*(~)*

1 John 2:17~

The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God live forever.

*(~)*

Castle Sweet Castle

Twilight was focused on her task….scrubbing every ounce of mud out of the little ferret. The alicorn princess was helping her dear friend Fluttershy in cleaning her dirty animal friends. Big and small. But while the animals were all getting a darn good scrub, the two ponies were covered in filth. Fluttershy wiped away the sweat from her forehead, sighing in relief once they were all done.

"Phew! Thanks for helping me get them so fresh and clean, Twilight."

"No problem, happy to do it!"

"You probably can't wait to get back to your castle and take your own bath, huh?"

Fluttershy didn't notice at first, but Twilight's eyes suddenly widened and, almost as if she had realized something. The princess smiled at her friend, trying to change the subject. "Aren't there more animals that need cleaning?"

Fluttershy arched an eyebrow at Twilight's eagerness to stay. While it wasn't usually odd for Twilight to lend a hoof to help, but today it almost seemed as if she didn't want to leave. "I think you and I are the only ones left, and I can't wait to get the mud out of my mane." Fluttershy said by trying to at least remove some of the mud with her already muddy hoof.

Twilight slowly grew anxious, she needed to find some way to remain and not go back home. She noticed Angel Bunny behind her and then pushed him into a mud puddle with her back leg.

"Oh, no! Angel got dirty!" she said, trying to sound surprised, "I'd better stay longer to help give him a bath too!"

The princess didn't waste a second and began scrubbing the bunny behind the ears in the bucket of soapy water. All Fluttershy could so was comply. Maybe having Twilight stay a bit longer wouldn't be so bad.

She hoped.

(~)

The sun was nearly setting on the horizon and Fluttershy and Twilight were now inside the cottage. The pegasus managed to take a bath while Twilight was still dirty herself.

"Thank you ever so much for staying to give Angel a bath too, but, um... I think he's dry."

Twilight was a bit too occupied in drying off the bunny that she didn't know when to stop. She finally did and removed the towel off of the annoyed bunny…right before his fur became as puffy as a cotton ball.

That was it, Fluttershy had to find a way to get Twilight to go home. As much as she hatted to admit it, the princess had overstayed her welcome just a bit too much.

"Goodness! It's gotten late! You really didn't have to stay all day. Not that we don't appreciate it. Isn't that right, Angel?"

The bunny only grunted in annoyance. Twilight levitated a feather duster and started cleaning the bird houses inside the cottage. Fluttershy realized she needed to try a different approach.

"I for one am exhausted." she yawned, "Plus, I really need to rest up for that big pancake breakfast tomorrow. And I'm sure you have to get the castle ready for when Korra comes back from her trip in the Earth Kingdom."

Fluttershy flinched when Twilight suddenly stopped dusting and dropped the feather duster. The princess only stood her with her head held down in depression.

"Twilight? Is everyone okay?"

After a brief moment of silence, Twilight spoke, "She's not coming tomorrow."

"What?"

"Something came up in one of the villages so Kuvira and the Earth Queen asked her to stay a bit longer."

"How long will be be gone."

"She didn't say, probably a couple of days…or maybe another weak." she said sadly.

The Princess Avatar was called personally by the Earth Queen and her second-in-command Kuvira to help in a specific situation in an Earth Kingdom village. Her friends volunteered to come along but Korra insisted she could handle it. It wasn't a dire worldwide crisis and more of a diplomatic situation, besides Korra knew she needed to be there for her two friends. At first, everyone was proud of Korra for taking this approach, however a certain alicorn was feeling rather down due to the Avatar's absence, more so than the others even.

"Well, maybe we can have the breakfast for some other time when-"

"No, she said she didn't want us to cancel on her count." Twilight's ears then perked up when an idea came to her mind, "But maybe I'd better see if Pinkie Pie needs help with the pancakes! Make some blueberry one, Korra's favorite!"

Without another word, Twilight flew out of the cottage and Fluttershy sighed in relief. Finally she was gone.

(~)

The next morning, the Mane Six and Team Avatar gathered inside Twilight's castle to eat their pancakes. The ponies chewed rather noisily as they enjoyed the sweet, tasty treats. They were decorated with strawberries, whip-cream, blueberries, chocolate chips and rainbow sprinkles. While the ponies ate with their mouths, Rarity ate hers with a fork, as did Mako, Bolin and Asami, and even Mako's spirit children; Mika, Ali and San. Even they couldn't help but savor the taste of the food. They were the best pancakes they had ever had.

Mako swallowed before speaking, "Mm, these are great, Pinkie Pie!"

"I agree!" said Applejack.

Pinkie Pie slurped the frosting and chocolate chips from her face with her long tongue, "Thanks! Twilight spent all night helping me pick the flavor!" she stacked more pancakes on top of the ones she already had, "I kept thinking we'd found the right one, but she insisted I make even more to try. And more. And more and more and more and more! It was like she never wanted to—"

"Leave?" Fluttershy said.

"Exactly!" Pinkie chomped on the tall stack, which didn't even tumble or fall, "Eventually we ran out of time so we just went with every-berry-any-chip-surprise!" she scooted over to Asami and spoke in a loud hush tone, "The surprise is I lost a measuring spoon in the batter. Somebody's gonna get a very special pancake!"

Once she was gone, Asami looked underneath her stacks to make sure she was not the 'lucky somebody'.

"Up all night, huh?" Flash Sentry asked, "Is that why she's so, uh... out of it?"

The regal princess was snoring in her chair, her head back, with her body covered in mud, levees and a messy mane. And, if looked closely, one could probably see some drool coming out of her mouth as she snored.

"Um, I don't mean to sound unappreciative," said Flutterhy, "but has anybody else noticed that Twilight has been a little too helpful lately?"

Asami sighed in relief, "Oh, thank goodness! I thought I was the only one. The other day she stayed in my garage all day organizing every single tool I had. Every time I uses a screwdriver she'd clean it up and put it back in the tool box…while I was still using it."

Applejack continued next, "Now that you mention it, she was lendin' a hoof at Sweet Apple Acres the other day and stuck around 'til near midnight. Dug up fifty tree-plantin' holes when all I needed was ten."

Rarity continued next, "She spent an entire afternoon rearranging a single gem drawer at the boutique. An entire afternoon!"

Bolin spoke next, "When the boys and I came home, she had cleaned the entire place up! Washed the dishes, did our laundry, even made us dinner. Which, I normally don't mind but, it was a still a little weird."

"She even color coordinated our police files." said Flash

"And steam ironed my uniform." said Mako.

"You think that's weird?" said Rainbow Dash, "She raced me, like, a hundred times the other day. And lost every time! She just kept goin'! Best out of ten, best out of twenty, best out of a hundred! I mean, I know hanging out with me is awesome, but it was like she'd rather keep losing than—"

"Leave?" Fluttershy said again.

"Yeah. Who does that?"

Twilight Sparkle snored once more before splatting her face onto her pancakes, and nuzzled against them like it was a pillow.

"This all seemed to start not long after Korra left." said Mako.

"You think she's doing all of this to get her mind off of her?" Asami asked, "I mean, I know they're close but, this really is kind of odd. Even for her."

"I think she might be avoidin' somethin'." said Applejack, while Pinkie Pie tapped her plate, flipping it and ate all of her pancakes in one gulp. "Soon as she wakes up, we're gonna find out what."

Pinkie began to cough and the measuring spoon came shooting out of her mouth, landing on Bolin's stack.

"I win!"

Twilight finally woke up, with a pancake engraved into her horn, "Huh?! I'm pancake! I mean, awake…" she smiled in embarrassment as her friends all looked at her with concern.

Flash spoke first, "Uh, Twilight? Is there something you wanna tell us?"

Mako's kids removed the pancake from her horn while the firebender spoke kindly to the princess, "Look, you know how much we appreciate everything you do for us, right?" he flinched when Pinkie Pie jumped up and took the pancake with her mouth before leaving. "And we love having you around…but…is there, by any chance, that you could, possibly, be avoiding something?"

Twilight lowered her ears, "Oh, has it been that obvious?"

Rainbow; "Kinda."

Fluttershy; "A little."

Bolin; "Yes."

Asami; "Completely."

Twilight knew that she couldn't keep this a secret for long. She needed to tell her friends, if not they would continue to worry. "Okay. The truth is... I know it's silly, but I... I've been avoiding... this place." she gestured to her large, majestic and crystal-like castle.

So this was why she had been so distant from it.

Rarity gasped in shock, "Why in Equestria would you want to avoid such a gorgeous castle?"

"Yeah, this place has everything!" Bolin said as he stood up, his voice echoing around the tall room, "Big tall ceilings that make you feel tiny!"

Pinkie Pie looked at her reflection on the floor as she laid on it and shivered, "Shiny new floors that are cold to the touch! Brrr!"

Bolin and Pinkie both stepped outside as the earthbender gestured to the rest of the palace, "And it even has loooong empty hallways!"

The word "hallways" echoed out through the castle, which only emphasized more of the theory why Twilight would want to avoid it.

"Okay, I'm starting to get it now."

"Me too." said Pinkie.

"The castle is amazing." said Twilight, "With Korra around, I didn't mind being here. She always made it feel less large and more comfortable, and with our castles connected she was here all the time. But now with her gone, it made me realize that this place…It still doesn't feel like home." she sadly rested her head on the table while Flash and Mako placed a hand and hoof on her shoulders. "If I can't be confutable in here without my sister around, then how can I really live here?"

Rarity chuckled, "Oh, is that all? Why, you simply need to decorate, darling. Make this space your own!"

"Yeah, we did the same for Korra's palace." Asami stated, "I think it's about time we did the same for yours too."

"It's just so daunting!" said Twilight, "At least Korra's palace gave us a concept on where to start. Just look how big it is! I-I don't even know where to start!"

"You can start by letting us do it for you." said Rarity, "We will make this the castle of your dreams!"

Flash smiled as he wrapped a hoof around his girlfriend, "While you and I go for a night on the town. Or, day in the town in this case."

"Marvelous Flash Sentry! You can do that right after she takes a trip to the Ponyville spa." she levitated a mirror at Twilight's face, "I'm saying this with love, but... have you looked in a mirror lately? I've never seen you look this... mmmm…"

"Frazzled?" Fluttershy said.

"Yes! That is absolutely the word I was going to use."

Twilight took a good look at her mane and realized her friend was right. "Ooh, I guess I do need a little help. And so does my castle. You okay with me going to the spa, Flash?"

"Not at all! I've been meaning to get a hoffacure." everyone then stared at him with both surprised and, kind of weirded out looks. But the pegasus stood his ground, "What? Can't a guy pamper himself every once in a while?"

Twilight smiled at her friends, "Well, I just know you'll all do a great job, because nobody knows me better than you."

"We'll make this place feel cozier than hot cider on a rainy day." said Applejack.

Rainbow Dash and Asami both gasped with delight, "There's gonna be cider?!" the two then received a water spray to the face by Bolin. "Hey!"

"Down girls!"

They wiped away the liquid and calmed down, "Uh, I mean, let's decorate!" said Rainbow Dash.

The door opened and a sleepy Spike walked in, holding a blanket and a Rarity blush toy. Don't ask.

"Oh, no! Did I miss the pancakes?!" he dropped his blanket and toy (again, don't question) and prepared to eat, "I sleep like a baby under that cold, cavernous ceiling."

"Spike, I'm so glad you're here!" said Rarity.

"Really?"

"Yes! You and Flash are taking Twilight to the spa!"

"Great! I've been meaning to get my claws done!"

Flash smiled in triumph, "Ha! Told ya!"

Spike began stuffing his face with pancakes, only to receives stares from the others. "Oh, you mean now." he said with his mouth full. He stuffed a few more into his mouth and took two more. The little guy hadn't eaten yet after all. With Twilight and Flash, the three walked out the door, leaving the others to set their plan into action.

"Come on, y'all!" said Applejack, "We've got work to do!"

(~)

Music filled the halls as the whole team exited the dinning room, and the gears in their heads began to spin, thinking on ways to make this place more personal for their friend.

Rainbow Dash;

Let's all work together

To make this castle shine

Rarity polished the crystals with a blanket, making it shimmer.

Rarity;

Once we add some sparkle

It'll feel, it'll feel, it'll feel...

All;

It'll feel divine

Applejack headed home and filled a wagon with apples, hay and various farm items.

Applejack;

Crates of apples an' bales o' hay

Just makes ya feel at home

Fluttershy had various animals ready as well.

Fluttershy;

Furry friends and some popinjays

So she won't be alone

All;

And we'll make, and we'll make, and we'll make

This castle a home

Pinkie Pie slid down the staircase, grabbing various balloons as she did.

Pinkie Pie;

There's nothing like balloons and confetti

To greet you every time you walk through the door

Rainbow flew around her room, picking posters of the Wonderbolts, and even posters of her and Team Avatar and the Fire Ferrets from their pro-bending days.

Rainbow Dash;

She'll need this and those

Posters us, as heroes

How could anypony awesome ever ask for more?

Mako went off to the book store in the city and bought a pile of history, mythology and science books for Twilight to read. Asami picked out a stunning lamp decorated with mythical dragons while Bolin did the same as Rainbow Dash, grab posters of pro-bending, and even some of his Nuktuk posters.

Mako;

Pages filled of myth and truth

To ignite her creative mind

Asami;

A shimmering light to see what she finds

Bolin;

Reminders of our glory days, to help her shine!

The group made their way towards the castle with all the things they needed. Once inside, they got to work.

All;

And we'll make, and we'll make, and we'll make

A home she'll adore

Asami;

Bright curtains of flowing silk and lace

Rainbow Dash;

This picture of me winning a race

Pinkie Pie;

Party cannons to give her a surprise

Applejack;

Hoes and rakes and some more garden supplies

Fluttershy;

Getting hugs from this nice, big, friendly bear

Rarity;

Decorate with some gemstones bright and rare

Bolin;

More of this and that

Pinkie Pie;

Don't forget the party hats

Rainbow Dash;

How could anypony awesome ask for more than that?

Mako;

Let's all work together

Fluttershy;

To show that we have shown

Rarity;

Princess Twilight Sparkle

All;

How we make, how we make, how we make

This castle a home

How we make, how we make

This castle a home

How we make, how we make

This castle a home!

*balloon pops*

Once the song ended, everybody took a few steps back to see what they had done….they cringed once they did. Apparently, they were all so caught up in the decorating that, one look at the finishing project, and they immediately wanted to slap themselves silly.

Animals and Mako's spirits kids ran and flew around everywhere, there was hay, berets of apples, posters everywhere around the walls, balloons and candies all over the place, and pink curtains, lace and flowers all around. It was like one big huge mess of items, making the entire castle look like a hoarder's home instead of a princess's. Bolin was the first one to speak.

"Yikes."

Applejack cleared her throat, trying to sound convincing, "Wow, guys! We did a... great job... together…" she laughed nervously.

"We sure did... something." Rainbow said with uncertainty.

A few birds flew around Bolin's head and little furies rubbed their heads against his legs. "Fluttershy, I love that you brought so many animals." he said unconvincingly.

Fluttershy noticed one of his posters on the wall, "Is this your Nuktuk poster?"

"Why would Twilight want that?" Mako asked his brother with an arched eyebrow.

"What? Everybody loves my Nuktuk movers! Besides, I didn't see you add anything."

"That's because I put my gifts where they belonged. In the library."

Bolin waved his hands, pretending to be impressed, "Oh, wow! Books! Like she doesn't have enough of those already?"

Asami placed her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes in a stern manner. "Bolin!"

"Sorry, honey."

Rarity chuckled nervously as she tried to find ways to compliment Applejack's additions. "My my, Applejack, bringing the outdoors inside, it's... earthy... What a lovely touch!" she levitated one of the red, yellow and green quilts and sniffed it, feeling she would gag, "Are these quilts vintage?"

"Nope, just old!" Applejack shielded her eyes from the shimmering diamond decorated curtains Rarity added to the windows, "Unlike your sparkly window doohickeys which are... why, they're just swell!"

Pinkie Pie, was probably the only one who remained happy about the whole thing, "No one said anything about my hidden confetti cannons! Oh, right! They're hidden!"

Mako pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, "Guys, who are we kidding? It looks terrible!"

The doors then opened and Flash Sentry walked in. "Hey guys, man that hoofacure was exactly what I needed—Sweet mother of Raava!"

The pegasus was undeniably shocked by the scene before him.

"Oh, Flash! Are you and Twilight done already?" Rarity asked.

"Don't worry, Spike ordered her the super-deluxe mane blow-out! She'll be a while." he walked in deeper into the room, still cringing at the scene, " Man, what happened? This place looks terrible!"

The others all sighed in relief. "Phew!"

"Thank goodness somebody said something!" said Fluttershy.

"Hey! I said it first!" Mako stated in annoyance.

Asami placed her hand on his shoulder, "Yeah, but nobody really cares about your opinion." the heiress then covered her mouth, realizing what she had just said, "Did I say that out loud?"

"It's pretty bad, right?" said Rainbow Dash.

"This place looks like a mishmash of knickknacks." said Applejack.

Rarity tapped her chin, "Hmm, I suppose it is a little cluttered."

"What are you guys talking about?" said Pinkie Pie with joy, "I think it looks super fun!"

Once of her hidden confetti cannons then exploded, releasing confetti everywhere, and the noise startled Fluttershy's animals. They ran around in fear, tumbling everything they came in contact with. Even Mako's three spirits got frightened and flew around in a panic.

"Mika! Ali! Sand! Clam down!"

Pinkie Pie joined in the mayhem, running with the animals while wearing a party hat. "Whee!"

Fluttershy tried to calm the animals down, "Oh! Oh, no! Please don't do that! If you all just take a deep breath and calm down—"

Bolin started to scream as squirrels began moving around in his cloths. "Squirrels! Squirrels in my pants! Squirrels in my pants!"

Two chipmunks climbed up on Rarity's curtains, much to her horror, "No! That bunting is embroidered by hoof! Don't you move one more paw!"

But even thought the chipmunks stayed still, their slid down and ripped the curtain. Rarity's face flushed with red due to her anger and opened up her mouth, her loud powerful voice ceasing the panic.

"Everybody stop!"

At her command, all of the animals stopped, even the three spirits and Pinkie Pie froze in place. Everything was now broken, down on the floor or completely shattered.

"Okay, now it's a mess." said Pinkie with a smile, right before another confetti cannon exploded.

Mako dusted the confetti out of his hair, "Great, as if we didn't have enough problems."

"What're we gonna do?!" Rainbow asked in frantic worry.

"I dunno." said Flash, "But Twilight's blow-out won't take that long. If she was avoiding the castle before, she'll never want to set hoof in here now! And I don't even wanna think about what Korra might say if she sees this too."

"Come on, guys, we've gotta do something!" Bolin stated as he gripped his brother's collar, "Twilight's counting on us!"

Rarity spoke to the male pegasus, "Flash, you've got to get back to that spa and stall her! Whatever you do, don't let her come home!"

"For how long?"

"Well, uh, maybe you could manage it 'til... sunset-ish?" she gave him a hopeful smile while she batted her eyes, which only made him arch an eyebrow.

"Okay, okay just stop doing that. It only works on Spike."

"Oops! Sorry, I always do that when I'm asking for something."

Flash saluted to the others, "You guys can count on me!" he galloped away and out of the room, leaving the others to work things out.

Asami stepped froward, taking the lead, "Okay, we all agree the castle is too cluttered, right? So why doesn't everybody take one or two of their own decorations out and we'll see how it looks?"

Everyone nodded in agreement and got to work. They hoped Flash could buy them enough time for them to fix everything.

(~)

Flash returned to the spa, only to be greeted by Spike. "Flash, you're back! How do my claws look."

"Very nice. Real sharp." he said rather quickly, wanting to get to the point already, "Listen, we-"

"So how's the decorating going? Twilight's been dying to see how it's-"

"We can't go back yet!" he looked around before whispering to the dragon, "Something went terribly wrong!"

"Come on, how bad can it be?"

"Imagine everyone's house just exploded into one room."

"Oohh…."

"We have to keep Twilight occupied before sunset."

"Don't worry, I've got it!"

The two walked into the room where Twilight was underneath a hair blower machine. "Oh, boys there you are. How do I look?" once the lip was off her head, her mane had been styled into a spiky, almost rocker-like style. It was actually rather nice, though probably a tiny but much.

"Great!" they both said.

"And more importantly, how does the castle look?"

The two looked at each other with worry, "Great?"

"I can't wait to go home and see it!" Twilight got up and prepared to leave.

"Great! I mean, no!" Flash jumped up in front of her, "I mean, uh, I'm not... quite ready to go yet. Uh, why don't we have a massage?"

"Yeah!" Spike said, trying to help and took one of the brochures, "I was really hoping to get, uh... this thingy!"

Twilight read the words, "The 'Extra-strength-hot-stone-deep-tissue massage'?"

Flash cringed at the very mention of the name and Spike gulped, "Yep!"

"I think we'll just have the traditional massage, but you go for it."

One of the spa ponies name Aloe walked up to the couple. "Did somepony order massages?"

The wall crashed and Bulk Biceps appeared, shouting his famous phrase, "Yeah! Let's do this, little dragon!" he then took Spike, using his pecks, and smashed into the wall once more.

Aloe rolled her eyes, "Oh, I hate it when he does that. Come with me, you two."

Flash was still cringing over what that poor little dragon could be going through at the moment.

(~)

"Come on, Rarity. Everypony has taken somethin' out except you." said Applejack to the unicorn, who was still deciding.

"Ooh, I know! I simply can't decide."

"How about this?" Rainbow pointed to a portrait with the entire Team Avatar in a jewel encrusted frame.

"No! Not that! Anything but that!"

"How about these?" Bolin pointed to a rounded vase of flowers which was placed on the wall.

"Oh, but those brighten up the whole room! They're my favorite accent!"

"Then let's lose the curtains." Rainbow said, "The room wouldn't need brightening if they weren't making it so dark!"

"Not them! They're my favorite too!"

Rainbow growled in annoyance and Mako crossed his arms, "They can't all be your favorite! Okay, Rainbow, take down the portrait. We all know what we look like."

"Finally!" the pegasus took the image and flew out of the room. Rarity huffed in anger.

"Well, the room still looks a little bit cluttered, doesn't it? Perhaps I'll take down a poster or two. Only to be helpful, of course!" she levitated some of Rainbow's posters out of the walls, annoying the pegasus. She even removed Bolin's poster.

"Hey! You took away Nuktuk!"

Rarity huffed, "Oh please, it was about as useful as Rainbow's trophies!"

"Excuse me?!" the pegasus exclaimed while placing her hooves on her hips.

"Okay, everypony calm down." said Applejack, ending the arguments, "I'm sure we can find a way to remove the clutter together."

"You're absolutely right, dear." Rarity said…right before removing A.J's quilts out of the room, and Rainbow kicked them out with her back legs.

"Hey, those are my warmin' quilts!"

Rainbow Dash and Rarity huff pumped, "Together!"

Pinkie Pie noticed that Fluttershy's birds were popping her balloons.

"Fluttershy! Tell your birds to stop pecking at my balloons!"

Fluttershy narrowed her eyes, "I guess they must not like being scared out of their wits by exploding confetti cannons or something."

"But we can't get rid of the cannons! I don't remember where I hid them."

Another confetti cannon exploded. And pretty soon, everyone was arguing over what to add to take away. Mako's spirit even levitated Asami's lamp out of the room.

"Hey! Mako, your kids just took my lamp!"

"Like a throne room needs a lamp."

Bolin stepped in between the two, "At least she got something. All you did was buy dusty old books."

"They're not that old! And at least I got her something she might actually use."

Before long, everyone was fighting and removing the others decorations and items.

(~)

After a the messages, Flash took Twilight to eat at a cafe. The two were sharing a milkshake while sitting underneath an umbrella on a table outside.

Twilight sighed in relaxation, "Great suggestion, Flash. I feel totally relaxed."

However, Spike was still feeling strained from his 'massage'. He couldn't even sit up right. "Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow…"

Once they were done with their shake, Twilight got up from her chair, "You want to hop on?" she asked Spike, "Maybe I can get us to the castle faster."

Flash's eyes widened and quickly jumped up as well. It wasn't sunset yet, he couldn't let her get back. "No! I mean…how…nice is this day? I was hoping we could take the scenic way back."

"I don't know."

Spike straightened his back, "I think it's a great idea! Walking is good for post-massage circulation."

Twilight arched an eyebrow, "Really? I've never heard that theory." she, Flash and Spike then walked across town, simply enjoying the day and brightness of the sun. At first, all was calm, until they spotted something that had left a great hole in Twilight's heart.

It was the Golden Oak Library…or at least, what was left of it. After her and Korra's battle with Tirek, the place was blown to bits. Everything within it was gone. Forever.

Twilight sighed as she looked upon the tree, "I really miss this place. We had so many wonderful memories here."

Spike began to tear up at the scene, "We did, didn't we…?"

"Oh, Spike, I'm so sorry. Of course losing the Golden Oak Library was hard for you too." she welcomed her little dragon in a warm embrace. Flash Sentry wished he could relate to their situation, but he didn't have much memories of this place. And the ones he did was very few, not enough for him to have had a long time attachment to it. But he did know what it was like to loose a home.

"I'm really sorry, Twilight." he said sincerely, "I may not have known this place for as long as you did, but I know it was special to you. It's like loosing someone from your family." his eras perked up when he spotted something near the burned tree. It was a little branch, slightly burned, but still in good condition…with a little flower blossoming from it. He took it into his mouth and placed it before Twilight, much to her surprise. "I know it's not much but, I hope keeping something from this place might remind you that, even if it's gone, your memories of it won't be. And like this little flower, something new will grown from this."

Twilight's eyes filled with tears as she levitated the branch, admiring the simple little flower. "Thanks Flash. I'll always treasure it." the two nuzzled their faces together and Spike wiped away a single tear.

"Come on, I know exactly where to put it." Twilight spread out her wings ready to take flight. Spike acted quickly and jumped onto her back, holding her wings and causing her to fall.

"Ow! What are you doing?"

"I, um…"

Flash then got an idea, "Hey, why don't we get something for Spike to add to the castle to make it more his home as well?"

"Uh, yeah!" Spike greed, "And I know what I want!"

Twilight arched an eyebrow as she stood up, "Oh, okay. What is it?"

"It's a... well, I want a... it's... I kind of need a... a bed!"

"I thought you said you sleep like a baby in the castle."

Spike scoffed, "Everypony knows babies are terrible sleepers. Let's go!"

(~)

The entire group managed to clean up the place, making less crowded with items. Rarity removed the last poster, "There! Now nothing is cluttering the castle!"

"You're right." said Rainbow Dash, "There is literally nothing cluttering this castle."

By trying to remove a few things, they ended up removing practically everything they had. Now it looked exactly from when they started.

"What do we do now?" Asami asked.

Mako scratched the back of his neck nervously, "I hate to be the bearer of more bad news, but it's almost sunset."

Rarity gasped when she looked at the window, "Oh dear! He's right! If we don't figure this out soon, it's going to look like we didn't lift a hoof or finger to help her!"

Rainbow Dash groaned in frustration, "Why is this so hard?! We're Twilight's best friends! This should be easy for us!"

Applejack spoke, "She said it herself – if anybody should be able to make her feel comfortable in her new home, it's us. If we can't do it...

Fluttershy spoke next, "Then Twilight will be stuck living in a castle that makes her feel... sad!"

The word "sad" echoed out through the halls.

"Wow, Fluttershy! I didn't know you could be loud enough to echo!" Pinkie said impressed.

Asami tried to keep the peace between them all, "Okay, okay, let's just think for a second."

"Think for a second?" Bolin asked, "Think for a second?! We don't have a second, woman!" the earthbender started to get frantic, "If Twilight comes home now, she'll be like "What did you guys do?" And we'll have to be like "Nothing!" And then she'll be like "I was counting on you! Some friends you are!" And we'll be like…Nooooooooooooo!"

Asami took him by the shoulders, shaking him back to his senses, "Bolin, calm down! We just need to figure out what we did wrong so we can make it right."

"Well, I didn't do anything wrong!" said Rarity, "I did exactly what I would do if this were my home!"

"But it's not your home." Rainbow stated, "It's Twilight's home!"

"Where she keeps all her Rainbow Dash trophies?"

"Touché." she said calmly.

"Now that you mention it," Mako began, "it did seem more like you guys were adding more the things you liked rather than what Twilight did."

"That was kind of the intension." said Applejack.

"What do you mean?"

"What's the one thing that made Twilight feel at home in this castle?"

"Korra."

"And we're her bonded ponies. When we first came into your world, we always felt most at home when we were with her."

Mako then placed two and two together, "Oh, I get it now. You thought if you added mementos of yourselves it would be like still having Korra around too."

"Exactly."

"But I guess we overdid it." said Fluttershy.

"Well, maybe there is a way so she can still have something of you guys without it overcrowding the place." he suggested.

"He's right!" said Applejack, "Come on, y'all. We just need to think about Twilight. What was it she'd loved about livin' in the Golden Oak Library?"

"Oh, everything!" said Fluttershy, "The books, the smell of books, the joy she felt from organizing books…guess Mako had the right idea."

Rainbow Dash laughed, "Remember that time I crashed into all those books attempting my sonic rainboom after you guys just cleaned up? That was good times."

Applejack rolled her eyes, "Yeah, for you, maybe."

"Oh, and Applejack, remember when we were stuck having a sleepover there?" said Rarity, "That turned out to be so much fun!"

"Remember when we had those little get togethers?" Asami said.

Mako and Bolin laughed at the happy memories, "Yeah, that was fun." said the earthbender.

"Remember the time it got blown up to smithereens?!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, only to lower down, "Wait, no, that was the worst."

"We had a lot of good memories there, though." Applejack said in a sad tone, remembering the place, "That's what made the Golden Oak Library home."

"Yeah…" everybody sighed.

Then, Applejack gasped when an idea came to her head. "That's it!"

"What's it?" Rarity asked.

"Maybe there's still somethin' we can do!"

(~)

Twilight was already getting bored out of her mind. Spike had spent hours trying to find the perfect bed. "How's that one? Too soft? Too hard? Too lumpy?"

"Um…" as he laid on the bed, he looked out the window, finding it was already sundown. "Just right! I'll take it!"

"Oh, thank goodness. I thought you'd never find one you liked! Let's find a salespony and get out of here."

"Sounds good to meee—" he cringed when he spotted the others walking in the opposite direction, Asami and Rainbow gestured to Spike to keep stalling. "I… nn, um, uh, heh... did you hear that?" he imitated squeaky springs with his mouth, "Too squeaky! Better keep looking!"

Twilight groaned in annoyance while Flash only silently hoped the others knew what they were doing.

(~)

Upon looking at the destroyed library, Applejack sighed sadly. "Maybe my plan won't work after all."

But while everyone else felt upset, Rarity gained an idea as well. "Of course it will, darling. I can see it! You, Fluttershy and the boys stay here. Rainbow Dash, Asami and Pinkie Pie, you come with me. We're going shopping! We'll meet back at the castle."

The four headed out while Applejack, Fluttershy (with the help of her animal friends), Mako and Bolin worked together to dig. Bolin and A.J. earthbended the earth.

Mako;

It's not the things that you gather around

Bolin;

It's not how much you own

Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow and Asami walked out of the store with bags.

Asami;

The things that hold the meaning in your life

Are the memories you've sown

Once inside the castle, the team worked together once more in their one group project that, they hoped, would bring a smile to their friend's face.

Rarity sowed the diamonds, Applejack and Bolin polished the large root, Asami and Rarity supervised while the others pulled on the ropes, placing their object into the center perfectly.

All;

So we make, so we make, so we make

This castle a home

So we make, so we make

This castle a home

So we make, so we make

This castle a home!

(~)

The doors opened and Twilight, Flash and Spike entered.

"Hello? We're home!"

"Welcome home!" Twilight was greeted by her friends, who all appeared extremely happy, bright and excited.

"Glad you made it." said Asami.

Bolin bowed and escorted the princess down the hallway, "Right this way, your highness."

As they walked, Twilight began to feel disappointed. Nothing had changed at all about the castle. Maybe her friends were trying to surprise her or something.

"Oh, I, uh... love what you've done with the place." she said, trying not to let her disappointment show, "You did such a good job of... preserving the integrity of the original design."

"Aw, come on!" Spike exclaimed in annoyance, "It looks exactly the same! Do you know how hard it was to keep her from coming back here?! I never want to see another dust ruffle as long as I live!"

"Wait. Keep me from coming back here?" Twilight asked.

Rarity laughed nervously, "It took a teensy bit longer than we thought."

"And a lot of cleaning." said Bolin, only to receive an elbow nudge from his girlfriend.

Mako squatted down to Twilight's level, "While we were trying our best to make your castle feel like home, we realized something important."

Applejack took off her hat and placed it over her heart, "What really makes home feel like home isn't what it looks like. It's the memories you make when you're there."

Rarity smiled, "So we've made something that celebrates the memories we've made with you since you moved to Ponyville."

"And when you first came to Republic City." said Mako as he stood up and opened the front doors that led to the throne room.

Twilight gasped in awe at the shimmering new addition to her throne room. It was only one change, but it was a pretty large and beautiful one. It looked like a tree-trunk chandelier, decorated with various gems on strings, colored in the same coats as the Mane Six.

Fluttershy flew near the ornaments, "The ornaments on the chandelier are reminders of all the fun we've had together."

Mika, Ali, and San demonstrated an orange gem which depicted the first time Twilight came to Ponyville.

"That one shows your party at the Golden Oak Library welcoming you to Ponyville!" Pinkie explained.

Fluttershy demonstrated a blue gem, "The time we shared donuts after the Grand Galloping Gala!"

Rainbow showed another, "And the time we saw our first pro-bending match."

"We were hoping that being able to look at your beautiful old memories would inspire you to make new ones." Rarity said with hope in her voice, all the while Twilight couldn't stop starring at the incredibly amazing gift.

"And the best part of it is, it's made from the roots of the Golden Oak Library," said Applejack, "so you'll never forget where you came from."

Bolin fiddled with his fingers, "So…do you like it?"

Everyone awaited hopefully for the princess's answer. Twilight finally turned around to face them, her eyes filled with tears but her smile was as plain as day.

"It's exactly what the castle needed."

The friends smiled upon hearing her words. Twilight rushed on over to them and they all welcomed her in their signature Team Avatar hug. But, there was one last person who was not yet included.

"Hello? Anypony home?"

Twilight gasped with delight upon hearing the voice. They all dispersed and spun around, seeing their beloved Princess Avatar standing at the doorway, smiling happily.

"Did I miss anything?"

"Korra!" Twilight flew right into her arms in such speed that Korra nearly tumbled. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too!"

"I thought you were going to be gone longer!"

"Well, I finally found a way so everybody could be satisfied. Of course, it requested me getting a firm as a disappointed mother, but I got the point across." Korra then noticed the chandelier and her eyes widened, "Wow! Where did this come from?"

"Our friends made this. While you were gone, I was was having a hard time feeling at home in my castle. But thanks to them, and this wonderful gift, I'm now ready to make new memories here." she flew up, leading Korra to see the gemstones.

Korra caressed the roots, "It's from the Golden Oak Library." she said in amazement and looked at the gems, "And all of our most precious memories."

"Well, there is one last thing to add." she levitated the single branch with the flower Flash had given her before and tied it to the end of one of the gems. She flew down and smiled at the stallion, "To remind me of the best boyfriend ever."

Flash smiled and hugged his girlfriend. Korra landed, smiling at the two, when Mako wrapped his arm around her.

"Good to have you back, sweetie."

"Good to be back. I'm really glad you're feeling more at home here Twilight. I know it was hard loosing the library." she smiled at her friends, "Thanks you guys."

Bolin shrugged, "Hey, it's what friends do!" he wrapped his arm around Asami, "Well, one chapter has closed, time to make some new memories."

"Then let's start right now with a new memory cake!" Pinkie Pie zipped away only to reappear a few seconds latter with a tall multi-colored cake on her back, "Seven layer what's-that-flavor mystery surprise! These might be chocolate chips or they might be super-spicy black beans!"

"Let's go to the dining room." said Twilight and led them towards it, "It's a little sparse, but at least there's a table and chairs." her eyed widened the minute she opened the door, "Whoa! What happened in here?"

Korra was also surprised, "Yeah, last I checked, this place was empty!"

The entire hall was decorated with bright gems, a glass sculpture, flowers around the pillars and am elegant table cloth. There was only one pony who could have done this extravagant job.

"I couldn't help myself!" Rarity confessed, "It was just begging for the personal touch!"

Applejack bit her bottom lip, "Truth be told... I couldn't either. Your kitchen might have some rustic farm decor, Twilight."

"And there may or may not be some Daring Do posters up in your library." said Rainbow Dash.

Mako scratched the back of his neck, "Or a copy of 'Fire Nation art and folklore'."

Fluttershy whispered, "And some stuffed animals in your bedroom."

"Or a Nuktuk doll somewhere in there." said Bolin with his hands behind his back.

"Or a reading light I may have installed on short notice." Asami said while fiddling with her hair.

They flinched when another confetti cannon exploded.

"What was that?!" Korra asked.

Applejack sighed, "One of Pinkie Pie's confetti cannons."

"What? It's not my fault I hid them so well!"

The entire group laughed at the silliness and Korra squatted down, petting Twilight's head. "It really is good to be home."

"With you here, it always does."

The two princesses shared a hug. Not only did the castle feel more home to Twilight, but she was certain to make new wonderful memories.

With her Friends.

*(~)*

1 John 2:17~

The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God live forever.

*(~)*

Okay, I know I was going to tail until the whole season but, I just HAD to make this chapter. Since it is a slice of life story, I'm sure it won't interfere much with the ongoing plot. I hope you guys like it and, yes I am well aware this is probably the third time in which I wrote a chapter where Korra was barely there. The first being "Cutie Troubles", and the first chapter of "Balance of the Heart."

Well, keep on loving, praying and sharing and make new memories with the ones you Love.

God bless, *kiss, kiss*