Princess Twilight Sparkle. The idea was still alien to her. She had died and re-created herself - with ample help from Celestia, of course - but in most respects, she was the same pony she'd always been. This, though, was one of the big exceptions: the party after her coronation.
The coronation itself had been brief enough, and as big a deal as it was, she hadn't felt different. The party afterwards, though? She'd had the barest taste of this when she'd stood with Princess Celestia at the Grand Galloping Gala and received a neverending procession. It wasn't so much the duration, as that this time she was doing the receiving. She was the center of it all.
And the last pony came and went, and she went through the motions of the formal exit, and it was over. She was out of the room.
It took her ten seconds to realize that she was staring at the wall, and another two seconds to realize that if she waited another two seconds she'd have company. She couldn't deal with that, so she took one of those seconds to think of where to go, and a quarter of a second to teleport.
Her target was just out the window and in a facing window across the lawn: the library. Not the big room, but a cubby among the stacks, where she'd had a little home-away-from-home, years ago, before she'd been assigned her own library tower. She'd 'lived' there longer than she'd lived in Ponyville.
When she materialized, it wasn't quite familiar. Somepony else had moved in, of course. Books on art history, engineering, architecture stood where she'd once kept... well, everything, before she got her own little library. She idly rubbed her hoof across the spot on the rug charred by Spike's baby snores.
She looked around, just wanting to find something she hadn't read before, curl up, and read it.
"Why, it's you! When I saw the flash, I was worried."
That was one of the few voices that Twilight could take at that moment. She turned to the librarian and smiled. "Dew Point! Yup, it's me. And thanks for not calling me 'Princess'." She took a moment. "You, umm, were aware...?"
"Of course I saw. I couldn't be prouder."
"It's nice to know that somepony other than my closest friends still treats me the same as ever."
Dew Point winked and said, "Well, a little bit different. Remember when I bit your ear?"
Twilight Sparkle nodded, laughing. "Of course. I was trying to get a look in one of the special archives, and you hauled me out again."
"That wouldn't happen now."
"I imagine not." Twilight Sparkle replayed the incident in her head - she'd been speaking with Celestia as they walked to the library. She'd broken off to come to her cubby, then turned back to ask a question... and found Celestia going through the locked door in the least interesting room of the library - the census room, with its endless lists. And before she could get a nose in the door, Dew Point had clamped on to her ear and pulled her back. And she'd never found out what was in there.
"Hay, now I'd unlock it for you. Want a look?"
Twilight blinked. "Yes, please." It was one way to be sure she'd found something she hadn't read before, anyway.
Dew Point led the way, and in short order they were in the census room.
Twilight Sparkle hesitated. "Are you sure it's all right?"
"This room is a simple wooden door with no magical protection, and Celestia didn't change the lock. Just told me that no one who wasn't an alicorn princesses could go in. It was funny at the time, since the only other was a wee thing. But she started using it soon enough. And then when princess Luna came back, it was just a few months before she came by, and she seemed to wish she'd found out about it sooner. And Celestia was fine with those. So I'm sure it's all right."
Dew Point selected the right key from the keychain with her teeth, inserted it carefully, and turned the lock. Then she pulled the key out and stepped away. "Let me know when you're done so I can lock it up again."
Twilight acknowledged, stepped in, and closed the door behind her. There was a little bar on the door, but she left that in place.
The main contents of the room were six large filing cabinets, labelled by year. The earliest year was 665. The librarian implied that this room was set aside within Cadence's lifetime. If it's largely about matters long before then, that would be a little odd.
As she'd guessed, older material was sparse - one cabinet was sufficient to cover everything before 970.
She dove in, and found maps of Equestria. Old maps - the oldest drawer was not simply about 665, but full of material from that time. After a few minutes of gingerly reading the brittle pages, Twilight Sparkle determined that these were surveys made before Ponyville was founded - that area was circled and annotated every way imaginable except to indicate the presence of a town. Ponyville is around 300 years old, so these were probably for the land grant.
There was a big time gap once Ponyville had been founded, and the next entries were from 800, about a big new decennial magic competition. Twilight Sparkle had heard of it, but never participated - the 19th, in 980, had been the last one.
Some bio data on the various winners of that first competition came next. Then the second decennial competition, and information on its winners. That pattern held up to the back of the first drawer, covering the next hundred years, with a few bios of pegasi and earth ponies thrown in.
The front of the next drawer was concerned with, of all things, a study commissioned by Celestia on the social effects of clothing and jewelry. Then a study, similarly commissioned, on early foalhood development. Another magic competition, more bio data. A study on the psychological effects of earth pony fertility magic. More competitions.
Three of her grandparents were in one of them, all in the top 16. And their names were all underlined, and they had bios. They were not the only ponies so called-out, so she didn't think much of it at first, just a 'go us!'.
But she soon reached a single-page outline, penned by Celestia herself, headed, "Status of Preparations for the return of Nightmare Moon: 50 years out". The first part was various methods of creating social conditions likely to promote friendship.
The second part was simply labeled 'breeding'.
Twilight Sparkle swallowed.
The biggest sub-heading was magic, and it confirmed what she'd just begun to suspect - that the decennial competition had had a secret purpose. That explains why it stopped once I was born: no more point.
The subheadings listed numbers of tracked candidates for each pony type. Loyalty was marked out as most likely being pegasus material, but so was Laughter, leaving Kindness to the earth ponies. A closing note mentioned that, aside from magic, these characteristics were difficult to breed.
On the back was scrawled a note saying 'Re-create my earth powers -> Laughter ?' The entire next file drawer was filled with reports of earth ponies displaying unusual abilities. Twilight skimmed that, wondering what earth powers Celestia was referring to. She had obviously ended up with Pinkie Pie, but that said little about what she had been aiming for.
She closed that drawer and skipped ahead to the year she'd been admitted to the school for gifted unicorns. The year that she met the princess. Had the princess already known of her?
Soon, she found the relevant note. After giving the date, it read, "Cadence was correct about Twilight Sparkle. If anything, she understated. Shifting Milky Way to reserves."
Milky Way. I've heard of her, somewhere... where? Wait. I just met her in the receiving line. She seemed nice. It was good for something, I guess!
Twilight flipped forward through the folders and documents and found a large section about one Gallowaz Jimbleflanks living in Cloudsdale who was apparently a very funny colt from a very funny family, and was seriously considered for Laughter.
Another Laughter candidate was Jimmy Russell (what is with these weird names?), but he was found to be too cruel with his jokes.
Another mention of Milky Way. She was in Fillydelphia, studying in the second best magic school in Equestria, and was apparently happy to be doing the school proud, rather than disappointed not to be in the Canterlot academy.
Then Twilight skipped ahead to the days before the return of Nighmare Moon. There was a stapled bundle, already well-worn. Twilight Sparkle pulled it out. The front page was straightforward enough - it listed her friends and how Celestia would arrange for her to run into each of them. She skipped that part after reading Applejack and skimming Rarity.
The next few pages were a list of contingencies. In case Twiight Sparkle didn't like any of the other five. In case of loss of heart. In case of severe injury. In case Nightmare Moon turned or killed one of them. Some just said 'Fall back to B-team".
And on page 5 was the B-team: Roots Toots, earth pony, honesty. Emma Seff, unicorn, kindness. Gallowaz Jimbleflanks, pegasus, laughter. Mistral, pegasus, loyalty. Rose Glass, earth pony, generosity. Milky Way, unicorn, magic.
Aside from its sheer existence, Twilight Sparkle was struck by the presence of two stallions on the team - Roots and Gallowaz. How different would things have been if some of her friends had been male? She couldn't even say, really. She couldn't change the gender of any of her actual friends and end up with a real pony, and of course changing everything would change everything.
Then she came across a page of alternates - individual ponies who could be substituted in a pinch. I wonder who was rated as being almost as good friends...
"Rainbow Dash!?"
The pages almost made a sonic rainboom as she flipped back to the front page.
The A-team Loyalty was Curry Param, apparently the Ponyville postmistress and a smart cookie. What? I've never heard of her.
She stared for a long half minute, then frantically searched the files, looking for what had happened to Curry. A few pages in, Twilight found that she'd had a wing crushed by a falling aquarium three days before the summer sun celebration, and been transferred to a desk job in Manehattan. Cadence had written an alarmed note, but Celestia assured her that though Rainbow Dash was not necessarily the very best exemplar of loyalty, she was a good pony and would be a good friend and that was what really mattered the most.
Twilight Sparkle felt a little queasy. She put the files back in the drawers. She made sure everything was just as she'd found it. She opened the door. She'd half expected to see Princess Celestia there, watching, disappointed, but there was nothing.
She drifted out of the Census room.
Dew Point called out, "What's wrong?"
Twilight Sparkle blinked.
Dew Point pursed her lips, and then said, "Classified, alicorn princesses only, right?"
Twilight Sparkle nodded and didn't watch Dew Point reseal the room. As she walked out of the library, a wild energy took her. She accelerated down the empty hall. It was as if she wanted to deny that Rainbow Dash had ever been less than her friend, that there had ever been a chance she wouldn't be, by going fast.
The hall opened onto a balcony. On an impulse, she opened her wings and slammed them down with all the strength she could muster.
She was airborne. Again, again, again. The fact that she was succeeding in flying where before she'd hardly dared to try skittered across her brain but did not get much attention next to her desperate need to prove her own loyalty.
"Whoah, she's doing it! Way to go, Twi!" Rainbow Dash was right there alongside. "Just, uh, why don't you glide down now? Looks like you're wearing out, and we want you down, right?"
Twilight looked to Rainbow Dash, tears in her eyes. Rainbow Dash was here, and Rainbow Dash was her friend. That was what mattered.
She held out her wings steady. Now that she had Rainbow Dash in view, she seemed more real again, and her energy seeped away. And she had gained a great deal of height.
Rather than try to fly down, she pulled up into a wing stall.
"Twi, what're you doing? You can't fly like that!"
At the moment she was stationary, she teleported to the ground. And took a deep breath.
Rainbow Dash reached the ground slightly sooner than a falling rock would have. She looked Twilight Sparkle in the eyes, snorted as if about to chew her out, then giggled, and laughed.
Twilight Sparkle was not joining in. Instead, she reared up and hugged Rainbow Dash full force.
"Whoa, what's this for?"
Twilight Sparkle didn't answer at first. Rainbow Dash was real. Their friendship was real. What she'd discovered just meant that there were even more equally amazing ponies out there. A smile worthy of Pinkie Pie came across her as the other four caught up.
Shortly following the events of Princess Twilight Sparkle
Twilight Sparkle entered hesitantly. "Princess Celestia, you called for me?"
Celestia had already smiled at her entrance. "Come, sit. Good work with the Summer Sun celebration." She gestured with her head out the window to the afternoon sun.
Twilight smiled. "Thank you. I was worried it would seem tacked-on. Cadence never did anything like that, did she?"
"No; her role lies on the ground. Yours, in the sky, with us. Your cutie mark does mean something."
"Huh. That reminds me of something. When I saw the Tree of Harmony, it already had our cutie marks on it, over a thousand years before we were born. How... how could there even be a B-team?"
Celestia laughed. "The connection did not actually occur to us until after you had retrieved them - I had not memorized the symbols, and had last seen them a thousand years ago. Regardless, their shapes are not so precise as that. A great many ponies would fit. But yes, theirs fit better than most. Mistral's tornado, for instance, is exactly the same shape as Rainbow Dash's rainbow-lightning and Curry's letter-lightning." A short pause. "I just wrote a letter releasing them from their special service."
"Special... service?"
"Yes; they stood ready, in secret. When you defeated Discord, my sister was already bringing them from Fillydelphia, and would have arrived in half an hour."
"That... that's a big relief. But I'm glad you didn't tell me. If I'd known, I might have just given up and let them take care of it."
"Quite. And if you had known, then Discord could have found out, and the element of surprise would have been lost."
"Yeah, without that one, the other six wouldn't matter so much. Still, quite a risk, just throwing them to a group of good friends and hoping it works."
"I see you did not read their file to the end! I did not only bring the elements back to Canterlot for secrecy, but also so we could test them. Randomly selected virtuous ponies could not get a response. But they did. Not as strong a response as you have now, but if there had been need, I suspect it would have been enough."
Twilight Sparkle swallowed. That just reinforced the recent notion that the elements weren't what bound her and her friends. "If I'd read that I would have had an easier time of freeing you from those chaos vines." She pursed her lips. "How did I do at that?"
Celestia raised an eyebrow and replied, "You tell me."
"Terribly. I didn't stop and think for five seconds, and that cost us hours. For instance, once I knew to go to Ponyville, did I order a contingent of pegasi with chariots to bring me and guard me? No. If I had done that, then once I knew what to do, we could have all flown straight to the castle and down to the tree with no trouble at all."
"The skies were treacherous around the castle, but yes, you could have gotten much closer. Good."
Twilight took a moment. "I really blew it by accusing instead of asking Discord."
Celestia narrowed her eyes. "I doubt he would have volunteered that information even if you had asked nicely. And you were correct that he did do it. More serious was your attempting to threaten him, however obliquely, without checking with Fluttershy."
"Why did you free him, anyway? It doesn't seem like even you think he has been reformed."
"Not yet, and maybe never, yet we still need him. You are no longer my student, but here are three questions to consider: Of all places in Equestria, what most strongly bears the mark of Discord? How much effort do we spend on things that place takes care of on its own? How has this changed over time?"
It took Twilight Sparkle only a moment to piece it together. "Has Winter Wrap-up been getting more and more difficult, the longer Discord was sealed?"
"Winter Wrap-up is a tradition only seven hundred years old, and then was only needed every few years, Twilight. Not since the Wendigos' winter had anypony needed to restart the flow of the seasons. The Running of the Leaves is only two hundred years old. Within a thousand years, nothing would bloom unless specially woken by an Earth pony, and that would be the end of Equestria as we know it." Celestia gave Twilight an intense look. "This is absolutely secret - I only mention it now because I have secured this room against Discord's intrusions. He must not know that we need him for something so fundamental."
"He can spy that easily? What... what about the records about us and the B-team?"
"That is protected simply by its being kept in the most boring-looking place Canterlot - an archive of bureaucratic records. Speaking of which, would you like a pleasant duty?"
"Oh?"
"Deliver the letters releasing the B-team. You may bring your friends."
"What about Rainbow Dash?"
"There is no need to send Ms. Param a letter."
"Oh right, the B-team was if we fell apart as a team. Rainbow Dash's substitution was entirely separate."
She continued, "I recommend that you set out immediately."
"How can I find them?"
Celestia levitated over the letter, then focused on it for a moment. "It will guide you."
"How?"
Celestia sighed, the opportunity for the joke lost by Twilight's newfound stopping-to-think-things-through. "The address is shown on your tickets to Gallowaz' show tonight."
Twilight accepted it. "Thank you!" She trotted out and asked one of the guards, "How can I arrange for two chariots?"
Celestia smiled. It is nice to be able to release two of the great secrets I've kept from her.
"Folks! Ponies! Hi, everypony! What a crowd! What a special night! Quite a star-studded crowd!" Pointing into the crowd, Gallowaz said, "I see we have none other than Julienne Fry here, from Manehattan. Why don't we give her a hand?"
There was some polite applause for the famous chef.
Pointing again into the crowd, he went on, "And if I'm not mistaken, are you, sir, over there... oh, you're shaking your head. Well, if I ever want a look-alike, I know who to ask. And up in the boxes, we have Rainbow Dash! Winner of a recent Young Flyers competition, and the only living pony to perform a sonic rainboom."
Rainbow Dash waved, grinning, though with a little confused twinge about the 'living' qualifier. As the applause died, she whispered to Twilight, "Guess he doesn't read Daring Do!" Twilight Sparkle merely looked at her in confusion.
Gallowaz went on, "And Rarity, the only unicorn to ever enter said competition!" Skipping over Twilight, he added, "And, if I'm not mistaken, that is Applejack, who got the most medals ever awarded to a single pony in a single meet of Equestria's Wranglers? And, could it be... Pinkie Pie, one of the chefs behind the winning entry in a recent Canterlot dessert competition? And it seems we have a dragonlord in attendance - I can see your mane peeking out, Fluttershy. Yes, my fellow ponies, she's not just a fashion model."
He stopped. The audience was silent, and half of them were doing their best to supplicate to Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow Dash's grin had evaporated, and aside from Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie they were looking to each other in confusion.
Gallowaz asked, "What?"
Silence, but for Pinkie's giggle. Twilight Sparkle raised an eyebrow.
A pony up close said something that didn't carry. In response, Gallowaz pointed to Twilight Sparkle. "Her?" He spread his wings and flew straight up to come even with her. "Excuse me, miss. What do you do for a living?"
Twilight saw where he was going with that. "I run the library in Ponyville!"
He slowly descended to the stage and said, "All right. Why don't we all give a round of applause to Ponyville's head librarian!" He himself supplicated for a second as the crowd released the obvious tension with applause.
Once it had wound down, he continued. "Seeing you takes me back three years, to last Summer Sun Celebration, when we almost met. I've never told this story before. Do you have any objections, princess?"
Twilight frowned - he'd put her on the spot. He was being released from service, but the elements were still secret. So she simply said, "How about something else?"
So he went on into the story of what he was doing when Fillydelphia was invaded by parasprites.
Applejack looked to Twilight and whispered. "He knows a whole lot 'bout us. Why is that?"
She said nonchalantly as if there were nothing to it, "Oh, he was on the alternate team in case we failed."
You could have heard a pin drop. Actually, you could have heard him telling the story, and Pinkie Pie bouncing up and down lightly in her seat.
Rarity pre-emptively stuffed her hoof in Rainbow Dash's mouth, just in time.
Twilight Sparkle mouthed, "Later."
Gallowaz stuck his head in the box door around 2 seconds after stepping off stage. "Your highness, esteemed others - I presume you are here to meet us?"
"That is correct. I have a letter for you all."
Pinkie giggled. "You would have made a great Laughter."
"Laughter? I was lined up for honesty. 100% true." A wink. "We're outside whenever you're ready."
"All right, as long as no one bows." Twilight was not too nervous about being heard since the applause had not yet died.
"I can arrange that." They stepped out of the box, and indeed there they were. Twilight hadn't really expected it even though she'd read their files - they were all a solid five years older than her friends. Gallowaz quickly added, "I think I need to go give a quick encore. Keep the crowd off your back anyway." He zipped back to the stage.
Milky way's eyes widened with appreciation. "Hello again, your highness. You didn't know about me when we first met, did you?"
"No - but it's funny to think that if things had gone slightly differently, it'd be me saying that to you."
"I... don't think I could have."
"Oh, don't be harsh on yourself."
"No, really. I could never wrap my mind around Starswirl. I'm more of a Trottingham School type."
Backing up a few moments, Rainbow Dash's eyes had gone wide when she caught sight of Mistral, a wispily striated blue and white pegasus about as large as Big Macintosh with wings slightly above scale, and a tornado cutie mark the same shape as a lightning bolt.
Mistral purred, "You may have me beat on speed..."
"What can you pull? Sixty wingpower? Ninety?"
"A hundred and twelve."
Rainbow Dash swooned. "Aww, could really have used you at the reservoir last year." After a moment she amended, "Fluttershy pulled it off in the end, though."
Meanwhile, Applejack snorted in surprise when she saw Roots Toots - he was birch-bark off-white, tall and wiry-thin, with long mustachios. His overlapping-pair-of-truffles cutie mark definitely could have fit the apple spot on the tree of harmony. Applejack regained control and said, "Ye aren't what I was expecting."
"I'm afraid that reaction is rather what I was."
"Sorry 'bout that."
"I understand."
"Thanks."
Rarity seemed to be meshing better, quickly understanding Rose's cutie mark - "You made the windows I've seen around the town, didn't you? They're gorgeous!"
"Oh, thank you. I hope you recognize my dress?"
"Of course." It would have been gauche of me to point it out, she left unsaid.
Meanwhile, Emma peeked into the box and found Fluttershy. "Hi." - "Hi."
Then the encore was over and ponies began filtering out of the other boxes. Mistral stood in the way with wings wide, and the eleven of them headed down and backstage.
The theater manager was arguing with Gallowaz - "What if she hadn't?"
"I knew enough about them to do it, can't you trust that I knew she would?"
"It's not the same!"
Twilight Sparkle stepped forward, and the manager supplicated deeply. "I'm so sorry, your highness."
She sighed. How to handle this? Her instincts were to argue that it was okay, to order him to stop supplicating... and, if she looked deep enough, she found what worked. She solemnly stepped forward, touched his forehead with her horn, and warmly said, "All right." There have to be better words than that. She pulled back and found that her poor word choice didn't matter - he was nearly ecstatic as he pulled away. In moments they were alone.
Twilight Sparkle turned to the B-team. "So. The six of you are gathered. I have a royal decree from Princess Celestia." She levitated it out. "It's a little long, and it doesn't really explain. In short, the elements are no longer directly available."
Rose hazarded, "The tree needed them?"
Twilight blinked a few times and sighed. "I really should have gotten you on board last week. How did you find out about that?"
She pursed her lips. "Well, I kind of fell on it. We were in a rush when we saw the lights flashing in the tower."
Mistral added, "And by the time we'd found her and Emma had patched her up and I'd ferried everypony across the chasm, the sun was up, you were back in Ponyville, and Cadence was explaining everything." A moment's pause. "How did you get across?"
Rainbow Dash elbowed her. "The bridge?"
Facehooves all around on the B-team as half of them said, "So there was a bridge".
Twilight Sparkle continued, "As a result of not having the elements anymore, Princess Celestia is dissolving your team. Sorry."
Gallowaz' jaw dropped; the others were similarly affected, though less so.
I can only imagine what that would be like. At least we weren't formally a team.
And then Milky Way said, "Roots?"
"Yes, dear?"
"It occurs to me that we are no longer barred from dating each other."
"That thought had occurred to me as well. Shall we?"
"Definitely."
Ah. I'd been wondering what it would be like with stallions on the team, and that answers it. Twilight glanced at her friends; Applejack was looking at her funny (and not like she was suddenly discovering romantic feelings of her own).
Pinkie threw a forehoof across Gallowaz's shoulders. "So, who's next?"
That provoked some snorts all around. Mistral said, "He's all yours, if you want him."
Gallowaz opened his eyes in alarm. "Hey, don't I get a say in this? If anypony, I'd go..." He stopped.
Rarity coughed. "You were saying?"
"Erm. Cadence. Yes. Totally Cadence. You have a very lucky brother, Twilight."
That aimed Twilight's thoughts where she didn't really feel like having them. "Well! I guess that wraps it up..."
Pinkie nodded. "Yup! Now we're ready to go to our PARTY!"
And they had a very nice and not at all awkward party, and several months later they were invited to the wedding, where Gallowaz totally tried to hook up with Rainbow Dash and she totally shot him down, and after that the two groups never really met, except that very occasionally Twilight Sparkle would encounter Milky Way (and much later, her son) on business.