Twilight is faced with the chance to change another pony’s life. If she takes it, she will lose everything she has ever gained. If she decides against it, everything will remain the same. But to that pony, it would mean a world of difference.
Twilight is faced with the chance to change another pony’s life. If she takes it, she will lose everything she has ever gained. If she decides against it, everything will remain the same. But to that pony, it would mean a world of difference.
This story takes place about a week after the events of the finale in season three.
Author note: This story has been stuck in my head since I first heard that twilight was going to be an Alicorn. This is my first time writing a story for this site so let me know what you think in the comments and also if you catch any mistakes I will do my best to fix them as fast as I can. Thank you in advance. /)
“Twilight... I still don't understand why an egghead like you would try to fly before you had any practice. I figured that you'd at least be brainy enough to know that you would need some training first.” Rainbow Dash said with a stern tone in her voice.
“I was excited! I read three books about it last night, and figured that if I applied all the basic principles of flight and aerodynamics, I would at least be able fly around the kingdom.” Twilight explained while trying not to look Rainbow Dash in the eyes.
“Just look at how that turned out for you! You ended up crash-landing in one of the towers, almost breaking your face on the way down! You're lucky that Rarity was making me wear a dress that didn’t constrict my movements too much and I was able to catch you before you actually hit the ground. If I weren’t there, who knows what would have happened."
“I know, Rainbow... Thanks again for saving me, but please stop bringing it up! It was embarrassing enough at the time, and I don’t need to keep hearing about it. Also, the only reason I crashed was because I'd forgotten how strong the winds could get around the towers, and hadn’t really read much about flying in high turbulence. That was in the next chapter.”
“Whatever... Anyway, I'm here to teach you how to actually fly and land like any other Pegasus, or Alicorn, in your case. All I ask of you is to follow my instructions and to do exactly what I say. This way, we don’t have any repeats from the castle."
“Okay, I understand. What is it that you want me to do first?”
“The first thing you'll be learning is how to hover, but first... Let's see if your books taught you anything about hovering.” Even before she'd finished speaking, Rainbow Dash had already flown up to about the height of the nearest tree and began to flap her wings casually, remaining in that one spot.
“Okay, I’ll give a try.” she said without giving it much thought, considering most Pegasus foals were able to hover by their first week.
Twilight unsteadily began to flap her wings, slowly gaining more height with every flap until she was level with Rainbow Dash.
“Well, I guess you can learn some things from books,” Rainbow Dash said, slightly shocked, “Now, just stay in that position for a bit longer and maybe we can move on to something a little harder.”
A couple of seconds later, Twilight felt the wind begin to pick up. Without even realizing it, Twilight was leaning to the side. The next thing she knew, she was on her back, staring up at Rainbow Dash.
“See, egghead! I was right! Sometimes, a book isn't able to help you. Sometimes, you just need someone to help you. Anyway, with your first try out of the way... Watch me closely, and by the end of the day I promise you'll be able to hover as good as me… Well, maybe not as good as me, but as good as Fluttershy.”
After six grueling hours of non-stop training with Rainbow Dash, Twilight wasn’t sure if she was actually getting better, or Rainbow Dash was just too stubborn and too loyal a friend to give up on her. She assumed the latter of the two.
“Rainbow Dash... I'm sorry, but that's all I can do today. My wings are about to give out and I don’t think I can withstand another crash.”
“Come on! You seemed like you were just getting the hang of it. How about another try before you go? It won’t kill you.”
“Actually, I think it just might... So, please let me go. We'll practice again tomorrow after you get off work.”
“Okay, fine... But promise you'll be here the second I am so we can continue our lessons.”
“Alright, Rainbow Dash. I Pinkie promise you I won’t be late.” she said while making the appropriate hoof movements.
Almost before Twilight had finished her sentence, Rainbow Dash was up in the air heading for Sweet Apple Acres, leaving a rainbow trail in her wake. With that, Twilight began to head home, not even attempting to fly for fear that she would succumb to exhaustion and fall to the ground once more.
As she made her way back to the library, she spotted Scootaloo by herself. This struck her as odd, so even though she was about to fall over, she decided to investigate and see what was up with Scootaloo.
“Hey, Scootaloo! Is anything wrong? Where are the rest of the crusaders?”
“Hey, Twilight. Nothing's wrong, I've just been looking for Rainbow Dash all day. I asked a few ponies around town, but they haven’t seen her either. I knew she didn’t have cloud duty today, so I figured I would ask her if she would let me hang out with her. But it seems like she's just disappeared! I even checked her house to see if she was sleeping, but she wasn’t there. Do you know where she might be?”
“Actually... I was just with her. She was giving me flying lessons all day in a field close by Sweet Apple Acres.”
“Oh, that explains it! So, do you know where she is now? Maybe she'll hang out with me for a bit before I have to head back home.” she said, regaining the smile she usually had.
“She didn’t really say, but when I saw her leaving she seemed to be heading to the orchard to get a nap in.”
“Okay. Thanks, Twilight! I’ve gotta go now; maybe I can catch Rainbow Dash before she wakes up from her nap and goes somewhere else!”
As she left, Twilight noticed something that she'd never really thought about before. Scootaloo’s wings weren't fully developed for a filly of that age. Twilight was surprised that she'd never seen this before, although in hindsight it wasn't actually odd that she hadn’t noticed it. Since Scootaloo always used her scooter to get around, that didn't require much effort. The most Twilight had seen was her hovering a few feet off the ground. This sparked Twilight's curiosity and caused her to start thinking more about Scootaloo’s problem.
Finally, she arrived at the library, feeling extremely tired. She didn't want to try and find the key in her bag, so she knocked on the door. Almost immediately, it was opened by Spike.
“Twilight, you're home! I was starting to get worried. I thought you were only going to be practicing for a couple of hours...” he said in a scolding tone, which was contrasted by his worried expression.
“Sorry, Spike... Rainbow Dash kind of got carried away, and I wasn’t exactly the best student. I was barely able to perform the most basic of flying maneuvers, but that doesn’t matter now. Can you do me a favor and find all the books on Pegasus anatomy?”
“Why would you need to read about that?” he asked in confusion.
“Well... Let’s just say it will help me understand wings a bit more.”
“Okay, I guess that works for me.” he commented, coming back with a stack of books only seconds later, “Here you go: all the books on Pegasus anatomy that are not already checked out.”
"This is why you're my number one assistant, Spike.” she replied, patting him on the head, “Alright, Spike. I have one more thing I would like you to do. I plan on spending the rest of the evening researching, and I want you to take the rest of the night off in appreciation for all that you have done around the library recently.”
“Really?!” Twilight simply nodded her head in agreement. He ran up to her and gave her a hug saying, “Thank you, Twilight! I'm going to head to Rarity’s and see if she needs any help!”
“Okay, Spike, just make sure that you're home before dark.” she said as he ran out the door, accidentally leaving it open in his excitement.
“Well, at least I know he'll be busy for the rest of the evening...” she closed the door, “Now, let's see if I can find any information on Pegasi that relates to little Scootaloo.”
“All right, Owlowiscious, here's what I have so far.” Twilight said as she gathered all the notes that she'd taken while reading. “It appears that Scootaloo has a rare Pegasus disease that affects her ability to fly. It'll get worse, and eventually she may be unable to hover at all...”
She flipped the page and continued, completely focused on her notes. “This disease not only affects her ability to fly, but it also prohibits all Pegasus magic, including the ability to walk on clouds without falling through. Now, in almost all cases, the doctor is able to perform surgery at the time of the pony's birth that can cure the foal of the disease. However, the doctor is only able to perform this operation the day of or the day after the foal's birth. If a foal does not receive surgery within that time window, the doctor will be unable to help the foal.“
“In most cases where the doctors are unable to do the surgery, the family is forced to move to the ground in order to take care of their foal. However, there have been known cases where the parents would leave their foal at an orphanage or just in the street. This is because they were either unable to provide the funds to move to the surface, or they simply didn’t want a foal that couldn't fly.” she said slowly, trying to retain her composure while explaining about that part in her notes to Owlowiscious.
“It appears that there were a few pages missing from one of the books, but from what I was able to understand from the preceding pages there appeared to be a cure for the disease, even if the doctor hadn’t operated. But that particular cure can only be done by an Alicorn. Unfortunately, that was all the information I was able to acquire regarding the subject.” the unicorn finished, going over her notes one last time to make sure she hadn't missed anything.
"I wonder if Princess Celestia might know anything more about this...” Twilight pondered aloud. She then levitated a piece of paper and a quill to the desk in front of her. The scratching of the pen was the only sound within the silent library. Owlowiscious' eyes remained calm and still as he peered over her shoulder.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Recently, it has come to my attention that a little filly named Scootaloo may have a rare disease that cripples her ability to fly. From all the information that I have gathered on the subject, I have learned that the disease is not curable unless treated within a day of the foal's birth. However, my research contradicted itself. In my reading, I learned of another possible cure that can only done by an Alicorn. Unfortunately, that is all I know about it; the following pages had been torn out by somepony who'd checked out the book beforehoof.
I would like to know if you happen to have any information about this cure or if you happen to know where I could learn more.
“I wonder if she also has any information on Scootaloo that could help me understand all of this a little better,” she thought aloud.
Also, if possible, could you send me some information on Scootaloo? Such as where she lives, where she was born, and really anything that you think would be pertinent to my investigation at hoof?
Thank you in advance for any information that you find.
Your Faithful Student,
Twilight Sparkle
“Alright, I think the letter's good enough. Don’t you, Owlowiscious?”
“Hoot!” agreed the owl, fluffing its wings. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Owlowiscious, I have one last request for you. I'm going to leave this for Spike to send to Celestia with a note telling him not to read it, so please make sure that he doesn't read it. I don’t want him to know that I'm doing research on Scootaloo.” She tied the paper up and attaching a sign that read:
Spike, as soon as you read this paper, send this scroll to Princess Celestia. DON'T READ IT.
“Hoot,” he chirped in understanding, nodding in response to Twilight's request.
Twilight, realizing how late it was, decided that it was probably best to head to bed. After all, she had lessons with Rainbow Dash tomorrow. “Good night, Owlowiscious. I'm going to hit the hay... Make sure to put away any books you take out,” the unicorn said with a yawn. She was a lot more tired than she'd initially thought.
“Hoot!”
With that final response, Twilight went upstairs and into her bedroom.
When she at last made it up, she noticed that Spike was curled up in his bed, sleeping. Trying not to be too loud but still get her love across, she whispered, “Goodnight, my number one assistant. Sweet dreams...” The dragon smiled in his sleep, and that was enough. With a small grin of her own, she tiptoed to her bed and lay down. Almost as soon as her head hit the pillow she was asleep.
As the sun began to rise over the horizon, the morning rays peeked into the library's bedroom, landing right in Spike's eyes. This caused him to roll over, grumbling, but as he started to get up he noticed that Twilight was still sound asleep. Spike, forgetting that Twilight had lessons with Rainbow Dash today, decided that she was working too hard on her research and deserved some extra time to rest. With that, he made his bed quietly and headed down to the first floor of the library.
As he made it down, he saw Owlowiscious reading a book on his perch. “Morning, Owlowiscious.”
“Who?”
“You.”
“Who?”
“You, Owlowiscious!”
“Who!”
“Oh, never mind!” he exclaimed in slight annoyance at the ordeal. “What is it that you have there?” He'd noticed a letter next to Owlowiscious.
The baby dragon made his way over to where Owlowiscious was and grabbed the letter, reading the little note attached to it.
“ I wonder what this letter is about?” he thought aloud after finishing. “It’s not like Twilight to keep secrets from me… I bet Twilight wouldn’t mind too much if I just took a quick peek...” he reasoned as he began to undo the ribbon around the letter.
At that instant, Owlowiscious swooped down and grabbed the letter from Spike's clutches. “Yikes! Okay, Owlowiscious! Geez, I won’t read it. Take it easy next time, alright? Just hand it here so I can send it.” He was visibly shaking.
When he finally calmed down, Owlowiscious gave him back the letter and Spike, true to his word, sent it straight to Princess Celestia. With that out of the way, Spike began his normal chores for the library, such as sweeping and reorganizing the books every so often.
It was almost lunchtime by the time he was done. Noticing that Twilight still wasn’t up, he decided that maybe if she smelled food being cooked she would wake up and come down.
As the delicious aroma began to waft up and into the bedroom, Twilight finally blinked her eyes open blearily. “I wonder what Spike is making for breakfast...” she yawned out. After stretching, she got out of bed and began to make her way downstairs, oblivious to the time.
When she made it, she was met with the sweet smell of hay fries and grilled dandelion sandwiches. “Spike, why are you making food for lunch...? I figured you would be making breakfast.” she asked curiously.
“What do you mean? It is lunch right now; I let you sleep in. You seemed really tired from all your studying, so I figured it would be best to let you sleep and I would do all the morning chores.” He smiled, sure that he'd done her a favor.
“What?! It’s already lunchtime? I can’t believe that you let me sleep in, Spike!" she shrieked, "I have lessons with Rainbow Dash again today!”
“Oh! I'm really sorry, Twilight, I completely forgot! It won’t happen again, I swear,” but before he'd finished, Twilight was already running out the door to where she was supposed to meet up with Rainbow Dash.
“Wait! What about lunch?!” he yelled, hoping that she would hear him. However, realizing it was futile only a few seconds later, he continued, “Well... I guess more for me...”
“Is that you, Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo shouted at a cloud overhead, positive she'd seen a rainbow mane up there somewhere.
“Hey, Scoots, what're you up to?” Rainbow Dash said as she leisurely jumped off the cloud and floated down.
“Not much, Rainbow Dash! I've just been looking all over for you. Twilight said that you were training her this week and since I couldn’t find you yesterday, I figured I would ask if you could let me stay around and watch the lesson today.”
“Of course, Scoots. You can always hang around; you're basically like a little sister to me.” Rainbow Dash ruffled Scootaloo's mane with a friendly smile.
Scootaloo was now wearing one of the biggest smiles ever, perhaps bright enough to rival Pinkie's average grin.
Finally calming down, Scootaloo replied, “Thank you, Rainbow Dash! I promise I won’t interfere at all.”
“Good, 'cause based on yesterday's lesson, I'm gonna have to seriously focus to help Twi.” Rainbow Dash chuckled slightly, reminiscing all the crashes Twilight had managed yesterday.
“I wonder where she is now... It's not like her to be late." Rainbow Dash commented, half annoyed at Twilight for breaking her Pinkie promise, and half worried for her friend's well-being.
“Last time I saw her, she looked like she was about to pass out! I bet she ended up sleeping in.” Scootaloo chuckled at the thought.
“I doubt it; Spike wakes her up every morning."
Before Scootaloo had a chance to respond, Rainbow Dash spotted Twilight running toward them. “What took you so long? Did somepony have a book emergency that required a librarian?”
“No. Spike forgot I had... lessons today and... decided to let me sleep in.” Twilight panted out.
“Well... I guess you were right, Scootaloo.” Rainbow admitted. "I understand, but don’t let it happen again.” she finished.
“Tonight, I promise to cast a spell that'll wake me up no matter what, just in case Spike decides to try and let me sleep in again.”
“Okay. Anyway, I hope you don’t mind, but Scootaloo is going to be hanging around with us today.”
“No, it's fine; it’s always great to see her,” Twilight beamed as she addressed the filly, “Hi, Scootaloo! How are you doing today?”
“Good, especially since I get to spend the day with Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo exclaimed happily.
"...After yesterday's lesson," Rainbow spoke with sudden authority, "I figured you'd probably do better if we tried something even easier than hovering. So, what I would like to do is work on the more basic skills of flying: gliding and landing.” she puffed out her chest, where a bright red whistle stood out against her cyan coat. It only seemed to add on to her image as a coach, and made Twilight dread what would happen next.
“As I am sure you've noticed by now, I have a platform made up of clouds with steps behind me. Today, you are going to jump off the platform, and then gently glide down.” As Rainbow Dash finished, she flew up to the platform and gently glided down just like she had done earlier when Scootaloo had shown up.
“So, egghead, do you think you could manage that without landing on your back again?” Rainbow teased with a smirk.
“I'm not so sure... That platform seems kind of tall.” Twilight said as she stared up at the platform, unsure.
“It’s not that bad; you flew higher when you decided to take off around the castle.”
“Yeah, but that was different!" Twilight replied indignantly, "Now I know what it's like to lose my balance and fall back to the ground.” Twilight grimaced at the thought.
“You’ll be fine. Now get up there and get started!” Rainbow Dash ordered, beginning to get frustrated at Twilight's hesitance.
“Fine.” Twilight gave in, hopping up the stairs and landing on the platform.
When Twilight finally made it, she realized just how tall the platform actually was, which inevitably caused her to freeze up.
“Come on, you egghead, we don’t have all day!” Rainbow Dash shouted impatiently, making sure Twilight could hear her.
Finally, the hesitant pony decided to just get it over with. Slowly, she inched herself to the edge. As she got closer she unfurled her wings, took one last look down, and with her eyes squeezed shut, she jumped from the platform. Twilight was able to make it down a couple of feet perfectly fine before she lost her balance. Suddenly, the world came up to meet her and a loud thud resounded. Twilight mulled over her shame at failing for a split second before casting it aside. She got up and dusted herself off, looking at Rainbow Dash for some advice.
"You were doing great for a while before you lost your balance. It seems like I've been going about this wrong the whole time! What you need is to work on your balance issues, not your flying. But there's a catch: since I didn’t see your problem sooner, I didn’t bring anything that could help. So, we're gonna have to take a quick break while I get the supplies. Is that okay with you, Twi?”
“Sure, I'm completely fine with that.” Twilight said, letting slip a sigh of relief.
“Scootaloo, would you mind keeping Twilight company while I go and get the supplies?”
“That’s fine.” Scootaloo replied cheerily, confident in Rainbow's speed. She was sure her idol would be back in ten seconds flat.
“Awesome. I’ll be right back,” Rainbow Dash smirked before taking off to where her sky castle was currently located, a rainbow trail billowing out behind her.
“So, Scootaloo, you never told me what the rest of the crusaders were up to.” Twilight prompted inquisitively, relating to their conversation the previous day.
“Oh! Sorry, I was so caught up in trying to find Rainbow Dash that I forgot to tell you. Apple Bloom is visiting Babs in Manehattan and Sweetie Belle went on vacation with her parents for the week, so it's just me this week.” she finished with less cheer than usual.
“Oh, sorry to hear that,” Twilight rushed, feeling a surge of guilt at the prospect of being left out from her friends for an entire week.
“It's fine now, since I get to spend time with the Rainbow Dash.” Scootaloo's posture straightened and her perky grin returned.
“That’s good!” Twilight smiled in return, "But that reminds me of something I've been meaning to ask. What do your parents think of you spending all your time with the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Rainbow Dash?”
“Well… um… Oh, look! There’s Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo exclaimed hurriedly, avoiding the question completely. She addressed the rainbow mare with a sort of nervous excitement, “Hey, Rainbow Dash! That was fast.”
“Well, they do call me the fastest Pegasus in Equestria for a reason!” Rainbow Dash puffed out her chest in a boastful manner.
“Why do you have rope?” Twilight spoke up suddenly, her eyes glued on the item wrapped loosely around Rainbow's neck. It didn't give her a good feeling.
“We're going to be using this rope to help you with your balancing problem, of course.” Rainbow Dash retorted without missing a beat. “It's basically gonna be a tight wire. I'm going to set up the rope between two trees and hopefully through practice you'll be able to walk across it with no problem. At that point I believe that you will be ready to try flying again, and this time you should be able to actually stay up and not crash into the ground.” Rainbow continued before Twilight could say anything, “Scootaloo, would you mind helping me set this up?”
“No problem, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo's wings fluttered as a wide smile settled on her features.
“Alright, just run to that tree and tie up the rope tightly and I'll do the same over here.”
“Got it.”
With that, they both set to work. Within minutes they were done and the rope was tied between the two trees. Twilight just watched, fear dancing within her eyes.
Testing out the rope to make sure that it was sound, Rainbow Dash jumped up onto it and started to walk across. The Pegasus was even doing some tricks on it, though it was clear she wasn't trying to put Twilight down. “Alright, Twilight! It’s not that hard; all you have to do is keep your center of balance at all times and you'll be fine.” The rainbow-maned mare bounced off the rope with surprising strength, but the rope held fast. The ground groaned beneath Dash's hooves when she dashed down, testament to the force she'd put into the jump. Obviously, the rope was tied very tightly.
“Uh…”
“Just get up there and do your best! The worst that could happen would be you falling off, and it's only like a foot down so it won’t hurt too much.” Rainbow Dash pushed her friend in the direction of the rope.
“Easy for you to say..." she muttered under her breath.
Twilight made her way over to the rope. From a distance, the rope had seemed to be thick from all the support it'd been giving Rainbow, but as she got closer she noticed how thin the rope really was. Immediately she thought that there was no way that a rope that thin could hold her, but remembered that Rainbow Dash had just strained the rope in every way she could think of, so she decided it couldn't be too bad. Using her front hoof and a nearby branch for support, the Alicorn climbed up onto the rope.
“Alright, just let go of the branch and try to make your way across now.”
The unicorn hesitated, but followed through. As she let go of the branch and took a first, unsteady step, the rope immediately caved on her and she fell to the ground unceremoniously.
“Well, that could have gone better...” Rainbow Dash commented seriously, no longer finding humor after seeing Twilight fall so many times before. “I guess the only thing to do now is to keep trying and hopefully all this practice will do something for you.”
“Aright.” Twilight said, becoming tired and sore at the thought of practicing on the tight rope for the rest of the day. She didn't even see how Rainbow had balanced so perfectly on it moments before, where the rope had not leaned in the slightest, while Twilight was swinging in it like a jump rope.
After two hours of practice, Twilight had fallen multiple times and really wasn’t improving past her best record of two steps. And even then Rainbow Dash had done her best to make sure the rope wasn't wily underneath her.
"You've gotta use your wings to balance yourself more! Try to not to put too much weight on the rope. One step at a time--no, don't rush!" were all criticisms Dash had dished out, though all Twilight really wanted was a good walkthrough--literally. Nothing seemed to be working. “Dash, I think I'm going to call it a day. I'm not making any improvements yet and maybe it's just because I'm so tired, but I really do need to get some rest. Maybe I'll do better tomorrow.” Twilight said, hoping that Rainbow Dash would just let her go without trying to stop her.
“I understand." Rainbow said simply, taking Twilight by surprise, "Take the rest of the day off and try to get some rest, but tomorrow you better be ready to get back on that rope and walk across!”
“Thank you! I promise I won’t be late tomorrow, no matter what.” With that, Twilight was off for home, at a slower pace than usual, but still heading there.
“Scootaloo, would you like to give the tight rope a try?” Rainbow Dash asked after the Alicorn had left.
“Yeah!” Scootaloo said excitedly.
“Hop up there and give it a try!”
Scootaloo jumped up onto the rope and as soon as she had found her center of balance began to walk across the rope like it was nothing.
As soon as Scootaloo had made it to the other side, Rainbow Dash grinned good-naturedly, “Good job, kiddo! I think you may have done the walking part better than me.”
Scootaloo bounced off the rope and bashfully replied, “Thanks, Rainbow Dash, but nopony could be better than you!”
“That may be true, but if it were anypony it would be you.” Rainbow Dash nuzzled Scootaloo for a second before pulling away. “Hey, would you want to go flying again?”
“Yeah, of course I would!” Scootaloo beamed as she tripped over her hooves and clambered up onto Rainbow Dash's back. The older Pegasus chuckled at the filly's behavior.
"Hold on tight.” Upon saying that, Dash took off into the sky, carrying Scootaloo on her back.
Soon, Twilight found herself at the entrance of the library, sore from today’s lessons. As she opened the door, she was greeted by a distracted Spike sitting in the kitchen eating gems. He didn't even look up at the sound of the bell, signaling a pony's entrance.
“Welcome to the library, if you need anything just let me know and I’ll try to help.” he said in a monotonous tone.
“Spike, it's me,” Twilight replied with an edge in her voice. He wasn't supposed to be eating gems without her permission, much less during business hours.
“Oh! Sorry, Twilight! I didn’t even realize it was you! I swear I would've checked who it was but these gems are amazing,” he jumped down from the seat and walked over to the pony in a nervous gait.
“It’s fine, but where did you get those gems?”
“Rarity stopped over and gave them to me for helping her yesterday.”
“That’s good… Spike, I'd like to apologize about this morning. It's not your fault I woke up late. I should have had a back-up just in case. I know you're still a baby dragon, so I can’t blame you for forgetting.”
“No, Twilight!" The dragon shook his head furiously, "I am sorry! It was my fault--you gave me the responsibility to wake you up and I forgot. It won’t ever happen again.” He hung his head before being hugged by Twilight, in which both forgave the other for their morning dispute.
“So, Spike, did you receive any letters from Princess Celestia today?” Twilight questioned finally, breaking the embrace.
“Nope; I haven’t received a thing. Also, why is it that I couldn’t read what was inside the letter I sent this morning when you were okay with telling Owlowiscious? Do you trust him more than you trust me?” Hurt and betrayal laced his voice, coating it with sadness. The sound made Twilight's heart lurch.
“No, Spike! It's just that I don’t want anypony to know about this right now, other than Princess Celestia. I never actually told Owlowiscious what was in the letter, just to not let you open it because I know how curious you can get sometimes.” Twilight said with a slight smile, hiding the fact that she'd told a small white lie.
“Alright... I guess that's fair.” Spike laughed at some of the times his curiosity has gotten the better of him. “Anyway, you came in just in time. I was just about to prepare dinner! What would you like?”
“This is why you're my number one assistant, Spike.” Twilight smiled at the thought of finally eating something. ”You know what, Spike? Would you mind making some more hay fries and grilled dandelion sandwiches? Ever since you woke me up to the smell of it this morning, I've been craving them.”
“Sure thing, Twilight.” The two shared a chuckle.
With that, Spike began to make dinner while Twilight waited patiently for the food to be finished at the table.
"That was especially good today, Spike. Did you try something new with the hay fries?” Twilight asked politely as she savored the last bite of her meal.
“Thanks! And yeah, I found a new recipe for the hay fries in one of the cook books we just got in.” Spike replied, smiling at the compliment.
“That explains it. Well, Spike, in order to thank you for such a good meal, I’ll take care of the dishes tonight.” she said as she began to levitate the dishes over to the sink.
“Alright. Thanks, Twilight!” Spike grinned. He then burped up a fireball with a letter materializing in its wake. Spike grabbed the letter before it fell to the ground. “It’s a letter from Princess Celestia.”
“Oh! Give it here,” Twilight changed her magic's focus to the letter, and in the process spilled water everywhere as the plates fell into the sink. “Spike, do me a favor and clean the dishes this time. I have to see what the princess wrote.”
“Fine, just leave me to clean up this mess...” Spike complained in an annoyed tone.
“Thanks, Spike. I owe you for this.” Twilight said, running out of the room and into her main study.
When She sat down and levitated the letter to the desk, opening it easily. “Okay, let’s see what the princess found out about little Scootaloo...”
Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,
What you have brought to my attention is an interesting case, but I will not be able to answer all of the questions you have for me through a letter. I would like to request for you to come back to Canterlot for a short amount of time so that I can explain some of this in greater depth. I will send my royal guards over to pick you up tomorrow around noon. I would advise you to pack enough things for a few days.
Now onto the next part of your letter. I was able to find some information on Scootaloo, but it honestly is a bit disheartening. From the records that I have been able to get a hold of on her, it appears that she was born at the Cloudsdale hospital. On the day of her birth, her records show that she had the exact same disease that you diagnosed her with, but the head doctor at the time was called away for an emergency and was unable to do the surgery. After that the details get a bit hazy, and the parents never came back for their one-month check up. But knowing that Scootaloo lives near you and that she had that disease I contacted the Ponyville Orphanage. I was hoping that I wouldn’t find her there, but unfortunately I did. They gave me their records for Scootaloo, and I learned that an anonymous pony had dropped her off there about two days after her birth.
Other than that, there wasn’t too much about her. Apparently the orphanage had taken her to a doctor that misdiagnosed her as a healthy foal, so they had no idea that she had the disease. Now the last thing that I learned about her was that during Scootaloo’s stay at the orphanage, only one pony tried to adopt her. That pony was none other than your friend and one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, Rainbow Dash. However, the adoption didn’t work out because Scootaloo was unable to live at Rainbow Dash's house. The reason being that on the day of the adoption, Rainbow Dash had flown Scootaloo to her house and as soon as Scootaloo hopped off of Rainbow Dash's back and onto the clouds, Scootaloo fell through. Luckily, Rainbow Dash was fast enough to fly down and catch Scootaloo before she hit the ground.
After that incident, Rainbow Dash took Scootaloo to the hospital to see what was wrong and they found out exactly what you did yesterday. One last thing about that: it appears to have happened a couple of weeks before the Equestrian Games inspector came to the Crystal Empire.
Now before I end this letter, I would like to advise you to go visit Rainbow Dash to see what she has to say on Scootaloo, and I would also like you to tell her what you have learned about little Scootaloo.
Sincerely,
Princess Celestia
The implication of the letter left Twilight perplexed. She couldn’t believe that Rainbow Dash had tried to adopt Scootaloo without letting anypony know about it. Also, she couldn’t figure out why the princess would need her to actually come up to Canterlot; she didn't see how a spell could be that difficult. Still, Twilight decided the best thing to do would be to talk to Rainbow Dash and get to the bottom of what happened with Scootaloo.
Now with the thought of talking to Rainbow Dash on her mind, Twilight trotted to the door. “Spike, I'm going to need you to do me another favor. I need you to pack me a suitcase for a couple of days. Princess Celestia requested for me to come up to Canterlot and I will be leaving at noon tomorrow.”
“What?! Why would Princess Celestia need you up in Canterlot when we just got home from there a couple of days ago?” Spike asked with surprise and annoyance in his tone.
“Spike, you know that I am a princess now and I have certain duties that I have to uphold. So if Princess Celestia wants me to come to Canterlot I have to listen; it's my duty as a princess.” Twilight said, doing her best to act the part as princess.
“Alright, I understand... Will I be going too?” Spike questioned curiously.
“Unfortunately, no. Princess Celestia requested it just be me.”
“Okay...” Spike sighed, slightly disappointed. “I’ll pack for you after I finish cleaning up the rest of the kitchen.”
“Thank you, Spike. This is why you are my number one assistant. Well, I have to go get some supplies, so if you don’t mind I'll be back in a little bit.”
“Fine, just leave me here to finish all the chores by myself. I'm going to have so much fun.” he commented sarcastically.
“Thanks again, Spike.” Twilight said as she made her way out of the library.
Finally out of the house, Twilight made her way towards Rainbow Dash’s home, hoping that she'd be there.
As Twilight got closer, she remembered just how high up Rainbow Dash’s house actually was. So instead of even attempting to fly up herself, Twilight teleported up to the porch of Rainbow Dash’s cloud home.
Twilight, assuming that Rainbow Dash was home, began to knock on the door. Within a couple of seconds she heard a shout from inside saying, “I’ll be there in a minute! You don’t have to keep knocking."
Then, a few moments later, Rainbow Dash had opened the door. “Hey, Twilight! What are you doing here? I thought you were taking the rest of the day off! How did you even get up here?”
“First of all, I have magic, remember?” Twilight replied rather bluntly.
“Oh, right...” Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her head, realizing her mistake.
“Second, I'm not here to have any more lessons; I came here to talk to you about something else.” Twilight tried to keep her expression passive.
“Okay, what’s up?” Rainbow Dash asked nervously, unsure of what Twilight could want. Her wings twitched restlessly at her sides.
“Would you mind if I came in first? I'm still sore from crashing during the lessons.”
“Sure, come right on in.” She stepped aside.
“Thanks,” Twilight smiled weakly as she made her way over to the living room couch. “...Alright, Rainbow Dash, I just have a few questions about you and Scootaloo.”
“Like what?” Rainbow Dash was still anxious to hear more, uncertain about what Twilight was going to say next. She remained standing in front of her friend.
“First, I want to know why you hid the fact that you tried to adopt Scootaloo.” Twilight stared pointedly at Dash, getting right to the point. She watched as the Pegasus gulped.
“I-I don’t know what you're talking about. I never tried to adopt Scootaloo; I mean, she's a great little filly and like a little sister to me, but I never tried to adopt her.”
“Rainbow, I know that you did. Princess Celestia told me herself.”
“Why would Princess Celestia know about me trying to adopt Scootaloo?”
“She was getting some information for me on Scootaloo.”
“Wait, why were you trying to get information on Scootaloo?!”
“That doesn’t matter right now; I'll tell you after you answer my question.”
“No! I won’t answer until you tell me why you were snooping on my and Scootaloo's business!” Her wings flared out aggressively and she glared at the sitting Alicorn.
"It wasn't snooping! But I know how stubborn you get and it isn’t even worth the trouble to argue with you. Yesterday, I noticed that I had never seen Scootaloo fly. I thought that was odd so I did some research on what could have caused something like that. I ended up finding out that Scootaloo has a rare Pegasus disease. I learned that there was only one cure and it could only be done by an Alicorn. Unfortunately, the page of the book detailing the procedure was ripped out so I couldn’t figure out how it was done. Since I couldn’t find anything, I sent Princess Celestia a letter asking if she could give me any information pertaining to Scootaloo. When I received a response this morning I learned that Scootaloo did have the disease that I had originally diagnosed her with and that you had tried to adopt her, but couldn’t because she was unable to walk on your cloud home.”
“Wait, there's a cure for Scootaloo’s disease?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed excitedly, ignoring everything else she'd just heard Twilight say. Her bad mood a few seconds ago seemed to alleviate completely, leaving her with perked ears and curious eyes.
“Yes, and I'm going to be meeting Princess Celestia tomorrow to discuss the cure since it wasn’t in the book.”
“Really?! That's amazing! Do you really think you could be able to cure Scootaloo?"
“I hope so... Anyway, I want to know why you didn’t tell any of your friends about your trying to adopt Scootaloo.”
“Well, basically I wasn’t sure if the orphanage that Scootaloo was staying at would let me adopt her. I wanted to wait until after it was official to tell all of you about it, in case it didn't work out. However, the first trial day of her staying with me... well, you know what happened. The orphanage gave me the option to move to the ground, but I didn’t, and still don't, have enough bits to get a new house, so I wasn't able to adopt Scootaloo.” Rainbow Dash said with a quiver in her voice. It was obvious she was still affected by the experience, but was trying to hold herself together so she wouldn’t ruin her "tough" image.
“I am so sorry, Dash... Why didn’t you come to us? We could've tried to help you; maybe we could've helped you raise enough bits to help pay for a new house.”
“I just didn’t have it in me to tell any of you.”
“I understand, Rainbow Dash, but you do know that your friends will always be there for you.”
“Yeah, I know... Thanks, Twi.”
“If you don’t mind, I have one more question. How much would it mean to you if Scootaloo was able to fly?”
“Ever since me and Scootaloo went camping with Rarity, Applejack and the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, she's been like a little sister to me. She told me about where she lived and I knew that I couldn’t let her stay there anymore, so I asked her if she wanted to live with me; it was the happiest I had ever seen her. When we realized she couldn't live with me, I felt horrible. If she had the ability to fly and she could live with me, I know that it would be the coolest thing that has ever happened to me, and I'm sure it'd mean a lot to Scootaloo.” The Pegasus hadn't hesitated once and her voice, thick with feeling, resonated throughout the entire room with devotion. There was no doubt in her mind.
“Thank you for telling me that, Rainbow. I know how hard it is for you to open up,” Twilight smiled as she gave Rainbow Dash a hug.
“Okay, okay, that's enough... I can’t handle all this lovey-dovey stuff.” Rainbow Dash coughed, reverting back to her normal self as she pushed Twilight away.
“Alright, well, I have to get going; Spike thinks I'm just getting supplies for my trip to the castle. Oh, I almost forgot: I won’t be at practice for the next couple of days since I'll be in Canterlot."
“Duh. You said you were going to meet with Princess Celestia; I didn’t think she would come down to Ponyville just to tell you about a spell.”
“Oh, yeah... I have to get going. See you later, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight nodded to her friend before making her way out the door.
“See ya.” Rainbow Dash gave her a half-smirk, shutting the door behind Twilight.
After Rainbow Dash had disappeared into her home, Twilight made her way down a path to the edge of the cloud. “I wonder if I could just glide down... I know that I failed earlier, but it may be worth a shot,” Twilight thought aloud to herself.
Thinking that she would be able to succeed this time, Twilight jumped from the cloud and unfurled her wings smoothly. As soon as her wings were spread, she'd caught onto the air and glided for a bit, but that didn't last long. She soon lost her balance again and began to fall towards the ground. Thinking quickly, Twilight teleported to the ground, allowing her to escape unscathed.
“Well... That could have gone better. I really thought I had it there for a second. At least I didn’t land on my back this time.” Twilight grimaced.
Not bothering to dwell on her most recent failure, Twilight made her way back to Ponyville to actually get some supplies.
Once she was done with her shopping, Twilight made her way back to the library. Without knocking, the Alicorn opened the door and shouted inside, “Spike, I’m back!”
“Hey, Twilight! What took you so long? I didn’t think it would take that long to get supplies.” Spike watched her with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion dancing in his eyes.
“The Quill and Sofa Shop was closed, so I had to go to the other side of town to get more quills.” Twilight replied, telling half of the truth.
“Okay, but I still don’t think it would take that long... I guess it doesn't matter. Anyway, I finished the kitchen and was just about to start packing for you. But now that you're here, it would be nice to get some help to pack your stuff.” Spike commented, hoping Twilight would help him with the work.
“Sure, Spike,” Twilight answered as she levitated some of the items that she'd just purchased out of the bags.
“Thanks, Twilight...” Spike grinned. He was happy to finally get some help.
“Alright, Spike, is that everything?” Twilight asked as she looked over the supplies she was planning on taking to the castle.
“For the third time, yes! I’ve checked, double checked and now triple checked everything to make sure it’s all here, so don’t worry!” Spike exclaimed, waving the checklist that was longer than he was tall.
“Alright, I guess that’s good enough, Spike. Thanks for helping me finish packing.”
“No problem.”
“The guards should be here any minute now so let me just remind you of a few things. If you need any help, you can ask any one of my friends. Also, I want you to keep the library open during regular hours, and after closing time you can visit Rarity. However, make sure she’s okay with it first.” Before Twilight could continue, there was a knock on the door, causing her to lose her train of thought. “That must be the guards now,” Twilight commented idly, making her way to the front door.
“Hello, Princess Twilight Sparkle. At Princess Celestia’s request, we are here to escort you to Canterlot.” the guard said with a salute.
“I’ll be ready in just a minute; I have a few more things that I have to take care of, then I will be ready.”
“Understood, Princess. If you need any help, just let us know.”
“Alright, thank you.” Twilight closed the door and made her way back to Spike.
“Where was I again…? Anyway, just remember what I told you and don’t worry—I’ll be back in a couple of days. Everything will be fine.” Twilight smiled encouragingly before giving him a quick hug.
“I’ll be fine, Twilight; don’t worry about me. It’s not like this is the first time you’ve left me alone.” Spike replied nonchalantly, trying to act as tough as he could.
“I know.” Twilight grinned at the baby dragon knowingly. “Bye, Spike! Do me a favor and don’t get into any trouble, okay?” Twilight said as she began to levitate her luggage toward the door.
“I won’t! Bye, Twilight. I’ll see you in a couple of days.” Spike waved from the doorway, not wanting to leave the library.
Twilight waved once at her assistant before turning to the guards. “Sorry I took so long; we can get going now.”
“It’s no problem, Princess Sparkle.” The guard offered a hoof to help her into the carriage.
Seeing that Twilight was in place, the guard walked around and strapped himself to the carriage. “Hold on, Princess Sparkle, we are taking off now.” Then, nodding to the other guard, they took off into the sky toward Canterlot.
Within a few hours, the guards landed gently in front of the Canterlot Castle.
“Alright, Princess Sparkle, we’re here. Princess Celestia has requested for me to tell you that she will not be able to meet with you until dinner. She also wanted me to tell you to just get settled in and relax until dinner. Now, if you want we can take your luggage to your room for you.” the guard said as he detached himself from the harness and walking over to Twilight to help her off the carriage.
“Thank you, but if you don’t mind I would rather carry my luggage.” Twilight responded, though she did take the guard’s hoof.
“As you wish, my princess. If you need any assistance at all, or have any questions for me, just ask.”
“Actually, I’m glad you said that! I do have a question for you: when will dinner be served?” Twilight asked with a small, polite smile.
“Dinner will be served in exactly three hours, but I would advise you to arrive a little early.”
“Thank you, that’s all I needed to know.” Twilight said as she began to levitate her bag out of the carriage and began to make her way to her room.
When Twilight arrived, she walked in and locked the door behind her. Twilight then placed her things on the bed and went directly to her personal library. Immediately, she began to peruse through all of the books, hoping that she would have the same book on Pegasus anatomy that she had at the Ponyville Library, but with the missing page.
After a while, there was a knock on the door. The sound broke Twilight’s concentration, causing her to drop the books that she was holding in her magic. Not wanting whoever was at the door to see the mess she’d just inadvertently made, Twilight shouted to the door, “I’ll be there in just a minute! I just have to put a few more things away.” Twilight magically lifted all of the books and floated them back to their usual places.
After quickly making sure that all of the books were in the right spot, Twilight made her way to the door and opened it. Behind it, one of Princess Celestia’s private guards stood.
“Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia has requested for me to inform you that dinner will be served earlier today than usual; Princess Celestia did not give me any reasons as to why. I would advise you to head down now if you want to get there early.”
“Okay, I’ll head down after I finish up here. Thank you for letting me know.” Twilight said as she closed the door, wondering why Princess Celestia would want to have dinner this early.
Twilight made her way to the nearest mirror to make sure that her mane was just right and that nothing was out of place. When she made it to the mirror, she saw that there were a few stray hairs, but it wasn’t too bad, so she simply ran a brush through her mane until it was to her liking. Seeing that everything was all right, Twilight made her way to the Great Hall.
When Twilight had arrived, the first thing she noticed was how empty it was; there were only a few workers that were taking care of the final touches. The second thing Twilight noticed was that there were only two seats set up at the table. This struck her as odd, because usually the room was full with workers and the tables were usually surrounded with chairs for other royals and dignitaries.
Suddenly realizing that the only reason the meal was this early was because Princess Celestia wanted to speak with her alone, Twilight made her way to her seat with a slight smile.
One of the workers noticed her presence, and asked if she would like anything to drink while she was waiting. “I’ll just take water, thank you.” Twilight said in response. The worker soon returned with a glass of water before returning to what he was doing beforehoof.
After a few more minutes of waiting, Princess Celestia entered through the doorway. When she noticed Twilight was already seated, the Alicorn made her way over to greet her.
“Good afternoon, Twilight! I see that you received my message. So, how was the flight?” Princess Celestia smiled as she took her seat across from Twilight.
“It was nice! The ride was smooth and the guards were friendly.” Twilight beamed in response.
“That’s good,” Princess Celestia said politely. “I hope you don’t mind that I decided to make dinner a little early. I wanted to talk to you privately, and also wanted to make sure that you had time to rest before our lessons, which will start just after the sun sets and the moon rises.” Princess Celestia stated.
“It’s okay. I forgot to grab lunch before I left anyway. Now, if you don’t mind, I do have a few questions. Why couldn’t you just send me a letter explaining how to perform the spell, and why can’t we just work on the spell after dinner instead of waiting until after sunset?” Twilight questioned, unsure.
“Twilight, your two questions will be answered tonight, as well as others that I am sure you have. I would like to ask you to wait until tonight before we go over anything. Do you understand?”
“Alright, I understand,” Twilight replied, slightly disappointed.
“Now, Twilight, I would like to hear how everything is going in Ponyville now that you are an Alicorn.” Princess Celestia changed the subjected tactfully as a worker brought over twin salads with ranch dressing.
“Everything is going well so far. Ever since I got back after the coronation, most of the ponies are treating me the way they did before it.” Twilight said before taking a bite of her salad.
“How about the Elements of Harmony? How are they taking it?”
“Honestly, they seem to be fine with the whole thing, but I haven’t spent as much time with them as I would have liked, so I can’t really say for sure. The only real time I’ve been able to spend with them was during the week of the coronation. Besides that, I’ve been spending most of my time getting flight lessons from Rainbow Dash, as you had requested.”
“Well, it’s good that you and your friends are still doing fine.” Celestia replied with a smile. “How have your lessons with Rainbow Dash been going?”
“Well, let’s just say my flight at the coronation has been the best one yet.”
“Oh, I see… Have the lessons been helping at all?”
“Not really… The only thing the lessons have taught me is the pain of falling and that I have really bad balance. Rainbow Dash has been an amazing teacher and I know she would never give up on me, but I think we both know that it kind of seems hopeless.” Twilight’s eyes lowered in shame, and her ears were pointed downward.
“I’m sorry to hear that. I never would’ve figured that you would have that much trouble with it.”
“Neither did I! I always figured flying would be easy, but I guess I was wrong.” Twilight frowned as she ate the last bit of her salad.
“Well, the only thing you can do is continue to practice.” Princess Celestia responded with a hint of worry in her voice, so slight that only those who had known the princess for a long time would have caught it.
“Yeah, I know… That meal was really good. How about yours, Princess?” Twilight replied, changing the subject. She didn’t want to be reminded of her terrible flying, and wanted even less to upset her teacher.
“It was as good as usual.” Princess Celestia slowly stood up with Twilight following suit. “Twilight, as I said before the meal, I would advise you to get some rest. We may be up most of the night.”
“Alright, I’ll try.”
“I hope you don’t mind, but I have some things I must address before we meet again. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get going.” Princess Celestia nodded respectfully before heading out.
“Okay, I’ll see you at the lesson then!”
Well, that didn’t really help me learn anything about the spell… I wonder why Princess Celestia won’t tell me about it. Twilight thought to herself as she left the Great Hall and made her way to her room.
When Twilight had arrived, she asked the guard stationed outside her room to wake her up before the lesson. When he’d promised to do so, Twilight went to her room and shut the curtain, then lay down on her bed to try and get some rest. After about twenty minutes of silence, Twilight finally succumbed to sleep.
Twilight was awoken by the sound of knocking on her door. Had she not been aware of her lessons with the princess planned for that evening, she probably would’ve been surprised at the sound. Twilight got ready faster than usual, eager to see how the spell was to be done.
Once she’d freshened up, Twilight grabbed a few quills and scrolls and made her way out of her room. The Alicorn thanked the guard briefly, and was met with a polite smile that waved her gratitude away. Soon afterwards, she made her way to Princess Celestia’s private study for her lesson.
When Twilight had finally arrived, she knocked on the door and waited for a response. “You can come in, Twilight. I was just preparing a few things for the lesson.” Princess Celestia had an amused grin plastered on her muzzle.
“Good evening, Princess Celestia.” Twilight made her way over to the table laid out in the center of the study. Her expression was a mixture of repressed excitement and nostalgia as she recalled the last time she’d studied under Princess Celestia’s wing. It seemed like a faraway dream now, like it had happened decades ago. Somehow, the thought made her sad.
“Good evening to you too, Princess Twilight. I see that you’re eager to learn the spell.”
“Just a bit,” she smiled politely with a tinge of bashfulness, “After you wouldn’t tell me in the letter or at dinner, my curiosity got the better of me.”
“Well, hopefully after tonight you’ll have a better understanding then.” Princess Celestia said with a small smile. “Now, about the spell… On the day I received your letter, I really didn’t know how to cure the disease. I decided to go to the library and see if I could find the book that you had come across. I was able to find it, but… it didn’t give me enough information to tell you how to perform the spell.”
Twilight’s shoulders dropped at the news. She didn’t understand why the princess hadn’t just told her from the beginning that the spell was hopeless. Seriously, what was the point of coming all the way to Canterlot just to hear that?
Then, she felt a hoof on her shoulder. Twilight looked up to see Princess Celestia with a warm expression. “Wait until I’m finished before jumping to conclusions. I believe that was the first lesson I taught you, Twilight.”
The younger Alicorn’s cheeks turned bright red. Princess Celestia chuckled before continuing.
“I noticed that the author of the book was none other than Galdr, whom I’m sure you’ve heard of.”
Twilight’s ears perked and her posture straightened. She recited in an excited, unmistakably lecture-like tone, “I actually have heard of him! Galdr was a Unicorn that experimented with the matter of regeneration in missing limbs and broken bones. He was the first pony to heal a broken bone through the use of magic.”
“Exactly.” A proud beam found its way onto the elder’s features, but it soon drifted away. “But what you may not have known was that he was also my sister’s student over a thousand years ago. I hope you don’t mind, but because of that, I asked Luna if she happened to remember anything about him. Fortunately, Luna was able to tell me everything about Galdr and what he did. I also requested for her to teach you the spell. I know that I am unfit for this task, and my sister will certainly fare better. Do you understand?”
“I do.” Twilight replied with a nod.
“Good. Now that we have that settled, I would like to ask you a few questions. At least, until Luna finishes raising the moon.”
“Alright. What questions do you have for me, Princess?”
"Well, first of all: Did you speak with Rainbow Dash?”
“Yes, I did.”
“What did she have to say?”
“Basically, she told me that the only reason she didn’t tell any of her friends was because she wanted to wait until it was official. After the adoption fell through, she was too afraid to tell any of us because she didn’t want us to view her as weak. She also told me how much it would mean to her if Scootaloo could live with her and out of the orphanage.”
“I see… So, did that meeting change any of your feelings on performing the spell?”
“Honestly, it’s only strengthened my resolve. It’s made me realize how much Rainbow Dash loves Scootaloo, and besides… I know that if Rainbow Dash was in my position, she would do the same for me in a heartbeat.”
“That’s good,” Princess Celestia’s eyes seemed to radiate warmth not unlike the sun she’d crafted herself. The corners of her mouth curved upward as well. Twilight suddenly felt like she was a filly once again, staring up in awe at the beautiful and breathtaking Alicorn as she raised the sun for all to see. But at the same time, Twilight felt almost as if her mother were in front of her, approval easily visible in her features.
However, the door leading to the study soon opened and Princess Luna appeared, interrupting their conversation. Celestia looked over at the new arrival with a grace that came naturally. “Good evening, Luna. I hope everything went as usual.”
“Good evening to you as well, and everything was fine.” Luna said as she made her way toward the other two mares.
Princess Celestia turned back to her former student. “Now that Luna is here, I hope you don’t mind me leaving. Good night to both of you, and I will see you again soon.” Princess Celestia yawned effectively as she made her way out of the room.
“Good night, Princess!” Twilight responded, bowing her head to Princess Celestia. She felt embarrassed that she’d just compared her mother to her teacher, and was glad she hadn’t mentioned it. They held a close relationship, but that kind of statement would’ve made things awkward no matter what.
Though, Twilight figured, she could’ve just been over-thinking things. She did that a lot.
“Now, Princess Sparkle,” Luna interrupted her thoughts, “I hope that you’re okay with me teaching you this lesson. I know that you’re used to working with Celestia.” Luna stated, taking a seat in front of Twilight.
“It’s fine, Princess Luna, but would you mind calling me Twilight?”
A wide grin that barely befitted that of a princess’s appeared on Luna’s muzzle. Approval and something else filled her voice when she spoke. Perhaps it was mischief. “Of course, Twilight. But in that case, I’d like for you to call me Luna.”
“Okay, Prince—I mean, Luna.” Twilight blushed and scratched the back of her neck.
Luna almost snickered, but stopped herself at an amused smile. “Great. I hope you don’t mind, but I would like to go over a few things about the spell before I actually teach you how to do it. Is that alright?”
“That’s okay.” Twilight replied, though she didn’t really mean it. She was tired of waiting, but at the same time, was curious enough not to voice her displeasure.
“Before I begin, I must tell you the story of how the spell came to be and about the pony who created it. As you know, the pony that wrote the book on Pegasus anatomy was none other than Galdr the Great, one of my students from before I became Nightmare Moon. What you don’t know is that Galdr the Great was also the one who created the spell.”
“Wait, how is that possible? The book said that the disease could only be cured by an Alicorn, but all of the books about him state that he was a Unicorn.”
“Now that’s where things get interesting.” Luna’s eyes caught all light in the study, making them resemble the stars she’d created. Twilight couldn’t help but wonder if she’d ever have that kind of natural beauty, or if the princesses had always been that way. “He was an Alicorn, but after he performed the spell his wings became so small that he had no use for them. So, he always wore a cloak to shield them from sight, and anypony who saw him just assumed he was a Unicorn.”
“How is it possible for his wings to grow that small?”
“Unfortunately, I will not be able to explain that until I tell you the story of Galdr. Are you prepared?”
Twilight only nodded in response. Soon, the room was blanketed with Luna’s soft voice, which easily echoed within the spacious study. Her tone was laced with sadness, and Twilight found it ironic that only moments ago she too had been reminiscing about something that left her less than cheerful.
“This tale begins with Galdr’s birth. His family was one of the wealthiest at the time, and he was able to enroll into a private school specialized in magic because of it. His marks were well above average, higher than any previous student in the institute in all its years. He was already making a name for himself at such a young age.” Luna seemed distant now, as if in her own world. Maybe she was. Either way, Twilight was not going to interrupt her. Memories were precious things, and she knew that all too well.
“Soon, word of Galdr’s brilliance reached my sister and I. Back then, Celestia had been trying to convince me to take somepony under my wing and teach them what I know. I had not known of his Alicorn status, and was completely unaware of how powerful he really was. The second I’d seen him face to face I knew he was going to be capable of big things.
“I immediately requested for him to be taken out of school so that I could teach him myself. His parents agreed and I took him into the castle where I began imparting my knowledge to him. After only five years, his magical prowess had surpassed that of any Unicorn alive at the time. However, he soon became distracted. His focus shifted onto something other than his studies, on something I had not been prepared for. Love.
“It was a Pegasus that had seized his attention. Over time, it became clear that it wasn’t just a crush, and my suspicions were confirmed soon enough. He requested his studies be discontinued so he could court her. I was appalled, to say the least. I couldn’t believe he was wasting his talent on something that seemed less important. However, I allowed him to do as he pleased, but not without telling him I was disappointed.” A sigh elicited from the Princess of the Night. Bitterness dripped from her words, and it became clear these memories weren’t happy ones. Briefly, Twilight wondered if the two royal sisters had taken many ponies as apprentices to their knowledge. Thinking about it that way left Twilight feeling as unpleasant as Luna probably had been when Galdr was still around.
“…Within a year, he married his Pegasus lover and they were expecting. The foal was a Pegasus like its mother, and the family rejoiced. However, their happiness was short-lived. As the foal grew, it became clear that it was unable to fly. Galdr was devastated. He returned to the studies he’d cast aside for the same reason he’d abandoned them in the first place: love. He scoured through book after book in hopes of finding a cure for his crippled son. Eventually, he reached a point where he was unable to get any more information on the subject. That was when he asked for my assistance.
“I agreed to help without a second thought. He was my first and only student at the time, and to be honest, I was glad to see him again despite the circumstances. I told him that the best thing to do would be to experiment. He was unsure at first, but over time we were able to work together. The experiments revolved around finding a way to speed up the healing process of broken bones in a pony through magic. It was a success. We hit a breakthrough, but it wasn’t what he yearned for.
“The spell did not work on his son. Galdr became distraught and obsessed in his studies, and neither his wife nor I could intervene. He pushed his loved ones away and never strayed from his personal study. Soon, different types of magic caught his attention—anything involved with Pegasi. He hypothesized that the reason his son couldn’t fly was because of a simple disease that crippled a Pegasus’ ability to create and store magic.” Luna paused. Her eyes lifted from their perch on the table and met Twilight’s for the first time since she’d begun her explanation.
“As you know, this was not proven until a couple hundred years later. To Galdr, this was his last hope. He reached a breakthrough of his own soon enough—one that involved transferring magic from one pony to another. Galdr researched tirelessly, perfecting a spell he believed would be able to cure his son. He knew that he would only be able to cast the spell once, so he asked me to look it over before he performed it. When I inspected his work, I was only able to theorize. But everything seemed like it would work, so I told him there was a chance. Galdr asked me if I could stand by and make sure nothing happened and to intervene if it did. The next day was when we planned to pull it off.
“He brought his son to the castle and we got everything set up in the Great Hall. We wanted to make sure we would have plenty of space if things did take a turn for the worse. We all went to our positions and Galdr began the spell. Immediately, his horn lit up and sparks flew. After a few seconds his horn was giving off so much light that I couldn’t even see. We knew this was going to happen, so I did nothing. Eventually, the light began to die down. I saw him standing there, but something was wrong.
“His wings… They were the size of a foal’s. He was weaker than I’d ever seen him. But his son, on the other hoof, appeared to be better than ever. His wings had grown to the expected size of a Pegasus that age. Once the son saw his father’s condition, he ran over to see what had happened. Galdr told him not to worry, and that he just wanted to see his son fly. With a little encouragement, his son began to flap his wings.” A smile appeared on the older mare’s muzzle. “I’d never seen Galdr so happy. It seemed as if all his burdens had been lifted. I asked them to stay for a little bit so I could run a few tests to ensure they were okay, but Galdr only shook his head and said he’d rather show his wife their son’s new wings. The next day, Galdr returned to the castle and told me that he was done researching magic and would never come again. I understood, and didn’t try to hold him back. But as he began to leave, I asked him one last thing. I questioned why his wings had disappeared, but he didn’t respond. Galdr simply walked out, and that was the last I ever saw of him.”
Truly, it was a sad tale. Twilight had tried to focus on the facts and not the emotions Luna had relived, and back before she’d met her five wonderful friends, she probably would have succeeded. But now that she knew what friendship was and how important these ponies were to her, she couldn’t ignore it. Her heart ached for Luna, for Galdr, and even for his son’s temporary misery.
Luna snapped back to reality before Twilight had, though some sorrow was still evident in her voice. “As you can see, Twilight, this spell was created out of love. Galdr crafted this spell so his son would be better off even if he wasn’t.”
“That’s an amazing story, Luna. I can’t believe he did that for his son.” Twilight said, stunned and inspired by what she’d just heard. “But I have one question… Did you ever figure out why the spell caused his wings to shrink?”
“It wasn’t until Galdr passed away. His wife knew that I had been his mentor, so she sent me his research journal. When I got it, I immediately turned to the pages that held his research on the transfer of magic. I found the spell that he had cast and found that it’d been scratched out many times until only one formula remained. He never told me about anything other than the final product, so it came as a surprise to me when it was clearly stated that it was impossible to transfer enough magic to actually heal his son. That was when he came to the conclusion that the only way was to transfer all the magic in his wings—thereby giving up his Pegasus magic as a whole—and giving it to his son. In his notes, he wrote that he had no idea if it would actually work but knew that he had to try. That was why he decided to carry on with the spell anyway.”
“That was an extremely risky maneuver… Who knows what could have happened if anything went wrong. He could have killed himself and his son.” Twilight pointed out. She couldn’t believe that such an educated pony would risk something like that.
Luna agreed with her. “When I read that for the first time, I too was extremely shocked. I never would have figured he would try something like that. But after a few years I realized what the love of a family member can make a pony do.”
“I guess that makes sense. I know I would do anything for my BBBFF. I have another question: Have any other ponies attempted this spell?”
“Yes, actually. Another student of mine, before I became Nightmare Moon.”
“Did the spell have the same side effect on her or did it work without changing the size of her wings?” Twilight hoped it was the latter of the two.
“Unfortunately, the same thing that happened to Galdr happened to her. The only difference was she never hid the fact that her wings had shrunk.”
“May I ask who she cast the spell on?” Twilight inquired, masking her anxiety behind questions the way she always did.
“She performed the spell on her daughter.”
“Oh, I see… So is she the only other pony to have attempted this spell?”
“As far as I know of, yes. Regrettably, when I became Nightmare Moon I destroyed most of the papers pertaining to how the spell could be done, so it was almost impossible for a pony to replicate the spell.”
“Wait. If that’s the case, how are you going to teach me the spell?”
“Luckily, I didn’t lose the most important one; just ones that everypony else could use. Before I became Nightmare Moon I hid Galdr’s journal behind a bookshelf in the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the library. I’d forgotten about it until Celestia came to me asking about your letter. Thankfully, it was still there after all this time.” Luna then noticed Twilight’s half-lidded eyes becoming unfocused and her head swaying forward ever so slightly. She tried not to smile. “Twilight, I can see that you’re exhausted, so I think this is a good time to call it a night.”
The younger Alicorn blinked and was about to say that she could stay up later, but a yawn escaped her. Obviously, her body didn’t agree with her. She frowned at her weakness. “I guess you’re right… As much as I want to start actually learning the spell, I probably should get some sleep.” Twilight yawned again.
“Alright. Good night, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna bid as she stood up, Twilight following suit.
“Good night, Luna. I’ll try to get some more rest tomorrow so I’m not this tired.” Twilight replied with a slight smile as she left Celestia’s study and made her way to her room.
Once Twilight had finally made it to her room, she opened the door and went straight to bed. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Twilight was still asleep when someone knocked on the door. She got up and groggily made her way toward it, trying not to think about how horrible her mane must have looked.
When Twilight opened the door, she was met with one of Princess Celestia’s private guards. He saluted. “Nice to see that you’re awake, Princess Sparkle. Princess Celestia wanted me to inform you that dinner will be served at the normal time today. However, she requested that you come to the royal gardens for the meal.”
“Thank you; tell the princess I’ll be there. If you don’t mind my asking, what time is it?” Twilight replied as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
“It’s exactly four in the afternoon.”
“Alright, thank you.” “You’re welcome, Princess Sparkle,” the guard said as he bowed. He then shut the door, giving the young princess her privacy.
I can’t believe it’s already four… I figured I’d be asleep for a while, but not that much. I’m surprised none of the guards tried to wake me up. Hm… I’ll have to ask when I leave. Twilight thought to herself.
She went through her usual routine of getting ready, taking as much time as usual.
Once she was finished, she figured it would be a good idea for her to go for a walk and get some fresh air. On the way out, Twilight remembered her question for the guard and decided to ask him.
“Good afternoon, Twilight.” The guard saluted again as Twilight stepped out.
“Good afternoon! Before I forget, why didn’t you try to wake me up this morning?” Twilight asked curiously.
“Princess Luna sent me a message telling me to let you sleep in.”
“Oh okay, that makes sense… Thank you for telling me.”
“Of course, Princess Sparkle. If you need any more help, feel free to ask.”
“Thanks, but I’m good now. Just do me a favor, will you? If anypony comes looking for me, let them know I’m walking around the grounds.”
“As you wish, Princess Sparkle. Have a nice walk.”
“Thank you,” Twilight said as she began to walk away.
As Twilight trotted around the grounds she couldn’t help thinking about whether or not she could actually perform the spell. Rainbow Dash was her BPFF, but she didn’t know if she would be able to give up her wings. In every case that Twilight had read about, it was the parent sacrificing themselves for their child. It was never for a friend—that alone made Twilight question it the most.
As Twilight continued trotting aimlessly, she eventually wandered into the gardens. Her expression was still twisted in thought.
“You’re early, Twilight!” Princess Celestia smiled when she saw Twilight. The younger pony jumped.
“What?! Oh, it’s just you, Princess Celestia… Sorry, I was so lost in my thoughts I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was going. I didn’t even realize I was in the gardens,” Twilight said as she snapped back to reality. Her cheeks reddened in embarrassment.
“That’s understandable, Twilight, but if you don’t mind my asking, what’s bothering you? You only get like this if something is really troubling you. Does it have to do with the spell?” Princess Celestia asked as if she already knew the reason for her student’s plight.
“Well, yes. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to go through with the spell. I know that after I perform it I’ll lose my position as a princess because I won’t be able to represent all of the different tribes. Once all of my magic has been drained, my wings won’t be able to do anything for me and my magic will be weaker for a long time.” Twilight sighed, a deep frown strewn across her muzzle.
“I see… Unfortunately, I can’t help you, but I can promise to be there for you no matter what you decide,” Princess Celestia said, giving her an encouraging smile.
“Thanks, Princess. That makes me feel a little better, but still…”
“I know, Twilight… Well, how about this? Why don’t you invite all of your friends to Canterlot for a couple of days? Maybe they can help you figure everything out,” Princess Celestia suggested, trying to think of a way to cheer Twilight up.
“I don’t know, Princess… Are you sure? I wasn’t planning on telling them about it until after I made my decision,” Twilight responded.
“Yes, I’m sure. I know that their presence will clear your mind and enable you to make a decision.”
“Alright, Princess, I guess you’re right… Would you mind letting me wait until they get here to tell them about everything?” Twilight asked.
“Of course, Twilight.” As soon as Princess Celestia was done speaking a servant trotted over to them.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, Your Highnesses, but your lunch is ready.”
“Thank you for letting us know,” Princess Celestia said in response to the guard.
“My pleasure, Princess,” the servant said as he backed away.
“Would you like to have lunch now, or do you want to wait a little and just talk?” Princess Celestia asked politely. She hoped food would take Twilight’s mind off the spell for a while.
“I think I would rather have it now.” Twilight smiled bashfully as she realized just how hungry she was after missing breakfast.
Both Princess Celestia and Twilight started to make their way toward the table, which wasn’t too far away. The delicious smell of a well-cooked meal made Twilight’s mouth water.
“So, did you get enough sleep this morning? Luna said she had one of her guards tell yours to let you sleep in.” Princess Celestia took a seat and began to eat.
“Actually, yes. Though, I didn’t get out of bed until your personal guard started knocking on the door.”
“Oh, I see… I apologize for that. I figured you would have woken up by then.”
“It’s fine, Princess, I needed to get out of bed anyway.”
“That’s good, then,” Princess Celestia said with a smile. The two ponies ate in silence for a few minutes. Twilight wracked her brain for a good way to tackle what she wanted to say next. She swallowed.
“Um… Princess, I have a question. Do you know if there were any other ponies who attempted the spell I’m working on with Princess Luna?”
“Well… There was only one that I remember. His name was Jonathan Reiki and he was another student of Luna’s. He performed the spell after she’d turned into Nightmare Moon, so she doesn’t know about it.”
“Wait, I thought Luna said that almost all of the information concerning the spell was destroyed. How did he perform it?”
Princess Celestia set her silverware down and smiled fondly. “That’s a good question. Before Luna became Nightmare Moon, she was teaching him the spell. They were working on the final preparations when she transformed, which led to the destruction of almost all of their research, rendering him unable to perform it.
“He became distraught after what had happened and came to me for help. Unfortunately, I was unable to do anything because I was never interested in the spell and hadn’t bothered learning anything about it from Luna. Instead of giving up he decided to start researching the spell himself, learning everything he could about it. For years he researched the spell, and one day he finally did figure out how to successfully perform it. He came to me once again for help, asking if I could watch and make sure nothing happened. I agreed, remembering how saddened he was when I couldn’t before.
“However, on the day that he was supposed to do the spell, his wife—the pony he was going to perform the spell on—had second thoughts. She ran away, fearing the changes that would occur from the spell. He still showed up that day and requested that I find any pony with the disease. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t listen. Eventually I gave into his demands and let him do the spell on a foal. I had my guards contact the parents and within thirty minutes they had arrived, trusting that I would make sure their baby was safe. The spell ended up working as well as you would have expected. Jonathan’s wings shrunk while the foal’s wings grew. The foal also regained the ability to walk on clouds.”
Twilight frowned. “I see, but why won’t you tell Luna about this? It sounds like he did an admirable thing even though it wasn’t on his wife.”
“Yes, it was an admirable action. But the reason I can’t tell her is because of what happened after the spell. Over time, he started to grow depressed, becoming more and more detached from society with each passing day. One afternoon, I was delivered a book with a letter attached to it. It said he was going to leave Canterlot in search of his long lost wife. That was the last I heard of him. The book contained his entire life story up to what had happened to him after the spell.”
“That’s terrible… He just disappeared?”
“Yes, and now you can see why I can’t tell my sister about it. She doesn’t need anything else adding to her struggles now.”
“I understand, but why hasn’t Princess Luna ever asked about him? I’d assume she would have been curious about her last student.”
“She has asked about him, but thankfully something comes up in every instance.” Princess Celestia took the last bite of her meal and started getting up.
“Well, I guess that’s lucky…” Twilight said as she followed after the princess.
“…I hope you don’t mind, but I won’t be able to join you for lessons tonight. I have certain royal duties that I must uphold, and I’m afraid they’ll keep me too busy.”
“It’s okay, Princess. I understand.”
“I’m glad. But before I leave… Don’t forget to write a letter to your friends,” Princess Celestia said as she began to walk away.
“I won’t,” Twilight replied.
“Excellent. Goodbye for now, Twilight,” Princess Celestia said.
“Goodbye, Princess Celestia!” Twilight called as she watched Princess Celestia disappear into the castle. Twilight turned toward a servant when she couldn’t see the princess any longer.
“Hello, sir, I have a question…”
“Yes, Princess, I will assist you with whatever it is you need,” the servant said, dropping what he was doing on the spot and bowing down.
“Would it be possible for you to let me borrow some paper and a quill to write a letter to my friends?”
“Of course, Princess, just give me a moment,” the servant responded, jotting down a quick note before handing Twilight his pad of paper and quill. “Here you go.”
“Thank you, I’ll give them back to you as soon as I finish.” Twilight smiled lightly as she took hold of the quill and paper magically.
“That’s fine, Princess, take your time. If you need anything else, just let me know.”
“Okay, thanks,” Twilight said, making her way back to the table where she had just finished eating only a few minutes earlier.
Once seated, Twilight laid the paper down and began writing.
