Prologue, The Return.
"I'm back." Twilight said as her first words were spoken somewhat clumsily. Her mind and body had to re-adapt to her new environment and age. It became very clear to Twilight, that she really was in fact, very young in this body. But the mind, her magic pool and its usage were all much older and stronger.
Twilight looks up to get a glimpse of the two other beings in the room. Her mind raced as she notice that not only are both bigger, but their pony appearance made Twilight slight... uncomfortable. She knows that this will fade in time, but for time being, her own appearance and those of others made her cringe a bit. It just looked so cartoon-ish, compared to her previous somewhat grim style.
As Twilight looked at Shining Armor, her mind supplemented her with additional information. Big Brother, BBBFF. And... oddly enough, the one that kept Twilight from escaping her home to explore. That last one clearly seemed to incite some anger within Twilight. As she looked past the information, she saw someone crying in joy at the mere sight of her.
Twilight then turned to look at the other occupant of the room. Celestia... Princess Celestia. Her mind supplemented her with not much information. Atleast not with information Twilight didn't already know. Royalty and nice. That was it. Clearly Twilight of the past didn't interact with Celestia much. As she looked closer at Celestia, she noticed a mask of neutral emotion, but her ability to look past it showed a very proud look.
"Twilight." Shining Armor said between sobs, "Is that really you?"
"Why wouldn't I be me? Are you saying I could be a Mimic?" Twilight cheekily answered.
Shining Armor smiled at that. He finally stopped crying. "No, you aren't a mimic. I know you aren't. I can tell the difference."
"Do you remember who we are?" Princess Celestia calmly asked.
"Shining Armor, my big brother and BBBFF. And Princess Celestia. Though I will stop calling you Princess. That's a mouthful."
Shining Armor gasped at his nickname, as he started to cry again. The name alone really incited Shining Armor to start crying again. Meanwhile Princess Celestia, or Celestia as Twilight was about to call her. Smiled at the informal speech. She really didn't mind whenever someone stopped calling her Princess.
"Twilight Sparkle? Is that how you wish to be called now?" Celestia calmly asked.
"It would be a bit weird if I used the other two surnames as well. So yes, that is fine."
Celestia nodded, "How about we move away from this spot and go to my study? I am sure you have plenty of questions. Correct?"
Twilight raised her eyebrow at that, "More like you have them, no?"
Celestia sighed, "Truth be told, not just me. My sister, Luna, wants to talk to you too."
Twilight stared at Celestia a moment, "Before we go there, I have one final question. What year is it?"
"It's been seven years since you last were in this city." Shining Armor answered.
"Okay. Let's move to the study." Twilight said as she carefully walked forwards. Her body was still adjusting after all.
While the group walked through the castle, a bunch of things became abundantly clear to Twilight. A lot has changed. Like A LOT, a lot. Her memories supplemented her with the old layout of the castle. Only to find that many corridors and hallways were no longer at the predetermined locations. Clearly a restructuring had occurred in Twilight's lack of presence.
"Was the castle rebuild? The layout has changed." Twilight asked confusingly.
Celestia smiled, "Yes. It seems you remember the old layout. Yeah, after the accident, I moved everything. In order to confuse more would be thieves."
"I see."
The rest of the trip mostly consisted of Twilight relearning the layout of the castle. And slowly walking to the study. But right as they entered the hallway of the study, someone interfered.
"Your highness?" A guard that was awaiting Celestia approached her.
"What is it?"
"Your nephew is calling for you." The guard said anxiously.
Celestia shook her head, "I am unavailable right now. I am afraid he has to wait."
"Well... It's just that... um..." The guard said slightly terrified.
"What is it?" Twilight asked instead.
"He is pissed right now." The guard said without checking who asked.
"Why?" Twilight asked again.
"Well... Um..."
"Out with it. Why?!" Twilight asked with a bit more force now.
"Ah!" The guard jumped, "Apparently, Princess Cadence broke one of vases belonging to the foreign princess. And said princess is blaming Prince Blueblood instead of Princess Cadence. Even though she watched Princess Cadence break it."
Celestia sighed, she was about to step in, only for Twilight to block her path. "Wait a minute. He is a prince. That princess is a guest. Does the princess of foreign authority not know who is in charge? At the most, the castle will pay back the damages, but she, who does not understand who she is, does not have the right to point hooves at whoever she likes."
Celestia gasped at the contradiction. Even Shining Armor looked wide-eyed at Twilight. But Twilight continued. "Let Prince Blueblood know that he is not at fault. But it's his duty as prince to show of his skills and knowledge from within this kingdom. Tell him that the castle depends on him for aid, and that at most, the foreign princess is at fault no matter what."
The guard nodded before leaving the group alone once more. "That's..." Celestia said as she tried to find a contradiction, but didn't find any.
"Wow. That is some powerful politics you just said." Shining Armor said impressed.
"Public embarrassment. Impressive." Princess Luna said as she opened the door of the study.
"It seems the guard was so spooked, he thought that Celestia said everything.... How interesting." Twilight casually mentioned. Causing both Luna and Celestia to gasp in shock.
Shining Armor laughed at the princesses shocked looks. "Welp. Good ol' Twilight is back. There is that. I suppose you three wished to talk to her alone, right? I guess I will keep an eye on Prince Blueblood and Princess Cadence."
Celestia sighed, "Please do, thank you."
This caused Shining Armor to nod as he placed his helmet back onto his head. He ruffled Twilight's mane as he walked off towards the cause of the disturbance.
As soon as Shining Armor is out of the room, Twilight gave both royalty an apologetic smile. "While... I used to do that more often. I do... apologize for speaking on your behalf. Celestia." Twilight said as her tone became more polite than before.
"Whatever." Celestia said oddly casual. "It doesn't matter. Your statement holds true. So all I will have to deal with is any possible backlash. But that is nothing compared to the backlash I got after your incident."
This caused Twilight to droop. "I am sorry. Celestia... and Luna I suppose."
"Well the backlash was awful, but..." Luna said as she glanced at Celestia, "The mental repercussions on my sister was far more extreme. As she would sometimes wander the routes you used to take, with a blank stare."
"I... I do those to both remember you and try to forget about you." Celestia drooped this time.
"I can imagine. My amnesia in Fiore was both a curse and a blessing in disguise." Twilight admitted.
"Yeah. The potential mental repercussions on you could have been far greater. Thankfully that never came to pass." Luna said somewhat relieved.
"But. Now I am dealing with some other form of repercussion. And not only on my mental health." Twilight suddenly said.
"What do you mean?" Celestia asked.
"In order for my transportation back into this world to go safely. I had to... reset all my actions in Fiore. That means they have forgotten all about me. And I will be stuck with the memories of a time that could have been." Twilight said saddened.
Celestia was about to comfort Twilight, but Luna was faster. "Don't say that! You said it yourself. Fairy Tail is your family, is it not? Does it really matter which timeline they have to be from? And besides, god is powerful, but not all-knowing. I should know. My mother used to forget things all the time. It's possible someone will still remember you, no matter what." Luna rebuked surprisingly aggressively.
Both Celestia and Twilight jumped at that. Celestia did recover faster than Twilight though. "You mean, true friends will remember, even if they are the only ones?" she asked Luna. Causing Luna to nod.
"I know so. Remember that one mayor I befriended somewhere early in his lifetime? He is old and forgets things all the time now. And yet he seems to never forget me. No matter what." Luna said with a soft smile.
"I see. In that case, I suspect two people to remember me, forever to come. Erza Scarlet. My adoptive sister and Makarov Dreyar, my adoptive father." Twilight said with a soft smile, "They were closest to me. So I assume these two, maybe my adoptive brother... but that one is a spicy take. He was unstable so... I don't know."
"Regardless of who will remember you. You will be remember by some people. Maybe not even ones that ever met you, but you gave them a lasting impact. Which will change their future for all to come. Even an all-powerful god cannot change that." Luna stated with a proud smile.
"Ah... I see. In that case, let's hope that the memory of me, won't drive them crazy." Twilight hoped.
Celestia and Luna giggled. "Exactly. Now then, let's talk about your future." Celestia said more serious.
Twilight nodded, "I assume with everything that happened in my absence, certain things I cannot become no matter what."
"Which roles are no longer available in your eyes?" Luna wondered.
"Element of Friendship bearer, Celestia's personal pupil, becoming friends with the other element bearers. Never meeting a small little dragon named Spike. I think that is about it." Twilight said knowingly.
"You read the book about this world didn't you?" Celestia asked with a headache.
"I did. I had to. It was the only way to go home with." Twilight admitted.
"I suppose in that case. Yeah, reading about what you should have been must have been confusing no?" Luna asked worried.
"Kind of? It never mentioned any individual's name. Just the bearer this, the bearer that." Twilight said.
"Really? That is odd." Celestia said. It was then that Twilight realized why it never bore any name.
"Wait that is it! Because the original main character of that story disappeared to go to another, the book had to continue the story. It's just that main character's name is now lost to time. Since it can't be me." Twilight said in realization.
"Which means?"
"The events depicted on the book is now simply a fairy tale, it's no longer able to represent reality. Since the supposed characters are all in different spots. In a sense, a curse of binding has been released. But breaking that curse could have negative impacts as well." Twilight explained.
"But not just negative ones." Luna said as she understood what Twilight was talking about. "You can become this world's positive reason. Now that you are no longer destined to do anything. You can decide your future whenever you wish. Nor are we forced to retire from our position ever. We can make that decision ourselves."
"Freedom. We gained freedom. But... at what cost?" Celestia reduced.
"Only one way to find out. On to new adventures! But first, what do we have to do right now?" Twilight stated.
"How about this, we firstly secretly reunite with your parents. Then in order for a proper cover story to happen, we need a goat..." Celestia said, "Anyhow after that, it might be a good idea for you to enroll into my school for now. There you can learn our magic, and we can talk about your future there some more."
"While I like your ideas sister." Luna said, "I believe Twilight will have a final say in it. So Twilight, what do you want to do?"
Twilight looked between Luna and Celestia, she then took a deep breath. "I want to continue Fairy Tale. In Equestria. In order for that to happen. I need to re-integrate into society firstly. We will not do a secret reunite. That will only cause more rumors. We will do an open reunite. Secondly, joining your school is a smart move. Not only can I run mostly freely in your school, it's likely that my parents are going to be very doting on me after me leaving them once. So it's unlikely I get the chance to run around freely after that."
"That makes sense." Luna said, she was about to say more, but Twilight stopped her. She wasn't done.
"While in your school. In order for my adventures to not go out of hoof. I should firstly turn my dream into a club. The guild club. Where I will learn about magic and friendship of this world. Before actually trying to re-establish Fairy Tail in this world. Make connections, the works." Twilight continued to explain.
"During that time. There is two things I need to investigate before actually starting Fairy Tail in this world. Firstly, is there even any need for a guild in this world and secondly, if the answer to first question is yes, then how viable is it." Twilight stated, "Starting a brand new guild is nothing new for me. What is new, is the world of ponies themselves. Since I don't quite know the politics of this world in terms of making friends, keeping friends and most importantly, actually creating guild people want to join." Twilight finished explaining.
"You need my school to give you more freedom, correct?" Celestia said after listening.
"Yes. To begin with, no matter what. It's far more likely that I am a threat to society right now. Then the other way around. I have magic that others can only dream about. Magic with enough power to shape continents. Because of this, I want someone to keep an eye on me. Where better than your school?" Twilight admitted.
"That is a good point." Celestia realized, "How big is your mana pool?"
"Don't you ponies call it magic pool in Equestria?" Twilight questioned, "Nonetheless, like an abyss. There is no end of it."
"Holy shit! A magic pool that seems endless? That is definitely a reason to be alarmed about. How is your control?" Luna shouted shocked.
"Stable. Despite being far younger. It seems my body was made to carry lots of mana. So I'm fine."
"That's good atleast." Luna said as her shock subsided.
"Anyhow, want to reunite with your parents right now?" Celestia asked.
"Yes. But make sure that... Cadence is aware of my return first." Twilight suddenly offered.
"I mean. If you think that is what you want then. Sure." Celestia said surprised. She stood up and rang a bell.
In less than a second. A maid entered the room. "You called, your highness?"
"I summon Princess Cadence to my room. Right now." Celestia ordered.
The maid jumped, Celestia almost never makes orders or summons. So this was either a unique case or a serious matter. This caused a shift in mood from the maid. Previously she was smiling now, her mood turned more serious.
"Do I need to discrete?" The maid asked a bit more serious.
"No. Just make post haste." Celestia stated.
The maid made a deep bow as she ran through the door and towards Princess Cadence's last known location. And while she Twilight began to explain one of her adventures to the royalty. The maid ran through the halls without a concern for anyone's safety. Including her own.
"No running in the hall!" The head maid shouted.
"Sorry but in need to summon Princess Cadence post haste on behalf of Princess Celestia. Do you know where she might be?" The maid while sighing in some slight exhaustion.
The head maid's eyes widen, "In Princess Celestia's throne room. Just be careful. The mood there is a bit serious at the moment."
"Thanks!" She shouted as she continued to run down the hall towards the throne room.
Something that thankfully didn't take long at all. In fact she had arrived. Before she opened the door. She heard arguing happening inside. She gulped as she opened the door. It didn't take long to find out both Princess Cadence and the source of the arguing.
Prince Blueblood was berating a guard that was told to do as Princess Celestia said. Only to get caught in the crossfire.
"I don't care if my cousin said that. You cannot order me around!" Prince Blueblood screamed.
"Please. I apologize. I was merely supposed to say that on behalf of-" The guard tried to say only to get slapped by the prince.
"You dumb fuck. My cousin would never say such a thing!"
"Even though she is right?" Princess Cadence said smugly.
"You cunt. This isn't over! My pride as prince is on the line here, unlike you dumb cunt." Prince Blueblood screamed.
Princess Cadence was about react when the maid jump into the circle. "Your highness, Princess Cadence. Princess Celestia has summoned you. For none-serious business. I am unsure what it was about, but there was a child among the princesses. She seemed oddly... familiar." The maid stated.
Princess Cadence slowly turned towards the maid with a cold look on her face. "I don't care. I am not done here!"
The maid retreated afraid, but then her mind finally clicked, "That child... reminds me of the late, Twilight Sparkle. Same hair, look, age."
After she said that, the room grew silent. Both Prince Blueblood and Princess Cadence grind to an halt. Prince Blueblood's anger was instantly forgotten. And Princess Cadence's cold look evaporated. Both royalty look at each other, uncertainty written all over their faces. Princess Cadence then looked at the maid.
"Are... Are you sure?" she asked shyly.
"I am sure of it. Perhaps she is the reason why you got summoned your highness."
"How about this, Cadence." Prince Blueblood said, "Allow me to join you on your summon, and I will forget what just happened. How about it?"
"Deal. Let's go. Where is she?"
"In princess Celestia's personal study. Princess Luna is also in the room with Princess Celestia." The maid replied.
"You clean this place up. We will head there without anyone else." Princess Cadence ordered.
"Yes, your highness." The maid said pleased.
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It took the duo less than a minute to reach the room. Both had practically forgotten their status as they ran across the castle with no regards to themselves. As soon as both reached the room, Cadence knocked on the door.
"Come on it, you two." Celestia's voice was heard on the other side.
As soon as the door was opened by Cadence. Both their hearts dropped. There she was, the missing child of Sparkle household. Still at an extremely young age. Just as both saw her last.
"Do you... Do you.... Remember our little dance?" Cadence carefully asked.
"Don't worry Cadence. We saw her appear into this world. She is real." Luna said before Twilight could respond.
"I... would like to say yes." Twilight said hesitantly. Before grabbing her head in pain, "It's like I thought. Not all my memories are yet here. I remember bits and pieces. It seems my amnesia isn't entirely healed. Just mostly."
Cadence was fine with that, she was so fine with that, that she hugged Twilight deeply. "Twilight... I missed you so much!" she said as she began to sob in Twilight's shoulders.
Blueblood simply watched Twilight. Twilight and Blueblood had no real connection. The only reason he wanted to see her, is because of the mental strain the lack of Twilight caused her cousins and her sister. Blueblood stared into Twilight direction as the past mental strains show themselves.
With Twilight gone, Celestia lost control. And without Luna there to comfort her. Celestia started to become more and more closed off. Not only that, but her activity at night began to increase dramatically. He had even seen Celestia talk to herself at night. It was a sign that Celestia wasn't doing well. Firstly she lost her sister, then she lost her precious pupil. And both was, in her eyes, her fault. This forced Blueblood to take over some of Celestia's tasks. As she was simply too... unstable to do them.
Sadly for Blueblood. He couldn't rely on his sister either. Cadence was late to the party. But once she was aware, her heart grew cold. Her wits sharper, but her greed significantly diminished. In fact, the things she desired before had disappeared like the wind. Her heart closed off, with Shining Armor acting as a small comfort. She was having constant nightmares, to the point that she too began walking around at night, just not awake. She walked around in a sleep walking state. Thankfully this soothed some of her pain. But she was too unstable to take Celestia's jobs.
Later, after Celestia's new pupil took Twilight's job. Trixie saw the sadness in Celestia. She may not be as powerful as Twilight, she had a sensibility that Twilight lacked. Trixie became Celestia's comfort. Her ability to understand emotion was powerful. Just the thing Celestia needed. This turned her into the bearer of Friendship. With her ability she undid Luna's banishment. This was great news to Blueblood, as his burdens were massive. He had the whole castle, Canterlot and Equestria on his shoulders.
When Luna met the depressed Celestia for the first time. She couldn't understand what she saw. It's as if, she was looking into a mirror. Celestia had at that point grown so depressed, that everyone was aware of it. She still raised the sun and did what little work she could. But she was not in a good state. Luna's return significantly improved Celestia's stated. But her depression wasn't so easily won. It took a long time, this was before Shining Armor could go rogue. Celestia had finally recovered. It took 6 painful years. But he did it.
And now, the cause of all the pain has finally made her way back to Equestria. Blueblood had taken lessons from Trixie at learning about emotions. And could see, years of pain melt on Celestia's face. Past her mask, she was sobbing happy tears. Cadence's heart finally was unlocked. And his burdens finally taken off his shoulders. But. Twilight needs to know what she did. She needs to take responsibility. And it seemed Twilight was aware of that.
"I am happy to see you guys too. But..." Twilight glanced at Blueblood. "I think it's time I find out, how you guys have truly been."
"I agree." Blueblood said.
"Well then, Prince Blueblood. Please do tell me, what was Celestia and Cadence like in my absence?" Twilight asked.
"Depressed and closed off. to put it simply."
"I assume they became too unstable to work. Forcing you to work in their stead. Correct?" Twilight said in an understanding tone.
"Yes."
"I see. After I get reunited with my parent. I think you and I, we need to talk about my actions and consequences."
"I absolutely agree. This isn't the right place. I will contact you later, Twilight." Blueblood said as he left the room.
"And you two better reward him for his service to the kingdom." Twilight scolded.
Celestia and Cadence drooped at that. "We will."
"Good. Now then. Any questions before we head to my parent's house?"
"Um. Why do you feel like an adult?" Cadence asked.
"Because I have already practically lived a full lifetime. My body just didn't grow with me." Twilight replied.
"Wait what?" Cadence said confused.
"Cadence. My soul was transferred to another dimension. It left my original body behind. Causing it to get stuck in a time stasis. My soul on the other hoof, did not get stuck in the time stasis, nor my magic or my mind. So that is why I am older than I actually look." Twilight calmly explained.
Cadence eyes widen, "Really? That must be a pain then."
"It's a blessing in disguise. I will live technically longer because of it."
"Right. Because you first lived out your life in the other world and will continue to live it out here. I understand. I have no more questions."
"What about you two? Anymore questions?" Twilight looked at Luna and Celestia. They both shaked their heads. "Alright then let's go."
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It was then, Twilight was being moved by a carriage. A royal carriage. Alongside Luna, Celestia and Cadence. Because of the many royalties in one carriage, a lot of guards were around to keep a close eye on it. These three have never used the carriage together before. So it was not only an interesting experience to Twilight, but also to Cadence.
"Some things never change." Twilight said with a sigh as she looks at the carriage.
"Did Fiore also have carriages?" Celestia asked.
"Yes. They were ran by a group of magical boars. They couldn't talk, but were very capable in their task. They were also very smart." Twilight explained.
"Moved by golems?" Luna asked surprised.
"Not golems. Real boars. They were smart enough to read maps and understand the value of money." Twilight said smiling as she remembered one boar in particularly, fondly.
"Interesting." Luna said curiously as she thought about it some more.
"Did you travel a lot, Twilight?" Cadence asked curious.
"In the beginning a lot. I even visited a place incredibly similar to this world. But later on, I was too busy running a guild and improving a town, to be able to travel a lot more."
"Ah. So you became something more than just another adventurer." Cadence said somewhat surprised. "I wonder, is there any place in this world similar to Fiore..."
"Actually. If the map is correct. Equestria has the exact size of Fiore in terms of land mass. Just not in terms of cities and villages. Fiore has more cities, whereas Equestria has more villages." Celestia commented.
"We can talk about this some more, once I join Celestia's school for gifted unicorns. For now... we need to focus on our reunion." Twilight said as she saw a familiar looking house out of the window. "We have arrived. And it would seem, my brother has arrived before we did."
"Did Captain Armor interfere with your discussion?" Celestia asked.
"He... tried to. But once he realized there was no point. He simply left, not before he bonked me on the head and told me that I was being childish." Cadence said pouting.
"Based on your reaction, I assume he was correct. Right sister?" Luna said disappointed.
Cadence drooped, "Yes. Sorry Luna."
"No matter. We can talk about that later. Firstly, let's get this show on the road." Luna said dismissive.
Luna opened the door as soon as the carriage got to an halt. Luna and Celestia immediately exited as soon as they could. Cadence calmly followed, and also helped Twilight exit the carriage.
"Well here we are." Celestia said, "I will let you knock on the door, Twilight."
"They are home, right Shining Armor?" Cadence asked politely. Twilight did not miss the affectionate glance Cadence gave her brother.
"Both are home yes. I just hope they didn't argue again. Ever since you went missing, Twilight. Your parent's relationship has been... troubled. Not by the lack of your presence... but the lack of... unity. They have missed you enough to... have a minor falling out. Though lately their relationship has somewhat improved." Shining Armor explained.
"That is good news atleast. Well then, shall we?" Twilight said, Shining Armor nodded as he stepped aside for Twilight to reach the door. She then hesitated a bit, as she used her magic to used the knocker on the door. She knocked six times. In a... unique rhythm. The rhythm caused Shining Armor to smile. The rhythm has a specific meaning.
'I have return from an adventure.' type rhythm. Even Celestia recognized it causing her to smile too. Luna and Cadence looked confused at them. Not understanding the meaning behind the rhythm. But whatever it meant, Luna and Cadence could atleast tell that the rhythm was of great importance to Twilight.
Twilight could feel the oppressive mood in the house lift after she completed her knocking rhythm. It was then, that like magic, the house woke up from a deep sleep. As the house gained light and color once more. In fact, it was magic. Twilight's mother's magic. Emotion magic.
The group watched as a powerful barrier was lifted in front of them. Alongside that barrier spell, an emotion spell was also lifted. As the house quite literally regained color. Twilight then heard two familiar clopping patterns. Velvet Sparkle and Night Light's clopping patterns, her mind supplemented her. A soft smile returned on Twilight's face. As a massive weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
Twilight knew it then...
As her mother opened the door.
She has completed her task...
Revealing two crying ponies.
She has returned home, finally...
"I'm back."
Her adventure in Fiore has come to an close.