV and adding a new bandage to the mare’s body which she realized for the first time had a lot of bandages. What shocked her more was the bare patches in her coat where she was stitched up.
“I…I look like Frankenpony.” The mare said sadly from what little she could see of her body.
“You look fine, very pretty in fact dear. Your injuries will heal up fine and once your coat grows back no pony will ever know you ever had stitches.” Doctor Redheart explained as he tossed the used needle and tubing from her IV into the bio hazard container. “Just try to relax and I’ll be right back.”
The mare wasn’t so sure though she was flattered by the doctor’s words. It was kind of him to say that and help her what little he was since it seemed that his boss wasn’t exactly the easiest to deal with. For a moment the mare wondered if perhaps there was some pony she could contact about the way the cold hearted mare seemed to act, but decided against it. From what little the mare overheard, this…Lady Creed was an important pony that may actually own the hospital. And if she caused trouble she may cost the nice doctor his career.
It didn’t take too long for the pony to return after she slowly climbed to her feet, almost falling at first as the pain in her side flared badly. She gritted her teeth though and pushed through the pain as she paced back and forth a few times as the pain dulled to some extent as she got used to it. She wasn’t too sure what she was going to do though, she was being tossed out of the hospital with no knowledge of who she is or where to go.
“Here, put this on my dear.” The doctor said startling the mare as she had no idea he had returned. A somewhat heavy cloak covered her body, the magic guiding the clasp around her neck leaving the hood pulled back. It covered most of her body except for her hooves and at the moment her head. If she pulled the hood it would most likely even hide her face as it seemed big enough to cast shadows over what it didn’t cover.
“Thank you doctor.” The mare said softly as a bottle of pills was floated over and stuffed into an inside pocket of the cloak.
“Your very welcome my dear. I am terribly sorry for this…I really want to keep you here and try to help you.” The Doctor explained sorrowfully as he floated a piece f paper and a business card to her. “This is directions to the place I told you about. They may have a bed for you to sleep in and the therapist there will be able to help you with what happened. She may even be able to help you with your memories.”
“Thank you again doctor…I…I better get going before she comes back. I don’t want you to get in trouble.” The mare sighed heavily. The doctor started to say something as she walked through the door, but quickly shut up. It wasn’t hard to find her way out as as soon as she left the room she saw the arrow on the wall pointing to the exit. After a few short turns she was outside under what appeared to be late afternoon if she was right according to the sun.
For some reason she could remember a lot of things, how to do stuff she wasn’t even sure how she could have learned how to do. Yet she still couldn’t remember who she was or what happened beyond a few blurry flashes of memory. She hated it…hated not knowing who she was but had a feeling if she remembered what happened to her she wouldn’t be able to do anything but curl up and cry.
Taking out the directions and business card from the pocket in her cloak she studied them, unable to make out the directions really. The handwriting was just that bad, but she could make out a little of it. Seeing a couple fillies walking down the other side of the street from her, she trotted over to ask them if they knew where Trottingham Street was at.
“Stay back monster!” One of the fillies cried out in alarm, both of the young fillies backing up away from her.
“Get away from us you freak!” The second cried out, probably a little older than the first as she got between the mare and the younger filly as if defending the little pony.
The mare’s jaw dropped as she watched the two fillies back away slowly before turning tail and running as fast as they could away from her. The mare could feel wetness slowly traveling down her cheeks. They…they called her monster…she knew that she had some bandages and stitches, maybe looking a little like Frankenpony…but the doctor said she was pretty.
Seeing her reflection in the window nearby she moved to it wearily afraid of what she was going to see. What she saw was a monster looking back at her as patches of her coat was missing with stitches crisscrossing her face. She…she was a freak! The doctor lied to her and if he did…could he be lying about the place on the card? Would they even truly help her…or would there even really be a place waiting for her when she found the location.
She cried out in pain as she realized that the window she was looking in was actually a door and that door just smacked into her knocking her over. The stallion that was standing there had a light blue coat with grey hair and a stern look on his face. It looked like he was going to start yelling at her until he got a good look at her and his eyes went wide almost comically. Following his gaze she turned to see that her cloak fell off her side and her cutie mark was showing a little bit from around a few of the bandages.
“You know me, don’t you?” The mare asked hopefully, tears flowing much more freely as she climbed back to her feet and got into the face of the stallion. “Please…please tell me who I am!”
“You…don’t know who you are?” The stallion asked softly, almost hesitantly.
“I…I was attacked and lost my memories. I can’t remember who I am.” The mare sobbed out, gasping as the stallion moved to be next to her and awkwardly hug her.
“Oh you poor dear…I warned you about traveling on your own like your sister.” The stallion said shaking his head. “It looks like you both had to learn the hard way. Come in daughter, your sister is also here and she’ll make us some tea.”
“Who am I?” The mare whimpered as she let the stallion guide her inside.
“You, my dear, are my darling daughter Midnight Rose.” The stallion said, “I’m Nomad Runner…your father…Trixie! Put some tea on!”
~~~
“Trixie, put on some tea.” Trixie mocked the voice of her father, the one pony she hated more than Twilight Sparkle. Okay, maybe Twilight didn’t deserve her hate as much as her father, but Trixie couldn’t help placing a lot of the blame for her current predicament on the infuriating mare despite it being the two young colts that lured the ursa into Ponyville that destroyed everything she had including her reputation.
Sighing she went to heat some water for tea wondering if maybe living on the streets would be better. Nomad had never struck her, but he still intimidated her and scared her very much. He threatened her almost daily since she was forced to come back that if she did run away again to run around Equestria doing her magic act then he would get violent. A part of her didn’t want to believe it, but she could see how serious he was. She had a feeling that if he did get violent then she wouldn’t survive it…especially knowing the connections he had.
Not for the first time she found herself wishing that she had a normal father that didn’t have connections in the underworld of Equestria. She wished that she had a father that had loved her unconditionally and not demean her and put her down at every possible chance.
“Trixie, we have a guest.” Nomad said appearing in the small kitchen, as stern look on his face as he glared at her. “You are to treat her as if she is your sister and call her Midnight Rose, Rose for short. Do you understand me?”
“Father, what are you planning?” Trixie asked suspiciously, knowing very well that this had to be one of his plans and there was going to be no way of worming her way out of it like she normally would. He looked too serious to upset and was afraid if she didn’t go along with this then she would face the consequences.
“All you need to know is that she is your sister and if you tell her anything different then you will regret it.” Nomad snarled pushing his muzzle against hers glaring daggers.
“Y-Yes Father.” Trixie stammered nervously.
“Good, bring three cups and the tea when it is finished and don’t you dare mess this up. If you do, you will end up in worse shape than her.” Nomad snapped quietly as he spun around and walked back out to the main floor of the small shop. It was a used bookstore that supplied music lessons and supplies for instruments. Trixie slept in a small apartment in the back while her father slept in the larger apartment over the shop.
Confusion filling her, Trixie gathered the cups and tea pot as well as some tea bags and made her way out into the store to see the curtain drawn and the closed sign up on the door. Her father was sitting at the register across from a mare who had clearly seen better days as the hood on the cloak she was wearing was pulled back with tears falling from her eyes. The poor thing did look like a mess and it was probably because one of the small gangs that roamed the streets. She must have been from a wealthy family or something for her father to do this and no matter how much Trixie didn’t want to go along with this, she was too afraid not to.
Trixie slowed the closer she got, the mane of the mare looking so familiar. Anger and worry filled her over the mare as she realized just who it was, Twilight Sparkle. She wasn’t sure what to do as she almost froze in place. She didn’t want to follow along with what her father wanted, but at the same time…she was afraid not to. She prayed that whatever happened to the poor mare that her father didn’t have anything to do with it. Seeing the glare from her father she pushed all worries from her mind as she carried the tea over to the counter.
“R-Rose…sis…wh-what happened?” Trixie asked, genuinely a little worried yet scared at the same time feeling her father’s glare on her the whole time.
“I…I don’t really know.” The mare sighed shaking her head. “I…I woke up in the hospital and they kicked me.”
“Trixie will help you best she can.” Trixie said nuzzling the mare, most of her anger and hatred draining away seeing Twilight in this condition. No one deserved this, not even her worst enemy.
Rose sighed as she shelved a few more books, a couple days passing since she apparently came home. Something felt off about the situation, but she just couldn’t put a hoof on it no matter how much she tried. As Nomad, or her supposed father claimed, she may have forgotten who she was, but her heart still remembered where she came from and brought her home. She had to admit that being around so many books did seem familiar, almost comforting after everything.
Comforting was something that she didn’t want to admit that she needed, but she had been unable to deny it all the time as her sister had found her curled up and sobbing a couple times. Trixie had seemed really hesitant at first to do so, but seeing how much tension between her and their father, Rose could understand it. The three of them must have not gotten along very well together before…before her attack.
Shaking a little Rose managed to get herself under control. It helped that she couldn’t remember what had actually happened, it might as well just been a piece of news she heard about someone else. She felt bad about it, but a part of her seemed to not care about it. Then there was a part when she felt alone and couldn’t help but feel…afraid. She couldn’t explain it, everything just crashed in on herself as flashes of shadows flitted across her memories. She couldn’t really make any details out, only that it made her feel afraid and helpless to such a degree she felt as if she was going to have a breakdown.
“Hello…Rose.” Trixie said as she picked up a book Rose dropped. Rose just couldn’t seem to keep a magical grip on anything for too long and had a feeling that it wasn’t normal for her. Especially if her sister was any indication as she could see just how powerful Trixie was.
“Hi sis.” Rose beemed at her sister, noticing Trixie wince a little before looking back over her shoulder before turning back.
“Rose…I…” Trixie started, rubbing a leg with a hoof in nervousness.
“Trixie!” Nomad’s voice came bellowing from the back interrupting anything that Trixie was going to say.
“I guess we’ll have to talk later.” Trixie sighed as she turned to slowly go back towards where their father’s voice came from. Rose couldn’t help feel a little worry for her sister as Trixie seemed to be worried about something. At first Rose was going to follow her, but someone was coming to the shop so she needed to pull the hood of her cloak up to hide her face. No use in scaring any more ponies.
“Trixie was trying to talk to Trixie’s sister.” Trixie snarked as she entered the back to see her father glaring at her. She gulped when his magic picked her up and threw her across the room to slam into a wall rattling the shelf overhead.
“So I saw…” Nomad growled out as he stomped over to where Trixie winced in pain on the floor. She looked up with fear as her father towered over her making her wonder what just happened. Sure her father was as ass, but he never really hurt her before outside of intimidation and demeaning her. Throwing her like that…it was shocking despite already hearing his threats. Despite his words, a part of Trixie never believed he would physically harm her…but now she knew.
At the same time she was worried about Twilight and what she had gone through. She wanted to hate the mare, but seeing just what happened to her Trixie just couldn’t. And now her father wanted her for some reason which worried Trixie as she felt Twilight already suffered enough as it was.
“Father…please…just tell her the truth and send her home. Don’t you think she’s been through enough as it is?” Trixie whimpered as she pushed herself up on her four hooves before being thrown across the room again.
“Trixie…me dear, dear Trixie.” Nomad said as he shook his head and walked over to her as she shakily climbed to her feet. She would have whimpered if she saw the calculating look in his eyes as he ran over dozens of plans in a matter of moments before grinning. “Are you really that foalish? As to challenge me? As to think I’d be planning to hurt my own daughter?”
“Wh-what are you talking about?” Trixie gasped out as she finally looked up into his eyes. Trixie could see that he was hiding things, but she also knew he serious and telling the truth.
“My dear Trixie, your mother left when Celestia came and took Twilight from us. The princess wanted to take our Midnight Rose as her personal student seeing how she had so much potential. In the end we refused so the princess ordered her guards to subdue us and took our baby from us and renamed her Twilight Sparkle.” Nomad said dramatically, though Trixie could tell that he was lying about that part…but he looked to serious when claiming that Twilight was Trixie’s sister. “If you want, I have a book that teaches a simple spell that can tell you if two ponies are related by analyzing a strand of hair from each. We don’t even have to tell your sister, just get a single strand of hair.”
“Then why not tell her the truth?” Trixie asked, favoring one of her front legs. It wasn’t broke, but it hurt pretty badly.
“That’s simple my dear, I plan to write a letter to your mother tonight and tell her that both of her little girls are under one roof. With both of you here, she’ll come back to us.” Nomad said frightening Trixie a little. Once again she could tell that what he said was mostly the truth, but the look in his eyes were unsettling. He seemed almost obsessive when he mentioned Trixie’s mother.
“Mother!” Trixie gasped in shock. She could barely remember her mother, a mare that often wore silks and many bangles and had large hoop earings. She loved to dance and listen to a strange music that seemed so upbeat and just made you want to dance. Her mother had left them when Trixie was very young, leaving Trixie her hat and cape, her most prized possessions. “Mom will come back? Trixie will be able to see Trixie’s mother again?”
“Of course dear. She loves you very much you know, she just blames herself for what happened to her sister and couldn’t stay.” Nomad said, his voice taking on a tone that seemed a mixture of sadness and anger.
A part of Trixie didn’t believe him in the least, but the prospect of seeing her mother again was too tempting to dismiss the idea completely. If her father could prove that Twilight really was Trixie’s sister, if the mare was truly Midnight Rose, then Trixie would give it a chance and hope for the best. If Twilight was her sister though, then Trixie would do her best to protect her no matter what.
Trixie had always wanted a family that loved her, though her father was all she had for so long until she ran away to start her showmare career. Nomad could be a caring pony at times, but he was normally more intimidating and demanded complete and utter obedience. A part of her hated the stallion so much, yet a dep part of her loved him. He was her father, her family, and despite not having many happy memories with him she wanted to believe in family.
~~~
“Thank you, please have a pleasant day.” Rose said as the stallion paid for the two used books and trotted off with them in his saddlebags. It wasn’t too hard to run the register like Nomad showed her and finding things in the store seemed second nature to her. It made her want to believe the story he had told her and then there was Trixie…
Trixie seemed kind of familiar for some reason, and if it was true that they were sisters then it would explain it. Trixie had been very nice to her as well despite Rose seeing the look in the mare’s eyes though Trixie doesn’t know that she had seen it. The look went from…an almost hateful expression to one full of worry. Then again, Rose figured that she would be worried about any pony if they showed up looking like Rose had.
“Hey sis.” Trixie greeted as she came from the back, limping a little.
“Oh my gosh, Trixie!” Rose gasped out as she rushed to Trixie’s side, the movement threatening to throw the hood off, but it managed to stay in place as she started checking on Trixie before realizing she didn’t know what she was doing. As far as she knew she didn’t have any kind of medical training.
“It’s okay, Trixie kind of fell over and knocked some stuff off a shelf on top of Trixie.” Trixie said softly nuzzling Rose’s cheek. “Thank you though.”
“That’s what sisters are for.” Rose chirped out making Trixie eyes water a little and let out a soft gasp.
“Well, Trixie came to ask if you wanted to go out with Trixie to dinner tonight. Father is going to be out seeing to some business.” Trixie said hesitantly.
“That sounds great, but can we close up like that?” Rose asked as she remembered that the shop was kept open until well after dark thanks to it being hearth warming in just a few months and business was starting to pick up a little.”
“It’ll be fine, trust Trixie. All we have to do is put the, ‘be back soon’ sign up. Trixie does it all the time.” Trixie stage whispered making Rose giggle a little. She had to admit the way Trixie spoke sometimes was kind of cute, a little funny. “Besides, father actually gave Trixie permission and money to pay for our meal.”
“Okay, sounds great.” Rose said softly, though she had to admit that she was a little excited to be able to get out of the store. She hated having to wear her cloak to hide herself, but she agreed with what their father had cautioned since Rose had already seen it was true. Just remembering the horror etched on those fillies faces when they ran from her had broken her heart.
“Great, Gordon Ponsey is doing some kind of restaurant thing not far from here and we get to use father’s invitation since he can’t make it.” Trixie cheered, wanting so much to taste the famous pony’s food. He was supposed to be the best of the best when it came to cooking and Trixie wanted to see for herself.
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea, Trixie.” Rose whispered drawing in on herself and using her magic to pull her hood closer around her muzzle to hide her face.
“You really do look okay, but Trixie won’t make you leave your cloak if you don’t want.” Trixie sighed, feeling it would be hypocritical if she tried to take her possible sister’s security blanket when trixie treated her hat and cloak as her own security blanket.
“O-okay, I’ll go.” Rose said softly after seeing how excited Trixie was about going to eat. She didn’t understand the excitement, but she wanted to have some fun with her sister away from working in the bookstore since there always seemed to be varying degrees of tension between Trixie and their father. A part of Rose worried that it may be because of her, but she wasn’t sure and hoped that she didn’t cause some kind of trouble for them.
“Great, I need to go do a few quick things and I’ll be right back.” Trixie said as she hugged Rose, making sure to take a loose piece of hair from her sister’s mane. Turning around she hurried back to where she slept where she left the book sitting on her bed. True to his word, Nomad gave her the book and showed her the spell and it seemed like it would really work.
That came after his apology and him giving her money as he always did to go do something fun after bringing her to tears from his putting her down. She knew it was only for him to deal with his guilt doing it, but it did give hope that maybe he really did care about her even if at times it was hard to see. He had never physically hurt her like he did though, but he had also never done anything as nice as giving her the invitation to get a chance to meet Chief Gordon Ponsey. It was going to be AWESOME! She could deal with a little pain if she got to meet him.
Shutting herself in the small room, Trixie took out the book and the small spell circle drawn on a sheet of paper. The paper would be destroyed by doing this spell, but she could always make another. After going over the spell several times to see how easy it was with a spell circle she placed a strand of her hair and the hair from Twilight’s mane on the paper, Trixie touched her horn to the edge and channeled her power as the book described into the circle. A few moments later the circle went up in green flames along with the hair which according to the book meant that they were related.
“Twilight…is…Trixie’s sister?” Trixie gasped as she fell back on her rump. She was partly expecting it, but a large part of her kind of expected it to be some kind of lie.
After taking several breaths Trixie had to force the confused and shocked feelings down to deal with later as she still had a dinner date with her sister. She wanted to kick herself though as she remembered not long ago she hated Twilight with a passion and now…now she found out that the mare she once hated was her sister. And worse yet, some scum had beaten her and left her for dead after raping her. Twilight swore that if she ever found out who did it she would make them suffer.
“No one hurts Trixie’s sister!” Trixie snarled to herself, though a part of her found it ironic to care so much for a pony that she once wanted to make suffer.
~~~
Several days had gone by since her little sister had run away all because of the mare’s friends and family. Of course a large part of it may have been a misunderstanding from what Cadence understood of Twilight’s journal, the younger mare refused to call it a diary saying journal sounded more academic. It was something that often made the alicorn giggle, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do that now. Not after reading Twilight’s goodbye letter and the last few weeks worth of entries in the journal that was sitting on her desk.
Cadence would love to believe that Twilight would come back after she cooled down and had time to think. After all the young unicorn was one of the smartest unicorns Cadence had ever met, probably even smarter than the alicorn herself. Yet despite having faith in Twilight’s intelligence and rationality, matters of the heart were neither and the unicorn didn’t have a lot of experience with it as she preferred her world being orderly and logical. Twilight was out there somewhere suffering from she had little experience in dealing with.
If that wasn’t enough to bother Cadence, there was a feeling of something being wrong. She had a bad feeling that something had happened to Twilight, and despite the search of Ponyville and Canterlot coming to a close there were no signs of Twilight anywhere other than the things she left behind. Taking the letter and reading it again, hoping she missed something though she knew she didn’t, Cadence couldn’t help a fresh set of tears as she read.
Hi every pony:
If your reading this, then I guess you actually cared enough to come looking for me. To be honest, I’m a little surprised that you bothered. With the way the girls have been avoiding me, the way Spike can’t seem to stand me anymore, and the way my family and the Princess turned their backs on me…it’s hard not to see how unwanted I am. So I’m leaving to start over, to make a life somewhere far away where I can escape the pain of knowing how after all that I’ve done…it just wasn’t good enough.
Spike, know that even though you prefer to spend all of your time with Rarity lately, I never stopped loving you. I left half of the money I have behind since it is yours as well as all of my personal effects. I also left you a pouch of your favorite gems to enjoy. I know that you will be glad that I’m gone so you may be with Rarity without me getting in your way. I guess all I can say is good luck.
Rarity, you represent the spirit of generosity so you better be as generous as you claim to be and take good care of Spike. I know that you weren’t that generous with your feelings when it came to me, but I understand that. You are a fashionista and I’m not that into fashion, yet you were always trying to change that. Maybe if I just tried harder to change, maybe you wouldn’t have gotten sick of me but I guess that’s too late now.
Rainbow Dash, the element of loyalty, I know you didn’t like me much. Always calling me egghead which hurt more than I can ever say. I even told you more times than I can count and you still did it. Because of this, I admit I am very confused. If you aren’t my friend, does that mean that you still have to be loyal? I know you promised me that you would be loyal and take all of my concerns to heart after Smarty Pants, yet you ignored my worries about the fake Cadence then turned your back on me. I can’t really say I’m surprised, yet I am.
Applejack, I know you are supposed to be the element of honesty yet you lied to me. You told me you was my friend yet you did your best to avoid me and when I asked you just brushed me off. You also promised me to take all of my fears seriously after Smarty Pants, and yet you lied once again. You ignored me when I tried to tell you something was wrong with Cadence and then you turned your back on me to kiss up to a fake princess.
Pinkie Pie, the element of laughter. I truly hope you got a good laugh out of the hurt you caused me. I hope you laughed with the fake and the others over my heart shattering into a million pieces. Well, if not I really hope you get a good laugh out of this letter and throw a big good riddance party now that you all have what you wanted, me being gone!
Fluttershy, you represent kindness so a part of me can’t really be too upset over you leaving to check on the fake princess. Yet, was it really kindness to turn your back on me when I was breaking down before all of you? Was it kindness to avoid me in Ponyville the last few weeks like all of the others?
Oh, let’s not forget my BBBFF, the one pony who should have always been there for me. Yet you couldn’t be bothered to tell me that you were dating Cadence, much less engaged to her. I can’t believe you tried to excuse not telling me about the wedding where I had to learn from a letter that didn’t even come from you! I should have seen it before you threw me out of your life, but I was too blind. I thought you loved me, but I can see that was just a joke. I was just a pest that you couldn’t stand.
Mom and dad, I can’t even believe that you didn’t even bother Stopping to talk to me after the invasion. I saw you pass by and You didn’t even bother to stop to ask if I was okay. I should have known not to expect you to bother as I’ve been in Ponyville for two years. I’ve asked in my letters for you to come see my new place in Ponyville. I was so proud to finally be doing something on me own and I was hoping you could be proud to. With your one letter to my five, I should have realized sooner that you didn’t really care. You didn’t even bother to visit me at school when Princess Celestia took me to be her personal student.
Princess Celestia, I trusted you with my life and saw you as a second mother. Yet more than once you threw me into dangerous situations with next to no information about it. I’m happy that your sister is back and no longer Nightmare Moon. I really like Luna, she reminds me a lot of myself. I don’t regret helping her become herself once again, but I wonder if you would have really cared if she managed to kill me. I wonder if you ever cared about me in the least or if I was just a tool for you. Did you even have faith in me at all? I doubt it since you chose to believe a fake over me when you should have known just as easily as me that there was something wrong with Cadence. You know what Princess? YOU HAVE A LOT TO THINK ABOUT!
Princess Luna, I love you. No, not in a romantic way, but like a friend. Maybe even a sister. No matter what happens, I hope you find the happiness you deserve. I look forward to enjoying your night, something I have always loved dearly.
Princess Cadence, big sister, BSBFF, I am so sorry if I said anything to upset you in this letter. I’ve debated just ripping this up several times, but I think I need to get this off my chest. A part of me didn’t want to hurt any pony, but I can’t help feeling the way I do and I need to get it off my chest if I want to start a new life. Please don’t turn away Shining Armor, he truly does love you and from what little I saw I know you love him deeply. You more than any pony deserves to be happy after what happened. I was scared to death I was going to die and even though I knew I really wouldn’t be missed, I was still so scared. I know how bad it was and I was only down there for a few days while you had to be down there a lot longer. You had to suffer that fear much longer than I did so you deserve more than any pony to be happy after that. Please, be happy and forget about me.
I’m sorry if I hurt any pony, I know some of my words probably did, but as I said, I needed to get it off my chest. I’m also sorry about the state of this letter, I can’t keep my thoughts straight and I’m having trouble keeping my concentration enough to write.
Cadence couldn’t help but add that Twilight was crying a lot during writing the letter as there were numerous wet spots and smudges that the alicorn knew in her heart was the unicorns tears. Despite knowing a large portion of the whole situation was a misunderstanding as the girls was planning a huge birthday party for Twilight which was going to happen in two more days.
Twilight’s parents were another huge misunderstanding as Cadence knew just how much they both loved Twilight. They always talked about her, but they had been so busy lately and afraid to write Twilight. They believed honesty was the best policy and tried never to lie to Twilight. They didn’t want to lie to Twilight and say everything was fine when it wasn’t. Night Light, Twilight’s father, had been diagnosed with cancer and had been spending a lot of time with doctors. Thankfully it seemed to be in remission and it looked like Night Light was going to be okay. They had been looking forward to Twilight’s birthday as they were going to surprise the young unicorn at the surprise party.
When it came to Celestia…Cadence had to admit that she was hurt and angry at her aunt. She was hurt that her aunt had actually fallen for her doppelganger’s charade, yet the elder alicorn hadn’t. It hurt that not only did Celestia not know Cadence as well as she once thought, but for her to think that Cadence would treat other ponies so poorly was what hurt the most. Cadence had never once looked down on any pony and would never, ever treat a pony as coldly as the changeling had.
Yet the fake cadence had not only done so, but she did so for well over a week. And the one pony that did see through the disguise, Celestia turned her away crushing the little pony’s heart. Cadence was giving Luna time to try and use the dream realm to try and locate Twilight, but so far had come up with nothing. Luna assured every pony she probably just hasn’t slept much or slept during times the night princess was awake.
Cadence knew that there were other reasons that could be causing it such as death or something happening to make her harder to track. Maybe some kind of spell blocking her memory or a spell that could wipe her memories to make a whole new start. The problem with the last option was that magic like that was forbidden and as smart and powerful as Twilight was, she didn’t have access to any books or pony who could teach her a spell like that. Not that Cadence could think of anyways.
~~~
Nomad grumbled in annoyance as he waited for his contact from the gypsy caravan that he had once called home. At least at one time it was his home until he was stupid enough and follow Midnight Dancer’s plan to punish a stallion she liked. When the elder’s found out they banished the couple from the caravan while keeping their tradition of not letting outside interference affect them. They dealt with all issues inside the caravan, inside the family including any and all punishments. If any pony came asking they did not see or hear anything. It had been like that for generations and still was.
Only Dancer had been lucky that her father had taken up the mantle of elder after his predecessor died. With him in power he got Dancer’s banishment turned over and allowed back with them while laying all the blame with Nomad. Truthfully he should be angry, and for while he was after Dancer left. He had never stopped loving her and would do anything to have her back, no matter how dirty he had to get.
“What do you want of us outsider?” A large, gruff unicorn demanded sitting across from Nomad. He was a large white stallion with black hair and white streaks and a cuie mark of two crossed swords. Nomad knew who he was, they were once friends a long time ago and was Dancer’s older brother Silver Blades. He was one of the gypsy enforcers that protected the caravan and maintained peace within.
“Why so formal, Silver?” Nomad asked cocking his head in question though he knew the answer. Silver was one of those by the book ponies for the most part, though he did still talk to Nomad when they came through town. This was the stallions vacation and Nomad was happy to have seen him earlier before running into Twilight. It didn’t take long to find out where he was staying and sent a message asking to meet.
“You know why outsider, now why did you summon me?” Silver huffed making Nomad sigh. This may end up being harder than he thought. Still, he pulled a sealed scroll out and pushed it across the table to his old friend.
“Because I need you to deliver this to Dancer. It’s…an apology for everything that happened.” Nomad lied, the letter actually containing a plea for Dancer to come back now that he had what she tried to get all those years ago only to be stopped before they could get the second. He was hoping that Dancer may return to him if he offered a chance to really make those noble ponies suffer for turning Nomad away. A part of him knew that he was being obsessive, but he would do anything just to see Dancer again.
“Out of respect for what we once had as friends, I will deliver this to my sister. Just know that if you hurt her in any way I will kill you.” Silver said seriously making Nomad swallow nervously. He knew Silver was telling the truth as it wouldn’t be the first time the stallion used his blades to kill some pony that dared hurt his sister.
“Thank you Silver. Any idea when I may hear back?” Nomad asked hopefully.
“If she replies it may be a few months before you get a reply. If she wants to see you we won’t be coming through here again until sometime next year.” Silver explained making Nomad slump over. He had been hoping that she would come back sooner, but if he had to take care of that idiot’s daughter for a year then he would. Maybe he would even see if he could get a contact to send back reports about any search that may be going on for her.
Actually that would be a good idea to make sure that no pony suspects him. He would have to make sure to keep her hidden, but with her extremely low self esteem and fear of showing her face uncovered would work in his favor. And if by some miracle she did remember anything, well he would see what he could to keep the lavender unicorn sealed in the basement or seal her memory or something. After all he was a master of hypnonosis magic, he was sure he could plant some kind of subconscious overlays in her memory over her true memories that would temporarily believe what he told her.
“Thank you Silver.” Nomad said as Silver got up from the table.
“Don’t thank me yet, Nomad. Remember that if you hurt my sister you won’t live long enough to do it again.” Silver said sending a burning glare towards Nomad before his horn lit up temporarily blinding Nomad. When his vision cleared the other unicorn was gone. It didn’t matter though, Silver had taken his letter and was going to deliver it which is all Nomad really wanted. Hopefully he would be seeing the gorgeous gypsy mare in a few months time and his life would once again be complete. He didn’t want to entertain the notion that Dancer wouldn’t reply, or if she did that she tell him to go away and leave her alone. Surely that wouldn’t happen, not with the news contained in that letter.
Rose yawned as she stretched in her bed, a little sleepy after going to her sister’s favorite restaurant again. After their first time they found out that Gordon Ponsey had bought the restaurant, the pony made it a point to sit down and speak to the sisters saying he was curious why Rose herself was hiding behind a cloak. Despite him trying to get her to put her hood down, Rose had refused and she ended up admitting what had happened to her. Gordon was shocked and angry that something like that had happened to her and gave the sisters a lifetime free pass to the restaurant and a promise to personally cook for them whenever he was in town and had done so the several weeks since.
Groaning a little as her stomach started bubbling as she thought about the Hay Wellington she had eaten last night. It was her favorite dish and one of the best things she had ever tasted. Well, at least she was pretty sure it was. Her eyes flew open as she flung herself from the bed and galloped as fast as she could to the bathroom to end up vomiting the toilet. It was the third time that week so she knew that it wasn’t the Hay Wellington. In fact it seemed like certain smells were setting her off, not only in the morning though it was the most common time so far. She was beginning to wonder if maybe she had suffered some kind of internal damage…but she didn’t start getting sick until the last few days. Surely she would have been sick by now if that was it, so she brushed it off as some kind of stomach virus.
After emptying her stomach contents she leaned back panting a little. She had found out something else about herself…she hated being sick. She hated being sick with a passion and was glad that her father’s personal doctor was coming by to give her a checkup. She could ask him if she was sick and maybe get some medicine for what ever it was wrong with her.
Her father was something of an enigma to her as he often left the sisters to run the shop while leaving at a moments notice to take care of some ‘business’ that Trixie didn’t seem to like. He also seemed to be eagerly waiting for something from the postal system that seemed to agitate him and make him ecstatic at the same time. He seemed to get so excited when it was about time for the days deliveries yet so angry when they either got their mail or nothing came. Neither Nomad or Trixie would say what he did, or what he was waiting for though Rose was sure her sister didn’t know what was coming in the mail as she seemed to be just in the dark as Rose was.
“Sick again?” Trixie asked startling Rose. Turning around she found her sister watching her with a worried expression.
“I’m ok.” Rose groaned out as she looked for her cloak to pull it on. She didn’t want to make her sister continue looking at her mutilated ugly form any longer than she had to. There wasn’t a point in making Trixie sick to the stomach as well.
“Sis, Trixie doesn’t think you need that cloak anymore.” Trixie said softly as if she was moved to nuzzle Rose. “Your coat has grown back and the stitches are out. You look great.”
“You don’t have to lie to spare my feelings.” Rose sighed as she used her magic to pull her cloak over her and pulled the hood up over her head. She loved her sister, but she wished her sister wouldn’t try to spare her feelings like this as it only made Rose feel worse. Taking a deep sigh she headed out towards the main floor of the shop. “Come on, I want to see if there is any medical reference books. I want to do some research.”
“Trixie thinks it may be better to wait for the doctor. They will be here in a couple hours at most and can see what’s wrong with you.” Trixie suggested following close behind her sister, shaking her head in disappointment as she failed to convince her sister that she wasn’t the freak Rose believed herself to be.
“Its fine, I just want to go over some stuff. I’m not going to start freaking out or anything you know.” Rose said as she started looking over the shelves in the medical tomes section. Trixie couldn’t help sighing in defeat knowing very well that if Rose put her mind to something there wasn’t much chance of changing it. Trixie also now knew that Rose also had panic attacks very easily, and not just over what happened to her. Rose was simply put, a control freak. Not that that actually bothered Trixie much, but she hated seeing her sister get like that.
“Here, let Trixie help.” Trixie said in resignation. She was kind of hoping to redirect Rose until the doctor here because Trixie already had a suspicion of what was wrong. She really hoped she was wrong, but it was the most likely reason and if Trixie was right then she wasn’t sure what to say or do. In the end she supposed all she could do is support her sister and what ever decision was made.
“Trixie, come with me, we need to have a little talk.” Nomad said gruffly as he came in through the front door, saddlebags on his back.
“Trixie will be back in a few minutes.” Trixie said as Rose just looked up with a small smile and nod of her head in acknowledgement before continuing her search. The look of trust and love in Rose’s eyes once again made Trixie feel guilty for the negative feelings she once held for Rose. However much her feelings had changed for her sister, her feelings for her father hadn’t changed much.
“I have the report from my contact in Canterlot.” Nomad said as Trixie closed the door behind her as Nomad pulled a folder from his saddlebag and tossed it onto the table making a few pages and pictures slide out. Trixie came closer to the table and looked at the picture that hung farthest out of the folder. It was a picture of Rose, or Trixie guessed it would be more accurate to call her Twilight as it was before her sister showed up here. Twilight looked like she was about ready to cry as she stood in the middle of a wrecked hall, part favors…or…maybe it was wedding props strewn around the room though it looked like there wasn’t too much damage upon closer inspection.
“What…what is this?” Trixie asked, swallowing nervously as she used her magic to open the folder.
“Read it and tell me that we should tell her the truth.” Nomad said, the first hint of actual emotion in his voice. After sifting through the documents in the folder, Trixie wanted to deny everything…but she couldn’t. While most of it was personal accounts from some pony, there were some official documents in there as well that matched up with what the rest claimed. Twilight’s closest friends not only turned their backs on her, but crushed her. So did her family…or was it her family? Was Shining Armor their brother, or the son of the ponies of the family that had raised Twilight? It didn’t matter though as he threw Twilight from his life and Princess Celestia hadn’t made things easier while she more or less blamed twilight for it.
“How could they?” Trixie demanded, a few tears forming at the corners of her eyes. For the first time all doubt about keeping Twilight here without telling her the truth was washed away. Nomad was right, Twilight…Rose didn’t need to go back to that. Trixie didn’t like it, not really, but maybe Nomad was right about lying to Rose in order to protect her.
“Now will you stop trying to undermine me? I’m trying to put our family back together and you keep trying to get Rose to go out in public without her cloak. What do you think is going to happen if Rose goes back? Do you honestly think they will give her the support she needs? The help and support you give her? If she goes back, she will be dead within a week when they force her to remember everything.” Nomad said softly, though his voice was like steel.
“Trixie…Trixie is sorry father. Trixie will do whatever she can to protect Trixie’s sister.” Trixie said, lowering her head in shame. She had been trying to secretly undermine Nomad, but at the same time she was really trying to get Rose to feel better about herself. She understood the fact Rose needed the cloak as support, a security blanket of sorts. What she didn’t want was Rose wearing it to hide herself believing she was a monster or freak.
“Look, Trixie, I know I haven’t been the best father. For that I am truly sorry, but I truly want to put our family back together. I want us to be happy.” Nomad said softly, reaching a hoof out to stroke Trixie’s mane. “I love you.”
“Trixie…Trixie loves you too, Daddy.” Trixie sobbed out throwing herself at Nomad who hesitantly hugged her letting her cry. Though he acted like he really cared, he knew it was only an act to get what he wanted. He only wanted to get Dancer back…so why did he feel an actual need to comfort Trixie?
~~~
Rainbow Dash looked around her living room as she lay on the floor, devastation all around her. After she was forced to return home along with the other Element Bearers, she had locked herself in her home and pretty much wrecked it in a fit of rage. She was mad at the Princesses for ordering them to return to Ponyville and watch for Twilight to return home though no pony actually believed she would return there. They were told that they would only be in the way there and none of the girls could really afford to pay for their own passage to go searching for Twilight.
As mad as she was at the Princesses and Shining Armor, no matter how much she was mad at her friends, the pony she was most angry at was herself. She represented the element of loyalty and yet she was the most disloyal out of all of them. She had promised to always be there and protect Fluttershy, yet when they returned to Ponyville Rainbow locked herself in her home and refused to answer it to anybody until a Pegasus came claiming Fluttershy was in the hospital. At first Rainbow didn’t want to go, but she finally did step out of her cloud home and ran into Rarity on the way to check up on Fluttershy. It turned out that Rarity was keeping Fluttershy at the Boutique after the meek pegasus tried to kill herself.
She had utterly failed to keep her promise to protect Fluttershy, but now she failed to keep her promise to Twilight. She had promised to never again take unicorn’s worries lightly, yet she did when Twilight claimed that, what they now knew was a fake Cadence, Princess Cadence hadn’t been acting right. In all honesty, Rainbow wasn’t sure why she ignored the unicorn’s warnings. She wasn’t like Rarity and Applejack who was excited about serving royalty their product. Pinkie herself was just excited about the biggest party she had ever thrown. And Fluttershy was just excited to meet Twilight’s brother and help do something nice for Twilight’s family. None of those reasons were Rainbow’s when it came to wanting to perform at the wedding.
Of course she wanted to perform a sonic rainboom, she was always up for showing off her skills, but that wasn’t why she wanted to perform at the wedding so much. Why would she want to perform in front of a bunch of stuck up nobles, well most of them being stuck up? Now if the Wonderbolts was going to be there, sure she would be more excited than any of the others to be there. They weren’t though and Rainbow was a tomcolt, so she didn’t really care all that much for a wedding as it involved stuff that was too…well it was more up Rarity’s alley than Rainbow’s.
The only reason Rainbow could come up with was she was following the group, letting the peer pressure so to speak make her choices for her. Sure she wasn’t exactly the best at comforting any pony, but she knew she should have stayed with Twilight when the others went to check up on the fake Cadence. There was something…something urging her to go with the others. Something that was impossible to resist she realized the more she thought about it…
“Could…that freak enchanted us!” Rainbow gasped as for the first time over the last few weeks a fire started to burn within her. She wasn’t sure why she never thought about it before, but it was barely noticeable. Just a simple suggestion that was hard to ignore…impossible to ignore.
Still, no matter if a spell was used on them or not, the damage was done. Twilight was gone and they played a large part in it. Maybe if they didn’t avoid her trying to keep the unicorn’s surprise birthday party under wraps, Twilight wouldn’t have been crushed under the overwhelming pain they caused her when they left her at the rehearsal. It was too late though to go back and change any of it, all they could do was hope they could find Twilight and be better friends when they did. Rainbow swore to herself that never again would she betray her friends or her element, she would be the most loyal pony there ever was. She would give up on her dreams of becoming a Wonderbolt until Twilight was found and they proved to the unicorn that they loved her, no matter what.
~~~
“I’ve never stopped loving you, Shiney. I never will stop.” Cadence sighed as she nuzzled the depressed unicorn. She did love him, yes she was mad at him, but she could never hate him. They were soulmates and after Luna checked him out they had found proof that he wasn’t in control of his actions. All of Shining’s love was forced to focus the changeling queen while anyone else he had powerful feeling for suffered his resentment, anger and hate.
“It still doesn’t change the fact that I drove Twiley away.” Shining sighed, looking out their room’s window. Despite the suite belonging to the couple, Cadence had moved into Luna’s suite and for the first week refused to speak with Shining for the most part. Now that they were back on better terms, Cadence still refused to marry Shining until Twilight could be found. Cadence would have Twilight by her side during the wedding or there would be no wedding no matter how much she loved Shining.
The palace had been a bit of a wreck since the invasion, many of the visitors and residents of Canterlot being angry that there was even a wedding being held in a time of impending threat such at there was. Cadence would never have agreed to have it during the time herself as she planned on putting it on hold once they heard the rumors of danger threatening. That was about the time she was ponynapped though and was replaced by the Queen of the Changelings who demanded the wedding be held…and Celestia actually gave in…
Cadence was still angry at Celestia, it hurt that her aunt was actually tricked for so long into believing the fake. How could her own aunt actually believe cadence would be so self centered to demand her wedding go on with a threat hanging over every pony’s head then go on to treat every pony like dirt under her hooves. Any pony that knew Cadence knew that she would rather die than put those she cares for in danger…and all of the ponies in Equestria were ponies that she cared for.
“She’s gone Cadence…she’s gone and it’s all my fault.” Shining said as he gave out a tired sigh. He truly looked terrible, but getting no sleep and hardly eating for so long will do that to a pony.
“No, it isn’t all your fault my love.” Cadence said as she settled beside him and hugged him to her with a wing. “Out of every pony, you are the least to blame.”
Cadence tried to keep the building tears at bay knowing that she was partly to blame for his state. It looked like every pony was still hurting each other after the invasion, from the populace at large blaming their leaders to said leaders being angry at each other. And sadly it all could have been avoided, but maybe it was time to stop playing the blame game all around since it wasn’t helping any pony. They needed to work together, they needed to find Twilight.
Twilight was important to them all, and they were all suffering for causing the loving pony so much pain. In a way, maybe they deserved to suffer, to feel even a little of what they inflicted on Twilight. Well, maybe they did deserve to feel some of her pain. No, she couldn’t think like that. Not if they wanted to find Twilight.
“Shiny…listen to me…I need you. I need you to pull yourself together.” Cadence said, her voice showing much more strength that she had ever since Twilight vanished with no trace.
“But Twiley…” Shining groaned, not looking at Cadence.
“Listen to me Shiney! Your sister needs you…I need you. We need to pull yourself together, you know Twilight better than anyone else. If any pony can find Twilight, it’s you.” Cadence said, a part of her embellishing it as she didn’t completely believe that. She didn’t want to see Shining waste away either and it would be much easier to search for Twilight if they all worked together instead of against each other.
“Do you think Twiley will ever forgive me?” Shining asked pulling away and turning to face Cadence. “Will you ever forgive me?”
“Once we explain to Twilight that you were under that witch’s power she will understand…there’s nothing that you need forgiven for Shiney. As for me…if any of us needs to apologize it’s me. You were under a spell Shiny and I’m sorry for blaming you for it.” Cadence asked nuzzling Shining. “Will you forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive my love.” Shining said as he leaned in to kiss Cadence. She couldn’t help melting into the kiss, but she also knew that no matter how much she loved Shining there would be no wedding until Twilight was found.
~~~
Rose laid in her bed, her father letting her take the rest of the day off from helping in the store after her doctor appointment with the pony who came to checkup on her. She was physically fine, her injuries healing up nicely and actually mostly healed though both the doctor and her father advised her to keep the cloak on to not freak out other ponies. Trixie seemed a little angry when they told her that, but with a look from their father the mare relented and left them alone.
That she could deal with, it was something that she was prepared for. No, it was the news that they were told after explaining that all of her physical injuries were healing up nicely. She wasn’t sure what to do with the news as she collapsed in shock, before she curled in on herself and cried herself to sleep. She wasn’t sure what to do, she didn’t want this…yet there wasn’t much she could do, was there?
Of course her father had urged her to follow the doctor’s advice, yet no matter how much she didn’t want this…she couldn’t do what they wanted. Trixie had been so supportive though when she heard the news upon her return, telling their father that it wasn’t up to him and to stop pressuring Rose. For the first time since Rose returned home here she saw Trixie completely stand up to their father and actually see him back down.
What should she do though? Should she do what her father had pushed for her to do? A part of her, for just a moment, actually considered it. Yet it would be paramount to murder she believed and no matter how scared or upset she was, there was no way she would kill anyone. Even if…even if it happened because of what those creeps did to her.
“Sis, you okay?” Trixie called softly as she slowly pushed the door open, a tray of crackers and a cup of tea floating in her magic.
“I’m scared, Trixie.” Rose admitted as she raised her head to look at her sister who was slowly making her way to the bed. The tray was gently placed on the nightstand while the mare sat next to the bed.
“Trixie will be there for you, no matter what choice you make.” Trixie said giving a reassuring smile.
“What if I…keep it?” Rose asked, her voice barely above a whisper though Trixie heard it. The mare’s eyes misting over as she reached a hoof out to stroke Rose’s mane.
“Then Trixie knows you will be the best mother in the history of equestrian.” Trixie replied as Rose jumped from the bed and into Trixie’s comforting embrace.
Spike wasn’t too sure about this, he wasn’t more than willing to admit he was afraid and annoyed at the situation he found himself in as he watched the chariot two pegasus had used to deliver the baby dragon to the mouth of a rather large cave. He would have preferred to have stayed in Canterlot, or the very least going back to Ponyville to take care of the library until Twilight came home. And Spike had to keep the belief that Twilight would despite Cadence’s words to him a few days before he left.
***
“Spike, may we speak for a few minutes?” Cadence asked, poking her head through the door to find the small dragon curled up in his bed with the blankets pulled tightly around him. The girls had already been shipped back to Ponyville a few days earlier and for some reason Spike had been feeling sick ever since.
Ever since they were gone, especially Rarity, Spike had been having chills badly off and on as well as uncontrollable shaking. Most recently he had been sick to his stomach as well making it difficult to keep anything down. He felt bad because Twilight was gone, hating himself for everything he had done to hurt her. Yet he didn’t feel this way about her, but he knew it was Rarity that was causing this.
“Go away.” Spike groaned out, shuddering as light filled the room as cadence trotted in and opened the curtains allowing light to flood into the room.
“Spike, I know Luna has set up a meeting with an older dragon and you in a few days. I want to talk to you about everything before you go.” Cadence said, her tone of voice conveying that there was no chance at all that she was going to go away without her talk.
“I feel bad enough as it is, I don’t need you telling me it was my fault.” Spike snapped out before he could stop himself. It was yet another thing bothering him, he had never had a temper really until recently…but ever since Twilight ran and the girls left, his temper seemed to only grow a lot worse.
“I imagine you are feeling pretty nasty with the withdrawals you are feeling.” Cadence said, her voice holding a little disappointment to it as she sat near Spike’s bed and used her magic to pull the blankets off the small dragon.
“What are you talking about?” Spike asked sitting up and rubbing the sleep and tears from his eyes. His body was stiff as he stretched a little while trying to avoid looking directly into the alicorn’s eyes.
“You feeling withdrawals over being separated from your hoard, or so Auntie Luna tells me.” Cadence explained, shaking her head as the dragon shook his head in confusion. “Tell me Spike, did you love looking at that sexy flank…those beautiful shining gems glittering from that glimmering snow white coat? Or those bright beautiful eyes that shone like gems?”
“I…I don’t know what your talking about.” Spike said after breaking out of his daydreams of Rarity, that cutie mark that so resembled gems and those bright eyes that sparked something deep in the young dragon.
“I think you do, Spike. Or I think you have an idea.” Cadence sighed, realizing that Luna was right. The young dragon had convinced himself that he was in love with rarity, but it was the part of him that needed to be surrounded by treasure and gems. Spike was one of the types of dragons that had a strong, a very over powering bred in obsession that was his very nature. True there were some types of dragons that didn’t, but Spike was not only a rare type of dragon, he was also a type that was cursed with the most powering greed of most of the other types.
“I love her!” Spike growled out, wisps of green flame curling from the corners of his mouth. With a glare from Cadence he shrunk back a little, hugging himself. He loved Rarity! He did, there was nothing more to it.
“Spike, there is another reason that Luna wants to send you to be taught by her old friend.” Cadence sighed, “She doesn’t want to worry you, but I feel you need to know. You need to know that while it isn’t exactly your fault, you did hurt Twilight very badly. She will forgive you, I know it, especially when she learns why you did what you did. You both need to understand this, and if you see Twilight first…you need to understand this.”
“I…don’t deserve Twilight’s forgiveness!” Spike sobbed out before Cadence pulled him in for a hug and just held him as he cried.
“Spike, out of all of you, you deserve forgiveness the most. Your body is changing in ways you don’t understand, and neither did Twilight. You are feeling the need to start your hoard.” Cadence explained softly after Spike stopped sobbing and she sit him back down nuzzling him. “Spike…you were obsessed with it and the first gem you wanted in your hoard was…Rarity.”
“But…I loved her…” Spike said weakly, his voice so soft and full of confusion.
“Did you Spike? Did you truly love her as much as you think you did…or did you crave her as a trophy? Did you want to make her yours…only yours to hide away from every pony else?” Cadence asked softly.
“I…I don’t know!” Spike cried out unsure of what to think or feel. He wanted to believe that he loved Rarity, but thinking about what Cadence was saying he had to ask himself if he felt that way. He was ashamed to admit it, but he did feel more jealous around Rarity the more ponies were around her. He felt an urge to…to…attack any other pony that got too close to Rarity at times. “Why are you telling me this!?”
“Because, while I don’t really blame you like I did at first, I also feel that you need to know exactly what you did. You hurt Twilight by giving into your baser draconic instincts though you didn’t understand them. You wanted to stay as close to your…hoard…for as long as you could. What you needed was some pony to help you understand the way you were feeling and help you overcome the base nature of what you are.” Cadence explained, “You hurt Twilight and if you really want to make it up to her you will follow Luna’s advice and actually pay attention to this dragon. You will do your best to follow what he tells you and learn from him.”
“But…I want to be here when Twilight comes back!” Spike shouted out. Cadence shook her head knowing what he was feeling and understanding him somewhat. A part of her was angry at him for being one of the ones that hurt Twilight the most…but she understood that it wasn’t completely his fault.
Spike had been claiming he didn’t really want to go, that he wanted to stay in the palace or go with Twilight’s parents to take care of the library and Twilight’s home in Ponyville. Cadence knew that Spike was positive that the Unicorn would return, but the poor dragon was only in denial. Twilight wasn’t coming home…not unless they found her and convinced her that they were sorry.
“Spike, if you don’t do this you could end up hurting Twilight even worse when she gets back. You need to learn the dragon’s techniques to deal with the obsessive greed that curses your species.” Cadence said softly, “If you don’t learn to control it…you WILL hurt Twilight again and…you might end up seriously injuring Rarity.”
“I…I…” Spike tried to say, but Cadence finished for him.
“You wouldn’t? Spike, when you get bigger…or if your greed takes control and your powers go out of control…you may kill Rarity trying to take her for your hoard.” Cadence said sadly. She may have been a little upset at the dragon, but she also knew he was hurting very badly. He was Twilight’s son in all but blood, and Cadence didn’t want the young dragon hurting himself or losing himself in the curse that plagued his kind. Cadence wanted Spike to get a hold of it and go back to being the Spike that Cadence knew was fighting with the obsession that was trying to take hold. “Please don’t say you wouldn’t, because if you lose yourself to the greed…you may lose everything you hold dear…”
***
Spike knew Twilight would return to them, there was no doubt even though it had been over a month since she disappeared. Luna had kept her promise though and set up a meeting with an elder dragon to mentor Spike and teach him what he needs to know about his body. Luna had promised to keep him in the loop if any information came up as well as send a chariot to get him every other week so only half of his time would be spent here. He knew Twilight would come back and he wanted to get a hold of his basic instincts so they can go back to being what they were before Ponyville. He wanted…he wanted things to go back to him being Twilight’s number one assistant with no feelings of fear, hurt or betrayal hanging over either of their heads.
Knowing this was for the best, though he didn’t want to be here, Spike looked around him. He was before a large, and when he said large he meant massive dark cave just before him. It was the most intimidating sight he had ever seen and was afraid to go any closer, yet he knew he had to. He took a deep breath trying to steady himself.
“Hello!” Spike called out as he tentatively took a step into the cave before seeing a pair of glowing red eyes. Gulping he took a quick step back in shock until a pink cat a little smaller than him with a white tuft of fur and a dark stripe on her head was looking up at him curiously. The yellow ribbon on her head make her look even cuter yet for the life of him he couldn’t figure out where a cat got wings. “Awww, hello little kitty.”
“Don’t call me a cat you stupid piece of crap!” The cat screeched out before jumping on his face scratching him over and over while hissing. Spike couldn’t help running back and forth flailing his arms around screaming.
“GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! THE PAIN! OH CELESTIA THE PAIN!!!” Spike screamed until he hit something and fall back on his but, the cat falling off him and bounding a few paces away. Looking up Spike saw the largest, most intimidating dragon he had ever seen in his life.
“Greetings child, I see you met my young granddaughter Ruby.” The dragon chuckled making Spike’s eyes roll up in the back of his head before falling the rest of the way backwards much to the amusement of the pink winged creature who burst out laughing.
~~~
Celestia sat on her balcony staring out across Canterlot, her body not really showing many signs of the abuse she had heaped upon it for over a month. Little food or drink as well as a lack of sleep actually starting to take its toll on her despite her brave front. She knew she screwed up, she screwed up in every single way when it came to the whole wedding incident.
She knew better than to allow the wedding to go on with the impending threat to the safety of her kingdom. Yet she let her pride get in the way when cadence questioned her abilities as well as her faith in Shining Armor to do his job and protect the kingdom. Now she knew better, she knew it was Chrysalis masquerading as Cadence and was manipulating Celestia the whole time.
The truth really bothered Celestia as she realized that she was manipulated which once again brought Twilight’s personal thoughts from her journal up. Celestia had personally read and reread the journal numerous times and it hurt to know that Twilight believed that Celestia had manipulated Twilight. What hurt the Princess even more was the fact that the young unicorn was right.
For years Celestia had planned and schemed to get her sister back, Twilight becoming a major player in all of her plans. Yet, no matter how many plans she had made, Celestia loved the little filly. Twilight was like a daughter to her and Celestia had every intention of bringing both Luna and Twilight home when Nightmare Moon was defeated. Yet upon seeing how happy Twilight was with her friends in Ponyville, Celestia couldn’t take the young unicorn away from them. Twilight had never had friends before and after seeing how happy the ones she managed to make, Celestia just couldn’t tear her away from them
Instead Celestia let Twilight remain in Ponyville to learn how to be friends. She had let the pony that she felt was a daughter to her have a life away from her and the stress being at the palace as her personal student. She had seen what that stress did to another unicorn not long ago and she didn’t want to repeat the same mistake with Twilight. She lost a sister for a thousand years and lost a prospective daughter, Celestia did not want to lose another.
She had done exactly that though, she had lost yet another student because of stupid mistakes and pride. She couldn’t help wondering if maybe she should step down as ruler and let Luna rule by herself. Of course Celestia would be around to help her sister, but maybe Luna would be better to rule.
“You know dear sister, I miss Twilight just as much as you.” Luna said as she landed next to Celestia on the balcony startling the solar princess a little. She couldn’t help feeling a little proud at her sister doing much better with the way she talked. Over the last month Luna had devoted all of her time to not only searching for Twilight, but also spending a lot of time with Cadence who helped the lunar princess settle in to modern times a little more.
“I know you do.” Celestia sighed as she relaxed against Luna’s side when the darker alicorn pulled her close with a wing.
“We will find her and return her home.” Luna said softly.
“What if…what if she doesn’t want to come home.” Celestia asked, a little afraid of the answer.
“Then we try and convince her that she is loved and wanted here. Worse case…we leave her wherever she is the most happiest and do our best to visit her often.” Luna said, knowing that Celestia would be hurt over thinking Twilight may not wish to return, but knowing it was a very real possibility after all the pain the poor unicorn had suffered.
~~~
Rarity sighed as she finished feeding Fluttershy’s animal friends since she had to do it herself today. Fluttershy was going with Applejack and Pinkie to her doctor appointment and while Rarity also wanted to be involved with it, she knew she was needed here at the moment. She had made a promise to look after the poor animals that were hurt as well as they few who did make the pegasus’s cottage a full time home. She may not have to live here to care for them, but she was spending a lot of time here that her business had suffered a little. Not a lot, but enough to see a noticeable decrease in income.
She couldn’t blame the poor pegasus for that though since Rarity herself had even entertained the notion a few times. Of course Rarity quickly pushed those thoughts from her mind since she had a little sister to take care of since their parents weren’t around to do it. Not that they would take care of Sweetie Bell if anything happened to Rarity as their parents were a joke…
Gypsy ponies…Rarity was ashamed to admit that her parents had joined a gypsy caravan and more or less abandoned Sweetie Bell. Of course when it happened Rarity was still young also, but she was old enough to take care of herself. If it wasn’t for Rarity, Sweetie Bell would have ended up in an orphanage or dead. If she hated any pony, it was her parents…
It was why she was so upset with Trixie when she came into town that one time. It was also why Applejack and Rainbow was mad at her as they knew the truth, Pinkie just going along with them not knowing the reason behind their distaste for the show pony. When Trixie ran away though rarity couldn’t help feeling bad for the poor mare when everything she owned was trampled by the Ursa. Not much was salvageable, but Rarity did manage to recover Trixie’s hat and cape and restored them. She still had them in the boutique, put up safely.
“Heya Rarity.” Rainbow said as she landing quietly next to Rarity shocking the unicorn a little. It was hard enough to believe that Twilight had now been gone for over three months. In that time they all had changed so much, including both Rainbow and herself. Rainbow had quieted down a lot and become a lot more responsible. Of course that could partly be because of what Zecora told them and what Celestia had charged the once overly brash pegasus with.
After Rainbow had told them about her suspicions about them being enchanted, they argued over it for hours until decided to go find Zecora seeing how she was more knowledgeable with everything arcane. It turned out that they were enchanted by the changeling magic, which the Zebra was familiar with, and the taint was still with them at the time. The zebra had shocked them all with the claims and was awed at how she drained the taint out of them and into small gems, the amount filling three gems for from each pony.
With a little work the Zebra turned the taint into tools to weed out the changelings. If a changeling was nearby the gem would glow brightly while if a pony was under the influence of one the gem would pulse with a light as if it was a heartbeat. When word about it was sent to Celestia, the princess came to look into it and thanked them for the tool they needed to warn them of any more trouble from the insect like ponies.
Every pony was shocked when Celestia asked a certain pony to take up the mantle of sentry of Ponyville, to take the gem that was set in a necklace and protect the town, watching for any possible hints of trouble and report it to Celestia. Rainbow Dash had almost turned down the offer, but the princess had assured her that she was the best pony for the job. After all who else could fly as fast as the pegasus as well as already having experience with changelings.
In the end Rainbow had accepted…which turned to other complications for the pegasus. Just two weeks ago Soarin had personally came to talk to Rainbow Dash to offer her a spot on their team since Fleetfoot was injured and would be out for awhile. It would of course be a temporary position that would most likely lead to something permanent. Every pony in Ponyville was more than ready to throw Rainbow a party congratulating her only to almost have heart attacks all at once.
Rainbow Dash had turned them down…
The pegasus’s dream had come true and she turned them down in order to be loyal and stay in town to protect it. Even though more than one pony tried to talk Rainbow out of it, to convince her they could watch for changelings, she would not budge on her decision. She said she would not be disloyal again and said she would keep her promise to protect Ponyville until twilight came home, and the rainbow maned pegasus meant every word.
“So I heard Flutters is doing a lot better.” Rainbow said, kicking the ground with a front hoof nervously. Rarity had to sigh at the antics…even though the pair of pegasi made up, Rainbow still felt awkward talking to Fluttershy about what happened directly.
“Yeah, she’s doing a lot better. The poor dear…I still can’t believe it came to that…” Rarity said as she looked up to Rainbow, the gem around her neck reflecting a little light from the sun. She had to admit, the pegasus really looked good with the necklace. So regal in a way…if only she could get the Pegasus to accessorize it a bit more.
“I wish we never went to that stupid wedding.” Rainbow said, her voice low and full of the anger Rarity had come to know the pegasus for. All of them have had some problems despite becoming better ponies. Rainbow developed some anger issues though became aggressively loyal and protective. Fluttershy had become very depressed to the point of attempting suicide, yet she had also become stronger and no longer seemed to fear everything as much as she once did. Pinkie Pie still seemed as party crazy as always yet seemed to know better when to be more serious. Applejack had become even more honest to the point of being completely tactless, but she was also the pony who brought them back together and out of their wallowing in self pity. And Rarity herself had lost a lot of her self confidence yet she also became a more giving and generous pony taking a lot of her bits and paying for a building in Ponyville that was being converted into an orphanage. Not that there were a lot of orphans here, but she learned Scootaloo was and had been living on the streets.
“We all do, darling.” Rarity sighed, enjoying the break after all the hard work. She did regret the wedding happening, but she had a bad feeling that Twilight running off may have still happened after being allowed to read the purple unicorn’s journal. “We meant well with her surprise party…but we didn’t take into account how little experience Twi had with friendship. We made her think that we were turning away from her when we tried to keep her birthday party a surprise.”
“We messed up Rare, we were so uncool.” Rainbow sighed as her ears flattened. The way she was talking made Rarity actual smile a little as it reminded her of the rainbow maned mare’s old self.
“We were darling, but we learned and we are becoming better ponies for when Twilight returns home. The Princesses will find her, they have the money and the pony power. They promised us that they would contact us so we can go see her as soon as she returns to Canterlot and we can convince her we love her and hopefully she will come home.” Rarity sighed, her mind shifting to another topic while she had her friends full attention. “Darling…we need to talk about something else…about Fluttershy.”
“What about her?” Rainbow asked as she started kicking at the ground with a hoof nervously.
“She misses you, Darling.” Rarity admitted, noticing the wince from Rainbow at the mention.
“I saw her just the other day.” Rainbow replied defensively.
“Maybe, but she doesn’t need a protector when it comes to you. At least not the type you are trying to be Darling. Fluttershy loves you…she needs you as at least a friend.” Rarity sighed, watching sadly as a rainbow streak trailed away leaving the unicorn alone as a few drops of water splashed down on her which was odd as there was no rain clouds overhead at the moment.
A few hours later after returning to her home and finishing a meal with Scootaloo and Fluttershy, Rarity was getting ready to turn in for the night since she had to be up early to go back and feed Fluttershy’s animals again. A knocking on the door prevented her from heading up the stairs, Scootaloo, Sweetie Bell and Fluttershy stopping behind the unicorn as they were following. Slowly she moved to the door opening it, seeing Rainbow standing there awkwardly holding a box of what the unicorn knew to be Fluttershy’s favorite chocolates.
“Hey, sorry about coming so late.” Rainbow said nervously, “I was hoping to talk to Flutters.”
“Rainbow!” Fluttershy cried out barreling past Rarity and into Rainbow’s hooves as the rainbow mare hugged her.
“I’m so sorry, Flutters.” Rainbow sniffed nuzzling Fluttershy as Rarity quietly ushered Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo up the stairs to give the two some privacy.
~~~
“See me dominate, cause I’m powerful and great~” Trixie sang quietly to herself as she continued her task of stocking the shelves. She was in a really good mood lately, but today was promising to be perfect. It had been six months now since Twilight…err..Rose had come back into her life and while the mare was still scared to show her face, it didn’t keep her down. Rose and Trixie had gotten so close it was like they were brought up together and it made the showmare happy to have the family she always wanted. Even her father had been really nice the last two months.
Now, tonight, her father had left to meet up with her mother and soon their family would be whole. Her father had promised to bring her mother home and then they would all share a huge group hug and be a whole family for the first time. All four of them under one roof being one big happy family. Yes, tonight was going to be perfect…
With a jingle of a bell signaling a customer entering the store, Trixie trotted up front to greet them since Rose had been sleeping in the back. Her sister had been feeling a little bad today so Trixie was more than happy to cover for both of them so Rose could get some rest. She was going to be a mother soon and needed the rest because once the foal was born, the poor mare wouldn’t be getting much sleep for awhile.
“Trixie.” A curt, sharp voice stated as soon as she reached the counter to see her mother standing there along with a black unicorn stallion with three drops of red for a cutie mark. Something about him sent chills down Trixie’s back as she looked between him and the cold, hard expression on her mother’s face.
“Mother?” Trixie asked, a little hurt at the cold reception. The hard look in the older mare’s eyes the only thing keeping Trixie from running up for a hug.
“Don’t call me that, you are no child of mine.” Dancer sneered as she looked over Trixie in contempt. “You and your entire family disgust me. I wish I just killed you when we took you from your family.”
“Wh-what?” Trixie asked, tears spilling down her muzzle as she stared at the mare.
“I shouldn’t have bothered coming, but apparently you can’t take a hint. Stop looking for me! Don’t you get it, I don’t want anything to do with you!” Dancer snapped as she spun around and left, the black stallion following closely behind. It would be some time before Trixie pulled herself together to notice the familiar book on the floor where her mother once stood.
~~~
Dancer sighed as the two hurried through the shadows of the night, tears falling down her muzzle. It had hurt her to say what she did to Trixie because despite whose daughter she really was, Dancer had loved her. She chose her family with the gypsies though all those years ago and she refused to bring Trixie into that life as it had gotten to be very difficult the last few years. She wouldn’t have even bothered to go see Trixie as she didn’t want the pain of seeing the young mare. She had to put a stop to Trixie looking for her, it was too dangerous for both of them…especially after what Dancer and her friend Blood Drop had done to protect Trixie and her sister.
“If you don’t want them, I have no use for them…maybe I’ll sell them…” Nomad had told her sealing his fate. Dancer had her friend…and assassin…finish the fool off for daring to threaten children in such a way. If there was anything the gypsy’s hated…it was ponies who sold and abused children. It was an act punishable by death by the gypsy law and as one of the caravan’s enforcers, Blood Drop executed Nomad and they pair left him where the body would easily be found.
Not that she was one to talk after how she was involved with Trixie’s kidnapping. Yet, at the time Dancer was sure Nomad would be a good father when she left to return to her family. If only she knew just what type of father he was going to be…
“I’m so, so sorry Trixie.” Dancer whispered into the night as the pair made their escape from the city.
Rose sighed as she watched her four year old foal running in the park playing with a couple other children. Sadly it didn’t last long though as the parents didn’t trust her since she always hid behind her cloak and didn’t let their own children play with her baby for long. It wasn’t fair that her little girl was treated like that when it was all Rose’s fault, but the mother had no idea what to do. She was out of her league no matter how she looked at it since her little girl was a pegasus…a genius pegasus, but a pegasus all the same.
She loved her baby no matter who the father was, the small light blue filly with a purple mane streaked with silver with silver eyes was her life. Yet, her baby wasn’t happy here since Rose was shunned making it hard to find a school or a pegasus to help teach the little filly. No matter how many books she read on the race of pony, it was all practical knowledge and no real way on how to teach them how to fly. It was frustrating seeing her baby crying because all the other foals were making fun of her not only for having a freak for a mother, but because she couldn’t fly.
Sighing Rose held her hooves up for a hug as her daughter came barreling into them crying after all the other children excluded her from their games. At first it looked like they were having fun playing tag until a few more foals came to play and talked to the group of children. Rose wanted to yell at them for making her daughter cry, but had already learned that it didn’t do any good and could make things worse.
“Momma…why do they all hate me?” Summer Rose asked as she snuggled in her mother’s hooves.
“Shhh baby, they don’t hate you….they just don’t understand.” Rose said softly, “Come on, let’s go meet up with Auntie Trixie and get some ice cream. Doesn’t ice cream sound good?”
“Yay ice cream!” Summer cried out as she pulled away from Rose and began hopping around the older mare. Rose couldn’t help giggling at her daughter’s antics as ice cream had always brought the young filly’s mood up, yet it shouldn’t have to. Summer should never have to feel the hurt that the little girl feels because of Rose, and the mother had wondered more than once if the filly wouldn’t be better off with another family.
Rose shook her head as she thought that, no matter how many times she debated that she couldn’t do it. Sure they didn’t have a lot of money since they book store was failing and Rose believed herself to be a freak, but they had one thing that couldn’t be guaranteed with another family…love.
Rose and Trixie both loved the little filly with all their hearts and gave the foal everything they could, but the one thing they couldn’t. They personally couldn’t teach the pegasus what they needed to, especially fly, and they knew that she needed to start learning. They had been talking a little about packing what little they had and moving to a new town…but they didn’t know what town would be the best choice. Of course Trixie had a suggestion and kept arguing the points in favor for the town, but Rose wasn’t too sure about it.
Rose knew what Trixie had gone through when she went to Ponyville all those years ago and knew how hard it was for her sister to even suggest it. She knew Trixie would go where she did, including a place that would likely shun Trixie the way Rose herself was shunned here.
Then there was the other problem with Ponyville, something Rose herself knew yet could not remember. After finding Nomad’s journal, most likely left by Dancer, they learned that yes Trixie and Rose was related and whose family they belonged to. A little searching of Nomad’s room also turned up documents that were reports from a spy in the Canterlot court showing the things Nomad told them was likely true. That Celestia didn’t care for Rose much less their family. What parent would send their child away and not visit them much? What family hid the fact that their daughter had a twin out there somewhere and didn’t bother looking. If that wasn’t enough, it was also true that Rose’s so called friends turned their backs on her to suck up to royalty and those friends lived in Ponyville.
Yes, Rose now knew that she was really Twilight Sparkle…yet she didn’t feel like she was. She was the freak of Fillydelphia and Trixie’s twin sister…not a trophy student to some stuck up princess and a punching bag to her so called friends.
Despite knowing how hard it would be for Trixie, as well as for herself if found out, the showmare still insisted that they try going there. Trixie had admitted that while she had bad luck there, it was the nicest town she had ever been to in her travels. The town usually didn’t judge others and likely wouldn’t judge Rose if she insisted on keeping her cloak, which she would. She didn’t want to be stared at like the freak she was.
Trixie did have two very good points about Ponyville, if she was right about them not judging her because of her cloak then her little girl would be accepted. The second point in favor of Ponyville is that it had the best flier in all of Equestria next to the Wonderbolts and there were many who claimed she was even better than the highly decorated team of fliers.
“Again?” A voice asked shocking Rose as she looked up to find Trixie keeping pace with Rose, Summer between them. A quick look at Trixie’s eyes made it clear that the mare knew what had happened.
“Yeah…again.” Rose sighed in defeat, hanging her head a little. “It’s all my fault.”
“No it isn’t mama!” Summer cried out nuzzling Rose. “It’s not fault your hurting.”
“It’s my fault you’re hurting.” Rose sighed before catching herself.
“Wait! You know what we’re talking about?” Rose asked, shaking her head in shock. She should have known trying to keep it short and simple and not hinting to the problem wasn’t enough to hide it from her genius of a daughter. Rose had no doubt that if Summer was born a unicorn that she would have surpassed Trixie and Rose’s power combined.
“I’m four mama, not stupid.” Summer sighed as she rolled her eyes.
“Let’s get some ice cream and we’ll talk about this later.” Trixie suggested, hiding a smile and holding back a giggle at the excited looks on both mother and daughter’s faces. It was hard to see it on Rose’s face hidden in the shadows of her hood…but the widening and hungry look of her eyes pretty much told Trixie all she needed to know.
***
Five years was a long time to go without seeing your daughter, especially when you lost another daughter years prior to that. It seemed like she couldn’t do anything right when it came to her children…yet Twilight Velvet carried on. It wasn’t and easier losing Twilight Sparkle as it was losing Midnight Sparkle, but at least she had hope that her little girl was okay.
Unlike Midnight who was kidnapped not long after being born, Twilight had ran away on her own feeling like she had nothing to tie her back to Canterlot and Ponyville. Velvet prayed that her little girl would come home on her own, but she wasn’t naïve to believe that it would happen. Instead she had spent most of the money she had saved paying for ponies who made a living out of tracking any pony down. Year after year she was only met with more and more disappointment.
Even though she spent so much money though, burning through almost three quarters of their life savings, they still had enough to have the library rebuilt when it was destroyed by Tirek. Thankfully the girls and princesses were able to stop the creature with the help of Discord before he could cause too much trouble. The library now stood over where the tree once was, a three story building with the first two floors filled with books and the last one living quarters for her Night Light and herself as well as a couple guest rooms. It wasn’t as big as their home in Canterlot, but both Night Light and Velvet had enough of the capital and retired to Ponyville to tale care of her daughters home and await her return.
Yawning Velvet climbed down the steps to open up for the day, stopping momentarily when she felt a shiver travel down her back. Unlike most ponies who believed such an occurrence meant trouble, the unicorn believed it meant something good was going to happen soon. She admitted she was backward this way, yet every time she experienced it something really extraordinary had happened to her.
“Please let it be my little girl.” Velvet whispered in a soft prayer, hoping beyond hope that she would finally be reunited with her baby.
***
It had been a week since they decided to pack everything up after their visit to the ice cream parlor. They were going to head to Ponyville and hope for the best since they couldn’t bear to see little Summer mistreated by her peers any longer. They didn’t have much since they sold all the books along with the shop to a pony that Gordon Ponsey had introduced them to. Rose was finishing packing up the few things that was theirs into a trailer that Trixie had bought with a little of their money.
Trixie had told her that the trailer was a lot like her old one, only smaller having just enough room for a single small bed and their few meager possessions. Because of this they agreed to try and fit in the trailer together if the weather turned bad, but otherwise they would be camping under the stars during their travel. They had debated leaving even more behind and taking a train, but the trailer was used and very cheap while the train tickets would cost three times as much. Even the cost of supplies still didn’t come close to matching what the tickets would cost. Of course there was also the fact that if Ponyville wasn’t as inviting as Trixie assured her, they could just move on.
Watching Summer play with a ball Rose couldn’t help wondering if maybe they shouldn’t contact her parents. Both Trixie and her had decided against it for different reasons. For Trixie it was the fact she was forced to grow up living a lie by a verbally abusive stallion. Rose still didn’t understand how Trixie hated him so much after learning the truth yet still say she had a spot in her heart from him. She had claimed that while there was a lot of bad, he was still her father for so long and there were some happy memories. He was there for her when her real parents just gave up on her.
For Rose, her differences were similar yet different. As far as they could make out from the reports about what happened in Canterlot, her parents didn’t care enough to look for her. And to make that even worse, her parents left Canterlot so if Rose did go back home they wouldn’t even be there. Of course she knew where they were, but if it wasn’t for the reports she would never had known it. Still, she wished she could remember them and not just have reports to go by when it came to them. It would be nice to be able to give Summer some grandparents, but there was no use in trying if they were going to be uncaring as they seemed to be.
“Almost done?” Trixie asked as she came into the small store, the door unlocked even though the closed sign was hanging up. They would be leaving soon, locking up and sticking the key back through the mail slot since the new owner had a copy.
The look on Trixie’s face told Rose that her sister had been visiting the graveyard again. True both of them hated Nomad, but Trixie had viewed him as a father for so long she just couldn’t turn off the feelings she had for him. The stallion was a right bastard, but Trixie had said they had some happy times. Rose didn’t like it, but she would have went with Trixie to support her if she knew that was where the showmare was going to go.
“I would have kept you company if you told me where you were going.” Rose said softly as she trotted up to Trixie to nuzzle her.
“I’m okay, besides, I needed to do it alone. I hate him so much…but I can’t just get rid of the good memories.” Trixie sighed, avoiding looking straight at Rose.
“You shouldn’t have to…he was a big part of your life no matter if he was your real father or not.” Rose said softly, a part of her not believing it in the least. Trixie shouldn’t be tore up over a monster like Nomad who ripped their family apart for such selfish reasons.
“I know how you really feel about him, sis.” Trixie replied sadly, “And I don’t blame you. I want to hate him unconditionally, but my heart still hasn’t gotten the memo. Let’s…just head out if your ready, I want to be as far from this place before we stop as we can.”
“Sure…but I do have one question.” Rose said, holding back a giggle. “Are you going back to, ‘The Great and Powerful Trrrrrrriixxiieeeee’ as we travel.”
“Hardy har har.” Trixie mocked as she bopped Rose over the head. She had stopped that when she found out the truth about her parents and swore never to go back to being a showmare. She hated the thought of being anything like her supposed mother while at one time she wanted to be just like her. Of course it took awhile to get over talking like she once did, but she wanted to stop as it was a reminder of what she once was as well as a mother who apparently never loved her.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.” Rose sighed as Trixie nuzzled her.
“It’s okay, let’s get going.” Trixie said, “Come on short stuff, make sure you have your doll.”
“Coming Auntie!” Summer cried out leaving her ball and rushing back into the store, returning with a stuffed Wonderbolt doll a few minutes later. The pair of unicorns couldn’t hold back their smiles at the enthusiastic attitude of the pegasus filly.
To say that she was tired would be like saying ponies walked on four hooves. It was worth it though as the small town of Ponyville was coming into view. Rose was looking forward to stopping as she pulled the wagon behind her, her daughter and sister resting as the two older mares had taken turns pulling. At first Trixie seemed much better suited to it, but Rose had remembered a spell she read back at the bookstore and was able to use it to make the wagon seem lighter yet she still grew tired because of the strain of constantly using the spell.
Now, after such a long trip, they were finally at their destinationthough now Rose was beginning to question herself even more over the decision coming here. She knew a little about how some of these ponies here treated heryet Trixie had a point that if Rose wanted the best to teach her daughter then they had little choice in coming here. Question was, would they be able to get Rainbow Dash to help teach Summer to fly and Rose the knowledge and skills to take care of a pegasus child.
She didnt have long to worry though as she was coming up to a large building with six ponies in their teens playing volleyball. Rose couldnt decide if she should skirt around such a large group or chance making a bad impression with her cloak being so dirty from being on the road.
"Welcome to Ponyville, darling." A voice called snapping Rose out of her thoughts. Looking up she saw a white unicorn trotting from where the group of children were playing. Rose tried to take a step back as she started feeling a panic rise inside her.
"Are we there mamma?" A sleepy voice asked from beside Rose calming her down some.
"Yes honey, we are." Rose said nuzzling her foal just as the unicorn caught up to them. "This here unicorn was just welcoming us."
"Dont you dare insult my mamma, it isnt her fault she was hurt!"Summer said taking a defensive posture towards the unicorn who covered her mouth holding back a giggle.
"Relax darling, it wouldn't be ladylike to do something souncouth. Whereis my manners, my name is Rarity and as I said, welcome to Ponyville." Rarity said, tossing her mane back and giving the two a small smile though there was a hint of suspicion in the mare's eyes. "May I ask what business you have here?"
"My mamma is upset because of the way the big ponies make fun of her andand wont let me play with their foals." Summer said sadly kicking the ground. "It isn't her fault."
"Of course it isn't dear." Rarity said giving the small filly a small smile while Rose groaned in embarrassment. She didnt exactly want this to be how her first encounter here went. "So I take it you are moving here? If so, let me assist you in finding lodging. I take it that..."
"Why didnt you wake me shorty?" A new voice joined in on the conversation, sounding as if it just woke upwhich by the state of her mane she probably did.
"We're here Auntie! And the nice unicorn is being nice to momma!" Summer cried out hopping around them in circles making Trixie giggle at her antics until she noticed a white unicorn glaring at her.
"Charity..."Trixie grumbled, looking away from the glare guiltily.
"Rarity." Rarity said as she gritted her teeth before letting out a sigh. "Darling, I feel I mustapologize for my uncouth behavior during yourshow here."
"I should apologize to,I may have went a little overboard when I showed you and your friends up." Trixie sighed, though she still didnt particularly like this pony. She knew it was one of Rose's old friends and one of the ponies who hurt her. Still, she would be more civilized than she was the last time she was here
"Yes, well, I shouldn't have interrupted your show even if you were being a little boastful." Rarity said, once again flipping her mane back.
"Wow, your really pretty when you do that. Can you teach me that? Huh, can you?" Summer pleaded giving the dreaded puppy dog pout making Rarity giggle a little. Rose simply rolled her eyes at her daughters antics though couldn't blame her daughter for having the same thirst for learning new things that Rose herself possessed. If only the filly's interests were a bit moreacademic. Sure she was a genius, but she seemed to love fashion, the Wonderbolts, games and sports. Rose rued the day when her daughter started being interested in boys. It wasn't that Rose didn't want her daughter to have those interests though,it was because they were subjects she herself wasn't good with so couldnt really help Summer all that much with them which often made the mother feel a little bad.
"Why thank you darling, and I suppose if your sticking around and your mother allows it, I could help teach you to be a proper young lady." Rarity said smiling. "Anyways, I did mention lodgings and actually I may have a place you all can stay if your interested."
"It's okay, we can stay in our trailer." Trixie said a little too quickly as Rose moved closer.
"What's wrong, sis?" Rose asked softly, not wanting the white unicorn or her daughter to overhear.
"There's no way we can afford a place until we get a job. I was thinking about trying to busk if needed, but seeing Rarity's reaction I dont think it would do much." Trixie admitted. "We used a little more than we planned getting here."
"Well, I think I can help with both of your problems." Rarity beamed, "Tell me, how are you with running a store front?"
"I can handle that no problem,both of us can." Rose replied, returning the smile while Trixie looked on dubiously.
"Well then your in luck, the pony I had working in my boutique quit recently when she moved to Canterlot to be with her fiancé. I'm hiring a couple ponies to just run the shop and I have living space above you can stay at."Rarity explained, looking back over her shoulder at the building where the teenagers milled around talking to each other. "Ever since I had the orphanage built and moved in to run it, I've had less and less time to run my boutique. I do work there a few hours every night doing appointments and making clothes, but most of my time is devoted here."
"Soall of them lost their parents?" Summer asked sadly looking over to the other ponies.
"No dear, I actually only have two orphans living with me and my sister. I've pretty much adopted them myself." Rarity said giving the young filly a smile at how kind she seemed to be. "We're all very happy, but our doors are always open if some pony needs a home and family to love them."
"That sounds really awesome! What's it called?" Summer asked, Rose and Trixie looking to Rarity also wanting to know the answer.
"I named it Twilight House aftera very good friend who I messed up with badly. Ihaven't seen her for so long." Rarity said sadly, wiping at an eye. "Well ladies, if your interested I'll show you the way. Just pleasedont run off without an explanation or anything. I'm giving you a chance so please don't let me down."
"We plan to stay, I want to see if I can't convince a pegasus to teach me how to take care ofpegasus thingsand hopefully teach her how to fly." Rose explained, "Her name is Rainbow Dash."
"This way ladies." Rarity said as she led the trio down the road toward the center of town while giving a worried look to them.
"I'm good friends with Rainbow Dash, and usually I would say she would likely be eager to help you outbut with circumstances, I can't say what she'll do." Rarity said, "We can talk about that later,why can't you teach your filly though? Aren't you a pegasus?"
Rose shot Trixie a questioning look unsure if the unicorn was serious. Of course the cloak covered her entire body, but surely she could see the bulge in the hood where her horn was. She sighed as Trixie's helpless shrug.
"Her fatherwas a pegasus..." Rose said softly.
"Papa died protecting the princess." Summer said sadly as she lowered her head, not able to answer as a pink earth pony seemed to appear out of nowhere.
"Hiiiiii! Are you new here? Well obviously if I don't know you, you must be since I know every pony here. Im Pinkie Pie by the way, who are you?" The pink pony gushed out without seeming to take a breath making Rose's mind whirl. "Woware you like batpony? Huh? Huh? Why the creepy dark cloak and hood?"
"No! Dont touch it!" Rose cried, trying to jump back, but she was still connected to the trailer pulling it. The pink pony stopped though looking shocked at her.
"Please don't touch mamma's hoodshefeels safer with it." Summer explained softly making Pinkie and Rarity look at each other in sympathy.
"That's enough short stuff, I'm sure she didnt mean anything by it." Trixie said before getting a faceful of Pinkie Pie's own face.
"OoooooI know you,your that braggy meanie mcmean pants." Pinkie said as her eyes narrowed.
"LookI wasn't bragging, I was putting on a show for entertainment. Im sorry if any pony took it seriously." Trixie sighed, pulling away from Pinkie and wondering if the pony was actually on something.
"Oh, ok then!" Pinkie cried out doing cartwheels between all of them before somehow taking Rose's place at the reigns of the trailer. "Come on, let's go. Sooner we get where we're going, the sooner I can plan a super, secret awesome welcoming party!"
"Umm, Pinkie dear, it isn't a secret if you tell every pony about it." Rarity sighed rubbing her head while Pinkie grinned at her.
"Well duh, of course it won't be a secret if you tell every pony about it so shush." Pinkie Pie shushed, holding a hoof to her lips making Summer giggle loudly which in turn made Pinkie grin even more. Rose couldn't help wondering if maybe the pink party loving pony was insane...
The group quickly made their way to their destination, a good sized building which was primarily pink with a fading sign reading 'Carousel Botique.' Pinkie seemed to just disappear after unstrapping from the trailer leaving all three of the new comers gawking as they tried to figure out hoe she just vanished like that.
"Don't bother trying to figure out, trust me, it's for your own good if you just go along with it." Rarity explained as her horn lit up, using her magic to unlock the door since it was currently closed. Rarity sighed sadly as the place was once her life, but for awhile she lost her touch after Twilight left. Sure she got it back and still kept the place going, but it didn't get as much of her attention as it deserved.
""Wow, this place is beautiful." Rose gasped seeing all the gowns and suits on display as well as racks of fabric, ribbons and other things.
"Thank you darling, there is two bedrooms upstairs that is fully furnished. There's anotehr room that is being used for storage, but you can move the stuff down to the basement to make a third bedroom. You will all have to share a bathroom though." Rarity explained, "And Trixie, I have something for you in the storage room. When you left, your trailer was damaged beyond repair, but I did fix your cape and hat and kept it for if you came back."
"You shouldn't have, I'm not too sure if I want it anymore." Trixie said, her eyes tearing up a bit. She had thought she had lost them, but after being told by the woman that was supposedly her mother that she wasn't wanted kind of made the outfit a touchy subject. "Maybe it would be better if it stayed destroyed."
"Don't think like that sis." Rose said moving over to hug Trixie, Summer joining in adding her own support. "She was a big part of your life for so long in your memories. Forget that witch that came to see you and just remember the loving mare you remembered as a filly."
"Thanks sis." Trixie sighed, pulling back and rubbing her eyes. "And thank you short stuff."
"Thank you for fixing it." Rose said as she turned to Rarity as Trixie collected herself.
"It's fine, darling." Rarity said waving her off, "If you want to talk about it I can make some tea."
"Thank you, but that's okay." Trixie said shuddering a little. "Thank you for going to the trouble of doing that."
"Your welcome dear, since you are okay I probably should head back to the orphanage...I have to get ready for my quarterly inspection in a few days." Rarity said turning to leave before turning back for a moment. "Go ahead and get settled in and I'll come by sometime tomorrow and show you what you will have to do to run the botique. I'll also see if I can get Velvet to come by and help key you three into the lock...I hate to admit it, but I'm not very good with magic."
"I can do it if you help, it shouldn't take more than a few minutes." Rose said, "I'm really good with magic."
"Okay, we can do that as I fill you in on what your job duties will be. I'll also see if I can get Cherilee to come by and talk to you about enrolling your daughter in school if you want." Rarity said, relieved that Rose could do the locks. She hated having to get Velvet to do something so simple seeing how the older mare tended to get annoyed when bothered for little things like that at times.
"That would be great, thank you. I'll see you tomorrow then." Rose said seeing the white Unicorn out before turning back to Trixie. "Please tell me you can deal with this fashion stuff."
"Sorry, but you know better to ask that." Trixie laughed, though the situation was a little serious. They were expected to run a shop all about fashion, something neither of them were exactly well versed in. While trixie loved style, she wasn't exactly on the cutting edge of the fashion industry, nor cared to be.
"Guess I better go see if there's a library I can get us some books to study." Rose sighed.
"HEY!" Rose cried out in mock indignation before attacking her daughter, making the filly squeal with laughter and cried of mercy as mother tickled her daughter laughing as Trixie joined in...their spirits lifted for the moment.
"So, let me get this straight." Rainbow Dash said as she glared at her freind. It was because of Rarity that they confronted Trixie to begin with, but it was the showmare's boastful personality and the fact the blue unicorn humilated her in fron of the entire town that fuled the pegasus's anger and dislike. "You want me to be nice to that pathetic excuse for a unicorn and her sister?"
"Don't forget the little filly with them. They want to ask you to help teach the little darling to fly." Rarity sighed, a little agitated at her friend's attitude. She kind of expected it, but it still grated on her nerves all the same. "That little girl is innocent in all of this."
"If they neither of them is a pegasus, then why do they have a pegasis filly?" Rainbow asked with suspicion clear in her voice. Not that Rarity herself wasn't suspicious. The mare's voice sounded somewhat familiar, but she had written it off as wishful thinking since she knew Twilight didn't have any sisters.
"I don't know, but...I want to help them...if only for that darling little filly. Don't you think a child deserves a chance at the very least?" Rarity asked, not voicing the other reason she wanted to help out as much as she could. She hoped that the mare was better than her own parents seeing how much she loved her daughter despite the different races. If the cloaked mare did abandon the filly though, Rarity wanted it to be here where she could take the little girl in and care for her.
"You know how I feel about foals, Rarity. I'd do anything to help one...but I don't trust Trixie." Rainbow sighed, "But...I'll give them a chance."
"Darling...they don't look like they have much so please don't charge a lot if you do this. If you need more than they can afford come see me and I'll see what I can do to help." Rarity said, thankful that Rainbow would at least give them a chance.
"You have to be kidding me! You know me better than that, I wouldn't charge some pony for this. I never charged Scoots...even though I failed." Rainbow said looking away ashamed. It was a shame that Scootaloo still couldn't fly even after all this time. None of them understood why since her wings were fully formed. "Look...I'll go talk to them after I return these books to the library."
"And see if the new Daring Do is in yet?" Rarity asked holding a hoof over her mouth holding back a giggle. Rainbow just shrugged before flying off leaving a rainbow trail behind her.
~~~
Rose couldn't help looking up in awe at the large building in the center of town, the sign in front reading 'Sparkle Memorial Library' making the pony shake her head in amusement. Two places in town seemed to be named after her old life and it touched something deep in her heart seeing so. A part of her wondered if they really did care for her after reading about what they did to her during the royal wedding about five years ago. She had put things together after finding out about it and figured that she must have either been forced to leave or ran away to get away from them. Seeing this though made her wonder if her old self had somehow blown things out of proportion if she ran.
Taking a deep shuddering breath, Rose pushed into the building and couldn't help staring at the rows upon rows of books that rivaled the library in Fillydelphia with the exception that there was no ponies glaring at her or whispering cruel things about her beinga freak. As a smill grew, she realized she could actually take her time here and enjoy things if she wasn't in a bit of a hurry.
Pulling out her book list that she made with suggestions from her daughter and sister about fashion, as well as a few books she wanted to check out herself about tips for caring for pegasus fillies that was never in back in Fillydelphia, she set out to find the reception desk to get an account made so she could borrow the books.
"Welcome to Sparkle Memorial Library, may I help you?" A familiar looking unicorn asked trotting up to her. It took a few seconds to recognize that the mare was the same one in the pictures of her mother.
"Y-Yes." Rose said, swalloing her nervousness. "I wanted to see about making an account so I can get some books."
"Certainly dear, please come this way and we can get you a card made up." Velvet said, "By the way I'm Twilight Velvet, everyone calls me Velvet though."
"My name's Midnight Rose, I go by Rose though."Rose said smiling at the older mare as she pulled out some paperwork from under the counter and hovered it over to sit in front of Rose. "I'm new in town, I'm going to be staying at Carosel Botique."
"So I take it you will be working for Rarity?" Velvet asked, smiling as Rose picked up a quill in her magic and started filling out the papers.
"My sister and I will be running the store, but I don't know a lot about fashion so I came to see if I can get some books to study up on the subject some more." Rose said as she finished up the papers and slid them across to Velvet.
"Heya Velvet, is the new Daring Do book in?" A loud voice called from the front entrance getting the older mare's attention which caused her to roll her eyes.
"Please excuse me for a minute, I have to go remind some pony that this is a library and one shouldn't be yelling here." Velvet said good naturedly, before moving to go up front. Rose couldn't help but look to see who the voice belonged to. She couldn't help the drop in her jaw seeing a brash seeming pegasus with a rainbow colored mane and tail, a gem set in a necklace around her neck. She had seen the type of necklace once before when a guard came into the bookstore and told them about it being a tool to help flush out changelings.
"Sorry about that, I'm just a little annoyed. That annoying Trixie and her sister is in town...and get this, they want me to help train a pegasus." Rainbow explained in annoyance.
"What's weird about that, you have gotten a lot of publicity saying you are probably Equestria's best flier." Velvet asked in confusion.
"Trixie and her sister are unicorns, no offense Velvet, but I know most unicorns wouldn't be with anything but another unicorn." Rainbow explained, scratching the back of her neck.
"No offense dear, I perfectly understand and it is true...wait...isn't Trixie that gypsy wannabe that you told me about?" Velvet asked, her voice growing icy, "Would Trixie's sister be a mare wearing a cloak named Rose?"
"I think so...why?" Rainbow asked as she followed the hate filled glare of velvet who turned to look at Rose who took a step back in shock at the look in the older mare's eyes.
"Where did you get the filly?" Velvet demanded as she took an angry step forward towards Rose.
"What are you talking about?" Rose asked, her breathing increasing as she started growing scared by how the mare before her was getting so worked up.
"Don't play stupid with me! I shouldn't have been naive enough to think you had a reason for the cloak other than being a little thief!" Velvet growled as her horn lit up with magic. "Now tell me where you foalnapped that little filly from!"
"What...Summer is my daughter..." Rose said, shocked that anyone could accuse her of that. Sure she had been accused of many things before, but never a foalnapper.
"Then why do you know nothing about pegasi if you were with one? I know your kind, you are all a bunch of lying, foalnapping trash!" Velvet roared, even scaring Rainbow a little before the pegasus backed her up flanking her and advancing on Rose.
"If you foalnapped her, you better just come clean." Rainbow said, though she seemed a little unsure as Rose began to shake and a few tears drop from under her hood to splash on the ground as the list she had fell to the ground.
"It isn't my fault my family and friends didn't want me and I had to leave to get attacked! Was it my fault the beat and cut me up? Is it my fault they made me a scared up freak who has to hide unter this constantly? Is it my fault the beat me and raped me and left me for DEAD? IS IT!!!?" Rose seethed, sobbing now as she stormed between the two shocked ponies before stopping to look over her shoulder. "My sister told me this was the nicest and most accepting town she had ever been to...guess she was wrong. Since...Since we aren't wanted we'll leave. Don't worry...we will be gone by morning."
"Do you feel as bad as I do?" Rainbow asked, her own eyes watering as she hung her head in shame.
"Worse..." Velvet croaked out, her own head hung in shame. "Do...do you think she was telling the truth."
"I hate to say it, but I don't think anyone can fake that." Rainbow sighed, "I'm going to go talk to her."
"I will to...but first I want to do something..." Velvet sighed, "Please flip the closed sign on your way out..."
~~~
"Forget about unpacking...we're leaving." Rose sniffed as she slowly walked into the botique, happy that Trixie was there but Summer not being in sight meaning that she was probably upstairs playing or reading.
"What happened?" Trixie asked with worry.
"I was stupid to think this would work!" Rose snapped, "To think anyone would accept me...Summer would be better off if I was dead!"
"Don't you dare say that! Don't you dare!" Trixie hissed angrily, keeping her voice down so not to draw the young filly's attention from upstairs. "You are that little filly's world."
"It's my fault that she's shunned the way she is." Rose cried as Trixie hugged her tightly. Fooffalls coming down the steps alerted the sisters to Summer comig to see what was going on making Rose pull back and wipe furiously at her eyes under her hood.
"What's going on?" Are you okay, mamma?" Summer asked softly, but was interupted by a knock on the door. Looking over they saw that the door must not have caught when Rose tried to slam it shut on her entrance to see a rainbow maned pegasus looking uncomfortable.
"Hi...sorry to interupt anything, but I was told that there was this really awesome little filly who could use a flying tutor." Rainbow said rubbing the back of her neck guiltily with a hoof.
"Oh wow, you're Rainbow Dash! Can I please have your autograph?" The filly asked excitedly as she looked up at Rainbow with wide, adoring eyes.
"Sure thing squirt, but first I need to talk to your momma about a few things." Rainbow said as Trixie sent her a hateful glare making Rainbow shrink back a little.
"Let's go outside." Rose sighed, giving Trixie a slow nod toward Summer indicating she should distract her. Rose led Rainbow outside before sitting down, her head hanging a little waiting to hear what the pegasus had to add to what was already said back at the library.
"I'm...sorry." Rainbow sighed, "I shouldn't have judged you like I did. I want to offer my services to help train your little filly however you need. All free of charge of course...except for one thing."
"Wh-What?" Rose croaked out, not looking up as she wasn't sure what to think.
"Don't ever think that she would be better off with you dead ever again." Rainbow said as a few tears escaped realizing that both Velvet and herself had pushed this cloaked mare into contemplating it despite obviously having some previous issues. She leaned down and nuzzled the cloaked form of Rose. "From what I saw you really must love her...and I think she must love you to."
"She's...she's my baby...if it wasn't for my sister and her I don't think I'd have a reason to go on." Rose sighed truthfully.
"I guess I'll need to rethink my opinion on your sister then...she sounds much deeper than she seemed when she was here." Rainbow admitted, though she couldn't get over the thought that this mare was familiar. Her voice did sound slightly familiar, in a way a little like Twilight, but it was doubtful seeing how she was related to Trixie.
"As do I." Velvet said startling them both lowering a small stack of books and magazines in front of Rose. "I'm sorry I hurt you like I did...it must have been horrible to deal with the things you have."
"It was worth it." Rose sighed, "Summer makes it worth it."
"Will you please give us another chance and stick around for awhile?" Rainbow asked softly, "I would love top get to know an awesome little pegasus like your daughter if you would let us."
"I...guess...as long as you don't hurt my little girl in any way." Rose said, her voice a little sharp despite wanting to just forget what happened. She was hurting over what they said and accusd her of...but they were trying to make amends. She also wanted to have a place where they could actually be happy and not have to deal with everyone treating her like a monster.
The two hugged her and though she struggled for a few moments she couldn't help melting into the embrace. She had to admit it felt nice and warm as well as safe. It had felt...good.
"Well, that's done." Trixie sighed as Rose and herself stood in the now empty room after moving everything down to the basement. There wasn't a lot of heavy things thankfully, nor was there as much as they originally thought so it wasn't that much work. They were already tired from their long trek from Fillydelphia to here so didn't really want to do a lot of work yet they wanted to ge everyone's room at least sleepable. Not tha the other two rooms wasn't as they were already furnished, but they did have some dust that needed cleaned.
"Finally...we can get the bed from the trailer." Rose sighed, thankful this was done. She wanted to hit the books, but first they would have to move the mattress up here. They could unload the rest of the trailer tomorrow.
"Maybe we should eat first." Trixie suggested as her stomach growled, "Let's go see what we can get from the market."
"There should be enough apples for you and Summer in the trailer...we should hold off on spending any money we don't have to until Rarity comes tomorrow. We need to see how we get paid and how much." Rose said, refusing to meet Trixie's questioning gaze.
"There's barely enough in there for two...much less all three of us." Trixie said slowly, "Surely we can afford enough to get enough so all three of us can have something to eat."
"I'll be fine...you two split what's left. We can go shopping tomorrow when we see how much money we can budget for food until we get paid." Rose explained softly, not wanting to upset or worry Trixie. Of course they had money, but if Rarity changed her mind or they had to run because of more ponies reacting like Velvet and Rainbow had, then they need that little bit of money.
"No, we are going to get enough so all of us can have something and that's final." Trixie huffed out as she moved to Rose and nuzzled her. "Trust me, everything will be fine, I promise."
"Momma...there's a weird pink pony at the door." Summer called from downstairs which surprised Rose as she had thouht her daughter was playing in her room.
"Strange pink pony?" Trixie asked as a shiver traveled down Rose's back.
"I think it's Pinkie Pie...I have a bad feeling about this..." Rose sighed as the two made their way down the stairs to see a pink earth pony who seemed to be having a hard tome staying still.
"Come on, hurry or we're going to be late!" Pinkie said, her eye twitching a little as she turned to head for the door.
"Late for what?" Trixie asked slowly as if talking to a crazy pony...not that she was far off in her mind.
"Silly, your going to be late for IT!" Pinkie cried as she kept motioning for them to follow her.
"Come on mamma and auntie, we're going to be late!" Summer cried hoping around the pink pony, her wings fluttering as she glided a little making Rose smile. It was the first time she had seen her daughter glide for so long. After she was born, the doctor warned Rose that being a hybrid her magic may be a little off making it difficult for her to ever fly without being corrected. When asked, the doctor had said it was a very rare condition that is easily curable yet it wasn't widely known as only a few hybrids had been born over the last decade.
"Okay, but only if it won't take too long...we still have things to get done before night gets here." Rose said humroing her daughter and following behind Pinkie and an excited Summer.
"Fine, but we will be talking as soon as we get this it over with." Trixie whispered to Rose as she joined her sister.
The walk from the botique to what was obviously a bakery took only a few minutes, but one thing confused Rose as they came to the door. It was a little odd that the bakery was closed already, yet there wasn't any light coming from inside which worried Rose a little. Pinkie just smiled at them while Rose felt a little fear creeping up inside her. Was this some kind of trap.
"Oh look at the time, we better run. Come on girls." Rose said turning around starting to leave only for a magic aura to surround teh mare and drag her inside making Trixie snicker a little. She didn't believe it at first when she suspected something like this with the bakery closed. She didn't think it would be for them though until she noticed a banned through the door despite it being dark inside. She could make out 'WELCOME' printed on it despite the lack of most of the light. The only light was coming from the lit up horn of Twilight Velvet giving a soft smile to them.
"SURPRISE!" A chorus of cries coming from around them as Trixie followed her niece and slightly panicking sister inside. She had to admit she felt touched that any pony would throw them a welcome to town party after her last visit here.
"What's going on?" Rose asked, shaking a little as her eyes darted back and forth around the room.
"Don't you dare hurt my mamma!" Summer cried out taking a defensive stance. The poor girl didn't know what a surprise party was since she really didn't have any friends back in Fillydelphia, but they always celebrated. After all the little filly had brought so much happiness into their lives that they wanted to give the filly as much joy in return.
"Relax sugarcube, we ain't gonna hurt your mamma." An earthpony said wearing a stetson hat, a thick southern accent in her voice. "Name's Applejack and we just wanted to welcom y'all to town."
"It's a surprise party, sis." Trixie whispered to Rose as she nuzzled her comfortingly. She had almost forgotten that though the mare wanted more ponies to see her as normal, she still had problems around large groups such as this. And the group was large as the room was full of ponies talking and lauging with each other.
"So...you aren't going to hurt my mamma?" Summer asked making Rose walk up to her side and gave her a half hug while nuzzling her.
"Of course not silly filly, this is a party showing how happy we are to have you here." Pinkie Pie cried out.
"Wait...I want to say something." Trixie called out getting every ponies attention. "I wanted to say how sorry I am for the trouble that my last visit caused. I was just trying to entertain you all...I never expected any pony to take some of those stories so seriously."
"It's alright dear." An older mare said as she came forward, glasses perched on her muzzle. "I'm the Mayor here and we found out that little Snips and Snails was behind bringing that Ursa into town. While some were...upset that your story caused it, most of us know better."
"We're sorry your trailer was destroyed." A queit pegasus said as she walked up next to Rainbow Dash. "I'm happy to see that you are okay though."
"Oh wow, I love your mane!" Summer cried out as she admired the pegasus's mane getting chuckles from every pony. "Mamma, I want my mane to be like hers."
"Kids got good taste." Rainbow said nuzzling the otther pegasus by her, "This is my marefriend Fluttershy."
"So your going to teach me how to fly?" Summer asked with wide eyes excitement, though she already knew the answer. As Rainbow started talking to her, Rose noticed how they walked off to the side of the room along with some of the teenage ponies she saw when they first came into town. Looking over to Trixie she found her sister eating a large piece of cake and chatting with Rarity making her shake a little.
"Hey there, Kiddo." Night Light said getting her attention. He looked a lot like his picture, though the look in his eyes made him seem as if he was very tired. "I'm sorry about what happened between my wife and you earlier. She...we don't exactly like gypsy ponies after some kidnapped one of our daughters. And...well...Trixie kind of reminds us of a gypsy with her stageshow."
"She's retired." Rose sighed rubbing her hooves together nervousy.
"Still, my wife really didn't mean to upset you like she did. When she thought about foalnapping...she snapped..." Night Light explained, floating a couple pieces of cake over in his magic and gave Rose one while taking one for himself. Rose couldn't help giving off a soft moan when she tasted it...she couldn't remember tasting a cake anywhere as good as this. Sure Gordon Ponsey was an awesome cook...but this was different than those overly complicated...yet delicious entrees. "I see you like the cake...I have to admit, Pinki makes the best cake in Equestria."
"You said your daughter was foalnapped...what happened to her?" Rose asked softly, inable to help herself. At first she didn't think he was going to answer, but he finally gave out a long sigh.
"We never found her...we were told more than once she was most likely dead and while we understand that it is very likely...we like to believe she is alive and happy out there somewhere."
"I'm sure she is." Rose sighed as she looked across the room to Trixie for a moment. "Can I ask you something a little...personal?"
"I'm not sure how much more personal you can get." Night Light chuckled good naturedly, "But sure, go ahead."
"You are...the father of Twilight Sparkle, right?" Rose asked, noticing the pained look come across his eyes. "I...heard some pony mention it...and saw that a couple places in town was named after her. Did...something happen to her?"
"I don't really know how to answer that." Night Light sighed, his eyes starting to water a little as he looked over to his wife talking wth the Mayor. Taking a softer tone, nearly whispering he continued. "Twilight Sparkle is a subject especially touchy with my wife...and me. She ran away after a huge misunderstanding and we learned that she believed we didn't love her. We love her though, more than you will ever know."
"Believe me, I understand how much love a parent can have for their child...no matter how that child came to be." Rose sniffed looking over at her daughter having a good time chatting with a trio of teenage fillies and a light brown earth ony with a darker brown mane that every pony seemed to show respect yet avoid him to some extent.
"I imagine you do...listen, I'm a counselor so if youever need a pony to talk to, my door is always open free of charge. I imagine going through what you have must be very difficult." Night Light said honestly, yet at the same time it was obvious he was trying to change the subject.
"It...can be...but my sister and daughter give me a reason to keep going on." Rose sighed, "Let me guess...your wife told you?"
"I'm sorry if she wasn't supposed to, but she only did it so she could ask if I would speak with you. I would have offered my services free anyways without her asking...no pony should have to deal with what you have alone." Night Light responded refilling their plates much to Rose's delight as she gave him a nod in thanks.
"It's oaky...and thank you, I'll keep that in mind...but, I was wondering something about what you said." Rose said trying to change the subject back. She felt bad doing it, but she had to know more...she couldn't stop herself. "What kind of misunderstanding did you have?"
"I was kind of hoping you would drop it." Night Light chuckled, though it wasn't really in amusement. "I guess I should talk to you about it, mabe it will get you more comfortable in opening up with me if you need it. Plus...maybe it will help you avoid making the same mistakes with your own daughter. Anyways...my daughter moved here from Canterlot to persue more of her studies, but a while before she did we found out that I had cancer. We wanted to hide it from her so it wouldn't distract her from her studies until it was either cured or we no longer had a choice in telling her if it became too advanced to treat. I was too sick to make the journey out here to see her, though I really wanted to. My wife didn't want to leave my side and we just didn't know what to tell our daughter since we always believed honesty was truly the best policy. We didn't want to lie to her so we avoided answering any questions in our letter about how we were doing."
"So...you were too sick to come here and what...she thought it was because you didn't love her?" Rose asked, her voice a little shaky, but thankfully Night Light didn't notice since he was fighing off hos own tears.
"Yeah, but it gets worse. A couple months before her birthday I was finally given a clean bill of health since the canncer went into remission. My daughter's friends was planning her a surprise party for her birthday and contacted us. I needed some time to regain my strength, but we had every intention of coming here to be with our daughter for her birthday." Night Light sniffed, "It never happened though...our son was seeing a wonderful mare, but...she was kidnapped and replaced by changeling who used magic to subtly influence most ponies thoughts. Our daughter...she's very special and has a high immunity to magic like that, though for some reason she falls for illusions much easier than others. In the end the changeling was defeated but my daughter felt as if every pony hated her and she ran away..."
"Have you heard anything about her?" Rose asked, swallowing nervously. She wasn't too sure how much of this to believe, but all of the reports from Nomad's spies did kind of support this story if looked at it in the right way.
"No...I lost both of my daughters and not a night goes by without me praying for their safety and happiness." Night Light said.
"I'm sure they are safe and happy." Rose said getting a smile from the stallion. "I'm sorry if I brought up bad memories."
"It's fine kiddo, just make sure that your daughter never doubts that you love her. And don't take any moment you have with her for granted." Night Light sighed, "I'm sorry, the cancer is in remission still, but my body gets tired so quickly still. I need to get some rest."
"Of course...and thank you. If you ever need any pony to talk to, I'd be honored to listen." Rose said returning a smile though she knew he couldn't see it. A part of her had hoped that maybe all of it was truth, though she couldn't really remember anything. She was getting odd feelings of deja vu all day since arriving though...She knew a lot from the reports, but reports weren't always completely accurate. She couldn't help wonder just how much she could trust Night Light either. The only way to know for certain was to get her memories back, but like knowing about her past from reports there was something else she only knew though it wasn't because of memories. She knew that she was hurt...beaten, cut up and raped...and if she remembered the stuff about her past with these ponies then...she would remember that night to.
She didn't want to remember that night...
She was happy with her sister and daughter...and that was all she needed...so why was she feeling the need to be close to her parents and her friends even though she was angry with them? It was their fault it hapened to her wasn't it? Yet even if she could go back and prevent herself from running away she wouldn't. That night...even not remembering it, it still caused her pain and stress, though it was the reason she had Summer and she wouldn't trade her daughter for anything.
~~~
"So you had a good time?" Rose asked, enjoying yet another piece of cake as she sat in the store room of the botique, the two using the counter as a makeshift table. The part had gone on for a few hours until the three dismissed themselves, only to have a lot of leftovers in boxes given to them. In all, there was enough food to last them several days...it would last longer but it would probably go bad if left like that. And the best part, not all of it was cake, there was plenty of normal food as well.
"Yeah...once I got used to ponies actually talking and not glaring." Trixie laughed, a little surprised that she didn't get many hateful looks after spologizing and if what she was told was true they really weren't mad at her, just at what happened.
"Did you mean what you told them?" Rose asked, curious to know as Trixie nibbled on a carrot chip.
"Well, for the most part I meant it. I had a long time to think about what happened and while I still hold a little resentment over what happened...if I wasn't being such jerk about the hecklers then things may not have escalated so much." Trixie sighed, "What about you...are you okay? I saw you talking with...him..."
"Yeah...I kind of found out some things. If he's telling the truth they loved me...both of us very much. The reason they supposedly ignored me was because Night Light...he has cancer." Rose said, frowing a little in thought. It made her want to get to know them better and maybe...maybe reveal herself to them. She didn't want them to see her like that though, see all of the horrible scars she believed littered her body. Of course Trixie kept telling her that they were barely noticable, but Rose could see each and every single one. Nomad was right, she would scare ponies if she went without her cloak. "He...he's okay, but he apparently gets tired quickly."
"Are you going to tell them?" Trixie asked, swallowing nervously. She didn't know if she trusted them after already being betrayed by the two ponies she believed were her parents for so long.
"No...I don't think so...unless you want to." Rose sighed, "He told me they miss you so much...that every pony tells them you have to be dead by now. They don't want to believe that though. He said...he said they pray every night that you are okay and happy wherever you are."
"Yeah...I don't know how much of that to actually believe." Trixie sighed. "He may have just told you that because he wanted to make himself look good in front of a stranger."
"I don't know...I do want to believe him though. There was just something in his eyes and voice." Rose said hesitantly. She really did want to believe it, but she was afraid to at the same time.
"For so long all I wanted was a happy family, sis. I have that now, you and Summer are my family and I love you both so much. I...I don't want to risk changing that bytelling them who we are." Trixie sighed, "I kind of want to know what it would be like to be held by them and be told they love me...but you and the squirt are more imporatant to me."
"And you are important to us Trixie, we love you." Rose said giving her sister an encouraging smile. "No matter what, you have us."
"Thanks sis...I think I'm going to check on Summer and head to bed. We have a long day tomorrow." Trixie said as she got up and came around to nuzzle Rose. "Good night."
"Good night, sis." Rose said as she nuzzled back. No matter what, they had each other and Summer and that would never change.
"Are you sure you will be okay?" Rose asked nervously as she paced back and forth in the botique's showroom. Neither of them knew exactly what time Rarity was supposed to come to show them what to do, but Rainbow Dash had agreed to start Summer's lessons this morning. If they didn't leave soon Summer would be late meeting the rainbow maned pegasus which was something Rose just did not want to do.
"I'll be fine...don't forget that I have a lot more experience running a showroom than you do anyways. I can handle this in my sleep." Trixie said giving Rose a playful grin. She was a little worried though, she knew a little more about fashion than her sister, but Summer knew a lot more than Rose and Trixie combined and the filly wasn't that old for Celestia's sake.
"Do you think I should really leave Summer alone with Rainbow Dash?" Rose asked, fretting about leaving her daughter alone with some pony she didn't know that well. No matter how many times Trixie reassured her that this was a little town with little to no crime, it still made Rose nervous to be away from her daughter for a whole day.
"It will be fine, trust me. Besides, it would probably be best that Summer isn't stuck here all day while we have to worry about learning what we have to do to take care of this place." Trixie replied shaking her mane out. "I promise the squirt will be okay, sis, trust me."
"I guess." Rose sighed giving in as she heard Summer hurrying down the steps.
"Excited squirt?" Trixie laughed at the filly's excited face. The little girl was so much like her mother, always eager to learn something new.
"I can't wait...I bet I'll be creating sonic rainbooms in no time." Summer cried out while taking an overly dramatic pose making her mother and aunt giggle.
"I'm sure the Wonderbolts will be begging you to join them in no time." Trixie told the excited pegasus who bristled with pride at the words.
"Not until you graduate from school." Rose said making Trixie roll her eyes.
"Ahhh, mamma, no fair." Summer whined, pouting towards her mother.
"Trust me sweetie, a good education is the most important thing in life." Rose said nuzzling the filly. "Now come on, we're going to be late."
"Let's go!" Summer cheered, instantly brightening up. Rose hurried after her daughter, nearly tripping over her when Summer stopped all of a sudden. "Ummm...which way are we going?"
Rose couldn't help rolling her eyes as she giggled at her daughter's antics. How the little pegasus could be so full of energy so early in the morning was a mystery.
"Going to meet Rainbow Dash?" A young pegasus teen asked as the pair passed her. If Rose remembered correctly the pegasus's name was Scootaloo and she was the oldest filly that she had ever seen that still didn't have her cutie mark.
"Yep, she's going to teach me how to fly!" Summer cried out happily making Scootaloo get a pained look on her face.
"Good luck...she's...an awesome flier, but a terrible teacher." Scootaloo said as her voice took on a slightly sour tone. "She tried teaching me for years, but...I still can't fly."
"May I ask who your parents are?" Twilight asked as she studied the pegasus filly while Summer shifted anxiously beside her.
"I...don't know..." Scootaloo sighed, hanging her ehad as her ears flatened a little.
"Has anyone ever checked your mana flow?" Rose asked, cocking her head studying the young pegasus with worry. If her mana flow was messed up because she was a hybrid like her daughter, it may be fixable though a bit tricky. If taken care of when she was a filly then there would be no problem. With her mana lines more fully matured, if there was blockages due to her mixed heritage it would cause her some pain to fix it. It was something she learned because of her daughter who was also a hybrid between pegasus and unicorn.
"Mana flow?" Scootaloo asked in confusion answering Rose's question. Rose winced as she began wondering if she should do this or not. The initial infusion of magic into the filly's system would be painful, but if it worked she would be fine. Sure she may need a few follow up infusions, but they should go much easier. Still, it would b nice if the doctor that took care of her during her prgnancy was around as he was an expert in this. He had assured her that she had the ability and understanding to easily do this.
"Can you meet me near the forest in about twenty minutes?" Rose asked as she pointed the opposite direction of where they were going. She felt bad for the filly. She would do what she could to help her, and worse case scenario she was eitehr wrong or if she made a mistake the filly may feel a little pain. She could tell maybe another unicorn, but if they knew about this they would have done something already...wouldn't they?
"I'm not too sure." Scootaloo said aas she swallowed. Sure she wanted help, she would do anything if she could fly, but this mare was new in town. If she was honest, she thought Rose was kind of cool...not as cool as Rainbow Dash of course...but she was also kind of scary with that cloak.
"It is up to you, but I don't have a lot of time." Rose said, looking towards the direction she was supposed to meet Rainbow.
"Okay...I'll...I'll meet you." Scootaloo said as she tried to shake off the uneasy feeling in her stomach.
"Good...as soon as I drop my daughter off, I'll be right there. I just have to stop off and grab a few things from home on my way."
~~~
Scootaloo was worried as she slowly trotted to the edge of the Everfree Forest, a place that was already kind of scary on it's own after all of their misadventures there. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had slowly found their cutie marks though as time went on, all but Scootaloo herself. Sweetie Bell got a microphone with music notes and Apple Bloom had gotten a hammer and wrench in the shape of an X. Sweetie's special talent was singing and Bloom's was fixing things up.
"Everyone is special but me." Scootaloo sighed. Of course Rarity and Sweetie had told her time and time again that she was special which helped her. The two loved her as she had become a member of their family. Yet, she couldn't help feeling like a freak for growing so old and still not finding her mark.
"I'm glad you came...I really think I can help you. I must warn you though...it might be painful." Rose said, "For now I just want to test you, then I want you to actually think about if you want to go through with the...remedy for your condition."
"What's wrong with me?" Scootaloo asked, unable to deny the pony sounded confident that she knew what she was talking about. It almost felt like she was talking to...no, it was impossible! This was Trixie's sister, wasn't she?
"I think one of your parents may not have been a pegasus making you what is known as a hybrid." Rose exlained slowly, "It's something that rarely happens, but when it does a pegasus's mana lines within their body can get blocked as the two types of magic try and figure out what it is supposed to do."
"I don't get it...how can that make me not be able to fly?" Scootaloo asked now feeling less hopeful than she did. This didn't make much sense.
"It's a condition that's very rare, but my doctor back where I came from was an expert in rare conditions as well as rare magic. He taught me some things, including this so I could take care of my daughter if needed." Rose explained. "My daughter, and I believe you to are hybrids. You know the differences in each type of pony's natural magic?"
"Well yeah, it's taught in school." Scootaloo said rolling her eyes. Really, that was something they learned in kidnergarden after all.
"Then tell me what a pegasus's natural magic is." Rose said sitting down in front of Scootaloo as the pegasus filly studied her curiously. She could almost see Twilight sitting there lecturing like she had more than a few times back before the unicorn ran away.
"Well, we can fly and walk on clouds and stuff." Scootaloo explained, though she started feeling a little doubtful about it when she heard the cloaked mare snort.
"That...isn't really what a pegasus's natural magic is...I have no idea why they teach that since it's only the results of what a pegasus's natural magic is. A pegasus can control their mass instinctually through thier magic. They make themselves lighter and lighter until they can create enough lift through their wings to fly. It is also what gives them the ability to walk on clouds. A hybrid though can sometimes have blockages in their natural mana lines as their pegasus magic kind of fights with their other type of magic. If the blockage is removed then the pegasus's natural magic will start flowing and should keep their mana lines clear of any more blockages...though sometimes it can take a few times to get it flowing enough to naturally fight off any more blockages." Rose lectured, "When their magic is flowing normally a hybrid pegasus will be able to fly. They may or may not be as good at it as a full blooded pegasus, but they will be able to fly. They will also have some traits of their other race most of the time. Such as using their magic if it's from a unicorn to maybe increase their flight speed or be physically more resilient if the extra magic comes from an earth pony."
"That's kind of...hard to take in." Scootaloo sighed, almost feeling her eyes swirling with confusion. She pretty much understood a lot of it, but it was still a lot to take in.
"Here, just take this and hold it between your hooves." Rose said floating a small emerald from under her cloak over to Scootaloo who caught it between her fron hooves.
"What am I supposed to do with it?" Scootaloo asked, disappointed when it felt like a normal gem and didn't do anything as she held it. She gasped when it flew from her back udner Rose's cloak.
"Nothing, it's just a diagnostic tool. It's enchanted to glow if your magic is flowing correctly. Since it didn't, your must have a blockage. I can do it, remove the blockage, but it may be painful." Rose explained. She knew a couple spells that could numb a pony a little, but this spell wouldn't burn the effects from her system in no time. The young filly should tthink about it, talk to...Rarity! Of course, this was one of the fillies that was at the orphanage. "Take some time, talk it over with your friends. Speak to Rarity, she's your caretaker right?"
"I don't want to wait...I can deal with any amount of pain if you can make me fly." Scootaloo pleaded as she gave Rose a puppy dog pout full blast making the cloaked mare's resolve crack.
"Look, even if I did do this now, it would take at the least twenty minutes to create the rune in the ground to do this and...and I need to do it without my hood. I need to use my horn to trace and charge the rune." Rose said shaking a little. She would rather do it alone when no pony was around and have Scootaloo come back.
"Please...I've waited so long for this...I'll do anything, just please help me!" Scootaloo cried out, tears slowly starting to fall crumbling the last of Rose's resolve.
"Okay...come back in like twenty minutes." Rose sighed.
"No...please...let me stay, I'll help set up this...rune thing." Scootaloo pleaded making Rose sigh in defeat. If the filly wanted this so much, then maybe she would keep a secret, or more, a secret in exchange.
"Okay, I'll let you stay if you keep watch while I trace the rune, I don't want any pony else seeing me without my hood." Rose said, the pegasus's eyes shining in excitement. "My...I'm scared up so please don't comment on them. And lastly, you must promise me that you will NOT tell any pony what I look like...or what my...birth name is until I'm ready."
"I promise." Scootaloo breathed, afraid if she spoke to loud the mare would back out. She watched in bated breath as the mare reached her hooves up, for the first time seeing her bare legs as the billous cloak slid back showing just a fraction of a familiar color. Watching the hooves slowly draw back the hood tears started pooring from the filly. "Tw-twilight?!"
Rose closed her eyes, a litter scared seeing the young pegasus run at her. She wasn't sure what was going to happen, but she wasn't expecting to be tackled in a tight hug as the filly cried against her.
"We were so worried about you! Wh-where have you been?" Scootaloo sobbed as Rose slowly hugged her back, nuzzling her gently. "Why haven't you told any pony who you are?"
"Because I don't want them knowing I'm here. I really want to have the best teach my daughter...but...I kind of want to see what my family is like...what the others are like." Rose said softly as Scootaloo pulled back a little looking up in her eyes.
"What do you mean what they're like? Shouldn't you knwo what they're like? They're your family and friends." Scootaloo asked, cocking her head a little in confusion as she stared up in Rose's face.
"Please...don't stare at me like that." Rose sighed as she turned her head away in shame. She hated when some pony actually got a good look at her without her hood or cloak.
"Huh?" Scootaloo asked, her confusion only growing. "Like what?"
"Please stop staring at my scars." Rose sighed, looking up to see Scootaloo looking in confusion, but no revulsion could be seen in the filly's eyes. "I...I don't like people staring at me like I'm frankenpony's monster."
"What they hay are you talking about?" Scootaloo asked as she nuzzled Rose, "I don't even see any scars."
"Here, here and here." Rose said pointing out to her what was her three worse scars on her face, Scootaloo squinting her eyes trying to make out what the unicorn was pointing at. "Don't tell me you don't see them, I scare little ponies when they see me."
"When was the last time a little pony seen you?" Scootaloo asked staring at what she figured was a scar long healed and if it wasn't pointed out the filly never would have seen it.
"It's been years...right after...my accident." Rose said softly not wanting to think about how she got the scars.
"Well, you can hardly see them now Twilight. Maybe some stuck up filly may have been scared if they saw you when you first got hurt...but you look like the same pretty Twilight Sparkle I knew." Scootaloo said giving Rose a bright smile making the mare blush in embarrasment. Sure Trixie and Summer both told Twilight she was beautiful, but they were family and had to...didn't they?
"I better get started, this is going to take some time. I have to use my magic to trace and charge the rune we need to do this." Rose said as she moved away from Scootaloo where there was a large enough clearing. The rune itself was a little big, but it was all the glyphs inside the rune that would take time to do this. If she messed up a rune, this spell simply would not work other than giving off a nice light show. Still, it took a lot of patience and effort to create and she didn't want to waste that my messing up because she was in a hurry...though in all honesty the sooner she got done the happier she would be. "If you see any pony coming, please make sure to give me plenty of warning."
"Twilight...why won't you let them know...they miss you so much." Scootaloo asked as she plit her attention between doing as she was asked and watching the unicorn channel magic into her horn making a glowing spark of magic at the tip where she bent her head down and started scorching unfamiliar markings into the ground.
"Because I don't trust them...I have...reports from ponies who were at the royal wedding disaster. They say how bad those...so called friends and family treated me." Rose sighed as she continued her work. She was trying not to get angry at this filly, she was just curious and Rose could tell the pegasus was only trying to help.
"Why do you need reports though? Don't you know what happened?" Scootaloo asked softly, her eyes growing wide as she figured something out. "You don't remember, do you?"
"No...I don't remember anything before my...accident..." Rose sighed.
"Wait...what about Trixie then? How is she your sister when...wait, is she manipulating you?" Scootaloo asked, lowering her head with a whimper at the angry look Rose shot her after whipping her head around to glare at the younger pony.
"Please...don't ever talk bad about my sister. She IS my sister, I checked the spell she first used to check and tried it myself. We ARE related by blood and she has been there for me when every pony else would have just abandoned me. Her and my daughter are my world and I'll do anything in my power to protect them." Rose said, her voice angry at first but calming down though the steel aspect was still in her voice speaking for her determination on the matter. Heaving a heavy sigh Rose went back to tracing the large rune before asking, "Please...tell me about my so called...friends and family."
"Well...they won't really tell us what exactly hapened, but I know it was bad. It had to be the way they acted when they first came back to Ponyville. They all hated themselves for awhile, even hated each other I think...but they forgave each other after some times...but I don't think they ever forgave themselves. Fluttershy was the worse, she tried to kill herself saying she didn't deserve to live for being so unkind to her best friends." Scootaloo explained slowly, wiping a tear away as she remembered the painful time. "If your parents didn't come to town to get away from the stuck up royalty of Canterlot...I don't know what would have happened to Fluttershy. Night Light is the only real counselor in town."
"He mentioned that he would be happy to talk about my problems." Rose said as she stod back and studied her work, satisfied with it so far. She started on the next step of the rune, the filter glyphs that would channel her unicorn magic and essentially make it seem like pegasus magic to Scootaloo's body.
"Well, he could help if you gave him a chance. He really helped not only Fluttershy, but the other girls. Every pony is different...but in a better way than before the wedding disaster." Scootaloo explained, "Rarity doesn't thrive to be recognized as much as she once did and puts ponies before herself. She uses the botique to supplement the grants for her oprphanage. Fluttershy is less scared, though still very shy and is together with Rainbow. Rainbow is less boastful, though I don't think she will ever be totally humble but she is a lot more responsible. Applejack was a bit of a mess for awhile refusing to lie...even little lies to spare someone. She has learned to balance the truth with sparing other pony's feelings though she almost lost every pony's respect doing so. And finally there's Pinkie Pie...she...was almost as bad as Fluttershy for awhile, but she went back to normal...but you can tell that there is something missing in her sualy antics. Every time she throws a party you can see her looking for some pony and always sets an extra setting."
"That's nice..." Rose sighed, unsure if she should care about that or not. They did sound like they were good ponies...didn't they? So what was keeping her from actually seeing her for her? Did she truly want to bury Twilight Sparkle for good and ignore her past life here? "What about my family?"
"Your mom...misses you a lot. She seems fine, but some nights you can see her sitting on the balcony of the library staring up at the sky crying. Your dad...he's sick...not like he was and I don't think his sickness has to do with the cancer. He gets so tired sometimes and seems...distant. Other times he seems better and he always helps any pony who needs it." Scootaloo said rubbing her hooves together nervously. She wasn't sure if she should be telling Twilight...Rose all of this as they were personal things to do with all of the ponies in town. At the same time, the unicorn deserved to know and if she did maybe she would forgive them. "Your brother...he lives in the Crystal Empire with Princess Cadence, but she refuses to marry him until you come home. She said as long as you weren't by her side for the wedding there won't be a wedding."
"Really?" Rose asked, a little hurt that she caused so much trouble for some pony...yet it felt nice that Princess cadence apparently cared so much to do something like that. "Eitehr way, the rune is ready...are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes, I have to do this." Scootaloo said excitedly, as she trotted over to the unicorn who beconed her over.
"Then stand here and don't move. The lines will grow very bright so close your eyes if you want, but if you want this to be successful you must not move, no matter how much it hurts." Rose said, questioning if this was the best idea. She had come too far now though and couldn't turn back.
"Thank you for doing this for me." Scootall said, hanging her head a little. Rose nuzzled her reassuringly before moving outside the rune and making sure everything was intact and ready to go.
"Please don't think me, this is the right thing to do...plus you shouldn't think be because of the pain this will likely cause you." Rose sighed as she lowered her head down, her horn touching the ignition glitch where she would feed her magic through and from there it would direct the magic through the filter glyphs throughout the run and finally to the infusion gyphs that would direct the energy into the filly basically flooding her system with what it would see as pegasus magic. From there the over charges of pegasus magic would overload the otehr type of magic in her body and get the magic flowing corectly for a pegasus. If this went according to plan it would basically 'teach' Scootaloo's magic the correct way to flow within her body and force open any blockages in the pegasus's mana lines.
"I don't care how much it hurts, just please do it." Scootaloo cried out bouncing from hoof to hoof in anxiousness.
"You asked for it." Rose sighed as she channeled her magic into the rune, after a few moments feeling it drawing magic from her on her own locking her in place as the rune started glowing brightly. Rose's eyes started growing white, her hair whipping back and forth as if in a wind storm that wasn't there.
"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Scootaoo screamed in pain as light shot up around her, her eyes glowing white as well, light also shinning from her open mouth as she floated upwards. Streams of magic swirled around her, piercing through her body though leaving no physical evidence. As she thrashed from the strong surge of magic, a white streak washed through ehr mane and tell as her entire body began to glow.
"AAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Rose screamed, her own pain mirroring the pegasus's. Though she didn't float, a white streak joined her other streak in her tail and mane as she found the spell taking on a life of it's own which didn't make sense. She did everything right and even if she messed something up, it shouldn't be doing this! Was it because Scootaloo was so old already? Was the spell demanding more magic than she anticipated because of that?
~~~
"So where is your sister this morning?" Velvet asked as she sat at the counter with Trixie, the two waiting for Rarity to show up and in Trixie's case, for Rose to get home. She didn't like the fact that Rose planned using a rune in Ponyville as it could raise a lot of questions. At the same time, she agreed that it kind of needed done to help the poor filly if she was having so much trouble.
"She's off doing an errand, but should be back soon." Trixie said, using her magic to pour te two mares a cup of tea from the set she had sitting waiting for Rarity to come. "I'm waiting for Rarity, she's going to be showing us what we need to do here."
"I know, I want to speak with her for a few minutes when she gets here. I was also hoping for a chance to talk with you alone." Velvet said shuffling nervously, her saddlebags sitting on the ground next to her. "I wanted to ask you about your family."
"Why would you want to know about my family?" Trixie asked cautiously, getting a little defensive after remembering what Rose had said this mare had acused her of.
"Well, I was kind of wondering...are Rose and you...blood related?" Velvet asked making Trixie panic a little, she wasn't ready for this? Did Velvet figure out who they were? Of course Trixie kind of wanted to get to know her family, but wanted to do it slowly and test the waters to see if they would accept Rose and Summer...and herself. Of course a part of her was scared, worried about being betrayed just like she was by Nomad and Dancer...Yet, now that she was here...she couldn't help wanting to get to know them at least...
"Well, yeah, we're sisters. What, do you want a blood test or something?" Trixie snorted, though inside she was panicking.
"NO...no...nothing like that...my husband thinks I should give this time as he doesn't want either of us to get our hopes up after so many promising leads fell flat." Velvet explained, "At first, I was to blinded by the anger of what...what the conclussion I forst jumped to. If not for this...I would wonder if maybe...you were one of my daughters."
"What do you mean?" Trixie asked, taking the paperwork tha Rose filled out for a library account.On the name was written Midnight Rose...she had trouble hiding the shaking in her hoof as she passed the paperwork back.
"You share the same colors of one of my daughters, she was foalnapped not long after she was born. I met so many ponies though with similar color schemes and...and I had my heart broken so many times when it turned out they weren't my daughter." Velvet explained, "But your name...it isn't even close to my daughter's name...yet...your sister...your sister is Midnight Rose, my daughter is Midnight Sparkle...I...I was hoping that since you are...I'm not trying to offend you or accuse you or anything...but are you from a gypsy family?"
"Yes...no...it's a long story." Trixie sighed, before what Velvet said started sinking in. Velvet thought...she thought Rose was her because of the name...Rose was using Trixie's own birth name! She tried not to, it wasn't really funny, but the irony...
"Do you think it's funny that I miss my daughters so much?" Velvet cried, slamming her hooves down on the table as Trixie waved her off.
"N-No! It's just...so ironic..." Trixie managed between the gales of laughter, tears falling as she looked at her mother and wanted so much to tell her how ironic the situation was. The two didn't get a chance though as the store was rocked, the windows rattling though thankfully not shattering from a powerful shockwave of magic washing over the botique.
"What was that!" Velvet gasped though Trixie was already rushing to the door.
~~~
High up in the mountains a small purple and green dragon was sitting on the edge of a cliff looking out at the dropoff that went straight down several miles. He gasped when he saw a light shooting into the sky miles away from the direction of ponyville. He could feel something very familiar about the power signature radiating off it. He couldn't be sure, it felt off too much to be hers...but he had to check it out himself.
Getting up he jumped off the cliff, angling his head down before taking a deep breath and breathing out a ring of green flame taking on the shape of a magic circle. As he passed through the circle his body enlarged and lengthened, where once he was a small pudgy green dragon was now a long, sleek dragon with large wings from his back that caught a thermal updraft that he used to gain altitude before a shadow came over him.
"Going somewhere Spikey~Wikey!" A familiar voice giggled in a sing song tone of voice.
"I asked you not to call me that!" Spike huffed as a large pinkish red dragon with fur joined him as they flew toward Ponyville.
"Ahhh, but your so cute when flustered!" Ruby called as she stuck her tongue out at her mate.
"Well stop it, we're going to Ponyville. I have to check something out." Spike growled out.
"You think it's your mom?" Ruby asked softly, knowing when to stop her teasing and this was one of those times.
"Maybe...it felt off, but at the same time I could almost taste her magic." Spike said lowly, unsure of what exactly he felt. Nall had taught him so many thing from how to control his form, his obssession and greed. He also taught the young dragon how to sense magic and how to devour it to use as his own making him immune to most offensive magical attacks that he was prepared for...though he was highly suspectible to magicly enhanced weapons. It seemed kind of unfair, but cool at the same time.
"Well then, I'm coming with you." Ruby said picking up speed.
"Thanks." Spike said as he matched her increase of speed.
~~~
"Sister, did you feel that!" Luna gasped as she ran into the audience hall as nobles was filing out thanks to the guards escorting them away from the frazzled looking Celestia.
"Of course I did, every magic sensitive in Equestria probably felt it. Where did it come from?" Celestia asked, a little scared. She didn't want her sister to face another threat so soon after Tirek. Even if they were facing him together along with so many others, they had almost lost and Luna had almost died during the battle. If it wasn't for Discord...
Who knew the embodiment of chaos could actually be reformed like he had just because he fell into a trap of his own making. He didn't want to lose the friends he had made when spying on the bearers of the elements of harmony. And he surely didn't want to lose the pony that he had come to actually love in Pinkie Pie, though Celestia was sure he had feelings for Fluttershy beyond that of friends. If Fluttershy wasn't with Rainbow Dash, she was sure the pegasus would have ended up with Discord.
"I do not know sister, I was sleeping when I was woken from such power. I teleported outside of the room and rushed in here. It didn't last long enough to trace it, but I'm having my guards look into it." Luna gasped out.
"Let us hope it isn't a threat sister, Equestria is still hurting from the last one." Celestia sighed, though she couldn't help feeling that the wave of magic felt almost familiar.
~~~
"Shiny, get packed, we're going to Canterlot." Cadence cried out rushing into their bedroom. They had gotten back together and ruled over the Crystal Empire after with Luna's help they barely managed to not only defeat Sombra this time, but actually kill him when they found the crystal heart and charged it with Cadence's own love magic. The power from it not only drove the old king away, but wiped out his very essence.
"Why, what happened?" Shinning asked, looking at the mare he loved so very much. He couldn't help wishing yet again that they were officially married, but Cadence had kept her promise and he didn't blame her as he really wanted Twilight by their side when they finally married.
"I felt a very powerful surge of magic come from that direction. I'm not sure what it is, but I have a few ideas. We need to report in with my aunts and see what they know about it." Cadence said as she used her magic to yank her own saddlebags out and start filling it.
Spike wasn't sure what to expect when he landed noislessly next the the still smoldering spell circle, his mate landing next to him as he looked over the damage done. It actually looked like everything was okay other than some strong winds or more likely a shockwave from whatever spell that was used. Looking to the center of the circle he found a familiar looking pegasus that spasmed every few moments as wisps of raw power floated off of her.
"I know a pegasus did not cause this." Ruby said looking around to notice some signs along the ground of something striking it hard and maybe bouncing a few times before coming to a...stop. "Spike, over here."
"Is it Twilight?" Spike asked hopefully as he looked up from inspecting Scootaloo who seemed okay, just unconcious.
"Seriously? Your asking me that?" Ruby asked arching an eyebrow earning a facepalm from Spike. The poor dragon could be such an airhead sometimes as no matter how much he matured he still managed to keep some of his cute naiviety.
"Yeah...you've never seen her." Spike grumbled as he started to cross the short distance to the body tangled in a dirty, tattered cloth. He saw a bit of purple, but couldn't see anything else beofre hearing a commotion coming towards them. Looking up he saw Trixie running toward them with Velvet hot on her tail followed by most of Ponyville.
"Trixie!" Spike growled taking a step and slamming a large clawed hand into the ground and flaring his wings, green flame spouting from his mouth for a momen freezing the oncoming mob in their tracks. "What did you do now?"
"Leave my auntie alone you meanie!" A small pegasus snapped stepping forward while most of the crowd cowered, though another foal stepped forward to the filly's side.
"Now isn't this interesting." The brown earth colt asked wearing a large grin that unsettled the dragon even as some of the crowd dispersed running away from the 'invading dragons.'
"Mom!" the filly cried out running toward the bundle of cloth just behind where Spike now stood, not afraid one bit of the dragon. The filly shocked Spike with the cry though as she called the pony on the ground mom which meant either it wasn't Twilight...which he felt strongly that it was, or the Twilight had a baby.
"Now just stay calm Mister Dragon." Trixie stuttered taking a step forward, Velvet beside her and several other familiar ponies flanking them.
"Spike?" Velvet asked softly earning several gasps as a green flame surrounded the large dragon and flared a moment before leaving behind the Spike every pony knew. A moment later another burst of flame followed leaving a pink looking cat with wings.
"Hiya grams." Spike chuckled as he scratched the back of his neck.
~~~
"Owww, what hit me?" Rose grunted as she pulled her hood back over her head and climbed painfully to her feet. When she realized her daughter was there helping her rise she smiled at the little filly.
"Thank you sweetie." Rose said, wincing as the entire left side of her body throbbed in pain.
"What happened, mamma?" Summer asked nuzzling her mom.
"I don't know...it shouldn't have surged like that unless I miscalculated the amount the spell would take because of how old Scootaloo was." Rose moaned as she limped with her daughter before noticing the large crowd looking at her. Checking her cloak and hood she realized she was covered, but there were several angry glares being sent her way.
She then noticed Pinkie Pie hugging a baby looking dragon and whispering something in his ear as his eyes widened in what appeared to be shock. There was something very familiar about the dragon, but had never met a dragon in her entire life...but then again Twilight had an assistant that was a dragon hatchling...
"Spike..." Rose whispered softly, only her daughter hearing it. The question didn't com from some reports though...it just came to mind looking at the dragon as she started feeling a longing to hug him herself though she held back as she saw Rainbow Dash heading her way while several other ponies watched on in worry as Rarity and Applejack went to check on Scootaloo.
"I knew you were bad news!" Rainbow snarled punching Rose and knocking her to the ground making Summer take an aggressive stance between her other and her idol. "I don't know what kind of evil ritual you were trying to do, but if she's hurt I'll kill you!"
"Rainbow Dash, that is enough!" Velvet snapped as Trixie hurried to Rose to help her back up while glaring at Rainbow. They all jumped back as a blur knocked Rainbow away from Rose leaving an angry looking Scootaloo hovering a few inches off the ground.
"Don't you dare touch her again!" Scootaloo growled, unable to remember just what had happened the last half hour. All she could remember was Rose promising that she could help and that she would if the young pegasus could keep a secret. She couldn't remember the secret as her head was still spining, her memory so hazy.
"Scoots! Y-Your flying!" Rainbow, Rarity and several otehrs gasped out at the same time.
"Of course I am, Rose promised she...could...I'm flying...I'M FLYING!" Scootaloo cried as she zipped toward Rose and crashed into her knocking the two to the ground as the pegasus kept crying and thanking Rose as the older mare hugged her gently.
"I'm...sorry." Rainbow said, looking to the ground in shame as Rose fought her way back to her feet glaring at the rainbow maned pegasus.
"I don't want to hear it right now...I just...need to get some rest...that wasn't supposed to backfire like that." Rose gasped out as Trixie helped support her weight and Summer joined them concern. She could see the small dragon start to head her way as they started to walk away from the crowd to see Pinkie Pie put a hoof on his shoulder and shake her head in a negative gesture. No pony noticed the small brown earth pony following them until they got to the botique.
"Are you okay sis?" Trixie asked softly as she fumbled with getting the door open.
"So how are you feeling Twilight?" The small brown colt asked making the older two stare at him in shock as Summer giggled.
"Silly, my mamma isn't named twilight. I think you have her mixed up with some pony else Disco." Summer giggled as the brown pony just grinned. "Of course I am my dear friend...perhaps I better get going. If you need anything Twilight...oops, I mean Rose, just come by Sugar Cube Corner."
"Th-Thanks." Trixie said, wary that this pony knew who Rose was, but confused why he seemed to be playing some kind of game. Rose herself was feeling a little nervous upon hearing the colt's name, but she wasn't sure why. She just had a feeling that he was...dangerous.
~~~
"Are you sure?" Spike asked Pinkie Pie as the others left the scene, most of the girls escorting Scootaloo to the hospital despite the filly's argumants that she was fine. Rainbow Dash had insisted that they make sure that she wasn't suffering any side effects from whatever it was that happened.
"I want to see her smile just as much as you Spike...but she doesn't remember anything." Pinkie sighed, much more serious than the young dragon had ever remembered her being. It was kind of strange how her mane seemed to straighten out slightly as they taled. Ruby had left with Velvet after making Spike promise to come to the library after his talk with the pink pony.
"How can she not remember?" Spike demanded as he paced back and forth.
"That my young dragon friend is simple." The small brown colt from earlier said as he seemed to appear out of nowhere. Spike was shocked when the colt grew older unil he was a stallion the same age as Pinkie Pie herself. "Miss me my little pink pastry?"
"Of course I did silly, I always miss my big strong draconneques. (Please forgive the mispelling, I'll fix it when I get my notes...I can't remember how to spell it.)" Pinkie giggle kissing the stallion making Spike gasp. Surely he did not just hear what he thought.
"Oh come now, if you keep making faces like that you may freeze like that someday." The stalion said as Spike was encased in a block of ice. With a stern look from Pinkie Pie, the stallion sighed and with a roll of his eyes the ice disappeared leaving Spike shivering a little.
"H-How...I mean I heard about it...but...Pinkie and you? How...why?" Spike asked, unable to wrap his mind around it.
"I think we have otehr concerns at the moment...while I couldn't care less for her in all honesty...my Pinkie Pie does...and assures me that I will like her when I get to know her. Question is how do you get to know a pony who is hiding from herself?" The pony that Spike knew had to be Discord asked confusing Spike.
"What do you mean she's hiding from herself." Spike asked.
"Because of us...we chased her off making her think we didn't care. Then...she gets hurt and her mind shuts down and locks away all of the pain...and her smile. As much as I want her to smile again...I know for once a party isn't going to do it." Pinkie explained sadly.
"Of course that didn't stop you from trying." Discord said hugging her to show that he didn't mean anything bad by it, "But it was a good try."
"I can't believe how serious you two are being." Spike said slowly, "Are you sure the two of you aren't changelings?"
"Are you sure you don't want to spend the rest of your draconic life with pink scales?" Discord cuckled, though the look in his eyes made the dragon swallow nervously.
"O-kay...not changelings then." Spike chuckled scratching the back of his neck. "So...what do we do?"
"Nothing." Pinkie said, waving Spike off before he could retort. "She will just run if we tell every pony who she is or pressure her. She needs to remember who she is and Discord and myself beieve that being here in familiar territory will help her regain her memoried. All we can do is hope that when she does she will give us enough time to make up with her."
"You can't tell any pony, especially her parents." Discord sighed, "I we push her, she wil run and while...I admit it wouldn't really bother me, it would me little cupcake and if it bother's her it bother's me which means it would bother me so don't tell anyone if you value your scales."
"I shouldn't agree to this...but fine. I'm staying in town though." Spike said crossing his arms and refusing to budge on his decision.
"Good, it would be good for Twilight." Discord said nuzzling a sad looking Pinkie Pie...a sight that just didn't seem right to Spike...
~~~
"I'm getting my answers Night Light, I thought you would at least back me up!" Velvet cried as she glared at her husband who finally stopped reshelving the books on the cart by him.
"Honey...don't you think I miss them? I love them to, but if it's them they will come to us when they're ready. All we can do right now is show them that we are there for them and make sure they know that we love our daughters. If it's them they will come to us." Night Light said softly, wanting nothing more than to hold his daughters in his hooves and tell them he loved them. Only thing was he wasn't sure the pair was really them unlike his wife. If he allowed his wife to rush over there though it could end up pushing the pair away...and if by chance they were their daughters then they could lose them all over again.
"Night Light...I don't know what to do..." Velvet cried as he hugged her, trying his best to comfort her. A small smile grew on his face as he thought of something to help appease his wife's desire for confrontation for now.
"Invite them over for dinner...after all the excitement today I doubt that Rarity will be seeing them now. And they could probably use a nice home cooked meal." Night Light suggested as Velvet pulled back with a large smile.
"That would be great, thank you honey!" Velvet said happily as she pulled away, "I need to go invite them then go to the market!"
"IDo you need help?" Night Light asked, feeling a little tired but pushed it out of his mind.
"I'll be fine, I'll be back soon!" velvet said giving him a quick kiss before hurrying out of the library.
"See, I told you I'm fine!" Scootaloo grumbled as Rarity and Rainbow Dash sighed in relief. The doctor had just given her a clean bill of health and even said that she seemed in better health than the last time she was there. He didn't have an explanation as to why Scootaloo seemed to be able to fly all of a sudden though as he had once stated the only explanation could be that she was deformed.
Applejack just stayed in the corner, having changed her mind about heading back to the farm as she was worried about the pegasus. She was also unsure of how to feel about what had happened between the new mare and Rainbow Dash. On one hoof, trying a dangerous stun like that likely earned the unicorn the attack. On the other the unicorn seemed to have only been trying to help.
Rarity on the other hand was just thankful that Scootaloo was okay, even excited for her as she seemed to be able to fly now...though apparently she couldn't do it very well. Sure she seemed fast, but she didn't know how to land, turn or any of the other many nuances of flying. She prayed that what ever it was that was making the filly able to fly lasted. She would have to stop by and aplogize for not being able to spend time with the new mares as well as make sure that they are doing okay...as well as apologize for Rainbow Dash's rash actions.
Rainbow Dash was having some of the same feelings as her friends, but also some very different ones. She felt horrible that she had never been able to teach the filly how to fly despite trying so hard. She knew Scootaloo had lost a lot of confidence in Rainbow, even resenting the older pegasus a little over it. Yet this new mare was able to do some kind of magic trick after not even being here more than a couple of days and voila, the filly can fly. This Rose had somehow given Scootaloo the very thing Rainbow couldn't and on top of that she must have helped the filly gain her cutie mark...wait...what?!
"Scoots...your flank." Rainbow said a little shakily pointing to the filly's flank getting the others attention.
"Oh my darling, you got your cutie mark!" Rarity cried out happily as she hugged Scootaloo.
"Congrats kiddo." Applejack said smiling proudly at the filly.
"Yeah, I knew you could do it." Rainbow cheered, but something was botehring her.
"Oh wow, it's awesome! Rose is so awesome!" Scootaloo cheered checking out her new cutie mark of a heart with a pair of large feathery wings.
"Yeah...awesome..." Rainbow sighed dejectedly as she realized what was wrong, she was jealous. She missed Scootaloo cheering for her like the filly once did and it kind of hurt hearing some pony else being called awesome the same way Rainbow had once been called it. She didn't hate Rose for it, but she couldn't help feeling like she lost something.
Rose couldn’t hide the dread as she paced in her room, wondering what possessed her to accept the invitation of her mother to come eat dinner. She had enough to worry about with figuring out why the spell actually overloaded from that, not that spellcrafting with runes was widely used much anymore. Many of the spells were far from common knowledge of modern day unicorns. They have refined their magic so much to not even need the help of runes, yet at the same time so many spells that could be pulled off using runes could not be cast just by using magic. It was…confusing as to why runes had been pretty much thrown away in favor of more reliable yet not as potent methods of spellcasting.
And if figuring that out wasn’t enough she had been getting migraines since helping the young filly as her sense of déjà vu had been steadily increasing as well as shadows of images flitting through her mind unbidden. Most of them she couldn’t quite grasp, but others…they were terrifying. There was a white unicorn yelling at her, denouncing her and though she knew who it was, she couldn’t remember it happening…yet the image was much more than what was in the reports sent to Nomad. It couldn’t have been her mind putting images to written word as some of the things said weren’t included in any report. She tried wiping it away as imagination…yet, it was too real to do just that.
And if what she feared was true…were the other few images she could grasp at all really memories instead of imagination. Was the image of her crying, screaming for mercy or help real…was the blurry images of laughing ponies surrounding her, hitting her, shaving some of her coat off including cutie mark…was them…forcing her to do things real? She couldn’t stop shaking the more she thought of that. She had some problems from the knowledge of what happened, but she didn’t want to remember it. She prayed that it was just her imagination running wild.
“Well, well, well…a bit nervous are we?” A familiar voice cooed making Rose look up to see the same colt before her, only he was no longer a colt. There stood an earth pony her age with a manic gleam to his eyes staring at Rose. “Dinner with the parentals?”
“What do you want, Discord?” Rose snapped before covering her mouth with her hooves, shocked at what she said and the images filling her mind of a strange creature of mismatched parts. Slowly the earth pony before her melted away and formed the same creature from her thoughts.
“Ah, so you are remembering me are you?” Discord chuckled, “I’d like to think it was because I was just that devastatingly handsome that it would be hard forgetting me. But alas, I fear it was that bit of chaos magic that you cast just awhile ago that is blowing whatever self imposed locks on your memory away.”
“No, I’m not remembering anything!” Rose shouted, tears stinging her eyes. The memories, even if only a few could be clearly seen, she could tell that the others were slowly coming back into focus for her. She didn’t want them to be memories, she didn’t want to remember…it…
“My dear, poor Twilight Sparkle.” Discord said softly, all mirth gone from his voice. “While I once would be laughing at your misfortunes…even I would not wish that inflicted on you. And yes, I can see what you are thinking…you are basically shouting it to any creature with any telepathic sensitivity at all.”
“Get out of my head!” Rose snarled, shaking her head as if to rid herself of the images. “Trixie!”
“Your sister can not hear you, I case a simple silencing spell on this room.” Discord said, “I came to…despite my better judgment…check up on you. Your friends and parents all love you and miss you after all…and by extension…even I miss you.”
“They don’t care about me…no pony does…” Rose sighed hanging her head only to have one of Discord’s claws gently pull her head back up to look her directly in the eyes.
“You have a daughter and sister who beg to differ.” Discord said sadly, “As well as parents…tell me, Twilight, what would you feel if your daughter ran away and was missing for five years?”
“I…I…I would be going crazy with worry.” Rose whispered, the images…memories of her past mixing with the last five years making her feel even more confused than ever.
“As has your mother…talk to her Twilight, tell your parents and take things from there. You don’t have to tell your friends yet, but you are going to need even more support now that things may be returning to you.” Discord said, “I won’t force you my dear, but I will tell you that you would be much happier if you told them.”
“I don’t know if I can.” Rose sighed to no pony as Discord had vanished in a swirl of gold colored sparkles that quickly faded just before Trixie came into the room.
“What were you doing, I’ve been calling you for the last five minutes.” Trixie asked with worry filling her voice.
“Sorry sis, I…was thinking.” Rose sighed, “Sis…what…if I told our parents the truth. Would you…be okay with that? This involves you to and I don’t want to do anything that would hurt you.”
“I would love to tell our parents, I may not completely trust them but the only way to find out if we can is to give them a chance.” Trixie said slowly, “They seem like great ponies.”
“Yeah…great.” Rose sighed.
~~~
The living space above the library was also filled with bookshelves and thankfully not any pictures that could be seen in the family room where Rose and Twilight sat on a couch with Night Light sitting across from them in one of two chairs, a coffee table between them with a tea set and every pony having a cup. Summer had gone to help Velvet in the kitchen as they were early and Trixie and Rose wanted to speak to Night Light alone.
“So ladies, what did you want to speak to be about?” Night asked sipping his warm tea as the two mares fidgeted nervously.
“Well, you said you’re a counselor, right? You said I could talk to you if I needed to?” Rose asked softly, “I don’t have much money, but…”
“I refuse to take money for helping you.” Night said waving Rose off about the money before saying, “Please tell me what’s wrong.”
“I don’t want to say much about the incident, not with my daughter close by, but I’m scared my memories are coming back.”
“Are you sure?” Trixie asked in fear looking at her sister. As much as she wanted Rose to remember her past, she didn’t want her to remember how the mare ended up hurt like she was. Roe already had some night terrors sometimes, but if she remembered everything it could get a lot worse.
“I think the spell did something to me and…I’m seeing these images…but as much as I want to talk about that, there’s something else I want to talk to you about first.” Rose sighed, “You see, Trixie is my sister by blood, but I never knew her before the incident. At least not that she was my sister, but we both used spells that tested our DNA and by what ever twist of fate happened, it brought us together.”
“That’s a good thing, you two finding each other even after being…separated…” Night said, his voice slowing as he started seeing parallels with these mares’ story and his own daughters. He wouldn’t get his hopes up, he had been hurt one to many times letting his hopes get up.
“Well…my sister…” Rose started, unsure of how to continue before thankfully Trixie took over.
“I was raised by a stallion I thought was my father and the mare I thought that was my mother left us though I always believed she loved me. The both betrayed me…betrayed Rose to telling her lies…even I lied to her…” Trixie said wiping a tear from her eye as Rose leaned up against her.
“You didn’t have a choice…he threatened you.” Rose said softly.
“He threatened you?” Night Light asked angrily. Upset that any stallion could threaten a child and these two before him were children to him.
“He was found dead, but we both feel betrayed by him and what little I know about our family from reports he had that we found…our family didn’t exactly like me a lot.” Rose said softly, almost afraid of Night Light’s reaction.
“I’m kind of scared to…what if they don’t accept me?” Trixie asked looking a little scared to Night Light. “We want to tell our parents who we are and give them a chance…but we both are kind of scared.”
“It’s good that you want to give them a chance, if this stallion lied to you who knows if he could forge reports to hurt you after his death.” Night Light said looking into his tea, trying to figure out just what to tell the pair. He wanted to tell them that all parents love their children and would be very happy to have them come back into their lives. He also knew better and knew that some parents really didn’t care.
“What do you think we should do…if you were our father…would you accept us?” Rose asked, using her magic to sit the tea cup down and pull back her hood while Night studied his tea.
“Of course I would!” Night Light gasped out, looking up only for his eyes to widen in shock. “Tw-Twilight?”
“Hello…father.” Rose said slowly, looking away in shame as Night Light stared at her. What finally broke him out of the spell was seeing her starting to pull the hood back up.
“I’m sorry…I know they’re ugly.” Rose sighed, only to have Night Light jump over the table and stop her from hiding under the hood again.
“You aren’t ugly…Twily.” Night Light sobbed as he hugged her, Rose collapsing in his hooves sobbing.
Trixie sighed thinking that she wasn’t wanted, or needed in the family moment and started to get up only to be pulled into the hug by her father.
“I’m so happy to have both of you here!” Night Light sobbed holding both of them tightly in a hug.
~~~
Velvet was just sitting down a small plate of cookies and a glass of milk for Summer to munch on while they watched their meal finish baking in the oven. She couldn’t help wondering what had the filly’s rapt attention though as the small pegasus sat there staring off to a space on the wall. Following her gaze she was surprised to see a family photo of Night Light, Twilight Sparkle, Shining Armor and herself hanging there.
“Why do you have a picture of momma? Do you know her?” Summer asked making Velvet almost hyperventilate.
“Wh-what do you mean dear?” Velvet asked slowly, afraid of the answer. She was scared that maybe the young filly’s mother only resembled her daughter.
"N-No! It's just...so ironic..." Trixie laughed.
“No…it couldn’t be…” Velvet gasped out as realization washed through her like a raging river. She didn’t believe Trixie was her daughter because of the name while the hooded mare was named Midnight Rose…
“That’s my momma.” Summer said happily, dunking a cookie in milk. “Thank you for the cookies!”
Velvet didn’t hear the thanks though as she rushed out of the kitchen into the family room to see both her daughters hugging their father crying. Velvet took one step at a time slowly until the group hug broke apart and looked her way a little nervously.
“Umm…hi mom.” Rose…Twilight said softly.
“H-Hi.” Trixie…Midnight said nervously.
Both mares gasped out as Velvet threw herself at them gathering them in her arms, Night Light joining in on the hug.
“I want a hug to!” Summer said surprising the group causing several teary chuckles as the little filly was dragged into the hug.
“Did I miss something?” Spike asked, Ruby by his side as he came into the room after just coming back from Sugarcube Corner carrying a pink box that Velvet sent him after. A nice cake for the groups’ desert.
Dinner was great, the group enjoying the meal and each other’s company, though a quiet had settled over them as both Twilight and Midnight…or Rose and Trixie…had asked to be given a little time to gather their thoughts before talking about much. It was obvious that while still wearing the cloak, Twilight seemed to fidget every couple moments and had to fight the urge to pull the hood back up, which Midnight thankfully prevented.
“So, you’re really my grandma and grandpa?” Summer asked again, making them all laugh a little.
“Yes, sweetheart, they are.” Twilight said nuzzling the filly making Velvet smile at the scene. She knew the two wanted to be called Rose and Trixie, but for the moment she was having trouble with that. They were her daughters and she couldn’t help biting her lip to make sure that it wasn’t a dream every few minutes. After years of praying, both of her little girls had come home.
She wanted so much to blurt out all of the questions that was on her mind, but knew better after the look both mares had given her. They had said they needed to talk alone, and the way they looked at the filly made Velvet clear on what they meant. The mares didn’t want the little filly to hear what was to be discussed, which was understandable. It was still hard waiting, but Ruby and Spike had said they would take her for a treat at Sugarcube Corner after dinner. Even though they had a nice cake on hoof.
“And we plan to spoil you rotten.” Night chuckled, winking at the filly who giggled at his antics.
“That we do, dear.” Velvet said as she got up, using her magic to clear the table of dishes.
“I’ll help you with that mom.” Twilight had said, getting up at well. Velvet was about to decline her offer, but thought better of it. If her daughter wanted to spend time with her, Velvet wouldn’t argue.
“Can I help to, momma?” Summer asked, but Midnight thankfully cut in.
“Why don’t you stay with your grandfather and me.” Midnight suggested, making the filly pout a little. It was so cute, but thankfully Velvet could have a minute alone with Twilight.
“Awwww, but I wanted to help.” Summer whined.
“Well, actually, I’m your uncle Spike and…I was hoping you would come help me and your aunt Ruby for awhile. We need help eating some ice cream at the best sweet shop in Ponyville. And well, we figured you would be the best filly for the job.” Spike said, sounding much more mature than he had a few years ago, despite his current form of a baby looking dragon.
“Really? Can I go eat…I mean help Uncle Spike momma?” Summer giggled as Twilight seemed to debate it, holding a hoof up to her chin as if in deep thought.
“Well…I suppose if you promise to be good.” Twilight giggled finally getting a loud cheer from the filly who rushed to hug her, almost knocking the dishes out of the unicorn’s magic grip. Thankfully Twilight recovered them as the filly ran off to join the two dragons.
“Are you okay?” Velvet asked softly as they made their way to the kitchen, loading the dish washer. She was a little worried about her daughter, there was things she could see in her that she knew should be there while a lot of other actions seemed to be vastly different from the little filly she raised.
“As okay as I can be.” Twilight sighed, shaking her head a little after a few moments. “I’m having a little trouble with all this I guess. I don’t want to hurt you…but…I don’t really know you.”
“So you really have amnesia?” Velvet sighed. She was sort of hoping that it was an act to protect herself while hiding under that cloak. Velvet was hoping that now that the hood was down, Twilight would reveal that having amnesia was just another way to hide.
“Yeah…I’m kind of glad about it in some ways.” Twilight admitted softly making Velvet want to cry. She knew that Twilight must have been through some hard times, especially after what happened at the wedding disaster. Poor Armor still hadn’t forgiven himself, and the couple still hadn’t married despite staying together. Cadence had kept true to her word refusing to marry until Twilight was standing next to her as Mare of Honor.
“Twilight, your father and I both love you very much. You..you have to know that…don’t you?” Velvet asked, the look in her daughter’s eyes saying a thousand words. Her little girl was in doubt about her feelings, about her parents’ feelings, and it was breaking poor Velvet’s heart.
“I want to say I do…but even if…some of the memories are coming back, they’re still blurry. But…I’m sorry, the only things I know about you two…I’m sorry, but I just don’t know. If it wasn’t for Trixie and Summer…if Discord hadn’t talked to me…I don’t know if I would even be here right now.” Twilight said, looking downcast. “I’m sorry if that hurts you, I really don’t want it to, but it’s the truth.”
“Why don’t you both come in here and we can sit and talk about all of it.” Midnight said, interrupting the two.
“Okay.” Twilight sighed, walking past her sister into the other room.
“Mom…she does love you…just give her time. She’s been through a lot. Just don’t judge her and everything will be okay.” Midnight whispered, the look in her eyes showing that she was also a little doubtful, but there was hope shinning in them.
Slowly the four gathered in the living room, Twilight and Midnight sitting on the couch while Night and Velvet herself took the love seat. For several minutes they just sat there, neither saying a word, but all of them trying to at one point or another. They just couldn’t decide who wanted to say what or who to go first.
“This is ridiculous.” Night Light finally chuckled, “We are a family, there’s no need to be uncomfortable around each other like this. So Twilly…Middy…you both know each other then before you even met up?”
“Middy?” Midnight asked, a little surprised.
“Of course dear, we named you Midnight Sparkle…Middy for short. “ Velvet said, noticing the narrowing of Twilight’s eyes. She guessed Twilight preferred being called Rose after five years, or because of her memory loss, but it was obvious that she wasn’t entirely comfortable with the names.
“Oh…I kind of like that, it feels nice.” Midnight giggled nervously, putting a hoof on Twilight’s in comfort. “Anyways…we kind of met under less than the best of circumstances. I was a traveling showmare, a magician and illusionist that relied on story telling to entertain the crowd. Anyways, I came here to Ponyville and it seemed every pony loved my show…until those hecklers. I admit I may have taken things a little too far, but who interrupts a show like that? It’s rude!”
“So you’re really good with illusion magic?” Night Light asked, his interest piqued at the thought. Velvet knew he would be interested as he was pretty good with magic, but he was better with illusions. Velvet herself was better at the more arcane side of things, just like Twilight.
“Does this answer your question?” Midnight asked, her horn glowing for a moment before the room turned into a forest with downed trees being their seats. It looked so real as a red bird with multi colored tail feathers flew overhead and there was noises coming from everywhere. Even the smell almost seemed to change, but Velvet wrote that off as the mind playing tricks after seeing the realistic scene. She was almost sad to see it go when it melted away after a few moments.
“That was beautiful honey.” Velvet said, praising her daughter who looked embarrassed but pleased.
“Thank you mom.” Midnight said, making a surge of warmth at being called mom by her again washing through Velvet. “Anyways, two young colts took one of my stories too seriously and led an Ursa Minor into the village and…I couldn’t stop it. Rose here…she stopped it as if it was no problem. I lost everything when the thing trampled over my home and I ran away.”
“You know…I really wish you didn’t. I wanted to be friends with you…but I was too afraid to approach you. You were so beautiful and confident…everything I wished I was.” Twilight sighed, getting Midnight to hug her before her eyes widened in surprise.
“Wait! You remember?” Midnight asked softly, but shocked none the less.
“I’m remembering things, mostly…bad memories though…memories I don’t really want to remember.” Twilight said shaking a little making Midnight hug her. “I’m okay…just don’t really want to remember her…I know the face…those cruel eyes taunting me. I was so afraid I was going to die in those caves. All I can remember though is her telling me that I will never escape.”
“Hey, you’re here now, okay?” Midnight soothed, “You are safe and we would never let anything bad happen to you.”
“I know…thanks, sis.” Twilight whispered making Velvet feel a little uncomfortable. She wanted so much to go over and hug her child, but the look Midnight gave her made Velvet settle back in place after starting to get up.
“So you ran away?” Night Light asked, though he didn’t sound like he was being judgmental. Velvet didn’t blame the poor mare, ponies heckling her show then having your home ruined by one of those beasts would be terrifying for anyone.
“Yeah…I tried getting work, but every pony blamed me for what happened. I couldn’t get work…I was forced to…go home. To my…to Nomad.” Midnight said shaking a little. “I didn’t want to, but I felt it was the only choice I had at the time. Now I’m glad I had to go home…even if I had to deal with all of his garbage.”
“At least we were reunited.” Twilight said, hugging Midnight.
“If it wasn’t for whoever kidnapped you, you girls never would have been separated in the first place.” Velvet said, anger at the ones responsible for depriving her of her baby al these years.
“Yeah, instead of them separating us, you would have when you pawned me off on the Princess.” Twilight mumbled, but every pony heard it clearly. Pain shot through Velvet’s heart at the accusation, the same thing she accused herself of many nights while wondering if she did the right thing. Twilight needed the Princess, she just could not control her immense power. Even after Twilight started getting control of her powers, Velvet listened to the Princess…she listened when she said that it would hinder Twilight’s potential if the filly returned home. Since then it was hard getting visiting hours with her little girl and her resentment had built to her Princess despite her loyalty.
“Twilly…honey…we did what we thought was best for you.” Night Light said, hugging his wife to him who was fighting back tears.
“You abandoned me…why? Why did you love Shinny so much…but not me?” Twilight sobbed as Midnight hugged her tight.
“We do love you!” Velvet cried as both Night and her surrounded the girls with hugs. “Your power was to much for you to control and the Princess was the only pony who could help you. After you started learning to control your powers…the Princess convinced us that we would hurt you and your potential if we took you away from her. I hated it…but I loved you, I wanted what was best for you!”
“Please don’t ever think we love any of you three any less than your siblings. We love you three so much…you are our hearts and world.” Night Light said.
“We’re back!” Came Summer’s sing~song voice from the door.
“We can talk more later.” Midnight said, as the other pulled back while Twilight wiped her tears away before her daughter could see her.
“Please…know that we love you both so much.” Velvet whispered, Twilight giving her a teary smile, though there was still doubt in her eyes. Thankfully, it wasn’t anywhere as intense as earlier. Even if this hurt Velvet so much, she wanted to count this as a good first step to making her family whole again.
Trixie sighed as she climbed from her bed, feeling as if something was wrong. She could feel it in the air, the feel of magic. It felt like Rose’s, but Trixie knew she left her sister asleep in bed. Slowly trotting out of her room and to her sister’s, she pushed the door open and gasped at what she saw. Rose had thin lines of blood all over her body as her magic held a knife.
“What the hay are you doing?” Trixie asked, her voice low so not to wake up Summer. The poor filly didn’t need to see her mother like this.
“Never again…I won’t ever be helpless again!” Rose sobbed, shaking as she made one last cut. The lines of blood glowed brightly for a minute shifting from red to black as if tattoos all over her body in the…form of arcane symbols used for runes. After a few moments those lines faded and Rose looked whole, no damage to herself despite just seconds ago being covered in blood.
“What have you done?” Trixie asked shakily as Rose wiped tears from her eyes.
“I made sure that from now on I’ll never be helpless again.” Rose sobbed, making Trixie brush off the shock of finding Rose like this so she could hold her sister and let the mare cry.
Trixie was worried for her sister; there was no masking that as the three enjoyed breakfast and then Trixie dropping Summer off at the filly’s grandparents for the morning. Lessons with Rainbow Dash were up in the air with the stunt Rose pulled with Scootaloo. Neither of them spoke to the rainbow maned pegasus since Rose had used the rune to re-regulate the poor filly’s flow of magic. She was a little surprised that no pony thought to check for that, but then again this was a little town. Even so, shouldn’t a Pegasus family know those things better than a unicorn? Something just didn’t add up there…
Of course the fact that rune casting was pretty much extinct as not many ponies seemed to know about it, much less practice it. Trixie never really thought about it much before, but Twilight and the doctor was two of the only ponies who seemed adept in it. Of course Nomad knew some, and to that extent even Trixie knew a little as there were several old tomes in the shop before the left for Ponyville.
Something was off about it though, why was a school of magic so potent not be widely used? Sure it took more skill and studying to learn the spells, but they were often times more effective that just casting spells with their horn. Even earth ponies and pegasi had the potential to cast some rune spells if they had some unicorn blood in them.
Blood…that was something that was bothering Trixie even more as she spent her morning going from stall to stall looking for the best deals on fruits. They got an advance from Rarity and Trixie intended to use it well and buy some good, yet cheap food. Too bad that wasn’t helping to take her mind of what Rose had done to herself. It was stupid, very stupid. The mare had carved runes into her own body, using her own blood to charge the lines and make them permanent yet virtually invisible unless in use. It was a mixture of rune casting and blood magic…and surely the spells Rose used could justify blood magic.
While rune casting was safe…for the most part…blood magic could be dangerous. The runes could draw mush more power than necessary to cast the spells at the trade-off of being nearly instantaneous. If used too much it could kill Rose very quickly. The other bad part about it is that it was actually mostly considered dark magic as it could fuel the darker emotions such as anger and depression. It was something that was scaring Trixie as Rose didn’t seem to be in the best mental state after dinner with their parents.
“Well good morning, sugarcube.” Applejack said as Trixie arrived at her stall, not aware of who was running it. “What can ah get for ya?”
“Applejack, right?” Trixie asked to make sure of the identity of the earth pony pedaling apples.
“Yeah, are ya looking to try some of our apples? They’re the best in all of Equestria?” Applejack asked, though it looked like she was straining a little to keep civil. Probably trying to be professional seeing how she was selling her families produce.
“Look, I know you don’t really like me, so maybe I should just go somewhere else.” Trixie said, starting to back away from the pony who sighed.
“Look sugarcube, it isn’t that I hate ya or anything. Just the last time you were here you did kinda cause some trouble.” Applejack sighed, “But I’m willing to let the past stay in the past, ya know?”
“I am to, but it was you bunch that ruined my show. I am sorry for going a little overboard defending it, but it was a show. A story and some magic to entertain, it wasn’t meant to be taken seriously. It isn’t my fault that those two colts took it seriously and lured that Ursa into town. For your information, it destroyed everything I had and the damage to my reputation as a showmare …” Trixie said, getting interrupted by Applejack who snorted.
“Look sugarcube, I am willing to let the past stay in the past, but please don’t get into the whole showmare thing. I don’t right trust showmares, not after what they did to mah family.” Applejack said, gritting her teeth a little. Trixie was about to retort when a wave of magic washed over her preceded by an explosion.
“Horse fathers…” Trixie muttered as she recognized the trace of magic. She turned and ran off, followed closely by Applejack.
XXXXXXX
“I don’t know what your problem is, but I’m not going to put up with this.” Rose snapped out as she glared at the Pegasus from under her hood. She was just going over to see Rarity and ask some questions…okay, a lot of questions about the shop. She wasn’t expecting to run into a still irate Pegasus who looked ready to attack her at any moment.
“Look, all I’m saying is be more careful! You could have hurt Scootaloo! She’s like my little sister!” Rainbow Dash barked out, anger filling her voice as she bristled her wings.
“Look, the spell is the same exact one that I need to use on my own daughter if her magic become unbalanced! I know exactly what I’m doing, I’m one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria!” Rose snapped out. Usually she wouldn’t boast like this, but she was in a bad mood after dealing with her sister’s anger over using blood magic. All she wanted was a way to defend herself at a moments notice, she knew what she was doing! And now she was being questioned by this…this stuck up pegasus who knew squat about magic!
“As if, the most powerful unicorn is one of my best friends!” Rainbow Dash snarled, stomping a hoof on the ground.
“Rarity? Please, she’s nice and everything, but her power isn’t really that strong.” Rose scoffed. She had a feeling what the pegasus was going to say next, many of her memories returning, though a lot wasn’t making much sense. It was part of the reason she turned to using blood magic despite its drawbacks.
“Twilight Sparkle is twenty percent more the unicorn that you ever hope to be.” Rainbow Dash snorted, glaring angrily at Rose who scoffed herself.
“Oh please, that pathetic mare can’t hold a candle to me.” Rose sneered, feeling so angry and vindictive. She knew why, she remembered how they treated her and sucked up to that…that traitor of a princess who along with her own brother helped push her into the pain she suffered…the pain she was suffering as memories of begging for mercy filled her mind. She wanted to hurt this pegasus for her part in what happened, and before she could think about it the words started flowing from her mouth. She couldn’t help feeling a sense of satisfaction seeing the mare’s eyes before her water with tears, while another part of her was screaming to stop…to hug the distraught pegasus. “The foolish mare is dead! She died begging for you to save her, for her friends and family to save her. And where were you? Kissing that traitor’s flank while Twilight was torn apart!”
“Where is she!” Rainbow raged, a demand more than a question as she stomped over to Rose. The anger in the pegasus’s eyes was starting to scare Rose a little, but she refused to back down. Worse case she would be testing out her new runes much sooner than expected.
“Dead, Twilight Sparkle is dead! Get it through that pea sized brain of yours.” Rose screamed angrily, magic filling the air as her anger was growing more and more. “She’s dead and she’s never coming back! And it is partly your fault!”
“Where is she?” A new voice asked, a male voice that seemed so full of rage that it sent a shiver down Rose’s spine as she turned to see none other than Shinning Armor and a few guards around him.
“Oh as if you care? So where’s your precious wife? Hope the two of you are enjoying the honeymoon that was paved with your sister’s tears!” Rose screamed angrily. A part of her wondered if it was the blood magic causing her anger, but she knew better. She hasn’t really used it yet and it would only effect her while using it. No, she was truly feeling anger at the stallion after seeing the memories of him disowning her. All for some ungrateful princess who only pretended to care for Twilight to get close to him.
“We aren’t married for your information.” A voice said, the guards moving to allow a new pony to come next to Shinning Armor. The sight of the new pony sent fear spiking into Rose’s heart as the pony from her nightmares, the mocking voice telling her she was unloved and about to die filling her mind. The same voice that belonged to the pony before her.
“Never again.” Rose said quietly, her fear being replaced by anger at the creature before her. Cadence would pay for all the pain Rose has suffered, she would pay for what had happened to Rose. The only reason she might forgive the others, someday, was because of Summer. Cadence though…she would pay.
“Never again what?” Cadence asked, that voice triggering even more mocking memories of Rose pleading for mercy as she was trapped somewhere. She couldn’t remember where she was at back then, just the multiple images of the pink alicorn reflecting off dozens of crystal surfaces.
“Never again!” Rose shrieked as her cloak was blown back from the wind created from the surge of magic. Every pony stood in shock seeing lines light up along the now visible surfaces of Rose’s body, glowing blue then an angry red.
“Twi-Twilight?” Cadence asked in shock as cracks started forming in the ground around Rose, red light shinning up from them as they traveled outwards from her. Before anyone could move a blast went up around her, a concussive wave flying outwards knocking all of the ponies out. Rose stared out in shock as the spell wasn’t supposed to be this powerful; it wasn’t supposed to cause as much damage to the surroundings as it did. She wavered a little as she saw Trixie running to her, worry etched on her face just before collapsing.
“ROSE!” Trixie sobbed out as she slid next to Rose who was slowly closing her eyes.
“Do you know how stupid that was?” Doctor Cross asked, glaring at Trixie as she sat near her sister’s bed where the mare was still unconscious. She made sure that no pony was allowed in the room until Rose had a chance to wake up and they could talk about what happened.
“Yeah, I held her down and carved those blood runes into her. Entirely my fault here.” Trixie sniped back making the doctor let out a sigh.
“While the magic she used isn’t fully qualified as blood magic, it used enough of it to make it border line illegal. And on top of that, rune casting is a whole other taboo by itself.” Doctor Cross explained, glaring over at the sleeping unicorn. “You do know what powers rune casting don’t you?”
“Twilight’s inner magic.” Trixie huffed, feeling as if she was missing something as her annoyance with the doctor grew by the moment.
“No, it does not. Yes a runes power is started by adding ones own magic to it, but the main power comes from something…else. Something I don’t trust and it is the reason why only a select few know about it as we have studied it under Princess Celestia so we know what we are dealing with.” Doctor Cross explained, “A rune’s main power comes from chaos…it is the reason even a Pegasus or earth pony with the tiniest spark of magi can actually use it. Its power, its chaos, is drawn from the god of chaos…and that god of chaos lives in this town.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Trixie snorted, looking over to Rose who let out a loud snore making the two others in the room giggle a little breaking up the tension a little.
“I’m not trying to be mean about this, but Twilight…Rose…or whatever she wants to go by needs to be careful. This close to the source of power will have the effect of increasing the potency by…well…a lot. You were lucky that neither was hurt when she helped young Scootaloo.” Doctor Cross said, “Which reminds me…how did she even know something like that? Even after all of the studying I did on runes, I never came across something like that? I never even heard of a condition like that before.”
“We knew a pony back…back where we came from. I can’t give out names, be he taught Rose a lot and she also found some books going deeper into the subject.” Trixie explained, “She seemed to soak up the knowledge from the book like a sponge.”
“At least even with her amnesia that didn’t change. Still…I can’t believe after all this time she finally came back.” Doctor Cross said, “You know every pony here was worried sick about her. She was very loved by the ponies here.”
“Yeah…some maybe.” Trixie sighed, “I don’t know what to think about the…elements…”
“What do you mean?” Doctor Cross asked, arching an eyebrow.
“I guess I can explain some of it, I imagine it’s pretty much common knowledge after the wedding if every pony is this close in this town.” Trixie explained.
“She was afraid of me.” Cadence sniffed, laying on her back and staring straight up at the ceiling while Shining gently brushed back her mane. “Why was she afraid of me…why does she hate me so much?”
“I tried getting in to check on her dear…but they wouldn’t let me…they said her sister is taking care of her. We don’t even have a sister.” Shining sighed.
“Yes you do.” A familiar voice came from the door. Looking up they saw Night Light standing there with a worried expression. “Trixie is Twilight’s fraternal twin…she was kidnapped when they were just foals.”
“She hates me.” Cadence sobbed out softly.
“Shhh…she doesn’t hate you dear.” Night Light said as he trotted over and nuzzled cadence. “Twilight has amnesia, but some of her memories are coming back. From what I heard out in the hall of what the others said…it sounds like Twilight was showing signs of fearing you. Is that true?”
“Yeah…she looked so terrified before hatred began filling her eyes.” Cadence whimpered.
“Dear…Twilight has been through a lot…so much more than any pony should have to suffer. And if I’m right…she blames the changeling who took your place for it. Only…she might not be remembering that it was a changeling yet.” Night Light said slowly.
“So…she might not…hate me?” Cadence asked with hope.
“I’m sure she doesn’t…I bet she’s confusing you with the changeling. After all…you were one of the only ones who don’t have things to answer for when it comes to Twilight.” Night Light explained.
“Wait…you sound like you knew she was back.” Shining said, his voice sounding as if he was accusing his father of something.
“We just found out, but we’ve known her as Rose for a bit longer. She’s…hurting and if her memories are coming back then we all have to make sure she knows we won’t judge her. That we will be there for her during what’s to come.” Night Light said.
“What happened to her dad?” Shining asked, a little fearful of the answer.
“Things that no pony should have to suffer. I think she will be okay though as long as we make sure she knows that she is loved and help keep her focused on the silver lining of it all.” Night Light explained.
“What silver lining?” Shining asked just as filly pegasus burst into the room.
“Grandpa, there you are! Grandma is talking to the nurse or something. Is momma here to?” The filly asked making Night Light chuckle at the young pegasus’s antics.
“Shining, Cadence…meet Twilight’s daughter…Summer.” Night Light said making the two’s jaws drop open in shock.
“But momma’s name is Rose.” The cute filly said pouting a little getting Night Light to ruffle her mane.
Neither Shining or Cadence heard Rose, all they could do was stare in shock at the filly upon learning that they were looking at Twilight’s daughter.
“Sister! We need to go to Ponyville, NOW!” Luna cried out frantically as she burst into the audience hall where guards were ushering out ponies who were hoping to petition the princess for one thing or another.
“I felt it…blood magic. We have to make sure we don’t have another Sombra on our hooves sister.” Celestia said, worry filling her voice. “It wasn’t strong…hopefully some pony just trying something they found in a book.”
“What if it is actually a full out blood mage sister?” Luna asked, worried about the situation herself. Blood mages were powerful, one of the forbidden schools of magic. The moon, Luna’s source of power was also the source of the illusionist school of magic while the sun, Celestia’s source of power, was also the source of the main branch of the arcane arts. Blood magic came from the dark creatures of Tartarus…and attracted those creatures when used.
“If they are beyond help…we do the only thing we can.” Celestia said, a little too coldly for Luna’s liking. She knew it was necessary…but she didn’t have to like it. She couldn’t help worrying about the ponies in Ponyville, especially cadence and Shinning Armor as they went to investigate the power coming from there. If Luna even had an inkling that it was dangerous she would never have let them go. If a blood mage was involved though…all hell could be breaking loose…literally.
Trixie wasn’t sure how she got roped into doing this, not really wanting to face a room full of ponies to explain what happened to Twilight while she was missing. Especially not to ponies who she didn’t believe cared what happened to Trixie herself…and would probably blame a lot of it on her. They already blamed her for the Ursa incident when it was those two foolish colts that lured the creature into town.
“Are you sure you don’t want to be there?” Trixie asked, looking over to the bed to see Summer curled up next to her mother asleep. Rose…Twilight…whatever she would decide to call herself after this.
“I…I can’t face her. All I can see is…is her mocking me…leaving me to die after turning everyone I loved against me.” Twilight said, her voice a little shaky. Their father had come in and explained about the changeling invasion and how the Cadence of Twilight’s…Rose’s memories was actually one of them impersonating the princess. It was supposedly the purple unicorn who saved the real Cadence. “I don’t really want to face any of them…just please…answer their questions and ask them to leave me alone.”
“If you’re sure, sis. You owe me though.” Trixie said in a teasing manner, though it didn’t hide her worry. She was very worried about her sister, this was supposed to help Summer learn to fly and maybe help her sister.
“I’m sure…and thanks.” Twilight said smiling softly, Trixie returning it before turning to leave. Cadence wasn’t hurt and was already released. She was just knocked out and in shock, but got a room for all of them to gather after Trixie promised that she would come tell them about Twilight.
Walking down the hallway, her hoof steps seeming to become slower the farther she traveled. She was dreading this meeting very much, dreading how they were going to react…and what they may do to her. Cadence, despite assurances from her parents, could easily separate them by throwing Trixie into a dungeon somewhere.
“So…Trix…I…I’m sorry.” A voice said startling her out of her fears. Looking up she saw Rainbow Dash standing nervously outside the room she was going to.
“Wh-what?” Trixie asked in surprise as the nervous, yet sincere sounding apology from the pegasus.
“I’m sorry for the way I treated both of you since you came here. I promised myself to never act like that again…and yet I did. I saw so much of the past coming back when I saw you…and all the trouble Snips and Snails caused…and I knew better…but a part of me blamed both of you for it.” Rainbow Dash said slowly, rubbing one foreleg with the other.
“Look…I wanted my sister to come back here…for her own good. I know that deep down she was missing something…I’ve always known…and as much as I’m loathe to admit…I think somewhere she remembered all of you…and missed you.” Trixie said, finding it hard to get the right words for what she was trying to say out. She didn’t particularly care for this egotistical pegasus, after all she had the nerve to treat Trixie bad because of her stage persona while the pegasus acted worse in her every day life. Well, at least that’s what Trixie could see from what little she had saw of the flying pony.
“Why…you could have kept her from here…from all of us…” Rainbow Dash sighed, hanging her head knowing how much she had messed up. If only she dealt with the whole situation better.
“Because Summer needed flying lessons…and Rose…Twilight…she needed her friends and family. Even if I’m not so sure you deserve her.” Trixie said, waiting for the heated comeback from the pegasus. A comeback that never came.
“We don’t deserve her…but…I want to earn her friendship back. Even…if I have to start all over again. I love her, she…she brought us all together as real friends. Yeah we knew each other before Twi, but…we were never that close until she came here.” Rainbow Dash said, “If she’ll let me…I’ll make her daughter one of the best fliers in all of Equestria.”
“One of the best? Why not the best?” Trixie asked, arching an eyebrow at the claim.
“Well…I can’t ignore Scoots either…but…I will make them both the best two fliers of all time!” Rainbow Dash said a little louder as she pumped a hoof high into the air making Trixie smile a little. Maybe these ponies were going to be better than she first thought. Well, she had to admit she liked a few of them more since coming back. Rarity being the first pony…
“Let’s just head inside and I’ll answer all of your questions.” Trixie sighed.
Trixie sat in front of the door, backed up almost against it as she looked around the room at all of the faces. Princess Cadence, Twilight’s old friends and her brother…Shining armor formed a semi circle all watching her expecting answers to their questions. If it wasn’t for her parents on either side of her, she had a feeling she would have fled as soon as she realized how much pressure this was going to be on her to explain everything.
“So sugarcube…want to explain why you are pretending to be Twilight’s sister and hiding her from us?” Applejack asked, her expression a little cross. She wasn’t attacking Trixie which she suspected was due to the princess holding a wing out in front of her.
“Please…let her talk before we decide on anything.” Cadence said, narrowing her eyes at the earth pony before giving an encouraging smile to Trixie.
“She isn’t pretending.” A male voice came from Pinkie Pie shocking a few of them, but Twilight’s old friends seemed used to it. Looking closer Trixie could see a miniature Discord sitting in her mane. “Even with all that delicious chaos surrounding our no longer missing unicorn, I can smell connection between them.”
“So…how long did you know?” Rarity asked, looking a little shocked at the revelation.
“Five years almost…the pony who I thought was our father lied to me…to us. Convinced me that with Rose there our mother would come back home. Neither was our parents though and the mare I believed was my mother dropped off a journal while telling us that…she wanted nothing to do with us.” Trixie explained, leaning into her real mother’s side. It felt so good to actually have a mother there to support her…to love her. It gave her the strength to do this.
“Then why haven’t you come back before?” Shining Armor asked angrily, glaring at the pony he was being told was his sister. A part of him wanted to go up and hug her, welcome her to the family yet something was keeping him from doing so. He was angry that Trixie knew where Twilight was while letting them all suffer her missing for so long.
“Oh boo hoo, she was missing from your life for five years. For your information both Twilight and Trixie had things a thousand times worse.” Discord said solemnly as he glared at the white unicorn. He never really liked him all that much, the stallion usually meant well, but Discord just didn’t really like him a lot. It was just one of those things that couldn’t be explained.
“And how do you know that?” Shining Armor asked, returning a glare to the so called god of chaos.
“Because my silly little pony…I can read all the surface thoughts being screamed out of our friend her. Oh boy I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.” Discord said, “And even if I couldn’t, the tears streaking down the poor mare’s face should be an indication.”
“Is it true?” Fluttershy asked softly.
“Rose…Twilight ran away after what happened at the wedding. I don’t know the specifics…she can’t remember them…but she was beaten nearly to death and raped. She looked like frankenpony when she stumbled into my d…into the pony I thought was my father.” Trixie explained, seeing Cadence collapse into sobs against Shining Armor while Rainbow Dash pulled Fluttershy close. She shouldn’t have been shocked by it, but she was when Discord took on the form of a brown earth pony and comforted Pinkie Pie. Applejack looked angry, but pulled Rarity close for support and to support the crying unicorn. She was thankful when her parents comforted her.
“Is Summer really her filly?” Fluttershy asked softly, wiping at the tears that just wouldn’t stop.
“Yes.” Trixie simply answered, trying to get herself composed. She already knew all of this and kept reminding herself that it all had a silver lining. “As much as it hurts her…I know she wouldn’t change it if she could.”
“But why?’ Cadence asked, her voice wavering.
“Because she loves Summer with every single bit of her heart. Summer is her life…our life…and we would do anything for her.” Trixie explained. “When she learned how to regulate the magic to help Summer, we knew she would need some pony to help teach her how to fly. I thought it would be good to get her to return home since…I know somewhere deep inside her she misses every pony…even if I’m not so sure all of you deserve it.”
“Twilight?” Princess Celestia asked softly as she pushed into the room to find the purple unicorn lying on a bed with a young filly pegasus. She was shocked when she arrived in Ponyville to hear the excited chatter of the populace rejoicing that Twilight had come home to them. It was easy enough to piece together what had happened after speaking with a few ponies which had the princess both excited and worried. Apparently the poor unicorn had amnesia and was using strange spells which helped not only a young filly who couldn’t fly, but defend herself when Rainbow Dash had attacked her. Well, some ponies claimed Rainbow Dash attacked her believing that she was a changeling since the flier was this village’s Sentinel while others thought it was just an argument that got too heated.
Then there were the other rumors…rumors that it wasn’t Rainbow Dash who Twilight had attacked. Rather it was Princess Cadence…apparently Twilight had freaked out upon seeing her. It didn’t make sense, Twilight loved Cadence deeply and even with amnesia she just couldn’t see it happening. Yet she used what Celestia believed to have been the blood magic that they sensed to mount the attack. She was praying that it was just a spell Twilight learned for protection and she wasn’t about to go out and slaughter a whole village just to gain some power.
Who was she kidding, this was Twilight. Even with amnesia Celestia doubted that the unicorn would turn dark like that. Sure she would be excited about learning some new spells, but Celestia would make sure that the unicorn stopped using the blood magic. It was just as dangerous for the unicorn as it was for those around her.
She was a little annoyed though when the nurse tried to tell her that she couldn’t go in and see Twilight, but in the end relented seeing who Celestia was. No pony was around though except the two sleeping on the bed. She couldn’t help smiling at how cute the pair was while wondering just who the little pegasus filly was.
“H-Hello.” The filly squeaked out as she looked up to see Celestia, her eyes going wide upon seeing the white alicorn. “Get away from my mommy!”
Celestia was taken aback by the exclamation from the little filly that jumped to her hooves defensively between Twilight and Celestia, her wings spreading out.. While she was floored by the claim that the still sleeping unicorn was the filly’s mother, she wasn’t too shocked by the reaction of a strange pony waking the pegasus.
“I’m not going to hurt anyone, I am Princess Celestia. I’m…an old friend of your mother’s.” Celestia said, waking the unicorn up who reached up and pulled the filly back down next to her.
“Its okay, Summer. She may be a big meanie…but I don’t think she would hurt us.” Twilight whispered, soothing the filly while once again shocking Celestia.
“I…heard you have amnesia.” Celestia said slowly, trying to decide what to say to the unicorn she had spent so long searching for. She missed Twilight so much and regretted her actions which had helped drive the poor mare away. She had beaten herself up every day thinking back to that day and how she treated the mare who she thought of as a daughter. The stress from the wedding and possible invasion had her stressed out to the fullest and she messed up because of it. The wedding should never have even been a priority at the time, but who she believed to be Cadence had insisted on it and she relented. If she wasn’t so preoccupied over the invasion she would never have let the changeling fool her like it did.
“I…had amnesia.” Twilight said, her eyes narrowing up at Celestia making the alicorn. Did she mean she remembered everything?
“Twilight…” Celestia got out before being interrupted.
“Don’t even start with me! I don’t want to hear anymore of your lies. I’m through with it, I have a life with my sister and daughter and I want nothing more to do with any of you so called nobles!” Twilight snapped out, tears filling her eyes. She was angry at Celestia, but she had to admit that she had nothing against Luna or Cadence…oh Faust! What had she done? Had she really attacked Cadence???
“Tw-Twilight!” Celestia gasped in surprise. Hanging her head, she took a deep breath coming to a decision. She just wanted to say her piece to the unicorn, and if she didn’t want anything to do with her afterwards…then Celestia would leave her be. Of course she would keep tabs on the unicorn and help her out any way she could from the shadows. “Just…please let me say something. If…if you still don’t want anything to do with me then I will leave you be.”
“Okay…I’ll listen.” Twilight said taking comfort from her daughter’s warmth next to her.
“Thank you. Twilight, what happened at the wedding should never have happened. I was highly stressed from the invasion and when who I believed to be Cadence came to me saying she changed her mind and didn’t want to wait for the wedding, I was foolish enough to relent to her. Between frantically running back and forth doing what I could to prepare for the wedding, taking care of my normal duties and the stress of dealing with the invasion…things just became too much. I was going to snap from something…I just wish it wasn’t at you. I…I love you Twilight. I spent years with you, raising you the best that I could and always thought of you as a daughter. I messed up Twilight…I can try and reason it away all I want…but I messed up. I love you and I’ll do anything if it would fix things. I’d give up my crown and move here to Ponyville if you wanted.” Celestia said, watching the expression on Twilight’s face as the unicorn snuggled with her daughter.
“I don’t want you giving up your crown.” Twilight said as Celestia’s tears started and slowly turned to leave. “I do want you to promise me something though. If you ever take another student, I don’t want you keeping them away from their parents so much.”
“I promise.” Celestia sobbed out as she spun back around, “Does that mean?”
“Come here.” Twilight said sitting up and opening her hooves waiting for a hug that Celestia quickly accepted.
“Momma, what’s going on?” Summer asked as the two pulled back.
“This is Princess Celestia…she was like a mother to me growing up.” Twilight explained slowly.
“So I have another grandma?” Summer asked excited, though she still glared a little at Celestia as her wings twitched. “But didn’t you hurt momma?”
“It…was a misunderstanding honey.” Twilight said hugging Summer to her.
“If you’re sure…but if you hurt momma again I won’t forgive you!” Summer exclaimed, making both Twilight and Celestia giggle a little at the serious, yet cute looking expression on Summer’s face.
XXXXXXX
“Auntie? What’s going on?” Cadence asked as the group left the room after hearing what happened to Twilight. As hurt as she was that Twilight had attacked her in the way she had, it didn’t compare to the pain she was feeling for her little Ladybug. She had been through so much and it wasn’t fair for any pony to suffer through it. Unlike some of the others, she did look at the silver lining in it all as Trixie suggested. She wanted to make up with Twilight and get to know little Summer.
“We felt a pony using blood magic and we were worried about you. Imagine the shock we felt when we arrived to hear rumors of what was going on here from the ponies. And the reports from the guards when I asked them when we got here…is it true that Twilight used blood magic?” Luna asked, no longer really worried after eavesdropping on the room. She still wanted to hear it from someone she knew was right there.
“Yeah…I thought she hated me at first when I woke up. She used it to defend herself though because she didn’t realize that it wasn’t me at the wedding, but the changeling.” Cadence said, feeling relief when she learned that it was all a mistake and she wasn’t mad at Twilight for defending herself. She was worried though for the unicorn and her mental state. “I don’t think she’s a blood mage if that’s what you are worried about. I think she…used blood magic to create a defense to protect herself though.”
“It is still blood magic and we will have to make sure that she understands that it is too dangerous to both herself and those around her to keep using.” Luna explained, “But I’m sure when she hears why it is forbidden, she won’t use it.”
“And what about her using chaos magic?” Discord asked from his pony form next to Pinkie Pie.
“We are no longer trying to keep you imprisoned, so it no longer matters if a pony uses rune casting so long as it is nothing dangerous. I’m sure Twilight knows what is safe to use, and it doesn’t matter if you get a little stronger by having a pony under your domain.” Luna sighed. She didn’t particularly trust the chaos god, but she knew love was a powerful force and a strong motivator. She was sure Pinkie would keep the god in his place…especially after what he did to her. Unlike the other elements, Pinkie Pie was now immortal much like Discord and the sisters. She had been given a piece of Discord’s power so that she could be by his side forever.
“Well that’s good to know! We can have a party for Twilight and Summer when they are feeling better then!” Pinkie Pie said happily, happier than Luna had seen the pony in a long time.
“I know the others are here…and really want to see you.” Celestia said softly, hearing the low talking coming in through the room. Twilight heard it as well, though muffled by the wood, many voices could be heard going back and forth.
“I don’t know…after what I did I don’t think I can face any of them. I attacked Cadence…I can’t believe I did that!” Twilight groaned, her memories of what really happened at the wedding still warring with the things she thought she remembered were true. And despite the little bit of fear that remained of cadence, she knew the alicorn hadn’t really tried to kill her…but something in her mind was whispering the opposite. She was worried about how Cadence was doing though.
“She’s okay, but we will have to have a serious talk about your use of blood magic. You do realize that it is forbidden to use it, do you not?” Celestia asked, a little sternly making Twilight lower her head a bit.
“What’s blood magic?” Summer asked, nuzzling her mother.
“Nothing to worry about dear, I was just reminding her that it is a type of magic that shouldn’t really be used.” Celestia said, deciding it would be better discussed privately later. Not that she was going to punish Twilight for it as long as the unicorn promised not to use it again. It was part of the reason she was in the hospital still while the others have already been dismissed. Twilight had apparently been low on blood and her stress over using magic only weakened her more. “Cadence loves you Twilight, and she really wants to see you.”
“I’m not sure if I can face her…she still scares me a little…I think. And after what I did…” Twilight said softly.
“You didn’t do anything wrong…not really…but I think it would be best if you spoke with her and reassure both of you that everything is ok.” Celestia suggested, smiling when she saw the familiar sigh of defeat.
“Fine…but only her, I don’t want to see my brother or the others yet. Please send Trixie in though with her though.” Twilight said softly, smiling a little as Celestia leaned down to kiss both Twilight and Summer before leaving the room. A few moments later Trixie returning with a slightly nervous looking pink alicorn.
“So…how did things go with the Princess?” Trixie asked softly, Cadence staring at the pegasus filly on the bed next to Twilight.
“Better than expected…I remember…most everything now.” Twilight said, having to forcefully push some memories out of her head as she just didn’t want to deal with them right now.
“So…you remember me?” Cadence asked, her eyes watery as she looked on in hope at Twilight. There were no accusations or anger there, only hope and love.
“Y-yeah…I’m so sorry I attacked you.” Twilight choked out before she found herself in a hug from the alicorn who was crying happily.
“I’m so happy that you are back, I’ve missed you so much.” Cadence cried out, “I’ve never given up looking, never gave up on you.”
“I’m so sorry…all I could see was…I couldn’t remember anything but the fear…” Twilight whimpered as Summer snuggled closer to her to offer support as cadence pulled away. Feeling Summer nuzzle her made Twilight realize something was missing. “No…no, no, no! Where is it? Trixie, where’s my cloak?”
“Twiley, what are you doing?” Cadence asked, confused as she watched Twilight try and pull a sheet up and around her head as if trying to hide her face.
“Please don’t look at me like this!” Twilight cried out, shaking a little as she pulled the sheet tighter around herself with her magic.
“Twilight…relax, I told you before you look good. You can’t see them.” Trixie said softly as she moved to Twilight’s side to nuzzle her.
“Yes you can…they called me a freak…Frankenpony…I don’t want ponies staring at my scars.” Twilight whimpered.
“Your beautiful, Twilight. I don’t see what you’re talking about, there isn’t any scars.” Cadence said softly, tilting her head as she studied the unicorn as she freaked out.
“Here…and here…and here…and the long one here…” Twilight frantically cried out pointing from one spot to another, Cadence seeing nothing except for a slightly darker line on the one she claimed was long, though it was barely noticeable.
“You’re beautiful mama, we keep telling you that.” Summer said nuzzling Twilight again.
“You are honey…you are very beautiful and you can’t see any scars. They must have healed long ago.” Cadence said softly, gently using her own magic to pull the sheet away from Twilight’s face. “I swear on my life that they aren’t visible. I can see where…your daughter got her looks from. She’s very beautiful, just like her mother. And…I hope that you will come visit me in the Crystal Empire for a few months when you get out of here.”
“I don’t want to be anywhere near him.” Twilight said, stopping her efforts to cover herself as she turned to look away with an angry look flashing through her eyes. It didn’t take long for Cadence to figure out who Twilight was talking about.
“I love your brother Twilight, but we aren’t married. He can stay here while you come with me if you agree to it.” Cadence said, not really wanting to leave Twilight here with her ex-friends in this state. There was no way Cadence believed Twilight would survive long here. Not after the horrible way the treated the poor mare during the changeling invasion.
“You…aren’t married?” Twilight asked slowly, a little shocked at the revelation.
“No, I swore I would never marry him until you were found and brought home. And only then after you personally gave us your blessing and stood by me as my mare of honor. I love you Twiley, blood or not, you are my little sister.” Cadence said, smiling up to Trixie and Summer. “And it looks like I have two little sisters now and a very pretty niece that I look forward to spoiling.”
“You’re my auntie to?” Summer asked, her mood going from worried to excited in less than a second as she beamed up at the praise given to her from what she considered was the prettier princess…and nicer one to.
“Yes honey, and I look forward to getting to know you.” Cadence said as she nuzzled the now excited pegasus filly. “Twilight…your brother loves and misses you just as much as me. I don’t know if you remember everything…but the changeling who was pretending to be me…she was very powerful and kept him under a very powerful spell that made him only think of her and reject anything that challenged her. He’s never really forgiven himself for it.”
“I don’t care, I don’t want to talk to him.” Twilight sighed, “I will think about coming with you though as long as Trixie and my daughter can come to.”
“Of course they can, I insist that they come.” Cadence said happily, smiling at seeing the excited looks on the three ponies. Something was definitely going on here though…”I…take it you know at least some about the Crystal Empire?”
“We’ve seen pictures of it and…Summer really wants to go. We actually thought of going a little, but we couldn’t afford getting there. And we were worried how things would go since…we didn’t really have a lot and wasn’t sure how cold it is.” Twilight admitted.
“The surrounding area is very cold, but the Crystal Empire itself is very warm thanks to the Crystal Heart providing protection from both evil and the elements. It feels like its summer all the time except not as hot.” Cadence said, smiling at the trio who seemed very interested. “How about I tell you more about it?”
“Really? Will you?” Summer begged making Cadence giggle as Trixie and her sat around Twilight with the filly snuggling up to her mother waiting her hear more about what seemed like a place from a fantasy book.
Twilight sighed as she walked through town, she kept wanting to run back and hide in her room now that her cloak was gone. No pony would admit to knowing what happened to it, though she suspected a nurse threw it away. She would have suspected her sister, but Trixie had sworn that she didn’t do it. Without it every pony was staring at her, welcoming her home while giving her looks of love and support…there were no looks of fear or disgust. While that made her feel a little better, she still couldn’t help feeling self conscious. She was sure that they were just being nice…but something was telling her that they truly either didn’t see the scars or just didn’t care about them.
“Twilight!” A pegasus mare cried out hugging her tightly all of a sudden shocking the unicorn. It took a few moments to remember who the pony was, her memories being more like a searchable index at the moment. Sure most of them were back, but they just didn’t seem to be meshing with her life at the moment. She would remember things when trying, but sometimes it took an effort to dig up the desired memories.
“Derpy?” Twilight asked, hugging the pegasus back for a few moments before they pulled apart.
“Pinkie told me what happened.” Derpy said, worry in her mismatched eyes as she gave Twilight a look filled with love and worry. “Please don’t be mad at her, all of your friends are worried about you. They love you.”
“I don’t know if I can call them my friends.” Twilight sighed, rubbing one of her legs with the other nervously. While she enjoyed spending time with Cadence, Luna and her parents, she refused to see any pony else for the time being. Her parents had been trying to convince her to give Shining Armor a chance, but she just wasn’t sure of what to believe.
“They want to be, but I won’t push you.” Derpy said, pulling a pink box out of nowhere and opening it. She held it toward Twilight to see a box of banana oat muffins making the unicorn’s mouth water. “Have one.”
“Thank you.” Twilight said, truly grateful for the offer as she remembered Derpy only shared her muffins with those she cares deeply about. It made Twilight feel good knowing that the pegasus cared enough to offer Twilight one of Derpy’s favorite flavors. Slowly Twilight lifted one from the box wither magic, slowly peeling back the paper and biting into it while letting out a moan at just how good the thing tasted.
“They’re really good.” Derpy said happily as she took one herself and stuffed the box back in a saddlebag Twilight just noticed that seemed far too small to safely keep the box. “I…wanted to talk to you about something though.”
“Please don’t try and convince me to go see them.” Twilight sighed, but Derpy shook her head slowly as sadness filled her eyes.
“No, that’s between you and them. What I wanted to talk about was our daughters. You probably don’t know this, but…one of my daughters has a lot in common with your own. From what I’ve seen of you with yours around town before you took that silly thing off, I can see how much you love her…and I want to thank you for looking past where she came from. I know…I know from personal experience how hard it can be to move past what happened, but if you keep remembering that she is you silver lining…your little angel…then everything will be fine.” Derpy said hugging Twilight again, “It might get hard for awhile with your memories coming back…but you have ponies that love you and will be there for you. And if you need a pony who knows what you are going through…I’ll always be there for you.”
“Thank you.” Twilight said, sniffling a little as she wiped her tears away as the two separated again. Derpy was wiping her own tears away, giving Twilight a nuzzle before pulling back.
“You are very welcome dear; if you ever need anything at all just come find me. Okay?” Derpy asked, spreading her wings.
“Good, I have to get back to my deliveries now, but remember that she’s your light when things look dark.” Derpy said before spreading her wings and taking to the skies. Twilight couldn’t help let out a small giggle when she heard a noise followed by, “I’m okay!”
With a much lighter heart than before, Twilight continued her trip to the lake where she planned to bask in the sunlight for awhile. She needed to get out after spending so much time inside. A few hours just relaxing near the lake were just what she needed to sort her thoughts. She still wasn’t too sure who she was…was she Rose or was she Twilight? She had admittedly been thinking of herself more as Twilight since her memories came mostly back to her, but at the same time did she even want to be Twilight? She was happy being Rose with just Trixie and Summer by her side, but she had ponies from Twilight’s past that loved her…and that she loved in return. Did that make her Rose any less? Or did it make her Twilight any less wanting to keep her life with her sister and daughter the way it was? Sure they had a hard time sometimes, but they were happy.
“I love her.” A male voice said breaking Twilight from her thoughts. It sounded strained as if it was trying not to cry drawing Twilight’s attention. Looking up she saw the backs of not only her sister, but her brother sitting side by side watching out over the lake. Gasping, Twilight ducked into some bushes and watched the two as the white unicorn hung his head. “All of this is my fault…the changeling may have had me under a spell…but I should have known better than take my attention away from guarding against the invasion. I lost everything because I let Cadence get ponynapped and let that imposter enchant me. I tore my little sister’s heart out…and I deserve everything that has happened since…but she doesn’t.”
“Look, I don’t really know what to think of you. I want to get to know you, at the same time I’m so mad at you for treating me like you did…and you weren’t under a spell. I also don’t really have a good opinion of you over what you did at the invasion…how you treated our sister. She may not admit it, but she loves you so much. It’s why it hurts her so much…I can see it in her eyes. She wants to run to you and have you hold her and tell her everything is going to be okay before…before she remembers and her anger takes over.” Trixie sighed, “I wish you cared for me even a fraction of how much you care for her, but I’m not your sister. I’m just a stranger…”
“No you aren’t.” Shining Armor said, reaching out and pulling Trixie into a tight hug. “You are my little sister…and I want to get to know you. I know I was shocked when we met at the hospital…and I admit I was a little suspicious…but you really are my sister and I’ll do anything for both of you.”
“Butter me up all you want, I’m not going to betray Twilight and try and get her to talk to you.” Trixie sighed, “I wish we could all just be a happy family…but you don’t know the things she’s been through.”
“I wish she would just tell me…to talk to me.” Shining Armor sighed.
Twilight wasn’t sure what to do, she hated seeing Trixie feeling bad…and she was also feeling the same about Shining Armor despite still feeling so angry with him. Every pony had told her it was a spell that drove him to act the way he did at the wedding disaster. Maybe…it was time to listen to his side of things.
“Are you sure that’s what you want?” Twilight asked nervously as she came out of the bushes and scared the two unicorns who spun around to look wide eyed at Twilight. She couldn’t help it, she started giggling before bursting out in full laughter at seeing that. A few moments later the other two joined her.
The three sat staring out at the lake, Shining Armor between his sisters as they lay against each other sharing their body heat. It had been a long talk; one that Shining felt so much anger at himself and the ponies that had hurt Twilight. He was also happy and proud of Trixie for being there for Twilight when no pony else would.
“Big brother…I…forgive you for what happened. It wasn’t your fault…but it might be awhile before I can completely forget it, if I can.” Twilight said, “I do want to take Cadence up on her offer though. At the end of the week, if Trixie and Summer want to, I plan on going back with her and spend some time away from everything.”
“I…guess I can get a room at the Inn here while you are there.” Shining Armor sighed.
“Like hay you will, we need a big strong stallion to carry our stuff!” Twilight said, smiling a little at the confusion on her brother’s face as it slowly changed into happiness at the indication.
“Are you sure?” Shining Armor asked.
“Hey, I’m not carrying all that stuff.” Trixie said, smiling herself. It looked like her family may just be healing. She had hopes of her family becoming whole…to finally have the love of a family she always wanted.
Loyalty, something she strived to be especially after the wedding and what she did to Twilight, who was her best friend next to Fluttershy. Only now she wasn’t so sure about that because Twilight seemed to want very little to do with them, and who could blame her. Rarity was probably the nicest to Twilight when they thought that she was Rose while Rainbow herself was probably the worse. She knew that the so called Rose wasn’t a changeling, her pendant would have warned her of it, but there was something about the cloaked pony she just didn’t trust.
Not that the others really trusted her a lot, who would trust a mysteriously cloaked pony anyways? It was suspicious, right? If only she actually tried actually looking and listening with her heart instead of her arrogance, then maybe all of this could have been avoided. She felt something deep in her heart telling her something was off about the pony, but in a good way…yet she suspected the worse as usual. She only agreed to train the filly to keep an eye out on Trixie and Rose to make sure they weren’t up to something.
“It will be okay, I’m sure she will come around.” Fluttershy said nuzzling Rainbow as the shared the bed in the pink maned pony’s cottage. Fluttershy didn’t mind flying and visiting clouds, but she preferred staying on the ground with her animal friends so Rainbow had moved in with her and helped with the animals some. Not a lot though, many of them didn’t really like how close she had gotten with Fluttershy and constantly let her know it. Who knew a group of squirrels could be so vicious with a pile of acorns?
“I really wish I knew for sure…we messed up Shy. I mean we really messed up.” Rainbow sighed, resting her head on her forelegs. “It’s our fault Twilight ran away and…that happened to her. I’m not so sure I even have the right to ask for forgiveness. If we only talked to her after the invasion, we might have avoided all of this.”
“I know she suffered a lot, but I don’t think she would change it if she could.” Fluttershy said, snuggling close to Rainbow Dash. “Have you seen how much she loves that little filly…it doesn’t matter where Summer came from, Twilight loves her very much.”
“Yeah, she is a great filly.” Rainbow Dash smiled, “I really wish I took training her more seriously instead of suspecting something was going on.”
“I warned you that you should have showed more kindness to them.” Fluttershy sighed, a little annoyed that Rainbow didn’t listen, yet unable to fault the pony. Unknown to others, Rainbow took guarding Ponyville very seriously and single hoofedly taken care of several threats to it from changelings. Defeating the ones who had plans for revenge while the sole one that just wanted to live peacefully was set up a place with Zecora. Rainbow sometimes worked herself to exhaustion when her pendant acted up to new threats. “I know how hard you work to protect us, Rainbow…and I love you for the thought, but you have to allow yourself some peace.”
“Maybe someday…” Rainbow sighed, “I guess we will have to wait until tomorrow and see what Twilight has to say when we go see her. I just hope she doesn’t change her mind about seeing us.”
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Pinkie Pie hummed to herself as she had the kitchen to herself and Discord. Once again she was dancing around, enjoying the weird feeling of being what Discord called human, but enjoying it was well as she held a large bowl to herself mixing the batter for a cake that she intended to give Twilight when they went to see her. It was so much easier doing it with hands than with hoofs, but she would miss being her pony self if she stayed human.
“So tell me again why you think it was your fault?” Discord asked, also in a human form as he watched her sway back and forth, a hungry look in his eyes. He, despite what others may think, truly loved this female. Yes he was the god of chaos, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a heart or needs. And this deliciously chaotic creature was probably his perfect match, though he did have to admit that he could have seen himself going for the timid lovable Fluttershy as well. Still, he was more than happy how things worked out and wouldn’t trade being with Pinkie for anything. Not that he could after giving an actual piece of himself to the pony making her not only his wife, but his eternal mate giving her immortality and a small piece of his power.
“It was my job to make ponies laugh, but instead of making Twilight laugh I made her cry when I turned my back on her. I didn’t take her seriously when she came rushing frantically into the rehearsal and look what happened because of it.” Pinkie sighed as she slowed in her dancing, the spoon also losing momentum.
“So it was your fault that destiny lead your friend to run away? For her to end up going to the wrong place at the wrong time to be hurt like she was? It was her fault that she had a wonderful little filly that…oh wait, isn’t that a good thing?” Discord asked, knowing when to be serious, but trying to get Pinkie to see that while yes they did hurt Twilight, it wasn’t exactly their fault for the fate that befell her. Well he knew that it was partly their fault as it could have all been avoided, but he wasn’t about to voice that right now and upset Pinkie Pie anymore than she was.
“Of course Summer is a good thing. I hope to have a wonderful little filly like her someday.” Pinkie said, giving a watery smile up to Discord who gently pulled the bowl out of her hands and backed her up into the counter.
“I think that it would be wonderful to have a filly like her to.” Discord said smiling, kissing Pinkie’s neck while holding her hips after sitting the bowl down. He suddenly lifter her and sat her on the counter where he looked up at her with a mischievous smirk as he decided this might be a good way to get her mind off of the depressing thoughts. “In fact, I think we should get started trying now.”
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Applejack let out a huge breath of relief when she loaded the last basket of apples into the barn for the day. They would be taken to the market tomorrow to sale, but her mind really wasn’t on that as usual. It was on the fact that Twilight had finally come home and wanted to see them tomorrow. Big Mac had already agreed to take care of things at the market so Applejack could go, but she had to admit she was scared.
She had promised to never take Twilight’s fears and worries for granted again, and she broke that promise to be with that fake Princess Cadence. Of course she apologized for it later, but even she realized it probably didn’t sound very sincere since she gave it when completely exhausted. She had always wondered if perhaps if she stayed with Twilight despite being more tired than after an apple bucking marathon, if things would have been turned out differently. If she stayed and talked instead of tiredly trudging after the others to see what could be salvaged from the kitchen for another wedding that didn’t even take place. Not that she was too upset about the cancellation when they found out Twilight was missing.
Now she had a chance to make things up to her, but she showed nothing but mistrust to them when finding out Trixie was involved. She still wasn’t too sure how Trixie and Twilight could be related despite knowing the facts, but they seemed to truly love each other so Applejack decided to let the past stay in the past and hope that they could become friends.
If that was even possible after everything that happened.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Rarity sat at the small café across from the park where she watched little Summer running back and forth with Princess Cadence, Shining Armor, Night Light and Twilight Velvet playing tag. It brought a smile to the white unicorn’s face as she sipped her tea, already knowing what Twilight was going to tell all of them tomorrow. In truth she really wished that it wasn’t going to happen, but after talking with Spike and Trixie about them changing their mind about needing the boutique for awhile, she couldn’t really blame them.
Thankfully neither the library nor the boutique was going to be left unattended though. Trixie said she would be happy to run it for her if Rarity still wanted the unicorn to when they returned, but until then Spike would take care of the library while Ruby attended the boutique. They made such a cute couple, though Ruby could be quite the little snarker. She was usually pretty funny though.
Since Twilight, or Rose, came back to Ponyville things had seemed to be a little livelier. And she had done something that no other pony could in giving Scootaloo a real chance at flying when the pony all but gave up on it. To see the smile and excitement replace the depression that often graced the young pegasus once again gave Rarity a renewed hope for the future when for awhile she was starting to lose it. Not that she would admit it to any pony.
It was too bad that after finding out Rose was actually Twilight that their lost friend was leaving again so soon, but who could blame her? With all the memories here and regaining memories of what…happened to her, a new setting would do wonders in helping her. She had promised to return though and Rarity believed that promise. Ponyville had become Twilight’s home, even calling out to her when the poor unicorn couldn’t even remember.
“More tea?” The waiter asked offering Rarity a refill that she smiled and nodded to.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The following morning after packing up their things, and storing what they would be leaving behind in their trailer, Twilight stood in the now cleaned out room of the shop waiting for her friends. Despite wanting Trixie there with her for this, she sent her sister off with Summer so she could do this without Summer needing to witness anything. This was…going to be a little hard for her.
She was still angry at the ponies in her memories, the ponies who had turned their backs on her when she needed them. Yet the ponies she met since coming here, despite the trouble with Rainbow Dash, were vastly different from the ones in her memories. True, they shared a lot of similarities wit their old selves, but they had grown. Two of the biggest changes being Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Rarity running an orphanage and Rainbow Dash giving up on her dreams in order to protect the town she loved. Things that she couldn’t help but to respect.
These things made the decision she had come to much easier and yet harder at the same time. She agreed with her father though, holding grudges and anger in her heart would do nothing to help her. She wanted a fresh start, a chance to begin anew with no ghosts to haunt her and drag her down.
“We’re here darling.” Rarity cried out as the group of ponies accompanied by Discord in pony form with a cake box on his back came trotting in.
“We’re so happy you agreed to see us! I even made you a cake!” Pinkie Pie said happily, a little more bounce in her step than there had been recently.
“Well…I wanted to tell you all something. I know…we have some things between us. And…I hate to say this, but…I can’t forgive you for hurting me at the wedding.” Twilight said, hanging her head a little as they all gasped. Even Discord gasped, though Twilight was sure he was reading her surface thoughts and probably already knew what she had to say.
“B-But we’re really sorry.” Fluttershy said softly, her eyes tearing up.
“Please let me finish.” Twilight said, pressing on before she lost her courage to do this. “I…feel that Ponyville is my home, and I will be returning here in a few months. For now though, I’m taking Cadence up on her offer to get a change of scenery and…work through my memories with my dad’s help. As for all of you, I don’t know any of you…you…aren’t the ponies I remember. That’s why I can’t forgive you, I can’t forgive you because you aren’t those ponies any longer. You aren’t the ones who messed up and when I come back…I look forward to getting to know each and every one of you…if you will have me as a friend.”
“Of course we want you as a friend! You are one of the most awesome ponies I’ve ever met!” Rainbow Dash cried out, diving in to hug Twilight as the other, even Discord himself, surrounded her in a group hug.
The past was left in the past, and a new future was laid out in front of Twilight and she intended to make the best of it. It would be hard, nothing worthwhile was ever easy, but it could prove to be good starting over.
“So Twilight, have you given thought to my offer?” Celestia asked as she walked with Twilight toward Cadence’s chambers where the others were waiting. Twilight would have already been there, but had to go pick something up for Cadence to help her cravings. Some ponies were upset over the fact that Cadence was pregnant today, but all of the ponies back in the Crystal Empire were happy. The only reason this was going on here was for show since they already had another ceremony back where Cadence considered her home.
“I’m sorry, Princess, I will always love you like a mother…but I just can’t go back to being your student.” Twilight sighed, knowing that it wasn’t the answer the alicorn was looking for. “Besides, I think you have your hooves full with your current student.”
“Remind me to thank your daughter again for bringing my daughter home.” Celestia said with a small smile, not wanting to comment on the let down. Today was a day to be happy, not try to convince Twilight to return to her post as student and possibly start an argument over it.
“I still can’t believe that you never even introduced us while she was here.” Twilight said, rolling her eyes in annoyance. She knew the reason, and she could understand it, but the years Sunset spent suffering in that other world would have never happened if Celestia had just told every pony the truth like she did in the end. Celestia had told every pony everything and promised never to try and hide things again from her little ponies. While it sounded good, Twilight doubted it would last. Politics was impossible without lies sadly, and sometimes those lies were necessary to protect those you love. Thankfully the news was taken rather well and reestablished the faith that many lost during the last half decade.
“It is a mistake I regret every day, much like the mistakes I made with you. I can’t say how sorry I am for not having faith in you when you needed it the most.” Celestia sighed, earning a nuzzle from Twilight.
“It’s long in the past, leave it there, okay?” Twilight said, meaning it. She was a little worried about today, but after going through it a month ago back in the Crystal Empire, she wasn’t as scared about something happening. “Besides, Sunset forgave you and I know she loves you very much.”
“I’m not sue I deserve it, but I’m trying my best to make things up to her.” Celestia said, “By the way…the others arrived while you were getting…what was it again?”
“Some kind of specially ordered stuff from Joe. I’m not sure what’s in it…and I’m not sure I want to.” Twilight giggled, remembering the look on the pony’s face when he read the order Cadence had sent with Twilight.
“Well, this is your stop. I have to go check in with Iron Sentinel and make sure the security detail is running smoothly.” Celestia said, hugging Twilight. “Good luck.”
“Thank you Princess.” Twilight said before Celestia pulled back and trotted away. Pushing into the room where Cadence was surrounded by Sunset, Trixie, Summer, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity.
“You made it, Twi!” Applejack said with excitement, the same excitement mirrored on the Ponyville ponies.
“Of course I made it.” Twilight laughed, pulling the small tub…of whatever the stuff was from her saddlebag with her magic and passed it to Cadence while Summer stuck her head into the bag making the others giggle.
“Did you bring anything else, mama, I’m starving!” Summer asked, finally finding the muffin she knew was hers. Twilight bought them for her every time she came back from any bakery. It had turned out that Summer stayed in great shape no matter what she ate because of the side effects of her heritage. The unicorn magic made her faster, but used more pegasus magic to maintain her abilities. Because of this she had a much higher metabolism and seemed to always be hungry.
“Of course I did honey, your favorite muffin.” Twilight giggled as she floated both muffin and pony in front of her. Hugging the small pegasus filly.
“Thank you mama!” Summer said happily hugging Twilight back before taking a huge bite of the treat.
“She’s grown so much.” Fluttershy said, smiling at the pair as Cadence dug into her own treat.
“I really hope we get to spend more time wither soon.” Pinkie Pie smiled.
“Weeellll…after today, Trixie, Summer, and myself will be coming home to Ponyville.” Twilight said earning a loud cheer from all the Ponyville ponies and Sunset.
“YES! I called it, you owe me a hundred bits princess!” Sunset cheered, hugging Twilight as the other gathered around for a group hug. Cadence only laughed, knowing the true reason Sunset was happy about it. Sunset wanted her friend closer to Canterlot where it would be easier for them to visit each other. After all, Sunset and Twilight had become fast friends, best of friends even…and if Cadence was right…in less that a few months the two would most likely be officially dating.
Oh Cadence almost wished she still lived in Canterlot, she would pay to see the expressions on some of the suitors faces when they complained about the relationship only for Sunset to tell them to buck off. It was so funny, yet effective, how Sunset dealt with the neigh-sayers.
“Darling, we are so happy! We missed you so much!” Rarity said, the others agreeing with her though the moment was broken when there was a knock on the door.
“Ten minutes princess.” The voice called.
“Thank you, we’re almost ready.” Cadence called back before turning to the others. “So Rarity, did you bring the extra dresses I asked you to?”
“Yes, but I’m not sure why you asked. Of course we would dress up for the event.” Rarity said.
“Well, I need more bridesmaids…and I figured that you girls would make the best ones. Twilight, Trixie and Sunset here are my mares of honor. Summer is my flower pony and has the horn rings, and when I asked who could be bridesmaids…Twilight suggested you girls.”
“S-Seriously?” Rarity asked, Cadence nodding yes.
“Well, I kind of figured it would be nice to do this together and I know you girls will be twenty percent more awesome that any other pony we could come up with.” Twilight said with a smile of her own. Once again she was group hugged by them, making her smile as she soaked in their warmth. It was a start, a small start, but a start. She looked forward to the future, and couldn’t wait to see her parents out in the audience and at the reception. They were offered positions in the wedding as well, but declined letting the ‘younger generation’ handle it.
“Hurry up and get ready, we only have a few minutes.” Cadence said as she finished the last of her snack.
“Let’s do this!” Rainbow Dash said as Rarity hurried to help them get ready. It was short notice, but it was a welcome surprise all the same. This time they would do it right, they would do everything right starting with the wedding and on to their new friendship with their friend.
Trixie wasn’t sure how she got roped into doing this, not really wanting to face a room full of ponies to explain what happened to Twilight while she was missing. Especially not to ponies who she didn’t believe cared what happened to Trixie herself…and would probably blame a lot of it on her. They already blamed her for the Ursa incident when it was those two foolish colts that lured the creature into town.
“Are you sure you don’t want to be there?” Trixie asked, looking over to the bed to see Summer curled up next to her mother asleep. Rose…Twilight…whatever she would decide to call herself after this.
“I…I can’t face her. All I can see is…is her mocking me…leaving me to die after turning everyone I loved against me.” Twilight said, her voice a little shaky. Their father had come in and explained about the changeling invasion and how the Cadence of Twilight’s…Rose’s memories was actually one of them impersonating the princess. It was supposedly the purple unicorn who saved the real Cadence. “I don’t really want to face any of them…just please…answer their questions and ask them to leave me alone.”
“If you’re sure, sis. You owe me though.” Trixie said in a teasing manner, though it didn’t hide her worry. She was very worried about her sister, this was supposed to help Summer learn to fly and maybe help her sister.
“I’m sure…and thanks.” Twilight said smiling softly, Trixie returning it before turning to leave. Cadence wasn’t hurt and was already released. She was just knocked out and in shock, but got a room for all of them to gather after Trixie promised that she would come tell them about Twilight.
Walking down the hallway, her hoof steps seeming to become slower the farther she traveled. She was dreading this meeting very much, dreading how they were going to react…and what they may do to her. Cadence, despite assurances from her parents, could easily separate them by throwing Trixie into a dungeon somewhere.
“So…Trix…I…I’m sorry.” A voice said startling her out of her fears. Looking up she saw Rainbow Dash standing nervously outside the room she was going to.
“Wh-what?” Trixie asked in surprise as the nervous, yet sincere sounding apology from the pegasus.
“I’m sorry for the way I treated both of you since you came here. I promised myself to never act like that again…and yet I did. I saw so much of the past coming back when I saw you…and all the trouble Snips and Snails caused…and I knew better…but a part of me blamed both of you for it.” Rainbow Dash said slowly, rubbing one foreleg with the other.
“Look…I wanted my sister to come back here…for her own good. I know that deep down she was missing something…I’ve always known…and as much as I’m loathe to admit…I think somewhere she remembered all of you…and missed you.” Trixie said, finding it hard to get the right words for what she was trying to say out. She didn’t particularly care for this egotistical pegasus, after all she had the nerve to treat Trixie bad because of her stage persona while the pegasus acted worse in her every day life. Well, at least that’s what Trixie could see from what little she had saw of the flying pony.
“Why…you could have kept her from here…from all of us…” Rainbow Dash sighed, hanging her head knowing how much she had messed up. If only she dealt with the whole situation better.
“Because Summer needed flying lessons…and Rose…Twilight…she needed her friends and family. Even if I’m not so sure you deserve her.” Trixie said, waiting for the heated comeback from the pegasus. A comeback that never came.
“We don’t deserve her…but…I want to earn her friendship back. Even…if I have to start all over again. I love her, she…she brought us all together as real friends. Yeah we knew each other before Twi, but…we were never that close until she came here.” Rainbow Dash said, “If she’ll let me…I’ll make her daughter one of the best fliers in all of Equestria.”
“One of the best? Why not the best?” Trixie asked, arching an eyebrow at the claim.
“Well…I can’t ignore Scoots either…but…I will make them both the best two fliers of all time!” Rainbow Dash said a little louder as she pumped a hoof high into the air making Trixie smile a little. Maybe these ponies were going to be better than she first thought. Well, she had to admit she liked a few of them more since coming back. Rarity being the first pony…
“Let’s just head inside and I’ll answer all of your questions.” Trixie sighed.
Summer couldn’t help whimpering as she lay next to her mother who was asleep. A black mist was seeping into the room and it felt so cold…so scary. She shook her mom trying to wake her up, but she just couldn’t get the older pony to stir from her slumbers. She screamed as all of the blinds snapped shut as the light from the room seemed to disappear. Summer couldn’t help closing her eyes tightly and whimper when the voices started.
She should die…
…die…
She banished us…
…ussss…
No! …No…
She should be our new vessel…
…sellll…
Her powers are great…
…great…
With us she can be stronger…
…stronger…
“Leave my mommy alone!” Summer cried out, somehow knowing that it wasn’t her the shadows was after. Two burning pinpricks of red light appeared in the darkness as it was surrounded by dozens of other pairs of white light.
We shall not hurt her little one…
…one…
This unicorn shall be our new vessel…
…selllll…
She shall be our new Nightmare!!!
Summer shrieked as the red lights brightened momentarily before vanishing along with the darkness…and her mother.
Trixie sat in front of the door, backed up almost against it as she looked around the room at all of the faces. Princess Cadence, Twilight’s old friends and her brother…Shining armor formed a semi circle all watching her expecting answers to their questions. If it wasn’t for her parents on either side of her, she had a feeling she would have fled as soon as she realized how much pressure this was going to be on her to explain everything.
“So sugarcube…want to explain why you are pretending to be Twilight’s sister and hiding her from us?” Applejack asked, her expression a little cross. She wasn’t attacking Trixie which she suspected was due to the princess holding a wing out in front of her.
“Please…let her talk before we decide on anything.” Cadence said, narrowing her eyes at the earth pony before giving an encouraging smile to Trixie.
“She isn’t pretending.” A male voice came from Pinkie Pie shocking a few of them, but Twilight’s old friends seemed used to it. Looking closer Trixie could see a miniature Discord sitting in her mane. “Even with all that delicious chaos surrounding our no longer missing unicorn, I can smell connection between them.”
“So…how long did you know?” Rarity asked, looking a little shocked at the revelation.
“Five years almost…the pony who I thought was our father lied to me…to us. Convinced me that with Rose there our mother would come back home. Neither was our parents though and the mare I believed was my mother dropped off a journal while telling us that…she wanted nothing to do with us.” Trixie explained, leaning into her real mother’s side. It felt so good to actually have a mother there to support her…to love her. It gave her the strength to do this.
“Then why haven’t you come back before?” Shining Armor asked angrily, glaring at the pony he was being told was his sister. A part of him wanted to go up and hug her, welcome her to the family yet something was keeping him from doing so. He was angry that Trixie knew where Twilight was while letting them all suffer her missing for so long.
“Oh boo hoo, she was missing from your life for five years. For your information both Twilight and Trixie had things a thousand times worse.” Discord said solemnly as he glared at the white unicorn. He never really liked him all that much, the stallion usually meant well, but Discord just didn’t really like him a lot. It was just one of those things that couldn’t be explained.
“And how do you know that?” Shining Armor asked, returning a glare to the so called god of chaos.
“Because my silly little pony…I can read all the surface thoughts being screamed out of our friend her. Oh boy I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.” Discord said, “And even if I couldn’t, the tears streaking down the poor mare’s face should be an indication.”
“Is it true?” Fluttershy asked softly.
“Rose…Twilight ran away after what happened at the wedding. I don’t know the specifics…she can’t remember them…but she was beaten nearly to death and raped. She looked like frankenpony when she stumbled into my d…into the pony I thought was my father.” Trixie explained, seeing Cadence collapse into sobs against Shining Armor while Rainbow Dash pulled Fluttershy close. She shouldn’t have been shocked by it, but she was when Discord took on the form of a brown earth pony and comforted Pinkie Pie. Applejack looked angry, but pulled Rarity close for support and to support the crying unicorn. She was thankful when her parents comforted her.
“Is Summer really her filly?” Fluttershy asked softly, wiping at the tears that just wouldn’t stop.
“Yes.” Trixie simply answered, trying to get herself composed. She already knew all of this and kept reminding herself that it all had a silver lining. “As much as it hurts her…I know she wouldn’t change it if she could.”
“But why?’ Cadence asked, her voice wavering.
“Because she loves Summer with every single bit of her heart. Summer is her life…our life…and we would do anything for her.” Trixie explained. “When she learned how to regulate the magic to help Summer, we knew she would need some pony to help teach her how to fly. I thought it would be good to get her to return home since…I know somewhere deep inside her she misses every pony…even if I’m not so sure all of you deserve it.”
“She’s missing!” Doctor Cross gasped out after bursting into the room frantically, “Twilight Sparkle just…vanished from her bed leaving her daughter behind.”
“We have to find her…NOW!” Discord shouted, feeling power in the air that shouldn’t be there.
The bed was cold and hard as stone with no beeping of hospital equipment that confused Twilight. Just moments ago she was in bed at the hospital, the bed actually pretty comfortable despite the bad reputation hospitals had for their accommodations. Opening her eyes a little despite something telling her not to, she found herself on an actual stone floor surrounded by darkness that was occasionally lit up by twin glowing orbs shaped like eyes. There were at least a dozen of them, if not more, as she stumbled to her feet. And every single pair was watching her closely.
“Where am I? Whose there?” Twilight managed to croak out, her body still feeling weak from the loss of blood it took to create the runes on her body as well as the stress of activating them against…her…
Do not be afraid old friend…
…friend…
We are…happy to see you once again…
…again…
“What’s going on?” Twilight asked, a cold feeling filling her body as the voice echoed eerily from everywhere at once. Smaller voices seemed to echo every dark syllable muttered by this…thing that she was sure was no friend of hers.
We brought you here to save you from those that would harm you…
…you…
You know deep in your heart they don’t want you; they already turned their backs on you…
…turned their backs…
Right now they plot to get rid of you permanently…
…permanently…
“That’s a lie!” Twilight screamed out, but froze when an image appeared before her. She could see her sister with the ponies from Ponyville talking about her, laughing at her.
“I’m glad she’s gone, I say let her stay gone.” Trixie laughed, Summer sitting by her side.
“I’m sick of having a freak for a mom; I want Trixie to be my momma.” Summer said, a sharp pain going through Twilight’s heart at hearing this. “I want to be able to walk through town without ponies commenting on how sorry they feel for me for having Frankenpony for my mother.”
“Well, I wouldn’t mind training you with that loser gone.” Rainbow Dash said, laughing as Fluttershy nuzzled her.
“I’m glad she’s gone, she was scaring my animals just being around here. They could feel the wrongness coming from her.” Fluttershy said.
“I know what you mean, she just seemed to rob the smile from every pony since she came back.” Pinkie Pie said.
“As am I, why don’t you get a good riddance party for our not so good of a friend?” Discord suggested getting a smile from Pinkie Pie.
“Well darlings, I for one am glad to get her out of my boutique. I thought I was helping some pony, not dealing with that failure.” Rarity scoffed, rolling her eyes.
“I reckon it will be much more peaceful around her without that fraud.” Applejack snorted as the image faded.
“That isn’t real!” Twilight cried, tears streaming down her muzzle as she denied what she saw. Yet, after everything, she couldn’t help wonder just how true it really was. She was sure that at least Trixie and Summer would stand up for her, but she was always afraid that she was causing more trouble for her daughter than doing any good for her. If she was then she couldn’t deny the possibility, after all it wouldn’t be the first time her own flesh and blood turned on her.
Oh, my dear friend, sadly it is all very real…
…very real…
“Why would I care if she’s gone now, I didn’t want her around for our wedding and I don’t want her around now.” Shining Armor said from another image coming from another direction. “In fact, when I get my hooves on her I swear I’ll kill her for attacking you.”
“Only if you save some for me beloved.” Cadence growled from her hospital bed as Twilight’s brother stood by her side.
Not even your family wants you, not your brother, your parents or your so called number one assistant. No pony wants you…
…No pony…
“I hope she crawls off somewhere and just dies.” Midnight Velvet said, another image forming as the last faded making Twilight spin around to see it.
“I can’t believe we had such a disgraceful daughter.” Night Light said.
“Well at least you have the excuse of not being able to chose your family…I can’t believe I chose her as a student.” Celestia said, stomping her hoof on the ground. “Only reason I kept her around was her cutie mark…it was the representation of the Element of Magic. I was such a foal to ever think she could handle such a responsibility.”
“At least you weren’t defeated by a failure.” Luna scoffed.
They see you as worthless…
…worthless…
Join us, become our vessel and…I promise you that you can show every pony that you aren’t worthless…
…aren’t worthless…
Free us…
…free us…
Free us and you will be given the love you desire…
…love you deserve…
Free us old friend, free us and become Legion’s Nightmare upon the land…
…our nightmare…
Restore the old order and prove that you are worthy of every pony’s love as their queen…
...their queen…
“I…don’t know if I can trust you.” Twilight said, looking around for the main source of the voices. This felt so wrong, but at the moment she felt as if she had nothing to live for anyways. Maybe if she could prove that she wasn’t a failure they would love her again.
We will make a deal…
…a deal…
Become our vessel and you will have our power…
…our power…
And if you can find even one pony who truly loves you enough not to abandon you ever…
…abandon you…
Then we will let you keep our power but remove all traces of our presence from you…
…remove all traces…
“Just one pony?” Twilight asked slowly, unsure if this was right. It felt so wrong, but if she could prove to her daughter that she wasn’t just a freak, then maybe she would love her again.
Just one, if you find that what we wish of you is something you don’t want…
…don’t want…
Then all you have to do is show us one pony whose love is enough to banish the darkness…
…darkness…
“I…I accept…” Twilight said, regretting it immediately as darkness from all around the room flooded into Twilights mouth, nose and eyes. A pair of red eyes opened in the darkness momentarily before also flowing into Twilight with an explosion of power that shot a pillar of light into the skies.
A few moments later a taller Twilight stood up, now the size of an alicorn with bat like wings stretching out, her mane was now the same color but flowing as if it was on fire as did her tail. Her hooves seemed to be on fire, every hoof print she left behind burning as she swayed a little from the new surge of power filling her. Her eyes glowed an eerie red, wafts of power coming from them. As she let out a sigh her mouth seemed to glow as she breathed out little jets of fire from her mouth.
“We are Twilight reborn, a Nightmare unleashing a Legion of darkness upon the land and shall make all bow before us or die.” Twilight laughed, her sense flowing out around her as darkness filled every corner of the room, breaking away from her as eyes appeared in each shadow. “Go! Find the gates and report back to me!”
Yes Mistress…
…tressssss…
Twilight smirked as she watched her minions flood out of the room looking for the gate that she would need to find and destroy. She would find her master…her lover and release him from the depths and they would rule this land as they should have all those years ago.
Somewhere deep in Twilight, a part of her was watching in horror as memories and knowledge filled her. She tried to resist, but her body wouldn’t obey. She was helpless and unable to do anything to prevent what was going to happen. Why did she give in so easily, she knew something was wrong with the voice…but she never expected it to be one of the oldest evils to ever exist in Equestria. Something older than even the Princesses themselves.
“Where could she be?” Trixie asked frantically while trying to comfort Summer who was still shaking in her aunt’s hooves.
“I…have an idea…” Rarity gulped as she pointed to the window as a pillar of light filled the skies from the Everfree Forest.
“That…is not good at all…” Discord muttered as he recognized the feeling coming from that power. It was a dark power that was around long before him, and one that he had met once…and one of the few things that actually scared him. “Of all the times we could have used the elements…”
"What is going on here?" Celestia asked as both Luna and her arrived at the hospital. The rumors of Twilight returning home were too good to be true, but it left hope that maybe it wasn't actually a blood mage. Twilight knew better than to mess with blood magic though. It, unlike several other schools that were taboo though not illegal, was highly forbidden. It not only drew the attention of dark powers, but it could leave rifts to allow dark spirits from tartarus to have a chance to manipulate things in their world.
Seeing every pony that ever seemed close to Twilight, including yourng Spike and Ruby, Celestia was certain that Twilight was back. The surge of power coming from the Everfree that they felt, and the pillar of light they witnessed just before arriving left a bad feeling linger in the sun princess.
"Celly...we may have a problem." Discord said, the group turning to face her as the very worried expression on the annoying creature's face made Celestia worry a lot more. Nothing made Discord worry, mush less act scared like this. If something was casuing him to feel this way, then there was something seriously bad going on.
"Come on, Summer, let's let the others talk." A unicorn Celestia had never seen before told a filly pegasus.
"But what about momma?" The filly asked, tears flowing as the unicorn led her out of the room.
"The power that we felt is unmistakable, though I wish it it wish it wasn't. I met it a couple times before...but I really wish I hadn't. As evil as you thought I was...I was never anything compared to...it." Discord said with a shudder.
"Can it really be that bad, darling?" Rarity asked.
"Yeah, with all of us surely we can beat it and get Twilight back." Rainbow Dash said, eager to go beatup whatever had taken Twilight from under their noses and get their friend back.
"I wish it was that simple...this creature is...an ancient evil. Much older than I am. It took me years to learn everything I could about it back before...I ascended." Discord said, his bodily visibly shovering a few moments. "If what I learned is true, and I truly believe it is, this creature was actually once a general in an ancient army known as the Legion."
"But that was thousands of years before us even." Celestia gasped out, shocked at Discord's claim. Yes they were nearly immortal, the keyword being nearly. Someday they would pass on and an heir would have to take their places. Though that was hopefully a long ways away.
"This...creature was once a pony, a living pony who was loved by all those under him as well as their warlord. While the army was highly feared, all of the territories that was conquered was taken under his flag and prospered much more than the territory did under the old rule." Discord explained, "Even his bethrothed was looked up to as she was the warlord's daughter and the most powerful mage of the time named Marelin."
"Wait, are you saying that the this general was King Arthur of the Ancient Ponylot?"Luna gasped, loving the old tales as a young filly.
"No, the warlord was Arthur. The leader of his army, the Legion, was Gawain. Marelin was Arthur's most trusted advisor, and the pony most directly responsible for maintaining a prosperous rule under her King." Discord explained, "Only...something went wrong. Marelin grew very sick, and despite all of her efforts, no cure could be found. Back then demponies walked the earth alongside normal ponies, and their ruler went to Gawain and offered him a way to save his beloved. He taught gawain a ritual that would make him immortal and give him a way to not only heal his mate, but to make her immortal as well."
"What kind of ritual, sugarcube?" Applejack asked, Celestia eyes going wide as she had a bad feeling.
"Gawain drugged his entire camp while on a peace keeping mission...and sacrified them all to the dempony's leader making him the very first blood mage as well as the deity of all blood bound creatures such as blood mages and vamponies." Discord explained, looking a little queasy at the thought. Every pony looked ill at ease to some extent at the revelation.
"Are you saying vamponies are real?" Fluttershy squeaked out getting Rainbow Dash to pull her close to comfort the frightened pegasus.
"Yes, though they are very rare. Unlike Gawain though, vamponies aren't really evil." Discord said, Pinkie Pie interupting him as she looked out the window to the horizon where they witnessed the pillar of light.
"How does this help us rescue Twilight?" Pinkie Pie asked, looking worried about what could be going on. They all were worried for their friend and wanted to rush to her rescue.
"My dear, you all need to understand what we are facing as even I am reluctant to even go against this...thing." Discord said shaking his head, "As I was saying, Gawain killed his legion in order to gain power to save his beloved. What he didn't plan on was absorbing the souls and power of every single pony he killed...taking in echos of each one driving him insane. He became the dempony known as Legion. When he went to his beloved, she was disgusted by what he did and rejected him. He swore if he couldn't have her, no pony would. Over the next three days they fought tooth and hoof throwing spells back at one another. Legion could have won, but he went easy because he was still in love with her. In the end, he gave her twenty four hours to change her mind. In the end, she used that time to come up with a way to seal not only Legion, but most demponies in the underworld known as Tartarus. Joined by several other ponies, the sealed them away...though it cost Marelin dearly. Legion cursed her, tying their souls together so everytime she was reborn he would somehow find a way to make her life miserable for sealing him away."
"That's so sad." Pinkie Pie sniffed.
"Indeed...but there's more. When he was banished to Tartarus, he blamed his sire for everything. He managed to kill his sire and take over tartarus until a rebellion was able to chain his physical body deep in an isolated section of the underworld. I learned that much from Legion himself when he came to me seeking help to corrupt Marelin's reincarnation...and my apprentice. He wanted her to break the chains to Tartarus or die so she would go through the cycle again." Discord explained, "The problem is his power comes from fear, anger and hatred...and Clover was shy, but she wasn't any of those things. She loved everypony and was fearless. I...did the only thing I could and sacrificed myself to chaos to gain the power to protect her. I...became...what I am today to protect the mare I thought of as a daughter."
"No...you aren't! I refuse to believe it! What sick game are you playing here Discord!" Celestia sobbed out, screaming through her tears.
"Sister, what are you talking about?" Luna asked, putting a hoof on her sister to calm her down.
"I am afraid I am, old friend. You were somepony else I saw as a daughter...both of you...despite the insanity that comes and goes with my power. Of course sharing that power with my wife keeps me stable." Discord said.
"What are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash asked, sounding agitated.
"She doesn't want to believe that I am...I was Starswirl." Discord said sadly making every pony gasp in shock.
“How long do we have to wait?” Twilight Velvet asked, worried for her daughter…both of her daughters. One was missing, again, and the other was pacing so much back and forth the mare was going to wear a trench in the library floor. Trixie herself was worried sick, wanting to rush off blindly after Twilight which shocked a few of the ponies in town. The Elements themselves even seemed shocked as they still believed Trixie to be a pony who was full of hot air. She loved her sister though and would walk through Tartarus itself to rescue Twilight.
Night Light was upstairs with Summer keeping an eye on the filly thankfully as Trixie and Velvet waited from word from the others. They were taking care of things in their homes while Princess Celestia had returned to Canterlot to get something that she had claimed may help with this problem. Not that any of them were sure if much could be done. If Discord himself was afraid of this…dempony…what could they really do against it?
“There isn’t much in any of these texts about demponies or this Legion.” Velvet sighed, closing another ancient tome that was kept locked up there. It was a book from Twilight’s private collection, the unicorn collecting any rare and valuable books that she could get her hooves on even since she was a filly. It didn’t matter what they were, and they had proven useful over the years as one of them was actually what led Twilight to discovering Nightmare Moon.
“I’m not a hundred percent sure we can trust Discord on this.” Trixie sighed, stopping her pacing as she looked up at her mother. “He is known as a trickster, right? Maybe Twilight is fine and just freaked out after attacking Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.”
“I wish that was the case…didn’t you feel the evil radiating off that magical spike earlier? I never felt something so purely evil before in my life.” Velvet said with a shudder. It was true, Trixie had felt it, but she wanted to deny it. She had never felt something so…scary in her entire life. “What I do know is that this Legion feeds off fear and other negative emotions. Also, from what Discord told me when I asked before he left with the Princess, Legion has contracts laying all over the world and when some pony finds one and uses it to gain power, they pay for it with a piece of their soul and a fraction of their power when they either die or get defeated. Those…payments…they make Legion stronger and stronger with each one.”
“At a great cost.” Luna said, melting from the shadows surprising both of them. “I believe I made a deal with this Legion. I found a contact long ago that used blood magic when I became Nightmare Moon. It led me to the creation of my Threstrals…and perhaps part of my anger.”
“What do you mean, Princess Luna?” Velvet asked, curious as to what the Princess was talking about.
“I’m saying, even with my anger and jealousy, I never wanted to seriously harm my sister until after I got involved with blood magic. I knew better, but the temptation was too great to be able to create a people who would…love me. No pony loved me and…all I wanted was to feel wanted…appreciated.” Luna admitted, hanging her head. “I knew how dangerous it was, my sister and myself have seen a few blood mages kill entire towns for power. A power that drove them insane. Yet I still turned to it when I found all I needed was a little blood from myself.”
“Wait…so you created the threstrals?” Trixie asked in shock, not knowing that fact. She always thought they were just some kind of pegasus that mutated from the others.
“Yes…at an attempt to create ponies who would appreciate all of the hard work I put into the night.” Luna sighed.
“I love your night, Princess, we all do. I can’t tell you how many nights my sister, niece and myself relaxed under the stars and just watched up at the night sky talking about our hopes and dreams for the future.” Trixie said, “The night sky is one of the most beautiful and most relaxing things to look at.”
“You don’t need to flatter me.” Luna said, blushing a little at the praise.
“I’m not, Princess, I’m only speaking the truth.” Trixie said, beginning to wonder if she said something wrong when she noticed how Luna was wiping away tears from her eyes.
“Thank you, but we need to meet up with the others. My sister just returned with the Elements of Harmony.” Luna said.
“Wait…I thought the Elements were sacrificed to save the Tree of Harmony a few years ago.” Velvet said, remembering when Discord came clean about what happened and Princess Cadence returned from the Crystal Empire to get them and bring them to Ponyville where the girls took them, and Twilight’s, to the tree where Discord instructed them on how to save the tree.
It made sense now, how Discord knew what to do with it. It was supposed Starswirl the Bearded who took the damaged Rainbow of Light and separated it into six Elements of Harmony, the seventh being too damaged to salvage from the original Rainbow. If it was true that Discord was Starswirl, then that would explain his knowledge of the Tree of Harmony and the Elements of harmony.
“They were, but my sister had some of our most brightest create duplicates of them. They aren’t as powerful, but they should amplify the bond between the Bearers and the Elements embedded in the tree to give them close to the level of power they had before. There is only one problem…we don’t have a pony to wield the Element of Magic. We were hoping that when we got to Twilight we could give it to her and hope that being back here helped restore the bond between the girls enough to use them.” Luna explained.
“I guess it’s a start.” Velvet sighed, “What are we waiting for?”
“No.” Trixie said, turning to look at Velvet while refusing to back down as her mother gave her a look of shock. “You aren’t coming with us.”
“I will not sit here while one of my daughters is out there in danger.” Velvet growled out.
“Mom…I…I do want you there with us…but I need you to stay here. If worse comes to worse, I want you to take care of Summer.” Trixie said, her eyes tearing a little as she realized what she said. Her legs wanted to let go, but she willed them to remain strong in front of her mother. She knew there was a very good possibility that some of them may not come back from this if this Legion was truly as powerful and evil as that. She was afraid that if any of them were to not come back, she was sure that she would be one of them. She wasn’t going to come back without her sister, and that was final.
“Good.” Twilight said, smirking to herself. She could feel part of herself fighting against what she was doing, but it was an insignificant part. A part that she didn’t need as it brought weakness, a weakness she refused to ever go back to. She now had power, much more power than she ever dreamed of, and she refused to give it up. Sure it took a lot of concentration to keep the fire coming from her hooves, nose and mouth from catching anything on fire…but after the first three tapestries, she had quickly learned to keep it under control.
The door is found…
…found…
Another of her shadow minions hissed as it sunk up from the floor, its beady white eyes a little unsettling to the newly transformed pony…even if it was now basically a part of herself. It had some free will of it’s own as it was remnants of a soul that was taken for payment for creating a contract with Legion. She could see all of its memories, as well as all of the memories of every single soul remnant that was now a part of her being. She had learned things that had long been forgotten in the matter of hours as those memories had assimilated into her own.
“Show me.” Twilight demanded, following the shadow that slunk back into the darkness. Following the memories that were flowing into her mind, she found her way to a piece of floor that had been destroyed in the lowest part of the castle leading to an ancient looking cave with a large silver door with chains sealing it shut. She knew that she was the reincarnation of the pony who led the ancient ponies into sealing these doors. This one seemed damaged though, leaking dark power through it…power that seemed to corrupt the surrounding environment.
“Could this be how the Everfree was created?” Twilight mused to herself as she ran a hoof along where all of the chains converged into a single large lock that was sealed with numerous runes that she recognized incorporated blood magic. It was kind of ironic that the seal keeping Tartarus sealed off from their world was created with the same power that the creature they sealed away.
Feeling a surge of panic, Twilight looked up feeling a source of strong white magic nearby. It was very powerful, and while it most likely didn’t stand a chance against her, there was something screaming at her to hurt. Swallowing nervously, Twilight took her horn and tore a gash in her foreleg, letting blood seep down and cover her hoof. Setting her hoof at the center of the sealing array on the lock, she sent a surge of magic though it.
At first she was worried that maybe with Legion’s power filling her that the seal didn’t recognize her as Marelin’s reincarnation. Finally a clicking noise could be heard as a flash of light temporarily blinded Twilight. When her vision cleared she found the chains and lock missing and the door had dimmed in brightness. Slowly she opened the door to find a shimmering portal that after a few moments of hesitation. Twilight took a step through. It was a little gut wrenching, but she quickly got over it as she landed on the other side. It looked as if she was in a forest similar to the Everfree, though the sky was a mix of dark purples, red and blacks.
Feeling a presence appearing behind her she quickly spun around to find three mares of dark purple, nearly black, with a flaming tail and mane much like Twilight’s…only they were actually the color of fire. Their eyes, nose and mouth all matched Twilight’s perfectly as a red glow seemed to always be present as flames came from them as well as their hooves.
“Mistress, we have been awaiting your arrival.” The center mare said as the other two bowed low, followed by the middle one moments later. A small smirk crossed over Twilight’s face as she realized just what and who these creatures were.
“We have to hurry!” Discord said, panic filling his voice as the group traveled quickly through the Everfree forest. Trixie had to admit she was a little surprised that Fluttershy and Rarity was keeping up with the fast pace as they didn’t seem very athletic. Still, they seemed truly worried about Twilight which she was happy about as it showed that they really cared for her sister.
“What’s wrong Sugarcube?” Applejack asked, barely sounding winded as they weaved around trees and roots sticking up from the ground. Thankfully that was the worse they had to worry about so far, the creatures seeming to be in hiding or something as none were out stalking the forest as they usually did.
“I felt it to, there was a strong surge of magic and…” Luna said, swallowing nervously as she realized what was going on. She had felt the power before, just not so strong. The castle’s gate had been opened which meant they were too late.
“Tartarus is open…if you are Starswirl, surely you know a way to close the gate?” Celestia said, slowing to a stop.
“I didn’t create the gates in the first place, so how would I know how to restore them?” Discord asked, his mismatched form floating close to Pinkie Pie protectively. “And don’t call me Shirley.”
“What are you doing?” Trixie demanded, the group coming to a halt as she turned to glare at the Princess. “Now isn’t the time for a break!”
“Don’t take that tone with my sister, peasant!” Luna snapped.
“I’ll take whatever tone I want! We wouldn’t even be in this mess if she hadn’t driven Twilight away!” Trixie screamed at the Lunar Princess without showing any fear. “If she wants me to show respect she can earn it!”
“Now calm down there sugarcube. We don’t need to be fighting among ourselves now, not when we have a friend to save.” Applejack said, putting a comforting hoof on Trixie’s shoulder. “We do need to hurry Princess, so why are we stopping?”
“If the gates are open we could be in trouble as all kinds of creatures could be escaping. Things much worse than Tirek himself.” Celestia warned.
“Pffffttt…Princess Luna kicked his flank! I’m sure we can handle anything that they throw at us.” Rainbow Dash scoffed getting a raised eyebrow from Celestia.
“That may be so, but we need to get decide what to do if we have to face off against that is difficult to handle. We don’t really know if the new Elements will work as intended. Twilight didn’t turn her Element over to the Tree of harmony, it was given to it by my niece. So Twilight should still have her bond with it.” Celestia explained, “While you girls freely gave your elements to the tree, you kept a very powerful link to them even though the focus gems were no longer there. The new Elements aren’t really replacements for the Elements of Harmony, they are amplifiers that should work just as the old ones did since the Tree of Harmony has always been what powered them while your friendship activated and guided them.”
“Yeah, I don’t know about the rest of you, but that sounds like a lot of rotten apples to me.” Applejack said, “Those magic things sure didn’t feel like the power was coming from somewhere else.”
“I always could feel the magic flowing from inside myself to it…not from outside…if you don’t mind me saying.” Fluttershy said.
“I don’t really care where it came from, darling, what I care about is saving our friend.” Rarity said, “So why didn’t you bring more guards back with you instead of making Shining Armor and Princess Cadence stay being in Ponyville?”
“Yeah, wouldn’t it have been better if they came to?” Pinkie Pie asked, giving Celestia the evil eye.
“Who cares if they came or not, I’m sure we can handle whatever it is we have to face. Nothing is going to stop up from saving Twilight!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“That’s something I can agree with, we have to save my sister.” Trixie said, turning from the group and trotting off into the forest once more before Applejack grabbed her tail.
“Now hold up there, sugarcube.” Applejack said through a mouthful of tail.
“You aren’t stopping me from going after my sister!” Trixie said trying her best to drag the earth pony behind her.
“I’m not trying to sugarcube…but you were heading in the wrong direction. The castle of the two sisters is this direction.” Applejack said, finally letting go as she pointed in another direction that Trixie now realized was where they were heading earlier.
“Ummm…I knew that!” Trixie said, giving a weak laugh while rubbing her foreleg nervously.
“It’s okay darling, we’re actually really impressed with how much you care for Twilight. We’re really that she had you these past five years.” Rarity said as she gave Trixie an encouraging smile.
“Yeah, and when we get Twilight back we will have a huge party for every pony where we can all be the bestest of friends!” Pinkie Pie laughed as the small group started off again. Trixie had to check her saddlebag again as she could have sworn she felt the new, or in her opinion fake Element of Magic, shift and put off a strange feeling power. It was still there so she just dismissed it as being another of those weird things that happens in this pony forsaken forest.
The rest of the trip took the group very little time as they didn’t meet any creatures on their path that was starting to worry them a little. Trixie had a bad feeling that they may have been shying away from the pillar of light that filled the skies earlier. And the closer they got to this castle, the harder it got to keep going. There was this feeling deep inside her warning that she should turn away and run and never look back. She refused to listen to it though as she just couldn’t leave Twilight like that. Maybe five years ago there may have been a small possibility of it…but they were sisters and over the last five years the created a bond of sisterhood that made it like they had never been separated.
Arriving at the castle, the two alicorns landed making Rainbow Dash glare at them a little. She was a little annoyed that she was one of the best fliers in Equestria and still couldn’t really fly that well in the Everfree and here were the princesses making it look like it was normal. Trixie couldn’t help finding it a little amusing in a way.
“So where to?” Trixie asked, looking around.
“I think its best we head to the gate and see what is going on.” Discord said.
“I agree, but where is it? I don’t remember seeing any scary looking gates the last time we were here.” Pinkie Pie asked, swallowing nervously as a dark feeling seemed to hang in the air. Looking to Celestia it seemed she was taking it the worse out of all of them.
“Like this.” Discord said snapping his taloned fingers making the group disappear and reappear in front of a set of gates that looked like some pony tore them to pieces leaving very little left behind.
“If you could do that, why haven’t you done it before?” Rainbow Dash demanded, seeming as angry as Trixie felt. If they could have done that sooner, then they may have made it here much earlier.
“Because the castle is warded against ponies trying to teleport in. If I tried outside of the wards we could have ended up on the other side of Equestria.” Discord said, shrinking down and settling in Pinkie Pie’s mane.
“This isn’t good, there isn’t enough left of the doors to seal it back up.” Luna said.
“I don’t care about that right now! What I care about is my sister, where the hay is she?” Trixie asked, agitated as they reached their destination with no sign of Twilight anywhere.
“I think it’s clear where she went.” Celestia sighed, staring at the gate.
“Then that’s where I’m going.” Trixie snorted before jumping through the portal leaving a shocked group.
“You aren’t showing me up that easy!” Rainbow half joked before she followed after her.
“Will you wait! We don’t know what’s going on or what awaits us on the other side!” Celestia gasped out.
“Sorry sugarcube, but only one way to find out.” Applejack said before jumping through.
“Wait for me.” Fluttershy squeaked out as she also followed.
“Darling, I have to agree with the others. Twilight is our friend, and we won’t abandon her again.” Rarity said jumping through as Celestia watched with her jaw dropped in shock as the Elements of harmony jumped into the unknown.
“Well Sunny, guess we have no choice.” Discord said wearing a cowboy hat as he sat on top of Pinkie’s head. “Giddyup!”
“Weeeee!” Pinkie Pie cried out as she jumped through.
“We better follow them sister.” Luna sighed, a little annoyed at the recklessness…even if she understood the sentiment.
“I guess.” Celestia sighed before she jumped toward the portal only to get repelled by an invisible barrier.
“Sister!” Luna cried out sliding over to Celestia’s prone body as she forced herself back to her hooves.
“It looks like I may not be able to follow after all.” Celestia sighed, having a feeling she knew why. Her power came from the sun, but was also considered divine and creatures of Divinty had to be very weak to avoid the wards preventing them from entering or have an invitation in the form of a talisman that allowed entrance.
“What is going on?” Luna asked as she walked toward the portal. She hesitantly dipped a hoof into it and found nothing preventing her.
“I can’t go, sister…the portal is rejecting me because of my high divinty.” Celestia sighed. “Your powers, while not evil, is dark in nature so you should be able to go. Please go and do what you can for them.”
“Don’t worry sister, we will bring Twilight home.” Luna said confidently before diving through the portal herself.