> Embracing The Changes
>  by -Key-
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Arrival
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

[A/N] Im very sorry if this fanfiction does not have a very good storyline or is bad grammatically, at the moment this has not been looked over by anyone but myself and only briefly by me (Not that longer would change much, Im not the best at my English class) I started writing this quite a while ago and would like more time to look over it however since season three is airing I felt it would be best to post now. Don't worry in further chapters I get more into the zone and my writing gets better, feel free to tell me about any errors you can find in the story as it will help me write better and make the story more enjoyable for others. Thanks in advance, Kripk3y.



It was a late winter night, a crisp yet welcome breeze drifted through the town of Ponyville past the silent houses. Snow covered everything in sight and had a beautiful blue glow as the light from the stars above lit up the silent town, shops everywhere could be seen with their lights off as shafts of moonlight came through the windows and into their homes and lit  the houses in a faint blue glow. All the ponies were asleep at this time of the night after a day of hard working in the soft white snow, all except for one unicorn that was.

"Where is it, where is it?" Twilight repeated to herself as she rushed frantically around her small library. Every night that week the unicorn had been up late in her library whether it was practising a new spell or studying the stars, tonight however she was trying to surprise Celestia her mentor with new magic she had learned. She was eager at just the idea of showing her teacher just how much she had learnt over the past year in Ponyville.

She thought back to the day when Celestia told her she had to come to Ponyville and make friends, back then the idea friends to her was just absurd, she would have preferred to stay in her library and read books, but now she couldn't imagine her life without them.

She had been up all night searching for a book to help her with her magic, she felt like she had searched through every shelf in the entire library looking for the book, she was nearly having a breakdown just thinking that she had lost one of her precious books. She had been trying to master the ability to use certain types of magic without other unicorns being able to sense it. However without the help of her number one assistant she was stuck unable to find the book.

"Aarrgg" She yelled in frustration wondering why it was that she could never find things when she needed them. Just as she finished complaining she heard a loud thump from the bedroom above the library. Twilight curiously walked up the stairs towards the bedroom to see what had happened, however before she got there, a tired looking Spike stumbled down the stairs bumping into Twilight sending her tumbling back down the stairs.

"Sorry, sorry Twilight, I didn't see you there" Spike exclaimed with a worried look as he tried to help her up

"Never mind" Twilight muttered cranky from staying up so late and rather annoyed at his carelessness "What was that noise upstairs?" she asked looking at him quizzically.

"Oh, yeah" he said his face lighting up "I got a message from the Princess"

"Oh!" she exclaimed, causing Spike wince at the noise "It must be important if she's sending it late at night"

She quickly levitated the note, snatching out of Spike's hand wondering how she hadn't noticed it as he helped her up. Eager to see what it said she quickly broke the golden seal with her magic and unravelled it, the note wrote:

Dear Twilight Sparkle - My faithful student

I am writing to inform you that I will need you to accompany me at the castle. I shall send a carriage to pick you up and bring you at 12:00 o'clock tomorrow. I shall need your help with a few issues around the castle concerning a couple of different matters. My sincerest apologies calling you with such little notice.

Princess Celestia

"Well" asked Spike curiously trying to see the letter "What’s it say?"

However Twilight wasn't listening, she just stood on the spot looking dumbstruck, starring at the letter. She sat there thinking. Why did the princess need her at the castle so urgently? Why was she sending letters in the middle of the night? What was wrong to need her so soon? What ha- her thoughts were suddenly cut off by a worried dragon "Twilight" Spike said in a concerned voice "I asked what the letter said"

"Oh" she said sounding worried "It says is that I need to travel to the castle at 12:00 o'clock tomorrow"

"Isn't that a bit short notice" he said "She usually gives you more time."

"Oh my!" She practically yelled "I need to travel to the castle, tomorrow. How am I supposed to get ready on time!" Twilight started to frantically run around the room in a frenzy trying to organizing things. "I'll need to bring the right books, how will I choose by tomorrow. Aarrgg" she complained in a panicked voice looking frustrated "Oh, I know" she said to herself as her face lit up "I'll need a check list"

"Spike!" She yelled out causing the purple dragon to jump back "I'll need your help if I'm gonna have everything ready by tomorrow!"

"Umm.. Twilight" he said "I'm right behind you."

"Good" she said lowering her voice "I'll need you to go and find my quill and paper if we're going to be organized by tomorrow."

"Umm don't you think that it would be a better idea if we did the packing tomorrow" he said "You'll need your rest after being up so late, you don't want to fall asleep on front of the Princess tomorrow."

"Tomorrow! Tomorrow!" she exclaimed "What if I forget something I can't just turn up without something. I need to be ready for anything! I don't even know why I'm going there yet. Now quickly grab my quill and paper before I forget something."

"Fine" He grumbled in an exasperated voice giving up, there really was no point in arguing with Twilight when she was in this sort of state.

He slowly wandered out of the room and into the study trying to find her quill and paper. When Twilight saw Spike come back from her desk, she quickly rushed forward and grabbed her things. "Now first I'll need the book Starswirl the Bearded's all things magic then I'll need this and that." Twilight continued to mumble to herself, writing down her checklist and ticking off her things as she packed them.

Spike jumped as he heard Twilight suddenly yell from the other room to him "Spike, Where is sensing and recognizing spells." Spike let out an sigh as he went to Twilights room and took the book off her shelf, by the time he came back with the book Twilight was lying on the floor asleep. Finally she's fallen asleep Spike thought as he happily and walked off to go do something.

The next day was a normal winter morning, snow covered the town, the shopkeepers were getting their shops set up and preparing for the rest of the day. Twilight sparkle happened to be sleeping when she got a knock on her door. "We are here for Twilight Sparkle" said a familiar voice. "Twilight!" yelled the voice from outside the door.

Meanwhile inside Twilight had been woken by the loud voice outside. "Coming" Twilight yelled as she quickly ran to the door, she swung open the door to see a carriage waiting outside her door.

Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" Twilight frantically said to no one in particular as she panicked at the sight of the guards waiting outside "I completely lost track of time how did I not wake up".

"Luckily for you" Spike said looking proud of himself "I checked your list and packed everything for you"

"Huh?" Twilight said swinging round shocked at his thoughtfulness, as she swung round she saw to the side of the doorway several bags stuffed full of books and clothes. "That's why you are my number one assistant" Twilight said affectionately to Spike giving him a hug.

"Oh that's so sweet" said a voice from outside "Now where's my hug"


"Huuh?" said Twilight as she swung round, I wonder who said that she thought. As she swung around she saw Shining Amour her brother standing outside waiting as he smiled at her. "Shining Amour!" she said jumping up and hugging him affectionately. "What are you doing here?"

Oh, I heard the princess was bringing you up, so I decided to come and see you to the castle myself" he said happily squeezing her tightly. "After all, who would miss a chance to see a famous hero" He complimented making her blush and look away.

"You and Cadence are the heroes now" she said making him blush "After all you did save all of Equestria from a changeling invasion"

"Umm... Sir" said a young guard nervously "We should probably get going, we don't won't to keep the princesses waiting"

"Oh yes, of course good point" said Shining Amour watching the other guard swell up with pride "Let's go Twi"

"Okay, remember Spike" Twilight said as she walked towards the carriage "Tell the others where I have gone, and that I will keep all of you up to date with what's happening" " Oh and don't eat too much ice cream!" Twilight yelled back through the door in a worried voice making the guards wince. Twilight got onto the carriage with her brother and checked her bags to make sure she had everything she would need. Shining Armour looked curiously over at her things and smiled as her saw she had things for at least a hundred different situations ranging from healing to battle. "You never do change do you" he said smiling at her as they took off.

The carriage ride to the palace was one of the most enjoyable times Twilight had with her brother, they spent the ride catching up on what had happened since Shining Amour's wedding. They spoke of what new morals about friendship she had learned and what Shining had been doing around the castle.

"Well" Shining said "I'm a little bit upset because that Cadence has had me doing less work around the castle, because she doesn't want me to be getting into anymore trouble. 

"Ha-ha" Twilight laughed "It's not like there is going to be another big disaster anytime soon, I think we've both had our far share of those."

They both sat together watching as the castle started to get closer and closer. By now they were flying over the city of Canterlot, watching as people gazed up from their work to see the carriage fly past. As Twilight looked back she saw one of the most beautiful  sights she had ever seen in her life. She could see the whole of Equestria behind her continuing on until it stretched out of sight, she could see Ponyville and the Everfree forest, she could see beautiful green grass stretch out for as far as she could see with all sorts of plants and wildlife roaming across it, she could see groups of towns in the distance adding to the sight before her eyes. She slowly closed her eyes just thinking about the beauty of what she was watching.

Twilight however was pulled out of her trance by a loud voice in her ear telling her to get up. Huh Twilight thought as hopped off the carriage we're here already. As Twilight looked around she saw that Shining Amour had started to walk up the stairs of the palace and was looking back at twilight expectingly, Twilight quickly teleported up to him in a flash of violet light appearing directly behind him.

"Gaahhh" he yelled in a shocked voice causing a few of the other guards to smirk in amusement t him "don't do that to me, you scared me"

"Hahaha" Twilight laughed "Sorry"

"And when did you learn to do that so well anyway" he said curiously "I doubt I could have done that that well"

"Oh" she said sheepishly "My magic has gotten much better since I moved to Ponyville and met all my friends"

"Wow" he said looking shocked "well you better come inside I'm sure that everypony will be amazed at your big improvement, I might have to start practising my magic more if I don't want to get overtaken by you"

Twilight looked at the ground blushing at the compliment as she walked through the palace. The second she looked around she realized something was wrong, every door she saw had guards, and wherever she went she saw that everypony had to show a pass to get through every door. "Huh what's with all the security" Twilight asked curiously  as Shining Amour showed his pass.

"Oh he said that's right, I forgot to give you this" he said handing Twilight her own pass "Well" he said starting to explain "Ever since the changeling invasion security has tightened up, and we've constantly been catching more and more changelings"

"Oh my!" Twilight exclaimed "I thought that they all got blasted away by your spell!"

"Sadly no only the visible ones got blasted, the others that had already taken form are still roaming. The odd thing is we know there's more but we suddenly stopped finding them" he said with a hint of curiosity in his voice "However I want to know what you and your friends have been up to, we got a bit distant after you moved, I don't want that to happen again" Twilight and her brother spent the rest of the time talking to each other telling tales of their adventures. 

"And then Fluttershy raced around and added the extra wing power needed to get the water to Cloudsdale" Twilight concluded looking at her brother smiling. She could see that he was clearly happy to see her again and she couldn't be happier at that moment.

"Well we're here" he stated giving Twilight an expectant look "I believe that the Princess is expecting you, see you round" he said giving Twilight a loving hug. As he walked away Twilight could see him telling a guard to take his break, she smiled as she knocked on the door and pushed her way into the room.

"Hello Twilight" said Celestia as Twilight ran forward to give her an affectionate hug. "Hello Celestia" replied Twilight affectionately, as she moved back however she noticed a some movement in the corner of her eye. A mare was standing in the corner of the room almost out of sight. "Oh, Hello Princess Luna" she said as she noticed who it was "I haven't seen you since nightmare night, how have you been" Luna realizing who was standing in the room approached and smiled shyly "Hello Twilight" she said in a small voice "We have been feeling better, since you taught us how to converse with our subjects, and we cannot thank thee enough for the kindness they have shown us" Twilight smiled blushing at the shy princess as she asked Princess Celestia "So what is it you have called me to the castle for"

"Well" she replied "From the look of your bracelet I'm sure you've heard about the changeling problem, and that is the main reason I called you here. I would like you to help my sister hunt down some more leads on changelings that may be situated in the city,  I believe that this will benefit you both. After all it is about time my sister here got out of her old room and started interacting with the public again" she ended looking pointedly at Luna.

"But Cellestia" she said after a pause "We are fine up in the room, and we are certain that the people are happy if we stay in the room keeping to ourselves, not scaring them half out of their wits and scouring for changelings. Also We're sure thou remembers what happened last time we left the castle"

"Well, I know that that's not true, and we both know that that won't happen again" she replied slightly irritated "Also I'm sure Twilight here would love your company wouldn't you Twilight"

"Of course" Twilight replied happily looking over at Luna "It would be great fun to have someone helping me and talking to me"

"Well that settles it" Celestia finished happily "You will help Twilight while I take over your duties at the castle tomorrow, now would you please show Twilight to the room she will be staying in, I have business to attend to" Twilight heard Luna giving a sigh as Celestia finished speaking, clearly disagreeing with leaving the castle.

"Please follow us" Luna said shyly as she exited the room "We shall show you to the room you shall be staying in"

"Of course Princess Luna" Twilight replied happily following.

"We would ask that you call us Luna" she asked Twilight "We often grow tired of the formalities and we do not expect you to use them, after all you did save us from ourself, and taught us how we must speak to our subjects, we would hope that one day we could be called a friend" she said as they walked through the castle.

"Oh I would gladly call you a friend" Twilight said blushing slightly "I don't know why I wouldn't be your friend"

"Oh thank you so much Twilight" she said happily nearly bouncing with joy as she walked through the corridors.

"Does every door have guards at them now" Twilight asked curiously as she showed her pass to a guard.

"Unfortunately, yes it gets quite frustrating and we cannot stand having to stop at every door we go through, especially when this palace is so large, nothing like the old castle" she replied frustrated "Well here we are Twilight, this is your old room if we're correct, now we must remind you that Celestia would like to see you in the hall with us after breakfast" she said smiling at Twilight "See you then"

As Twilight walked into the room she was bombarded with old memories of living in the castle and being Celestial's prize pupil. She remembered the time she spent teaching spike to speak and write, she remembered the time she hid in here from the mean fillies and colts. As all the memories of her old life in Canterlot came rushing back and she suddenly felt like she never wanted to leave she could see her and spike growing up together she could see her and Shining playing together however slowly while Twilight lay down in the bed she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

> Chapter 2: Changelings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

[A/N] Here the new chapter hope you enjoy :) I finally got my editor Zagzig17 to look over it for me and I hope that it is now much better, enjoy.

Twilight awoke as the sunlight filtered through the curtains in her room, she slowly stood up taking a look around and at the sun as it rose higher into the sky. Suddenly she began to panic, she raced over to the clock to see what the time was, as she got there she saw it was just past 7:00. I still have time, she thought to herself as she ran out of the room, only to be stopped by two guards standing in her way. "Pass please" they said in unison with a flat tone.

"Arrggg" Twilight complained as she got out her pass, she was staring to get irritated from the guards that were posted at each door, she couldn't be late for the meeting with Celestia and her sister, she wouldn't allow herself to be late she thought. As she showed the guards her pass, they moved out of her way, only to watch her sprint off down the corridor. Twilight was getting increasingly angry each time she was stopped by a guard. Just as she was about to scream at the next guard she saw, she arrived at the two giant doors that lead to the hall. As she looked up she saw two brand new doors leading into the
throne room, one door was white with gold outline and the image of a sun rising, the other door was the exact same the only difference was the colour and image, this one was deep sapphire blue and black with the image of clouds and the moon.

Twilight knocked on the door, then cautiously pushed them open wide enough to allow herself to slip through. Twilight jumped as the doors boomed shut behind her. "Ahh, Twilight, right on time as usual." Celestia commented "Luna please come forward, it's not good to always hide in the shadows."

"Yes, but we like the shadows." Luna replied as she walked forward "Hello Twilight" She smiled.

"Alright Luna, here is the list, inform Twilight on what is to be done and she will assist you." Celestia said to Luna while telekinetically handing her a list.

Luna and Twilight began to walk towards the two giant doors, however as they opened them, they saw a stallion being dragged away. "Hheeeeeelllllllllppppppp! I'm innocent I swear. help!" he screamed "I'm not a changeling, please!" he sobbed before hitting the guard holding him and breaking free from his grasp, the stallion was then tackled by another two guards and dragged away.

"Well that was odd." Twilight said confused "What was going on?"

"It seems he either committed a crime, or is suspected of being a changeling, this is not the first time we have seen it happen either." she replied solemnly.

"Oh, speaking of changelings, umm... How are we supposed to find who's a changeling and who's not?" Twilight asked looking confused.

"Well" Luna replied as three guards started to escort them through the castle "Our subjects has been giving us reports of others who are acting strangely, we shall take them into custody and interrogate them, if they are uncooperative we shall have to cast spells to check." she replied unhappily looking at the floor "Interrogating thou subjects will tarnish our image even further" she said looking upset.

"Well it can't be that bad"Twilight said, remembering Nightmare Night "I'm sure they know who you are here"

"Yes, they do know who we are." she said looking bitter and sad with her head cast down in dismay "Every time we enter the city they cower before us hoping we won't attack them, some even run screaming from our presence"

Luna sounded so unhappy that she looked like she was about to start crying, Twilight recognized this look, it was the same look she had when she cancelled Nightmare Night, an expression of pure sadness. Twilight felt like giving her a hug or some other form of comfort, she just couldn't bear to see the princess in this state. Twilight almost gave her a hug to cheer her up but remembered just exactly who she was about to hug. Twilight settled upon saying "Well I'm sure if you just showed them how you really are, they will realize that you are no longer Nightmare Moon"

"Does thou really think that we haven't tried that already" Luna replied, just as unhappy, while looking down at the stones passing by her hooves. "We walk up to them and they cower down in the dirt on the streets, thou is the only one who is willing to speak to us normally"

"Well why don't you try going to an event, I'm sure that will show them that they have no reason to fear you." Twilight said, looking thoughtfully at Luna.

"Hmm.. That might actually work" Luna replied, raising her head up slightly at the thought. "We wonder what the next big event would be?" she pondered, "We must get you to help us with this, thou are studying friendship after all, thou's advice would be appreciated"

"Of course Princess, I would be happy to help."

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After that Twilight and Luna rarely spoke unless they were asking which house to search next or the verdict of the pony that was being interrogated. Out of the first five houses they searched, only one of the occupants was a changeling. "Well that's odd" Luna said as she looked down at the next citizen "It seems that the suspect's wife thinks they are acting odd, we would expect that if they were a changeling they would take her place as well, changelings are not this dumb."

She came up to the house "Guards!" she snapped "Enter and check the premises, report any suspicious activities and items." The guards walked forward, as they got to the door, the lead guard motioned for the others to wait and knocked, following the exact same protocol as performed on every other house. No one answered, although everypony
outside could hear the noise of somepony scuttling around inside. "Open up, or we will be forced to break down the door" barked the lead guard, annoyed at having to wait. He waited a few seconds before bursting through the door into the house. The second he burst inside, everypony heard a gasp and the loud thump of something heavy hitting the floor.

"Go go go!" shouted the third guard as he jumped in behind the other guard, who was already tense, his horn glowing.

"Wait here" Luna said forcefully as she charged in behind the other guards. Twilight stood outside wondering what was happening, as all she could hear was silence. She then heard Luna's voice from inside and all it said was "Faust help us"

Twilight charged into the building, as she did so the sounds of mass magical discharge filled the air and lit up the house with green and blue light. As she entered the building she nearly ran and fled from the sight, inside the house Twilight could see changelings scuttling around through the doors in an attempt to surround them, however these changelings weren't like the changelings from the wedding. They were bigger, almost as big as the queen and these didn't have any holes through them, suggesting they had been fed recently.

Luna didn't stand a chance, she was being overpowered by sheer amount of changelings, for each changeling she took out, another two would take its place. As Luna turned around, Twilight could see the fear in her light blue eyes. As Luna's magic blasts became increasingly desperate, Twilight knew she had to save her or she would never forgive herself, she also knew that they would become overwhelmed within mere minutes if she didn't think of something and fast.

Twilight looked around the old tattered building, searching for an exit, as she did, she noticed a group of changelings dragging away one of the guards. As she looked closer, she noticed that it was the same guard that had taken her to Canterlot, realizing she had to save him before it was too late, she charged forward, lowering her head and aiming her horn at them. Seeing her, the changelings charged up their horns and ran forward, right before they would have collided, she teleported behind them to the guard. "Luna!" she screamed over the noise, "I need you over here!" Twilight looked around for any sign of Luna, while desperately firing bolts at any changelings that came near to her.

As Twilight took out another changeling, she saw another dive at her, moving too quickly for her to stop it, she waited for it to collide with her, it's black horn glowing green and ready to take her out. Less than a second before it was about to collide with her, she saw the light blue magic strike it, sending it flying through the wall and into an adjacent room. Luna and one of the guards charged forward, causing the changelings to back away, by doing so however Luna, Twilight and the Guard became surrounded with no escape. "Ha ha ha ha ha" a voice boomed, its laugh resounding around them, as it faded, dark raspy voice spoke up from with in the mass of changelings, "We only want the princess, just give her up and we'll let you run away, otherwise, your deaths will be just as painful as hers"

"Princess," Twilight said quietly "Come closer I have an idea." as Luna slowly edged closer, the mysterious voice spoke up again "Will you come in peace, or shall we force you to come with us? Decide now or we will take all of you anyway."

"Hurry Twilight!" the Princess whispered "Or it will be too late for all of us"

"Yes just wait" Twilight muttered back "I just need a clear view"

"I guess you've picked the hard way then." The voice thundered "Capture them, alive." suddenly all of the changelings charged forward at the small group, a second before they collided, Twilight's horn lit up as she got a look through the door and to the courtyard outside. In a flash of violet light, they disappeared briefly before reappearing on the smooth stone outside .

"We need help!" Twilight yelled as she fired at the changelings trying to make it through the narrow doorway, however mere seconds after she said this the stream of changelings trying to get outside stopped. There was nothing, not a sound apart from the few people outside muttering fearfully at them. "Guard!" Luna yelled "Go and call in more reinforcements while we watch the building" The guard flew off with such speed that all that could be seen was a trail of blue and white. "Steady" Luna said to Twilight "They could come out at any moment." Minutes went past without so much as a noise. Luna and Twilight kept their horns glowing and ready for what felt like hours until reinforcements from the castle arrived.

After Luna filled the guards in on what had happened, they burst forward into the building, however once they entered, they were shocked to find that it was completely empty with the exemption of a few stunned changelings lying on the floor. "What?!" Luna said confused, "Where did they all go? There was at least fifty of them, how did they escape? Search the building, We Want Them Found Immediately!" She yelled angrily at the guards. Turning back to the courtyard, she saw Twilight collapse on the ground.

"Twilight!" she yelled as she rushed over and shook her. "Somepony, take her to the infirmary!" she yelled, looking at a guard she ordered him "Guard, take her to the infirmary she needs immediate attention, Now!" Twilight could feel herself being picked up and carried away from the princess, she tried to struggle so they would take her back, however the more she struggled the weaker she felt, until she finally passed out as she saw her brother galloping towards the guards demanding information.

[Editor's Note]
Zagzig17 here, on editing duty for this story, Mainly fixed up punctuation and the sort  (I love first drafts, not) Anyway, I hope I picked up most of the errors. Enjoy!
> Chapter 3: Return
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Twilight slowly began to wake up, she heard two voices speaking quietly to each other. "I hope she is ok." said a familiar voice from somewhere to the side of her.
 
"Humph" said a deeper voice, "I still can't believe that Princess Celestia took away my command, especially while those creatures are still out there."
 
"Really?" asked first voice, sounding slightly annoyed and amused at the same time "You yelled at the first officer you saw demanding details, not to mention that he was a new recruit and was barely older than Twilight. I'm honestly surprised that's all she did, and I'm sure you will get command back soon anyway."
 
"Yes, but now I can't do anything and I still don't know how she is or what happened." the voice replied angrily.
 
"Well I think you will find she can tell you herself, she seems to be waking up" said the first voice as Twilight slowly began to stir and open her eyes. As she looked around the room, the first thing she noticed was her brother standing at her side looking worriedly down at her. As she got a better look at the room, she realized she was in her old room at the castle with needles all over her, as she looked to the left however she saw Princess Luna standing beside her looking down at her.
 
"Hello Twilight" Luna said "How are you feeling"
 
"I'm fine" she replied "Wh-what happened? I was helping you with the changelings then we got ambushed, we just managed to escape. Then all the changelings seemed to disappear, the next thing I know I'm starting to feel weaker and weaker, I don't remember anything past that"
 
"Hmmm that's very odd" Luna commented "There aren't many things left in this world that can drain a pony's energy. Mostly it used to be viruses that did that but apparently they have been gone for at least 500 years, sorry to leave you like this after you saved us again but Celestia will want to know how you are, and we are sure she will know what happened"
 
Luna strolled down the corridors, deep in thought, she hoped Twilight would be okay after having her magic drained like that, from her experience that would leave some ponies in the hospital for weeks, she was surprised that Twilight was already awake. As she made it to the giant doors leading into the hall where her sister was, she could hear her discussing dam expansion plans with a noble.  Luna pushed the doors open and strolled through, "Celestia, I need to speak with you immediately" she stated, while ignoring the noble's squeal of terror.
 
"Of course" she said "I'm sorry, but we will have to continue this later" she told the Noble as she dismissed her. "What is this about sister? I heard about what happened earlier today, how are you?"
 
"I'm fine" Luna assured her "However I do not think Twilight is in any condition to say the same."
 
"What happened?" Celestia asked, worry clearly showing on her face.
 
"Well" Luna started "It seems something is feeding off her source of energy, and we're fairly certain it isn't some sort of virus, nothing showed up on the test results. We believe she may be in danger if she stays here much longer, she will have to go home."
 
"She won't be happy with this you realize? She will agree, but she'll want to know why, and  that is why I propose you go with her." Celestia said.
 
 B-but why do we need to go? We are needed here" Luna stammered.
 
"Well actually from what you've told me sister, you prefer to spend your time hiding in the dark of your room, and I'm sure that if you stay with Twilight, she will spend most of her time in her house reading, which seems perfect to me" Luna opened her mouth as if to say something but was immediately cut off by Celestia as she continued to speak "Also I have been trying to think of a way to extend her teachings without taking her from her friends, and you are just as good, or perhaps even better than me with magic and you definitely know more, this would be a perfect opportunity"
 
"But why do we need to go? Are you forgeti-" she tried to say before Celestia cut her off.
 
"Well from what I was told, it seemed that whoever it was, wanted you Luna, so I believe that you would be safer in Ponyville with Twilight. I would prefer it if you were safe with her, don't worry I will come down and see you." she reassuring her "I already have everything arranged for you, you just need to get your things" Celestia said "Oh and don't worry about Twilight, I'll explain it to her."
 
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"But why?" Twilight asked repeating Luna's words.
 
"Well you see Twilight, it seemed that whoever it was in there wanted Luna, so I decided it would be best if she stayed away from Canterlot, and you are the pony I trust most to take care of my sister. So I will need you to get ready to head back to Ponyville. Also she will also be tutoring you in magic and giving you tasks, I have been thinking of extending your studies, and let me assure you she is just as good as me with magic and by far more knowledgeable"
 
Twilight sat in her tower checking that she had packed everything when she heard a knock on her door, slowly standing up from her bed, she looked back at the things that she had packed for her trip home with Luna, before walking to the door. As she opened the door she saw Shining Amour waiting there for her.
 
"Hey Twily" he smiled at her "I'm here to escort you to the carriage, couldn't let you leave without saying goodbye now could I."
 
"Thanks" Twilight replied "I think I have everything all packed up, I'll just be ready in one second" Twilight quickly ran back and picked up all of her things in a magenta glow, handing them over to the maid who had come to carry it.
 
Twilight and her brother walked through the old corridors talking about their childhood memories and their friends. "Well" said Shining Amour "I spend most of my time now as a part of Cadence's personal guard, but I'm still captain of the day guard so it's good for both me and Cadence"
 
"Well I'm glad you two are happy together." Twilight replied to him smiling.
 
"So" said Shining looking mischievously at Twilight "When am I going to see you with a special somepony."
 
'Ohhh, please don't" Twilight groaned in an exasperated voice "I had enough of mum and dad harassing me about that while I lived here, please don't you start too." she said looking pleadingly up at him.
 
"Don't worry." he replied laughing "I just joking." he said as they walked outside.
 
There waiting for them was the carriage to take them to Ponyville, however Twilight was surprised to find that this wasn't the normal carriage she rode in. This carriage was a deep sapphire blue with black outlines instead of the usual gold and white, its shape was sleek and stealthy and was being towed by two pegasi wearing black and sapphire blue amour, they were both completely gray and had bat like wings that appeared to be webbed.
 
"So" asked Luna, Twilight jumped, trying to spy Luna within the inky darkness of the carriage. "How does thou like the night carriage? A little different than thee would be used to, but it should get us there faster and we are less likely to be seen, particularly at this time of night." Twilight just stood there, looking dumbstruck at the carriage, it was magnificent and by far one of the sleekest and most elegant sky carriages she had ever seen.
 
"It's amazing" she said, staring at it in wonder, it looked familiar, but she couldn't quite place where she had seen it before.
 
"Well enter and you may see what it is like" Luna replied, looking happy with Twilight's reaction "We didn't want to be seen on the way, so we thought that this would do the job"
 
Twilight jumped in the carriage excitedly as a maid put everything into the back, she had never in her life been in anything like it, and she loved it. As the carriage pulled off the ground Twilight waved goodbye to her brother and flew off towards the small group of lights in the distance that was Ponyville.
 
As they flew towards Ponyville, Twilight looked over the side of the carriage and what she saw took her breath away, she could see everything bathed in moonlight, the hills, the trees, everything was cast in an eerie yet beautiful shadow. She spent the whole trip leaning over the side of the carriage, just watching the beautiful land as it slowly went past.
 
By the time they had arrived Twilight was asleep in the carriage, however she was jolted awake as they landed just outside her tree house. As she stepped out of the carriage she could see the quiet streets of the town and the empty shops, she slowly strolled into her house with Luna following her.
 
"Welcome to my home" Twilight whispered quietly to Luna "Oh and Spike probably asleep so we will have to be quiet." 
 
As Luna walked in the first thing she noticed was that the entire tree house was spotless, with everything ordered and in place, there wasn't even a single book out of place in the library. As Twilight walked out of the room to find her the spare bed, Luna began to take a look around the library, reading was always a favorite pastime of hers. However as she looked she saw that nearly all the books were non-fiction. When looking around however she did manage to find one book that looked like it might be intriguing, called Daring Doo's adventures, but no matter how much she looked, she couldn't seem to find the first book in the series. Just as she was about to give up, Twilight came back in, levitating the spare bed into the guest room.
 
"There we are." she stated placing the bed down in the adjacent room "You can sleep in the bedroom upstairs and I'll sleep in the guest room"
 
"Oh of course not." Luna said looking shocked "We couldn't take thou room and stay here, this is thou house. We shall sleep in that room and you can have your bed, thou will need it if you wish to begin your studies tomorrow."
 
"Oh that's right!" Twilight practically yelled, suddenly energetic after remembering what Celestia had told her about the lessons "What will we be learning, will it be new spells, or will it be a new magic, or more magical theory or  more magical history or will it be about making spells?!"
 
Luna laughed as Twilight jumped around the room grabbing books off the shelves "We shall tell thou tomorrow." Luna said smiling.
 
"Oh" Twilight said looking disappointed "In that case do you mind if I stay up late? I don't want to keep you up." Twilight said looking at Luna.
 
"Of course not" Luna said laughing at the idea "We find it difficult to sleep at night with the moon constantly needing us to move it."
 
As Twilight begun to study, she saw Luna searching through the library as if she was looking for something, every now and then she would pull out a book then put it back in again. Luna continued to search the library for a few more minutes.  "Are you looking for something in particular Luna?" Twilight asked as she walked over to Luna.
 
"Oh" Luna said, turning around "We just found a book that sounded interesting and was wondering if you had the first in the series, We believe it is called Daring Doo's adventures?"
 
"Oh I'm sorry, but I leant that to Rainbow Dash. I can get it tomorrow for you, she should be finished with it by then."
 
"Rainbow Dash" said Luna thoughtfully "The element of loyalty, from what we remember, she didn't seem like the kind of pony that reads."
 
"Oh" Twilight laughed "You should have seen how hard she tried to stop us from finding out, it was quite funny."
 
"It sounds like it, in that case I shall just find another book to read" said Luna as she walked over to the bookshelf and started searching again.
 
It was nearly one o'clock before Twilight got up to go to bed, she said goodnight to Luna and slowly walked up the stairs, being careful to make sure she didn't wake Spike. As she got to the top of the stairs, she realized something was wrong, Spike was lying on his bed and everything was in place, however Spike appeared to have something underneath him. Twilight slowly walked forward trying to see what he was sleeping on, as she got closer, she saw a pile of gems underneath the baby dragon. Twilight sat there glaring at him, she quickly lifted him up with her magic and took all the gems, hiding them behind her bookshelf. 'Rarity must have given him those' she thought as she laid in her bed. 'I'll have to speak to her about that' she thought, as she slowly drifted off to sleep.
 
[Editor's Notes]
zagzig17 here again, hope you all enjoy this chapter, I'm pretty happy with it. I feels it flows the best out of all the chapters so far, but considering this is only the third chapter, it doesn't really count.
Anyway, Allons-y.
> Chapter 4: Ponyville
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

[A/N] Sorry about the late update, I was just procrastinating and being lazy. All other chapter should be up quicker, hope you enjoy the new chapter.


Twilight awoke to the sound of someone yelling in shock, she shot up quickly, trying to find who was causing all the commotion. As she looked around, she saw Spike franticly rushing around the room searching as if his life depended on it. 'Ha ha' she thought "You won't find them you know." she said to him.
 
"Wha-" he said, turning around "Oh Twilight when did you get back?" he asked surprised, with a worried look on his face.
 
"Last night, and you know you're not allowed that many gems, who gave them to you?" she asked knowing perfectly well who gave them to him.
 
"I found them" he said hopefully hoping Twilight would accept his lie.
 
"Spike, I was disappointed enough when I found you with all of this gems. Now you're lying to me, who gave them to you."
 
"Umm..." he said guiltily looking away from her eyes "Rarity"
 
"Hmm..." she said as her suspicions were confirmed "I'll talk to both of you about that later, now can you please go make breakfast, and it has to be something special Princess Luna is here and she will be tutoring me."
 
"You mean that she will be staying here, with us" he said clearly panicking at the thought "Nigmare mo-"
 
"She not nightmare Moon anymore." she said angrily and worried that Luna may have heard him.
 
Spike acknowledged her, not wanting to annoy Twilight further, as he walked downstairs, he stopped in surprise, he saw a giant chalkboard in one of the main areas of the library with the Princess using it to write the workings of magic on it. "Good morning Princess." Spike said bowing down trying as hard as he could to hide his fear.
 
"Oh please stop with the formalities, we are friends." Luna said as she began to turn around "If I'm to be staying here then I don't want you constantly bowing, and please just call me Luna." however as Luna turned around she saw Spike standing there and jumped so high she nearly hit the roof.
 
Spike chuckled uneasily slowly backing away from her, scared what the Princess of the night could do when she wasn't happy "I guess Twilight didn't tell you her assistant was a baby dragon?" he asked, trying to sound harmless, while worrying what Luna would do to him.
 
"No, it seems she left that out, how did you become Twilights assistant?" she asked curiously, while she had seen many dragons in her life, she had never seen a baby one and none of them seemed to have the sort of build he had.
 
"Oh she hatched me when I was just an egg, for an entrance exam to Celestia's school, I've been with her ever since"
 
Luna stood there looking back at the dragon as he ran away through the door, she had met some dragons before her exile but none had seemed quite so polite or intelligent and none would ever become an assistant for a pony, to them that would be demeaning. However what Spike had said to her about Celestia's school was bothering her, as Luna started to consume herself with her thoughts, Twilight came back.
 
"Good morning Luna, what's the board for?" Twilight asked curiously.
 
"That will be used for our lessons, I will use that to show you what I'm teaching. So how much have you learnt about the magic types?"
 
"Oh" Twilight said perking up at the thought of lessons. "I have extensively studied all types of unicorn magic including Normal Magic, Dark Magic, Light Magic, White Magic and Black Magic." Twilight seemed to be bubbling at just the thought of being ahead of Luna's lesson.
 
"That is good, however how much have you studied the other races magic."
 
"Oh" Twilight said looking disappointed at what Luna had said "I haven't studied those very much seeming as Unicorns are the only race that can actually use magic. It was never covered when I studied with Celestia."
 
"Incorrect" Luna said looking amused at Twilight's shocked reaction.
 
"B-but, are you telling me other races can use magic as well?!"
 
 As Twilight started to get upset, Luna quickly interjected, worried that she had somehow done something to upset Twilight. "Twilight what I'm trying to say is that everypony has magic in them however only unicorns can harness it in different ways. They do this by channelling it through their horn."
 
"So what your saying is its useless for other ponies and that they can't even use it, then what's the point in even having the magic." she scoffed not seeing the difference between what she said and what Luna had said.
 
"No their magic is still used." Luna replied trying to explain it "They just have no control over how it is used. For example, Twilight think about Earth ponies, while they have magic they cannot control it, it is generally distributed between different physical attributes."
 
"So what are these attributes." Twilight said suddenly getting very excited about the idea of learning something new. She quickly used her magic to pull over a quill and parchment to take notes before Luna started, once Luna saw that Twilight was ready, she continued to speak.
 
"Most ponies believe that unicorns and alicorns are the only beings that use magic. This is not true, this was figured out when a famous unicorn began to study pegasi flight, after many calculations and tests he found that it was physically impossible for pegasi to fly with just their wings. After this he did many more tests over a year with no success, finally after much thought he began a new set of tests expecting no results. The tests were conducted by scanning the area around pegasi for magical charge, when he looked at his result he was shocked to find that wherever the pegasi were there was magical energy everywhere. After many years his studies were published. What they they concluded was, all ponies had magic however only unicorns could control theirs. Pegasi needed their magic to fly and walk on clouds however, if they had more magic in them it would also give them a boost of speed or agility, earth ponies use their magic for their strength and stamina."
 
As Luna finished explaining how magic works with the different ponies she looked down to see how much Twilight had managed to write in the time she had been speaking. Twilight had written exactly what she had said word for word and also managed to put each definition in more detail, explaining it better and had even managed to put in tables and diagrams with impeccable neatness. Luna just sat there in awe, looking down at just how much she had managed to write in such a small amount of time.
 
"What's wrong Luna?" Twilight asked, getting very worried she had done something wrong when she saw Luna's reaction "Did I do something wrong? Oh my I'm so sorry please forgive me I didn't mean to upset you." Twilight pleaded.
 
"Upset us?" Luna laughed "Far from it Twilight, we're amazed at your writing skills actually, how did you manage to get all that down in the time we were talking?"
 
"I found a spell that writes what you think and taught it to myself for lessons."
 
Luna paused for a bit before saying "We think that this lesson should be over for today, we're not used to being up this late in the day, however we would like you to pay attention to the skills of each pony, we would then like you to present to me how magically talented they are based upon their skills.
  
Twilight suddenly shot up when she realized what the homework was and what it meant. "I better get started on that right away" she said before rushing out the door and shutting it behind her. Luna sat there chuckling at her reaction, only to see her quickly burst back in to grab a coat and sprint out again.
 
Luna sat down in front of the bookcase smiling. 'She could be so silly sometimes' Luna thought happily before she realized just how tired she was from being up all day, she slowly walked to the bedroom, completely forgetting her royal crown, chest plate and hoof shoes and instead collapsed on the bed, instantly overtaken by her fatigue.

Twilight rushed out the door with her cloak, once outside she began to decide who to visit first, she thought for a bit before deciding to visit her fashion friend Rarity mainly because of how close she lived, but she also wanted to speak to her about constantly giving spike too many gems while she was away. From the way spike was acting it seemed that if she continued to give him gifts constantly he would turn into a rampaging crazy dragon again and Twilight knew how bad that had been for everypony including Rarity. Shivering at the thought Twilight came to Rarity's boutique and knocked loudly as she entered the building.
  
"Rarity I'm back from Canterlot" she called out, looking around the empty boutique. Just as she was about to call out for her friend again, she suddenly remembered what the day was, 'oh stupid' she thought to herself how could I forget, they must all be down at the park with their pets. Realizing where her friends had gone, Twilight rushed back out the door again running towards the park, as she ran through town, she got a few questioning looks from the ponies before they realized who she was and looked away again. By the time Twilight arrived at the park she was worn out, barely able to jog properly without stumbling over. She walked up over the hill to see Spike following Rarity around almost drooling over her.
 
"Hey girls." she called out trotting over to her friends.
 
"Oh heya Twilight"
 
"Hello"
 
"Oh Twilight, whatever happened to your mane."
 
"What's up Twilight"
 
"Oh Twilight your back you have to tell me what happened did you have fun that's always good or did the Princesses throw you a party that would have been so cool and fun unless it was like the gala cause then it would have had all snooty people who are just no fun and don't even like proper parties Or maybe you went up there to go learn something new or ma-" Pinky was suddenly cut off by Applejacks hoof in her mouth stopping her from speaking anymore.
 
"Now sugarcube, you have to give Twilight some time to speak if you wanna know what she been up to at the castle." Applejack told her. The only reply she got back though was "Mhmhmm, apples." causing a few of the friends to laugh, Applejack just sighed and took her hoof out of Pinky's mouth. "So sugarcube," she said turning to Twilight "Why did you get called to the castle by the princess on such short notice?"
 
"Well, it turns out that they still have a problem with the changelings, there are still some in the castle and city so they asked for my help."
 
All of the others gasped in shock.
 
"That's just terrible"
 
"Well that's not fun at all"
 
"Wow that's totally awesome, you must of kicked some butt and made them all run screaming away if your back so soon." Rainbow Dash said animatedly, lighting up while doing flips and kicks in the air.
 
Hearing this caused Twilight to blush as she turned her face away in embarrassment and shame. "I don't want to talk about it." she mumbled turning away and looking down.
 
"Oh Twilight, you don't need to hide anything from us, you can tell us anything dear." said Rarity looking at Twilight with concern and worry.
 
"I'm fine" she said still looking away "Don't worry"
 
"Well now dear, we are not going to let this go until you tell us every detail." Rarity said in a voice with such finality that left Twilight no room to argue.
 
Twilight began to tell her friends what had happened starting from when she and Luna had set out into the city to interrogate suspicious people, as she told them what had happened when she entered the building, she could see the looks of horror on her friends faces at the thought of that many changelings. She then got to the part with her fainting on the ground when Applejack cut her off.
 
"Well sugarcube is that why you didn't want to tell us what happened?"
 
"But aren't you disappointed that I fainted and let everyone down?" Twilight asked looking confused at Applejack.
 
"Sugarcube" Applejack said with an amused look on her face "Don't you remember when I went for the national rodeo competition?"
 
"Yes" Twilight said sheepishly.
 
"I thought that you would be disappointed that I didn't win any 1st place awards, But you gals didn't care. I thought you would have realized that we don't care either Hun."
 
"Your right, I should have realized." Twilight replied as she looked up at her friends concerned faces feeling a lot better "Well anyway, now Celestia has sent me home with Luna to hide from the evil thing that was after her."
 
"Really the princess is here in Ponyville? Oh, I absolutely must go and find my best dresses for when I meet her." Rarity said, looking down at her clothes in a concerned voice.
 
"HHHOOOHHHHHHHHHH" gasped Pinky as she realized exactly what Twilight had said. "We have to have a Welcome To Ponyville party for the princess and we can have cake and lots of party games and we can all have lots and lots of FUN!"
 
"No Pinky" Twilight said in an exasperated voice. "I'm sorry but we can't have a party for the princess, she told me that she didn't want the whole town to know that she was here, and well, your parties usually have lots of people."
 
Pinky's face fell for a second before lighting up again "So that means we can have a small party with just us then nopony would know she was here." Pinky stood there looking at Twilight her eyes alight with hope.
 
"Fine" Twilight said, realizing that she had lost, before she knew it Pinky Pie had disappeared blurring off to the bakery.
 
Twilight watched her run off for a second before she turned back to her friends, smiling at Pinky's antics. Twilight continued to talk and play games with the girls for the rest of the day before she stood up, said goodbye to them and began the walk home. The walk back was mostly uneventful, nothing of interest happened the entire time except every now and then she would see Pinky run into a store and get something before rushing back to the bakery.
 
Twilight was smiling happily when she walked through the door of the library, however the second she came through she saw the blackboard and immediately began to panic. The entire time she had been with her friends, she had failed to see what sort of skills they had, for the first time in her life she had neglected her homework. Twilight began to hyperventilate 'It was just a one time thing I'm sure, I can still do it.' she thought to herself 'But what if it wasn't just a one time thing, what if I do it again, what if I'm lazy.' Now Twilight had truly begun to panic rushing around the library in a fit, quickly she grabbed several sheets of paper with her magic and a bunch of quills.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
 
A couple of hours later Luna walked down the stairs once she reached the bottom she froze. Twilight was sitting at her desk frantically writing on a piece of paper, usually Luna wouldn't have been disturbed by this, except for the fact that all around Twilight were copies of her friendship letters and the bin was completely full with crumpled paper. Twilight spun around and saw Luna watching her.
 
"I finished my homework." she said to Luna relieved.
 
"Uhh" Luna stared at Twilight very shocked "You don't need to give that too me until tomorrow."
 
"W-what!" she exclaimed "B-but I just spent hours on this."
 
Luna looked at Twilight and laughed "Well at least now you have finished it."
 
Twilight looked at Luna shocked "B-but this is enough right?"
 
'What?' Luna thought, Twilight had written two whole sheets about each of her friends and gone into a level detail that Luna didn't even know was possible "Of course, did Celestia make you do more than this." she said shocked at the idea.
 
"Well no, but I just thought, well." Twilight trailed off disappointedly.
 
"You have gone into more than enough detail Twilight, this is fantastic." Luna said trying to make her feel better.
 
Suddenly remembering something Luna shot up "Twilight, we was speaking to your, uh, assistant and he told us that you hatched him for the entrance exam, is this true?" Luna's eyes sparked with interest.
 
"Yes, I tried to hatch him but everytime I tried to cast a spell I found I couldn't use any of my magic, I was about to give up when Rainbow Dash accidentally scared me and I lost control."
 
"Hmm" Luna said "We don't actually know too much about how the school has changed since we were last here here, do you have any books on it?" She asked curious.
 
"Yes" Twilight said moving toward the stairs "They are all in this section of the library." she said as she walked upstairs and into the spare room.
 
Once Twilight entered the room, she began to splutter and cough unable to breathe properly and stumbled back out of the room. Luna stared at her shocked to see her completely soaked, her mane down her face dripping wet. Twilight continued to sputter and cough as Luna tried to help her.
 
"Why I-is there a c-c-cloud in there?" Twilight said shivering from the cold and glaring into the room.
 
"Oops" said Luna as she quickly ran in and removed it, pushing it out the window and smiling sheepishly "Sorry, they are just much better than a normal bed."
 
"It's fine" Twilight said as she dried herself off with a towel that she levitated in from the other room. Once she had finished drying herself off, she carefully trotted into the room, looking around cautiously for any bits of cloud that were left in the room, realizing that there were none, she trotted over to the nearest shelf and picked up several books all dedicated to Celestia's school for gifted unicorns.
 
Smiling as Twilight walked out with the books, Luna thanked her finding them as she moved to the corner of the room and sat down. As she opened the first book, the first thing she realized was that the book had been used many, many times before, she could tell from the small tears that she could see on the edge of some pages and few smudges that could be found around the edges of the pages. Curiously opening the book Luna began read.
 
After several minuets of reading Luna looked up, realizing that it was time for her to raise the moon she carefully closed the book and walked outside, as she went out to the balcony and slowly lifted herself into the sky Spike stumbled down the stairs towards Twilight who was busy reading her book on magic detection.
  
"Scroll from the princess" he said groggily, wanting nothing more than some sleep.
 
Rushing forward, Twilight levitated the scroll out of his hands and unrolled it so she could see it, the scroll read:
 
Dear Twilight Sparkle - My faithful student
 
I am sending this to wish you a quick recovery after your incident, I would also like it if both you and Luna to stay away from Canterlot, if you were to come back you would both be at a large risk. Even though you are now Luna's student, I would still like it if you and friends continued to send me reports on friendship whenever possible. I would also like to tell you that an event that has not been held for more than 1000 years is coming up, it was originally called the birth of the moon, but the event is really Luna's birthday. This takes place in five days. I am sure she would not have told you this, however I believe that it should be celebrated and not forgotten, but please do try to keep it small she has always hated crowds.
 
Sincerely Princess Celestia
 
Twilight looked at the letter, shocked for a second, before she turned to Spike. "Spike, tell Luna that I'm heading over to SugarCube Corner, ok?" she said, making sure he was listening.
 
"Mmhm" he said, sitting down on the couch as Twilight quickly trotted outside.
 
Twilight walked through the nearly empty streets, the only ponies she noticed out were either closing up their shops or were quickly rushing home before it got dark. Once she arrived at sugar cube corner, Twilight trotted up the steps noticing the lights in the house on and somepony inside moving backwards and forwards. Twilight knocked and entered the building to find Pinky Pie racing around collecting ribbons and banners for the party.
 
"Pinky" she called out, stepping forward and stopping her.
 
"Oh hi Twilight, I was just finishing up the party it's nearly done I'm so excited I mean it's a party for a princess won't this be great though I'll have to move all this stuff somewhere else I mean you said you didn't want anyone to know about the princess so we can't have it here how about at the library that would be good because not many people go there anyway."
 
"Fine, the library sounds good but we have to make a few changes."
 
"What kind of changes?" she asked, eyeing Twilight suspiciously.
 
"Uh" Twilight said, uncomfortable with Pinky's strange look. "I was wondering if it would be possible to move the party back five days."
 
"Why would we do that, as I've always said the sooner the better. After all if you have one sooner than you can have another party even sooner and then another even sooner after that."
 
"Well I was told by Celestia that it is actually her birthday in five days, it would just be practical to move the celebration to then."
 
"Her birthday?!" Pinky exclaimed, spinning back around and disappearing in a blur of pink. Not a second later, she reappeared with a bunch of happy birthday banners in her hooves, "I always keep a few spare banners in case of an emergency."
 
Twilight stared at Pinky, not quite understanding how all the banners just happened to be a deep blue and have stars all over them. "Well it looks like you got this, but remember it must be perfect, I can't ruin the princesses birthday party, imagine what she would do. She would probably banish me to the moon, or would she banish me to the sun? But that doesn't matter, it must be perfect!" Twilight said, watching Pinky carefully as she walked out house.
 
Twilight closed the door and let out a sigh of relief, so far things seemed to be looking up, she hadn't completely embarrassed herself and forgotten about Luna's birthday, Pinky seemed to have things under control, although knowing Pinky she should probably check in again before the party. Now all that was left was to make sure everything else was perfect.
 
Once Twilight arrived back home, she found Luna immersed in the book again, carefully walking past her, Twilight went over to the the bookshelf labeled 'Equestrian History'. Twilight carefully began scanning the bookshelves, eventually her face lit up as she found a book that looked like it could be helpful.
 
Twilight slowly walked past Luna and lay down on the cushion beside her, Twilight slowly opened the book and began to read.
 
Contents:
 
National Equestrian Celebrations.
Rural Equestrian Celebrations.
Solar Celebrations.
Lunar Celebrations.
 
Seeing the part she wanted Twilight flipped to the Lunar celebrations and began to read.
 
Lunar Celebrations.
There are many different Lunar celebrations, some of which have been lost over time, and those that haven't are no longer practiced or celebrated. The first celebration was the Winter Solstice, this stopped being practiced around one thousand one hundred years ago. This celebration used to signify the longest night of the year, ponies used to gather at a randomly picked town to watch as the moon was raised. This celebration was never very popular, with the only turnout being small groups of ponies, some of which were only there to sell their products. Eventually this tradition was called off when the organizer resigned due to the small turnout and lack of interest in the event, since then the tradition has died off and been all but forgotten.
 
Twilight stared at the book, disgusted before turning to Luna shocked. As she did so, seeing the movement in the corner of her eye, Luna lifted her head and looked at Twilight, the second she saw the look on Twilight face, she recoiled back a little before hesitantly asking "What is it that you are looking at?"
 
"Nothing" Twilight said hastily trying to hide the book from sight. "Just reading." she said smiling innocently.
 
"Oh, ok then." Luna said turning back to her book with a disappointed look on her face and ears flattened back. Sighing with relief and not noticing Luna's devastated look, Twilight opened the book again and began to search through it.
 
The next tradition was the Birth Of The Moon, this tradition was celebrated four times, the first time the entire nation participated, although this was the only time it had a high turnout, and the event was cancelled after 3 consecutive years of low turnouts. This tradition stopped a little under a thousand years ago. Read more of this celebration on page 24.
 
Twilight quickly turned over to page twenty-four and began to read.
 
The celebration 'The Birth Of The Moon' began early in the night, this was signified by the raising of the moon, the rest of the celebration consisted mostly of festivities including things such as; the finest foods from the castle, top class entertainment and many others that slowly began to die out before the tradition was canceled. Little is know of the tradition that was held between royalty, the only information found stated that it was a private event and they made a few appearances throughout the night, however most of it was held behind closed doors. Throughout the entire celebration every flag in Equestria was replaced by a flag with only the moon on it. This was supposed to celebrate the moon and night however most towns and families left the old flag standing saying that it would be deserting the Princess of the sun, Celestia.
 
Twilight stared at the book, not wanting to read on any further, she could see how Luna's birthday was celebrated, and from what she had read making it the same would only bring back bad memories, Twilight could tell that this wasn't going to help her at all so she stood up carefully and placed the book on the shelf before looking around. Spike was sleeping soundly and Luna had just looked back up from her book and was watching Twilight place the book back. As Twilight yawned she said goodnight to Luna and began to slowly walk up the stairs. Once she got to her room, Twilight went forward and collapsed on her bed, not even bothering to pull up the sheets before she drifted off into sleep.
 
[Editor's Notes]
Hope you all enjoy this chapter, sorry about the delay, but Kripk3y was being a tree.
I will also be moving countries soon and will be having a 2 week detour through London and New York, at which point it is unlikely I will be able to access the Internet to download and edit Kripk3y's Drafts. So I'm not sure what will happen, either Kripk3y will just edit them himself and upload them, or will get some one else to do it for him, it's up to him.
Zagzig17 out.
> Chapter 5: Friends
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight slowly awoke to find the sun high in the sky, its rays filtering through the curtains and into her room. After slowly standing up and stretching, Twilight began to make her way down the stairs and towards kitchen, once she made it down the stairs, she noticed the chalkboard was exactly the same as the previous day, with no new lesson. Shaking her head and wondering what the lesson would be for today, Twilight walked into the kitchen and began to make herself a daffodil sandwich.
 
Twilight walked out of the kitchen happily munching her sandwich, but before she had even finished half of it, she heard a trotting noise from upstairs. Luna suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs swaying from side to side. Twilight resisted the urge to laugh at the sight of her, she looked as if she had just woken up with a bad hangover. Her mane was still flowing, however it no longer gave Luna the royal appearance it usually did, instead it was swept across her face with small strands going off in other directions.
 
"Are you ok?" Twilight asked, concerned at the state the princess was in.
 
"We are fine, we are not used to being up at this time of day."
 
Once Luna was sitting on the couch Twilight quickly got up and put on the kettle, leaving Luna to rest and wake up properly. Soon after Twilight came back out of the kitchen with two cups of steaming coffee ready, when she looked up however, Luna was lying down on the couch fast asleep and lightly snoring. Twilight smiled at the sight of her and carefully placed the coffee on the table before walking over to Luna, Twilight tentatively lifted a hoof to wake her. Sighing Twilight carefully shook Luna to wake her up, Luna's eyes fluttered open and looked up at the concerned face of Twilight.
 
"Sorry" Twilight smiled tentatively. "You probably just want to sleep."
 
"It's fine Twilight." She mumbled groggily as Twilight helped her sit up properly. "We need to get used to being up during our sister’s day anyway."
 
Twilight quickly used her magic to hand Luna the cup of coffee who took it from Twilight's grip and carefully lifted it to her mouth, eyeing it cautiously.
 
"Don't worry, it'll help you wake up." Twilight said nodding to her.
 
Luna eyed it suspiciously for another second before she decided to take Twilights word and carefully took a sip, her eyes widened and she quickly drank the rest of it in large gulps.
 
"This is wonderful, what is it called?"
 
"Coffee." Twilight said trying not to laugh at Luna reaction. "You should be fine in a few minutes."
 
Twilight sat down on the couch beside Luna and began to drink her coffee, they both sat beside each other contently before Twilight finally finished her coffee and carefully stood up stretching. Grabbing their cups, Twilight walked into the kitchen and placed them in the sink to be washed up. When she came back Luna was standing up again and shaking her head.
 
"We didn't have time to prepare a lesson today so you can spend it with you friends if you wish." Luna said before sitting back down again and closing her eyes, happy she could no longer see the blaring light.
 
"But what will you do?" Twilight asked concerned.
 
"We will probably just stay here and read or sleep or prepare a lesson."
 
"Why don't you go outside?"
 
"And do what? We are not very social."
 
"I could introduce you to the rest of my friends, I'm sure they would be happy to meet you."
 
"Really" Luna said brightening at the thought "Just wait one second."
 
Luna's horn lit up and less than a second later as she bounced off the couch in excitement, all of a sudden she began a white glow as her body slowly shrank, she shone brightly for a second before the light slowly began to fade away. When she could see again Twilight gasped, Luna was now the same height as her, her coat was the same colour however her hair and tail no longer flowed as if they were in the wind, instead they were both light blue with locks.
 
"How do we look?" Luna asked.
 
"Fantastic" Twilight answered, “Although…”
 
"I-is something wrong?" Luna asked worried, now checking herself over again.
 
"No it's fine, but you looked exactly like that right after you were freed from Nightmare Moon”
 
"Oh" Luna said, "We will, explain that another time."
 
"Ok then, but you might want to hide either your wings or horn, and your cutie mark gives you away."
 
Glancing at herself again, Luna blushed realizing that she had nearly left with her wings, horn and cutie mark showing. Quickly casting another spell, she hid her horn from view and changed her cutie mark to a water droplet before smiling happily.
 
Twilight and Luna both trotted out of the house, "So who would you like to meet first?" Twilight asked looking around. It was a beautiful day with the sun high in the sky and not a single cloud in sight, the pegasi must have been working extra hours to keep it sunny with a cool breeze drifting through the town. Everypony was bustling around happily running errands and having a good time.
 
"Hmm... Well we don't believe that we have met your friend Rarity yet, we didn't see her during Nightmare Night."
 
"Oh of course" Twilight said trotting off towards the boutique. "She spent the entire night resting, after all that is the busiest time of the year for her. Everypony needs costumes to be made or fixed, I don't think she got any sleep the in the nights leading up to the celebration."
 
Luna was quite surprised at this, she hadn’t realized how much work went into the costumes from the night, to her they all looked like random household objects put together to look like some sort of creature. Luna was pulled back from her thoughts as she heard the jingle of a bell, right after she looked up and saw a white unicorn with a very stylish mane trot forward.
 
"Twilight" she sang "and..."
 
"We are... Umm" Luna said trying to think up a name on the spot.
 
"Oh my!" Rarity exclaimed quickly bowing down "I did not recognize you Princess, please forgive me."
 
Twilight and Luna both gave each other a questioning look before Luna stepped forward. "How did you know it was us? We thought that our disguise was quite convincing." Luna said as she carefully checked herself over again just to make sure she hadn't missed any details.
 
"Well princess, I heard all about Nightmare Night from Twilight here." she said, causing Twilight to blush and look off to the side "And well you are the only pony who still uses the royal we."
 
Off to the side Twilight facehooved as she realized her mistake "Of course princess, you will have to stop using the royal we, otherwise everypony will know it is you straight away."
 
Luna came forward "Um.. I, think that we can do that." she said before perking up, happy with herself and looking over to Twilight for approval.
 
"You used we again" Twilight pointed out, much to Luna's dismay "Don't worry princess, you just need practice speaking to people."
 
"Yes however if w-I speak to people they will realize who we are."
 
"Well princess what if we talk to, Applejack or Rainbow, you did say you wanted that book off her." Twilight said looking at Luna 
 
"That could work" she said smiling happily "And just Luna is fine."
 
Rarity, Twilight and Luna spent the next few minutes talking to each other; Rarity spent most of her time fawning over Luna, while Luna kept looking over to Twilight for approval and encouragement. By the time they left Luna rarely slipped back into the royal we and always managed to use her fake name.

"Goodbye princess." Rarity said, bowing to Luna as she left.
 
"Goodbye Rarity" Luna called out as she walked away, missing Rarity’s smile and happy look.
 
After a short walk they arrived at Rainbow's house and both stood on the ground looking up quite stumped "How are we supposed to get up there." Twilight asked confused.
 
However before Luna could answer, Pinky bounced out from behind a house "Oh hey there Twilight, watcha doing?"
 
"Im tr-" Twilight began before she was cut off by Pinky.
 
"Of course you're trying to get up to Dashie's house. Wait right there." she said before bouncing behind the house again, before Twilight could say another word, Pinky came flying out on a strange bicycle that flew through the air. Skidding to a stop just before Twilight and the princess, Pinky jumped off again "You and the princess have fun." she called bouncing away.
 
Luna stared after pinky in shock, she was about to ask Twilight how Pinky knew who she was before she began to laugh. Twilight was staring after Pinky with a confused and fustrated look on her face, her eye was twitching and her mouth was slightly open. She couldn't understand how Pinky managed to do it, she always knew exactly what was happening no matter how much you tried to hide it. Realizing that trying to understand Pinky would just make her tear her hair out and bang her head against a wall, Twilight turned to Luna to ask what she was laughing about.
 
"What's so funny?”
 
"You, you should have seen your face, you looked ridiculous." Luna giggled.
 
After a couple of seconds, Twilight couldn't help but begin to laugh as well. Their fun was cut short when they heard a shout from above them, they both jumped up looking around and blushing furiously. Seeing Rainbow Dash they stepped off to the side and watched as she flew down towards them gracefully.
 
"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash called out waving to her "Hey, who's this pony?" she asked seeing Luna beside her.
 
"I am Rainy Night" she said quite proudly.
 
"Hmm... I don't think I've seen you before, where are you from?"
 
"I am from Canterlot however w-I'll be staying in Ponyville for quite sometime."
 
"What was so funny?" Rainbow asked looking from one to the other curiously
 
"Oh, just Pinky being Pinky." Twilight answered.
 
"So what is it you came here for?"
 
"I wanted my Daring Doo book back from you." Twilight said quite annoyed "You've had it for weeks now, you were supposed to give it back days ago."
 
"Oh come on Twilight" Rainbow Dash whined "It's not like many people actually go to the library anyway and what's the chance they would want this book."
 
Twilight's eye started to twitch again when Rainbow mentioned the library making Luna giggle again.
 
"The library gets plenty of business thank you very much, and for your information Lu-Rainy Night here wants the book." she said almost slipping up in her annoyance.
 
"Oh" Rainbow said realizing that she was wrong “I'll go grab that for you." Rainbow Dash said, not noticing that Twilight nearly used another name as she quickly flew back up to her house to find the book.
 
Twilight and Luna looked at each other trying not to smile, so far everything was going well. Rainbow still didn't know who Luna really was despite Twilight's obvious slip up.
 
Rainbow quickly flew down with the book in her hand smiling "Here you are… Rainy Night wasn't it?" Rainbow said, turning to Twilight “Anyway, I was wondering if you had the next book."
 
"Yes of course, you can go grab it from the library if you want, although I'll probably be out all day."
 
"Thanks Twilight, see ya round Rainy Night." Rainbow called out as she flew off towards the library.
 
"Who would you like to meet next?" Twilight asked turning to Luna.
 
"Hmm... How about Fluttershy, I never did get to have a proper conversation with her.”
 
"I wouldn't be so sure." Twilight mumbled to herself quietly as they made their way to Fluttershy's cottage shaking her head.
 
After a long walk through the town and many introductions to the ponies they found themselves outside Fluttershy's front door. Both Twilight and Luna were happy with their success, Luna had not once slipped up when speaking to other ponies, she had come close a couple of times but had quickly corrected herself. Smiling broadly Twilight knocked on the door and took a step back.
 
"Who is it?" Fluttershy asked tentatively from behind the door.
 
"It's me, Twilight."
 
"Oh, it's you Twilight" She said as she slowly opened the door and peeked around at Twilight. "W-who's that with you?" she asked, almost completely closing the door again.
 
"Fluttershy, meet Rainy Night."
 
"Umm... Hello." Fluttershy said, looking at the ground nervously as she slowly opened the door again.
 
"Hello Fluttershy." Luna said raising her hoof. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Luna was quite surprised that despite her friendly attitude towards Fluttershy,  she was still scared and timid. "Is something wrong?" she asked, quite worried she had ruined her disguise or said something wrong.
 
"No, I'm fine." Fluttershy said, taking a step back.
 
"Fluttershy." Twilight said with an exasperated voice "It's fine, she's new here and I'm showing her around, why don't you to talk for a bit." She said, moving behind the door and pushing Fluttershy out into the open, causing her to squeak and hide behind her mane.
 
"So, is this your house?" Luna asked trying to start the conversation.
 
"Mmhph" She said quietly.
 
"Do you live here all by yourself?"
 
"Mm"
 
Everypony stood still, while an awkward pause hung in the air. Seeing that this wasn't going to get them anywhere, Twilight quickly walked forward again.
 
"Okaaaay then, Rainy Night, why don't I introduce you to my other friends, I'm sure Fluttershy has some things to do. It was good to see you again Fluttershy." Twilight said as she steered Luna away and waved back at Fluttershy.
 
"I don’t understand why she is still so afraid of me." Luna said, clearly disappointed.
 
"Don't worry Luna." Twilight said once they were out of earshot "She is like that with everypony. When we first met, she had trouble saying hello properly. At least she didn't realize who you were."
 
"I guess so"
 
"So… who do you want to meet next?"
 
"I am actually quite hungry, where would be a good place to eat?"
 
"I think I know just the place." Twilight said smiling.
 
A few minutes later, Twilight and Luna walked into a small restaurant, as they made their way to the counter, Twilight noticed Rarity waving to them from a table off to the side. Twilight nudged Luna and pulled her towards the table.
 
"Hello Twilight, Princess, how are you?" Rarity asked.
 
"We're good thank you." Twilight said smiling.
 
"Did any of the others notice?"
 
"Nopony noticed who Luna was, you did great Luna." Twilight said as she turned to her and gave her an encouraging smile.
 
"Yes, but I would have liked to speak with Fluttershy properly." she said still disappointed.
 
"Oh" Rarity said perking up "I know just the thing, all you need to do is ask her about her animals.”
 
"Really?" Luna asked perking up "That sounds great."
 
"Oh yes, when I first met her she didn't say a single word to me for weeks. One day I told her I would like a pet, and the amount of animals she had was simply amazing. She spent weeks worrying about Opal once I got her and would barely leave me alone, but I think she trusts me now."
 
Rarity smiled as she thought back to when she first got Opal. "Well I'm sure you two would like to grab something to eat, so I’ll be on my way, goodbye." she called back to them as she walked away towards her boutique.
 
"I don't know why I didn't think of that." Twilight said "Why don't you come with us for our next pony pet play date, then you can meet all of my friends and talk to Fluttershy."
 
"That would be wonderful, I've heard so much about them."
 
"Really?" Twilight asked "From who?"
 
"Uhh, well you see, my sister decided it would be a good idea for me to become more integrated in society. So she decided that, your friendship reports would help with that." she finished cautiously.
 
"She what?!" Twilight exclaimed before turning away in embarrassment and hiding her face.
 
"Oh don't worry Twilight, it's not like I was the only one to read them. Lots of ponies at her school have seen them too." Luna said before she realized what she had just told Twilight.
 
"B-but that’s the s-school." She stuttered, her face turning red. Luna quickly came up behind her and placed her hoof on her shoulder. Twilight looked up and Luna could see how much she was panicking.
 
"Come on," she said helping Twilight stand. "How about we take you home so you can calm down." she said, slipping back into the royal we for a second.
 
Twilight looked up at Luna and nodded, still thinking about all of the students that would have seen her reports and read them. Before she could dwell on this too much, she was surrounded in an azure glow, there was a bright flash. When she opened her eyes, she was standing in her room with Luna next to her. Twilight walked over to her bed and collapsed on to it.
 
"Don't worry, I'm sure that everypony thinks that they are fantastic." Luna said optimistically.
 
"Or hilarious" Twilight mumbled, her face buried in her pillow.
 
"What was that?"
 
"I’ll be the laughing stock of the whole school by now. I don't think I will ever be able to return to the school again."
 
"It's not that bad, I'm sure they will forget about them eventually."
 
"Typical teacher" Twilight muttered into her pillow, thinking about what the other students were most likely saying about her.
 
"Oh" Luna said, feigning offense. "I thought I was a good teacher, I'm clearly just a mediocre teacher and am the same as all the others."
 
"No" Twilight said, turning to Luna worried that she had upset her. "I didn't mean it like that, your a fantastic teacher, it's just that most teachers don't realize what the students are actually like, or what they say ou-" Twilight began before she realized that Luna was grinning at her. "Oh" was all she said as she realized what Luna had done.
 
"See, you look much better now. How about I send Celestia a letter and tell her you're embarrassed about them being on display. I have to go raise the moon, but when I get back I will send the letter. Now have a good night." she said, smiling back to Twilight as she walked out the doorway and turned off the lights. Twilight sighed as she watched Luna walk out, she felt better when Luna was with her and not as worried as she usually was, but realizing that it was late, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
 
Luna walked back inside after raising them moon and picked up a quill and a piece of paper, she licked her lips before she began to write.
 
Dear Sister-
 
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
 
Celestia was sitting at her desk when she was greeted by a small whisp of smoke that floated into her chambers. The smoke stopped in front of her before its colour and shape began to change until there was a pop and all that was left was a scroll with a blue ribbon and Luna's seal.
 
Celestia grabbed the scroll with her magic before it could hit the floor and opened it, wondering what her sister could want to speak to her about at this time of the night.
 
Dear Sister
 
I was talking to Twilight Sparkle when I mentioned that, not only had I read her reports but also that they were available to see at the school.
 
Celestia sighed realizing what the entire letter would be about, she couldn't fathom how that had come up in a conversation, or how it only took Luna two days to do something wrong but continued to read anyway.
 
She seemed to become very embarrassed and worried about what the other students would think, I believe that she would like them taken down and removed from the school. As always I hope you enjoy my night and I look forward to your day.
 
Celestia smiled as she finished reading the letter, ‘formal as always’ she thought. After tucking the letter into her desk drawer, Celestia began to write.
 
Dear Headmaster