> We're Trying!!!!
>  by PixelMoon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue: Welcome to Canterlot
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A carriage flew through the sky, the few ponies who saw it gaping with wonder. Inside, there was five ponies. All of the ponies were alicorns. In fact, two of them were still to be announced to the public.

Inside of the royal carriage joyous laughter could be heard to anypony who tried hard enough to listen. Shadows from the curtains showed an alicorn dancing around. Though her shadows were black, the royals inside of the flying carriage knew her every color, shape, and size.

This alicorn had a light lavender coat. If you looked close enough into her wonderous purple irises, some say you could get lost in them. Her mane was long and sleek, with the color being a dark blue with pink and purple stripes.

Another alicorn stood up. This one had a light blue coat with a rainbow mane and pink eyes. She was laughing a bit, before speaking to the lavender pony.

"Twilight, that is not how you dance. Lemme show ya how it's done," she spoke. The pony known as Twilight sat down with a snort.

The rainbow alicorn started dancing with agility. Her sleek moves earned 'ohs' and 'ahhs' from the alicorns around her. Twilight rolled her eyes but smiled.

Another alicorn stood up, this one taller than the other two. Her coat was a navy blue, and her mane was midnight blue. Stars twinkled as her mane swirled around in a ethereal wind.

"Alright you two. You guys are silly," Luna grabbed Twilight's head and messed up her mane. Rainbow Dash laughed until her mother came over and did the same to her.

All three ponies sat back down. Luna turned her head towards her sister, the princess of the sun. She opened her mouth to speak.

"What do you think Equestria will say about Starry Night's return?" she asked.

Celestia turned her head to face Luna. She furrowed her brow a bit in thought. "Hm, it is possible that they might be a bit more accepting than they were for you. I mean, they've already gone through your return, along with the wedding invasion of Princess Cadance and Captain Armor."

Luna tilt her head slightly at Rainbow Dash, who curled up in a ball to take a nap. "What about the return of Dashie's alicornism and immortality? Equestria has to deal with two coronations then."

Celestia put a hoof to her younger sister's chin. "It'll be okay, sister. Please, stop worrying and just be happy that Starry Night AND your two daughters are back."

Luna nodded at her sister's words. Celestia removed her hoof from the younger alicorn's chin and continued to stare out the window. 

Luna couldn't help herself from thinking about what'll happen later on. What if Equestria decides that they don't want two more alicorns in the royal family? It was quite possible. After all, they did have what, four without counting Starry or her daughters? That'll be six alicorns if including the new discoveries.

Luna shook her head. Celestia was right. She needed to stop thinking about it. After all, what could possibly go wrong?

Meanwhile, the carriage flew down. Twilight opened the curtain on her side to see if they were landing. The Canterhorn mountain lay in front of them, and the city of Canterlot stood with great pride.

Dash groaned and opened her eyes. She stretched out her limbs before standing on all four hooves. She turned her head away from Twilight with another groan.

"Ugh, Twilight... close the curtains, it's too bright," Dash murmured.

Suddenly the door of the carriage opened. A royal guard stood there, a poker face upon him, not threatening to be changed.

"Your Majesties, we have arrived at Canterlot," he spoke with a firm tone, not an ounce of fear from talking to royalty like other ponies.

Princess Celestia lifted her head and nodded. "Of course, Rift Shield. We will gather our belongings and take our leave. Thank you for telling us."

Rift Shield saluted before closing the carriage door and departing. Luna had already placed her saddlebag on her back. Celestia stood up from her seat and levitated her essentials onto her back as well as Twilight.

Dash attempted to once more light her horn, but was unable to. Instead, her aunt Starry Night used her magic and levitated it on her niece.

"Thanks," Rainbow thanked.

Starry nodded. "No problem. But say, would you like me to teach you how to do magic? I don't like to brag, but I'm a better magic user than even Celestia."

Rainbow stared at her eldest aunt with awe. "Really? You'd do that?" Starry nodded. "Gee, thanks a bunch, Star!"

Starry Night cocked her head. "Star...?"

Rainbow and Twilight gave her a confused look. "Yeah, Star. You know, like Starry, but it's shorter. Kinda like a nickname. I go by Dashie by my family, and Twilight gets called either Twi or Twily."

"That's what ponies call it these days? Nicknames?"

Celestia nodded. "Indeed, sister. But how did you not know of this? Weren't you in Equestria for five years prior to now?"

Starry Night nodded. "I did come back to Equestria five years ago, but I went by the name of Astelle and mostly stayed hidden and practiced magic. As an alicorn, I didn't need to eat anything, so I stayed in a small village that not many knew about."

Celestia nodded and opened the door to the carriage. She allowed Rainbow Dash and Twilight to walk out first before following them. "So you never actually seen Equestria, have you?"

Starry shook her head. "Nope. Besides the village and the Crystal Empire, I haven't been to any place."

Celestia gave Luna a smirk, who gave a sly smile in return. "Then we think you'll enjoy seeing Canterlot, sister," Luna replied.

The two alicorns allowed Starry Night to step out of the carriage, who then gasped in shock. She stared at the white marble that the city was built out of, and the touches of gold on the vast castle before her.

"Welcome to Canterlot, Starry Night."

"...Whoa."
> I: Publicity
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Starry stared in awe at the walls of the Canterlot Castle. "It's beautiful..." she stated. She stood in front of the castle for a few moments until Celestia spoke up.

"Hey sis, you coming or are you just going to admire a wall?" she giggled.

Starry rolled her eyes but smiled. She started walking again.





She did not understand.

Luna sat across from her eldest sister. The mare of stars, as she put it.

Starry Night didn't understand the night.

Well, as much as Luna did, anyway. But that wasn't the point. Twilight even knew more than she did! Nothing against her daughter of course, but the alicorn hadn't been on Equus as long as Luna or Starry.

Luna sighed before walking out of the room.





Lord Fancy's day was going great.

First of all, it was his birthday. Secondly, he had a Royal Summons sent to him alone. As far as he knew, Princess Celestia and Luna had something to speak to him about.


Fancy stepped out of his carriage and onto the stone path the lead to the castle. He trotted towards the gate, before being stopped as usual.

"State your business," the guard said in a monotone voice.

He cleared his throat. "Hello, mister. I have been royally summoned by the two sisters."

He showed the guard his letter sent to him to inspect. Once the guard knew it was valid, he grunted and moved his spear out of the way.


Fancy opened the doors to the throne room. Princess Celestia and Luna stood inside with all of their glory. Celestia had a warm smile upon her face, Luna, whom was still sour about Fancy's past reaction to her daughters.

"Lord Fancy Pants, so glad you could make it on such short notice," Celestia greeted.

"Why of course, your Shining Majesty! But whatever could be the matter? One does not get a Royal Summons anyway, you know."

Luna took a deep breath and walked forward. "We have something to show you, but I swear to Celestia-" Celestia gave Luna an annoyed look.


"-if you react the same as you did with the still unannounced Princess Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle..."

Luna stopped speaking when she saw Fancy shaking with fear. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Allow me to introduce you to Princess Starry Night."

Fancy stared in awe as an alicorn with a coat of dark blue and a mane black as night stepped out from begin Celestia and Luna. He immediately bowed down to the floor.

"Um..." Starry glanced at Celestia for help on what to say.

"Rise, Lord Fancy," Celestia commanded, to which the lord did.

"Of course, your Highness. But who is this princess? Is she a daughter of one of you? A sister of Twilight Sparkle?"

"She is our long lost sister; Starry Night. She used to wield the stars above and will once more."

Fancy nodded in response. "I see. But is there a reason you wanted me to know?"

Celestia unfurled her wings and gently glided off the throne and to the floor. She walked towards the lord. "There is; I want you to tell the other nobles of Princess Starry and make an attempt to not cause arguments to break out. Is that clear?"

Fancy bowed again and spoke his reply. "But of course, your Shining Majesty." 

The sun goddess nodded and told Fancy to rise. Once he did, he said his goodbyes and walked towards to door. But before leaving, he asked one more question.

"Before I leave, would any of you princess's happen to know where Lady Rarity would be? I would absolutely adore seeing her again." Fancy blushed when he realized what he said. "Uh, to see her designs I mean! I would love to see her designs for future dresses!"

Celestia chuckled before speaking. "Of course, Lord Fancy. Rarity should be in her chambers in our castle. Feel free to ask a guard to take you to her room."

Fancy Pants nodded and smiled. "Thanks so much, Princess Celestia!"





Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack walked into the room they were sharing. Pinkie bounced onto her, Fluttershy sat down carefully, and Rarity fainted while Applejack remained standing.

She rose an eyebrow. "Sweet Celestia, y'all. Ah know, we hadn't saved Equestria in a while but ya didn't even act like this when we first stopped Nightmare Moon."

Rarity lifted her head. "That may be so, but we literally just traveled all the way to the Crystal Empire and figured out Twilight and Rainbow have another aunt!"

Applejack sighed and rolled her eyes. "Whatever ya say, sugarcube."

Pinkie jumped up and down on her bed. "I think it was super fun!"

Rarity scoffed. "Pinkie Pie! Be a dear and quit bouncing on that bed! It's so revolting!"

"Um, it would be nice..." Fluttershy slowly said, fluffing her pillow.

"But it's so funnn!" Pinkie whined but slowly stopped bouncing. She hmphed at Rarity before suddenly gasping.

"What is it now, Pinkie?" Applejack asked while sitting on her bed.

"Pinkie Sense!" Everypony visibly flinched. "I think somepony is coming to talk to you, Rarity!"

Rarity squealed in delight. "Ooh! A prince, perhaps?"

"-Not quite, my dear." a voice replied.

Rarity turned around to see the pony who spoke. She gasped when she saw who it was.

"Lord Fancy! Such a pleasure to see you, dear!"

"The pleasure is all mine," Fancy replied. He held out his hoof, which Rarity took without hesitance. 

He moved his hoof up to his lips and lightly kissed Rarity's hoof. She gasped, a tinge of blush on her face.

"Why Fancy, you flatterer!" she giggling, clutching her hoof. "But I must ask; why ever have you come to see me for?"

"Why, I just wanted to see if your okay! Plus, I would appreciate visiting an old friend of mine." He winked at Rarity, who giggled.

"Oh Fancy, that is awfully sweet of you. I'm perfectly fine though, just tired. But maybe we could go somewhere sometime? To catch up?"

Fancy hummed. "I would enjoy that very much. Alas, I must go. Fler dis Lee requested me to help her find a dress for the upcoming Grand Galloping Gala."

"Oh the Gala! Of course! I've been finishing orders for several ponies for months now! How about you two visit Canterlot Carousel? It's one of my many shops across Equestria!"

"Hm, why of course! I'll tell Fler right away!" he exclaimed before waving goodbye. He trotted away and left with a clink from the door.

Rarity smiled and turned around, only to face four ponies smiling.

"Why are you all staring at me like that?" Rarity asked.

"C-mon, sugarcube. We all saw how ya were starin' at Fancy," Applejack stated.

"Well, despite your nosiness, I'm afraid I wouldn't get together with him."

"Oh dear, is it because he's married to Fler dis Lee?" Fluttershy asked.

"No, it isn't. Though that is one of the reasons." Rarity sat on her bed and grabbed one of the many suitcases she had.

"Who is it then?!" Pinkie questioned, unable to keep her excitement away.

Rarity pulled out a picture frame with a photo of two ponies on it. "Princess Twilight Sparkle, of course."

She sighed dreamily as she stared at the picture of herself and Twilight. "What would I give to spend a day with her as my marefriend..."

There was a knock at the door. Fluttershy opened the door to reveal Twilight and Rainbow Dash.

"Hi everypony!" Twilight greeted.

"T-twilight! You didn't happen to hear what we were talking about, did you?" Rarity asked, a blush forming on her face.

"No, why?"

"Nothing!"

"Eh, okay... Do you guys want to explore Canterlot? There's plenty of places we can visit!"

Everypony nodded in agreement and followed the two princesses out the door.




> II: Exploring the City
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight, Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Applejack trotted alongside each other. They traveled through the castle, ponies bowing as the princesses of the group passed by.

Their hooves clattered on the floor as if they were delicate pieces of glass. Twilight and Rainbow stood in the front of the group as they continued to trot in silence.

Eventually, the group came to a halt as they reached the front gates of the castle. Twilight held a hoof to Dash in sudden realization.

"Don't," she simply stated before lighting her horn. Dash's horn glowed the same pink aura as Twilight's, and soon enough it disappeared. "Nopony knows yet, remember?"

Rainbow nodded in understatement. Twilight begun trotting again, as did the group. The guards bowed before their princess and allowed them to pass.

The group trotted into the streets of Canterlot, taking in the hustle and bustle of the city.  they walked in silence for a while before Twilight spoke up.

"So...any precise places you guys want to go?" she asked.

Rarity nodded excitedly. "Oh, absolutely! Let's go shopping! I have to show you this amazing clothing store!"

Rainbow gave a flat stare. "Really, Rarity? Of all things you could choose, it had to be shopping?"

"Well yes, it is in my nature, I suppose."

Twilight interrupted their chat by asking if anypony else had any suggestions. Either they truly couldn't think of anything else, or everypony there really wanted to make Rainbow have to suffer the wrath of Rarity being all fashiony.

"For Celestia's sake..." Rainbow groaned.





"No! You are absolutely not making me wear that!" Rainbow shrieked.

Twilight burst out laughing when her sister came flying out of the dressing room with an upset Rarity chasing her.

"But the thong would make you look sexy! SEXY, RAINBOW!"

A blush immediately formed on the rainbow maned alicorn as she sped behind Twilight. "Sis! Make her stoppp!"

Twilight chuckled. "But you would have looked good in that..."

"Nuh uh. I'd only wear it if you let Rarity make you look all sexy too."

Twilight gave a surprised stare before smirking. There was no way she'd let Rainbow win this one! "Deal."

Rainbow's eyes widened. "Wait, no! I didn't think you'd actually do it! Nooo!"

Twilight stuck her tongue out at her sister as Rainbow got dragged back into the dressing room with Rarity carrying a pink thong.





"I look absolutely ridiculous."

"Oh you're fine! And might I dare say you look even sexy," Rarity gushed.

Rainbow's face turned into a shade or vibrant pink as she tried to form words. when she got nothing, she muttered, "oh go fuck yourself, Rares."

Twilight giggled at her sister before a crazily excited Rarity hovered over the alicorn, making her pause.

"Your turn, Twilight."

Twilight's smile instantly vanished. "Oh sweet mother of Celestia nooooooo!"

Her cries eventually faded as she was dragged into the dressing room to share the same fate as her unfortunate sister.





"Oh my goodness! You look positively smashing!"

Twilight stepped out of the dressing room with a blush on her face. The looks on everypony's face in the entire store was no doubt priceless. With jaws dropped and blush adorned on everyone's faces, Twilight awkwardly shuffled around the floor.

Dash suddenly bursted out laughing. "Ha! I thought I looked crazy, but this is a whole new level!"

"Oh you're getting it now!" Twilight exclaimed as she suddenly lept onto her sister while laughing.

Rarity gasped and blushed as the mini skirt Twilight wore ruffled upwards, revealing her privates. Unfortunately for the unicorn, her vision was far better than normal ponies. This meant she everything physically visible with great detail, making her blush become even more heavy.

"Uhh... Twilight!!" Rarity sputtered as she attempted to look away from her crush's entrance. Without any warning, the unicorn grabbed the mini skirt on Twilight and yanked it down, causing Twilight to blush as well.

"Rarity!" Twilight yelped.

"Uh... We should probably go back and leave this. They seem to be doing something. Very publicly." Twilight , Dash, and Rarity turned their heads to see Applejack with her hat over her eyes, a fainted Fluttershy, and a jaw-dropped Pinkie, who had wide eyes and couldn't seem to look away.

"Uh..." The three horned ponies awkwardly stated.

"It's not what it looks like!" Rainbow blurted out.

Applejack chuckled. "We figured as much. Still is weird ta see that with Dash and Twilight. Especially since you two are sisters an' all."

Twilight got off of her sister when Pinkie suddenly spoke. 

"We were gone for only ten minutes and you guys are being perverted without me?! No fair!"

Rarity rose an eyebrow while the ponies conscious stared and blinked. Applejack was about to speak with a groan from Fluttershy stopped her.

Fluttershy opened her eyes and groaned again. "Uhpgh... What happened?"

Pinkie grabbed the pegasus off the ground and responded. "Rarity, Dashie and Twily were being all perverted without us!"

Fluttershy blushed as her eyes widened. "Wha...?"

"Pinkie, quit saying that!" Twilight yelled. "That's not true, Fluttershy. Me and Dash were teasing each other and I tackled her. My skirt flew up and then Rarity got too involved."

"You make it sound like it was bad!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Oh my Celestia... Let's just go find a place to eat and then go back to the caste, okay?"

Everypony nodded in agreement, and the two sisters went back into the dressing room to change.





"Okay... How about hay burgers?" Twilight suggested.

The six ponies were on Restaurant Road, which had been refermished as a road with food that actually has taste. They were nearing the end of the road, which meant if they declined more places they would have to go to go to a fast food restaurant. 

"I want the Tasty Treat!" Pinkie complained.

"I'm afraid I'd have to agree. While their decorations are a bit... Different, I must say thatthefood is positively divine," Rarity said.

Twilight groaned before giving in. "Fineee. Where is this 'Tasty Treat?'"

Pinkie suddenly sniffed the air before bouncing to the end of the road. "Right over here!"

The Tasty Treat was hidden behind an enormous building next to it, so if you didn't already know where this place was you would most likely miss it.

Twilight eyed Rarity, who nodded. With slight hesitation, the alicorn walked though the door.

Inside, Pinkie, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow were already seated at a table for six. Twilight sat next to her sister, while Rarity sat on the other side of the alicorn.

Saffron Masala walked up to the group with a smile on her face. "Rarity! Pinkie! So good to see you again!"

Pinkie hugged Saffron while Rarity waved. The Indian pony looked at the other ponies. "And I see you brought others."

Rarity nodded. "That's Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash." The unicorn pointed to each pony as she spoke their name. Finally focusing on Twilight, she spoke again.

"And that beautiful mare is Princess Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight's eyes widened and she blushed. "Beautiful?" she murmured.

The rest of the day had past by in a blink of Twilight's eye. She didn't even hear when anypony spoke to her, and didn't even realize when they were at the castle.

That was until Dash grabbed her face and slapped it. "Helloooo? Equus to Twilight?!"

Twilight shook her head. "Wha? How did we get here?"

Dash rose an eyebrow. "You mean you really don't remember us getting to the castle after The Tasty Treat?"

Twilight's eyes widened. "Rarity called me beautiful."

"What?"

"I said Rarity called me beautiful. while we were at The Tasty Treat she called me beautiful. I can't stop thinking about that."

"Does it bother you?" Dash asked.

"Well no. It actually warms my heart to hear the pony I love say that. Wait..."

Twilight's eyes widened. Did she just say that she loved Rarity?"