(Toya’s PoV:)

Settling into Canterlot was as smooth of a transition as it could be. Mom helped me move my stuff into a room in the castle and then we said our goodbyes for the time being. It wasn’t that hard, I knew both my parents had an easy way to see each other whenever they wanted. So there definitely weren’t any tears in my eyes when it was time for her to leave.

My room was actually right next to Cadance’s. Something that was a pleasant surprise. I hadn't expected to find a friend my own age right off the bat. Sure, unlike me she was more of a stickler for the rules, but she was capable of letting her hair down.

I was just putting the finishing touches on my room when my dad got my attention by knocking on the open door.

“Hey Toya, you busy?” he questioned, a small smile on his face.

I took my hands away from the decorative shield I was putting up and turned around with a grin of my own. “Nah, I’m pretty much done setting up my room. Whaddya need?”

“I wanted to let you know that you’re starting school tomorrow,” he relayed, walking over and putting a hand on my shoulder. “It’ll be good for you.”

I had to stifle a groan, but my smile visibly drooped. “Seriously Dad? I’m a prince and a warrior, what good is a normal education gonna do me for that?”

Dad’s brow creased and his hand shot up to flick me in the center of the forehead. “Saying things like that shows you're not even ready to be put in charge of a sand castle yet. If you don't see how spending time with your future subjects will benefit you.”

I wanted to open my mouth to protest, but he had a point. "Ugh, do you have to be right?" I groaned, folding my arms over my chest.

Grinning, he jabbed a thumb at himself. "That's my job. Besides, I was a moody teenager myself; I'm well equipped to handle whatever you throw at me."

“Oh really?” I asked, letting frost dance along my fingers.

“Do I have to chase you off with my welding tools and ground you?" he shot back, flashing me the tools with a wave of his duster. He let the question hang in the air for a moment before a wicked grin split his face. "Or better yet, maybe I'll go to all your school functions and do my very best to embarrass you."

This had the desired effect and a shudder went up my spine. "That's just playing dirty." The frost around my hand faded away and my body language relaxed.

Dad relaxed as well but kept up his impish grin. Pivoting on a heel he waved over his shoulder. "And that’s why you’ll never beat me despite you being infinitely stronger than me. I'll get out of your hair, got my own things to take care of."

I waved goodbye and flopped onto my bed to enjoy the fruits of my labor.

(Vash's POV:)

I had a set of blueprints in my hands as I directed a large group of workers. If I was going to get back to my work then I'd need a proper setup. Luckily, I'd found there was space if I dug up around the entrance of the castle. An underground workshop definitely appealed to my sensibilities and I had the crew running like a well oiled machine to get the foundation dug out.

I was in the middle of finalizing a design on hiding the ventilation amongst the foliage of the castle walkway when Morning slithered up to me. “I see you’ve thrown yourself into your work once more. Tell me, how many hidden doors is the new workshop going to have?” she questioned, a fang poking out of her smirking lips.

Turning my blueprints towards her, I retaliated with a massive grin. “Very funny my scaly beloved, but as you can plainly see my plans do not rely heavily upon trick doors. No, instead I am opting for something grander. This workshop shall be powered by the wind itself!” Putting on my best dramatic voice, I pointed upward at the sky.

“I’m sure that sounded more impressive in your head, dear,” she deadpanned. “Now, I didn’t come to see you just to have a pleasant chat; we have some visitors coming to see us today.”

“Why would anyone be coming to visit me?” I questioned, pointing a finger at myself. “I’ve been on my best behavior so this can’t be something like a maid not liking me hitting on her.”

With an exasperated shake of her head, Morning took me by the arm. “No, this has nothing to do with borderline harassment. You’ll see when we get to the sitting room where they’re meeting up with us.”

I didn’t broach the topic further, knowing that Morning wouldn’t give me any other info. For a mare that had the lower body of a snake, she could be surprisingly inflexible at times. Giving a quick word to one of the workers, I put them in charge as Morning led me towards the castle proper. The walk was fairly quick and passed by even faster with some pleasant smalltalk.

The sitting room was simple, or at least as simple as any room in Canterlot Castle could be.The walls were a soft yellow, giving the impression of early morning light. The couches and chairs were luxurious, just the right blend of style and comfort and matched the colors of the walls. There were several tables scattered amongst the couches, the most important in my mind being the one containing a teapot, four cups and an array of tasty looking finger foods.

I took a seat right by the finger sandwiches while Morning coiled up in a chair that had been designed with nagas in mind. I would never say it while she was in earshot, but the thing looked like a giant doggy bed with a backrest on it.

We weren’t left waiting long, a few minutes after sitting down the door opened and in came two ponies. The first was a pegasus stallion decked out in a blue military dress uniform. Even without the full scope of the decorations it was easy to see that he was a high rank at a glance. He had the stance and gaze of a leader. His fur was a solid red that matched my duster and his mane was a light blonde with lightning bolt-shaped red streaks running through it. The mane itself was styled in a Phoenix Wright-esque fashion with the spikes pulled to the back of his head.

The other pony was a naga and a near spitting image of Morning Star. She had the same basic coloration though her wavy mane went down to her shoulders. Covering her body was a coral dress that had a single shoulder strap to give it an elegant but still casual feel.

The two ponies had drastically different reactions upon seeing me. The stallion had a harsh look that contained barely restrained contempt behind it; the mare on the other hand was simply ecstatic. Before I could react, the mare latched onto me in a hug that would make an anaconda jealous of the squeezing strength on display.

“I can’t believe I finally get to meet you!” the mare cried, her hold somehow growing ever tighter. “The statue doesn’t do you justice at all!”

“Glory, perhaps you should let him breathe?” Morning offered, gently separating the naga and me. “We haven’t even explained the reason behind this little get together yet.” With a warm grin, she led the other naga to a chair much like her own while the pegasus took his own seat.

The outburst by Glory and the general appearance of the pair made me start connecting some dots in my head. However, I kept quiet, taking in grateful lungfuls of air as subtly as I could while I waited for everyone to get settled in. Once my breathing was under control, I popped a finger sandwich into my mouth and chewed it slowly as Morning began to speak.

“Vash, I want you to meet Morning Glory and Shooting Star,” she began, indicating the naga then the stallion. “They’re twins and our children.” She let that sentence hang in the air, giving me a few moments to digest the info.

“We’ve heard so many stories about you, Father!” Glory beamed, nearly taking out the teapot with her thrown up arms. “My personal favorite was of the Trottingham Founder’s Festival.” Her eyes fluttered and she held her hands close to her chest. “The dancing, the assurance mother gave you, it was all so romantic.”

I was about to speak, a grin on my face from Glory’s energy. Before I got the chance though, Shooting Star snorted and decided to give me a piece of his mind. "Do you really think you should be calling him that, Glory?" He began, derision dripping off his every word. "What has he done to deserve that title? He left to wander the world before either of us were even born, and did so for just shy of a millenium.”

“Shooting!” Morning snapped, bristling in her seat. “That wasn’t Vash’s fault! He saved the Crystal Empire at the cost of his memory! He would never abandon us by choice!”

The pegasus rolled his eyes, a hollow chuckle passing through his lips. “Oh, and how very convenient that is.” Standing up, he glanced at me for a moment before settling his eyes on the two naga mares. “You two can welcome him with open arms, but I've spent countless lifetimes without a father and I don't need one now." He craned his neck to me, his eyes boring straight through me. "Have anything to say?"

I was frozen in my seat, the venom of his words coursing through me. It settled through me, making me leaden and inhibiting me from even lifting my hung neck to fully meet him eye to eye. I tried to open my mouth, but the thread and needle of anxiety and guilt sewed my lips tight keeping all but the weakest of sounds from passing through.

Images came unbidden to my mind feeling fresh thanks to Zecora's potion that replayed the rift that had formed between my mother and me after my father's death. Was I the problem? Was I just a poison that infected my family and left them broken?

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Shooting’s voice cutting through the haze. “That’s what I thought. Why Toya decided to go out of his way for you, I have no idea.” Turning on his hoof, he made his way to the door. “I need to get back to Cloudsdale, if I’m not careful, Spitfire will run the crew ragged with drills.” Opening the door, he nodded at Morning and Glory. “You two are welcome to see me whenever.”

Once he left the room, the two nagas offered me their sympathies. Morning reached over, taking my real hand in one of hers. “Please don’t hold his words against him. Unfortunately, he received my pride and stubbornness in spades.”

I put on my best grin, though it felt weak even from where I was sitting. Given how well Morning knew me she’d see through a fake smile instantly. It was just a natural response at that point and one easily rationalized as being for my newfound daughter’s benefit.

“It’s fine, Morning,” I assured her, using my thumb to trace small circles in the fur of her hand. “It’d be weird to expect him to just accept me right off the bat.”

With a pout, Glory shook her head. “Don’t be so quick to defend him, Father. Even if he’s not ready to accept you as his father yet, there was no reason for him to be so blunt and cruel.”

Morning was quick to agree and the rest of our time together was spent in idle conversation. I learned that Glory was a fashion designer, A big time one too. Granted, her long time of experience likely had something to do with that.

There were even brief snippets when Shooting Star was mentioned again. I was able to glean that he had founded the military group known as the Wonderbolts; an aerial based organization that doubled as a stunt team.

For once I didn’t do a lot of the talking, content to listen to Glory as she tried to make up for so much lost time. While I did start feeling better than I did after Shooting’s tirade, but his words continued to weigh on my mind. When we finally decided to go our separate ways, the sun was hanging low in the sky. With no possibility of getting back to work, I decided to go to bed and was left alone with my thoughts.

(Toya’s POV:)

The morning after Dad had his talk with me, I was woken up by a loud knocking at my door. Cracking an eye open, I debated answering or pretending to still be asleep and trying to squeak out another few minutes of sleep. A different idea altogether formed in my head when I heard who was at the door.

“Oh Toya~” Cadance called out, sounding all too chipper for such a time in the morning. “You’ve got to get ready if we want to get to school on time.”

Grinning to myself, I popped the dial on my Omnitrix and carefully selected the form I wanted. Pressing it down, my body changed into the ectoplasmic wonder dubbed Ghostfreak. Turning invisible, I floated over to the door, slowly opening it. Cadance seemed confused, stepping inside and checking behind the door for me.

“Toya, where are you?” She waved her hands around, seeming to consider the possibility of invisibility of some kind. She would’ve touched me too, if I weren’t using Ghostfreak’s intangibility

Snickering silently, I went back over to the bed pulling the sheets off the bed while Cadance’s back was turned and she checked the bathroom for any noise. Striking fast, I made myself a little alicorn burrito while letting out ghostly groans. Just as she started to scream, I returned to normal and plopped down in front of her with a shit eating grin on my face. “Cadance, what are you doing playing around? Don’t we have to get ready for school?”

The shift in the adolescent princess’s attitude was near instantaneous, a groan leaving her muzzle as she threw her head back. “Toya! That wasn’t funny!” Wriggling around for a few moments, she freed herself of her cloth binds and unceremoniously threw the sheets onto the floor in a heap. Despite her best efforts, her deep glower was less admonishing and more adorable.

Stifling a chuckle, I reached over and fixed the ribbon that held her ponytail, having loosened in all the commotion. “Oh come on, Caddy, that was pretty great.”

“Whatever,” Cadance responded, rolling her eyes. “I’m gonna wait outside the door for you, just hurry up and get ready.”

Not losing my grin, I quickly completed my morning routine and joined the pink alicorn in the hallway. After some teasing conversation, Cadance’s grumpiness was quickly forgotten. We spent our trip tailed by a pair of guards. I knew it was only tradition, but it still seemed like a waste of resources.

When we made it to the school, I became the center of attention. Though, not in the way that my siren form would enjoy. No, it was more like I was the grand finale of a freakshow or a new exhibit at the zoo. It was a sensation I had almost forgotten about during my stay with Mom. However, the looks on my fellow students’ faces dredged up all those old memories of those times I would have to entertain guests with my family back at the old castle.

But did I let them see that they were making me uncomfortable? Hell no! I put on my most winning smile and invited them to stare. And if they were going to look anyway, I decided I was going to give them a reason to look. I made sure to answer every question I possibly could, making a show of explaining my responses in as much detail as I could. I couldn’t let my classmates think I was just a pretty face afterall.

The day seemed to drag, most of what was being discussed was stuff I already knew. I paid attention in History class though, having missed out on quite a bit while living in Mom’s Equestria. When the final bell rang, I shot out of my seat and met up with Cadance again.

“Wow, is every day here this boring?” I inquired, stretching my arms over my head.

“Pretty much,” Cadance replied with a shrug. “But I have to thank you for letting me not be the class sideshow for the day.”

"If just my existence gets their attention like that then imagine if I just randomly shapeshifted in the middle of class." Running my hands through my hair, I let it grow out and soon took on my female appearance. I could feel my pants start to slip downward so I quickly switched back. "Hmm, might want some adjustable clothes if I want to do that regularly."

Cadance giggled, holding a hand in front of her mouth. "Oh, that would just be too perfect! I can picture their faces when they see a non-changeling pull that off."

The two of us snickered for a few moments, strolling down the congested streets. When we settled down I spoke up again, "I'm planning on changing and finding a gym; wanna join me?"

Cadance smirked, poking me in the side. "Oho, so you do go to the gym. Here I was thinking you were faking your bulk with shapeshifting." I was about to shoot her a comeback, but she quickly cut me off. "Sure, between princess training and magic lessons I've been falling behind on my wing exercises. I think a workout buddy is just what I need." Flaring her wings, one hid her horn while her smirk grew. "Come on, let's race back to the castle." She took off, letting me see faint sparks drift away from her. "Loser does the winner's laundry for a month!"

Rolling my eyes, I tried to rush after her. Only to fall flat on my face. Glancing down, I found that my laces had been crudely tied together. "Cheater!" I shouted after her, pulling the offending articles of clothing off and hopping back to my feet. I tore down the street after her, careful not to bowl over anyone in my charge. With Cadance’s smaller frame, she was able to weave through the crowds much more effectively than I could. Several posh unicorns bristled at the sight of our contest, though few were brave enough to openly say anything. I closed the distance between Cadance and I, but in the end she won the race by a horn.

“Yes!” Cadance whooped, undoing her ribbon and shaking her mane free of sweat. With the hair freed, I took notice of how it naturally curled at the end. “I just earned myself a laundry boy.” She started to do a victory dance, making sure to exaggerate her movements for full smug effect.

“What’s with the ponytail? Your mane looks nice down like that.”

The princess stopped her victory dance, grabbing at the locks for a moment. “Oh, thanks. I keep it up because the curls are hard to take care of. With everything in my schedule quickly pulling it back seemed like the best way to do it.”

Satisfied with her answer, I shrugged and the two of us went to get changed. Cadance decided that as part of her victory, I had to carry her workout bag. I would’ve brought up that that wasn’t part of the deal, but it’s sort of hard to argue with a mare in yoga pants. Our trip to the gym was fairly uneventful, with Caddy only boasting about her victory a little bit.

The gym was nice, white walls accented in the royal purple that was associated with the city and scattered around the walls was the gym’s logo of crossed dumbbells. More importantly was the equipment. Rows and rows of it arranged by type. In the back were the saunas and showers, there were even signs advertising special yoga classes held in one of the sauna rooms. All in all, it seemed like a good place to work out.

As Cadance and I walked in, some of the more jacked patrons took notice of us and gave us the side eye. Some of them added more weights to their bars, likely in some attempt to show off. I was tempted to try and one up them, but something else caught my eye.

In the corner where the speed bags and wooden dummies was a young mare. If I had to guess, she was Caddy and I’s age, though she was a bit taller than your average mare. She might’ve been six feet that when paired with her visible muscles gave her an almost amazonian look. Sweat poured off her white fur as her fists hammered against one of the wooden dummies while she was clearly working on self defense forms of some kind.

Grinning, I approached the young mare and waved to get her attention. “Hey, cool moves there. What was that, Southern Equestrian Kickboxing?”

The mare paused her workout, grabbing her nearby towel and wiping her face before speaking. Her turquoise eyes bore into me, as if she was trying to see my intentions. I was impressed, she didn’t seem to react much to my appearance. After a moment, she seemed satisfied and answered, “Yeah, been practicing it since I was a filly. Been thinking of mixing it with the zebra style of Kujizuia.” As she spoke, she moved the towel to her two toned blue bangs, getting rid of sweat threatening to drip into her eyes.

“I actually have a half-sister that’s a master of that style. She and her mom taught me a lot of moves. What do you say to a bit of a spar?” I flashed her a smile and pointed a thumb over to the mat. “I’m Toya by the way.”

Shrugging, the mare dropped her towel onto her nearby workout bag. “Yeah, a sparring partner does sound good." Striding over to the mat, she did a few quick stretches. "And I'm Gleaming Shield."

Standing across from her, I got into a loose stance. "Since this is all new to you, I'll go easy on you. I'll even give you the first shot free."

There was a flash of something on her face, irritation maybe? Or even a bit of mischievousness. Whatever it was was gone just as soon as it had appeared, leaving her to take her stance with a determined demeanor.

"I sure do appreciate that." I was going to respond, but before I could she pivoted on her heel. Gleaming's body was a blur as she positioned herself for a roundhouse kick. It was excellent form, almost flawless. She just leaned a bit too far back, leaving her weight distribution ripe for knocking her on her ass if one were quick enough. At first glance it seemed like she was aiming for my stomach, so I tensed my core in anticipation.

Then, her leg suddenly shifted its angle just before the moment of contact. An explosion of pain burst through my body, originating from the contact of hoof on family jewels. I didn't even have the time to make a pitiful sound as the white mare was on me to toss me to the mat in a seamless throw.

"Still think you need to take it easy on me?" She inquired sweetly, looking down at me with her fingers laced behind her back. I shook my head, wanting to grin at her subterfuge but was unable to due to the ache between my legs.

Cadance rushed over, concern in her eyes as she hovered over me. “Toya, are you okay?” I gave her a thumbs up, causing her to let out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank goodness. Now I won’t feel bad about this.” A belly laugh burst forth from her lips, the pink princess doubling over in mirth. “Sh-she got you good.”

As soon as Gleaming saw Cadance, her entire demeanor changed. She instantly bowed and stammered out an apology. “P-Princess, please forgive my crass behavior in your presence.”

Cadance was holding back an eye roll, disguising her disappointment. “There’s no need for all that. I’m more of a princess-in-training than anything. Plus, I’m out with a friend right now so it’s okay to be casual with me.” Holding a hand out, she helped me back to my feet. “You can call me Cadance, Gleaming.”

Gleaming ended her bow, though she shifted on her hooves a bit. “Okay, P...Cadance. I’ll uh, try to be casual.”

Coughing for a moment, I shook off the lingering pain. “Excellent, then do you want to continue our little lesson?”

Gleaming nodded, taking a stance again. Our sparring continued, with the three of us engaging in some basic conversation between pointers. She told us about her siblings, Twilight and her newly adopted baby brother Spike, who was a dragon not a pony.

The white fur and blue mane were already a big clue who I was talking to, but that confirmed it outright. Gleaming Shield was this universe’s version of Shining Armor. I couldn’t help but wonder what had caused the difference between this world and the “Standard” versions. Was it always meant to be this way, or had Dad’s presence and actions in the past influenced this change and others?

I shrugged off the train of thought. Dedicating brain cells to time travel logic and the effects of it usually resulted in said brain cells committing seppuku. Still, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed by the change. Without Shining Armor there was no apparent way for Flurry Heart to be born. Coming back to reality, the three of us finished up our work out and parted ways with promises of seeing each other again.

Author's Notes:

It's been a while again. Finally felt some inspiration for this. Hoping I can keep some momentum going. And I'm coming back with a less epic chapter.