Chapter twenty seven

The others stand by the side lines almost of the field in the park as they look back and forth at the two alicorn’s facing off against one another. One young lavender alicorn, timid on what she is about to do right now to one she considers as much a mother as the mare she was birthed from. The other alicorn wise beyond her years, and full of confidence on what exactly she is going to get her own student to do.

Though at heart Twilight really is more nervous on the inside then she could have ever hoped to show on the outside to the others. Her legs may appear motionless, but in reality it probably feels like Twilight has an earth quake going off underneath her right now. And from this distance, there is no way any of them can see the trickles of sweat running down her face. Though she does trust her mentor with her life, this is the first time that she has been asked to do this.

“Umm… are you sure about this?” Twilight asks, feeling a moment of Déjà vu as Flash was asking the same thing to her when they practiced.

“I’m positive my student, trust me,” Celestia assures her, while own husband and kids stand off on the side watching their mother do what she does. “It was really Discord who gave me this idea, when he first had Flash go in to the ring. Though in this case, there is one rule, no lethal spells… other than that,” her vision narrows down to her student, “We are both fare game…”

“Oh, that’s really encouraging…” Twilight rolls her eyes at the comment that gives her no comfort what so ever.

Usually when she would train in Canterlot with these spells she would have maybe one or two other unicorns, some of the guards, to bounce things off of back and forth. Then again this is not only an alicorn they’re talking about, but Celestia herself. That fact alone is enough to send many challengers running for the hills, but Twilight has something to prove right now, and the sun goddess who is wise above all her years was smart to put it to her as a test. Because then she knew that young Twilight wouldn’t back down from this little match.

Though the only way this is going to really kick itself off is if Tia does it herself, she knows that Twilight will never throw out the first punch in a match, especially not at her.

Powering up her horn faster than Twi ever could have imagined possible for her to do even on her best day. The sun goddess lets out a flash of light right in Twilights direction, temporarily blinding her student while Tia starts her true spell that she was going for. Lifting chunks of dirt out from the ground, she uses her magic to press them together to crush them under massive amounts of heat a pressure creating stone, as she hurtles them at the young alicorn.

Rolling out of the way of a few of them while they now imbed themselves in to the ground, it doesn’t seem that Celestia is ever going to get tired of this trick any time soon, and Twilight certainly can’t keep dodging them all day as the snowy alicorn continues to bring up more ammo from around her.

Conjuring up a few gems that were hidden under the ground, Twi shoots them back to intercept the projectiles of the other princess. Meeting Tia’s missiles midair and shooting them out of the sky, the sun goddess aims for a different approach as she snickers to her student for a moment, “Clever… after all gems are harder than many stones.”

“Thank you princess Celes-” Twilight gets a zap from a bolt of electricity through her coat as she is cut off midsentence.

“Don’t let down your guard Twilight,” Tia giggles to herself, much to the dismay of her student who now sports hair like that of a pony that just got a static shock.

Though that is short lived as Twilight charges up her horn once more, bringing out a storm cloud from the air and over top her teacher. With a little coaxing, a bolt of lightning strikes behind her and forces even the princess of the sun to leap up in the air and flutter there for a moment as she catches the grin from her student from across the way.

“So that’s how she wants to play…” Celestia acknowledges her in hushed tones.

Soon casting aside one aspect of this game and bringing out a locomotive sized ice spear, and with a flick of her horn catapults it towards the younger princess. Thanks to her flushing out all other means of distractions around her, Twilight catches the oncoming projectile and clears her mind. Summoning up a shield in front of her in an instant. The dark protection spells spikes cause even the massive ice spear to break apart when they come in contact with its tough outer shell, leaving nothing more than harmless ice cubes at the base of her feet as she lowers the enchantment around her.

“Humph…” Celestia snorts to herself, rather pleased that her student has picked up on a thing or two about her new spells in her studies. For example, when at full power, the Spike shield’s own spikes will break apart projectiles by dissipating some of their energy in to them.

“She learns quick doesn’t she?” Flash says at the sidelines, even somewhat surprised at the skill in the very princess that he is guarding.

“That’s my baby sister for ya…” Shining says, taking a spot next to the royal guard while they watch the two alicorns’ go at it with one another, “…She has a knack for this sort of thing, one that is way beyond me.”

“I saw what she managed to do yesterday, ended up having me almost like a puppet on a string with one of her spells,” Flash responds, “And did the same thing to a Weeping Willow… that things got a nasty whip to it.”

“Oh trust me…” Shining nudges him in the shoulder with an elbow, “you aren’t the only one that was a test piece of one of her spells while she was trying to practice.”

The older brother goes on to tell him that while trying to learn the telekinesis spell as even a foal. He ended up being lifted off the ground by the young unicorn and almost tossed about in to a wall. All the while though the little match between either alicorn seems to be picking up, as Twilight is getting used to not holding so much back when it comes to striking at her own mentor.

Luckily though, Celestia is even more pleased to see this coming out of her student then just mostly blocking attacks from her. Twilight is now dishing out her own attacks more often than not. Using her wings to get the high ground against her teacher, she breaks out the Spike bomb. Though this one doesn’t share the same shrapnel properties like the normal spell, it’s just a very, very…very, loud bang that she can use to disorient her opponent. Much like Celestia did with her burst of light at the start of this little match.

Three of the little bombs land around Celestia in a triangle pattern, giving her no room to get out of their blast as she feels the major ringing in her ears to the point that she probably has gone deaf for a few seconds. Though it doesn’t help that the dust is kicked up around her, making her also blind to where her student is. While the others off the side all have gotten rather comfortable as they watch, even the kids are up on Discord’s shoulders cheering on the two as they go at it.

Twilight though has managed to stick to shadows, in more ways than one. Breaking out a trick from her hat that Celestia didn’t even know about. Considering that she isn’t in the shadows, Twilight has become the shadow. Around Tia’s feet she materializes out of nowhere and uses this to get the jump on her mentor, utilizing the Bend will spell to bring up several roots from the ground and wraps them around Celestia’s legs, wings, and horn.

“Ahhgg!” Celestia screams out at first, not expecting her own student to pull something so well. Looking down at her feet to see where she could have come from, and the little mess that she is tangled in right now. She looks over and sees Twilight standing there in her fighting stance, “what did you do? When did you learn that?”

“That, Princess Celestia, is called Shadow form, it’s what King Sombra has up his sleeve, and I have to admit it does come in handy when need be,” she informs her mentor, sounding rather pleased with herself at the moment, “I picked it up in one of the books that I got from the Crystal Library, and looked over some extra spells.”

“Dually noted, young Twilight…” Celestia starts to chuckle, while she feels the tight grip of the roots around her, “though I applaud you for utilizing your skills and keeping some of your cards off the table. I know that there are certain spells with their own downfall to them, for example…” she flexes out her wings and twists them all around the roots, breaking free of them all in one go. While her apprentice stands there wide eyed, back pacing to put a little distance between her and the solar princess, “… the Bend will spell weakens objects as you control them.”

Twilight starts to take a step back with every one forward that her mentor takes, “that I didn’t check…”

“If you wanted to keep up that bondage around me, my suggestion would have been to use the Possession spell,” Celestia coaxes her student on the mishap, “that one has no limitations, so long as you can control it… however,” she watches as her student backs up on to one spot of the field.

One that had already been marked out by Celestia herself.

The rune on the ground lights up as it senses the younger alicorn step on it, and before Twilight has time to react, a single sphere shield envelopes around her body and holds her there in place like a rat, hovering just off the ground. At first it all seems pointless to fight, after trying to hit the bubble with her own magic to no avail.

Even using her teleportation spell to try and get out, though it seems to resist her attempts, it’s just not strong enough to overcome the magic of the shield. Twilight watches as Celestia sits across from her, and can’t hide the rather smug look about her face, “there was a point to this entire lesson, Twilight, it wasn’t done so you could be shown up by a princess who has been doing these spells for well over a thousand years,” she explains to her, trying to reinforce her student and not let her feel down by the slight defeat, “I wasn’t expecting you to win this little match, just to walk away a little wiser.”

“Thank you, Princess Celestia, though I would like to know while you have me hanging here,” she lightens up a bit, “What was the lesson then?” Twilight asks while flopping down in the bubble, as her teacher explains.

“On top of seeing how your magic in the new spells has improved. You have to understand something else,” she takes a deep breath, “A ruler of a kingdom, is going to be expected to make tough choices nearly every day…” Celestia explains the whole deal to her, “…these decisions could be something as simple as trying to find out if, I for example, could leave Canterlot for the day to come see my student, and let the whole city watch over itself with the guards there as well. Or it could be something completely and utterly serious… like deciding to banish my own sister to the moon for a thousand years,” that last line stops Twi from fumbling about in the bubble for a moment as she thinks about what Celestia is really saying to her. Even seeing the pain still in her mentor’s eyes, “some choices are easy to live with, some not so much… but no matter what they may be, sometimes they must be made…” Celestia trails off remembering the night where she had to make that decision with Luna, or at the time Nightmare Moon.

Nightmare moon was an enemy that had to be taken care of, though Luna was Celestia’s only family… and to have to send your sister to the moon for a millennia is one of the hardest things the princess had to do. Twilight though takes all her words to heart, the young princess thinks about exactly what Celestia has just said, if she would be willing to make the tough choices. More importantly, could she live with them when she has? That’s something that Twilight will not know until that time as actually come about.

“Your choice to tangle me up in the roots left me the chance to think for a second and get my strength back, which is what lead to you being, for the most part, trapped. Now off subject though, well sort of…” Celestia tries to lighten the mood as she pokes the bubble, watching Twi roll around on the inside, “…how do you intend on getting out of their? Seeing as I still have some energy left in me.”

Twilight looks around her to see if there is anything she can use to try and get out of this little situation. Her energy isn’t strong enough to teleport out of this little predicament. Though she finds nothing, not a single thing that might aid her to get out of the bubble, heck not even a sharp stick to try and pop it. That’s when she sees Discord over off to the side, standing there giggling to himself as he sees the younger princess trapped in a rather humorous prison.

‘No… I couldn’t do that…’ Twilight shakes her head at the thought, ‘I mean how could I ever? Wait, it’s Discord… meh, what the heck.’

“Speak your mind, Twilight,” Celestia says, seeing that there is something on her student’s tongue that she doesn’t quite want to say.

“Umm… you said no rule other than nonlethal right?” she asks just to make sure.

Once though she gets the nod from her mentor, that’s when the gloves come off and Twilight charges up a spell that she didn’t even think that she would have used against someone she knew. Targeting none other than the master of chaos himself through the bubble. He never catches on what has taken place, as she feels the energy in her start to rise steadily, if she can’t find a way to break the barrier.

Then she’ll just have to go through it…

Celestia watches as she sees her own student’s horn glow brighter and brighter than she ever has seen before. ‘Well this is new…’ the eldest princess tells herself when she finally sees a massive surge of energy flow through her student. In a single flash, Twilight flaps her wings once and shoots upwards in to the shield.

The massive crunch of the barrier failing fills the ears of all those looking. While many of them, even Celestia herself, look away from the discharge of pure energy causing almost a second sun to appear. Though as they slowly look back, it’s Tia herself who has her jaw the closest to unhinging as she sees her spell that held Twilight falling apart piece by piece. However, that’s not the only thing that has her stumped.

Twilight’s nowhere to be seen.

The others watching this are as in much of a shock that Celestia is, all of them look around for where the young princess could have gone. “Does any pony see her?” Cadance asks while she looks at all angles for Twilight. Eventually though she looks up and picks out a small lavender speck falling out of the sky, “There!” she points as they all look up and see Twilight not really falling down from the heavens. But actually flapping her wings and picking up speed as she drops.

“What’s she doin?” Apple jack asks them all trying to get a better view of her friend dive bombing Celestia right now.

Though Discord is feeling a tad light headed at the moment as he uses his magic to snap a chair out of thin air, giving him something to sit in while the kids perch themselves up on each arm of said chair. “Whatever she did, it certainly worked…” he leans back while Celestia contends with the approaching mare.

A lit up pair of hooves wrapped in a lavender aura guides Twilight down in to the ground as she finally hits. The impact kicks up the surrounding area in pure magic and energy as it surges through the air in the middle of the crude ring that she and Celestia are fighting in. Time even seems to stand still as the act has left patches of leaves, grass, rocks and other park debris floating there in place as the on lookers see even princess Celestia standing there in bewilderment while Twilight’s last surge of magic knocks the floating particles out in a circle in a single shockwave.

Never reaching the audience, but more than leaving their own mark on the eldest princess, she is covered snout to hoof in dirt and foliage.

“Ahh… for non-lethal,” Celestia uses one hoof to wipe her face clean so she can see, “I have to give it to you on that note.”

Twilight only bows respectively for a moment before rising back up, “Thank you, Celestia.”

“You do know how to make an entrance… though that one I will ask how exactly you got out of there?” she wonders in complete bewilderment at how she had managed this.

“Ahh…” she starts to chuckle awkwardly while stalling, “kinda learned the Love drain spell that changelings use to feed off of the love from other creatures… and then used it to supercharge my Telekinesis, to hurtle myself through the shield,” Twilight answers her teacher, when it clicks in Celestia’s mind what exactly she said though. Celestia looks around at the others and finds her husband sitting down in the chair like he just had the wind knocked out of him.

“…Did you really use that? On Discord?” she ask, almost surprised of her student. But at the same time rather proud that Twilight listened to the little lesson that she told her, and put it to use as she listens to her student explain the reasons she went that far.

“Well you said so long as it’s not lethal…” Twi tries to say in her defense here, almost in a panic and hoping that Celestia won’t get mad at her for it, “and on top of that he will be just fine,” she looks over at the chaotic prince himself sitting there, “just give it an hour or so… and he’ll be back to his usual self.”

“Well I don’t know about that…” Celestia says, walking with her student to call the little match a draw at the moment, “…I kind of like seeing him like this… I may just have to learn that one…” she passes a wink down to her student before getting back to their friends and family, “That trick of yours, will be our little secret here now.”

Twilight only can chuckle at the coyness of her own mentor and how calm she is about Twi basically using her husband as a battery to duel with her. Glad that she is willing to keep that skill under wraps for now, the pair continue up the rest of the gang. Each of them congratulating the other in their valiant duel. Though as Celestia said, it wasn’t a matter of winning or losing. It was more of a test to see Twilight’s abilities to make a tough call, and having seen that with one of the final spells she cast…

She passed, in the eyes of her mentor.

Discord lays his head down on the warm comfortable chest of his wife while she curls up on the ground under the sun. Perfectly content with just letting the day pass them by as they lounge about, resting their minds and bodies at ease for the time being. Although the royal family may have gotten the time today to see the younger princess and her friends during their little get together.

It really isn’t something that can happen that often.

Celestia and Discord, with Luna all have the authority to rule Equestria which must be carried out to ensure that everything is kept in one piece, and isn’t plunged in to the nation threating debacles that it finds itself in frequently. Just as Celestia has her duty to raise and lower the sun, while her younger sister is tasked with raising and lowering the moon. Discord, at the better judgment of his wife after much pestering from him, is there with his own magical abilities that helps when issues may arise in the kingdom that require a little dash of chaos in the mix. Whether it’s dealing with Timberwolves attacking local settlements, or even taking care of a Hydra that has chosen to run amok in a swamp. He isn’t far off to lend a helping hoof, or in his case, paw and talon. Needless to say though when they do catch a nice breather, the trio will happily take it.

As for Shining and Cadance, considering the changeling incident. Cadance is more than likely going to have her hooves full when she gets back to the Crystal Empire, considering that they still have only a third of the forces actually cleared from being spies. Shining though has his own dealings with the guards that have to be put in place, training them a little on identifying fellow soldiers that are off and not following their norms. Possibly leading to more Spies being found out, perhaps one of them will be able to tell what is going on, and if they’re connected.

Passing the time just chatting with one another, and taking a load off for once. Luna, Twilight and Cadance talk with one another, while the others of the mane six have either their own little conversations amongst themselves. Or a few of the more competitive ponies, namely Rainbow and AJ, try to outdo one another in either sprinting, pushups or whatever else they can manage to do in the field for some good clean fun.

Well, somewhat clean.

Tia lays there as she rubs the pounding head of her husband, simply listening to the groans of the prince before her, “Ah… I don’t know why this had to happen now of all times…”

“Hmm, neither do I, strangest thing isn’t it?” Celestia says, trying to keep the truth of her students little skill under wraps.

“When was the last time I got a migraine anyway?” he asks his wife, half way expecting her to know something like that.

“Probably the last time I had to hit you with a rolling pin…” she deadpans.

Leaving Dissy to lay there and tries to forget about that incident, “In my defense though, you did say you liked salsa hot…” he feels some of the pain from the hit coming back to him, “how was I supposed to know you hadn’t tried a Ghost Peppers before?”

“And from that you learned, always ask your wife, before adding a secret ingredient to a dish,” she lightly scorns him once again, Quickly brushing it off with a kiss to the top of his injured head before she looks over to her Student and somewhat listens in to the conversation.

“I’m rather impressed that you were able to get through one of my sister’s spells,” Princess Luna asks Twi, still trying to figure out the fact at how the young alicorn managed to so something that even she couldn’t.

“Well…” Twi plays off, seeing the mild chuckle come over from Celestia as she ease drops on them, “I just concentrated and put all my energy in to breaking out, though it did nearly drain me… otherwise I would be playing out there with them,” she gestures over to the colts in the field, with the kids.

“You’d probably be playing with somepony else…” Cadance mutters under her breath as only Luna picks it up and the two start to snicker to one another.

The three regal mares look over to both Shining armor, and Flash out in the field with the regal kin. Shining has been sorely missed by the kids, it’s not his fault that there always seems to be something in the Empire that needs his attention, so while he is here it is the Captain’s intention to get as much time in as possible. Havoc uses his rather skilled magical talent that he got from his father and mother to toss a conjured up ball back and forth with the Captain of the royal guard, playfully trying to make a goal in each other’s rigged up posts. Though there is more force behind the passes from the young prince then Shining may have seen coming, as with every block that he manages against his goal, the full grown colt swears he can feel bruises coming on.

“Well, Havoc sure seems to be maturing quickly,” Shining mutters under his breath as he hurtles the ball back to him.

The little colt embodiment of both harmony and chaos stands there a few paces off from the ball’s path as he watches it for a few seconds before making his move. With a hop, skip, and a jump, the tyke collides his head with the sphere. Hurtling it back at his uncle, and to avoid a direct face shot, the unicorn ducks, only resulting in another point for Celestia’s household. “That’s score seven Shiny!” Havoc jumps up and down in glee.

“Who’s keeping track again?”

“That would be me, dear,” Cadance answers her husband’s question from afar.

Shining looks over to his wife, making tack marks in the ground with her hoof as the score still reads seven, to zip. By this point it’s clear that Havoc has grown up a lot from when he’s last seen him, so to make things just a tad more interesting. The Captain uses his magic to break the conjured ball out in to two more. For the sake of fun of course… and to give him at least some chance against the tyke.

“And…my turn!” Armor whips three balls back at the foal, trusting that he can hold his own, more than he is at least.

And that he does, stopping two of them with his magic, and the third one Havoc catches in his own hooves. Holding the two next to him, Havoc looks over top of the one he grasps, to see the grin on his uncle’s face, “Two can play at that game, uncle Shiny!” the little foal snickers with joy and pulls a trick out of his own hat.

With a slight concentration from the chaotic gift’s he got from his father. The son in a fraction of a second, duplicates himself in to two more copies. One for each ball, as all three of them glare at the Captain with a grin that would bring a tear to Discord’s eye. The look on Shining’s face plummets as he realizes that he just got one upped by a juvenile, and soon has them all hurtling the balls back at him, ready to make their mark, as he lets out one word under his breath…

“…Crap.”

Meanwhile though, Flash himself ended up getting dragged out in to the field by Rosebud and Havoc at the start of this all after Twilight and Celestia’s little match. Though while the son plays, and rather so much beats Shining at a simple game of ball. Rosebud is happy simply soaring through the sky with the Pegasus guard as he flies nearby to watch over her. Though they do have their own fun as they soar, making their own imprints on the clouds as they fly through them, and even dive bomb the others while they relax with some of the cotton like patches of water vapor.

Keeping a watchful eye on a princess the likes of Twilight is a major responsibility. Though when it comes to making sure the safety of an even younger princess is guaranteed, Flash is not one to let Rose go out and do something that he doesn’t think she can handle. Remembering even when he was a younger pony trying to learn how to fly. However, needless to say, the guard is rather impressed by how fast the little tyke can go through the air. ‘She’s almost showing me up here,’ he ponders while his wings try keeping up with the agile young filly, the armor on his back doesn’t help. Neither does the broadsword on his back as he flips under the little filly and flies beneath her so he can look up.

“Who taught you to fly, Rosebud?” he asks out of curiosity, flying upside down.

“My mommy, she is really good at it!” the little daughter beams at the guard with pride, “when I came down here before hand to visit though I even picked up a few lessons from Rainbow dash… am I doing good?” she looks for some sort of complement from Sentry as support.

“You’re doing very well, your majesty,” he smiles back at her while he continues to fly upside down, “better than I did when I was your age,” Flash flips over while she flies over top.

“Can you fly faster Mr. Flash?” she asks him, getting an idea coming to her mind.

“I can…” he looks up at her through the upper corner of his eye, reading the little grin on her face. He already knows what’s on the young princess’s mind, beating her to the punch as he readies himself as he dips his head down a bit so she can get her fore hooves around him and holds on tight. “…are you ready?” he asks, seeing the Rosebud nod her head vigorously.

Taking that as an obvious hint, Flash stretches his wings out to their fullest. Quickly beating them back and forth, he picks up even more speed with every rep, barely able to hear the cheers from the foal on his back over the wind rushing past his head. Although this may not be in his contract, having a child ride his back while he bolts through the air, when he signed on to be a guard. It is one of those moments that he’ll certainly remember for years to come, especially considering who the kid is after all.

Flash flies through a few clouds that find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time in the sky as he shoots through and causes the ensuing mist to make a rainbow in the air behind them as it catches the sun’s rays. Getting even more praise from the young princess on his back, she is having the time of her life ridding on the back of the powerful Pegasus. Considering that normally she isn’t allowed by her parents to go to fast without being watched by another, for fear that she’ll catch the wrong cross wind, lose control, and not be able to correct herself.

For now though, this is the next best thing. Now even holding her fore hooves up in the air as it blows past her face, “Woohoooooo!” she yells out while they make a strafing run with in hearing range of the ponies below.

Princess Luna looks up from her conversation with Twilight at the Pegasus flying above with her niece on his back. Even she can’t help but chuckle a bit to herself at the sweet gesture of the guard to the foal. “Sounds like Rosebud is having one heck of a time with your guard…” she looks over to Twilight, who sits there doing the exact same thing as she watches Flash soar above them while they lounge about on the nice warm day.

It’s one thing to see her own guard get out of his shell a bit when it comes to drinking or being around her friends to let loose. It’s a totally different level to see him horsing around with a young foal like Rosebud. Seeing the smile on Celestia’s daughter as he takes her for a ride along is something that Twilight will probably never get tired of seeing. The look on her face says it all, while the two other princess’s next to her watch as the edges of Twi’s lips start to curl upwards in a whole hearted smile.

“She just looks so cute up there…” Twilight trails off.

“You meant to say he, right?” Cadance teases her, getting a rather embarrassing scowl from the youngest princess of the bunch.

“I’ll meet you half way, and say the both of them look cute up there,” she compromises, much to the surprise of both Luna and Cadance as they giggle to themselves. The latter looking over to her own husband as Shining takes a dive in to the ground, while all three balls pass by him in to his own goal.

The pink alicorn tries to think every day on how lucky she is to have a colt like Shining to go to bed with every night. Though its moments like these that reminds her of that, although he may be a rather skilled unicorn, a great Captain of the royal guard, and an even better husband. Armor knows when to act like a child at times, which can leave her in stiches and give her the pick me up that Cadance may need from time to time. Even if it does leave him pounding his head in to the ground at times, like right now, as he tries to score even a single point against the little prince. “Well I think it’s safe to say that, like I said earlier,” she clears her throat, “your brother will make a great dad one day.”

“Because he knows when to let the child win?” Twilight chimes in.

“Even when he tries not to let them, he still manages it…” Luna adds laughing it up as she watches the white unicorn in question head butt one ball back to Havoc, only to have the rather talented colt teleport over to intercept the ball and whip it right back at him, “…though Flash on the other hand…” she starts off still hearing the distant giggles of her niece.

Twilight almost goes white at even the thought of what the princess of the night is going to say to her, “hold up now…” she stops Luna in her tracks, taking a deep breath before saying a few simple words, “…look Flash may be a great guy, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel something for the colt…” Twi looks off to the side to try and hide her half grin as she admits that little tidbit.

“You don’t say?” Luna mutters, stating the obvious fact through her sarcasm that Twilight still manages to pick up on.

“But I haven’t even officially asked him out, or vice-ver-sa,” she states to discount the previous night out that they have had with one another, “I mean for you two to already be talking like he could be a father? Isn’t that putting things a little too far ahead, when the first step hasn’t even been taken?”

“Never the less though, he looks like he would make a great dad,” Cadance points out to her.

At heart, the subject had never popped up in her mind before, though now that she thinks about it. Seeing him with a foal on his back as he makes her giggle and laugh none stop, while he shares the same expression on his own face does make the mare warm up in all the right places at the sweet act. She doesn’t even catch herself looking up at Sentry, her Sentry, in the sky. It makes her think that he could be father material… though that won’t be a concern for a long, long time.

First things first, telling him what’s on her mind exactly.

“…Twilight?” Cadance says for the third time.

Snapping out of her little trance after her name is called, again, Twi shakes her head quickly to get back in to reality, “Sorry about that, I was thinking for a second…what was it you said?”

“I was asking, speaking of that first step,” the princess of love repeats herself for the time being, “when is it that you plan to take that first step?”

Not quite expecting to hear that question at the time. Twilight is a little taken back at the thought at first, though then she remembers the little promise that she made to herself. Though at the same time she isn’t about to tell the two princesses everything that’s on her mind, she’ll leave some of it up to speculation. “I’m not sure yet… honestly… but it has to be soon I’ll say that much,” she admits.

“Good… because If you don’t, I’ll go and tell him for you in his dreams,” Luna taunts her friend while they sit there with one another.

Soon enough the colts that play tire themselves out and call it quits for now, considering that not only are they out of it, but so are the ones that they were playing with too. Flash’s wings are getting rather sore from having not only the weight of his armor on, but also carrying Rosebud for nearly the better part of the afternoon. Although he has carried an entire adult pony before on his own on more than one occasion, that wasn’t for more than a few miles to get them to medical attention when the time called for it.

Shining on the other hand, has his white coat covered in an assortment of grass stains, and many brown spots from diving in to the dirt while playing with the young Havoc. Now picking a few blades of grass out of his teeth, while the little colt rides on the back of him to the others as they decide to call it a day with the horse play. The relaxing afternoon at the park has been what many of them needed for the time being.

The sun goddess herself and her own sister rise up to do their part of taking care of the day and night as the sun peaks below the horizon for now, leaving them with a day that is for the scrap book while they all can take comfort in the time they got to spend together. Though it isn’t completely over, not just yet. Before going their separate ways the gang makes the unanimous decision to grab a bite in town.

Walking in to a restaurant at this time isn’t something that’s uncommon. Though what is uncommon is when you have four princesses, two princes, and the royal off spring come in to your establishment unannounced. So much so that the greeter at the door nearly manages to give himself a heart attack when he catches sight of the group, “Ah… ahh… good evening your majesties,” he takes a bow out of respect, “if I had known you were all going to be here I would have made things a little more presentable…”

“There’s no need to fuss…” Celestia calms him down after seeing the slight nervousness in the colts face, gesturing him to rise up from his stance with a gentle hoof, “we are here just visiting friends and loved ones, and decided to have one last meal before heading out, that’s all.”

“Well in that case,” he takes out all the menus he’ll need for the large group, “allow me to show you to your seats.”

The greeter brings them over to the biggest table they have in the quaint eatery. Having a cozy warm atmosphere to it, the place welcomes any and all who wander by and are looking for a good home cooked meal to fill the void in them. No matter the time it may be in the day. Though at this time the group that just walked in seems to be one of the few there, so it’s a slow night for them, never the less the waiters and waitresses come around to the table and take their drink orders to give them something to refresh themselves. Leaving quite a few of them to opt for virgin drinks, considering the time that certain individuals had the other night. Although some at the table need a refreshment more than others, namely the two colts in the service, as they nearly down their first glass of water each in no time at all.

“Careful now, dear…” Cadance puts a hoof on her husband’s shoulder, “drink it slowly, you might get sick.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” he rolls his eyes at her, “you didn’t just get shown up by a foal…” he looks over and sees Havoc start to snicker.

Unable to resist the urge to do the same himself at the little guy. He may have gotten beaten in the game, but in the end he did have a blast playing with him. Meanwhile on the other end of the table, Twilight’s own colt gulps down now his third glass already.

“The same goes for you Flash…” she eyes him, making sure that he is looking back at her, “you’re going to get a sore stomach if you drink too much, and let’s be honest here I really don’t want to have to walk you back home because you made yourself sick…it’s your job to hold me up,” they both start to giggle with one another while many at the table haven’t a clue what they are talking about.

Sentry takes note of what the princess says and sips lightly on his fourth glass, knowing full well that the first three should hold him over for now. ‘A shower is diffidently in order when I get back to her house…’ he tells himself, feeling still a few wet spots on him from the sweat that has built up from the days activates.

Twilight brings up another matter that has hankered her sense walking here from the park, “So where did you get so good at playing with kids?” she asks him out of the blue. Attempting to open up some sort of conversation with him that they haven’t touched on, though has been on her mind, “it was rather cute I have to say…” she remains smitten with him.

“Well as I told you…” Flash starts out telling her a little more about his past while he and she get red in the face, “I was an orphan, though you have to reach some sort of age to actually even attempt to be a guard. So until then I spent my time working here and there, but remained at the orphanage… so you can imagine that I had plenty of other ponies to play with.”

Twilight thinks of this for a moment or two. Picturing a young Flash playing with others as a child brings a sense of warmth to her heart when the idea comes to mind. Though at the same time Flash had never mentioned a job previously to the guard, “What did you do for work? Until the guard.”

“Well I helped around the orphanage for one, though when I came of age I went out and started to work at a tavern,” he recalls a few of the interesting characters he met while there, “until I was able to get accepted to the guard.”

“Hmm… well a tavern does explain why you were able to keep your head on your shoulders the other night at my house,” she tease him for the moment.

“You could say that…” he beams in response to her, “but somepony there had to try and have somewhat of a level head.”

Having already looked over their menus at the time while they all chatted, it doesn’t take long for them to put in their order. Seeing the time at night that it is already, they for the most part all get something very simple that won’t take long to prepare, some even go straight to the desert menu to fill that little late in the afternoon sugar craving that they have. For the most part though, that title goes to Pinkie and Cadance as they both literally take a piece of the pie… apple to be precise about it, and Celestia, who can’t resist the red velvet cake they have to offer. Twilight, Flash and AJ go for the vegetable soup. As Discord gets a garden variety sandwich, with a cup of coffee for him, and one for his wife to wash the cake down (also, seeing as these two are the ones that would like to spend some time together after getting the kids to bed). Spike, Rarity, and even the kids go with a simple appetizer of stuffed baked pepper halves. Leaving Fluttershy, Princess Luna and Rainbow dash to each drink their own Strawberry shake.

After it’s all said and done with, the gang continues on with the evening, spending it with loved ones. Discord snaps a few crumpets out of thin air with the ends of his fingers for him and his wife to share when their coffee comes out first, “thank you, dear,” she says to him, taking the little treat in her own grasp, “how do you feel by the way, you were a little out of it earlier at the park?”

“Oh that probably was just the heat getting to me…” he plays it off. Not having the slightest clue on what the young alicorn across the table did.

Celestia though doesn’t intend on telling him anything any time soon, “That’s probably true, though if it was the heat then it may not help to drink hot coffee,” she lies right through her teeth to keep the little gig up.

“…Hmm, point taken,” and with another snap of his fingers, he gets an iced coffee in claw as he sips the refreshment.

Soon afterwards the others have their food come out as well and they munch away while lolly-gagging around in the peaceful setting for the time being. Enjoying the simple evening meal, it hits the spot for most and will hold them over for their little journey that they have to make home. It doesn’t take them long at all though to finish considering the small portion that they each got and in no time at all though, some more than others, start to have their eye lids droop. A couple though are already out for the most part, as both Havoc and Rosebud, and even the seemingly sugar high mare, Pinkie, seem to nod in and out. Dissy picks up the bill this time, Shining beating out Flash when he reached for it, and Armor being trumped by the prince of chaos himself.

Walking out in to the night with the moon high up in the sky giving off a rather bright light to the setting around them of Ponyville in the evening. Celestia puts a wing around her husband as he does the same with his eagle claw. Both the kids on her back as the others nearly stumble out, all of them feeling some sort of tiredness at this time, though a few not quite ready to admit it.

“Well I have to say, it was a great time seeing you guys,” Spike leans in, giving Cadance a hug, saying his goodbyes while the others follow suit.

“Likewise Spike… We’ll have to do it more often,” she responds, putting another hoof over Twilight as they go down the line with one another.

Twi gives her brother a tighter hug then she did earlier, “now you take care BBBFF… I will try to come up there and see you when I can.”

“You too baby sister, though I’ll try to see you when I can as well…” he answers, letting her go so his sis can say her goodbyes and goodnights to Tia and the others. Shining gets to Flash after wishing Pinkie a goodnight, and almost getting crushed in the process after a laps back in to her usual self for a moment, “make sure Twily gets home safe tonight, and her curfew is eleven by the way.”

“…Trying to find out if you’re serious, or not right now?” Flash looks at him quizativly.

“I’m off the clock as of now, so the answer is no,” he and his fellow guard share a laugh to themselves for a moment, “though not on the part about bringing her back safe… either way take care you two.”

Flash salutes him as Shining does the same in return. While Twi puts a hoof around both her mentor and Discord embracing them both, “I’m glad that you could swing it come down today, I know you have a busy schedule. Even when I’m not there.”

“We wouldn’t have missed it for the world, Twilight,” Celestia pats her lightly on the back, “though I’m sure these two enjoyed seeing you as much as we did,” she points to her kids on her back. Twi works her way around and kisses them on their fore heads, though unexpectedly they somewhat wake up enough to put a small hoof around her in return.

“Thank you for seeing us today, Aunt Twilight…” Havoc beams from under his hanging eye lids.

“…We’ll…” Rosebud yawns before finishing, “…miss you.”

A slight tear can be felt in her eye at the little angels before her, half asleep after their long day. She really does have to see them more often, and make it a point to do so while she is there studying with their mother. “I’ll miss you two so much…” she squeezes them tight one more time, “…it was my pleasure to have you two here,” she finishes off.

Letting them go so the parents can take off in to the night for their relatively short flight back to Canterlot. Princess Luna one ups Pinkie in terms of bone crushing hugs with Twilight, before taking to the sky with Cadance. Leaving only Shining Armor standing there as he charges up his horn to teleport to Canterlot as well, having learned the spell after being taught by his own sister.

“Cadance and I are staying the night in Canterlot, It was great seeing you all,” he finishes off, and in a magical flash, he’s gone.

Once the royalty has left for the night, the others soon disperse and go their separate ways in to the night. Leaving both Flash and Twilight standing there by themselves for the moment. Though unlike many times before, it doesn’t take nearly as long as it normally does in this situation to actually say anything to one another. “Well, Flash…” she starts off to break the thin ice between them, “I don’t know about you, but the night is still young, is it not?”

“Exactly what I was thinking, actually…” he responds almost instantly, seeing the light brighten up in her eyes at his response, “…what would you like to do?”

“Hmm…” she thinks for a moment, “…why don’t we see where the night takes us?” Twilight answers him, taking his hoof as she allows him to escort her through the night.