"Halt!" the royal guard shouted from the tower at the gate to Cantelot. Normally, free passage into and out of the city was granted without so much as a glance from the guards, but today the guard felt particularly unnerved by the strange pony wandering out of the Everfree forest towards the city.

When the individual did not stop its stumbling approach the guard went out to get a better look at the individual in question. When he did, he immediately called for the other guards on duty to help him get the pony to the castle.

-------------------------------------

Princess Celestia was hosting her daily session of open court, hearing the troubles of the common ponies. She took particular care not to let show how little she truly cared about the mundane complaints of the noblepony that now held her audience. He had not out right said he wanted anything yet, but Celestia knew that it was only a matter of time before the sleek-mained noblepony would ask for some absurd amount of political or economic power, or some form of trade exclusivity, that's all the nobles ever wanted: more power. She missed the old days where nobles fought for her favor and actually helped lead the state. Now they only postured leadership while fighting for personal gain.

Her musing was cut short when the doors behind the noble opened up to show guard-captain quicksilver looking distraught. Normally the guard captain's arrival unannounced indicated trouble, but the look onhis face was what truly scared the princess.

"What is it Captain? Is there a problem?" Celestia asked.

"They found her."  

The slick-maned noble simply looked between the princess and captain in their exchange. Who were they talking about? He did not have time to voice his question, for as he turned around to look to Celestia again, all he saw the shadow of her pastel rainbow tail as she leapt over him to reach the door before racing out to follow the guard captain.

After racing through the castle Celestia entered the courtyard and approached the castle gate at high speed. From a great distance she could see a purple pony surrounded by her guards. She ran faster.

She stopped when she reached the circle of guards. She could see that the purple pony was in fact her student. Her heart leapt, shortly before plummeting as bile began to rise in her throat. This was her student, but only most of her.

Her fur was grayed and matted, covering scars that seemed to evenly coat her barrel. Her legs bore scorch marks and scars. Her tangled mane reached the ground, filthy and containing bits of plant matter and sticks. Her hooves, what were left of them, were split in various ways, with parts removed and one leg almost missing the entire hoof. Her tail was entirely gone, leaving nothing behind her, not even a stub. But what were most startling to the princess were her eyes. They were not the eager, knowledge-hungry eyes of her student; they were the eyes of a dead pony, glassy and un-seeing. Celestia saw her student glance at her, but she seemed not to recognize her, as her student just looked back to the guards.

"What has happened to you in the last  few months, my dear faithful student..." Celestia quietly whispered.

She received no response, for as soon as the question was posed the purple unicorn fell to the ground unconscious.

------------------------------------

The next day in the hospital Celestia sat by her unconcious students bedside as the doctor entered.

"What happened to her?" Celestia asked the doctor.

"I wish I could tell you." the doctor said solemnly.

"Don't give me any confidentiality-!" the princess began to yell, before being cut off by the doctor: "What I meant was: I wish I knew how this happened." The doctor shook his head "She has hundreds of lacerations across her body, her legs appear to have been repeatedly burned, her hooves have been shattered and parts removed, her tail was apparently violently removed, taking with it several tail vertebrae, her horn has been filed back enough to impede magic,  she has bruising across most of her body, particularly her neck, she has some..."

Celestia was in shock, "Doctor, please just stop..."

Looking back to the unconscious unicorn he continued, "You need to hear this. She has some internal injuries, ranging from malnutrition to partially-healed improperly set broken bones... ones that will require re-breaking to fix... and it appears she bit her... well... she no longer has a tongue." the doctor looked back to Celestia for a brief moment before leaving the princess with her student. The Princess's crying could be heard from the street.

-------------------------------------

Salve Balm, the nurse on duty, was making her rounds, and was going to check on their guest in room 202: patient Twilight Sparkle. It had been a month since she had arrived, and she was responding well to surgery and treatment. Today marked the second day she had been removed from her medically-induced coma, but she had still not woken up once since collapsing in the castle courtyard a month ago.

Salve Balm opened the door expecting to see the bed containing the same motionless pony she had been caring for weeks now, instead she saw nothing in the bed.

She went further into the room and saw her huddled in the corner, her bed sheets covering her entirely wrapped in a ball against the wall shaking.

"You're not supposed to be out of bed," she said to the shaking sheet before looking out the door  "DOCTOR!" she yelled.

When a doctor came to help, he reached for the huddled mass of trembling white in the corner, only to be met with a cry of fear and pain.

"You must get back in bed, you need to rest." he said, trying to be calming and yet stern.

The sheet mass responded by shrinking into a tighter ball. Flinching away from the doctors hoof.

"Come now dear, you must get back in bed, you are very injured" the doctor continued. The mass began to whimper.

"Now calm down dear. There is nothing to be afraid of here, just please get back in bed, we contacted Princess Celestia and she will be here soon, do you want me to tell her you won't listen?"

The mass of sheets perked for a moment but continued to shrink into an even tighter ball.

---------------------------------

When Celestia had been told that Twilight had awoken, she immediately went to her student.  Entering her room she noticed a large group of doctors huddled facing one corner and her student conspicuously absent from the bed.

Looking closer she saw that the doctors were huddled around what looked like a shivering ghost.

"Twilight?" Celestia asked

The figure shed it's cover.

Celestia drew back in shock and the figure quickly scrambled to cover up again.

Celestia grabbed one of the doctors in her magic, raising him up to within inches of her face, "What has happened to my student! I left her in your care! Why is she now hairless crying in a corner!?!"

The doctor was himself terrified but managed to eek out a reply, "She h-had to be partially shaved in preparation for surgery, tha-that coupled with the massive scaring around her body made it easier to simply shave her entirely. A- At least we were able to leave her mane."

"Yes it is best you let her keep her mane," sarcasm dripping from her words, "or else there would be no way to tell that this is my student! Now prey tell; what has happened to her hooves?" Celesita roared, rotating the doctor in her magical grasp to see her gesture to a sparkling silver object sticking out beneath the sheet.

"Her hooves and cuticles were too heavily damaged, they had to be removed to avoid permanent nerve damage. We replaced them with what we thought would be fitting for someone of her station."

Upon closer inspection the shining artificial hoof was engraved with a design reminiscent of Celestia's own royal slippers. Much worse could have been done Celestia supposed.

Clearing her throat to address all the doctors Celestia began, "I must speak with my student, if you would  all please excuse us, it would be much appreciated." Her voice was sweet, but the way she spoke indicated that she was not asking.

A doctor turned to her, "But! She is recovering from a great ordeal and judging from her current state likely has post traumatic stress,  she could be a danger to you princess."

"My student, whom I have cared for years, who is now barely able to walk much less use magic, has been missing for months and has just now woken up in a strange room with strange ponies, obviously distressed," her voice was raising steadily, "and in your infinite wisdom you dare to command me, your princess, away from her student based on the idea she may pose a risk to my IMMORTAL self! Are you truly so IGNORANT or are you just BLIND!?!"

The doctors that remained scurried from the room fearing they may be caught in the solar fire that was sure to engulf the foolish doctor.

Celestia's magic slammed the door behind the last medical pony.

"We are alone now my dear student, please remove what covers you so that I may see you again."

Twilight stuck her nose out but did not continue.

"Please Twilight, I must know what you have been through. I will not judge you or be adverse in my actions, no matter how you look."

The sheet dropped to show a horrible sight, only recognizable by the purple and pink streaks going through her still floor length mane. Her tan-pink hide marked by the scars and branding of her ordeal, her hooves seemingly gilded in intricate silver.

"I may be able to help with your coat," Celestia's horn glowed with her version of the common hair growth spell. Celestia remembered being told of one similar by Twilight in one of her reports. Celestiaremembered how happy her student had sounded in her letter about learning her 25th spell, and at the time Celestia was so intrigued by her students enthusiasm  that she herself had gone to research the spell. She was now happy she had.

As her horn powered down she was happy to see that it had worked, and that her student now looked closer to her old self. Some scars still showed through, and there were patches where no hair would grow, but despite her still unsettling appearance, she was still much improved from being entirely naked.

"Now Twilight, I do not know what happened while you were lost to us, but we have seen it's outward effects upon you. In the time you have been asleep here in the hospital I managed to recover an artifact that will help you with your speaking problem." Celestia said opening the door once again to allow a guard to bring a package to the princess before leaving.

Celestia's magic unraveled the cloth bound item to reveal a silver harness similar to the elements of harmony or Celestia's royal mantle. It was etched in intricate silver and bore the image of the six pointed star of magic that adorned both her flank and the chief Element of Harmony.

Celestia raised it over her students head and Twilight raised her head to allow it to fall around her neck.

"WOW THIS IS HEAVY," a voice boomed from the harness.

Straitening back up from the blast of sound, Celestia explained, "This is an item that was once mine, long ago when our kingdom was being reformed and my sister and I had just obtained the throne. We required a way of talking to our subjects all at once, additionally, in those times all that was respected was power, so as a symbol of our power we invented and used the royal Canterlot voice. While Luna took to it easily, I could not as easily spend all my time yelling at my subjects, so in order to aid in keeping our image we formed this. It takes what you desire to say and projects it as you saw. As time went on, I felt the voice quickly became un-necessary, a fact which Luna did not understand, which was one part of why our subjects feared her, and continued to fear her, until the nightmare night in which you helped her adjust greatly.

But I am getting away from the point. It will now serve as your voice as you continue onward. I will continue to look into adjusting the volume, but for now try to put up with it."

"THANK YOU PRINCESS!" Twilight boomed before looking back at her mentor at the same time looking happy and apologetic.

"It is no problem my faithful student, seeing as it will take time for your magic to recover and you were not trained in non-unicorn hoof-writing I thought it best you had some way to communicate." she said nodding as Twilight silently yawned, "It appears this has already been too much excitement for one day, and you need your rest to recover, I'll come back tomorrow, but for now, get some rest."

Twilight nodded, and climbed back to bed, falling asleep quickly as Celestia drew the curtains to darken the room.

"Sleep well my little pony" Celestia whispered as she closed the door and turned off the light.

------------------------------------

When Twilight awoke she noticed it was still night, and felt that she had not been asleep for too long, or she had, she was not able to tell very well.

Rising up in bed she remembered the events of the day before:

---She awoke feeling more terrible than usual, noticing that what she lay on was actually soft, not the usual stone. Then she remembered her escape and rose from the bed. In what prison was she now? Looking around she found no indication, the room was soft white with no reference on the walls, looking out the window she saw a street and the city, she knew this city! It was Canterlot! She was home, or at least very close! She was free!

Then she took notice of herself, the self consciousness that she had discarded months ago returning as she saw herself. She was not only missing her tail, but also her coat, she was entirely nude. Her absent tail leaving her exposed to the world. Even those who went so far as to have their tails docked had the decency to keep enough to cover their sex, but she had lost even that, she was now on display for all to see.

Remembering spell 25 she thought maybe she could use it to help her with her coat. She tried, but quickly noticed her horn did not light. She reached a hoof to her horn. She did not even try to stifle her scream, her horn was broken! Her hooves felt heavier too, she had attributed it to fatigue but now as they passed her vision she saw they were metal. Her screaming intensified, or would have if she had making any sound. She remembered her lost tong. Her mind began to shut down. It was too much.

She covered herself in the corner and began to cry, her silent sobs eventually being noticed by the nurse.---

It had been quite a day... well, quite a year... but now everything was starting to look up again.

Twilight wondered what tomorrow would bring.

----------------------------------

Celestia had fought hard to keep from showing her true feelings in front of her pupil, but in the confines of her personal quarters at the castle, she no longer felt such a need for restraint. She was appalled at the condition of her student. It was one thing to see the unconscious, barely-recognizable form and think of it as her student; it was entirely different to actually see her student conscious  in such shape, to see the fear in her eyes.

She was desperately hopeful that one day her student would return, and she mostly had, but the Twilight she got back was not the same Twilight that had been taken. She knew the way things used to be could never be had again. Things were  different.

-------------------------------------

Twilight awoke to the sound of knocking at the door. She did not remember falling asleep again, but she was awake now, and eager, if not ready, to face a new day. A day that had apparently half passed already, if the windows' light gave any indication.

Celestia entered her room with her usual grace, "Good morning my most faithful student, are you ready to leave the hospital? You are not fully recovered yet, but you have been improving so well that you may leave the hospital, but only if you feel up to it: so do you?"

"YES!" her students necklace boomed. Sheepishly Twilight pointed at it as if to ask, "have you found a way to quiet this down?"

"I'm sorry Twilight, I have not yet found a way to adjust it yet, please just bear with it for now."

Twilight was uneasy seeing her mentor seem so distraught, and  merely shrugged.

"Is there anything you need to do before we depart?"

Twilight shook her head.

"Then we should depart at once."

As they were walking through the halls out of the hospital, Twilight wondered how her appearance would be received, from the front she must have looked like a princess, with her new chest piece and royal-themed hooves.

Holding a pillow over her chest to muffle the volume she asked, "Princess, what did the doctor mean 'my hooves match my station?'"

Celestia looked at her student with a smile. "You disappeared shortly after the failed wedding and changeling attack, so it makes sense you wouldn't be aware, but my niece and your brother were successfully married two weeks after the failed wedding. His marriage to a princess makes your brother a lord and you a lady."

Twilight let out a silent gasp, then her confused voice came through the pillow, "Wow! Princess! That's!"

"Just a formality, to be sure." the Solar princess concluded. Twilight's face fell slightly. Celestia's smile only grew greater.

"It was just the kind of formality, though, that I needed to avoid the otherwise massive amount of complaints and petitions I would receive from the nobles for what I did next..."

"I was then able to select you as third in succession to the Day Throne, preceded only by Crown Princess Luna, and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. You are, or rather will be after your coronation, a princess of Equestria." Celestia's face turned apologetic, "It was also this change in your station that discouraged spreading news of your return, as an unconscious princess would make a tempting target if the attacker knew of both  your rank and location, two heavily guarded secrets. Only your doctors knew of them, and apparently took it a little too far. For that I apologize."

Twilight did not hear anything past "princess of Equestria" though, she was to overwhelmed with joy, not by the news of her status as a lady, as she knew the wedding would elevate her status, and not by the privileges she knew came with it, as she had already been given them by her status as Celestia's student, not even by the fact she was now included in the royal ascension, not even because of the power that gave her. She was shocked by the fact that Celestia thought her worthy and ready for such a position.

"Princess..." Twilight whispered to her mentor, even the booming chest piece barely being able to hear her thoughts.

"Yes, now that you have returned, we'll make the announcement right away, the coronation can be done privately and as soon as we get to the castle if you desire."

Twilight could barely manage a nod, but with it they left for the castle.

-------------------------------------

Twilight was floating on clouds all the way to the castle, and not only due to the height the chariot was flying over the mountain city. She was truly excited, she was barely able to keep from making a fool of herself in front of the princess with a magically enhanced "yesyesyes" episode, but she managed to stay quiet.

When the chariot finally landed, Twilight followed Celestia out of the carriage hurrying so that they would be sure to catch Luna before sundown.

Celestia calmly led them to the elements chamber, where Luna and cadence were already waiting.

Twilight wondered where her brother was if Cadence was here. As if reading her mind cadence said, "Sorry Shining couldn't be here, but he had business that only he could preform in Appaloosa, and our letter of your awakening won't reach him until tomorrow, but I am sure he would give the world to see you right now."

Walking up to cadence for a nuzzle Twilight removed the carriage's pillow from her back and held it over her chest with her mouth. Twilight asked, "Cadence, how have you been!"

Withdrawing from the embrace, cadence seemed mildly disturbed by the muffled

yelling, but seemed to have been aware of what to expect.

"Well enough, how are you doing?" conspicuously changing the question to avoid asking about her torture.

"Getting better, though it would be better if I didn't need to hold this pillow though."

Luna then spoke, "Soon it will be your right to speak in such a voice."

"True, soon that collar will fulfill it's original purpose again: Giving voice to royalty." Celestia added with a playful smile. After a pause she added, " Let's begin then. Twilight, come up here with me."

They ascended to the box that contained the elements. Twilight lowered her head as Celestia drew out the element of magic.

"Twilight Sparkle, upon seeing your dedication in the defense of harmony, your pursuit of knowledge for the betterment of ponykind, and your proven power to defend the ponies you love, I Princess Celestia of Equestria, maintainer of harmony, and crown princess of the sun, do give you the title and station as a princess of Equestria. May you wear your crown with the honor we all know you will." Celestia placed the Element upon Twilight's head. "Rise, Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria!"

Cadence clopped her hooves while Luna looked to the new princess and offered her congratulations.  

The ceremony was short, but the implications were great. There was effectively no chance of actual ascension to the throne, she knew, but the social and political implications of her ascension were great.

After the congratulations were given the princesses and dragon departed for the night,  Celestia had to lower the sun Luna had to raise the moon. Twilight as well was drained from her short but important day.

-----------------------------------

"Twilight, you have to get up, your announcement as princess is today, and auntie Celestia wants you to be well prepared." Cadence called from the door.

"I'M UP!" Twilight rolled out of bed, it looked like the sun was just breaking the horizon, softly illuminating her old bedroom in the castle. Raising up she went into the bathroom, coming out cleaner, but with her long mane tangled all around her. In her mouth was a brush as she tried, and failed, to reach her mane.

"HOW ARE EARTH PONIES SUPPOSED TO DO THIS!" she screamed, her loud voice now sounding appropriate.

As if on cue a hurried knock came at the door, "Princess Sparkle! I'm sorry! I was supposed to be here an hour ago to help you get ready, may I come in?"

"COME IN!"

The door peeked open revealing a sky blue earth pony with a slightly darker blue mane.

Seeing Twilight struggle she quickly came in, revealing a silver jeweled comb as her cutie mark.

"I'm so sorry princess, when I was hired to take care of a princess I assumed it would be Celestia or Luna. I was not aware, please forgive me!" her babbling when Twilight got the brush caught in her mane at an odd angle. Without releasing the brush she called, "JUST HELP ME!"

She had not meant to be frightening, but her frustration with her mane combined with her enhanced voice had made her sound like an angry Nightmare Moon.

The blue earth pony stood frozen in shock, until Twilight turned to level a gaze at the poor pony, not wanting to release the brush tangled in her hair.

"PLEASE HELP ME WITH THIS!" Twilight tried to smile to make her words less harsh. It had the opposite effect, the disembodied voice gave her the appearance of growling the words. The blue earth pony took a step back.

"NO, DON'T BE AFRAID, JUST HELP ME!" Twilight pleaded, trying to pull the hairbrush from a spot uncomfortably located on the back of her head.

Seeing the princess struggle with her mane, the blue pony looked on for a second before approaching to help. Grabbing the brush from Twilight's hair. Twilight went over to the bed and grabbed a pillow to cover her chest with.

"That's much better! Let's try this again. My name is Twilight Sparkle." she raised a hoof, not dropping the pillow.

Tentatively the blue pony raised her hoof to meet Twilight's "My name is Soft Brush, but my friends call me Soft, I am your new hoof-madmen, princess. "

"Nice to meet you soft! Sorry for the yelling before, the hairbrush was stuck and I didn't want to let go."

"It's alright princess, but if I may ask, what are you doing?"

"Oh, you don't know? I guess if you weren't told of me, then of course you don't know! I'm not... Well, I'm..." Twilight dropped the pillow and opened her mouth to show Soft.

Soft gasped, dropping the brush, "How did that happen?"

Twilight re-raised her pillow, "I'd rather not talk about it, suffice it to say, the same way I lost my tail, and my magic. The harness speaks, or rather yells, for me. I have to cover it because it yells everything, but hopefully not for much longer. Celestia said she could probably quiet it down."

"Lost your magic? Oh, that explains some things... Is that why you need my help. I thought... I apologize but,well... I thought you were just one of those racist unicorns nobles  who get off on being served hoof-and-hoof by 'lowly earth ponies,'" Soft said as she took a more easygoing stance.

Shocked by the sudden change in speech and posture Twilight managed "Oh, well... Um... Ok... Just so you know most of my friends are non-unicorns, and I live in the small town of Ponyville as a librarian, so even though I was born here, don't think I'm one of those Canterlot snobs."

"Well At first I thought I would be working here for Princess Celestia, but when I was told that was wrong, I was afraid it would be Nightma... Princess Luna, but I'm glad it's a more down to earth pony! I get so stiff around all the snobby ponies around the castle: like this one unicorn that wanted me to carry him around! He kept complaining about the possibility of his 'royal hooves' getting dirty! Like I could even carry his thick hide!"

Twilight couldn't suppress a silent chuckle, "That sounds like prince Blueblood. He is a jerk to everypony though so don't take it personally." Twilight said through her pillow.

"I'm sorry I got us so off track, can I help with your mane?" Soft said pointing to said mane.

"That would be so much help, I haven't brushed it in months, and the hospital staff were less than worried about my looks." she said jokingly.

"I'd be happy to help with such a beautiful and flowing mane!"

"It's not doing much 'flowing' as it is" Twilight said giving it a disapproving stare.

"Well I better get to work then, your coronation announcement is in a few hours, and we still have to get you a dress from the royal seamstress!"

"A dress?"

"Of course! It was recommended by the princess. If I had to guess I'd say it's to cover your, ahem...  posterior."

"I had almost forgotten about that," Twilight admitted sullenly.

-------------------------------------

After Twilight's mane was well made into a long braid to keep it up, they continued to the dressmakers workshop within the castle.

"RARITY!" She yelled despite the pillow over her chest, running to the dressmaker.

"Twilight Darling! It's so good to see you! I heard yesterday you were back," she said coming to the purple mare, "I'm sooooo sorry about not coming to see you, I wasn't even told you were back until today! I heard you were in the hospital for a month!"

"I was, but I'm feeling a lot better now that..." she was cut off by rarities signature gasp, " I'm so sorry princess, forgive me for talking to you in such a disrespectful manner, I forgot your highness's position. This is terrible, for someone like me to..." this time rarity was cut off by Twilight, "Rarity, please, it's just me! Despite silly titles I'm still just Twilight Sparkle."

"Darling, you are royalty, and royalty must be treated as such! Without that! It would be... THE WORST POSSIBLE THING!" she said fainting to her tactically located couch.

"Well at any rate, it's good to see you haven't changed much." Twilight said, giggling at the dressmakers antics.

Getting up Rarity replied, "'Haven't changed much!?!' Far from it! I make  dresses for royalty! Not just anypony can say that! Speaking of which, you need a dress, here let me measure you." Rarity said, pulling a dozen measuring tapes from around the room with her magic.

"Dear you HAVE lost a lot of weight since last time I measured you! What I wouldn't give for your current figure!"

"I already know you would give your tail for fashion, but mine was just part of the 'special weight loss plan' I've been on the past few months."

"I'm so sorry Twilight, I didn't mean to make light of what-"

"It's no problem I meant it as a joke, but it kind of fell flat didn't it? Anyway, you called me Twilight again so I'm happy."

That's when Rarity saw Twilight's tail, or lack there of, for the first time, "DEAR! What happened! This is terrible! Your beautiful tail! Maybe there is a spell, or you could get extensions or something! I mean you really lost everything back here!" Rarity said, examining the damage.

"Most ponies have the decency not to look, but you are kind of... exposed back here, I'll have to put you in a long dress until then... Or!" she said beginning to braid Twilight's mane with her magic.

As the fashion designer worked Twilight began to visibly sag. "Thanks Rarity it's good to see one of my caring friends again. I really *sniffle* I really missed you guys." twilight said her eyes going blurry with tears. Even without her mouth as the source, her speech still bore the effects of her mood.

"We all missed you too dear, Rainbow never gave up looking, not that we did, but she has spent time every week actively searching for you, so promise me that you'll visit her and the rest of the girls as soon as possible alright?"

"I promise"

The unicorns hugged, Twilight's pillow  squeezed between them.

------------------------------------

Twilight sat in the chamber that opened to the balcony where the address was to take place. She wore a long midnight blue dress that fell to her hind hooves. Underneath her dress, her mane had been carefully braided and laid down her back in such a way as to look like her mane was simply braided into her tail. Twilight commended the fashion designer's creativity.

Her hooves had been polished, her breastplate shined,  and she wore no pillow for the sake of being heard during the address. Upon her head was the element of magic, Celestia called it "a sign of the elements approval" that her element had formed as a crown. All together she actually looked quite regal, with all her finery and adornments.  If it were not for her dress, a keen observer would note the small patches of her coat where no fur grew due to her scars and burns, but with the dress covering most of her body, she was a sight of perfection.

Twilight heard her teacher offer good luck before they proceeded onto the balcony. The crowd quieted down as Twilight steeled herself for what was happening.

"Quiet down now my dear ponies," she heard Celestia begin from the balcony, "A great thing has happened recently, my student: the vanquisher of Nightmare and savior of my sister Luna, sealer of discord, Element of magic and savior of Canterlot and Equestria many times over, has returned to us." thunderous cheering could be heard, Celestia waited to continue. "This is wonderful news, but only the beginning of today's joys. For she, Twilight Sparkle, from humble beginnings, through hard work and dedication, has proven herself to the finest detail an individual of honor and compassion. She has expressed every trait of a firm and true leader.

It is my great honor to bestow upon her, -with the blessing of my sister, the Elements of Harmony themselves, and myself- through the power vested in me by the Creator,  the title of Twilight Sparkle: Princess of Equestria and heir to the Celestial-Lunar throne. If in the event she find herself alone in the court, may she assume the duties of regent of the land and master of the heavens.

So saith I the immortal  Princess Celestia of Equestria, steward of the sun and ruler of the day!"

The cheering was deafening, but Twilight could hear her mentor beckoning her out in front of her on the ledge. When she appeared before her teacher, the deafening roar of the crowd only grew.

"Well, they seem to like the idea." Celestia said with a chuckle.

"I don't think I'm ready for this." Twilight said as she looked over the crowd, her loud voice barely audible over the roar of the crowd.

"Just say a few words, I know you are ready."

Twilight's confidence grew, and with a flap of Celestia's wings, the crowd quieted down for Twilight to speak.

Her voice was at the perfect level for a royal address, "Dear Canterlot, I am deeply humbled by all of this. Being born in Canterlot myself, I have always loved this city and the ponies that inhabit it. I hope in the future that we may all work well together in harmony." the address was short but direct, and the

ponies of Canterlot responded again  with thunderous cheering.

-------------------------------------

After the announcement, Twilight sat beside her mentor in the chamber just inside the balcony, the noise of the slowly dispersing crowd could still be heard outside.

Holding her pillow back over her chest again Twilight asked, "Princess, am I able to move back to Ponyville? Or do I have to live in the castle now?"

"Please Twilight, just call me Celestia  from now on, but yes, it is the right of Royalty to live in one of the castles. As you know, Cadence lives lives in the crystal palace, and Luna and I live here in Canterlot castle."

"But..."

"I am not finished. I assumed you would want to stay with your friends in Ponyville, so in anticipation for your return, I had the old Everfree castle restored. After all it is a shame to leave such a wonderful castle to waste away now that it no longer burns with memories of Luna's banishment.

Since the wedding I have prepared to remake the castle, and it was a great opportunity for Ponyville. A road from the castle to Ponyville  was cleared, and as the castle was being rebuilt, workers began to fill in the road with houses, now Ponyville is a quaint city unto itself, only waiting for someone to occupy the castle."

"Princess..." yet again Twilight was speechless.

"It was the least I could do, seeing as they needed a new town hall anyway, there is only so much the old town hall  could be rebuilt before it became a hazard. The castle now doubles as the town hall of Ponyville, and You shall lead the new city. Think of it as a test to prove yourself!"

Twilight did not know what to say to that, "But princess, I don't know how to lead a city!"

"I am fully confident you could lead all of Equestria, given the chance, that is why you are now a princess, but don't worry, you'll have help, I've already selected a group of advisers and other ponies to help you, you'll see them when you get there. Speaking of which, there is a chariot prepared and waiting to take you to the castle, so hurry along, you should arrive before sundown if you leave now."

"Thank you princess," and with a bow, and moving her pillow back to her back, Twilight turned to leave.

"Oh I almost forgot,"Celestia called. Twilight turned to get hit with a blast of magic.

"What did that do?" Twilight calmly asked, then she gasped as she noticed her pillow was still on her back.

"The collar! It isn't yelling anymore! Thank you princess!" Twilight ran to hug her mentor.

"So that's what I have to do for a hug? I give you a castle and I get a bow but I quiet you down and I get a hug?"

"Sorry princess, I just thought..."

"No, stop calling me princess, we are both princesses now, so just call me Celestia, or you could call me "Tia" like Luna and Cadence do."

Twilight would probably never be comfortable calling her "Tia" but she felt good to be so close to her mentor.

"Thank you prin -er Celestia! For everything!"

"No problem, happy to help, but Twilight, I recommend you move your mouth when 'speaking' you might scare somepony if you don't."

"I didn't think of that, thanks princess!"

With another nod, Twilight left to find the chariot to Ponyville.

-------------------------------------

As Celestia predicted it was still barely light when Ponyville came into view. It was clearly visible from the sky how much Ponyville had changed in Twilight's relatively short absence, it had been less than a year, but the city was nearly unrecognizable, as was the Everfree forest.

The forest had once been a dense jungle, unabated entirely across, now it had a large wedge of civilization cut into it, and at the tip of the wedge, where what used to be the broken remains of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, stood a rebuilt castle.

Even from a distance the castle was huge, not as flowery and intricate as Canterlot castle, there were no decorated spires reaching into the sky, but the stone castle was still a great sight to behold.

The chariot came down on the top of one of the corner fortifications.

"Welcome to your new home Princess!" Said Soft as she opened the door.

"Thank you Soft, but you really don't need to..."

"Nonsense princess, I have been assigned to you, so for as long as I can I will do what I can to serve you."

"But you don't need to-"

"Princess, I volunteered to come along with you because I like you! You don't think of me as 'just an earth pony, beneath contempt,' like the other nobles. So it's not that i have to serve you, it's that I want to serve you!... and I'd also like to make up for being afraid of you before."

"It's not a problem, I was upset about being unable to even brush my mane without magic, and with the collar yelling everything I said, I understand the problem, and I'm sorry for all of that."

Soft looked like she was going to respond, but was cut off by the sound of pounding hooves.

Outside the carriage a unit of the royal guard had taken a parade formation.

"Welcoming: Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria!" the pony in the armor Twilight recognized as that of a guard captain yelled.

Twilight left the carriage followed by Soft. When they were out of the carriage they could see there was more than just the guards present, it looked like a crowed had formed on the top of the castle where they landed. In the light of the sunset Twilight could see they were all still and silent as they looked  upon Twilight, not one shifting or speaking.

Twilight noted that many of their cutie marks were related to food, or cleaning, or other tasks that a castle would require the staff of.

"Do they all work here?" Twilight whispered to Soft.

"I would assume so princess, but I do not know..." she whispered back.

Before their quiet conversation could  continue, the guard captain spoke again.

"On behalf of all the royal guard and all the castle staff, we welcome you, princess, to the city of Ponyville. It's not Canterlot, but I hope that you will come to love it as we all do."

"I am happy to have such a grand reception, and I am sure that I will love it here, just as I used to." Twilight replied.

The guard captain looked somewhat confused at Twilight's remark, but was stopped from asking about it by another voice Twilight recognized.

"Welcome Princess Twilight, it is so good to see you again!"

Twilight turned to see Mayor Mare and another pony approaching.

"Mayor Mare! It's good to see you again! Um... Do you know what this is about?" Twilight said, gesturing to the assembled crowd."

"They are just welcoming you princess, it's the first time you've been here, and they are eager to see you. Are they a bother? I'll send them away if you wish."

"No no, just wondering. So, were you re-elected? I know the elections should have been a few months back..."

"No Princess, I retired so that I could become your adviser, you are in charge now Primcess."

"Well then I am glad that I have you to help me, there is no way I could run Ponyville alone."

"Don't be silly Princess, you were practically running the city anyway after your all-team-organizer debut. The assistance you gave me was invaluable. I only hope to return the favor."

"Twilight, you can just call me Twilight like you used to, and I look forward to working with you again as well. Is there anything that I should be brought up to date on, it seems like I have missed a lot."

"Nothing of major consequence at the moment princess, I'll Inform you of the relevant changes tomorrow. For now you should just settle in for the night, you've probably had a big day, and you'll need your rest for tomorrow, we have a lot planned for you."

Twilight looked at the other pony that came with Mayor Mare. She was a light grey unicorn with a short white mane, and a pair of scales as her cutie mark.

"My name is Prim Proper, and I am your other royal assistant, it is my duty to allow you to properly reflect your position, and aid you in affairs of state. I look forward to working with you princess."

"I look forward to it as well." she turned back to  Mayor Mare, "Could you have someone show me to my room, I am feeling quite tired now that you mentioned it."

"Of course! Captain, please take the princess to her room."

The captain nodded, turning and dismissing his men before leading Twilight away from the group, Soft followed.

The trip through the castle was long and scenic, Twilight recognized some old tapestries, faded from their thousand year stay in the castle, others she recognized as being transferred from Canterlot castle.

Eventually they entered a hallway that at one end had a large stone door engraved with an image of both the sun and moon orbiting a single alicorn whom Twilight did not recognize. The door was flanked on both sides by other royal guards. As the group approached the Guard captain gestured towards Twilight, and the door guards took the hint quickly and opened the doors, allowing Twilight and Soft entry.

"Princess, your room is the one directly at the end of the hall. Your attendant's bunk is the last room on the right."

Twilight thanked the guard captain, and the stone doors were closed.

From her experience at canterlot castle, Twilight knew that the wing she was now in was the royal apartments, reserved only for the royal family and a small team of attendants.

Soft spoke first, "Princess, I'll help you out of your dress."

"That is un-necessary, I can undo it myself, just go to to bed, I'll see you in the morning."

Soft looked a little dejected but began walking to the last door on the right as instructed.

Twilight also continued to her room.

Pushing open the door revealed a massive room, very similar to Celestia's room in Canterlot. Twilight imagined that this was probably what she modeled it off of to begin with. The room was huge, likely larger than the entirety of the library she had lived in, and boasted about as many shelves. The walls were lined with bookshelves, loaded with more books than Twilight had seen outside of the Canterlot library or Celestia's private collection.

On the walls there were separations between the shelves allowing grand windows to give great views of Everfree and Ponyville. Beside the grand entrance door there was a smaller door for attendants, that likely lead to Soft's room and another door on the left wall that was likely the master bathroom, but what drew Twilight's attention now was the alicorn proportioned bed dominating the center of the room.

Twilight quickly removed her dress crown and chest piece, placing them on a bedside table, and hoped into bed.

It may have been the softest bed Twilight had ever felt, it may have been a close second, but either way Twilight didn't notice, because as soon as she was in it she was out like a light.

------------------------------------

"Princess Twilight! Princess Twilight! Please wake up!" a voice urgently shouted through the door.

Twilight heard shouting, and went to speak, before realizing she was not wearing her collar. She began to reach for it, but before she could, the door burst open, and a dozen royal guard pegasi rushed in.

Twilight was fully awake now, and was able to put on her collar to ask, "What's going on?"

"There is an attack by a dragon and a pegasi accomplice, but don't worry princess, we'll protect you."

A dragon, and a pegasi attacking together, why would they attack here? Unless...

"Let them pass!" Twilight yelled, using the royal Canterlot voice and taking an I-know-what-I'm-doing stance."

It was not ten seconds before her theory was prove correct and she was tackled by a rainbow blur and knocked onto her back.

"Protect the princess!" one guard yelled.

"It's alright, it's just a friend!" Twilight laughed.

Looking up she saw Rainbow Dash crying over her.

"Where did you go Twilight? We all missed you so much." Rainbow said through her tears.

"I'm sorry, but I'm happy to be back and to see you again! Is Spike with you? I would guess he's the dragon they were talking about, silly though that they would be so concerned about such a small dragon."

"About that..."

Rainbow was cut off by the sound of combat approaching. When the sound reached the doorway Twilight could see why the guards were concerned; the little dragon twilight had expected to see had been replaced by a dragon standing four ponies tall and five ponies long, with a large set of wings and much more draconic features than the portly assistant she remembered. But Twilight recognized that it was Spike, Spike covered in guards ineffectually trying to buck him despite his thick scaled hide.

"Guards! That is enough! These are my friends!"

"Princess, are you sure?"  one guard asked looking at the dragon currently brushing off a squad of guards as if they were flies.

"I'm sure, you are all dismissed, now please leave us alone."

The guards called off their attack and left to their posts, closing the doors behind them.

"Twilight!" the dragon boomed, sounding as loud as her collar. He raced over and picked her up for a hug. "I missed you so much! Me and Rainbow have been looking for you forever, when I got Celestia's letter we came right away. All this time and now you just show up as a princess! What happened?"

"It's a long story, but I'm back now. More importantly, what happened to my little assistant, I haven't been gone that long have I?"

"When you disappeared Rainbow spent weeks looking for you, and I tried to keep the library running for you when you returned, but eventually I couldn't just sit around anymore, so I closed up the library and began to look with rainbow, but I wasn't much help being stuck on the ground. We remembered that I grew wings during my birthday incident, so we tested it out, and by using the library's books as my hoard I could grow to this size, allowing me to fly, without being too big and losing my mind again."

"If you've been this big that long, there is probably a chance you can never go back to your old size..."

"It's alright Twilight, I've been staying in Basil's old cave on the mountain outside Ponyville. I could use it as a look out."

"I thought you said you were using the library?"

"I used the library's books as my hoard, but I couldn't fit in the tree anymore, so rainbow helped me take all the books up to the cave."

"It must be lonely up there..."

"Nah, Rainbow keeps me company. We would go out at least once a week together and look for you, it became a routine. On occasion Pinkie, Applejack, or Fluttershy would come to visit too. Though the towns people were not happy about me, they were suspicious about your disappearance around the same time I grew big, most are afraid that I may have eaten you or something. Needless to say, I wasn't welcome in town much anymore."

"Well no more cold mountains for you; you are moving into the castle with me! We're lucky you didn't get any bigger or even this place would be too small soon."

Twlight turned back to Rainbow, who had finished collecting herself, "Thanks Rainbow, for looking after spike, and for not giving up on me."

"That's what loyalty is Twi, or should I say 'Princess'" she put a mocking emphasis on "princess."

"Well it's good to see you guys again too. I've got to go say hi to the other girls too though, so I'll be seeing you later. Rainbow, could you help Spike move in here? I'll tell the guards not to worry."

"No problem Twi! I'll have him moved in and well come meet up with you fast as possible." Rainbow flashed a salute before racing off.

"I better go too," said spike, moving to follow Rainbow out the door.

When the door closed, twilight began to walk to what she assumed to be the bathroom, but before she reached the door she heard a voice.

"Is- is the dragon gone?" the door to Soft's room said.

"Yes, he's gone to grab his things, he'll be back later."

"It's coming back! Princess you should leave at once! Who knows what it might do when it returns!"

"When HE returns, he will me assisting me, he IS my number one assistant, after all."

"A dragon! As your assistant! How did Celestia manage that!"

"It had nothing to do with Celestia, well, not directly. I hatched and raised him from his egg. He has been my assistant ever since he's been able to walk and talk."

"Wow princess, you mothered a dragon, you are no 'ordinary librarian' like you said."

"Well, I guess not ordinary, but I still need help brushing my mane without magic, so don't think too much of it. By the way could you help me with my mane, the braid seems to have come undone."

"Right away princess"

After a nice bath in the similarly massive royal bathroom, Twilight was again mounted with her royal vestments, and a dark blue cape to cover as much of her scaring as possible and to hide her lack-of-tail. She was again looking like the royalty she now was. She was prepared to go out to find her friends.

------------------------------------

Applejack was enjoying her day off, enjoying it by way of sleeping till noon. She rarely took days off, and the days she did, she took guilty pleasure in sleeping way past her usual wake-up time of dawn.

Today though she was woken up by the sound of Applebloom bounding up the stairs to her room. She burst through the door panting.

"What's the hurry lil' sis"

"The royal guard are comin' and when Big Mac went to 'em they jumped him"

Applejack jumped out of bed, "Stay here, I'll go see what they want." As she got ready Applebloom could hear her sister continue under her breath, "With all the commotion at the castle there's talk of some new princess 'er something going around. The guards are probably just harassing us country folk for

breathin' their air without payin a tax for it. Asertin' their dominance to look good for their new snobby princess. If I weren't such a nice gal I'd show those high class snobs how hard us country folk can buck."

By the end of her monologue, Applejack had bound up her hair into her signature ponytail, and made her tail match, finally putting on her trademark stetson.

"I'll go tell 'em off, jus' stay here for now, I'll be back in a minute." she growled before exiting her room.

On the porch she saw that apple bloom wasn't kidding, it looked like half the royal guard was parading up to the old farmhouse, a carriage being pulled in the middle of the formation.

When they reached the front porch Applejack was the first to speak, "Now what's the ruckus out here?"

The lead guard responded in a no-nonsense voice, "The Princess wishes to visit the establishment 'Sweet Apple Acres'"

"Well that's nice and all, but we ain't up for tours, and we got a lot to do today, so I'll have to be askin' you to leave."

"I'm confident you can make time for the princess, she specifically said you would."

"That's mighty presumptuous of the 'princess,' you can tell your 'princess' that those of us who work for a living have better things to do than to waste time goin' around harassing us common folk."

"Were sorry, but we will not take no for an answer."

The guard began to try to walk around Applejack,when she turned and bucked him off the porch. Guards leapt from the formation and dragged her to the ground as others entered the house.

"Applebloom run! Go find Rainbow Dash and tell her to bring Spike!"

"Did you call for us?" Rainbow Dash said landing nearby, as if on cue, Spike touched down too, surprising the guards enough for Applejack to shake them free.

"Rainbow, help me get rid of these trespassers, some went inside already."

"Nah, don't worry about it, I'm sure they are just being cautious for 'the princess.'" Rainbow gave a smile and nod to the carrage.

"Whose side are you on? 'The princess' shows up unannounced with a small army and expects us to roll out the red carpet!?! I'd expect you to be upset about this too!"

The guards came back out of the house.

"Just a filly and an old mare inside, no threats captain... Um, is that a dragon?"

"Yes, yes it is. Now let the princess out."

A guard unharnessed himself from the carriage and went to open the door. Applejack noted that the guard used a key to unlock the door.

"Announcing Her Royal Highness Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria!"

Applejack was dumbfounded, "Did he just say 'Princess Twilight Sparkle'?"

Rainbow responded with a simple "Yep" barely able to contain her laughter.

The door to the carriage was opened and Twilight tumbled out.

"I told you I can walk on my own! I don't need all of you following me everywhere!" she looked around, noticing Applejack, "Oh, hi Applejack."

"Twilight!" she yelled in reply, charging over to her fallen friend.

"Long time no see, huh AJ?"

Applejack punched her, gaining threatening stares from the guards that surrounded them.

"I don't see you in months, I just got my farm ransacked, scaring the living day lights out of me and my family, you show up here as a 'princess' and all you got to say is 'long time no see'! Are ya' kiddin'!"

"It's good to see you too Applejack" Twilight said with a soft smile.

The farm mare jumped the purple princess causing a few guards to pounce, before noticing the tears in the orange pony's eyes.

"We all missed you so much, we were so worried! What happened? Where were you? What's with the 'princess' thing? Oh it's so good to see you again Twilight!"

"It's good to see you again, and it's a long story, and I'm sorry for all the trouble this has caused you, but my guards are a little overzealous, they just want to keep me safe. They gave   Rainbow and Spike heck when they broke into the castle to see me."

"Broke into the castle? Well whatever. About those guards, do they know you took down a raging ursa minor all on your lonesome? That'll convince them you don't need protectin'."

"My magic hasn't recovered yet, on the ride over I levitated a quill for writing, but that's about it for now, having my element on me at all times has actually been an amazing boost to the recovery of my magic, originally the doctors had said months before any magic would return, but with how I'm feeling it may be back in a week or two.

I heard your argument with the guards, so I know you have a lot to do, so I won't take up anymore of your time, just saying hi to all the girls."

"Now I wasn't lying when I said there was a lot to do, but you know you are always welcome at Sweet Apple Acres, so don't be a stranger now 'princess' Twilight."

"You know I won't. By the way, if you can make it, I'm planning to get everyone together at the castle tomorrow, it would be great if you could make it."

"I'll be there, just don't have your guards get so 'friendly' next time." she said with a glare to the guards who jumped her.

"He-he, I'll keep them in line, see you." Applejack waved as the parade of guards left the acres.

"Now to see if granny had a heart attack in all the commotion..."

-------------------------------------

Fluttershy was the Next on Twilight's list of home visits, and after the terrible impressions the guards gave Applejack they would probably scare Fluttershy to death, so she commanded them to let her do the knocking this time, they protested, but Twilight found the royal Canterlot voice to be very persuasive.

When they arrived at Fluttershy's cottage Twilight went ahead and knocked on the door, when it opened, a white rabbit stood looking at her unamused.

"Hello Angel, is Fluttershy home?"

The rabbit shook his head.

"Is she in town?"

The rabbit shoot his head again.

"Is she at Zecora's?"

The rabbit again shook his head, this time pointing to a forest trail near the cottage that went into the Everfree forest, away from the castle.

"She's in the forest? Is she gathering supplies?"

The rabbit nodded.

"Thanks, we'll go look for her, I can't wait to see her."

The rabbit closed the door and twilight led the merry band into the forest.

------------

"Angel, who was that at the door?" Fluttershy said coming to the living room still damp from her shower.

The bunny just hopped to his bowl and motioned for more food.

"You've already eaten silly bunny."

Angel was not amused.

---------------

When it became too dark to see in the forest the group was finally forced to give up the search and retreat to the town.

"Let's go see Pinkie over at Sugarcube Corner, I'll bet she'll be surprised to

see you" Spike said

"Or she already knows you're coming and has a party planned already." Rainbow added.

"Sounds good, let's get over there quickly, they'll close soon."

Rainbow knocked on the door to Sugarcube Corner.

"Sorry, we're sold out and closed for tonight, please come back in the morning." Mr. Cake could be heard saying from inside.

"It's me Rainbow, is Pinkie home?"

The door opened to show Mr. Cake with a broom.

"No sorry dear, she bounced off earlier today saying something about a welcome back party. Haven't seen her since. Say, she wouldn't happen to be in trouble would she?" he asked taking note of the large group of guards surrounding the confectionary shop.

"No, nothing like that. Well Thanks anyway." and with that they left the gingerbread structure to the calm of night and headed back to the castle.

-------------

As soon as they arrived at the castle they could tell something was going on. There were guards running around in every direction, and castle staff running around similarly confused.

They quickly knew why, as they opened the main hall/throne room that used to house the elements. The room was lined with confection laden tables, the floor was dusted with confetti, the cealing was invisible behind the dense balloon covering, and amongst the bright colors of the room one color stood out the most: Pink. Pinkie was currently above a group of guards, whom she was avoiding by swinging on streamers as if they  were vines in the jungle. Her laughter pierced through the rough voices of the guards yelling for her to submit.

When she saw Twilight and The group she swung over, landing ahead of the pack of guards trying to catch her. The guards with Twilight surrounded her in a defensive formation, but Twilight pushed past them, as she was now becoming accustomed to doing. The guards backed down.

"Twilight! I was beginning to worry you would be late for your party!"

"Well, I'm honestly not too surprised, but dare I ask, what party?"

"Your 'Welcome Back Twilight, and Congratulations You're a Princess Party' duh! What else would this be?"  she exclaimed, eyeing Twilight as if she were crazy.

"I expected nothing less! So Pinkie, has the party started?"

"Not yet, although the guards and I have been playing tag! They are not very good though."

Twilight laughed, "Well, why don't we wait until tomorrow  then, I was planning on getting all the girls together again and having a little party myself." she saw Pinkies excitement boil and knew that the pink pony wouldn't sleep unless she had at least a little partying tonight, "But for now I guess we can play a game or two."

Pinkie jumped into action, zooming away and returning with a pin-the-tail-on-the-pony game.

"It's been a long time since I played that, maybe when we are done I can keep the tail to wear as my own!" Twilight joked pulling aside her cape and pointing her rear at Pinkie.

Pinkie stood still for a moment longer than was comfortable, her smile fading slightly. Twilight noticed the uncharacteristic change in her friend, "Uh, Pinkie, it was a joke"

Pinkie caught herself and her smile came back big as ever. "Of course! Ha ha! Let's eat some cake first!"

"But what about pin-the-tail-on-the-pony?" Twilight tried to say as she had cake smashed into her mouth at the hooves of an overeager party pony. Twilight just let it go, and tried to have fun.

--------------

The party was originally just Twilight, Rainbow, Spike and Pinkie, but when Soft came to see the commotion, twilight dragged her into it and slowly the entire staff joined in. By the end of the night even some of the uptight castle guard bobbed a little to the music.

The party lasted most of the evening and into the night, so when her friends left and the staff calmed down, Twilight was dead tired and went straight to bed with soft's aid, spike following close behind. Reunited with her friends, and with spike nearby, she slept better than she had in ages.

-------------