As the moon, gracefully shining in the night sky, slowly neared the horizon, lazily signaling the break of dawn, the world started to wake. From birds to critters, slowly nature started to rise, while others stepped down to claim their well-deserved rest.

The moon nearing the horizon, nearing dawn, signaled for all the world to see that the day was about to claim the heavens. And while the sun seemingly started to wake, so did its mistress.

Slowly opening her eyes, her internal clock never failed her, Celestia yawned luxuriously.

It was just about time, she knew it, the distinct pressure in her horn was the same as it had been every day since she got her cutie mark. An everlasting call which she no longer needed listening to, because her mind and body were so in tune with it as the birds were in tune with the wind and skies.

Yet, the night had been long and the temptation to just close her eyes and fall back asleep weighed heavily on her.

She had done so in the past and the world had been fine afterward.

She had done so when she was younger, it had always caused her ponies to make a ruckus, but this would be the problem of future Celestia. Present Celestia only wanted to sleep and to curl up in her soft bed.

It was so warm, and inviting…

But a sudden shift on the mattress made her eyes open again.

The question of when she had closed them shot through her mind but was quickly forgotten as her groggy mind slowly pieced another important fact together.

Something on her mattress had moved.

She wasn’t alone.

Luna.

Twilight.

The dream.

Everything came back to her and she started to remember.

Twilight had fallen unconscious after an attack on her parents.

They had tried to help her; they had failed her.

No, they hadn’t, they just needed to search deeper. Needed to visit her dream. She was stuck there.

Her conversation with Luna, her fear, her… decision.

Celestia blinked.

Despite many beliefs, she wasn’t a morning pony. Yes, she had to wake up at dawn for most of the week. But the few occasions she was not forced to do so, she simply raised the sun and went back to bed afterward.

But she had definitely felt something move.

Blinking again, she fought against the temptation to just ignore it, to close her eyes and fall back asleep. Yet, her mind didn’t let her, ultimately common sense won over and she turned her head.

Groggily looking down her bed, she found another sleepy set of eyes blinking at her.

It was her sister. Luna had awoken too.

Of course, she had. She had to lower the moon after all, and she was called from it just the same as she had been. She knew it.

Yawning again, Celestia stretched her neck. A multitude of satisfying pops went through her. “Good morning, sister,” she said groggily, her mind absently wondering why her body felt so heavy. Every movement shaking her awake a bit more, yet the sensations of tiredness still lured her to not move from her spot, there was no reason to get up, why shouldn't she go back to sleep?

Luna followed her example, stretching her neck and flicking her ear as if she were swatting something away. “Morning,” she muttered groggily, stifling a yawn.

Blinking once more, Celestia lit her horn.

Her connection to the sun allowed her to seize it even when it was outside her field of view, and she gently guided it along its path to the heavens.

Luna, doing the same with the moon, gently lowered her celestial body under the horizon, yawning again in the process.

Finishing their daily tasks, both sisters looked at each other. It wasn’t seldom that one slept in the other’s bed or that they shared a bed together, but waking up, entangled and or curled around their sister always made the start of the morning a tat bid awkward. Not that it was uncomfortable, on the contrary, it was much more comfortable waking up not alone, but the mingling memories of past times always shot to the forefront of their minds.

At least, Celestia assumed this. She didn’t know what it was for her sister, but for her, her mind never managed it to banish certain images for good and while neither of them did much more than blink at the other out of sheer content with the situation, Celestia always had to suppress a small blush rising up to her cheeks.

Sometimes… she wondered if Luna knew of her thoughts anyway.

“What day is it,” Luna finally asked, breaking the silence and already laying her head back down onto her hooves.

Quickly glancing at her calendar, Celestia yawned once more. “Sunday,” she said, stretching her forehooves and following her sisters’ example.

“Then we will return to sleep,” Luna said, her eyes already closed and her nose flaring with another suppressed yawn.

Celestia just hummed in approval, glancing at her sister lazily and shifting her gaze towards their wings.

Carefully tilting one of her primaries to peek inside, she spied Twilight, who had shifted in her sleep and had curled up at the far side of their impromptu cocoon.

She looked so peaceful, so happy. A small smile plastered on her lips and her right front hoof gently twitching as if she was dreaming.

Celestia silently wished that she would keep at least some of her calm in the waking world as she slipped her primary back in place to seal her away from the world.

She had exhausted herself yesterday and judging from how much she slept when she had fallen asleep studying in the past, Celestia didn’t expect her to wake before noon at the earliest.

Yawning again, she nuzzled into her front hooves herself and tried to go to sleep once again as a gentle knock on her door forced her to open her eyes once more.

Blinking, she quickly glanced at the calendar again to confirm that this was their day off and another glance at the window confirmed that they had successfully switched night to day.

So, who was it that dared to knock at her door in the middle of… well… morning?

Reluctantly lifting her head, she turned her attention to the door as she heard another, now slightly louder, knock come from it.

As a third followed swiftly, she sighed and gave up pretending whoever was there was going to go away if she ignored them long enough.

Unwilling to risk waking Twilight if it was trivial, she carefully raised a sound suppression field inside their enveloped field of her wings and turned towards the door.

Opening it with a flick of her horn, a startled guard peeked his head inside.

Softening her glare, Celestia remembered that her guards always had a good reason if they woke her. Aside from the times when Blueblood managed to cause chaos again, it always was something important when they sought her out in the morning when they knew of their princess’s preference to sleep in every once in a while.

Clearing his voice, the white stallion prepared to speak. He was one of the finest guards she proudly counted among her ranks and she desperately tried to remember his name. “My Princess’s,” he started, and Luna opened one of her eyes as well to glance at him.

While Celestia calmly smiled at him and gave him her attention, Luna settled to glare at the young pony for daring to disturb her rest.

“I, um, have urgent news,” he said carefully, eying Luna and gulping audibly.

Nodding in understanding, Celestia nudged her sister while her smile widened, “what is it, Guardsman?” she calmly asked.

“Well, um, the, it seems the, that, um, the parents of Princess Twilight are, um, well… searching her,” he said, awkwardly scratching his neck. “While we, um… have been informed that she is in the castle, yet we don’t know of her whereabouts and her parents demand that they see her immediately,” he stated, his resolve withering under her sister’s glare and the seemingly bad news he had to report.

Knowing her guards, Celestia guessed they had probably come together in front of her chambers and had drawn lots to decide who was the unlucky one to knock.

While Celestia had never even thought about punishing the bringer of bad news, the widespread fear of her letting the might of the sun come down towards her disturber always annoyed her and she tried to soften her expression further.

Nodding at the guard and giving him a smile, she bowed her head in understanding, “I see, please, I ask you to bring them here, if they demand to see their daughter, they shall not be denied,” she said, to Luna’s dismay at having her sleep suddenly stolen from her.

Jerking at attention, the guard saluted and quickly fled the room, closing the door behind him.

Once the guard had left, Luna turned her glare from the guard to her sister, and Celestia just smiled sheepishly at her, “you may leave the room and go to your own bed if you desire,” she said, a smile of amusement playing over her lips.

Huffing undignified, Luna shook her head and rolled her eyes, yawning again, she closed her eyes and tried to catch as much rest as she was able to.

After a couple of minutes in which Celestia had followed her sisters’ example, another, now much quieter knock could be heard from her door.

Opening her eyes, Celestia opened her double doors widely without lifting her head and regarded the two ponies almost falling in with care.

Both Nightlight and Twilight Velvet seemed disheveled and somewhat deprived of sleep as well and as they picked themselves up from the floor, both looked around frantically in search of somepony, probably their daughter or a sign of herself or her sister.

Once their eyes landed on the two princesses on the bed, both watching them, one amused, the other annoyed, their eyes widened and they quickly fell into a bow before their two rulers.

“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, I am sorry we have disturbed you, but we are in search of our daughter and we…”

“We know,” Celestia simply stated, blinking lazily at her two guests, “my guards have told me how you’ve attempted to turn our castle upside down,” she said, an indulgent smile playing over her lips at seeing them both blush.

Before they could come up with any excuses, Celestia lifted her head and shifted her expression to one of concern. “Yet, the last time I had seen you, you were both bound and poisoned,” she said, her concern palpable in her voice. “I know our medical staff has been ordered to take care of you, and the fact that you both are on hoof so soon speaks volumes, yet I still have to ask how the two of you are feeling.”

Blinking at the sudden interest in themselves, both Nightlight and Twilight Velvet looked at each other for a moment before shaking their heads, “We are fine, Princess,” Velvet said, dismissingly, “your staff has taken good care of us, we can assure you of that.”

“We are of course grateful for that, your highness,” Nightlight quickly added, bowing once more, “and we would say that it wasn’t necessary, would the two of us not have been… um… otherwise,” he said, leaving the grim detail for everyone present to think.

“Think nothing of it, we would do so for all our subjects,” Celestia said, rolling her eyes, “but you are not just any of our subjects, you are of course tied closer to the throne than any other living relative of mine could ever hope to be,” she gently added, “which makes your claim to search for your daughter only reasonable.”

“Then where is Twilight, your highness?” Velvet asked panicking, her voice full of concern only a mother could hope to express.

“Oh, your daughter is here in the castle,” Celestia said, “while she has had a hard time after her fight with your captors,” she added, receiving an impatient nod from her guests, “she collapsed and had to be treated medically. While Alicorns naturally are very resilient and widely immune to known poisons and illnesses, she has received the best care we were able to deliver,” Celestia explained, hoping to calm the frantic parents but achieving the opposite.

“To make matters short, Twilight is fine, of all medical concerns at least,” she continued, watching the intended relief now finally play over her guests’ bodies. “If there are psychological consequences though, we haven’t been able to tell so far and we simply hope there are none,” she added, despite knowing that they would both not take it well but unwilling to let Twilight’s parents trod in the dark.

Her anticipated reaction came as soon as she finished the thought as both Nightlight’s and Twilight Velvet’s eyes widened.

“But if so, rest assured that she will receive the best care Equestria has to offer and if we have to, we’ll do anything to make sure she will be alright,” Celestia proceeded, receiving an eye-roll of her sister.

“Your daughter is fine,” Luna simply said, glaring at her sister, “we can tell from monitoring her dreams all night.” She added, gracefully leaving out the detail of their nightly adventure.

After overcoming their momentary shock, Nightlight drew himself up, “then, with all due respect, your Highnesses,” he said, eying his wife cautiously, “WHERE exactly is our daughter right now?” he asked, his gaze turning back to his rulers and his determination visible on his face.

“Oh, she is closer than you might think,” Celestia said, smirking at her sister, who smiled back.

As both of the alicorns slowly opened their wings and revealing the still resting pony between, both Nightlight and Twilight Velvet gasped in relief at seeing their daughter.

While they attempted to step closer and to embrace her, swiftly forgetting where her daughter was sleeping or that she was sleeping at all, a blue aura in front of them swiftly reminded them of the two watchful ponies around their daughter. “We would ask thee… you to refrain from doing that. While I know it must be of great relief to you to finally see your daughter again,” Luna said, swiftly correcting her error with modern ponish, “my sister and I hoped for her to catch up on sleep of which she is in desperate need of right now.”

Blinking once and nodding quickly, Nightlight carefully rested a hoof on his wife’s shoulder as she still tried to get to Twilight, “I think the Princesses are right, honey. Twilight sure looks like she is tired,” he said, getting the attention of his wife.

“But she is my baby, I…”

“She is a grown-up mare, sweetie,” he corrected, “and I doubt you could do any better than the Princesses could,” he added, nodding respectfully at either Princess.

“But she is MY daughter, I…”

“Honey, please. I know you want only the best for her, as does everypony in this room,” he tried to reason, “but I am sure that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna know what they’re are doing, after all, with all due respect,” he added, flashing an apologetic smile, “since she has become an alicorn, she has become… well… for the lack of any other word, another… race,” he said, his words sounding wrong even to his own ears, “and following your own words of advice when Twilight was young and asked questions, I believe an alicorn might know what’s best for an alicorn,” he added, effectively earning him a heart-wrenching glare from his wife.

“She is my daughter! I know very well what is best for her… and besides, I never could… I can’t…”

“Miss Velvet, please,” Celestia attempted to reason personally while both princesses lowered their wings to shield Twilight from the light of day, “you’ve known me for a long time now, and you know I would never let any harm come to your daughter, so please, refrain from interrupting her rest now. I will personally send for you once she has woken up on her own, and I guarantee neither I nor my sister will leave her side while she hasn’t,” she explained, calming Twilight’s mother slightly. “While I know this must be hard, I please ask that the two of you take a leave for a while. I doubt the two of you have had breakfast as of yet and I formally invite you to have it prepared from our personal cooks and the castle staff,” she added.

Nodding from her sister’s speech, Luna lit her horn and produced a dark blue token, on which her cutie mark had been ingrained and lazed with gold and handed it over to Twilight’s parents.

As Nightlight took it and looked at it questioningly, Luna lit her horn once more and the token which she had just handed over started to glow for a second in his hoof. “The symbol I have given you is a symbol of office which will ensure that the castle staff will know that you are here on our behalf and that they are to treat you as they would treat us,” Luna started to explain. “This will effectively give you both the rights of diplomats, but I assume due to you not coming from any outer nation, you will not be bothered with any of the normal expectations such a position involves.”

Glancing at the token once more and at Luna for a second, Nightlight raised an eyebrow. “Um, thank you, Princess, but I don’t think this is nes-”

“But I do, Mr. Nightlight.” Luna interrupted, “I have witnessed yesterday's happenings and I am unhappy to tell you, that I believe your stay here at the Castle will surely be one of the longer sorts.”

Looking questioningly at Luna and then at Celestia, both of Twilight’s parents seemed lost with Luna’s half explanation.

Clearing her voice, Celestia directed their attention to herself, “you are right, Luna, but I am afraid no one as up yet has been able to tell them,” she reasoned, suddenly seeming a bit self-conscious for Luna’s eyes, “I would ask of you to remain calm please,” she added and waited for both Nightlight and Velvet to nod in understanding, “but while your daughter… while Twilight fought for both of your lives, she may have inadvertently damaged your… home… irreparably,” she explained remembering the remnants of what formally had been the proud Villa of the Twilight Family.

“While I can assure you that we will take every action and will not shy of any costs when rebuilding your home, I believe my sister may be well-founded in her belief that you will have to stay somewhere for the time being. Seeing as though you are technically part of the royal family as well, you are more than welcome to stay in our castle for the time being.” Pointing at the token they had received from Luna, she continued, “and while the both of you will be well known in the castle, this symbol of office will ensure that you will receive a diplomats suite and all the comforts contained therein.”

Blinking and staring at Celestia in disbelief, both Nightlight and Twilight Velvet looked at each other. “Our Twilight did what?” Nightlight started; his eyes wide, “surely you are mistaken, your highness, Twilight surely would never have done something like… well... destroying a home,” he stated, gesturing with his hoof.

“But I am afraid it is true, Mr. Nightlight,” Luna said, a sympathetic smile playing over her lips, “there isn’t much left of what you had once called your home,” she added.

“Are you sure it was Twilight?”, Velvet threw in. “I mean, I would understand it if any of our attackers did something like that,” she explained, her gaze flicking back to the princesses and then to where Twilight was sleeping. “I have never seen her with anything but the utmost care when it came to her magic, I cannot imagine her doing something like that.”

“Well, yes… normally I too would have to agree with you,” Celestia replied thoughtfully, “yet the outcome clearly states differently.”

“Once your daughter had been able to lower the barrier surrounding your home, we had found her standing in the midst of the rubble, her magic flaring and holding all of your attackers in it and pressing them against the remaining wall of your home,” Luna explained, her eyes briefly sparkling before she got a hang on her excitement. “I have never seen her like that before and through my own magic I have never felt something like it before either.”

“Yet still, Luna, Mrs. Velvet is right, Twilight is usually not known for something like this,” Celestia interjected, “to be honest, it even shocked me to a degree,” she added, her thoughtful gaze softening.

“Though, looking at it from a certain angle, I could understand why she might lose her temper in that situation,” she added, “we never ought to forget. She is an alicorn now, which means she is much more powerful than any unicorn could ever hope to be,” Celestia said, her gaze following that of Twilight Velvet to their closed wing. “Besides, I don’t believe she would have done what she did if there had been any other way,” she added, a soft smile growing on her lips.

“Uhm… you may be right, your highness,” Velvet started, her voice shaky, “b-but may I ask what happened in detail? And what is left of our… home?” she asked.

“You may, but right now, I am only willing and able to state that Twilight may have been angry and therefore used slightly more magic than strictly necessary,” she explained, seeing both of Twilight’s parents' faces go pale. “But, right now, neither I nor my sister know any more ourselves. The barrier which had surrounded your domicile has hidden all the exact details on how your daughter achieved victory and while she hasn’t woken yet, we were not able to as of yet gain any insight from her herself.”

Looking at each other, and then back at the Princesses, neither Nightlight nor Twilight Velvet knew of any more to say right now and therefore Luna started again, “while we understand that this will surely be a shock to hear for the both of you, I would like to ask you to leave for now, as I fear we may disturb Twilight if we were to continue our conversation for much longer. The both of you are, again, welcome in our palace and are more than welcome if you wish to reside here for now. If we learn of any more details of what has happened or how Twilight is faring, I assure you that you will be informed immediately. Besides, I believe Twilight may be the best to answer any of your questions once she has risen, and I am sure she will certainly find the time to do so in the upcoming days, if not hours,” Luna explained, drawing understanding nods from Twilight’s parents.

As both ponies, slightly stunned, shuffled to the door, Celestia could feel Twilight shift under her wing.

Once both Twilight Velvet and Nightlight had left the room, Luna lifted her wing and glanced at their young charge who had now shifted sides and was now pressing herself against her own chest.

Smiling fondly and nuzzling Twilight’s head carefully, Luna lowered her wing once more and smiled proudly.

Smirking at her sister, Celestia raised one of her eyebrows, “don’t think you are any better than me right now, after all, half of the night she has been doing the same to me,” she stated mockingly.

Rolling her eyes and sticking her tongue out at Celestia, Luna let her head flop back down onto her forehooves. “If thou see reason to point out such implications to us, we may start to think we may be better for her than thee,” she stated mockingly, her eyes now already closed again.

Shrugging and following her sisters’ example, Celestia drew her head into the crook of her wing, “hmmm… maybe you are right,” she stated, letting her own mind fall back and embrace the haze of sleep.

Yawning once more herself, Luna carefully drew her wing closer around Twilight, relishing in the soft sensation of their fur touching.

Before long, both princesses had fallen back asleep and were enjoying the silence of a Sunday morning. Yet their collective rest was interrupted once more as suddenly their bedroom doors slammed open.

Both Celestia and Luna’s head snapped up and looked at the intruder as a distant voice of Princess Cadance could be heard down the hall. “NO Shining! Wait, don’t do that!” it echoed along the hallway as Prince Shining armor stood in the doorway, huffing, trembling and eyes bloodshot.

“WHERE IS MY SISTER!” he yelled into the room, his chest heaving and his expression darker than anything Celestia had ever seen from her former guard captain.

Before any of them could answer though, his expression dropped and his gaze fixed onto Celestia, his horn flaring up and his eyes narrowing. Stepping closer, his voice had fallen almost to a whisper, “you!” he growled, “Answer me! … Where is she? Where is MY SISTER!” he demanded, his expression dark and threatening.

His eyes though, suddenly widened as a pink aura of magic enveloped his tail and quickly yanked him out of the room. His expression didn’t even have the time to transform into confusion as he was dragged outside, the doors silently closed after him and a minor set of commotions started outside.

Celestia blinked.

Looking over to her sister who was having trouble holding her jaw closed, both sisters stared at each other in confusion before the commotion outside stopped, one last yelp of pain coming through the doors before utter silence greeted them.

Before either of them could stand up and look outside for what just happened, a polite and calm knock came from the door, accompanied by a carefully measured, “um… Auntie Celestia?” from Cadance.

Now wide awake, both Princesses blinked at each other, seeing the same befuddled expression as they had themselves plastered on the other's face.

Shaking her head though, Celestia quickly checked if Twilight was still asleep and if the sound suppression spell around her still in place. Heaving a relieved sigh, she lit her horn and carefully opened her doors anew.

Judging from the commotions earlier, Celestia half expected the sight of her guards either pinned by Shining Armor to the floor or triumphant over him.

Her expectations though weren’t met at all, as what she was now able to behold hadn’t even come to her mind at all.

Behind the threshold of her door, a sheepishly smiling Cadance stood calmly in the hallway, her horn lit and a frantic Shining Armor in her magical grasp thrashing and kicking against his restraints. Her guards, who too seemed to have taken a punch, were also enveloped by her magic with both colts seemingly unable to move even the smallest of muscles, though Celestia couldn’t really tell from her position.

Sheepishly scratching her neck, Cadance bowed her head in respect, “um, good morning Auntie Celestia,” she said, and upon spotting Luna’s head looking around that of her sister, her eyes widened in surprise for only a fraction of a second before she added, “and good morning to you too, Auntie Luna.”

Staring at the pony in front of her chambers, Celestia blinked, still confused at what just happened but shook her head and reclaimed her bearing. A small smile settling onto her lips and her protective wing cradling Twilight relaxed. “Good morning Cadance,” she stated, nodding to her and waving her in as well.

As Cadance trotted calmly in, her husband still suspended in her magic seemingly trying to scream at the top of his lungs, she bashfully scratched the back of her head once more, “Um… I am sorry for Shiny’s… intrusion,” she began, bowing her head deeply, “and I am sorry for your guards, being…” she explained, the aura around the colts in front of her doors vanishing and both falling to the floor, “at the receiving end of Shining’s... err… protective instinct.”

Glancing at her guards laying groaning outside of her chamber doors, Celestia let her head fall in defeat, “Shieldfall, Thunderstrike, you are dismissed. Take the rest of the day and tomorrow off, that is an order,” she said in a firm voice, her guards acknowledging her command with weak nods.

Closing the doors with her magic and regarding Cadance once more, Shining Armor never leaving her sight out of the corner of her eye, Celestia shook her head. “I appreciate the apology, yet I am not the one who has taken the beating,” she said, glancing at Shining. “I just hope that he is at least going to apologize for that,” she added, her voice growing darker for a second.

Shaking her head and looking away from Shining. “Still, it is good to see you, Cadance,” she said, a warm smile spreading over her lips, “but, I have to wonder why exactly has your husband taken such an abrupt interest in my guards.”

“Well, once we heard what had happened, we came as quick as we could,” Cadance tried to explain, before drawing herself back up and glancing at her husband.

“Shining has been, to put it lightly, difficult since your letter, and once he'd read the front page of the today’s newspaper’s, well, there wasn’t much I could do but chase him here,” she stated, glaring at her husband and finally bringing him to stop and wither in her gaze. “Will you behave now?” she hissed, the stallion in her grasp seemingly thinking over it and nodding reluctantly.

Rolling her eyes and letting him drop unceremoniously to the floor, Cadance shook her head, mimicking her husband with one hoof and motioning as to his explosive arrival with deliberate mockery while muttering the trademark “stallions” under her breath. Her experiences with them and her comparatively young age of only half a millennium always shined through when she did something like that, and Celestia always had to smile mirthfully when she noticed Cadance’s reactions to the headstrong and brash behavior she too often found herself around.

Giggling amused, Luna shook her head. “It is good to see thee as well, fair niece,” she stated.

“Yes it is, Cadance,” Celestia added, “I would ask you on why you are here, but” she glanced at Shining who was currently picking himself up from the floor to stand next to his wife, “seeing as your husband has already… stated your business and the fact that I sent for you makes this line rather… unnecessary,” she explained, bemused.

Nodding in understanding and smiling at Celestia, Cadance glanced at Shining who was now starting to cower in front of three alicorns staring at him, one sour, one amused and one giving him a death glare for having disturbed her rest. Shaking her head and looking at the bed where both Celestia and Luna had curled around Twilight, unbeknownst to the alicorn of love, Cadance cleared her voice. “Well, while Shining’s method would need more fine-tuning, his question though, is somewhat a reason why we are here.” She began, looking concerned, “what has happened, and where is Twilight?” she asked, bringing forth a newspaper from under her wing and pointing at the headline.

Canterlot Times:

Princess Twilight, will her efforts end in tragedy?

Saturday, noon.

Yesterday, the unthinkable happened. Duke Nightlight and his wife Duchess Twilight Velvet, also known as the biological parents of Princess Twilight Sparkle and resident noble family of Upper Canterlot for over nine generations, were attacked at their home.

Their attackers ambushed their villa and subdued the two defenseless inhabitants quickly, while they erected a magical shield around the mansion to forestall any rescue by the royal guards.

Even with Princess Celestia’s and Princess Luna’s involvement in the affair, they remained unable to breach the perpetrator’s defenses to attempt a rescue mission.

Only after Princess Twilight had arrived, did a fierce battle commence.

While previously exchanging herself for the hostages, Princess Twilight managed to overpower her attacker’s and free herself.

Yet, at what cost?

From current information, Princess Twilight Sparkle had fallen unconscious as soon as the Royal Guards were able to lower the shield, and her current condition is still unknown.

From a hastily held press conference last evening, we know from Princess Luna herself that Princess Twilight must have battled passionately, but ultimately had succumbed to her injuries and exhaustion.

[…]

… finished with reading the newspaper’s contents aloud, Cadance lowered the newspaper and fixed a stern glare at both Princesses. “While I do not believe that Twilight might have lost, I still worry about what happened. So, where is she? And maybe even more importantly, how is she doing?” Cadance asked, accompanying her questions with firm clicks of her hooves on the marble. “Neither the guard nor the medical department apparently know where she is or if she is well.”

Slowly rotating her head to glare at her sister, Celestia’s expression morphed from relaxed amusement of the situation to a stern and barely suppressed glare of indignation, “Lulu?” she asked, her voice suddenly honey-sweet, which made Luna’s fur stand on end. “What, exactly… did you tell the press yesterday?” she asked, the tone of her voice dropping to an ice-cold level.

With her ears folding down, Luna lowly pondered to herself for a second before drawing back up to meet her sister at eye level. “We gave them the truth, sister,” she simply stated.

Raising an eyebrow, Celestia’s stern gaze didn’t waver while Luna tried to withstand her sister’s silence as best as she could, drops of sweat starting to form on her forehead.

Reluctantly letting her head fall, Luna sighed, “Okay, we may have over-exaggerated it a bit, but we have not concealed any information or given falsities,” she explained in her defense.

Sighing with disappointment, Celestia softened her gaze and looked at her sister, “Luna… you should know better than…”

“While I appreciate the implication that this is not as bad as it seemed,” Shining Armor interrupted, his voice firm but bordering on annoyance, “I still want to know where my sister is. You can grill yours as much as you like after we get out of your mane, so… would you please just indulge us for a second?” he asked, his lack of patience shown by his frantic gaze.

Shifting her attention from her sister to Shining, Celestia smiled wryly at the concerned stallion. “You are as protective over her as ever, Shining,” she said, amused. “But what if I were to say that she is already here?”

As anticipated, Shining’s eyes widened for a second, before he caught himself and leveled with a raised eyebrow himself.

Cadance though, who had been around for much longer than her husband and who had learned a long time ago to listen closer than to only that which the eye could see, had already found an interest in the enclosed wing structure of the two sisters.

Creeping closer to the bed, her head held low and her nostrils flaring, there was a certain smell and nearing the bed, she could swear it got closer. The world around her quickly became completely forgotten to her in her search, her eyes narrowed and almost closing with her concentration towards finding the source of the smell.

She followed her nose as best as she could.

A little closer and she'd be sure.

As Celestia gently brushed her away with one of her hooves and secretly winked at her, Cadance found herself back to her senses and blinked in confusion, effectively halting in her actions to stare back at Celestia, a slight bit confused before lighting up with a smile and turning to her husband.

Before she could do anything more though, Shining stomped his hoof on the ground, “Well… I don’t see her here,” he stated matter-of-factly, drawing himself up even more, “while I do not know of any hidden passages or rooms or anywhere she might be, I frankly don’t care… so, where is she?” he demanded.

Slowly tucking one of her front hooves back under herself, Celestia glanced at Luna for a second, who had lit her horn and was staring intently at the increasingly aggressive stallion in front of them.

Sighing at having to cut her game short, Celestia slowly freed her wing from Luna’s own and revealed the snoozing head of Twilight, who was still pressed against Luna’s chest.

Luna, whose wing was protectively curled around Twilight, was momentarily startled as Celestia moved her wing away. But her attention wavered only for a fraction of a second before it returned to Shining Armor.

As Celestia lifted her wing, both Cadance’s and Shining’s eyes widened as soon as they saw the purple head of Twilight poking out from under Luna’s wing.

Cadance, who had foal sat Twilight multiple times when she was younger and had found herself in somewhat of the same position multiple times already, had suddenly the unstoppable urge to coo at the nostalgic display.

Shining though, whose resolve was much harder to break, suddenly lost the fuel to his anger and stopped in relief. Sitting down next to Celestia’s bed, looking exhausted and older than he really was, he sighed heavily and let the frantic turmoil that had been building inside of him all day go all at once.

His little sister was safe.

Getting up and gradually walking closer, he carefully brought his right front hoof up and closer to caress his little sister along the cheek.

She was fine.

His relief at being able to touch his little sister was so strong, that once he redrew his hoof, his whole body started to shake, and a pair of tears ran down his eyes before he blinked them away.

Cadance, who by now had caught herself, settled for a fond smile of relief herself as she regarded her sister-in-law. “So, she is fine?” she asked, watching as Luna slowly relaxed her wing around Twilight.

“Well… she will be, yes,” Luna said, her attention still lingering on Shining Armor, “from what we believe we have been able to unveil so far, she might have overstrained her magic and then simply fallen unconscious afterward. She has been awake… well… somewhat once or twice already, but we figured she should be able to sleep as long as possible to recover,” Luna continued, her attention shifting from Shining to Twilight as she shifted slightly in her sleep, her head pressing against her chest a bit more in an attempt to flee from the sunlight streaming in through the windows.

“Hmmm, and what about Velvet and Nightlight? If I understand it correctly, they had been… exchanged… for Twilight, right?” Cadance asked, her attention shortly shifting to the newspaper.

“They are fine as well, as a matter of fact, they had visited us already before you even showed up,” Celestia chimed in, “and while I am afraid their home might have taken a beating, they themselves are well.”

“Our house has taken a beating?” Shining Armor said, slowly, and quietly.

“I am afraid so, yes. It was the price Twilight, your sister, paid for overwhelming their attack,” Celestia continued. “What happened in detail is still beyond us, but I am sure Twilight did what she thought was necessary at the time,” she explained, her tone comforting, and a hoof laid on Shining’s shoulders. “I know how much your home meant to you. To both of you.”

Nodding sourly, Shining stared solely at nothing.

“We have taken them in so far, so they may stay with us in the castle for as long as their home needs to be rebuilt, or for however long they desire,” Luna chimed in, “but we believe they will need help right now much like Twilight will surely need.”

“I understand,” Cadance said, her mood having dipped slightly, “we will make sure they are well, aunty, and if we may, we may even take them with us to the Crystal Empire to get them away from this for a while.”

“If that is their wish,” Celestia nodded, a small smile spreading over her lips.

Listening silently to their conversation, Shining’s ear flickered somewhat annoyed, “...and Twilight with us,” he stated so silent that nopony was able to catch what he just said.

Blinking and looking at her husband, Cadance straitened her ears, “um… what?” she asked.

“I said we will take my parents and Twilight with us…” he repeated, this time louder.

Panicked, Celestia’s eyes widened, as did Luna’s as they glanced at each other for a second.

“She has to stay with us,” Luna said, alarmed, watching Shining’s and Cadence’s reaction carefully.

While Cadance just looked surprised and slowly raised an eyebrow, Shining Armor though, tensed. “Why?” he asked sharply his eyes narrowing.

“Because… she may… we… we are better able to protect her here, personally, and we will be better able to help her deal with the… um, following consequences of the public regarding the attack,” Luna stuttered together, seeing their true plans for Twilight better-kept secret.

“She is coming with us, and that’s that,” Shining growled. “I am more than capable of protecting my sister on my own, and nothing will be able to come even one thousand hooves close to her without me knowing,” he retorted.

“No! She must stay with us; it is for her own good. Besides, we have the better medical team at our disposal to ensure she will be fine,” Luna hissed back.

“I have complete trust in our medical practitioners. After all, I have trusted them with Cadance and Flurry Heart. They have undoubtedly proven to be as capable as Canterlot’s, if not even more so,” he shot back.

“Um… Shiny? I am sure Auntie Luna has a good reason if she wants Twilight to stay here,” Cadance said, trying to deescalate the growing tension.

“No! Twilight is coming with us!” Shining Armor started to yell.

“Shining… not so loud, please, we can settle this reasonably.”

“Reasonably? What reason would there be for Twilight to stay here?” Shining burst out. “The only thing that would do is keep her in the line of fire for her to get hurt even more! They were here for her… for nopony else… my parents were just used as a means to get to her,” he stated angrily. “And besides, they have already proven that they are incapable of handling the situation on their own,” he added, pointing at Celestia and Luna on the bed.

“Shiny? … ”

“We forbid thee to talk with us in such a way, Prince Consort” Luna snarled back, her wing again curling around Twilight and her horn flaring.

“Prince Consort?” Shining growled. “so is that the way we are playing this game… So, you see yourself as better than us?”

“Shining NO!” Cadance called, trying to calm her husband.

“We are, obviously, thou are just a mere unicorn,” Luna shot back.

Growling, Shining lit his horn and summoned balls of magic to gather power behind his head. “Let her go!” he growled threateningly.

“Pff pathetic,” Luna laughed, gathering her own magic in her horn.

“ENOUGH!” Celestia stated, firmly, both ponies halting mid-action and staring at her. “Luna, tell him the real reason why we want Twilight to stay here, and Shining, I would advise you to calm thyself. The outcome of this would not be in your favor,” She said, having lit her horn herself and countering both ponies magic in a heartbeat.

“But sister, we…”

“She is my sister; I demand that she-”

“Shining Armor!” Celestia called again, “I said calm thyself! Twilight will stay here. It is not that we do not trust you, or your medical staff, or your skill with protection. It has something to do with a matter only my sister will be able to fix, as it is not her health that worries us, but the dreams and mental scars she might take from it.”

“She what?” Shining Armor suddenly stopped.

“Luna, please, tell him what we had to do tonight…” Celestia said, her horn still lit as she siphoned every attempt of them using magic.

Still indignant but seeing her sister’s point, Luna sighed, “we both had to visit her dreams tonight, as she had not only suffered from a severe nightmare after her breakdown but was apparently unable to wake up because of it,” she started to explain. “We were able to banish it so far, so that she could have a restful night, yet we are still uncertain about the coming nights, in which she might fall back into her previous state and therefore could be harmed much more than any magical attack could ever hope to achieve.”

The color draining from his face, Shining looked suddenly appalled.

“See, they have a good reason for her to stay here,” Cadance said to her husband, pressing the bridge of her nose, “look, we’ll stay here too for a couple of days, okay? So you can have an eye on her. But I believe Princess Luna when she expressed her concerns, and I do not take them lightly.” Softening her words, she leaned in and gently nuzzled under his chin, “I also would rather take her with us to watch over her ourselves, but I believe so would Aunty Luna and Celestia. I love her, just as much as you do, but I would rather have her staying here where Luna might be able to treat her, than to take her with us and potentially cause more harm than good.”

Sighing, Shining nodded.

Stopping her dampening spell, Celestia sighed as well. While it was no lie that they had to keep an eye on Twilight’s dream, Celestia knew that her sister could easily do so even if Twilight was in the Crystal Empire. But that was a detail neither of them had to know.

Besides, her own concerns about the safety of her former student could only be quenched when she knew Twilight was close, and Celestia had no intention whatsoever to let any more harm come to her or any of her family.

She already had a plan at hoof for specifically that.

While her attempts of forming a personal guard for Twilight had formerly been halted as her former student had simply refused any offers whatsoever, Celestia, even though she herself thought it a bit mean, had now a valid reason to bring the topic back up again, and she had no intention to drop it this time so lightly.

Regarding the pony pressed against her sister’s chest, Celestia could see how she tried to flee from any source of light and figured that she may sleep for another couple of hours if she was not disturbed further. Gently laying her wing back over her to shield her from the incoming sunlight, Celestia smiled faintly.

“Any clue as of yet as to why she had been attacked,” Cadance asked suddenly, her eyes focused on the wings under which Twilight seemed to relax again.

Sighing at the change of topic and hardening her face, Celestia looked towards her balcony and shook her head, “unfortunately no. While Twilight had been able to subdue all of the attackers, aside from assuring that they are properly locked in the dungeons,” she said, nodding to Luna, “we had simply not yet the time to start any investigations ourselves.”

“Hmm… that is unfortunate…” Cadance said, her face growing sad, “I had at least hoped we’d knew where they came from, or who sent them.”

“Princess?” Shining Armor asked, having calmed down and frowning once hearing of the lack of information, “may I be allowed to interview them... personally?” he asked.

Raising an eyebrow, Celestia regarded him for a second, his determined stare back, which made her inwardly smile, “It would be my pleasure, Shining, yet… please keep in mind, we’ll need to bring them to public court later, even if it is just for show.”

Growing thoughtful himself, Shining nodded. “I think I will manage that,” he said, a sly grin slowly spreading his muzzle.

Giggling awkwardly, Cadance looked concerned. She knew her husband and she also knew how protective he was over his little sister.

A small shudder ran down her back and she quickly tried to find a way to change the topic. Looking at where Twilight laid under Celestia and Luna’s wings, her expression grew softer. “Will you call us when she wakes?” she asks, carefully.

“Yes, of course, Cadance,” Celestia said, her smile sincere and honest.

“Then we may as well get out of your mane for the time being,” Cadance finished, lightly tugging at Shining’s tail.

Looking confused, Shining followed his wife to the doors before stopping once more and glancing back at the princesses, “thank you.” He said, his voice firm, but friendly.

Smiling but tilting her head, Luna blinked, “we are sorry, but we don’t understand for what thee are thanking us.”

“For looking after her,” Shining started, “I know you usually have a busy schedule, so for you to take the time and look after her, I can’t help but thank you,” he explained, his face still turned to the door as he started walking again.

Smiling, both Luna and Celestia looked at them depart.

Once Celestia’s chamber doors had been closed, Luna looked to her sister. “We may need to keep an eye on her brother, doesn’t thou think?”

Surprised by the question, Celestia cocked her head, “whatever do you mean?”

Snorting amused, Luna shook her head, “while Twilight tends to overreact to certain situations, we have the feeling her brother might be a tat bit protective,” she explained, “we simply state to be cautious of his actions for a time.”

Her expression softening, Celestia smiled at her sister, “he may be protective, yes, but he would never do something she would not approve of. Rest assured, your concerns are unfounded. I trusted him to be my… our... guard captain once, I would do so again, which entails he'd know restraint,” she explained.

Laying her head back down at the mattress and inhaling deeply, Luna hummed, “thou may be right, forget what I said.”

Nuzzling the top of her sister’s head, she softly hummed a decline, “I will not, it only shows that you keep far more of an eye on her than any other pony I know,” Celestia explained, laying her head next to her sister.

Laying on a particularly fluffy cloud and cuddling into Princess Luna’s wing, Twilight sighed.

She felt safe, warm and happy. All her anxieties were just a faint memory in the back of her head as she lazily looked up at the stars above.

Squeezing the sleeping form of Celestia lightly and effortlessly dragging her even closer to snuggle into the back of her head, Twilight smiled.

This was wonderful.

She never felt so free, so, ecstatic, in her life before.

Glancing at the sleeping body of Luna out of the corner of her eyes and pressing herself even harder into her embrace, the faint tingle in her head that something was wrong stayed ignored entirely.

Yawning, she nuzzled her head into the crook of Luna's neck as she lazily closed her eyes.

Opening them again, she saw nothing but darkness. Faint specks of light lightly shining through what seemed like a blanket of some sort stung in her eyes and she quickly closed them again. Ending up back on the cloud with both princesses snuggled around her.

Her heavy mind tried to process whatever she just saw, yet she had already forgotten what it was.

Must have been unimportant. Yet, the tingle in the back of her mind seemed to think differently.

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to ignore it.

Though, curiosity tickled, she opened her eyes yet again and saw light, too much light. So much light that she couldn’t properly open her eyes. But one thing she could see… a white hoof gently touching her cheek.

Celestia's hoof. It had to be. A small smile settled onto her lips and she closed her eyes again, the sensation of the hoof lingering for a moment before fading away.

The hoof seemed thicker and more muscular than Celestia’s though… almost as if… but this too was unimportant and she quickly forgot it again.

Seeing Luna’s ear flicker in front of her slightly, an unquenchable desire to nip at it overtook her and she quickly found herself holding the flicking appendage between her teeth and gently sucked at it.

It felt... fuzzy. She smiled and laid her head back down, the ear still in the range to caress it gently with her lip as she tried to make it flicker again.

Blinking, the ear was gone, in its place was light again, yet… it was partly covered by a white blanket and a black one hanging slightly in front of her.

Blinking, the image was gone, and she was back in the clouds, though this time, she remembered it.

Something was wrong.

Blinking again, she found herself back in the light. It stung her eyes, but she managed to hold them open and glance around. The white and dark blue thing she thought was a blanket was indeed no blanket at all, it was too... feathery.

Closing her eyes again from the oppressive light, Twilight used the moment to think. Reopening them, she felt a faint sense of cold as white feathers lifted above her.

The blankets she thought were indeed wings.

Dark blue and white. Two majestic wings hovered lightly above her.

The blue one had a feather oddly sticking out from under it. She lazily glanced at it as the urge to nip at it overtook her again.

It felt just like Luna’s ear.

Just like...

She laid her head back down, her eyes lazily scanning her surroundings, the feather still in her mouth. Yes, there… behind her… she could make out the rough form of Luna, with her dark blue coat and short fur. Right next to her was Celestia, her fur white and a bit longer than that of her sister.

A small smile spread over her lips as she felt the mattress shift under her. “Well, good morning, sleepyhead.” The soft and melodic voice of her former mentor rang through her ears.

Yes, this was perfect. Celestia greeted her a good morning, something she had wished for such a long time now. Waking up in the midst of the princesses.

Waking…

Waking up…

A sudden realization struck her as her eyes opened again and she stared ahead. She was waking up…

This was no dream!

Celestia was really there... and Luna... and they were curled around her.

Her eyes widened as she stared at Celestia’s calm and reassuring smile. She blinked, though Celestia was still there. So was Luna, for that matter.

Panic shot through her system as she suddenly jumped up in realization. Her body though, wasn’t just yet awake enough and so her hoofs tangled themselves into the blanket beneath her.

Celestia’s blanket. On Celestia’s bed.

Before she could do anything more she tipped forward and saw the edge of the bed gracefully leave under her. Though neither her wings nor her hoofs were able to prevent the floor from steadily coming closer.

*Smack*

“Ouch,” she groaned from the floor while the blue feather gracefully landed next to her head.

One melodic and one roaring laughter could be heard from behind her.

Twilight blushed, had she really just fallen from the bed? And much more important, had she really just woken up, with both princesses around her?

Yes, yes, she had.

And now both Princesses were laughing at her.

With her butt still half on the bed and her face firmly embedded on the carpeted floor?

Yep, still accurate.

She felt her blush on her cheeks grow with every second passing while she did not dare to move. Maybe if she pretended to still be asleep, she could go back to dreaming in the clouds?

The laughter stopped from behind her, and a soft trail of warmth slowly spread from her back over her whole body, a sheen of golden magic following the sensation in its wake.

She was gently lifted from the floor, just as gently as one would a foal, and carefully placed back onto the bed beside both Princesses.

Celestia had picked her up. Oh, the embarrassment. Twilight briefly wondered if it was possible to pass out from blushing.

Giggling again and holding a diligent hoof in front of her muzzle, Celestia shook her head, “well, I must admit, I had not seen that coming, Twilight,” she said, her voice still filled with mirth.

Well, at least she had made Celestia laugh, that was good, wasn’t it? Twilight asked herself. Her blush feeling as if it had reached her ears, she slowly laid said appendages back against her head.

Her blush instantly forgotten and her eyes widening, as midnight blue hoofs slowly wrapped around her neck, “don’t be so mean to our poor little Twilight, canst thou see that she has just woken up,” Luna asked, her chin gently nuzzling over her head.

The blush returning in full force, Twilight sunk onto the bed even more.

“We wish thee a good morning as well,” Luna said, her voice calm and her throat vibrating with every word.

Slowly realizing that she had been addressed, Twilight blinked and searched for the correct words, “um… good morning?!” she asked, half at them, half to herself, her voice small and weak.

Here we go :D finally we finished the next chapter... and the next is already in making. :)