Chapter One

It was early in the day in Canterlot when the first of the parties began even though the guest of honour had yet to arrive. This was fine with the party planner and something she had planned for; she called it a preparty and absolutely necessary for something as big as this to get everyone warmed up for the main event.

Among the people gathered for the celebrations were ponies, changelings, wolves, harpies, seaponies and sirens, minotaurs, Abyssinians, ahuizotls, one pair of dragons sent on behalf of Torch (who had included a note stating that he was rather too large to comfortably move about in the city without causing damage wherever he stepped), a small group of yaks, griffons, hippogriffs and a few other races making their first appearance in ages. All were brought together for the occasion, some meeting for the first time in years, and it warmed Celestia’s heart to see them all working together. Even Discord was around somewhere, working minor but harmless mischief as usual (Celestia had seen the butterfly-winged napkins he’d set astir, and found them most amusing).

Even Luna had made an appearance, though it was clear she was not used to being awake during the day anymore with how much she was leaning on Pharynx and not nibbling on her fiancé’s ear. Celestia had encouraged her to tell them if she needed a few hours’ doze to refresh herself, and Luna had promised to do so.

She had stared at the couple and mused to herself how strong her sister’s teeth were as royal changeling chitin was incredibly tough, though she had a feeling Luna’s stubbornness was also a factor to her ability to leave bite marks on him.

Though she was sure if she wrote to Remigium, she would get a clear and concise answer with no fluff to it. She had missed the ridged Queen; Remigium had thrown off more than a few nobles with her bluntness which was always enjoyable to see. Not even Fancy could use his natural good nature to change her attitude much to his wife’s amusement, though he had found it to be just as refreshing as Scolopidia’s.

The sun had been up and the preparty going on for just a few hours when one of the ponies present looked at the horizon and pointed to something her guards had alerted her to a few minutes ago.

“Is that…?” one person whispered.

“It’s gotta be!” another said.

“It is!” a third called.

A few minutes later, the airskimmer flew overhead, clearly traveling in the direction of the castle’s chariot hanger. Acting instantly, Celestia teleported ahead, going to meet her, with Luna taking Pharynx and Twilight’s friends with her as she teleported too, though Pinkie Pie was not seen among the mares. Celestia had a feeling that the Earth Pony had already traveled the distance with her odd talents. A third teleportation signaled that Cadance had gathered the last few who intended to be there when Twilight arrived, including her husband, Twilight’s parents, and a few others.

The group was there when the airskimmer landed, and thus when the door opened, Celestia was the first to see a blue mare walk out with a magician’s hat on her head and a cape around her neck.

“Greetings and salutations to all!” the mare announced with a showmare’s flare to rival only the best. “The Grrreat! And powerful Trixie, is proud to present, for the first time in Equestria in a full year… Princess Twilight Sparkle!”

Small fireworks popped around them as Twilight emerged, looking a bit flustered but still happy to see them. “Hi!” she called.

“And, of course, her faithful and number one assistant, chef and pilot, Spike the dragon!” Trixie announced.

The little dragon trotted out right behind Twilight, a grin on his face. “We’re back!”

Celestia stepped forward, gazing at Twilight. The younger mare had grown an inch or two in the year she was away, and was showing other visible signs of increased physical maturity. But still, Twilight looked as the day she left, healthy and hopeful for the future. Eyes bright with ideas and her brilliant mind no doubt thinking of how to improve the world. Her heart swelled with joy and she longed to pull her former student into a hug, who, after prompting from Velvet, she saw as her own daughter.

It was at that point that Pinkie Pie made her presence known with a tackling glomp that had somehow roped in the rest of Twilight’s close friends, the Lady of Laughter giggling loudly as she embraced her friend. “Hi Twilight!”

Laughing as she was embraced, Twilight hugged them all back. “I missed you all,” she said with a wide smile, nuzzling them happily.

“We missed you too,” Rainbow Dash said as she reached out and ruffled her mane with a hoof. “But what’s with the big entrance?”

Twilight smiled. “Trixie insisted,” she said. “She said it was the least she could do for me after I rescued her.” As she got back on her hooves, she saw everyone else waiting for her. “Mom, Dad! Shiny, Cadance! Princesses…”

“Printheth!” another voice called, and Twilight looked up to see a somewhat abashed Tempest Shadow, Grubber waving eagerly from her back.

“Hey,” she said happily. “How are you two?”

“It’s been an interesting few months,” Tempest said.

“No kidding,” Pharynx grunted from his spot by Luna’s side.

Twilight smiled. The changeling commander had long since recovered fully from his injuries, which she was relieved to see. Then she looked at the back, and saw another pony, looking a little nervous, and her face lit up. "Moondancer!"

"Hey, Twilight." The other mare blushed a bit shyly as she stepped to the front. "It's... good to see you."

"It's good to see you," Twilight said. "Last time we met you were... well..." She moved forward and hugged the other mare. "I was so worried, after what I saw that day," she said. "Princess Celestia said she'd spoken to you, and that you were doing better, but..."

"Yeah," Moondancer said. "She talked to me." She smiled. "She invited me to come and stay in the castle, where I'd have company... she insisted on helping me move out of that shack I was in. And she explained why... why you didn't come and see me sooner." She turned away. "Twilight, there is so much I want to say to you, but can we do it... in private? Later? When there isn't a crowd around?"

Twilight smiled. "Sure thing," she said. "Just let me know, okay? But just so you know, it did do me a world of good to hear that you were healthier and happier again. And actually seeing you that way too means a lot to me."

"Thanks, Twilight. It means a lot to me too, to hear you say that." Moondancer blushed as she stepped back.

One by one, she let all of the others present come forward to give her their own hugs or other greetings, until finally, she was face to face with Princess Celestia.

“Oh, my faithful student,” the eldest Princess said as she stepped up and finally embraced her, as she’d been longing to do for so long. “I have missed you, so much.”

Twilight smiled. “I missed you too,” she said as she hugged Celestia back.

“There is another who wishes to see you, you know,” Celestia said when they finally parted. “And I believe he and his companion are waiting patiently behind us.”

Twilight looked up. “Who?” she asked. “I don’t see any-”

Then there was a flicker of magic as the shield of invisibility that had been present dropped, and Twilight gasped in joy at what it revealed. “Ambassador Swift-Pad!”

The wolf laughed in delight as she came forward to greet him. “It is good to see you again, your Grace,” he said. “I have heard much of your accomplishments since we parted ways.”

“So have I,” Maxilla added as she came up to join them. “Princess… you’ve done so much for our people, you realize that?”

“I’ve heard,” Twilight said as she gave the she-wolf a hug. “It’s so good to see you both.”

Their greetings could have gone on a little longer, had a party blower not gone off some distance away with the sounds of a massive party already unfolding in the city, fireworks shooting off. “Twilight Sparkle, come on down!” Pinkie announced, acquiring a microphone in the little time she had been unobserved. “It’s your big welcome-home party, and everyone’s waiting!”

Twilight gave her a resigned, yet cheerful, look. “We’ll be there in just a bit, Pinkie,” she said.

Turning back to the wolf couple, she gave them one more hug. “Thank you both, for being here,” she said.

“You are most welcome, Twilight,” Swift-Pad said with a smile.

The party that followed was one of the biggest and most energetic Twilight had ever attended. She met friends old and new, got her first look at the royal changelings (besides Pharynx), and overall had one of the wildest days she’d had in a long time.

As everyone celebrated, she caught glimpses of things here and there - Spike chatting with Princess Ember and the shorter orange dragon who’d accompanied her, her old classmates Minuette, Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine and even Lyra Heartstrings (and her wife Bon-Bon) all talking to Moondancer, Ahuizotl (or Teomitl, as she’d learned his real name was when she asked Rainbow Dash after first seeing him) signing autographs, and many, many others.

The day was one she would never forget, but eventually, it wound down, and she was able to head into the castle, where Pinkie had encouraged her to keep up her strength (and save some room in her stomach) for the small, private after-party, reserved for the same crowd (and just a few more) that had greeted her at her landing.

Celestia led the way to the chamber Pinkie had set up for this, and finally, Twilight was able to sit down at her designated spot.

In addition to those who had greeted her, they were joined by Thorax, Queen Tegmina and a pair of sirens whom Celestia introduced to her as Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk, the two having been working closely with Cadance for the past few months. Finally, Pinkie entered, rolling a cart with a massive sheet cake on it.

“Happy welcome-home-so-glad-to-see-you-again!” she exclaimed as she moved it onto the table, causing Twilight to laugh in delight.

“A full-scale replica of Predictions and Prophecies!” she exclaimed. “This is wonderful, Pinkie!”

“I thought you’d like it,” Pinkie said with a grin.

From her own seat, Twilight Velvet gave a smile to her husband. “That’s our Twilight,” she said.

“It certainly is,” Night Light said. “Takes after her mother the bibliophile.” He then rolled his eyes at her grin before patting her arm. “The mom that I am married to.”

Twilight looked at them curiously before deciding to ask about it later. “It’s true,” she said. “You’ve heard of the Daring Do Award for Authors, haven’t you? It’s a prestigious award for great writing, and Mom’s won it more than once.”

“Really?” Rainbow Dash looked in her direction. “What kinds do you write? Because I just love adventure novels.”

“I’ll show you some of my work later, Dashie,” Velvet promised. “Tonight is for Twilight, and Spike.” She looked in his direction. “I’ve missed my little grandson too,” she said, holding out her hooves to him.

Spike blushed but still went over to her and gave her a hug before giving Night Light one as well.

Cake was soon served, and food and conversation mixed as they ate, Twilight sharing some of her adventures as they shared their own, adding to the bits they’d sent back and forth through their letters.

“It’s great to hear that Scootaloo’s family is staying with her full-time now,” she told Rainbow Dash. “She must be really happy.”

“She is, she is,” Rainbow Dash assured her.

“So am I,” Swift-Pad contributed. “For reasons you well know.”

“Yeah, that was one of the things we talked about when I met with her aunts after we got back from the Packlands,” Rainbow Dash told him. “They’d actually been thinking about it before that, but when I told ‘em what you said about it, that helped make up their minds in a hurry.”

“And Applejack, it’s great that Slice is reconnecting with her first family,” Twilight said. “Have you been out to see them since then?”

Applejack shook her head. “We’ve got plans to go early summer, Mac and me,” she said. “Right now, Apple Bloom and her friends are up there visiting Bramley, mah other cousin. She’s Slice’s younger sister and the fifth member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”

Twilight giggled. “I bet they’re having all kinds of fun,” she said.

“Eeyup.” Applejack grinned. “Slice has written me that she’s mighty miffed Ah didn’t warn her properly and she plans to get back at me somehow.”

“Forgot to mention the tree sap, I take it?” Twilight asked wryly.

“You guessed it, partner.” Applejack sighed. “Ah don’t know how they do it, Ah just don’t know how.”

“I heard you were going to visit the Diamond Dogs recently, before coming back here,” Rarity contributed. “How did that go?”

“Remember the trio that kidnapped you?” Twilight asked.

“Vividly.” Rarity looked most disgusted at the memory.

“They lived there, and I had to threaten to bring you in to get them and the rest of their people to behave.” Twilight gave her a wicked-looking grin. “They couldn’t agree to my demands fast enough.”

Celestia looked somewhat taken aback by this. “What on Equuis could possibly have warranted such an act?” she asked with a frown on her face with the other various leaders Twilight respected also looking concerned.

“Their leader was forced to wear a special crown,” Twilight said. “One that could only be removed if everydog there agreed. As long as they wore it, their King or Queen wasn’t able to leave the valley.” She gestured to Trixie who was talking to several of the changelings. “They got Trixie to put it on before telling her about any of this, and then basically kept her hostage. A slave, to find gems for them. I pointed out just what I thought of that.”

The reactions she got were just what she expected.

“That is abhorrent,” Swift-Pad said. “You were well within your rights to act as you did.”

“I agree,” Queen Tegmina said. “Changelings may have fed largely from volunteers, whether they knew it or not, but we have never kept prisoners for that sort of purpose. Except for you-know-who, and she was the exception.”

Twilight nodded. “Fortunately, I got them to agree to never use it again - their new King, who’d been serving as Trixie’s Royal Chancellor and was actually pretty smart when it came to doing the work, is using a non-enchanted crown now. And that’s why she was with me when I got back - I invited her to come home with Spike and I, and she agreed.”

“Then all is well,” Celestia said. She sighed. “Were… any of the other peoples you visited doing that sort of thing?”

Twilight shook her head. “I had a bit of trouble getting in to see the yaks, but that was just an overzealous sentry, and Prince Rutherford wasn’t happy with him over it. Or when he found out they’d missed your letter asking them to help in the war because of that same yak.”

“They didn’t even get the message?” Pharynx looked outraged; Twilight wasn’t sure why he was next to Luna and made a mental note to ask later on. “Because of one sentry‽”

“It’s been taken care of,” Twilight promised him. “They were pretty mad that they’d missed out.”

“What did you have to promise them?” Luna asked. “Knowing yaks as I do, they always take a great deal of persuading to calm them over disagreements.”

“Well, I made a bunch of snow sculptures of the Storm King for them to smash,” Twilight told her. “After that, they were happy, and they swore to make sure their sentries would pass on messages rather than just ignoring them in the future. And seeing as how I saw a few out in the streets, I take it they’ve come to meet with you now?”

“They have,” Celestia said. “Formal talks have not begun yet, but they’ll be starting soon.”

“That’s good.” Twilight paused. “Oh, I found out why they went and hid - apparently the whole Nightmare Moon thing freaked them out the first time it happened, so they decided to shut themselves away. They didn’t even know she’d been banished, let alone come back and been healed.”

Luna looked uncomfortable. “You don’t say,” she said.

“They were understanding, once I explained,” Twilight said. “Oh, I have so much that I learned while I was away…”

“That is good to know,” Celestia said.

Twilight nodded. “And… I want to share it all,” she said. “With the world.” She took a deep breath. “Which is why… I want to open a school.” She looked around. “A school dedicated to sharing knowledge of the cultures of the world, and the bonds of friendship that can exist between all races. A school that will be open to everycreature, regardless of tribe or species. To ensure that we never forget the ties that bind our nations together, and spread these teachings to all.”

“That is a marvelous idea, Twilight,” Celestia said after the applause began to end. “I will be sure to aid you in getting whatever land you wish in Canterlot for your school.”

“I’m sorry Princess, but I do not plan to have my school in Canterlot,” she smiled softly. “There are already many fine schools in this city, with yours coming to mind, but Ponyville is my home and where I live. It is only appropriate I establish my school there.” She looked around. “I’m not trying to take students away from the Ponyville Schoolhouse that’s already there, but if they want to have ties with us, they’re more than welcome.”

“Aww yeah!” Rainbow Dash whooped. “Ponyville just hasn’t been the same without you, Twilight. It’ll be great to have you back there.”

“Though I do hope it will not start right away, your Grace,” Swift-Pad said. “We have a request to make that we hope you will accept.”

Twilight nodded. “It’ll take time to build, to find accredited teachers and work up lesson plans. I should have a few months, at minimum, free before the first classes start. By early next fall, I think.” She looked at him, curiously. “What request?”

Maxilla smiled. “Swifty and I are getting married,” she said. “We’d love for you to be there.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped, and then she started beaming. “That’s great! And of course I’ll be there. When are you having it?”

“Her Grand Grace has been gracious enough to have one prepared for us when we were ready, though of late, we had to make the ceremony a touch larger,” Swift-Pad said, looking over at Pharynx and Luna, who was wearing a horn ring with a gemstone on it and the last piece fell into place.

“You two are engaged‽” she all but shrieked. “Congratulations, I didn’t even know you were dating!”

Pharynx gave a shrug. “We kind of had other things to talk about the last time I saw you, face-to-face,” he said. “I didn’t actually ask until I was back home.”

Luna smiled. “And of course, I said yes,” she said. “We’ve just been waiting for you to be here - we wouldn’t dream of having the ceremony without all of our friends present.”

Twilight smiled. “I’m so happy for you two,” she said. “I’ll be there, I promise.”

“Then let us set a formal date for it,” Swift-Pad said. “Two weeks from now?”

“That works for us,” Luna said, with Pharynx nodding.

“Then that is when it shall be,” the wolf said, nodding his head with Maxilla rubbing against him.

“Storm-Fast and Queen Metamorphia will be co-officiating our side, with Wise-Mind in attendance, as you know,” she said. “I believe Princess Celestia will be handling such matters for her sister.”

“With myself as well,” Queen Tegmina said, glancing in Celestia’s direction. “As Eldest Queen now, it is part of what I do for my fellow Royal Changelings.”

Maxilla nodded. “Of course.”

Celestia smiled. “It would be my honor to do so with you,” she said. “And Storm-Fast when he comes.”

“She comes, your Grace,” Swift-Pad corrected with everyone looking at him. “Not all Packleaders are male.”

Celestia nodded. “My mistake,” she said. “I had not known of any female Packleaders the last time I was permitted in your lands for a Gathering, and had not been informed of any females achieving that status since then.”

“It is fair that you did not know,” Maxilla said, placing a paw on Swift-Pad. “She is one of the first to reach the status.”

“Really? I didn’t know there was a limit for female wolves to rise in ranks,” Twilight said before blinking and raising a hoof to her face. “And I say that while all the rulers of Equestria have been females.”

“There isn’t an official block for she-wolves to achieve higher status or rank,” Swift-Pad said. “It simply had not happened; few had any interest in the position of Packleader. But in recent years, that has started to change.”

“Though what he is not saying is that there has been a lot of old mentality that it was not our place to be in charge,” Maxilla said with Swift-Pad whining at her direct words. “It was really refreshing to see her rise to the rank of Packleader. Though that has me wondering why there have been no male alicorns?”

“The last male alicorn that I personally ever met was Celestia’s and my own father,” Luna said. “Why none have ascended since then, I don’t know. Though I can think of at least one pony who would not object to seeing a certain male ascend...” She looked in Cadance’s direction, and the younger alicorn blushed, reaching a hoof over to set it on her husband’s.

“There are some who are complaining about it reminding them a little too much of that one pride of Abyssinians that the packs had conflict with a number of centuries ago,” Queen Tegmina noted. “That pride took things a little too far in the opposite direction, with their males being deprived of nearly all rights by their leader, a sorceress named Catrina.” At the startled looks she was getting, she raised a hoof. “Abyssinia’s central authority eventually took notice and stepped in, capturing her and restoring the male’s freedoms,” she said. “But old memories die hard.”

“For the most part, the packs simply accept that society is continuing to evolve naturally, and the she-wolves wishing greater political responsibility is simply one aspect of it,” Swift-Pad said a bit more openly, adjusting his glasses. “Though we are not the only country yet to adjust their old mentalities, is that not correct your Grand Grace?”

Luna gave him a glare before nodding her head. “Equestria does have a habit of favouring the female gender over the male in leadership roles,” she said. “Though Captain Shining Armor proved his abilities for many years as head of our Royal Guard. And Prince Blueblood did quite the job in keeping certain individuals in line while my sister and I were focused on the war.”

“Though to be fair, Luna, I was the first stallion in over a hundred years to become Captain of the Royal Guards and neither you or your sister ever gave the noble court much respect,” Shining said with Cadance nodding her head in agreement.

“Er… well…” Luna looked somewhat embarrassed. “You’d have to ask Celestia about the guard; I wasn’t exactly around to decide on it. As for the noble court, that’s because the majority demanded respect on the grounds of a title, rather than what they had accomplished as individuals, and I tend to have little patience for that sort.”

“Which is why the majority of royals we have met in recent years have earned our respect and friendship, not only on the basis of their personalities but because they do achieve things as individuals,” Celestia said. “Such as all who are present here today.” She looked a little distracted. “At any rate, it is getting late, and there are one or two more things to achieve this day. I think we should all reconvene in the morning.”

There were a number of nods of agreement, and one by one, the majority of those present left, until only Celestia and the six Bearers were left; a rather tired Spike had been carried out by Velvet. Twilight was about to follow after them when Celestia stopped her.

“While we’re here,” she said. “Just the seven of us… a few of us brought you welcome-home presents.”

Twilight smiled. “You all being here for me is the best present I could ask for,” she said.

“Yeah, well, we wanted to get ya a little somethin,” Applejack said. She brought a package out. Twilight opened it up to see it was a cookbook, though from the pages it was clearly from different writers. “Ah asked mah family from all over to suggest some recipes you and Spike would like, so Ah hope ya enjoy it.”

Twilight smiled. “This is great, Applejack,” she said. “Thank you.”

"Ehem." Rarity pushed a package over to her. "These are from me, darling. You remember that book series I mentioned, when we were in the Packlands, correct?"

Twilight smiled. "Rarity, have you ever known me to forget a book?"

"Touché, darling. But while you were gone, I bought you your own set - including the spinoff series." She gestured to the package.

Opening it, Twilight found a complete set of sixteen books. "The Cat in the Stacks Mysteries, and Southern Mares Mysteries?" she said excitedly. "Rarity, thank you!"

Rarity smiled. "It was my pleasure, darling," she said. "They're all in the proper reading order right now, though book six does have a prequel novella in it at the back if you want to read that one first."

“I will,” Twilight said.

The others joined in too; Fluttershy brought an encyclopedia on rare animals that Discord helped her write (which was also beginning to be published), while Rainbow Dash had brought a few volumes from one of the more recent adventure series she’d found, and Pinkie had brought a self-published volume, Complete Compendium of Practical Pony Party Pranks. Twilight happily accepted each of them in turn, with further gifts for Spike when he woke up. Finally, Celestia brought forth hers, a large volume with two Cutie Marks, one Twilight’s six-pointed star and the other a blazing sun.

“This is a communication journal," she explained. "Whatever you write in this one will appear in another that's linked to it, so the two holders can talk from a distance. It even works across worlds."

Twilight looked at her in surprise. "Worlds? You mean..."

Celestia ducked her head. "It seems that there's... another mirror that leads into the world of Canterlot High," she said. "A less restricted one that I was unaware of, until its owner told me. Sunset Shimmer and I had a pair of journals like this, and she used hers to write to me for help while you were away. Using that other mirror, I was able to travel there and see her, and help resolve her problem. We had a long talk while I was there." She smiled. "I've gone back and given her the other journal that connects to this one since then, so you can write to her whenever you want."

Twilight's grin could have lit up the room. "That's fantastic! Thank you!"

"My pleasure, Twilight."

Carrying all that she’d received, Twilight headed for the bedroom that was still set aside for her, and began putting everything away. When she had done so, she heard a knock on her door, and went to answer it.

“Moondancer?” she asked.

The other mare gave her something of a smile. “Can I come in?” she asked.

“Of course,” Twilight said, moving aside and closing the door after her. “Is this about… what you wanted to talk about before?”

Moondancer nodded, took a deep breath to calm herself, and then looked at her. “Twilight, do you know why I was so upset when I saw you last year?”

Twilight shook her head. “No,” she admitted. “I… I know I missed your party and all, but you know what I was like!”

“I know,” Moondancer said with a sigh. “But I hoped… I thought maybe you’d come anyway. Our other friends, they got me to finally put myself out there, told me I had value. That if I invited you specifically, after all the hints I’d dropped in the past, you might actually come. But you didn’t, and I… and I…”

She wiped her eyes. “Twilight, do you have any idea how devastating that was for me? To have the one mare I cared for more than anything in the world to just brush me off like I wasn’t worth it? I know now what you were really up to, and what impact it had on the world, but it still hurt me.”

“Moondancer… what are you saying?” Twilight asked.

Moondancer looked her straight in the eye. “I love you, Twilight. I always have.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “I don’t know what to say,” she said faintly.

“Think it over, will you?” Moondancer rose. “And… if you ever decide you’re ready, I’ll be waiting.”

Then she went out, leaving behind a stunned alicorn princess.

Morning came, and as the light shone into her eyes, Twilight groaned. “Who opened the curtains…” she mumbled.

“Good morning, your Grace,” an amused voice said next to her bed.

Twilight shot bolt upright. “Gah! What - Maxilla? What are you doing in here?” she asked.

“Princess Celestia asked me to come and see you ready for breakfast,” the she-wolf said, smirking. “Got your attention, didn’t I?”

“You certainly did,” Twilight said with a sigh. Though she might be a wolf now, Maxilla still seemed to have some changeling tendencies, including her ability to move about largely undetected.

It took her a few minutes, but finally she was ready, and the two headed off to the dining room.

Chapter Two

When the two arrived in the dining room, they found it already occupied by several of their friends and family members.

“Good morning,” Celestia greeted the pair warmly as Maxilla went to sit by Swift-Pad’s side, moving some food on his plate away and onto hers. “I see you got my message, Twilight.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, earning a laugh, but she ignored it. “Pass the pancakes, please.”

Food and conversation followed, and at one point, Twilight found the time to ask, “How’s the library doing?”

“Pretty quiet, actually,” Applejack said. “Flutters an’ Rarity an’ Ah’ve been keepin’ your personal rooms up for ya, an’ Amethyst Star’s taken over doin’ the actual librarian work when it’s needed. She’s lookin’ forward to lettin’ you have it back though.”

“I’ll make sure to thank her then,” Twilight said. “And to be honest, I have been looking forward to reorganizing my library.”

“That’s why I made sure to misplace as many books as I could before I came over here Twilight!” Pinkie giggled with Twilight snorting in laughter.

“You know what I like, Pinkie,” she said with a smile.

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “The more things change, the more they stay the same,” she said. “Still the same egghead on the inside.”

Twilight gave her a look, but couldn’t help but chuckle again. “Yeah… it’ll be a booksortcation all over again,” she said.

“A what?” Maxilla asked, confused.

“It’s where I basically shut myself up in my home, go through my entire book collection, sort and reshelve them,” Twilight said. “I find it fun and relaxing.”

“She used to do it all the time when she was living in the castle, or in her tower near here,” Celestia said. “I loved to watch her do it.”

Twilight Velvet, who was in her own spot at the table, nodded. “You weren’t the only one,” she said. “Watching her do it when she was a foal, I used to think she’d grow up to be an editor or a full-time librarian, before she enrolled in your school.”

“To watch the young at what they enjoy is an experience to be treasured,” Swift-Pad said as he took another helping of breakfast with Maxilla making a light tsk sound. “I only wish I had more time to do so.”

“On that, we agree,” Velvet told him and gave the she-wolf a nod of her head which Swift-Pad seemed to miss. “Though I wouldn’t count on it being too far away for you, Swift-Pad.”

Further conversation was delayed when a yawning Moondancer entered the room, with Tempest and Grubber right behind her, the hedgehog taking a seat next to Spike so the two could catch up some more. A bit later, Cadance came in as well, a cheery Sonata and a groggy Aria floating through the air next to her.

Once the latter had drunk almost an entire pot of coffee and begun to perk up, Twilight looked to her. “You know, I never did get to really talk with you two yesterday,” she said. “How…”

“Did we meet your sister-in-law?” Aria asked. “Simple, really. Your teacher here-” and she gestured to Celestia - “Came to where we were living when your friend Sunset called her for help, and she and Discord figured out what our old partner was up to. We ended up with a bit of a power transfer, and now Adagio’s stuck in detention for forever and I’m back here with my sister, learning what it’s like being the opposite side of Cady’s coin, if you know what I mean.”

Twilight nodded. “I see.”

“What’d she do?” Spike asked.

“Spread hate magic all over an entire school,” Aria said.

Velvet looked startled. “And she only got detention?”

“She’s also stuck in a place with no magic and can’t boss us around anymore,” Aria said. “I’d call that a fair punishment.”

“Point.” Velvet said, looking concerned which meant Twilight might need to ask questions so she could tell her mom.

"Can I ask a dumb question?" Sonata suddenly asked.

"Better than anyone I know," Aria snarked. Then she laid a hoof on her sister’s. “I’m kidding, ask away.”

“Well… if ‘Dagi’s got detention for everything she did, does that mean they’re going to make her come back and keep doing it after she graduates?”

Aria looked at her. “A worthy enigma, sis.”

“I am sure that by that point, they’ll have figured something else out,” Celestia said. “What, I do not know though I do expect Sunset will be able to keep us informed.”

Tempest shook her head. “Most of this is going right over my horn,” she said. “But I can think of a lot worse fates than in-school detention for the rest of a person’s life. Your old partner’s lucky she’s getting off as light as she is.”

“That is one way of saying it, Fizzlepop,” Discord said, appearing above the table and buttering his plate with jam.

The orchid mare winced. “Please, call me Tempest,” she said, not even phased by his sudden appearance.

“Oh but Fizzy dear, your old name suits you so! What with all those sparks you still give off.” The draconequus preened, taking a bite of his plate.

Tempest sighed. “At any rate, she’s alive, and that’s better than my old boss got. Not that a lot of people are mourning him.”

“Ah yes, that annoying yeti goat thing; a very bad boss to promise things he couldn’t give,” Discord grumbled, though he had a grin on his face. “I mean, it’s a hard even for a normal being like you mortals to replace horns or wings, but for me, it’s just a snap.” Discord said, snapping his claws.

There was a gasp in the room as Tempest slowly raised her hooves upwards and felt something she hadn’t in a long time.

“My horn!” she gasped. “You... you fixed it!” she shouted as she leapt through the air and tackled the draconequus over in a tight hug, smiling from side to side.

“‘Twas the least I could do,” he said. “Anyway, that reminds me - Twilight, how’re things going with that staff of his?”

“It’s taken care of,” Twilight told him. “The gem on the top had its uses, as Tempest can attest, but for what he had planned with it, it was too dangerous to keep intact. I’m still working on how to deal with it for good, but at least I have it separated off.”

“Good.” With that, Discord vanished, leaving them to stare after him.

“You know, I was more talking about how he was trying to take over the world,” Tempest said faintly, still feeling at her horn with the same massive grin on her face. “But…” She shook her head, before turning to Princess Celestia. “Princess, I vastly appreciate the offer you made, but it looks like it won’t be necessary anymore. I do want to thank you though, for everything.”

Celestia smiled. “You’re very welcome, Tempest.”

Grubber, who’d been grinning just as big as Tempest had been from the moment he’d seen her horn restored, raised a paw. “Doeth thith mean the’th going to have to go back to magic thchool?”

“Not before I throw Tempsty a congratulation-to-regaining-your-horn party!” Pinkie said as she popped up, to the surprise of many there.

Tempest gave a resigned smile. “Sure, Pinkie.” She looked in Grubber’s direction. “And I don’t know about an actual school... but definitely remedial lessons at the least. Remember,” and her horn lit up a bit, a faint glow appearing around a fork as it lifted a bit before falling again. “I haven’t been able to use even the basics since I was a foal, and as you can see, I’m going to need a lot of practice before I can do it again.”

“Well Tempest, while I can no longer promise you the medical procedure for your horn, I was always going to give you the choice to learn at my school, or at my side, to rediscover your magic and your abilities, if you wish to,” Celestia said. “The choice is of course yours; you can stay here or find another place to practice.”

Tempest nodded. “If you’re willing to take on a student who’s so far behind…” She glanced in Moondancer’s direction. “Though I wouldn’t want to take your attention away from her.”

“I can always teach more than one at a time,” Celestia said. “I run an entire school, and I do take time for each of the students in my classes as they need me.”

“And if we both stay, it won’t bother me,” Moondancer said, speaking for the first time since she’d come in, though she was also looking in Twilight’s direction.

Luna, looking unusually awake for the hour, chuckled from her own seat. “Thank you for agreeing, Tempest,” she smiled at the mare. “She tends to brood and mope when she does not have a pony to teach. It helps her believe she is a thousand years younger than she really is.”

Celestia made a face in her sister’s direction, prompting further chuckles.

Rarity suddenly had a look of dread on her face. “If you haven’t been able to properly use magic in all these years,” she said carefully, “Does that mean you… don’t have a Cutie Mark yet?”

Tempest looked surprised. “Actually, I do,” she said. “I got it when I figured out my explosive spell. Why?”

Rarity looked relieved. “Thank goodness,” she said. “That means my little sister and her friends won’t be trying to recruit you into Crusading with them when they meet you.”

“I have already crossed paths with them, actually,” Tempest said with a chuckle. “They had the same thought as you did and I believe they had quite the plan to help me considering I have-” she paused before correcting herself. “Had a broken horn before I told them how I got my Cutie Mark.”

“I’m not going to ask,” Rarity said to herself. “I’m not going to ask. I will sleep good not knowing what it was.” She looked in Luna’s direction. “And not knowing means it’ll be one less set of nightmares for you to deal with,” she said.

“That’s quite all right,” Luna said with a smile. “I quite enjoy their dreams, to be honest. Helps me feel young, though that isn’t that hard to do, right my love?”

Pharynx just grinned. “Right, Lus.”

In her own seat, Twilight groaned. “No offense to Sweetie Belle and her friends, but I dread the day they meet Princess Skystar,” she said. “She’s our age, but she’s just as energetic as those three.” She looked in Pinkie’s direction. “Actually, she reminded me a lot of you,” she said. “But with fins.”

Pinkie grinned. “Then maybe I’ll have to go meet her someday!” she said happily.

“Speaking of, I was also thinking you’d enjoy Ornithia too, if or when I get the chance to go back there,” Twilight told her. “They spend so much of their time partying.”

“Woohoo!” Pinkie cheered.

“Yeah… and the sunbathing was great too,” Spike said as he finished his plate.

“What kind of parties did they do there, if I might ask?” Rarity asked.

“Oh, they surfed, they danced, they played volleyball… and the food was great too,” Twilight said, before looking in Swift-Pad’s direction. “Have you ever had swordfish steaks?”

“I am not certain I have, but they sound delicious,” the wolf said, licking his lips.

“Oh, they are, they are,” Sonata told him. “Sirens don’t only eat hate, you know. Aria and I got to try some swordfish the last time we were down in that part of the world, before we hooked up with ‘Dagi and got ourselves in trouble, and they were yummy!”

“We’ll keep that in mind then,” Maxilla said, a similar look on her face.

“You really have widened your tastes, haven’t you?” Velvet asked Twilight.

“Well… somewhat,” Twilight said. “I’m like the wolves, I don’t eat anything that’s been named. And I do prefer fish and other seafood over most other kinds of meat I… er… had the occasion to sample, when Spike and I were on our trip.”

“What other kinds of seafood?” Velvet asked, opting not to comment on the other aspect.

“I had preserved sea cucumber when I was in Seaquestria,” Twilight said.

“Oh, those are good,” Luna said. “One would hardly know they aren’t vegetables.”

“They aren’t?” Velvet asked. “They sound like it.”

Twilight shook her head. “They’re actually part of the same genetic family as starfish. A few branches away, but still related.”

“Oh.”

Twilight nodded. “They aren’t anything near sapient,” she said. “I checked.”

“And I double-checked for her,” Spike said with a few chuckles from those gathered.

“Spike, this just reminds me,” Velvet said, turning to the dragon in the room. “It was quite late and you were asleep at the time, but we didn’t give our gifts to you.”

“Gifts?” Spike perked up.

Twilight nodded. “Welcome-home presents,” she said. “I’ll show you mine later.”

“Cool!”

Twilight suddenly pulled out a scroll and quill. “That reminds me…” she mumbled to herself as she wrote. “Must add new structure by the library…”

“What for?” Celestia asked curiously.

“To park our airskimmer in, of course,” Twilight said. “I’m not about to make Spike leave it here all the time, and it would be a little awkward having to come up here every time we need to use it.”

Celestia nodded. “Of course.”

“I do hope you have a license for it Spike,” Night Light said.

“We both do,” Twilight assured him. “The minotaurs wouldn’t have let us have it if we hadn’t. But Spike’s claws are better for handling the controls, so he flies us when we need it.”

“And to be honest Twily, I feel a lot better with Spike at the helm than you,” Shining said. “Attention on things that aren’t book related isn’t, or wasn’t, high for you.”

Twilight made a face at him, getting a few laughs. “That’s another reason he’s better at it than I am,” she said. “But I assure you, there are drivers out there who are a lot worse than I could be. And most of them ferry passengers around for a living.”

“Oh?” Cadance asked.

Twilight nodded. “They say that in Manehatten, the passenger chariots drive on the right side of the road. In the Griffish Isles, they drive on the left. And on some of the Minos Islands, they drive on the shady side.”

“Oh dear,” Velvet said, though she was clearly chuckling.

“Fortunately, the place I did my practicing on wasn’t one of those, but still, I do feel better with Spike being the one to fly us,” Twilight said.

“Kid’s got great skills behind the wheel,” Tempest put in. “I speak from experience.”

“Well in any case, I got you something Spike,” Rainbow Dash said, sliding over a semi-thick package.

Accepting it, Spike opened it to find a stack of new comics, from several different series. “Awesome!” he said as he began looking through them. “I haven’t even heard of these guys.”

“Figured you’d like a variety, after what you said last year,” Rainbow Dash said. “I found some good ones that seemed what you’d like.”

“You did good, Rainbow Dash,” Spike said as he kept looking through the titles.

“I hope nothing too violent or mature,” Velvet said, raising an eyebrow.

“Nothing worse than what you’d see in a Power Ponies comic, and Twilight lets him read those all the time,” Rainbow Dash assured her.

“Ah made sure of that,” Applejack said. “Got ‘round asking about them comics Dashie got Spike after she did, just ta make double sure.”

“Thank you, Applejack,” Velvet told her. “I know Spike’s growing up, but a grandmare has to watch out for her only grandchild,” she said, giving Shining and Cadance a look, causing the pair to blush.

“Mah own granny would agree on the ‘watchin’ out for’ part,” Applejack said before sliding a package over towards him. “Here, Flutters and Ah got ya this.”

Setting his comics down, Spike opened it. “Um, okay?” he asked, staring at the contents of the package.

Fluttershy slid a second item over. “The girls asked us to give you this,” she said, and he opened it to find a Crusader cape inside, looking up at them questioningly.

“Ours was so you have something to help clean off the tree sap those three will be gettin’ you into,” Applejack said, gesturing to the scale-cleaning kit in her package.

After a moment, Spike chuckled. “Okay, I get it,” he said. “And I appreciate it.”

“Just how do your little sisters keep getting into tree sap?” Swift-Pad asked. “I have heard the stories of how they seek their Marks, but I have never quite been able to connect that with the tree sap.”

“Some of their more out-there ideas tend to result in colliding with trees,” Rarity said with a sigh. “Such as hang-gliding or zip lining.”

“Ah,” Swift-Pad said, nodding.

“If they were going to try things like that, it’s a shame I wasn’t there to give them advice,” Velvet said. “I love doing that kind of thing in my spare time.”

Several eyes turned to her, and she shrugged. “What? A writer can’t enjoy extreme sports as a hobby?”

Applejack shook her head. “The more Ah learn about yer family, the less surprised Ah am at how you turned out so capable,” she said to Twilight.

Twilight sighed while Cadance smiled as she leaned her head onto Shining. “Shall I tell some stories too, love?” she asked while batting her eyes playfully.

“Please, don’t,” he said. “Suffice to say, I did not take after Mom in that regard.”

Seeing Rainbow Dash looking interested, Cadance turned to her and mouthed “I’ll tell you later”, before her husband gave her a look.

“I think Spike still has a few things coming,” he said. “Let’s get back to that, okay?”

Rarity nodded. “Pinkie and I got you this,” she said as she hoofed a package over.

Opening it, Spike was surprised. "Mysteries At Two-Door Mansion?" he asked, looking at the book series.

Rarity nodded. "Based on the board game," she said. "These were actually written for a younger audience, in which the reader must put the clues together and identify the culprit, or competition winner, in each chapter. Pinkie helped me find some of them."

Spike smiled. "Thank you," he said. “Both of you.”

Twilight had something of a resigned look on her face, but turned to him. “May I borrow those when you’re done?” she asked. “They sound interesting.”

“Sure thing,” he said.

The rest of the meal (and one or two more presents from his grandparents and uncle) followed, before Twilight reluctantly announced that they should start packing to go back down to Ponyville. “It’s been great to see all of you again,” she told her non-Ponyville friends. “If you ever decide you want to come and visit, my door is always open. And not,” she said as Rainbow Dash started to open her mouth, “Because a certain prankster swiped it again!” She gave the prismatic pegasus a withering look, prompting a round of chuckles from the rest of the room.

“This I have to hear,” Velvet told the other mare.

“Later,” Rainbow Dash told her, mindful of the death glare Twilight was giving her.

Celestia smiled. “While I would like to have you here a little longer, I fully understand,” she said. “We’ll see you again soon.”

Twilight smiled.

Twilight had just finished packing when she sighed. She’d had a while to think about this, and had made up her mind. Levitating her suitcases, she left the room and headed for another, knocking on the door before opening it to see the mare she wanted to speak to, sitting on the bed.

"Hey, Moondancer."

Moondancer turned to face her. "Hey, Twilight."

Twilight walked across the room and sat down next to her. "Can we talk? About... last night?"

Moondancer nodded.

"Moondancer, I... I still don't know quite what to say," Twilight confessed. "I mean, I've only been interested in one guy that I even know of, but... well, things happened, and I had to go home after a little while. I think it must have just been a passing crush."

"Right," Moondancer said. "What about your other friends, the ones you made in Ponyville?"

Twilight shook her head. "They're my sisters, in all but blood," she said. "Nothing romantic there."

"That Tempest mare?"

"Straight as an arrow when it comes to romance," Twilight said. "We traveled together for a few weeks last year. She has no interest in mares that way."

"Trixie?"

"She grows on you, but..." Twilight shook her head. "If Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity and Rainbow Dash are my sisters, Trixie is the second cousin of a sibling's in-law that you get used to and end up better friends with than you expected after a while. Part of why I invited her to stay with me, for a while at least."

Moondancer raised an eyebrow. "Okay."

"Moondancer, I don't know how I feel, beyond wanting to be your friend and see you happy," Twilight said. "But I'm willing to give it a chance. Will you come with me to Ponyville, so we can spend more time getting to know one another again, see where this goes?"

"I think I'd like that," Moondancer said. Sticking out a hoof, she and Twilight shook.

"Now we just have to tell Princess Celestia that I'm moving out again soon," she said with a sigh. "I think if it's to move in with you though, she should be okay. She's spent time with me since I moved in, but she has other responsibilities too."

Twilight smiled. "She does tend to do that," she said. "But I don't doubt that you're important to her. We - her students - help ground her, keep her bonded to non-immortals."

"You mean it helps her keep things in perspective."

Twilight nodded. "Exactly." She then blinked and slowly nodded her head again. "And to me as well, in the future."

Moondancer smiled. "I can see why that would be important to all of you. Friendship is now a core concept of who you are Twilight, and even if that's all we ever are… I'll still love you, even if it doesn't work out romantically."

"And I'll always care for you." Twilight smiled. "Besides, Ponyville might be my home, and I do love being there, but there aren't a lot of ponies who can keep up with me when it comes to studying. You and I can do that together whenever we want!" She leaned in. "Oh, and did Princess Celestia mention that I live in a library?"

Moondancer grinned. "Now you're talking my language!"

The two mares laughed.

About an hour later, several mares and one baby dragon stood in the chariot hanger, Twilight loading her, Trixie’s (which had earned a few raised eyebrows), Moondancer’s and Spike’s luggage into their airskimmer. Pinkie had already volunteered to carry everything else, which had disappeared into her mane.

“Is there a particular reason she’s coming with us?” Rainbow Dash asked, gesturing to Trixie.

Twilight nodded, then nudged the other mare, who sighed and then faced them.

“Trixie is… sorry,” she admitted. “Trixie is a showmare at heart, and often loses herself in the part. Plus, Trixie tends to have a kneejerk negative reaction to hecklers after a number of bad experiences, and Ponyville left her with a bad taste in her mouth practically from the start. As for the Alicorn Amulet incident… Trixie has no excuse for that, other than again letting her stage persona and ego take over and influence her for the worse after her trailer was smashed in the Ursa incident.” She leaned down and sighed. “Will you accept Trixie’s… my apology for being so obnoxious and causing trouble?”

The five who’d been around during the two incidents exchanged glances, before turning back and nodding. “We accept,” Applejack said. “Just… try an’ keep it toned down, this time?”

“Trixie will do her best, but some old habits die hard,” Trixie said. “Trixie - gah! I have a hard time not speaking in the third person, as you may have noticed.”

“And we should apologize too,” Rarity said. “As you yourself said, you were an entertainer and this was all part of your act.”

“Eeyup,” Applejack said. “Ah shouldn’t have shot mah mouth off like Ah did.” She looked over at Rainbow Dash, who shrugged.

“Okay, so I may have gone a little overboard myself,” she said. “I kinda have the same issue with letting my ego get out of hoof as you did. Guess it’s only fair that I apologize for trying to show you up on your own stage.”

“I should apologize too,” Pinkie pointed out. “Not for what happened during your stage performance, ‘cause I missed it - I was home baking. But for the things I said before you shut me up with the Alicorn Amulet. If I’d known Mom and Dad and Limestone were the ones who hired you and helped you get back on your hooves, I’d have been nicer.”

Trixie nodded. “Trixie - I accept your apologies,” she said. She glanced in Fluttershy’s direction. “Except you, because you never did anything wrong, either time, and don’t need to apologize,” she said. “And from what Twilight has said, you helped identify the amulet I had and helped Twilight rid me of it before it corrupted me any worse, so I actually owe you thanks for that.”

Fluttershy ducked her head. “It… didn’t seem right, the last time we met,” she said. “You needed help, not heckling.”

Trixie smiled. “I appreciate that,” she said.

With that, everyone started boarding. Rarity and Fluttershy had opted to join Twilight in her airskimmer, while Pinkie and Applejack were accompanying the Cakes back down on their train, and Rainbow Dash had opted to stay up another day or so to chat with Twilight’s parents, among other things.

“Catch you all later!” she said.

Twilight waved at her, before stepping into the airskimmer.

“Come on, girls,” she said. “Let’s go home.”

Chapter Three

It was several days later before everything was finally settled.

True to their word, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy had indeed kept the library’s upstairs neat and clean for Twilight, and there were sufficient spare rooms upstairs for Moondancer and Trixie to each have their own space. The downstairs, as predicted, had needed a lot of reorganizing to get everything back into its proper place on the shelves, but that was no problem and even a delight for the librarian. Her basement had also been untouched, but that was to be expected - having used it for potentially wild experiments in the past, she had enough protection spells on it to keep anyone from going in and risking hurting themselves by messing with possibly explosive materials. She’d also stored the gem from the Staff of Sacanas down there for safekeeping, until it could be safely destroyed.

Their airskimmer was also parked outside, with a tarp covering it until she could talk to Mayor Mare to get a proper permit to build a garage, which Applejack had already promised to help put up when she was able to do so. It wouldn’t be hard or long, with a number of ponies who had signed up to work on the farm during the war having decided to make Ponyville their home.

Twilight still had one major thing to do though, before she could consider herself officially done with unpacking and reorganizing, and she’d invited Spike and Moondancer to come with her when she did it.

“Just… where are we going?” Moondancer asked as the trio made their way through the Everfree Forest.

“To the Castle of the Two Sisters,” Twilight explained. “Princess Celestia told me that she told you about how we faced Nightmare Moon. This is where it happened.”

“Really?” Moondancer asked, surprised.

Twilight nodded. “Back before I went to the Packlands, my friends and I came back here for a different reason, and since then we’d started cleaning up the old place, helping clean out some of the older things that were here and sending them to Canterlot, so the Princesses - the other Princesses,” she corrected herself, “could have them back. The girls kept up with it while I was away, but there’s still a lot to take care of. I brought you here for another reason though.”

“What’s that?” Moondancer asked.

Twilight smiled. “You’ll see,” she said.

The journey lasted a while longer, before they reached the castle. Twilight led she and Spike inside, and showed them around for a bit before leading them down a set of stairs, to a place where a large, crystalline tree stood.

“This,” she said, “is the Tree of Harmony. It’s the source of the physical Elements that Celestia and Luna, and later my friends and I, wielded.”

Moondancer stared in awe. “Wow…”

Twilight nodded. “And now…” Opening her saddlebags, she withdrew a long piece of crystal. “This,” she said, “is most of the Staff of Sacanas. I took it from the Storm King, and separated the gem he had in it because its power is too dangerous for normal use. But I did do some work on it while I was traveling, and I found out that the main part is actually a branch from the Tree, which got stolen ages ago before being used to make the staff.” She turned to Moondancer. “I wanted you to be here when I put it back where it came from,” she said.

Moondancer looked at her in surprise. “Wow, that… I don’t know what to say,” she said.

Twilight smiled, before levitating the branch over to the Tree. Setting it in place, at the spot still marked where the branch had been broken off long ago, she watched as the Tree lit up and accepted it back, glowing where the pieces fused together.

As the three turned and walked back upstairs, they could have sworn they heard a small sound, almost like bells, coming from the tree.

Walking back into town, Twilight was aware that Ponyville was quieter than normal though it was the normal level for a par-

Smirking to herself as she knew exactly was going to happen when she opened the door, Twilight kept her mouth quiet so as not to ruin the experience for Moondancer.

"SURPRISE!"

Twilight did her best to act surprised but seeing Moondance actually taken aback made her crack up.

“Wha-huh?” the mare asked, looking at Twilight for guidance as everyone in the town was cheering. “Another welcome home party?”

“Actually, it’s your official ‘Welcome-to-Ponyville’ party, Moondancer!” Pinkie said excitedly as she popped over. “Everyone who moves here gets one!”

Twilight, seeing her friend still looking rather befuddled, shrugged. “It’s true,” she said. “I got mine the very first day I came to town, even before I decided to move here for good. I’m guessing Pinkie wanted to give us a few days to get adjusted before she did yours.”

“It’s true,” Pinkie confirmed. “I’ve had time to properly tune my party planning skills and learn when to properly have one for others so they can enjoy to the very best it can be. And how to focus on making the person getting the party happy without going overboard and upsetting them.” She had a distant look on her face. “Cheesy helped me with that while you were away,” she said to Twilight.

Moondancer smiled. “Well… thank you,” she said. “I really appreciate all this.”

“Hey, you’re one of us now,” Rainbow Dash said as she hovered nearby, the prismatic mare having gotten back in town a few days before. “Any friend of Twilight’s is a friend of ours.”

“That means you too partner,” Applejack said to Trixie who was sitting at the table and eating a peanut butter sandwich.

Trixie smiled. “This one’s for Moondancer,” she said. “Tri- er, I, am content with being here to help her celebrate it, and not trying to take the spotlight. But I appreciate the sentiment.”

“Besides, Trixie knew about the surprise parties so I will really need to plan to surprise her,” Pinkie said, giggling to herself and sinking into the crowd.

“Trixie is both impressed and concerned,” Trixie said. “Is that normal?”

“Trixie, nothing about Pinkie is normal,” Rainbow Dash said. “I almost wonder if she’s part draconequus sometimes. But, I wouldn’t have her any other way.”

Everyone looked around, waiting for Discord to appear only for him not to appear

Twilight sighed. “He does specialize in chaos,” she said to nobody in particular. “Being unpredictable is part of that.”

“True,” a familiar voice said behind her.

Whirling around, she saw no trace of the voice’s owner, and sighed. “Like I said, unpredictable.”

Moondancer giggled.

The party would continue on for quite some time, with everyone around having a great deal of fun. Food, presents and party favors would follow, and by the time the day was done, everyone was tired, but thoroughly happy.

It was after dark when the three mares sat down at the table, everything sorted and put away and all the guests gone home, while Spike had gone upstairs to read some of his welcome-home gifts.

“That was invigorating,” Trixie said. She glanced in the direction of the refrigerator. “Am I the only one who feels like having another slice of cheesecake?”

“I could go for some,” Moondancer said.

Twilight smiled. “Me too,” she said as she went to get the plates.

Once they’d all taken some, Moondancer looked in Twilight’s direction. “You know, after… what happened, I never thought I’d ever go to another party,” she said. “But Pinkie’s are really good.”

“Trixie concurs,” the blue mare said. “Pinkie really knows what she’s doing.”

Twilight smiled. “Years of experience,” she said. “She got her Cutie Mark for throwing a party to make her family happy.”

“Really?” Trixie smiled. “Well, Tri-I am glad,” she said. “I think her family could use a lot more smiles on the outside. You can tell they love one another though.”

“Mm-hmm.”

At the startled looks she was getting, Moondancer blushed. “I… may have seen Marble Pie wandering around the castle library a few times, during the war,” she said. “And spoken to her once or twice. She was shy, but nice.”

Twilight nodded. “Pinkie did say she was the quiet type,” she said, before looking at Trixie. “By the way, that reminds me. What were you up to during then?”

“Trixie actually spent most of that time stuck in Dimondia,” Trixie said. “Trixie was on her way to visit one of the training fields to provide entertainment when she ended up Queen. Is it any wonder I wanted out so badly, after being stuck in a gilded prison like that for so long?”

“Ouch,” Moondancer commented.

“Quite.” Trixie nodded. “From what I understand, at least both of you were able to contribute constructively in some way.”

Twilight looked at Moondancer in surprise, who shrugged. “I did a little scribing and general gofering for Princess Celestia when she asked,” she said. “It wasn’t much, but it was something.”

“Trixie understands that it was a slogan for the war; everyone can play their part to help, no matter how small it may be.” Trixie shrugged. “I knew I wouldn’t make it through as a soldier, so I went to try and raise their morale, before being interrupted.”

“Well, it worked,” Moondancer said. “Which is a relief.”

“I agree,” Twilight said. “I… have to confess, when I sent the information back about why the hippogriffs had cut off contact with everyone, I didn’t expect it would end up in a full-scale war. It did though, and in the long run it worked out.” She took a bite of her cheesecake, and when she’d finished chewing, she continued. “I still don’t know how he managed to avoid being detected for so long with what he was doing; Princess Celestia said they’re still trying to figure it out too. Even Tempest isn’t sure how we didn’t notice sooner, and she used to work for him.” she said with her mind going to things she couldn’t talk to either of them about, not yet.

“But you found out in time to keep it from getting worse,” Moondancer told her. “And that’s the important thing.”

“Have they even figured out what species he was supposed to be?” Trixie asked. “From what I understand, he was similar to the yetis serving him, but different enough that he wasn’t one.”

“It’s possible that whatever magic he was using reshaped him to some extent, until he turned into something different,” Moondancer ventured. “I’ve heard dark magic can have that effect, if used long enough.”

Trixie shuddered. “In that case, Trixie is really glad Twilight got her to get rid of the Alicorn Amulet in time,” she said. “Trixie is happy being a pony and would not want to get turned into a monster.”

“Well, from what I have been hearing and thinking so far, it is more than likely corrupted magic instead of dark magic itself,” Twilight said, levitating a scroll and a quill to write it down. “I mean we define magic to what it is, right? While I highly doubt or even know what dark magic could be useful for, I am sure that there is a reason for that magic to exist.”

Moondancer nodded as she began to take her own notes. “When I was doing my studies, I actually read that there were two types of dark magic,” she said. “One is dark because it feeds on negative emotions and corrupts the wielder, like the Alicorn Amulet did, and the other is dark because it derives from the powers of shadows and the night. The second kind is what Princess Luna has, and it’s actually safe to use for normal ponies.”

“Though Trixie supposes that during the thousand years that Princess Luna was gone, that field of magic has all but vanished,” Trixie said as she also started to scribble down her thoughts. “Then again, I have heard some rumours that Princess Luna has the ability to actually enter dreams.”

Twilight dropped her quill as she put up a sound-scrambling field.

Trixie looked at her in surprise. “This is true, isn’t it,” she said slowly.

“And it is a state secret, so this absolutely cannot go beyond those few of us who know!” Twilight hissed. “Yes, she can enter dreams, but she only does it to help ponies who are having bad dreams, so she can help them work past whatever problem they’re having.”

“And deliver secret messages,” Moondancer said with Trixie nodding her head.

“I never said that!” Twilight said a bit too loudly.

“Well it makes perfect sense that if she, the Princess who is in charge of the military division of the government can go into dreams to interact with ponies, then of course she could use it to pass messages on,” Moondancer said with Trixie’s eyes going a bit wide.

“Which is why it is a state secret as if others knew Princess Luna could do that, then everyone would think she was using her abilities to spy on them,” Trixie said, going a bit faint. “And every nation would think every pony would be a spy for her.”

“Not that she does do that sort of thing, as far as I know,” Twilight said. “Again, and I cannot stress this enough, you cannot tell anyone about her dreamwalking abilities.”

The two nodded, and promptly swore, making the gestures they’d learned from Pinkie earlier.

“Good,” Twilight said with a sigh. “I am going to have to let her know you know, and also that you’ve sworn to keep it secret.”

“I understand,” Moondancer said.

“Trixie does as well,” Trixie said. She took another bite of her cheesecake. “Princess Luna’s abilities must be very useful with helping foals,” she said thoughtfully. “In my experience, they tend to have nightmares more often than adults.”

“That’s actually how we found out about them,” Twilight told her. “That’s what takes up most of her time at night, helping foals with their bad dreams.”

“Trixie is glad that she can do so then,” Trixie said. “Would that she were around when Trixie was little…”

“You had bad dreams?” Moondancer asked.

Trixie nodded. “Trixie once made the mistake of staying up late for an audio performance of some show that was designed to creep out the listeners,” she said. “Trixie had nightmares for almost a month afterward, the images presented were so vivid. One of many reasons Trixie became determined to make her stage persona into a bombastic and fearless one, so ponies would be awed and impressed rather than afraid of her talents. Also why Trixie does some of her funnier performances on Nightmare Night, to counter the fear that many might be experiencing.”

Twilight nodded slowly. “That actually makes a lot of sense,” she said.

“I am glad you understand that,” Trixie said with a huff. “My dad, despite being a magician himself, grounded Trixie for staying up late and not being happy for her for being inspired.”

“Really?” Twilight looked surprised. “Well, I can understand the ‘staying up late’ part, but you’d think he’d be happy that you were inspired.”

“Trixie might be embellishing a bit,” Trixie said with a blush. “Dad did not realize that I had been inspired by that incident until much later. Mom at least was more concerned about me when she found I was having nightmares.”

“Moms are like that,” Twilight said. “You met mine…”

“And Trixie saw how Princess Celestia treated you too,” Trixie said. “She cares just as much, I can tell.”

Twilight blushed.

“At any rate, it was one of those rare times he was home,” Trixie said. “He is something of a traveling performer, just like I’ve been. We haven’t actually crossed paths in years; for some reason, he tends not to be at his usual stomping grounds in Las Pegasus when I visit. Mom forwards me his letters the few times she gets any.”

Moondancer nodded. “At least you both still have parents you can hear from,” she said.

Twilight turned to her in surprise. “You…”

“They had my sister and I when they were kind of older,” Moondancer said. “Both passed away a few years before you moved here.”

“I’m sorry,” Twilight told her.

“It’s okay,” Moondancer said. “You never knew them… I still have my sister, anyway. She’s back home in Canterlot. Runs her own coffee shop.”

The trio chatted a bit longer after that, before finally cleaning up the last of their things and going up to bed.

It was a late evening for Princess Celestia, and unbeknownst to her former student, she was having a similar gathering with another pony.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you about this place that your former student - Sunset, that is - is at,” Twilight Velvet said as she sipped her tea. “How it is that she is in a place without magic, when magic is such an intrinsic part of the world?”

Celestia looked a bit nervous. “She is… in an alternate dimension, linked to this one,” she said. “I believe you covered the topic in one of your novels, when you had the main characters visit a different world for a while, before returning home?”

“Oh!” Velvet nodded. “Yes, I remember. And this world, instead of being one where magic has its own set of rules, has no magic instead?”

“Well, it has very little,” Celestia said. “Not enough to be actively used, unless you’ve been touched by Equestrian magic. Or unless you’re Discord, but then the normal rules have never exactly applied to him.”

Both mares paused, turning to look around for the aforementioned draconequus before shrugging their shoulders.

“At any rate, Sunset ran away there through a special mirror, one crafted by Starswirl the Bearded,” Celestia said. “She came back here once and stole our daughter’s Element before taking it there for her own purposes, so Twilight and Spike followed her back there. From what I understand, they had some interesting adventures before helping Sunset to realize what she was doing was wrong, and then brought the Element back here. Since then, I’ve visited myself a few times, and I can promise that Sunset is doing well.”

“What kind of world is it?” Velvet asked.

“Generally peaceful,” Celestia said. “Except for the incident with Sunset, and later the sirens. The portal comes out right in front of a high school.”

Velvet laughed. “Oh, Twily must have had the time of her life being there,” she said.

“From what I understand, the first time she visited, she used the books in their library to make herself a makeshift bed,” Celestia told her.

“That’s our Twily,” Velvet said with another smile.

“At any rate, she made some good friends there, who were more than willing to help me when I went across,” Celestia said. “One of them even opened her home to me for the two nights I was there.”

“Don’t forget the other thing,” Luna said as she passed through.

Velvet raised an eyebrow. “What ‘other thing’?”

“Well…” Celestia coughed nervously. “She… apparently developed a crush on one of the locals.”

“And why.” Velvet looked at her, her eyes suddenly hard as steel. “Did you not say anything about this sooner?” The hardness dropped. “Our baby’s first crush, and I’m only finding out about it now?”

“I didn’t find out until she was away on her trip around the world!” Celestia protested. “I don’t even know his name, or what he looks like - just that she had passing feelings for him, but came back here because she decided her responsibilities were more important. I meant to ask Sunset when I was there, but I had other things on my mind.” She tilted her head. “I’m surprised Cadance or Shining Armor hadn’t said anything to you, they know as much as I do and found out at the same time.”

“They did, did they.” There was a dangerous glint to Velvet’s eyes again. “Well, I will have to ask Twilight about this soon…”

“Then again, there’s nothing stopping you two from going to the source,” Pharynx said, pausing by the door with a bag hidden behind his back. “If I remember when you had to go get the sirens, you left to talk to the Alpha for a direct passage.”

“Yes, but I don’t want to take too much advantage of our nations’ friendship, lest we irritate him all over again,” Celestia said, her mind drifting to the fact the Alpha was still dating her Other self.

“Hey, you could at least ask,” Pharynx said with a shrug. “The worst he could do is say no.” He then turned his head. “Sorry ladies, Lus is calling me and we’re being… well, I don’t need to say what but I might need to shed after this one.”

“Just keep it to the bedroom, or at least her private chambers, and I won’t complain,” Celestia told him. “Unlike a certain someone did last month.”

“Do I even want to know?” Velvet asked.

“Let’s just say, I will never look at a whisk the same way again,” Celestia said with a shudder.

“I’ll take that as a no.”

“She’s lying,” Pharynx sang off as he walked past the door with a chuckle, Celestia turning to the mare with a raised eyebrow.

“Heh heh…” Velvet laughed nervously. “I am a writer and I do pen some more adult themes.”

“Velvet…” Celestia shook her head. “Seriously, this is my sister, there are some things I would rather not think about.”

“I understand,” Velvet said with a knowing look.

“At any rate, is there anything else about that other world you’d like to know?” Celestia said.

“Well… from what’s been said, they’re clearly not ponies over there,” Velvet said. “How did you, or Twilight, or Spike, manage to blend in?”

“The path between these specific worlds changes the person going to match the dominant species in the world where they went, or close to it,” Celestia said, relieved to change the subject. “Sunset, Twilight and I, and the Alpha when he goes there, all became the same species, a race of bipeds. The three sirens also changed into this race, as did you-know-who. Spike, however, was changed into a dog instead. He could still talk, but I am not sure why he did not become the same species Twilight and the rest of us did.” She considered. “I may have to see about examining the mirror a little more closely, to see if it was deliberate.”

“If Starswirl did so on purpose and I could reach him, I would give him such a lecturing,” Velvet said. “Imagine, doing something like that to my grandson.”

“From my interactions with the locals, at least one of them was quite happy to see him as such,” Celestia said. “She actually seemed disappointed when I arrived instead of Twilight, but she later told me it was because she wanted to see Spike again too.”

“Hmm.” Velvet sipped her tea again. “Well… that, at least, is something.” She sighed. “I would be interested in visiting at some point,” she said. “Maybe it could give me more ideas for one of my works.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Celestia said. “I do know that Twilight wants to go back at some point and actually see her friends there in person again.” Then she thought. “Oh!” Setting her teacup down, she stood up. “I’ll be back.”

When she returned, she had the journal she and Sunset shared. “These journals,” she said, “are used for communicating over a distance; that actually includes between worlds, though that aspect is top secret. Sunset sent me a picture a few days back of she and her friends, so you can see what they look like. She also sent copies to Twilight, via their own set.”

Velvet accepted it and looked at it in surprise. “This is… an interesting view,” she said. “They look so much like her friends in Ponyville.”

Celestia nodded. “They are her friends’ Others,” she said. “In my experience, looking into other worlds, I have seen many alternate versions of myself and other ponies I know; Twilight met Others of myself and my sister as well, along with her friends. There is also one of what they looked like when channeling Equestrian magic, Twilight included, on the next page.”

Velvet turned, and on seeing Twilight in her human form with wings, she smiled. “She looks so beautiful,” she said. “And… is that Spike?”

Celestia nodded.

“Well, no wonder they liked him over there,” Velvet said. “He does look rather adorable in that form.”

“I quite agree,” Celestia told her.

“Does… Twilight have an Other over there?” Velvet asked.

“If she does, I have not seen her,” Celestia said. “Nor has Sunset, though she is keeping an eye out. Also for her own Other, if she has one - it doesn’t happen for everyone.”

“Hmm.” Velvet tapped her chin. “Has she sent a picture of this boy, the one Twily liked?”

“No, and I haven’t asked,” Celestia admitted. “I keep meaning to.”

“Perhaps you should now, while we’re thinking about it,” Velvet told her.

Celestia nodded, and summoned a quill. Writing a quick note, she watched it glow, indicating it had been sent.

A few minutes later, an answer came, promising to send them a picture as soon as possible, though it might take her a day or so to get one printed out for them.

“Well, that’s that,” Velvet said with a sigh. “I do hope to see what he looks like soon.” She gave Celestia a look. “I still have hopes for Moondancer though.”

“At the very least, they are reconnecting and learning more together,” Celestia said. “But I too hope things work out for them - they both deserve someone to spend their lives with.”

Velvet smiled. “They certainly do,” she said.

Chapter Four

Days began to pass by in Ponvyille, with Twilight’s contractors and teachers beginning to make the journey to the formerly small village that was now bustling from all those who had moved there during the last year to begin planning for the Princess’s future school.

To her, Ponyville would always be a wonderful and magical place for their ability to quickly accept others as one of their own. There had been different species moving in, from gargoyles to wolves, from griffons to minotaurs, from hippogriffs to harpies, Abyssinians to ahuizotls, and many, many more, with promises of further ones coming - even Princess Ember and Prince Rutherford had both written to say they’d be bringing students for her school. There was even one changeling family that treated Twilight like family due to how her mom had bonded with them, though their daughter Ocellus was still very shy.

Twilight was in the midst of those who’d already arrived to start going over potential lessons as well as working on getting the rights to use the former training fields for the school, sitting at her breakfast table with Spike finishing putting down plates for everyone gathered when there was a knock on the door.

Trixie, who was reading a book on wagon construction and repairs, shared a look with Moondancer, who was reading one of her own books. Both mares were sitting about equal distance from the door and with a quick look between them, they decided to settle the matter maturely.

“Three, two, one-shoot!” Trixie and Moondancer both said with their horns glowing to create constructs, with Trixie earning the task of answering. “Should have known Moondancer would go for paper,” she grumbled to herself while the other mare cheerfully calling out And I know you always go for rock, Trix’s! before the stagemare stood upright and opened the door. “Welcome to the Great and Knowledgeable Golden Oaks Library, home to her wise and powerful Princess Twilight Sparkle,” she said with a flourish to reveal a very sour looking stallion dressed in high ranking Canterlot attire.

“Don’t I know you from somewhere?” he sneered at Trixie. “I do believe there was a poster talking about your location in Manehatten for something or another.”

“Trixie does not have anything to say on that matter as those charges are fraudulent,” Trixie said quickly enough that it seemed to be a reflex response. “Now, if you would pleas-”

“I have important business with her highness, so I would appreciate if you would stop wasting both our time here and direct me towards her now,” the stallion said, stepping into the library.

Trixie seemed ready to snap, either shooting her mouth or her magic but was prevented by Moondancer grabbing her and pulling her back.

“You will explain who you are this instant and why I should not have you leave my library for how you treated one of my friends,” Twilight said as she stalked towards the door separating the kitchen and the library, frowning in displeasure.

“I am Chancellor Neighsay, head of the Equestria Education Association. We are a board of scholars who oversee all schools in Equestria. And quite frankly, from what we have been hearing about this one you seek to open, it does not meet our standards!” he snapped.

“On what grounds?” Twilight snapped back. “I have sent the EEA invitations to attend the meetings for my school and I had yet to hear anything back until now.”

“We were waiting to hear more before we made our judgment and what I have heard so far is completely against all the standards and guidelines we have for our schools in Equestria.”

“Please,” Twilight said, teleporting back to her seat, moving another out for him to take at her table. “Tell me what the EEA finds in my proposals to be against educational standards and guidelines.”

The stallion simply chose to remain standing before responding. “Princess Sparkle, we of the EEA expect things to be done by the book. That means properly accredited teachers, students who will not endanger ponies by using what they learn against us…”

“All the teachers I’ve found are properly accredited,” Twilight said, doing her utmost to remain calm. “While the teachers I have contacted so far may not all have the EEA seal, each has years of educational teaching behind them with thoroughly examined background checks for each potential teacher.” She leaned inwards. “Are there any other serious complaints that the EEA has to address to me?”

“You are endangering Equestria with this,” Neighsay snapped. “What is to stop these creatures from taking what they learn and using it against us?”

“So no then,” she said, tilting her head towards him. “You are dismissed.”

“Ex-excuse me?” Neighsay stuttered, looking torn between infuriated and confused at her words. “You have yet to answer my questions, Princess.”

“They do not merit answering,” she said sharply, moving to stand once more. “I am uncertain-no, I am uncaring to how you missed what happened last year and what was done by the world but allow me to illuminate you. The nations of the world came together in unity and harmony against a foe that wished to destroy everything we believed in for his own selfish gains and desires. I spent the last year reaching out to nations that closed their doors to us and countries that did their best to hide from us as they feared us. I worked to ensure that our people’s beliefs and values, the ones that Equestria were founded on, were remembered and brought back to the light.” She stared at him, moving to stand face to face with the stallion. “Friendship and harmony, the twin qualities that were the building blocks of Equestria when it was founded and that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna ensured would continue to be a part of our culture when they took the thrones, are among the best qualities in the world but they ring hollow and false if we try to withhold them from others.” She narrowed her eyes. “They cannot be limited to one tribe, or one species, alone; they must be shared with all. If the Equestria Educational Association has issues with that then so be it; my school will do without such an organization’s approval.” She used her magic to open the door to the library. “Now if you would, Chancellor Neighsay, can you please remove yourself. Right now, I am in a meeting with my partners and future teachers while sharing breakfast with them and the library is currently closed.”

The stallion stared hard at her, his eyes nearly bulging with his teeth clenched hard before he very reluctantly bowed his head and walked out the door, with Twilight closing it behind him.

“Wow.” Moondancer shook her head. “You go Twilight.”

“Trixie concurs,” Trixie said from where she was standing. “That is one of the best performances she has ever seen, and she is not saying that just because she knows every word of it to be true.”

“And if he tries to say otherwise, I have a recording of everything that happened,” Spike said from the table. “Good thing I decided to record this meeting for you as well as take notes, Twilight.”

“If I had thumbs, I’d give you two of them up,” Moondancer said. “Both of you.” She then trotted over to give Spike and Twilight both a hug which they returned happily.

“Though we will have to deal with their complaints, I don’t think Ponyville will suffer all that much,” Mayor Mare said as she put down her fork. “I quite agree with you on this matter, and while I do have one minor concern, it is one that I am certain can be easily handled.”

“Oh?” Twilight asked.

“Do you have someone officially placed to fill in as Headmare for those instances when you and your friends will be out of town on other business?” the mayor asked.

Twilight smiled. “Absolutely,” she said. “I have a few in mind who’ve already promised to fill in, including Moondancer.”

“Excellent,” Mayor Mare said. “Now, another thing. I understand that your school is an alternative one, designed to help students learn more specialized courses. Were you planning to include our school’s students, if they wished? Perhaps consolidate the two?”

Twilight considered. “Well… I wouldn’t mind inviting them over to attend certain events, if they so chose,” she said. “And any student who wants to switch is welcome, though they’ll have to get permission. But I won’t force anyone who wants to stay at the Ponyville Schoolhouse to come here.” She put on a stern look. “One thing though that I will not tolerate is members of its school board attempting to interfere or influence our decisions; I understand that one of them is notorious for that over there.”

Mayor Mare nodded, somewhat resigned. “The pony in question has been rather quiet since the day the good ambassador visited classes there,” she said. “Word got around over how you had words with her.”

“I was doing what any reasonable adult would,” Twilight said. “Her daughter was clearly scared and needed help.”

“Well, you did a good job of helping her,” Mayor Mare said.

Twilight smiled before widening her eyes. “Spike, can you remind me to ask Cheerilee to meet Mr. Rivet?” She turned to face the Earth pony stallion, who was lead builder for her school. “Anything she wishes to have done to her school, I would appreciate it if you could find time in your schedule to make it happen or contact those who could help instead.”

“Consider it done, Princess,” Rivet replied. “Was already sorta planning it for Cheerilee.” Twilight raised an eyebrow before the stallion chuckled. “This isn’t the first time I’ve worked in Ponyville, far from it - hay, I was here on a project durin’ that whole Mare-Do-Well thing. I came back here durin’ the war, helping build the walls and met Cheerilee,” he paused before shaking his head. “Cheerilee and I got to know each other. She’s a great gal, and we started datin’ after that. An’ when the school closed for the summer, she asked me to help with fixin’ up some of the parts that needed it.”

“Good to know,” Twilight told him. “And congratulations.”

Rivet tipped his helmet to her.

The meeting continued on for most of the morning, before finally breaking up around the lunch hour. Twilight thanked everyone for coming, with the plans nearly reaching their completions. While Spike went to prepare lunch, Twilight went to oversee how Trixie and Moondancer were doing with the library, and was pleased to find them doing well, having long since finished putting everything away that needed it and found something of their own to read while she was otherwise preoccupied.

“Trixie could not help but overhear some of your comments on a certain mare on the school board,” Trixie remarked as she looked through her book. “Trixie thinks you did well on her, she sounds like a truly unpleasant individual. Actually, she sounds like one of Trixie’s old teachers from her hometown - Mrs. Hydia was one of those types that makes you wonder why she went into teaching if she didn’t like being around foals. One of the reasons I went to Canterlot for the School for Gifted Unicorns was to get away from her.”

“Believe me, Spoiled Rich is one of the least friendly individuals I’ve ever had cause to meet,” Twilight said. “I don’t know what her husband sees in her, he’s normally fairly reasonable.”

“Maybe their parents set it up?” Moondancer suggested.

“Could be,” Twilight said. “I haven’t asked.”

“Can we change the subject?” Spike asked as he came in. “Thinking about her gives me indigestion, and lunch is ready.”

Twilight nodded, and the trio followed him in to the dining room.

Talk soon turned to other things, such as the upcoming weddings.

“Has Princess Luna told you about any specific plans they have?” Trixie asked.

“Mostly just the guest list and who’s in charge of certain parts,” Twilight said. “We’re all coming up the day before the ceremonies to make sure everything’s ready. Oh, and Wise-Mind should be coming in the same day, and he’s bringing Slice and her brothers, and the Crusaders, back with him - they’re going to be the flower fillies again. And after the ceremonies are done, Mac and Applejack will be going with them all back to Slice’s farm for a while, while Luna and Pharynx go off on their honeymoon, and Swift-Pad and Maxilla have their own. I think they said they were going to Ornithia - my talk about the food there intrigued them.”

“Your talk about the food there intrigued me,” Moondancer said. “I didn’t used to go for meat of any kind much, but after what you said, I actually kind of want to try some.”

“What about you, Trixie?” Spike asked. “You ever had fish before?”

“On occasion,” Trixie said. “Trixie has traveled extensively, after all. Speaking of, are you planning to include the more exotic cuisines in your school’s cafeteria?”

“That’s one of the things I’ll be seeing about when we get back,” Twilight told her. “All part of the process of learning about other cultures. Did you hear the part where I mentioned the students doing a hooves-on project about a country of their choice at some point during the year?”

“I did,” Trixie said. “What about it?”

“Well, one of the examples I set up was how they could use local ingredients to make something edible for the rest of the class,” Twilight said. “Like making a pan of brownies that were decorated to look like one country’s flag.”

“Extra credit they can eat,” Moondancer said, nodding approvingly.

“Trixie would gladly sit in on that class,” Trixie said. “It sounds like fun.”

“That’s one of the whole points,” Twilight said. “I read through the EEA’s rulebook, and really, some parts of it were pretty stuffy. We all have our own tastes, and we learn differently, which is something teachers have to be sensitive to with mixed classes.”

“Twilight learns best from sticking her nose in a book,” Spike joked.

“There’s nothing wrong with that!” Twilight said indignantly. “But yes, that is how I learned best, and from watching and listening.” She sat back. “I did talk to Cheerilee on some points last week, for how she helps her students have fun learning.”

“You’re really putting in all the effort possible Twilight,” Moondancer said.

“Well of course I am, I couldn’t just announce I was planning to open a school with just the girls and myself out of the blue, could I?” Twilight replied. “They all have their own lives and responsibilities, I can’t expect them to suddenly start doing double-duty by teaching full-time too. Though I have invited them to give the occasional guest lecture.”

“That would have been a very dumb idea, Twilight,” Spike said as he began to set the table. “The first part, not the asking if you could have them be guest speakers.”

“Exactly,” Twilight said. “Neighsay may be a racist jerk, but the EEA rules about requiring accredited teachers and background checks on any staff members do make sense. Our friends are a lot of things, but accredited teachers is not one of them.” She looked around. “Though there is one potential staff member I was thinking of who probably wouldn’t pass any background check they could come up with. He has my trust though.”

“I think I know who you mean, but what on Equus would you possibly have him doing?” Spike asked nervously.

“Head of Security,” Twilight told him. “This way he’d be included, and it is something he’d be good at.”

Just then, a scroll popped into the air above them, which Twilight accepted and unfurled.

“Dear Princess Twiggles,” she read. “Respectfully, I must decline, but I appreciate the thought. On a related note, see me after the weddings - there is a comparatively minor issue that can wait until then to be handled. No lives are at stake, or I’d do something about it myself. Yours, Discord.” She rolled it up. “Well, I guess I have that answer.”

“Did you think he would actually take it?” Moondancer asked.

“I’d hoped,” Twilight said. “We do need a security force, and I wanted to include him. He’s my friend too, after all - one of my more eccentric friends, but still a friend. And he’d be good with watching out for external threats. They still haven’t been able to catch that bugbear that escaped Tartarus; it’s like Caballeron - sneakier than you’d think. Or that other thing that got out at the same time.”

“Have they been able to identify it yet?” Spike asked.

Twilight shook her head. “Princess Celestia’s team tried to get in, but for some reason the gates of Tartarus were shut tighter than that Top Jewel’s bank account was when charities were asking for donations. They weren’t able to get through it, and Celestia thinks maybe the one that got out did something to make it harder on us.”

“That’s worrisome,” Trixie muttered.

“I know,” Twilight said with a sigh. “She’s been looking into finding a way to get past it, but no luck yet. At least we know a few things that it’s definitely not though.”

“Like what?” Trixie asked curiously.

“You’re familiar with the story of Gusty the Great, right?”

Trixie nodded. “A foal’s tale,” she said. “Entertaining, but just a story.” She looked at Twilight, almost hopefully. “Right?”

Twilight shook her head. “Grogar is real,” she said. “I’ve been to his prison. He’s sealed inside a giant crystal, a mile thick, and with more security spells on it than I can count. I even added my own.”

Two sets of eyes, both as wide as dinner plates, met hers with stunned shock.

“How many ancient evils sealed away are there?” Moondancer asked, almost faint.

“More than I care to think about,” Twilight told her. “There’s also Squirk, a monstrous octopus who used to rule what’s now Aquastria; he’s locked up tight there, I saw him myself.”

“I’ll vouch for her,” Spike volunteered. “His cell’s clear enough that you can see him just fine.”

“Trixie is suddenly very frightened by the idea of all these ancient evils still out there,” Trixie said. “Trixie would like to not be afraid anymore.”

“That’s one of the reasons we’re checking up on these things,” Twilight told her. “So you know they’re handled and aren’t a danger anymore.”

Suddenly, Trixie let out a yelp.

“What happened?” Moondancer asked her.

“Cold! Cold-cold-cold in my ear!” Trixie took a few deep breaths. “Trixie is fine, just startled. But Trixie would swear she just felt a cold snout right in her ear!”

A pink hoof passed her a piece of paper. “And now you’re not afraid anymore,” she read. “Who…”

Then she turned, coming face to face with a grinning Pinkie. “Hi!”

Trixie let out a resigned groan, but she had a faint smile on her face. “Trixie appreciates that,” she said.

“No problem!” Pinkie chirped before pronking off towards the door and heading back out.

Moondancer shook her head. “Every time I see her, she does something even more surprising than before,” she said.

“That’s our Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said with a chuckle.

It was far later in the day, just a few hours after Blueblood had returned home during his own trip around the world due to the upcoming nuptials of Princess Luna and her chosen consort when his butler came to his study’s door.

Biting back a sigh, he turned to the stallion and asked, “Who is actually bothering me now?”

“A chancellor Neighsay, your highness,” the butler responded with all the decorum his line of work had instilled into the stallion. “A matter he wishes to bring up with you privately.”

“Neighsay?” Blueblood mused to himself in confusion. As far as he could recall, the stallion was a minor figure in the grand political scene, though the chancellor had been sending complaints that Blueblood’s secretaries had been dismissing as not to waste his own time on which underscored the lack of potential threat that the leader of the Equestria Education Association's agenda possed. Perhaps they were actually worth his time to investigate the stallion’s plan though he’d expect to get a taste of it now that Neighsay was in his home to talk to him unplanned. “Send him in.”

“As you wish sir,” the butler said, bowing his head as Neighsay stalked into the study room and Blueblood was already disliking him. He had a true arrogant unicorn Canterlot noble air about him that had created a very poor image for Canterlotians and made most think unicorns were tribalist if not worse.

“Ah, Speaker Prince Blueblood, how good to see another proper noble of Canterlot among us once more,” he said, moving straight to his desk while his magic went to his wine cabinet and began to pull out a bottle and a pair of glasses. “You would not believe the atrocious morning I have had; I was forced to deal with who should have been one of the very best of us, considering this is her home and her high rank.”

“Neighsay, I will be blunt and ask you to be direct with me here,” Blueblood said biting back a snarl of annoyance as the stallion had opened up a formerly priceless three hundred year old bottle. “What do you want from me.”

“To the point, that is the proper way,” he said, tilting his head with a smile-like sneer on his face, suggesting the chancellor actually believed Blueblood was being encouraging to him. Taking a sip of his wine, the chancellor continued. “No doubt you have heard of the farce of a place her other highness wishes to open to outsiders. Despite me informing her that such thing cannot be allowed under the Equestria Education Association, she had the gall to dismiss me as if I was her servant and go so far as to reject my organization’s authority as she plans to continue to open her… building.” He spat out the word, a glop of wine smacking against his desk, which had been in the family for nearly five hundred years. “I will need your help to gain the proper backing in Canterlot to force her to quit this misguided mission of hers and to properly apologize to me for insulting the EEA and thinking she could talk to me as if she were above me.”

Blueblood stared at him in disbelief, his mind struggling to choose one point to address first before his training kicked in. “You must believe I am a greater fool than you are, Neighsay,” he said, using his magic to hold the stallion's mouth shut. “The fact you came to me already says you know that you’ll be laughed out of Princess Celestia’s court at best if you brought this up to her, fired if not worse if she were to take you seriously in your demands. So you came to believe I would be idiotic enough to go against the former personal student of Princess Celestia, whom the princess views as her own daughter no less, on your behalf.” Blueblood stood up now, narrowing his eyes. “Furthermore, you are a servant, as we all are. Princess Twilight Sparkle is a Princess, one of the rulers of Equestria. Though she might not dwell in Canterlot anymore, I still accept her authority and pledge myself to her rule as I do for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna and you should have done too if you were truly loyal to my nation.” He began to stalk around his desk, letting his anger build up. It was a privilege he had due to the persona he had let others see, the rude and arrogant prince now being used in an actually effective manner. “If what my secretaries and assistants have been telling me is true, then her school is meant to capitalize on what she spent the last year doing; reconnecting our country to the international community which, due to citizens like you, saw us as a preening arrogant xenophobic imperialistic civilization that would never bother to help another who was not us. It is because of Princess Twilight that we were able to prevent the Storm King from bringing down war on our heads. Princess Luna might have laid down the plans for our victory, but it was Princess Twilight that first brought the warning and made it possible for us to actually count on our allies to aid us as Princess Twilight showed them we were not like you and your ilk.” He was staring the stallion in the face who was looking just as furious as Blueblood was. “She might have decided to be merciful and just let you be as she has yet to learn how poisonous the political scene could be but I am not as kind as her nor disloyal as you are.” Blueblood took the wine glass from his magic and pointed a hoof towards the door. “Get out of my home this instant and you best prepare yourself because I am going to inform Princess Celestia personally of what just happened and she will be even harsher than I as you tried to use people she cares about against each other and those she considers family.”

Neighsay stared at him in stunned disbelief, then turned around and left without a word, though Blueblood didn’t have to be a changeling to tell he was inwardly seething. Returning to the far side of his desk, he collapsed into his seat. “That,” he remarked to nobody in particular, “Was a thoroughly unpleasant experience.”

“I quite agree,” a voice said as one of his ornaments turned to face him. “With somepony like that gunning for her, it’s no wonder Twi-Twi’s plans involved hiring security guards for her school.”

“Discord,” Blueblood acknowledged. He and the draconequus had spoken rarely, but he knew better than to underestimate or antagonize the being his aunts considered an ally. “I trust you heard all that?”

“Absolutely,” Discord said. “And our dear Princess Twiggles will be quite pleased to know you support her in this, if she’s told.” He narrowed his eyes. “That fool is one of the worst examples of Order I have ever seen; insistent on having things in precisely the right way and believing his way is the only right one. It should be interesting to see how he reacts when it’s pointed out just how wrong he is.”

“Indeed,” Blueblood said dryly. “As much as I appreciate your input, I must speak with my aunts on this matter.”

“Care for a lift?” Discord asked.

“I would…” Blueblood considered. “Appreciate it, and thank you,” he said.

The possessed ornament nodded and snapped its claws, and Blueblood vanished from his office.

Neighsay, despite what many thought and told him today, was not a fool. He had gambled on Blueblood helping him convince Princess Celestia to make the young Princess see reason and it had backfired horribly. He knew now that there was no longer a future for him in Canterlot and his time as Chancellor of the Equestria Education Association was over.

He had managed to make it back to his apartment and take all that he would need for a life far from the shining capital of Equestria before the Princess’s wrath cooled, though he doubted she would ever truly forgive him. Her fondness for her former student was well known, as was her protectiveness.

It was why he had chosen to take the back streets and alleys to make his departure of Canterlot, avoiding all that could spot him and report back to the castle where the Princesses dwelled. He was nearing a small bolthole that offered a passageway through the walls of the city when a cloaked figure stepped out from the shadows, breathing heavily.

“Who are you?” Neighsay demanded. “Get out of my way!”

The cloaked being laughed. “'Is he friend or is he foe?' the pony wonders. I can assure you... I am no friend... and I will take what should have been mine long ago.”

Then the being, whatever it was, opened its mouth and began to draw magic from Neighsay, pulling it out through his horn.

The last thing he heard before he fainted was a cruel, mocking laugh.

He smiled as he watched the fool drop to the ground before snapping his fingers and his minions came forward. It had taken him time but even in this blasted so called enlightened era, there were still the downtrodden, resentful at those at the top and he had been working to get them behind him.

As his minions went to drag the stallion away so he couldn’t run back and inform others of what just happened, he turned his head towards the castle where the Princesses now called their home and a sneer of hatred crossed his face.

“Soon you will pay for everything you have taken from me,” he vowed his revenge again before turning his back on the castle and following his men into the mountain wilderness to continue to grow his power, until he was ready to defeat his enemies once and for all.

He frowned; hiding his magical presence was not easy, especially from a certain old acquaintance of his family, but the steps he’d taken to ensure he stayed hidden even from Discord were well worth it in the long run.

Still… he had full confidence that even the draconequus was unaware of his location, until he wished it.

And then all would fall into place.

Chapter Five

It was just a few days later when a small herd of ponies (and one dragon) returned to Canterlot from Ponyville, while other sapients arrived from other parts of the world.

While many immediately went to work on wedding preparations, Pinkie and Applejack setting to work on the reception while Rarity had been working on Maxilla’s wedding dress since before Twilight’s return (and Luna’s as well), Luna herself was going over some reports that had been brought in. Celestia let out a sigh, shaking her head, as she stepped into the room.

“You know that you will be married in a few days, dear sister,” Celestia said, placing a wing over her sister’s side. “I know it is troublesome to see our ponies vanish without a trace, it is a fact that it sometimes happens.”

“Not at this rate it doesn’t,” Luna muttered. “Though given one of them in particular, I can’t help but wonder if that individual might be responsible.”

Celestia nodded slowly. “Neighsay’s reaction to Twilight’s school does concern me, but I can’t believe he would plot against us in such a manner,” she said. “He has always been a stern individual, but not a treacherous one.”

“You have still a lot to learn about the levels one would stoop to if they felt slighted by another,” Luna said with Celestia wincing but accepting her words. “Vengeance can arise from any action, no matter how petty it may be.” She sighed, shaking her head. “In any case, I will have my guards increase their patrol to see if they can drum up anything; I might need to do so mysel-”

“No you will not,” Celestia said. “Not tonight, in any case.” She placed her hoof on her sister’s side. “You are my little sister and I am throwing you the greatest bachelorette party imaginable.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “And Pinkie didn’t insist on being in charge of doing so?”

“Sisters’ privilege,” Celestia said. “She understands. Though Queen Metamorphia did offer her the job of handling Maxilla’s, which she quite happily accepted.”

“How were you planning on dividing up the attendees, with two separate parties?” Luna asked.

“Let’s just say that with what we’ve set up, switching between the two and mingling won’t be a problem,” Celestia told her with a wide grin that made Luna feel a sense of dread.

“Should I dare ask what Swift-Pad and Pharynx are doing?” she asked.

“They decided to share one party,” Celestia said. “And I know Spike is involved, though it helps that now he knows such an event is supposed to be held before the wedding.”

“No, he isn’t,” Thorax said, teleporting into the room. “I kinda have something planned for my big bro that really isn’t appropriate for him to see. Something that Velvet would skin my chitin off for a dozen times if I exposed Spike to it before he is old enough. Sorry for eavesdropping a bit but I had to tell you. Bye!”

With that, the Changeling teleported away while waving his hoof with Celestia and Luna giving each other a surprised look. “Well, that could only mean a few dozen things,” Celestia said a slow tone.

“That Thorax has been replaced by a poor actor?” Luna replied with a raised eyebrow.

“That and I need to step my game up,” Celestia said with a wide grin with Luna snorting and shaking her head in mirth.

“I suppose someone will have to watch over he and our flower fillies for the night then,” she said.

“Already covered,” Celestia said. “Stemma and her family were invited to the weddings and will be attending, but she volunteered to watch the young ones for the night before, including Ocellus, on the grounds that things were likely to get too wild for her tastes. Her husband Ommatidium will be attending your fiancé’s party though.”

“Well then,” Luna said, stepping away from her desk. “I suppose I should be preparing myself and be trusting my guards to do their duties.”

“That’s the idea,” Celestia said. “Come with me and let me show you how a thousand years has changed how one throws a bachelorette party.”

“I am suddenly afraid,” Luna muttered. “And this is from the mare who’s seen some of the more extreme clubs that have opened out there during her thousand years away.”

Celestia gave her a look, before leading her out of the room.

It was late in the night when Pharynx stopped and looked at the location where the drone next to him had led him and the rest of the party to. While Canterlot was the shining gem in Equestria, it had its own red light district that most nobles tended to ignore even existed.

Pharynx stared at his brother before looking back at the front of the building, hearing and feeling the normal sounds and emotions that would happen in such a place. “You, of all changelings, planned this?” he asked again, wondering how or when his brother would have been replaced.

“Is it really that hard to believe I did this?” Thorax said, rolling his eyes.

“Big little bro, this is coming from the supposedly same changeling who was always too shy to do anything to get noticed and who I had to force to meet other changelings, so yes, I find it very hard to believe my brother would get -” Pharynx was cut off when the drone across of him leaned over and whispered into his ear. His eyes went wide before he nodded his head. “Okay, first off, I believe you now and secondly, King or not, if you ever bring that up again, I will peel you out of your shell.”

Thorax smirked. “And now you won’t underestimate me.” He slid an arm around his brother and led him inside. “You really need to stop doing that; I’ve spent over a year learning from the Princesses and Queens about politics and being cleverer than I had been. I’ve even learned about being more assertive.”

“And yet, you still haven’t found someone to have your eggs with,” Pharynx snarked with Thorax grinning.

“Funny you should say that,” Thorax said as the two stepped in, with Pharynx’s eyes going even wider. “Finding someling who was interested in me for me wasn’t easy… but it’s happened.”

Pharynx slowly turned to him, looking just as dumbstruck as Thorax had been almost a year ago. And though the younger changeling didn’t realize it, he had almost the exact thought that Pharynx did back then.

My kingdom for a camera!

It had been a very interesting and exciting night, though as much as Spike had asked what exactly happened, everyone had told him he was too young to be told just yet.

“We’ll tell you a few years after you’ve Molted,” Shining Armor promised as the two sat down on the benches near the front. “When you’re eighteen.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Spike told him as he stood up and watched more people begin to enter the Grand Hall, where Cadance’s wedding had once been held and now another would take place. “It seems the entire city is here.”

“Well except for the guards, of course,” Shining said, nudging his nephew. “After the last wedding disaster, all of the guards are on high alert for anything that might try to cause trouble. Even Chrysalis’s cell is under tight guard, just to be safe.”

“How is she even doing?” Spike asked, thinking about her for the first time in over a year.

“Well, I don’t know if you’d heard, but the other Queens trapped her in the form of a donkey and Sealed her, so she can’t use magic of any kind anymore,” Shining said. “Then they put her in one of our best cells for the rest of her life, with round-the-clock security - even without Tartarus having been sealed off somehow, they didn’t want to let her out of our sight. Based on their reports… she’s spent most of her time just being cranky.”

Spike blinked at that, frowning. “As much as I should feel bad for someone to be treated like that, I know she does deserve what she is getting so I don’t feel that bad for her. Is that right?” he asked Shining.

Shining winced, trying to think how to best answer this question. “While she is a criminal, that you feel bad for her is good,” he said at last. “Empathy, the ability to understand what another feels, is the heart of civilization. Someone who lacks it won’t care what pain they do.” He sighed. “Life always involves some suffering, and there are times when painful things must be done for life to continue - like taking enemy lives in a war against someone who’d destroy everything we held dear. But cruelty - causing needless suffering, especially for the fun of it - is a sickness, and that’s a lot of what Chrysalis did, on top of her greed. She isn’t suffering in her cell though, or being tortured. We just leave her alone, except to bring food or reading material so she doesn’t get bored.”

Spike nodded his head, satisfied with Shining sighing in relief before turning his back to the podium where the grooms and best men were standing and waiting. Pharynx had chosen to wear the dress version of his military uniform, just as Shining Armor himself had during his own wedding, while Swift-Pad wore his official ambassadorial outfit, a rare sight.

The trio of flower fillies, acting on behalf of both brides, soon entered, scattering petals as Luna and then Maxilla followed them. The two looked radiant in their gowns, and soon approached the podium, standing next to their grooms.

One by one, Celestia and Tegmina spoke the lines for Luna and Pharynx, before stepping aside to allow Queen Metamorphia and Packleader Storm-Fast to speak for Maxilla and Swift-Pad. Finally, when both couples had spoken their vows, exchanged their rings and kissed deeply, the officiators gave them all fond smiles, before speaking to the room.

“And now, ladies and gentlebeings, may we present, Princess Luna and Prince Pharynx of Equestria and the Eldest Hive…” Celestia and Tegmina announced.

“And Maxilla and Swift-Pad, of the Metamorphia hive, and of Strong-Defend and High-Leap Packs,” Metamorphia and Storm-Fast said.

The room erupted with cheers.

The reception quickly followed, and everyone gathered in the hall set up for it.

In one corner, an off-white unicorn stallion with a reddish mane and a record and music note Cutie Mark manned the DJ tables, switching between more traditional wedding music and the modern style which Luna had much preferred as the mood required it, while all around, beings of every species danced, ate or chatted.

“Some party, huh?” Vinyl commented as she, Octavia and Scolopidia danced to one particular song together, the trio not even bothering to hide that they were all together. Not that they had since Scolopidia had made it official, over the screams of some of the more conservative elders in her hive. They had been silenced by the rest of her hive who were happy to see their Queen happy and in love, and even the few who’d thought she’d had a thing for Rarity instead had all voiced their support.

“You betcha!” Pinkie said as she danced nearby. “Kinda surprised you’re not doing it though.”

Vinyl shrugged. “Hey, I got the last royal wedding, only fair that big bro got this one.”

“I didn’t know you had a big brother,” Twilight commented from her own spot, managing to speak loudly enough to be heard despite the distance. Most of the crowd had learned to give her a wide berth when she started dancing, even Moondancer, who’d just shook her head and muttered “That’s my girl” when she saw Twilight’s more excitable moves, with Trixie nodding her head in agreement as the two danced as friends.

“Yeah, he actually went to school with yours,” Vinyl told her. “LP took me to this big pep rally at Canterlot Academy where Shiny and his friends put on a whole big display and musical number, and that’s when I got my Cutie Mark - I decided I wanted to be able to do music that was as spectacular as theirs.”

“Really!” Shining Armor looked surprised as he and Cadance danced by. “I didn’t know that… Long Play told me he couldn’t make it, but that you wanted to be the one to do the music at my wedding reception, so I said yes - he didn’t say just why though.”

“Now you know,” Vinyl told him before she and her partners danced off.

“I need to go talk to him later; maybe catch up with him and the other guys,” Shining said with Cadance kissing his cheek.

“That’s a good idea but don’t plan anything to happen in about ten months, Shiny,” she said before a servant appeared by her side with Shining’s eyes going wide at her implications. “Yes?”

“Sorry to interrupt but Princess Luna is asking for a small selected gathering for a miniature party before reconvening with the rest of the group,” the servant said. “Your wife and sister are both needed.”

Shining Armor nodded. “See you later,” he told them, excitement in his voice. “And are you serious about-”

Cadance leaned in for a quick kiss to muffle the shhh before Twilight and her left.

The two had soon found seats in the designated room, while Luna set up sound-scrambling spells around its borders, until she was satisfied. Then she went to the head of the room and paced a bit, before stopping and looking out at them. Finally, she began speaking. "Fillies, gentlecolts... Discord."

The draconequus tipped his previously nonexistent hat to her.

"Tonight has been... quite frankly, the best night of my life so far." She smiled, before turning serious again. "But now, we come to matters that are long overdue.

"All but two of us here are Powers." She gestured to Pharynx, and to Sonata, who was sitting quietly next to Aria, both of them smiling happily. "Even fewer of us here know what that means. Since certain ponies - cough*Celestia*cough - have not yet properly explained such to those who need to know."

She looked out at them again. "Put simply, in the beginning, there was only a churning turmoil. At the heart, where all things became one, the Creators appeared. From Themselves, the first Powers came into being. Time started to spin. Space began to expand. And then other Powers, all in pairs save for one, began to form, each set helping to shape a world. That world became the Prime, the first world in Existence. Others came from ripples of its movement and the decisions of those who live there, dividing endlessly into other worlds within their own separate universes, until our own world was born. Each of these alternate versions of Equus has its own differences; many are similar, yet none identical. Each world would be claimed by two of the Creators - Order and Chaos, said to be the Eldest of the Creators, before the other Creators joined them in Their work to seed existence into creation, with each Power answering to one or the other of the first two before They stepped back in the aftermath of the alicorn-draconequus war.” She paused, that moment was still hard for her to think of, emotionally and metaphysically as it existed out of normal time.

She saw the pained look on her sister’s face and finally, she began to speak again. “Both Chaos and Order could also choose a prime Champion to enforce their desires on a world after designing the Rules which we all follow and obey; the Champions usually do this by keeping others who answered to their Creator’s call to this grand Purpose we all answered to in line, as Discord has shown to be for Chaos and Celestia for Order, though neither are as extreme as other cases in the multiverse have shown themselves to be, either actively or potentially."

The draconequus nodded, unusually quiet, thinking of Other versions of him who had lost all sense and fallen deep into Chaos’s embrace, or Order’s, as at least one he knew of had.

"In time," Luna continued, "True mortal souls of those worlds would offer themselves up to a Purpose in order to become a Power, taking a mantle that had existed but been unoccupied for reasons; either that the Creator has chosen to see another take their Place or a Power has been allowed to pass on their mantle.

"Each Power has a Purpose, Role and Duties in this world, and as I have said, all but one come in pairs. Time and Space were two of the earliest, if not the earliest in each world’s birth, followed by Death and Life, and then the Judge - the only Power without an Opposite. Many others have since come into being, including but by no means limited to Harmony and Disharmony, with their six sub-Powers each; Love and Hatred, the four Seasons, the four Forces of Nature - Water, Earth, Fire and Air; Day and Night, Dreams... and Nightmares."

Celestia looked down at that Title, the bad memories associated rising high in her mind.

Luna now looked solemn. "For this world, the mantle of the Nightmare was once held by a mare named Umbrea. She was leader of the shadow pony sect - creatures who began as dark magic that developed sapience - and the "mother" of King Sombra, after making herself over into one of them. Long ago, when I was at my lowest point, having fallen prey to bitterness and jealousy over how Celly was so loved by our citizens, who offered adulations to the day and yet shunned my night..." She shook her head. "I had long since become the Lady of Night, when I earned my Cutie Mark for lowering the moon after the last of the unicorns previously charged with that task had burnt out their magic; my sister became Lady of Day for raising the sun shortly afterward.

"Since then, I had been granted the mantle of Dreams, protecting ponies and any others who invited me in from their nightmares, helping them work through their problems in their sleep and aiding with their mental health. Then I met Umbrea, whose Power as Nightmares was my Opposite during those dark times. She was charged with creating bad dreams, finding those who were planning wicked deeds and scaring them back onto a righteous path of goodness. It was her that suggested to me that if we could merge our Powers, Dreams and Nightmares into one, it would grant me status above my sister. I believed her, and agreed to let her into me. And at that moment... the monster you knew as Nightmare Moon was born, though we did not take that form physically until Umbrea refused to lower the moon and openly challenged my sister."

Celestia gasped as it hit her. "You mean... that wasn't you? That was her all along?"

Luna nodded. "Why do you think she held back? Because I was resisting from within, even when I had my warhammer commissioned by the wolves of old. I loved you, Celly, even then and I still do now. You're my sister, for the Creators' sake. When I agreed to let her in, I didn't know she planned to kill you. Nor did I learn until later that with Day left inactive until Life began handling the sun themselves or could find a new soul to take up that Power, she intended to use my body to succeed where Sombra had once refused to cooperate with her, having instead stolen much of her magic for himself instead when he had overthrown the old ruler of the Crystal Empire, so he could face us on an even level in terms of raw magical might. He thought he could seal her away with the Empire; he was wrong, for her spirit was able to escape and find me.” She shook her head. “Once she’d taken over my body, Umbrea intended to release her fellow Umbrum from beneath where the Crystal Empire once stood by using my power as an alicorn and our combined Powers to bring it back and use her sect to take over all Equestria, and likely the rest of Equus after that. By channeling Harmony as you did and binding us within the moon, you saved the world, all without knowing it, even though it had cost you dearly to do so."

Celestia sat back, clearly still stunned.

"At any rate," Luna continued, "A thousand years passed. Umbrea and I were freed from within the moon by a natural time limit on our imprisonment. It seems that across the multiverse, there is an archetype - a constant across all, or nearly all, different dimensions; whether the Creators intended it to be so or not is beyond me, but still it has come to exist. That archetype is the banished pony, who is imprisoned in the moon for a thousand years before the stars aid in our escape and return us to those who have cast us away. Rightly so, in my case, and most if not all of my Others. Per that, Umbrea and I were freed and descended to Equestria, where Twilight Sparkle and her friends were able to take up their places as Harmony's chosen ones, to become the Ladies of Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty and Magic. And with their newfound abilities, they cleansed me and Umbrea's soul was forced from my body, allowing Death to catch her at last and take her to face the Judge. But when she left, she left something behind."

Twilight let out a gasp of her own, drawing eyes to her. "The mantle of the Nightmare!" she said. "You still have it!"

Luna nodded. "I have been its guardian, the new Lady of Nightmares as the Power saw no need to return to Death to be given to another, though I admit I... have had rare need to use it, in all those whose minds I have touched since my return. I have been looking for another soul who could bring themselves to take on its Duties, fulfill the Role it was made for and not be corrupted or fall to its lures. I have found one, and I have offered it to them. And they have accepted."

"Luna... why didn't you tell me this?" Celestia asked softly, having finally found her voice. "All this time, I thought Nightmare Moon was a part of you, enhanced by the Nightmare on its own, and I regretted my part in seeing its rise. But if she originated from outside…"

"In part, you are correct but if I had told you the complete truth, would you have listened?" Luna asked. "To you, the Nightmare was just another monster, spawned by my envy of you that drew another Power to it. Would you have believed it was another pony entirely, if I had tried to tell you?"

Celestia lowered her head. "Probably not," she admitted.

"Then you understand why I have not said anything of it until now. Though I am not absolving myself for my contributions to Nightmare Moon's creation, I did have a part in her birth," Luna turned back to the rest of the room. "At any rate, as said, I have found a soul to take up the post. Prince Pharynx!" She looked at him. "Do you so swear to take up the Role and Duties of this Power, to carry out its Purpose, with all that entails; to understand what these Role, Duties and Purpose mean in their entirety, and to work side by side with your Opposite, the Lady of Dreams?"

"I so swear," Pharynx said, bowing his head towards his wife.

"Then by the rights granted to me as the current caretaker of this mantle..." Luna began to glow, as an energy streamed from her body, forming a glowing sphere and passing into his body, infusing his very being with its magic and all that it was.

When the glowing faded, Pharynx didn't look any different. But he shone anew, and he smiled. "Thank you for the faith and trust you have placed in my, my wife," he said. "I won't disappoint you."

Smiling, Luna turned to the rest of the room. "Allow me to present, for the very first time... my husband and partner, Prince Pharynx - the Lord of Nightmares, bearer of the mantle of bad dreams... and now as immortal as I myself am!"

The room was filled with cheers.

At her last words, even as she cheered, Celestia was doing her best to hide her tears of happiness.

So that's what you meant when you said you were prepared for this, she thought. You'd already told him about this, and asked him, hadn't you?

Wiping away a tear that would not stay hidden, she smiled. Oh, my little sister... I am so proud of you.

From his own spot, Discord nodded approvingly. “And so a Power passes to a new soul by its current holder’s choice, rather than through their misdeeds requiring it to be given to a new one,” he said. “That is how they were meant to be passed on.”

“Indeed Discord,” Death said, appearing next to the draconequus, causing him to sputter in surprise. “Oh, don’t worry, I’m not here for anyone, or because anyone has done anything wrong,” he said, chuckling as he managed to surprise Discord. “Luna’s actions caught my attention because she has done exceptionally well in her Duties as caretaker of an extra Power this night, and I fully approve.” He gave Discord a look. “I also approve of your own choices in the matters of Self-Centeredness and Hatred, by the way.”

“T-thank you,” Discord said, bowing his head nervously.

“You really do need to relax, Discy,” Death said as he lifted a glass to his lips, giving his fellow Power a grin. “It’s a wedding and I am not even mad that you boasted you have power over me. Just don’t do it again, understood?”

Discord nodded his head quickly before running off to join the rest of the party, too scared to use his magic.

“I never said I had full power over you or your fellow Apocalypses, just some pull if something major happens,” he muttered to himself as he went. “Chaos alone has full power, I can just tell them if I realize that something’s wrong and offer my opinion. Hence, ‘some pull’.”

Truth, Death’s silent voice echoed in his head, causing him to shiver.

Back in the room he had just left, unaware that another Power had been present, Celestia was embracing her sister. “I only wish I could have known sooner, Luna,” she said. “I would never have rejected you for carrying an extra mantle.”

Luna hugged her back. “I know that now, but still, I had my fears,” she said. “At any rate, the Power has moved on.” She smiled at her husband, who returned her gaze with his own happy smirk.

In her own spot, Rarity raised a hoof. “I, for one, appreciate you finally explaining what these Powers you called us are,” she said. “I know you were busy when you first mentioned them, but… well, I would have liked a bit more of an explanation.”

“When was this?” Twilight asked.

“While you were away,” Applejack explained. “After Chrysalis showed herself for what she really was. Turns out she used to be Rarity’s Opposite, until Discord took it from her after she abused it for too long and made someone else into Self-Centeredness.”

“She was what‽” Twilight stared at them in surprise. “How… why did nobody tell me that she was a Power?”

“We wanted to tell you in person, and things have been a little… busy, since then,” Cadance explained. “I didn’t know until she admitted it to our faces, right before we got your news about the Storm King and Equestria got all preoccupied preparing for him. She thought she’d get off by telling us, but it just sealed her fate, since she’d attacked other Powers, some more than once, without informing them who she was first.”

“That’s when Discord took her status away and found a new host,” Celestia said. “And Twilight… I deeply regret not telling you about any of this sooner.”

Twilight went over and hugged her. “It’s okay,” she said. “The Alpha told me why you wouldn’t have explained about any of it before, and I’ve found out more on my own from some of the other Powers I met on my journey.”

“You’ve met others?” Cadance asked.

Twilight nodded. “Fire and Water. They were both willing to explain a few things. Including how only another Power, like me, could have entered Mount Aris and then Seaquestria with all the defenses that Queen Novo put up after Tempest went there when she was still serving the Storm King. Spike isn’t one, but he could get in because he was under my protection.”

“That explains so much,” Pharynx muttered.

Twilight nodded. “Also, there’s something more you should know. The Storm King wasn’t a Power himself, but his staff was able to steal other Powers from their hosts, along with normal magic. He tried it on me, and he intended to do it to the rest of you when he came here. I stopped him though, and I’m working on figuring out how to destroy that gem that he could use to do it with - my using it to remove the petrification magic from Tempest was one thing, but its main purpose makes it too dangerous to keep intact.”

Several sets of eyes widened, before Luna nodded approvingly. “Then things were more serious than I thought,” she said. “Thank you for telling us.”

“You’re welcome.”

The reception continued on into the night, the resident alicorns and their fellows returning to take part again, and it was very late before Twilight met with Discord again, having seen the happy couples off on their respective honeymoons.

“You wanted to talk to me?” she asked.

Discord nodded. “Part of my abilities include detecting magical imbalances,” he said. “These last few months, there’s been some odd ones going on in a small settlement.” He popped up a map, showing her the spot. “As I said, nothing life-threatening, but still worrisome. You and your friends should check it out, as soon as possible.”

Twilight nodded. “We will,” she said. “And thank you.”

Discord nodded, and teleported out, leaving Twilight to wonder what was happening now.

Chapter Six

“So, where did you say we were going?” Moondancer asked early the next day as seven mares and one dragon gathered.

“Here,” Twilight said, pointing to the spot on the map. “According to Discord, this is where the magical imbalances are happening.”

“And you’re sure that waiting until after Applejack left for the Packlands to tell us about this was a good idea?” Rainbow Dash asked with a raised eyebrow. “We’re a team, we could have used her.”

“She’s been planning that trip for quite a while, and I’m not about to make her wait,” Twilight said. “Besides, I actually told her last night and offered to wait to go until after she got back. She told me to go ahead.”

“As long as you’re sure.” Rainbow Dash sighed.

“Um, I’m more worried about how we’re going to get there,” Fluttershy ventured.

“I already checked the train schedule, and there’s one that goes right by, at the end of the line,” Twilight told them. “We’ll be there in less than a day.”

“Trixie wonders what is happening there that could require our attention,” Trixie said. “Surely it’s not one of…” and she shivered. “Those types of problems.”

“If it was an ancient evil, Discord would have said so,” Twilight told her. “But it’s not - it’s what he wrote us about a few days ago.”

“Oh. Well… good.”

“He wrote you?” Rarity asked.

“I was planning to offer him a spot as Head of Security for my new school,” Twilight explained. “He declined, but he did tell me he had something for us to handle after the wedding, and this is it.”

“I’m in!” Pinkie said cheerfully.

“So am I,” Spike said firmly. “I’ve been through a lot this last year, and I am not sitting this one out.”

“Of course not,” Twilight told him. “I’m not leaving you behind, not after everything we’ve been through together.”

“Well…” Trixie hesitated. “Trixie will go then,” she said. “So long as it isn’t an ancient evil.” She shivered. “Trixie is still creeped out by the thought of some of them. She dreads running into the Pony of Shadows, for instance.”

Rainbow Dash waved a hoof. “We went through the Castle of the Two Pony Sisters,” she said. “Way back when. There wasn’t any Pony of Shadows there, just…” she looked at Twilight. “What did you call it again, after we were all done there?”

“It was subsonic vibrations from the pipe organ that Pinkie was playing, resonating deep in our bones and causing an intense feeling of terror,” Twilight said. “We literally just scared ourselves the whole time we were in there.”

“So, it’s just a legend?” Trixie asked hopefully.

“Let me put it this way,” Twilight said. “If there is a real Pony of Shadows, we haven’t met them, and from what Princess Luna has said, the real source behind how she became Nightmare Moon is long since dealt with.”

“Trixie finds that both frightening and relieving,” the blue mare said. “That technique you said though… that would actually be useful for celebrating Nightmare Night. Do you think Princess Luna and Princess Celestia would object to using their old home for that?”

“We’d have to ask,” Rarity said. “Perhaps when Princess Luna returns from her honeymoon.”

“Of course we wait until afterwards to ask,” Trixie snorted, rolling her eyes. “Interrupting a honeymoon is the worst thing one can do, even worse than heckling!”

“Well of course, but I was thinking more of waiting until we could ask both sisters at once instead of talking to Princess Celestia now and Princess Luna later,” Rarity said, giving her an indignant look.

“...Trixie sees your point,” Trixie admitted. “Trixie had not thought of that.”

“At any rate,” Twilight said, giving both a stern look. “The train’ll be here in just an hour, so we need to be ready.”

The rest nodded, then went to fetch their things.

Hours passed before they reached the end of the line, and descended along the trail towards the town. When they finally reached it, they stopped and stared.

“Discord sent us here?” Rainbow Dash asked. “It looks like the most boring place in Equestria.”

“It does look rather plain,” Moondancer noted. “But orderly. Look at those houses.” She pointed. “All in a row, on both sides, except for that one at the head. And…” she squinted. “They all look exactly the same. And I think the ponies all have the same mane cut too.”

“You’re absolutely right,” Rarity told her. “Following trends is one thing, but there is such a thing as going too far.”

Pinkie gave the place a rather suspicious look. “I don't like it. I don't like it one bit,” she said. “I know smiles. And those smiles? They're just not right.”

“Forget the smiles. Look at the cutie marks.” Twilight pointed. “They’re all equals signs.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Okay, that's weird.”

“An entire village with the same cutie mark?” Fluttershy looked worried. “How can that be? Not even Applejack’s family all have the same mark.”

“I told you,” Pinkie hissed. “Those smiles are bad news.”

“Trixie concurs,” Trixie said. “Trixie has seen those types of smiles before. They’re the kind that say ‘I don’t like your act, but I’m too polite to say so’.” She blinked. “Or are worn by mimes. I find both possibilities unnerving.”

“You’re not the only one,” Spike told her.

As the eight began to walk through the town, they heard several voices calling out to them, all from ponies with the same smiles.

“Welcome!”

“Welcome!”

“Welcome!”

“Welcome!”

“Welcome!”

“Welcome!”

“Welcome!”

“Welcome!”

“Still unnerving,” Rainbow Dash muttered.

“Welcome!” one pony, a unicorn stallion, suddenly said as he popped his face right into Twilight’s. “Pardon my forwardness, but are you an Alicorn?”

“Um… yes,” Twilight said, waving her wings.

“What brings you to town?” another stallion, this one a white Earth pony, asked.

“We… heard about this place, and decided to come see it for ourselves,” Twilight said carefully.

“I see. Well, all are welcome here in our little village. My name is Double Diamond, and this is Party Favor.” The white stallion gestured to the blue one.

“I’m Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said. “Princess of Friendship, and Diplomat at Large, though I am still in training. These are my friends - Moondancer, Fluttershy, Trixie, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Spike.”

“Hi!” Spike waved a claw.

Double Diamond looked a bit startled. “A… dragon?” He gazed at him curiously. “We’ve never had a dragon come visit us. I’m not sure how some-er, one so different would fit in.”

Spike huffed.

“In my experience, I’ve learned that while all races have their differences, we’re all still the same where it counts,” Twilight said. “We all value our friends and our families.”

“Interesting way of putting it,” one pegasus mare said thoughtfully. “Oh, and you all still have your own unique Cutie Marks!” She eyed Fluttershy’s. “Wow…”

“Excuse Trixie but did you just say still have your own unique Cutie Marks?” Trixie said, stepping in front of the other pegasus. “Would you care to explain what you mean by that?”

“Oh, it’s simple,” another unicorn said as she came over. “The Cutie unmarking is a is a beautiful experience! Our founder, Starlight Glimmer, uses the Staff of Sameness to magically take them away and replace them with these.”

Twilight looked startled. “But nopony should keep you from your cutie mark. It represents such an essential part of who you are.” She noticed Double Diamond slipping away, towards the house at the end of the town.

“Oh, we're not kept from them,” the pegasus mare said. “They're in the vault up in the caves. We can visit them any time we like to remind us of the heartache of a life with special talents.”

“Are you serious?” Moondancer asked. “How can having a special talent bring you heartache?”

“Um…” Fluttershy leaned over and whispered in her ear, prompting Moondancer to go wide-eyed.

“Really?” she asked. “But… she’s all better now, right? Applejack introduced us at the reception, and she seemed happy.”

“She is, now that her family’s accepted her,” Fluttershy said.

“Oh.”

“Excuse me.”

Looking up at the new voice, the group saw a pink unicorn mare, her bangs divided evenly on either side of her horn. “I’m Starlight Glimmer,” she said, holding out a hoof. “And I'm so pleased to have you here.” She eyed Spike, but then turned back to Twilight. “And you are?”

Once Twilight had given their names again, Starlight nodded. “Forgive my bluntness, but I'm assuming it's Princess Twilight Sparkle? We don't get many alicorns around here.”

“Yes, but just "Twilight" is fine,” Twilight said. She was about to speak again, when Starlight interrupted.

“So! How did you hear of our little village?” she asked.

“It's kind of a long story,” Twilight said. “Listen, we’ve been hearing some things…”

“Oh, about what makes our village so unique?” Starlight asked brightly. “About how around here, we don't flaunt our special talents because we don't have any special talents to flaunt?”

“Not quite how I’d put it, but-”

“Perhaps it would be easier to understand if I gave you a tour of the village!” Starlight said brightly. Trixie and Moondancer both seemed ready to interrupt her but a quick shake of Twilight’s head stopped them.

What followed was quite possibly the most disturbing musical number any of the group had ever heard, and that included Discord’s deliberately horrific attempt at karaoke during Twilight and Spike’s welcome-home party - she had never heard anyone mangle “Luna in the Sky With Diamonds” so badly.

When they’d finished, Twilight was appalled. “That is… wrong,” she said. “It goes against all that Equestria stands for!”

“Agreed,” her friends said, before Moondancer spoke up. “Unity is one thing, between tribes and races alike. But giving up what makes you unique? That’s just messed up!”

“I will need you to take me to this cave where their cutie marks are,” Twilight said sternly, staring down the mare.

“Why should I listen to a bully like you, who thinks she can tell me what to do?” Starlight shouted back, her horn glowing. “My citizens here are happy as they are and I will not let you ruin what we have done here.”

“First of all, I doubt your town is even known, and therefore recognized, by the Equestrian Municipality Association which redefines your settlement more like a cult than an actual home,“ Twilight said, walking towards the other mare who was staring at her aghast. “Secondly, I highly doubt any pony here is truly happy; I may not be the most socially aware person around at times, but even I can tell they have been mentally conditioned to accept your teachings. Thirdly, with your ideals and notions of equality at this extreme, I don’t even know how you expected to survive a bad season’s harvest without starvation or disease hurting or killing half the people here.”

“Also, she’s still Princess Twilight,” Moondancer said, stepping forwards. “As in, one of the ruling triarchy of Equestria. She has the legal authority to tell you what to do.”

Twilight gave her friend a quick glare; she really didn’t want to rely on her title as a way to force ponies to agree with her. That made her feel like she was being a bully and that was not who she was. “Look Starlight, I do not know what drove you to these lengths but I am asking you to handle this peacefully. You said you cared for everyone here, prove it by stepping down and working with me to undo the harm you have caused and I promise I will do what I can to ensure you will be treated fairly afterwards.”

“Harm? Harm‽” Starlight was looking downright furious now. “You call this harm‽ I brought true harmony to this place, I made everypony here equal. Without their marks, they won’t have to feel the pain of being different, of paths taking them away from one another because somepony got a mark that said they belonged elsewhere.”

“Yes I do,” Twilight said, softly, walking towards the mare. “Cutie Mark Failure is a thing, but that’s not the issue at hoof. You had a friend when you were young, who left you when they got their mark. Didn’t you?”

Starlight was still staring at her, gnashing her teeth, before lowering her head. “Yes,” she admitted. “He got his mark, and so his family sent him away to a school for the gifted. And he forgot about me. All because of that wretched mark!” She glared.

“Starlight, what happened to you is a shame but you have to understand no one is perfect, no one can be the perfect friend, especially at such a young age,” Twilight said, keeping her voice soft. “It took me a long time to understand the concept of friendship and I am still learning how to be a good friend to others. It’s only recently since I reconnected with Moondancer, and realized how badly I hurt her when I didn’t realize how she felt about us.”

Moondancer nodded. “It’s true,” she said. “I became a shut-in because she didn’t get it. But I forgave her, and we’re better friends now than we ever were.” She looked at Twilight and blushed. “Giving up on your mark isn’t the answer, and making others do the same really isn’t the solution. You can still try and reach your friend again, talk to him. Tell him how you feel about him going off.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash said. “Come to think of it…” She looked down. “I’ve got an old friend I need to try and reconnect with,” she said. “Talk to her, see how she’s doing. Show her that one big fight isn’t a reason to just break it off.”

One by one, the others nodded in agreement. Starlight still looked skeptical, but finally, she lowered her head.

“You win,” she grumbled.

“No, we did that last year,” Pinkie pointed out. “The whole war and all.”

Starlight looked startled. “War? What war?”

“Did you seriously miss out on hearing about that?” Rainbow Dash asked. “The war with the guy who wanted to take over the planet. Seriously, it was what most of Equestria was busy with for almost half a year. How’d you not know?”

“What kind of-” Starlight shook her head, still clearly confused, as were many other ponies in the crowd.

“The war with the Storm King,” Trixie said. “Where forces from most of the intelligent species on this planet came together as a unified force to protect all peoples from being overrun and destroyed by a depraved despot.” She nodded, a satisfied look on her face. “Now that was harmony, with so many races coming together for a common cause.”

“We really have been out of touch,” Double Diamond said slowly. “I never heard about any of this either.”

Looking around, Starlight sighed. “All right,” she muttered. “Do with me what you will.”

One escort later, and the group was in the cave where the Cutie Marks were held.

“The Staff of Sameness is just a piece of wood,” Starlight confessed as she showed it to them, before rubbing her hips to show her marks under the dye. “The real magic was all mine. I was so certain that I was doing the right thing…”

“Sometimes, people can mean well, but be misguided,” Twilight said as she zapped the glass holding the marks back, releasing them back to everypony in the village. “Like that yak sentry who thought he was supposed to just keep everyone out, including messages. Because of him, his people completely missed out on all sorts of news.”

“Right.”

Letting her friends escort Starlight back to the village, Twilight stayed back, and turned to Moondancer. “Listen…”

“You don’t have to say it,” Moondancer said. “I knew I should have kept my mouth shut, I know you don’t like taking advantage of your title. But she just made me so mad...”

“I know,” Twilight said, placing a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “Just… try to be more careful about that kind of thing in the future, okay?”

Moondancer smiled. “Okay.”

With that, the two headed back down.

When they returned, they found a full-scale celebration in progress, with Pinkie and Party Favor in the lead. The unicorn mare they’d met before, Sugar Belle, was baking up a storm, while the pegasus, Night Glider, was happily chatting with Rainbow Dash. Double Diamond was nowhere in sight, and neither was Fluttershy.

“He said something about asking for company while he went to go retrieve something of his,” Rarity explained. “She volunteered.”

In another part of town, Spike was gladly telling about some of the places he’d been to over the past year to a fascinated crowd, while Trixie was entertaining a group of foals and a surprised Starlight with simple tricks they could replicate without magic of any sort.

“So, think her friend went to the School for Gifted Unicorns?” Moondancer asked as she and Twilight sat down.

“Probably,” Twilight told her. “We’ll have to let Princess Celestia know, after we get his name.”

“Right.” Moondancer sighed. “So, what are you going to do about her?” she asked, gesturing to Starlight.

“First things first, therapy. Lots and lots of therapy,” Twilight said. “Doctor Heart is very good at this sort of thing; from what Princess Celestia said, he helped Tempest too, after she arrived in Canterlot. And while she’s doing that, we can try and find her friend.”

Moondancer nodded.

By the time the party settled, it was sunset, and the visitors found themselves places to bunk down for the night with the grateful townsfolk. The next morning, eight mares and one dragon boarded the train back to Canterlot. A few others also chose to head that way, though a lot of them, surprisingly, chose to stay.

“This is a chance for all of us to get to know each other again for the very first time,” Double Diamond had explained as they bid their farewells. “Besides, this place might be a bit of a fixer-upper, but it’s still where we chose to come. We’ll keep in touch though.”

Twilight had accepted his decision, and promised to send proper representatives of the Equestrian Municipality Association out to get their town officially recognized, which he’d gladly accepted. “Though we’re probably going to change the name,” he said. “Our Town just doesn’t seem quite right.”

Twilight had nodded, before saying a final goodbye. Now, having settled into one compartment with Spike and Starlight, she looked out the train window as they headed back for Canterlot.

“So you really think you can help me find him?” Starlight asked her, causing Twilight to turn to the former mayor.

“I’ve found solutions to problems that were over a hundred years old,” Twilight told her. “Finding one pony among our population shouldn’t be that difficult.” She considered. “He did go to Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, right?”

Starlight nodded. “Sunburst’s parents saw him with his mark and sent him off right away… and after that, I never wanted to risk making another friend, and risk that sort of thing happening to me again.”

“Starlight, Cutie Marks don’t break up friendships,” Twilight said with a sigh. “The event that led to me getting mine helped me make new friends, for the first time in my life. Like my teacher. And my son.” She nodded to Spike, who smiled.

“...” Starlight stared. “I’m not going to ask how that’s even possible,” she said. “But if you can find Sunburst… how do we start?”

“With their student records,” Twilight said. “And if all else fails, the census records should list him, and point us to his current location.”

“That fast?” Starlight looked a little skeptical.

“Starlight, if there’s one thing about Twilight that you should know, it’s that nothing can stop her once she’s set her mind to doing something,” Spike pointed out from his seat. “She almost single-hoofedly rebuilt the ties between most of the nations of the world this past year, just from visiting and showing genuine interest in their cultures, and respect for their ways.” He grinned. “There’s only one place that doesn’t want her back, and that’s because she did better at their job than they did, so they’re jealous.”

“... Should I even ask?” Starlight said nervously.

“How much do you know about griffon history?” Twilight asked her.

“Not much,” Starlight admitted.

“Well…” Twilight began explaining, and as she did, Starlight’s eyes went wider and wider.

“And that’s why I’m no longer allowed in Byzantion,” Twilight finally concluded.

“... I don’t know if I should be impressed, or scared,” Starlight said after a moment’s silence.

“Like I said, once she sets her mind to something, nothing can stop her,” Spike said with a shrug. “So if she says she can find this Sunburst guy of yours, she’ll do it.”

Starlight nodded slowly. “I get your point,” she said before shaking her head and yawning.

“Is everything okay?” Twilight asked.

“Just a bit tired,” the other mare replied. “For a while now, I’ve been having bad dreams about Cutie Marks and my former town, but last night, after you and your friends came here, was the first time I didn’t have any and didn’t wake up in the middle of the night. I’m still trying to catch up on all the sleep I’d lost since they started.”

Twilight’s ear flicked. “I see…” she said. “Should we give you some space, let you take a nap for a bit?”

“I’ll manage,” Starlight said. “One or two nights of uninterrupted sleep should do it. I think.”

“So… if you hated Cutie Marks so much, how’d you get your mark?” Spike asked curiously.

Starlight looked at him in surprise. “Nopony - er, body, has ever asked me that,” she admitted.

“Well, we’re asking now,” Twilight said gently. “I’d like to know too.”

“Would you believe it was because of a kite?” Starlight asked somewhat hesitantly.

“Really?” Spike asked.

Starlight nodded. “After Sunburst left, I went off by myself for long periods at a time, just to be alone. One day though, I was off practicing my magic, when all of a sudden I saw this kite stuck in a tree. I figured I’d get it down, good practice for my telekinesis, but it was all tangled up in the branches. So, I figured out how to work it loose, use my magic to make it drift out without getting caught again. And as it was floating down, this came in.” She gestured to her mark. “Magic and a light stream of air together. All representative of a subtle touch with my skills. I had a surgeon’s touch, almost… part of how I was able to work my way around the specific magic of other pony’s marks and replace them with something different.” She looked down. “Of course, eventually I figured out how to use it for harder-hitting spells too, but the softer and trickier ones are my specialty.”

“That’s an incredible talent,” Twilight said. “You must have been so happy.”

Starlight nodded. “I thought I was… but then every time I saw it, I’d remember what happened with Sunburst, and I got mad about it all over again.” She sighed. “And eventually, I figured out my removal spell and decided to use it to show everypony what life would be like if nopony was any different from anypony else and thus wouldn’t have reason to ever leave one another.”

She fell silent. “I’d like to rest now,” she said.

Twilight nodded. Lifting Spike onto her back, she left the compartment, leaving Starlight to her musings.

Once they were back into the main compartment Spike turned to Twilight and asked, “Do you think it was really just nightmares?”

“I… hmm,” Twilight tapped her chin to think it over. “While Pharynx just got his new status, maybe he and Luna were practicing for a while beforehand? I mean, she told me that she’d made the offer soon after he proposed.”

“Could be,” Spike said. Then he looked at her. “Twilight, are you sure you should have told me about some of that stuff? I mean, it’s kinda supposed to be top secret…”

“After the whole meeting was over, I asked Luna if I could tell you, and if I could fill in Trixie and Moondancer when I had the chance, since they’d already figured out some of it,” Twilight said. “She said it was okay.”

“Just checking.”

“And in any case, I would have told you regardless,” Twilight said. “You’re my son and I wasn’t going to keep a massive secret from you when you already knew so much.”

“Ah…” Spike smiled and hugged her. “Thanks, Twilight.”

“No problem, Spike.”

“So what do you think will happen when we do find this Sunburst guy?” Spike scratched his head.

Twilight frowned. “All I can say is, he’d better have a good reason for not staying in touch with his closest friend,” she said.

“And if he doesn’t?”

“Then I will give him the nose-honking of a lifetime, and then I’ll call Mom in to have words with him.”

Spike shuddered. “Wow. You’re serious about this.”

Twilight nodded. “If he really didn’t care about her, and was just stringing her along, it’s the least he deserves.”

“Here’s hoping he had a reason then,” Spike said. “For Starlight’s sake, at least.” He glanced back in the direction of the other compartment. “To snap, and go as far as she did?” He shook his head. “That mare’s suffered enough.”

“I know, Spike.” Twilight looked in the same direction he had. “I know.” She sighed. “Though I will need to ask her more questions to how she learned to remove Cutie Marks. Princess Celestia told me last year that even when the unicorns that moved the sun and moon burned themselves out, they still kept the little magic that maintained their marks. What Starlight described sounds almost like… psychic surgery, except on magic rather than flesh.”

“Sounds creepy when you put it that way,” Spike said.

“You saw how those ponies acted before and afterwards,” Twilight said softly. “Night and day; you remember how the girls were when I accidentally switched their Cutie Marks, but this was completely different. The girls at least still acted like normal ponies, and they had their own little behavioral quirks like they normally did. But the ones at the village had everything about them just… suppressed. No unique traits at all. Even their colors were flat. It was just… well, creepy is exactly the right word.”

“Will she be punished for what she did Twilight?” Spike asked.

“I… don’t know,” Twilight said as she rejoined her friends. “I don’t think she forced anyone to give up their marks and came with us voluntarily. But like I said before, she’s going to be given a lot of time in therapy to deal with this.”

Spike nodded, saying nothing more while Twilight resolved to continue to learn more of her new acquaintance’s (she was hesitant to call her a friend at this point) history.

Still, Twilight was happy she had resolved this issue without too much drama and was looking forward to returning to normal life.

“Work faster!” the slaver snapped, cracking the whip over Neighsay’s head, the former noble biting back the pained whimper as he brought the pick down into the rock he had been mining. He had long lost track of the days he had been in this mineshaft, captured by that centaur monster but he had learned quickly in how to survive in the depths.

Namely, don’t ever fight back against the overseers.

He, along with countless others, had been captured by their oppressors and drained of all of their magic, and now were being forced to dig and mine the tools being created to overthrow the very government he once served.

However, Neighsay hadn’t gotten to such a high rank by being stupid.

When they least expect it, he silently vowed, I will escape. That monster didn’t drain everything. He still had his drive, his cunning mind… and the one piece of magic that hadn’t been detected.

And with the knowledge that his teleportation pendant was safe and still empowered, he threw himself into his work again.

He caught the look of the slaves next to him and nodded his head. He was becoming somewhat a leader among them, the highest rank captured so far and the most educated among them, given the little they had spoken before the taskmasters came down with the whips and beatings to discourage such chances for planning. It was still fitting that other captured inhabitants would believe in him as their emerging leader as it was his right as a noble; he just needed more time to convince them to take the risk to allow him the time to use his pendant to escape and get the guards down here, wherever here was. He was certain there were enough clues from the rocks that the Equestrian Geology Association could figure it out for the Princesses.

But for now, he would bide his time.

And soon enough, he would be free.

Chapter Seven

It was just a few days into their honeymoon and Pharynx was in bliss. “This is wonderful Lus,” he muttered to his wife, who was sitting across from him on the massage bench. “Still not sure why I am surprised you guys had this private island, but I ain’t complaining.”

“Technically, it was just Celly’s until I returned,” Luna said as she stretched out as their servants rubbed her back. “She bought it from the original owners for a private getaway at some point while I was unavailable, intending to use it as a vacation spot for herself if she ever had the opportunity. After I came back, she offered me the use of it as well if I ever wanted - when I asked why she picked it out in the first place, she said she’d heard that the surfing was supposed to be very good near here.” She smiled. “After you proposed, she promised me exclusive use of it for our honeymoon.”

“Celly, surfing?” Pharynx snorted. “I’d pay to see that.”

“My sister has a long list of things she’d like to try if she ever has time off,” Luna said. “Surfing is one of them; I think hearing about it from the harpies may have inspired her.” She then chuckled. “Though I do agree with you that it would be a truly entertaining sight to behold. For that matter, I have heard that Twilight gave it a try when she was in Ornithia, and has declined to comment on how it turned out.”

“If it’s anything like her dancing, it was probably a sight,” Pharynx said with a chuckle of his own.

“She learned that from Celly, actually,” Luna told him.

“Well, it clearly doesn’t run in the family,” he said with a chirp as the servants managed to work on a kink that he had been having trouble with for a while.

“Smart grub,” Luna said with a smile on her face.

“A strong sense of self-preservation goes a long way,” he agreed. “But seriously, you are good on the dance floor.” He considered. “So’s Scolopidia, for that matter - I don’t think I’ve ever seen a trio dance that worked out so well for more than a few minutes. And I once got assigned to spy on some dance club for several months and absorb their skills to share with the rest of the hive.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Research to help your people blend in?”

“That, and there were rumors that one of the dancers was actually a changeling from another hive working some scheme of their own Queen’s,” he said. “If they were - and it turns out they weren’t - Chrysalis wanted to know what they were up to.”

“So that’s how you know to dance so well,” Luna purred to herself with Pharynx grinning at her.

“I can’t hide anything from yo-” Pharynx stopped and gave the approaching individual a look. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Prince Pharynx,” the pony said, bowing his head. “Just a message that came in from Canterlot; nothing that requires your immediate attention but-”

“Bring it over, my little pony,” Luna said, sitting upright. “Might as well see what my sister deemed important enough to send a message and yet not urgent enough to intrude personally.”

“As you wish, your highnesses,” the pony said, bringing the letter over to them with the rest of the ponies leaving the room. Luna waited until Pharynx gave the nod to signify they were alone before breaking the seal to read the letter. After a moment of reading, Luna nodded her head. “Ah! I see what prompted such a response.”

“What, did Twilight make friends with another would-be danger to the realm?” Pharynx asked as he moved beside his wife.

“Actually, yes,” Luna said. “And it’s one you and I were involved in as well - that mare who’d formed a cult based on a hatred of Cutie Marks, whom we were sending nightmares to after you proposed to me and I began preparing you for the use of your new abilities.”

“Seriously?” Pharynx rubbed the back of her neck. “And I was just kidding…”

“Kidding or not, that’s exactly what happened,” Luna said as she rolled the scroll back up. “It would seem that Discord had detected her magic at work and informed Twilight. She and her friends went there the day after our wedding, and were able to talk her down. They brought her back to Canterlot after that, and she’s been assigned a strict regiment of therapy to help her get past her issues.” She looked at her husband. “Also, Twilight’s trying to find the young colt - now a grown stallion - who is responsible for triggering such issues, so that she may have words with him over the consequences of his actions. She’s still somewhat busy with her work on setting up her school, and has to divide her attention between that and the search, so it’s taking a little longer than she expected, but she expects to have found him soon.”

“Anything else?” he asked.

“Something about Celly’s and my old castle,” Luna said. “Apparently Miss Lulamoon got the idea that she wanted to use it for something at some future time, and wants to talk to Celly and I about it together after you and I get back.”

“Right.” he said, continuing to rub her back.

“At any rate, nothing that actively requires our attention until we get back, or that we cut things short,” Luna said. “So do keep on with what you’re doing, please?”

Pharynx smiled. “It would be my pleasure,” he said.

Almost two weeks after the royal wedding, Sunburst was nervous; he hadn’t been to Canterlot Castle ever. But when the summons from Princess Twilight had come in, requesting his presence there, he’d been too terrified to decline.

What would a Princess want with a failed student like me? he wondered as he entered the meeting room.

Inside, he found Equestria’s newest princess, sitting and going over some paperwork. When she heard him entering though, she looked up, her expression unreadable.

“Sunburst, of Sire’s Hollow,” she said. “Only child. Parents, Sunspot - now passed, and Stellar Flare, still living in Sire’s Hollow.”

Sunburst nodded nervously. “That’s me,” he said.

“Graduate of Princess Celestia’s School For Gifted Unicorns.” She gazed at him. “Though when I checked the records, I was quite surprised to find that while your grades in the theoretical exams were some of the best recorded, the practical scores were considerably lower than expected for somepony who got his Cutie Mark while performing magic.”

Sunburst blinked. “How did you know that?” he asked. “I didn’t think that was a matter of public record.”

“I recently met someone who was there when it happened,” Twilight said. “A foalhood friend of yours - Starlight Glimmer.”

Sunburst blinked. “Starlight? Wow, that’s… that’s a name I haven’t heard in years.”

“I know.” Twilight gazed at him. “Sit.”

He did so.

“Sunburst, I called you here for a very important reason.” Twilight looked him straight in the eye. “You were Starlight’s closest friend - her only friend. Why didn’t you at least try to stay in touch with her after you came to Canterlot?”

Sunburst gulped. “Well, I…” He hung his head. “Because I was embarrassed.” He gestured to the papers she had. “You saw my scores; I was a failure. Reading about magic is one thing, but I couldn’t actually do any of it. Researching magic is my real talent; that spell that got me my mark was a fluke. And after all the expectations my family had for me, I didn’t want them to know. Or Starlight, because she’d have been so disappointed in me. I’d rather she just forgot I ever existed than know that her best friend was a failure.”

Twilight’s gaze softened for a bit, before she sighed. “And you let your doubts take over,” she said. “You decided to wallow in self-pity rather than admit the truth.”

“Yes.” Sunburst looked at her. “Can… can I go now? I’m sure you don’t want to be around a failure.”

“No.” Twilight looked at him more sternly. “Sunburst, do you know how hurt and abandoned Starlight felt when you didn’t stay in touch with her?”

Sunburst looked blank. “Um, no.”

“Well, she did.” Twilight’s expression hadn’t changed. “You sent her into a downward spiral that led her to extremes the likes of which I haven’t seen in any normal pony - yes, I know she didn’t write you either, but if you had tried to keep in touch, maybe it would have helped her. I brought you here because I hoped bringing the two of you back together would help her now.” She sighed. “And I think I’m going to have to turn this over to another pony who can explain to you just how badly off she ended up because of your actions. A pony who’s been listening to Starlight, hearing her out when she needed someone besides a professional - not that her therapist hasn’t been helpful, but she needed more.” She rose from her seat, went to the back corner, and with a flash of her horn, exposed the pony who’d been listening to them the whole time. “He’s all yours.”

Seeing the look on the face of the pony now standing before him, Sunburst gulped. “I’m in trouble, aren’t I?” he asked.

“You might say that,” Twilight Velvet said as she sat. “Now, young colt… my daughter was absolutely right, about many things. And I’m going to explain to you just how badly hurt that young mare of yours was by your actions.”

Sunburst’s ears flicked. Yep, I’m in trouble, he thought.

Even as she left the room, Twilight could see Sunburst shrinking into his seat as her mother began speaking, though shutting the door behind her cut off the sound. Outside, she found Celestia waiting for her.

“Good job of setting your other mother on him Twilight,” Celestia said as Twilight approached her. “I mean no offense, of course, but Velvet has quite a bit more experience in this department.”

Twilight eyed her. “That’s not the first time I’ve heard somepony make those sorts of remarks,” she said. “What happened while I was gone?”

Celestia leaned down and gave her a nuzzle. “The truth is, Velvet has come to recognize the feelings I have for you,” she said.

Twilight backed up and raised a hoof. “Hold it right there,” she said. “I’ve had one love confession this year already, and I still haven’t made up my mind how I feel about it. I care for Moondancer, but…”

“A different type of feelings, Twilight,” Celestia said with a light chuckle. “The truth is, of all the students I’ve had over the years, I’ve felt rather strongly about some of them - you and Sunset, for instance - but in a way that was by no means romantic.” She sighed. “I do love the both of you, but I didn’t want to say it aloud, until your mother recognized how I felt and talked to me about it. You see… I thought that saying how I felt would mean I was stealing you from her.”

Twilight’s eyes whirled as she thought about this, before finally it hit her. “You mean…”

“I mean that I love you as if you were my own little filly,” Celestia said. “Velvet recognizes that, and she’s given me the courage to admit to it. And she doesn’t mind in the slightest.”

Twilight sat down, hard.

Celestia looked at her, concerned. “Twilight?”

No response.

“Twilight?”

Still no response.

Celestia leaned in, even more concerned. “Twilight, are you alright?”

There was a flash in Twilight’s eyes, and then she moved.

The next thing Celestia knew, she was flat on her back, halfway down the hall, with a smaller alicorn’s head pressed against her chest and a pair of forelegs wrapped around her barrel.

“Princess… do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear that?” Twilight’s voice whispered into her ear.

Celestia smiled, and wrapped her own forelegs around Twilight. “Far too long, Twilight,” she whispered back. “Far too long.”

It was a bustling day in Ponyville, even though it was the start of the weekend. More and more families had arrived in the growing town with many also arriving to help finish the new school’s construction. Many teachers had arrived to begin conferences with one another to go over different lesson plans and schedules while adhering to the guidelines that Princess Twilight had left for them in her absence, having cited an issue that had arisen and required her direct attention in Canterlot, but promising that she would be back by nightfall if not earlier to help with the preparations. That had left the youths - the future students who’d come well in advance of the school’s opening - to make up their own time and begin to explore their new surroundings. Be they ponies, hippogriffs, yaks, changelings, wolves, gargoyles, abyssinians, ahuizotls, or any of a number of other species.

Like griffons.

Since Twilight’s intervention in Byzantian, the Griffon Nation had undergone a massive turnaround, and while many of its members had left their homeland to get the training and education for in how to actually run a nation, they’d finally elected a new Council of Elders, in which each member represented a different town or general area. The representative from the town of Griffonstone had been “Grandpa” Gruff, the eldest griffon in that settlement, who’d subsequently been elected the Chief Councilor (one thing the griffons could agree on: they did not want another King, not after what John did). He’d also been back in town the day that Rainbow Dash came by to reconnect with Gilda, another griffon who lived there, soon after Equestria’s latest Royal Wedding. The pair’s reunion hadn’t been pretty at first; Gilda had still had a lot of frustration and aggression to work out after how they’d parted the last time they’d seen one another. But in the end, they’d worked through everything, and consequently Gruff had appointed her to serve as the Griffon Nation’s official representative to Equestria until another griffon had been fully and officially trained to serve in the role.

He’d also made her the official emergency contact and parental figure for Gallus, an orphaned cub who’d by that time been chosen to be the first Griffon Nation student to attend Twilight’s new school. His orphan status wasn’t the reason he was sent - they’d picked many lucky chicks and cubs to go get a proper education, and he’d just been the first to be selected, going to where Princess Twilight lived no less. Soon after arriving, Gilda had told him to go out and mingle, to try and find some new friends, while she finalized the paperwork for his classes. Now, as he looked around, he couldn’t help but snort as he thought about how lucky these ponies must be to live in a place like this full-time.

It was still dull; there were not many interesting places or people to meet up with yet. Sure, this place was supposed to be a school of friendship, but he didn’t seem to be doing too well so far-

Then someone bumped into him, and he looked back to see a green Earth pony, who was looking embarrassed as he backed up. “Whoa, sorry!” he apologized as he rubbed his face. “I'm Sandbar. Are you a student here, too?”

Instinct kicked in, and Gallus huffed. “No, I just figured I'd randomly stand here and see how many ponies would walk into me.”

“Heh.” Sandbar looked even more embarrassed. “Yeah, I was kinda askin’ for that one, wasn’t I?”

“You could say that.” Gallus sighed. “At least you’re talking to me.”

“Sure I’m talking. Why wouldn’t anyone want to talk to you?” Sandbar asked.

“Same reason nocreature’s really said anything to me yet,” an orange dragon said as she walked up. “We’re cranky, and that scares people.”

“Hah!” another voice suddenly interjected. “Yaks not scared of anything!” A moment later, the voice’s source, a smaller yak with a green blanket on her back and some red decorations in her braids, walked up to them. “Yona Yak want to meet new creatures. Yak not see any non-yaks before Princess Twilight come to Yakyakistan.”

“Yona, huh?” The orange dragon smiled. “And you saw the princess too…”

“Yona did!” Yona nodded eagerly. "Yona looking forward to seeing purple pony princess again. She made good snow sculptures for smashing!"

The dragon chuckled. “Yeah, well… I saw her from a distance too, when Princess Twilight first came back from her world tour - Dragon Lord Torch wanted to have more than one of us up in Canterlot for the big day, and Princess Ember figured I was the dragon most likely to behave myself.” She held out a claw. “Name’s Smolder.”

“Gallus,” Gallus said as he held out his own to shake hers. “And this is Sandbar.”

“I’M SILVERSTREAM!” another being suddenly yelled as she popped up in their faces.

Gallus raised an eyebrow as he shook his head, wondering where the girl had come from - until she'd spoken up, he hadn't seen her anywhere around. “Loud…”

“Heh-heh… oops, sorry,” the other being said as they pulled back, revealing themselves to be a pink hippogriff, wearing a small shell-like necklace. “But I’m just so excited to be here, now that it’s safe to go out of the water again! You know, I had never been out of the water since I was born, even when cousin Skystar invited me?”

“You lived in Seaquestria?” a smaller voice suddenly asked, and the five looked to see a smaller changeling standing a ways away, her chitin an arctic blue.

Silverstream nodded. “Yep! Mom’s been there her whole life, but Dad came from Mount Aris originally before the whole Storm King thing went down there. And now that monster’s gone, so it’s safe to go up again, and I was so excited when they offered me the chance to spend time on the surface world…”

Smolder snorted. “Dragon Lord Torch’s still ticked that he missed out on that fight,” she said with a careless wave of her claws. “Not that they’d have stood a chance if there’d been a bunch of dragons there…”

“Yaks not happy about missing out on it either,” Yona said. She glanced over at the little changeling. “Changeling should be proud, it was one of your people who helped beat him!”

The little changeling blushed, and Sandbar, seeing this, smiled. “What’s your name, anyway?” he asked.

“I’m… Ocellus,” the changeling admitted. “Hi.”

“Yak happy to meet you,” Yona said, beaming. She glanced over at Gallus, who shrugged.

“Nice to meet you too,” he begrudgingly admitted. “Say, you guys wanna blow this popsicle stand and go see some sights? I’m kinda bored just standing around.”

Sandbar smiled. “Come on,” he said. “I’ll show you around Ponyville. This place is awesome!”

“I know,” Ocellus said, perking up a bit. “My family lives here now… when we’re not up in Canterlot.”

“So, if you’re from one of the full-time Equestrian hives, whose are you from?” Sandbar asked curiously as the six started moving away from the school, heading out into the streets of Ponyville. “King Thorax, or Queen Scolopidia?”

“King Thorax,” Ocellus said as they went. “He’s… nice.”

“Shyeah.” Smolder shook her head. “That means you’re from Prince Pharynx’s hive. He’s freaking awesome, for a non-dragon.”

Ocellus nodded. “The hive is almost as proud of him as they are of King Thorax for taking charge of things when… she tried what she did.” The little changeling shivered.

“You mean former Queen Chrysalis?” Smolder asked, prompting Ocellus to curl in on herself.

“Hey, ease up, will ya?” Sandbar asked, seeing the little changeling’s frightened reaction. “Sure, she’s in jail now, but that lady was still scary, from what I heard.”

“Little changeling shouldn’t be afraid of her,” Yona said. “She far away and not have magic anymore. She not capable of hurting anycreature ever again.”

“She still scares me…” Ocellus said softly as Sandbar helped her up.

Silverstream nodded as she leaned over and rubbed her feathers against the little changeling. “I know what you mean,” she said. “I never met the Storm King, but… my people had stories of what he did when he and his troops came to Mount Aris. It still scares me, thinking about him.”

Gallus shrugged. “I don’t have your experiences,” he said. “But you wanna know what’s really scary, and what all of you are lucky to have never known?”

“What’s that?” Yona asked curiously.

“Not having any real family.” Gallus looked at them. “You all have your parents, right?”

One by one, the others nodded.

“Well, I didn’t. I had to fend for myself, until Princess Twilight made it so our people had a chance again. My guardian’s okay, but I didn’t even have that until recently.” He snorted as he went on ahead, leaving them to stare after him in surprise.

“How can that even be a thing,” Sandbar began to ask before trailing off. “Sorry, that was really rude and dumb of me.”

Smolder snorted. “You said it, not me.”

“Yak have feeling this going to be covered in history class,” Yona said. “Yak is hoping to hear that griffons have better system in place soon.” She perked up. “Like yak system! Yaks make sure all little ones are watched out for.”

“Wolves do that too, from what I’ve heard,” Sandbar offered.

“So what, ponies don’t do that?” Gallus said with a smirk, watching the pony stammer for a moment.

“We do,” he said. “We just…” He shook his head. “I just didn’t think about it, is all.”

“Relax, I’m just messing with you.” Gallus chuckled, punching him lightly on the arm. “But yeah. I never even knew my folks. Gilda’s okay enough as a caretaker, now that I have one. Better her than Gruff, at least. Everyone calls him Grandpa, but that’s just a thing he likes.” He grimaced. “I’d hate to see what any kid he actually raised their whole life would turn out like.”

“Pretty cranky, I’d bet,” a voice said from overhead, before landing in front of them. “Hey, Gallus. Ocellus. New guys.”

Gallus rolled his eyes. “Hey, Rainbow Dash.”

“You know her?” Silverstream squealed excitedly.

“She’s the reason Gilda got picked as my caretaker,” Gallus said. “And if you’re looking for her, she’s still filling out paperwork,” he added as he turned back to Rainbow Dash.

“Kinda figured,” Rainbow Dash said. “Gotta fly now, but you kids take care, all right?”

“We will, Miss Dash,” Ocellus said softly, waving as Rainbow Dash smiled at them and flew off.

“So as you’ve been here the longest, what do you know that’s cool to do here?” Gallus asked Ocellus.

“Um… well, I like the library,” she said. “Even when Princess Twilight isn’t there.”

“Huh,” Gallus blinked, trying to think of a response that was not flat-out rude. “Anything else?”

“Well… that’s mostly it,” she admitted. “I don’t get out much. It’s so… loud.” Her ears flattened. “And crowded. I don’t like crowds, they make me nervous.”

“Huh, maybe we can find something that’s quieter?” Sandbar offered.

“Yona wondering where in this town would be quiet,” the yak said. “Yona heard that Ponyville was full of excitement.”

Sandbar chuckled. “Yeah, about once a week or so… did Princess Twilight ever tell you about the time one of her friends stopped a stampede of panicked cows, only to accidentally cause a stampede of bunnies a week later?”

“Bunnies?” Smolder asked with a raised eye ridge. “Seriously?”

“Don’t knock it ‘till you’ve seen it,” Sandbar told her. “We’re talking over a thousand of them, all going one way. That many creatures, no matter the size, can cause a lot of trouble.”

“If you say so.” Smolder still didn’t sound convinced.

“I’ve also heard that they have this creature called Chaos around here,” Gallus said. “A complete nutter but also very powerful. Gilda mentioned I should watch out for him.”

“Oh please, I’m not that bad,” a voice said from above them. “Although I used to be but I’m better; just ask Fluttershy.”

The six looked up in astonishment to see an unfamiliar shape, who waved a claw. “Greetings, young ones.”

“Chaos!” five of them said with the changeling nymph smiling at him with no fear.

“Hi Discord,” Ocellus said. “How are you?”

“Rather well, my little changeling,” Discord told her. “Had the opportunity to schmooze with the Smooze again recently; he and I go way back.”

“That’s good.” Ocellus smiled again. “How’s he doing?”

“Well, aside from a minor incident with his cousin trying to break free and cause all sorts of havoc with a hate plague in the western Arimaspi lands last year while the rest of the world was occupied with the Storm King, he’s doing just fine,” Discord said. “Those two really don’t get along. Total opposites personality-wise. Good thing he alerted me in time; otherwise things could have gone a lot worse for our troops.” He leaned down and rubbed Ocellus’s head. “Good seeing you again, little one. Ta-ta!” With that, he vanished, leaving the others to stare at Ocellus in surprise.

"Okay, how do you know that guy so well?" Gallus demanded. "And isn't his name Chaos?"

Ocellus ducked her head. "No, that's just what he does," she said. "Discord is friends with Miss Fluttershy, and she invited all of us - him, my parents and I - to tea a few times after we moved here. He and I got to know one another, and he's really nice, if he likes you."

“Huh.” Smolder looked up at where he’d been again. “Strange guy. Seems kind of cool… but still strange.”

“I know!” Silverstream said happily. “Isn’t it exciting?”

“I think he’s odd,” Sandbar said. “But not as odd as that.” He pointed in the direction of a large, muscular pegasus, who was busy lifting and lowering a massive box with a trio of fillies standing on top of it.

Yona’s jaw dropped. “Yona has never seen any pony so big and strong like that,” she said in awe. “Yona must know more about him!”

The others chuckled as they began to walk off together.

Neighsay stretched his neck out, trying to get the kinks out without much success due to the cramped quarters of the mines.

He had quickly lost track of the days down here but not his wits or his ability to lead others. He had since managed to convince the other slaves to create a distraction for him so he could make his escape, and now was the time.

He shared a look with Signal Flare, one of the other figures of authority among the slaves, and gave him a nod. Even though they were closely watched, they had managed to communicate and coordinate their efforts, all so Neighsay could escape and come back with help.

Having caught his movement, Signal Flare nodded at two ponies working with smaller sledgehammers. One of them brought his sledgehammer down on the ground hard, then loosened his grip so the tool cartwheeled away. The handle grazed another stallion, who screamed, clutched at his cannon and started hopping around on his other legs, all the while swearing that he was going to kill the clumsy oaf who let go of the hammer. The other workers backed away from the careening hammer and the two stallions, then started shouting encouragement to them in hopes of goading them into a fight.

Neighsay retreated along with the others, then stopped when a knot of three of his fellows screened him from the guards. Shutting his eyes, he concentrated on the magic in the amulet, pictured his home, and triggered it.

When he opened his eyes again, he was horrified. In front of him was not the polished floors of his home, but the cave he had been stuck in, the other workers having been moved aside by the guards.

How, he thought to himself. How am I not out of-

His musings were cut off when he heard a disturbing chuckle, and he looked up to see his captor.

“You really thought that it would be that easy for you to just leave?” the centaur sneered.

“But my amulet,” Neighsay said, stammering to understand what had just happened.

His captor laughed again with his minions around him grinning. “Did you really think we didn’t know?” he sneered. “Your amulet’s worthless down here. You’d have to get out with it to be able to actually use it. These mines are lined with pure iron, which blocks all magic from leaving.” The minions of the centaur laughed more harshly, before their captor reached out and snatched at his amulet. “Still…” He began squeezing, only to release it and look at Neighsay. “This is not to be completely negative, my friend. You have shown remarkable talent; making yourself a leader among the lessers.” The centaur walked around and over to him. “I can use that; you are a stallion of remarkable talents and skills; with your connections reaching far and wide and yet treated so poorly.”

The other beings in the room began to make mocking sounds but the centaur snapped a glare at them.

“You have knowledge, great knowledge of Canterlot, of how to come and go as you please and ties to those in the castle of those who betrayed you,” the being cooed, placing a hand on his side as a map of Canterlot was sprawled out onto the table. “All you need to do is tell me what we need to know and you will be among my true followers, treated properly and as you truly deserved all along, dear Neighsay.”

Neighsay stared at him, with the thought of getting revenge against the Princesses for allowing this to happen to him, on that blasted youngest Princess for causing all of this misfortune to befall him. There was a moment he thought of putting that Princess in her place and it brought him a momentary surge of enjoyment.

It only lasted a second before he shook his head and tried to take a step backwards. “I’m afraid I must decline your offer, I am still loyal to the thrones and I will not betray my Princesses.”

The centaur stared at him, still holding onto him with a surprisingly tight grip. “This is not an offer I make lightly, Neighsay, and I will only give you this kind offer one last time. Tell me what I want to know.”

“I’ve said no,” Neighsay said with pride in his voice, even as the centaur shook his head sadly before he forced Neighsay down onto the table and pinning him to it with a single hand.

“Last time, Neighsay and now I will take back the carrot and present the stick,” he sneered. “Tell me or you will lose your horn. Now.”

Neighsay stared in fear and terror, with the twin emotions moving his lips but his previous pride in his role as the chancellor and a citizen of the princesses kept them shut.

The centaur snorted dismissively, shaking his head disappointedly. “So be it,” he said as he patted Neighsay’s neck before he brought down his other hand and a sheering, near blinding pain engulfed him.

“Oh we’re not down with you yet, Neighsay,” the centaur cooed viciously. “Bring me that torch!” he snapped with Neighsay trying to squirm in pain but the centaur was holding him in place. “Now to make sure you’ll never be an issue again.” The centaur chuckled as another round of pain surged through him. “Or ever use magic again, even with a transplant, not with those nerve endings burned away.” He laughed louder as he threw Neighsay the ground and gave him a kick to the gut. “Take him back to the pens; he is to be treated as any other slave now that he’s proven to be useless to us.”

Neighsay felt people grab and drag him off, his eyes opening briefly to see the being that had truly ruined his life and vowed to get even one day before the pain forced him to black out.

Chapter Eight

It was much, much later before Velvet finally left the room with Sunburst laying his head onto the table with a thud. She wasn’t his mother but the guilt, oh sweet Celestia, the guilt she had laid on him for his thoughtlessness was seriously comparable to the stuff his mother could do. He shivered in terror at the thought of what she would say as Velvet had promised that she would contact Stellar Flare after this and he had no doubt she would do s-

“Sunburst?” Starlight asked cautiously as she stepped into the room.

“Starlight?” Sunburst looked at her in surprise. Sure, she was a grown mare now, and she’d changed her manestyle, but there was no mistaking that face. “You’re… here?”

“Yeah, I…” Starlight looked at him. “My gosh, look at you!”

Sunburst did; trying to see what she was mentioning. He didn’t see anything special on him and was about to say it when Starlight shook her head and placed a hoof on his shoulder. “You’ve really grown up, haven’t you,” she said. “Physically, at least.”

“I… er, yeah,” Sunburst admitted. “Starlight…”

“Shh.” Starlight held up a hoof. “Don’t speak.” She looked down. “Princess Twilight told me about what happened, why you never wrote.”

Sunburst looked down too. “Oh.”

“Sunburst…” She shook her head. “Why would you ever think I would be ashamed of you? You were my best friend, my only friend. All I ever wanted was to know you were there, and when you weren’t… when you took off and never contacted me again… I almost thought you didn’t care anymore, and it broke me.” Raising her head again, she looked at him. “I wouldn’t have cared about your grades, or your abilities. What I cared about was you.”

Sunburst looked at her, before sighing. “I get it, I was an idiot,” he said. “I’ve had that drilled into me more than once already today.”

“But you don’t have to be,” Starlight said softly as she sat down. “We can start again, you know? Reconnect? See what we still have in common, maybe build new interests together?” She looked away briefly. “Princess Twilight’s been giving me friendship lessons since we met, and I kind of had that one drilled into my head last week, about getting to know people better through spending time together and finding common interests while still learning to appreciate that they like different things from what I do.”

“I think I’d like that,” Sunburst said. He coughed nervously. “That is, if you don’t mind spending your time with a big geek who spends more time researching than spellcasting.”

“As long as that big geek is you, that’s all that matters,” Starlight said, smiling at him.

“Well, that’s a start,” Velvet muttered, moving away from the door with Celestia and Twilight both watching her. “The poor colt isn’t that bright with fillies but I think they’ll be fine.”

“I would be impressed but then I recall your work with two other youngsters,” Celestia said with Twilight frowning in confusion.

“What are you two talking about exactly?” she asked, tilting her head to the side. “As far as I know, Shining and Cadance never had issues like those two-in fact, they were clearly in love back when they were teenagers to the point I saw it but Oh!” Twilight blinked as the other horseshoe dropped and gave her a flat look. “Really mom; you were playing matchmaker?”

“Well not exactly; I was working to help repair their friendship by giving them a nudge in the right direction but it was pretty clear why Sunburst leaving Starlight left such a deep wound,” Velvet said as the trio began to walk down the hallway.

“How did you even come to that conclusion so quickly? You spent just thirty minutes lecturing Sunburst and maybe even less with Starlight?” Twilight asked, trying not to sound incredulous and actually work out the logic behind it.

“That is the privilege of being a mother who has seen this before, Twilight,” Velvet said, using her magic to fuss with Twilight’s mane. “Celestia can attest.”

Celestia nodded as she watched Twilight fix her mane before doing the same as Velvet did her own magic. “I’ve seen it many a time with some of my former students, both at my school and those I personally took under my wing, though even I can be taken by surprise.” She glanced in Velvet’s direction. “For instance, until Moondancer confessed her feelings, even I didn’t know how she felt about you.”

Fixing her mane again, Twilight smiled. “Yeah… I just wish I’d seen it sooner.”

“Love rarely works that way,” Velvet said with a sigh. “I feel that those two won’t realize it for a long time.”

“And that is just Starlight to Sunburst,” Celestia said with a sound bubble descending around them; no doubt to respect the privacy of the two ponies in question as the trio were beginning to pass servants of the castle. “We don’t know how he feels about her truly yet. He might not return those feelings or even have feelings for anyone.”

Twilight nodded. “You know, I actually see some of how I used to be in him,” she said. “Socially awkward, a total bookworm, blind to how people felt… though at least I wasn’t a total shut-in. You know I checked with his neighbors before I called him here, and they said they barely noticed him coming in or out, except to go to the shops? Never had anyone over, except on business - like someone coming to fix his furnace,” she added when she saw their querying expressions.

Celestia nodded back. “I read that report,” she said. “I think… I think, deep down, he’s been a lot lonelier all these years than he might admit.”

“Hopefully she will be able to help, romantic angle or not,” Velvet said. She quirked her head. “I know you’ve given Starlight some private friendship lessons, but have you thought about inviting them to attend your school?”

Twilight blinked as she considered that. “You think they’d go for it?”

“Maybe,” Velvet told her. “I do know you have mostly younger students, but there are some adults who’d be interested.” She nudged Twilight. “I know I’d be interested in reading your syllabuses, at least, to compare the cultural lessons to everything I know.”

“I’ll make sure you get a copy,” Twilight told her. “Some of them are… pretty interesting.”

“As would I,” Celestia said. “I would be glad to learn what your school is doing and see how mine could benefit from the fresh ideas you have come up with.”

“I’ll send you copies too,” Twilight promised. “I know at least that removing Neighsay’s bigoted policies would be a major step in the right direction.” She looked at Celestia. “Have you found where he’s disappeared off to yet, by the way? I know he was a pain, but that doesn’t mean I want anything bad to happen to him.”

“No luck, unfortunately,” Celestia said. “He or any of the many ponies who’ve disappeared in recent months. Even Discord has yet to find any trace; it’s like they’ve been magically hidden from our view.”

“Do you think it’s that… whatever it is, that escaped from Tartarus before its gates were sealed?” Twilight asked.

Celestia looked at her. “Twilight, I’m afraid that’s exactly what it might be. Or worse, though Discord has assured me that it is not a Power gone renegade - all of them that he can find are behaving themselves, and the ones who can hide themselves from him are among the highest-ranking and not the sorts to cause trouble.”

“He could have also just skipped town and is using some trinket to mask himself,” Velvet said. “Sometimes the simplest of answers is the correct one.”

Celestia nodded. “He does have quite an impressive collection of amulets, with a variety of magical abilities,” she said. “But as much as I’d like to think it was something harmless like that, I can’t help but worry.”

Twilight nodded silently, before changing the subject. “How are Tempest’s lessons going, by the way?”

“Fairly well,” Celestia said. “She is an eager student and is willing to admit when she’s made an error, then take steps to correct it. And Grubber has been rather well-behaved when he sits in with us - he does not disrupt things, unlike some students my school has had in the past. He might not be able to use magic himself, but I think he finds our lessons fascinating to watch regardless.” She smiled. “He has proven to be rather like Spike and done well with the non-magical aspects of the lessons - he takes good notes for her, and is always willing to help find what she needs in the books.”

Twilight and Velvet both smiled, and Twilight looked especially happy. “He and Spike did get along very well when we were all traveling together,” she said. “It really surprised Tempest, but she was happy for them.”

“That’s always good to know,” Celestia said.

“So Twilight,” Velvet said as they approached a juncture in the hallway, “Are you planning to return to Ponyville tonight?”

“Well, that was the original plan…” Twilight admitted. “But then things took longer than I expected to come together, so I sent a note back telling them about the delay.” She blushed. “If you don’t mind, could I stay at home tonight? It is getting late and I can always catch the morning train.”

“Of course,” Velvet said with Celestia blushing as she had begun to say the same thing before realizing who Twilight was talking to. “You’re always welcome to stay with your father and I.”

Twilight smiled. “Thank you.”

“And the same goes for you,” Velvet added as she looked at Celestia. “You’re family, after all, and you deserve a night off.”

Celestia smiled gratefully. “I’d be honored,” she said. “As well as to taste the food of the one who trained Spike.”

Velvet chuckled, shaking her head as the three of them continued on their way. “I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised,” she said. “And I even have an extra cheesecake in the fridge if either of you feel like a late-night chat.”

Both alicorns smiled.

It was early in the morning a month or so later when the large group disembarked from the train after it arrived in Ponyville, with some of them heading off in different directions.

“Be excitin’ to see your homestead here,” Slice n' Dice remarked as she and Applejack walked together, five little fillies rushing ahead of them excitedly with capes fluttering in the wind and several adults looking very pale and terrified. “After all tha time you spent at mine.”

Applejack nodded. “An’ you an’ Bramley an’ the boys can finally meet Granny,” she said. “She’s been eager to meet ya all. Wish they could’ve caught the same train.”

“Ah know, Applejay, but they had to head back an’ check on things back home first,” Slice told her. “They’ll be here in a day or so.”

“YEAH!” a loud voice said as Bulk Biceps walked past them on one side.

Fluttering on the other side of the cousins, Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Some fun at the Games, huh?” she asked.

“You said it,” Slice agreed. “Ya know, Ah think Ah’ve spent more time away from home this year than Ah have the entire rest of the time since Ah moved out there?”

“No kidding,” Rainbow Dash agreed. “Canterlot for the Royal Wedding, the Crystal Empire for the Equestria Games, and now here. Hope you enjoy yourself visiting as much as we did at your place.”

Slice smiled. “It’ll be interestin’ to see the Acres, that’s for sure,” she said. “An’ Bramley’ll be real happy to meet some new foals here.” She looked ahead at the quintet. “She’s a wonder.”

Applejack nodded. “Wishin’ ya had a few little ones of yer own?” she asked.

“One of these years, maybe,” Slice said. “Gotta meet the right stallion first. Or mare. Ah’m not picky. Ain’t too many back home though.”

“Well, here’s a hoping ya can find someone that won’t mind coming ta live with ya back in the Packlands,” Applejack said with a wistful sigh.

“The Apple Itch coming back?” Slice asked her.

“Somewhat,” Applejack said with a shrug. “Ah felt more alive out there than Ah’ve done in a long time but it ain’t where mah kin - ‘cept you an’ yer brothers - or mah friends are. Besides…” She looked at her. “After Ah got home last year, Ah spent some time talkin’ with Granny, an’ Ah found out some important stuff about the Acres an’ our family that Ah never knew. An’ Ah wanna show you that part after we get there an’ get settled in.”

“Applejay?” Slice asked, giving her a worried look.

“It’s the spot where mah folks got married, Slice,” Applejack said, somewhat wistfully. “Ah think you should see it.”

At that, Slice nodded and smiled. “All right, little miss. Lead on, cous’.”

Applejack snorted. “Yer only a year or two older than me, Slice,” she said, bumping into her side.

“A year or two older is still a year or two older,” Slice said back with a smirk. “Hay, doesn’t one of our cousins joke about how she still counts as the older one when her little sister was born just ten minutes later?”

Applejack chuckled. “Ya got me there,” she said with a sigh. “Though Ah’d wish Ah was the older one fer once. Ya know, of all mah friends, Pinkie and Ah are the only middle siblin’s of the bunch? Twilight’s got an older brother, an’ Rares, Fluttershy an’ Rainbow are all the older ones. But Pinkie and ah have both older an’ younger siblin’s.”

“Well maybe next time, squirt,” Slice said with a chuckle, pushing Applejack’s hat down her head as she ran forwards.

Chuckling back as she fixed her hat, Applejack ran after her, ignoring the telltale shout of the Cutie Mark Crusaders embarking in a new crusade.

“Vinyl, Scolopidia, darlings,” Octavia said as she looked out the window before glancing at her wives. “I am not sure if I am mishearing things but I do believe I just heard five Cutie Mark Crusaders running down the street.”

Vinyl chuckled. “The kids are finally back in town, huh? Going to be fun out there…”

“Should give my soldiers some extra training,” Scolopidia muttered with a smirk. “Those fillies are very good at coming up with stuff that my hive hasn’t ever seen before.”

“Scolopidia, dear, those fillies are very good at coming up with things that nobody has ever seen before,” Octavia replied. “Their creativity knows no bounds when it comes to new ideas for attempting to earn their Marks.”

“And yes, I will go make sure my changelings know they aren’t to spoil the secret for them,” Scolopidia said as she stood up from the table, fluttering her wings out before heading towards the door, only for Vinyl to stop her.

“One moment, Scops,” she said as she wiped her mouth on her arm before placing a kiss on her wife’s cheek. “Have fun.”

“My, you got a clean kiss,” Octavia said with a mock frown. “What did you do to be so special?”

Scolopidia looked indignant, before Octavia’s expression turned to a smile. “Just joking, my dear,” she said. “Enjoy yourself.”

“Oh yes, dealing with stubborn old changelings and guards that would like nothing more than I just let them tell those girls the true secret of getting their Cutie Marks is exactly what I want to deal with,” she said rolling her eyes as she teleported over to Octavia and placed a kiss on her lips. “See you later dears.”

When she’d gone, Vinyl shrugged. “She does know they’ve been told the truth before but didn’t get it, that it’s a moment of self-realization that does it, right?”

“Probably does, but it is just some sort of changeling translation issue,” Octavia said. “Like she said, there’s so many different variants of the word love?”

“Yeah.” Vinyl sighed happily. “You know, the two of us asking her to marry us was one of the two best decisions we ever made?”

Octavia smiled. “And I suppose the two of us proposing to one another was the other?”

“You got it, Octy.” Vinyl said as she shook her mane. “Now I think we should get ready or Tympanum will rat out to Scops that we’re not working again.”

“I could swear that Tympanum is Scolopidia’s advisor and not ours,” Octavia noted.

“Doesn’t stop her from trying to poke her nose into our business too,” Vinyl told her. “It’s like she doesn’t have anything better to do.”

“Well you two are the Queen’s consorts,” Tympanum said, appearing in the kitchen with a clipboard. “As I said multiple times, you two do represent our Queen now, so both of you, Vinyl,” Tympanum gave a glare at the unicorn. “Do need to be more representable in your fields.”

Vinyl shrugged. “She married us for us, not for the image we present.”

“While my wife may be rather blunt in the matter, she does have a point,” Octavia said. “We married for love. And while there are times I do wish Vinyl would tone down the wilder aspects, they’re a part of her that I’ve long since come to accept.”

“That love is there is no doubt, Madam Octavia,” Tympanum said with a flicker of wings that both of them had learned long ago was their way of tutting at them. “The changeling nobles have no issue with you, it is just the Equestrian nobles that are more perturbed and are raising the ruffled feathers.”

“They’d do that no matter what kind of image we presented,” Vinyl said with a snort. “Sure, the nosier and more obnoxious ones got tossed out for good after what Princess Twilight and then Prince Blueblood pulled, but a lot of the ones still there are always looking for an excuse to complain anyway. I think it’s one of their hobbies.”

“It would still make it easier on all of us if you played along, Vinyl,” Tympanum sighed as Octavia gave her a cup of tea. “You are among the high nobility and they do love to waste everyone’s time with their pointless complaints.”

Vinyl shrugged. “I know, but I am what I am,” she said. “The ones whose opinions matter the most to me already like Octy and I just the way we are, and they legally outrank the obnoxious ones, if you know what I mean.”

“That all four of the Princesses regard you well is a point in your favor,” Tympanum admitted. “But as that was a failed attempt to try and steer you in a better direction that all of you can attest to, we can now begin the day’s agenda.”

Both of the mares rolled their eyes as Tympanum began to read the day’s agenda and exchanged glances. Had they been able to read minds, both would have heard the same thoughts from their partner… and if Scolopidia had heard them, she’d have agreed.

Really, do all royal advisors have to be so stuffy?

“So Twilight, are you excited for tomorrow,” Rainbow Dash asked as they all sat on the massive picnic blanket. It was unusual to have a picnic dinner but there was simply not enough space for all of her core friends at the table anymore, especially not after the Cutie Mark Crusaders - or at least Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo - tried carpentry repair again. (Apple Bloom probably would have done a good job, based on prior experience, but she was preoccupied on another project at the time.)

Twilight nodded. “Absolutely,” she said. “The School of International Culture and Friendship is finally opening to its first day of class, and I can’t wait to see how it goes!”

“I’m sure it will go well,” Rarity said as she was passed the salad by Slice. “You have put in so much work for your school and you have got the best teachers working for you.”

“Rarity is right,” Trixie said as she placed some food on her plate before doing the same for Moondancer, the two mares smiling at each other. “You’ve taken every step necessary to ensure everything will work out, and quintuple-checked them all. Things will go well for your school, Trixie is sure of it.”

Twilight smiled at that before sighing. “I just hope that the students can take what I am trying to teach to heart,” she said. “I hope that everything we did the last year amounts to something that others can learn from.”

“In case you hadn’t noticed Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said. “The kids have already been making friendship; there’s a group of six of them hanging out together most of the time, and not a one of them is the same species. Not to mention a couple of transfers from the Ponyville Schoolhouse who admitted they wanted to try for a fresh start.”

Twilight beamed at that. “I had heard about those two,” she said. “Cheerilee was sorry to see them go, but wished me the best with helping them.” Then she looked thoughtful. “I hadn’t heard about the bigger group though.”

“Surprised you didn’t, seein’ how Ocellus is one of ‘em,” Applejack said. “Kid’s really comin’ out of her shell now.”

At that, Twilight smiled. “Mom will be glad to hear that,” she said. “I’ll be sure to tell her later on if Spike hasn’t decided to do so on his own.”

Spike shook his head as he added more fuel to the cookfire. “I’ll let you do it, Twilight,” he said as he turned the fish over before he looked back at the girls. “Next helping should be ready in just a bit.”

“Good; I’ve been waiting for this all night long,” Pinkie said. “Next to me, you might be the best cook in all of Ponyville, Spike.”

“Thanks Pinkie,” Spike replied. “Though I have been thinking about going to a cooking school when I am older so I can get even better.” Spike then turned over some food over the grill before looking at Twilight. “Though I am not sure if those three would survive if I were to leave them alone for that long.”

Twilight, Moondancer and Trixie puffed out their cheeks, looking indigent before chuckling. “Yeah, point,” Twilight admitted with Trixie and Moondancer muttering lightly that they could be trusted with the cooking. “But if you truly want to go a cooking school, you know you have my full support and I will write a letter of recommendation for you, as well as getting as many as I can, right?”

“Thank you Twilight,” Spike said smiling widely, with the rest of their friends nodding their heads in agreement.

“You will have many letters of recommendations, my Spikey Wikey,” Rarity said. “After all, you’ve had Princess Celestia herself more than once appear just to sample your cooking and try to run off with the entire batch.”

“Does she really?” Slice asked, clearly amused. “An’ Ah thought Big-Cheer was a big eater.”

“Havin’ lived around him for a few months, Ah can’t disagree on that,” Applejack said. “But if’n you want to talk big eaters, we once saw Pinkie swallow an entire cake that was bigger than her head.” She shook her head. “We do try to follow the laws, like you do… but for Pinkie, the laws of physics are only suggestions.”

Slice shook her head. “Ah’ll take yer word for it,” she said. “She looks a bit too lean but Ah’m not going to put it past ya; not one to spin a yarn, Applejay.”

Pinkie, who was filling her plate, tilted her head. “I just burn off the calories really fast,” she said. “Gotta keep in shape for all that baking I do.”

“Really; that’s how you’re able to move about?” Rainbow Dash asked with a smirk.

“Well that and a bit of Pinkie Pie secret training,” she said with a giggle.

“Pinkie’s appetite and abilities aside, yes, Princess Celestia tends to eat a lot,” Spike said as he took a serving for himself. “Especially when it’s me or Grandma cooking.” He glanced in Twilight’s direction. “They both wrote me about the night you stayed over.”

Twilight smiled. “That was a good night,” she said. “Especially the morning after,” she added, licking her lips.

“Oh?” Moondancer asked. “Did Princess Celestia show off some of her cooking?”

“Yes, actually,” Twilight said. “Did she do that for you too, when you were living in the castle?”

Moondancer nodded. “She said she finds it relaxing.”

“She’s said that to me too,” Twilight told her. “I’m not surprised.”

Moondancer smiled. “Well, after over a thousand years, you’ve got to pick up a few hobbies,” she said. “And she is good at it.”

“No kidding,” Spike agreed.

Twilight smiled at the pair, before sighing. “Sometimes I wonder…” she said. “How I’ll take it when I’ve been around that long.”

Moondancer nuzzled her. “You’ll do fine,” she reassured Twilight. “I mean, you’ll have the other Princesses with you. And other immortals.”

“You should listen to Moondancer, Twilight,” Trixie said, looking a bit longer at the yellow unicorn. “She knows what she’s talking about.” She looked at Spike. “Trixie has read up on dragons, by the way,” she said. “I am fairly certain that with his biology, Spike will live just as long as you. Even without any extras, there are dragons alive today who predate Equestria’s founding.”

“Yeah…” Twilight smiled. “You’re right.”

Talk moved on to other subjects, such as the various things they’d all been up to that summer, and the latest news from the Packlands.

“Swift-Pad wrote me to say he and Maxilla had a lot of fun on their honeymoon, and to thank me for telling them about my experiences in Ornithia,” Twilight told them. “They went back home for a bit after that, but they’ll be down here tomorrow morning, in time for the grand opening.”

“That’s good to hear,” Fluttershy said. “And Well-Hidden said he’d be here too - he’s been away a lot with his duties, but this is one of those events he wants to watch. And there might be a few others around.”

“There’s also other good news, Twi,” Dash said as she lifted a piece of cake to her lips. “A certain group we all know and hate has gotten into really hot water lately.”

“The Pony Vegan Environmentalists?” Twilight asked.

“With you knocking out a lot of their biggest donors and that a majority of the world is coming together, a lot of their lesser donors are also pulling out,” the pegasus said. “That and they tried to pull their stunts again near the griffon and yak borders and it really didn’t go good for them.” She grinned. “Prince Rutherford put out a notice that if they ever showed their faces around Yakyakistan again, he’d make them sit through a performance of some of the yaks’ worst poetry ever - the kind of stuff total amateurs make up when they first start trying and pretend never existed once they’re ready to do the good stuff in public. And that’s something his people haven’t done even to their most heinous criminals in a couple hundred years, but these guys were so annoying he’d bring it back for them.”

“And the griffon Chief Councilor Gruff was even harsher; he threw the lot that didn’t run fast enough into prison,” Rarity said. “They thought since the wolves hadn’t actually bothered to arrest any of them in the past, they could get away with their antics there as well.” She chuckled. “They were rather mistaken, as the griffons proved.”

“They also thought that they could just get Equestria to spring them all but Celestia felt it was best not to interfere with a fledgling government’s decisions,” Moondancer said, her hoof resting on Trixie’s, with the blue mare blushing but clearly not complaining. “Personally, I think that’s just the public reasoning. If I were her, I’d be happy to have them out of my mane regardless of who was holding them.”

“Though I suppose she is making significant measures to get them out as it wouldn’t look good if she were to let them just rot,” Twilight said with a soft frown. “But she is right that we can’t just demand them to give them back to us as it could undermine their authority this early on.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “I think Gruff plans to send them back eventually anyway, once he’s made his point. Gilda says he’s been complaining about not wanting to have them around any longer than necessary.”

“I am glad that I am not in charge of this yet,” Twilight said. “And I am glad for the training I am getting. I don’t mind helping run things, but… well, I have enough responsibilities as it is. I do not want to end up running the entire country as its sole active alicorn Princess for a lengthy period of time, and I have let Princess Celestia know that.”

“What’d she say?” Slice asked curiously.

“She promised that she’d make sure all three of us got staggered vacations, so if one or two of us felt the need to take some time off for a while, they could,” Twilight said. “She fully agrees with me that forcing one pony to run the country, with the help of assisting councils or not, is not something that any rational being would do - even Starswirl knew that, it’s why he picked two alicorns to run things together instead of just one.”

“That’s some sound logic there,” Applejack said with the rest of their friends nodding their heads in agreement. “Logical as ye are, ya ain’t cut out fer sole leadership just yet.”

Twilight nodded. “Celestia said that running a government is like being in the middle of a thousand carefully arranged plans – all of them on the verge of coming apart at the seams, every single minute of the day. And that after a thousand plus years of handling that sort of thing all by herself, she’d never want to inflict that kind of experience on me.”

“I wonder what Luna’s take on it will be,” Spike said.

“Oh, she agrees,” Twilight said. “Especially after she took charge during the war. She might not be on the front lines as much, stepping back to spend more time with her husband, but she fully approves of the three of us balancing things more.”

“Indeed for I do plan to make the most of my life with my husband,” Luna said as she and Pharynx flew down to join them on the picnic blanket. “As well as adjust more to these modern times with my changeling by my side.”

“Princess Luna, you’re back!” several voices exclaimed in delight.

Luna smiled. “Indeed, we are,” she said. “Pharynx and I weren’t about to miss out on the grand opening of Twilight’s new school, after all. And we aren’t the only leaders who intend to be there for the opening ceremonies.” She leaned down and placed her head beside Twilight’s. “Besides, we missed seeing all of you.”

Twilight smiled. “It’s good to see you too,” she said. “Both of you.”

“Glad to see I’m getting some attention,” Pharynx snarked good-naturedly. “Twilight.”

“Pharynx,” Twilight returned. “How were the beaches?”

“Oh, they were good,” Pharynx said. “Loved the midnight swims. Even if we did have an unexpected visitor at one point.”

“A seapony?” Pinkie asked excitedly.

Pharynx shook his head. “A really cranky shark that mistook Lus for a seal. One biff to the nose sent it away though.”

Fluttershy looked somewhat disapproving, but Twilight nodded understandingly. “Sharks do prefer prey that doesn’t fight back,” she said. “Both seapony kingdoms that Spike and I visited have had issues with them in the past before the sharks learned better.”

“Are the sharks actually sapient though?” Trixie asked.

“No,” Twilight told her. “In this world, at least, they’re like the pigs the Apples raise; they can learn, but they don’t have true thinking, feeling minds like we or a lot of other species do.”

“Though that might be changing,” Luna said. “I have examined their minds while they were asleep and found some interesting thoughts within. They could be on their way, just like the windigos are back on their way to intelligence.”

Trixie’s fur stood on end. “The windigos? They’re still out there?” she asked nervously.

Pharynx nodded. “My people ran into them once in a while back in the day,” he said. “For the most part, we didn’t bother them, and they didn’t bother us. But then something happened, and they devolved into… well, non-sapience,” he said. “We don’t know what caused it; there’s lots of theories; including how their new state is what led them to encourage the blizzards that led to your people moving further south. But Lus and I went to check on them, and some other things we know are out there. They’ve been mostly dormant in the ice all this time, just laying there, like they’re in hibernation.”

“But, as I said, they seemed to be returning to their original levels of intelligence,” Luna said. “We are hoping that once they do, it might be possible to bring them into the fold, so they can join all other races as equal partners.”

“Though it will be a very long time before that will happen,” Pharynx said a bit more seriously than normal. “And a lot of careful monitoring so that no one takes advantage of them during the whole process and that they don’t slide backwards or become a real threat to the world again.”

“Trixie is not sure whether to be relieved or scared,” Trixie muttered. “Trixie is reminded of how she felt when she learned Grogar was real.”

Luna nodded. “That’s about how I felt when I learned Lavan used to be real,” she said.

“Who?” several voices asked.

“Lavan was a demon from ancient times,” Luna explained. “A creature of living molten rock. Celly’s and my mother was part of the team that destroyed him, long before either of us were ever born. We used to think he was just an old filly’s story, until we found his petrified form when we were out exploring once. After that, Mother and Father explained how they were certain he was gone for good; all that was left was an empty shell.” Luna sighed. “Or at least that’s what Celestia told me; I was too young to actually remember all of it.”

“Whoah.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “So monster plot-kicking runs in the family, huh?”

Luna smiled. “Verily.”

“Um, Princess Luna,” Moondancer began to ask only for the princess to cut her off.

“Please, Luna is fine as you are a dear friend,” Luna said as she sat down, smiling at Pharynx as he lifted a plate over to her, causing a few eyebrows to be raised and wide smirks on others’ faces. “Thank you dear.”

“A few questions then, um Luna,” Moondancer said. “What actually happened to your parents? I have gone over the records of pre-Equestria founding, even went over your journals - with permission of course, but this is the first time I have heard any mention of them.”

Luna looked very sad all of a sudden, staring off to the distance. “That is a… delicate and sorrowful subject,” she admitted. “The truth is, Celly and I don’t know for certain, though we do believe we know the cause. A long time ago, there was trouble elsewhere and they, along with the rest of our tribe went to go deal with it. It was a great Event that affected us all and very few ever came back from it. My father and mother either died during the Event or they now rest in the Valley of the Alicorns, but we have not been able to confirm it either way.” She looked down. “Not long after the few returns we do know of, Equestria was founded. Soon after that, Starswirl came to our homeland and asked my sister and I to take over leading Equestria, and we agreed to accompany him back here.”

She looked at the others. “Since then, we have not been able to return to our old homeland, though we tried many times. It is as if it is simply sealed off.” She looked down with her husband nuzzling her side. “Neither I nor my sister has had the courage to visit the Valley, both too scared of what we will find there. Somehow, not knowing is better as there is some faint hope that they may return one day.”

Moondancer bowed her head. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Your apology is accepted, Moondancer,” Luna said with a tearful smile. “It may be painful to think of them… but ‘tis better to remember and work past the pain, rather than to pretend it never happened. When I do think of them, I try to remember the good times, and the joy that I felt then.”

Pinkie nodded. “I do the same when I think of Granny Pie and Nana Pinkie,” she said.

“Your other question, my dear pony?” Luna said as she leaned against her husband who was rubbing her back with his wings.

Leaning against Trixie, Moondancer cleared her throat and said, “I would like to ask you more on night magic, Luna,” she said with Luna sitting upright quickly enough to cause Pharynx to tumble. “There are vast fields of magic that few know anymore since your departure a thousand years ago, and I’ve been very curious to learn more about them but the time was never right for it, considering the war and your own marriage and honeymoon. It’s… well…” She gestured to her flank. “The magic of the night itself, with what little I could find, has always been something that fascinated me and the rest of the girls.”

“That is...” Luna said, blinking while a wide smile began to form on her face. “Rest of the girls?” she asked slowly.

“There is a whole group of ponies that Twilight and I used to go to school with that all tried to examine what night magic, and the similar schools of magic, were like,” she said as she fixed her glasses. “Though I am sure there are mo-”

She cut off when Luna darted forwards and pulled her into a tight hug, a squeal emitting from her lips, Trixie scowling with a pout as she was pushed away from the yellow mare. “Oh joyous stars, I thought it would be far longer before interest in my night would rise to such levels but I am happily mistaken!”

Moondancer blinked in surprise, before returning the hug. “Remind me to introduce you to the members of the astronomy club then,” she said. “They might not have been into the magic side of things, but they loved the patterns of the stars, and the stories behind those patterns.”

Luna stared at her before turning her head towards Pharynx. “Dearest of husbands, we wish to adopt this one,” she said, falling back to the Old Canterlot style of speaking as she held Moondancer close to her chest. “May we do so?” she asked while widening her eyes.

“As you wish, my love,” he said with a chuckle. “Moondancer, would your family object?”

Moondancer gave him a smile. “No, I don’t think my sister will mind at all,” she said.

“Well that is anoth-” Pharynx began before Luna used her magic to seal his lips.

“We must apologize, dear Moondancer, for we were not thinking perfectly rationally just now,” Luna blushed as Rarity was now squirming with delight. “As there are at least two new members of the royal family on their way now.”

“Wait, two?,” Rarity blinked as everyone was either gasping at Luna’s implications or were trying to figure out what Luna meant by two. “I know that Twilight isn’t pregnant as she has been far too busy to entertain herself in that manner, nor do I think she would be that far into a relationship without informing us. And I don’t recall anything about Celestia so that must mean-”

Luna’s eyes went wide before both her and Pharynx facehoofed. “They had not informed you yet, have they,” Luna sighed into her hoof, groaning. “They were so looking forwards to telling you in person and we had thought they would inform you sooner that you will soon be an aunt, dear Twilight.”

“I knew,” Twilight said. “Cadance wasn’t… quite as quiet as she thought she was, when she told Shiny at your wedding reception, and I was right there. I don’t know if they know I know yet.”

“That is good then,” Luna said. “But you had not told your friends yet?”

Twilight blushed. “I thought I’d let Cadance and Shiny tell them,” she said. “It is their news.”

“Well, then that is quite all right,” Luna said. She looked at Moondancer. “And while I may not have been entirely serious…”

Moondancer smiled. “As long as I can be there for the foal-naming ceremony, I’ll be fine,” she said. “But really, Morning Espresso - my sister - wouldn’t mind if you wanted us to be part of the family. And I think our parents, whatever part of Elysium they’re watching from, would be happy too if you meant it.”

“Well, give us time to think on it and Luna’s hormones to balance out some more,” Pharynx said as he used his magic to unseal his lips. “She has been prone to more impulsive decisions of late and this isn’t something we should do on impulse.”

“I can wait,” Moondancer assured them. “I’ve had… a lot of practice.”

Then she lowered her head to Luna’s stomach. “Hi, little one,” she told it. “Does your aunt Celestia know about you yet?”

Luna’s hoof hit her face again, while Pharynx grinned. “See, that’s another thing we need to take care of, when we get back to Canterlot,” he said while dodging his wife’s wing attempting to swat at him.

The others laughed.

Chapter Nine

It was very early in the day, but after many hours of preparation and hard work, the moment was finally here. The opening of the School of International Culture and Friendship was an event that had drawn the attention of many from around Equestria and the world, and there were a great number of visitors in attendance to witness its official opening ceremonies.

Twilight, however, seemed to be slightly less than happy for some reason with Spike looking at her as she prepared to open the doors for the first time.

"What's wrong?" the young dragon asked, fixing his bowtie for the last time. "Aren't you happy?"

"Of course I am Spike," she said, turning to face him. "More than you can possibly imagine, it is just I don't know how much the students will actually get done with all the attention to them today or the fact they will be first students here and be constantly followed by everyone that doesn't want this school to succeed." Pacing, she said, "And I didn't even think about how they, my students, would react to that. If they will be fine with it; I know that Ocellus is still very shy and I don't want to put unwanted stress on her."

"That's one of the reasons you wanted Discord heading up security here, isn't it," Spike said. "To deal with the nosier troublemakers."

Twilight nodded.

"Well, I'm sure everything will work out," Spike said. "Everyone and everything has a few hiccups here and there, but I know that in the end, it'll all work out." He then placed a hand on her side. "Besides, I can't see anyone trying anything after you ask them not to bother the students."

"Not that they're defenseless themselves," Twilight said as she levitated her crown onto her head. "Gallus, Yona and Sandbar all have their physical abilities, Smolder has her fire, Ocellus and Silverstream have their shapeshifting… they're all more than capable of protecting themselves."

"And that restraining order against Spoiled Rich doesn't hurt either," Spike joked.

"No, it doesn't," Twilight agreed. The other mare had not been pleased when her daughter and Silver Spoon had chosen to transfer to Twilight's school in an effort to get out from under Spoiled's influence, but Filthy Rich had fully supported the move when Diamond had admitted why she wanted to go. He'd also fully supported Twilight's actions after Spoiled had barged in on a meeting between the headmare and some other parents so she could try and get Diamond's enrollment revoked. Under those circumstances, even Mayor Mare had felt Twilight was completely justified in labeling Spoiled a "disruptive presence" and legally forbidding her from coming onto the school's grounds again, along with the Golden Oaks Library and several other key places (Filthy himself, of course, was still welcome). Spoiled had protested, of course, until the official court rulings were shown to her, proving that this was all very much legal and that she wasn't the first parent to get banned from a school's grounds for bad behavior. She was still trying to get those orders revoked, but it was starting to dawn on her it would be very costly to continue to pursue it in court.

"At any rate, we'd better get going," Spike said. "It's time."

Twilight nodded, took a couple of deep breaths, and headed outside, Spike trotting right behind her.

Students, political representatives, press and civilians alike had gathered in the courtyard, all eagerly awaiting the big moment. Still concentrating on her breathing, Twilight stepped up to the podium she'd set up.

"Welcome, everyone," she said, "to the official opening of the School of International Culture and Friendship.

"During my year traveling around the world and learning about other peoples, I came to realize how little we tended to know about the races outside our borders. And in time, I began to envision a school dedicated to sharing knowledge of the cultures of the world, and the bonds of friendship that can exist between all races. A school that would be open to everycreature, regardless of tribe or species. To ensure that we never forget the ties that bind our nations together, and spread these teachings to all." She paused again, and looked out at the crowd, who all seemed rather enthralled by her words. Smiling, she continued.

"Now, that school is a reality, and I am so glad to see that so many people have come to learn. And it is my great honor, as headmare of this school, to ask my students to please report to your teachers… because class is officially in session!"

Cheers erupted across the crowd as they parted to allow a slew of students approach the doors. In front of the pack were the young six friends, each of them waving as best as they could. Ocellus was still looking nervous but she seemed to be drawing confidence from her friends around her. Behind them were several ponies, but there were a pair of wolves, three minotaurs, a hooffull of griffons and hippogriffs, a centaur and gargoyle pair, yaks, changelings, Abyssinians, diamond dogs, ahuizotls, harpies and many, many more species. There was even a lone zebra, who was looking around in awe, with a buffalo walking beside them. Twilight could also see Little Strongheart, who'd escorted the youngster to Ponyville, in the crowd with a proud expression on her face.

When the last of the students had entered and the majority of the crowd had dispersed, Twilight started to head into her school, intending to return to her office for the day, when she heard a set of footsteps behind her, and turned to see some familiar, smiling faces.

"You've done well here, your Grace," Swift-Pad said as he and Maxilla stood together.

Twilight smiled back. "Thank you, Swift-Pad," she said. "But really, without you and your teachings, I don't know if I'd have ever gotten this far and this soon."

"Maybe not this soon, but eventually," Maxilla said, leaning in to nuzzle her face. "You are a clever girl, and this idea would have eventually come to you."

Twilight nuzzled her back. "Still, I owe you both so much for all the help and inspiration you gave me," she said. "I can never thank you enough for everything."

"Your use of this knowledge to achieve as much as you have is thanks enough," Swift-Pad said. "But I will always treasure our friendship."

Twilight smiled again. "So will I," she said. "Always."

"Also, we have a bit of a secondary agenda," Maxilla said, shifting on her paws, looking at Swift-Pad who grabbed her paw. "It is a rather important question we would like to ask you."

"Ask away," Twilight said, looking at the two.

"We would like you to be our future pups' godmother," Swift-Pad said.

Twilight's jaw dropped in delighted surprise, and then she beamed. "Of course!" she said, pulling the two into a hug. "I would be honoured to be your pups' godmother. When are you expecting?"

"Well, we aren't quite yet," Maxilla admitted. "But we're aiming for next spring."

"And we do hope when we do have our pups we might be able to enroll them here," Swift-Pad said, removing his glasses to clean them. "As youths, we grow up very fast; they should be of schooling age by the time next fall's session begins."

"Well, hopefully we'll have room for them to try and apply for their position in my school," Twilight said. "Friend or not, I cannot give preferential placement for anyone."

"If we start running out of room, we can always expand over the summer," Spike said from her side. "You made sure to include space for more buildings when you bought the land for the school."

Twilight blushed. "Right…" She shook her head. "But still, I can't do that."

"Why not?" Spike asked.

"Because her Grace would be accused of playing favourites and put her actions into question as a result if she did so," Swift-Pad said as he put his glasses back on after he had cleaned them. Twilight noticed that they were not the same pair he had got in Ponyville last year, which hopefully meant he was taking his eyesight more seriously or that Maxilla was not letting him get away with not taking proper care of himself.

"Not if the total number of applicants went up," Spike said. "I've checked the reports, and we've already got about… half as many students as we have now, wanting to apply for next year, and that's only going to go up."

"Still, it just takes one action like that for all those that oppose this school to use it against her, Spike," Maxilla said, rubbing his head soothingly.

Twilight nodded at her son. "Maxilla's right," she said. "But, there's nothing that says I can't receive an application and set it aside for future consideration. And I will absolutely do that, once your pups are old enough," she said to the wolf couple.

"That's all we ask for," Swift-Pad said with a smile. "That and if the worst should happen, you will look after them."

"If the need comes up, I will," Twilight promised. "Count on it."

It was late in the afternoon in Canterlot when the two Princesses were finally both awake and sharing a meal. Celestia was overjoyed to see her sister again, even more so to see her happy with her husband; someone who would tend to her needs in ways Celestia could never do and would be able to do so for many long years to come. But still, Celestia had to admit something was off with Luna's behaviour of late.

While she could spend several hours trying to figure out what the matter was, she could take a page out of Velvet's book and try to be direct.

"Luna," she said, placing a fork down and staring at the couple who were taking turns feeding each other. "May I ask you something?"

"I think you just did, Celly," Pharynx quipped with Celestia rolling her eyes.

"Please, Luna and I were around before that joke was old," she chided him, though she was still smiling. "But to the point of the matter; is everything okay Luna? You seem to be acting different than normal and I am curious to know if everything is okay or not."

Both of them shared conspicuous looks with each other before Luna grabbed Pharynx's hoof and squeezed it, then looked back at Celestia. "Please sister, prepare yourself for we have very important news to share with you."

"How serious is this?" Celestia asked, pushing herself upright.

"Very serious." Luna smiled. "But also very happy."

"Tell me."

Luna's smile grew even wider. "Tell me, Celly, how do you feel about becoming an aunt… again?"

"Luna, I am well aware of Cadance's upcoming foal," Celestia said with a frown.

Luna shook her head. "I said aunt, not great-aunt."

Celestia's eyes grew wide, and she looked at her sister's stomach. "You're…"

"About to make you an aunt and my brother an uncle, yes," Pharynx confirmed.

Celestia's face broke out into a massive smile. "Congratulations," she whispered before she leaped towards the two and pulled them into a tight embrace, the table vanishing in her lunge. "I'm so happy for you both," she said, nuzzling her sister with tears of joy running down her face before nuzzling her brother in-law. "And I am honoured to be the first to know."

"That was the plan," Luna said, breaking out of the hold to give her husband a glare. "Though some loose lips kinda ruined that."

"It was you who told them the news," Pharynx reminded her with a tiny frown. "Hormones, remember?"

Luna looked embarrassed. "Er… yes."

Looking between them, Celestia sighed. "May I presume Twilight and her friends are the ones you are speaking of?"

Luna nodded. "We stopped in when they were having dinner last night, before Twilight's school opened this morning, and I may have let more slip than I intended."

Celestia nodded. "That's all right then," she said. "Twilight is family, after all." She looked at them. "Does anyone else know?"

Luna shook her head. "Just the doctor who confirmed it," she said. "As I said, you were intended to be the first."

"And my brother is next," Pharynx said. "I think he'll be relieved more than anything."

"How is that?" Celestia asked curiously.

"Well, seeing as how he just barely managed to… erm…" Pharynx coughed into a hoof. "He beat me to it, by a day or so. We kinda celebrated the news, and that's when it happened, according to the doc."

Celestia arched an eyebrow. "You don't say."

Luna blushed. "King Thorax and Lady Metanotum's news made us so happy…" she said, brushing her legs together. "Especially as it meant we did not have to worry about complications in inheritance anymore."

Celestia nodded, smiling. "At any rate, I am very happy for you both," she said. "When do you plan to make the official public announcement?"

"Not until after we've told the rest of our family, and the other Queens," Luna said. "It is only appropriate that they be informed privately."

"Of course." Celestia said, still smiling from ear to ear.

"You still want to squeal and celebrate, don't you?" Luna teased with Celestia nodding her head. "Go right ahead then; I know you are looking forwards to the day my foal is born so you can spoil them rotten."

"Well, I wouldn't put it quite that way…" Celestia said. "Now if you'll pardon me while I have a strange interlude."

Then as Luna and Pharynx watched in amusement, she let out a loud giggle and began hopping around the room. "Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes, yeeees!"

While Gallus was young enough that he still did not really want to go to school and would rather enjoy his time with his five best friends, he had to admit that these lessons were actually making sense. Along with the basics to assess where they stood in their education, they also spent time learning about other races' cultures and about the different aspects of friendship that Headmare Twilight and her friends had learned over the years since she moved to Ponyville.

He thought it would be more corny and less stuff he could use in the real world but he was wrong; it made sense the way these teachers said it and explained things. And even some of the cornier parts… weren't half bad, he had to admit to himself.

It was after about a week's worth of classes that something came up though. During one of the lessons, he had to ask Eager-Learner, one of his wolf classmates, if what their teacher was saying was true. "Wait, you guys really don't accept apologies?"

"If we do not believe that apology to be sincere, then no, we do not," Eager-Learner said. "And we only apologize if we are sure we won't repeat the mistake being apologized for and thus can be trusted not to do so again."

"Huh."

"Yona no get it," the yak said. "What if you break plate at home; you don't apologize?"

"If it was a genuine accident beyond our control and we can't guarantee that we wouldn't have a repeat at some point, then no, we probably wouldn't," Eager-Learner said with a shrug, looking at his sister Wise-Questioner. "Say, if we were holding it and then dropped and broke it because a big noise from somewhere startled us while we were holding it, they wouldn't get upset over that and wouldn't need an apology."

"Huh," Gallus repeated. "That's… definitely a different way of looking at it."

Another lesson, a few days later, saw them learning about the kingdom of the centaurs and gargoyles, who had not always lived together.

"So how did both of you come to share a kingdom?" Sandbar asked early on. "I mean… you're so different."

The gargoyle, a mister Caplan, at the front of the class looked rather prim. "The answer to your question, young colt, goes back to the earliest ages. According to our history, the centaurs were not always centaurs; they in fact originated from a crossbreeding of a small herd of ponies who migrated from Saddle Arabia with an unknown, ape-like race, which has regrettably ceased to exist. It is said this crossbreeding was enabled by magical springs that existed in the area, and by the time the last of the original two groups had bred themselves out of existence, the springs themselves had ceased to be magical, their power absorbed by the new race they had given birth to. They did not know this aspect of the truth at the time, however." He paused for a moment, his eyes sweeping over the class, before continuing.

"Centuries passed," he said, "The centaurs migrated from their old homeland, passing from territory to territory. They even spent some time in the Minos Islands, according to the minotaurs themselves, before moving on. Finally, they discovered Laronda, the land where the gargoyles lived. As they had come in peace, Queen Herron welcomed them, and the two species intermingled as friends. Eventually, a centaur male and a gargoyle female fell in love, and married. They were quite surprised when they discovered that they were expecting, and even more when the child was found to be a purebred centaur, with no visible traits of the mother. Then another couple who had married gave birth to a purebred gargoyle, who lacked any physical traits of his centaur parent. The couple later produced a second child, and like the first mixed coupling, was a centaur with no gargoyle traits. Intrigued by this, the Queen asked permission to do a study of the centaurs' magic, which they agreed to, and so their ability to interbreed with other races without diluting the bloodlines of either was discovered. While some feared for the future of the gargoyles if the centaurs remained among them, Queen Herron was not among them. She declared that the centaurs had come to their land in search of a home, and they would not be expelled for any reason."

"So what happened then?" another student asked.

Mr. Caplan peered out at them. "Soon after, Queen Herron's own child married a centaur, and when Queen Herron stepped down, that centaur became King. Since that day, the royal family of Laronda has been a mix of gargoyles and centaurs, with neither taking precedence over the other when the new generation takes the throne. And except for a rare time or two, their land has been a peaceful one, a living example of harmony between two or more peoples - a union that long predates the unification of the pony tribes, I might add." He arched an eyebrow. "Princess Twilight herself found this aspect of our history to be quite fascinating when she visited, and was most delighted to hear of such a harmonious society, as I recall."

"What about those other times, Mr. Caplan?" Diamond Tiara asked. "Those less peaceful times?"

Caplan nodded. "Well, the most well-known time was when one of our most infamous royals also became one of our most infamous criminals. Prince Tirek, now Tirek the Terrible, was driven by greed to the point where he attempted to seize control of Equestria's magic, which was later found to be for the purposes of overthrowing his own father and taking the jade throne by force. Luckily for all, his plans were thwarted by his brother, working in concert with your own land’s Starswirl the Bearded. The disgraced Prince was subsequently imprisoned in Tartarus, and his brother ascended the throne as King Scorpan the Just when their father passed soon afterward." He bowed his head. "King Vorak was a great leader, and his wife Queen Haydon and his nation still mourn him."

"How did he try to take over?" a young pegasus filly asked, causing everyone to turn and face her.

"I'm sorry, miss…" Caplan said, peering at the filly.

"Cozy Glow, sir," she answered.

"I'm sorry, miss Glow, but I cannot say," Caplan replied. "We do not like to speak of the fallen Prince's methods, only that they were condemned by everyone in our nation, and outlawed even before he came to use them. Now, if we may go on..."

The filly seemed disappointed in this, and Yona frowned. Something bugging yak about this girl, she thought. Glancing around to the side, she saw that she wasn't the only one; another of her classmates had a worried expression on their face.

Yona will talk to that one later, she decided. Pink crown filly has good head on her shoulders.

A few days after that class, there was a gentle knocking on a door to Twilight's office, and then a voice came from the other side. "Princess?"

Twilight looked up from her paperwork, recognizing the voice. "Come in," she said.

The door opened slowly, and then Diamond Tiara passed through, shutting it behind her. "Um... can I talk to you about something?"

Twilight smiled. "That's one of the reasons I'm here," she said. "Sit."

As her student did, Twilight looked at her. "Now, what can I do for you?"

Diamond Tiara looked uncomfortable. "Um... Princess... I know we're here to learn about friendship, and the differences between ponies and different races, but..."

"But?" Twilight asked.

"Well... there's one of my classmates, and honestly..." Diamond Tiara looked up at her. "I don't think I can be friends with her, because she freaks me out!"

Twilight arched an eyebrow. As Spike had predicted, there'd been a few hiccups between some of the students, personality conflicts more than anything, that led them to come to her for guidance. But Diamond Tiara was not one of those who'd had a problem of that kind until now, and besides that, this phrasing was a new one on her. "Anything in particular?" she asked.

"Well..." Diamond trailed off, and Twilight waited. Finally, the filly looked up. "Ever since we met, there was just something about her that kind of gave me the creeps," she admitted. "And I’m not the only one who feels that way. I didn't know what it was, but every time I came around her, I just got this sense of... wrongness, and it worried me, but then I started paying closer attention to her so I could figure it out. I didn't want to say anything before I knew exactly what was bothering me about her."

Twilight frowned, summoned a quill and paper, and began writing. When she'd finished, she looked at her student. "Go on."

Diamond looked down. "Well... she reminded me of how I used to be, but a lot sneakier - she says stuff to people that sounds friendly at first, but it's really set up to make them doubt themselves. And... there's the way she pretends to be nice to others, but she's really just doing it so they'll to do things for her..." She looked even more uncomfortable. "Princess, I'm sorry, but... I don't know what else I can tell you."

Twilight nodded slowly. She might not be Applejack, but she could feel the conviction in Diamond's voice. "I believe you," she said. "And I'll look into this. What's your classmate's name?"

"Cozy Glow," Diamond Tiara told her. "She's a pegasus, and she's got a chess piece for a Cutie Mark."

"Thank you." Summoning another paper, Twilight wrote something down, before looking up at the filly. "Was there anything else you needed to talk to me about? Classes going well?"

Diamond nodded, looking happier. "Yeah, except for her, I'm... I'm having fun."

Twilight smiled, and then hoofed over the hall pass she'd written out. "Good," she said. "And here, so you don't get in trouble for being late to your next class."

Diamond accepted it and smiled shyly. "Thank you."

When she had gone, Twilight sighed. If this Cozy Glow was truly a toxic influence among her students, then handling her was going to take a very delicate touch.

Diamond Tiara breathed a sigh of relief as she headed into her next class, hoofed the pass over to their teacher, and then took a seat. At Yona's curious look, she gave her a smile and nodded. The yak girl smiled back, before turning her attention back to the lesson.

When class had been dismissed, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon followed Gallus's group back to where the six usually hung out.

"How did it go?" Smolder asked.

Diamond looked around. "I told her the truth," she said. "How that… girl creeped me and some others out, and about some of her behavior. "

"Good." Gallus looked at them. "Say, you girls wanna hang out with us?"

Silver Spoon nodded. "Sure!"

"Great!" Silverstream was suddenly in their faces. "What do you want to do first?"

The two fillies exchanged looks, then smiled. "What do you want to do?" Diamond asked.

"Well…"

It was a typical day in the Crystal Empire - the sun was shining, the Crystal ponies were going about their usual business… and Cadance's expression was so bright that if it were night instead, Luna would be wondering what was daring to try and compete with her moon.

"Motherly hormones suit you well," Aria said with a smirk on her face, the siren floating alongside her. "Any new cravings?"

"Not in a couple of days," Cadance told her. "And you know, even if I wasn't expecting, that last combination would actually be pretty good?"

"Cady, you asked for cucumber and banana slices mixed with cold rice and bleu cheese dressing," Aria told her. "In what dimension is that an edible combination for anyone besides a pregnant mare?"

Cadance pouted. "It's good for replenishing electrolytes," she said.

"If you say so." Aria didn't look convinced.

"She isn't lying, trust me," Shining said with a spring in his step. "I can tell the difference. And actually, I liked it too."

Aria shook her head. "You ponies are strange. And this is me - the siren whose sister will eat anything if it's served in a taco shell - talking."

"I still think those anchovy, sour cream and steak sauce tacos you were craving last month were de-lish!" Sonata called from where she was floating across the hall, prompting a giggle from Cadance and a shared look of disgust from Aria and Shining Armor.

"Speaking of cravings, has Luna been having any?" Aria asked. The news that there were two alicorn Princesses who were expecting had taken a lot of people by surprise when the official announcement was made, but Aria wasn't one of them - she'd been more surprised it hadn't happened sooner.

"Mostly sugar water," Cadance told her. "Nothing near what I've been having."

"Wonder if it has to do with the baby being half changeling," Aria said, tapping her chin as she floated alongside them.

"Might be," Shining Armor said. "Pharynx and I talked about this, and he said that changelings mostly need lots of love energy when they're developing. And our little cousin's getting plenty of that from both their parents, and Celestia."

"Mm." Aria nodded before looking at Cadance. “How goes the windigo watch? Any changes in them?”

“Still dormant,” Cadance told her. “Aunt Luna did a deeper scan on their minds the last time she went there, and she says it’s like they’re all in some type of interrupted sleep loop, cycling from stage 4 to REM and back again, without ever going any higher."

"Deep sleep and dream sleep?" Sonata asked curiously as she drifted closer, prompting a surprised look from Aria, and a returning shrug from Sonata. “What? I read.”

Cadance smiled. “Well, you’re absolutely right. They’re in the deepest part of the sleep cycle, where you recharge, but instead of going back up the cycle, they gets shunted back into REM and the cycle starts all over again."

“If Princess Luna is capable of ‘scanning their minds’,” Sonata said, making air quotes with her fins. “Why doesn’t she just try to wake up the least lethal ones around?”

“She did try,” Shining Armor said. “But something was protecting them. We’re not sure what, but whatever it is, it told her to ‘mind your own business’. She pulled out as a precaution, and while she can still feel their minds, she hasn’t tried waking them since then.”

“Mind her own business?” Aria asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We're paraphrasing," Cadence said. "It was more along the lines of something vastly more powerful giving her the clear indication that she isn't to interfere. Considering who could have possibly the power to hold an entire race in a dream loop against Luna and Pharynx, the odds are that they are very high up in the ranks." She sighed, shaking her head. "They will probably try again when they have more people trained in dream magic to support them, though it will be some time unfortunately."

“What Power could possibly be able to keep anyone dormant when the Lord of Nightmares and Lady of Dreams are both active and trying to wake them up?” Aria asked. “And why?”

Cadance and Shining Armor exchanged glances. “We don’t know,” Cadance finally said. “But Aunt Luna thinks that whomever is responsible, they’re waiting to let the windigos out of their dormant state until they’re all recovered from whatever put them in that state in the first place.”

“And we have a few theories to who it could be and what put them in that state in the first place,” Shining said. “We could be lucky that it was a byproduct of the Fires of Friendship, which was just Harmony in the past, so that means we would just need the girls to come by to use their Powers to rainbow them out.”

“And if we’re not lucky?” Sonata asked.

“It could be one of the big eight that is doing this; Death, War, Famine, Pestilence… or their Opposites: Life, Peace, Prosperity, and Health,” Cadance said with a grimace. “Among their fellow Powers, they’re known as the Four Apocalypses and the Four Creations, respectively. They operate on levels that we do not fully understand and they tend to remain distant from the rest of us. There isn’t much we can do to oppose them but there is a lot of damage any of them can do to us if we anger them somehow.”

“We’re hoping that if it’s one of them, it’s Health who’s doing it,” Shining Armor said. “That is, if we’re right and the windigos are being kept dormant until they can fully recover their minds. It feels like Health’s kind of thing.”

“Maybe Aria can help?” Sonata offered, with her sister giving her a glare. “I mean, we all know windigos nom on hatred; maybe they just need some negativity to give them that jumpstart?”

Cadance considered. “Maybe,” she said. “It might work. But if it’s one of the Four Apocalypses or the Four Creations, another attempt at interfering might have severe consequences.”

“Or it could be them waiting for me to do something,” Aria said, licking her lips. “I can at least offer to help and see if they take it, right?”

Cadance smiled. “Yes, you could,” she said. “If you’re sure.”

“Absolutely not but I am willing to try,” Aria said, holding her head high. “I mean, what would be the point of being who I am now if I didn’t try to use my new powers to help others?”

“And, sirens and windigos don’t exactly get along, or didn’t used to,” Sonata added. “So maybe her just being around them would give them an extra jolt of negativity.”

Aria sighed. “There’s that too.”

The pony couple smiled. “Well, if you’re willing, we can give it a try,” Cadance said. “But I think we’d better wait until Aunt Luna and Prince Pharynx can accompany you. Just to be on the safe side.”

Aria nodded, then drifted away with Sonata, leaving the two royals to exchange glances.

“You really think this is a good idea?” Shining Armor asked. “I mean, she’s had her new powers less than a year. What if it turns out to be Peace who’s doing this and not Health; you know how touchy they can get.”

Cadance nodded. “We won’t know unless they give it a try,” she said, nuzzling his neck. “Besides, Aria is right. She was chosen to be the Lady of Hatred and regardless of old rivalries, the windigos would follow her instinctively just because of that in their current state. She has the greatest possibility to actually help them besides Aunt Luna and Prince Pharynx waking them up so the professionals can take over.”

Shining Armor nodded. “All right then. Here’s hoping.”

As the two walked down the corridors, if they’d been listening a little more carefully, they’d have heard a slight twinkling in the air.

Chapter Ten

Fluttershy hummed contentedly as she worked in her yard, tending her garden and a few other things.

“Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy looked up. “Oh, hello, Twilight!” she said happily. “How are you?”

“Doing well,” Twilight said. “Except there’s one thing I need to talk with you and the rest of the girls about today, and if you aren’t too busy…”

Fluttershy shook her head. “I was just finishing with the flowers,” she said. “Can you give me a minute?”

Twilight smiled. “Sure,” she said.

A little while later, eight ponies and a dragon sat in Rarity’s living room (as she had gladly offered them the larger space), and Twilight had just finished explaining everything she had learned about Cozy Glow.

“So, what do you think?” she asked.

Applejack shook her head. “Girl, that’s messed up,” she said. Then she smiled. “But her aside, Ah’m glad that yer school’s doin’ so well.”

“Indeed,” Rarity chimed in. “Especially with some of the other students. Did you know, Sweetie Belle and her friends actually had Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon over here a few days ago? They spent quite a bit of time working on something together, and when they all left, they were chatting and laughing happily.”

“That’s great,” Twilight said happily before frowning. “I still need to do further investigation on her; her teachers mentioned her behaviour and interests are not normal for a filly her age. And I need to try and get in touch with her parents - I don’t think I’ve been able to speak to them face-to-face even when I was accepting her application.”

“Wait, did her parents even put her application in?” Spike asked with a frown.

At his words, Twilight blinked before she teleported in a filing cabinet with everyone jumping backwards. Twilight began to leaf through the contents before she pulled out a file and began to study it.

“The application has two signatures on it,” she muttered. “But…” Her horn lit up and a wave swept over the document before she looked up. “The only magic I’m finding is… hers.” She frowned. “She forged those signatures.” Twilight leaned closer before pulling back with her eyes wide. “No, that can’t be right.” she muttered angrily to herself before her magic went over the page again before she dropped the document on the table, looking furious. “That mare!” she snapped, with her wings flaring behind her. “She’s no filly!”

“Er what‽” all of her friends asked incredulously.

“Her magic signature is that of a grown adult!” Twilight snapped, her coat beginning to crackle and pop, flames starting to appear. “Either she has some sort of condition that makes her appear as a filly or she somehow turned herself into one but she isn’t one!” she growled, bringing her hoof down onto the table, causing it to nearly buckle under the blow.

“Twilight, are you sure about this?” Rainbow Dash asked as Applejack placed a hoof over Rarity’s mouth to stop her complaining from the damage done to her table.

“Positive,” Twilight said, trying to get her anger under control. “Magical signatures are like… well, I’d say fingerprints if we had them. They might not be physical signs, but we can extrapolate a few things about the person when we read them. All our students have theirs on file, even the ones who can’t normally use magic - they were recorded when we accepted them as students, mainly for identification purposes. Hers is distinctly that of an adult’s - I don’t know why we didn’t notice it before.”

“So what are you doing to do with her, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, her soothing voice managing to pierce through Twilight’s rage.

“I, I don’t know,” Twilight said as she did her breathing techniques. “I’m not sure yet; I’ve never experienced this sort of problem or even planned for something like this.” She then looked at Spike. “But I think I know someone I can talk to for some advice in how to handle her.” She spat out the word, her jaw clenching tightly. “Spike, can you please take a letter?”

“Sure thing.” Spike had a quill and scroll out quickly. “What’s the message?”

Doing her best to unclench her jaw, Twilight spoke. “Dear Princess Celestia,

I am writing to you to ask for guidance in a very serious matter. I have recently learned one of my students is not who they claim to be and falsified information to gain attendance to my school.

Having done a thorough examination of her magical signature, I have determined that while this student, Cozy Glow, appears to be a normal pegasus filly, her magic is actually an adult’s; the signs of aging in it are clear. I am not certain at this point how she is appearing as she is, but the fact is that she lied. She has also been displaying some very unsettling behavior since she enrolled, which includes asking for information on other race’s darkest periods and worst villains.

Despite this, I’m not sure what to do about her. I need your help, Princess.

Yours,
Twilight Sparkle,
Princess of Friendship,
Headmare of the School of International Culture and Friendship.”

As Spike finished writing, he showed it to Twilight, who ran her eyes over it and nodded. “Send it, Spike. Please.”

Spike nodded, rolled up the letter and breathed his fire on it, sending it off with the girls looking angry.

“Excuse me Twi, but Ah need ta go tell Apple Bloom ta stay away from that darn fil-er, mare-whatever she is,” Applejack said, fixing her hat on.

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” Rainbow Dash said. “Scoots said she and the girls were going over to her place with her aunts this afternoon, after they were done with school for the day, and this Cozy Glow can’t leave your school’s grounds, right?”

Twilight nodded. “I will make sure that classes will run longer than usual today,” she said. “For all my students.”

Whatever she was about to say next was cut off when a form teleported in.

“Princess?” several ponies said.

Stretching her neck out, Celestia looked at them all. “Hello, everyone,” she said. “Twilight, I received your letter.”

“I kind of figured.” Twilight sighed. “Princess -”

“And I must say, this is very disturbing news.” Celestia said curtly, her pink eyes narrowed in an emotion that caused Twilight to flinch momentarily.

“Agreed,” Twilight said, nodding her head. “They should be in physical education at the moment, so all we need to do is pop over and call her to my office.”

Being called to the headmare’s office was a surprise but one that Cozy was more than ready to deal with. For all the supposed intelligence that Twilight had, it was surprisingly easy to fool her. Though most people were easy to fool if they saw what they wanted to see and being as she was, that was easily enough done.

Pulling herself together as to appear what exactly Twilight would want to see her as, she trotted down the halls, her innocent happy-go-lucky persona causing most to dismiss her as harmless.

Except for one.

After she’d gone around a corner, a pair of eyes blinked invisibly, and a chuckle went unheard. “So she finally figured it out,” Discord whispered silently to himself as he watched where Cozy had been. “Good for you, Twi-Twi.”

He’d been prepared to step in if it was needed, and had Cozy actually taken any steps to make herself a physical threat, he would have. But it seemed Twilight had things in hoof now.

Still, he’d keep watch some more. Just in case.

Meanwhile, unaware of his presence, Cozy trotted into Twilight’s office. “You wanted to see me, Headmare?” she asked in that saccharine sweet voice that made most ponies underestimate her before turning her head to see the other princess was in the room. “Oh my, Princess Celestia,” she said bowing, taking the chance to hide her momentary panic. “If I am interrupting something, Headmare Twi-”

“Please Glow, stop the act,” Celestia said, her magic going to shut the door behind her with the windows locked.

“What do you mean, Princess Celestia?” Glow asked, weighing the pros and cons in her head with the princesses glaring hard at her. “Are we playing a gam…” she trailed off, knowing it was pointless and insulting to continue the charade at this point. Frowning, Glow stood upright and using her actual voice, asked. “How did you find me out?”

“Your magical signature,” Twilight said, glaring hard at her. “You can change your looks - and how is something I’m very interested in, if that’s what you did. But your personal magic can’t be disguised, especially when someone’s looking for its age. Even Chrysalis couldn’t do that.”

“As normally, you believe you’re half as smart as you actually are, Twilight,” Cozy said, rolling her eyes at the so-called know-it-all, enjoying the look of surprise on her arrogant face. “This isn’t some sort of magical spell or anything, just how I was born like. If I were able to change myself, don’t you think I’d go for something more useful like being a unicorn so I could use magic and the excuse of poor magical control that comes with being so young?”

Glow could see the gears turning in their heads and the fact that she was right was sitting poorly with them which brought a smile to her face.

“So, you have medically arrested development,” Celestia stated. “That was the other possibility we had considered.” She frowned, tilting her head for a moment. “And if you were seeking help in curing this condition, you could have come directly to any of a number of hospitals or other places. But you didn’t, which means you had something else in mind. So why this charade? Why go to these lengths to infiltrate Twilight’s school?”

“First off, who says I haven’t done so, your highness?” Cozy shot back. “She only figured out my true age when she bothered to examine my magic fully; do you think most hospitals bother to search for such a thing when it is easier to believe that a filly is just playing pretend and wasting valuable time and money and send her off on her way or try and take her to an orphanage?” She huffed, rolling her eyes. “Secondly to why I did this all… well why not?” She chuckled, knowing there was no further point to hide anymore. “This is the biggest opening anyone could hope for; learn all I want about the other races’ biggest issues and see what I could use for myself when I finally left this nauseatingly cheerful place.” She grinned at the two princesses. “I mean, Tirek’s magic stealing abilities, Grogar’s Bewitching Bell - if it’s even real, and it probably is, the countless divides in the wolves’ packs, even the dragons and how they thought nothing of taking advantage of one another - there are countless ways I could put myself up on top now, and who would believe that a cute little filly like me was a truly nasty wasty pony?” she said, slipping into her cutesy voice to mock the two. “All thanks to you, Headmare Twilight, and your wondrous school for learning about-”

“Enough.” Twilight glared, slamming her hooves into her desk. “Cozy Glow, I opened this school to bring people together. But you have taken its methods in entirely the wrong direction.” Her horn lit up, and faster than Cozy could blink, etched chains shot out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around her. “Guards? She’s all yours.”

A number of rune wolves faded into visibility, each clutching one of the chains, before leading her out of the room. Cozy, however, seemed to have more to say.

“You’re a fool to think I’m the only one here looking to benefit themselves, Twilight,” she shouted as she was dragged away. “I’m the first one you caught but mark my words, there are others here that are doing the same thing as me!”

Twilight said nothing, staring intently at the mare.

As she was finally dragged into the hall, Cozy looked back at Twilight, an expression of pure hatred on her face, before the door shut behind her, leaving Twilight to sigh.

“That was unpleasant,” she said, looking defeated.

Celestia nodded, and was about to speak when she saw something flickering across the floor, almost a two-dimensional form slipping out from under the crack between the door and ground.

“Yes, it was,” Discord said as he popped back into his usual shape. “But you found her in time, Twilight.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “You knew about her?” she accused him.

“I did, and had she actually done anything to cause physical or magical harm, I would have stepped in immediately,” he said, appearing in a guard’s uniform. “You asked me to watch over this place, and I have been.” He then appeared in a black suit with sunglasses over his eyes.

Twilight stared at him before shaking her head and looking at Celestia. “Do you think she’s right? That there’s other students who are here just to collect information so they can take it back home and use it against us?”

Before Celestia could speak, Discord snorted. “Please, your screening procedures are better than that,” he said. “Cozy may have slipped through the cracks, but the rest are all truthful about why they’re here.” He frowned. “Perhaps I should have done more about that one sooner. You see, while you were away, I kept a watchful eye on Equestria, and I found her then - if not for the fact that she was a complete and utter little sociopath, I might have thought she’d make a good Lady of Lies. She certainly fooled you until you looked beneath the surface, and then tried to make you doubt yourself as a final parting shot. But I can tell, dear Princess Twiggles.” He raised a claw. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye… Cozy Glow was the only one here who would have done that sort of thing.”

Then he shimmered for a moment, stumbling into the desk with a groan and claw raised to his head. “That,” he said, looking sick. “Was really an Orderly move.” he grumbled dizzily before he gave a weak bow. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go cause some chaos to pick myself back up.” Reaching down he pulled up a thin cutout of himself before he snapped his claws and vanished.

Twilight stared at where he’d been before looking back to Celestia. Rising from her desk, she marched over to the other mare, and leaned against her, prompting Celestia to smile, lean down and nuzzle her.

“You were very strong today,” she said.

Twilight smiled. “Thank you,” she said. “For being here for me. And… Discord? Wherever you are, thank you too, for helping us, and for watching over things here,” she said.

A nose popped into existence on her wall, before a thumb grew from it, wiggling in an upward direction, and Twilight giggled. Celestia smiled too.

“My schedule is cleared for the day, if you wish more of my company,” she said.

“I’d love that,” Twilight said. “Let me deal with this one bit of paperwork, and then I’ll let my vice-headmare know we’re going back out.” She drew the papers out of her desk, and then began filling them out. “I’d hoped never to have to use these, but they’re required for all schools, just in case.”

“Oh?” Celestia asked.

“Formal expulsion papers,” Twilight said as she signed the last one and pressed her official Seal into it. “Being arrested as a threat to Equestria is probably a new one when it comes to the Cause for expulsion section, but I doubt anyone would attempt to contest it.”

“True,” Celestia said as Twilight put one set of papers away and began wrapping up another.

As she finished, Twilight blinked and turned to face Celestia. “Out of curiosity, how did you mark Sunset’s papers if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Oh I never formally expelled her,” Celestia said. “I was about to, but then she went through the mirror, and after that… I couldn’t bring myself to finish doing so.” She smiled. “Officially, she is just several years late for her next lesson, though I have started the process of transferring her subjects on the other side into their proper credits here so that is being taken care of.”

Twilight smiled. “That’s good,” she said as she came around the desk. “We’ve been writing back and forth, and I’m always happy to hear from her.”

“As am I,” Celestia said before the pair left the office.

The girls (and Spike) had been waiting in Rarity’s living room for nearly an hour when Twilight and Celestia popped back.

“How’d it go?” Moondancer asked, rising to see them.

Twilight sank into a seat. “It turns out that Cozy has a medical condition,” she said. “One that kept her from physically aging. And she used that to blend in and try to learn all she could for the sake of getting power.”

Applejack looked even angrier. “If’n Ah ever get mah hooves on that varmint…” she growled.

“She’s been taken to prison, and restrained as heavily as Chrysalis was. She is also to undergo therapy to see how much of a danger she truly is as well as other matters that I cannot really get into as of yet,” Celestia said as she found a seat of her own. “I promise you, Applejack, she will never pose a threat again.”

“Good.”

“There’s more,” Twilight said as she looked around. “Moondancer, Trixie, you remember when I planned to invite Discord to be head of security for the school, but he declined?”

Both nodded.

“Turns out he’s been watching over things there anyway, and he would have made sure that she didn’t hurt anyone - something I am extremely grateful for.”

Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash all looked relieved to hear that, and Fluttershy was beaming proudly. “Good for him,” she said, puffing her chest out.

“Trixie is relieved to know he is helping with things like this,” Trixie commented with Moondancer nodding her head, staring at the magician.

“So am I,” Twilight told her, before sighing. “And at least that… that mare was the only one to get past our screening; I still don’t know how a sociopath like her slipped through.”

Pinkie sat upright. “Did you say, sociopath?”

“Yes,” Twilight said. “That’s what Discord called her. Why?”

“And did he say anything about her making a good Lady of Lies?” Pinkie was in her face.

“Well…”

“Yes, he did,” Celestia said. “How did you know?”

Applejack smacked her hooves together. “So that’s who he was talkin’ about,” she said. “Last year, soon after we started gearin’ up for the war, we got to talkin’ about what our Opposites might be like. Discord popped in to say a few things about it, an’ he mentioned he’d found this one person who’d make a good Lady of Lies if they hadn’t been a sociopath that he didn’t want associated with him. He must have meant this mare.”

“For all the complaints that I used to have for Discord, he has proven to be a true ally of ours,” Rarity said. “Where is he? I would like to thank him personally for all he has done.”

“He went off to go cause some harmless chaos, to recover from his recent actions,” Celestia said. “Apparently, making a Pinkie Promise that he was telling the truth about Cozy being the only potential threat in Twilight’s school was a bit too Orderly for him, and he needed to counteract the effects.”

Pinkie shrank into herself. “He did?” she asked in a small voice, while Fluttershy also looked worried.

Twilight gave both of them a comforting smile. “I’m sure he’ll be just fine,” she said. “He gave me a thumbs-up after he left.”

Both mares looked relieved.

“It is good to hear that he will be all right,” Rarity said. “And that there aren’t any more lurking dangers among your students.”

Twilight nodded. “I agree,” she said.

“So what do we do now?” Spike asked. “We’ve all got a lot of free time today… I think.”

Everyone gave nods or noises of affirmation, including Celestia. “It has been far too long since I was able to just relax with friends,” she said. “And I’d be happy to spend some time doing whatever any of you wants to.”

“We could just talk,” Trixie suggested. “So, have you read anything good lately?”

Celestia smiled. “As a matter of fact, I did, a few weeks ago,” she said. “Discord shared a copy of that book he and Fluttershy wrote together, and I quite enjoyed it.”

Twilight’s eyes lit up. “Me too!” she said. “And I have so many questions… that chapter on your experience with the Breezies was especially fascinating,” she said to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy blushed. “I did what I had to, to help that last group of them get home so they could be back with their families,” she said. “And Well-Hidden was a big help too.”

Twilight smiled, and then let Princess Celestia ask a question of her own. The talk that would follow lasted well into the evening, flipping from subject to subject as the day went by, and the time spent with her friends was something she’d remember for years to come.

Crash

Neighsay winced as his work bore fruit and yet another stalactite fell to the ground and broke open, with some of his fellows scurrying to gather the iron ore that had been concentrated within it by… some technique that had been worked out by his captors, he still wasn’t sure how. Ever since his failed escape attempt, he’d been assigned to this portion of the mines, the centaur having wanted him more visible so the other slaves would see him paying the price for his attempts to undermine their masters.

From where he hung, he could see others digging out portions of the walls, while still more continued working on the floor. But regardless of where he and his fellows were set to task, it was hard, back-breaking and mind-numbing work, and he hated it. He didn’t dare speak out though; he had no idea who among the others were secretly spying for the master, or if there were not just slaves who could see his anger as a means to endear themselves to the centaur by reporting it.

News from the outside still came in from time to time with new prisoners; he’d heard from one that Princess Twilight’s school had opened and seemed to be doing rather well. In spite of himself, he couldn’t help but be curious about it, but had kept his questioning on the subject to a minimum. One of the things he had picked up was that their master had been heard grumbling about how at least one of the students was another centaur (which their master seemed to view as “treachery”), and there were gargoyles there too, both learning and teaching, something that really made him angry. Neighsay still wasn’t sure why; he knew that the gargoyles and centaurs shared a kingdom, but from what he’d heard and observed, their master seemed to be taking the gargoyles’ presence in Equestria as a personal offense, even worse than the one other centaur’s presence.

Perhaps it could be used against him in the future if he ever managed to escape this prison. And he would, he knew, because once again their master had underestimated he and his pendant (which still remained with him; it was physically indestructible, and the centaur, having assumed the loss of his horn and the associated nerves meant Neighsay was now powerless, hadn’t bothered to try and take it or drain its magic since that day, something he was relieved by).

With that thought in mind, he went back to work.

It was well into the evening when Celestia finally teleported home, and was met by her sister.

“Did you enjoy your day off?” she asked, giving Celestia a fond smile.

“I did,” Celestia said. “How are things here?”

“Well enough, though there’s been some rumblings since I got up,” Luna replied. “Something about a small squad of rune wolves at the train station who were seen escorting a pegasus filly in chains earlier?” She raised an eyebrow.

“That was no filly,” Celestia said with a sigh. “That was an adult mare with a severe case of arrested development and a hunger for power.”

Luna straightened up. “Tell us more,” she said as Pharynx joined them.

Celestia did, and by the time she was done, the royal couple were both looking furious. “How did her condition not get noticed sooner?” Luna demanded.

“And how long would it take to convince your nobles to let us start working at the hospitals so we can check magical signatures whenever someone comes in?” Pharynx asked.

“There is medical professionalism that prevents them from sharing medical information with others unless it is absolutely necessary,” Celestia said. “Otherwise, I’d have already begun work on that same thing.”

Pharynx waved a hoof. “We have that knowledge; we can read magical signatures and identify at least some issues easily just from that,” he said. “That’s not the problem. What we need is permission to actually go to work and put these skills to use where they’ll do the most good.”

Celestia blinked. “That would be… very useful,” she said. “But again, those laws exist for a reason and I am not willing to force them to share sensitive information. That said, we can begin to build a national registry so we can keep a better track of those with Cozy’s condition as well as others.” She then turned to face Pharynx. “You do bring up a good notion that another form of identification could be useful in identifying our citizens to make sure they are who they say they are.”

Pharynx shrugged. “Sometimes it takes an outside perspective to point things out and find a new way of doing them,” he said. “My people learned that ourselves when we evolved into our current forms.”

“True.” Luna said as they moved towards the kitchen. “Though we will need to bring it up to both councils to see if we can get your notion passed, dear husband.”

“I figured,” Pharynx said. “So, aside from miss crazy Cozy, how’s things doing down there?”

“They’re all doing well,” Celestia said. “Twilight is quite happy with how her students are getting along and learning.”

“So her evil plan of unity and harmony is going off without a hitch?” Pharynx snarked with Luna chuckling.

“It seems so,” Luna said before letting out a false evil laugh alongside her husband with Celestia shaking her head at the two, doing her best to hide a smile as not to encourage them further.

“Ocellus in particular is doing very well, in terms of her grades and her friendships,” she said after they had finished their silliness. “She and her friends were actually among the first to notice something was wrong with Cozy Glow’s behavior, though it was another student who’d spoken with them after also noticing the issue, and brought the matter to Twilight’s attention. This student is also working well to mend the wrongs they committed against others in the past, which Twilight is very pleased by.”

Luna nodded approvingly. “That is very good to hear,” she said. “Does Twilight intend to make a general announcement about Miss Glow?”

“Given the fact that the Guards were required to get involved, she might have to say something about it, though I expect most of the details will be kept quiet,” Celestia said. “She did say she intended to inform the filly who told her at the very least, and likely her other friends as well.”

“Well, if she does need help, I will be sure to aid her,” Luna said. “For I believe it is time for you to start to wind down and get ready for bed.”

Celestia chuckled. “Trying to get some practice in Luna?”

Luna looked indignant, which only made Celestia chuckle louder, before sobering. “But yes, it is that time,” she said. “Enjoy yourselves, and I’ll see you in the morning.”

Then she trotted off to her room with the two left to tend the night court. She still found it amusing how some of their visitors reacted to Pharynx’s bluntness when matters were brought before them; the changeling prince was not one to suffer fools, and his contributions tended to speed things up so he and Luna could get down to the real business of guarding their citizens’ dreams.

Finally, as Celestia settled in for the night, she thought back to the day she’d spent in Ponyville, just relaxing and chatting with friends.

Would that I could do this more often, she thought sleepily as she closed her eyes for the night. I wonder if King Thorax would mind filling in for me at Day Court every now and then.

And with that thought in mind, she fell fast asleep, a smile on her face.

Chapter Eleven

Just a day or two later, Twilight was sitting in her office, going over some paperwork, when her door flew open.

“Headmare,” one of the earth pony students said gasping. “Come quick!”

“What is it, Pepper?” Twilight asked calmly, even as she rose from her desk.

“There’s a dragon coming this way - and he doesn’t look happy!” Pepper Pot said.

Twilight flared her wings. “All right. You know the safety drills, get under cover until one of the staff gives the all-clear. I’ll go check this out.”

Pepper nodded. “Thank you, headmare!”

Twilight smiled and patted the filly’s head. “Thank you for coming to get me, Pepper.”

Then she trotted out of the room with Pepper at her fetlocks, making sure the little filly got to safety with her fellows before she went outside. She might be teaching friendship, but there was no reason not to have reasonable precautions in place for if a large and potentially hostile being (as this one’s behavior suggested it might be) was approaching. And if they turned out to be a friendly visitor instead… well, better safe than sorry. Either way, it was important that she be there to greet them when they arrived.

By the time she’d reached the courtyard, she could see the dragon coming closer. They were a familiar teenage one, mostly red with a yellowish underside and orange head fin. As he swooped down and landed just beyond the boundaries of the school, Twilight went to meet him.

“Hello, Garble,” she said coolly. “Is there a reason you’re here?”

Garble grimaced, but sank to his claws and knees, bowing his head. “Princess Twilight Sparkle, I humbly… ask… for mercy.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“I know I have performed acts that are an embarrassment to myself and my people, and I come to… to… gah!” Getting into a kneeling position and reaching into a pouch at his side, he pulled out a scrap of paper. “What was that I was supposed to say?” he muttered as he looked over it.

Twilight’s eyebrow raised even further. “Why don’t you say it in your own words?” she asked calmly.

Garble faceclawed. “Because I’m not good at this kind of stuff, okay?” He sighed. “Look, I messed up. Big time. All because I wanted to look cool in front of everyone. But I went too far. And I… I want to make up for it.”

“And you came to me for that.”

“Well… someone told me you were pretty forgiving, and that this school of yours was really cool about showing all sides of the story for all kinds of people.” Garble shrugged. “I figured this way I could learn better.”

If Twilight’s eyebrows could have arched any further, they would have. “Are you saying you want to be a student here?”

Garble nodded. “I… I want a second chance. To show most of my family that… well, I’m still kind of a jerk, but I’m not a murdering monster like I played at. And... to prove to the Dragon Lord that I’ve changed, so I can come home someday.”

Twilight nodded. “Now that’s honesty.”

Garble looked at her hopefully. “So, can I be your student?”

“On conditions,” Twilight said sternly. “You’re lucky we recently had a spot open up for this year…” She looked away and grimaced, before turning back at him, the stern expression on her face again. “First, given your past history… you are under serious probation. You will undergo mandatory counseling, and you will put serious effort into your studies. And you will apologize to those of us whom you wronged during the migration. Especially my son.”

Garble blinked. “Son?”

“That would be me,” Spike said as he waddled up next to Twilight. “Garble.”

“Spike.” Garble glared, before flinching at Twilight’s look. “Seriously, how does a dragon get to be a pony’s son?” he asked incredulously.

“Princess Celestia had my egg for centuries, with the permission of the Dragon Lord, until Twilight finally hatched me,” Spike said. “And then she raised me.”

Garble sighed. “Right.”

“And speaking of the Dragon Lord, we’ll also be sending him reports on your behavior,” Twilight said.

“Right.” Garble extended a claw. “I agree to this, and I swear, on the Bloodstone Scepter and the fire of all Dragon Lords, past, present and future, that I will do my best to behave as a worthy student of this school should.”

Twilight nodded. “Then welcome to the School of International Culture and Friendship, Garble.” She took his claw and shook it. “Now, let’s go get your application paperwork filled out. And I’m going to need your parents’ names so we can send it to them for approval.”

“Yeah…” Gable looked away for a moment. “You have them already, I think.”

“I do?” Twilight asked.

“Well… I’m not exactly the first in my family to be your student.” Garble ducked his head, and pointed. “She is.”

Twilight looked where he was pointing, and blinked. “Smolder?”

“Hey, headmare,” Smolder said casually as she walked up. “Hey, Gar-Gar. Guess you finally took my advice?”

Garble nodded. “Yeah, I…” He looked at Twilight. “In case you haven’t guessed already, Princess, this is my baby sister. She’s the only dragon who didn’t turn her back on me when I was exiled, writing me from time to time, and she’s the one who told me about this place.”

“I was very disappointed in him for what he did, but he’s still my brother,” Smolder said. “You do what you have to for family. And friends.”

Twilight nodded. “I see.”

Then she turned to Garble. “Come.”

When the two had disappeared into the building, Spike exchanged glances with Smolder. “‘Gar-Gar’?”

“Only I get to call him that,” Smolder said flatly. “Nobody else.”

“Gotcha.”

“How are you not shivering?” Shining asked as the two Sirens drifted through the air towards the cave they were heading to.

Sonata shrugged. “Our people evolved near the bottom of the ocean,” she said. “We’re used to temperatures like this, it’s actually refreshing. And we’re adapted so we can go through one extreme or another without any problems - there’s some areas that are really hot down there, and then a layer about six miles from top to bottom that’s near-freezing before you get to the sun-warmed parts.”

“Right.”

“The things you know, sis,” Aria commented as she hovered nearby. “Why didn’t you act this smart around Adagio?”

“What, and make her think I was a risk to whatever she was up to?” Sonata asked. “Really though, that wasn’t all an act. Sure, I knew how to survive, but that was mostly it until we got back here and I had a lot of time to read and improve my mind, so I wouldn’t be book-dumb anymore.” She blinked. “Also, the faces you made when you got mad at me were so funny!”

At that, Aria face-finned. “Why me,” she grumbled.

“Your sister is right, you are better than you think,” Cadance chimed in. “You have a good mind when you take the time to put effort into things, Sonata.”

“Thanks!” Sonata smiled cheerfully as they approached the cave, lined with guards standing watch. This wasn’t the only place where the windigos were laying dormant, but it was close enough to the Crystal Empire that they’d set up a watch in case word got out and curious folks decided to try and sneak a peak themselves.

Seeing the encouraging looks on the other three’s faces, Aria took a deep breath before going in. Drifting through the cave, she observed the details: glassy walls of shiny ice, with massive icicles near the front, and the ground covered in a powdery snow, occasional patches of clear ice showing through.

Within the ice walls were the windigos, their coats a frozen blue, with each of them standing upright like Aria herself, as if they’d been frozen in midair. Each had an oddly peaceful expression on their face, and she almost hated to disturb them. But she had a job to do.

Approaching the first of them, Aria placed a fin against the wall, and began pouring her magic, a little at a time, into it.

At first, it seemed as if there was no reaction. Then, she gasped as a voice made itself known to her.

{Who are you? Why have you come here?} it demanded.

Aria glared. “My name is Aria Blaze,” she spat. “I’ve come to try and restore these people.”

{And what makes a Siren think they are any of your business?} the voice asked.

“Because they feed on hatred, and that’s my turf?” she said. “I am the Lady of Hatred now, after all.”

The voice gave a silent hiss. {Then the usurper Adagio Dazzle is no more?} it asked.

“She’s alive, but Discord took away her status and gave it to me because she was misusing it,” Aria replied.

There was a wave of satisfaction. {Good.}

“Who are you, anyway?” Aria asked.

The voice chuckled. {I am Aputsiaq, young Siren. I am the Lady of Winter, and former Lady of Hatred before the usurper tricked me into giving her that position, claiming it would unite our two peoples as allies. I had believed her; things were simpler back than and the desire to expand our control beyond the Frozen North was too good to pass up. Then she betrayed me, drained me so I was forced to go into this place to rest and recover; that was the first blow against my people, and then Harmony’s magic, embodied through the Fires of Friendship, weakened them to the point where they were lost to instinct, their sapient minds buried deep within. To save them, I brought them here. Then I made a deal with Health to protect us and let us rest in peace until they were restored fully. Hatred’s powers would speed that recovery, but I had felt it disappear, and feared the worst… until now. You have brought it back to me, and for that, I thank you.}

Aria frowned, shaking her head slightly. “I didn’t come to give it back,” she said. “I came to use it to do the right thing, to fulfill my Duties in helping to monitor the spread of negative emotions in a healthy way. And to help your people get better so they could recover and then join society as a whole.”

{And how better if I, the rightful beholder to the Power, were to use it to its full potential to heal the windigos,} the voice said in a near soothing tone, a figure starting to appear before her. T looked equine but more as the windigos in the room did then what the other ponies looked like. {I trust you to do the right thing and let someone more capable to do so. Just give me what should be mine, young Siren.}

“No, I won’t just abandon my Duties,” she said. “It chose me to be the new Lady of Hatred when Adagio was misusing them - using me and my sister, to increase her influence. The Champion of Chaos himself approved of me to take up this mantle, and until he or someone above him says otherwise…” Aria shook her head. “In any case, we should focus on helping the windigos and not bicker between ourselves.”

{That clown overstepped himself and clearly played favourites, nameless Siren,} the voice snapped, a blast of cold air washing down her spine despite her species’ immunity to such temperatures. {Return what was stolen from me; I doubt you wish to begin something you barely have any concept of.}

“Agreed,” a new voice said, appearing in the midst of them all. With a start, Aria noticed that Sonata, Cadance and Shining Armor had all joined her when she wasn’t looking.

{“Lord Health,”} the Lady of Winter said aloud in clear shock as she materialized, her transparent figure bowing before the donkey that now stood there, with Cadance doing the same and Shining and Sonata following afterwards. {“I did not expect-”}

“Enough Aputsiaq,” the Lord of Health said. “You know full well that if the Power of Hatred wished to return to you, it would have done so the moment Discord freed it from Adagio. But it has accepted young Aria here, and the matter is settled,” he said sternly before looking at the siren in question. “She has done well in the Role since then; the others have agreed on her placement, including Death and Life.” The Lord of Health stalked closer to Aputsiaq, the transparent figure looking nervous. “Do you think that Hatred and us are wrong?”

Aputsiaq bowed her head. {“No, my Lord,”} she said. {“If Hatred has accepted her, then I will accept its decision.”}

“Good.” Health turned to Aria. “As for you, young Lady, your decision to help the windigos says well of you,” he said.

Aria bowed. “I can’t take full credit,” she said. “It was my sister who suggested it first.”

“But it was you who decided to do so, which speaks well of you,” Health said. “Carry out your Duties, young one. Help restore the windigos. You were doing well at it before Aputsiaq interrupted you.”

“I will.” Stepping forward and placing her fins against the walls again, Aria began channeling her powers into them, passing energy to the slumbering windigos.

One by one, a sparkling of magic surrounded each of them before their eyes opened and they emerged from the ice, phasing through it and hovering in midair.

{“What happened to us?”} one of them asked.

{“Last thing I remember, there was this light…”} another began.

{“And then nothing!”} a third said.

Then they noticed Aria, her body glowing as she continued to pour energy into them.

Finally, as the last windigo emerged, she fell back. “That’s all of them here,” she said.

Aputsiaq nodded. {“You are correct, young one,”} she said. {“But many more of my people remain dormant. Will you help them too?”}

“Once I’ve got enough oomph back,” Aria said. “That took a lot out of me.”

{“Understandable,”} Aputsiaq said as she walked among the confused windigos.

Meanwhile, Sonata looked at the couple. “Do you have any idea what they’re saying?”

Cadance shook her head. “It sounds almost like… the verbal version of the old changeling language that Queen Scolopidia was speaking that one time,” she said. “I think. I was hearing both their language and my own at the same time, and she didn’t get to use much of it before the other Queens scolded her for swearing.”

Sonata giggled.

“The Lord or Lady of Hatred has always been able to speak the language of the Sirens and windigos, regardless of their own species,” Health remarked from where he was standing. “If they are to communicate with those who feed on hatred, it is a necessity. Likewise, Love can understand the language of the changelings, for they feed on its energies. Also Prench.”

Cadance nodded. “That explains so much,” she said.

“Speaking of the changelings, I was very pleased when I saw how you helped them,” Health told her. “Your actions did much to aid their well-being, as did Magic’s.”

Cadance bowed. “It was my honor to help them,” she said.

“Keep up the good work, both of you,” Health said, directing his words at both Cadance and Aria. He then smiled at Cadance. “Though I wonder how much you will get done with your foal coming so soon.” Smiling widely, he continued. “I won’t ruin the surprise but I can tell you they will be a very healthy baby.”

“Th-thank you,” Cadance smiled with Shining grinning as well.

Health gave a final smile of their own before disappearing.

“That was unexpected,” Aria noted as she floated over. “Helpful though. Anyway, we’ve kind of got a couple hundred windigos who need a place to stay while they get acclimated to the modern world and learn to speak normal pony language, and we’re going to have more as soon as I go find all of them. Do you think we’ve got space, or do we need to call up all the hotels nearby and see if a couple dozen of them can spare the rooms?”

The hovering windigo next to her said something in their language.

“And Lady Aputsiaq wants to know if the Umbrum Forces have been dealt with yet or if they’re still locked up under the Crystal Empire like they were in her day- oh wait.” She turned to Aputsiaq. “Yes, they’re still there as far as I know,” she said. “Their leader Umbrea’s gone, so’s that psycho Sombra she tried to have free them, but the rest of them are still sealed.”

The windigo nodded.

“We might have room in the Crystal Empire,” Candace said, walking towards the windigos. “Though I do not know if they will be safe due to the Crystal Heart and none of them can understand me, can they Aria?”

Aria shook her head. “Lady Aputsiaq has some limited ability, but the others don’t.”

“Well then,” Cadance said, placing a wing over her side. “I welcome you to the wonderful world of diplomacy and that of being a translator; where people will be angry at you for what others say.”

Aria let out a bit of a groan but kept her head upright. “I will do my best, I guess,” she said, rubbing the back of her head as the windigos began to crowd her, Aputsiaq staring intently at her.

{“How is it that you are on such good terms with the Lady of Love?”} she asked curiously.

“Well, it was her aunt who helped defeat Adagio and free me from her control,” Aria told her. “And since then, she’s helped me learn a lot about being the Lady of Hatred.”

{“What is she talking about, anyways,”} Aputsiaq inquired. {“I can understand some of her words but it is far different from what I am used to.”}

“She’s offering to house you and your windigos in the Crystal Empire,” Aria said, looking at her. “Though she isn’t sure how safe it will be with the Crystal Heart in effect, considering it’s a massive love-boosting artifact.”

“It could be used the other way,” Cadance said, hearing them. “All cosmic spectrum can amplify emotions, either positive or negative. But as a general rule, the Crystal Heart specifically is used for positive emotions.”

When Aria had translated this, Aputsiaq nodded. {“I see. I would need to investigate this myself before I decide if it is safe or not, though I am not comfortable in leaving my windigos behind just yet. Perhaps we can set up some sort of system or…”} she trailed off, looking intent. {“This will require a lot of careful preparation but firstly, Aria, I must apologize for my behaviour. It was rude, wrong and immature of me to do so.”}

“We all have our bad days,” Aria told her, placing a fin on her shoulder. “Creators know how mad I can get sometimes…” She shook her head. “Come, let’s get started because a lot of your windigos look hungry and confused, and I don’t want to leave them alone too much longer.”

Aputsiaq nodded, and she and Aria went to work.

Time passed, as time always does, and before everyone knew it, it had been over a year since the Storm King’s defeat, and soon after, Hearth’s Warming Eve was there once again, with ponies all across Equestria and beyond celebrating in their own way.

One of those was sitting up late in front of a fireplace in a house far from home, one belonging to a family of distant cousins they had only learned about when Pinkie had stumbled across it while Twilight was away, and confirmed when she’d written her mother about it. Now, lost in thought, Applejack watched the flames dancing.

“Does something trouble thee, child?” another pony asked as she stepped up behind her guest.

Applejack sighed. “Just thinkin’,” she said. “Rememberin’ Mom and Dad.”

“Ah.” Cloudy Quartz nodded. “Thine grandmother has told me of her son and his beloved.” She sat down next to Applejack. “Distant may be the relation between you and I, but if you wish to share thine thoughts about them, I am here for you.”

“Much appreciated,” Applejack said as the other mare joined her by the fire. “Just wish Ah knew them a bit more, ya know?”

“Hast thou spoken to thine mother’s birth kin since learning of them?” Cloudy asked.

Applejack blinked at that, a bit embarrassed by the mention. “Not really,” she admitted. “Fall before last, Ah asked Granny about some stuff an’ found out a little about them. Ah don’t know ifn’ any of ‘em’s even still around; Ma’s dad, Grand Pear… he and Granny never got along. One day, he moved the rest of the family out to Vanhoover, right about the time Ma and Pa - the only Apple and Pear to ever get along - went and got married, an’ ‘cept for her, we ain’t laid eyes on a Pear since.” She looked down. “Ah never even knew why Granny hated the Pears so much until Ah asked, an’ she told me an’ Mac the full story. Soon after that, the war broke out, an’ it kind of slipped mah mind. An’ since then it’s been one thing after the other, an’ Ah just haven’t had the chance.”

Cloudy nodded. “Perhaps thou should look into them soon,” she said.

“Ah know,” Applejack said. “Ah want to… but Ah can’t help but be kind of afraid.” She looked at Cloudy. “‘Specially after everything mah cousin Slice went through, with her parents and all. What if Ah find ‘em an’ they don’t want anything to do with us? Grand Pear turned his back on his own daughter once, how can Ah know he won’t turn his back on us too? Ah don’t know if Ah could take it.”

“Thou wilt not know if thou does not at least try,” Cloudy told her. “It has been many years, perhaps he has softened since then.”

Applejack nodded. “Right…” She sighed. “Ah really miss ‘em, ya know?”

Cloudy nodded. “‘Tis only natural. I still miss my own parents, and though Igneous does not always show it, I know he feels the same way about his. But they live on in our hearts, and in the lessons they have taught us.” She gazed into the fire, before turning back to Applejack. “And had my mother-in-law’s lifespan not overlapped with our third daughter, I would suspect Mother Pie’s soul directly lived on in her. They are so much alike.”

Applejack smiled. “Pinkie’s certainly somethin’ special,” she agreed.

“Verily.”

“‘An…” Applejack broke off for a moment, as she put her words together, before looking to the other mare. “Thank you for havin’ us over for Hearth’s Warming,” she said. “Ah know, it’s different from what we’re used to… an’ if Pinkie hadn’t told us how it differed from the way we do things so Ah had time to prepare, Ah might not have reacted so well. But Ah’m glad to be here.”

“Thou are most welcome, child,” Cloudy told her. “And all thine family.” She rose. “But let us go to rest now, for we have an early start tomorrow.”

Applejack nodded, and followed her upstairs.

Meanwhile, Canterlot had shown it was ready to demonstrate it was still one of the most desired places to be during the holidays with the weather teams working harder to make up for last year’s rough performance, the end of the war notwithstanding.

In the Sparkle house, there were the sounds of people in the midst of getting the Hearth’s Warming dinner ready. Despite being a princess, a world-respected heroine several times over, the strongest magic user since the days of Starswirl the Bearded, the headmare of her own school, and several other titles, Twilight Sparkle had learned the hard way, via trying to venture into the kitchen only to be rebuffed, that her mother’s domain was not to be questioned, Velvet resorting to the time-honoured method of the spoon rapping the nose to assert her dominance. Shining Armor, on the other hoof, had been drafted to help with simple tasks, only getting reprieves when Cadance had asked for something to nibble on while she rested on the sofa due to being in the second half of her term. Spike had also been welcomed in to help out due to his talents in cooking. Night Light, on the other hoof, had simply chosen not to even try and instead was enjoying the latest novel manuscript that Daring Do had sent to them for previewing, the first co-written book by Daring and Teomitl.

Finally, dinner was served, and everyone gathered around the table.

“So how are things going with your newest student?” Velvet asked as she passed Twilight a bowl.

“Surprisingly well,” Twilight replied. “He does good when he’s focused, and I think being around his sister regularly is really helping.”

“He’s still got an ego though,” Spike muttered. “I get that he’s improving himself, and I’m glad that he’s doing so much better, but there’s still that obnoxious side that pops up every now and then.”

“You can’t expect him to change overnight,” Shining Armor said. “It took my old classmate Buck Withers a while to turn himself around too.”

“I know, I know,” Spike said. He perked up. “Say, how’s things going with the windigos?”

“They’re doing well too,” Cadance said. “It is a slow process but it is going well; Lady Aputsiaq is learning the fastest.”

“Have you started to look for the other tribes of windigos?” Night Light asked, raising an eyebrow.

“We’ve found most of them,” Cadance said. “Lady Aputsiaq said there are still a few scattered pockets of them hidden away; she and Aria are going out to recover them once Shiny and I are home again.”

“When do you think they will be ready to be introduced to the world again?” Twilight Velvet asked.

“It depends,” Shining Armor said. “Some of them are doing better than others when it comes to speaking modern Ponish and tolerating positive emotions. Spending time around Sonata is really helping with the second part, we’ve found.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Night Light mused. “She’s the most positive siren we’ve met since they came out of hiding.”

“Anyone can’t help but be happy around Sonata,” Cadance smiled. “She is more or less the sole reason why the crystal ponies have allowed other sirens to visit the empire; they keep pointing to her as a means to say that they are not all bad emotivores.”

Twilight nodded. “She reminds me so much of Pinkie… but blue.”

Cadance smiled. “She does, doesn’t she?” she said. “And honestly, most sirens just feed on the ambient negativity around them; they don’t need to induce it unless they’re really desperate. Adagio was an aberration among their kind because she liked inducing hatred to feed on.”

Twilight nodded. “Did you know there’s a siren who’s supposed to be coming to Ponyville and holding a concert for charity this spring?” she asked. “This isn’t the first one she’s performed for, in fact they’re some of her favorite things to do because she likes seeing people so happy, but before she always had herself transformed into a normal-looking pony when she was out in public. Now that she and her people can show their real selves again, she’s kind of… come out of the lagoon, so to speak, so she can perform as her true self at one for the first time.”

“Really!” Velvet smiled happily. “That’s good to hear.”

“So who is the artist or are you still under contract not to say?” Cadance asked.

Twilight took a deep breath. “I have special authorization to tell a few select ponies,” she said. “And one dragon. All of whom are right here. We had to meet with the Siren Queen and arrange a few things before she agreed to let this siren show herself.”

“And she didn’t tell me?” Cadance asked, a mock pout on her face.

“We just finished the last of the arrangements earlier today, otherwise she would have,” Twilight said. “That’s one of the reasons why I’m telling you now.”

“So who is it?” Shining Armor asked.

“She goes by the stage name ‘Countess Coloratura’,” Twilight said. “Apparently she’s been posing as an Earth pony most of her life, but she’s actually a siren.”

“Really!” Velvet looked very surprised. “Your father and I went to one of her concerts a few years ago, we had no idea!”

“No one did, which was the whole point of her spell,” Twilight said. “Not even her closest foalhood friend knew, and she’s really nervous about telling her. In fact, that’s one of the things we had to arrange - she wants me to set up a meeting between them once we’re all back in Ponyville after the holidays are over.”

“Anyone we know?” Spike asked.

“It’s Applejack,” Twilight said. “They went to camp together when they were foals.”

“Woah.” Spike blinked. “No wonder she’s concerned.”

“Yeah,” Twilight said, nodding her head. “Though I doubt there’d be any issue as I cannot see Applejack rejecting her old friend. She might be upset that she was lied to, but...” she trailed off.

Velvet nodded. “I know what you mean,” she said gently. “But from what time I’ve spent with Applejack, I think things will work out just fine. After all, she still remembers and feels guilty about the last time she rejected a friend, no matter how justified she may have felt at the time.” Before a startled Twilight could reply, Velvet looked at Cadance. “Getting back to the windigos, though, what more have they told you about their history?”

“Not a whole lot,” Cadance said. “Just that one of their leaders was the first to really gain the Powers of Winter and Hatred, and they’ve usually been passed down as a set to the leaders of their people since then, until Adagio tricked Lady Aputsiaq into giving her Hatred. Soon after that, the Fires of Friendship spread and drove them all into their dormant states, and that was the last thing that any of them really remember before Aria woke them.”

“Speaking of Adagio, do you think leaving her in that other place you mentioned is such a good idea?” Velvet asked. “I understand that you and Celestia have your reasons, but think of all the knowledge she has about the past. It could just go to waste. And yes, I know Aria and Sonata are from that same time period, but still.”

“Actually…” Twilight looked at her. “Sunset’s written to both of us. She’s been trying to get through to Adagio since then, like I got through to her. Just with… less rainbow lasers this time.” She blushed. “And she and the girls have gotten her to talk a little about things. It’s a slow process, but they’re managing.”

“That’s good to know,” Night Light said. “Anything else we should know about from that side?”

Twilight nodded. “There’s this big interschool event coming up next spring, where Canterlot High and Crystal Preparatory Academy are going to be competing against one another. Sunset decided to do a little research into the Games from a few years back, and she… well, she found some stuff in the old CHS yearbooks, and the most recent one from Crystal Prep, that she scanned into her journals for both of us. And I think you should see it.”

Her horn lighting up, she levitated a book into the room and opened it. “Here’s the Crystal Prep team from the last Games.”

Shining Armor leaned over it and blinked in surprise. “Is that… me?”

“It looks like it,” Cadance agreed. “I see you’re just as handsome over there as you are here.”

Her husband blushed.

“And here’s one from last year’s yearbook,” Twilight said as she flipped to it, prompting an “Oh my” from Cadance as she laid eyes on her human counterpart.

“Are you in there too?” Night Light asked.

Twilight nodded, showing him the next picture. “She’s definitely a little different, but she’s still me,” she said. “Well… my Other. One of them, anyway. I wish I could go over and meet her.”

“For science, right?” Spike teased her.

“That, and because if she’s anything like I used to be, she probably needs all the friends she can get,” Twilight said.

“And is there anyone else that you would like to show us?” Velvet asked with a bit of a shark-like grin.

“Well, I know you’ve already seen what Sunset looks like,” Twilight began. “And me, and my friends’ counterparts. And the other Celestia and Luna.”

“Anyone else?” Velvet’s smirk was growing.

Spike faceclawed. “She’s talking about Flash, Twilight,” he said.

Twilight blinked. “I… oh.” She sighed. “Seriously, we barely knew one another, and yes, I liked him because he was nice and he helped me out!”

“And you got your first crush on him,” Cadance teased her.

Twilight rolled her eyes before flipping back to another page. “Okay, okay, I have a couple of those too,” she muttered. “And some other ones from the Fall Formal. Here.”

Velvet nodded approvingly as she looked over the page. “He does look nice,” she said. “And… take that look off your face, Shining Armor.” She turned around sharply, looking stern at the glowering unicorn.

“I can’t help it, she’s my little sister and it’s my prerogative to scare the living daylights out of any guy who shows interest in her!” He tried to look intimidating, but his mother’s own look made him back down, not to mention the pressure Cadance was putting onto his hoof with her own.

“Hey, you want to see something really funny?” Spike suddenly asked. “Look at this one!” He flipped the page, exposing another photo.

Cadance looked at it and gasped in delight. “Oh my,” she said happily. “That is so you!”

Seeing the picture of herself and Flash both on all fours, arms and legs flailing as they danced pony-style, Twilight facehooved, while her parents both “aww”ed at the sight. Even her brother had to chuckle.

“Cadance is right, that is like you,” he said.

Twilight sighed. “Look, he lives in another dimension, and I don’t think that kind of long-distance relationship would work,” she said. “And having one of us move to the other’s world full-time probably wouldn’t be a good idea either.”

“Then how about somepony who’s already here?” Shining Armor asked. “You know who I mean.”

Twilight looked down. “I… I don’t know,” she admitted. “I like Moondancer, and I do care about her. But… she deserves somepony who can dedicate themselves to her. Someone she can grow old with.”

“Twilight.” Cadance placed a hoof on hers. “I knew what I was getting into when I married Shining Armor. I know, one day, barring a miracle, he’ll pass on. But that doesn’t stop me from loving him with all my heart. You don’t have to force yourself to be alone just because the one you love is mortal.”

Twilight nodded slowly. “I know…”

“Give it a chance,” Velvet urged her. “Even if you two don’t end up together, you’ll never know unless you do try.”

Twilight nodded again. “We’ll see.”

There was a silence for a few minutes, before Night Light broke it. “So, do you think the Alpha would let us use his mirror to visit our Others?” he asked. “I know your mom wants to go, and I’d kind of like to too.”

Twilight shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said. “I’d like to go over again myself, to see Sunset and my other friends, and the other me. I don’t know how she’d react though, since she doesn’t know magic exists yet. If we do though, I’ll see if I can take you with me then.” She looked at Cadance. “I don’t think Cadance should go through until after her foal’s born though.”

“That’s reasonable,” Velvet told her. “But do ask him at some point, if you don’t mind.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Twilight said.

“Good,” Velvet said. “Now I think it is time for dessert everyone. I’ve got a chocolate chip cheesecake waiting in the fridge.”

“Yum yum,” was the simultaneous reply.

It was a few days later when Twilight finally made her way back home; she had spent some time with Celestia, Luna, Pharynx, Thorax and his wife. She’d enjoyed getting to know Thorax’s wife; Metanotum had been very kind and exceptionally grateful to her for helping him.

But she was glad to be home at long last where things could begin to settle down and start to be normal, though it would not come until after she had another talk with Moondancer about possibly moving their relationship forwards. It would probably be one of the most awkward and difficult conversations she would have but she owed it to Moondancer to try.

“We’re home,” Spike said, announcing himself needlessly as he had parked the skimmer in the garage.

“Ah just in time,” Moondancer said, standing next to Trixie near the staircase. “Rarity was just asking for some help.”

“Trixie thinks that Spike would be the perfect aid for her,” Trixie said, looking a bit nervous with Spike frowning.

“I will go help her once I finish unpacking-” Spike said with both mares shaking their heads.

“We got, just go and help her Spike,” Moondancer said, all but shoving Spike out the door. The young dragon, still frowning, walked towards the door and left, giving another look behind before closing the door.

“Okay, what is it that you two want to talk about that you don’t want Spike to hear?” Twilight asked as she sat down in her chair, with Moondancer and Trixie sitting down on the couch across from her.

The two mares shared a look before Moondancer, after Trixie patted her back, spoke up. “For a while Twilight, I was certain I was in love with you and you alone but while living here with Trixie, I began to rethink that.” She smiled at Trixie. “It’s been growing between us for some time, but it was during Hearth’s Warming that we finally were able to really…” she seemed to be at a loss for words but the look she gave Trixie said it all.

“What the lovely and adorable Moondancer is trying to say is that we’re seeing one another now,” Trixie said. “Trixie knows how Moondancer feels about you, and Trixie does not mind admitting Twilight is also attractive. Trixie would not be opposed to sharing if both of you approved. But T-I do love her.” Twilight knew she still had a long way to go but she could tell Trixie was not fully in support of that idea.

Twilight smiled at the two, shaking her head. “Sorry, but I don’t think it would be fair to your relationship if I were to be able to step in like that.” She turned her attention to Moondancer. “I know how you felt about me but if you see something with Trixie, then please, do not wait on me.”

“Are you sure about that?” Moondancer asked nervously, scared even.

“You are my friend Moondancer,” Twilight said. “The only thing I want is you to be happy and if that means being with Trixie, then for Celestia’s sake, be with her.”

Moondancer looked relieved, tears in her eyes. “Thank you, Twilight, thank you,” she said, moving over to hug her with Trixie doing the same.

Hugging them back, Twilight smiled. Mom might be a little disappointed, she thought. But if this is what they want, I won’t stand in their way.

Releasing the pair, she sat back. “You’re both still welcome to stay here, of course,” she said. “My home will be your home for as long as you want, or need.”

“Trixie still needs time to finish her wagon but once it is, we’re planning to travel a bit,” Moondancer said. “It will do my studies of the stars good if I were to see them from different parts of the world.”

Twilight nodded. “My offer still stands, whenever you need it,” she said. “For both of you.”

“Speaking of, you still have a school to run, miss headmare,” Trixie said, waving her away. “We’ll unpack for you, don’t worry about a thing.”

Twilight nodded her head and left the two alone, and began to make her way to her school when there was a sudden flash of light near the mountain and a towering figure appeared. Before she had a chance to register what was happening, two balls of light seared towards her and slammed into Ponyville. The impact knocked everyone on the street down with windows broken, buildings cracking and people screaming in terror and confusion.

Twilight slowly stood up before she fell over again, her legs giving out as she saw what had been the targets.

Her home was a smouldering crater, barely anything remained of the Golden Oaks Library and she knew instinctively that the billowing tower of smoke meant her school had also been stuck down and destroyed.

Her mind, already struggling to process the loss of her home, was beyond comprehension at the second destroyed building she loved dearly.

Her home was gone. The school was gone.

Her home was gone. Her school was gone.

Her home. Her school.

Her friends… her students.

Gone.

Something within her snapped.

Twilight closed her eyes and the Lady of Magic opened hers.

The opening assault against Canterlot had gone flawlessly. His warriors and followers had spilled into the so-called walled city with ease, exploiting all of the holes and weakness that the elites of this forsaken kingdom had overlooked in their arrogance.

He had to admit, while he had originally feared that the third princess’s actions would make invading this city difficult as it brought in all sorts of unpredictable but in fact it was the greatest boon he could ask for. Not only was he drinking in the Equestrians' natural magic to boost his own powers but he was taking in all the other races' powers into himself. He was already a towering giant with the magic he had taken and he had yet to drink the alicorns.

Speaking of which, the centaur guided two magical missiles towards the third princess’s home and school. Odds were that she would be there and he could be lucky that she would die without him needing to divert too many soldiers early on to deal with her and her cohorts this early on. He continued to push his way towards the castle when he heard a voice call out.

"Tirek," the voice bellowed in both fury and dreadful calmness, the contradiction causing him to pause. Turning his head, he saw a figure in the distant village standing high in the air, equal to his massive height. It had six glowing wings, eight powerful legs, almost a dozen eyes burrowed in fury and wrath and a single horn billowing with unrelenting magic. "You have invaded my land, attacked my citizens, destroyed my home and school and harmed my students and friends!" It intoned before it shot forwards, each wing beat sending massive gusts of wind that slammed into him and his followers. The city he was sieging was untouched and the inhabitants unmoved by the gale-force winds slamming into him with the gouges his hooves made in the ground being healed seconds afterward. Slamming into the mountain hard and seeing the figure closing the distance within seconds, Tirek only had a moment to realize he had severely erred in judging her power.

Before he could properly react, the creature grabbed him in its hooves and dragged him out of the city and into mountains that were not there before. He came to the conclusion as he was smashed through mountain after mountain that the creature was raising them solely to abuse him before dismissing them back into the earth.

After the tenth mountain, he was tossed across a wide plain, again with the creature erasing any sign of damage they were creating with their bout. Breathing heavily in pain, Tirek forced himself to his hooves and began to try and steal the creature's magic away only to hit a stone wall that sent painful waves through his teeth and down his entire being. Snarling in anger and pain, he held up his hand to send a blast of magic at the creature only for it to wink out of existence.

The creature, glaring with its main eyes, unhinged its jaw to unleash a wave of fire magic that turned into dragon fire that then turned into solar magic. As it made contact with his flesh, his arm was seared away in boils and pain, with those boils spreading throughout his entire body and sending him into convulsions and withering on the floor.

Clutching his stump of a limb, he was taken by surprise when he felt chains wrapped around his neck and limbs, pulling him upright. With his head forced upright, Tirek found himself meeting the creature in its many eyes. In terror and awe, he tried to grasp its true might and power and failed, with his mind shattering in the process, fracturing as he was dragged back into Tartarus, the portal dismissed as quickly as it was created.

Standing above her defeated foe, the Lady of Magic gave a brief snort of victory before reappearing in Ponyville as teleporting was too long for her. With nary a thought, she wound back time in an isolated area, her library and school restoring themselves in an instant.

The Lady of Magic closed her many eyes in a blink before reopening them as Twilight Sparkle, the grief of what had happened beginning to sink in.

"Twilight!!"

Slowly raising her head after what felt like hours, but had likely only been a few minutes, Twilight looked in the direction of the voice, and let out a cry of happiness. "Spike!"

The little dragon grinned as he came over and hugged her. "Hey, Mom."

"Spike, you're okay…" Twilight whispered as she hugged him, tears still running down her face.

"We all are," Spike told her. "Everyone evacuated while you were gone, just in case. Nobody got hurt."

Twilight felt her heart clench in relief. "Everyone?"

"Everyone," Spike confirmed.

Twilight sighed. Then suddenly, she looked panic-stricken. “Moondancer and Trixie, they were-”

“We’re fine,” Moondancer’s voice called as she and Trixie walked up. “Trixie is very good at casting spells on the fly and she had been practicing teleporting for her shows. And Owlowiscious was at Fluttershy’s today, so he’s safe too.”

“Twilight!” her friends suddenly shouted as they appeared, rushing towards her with Rainbow Dash practically knocking her over. “You’re alright!”

Twilight hugged her back. “Yeah…”

“What was that thing you turned into?” Applejack asked as she pulled her into a hug with Rarity sliding into the dust to embrace her, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie also joining in the embrace.

Twilight sighed. “I have no idea… but I think I know who does.” Her eyes drifted up towards Canterlot, and her mind towards her fellow Princesses. “I have to go now, I need answers.”

And with that, Twilight teleported away.

Chapter Twelve

Celestia and Luna were both in Celestia’s office, dealing with the aftereffects of the unexpected invasion when Twilight teleported in.

“Twilight!” Celestia said, dropping the papers and ignoring the guards to pull her into a motherly embrace, covering her former student with her wings. “Are you alright? Are you okay?” She smothered the younger mare in questions.

“I’ve been better,” Twilight said tiredly before looking at her mentor. "Celestia," she said with a catch in her voice. "I need to know what exactly happened."

"How much do you recall Twilight," Luna asked carefully, sharing a concerned look with her sister.

"It might not be best to force the memori-"

"I recall it all," she said stiffly. "I want to know what happened."

The two sisters shared a look and sighed.

When the guards had been dismissed, the three alicorns settled themselves in, and finally Celestia spoke.

"You took upon the full might of your Power, Twilight," she said. "You had complete access to all magic, fitting as the Lady of Magic."

"Why did I turn into that thing?" Twilight asked, breathing hard.

"You turned into it as becoming one with Magic would shift your body more closely to that of Magic's original Creator; Chaos," Luna said with Twilight gasping. "Of all of Harmony's sub-Powers, Magic is the sole one that aligns with Chaos over Order and the same is true for Technology of Disharmony's sub-Powers towards Order. Magic can have its rules, yes, but at its heart, it is forever changing, developing new ways of shaping and altering the world, just as Chaos itself does."

"You have to understand that Magic, Technology, Generosity, Self-Centeredness, Loyalty and Oathbreaking and all the others are just what we call them, Twilight," Celestia said. "They are more concepts and ideas than their literal meanings. Generosity to its truest point is altruism, a selfless love and inspiration directed to the world. Self-Centeredness is that inverted, working to improve and maintain one's self. Neither are truly evil or wrong but both can be twisted by others, as Chrysalis did when she just focused on helping herself out of greed."

"Loyalty is making long-standing bonds with other people and Oathbreaking is sundering the bonds made between those who are in poisonous relationships," Luna said, walking over to the young princess. "Oathbreaking at its very core seems to be anathema to all that we believe in but without it we could not survive. My own relationship with my sister was strengthened by the fact that I was once Loyalty but I was blinded by my own envy that weakened my grip on her. And in a sense, Oathbreaking was at work - though not directly as an individual - when you encouraged Tempest to break ties with the Storm King, who made false promises to help her but really just used her as a tool."

"And Technology, or Science, is just the Opposite of Magic, a differing way of seeing and shaping the world around them through more physical means than arcane, and trying to make sense of it, as Order does," Celestia said. "Both, if taken to extremes, can be misused. But at their heart, neither is truly good or bad. They simply are."

"If you asked Cadance about Love and Hatred, she would try at lengths to describe how they are just emotions of the world with her being more talented at the former than the latter," Luna said. "I have started to gain a grasp of what emotivores experience with my husband but it is still a world I have yet to fully understand."

"Without Disharmony, Order would be unimpeded, with structure taking over and growth stagnating to a halt," Discord said, appearing in the room, though it seemed everyone was used to his sudden appearances. "Chaos encourages change and growth, but needs Order to balance it so that things do not reach a point where it is impossible to live. Even I understand that, and I'm Chaos's representative in most matters."

"And it is why I never chose to completely rid myself of Discord when I had the chance, Twilight," Celestia said with the draconequus muttering under his breath about something. "Of course I would have enjoyed nothing more to rid Equestria and the world of a dangerous threat but I knew that without him, the world and Equestria would be tumbling to perfectly ordered disaster and ruin." She sighed, looking as if she was about to share something painful.

"He is the one who helps remind me what would happen if I let myself be consumed by Order," she admitted as she blinked back tears of shame. "I have visited other dimensions where I had fallen to that lure of ridding myself of the Lord or Lady of Disharmony and I have seen an Equestria and Equuis ruled by a tyrant in my own form, where everything is planned out with no true spark of creativity or life itself present. Just beings marching to the tones of being enthralled with Order."

"That's not you," Twilight said with Celestia shaking her head.

"It is me," she stated. "Me who one day decided to take one extra step toward protecting my ponies that resulted in another step and another and another until I was a tyrant over all. One step that is so easy for me to make that is terrifying beyond belief so I must weigh all the gains against the losses and Discord was something I could not deal with myself without it being too costly for everyone else." She sighed, leaning into her sister. "And on the other hoof, I dare not let myself fall to Chaos either, for I have seen that too - again, a horrific tyrant with nothing to hold her back from devastating all around her. Be they known as Nightmare Star, Daybreaker or any other name, they scare me, and the idea of becoming like them is one of my worst nightmares."

"That's why you left him to us," Twilight said with Discord grumbling loudly at being ignored but Twilight brushed him off. "You knew that he would escape at some time around when we gained our Elements or Powers as the case is and you directed us to him because we were the only ones that could handle him."

"That she did, Magic-butt," Discord said, slithering through the air. "Mrs. Moon-butt and Sun-butt have long learned to be my magical equals but both are too worried about how it would affect the rest of the world if I were to use my draconequus magic on them to flip them to Chaos." He placed a claw on her nose. "Which is just me continuing my spat with them, both as who we are and who we are."

"I will admit that some of his animosity towards us is personal," Celestia said. "After all, when he let his crueler aspects take charge, we spoiled his 'fun'. Though I had hoped he would be more understanding after being exposed to the true inheritors of Harmony's sub-Powers." She gave the draconequus a look.

"I am, I am," he said. "But mischief is what I do too, remember. It's all a part of Chaos." He then turned back towards Twilight. "But as they were saying, Magic-butt, being the Lady of Magic or of Chaos doesn't really mean anything; they are just words. What matters is what you do with them."

He snorted. "Speaking of, I do have standards. Since Hatred's little rampage in the other world, I have been checking up on all those who fall under Chaos, like myself. All are keeping up with their Roles and Duties as they should, rather than perverting them as Queen bug-legs and fish-face did, or that little pegasus student of yours would have if she'd become one. Why, for all that she claims to want to be Empress of Friendship during her little therapy sessions, her lies would have created enough suspicion and superiority complexes from people lying to themselves and one another that it would have summoned a feral pack of windigos, even with the new Hatred helping them… Now that, a siren leading windigos and restoring their intelligence, is chaotic to the point of exciting!"

The three princesses exchanged looks. "That is an interesting way of putting it," Celestia admitted.

"I am still wondering how much of an effect it will have on next year’s Hearth's Warming play," Luna said. “Especially with the Lady of Winter active again.”

"Ve shall see," Discord said with a sneaky look on his face. "Ta-ta!" With a snap of his claws, he vanished.

Twilight sighed. "You know, except for the Lord of Summer, I still haven’t met any of the Four Seasons yet. Cadance has told me about Lady Aputsiaq, but I haven’t actually seen her yet."

"You will, eventually," Celestia said, placing a hoof on her shoulder. "And the other two as well, when they're ready to reveal themselves to us."

"You mean, you don't know who they are?" Twilight asked.

"Well, how often do we let nature take its true course?" Luna asked. "Our weather manipulation is one of the sore spots with the Seasons; they rarely show themselves in Equestria because of it. Before the Alpha came with Chrysalis, none of them had set foot, or any other appendage, on our land since before my thousand-year exile. Some of the others are the same way - the Forces of Nature rarely show themselves here for their own reasons, and nobody wants things to get to the point where the Four Apocalypses or the Four Creations have to show themselves. Health is the first of any of them to show themselves to Cadance as it is."

"Creations being their Opposites, with Life being one of the more… interesting Powers there is," Celestia said. "Had Umbrea eliminated me, Life would have had to take over my Duties, until a new Lord or Lady of Day could be chosen. The only reason they did not step in when the unicorns were burning themselves out moving the sun and moon was because Day and Night had already found my sister and I, even if we had yet to awaken our full connection."

"Though if you go out seeking them, I would advise avoiding both Death and Life as they are both very old and do not like being bothered needlessly," Luna said.

"I fully understand," Twilight said. "If they want to come to me, I'll talk, but even I know when to control my curiosity over something."

"And if they come seeking you, then you know it's serious," Celestia said. "Especially if it is Life; I have talked to the Lord of Death a few times in my long years but never to Life. I have been told that the Lady or Lord of Life is even more of an experience than Death is, and I have yet to work up the courage to seek an audience with them." She looked uncomfortable. "Though from what I understand, all have met Life at least once, but do not recall it; among other Duties and Roles, they are the source of all souls entering the world, who remain under their purview until a souls' time comes, and they take their Duty very seriously, even more so than those who anger Death by violating his domain or attempting to evade him when it is their time. Or worse, attempting to make others evade him against their will." She gave Twilight a serious look. "Of all Powers, Life is the only one that can accelerate a being's meeting with Death without any consequences on their part."

Twilight gulped at that before nodding her head. "Thank you for the warning, princess, and I will absolutely remember this." She then sighed. "Though that thing I turned into…"

"Will take time for you to learn how to use properly and become accustomed to it," Celestia said. "Fear of yourself will only lead to greater pain and suffering. I learned self-control to keep myself from becoming a monster, but also so I would not need to fear what I was capable of. With confidence and control, you will achieve the same thing in time."

Twilight gave a soft nod of her head. “I will strive to do so, but not in Ponyville. I don’t want anything to happen to my home in case I lose control.”

“Understandable,” Luna said. Then she surprised Twilight by pulling her into a hug. “If you ever need either of us to help you, Twilight, you just have to ask.”

Twilight smiled up at her. “Thank you,” she said. “Both of you. So much.” She then blinked. “Where is everyone else?”

“My dear Pharynx is leading the troops to capture the remaining minions of Tirek as well as interrogate them,” Luna said stiffly. “I fear that we were right to be worried about the disappearances; they could not have obtained or made all of these cold iron weapons and armour on their own so quickly.”

Celestia smiled. “It is lucky that they were not completely pure or otherwise you would not have been able to affect them at all.”

“Really?” Twilight asked curiously.

Celestia nodded. “Cold iron is the one thing that can invalidate magic entirely, but even the slightest amount of a dopant - a trace impurity element within a substance, usually added in very low concentrations to alter its electrical or optical properties,” she explained to her sister who was looking confused by the term. “Can render it vulnerable to being affected by magic, but only to those with significant abilities in magic to find those gaps. Though it goes without saying, the greater the impurity, the weaker the cold iron is.”

“I still don’t know how he was able to avoid detection for so long,” Luna muttered. “Cold iron or no.”

Twilight nodded. “When I was transformed, I found… the faintest traces of some external magic on him,” she said. “But even I couldn’t recognize where it came from. The point is, he had help. Somehow.”

“That is disturbing,” Celestia said.

“Quite,” Luna agreed.

In Ponyville, many others were reflecting on the day’s events.

“I tell ya, I will never doubt that pink pony’s intuition again,” Garble said as he and Smolder sat together. “If she hadn’t warned everyone to be off campus for the day, we’d have been toast.”

“No kidding,” Smolder agreed.

“When Miss Pie tells you something, you just listen,” Sandbar said. “I think everyone in town learned that a long time ago - even Princess Twilight.”

Yona nodded. “Yak was very impressed with how she clobbered Tirek!” she said. “Yak not understand why she made herself look so different first… but she smashed good!”

Ocellus looked a little nervous. “I just hope everyone else is all right,” she said.

“We can go check,” Gallus said. “Just heard from the other teachers that they’re cancelling classes for today to let everyone process just what happened.”

“Maybe we don’t and let Miss Twilight be?” Diamond Tiara suggested. “If she didn’t appear here right away, I think she might need some time alone?”

“That and she isn’t even in Ponyville right now,” Silverstream said, causing everyone to turn to stare at her in surprise. “Pinkie Pie just told me.” she said with everyone nodding in understanding.

“I really think you spend way too much time with her,” Gallus teased with her puffing out her cheeks and rolling her eyes.

“I just help her with the baking after school guys,” she said, leaning into him. “Besides, she’s crazy over that one stallion; the one she’s got a picture of on her wall. And speaking of, come on, let’s head over to Sugarcube Corner. We can think of what to do there and have some good snacks.”

“Right.” Then he looked over at Silver Spoon, who’d been very quiet. “You okay?”

“Not really.” Silver Spoon shivered. “I keep thinking what would have happened if he’d gotten to all of us, and… it scares me.”

Diamond placed a hoof on her shoulder. “But he didn’t,” she said. “We’re okay. As long as Princess Twilight and her friends are watching over us, we’ll always be okay.” She nuzzled her friend. “Trust me on that.”

Silver Spoon blushed.

It would take a few days for all to hear it, but as the news spread around the world, people began to react. Even far below Canterlot, news of Tirek’s rampage and Twilight’s transformation had reached its occupants, and two of them in particular had things to say on the matter.

Chrysalis, for instance, was looking almost faint. "I tried to challenge THAT‽" she kept saying to herself as the changeling-turned-donkey paced in her cell, ignoring the concerned looks of the guards who were on duty.

In the cell across the hall, Cozy Glow just sniffed dismissively. “We could have taken her,” the filly-sized mare grumbled, though those who heard her weren’t sure whether she was lying to Chrysalis or just herself. Either way, Chrysalis had long since learned she couldn’t be trusted and generally preferred to ignore her.

This time though, she stopped long enough to point a hoof in the other’s direction. “You,” she said, “are out of your mind if you actually believe that.”

Then she went back to pacing.

“As I said for the last time,” the Alpha growled at his wolves. “We do not have anything to fear from that thing’s appearance.” He had instantly recognized what Twilight had become, but the others hadn’t, and they were naturally panicked.

One of them nodded in agreement with him though. “Our Observers have just reported in,” he said. “They say that the creature’s wrath was aimed solely at the Tartarus escapee who sought to harm innocents; no others were harmed by it, either deliberately or unintentionally, and as such we believe that it appeared only because he was such a great threat.”

“Thank you, Packleader Steady-View,” the Alpha said. The Thorough-Search Packleader was one of the more rational leaders of his people, and a trusted advisor. “You make my point exactly.”

Steady-View calmly nodded to him.

When the majority of the Packleaders had finally left, the Alpha regarded the three who’d stayed. “You have something to say?” he inquired.

“How is Twilight doing?” Wise-Mind asked before either of the others could respond. “This was her hometown that was attacked, after all.”

“She is… frightened, to some extent,” the Alpha replied carefully. Not all of the Packleaders were aware of what his title as Lord of Summer meant, but a pawful had been told the truth about Powers in recent months, including all three of the Packleaders who’d remained. “Though it was more by the loss of control and what it means for her.”

Storm-Fast nodded. “While I have not spent nearly as much time around her Grace as either of you have, I did question Swift-Pad and Maxilla on what they knew of her as a person,” she said. “They were reluctant to share such personal information, but I learned enough to know that losing control and the consequences thereof is one of her greatest fears.”

“A wise fear, though one she must learn to work through,” Steady-View remarked.

“So Swift-Pad has advised her,” Storm-Fast told him. “I also know that she is a kind and loving individual at heart, and as you yourself said, it would take extremes - such as threatening her loved ones - to prompt such a reaction as happened in Ponyville. Our people, then, would have nothing to fear, as we have no rational reason to provoke her in such a manner.”

“Well-spoken,” the Alpha said.

“Have the Queens spoken to you on this matter?” Wise-Mind asked.

“They have, and Queen Tegmina has concurred with me that this was an extreme and entirely justified reaction, one not likely to ever be repeated unless such an enemy as Tirek or the Storm King should ever surface,” the Alpha said. “And seeing as how we are keeping a close eye on any and all threats of that level that we know of - including Grogar’s prison, as we always have - to ensure they aren’t capable of escaping, such a thing is very unlikely to happen.” He let out a smirk. “Princess Twilight’s own additions to the wards down there were quite imaginative and effective, I must say.”

“With due respect Alpha, we had believed that to be the case with Tirek and we saw how that turned out,” Storm-Fast said, steadying her eyes at him. “In addition, while we know that her Grace isn’t a threat towards us, surely we cannot believe all of your kind has the same noble intentions.”

The Alpha nodded. “I understand your worries,” he said. “And Tirek’s escape does concern me. But I have spoken with Discord, and he has sworn that all of our fellows whom he has spoken with recently have been behaving themselves.”

“And we are to trust someone whose core elements include lying itself to be honest?” Storm-Fast asked.

“Lies may be one of his sub-Powers, but as he once said, ‘a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly... stupid.’” The Alpha frowned. “At least, I think that’s the phrasing he used. At any rate, he doesn’t have to lie all the time. When it matters most, he tells the truth, and in this matter, I believe him. He is Champion of Chaos, and what better way to sow it than to tell truths which may be doubted just by virtue of where they come from?”

“There is a disturbing logic in that,” Storm-Fast admitted.

“Yes, he does seem to have a strange tendency towards averting expectations,” Steady-View said. “Such as the effort he put towards aiding in the defeat of the Storm King, and in ensuring the purple Smooze did not escape its prison, even though both would sow chaos in their activities had they not been dealt with.”

"All kind words but as much as I approve of Princess Twilight as a person, we have seen what happens when their Graces lose control twice now," Wise-Mind said sternly. "Both times were self-contained in Equestria and over relatively quickly. What are we to do if any of their Graces are subverted in the future and attack us?"

“If that should pass, then we will defend ourselves from their thralls and I will take care of them,” the Alpha said coldly. “They have little idea to what I am truly capable of, rune and Summer magic alike. But so long as they are true to themselves, and protect themselves from being taken over by outside influences as Luna once was, I have faith in them not to fall.”

The three of them stared at him and the Alpha sighed, knowing what was on their mind. “And if you are concerned about myself, my fellow Seasons and I, and the Forces of Nature, have all long since sworn pacts to stand against one another if one or more of us should be subverted in some manner.” He tilted his head towards them. “And I trust you to rally the packs against me if the worst should occur. Do not allow me to remain in control if I go against my true nature.”

The trio nodded, and the Alpha smiled, clearly relieved.

Prince Rutherford shook his head and stamped his hooves as he read the news. “Purple pony princess smash good,” he rumbled.

“Yak want to know if yaks should be concerned,” one of his advisors said. “Pony princesses have gone wild twice now.”

“Yak not worried,” the prince replied. “Purple pony princess was not rebelling against fellow princesses. Purple pony princess smashed mad centaur for trying to smash her people! Purple pony princess mad for good reason!”

His advisors shared looks with each other before one of them spoke. “Yaks think yaks are in danger of pony princess smashing them. Yaks thinks Prince should close doors to ponies again.”

“Yaks not close doors again!” Ruthorford bellowed. “Yaks miss too much from closing doors before. Including good war! And yaks not do anything to make pony princess mad this time, so yaks should not be worried. Besides, Yona Yak still outside, yaks not going to shut one of their own out.”

“Yaks will think Prince is scared of purple pony princess, yaks will think Prince is too weak to lead yaks,” his advisor shot back. “Prince must speak to yaks about purple pony princess or yaks will look for another Prince.”

“Yak Prince not scared of purple pony princess,” Ruthorford replied with a glare. “Yak Prince has nothing to fear, for Yak Prince not give her reason to be mad at yaks. And if yaks not like Prince’s reason, yaks will learn why Yak Prince is Yak Prince!” He glared even more fiercely. “Yak Prince will still reassure yaks though. Yaks will be reminded why Yak Prince is strongest yak. Strong of mind, strong of body, strong of character. Yak Prince is leader in all these and Yak Prince will turn not coward because of purple pony princess.”

The advisors nodded approvingly, though some were still clearly concerned.

“Yak have letter!” another yak suddenly called, bringing it to the Prince, who read it and snorted in amusement.

“Yona Yak write home,” he said. “Say, ‘Princess Twilight smash Tirek good! Smash like true yak! Show a little much emotion for yak when thinking we all dead and then relieved to find we all unharmed, but still shows that she cares a lot.’” He looked up. “Young yak speaks wisely!”

There was a murmuring reply before he stomped off to go set up a gathering. Yaks would hear his words. Yaks would know he not afraid.

And Yak mean every word, he thought as he went. Yaks value honesty. Yaks know Prince speak truth.

Deep under the ocean, Queen Novo chuckled as she heard the latest news from the surface, courtesy of a missive from a very concerned King Seaspray, whose first instinct had been to inform her that Equestria had fallen under attack and was wanting to know if he should send aid from Mount Aris. His reaction pleased her.

“So, the Lady of Magic is really coming into her own,” she said after she’d finished explaining all of this to her visiting companions. “Very impressive.”

King Leo nodded, the easy-going merlion king smiling. “She’s come a long way,” he agreed. “I pity whatever bad guys get in her way.”

The third member of their little triumvirate, Queen Schuberta of the Sirens, nodded. “Quite. I almost wish I’d been there; her anger would have made quite a feast.” Then she considered. “Do you think we should offer her lessons in water magic as to further endear her to us?” she asked. “I know she likes the two of you already, and she treated me with respect when we met, but it wouldn’t hurt.”

Leo chuckled. “No, it wouldn’t.”

“And it would help her improve her control, which she’s probably going to be wanting a lot of help with,” Novo said. “I know I freaked the first time I went all-out during practice and nearly froze half the depths.”

“I remember that,” Schuberta said, giving her a look. “You nearly froze my tailfins off!”

“I said I was sorry,” Novo told her.

“Ladies, ladies,” Leo said as he rose up a bit.

Novo looked around. “Who came in?” she asked mischievously, prompting a groan from Schuberta.

“Your sense of humor is as wild as your daughters’ sometimes,” she said.

“True,” Novo said. “But getting back to Twilight, I hope she’s okay. A surge like that is always a doozy.”

“She has Celestia there to help her,” Leo said lightly. “And Celestia cares for her. She’ll work past this, Novo.”

“For all our sakes, I hope you’re right,” Schuberta told him. “She’s one of the kindest ponies I’ve ever met; when we were working to arrange things for Coloratura’s next charity concert, did you know her biggest concern was how little Rara would react if her other friend realized she’d been hiding the truth about herself and took it badly?”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Novo said. “That girl’s got a big heart.”

“That she does,” Leo agreed.

In the Dragonlands, there were parties all over.

“Pony princesses are strong when they want to be!” one of the teenage dragons yelled with a laugh before tossing a gem into his mouth.

“Agreed!” Dragon Lord Torch bellowed. “Just as well, if Tirek had hurt Smolder and Garble, we’d have been going after him ourselves!”

“Oh yeah,” another dragon said.

Ember rolled her eyes. “I’m not disagreeing, but do you really think it would have been a good idea to risk letting him get his hands on dragon magic too?” That caused a few of the dragons to pause and share looks to show they were actually thinking about that. “Also, we all know how skittish ponies are; you think they’d take our sudden appearance after Tirek so well?”

“You have a point,” Torch admitted.

“Yeah, at the end of her tail!” one of the other dragons cracked, only to cringe when he glared at them.

“But if Tirek had left them all powerless, then there isn’t much they could have done if we did pay a visit,” the Dragon Lord continued. “And if we had been able to defeat him and return all their magic, the dragons would have the ponies’ eternal gratitude! Imagine all the gems they’d give us!”

“And the endless suspicions that we set it up by the ponies and the rest of the world,” Ember pointed out.

Torch shook his head. “Tirek escaped from Tartarus, dragons have no control over that place,” he told her. “And Tirek hated us just as much as he hated the ponies.” He gave it a long thought before nodding. “But you are right…”

“Come on, you’re really afraid what the ponies, buffalos, griffons and all the others would say?” one of the crowd said with a laugh. “We’re dragons; we’re not afraid of anything.”

“Says the guy who ran screaming the last time his mom glared at him,” another one snarked, prompting a lot of laughter from the rest of the crowd before Torch silenced them by raising his hand.

“The dragons do not fear other races,” he growled. “But we could not withstand an attack by the other races if we provoked them needlessly. You have seen what happened to the Storm King and his armies when the other races worked together. And just now, we all saw what happened when their most passive and peaceful leader was pushed past her limit, one with the least training and experience in combat.” He let out a bellow of smoke from his mouth. “She was as fierce as any dragon, because she thought her friends and her students - including two of our own, even if one is an exile - were killed. I can only imagine what her wrath would be if she thought another race she counted as her friend were revealed to be an enemy, preparing to stab her in the back.” He gave a look to his daughter and nodded his head. “Send a detachment to Equestria, offering our support for whatever they need to deal with to finding the remnant of Tirek’s followers or whatever trouble he left behind.”

Ember nodded her head in approval, no doubt thinking of gathering the most leveled headed dragons with herself part of the team. “Anything else Father?” she asked, showing clear leadership qualities and the growing approval of the other dragons. He was growing more and more confident each day that he had found the right successor in his daughter for all his duties.

“Once you are done in Equestria, prepare for the Gauntlet of Fire,” Torch said to the surprised muttering of everydragon gathered. “It is almost that time.”

Ember bowed. “Thank you, Father.”

“And make sure you observe Garble personally while you are there; Princess Twilight’s reports are encouraging, but eyewitness accounts are always good too, and I want to hear it from you personally.”

Ember nodded again. “I will, Father.” With that, she took off with a trail of dragons following behind her, not even waiting to be dismissed by him.

Torch smiled to himself in spite of the lack of respect, knowing that the dragons would be in good claws once the time came.

“Chief Counselor Gruff?” a young griffon asked hesitantly.

Looking up from his desk, the elder griffon huffed. “What now, young griff?” he asked.

“Er… well… there’s a lot of us wondering if you’re going to make a public statement about the latest from Equestria,” the griffon said.

“Bah! Dingfangled ponies got things taken care of, who cares how they did it?”

“But… but all that power she showed-”

“Who cares how she did it! No skin off my beak. And if you’re worried about them turnin’ that kind of power on us, don’t be! If they wanted us ruined, they would have left things in Byzantion as they were. No, I’m not afraid of any amount of magic that pony princess can throw our way, not compared to the economic ruin we’ve been livin’ under for so long, an’ you tell everygriff that.”

“Er… yes, sir.” The other griffon left, leaving Gruff to his thoughts.

“Crazy kids,” he muttered. “Scared of their own shadows.”

He had to admit, Princess Twilight’s power had been impressive. But she had no reason to turn it on he and his people. Now, a hostile Arimaspi invading their territory, that would be another story. But not the griffons. With that thought settled, he went back to his paperwork, then frowned as he noticed something wasn’t quite right.

“Grambabbit,” he muttered. “Where did I put that pen this time?”

“Really Teomitl, you guys don’t have anything like that?” Daring asked as she moved through the latest temple he had taken her to, watching her partner slither about.

The ahuizotl shook his head. “No,” he said. “It was impressive though. If I’d known she could tap that kind of power, I’d have been a little more respectful that first time we met!”

“Like you were to me, big guy?” she chuckled with Teomitl rolling his eyes.

“High words coming from a thief,” he teased, causing her to give a playful groan.

“Har har,” she said as she slipped a kiss on his cheeks, “You’re lucky I like you, you big oaf. Now help me with this.”

Teomitl chuckled. “Sure thing, love,” he said. “You know, now that we know one another better, I wish I had taken time to try and talk to you back then.”

Daring nodded. “And I wish I’d tried to talk to you,” she said. “Now come on, we’ve got work to do.” Landing on the jaguar statue, she stared down at him, pulling out her notebook. “So run it by me again what’s special about this temple.”

Landing in front of her, Teomitl smiled warmly at her and began to tell her again. “The Jaguar’s Eye is a gem of incredible power,” he explained. “It protects the area around here from harmful magic. It also curses anyone who dares to take it, which is why we always have a guardian or two assigned to watch over the temple.”

Daring nodded. “Gotcha. No touching the artifact this time, just photographing and note-taking.”

Teomitl smiled again. “Come, let’s go meet Ichtaca, they can tell you more and I would like to show you off,” he grinned, holding his arm out to her.

“Charmer,” Daring said back with a chuckle.

“Come on, this way!” Neighsay called, waving his hoof to the others behind him. “We’re nearly there.” He was still covered in blood, both his and the slave drivers’, exhausted from the fight for their freedom once Tirek and the majority of his henchmen had left, but with the warmth of the sun on his face and the sudden return of his magic and Cutie Mark, along with those of all his companions, he felt freer and more alive than he had in his entire life. He craned his neck up, seeing the mountain city once more. A smile grew on his face as he saw his home once more before turning back to help Yellow Buster walk. She was still injured and he’d be damned if he let her strain her injuries by walking alone.

He was sorely tempted to just trigger his amulet’s abilities (one thing Tirek had never caught on to was that even if all his magic had still been drained, the amulet still had enough to work on its own, and didn’t actually need a functioning magic-user to activate it; even a Diamond Dog could do so if they got their paws on it) and get them to safety, but didn’t for a few reasons. First, he was fairly certain he could see the guards approaching from where they were now, and knew they’d be able to get he and his group to safety all on their own. Second, he was exhausted, and didn’t want to end up in the wrong place because he wasn’t focused properly.

And thirdly, he thought to himself, he wasn’t sure he could take all of them with him and the thought of leaving anyone behind was simply incomprehensible.

“Hello!” he called as they approached with guards turning to face him in surprise as they saw the rest of the freed slave behind him.. “We have injured people that need medical assistance as quickly as possible!”

The guards started to move faster and Neighsay found himself smiling more.

Finally, the nightmare was over.

Chapter Thirteen

As the three princesses were beginning to go over their plans to organize Canterlot after the failed invasion attempt, with Twilight choosing to stay and offer her expertise in planning as well as emotional support from her former mentor, a messenger came running into their meeting with important news.

“How many did you say were recovered?” Luna asked sharply, looking furious but it was clear that she was angry at herself rather than the messenger.

“At least two dozen at first count, your highness,” he said. “And… your highness… one of them is Chancellor Neighsay.”

Three sets of eyes widened, before Celestia sagged. Once Luna had dismissed the messenger, the eldest Princess turned to Twilight. “So you and I were right, Twilight,” she said. “He was captured by the escapee from Tartarus.”

“We had no way of knowing at the time,” Twilight said, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “Though I suppose we will find out how this happened when we do talk to Neighsay-”

She trailed off, clearly troubled.

“What’s wrong?” Luna asked.

“Just… the last time we spoke was before I opened my school,” Twilight said. “I’ve been operating it without their agreement, what if he insists on going back to his old post and trying to shut it down?”

“Then you will continue to operate as you always have,” Luna said. “Official accreditation on the EEA’s part is one thing, but legally, there is nothing preventing you from continuing to run it.”

“And even then, I doubt he would ever get his position back,” Celestia said. “I have to confess, Twilight, I’ve… been keeping something from you.”

Twilight made an almost strangled-sounding noise. “What is it this time?”

"Prince Blueblood came to see me, about the time Neighsay disappeared," Celestia said. "The former chancellor visited him shortly before, attempting to gain his backing and support. He felt that Blueblood would side with him and allow him to get further support in Canterlot in an effort to force you to discontinue your plans towards your school." She straightened up, and looked almost proud. "Blueblood threw him out after telling him in no uncertain terms that he would not be providing any such aid, nor would I allow such a thing to pass. Then he came to inform me of that meeting."

Twilight looked relieved.

Celestia bowed her head. “I would have told you about it myself sooner, but… then ponies began vanishing under suspicious circumstances, including Neighsay himself, and we had bigger concerns to focus on.”

"I understand," Twilight said as a letter flew into the room and landed in front of her. "That's weird, why would Spike be writing to me?" she said as she opened it, with her eyes going wide. "I'm sorry, I need to leave; half my teachers are threatening to quit and most of the parents are talking about pulling their kids out!" She didn't wait for any approval or advice before teleporting away, with a messenger knocking on the door just moments later.

“Excuse me, princesses, but the survivors’ leader, Neighsay, says he is well enough to speak with you and lead the way back to where they were being held.”

The sisters nodded. “Bring him to us,” Celestia said.

The messenger bowed before departing.

Twilight popped into her office at her school, and found Spike and the rest of her friends waiting for her.

“The people who want to see you are in the main auditorium,” Spike said without hesitating. “We’ve been doing our best to calm them, but there’s still a lot of concern.”

Twilight nodded. “Right,” she said. Then she looked at them. “What I want to know is, how did they know to get out in time?”

Pinkie stepped up. “That was me,” she said. “I got one of my weirder Pinkie senses and told everyone to not be on campus today.”

Twilight looked extremely relieved. “I owe you big time,” she said.

Pinkie shook her head. “No, you don’t,” she said. “We kept them safe; that’s all that matters.”

“So how bad is it?” Twilight asked with her friends looking nervous.

“A lot of them aren’t happy, egghead,” Rainbow Dash said. “Also doesn’t help you kinda just left like that Twi. Spoiled Rich was going around, getting them to make a fixed list of complaints against you.”

“Ah tried ta tell her to vamoose as Ah know ya don’t like her here but we got outvoted,” Applejack said to Twilight’s frown. “They’re planning ta do this fairly as can be and Ah know yer gonna be able to talk some sense into them but Ah can tell several are just going to pull out no matter what you say.”

“Do not take it as a failure Twilight,” Rarity said, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “No matter what happens today, you did your best for everyone.”

Fluttershy placed a hoof on her other shoulder. “Just as you always do,” she said.

Twilight smiled at her with Moondancer and Trixie smiling at her, leaning on each other happily. “You are the great and powerful Twilight after all, Twilight,” Trixie said.

“This is your school and your home, I trust you and it’s time to prove to them why,” Moondancer said.

Twilight nodded to the other mare. “Thank you, Moondancer,” she said. “Everyone… I’ll be back.”

Then she headed out and towards the auditorium, Spike following after her.

When she reached her destination, she was immediately inundated by angry adults.

“What happened today?” one of them asked.

“Why did that centaur attack us?”

“How can you justify making this place a target?”

And on, and on it went. Twilight ignored them all, walking past them towards the podium where Spoiled was waiting for her, staring with a smug look of victory on her face.

It began to dawn on the crowd that Twilight would not respond or react until she chose to, voices falling quiet with Spoiled looking uncertain as Twilight took her place in front of the mare.

“The restraining order against you still stands but for the importance of this meeting, I will waive it for now,” she said calmly, causing Spoiled to hunch and back up. She then turned to the crowd and stared at them. “I understand you are angry and confused. You want answers and I was not here to give them to you. In my haste for answers of my own, I left too quickly and I apologize for that.” She then stared at the native Ponyvilleans and the newcomers that had come over a year ago to make this place their home too. “This was a surprise attack, launched against Canterlot by an ancient foe whom I will not name yet.” Celestia had already cautioned her on this, having requested that she not identify him until the Equestrian government had contacted the government and royal family of Laronda as well as checked in Tartarus, which the Guards stationed there had already informed them was no longer sealed beyond its normal protections.

“At the same time, this foe also sought to try and remove myself from the equation as well, targeting the school and my home by launching those two magical blasts,” Twilight continued. “It was only by the quick actions of my friends here in Ponyville that we were able to prevent any loss of life; if not for Pinkie’s abilities, there would have been no warning. Yet her talents allowed her to alert everyone in time, and so they were not on the grounds when our enemy launched his attack. For that, I am eternally grateful.”

She raised a hoof to show she was not finished yet. “A large number of you have asked how can I justify placing your children and yourselves in danger and I cannot. It was the last thing I ever wished to happen, but given the nature of who I am, I see that I will always be a target and those around me will also be targets. It is not a happy admission for me to make, but one I must if I want to have any claim of honesty between you and myself. While I cannot promise there will be no future attacks, I can promise that I will do everything in my power to protect my students and the faculty at my school.”

There was some muttering among the crowd, before one of them stepped up. “Thank you, Princess,” he said. “I, for one, trust your judgement.”

Twilight gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you, Mr. Rich,” she said.

“That goes for me too,” another person said. It was Caplan, the gargoyle she’d met in the Packlands and later hired to teach at her school. “You’ve always done your best to keep us safe, and I see no reason why that would change, no matter the source of the threat.” His words reminded Twilight that she herself had mentioned his name when she was the Lady of Mag-, no, that wasn’t right. She had done it while she was in her other form; the Lady of Magic was her and she could not forget it or try to make some sort of separation.

It wasn’t long before the doors opened up again and people began to walk out, Twilight’s friends trying to gauge the reactions but most were moving too fast or talking to themselves for them to get a bead on the overall reaction.

It took a while, as they could see Twilight talking to her staff over several matters before she finally dismissed them, and finally made her way over to the waiting group. “Come guys, let’s go have us a private chat if that’s okay,” she asked, looking tired.

There were a series of nods before they headed off to a conference room.

When they’d settled in and she’d activated the soundproofing, Twilight looked around. “That went a lot better than I was expecting,” she said. “Some of them obviously still have concerns, but the majority have agreed to stay.” She let out a disgusted sigh. “Spoiled was still herself, of course, but her husband agreed that Diamond Tiara can stay on.”

“That’s good,” Applejack said. “So. Did the other Princesses give you the answers you needed?”

“Like that whole massive transformation and totally amazing fight you did there, Twi,” Rainbow Dash said with a grin, only to look sheepish when the rest of her friends gave her a look

Twilight nodded. “Discord also helped,” she said, looking nervous and tired. “Apparently, I tapped the full potential of my Power, and it made me look more like the Creator that Power came from originally.”

“You mean that was all you?” Pinkie asked softly.

Twilight nodded. “Becoming one with the mantle of Magic does that, apparently,” she said. “It’s not something I can do at will, not yet. But I intend to, so I can make sure it-” She paused and looked angry. “So I can make sure I don't go out of control. I got lucky today.”

Moondancer nuzzled her. “We trust you,” she said. “So… we heard what you had to say to him. That was Tirek, huh?”

Twilight nodded. “Officially, I cannot make a statement on it yet. But unofficially... yes, yes it was - the mantle of Magic helped me recognize and identify his unique magical signature, just like I did with Cozy Glow, without my even knowing it.”

“So what does being that-” Rarity stopped herself before beginning again. “Sorry dear, let me try again. What does that access to your full Power mean, exactly? What can you do with it?”

“Yeah,” Applejack asked. “Ah noticed that yer flames were like when ya got all flustered in the past, but more so.”

“I had access to all magic,” Twilight said a bit distantly, looking away from them. “I could tap normal fire magic, dragon’s fire, even solar magic - that’s what really hurt him. I even managed to access Time’s Power briefly, to turn back the clock on the areas that got damaged.”

“That’s what I felt,” Pinkie suddenly gasped. “It was you tapping me from the future to warn me in the then present so I could act to ensure the warning would happen.” she said with everyone pausing to see if the logic worked out.

“You mean a stable time loop, like the one that Twilight went through that week when Cerberus came calling and Tirek must have gotten out?” Spike asked.

Twilight’s eyes lit up. “Of course! That’s it exactly!” she said excitedly. “Except… I guess I was able to bypass the limits on Starswirl’s spell,” she said. “Normally, I could only use it on myself once in a lifetime, but being what I am let me send a warning back to Pinkie.” She shook her head. “I didn’t even know I’d done that though.”

Trixie looked startled. “This was before you were an alicorn, right?” she asked.

Twilight nodded. “Before Shining Armor and Cadance got married, even,” she said. “I tried to tell myself - the me of one week before - not to worry about the future, but I only wound up making my younger self panic about it.”

“Trixie is seriously wondering why she ever thought challenging you was a good idea,” Trixie muttered. “And is even more impressed that you could pull it off.”

“Look at it this way, I doubt we would have met if you hadn’t done so so I’m happy for that,” Moondancer said, nuzzling her face before placing a kiss on her cheek, to the raised eyes of the others.

“So you can go all powerful Twi?” Rainbow Dash asked with Twilight’s ears dropping.

“Not without a lot of training to figure it out,” she said. “It’ll take me a long time before I can tap it again properly. I am still uncomfortable with it but I do plan to work on it and not let it consume me.” She then sighed and looked at them. “This is hardly to say I am all-powerful, the four Creations and the Four Apocalypses outrank me by a long shot. And...” She trailed off before sighing again. “And I am not invincible, just lucky to be in Equuis. As I am the Lady of Magic, there isn’t any type of magic that can harm me. That includes magically imbued items will not have any effect on me but that means the opposite is true.”

“Science and technology could hurt you then.” Spike said, and he didn’t sound happy.

Twilight nodded sadly and pulled him into a hug, the unspoken conclusion of what those could actually do to Twilight hitting him.

“This doesn’t mean technology is a bad thing,” she added as she looked him in the eye. “It’s just a different way of looking at the world. Neither of them is good or bad, just… there. Unless they’re taken to extremes, but then the same is true of anything that goes too far.”

Spike nodded.

“What I want to know are, who are these Creations and Apocalypses?” Applejack asked.

“They’re the highest-ranking Powers,” Twilight said. “The Creations are Life, Peace, Prosperity, and Health, and their Opposites are Death, War, Famine and Pestilence. Even the Champions of Order and Chaos can’t do more than warn their respective Creators about them if they think they need to. Cadance has actually met Health, when she and Aria went to wake up the windigos, but generally we avoid trying to reach them.”

“Shucks, that don’t sound right,” Applejack said. “Ah mean, what if they been waiting for someone ta go talk ta them?”

“That would be a very bad idea, Apples,” Discord said appearing in front of them, twirling in knots. “War and Peace, for example, are very opposed to each other and would no doubt see anyone going to them as a pretense to tip the scales in the other’s favour which could result in a big and deadly tussle.”

“And as Princess Celestia told me, Life and Death are the ones you really do not want to force a meeting with,” Twilight said. “Mainly as they have very important business to constantly attend to and interruptions can be costly all around.”

“I’ll vouch for that, Death is downright terrifying if you offend them,” Discord said with a shiver. “I speak from personal experience. Thankfully, rationality tends to rule their senses, and if they see you didn’t intend to do so on purpose, they can be forgiving. Now, if you’re trying to keep either yourself or another from being taken when it’s their time, then you’re really in trouble.” He popped out again.

“Trixie now understands what you mean by different types of black magic,” the showmare said, paling. “And the full dangers of using them.”

“Some of that field of magic must belong to Death herself and going too far there would be annoying them,” Moondancer said, scrunching her nose as she began to get lost in thought. “But as you said, different types must exist and thus cannot all be truly bad, just used poorly, right?”

“Himself and yes,” Twilight said, nodding her head.

“So… anything else going on up in Canterlot?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Well, you remember me complaining about Neighsay, right?” Twilight asked. “And wondering what happened when he disappeared? Apparently, Tirek captured him and a lot of other ponies.”

“Oh my,” Fluttershy said softly. “I hope they’re all right.”

Twilight ducked her head. “Well… I don’t know, really. I had to come back down here before we could talk to any of them.”

“If you think you should go back and talk to them, that’s fine,” Pinkie said. “We understand.”

Twilight shook her head. “If Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have information for me, they know how to get in touch. Right now, as much stress as I’ve been through today, I just need to try and cool off for a while before I go anywhere near him again. That and Ponyville is my home and I do need to be here for it.”

The others nodded slowly, understanding.

“If you need anything, you just have to ask,” Rarity said. “Friends support one another, after all, and we will always be here for you.”

“Thank you girls,” Twilight said.

“Hey, I gotta question,” Rainbow Dash said. “Do we get cool transformations too?”

Twilight blinked. “Honestly, I have no idea,” she said. “I’m still not sure how I accessed mine.”

“I mean, we’re all part of the same Creator origin, right?” she asked, hovering in the air. “If that’s what Order looks like for Magic, I can’t wait to see what Loyalty unlocked will look like!”

Twilight looked stricken, and Moondancer looked concerned, before lowering her head. “I don’t think that was Order,” she said. “Was it.”

Twilight shook her head. “No, it wasn’t,” she said. “Your Powers come from Order. Mine is from Chaos.”

The others looked startled, before Twilight continued. “According to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, Magic is the only sub-Power of Harmony that comes from Chaos. Likewise, Technology is the only sub-Power of Disharmony that comes from Order. Chaos is about change, but Order is about… well, structure. Neither is really bad or good; they have to work together to keep things balanced. That’s why all but one of the Powers have Opposites; the Judge is balanced all on their own.”

“Kind of surprised Laughter isn’t a part of Chaos too, what with everything Pinkie’s shown off,” Spike said.

Pinkie shook her head. “Nope, that’s just me,” she said. “I was like that even before I got my Power.”

A piece of paper suddenly materialized in the air above them, and read itself aloud. “She’s telling the truth,” it said. “Laughter and Sorrow are two of the most unpredictable Powers, for reasons that are theirs to reveal when they’re ready, but Laughter is the most chaotic of Order and Sorrow is the most orderly of Chaos.” Then it vanished.

“That was not me,” Discord said, appearing from a tiny mouse hole. “That… was something else. As in, I’d-turn-to-Order-before-I-mess-with kind of else. Not that I would!” he shouted, looking scared before shivering and slamming the door behind him. A moment later, he stuck his head back out. “For the record, I’ve met Order-based versions of me, and honest-to-Chaos, Accord - the Order-me - scares me, almost as badly as the Apocalypses and Creations do.” He slammed the door behind him again with chains and locks appearing on the door.

“That’s disturbing,” Rainbow Dash muttered. “Discord actually scared.”

“Nobody is invulnerable to fear, unless they’re a total sociopath,” Spike said. “Like that one Bat-Stallion villain - according to that one limited series, he’s so insane they think he reinvents himself every day just to cope with the world, and his mindset is never anything near what we’d consider normal.”

“Eh, it depends on which of the three they are talking about,” Moondancer said with a dismissive wave of her hoof.

“It would explain why the other guy’s fear gas couldn’t latch onto him though,” Spike pointed out. “His mindset that day hasn’t been around long enough to get any fears.”

“True.”

Twilight looked at them both, clearly disturbed. “What kind of comics are these?” she asked. “And if they’ve got villains that bad, why would you want to read them?”

“Because the main hero uses almost the same methods to fight crime as the Nightmare, except in the physical world instead of dreams,” Spike said. “It makes you think.”

“I really need to go over what you read more often, Spike,” Twilight said with a sigh. “Did-”

Rainbow Dash held up a hoof. “Not me,” she said. “Bat-Stallion’s a batpony, and one of those guys using his real form to scare people just never set right with me. It’s like they’re playing with people’s prejudices against their kind.”

“Still, later tonight Spike we will go over your comics and see if they are truly appropriate for you,” Twilight said.

Spike pouted. “It’s not that scary,” he said. “We all know they’re fake, and the censors don’t let them get too far. They keep the really violent stuff off-panel.”

“With the main series, at least,” Moondancer said with Spike giving her a glare. “There are some series that are reserved for a more mature audience due to the subject matter as well as the content within.” She turned in Twilight’s direction. “And for the record, he hasn’t actually read the limited series with the super-sanity explanation, they were just talking about it in one of the shops we went to. I’ve read it, just to see the psychology angle, but I’m an adult.”

Twilight nodded. “Right.”

“Didn’t know you read comics,” Rainbow Dash said. “Especially that kind. Thought you were just into the nonfiction like Twilight.”

“To quote a famous poet, I am large, I contain multitudes,” Moondancer said. “But honestly, I do prefer nonfiction. I read some of the comics to analyze the psychology behind the characters more than anything. And the psychology of the writers, it comes through more often than you’d think.”

“Still, I think it would be good for Twilight to check on what Spike is reading,” Trixie said. “Some of those do sound a little much for a school-age person.”

Spike groaned. “You’re getting to be as bad as that Freethink Warder guy,” he said. “He claimed comics were responsible for messing up peoples’ heads. They’ve long since proven he made it all up, based the whole thing off distorted statistics.”

“Plus Spike is your number one assistant and he was with you when you were out all that one year, Twi,” Rainbow Dash said. “He’s a lot more mature than you give him credit for.”

Twilight seemed to be considering that, before finally nodding. “All right,” she said. “But I still want to check them. I might find something I like myself, like those books Rarity gave you.”

“They were pretty good, weren’t they?” Spike said with a grin. “There are still a few parts I’m trying to figure out though.”

“Oh?” Rarity asked.

Spike nodded. “Like that second chapter in the sixth book. How did the maid manage to make something explode when she was cooking, and how did those realtors - or whoever it was - think they could get away with just telling the landowner he had a day to leave before they blew up his ancestral home and put in a golf course? Even eminent domain wouldn’t allow them to do that!”

“A worthy enigma, Spike,” Pinkie said as she stroked her chin.

“Must have been artistic license,” Applejack said. “Either that or they were based on Flim and Flam.”

“That would explain a lot,” Twilight said. “Both, I mean.”

Spike nodded. “Yeah, it does, now that I think about it,” he said.

“What Trixie wants to know is why the one character thinks a lack of sleep is responsible for his memory loss,” Trixie said. “He claims he needs twenty-five hours of sleep a day for it not to affect him, when there are only twenty-four hours in a day!”

Then she noticed the looks she was getting, and blushed. “I may have perused them too, and found them entertaining.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” Rarity said. “As long as Spike doesn’t mind, since they are his.”

“She let me know when she wanted to borrow them,” Spike said. “So yeah, it was okay with me. And given how the guy’s mind’s wired, I don’t think he was thinking straight when he said that.”

“Remind me again, who are these people?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Rarity turned to her. “They’re from a board game originally,” she said. “The premise is that Home Body, a fabulously wealthy stallion, has invited six of his closest friends over for the weekend to enjoy themselves. Unfortunately, most of them do so by attempting to rob him blind or plot one another’s deaths. They never succeed in causing permanent harm to one another, or to their host, but the reader must still figure out who the last culprit is. Not all the chapters involve crimes though, some of them are about the guests taking part in a competition of some kind. Like a game of tug-of-war, or a hot-air balloon race.”

“The six suspects are three stallions and three mares,” Twilight added. “The stallions are a corrupt business tycoon, a short-tempered and duel-happy military stallion and an absent-minded professor, and the mares are Home Body’s maid, a femme fatale type, and an older woman who’s obsessed with making sure people mind their manners.” She frowned. “I think they took that one a little far in her obsession though,” she said. “I mean, what sane person calls the police just because someone else burped?”

Spike shrugged. “I don’t think we’re supposed to take these people seriously as realistic characters,” he said. “Even if we do wonder about some parts of it. The point of it is to have fun solving the mysteries.”

Rainbow Dash nodded and began to ask more about it, while Twilight’s thoughts drifted elsewhere for a minute.

This is so much more like it, she thought. Just relaxing, talking about our favorite things…

She wished she could have more of these moments in her life, and less of the dangers they’d been facing lately, but she had a feeling there was more of the latter to come.

Eventually, the nine of them had to go their separate ways, Twilight returning to her tree home with Trixie, Moondancer and Spike following after, and the other girls back to their own homes. Before all was said and done though, Twilight had informed them that when the time came, she was probably going to lead the formal diplomatic embassy to Laronda, to inform the royal family of what had happened, and she wanted them all to come with her.

None had objected in the slightest.

Now, it was late, and she was settled into bed, trying to fall asleep. That’s when she heard the whisper.

Twilight.

Twilight sat bolt upright in bed. “Who’s there?” she mouthed, not wanting to disturb her housemates.

In here, the voice whispered back. Within yourself.

“Luna?” Twilight mouthed.

No, the voice said. Someone else. Look within yourself, Twilight Sparkle. There, you will find me.

Then it was quiet.

Rattled, Twilight switched on her light and climbed out of bed. She had a feeling she wasn’t going to be getting to sleep so easily.

A little while later, she’d settled into her seat downstairs, a book in her hooves and a cup of hot cocoa at her side (she’d have had cheesecake, but that always tasted better with company, and all of her housemates were sound asnooze - or in Owlowiscious’s case, out hunting for his own food for the night - and not there to share it with her). Sipping it, she turned to her book and tried to relax.

Her eyes drooped.

Then she opened them to find herself in a different library.

Not the one she’d fallen asleep in, or the one where she’d had her dreamscape meetings in the Packlands. This one was different yet, and she looked around in confusion.

“Hello, Twilight,” another voice said quietly.

Twilight turned and gasped. The pony now standing before her was… herself.

Herself with a much taller body, almost like Princess Celestia, with a lengthy mane and tail to match. Herself covered in glittery sparkles. Herself with a somewhat… deeper look to her eyes.

Her heart skipped a beat. “You’re Magic, aren’t you?” she asked.

The other pony nodded. “I am the personification of the piece of Chaos that became the mantle borne by the Lord or Lady of Magic that resides in this dimension,” she said.

“Then… when we fought Tirek… it was you all along-”

“No.” Magic shook her head. “I granted you access to our full Power when you were in need of it, but it was you who was in control of your body, not I.”

Twilight knew that had been the case, but there had still been the small hope it wasn’t her. Now that was squashed, and she sat down. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Twilight.” Magic sat beside her. “You have learned much, but there is still a great deal more for you to understand.”

“Then tell me.”

The taller alicorn sighed. "You have already heard some of this," she said. "When the universe began, the first Powers were born from the original Creators, Order and Chaos, before the other Creators came into being to rule in Their place. Later, the Creators, both the old and the new, felt the need for more Powers and so took small pieces of themselves and shaped them into Mantles that went to every dimension in the multiverse that was born from ripples from the Prime dimension. These Mantles would then find a mortal soul, who would give themselves over to the Purpose of that Mantle to become a Power; the Mantle of Day for this dimension, for instance, found Celestia, and its counterparts found her Others in nearly all other worlds. In time, as the Mantle and mortal soul connected more deeply, the mortal imprinted their soul's essence onto that Mantle; that is why I take this form, a mix of yours with Celestia's, since she was my former partner."

Twilight nodded in understanding, and Magic continued.

"How a soul that began as an individual reacts to a Mantle varies. Some of them gradually become so tightly bonded together that they become one; these Mantles must eventually find a new mortal to bond with, to reconnect to mortals in general. Others do not bond so deeply for various reasons, and in time find a new soul that is better suited for the position, though the original will always bear their mark to some extent." She bowed. "Celestia was like that, for me," she said. "Until she acted against the principles of Harmony, turning the Mantles of Harmony’s sub-Powers against the one who'd held them with her. No matter how justified she was by Umbrea's actions, I could not stay with her after such an act, and fell dormant until I found you and the bonds of friendship you had forged with the others who came to be your fellow sub-Powers of Harmony. Breaking my bond with her was painful, Twilight, more than you can imagine, and the Mantles of Kindness and Generosity felt the same way when we were forced to break from her, as Loyalty, Honesty and Laughter had to break from Luna."

Twilight bowed her head. “I’m sorry for your loss,” she said.

Magic smiled. "Oh, Twilight…" she whispered. "You truly are a well-suited match for me, aren't you?" At Twilight's questioning look, she continued. "Celly and I may have been forced to part then, but a piece of her will always be a part of me. Enough that I was able to reconnect with her, however briefly, in her time of need. When those who share their Mantles with your friends here in Equestria were in need, yours and Celestia's bonds of friendship with them allowed her harmonize with them enough to call to me, however unknowingly it may have been. I remained with you, but was able to reconnect with her as well, just long enough to help her defeat Hatred's then-host and win the day once more. I could not return to Celestia forever, but for a brief time, we were permitted to join again."

She looked away for a minute, a distant look in her eyes, before continuing. “And then, when you were so badly stricken… when you were most in need of my powers, to protect those you shared bonds with… we linked deeper than we ever had before in the past. Day was rather startled when we encroached on their domain to tap into that solar magic, I must say. So was Time, though they were understanding given the circumstances.”

Twilight gave a faint, but strained, smile. “I didn’t mean to offend them,” she said.

"I know that, Twilight and so did they and they weren't offended by the action, given the circumstances and you being you. Now, had you tried to tap Life or Death, or any of their fellows, they would have taken offense to your actions, regardless of how much death or life you could have changed. The matters of a soul are very complex, far beyond anything your comprehension can imagine as of now. Tampering with them is akin to giving a child access to our abilities.” Twilight had a brief mental image in her of Snips with all her power and wilted a bit. Magic nodded her head, “Just as well that everyone made it to safety, even if that did take a bit of Time's magic to ensure it would be the case. We couldn't save every life though." At Twilight's look of horror, she elaborated. "No sapient beings died in Ponyville that day, I promise. But there was an ant's nest near the base of our tree, and they were starting to make their way into it. They were not brought back."

Twilight blinked.

Magic laid a wing over her. “At any rate, what happened with Tirek was enough to allow us to form a deeper connection. Because of that increased bond, I am able to speak with you now, as I am able to speak to my fellow Mantles - Harmony’s sub-Powers more so than the others, in my case, but all of us can speak to one another if needed.”

Twilight suddenly looked excited. “What about my friends? Can they-”

“Not yet - someday, perhaps, though I suspect Pinkie is closer to it than the others might be,” Magic said. “Laughter has always found it easier to link with their Lord or Lady in that regard. Sorrow as well. They tend to have the closest bond to the soul among our kind.”

Twilight crinkled her forehead. “Someone - another Power, I think - said they were the most unpredictable ones,” she said. “Who-”

“Sorry, but that’s not something I’m allowed to explain,” Magic said. “Not until they themselves choose to do so.”

Twilight looked disappointed.

"You'll understand in time, Twilight," Magic said. She ruffled her feathers against Twilight's side. "But getting back to what we were saying before. Now that you and I have linked enough that we can speak, we can tap our abilities more readily. When you feel up to it, I'll help you learn how to access our powers and our other form at will, without losing yourself to your emotions in the process. You have already realized that relying on yourself being in an emotional state of being is not conductive to any aspect of your wellbeing and I am proud of that growth within you. Most of your Others tend to have a harder time coming to that knowledge and it is a mark of how far you have come in so little time."

Twilight smiled. "Thank you."

Magic nodded. "Until next time, Twilight. But... two more things. First, a piece of advice for your friends: trying to force a connection to a Mantle is never a good thing. That first deeper bond has to come from need."

Twilight nodded. “I’ll let them know, if that’s all right,” she said.

“It is. And second… don’t give up.” Magic gave her a wry look. “Patience is never easy, and I understand wanting more. But your bonds with certain others are strong for a reason. In time, things will work themselves out.”

Twilight looked confused, before Magic gave her a mysterious smile and faded, along with the room.

When the lights came on again, she was back in her library, the dawn just breaking outside. And as she reflected on Magic’s words, she realized she felt much better-rested than she’d have expected.

“Twilight?” Spike was standing in the doorway, blinking the last of the sleep out of his eyes. “Are you…”

Twilight smiled, then telekinetically pulled him over to her and into a hug.

“I’m doing better,” she said. “Thank you, Spike.”

Spike smiled as he hugged her back. “You’re welcome, Twilight.”

Chapter Fourteen

It had been a few days since the second failed invasion in the last five years and already Canterlot was working harder to improve. Despite all the restoration that Princess Twilight had done during her battle with Tirek - despite the wishes of the Princesses to keep it officially ambiguous as not to place any of the Larondans at risk, the fact that Twilight herself had named him during the fight had spread throughout the city and country - there were still a lot of boltholes and secret exits from the city that needed plugging. Royal Consort Pharynx himself had taken the charge in hunting them down, complaining loudly and wondering how more hadn’t invaded in the past as he found more and more passageways.

Meanwhile, Twilight had taken charge of arranging her return visit to Laronda, which had been easier than she'd expected thanks to the letters that Celestia had briefly exchanged with the Larondan Royal Family. She and her friends would be leaving in just another day or so, making use of one of the medium-sized airskimmers that the minotaurs had gifted to the royal family during the war times (Spike's own wasn't quite big enough for all six Bearers). Though first, Twilight was making a detour to visit Neighsay at long last, who according to all accounts was already in the process of reclaiming his profession despite his medical issues from his imprisonment.

Leaving the school in the hooves of Moondancer, who’d agreed to put off her and Trixie’s travels until after Twilight returned from overseas, Twilight had gone to the Canterlot Castle where he had been staying, refusing to leave the other freed people from Tirek’s mines. According to her fellow Princesses, he had refused to give an answer on the matter when they asked, giving a very angry glare in response before turning back to his paperwork.

Now, Twilight stood before the door, looking at the guards before nodding her head and knocking.

“Princess Twilight, you may come in,” Neighsay’s haughty voice spoke through the room with Twilight wrinkling her nose at his superior attitude before she calmed herself. It was a lesson she had learned from Swift-Pad and it had served her well; she would not let him see her reacting to him, but make herself appear confident and sure of herself before she entered the room.

She immediately noticed that he looked almost the same. His frame was far leaner, his beard was not as sharply cut as she saw it before and of course his horn was broken. But his face still bore the same piercing, disapproving glare, though there seemed to be more now.

“Before we begin, your highness, can you please create a sound barrier spell for us?” he asked, looking at the other survivors that were being looked over by the medical professionals with his attention lingering on a mare, with his face growing softer before he snapped his focus back to Twilight.

Twilight nodded and cast the spell, then waited for him to speak.

“Let me begin with the fact that yes, I do blame you for all that has happened to me and there is nothing you can say or do that will change my opinion on that matter,” he said sharply. “Not even if you got your friend Discord to repeat his actions as he did for that miss Tempest Shadow, I will not ever forgive you.” He glared at Twilight, who kept her jaw shut and her eyes locked with his own. “Secondly, while I do plan to reclaim my position as the high chancellor of the Equestria Education Association, I have already planned to recuse myself from any decision-making on your school due to personal bias on my end. And finally, I would prefer if you would stay out of my life from now on; as I alluded to previously, I wish nothing to do with you or the Royal family despite my undying loyalty to the crowns.”

Twilight nodded. “I see.”

“Thank you, your highness,” he said, his glare still harsh but there was a bit less steel now. “Now if you will excuse me, I do have work to finish and I am out of practice with my hoofwriting skills.”

Twilight nodded, turned around and left.

While she had seen others grow and change for the better, some people would never change, she supposed.

But then, as she neared the door, she heard Neighsay’s voice once more. “Golden Spear, can you make sure that Geof has an increase to his meat diet?” Turning her head, Twilight saw that Neighsay was looking at a young and groaning griffon with a blush on his face as the medics began to lecture him. “Knock it off Geof; there is no longer a need to break off portions of your own meal for the others. As I said before, we are safe here.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” the griffon said.

Twilight looked at Geof then at Neighsay, who was now giving her an even dirtier look than before. “What once was is never the same, your highness,” he said bitterly before turning his attention back to the griffon.

Taking the hint, Twilight left the room.

That meeting done, she had hours ahead of her before she had to do anything in particular, so she went wandering. Both of her fellow Princesses were busy, so she couldn’t speak to them - Celestia had Day Court, and Luna was sound asleep. Pharynx was still off on his own duties, Tempest had her studies to do… and much as she cared for her fellow Bearers, she just didn’t feel the urge to see them right then. They’d have plenty of time to chat at dinner that night and in the air the next day.

There was nobody else in the castle that she felt like visiting, and she felt a bit of a twinge of irritation at that. Why, she wondered, am I not able to speak with anyone when I’m most in the mood for company?

“Your Grace?”

Twilight looked up startled, then her expression turned to a smile. “Ambassador Swift-Pad! I didn’t know you were coming.”

“I just got in a short while ago,” the wolf said. “I’m not here for formal business though.” He tilted his head. “I came to see you, on personal matters.”

Twilight nodded. “It’s always good to see you too,” she said. “How’s Maxilla doing?”

“Rather well, though a little irked at how much she’s being fussed over,” Swift-Pad said with a smile. “But given her condition, it’s only natural. At any rate, she insisted that she had enough help for now and that I could come and see you.” He looked around. “Is there anywhere we can speak in private?”

Twilight smiled back, easily realizing what he’d been referring to, and gestured for him to follow. Once they’d settled into a room and she’d made sure to put up the necessary spells, she looked at him. “What did you want to see me for?” she asked.

“Recent events.” Swift-Pad looked at her. “Twilight, my friend,” he said. “Having seen the extent of what you were capable of during the recent incursion, I now have new perspective on things.”

Twilight’s heart skipped a beat before he continued. “Hearing about times past is one thing. But seeing the kind of power you unleashed when you faced Tirek, via the recordings our Observers brought back… I am no longer surprised at why you fear losing control of your magic and your emotions.” He leaned in. “Know this, Twilight. Regardless of the kind of power that lies at your command, I will always trust you. You are my friend, and I understand why you unleashed such might against him. And while some may fear you for it, I do not. Nor does my mate, and were she up for traveling at the moment, she’d be here to tell you that herself.”

Twilight smiled. “Thank you, Swift-Pad,” she said. “I appreciate all this, so much.”

Swift-Pad sat back, a satisfied look on his face. “I had a feeling you could use some truthful reassurance,” he said. “I’ve heard that there are some who saw what you could do and reacted with fear. But I can promise you that there were many others who were more concerned about how you personally were doing - I personally know of Maxilla, myself, the Alpha, Wise-Mind and some of the Queens. There are no doubt many more as well.” He leaned forward and laid a paw on her shoulder. “Understand, Twilight, that while many are questioning all this - and I admit to being curious myself about some aspects - there are just as many who are more concerned for you and your well-being.”

“I know,” Twilight said. “I… I kind of freaked out about where all that power came from myself.”

“A reasonable reaction.” Swift-Pad nodded. “But you do not have to tell me, if you do not wish to. Or if it is a matter of national security. Regardless, I will still trust you.”

Twilight smiled gratefully before changing the subject. “So tell me, when you do you expect the pups to be born?”

“Another few months,” Swift-Pad said. “Around the same time as your own niece or nephew, if I am not mistaken.”

Twilight nodded, and smiled. “Cadance and Shiny are both eager for the day,” she giggled. “So is the entire empire; they have had to have guards shoo away more than a handful of people too eager to see the couple.”

“No harm has been done, correct?” Swift-Pad asked with a raised eyebrow.

“None at all,” Twilight said gratefully. “They’re just excited - it’s been so long since they’ve had a royal birth.” She looked distant for a moment. “The last time a royal foal was born, she grew up to become Princess Amore, the pony Sombra defeated when he usurped the throne.”

“Goodness, it has been a long time then,” Swift-Pad said. “No wonder they’re excited.”

Twilight nodded. “It’s calmed down somewhat, thankfully, since Cadance made the official announcement that if they want to see the royal foal, they can wait until the day of the Crystalling.”

“Ah.” Swift-Pad nodded his head, then switched topics himself. “So I suppose you are here on business of your own?”

Twilight nodded. “My friends and I are going out to Laronda tomorrow, to personally inform the Royal Family of what happened with… with Tirek.”

“There is an issue I am glad that I have no part in,” Swift-Pad said with a bit of a chuckle. “I still have much more to learn myself and I still believe I would stay in my own small department than go onto the larger stage that you are on, Twilight.” He then focused his face on her. “But I am sure you have this properly planned, correct?”

Twilight nodded. “Princess Celestia has already contacted them to inform them that a matter came up regarding one of their people in Equestria, and that my friends and I will be coming to see them and explain everything, since I’ve been there before myself and they know me.”

“And I suppose they, like the rest of the world, are aware that citizen is none other than Tirek?”

Twilight sighed. “We haven’t formally announced that yet, and weren’t going to until we went to Laronda and explained everything in person, but it feels like everyone knows it anyway.”

“It does happen when one openly proclaims the name in the manner you did so, Twilight,” Swift-Pad teased her. “It couldn’t be helped, given as you were not completely in control when you defeated him.”

“... yes,” Twilight admitted. “It’s not something I am too overly happy with but I have to accept it for it is. I can’t change it, after all.”

“You’ve grown much, Twilight,” he smiled as he nuzzled her. “I am proud beyond words of your maturity and responsibility.”

Twilight smiled as she rubbed her face against his. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again,” she said. “You taught me so much… and I owe you a lot, for all the help and inspiration you gave me.”

“And I will say as I have before, you give yourself too little credit,” he replied. “I am sure you would have reached this same level of growth on your own eventually.”

Twilight smiled at that. “Thank you Swift-Pad,” she said. “It has been wonderful to meet with you.”

“If you ever need a friend to talk with, you know how to reach me,” Swift-Pad replied. “Now, aside from these recent events, is there anything else going on in your life you’d like to speak about?”

Twilight hesitated for a moment, and then began to talk.

Their conversation lasted much of the rest of the day and, to some extent, into dinner as the rest of the day passed; Celestia was very welcoming of him joining him for their evening meal. The next morning, after saying their farewells to Swift-Pad and everyone else who’d been there to see them off, the Bearers and Spike boarded their airskimmer and headed west.

Rainbow Dash had asked for, and had been repeatedly denied, a spin at the wheel. “You haven’t had formal training with this, let alone gotten a license for it,” Spike told her. “I have. And the minotaurs are very strict about making sure their drivers know what they’re doing.” He tilted his head. “Even their craziest pilots are surprisingly good when it comes to handling emergency landings.”

“I was born with wings, Spike,” she huffed. “I think I am more suited to the air than most others.”

“Controlling your own body and controlling a machine that’s far larger are two completely different things,” Twilight said. “I was an experienced balloon pilot long before I got my wings, and I proved it to my teachers, but that doesn’t mean I’m automatically good with airskimmers.” She looked at her friend. “When I was using the testing model for student drivers, they made me go through all sorts of training with the controls before even letting me turn the engine on for the first time, and they’d do the same thing for any pegasus, griffon or hippogriff, if any ever showed up.”

“Besides Dashie, haven’t you told Scootaloo that she should always do practices and warm ups before she even attempts to fly?” Pinkie asked

Rainbow Dash hesitated. “I - okay, you’re right,” she admitted. “But I still want to give it a shot at some point.”

“There are minotaurs back home who’d probably be willing to teach you,” Twilight told her. “There’s been enough interest from others that they’re actually looking to open up their own driving school in Canterlot, and maybe to expand into other cities later.”

Spike nodded. “Cherry Berry’s dropped by more than a few times to look at our skimmer and ask me about it since we brought it home last year, and I know she wants to learn how to fly them too - she likes flying her balloon, but any kind of air vehicle fascinates her.”

Rainbow Dash smiled at that. “Hard to blame her; flying is the best.”

“Indeed,” Rarity said. “There are times I wish there was a more stable version of the spell Twilight used to give me wings, so I could experience flight under my own power again without having to worry about them burning up if I went too high.”

“It’s one of the many things on my docket to go over,” Twilight said. “And one of the many things I need to ask Magic about.”

At that, the others nodded. Twilight had filled all of them, plus Trixie and Moondancer, in on her first face-to-face meeting with her Mantle the morning after.

Fluttershy looked a little wistful. “I wish I could meet Kindness,” she said. “Just to talk to her. Or him.”

Pinkie nodded, laying an arm on her. “And I bet Laughter’d be real fun to talk to too!” she said happily.

“Are you sure that wasn’t them speaking through you that one time?” Applejack asked.

Pinkie nodded. “That was definitely a Power, and they felt special... but it wasn’t Laughter, I know,” she said. “Now, the day I talked to Cheesy, that time I felt Laughter’s presence.”

“Speaking of Cheese, are you two still writing back and forth?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Pinkie nodded eagerly. “He threw a really big party down in the Cuanmiztl Kingdom just last week!”

“Sweet.” Rainbow Dash grinned.

“Wish Twilight and I could have met him,” Spike commented. “He sounds like a really fun guy.”

“Yeah, he is…” Pinkie said dreamily, and Twilight could see Rarity hiding a knowing smirk behind one hoof. “He’ll probably come back to Ponyville some day.”

“I’m sure he will,” Rarity said coyly. “Now, if only I were as lucky and could find a stallion who was as kind and respectful towards me as he was to you…”

Spike twitched at that, though Twilight was fairly certain only she had noticed. “You’ll find the one you’re meant to be with some day,” she said. “Maybe you’ve already met him and just don’t know yet.”

Pinkie was suddenly in Twilight’s face. “That’s a very Cadance thing to say,” she said, looking at her suspiciously. Then she smiled. “Doesn’t mean it’s wrong though.”

With that, she settled back into her seat, and talk soon turned to other things, to Twilight’s relief.

The flight took them most of the day, and it was almost sundown by the time they landed on a small island, not far from the shores of Laronda borders, so they could set up camp for the night.

“Still got that giant tent of yers, huh Rarity?” Applejack asked as they set it up.

“When do I not?” Rarity asked. “I was expecting this stop, after all.”

“Right.”

When they’d finished setting up and Spike was at work cooking, the others looked at Twilight. “So, what’s this place like, anyway?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“It’s… magical,” Twilight said. “The people are very friendly, and Spike and I had a very good time there.” She looked down. “You might be more than a little surprised when you meet the Royal Family though. Their King is… well, he’s a gargoyle, and he’s very wise.”

“And his wife’s a centaur,” Spike added.

“Any children?” Pinkie asked.

Twilight nodded. “The Royal Family always has at least two,” she said. “It’s a tradition with them, even before the centaurs became citizens. Some of the nobles have advocated having more than two, but… well, that always got shut down.” She looked almost embarrassed. “The King told me that apparently, they have some of the same problems with noble families wanting to leech some power away from the throne as we do in Equestria, and they figured that if there was more than two Princes or Princesses, they could have a better chance at having their own families marry into the royal line. So of course the Royal Family doesn’t want to risk the chance of that happening; they’re very… particular about their children’s spouses.”

“That doesn’t sound very nice,” Fluttershy said softly.

“It’s nicer than you’d think,” Spike said. “See, they’re particular because they want to make sure their kids marry for real love, and not someone who’s just being used by their parents to make a political alliance or something. Alter Diplomacy, they call that, and the Kings and Queens have made a point of officially disapproving of it for ages.” He shrugged. “Doesn’t stop some of their people from practicing it, but that’s their life.”

“Ah may not really get it but it ain’t mah place to say nothin’ over it,” Applejack said. “So… what else is there we should know?”

“Not that I can think of,” Twilight said. “They’re not like the Packlands - they don’t get upset if we use magic, or do anything with the weather. Not that you should go meddling, with it,” she added quickly. “They mostly let it handle itself, but the gargoyles have their own weather teams to deal with the more severe problems that crop up from time to time.”

“Gotcha,” Rainbow Dash said. “Besides I already knew that; I’ve been poking around and seeing how other countries do their own weather.”

Applejack gave her a surprised look, but then shrugged. “How do they feel about Earth pony magic?” she asked.

“They don’t mind it, but again, they only use it when they feel the need,” Twilight said. “As long as we don’t go out of our way to be rude or insensitive, we should be fine.”

There were several nods before Spike began serving their food.

As they dug in, Applejack looked over at Twilight. “So, our Princesses are Powers,” she said. “The Queen of the Seaponies is one, so’s the Dragon Lord. And the Alpha. And Chrysalis used to be one too. Are there any here that we should know about?”

Twilight shook her head. “Centaurs and gargoyles are long-lived, but they don’t have any Powers among them that I know of,” she said. “Tirek definitely wasn’t one, I’d have felt it in him when I was in my other form. He did have a trace of a magic on him I didn’t recognize, but it wasn’t a Power.”

“Any idea to what that is about?” Rarity asked.

Twilight hesitated. “Well…” she began slowly. “It almost felt like the magic in the gem from the Staff of Sacanus. Different enough that they weren’t from the same source though. I still haven’t figured out where that gem came from…” She frowned. “As far as I can tell, whatever magic had touched Tirek was enough to make him… not obvious, I guess, so he could get around Equestria without his movements or his magic draining being detected, even by Discord. We also found traces of similar magic - not the same spell, but from the same source - on the gates of Tartarus before it faded away, so I think whatever this came from must have helped him escape there and then sealed the gates so he couldn’t be trapped back in his cage so easily and we couldn’t figure out it was him who was missing.”

“Didn’t count on you and Magic then, huh?” Rainbow Dash asked with a chuckle. “Seriously, you kicked his plot big-time.” Then she saw the look Twilight was giving her and backed off.

“Rainbow Dash…” Twilight shook her head. “You realize he’s basically going to spend an eternity constantly hurting and healing at the same rate because of what I did.”

“Er, what?” Rainbow Dash blinked.

“I was incredibly hurt and angry,” Twilight replied, biting her lip with her eyes tearing up. “When he attacked my home and school. I had thought two of my friends and my teachers and students were killed and I wanted revenge at that point. I wanted to hurt him as badly as he hurt me so I made sure that he would be in pain.” Twilight forced herself to continue, feeling the need to get this off her chest. “His arm basically rotted away from the solar magic I used. His body is constantly wracked with tumors that are healing even as they grow. His mind is broken from trying to understand my nature and while I could tap into my powers to heal him, I won’t.” She then stared at her friends. “And even knowing everyone survived, I do not feel any guilt in my actions because he would have killed them all without a second thought and I…” She looked down. “And I feel guilty about not feeling guilty,” she admitted.

The others looked at her in horror, and Twilight shut her eyes, tears now streaming down her face.

A moment later, she felt a pair of arms wrapped around her.

“It’s okay,” Fluttershy’s voice said softly. “It’s okay.”

One by one, the others joined the embrace, and as she let herself weep, both anguish at how upset she was and joy at how her friends continued to support her despite her actions, she fell into slumber.

Her eyes opened, and she found herself in the library again.

“Hello, Twilight,” Magic greeted her. “I’ve been expecting you.”

Twilight blinked, then reached up and wiped away the tears that still ran down her face. “You have?” she asked.

Magic nodded. “We’ll be seeing a lot of one another,” she said. “You’ve had many teachers, and I am but the most recent. Besides.” She patted a hoof on the seat next to her. “You look like you could use a friend to talk to. And friendship is magic.” She had a faint smirk on her face as she said that, but Twilight could tell she meant it. “So what’s on your mind?”

“Shouldn’t you know already, considering you live in my mind?” Twilight asked, before looking stricken.

Magic just laughed. “True. But I wanted you to tell me.”

Twilight looked down. “It’s about Tirek,” she said. “And what I did to him. And why… why can’t I bring myself to feel guilty over what I did?”

“Because you know it was a just act; he had threatened the people you cared for, Twilight, and you know that to be true,” Magic said. “I’m not one to advocate eternal torment, but… he went out of his way to try and hurt you personally, and he paid the price for it.”

“Still,” Twilight said, shaking her head slowly. “I never thought I could be capable of such an action, let alone be so okay with it.”

“You are not the same young mare that you once were,” Magic said, placing a wing over her shoulders. “With your title comes greater responsibilities and you rose to meet them and dealt with it with how your heart begged you to act.” Magic sighed and nuzzled her head. “That is the crux of the issue, your heart is saying you acted flawlessly yet your mind wonders if there was another way to handle the issue that did not require you to act so drastically, right?”

Twilight nodded.

Magic smiled. “There are many who have their doubts, Twilight. But you cannot be controlled by them. As one of my more… proactive counterparts in another world once told that world’s version of you, Abandon your fear. Look forward. Move forward and never stop. You'll age if you pull back. You'll die if you hesitate. You are better than you think you are, even in your deepest, darkest moments.”

“And why I need to learn how to use- er, work with you so I am not controlled by my actions but I control them,” Twilight said with Magic laughing.

“It is fine, Twilight, I am less a person but more of the closest perception of true magic you understand so far,” Magic said. “To be honest, I was expecting to appear more like Celestia than yourself, considering how much you still worship her.”

Twilight’s ears flicked. “I don’t worship her,” she muttered. “And not just because she doesn’t like being worshipped - and if you’ve been with me this whole time, you should know that. I love her, she’s family... my second mother in all but blood.”

Magic stared at her knowingly with Twilight pouting. “Okay, okay, so maybe I hero-worship her,” she grumbled. “There’s nothing wrong with that! I almost feel the same way about Starswirl, and I haven’t even met him.”

“You might feel a little differently if you ever do, Twilight,” Magic replied stiffly. “I’ve felt his sorcery myself, and the imprint of himself that he left in it. He is a rather prideful and cranky fellow, if I do say so myself, and while he is able to form bonds, his are nowhere near as strong as the friendships you hold closest to your heart.”

“You mean that in the past tense, right?” Twilight asked, her mind beginning to comprehend what Magic was saying.

“I did not err in my words, Twilight,” Magic said. “He and his companions still live, though the means are a bit complicated.” She smiled mysteriously. “You will understand in time.”

Then she looked at Twilight. “While we’re here, you’ve also been wondering about our Opposite, if I’m not mistaken.”

“I - yes, I was,” Twilight admitted.

“Well, don’t worry about them. Magic and Technology can generally be well-balanced and work well together, if they don’t have outside interference.” Magic looked around. “The airskimmers you and Spike have flown are a good example. The models that exist in this world all use technology fueled by magic.”

“Do you know who they are?” Twilight asked.

“I’m not allowed to say until you meet them,” Magic replied. “I’m sure you’ll cross paths eventually though.”

Twilight stared at Magic and Magic sighed warmly. “Yes, Twilight, I am from Chaos, I know you are too unsure to say it yourself right now,” Magic lifted her head upright as she walked in front of Twilight with a sprawl of colours, both ones she recognized and others she had no idea what to call. “That is part of your nature, even from the beginning.” An image of her test at Celestia’s school appeared, with her losing control over her magic. “But remember, Chaos is not evil by nature, despite what some might think. It is change.”

The image vanished to show a caterpillar quickly going through its chrysalis phase before turning into a butterfly, before Magic continued. “And you have brought on many positive changes in this world with your actions, helping it become a better place.” Now the colours showed her a series of images over the last years, many of which she recognized from the night she had met Celestia on the astral plane and become an alicorn, and many that had happened since.

“I am not truly supposed to show you this but I will,” Magic said, all of them winding back to the astral plane with a bevy of new images that appeared that Twilight didn’t truly understand at first. A blue-maned mare with rainbow light in her eyes, herself and Spike looking horrified at Starlight as she held up a scroll, Luna and Celestia attempting to halt a mighty snowstorm, a scene of Starlight next to Thorax in his current form as they faced a fallen Chrysalis… and many, many more, from an image of the Tree of Harmony clutching pieces of colored wood to a number of beings standing side by side and emitting a rainbow light.

“What… was that images of the Prime?” Twilight asked.

“No, that is something I would not be permitted to show you,” Magic said. “They are from other worlds though. Ones where you did not gain the lessons you were given by Swift-Pad, where you took a slower path to grow into your role.” She grimaced. “Worlds where Celestia, well-meaning as she was, really sc- er.” She coughed. “Sorry, even as mature as you are, that’s not the kind of language you need to hear about her just yet. But anyway, worlds where she really threw you in the deep end of ruling without proper preparations.”

Twilight sat down, trying to come to terms with what she saw. “I don’t want to believe that Celestia would do that to me, but I know it’s not true,” she said. “She prefers to teach, yes, but she also prefers others to learn important lessons on their own and she has done the same to me as she did for the other me as well.” Twilight knew that what she said wasn’t grammatically proper but she knew what she meant which meant Magic knew as well. “So all that I have done to help others here wouldn’t have happened elsewhere, right?”

“It may or may not have, in time,” Magic said. “Some of them would, just later or in a different way. Some might not have happened at all.”

She sighed. “The thing I feel you should know is… helping you to learn on your own is one thing, and sometimes that can be good. But suddenly announcing that she and Luna want to retire and just let you and your friends take over ruling Equestria, with no forewarning, is quite another. And that, unfortunately, happened in some of these other worlds, with the end result that things went more than a little hairy in the process.”

Twilight blinked, then shook her head. “You’re right, that’s definitely something I’m glad hasn’t happened to me.”

Magic nodded. “Our Celestia is a lot smarter in that regard. She might want some time off every once in a while, but outright quitting is not on her agenda. At least, not just yet.” Magic shrugged. “She’s been at the job for a very long time when she had no true plans to rule for this long and most of those years she has been alone. In all likelihood, she will begin the preparations after Luna’s child is born and raised so that you two can begin rulership over Equestria if that’s how you wish things to be.”

Twilight stared. “I… er… um.”

Magic smiled. “Remember your lessons, Twilight,” she said softly. “If you do not wish to become a leader of Equestria in that fashion, then when Celestia brings it up you need to make your stance known.”

“I thought I already had made it clear to her,” Twilight grumbled.

"This was before Luna had an heir to the throne," Magic said. "That shows the Royal lineage of Equestria can continue and the eternal royal sisters do not need to be ever-present. Do you expect Luna to allow her child to lounge about, or would she expect them to take their future duties with all they could muster?"

Twilight shook her head. “No,” she said. “But… I have my own duties and life, and while helping connect the world is one thing, taking over running an entire country… it just isn’t me. Besides, Luna’s child is half changeling, how do we know they won’t have their own Role in life that doesn’t involve running Equestria full-time?”

“Then when the time comes, you must make your case clear as her day, Twilight. Tell her that you are willing to stick to your Role and Duties, but that ruling the country is not one of them.” Magic shrugged. “While more than a few Powers have found themselves in leadership positions, it is by no means required. Why, one of my counterparts - well, her Princess Twilight, and that Twilight’s ruling partner - managed to set it up so there were councils that did all the work of ruling, and eventually, after a few centuries of not showing their faces in public unless they were in disguise, everypony thought alicorns were a myth. So that Twilight and her co-ruler were able to spend eons just relaxing and doing whatever they liked, while knowing their citizens were ruling themselves just fine.”

Twilight blinked. “Oh-kay…” Then she looked at Magic. “Just how often do you talk with your Others?”

“More often than you’d think,” Magic said. “When we can’t talk to our Bearers and they’re doing things like sleeping, it’s easy to get bored and wish for company. And while a Lord or Lady of one Power can’t go over to a world where another of them is active without an invitation, that doesn’t stop us from talking to our counterpart Mantle there.” She looked abashed. “Technically speaking, we’re not supposed to share that information unless our partner has already met one of their Others, but you have at least already seen proof that one of them exists.”

“Could I ever meet another Lady or Lord of Magic; I mean go visit them?” Twilight asked.

“The rules of that are… complicated,” Magic said. “Most of the worlds out there have two that are intrinsically linked in such a way that a native Power can freely visit one or the other without requiring permission and without fear of another of their Power invading while they’re away.” She looked at Twilight. “Now, visiting a different set of worlds entirely would leave a gap and risk an invader. But it is possible, if you make contact with an active Lord or Lady of Magic from Outside this dimension entirely, that you can invite them in or they you. Then you’d be able to go and meet them in person.”

Twilight bit her lip. “What about… invaders, you said?”

Magic nodded. “If there is an active Power, they can typically fill in on both sides. But if they actually leave their paired worlds, that leaves a vulnerable gap. When that happens, the Champions of Chaos - who are always watching out for such things - would know if another Power was invading in place of the one who left, and would take steps to ensure they were cast back out.”

“Could it actually happ-” Twilight stopped and stared at Magic. “What am I even saying; of course it could happen. And like people have told me, magic is more of a concept of change than pure magic. It is not good or bad, just how one acts. And with countless worlds out there, it stands to reason that one or more of them might be hostile.”

“True,” Magic admitted. “It’s a relatively rare thing though. And while there are some of your Others that are… not as nice as you, we consider them to be aberrations. The vast majority of the Twilight Sparkles we have seen are just as charitable, compassionate, devoted, principled and optimistic as you are. But I do think we have deviated from the point you wished to establish at the start. You wished to have your first lessons.”

Twilight nodded. “So… if you’ve been listening in… about that wings spell Rarity was asking about?”

"That does exist; another Lord of Magic did create one spell weave that granted wings that were permanent until a counter-spell was used, and even figured out how to turn both spells into potions," Magic said.

Twilight smiled. “How do we do it?”

“Well then,” Magic said, recreating the sprawl of colours. “You know the spell to temporarily create wings, correct?”

“Yes,” Twilight said. “I used it on Rarity once.”

Magic nodded her head and a strand of nameless colours flew down to them. “You are aware what this is, right?”

“That’s the spell itself, right?” Twilight asked.

“The way you comprehend it, yes,” Magic replied as the spell flew around Twilight. “You know the principles that constitute it; now here comes the question, how can you modify it to suit your whims. What strand of magic do you need?”

Twilight felt the magic spell settle beside her as she stared upwards to the infinity of colours and magic and was momently at a loss in how she was even supposed to do any of this before she stopped herself. This was her special talent, what she’d earned her Cutie Mark for. Examining the spell and reading what each strand meant, she answered confidently, and Magic smiled.

“Absolutely right,” she said as the strands of magic flowed together. “The spell that would allow permanent wings. So your work is complete, correct?”

Twilight shook her head. “We still need the counter-spell,” she said with Magic nodding in approval, before she began asking Twilight how to put one together.

By the time the two had finished, Twilight was more assured of herself than before and while she was eager to learn more, she knew she had to have some form of moderation. Still, she could ask questions.

“So this Lord of Magic, why did he create this spell?” she asked.

Magic shrugged. “The way I heard it, one of his friends was an Earth pony who wished she could fly so she and her coltfriend could settle a matter,” she said. “So he made it happen.”

“What was the end result?” Twilight asked.

Magic smiled. “Well, let’s just say that eventually a lot of younger ponies called them Mom and Dad.”

Twilight’s ears drooped as she blushed happily. “That’s sweet,” she said.

Magic nodded. “The local Lady of Love was happy about it too,” she said. “According to the Lord of Magic, she - the Lady of Love, I mean - always did think those two would end up together, and she was right.” She grinned mischievously. “Who knows? Maybe their Others here will end up in the same type of relationship… regardless of gender, it’s far from the first time an Applejack and Rainbow Dash have become a couple.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped, and then suddenly, she woke up.

The sun was just coming up as she blinked her eyes, and looked around to find herself in Rarity’s tent, with Spike by her side.

“Twilight? Are you okay?” he asked.

Twilight shook her head, trying to get it straight. “I’m all right,” she said. “I just had a long, long talk with Magic, and we straightened some stuff out.” Then she groaned. “But if I ever had any doubts about Magic and Disharmony coming from the same source, that last thing she told me ended it right there, because in her own way, her sense of humor is just as wild as Discord’s.”

Spike started to open his mouth, when Twilight raised a hoof. “She told me something I didn’t know, but now I do know, and I’m telling you, you do not want to know.”

“I don’t want to know.”

“Good to know.”

Epilogue

After reassuring her friends that she was indeed feeling better, and a quick breakfast for all of them, they boarded their airskimmer and headed towards the mainland.

As they made their approach, a flight of airskimmers began rising up towards them, bearing the colours of Laronda, and their skimmer’s comm system crackled. “Approaching skimmer, please identify yourself.”

Twilight activated the response button. “This is Princess Twilight Sparkle and companions, of Equestria, here on an official diplomatic visit to the Royal Family of Laronda,” she said. “You were expecting us?”

“Indeed we were, Princess,” the lead skimmer answered. “We’re your escort. Please set your course to match ours, and we’ll have you at the capital in no time.”

Spike was already setting the controls, and Twilight sat back to let him work.

The flight lasted just a short while, and soon enough, they’d landed at the airfield near the Larondan royal palace, which Twilight informed her friends was standard procedure for such a visit. “This is the exact same place we landed the last time,” she told them.

When they’d all emerged, they found themselves greeted by the pilots of the escorting airskimmer flight. “Colonel Korak,” the lead pilot, a male centaur, said by way of greetings. “Good to see you again, Princess. Spike. And to meet your friends too,” he added once Twilight had introduced all of them.

Twilight smiled. “It’s a pleasure to see you again,” she said. “How is your husband? Did he manage to get that promotion at the bakery?”

“Sure did,” the colonel said. “Come on, the King and Queen are eager to see you.”

The pilots led them across the airfield, towards the palace.

“The King is an experienced pilot himself,” Twilight explained to her friends as they went. “He first learned when he was still Prince; he was a former pilot in their air force as well as a racer, and he keeps his personal airskimmer near the palace so he can go out whenever he’s in the mood.”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Cool!” she said happily. “Wish I could see one of those races.”

“We’ve got recorded memories of them stored in special crystals, so they can be replayed for people who want to watch them,” Colonel Korak said. “They’re really something spectacular to see.”

Rainbow Dash’s grin was even bigger now, and Twilight could tell she was just barely holding in her excitement. She began eagerly asking about some of the maneuvers they were capable of, which Colonel Korak happily answered. That talk lasted all the way to the entrance to the throne room, where they were led in and to the thrones where a regal-looking gargoyle and centaur sat.

After bowing to the king and queen, Twilight turned to her friends. “Everyone,” she said. "May I present, King Scorpan and Queen Annick."

There were several startled gasps, before Rarity spoke. “Goodness,” she said. “You mean, the same Scorpan who once visited Equestria and befriended Starswirl the Bearded?”

"Scorpan the third, actually," the king said, looking rather amused. "My father and grandfather both retired long ago, though they still serve as royal advisors when I need them."

Rarity blushed, clearly embarrassed, before the king spoke again. “So, Princess Twilight. It’s been a long time, and it’s good to see you again. But let’s not beat around the bush, shall we? I understand one of our people was… the source of trouble, shall we say, for Equestria recently.”

Twilight nodded. “It is my great regret to inform you that Tirek the Terrible had escaped from his imprisonment in Tartarus some time ago, and has been responsible for the abduction of many of our people, though they have since been freed.” She took a deep breath. “Less than a week ago, having acquired enough magic for his plans, he sent his allies to perform a vicious assault against our capital city of Canterlot while personally invading my home of Ponyville, where he caused a great deal of destruction and, were it not for a certain timely intervention, would have killed a number of people who are very important to me. In my fury, I unleashed powers far beyond anything that he expected and badly injured him before returning him to Tartarus. He now resides in his former prison cell there, his mind and body permanently broken.”

She paused to catch her breath, before continuing. “I know he was a renegade, but… he was one of your people. While we do not blame Laronda for his actions, we, the ruling family of Equestria, felt you deserved to know what had happened to him.”

For a few minutes, the king and queen sat silently, and Twilight kept her head low, before the king finally spoke.

“You are, as always, forthright and honest, Princess,” he said. “So shall I be. And I say unto you now that I, and Laronda as a whole, do not blame you in the least for what has happened. You were defending your land against an aggressor, and acted with justified intent.”

“Nor do I,” a much older voice rang out, with people muttering in surprise as a very old gargoyle walked into the room. His wings were threadbare and pulled behind him and he was being aided by several attendants to walk along with the cane in his hand but there was a strength in his eyes. “My brother was a monster and forfeited any right to my compassion when he learned those dark arts and planned to attack your nation, dear Princess.”

Twilight bowed. “King Emeritus Scorpan,” she said respectfully. “It is an honor to see you once more.”

“The honor is all mine, young Princess,” Scorpan told her with a smile. “It’s good to see you so well, and Sir Spike too.”

Spike blushed.

“And these must be the friends you told me about, Twilight,” he said. “Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Rarity Belle. A pleasure to meet you all at last.”

The five all smiled and bowed as he approached, and he laughed. “Oh, you don’t have to bow to me,” he said. “My time as ruler is long since done, and while I do appreciate the respect, I have learned so much of you from Twilight that I feel as if we are already all old friends.” He beckoned to them as he settled his way into a suitable resting spot of his own. “Come, sit.”

There was some hesitation, but soon all seven of the Equestrian visitors had settled in, and the retired king’s attendants had been dismissed for the time being.

“So tell me,” he said. “What do you think of our homeland?”

Fluttershy’s face lit up. “Oh, it’s wonderful!” she exclaimed. “The places we flew over were so… vibrant!”

“And I could hear the humming those plants were making, even from the air!” Pinkie said happily. “The hills were alive with the sound of music!” She elbowed Applejack. “Bet you wish you had those kinds of things back home.”

Applejack chuckled. “Yeah, they sound like they’d be fun,” she said.

Rarity nodded, smiling. “Laronda is indeed a spectacular place to experience,” she said.

“And your racers sound really, really cool!” Rainbow Dash said eagerly.

The younger King Scorpan smiled from his own seat. “Colonel Vorak and his people told you about my time as pilot of the Golden Yoke, I take it?”

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash said. “It was awesome!”

“I quite agree,” King Scorpan said. “It’s good to get out and stretch the wings every now and then, but there’s nothing quite like the feel of that motor humming.”

Queen Annick nodded. “I might not be a pilot myself, but flying makes my husband happy,” she said.

“Flying is a very unique experience, my dear,” the former king said. “There’s little like it and I do miss flying under my own power myself. Though some of these skimmers do help to make up for it.”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “It’s one of the best experiences ever,” she said.

Both Scorpans smiled in agreement.

“Switching to a slightly different topic,” Queen Annick said. “Princess Twilight, how is Caplan doing? His letters home always say he’s enjoying his time teaching at your school, but I’d like your personal and professional opinion.”

Twilight’s eyes lit up. “Oh, he’s really happy!” she said. “The students always enjoy his classes and the histories he teaches them, and he’s made a lot of friends among the teaching staff and the citizens of Ponyville. I’ve sat in on a few classes myself, and the way he can tell the old stories… it’s so easy to feel as if you were really there. And the students enjoy the group participation activities that he does too.”

Queen Annick smiled. “That’s wonderful,” she said. “Our boy’s always dreamed of being a teacher, and to hear that his students enjoy his lessons is delightful news.”

Fluttershy looked wide-eyed at this. “Your… Twilight?” She turned to her friend. “You have a prince teaching at your school?”

“I am a princess running a school, Fluttershy,” Twilight said. “But I had no idea he was a member of the royal family!”

"That was the idea," King Scorpan said. "Beginning with my father's generation, it was decided that when we were young, we should go out and experience the world as civilians, without the populace being aware of their identities so they would to learn how others live without the benefits of being royalty, and could make their own achievements without having to deal with… suck-ups, shall we say. We do keep careful watch on our children during these times of their lives, but for the most part, we let them be and don't interfere unless they absolutely need it." He smiled. "Prince Caplan, for his part, has always preferred a quiet life of learning and teaching to staying in the palace, and is quite willing to let his older brother take the throne when the time comes."

“Wow.” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Never would have thought it. He’s a nice guy, and so… humble.”

“That’s another thing we hope for our children to learn when they spend their time out in the world,” King Scorpan said. “Some are more successful than others.”

Scorpan the First raised a hand. “One of the reasons my brother turned out so poorly is because he let his position go to his head,” he said. “That’s a part of why, when I became a father, I instituted this policy of encouraging our royal sons and daughters to go among the populace rather than spend all their time among the royal court. It helps keep their egos deflated.”

Rainbow Dash gave a nervous chuckle at that.

Talk soon turned to other things, and in this way the day passed. Almost before Twilight knew it, it was dinner time, and then bedtime. She would have loved to stay longer, and could tell that her friends, including the Larondan royal family, would have wanted it as well. But they were all needed back home, and would be leaving in the morning.

Though somewhat restless, she turned the light off and rolled over, trying to get to sleep. They would have a long flight back in the morning.

“Seriously, how did you not get all these weak spots in Canterlot’s defenses filled in sooner?” Pharynx asked his wife. “This city has more holes in it than a fishing net!”

“Tread carefully,” Luna growled as she lay out on her cushion, wincing. “Your spawn is in a kicking mood which puts me in a sore spot; in any case, I was not here as long as my sister, so go ask her.”

Pharynx shook his head with a sigh. “I meant you Canterlotians in general, not you specifically. In any case…” He went over and began rubbing her stomach, helping soothe her pains. “How’s this?”

“Much better, thank you,” Luna said after a few minutes. “And getting back to your question, having just one alicorn to concentrate on matters for most of those long years meant a few things slipped through the cracks. Much as I love my sister and niece, security is not one of their strong areas, and as you well know, their guards were somewhat lacking in certain aspects of that area as well. They tried, but...”

“Right.” Pharynx continued his administrations. “Under Chrysalis, we managed to sneak in with no issue and if it weren’t for my brother making us see sense, I doubt you’d have had a chance in spotting us before it was too late.”

“Quite.” Luna rolled a bit. “And of course, while Twilight is very strong when it comes to administration and diplomacy, and is personally capable of defending herself and others, she is lacking in military training.”

“Think we could ask Tempest to try and remedy that for her?” Pharynx asked.

Luna made something of a shrug. “Possibly. I know Celestia is thinking about asking her to lead a prospective Twilight Guard when she has completed her magic training.” She grimaced. “Whether Twilight will accept having her own personal guard is another thing entirely; having gotten the chance to know her as I have, I doubt she would want any kind of personal servants, bodyguards included, around her on a regular basis. She prefers to take care of what she can on her own, and ask Spike for help with what she can’t.”

“She is pretty self-sufficient, isn’t she?” Pharynx mused.

“Verily.” Luna smiled. “And I know Celestia views this as a good thing for her. But given what Twilight has expressed previously, I highly doubt she will take it well if my sister suggests that she take a more direct role in ruling.”

“Then why not pressure your sister to go ahead with the rotation idea that was mentioned before?” Pharynx said, nuzzling her ear. “It did seem like the best idea for all involved as I know you hate to lay about at times.”

“Because my sister, as you know, loves to be in the spotlight, indirectly at best,” Celestia chided gently as she walked in. “And rest assured, I am not going to push Twilight to take on any more responsibilities than she has already. She is learning well in how to rule and lead but I know how she feels about taking a more official place in our government. She is not ready for that and I will not force it on her, nor more than you will force your own child to follow a path they do not care for.” Celestia said as she placed her head on her sister’s stomach. “I would love nothing more than to retire one day and go back to how it once was before we ended up in this place, Luna, back when we were young and had not a care beyond each other. But I am not that young mare anymore and I have grown up and gained so many duties and responsibilities that I would be spitting on all that I have accomplished to just toss it all to Twilight to handle on her own.” She sighed, nuzzling Luna’s stomach before reaching up to nuzzle her sister’s face. “I waited a thousand years for your return. If I must wait another thousand years before we can retire properly, then that’s what it will be.”

“You’d still be handling your Duties, right?” Pharynx asked, and she knew what he meant.

“Barring some unfortunate accident, yes,” Celestia said. “And Luna as well, for Night and Dreams, unless she chooses otherwise.”

“Rest assured, I have no such plans,” Luna replied. “I am quite satisfied with where I stand with my Mantles now.” Then she fixed her sister with a look. “And what if Twilight feels she never wants to take over ruling from Canterlot, or any other place she would want to establish as a capital for Equestria?”

“Then I will support her in that decision,” Celestia said. “As I told you once before, I hoped, after she achieved her Element, that she would become an alicorn as well one day. Not because it meant she would be crowned, that was just part of Equestria’s traditions.” She looked wistful. “But the largest part was because I… well, let’s just say I had my fantasies of a certain rather harmless variety. Something that we, as alicorns, can readily do together now.”

Luna raised an eyebrow at her. “And what fantasies might those be?”

“For she and I to go flying together, side by side, as you and I once did,” Celestia said. “Soaring through the clouds, just enjoying the wind on our faces. I so rarely get a chance to go flying off by myself, let alone with a friend to keep me company, but… well, I dreamed of doing it with her, and of Twilight enjoying herself just as much as I did.”

“And nothing to rebuilding our tribe?” Luna asked pointedly with Celestia flinching as if she had been struck. Already, she leaned in to console her sister. “That war took a lot from everyone everywhere, Celestia, even if we have the Valley of the Alicorns. You do not need to pretend that you are not still grieving from the loss and hope to one day see our kind return.”

“That would be… a bonus,” Celestia admitted. “Cadance and you already promise to give birth to a new generation of alicorns in this dimension, and who knows what can lead from that. But what I wanted most from and for Twilight was her happiness.”

“I know you better than anyone else, the Mantles included, Celestia and I know as much as you care for Twilight as your own daughter and wish her all the best, you have also dreamed to see many more alicorns than just us two for far longer,” Luna replied through tears. “So when your daughter comes by to visit, reaffirm the agreement we made with her but make no mention of your desire to retire. You know that she still aims to please you and she might take it that shouldering our burden could achieve that goal, even at her own misery.”

Celestia nodded her head. “I know,” she said. “I know.”

Pharynx looked up at his sister-in-law. “Hey,” he said. “I had a thought.”

“Oh?” Celestia asked.

“Well… if Twilight’s friends are also Powers, what’s stopping them from becoming alicorns too some day?”

The sisters exchanged glances, and Celestia looked at him. “Some of their Others have,” she said slowly as if she were pulling together a plan in her mind. “It all depends on how things go. But no matter the dimension, neither I nor any other alicorn can induce such a change - they have to achieve it on their own. Who knows, maybe they will some day.” She looked at her sister. “Perhaps I should start making contingencies for if they do.”

“You mean you haven’t already?” Luna asked, giving her sister a look.

Celestia blushed. “Well… maybe,” she admitted. “I have contingencies for a lot of things, no matter how out there and unexpected they may be.” She looked away for a moment, her face even redder than before. “I actually have contingencies for the event that a resident of Ponyville suddenly ascends.”

“A resident?” Luna asked, arching her eyebrow even more.

“Well… individual contingencies for most of them, actually,” Celestia confessed. “It was one of those days when I just needed to take some time off and stretch my imagination for a while.”

“Of course.” Luna shook her head. “Care to share them with me, dear sister?”

“Well…” Celestia started as she lay next to her sister with Pharynx rolling his eyes but joining them, pulling the paperwork alongside him.

It was the middle of the afternoon, and school had since closed for the day, when Moondancer sat at a desk and frowned as she studied her book again. “Where was it…” she muttered to herself.

Suddenly, a pair of hooves cupped themselves across her eyes, and she smirked. “Hello, Trixie.”

Trixie giggled as she let go. “Hello, love.”

Moondancer smiled as she turned to face her marefriend and hugged her. “Hey.”

“So, almost ready for the big trip?” Trixie asked.

“I will be.” Moondancer looked down. “But I’m going to miss seeing Twilight like we have been.”

Trixie had a slight frown, before she looked at her marefriend. “You really do care for her, don’t you?”

Moondancer nodded. “I love you, Trixie, and these last months getting to know one another have been wonderful, but… there’s just something about Twilight, you know? She’s just… I’m not sure I can put it into words. Sure, she’s not perfect - she’s had those times when she didn’t seem to notice other ponies around her and how much she affected them. But at her heart, she is good, and I can’t help but wish that she saw me the way I’ve always seen her.”

Trixie leaned in and nuzzled her. “For what it’s worth, Trixie admits she is attractive, and once Trixie got over her envy of Twilight’s abilities, she knows Twilight makes for a good friend,” she said. “And she… she thinks that when you told her about… well, us, that she heard Twilight’s heart break a little, and a bit of that old envy cropped back up.”

Moondancer looked at her, startled, and Trixie continued. “I think she was really at the point where she was getting ready to give you a serious try as a romantic partner,” she said.

Moondancer looked even more shocked. “But… but she said…”

“That she wants you to be happy,” Trixie said. “That is the kind of person she is. In all her time living with Twilight, Trixie has learned that she tends to put others’ happiness above her own.” She reached out a hoof and laid it on her marefriend’s shoulder. “Trixie is not quite there yet,” she said. “But knowing what she does after seeing the look in her eyes that day, and having had time to reflect on it, she is willing, once we have had a while to ourselves and are certain of how we feel on the matter, to invite Twilight to share in our happiness. If that’s what you still want by then.”

Moondancer smiled. “Thank you, Trixie,” she said. “I really appreciate that.”

“And if a unicorn and an alicorn can make a life together without worrying about it, surely two unicorns and an alicorn should have no problem either!” Trixie’s confident smile made Moondancer laugh.

“We’ll see,” she said. “Now… I still have some books to pack before we go on our night studies and prestidigitation tour. Mind helping me?”

“You never have to ask,” Trixie told her, before hugging her marefriend again.

As the two headed upstairs, Moondancer had one more question. “Trixie… what do you think of all this Powers business?” she asked. “I mean, knowing that Twilight represents a fundamental aspect of reality?”

Trixie shrugged. “Princess Celestia has been representing a fundamental aspect of reality since long before any of our great-grandparents were born,” she said. “This is just another side of it. It is what she does, not who she is.”

“Right.” Moondancer shook her head. “I was just wondering… how can she take it, handling that kind of responsibility on her own?”

“From what Trixie has heard from the others, the majority of it is simply being true to yourself,” Trixie said. “Celestia and Luna may have to be more active in their Duties, but that is simply one aspect of them.” She looked curiously at Moondancer. “Why, were you wondering what it might be like to have to do those kinds of things?”

Moondancer blushed. “Maybe,” she said. “If only because it would let me be there for Twilight when she’s… well, a lot older than she is now. Not that it wouldn’t be interesting to become a part of something so much bigger than myself,” she added, “but supporting Twilight and her friends would be a part of it too. I… I kind of get the impression, from what Luna and Pharynx said to me once, that monitoring the dream realm takes a lot of time and effort, even with the two of them working together.”

“Yes, it would,” Trixie said thoughtfully. “Perhaps that is something more that we should ask Princess Luna about when we see her next.”

Moondancer smiled. “You know, she still says that she’s really, really grateful for all I told her about my interest - and others’ - in night magic, and even with her hormones settling, it makes her want to spend more time talking about it with me and hearing about it from me.”

“That does not surprise Trixie in the least,” Trixie said with a smile as she leaned in to kiss her neck. “You are a very smart and clever mare, after all.” Moondancer giggled as Trixie kissed more of her neck. “Anyone would be lucky to have you interested in them.” Moondancer giggled again as Trixie continued to kiss her more.

“Come on,” she said happily as she kissed Trixie on the forehead. “Let’s go get those books.” she said, swishing her tail in her marefriend’s face.

“Right with you,” Trixie said. “Better our room than a place where Twilight can complain, right?”

“Yeah… right.” Moondancer smiled. “Or where Spike might find the evidence - he’s still underage, after all.”

“True.”

Night eventually fell, as it always did, and soon enough, Moondancer was sound asleep in her room with Trixie snuggled into her.

Suddenly, she found herself in one of the libraries she’d frequented, and looked around in surprise. “Where-”

“Hello, Moondancer,” Luna’s voice came before she materialized next to the younger mare. Her pregnancy bulge was still visible, and she had a smile on her face. “How are you tonight?”

“Doing well,” Moondancer replied. “Is this… a dream?”

Luna nodded. “You’ve expressed interest in my talents before, and I felt it was about time to give you a little instruction in them.” She looked around. “I must confess, some of my Others have an entire Dream Guard to aid them, augmented by the Mantle of Dreams, and while I’ve hesitated somewhat… I’m going to have a lot of other responsibilities coming up shortly, and Pharynx and I could use the help - though he’ll still be the one weaving the nightmares when we find a person who needs one.” She smiled. “And where better than to start with a trusted friend?”

Moondancer’s eyes widened, before she bowed. “You honor me, Princess.”

“Please, it’s just Luna, I’ve told you that before,” Luna told her. “Now, this way.”

The library gave way to a starry sky, and to bubbles that gradually floated around as they walked.

“This, my dear friend, is the dreamscape,” Luna said as a row of different colours expanded before them. “Where dreamers are incredibly close yet galaxies apart, where everything is possible and yet nothing is real. If one knows how to shape their dream, one can conjure anything they wish.” Luna said as she created an array of different scenes. Moondancer found herself crossing the entirety of the Saddle Arabian Desert in seconds, walking under the Southern Celestial sea which was above her, saw the stars themselves be rendered into marbles that foals played with before finding herself in Trixie’s wagon in a nameless field laying next to the mare she loved. “But take heed for there are dangers too. Travel too close to another’s dream and you might be pulled into their nightmare, woven into their terror and become banished into nothingness when they awaken.” Moondancer paused in terror as a giant glowing centipede-like creature appeared before them, staring at the two with clear malicious intent in its eyes.

“And there are other beings that call this plane home,” Pharynx said as he appeared behind the creature, slicing it in half with a gleaming blade. “Dangerous if you stray too far into places without dreams and delve into places that mortals were never meant to be. That’s why, until we say you’re ready, you are never to exit your own dream and enter the greater dreamscape without one of us there. You do not wish to know what these creatures can do to you, let alone the true dream monsters that exist.”

Moondancer nodded nervously. “I promise,” she said.

Luna smiled. “Good,” she said. “Now, let’s see…” She brought around a few bubbles. “The majority of these are clearly calm, peaceful dreams,” she said. “We who protect the dreamscape have sworn oaths never to reveal their contents except to those who experienced them and already know them; as a prospective Dreamguard, you will be required to swear the same oaths.”

“Of course, but what if I see something that should be reported?” Moondancer asked.

“Then you tell us,” Pharynx said. “Dreams and nightmares are very difficult at the best of times, for me at least, to tell what has really occurred or is just their minds imagining odd stuff that one night. I have had run ins when I found some normally worrying dreams that turned out to belong to authors of more adult based adventures that have actual battles in them.” He grumbled with Luna rolling her eyes.

“Over time, with practice, you will begin to discern what is a normal dream and what is a cry for help,” Luna said, nuzzling her husband. “But first, we begin with the oath.” And she began to whisper the words into Moondancer’s ear, before standing back and letting her repeat them, her body glowing as she did so.

When she’d finished, Luna smiled. “Now… let’s show you one of the more harmless ones. Ah, here.” She beckoned, and one of the dream bubbles approached. “Feel this one,” she said.

Moondancer nodded, and concentrated. “It feels… happy,” she said. “And… amusement?”

Luna nodded, and waved a hoof at it, causing it to clear. Then, as the trio saw what was being dreamed, and broke out into laughter as they saw Rainbow Dash tossing papers into a grill, shutting the lid over it, and watching fire come from its underside to propel it into and beyond the planet’s outer atmosphere.

“This is Dash’s dream?” she asked with the couple smiling at her which made Moondancer frown and look at the dream more. There was more of Dash in the dream but also lettuce and the sound of a propeller. “Wait, this is Tank’s dream.”

“Exactly,” Luna said. “Though given Rainbow Dash’s history, I wouldn’t be surprised if she dreamed of the former scene herself from time to time.”

“Yeah, Queen Tegmina told us about what she heard at the Gathering about Rainbow Dash and her grilling habits with those pamphlets,” Pharynx said. “I still think that’s funny.”

“I know what you mean,” Moondancer agreed before blinking. “What about their dreams?”

“As much as we do not support their actions, I do not allow rogue nightmares to bother them,” Luna said eyeing her husband. “That is not to say my dear changeling here does not give them pointed dreams in the hopes that they will see the error of their ways.”

“It’s what I’m supposed to do,” Pharynx said. “But even as the Nightmare, I have to be careful not to go too far.”

Luna nodded solemnly. “During the years that Umbrea controlled my body, I was able to learn many… uncomfortable truths from her,” she said. “She was one of the more ruthless Nightmares that I know of, and as I recall, she once gave a particularly… unpleasant individual such severe nightmares that eventually, during one such incident, his heart rate increased to a level he could not safely sustain. He died in his sleep from an overdose of fear and the toll it took on his body.”

“One of the other things we keep an eye out for,” Pharynx added. “Dreams that get to the point where they can affect the dreamer’s physical health have to be handled right away.”

Moondancer nodded, a serious look on her face, and then began studying the other dreams that were floating around.

One by one, she examined them, determining that they were harmless before sending them on, with Luna and Pharynx approving or pointing out certain aspects as they went. One of them was particularly confusing with the aura it gave off before Luna identified it as belonging to a creature that was rather… different from most of the sapient species that lived in Equuis.

“Despite its oddities, the Smooze tends to have happy dreams most of the time,” she said. “Now you know how to recognize its dream aura though.”

Moondancer nodded before she went back to work. She blushed at a couple of dreams that were clearly giving off certain emotions, but quickly shook it off and went on with the dreams she had been provided.

Another one almost startled her when she felt it though, causing her to almost stagger back, and for a completely different reason.

“What’s wrong?” Luna asked.

Moondancer shook her head, an almost goofy grin on her face. “That was… wow.” She shook her head. “I’m not sure who’s having that dream, but that was…” She looked at Luna. “No offense to my friends, but I think that if whomever’s having this dream had come up to you, they wouldn’t have needed the Elements to purge Umbrea. What I just felt was such… pure, concentrated love and trust, and I’ve never felt anything like it before in my life.”

Luna and Pharynx exchanged glances, then leaned their heads against the dream bubble, and their eyes went wide.

“You weren’t kidding,” Pharynx said slowly. “That’s enough love to feed an entire hive for a month, if not longer.”

Luna’s face, meanwhile, had tears of happiness streaming down it. “And I know why,” she said. “This isn’t just any dream, husband mine. It’s coming from our foal.”

Pharynx’s eyes went wide, as did Moondancer’s. Then they both smiled, even wider than before.

“That’s wonderful news,” Moondancer said to the couple.

Luna beamed. “Yes, it is,” she said happily. “And I am proud I could share it with you.”

“They will be a very unique foal,” Pharynx said. “Part changeling, part alicorn, conceived partially in the dreamscape and the real world.”

“Excuse me?” Moondancer asked, ears tilting at his words.

“The Lord or Lady of Dreams and the Lord or Lady of Nightmares are able to… divide their attention equally between the real world and the dreamscape,” Luna explained with a blush. “For instance, when my sister has one of her rare precognitive dreams, I was able to detect it and come running to her room in the physical world to be there as she was waking up, while still checking dreams in the dreamscape. During our honeymoon, Pharynx and I… er… used this ability and were able to synchronize our motions in the material world with our movements in the dreamscape.” She blushed deeper. “That was the night we… well, you know.”

Moondancer nodded, her own face somewhat red. “I understand.” she said. “So what does this mean for your foal, Luna?”

“Very likely that they may end up naturally sharing one or the other of our Mantles, like you do now,” Pharynx said. “Lus and I will have to be very careful that they don’t go wandering off into the dreamscape without supervision until they’re old enough and have had the proper training.”

“Though that might be all that occurs if we are lucky, I have my feelings that my foal will be very special,” Luna said, rubbing her belly. “I might be the mother, or foremother, of a whole new tribe of ponies. Ponies born to the dreamscape instead of the waking world, made of thoughts and emotions instead of flesh and blood.”

“Or something in between the two, who can naturally switch between the two worlds as one would would walk from one room to another,” Pharynx said, nuzzling his wife. “We are entering uncharted waters and we have yet to tell Celestia or my brother about this. Save for Lus’ doctors, you are the only one who knows.”

Moondancer nodded. “Your secret is safe with me. And once I’ve gotten enough of the proper training, if you need someone to watch over them here, you know how to find me,” she said.

Luna smiled proudly. “That means a lot to both of us,” she said. “Thank you.”

Then she gave the dream bubble one more fond smile before looking around again. “Well! We still have a lot of dreams to check up on,” she said. “If you’ll walk this way.”

As she turned and led them off towards another cluster of dream bubbles, Moondancer noticed Pharynx walking side by side with Luna and copying her movements exactly, and barely stifled a snicker, though from the flick of her ears and turn of her face, she could tell Luna had heard it and was now giving her husband a wry look while he smirked back at her.

She was going to enjoy working with them, Moondancer thought with a smile.

Twilight smiled as she stared at the rising sun as they flew towards Equestria when she flicked her ear as her son walked by her side.

“It looks just like last time, doesn’t it?” he asked with Twilight knowing exactly what he was talking about.

“It does,” she said, placing a hoof on his back. “As much as I love seeing the world, coming home will always have a special magic to me.”

“Not as magical as we are, right Twi?” Rainbow Dash said she joined them on the deck, giving the controls a glance but restraining herself from going into Spike’s seat.

“Ain’t nothing like you in da whole world, Rainbow Dash; not countin’ yer Others,” Applejack said as she joined them on the deck, fixing her hat while smiling warmly. “And that goes fer you too, Twilight.”

Twilight nodded, though as she looked at her two friends standing side by side, she barely hid a blush, remembering what Magic had told her. “I wish I could meet some of them,” she said. “Imagine all the magic we could research together!”

“Egghead,” Rainbow Dash said teasingly. “I’m sure you’ll do it some day. Wish I could meet my Other that you know.” She tilted her head. “Wonder which of us is faster?”

“Maybe we can arrange to go through that portal Twilight knows of to meet our human selves?” Pinkie asked, causing everyone to turn to her in surprise. Blinking in surprise more at her words and less than her sudden appearance, the party mare shrugged. “Laughter told me about it last night. So can we Twilight?”

“You can talk to her?” Twilight asked happily. “That’s great!”

“Yeah, Laughter is great,” she smiled happily. “Got me thinking about a few things, how I can work on some of my stuff so I can give better parties and stuff. Among other stuff...” she trailed off, looking unnaturally serious. “But it was still a great talk last night!” Her smile returned in full force.

“Good for you, Pinkie darling,” Rarity said as she and Fluttershy joined them. “Though… I thought Twilight said the initial connection for speaking required us to tap our Mantle’s full potential?”

Pinkie shrugged. “Laughter doesn’t always follow the same rules as Magic,” she said. “She’s special that way. Besides, Twilight has been tapping Magic’s mantle for a very long time, like the rest of us. I guess me focusing on trying to reach out to Laughter clicked last night, and she could tell I wanted to talk to her for her, not just trying to force a connection. So she reached back, and here we are.”

“Um, everyone…” Fluttershy suddenly spoke up nervously. “I don’t mean to be a downer, but… if we’re all out here… who is driving?”

“I’ve got it on autopilot for the moment,” Spike said. “I’ll go back to it when we’re back in more populated areas, but for here, it’s safe.”

Fluttershy looked relieved. "Sorry about that but Kindness recommended that I try to be more confident and speak up," she said, smiling at her friends. "He is right that I do need to try and be more assertive, just without being rude." She looked up in thought. "What was it he said… meekness is not weakness, it is strength under control."

“Truer words were never spoken,” Applejack said thoughtfully. “An’ Ah wish Ah could have that kind of talk with Honesty, but Ah haven’t heard from ‘em yet.” She glanced at the others. “You, Dash? Rarity?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head, while Rarity considered. “I think I might have heard them, but I am not sure,” she said. “I have been listening for them though.”

“I wonder,” Twilight said. “Why you two haven’t made the connection yet… I suppose there is a reason for it.”

“Ah’m sure we’ll figure it out when the time is right,” Applejack said. “Like Magic told you, ya can’t force these things.”

Twilight nodded, and then went back to looking out over the deck’s railing and at the landscape below as they flew towards home.

I wonder if Celestia, or Luna, or Cadance… or even Discord, for that matter, ever have talks with their Mantles like we do, she thought. And what they talk about, if they do.

It was a question she expected she would not get an answer to for a while, but in the meantime, it was an interesting thing to think about.

For now, she was content to enjoy the time she had with her friends.