Twilight and her mother, Luna, return from the moon a year early. Things are great for the mother and daughter duo... at first, but something amiss. What could it be?
Twilight and her mother, Luna, return from the moon a year early and though Celestia is suspicious at first she eventually welcomes her sister back and her new niece with open hooves. However, not everyone is so welcoming. Twilight and Luna's relationship is tested time and time again as disaster after disaster stricks Equestria. Will their bond be able to survive, or will it shatter like glass?
The night was beautiful. The moon was full and its light bathed the world in a soft glow. A gentle breeze blew through the grass and trees of a large valley. In this valley there were two ponies, one was a dark blue, almost black alicorn and the other was a small purple unicorn. They were playing, running back and forth and enjoying the night, a mother and daughter frolicking through the grass and moonlight.
Luna couldn’t be happier, spending time with the two most important things in her life, the night and her daughter. Though if you were to ask her to choose between the two, it would be her adopted daughter. She loved her as if she were her own, it did not matter to her that Luna did not give birth to Twilight, all that mattered was that she loved her. Yes, she could not be happier. That’s when it all came crashing down.
There are many sounds that can strike terror in an individual. For some it can be a scream, some it can be a hiss, others fear the buzz of a bee, and run to avoid being stung. Even a lack of sound can be terrifying, not being able to hear anything at all can drive some insane for fear of not being able to hear oncoming danger. However, there is one sound that every mother dreads and Luna just heard it.
“MOMMY!” Twilight cried in fear. Turning around Luna can see her daughter surrounded by five ponies in white hoods. They were closing in on her, and one of them was holding a knife in its magic. Luna attempted to stop them by running forward, using her magic to bat them away, or teleporting Twilight onto her back, but nothing happened. She tried again and again to do something, but it was futile, nothing worked. All she could do is watch in horror as the knife descended upon her daughter.
“TWILIGHT” Luna shot up in her bed screaming. Her body was matted in sweat, her breathing was erratic, and her heart felt like it was about to jump out of her chest. After a moment of sitting in her bed in mortified terror, she jumped out of said bed and ran for her bedroom door. She sprinted out into and down the hallway of her moon castle and stopped just outside a large door not too far from her own. Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, she slowly pushed opened the door to her daughter’s room.
The room was quiet except for the sound of a certain lavender unicorn snoring softly. A soft moonlight streamed in through the gaps of the curtains over the large balcony window that connected to the room. Luna’s focus was on the small form under the sheets of the bed across the room from the door she entered through. Walking up to the bed quietly, Luna looked over the young mare. She isn’t a filly anymore, she reminded herself.
I can’t believe it’s been seven years, she reminisces. Despite her daughter growing up to become a beautiful young mare, to Luna, she was still the same little filly that appeared on her balcony all those years ago. Oh, how time flies, and it all went by too fast. Twilight was 19 now, and Luna feared the day that Twilight may leave her to chase her own dreams, that is why she was dreading tomorrow.
Twilight was always very curious and incredibly intelligent. At 13 she was able to dispel an enchantment that would have taken a pony like Starswirl a good minute to undo. Twilight did it almost instantly, Luna was so proud that day and had been teaching Twilight everything she knew ever since, she smiled at the memory.
Despite all her power, however, Luna still feared for her daughter's safety. Anypony with that much magical skill could easily be a target for those who wished to use it for malevolent purposes. On the moon they were safe, but that could very well change tomorrow. Twilight had been studying the sealing barrier keeping them trapped on the moon since she was 15, and now she was confident she could break it, a year before the seal would naturally wear off.
Luna had wanted to just wait, but Twilight was insistent on setting her mother free as soon as possible. She smiled as she remembered the determined look on the unicorn’s face when she had claimed she could break the seal. It wasn’t a matter of power, no, if it was a matter of magical power, then there would have been no way Twilight could ever hope to break the barrier. She may be a powerful unicorn, but she was just that, a unicorn, a mortal. Luna had far more power, especially in her Nightmare form. No, Twilight had the uncanny ability to analyze and break a spell down into its component parts. Something Luna and probably not even Celestia could do.
That was when the nightmares started. Ever since her daughter’s bold claim to set them free, Luna had been dreading the day. For most of her life, Luna had wished for a daughter of her own, now that she had one, she was afraid to see her go so soon. She feared that Twilight may leave her or that someone would take her away from her. She feared what ponies would think of her daughter. Would their fear for Luna cause many to make an attempt on Twilight’s life for fear she may bring ruin to the world like her mother once tried to do? Twilight would grow more powerful with time. Luna had no doubt that she would surpass even herself some day, it was inevitable.
Despite that, however, she still feared for her daughter’s life. After tomorrow they would no longer be bound to the safety of the moon. Tomorrow they would be free and the dangers of the world would be free too, to exact on them whatever it wished. Looking away from her daughter, Luna gazed through the gap on the curtains and out the balcony window. There she gazed upon the blue and green orb that was Equis. Tomorrow they would be returning to Equestria, and she was terrified.
Twilight could barely sit still on the balcony of her mother’s room. Today was the day they would be free and she was the one who would be freeing them. She had been studying the sealing barrier around the moon for the last four years, and today was the day she would break it. Not through brute force, no, but through careful calculation and manipulation, she would set them free. Her mother had been on the moon for 999 years now and deserved to be free. Twilight also wanted to see her brother again, she left out of nowhere and he probably thinks she’s dead at this point, she just hopes he won’t be too angry.
There was one pony she was both extremely excited as well as very nervous to see, her aunt Celestia. It had only recently occurred to Twilight that if it were not for Celestia she may have never met her mother. Not because Celestia put Luna on the moon, no, because it was Celestia that inspired Twilight to study magic after watching her raise the sun for the summer sun celebration. If it were not for that studying, she would not have had any clue how to teleport or that ponies used to wish on the moon. She just hoped her aunt liked her.
“Are you sure about this, Twilight?” Her mother asked from her left. Turning her head to look at her, Luna was clearly hiding her emotions, but Twilight knew her mother well. She was worried, if not terrified. Twilight wasn’t around almost a thousand years ago, but she could only imagine how she was treated back then to have her be so terrified to go back. “After all, the seal will be broken in another year, why rush it?”
“You don’t know that for sure, Mom. It’s only a theory, for all we know the spell is permanent unless it’s forcibly broken. Also if the seal were to break on its own without me converting it into an air shield, all the plants we grew on the moon would die and all the water would simultaneously freeze and evaporate. We spent so much time turning the moon into a paradise and I don’t want to risk it being destroyed. You also can't stay up here forever, and I want to see my brother again. I also want to meet my aunt,” Twilight looked forward again over the green plains and forests of the moon outside the castle grounds. “I don’t want to stay trapped here forever, I want to be free and I want you to be free too, Mom.” Luna sighed.
“I guess you’re right.” Despite being almost two thousand years old, her daughter was a better voice of reason, that is unless she was obsessing over something trivial. Luna couldn’t help chuckle at a memory of her daughter freaking out about one of the rooms in the castle being asymmetrical. Turning to look at the planet they were soon going to return too, she could easily make out the continent of Equestria. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Nodding, Twilight closes her eyes and begins to work. Her magic flows out towards the barrier to feel it. All the components of the spell are there, Perception filter, check. Shield spell, check. Entropy filter, check. Good, all three parts of the spell were there, and now comes the process of taking it apart. First I need to remove the entropy filter. With it, in place, no amount of magic will be able to alter the sealing spell. Entropy spells were charms added to spells or objects to cause any magic force applied to it to be rapidly spread throughout the system it was applied to. This in itself made it nearly impossible to dispel, but Twilight was confident she knew just what to do. She needed to reverse the function of the charm, convince it was something else, and that’s what she did. She turned the entropy spell upon itself causing the charm to destroy itself.
Next, she needed to do two things in one. She needed to alter the shield spell so it allowed ponies to pass through but keep the moon’s atmosphere in, but the shield spell already had a charm on it, a perception filter. That’s why it looks like there is a unicorn’s head on the moon. The spell is there to keep anypony from possibly discovering Luna on it. It made it easy for it to just become a legend. She began reforming the perception filter into something new. She even added a light charm and a crono charm to ensure the plants had some sort of day-night cycle so it didn’t require Twilight and Luna to maintain it.
“Done,” she breathed a sigh of mild exhaustion. It took a lot more magic than she had expected, but she was still conscious, so that was good. She felt a pair of hooves wrap around her and pull her into a hug.
“Oh Twilight, that was amazing I’m so proud of you!” Luna praised, giving her daughter a bone-crushing hug. Twilight blushed at the praise.
“Thanks, Mom.” She said trying her best to return the hug, very difficult considering that she had her back pressed against her mother’s chest and stomach and her death grip left little room to turn around. Twilight just settled for closing her eyes and leaning into the hug. The two stayed like this for a few more moments before Luna finally released her daughter, “well, are you ready to meet your aunt?”
“I think the question is, are you ready to face your sister,” Twilight said knowingly. Luna sighed.
“No, but I need to do this, and you’re right that we can't stay here forever. Get on my back, and I’ll take us down,” Luna commanded. Twilight nodded and teleported onto her mother’s back. Despite being a full-grown mare, her mother was still much larger than her. Twilight lit her horn to add a protection spell so as to stave off the vacuum of space. Checking to make sure her daughter was ready, Luna took a deep breath to calm her nerves and tapped into her alicorn magic. Time to meet the family, she thought before rocketing off of the balcony and to the planet below.
Celestia gasped, as she sat up in her bed abruptly. She had been violently ripped from her slumber by a feeling she feared more than anything else. Someone had tampered with the sealing spell on the moon. Stumbling out of bed, Celestia scrambled to her hooves and ran out of her room and onto the adjacent balcony. Looking up to where there used to be a silver and grey moon now hung a beautiful blue and green sphere.
Celestia gazed upon the beautiful orb for a few more moments but was pulled out of her trance when she sensed something that filled her with dread. She could sense another alicorn… two alicorns? No that couldn’t be right. It didn’t matter, all that did matter was the fact that Nightmare Moon had returned a year early, but that didn’t matter either, because she didn’t have someone who could bear the element of magic. She would have to go through with her back up plan either way. She would have to kill Nightmare Moon.
“Guard!” She called, and was followed by her bedroom door opening as a white unicorn stallion wearing standard Canterlot armor stepped in. “Wake Captain Shining Armor, and tell him to meet me in the war room!” she commanded.
“Yes, your majesty!” He saluted and quickly left the room. Once the door closed, Celestia quickly moved across the room to her walk-in closet. Once inside she made her way to the far end of the closet to a large, ornate sun made of gold embedded into the wall. Casting her magic, she pressed her will into the golden sun and it split down the middle and swung outward away from Celestia to reveal a hidden compartment.
Celestia stepped into the room and an array of magically lit lanterns came to life, bathing the room in a soft orange glow. In the center of the room was a large poniequin, too large to be meant to model anything except an alicorn. On it was a set of thick, golden war armor. It wasn’t actually made of gold, but of an alloy long forgotten, and was only enchanted to look gold. Celestia hadn't worn it in over a thousand years.
Pushing the memory of her failure that the ancient armor brought forth, she began removing the armor from the poniequin, with her hooves instead of her magic, and began placing it on herself. She found, much to her annoyance, that the armor felt tight around her hips. She hated that her dietitian was correct in his assumption that she ate too many sweets. Again, she pushed the thought aside and focused on strapping the armor on. Once she had it on, she turned to an object hanging on a wall next to the poniequin.
A large, golden sword hilt. Most would think it be strange for ponies to have swords with hilts and not just a blade that a unicorn could swing around. After all, ponies didn’t have appendages that could grip. This, however, was different from a normal sword hilt. In the middle of the hilt, where the hand and the crossbar met, sat a burnt-yellow gem. This was a bound weapon, specifically tailored to its user.
“Hello old friend, I never thought I would ever need use of you again,” she spoke. In response, the gem in the hilt pulsed. Taking the hilt in her magic, she brought it to herself to inspect up close. “Hello, Beacon, it’s been a long time,” she said warmly to the gem. Beacon pulsed eagerly in response, happy to see its old friend. Celestia smiled for a second before it bent into a deep frown. “I’m sorry, Luna. I wasn’t able to save you from your madness, now I have no choice but to kill that monster, and you with it.” A tear rolled down her cheek. Focusing her magic into Beacon, a golden light extended out from the hilt and formed a wide blade similar to a gladius, but a little longer. “Forgive me, sister.”
Shining Armor was tired. It was three in the morning, and he had been up late training new recruits, so yeah he was exhausted. However, when duty calls, he answers, like he had done for the past eleven years. Eleven years, seven since Twilly disappeared. When his little sister had inexplicably vanished he had almost dropped out of military service. If it were not for a certain pink alicorn, he would have had no reason to stay in the guard. Now, he was the highest ranked member of the royal military, Captain of the royal guard, and head of the nation’s entire military second only to Celestia herself.
As if responding to his thoughts, the alicorn of the sun herself walked in, wearing her ancient battle armor. A thousand alarms went off in Shining’s head. If the princess was prepared for a battle, then whatever it was she called him here for, it had to be very, very serious. “Princess, I assume there is something about to happen and it isn’t good,” he spoke.
“That is correct, Captain,” she answered. “An evil has returned to the world, and is a threat to all,” she begins to explain. “This evil is an alicorn, known as Nightmare Moon. She was at one point my sister, but sadly one day she fell into darkness and tried to bring about eternal night. I was forced to seal her in the moon for a thousand years.” She was pacing back and forth at this point.” I had hoped that by now I would have a way to free her from her madness, but unfortunately, I have none. I am now forced to make the unfortunate decision of having to strike her down.” She took in a breath not realizing she hadn’t inhaled once since starting. Turning back to face Shining, she continued. “I know this is a lot of information to take in at once, but it’s imperative that you are informed on as much as you need.” Shining nodded and Celestia continued.
“I am about to go out and face my sister in a fight to the death. I don’t want to leave anything to chance. Being the most powerful unicorn experienced with battle magic, I request you aid me in this battle. I can not afford to fail, and you are the only one I trust to help me in this task, do you understand?” she asked.
“Yes, your majesty,” Shining responds, “I will help you in this task if it means keeping Equestria and Cadence safe,” he said confidently. Celestia smiled at this, Shining Armor was probably the greatest soldier she had ever seen. He had been known for both being effective in the field, while at the same time compassionate. He was renowned for his good treatment towards surveillance of enemy nations. When she had heard he favored capturing enemy soldiers over killing them, she had him promoted to a platoon leader. His platoon had captured hundreds of enemy soldiers and only killed about twenty in the first week of him in command. Despite this, he could kill and he would do so if there was no other option. That’s why she chose him for this when he needed to kill he did not hold back, he tried to make it as painless as possible for his enemies, making him brutally effective when he did kill.
“Then suit up, we depart in an hour, and I believe I know where to look for her,” she said. Shining saluted and left the room to get prepared. Celestia made her way over to one of the small windows in the war room. Gazing up she could see that the moon was still a mix of blue and green.”What are you planning sister?”
“This is where I lived almost a thousand years ago,” Luna explained to her daughter as they made their way through the ruins of an ancient castle. “It saddens me to see it in this state, though I am not surprised, not much can survive the sands of time.
“Why are we waiting here?” Twilight asked.
“Because my sister is sure to know that I have escaped the moon, and will be looking to confront me. It would be best if we are isolated from civilization, in case things don’t go over well. Also, a lack of any major distractions will make it easier to talk to my sister,” Luna explained.
“I hope it doesn’t come to anything drastic. I don’t want my first day back on Equis to be a battle”
“Neither do I, but it’s always a possibility. Either way, I have taught you well and if it does turn into a battle I am confident you will be able to defend yourself,” Luna sighed. “Twilight, promise me if things turn out to for the worse that you run. Do not stick around, just run, find your way back to the moon and seal yourself there so Celestia cannot get to you. I want you to stay safe Twilight.”
“Mom…” Twilight began, but Luna cut her off.
“Somepony is approaching, an Alicorn, and a powerful unicorn. Look as non-threatening as possible.”
“Says the pony with black fur, sharp teeth, and slitted pupils.” Twilight joked lightheartedly. Luna smiled as the tensions in the air lessened at her daughter’s remark.
“Point taken,” Luna responded. Any further conversation was prevented as two ponies entered through the front door of the castle. One was a tall white alicorn with an ethereal multicolored mane. The other was a white unicorn stallion with a three-toned blue mane. Both of them were wearing battle armor. The unicorn had a long blade strapped to his back while the alicorn had a large golden sword hilt strapped to her side.
“Nightmare Moon,” Celestia addressed the dark Alicorn.
“Luna,” Luna corrected.
“What!?” Celestia was surprised by that response.
“I may look like Nightmare Moon, but I assure you that I am Luna,” She explained.
“You expect me to believe that?!” Celestia drew her weapon. “When you have clearly kidnapped this young mare.” Celestia gestured to Twilight who was standing stock still staring at the other unicorn.
“This mare is my daughter and your niece,” Luna said matter of factly. Celestia gawked at that declaration.
“Y-your…” Celestia stammered, but could not find the words. Before either of the two alicorns could say another word, the stallion spoke.
“T-Twiley?” Shining asked in disbelief at the unicorn mare standing across from him, wearing the same disbelieving expression. The mare nodded before responding with her own question.
“Shining?” the mare asked, to which the stallion responded with a nod of his own. The two unicorns continued to stare at each other in disbelief, while the two alicorns watched on in confusion. The tension was broken when the stallion ran forward and pulled the younger mare into a hug only an older brother could give.
“You’re alive. I can't believe it, you're alive!” Shining cried into his sister’s mane, refusing to let go as if she could vanish again if he let go. Despite his cold armor pressing against her fur, Twilight returned the hug and also began to cry.
“So that’s Shining Armor,” Luna said softly to herself. Celestia turned back to give her a questioning look. Luna noticed and decided to answer the question that was clearly being asked, “Twilight spoke fondly of her brother, and how, after their parents died, he entered the military to keep her safe from the griffons.”
“You said she was your daughter,” Celestia stated with a twinge of disdain in her voice. Luna ignored it and continued.
“She appeared on my moon seven years ago, she had wished upon my moon for a mother and it granted her wish. It unlocked her magic for her and guided her to me. “Luna looked directly into Celestia’s eyes and her voice became serious.” I adopted her as my own, and you would be wise not to separate us,” Luna finished and turned back to the two crying unicorns.
“Sister?” Celestia spoke. Luna turned to her and gave her a mildly surprised look of Celestia calling her sister. “Is it really you?” She asked. No longer did she look threatening, but instead she appeared more vulnerable and less imposing.
“Yes sister, I may still look like Nightmare, but I am still Luna,” she said sincerely. Celestia took a few tentative steps toward the darker alicorn. Slowly she closed the distance between looking over her sister’s nightmare form for any sign of a threat. She saw none, she wasn’t wearing armor, wasn't baring her teeth, and her stance was relaxed. Luna was even slouching. Just like when they were young.
Celestia was shaking now, and her eyes were brimming with tears. She couldn't take it anymore and ran forward, pulling the dark alicorn into a back breaking hug. Celestia began to sob uncontrollably. Luna returned the hug, tears of her own began to sting her eyes.”I f-finally have you back, a-after all these years I-I have m-my sister b-b-back!” she wailed uncontrollably. “I’m s-so sorry, I’m so s-s-sorry Luna! I should have listened to you! I shouldn’t have abandoned you like that! I-I’m a t-t-terrible s-sister!” Luna tightened her hug at that statement.
“I forgive you, Celestia, I forgave you a long time ago.” Luna cried in return to her sister’s sobs. “You’re not a terrible sister, you’re the greatest sister a pony could ever ask for,” she reassured. “I love you, Celestia.” The two pairs of siblings cried for what felt like an eternity. Eventually their crying lessened and they began to catch up with each other.
“So, can I meet my newest niece?” Celestia asked.
“Newest niece?” Luna gave her a questioning look.
“Cadance is also an alicorn, she is the descendant of Mi Amour. I also adopted her, though as my niece instead of my daughter,” Celestia explained.
“The Crystal Empire! has it returned?”
“No, not yet, but the emergence of an alicorn that is the descendant of the crystal princess is a sign that it will return soon,” Celestia explained. Luna nodded in understanding. “We can discuss this later. I’d really like to meet Twilight.”
“Okay,” Luna turned to the two unicorns talking joyously. “Twilight can you come over here for a second?” Twilight nodded and appeared before them with a teleport. Celestia was a bit surprised by that. Regaining her composer quickly, Celestia spoke.
“Hello, Twilight. It’s good to meet you, my name is Celestia,” Celestia started. Twilight smiled brightly.
“I know. I saw you at the summer sun celebration when I was four. You’re the reason I started studying magic,” Twilight admitted.
“Oh, really? Maybe, if it’s okay with Luna, I could teach you a few things about magic,” Celestia offered while giving a sidelong glance at her sister. Luna nodded in agreement. Twilight’s eyes grew big and sparkled excitedly.
“YES YES YES YES!” she cheered excitedly, jumping around in circles. Celestia noticed something strange at the moment. Unbeknownst to Twilight there, was a small light emanating from her cutie mark. It was more like a quick flash, but Celestia noticed it. That’s when she got a good look at the mare’s cutie mark. A six-pointed starburst with three smaller stars around it. Celesta gave a questioning look to her sister and Luna returned it with a knowing one.
“I can teach you what I know, but for now I think you should continue catching up with your brother, Luna and I have a few things to discuss as well,” Celestia explained and Twilight nodded while still possessing a massive smile. Twilight hugged Celestia quickly before teleporting back over to where her brother was waiting.
“I see you noticed her cutie mark,” Luna noted.
“Yes, but what was that flash of light?”
“She forged a bond with you,” Luna explained.
“What do you mean, sister?”
“When Twilight came to the moon her cutie mark only had the starburst. The night after I took her in I had found that her cutie mark now also had a star. A few years later I brought up her brother and she explained how much she loved him. That’s when I too saw a flash of light and another star appeared. The appearance of the third just now all but proves my theory”
“And what is that?”
“That Twilight isn’t just the element of magic, but magic itself. I have an idea that she may be able to tap into the same powers of those she has forged a bond with. I believe the closer the bond, the more she’ll be able to access that ponies talents. She can already use my dark magic quite well.”
“How good are her shield spells?”
“Virtually indestructible.”
“Then I think you may be right, sister. Shining Armor is best known for possessing great skill in shield spells, even I have trouble breaking them,” Celestia explained. After a moment Celestia chuckled, “I can't believe it, my sister not only comes back to me after almost a thousand years but returns with a daughter who is magic incarnate. This has been the most eventful day of my life in the past thousand years.” Celestia laughed and Luna joined in. After a few moments of mirthful laughter, Luna spoke.
“I assume you intend to restore me to my position as co-ruler of Equestria?”
“Of course Luna why would you even ask that?”
“Because I want Twilight to also be given that title as my heir.”
“Luna… she is a unicorn, she won’t live long enough to ever hope of succeeding you.”
“I don’t think that will be a problem for long.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I have confidence that she will be able to ascend to an alicorn.”
“Luna, you know that’s only a theory, one that has never been proven possible.”
“What about Cadance?”
“She was born an Alicorn.”
“Sister, if there is anyone who has any hope of ascending, it’s Twilight. I am confident she will be able to do it in time,” Luna said assuredly. Celestia contemplated it for a bit before replying.
“Okay Luna, I trust you. I’ll make her a princess as well.”
“Thank you, Celestia. I know that in time she may even surpass the both of us.”
Celestia felt a warm smile spread across her muzzle. “I wonder if she could wield the elements on her own.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, I’m done talking about this, I want to know what you have been up to while I was away.” Luna gave a mischievous smile.
“Oh, and what would you like to know?”
“Any stallions I should know about?” Luna gave a wry smile. Celestia blushed furiously.
“S-sister!” she exclaimed, her voice cracking just a little. Luna giggled and continued.
“Or are mares what you’re into these days?”
“Luna, I swear!”
“Oh come now, sister, am I the only one of us to have ever wanted to start a family?” Luna asked sincerely.
“I’ve been busy, it’s not easy being the sole ruler of an entire nation. I don’t have time for that kind of thing.”
“Didn’t have time,” Luna corrected. “I’m back now, and I’m sure you will have time now that I am back to help you rule.”
“Hmm, I guess you are right. I’ll give it some thought, I have always wanted a son.”
“I’m sure your guard there could help you with that,” Luna gave a suggestive smile. Celestia laughed.
“Oh no, he’s taken. Cadance got to him before I did. They are currently engaged.”
“I wonder how Twilight will react to knowing she could have a sister-in-law soon?” Luna wondered. As if to answer her question, Twilight squealed.
“YOU’RE GETTING MARRIED!? YOU HAVE TO TELL ME EVERYTHING!” Twilight had tackled her brother to the stone floor looking over him eagerly, waiting for him to explain. The two turned to look at each other for a moment before the two fell over in laughter rolling along the floor. Twilight gave them a confused look, but Twilight just shrugged and joined her mother an aunt on the floor in mirthful laughter.
She didn’t care why they were laughing, Twilight was just happy to be apart of a family. Family, I have a family. Twilight indeed had a family now. Not only did she have a mother now, but also a loving aunt, a big brother, and soon a sister-in-law that she couldn’t wait to meet. Twilight couldn’t be happier.
A young Twilight Sparkle ran through the halls of the lunar castle carrying a wood-backed book in her magic. Something in the book had caught her interest, and she wanted to ask her mother about it. There were only a few places her mother could be, so it only took a few minutes of searching until she found Luna on the main balcony on the front of the castle, looking out over the plains surrounding the castle.
“Mommy!” she chirped happily as she walked onto the balcony. Luna turned her head and smiled warmly at her daughter, she stretched out her wing and wrapped it around the filly, pulling her closer. That’s when Luna noticed the book.
“What do y-you have there?” she asked her daughter. Luna had been able to grow trees using her magic on the moon, but that was the most complex thing she could create. That aside, it was enough for her, since she knew how to make parchment, and could easily treat wood with her magic to create covers. When one has almost a thousand years of isolation, writing was a good way to keep one's thoughts from consuming them. However, Luna had run out of things to write about, and as a result, began to slowly slip back into insanity, or at least until Twilight showed up.
“Is it true? Are you really a princess? Is Celestia really your sister? Did she really banish you here?” Twilight rapidly inquired, looking up at her mother with big curious eyes. Luna frowned at the questions but decided it was best not to keep things from her daughter if she could help it.
“Yes, it’s all true. I am a princess, and Celestia is my sister.” She paused and took in a deep breath, “But yes, she did banish me to the moon.”
“Why?”
“I’d rather not tell you until you are older,” Luna deflected. This was one subject she didn’t want to discuss with her daughter, at least not yet. Twilight gave an unhappy pout.
“Hmph, all adults say that,” she said with a grumble. Luna couldn’t help but chuckle at how adorable her daughter’s mannerisms were. “But okay, just promise you will tell me someday!” she said in the best commanding tone a filly could muster. Luna once again chuckled at her daughter’s antics.
“Very well, I promise,” Luna assured, Twilight flashed an approving smile before she asked another question.
“Does that make Celestia my auntie?”
“Hmm, I guess it does.”
“Will I get to meet auntie Celestia someday?”
“Maybe someday.” It wasn’t entirely a lie, but Luna didn’t honestly know when or if they ever would be free.
“Mommy?” Twilight asked a little nervously. Looking down, she gave her daughter her full attention. “If you’re a princess, and you’re my mommy, what does that make me?” she questioned with a bit of trepidation.
“Hmm…” Luna pondered this a moment. What did that make her? Luna looked into her daughter’s wide, curious, and worried eyes. In those eyes Luna found her answer, reaching out with her hooves, Luna pulled the filly into her chest with a hug. “It means you are also a princess.” She answered. It did not matter that Twilight was adopted, Luna had come to love the filly unconditionally in the past six months she had been on the moon with her. She might as well have been her own flesh and blood for all Luna cared.
Luna took a few sips from her cup of tea before letting out a relaxed sigh. She and her sister were sitting in the private dining room of Canterlot castle. Canterlot, such an amazing city. Her sister had done well for herself in the almost thousand years of her absence. It made Luna feel bad, because of her absence, Equestria had prospered. She decided that this was not a time to think about that kind of thing, and pushed it out of her mind.
“It’s good to have tea again.” She took another sip. “The most complex thing I could make on the moon was a tree, and only because the first hundred years of our lives were spent cutting down trees to help ponies build their homes, if only I had paid more attention to the tea I used to drink, I may have been able to grow some.”
“So is that why the moon is blue and green?” Celestia asked.
“Oh not entirely, before Twilight turned 15, the area around the lunar castle was the only place habitable for non-alicorns. A few weeks after she turned 15, she began working on a present for me. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew she was hiding something. Eventually, I found out that the dome I had created to protect the habitat had a perception filter added to it. When I removed it, I was shocked to find that the moon’s surface was no longer grey, but brown.”
“Twilight had turned the moon’s surface into soil?” Celestia concluded.
“Yes, I was very surprised, what I had found even more shocking was that she apparently created microscopic life!” Luna exclaimed.“She eventually explained to me that there were microscopic creatures, it gave me an idea of just how advanced pony society that a pony at the age of 12 knew so much.”
“She created microorganisms!?” Celestia was shocked. “How could she, when only we alicorns can create life like that?”
“As I said, Sister, she may be one of us someday.”
“You may be right. Anyway, go on.”
“Right, Twilight was very disappointed that I found out before she was finished. Apparently, she had been having trouble trying to create anything more complex than what she called bacteria. I told her that I appreciate how hard she had worked so far, and offered to help. After a year we had turned the entire moon into a lush paradise.”
“I have to say that’s very impressive. Twilight is clearly very intelligent.”
“Is it abnormal for a 12-year-old to know such information?”
“Very strange, my own school doesn’t teach that until most are around 16. It’s a field that’s only been around for a few generations.”
“She did say she has been studying since she was four.”
“Intelligent, powerful, and skilled.” Celestia listed.
“She may have that, but there are two things that concern me.” Luna expressed.
“What is that sister?”
“The first issue is her magic. I believe she has bottleneck syndrome. She probably didn’t realize it but it took almost two hours to cast the spell that released us, and I know it’s not because the spell was complex, no, Twilight is amazing with structuring spells.”
“She has a massive wellspring, but has trouble drawing upon it… the way you describe it, it sounds like the worse case of bottleneck I’ve ever heard.”
“It is bad, I still need to have her properly checked by an expert, but her wellspring is almost as big as mine, she just has a below average magicdraw rate.” Luna sighed in mild frustration. “I tried teaching her combat magic, but it took her too long to reliably cast anything beyond telekinetic attacks, and teleports.”
“I don’t think she will have need of combat magic, Equestria is peaceful nowadays.”
“You must not forget mother's prediction though.” Luna reminded, and Celestia frowned.
“A thousand year peace… it’s almost been a thousand years since the last major disaster…” Celestia looked down at her teacup, deep in thought.
“That brings me to my next issue, I fear for how she will do socially.”
“I’m sure you will be having a similar problem being gone for so long, but then again you grew up with ponies around.”
“Yes, Twilight has been with me for seven years, and from what she has told me, had no friends before that, besides her brother.” Luna frowned. “I fear how ponies will treat her knowing she is the daughter of a demon.” Luna grimaced and Celestia did the same.
“I had hidden away your name from the public in an attempt to create a separation from Nightmare Moon and Luna. I hoped that by the time you returned, I would be able to find a way to save you from the corruption, and you would go back to the way you looked before. Now, however, you are Luna again but you still hold the form of the Nightmare.” Celestia stared at her teacup deep in thought.
“If she is not able to make friends, would she still be able to use the Elements of Harmony?” Luna asked.
“I don’t know… if she were to wield them on her own she would need to represent all six of them. It’s clear she can represent magic, but the other five…” Celestia trailed off, returning back to her thoughts. After a few moments, a spark of realization flashed in her eyes. Luna noticed this.
“Do you have an idea, Sister?”
“I believe I do. Twilight gains a new star on her cutie mark when she forms a bond with a pony, and through that bond, she can emulate that pony’s traits and talents correct?”
“Yes, but only if it’s a very close bond can she emulate, what are you getting at?”
“I know of five ponies who represent the traits of the other five elements. If Twilight were to become friends with them she may be able to wield the elements on her own,” Celestia finished excitedly.
“I have to say, Sister, that is a brilliant idea but how are we going to bring them together? If we tell them what we are planning, they will think we are only using them as a weapon.”
“In many ways, we are doing just that, but we aren't just making them into a weapon to fight off our enemies, we’re doing this to make them into guardians of the world too. The longer we go without element bearers, the greater chance something that we can not stop comes and ruins everything,” Celestia said somberly.
“Yes, and that’s why I think it’s a good idea for Twilight to become the sole bearer. I know someday she will ascend and her being immortal removes the chance that we will be without the elements.” Luna looked out one of the windows in the dining hall at the night sky. The blue and green moon hung low, signifying it was time for the sun to rise soon. “I just hope she doesn’t hate me for this. If she thinks I’m trying to manipulate her into becoming a weapon, she may hate me.” Tears began to well up in her eyes at the thought of her daughter hating her for the rest of eternity.
“Twilight is smart, I’m sure she would understand if she found out, and furthermore, it’s clear that she loves you, Lulu. You shouldn’t have to worry about that,” Celestia reassured. Luna smiled at the old nickname.
“Thank you Celly, you always know what to say,” Luna replied with a happy smile. The two sat in silence drinking tea and enjoying each other’s company. It had been so long since the two just sat and talked, even before her banishment to the moon, the two never talked much. It was good to just be sisters again like it was before they became the rulers of Equestria. Eventually, Celestia let loose a sigh and stood up from her cushion.
“I think it’s time I raise the sun, I need to announce your return in a few hours, and I also need to announce Twilight’s claim to the throne, as well as crown her,” Celestia listed. Luna also stood and walked up to join her sister by the window she had trotted to.
“Let’s give Twilight some time to get settled in first before we give her a coronation.”
“It won’t be an official coronation; if she is to become an alicorn, I want to hold off on an official one until then,” Celestia explained and Luna nodded in agreement. “Now come Luna, let us do our duty,” Celestia said as she lit her horn and reached out to grab hold of the sun.
“Of course Celly, I would be glad to,” Luna smiled before she too lit up her horn and reached out to grab hold of the moon. Soon the moon was lowered beneath the horizon and the sun began to rise, and with it marked the beginning of a new day and a new era to come.
“So Cadance is also an alicorn?” Twilight asked. She was walking through the halls of Canterlot with Shining Armor towards the dining hall, where they would meet Cadance.
“Yeah, which means when we’re married, I’ll be a prince!” Shining said while giving a wry smile.
“Yeah, but I’m already royalty because mom’s a princess.”
“Doesn’t that already make me royalty, because I’m your brother?”
“Hmm… I don’t think so, I’m royalty by adoption and because you weren't adopted too you only have close association…” she explained, with a look of deep thought stretched across her features.
“Even after spending seven years on the moon, you still understand succession laws you studied when you were nine, seriously, how do you store all that information in that head of yours?” he said, before giving her a noogie. Twilight giggled and batted his hoof away.
“I don’t know, an eidetic memory I guess? Anyway enough about me, how did you meet Cadance?”
“Okay then…” he paused and thought for a moment, “I was stationed in Stalliongrad…”
Shining Armor was at his desk at his post in Stalliongrad. He was deep in thought, staring at a letter. Next to the letter was another letter just written by himself sitting on top of an unused envelope ready to be sealed inside. The letter he was currently looking at, was one he received a week ago. It was a letter that he had been fearing for the last year and had done nothing but stare at it for the past week, since he had received it. He had been unable to accept the contents of the letter, hoping it was just some cruel joke, but as the week drew on it become clear; his sister was gone.
Dear Sgt. Shining Armor,
I regret to inform you that after a year of investigation, all leads regarding the whereabouts of your sister have fallen short. As her only living relative, it is my sincere apologies that the investigation has ended. Twilight Sparkle has been declared dead, I am sorry.
--- Investigator Eagle Eye.
Dead, Twilight was dead. He was the only one of his family left, and he had no one. The only reason he was in the military was so he could make Equestria a safer place for her, but now what reason did he have to stay? He looked over to the letter sitting atop the unused envelope. It was a letter of resignation. He couldn’t stay, as he had no reason to anymore.
Shining let out a sigh and stood up from his desk while tossing the old letter into the wastebasket on the floor next to his desk. Taking the new letter in his magic, he folded it and slipped into the envelope, and then sealed it. Placing the envelope into a pocket on his uniform, he stepped out of the small office and walked through the main room of his post to the front door. Walking into the streets of Stalliongrad, he locked the door behind himself and began his trek to the Army Sergeant’s office.
Many would probably question why he didn’t appear more broken up about this, these ponies would probably have never been in the military before. In his seven years of service, he had learned to hide his feelings behind an emotionless mask. It was just that, however, a mask, and inside he was indeed broken. He wanted to cry, scream, and beg for it all to not be true, he didn’t though, because it was true, and no amount of crying, screaming, or begging could change that.
Shining had only traveled a few blocks when something stopped him in his tracks. Who’s shouting? His ears flicked and swiveled around trying to pinpoint where the yelling was coming from. There! Turning to his left, he could see an alleyway. Normally it wouldn’t be any of his concern why ponies were making noise, but something told him he needed to investigate. Without a moment of hesitation, he entered the alleyway.
“Help!” a voice yelled, and that was all it took for Shining to burst into a full on gallop, zigzagging his way from alley to alley. The shouting grew louder, and he pushed harder to increase his pace. At the tenth turn, he saw it. Before him were eleven ponies; five of them were royal guards, four of which were on the ground bleeding. There were four ponies in robes and the most he could determine was they were all unicorns. The last pony was a pink alicorn with a ring suppressor on her horn. One of her wings was bent awkwardly and was likely broken along with several gashes and scrapes along her body.
The last guard went down with a blade embedded in his throat not long after Shining rounded the corner. The hooded ponies closed in around the alicorn. She attempted to kick one of the hooded ponies but was rewarded by another one slicing at her legs with a serrated knife. She yelped and fell to the ground where a pool of her own blood began to grow.
“Come now, Princess Cadenza!” one of the ponies spoke in a feminine voice. “If you cooperate with us I promise you that when we are done with you, your death will be quick and painless,” Shining couldn’t see the pony’s face but he could tell she was smiling just by the tone of her voice.
Not wasting a moment more Shining jumped into action, literally jumping between the alicorn and her attackers. Tapping into his magic, he erected a shield around himself and the downed alicorn. The hooded ponies stepped back in surprise at the stallion seemingly coming out of nowhere. After standing around just staring at each other for what felt like an eternity, one of the hooded ponies, whom Shining assumed was the leader, spoke.
“Kill him and capture the alicorn!” at the command, all the hooded ponies rushed forward in an attempt to overwhelm the unicorn. Acting quickly, Shining flung his shield outward in a wave of force, causing the charging ponies to stagger for a brief moment, but it was enough. Capitalizing on this, Shining summoned another shield, but this one wasn’t for protecting. Turning to his nearest opponent, he swung the wall of solidified magic, sending the pony careening down one of the many connecting alleyways.
Shining armor turned around just in time to catch the hoof of one of his attackers with his own, just before it descended upon his neck. With a hard twist, Shining felt the wrist of the hoof pop, but before the pony could cry out in pain, he sent out another wave of solid magic, sending them into the wall with a sickening crack.
Sidestepping and turning around quickly, Shining just narrowly avoided two ponies attempting to impale him with daggers. Before he could react, he had to roll to the side to avoid a bolt of magic aimed at his head. Once again, he was surrounded, but it was clear that they hadn't learned from the last time, because he sent out another wave of solid magic around him. This time it knocked some of them to their hooves.
Once more, Shining armor capitalized on the situation and slammed a wave of solid magic onto the downed ponies. Wait weren’t there only four? Before he could think about it further, he felt a sudden pain in his side, followed by a feeling of weightlessness, then the feeling of slamming into a brick wall at high speed. Letting loose a groan, he pushed himself to his hooves and opened his eyes.
He was backed up against a wall with seven hooded ponies surrounding him, six of them held him at spear point. The seventh approached him wielding a curved, serrated knife. Damn, they must have had more hiding in the shadows. Whoever these ponies are, they’re smart. Shining went to cast a spell, but as soon as he lit his horn the knife-wielding pony lunged at him.
There was a grunt of pain, followed by a flash of pink, then the sound of a knife hitting the stone ground. Shining hadn't realized he had closed his eyes, but when he opened them, he found in place of the hooded pony now stood a pink alicorn. Turning to his left, he could see that the hooded pony that had just been about to kill him now laid atop two others in an unconscious heap.
Shining was very much surprised, but then he reminded himself; alicorns have earth pony strength. He turned his head back just in time to see the alicorn tackled by three of the remaining four ponies. The fourth one threw its spear at the white stallion, thankfully, the distance was far enough for Shining to roll out of the way. Once he was back on his hooves, he launched a dense wall of magic, knocking the pony across the alleyway and to a brick wall.
Shining turned around just in time to see the pink alicorn held down on her side by two of the three remaining hooded ponies. The third pulled out a syringe from their cloak. Seeing the needle, the alicorn began to struggle more desperately, and let loose a cry of panic. Before the pony could stab the needle into the struggling mare, he was slammed into the ground by a wave of hard magic.
Before the other two hooded ponies could fully grasp what had happened to their comrade, they were set upon by the white unicorn. Both were tackled to the ground, then quickly lifted in a telekinetic grip before being slammed back down into the stone covered earth. Consciousness left them almost immediately. The third pony got to their hooves and took stock of their fallen comrades. The pony let out a feminine ‘hmph’ before pulling out a golden sphere from her cloak. Before Shining could stop her, she threw the sphere on the ground and the area was filled with an intense white light and a loud bang that left his ears ringing.
After his vision had cleared, and his hearing returned to some semblance of normal, he found the alleyway empty except for himself and the pink alicorn. Even the guards that had laid dead once he arrived seemed to have disappeared. Before he could question what happened or where they all went, a grunt of pain drew his attention to the alicorn.
“Let’s get you to a hospital,” he said as he helped her to her hooves and supported her as she leaned against his shoulder.
“Thanks…” she started.
“Sergeant Shining Armor, your majesty,” he answered.
“Just Cadance…” she replied as they began walking out of the alleyway. “Thanks for saving me... They caught me by surprise and sprayed me with something, so I couldn’t cast my magic…” she explained.
“I’m just happy to help, I couldn’t just stand around and do nothing.”
“I just wish my guards had survived,” tears began to well up in her eyes, “Hover was going to be a father.” She wept as she began to stumble, “a-and… Sharp had a filly at home waiting for her to return!” she fell to the stone ground and cried in despair. Unsure of what to do, Shining did what he always did when his sister cried. He sat down on the ground in front of her and pulled the sobbing alicorn into a hug. Cadence wrapped her wings around him along with her forelegs and sobbed heavily into his shoulder.
Shining gently rubbed Cadance’s back in an attempt to calm her down. The two of them remained like this for several minutes, however, Cadance's sobs soon slowed and she slumped against Shining. Realizing she had fallen asleep, the stallion gently lifted the alicorn onto his back and made his way to the nearest hospital.
As soon as the nurses saw the unconscious alicorn on Shining’s back, they escorted him to a room immediately as he walked into the hospital’s waiting room. Once inside, he gently laid her on the cot. Once she was laying down, the nurses and doctors went to work treating the princess’s wounds. As they were doing their, job Shining slipped out of the room, where he came muzzle to muzzle with his commanding officer.
“Army Sergeant Steel Horn!” Shining exclaimed and saluted to his superior.
“At ease, Sargent Armor,” he said calmly in his gravelly voice, “I got a report that Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was injured, and you were carrying her towards the hospital. I came to ask you what in Equestria happened according to the most recent reports, there was a lot of shouting about three blocks from here.”
“The princess was attacked, along with her guards…” Shining began to explain what happened. After the explanation, Steel Horn’s muzzle was scrunched up in thought.
“I’ll admit, it sounds far-fetched Armor, but by looking at the condition of you and the Princess along, with the absence of her guard’s, I’m inclined to believe you.” Steel Horn rested a light grey hoof on Shining’s shoulder, “you did an excellent job, Sergeant, I’m confident once Princess Celestia hears of this, she will be very grateful for you saving her niece.” Steel gave a genuine smile, which was odd, considering Shining had never seen him have anything but a neutral expression.
“I was just doing my job,” Shining tried to push aside the praise.
“None of that now, what you did today is something we look for in the army and guard,” Steel Horn turned to leave, “I need to go file my report to the Princess, as well as the Major Sergeant, for now, get patched up and I’m assigning you to watch over Princess Mi Amore Cadenza until further notice,” he commanded, and continued to walk back down the hall to the exit. Shining suddenly remembered his letter of resignation, and reached for it with his magic.
“Army Sergeant Steel!” he called. The grey Unicorn turned to look at Shining Armor. Shining froze before he could pull the letter out. Did he really want this? His mind turned back to Cadance, and how she would probably be dead or worse if he had not been there. What if I had kept walking? His mind returned to the present and the grey Unicorn looking at him waiting for him to say something. Eventually, Shining spoke, “thank you,” he said simply.
“You’re welcome, Sergeant Armor,” he replied, however, he suddenly smirked, “though I don’t think I’ll be calling you that after today, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Princess makes you Captain after what you did,” he said with a chuckle. Shining Armor was left slack-jawed, not only at the fact that the Army Sergeant just chuckled but also at the idea of being promoted straight to Captain. If this did happen, it would be the largest jump in rank in Equestria history. His look of surprise soon turned to a smile of pride, and he nodded his thanks to his superior. Steel Horn returned the gesture before turning once again to leave.
Once the grey stallion was gone, Shining pulled out his letter of resignation and walked over to the nearest trash can. Looking the envelope over one last time, he ignited the letter with his magic. The ashes fell into the basket before Shining turned back to the room Cadence was being cared for, and took up station adjacent to the door to stand guard, all the while a small smile graced his features. I’ll make you proud, Twily.
Cadance sat at the private dining table in the castle, enjoying a bowl of oatmeal, some fruit, and a cup of coffee. She hadn’t slept much once she found out her fiancé was going with Celestia to fight Nightmare Moon. Thankfully she had been told of Celestia's return, as well as Shining Armor’s not too long ago. She waited patiently for him to return so they could have breakfast together. Cadance went to take another bite of honeydew when the air suddenly felt very thick, her magic sense was screaming at her, something powerful is nearby.
The feeling of fear was almost overwhelming, but Cadance fought to push it down and subdue her senses. After a moment, she was able to breathe calmly and the feeling of something unbelievably powerful nearby became nothing more than a prick in the back of her mind. Despite the intense sensation of dread being gone, the pink alicorn was still a little afraid of what she had felt. She had sensed her aunt’s power before, but all her senses had just told her it was the power of another alicorn and therefore nothing to fear. However, this power was not of an alicorn, but it still had the strength of one. Just then the doors to the room opened, causing Cadance to jump slightly, but she soon calmed down upon seeing who it was.
“Cadie, I’m back, and I’ve got something important to tell you!” Shining said excitedly, walking up to his fiancée. Cadance smiled and met him halfway, pulling him into a quick hug, which he returned.
“I’m glad you're okay, Shiny, I was so worried! You wanted to tell me something?” she asked. It was then that she noticed the purple unicorn mare standing at the door still. That feeling of immense dread was barely contained as the sense of something powerful slammed into her again.
“Remember when I told you about my sister?” he asked. Cadance refocused on her fiancé and frowned.
“Yes, I remember. You told me she went missing and they never found her…” she solemnly replied, but to her surprise, Shining was grinning even wider. Cadance looked back to the mare standing at the door with a sheepish grin. It didn’t take long for Cadance to fit the pieces together and let out a gasp. She looked just how he had described her - purple fur, a dark blue mane, and a tail with pink and purple highlights.
“Cadance, meet my sister, Twilight Sparkle. Twilight, this is my fiancée, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or Cadance for short,” he said happily. Twilight walked up to Cadance, with a mild amount of nervousness in her gait.
“It’s nice to meet you, Cadance, Shining has been talking about you nonstop since we got to the castle,” she said before giving a bow. Cadance was more than a little shocked. Not only was her future sister-in-law alive, but she had returned from where ever she had gone, and not only that, but she was probably the most powerful thing in the room right now. Cadance reached out to Twilight with her magic to see her love, her heart. As the alicorn of love, she could sense the conditions of the heart, and if Cadance had been looking at a piece of gold then and there, it would have been the purest piece of gold she had ever seen. Twilight’s heart wasn’t just good, it was untainted, but at the same time, she could sense a tiny bit of dark magic in the unicorn. “What is this mare?” she asked herself.
“Please, no need to bow to me. If you are Shining’s sister then we’ll be family in a few months,” she said with a grin. Twilight stood up and gave a genuine smile at Cadance. The alicorn couldn’t help but return it. She turned to Shining, asking, “where did you find her?” It was honestly strange for a pony to vanish for seven years then suddenly just reappear out of nowhere. “Where has she been all this time?”
“I’ve been on the moon,” Twilight nonchalantly responded, all the while trying to keep a straight face and speaking in the most neutral tone she could. She immediately lost her composure and giggled at Cadance’s shocked expression.
“You’re kidding, right?” Cadance asked in bewilderment, staring at the unicorn with no small amount of disbelief.
“No, I’m not kidding, I’ve been on the moon with Mom for seven years,” Twilight explained. Cadance looked very confused, and Twilight couldn’t help but giggle at the mare’s contorted features. As if on cue, the doors to the room opened, and in strode two alicorns. When Cadance saw Luna, her jaw almost became unhinged.
“Before you jump to any conclusions, Cadance, no, this is not Nightmare Moon, this is my sister Luna. I know she looks like the Nightmare, but I can assure you she isn’t,” Celestia said quickly before Cadance would have a chance to jump to any conclusions. Cadance’s eyes darted between the two alicorns somewhat frantically as her mind tried to come to a conclusion. Again Cadance fell back on her special power and reached out to see the dark alicorn’s heart. What she found was surprising; Luna’s heart was scarred, but kind, it was dark but loving. It was clear that Luna had experienced something damaging and destructive at one point. Her heart may have been filled with nothing but hatred and envy before, but now… it had recovered and was once more filled with love. Her heart may be scarred, but it was strong because of it.
“I… believe you,” she said finally, before walking up to Luna and giving a respectful bow. “I’m happy to finally meet you, Prin-” she caught herself, “Aunt Luna. Aunt Celestia has mentioned you to me many times.” Luna bowed respectfully in kind.
“Likewise. I’m glad to see that Amore’s bloodline still exists,” Luna replied kindly. “I see you have met my daughter,” Luna remarked. Cadance blinked in confusion at that statement. Just then Twilight saddled up next to Luna and the alicorn draped a wing over the young mare. It took the pink alicorn only a second to figure out the connection.
“What?! Hold on just a moment. Luna is your mother, and you two were on the moon? But you’re also Shining Armor’s sister! If Luna was on the moon for almost a thousand years then how does that work!?” she asked, her mind frantically struggling to put the pieces together.
“Yeah, this will take a while to explain,” Twilight remarked, as Luna nodded in agreement with her daughter.
“Best if we wait till the announcement of our return to explain it to the public, so we don’t have to repeat ourselves,” Luna explained. Twilight gave her mother a confused look.
“Announcement?” she asked with a tilt of her head.
“Yes, we need to inform the public of my sister’s return and reinstate her power. We also need to crown a new member of the royal family,” Celestia explained. Twilight still looked confused, however.
“New member of the royal family? Who’s tha- Ohh…” realization streaked across the unicorn’s facial features. Luna chuckled at her daughter’s sudden realization that Celestia was talking about her. “I forgot that I’m technically a princess,” she replied while rubbing the back of her head with a hoof and chuckling awkwardly. Celestia smiled sweetly at Twilight.
“I can’t wait to see Blueblood’s reaction to this, as well as the rest of the nobility,” Shining remarked with a chuckle. “I know a bunch nearly lost it when they found out I was going to marry Cadance,” Celestia let out a giggle at the statement.
“Yes, I particularly remember how Golden Crest reacted,” Celestia replied, followed by more giggles.
“I take it the nobility are still as pompous as they were nearly a thousand years ago,” Luna addressed her sister with a smirk.
“Oh yes! Very much so!” Celestia exclaimed
“I still don’t quite understand why you keep those foals around.”
“If I got rid of them, there would be no way I would be able to hire enough jesters to entertain me as much as they do,” Celestia replied, before bursting into a fit of giggles followed by her sister and niece. Twilight couldn’t help but smile at how happy her mother looked. Luna always had a slight air of sadness around her, but here she was truly happy. Her mother’s happiness made Twilight’s heart sing with joy. It filled her with hope for what the future may hold for them, she was excited to see what else her new found life had in store.
“Mommy, what do princesses do?” a young Twilight asked her mother. Luna looked down at her daughter, who was sitting next to her on the balcony overlooking the palace grounds. Luna hummed in thought as she turned her head to look up to the planet they orbited. She thought about the question for a few moments, trying to decide how to answer it, eventually responding with some uncertainty.
“Well… we do a lot of things, really. My sister and I both protected Equestria using our magic to get rid of threats. In the early days of Equestria, we were always leading armies to protect our new nation. As time went on and we established ourselves, war became rarer, and we opened up trade, beginning a transition into a diplomacy focused nation. We started to write laws and implementedthem. At least that was how we did it in the earlier years. As Equestria grew, we began to appoint ponies to certain positions to make it easier for us, though that usually just added more things we had to account for. We were also the bringers of day and night, and consequently were central to the maintaining of harmony,” she explained.
“Wow!… Will I do that someday?” Twilight asked her mother, who hid her concern behind a caring smile. I hope so, my little star. I could not hope for anything more.
“Someday you will. I know you will do great things one day, Twilight. I see so much potential in you, and someday, you’ll be a great princess.”
“So will you teach me to be a good princess?” Twilight asked again with excitement in her voice. Luna chuckled at her daughter’s antics, always amused by her eager to learn attitude, and as a result, she was always willing to teach.
“Yes, of course, I will, I’ll teach how to use your magic to protect ponies, I’ll teach you to rule with respect and confidence. I’ll teach you to be the best princess you can be.” Twilight began to hop up and down in excitement electing a laugh out of her mother.
“Can you teach me now? Can you please?!” she begged. Luna could only smile in response.
“Very well. Why don’t we begin with how to act around others?...”
Twilight walked through the halls of Canterlot Castle alone, a rare sight for a place so filled with guards, so the average onlooker might find it strange, but in reality, it was precisely what the mare wanted. She wanted to find her own way through the castle, that and she had heard there was a vast library, and she might run off to find it on her own. Considering no one followed after her she assumed that no one was concerned. Besides, she could take care of herself, mostly due to her mother’s lessons.
Twilight hummed happily as she cataloged and drew up a mental map of the castle's halls. She was honestly impressed with how intricate the castle was laid out, leading her to believe it was designed this way so that anyone trying to take the castle would have a hard time navigating it, and thus slowing down their advancements. It was something Twilight could appreciate, since she preferred to outsmart her opponents rather than use brute force, though those two things weren't mutually exclusive.
Although she never was able to beat her mother at her strategy games, Luna has admitted that she has never gone easy on Twilight. The young pony may not be an alicorn, but she was no pushover either, and that was proven to be a good thing too, moments later in her search for the library. Thankfully, she was paying attention or she might’ve actually collided with them. The pony himself also noticed her and stopped to regard her, flipping his golden mane flamboyantly before speaking.
“Greetings,” he started. “May I inquire who you may be? I do not believe I have met you before,” he asked plainly. Twilight was put off slightly by his lack of enthusiasm, or any emotion for that matter, but not wanting to be rude and remembering her mother’s teachings, she stood up straight and replied kindly.
“My name is Twilight Sparkle, it is a pleasure to meet you,” she said with a slight bow of her head. Instead of returning the gesture the stallion raised an eyebrow.
“Twilight Sparkle? I am not aware of any noble house called Sparkle,” he stated with mild suspicion. Twilight gave the white stallion a confused look. What does noble house have to do with anything? She questioned silently but replied to the pony nonetheless.
“Uh, I’m not part of a noble house, I am the daughter of Princess Luna, so I guess I’m technically from the House of the Sun and Moon?” she explained. The stallion’s look of suspicion was in full effect now, clearly displaying his disbelief.
“You’re clearly lying, we only have one princess, and that’s my Aunt Celestia. Also, there is no house of the sun and moon, it’s just the House of the Sun,” he stated matter of factly with a haughty expression on his muzzle. Twilight furrowed her brow at the stallion’s tone and attitude, but decided to not reply in kind, instead opting to explain the situation to him.
“I’m telling the truth. You just haven't been informed of her return.”
“Return?”
“Yes, she has returned from her banishment.”
“If she is a princess and an alicorn, she must have been banished for a very long time for me to have never heard of her,” he stated in a condescending tone. Twilight wasn’t sure if she could avoid mentioning that Luna was Nightmare Moon, but she didn’t have much other option other than walk away and that would be rude.
“Yes, almost a thousand years.”
“Now I know you’re lying, you're likely just a commoner trying to leech off the princess,” Twilight could only feel offended, but tried her best not to show it, and continued to refute his statements.
“I’m not lying; my mother has been on the moon for almost a thousand years.” Yeah, I definitely sound crazy saying it out loud, she lamented, and the golden-maned stallion seemed to agree, scoffing at the words.
“You are a really bad liar. I suggest you leave the castle before I call the guards or throw you out myself,” he stated before sticking his muzzle in the air. Okay, I’m done being nice, Twilight thought, having run out of patience.
“No, I’m going to the library. You may not believe me, but I have no true reason to deal with your attitude anymore,” she said, calling him out. The pony gasped and looked greatly offended, almost to an exaggerated degree.
“How dare you speak to me in such a manner. I am Prince Blueblood! I am the highest born noble, and you are subordinate to me; a mere common mare. Now leave before I make you!” he commanded, ending with a firm stomp on the ground. Twilight just glared at him, uncaring.
“Like I said; I’m going to the library, so have an awfully nice day,” she stated before she began to walk in the direction she had initially been going. She hadn't made it more than three paces before she felt herself wrapped in someone else’s magic, a thin blue haze descending over her vision.
“No, you’re not. I’m taking you to the front gate. Commoners do not belong in the castle,” he stated it as if it were an indisputable fact. Twilight, however, wasn’t having any of it. With a flash of her horn, she easily dispelled the magical grip holding her, turning around and fixing Blueblood with a withering glare. He seemed unfazed by it and just gave her an annoyed expression. “You are really trying my patience now, little filly.” He spoke as if he were talking down to a belligerent foal, with a displeased look accompanying it.
“You’re the one acting like a child,” she countered, continuing, “I’m just minding my own business, trying to find the library, and here you are talking down to me and grabbing me with your magic in an attempt to throw me out of the castle. I’ve been trying to be polite this entire time, and you have been nothing but a pain in the flank. I suggest you leave me to go on my way and stop bothering me;!I’d rather not hurt you.” Blueblood just stared at her with his mouth ajar, gathering himself a moment later as his face turned red with anger.
“How dare you speak to me in such a manner! I am a prince - you will respect me!” he yelled, lighting his horn. Once more Twilight felt herself being wrapped in the stallion’s magic. Twilight lit her horn again, but instead of simply dispelling the magical hold, she redirected its energy back at the prince, causing Blueblood to stumble back from both the magical backlash and surprise. “What? How did you do that?”
Twilight just shrugged, answering without much interest, “simple, I redirected your magic, it’s not that hard really.”
“No, how did you have the magical skill to do that? No low born should be that skilled!” he exclaimed in disbelief. Twilight gave an annoyed snort, getting tired of his ‘holier than thou’ attitude.
“You really need to grow up. Just because you're a prince does not inherently make you better than everyone,” Twilight explained, barely managing to keep the mocking tone out of her voice. It’s not really my place to teach him a lesson, but it’s clear he hasn’t learned something most foals learn early on in life.
“That’s exactly how it works!” Blueblood argued, a frustrated snarl almost forming on his face. “My bloodline is powerful, and thus it’s only normal that I am more talented than others,” he declared, lifting his muzzle to be as high as possible. Twilight face-hoofed at his statement, pulling her hoof down her face while groaning. It was clear she wasn’t going to be able to get him to leave her alone with just words.
“Fine. Then prove you are stronger. Beat me in a duel,” she challenged, thinking, This should be quick.
“Challenge accepted, but not here. There is a dueling arena in the guard training field. We can battle there.”
“Is it on the castle grounds? You’re not kicking me out that easily.”
“Yes, it is within the castle grounds. I shall lead the way,” he said, not waiting for a response before turning around and beginning to walk. Twilight didn’t really want to give him the satisfaction of her walking behind him, but she swallowed her pride and did so anyway. As they walked, Twilight thought on how to approach the duel. Her mother had tried to train her to sense the magic in other things, but she was never able to refine it enough to sense anything less powerful than an alicorn.
Instead, she had to just base her opponent’s magical strength off of what she already knew. Blueblood had already tried to grab her with his magic twice, and both times she was able to counter it with little to no effort. However, that wasn’t the best judge of power considering telekinesis was one of the simplest and least demanding spells there was. In other words, she knew next to nothing about her opponent, and if he seemed to think he was so great, then there must be some validity to it. If he is a noble then he was likely trained since birth on how to use magic, so he may not be as much of a pushover as she had originally assumed. My best strategy would be to either act quickly and take him down before he has a chance to do anything, or let him have the first move and plan accordingly. She thought, before making her mind up. I best go with the latter option, I want to learn my opponent first.
“We're here,” Blueblood spoke as he pushed open a large door to reveal a large yard full of training equipment, consisting of training dummies, target ranges, and a myriad of raised and tilted platforms for different types of terrain. There was also a large track surrounding a white circle with a dividing line through the middle of it; a dueling circle. “I suggest you back out now.” Twilight rolled her eyes at his statement.
“I should offer you the same opportunity, but I know that neither of us is going to back down, so it’s rather pointless,” the mare retorted, starting at the circle. The noble stallion just scoffed before making his way to one side of the dueling circle. Twilight made no response as she made her way to the other side of the circle. As she walked she noticed many of the guards stopping in the middle of their training to give her a concerned look. Many of them looked worried for her. What has gotten into them? She wondered.
“Sister, the castle looks amazing…” Luna said as she and Celestia were finishing up their tour of the palace.
“I’m surprised you like it, it’s been designed with a sun theme in mind. When it was being built, I felt bad for not making it a sun and moon theme, but many of our subjects were still… fearful of you at the time,” Celestia mumbled the last bit of her sentence, leading Luna to smile and drape a wing over her sister.
“Worry not, dear sister, I have long left my jealousy behind. I have my own castle on the Moon now, do not feel shame because you have something that is yours but not mine,” Luna reassured her sister, Celestia gave a thankful smile in return.
“So does that mean you’ll be going back to the moon?”
“Probably at some point, maybe bring a few ponies with me as subjects, but I think you should talk to Twilight on that. Apparently, she has an idea for making transport between Equestria and the Moon easier.”
“Really now? If she can pull something off like that, I might not have anything to teach her.”
“We could always let her into the royal archives.”
“I’m afraid to see what would happen if she got ahold of that kind of knowledge.” The two royal siblings chuckled at that. They continued walking down the hall for a few more moments. Soon they pushed through a large double door that lead to an archway overlooking what Luna assumed was a training yard. That was when she saw the purple unicorn.
“Ah, there is my daughter!” Luna smiled. Celestia turned to see that Twilight was indeed there, but instead of smiling, she gave a quizzical look.
“What is she doing in the guard training yard though? I thought she was looking for the library,” Luna looked at her sister and then back at her daughter.
“Yes, that is a good question…” she trailed off when she noticed the unicorn was standing on one end of a dueling circle. Her eyes shot over to the other end of the circle to see a white unicorn with a golden mane. “She appears to be dueling that stallion there,” she pointed to the pony in question. Celestia followed her sister's hoof and gasps slightly at who it was her new niece was dueling. “What is the matter, sister?”
“I hope Twilight is as trained in combat as you say she is because that pony is no pushover when it comes to magic,” the white alicorn remarked.
“Who is he?”
“That is Prince Blueblood the 14th,” Celestia explained, “He is of both the Houses Gold and Platinum. The two noble houses merged shortly after your banishment and became the Bluebloods.”
“Hmm, so he is of a prestigious line then.”
“Yes, and he has been trained since he was two on how to use his magic. He also went to my school for a time. He is exceptionally talented with his magic. Twilight will have to be careful because he has a wide, straight channel and a large wellspring.”
“But I have personally trained Twilight,” Luna countered, “She will be fine.”
“I’m sure she will, besides Blueblood could use an attitude readjustment, if I’m being honest,” Celestia said with a smirk. Down below, a guard stepped forward to be a referee for the duel.
“Do both participants know the rules of dueling?” he asked, getting a nod from both ponies as a response. He gave his own nod of understanding. “Very well, then you may begin,” the guard said before taking a few steps back.
Blueblood made the first move, igniting his horn and summoning a dense beam of golden magic that flew towards the purple unicorn. Without so much as a flinch, Twilight summoned a flat shield, angling it at a forty-five-degree angle so the magical beam was deflected upwards. Seeing that his attack was not doing anything, Blueblood immediately stopped his attack and moved onto the next one, not allowing for any rest.
Several orbs of magic appeared around him before flying toward his opponent at varying angles and speeds. Acting quickly, Twilight reshaped her magical barrier to the form of a long blade. Using the flats of the telekinetic blade, she batted the orbs of magic to the side where they exploded upon hitting the ground, creating relatively small damages to the area. The last few orbs of magic she cleaved in half in a way that both parts would miss her. Twilight still hadn't moved from her spot.
Blueblood looked frustrated and began his next attack. He started firing curving polt so of magic from his horn at the mare. He quickly followed it up by sending out a telekinetic shockwave, then a massive pillar of magical energy. Now you’ll have to move from that spot! He thought as he prepared for his next spell. It would take a moment to charge up, but he would have enough time while she was dealing with his other attacks.
Twilight once more batted away his magical bolts with her magical blade. Acting quickly she moved the blade back into a barrier slamming it into the ground in front of her and curved it back to dispel the shockwave’s impact. However, when the raging pillar of magic hit, she was not fully prepared and was thrown back from her position. She tumbled a few paces before righting herself. Yes! Blueblood exclaimed in his mind as he cast his spell. Golden tendrils shot out from the ground around the mare. They wrapped around her barrel and limbs, pulling her to the ground.
“Ah!” she exclaimed as she was immobilized.
“You think you were clever by charming the spot where you stood, thinking you wouldn’t have to move from it,” he mocked while summoning more orbs of magic and throwing them towards his combatant. They hit true, causing Twilight to grunt in pain, but instead of seeming annoyed, she just smiled.
“You are foolish to think it was a guarding enchantment,” she remarked. Blueblood’s look of confusion soon turned to horror as the spot where Twilight had been standing glowed to life with runic patterns. A dark mass shot out of the runes and flew towards the stallion. He attempted to summon a shield but it was useless. The dark magic broke through his protection and engulfed him. He cried out in shock as his magic was sucked out of his body through his horn. The tendrils holding Twilight vanished, and she stood up only mildly scuffed up. She dispelled the dark magic surrounding her opponent and he fell to the ground.
Blueblood was sweating and breathing heavily. He felt weak as if all the energy was drained right out of his body, and if he was being honest, that was probably what happened. He laid there for several seconds before finally pushing himself to his hooves, or at least he tried to. It took him several tries, but he eventually got on all four hooves. He glared at Twilight and tried to cast a spell, but all that came from his horn was a few sparks. He lost his footing and fell to his rump.
“I- I concede,” he said through heavy breaths, panting. The guard that had been overlooking the duel took a moment to snap out of his shock, using a shake of his head to focus his thoughts back into reality. He turned to Twilight, his expression anything but calm.
“You are the winner of this duel,” he said with disbelief clear in his voice. Twilight nodded in understanding, before turning her head back to Blueblood and approaching him with a concerned expression.
“Are you okay?” she asked. The noble remained silent for a few seconds. Soon, however, he started to chuckle and soon that chuckle turned into full-blown laughter. Twilight gave him a quizzical look, confused over his amusement. “What’s so funny?”
“Th-that was a-amazing!” he exclaimed between breaths, now looking up at Twilight with a big smile. “I have not lost a duel in years!” he exclaimed with excitement in his voice, slowly catching his breath.
“Why, thank you. I’ve been training under my mother for almost seven years.”
“Well, she must be a great mage because you have been trained well; you looked like you barely even tried,” he complimented.
“Yes, it looks like she has taken our lessons to heart,” a regal voice said, filled with pride. When Blueblood turned to address the one who spoke, his jaw dropped.
“I must admit I’m impressed as well. I was wondering how well you were trained by my sister. It looks like you hardly used any magic,” Celestia remarked with curiosity.
“It was the first lesson mom taught me; efficiency over power. Or as she put it; be an anvil not a hammer, the hammer will always break first,” Twilight recited proudly. Luna smiled and pulled her daughter into a wing hug.
“I’m very proud of you, my little star,” she nuzzled her daughter’s head with a motherly expression on her face.
“Mom, there are ponies here, don’t embarrass me,” she complained but returned the hug nevertheless.
“WAIT, HOLD ON! WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!” Blueblood exclaimed. “Your mother is Nightmare Moon?! And she isn’t trying to plunge Equestria into an eternal night?!” he yelled in confusion, looking between his aunt and the embracing pair. Celestia giggled at Blueblood’s reaction, hiding her mouth with a hoof.
“My sister has returned from her banishment after conquering her inner darkness, and now takes the form of her darker self, remaining who she truly is on the inside,” Celestia explained, attempting to reassure the prince.
“So you really are the daughter of the Princess of the Moon? No wonder you are so powerful - your mother is an alicorn for Faust’s sake!” he exclaimed, almost in hysterics.
“I’m actually adopted - Luna isn’t my biological mother,” Twilight explained, nuzzling her mother’s barrel. Luna looked a little hurt by this statement, but Twilight noticed this and tightened her grip on the hug. “She is still my mother though, despite the fact she didn’t give birth to me,” Twilight reassured, and Luna smiled happily as she hugged her daughter tighter.
“So you are not royal blood?” Blueblood asked before looking down at his hooves, mumbling “I was beaten by a commoner…”
“I hope you learned a lesson from this Blueblood,” the solar princess remarked. Blueblood looked up and saw Celestia’s smug smile, leading him to sigh in defeat.
“Yes, yes I have…” he turned to look at Twilight. “I’m sorry for my earlier assumptions about you, Princess Twilight Sparkle,” he apologized with a bow.
“Please, just Twilight is fine.”
“Hmm, very well, Twilight. It was an honor to duel you.”
“Same.”
“Sister, is the Mage Guild still active in this era?” the lunar princess asked, turning to the elder alicorn.
“Yes, the Mage Guild is indeed still around. Why do you ask?” she replied, then looked at Twilight as she immediately understood what her sister was implying. “Do you wish to have Twilight join the Mage Guild?” Blueblood laughed, shaking his head in amusement.
“Join?” he scoffed, before exclaiming, “They would probably make her the grand mage!”
“I think for now we should focus on just crowning her princess,” Celestia said. Again, she got a scoff from Blueblood, this time out of disbelief.
“There is no way the rest of the nobility would agree to that,” he remarked, continuing, “you will have to inform them that Twilight is adopted, and because she is not of noble or royal blood, they would outright vote no. I mean, you definitely have my vote, and I’m sure you will have the vote of Fancy Pants and his wife, but that's only three votes out of nine. A majority is needed, at the very least.”
“That won’t be a problem. Luna’s banishment was created by me and that means I am the only one who has the power to rescind the banishment and give her back her position as a diarch. With that done, I can just pull out an old clause that states if two princesses wish, they can overrule any vote made by the nobility,” Celestia explained, finishing her statement with a smile.
“Still an expert at political maneuvering I see,” Luna dryly noted, Celestia, letting out a short laugh in response.
“Well of course, how else would I rule the nation?”
“Sister, we are practically goddesses; you could just force them to comply if you wished.”
“Then it wouldn’t be as fun watching them think they can outsmart me,” the white alicorn said with a cheeky smile.
“You were always the clever one, Celestia,” Luna said with a shake of her head.
“Yes, and you were always the warrior, little sister,” she replied with a warm smile. “Speaking of which, there is a council meeting in a few minutes. I think we should head there now,” at this point Twilight groaned, kicking her hoof off the ground.
“I never got to go to the library!” she exclaimed with a tone of annoyance. Luna just chuckled at her daughter’s frustration.
“Do not worry, you will have time to go to the library in the coming days,” Luna assured her daughter, who sighed but agreed nonetheless with a resigned nod.
“Okay, but tomorrow I am going to the library and there is nothing anypony can do to stop me!” she declared with a stomp of her hoof. The two alicorns giggled at the young mare’s antics, while Blueblood simply shook his head, before getting back up onto all four hooves.
“I best head to the council room now. It’s important as a high member of the nobility that I am punctual,” Blueblood stated as he made his way off the field, albeit slowly, clearly still tired from his duel.
Once he was gone, Twilight spoke to Celestia, asking seriously, “so, how are you going to introduce me to the nobility? And are they really going to try and reject me?”
“I’ll tell them, and explain my sister’s return too. It’ll take a little while to convince them that she is not here to create eternal night. Once that is done, we will then tell them there is a new member of the royal family and that’s when I’ll introduce you. As for them rejecting you, it’s almost certain that a majority will say no. The problem with the nobility is that they have a strong belief of a noble bloodline, with a few exceptions. Considering you were not born of a noble family, most will flat out reject you. However, as I already explained, both Luna and I can easily overrule them,” Celestia explained, prompting Twilight to nod in understanding.
“If I’m going to be a princess, will I have to do all this political maneuvering?”
“Maybe someday, but for now you’ll just be a princess in name. I can train you in the art of diplomacy, if my sister will allow it,” she gave Luna a sideways glance, asking for her opinion nonverbally.
“I have no qualms, Sister. I think it is important that Twilight learn the complexities of government and how to survive in the world of politics,” the lunar alicorn replied, smiling slightly.
“Very well then, but let us first get all the important parts done first. Let’s head to the council chamber,” Celestia began to walk away in the same direction Blueblood did.
“Oh Sister, since you enjoy messing with the nobility so much I may have an idea,” Luna gave a mischievous fanged grin, one that Celestia returned with her own.
“I’m listening…”
The large doors to the council chamber were pushed open by a golden glow of energy. Inside the room, nine heads turned to the door and the one who had opened it. The room was large and round, with a raised circular platform in the center, and around that, there were rows of seats, though only nine were occupied. On the opposite side of the room, a large throne and dais stood splitting the rows of seats that wrapped the room in half. Heads and eyes followed the individual who entered the room as they made their way to the throne.
“I’m sure you are all wondering why I called you in today,” Princess Celestia calmly said as she sat down on the throne. “I’m sure you all have noticed that the moon has changed. No longer is it grey with the visage of a unicorn marked on its surface, but instead a blue and green jewel in the sky.”
“Yes, Your Highness, we have indeed noticed,” a white unicorn with a blue mane and mustache wearing a fancy suit and monocle spoke, “I assume you have an explanation for this?”
“Yes I do, Fancy Pants. But first I must tell you all a story; less than a thousand years ago, I was not the sole ruler of Equestria, but in fact, ruled with a sister,” she began to explain. Whispers rang out among the members of the council, but no one interrupted, allowing Celestia to continue, “my sister's name was Luna, and we ruled over Equestria together for many years. Unfortunately, ponies did not appreciate my sister’s night as much as they loved my day. Over time she grew jealous and eventually rebelled throwing Equestria into a civil war. The war raged for many years until it was ended in a final confrontation between my sister and I. In that final battle, my sister succumbed to her darkness and transformed into the dreaded Nightmare Moon.” Many members of the council gasped in shock, while a few decided to make a comment.
“That’s just an old mare’s tale, Your Highness,” one of the nobles spoke up, a baby blue unicorn stallion with a cobalt blue mane that had a silver stripe running through it, “you expect us to believe that?” he skeptically asked, disbelief clear in her tone. The council member next to him, a deep red mare with a white mane, mumbled something about the princess ‘going senile’. Normally, Celestia wouldn’t reply to such remarks, but this time decided to take some of her sister’s advice and assert her authority.
“I’m still youthful enough to hear such remarks, Lady Fire Lily,” Celestia replied neutrally while turning to look directly at the mare in question, who immediately froze and began to stammer.
“I-I-I m-m-meant n-no ins-s-sult, Your Highness…” she spoke, her eyes darting back and forth.
“I’m sure you didn’t, Fire Lily, just please keep such remarks to yourself from now on,” she said calmly, but with a clear undertone of finality. The mare just nodded and kept her mouth carefully closed. “Now as I was saying, in the final battle my sister became Nightmare Moon. I eventually won the battle and banished my sister to the moon, and as a result, the moon gained its mark of the mare in the moon.”
“Zo, if that's true and lé moon no longair 'as eet’s mark zen zat means…” Fleur-de-lis, a light pink mare with a bubblegum pink mane and white stripe running through it, spoke quietly, before trailing off as she fit the pieces together.
“Yes, my sister has returned from her banishment on the moon.” The entire council chamber was deathly silent, only being broken after several moments, when another member of the nobility spoke up, this time a stallion with a dark blue coat and a black mane.
“If Nightmare Moon has returned, then how come we are not in eternal night? If I remember correctly, the story said that the Nightmare wanted to create eternal night. Did you already defeat her?” he asked nervously.
“I said my sister returned - not the Nightmare,” Celestia clarified with a smirk. The nobility gave their princess a confused look, which soon turned into shock when another voice spoke from seemingly nowhere.
“Oh Sister, could you not hurry up. I’m getting rather bored hiding in the shadows,” a dark alicorn said while stepping out of the shadows.
“This was your idea, Sister,” Celestia countered playfully.
“Yes, it was. I just didn’t expect you to take so long,” Luna said with a roll of her draconic, turquoise eyes.
“N-N-NIGHTMARE MOON!” the baby blue stallion yelled in shock, jumping to his hooves and lighting his horn. A bolt of dark blue magic flew towards the alicorn, who didn’t even move as she caught the bolt of magic with her own. The council stared in shock as the magic attack was simply caught and held as if it was just an old object as Luna inspected it.
“You really thought that would work? I’m an alicorn that has lived for countless centuries, and you thought you could harm me with such a simple spell?” she asked rhetorically, before dispelling the magic bolt, snorting, “I also have done nothing to deserve such an attack. Do you attack everypony you see if they look even the slightest bit threatening?” She got no response, the stallion who had fired the spell remained stock still and silent.
“So you have no interest in creating eternal night, or conquering the world?” Fancy Pants asked, caution clear in his tone.
“No, I have left that part of me behind. I only look like my twisted self because I have come to terms with it. While I may look like the Nightmare in body, I am not in mind. I only wish to return by my sister’s side as co-ruler of Equestria and resume my duty as the Princess of the Night and Shepherd of Dreams,” she explained.
“That is one of the reasons I called for this meeting. I wanted to announce my sister’s return and reinstate her position.”
“Absolutely not!” Fire Lily loudly exclaimed, thumping a hoof down on the table. “There is no way this council will allow this to pass!”
“But I don’t need the council’s permission. I was the one who banished her, and that means only I can reinstate her.”
“Not if the council unanimously votes against it!” Fire Lily hotly countered.
“Very well - we’ll hold it to a vote. All those opposed to Luna regaining her title?” Celestia asked. Six hooves shot up, “all those in favor?” three hooves raised up.
“What? How can you be okay with this?”
“She 'as done notheng to threaten us et I trust Celestia's judgmont. She 'as done notheng to make me question her judgmont eivair,” Fleur calmly explained, Fancy Pants adding his thoughts moments later.
“I agree with my wife, Princess Luna has shown no hostility, and Celestia has never wronged us or done anything that would make me not trust her.”
“I was also thinking the same,” Blueblood spoke up, “I also met her before this meeting, and she has been nothing but hospitable, I have no reason to say no to her resuming her duties as a princess.” Fire Lily grunted in annoyance, but conceded by sitting down without saying anything else.
“Then it’s official: Luna shall resume her duties and be my co-ruler for as long as we may rule,” Celestia said with finality and a stamp of her hoof. Luna smiled and made her way over to her sister's throne, taking her place next to her standing on the dais. “We’ll probably have to add another throne… or two…” Celestia trailed off.
“Two, your majesty?” the blue noble asked.
“Yes Blue Steel, we may need three thrones; which brings us to our second topic…”
“My daughter,” Luna finished. Once again the room was deathly silent, dragging on for far longer than the previous silence. It was finally broken, however, as the sound of magic being cast was heard. All heads and eyes turned to the central podium and several gasps were heard. In the middle of the raised platform, a circle of runic symbols were being rapidly etched into the material. As soon as the pattern was complete, the runes glowed with energy and portal formed in the center of the design. From the portal rose a pony mare; her fur was lavender and she possessed an indigo mane with a deep purple and light-violet stripe left of her long, narrow horn. Once her hooves were level with the platform, the portal dissipated into magical particles that quickly faded.
“Did someone call me?” she asked nonchalantly, expertly hiding her mirth at the shocked looks of the nobles.
“Yes, Twilight, you are right on time,” Celestia replied with her trademark smile.
“Yes, we were just about to tell the nobles our plan to have you crowned princess,” the lunar alicorn relayed, Twilight nodding in understanding. At this statement, the cobalt blue stallion spoke out, shocked.
“Wait! Hold on! If she is indeed your daughter, you have been on the moon for almost a thousand years and she is just a unicorn who looks less than twenty! So how is she your daughter?” he argued, confusion displayed upon his face.
“She is adopted. She wound up on the moon seven years ago when she made a wish to have a mother who loved her. I fulfilled that wish when she came to me.”
“If she is adopted, then she has no claim to the throne of Equestria, unless she is somehow of royal blood.”
“No, she is not. But that is irrelevant, Cobalt,” Celestia explained to the noble, who only scoffed in response.
“Of course it’s relevant - you’re proposing we make a commoner a princess! We all know that cannot happen. The common pony does not have what it takes to hold such a position of power.”
“I would watch your tongue if I was you, Cobalt,” Blueblood interjected, warning his fellow noble.
“And why is that, Blueblood?”
“Because she is the most powerful unicorn in the room at the moment. In fact, the only ponies who can probably rival her are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.”
“Surely you jest!”
“I speak the truth; I’m not proud to admit it, but she has already beaten me in a duel, and she beat me quite soundly as well. She hardly had to try. In fact, I’d like us to finish the meeting up quickly because I need to head to the kitchens and eat a high carb meal, or I may not be able to stay awake for the rest of the day,” Cobalt quickly clamped his mouth shut and sat back down.
“Yes, let us finish this up,” Celestia stated. “Both Luna and I decree she is to be crowned princess in three days time,” She finished with a stamp of her hoof.
“Wait, what about a vote?” Goldenrod, a mare with a red coat and a golden mane, asked.
“It’s unnecessary - two princesses can overrule the entire council if we so desire,” Luna countered, not even bothering to conceal her smirk.
“Since when?” asked another pony, this one a stallion with a dark red coat and a fiery orange mane.
“It’s a very old law, Flare, one that has been around since Luna and I started ruling Equestria over two thousand years ago,” Celestia easily countered. After a few more moments with no one raising any more questions, she decided to conclude the meeting. “Since there does not appear to be anything else to discuss, this meeting is adjourned,” she finished, adding one final stamp of her hoof. The nobles began to file out of the room, most of them refusing to even acknowledge Twilight’s existence. Twilight didn't really mind and just walked up to her mother and aunt. Once it was just the three of them, Twilight spoke.
“So, what happens next?”
“Next, we need to prepare to announce Luna’s return this evening, as well as announce your coronation that will take place in three days,” Celestia explained.
“A lot is happening in such a short period of time…” the unicorn remarked.
“I feel it’s best to get this out of the way sooner rather than later,” the alicorn explained. Also the sooner you meet the five, the better,she thought to herself. “Besides, it won't be very large. The only ponies that will be there will be those who are invited. Most ponies will learn about it through the news,” she explained.
“Journalism has really taken off in this era. I remember it was just getting started before I was banished,” the lunar alicorn commented.
“A lot has happened since you've been gone sister, but don’t worry, you’ll adapt. After all, you have Twilight and I to help you,” she reassured her sister as she wrapped a wing around the younger alicorn. Twilight also walked up to her mother and wrapped her hooves around the dark mare’s neck in a hug. Luna smiled and returned her daughter’s hug.
“Thank you, both of you,”
“Anything for you, little sister,” Celestia smiled warmly. “Now we best get to work planning your reveal,” she said with some excitement.
It was late in the afternoon, and the sun was scheduled to set in a few minutes. On a low balcony overlooking Canterlot, Celestia stood ready to begin her speech and address her ponies. Behind her out of view of the citizens, Luna and Twilight stood anxiously waiting for their cue. Luna was much more anxious than her daughter, after all, she didn’t know how the ponies would react to her. Would they run and scream in terror? Would they reject her? would they wish to harm her or her daughter? These thoughts really terrified the alicorn, especially the latter scenario. She had no idea what she would do if someone hurt her little star.
“As many of you have already noticed, the moon has changed drastically. I have come to tell you why. My sister has returned to me after nearly a thousand years of being apart. She is here today and I would like for you all to meet her!” Celestia announced, before stepping to her left and turning to her sister. Luna swallowed her fear and began her walk forward. She stepped onto the balcony and came into full view. The evening sun reflected in her mane giving it an enigmatic glow. Her turquoise eyes scanned the crowd cautiously. The crowded ponies looked at her silently, many of them with looks of awe on their muzzles. “Go on, Luna, say something,” Celestia whispered to her sister. Luna nodded before opening her mouth to speak.
“Greetings, everypony,” she began with a slight hesitation in her voice. “It’s been a very long time since I have seen so many ponies… it’s also been a long time since I have not been looked at with fear…” she trailed off. Luna remained silent for a few more seconds before she shook her head roughly and found some courage. “But that is in the past. It has been nearly a thousand years since then, it is time I move on and look to the future!” she exclaimed with confidence filling her voice. “I promise, as the Princess of the Night, I will do everything in my power to help continue Equestria’s prosperity!” she finished with a warm smile and a confident thrust of her hoof in the air. The crowd of ponies remained silent for only a few more moments before a wave of cheering and applause filled the streets of the city. Celestia gave Luna a wide smile of approval. which Luna returned with her own smile of gratitude. As the crowd began to settle down, Celestia spoke again.
“There is also one more pony you should all meet, for my sister did not return alone. She also brought with her, a daughter!” she declared, and the crowd was awash with whispering and gasps. “Please everyone. welcome my new niece and your new princess; Twilight!” that was Twilight’s cue, and she too stepped into the evening sun to be seen by the crowd of ponies. Luna stepped to the right, so Twilight would end up in between herself and her sister. The sun reflected off her coat beautifully and extenuated her features. Many in the crowd oohed and aahed. Many more in the crowd were surprised by the fact that she was not an alicorn, but in fact a unicorn. Twilight smiled awkwardly as she felt nervousness fill her chest.
I was so confident with the nobles, but now I feel like crawling under a rock! Twilight yelled to her self. She did her best to hide her nervousness, but her mother saw right through it and gave her a worried look. Once Twilight was to the balcony rail she just stared down at the crowd and froze in place. Acting quickly, Luna leaned over and whispered in her daughter’s ear.
“It’s okay my little star, I’m right here for you, there is no need to be afraid.” Twilight turned to look at her mother directly, and was met with a kind and caring expression. The unicorn felt confidence fill her chest as she turned back to the crowd. She opened her mouth to speak.
“H-hello everypony…” she started before gulping out of nervousness. Come on, you can do this, it’s not that hard. “I… don’t know much about being a princess or ruling a country…” she paused to gather her thoughts. “But, things like that has never stopped me before,” she developed a lump in her throat at her grammar mistake, but continued on anyway, “I will learn in time, and one day I’ll be able to rule as a princess. I also hope I’ll get to know many of you, because I don’t want you all to simply see me as your princess, or your ruler, I also want to be your friend!” she finished with renewed confidence in her voice. The crowd was silent until one pony started to applaud, then two, then four, then a hundred, then the entire crowd. Ponies were applauding and cheering as they welcomed their new princess. Twilight smiled wide, happy that they were so welcoming of her.
While the crowd was still cheering, Celestia lit her horn with her magic and reached out to grab the sun. Luna, seeing this, did the same and grabbed a hold of the moon. With a nod Celestia lowered the sun below the horizon, and Luna followed suit and raised the moon up above the horizon. With that act, the first day of a new era ended.
