After attempting a new spell, Princess Luna becomes a stallion, and moves to Ponyville under the guidance of Twilight Sparkle.
When Luna becomes the unwitting test subject of an ancient spell she discovered, she gets more than she bargained for.
Now a male alicorn named Lucian, he is forced to wait for several months before he can go back to being the mare he once was. With the help of Twilight Sparkle, however, he realizes that his accidental transformation is not the curse he had believed it to be. Thanks to his new identity, he is able to move into Ponyville without being recognized, and gets to make friends for the first time in centuries, learning many important lessons along the way.
At the same time, however, Lucian must deal with his own long-forgotten personal demons; what can he do when his past begins to catch up to him? Can he protect those closest to him? And more importantly, can he even protect himself?
The answers, perhaps, may lie with his sister's greatest pupil... who may come to be far more than just a friend to him.
Note to readers: This story takes place between season 2 and season 3. Therefore, inconsistencies with season 3 canon may ocasionally occur. Consider it an "Alternate season 3," if you wish.
Princess Luna stared at the pattern she had traced on the floor with her magic chalk. It consisted of a large circle, adorned with four crosses pointing out at right angles, and four arrows pointing out diagonally. As she observed it, she began to levitate a number of stones, each one just small enough to be held in a hoof, and place them along the crosses and arrows.
As she finished setting down the stones, there was a knock on the door. A strong yet kind voice called out to Luna from behind the doors, which she recognized as the voice of her sister, Celestia.
“Luna, how is everything going? May I come in?”
“What?” she asked in surprise. “Oh, yes, please come in.”
The doors opened, and the princess of the day walked in. Much to Luna's surprise, she was accompanied by another pony.
“Hello Princess Luna, it's a pleasure to see you again.”
There before her stood Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia’s faithful student. Luna stared at her for a moment before turning towards her sister.
“I thought you did not wish anyone else to know about this spell,” said Luna.
“I know,” said Celestia, “but I think that both you and Twilight could learn from this experience. In addition, I believe that her experience in magic will help if something goes wrong.”
As Celestia finished these words, Luna couldn't help but look away in embarrassment. Ever since she first spoke of her intention of using the spell, her sister had been warning her about the potential for catastrophe. Luna had spent several weeks pleading for permission to use the spell, and eventually had to make a certain deal in exchange for being allowed to perform it.
Before she could say anything, however, Twilight spoke up.
“So, tell me, Princess, what exactly does this spell of yours do?”
“Well, Twilight Sparkle,” said Luna, “that is precisely what I wish to find out.”
There was a short period of silence in the room. For Luna, it was painfully awkward, as she knew that Twilight was processing what she had just said. Her lack of knowledge on the spell's effects had been one of the main reasons Celestia had been so reluctant to allow her to perform the spell. Still, the younger alicorn’s determination had won out in the end.
That, and her promise to try to make a few friends. Which, if she remembered correctly, was similar to what Celestia had told Twilight Sparkle when she first sent her to Ponyville.
As Luna mused the similarities between her situation and Twilight’s, the young unicorn began to speak with a raised eyebrow.
“You want to perform a spell without the slightest idea what could happen?”
Luna sighed in mild irritation.
“That is not entirely true,” she said. “You see, a few months ago, I was reading through one of the older parts of the library when I came across something I never would have expected to find.”
“And what would that be?” Twilight asked skeptically.
Luna smiled as her horn began to glow. A book that had been resting on a table near the stone arrangement rose into the air and floated towards Twilight, who took it with her own magic. The first thing she noticed was that it seemed very old. Judging by the way the words were written, the faded colors of the illustrations, and the fragility of the pages, it seemed to be at least 2000 years old, which would put it around the time Celestia and Luna had first come into power. The cover, which consisted of a pair of stars circling each other endlessly, was intriguing as well.
“Well, that’s… interesting,” Twilight said confusedly.
“Indeed!” said Luna excitedly. “I always thought it was lost forever, so I never bothered to search for it. The fact that it has managed to survive this long is nothing short of a miracle! Can you imagine the secrets that could be concealed within these pages?”
“Well, I suppose I might if I actually knew what it is,” said Twilight.
“What do you mean you don’t know?!” Luna said in disbelief. “Twilight, you of all ponies should be able to recognize it easily!”
For a moment, the young unicorn stared at the book, trying to find some memory that would tell her what the mysterious book was. In particular, she focused on the stars swirling around each other.
And then, as if a light switch was turned on, Twilight gasped in shock before bouncing up and down like a filly on a sugar rush.
“Star Swirl the Bearded’s Personal Diary!” She said before gripping the book and squeeing excitedly. She could hardly believe she was holding the diary of Star Swirl the Bearded, one of history’s greatest archmages. The knowledge, secrets, and ancient spells within were almost certainly unknown to anypony in Equestria.
“Is this for real?” she asked, her voice full of excitement at the prospect of rediscovering such precious forgotten knowledge.
“I had a team of our best unicorns make a thorough investigation of this book,” said Luna. “They used every dating technique and spell they could think of, and there has been nothing to disprove the idea that this book did, in fact, belong to Star Swirl. I was quite impressed, but I became even more excited when I realized that, while most of the writing is in the traditional Equestrian language, a small fraction of the writing was the form of mysterious symbols.”
“What sort of mysterious symbols?” asked Twilight.
“I believe I should explain this part, sister.”
The two ponies looked up at Celestia. While she had been happy to allow her sister to explain everything so far, her greater age and knowledge guaranteed she knew more about the symbols and what they meant. Luna and Twilight understood this, so they turned their heads back to listen to what she had to say.
“Many centuries ago, before Luna and I ascended to the throne of Equestria, there were many theories of magic, and even more ways for ponies to interpret them. After the founding of Equestria by the three pony tribes, the theories were unified, and this was the beginning of the modern foundation of magic as we know it today. However, some knowledge of pre-Equestrian magic remained, in the form of tomes of ancient knowledge which were protected by a select few unicorns. One of which was Star Swirl the Bearded.”
Twilight stared at Celestia blankly. She then shook her head and looked at her with a more serious expression.
“So, in a nutshell, magic back in your day was very undefined, with no cohesion between the tribes on what it was and how to use it?”
“Yes, I suppose that summarizes it,” said Celestia. “Spells were written haphazardly, never matching or complementing one another until the three tribes came together to write the foundation of modern magic with the help of wise unicorns such as Star Swirl the Bearded.
Twilight nodded in understanding, then turned back towards the ancient journal.
“So, these are some of the spells that didn’t get converted or assimilated?” said Twilight, her voice full of wonder and awe.
“Indeed,” Luna said excitedly. “But, if all goes well, it may find its rightful place.”
“If all goes well,” Celestia repeated as she prepared to explain the spell. “The symbols belong to a language so old, even Luna and I do not understand it well. However, after several months of decoding, we were able to figure out that the spell is some sort of transfiguration spell, and it is meant to be applied to a living creature. Other than that, however, we aren't quite sure what the effects shall be.”
“Well, if you don't know what it will do, then I don't think it would be wise to use this spell on a pony, especially if it's a transfiguration spell,” said Twilight.
“Oh, do not fret, Twilight, for I have already found the perfect test subject,” said Luna. She then levitated a large rectangular object from the back of the room. Momentarily confused by the object, Twilight quickly realized that it was a cage with a small gray rabbit in it. It was curled up with a peaceful smile on its face.
Twilight felt somewhat relieved that nopony would have to be used as a test subject. Even so, she still felt slightly uneasy about the prospect of testing the spell on the rabbit. What if it was injured? She quickly pushed the thought back, however, remembering that Star Swirl the Bearded was not the sort of pony who would allow magic to be used for harmful purposes.
“Well, I guess testing on a rabbit is better than to use a pony,” she said, a slight hint of unease in her voice.
“Don't worry, Twilight,” Luna said as she levitated the rabbit out of the cage, placing it in the center of her arrangement and positioning a carrot next to it for good measure. “Star Swirl would never dream of placing a harmful spell in his diary. And besides, think about everything you could learn!”
“It's wise for her to worry,” said Celestia, her voice taking a stern tone. “Although it is doubtful that the spell is meant to inflict harm, we cannot be sure it will not harm its target.”
“Well, that's one of the things we are going to learn today, is it not?”
“Indeed. You have a lot to learn as well when this is over, Luna.”
Luna winced at her sister's sudden mischievous tone. She remembered the promise she'd made to her in exchange for permission to perform this spell: make friends. Ever since her somewhat unconventional debut at Ponyville's Nightmare Night festivities, she had spent most of her time alone, studying the changes that had occurred in Equestria since she was banished to the moon, as well as learning how to speak in a more modern dialect.
While this had helped her get to know modern Equestria, it had done very little for her social life. Aside from a few brief conversations with a couple of guards and servants, as well as Celestia, she had barely spoken to anypony at all. In fact, her obsession with her studies, along with her nocturnal lifestyle, had even caused her to miss her niece’s wedding.
With the exception of the wedding, however, she didn't particularly regret her isolation. Twilight Sparkle had been in a similar situation herself, however, and she seemed to be happy with her small group of friends. Perhaps after she was finished here, she ought to ask Twilight how she had made her friends.
Perhaps.
For now, however, she had a spell to perform.
“Well then. Shall we begin?”
Despite her initial apprehension, Twilight's curiosity seemed to be winning over as she was nodding eagerly. Celestia, on the other hand, seemed much less eager, even though she too nodded. However, this did not trouble Luna.
The time had come for the final preparations. Luna lifted a bucket full of a strange blue liquid over one of the stones and slowly tipped it over, drenching the stone. As she did so, the stone absobed the fluid and glowed intensely. Luna then repeated the action for each individual stone. Soon, the pattern was glowing like a constellation. Luna then poured the remaining liquid along the enchanted chalk lines, causing them to glow intensely.
“Princess Luna, do you mind if I ask what exactly you're spreading on that pattern?” asked Twilight.
“I call it Lunar Juice. It is a mix of liquid rainbow, crushed gemstones, and a single hair from my own mane,” the lunar princess said with pride. Given that Luna's mane seemed to be made of pure energy, the fact that Luna could even obtain an individual hair was quite astounding.
Twilight made a mental note to investigate how Luna had managed to do so.
“Furthermore, it has been aged under moonlight for seven months. If it hadn't, the spell would never work.”
“That sounds awfully complicated,” said Twilight. “With everything going on here, I wonder what will happen to the rabbit.
The moon princess turned back towards the rabbit, which was still resting in the center of the arrangement. She began to wonder exactly what sort of transformation would occur when the spell was activated. She hoped it wasn’t anything bad. Until the conclusion of their experiment, however, there was no way of knowing what would happen.
“Twilight, would you mind helping me?” she asked.
“Help?” said Twilight, surprised by Luna's sudden request. “How?”
“Simply direct your magical energies towards the center of the arrangement, just like me,” answered Luna. As she said this, she pointed her horn towards the rabbit and let her magic flow into the pattern. Twilight did the same, letting her magic join Luna's.
Soon, a soft hum began to emanate from the stones. Luna stopped the flow of her magic and gestured Twilight to do the same. Even without their magic, the hum slowly became louder and louder, and the stones began to float in the air. The hum was joined by a sparking noise as small bolts of lightning began to form around them.
It was at this point that the rabbit woke up.
Confused, and obviously scared, it attempted to run away, only to be held back by Luna’s magic. It tried again, only to be thwarted once more. This time, however, it turned towards her, realizing that she was the one holding it back. To everypony's surprise, it squeaked angrily and blew a raspberry at her.
“Well, someone's a bit angry today,” said Luna in a slightly annoyed voice.
“You think?” said Twilight. “I wouldn’t be too happy about being used as a test subject either.”
“Oh, poor little helpless rabbit,” Luna said mockingly. “Too bad there’s nothing it can do about that.
The rabbit decided to prove her wrong by flinging its carrot at her.
“Ow! My eye!”
Momentarily distracted by the pain, Luna released her magical grip on the rabbit, allowing it to run away from the magic pattern. Enraged, Luna began to chase it, charging her horn as she did so.
“COME BACK HERE YOU INSOLENT LITTLE FURBALL!”
“Luna!” Celestia said in alarm. “Stop this before you get caught in the spell!”
Paying her sister no heed, Luna kept chasing the rabbit around the room until she finally caught up to it. Holding it tightly with her magic, she dragged it back to the magic pattern and placed it back down.
“All right! Now just stay here!” she said as she began to walk out of the pattern. Before she could do so, however, the rabbit jumped up and bit Luna’s hoof. She, in turn, yelped, and then kicked it into the wall.
“I can’t believe it!” she said as she massaged her injured hoof. “Never before had I had to work with such an uncooperative and rude little-”
“LUNA!!!”
Luna turned to see Celestia and Twilight looking at her with panicked expressions. By the time Luna realized she was standing right in the middle of the magic pattern, it was too late.
It happened in an instant. The stones discharged their energy onto the pattern, forming a magical barrier around Luna. She in turn screamed as her whole body glowed intensely. As the light washed over them, Celestia and Twilight covered their eyes.
And then, as suddenly as it had begun, the surge of magical activity stopped. Twilight and Celestia slowly lowered their hooves.
It was hard to tell. Her body was still glowing intensely, and her mane seemed shorter somehow, but otherwise, she looked fine.
“L-Luna?” Celestia asked nervously. “Are you okay?”
For a moment, there was no response. Celestia feared what may have happened to her younger sister. After a moment, however, a voice began to emanate from the glowing alicorn.
“Ugh. I feel weird.”
The two pony bystanders gasped in shock. Although they knew the voice was Luna's, it was much deeper than it had been before.
“Wait, is that my voice?”
The glow around Luna started to fade. They saw that, while mostly unchanged, Luna's mane was now short and messy, her muzzle looked thicker, and her eyes were rounder and her eyelashes thinner.
“What just happened?” asked Luna.
“Well,” said Twilight, “if I had to guess, I'd say you're a stallion now.”
“Oh, it must be so amusing for you, sister. After all, you didn’t just get transformed into a stallion!”
“Luna-”
“Look at me, Celestia! Do I look like your sister? Do I look like anypony’s sister?!”
“No, but-”
“The Mare in the Moon! That’s what the legend says! Not The Stallion in the Moon! The Mare in the Moon! And everypony knows how Princess Luna came back after her banishment to the moon! Not him, her! I’m supposed to be a mare, not a stallion!”
Celestia and Twilight watched as Luna began to take deep breaths after the angry rant. They looked at each other with concerned looks, then back towards Luna.
“And don’t tell me I have to use the stallion’s bathroom now?”
Celestia suddenly uttered a snort, catching Twilight and Luna’s attention. The two ponies turned to look at the solar monarch with questioning looks.
“Sorry,” she said. “But you probably will have to go there, since you probably have… well…”
Celestia couldn’t hold herself any longer. She fell to the ground and began laughing hysterically. As she did so, Luna became painfully aware of a certain extra weight right between the hind legs.
“Somepony please kill me now.”
“Now hold on,” said Twilight. “Maybe we can reverse the spell. I know a few fail-safe spells which might be able to return you to normal.”
“They won't work on ancient forms of magic,” said Luna. “I've investigated the possibility of doing so, and it turns out that this form of magic is incompatible with modern fail-safe magic.”
“Well, uh, we can, well,” Twilight stammered, trying to find a way to cheer Luna up. “What if we simply performed the spell again? Do you think it would work?”
“Probably,” Luna said unhappily. “Unfortunately, that was the only batch of Lunar Juice. I'd have to procure more gemstones and liquid rainbow, and then we'd have to wait another seven months for it to mature.”
“Oh. Well, seven months isn’t that long, right?”
Luna groaned in frustration. Twilight’s efforts to lighten the mood were not being particularly effective. However, Celestia stroked her chin, thinking deeply about what to do with her gender-flipped sibling.
“Well, seven months is plenty of time to get to know some ponies, isn't it?”
“What do you mean by that?” asked Twilight.
“Oh. Yeah. I promised that once we were done with the spell, I'd try to make some friends,” said Luna. “Which, given my current situation, seems to be a really bad idea.”
“Luna, you need to see the positive side of things,” Celestia said, doing her best to cheer up her unfortunate sibling. “When you were a mare, everypony knew who you are, and so they'd treat you like the princess you were. While this may have been fine for servants and guards, no regular pony would have been able to have a casual talk with you. Now, no one will realize you're actually Luna!”
“Oh, I get it,” Luna said with a voice full of sarcasm. “A male lunar alicorn must be so much more inconspicuous than a female one, right?”
“Oh, don't worry,” said Celestia, winking. “I think I have a plan.
“So I'm supposed to wear this sweater-thing wherever I go?” asked Luna.
About an hour after the unexpected result of the spell, Luna's usual tiara, shoes, and necklace had been exchanged for a simple blue hoodie. It had only taken a few brief minutes to put each one on, but Celestia had also spent a long time explaining the various enchantments placed upon the new clothing.
First of all, the hoodie had a dimensional storage spell which allowed Luna's wings to fit into it easily without any noticeable bulge. Secondly, it caused the mane to lose its transparency and flow, making it look like a normal mane. Finally, to help the aforementioned illusion, it had a perception displacement spell, which would draw attention away from the fact that it was Luna who was wearing them.
“The only way anypony could realize that you look like Luna would be if they were deliberately looking for a stallion that resembled Luna,” explained Celestia.
“I’m not Luna, anymore,” the blue alicorn said. “Luna is a mare. I’m… I- I don’t know who I am. I’m nopony!”
“Well, we’d better fix that, because ‘nopony’ is a pretty bad name!”
Luna groaned at Twilight’s attempt at humor.
“Well, if someone needs me, I’ll be sulking around in my room.”
With that, Luna vanished from the room in a flash of light.
“Well, someone's touchy tonight,” said Twilight.
“Twilight, you shouldn’t be so hard on Luna,” said Celestia. “She’s just been through what must be a pretty shocking experience, and it’s going to take some time for her to adjust.”
“Yes, you’re right,” said Twilight. “I should probably go check to see if Luna’s okay.”
“While you’re at it, I suggest that you help Luna out,” said Celestia. “Maybe you could help her find a good name. If you wish, I will send something for you to eat.”
“That sounds nice, Princess,” Twilight said as she made her way out of the room.
As the moon rose in the sky, Twilight and Luna munched on the daisy sandwiches Celestia had sent to Luna's room. After almost an hour of suggesting various names, Twilight was starting to feel exhausted.
“Okay. How about Moondancer?” she asked for what felt like the millionth time.
“Female.”
“Sparkler?”
“Female.”
“Starburst?”
“Female.”
“Artemis?”
“You know, I’m starting to notice a pattern here,” deadpanned Luna.
“Ugh! You are so difficult!”
Luna turned away from the frustrated unicorn, and, out of boredom, began to levitate a random book that had fallen from the bookshelf during the transportation spell. Twilight took notice as the dark blue stallion began to flip through a few pages.
“What's that book about?” she asked.
“Supernatural monsters,” said Luna. “Vampires, zombies, humans, wolf-ponies-”
“Wolf-ponies?” said Twilight, her curiosity piqued. While it was true that she had never quite believed in the supernatural, she had, at some point in her youth, had a deep fascination with stories about fantastic creatures, even if she’d given up on them sometime during her teens.
Indeed, as she began to remember her teen years, an idea made its way into her head.
“Lucian!”
Luna looked up from her book, confused by Twilight's sudden outburst.
“Come again?”
“Lucian!” said Twilight. “It's the name of a wolf-pony in a story I read when I was little. He was a wolf-pony who fell in love with a vampire. Unfortunately, their love was forbidden, so the girl’s father, the vampire king, condemned them both to death and-”
“Death?! By her own father?! What sort of stories did you read when you were younger?!”
“No, no, it's all right, they managed to escape,” said Twilight. “But now that I think of it, Lucian is a great name!”
“Lucian?!” scoffed Luna. “Seriously?”
“Oh, come on, it's perfect! It sounds similar to Luna, and it comes from a wolf-pony, who turns into his wolf-form under the light of the moon. So really, what's not to like?”
“I think it’s silly.”
Twilight rolled her eyes in annoyance.
“You know, if you don't want my help, you just have to ask.”
“Thanks for your concern,” Luna said sarcastically while throwing the book back towards the bookshelf.
“Sure, whatever you say, Luna. Oh, sorry, I mean Nopony.”
As Luna growled at her, Twilight groaned in frustration as she pushed the last of her sandwich down her throat. Then, her eyes gleamed with inspiration, as Rarity's did whenever she had a brilliant idea.
“Oh! Dusk Shine!”
If anything could have shocked Luna, it was that name. The lunar alicorn jolted straight up.
“What... did you say?”
“Dusk Shine!” said Twilight. “You see, it's similar to my name, 'Twilight', because Dusk refers to the moment when the sun is setting, so it's like the border between day and night! Since you haven't taken any night-based names- or Lucian- maybe a name that comes from both day and night would-”
“No!”
Twilight winced at the sudden outburst, and then turned towards Lucian in shock.
“L-Luna?” asked Twilight.
“I- No. I can't. Not that name.”
“Luna, whatever is wrong, I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I just wanted to help you find a name,” said Twilight worriedly.
Luna's voice suddenly became firmer, louder, and more menacing. It was no longer full of shock. It was now full of anger.
“I don't want your help! I'll get a name by myself! You can leave now!”
“Luna, I'm really, really sorry! If I had known-”
“GET OUT!!!”
Twilight had never heard the Royal Canterlot Voice used by a male, but she knew the deep voice alone would have made it far more menacing. The shock of hearing it for the first time, however, made it far worse than she could have imagined. She immediately jumped off the bed and charged out the door as fast as her hooves could carry her.
In seconds, all of Luna's anger vanished in a wisp. Twilight really didn't know anything about that name. She had just mentioned it on a whim, not with the intent of hurting Luna.
And despite all the frustrations and headaches, her company had been quite enjoyable.
With a heavy heart, Luna levitated the book back onto the bed and began to read. After about half an hour, he found the story which he guessed was the one that Twilight had spoken of. A powerful clan of vampires kept a race of wolf-ponies as their slaves, including one named Lucian.
“Lucian. It’s not such a bad name, after all.”
“Luna? Are you in there?”
Celestia carefully opened the door. She wasn’t particularly keen on waiting to talk.
“Lucian.”
“Beg pardon?”
“If it’s not too much to ask, I think I would prefer to be called Lucian.”
“I see,” said Celestia as she walked into the room. Lucian didn't bother to raise his head, preferring to keep his snout in the book. Whether it was fear, shame, or both, the solar princess couldn't tell.
“What are you doing?” asked Celestia.
“Just reading a story,” said Lucian, his voice barely audible.
“Ah, yes. I believe I've heard of this one. It was many years ago, but I still remember how much Twilight enjoyed that particular story. She kept on talking about it for weeks. If I recall correctly, the hero was named Lucian as well. Is this the story you took the name from?”
“Yes, I suppose so,” said Lucian.
Celestia smiled as she recalled her memories of reading stories with a young Twilight. She then looked at Lucian with a more serious expression.
“Speaking of Twilight, I saw her a few hours ago. She was in her old room, and she seemed quite distressed. I tried to ask her what was wrong, but she refused to tell me.
Lucian felt a pang of guilt. He hadn't realized that Twilight would react so badly to his outburst. Admittedly, he had used his Royal Canterlot voice on her in a completely inappropriate context. And then there was the fact that she had been helping him simply out of the goodness of her heart, and he had responded by taking the wind out of her sails.
Full of remorse, Lucian told Celestia about the discussion he had had with Twilight, including his outburst. Celestia simply sat there and listened intently. Finally when Luna grew quiet, the elder sister spoke.
“I understand that it is difficult for you to adjust to being a stallion, Luna. And I also understand why that name would hurt you so much. But you shouldn’t take your frustrations out on other ponies. Some could be offended if you lash out at them, and Twilight in particular has certain… issues which make it particularly hard for her to deal with such criticism.”
Lucian looked away, feeling too ashamed to look his sister in the eye. “Yes, I understand. And I truly regret my outburst at Twilight. I should apologize to her, shouldn't I?”
“Indeed you should,” Celestia said sternly. “And after that, perhaps you should join her in Ponyville. She has been studying friendship there for quite some time, so it might do you some good to learn from her example.”
Celestia slowly rose from the bed and began to walk away. Luna turned his head towards his sister. There were hundreds of thoughts, questions, and concerns floating through his mind, and he wasn't sure how to respond to her. For that matter, he wasn't sure what to say to Twilight.
But he knew he had to make amends.
Lucian took a deep breath. He knew that he needed to apologize to Twilight. Still, it was going to be difficult. Although he had talked to her before, it had been different. Only once had they truly met together, and that was during Nightmare Night. Though they had good memories, she had been more worried in connecting with the people much rather than connecting with Twilight.
But most of all, then she was a mare. Now that he was a stallion, it felt incredibly awkward.
Even so, he couldn't allow himself to be distracted by any trivial differences. He needed to make amends with his sister's talented pupil.
“Twilight? Are you in there?”
For a minute he stood quietly next to the door waiting for a response. When none came, he started to speak once more.
“Look. I understand if you don't want to talk to me. I just want you to know that I'm really sorry for what happened earlier. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, even if I was upset.”
He shrugged as he tried to think of something else to say. At that point it almost felt futile to try. He’d probably offended Twilight in more ways than he could ever count.
“Uh, yeah. I'll leave now. I'll see you tomorrow. I mean, if it's okay with you.”
“Wait!”
Just as he had turned to leave, the voice reached him from the other side of the door. He stopped moving, listening quietly in the hopes that Twilight would actually be willing talk.
“If you want, w-we can talk a bit.”
Lucian let out a sigh of relief. He quickly composed himself, however, and pushed the door open.
Upon seeing Twilight, Lucian’s heart sank. Her normally straight mane was hopelessly tangled, her eyelids were puffy and swollen, and she seemed to have trouble breathing. She was clutching her Smarty-Pants doll so tightly that it seemed she would only relinquish it on her deathbed. Guilt-stricken, Lucian found himself incapable of saying a single word. Instead, he walked up straight to her bed and pulled his front legs around her in a warm embrace.
Initially, Twilight shuddered and fidgeted, as if fearing retribution from a vengeful god. However, as the minutes passed by, her body calmed down, leaving behind a sobbing unicorn.
“I'm so sorry,” began Twilight. “I didn't mean-”
“No, Twilight. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let my emotions get the better of me. I really should have learned that lesson, especially since... well, you probably know when.”
Twilight closed her eyes, knowing full well what Lucian was talking about.
“I-I'm still sorry. I didn't want to hurt you, Luna. If I had known-”
“You can call me 'Lucian' if you want.”
Twilight went quiet. It didn't seem to be a bad sort of silence. She just seemed to be surprised by the fact that the Lunar alicorn had accepted one of her suggestions.
Before she could comment on it, however, Lucian began to speak.
“Who am I, Twilight?”
Taken by surprise by the question, the young mare raised her eyebrow.
“What do you mean? You're Celestia's sister, you're a princess of Equestria, and you're the mare in the moon.”
“Sister? Princess? Mare?”
Twilight tried to say something, but the words never came out of her mouth. Noticing this, Lucian decided to continue.
“Look. For all of my life, I've been the younger sister of Celestia, the princess of Equestria, and the mare in the moon. And just a few hours ago, pretty much everything that I ever was got flipped upside down. Nothing that I could ever say about myself applies now. I'm not Celestia's sister, or a princess, or even a mare! I don't even know if there's anything I can reliably say about myself anymore! And how am I supposed to deal with all of this?!”
As Lucian finished his rant, he let his head hang low in depression.
“What I'm trying to say is... I'm a fucking stallion.”
Watching in shock as Lucian sulked on the mattress, Twilight tried to think of something to tell him. Anything that could help ease his stress.
“Well,” she said, “When you put it that way, I probably was going the wrong way trying to help you.”
“Please don't start again,” said Lucian.
“But, if you think about it, this could be an opportunity for you. I mean, yeah, you're not a princess anymore, but you know what else? It also means that you also are not the mare who tried to plunge Equestria into eternal night! This is a chance for you to make a new identity for yourself! One that doesn't involve Nightmare Moon or your sister!”
As Twilight finished her explanation, Lucian began to mull over her words. True, he was caught in an unfortunate situation. At the same time, it offered him a fresh start, something he sorely needed. And, if nothing else, it would help him fulfill his promise to make some friends.
“Well... I guess it would be nice not to be overshadowed by my sister for once.”
He then began to chuckle. This last action surprised Twilight. Since his unfortunate transformation, he hadn't smiled once, let alone chuckled. However, after she had managed to get over her surprise, she gave a smile of her own.
“Um, Twilight?” he asked.
“Yes Lucian?”
“Celestia and I were wondering, do you think maybe I could go to Ponyville with you?”
Twilight raised her eyebrow.
“Why? What's wrong with Canterlot?”
“Well, it's not really Canterlot that bothers me,” said Lucian. “It's the ponies who live here. I don't want to be rude, but the truth is that the ponies in Canterlot have a tendency to be kind of jerks. And ever since I came back, they’ve been pretty much all I’ve gotten to know. Honestly, I’d prefer to get to know real people, not just upper-class snobs.”
Lucian sighed, and then laid down on Twilight's bed. She just stared at him, pondering everything he had just told her. Then, she smirked as she held up her Smarty-Pants doll.
“So, what do you think, Smarty-Pants? Should we let her-erm, him?”
“Oh! Oh! But he was really rude to you, Twily!”
The dark blue alicorn raised his eyebrow. This was a side of Twilight he had never expected.
“Yeah, but he said he was sorry!” Twilight said in her normal voice.
“But what if he starts acting mean again?” she then replied in a high-pitched voice.
“I don't know, maybe we should ask.”
Twilight then turned her head towards the very confused prince.
“Can you promise not to be rude anymore?”
Lucian was taken by surprise by the childish exchange that was just taking place. However, after a minute of reflection, he snapped himself out of his confusion.
“Uh, yeah, sure, I won't be rude to you anymore, Twilight.”
“Promise?”
“Uh, sure, why not?”
Twilight grinned as she turned towards the rag doll.
“You hear that, Smarty-Pants? He promised not to be rude!”
“Well, all right! He can come to Ponyville! No sleeping in my bed, though!”
Twilight smiled and nodded happily. “Well then it’s settled! You can come Lun- I mean, Lucian!”
Lucian couldn't help but chuckle as Twilight giggled at her own little game. He then lifted himself off her bed and began to trot back towards his room.
“Oh, and Lucian?”
The dark blue stallion stopped just in front of the door. He then turned towards a brightly blushing Twilight.
“Can you promise not to tell anyone about that little conversation I had with Smarty-Pants?”
“I-I didn't plan on d-doing so,” stammered Lucian. “But okay, I'll be sure to keep it a secret.”
Twilight and Lucian stared at each other for a minute, each awaiting the other’s reaction. After about a minute, however, their fear dissipated, and they began to laugh. Twilight was relieved that Lucian was not judging her. And, though still surprised, Lucian actually found her playful side to be quite cute.
Not that he'd ever admit it to her or anypony else.
“Are you sure you can handle both the sun and the moon, sis?” asked Lucian.
Celestia had joined Twilight and Lucian at the Canterlot train station. Lucian in particular seemed worried about leaving for Ponyville to make friends, which somewhat reminded Twilight about how she had been worried when she had first gone to the little town. In his case, however, his fear was not due to the possibility of a malevolent entity coming to bring about the end of the world, but the fact that he was leaving his royal duties behind.
“I was able to handle both celestial bodies for an entire millennium. What makes you think I can't handle them for a few months?” said Celestia.
“I’m just saying,” said Lucian. “I mean, it probably wouldn’t look good if both the sun and the moon were hanging out in the sky at the same time!”
“I appreciate your concern, but I can take perfect care of myself. Now, you'd better run along or you'll be late for your train!”
The two ponies nodded at the solar princess' comment, then lifted their bags and trotted towards the platform. The Friendship Express was just about to leave for Ponyville, and Twilight was eager to get back.
“Once we get there, we should go to the library first. We'll leave our stuff there and then maybe go to Sugarcube corner and get something to eat, then head on to Sweet Apple Acres, and-”
“Twilight?” said Lucian. “I'm wondering if we could wait until tomorrow to start meeting your friends. Right now, I just want some time to get adjusted to my new life.”
Twilight turned towards him, offering a quizzical look. He still seemed apprehensive about the idea of getting to know ponies, which was the entire point of going to Ponyville in the first place. However, while she knew that he would eventually have to be friendly with other ponies, she also sympathized with his desire to remain isolated from everypony, especially given his current condition.
“Well, If you want, we can do that,” she said. “I mean, as long as that special hoodie Princess Celestia gave you works, nopony will recognize you, and they probably won't even be all that interested in you. Well, except maybe Pinkie Pie.”
Lucian's eyes widened. He still remembered the hyperactive pink pony who had almost ruined his attempts to socialize at Nightmare Night. To be fair, the entire idea of going to meet ponies on the very night meant for his evil alter-ego to scare the living daylights out of everypony was, in hindsight, a rather poorly-thought plan to begin with. Even so, the fact that he could potentially come face-to-face with the crazy pink pony filled him with dread.
“You think she'd get excited even if she didn't recognize me?” he asked.
“She's always excited,” said Twilight. “It’s just that meeting somepony new always takes her up to eleven, which is why everypony is going to know there’s a newcomer.”
Lucian swallowed nervously. Attracting ponies was the last thing he wanted at the moment, especially if Pinkie Pie had anything to do with it.
“Well, but we won't have to worry about her as long as we don't pass by her, right?”
“Yeah,” Twilight said nervously. “As long as we don’t pass her.”
As the town of Ponyville came into view, Lucian couldn't help but fidget. He knew that he would soon have to meet new ponies, and the thought made him somewhat nervous. He had been quite content with staying isolated from the rest of the world, even if it meant missing a royal wedding or two.
This was not because of any desire for solitude, however; deep within his soul, he knew that he honestly wanted to make friends with other ponies. Otherwise, he would not have demonstrated such enthusiasm at the Nightmare Night party.
However, even though he truly did not want to be alone, there was some part of Lucian that was reluctant to make any sort of emotional attachment, except for the sibling relationship he shared with his sister. After all, the ponies around them grew old and died, but he and Celestia remained ageless. For the lunar alicorn, to form friendships was to be exposed to pain and sorrow as time stole away everypony he knew.
For that reason, Luna had been secretly happy to be the ruler of the night; because there were no ponies who spent their nights awake, there were no ponies to make friends with, and thus, no chance of tearful farewells. Ignored by all, she felt safe.
At least, until he met him.
She just had to find him, didn't she?
“Lucian? Are you okay?”
The lunar alicorn pulled himself from his fantasy. Twilight was looking at him, concern evident in her face.
“What? I mean, y-yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?” said Lucian.
“Nothing, you just seemed to be a bit absent when I spoke to you,” replied Twilight.
“You were talking to me?”
Twilight sighed at this.
“I thought you ought to know that we're just about to arrive.”
Lucian looked out the window. They were indeed entering the town where Twilight had first met her friends, and where Lucian would hopefully get to meet friends of his own. For now, however, he wished to postpone any interaction with ponies other than Twilight. He looked towards her.
“I did say I wanted to wait until tomorrow to meet ponies, right?”
“Yes, you did,” replied Twilight. “And, honestly, I don't think we'll meet Pinkie Pie as long as we don't stray too close to Sugarcube corner.”
“You don't think she'll cause trouble, do you?” Lucian asked apprehensively.
“Oh, of course she'll cause trouble,” said Twilight. “She gets excited whenever there's a new pony in town and decides to throw them a party, regardless of whether or not they want one. One time she spent the entire day stalking an old donkey just to befriend him, even though it was obvious he wanted nothing to do with her! I mean, it worked out fine in the end, but still.”
Lucian cringed. The idea of a hyperactive bubblegum-pink pony trying to throw a party for him was worrisome, to say the least.
“But that won't be a problem as long as we don't run into her, right?”
“Well, I guess if we don’t run into her, we won’t have much trouble,” said Twilight. “Honestly, though, I don't know if we can avoid her.”
“What do you mean?” asked Lucian.
Twilight didn’t respond. She was too busy trying to figure out how they could evade Pinkie until they could get to the library. It seemed like such a daunting task. However, as the train whistled and the conductor announced the train’s arrival, Twilight got up to her hooves.
“Okay, I think I have an idea.”
As the two made their way out of Ponyville station, Lucian held a map of Ponyville in his magical grasp.
“So, let me get this straight,” he said. “You want me to get to the library as quickly as I can?”
“As inconspicuously as you can,” said Twilight. “But I don’t know how long I can distract Pinkie Pie, so I’d say it would be good if you could make it fast too. Now, I’m going to go to Sugarcube corner. Once you’ve made it to the library, you can send me this letter so I’ll know you made it.”
As Twilight finished she pulled out a tightly rolled scroll and passed it to Lucian.
“Is this all really necessary?” asked Lucian.
“Please just trust me on this,” said Twilight, turning away from him as she made her way towards Sugarcube corner. She didn’t have to walk for long, as the large candy shop quickly came into her field of view.
As she walked in, she made her way to the counter. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to keep Pinkie busy, but she figured buying something would be a good place to start.
“Twilight!”
The lavender mare suddenly felt herself being slammed onto the ground by a blur of pink fur. Briefly stunned, she shook herself out of it to look up at the pony who had tackled her.
“Hello, Pinkie Pie.”
“That's me!” said the happy mare. “What's up, Twilight?”
“Well-”
“Oh! Did you want to get some cupcakes today? I’ve got all sorts of great new flavors that I’m trying out today! I’ll bet you’d love the soylent pink cupcakes!”
“I guess,” said Twilight. While she was unsure of what she was going to order, she was relieved that Pinkie seemed quite ignorant of the town’s newest resident.
At least until the hyperactive mare began to twitch uncontrollably.
“Pinkie!” she yelled. “What was that?”
“There’s a new pony in ponyville!”
Twilight mentally facehoofed. She hadn’t thought about taking the pinkie sense into account.
“Oh,” she said, putting on what she hoped was an innocent smile. “Really?”
“Yep!” said Pinkie. “And you know what that means!”
“Well, I can’t know for sure,” Twilight said nervously. “What does it mean?”
“It means that I have to find the new pony in town, welcome them, and then throw a party!”
“Oh!” said Twilight, doing her best to stay calm. “Well, that’s good, but It’s probably not too important. I mean, maybe they’re just somepony passing through town?”
“That makes it even worse!” said Pinkie. “What if they never come back? I need to welcome them now!”
Oops, thought Twilight. “Well, they’re probably going to be here for a while! I mean, Ponyville has so many nice things to see, so why not let them go around town for a while before you-”
“Are you kidding me?!” said Pinkie, suddenly very serious. “I know Ponyville better than anypony else! I need to be there to show them everything, and show them a big helping of Ponyville hospitality!”
As Pinkie began to make her way out of the bakery, Twilight stared at her in horror, then turned her head in various directions, desperately seeking something to distract the determined party pony with.
“Wait!” she said desperately. “What about your customers?”
Pinkie stopped in her tracks. Then, much to Twilight’s bewilderment, she pulled one hoof over her head and lifted herself into the air, rotated herself to face the now-empty counter, and then set herself back on the floor.
“You’re right!” she said, a look of horror on her face. “I can’t just leave their sweet teeth unsatisfied!”
“Well, yes,” said Twilight. “That would be really-”
“Twilight please take care of them!”
Before the confused mare could say a word, Pinkie had already dragged her right in front of the cash register. Then, with speed that would make most Wonderbolts jealous, she ran out the front door.
For a moment, Twilight stood there, struggling to put together what had just happened. She then shook herself and began to run towards the door. As she reached it, however, she bumped into a pair of ponies walking in.
“Excuse us,” said one of them. “Is there anyone to take our orders?”
Twilight shuddered as she tried to think of an appropriate response.
“Uh… out to lunch?”
It was a rather quiet day in Ponyville. Nothing particularly interesting was happening, according to a relatively tall and slender unicorn walking through town. While a few heads turned to look at the newcomer, most didn't give him a second glance. It appeared that Lucian's enchanted hoodie was doing its job nicely, and for that, he was happy.
Well, so far so good, he thought to himself. He then saw a large tree that had been hollowed out into a building in the distance.
Ah, that must be the library. Just as Twilight said.
He began to trot towards the library at a brisk pace, excited to reach its relative safety.
I hope she’s not having too much trouble with Pinkie Pie, thought Lucian. I mean, she was kind of a problem on Nightmare Night, but that was an exciting, once-a-year event. She seriously can't ALWAYS be like that, can she?
As if the universe itself had a sense of humor, it was at that moment that a particularly colorful delivery cart ran over him.
“Hello! I’m Pinkie Pie! Who are you?”
His head still spinning from the impact, Lucian looked upwards to see a pink earth pony staring at him.
“Ouch.”
“Ouch? That’s not a very nice name!”
“No, that’s not my name,” said Lucian. “What do you want?”
“I want to welcome you to Ponyville!” said Pinkie, grabbing Lucian and lifting him back onto his hooves.“Now please tell me your name so we can be friends!”
“You don’t even know me,” said Lucian.
“Well, that’s why you need to tell me your name, silly!”
“Lucian!” said another voice.
The two ponies turned around to see Twilight running up towards them.
“Oh, hey Twilight!” said Pinkie. “Do you know this pony?”
“Yeah, I do” Twilight said. “This is Lucian. He's a student of Princess Celestia.”
While it was the excuse Twilight and Celestia had formed before Lucian had come to Ponyville, it was not a lie, or at least not entirely. Because Luna had always been the younger sibling, she had always learned by following her elder sister's example, and had relied on her to provide guidance on important matters. Therefore, Lucian could indeed be considered a pupil of the solar princess.
“Ooohhh! Have you ever studied with Twilight? Did you get to read all about Nightmare Moon and Discord and the Changelings? Did Celestia teach you to teleport like Twilight?”
As the hyperactive pink pony talked her mouth off, Lucian groaned.
And here I was thinking I’d get to spend the day in a quiet library.
“Oh! I almost forgot!” said Pinkie. “You're new here, so I need to throw you a welcome party!”
“Party?”
“Oh! And I need to sing the Welcome Song!”
Before either Twilight or Lucian could object, Pinkie had pulled up the delivery cart that she’d used to tackle Lucian. While Lucian tried to figure out its purpose, Pinkie Pie pressed a large red button on the side, activating a variety of musical instruments as well as flags and what appeared to be a small oven. As the music started, Pinkie began to bounce and sing along:
Welcome welcome welcome, a fine welcome to you,
Welcome welcome welcome I say how do you do?
Welcome welcome welcome I say hip hip hooray,
Welcome welcome welcome to Ponyville today!!
The two ponies stared in shock, unsure of what to say next. Pinkie didn't seem to notice, as she smiled at Lucian as he merely stood in place.
“Wait for it...”
Before he could ask what “it” was supposed to be, Lucian was hit by a wave of confetti, then drenched from head to toe in thick cupcake batter.
“Oops,” said Pinkie. “I got the confetti and the cupcake batter mixed up again. It happens a lot more than it should, honestly.”
The batter-soaked stallion stared at her incredulously, then sighed in resignation. Seeing this, Twilight quickly reached a decision.
“Well, Pinkie, it’s been fun, but I’m afraid we must get going. Lucian and I have a lot to do since he’s coming to Ponyville!”
Having said this, Twilight quickly began to charge her horn. Then, before anypony else could speak, she and Lucian disappeared in a flash of purple light.
“Well, that happened,” said Twilight.
As Lucian wiped the batter off his face, he was surprised to see that they were now inside the Golden Oaks Library. In addition, he felt somewhat dizzy, and everything tasted purple.
“Did we just teleport?” he asked in surprise.
“Yeah, we did,” said twilight. “I thought it would be best to get us both out before somepony did something stupid.”
“You can teleport?”
“Yeah,” said Twilight. “It’s pretty complicated, but I’ve pretty much managed to get the hang of it.”
“And you never thought it would just be easier to teleport us both directly from the station into the library?”
“Well… you know you could have done the same!”
The two ponies stared at each other incredulously. They then simultaneously slammed their hooves against their faces.
“We could’ve just teleported…” Twilight started.
“...And not had to cross town,” finished Lucian.
The two ponies groaned together as they realized how ignorant they had been.
“Whatever,” said Lucian. “Which way is the shower?”
Twilight turned towards him, and realized that he was still mostly covered in cupcake batter.
“Oh, yes. Upstairs.”
“Thanks. I need to get this stuff off.”
Lucian made his way upstairs, leaving a trail of batter in his wake. Twilight groaned as she saw the floor being covered in cake batter, but didn’t bother saying anything. Instead, she made her way towards the broom closet, making a mental note to give him some other chore once the shock of meeting Pinkie wore off.
Spike was having a wonderful day. Since Twilight wasn't due to return until noon, he was able to spend the morning assisting Rarity in her search for jewels. They also had a particular stroke of luck when they encountered a pack of Diamond Dogs; much to Spike and Rarity's surprise, the Diamond Dogs had been so shocked by their last encounter with the wrathful unicorn that they had come to view her as some sort of deity. They had then made a large number of offerings, varying from their most precious gemstones to their firstborn children. Because of this, she now had a sizable stash of gems at her house, and had been willing to give Spike an entire sack full of jewels.
As the little dragon reached the library, his mouth watered at the thought of all those delicious jewels. What was even better was the fact that Rarity had been very thankful for his assistance, and she had even given him a kiss on the cheek. He giggled as he opened the door.
“Hey, Twilight? You back home yet?”
“I sure am, Spike!” said Twilight. “Just make sure you don't slip! I just finished mopping!”
“Mopping?”
Spike slowly entered the room, surprised that his caretaker had been willing to spend the time after she arrived cleaning. Indeed, there wasn’t even a slight hint of dust or dirt on the floor.
“So, why exactly are you doing the cleaning, Twilight?” asked Spike. “I mean, I'm glad I don't have to do anything about the floor, but honestly, I wouldn't expect you to sweep or mop or anything. Not that I think you're lazy!”
“Oh Spike,” said Twilight as she walked into the main library room levitating a mop. “It's not a problem for me. I just felt that since you were busy doing all of your assignments while I was at Canterlot you deserved a little rest. I can't let my number one assistant get all worn out, can I?”
As she said this, Twilight wrapped one of her hooves around Spike and gave him a hug. Though momentarily surprised by this gesture, Spike quickly hugged her back.
“Thanks, Twilight.” said Spike.
“Also, our guest kind of messed up the floor, so I had to fix that,” Twilight added as she broke the embrace.
“Oh yeah,” said Spike. “Your letter said something about that. Kind of sudden, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess it was,” said Twilight. “It’s a long story.”
“Well, if you say so,” said Spike. “So, who’s the visitor?”
At that precise moment, a certain alicorn flew downstairs, levitating a batter-coated hoodie.
“Hey, Twilight? My sweater thing is still covered with cake batter, so I was wondering if maybe you could... help... me... clean... it?...”
The prince and the dragon stared at each other in shock, neither one sure how to react. However, after briefly observing Lucian’s wavy and transparent mane, as well as his horn and wings, there was only one thing for Spike to say.
After a few tense moments, Spike began to speak.
“Twilight, is it just me, or is there a stallion who looks just like Princess Luna in our library?”
Pinkie Pie sighed as another customer left with his freshly-baked muffins. She was somewhat sad that the new pony had left so quickly after she had attempted to welcome him to Ponyville. Admittedly, she had mixed up the confetti and batter again, which had been a problem more than once before.
There was something else, though. She couldn't quite put her hoof on it, but there was something strangely familiar about him.
Before she could continue contemplating she felt a twitch in her tail. The next thing she knew, several customers in the line were knocked over by a large gray flying object. Pinkie ducked as the object passed over her and landed behind the counter onto a bag of flour, causing it to explode in a cloud of whiteness.
“Oh, hi Pinkie! Got any muffins today?”
The shocked pink pony turned to find herself staring at a gray pegasus with a blonde mane and a lazy eye.
“Derpy!” said Pinkie happily. “How did you know we were gonna have fresh muffins today?”
“Sorry! That was my fault!” said a third voice. Pinkie turned to see a brown earth pony trotting into Sugarcube corner. Derpy immediately jumped to her hooves, shook the flour off, and made her way around the counter.
“You see?” she said. “I told you the slingshot wasn’t enough to re-create the Sonic Rainboom.”
“Okay, I was wrong,” said the Doctor, his face becoming red. “Sorry, Pinkie, I promise it won’t happen again.”
“Aw, it’s okay,” said Pinkie Pie. “That was actually kind of cool!”
“Thanks,” said the Doctor. “So, how are you today?”
“Well, it's been okay, Doctor,” said Pinkie. “I tried to welcome a new pony to Ponyville, but he ran off before I could figure out anything about him.”
“Oh my, I wonder why...” said the Doctor, his voice full of sarcasm.
“Maybe he sensed that you were conducting one of your experiments again?”
Several customers began to laugh at Derpy’s suggestion, causing the Doctor to look away in embarrassment. The cheerful pegasus took no notice of this, however, and instead asked Pinkie about the stallion she had attempted to greet.
“I didn't get to ask him anything,” said Pinkie. “All I managed to get out was that he was a student of Celestia.”
“Celestia?” said the Doctor. “Would I be correct in assuming that he is a unicorn?”
“Well, I think he was,” said Pinkie, “but what does that have to do with anything?”
“Merely the fact that he's sure to be incredibly talented,” said the Doctor excitedly. “After all, Celestia is an incredibly powerful being, powerful enough that ponies all over Equestria consider her to be a goddess, and thus any unicorn who trains under her guidance will undoubtedly learn various skills that few other ponies can even imagine. Add to that that she always chooses unicorns with great potential to be her students and you have the formula for a very powerful, talented pony. Just look at Twilight Sparkle. She is powerful enough to be the wielder of the element of Magic! And now there's a new unicorn in town who could potentially be as talented as her!”
As he finished his explanation, the brown earth pony stallion turned towards his two friends. Derpy was rolling her eyes in separate directions, while Pinkie had raised her eyebrow.
“Is he always this obsessed with unicorn magic?” asked Pinkie.
“Oh, you wouldn’t believe it,” said Derpy. “You wouldn’t believe how giddy he was when he found out our filly was a unicorn.”
“I am not obsessed with unicorns!” the Doctor said angrily. “I’m simply curious about them. Pinkie, do you have any idea where he might be staying?”
“Nope,” said Pinkie, “but I saw him with Twilight, so she might know!”
The Doctor scratched his chin as he thought. Twilight was another student of Celestia. Therefore, she might know more about this new pony than anyone else. Also, it made sense that he would wish to go to her before anyone else in Ponyville. As a fellow pupil of the solar monarch, she probably already was familiar with him and could undoubtedly help guide him as he visited Ponyville.
“Ditzy, have you gotten what you need?”
“I don’t need anything,” said Derpy. “You’re the one who tossed me here.”
The Doctor sighed as he remembered the unfortunate events leading up to their accident.
“Let’s just get some muffins and go. I believe we are due for a visit to the library.”
“So, in a nutshell, Luna messed up big time.”
“Spike!” scolded Twilight.
“No, he's right, I really did mess up,” said Lucian. “Even if I'd rather blame the rabbit.”
Twilight had just finished telling Spike the story of how Luna had been turned into a stallion, and how he had chosen to come to Ponyville to make friends, as well as how Twilight had offered him a place to stay.
“Maybe if you'd chained it up you wouldn't have gotten into this mess,” said Spike.
“Spike! You know it would be mean to do that to a poor little rabbit!” said Twilight.
“Actually, I agree with Spike. Rabbits are a bunch of sadistic little Discord-worshipers after all.”
Twilight looked towards Lucian incredulously.
“Uh, yeah. I'll just go wash this,” she said nervously, levitating the batter-coated hoodie and trotting away, leaving Spike and Lucian alone.
“So tell me,” said Lucian, hoping to break the awkward silence that had taken over the room. “How exactly did you and Twilight meet?”
“Didn't I tell you when we met at last year's Nightmare Night festival?” asked Spike.
“No, you were too busy screaming and running around in circles,” Lucian deadpanned.
“Well, so was everypony else!” said Spike. “It’s your fault for being so scary!”
“Fine, lesson learned,” said Lucian. “I still want an answer, if you wouldn’t mind.”
“Okay,” said Spike. “Well, it all began when I was hatched from a big purple egg...”
“And that’s how Twilight and I came to Ponyville,” said Spike.
Lucian’s eye twitched as Spike finished his story. When he had asked Spike to tell him how he’d met Twilight he had only been expecting a few sentences about how he met her. However, the young dragon had retold his entire life story, from the moment of his birth to the defeat of Nightmare Moon. And although there were a few interesting bits, most of it had been rather dull, and the blue alicorn had struggled to stay awake for a large part of it.
“Well, that was...interesting,” he said finally. “Although there’s one thing I’m kind of confused about.”
“What’s that?”
“What are you to her?”
Spike raised an eyebrow in confusion.
“What do you mean? I told you, I’m her number one assistant!”
“Seriously?” asked Lucian. “That’s it? Number one assistant?”
For a moment, Spike’s eyes drifted away from Lucian.
“Wow, really?”
“Is something wrong?” asked Lucian.
“No, not at all,” said Spike. “It’s just that you’re the first pony ever to ask that. Normally they just assume that I’m just her assistant or even her pet.”
“Really?” said Lucian. “Like a dog?”
“A scaly, fire-breathing, talking purple dog.”
At this, Lucian began to laugh. Spike glared at him momentarily, then laughed as well.
“Okay,” said Lucian as he calmed down. “So, what exactly are you to her?”
“Well, the truth is, she’s basically my mom.”
Lucian raised an eyebrow.
“Your mom?”
“Yeah,” said Spike. “We really don’t talk about it much, but she was the one who hatched me, and she’s been caring for me since then. Of course, she had help from her parents and Celestia, but she raised me, and I learned pretty much everything I know from her. So… I consider her my mother, and she considers me her son.”
“Okay,” said Lucian. “But if that’s the case, then why do you only call her by her name?”
“Well, I’ve never really had much reason to,” said Spike. “First off, she doesn’t want me to feel like I’m inferior to her. Second, she needs my help a lot more often than I need hers, and it kind of embarrasses her to think she’d need to think her son less than he needs her. Also the last time I called her mom, she told me it made her feel old.”
“Well it does!”
Both Lucian and Spike looked towards the stairs as Twilight made her way down.
“Sorry,” she said as she passed the freshly-washed hoodie to Lucian. “It just feels awkward to think that I became my mother just as I got my cutie mark.”
“Whatever you say, mom.”
“I told you not to call me that!” said Twilight.
“Okay, Twilight,” said Spike. “Now if you excuse me, I’m going to go get that new Power Ponies issue.”
“Don’t be out too late,” Twilight warned.
“See?” said Spike as he walked out the door. “You act just like a mother would.”
“SPIKE!”
Lucian watched Twilight yelling at the now-closed door as he put his hoodie back on. He sighed as she groaned and stomped on the ground.
“Twilight… even if it frustrates you, you should accept the love he’s offered you as your son. You may not realize it, but being a mother is one of the most beautiful things in the world.”
The angry unicorn simply glared at him.
“You just wait. The universe is going to balance this out.”
“Really,” said Lucian. “Now what are the odds of that?”
Suddenly, as if to answer Lucian’s question, the library's front door flung itself open and a gray pegasus flew in, landing right next to Lucian.
“So, Pinkie was right about there being a new pony in town,” the mystery pony said.
Lucian groaned as Twilight smirked at him.
“And who are you supposed to be, exactly?”
“I’m Ditzy Doo, though my friends prefer to call me Derpy,” the pegasus explained, staring at Lucian with one eye while the other pointed off in a random direction. “Who are you?”
“I’m Lucian.”
“Oh yes! You must be the new pony!” said a second voice. Lucian turned around to identify it, only to be faced by a brown earth pony.
“Hello! It's a pleasure!” said the stallion as he offered his hoof. Confused, Lucian reached out and shook it.
“Okay, so who exactly are you?” he asked.
“I am Doctor David Trottant, though you can simply call me the Doctor. My job is to discover the secrets of time and space!”
“He’s a watchmaker,” said Twilight.
“Oh, well, I make watches for a living,” said the Doctor. “But my real job is much more timey-wimey and spacey-wacey!”
“He’s weird like that,” Twilight whispered to Lucian. “Just go with it.”
The two stallions took a moment to observe one another; the Doctor was excited about getting to meet one of Celestia's students, and his face showed it. On the other hand, Lucian was slightly unnerved by the brown earth pony stallion, who was grinning at him happily.
“Pinkie Pie told me about you!” the Doctor said finally, breaking the semi-awkward silence that had gripped the room.
“Oh, really?” asked Lucian nervously.
“Indeed!” said the Doctor. “I must admit, I've always been fascinated by unicorns, especially when they studied under Princess Celestia herself!”
“Did Pinkie mention that too?”
“Well, it was all she really knew about you,” said the Doctor. “We really do need to get together sometime! I really admire ponies with talent, and who could have more talent than a student of Celestia? Perhaps you could show me some spells you know? I always ask Twilight but she doesn't always have time, what with-”
“Okay!” Twilight said loudly, hoping to end what was obviously turning into a very awkward situation for Lucian. “I think maybe it would be best if we all calmed down a bit, especially since some ponies would really appreciate some peace and quiet!”
Upon hearing what Twilight had had to say, the brown earth pony quickly closed his mouth and backed away from Lucian. His cheeks had turned slightly pink.
“Oh, yes. I'm terribly sorry for getting carried away,” said the Doctor. “Again, I am quite fascinated by ponies who have great talent-”
“And unicorns,” muttered Derpy.
“-and I sometimes forget about their personal space. Please forgive me.”
“I guess it's okay,” said Lucian with a sigh. “I'd be happy if I just had some time for myself right now.”
“Fair enough,” said the Doctor. “Come along, my impossible pony!”
The pegasus standing on the ceiling took off, then landed on the floor next to the Doctor. They then walked out of the library together. Lucian observed the two ponies as they walked out, and shook his head.
“Will I ever get some peace and quiet?” he asked as he sat down on the floor.
“Don't worry,” said Twilight as she magically locked the front door. “I'll close the library for now. I've got to admit, it's fortunate you put on your hoodie before they got here. Otherwise, they would've noticed that you're an alicorn, and that would've screwed up everything!”
“Yeah, it was,” said Lucian. “Kind of ironic that I was worried about wearing it at first.”
“That’s great!” said Twilight. “Since you’ve managed to get used to that, maybe you’ll be able to get used to other things, like making friends!”
“Not so fast, Twilight,” said Lucian. “I’ll get there when I get there.”
“Fair enough,” said Twilight. “So, what do you feel like doing now?”
“Well, I'm not really sure. I just want some peace and quiet at the moment.”
“Well, you’re in a library! If there’s any place where you can find peace and quiet, this is it!”
The dark blue stallion considered this for a moment. He could certainly rest and recover from the day’s ordeals. Indeed, he felt he could probably enjoy a book or two. Of course, he wasn’t sure what kind of book he wanted to read at the moment.
He then turned towards Twilight. He knew that she had always sent letters to his elder sister telling her about the adventures she shared with her friends in Ponyville. And yet, he had never bothered to take a look at those letters, or even asked his sister about what her faithful student had learned in Ponyville.
“How about you tell me about some of your adventures?” he said at last.
“My adventures?” asked Twilight. “Are you sure?”
“Is there something wrong with that?”
“No, nothing's wrong with that,” said Twilight. “I just didn't think you'd be interested in hearing about me or my friends.”
“Well, I don't know about your friends,” said Lucian. “Especially Pinkie Pie. But I definitely think you're interesting.”
Twilight blushed slightly and smiled at Lucian's compliment. She never imagined that somepony other than Celestia or her friends would take interest in anything she did.
“Okay,” she said at last. “What would you like to hear about first?”
“Well,” said Lucian, “how about you start by telling me how you met your friends?”
“Why?” asked Twilight, raising her eyebrow. “You were there.”
"I... wasn't in the right mindset,” said Lucian. “Besides, I don't know about anything before that."
Twilight's face lit up.
“Well,” she said as she sat down next to Lucian, “It all began when I was reading a book about the two royal pony sisters...”
Lucian groaned as he felt the rays of his sister’s sun hitting his eyes. He had not found it easy to fall asleep, as he was accustomed to guarding the moon and the stars, and sleep during the day. Nevertheless, he managed to summon the strength to lift himself out of the bed, one hoof at a time. He then began to move his hooves, moving past the beds of Twilight and Spike, both of whom were still asleep.
As he trotted towards the bathroom, his thoughts went back to his sister. How had she managed to control both the sun and the moon for a thousand years? Did she ever feel tired? Did she ever need help from another pony? Did she ever wish for her sister to be there to help her?
Lucian shook his head, trying futilely to rid his head of those thoughts, and then looked into the mirror. His mane was somewhat less wavy than it usually was, and his eyes seemed slightly baggy. Yawning, he turned on the tap, allowing water to flow into the sink. He then concentrated on it, allowing his magic to lift a stream of water up to his face. He then lifted a bar of soap, moving it along his face. He then put it down and lifted the stream of water back up to his face.
“Ah, that's refreshing.”
Feeling somewhat better, he used his magic to move a tube of toothpaste towards a toothbrush that he had brought with himself when he came to Ponyville. It was the same royal blue as him, and it was adorned with a picture of his cutie mark. He had always wondered why his servants had been so insistent on pleasing him. They would constantly fuss over everything he would do, be it eating, bathing, or even trying to study modern Equestrian dialect. It was just one of many reasons why he wished to live a simpler life, even if it was just for a few months.
He lifted the brush to his mouth and began to brush. As he did, a thousand questions filled his mind. In a single instant, his entire world had been flipped upside-down, and even with Twilight’s help, he still wasn’t sure how he was going react. In a way, this dawn was a symbol of his own life; a new identity, a new life, a new dawn.
“Oh, hey Lucian. I didn't expect you to be up so soon.”
Lucian looked down towards a little purple dragon who was currently walking into the bathroom. He spat out the foamy mixture that had formed in his mouth, and then rinsed out whatever was left.
“Good morning, Spike. What are you doing?”
“Mostly just waiting for you to finish,” said Spike.
“Oh, yeah. Sure.”
Lucian walked out of the bathroom, leaving Spike to freshen himself up. He then looked back towards Twilight's bed. She was sleeping peacefully, seemingly unaware that Spike and Lucian were awake now. Lucian thought of how he had struggled to fall asleep, and contrasted it with how easily she seemed to sleep now.
For a brief moment, it crossed his mind that she looked quite beautiful when she was asleep.
“Hey, I'm gonna go make some breakfast, want to help me?”
Lucian shook his head vigorously and looked towards Spike.
“What? Oh! That would be nice,” he said awkwardly
“You know, you don't have to if you don't want to,” said Spike.
“Oh, no, I just was a bit confused, that's all.”
The young dragon shrugged as he moved downstairs, Lucian trailing him closely. He was relieved to have a reason to move away from Twilight, even if it meant he would have to share Spike's work.
“So, Twilight doesn’t enjoy being called mom, does she?”
“Not at all,” said Spike.
“And what about you? Do you ever wish you could call her mom?”
“Not really,” said Spike. “It’s just kind of natural for me to call her by her name now.”
“I see,” said Lucian. “It seems a bit unusual to me, though.”
“And the fact that she’s raising a dragon doesn’t?”
Lucian laughed at this.
“Okay, so you have a very unconventional family. Is there anypony or dragon who I should know about?”
“Hoo?”
Lucian jumped in shock. The voice had not belonged to anypony, or dragon for that matter, who lived at the library. He energized his horn, ready to attack the intruder. However, before he could do anything, Spike grabbed him by the hoof.
“Calm down, there's nothing to worry about. It's just Owlowiscious.”
“Who?”
“Hoo?”
Before Lucian could identify the sound, a brown owl landed on his back. Lucian turned his head, staring at it incredulously.
“Who the heck is that?”
“That's Twilight's pet owl, Owlowiscious,” said Spike.
“Hoo?” hooted the mischievous owl.
“Duh, you!”
“Hoo?”
“I’m not even going to try to dignify that with a response,” Spike said angrily, while the other two shared a chuckle.
“Sorry for freaking out there, Owlowiscious. You just sort of, well, freaked me out.”
“Hoo?”
“Yeah,” said Spike. “Like you just said, ours is a very unconventional family.”
“Well, it seems like you’re all pretty happy together” said Lucian.
“Most of the time,” said Spike. “Owlowiscious can be a bit of a jerk sometimes, though. And Twilight often nags me about all sorts of stupid little things that only she cares about.”
“So, basically, you’re a family,” said Lucian.
“Well, I guess so,” said Spike. “I bet your family isn’t this bad, though.”
“My sister sent me on a 1000-year vacation to the moon.”
“...Yeah, I’m pretty lucky.”
Lucian couldn't help but feel that the breakfast table had quite an interesting community; two ponies, one a wielder of the element of magic, another a prince who could move the moon with a simple thought, were joined by a baby dragon, an owl, and, surprisingly enough, a phoenix hatchling. The birds were eating a special mix Twilight had made for them to eat, while Lucian, Twilight, and Spike were feasting on a pile of pancakes.
“Wow! You made these, Lucian?” Twilight asked, impressed by how great the pancakes tasted.
“Sure did!” Lucian said, grinning happily. “You like them?”
“They're amazing! Where did you learn how to cook?”
“Well,” Lucian admitted, “I may have read a cookbook or two when I was searching through books at the Canterlot library. I didn't have anything better to do, except maybe go out and meet ponies.”
“Oh.”
Twilight found this last bit sad, but not all that surprising. She had never wished to make friends with anypony before Ponyville, save her older brother and foalsitter. Clearly Lucian had a similar problem, although, given that he was at least a couple thousand years older, it might even be worse. In fact, she was beginning to think that the reason why Celestia had told her brother to go to Ponyville was in order for him to learn from the example of her faithful student.
“Well, that's okay, I suppose.”
“Yeah, except that I'm not all that strong on socializing,” said Lucian as he sighed sadly.
“Well, I wasn't either, before I came to Ponyville,” said Twilight.
“She still isn't.”
“Spike!”
Lucian couldn't help but laugh at Spike's joke. Twilight rolled her eyes at this, but eventually she too gave a small chuckle.
“So, what do you think we should do today?” she asked.
“I don't know,” said Lucian. “You know Ponyville better than me.”
“That's true,” said Twilight. “I guess that means that for now I'll be the princess while you shall be my loyal subject.”
Lucian groaned at Twilight's joke, while Spike giggled.
“All right then, Princess. Where shall we go today?”
“Here we are!”
Lucian carefully observed his surroundings. Twilight had brought him to a farm of some sort, with an apple orchard stretching out far into the distance. There were a few other crops as well, such as corn, lettuce, carrots, and other things. Apples, however, were by far the most abundant crop of all.
“This is Sweet Apple Acres,” said Twilight. “It was one of the first things I saw when I came to Ponyville, and the place where I met my good friend Applejack. It's also one of the main reasons the town exists at all.”
“Really?” said Lucian, intrigued by this newly revealed piece of information. “How?”
“Ah believe ah can tell ya all about that!”
Lucian turned his head. He knew that voice, as he had met the pony who made it at the Nightmare Night festival the year before; the wielder of the element of honesty, Applejack. Even so, he knew that said pony would not recognize him now, due to the enchanted blue hoodie his sister had given him. Thus, he would have to act as if he was meeting her for the first time.
“Hello there, miss...”
“Howdy! The name's Applejack!” the pony greeted enthusiastically. “And who might you be?”
“Well, you can call me Lucian.”
“Howdy Lucian! It's nice to meet a new pony!”
“Applejack's family has been working on this farm since before Ponyville even existed,” said Twilight. “I think you would probably enjoy hearing about that.”
“Actually, I would,” said Lucian with a smile. “Especially since you said that Ponyville actually exists because of this farm.”
“It sure does!” Applejack said proudly. “While we're at it, how would you like to receive some Apple family hospitality?”
“Oh, you don't have to bother,” Lucian said politely. “I wouldn't wish to impose.”
“Nah, it ain't no problem!” said Applejack. “We wish for everypony to have a pleasant visit to our little orchard.”
Lucian sighed. Even here, far away from Canterlot, ponies were always determined to assist him in any way possible. He felt that he should politely refuse Applejack's offer, then go on to whatever activities they would participate in.
And yet, Applejack was giving him a modest smile which practically begged for him to allow her to show off her hospitality. How was he supposed to refuse?
“Well,” Lucian said at last, “I guess a little hospitality wouldn't hurt.”
Applejack's face immediately lit up, and she gave him a big wide grin.
“All right then! Follow me!”
The three ponies sat around a table drinking apple juice and eating apple pie, apple fritters, cinnamon apple muffins, and even plain apples. Lucian had to admit, the food was quite delicious, even if it was maybe a bit more than he could eat. He was also enjoying Applejack's story of the founding of Ponyville, which managed to offset any discomfort he had over being served by another pony.
“And thus, the little community got bigger and bigger, until it turned into the Ponyville we all know and love today!” Applejack concluded.
“Well, that was very interesting,” said Lucian. “Although I am quite curious about those 'zap apples' you mentioned. I've never heard of them before.”
“You've never heard of zap apples?!” Applejack asked incredulously. “Our zap apple jam is popular all across Equestria, and you've never heard of it? Yer really missin' out on some really good stuff, Lucian!”
The surprised stallion sighed sadly. He regretted not being interested enough to ever leave Canterlot castle and figure out what was popular among common ponies, instead burying himself (herself?) in his studies. Then again, perhaps Applejack would enjoy telling him about the 'zap apples' as much as she had enjoyed telling him about the history of her family's farm and town.
“Well,” he said sheepishly, “I guess I've been a bit too busy to ever go see what ponies like to do.”
“Busy with what?” asked Applejack.
“Well, studies, I guess.”
Applejack turned her head. Studying sounded like the kind of thing that somepony like Twilight Sparkle would obsess over.
“What d'you mean studyin'? Were you like a student of Celestia or somethin'?”
“Actually, yes,” said Lucian.
Applejack blinked.
“Well, Celestia sure likes her bookworms.”
“I... guess you could say that,” Twilight said awkwardly. “Celestia sent Lucian here so he could learn to make friends, with my help.”
“Ah see,” muttered Applejack. “Well, I think you'll do a pretty good job, Lucian.”
“Thanks, Applejack,” said Lucian appreciatively. He was starting to feel that getting to know other ponies wasn't such a bad thing.
“Well then,” said Twilight. “Weren't you going to show us those zap apples, Applejack?”
Lucian had never seen such colorful apples; they looked as if someone had dropped them into a vat of liquid rainbow and let them absorb all the color. He quickly asked all sorts of questions, ranging from how they grew, how they gained their color, and what they tasted like.
“Whoa there, partner,” said Applejack. “Ah can’t answer all your questions if you just ask ‘em all at once.”
“Sorry,” said Lucian, a hint of embarrassment in his face. “I’m just really curious about them.”
“Ah bet everypony would be, seein' as these don't look like any other sort of apple anypony's ever seen,” said Applejack. “You’re a lot more enthusiastic than most, though. Ah bet you’d enjoy working here, wouldn’t you?”
“I don’t know,” said Lucian. “I’m not sure if farm work would work out for me. I suppose it would be an interesting experience, though.”
“Eeyup,” said a voice behind them.
Lucian turned his head. A large red stallion had just entered the apple cellar, and was observing him intently, as if trying to discern whether he could be trusted.
“Big Mac!” greeted Applejack. “I'd like you to meet Lucian. Lucian, this is my brother Big Macintosh.”
“Pleasure to meet you,” Lucian said as he extended his hoof.
“Eeyup,” Big Mac said simply as he shook the hoof he had been offered.
“You're Applejack's brother?”
“Eeyup.”
“And you work here on the farm?”
“Eeyup.”
Lucian raised an eyebrow. He was intrigued by how little Big Mac said.
“You... don't talk a lot, do you?”
“Nope.”
“Don't worry,” Applejack said. “He's a stallion of few words. It's got nothing to do with you personally.”
“That's all right,” said Lucian. “I don't mind quiet, especially since some of the ponies around here can be so loud.”
“Eeyup.”
Lucian and Twilight had had a rather enjoyable time at Sweet Apple Acres; after meeting Big Macintosh, Lucian had been introduced to the rest of the apple family. Granny Smith had been quite happy to tell Lucian all about zap apples, while Apple Bloom had asked him a large number of questions, at least half of which had to do with cutie marks. For a moment, he had been worried that said questions would attract unwanted attention to his flank, and by extension, the fact that it was the same as Princess Luna's, which may have disrupted the effectiveness of his disguise. Fortunately, Granny Smith was very interested in telling her story, and had hushed the young filly enough to prevent anypony from taking note of her questions.
Then, Applejack had taken him on a tour of Sweet Apple Acres, showing him the various apple varieties that were grown on the farm. Afterwards, Lucian and Twilight had been offered some toast with zap apple jam. Lucian had enjoyed it so much that he'd asked for a dozen more slices, and so Big Mac, perhaps to make up for his lack of words, had given him an entire jar to take home. Said jar was now being carried in an apple-shaped saddlebag which Applejack had loaned him, as he had neglected to bring his own.
“Well, I'd say that Sweet Apple Acres was pretty nice,” said Lucian. “Where do we go next?”
“I was thinking maybe we'd get some lunch,” said Twilight. “And then maybe we could visit-”
“LOOK OUT!!!”
The two ponies barely had time to jump out of the way before something crashed into the ground, creating a huge cloud of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet smoke. As it cleared, they were shocked to see a light blue pegasus with a rainbow mane staring at them.
“...Rainbow Dash,” Twilight sighed.
“Hey Twilight!” Rainbow Dash greeted. “I hope I didn't freak you out.”
As Lucian held the saddlebag containing his precious zap apple jam, Rainbow turned to look at him. She then looked at Twilight, then back to Lucian.
“Pinkie Pie told me of a student of Celestia who was coming to visit,” she said.
“She did?” Lucian asked in surprise.
“Yeah. Although I thought you'd be cooler.”
“Well, I- wait, what?”
“I dunno, she was really excited about you, so since she was freaking out, I figured you'd be really cool or something.”
“Rainbow, Pinkie Pie is always excited when she meets somepony new,” Twilight deadpanned.
“Fair enough,” said Rainbow Dash.
As Rainbow Dash spoke, Lucian watched her, trying to remember anything about her. If his memory served, she was the one whose dream was to join the Wonderbolts, which he, as Nightmare Moon, had taken advantage of by inviting her to join the “Shadowbolts”. However, her desire to help her friends had ultimately overcome her desire to become famous across Equestria, thus proving the strength of her loyalty.
Lucian also recalled hearing the rainbow pony's name before a few times; apparently, she had been the champion of the Best Young Flier's Competition a year back. In addition, he recalled seeing her briefly during the Nightmare Night festival, dressed in a Shadowbolt costume (quite ironic, really,) and pulling various pranks on everypony. He also remembered pulling a prank of his own on the blue pegasus.
“So, Lucian, have you ever met the Wonderbolts?”
“What?” said Lucian in surprise. “Oh, well I haven't met them. I'm usually busy reading and stuff.”
“Oh, I see,” said Rainbow Dash as she rolled her eyes. “Typical Canterlot egghead.”
“Says the avid Daring Do reader,” said Twilight.
“Hey!” yelled Rainbow Dash. “Those books are awesome!”
“Totally!” Lucian said in agreement. “They're some of my favorites!”
Rainbow Dash's eyes widened.
“You love Daring Do too?” she asked, the Wonderbolts long forgotten.
“Sure do! They're really well written and full of adventure!”
“And Daring Do herself is totally radical! Especially with all the stuff she does and the things she finds, and how she defeats all the bad guys and everything!”
Twilight couldn't help but chuckle as the two Daring Do fans began to squeal in delight. She had half expected their first meeting to be awkward at best, a repeat of Pinkie Pie at worst, given the fact that their personalities weren't exactly perfect matches. Fortunately, she had just happened to mention Daring Do, and thus, they had almost immediately had something in common to talk about.
“So, what brings you to Ponyville, Lucian?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Well, my si- my mentor, Princess Celestia” Lucian said quickly, hoping Rainbow hadn't noticed his little slip-up, “sent me here so I could learn how to make friends.”
“Ah, just like Twilight,” said Rainbow, seemingly oblivious. “I often wondered whether you students of Celestia were all lonely or if it was just Twilight.”
Upon hearing this, Twilight turned a bright red. Lucian turned away nervously, not quite sure of how to answer. Fortunately, before he had to, Twilight answered for him.
“Well, I guess we just tend to get lost in our studies and not realize what we're missing out on.”
“Uh, yes, actually,” said Lucian. “It does happen a lot.”
“Yeah. Well, I hope you enjoy our humble little Ponyville, Lucian,” said Rainbow Dash. “Well, I say ‘our,’ but technically I live in Cloudsdale, but that's close enough, right?”
“I guess so,” said Lucian. “So, what are you doing right now?”
“I’m practicing some of my super-awesome flying skills! I'll bet when the Wonderbolts see these sweet tricks, they'll be begging for me to join them!”
“You think?” asked Lucian. “Prove it.”
Rainbow chuckled at Lucian's challenge. He certainly was a lot like Twilight.
Twilight, Lucian, and Rainbow were enjoying some cupcakes at Sugarcube Corner. After watching Rainbow Dash's impressive flying skills, the three ponies had headed off to eat. They had eaten lunch at a nearby restaurant, and then, at Rainbow's suggestion, had gone to Sugarcube corner for dessert. Lucian had been apprehensive about going there, as he was very much unwilling to see Pinkie Pie again, but Rainbow had assured him that he had nothing to fear, as Pinkie had apparently locked herself in her room to plan somepony’s party.
“Who is the party for?” asked Twilight, a slight hint of apprehension notable in her voice.
“I don’t know,” said Rainbow. “I do know that she’s really excited about it.”
“Well, as long as she's not causing trouble, I'm fine,” said Lucian. “Although, I have to admit, her cupcakes are really good!”
“They sure are!” said Rainbow. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go take care of some clouds. It was nice meeting you though, Lucian!”
Before Lucian could respond, there was a flash of rainbow colors and Rainbow had disappeared. He blinked in surprise, as she looked towards his guide to Ponyville.
“That's Rainbow for you,” said Twilight. “She’s always going off in a hurry.”
“Oh, dear me, you look absolutely fabulous now!”
Of all of Twilight's friends, Rarity was the one Lucian was least familiar with. For some reason or another, she had been absent from the Nightmare Night festival, and she hadn’t exactly been keen to speak to her as Nightmare Moon. This was not to say that Lucian was completely unfamiliar with her, however; he knew that he was a skilled fashion designer, as well as the fact that she had designed dresses for herself and her friends for both the Grand Galloping Gala and the royal wedding. Her skill and creativity were known all across Equestria, as was the fact that she had attempted to court Prince Blueblood, only to discover that he was a colossal jerk.
In addition, due to her being the holder of the Element of Generosity, she was always willing to use her talents for the benefit of a friend in need.
Sometimes, a little too willing.
“Do I honestly look like I need anything more than my hoodie?!”
Upon entering the Carousel boutique, Twilight had introduced Lucian to Rarity as she had with her other friends. Things had been going quite normally until the white unicorn noticed Lucian's outfit. She had been so utterly fascinated by it that she had forgotten almost everything else. Apparently, she had been trying to come up with some ideas for casual fall wear and had been running out of ideas when the two ponies stepped into her boutique.
Lucian had been standing perfectly still for several minutes now, and he was now wearing a pair of athletic green shorts, a ridiculously long scarf with a variety of colors, a black saddlebag with a logo resembling Rarity’s cutie mark (Rarity had apparently believed the one Lucian was carrying was “too tacky”), and a fez. While Lucian didn’t mind the fez, he felt the rest was a bit excessive.
“Well, a lot of you Canterlot ponies wear plenty of clothes, although I suppose that even you ponies don't wear as much as I've put onto you right now, Lucian dear. Still, I think maybe you should add a little, well, something to that little hoodie of yours.”
“Seriously?” asked Lucian. “What's wrong with my hoodie?”
“Well, nothing's wrong with it, per se. It merely looks a bit too plain for a pony like you.”
“Well, you know what they say,” said Twilight. “Simple is the best.”
“I couldn't agree more,” said Lucian as he removed the clothes Rarity had added onto him. “I appreciate your attempt to add to my wardrobe, Rarity, but I believe I am satisfied with my hoodie.”
“Yes, I see,” Rarity said sadly. “I suppose I might have gotten carried away trying to come up with a new- idea!”
Before either Lucian or Twilight could complain, Rarity had taken out a large roll or measuring tape and was measuring out the disguised prince's hoodie.
“Hoodies!” she exclaimed. “Why did I not think about this before?! Even when I first noticed it, I completely failed to realize just how it screams 'casual!' Oh yes! This is absolutely perfect! I'll make an entire line of hoodies based on yours, Oh Lucian, how can I ever thank you for your precious inspiration?!”
Lucian could only sigh.
“So, we've met three of your friends - four if we count Pinkie Pie - which I think we probably shouldn't,” said Lucian as they walked out of Ponyville. “Who's next?”
“Well, I think this would be a great time to meet Fluttershy,” answered Twilight.
Lucian raised an eyebrow. His last meeting with the timid pegasus had not quite been everything he wished it could have been. She had freaked out upon seeing Luna, believing her to still be Nightmare Moon, despite having witnessed the 'nightmare' part being stripped away when she became the bearer of the element of kindness. In spite of her fear, however, she had remained true to her element, and had helped the lunar alicorn learn to speak with a more quiet tone, albeit somewhat reluctantly. Lucian still didn't consider it to have been long enough to really learn much about her, however, but from what he had seen, he wasn't sure that Fluttershy would want to learn much about him.
“Are you sure that's a good idea?” he asked. “She doesn’t seem like the kind of pony who’d get excited about meeting new ponies.”
“I know she's not exactly the most assertive pony in the world,” said Twilight, before muttering “most of the time, at least.”
“What was that?”
“Nothing,” Twilight said quickly, giving Lucian an awkward smile in the process. “But what I'm trying to say is that Fluttershy is very kind and friendly, and once you get her to come out of her shell, she'll be one of the most dependable ponies you'd ever know.”
“I hope you're right,” said Lucian. “I still haven't forgotten what happened last time.”
“Yeah, me neither.”
The two ponies were now in front of the cottage, and so Twilight knocked on the door. They waited for a few minutes before the door slowly began to open, revealing an apprehensive yellow mare.
“Um, hello?” she said. “Twilight? What are you doing here?”
“Hello, Fluttershy! I have a friend here who would like to meet you!”
Fluttershy poked her head out to take a look at Lucian. He smiled at her, hoping that she would be more approachable than she had been on Nightmare Night.
“I, um, am glad to meet you,” she said finally.
“Yeah, I'm glad to see you as well,” said Lucian. At least she seemed to be somewhat less nervous. “You can call me Lucian, by the way.”
“Okay, that's nice,” she said, a small smile forming on her lips. She then quickly added, “Would you, uh, like to meet my animals?”
Lucian looked towards Twilight. She smiled and nodded. He looked at the shy pegasus and nodded.
“Okay! Angel, can you get the others to come out?”
Fluttershy held the door open for the two visiting ponies to enter, while Lucian observed the interior. The many small houses within undoubtedly contained a variety of creatures, which helped to arouse his curiosity. What kinds of animals were in these houses? Squirrels, birds, chipmunks, rabbits-
Lucian's eye began to twitch.
Standing right in front of him was a small white rabbit.
A Discord-spawned rabbit. Just like the one that had caused all his current misfortunes.
“Oh, Lucian, I'd like you to meet Angel,” said Fluttershy. “He's one of my best friends, and he would like to welcome you to Ponyville.”
She had named it Angel. Of all the names she could have chosen, she chose the most ironic name of all. This, of course, did not change the fact that it was glaring at him, as if to say 'I don't like you,' which was fine with him, as he did not like the little demon either.
“Look, Lucian,” Twilight said quietly as Fluttershy made her way towards the door. “I know you don't like rabbits, but please be nice to Angel. Fluttershy really cares for him, and if anything happened to him, she'd be heartbroken.”
“Relax,” said Lucian. “I'm more worried about what might happen to me.”
From that moment on, most of the day passed without much incident. Lucian watched as Fluttershy fed the animals, cleaned up their messes, trained her songbirds, and helped them when there were disputes. Between the peace and quiet, fresh air, and friendly animals, he was greatly enjoying himself.
There was one thing that bothered him about the business of animal care, however. Everywhere they went, there were dozens of rabbits waiting for them. To be fair, they were generally quite friendly, but Lucian still couldn’t help but think back to the unfortunate circumstances of his transformation.
“Um, Lucian?” said Fluttershy. “Are you all right?”
“Huh?” said Lucian. “Oh, yeah, I'm fine! Perfectly fine...”
Fluttershy raised an eyebrow.
“Are you really, really sure?” she asked. “You look kind of nervous. Is all this too stressful for you?”
“What? No, of course not! There's nothing wrong around-”
Before Lucian could finish, he felt something furry land on his back. In his surprise, he turned his head backwards and saw a certain white rabbit glaring at him.
Twilight, who had been observing a pair of ducks on the other side of the cottage, could only groan as she watched Lucian scream and shoot random blasts of magic into the sky.
After the shock of having to calm Lucian down, Twilight decided to call it a day. She had led him away from the cottage, while Fluttershy had decided to tag along, partly to apologize, but also to ensure that no rabbits would bother her new friend on his trip home.
“I'm so sorry Lucian!” said Fluttershy. “If I had known that you were scared of bunnies, I would have-”
“It wasn't your fault, Fluttershy,” said Lucian. “I should have told you about it before we, well...”
“Oh, but if I had trained Angel to be a better bunny, maybe this wouldn’t have happened!”
“Please guys,” said Twilight. “We don't need to discuss this anymore. Let's just agree that nopony was really responsible for this.”
The three of them sighed as they reached the Golden Oaks library. Lucian in particular gave a long sigh then pressed his hoof against his face. The first few meetings had gone very well, and even the meeting with Rarity had not been entirely bad, as she had been so grateful for the inspiration she had received from the disguised alicorn that she had given him a jar of zap apple jam to accompany the one Lucian had received from the apple family. Visiting Fluttershy, on the other hand, had been fine until the moment the little white demon known as Angel had attacked him. He wished he hadn't freaked out at the cottage. Perhaps then his visit would not have been such a disaster.
“Well, I enjoyed spending time with you, Fluttershy. “I hope we can get to know each other better someday, as long as there aren't any more rabbits.”
…Only to be pushed back by an intense wall of noise.
“What the hay was that?!”
“Oh hey! It's the new guy I was telling you all about!”
Before Lucian could respond, he was gathered up by a pair of pink hooves and pulled into the library. Twilight gasped as she got to her hooves. She hadn't even seen the hooves which had pulled Lucian inside, but she could already tell who was responsible.
“Of course Rainbow meant this party.”
She shrugged and trotted inside, taking a look at the interior and the changes that had taken place. There was now a large disco ball hanging from the ceiling, as well as a few tables set up with various sorts of snacks. In addition, there was a large DJ station where a white unicorn with a blue mane was playing music, and the floor was covered with dancing ponies, as well as a single alicorn who was currently masquerading as a unicorn and surrounded by a variety of other ponies who were listening intently as Pinkie talked nonstop about how he had met him.
“...So then I began to sing my welcome song, but I put the confetti in the oven and the cake mix in the confetti blower again! So he got all covered with cake batter!”
The other ponies laughed while Lucian growled. Twilight pressed her hoof against her face and began to push through the crowd.
“Ah! Twilight! There you are! I was wondering where you might have been!”
Twilight turned in surprise to see the Doctor and Derpy, the latter of which was currently dancing energetically with the music, the former more interested in observing the ponies around him.
“Doctor? What are you doing here?” Twilight asked loudly, hoping the doctor would be able to hear her over the loud music.
“Oh, Pinkie told us she was going to throw a party to welcome your friend to Ponyville, so we came to see how it turned out!” said the Doctor.
“Seriously?! A party here?! This is a library!”
“I know! I was worried Pinkie might have somepony read an encyclopedia or something, but she’s done a fantastic job here! You wouldn't believe how much fun we had when I opened that crate full of bananas! Always bring a banana or two to a party, Twilight! Bananas are good!”
“That's not what I meant!” yelled Twilight. “We just want to rest after a long day, and this party has completely ruined that plan!”
“Well, we all want to get to know Lucian better, so we've come here to do so!”
“Couldn't you wait until tomorrow?!”
“Come on, Twilight! It's awesome!”
The confounded purple unicorn turned her head to see Rainbow Dash and Spike dancing next to Derpy, drawing the attention of several other partying ponies. She face-hoofed again.
“Et tu, Spicus?”
“I have no idea what you just said,” said Spike. “But this is fun! Come over and dance!”
“Since when does Spike think of you as his mother?” asked the Doctor.
“Pinkie!”
“Was it like this when you came to Ponyville, Twilight?”
Twilight looked out her bedroom window towards sugarcube corner. After a fierce argument with Pinkie, she had somehow managed to remove every party-related item from the library and moved it to her own home. The party was now continuing even though the guest of honor had chosen to stay behind.
“Yeah, pretty much,” she said. “I didn't get along so well with the other ponies, though. You were lucky since you actually got to know them better and make friends.”
“Hey, I wasn’t that lucky,” said Lucian. “You introduced me to your friends, so I could get to make friends with them. You deserve as much credit as anypony, Twilight.”
Twilight blushed and smiled at the compliment. Before she could say anything else, however, Spike walked into the room with a lampshade on his head.
“Twilight! You really need to go to sugarcube corner before the cake and punch run out!”
“In case you haven't noticed,” said Twilight, “we're not exactly in the mood for partying. And if the library isn’t clean tomorrow, you won’t be either, buster!”
Spike yelped at Twilight’s threat, and then run down the stairs to make sure the library was clean. As he ran off, Lucian looked at Twilight in mild amusement.
“You know, for someone who’s basically your son, you sure like to give Spike a lot of work.”
“He can do it a lot better than me,” said Twilight.
“Yeah, because Celestia’s star pupil can’t do anything on her own.”
“Okay, maybe not that much better than me. But Spike’s got a lot more free time than me. What else can I do?”
“Maybe send him to school?”
Both ponies jumped in surprise at the sudden appearance of the voice behind them, and then noticed the gray pegasus staring at them both.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come? We're having a great time!” Derpy said cheerfully.
“Thanks, but we’re really not in the mood for a party,” said Twilight.
“You guys have a rough day?” she said.
“You could say so,” said Twilight with a sigh.
“It wasn't that bad,” said Lucian. “At least, until that little furball from Tartarus which calls itself angel attacked me.”
“You mean the rabbit that belongs to Fluttershy?”
“You know about it?” asked Lucian.
“Of course!” said Derpy. “To be honest, I’ve never really understood how she puts up with that little pest. I’m certain he’d make a great snack for a timberwolf.”
Despite the exhausting day he had just gone through, Lucian couldn’t help but giggle.
The next day, Lucian trotted through the streets of Ponyville. While he was still somewhat unsure about the Doctor, he found his companion to be a rather pleasant pony to be around, and he was hoping to get to know her better.
Finally, he arrived at his destination. The house was a rather peculiar blue color, and it was adorned with the image of an hourglass. Taking a deep breath, he knocked the door and waited for an answer. A moment later, a gray pegasus opened the door.
“Hello, Derpy.”
“Oh, hello Lucian! I'm glad you could come over!”
“Yeah, me too. Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I really enjoyed our talk last night. You’re a really interesting pony.”
“Of course she's interesting,” said a voice. “She's the impossible pony!”
Lucian turned towards the interior and, with a hint of nervousness, saw the Doctor trotting out of the house. The chestnut stallion seemed excited to see him, as he had been when he first came face to face with him.
“It's so amazing to be able to see you again, Lucian!” said the Doctor. “Truth be told, I'm still quite curious about you. If it's not too much to ask, could you show me some of your magic?”
“Well, maybe later,” said Lucian. “Right now, I kind of wanted to chat with Derpy.”
“Oh, that's fine too! Why don't we all go out for a little stroll?”
“It would also be great if we could get some muffins!”
As the two other ponies stared at him expectantly, Lucian sighed and nodded. Both Derpy and the Doctor giggled and jumped up and down, then began to trot in the direction of Sugarcube corner. As they trotted through the street, Lucian decided to ask the brown stallion a few things.
“So, tell me, Doctor Trottant,” he began.
“Just 'Doctor' is fine.”
“Okay,” said Lucian. “What exactly are you a Doctor of?”
“I have a Doctorate in Time Science from the University of Canterlot,” said the Doctor. “I've been fascinated by the inner workings of time for a long time, and so I studied hard so that I could one day uncover these mysteries. For example, I've always wondered whether it would actually be possible for the flow of time to be reversed, or accelerated, or manipulated in any other ways.”
“You mean like time travel?” asked Lucian.
“Exactly!” said the Doctor. “I want to travel through time! Do you have any idea what that would mean? We would be able to observe history as it takes place! Instead of museums, we'd be able to take children on field trips to the past! We could learn so much about the war between the three tribes, the spells of Star Swirl the Bearded, Nightmare Moon's fall from grace...”
Lucian cringed at the mention of his former identity. Even now, transformed into a stallion and granted a new identity, he was unable to escape his past sins. However, this was forgotten when the Doctor said something absolutely shocking.
“And the Crystal Empire!”
Lucian stopped in his tracks.
“What?” he said flatly.
“Yeah, that was my first reaction too,” said Derpy.
“Well, it doesn’t surprise me,” said the Doctor. “After all, it disappeared a very long time ago, and unlike Nightmare Moon, it has not been maintained in the public's consciousness by any sort of legend or tradition. In fact, the only reason I even know about it is because my family possesses an ancient map which dates back to roughly a thousand years in the past. Apparently, to the north of Equestria there was a vast territory made entirely of crystal. As I said, the map is very ancient and as such there's not a lot of information on the empire other than the fact that it existed. But imagine what we could learn from the Crystal Empire if we managed to create a real working time machine!”
Lucian tried not to let the others notice as he shuddered. It was hard to think about the events that had occurred before his thousand-year banishment, but the fall of the Crystal Empire was particularly harsh.
He shook his head. He couldn't allow the memory to invade his thoughts now. He needed to be thinking in the present, with his two new friends.
…Well, it would be a bit of a stretch to call them 'friends' when he had only known them for a few days, so perhaps 'acquaintances' would fit better.
“So, you wish to visit the Crystal Empire?” he asked.
“Of course!” said the Doctor. “I’m quite curious about what they mean by ‘Crystal’ Empire. Did they live in a city made of crystals? Were there ponies made of crystals? Did they create crystal muffins?”
“Crystal muffins?” said Derpy. “I can’t decide whether those would be amazingly delicious or painful.”
“Well, there’s no way to know, unless you've managed to live a thousand years, which is quite ridiculous.”
“Well, you see, there's so much that was lost when the entire empire disappeared. As I said, there's no record of it anywhere else. That map is, so far, the only thing I have that can prove that it even existed. Maybe they had crystal muffins, maybe they didn't. But the point is that there's so much that is lost when civilizations disappear without a trace. How many other empires might there have been in the past that even my old map can't remember? What secrets did they hold?”
The Doctor sighed and looked off into the distance somberly. Who knew if building a time machine was even possible, but he would have loved, even if it was just for a day, to have the opportunity to see forgotten civilizations. To his surprise, the Lucian patted him on the back and looked towards him with an encouraging smile.
“So, you want to build a time machine?”
It did not take long for Lucian’s journeys to the Doctor’s household to become a part of his daily routine. While he knew that Star Swirl had experimented with time travel spells, he did not know if it was possible to create a machine that could truly travel freely through time. Even so, he kept going, partly to burn off his spare time, and partly to get to know the two ponies better.
From what he had been told, Derpy had struggled with her condition when she was younger. Her eyes had been even less focused back then and she had found even relatively simple tasks to be incredibly hard. Indeed, she had often being ridiculed and even bullied for her handicap to the point that they had given her the nickname “Derp-face” as an insult. Ironically, her handicap had actually led her to save the Doctor at one point; during one of her shifts as a moving mare, she had accidentally crashed into an enchanted trash can that had been chasing him.
After their exciting first meeting, the Doctor had helped Derpy with her condition, and even helped her find ponies who would treat her with kindness and understanding. Over time, their friendship had developed into something much deeper, to the point that they had moved in together, and even had a daughter. Dinky, who, in contrast to both her mother and father, was a unicorn, and a gifted one at that.
“So, why aren’t you two married?” asked Lucian. “I mean, you definitely love each other, and you even have a daughter, so why not take the next step?”
“We certainly could,” said the Doctor. “But we're not quite sure about what we ought to do. I do wish we could have a wedding someplace truly special, such as- well, if it were possible to marry someplace as marvelous as the Crystal Empire-”
“You and your Crystal Empire,” said Lucian.
“Well, perhaps the Crystal Empire may be a bit of a stretch,” the Doctor admitted. “But then there's the problem of money. To be quite honest, we've never quite been able to afford much, and having a big fancy wedding is really out of the question.”
“Really?” asked Lucian, his face developing a look of concern.
“Indeed. I struggled to pay all my fees when I was studying, and even though I did the best I could I still was left with debts,” sighed the Doctor. “So we can't afford a big wedding, and even a smaller one would put quite a strain on our finances, and we really can't afford to do that with Dinky.”
“Our little muffin needs to eat, go to school, and have her toys!” said Derpy. “She's a growing pony, and she needs everything we can give her!”
Lucian nodded sadly. It was not all hard to understand what his new friends were going through, working hard to provide for their daughter while having very little for themselves, unable to afford even a modest wedding. It was no wonder why the Doctor would want to build a time machine; for him and his family, it would be a great way to escape the hard life they had in Ponyville.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door.
“I'll get it,” said Lucian. He got up and trotted towards the door. As he did, his horn glowed with blue energy, which he then focused on the door. With a deep blue glow, it opened, revealing a little grayish purple unicorn filly.
“Hello, Mr. Lucian!” she said. “Are you visiting daddy and mommy again?”
“Yes, I suppose I am,” replied Lucian. “They were just telling me about you, in fact.”
“Oh really?”
The young filly walked in, shutting the door behind her. Her face was currently dominated by a large smile, and she was smiling as if she'd just received some very good news.
“Hi mommy!” she giggled as she ran into the gray pegasus' hooves.
“Dinky! How's my little muffin doing?” Derpy asked her daughter happily.
“Great! But you said that we were going to work on my Nightmare Night costume!”
Lucian swallowed hard. Although he had known for some time that Nightmare Night was coming up very soon, he had been quite indecisive as to what he was going to do. The previous year, when he had still been Luna, she had gone to the Ponyville festivities without a disguise, intent on dispelling any fears people may have held that she was still as aggressive as when she was Nightmare Moon. This year, however, that was out of the question.
“So, would you like to help us with Dinky's costume?” asked the Doctor.
“What?” said Lucian, having been caught off guard. “Oh, uh no thanks, I just realized that I don't really have any disguise of my own. I really ought to start figuring out what I'm gonna do.”
“Oh, well, that's fine too,” said Derpy. “So, I guess we'll see you in a few days? Oh! We should plan out our Nightmare Night so we can all go together!”
Lucian raised an eyebrow. He wasn't quite sure on what to say to this.
“Uh, yeah, maybe. For now though, I got to make my costume. I'll tell you guys later.”
Derpy and Dinky giggled, while the Doctor simply shrugged and smiled at the royal blue stallion. He in turn waved at the three ponies as he headed out the door.
“Oh, hey Lucian,” said Spike. “What's up?”
“Not much. Where's Twilight?”
“She had to go out. Apparently, she's helping out with the Nightmare Night festivities or something.”
Lucian sighed. He had been hoping Twilight would be able to figure out what he was to do for Nightmare Night.
“So, what are you going to dress up as?” he asked Spike.
“Me? Well, I was thinking I would go as some sort of monster-thing, like a vampire or wolf-pony-”
“More like wolf-dragon,” said Lucian.
“Well, yeah, maybe,” said Spike. “But enough about me. What about you?”
“Well, I was actually gonna ask Twilight about that,” said Lucian. “See, last year, I was still, well, Luna. And of course, I went as myself since I was technically Nightmare Moon. As you may remember, that didn't exactly go over well.”
“It would have helped if you didn't speak in an antiquated Equestrian dialect.”
Lucian shrugged, and then trotted towards the kitchen. He then levitated two slices of bread, then focused his magic on them, causing them to turn warm and brown. He followed this up by pulling out a pair of jars, one from the pantry, full of peanut butter, the other from the refrigerator, full of zap apple jam.
“I thought you would've eaten with the Doctor and Derpy,” said Spike.
“Yeah, well they were a bit busy getting their daughter ready for Nightmare Night,” said Lucian. “And I feel happier when I make something for myself.”
As he began to bite into his peanut butter sandwich, he began to consider what to do on the upcoming holiday. Acting as the Mare in the Moon was out of the question, given that he was now a stallion. Of course, since he was attempting to fit into what could be described as 'normal ponyhood,' he could always disguise himself. Not that he wasn't doing so already.
“Hey, Spike, what do you think would be a good disguise for me?”
“I don't know,” said Spike. “Like I said, I'm thinking about going dressed up as some kind of monster, so maybe you should too?”
Lucian and Spike had been sifting through the library's section on Nightmare Night costumes and traditions, searching for anything that might catch their interest. So far, they had managed to find a few possible outfits. The blue alicorn had covered a couple of boots with fake fur and added claws to the bottom, and was currently wearing a pair of fangs. In addition, he had cast a spell to make his eyes look blood red, as well as deliberately messed up his hair to give it a 'wild' look, and had painted the tip of his nose black. All in all, it was a simple but effective costume.
Lucian turned towards Spike. He was wearing a black trench coat which was much too large for him, some severely worn out black pants, a pair of dirty old black boots, a large white hat, a collar with a moon-shaped tag, and a wooden toy crossbow. Overall, it was somewhat underwhelming.
“You would be...?” asked Lucian, doing his best not to laugh.
“I'm Can Helsing!” said Spike. “The greatest monster-hunting Diamond Dog of all time!”
Lucian let out an audible snort.
“What?” said Spike, visibly annoyed by Lucian’s reaction.
“Monster Hunting Diamond Dog?”
“Let's just say there's not a lot of bipeds to choose from, except maybe humans, and who's want to dress up like a hairless ape?” said Spike. “And besides, Can Helsing is awesome, regardless of how many ponies think he sucks.”
“Oh, of course he doesn’t suck,” said Lucian, hoping not to cause Spike too much trouble. “It's just that I think it could use a bit of improvement. Here, let me help.”
Hesitantly, Spike walked over to Lucian, wondering what he was planning. He closed his eyes in expectation, hoping that whatever happened wouldn’t be too painful.
“Done!”
Spike opened his eyes to see a mirror being levitated in front of him. The whole process had taken less than a minute, but the results were impressive; the oversized trench coat had been shrunken down to fit Spike perfectly, the old pants and boots looked good as new, and the white hat had been turned black to blend better with the rest of the costume. Even the toy crossbow had been enchanted to have a brilliant silver color. The dragon in front of him looked just like a real monster hunter.
“Wow! That looks awesome!” he said happily.
“It sure does!” said Lucian. “Of course, the spells I cast on your costume are temporary, so they'll probably go out around, oh, midnight of Nightmare Night or so.”
“Well, that's not so bad.” Spike chuckled as he admired his costume. “It's pretty cool, but...”
“But what?”
Spike looked back in the mirror and shrugged.
“It's nothing, really. It's just that I didn't think that a princess- ah, I mean, prince! Well, I mean-”
“Call me a ‘former royal’ if you must,” said Lucian, a hint of irritation in his voice.
“Uh yeah. I didn’t think that a former royal like you would want to help me. I mean, I'm just a little baby dragon who spends his time doing chores.”
Spike rolled his eyes slightly, but he couldn’t help but smile.
“Thanks Lucian.”
“Hey, no problem,” Lucian said as he gave the young dragon a noogie.
“I’m back!”
Spike And Lucian turned towards the door to see Twilight walking in.
“So, are these your Nightmare Night costumes?” she asked.
“You bet!” said Spike. “See, I'm going to dress up like Can Helsing, the greatest Diamond Dog monster hunter of all time!”
“As for me, I'm a wolf-pony!” said Lucian.
“Well, that sounds nice,” Twilight said as her eyes settled upon Spike. She then turned towards Lucian. “I have to admit, I thought you'd be reluctant to go out for Nightmare Night, Lucian.”
“Well, I need to blend in with the ponies of Ponyville, and what better way to do so than participating in their celebrations?”
Twilight smiled and nodded. Getting to spend some time as a normal pony seemed to be having a positive effect on the formerly asocial stallion.
“That reminds me, I still don’t have a costume for Nightmare Night. Any ideas?”
As she asked the question, she once again began to wonder what her guest and assistant talked about when she was away. They walked up to each other and began to whisper, occasionally taking a glance at her. After about a minute, they walked back up to her.
“I think we know what you should dress up as, Twi!” said Spike, doing his best not to giggle.
“Okay, what do you think I should be?”
The young dragon and royal pony giggled as they whispered in her ear.
Twilight shuddered.
“I don't know if that's such a good idea, guys,” she said apprehensively.
“Aw, come on, Twilight! I'm a wolf pony, Spike's a monster hunter, and we've already agreed to dress Owlowiscious as a Frankenstein monster, so we really need a vampire!”
Twilight was not happy about the prospect of dressing up as a vampire. Although she had been fascinated by them in her youth, her teen years had introduced a certain series of rather sub-par books which revolved around a young mare infatuated with a creature that could charitably be called a vampire. Needless to say, they had killed her interest. More insultingly, said books happened to have the same name as her, forming an unwanted connection. Thus she had spent much of her life trying to distance herself from the subject as much as possible.
And here were two of her closest friends just begging her to be a vampire for them.
Finally, she sighed and nodded.
“Okay, but please promise I won't sparkle.”
“Relax, Twilight,” said Lucian. “With your last name, we don’t need to do that.”
On most nights, the town square of Ponyville was empty, except for a few ponies who were tasked with keeping the peace at night. On Nightmare Night, however, ponies of all ages stayed up for several hours longer than usual to take part in the festivities of Nightmare Night. The young ponies would usually go around town knocking on doors and asking for treats, while those who were older would take part in games, dancing, and other activities. Regardless of what everypony did, they all enjoyed hearing the stories of how Nightmare Moon would go around devouring innocent ponies unless they gave her something sweet.
This year, however, nopony would recognize Nightmare Moon, even though the former mare in the moon was quite active in the streets of Ponyville. Lucian was walking through town with his group, wearing a smile as ponies admired his costume. Spike was also beaming, eager to let everypony get a good look. Owlowiscious, on the other hoof, seemed slightly indignant, and Twilight was fidgeting uncomfortably. Lucian honestly didn't see why; he was captivated by her dark eyeliner, red-tinted eyes, black lipstick, and even her fake fangs. In spite of the malevolence implied by their presence, they helped accentuate the purple unicorn’s natural beauty. In addition, the elegant black dress, as well as her black and red cape, helped to complete the gothic look of Twilight’s costume. All in all, Lucian thought she looked incredibly cute.
He mentally slapped himself in shock.
What am I thinking?! I'm not even technically a stallion! I'm a mare! Yeah, I'm stuck in the body of a stallion, but I'm Princess Luna! I shouldn't be thinking about Twilight like this! I mean, there isn't anything wrong with that kind of... preferences, but I never had them when I was a mare! And now I'm just thinking about her in that way!
What's happening to me?
“Howdy guys! How are y'all doing tonight?”
Lucian's thought were interrupted by the voice. He turned to see Applejack, who had her hair done into curled pigtails and was dressed in a blue and white dress and silver slippers. She was being closely trailed by a scarecrow, a lion, and what looked like some kind of robot.
“Oh, hi Applejack,” he said. “And Apple Bloom too,” he added, recognizing the little filly in the scarecrow costume. He turned towards the other two fillies, a white unicorn and an orange pegasus. He had seen them hanging out with Apple Bloom before, but didn't properly know them. “And you two would be...?”
“I'm Scootaloo,” said the filly in the lion disguise.
“And I'm Sweetie Belle,” said the robot-filly.
“And together,” said Apple Bloom, “we are-”
“THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!!”
Lucian blinked. Even at such a young age, the combined might of the three fillies yelling in unison could rival the Royal Canterlot voice. Owlowiscious, who seemed to be particularly annoyed, flew off indignantly, taking just enough time to shake off as much of his disguise as he could.
“I guess he didn't like his disguise after all,” said Spike.
“Yeah.” Twilight sighed as she turned towards Applejack. “I see you chose The Alicorn of Oz as your theme.”
“The what?” asked Lucian.
“You haven't read it?” said Twilight. “It's one of the best books of all time!”
“Oh. What's it about?”
“Long story short,” said Spike, “an earth pony filly gets sent to a faraway land. Oh, and her little dog too. Anyway, in order to get back home, she has to team up with a scarecrow, a tin pony, and a lion, and sets off towards the city of Oz, in the hopes that the 'Great and Powerful' Alicorn who lives there will return her home.”
Lucian blinked. While he had never heard of the story before today, the story was interesting enough. Perhaps he ought to read it later. Before he could say anything else, he heard a loud bark.
“Oh! Winona! There ya are, little rascal!”
Applejack's faithful dog ran in between two of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and up to the orange farm pony herself. She chuckled as Winona licked her cheeks, then sat down, as if waiting for her to finish whatever she was doing and go back out in search of more candy.
“Sorry, Twi, Lucian. We'd like to stay with y'all, but we ought to get going. Like Pinkie would say, time is candy.”
“Yeah, no problem,” said Twilight. “We're going to go off and meet Derpy and her family, anyway.”
“Okay, sure, no problem,” said Applejack. “And by the way, I like your costume, Twilight. I guess it was only a matter of time before you dressed up as a vampire, what with your name and all.”
Everypony else laughed while Twilight blushed intensely. Applejack then trotted away with the crusaders and Winona. Lucian and the others waved at them, and then turned around, searching for a certain gray pegasus. While they couldn't see her yet, they did see a couple of familiar ponies. Rainbow Dash, who was wearing a Daring Do costume, and the other a Pinkie Pie in a strange costume which consisted of a purple jumpsuit, a dark blue cape, dark blue boots, a purple fedora, and a stylized “M” symbol. Upon closer inspection, part of the cape was actually a mask, as if she was some sort of superhero.
“Hey! Lucian! Here! Over here! Hi there!”
Lucian groaned. He still hadn't quite gotten used to Pinkie Pie, although he at least had come to accept her as an acquaintance. Not quite as good as a friend, but 'acquaintance' was at least a start.
“Hello Pinkie. Hello Rainbow,” he said.
“Hi girls!” said Twilight and Spike.
“Hey guys!” said Rainbow Dash.
“So, what are you guys gonna do?” Pinkie Pie asked as she jumped up and down. To everypony's surprise, a variety of candies fell from her fedora, which she seemed to be using to store her candy.
“We're looking for Derpy and the Doctor,” said Spike. “Pinkie, why is your-”
“Simple,” said Pinkie. “I decided to go out for Nightmare Night candy this year, like always, but since I couldn't find any bags to carry my candy, I was feeling really sad, which is really bad, since nopony should have to be sad when they're going out to have fun on Nightmare Night, but then I realized that I was wearing a ten-gallon hat, so I realized I could use that for carrying candy! It's kind of hard though, since I have to wear it, but otherwise, it's a really great idea! I wonder why nopony else has ever thought of it!”
Everyone looked at her incredulously, trying to put together the complex mental puzzle she had just created. After a while, Rainbow spoke.
“Well, that's nice.”
“Thank you, Dashie!”
“But I think you may have confused 'ten gallon hat' with something completely different. And furthermore, how does the candy not fall from your hat?”
“Oh Rainbow! If it fell out of my hat, how could I carry it?”
Once again, everyone went silent, realizing that Pinkie's logic might be too insane to be disproved. Before they could even try, though, Pinkie engaged in another burst of randomness.
“Hey, Twilight, I really like your costume! Is it like a vampire? Or maybe a goth pony? No, it's a vampire, goths don't have fangs! Or do they?”
“Yeah, it's a vampire,” said Twilight with a sigh. “The boys insisted.”
“Good choice! It looks cool! I mean, unless... did you dress up like that because of the books?” she asked, the enthusiasm suddenly gone from her voice.
“What books?” asked Rainbow Dash with a hint of curiosity in her voice.
“Oh, that?” Twilight said with a nervous chuckle. “Oh, that's nothing, really! Nothing at all!”
“The Twilight Series,” said Pinkie, her usual energetic voice taking a deadpan tone, “is a bunch of books about a mare who's way too perfect to be believable falling in love with a vampire who's way too perfect to be believable. And he sparkles in the sunlight.”
For a moment, there was silence. Twilight's hoof was pressed against her forehead as if she wished she could simply sink into the ground and not come out for weeks. Meanwhile, Lucian was looking at her sympathetically, whereas Spike and Rainbow seemed to be about to fall over laughing.
“So the vampires in Twilight... Sparkle?!”
Rainbow Dash could no longer contain herself. She toppled over and began rolling over in hysterical laughter. Spike did the same, while Pinkie, oblivious to Rainbow's pun, stared at them in disbelief and mild annoyance.
“What's so funny?!” she asked, unaware that her annoyance only served to make the rainbow-maned mare and the purple dragon laugh even harder. “Vampires that become all sparkly when they go out in the sun is, like, the most ridiculous thing ever! Next thing you know, they'll be saying that there's such a thing as crystal ponies or something!”
As inconspicuously as he could, Lucian chuckled to himself.
“Yeah,” said Twilight, eager to change the subject. “So, I see you made good use of that Mare-Do-Well costume, Pinkie Pie.”
“Of course! I might even go back into the hero business!” Pinkie Pie proclaimed proudly.
“Please tell me you're joking,” said Rainbow Dash.
“I don't know, Dashie! Its lots of fun to be a hero every once in a while! But not all the time, though. It's tough! You know how much time I'd have to dedicate to heroics if I went full-time? I want to have time to bake cupcakes and play with the cake twins and stuff!”
“Well, you girls are all already heroes,” said Spike.
“He's right,” said Lucian, who had managed to calm down somewhat. “You've saved Equestria twice! Three times, if you count Cerberus. Four if you include the parasprites.”
“I'd count Cerberus, maybe, but not the parasprites,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Are you kidding me?!” asked Lucian. “If those bugs hadn't been sent into the Everfree forest, they would have spread out all over Equestria, consuming everything in their path! And even worse, from what I heard, those particular parasprites seemed to be a unique breed which could consume many forms of inedible matter!”
At this point, the other ponies shot a look at Twilight, who merely gave an awkward smile. Lucian didn't notice this, however, and continued to talk.
“The point is, you girls don't have to resort to wearing some silly costume to be heroes! You carry the elements of harmony! I mean, I wish I could have friends who were as close to me as you girls are to Twilight!”
Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie stared at him in awe. While only the violet unicorn knew his true identity, they all recognized that he was pretty good at speaking. And so did somepony else.
“Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!”
The four ponies and one dragon turned in the direction of a certain brown earth pony and his pegasus companion, who was wearing a couple of paper bags as her “costume,” and their daughter, who was wearing a cute yet elegant little princess dress.
“Hi guys!” giggled Dinky. “How are you?”
“We're doing great!' said Pinkie. “But we'd better hurry! Time is candy!
“I guess so,” Lucian said eagerly “And by the way, I love your Daring Do costume, Rainbow Dash.”
“I know! Daring Do is the best explorer ever! I wish I had a big group of friends who could dress up like different characters from the books, kind of like how Applejack did with her and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, or like you and Twilight and Spike- wait, what are you supposed to be, Spike, some kind of monster hunter?”
“Can Helsing!” said Spike. “The greatest Diamond Dog monster hunter of all time!”
“Oh! Why of course!” said the Doctor. “He defended the world from all sorts of dangerous creatures!”
“Which means he's going to hunt Lucian and Twilight down!”
Everyone laughed at Derpy's commentary, who simply rolled her eyes and smiled.
“Mommy? Daddy? Can we go look for candy?”
The two parents looked towards their daughter, who had an excited look on her face. The lavender vampire and dark blue wolf-pony looked towards Spike, who seemed equally excited about the prospect of getting candy.
“Yeah, we definitely should,” said Twilight.
“Like I say, time is candy, so let's get moving!” Pinkie practically commanded. “Oh wait! If time is candy, they could I make a time machine using candy?”
The Doctor and Lucian giggled at the hyperactive pink pony's commentary, but she didn't hang around long enough to notice, as she had gone running off to collect candy, dragging a shocked blue pegasus along with her. A grunt from a gray unicorn filly and a purple baby dragon pulled them back to their senses, and they proceeded to lead the way through the night.
Lucian had always preferred the night over the day, but tonight he felt even happier than most nights. All around ponies were playing, dancing, collecting candy, and generally having fun. It was quite amusing, in a bitterly ironic way, that his downfall had resulted in the creation of one of most fun holidays of the year. And, of course, it made him happy when ponies spoke of how Princess Luna had come to Ponyville the previous year.
“That was the best Nightmare Night ever!”
“It was scary at first having her here, but she's not so bad after all!”
“I hope she's gotten more friends since then!”
“Do you think she'll come again this year?”
This last commentary made the two monster ponies and their monster-hunting assistant giggle, which none of their companions could understand.
Spike and Dinky had both managed to obtain a sizable quantity of candy in their bags, and so they decided to go to check out what was going on at the town square.
“Just one more house!” Spike insisted.
“But I want to go see the cool stuff!” complained Dinky.
“Now, Dinky, I doubt anything is going to run away from town square,” said her father. “And even if it does, I know we could stop it!”
The little unicorn looked towards her father, as if to receive some more reassurance, and so he smiled and patted her on the head. She in turn smiled and walked up to the nearest door with Spike. Lucian walked up to the Doctor, patting him on the back.
“You're a great father, you know that?”
“Oh, I'm certain there are plenty of fathers better than me,” the brown earth pony said. “I'll bet even you could be a great father if you needed to.”
Lucian nearly tripped over his own hooves at this comment. He managed to catch himself just in time, and did his best to cover up his slip.
“Eh, I wouldn’t know.”
As quietly as he could, Lucian sighed in relief. He then turned back towards the filly and dragon, who were now knocking on the door. However, no one inside was answering.
“Is it empty?” asked Dinky.
Spike lifted his arm and knocked again. This time, an annoyed, wrinkled, balding stallion opened the door.
“Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give us something sweet to bite!”
“NIGHTMARE NIGHT?!”
Spike and Dinky very quickly took several steps back towards Twilight and the Doctor, respectively.
“I can't believe anypony still likes doing that sort of stupid stuff. You kids ought to go to sleep! And instead, you go off looking for candy! No wonder today's kids are so fat! And loud! Go away!”
The old stallion closed the door, leaving several bemused ponies and one dragon outside.
“Well, that was rude,” said Spike.
“I guess some ponies don't like Nightmare Night, even if it is one of the most popular holidays of the year,” said Twilight.
“Well, he needs to liven up,” said Lucian, his voice full of annoyance. “Which reminds me of something I read once about Nightmare Night.”
“What's that?” asked Twilight, her curiosity piqued.
Lucian looked up towards the roof, then down towards the rest of the house. After a few seconds of thought, he began to concentrate energy in his horn, which quickly began to spread above the house. Then, a large number of rolls of toilet paper began to materialize, then expand, and roll over the house.
Lucian allowed the magic to dissipate, satisfied with his work. The children began to laugh almost immediately, as did Derpy. The Doctor and Twilight seemed shocked at first, but they soon began to giggle as well.
“And that's why you give candy to kids on Nightmare Night,” said Lucian. “Because you don't, then Nightmare Moon shall come and T.P. your home.”
Fillies and colts walked through town, stopping at various houses to ask for candy, occasionally wandering through the shadows to burst out and freak out somepony else. Such was the night of a certain filly in a lion costume, who was hiding from her friends as they walked through a particularly dark area. The shadows concealed her actions as she approached the tin-pony and scarecrow. They were busy looking into their bags to see what they had received so far, and whether or not they needed any more.
Finally, Scootaloo pounced. With the agility of a real lion, she jumped out of the shadows and roared at the unsuspecting fillies, causing them to jump in surprise and drop some of their candy. They then looked around in shock, trying to find their attacker, before shifting their gaze onto a little orange filly who was rolling on the floor while laughing.
“Scootaloo!” said Sweetie Belle with a squeak. “You scared us!”
“Lighten up, Sweetie Belle! This is the best night of the year for pranks!”
Having recovered from the shock, Apple Bloom began to laugh, while Sweetie Belle glared at Scootaloo. However, after a while, she too giggled a bit.
“Okay, crusaders!” said Apple Bloom. “I reckon we've collected enough candy for now, so we should head on to the center of town to find out what kinds of cool stuff they have for us!”
“Are you sure we have enough candy?” asked Scootaloo. “Maybe we should collect some more!”
“I'm pretty sure we can get a lot more at the games they're gonna have,” said Sweetie Belle. “We should definitely get there before, well, I dunno, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon arrive.”
The very thought that the two bullies might get to play the various games around town before them was unacceptable to the crusaders, and Apple Bloom immediately began to run towards the center of town. Scootaloo nodded at Sweetie Belle, indicating that she agreed with her, and so the white unicorn filly went off to follow her friend.
The orange pegasus filly looked back into the shadows, giggling at her friends’ scarediness. There was no way that she could ever be scared of something that was lurking in the shadows.
But those shadows still look a bit scary.
The lion filly shook her head. There was nothing wrong with the shadows. They were just something that happened when the light got blocked. They couldn't harm her. And they certainly couldn't come out and move towards her.
Yet the shadow was moving towards her.
The young filly jumped backwards. She rubbed her eyes. It couldn't be possible. Shadows were supposed to be immobile, unless the light source creating them was moving. And shadows most certainly couldn't attack.
She took another look. Not only was the shadow moving, it was expanding, growing taller and wider. And it was getting even closer.
Scootaloo screamed and ran as fast as her hooves could carry her.
The shadow began to move away, back into the darkness it had come from. As it shrunk back to its previous size, it seemed to observe the little filly as she ran towards the safety of her friends.
A large number of ponies were playing various games, including spider tossing and apple bobbing. Lucian recognized both, as they were the very first games he had played during the previous year's Nightmare Night celebration. As he watched the young fillies and colts in their various disguises competing to see how much candy they could win, Spike and Dinky ran off towards the pumpkin catapults.
“I'm gonna hit those targets right over there!” announced Spike as he loaded a pumpkin into one of the open catapults. He then aimed at one of the untouched targets with as much precision as he could, and launched the pumpkin. It landed just below the bull’s-eye, leaving the bottom of the target covered in an orange pulp and beige seeds.
Dinky giggled. “I think you were a bit off.”
“I guess,” said Spike. “You think you can beat me?”
“I don't know,” said the Doctor, “but if you don't try, you'll never know.”
“You can do it, little muffin!”
The little unicorn filly still seemed nervous, but hearing her mother seemed to fill her with determination. She walked up to the pile of pumpkins, rolling one up towards the same catapult Spike had used, then loading the large orange fruit into the catapult. Then, she aimed the pumpkin at the same target as Spike.
“Okay. Now I think that if I adjust it just a bit more, I'm gonna-”
“AAAAAAAAGHHH!!!”
Before Dinky could finish, she was bumped by a screaming filly in a lion costume. The force caused the little princess filly to bump into the catapult, accidentally launching the pumpkin far up into the air. The other ponies, as well as Spike, watched in horror as the pumpkin flew up towards the sky, and subsequently landed right on the very center of the bull’s-eye.
Shock and horror gave way to surprise, then awe, and finally, cheers.
“Well done! I knew you could do it!” the Doctor said happily.
“My little muffin did it!” said Derpy as she hugged her daughter.
“That was really awesome!” said Twilight.
“Beginner’s luck,” muttered Spike.
“Hello?! Is no one listening?! I was chased by a shadow!”
Although the ponies were busy celebrating Dinky's victory, they quickly stopped and turned to see the orange pegasus filly, who was waving her hooves frantically, trying to get everypony's attention.
“I told you, I was chased all the way here by a shadow!”
“You were chased by a shadow?” asked Twilight. “Are you sure it wasn't just some filly or colt in a ninja costume? That could be what happened.”
“I don't know,” said Scootaloo, “but it sure looked like a real shadow to me!”
“It might also be that some particularly pranky unicorn used an illusion spell to freak you out,” said Lucian. “Did you happen to see any unicorns who might have done something like that?”
“Scootaloo!”
The lion-filly turned around to see a tin-pony and a scarecrow approaching her. They were panting heavily, as if they had been running to catch up to their orange friend.
“Scootaloo! You went of runnin' faster than a rabbit bein' chased by a timberwolf!” said Apple Bloom as she gasped for breath.
“Why were you running so fast?” asked Sweetie Belle exhaustedly.
“Oh, that? Uh, yeah, it was nothing! I just really wanted to get here before Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon had a chance to get here, that's all!”
“She was afraid of a shadow,” said Spike.
Scootaloo facehoofed as her friends stared at her in shock, and then burst out laughing.
“You were scared of a shadow?!” said Sweetie Belle.
“Looks like we made the right choice in givin' ya the cowardly lion costume!” said Apple Bloom.
“It's not like that!” squeaked Scootaloo, her cheeks turning a bright red. “It was alive! And it was chasing me, and it was big and-”
“Girls?” Lucian interrupted. “I don’t know what Scootaloo saw, but it was probably somepony playing a prank on her. Whatever it was, it’s probably not worth getting worked up over. There's a lot of fun stuff to do tonight, and you can't go out to do anything if you're going to spend all your time arguing about what spooked Scootaloo .”
“Yeah,” said Twilight. “Don't you want to toss some spiders and bob for some apples?”
The three fillies stared at each other, then rolled their eyes and said “fine” in unison. They then went off towards the spider-tossing, but not before letting out a series of audible giggles.
“Well, it's good to see them getting along,” said Twilight. “Shall we go accompany them?”
“Sure, why not?” said Derpy. “Maybe they’ll have nightmare muffins!”
She laughed at her own joke as she and her family went off to join the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Spike and Twilight began to follow them, but the lunar prince lingered for a moment. What the little orange filly had said had struck him in a way he didn't think it would.
“Chased by a shadow?”
The shadow moved through the darkness. While the large amount of illumination made it hard to move unnoticed, it did instill a sense of safety into other ponies, which meant that, unlike most nights, the shadow was able to observe ponies as they conversed with one another and had... fun.
Fun. It was almost, but not quite, a completely alien emotion to the shadow. It had felt a brief rush of excitement, then satisfaction, when it had attacked the cowardly little orange filly. Was that the sort of thing that these ponies considered to be 'fun'?
It couldn't be sure. It had only just arrived in Ponyville a few nights ago, and thus, hadn't really gotten to observe ponies in their everyday lives. The day was too bright for it to do much, as the intense light would have made a living shadow incredibly obvious, while the night was the part of the day during which ponies slept. Now, however, there was a unique opportunity to figure out as much as it could about these happy little ponies.
It looked around. The ponies were dressed in a variety of costumes, which, as far as it could tell, was not normal behavior for a pony. Then again, ponies didn't usually go out during the night. In addition, they seemed to enjoy sugar-rich bite-sized pieces of 'candy,' and they greatly enjoyed this 'fun' they spoke of so excitedly.
The shadow's gaze then rested on two particular ponies; a pair of unicorns, one a violet mare wearing a black dress and cape, as well as fake fangs, and the other a tall dark blue stallion dressed as some sort of canid monster. At first glance they seemed to be completely irrelevant. Two unicorns, probably siblings or special someponies, having 'fun' together on Nightmare Night. Of all the places it could have decided to stop to observe ponies, it just had to be some little backwater town, instead of, say, Canterlot, where there were all sorts of important ponies to spy on.
However, as the shadow began to turn away to stalk some other ponies, it sensed something. It was just for a minute, but it had been undeniably familiar.
The shadow turned towards the two unicorns. There was something about them that was familiar. The shadow couldn't tell what it was, but there was almost no doubt that these two ponies were far more than just some unicorn couple going out for a stroll on Nightmare Night.
The shadow almost felt as if it knew them.
Any thought the shadow had about seeking out other ponies vanished instantly. The only thing that mattered was finding out what importance these two ponies held.
The town square of Ponyville was currently in a festive mood. Most of the buildings had been covered with various humorous and scary decorations. In addition, there were all sorts of activities for ponies of all ages. Lucian in particular was taking note of the many ways he could enjoy himself at the party, trying to decide what would be the most worthwhile option.
“Yo, Lucian! come over and boogie out!”
Lucian's thoughts were interrupted by Pinkie Pie, who was currently moving her body in some of the most bizarre ways Lucian would never have believed possible in a pony. Many other ponies were also staring at her, trying to figure out just what she was doing. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, was merely rolling on the ground, laughing harder than anypony.
“Pinkie! You are so random!” said Rainbow as she rolled on the floor laughing.
“I know!” said Pinkie Pie. “That makes it fun!”
Lucian rolled his eyes, and then walked over to Pinkie Pie. Nervously, he began to move his hooves awkwardly. Dancing was not among the many subjects he had studied in Canterlot. Rainbow watched his inexperienced dancing, laughing as several other ponies began to either laugh or groan.
“I think you students of Celestia ought to take dance classes!”
“Oh, yeah?” said Twilight. “Like you can do any better!”
Delighted by the challenge, Rainbow jumped in between Pinkie and Lucian and stood on her back hooves. She then began to move her body in short, rapid movements; first, her left front hoof, then her right front hoof, then her head.
“Oh! The robot! She's good!” said the Doctor.
“Well, yeah, better than Lucian, I guess,” said Twilight.
“Don't worry, Twilight, I'm pretty sure you can dance as well as anypony if you work hard,” said Spike, doing his best to encourage her.
Twilight groaned, then took a moment to look around at the various ponies. In addition to her friends, there were several other ponies, dressed in various other disguises; some he recalled seeing at some point during the previous Nightmare Night festival, and others who he didn't. The two ponies playing music caught her interest. One was a gray earth pony wearing a wolf-pony costume similar to Lucian's, and the second a white unicorn with a vampire costume similar to hers. In the lavender unicorn's mind, the unicorn, widely known as DJ-Pon3, made sense, given that she lived here in Ponyville, while the earth pony, Octavia, really shouldn't have any reason to come to the humble little town. Before she could ponder the matter further, however, the music stopped, and a different pony appeared on the stage.
“Hello everypony! I'd like to thank you all for coming to this year's Nightmare Night festival!”
The mayor of Ponyville laughed in her most evil voice as the celebrating ponies gathered around the stage. Unlike the comedic clown costume she had worn the previous year, she was now wearing an intimidating changeling costume. The insectoid body armor and wings, as well as the fangs and horn, and even the color of her green-dyed mane and enchanted green eyes all worked to give her an air of malevolence.
“Now, that works a whole lot better than that stupid rainbow wig,” said Spike.
“I hope the little ones have been very busy gathering candy, because it's time to hear the story of Nightmare Mooooooon!” she said, punctuating her speech with an evil laugh.
“Not bad,” said Lucian. “She sounds too elderly to be a threat, though.”
“Says the guy who waited a thousand years to plunge Equestria into eternal night,” Twilight said in a quiet voice that nopony else could hear.
The royal stallion responded by lightly punching her shoulder.
“And now, to present the story of Nightmare Moon, give a warm welcome to tonight’s storyteller, Rarity!”
The mayor smiled raised a hoof to present a trial of enchanted darkness, from which emerged a black unicorn who was wearing a pair of fake wings, blue body armor, and a fake moon cutie mark. In addition, her mane was dyed a dark blue, and her eyes were coated with purple eyeliner. However, her distinctive hair style, as well as her glee at being in the spotlight, made it quite easy to recognize her.
“Wow, Rarity really outdid herself with that costume of hers,” said Twilight.
“I know!” said Spike. “I mean, Nightmare Moon is terrifying, but she makes her look... so beautiful.”
Twilight giggled at her lovestruck assistant, then turned back towards her current house guest.
“I hope you don't mind having to listen to this, Lucian. I know you don't exactly like to listen to this kind of thing.”
“It’s okay, Twilight. I understand that it's all in good fun.”
The two ponies smiled at each other, then turned back towards the stage.
“Hello everypony!” said Rarity. “We're sorry that Zecora was unable to come to the festivities. We do hope she enjoys her journey to her homeland and brings back lots of stories for us!”
The other ponies cheered in agreement. Even if their favorite Zebra was away for the Nightmare Night festivities, they could still enjoy the show, especially if one of their most beloved fashion designers was presenting it.
“I hope you enjoy a tale of fright, on this most glorious Nightmare Night!”
“Beware! Beware you pony folk! This tale of terror is no joke! Nightmare Moon comes every year, to gobble you up, so you must fear!”
As she stood in front of the statue of Nightmare Moon, Rarity turned back towards the crowd that had gathered. They seemed quite amazed by how perfectly she emulated the rhyming style of Zecora, and she was feeling quite pleased with herself.
“If you are found by Nightmare Moon, you will disappear very soon! So therefore, you must wear a disguise, so she won't see you from the skies! And remember, if you do not try to disappear, she will devour you, as she does to ponies every year!”
At this, the excited unicorn cackled madly, and used her magic to create an illusory Nightmare Moon, which proceeded to chase several little fillies and colts away; Dinky screamed and held on to her mother, who nudged her gently with one hoof, as if to reassure her and tell her that there was no real danger.
“And most importantly, if you wish for her to leave you in peace, you must give her some candy, so that she may feast! For if her belly is not full by the end of the night, she will hunt you down, and you will never again see light!”
Once again, the black-colored unicorn gave a round of maniacal laughter as the illusory alicorn chased them around before disappearing. Immediately, several young ponies, and even a few older ones, ran to the statue and left a large amount of candy. One small earth pony colt in a ninja suit, however, hesitated before leaving his candy.
“Excuse me, miss Rarity?”
Rarity turned to face the young colt.
“Why, hello Pipsqueak!” said Rarity. “Is something wrong?”
“Well, Princess Luna was here last year, and she didn't seem to like being reminded of being Nightmare Moon. So why should we still give candy to her?”
“Well, while it's true that Princess Luna is no longer Nightmare Moon, there is no telling whether or not Nightmare Moon is truly gone. Some say that part of Luna's transformation was brought upon her by dark magic, and who knows? That darkness may still lurk, hidden in plain sight, in this very place... on this very night!”
As several little fillies and colts ran away screaming, Rarity giggled to herself. Even though the foals were all running in fear, she knew that, deep down, they knew it was all in good fun. And she couldn’t help but feel the tiniest bit amused by the way she could make ponies scatter just by shouting out a few words.
Had she noticed the strange shadow lurking just beyond the statue, she would have been far less inclined to laugh.
“I kind of miss Princess Luna.”
The lunar prince sighed as he looked towards the little colt dressed in a ninja suit. If he hadn't heard his name, he probably wouldn't have recognized him. He still remembered how, the previous year, during Luna's visit, he had been the first pony other than Twilight to offer his friendship to her, even going so far as to tell her that she was his favorite princess. His encouragement had made Luna happy, as she had never believed that anypony would love her more than Celestia.
Now, here he was, so close to the little earth pony who had changed his life, and yet his gender and identity had been completely changed, so he was unable to make him realize that he was the same as the princess who came to Ponyville a year prior.
“Did you say something about Luna, kid?”
Pipsqueak looked up at Lucian.
“Oh, it’s nothing really important,” he said quickly. “It’s just that Luna came here last year, and I wanted her to be here this year too.”
“Really?” asked Lucian. “What was that like?”
Pipsqueak’s face brightened up at the chance to share his story with somepony else.
“She tried to make friends, but then she almost canceled Nightmare Night because everypony was scared of her. So when I saw her, I went to tell her that I appreciated her and thought she was the best princess ever. And then, she decided not to cancel the holiday after all, and she even stayed around to have some fun! I wish she could come back.”
“Well, it sounds like you saved Nightmare Night, kiddo.”
The young colt immediately brightened up.
“You really think so?”
“Of course,” said Lucian. “If you hadn't been brave enough to go out and offer her your love, then she probably would have gone ahead and canceled Nightmare Night, and we wouldn't even be talking here and now, would we?”
Pipsqueak nodded excitedly, and then began bouncing along the road.
“I saved Nightmare Night! I saved Nightmare Night! I saved Nightmare Night!”
He then stopped. His head hung itself low, and his ears went droopy.
“But she's still not here,” he said dejectedly.
The prince of the night saw the little ninja pony's sadness, and patted him on the back.
“Hey, don't feel so glum,” he said reasurringly. “Just because you don't see her doesn't mean she's not here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” Lucian said as he rolled his eyes, trying to sound innocent. “I honestly don't see why she'd want to miss out on the Nightmare Night festivities. She may have gone to another town, or maybe she stayed in Canterlot. Equestria is vast, and there's no telling where she wishes to be. But even if she’s not in Ponyville, she'll never truly leave you. She's a princess, so she watches over all of Equestria, keeping everypony safe. Who knows, she may be watching you right now, and you might not even notice.”
Lucian smiled as Pipsqueak's face developed a wide smile. He then began to bounce up and down, giggling at the idea of the princess of the night watching over her.
Everypony went silent as the young colt screamed at the top of his lungs.
“If you can hear me, I miss you a lot! Please come to Ponyville soon! I love yooooou!!!”
Several ponies groaned, but Pipsqueak just giggled. Lucian did to for a few seconds, as he thought about how he would react if he had been on his balcony listening.
“So, you enjoying the party so far?”
Lucian had almost managed to catch an apple when Rainbow Dash interrupted him. He lifted his head towards her, slightly annoyed.
“I might have enjoyed it a bit more if a certain pegasus dressed as Daring Do hadn't interrupted me when I was trying to grab that one apple!”
“Oh, really?” Rainbow asked teasingly. “Why don't you just magic it to come closer, or whatever?”
“Isn't that cheating?”
“Maybe,” said Rainbow. “But that way you could protect yourself from the joke apples Pinkie and I put into the water.”
The lunar prince quickly pulled his head out of the tub, hoping that he hadn't accidentally triggered any booby traps. Rainbow, on the other hand, fell over, giggling.
“Aw man, that was priceless! I mean, if you'd bitten one of those apples, it would have been so funny, but that was just as good!”
“Wh- what exactly is in those joke apples, anyway?” asked Lucian.
“Aw, not much,” said Rainbow. “Oh! Here comes somepony! Hide!”
Before the royal blue stallion could respond, Rainbow Dash dragged him into a bush, as a pair of familiar faces arrived at the apple tub.
“Dude, I honestly don't think Princess Luna's gonna show any interest in you,” said Spike. “I mean you're cute and all, but you're, what? Two? And she's at least a thousand, and probably a lot more. I'm pretty sure there's a law that says you can't date her.”
“You're younger than Rarity, and you're still chasing her, aren't you?”
Spike couldn't help but blush as Pipsqueak giggled.
“Well, she's a princess! And she moves the moon! I don't know how you're ever gonna get her to notice you, since you're just a common earth pony!”
“I know I'm not big or strong,” said Pipsqueak. “But I was the first to ever show her kindness when she came back! Wouldn't she remember and cherish that for a long time?”
“I don't know, man. I'm pretty sure Twilight did that first.”
“Yeah, but she can't marry Twilight, can she?”
At this comment, Spike went silent, his eyes wide. The little white earth pony, on the other hand began to laugh.
“I knew it!” Pipsqueak said triumphantly. “You don't know how to answer to that! So, I win!”
“Well, yeah, I guess.”
“All right then! I can keep writing poems and making drawing about her and hoping!”
The young ninja-pony then proceeded to pull out a large green apple from the apple tub and hold it in a triumphant stance. Said apple promptly exploded, leaving him coated with rainbow paint.
“Wow,” said Spike. “I thought ninjas were supposed to, I don’t know, blend in?”
He giggled as he picked out an apple with his claws, only for it to explode into a cloud of pink cake batter.
“And I never knew Can Helsing was defeated by a cake batter monster!” laughed Pipsqueak.
“Did somepony say ‘cake batter’?”
Before anypony could figure out where the sound had come from, Pinkie Pie had hopped up to Spike and licked all the batter off in one lick.
“Eew!” said Spike. “Pinkie Pie! That's disgusting!”
“No it's not, it's cake batter!” said Pinkie. “So, you enjoy those joke apples?”
“You made those?” asked Pipsqueak in surprise.
“Well, duh! Who else?” said Pinkie. “Well, me and Rainbow Dash. I wonder where she is.”
Meanwhile, in a nearby bush, a certain pony in a Daring Do costume and her wolf-pony dressed companion were laughing their flanks off.
“Rainbow, that was amazing!” said Lucian once the two had calmed down a bit. “You sure are good at pranking ponies!”
“Thanks! But the truth is, Pinkie Pie's the one who does most of it,” said Rainbow. “Truth be told, I wouldn't be half the prankster I am now if it weren't for her. Anyway, what about you?”
“Well, I'm not much of a prankster,” said Lucian. “However, I did once meet a pony who enjoyed pulling pranks on other ponies, one of which struck me at a rather inopportune moment.”
“Really?” asked Rainbow, oblivious to the fact that he was talking about her. “What did you do about that?”
“I gave her a dose of her own medicine.”
The two ponies gave another round of chuckles, before Rainbow decided to change the subject.
“So, what do you think about that kid, Pipsqueak?”
“Well, he seems to be a nice kid,” said Lucian, doing his best to appear casual. “So, is it true that he was the first one to open up to Princess Luna?”
“Well, if you don't count Twilight, then yeah, he was,” Rainbow said with a shrug. “Before that she was angry about the fact that nopony liked her, so she tried to cancel Nightmare Night. Then squirt here comes along and tells her that she's his favorite princess ever, and suddenly she's happy again. Apparently, he has the idea that this means he's destined to be her knight in shining armor or something.”
“Well, he's a kid, so he can afford to let his imagination go crazy,” said Lucian.
“I know! That part about Luna marrying Twilight was so funny!”
The lunar prince's smile vanished almost instantly, and his left eye began to twitch. The rainbow-maned mare's eyebrow quickly rose as she tilted her head, trying to figure out why her companion was suddenly acting so strange.
“Are you all right, Lucian?”
“Uh... I'm doing perfectly!” Lucian said awkwardly. “Why wouldn't I?”
“Because you just had a mental image of Luna and Twilight making out?”
Lucian facehoofed while Rainbow fell over in her laughter. While happy that she hadn't noticed the real reason for his awkwardness, he still had to deal with the implications of romance, something he had not considered for a long time. The fact that he was an alicorn meant that he was doomed to outlive any friends and love interests, and so he had made an effort to not fall in love with anypony else.
This was not to say that he had no interest in other ponies; before his unwitting gender-flip, she had often found himself observing several stallions. Some were nobles, some were dignitaries, and some were common ponies. And, although she would never admit it, she had been quite fond of the Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor, before discovering that he was deeply in love with Princess Cadance, Luna's niece.
And there was him...
He shook his head, bringing himself back to the present. Rainbow Dash was currently looking out at the apple tub, hoping to catch some more unwitting victims. Being so close to her was beginning to feel awkward; ever since his unwitting gender swap, his interests seemed to have changed, as he had noticed whenever he thought of how cute Twilight was. Rainbow, on the other hoof, was not exactly “cute” by his standards, but she was fairly attractive in her own way. And she was a big fan of Daring Do, which was made all the more obvious by her costume of choice.
I have to stop thinking about these mares, he thought to himself.
“So, what's on your mind?”
Lucian gasped in shock at Rainbow's sudden question.
“Oh, well, uh,” he muttered in confusion.
“What?” she said. “Was it me?”
“No!” he almost shouted, just barely catching himself from revealing his hiding place. “I mean, maybe a bit?”
The athletic pegasus smirked at him.
“Oh, I see. Were you worried about being caught in a bush with a girl?”
Lucian's royal blue face began to go red. This was going very differently than what he would have wished.
“Uh, yes? I mean, no! I mean, what I'm trying to say...”
“Don't worry,” said Rainbow Dash. “I'm just fooling around.”
The prince of the moon sighed in relief, glad that any interest the rainbow-maned pegasus may have had in him was purely humorous.
“Although, you are kind of cute.”
...Or not.
Twilight walked slowly to the library's door, her mind and body exhausted after a full night of collecting candy and watching ponies scare each other. She had managed to impress and even scare several ponies with her own costume, which she was pleasantly surprised by. What hadn't been so pleasant, however, was the fact that more than a few ponies had mentioned... those infernal books. She had thus made a mental note of mailing the author a copy of TvTropes: The Book. Hopefully, she'd learn a thing or two about writing. Or become so lost in its magnificence that she'd never write again. By now, the frustrated unicorn honestly didn't care which.
“Hey, Twilight, how's it going?”
Twilight turned away from the door to the Golden Oaks library to look at Lucian. He seemed nervous for some reason.
“All right, although I got several comments about my costume,” Twilight growled. “What about you?”
“Pretty good, until Rainbow Dash started acting weird.”
“Weird, how?”
Before Lucian could say anything, however, Spike walked up to them.
“Hey guys! Guess what? Pinkie Pie totally pranked me and Pipsqueak with some funny apples! And then we went off to Sugarcube Corner for some sweets! Pip and Pinkie got big chocolate cupcakes, and I got a rock. I was angry at first, but then it turned out that the rock was full of all sorts of tasty gems! I still would've enjoyed a cupcake, though.”
The tension that had been hanging in the air a mere minute ago dissipated, the two ponies awaiting his arrival laughed out loud. Spike shrugged, and then asked if they didn't want to go out for some more fun.
“I think we've had enough fun for one night,” said Twilight, yawning a bit as she did so.
“Some sleep would definitely aid me right about now,” Lucian said in agreement.
“Aw, but there's still a lot of stuff we could do! I mean, it’s freaking nightmare night! It only comes once a year! So why not?”
The answer came in a most unexpected way; at the very moment Spike finished, both the hands on the nearest clock tower lined up, causing the midnight bell to chime. At that moment, all of the temporary enchantments Lucian had placed on the baby dragon's disguise dissipated simultaneously; the coat grew back to its original size, the pants deteriorated to their former age, the boots accumulated several years' worth of muck, the hat and collar returned to their original colors, the moon tag became faded, and the toy crossbow lost its silver coloring.
Spike blushed intensely as he stood before his two pony friends in what must have been the most ridiculous costume ever. Meanwhile, Lucian and Twilight simply laughed.
“On second thought, I vote for calling it a night!” he said quickly, immediately bolting into the tree house.
Lucian chuckled as he shook his head. He then remembered something important.
“Wait! Shouldn't we go out and say goodbye to Derpy and her family?”
At that moment, a gray and brown blur landed in front of the two ponies, leaving an impact crater in the ground. To their delight, it was a gray mare wearing a bunch of paper bags.
“Please don’t tell me that you were going to leave without saying goodbye, now were you?”
“Of course not!” laughed Lucian as he stretched out his hooves and hugged Derpy. She seemed taken by surprise, but smiled and accepted the embrace regardless.
“I hope you're not trying to steal my mare now, Lucian. That would be quite rude, you know.”
The prince of the night let go in embarrassment as the Doctor and Dinky walked up to them. Twilight and Derpy chuckled, while Dinky trotted up to her mother.
“How was my little muffin's Nightmare Night?” asked Derpy.
“It was fun, mom!” Dinky said happily. “Especially when I chunked that pumpkin.”
The two giggled and embraced each other, eliciting a number of “awws” from the surrounding ponies. Even so, watching the happy mother and foal play together, Lucian couldn't help but feel sorry for them.
“I can't help but wonder what it would have been like if you'd been able to afford a bit more than paper bags,” he said sadly, observing Derpy's haphazardly-applied 'costume.'
“Yes, I suppose so,” said the Doctor. “But we're all together, and that's what counts.
Lucian and Twilight smiled as they observed the happy family and their resilience and determination; the Doctor and Derpy were determined to give everything they could for their 'little muffin,' and they would let nothing stand in their way.
“Well, it was fun to spend the night together,” said the Doctor. “However, it's probably past any of our bedtimes, so we might as well get going.”
“Tomorrow we'll need lots of strength to fight the forces of laziness around Ponyville.”
Everypony else laughed at Derpy's comment, with the exception of Dinky, who merely climbed onto her mother's back and snuggled in. Her mother gave her a loving look, and then looked towards her beloved, who nodded and shook the hooves of his friends.
“We had a great time, Lucian, Twilight. We should get together sometime soon!”
“I agree,” said Lucian.
“We'll have to fit it into our schedule, though,” said Twilight. “But I'm sure we'll manage.”
The Doctor and Derpy trotted away, carrying their child back home. Lucian and Twilight waved at them until they were almost out of view, and then turned to each other.
“Well, that was fun,” Lucian said with a yawn.
“Saying goodbye or Nightmare Night?”
Lucian paused for a minute, now entirely sure which it was. After a moment, however, he simply said “yes.” The two ponies laughed as they made their way into the library.
Neither of them noticed a shadow slowly moving not too far away from them. It, however, had most certainly noticed them.
It had been about a week after Nightmare Night, and two ponies were reading at the Golden Oaks library. Spike and Owlowiscious were cleaning the bedroom to ensure that everypony could get a good night's rest. Meanwhile, in the living room, Lucian was reading various books. Some were storybooks, while others were magic or history books. None of them were doing much good to alleviate his current boredom, however.
Lucian sighed. For over a thousand years, he, or rather, she, had been in charge of the moon, and even that was without counting the long time she had spent imprisoned within it. Now that he was living the life of a normal pony, he had nothing to do, since all his time was dedicated to reading, or helping Twilight with her chores, or hanging out with the Doctor and Derpy. None of these were currently satisfying him. While he found them to be quite enjoyable, he felt that he ought to be doing more than simply standing around idly.
“You know, Twilight,” he said at last, “I've been thinking about getting a job.”
Twilight raised her head in surprise.
“A job? Why? You don't really need to do anything, seeing as you're a prince.”
“Technically, I’ve been exiled from my kingdom, and thus no longer royalty,” Lucian pointed out. “And the whole point of me being here in Ponyville is trying to be a normal pony so I can make friends. So, obviously I'm going to fit in better if I work like normal ponies do.”
“Well, I guess that makes sense,” said Twilight. “But what exactly are you going to do? It's not like Ponyville has any moons lying around waiting to be lifted.”
Lucian rolled his eyes and began to speak.
“Well, in case you haven't noticed, I've been around for over a thousand years. You think I haven't learned a thing or two from that many years of experience?”
“I guess that's true,” said Twilight. “Still, if you want, I could always offer you a post as a library assistant.”
“You already have two assistants, Twilight,” said Lucian. “Do you really need another one?”
Twilight tried to say something, but she found herself unable to argue against Lucian's logic. He, in turn, chuckled as he pulled on his blue hoodie.
“I'll go out around Ponyville and see if anypony knows where I could be employed,” he said. “I'll probably be home in time for supper. If not, then I probably ran away.”
“That, or you turned back into Nightmare Moon and we'll have to stop you,” said Twilight. “And then I'd have to explain to all my friends that I've been living with a gender-swapped alicorn for a month.”
Lucian laughed as he made his way towards the door. He then shuddered briefly at the thought of turning back into Nightmare Moon.
Rarity hummed a merry tune as she finished sewing one of her latest creations. It was the latest in her most recent line of autumn wear: an orange hoodie with patterns made out of yellow, red, and brown leaves across the side. As she carefully fitted it onto one of her many mannequins, she hear a knock on the door.
“Just a minute!”
As she finished placing her newest creation on its display, she trotted over to the front door. It was likely to be somepony inquiring about her newest line of fall hoodies, but it could just as easily be a pony from town with some ridiculous request. She hoped this wasn't the case. While she appreciated a challenge every now and again, they did tend to come up with tacky, undignified designs. On the other hoof, whenever her services were sought by some high-society pony, she was able to produce some truly magnificent dresses. Indeed, she often daydreamed of going off to Canterlot, becoming immensely famous, and marrying some high-standing pony.
Maybe someday I’ll meet some nice young duke or noble, she mused.
Lost in her thoughts as she was, she absentmindedly said her rehearsed greetings.
“Hello, welcome to Carousel Boutique, purveyor of fine fashion. How may I help you?”
“Hello, Rarity, it's me.”
Rarity gasped and shook her head. After a bit, she recovered her composure.
“Oh! Hello Lucian!” she said. “How are you today?”
“I'm just fine, Rarity,” said Lucian. “I... just wanted to ask something.”
“Oh, really? Well, how about we discuss it over some tea?”
“Well, that's not really necessary.”
“Oh, but it is!” said Rarity. “You're a friend, and any friend of mine deserves my generosity!”
Lucian sighed. He hadn't wanted to have anypony offer him anything, but he didn't want to offend the generous unicorn.
“All right, if you insist.”
Rarity smiled and invited him into her home.
As they sat down to drink their tea, Rarity observed Lucian closely. When he had first come to Ponyville and introduced himself, she had been more focused on trying to gain inspiration from his hoodie. She had been able to get another glimpse of him on Nightmare Night, but he had been wearing a rather tacky wolf-pony costume. Now, however, she had the chance to observe him more closely.
She had to admit, he was quite handsome. Not in the same way that most high-society stallions, like Fancy Pants, were. While he lacked the air of sophistication of a typical Canterlot noble, Lucian still possessed an air of responsible maturity, while also seeming to be full of youthful energy and ready to take on the world. She hoped she wasn't blushing. It would be quite embarrassing to be caught thinking about him.
She decided to distract herself by thinking about what she already knew about him. He was a student of Princess Celestia who was currently staying with Twilight, but aside from that, she did not know much else. The fact that he was a student of the princess, however, told a lot by itself; there was no higher honor than to be taught by the sovereign ruler of Equestria, and so it virtually guaranteed that he had a high standing in Canterlot society. In addition, Celestia only chose the best ponies to be her personal students, a fact most evident in Twilight Sparkle.
You know what, Rarity ol' girl? There's a good bachelor right in front of you. He's quite the looker. Not to mention he's really friendly and he has a lot of potential in better places like Canterlot, or even Manehattan! Why, just thinking about him makes me giddy! I MUST ask him out as soon as-'
“So, Rarity, I was wondering-”
“Oh, I was going to say the same thing!”
The white mare giggled as Lucian watched her, dumbfounded.
“Rarity? Are you okay?”
“Of course I am!” she said. “I'm better than okay! I've just finished creating a new design for my line of fall hoodies!”
“Oh really?” said Lucian. “Well, that's great, I guess. But-”
“Oh, but enough about me! Tell me about yourself! How long have you been Celestia's student? Did you study with Twilight? Do you have a special somepony?”
Lucian's eye began to twitch uncomfortably. “Well, I- are you all right, Rarity? I mean, If you're not feeling all right, maybe we can talk later or-”
“Tell me already!”
It took a few seconds before Rarity noticed the nervousness and apprehension on her guest's face. Once she did, however, the enthusiasm vanished from her face almost immediately. Replacing it was a look of remorse and sorrow.
“I- I'm sorry, Lucian.” she said. “I didn't mean to get all worked up like that. It's just that I greatly admire ponies who have managed to make their way into high society, and, you being Celestia's student and everything, I got carried away. Please forgive me.”
An awkward silence descended upon the room as the two ponies looked away from each other. It took a while before either one was ready to speak.
“It's all right,” Lucian said finally. “I mean, I understand if you got excited about my standing in society. If you ask me, though, high society is hugely overrated.”
“Whatever do you mean?” asked Rarity.
“Well, you have to do everything exactly as you're expected to, you have to say what other ponies want you to say rather than what you want to, and your opinion only gets heard if its relevant to everypony else's, because, as you may have noticed, high-standing ponies only care about themselves and how the public perceives them.”
The two ponies became silent once more, not knowing what else to say. Rarity had a strange look on her face, which may have been either apprehension or regret.
“Oh, forgive me,” she said. “I think you wanted to say something earlier?”
Lucian remembered the purpose of his visit. However, he was now having second thoughts about asking Rarity if she had any ideas on where to find a job.
“It wasn’t important. Sorry I gave you so much trouble today.”
Before Rarity could so much as make a sound, he had already left the building.
Rainbow Dash was napping on a white, fluffy cloud. While she did have certain weather patrol duties to fulfill, she was in no hurry. Most of the day's quotas had been fulfilled, and those that remained were of lesser urgency, and could be finished later.
“Hey, Rainbow Dash? Don't you have work to do?”
The rainbow-maned mare moaned as she moved, cloud and all, towards the pony who dared to interrupt her nap. As she peeked towards the ground, she saw Lucian staring at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, maybe. But why should you care?”
“Well, because you're a weather pony,” said Lucian. “You shouldn't be leaving your duties unless you want the ponies on the ground to have a bad day.”
“Yeah, whatever,” she said. “You know, I'm glad you came here. None of the stallions here in Ponyville like Daring Do, and they're never interested when I ask them if they want to read with me. And none of them are carefree, or fun loving. I'll bet you’re all that and more, right?”
“Well, that depends on whether or not you're willing to get your lazy plot back to work.”
Clearly irritated by the way the conversation was going, Rainbow decided to change the subject.
“So, what brings you this way?”
“I was looking for a job,” said Lucian.
“Really?” said Rainbow, now intrigued. “What sort of job you have in mind?”
“I don't really know,” said Lucian. “At the moment, I'm just searching.”
“You could be a weather pony!”
Lucian rolled his eyes.
“Rainbow, I'm not a pegasus.”
“Yeah, but Twilight has a spell that can give you wings!” said Rainbow. “Sure, they're lame butterfly wings, but they can fly, which is fun! Of course, if you get too close to the sun, they'll melt, and then I'll have to save your life-”
“Rainbow, I'm not going to get a weather-pony job.”
“Why not?!” said Rainbow as she sat up on her cloud. “Do you seriously want to pass up an opportunity to work with me?”
Lucian began to cringe. He could see where the conversation was going, and he didn't like it.
“Work with you?”
“Heck yeah!” Rainbow said as she hopped off her cloud and began to perform a number of stunts in the air. “I'm the coolest, fastest, most awesome pegasus in the sky, and probably one of the more attractive ones too! I even have my own fanclub! If you and I work together, you'll be able to bask in my glory! Everypony will want to get together with you, but of course, you'll just tell them that you're busy, and we'll go do some wild stunts, or form a rock band, or even read Daring Do! Am I right or am I right?”
Rainbow looked down towards the ground. However, to her surprise, there was no sign of the object of her affection.
Lucian's other attempts to find employment didn't go much better. Pinkie Pie's unrelenting enthusiasm was too much for the lunar prince to handle, while Derpy's mail company didn't need any help. The Doctor had trouble making enough money for himself and his family, and so wasn't able to assist either. Fluttershy had been perfectly willing to hire him as an assistant at her cottage, but the dark blue stallion quickly changed his mind when Angel refused to take his eyes off of him.
After a while of searching through town, he decided to swing by Sweet Apple Acres. Although he knew that his efforts would most likely be wasted, he preferred to know that he had at least tried. As he approached the farm though, he saw Applejack leaning on a fence. To his surprise, she seemed to be rubbing her left hind leg while wincing in pain. She quickly brightened up when she saw him.
“Howdy Lucian! How are you doin' today?”
“I've been better,” Lucian said with a shrug. “How about you? You look kind of-”
“What? This?” she asked as she pointed at her leg. “It's nothin’ too serious. I'll be able to buck all our apple trees just fine!”
The two ponies looked around, observing the vast orchard full of ripe apples ready to be knocked off their branches.
“Wow. That's a lot of apples,” said Lucian.
“Sure is! Me and Big Macintosh are gonna have to work real hard to finish all the trees in time.”
“Just you and Big Mac?” asked Lucian with a tone of concern. “Isn't there anypony around to help you? Especially since your leg is, well, you know.”
“I guess I might not be doin' the best I can,” said Applejack . “But I'm pretty sure we can do it on our own.”
“And you also said you could do well on your own when Big Mac got injured, or so Twilight told me.”
Applejack cringed at the memory Lucian brought up.
“Well, I don't think we'll have that much trouble getting all the apples down from their trees since we're both working together. I mean, Big Mac is a pretty strong stallion, and we can probably finish in time together.”
“Not with that twisted hoof of yours you ain't,” said a third voice.
“Darn it, Big Mac!”
Lucian turned to see the red stallion chuckling. Applejack tried to face him as well, but was unable to avoid placing a significant amount of weight on her injured leg.
“AAGH!”
Applejack cringed, partly in pain, but mostly in shame.
“Okay,” she said, doing her best to not let Lucian notice the sadness in her voice. “Maybe I ain't fit to buck any apples this season.”
“Eeyup.”
“But that means you'll have to do everything by yourself!” Applejack said to Big Mac as she went back to rubbing her hoof. “You can't do that!”
“I know,” said Big Mac. “That's why-”
“I'd be happy to help!”
Lucian had spoken before Big Mac could say anything else. Both earth pony siblings looked straight towards him, as he quickly realized what he'd said and looked away, embarrassed.
“I mean, if that's okay with you guys.”
Big Mac looked towards his sister, who seemed quite shocked, even insulted, by the idea of some other pony taking her place.
“Lucian, I ain't saying' your help ain't appreciated, but I've been bucking apples since I was a little filly,” said Applejack. “You, on the other hand, clearly have no applebucking experience. You’ll need to learn how to do it, and build up a lot of strength in your leg muscles in order to do so, which we ain’t got time for. What makes you think you can be my replacement?”
Lucian began to think about what Applejack had just said. She was clearly quite proud of her abilities, and she was a bit boastful about them, which made Lucian want to prove her wrong. On the other hoof, she had been working on the farm for most of her life, and it would no doubt be hard to catch up to her.
He then eyes a nearby apple tree. It had several ripe apples ready to be taken and be eaten. However, the tree was unlikely to relinquish its treasures easily. It was a perfect test for him.
“Well, how about we see how well I can buck some of those apples?” he asked. “If I manage to knock down enough apples, you'll know that I'm fit to work on the farm, right?”
“I think that's a pretty nice idea,” said Big Mac.
“Well, it fits, I suppose,” said Applejack. “But no magic! The point is to buck the apples, not use your fancy-shmancy hocus pocus to get them out. Or did Twilight not tell you how she screwed things up by using her magic during Winter Wrap-Up?”
“From what she told me, you were pretty much doomed even without her.”
Applejack snorted at the comment, but her brother couldn't help but chuckle. Meanwhile, Lucian had trotted up to the apple tree, hoping he could achieve his task. He was an alicorn, which gave him the combined abilities of earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. However, the earth pony abilities, such as increased strength and a deep connection to nature, were the least used, as there was little need to do so in Canterlot. In fact, he often found himself questioning whether or not alicorns possessed such abilities at all. However, he knew that, if he could manage to tap into that elusive earth pony side of his own nature, he could be, if not as good as the two siblings, at least good enough to succeed.
He positioned himself right in front of the tree. It was time to see how well he could do.
“Okay! Here goes!”
He raised his hind legs, gathering as much strength as he could, and kicked the tree.
There was an incredible sound, like thunder cracking.
When Lucian looked up, he was shocked to see the tree lying several feet away, with splinters and apples littered all around it. In his embarrassment, he turned towards the shocked siblings.
The first day of applebuck season was harder than Lucian had anticipated, but not due to any difficulty in knocking down apples. If anything, it was quite the opposite. Ever since the day before, when he had knocked down his first apple tree, he had come to realize that he didn't know his own strength. So far he had managed to avoid destroying any more trees, but he still knocked down several branches and broke off several layers of bark. After the first few trees, Granny Smith came up with the idea of using his strength to knock down a few of Sweet Apple Acres' old unused buildings as target practice.
After the first few hours of practice Lucian stallion had gotten his strength under control. Even so, he found it easier to avoid destroying trees when he restricted himself to a single leg. Now it was a simple matter of bucking the trees and making sure the apples fell into the baskets. And sure enough, everything went without a hitch. Lucian and Big Macintosh were able to cover a good deal of territory on the next two days, and so the fourth day they were able to take several longer breaks to rest and relax.
“You're not too bad at this, ya know,” Macintosh said as they munched on a few apples. “You done managed to knock down plenty of apples.”
“And damage a lot of trees too,” said Lucian, causing the large farm stallion to chuckle. “Still, I guess it's for the best if it helps you, since your sister can't help right now.”
He took another bite out of his apple, and then began to think about the orange mare's injury.
“Speaking of which, what happened to her leg?”
Big Macintosh swallowed loudly. Lucian could tell it was from more than just the apple.
“Ah am not really sure ah should talk about that,” he said, with a hint of nervousness.
“Family business?” asked Lucian.
“Eeyup.”
The two stallions went back to eating their apples in silence. It would soon be time to go back to harvesting the apples, and finishing their snacks would help give them enough energy to finish their work.
“Ah will tell ya that Apple Bloom and her friends ain't gonna get no paragliding cutie marks, though.”
Now it was Lucian’s turn to gulp.
Applejack gave out a satisfied moan as the heat of the hot spring water soothed her injured leg. Although she was not the kind of pony who liked to spend a lot of time in the spa, she had little else to do due to her condition. And when Rarity and Fluttershy had invited her on their weekly session, she had found it virtually impossible to refuse.
“Ahh. This is real good. Ah don't know why ah don't do this more often,” she said as the hot spring worked its magic.
“It is quite relaxing, is it not?” said Rarity. “And I understand, Applejack. Your work keeps you busy.”
“That, and most crusades don't go so bad,” said Fluttershy.
Both the unicorn and the earth pony shuddered at the thought.
“Don't remind me, please,” said Applejack. “Instead, tell me, Fluttershy, how's life going?”
As Fluttershy began to talk about how one of the ducks had gotten into a fight with Angel, Rarity began to think about Lucian. Since that day he had come over to her house, she had spent most of her time thinking about him. Hopefully he hadn't been too intimidated by her sudden outburst. She still thought he was quite a handsome stallion, and one who held quite an impressive title to boot.
What she needed was some way to grab his attention.
“Um, Rarity?” said Fluttershy. “Are you alright?”
The white unicorn shook herself from her thoughts.
“Dear me! I'm terribly sorry for- oh, how could I have been so disrespectful to you, dear Fluttershy?”
“Oh, it's fine, Rarity,” said Fluttershy. “I can just tell you later if you're too busy thinking about other things.”
She then whispered “Jerk,” far too quietly for anypony to hear her.
“Somethin’ on your mind, sugarcube?” asked Applejack.
Raity stared downwards in shame. It felt very unladylike to have ignored one of her closest friends in favor of her own thoughts and feelings. On the other hoof, perhaps talking with her friends might help her resolve her current dilemma. In a split-second, she decided to make the most of her situation.
“Well, do you girls remember Lucian?”
“Sure do!” said Applejack. “He's actually workin' at Sweet Apple Acres right now! Not that he has much of a choice, seein' how he owes us.”
“Really?” said Rarity. “What does he owe you for?”
“Ah don’t know how to describe it,” said Applejack, “but it was an accident, so I suppose he's alright.”
“Oh, I think he's quite nice, as long as you don't take him near your bunnies,” said Fluttershy.
The other two mares blankly stared at her in confusion.
“It-it's a long story,” she said quietly.
“I see,” said Rarity. “The thing is, well, you both know how I quite admire handsome young ponies, especially when they have high standing in society, right?”
“Ya mean like Blueblood?” asked Applejack, trying to hide a snicker.
“Ugh! No! I mean, like Fancy Pants, Shining Armor, or the princesses!”
“Well, yes, I think I understand,” said Fluttershy. “But what does this have to do with Lucian?”
“Oh, please don’t try to deny that he is absolutely handsome!” Rarity said excitedly. “And he's a student of Celestia, to boot! That means he's bound to have connections to most of the noble Canterlot families, and since he's studied under the Princess, he's also bound to be extremely talented!”
“Ah can see where this is going,” said Applejack, “and ah don’t like it.”
“So, you like him?” asked Fluttershy.
“Well, I certainly do!” said Rarity. “Not only does he hold quite a special position in society, but he’s also quite a handsome stallion, if I do say so myself. How many other ponies like that have you ever met, Fluttershy?”
“Oh, not any ponies,” said Fluttershy. “But I thought that maybe Spike was sort of like that.”
Rarity sighed in frustration. The young dragon very much liked her, and she liked him, and perhaps, with time they might have been able to work something out. But the odds were against it; she was a pony, and he was a dragon, and he was much younger than her. Perhaps it was for the best if she chose to have him merely as a friend.
“Well, Spikey-wikey will always have a special place in my heart, but honestly, I don't know if it would really work out,” she said finally.
“Oh, I hope he won't be too sad about that,” said Fluttershy. “We all know how he's felt about you since he first came to Ponyville.”
“Well, if ya don't mind, I think I'm gonna sit out of this one,” said Applejack. “I'm not really in a good condition to go out and assist y'all, and I wouldn’t want to even if I was. So don’t go tryin’ to ask me for help with your crazy fallin' in love schemes.”
Rarity was about to say that her schemes were not crazy, when she realized that she didn’t even have any real ideas. It wasn't like she had spent her days stalking him or planning some crazy, convoluted plan to trap him and force him to fall in love. Only crazy ponies did that. And maybe Pinkie Pie. However, there was something Applejack had said that gave her an idea.
“Well, did you say that he was working at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack?”
The orange farmpony smacked her hoof against her face in frustration.
Rainbow Dash took a bite out of her cupcake as Pinkie Pie told her all about Gummy's family for the umpteenth time. Normally, she would feel happy about spending her day off at Sugarcube corner, eating sugary treats with Pinkie Pie and plotting their next round of pranks. However, her thoughts were elsewhere. Specifically, she was thinking about Lucian. He was pretty good-looking for a unicorn, seemed to appreciate her pranks, and, most interestingly, he was a fan of Daring Do. True, he was an egghead, but then again so was Twilight, and she was one of Rainbow's closest friends.
The athletic mare's thoughts were interrupted by Pinkie, who was staring at her with an annoyed glare.
“Hello? Dashie? Are you listening? I'm trying to talk about Grandpa Badbreath's attempt to declare war on the crocodiles of the Manehattan sewers! Doesn't reptilian history intrigue you anymore?!”
“Oh! Sorry, Pinkie,” said Rainbow. “I've just been kind of lost in my thoughts.”
“Really? Should I send in a search party? Oh! I've never organized a search party before! Well, there was that one time we went to the Everfree Forest to look for Fluttershy, but that didn't really count since I didn't bring any balloons or cupcakes, and we all know we can't have a real party without those, although maybe if I had brought my party cannon along-”
“PINKIE!”
The excited pink pony immediately shut her mouth. The Search-for-Dashie's-Thoughts party would have to wait.
“Thanks. Anyway, you remember Lucian?”
“Of course! You have a crush on him!”
Rainbow Dash nearly choked on the piece of cupcake in her throat.
“What?!” she said after clearing her throat. “How did you know that?!”
“Simple!” said Pinkie Pie, giggling at Rainbow's confusion. “I got an achy nose, itchy hoof, and shaky plot, which means somepony is going to talk about a pony they have a crush on!”
“Oh. Pinkie Sense,” said Rainbow. “Well, yeah. I mean, Lucian's not perfect, but he's actually pretty cool! And he likes Daring Do! Do you know how hard it is to find a guy who likes Daring Do?”
“I don't know, Dashie. How hard is it to find a guy who likes Daring Do?”
“That's not what I meant. What I'm trying to say is that, now that he's come to Ponyville, I might not get a better chance to find somepony like him ever again!”
Pinkie Pie stared at her, deep in thought.
Dashie has found somepony she likes! But what if she can't get him?! If she can't get Lucian, she'll be totally crushed! If she's totally crushed, she won't have the will to do well on her awesome tricks! If she doesn't have the will to do well on her awesome tricks, she'll never be invited to be part of the Wonderbolts! If she's never invited to be part of the Wonderbolts, she'll never fulfill any of her dreams! Everything she's ever aspired to will cease to be, all because we couldn't get Lucian!
“AND I CAN'T LET THAT HAPPEN!!!”
The determined party pony turned towards Rainbow Dash, who looked absolutely shocked.
“Pinkie Pie? Are you alright?” she asked nervously.
“Alright?!” Pinkie said incredulously. “Your entire career is at stake and you're wondering if I'm the one who's okay?! No! It's time for Operation: Hookup!”
Pinkie then grabbed Rainbow by the wings, and ran out the door at mach 5.
Twilight flipped through the pages of one of her old history books. Unknown to many, history was one of her favorite subjects, second only to magic. She loved reading about events that had happened long ago, thinking about how they affected the present, and wondering what it would have been like to actually have been there to experience them. Then there were the ponies themselves; how some had risen from humble beginnings to eventually shape history, while others had bravely sacrificed themselves to protect what they held dear, and even how royalty had fallen from grace and died in ruins. And, of course, she loved to think about how Equestria had changed so much over its long history.
There was so much she wanted to learn, and yet the books she read only told her so much.
Her thoughts traveled back to Lucian. He was at least a thousand years old, and probably even older. There was no telling what amazing adventures he had experienced in the past. (Granted, he, or rather she, had been gone for a period of a thousand years on the moon, but even then, the possibilities were endless.) He could probably share things with her that were long forgotten by everypony else, experiences that nopony else could imagine, and knowledge that would make even the greatest historians of Canterlot jealous.
Plus, he's kind and friendly, and smart, and pretty good looking for someone who's lived for at least ten centuries.
Twilight’s eyes went wide as she realized what she was thinking.
NO! Bad Twilight! You’re not supposed to think about that! He’s not supposed to be a guy! I mean… not that there’s anything wrong with liking mares, but you’re only crushing on him because he’s a guy! And he’s going to go back to normal eventually! So stop thinking those thoughts! They’re bad for you!
Twilight shook her head, trying in vain to distract herself from her most recent thought.
Think! Think, but not about Lucian! Think about… what you can learn from him! Yeah! that!
She then grimaced. While it was an exciting idea to ask him about what he knew about history, she wasn't sure that was a wise thing to do. After all, not everything he had experienced was benign. He had, after all, watched as Discord spread chaos across Equestria, then taken over by the malevolent entity known as Nightmare Moon, and subsequently forced to endure a thousand years of lunar imprisonment. And then there was also that one name he had reacted to.
Dusk Shine...
What did it mean to him? Had it been the name of a friend? A close ally? Maybe even-
“Hey, Twilight! Do you mind if I borrow a quill?”
Twilight snapped out of her thoughts as Spike walked up to her.
“What? Oh! Here, let me see.”
She used her magic to levitate a quill towards her number-one assistant. He in turn grabbed it happily, hopping off towards the bedroom.
“Hey, Spike, can I ask you something?”
Spike stopped and turned back to face Twilight.
“What do you want to know?”
“What do you think of Lucian?”
“Well, what is there to think of him?” asked Spike. “He's cool. I mean, he helps me with my chores and my poems for Rarity, made my costume look cool, and he tells Owlowiscious to stop bothering me, or he'll put him in that Frankenstein costume again!”
“Hoo?”
“YOU!” the purple dragon yelled at Twilight's pet owl. “You want to wear that costume again?”
“Hoo?”
“You see?” said Spike. “If he were here, he'd put that owl back in his place!”
Twilight giggled, then told Owlowiscious to go back to sleep, which the owl did happily.
“And doesn't it bother you that he's an alicorn who raises the moon and once went crazy and turned into the evil Nightmare Moon and tried to bring eternal night?” she asked.
“Well, that is a bit creepy, yeah,” said Spike. “But we saw how he- I mean she- did a pretty good job about being nice during her first visit to Ponyville, even if she did scare everypony in town. And of course, since she- I mean he- came to live here, he's been a pretty cool guy, even if he- I mean- you know what? Forget it!”
The two of them laughed together.
“Well, I'm glad you don't have any problems with him living here!” said Twilight.
“Yeah, me too,” said Spike. “Is there any reason why you wanted to know?”
“Well, you know how I love history, right?
“Uh huh?”
Twilight sighed deeply before explaining.
“The thing is, I've wanted to ask him about his past, since he's over a thousand years old, and he's probably seen history being shaped before his very eyes! Do you realize how much we could learn from him? It would be even more amazing than any professor or history book could ever tell me!”
“Yeah?” said Spike. “So, why don't you ask him then?”
Twilight hesitated before proceeding.
“The thing is, I'm not sure if I should. He's probably had a lot of bad experiences, like Nightmare Moon, for example.”
“Eh, I don't think he'll care,” said Spike. “He's tough. He'll probably just shrug it off.”
“That's what I used to think,” said Twilight. “But then, when we were looking for new names for him, I almost chose one which he didn't like, and I have a feeling it was related to a bad memory.”
“So? It couldn't have been that bad!”
Twilight glared at Spike, causing him to gape in shock.
“It was that bad?”
“The way he was shouting, you would have thought I was trying to kill him or something,” Twilight said, shuddering at the memory of her innocent suggestion going awry. “And I don't know if I want to force him to relive any more tragedies.”
She closed her eyes and looked away.
“Look,” said the baby dragon, drawing the shadow's attention back. “I don't think Lucian's gonna get that angry at you if you didn't intend to hurt him. You obviously care a lot about him, and he cares a lot about you, so if you just try to explain everything to each other, everything will work out.”
Twilight slowly began to smile, and then hugged Spike.
“Thanks Spike. I needed that.”
“No problem... mom.”
“Aaaand we're done here,” Twilight said as she used her magic to push Spike away from herself. He in turn groaned at her.
“Oh, come on, Twilight. You are technically my mother. And besides, it's not like we're even being watched by anypony!”
Twilight was technically correct. There was nopony watching.
There was, however, a shadowy presence in the bookshelf.
For Lucian, the day was going relatively well. In spite of the autumn chill, the sun was shining down upon him and Big Macintosh, so it was neither too hot nor too cold for them to work. Thus, they had spent the whole morning bucking trees, and were covered in a combination of sweat and dirt. Satisfied by their progress, the two stallions decided to take a brief respite under the shadow of a large apple tree.
By now most of the apple trees were already harvested, and Big Macintosh had estimated that together they could harvest the remaining ones within the next two days. Thus, he and Lucian were having a rather good time.
“So, what you’re sayin’ is that Rainbow Dash and Rarity seem to be interested in ya?” asked Big Mac.
“Oh, I'd definitely say they're interested in me,” said Lucian.
“Don't ya think maybe one of them could be a good match for you?”
Lucian sighed. He would have preferred not to speak about it, but he knew that he needed to get it off his chest.
“Well, I'm not sure I know enough of them to really give you a satisfactory answer. And, the truth is, I've... had trouble dating before.”
“Ah know what that feels like,” said Big Mac. “Apple Bloom and her friends once tried to hook me up with their teacher, Cheerilee. Course that didn't really go all that well.”
“Why am I not surprised?” said Lucian.
“Eeyup,” said Big Mac. “Truth be told, she was rather nice, but she just wasn't Twilight Sparkle.”
Lucian looked up in surprise. He hadn't expected Big Mac to be interested in a studious Canterlot mare such as Twilight.
“You like Twilight?” asked Lucian.
“Eeyup,” said Big Mac, somehow managing to look even redder than usual. “Ah have to admit, ah did do some rather silly things to try and get her attention, like pretend to be hypnotized by her Smarty Pants doll-”
“What.” Lucian said flatly.
“Ah told you ah did some silly things. Anyway, after the whole thing with my sister's teacher, ah went and gave Smarty Pants back to her. When Twilight got it, she was happy, angry, confused, and a tad bit curious. So, after Spike convinced her not to kick me out for stealing, ah asked her out to dinner.”
“And how did that go?” a curious Lucian asked.
“Pretty good,” said Big Mac. “We both had plenty of fun and talked a lot about science and stuff.”
“Science?” said Lucian. The seemingly simple farm stallion was full of surprises.
“Eeyup,” said Big Mac. “My sister AJ always says that she ain’t interested in hearin’ about ‘fancy mathematics’ and stuff, but ah do enjoy it, kinda like Twilight. So, ah though that, you know, maybe we might go well together. In the end, though, she confessed she wasn’t all that interested in me.”
“Oh,” said Lucian, his face full of concern for Big Mac. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Don’t you worry about me,” said Big Mac. “Ah did like her, but ah know that there are plenty of mares out there, and someday I’ll find the right one for me. And who knows? You too might find yourself a pretty mare someday.
As Big Mac finished his thoughts, Lucian blushed in surprise at his statement.
Rarity gazed at the farm. It wasn’t her favorite place in the world, but it was where Lucian was. She wondered why in Equestria he would want to work here, since he did come from Canterlot, where ponies preferred to not even speak of farm life. Then again, he did owe them for whatever it was he had done.
“Um, Rarity? I’m not sure this is a good idea.”
The refined white unicorn turned towards Fluttershy, who had, with some persuasion, agreed to accompany her on her foray to Sweet Apple Acres.
“What do you mean this isn’t a good idea?” said Rarity. “Of course it’s a good idea! Why, when Lucian sees how willing I am to help him, he’ll be entranced by my generosity!”
“Yes, but what if he’d rather do it alone? And what if it’s too much work for you? And what if, you know, you mess up and get all dirty?”
Rarity cringed at the thought of getting dirt in her mane, or having to do manual labor. She had to admit, she admired Lucian even more for his willingness to work on the farm in spite of those risks.
“Well, Lucian doesn’t seem to worry about it,” she said finally. “And I suppose I’m going to have to make a few sacrifices if I want him to notice me.”
“Well, if that’s not a problem, then I guess that’s fine,” replied Fluttershy. “So, good luck with, um, whatever you’re going to do.”
“Thank you, Fluttershy. I appreciate your help.”
As she finished speaking, Rarity marched off towards Lucian and Big Macintosh.
While one pearly white unicorn soldiered on, a pink party pony and a cyan pegasus approached the apple family orchard. The former bounced up and down while wearing a coach hat and whistle. The latter walked behind her nervously, feeling that her friend was taking things far too seriously.
“Pinkie, I appreciate your help, but maybe you should just let me do this on my own.”
“No way!” yelled Pinkie. “What kind of friend would I be if I wasn’t there to help you? You’ll be thanking me when we’re done. Now, what have we learned?”
Pinkie proceeded to pull out a clipboard labeled “Operation: Hookup” out of nowhere. Rainbow, on the other hoof, could only press her hoof against her face.
Why am I suddenly getting a bad case of Déjà Vu? she thought to herself.
“What have we learned?!” yelled Pinkie.
Sighing, Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Lots of self-control.”
“Good! What’s next?!”
“Let him express himself.”
“And most important of all...”
“…Subtlety.”
Pinkie giggled at her ‘student,’ who seemed to finally be ready.
“Excellent! So, now that you know the elements of a good conversation, go start one!”
To emphasize her point, she blew on her whistle. Rainbow groaned, then began to trot off in the direction of Lucian.
Lucian hummed to himself as he bucked another tree. While the apples fell into the basket, he took a moment to wipe some dust off his face.
“Why, hello Lucian! It’s so good to see you!”
The dark blue stallion lifted his head in surprise. He wasn't expecting anypony else at the farm other than Big Macintosh. And yet, when he turned his head, he found himself staring right at Rarity.
“Rarity?! What are you doing here?”
“Oh, I was just passing by Sweet Apple Acres when I though what a marvelous idea it would be to take a nice stroll through the orchard!”
Lucian raised an eyebrow in suspicion. He wasn’t convinced that a pony like Rarity would want to take a stroll through Sweet Apple Acres.
“Well, yeah, I guess Sweet Apple Acres is nice this time of year,” he said.
Rarity smiled and nodded in what seemed to be agreement, although her smile seemed artificial, as if her heart was doing the opposite. Certainly it was quite noticeable to Lucian.
“Are you all right?” he asked concernedly.
“Oh! I'm... perfectly fine! Just, uh... excuse me, I'll be right back! Don't go away!”
If Rarity had moved any faster, Lucian would have sworn she could teleport. As he went back to his work, he shook his head.
That was certainly interesting, he thought to himself. It could have been worse. It could have been not only her but also...
“Hey Lucian!”
Lucian turned his head back in shock. To his shock, a certain rainbow-maned pegasus mare was just a mere inches away from his face, smiling right at him. All he could do in response was facehoof.
“Rainbow Dash,” he said out loud.
“That's me!” she said cheerfully. “So, what's up?”
“I'm not sure I can do this!”
Fluttershy patted Rarity on her back as she tried to catch her breath.
“Please calm down, Rarity. It can't be that bad, can it?”
“Well, I suppose not,” Rarity admitted. “Still, I didn't think I'd have to see him all covered in dust and dirt! I mean, that's so... uncivilized!”
“Uncivilized?” Fluttershy said in surprise. “A lot of ponies work on farms! Applejack, Big Macintosh, and all sorts of other ponies all over Equestria, including Lucian! If he's willing to work on a farm, shouldn't you?”
Rarity looked at her friend, who was giving her an encouraging smile. She then smiled back at her.
“You're right, Fluttershy. I need to get my hooves dirty if I am to impress him.”
“That’s what you’ve been saying the whole time!”
Rarity couldn't help but smack her hoof against her face at the irony of the moment.
“I suppose I'm not as good of a coach as you are, dear Fluttershy.”
The quiet yellow mare giggled as her friend trotted back into the orchard.
Rainbow Dash raised her back hooves, and then slammed them against a tree. Despite the tree shaking quite considerably, only a couple of apples toppled out. Surely not as numerous as when Big Mac or Lucian kicked the trees, but a respectable amount nevertheless.
“So, you challenged Applejack to a competition?” asked Lucian.
“An Iron Pony competition!” Rainbow added. “And I won!”
“With yer wings,” a strongly-accented, deep voice said.
Rainbow turned towards Big Macintosh, who had just arrived and was now observing her attempts to impress Lucian.
“She never said I couldn't use my wings,” shrugged Rainbow.
“Well, don't you think it gave you an unfair advantage?” asked Lucian.
“All's fair in love and war.”
“So, you were at war with Applejack?” Lucian deadpanned.
It was Rainbow's turn to facehoof.
“No! Of course not!” she said. “I mean, well, maybe a bit. Yeah, it’s true that we argued a lot about the rules and what was and wasn’t cheating, and that we were constantly fighting even during the running of the leaves but, that doesn’t mean we were at war!”
“Actually, I’m pretty sure that sort of behavior constitutes war,” said Lucian.
“I swear it was a friendly competition!”
“So it wasn’t fair to use your wings, ‘cause it ain’t love or war,” said Big Mac.
“It’s a figure of speech!” Rainbow said angrily. “It doesn’t mean that I was-”
“In love?”
Both stallions burst into laughter at Big Macintosh's joke. Rainbow, on the other hoof, was not amused.
“You know what? If you're not gonna take me seriously, then fine! I'm out of here!”
She immediately took off for the sky, leaving the two stallions behind. Lucian chuckled to himself, and then turned towards Big Mac.
“This day is turning out to be a bit unusual,” he said. “First Rarity and now her.”
“Rarity was here?” asked Big Mac.
“Yeah, and she said she'd be back,” shrugged Lucian. “You think she's gonna keep that promise?”
Big Mac was about to answer, when his eyes popped wide open.
“You... ought to ask her yourself.”
Lucian groaned as he turned back. Indeed, Rarity was trotting right towards him. She didn’t seem to notice his distress as she called out to him in a singsong voice.
“Hello Lucian! How good to see you again!”
“That's perfectly fine, Dashie! It’s a good sign if he feels comfortable making jokes around you!”
“I still wish he didn't make them about me.”
Rainbow Dash had just finished discussing her recent conversation with Lucian with her ‘mentor.’ Exactly how the pink party pony knew anything about dating was beyond Rainbow, but she had to admit, Pinkie was good at it. Even so, some parts of her advice seemed a bit harder to swallow than others.
“Okay, so what do I do now?” she asked.
“Just keep talking to him!” replied Pinkie. “Once you're absolutely sure he feels comfortable talking to you, you can ask him out!”
“All right,” said Rainbow, resigning herself to whatever ideas Pinkie held. “But why do I have to ask him out? Don't guys do that?”
Pinkie rolled her eyes.
“Come on, Dashie! Not everything has to happen like that! He might not think about asking you out until you ask him! Remember what Iron Will says! Be assertive!”
“Who's Iron Will?”
“Oh, just go out there and get him!”
With that, Pinkie Pie grabbed her whistle and blew on it. Her ‘student’ groaned and slowly flew away.
“And so they gave up all their gemstones! And not just that, they were practically begging me and my friends to leave with all their carts full to the very top!”
Lucian nodded absentmindedly at Rarity’s tale. While he found it interesting to hear stories from his friends, he was starting to feel irritated at how Rarity and Rainbow seemed to be trying to impress him.
“Yeah,” he said in a tired voice as he finished bucking another tree. “So, remind me again, what exactly brought you to Sweet Apple Acres today?”
“Well, it’s a beautiful day, and so I thought it would be a waste to spend it indoors. Don’t you agree?”
“Eeyup,” Big Mac agreed. “But why here?”
“I’m with Big Mac,” said Lucian. “It’s not exactly the kind of place where ponies just come in for a stroll.”
Rarity began to chuckle nervously. The two stallions were finally cornering her.
“Well, I saw the apple trees in the distance, and I thought that they looked quite lovely! And so, I decided to go take a look to see how they were growing, and I just happened to see you here!”
“Oh really?” said a distinctly female voice.
Rarity jumped in surprise at the voice and quickly turned around to find its source. Before her stood an angry-looking pegasus mare.
“Rainbow Dash! What are you doing here?!”
“I ought to ask you the same thing!” Rainbow said angrily. “Or am I supposed to believe that you just ‘happened’ to be around Sweet Apple Acres at the same time as Lucian?”
“Oh, like you can talk!” yelled Rarity. “What makes you think you can just come and go whenever you please?!”
“Well, for your information, I was flying around, moving clouds and stuff. It’s my job after all!
Skeptical of Rainbow's claims, Rarity turned her head upwards. The sky was perfectly clear, without a hint of there ever being any need for weather maintenance.
“Oh, of course you were,” said Rarity. “And should I assume you just happened to come down to take a break at Sweet Apple Acres?”
“Well, she does tend to nap around here,” quipped Big Mac.
“Don’t help her!” snapped Rarity
“Why not? I think you’re just being a sour apple,” said Rainbow, a wry smile forming on her face.
“And you’re a rude, crude, pegasus slacker!”
“Well at least I don’t freak out when I get dirt on me!”
“Girls?” Lucian said worriedly. “Can’t we work this out in a calm and rational manner?”
Both mares shot an angry glare at him and, in unison, shouted, “NO!”
Despite having been a ruler over a kingdom, succumbed to dark forces, spent a thousand years banished to the moon, and having been on the receiving end of the elements of harmony, Lucian suddenly felt small and numb under their cold stares. Positively shocked, he backed off and away from the two angry mares. Without even missing a beat, they drew their concentration back onto each other.
“Oh, look, you’ve gone and scared him,” Rarity said angrily.
“I scared him?!” Rainbow said incredulously. “You were yelling and screaming at least as much as me!”
“I was not! I am a lady! It would be improper if I were to lose my temper!”
“Well, you’re definitely losing it right about now!”
“You be quiet! I swear I’ll-”
“You’ll what?! Make me wear a bunch of your ugly dresses?”
Rarity gasped as if she had been smacked in the face. If there was one thing she couldn’t tolerate, it was somepony insulting her passion.
“I’ll destroy you!”
Before Rainbow could react, the enraged unicorn had already launched herself on top of her. Shocked by what had just occurred, Lucian attempted to intervene only to feel a strong hoof pull on his shoulder.
“Don’t.”
Lucian opened his mouth to protest, but when he attempted to form words, they seemed to get stuck in his throat. Big Mac had a point. Getting involved might not be prudent at this point.
The two mares rolled on the ground, grappling each other tightly while trying to throw each other off. At the same time, Rarity was using her magic to levitate leaves, grass, hay, and sticks at Rainbow, who was flailing her wings wildly. All the while they were throwing every conceivable insult at each other. They quickly disappeared in a cloud of dirt dust. The sheer amount of dust being thrown up made it difficult to determine exactly what was happening, but Lucian knew it could not be good.
Finally, after just under a minute of fighting, the dust settled, leaving behind two exhausted ponies.
The stallions stared in pure disbelief at the aftermath. Unlike Big Mac, who remained speechless, Lucian was just able to muster one word.
“Whoa,” he said.
The unicorn mare was a wreck. Rarity's mane and tail were hopelessly tangled with leaves and twigs randomly poking out. Her formerly white coat was now covered with dirt and what appeared to be apple juice, and one of her false eyelashes had fallen to the ground.
But the true shocker was what she had done to her opponent.
Rainbow Dash was covered in one of the most elegant dresses either Big Mac or Lucian had ever seen. Just the fact that Rarity had been able to make such a dress with the available materials made it all the more impressive.. The body consisted of hundreds of bright red, orange, and yellow leaves all perfectly arranged in a striped pattern that complimented the blue mare's rainbow mane. Her normally messy mane had been combed into long curls which bore an uncanny resemblance to those of Rarity. Even the edges of the dress were made of sticks and hay which had been sewn together, producing a rustic yet refined hem. Indeed, the entire garment seemed to be held together not by thread, but by several long strands of hay. And finally, Rainbow's hooves were covered with yellow-green shoes which seemed to be made of grass.
“Ha!” she laughed triumphantly. “I got you!”
“No, dear, I think I got you,” said Rarity.
Rainbow huffed at Rarity. “No way! I definitely got you!”
“No, I got you!”
“Girls?” Lucian interrupted. “I think you both ‘got’ each other.”
The two mares looked towards Lucian, who sighed and pointed at a nearby puddle of water. Wondering what could possibly have happened, they both walked to the puddle to take a better look at what had happened.
Rainbow Dash was the first to react.
“Wh- what? How is that even-”
Rarity smirked at Rainbow before turning towards the puddle. However, upon seeing her reflection, she was no less shocked.
“Oh dear, oh dear! I-”
Then, both mares screamed in perfect unison.
“What happened to my mane?!!”
Before the startled stallions could say anything else, Rainbow Dash and Rarity both ran off in opposite directions
Lucian simply stared off into the distance for a moment, trying to process everything that had just happened. Meanwhile, Big Mac patted him on the back.
“You'd better get used to that. Those two are gonna be chasin' you around a lot now.”
Lucian attempted to say something, but he couldn't seem to find his voice. After a while, he finally managed to say something.
“Eeyup.”
Then, as if to punctuate the strangeness of that day, Pinkie walked past them, saying “Sheesh, some ponies just freak out over the littlest things.” Having already had more than enough strangeness for one day, Lucian merely sighed and went back to work.
While Twilight was no stranger to bizarre things happening around her, having the front door explode open was certainly not one of them. Indeed, if Lucian had hit it any harder, it most likely would have done so. As it were, the sound was so intense that it shook the entire house, startling her and waking a sleeping Owlowiscious in the process.
“Hoo?!”
“Just me!” yelled Lucian as he walked in, his mane tangled and his breathing heavy. He then shut the door behind him with such force that it was sent flying off into the distance. With an irritated groan, he levitated the fallen door back to the entrance and put it back in its place, if only to give the library the illusion of privacy.
“Sorry about that,” he said as he turned towards Twilight. “I've just had a hard day today.”
“I thought you'd have gotten used to working on the farm,” said Twilight.
“Who said anything about the farm?” said Lucian. “I'm talking about your friends.”
“My friends?” said Twilight, raising an eyebrow.
“Well, not all of them,” said Lucian. “Mostly Rarity and Rainbow Dash. And their apparent attempts at seducing me.”
“Really?” said Twilight. “What happened?”
“Well, they both seem to think that I’m a rather attractive stallion, and so they both want me. Of course, in the end only one can have me, so they’ve been rather hostile towards each other. And that’s putting it mildly.”
Twilight shuddered at the thought of two of her best friends fighting over a stallion they both liked. While it wasn’t all that common for her friends to get into arguments, this case seemed to be worse than most.
“That doesn’t sound too nice,” she said.
“Of course it wasn’t,” said Lucian. “Fortunately, after the whole ordeal, Big Mac gave me the day off tomorrow.”
“Well, I guess it didn't turn out all bad,” said Twilight.
The two ponies nodded at each other in agreement, and then turned away. Lucian took off his hoodie and wiped some dust off of it, while Twilight’s thoughts turned towards Rarity and Rainbow Dash and what would happen if their friendship were to fall apart over a petty grudge.
Finally Lucian broke the silence. “By the way, is it true that Big Mac was keeping Smarty Pants?”
Twilight's face went red at his question.
“Oh that. He’s still alright with just being friends, right?” she asked nervously.
“Don’t worry about that,” Lucian said reassuringly. “He seemed quite content with the situation. Too bad Rarity and Rainbow Dash aren’t going for him. He’d probably know what to do.”
Twilight chuckled nervously at her roommate's joke. He then joined her, dispelling the tension that had built up over the past few minutes.
Suddenly the shelves began to rattle loudly. One by one, the stacks of books began to fall from their shelves.
“Oh no!” groaned Twilight. “Not again!”
“What just happened?”
Twilight sighed and turned to face Lucian.
“Gee, I don’t know, maybe the books developed minds of their own and wish to take over the world one bookshelf at a time,” she said in her most sarcastic voice, before she began to shout. “A bunch of books started falling, that’s what!”
“Okay, calm down,” said Lucian. “Then I’ll help you put the books back up.”
As he said this, he placed his hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. As she felt the gentle touch of his hoof, she took a deep breath, and then released it along with all her temper. Having managed to dispel her anger, she turned back to look at the fallen books.
“Here, help me organize them. Put them in alphabetical order, by author, and then title.”
As the two ponies began to pick up the various books and put them back in order, Lucian examined the bookshelf. While it was small, it seemed to be relatively stable. Indeed, the shelf was in perfect condition with nothing broken or missing aside from the fact that it was now empty.
As intriguing as it all was, it was currently unimportant to him. He went back to re-shelving the two dozen or so books that had been knocked down.
One of them, however, didn't seem to belong.
It was a large, musty book that appeared to be quite old. The cover was coated in gold, and it was adorned with the image of various crystals.
“Twilight, what's that?”
Twilight looked away from her stacks to see what Lucian was pointing out. She then took the book in her magic and lifted it up to take a closer look.
“I don't know. I don't remember even seeing this book before,” she said, turning the book around. As she did so, the title caught her attention.
“Well, this is interesting.”
“What is?” asked Lucian.
“The fact that this book seems to be non-fiction, but the title doesn't make much sense,” said Twilight. “It's titled 'The History of the Crystal Empire.’ If you ask me, it sounds more like something for a Daring Do book than a history book.”
“Did you just say ‘The Crystal Empire?’” Lucian asked in shock.
“That's what I said,” said Twilight. “But, as I said, that makes no sense, because, in all my years of studying, I've never seen anything like that mentioned in-”
Quickly Lucian took the book in his own magical aura and pulled it towards himself. He then opened it and began flipping through the pages. As he did so, amazement and joy grew on his face.
“Twilight! This is amazing!”
The unicorn mare raised her eyebrow in confusion.
“Amazing? What's so amazing about that?”
“I can't believe this has actually managed to survive for so long,” said Lucian, apparently unaware that Twilight had spoken. “When I returned, Celestia told me that all records of the Crystal Empire were lost forever! I didn't want to believe her at first, but after I spent months looking-”
Before he could continue, Twilight snatched the book from his magical grip.
“Let me get this straight. This 'Crystal Empire' thing is real?”
“Well, of course it is!” Lucian said enthusiastically. “I mean, yeah, all records of its existence have been lost for centuries, but it is definitely real!”
Still doubtful, Twilight took a peek into the book's contents.
“So, what exactly is so great about the Crystal Empire?”
At this question, Lucian opened his mouth to speak, but immediately closed it. Each time he tried to speak, he ended up doing the same thing. As he did so, a hesitant expression formed on his face, similar to the one Twilight had often seen on Spike’s face when he had to explain what had happened to the last piece of leftover cake.
“Well, it’s hard to explain,” he said finally. “I guess you'd have to have been there to really understand.”
“You were there, weren’t you?” asked Twilight, her curiosity piqued. “Do you think you could tell me what it was like?”
Lucian sighed as he opened the book.
“You know, it’s hard to believe that this is the first time any pony has read about the Crystal Empire in centuries.”
“So, you got to see it yourself?” asked Twilight.
“Of course I did. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before, or since. Hold on, let me show you.”
Lucian flipped through the pages, showing Twilight various details about the culture, architecture, and inhabitants of the Crystal Empire. As he did so, he explained as much as he could in full detail, fueling her curiosity and filling her with wonder.
“The buildings were absolutely marvelous,” Lucian recalled. “They were made of crystal and they all glimmered in the light of the sun. Ponies from all over Equestria would come just to observe the luminous effects of the buildings and crystal ponies themselves.”
“Crystal ponies?” Twilight interrupted. “You mean the ponies were crystal too?”
“Of course they were,” said Lucian. “They sparkled in the sun just like the buildings.”
“Huh. Maybe Stephaneigh Meyer only knew about vampires from the Crystal Empire.”
The two shared a brief laugh before Lucian could continue.
“Well, poorly-written fiction aside, these ponies did in fact sparkle. But their most notable part of their heritage was the crystal heart.”
“The crystal heart?” asked Twilight. “What was that?”
“It was a mystical artifact which amplified the love and hope of the crystal ponies, turning it into a sort of protective shield. It was sort of like the fires of friendship which fended off the windigos when the original pony tribes came together to found Equestria.”
If Twilight's jaw had not been attached to her head, it would likely have fallen off completely.
“The... fires of friendship?” she asked, barely able to contain her shock and excitement.
“Well, yeah, basically-”
“You're kidding me!” said Twilight. “There's so much we could learn if we could find it! I mean, the Crystal Empire couldn't have simply disappeared into thin air! Maybe it's still out there somewhere and we just have to-”
Lucian raised his hoof with a slightly exasperated look. In response, Twilight quickly calmed down.
“I-I'm sorry, Lucian. Please continue.”
“It's all right,” said Lucian. “You really are hungry for knowledge, aren't you?”
Twilight merely chuckled in embarrassment, while Lucian smiled at her.
“I get that, Twilight. I knew a pony from the Crystal Empire who was just like that.”
“Really?” said Twilight, raising an eyebrow. “Who was that?”
Lucian bit his lip. Before he had even realized it, the moment had finally arrived. He had hoped that he would never have to talk about this, but now he realized that it was inevitable. Yet the simple act of talking about this part of his past was torturous. No matter how much he tried to forget, it was always there to haunt him constantly.
Still speechless, he turned towards Twilight. This was the unicorn who not only had liberated him from the curse that had blinded him for a thousand years, but also had opened up her heart to him when nopony else would. On top of this, during the last few months she was always there for him, no matter what. If anypony deserved to know, it was her.
“A unicorn. A unicorn named Dusk Shine.”
For a moment, there was silence as Twilight processed what Lucian had just told her.
“Dusk Shine?” she said. “But wasn't that-?”
“Yeah, I may have overreacted a bit that one time.”
“Indeed you did,” said Twilight. “So tell me about Dusk Shine.”
“Well, first of all,” Lucian began, “he was a skilled and talented unicorn who was taught by Princess Celestia herself.”
“He was taught by Princess Celestia?” asked Twilight, immediately intrigued.
“Indeed he was. After he had learned about magic, she sent him to the Crystal Empire, which was being threatened by an evil dragon who wanted to enslave the crystal ponies and force them to provide him with an infinite source of gemstones to feed on.”
“Couldn’t Celestia have dealt with it herself?”
“She certainly could,” said Lucian. “However, she wanted to test Dusk Shine, to see just how capable he was of dealing with threats, in case she was ever unable to do so for whatever reason, or if, in the worst case, something tragic were to happen and a successor had to be chosen.”
“You mean like a successor to the throne? How is that even possible?”
“It’s complicated, and not particularly important,” said Lucian. “But Dusk Shine was as capable as she had expected, and more. Not only did he figure out how to defeat the dragon, but in doing so he was able to discover the secrets of the Crystal Heart, and how it was able to spread love and hope across not only the Crystal Empire, but all of Equestria. Thus, he had the crystal ponies hold a big Crystal Fair to create and amplify their positive emotions, which activated the powerful crystal field. When the dragon was caught in it, he was dissolved into ashes.”
“Wow,” said Twilight. “That must’ve been pretty intense.”
“Indeed it was,” said Lucian. “After that, the crystal ponies decreed that the Crystal Fair would be a permanent part of their culture, to be held every year to celebrate the defeat of the Dragon and reinforce the love and hope in their hearts. Meanwhile, Dusk Shine decided to remain in the empire to protect the crystal ponies from danger and maintain the peace there.”
“He really did all that?”
“Indeed. He was the Crystal Empire's one and only hero, and he was loved and admired by everypony.”
“I see,” said Twilight “So what did Dusk Shine mean... to you?”
At this question, Lucian went completely silent. All he could think about were the many experiences he had shared with Dusk Shine, and how he had almost always been there for him when he needed it most. Twilight patiently waited for him to answer, only to be met by silence.
Finally, Lucian began to speak.
“Well, he was the first friend I had in a long time. Unlike other ponies who slept during the night, he would stay out many hours after dark on patrol. And, sometimes, when he needed to take a break, he would go out just to gaze at the stars. It was on one of those nights that I first got to know him.”
“Another pony who loved the night as much as you did,” said Twilight. “I’ll bet you didn’t expect ever to meet anypony like that.”
“I sure didn’t,” said Lucian. “Anyway, I had just finished raising the moon, and was flying across Equestria, contemplating my loneliness, when I noticed a pony who was out watching the stars. At first, I was curious as to why anypony other than me would want to be out during the night. Then, when I approached him, I realized that he was my sister's former student.”
“So then what happened?” asked Twilight.
“Well,” sighed Lucian, “at first, we just talked. Things like why he was out in the darkness of the night, what Celestia had taught him, and what life protecting the Crystal Empire was like. And sometimes we’d talk about my life and my own duties. Just anything really. We just simply talked and watched the night.”
Lucian paused for a moment, remembering how he, as Luna, had enjoyed her time spent with Dusk Shine. As he did so, his blushing became slightly more noticeable.
“After that, I would often fly in the direction of the Crystal Empire, hoping to meet him again. It didn’t always happen though. Sometimes he was busy patrolling the streets, and other times he was held up by other circumstances. But, whenever he could, he went out to watch the stars. And when he did, I would always try to be there to watch them with him.”
He closed his eyes and smiled. Twilight chuckled, moving closer to him.
“So, tell me, Lucian: just how close were you to him?”
The dark blue alicorn's eyes opened wide as he felt his face glow red.
Lucian looked into her eyes hesitantly. He was still reluctant to tell anypony too much. Yet he couldn't help but trust Twilight more than anypony he'd ever met.
At least, anypony other than Dusk Shine.
“Well, at first we were just friends. With each visit, however, we grew closer to each other. I knew everything about him, and he knew everything about me. And we began to trust each other almost like nopony else.”
“Then, one night, he expressed his desire to see the stars up close. Even when he studied under the tutelage of Celestia, the highest he could get was the tallest balconies of Canterlot, which is nowhere close to how high I could go. He wasn't even asking for anything from me, but I felt that it was my responsibility to make him happy. And so I took him on a flight across the sky.”
“You took him flying?” asked Twilight. “What was that like?”
“For me, it was just another flight, but for him, it was the most exciting night of his life. When we flew together, he came closer to the stars than he’d ever been before, and that night I had somepony to accompany me as I flew through the night sky. After that, Dusk Shine was more than just a friend to me.”
Lucian closed his eyes and smiled as he remembered events that had happened centuries ago. Twilight observed him, curious about one last detail.
“I’m glad you met someone who you could love enough to make their dreams come true.”
“As am I, Twilight.”
“But what happened to Dusk Shine in the end?
Lucian's eyes went wide open and his smile vanished. He clenched his teeth as his eyes closed tightly, displaying sadness, regret, and even anger.
“I... would rather not talk about that,” he shuddered.
Twilight turned her head in confusion.
“Why not?”
“I just don't, okay?” groaned Lucian.
He looked away, trying hard to block out the painful memories which, for the first time in centuries, were coming to the surface of his. Talking about Dusk Shine may have been inevitable, but the feelings that had come from doing so were no less painful.
To his great surprise, Twilight walked up and sat down next to him, placing her head beneath his and snuggling up to him.
“It's okay, Lucian. I understand if you don’t want to talk about it. Just remember that I'm here for you.”
For a moment Lucian wasn't sure how to respond. Only two ponies had ever cared for him enough to hold him so close before. The first had been his older sister, Celestia. The other had been Dusk Shine.
What do I mean to Twilight? And... what does she mean to me?
Lucian shook his head and pushed the question to the back of his mind. He then turned his head towards his unicorn roommate.
“Thank you, Twilight.”
She didn't answer, but merely snuggled up closer to him.
While the two ponies comforted each other, the shadow watched them from the darkness of the bookshelves, contemplating what had just transpired. The midnight blue alicorn had spoken of Dusk Shine, just as it had predicted. Dusk Shine, student of Celestia, the Crystal Empire's great protector, and Princess Luna's lover.
Lucian had also experienced deep emotional pain, just as the shadow had predicted.
But what the shadow had never predicted was the fact that Twilight would show such concern for Lucian. Indeed, the fact that she had walked up to him to comfort him was a shock.
As Lucian entered his third month of living with Twilight, Ponyville began to feel the chill of winter. With Hearth's Warming Eve approaching, ponies all across Equestria were feeling more and more festive. Shops were lit up with bright lights of many colors, decorated trees were placed in houses and streets, and young ponies played in the snow while their older counterparts simply enjoyed the icy beauty.
It was just such an occasion for Lucian. As he stood under the branches of the Golden Oaks Library, he looked around, observing the snow that had fallen all around the library. Winter was such a peaceful time; due to the chill, relatively few ponies were willing to wander around, as they prefered to stay inside and read a book or drink some hot chocolate by the fire. In addition, the animals (particularly the rabbits) were either hibernating or simply hiding away in their burrows, and the birds had all flown away towards the warm south. Because of all this, winter was peaceful and quiet, much like the night. As a result, it was by far his favorite season.
That, and the memories of somepony very dear to him.
Unfortunately for Lucian, his peace and quiet would not last much longer, as he was currently taking care of three very chaotic fillies.
“We're never gonna get snowpony-makin' cutie marks like this!” Apple Bloom groaned as her most recent creation fell apart, its face still smiling in the snow.
“Why are we even wasting our time with this?” said Scootaloo. “We should be trying to get snowboarding cutie marks!”
“Are you kidding me?” said Sweetie Belle. “What we should be doing is getting our cutie marks in decorating for Hearth's Warming Eve!”
Meanwhile, not too far away, Lucian rolled his eyes at the crusader’s' discussion.
“Are they always like this?” said Lucian, turning towards Spike
“Pretty much,” Spike said with a shrug. “I don't get why they don't just do what they're already good at instead of trying to find crazy new things for their cutie marks.”
The pair shook their heads together as they watched the three fillies, who were currently trying to figure out what sort of snow-related thing would make the best cutie mark.
“How wicked would it be to have a snowboard cutie mark?!” said Scootaloo.
“Ah dunno,” said Apple Bloom. “Ah still want a snowpony-making cutie mark!”
“Nah, snowboards are so much cooler than boring old snowponies!” said Scootaloo.
“What's wrong with a snowpony?” asked Apple Bloom. “Ah think it would be real nice!”
“But it's not as awesome as a snowboard!”
"Snowponies!"
"Snowboards!"
"Snowponies!"
"Snowflakes!" Sweetie Belle said enthusiastically.
“Snowflakes?” said Scootaloo. “How exactly are you supposed to get a snowflake cutie mark if you can’t work in the weather factory?”
“I don't know,” said Sweetie Belle, “but I think it would be pretty neat, don't you?”
“Ah guess so,” said Apple Bloom. “What about you, Scoots?”
“Nah, forget it,” said Scootaloo. “Snowflakes sound like something really dumb.”
“How about you three forget about even getting snow-related cutie marks?”
The three fillies turned their heads up towards their caretaker, who was observing them with a raised eyebrow.
“What do you mean, 'forget about cutie marks?!'” the three ponies yelled in unison. While not quite as intense as the Royal Canterlot Voice, it was still strong enough to irritate the ears of the disguised prince and his dragon friend, as well as a few passing ponies.
“That is not what I was saying,” said Lucian as he clutched his ears. “I'm just saying that a snow-related cutie mark might not be such a good idea.”
The cutie mark crusaders stared at him, not quite understanding what he was trying to say.
“Okay,” said Lucian. “So, let's assume that you girls get a cutie mark that involves snow, be it snowboarding, snowponies, or just a snowflake. It sure sounds nice, and it would sure be useful when it snows, but for the rest of the year, you’d have to go somewhere else, like the mountains or the North Pole, far away from anypony you loved.”
The crusaders turned their heads, scratching their chins in contemplation. They then turned back towards their fallen creation, whose smile had collapsed into a frown, and sighed.
“I guess there are cooler things than snowboards,” said Scootaloo.
“Maybe snowpony cutie marks are overrated,” said Apple Bloom.
“And snowflakes are kind of lame, I guess,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Aw, come on girls,” said Spike encouragingly. “You still have all this snow to have fun in!”
The three crestfallen fillies looked up at Spike, still not quite happy about their predicament. However, to the surprise of every pony and dragon, Sweetie Belle suddenly perked up.
“Spike, how do you breathe fire?”
Spike raised an eyebrow. “Why do you want to know?”
“Well, I just was thinking maybe I could get a cutie mark in dragon studying!”
Sweetie Belle’s fellow crusaders immediately came to life upon hearing her suggestion. Before he could even blink, Spike was surrounded by a trio of excited fillies dressed in white coats. He slumped to the ground, obviously annoyed.
“Specimen A possesses thick fireproof scales, which are perfect for protection against fire from himself or other dragons,” Apple Bloom noted while writing on a clipboard which had inexplicably appeared in her hooves.
“Specimen A?” Spike asked, his lack of enthusiasm evident by his tone.
“Bipedal locomotion suggests keen sense of balance, which would assist in aim and firing,” Sweetie Belle wrote on her own clipboard.
“‘Locomotion?’ Is that even a real word?” asked Scootaloo?”
“Girls, I’m not a laboratory specimen, I’m a dragon.”
“Exactly!” Apple Bloom pointed out. “Where else are we gonna find another dragon to study?”
Lucian couldn’t help but chuckle as the three excited fillies kept discussing Spike’s status as a ‘specimen’ for their cutie marks. Spike shot a few glares at him, but no one seemed to mind them. He then stood up and patted off some of the snow that was on him.
“Well, even if you’re gonna study me, you’ll never figure out how dragons breathe fire,” said Spike, trying to regain his dignity. “It starts way inside me, where you can’t see it!”
“Well, I guess that’s true,” Sweetie Belle noted.
“Ah guess we ain't gonna get firebreathin' cutie marks,” said Apple Bloom.
“Or,” Scootaloo said from behind him, “we could get our cutie marks in dissection!”
Spike screamed and ran behind Lucian as Scootaloo fell over laughing. Her fellow crusaders stared at her in shock, before bursting into laughter as well.
“Scootaloo!” Spike yelled angrily. “That was not funny at all!”
“Relax, Spike! We ain't gonna go cutting ponies- or dragons- open!” said Apple Bloom.
“Aw man, you should see the look on your face!” said Scootaloo.
Lucian watched the scene unfolding before him, unsure whether to lecture the crusaders or join them in laughter. However, after a few seconds of suppressing his laughter, he managed to regain his composure, and began to speak.
“Girls, while I know that you're just having fun and everything, I would advise you not to make those sort of jokes. I mean, just look at him!”
The three fillies turned towards the little purple dragon, who was doing his best to remain inconspicuous behind Lucian's legs. For a moment, he poked his head out from behind the blue stallion to observe the Crusaders, hoping that they were honestly not going to come out and dissect him.
“Oh... yeah,” said Scootaloo. “We're sorry, Spike.”
“Yeah, we really are,” said Apple Bloom.
“We’ll be nicer to you next time, said Sweetie Belle.
Spike peered out from behind Lucian, still reluctant to show himself to the crusaders.
“Promise not to use me for any crusading experiments?” he asked.
“Do we really-”
“Yes you do,” said Spike. “I don’t want to be anywhere near three crazy fillies.”
The cutie mark crusaders stared at each other apprehensively, then sighed and turned towards him.
“We promise not to use you for any crusading experiments,” they said in unison.
“Pinkie Promise?” said Spike.
“Ah don’t think that’s really necessary,” said Apple Bloom. “Ah mean, it’s not like we need you for any-”
“Pinkie Promise or nothing.”
The three fillies rolled their eyes and did a series of movements with their hooves. Lucian raised his eyebrows in confusion.
“What was that?”
An unseen voice beat the younglings to an answer. “That was a Pinkie Promise!”
The four ponies and one dragon jumped in surprise at the mysterious voice. They then turned towards the destroyed snowpony, which was looking at them with two large blue eyes.
“What in tarnation?!”
As if to answer Apple Bloom's question, every last flake of snow was violently shaken off, covering the Cutie mark Crusaders, Lucian, and Spike. As they wiped themselves clean, they were greeted by the sight of a certain pink party pony.
“Pinkie Pie?!” asked Lucian in shock. “How did you manage to get under there?!”
“Simple!” giggled Pinkie Pie. “I dug my way underneath!”
“Well... but why?”
“Well, you need me to explain what a Pinkie Promise is, right?”
Instead of an answer, the energetic earth pony was met with silence. As she looked around, she noticed that everypony and dragon seemed to be at a complete loss for words. If this bothered her, no one could tell as she simply smiled and carried on.
“A Pinkie Promise is a special promise that you must never ever break because breaking a promise is the fastest way to lose a friend forever!”
Lucian's eye twitched at the amount of emphasis Pinkie Pie placed on the word ‘forever’.
“But don’t worry!” Pinkie said as she turned towards the crusaders. “I’m sure you won’t make that sort of mistake, right?”
Snow trickled past the windows as Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash sat around a table, enjoying their mugs of Pinkie Pie’s experimental bubblegum hot chocolate at Sugarcube Corner.
“Huh, this is actually pretty good,” Rainbow commented. “I mean, bubblegum sounds like a weird flavor for hot chocolate, but honestly, it really isn’t that bad.”
“It sure is,” said Twilight. “I wonder where she gets these crazy ideas.”
“She’s Pinkie Pie,” said Rainbow. “What do you expect?”
“Yeah, I should have guessed,” said Twilight with a slight giggle.
“So, how's it going?” asked Rainbow.
“Eh, same old,” shrugged Twilight. “I’ve been reading and investigating.”
“Investigating what?”
“Oh, that’s not really important.”
Rainbow stared at her in surprise and confusion.
“What do you mean it’s not important?”
Twilight bit her lip. In any other case she would have happily talked at length about her most recent research project. However, in this case, there were several key differences. For one thing, she was not doing research for the princess or her studies. Also, she wasn’t even sure what the real value of her research was. And, perhaps the most important reason of all, she was investigating a crucial part of none other than Princess Luna’s past.
She sighed as she contemplated the difficulties surrounding her current investigation. Ever since Lucian had told her the story of Dusk Shine, she had been curious about him as well as the mysterious realm which he had protected, the Crystal Empire. For the past few weeks, she had spent much of her time searching tirelessly through her books for information about him. However, just like the elusive Crystal Empire, he seemed to have disappeared completely from the historical record. The only piece of information she was able to find was in a dusty old census book, and even then, she was only able to find his name, and nothing more.
Deciding to keep her research a secret for the time being, she turned to Rainbow and said “It’s something that’s sort of personal.”
“Oh, really?” said Rainbow. “Well, that’s cool too.”
Twilight smiled and took another sip of her hot chocolate. As she did so, she heard a voice behind her.
“Why, hello Twilight! What a pleasure to see you on this fine day! And… eh, hello, Rainbow Dash.”
Twilight looked towards Sugarcube Corner’s entrance to greet Rarity, but stopped just short of doing so when she noticed the glare in her eyes. Confused, she turned back towards Rainbow, who was giving Rarity a similar gesture.
“Yes,” snarled Rainbow, her voice laced with venom. “Hello, Rarity.”
As Twilight put two and two together, she groaned. She had been expecting a calm day of enjoying herself with her friends, not a brawl between them.
“Girls, I know you two have had some… disagreements recently, but that doesn’t mean you have to look at each other like you’re changelings or-”
“You think so, Twilight?” asked Rainbow. “Well, in case you didn’t know, Rarity here has been butting into my life when she ought to be minding her own business!”
“Butting in?! Moi?! Why, I have simply been attempting to find true love! You, on the other hand, have tried to steal my knight in shining armor for yourself!”
“Your knight in shining armor?” Rainbow repeated, smirking. “Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?”
“Ridiculous?! It’s the most fitting title I could ever give to my one true love!”
“For your information, he’s mine, not yours!”
“How dare you-”
“Girls!”
The two arguing mares turned towards Twilight, who was scowling at them as her left eye twitched.
“Listen. I know that you both like Lucian. And I know that, in the end, only one can end up with him. But you’re letting all this get in the way of your friendship! You’ve had arguments and fights before, but they’ve never been this bad! Is this what you want Lucian to see? Two mares who are willing to destroy their friendship in order to claim him as their own?!”
As Twilight finished her rant, silence fell upon the largely empty Sugarcube Corner. Rainbow and Rarity looked down at the floor, silently contemplating Twilight’s words and considering their actions for the past few weeks.
Suddenly the door burst open as a familiar friend entered the shop.
“Oh, hi everypony! I just got back from my deliveries! Oh, and I just saw Lucian! He didn’t know what a Pinkie Promise is! Can you believe it?”
Pinkie Pie laughed for a moment, but stopped as she noted the silence in the bakery. She looked around, wondering why everypony was so oblivious to her entrance.
“Huh? What’s going on? Did something happen? Or… are you playing a game?”
Her face lit up at the last thought.
“Ooh! I’ll bet you’re playing the ‘shh’ game, right?” she asked. “Fluttershy’s the world champion, but I’m pretty good too! Wanna see?”
Without waiting for an answer, she gasped in a lungful of air and closed her mouth. She then looked around excitedly at her fellow “competitors.”
After about a minute, Rarity broke her silent spell.
“I’m terribly sorry, Rainbow Dash. I shouldn’t have been so rude to you.”
Rainbow lifted her head to look at Rarity.
“I was kind of a jerk too,” she sighed. “I’m sorry too. If you forgive me, then I’ll forgive you too.”
“Agreed,” said Rarity with a smile.
“Friends?”
“Friends.”
The two mares walked up to each other and embraced each other. As they did so, Twilight smiled.
“I call for a round of bubblegum hot chocolates on me!”
Rainbow and Rarity turned towards her excitedly.
“Really?” giggled the blue pegasus. “That is so awesome!”
“That is very generous of you, Twilight, although I do find the idea of ‘bubblegum hot chocolate’ to be quite strange, and potentially even repulsive,” the white unicorn commented.
“It was Pinkie’s idea,” explained Twilight.
“Ah. That would explain it. I suppose, if Pinkie came up with the idea, then it can’t hurt to try some.”
As the three happy mares went off to order their drinks, a smile formed on Pinkie’s face.
The city of Canterlot was covered with all sorts of decorations, ranging from simple lights to entire buildings being changed into giant gingerbread houses. All around them were 8-foot candy canes, and next to each one foals had created a snowpony to take part in the festivities. Perhaps most notable, however, were the Hearth’s Warming trees; some small enough to be carried in a foal’s hooves and some so large they towered over most buildings. They were all carrying many amazing decorations, ranging from candy canes and Hearth’s Warming spheres to ornaments that foals had made for their class projects to be displayed around the royal city.
Lucian, along with the element bearers and the cutie-mark crusaders, had arrived a short while ago after a relatively uneventful train ride. After arriving, the ponies had separated into several groups and dispersed into the city. Lucian and Twilight were leading Spike and the cutie mark crusaders across town. They passed Doughnut Joe’s bakery, and the three fillies were stopped in their tracks by the scent of hot chocolate and gingerbread.
“Mmm,” they uttered in unison, lifting their noses to inhale more of the scent. Lucian smiled as he watched them smile
“Doughnut Joe has some of the best hot chocolate in all of Equestria,” he said. “I’ll be you three could sure go for some of that right now, don’t you think?”
“Yes!” said the trio.
“Oh, I’d love some hot chocolate!” said Spike. Before anyone could go in, Twilight lifted her hoof to stop them.
“Sorry girls,” she said. “Your sisters won’t be happy if I let you eat too much sugar.”
The cutie mark crusaders and Spike uttered a sigh of resignation.
“Sorry guys, but no. And don’t try any funny business. My will is unshakable.”
As if deciding to challenge her assertion, the three fillies turned their heads towards Twilight, giving her their most pleading puppy dog eyes. She tried to resist, then looked away, and even closed her eyes, but no matter how hard she tried, she was helpless against the little filly eyes she was receiving.
“Oh, all right,” she said finally. “Go have your hot chocolate.”
The victorious fillies cheered, and then rushed into the shop. Amazed by what he had just seen, Spike followed them into the shop, intent on finding out the secret to their ability to bend older ponies to their will. Lucian looked towards Twilight with a smirk on his face.
“So, what happened to that unshakable will of yours?” he asked playfully.
“Oh, shut up,” she replied. “And please, not a word to anypony else. I swear, if Scootaloo’s mom hears about this-”
“Relax, my lips are sealed,” said Lucian. “Now come on, don’t you want some hot chocolate? I’m paying for it.”
“Aw, you don’t have to do that,” said Twilight.
“Come on,” said Lucian. “A pretty mare like you deserves special treatment once in a while!”
“Oh, I guess that’s all righ- wait,” she said, realizing what Lucian had just said. “Did you just call me pretty?”
“What? No!” said Lucian as his face turned pink. “I mean, yeah, or, well, I meant to say, as a compliment, because, well, mares like to be called pretty, right?”
“Oh, well, yeah, I guess…”
Lucian blushed nervously as Twilight stared at him in confusion.
“L-let’s just go get some hot chocolate,” Lucian suggested.
“Yeah, chocolate,” said Twilight. “Good!”
The two of them tried to walk into the bakery. Unfortunately, it was not meant for two ponies to walk in at the same time.
“Oh!” said Twilight. “Uh, why don’t you go in first?”
“Well, maybe you should go in first?”
“Well, I mean, you could always go in first?”
“No, ladies first,” said Lucian. “I insist.”
Twilight chuckled awkwardly, and then walked in. Lucian sighed as he followed her in.
About an hour later, the group arrived at Canterlot Castle. As they walked through the hallway, the crusaders began to dart around, admiring the many wonderful items that were on display. Lucian chuckled at their antics before her heard a pony clearing their throat. To his surprise, he saw Celestia standing before them.
“Hello Lucian and Twilight, it’s good to see you again.”
As Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo ran around the royal hallway and Spike chased them desperately to prevent them from breaking anything, Princess Celestia walked next to her sibling and student, excited to hear all they had to tell her about their lives in Ponyville. Twilight had a big smile on her face as she walked alongside the royal siblings. Lucian was smiling too, although his was smaller and less enthusiastic.
“I’m so glad to see you too, Princess,” said Twilight. “I can’t believe we haven’t seen each other since, well… that one time.”
She chuckled awkwardly as she remembered the circumstances that had led to Lucian’s current predicament, while he in turn merely groaned and held his hoof against his face. Celestia’s expression, however, did not change. She did, however, turn towards the three hyperactive fillies.
“I think we should go somewhere a tiny bit more private, don’t you agree?”
The two ponies nodded as they walked away from the royal hallway and into the throne room, leaving the chaotic trio in the not-so-capable claws of Spike. As Celestia closed the doors behind her, there was a sudden loud noise, similar to the breaking of a fine china vase, and then another one, which sounded like a flat metallic object crashing against the ground. With each new sound, Celestia winced visibly, although the smile on her face never quite faltered.
“Oh well,” she said. “It can’t possibly be worse than the lightbulb incident.”
“Want to bet on that?”
Celestia turned towards Lucian, who had a confident smirk on his face. Twilight, on the other hand, was shaking her head violently, trying to discourage Celestia from making any sort of wager.
“Fifteen bits,” said Celestia, causing her faithful student to slap her hoof against her face.
“You’re on,” Lucian said with a smile, giving his sister a hoofshake.
“All right,” said Twilight. “Now that we’ve taken care of that, we can begin our actual conversation.”
“Indeed we can,” said Celestia. “So, how has Ponyville been, Lucian?”
“Well, it's been pretty good,” said Lucian. “So far I've made several good friends, like Derpy and the Doctor, and Big Macintosh. Of course, Twilight and her friends are pretty close to me too.”
“That's good to hear,” said Celestia. “I had a feeling that Twilight would be able to help you find friends, and she certainly did a good job herself, don't you think?”
“Oh, don’t mention it,” said Twilight, a sheepish smile forming on her face.
“Hey, you still deserve some credit,” said Lucian. “I mean, if it weren’t for you, I would’ve been completely lost as to what to do after I became a guy!”
Upon hearing Lucian’s encouraging words, Twilight smiled more confidently. Meanwhile, Lucian began to ponder his life in Ponyville.
It was hard to believe that he'd only been a stallion for just under three months. Between coming to live with Twilight, befriending the Doctor and Derpy, becoming the unwitting object of affection for Rainbow and Rarity, and dealing with the strange feelings that he was beginning to develop towards Twilight, he had barely gotten to think about his transformation. Now that he thought about it, however, he was surprised to realize that it didn't bother him as much as he thought it would.
But that can't be right! he thought to himself. I've never been a stallion before! I shouldn't be comfortable with being turned from a mare to a stallion! I mean, maybe if I had a lot more time, I could realistically come to accept my position, but I've only been like this for a few months! Of course, Twilight's made adjusting a lot easier... and she's so kind, smart, beautiful...
NO! Bad thoughts! I'm not supposed to fall for Twilight! She's my roommate, for Faust's sake! And she's a mare! And I'm supposed to be a mare! It's not supposed to work like that! ...Except that Celestia has told me that those kinds of relationships are more widely accepted nowadays, so I really shouldn't have to obsess so much over- DAMMIT STOP THINKING THOSE THOUGHTS!!!
“So what else have you been up to, Lucian?”
“I DON’T WANT TO MOUNT TWILIGHT!”
He immediately covered his mouth up, but it was too late; Twilight’s eyes had gone wide while her face had turned a deep crimson. Celestia on the other hand, seemed to be struggling not to fall to the floor laughing. The dark blue alicorn tried desperately to think of something to distract the two mares as he felt his face burn hot enough to put his sister’s sun to shame.
“Oh, um… Did you know that Rarity and Rainbow Dash both developed crushes on me?”
“Have they?” asked Celestia, her curiosity aroused.
“Yeah,” said Lucian, making a point to look directly at his sister, and not at Twilight. “Apparently, they both think I’m quite an attractive young stallion.”
“Well, it’s a shame for them that you’re only interested in Twilight."
“CELLY!!!”
The tall white mare couldn’t help but chuckle as she watched her student and sibling both look away in absolute embarrassment.
“So, I’d say we ought to go join the others,” said Celestia.
“Yes! Let’s!” Twilight shouted out a bit too loudly.
“Yes! We need to go now!” Lucian yelled.
Celestia smirked, and then opened the doors and stepped out.
The smile on her face vanished as she looked at what was once the royal hallway.
The first thing that came to Celestia’s mind upon seeing the wreckage was “Ursa Minor nesting grounds.” There was debris everywhere, ranging from broken glass and china to large pieces of marble. The windows had been smashed into oblivion, and the curtains were shredded, with only a few small pieces still recognizable. Any objects sturdy enough to remain in one piece were bent to the point of being unrecognizable, and the floor was full of craters, many of them big enough for multiple ponies to hide in. The largest of these was in fact hiding three arguing fillies and a badly battered purple dragon.
“Well, if we’d just done what he told us, we wouldn’t have messed up!” said Sweetie Belle.
“Yeah, but that wouldn’t have been as fun!” said Scootaloo.
“Well ah still think someone needs to re-analyze the construction codes and whatnot, because this was just way too easy!”
As the cutie mark crusaders continued their squabble, Celestia’s left eye began to twitch. Meanwhile, Lucian couldn’t help but grin.
“You owe me fifteen bits, sis.”
The next day, the element bearers, Lucian, Spike, and the cutie mark crusaders began to prepare themselves for the Hearth's Warming play. Lucian watched in fascination as Twilight, her friends, and the cutie mark crusaders got into their costumes for the annual Hearth’s Warming play. He remembered hearing that the element bearers had acted as the main cast in the previous year’s play, and that said play had been one of the best received interpretations of the story in recent history.
Luna had completely missed out on that, as with so many other things.
True, the story itself had been around long before his banishment. However, rather than a day of celebration, it had been seen as more of a day of recollection, to remember that one lived not just for oneself, but for all ponies. In addition, winter had been a harsh time during which ponies rarely ventured forth from their homes, awaiting the coming of spring. The fact that both Hearth’s Warming and winter had become a time of celebration had been quite confusing to Luna, who chose to spend her time studying the history of the Hearth’s Warming celebration rather than celebrating with her family.
“So, how do I look?”
Lucian looked back towards Apple Bloom, whose mane had been de-bowed and combed into a pair of large curls and dyed white. In addition, she was wearing a pair of small pegasus wings, and her body was now a light blue.
“Aw shucks,” said Applejack, who had taken off her hat and curled her hair into a tight bun, and was now putting on a pair of fake wings. “Ah think you look mighty cute, Apple Bloom.”
“Indeed,” said Rarity. “Especially with that coloring spell Twilight used on you.”
“Oh, that wasn’t too hard,” said Twilight. “Anypony can do a color-changing spell. Remember how easily Trixie made your mane green?”
Rarity whimpered, and began to shiver.
“Please don’t remind me,” she said. “Green is such a ghastly color.”
“Don’t you worry about that,” Twilight said as she cast the spell. “It’s just a temporary spell.”
Rarity turned towards her now pink mane and sighed.
“I suppose it could be worse.”
“I thought so,” said Twilight, her horn glowing with magic once again. This time, however, the spell took longer to fully take effect, as she was focusing on her whole body, rather than just her mane. Even so, Twilight seemed quite calm as her mane became a light blue and her body became dark blue.
Satisfied with her results, Twilight turned towards Lucian.
“How do I look?”
“Like a princess,” Lucian said jokingly, although he gave Twilight a knowing wink, which caused her to chuckle briefly.
“Well, just wait until I put these on,” she said as she levitated a pair of blue wings onto her back, and put on a silver crown, necklace, and slippers. Rarity did the same with a pair of white wings and golden regalia.
“Wow,” said Sweetie Belle, who had combed her mane very carefully to hide her horn, and was now wearing a pair of fake wings. “You look just like Princess Celestia!”
“Well, of course I do!” said Rarity. “I’m playing her!”
“Just like I’m playing Luna,” said Twilight.
“Speaking of Luna, I wonder where she is,” said Pinkie Pie. “I’ve been all over the palace and I haven’t seen or heard anything about her! I mean, I really wanted to throw her a “Welcome to Ponyville” party since she left before I ever could back on Nightmare Night! Speaking of which, does anypony think that it was kinda lonely without her this year?
Pretty much every pony laughed at this, though Twilight and Lucian were slightly more nervous about it than most. Fortunately, nopony seemed to notice.
“You know, it is kind of funny,” Scootaloo said once everypony had a chance to calm down. “I figured she’d be with Celestia when we went to see her, but she was nowhere to be seen!”
“I really hope she’s okay,” said Fluttershy, whose mane had been combed to look somewhat shorter and messy, but still straight. “It would be such a shame if she were sick during such a lovely time of the year.”
“Eh, she’s probably fine,” said Rainbow. “She’s probably off doing something Princess-y in another country.”
“Well, yeah, she sort of is,” said Twilight, ready to give her official explanation for Luna’s absence. “Apparently she’s off someplace learning about friendship.”
“Just like you, Twilight,” said Applejack.
“Yeah,” said Twilight with an awkward chuckle. “Just like me.”
“Five minutes to curtain!” said Spike. “We’d better be ready to put on a show!”
“All right,” said Lucian as he began to walk towards the auditorium. “Make sure you girls put on a good show!”
“Yeah,” said Pinkie as she bounced behind him. “Make this a superrific show!”
“Totally,” said Rainbow as she got up and followed them. “Especially you, Scoots.”
“Omigosh I will so do my best!” squealed Scootaloo. The rest of the cast simply smiled at the three as they left for their seats.
As they walked towards their seats, they took a moment to observe the sheer number of ponies who had entered the theater. Lucian had heard that tickets were sold out, but even that didn't quite justify the sheer number of ponies who had shown up. There was not a single seat that was not taken, and even the walkways were full of ponies.
“Wow, we’re lucky we have seats reserved on the front row,” he said thoughtfully.
“Yeah,” said Pinkie. “But there are a whole lot of ponies before we can get there!”
“It could be worse,” said Rainbow. “I mean, we still have some time before the show starts.”
“Don’t worry girls, I got you covered,” Lucian said as his horn glowed with magic energy.
The next thing anypony knew, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Lucian had been teleported right into their seats. The two mares blinked and looked around, briefly confused by their quick movement. As soon as she had recovered, however, Pinkie began to ask Lucian all sorts of questions, nearly knocking Rainbow out of her seat as she did so.
“Wow! I didn’t know you could do that! How did you do that? Did you learn it like Twilight did? Do you use it a lot? Does it make you feel tingly like fizzy soda pop when you do it?”
“I don’t understand a word you’re saying,” said Lucian.
“Pinkie! Get off me!” screamed Rainbow.
“Hey! Be quiet! Some of us want to see the show!” a pony behind them yelled.
“You mean the one that hasn't even started yet?” Rainbow grumbled while Pinkie shrunk back into her seat.
“Sorry guys,” she said quietly. “I just got a bit carried away.”
“It’s all right,” said Lucian. “Just don’t do it again.”
“Yeah,” groaned Rainbow. “For the sake of my ribs, don’t do that again.”
“Oki Doki Loki!” said Pinkie, her voice immediately regaining its strength. She then got close to Rainbow and whispered “Hey Dashie! You should totally snuggle up to Lucian!”
Rainbow’s eyes went wide as she realized what Pinkie was saying. She then grinned and grabbed Lucian’s hoof, bringing him in closer to her. He gasped in surprise, but then gave a resigned shrug as he realized what was going on.
“I really hope you’re prepared for Rarity’s wrath,” he said quietly.
“Relax, we’re not gonna kill each other over some colt,” Rainbow reassured him. “Especially not a colt like you.”
Lucian rolled his eyes, then looked back towards the stage.
“So, how much do you girls know about this story?”
“Not much,” said Rainbow. “I hear that some towns always use it instead of the regular Hearth’s Warming tale. Apparently it inspires fillies and colts to do better, or something.”
“Yeah, and this year Princess Celestia wants every town to show it!” said Pinkie Pie. “I think that’s great, because we never ever get to see it, and the regular story can get tiring after a while, you know? What do you think, Lucian?”
As inconspicuously as he could, Lucian let out a sigh. He was somewhat afraid of opening old wounds, but he was determined to make the show as enjoyable for everypony else as it was for him.
“Let’s just say… this story holds a very special place in my heart.”
As they finished their conversation, the lights went dim, and the curtains rose. As they did so, a familiar voice began to speak, one which Lucian could recognize a mile away.
“There is nothing in this world quite so amazing as the first winter snow,” Celestia narrated, “the first few flakes falling from the sky signifying a great change.”
The ponies in the audience listened in wonder as they watched the ponies on stage playing happily in the snow, watching the beauty that fell around them, and helping animals collect food and stay warm. A smile formed on Lucian’s face as his sister described how so many wonderful things could come from the magic of the snowflake.
“Some might scoff at the idea that something so small could hold such power,” said Celestia, her opening narration reaching its end. “But they are the ones who have forgotten how the snowflake came to be.”
As the curtains fell to the floor, uproarious applause dominated the entire hall. The audience rose from their seats, moved to tears by the beauty of the play, the hope and determination they had seen, and the impressive performance the ponies on stage had delivered.
Perhaps none more so than Lucian.
As a few tears made their way down his cheeks, his thoughts drifted to the past. In his youth, the night had been nothing more than the time ponies used to sleep, unable to see the value of the things it brought. Similarly, winter was nothing more than a time when ponies locked themselves in their homes, not leaving any more than was necessary. And yet, when Luna returned after her centuries of banishment, she had been shocked to find that ponies now enjoyed the night as much as the day and winter as much as summer. And while Lucian was happiest about the night, he couldn't help but feel happy that the blessings of winter had been found as well.
“That was so beautiful,” he said as a couple more tears ran down his cheek.
“I-I-It was!” said Pinkie, tears gushing from her eyes like a broken faucet. “It gives me so many feels!”
“Eh, it was alright, I guess.”
Lucian and Pinkie turned towards Rainbow, visibly shocked by her comment.
“All right?!” said Pinkie. “That was the most beautifully emotional storytelling of all time! How can you not say anything other than alright?!”
“I dunno,” said Rainbow. “The whole story seems to be written to make ponies feel sad about the filly, and then get all happy when she finally finds her place. I mean, a little blind filly who manages to do something amazing despite her disability? It’s the most clichéd story ever!”
As Pinkie and Rainbow began a fierce argument about the merits of the story, Lucian simply looked away, deep in thought.
So Rainbow thinks the whole story is cliché? Well, I guess I can see why ponies would think it was that way.
But is it really cliché if it actually happened?
After reuniting with the others backstage, Rainbow, Lucian, and Pinkie praised their friends for the job they had done.
“You girls really put on an amazing show tonight,” said Lucian.
“It was pretty good,” Rainbow said nonchalantly.
“Omigosh! That was so super-rifically amazing you girls! It was totally beautiful and so full of emotion and inspirational and I loved it!” said Pinkie.
“Um, that’s... nice,” said Fluttershy, slightly unnerved by Pinkie’s overly enthusiastic praise.
“Aw, shucks,” said Applejack as she returned her mane to its normal ponytail. “We were just doin' our part to put on a good show.”
“Regardless, your praise is greatly appreciated,” Rarity said as she removed her fake wings and jewelry. “I must admit, I did make quite a spectacular Princess, if I do say so myself.”
“And a beautiful one,” added Spike, his gaze fixed on Rarity.
“Well, I guess we all did pretty well,” Twilight said as she undid the color-changing enchantment on Rarity's mane. She then removed her own disguise, first by removing her jewelry, then her wings, and then undoing the color-changing spell she had cast upon herself. As the blue in her mane and coat disappeared, she turned towards Apple Bloom, who had finished taking off her fake wings and was trying to comb her mane back into its normal shape.
“Did ah do good too?” she asked.
“You did awesome, little sis,” said Applejack.
“Totally!” said Scootaloo. “You did an awesome job, Apple Bloom!”
“I’d definitely say you put on a great performance,” Twilight said as undid the color-change spells on the little filly’s coat and mane. “I have to admit, I was kind of apprehensive about letting you three perform, given your... last performance.”
The three fillies shared a few awkward glances with each other, remembering the time they had attempted to gain their cutie marks in the performing arts. Lucian, on the other hoof, stared at them with curiosity.
“What do you mean by that?” he asked.
“Well, they thought that they could get their cutie marks by appearing in their school’s talent show,” explained Twilight.
“Oh really? How did that go?”
Before Twilight could speak, three little voices screamed out “AWESOME!” at the top of their lungs.
“We got a prize for bein’ the best comedy show of the night!” said Apple Bloom.
“Even though it wasn’t the prize we wanted,” said Sweetie Belle.
“But we won, and that’s what matters!” said Scootaloo.
Lucian stared at the crusaders, trying to understand how they could be so happy at having won the wrong prize. Before he could say anything, however, Spike burped out a burst of magical fire, revealing a scroll.
“Twilight, I think the princess sent you a letter!”
Surprised, Twilight picked the scroll up in her magic grasp and began to read. As her friends watched expectantly, her eyes widened as she realized what the message was.
“It’s not from the Princess,” she said.
All around her, ponies gave gasps of confusion as they wondered who else could have sent the letter.
“At least, not Princess Celestia,” Twilight continued. “It’s from Cadance.”
“Princess Cadance?” said Rarity. “Whatever could she want?”
“Apparently she wants me, Spike, and Lucian to meet her and Shining Armor later today,” she said. Her eyes then widened in excitement.
“Oh my gosh! You’re gonna get to see Shiny and Cadance, Lucian! Isn’t that exciting?”
“What?!” he said in shock. “Why me?”
“Well, maybe they want to meet you,” said Twilight. “I mean, you have been staying with me for a while, so they probably want to get to know you.”
“You mean like when a mare gets her parents to meet her boyfriend?” asked Sweetie Belle.
At least half the ponies present began to freak out.
“What?! No!” said Twilight. “It’s not like that at all!”
“Sweetie Belle!” said Rarity. “Lucian is most certainly not interested in Twilight!”
“Don’t go making things up, little filly!” said Rainbow Dash.
“Rainbow Dash's boyfriend is cheating on her!” yelled Pinkie, causing everypony to stare at her in shock, and in Rarity's case, anger.
Meanwhile, Lucian tried to process what Sweetie Belle had said.
Boyfriend?
Yes, that was the word she had used. Admittedly, she probably hadn't meant to imply that he and Twilight were dating, but that didn't make the implication any less prevalent.
“Well, it’s probably official Canterlot business,” said Lucian. “After all, she’s a princess, so she must have her reasons.”
He looked at Twilight worriedly, as if to ask her for help. While she was confused for a moment, she quickly understood what he was trying to say, and so began to elaborate.
“Oh, of course! I mean, Shining is the captain of the guard, and Cadance is a princess! I think they're probably really curious about what he can do!
As Twilight finished talking, the other ponies calmed down significantly.
“Well, I suppose that makes sense,” said Rarity.
“Yeah, it does,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Sure,” Twilight said nervously.
“Okay, so we should go see Shining and Cadance then,” said Spike.
“But don't forget to say hello for us!” said Pinkie Pie.
“Especially since we haven't seen those two since the wedding,” said Applejack. “so we've all been wonderin' how they've been.”
“Um, I've really missed them,” said Fluttershy. “So, if it's not a bother, tell them we'd like to see them again soon.”
“Don't worry, we will,” said Twilight as she, Spike, and Lucian marched off towards the door. The others waved at them with big smiles on their faces, too distracted to notice Rarity trotting up to Rainbow.
“You were cuddling him, weren’t you?” she said.
“Yep,” said Rainbow.
If anypony had seen them, they would have suspected very little, due to the fact that their smiles had not faltered in the least.
“You do realize that I’m going to do terrible things to you, right?” said Rarity.
“And it was totally worth it,” said Rainbow.
As Lucian and Twilight walked towards the room specified by the letter, Lucian began to feel doubts. While he knew both Cadance and Shining Armor quite well, he had only ever talked to them before his unfortunate accident. Thus, as far as they would know, he would just be some pony who was living with their sister, which would open up a whole different sort of problems.
The little unicorn filly's words suddenly returned to the front of his mind. While he had never thought much about the possibility of forming romantic bonds during his time as a stallion, there was no denying that it had always been there. Rainbow Dash and Rarity had made sure of that. And then there was the fact that he had always found himself caring very deeply for Twilight's well-being. Admittedly, anypony would be able to care for their friends, but he felt it to be... different.
“Here we are.”
Lucian's thought were interrupted as he stopped in front of the doors to Princess Cadance's quarters. It was now time for them to meet him, even if they technically already knew each other.
As the doors opened, they were greeted by the sight of a large white unicorn stallion with a blue mane, and a pink alicorn mare with a purple, pink, and yellow mane. They smiled at the two ponies and one dragon who had just arrived, who smiled back at them in turn.
“Shiny!” Twilight said excitedly, as she ran up and hugged her brother.
“Twiley!” said Shining Armor as he returned his sister's hug. They remained in each other's embrace for a moment before Twilight broke off and moved towards Cadance, stopping right in front of her.
“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake, clap your hooves and do a little shake!”
As the two mares chanted their little poem, they performed each of the accompanying moves. They then laughed and hugged each other. Spike snickered slightly at the display of immaturity, but Lucian simply smiled.
“Do you really have to do that?” asked Spike with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, seeing how she could be a changeling in disguise, it's better to make sure it's really her,” said Twilight.
“That's definitely true,” said Cadance. “And it's also a lot of fun!”
As the two mares laughed together, Shining Armor turned towards Lucian.
“Hello, I’m-”
“Princess Luna, turned into a stallion, currently living with Twilight in order to adjust to your new body and and make friends while doing so?”
For a moment, Lucian merely stared at Shining with his mouth wide open. As soon as he got over his shock, however, he began to speak.
“You mean Celestia told you?!”
“Well, of course she did,” said Cadance. “I mean, we are family aren’t we?”
“I guess so,” said Twilight, who seemed surprised, but not shocked by the revelation. “If Princess Celestia were to tell anypony about what happened to you, Lucian, wouldn’t it be somepony she could trust with the secret, like Cadance and Shining Armor?”
Lucian looked at Twilight, his shock having given way to annoyance.
“She didn’t actually have to tell anypony, did she?”
The other ponies, as well as Spike, looked at him in confusion.
“You all right, Lucian?” asked Spike.
“Yeah, I’m all right,” said Lucian as the clutched the open door in his magic grasp and shut it behind him. “I simply didn’t imagine that my sister would go around telling ponies about what happened to me.
Twilight and the others stared at him in confusion at his comment. However, after a brief moment they shrugged and began to walk towards the living room.
“So, how has it been?” asked Shining, hoping to ease Lucian's tension.
“It's been nice,” said Lucian. “It's kind of hard to believe I ever lived at the palace nowadays.”
“I guess that means you get along pretty well?” said Cadance, looking at the two visiting ponies with interest.”
“We sure do!” said Spike. “Lucian fits into our home perfectly well! I mean, he's practically part of the family now!”
“Oh, I wouldn't say that,” said Twilight. “Although, since Cadance is his niece, and she's Shining's wife, I suppose he is, technically speaking, part of the family.”
“Well, I guess that's true,” said Lucian. “And, of course, I could always be your replacement father figure or something.”
“Are you kidding me?” said Spike. “You're a thousand years too old for that, grandpa.”
“What did you just call me?!” Lucian yelled angrily as the others burst into laughter.
“So, you and Twilight,” said Cadance.
Lucian turned towards the pink alicorn, who was staring at him with a slightly mischievous look.
“What about me and Twilight?” he asked, slightly suspicious as to his niece's motives.
“Oh, nothing,” she said, maintaining her coy smile. “It's just that you two get along so very well.”
“Well, of course we get along well,” he said. “We're roommates, it's what we do.”
Cadance took a cursory look around, quickly confirming that Twilight and Spike were too busy talking to Shining in the other room to listen in on their conversation. She then looked back towards Lucian.
“Look, Lucian, if you don't want to talk about it, I understand. I just want to make sure you know what it is you feel.”
Lucian stared at Cadance in surprise.
“What do you mean?”
“Perhaps you haven't noticed, Lucian, but my cutie mark is a heart,” said Cadance. “I can tell a lot about what other ponies are feeling, sometimes even more than even they themselves can. I feel that you and Twilight have a very special connection, and I want to make sure you can react appropriately.”
“What does that even-”
Before he could continue, Lucian stopped. He turned his gaze towards Cadance's cutie mark. He then began to ponder what she had said.
In a few seconds, the gears connected in his head.
“You're not saying...”
“Yes, I am.”
Lucian shook his head in shock before continuing.
“Look, Cadance. I know Twilight and I are close. But we're just friends, nothing more.”
“Lucian-”
“I mean it,” said Lucian. “There is really nothing going on between us. And besides, I'm supposed to be a mare, am I not?”
At this point, Cadance burst into laughter as she held onto Lucian to avoid falling over.
“Oh you silly colt,” she said, her voice full of amusement. “What does that even have to do with anything?”
“I’m not a colt,” said Lucian, clearly exasperated at this point. “In fact, I'm not even a stallion! I'm a mare who got stuck in a stallion's body! I never had any sort of feelings for mares before this! And the only pony I ever loved was a stallion!”
“So? Many ponies like both mares and stallions. I can tell you about several of my past romances-”
“Moving on!” Lucian said quickly. “I certainly don't want or need a special somepony right now. I mean, things are confusing enough for me as is with my transformation and everything. I already get plenty of attention from Rarity and Rainbow, why would I want more?”
The pink alicorn couldn't help but giggle.
“Aww, you're such a player!”
“Cadance!” said Lucian. “I mean, they're both pretty attractive in their own way, but I'm just not interested in them or anypony.”
“So, what are you going to tell them?”
“I don’t know,” said Lucian. “I’ll figure it out later!”
“You mean like how you’ll figure out how you feel about Twilight?”
Lucian tried to answer, but found himself unable to say anything. Even after all the time he’d spent with Twilight, he still didn’t like thinking about how he felt for her, especially given how unsure he was as to why he was feeling that way. Cadance seemed quite aware of this, as she soon began to speak.
“My point is, Lucian, that you can't simply bury your feelings forever. Sooner or later you're going to have to confront them. Maybe you felt differently about Twilight when you were a mare. Or maybe deep down you always felt this way about her, and you just started to notice after spending a lot of time with her. Regardless, you’re going to have to decide what she truly means to you.”
Lucian looked down, not wanting to look at Cadance. He began to think about Rainbow and Rarity. He thought about how intent on getting him to notice them they had been. How they felt about him, and how he'd never been able to feel the same way about them.
He then began to think about Twilight. She had offered him a place in her home, helped him keep his secret hidden from everypony else, and helped him make friends. There was no doubt in his mind that she was a true friend to him. Even so, he wasn't entirely sure he could ever consider her anything more than a friend.
“If you need to think about it, that's fine,” Cadance said suddenly, snapping him out of his thoughts. “But the sooner you decide, the better it will be for everypony involved.”
As she gave him an encouraging smile, the young princess left the room to join her husband and sister-in-law. After a brief moment of contemplation, Lucian sighed and followed her.
Twilight walked along the hallways as she headed off to her first class. As she passed the various students who were heading off towards their own classes, she wondered if she would get to talk to any of them, and if any of them were one of her classmates. She then wondered If any of them would become her friends, and what adventures, big or small, they would have together.
“Well, this is certainly interesting.”
Broken out of her thoughts, Twilight turned her head around, trying to identify the source of the voice. She knew that there were many humans around her, but the voice she had heard felt so very familiar. She looked around, trying to see if anypony had spoken.
It was at this point that she realized that there wasn’t anypony in her vicinity. There were only… humans?
Absolutely nothing was making sense. Humans were nothing more than an old mare's tale, something to keep little ponies up at night. On that note, how could they even have schools? They weren’t intelligent enough to learn anything useful.
“Is this a dream?” she asked.
“Wow, a lot of ponies don't figure that out until they're awake,” said the voice from before.
Realizing that the source of the voice was right behind her, Twilight spun around. To her surprise, she was met by a tall boy with blue hair and orange-yellow skin, wearing a pair of jeans, a black leather jacket, and a red and white t-shirt. He seemed to be carrying a guitar, and was watching her in fascination. Twilight stared in confusion for a minute, trying to figure out who he might be, until her mind caught up with the rest of her body.
“Lucian?”
“This is some dream you got here.”
Twilight looked at Lucian in confusion. While she was now aware that this was, in fact, a dream, she was still not entirely sure what was supposed to happen now or why Lucian was in it, or why he was so interested in the first place.
Noting the confused expression on her face, Lucian continued.
“You see, one of my duties as the guardian of the night is to look over the dreams of ponies. Most of the time I don't interfere, but occasionally I try to reinforce the positive aspects and downplay the negative. Sometimes bad dreams can be a symptom of a deeper underlying problem, which I can help address.”
Twilight was beginning to recover from her initial shock, and was now looking around in fascination.
“So, you can look at and enter the dreams of other ponies?” she asked.
“That's right,” said Lucian with a nod.
“And you're currently in my dream, right?”
“Yeah, I've entered your dreams.”
Twilight looked around speechlessly, observing the strange new world around her in deep thought. It felt so very real, and yet it was all in her head. It was her dream.
And Lucian could see this and so many other dreams.
“So, how do you do that?” she said, turning to face Lucian excitedly. He in turn raised his eyebrow in confusion.
“Do what?” he asked.
“You know! Enter dreams!” said Twilight. “I've never heard of anything like that!”
“Oh, yeah?” said Lucian. “Well, it’s kind of a lost art. Before my banishment, it was much more widespread, but it was pretty hard for many ponies, so most didn’t get too far. I was pretty much the only pony who could master it, so when I was gone, the knowledge quickly faded away”
“That’s such a shame,” Twilight said solemnly. “I mean, there’s so much I could see and learn from dream walking, and it would be so interesting to…”
For a moment, Twilight seemed to trail off into her own thoughts. Lucian stared at her, wondering what was going through her mind. Before he could ask her, however, she turned towards him with a wide grin on her face.
“And you could teach me!”
“Wait, what?!”
Whatever Lucian had been expecting, it had certainly not been this. Twilight, however, seemed too excited to notice.
“Of course!” she said. “I mean, you said you’re a master of dream walking, didn’t you? So you can teach me how to do it! And if I learn it, not only will I be able to visit other ponies’ dreams, but it won’t have to be a lost art anymore!”
“Whoa, there,” said Lucian. “Dream walking requires great magical and mental strength, more than most ponies can even dream of.”
“I’m Celestia’s student,” said Twilight. “I’m sure I can handle it!”
“I know you are,” said Lucian, “but that doesn’t mean it would be any easier. Even I had to train for years before I could master the art of dream walking.”
“But I want to know how! Can’t you teach me, Lucian?”
Twilight stared at Lucian with the widest eyes she could muster. He in turn did his best to ignore them, reminding himself that the art of dream walking was a difficult form of magic even for him to learn, and that most ponies who had tried to learn it had been completely overwhelmed by the experience.
But how could he say no to her? She was certainly strong, and she had the determination to learn the art of dream walking. But more importantly, she was his best friend. She had helped him in so many ways, and he had done so little to show his appreciation.
And he really did enjoy spending time with her.
“Well, I suppose I could teach you,” said Lucian. “But I should warn you, it’s pretty intense stuff.”
Barely fazed by Lucian’s warning, Twilight began to bounce in circles, squealing in delight as she squeezed her hands together. However, she stopped just as quickly as she had started.
“Hey, Lucian?” she asked.
“Yes, Twilight?”
“Can we get back to normal? I mean, it’s interesting to be like, well, this, but it’s starting to get a bit weird.
“I see,” Lucian said with a nod. “Give me a second.”
Much to Twilight’s surprise, the world began to grow bright with a strange light. As it grew brighter, Twilight had to raise her arm to protect her eyes. She then felt her whole body changing, the clothes on her body dissolving, her hands and feet expanding and contracting into hooves, and her horn expanding out of her forehead.
In an instant, she found herself standing in the middle of a white void, in her normal body. Caught off guard by the utter lack of, well, anything, she began to walk backwards, and failed to take note of the stallion behind her.
“Whoa!”
“Oh! I’m so sorry… Lucian?”
Twilight looked at her friend in surprise. Rather than the midnight blue alicorn she had been expecting, she was met by an orange-yellow pegasus with a blue mane. His cutie mark seemed to be some sort of blue shield with a yellow lightning bolt.
All things considered, it was actually kind of attractive.
“You look different,” she said, unsure of what else to say.
“I know,” he said with a shrug. “See, I’ve been using different forms whenever I visit dreams now.”
“Why?”
“I guess it’s just that I don’t want ponies to notice me,” Lucian explained. “When I go into other ponies’ dreams, they often see me, and occasionally they remember their encounter when they wake up. Back when I was a mare, it wasn’t so bad since pretty much anypony could say they saw a princess in their dreams. But of course, if somepony said they saw a male Luna in their dreams, it would attract attention. And if a lot of ponies began seeing me in their dreams, it might start leading to someuncomfortable revelations.”
“I see,” Twilight said with a nod. “But if you can change your shape, then why don’t you just change into your old self?”
“Well,” Lucian began, “I did, for a while. It kind of felt comfortable to know that, even if I was a guy in the real world, I could still be the mare I'd always been within dreams.”
"Oh," said Twilight. "Then why are you a guy now?"
"I don't know," said Lucian. "To be honest, over time, it just started to feel more natural to be a guy, you know? I guess I just got so used to being a guy in the real world that I just stopped taking on my original form within my dreams."
"Really?" said Twilight. "Well, that's really great! I mean, it's good that you aren't having too many problems with being a stallion!"
“Good?!" said Lucian. “How can this be good?! Just a few months ago, I was freaking out over the fact that I was a stallion, and now I’m just… accepting it? I mean, what if I get too used to it? What if, when the time comes for me to finally turn myself back, I don’t want to go back? What if-”
Before Lucian could continue, Twilight pressed her hoof against his mouth.
“Lucian, I know that this is frustrating for you. And I know you’re worried about what the future holds and how you’ll deal with it. But one of the things I’ve learned from my studies is that worrying about the future will often cause more harm than good. You’ll be able to deal with your problems as they come, but right now, you should focus on what we’re doing right now.
As Twilight finished, she removed her hoof from Lucian’s mouth. He in turn sighed in relief.
“You’re right. Thanks.”
Twilight gave him a warm smile, causing him smile back. They then turned away, both full of thoughts and theories on the physical and psychological effects of genderflipping on a lunar alicorn.
“So," said Twilight, "I know you can change shape in dreams, but can you also do so in the real world?”
Much to the curious mare’s surprise, Lucian cringed.
“I could, but I don't. Not after that lightbulb incident.”
As he looked away awkwardly, Twilight stared at him briefly, hoping he’d elaborate. After about a minute, however, she decided to change the subject.
“You know, that form isn’t so bad,” said Twilight. “Did you make it up or did you get it from somepony?”
“It actually belongs to one of the castle guards,” explained Lucian. “I prefer to take the forms of who get stuck with the night shift, so they don’t notice if somepony goes around in dreams looking like them.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Twilight said as she turned around him, keenly observing Lucian’s borrowed form. Noticing this, he couldn’t help but chuckle.
“You know, if you like it so much, I could always hook you up.”
“What?! No!” said Twilight, an intense blush forming on her face. “Just because I liked that form doesn’t mean I like the guy who it belongs to!”
Hey, relax,” said Lucian. “I’m just fooling around. And besides, it’s not like he’s good enough to actually grab your attention.”
Flash Sentry was having a rather normal night. Of course, ‘normal’ tended to mean ‘boring’. Nopony ever came to the castle for any reason during the night, and few ponies were ambitious or foolish enough to attempt to trespass. As a result, his night shift stationed next to the main entrance was filled with nothing but standing around waiting for it to end.
However, as the young guard awaited the moment when his shift would be over and he could go back to sleep, he suddenly sneezed loudly. Before he could even register what had happened, he sneezed again. As he recovered from the sudden shock, he began to feel inexplicably disappointed.
“Hey Flash, you okay?”
Flash turned towards his partner, a unicorn guard, who was looking at him with concern.
“Oh, I’m perfectly fine,” he said, an awkward smile forming on his face.
“You sure, dude?” the other guard asked. “You kind of worried me for a second.”
“I’m okay,” said Flash, “but for some reason, I can’t help but feel as if I just got screwed over by destiny.”
The other guard stared at him for a minute before turning back and shaking his head.
Twilight breathed deeply as she observed the swirling vortex before her. She was excited about what was about to happen, but also somewhat nervous. There was no way of knowing what awaited her on the other side of the opening Lucian had created. She wondered what it would be like to travel into another pony’s dream, and to be able to see what occurred in the subconscious part of their minds.
There was also a tiny bit of her that wondered if this would count as invading somepony's privacy.
“Don't worry, Twilight,” said Lucian. “Spike knows you, lives with you, and helps you every single day. He’s pretty much your son, isn’t he?”
Twilight glared at him.
“Okay, maybe not your son,” said Lucian. “But if there’s anyone whose dreams you should see, it’s Spike.”
“I know,” said Twilight. “It’s still a bit weird, though. But I think I can do it.”
Lucian smiled at Twilight's newfound determination.
“Okay, then, Twilight. Welcome to our introductory lesson of Dreamwalking 101. Today we'll be exploring the basics of entering dreams and-”
Lucian paused at the sound of giggling.
“What?” he asked, half irritated, half curious.
“Oh, nothing,” said Twilight, struggling to keep her giggles in check. “It's just that this reminds me of how I started off teaching you how to make friends on that Nightmare Night, only now it’s all reversed.”
“Oh,” said Lucian. “You know, I think that was the first time we really got to know each other.”
“Yeah, I think it was.”
The two ponies began to chuckle together, before Lucian continued with his lesson.
“As I was saying, while it is true that there is magic involved in entering dreams, the most important part is mental. In order to enter a dream, a pony must have a strong will, complete focus, and most essentially, a clear objective.”
“I see,” said Twilight. “I think I can manage will and focus, but I'm not so sure about the objective part. I mean, why do you need an objective?”
“The truth is,” said Lucian, “I’m not entirely sure. What I do know, however, is that the mind of a pony, or dragon, in this case, will try to resist the invasion of any foreign objects, like the body would. So my theory is that having an objective somehow shields the dreamwalker from being repelled by the mind.”
“But you aren’t sure?” Twilight said with a raised eyebrow.
“Hey, it’s the best I got,” said Lucian. “If you have any ideas, by all means, tell me.”
“Fine,” said Twilight. “Anyways, what kind of objective?”
“Well, for me, my objective has always been to protect ponies as they sleep,” said Lucian. “Of course, for you that might not be the case. After all, you don't exactly have to watch over Equestria. Therefore, you will have to find what that objective is for you. It doesn't have to be too specific, but you do have to have a clear idea of what you want to do.”
“Okay,” said Twilight, turning back towards the vortex. She began to think about what she could accomplish by venturing into Spike's dream. Sure, she had some ideas of what could happen if she entered somepony's dream, but they were all vague and unsorted. In order to travel into a dream, she'd need something much clearer than simply getting to learn things.
She then began to wonder what Spike was dreaming about. It was probably something involving Rarity, gemstones, or both. She had often wondered what happened in the little dragon's head when nopony was looking.
And then, Twilight knew what her objective was.
She closed her eyes, clearing her mind of everything else. She thought about what she needed to do. She focused on her objective, and the vortex in front of her. Then, she slowly walked into it.
As she made her way into the dream, she began to feel a sudden force, like a giant wall, pushing her back. She in turn kept moving farther in, pushing against the mysterious force with every bit of strength she could muster. She began to sweat as she moved deeper and deeper, and her breath became more and more laborious. Finally, she fell to her hooves, pain and exhaustion filling her whole body.
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, she thought to herself as she gasped for air.
To her surprise, her exhaustion slowly began to fade away. She slowly rose up, marveling at her recovery. Once she was confident that she could move once again, she resumed her march.
As Twilight made her way through the vortex, she began to notice a few objects forming around her. Trees, grass, and a hill all took shape, creating a scenery not unlike the outskirts of Ponyville. The strain on her body dissipated as well, until she felt perfectly normal.
Finally, she stopped walking and looked at her surroundings in surprise. Everything, from the wind flowing through her mane to the warmth of the sun, felt so much like her own dreams.
“Amazing,” she said to herself. “So, this is Spike's dream?”
“It sure is,” said a familiar voice behind her. She turned around, and was greeted by the sight of the alicorn prince she had grown so accustomed to seeing.
“Lucian!” she said in surprise. “You're back to normal!”
“Yes,” Lucian said. “It’s normal for me to be a guy now, isn’t it?”
“Oh, yeah,” said Twilight. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re forgiven.”
“I have to admit, though, it was pretty hard to get in.”
“Yeah, I noticed,” said Lucian.
The curious mare raised her eyebrow in confusion. Her eyes then widened in realization.
“That was your magic helping me back there!” Twilight said.
Upon realizing this, her head began to drop, and a solemn look formed on her face.
“I never thought it would be this hard,” she said. “Maybe I’m not ready for this.”
“Hey, come on,” Lucian said as he place his hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “You did a lot better than most ponies do on their first try. Back before my banishment, most ponies couldn’t even enter a dream on their first try, even if another pony was helping them.”
Encouraged by Lucian’s words, Twilight managed to give him a small smile. As she did so, however, it got replaced by a smirk.
“Do you mean that or are you just saying that to make me feel better?”
“I meant every word,” said Lucian.
“I don’t believe you!”
“But it’s the truth!”
“Oh, you liar!” said Twilight, as the two of them began to laugh. However, they both stopped as they heard a familiar voice.
“Why, of course I shall rescue fair lady Rarity! I, Sir Spike, am willing to risk my life in order to save her!
Lucian and Twilight immediately began to run up the hill towards the source of the voice. Reaching the top, they were greeted by the sight of a large, muscular purple dragon clad in armor and carrying a lance as he stared down an army of diamond dogs. Far away, tied to a large diamond-shaped rock, was Rarity, dressed in one of her elegant dresses.
“Help meeee!” she cried in horror, causing the dogs to laugh evilly.
“Fear not, milady,” said Spike. “I shall be there for you very soon!”
“You no can rescue her,” yelled the leader of the diamond dogs. “You just one, and there lots of us!”
“Oh, but I am stronger than you can imagine,” said Spike. “Plus, I don't spend my days sniffing my butt like you mutts!”
As the diamond dog army snarled in anger, Twilight and Lucian sat on the mountain, eager for the show to start.
“I wonder if all his dreams are like this,” said Twilight.
“Maybe not, but there's no doubt Rarity appears in them a lot,” said Lucian.
Twilight nodded in agreement as the battle began. Unsurprisingly, Spike quickly gained the advantage, easily knocking out dog after dog. As heroic and valiant as it seemed, Lucian couldn’t help but feel somewhat bored.
“This is actually kind of dull,” said Lucian. “I mean, he’s an invincible hero facing off against hordes of evil creatures in order to rescue a damsel in distress. Honestly, it’s like a chapter of amateur fiction.”
“Well, he is still a baby dragon,” Twilight said with a shrug. “You can’t really expect much else.”
“I guess that’s true,” said Lucian. “Although it is kind of interesting that, of all the monsters he could have imagined for his epic Rarity rescue fantasy, he’d dream of Diamond Dogs.”
“Oh, that was probably from the time they kidnapped her.”
Lucian turned towards Twilight in surprise.
“Wait, you mean Rarity actually got kidnapped by diamond dogs?”
“She sure did,” said Twilight. “She and Spike were looking for gemstones outside Ponyville when they were attacked by a group of them who wanted to use her to find gems. After that he called us up to help save her, only it turns out that she was able to deal with them herself pretty well.”
Lucian stared at her in shock. He couldn't decide if he should be amazed by Rarity's ability to deal with the diamond dogs, or if he should feel dumbfounded by the fact that they had been defeated by a seemingly harmless unicorn.
“Okay,” he said at last. “So, I guess this is what he wishes would have happened instead?”
“Probably,” said Twilight.
Lucian shrugged, and the two ponies went back to observing the battle. It was almost over; diamond dogs lay all over the battlefield, defeated by the brave dragon knight. The few who remained were beginning to realize the hopelessness of the situation and retreat. All the while, Rarity was observing in awe as her rescuer slowly approached.
“I believe you could use some help, milady.”
Rarity's eyes went wide as the young dragon drew his sword to cut her free. She then leaped into his arms, hugging him as hard as she could.
“Oh, my brave Spikey-Wikey! You saved me!”
“I could do no less, milady, for you are a beautiful pony and deserve to be treated as such.”
The two dream walking ponies couldn't help but snicker as Spike spoke the cheesiest words imaginable to his beloved. At the same time, Lucian began to unconsciously move his hoof up, placing it on Twilight's back. She gave a slight gasp in surprise, shocking him into moving his hoof away.
“Lucian,” she started with a raised eyebrow.
“I'm sorry,” he said apologetically, pulling his hoof back towards his body. “I didn't mean to do that.”
“No, it's okay,” Twilight said quickly. “I mean, I don't mind.”
Lucian looked at her uncertainly, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable. However, her smile reassured him enough to place his hoof back around her back. They then turned back towards Spike's dream, watching as he got down on his knee to present Rarity with a ring.
To Lucian’s surprise, Twilight then placed a kiss on his cheek.
“I really enjoy spending time with you, Lucian.”
Lucian felt his cheeks glowing. He tried to look at her, but felt too embarrassed to do so.
“I… um… I… like spending time with you too, Twilight.”
The two ponies smiled awkwardly as they watched the two dream lovebirds.
A little filly walked happily through the meadow alongside her family. The sky was perfectly clear, the birds were singing joyfully, and the sun was shining brightly over everything. Most importantly, the whole family was there to have fun together. Everything was absolutely perfect.
As the young filly moved into the shade of the forest, however, she failed to notice something lurking in the shadows. To a casual observer, it may have simply seemed to be another shadow, but that analysis merely scratched the surface. It had once commanded the fear and respect of ponies across the country, only to be reduced to hiding aways as it stalked ponies, thus making it even more of a shadow than anypony could have ever known.
Slowly, the shadow began to expand, taking up more space as the ponies around it chased each other happily, oblivious to the growing threat looming in the dark. As it did so, a few of its features began to change in shape and color, forming a purple mass which almost resembled a pony’s face. However, it did not stop there, as a horn began to form around the top of its head. Then eyes, nostrils, and a mouth began to become apparent around the face, and even the remaining shadowy essence, which was slowly turning a dark purple, began to resemble a pony's mane.
This was no ordinary pony, however. Unlike a regular unicorn's horn, several of the spirals on this one were broken, as if some sort of magical surge had burst through and damaged it. In addition, it ended in a sharp point, which was as black as night. The mouth was lined with sharp teeth, and the long shadowy mane flowed down towards the ground. But the most striking feature was the shadowy being’s two black eyes, within which one could almost see a darkness more terrible than even the dark days of Discord’s rule.
As the shadowy being moved towards the happy family, it observed the family as they all played together, and in particular, the little filly. As it did so, a sort of mocking smile formed on its face.
“What an adorable dream,” it said, watching as the whole family gathered together for a group hug. “A dream so full of love, and hope, and joy and... harmony.”
As the last word rolled off its tongue, the dark being's smile was replaced by a disgusted scowl. It sneered as its gaze fell on the family once again as they began to separate to play a game of some sort.
“And why shouldn't ponies dream of harmony?” it asked to nopony in particular. “After all, harmony has great power. It was able to imprison the mighty Discord and Nightmare Moon, and even release Princess Luna from her imprisonment. Not to mention that those who are able to wield it are some of the greatest heroes in Equestria. So what could possibly be more powerful than harmony?”
It turned to look at the little filly once more, and its scowl was replaced by a smile. But not a smile of joy or sympathy, but something much more sinister.
“Do you really want to know the answer, little filly?”
With a burst of black and purple energy, the sharp horn began to discharge energy into the surrounding environment. As it observed the dark spell take effect, the shadowy being laughed evilly.
“It's fear.”
Instantly the leaves on the trees began to shrivel up and fall away, as the sky became overcast with dark clouds. Meanwhile, the wind began to blow intensely, and the grass and flowers on the ground began to vanish. All the while, the little filly watched in shock, slowly walking backwards.
“Um, mommy? What's happening?”
When her mother failed to answer, the scared filly turned towards where the rest of her family had been, only to gasp in shock when she realized there was nopony there.
“Mommy? Daddy?” she asked, her voice full of terror. “Is anyone there?”
She looked all around, hoping to get a glimpse of her family, but finding only the dark forest.
“If this-if this is some kind of joke, it's not funny!”
A sudden burst of howling in the distance caused the filly’s blood to curdle. She looked in the direction of the sound while she began to walk in the opposite direction. As the barking sounds got closer, she began to run, turning back to see what was happening as the sounds got closer. In the distance, she could see several pairs of glowing green eyes.
“Mommy?! Daddy?! Anyone?!”
She suddenly noticed even more eyes glowing in the darkness before her, and stopped in her tracks. As she gasped for breath, she watched as something began to emerge from the shadows. At first she could only see a paw similar to that of a dog but seemingly made of some sort of plant material. As the creature made its way towards her, she saw both its front legs, like branches that had been twisted into something evil, and the main body, which resembled some sort of sickly tree trunk. But the most terrifying feature of all was its head, where all the broken branches, warped sticks, and pieces of bark came together to form a terrifying mockery of a real wolf's face.
Faced with such a horror, the filly could only scream.
As the terrified filly ran as fast as her legs could carry her, the shadowy figure laughed gleefully.
“So this is what fun means!” it said to itself. “Oh, I wish I could do this every night!”
“Apple Bloom?”
The dark being stood still in shock as it heard another voice. As far as it knew, it had eliminated all other ponies in the filly's dream, so the only place the voice could have come from would be the outside world. Which meant that it had to leave, and fast.
Immediately the shadow blasted a hole in the fabric of the dream, flinging itself out into the real world, landing right under the unfortunate pony's bed. It stood there for a moment, barely even moving, until the young earth pony woke with a scream.
“Apple Bloom!” said the older pony. “What happened?”
“Applejack!” sobbed Apple Bloom. “It was horrible! There were timberwolves, and they were everywhere, and- and-”
“Oh, Apple Bloom,” the older sister said soothingly. Seizing its chance, the shadow slipped out from under the bed and moved through the darkness towards an open window, unnoticed by the two earth ponies.
Once outside, it quickly moved away from the castle, making its way through the frosty streets of Canterlot. While it knew that it was moving away from the princesses and element bearers, it knew everything it needed to know. All it needed to do was wait.
As it made its way back towards Ponyville, it turned back towards the castle one last time.
“I'm still not ready,” it said angrily. “But my powers are coming back, Celestia. One day very soon, I shall be ready to take back what is rightfully mine. And when I am, not even your precious student and her pathetic little friends will be able to stop me.”
Lucian and Twilight walked through the throne room, observing the various snacks and delicacies that had been laid out, as well as the dazzling multicolored lights, bright green bunches of freshly-picked holly, and delicately sculpted ice ornaments that now adorned the room. There was no doubt in their minds that the Princess’s private Hearth’s Warming party was going to be quite spectacular.
“I can’t wait for the party to start,” said Twilight.
“Me neither,” said Lucian. “I've never been to a Hearth’s Warming party before.”
“Really?” said Twilight. “Well then, we’d better make sure you enjoy it.”
“Indeed,” said a voice behind them. The two ponies turned back to see Celestia watching them with interest.
“I see you’re both here early,” she said. “Am I right in assuming that you wished to teach Lucian as much as you could about Hearth Warming parties before he got to experience his first one?”
“Oh, that’s right!” said Twilight. “I don’t want it to look like he doesn't understand anything and end up blowing his cover.”
“That would be a real disaster,” said Lucian.
“Really?” said Celestia, an amused smirk forming on her face. “Are you sure you wouldn't like more ponies to know that you've come out of the closet?”
“Don’t get any ideas, sis,” said Lucian. “If I want more ponies to know, I’ll tell them. Right now, though, I’d like to keep it a secret.”
“Fair enough, I guess,” said Celestia. “The party will begin in an hour, so make sure you look your best.”
Lucian and Twilight nodded, and then left to prepare themselves for the party. As they reached the throne room doors, Lucian noticed the strange plant that had been hung from the top. It was a plant with smooth oval leaves and a cluster of white berries.
“What’s that?” he asked, pointing his hoof at it.
“Oh, that’s just mistletoe.”
“Mistletoe?”
“It’s tradition to hang it from the ceiling during the Hearth Warming season,” explained Twilight. “Also, when a mare and a stallion are together under it, they have to-”
To Lucian’s surprise, Twilight stopped abruptly. She then took a few steps back, her face becoming red.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing,” said Twilight. “It’s just… the mistletoe.”
“What about it?”
Twilight’s face became even redder as she looked away from him.
“If we were both under it, we’d have to kiss.”
Lucian’s face became as red as Twilight’s at this newest revelation. He then backed away from the door and joined her, eyeing the mistletoe fearfully.
“Okay,” he said. “You go first.”
“No, you go,” said Twilight. “I mean, you’re a prince.”
“No, ladies first,” said Lucian.
The two ponies looked nervously at the mistletoe, then back at each other. There was no way they’d be able to decide on who would walk through the door first, but going together would mean facing the mistletoe. They were trapped.
“You know you could just teleport, right?” said Celestia. “Or try the other doorway.”
“All right everypony! It's time to paaar-tay!”
Everypony cheered as Pinkie turned on the music. As the party began, most of the guests began to dance, while Pinkie Pie began to bounce around the tables, eager to stuff herself. Cadance, however, was currently listening to the woes of a certain pair of element bearers.
“And that's why I'm perfect for Lucian!” said Rarity. “I'm refined, elegant, and composed, unlike this unladylike ruffian!”
“Hey, I'm the fastest pony in Equestria!” said Rainbow. “I'm cool, awesome and radical!”
“Aren't those all the same thing?” Cadance asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Most ponies would think so,” said Rainbow. “But they're wrong!”
“Hey Cadance, Shining wants to know if you were interested in some peppermint...”
The two smaller mares turned excitedly towards the voice, which they knew belonged to the stallion of their dreams. He, in turn, simply stared at them in horror.
The minute that followed felt like years to Lucian.
“Yes!” said Cadance, wishing to break the tension. “I'm feeling hungry! Peppermint sounds good! It's festive, right?”
“Of course!” Rarity said, a wide smile forming on her face. “Lucian, dear, shall we go get something together?”
“Oh no you don't!” said Rainbow Dash. “I'm the one who's gonna get Lucian food!”
“I'm sorry,” said Rarity. “I don't recall him saying he'd go with you!”
“Well, he didn't say anything about not eating with me!” said Rainbow Dash. “And for the record, he didn't say anything about you either!”
“Why you-”
“Girls!”
The two arguing mares turned towards Lucian, who was glaring at them both with a frown on his face.
“Haven't you two agreed not to fight over me?”
Rarity and Rainbow looked back towards each other, both with pained expressions on their faces.
“Yes, we did,” said Rarity.
“Agreed,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Okay,” said Cadance. “So you both like Lucian, right? But he's just one guy. So we need to figure something out before you end up doing something really stupid.”
As she finished, Cadance raised her hoof to her chin, trying to think of a potential solution to their dilemma. She knew that Lucian didn't like either of the two mares. She also knew that he did have feelings for Twilight, and that Twilight had feelings for him too. There had to be some way to get them both together without incurring the wrath of Rarity and Rainbow.
She then scanned around the room, trying to find Twilight. As she looked however, her eyes fell on the mistletoe that had been hung from the entryway.
In an instant, a brilliant idea came to her.
“I got it!”
Rarity and Rainbow looked at her eagerly. Lucian did so too, although he was clearly less enthusiastic about it.
“So, do you ponies see that mistletoe over there?”
The three ponies turned around in the direction Cadance had pointed. Once they noticed the small plant, Rarity and Rainbow's faces turned into huge grins. Lucian, on the other hand, cringed in fear as the realization hit him.
“Here are the rules,” said Cadance. “The first mare to end up under the mistletoe with Lucian is the one who will have exclusive rights to dating him. May the best mare win!”
“Yes!” the two mares said together. Lucian, on the other hand, was shaking his head in terror.
No way, he thought, I did not come here for this! I need to get out of here! But they'd insist I stay... maybe I could tell them I have to feed Spike? No, he's here, that would never work! Oh, maybe if I said I forgot to do my laundry! But I hardly wear clothes other than my hoodie, and of course, I just had it washed last night! What do I do?
“So, Lucian!”
Lucian snapped out of his thoughts to see Rarity and Rainbow grinning at him in expectation. He jumped back a few inches in shock, then tried to speak.
“Oh, uh, hello! Nice to see you finally agree on something!”
He then chuckled awkwardly as the two mares kept grinning at him. As sweat began to form on his brow, he decided it was time to get out.
“Oh, hey, I'd like to stay and chat, but, you see, I... I forgot to feed my laundry!”
Before anypony could comment on this, Lucian had already teleported.
“Damn it, Cadance!”
Even though he was now alone, Lucian had still yelled out. Sighing in frustration, he took a moment to gather his bearings. Looking around, he noticed that he had landed in a rather heavily wooded part of the royal gardens. The ground around him was covered in freshly-fallen snow, but the pathway nearby had been swept clean. Through the thin veil of fragile snowflakes, he could see the castle, covered in white frost and colorful Hearth’s Warming lights.
Lucian then noticed a long, rough-looking branch lying under a snow-coated tree, one which seemed to have fallen off quite recently. Curious, he took it in his magical grip, taking a good look at it, getting a feeling of its approximate size and texture. As he did so, his horn glowed with magic power, bending the shape of the branch until it was very thin, with a curved end like a sort of hook.
Satisfied with his work, he began to walk through the garden, slinging the newly created staff onto his shoulders. As he admired the beauty which now covered the land, he noticed a patch of ground where the snow had been disturbed, revealing the ground beneath. With a smile on his face, he pointed his staff towards it and charged up a freezing spell. As he did so, the staff was slowly covered in icy energy, which was then shot from the hooked end towards the patch of ground. In an instant, the ground was once more covered in snow.
Lucian chuckled at his most recent action, and then turned his gaze upwards to observe the snowflakes falling upon him.
“You know, I could have been a snow spirit,” he said out loud. “I could have been flying through the sky right now, waving my staff and spreading winter across Equestria. I would’ve been great at doing that.”
“I bet you would.”
Hearing the voice behind him, Lucian turned around to see Cadance standing before him.
“Nice staff, by the way.”
“Uh, yeah,” said Lucian, the staff shaking slightly in his magic grip. “it’s… nice.”
For a moment, the pink alicorn looked towards him, waiting for him to elaborate. He did not, however, so she shrugged and turned her head upwards.
“It’s nice out here,” said Cadance. “Snow everywhere, peace and quiet.”
“Yeah,” said Lucian. “It’s nice.”
“Look,” said Cadance. “I’m sorry about what happened back there. I should have told you what I was thinking before I said that.”
“It’s all right,” said Lucian. “I should have been honest with them long ago.”
“Not just with them, Lucian.”
The dark blue stallion turned back to look towards the younger pink alicorn. She was looking at him with a concerned look on her face. While she didn’t say a word, Lucian understood perfectly well.
“Do you really think this is the right time?”
“I do,” Cadance, said, offering Lucian a warm smile. He smiled back, though it was quickly replaced by a frown.
“But what if it doesn’t work out?”
“Oh Lucian,” said Cadance. “What makes you think it wouldn’t work out?”
Lucian tried to speak, but he found himself unable to do so. Even though he wanted to talk about his past, and the tragedies that his love had brought so many centuries ago, he could not do so. Even though he wanted to open up to Cadance, he could not bring himself to do so, for that would mean another pony who could betray his trust.
That was all opening up to ponies had meant, after all. For once, so many years ago, he had decided to allow another pony to become a close friend, someone whom he believed he could have absolute faith in. But in the end, where had that led him? Nothing but pain, sorrow, and regrets.
It was the greatest reason he had never truly opened up to anypony, even those as close to him as Cadance. It was why he had spent so long locked away from the rest of the world after his return, never wanting to befriend other ponies. He couldn’t bear such betrayal.
But would Twilight Sparkle betray me as well?
From the day he had arrived at her library, Twilight had always supported him, never showing even the slightest hint of ill wishes towards him. Indeed, were it not for her support, he would never have managed to come out of his shell and get to know other ponies.
In an instant, Lucian was filled with determination. He understood that opening up to anypony could carry the risk of betrayal. However, he knew that, of all the ponies in the world, Twilight was undoubtedly the one who he was willing to to take that risk for.
“You’re right,” he said, looking straight at Cadance. “Just because putting my trust in others led me to tragedy once doesn’t mean it will do so this time.”
“What?”
“I need to tell Twilight,” said Lucian. “And also Rainbow and Rarity.”
He then began to walk back towards the castle. As he did so, he noticed the pink mare walking with him.
“Hey Cadance,” he said. “Do you think that maybe you could tell the mares that you decided to cancel their little competition? I’d do it myself, but I’m afraid they’re going to try to skin me alive for-”
“Who said anything about canceling?”
The lunar prince stopped in his tracks at the revelation.
“What?” he said. “I thought we agreed that we need to get them to stop chasing me!”
To his surprise, Cadance then began to giggle.
“Oh Lucian. Did you really think I’d let them get between the two of you?”
Twilight was dancing to the beat of the music. At least, if one were to ask her. If one were to ask anypony else, they would say she walking forward while flailing her front hooves wildly with her eyes closed and shaking her head in all directions. Regardless, she loved to do it at parties ever since the time she and her friends joined Rarity at Fancy Pants’ garden party.
She silently wondered why Spike was laughing at her, however.
Deciding it was time to take a break, she put her front hooves back on the floor and began to make her way towards the table. Just before she could reach it, however, there was a flash of blue magic, and Twilight jumped up as a certain blue stallion wielding a wooden staff appeared right in front of her.
“Hey, Twilight! Good to see you’re here!”
Having recovered from her initial shock, the violet mare now smiled upon seeing Lucian in front of her.
“Lucian! Where did you get that staff?”
“I made it myself while I was outside.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow as she observed the staff once more. After a moment, however, she decided it wasn’t really worth noting.
“That's nice, I guess. Anyways, I was just going to get something to eat! Do you want to join me?”
“That sounds like a great idea,” said Lucian.
Smiling, the two ponies began to look over the table, trying to decide what to eat. However, as they did, they were interrupted by a certain white unicorn who collapsed right in front of Lucian.
“Oh dear goodness!” she said. “I broke my heart!”
Everypony turned to look at Rarity, who was now lying on the floor, her legs stretched out dramatically.
“Oh dear,” she yelled out. “I am in such distress! If only there was a big, strong stallion nearby who could help take me to the royal doctor!”
As she finished, she looked hopefully towards the entryway, with the mistletoe hanging above it.
When Lucian, being the proper gentleman that he is, decides to carry me through those doors on his way to the nurse, we shall pass under the mistletoe, I’ll stop to kiss my heroic knight, and we shall live happily ever after! Why, my plan is flawless! There is nothing that can possibly-
“Hey Spike? Could you take her to the nurse?”
Rarity’s hopes were shattered as the young dragon rushed up to her and, with a burst of unexpected strength, gleefully picked her up in his arms.
“Fear not, milady!” he said excitedly. “I, Spike, shall save your life!”
To everypony’s surprise, he ran in the direction of the royal doctor’s office with impressive speed.
“How does he run while carrying her?” asked Pinkie Pie. “She’s like twice as big as he is!”
“You’re the one who’s questionin’ that?” asked Applejack.
“He’s so strong, heroic, brave, and handsome,” said Sweetie Belle, her voice full of admiration.
“Ah wish he’d carry me off like that,” Apple Bloom said as she stared in the direction Spike had gone running.
“Are you serious?!” yelled Scootaloo. “He probably has dragon cooties or something!”
As she finished, she noticed everypony staring at them in surprise. Then, everypony burst into laughter as Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom began to blush in embarrasment.
At the same time, however, a certain rainbow maned mare made her way towards Lucian.
“Hey Lucian!”
The stallion in question groaned as Rainbow made her way towards him.
“Hello, Rainbow.”
“What’s up?” she asked. “Hey, are you up for a little race?”
“Not really,” said Lucian. “I’m not a pegasus.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t use my wings, and I’ll go easy on you,” said Rainbow. “First pony to those doors is the winner. Sound good?”
“Wait, which doors?” asked Lucian. “You mean the big doors with the mistletoe, or-?”
“The big ones with the mistletoe!” said Rainbow, smiling as her plan began to approach fruition.
There was one small flaw in her plan, however.
“I’m not really an athlete, Rainbow.”
The blue pegasus smacked her hoof against her face.
“Come on!” she said in frustration. “All you have to do is run for a bit! You could even teleport if you want!”
“Like this?”
To Rainbow’s shock, Lucian suddenly vanished, re-appearing right in the doorway under the mistletoe.
“I guess I win.”
Rainbow gritted her teeth in anger. Lucian had just used her own words to beat her.
On the other hoof, he was now standing right in the sacred spot.
“Oh yeah?!” she said. “Well I’m gonna win this one!”
Before anypony could say a word, she was already flying right towards him at breakneck speeds. However, as determined as she was, she had failed to notice two things. First, Lucian’s horn was already glowing. Second, a cone of air was forming around her body.
“I cannot believe we were not invited to the Princess’s Hearth’s Warming Party!”
Jet Set sipped his tea and nodded in agreement as Upper Crust continued her rant about Celestia’s guests.
“To think that she would deny entry to members of the elite, and instead open her doors to… common ruffians!”
“Now, Upper Crust, my dear,” Fancypants said as he finished a scone. “I believe the Princess desires to spend the day with her closest friends and family. Therefore, I think they ought to be allowed to celebrate in peace.”
“Oh, yes, of course,” said Jet Set, immediately pretending to agree with Fancypants. “Still, I do hope they don’t end up damaging anything too valuable.”
“Oh, relax, you two,” said Fancypants. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
As if to answer his question, a thundering sound roared out in the distance. The three upper-class ponies jumped right out of their seats, with Jet Set and Upper Crust dropping their tea in shock. They then turned in the direction of the castle to see several bursts of light in all the colors of the rainbow shattering the windows. At the same time, a small figure that vaguely resembled a pony was shot out the doors, leaving a rainbow trail in its wake. For a moment, it curved upwards to fly up into the sky, then moved downwards in the direction of the castle. It then crashed through the ceiling, landing around the area where the castle doctor was known to reside.
For a moment, the three ponies stared silently at the rainbow-colored devastation of the castle. Jet Set and Upper Crust were imagining the misfortune they would no doubt have been caught up in had they been present at the party. They also couldn’t wait for Fancy Pants to speak, to admit how wrong he had been, and shamefully remark on how low the Princess’ standards had fallen.
They were thus shocked when Fancypants cheered enthusiastically while bouncing in place.
“Oh, did you two see that?!” he said. “Now that is what I call a party! Oh, and to think that I was berating you two for wishing to go! Oh, I definitely want to be invited next year!”
“Is everypony all right?”
After making sure Rainbow had been taken to the doctor, Celestia had returned to the throne room to ensure that nopony had been seriously injured. Fortunately, while they were all somewhat dazed and confused by the sudden turn of events, everypony seemed to be fine, though several were asking about what had happened to Rainbow.
“She'll be fine,” Celestia said reassuringly. “She just has a few minor bruises which the royal nurse will patch up, then she can come right back. That, and a broken wing.”
The others sighed in relief upon hearing this, and went back to enjoying what was left of their party. Scootaloo, however, remained worried.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to her!”
“She's been through worse,” said Celestia. “And I have some of the best doctors and nurses working here. She's in good hooves.”
Finally relieved, Scootaloo ran off to join her friends, who were already planning on getting cutie marks in castle restoration. Not too far away, Twilight rolled her eyes.
“I can't believe Rarity and Rainbow had to put up a scene like that,” she sighed. “What did they want, anyway?”
“Why don't you take a guess?” asked Lucian, causing Twilight to giggle.
“Okay, but why did they want to now?”
“Well,” said Lucian, “Cadance had the bright idea of making a little game out of this.”
“Oh?” said Twilight. “What kind of game?”
“A game?! I love games!”
The two ponies turned their heads in surprise, and were immediately met by the sight of Pinkie Pie staring right at them.
“Oh, hey Pinkie,” said Lucian. “Sorry, but this isn't exactly a game you can play.”
“Aw, why not?”
“Yeah? Why not?”
To everypony's surprise, Applejack had just arrived, followed closely by Fluttershy.
“Ah kind of want to know what sorts of shenanigans Rarity and Rainbow got themselves into this time,” said Applejack. Ah thought they would’ve sorted this whole thing with Lucian months ago.”
“I would sort of like some explanations myself,” said Fluttershy. “I mean, if it's not too much trouble.”
“No, it's all right,” said Lucian. “I'm happy to explain.”
Shining Armor had worked on several of Cadance's match-making projects before. Some of them had been fun, some had been more tiring, and some had been flat-out weird. One thing they all had in common, however, was that they always resulted in the ponies involved getting a happily-ever-after.
None of those schemes, however, had ever involved his little sister.
“Are you sure about this, Cady?” he quietly asked for the umpteenth time. “I mean, this is Twily we're talking about, not two random ponies who you think ought to be together!”
“Shiniiiing,” Cadance whispered. “They're not random match-ups! The ponies I pair together are meant for each other! I mean, when have I ever been wrong?”
“Never,” said Shining. “But I worry about Twily! And I know that Lucian is a great guy, but he used to be a girl! Shouldn't there be, you know, laws about this sort of thing?”
“I know it’s not a normal situation in any way,” said Cadance. “And I know that there’s always the chance that he might go back to being Luna. If anything, it’s much more likely than him deciding to stay as a stallion forever.”
“Probably,” said Shining.
“However,” said Cadance, “I also know that my talents have never failed me before, and right now I know that Lucian and Twilight are meant for each other. We both know what’s best for Twilight, and I know that no matter what happens, those two will always be happy together.”
As Cadance finished, she looked into her husband’s eyes. Even though he still seemed reluctant, he was also starting to show signs of understanding and trust. Slowly, a smile began to form on his face, and even a small chuckle escaped his lips.
“Okay then!” he said finally. “Let's get to work!”
The couple giggled together, and then began to power up their horns, focusing their magic onto their target. As their plan was set into motion, Shining couldn't help but worry.
I really hope we don’t screw this up, he thought.
“And then she smashed through the roof.”
As Lucian finished his story, he took a moment to look over the faces of the four mares. Pinkie seemed as joyful as ever, Fluttershy was looking somewhat red, and Applejack was raising an eyebrow and giving him a frown.
“I knew it!” said Pinkie. “Rainbow is trying to fulfill her destiny!”
“Oh my,” said Fluttershy. “I didn't think Rarity would get into so much trouble.”
“Ah could see it comin' a mile away,” said Applejack. “That's why ah tried to stay out of it.”
Lucian shrugged, then turned to Twilight. Unlike her friends, her expression was much harder to read. Her face seemed to be mostly neutral, but there were a few moments when her eyes or lips would twitch. It almost seemed as if she was... jealous?
Finally, she closed her eyes and began to speak.
“That's very interesting, Lucian. But just out of curiosity, if you had to choose, who would you pick?”
“Neither of them.”
As he spoke, he noticed that both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie’s jaws dropped. Applejack was simply chuckling to herself while muttering something about 'silly fillies', and Twilight's expression remained mostly unchanged. Still Lucian could swear he saw a brief smile flash across her face.
“Look girls,” he said. “The fact of the matter is that I'm not interested in either of them. It's not that I find them to be unattractive or anything, but they're just not my type.”
While Applejack seemed mostly indifferent, Pinkie and Fluttershy were looking towards each other in mutual understanding.
“Well,” said Pinkie, “I guess I could always help her get another good-looking stallion.”
“And Rarity will probably end up finding some new pony to fantasize over sooner or later,” said Fluttershy.
Lucian sighed in relief. Things were looking pretty good so far.
“So, if not them... what kind of mare are you interested in, Lucian?”
The disguised prince turned towards Twilight. She was looking at him with a small smile, and a glimmer of what seemed to be hope in her eye. She seemed very eager to listen to what he had to say, and he knew that it was now time to act.
Before any words could leave his mouth, a scream erupted out of nowhere.
“Incoming mortar!”
At that moment, Lucian heard a loud bang above him, and turned up to look. A large sack of bricks was falling from the ceiling, and it was going to land… right on the dessert table.
As it hit the table, several cakes were thrown into the air, and landed with uncanny precision right on top of the table where Celestia was currently seated. The only exception was a rogue chocolate cake which flew in the opposite direction, and landed on top of Shining’s head.
“Oh, come on!”
Everypony laughed at the annoyed unicorn’s predicament. Lucian stopped, however, when he heard a sudden cracking sound. As he looked up to figure out where it had come from, he noticed a large slab of roofing about to fall from the ceiling.
And to his horror, it was situated right above Twilight.
“Look out!”
Before Twilight could say anything, Lucian had already scooped her up in his hooves and dove out of the falling roof’s pathway. As it landed on the spot where she had been less than a second ago, the two ponies slid off to a safe spot not too far away.
Slowly, the shocked unicorn mare opened her eyes. As she did so, she saw her disguised alicorn roommate staring at her worriedly.
“Are you okay, Twilight?”
Suddenly realizing how close she was to him, Twilight began to blush intensely.
“I... I'm okay.”
As she spoke, she slowly began to get to her hooves. Lucian slowly did the same, using his staff to support himself.
It was at that point that they both realized that the staff had a small addition to it.
“Isn't that the mistletoe?”
They both let out a collective gasp as they realized that they were now both sitting under that same mistletoe.
At the same time, however, they were interrupted by two angry mares.
“Twilight! What do you think you're doing?!”
The lavender mare and royal blue stallion turned to see Rarity and Rainbow, the latter wearing a large number of bandages and a cast on her wing, staring at them with a mixture of anger and jealousy.
“Rarity! Rainbow! Are you all right?”
“I ought to be asking the same to you, Twilight,” said Rarity.
“Yeah,” said Rainbow. “You're getting in the way of our competition!”
“Actually, she just beat you both.”
Everypony present gasped in confusion as Cadance walked over to them. The two jealous mares, however, simply glared at her.
“What are you talking about?!” yelled Rainbow. “She's not part of this game!”
“Indeed,” said Rarity. “I don't remember her ever being mentioned when we set the rules for this game!”
“You're right,” said Cadance. “The rules never mentioned her.”
“Then why-”
“But they didn't mention you, either.”
Upon hearing this, the glares Rainbow and Rarity had been giving Cadance dissolved into looks of confusion.
“Huh?”
“Beg pardon?”
“You see,” said Cadance, “the only rule was that the first mare to end up under the mistletoe with Lucian is the one who will have exclusive rights to dating him. You never said that it had to be one of you two. And since Twilight was the one who ended up filling that requirement, she is officially the winner.”
The pink alicorn couldn't help but smirk as the two shocked mare gasped and stuttered, trying to process what she had just said.
A moment later, they both ran off in opposite directions, screaming in rage.
“Wow, what a drama queen,” said Pinkie Pie. “And Rarity's bad too.”
Lucian, however, hadn't heard a word. He was too busy staring at Twilight, who was now more red than purple.
“Well, that was... odd,” he said finally.
“Yeah,” she said.
“Guys,” said Cadance. “Don't forget that mistletoe!”
Lucian and Twilight suddenly realized that everypony was staring at them, awaiting that fateful moment. They began to blush even more intensely.
“But,” said Lucian, “I don't know what to do!”
“I... me neither.”
Even though it was only a few seconds, the silence that followed seemed to stretch on for hours. Lucian and Twilight stared at each other, unsure of how to proceed. Indeed, every fiber of their collective being wanted to run away screaming, never to be seen again.
Then, as thousand-year-old memories of another kiss came to the surface, Lucian moved towards Twilight, and their lips met.
Their first kiss proceeded slowly, with their lips softly caressing each other, and their tongues slowly moving in and out of each other's mouth. As it continued, they each felt the other's hooves slowly lifting up to tenderly stroke their faces.
Then, after what seemed like an infinite amount of time, the two broke off, silently staring into each other's eyes.
“Yaaaaay!”
The two lovers were brought back to reality by the sudden cacophony that erupted around them. They then realized that, with the exception of a gagging orange pegasus filly, everypony was cheering for them.
“Omigosh!” yelled Pinkie Pie. “Twilight and Lucian are totally dating now! I gotta organize a party to celebrate!”
Now the center of attention for everypony involved, Twilight and Lucian felt their insides dissolve into mush.
Before a single word could be spoken, both of them were gone in a flash.
Several groans were elicited, and the ponies slowly began to leave, the excitement having dissipated after the unusually eventful party.
However, one baby dragon who had just returned was currently gazing upon the wrecked throne room in shock.
Having teleported back to her room after her unexpected kiss, Twilight was now doing the most logical thing she could do under the circumstances: freak out.
“I kissed Lucian! Well, I mean, it was kind of forced on me, but I kissed him! Well, it wasn't really that bad... and he's really good at kissing! And so smart, kind, and handsome!”
Twilight giggled as her cheeks turned pink. However, as quickly as it had started, she was back to her panic mode.
“NO! That just makes it worse! I enjoyed kissing him, so Princess Celestia is going to punish me even more severely than she would have if I'd simply kissed Lucian! She'll banish me to the moon, and then have all my books burned! And then, once I come back after a thousand years, she'll send me back to magic kindergarten, but I'll be so behind that I'll fail my history test, so the Princess will banish me again, and it'll happen all over again!”
Twilight stopped pacing for a moment, looking down to make sure she hadn't worn a groove into the floor. She then quickly changed her position to start her pacing anew.
“Okay. Princess Celestia was there, so she probably is making plans to punish right now. I probably have a few minutes, so I can probably make my escape before she comes looking for me. After that, maybe I can get on the next train to Manehattan, make up a new identity, and start a new life. Maybe I can find Trixie and become her assistant or something.”
“Somehow, I can't imagine you becoming an assistant for any pony, Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight jumped in shock at the voice. She then turned towards the door, where Princess Celestia was watching her with amusement.
“Princess!” she screamed, dropping to her knees in front of her mentor. “Please don't banish me! It was an accident, I swear!”
Celestia rolled her eyes at her student's behavior.
“Seriously? I banished one family member, and now I am cursed to be eternally known as ‘The Great Banisher’. Maybe when I am buried after the final battle of Ragneighrok they'll put that on my tomb.”
Twilight felt her face getting hot as her mentor spoke. Slowly, she lifted herself off the ground.
“I'm sorry! I didn't mean to imply that you were in any way a malevolent and vengeful-”
“Twilight, do yourself a favor and shut up.”
Shocked, Twilight closed her mouth and looked at Celestia in the eyes.
“That's better. Now, shall we take a walk?”
Confused and dazed, Twilight simply nodded. The white alicorn smiled and led her out of the room.
“Well, I've experienced many Hearth's Warming parties in my life, but this was almost certainly the most eventful of them all. Then again, I suppose you know more about that than I do, don't you?”
Celestia smirked playfully at her faithful student, whose cheeks were now glowing a bright pink.
“So tell me, Twilight Sparkle. How was it?”
Twilight wished she could simply vanish.
“Oh! I-it was no-nothing special! I-I mean it's not like I even like Lucian-I mean, I do like him, but not like that! Even if he's so smart, and really cute- I totally didn't call him cute!”
Twilight looked downward as she felt her face become hotter than ever. She could hardly believe she was in this situation, with her faithful mentor's sister turned into a male, her subsequently developing a crush on him, and now having kissed him under the mistletoe. To say she was embarrassed was a huge understatement; she was quite certain she would never be able to show her face in public ever again.
Before she could teleport away, she felt a large white wing drape itself over her.
“You shouldn't be so flustered, Twilight. It is perfectly natural to be attracted to a stallion, especially one as handsome as Lucian.”
“You just called him handsome,” Twilight said quietly.
“Well, just because I'm his sister doesn't mean I can't make observations on his physical qualities,” said Celestia. “Purely for scientific reasons, mind you.”
The two mares kept walking quietly together for a while. Celestia couldn't help but smile as she observed her student's awkward facial expressions.
“You know, I always figured I would have to push you in the right direction in order for you to find a special somepony, Twilight,” said Celestia. “I must confess that I actually considered giving you an assignment in which you had to find a date for your High School prom. I'm not sure if it would have worked, but Cadance talked me out of it, so it's probably for the best.”
The white alicorn remained silent for a moment, wishing to see how Twilight would react. When she was met with nothing but silence, she began to speak once more.
“I know you are experiencing conflicting emotions right now, Twilight. And I know that Lucian is... not the most normal choice of stallion to fall for. But ultimately, when you choose a special somepony, it doesn't matter what they are, or what they used to be, or what they may become. What matters is whether or not they make you happy, and whether or not you can make them happy.”
“But that's just it!” said Twilight. “What if Lucian isn't happy with me?! What if it looks like we're both happy, but then I do something that messes everything up?! What if I end up ruining his life, and mine too?! And, even if we somehow make everything work out, how will everypony else react when they find out that I chose to date a gender-swapped Princess Luna?!”
Before Twilight could go any further, Celestia placed her hoof over her worried student's mouth.
“If anything happens, we will deal with it. But that does not matter yet. Right now you have a very important decision to make, Twilight. It is true that you could ruin your entire life beyond any hope of repair. But you could also enrich your life far more than you ever imagined you could. Or, you could play it safe and choose not to take this chance, in which case you would never know what you could have done.”
Smiling, Celestia began to walk away. However, before she could get too far, Twilight spoke up once more.
“Princess… he’s your sibling. Are you really okay with me going out with him?”
Celestia turned back towards Twilight and smiled softly.
“I can think of nopony else who I’d rather see with him.”
And with that, Celestia departed, leaving Twilight to ponder what she had just said.
Lucian panted as he materialized in the snowy gardens outside the castle. A variety of feelings were going through his head at the moment, and he needed time to get them all under control.
At first, he was in denial. There was no way that he had just kissed Twilight. He would undoubtedly wake up soon, find that it was all just a dream, and he'd be able to get on with his life. Eventually, he'd go back to being a mare, and all this madness could be forgotten.
When he failed to wake up from what he kept insisting was a dream, he felt unbelievable anger. He cursed Rainbow and Rarity for trying to pull him into their game, Cadance for getting him to go along with it, Celestia for convincing him to live with Twilight, himself for having attempted to re-create the ancient spell without any knowledge about it, and the stupid rabbit that had caused him to get caught in the spell. Ironically, the only one whom he didn't feel capable of blaming was the very mare who he'd kissed.
Once he was done with blaming everypony, he began bargaining with the universe. He asked for a chance to go back in time, to stop himself from being dragged into kissing Twilight, and maybe even from being turned into a stallion in the first place. He promised that he would in turn never again experiment with weird spell books, and always be a kind and just ruler. Also, he'd never question his sister's infallible leadership ever again.
Unsurprisingly, this failed, causing Lucian to fall into a deep depression. His life was now officially over; it had been ruined ever since he got caught in the gender-swap spell, but now his fate was truly sealed. How could he ever go back to being female when his new form had captured the heart of another mare? And even if he did go back, how would Twilight react? Would she still be as attracted to Luna as she had been to Lucian? And, for that matter, would Luna still find Twilight attractive? And even if he decided not to change back, was the fact that he liked Twilight now a reflection of his new gender, or something deeper which had nothing to do with the spell?
Finally, Lucian reached an acceptance of his current situation. He was as straight as he had been as a mare, only that he now was on the opposite side of the gender gap. There was nothing wrong with liking Twilight now, or when he had been a mare, for that matter. He could date her, get to know her better than anypony else, maybe even...
This last part ended up starting the cycle anew.
He was pacing around the garden as he went through his third round of bargaining when he was rudely interrupted.
“And you were doing so well, too.”
Lucian jumped and pointed his staff at the speaker. To his relief, it was Cadance.
“Well, I probably could have done well enough if somepony hadn't interfered with my life!”
Cadance raised an eyebrow.
“And that's why you were working so hard to avoid Twilight?”
“I don't know," said Lucian. "Maybe I was just worried about how much I could screw up my life!”
“And dabbling in forgotten ancient magic didn't do that enough already?”
Lucian slapped his hoof against his face.
“Okay, I get it. I'm an idiot. Can we talk about something else now?”
“You mean your future with Twilight?”
Lucian opened his mouth to complain. However, he then closed it. He looked away from Cadance, trying unsuccessfully to find a way to change the subject. Finally, he sighed.
“I guess I'm going to have to face it sooner or later, right?”
“So, why don't you start by talking it out?”
Lucian looked at Cadance with a worried expression. However, before he could say a word, Cadance lifted her hoof.
“Not with me. It's time you start talking with Twilight.”
With that, the pink alicorn flew off, leaving Lucian alone.
Twilight sat on the bed of her room, her mane a tangled mess.
“Okay! So I need to talk to Lucian! That's what Celestia told me... sort of.”
Full of uncertainty, she pulled her Smarty Pants doll and raised it to her eye level.
“So... how do I start?” she asked.
She then raised her voice by several octaves, and said “Just do it!” while shaking the doll excitedly.
“But I can't just go in and say to his face that I like him!” she said worriedly.
She then raised her voice again.
“You've already kissed him!” Smarty Pants “said.” “If he doesn't realize that you like him, then he's really dumb!”
“But that was just because of the mistletoe!” said Twilight. “Not because I liked him!”
“Well, it's not like you would have let him kiss you if you didn't like him, even if you were under the mistletoe together.”
“Ugh! But how do I know that he really likes me?”
Before Smarty Pants could “answer” any more questions, Twilight heard a knock on the door.
“Nopony here!” she yelled out quickly. “Come back later!”
For a moment, no sound came from behind the door. Twilight held her breath, hoping that whoever wanted to see her would leave her be for a while.
Much to her chagrin, the door knocked again.
“Ugh. Please not now! I'm having an emotional crisis!”
Twilight closed her eyes and lay down on the bed. More than anything else, she wanted to forget anything had happened, and go back to her normal life.
But the knocking would not stop.
“I said I wanted to be alone!” she yelled out angrily as she jumped off the bed and stomped towards the door. “I'm in the middle of a huge dilemma that could very well shape the entire rest of my life! So I don't care what you want right now, because...”
She reached the door and flung it open.
“I want to be left alone!!!”
Almost immediately, she regretted saying those words, as Lucian was standing at her doorway.
“Um... okay. If you insist.”
The dark blue alicorn began to walk away, but Twilight quickly stopped him.
“Wait! Lucian! I didn't mean it! You can come in if you want!”
Lucian stopped and turned back to Twilight with a sheepish smile.
“Are you sure? I mean, if it bothers you that much-”
“Oh, no!” Twilight said quickly. “Actually, it would probably be better if you came in right now!”
“Oh,” Lucian said uncertainly. “Okay.”
Twilight gave him a small smile, then stepped back in. Lucian smiled back at her, then walked in. The two of them sat down on the bed and looked at each other.
They then kept looking at each other.
Lucian cleared his throat to speak, but the words he needed to say seemed to elude him. Twilight then tried to speak, but her words seemed to get lost before she could get them out.
The silence continued to reign supreme through the room.
Finally, Lucian spoke.
“Um, I left my staff outside.”
“Oh.”
Silence returned to the room.
“So...” Twilight said.
“That happened.”
The two ponies chuckled awkwardly.
“Did you... enjoy it?” Twilight asked.
Lucian turned towards her, noting the uncertainty on her face.
“Well, it wasn't bad,” he said finally.
The two smiled awkwardly at each other.
“What happens now?” asked Twilight.
“I don't know,” said Lucian. “Everything that's happened today- no, not just today. This whole thing that's gone on since I... changed. It's all so confusing, and I'm still having trouble taking it all in.”
“I understand,” said Twilight. “I'm still confused too.”
Once again, silence.
“The thing is... I do like you, Lucian. And this might not be the most normal situation, but I want to make this work."
Lucian turned to Twilight, who was looking at him with at him with a hopeful smile on her face. He was still worried about what the future had in store for him. And he was especially worried about what would happen if anypony found out who he truly was.
And yet, when he looked at Twilight, he knew that he didn't want to let the chance escape him.
“I like you too, Twilight. And even though I'm still worried about what's going to happen, I do know that I'll never know unless I try.”
At that moment, the dark blue alicorn felt great relief. All the worries that had been building over the past few months had finally been dispelled, and he could now be open with the mare who he cared about so much.
And, by the way she was looking at him, he could tell she was feeling the same way.
“Um, maybe we could go out to eat?”
Lucian blinked. The idea of going out on a date with Twilight hadn't even entered his mind until that moment. Even so, it sounded like a good idea.
“Um, sure. What do you have in mind?” he asked.
“Well, there's this great place just a few blocks from the castle,” said Twilight. “I'm sure you'd enjoy it.”
“Um, sure! Sounds great!”
Twilight smiled and nodded.
“Okay! So, five in the afternoon tomorrow?”
“Uh, sure, why not?”
For the umpteenth time, silence took over.
“So... I have stuff I need to do,” Twilight said finally.
“Oh!” said Lucian. “Yeah! Me too! There's so much I have to get ready for tomorrow!”
And with that, Lucian's horn began to glow, and he vanished in a flash.
Celestia smiled reassuringly as she marched down the halls of the castle next to Lucian. He was shaking intensely, and his breathing was extremely fast.
“How can you say anything is going to be okay?!” Lucian asked, his voice showing a great deal of stress. “I mean, there are so many ways I could screw this up!”
“Yes, there are,” Celestia said. “Does that mean that you should simply give up on your hopes and dreams when you have come this far?”
Celestia draped her wing over Lucian. The warmth and protectiveness of his sister's wing was soothing for Lucian, as he took a deep breath and stopped shaking.
“Thanks, Celestia,” he said, his voice noticeably calmer. “And I'm sorry for letting all this get to me. It's all a lot to take in, especially ever since my transformation, and I'm having a lot of trouble coping.”
“I can understand perfectly,” said Celestia. “Why, I can remember a few hundred years ago, I stepped into this magic mirror and had to spend thirty moons as a bipedal ape creature.”
Deciding against further inquiries, Lucian kept walking towards Twilight's room.
“Look at me,” he said with a chuckle. “Can you believe I'm getting this worked up over a date?”
“Don't be so hard on yourself,” Celestia said as they reached Twilight’s room. “I'm certain Twilight is just as nervous as you are.”
Lucian chuckled. “You’re probably right. Twilight’s can be a bit nervous at times. But I don’t think it’ll be too bad.”
With this, the dark blue alicorn raised his hoof to knock on the door. To his shock, he'd barely knocked once when a loud scream greeted him.
“I can’t do thiiiiiisss!!!”
For a moment, the two alicorns stared blankly at the door. It then opened to reveal Princess Cadance, who gave them a nervous smile.
“She'll... be right out.”
The pink mare then slipped back in. Lucian stared at the spot where she'd been and listened to the conversation occurring on the other side.
“Come on, Twilight. You can do this,” the voice of Cadance said.
“No! I can't!” the familiar voice of Twilight said in terror. “I'm going to mess this up and then he'll hate me forever!”
“Twilight, you're letting your imagination go crazy. Stop it.”
For a moment there was silence, causing Lucian to look towards his sister worriedly. She just shrugged, however, which made Lucian turn to the door.
“Okay,” the voice of Twilight said finally. “I can do this. All I have to do is stay calm and be myself. It'll all work out if I just do that, right?”
While Lucian couldn't see what else was happening, he could imagine that Cadance had just smiled and nodded at her. Realizing that it was finally time, he lifted his hoof and knocked once more.
“Okay! Here I go!” Twilight's voice said.
“Good luck!” the voice of Cadance replied.
Lucian stood back as the door opened to reveal Twilight. She was wearing a simple yellow dress with pink lace, and had a slightly nervous smile on her face.
“Hi Lucian,” she said simply.
“Hello, Twilight,” Lucian responded, giving her a small smile. The two ponies then looked away, their cheeks glowing pink.
“So, I guess we should get going?” Twilight asked Lucian.
“I think that's how dates are supposed to go,” Lucian answered.
Twilight slowly walked out of the room, making her way to Lucian. As she finally reached him, she stood still and looked at him in the eye. The two stared at each other for a brief moment.
“Well, let's do this,” said Lucian.
“Agreed.”
The two ponies then walked together, both looking in a different direction. As they went off on their date, Celestia gave Cadance a slightly nervous look.
“You know, as much as I tried to calm Lucian down on the way here, I can't help but worry about him.”
Smiling, Cadance placed her hoof on Celestia’s shoulder.
“Don't worry, Auntie. I know exactly what to do.”
Lucian hadn't really known what to expect from his first date with Twilight. He'd half expected it to involve some sort of incredibly fancy restaurant and various high-end foods with names he couldn't even pronounce. In fairness, however, Twilight had asked him not to wear anything more than his hoodie, so that thought had been put to rest fairly quickly.
To his delight, the restaurant Twilight chose was much more humble than that; it was a rather cozy Equest-Mex place, filled with beautiful murals, colorful animal ornaments, and even a few pieces of nostalgic memorabilia. The seats were quite comfortable, and the sound of Mexicoltian music filled the air. Lucian was quite satisfied with her choice.
Even so, he really wished she would talk a bit more.
“May I take your orders?” the waiter asked.
“Um, I'll have the daisy tacos,” said Lucian.
“I'll have special number one,” Twilight said quietly.
As the waiter departed, Lucian found himself looking back at his date. She seemed far more nervous than usual, and she was glancing everywhere but him.
“Are you okay, Twilight?”
She immediately turned toward Lucian and smiled nervously.
“I'm all right,” said Twilight. “I'm just really, really nervous about my first date with you!”
Twilight blinked. “You are? But you look so calm about it!”
“I had my sister to help with that,” Lucian explained. “And besides, we both know each other well enough to not get upset if we mess up a bit, so we should both stop worrying so much and just enjoy ourselves, right?”
With that, whatever tension remained between the two ponies vanished, and Twilight let out a deep breath.
“Yeah, you're right,” she said happily. “I'm just going to do my best to have a good time with you, Lucian.”
The dark blue stallion smiled and took his date's hoof.
“That sounds like a great plan to me.”
Just outside the restaurant, there was a big bush lying beneath a window. This, in itself, was not unusual. However, the fact that there were two colorful tails as well as two horns poking out of the bush was a cause for concern. The single pair of binoculars that kept moving back and forth between the two horns as it glowed in alternating yellow and blue magic auras would have many ponies stopping to stare in confusion.
Fortunately, the two alicorn princesses within said bush had made sure to cast a perception filtering spell to ensure nopony noticed the odd sight.
“All right,” said Cadance. “It looks like Twilight has calmed down. They're talking comfortably now.”
“Let me see!” Celestia said as she pulled the binoculars over to her side.
“Auntie!” Cadance backed as she snatched the binoculars back. “I wasn't done yet!”
Celestia huffed. “Well, I'm sorry for being overly concerned about my future sister-in-law!”
Cadance groaned. “Auntie, I want them to get together as much as you do, but I'm pretty sure there's a long while before they're ready for that!”
“Maybe,” said Celestia. “But they’re still going to get there eventually, aren’t they?”
As the two alicorns argued in their bush, Lucian and Twilight were receiving their orders. As the waiter departed, the disguised prince took a moment to appreciate his food.
“I must admit, I’ve never had tacos before,” he said, causing Twilight to look up at him in confusion.
“How can you not have had tacos before?” she asked as she lifted a bite of enchilada to her mouth.
“Well, they didn’t exist back before my banishment,” Lucian explained. “And honestly, I never really had any desire to try them.”
“Oh,” said Twilight. “Well, there’s a first time for everything, right?”
Twilight smiled and nodded as she chewed her food. Meanwhile, Lucian lifted one of his tacos and took a look at it. It was pretty much what he’d expected; a hard tortilla shell filled with cooked daisies, as well as shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes. While it seemed rather unremarkable, the smell was nevertheless rather enticing. Thus, Lucian opened his mouth and took a bite.
Immediately, his mouth was hit by an amazing mix of flavors and textures, such as the spices of the flowers, the crunchiness of the tortilla shell, and the moistness of the vegetables. The sensations were so overwhelming that he momentarily lost control of his mouth and stood in place, a small droplet of drool making its way out of his mouth.
Twilight watched all this with a strange look on her face.
“Um, Lucian? Are you alright?”
Lucian shook himself out of his stupor and looked back towards Twilight. His cheeks slowly became red as he grinned awkwardly.
“Sorry. It’s just… these are really good!”
Twilight chuckled. “Well, it’s okay to enjoy your food, but don’t overdo it. I don’t want ponies thinking I’m dating a crazy taco lover.”
“Oh, come on, Twilight. Would anypony honestly think that you’re crazy enough to date anypony like that?”
Lucian laughed and took another bite out of his taco.
“So, what do you think about our date so far?” Twilight asked.
Lucian swallowed and said “It’s pretty nice. The food is good, and I get to spend time with you.”
Twilight smiled. “Yeah, that's true.”
“I still don’t see how you aren’t already making plans,” said Celestia. “As the alicorn of love, you should already know how many babies those two will have.”
Cadance groaned. “It does not work like that, Auntie! They have to get to know each other for some time before they even consider having foals!”
“Well, you can’t blame a mare for trying to see her sibling have a happy life!” Celestia said angrily.
“This isn’t about their happiness!” Cadance yelled. “It’s about you trying to plan everything that will happen in their future, down to the most minute detail! I mean, you should-”
At that moment, a hoof poked its way into their bush.
Celestia and Cadance yelped and shrunk back as a pink poofy mane began to squeeze into their hiding place. Finally, the rest of the pony’s body popped inside, landing right between the two alicorns.
“Hi Princesseseseses! What are you two doing in this bush?”
Celestia stared at Pinkie Pie dumbfoundedly, completely unsure about how to react. She looked towards Cadance, who seemed equally shocked. Then she turned towards Pinkie, who was grinning at her expectantly.
“Um… hello, Pinkie,” she said awkwardly.
“Oh! I got it! You’re playing hide and seek in the bushes, right?”
Celestia blinked. “What?! No! We’re…”
“Oh! Oh! You’re playing cards in a bush!” Pinkie exclaimed. “That sounds like so much fun!”
“Pinkie!” Cadance hissed as she poked her hoof into Pinkie’s mouth. “We’re not playing cards!”
The hyperactive mare briefly stopped and stood still. She then pulled Cadance’s hoof out of her mouth and looked at her inquisitively.
“You’re not playing cards?” she asked.
“No!” Cadance said. “We don’t even have a deck of cards!”
Pinkie blinked. She then grinned as she reached into a pocket of leaves.
“Oh! Well why didn’t you say so?”
Before Cadance could respond, Pinkie had pulled out a small table and a deck of cards. The jaws of both mares dropped to the floor.
“Okay!” Pinkie said as she began to deal her cards. “So, is it okay if I deal in?”
Unfortunately, between their argument and Pinkie’s interference, Celestia and Cadance had been unable to keep their eyes on the restaurant. Therefore, they had no clue of the impending disaster.
At a table just across from Twilight and Lucian, a stallion had ordered a large quesadilla. His daughter, an extremely excited tan pegasus filly with thick black glasses and a cute little tiara, had accidentally spilled her drink onto the floor. Neither of these factors would have been a problem under normal circumstances. However, on that day they were being served by a young stallion on his first day.
The unfortunate waiter was doing the best he could, but he still had much to learn about his new job. Things like not running to the tables and watching where he was walking were things that he still had not quite figured out. And as he made his way to the table, his inexperience was about to cause one of the greatest disasters in the restaurant’s history.
Just as he arrived at the table, he stepped into the puddle created by the filly’s drink. As he fell, he lost his grip on his platter, causing its contents to go flying into the air. As beans, rice, tortillas, and salsa fell all around the surrounding tables, one particular item fell in the direction of one hapless couple.
Twilight jerked her head in the direction of the waiter’s anguished scream, shocked to see him lying on the floor. Before she could say anything, however, she felt something slam against her head, impaling itself on her horn. Shocked, she lifted her hoof to the object, only to freeze as she felt it.
For a moment, she stood motionless as she felt the object.
It was warm.
It was gooey.
It was cheesy.
Her eyes widened in horror. She began to shake. Sweat rolled down her forehead.
“Um, Twilight? Are you okay?”
Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Ha! Read ‘em and weep!”
Pinkie grinned triumphantly as she presented her hoof, causing Celestia and Cadance to gawk.
“A royal flush?!” Cadance said in shock. “How do I know you’re not cheating?!”
“Aw, come on, Candy! Does this look like the face of a pony who’d cheat?”
As Pinkie gave Cadance her best puppy-dog eyes, the pink alicorn glared at her.
“Did you just call me ‘Candy?’”
Before anypony else could speak, they heard a blood curdling scream coming from the direction of the restaurant. Cadance and Celestia grimaced, while Pinkie merely blinked.
“Huh. That sounded like Twilight. Do you think she’s somewhere around here?”
Celestia snatched up the binoculars and pointed them out towards the restaurant. However, just as she began to observe, a massive surge of purple magic blasted above them, just barely missing the tip of Celestia’s horn. The leaves above them, however, were burned to a crisp.
“Ohh!” said Pinkie. “Too bad I don’t have any marshmallows!”
Celestia and Cadance stood up to look out of the bush. They were greeted by the sight of blasts of magic erupting all around the restaurant. They were then shocked to see Twilight running out through a large hole with a quesadilla stuck to her forehead.
“GET IT OFF ME!!! GET IT OFF ME!!!”
The two alicorns stared in shock. They then looked through the hole that had destroyed their hiding place, and saw Lucian standing in the middle of a small mess of Equest-Mex food. All around him, ponies were hiding under their tables, fearful of another barrage of magic from a crazy quesadilla-phobic unicorn.
The blue stallion began to sweat nervously as everypony stared at him. His horn then began to glow and he vanished from sight.
For a moment, nopony spoke. Celestia and Cadance stared at the spot where Lucian had been standing just a few seconds earlier, and the ponies inside seemed too scared to leave their hiding spots.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was Pinkie who broke the silence.
