Twilight Sparkle, Archmage of Canterlot, was awoke in the most interesting of ways by the most devious of souls.

“Lunaaaa~” She moaned, feeling the soft pressure on her body kindle a heat that was not entirely unwelcome. For most ponies, it’d be an unpleasant and unwelcome way to be awoken, particularly after the nights Twilight was prone to having. The nightmares of her recent endeavors and the things she had seen still plagued her, despite her ward’s best efforts to bury the proverbial ghosts Twilight’s over-active subconscious conjured for itself. Still, the dark pony laying her lips along Twilight’s neck demanded attention, and Twilight was nothing if not forthcoming.

“Good morning, Archmage.” Luna’s voice was husky and low, the sort that Twilight had learned to attribute to the princess’ ever-present carnal desire. Perhaps the princess’ lust wasn’t pervasive or dominating, but it was certainly present; and at times such as this, painfully debilitating. Twilight wanted nothing more than to surrender to the dark passions in the mind of her lover. Instead, she focused on her title, and the last whispered word she had heard thus far this pre-dawn morning.

“Please tell me you’re not going to make a habit out of calling me by title rather than by name.” Twilight awoke fully, chasing the last tendrils of sleep away with a small morning exercise of three complex math problems designed to promote cerebral growth, flexibility, alertness, and alacrity. She opened her eyes to look down - no, up - at Princess Luna.

“Only when I feel like getting a rise out of you.” Luna returned Twilight’s begrudging moan with a wonderfully playful smile and another warm kiss. “Thus far, I’ve yet to fail.”

“And that record shall remain unbroken. Now get offa me, I’m not clean.”

“That has never stopped me before.” Luna released Twilight with one last teasing nip to her neck, eliciting and shudder and a severe desire to say ‘buck it all’ and throw herself into what was bound to be another wondrous romp between the sheets. Instead, Twilight rolled out from underneath her lover and off the bed, landing deftly on her hooves. She cracked several joints in her legs and spine before shaking her mane out as best she could.

“Good morning, Twilight.” Luna’s second greeting came much more soberly, accompanied by a soft kiss of tender passion and love, not hot and insistent desire. For that, Twilight was immediately thankful, though she knew she would pay for delaying Luna her dalliance later on. Hopefully in the form of another shower. Instead, she greeted Luna warmly, drawing the princess close for a tender hug.

“Good morning to you too, Luna. I’m sorry, any other morning you know I’d be good for at least one decent roll in the sheets before we met with Celestia, but-“

“But you need to pack. I know.” Luna rolled her eyes patronizingly, her slender horn alighting with a scintillating sound. From the wall nearby came Twilight’s calendar, bedecked with horn-written appointments, meetings, tasks, and delegations that Twilight had sidled herself with. Considering she knew the miniature text packing the small white boxes to capacity by heart, she left Luna to scan her schedule and instead moved to the window.

“Aah,” She sighed, opening the wide glass doors to the pre-dawn Canterlot air. Beneath her, the city slumbered on, the blanket of early-risers and night-owls’ lights matching the mantle of stars overhead, surrendering only to the faint, amethyst tinge of the day’s first light hiding just beyond the reach of the horizon.

Twilight Sparkle was the Archmage of Canterlot, a prestigious title offered only to the most skilled and knowledgeable of unicorns. Traditionally, the Archmage studied under their predecessor for many years before accepting the responsibilities of that all-important unicorn. Traditionally, the Archmage was a paragon of power and wisdom, known across the entirety of Equestria as the foremost in any given field of magic.

Traditionally, the Archmage wasn’t destined to be the Archmage by the vicissitudes of fate, on pain of catastrophic magical failure resulting in explosions of cataclysmic proportions or worse.

Twilight had come into her position with more than a fair bit of strife, bloodshed, tears, and fear. Even now, the mental scars of Silver Crest’s violent reckoning, Regal’s assassination attempt, and Harbinger’s failed uprising brought Twilight to a sweat-soaked, panting midnight awakening. Sometimes, she cried in those moments, afraid and alone.

But more often than not, Twilight was comforted by a pony whose immeasurable understanding and compassion matched only one other in the entirety of Equestria.

“You slept rather well last night.” Luna drew Twilight from her momentary reverie with a soft touch, laying her wing across Twilight’s back.

“Were you with me?”

“I was indeed. I came in maybe a half hour after you fell asleep, if the candles were any indication.”

“Then you know why I slept so well.” Twilight turned to Luna, feeling the weight of her pendant leave her chest, snapping together with Luna’s in a magnetic, magical embrace. She looked down at the two stylized pendants, each a solid bit of metal stylized into a teardrop, emblazoned with their partner’s cutie mark and coat coloration. Twilight wore a midnight-blue pendant with a black inkspot, marred only by the crescent slash of a waning moon. Luna’s pendant was violet, with an amethyst-and-pink starburst, wreathed by five white stars.

To Twilight, the pendants she and Luna shared were more than cosmetic jewelry. She remembered the myriad of trials and tribulations she had faced with that necklace serving as the only reminder that there was another pony counting on her to come home alive. The creatures in the sand of the Valley of Knowledge, whispers of memory as they might have been, still chilled Twilight. The arduous journey to and from the library of lost knowledge had tested Twilight in so many ways, and she had persisted, sometimes thanks only to the promise that Luna waited for her back in Canterlot.

But more than that, the necklaces were a promise to one another, a promise that was very soon to come to fruition.

“I should get started packing…”

“I’ll help. You always take too many books.” Luna gave her a patronizing smile as she turned away, the magnetic hold of their pendants breaking so that the weight impacted Twilight’s chest. The gesture was as familiar to her as the beating of her own heart by now. But she couldn’t focus on it just then. She was too busy thinking of some indignant reproach to Luna’s teasing.

“But what if I need ‘Major Ellipsi of the Seventeenth Arch in Bi-Fractured Nodes?’ What then?”

“I’m sure the library in Ponyville has been restocked and has a spare copy.” Luna padded towards Twilight’s bed, withdrawing two pieces of luggage. For a seven-day trip, that would have been plenty.

“But what if it doesn’t? Please, let me take it?”

“No, Twilight. You can’t weigh yourself down with books. And besides, this week is meant to be spent doing much more than reading.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Twilight sighed, trudging after Luna towards her vanity and dresser. “Time spent with friends before the wedding.”

“You make it sound like some prison sentence.” Luna flicked at Twilight with her ephemeral tail, making the purple unicorn lean in to inhale her scent almost on reflex.

“I know it’s not, I’m just-“

“Nervous?”

“Aren’t you?” Twilight stood beside Luna, helping to open drawers and pack laundry. “I mean, we’re-“

“Getting married. I know.” Luna pursed her lips at a scanty pair of negligee courtesy of Rarity that had been gifted to her on her last birthday, just three months prior. The princess thankfully elected not to pack it, considering Twilight would be spending this time with her friends and not with Luna herself. “I’m excited, Twilight. Not nervous. It’s easy to mistake the two; many of the symptoms are the same.”

“’Symptoms.’ Ha.” Twilight rolled her eyes, shoveling a scarf and boots into one of the suitcases unceremoniously. “I’m just… Does it have to be a whole seven days?”

“Don’t you think you owe it to them?” Luna’s voice turned marginally more serious, injected with a compassionate undertone that made Twilight feel a little guilty.

“I do, I know I do, it’s just…”

“Seven days is a long time to be away from your duties?”

“Not just my duties.” Twilight gave a thin whimper, feeling the first tendrils of melancholy ease into her chest. “I don’t want to be away from you for that long.”

“Aww,” Luna turned to her with a soft smile, leaning in to press her muzzle tenderly to Twilight’s. “You know what they say about absence and its relationship with the heart.”

“Yeah but I don’t have to like it.” Twilight pouted at Luna, giving her a quick kiss before turning back to the packing. “I’m just being foalish, Luna. Ignore me.”

“It’s difficult to ignore you when you’re so darned cute.” Luna pressed more insistently against Twilight, though this time her wings entered the fray, dancing over Twilight’s flanks in a staccato pattern.

“Aah! Luna, no- no tickling! You pr-promised, never in the m-morning! PFF-AAH!” Twilight shuddered and jumped, trying to spin away from Luna, to escape the vicious tickling barrage. She was unsuccessful, and the torment continued as she writhed. After a few minutes and more than a few meaningful kisses, the two lay spread-eagle on the bed, breathing heavily. They had ended up laying face-to-face, their necklaces hugging intimately between them. Twilight looked deep into Luna’s eyes, marveling at the mysterious beauty and depth.

“I love you, Luna.”

“And I love you, Twilight. Seven days of absence is nothing. And think about it, when you come back, we can finally be wed.”

“I can hardly wait.” Twilight closed the short distance between them, her eyes sliding closed as their lips met for what could easily have been the twentieth time that morning. When the kiss ended, they lay together for a minute longer, savoring the moments before they had to depart Twilight’s quarters and face the world.

Somehow, knowing Luna was waiting for her to come back, facing that world didn’t seem such a daunting task anymore.

----------

“Twilight! Over here, darling!”

“There she is.” Twilight pointed across the crowded train platform to Rarity’s hoof waving her down above the milling heads of ponies moving to and from the hissing locomotive. “This is goodbye, then, yeah?”

“For now.” Luna purred, pulling Twilight close for one last kiss. She surrendered to it, drawing it out as long as she dared in the middle of the public. Luna broke first, smiling down at her as their necklaces detached. “The week will be gone before you know it, Twilight. When you step off of that train and onto this platform again, it’ll be to bells and trumpets.”

“Small comfort.” Twilight deadpanned, hoisting her moderate luggage with a grim smile. “Goodbye, Luna.”

“Goodbye, Twilight. Until next we meet.” Luna spread her wings and flapped once, ruffling coats and manes of ponies close enough, but not hitting any as she took off into the sky. In the immediate vicinity, ponies turned their heads skyward to watch the princess fly away. Immediately after, they turned to Twilight, as if on instinct. Twilight smiled at them all before turning her attention to Rarity.

“So good to see you again, darling.”

“And you, Rarity.” Twilight beamed as she embraced her good friend warmly. “How did the move go over?” Rarity was just as warm and friendly as she had ever been. But as the embrace broke, Twilight couldn’t help but let her eyes flicker to her friend’s side, and the three knotted cords of flesh still visible against it. Rarity had received those scars helping Twilight make it to the library in the sands, the Valley of Knowledge. As the white mare stood and made for the luggage cart, accompanying Twilight as she stowed her suitcases, she still had a slight limp. A twinge of sympathy and regret struck her, but Twilight forgot it as soon as Rarity gave an over-dramatic fainting motion.

“Oh, it was awful, darling! Do you have any idea how long the train ride to Trottingham is? Dreadful!” Rarity swooned on the platform, swaying dangerously close to the edge and what was easily an eight-foot drop onto the rough ground around the tracks. Twilight lurched forwards to stop her, only to be cut off by a large stallion.

"Honestly, love." Cross Stitch's deep voice eased Twilight's immediate fear as the stallion scooped Rarity into his forelegs with the same ease a mother would cradle a foal. He smiled down at her, and Rarity smiled up at him. "We don't have any chaise lounges nearby for you to fall onto. I'd hate for you to break your spine one week before the wedding."

"Oh, that's right! Twilight, dear, I do hope you're not feeling too anxious?" Rarity shrugged out of Cross Stitch's embrace, though Twilight spared a moment to nod warmly at her old friend before Rarity rushed forth to fret over her. "Being a budding young bride such as yourself, you must be concerned for the ceremony!"

"Excited is the term I'd be more inclined to use," Twilight made for the nearest caboose door as the train let loose a shrill whistle, and the conductor began calling all aboard. "Luna's very good at relieving concerns, no matter how big or small."

"I should imagine so!" Rarity and Cross Stitch followed Twilight onto the train, drawing a few curious looks here and there as they took an open pair of benches near the middle of the car. "Our Princess of the Night has defended nightmares and dreamscapes for... well, who knows how long? I'm actually rather envious of you. The only thing this one's good for in the middle of the night is snoring." She bumped Cross Stitch indignantly, but only got a slight shift out of the bulky stallion.

"You've never complained before." Cross Stitch said wisely, sitting beside Rarity while Twilight took the bench opposite them.

"I never had any reason to! You were just fine when we lived in Canterlot and Ponyville! Whatever it is about Trottingham's air that caused you to start snoring, I want it fixed." She looked to Twilight pleadingly.

"Well... I suppose there might be a scientific reason for the sudden snoring habit. Perhaps a change in barometric air pressures at such a high altitude?" Twilight began hypothesizing and theorizing, mumbling half to herself, half to the other two ponies sharing the train ride. "I should put a letter in to the Trottingham weather team to take some readings and compare them to Canterlot's... Maybe conduct a study on breathing habits of ponies at different altitudes with different climate-"

"And there she goes." Cross Stitch rolled his eyes patronizingly, and Rarity hid a chuckle behind a hoof.

"Huh?"

"You always do that when something catches your attention." Rarity explained, still smiling at her. "You go off on a tangent, darling. It's difficult to get you to focus on a different topic when one gets you so distracted."

"I blame you." Twilight narrowed her eyes at her friend. "You brought up his sudden change of sleeping habits."

"Yes, well, moving on now-"

"But seriously, I wonder if it's something to do with the telluric resonances in-"

"I hear Pinkie Pie will be back from Baltimare as well." Cross Stitch offered helpfully. Twilight shook herself and blinked at the cream-coated stallion.

"Really? I heard she was incredibly busy this time of year. How did she find time to take a week off to come back to Ponyville?"

"Nopony knows." Rarity offered with a shrug. "That mare is a mystery in her own right."

"Ugh. Don't even get me started." Twilight recalled one particular experiment she had conducted not too long after her move to Ponyville and the subsequent introduction to everypony's favorite party planner. Pinkie Pie defied all reason, and did it on such a regular basis that Twilight began to fear for the safety of the universe should a prophecy ever be made about her.

Her fears were unfounded, of course. No seer in their right mind would ever turn their inner eye on that enigma. Pinkie was just fine as she was, and helped more than she hurt by a leaps and bounds. Save that one fiasco with the mirror pond; that had almost made them lose their good friend permanently.

"So, wait, with Pinkie in attendance-"

"We'll be together again." Rarity nodded warmly. "The six of us all in one place. It's exciting, isn't it?"

"You forget, the six of us are a catalyst for the craziest of occurrences." Twilight deadpanned, remembering the myriad of troubles she and her friends had gotten into in her earlier years living in Ponyville. "I hope nothing bad happens."

"Well with that attitude, it's bound to." Rarity scoffed and peered out of the window as the train began to pull out of the station. Giving one last shrill whistle of goodbye to Canterlot, they began the descent out of the mountains and onto the plains surrounding Ponyville's farmland. Yet as they pulled away, Twilight could have sworn she saw Luna circling the train station, watching her depart. She sent a prayer and a smile up to the Princess, knowing neither had a chance of reception, but it was the thought that counted.

Ahead of her was one whole week of relaxation, socializing, and catching up.

----------

"Oh it has been far too long." Twilight sighed as she departed the train, stretching her legs with a soft groan. "I had forgotten the smells. Or how quiet it is here."

"Even Trottingham isn't this quiet." Cross Stitch added, following Twilight with a languorous stretch of his own. "It's good to be back. How are you holding up back there?"

"Just fine, darling, thank you for asking." Rarity grumbled, her horn burning bright as she hefted her ever-present entourage of baggage. Twilight had counted on Rarity not packing heavily for their journey to the Valley of Knowledge, and was surprised to find her friend had pulled through. But today, Rarity had thrown caution (and probably sensibility) to the wind. She lugged easily a dozen stylish suitcases and bags out of the train's storage car, her coat breaking out in sweat with the effort. Rolling her eyes, Twilight's horn glimmered to life, taking the load from the alabaster unicorn with relative ease.

"Oh, thank you, Twilight." Rarity sighed, wiping sweat off of her brow. "You see, Cross Stitch? Some of us have sensibility."

"Only so much I can carry with hooves, love." Twilight could have sworn she heard the earth pony give a patronizing sigh before leading them into town. Rarity followed after with her mild limp, and Twilight brought up the rear, hovering the massive boulder of luggage behind them and drawing more than a few curious looks.

As they entered Ponyville proper, the looks grew into whispers, and soon after that came excited greetings and proposals.

"It's the Archmage! Twilight's back!"

"Good Afternoon, Archmage!"

"Can I have your autograph?!"

"Twilight! Smile for the camera!"

She had grown used to crowds accosting her wherever she went. In Canterlot, she was still relatively new to her position, having only been a fully-realized Archmage for less than a year. Everywhere she went were tabloids and clamoring ponies, each trying to get pictures or interviews with her, asking requests or advice, and generally just being a bother, if not a welcome one.

Here, even though the town was much smaller than Canterlot, the effect was the same. She put on a brave smile, greeting old faces and acquaintances eagerly. There were many hooves to shake, a few hastily-offered parchments and books to sign, and even one inquisitive young foal who humbly asked for an hour of her time to answer several magic-related questions whenever she was free. Twilight happily agreed to meet the pony after lunch the following day, making a mental note to update her travel calendar as soon as she put their luggage down.

All along the way into town was spent as such, greeting, smiling, and chatting briefly with the ponies whose names and faces she had very nearly forgotten in her time spent in Canterlot. But as they all came rushing forth, their memories came rushing back, and Twilight remembered them fondly. Even the friendly gardener who had caught her eye and she had fancied prior to becoming Archmage. Not unsurprisingly, he paid her only a little more attention than he had when she lived there.

After a good half an hour of stopping every fifty feet for photographs and well-wishers, they finally made it to Twilight's old library home. The sign next to the short walk still read 'Golden Oaks Library' but had her personal address taken off in favor of a more professional P.O. box. Twilight wondered if they still had any effects in here at all, either for her replacement librarian or visiting unicorns studying here.

Her fears were put to rest as Rarity pushed open the door, inviting them all into the quiet, paper-smell-filled air of a tranquil library.

"Oh man." Twilight closed her eyes, inhaling the scent of dust and paperback, her memories flooding back readily. "I missed this place."

"They converted it into a retreat for studying unicorns in addition to a traditional library." Rarity explained, making for the kitchen nearby. "There are several rooms with beds, though I think there's only one bathroom. We'll have to share."

"Don't worry." Cross Stitch bumped Twilight's flank with his own as he stepped in behind her. "We sleep and shower together."

"Good to know." Twilight scrunched her nose at the prospect of sharing a tub with the two of them, even after they had used it. "Though I'm glad to hear they didn't get rid of everything and outright convert it."

"It's more of a rental, now." Rarity explained. "A librarian tends it three days a week, but the town hall rents it out to visitors, study groups, committees, or anything like that. I wrote ahead requesting seven days, and the mayor offered to let us stay here for free."

"That's generous of her." Twilight smiled as she hefted their luggage. "Shall I go put your things in a room, then?"

"The one with the biggest bed." Cross Stitch affirmed with a nod and a grin. Twilight just rolled her eyes and went to find their quarters, and her own for the duration of her trip.

----------

She came back downstairs to the smell of a delicious dinner. Peppers, unless she was mistaken. With a hint of garlic and... rosemary? Twilight's stomach growled at the absence of food, and she joined Rarity in the kitchen to help prepare.

"Cross Stitch?"

"He went to go let the others know we've arrived. He said he'd be back with some or all of them, so I'm making enough for us seven." Rarity stood before the stove, pushing sizzling peppers around while a pot of pasta boiled beside her.

"Speak of the devil." Twilight smiled as she heard the front door open, the wayward voices of her friends coming to her ears. She entered the main library at the same time as the four other mares and one smiling stallion, and for half a heartbeat, the world seemed to freeze.

Pandemonium erupted, and Twilight was in the epicenter of the maelstrom. Much to her surprise, Fluttershy was the first to jet forwards, using her wings to propel herself into a hybrid tackle/hug that had Twilight on the floor in an instant. She was just about to defend herself when Fluttershy's forelegs wrapped around her neck, and the poor little filly began crying her heart out.

So followed the others, each of them crowding around Twilight, laying their hooves on her, all talking at once. Tears were shed, words were said, and none of it made any sense to Twilight, but damn it all if she didn't feel as happy in that moment as she did in Luna's embrace.

"I missed you too, girls."

----------

"So hold on a gol'-darn minute, now. Ya mean to tell me that hunka guard pony, Warden, hooked up with Night Dancer?" Rainbow Dash tilted backwards in her chair, almost tumbling out of it as she broke into laughter. The other girls chimed in, the dishes from dinner clattering on the table as they pounded it with hooves. They had spent the meal in relative silence, but the moment she was done, a barrage of questions came her way. Twilight answered each in order, giving away juicy bits of gossip and telling stories of her exploits.

"S-so, I'm walking down the hall, right? And of course I know they've been together for a while... But I'm walking down the hall and I figure, 'hey, might as well step outside for a breath of air, right?' And just outside, I swear, she's on her back and he's-"

"No way!" Pinkie cut them off with a raucous laugh, spurring everypony into giggles once again. She elected not to tell them of Rainbow Dash and Archer's exploits, but still, it was a funny moment to share with her friends. The only pony missing from the equation, in her mind, was Luna. Having her lover here might put the other girls on eggshells at first, but she knew Luna would love regaling them with her own stories of Canterlot mayhem.

"Oh, that is too funny." Rainbow Dash wiped tears away as the laughter died down, though Fluttershy was too busy trying to disappear into her mane. Twilight knew from experience the shy little filly was actually enjoying herself, but hated anypony else to see her blush as she was so prone to doing. Rather than press, she let Fluttershy stay concealed, focusing instead on the other ponies sitting at the table.

"So what is everypony else up to? Applejack, how's the farm?"

"Aw shoot, you know us." Applejack leaned back in her chair, sighing contentedly. "Jes' stayin' busy with th' harvest. It's a little harder, considerin' Big Macintosh has to walk across town t' make it t' work."

"S-sorry,"

"It's nothin' to apologize fer, sugarcube." Applejack beamed at Fluttershy. "After all, I'm enjoyin' my time alone. If you catch my meaning."

"I think Thunderlane's enjoying your time 'alone.'" Rainbow Dash snarked, getting a playful swipe from Applejack as Pinkie Pie snorted into her drink.

"Wait, what about your sister? Applebloom?"

"Huh? Oh, she moved into town a while ago, along with her marefriend. That orange pegasus that had the hots fer you, Dash. Scootaloo."

"Oh. I see. She's got to be, what, close to eighteen now?"

"Twenty." Applejack nodded sagely. "She an' her friends, as it were. They're happy together, and she helps out on the farm plenty, too. Soon enough, she'll be old enough to inherit it and live there."

"Then what will you do?" Twilight asked, arching an eyebrow. Applejack drew in a deep breath, her expression turning serious for a moment.

"T' be honest, sugarcube, ah ain't thought of that jes yet... Ah'm considerin' goin' to Dodge Junction again, checkin' in with Cherry Jubilee. Maybe movin' to Appleoosa to help Braeburn out some more." She lifted her hooves indifferently. "Ah figger ah'll tackle that problem when it comes."

"Well if you feel like planting an orchard in Canterlot, you let me know." Twilight teased, getting a scrunched nose from the farmpony in return.

"Soil's too hard up in them mountains; nothin' would take."

"Ah huh. What about you, Pinkie? It's been, what, a year and a half since you moved to Manehattan?"

"Eeyup! We've got bakeries in a lot of towns now! Horseshoe Bay, Trottingham, Stalliongrad, Baltimare, Manehattan, and we're planning on opening in Dodge Junction and Appleoosa here soon, too! As luck would have it." She cast a quick look to Applejack, getting a smile in return. "Ponies just love our cakes and pies and muffins! Oh, and bagels, and crullers, and cupcakes and-" Rainbow Dash reached out to put a hoof over Pinkie's mouth experimentally. She continued on, her voice muffled beyond recognition. Dash removed her hoof. "- baguettes, and ice cream cakes, and scones, and..." She paused to look around at the six pairs of eyes staring at her.

"You get the point. Anywho, I'm just working hard trying to get all those bakeries going. It's tough work finding ponies who are as happy as I am!"

"I think you mean 'impossible.'" Twilight teased, getting another round of laughter. Normally, Pinkie Pie would have rambled on for another fifteen minutes or so about various and assorted baked goods. It was actually kind of refreshing to see she had learned a modicum of restraint and consideration for the nerves of her friends. She was still boisterous and bubbly, but in a more sensible way. One that Twilight was inherently thankful for.

"Dash? Want to weigh in here?"

"Oh, I'm not doing anything important." Dash waved a hoof nonchalantly. "Weather work in Canterlot is super easy. We get maybe two major storms a year, with a few showers inbetween. Then every other day, orders from Celestia 'make sure it's cloudless today and tonight. Don't want the stars or the sun to be unable to shine.' I swear, it's more boring than weather in Ponyville. At least out here we got to tackle clouds from the Everfree now and again."

"You're not telling everything~" Twilight insisted with a low singsong voice. Dash's cheeks heated up immediately, and she suddenly became interested in the tablecloth's embroidery.

"What? That's all there is. It's not like I'm flying with the wonderbolts every day; we only practice in-season. How else did you think I got permission to come to Ponyville for a whole week?"

"I mean there's something else you're not telling everypony."

"Alright, sugarcube, y'all best spill. Twilight wouldn't be callin' you out iffen it weren't important or funny."

"More like embarrassing." Dash grumbled under her breath before closing her eyes and inhaling deeply. Everypony leaned in as she let it all out as quickly as she could.

"I'mseeingsomepony."

"What?"

"I... I'm seeing somepony."

"There it is."

"NO WAY." Applejack stood from the table with a wide, shocked expression. "Y'all told me you weren't gonna be with nopony s' long as you weren't part of the Wonderbolts!"

"And I AM part of the wonderbolts now!" Rainbow Dash returned defensively. "He's really cool, and a way-awesome magic-user, and oh, did I mention he's learning under Twilight?!"

"You don't say..." Rarity smiled at Twilight deviously. "You didn't mention any student of yours was seeing Rainbow Dash."

"I'm mentioning it now." Twilight rubbed a hoof on her chest, as if polishing it. "Or rather, Rainbow Dash is mentioning it."

"Yeah, well, no big surprise there." Rainbow Dash shrugged. "It's nice, y'know? When I lived out here, I didn't want anything or anypony getting in the way of me being a Wonderbolt. Now, I'm on my way, so I don't see any reason I can't have something on the side. You know, nothing serious or anything like that."

"Y'all aren't sleeping around, are ya?" Applejack intoned seriously. Twilight remembered in a flash Applejack's element of honesty, and about how well any infidelity might sit with her.

"Of course not!" Rainbow Dash appeared offended. "Archer's the first pony I've allowed myself to feel close to. I wouldn't want to ruin it by taking away any feelings like that..." Rainbow Dash sunk into her chair, acting uncharacteristically shy all of a sudden. "I just really like him, okay?"

"I think it's sweet, darling." Rarity chimed in, laying her hoof over Rainbow's. "You must enjoy your time with him. How long have you two been together now?"

"About three years? Maybe?"

"That sounds about right." Twilight nodded. "He's been my student for at least that long."

"Three years, huh." Applejack sniffed. "And y'all couldn't even write to tell me. Pinkie, didja know anything about this?"

"Of course!" The pink pony leapt up, displaying several curious twitches that Twilight wasn't entirely unfamiliar with. "Ear flop, eye twitch, and stomach grumble means a good friend's getting plowed!"

"PFFT!"

"Honestly, Rarity, y'all need to learn not to drink when Pinkie's talking." Applejack passed a napkin off to Fluttershy, who had been unceremoniously doused with whatever Rarity had been drinking. It looked like tea.

"'Getting plowed?'" Twilight scrunched her nose at Pinkie, who was helping Fluttershy clean her mane. "I know I asked him to lose his virginity, but-"

"PFFT!"

"Okay, Applejack, learn to take your own advice." Twilight groaned and began wiping her own face clean, this time suffering whatever Applejack had taken a swig of. It tasted like cider.

"Y'all did WHAT now?!"

"It's... a requirement to learn shadow magic." Twilight explained, shaking her mane out. She'd have to shower later, but for now she settled into 'lecture' mode. "There are two forces in the world that could be called deities. The Day, whom Celestia embodies and controls the magic of love, friendship, and the sun, and The Night, whom Luna embodies and controls the magics of hatred, shadow, and the night. The night's power is free to anypony who wants to use it, but hers is the magic of procreation and passion. Thusly, for anypony to be truly masterful in her school of magic, they need to understand the bond two ponies share when they make love.

"She has plenty of spells and abilities that ponies can use if they're innocent, but why limit oneself to just a hoof-full of spells and abilities? When I first accepted the position of Archmage, I came to learn that I was too unbalanced as far as which side I was aligned with. I knew too much about the magic of the day and friendship, and not enough about the night. So, just to start, Luna tasked me with... Well, losing my virginity. You all remember that night, right?"

"Sure do." Pinkie rolled her eyes. "I was in the middle of baking the next day's pies when Cross Stitch came by and told me you were bawling your eyes out on Rarity's dining room table."

"Well, what else was I supposed to tell you? That she smelled like a rutting mare ready for a good 'plowing?'"

"Stitch!"

"Ow, what?!" Stitch rubbed his foreleg after Rarity swiped at him, looking indignantly at her.

"Mind your manners. That was a very difficult night for Twilight."

"Well I wouldn't have gotten through it if it weren't for you girls." Twilight nodded thankfully at the three mares who had been in attendance that night. Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie.

"Honestly!" Applejack laid her hoof on the table hard enough to clatter the plates again. "Y'all never write or nothin'! Ah swear, it's like ah'm hearin' about all this three years after it's happened!"

"Three and a half, roughly." Twilight chuckled. "But, to get to the point, I can't teach Archer the full potential of shadow if he hadn't had lost his virginity. Even I didn't learn it was Rainbow Dash who had done the deed until almost six months after it had happened."

"Huh. So, wait, y'all mean to say you hadn't 'done the deed' until after you moved to Canterlot?"

"Eer, yeah." Twilight blushed. "I was a virgin right up until then."

"No shoot. Ah thought you'd done it before movin' here."

"What gave you that impression?"

"Well, it seems everypony's buckin' in Canterlot. Ah'm lucky enough Thunderlane's around to plow my fields."

"PFFT!"

"You too, Dash?"

----------

The night wound down after that, with the group of six friends promising to spend more time together before the wedding. Rarity made Twilight promise they would spend some time alone to fit her for the dress, Pinkie Pie wanted to learn if there was a way to imbue her cooking utensils with enchantments that helped her baked goods last longer, Applejack had some 'magical mumbo-jumbo' going on at the farm that was messing with one of the creeks on her property, Rainbow Dash needed help retrieving her old cloud home and preparing it to move back to Canterlot, and even Fluttershy admitted that there was a poor animal with a magical injury she couldn't quite treat herself.

Twilight retired to bed early that night, her mind buzzing with all that was planned, all that she had talked about, and indeed the entire week ahead of her. The dusty smell of old paper chased her into the smaller of the two bedrooms the library offered, replaced by the cool scent of fresh laundry, wood, and flowery night air. She elected to read one short essay before sleep, but soon after curled up under the new sheets, feeling only slightly uncomfortable being away from her own quarters and Luna's tender ministrations. Sighing mostly out of tiredness, she closed her eyes...

"Stitch, stop..." Rarity's plaintive voice drifted past her ears, and Twilight's eyes snapped open.

"Come on, just a little..."

"Aah! No, Stitch, not there! Uhn!"

Grimacing, Twilight cast a soundproofing spell over the room.

It was going to be a long week.