Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is the property of Hasbro. I make no legal claims to it whatsoever.

Author's notes: This story was completed prior to posting, and has been crossposted to my account on FIMFiction Dot Net, under the author name of AnoneMouseJr . Hope you enjoy. And if all goes well, sequels will be forthcoming. (Also, the version on FIMFiction has some alterations to text size for a few bits of dialogue.)

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Chapter 5

By Anon e Mouse Jr.

The mare gazed up at them. "You… you saved me…"

"We did," Twilight confirmed.

"Thank you… thank you so much!" The mare's eyes filled with tears of joy. "How can I ever repay you?"

"There's no need," Twilight told her gently. "It's what friends do."

"You… you would call me your friend, even after all I did under the control of that… monster?" Luna looked up at them in astonishment.

"We would," Derpy said as she walked up to join Twilight.

"Mm-hmm," Marble added as she joined them.

The others added their own confirmations, and Luna blinked happily. "Thank you…"

"I will second that," a regal voice said behind them.

Twilight gasped and turned around. "Princess Celestia! You're here!"

"Indeed." The eldest Alicorn smiled. "And I see that you didn't exactly do as I said…" She winked at Twilight. "However, I can forgive you, since you have achieved what I could not." Turning to Luna, she approached the smaller Alicorn and held out a hoof to help her up. "Welcome back, sister."

Carefully, Luna stood up, wincing as her legs shook a bit. "It is good to be back, Celly. All those years, trapped inside that… thing… it was truly a nightmare."

"Of that, I have no doubt," Celestia replied. "But I know she was not you…" Pulling Luna into a hug, she smiled. "I missed you, Luna. So very much."

"And I you," Luna said. Suddenly, her eyes widened. "There was another Alicorn with you… is she...?"

"She's just fine," Celestia replied as she let Luna go. "You can come in now!" she called.

Smiling, a pink Alicorn walked into the room. "Hello, Auntie," she said to Luna. "I'm so happy to finally meet you… the real you."

"Under the circumstances, most definitely so am I," Luna replied. "I'm so sorry for what I - what she did to you."

"All is forgiven, Auntie," the pink Alicorn replied. Then she turned to Twilight and beamed. "Ladybug! It's so good to see you again!"

"Ca-dance…" Twilight groaned as her former foalsitter began ruffling her mane. Then she smiled. "I'm so happy you're all right."

"So am I," Moondancer added as she walked over to join them. "Long time no see, Princess. Diplomatic visit to Zebrica run a little long?"

"Oh, you have no idea," Cadance told her. "It's all over and done with for now though." She then turned to the others. "Twilight, aren't you going to introduce me to the rest of your friends?"

Twilight smiled. "Sorry about that… girls, this is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but you can just call her Cadance. She was my foal-sitter before I started going to Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, though I didn't realize she was a Princess until much later."

"You'd think having both a horn and wings would have tipped you off," Moondancer commented.

Twilight looked embarrassed. "Back then, I didn't know there could be more than one Princess. She explained it to me eventually though." Clearing her throat, she continued. "Cadance, Princess Celestia, you already know Moondancer. These are Derpy Hooves, Scootaloo, Marble Pie and Coco Pommel Apple. They're the ones who helped me free Princess Luna."

"In that case, I am very pleased to meet all of you," Celestia said as she approached the group.

"So am I," Luna added as she walked up next to her sister.

"And me too," Cadance said. She peered down at Scootaloo. "Although I wasn't expecting one of your friends to be so young. Especially for a trip through the Everfree."

"I... kind of snuck out and followed them," Scootaloo told her. "Good thing too."

Celestia nodded. "Well, what's done is done." She regarded all of them with a smile. "And now, I believe we should all return to Ponyville… it's long past time that I raised the sun."

A round of nods followed.

---

Some hours later, Twilight was relaxing in the library, while ponies partied all around her. Suddenly, she felt a presence and looked up to see Moondancer settling in beside her. "Some party, huh?"

"It certainly is," Twilight agreed. "Pinkie must have gone all out for this one."

"Nah, according to Marble, this isn't anywhere close to her wildest party," Moondancer replied. "But it's still fun."

"That it is." Twilight was silent for a moment. "Moondancer?"

"Yes, Twilight?"

"I… I'm going to miss this place when we leave."

"So am I, Twilight." Moondancer suddenly perked up. "But what if we didn't have to leave?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, there's plenty of space here… and with Spike, we can easily keep in touch with Princess Celestia. Why not stay in Ponyville, so we can stay closer to our new friends?"

Twilight thought for a moment. "Well… what would Princess Celestia say?"

"I think she'd be happy. We do need to get out and socialize more, and this would be the perfect chance to widen our horizons."

"With Pinkie Pie in this town, we'd probably be widening our waistlines too."

"Point. But still… I kind of like this place. It'd be a change of pace. What do you say?"

Twilight smiled. "Let's go for it."

Soon after, they had rounded up Spike and the other girls, and asked Celestia their question. She looked surprised for a moment, then smiled. "I think that's a wonderful idea, Twilight. I'll miss seeing you every day, but I know you'll be happy here."

"So do I, Princess." Twilight smiled.

"Woohoo!" Scootaloo cheered, then ran to the door. "Pinkie! Break out another round of streamers - we've got a 'New long-term residents of Ponyville' party to throw!"

Twilight shook her head and smiled. "Well, now we have to stay in Ponyville."

Marble smiled. "Mm-hmm. Me too."

When Pinkie heard her sister's words, the resulting party lasted well into the next night, and was even wilder than the one before it. Years later, when asked about the experience, Twilight would admit that of everything that happened, the sight of Cadance and Derpy doing a Quickstep across the ceiling was one that she'd never forget.

Although Princess Celestia's own dance, one that Twilight still wasn't sure how to describe, came close.

---

Two days later, a bluish-gray pony marched into Sugarcube Corner. "HEY SIS! YOU HERE?"

Twilight's mane frizzed, and she groaned. "Not again..."

Ignoring her, Limestone looked around and finally spotted Marble. "Hey, sis. I'm all done up in Canterlot, so it's time for us to go home."

"G-go home?" Marble's eyes widened. "I... no. I'm not going."

Limestone paused. "What... did you just say?" Her eyes narrowed as she stared at her youngest sister.

"I said..." Her voice suddenly got louder. "I'm staying here. My friends need me."

Limestone's eyes grew even narrower. "You. Have friends. Here." She whirled around to look at Twilight, the other girls and Spike. "Them?"

"Mm-hmm."

Limestone began to growl. "And because of them, you're staying in this town, rather than coming back to the farm with me?"

"Mm-" She cut herself off. "Yes. I am."

Limestone stared at her, then threw her head back and started laughing. "Well, I'll be! My shy little hermit crab has finally come out of her shell!" She ruffled her sister's mane. "Good on you, sis. You know how long I've been waiting to hear you say something like that?"

"I... uh... what?"

Limestone just chuckled. "I still love ya, sis. But you were too shy for your own good. Now you're standing up for yourself, and that's just what I'm glad to see." Ruffling Marble's mane again, she gave one of her odd grins. "You and Pinkie take care of one another, sis. You hear me? But don't forget to come home and visit once in awhile too!"

"Mm-hmm." Marble gave her an amused look.

Still chuckling, Limestone left the building, heading for the train station. "Ah, I knew those three would be good for her... Limestone Sense never fails when it comes to finding somepony who's good or bad for something," she muttered to herself.

Then she paused. "Of course, now I'll have to explain it all to Ma and Pa. Ah, it'll work out. It always does for us Pies."

Back in Sugarcube Corner, Twilight gave Marble a strange look. "'Hermit Crab'?"

"It's her private nickname for me," Marble explained. "Because I was so... shy." She blushed.

"Don't worry." Twilight smiled at her and pulled her into a hug. "I'll just stick with calling you Marble."

The others nodded, and Marble smiled gratefully.

"Cupcakes for everyone!" Pinkie suddenly exclaimed as she popped up out of nowhere, a tray in her hooves.

That triggered a round of laughing, one that would last for several minutes. And even after it was done, Twilight smiled.

It was good to be home.

The End… For Now

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Author's Note:

So here we are, the final part... of the first story. I do have plans for sequels, I just need to write them.

The Bearers will return in...

Different Bearers: A Case of Family

Starring Scootaloo, her aunt and cousin... and her mother.

And while you're waiting for that, I have a TV Tropes page set up, at FanFic/TheDifferentverse .

Until next time!