If There Was No Magic

Chapters

Prologue: A Spark
Twilight's Training
The Room
Arrogant, Timid, Stubborn, Insane, Uptight
Surprise
Friends, Not So Bad After All
My Friends
Preparations
Dim to Dark
Return

Prologue: A Spark

Bzzt! A spark dances from the tip of the unicorn filly’s purple horn, breaking the silence between the two ponies studying in the lounge. The other pony closes the book that lies on the carpet at his hooves. Blue eyes shimmer a faint purple as he watched the spark hop towards him across the floor. It fizzles out before it had crossed half of the distance between them, bringing disappointment to the older siblings features.

“What was that Twily?” The Shining Armor’s eyes are lit up, jaw hanging open, wanting to see more.

“I was reading an old book the Princess gave me. It’s about the reign of Discord.” Twilight groggily sums up as if that explains everything.

“Discord? Why are you reading those old tales? I thought the Princess was teaching you new things.” Sighing inside Twilight resists the urge to just continue reading.

“Well,” A yawn forces the spent filly to pause, “The Princess said this portion of history is key to the research we will be doing together. This book is one from the forbidden archives detailing exactly what happened in Discords reign. The original was written in the peace shortly after his defeat almost two-thousand years ago. I consider myself luc-”

“I don’t want a lecture on old books Twilight,” Shining Armor cuts in rolling his eyes. “I want to know what that spark was and if you can do it again..”

“Oh that,” Twilight takes a deep breath, “It’s magic, or at least my first attempt at it.” Shining’s face begins to redden. He lets out a snort and chuckling soon follows. Soon enough he collapses onto the floor in a full blown laughing fit. Sighing outwardly this time Twilight continues to read trying to ignore her brother as he suffocates himself with joy next to her. Once he recovers and is upright next to Twilight he continues the conversation.

“Sorry Twi. It’s just magic? I thought that didn’t exist?” If forming the spark hadn’t used all of Twilight energy, this conversation was certainly sapping the last of it.

“It existed in the time before Discord. It is written here that there were three princesses before the Reign of Chaos. In order to defeat Discord the three sisters had to combine the powers of the sun, moon, and magic to vanquish him.” Twilight pinches the page between her teeth and flips it over. “The greatest strain was put on the third sister Magi, the provider of magic. After Discord’s vanishing the sisters found her missing as well. Magi provided magic much the same Celestia provides the sun and Luna the moon, without her it is inaccessible for other ponies, even the two remaining sisters.”

“So what you’re telling me is that you’ve somehow revived this long forgotten sister, by reading a book.” Shinings neck straightens from a slouching position as he speaks.

“Not revived, more of rediscovered. It’s like I’ve found a small spark of magic still-” Twilight attempts to continue talking but a yawn overcomes her, “-left.” By now Shining is upright and walking to stand over Twilight.

“I think it’s time for someone to get their rest,” he observes. Another yawn stops Twilight’s protests as Shining closes the book she was in the middle of and places it on top of her pile. When she finally can speak Shining has taken the candle they were reading by and she has followed the light out of the now dark lounge then up the soft, carpeted steps. Shining takes a left at the top of the stairs, leading the yawning purple pony into her room. Stepping around a pile of books Twilight was halfway through reshelving, they make their way towards the corner of the room where a bed clothed in the night sky waits. As he tucks her into bed Shining Armor can’t help but encourage his little sister.

“Whatever that spark was Twilight it’s the closest thing to magic I’ve ever seen. I’m sure if you try hard and have Celestia to help, you’ll become the first pony in two-thousand years to use magic.”
Lacking the energy to speak Twilight murmurs her agreement as her heavy eyelids close without her consent.
“Good night Twilight.” Shining’s last words are whispered before he blows out the candle and exits the room, closing the door softly.

Celestia smiles from her viewpoint outside Twilight’s window. Standing she extends her wings and launches from the neighbour’s roof top, flapping effortlessly towards the white castle that fills the Canterlot horizon.

★★★

The sun’s rays pushing their way through Twilight’s eyelids wake her. Rousing herself she can’t help but stop in awe as the beauty her mentor has created for Equestria this morning. Soft pink fades into deep blue as the sun warns of it’s coming presence on the horizon. Seeing the sun reminds Twilight of the excitement that awaits her today, the same that had awaited her everyday for three months since Celestia took Twilight under her wing. Twilight’s dreamy mind takes the thought, recalling the experience for Twilight.

It was to be the first time Celestia would mentor a student since she taught her own sister. Twilight, a student studying two years above her level was the star student of the private academy she attended, was asked to attend the choosing. Strangely only unicorns were chosen. The written test was on Pre-Discord era history as well as concepts and theoretical application of magic unicorns of the era could perform. The test was supposedly to prove how well the potential pupils knew all aspects of history as well as their ability to quickly learn and apply new concepts. Celestia didn’t want a student that was difficult to teach the examiners assumed.
Twilight as well as two others managed to ace the quiz answering every question correctly. So Celestia personally asked them the final question, “Would you like to learn magic?” The query resulted in everypony in the room but Twilight and Celestia chuckled a little dismissing the question as a joke.
Surprising everyone, even herself Twilight answered enthusiastically “I would love to Princess.”

The memory of Celestia locking eyes with her as she dismissed the others from the room fills Twilight’s head. The warm presence and soft comforting feathers of Celestia’s wing cemented in her mind. The blinding sunlight twinkling over the horizon shocks Twilight out of her memories. Annoyed, she reminds herself that she didn’t have time to get lost in this memory every morning. She needs to be out of bed and ready to leave if she wants to make it to her lesson on time.

Covers are tossed aside by flailing hooves as Twilight springs out of bed to collect her saddle bags. Already full of books their weight gives her some difficulty. The struggle is short and soon a purple filly pops out from Twilight’s bedroom into the cool, dim hall. Twilight can hear the routine noise of her mother in downstairs humming to herself as she prepares the morning meal.
Descending the stairs, sounds of Shining Armor’s morning sword practice begin to reach Twilight. Reaching the bottom and beginning down the hall Twilight stops to observe her brother beating a wooden dummy tied to the oak in their yard. Swinging the sword from his mouth the new recruit looks like a proper guards pony to Twilight.

“Twilight dear could you tell your brother breakfast is ready.” The voice breaks her focus on the swordplay outside.

“Okay mom.” Twilight answers without thinking. Her thoughts have already shifted to her upcoming lesson. She can’t wait to bring news of her discovery to her teacher and show her the spark.
The rush of cool air as the door opens doesn’t pull Twilight from the depths of her mind, neither does the slam of the door as Shining enters.

“Come on Twily it’s breakfast.”The voice combined with Shining’s sweaty nudge manages to bring her back to the conscious world.

“Yes Princess” Twilight looks expectantly up at Shining “Uh I mean hey there Shining, nice morning isn’t it?” Her correction not enough to cover up her mistake and all she gets is a chuckle out of Shining Armor.

“Been day-dreaming again Twi?”

“I’m just excited after what happened last night,” Twilight admits, annoyed at herself once again for losing her focus on the real world.
.
“That spark was pretty cool. Are you gonna show the Princess it?”

“Definitely,” Twilight’s purple locks dance around her horn as she nods. “I’m certain that’s the reason she gave me the book.”

“Well tell me about it when I get home tonight, for now let’s have some pancakes.” Shining Armor turns and Twilight trails her brother down the hall into the kitchen.

★★★

“Show me it again.”

Twilight’s forehead creases with stress and eyes scrunch shut. A rush of air passes between her lips, deep breath. Distractions cloud her mind. What if she can’t do it this time? What if she doesn’t pass? Ignoring these habitual thoughts she sets her focus. Focus on a memory, a memory of heat pushing it’s way through her horn. The energy reaches the tip and leaves her body. The expense is taken from her legs, causing them to collapse under her. As she falls flat on her face she manages to catch a glimpse of a tiny purple twinkle dancing at Celestia’s hooves before it shrinks into nothing.

Celestia nudges Twilight with her nose in an attempt to rouse her. “That was very good Twilight, no pony has been able to form magical energy in two-thousand years.”

Celestia realises she is talking to herself. Twilight has yet to move from her fall. Celestia feels her stomach sinking and gently attempts to pull Twilight up with her hooves. Her efforts only result in Twilight falling into a more comfortable position on her side. The fear grows inside Celestia as she sinks down next to Twilight and uses a snow white hoof to cuddle her student to her side.

“Twilight?” Barely a whisper escapes Celestia’s lips as they pass over Twilight’s ear.

“Did I pass?” A mumble of words reach Celestia from the purple filly curled before her.

“Yes.” The syllable bursts out of Celestia’s mouth as her mind conflicts whether to cry or laugh, her lips choose a smile. “Of course you passed you silly filly, even I couldn’t have done better.”

“What next, Princess?” Twilight’s diligence manages to ask for another assignment before she slips back to sleep. The princess allows herself to steal a celebration nuzzle from the resting student. Her lips curl another twitch upwards.

Celestia speaks softly, as not to wake, “Next we rediscover the world my precious little student.”

Twilight's Training

The purple filly’s face creases with effort as she attempts to display a hint of magic. Her eyes scrunch tighter, a burst of air is released through her flared nostrils as part of a stuttered breath. She tries to hold her concentration while inhaling to replace the air she lost. A splutter, coughing follows as Twilight collapses. Instantly Celestia is by her side, helping her up. She hugs the exhausted pony loosely, careful not to smother her.

“No need to make yourself faint Twilight, let us rest for a while.” Concern is blatant in her voice, Celestia’s unease is well hidden though. She wouldn’t admit it in front of Twilight but she is scared for the young pony after the recent reminder of how draining this art could be.

“Just one last try Princess,” the effort of speech leaves Twilight out of breath, she takes a moment to recover. “It feels different this time,” more deep breaths, “As if it has a purpose.” While Celestia doesn’t want the budding student to push herself too far, she also fears repressing the young pony’s talent.

“Just one more then,” Celestia decides. “But this is your last attempt, no matter what happens after this we will be doing restful theory for the remainder of the day.” Celestia feels Twilight’s nodding snout rub against her chest. Pulling away from the white Princess’s embrace Twilight gets into position. Front legs bent with her rump sticking up into the air. She clamps her eyelids down tightly, scrunches her nose and opens her lips, showing some teeth.

The strain begins with a slight haze around Twilight’s horn. A soft glow is revealed as the haze clears. Celestia sighs, this process is exactly the same as the previous attempt. Maybe this time she’ll change something? A thought that had been genuine when they first began training one day shy of two weeks ago, now it is forced. Celestia’s hope that magic could be restored had slowly dwindled to nothing during their training. Annoyance flashes in her mind, not directed at Twilight but herself. Annoyance for putting so much faith in one little filly, but she must continue even if it was hopeless. Without Luna this is the only way.

“Did you see that Princess? I did it! I controlled the spark.” Celestia is torn from her thoughts by the excited purple filly jumping bouncing in front of her. Twilight’s navy blue locks are jumping with her, tickling Celestia’s nose. The princess finally deciphers the situation, realizing she’d just missed the moment she doubted would ever happen.

“I’m so sorry Twilight I was caught up in my thoughts,” Celestia admits to her pupil. “Do you think you can repeat it?”

“Of course Princess. I feel like I actually understand what I’m doing now.” Twilight’s confident words quell her teacher’s ever present fears for a moment. Twilight readies herself again, taking a stance different from her last attempt. Instead of her rear being high in the air it is now underneath her as she sits. A smooth, calm face and lightly lidded eyes replace their wrinkled counterparts. A deep breath, then the haze followed by the glowing of her horn. The glow gathers at the tip and instead of popping out as a spark forms a small light no brighter than a candle.

Celestia leans closer to study the spell. It’s color appeared to be pure white from afar but actually is holds a tint of purple, similar to Twilight’s coat. The purple horn lowers and the light winks out, disappointing the princess briefly.

“How?” Celestia breathes the word, mouth left hanging agape, her unblinking eyes locked on Twilight’s horn.

“All I did was change the technique Princess.” Twilight points out the process with her hoof as she lectures her mentor. “Previously I was pushing the magic out with brute force and expecting something to happen. What I actually need to do is pull the magic inside and shape it into the spell I desire. Then by simply releasing it from my grip it flows into my horn and projects itself from the tip." Celestia chuckles.

"Two thousand years ago I thought I knew all there was to know about magic yet I've never heard a pony explain it quite like that." She allows herself to nuzzle one of Twilight's ears before masking herself in professionalism once more. "That's enough work for today Twilight. Why don’t we discuss some more magical theory over biscuits and tea?” Twilight simply nods and the pair trot out of the room on their way to some much needed relaxation.

★★★

Twilight is completely still, her mind clear. The sensations around her dulled except for the stone tome floating before her. Even the book itself is nothing more than a speck in the vast expanse of her mind. All her concentration is focused on the ruby latch that imprisons the secrets of the ancient writings. Twilight can feel the magical riddle emanating from it’s core, begging to be solved. This lock is woven weakly enough that at Twilight’s level of skill she can simply crush it without playing it’s games, but the ponies of old had been creative in their binding riddles and Twilight loves to solve them.

The translation troubles Twilight a little as she is still learning the ancient Magi language. Glee dances across her mind when she has the complete message, What shrinks and hides when the sun is overhead, is a full strength when the sun is at it’s lowest, yet without the sun is gone altogether? It takes Twilight all of two seconds to figure out the answer.
A shadow. She translates her answer back into Magi. Then transmits two pulse of different magical frequency, each representing one word, to the jewel. The clasp pops open and Twilight sets the book on the floor at her feet, spilling the pages open. The whole process took a little over half a minute.

Celestia stands from a sitting position a few steps behind Twilight, a smile hinted at on her lips. Prepared to translate the strange symbols that cover the book’s pages she moves to sit beside Twilight.

“Can you let me attempt this one first Princess?” Twilight is attempting to hide her eagerness behind a tight-lipped smile as she questions the princess. The white mare can’t help but release a giggle at the sight of Twilight’s face. Her bulging eyes and clamped mouth make her appear as if she is going to explode.

“Of course you can Twilight, but if you need any help just ask.” Celestia wiggles even closer to Twilight, their haunches rubbing against each other as Twilight attempts to puzzle some meaning from the pages before her. Twilight can’t help but blush as the friendly gesture distracts her from the lines of nonsense before her. The diversion of attention doesn’t affect her ability to translate the symbols, she can’t recognise a single one.

“I think I might need some help with this one princess, I’ve never seen any of these characters before.” Celestia mouth forms a smile once again and she gently caresses her students mane with her hoof.Twilight reactively squints her eyes and tries to squirm her head away, but this only results in her head being grinded harder against Celestia’s hoof.

“Oh Twilight, you’re the cutest little filly,” the princess coos at Twilight’s discomfort. “Now let’s see what this one is about.” She turns her attention back to the book leaving Twilight to get lost in her thoughts. Twilight’s thoughts turn to the blur that has been the last three months.

After she had formed that first spell in this same room, Twilight’s lessons with the princess had turned into intense magical training. At first they had started with simplicity and practiced the light spell that Twilight had first discovered to build up Twilight’s magical strength and stamina. During this time Celestia searched the archives for details on basic magical spells. The books had diagrams and explanations describing the exact forms Twilight needed to create for each spell as well as what emotions could be supplemented into each spells make up to push it’s power to the limit.

Following the light spell the teacher and student had progressed to a simple levitation spell limited to the movement of a single object. The form for the spell was a pair of pincers and the emotional booster lack of emotion. Twilight had never seen a pincer before and the diagram in the tome was faded beyond recognition so Celestia had a crab bought in for reference. The creature had clamped on Twilight’s nose and after much flailing and Celestia’s comforting words Twilight finally settled down enough for them to pry it off. Twilight rubs her nose subconsciously at the memory. Another hoof meets hers bringing her out of the memory. Twilight looks up at Celestia awaiting the obvious request only for the princess to turn away and wipe her eyes.

“Can you come look at these symbols Twilight?” The eternal mare’s speech is broken with a sob, poorly covered by a cough. “They are related to the research I have been doing and I feel I should enlighten you about it.” Celestia tries to force a smile, but her glistening red eyes tell the truth.

“What’s wrong princess?” Fear is in Twilight’s voice as she wonders what could possibly be troubling her personification of perfection. “Why were you crying?”

“Twilight I,” Celestia sniffs, a delicate motion hidden by her hoof and looks back down at the book. “The research I’ve been doing, it relates to my sister,” the princess turns, her inquisitive eyes meeting Twilight’s. “Do you know her?”

“Yes, I mean no. I know of her,” Twilight’s indecision makes Celestia giggle forgetting her grievances for the moment. “Is this book about her?”

“It is,” Celestia places her hoof on the page, drawing attention to a deep blue crescent moon in the center. “This symbol here represents my sister, this book is an account of her downfall. The tales say that she grew jealous of me and tried to make night eternal, but the truth is the loss of our sister took it’s toll on her.” Celestia stops to blink, rubbing her moistening eyes. “The emotion became too much for her to bare and so she gave up her physical body to devote all her concentration to the moon and the night sky. At least that was what she told her servants.”

Celestia gaze turns downwards, closing the book with her hoof. The emotional tale has Twilight captivated, her eyes locked on the embodiment of the sun’s face, framed by her ever flowing mane. The pause is long enough for Twilight’s eagerness to get the best of her, “What did she tell you?”

“She said she was searching.” Celestia’s voice is distant, still staring at the tomes cover. “Luna and I are quite clearly connected to celestial bodies, if our physical bodies come to a fatal end we return to our celestial bodies to reconstruct. However we can only return with help from another sister, Luna and I previously had a connection that allowed to communicate and aid each other in bringing our bodies to Equestria. I am not certain where Magi lies dormant or if she even has somewhere to go at all."

“How did you get her to Equestria originally?” The thought bursts from Twilight’s mouth before she even realises she is thinking it. “I’m sorry Princess, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Twilight’s apologies begin to flow as she digests the action she just performed, only stopping when Celestia’s hoof blocks off their exit.

“Don’t apologise, it’s a good question Twilight. It will make what I mean to tell you easier to understand. At first there was only Luna and I, the sun and the moon, no Equestria and no Magi After the two of us decided to create Equestria, simply the power of our combined will forced it into existence. We discovered ourselves on the peak of the mountain behind Canterlot, our bodies much younger than mine is today. Our manes did not flow like mine does, they sat just like a regular ponies would. Luna possessed a short baby blue mane that ended in a small flick and mine was long and dawn pink, rolling down my neck in loose curls. Our coat colors did not change as we aged though, mine is still the same as it was on that day.” While she was speaking Celestia had tilted her head upwards and is now staring through the wall, as if the scene were happening beyond it.

“Magi well” Celestia continues to fill Twilight’s mind with the monumental scene,” She looked a lot like you do actually. Her mane and coat were colored the same, though her hair was not as uniformly kept as yours, small flick’s covered her mane and her fringe was spiky and uneven. She also only shared one of your highlights, the pink one. How she managed to be there is was a mysterious to Luna and I as our own existences, she just appeared when Equestria did.” Twilight’s sudden recognition causes her to choke, pulling Celestia out of her memories to look at turn towards the unexpected disturbance.

“Do you think that maybe,” Twilight spoke slowly, for fear of being mistaken. “The object Magi was tied to was Equestria. Maybe when the two of you formed it she was created as the embodiment of it as well.” Celestia nods, her expression turning grim to mask her emotion.

“That is what Luna suspected, but she could not attempt communication at her full power with the distraction of a body here on Equestria. So she decided that it was best to give up her body for the hope that she could bring back Magi and herself one day.” Celestia knows the question forming in Twilight’s mind. “I can not communicate with her sadly. After a year of Luna attempting communication while still linked to me she decided that the link we shared was holding her back, limiting her progress. Luna and I took a few decades shy of one thousand years to initially communicate when we were just sun and moon, completely open to anything with no distractions. Luna calculated it could take over ten thousand to form a second link with one already holding some attention. So she broke the link and I haven’t heard from her since.” Celestia sighs, turning from the closed book to face her student. “I know this is a lot to take in Twilight, but it all relates to you.”

“Is it about my magic? Why was it me who discovered it?” Twilight has barely moved throughout the conversation. Now she sits facing her teacher, snout tilted upwards, glimmering purple eyes wide open, locked on the white mare’s somber ones.

“I have a few ideas why, but they don’t matter if I’m wrong” Celestia speaks dismissively. “What matters is that you have the ability to use magic, and that makes you the closest link I have to my lost sisters.”

“So where do we start?” Twilight questions the princess, eager to follow her instruction. Celestia giggles, the willingness of her student gives her confidence.

“First we train.”

★★★

Twilight’s head is spinning as she exits the palace through it’s golden front gates. The amount of information the princess had force-fed her is filling her mind, causing simple thoughts like walking and her destination to be pushed aside. Twilight stops just outside the gates to gather her thoughts, pushing aside all of Celestia’s teaching for now she focuses on making the journey home. As she walks through the late afternoon streets of Canterlot she is watching the sky. A picture of Luna sitting on the moon all alone comes to her. I wonder if she is just like Celestia, I could be her student too Twilight ponders the possibilities of Luna’s return. The rest of her journey home is filled with fantasies of the princesses mentoring her, of her being the student of both sun and moon.

Before Twilight knows it she hears a ‘bonk’ that is her nose hitting the wood of her front door, laughter follows as the dazed Twilight rubs her nose.

“Did you get lost in your thoughts again dear?” Her mother’s cheery voice rings down the hallway as Twilight closes the door behind her. Walking into the kitchen Twilight finds her mother preparing the evening meal while she hums to herself.
“I did actually,” the purple filly exclaims as if it were an accomplishment. “I was just thinking about my lesson today,” Twilight’s voice is slowing, her sentence being punctuated with a yawn. Her mother too distracted by the boiling vegetables in the kitchen to hear, Twilight attempts to continue regardless of reply. “Celestia, was telling, me,” the weight of the days exhaustion pulling her eyelids closed stopping her speech. She manages to blindly stumble into the unlit lounge to collapse onto one of the cushions.

Training, she can’t escape it. It fills every moment of her waking life, leaks into her mind as she sleeps and she loves it. Everyday new things to learn, history, spells, tales of Celestia’s life never recorded in history books. Snippets of her days spent as a student pass through her mind. Single object levitation turns to two objects, two to three and three into an assortment of chocolates she and Celestia had shared as Twilight suspended them all simultaneously.

Other spells, transformation, conjugation, locking, unlocking, memories of Celestia mentoring these spells to Twilight swirl around her painted in dull, faded colors. I'm dreaming, as the realization comes to her the images cut out. Twilight waits in the nothingness, unable to will herself out of the dream.

"Magi?" The voice enters Twilight’s ears, it is as if the speaker is all around her. Afraid, she shrinks back onto her haunches and tries to stay silent, hoping the entity will not find her. She realises her stupidity as the voice speaks again, “Magi, have you told our sister of our plans?”

“Uh, I’m not who you’re looking for sorry. I’m Twilight.” Twilight finally overcomes her instincts to cower from the unknown and settles herself, interested to learn about this unknown speaker. “Who might you be? If it isn’t too much trouble to ask.” She utters the question with the calmness of a pony talking to another about their meal at dinner, her fear quashed and curiosity takes over.

“Knowing my name is not important, it is best if you do not ask.” The speaker sounds unsettled, as if their name holds bad memories. “You are a magic user, yes? I pray I am not mistaken in that matter, I believe I can sense the knowledge of it in your mind.” The thoughts and questions in Twilight’s mind stop, the question about her secret startling her. How can she know Twilight ponders on the issue, only Shining and Celestia know.

“So you do know my sister,” the voice answers her. “Then revealing my name may be of use. I am her sister Luna.” Twilight is stunned, what should I do? Should I tell Celestia? How can I communicate with her? How did she read my thoughts? The thoughts run around Twilight’s mind, confusing her. The storm of thought grows, swelling and stirring until one thought sticks out clearly.

“How do I know you’re Luna?” Twilight's question demands proof, the ‘coincidence’ of this Luna contacting her so shortly after her conversation with Celestia arouses her suspicions. A deep night-sky blue hoof pokes out of the shroud of darkness, following it is the rest of the mysterious mare.

The Luna Celestia described stands in front of Twilight, albeit a few degrees more bedraggled than she imagined. The night sky is draped down her neck, she stands only a few hooves taller than Twilight but her slouched posture puts their eyes on even level. The night princess’s coat appears faded with bits of fur sticking out in odd places.

“Do you believe me now?” Luna’s tone sounds apprehensive, as if she is fearful of Twilight’s doubt.

“Not completely,” Twilight’s eyes are narrowed, squinting at Luna in an attempt to see through any disguise. “But it’ll have to do. May I ask why you are so messy looking? If it isn’t too rude.” Twilight speaks slowly, weighing her words and guarding her thoughts as not to give too much away to the mind reader she confronts.

“If you must know,” Luna’s gaze wanders above Twilight’s head distractedly. “I have stopped maintaining my physical body during my stay on the moon to devote all the time I have to my search. You can see I have grown quite weak looking as a result.” Luna’s eyes find their way back down to meet with Twilight’s, her lips twitching in a tired smile. “However that is not why I enter your dream to discuss. My intention was to communicate with my sister and query her about helping me return to Equestria. I expected her to attempt to bring my body down the day she returned, it has been 8 years since then and I have had no contact with her.” Luna’s brow is creased with the same worry that her voice hints at, “I have been searching for dreamers with magical energy ever since then in an attempt to communicate with her.” Twilight’s attention is captivated by Luna’s story, she sits in her usual listening pose, eyes wide, mouth hanging agape.

“So she just disappeared?” Twilight’s expression shifts from awe to concern.

“Not exactly,” Luna pauses, her eyes wander as she recounts the story. “I had established contact with Equestria, the celestial body which holds the soul of my sister Magi. I helped her return her physical body to Equestria and she promised to do the same, but after she had made the journey I lost contact. It was as you said, she disappeared or at least that is what appears to have happened. I know that is not the case however, you prove she didn't just vanish, you hold some of her spark."

"Is there anything I can do to help with your situation?" The sympathetic look the purple filly is giving Luna almost pushes her to say no as not to burden the young one, but she is desperate and this may be her only chance for years.

"Tell Celestia to look under the bed, she'll know what I mean. Now someone is calling you so I best let you go, uh.” Luna’s stutters, her half smile almost turning into a laugh. ”I’m sorry, but your name seems to slip my minds. What was it again?"

“It’s Twilight.”

“Twilight, yes.” The giggle Luna was holding burst from between her lips. ”That is oddly fitting. Goodbye Twilight, I hope we can meet in the flesh some day.” The darkness fades away before Twilight can utter a goodbye. Her eyes open and color floods in blinding her.

“Twilight, it’s time for us to eat. I’ve already called you twice.” Her mothers voice rings down the hallway helping to rouse her out of her sleep. The memories of her all too vivid dream and Luna’s message fill the forefront of her mind.

“I’ll be right there mom,” Twilight replies sleepily. Gathering herself, she yawns while rising to her feet. Wondering about what is going to happen tomorrow distracts her, ‘bonk’. “Ow,” Twilight mutters to herself irritably as she rubs her twice bruised snout, eyeing the wall suspiciously, trying to ignore the laughter floating from the kitchen.

★★★

She closes her eyes once more in a final attempt to lull herself to sleep. Twilight can’t even feel a yawn creeping up her throat, she feels more awake than she has been all day. Something about that dream with Luna had been so rejuvenating. She slides out from underneath her star covered bed-clothes and makes her way to the window. The deep blue night reveals itself as Twilight pulls the curtain aside, it’s beauty isn’t what captivates Twilight’s attention however.

The startled alicorn perched atop her neighbours roof is what catches Twilight’s eye. Celestia looks almost as shocked as Twilight feels, eyes wide, cheeks red with a blush. The princess overcomes her surprise and stands up. Launching from the rooftop Celesta glides down to hover outside the window. Twilight magically pushes open the window so they can talk.

“What are you doing outside my window?” Twilight’s embarrassment turns into frustration as she questions her mentor, forgetting the important news she has. “How long have you been outside?”

“Twilight I’m sorry,” Celestia begins apologetically. “Ever since Luna-”, Luna. Twilight’s mood changes instantly as she remembers the importance of her conversation with the other princess earlier in the evening, completely deaf to the rest of the white mare’s excuses.

“Don’t worry about that Princess,” the purple filly’s speech is rushed as she cuts into Celestia’s babbling. ”You can explain that later. On the topic of Luna though, she contacted me a few hours ago.” The white princess disappears briefly from Twilight’s sight as the surprise, forgetting to keep herself hovering.

“Luna contacted you?” Celestia repeats Twilight’s question while attempting to regain her previous position. Her expression akin to Twilight’s usual in her presence, jaw hanging open, eyes wide. “How?”

“I grew extremely tired for some reason as a returned home,” Twilight recounts the story slowly to her teacher, careful not to miss any details. “I think the sleep was induced by Luna somehow because when I fell asleep shortly afterwards I entered an extremely vivid dream where I encountered Luna. She told me she made contact with your lost sister and helped her return to Equestria almost a decade ago. However after Magi made her return Luna told me she lost contact with her for reasons unknown to her.” Twilight’s hoof finds her snout as she scans her mind for anything she might have missed, “Oh and also Luna said to look under the bed,whatever that stands for.”

Celestia, who had been listening intently as Twilight spoke, giggles at Twilight’s final comment. “Oh Twilight, you always try to read too deeply into things,” her expression fades back to a peaceful smile. “We do need to act however, and because sleep escapes the both of us tonight why don’t we fly back to the castle to get started right away?” Twilight, still cautious to get close to the mare who she had caught peeping, nods slowly.

“I’ll meet you outside.” Twilight turns from the window unintentionally displaying her youthful rump to Celestia, who gazes at it for a moment before slowing the fluttering of her wings and dropping to the ground. Twilight levitates a scarf and magically wraps it around her neck for warmth. Exiting her room quietly, Twilight makes her way down the stairs with care, as to avoid waking her sleeping family. At the base of the stairs she turns to walk down the hallway. Spying Celestia out the window, Twilight notices her scribbling on some parchment with a phoenix quill held between her teeth. Celesta looks up as a purple glow manipulates the door handle and pushes it open, sensing the question Twilight has.

“It’s for your parents,” the princess explains, her calm, motherly demeanor covering any sign of her previous shock. “We may be gone some time, it would be unwise to leave them worrying about you.” Twilight hmms affirmatively as Celestia finishes her note, handing it to Twilight. “Can you roll this up for me, it’s easier with magic and it’s good practice as well.” Twilight takes the note in her magical grasp and manages to roll it tightly after a few attempts. She steps back inside to a moment to place in on the kitchen table before returning to Celestia, door closed behind her.

“I’m ready now, I think,” Twilight speaks shakily. A massive white wing, larger than Twilight wraps itself around her, helping to calm her nerves. The wing’s grip tightens as Celestia uses it to lift Twilight onto her back.

“Hold on tight Twilight, we’re going somewhere no pony has touched in almost 1000 years.”

Author's Note

If there are any problems with the formatting please tell me, it imported strangely from Google docs.

The Room

“So where are we going to go?” Twilight asks she white princess walking beside her as they walk through shady caverns that are the halls of the palace, only lit by the spell floating inches above Twilight’s horn. “Is it an ancient abandoned ruin of the previous capital of Equestria? Or maybe some deep cave sealed by complex magical seals?” Twilight’s excitement is overflowing, the glow of her horn reflected in her wide eyes, a bounce in her step as she races ahead of Celestia, breath huffing from her rushed speech.

“You need to take what Luna told you more literally Twilight,” Celestia’s voice sounds unexpectedly distant to the energetic filly. She turns to see the princess stopped outside a deep blue door, it’s color completely indistinct in the night blue halls of the lunar quarters of the palace. The crescent moon engraved into the door sparks a memory in Twilight’s mind.

“Is this Luna’s old room?” The question bounces between mentor and student as Twilight retraces her steps to stand beside Celestia, who continues to obverse the door. ”I thought you said we were going somewhere dark and magical.”

“I said we were going somewhere no pony has gone in one thousand years,” Celestia’s lips form a smile at the still confused face of her student. “I locked Luna’s room when she left, it hasn’t been opened since then, almost one thousand years ago.” The disappointed filly sighs, rolling her eyes.

“So I’m guessing there’s some powerful magical seal I need to unweave to open the door?” The excited filly bounces around in front of the door, inspecting every inch of it for signs of magical tampering.

“I didn’t lock it with anything complex,” Celestia stands relaxed, her amused eyes chasing the purple pony bouncing beside her. “I simply told no pony to enter the room, so none have.” Twilight deflates, gathering herself to return to Celestia’s side.

“So we just go in?” Twilight’s tone conveys her disappointment. Celestia nods, giving Twilight leave to spark her horn to life, twist the ornate, crescent moon handle and push the door into the darkness. Twilight follows the princess inside, switching her mental focus to an image of a candle flame, the form needed to channel a weak light spell. Even with her horn aglow Twilight can’t see past the white rump directly in front of her.

“Is there some kind of aura in this room?” Twilight questions the princess while twisting her neck to and fro, trying to see past the wall of black surrounding her.

“Yes, but it is not malicious in any way,” Celestia assures her student as she turns to face her. “Luna set it up long ago, before the reign of Discord, because of her nocturnal habits. She needed to sleep through the bright rays of my Sun so she created a barrier that it could not pierce.” The princess disappears into the blackness.

“Uh, Celestia? Where did you go?” Twilight’s answer is the rush of curtains being pulled back. Her vision returns as moonlight spills into the room, pushing aside the darkness and allowing Twilight full view of the night princess’s untouched dwellings. A bed clothed in night-sky exactly like Twilight’s own is pushed back against the far wall. As Twilight steps closer to examine it she notices it shimmering. Extending a hoof and disrupting the sheets send the stars dancing away from the disturbance.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Celestia’s voice is filled with the same awe Twilight’s mind contains. “Magi wove it for her. It is a living picture of Luna’s sky, I also received one also but my sky is rather lackluster compared to this.”

“It’s beautiful,” Twilight breaths as she continues to prod the blanket of stars, chasing them round the bed with her hoof tip. Celestia giggles at the young filly her student has transformed into before joining her, running her white hoof across the soft surface of the twinkling bed clothes, ignoring their goal for the moment. They continue for a few moments before Celestia restrains herself.

“We need to remember why we came here Twilight,” Celestia’s gentle tone returning, wide smile constrained to the soft one her lips usually hold, lips slightly upturned.

“To look under the bed?” Twilight’s feeling of foolishness fades away as she lifts her recent playtoy, revealing books. Thick tomes tightly stacked underneath, filling every cubic inch of space under the bed. “So these books contain what we need to save Luna?” Twiligh2t questions as she lifts her gaze to meet Celestia’s, eye twitching as she resists the urge to grasp the closest book.

“I assume so, but you know as much as I do about this,” Celestia admits. “I haven’t been inside this room since my sister left, I’ve never seen any of the books before.” Celestia wiggles a black tome covered in stars out of the bed’s grip. Opening it, she brings it closer to Twilight so the leaning unicorn can attempt to decipher the mess of symbols covering the pages. Twilight squints her eyes at the page, searching for symbols she’s learnt.

“Is that one hide?” Twilight voice is unsure as she points to a black square drawn inside another. Celestia rewards her student with a nod. “Then this one is rubble?” Uncertainty still held in Twilight’s words.

“No,” Twilight scrunches her eyes in self-annoyance, mentally setting the ancient language for homework. “You were close though, just missing the context. This symbol means ruins. This book is a detailed account of ancient ruins hidden in the Everfree forest. It appears to be written in Luna’s hoof writing.” Celestia deposits the book she currently holds onto the carpet, pulling another book from underneath the bed, almost identical as the last only thinner. “I believe these are writings of Luna’s research across Equestria, somewhere in here must be the information we need.”

“So we have to read all of the books?’ Twilight’s eyes beg Celestia to confirm her hopes.
“I think the complex language these books are written in might be too much for such a young filly,” Celestia jokes. “Maybe you should get some rest while I study my sister’s writing.” The disappointment creeping into Twilight’s eyes quickly shatter the princess’s attempt at playing with her student. She ruffles a comforting hoof through Twilight mane, “I’m sorry Twilight that was cruel of me to jest, of course I would love your company.”

“Thank you so much Princess,” Twilight exclaims, raising her snout to nuzzle the princess’s hoof. Twilight turns the book Celestia abandoned towards her, magically turning the cover, eyes moving from one symbol to the next as she slowly translates each page. Celestia opens the book resting in her hooves, skimming through the page of a language second nature to her, tutting occasionally at her sister’s messy writing.

★★★

Celestia looks up from the book she is studying, a yawn pushing its way out of her mouth. Her pupil fell asleep an hour ago, drooling over the page she had collapsed onto. Twilight now lies cuddled against Celestia’s side, breathing softly in her peaceful sleep. Celestia continues the search with heavy lidded eyes, nothing found so far.

They had been through almost half of the books under Luna’s bed, Celestia managing ten for each Twilight read, and they had found nothing that could help Luna. Twilight had difficulty translating several of the books she had chosen, and had reluctantly piled them beside Celestia. The princess turns the final page, closing the book lying at her hooves. She yawns again, promising herself that the next book would be her last for the night.

Reaching for the closest unread tome she finds herself pulling one off the top of Twilight’s pile. In her tiredness her unstable hoof accidentally lets the book fall and bounce off the thick carpet. It lands face-down next to Twilight’s ear, the thump rousing the sleeping filly.

“Princess?” The tired Twilight cracks her eyes open sharing a yawn with Celestia. “Did you find something?” To Twilight’s disappointment Celestia shakes her head.

“I was going to read one last book before going to bed myself,” another yawn interrupts the princess, stretching her tongue and scrunching eyes she pushes through it. “Do you wish to join me?” Twilight shrugs off the yawn Celestia passed her, nodding. The book in front of them glows purple as Twilight magically flips it so they can read.

“Oh,” Twilight murmurs. “This was the first book we looked at. It was filled with so many symbols I don’t recognize, so I, stopped.” Twilight turns away from the princess ashamedly. Celestia caresses Twilight’s chin, bringing her eyes back to face her own.
“No need to be ashamed of your failure Twilight,” Celestia comforts her student, nuzzling her mane. “What matters is you tried, and hopefully you learnt something. Now let me read this as a bedtime story for the both of us.” Twilight’s eyes brighten at ‘story’ and she snuggles in close to Celestia, eyes on the pages before her.

“The Everfree forest is a mysterious place filled with many wonder,” Celestia read softly, answering any question Twilight has about certain symbols, sharing yawning fits with her student. The book is filled with mostly speculation and details of the old ruin Celestia already knows. The sleepy filly next to her constantly rubs her drooping eyes in an effort to maintain consciousness.

“Chapter seven, the summoning focus of my sister,” Celestia pauses, perplexed. She doesn’t remember building a structure for the use of summoning during her time spent at the Everfree castle millennia ago. Twilight startles at the lack of Celestia’s reading lullabying her to sleep.

“What is it Princess?” Twilight groans, still fighting off sleep.

“Just something I don’t recall,” Celestia’s voice is strained as she sifts through her endless memories, searching for anything related. “I’ll just keep reading, maybe it’ll stimulate something. My sister Magi,” Celestia’s realization forces and ‘oh’ from her mouth. “My sister Magi had built a great stone pyramid in the depths of the castle. It’s base was hexagonal in shape with a summoning platform situated at each point of the base. I attribute it’s survival in the ruin the became of the old castle because of the depth it is situated at. I had to explore into Magi’s old chambers and climb down many sets of stair, all of them new to me.”

“Princess what is a summoning focus used for?” Twilight questions the princess, punctuating her sentence with a yawn.

“Teleportation, interdimensional travel, bringing ponies back from beyond the dead, the use of a focus are numerous, but the basic principle is the movement of an entity from one place to another. It seems like my sister developed one that could channel great power, she couldn’t possibly think to do that,” Celestia thinks aloud for a moment before noticing the look of confusion on Twilight’s face.

“I’m sorry Twilight, let me explain. When my sisters or I return to the celestial bodies we represent our physical bodies are stored somewhere inside. I think Magi may have intended this focus to be used for the purpose of pulling our physical bodies from the place they reside in. To pull a body from it celestial objects grasp without forming a connection with the sister would require immense power. Power you can’t produce on your own, no matter the training.” Celestia’s gaze focuses on the moon, as if her answers lie there.

“What will we need Princess?” Twilight’s eyes have perked up, forgetting sleep in the exciting details they had discovered. The words bring Celestia’s eye’s back to the book, still lost in thought.

“I think we may need some kind of supportive magic,” Celestia speaks her mind finally. “An ancient artifact or a cache of stored energy perhaps. I think it would be best if we saw this structure for our own eyes, to assess exactly what resources we have. Perhaps it is no longer there, it has been over one-thousand years since this was written. It could be completely destroyed by now,” Celestia sighs as her minds trawls through imaginary events that could have happened. “However it’s our only hope for some time, and our only connection to my two missing sisters.”

“So how far is the flight?” Celestia giggles as Twilight’s eager comment is half-yawned.

“We aren’t leaving till tomorrow Twilight,” Celestia’s tilts her head, thinking. “Or maybe till the day after. There are many things I need to organize before going on a short vacation like this. However those worries can wait till tomorrow, for now we both need some rest.” Celestia’s comforting, white wing curls over Twilight’s comparatively small, purple body. Snuggling into the feathers surrounding her Twilight nostrils are filled with the smell of her teacher. A soft smell lulling her to sleep.

It smells like-

★★★

Finally the day had come, the day Twilight had been dreaming of all week. It had taken Celestia many days more than predicted to organize the necessities for her absence. Meetings, paperwork, all things that kept Celestia from attending her lessons.

Twilight’s company for the week had been an old book Celestia had pulled from the archives. The only progress Twilight made the first day was staining the book with her tears, she never realised how much she loved the motherly, older mare. Twilight’s drive to learn overcame her longing, making her way through half the book of spells. Spells that focused energy into magical devices over a period of time to allow for another spell of great power to be released in an instant.

When Celestia returned with news that they could leave the next day, she had found the room empty, but for a book and a floating stone eye. The eye bobbed it’s way towards the princess, it’s runes glowed and Twilight faded into vision, finished work with the hidden movement focus. When Twilight heard that they were leaving tomorrow she rushed to her teacher, squeezing her long snowy forelegs while repeatedly exclaiming ‘Yes’. Celestia’s voice had joined the commotion with laughter followed by a suggestion for a celebratory tea party.

Twilight’s wait for the next day to come kept her up half the night researching a spell on induced sleep. The magic had caused her to oversleep, resulting in the rush she is experiencing now.

“Books, where are my books?” Twilight questions herself as a purple glow upends her room. “I’m sure I had them here last night.”

“Honey,” Her mothers faint voice is barely registered by Twilight. “Your books are down here.” ‘Books’ catches her attention however. Twilight slams her door open, magically packing her bag as she scramble downstairs, trying to keep the nervous concoction inside her from boiling over. The sight of her missing books helps her settle, quickly nuzzling her mother goodbye Twilight finishes her packing and races out the door.

“Oof,” miserably rubbing her nose Twilight is sure she opened the door this time. Looking up her eyes meet Celestia’s radiant smile rather than a wall of wood.

“Good morning Twilight,” Twilight evaporates, collapsing on the floor. “Mrs Sparkle,” Celestia ignores Twilight’s reaction and finishes her greetings. The shocked filly clambers to her hooves.

“Why? How?” Twilight’s breathy words are met with a giggle from Celestia and an embarrassed glance from her mother.

“I simply wanted to visit the home of my precious friend Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia’s playful smile and sultry eyebrows have Twilight rolling her eyes and Mrs Sparkle nervously backing away, leaning closer Celestia whispers, “I noticed you were running a little late from my perch outside your window, so I thought I’d save you the trouble of walking to the palace.” Twilight’s burning cheeks elicit a giggle from Celestia.

“Uh, goodbye mom,” Twilight calls shakily back into the house as she steps out the door into the crisp, sunny morning. Her mother peeks out of the kitchen, returning the farewell before retreating away from Celestia’s too friendly stares.

A golden carriage waits for them at the end of the cobbled street, Twilight’s hooves being dampened by the dew coated stones. Teacher and student climb aboard and the bright white pegasus flyers beat their strong wings, pulling them into the air.

“So where are we going?” Twilight questions as the pair float over cloud tops.

We are heading to a small village that borders on the edge of the Everfree forest,” Celestia explains. “We’ll be staying there for a day or two, before traveling into the forest and camping a few days together outside the ruin.”

Twilight grows bored with the never ending white layer passing underneath, trying to snatch flashes of the world below through the gaps in the clouds. She catches sight of a blue streak between the green plains, a river that flows down from Canterlot mountains, snaking ahead to be swallowed by the Everfree. The clouds end abruptly, allowing Twilight full view of the breathtaking landscape.

“The countryside is beautiful, isn’t it?” The playfulness is gone from Celestia’s voice, replaced by awe. “No matter how many years I live I will never grow tired of this.” Celestia waves a hoof across the landscape, eyes still drinking it in. Twilight nods, slowly, not wanting to break the perfection of the moment. A splatter of unnatural colours in the distance catches her eye.

“Is that where we’ll be staying,” Twilight’s asks as her foreleg directs Celestia’s gaze towards the blob.

“That is it,” Celestia confirms. “I’ve heard it’s town holds some of the nicest ponies Equestria has to offer. They call it Ponyville.”

Arrogant, Timid, Stubborn, Insane, Uptight

“Do you see the tree in the centre of town?” Celestia questions Twilight, pointing her snout towards the colossal green and brown structure. Twilight nods. “That is where we will be staying for a few days while I speak with some ponies in the town. After we unpack you should explore the town a little.” Twilight cringes at the thought of leaving her books behind to roam strange streets filled with unknown ponies.

“I guess it couldn’t hurt to have a look around,” Twilight speaks hesitantly, gritting her teeth. Celestia’s lips form a smile, giving her student a sympathetic look.

“I know you feel uncomfortable interacting with other ponies,” Celestia’s words are soft, leaning down, her snout close to her student’s. “I’m sure there are some fillies and colts in this town who are just like you." Her hoof touches Twilight snout, squishing it inwards.

The carriage landing interrupts Twilight. The pair gather their bags, Twilight's glowing in magic, Celestia tucking hers under a white wing. Leaving Celestia to farewell the fliers, Twilight observes her surroundings. The tree they landed below has been altered for living, a door at ground, balconies and windows cut into it's trunk. Oddly shaped buildings surround them. Celestia, finished seeing the guards off taps Twilight on the shoulder.

“Come on Twilight, lets get our things inside,” Celestia strolls to the library’s door, nudging it open with her unburdened wing. Calling back over her shoulder, “Afterwards you can go and find some friends while I talk to the mayor.” Twilight nods, her mind plotting otherwise. Walls of books fill Twilight's vision as she steps into the main room. Dropping her things she rushes along the walls, scanning the titles for anything of interest. Her short list soon numbers over a dozen, soft giggles bubbling from Celestia as she watches her awestruck student.

“How long are we allowed to stay her?” Twilight’s bright eyes turn towards Celestia. “I’m going to need about 14 days to read all the books I haven’t seen before.” Celestia sighs, containing her laughter.

“We can only stay here for a few days,” Celestia explains. “If we stayed here for a two weeks, I wouldn’t want you cooped up inside all the time. You need to meet some ponies your age, and you won’t find them in books.” Twilight groans at the thought of being separated from her beloved books. Realising she has to leave the library at least once to please her teacher Twilight concedes a nod.Celestia ruffles her students mane, happy with her response.

With Celestia leading the way upstairs the pair discover their sleeping quarters. Two identical beds, too small for Celestia and too large for Twilight. Ignoring what will be strange sleeping conditions, they deposit their things at the foot of each bed. Glass doors open onto the balcony Twilight spotted from outside. Setting the rusted latches aglow, Twilight wiggles and pushes the doors open and steps outside, taking in the shamble of buildings that make Ponyville.

“See anywhere you’d like to go?” Celestia asks, joining Twilight on the balcony “We could go out for a meal after I finish my business for the day, if you like.” Twilight resists the temptation to dismiss the offer, not wanting to disappoint her teacher she searches the town in front of her.

“How about we visit that dessert shaped building,” Twilight points her hoof towards a life-sized gingerbread house poking out between other businesses. Celestia brings a hoof up to cover her soft laughter.

“Of course Twilight,” Celestia eyes her own rump, shifting to make it appear smaller. “I do hope they serve a healthy option, I shouldn’t have too many sweets.” Celestia turns to her student, nuzzling her goodbye, “I have to go now Twilight, promise me you at least try to explore the town.”

“Okay,” Twilight affirms, returning Celestia’s farwell. She stays on the balcony as Celestia gathers the necessities and clops downstairs.

When the wooden bang of the door closing reaches Twilight’s ears she springs into action. Racing downstairs she quickly grasps a few of the books she spied earlier in her purple glow. Settling herself on a deep blue pillow near the base of the stairs Twilight places her first journey on the wooden floor. Turning the books cover Twilight feels a pang of guilt. Not wanting to ignore the princess’s request she leaves her book and strolls towards the library’s front door.

Suspicious, Twilight inches the door open, pushing her muzzle outside. Woosh! A blue flash clips the partially opened door, tearing it off old hinges and sending Twilight tumbling backwards onto the hard wooden floor.

“Watch where you open that door,” an annoyed voice calls. Gathering herself, Twilight looks for the source of the voice and finds a messy, sky-blue pegasus filly standing before her. “You need to watch what you’re doing, you messed up my flying,” The pegasus shakes her rainbow mane irritably, waiting for a response.

“Um,” Twilight’s voice is shakey, not wanting to anger the suicidal flier any further. “I’m sorry I guess.” The blue filly steps closer, filling Twilight’s vision.

“You better be sorry,” A butter yellow blob slowly pushes it’s way into Twilight’s field of view. “Now I have to attempt that trick from the start, again.”

“Um, Dash?” The blob behind the aggravated rainbow before her turns out to be another pegasus filly. “Maybe it was your fault as well? Maybe just a tiny bit,” The yellow pegasus hides behind her light pink mane as she speaks. Her body shape is completely different compared to the athletic, rainbow maned pegasus before her. The shy filly’s limbs are long and skinny, while her body is tiny, making her stance as awkward as her speech.

“But Fluttershy,” ‘Dash’ turns towards her friend, protesting. “If she hadn’t have opened the door I wouldn’t have hit it.” She brings her hoof above her eyes, rubbing her bruises at the reminder. A small yellow wing spreads itself across Dash’s back.

“I’m sure she didn’t mean it Dash,” Fluttershy speaks softly, comforting Dash. “And if you didn’t fly so close to town you wouldn’t have hit her.” Her brave spell fades and she returns to the protection of her mane. “B-but that’s just what I think.”

“Yeah whatever,” Dash brushes Fluttershy’s wing off, ignoring Twilight completely. “I need to get back to practice.” Stalking out through the open door the blue pegasus leaves, her yellow friend trailing behind. Twilight makes her way to the gaping hole where the door was previously, searching for the missing chunk of wood.

“Don’t mind her,” A southern twang to her right pulls Twilight’s attention. “She’s a crazy pegasus, always destroying the town with her practice.” The speaker is another filly, her coat a clay orange. Tilting her head the earth pony shifts the brown stetson that sits atop her blond mane. “The names Applejack,” Applejack extends a hoof as she speaks.

“Hey Applejack, uh, I’m,” Twilight forgets her name, still shocked from her previous encounter. “Twilight, I’m Twilight.” The pony in front of her shrugs off her cart of apples, stepping closer to Twilight.

“It looks like you lost a door,” Applejack observes. “Do you need any help finding it?”

“Oh no I couldn’t possibly ask you to help with something that isn’t your problem,” Twilight words spill from her mouth, shaking her head as she tries to think of a way to rid herself of the friendly earth pony. “You look like you’re much too busy, pulling apples around. I’m sure I can do it on my own.” Applejack gives Twilight a once over and bursts out laughing.

“Sugarcube,” Applejack wipes a joyful tear from her eye. “There’s no way a skinny unicorn like yourself could lug a door that size back here, no offense. Even if you did get it here you’d be hard pressed to find a way of getting it back on it’s hinges, trust me you need my help.”

“Okay,” Twilight accepts her offer begrudgingly. “I guess you can help. Did you see where it went?”

“I think I saw it spinning towards the marketplace,” Applejack turns abruptly and walks off leaving Twilight to follow. The find the market in chaos, all the stalls abandoned, except for one surrounded by a crowd of ponies. “Move aside everypony,” the orange filly barges a path through the crowd, Twilight trailing close behind. They find the door embedded in a sweet stall, a cream coated pony with a blue and pink mane directing two stallions.

Heaving and shoving with hoof and snout the stallions are making little progress, causing more destruction to the sweet seller’s stall.

“Alright everypony move aside, I’ll take care of the door,” Applejack commands. The two stallions back off at the sound of her southern twang, giving her room to work with. Twilight stands in awe, How can this young filly be so confident, those two older ponies barely moved that door an inch. Forgetting Twilight for the moment, Applejack positions herself facing the crowd, hind legs aimed at the door. Shifting all her weight onto her front legs, Applejack lifts her rear off the ground, brings her back legs in and releases.

Thuk! The filly’s buck shifts the door further than the two stallions could have ever dreamed, yet it still only moves inches. Applejack positions herself again, preparing to strike the block of wood again.

“Uh, Applejack,” Twilight directs the comment at the orange filly, but grabs the crowd’s attention. “I think there’s a much easier way to do this.” Twilight looks anxiously at the crowd, not wanting to perform magic in front of so many strangers.

“Well I’m all ears sugarcube,” Applejack grunts, striking the door.

“Do you think you could clear the crowd for me?” Twilight’s request is met with odd stares from the surrounding ponies.

“How in the hay would that help?” Applejack’s continuous bucking only digs the door further into the dirt.

“Can you just do it Applejack,” Twilight confidence in weakening, about to burst under the pressure of the crowd. “For me?”

“Fine,” Turning to the crowd, Applejack acts as if the conversation hadn’t happened. “Free apple cider at Sweet Apple Acres, first ten ponies get double.” Heads turn, chatter builds amongst the crowd. One pony turns head and strolls off, followed by another, the whole crowd streams out of the marketplace, leaving only Twilight and Applejack remaining. “Now what?” Applejack returns her gaze to Twilight, waiting.

“Just watch.” Twilight closes her eyes, blocking out external stimulation, meditating on the door. She imagines water, a flood rising from the ground to meet the resting wood. Pushing the form higher the door rises, secure in her magical grasp. Raising her eyelids Twilight ignores Applejack’s stunned expression, concentrating only on the door. She takes slow steps, moving the glowing wave with the door, inching her way back to the library, Applejack following in disbelief.

“How, who, what in the hay is that?” Applejack stutters as Twilight manipulates the block of wood to cover the gaping hole in the library. “All that glowing and you moved that massive door, how can that be stronger than my bucking?” Released from her burden Twilight turns her attention to Applejack, nervously grinning.
“It’s just what unicorns do, you know, magic,” Twilight’s false grin widens as she lies.

“I don’t know about the unicorns where you come from,” Applejack eyes Twilight suspiciously. “But here in Ponyville the only thing that separates the unicorns from us earth ponies is their horns, and their weak legs.” accentuating her last point by bucking air.

“Well I guess you’re right,” Twilight’s words are shaky as she rubs her neck with a hoof. “Unicorns are different here.” Trying to ignore Applejack’s discerning squint Twilight takes a step backwards. “I best be going then, I’ll see you round Applejack.” the orange filly’s suspicions fade, her face returning to a neighbourly smile.

“I guess I’ll be seeing your round , uh?”

“It’s Twilight.” The purple filly immediately winces, still attempting to hide all truth from Applejack.

“Twilight, I guess I’ll be seeing you round.” Applejack works the waiting applecart back onto her shoulders. “If you ever need any help just call round at Sweet Apple Acres, just south of Ponyville.” Applejack calls as she clip-clops off.

Sinking to her flanks, Twilight relaxes against the door behind her. Relief stabilizing her nervous stomach. A gasp shatters her peace, begging for Celestia to return Twilight prepares to greet the next interruption.

A floating pink earth pony is the source of noise. Suspended in mid-air her eyes bugle, curly pink tail sticking up. Twilight rubs her eyes, she can’t possibly be floating, it must be all the stress I’m under. A purple hoof blocks Twilight vision long enough for gravity to return to the curly maned filly.

“Um I’m Twilight,” she speaks only to break the crushing silence between them. In response the pink filly turns tail and zips off, leaving Twilight with only dust to answer her questions. “Well at least that’s over,” Twilight comments to herself, letting her eyelids sink. I’ll just have a short nap, then back to the books. Magical exhaustion lulls her to sleep, images of the four fillies she met filling her dreams.

★★★

“Twilight.” A floating Celestia calls to her as she beats her four wings, soaring over the pink leaves of the library. “I see you made some friends, would you like to introduce them to me?” Miniature fillies spin round Twilight’s head, pink, orange, blue, yellow, pink. They endlessly cycle, dizzying Twilight. A door flattens Twilight’s face, bringing her relief from the circling colors.

“You’re not like the unicorns in Ponyville,” The orange blob strikes her with speech, curling into a ball Twilight tries to escape their taunts.

“Watch where you’re going.” Another hazy voice floats from the confusion surrounding her.

Other blobs join the ring, old memories from Twilight’s schooling.

“You’re always stuck in those books, are they your only friends?”

“Twilight!” Black, peace, alone at last. “Twilight I’m sorry, I should have stopped it sooner.” The night princess stands before her, just as bedraggled as when they last met.

“Don’t worry about me princess,” Twilight’s confidence helps ease Luna’s concern. “I never recall them after I wake.” Twilight eyes the deep blue mare before her, recalling Celestia’s plans. “Celestia and I found something, an old summoning focus you found while exploring the ruins inside the Everfree. Is that what you intended us to find in those books?”

“Truth to be told I had no exact idea what I was sending you to find,” Luna’s lips smile guiltily. “Now that you remind me however, I believe that focus would have a good chance of aiding my return to Equestria. We can talk of that later however, what concerns me are these dreams you have. When did they begin?” Luna’s face is all sympathy, eager hear about Twilight’s past.

“Well,” Twilight pauses, recalling her repressed past. “I think they began when I started attending Canter Academy. Everypony was so friendly, even though they were two years older and strangers to me. Over the first week things my things went missing, only small things at first like a pencil or eraser. I thought it was just forgetfulness, but soon books disappeared and finally my precious Smarty Pants doll vanished. I was in tears for the whole weekend.” Luna lifts a wing to comfort the filly before her.

“Did the culprits get caught?” Twilight nods.

“After my doll went missing I told my parents, they contacted the school and the offending ponies were expelled for theft.” Twilight’s eyes are still downcast, hiding the remaining tale.

“Wouldn’t your fear disappear with the bullies?” Luna questions, attempting to pry every detail from Twilight’s story.

“No!” Twilight’s shocks herself with the outburst, quickly covering her muzzle with a hoof. “I mean no. Only the ponies who actually stole were expelled, but everypony at the academy was in on the ‘joke’.” Twilight buries her snout into Luna’s soft belly, wiping her glistening eyes on the black-blue fur. “I felt so insecure. I saw the teachers after class for the days homework and assignments. All of my class time was spent studying in the Academies library. I protected myself with fantasies of other worlds, other times in history. Books became my home”

“That’s just awful Twilight,” Luna nuzzles the filly’s streaked mane. “You need to move on from your past however, keeping things locked away forever won’t help. You need to deal with this, if only to dream again. Dreams are a wonderful thing, a world far more vivid than books where you can write your own adventure.”

“But how?” Twilight eyes are eager now, locked on Luna’s smiling face.

“Just forget them. Ponies who cause you so much trouble shouldn’t hold a special place in your heart forever, and the best way to forget is start anew.” The confusion in Twilight’s eyes speaks her question without words. “You need to befriend some ponies Twilight. When you wake up I want you to speak with the first pony you see and just say hello, maybe ask them what their interests are?” Twilight nods, a smile pulling at her lips.

“You have my word Princess.” Twilight’s triumphant words wet Luna’s eyes.

“One last detail before I leave you Twilight,” Luna’s voice serious, a sniff holding back her joy. “The summoning focus requires six ponies of magical connection to operate successfully. I leave the finding of five other magical ponies up to you. Sweet dreams Twilight.” Luna fades away as the black surrounding Twilight clears, being replaced with the colors of Ponyville.

Cherry humming floats past Twilight’s ears, her eyes searching for it’s source. Another filly, a white unicorn, spots of dirt discolor her coat. She drags a wooden cart of colorful gems behind her. Twilight gathers her hooves beneath her, taking nervous steps towards the new filly. She’s a unicorn, maybe I can teach her magic?.

“Um, hello?” Twilight giddy words startle the filly, her curled, purple mane bobbing about her head as her eyes find Twilight. “My names Twilight, I’d like to know yours if it would be too rude of me to ask.” Extending a friendly hoof, Twilight finds the white filly pulling away from her greeting.

“I’m Rarity,” she grimaces at Twilight. “Whatever gave you the idea to approach me?” Twilight lowers her hoof, confused by Rarity’s response.

“I, I saw that you’re a unicorn,” a white horn bobs. “So I thought I could teach you something.” Rarity’s lips tremble, splutter, then full blown laughter, heightening Twilight’s unease.

“Darling what could you teach me?” Rarity exclaims, flicking a curl with her hoof. “Unless you’re a fashion designer from Canterlot, come to recognize my talent?” Rarity smirks at her own comment, laughter bursting from her lips once again.

“Um, magic?” Twilight hooves fidget with each other as she nibbles her lip. “I thought that maybe, because you’re a unicorn I could teach you magic,” Twilight’s eyes meet the floor. “I guess I was wrong.” Rarity grits her teeth, realising her mistake.

“No dear,” The white pony’s soft words full of concern. “Please show me this, magic. Is it some sort of card trick? Or are you going to pull a bit out of my ear?” Rarity frees herself from the cart, stepping towards Twilight.

“No,” Twilight’s lips turn in a half-smile at the suggestion. “This magic isn’t sleight of hand, it’s real magic. It’ll be easier if I show you.” Soft ringing fills the air, a gem hovering between the fillies surrounded in a purple glow. “I want to show you real magic, the kind all unicorns could perform thousands of years ago.”

“This is magnificent,” The purple glow tints Rarities face, a spark dancing in her eyes as she admires Twilight’s work. “You must teach me this, to think how easily I could sew and stitch.” Rarity’s gaze lowers, locking with Twilight’s. “How exactly does it work?”

“Well first you need to find the spark within you,” Twilight’s eyes close as she explains, meeting the essence within. “Have you got it?” Following Twilight’s example, Rarity’s lids are shut also, twitching as she strains to find her inner spark.

“I don’t think there is a spark,” A breath explodes from Rarity’s lips. “How did you first find yours?” The white pony’s perplexed look makes Twilight question her memories.

“I feel it’s always been with me,” Twilight decides. “It’s been a presence in my mind for as long as I can recall, I only realised how to use it a few months ago.” Twilight’s eyes trace the outline of Rarity’s horn, “Maybe I could, no that would be silly.”

“Darling I’m sure it’s a perfectly fine idea,” Rarity reassures. “I wouldn’t mind doing something a little silly in exchange for such a fine gift, out with it.” A white hoof beckons Twilight to continue.

“Okay then, close your eyes.” Rarity’s long lashes sink once again, her lips hold a nervous grin. “Don’t flinch Rarity, just try to feel my spark, try to take some of it.” Twilight’s eyelids close as she leans towards Rarity, warm redness coloring her purple face as their horns touch.

“Oh,” Rarity’s face joins Twilight in a blush. She ignores the intimacy, instead concentrating on the feel of Twilight contact. A soft glow embraces her mind and she reaches out for it. Drawing from it she morphs part of the purple spark into white, taking it with her, making it her own. “I think I have it Twilight,” Rarity speaks thoughtfully, her mind still firmly grasping the new presence. “Now how exactly do I do this?”

“Keep your eyes closed,” Twilight instructs. “Now to cast a spell you must grasp the magic and form it. For the levitation spell I performed earlier you need to form a pincer.” Twilight forms the spell herself, her purple glow taking hold of another gem, suspending it between the pair.

“If you don’t mind me asking dear,” Twilight’s eyes open to find a confused Rarity waiting for her. ”What exactly is a pincer?” A giggle overflows from Twilight, leaving Rarity even more lost. “What exactly is so laughable?”

“It’s just,” Twilight breathes between her bursts of laughter. “I asked Celestia the exact same thing when I was first learning. You reminded me of the crab that managed to get itself stuck on my snout, what a day that was.” Twilight’s reminiscing leaves Rarity with more questions than answers.

“Celestia?” Rarity questions, her brow lowering. “As in Princess of the Sun Celestia?”

“The one and only,” Twilight confirms, dropping Rarity’s jaw. “She’s my teacher. If you want you could come with me to meet her later.” Rarity’s blue eyes bulge at the suggestion, her open mouth forming a smile.

“I would love to Twilight,” The white pony exclaims. “Oh to meet a Princess, it would be a dream. We shouldn’t get distracted from the issue at hand however.” Still hungry to learn magic Rarity calms her features. “Do you think you could draw a pincer for me, or possibly describe it?” Twilight’s eyes roll upwards, her mind deciding the best course.

“I think this’ll work,” A patch of ground between the fillies glows purple, shifting and shaping, rising to eye level. “There, that’s what a pincer looks like.” Twilight examines the crafted dirt, proud of her creation.

“So I just need to imagine this?” Rarity’s question is met with a purple horn bobbing as Twilight nods. “Okay,” White lids close once more. Concentrating, Rarity forms her spark. “What, now?” Rarity asks carefully, not wanting to shatter the sculpture in her mind.

“Just let it go,” The words spoken as Twilight releases her grasp on the dirt, letting it fall, crumbling as it strikes the grass.

“I,” Rarity almost protests, but restrains her tongue. Why would she be so truthful about all this only to lie and fool me at the last moment? Unable to answers her self imposition Rarity relaxes her grip on the magic inside, and lets go. Immediately she feels it, like another limb floating free of her body but still under her control. She feels for a gem behind her, grasping it between the teeth of her new grip, hovering it before her snout. Her eyes flutter open, gasping with awe as she spots the snow-white glow surrounding the ruby suspended before her.

“Rarity, it’s beautiful,” Twilight breathes, eyes captive to the glow before her. “Just think, if I can share this with you then Shining, mom, dad, maybe even the Princess.” Twilight dives, capturing the confused white filly in a hug. “Oh thank you so much Rarity.” Nervous laughter bubbles from Rarity as she eases Twilight off of her, rubbing her neck where the gem left an indent.

“Twilight dear,” Rarity’s voice is hesitant, unsure if she is reading the situation properly. “Are you telling me I’m the first pony you’ve shared this with?” Twilight’s nod pushes Rarity back a step, shocked. “Why me? I’m just a stranger, albeit a fabulous one,” Rarity playfully tousles a large purple curl with a hoof. “But a stranger all the same. So why me?”

“I,” Twilight brings a hoof to her mouth, digesting the situation for the first time. “I don’t know. I guess I always thought that my magic was just mine, not to share. When I saw you I just wanted to please Luna, I wasn’t thinking it just happened. I,” The purple hoof drops to the dirt as Twilight gazes back over her shoulder. “I’m, I need to see Celestia. Sorry Rarity,” Twilight returns her eyes to the sight of her intrigued new friend. “I really have to go, but I’ll see you tonight.” Turning her body Twilight’s hooves dig into dirt, ready to propel her back to the library.

“Where exactly are we going?” Rarity’s words stop Twilight in her tracks. “If you don’t mind me asking darling.”

“We’re going out to the big dessert shaped building near the centre of town,” Words rush from Twilight’s mouth as she suppresses the excitement building within her. “We’ll be there around sunset.”

“You mean Sugarcube Corner?” Rarity’s mind already sorting through her minds wardrobe, mixing and matching for her first meeting with royalty. “I’ll see you there then dear.” A nod is all Twilight returns, her streaked tail fluttering behind her a she gallops off.

“Celestia?” Slipping through the library’s back door Twilight calls for her teacher. At the lack of response Twilight strolls between shelves, meaning to have a bite to eat before searching for Celestia.

A page rustles it’s protest as she slips on it, cringing at the damage to such a precious object. A word jumps out the page, then another. Soon Twilight has read a sentence. A pages glows as she finishes it’s content, ready for the next side. Just one book, Twilight thinks as she finds a comfortable sitting position. I’ll find Celestia after this.

★★★

“Twilight?” Celestia’s voice rings through the library, finding Twilight curled upon a cushion paging through Mysteries of the Everfree, attempting to discover more about the mysterious forest she would soon be visiting. “I’m finished with my duties for the day, are you ready to go out?” Twilight’s eyes continue to follow lines of text, oblivious to her teachers return.

“Twilight?” The words funnel into Twilight’s ear, shocking her out of the books grasp.

“Yes Princess?” Blinking, Twilight looks up, catching her mentor giggling. “Is it time for us to go?”

“Yes it is Twilight,” Celestia speaks softly, a laugh still rumbling in her throat. “Did you do what I asked of you today?” Twilight stars at the princess quizzically, her mind not fully comprehending the question.

“Oh, yes, I did actually,” Twilight’s mind shifts to her encounters earlier today. “I met, four fillies today and I feel like I experienced a wide variety of personalities.” Twilight’s eyes observe the ceiling as she processes her memories. Celestia stands patiently, waiting for her student to retell her day. “I happened upon two pegasi first, one blue and not the nicest, the other yellow and shy. They were, interesting to say the least, leaving me short of a door.”

“I assume that’s why the door fell off it’s hinges,” Celestia smirks, bringing a nervous grin to Twilight’s face. Celestia’s smile breaks into a reassuring look. “Don’t worry about that Twilight, it’ll get fixed. Just continue with your day.” Her hoof urges Twilight on.

“Well,” Twilight pauses as she recovers her scattered thoughts. “Next this orange earth pony filly, Applejack if I remember correctly. She tried to help me with the missing door, but it was too heavy for her to buck so I had to magic is back here. I was drained after the levitation so I took a nap and, um,” Twilight recalls her emotional moment with Luna, unsure if she should share it. “I talked with Luna, and she enlightened me on details we lacked about the focus. She said we need six tightly bonded ponies to power the focus, but I have no idea where we’d find them.”

“Yes, that would make sense,” Celestia confers with herself, ignoring Twilight for the moment. “You would need something more powerful than just simple magic to overcome the moons grasp.”

“Uh, Princess,” Twilight looks up at the princess, confusion creasing her brow. “Could you please explain what you’re thinking?” The princess snaps from her thoughts, serious eyes holding Twilight’s gaze.

“There was a magic greater than what unicorns and princesses wielded,” Celestia explains. “It was a magic all ponies shared through the bonds they had. That magic has been missing from this world since Magi vanished however, so unless you can rediscover it also I fear we may find it difficult to progress with my sisters return.”

“Magi,” Twilight chews the word, trying to recall details about the princess. “She provided magic for other ponies, right?” Celestia’s nod sparks a memory in Twilight’s mind. “Princess something amazing happened today!” Twilight’s exclamation elicits a laugh from Celestia.

“I know Twilight,” Celestia’s lips hold and easy smile as she leans towards her student, intent on nuzzling her purple cheeks. “It sounds like you had an exciting day.”

“No I haven’t told you everything,” Shocking the princess, Twilight rises, backing away from Celestia’s touch. “I taught Rarity magic.” Celestia’s lashes flutter as her mind attempts to deny what she just heard.

“You?” Celestia questions, her smile fading.

“I taught another unicorn a levitation spell,” Twilight’s words slow, her tone injured.

“Twilight,” Unable to form cohesive thought, Celestia’s mouth opens and closes, gulping down air. “I.”

“Did I do something wrong?” Twilight sinks, her purple rump finding wood, shameful eyes downcast. “I only wanted to help her,” Feeling her eyes moisten as the sight of the wounded filly Celestia steps forward, bringing her student into an embrace, cocooning her in white wings.

“Not at all my student,” Celestia’s warm, comforting word float into Twilight ears, nursing her false shame. “I’m extremely proud of you. I just never expected this to happen, I will need some time to grieve for my lost sister, but having you bring magic to another pony is the best news I’ve heard all century.” Wiping away joyful tears with a white hoof, Celestia hold her student, simply focusing on the filly’s heartbeat. “Will I be able to meet the lucky filly tomorrow?”

“I hope you don’t mind,” Twilight stares into the pink eyes above, trying to make sense of the concoction of emotion flowing within her. “I invited her to meet us at Sugarcube Corner before sunset.” Celestia mentally checks her sun’s lowering position above the horizon.

“We should get ready then Twilight,” Celestia releases Twilight, helping her up with a gentle wing. “we wouldn’t want to keep your new friend waiting.”

Surprise

“Surprise!” The bakery explodes with confetti and noise as Twilight and her mentor enter Sugarcube Corner. “Happy new to town party Twilight.” The pink filly drags Twilight to the centre of the room, showing her prize off to the crowd of ponies.

“What’s happening,” Twilight glances backwards, looking for safety in Celestia. She catches the princess with a hoof at her mouth, body shaking with laughter. Realising her mentor will provide no help Twilight turns back to her captor, examining her for the first time. “Are you the filly I saw earlier today?” Twilight’s questions.

“Mmmhmmm,” the pink filly nods her head, curly pink hair bouncing with the motion. “I’m Pinkie Pie and I know everypony in town. So when I saw you today I couldn’t help but notice you were new to town. You being new to town is a great reason to throw a party, and I just love to throw parties. So,” Pinkie Pie pauses rapid rambling attached to her head, gasping for breath. “I threw a party!”

“That’s nice and all,” Twilight squirms, trying to think of a way to escape her embarrassing situation. “But I came here to meet a someone in particular. So if I could just have a table to myself that would be nice.” Ignoring Twilight’s request Pinkie wraps her front legs around Twilight’s neck, pulling her towards the refreshment table.

“Don’t worry,” Pinkie pushes a slice of cake towards Twilight, smudging it’s pink icing across her clamped lips. “You can talk with them when they arrive, but now it’s time to party.” Another food laden hoof flies towards Twilight’s face, missing as she frees herself from Pinkie’s force feeding. Twilight’s eyes scan the room, searching for a white mass, a sun covered rear sticks out of the crowd.

“So Twilight has no friends?” As Twilight nears the princess she snatches hints of a conversation from the air.

“Yes,” Celestia’s voice confirms. “She may be an amazing student, but she struggles to find time away from her books.” Pushing her way to stand beside Celestia, Twilight discovers Rarity holding the other end of conversation.

“Oh, good evening Twilight dear,” Rarity bites her lips as her eyes catch sight of the purple filly, nervous enthusiasm covering her shock. “I was just discussing, um.”

“We were discussing you Twilight,” Celestia covers her student in a wing. “I was just questioning Rarity here about how you met and how wonderful it is that you two managed to connect so easily.” Teeth grit behind white lips as Rarity casts her gaze down, avoiding the princess’s congratulatory smile.

“Well, about that,” Rarity glances at Twilight, catching a warm smile. “I don’t know if Twilight and I really connected.” The admission brings confusion to the purple and white faces across from her. “I mean we did connect, and Twilight me teaching that spell made my day. It’s just I don’t give friendship away as easily as someone like Pinkie Pie.” On cue the pink pony bursts into their little huddle, snatching Twilight and darting away.

“Time for party games,” The remaining pair hear Pinkie cry, watching the struggling filly as she is dragged away.

“Aren’t you going to help her?” Rarity questions, confused by the princess’s seemingly lack of care for Twilight. Celestia’s lips form a smile, her eyes still trailing her squirming student.

“Not right now,” Celestia returns her eyes to Rarity. “I think Twilight needs to experience friendship, all aspects of it. I understand how you feel about Twilight, and I think we may be staying here for some time. It seems like a friendly town where Twilight can experience more than just books and studying.”

“I think-”

“Wooooooo,” Rarity’s reply is interrupted by the pink host screaming from across the room. “You did it Twilight, no pony’s ever gotten the tail on the donkey like that before.” The rooms attention is drawn by Pinkie’s enthusiasm. The pair turn to find Twilight hugging the ground, trying to hide from the surrounding ponies stares. Pinkie bounces around her purple friend, a massive grin showing her teeth.

“Now I think she’s had enough for one night,” Celestia strolls over to the nervous unicorn, wrapping her under a white wing, she leads her back to Rarity. “Twilight I was just talking with Rarity, and after thinking about what Luna told you earlier today we may be staying in Ponyville a little longer.” Twilight’s eyes light up and she wraps her forelegs around her teacher.

“Thank you so much Princess,” Celestia’s brow creases in confusion. “Now I can finish reading all those books in the library.” Rarity’s eyes meet Celestia’s, the two sharing a look before a wave of laughter overcomes them. “What’s so funny?” Twilight’s obliviousness fuels the pairs giggles.

“Twilight,” Celestia manages to breathe a word between her fits. “If we, stay, here I’m, not going to,” Celestia’s laughter ceases as she takes deeps breaths to recover. “Let you stay inside all day. Like I said earlier today, I want you to meet other ponies and try to connect with them. I’m sure Rarity here wouldn’t mind spending some time with you.” Rarity tucks her lower lip into her mouth uneasily, casting her eyes round the room for an escape.

“It’s not that I wouldn’t want to, it’s just,” Unable to fumble for an excuse Rarity sighs, meeting Twilight’s gaze. “I would love to show you around the town tomorrow Twilight. I’ll just meet you outside the library in the morning.” Twilight nods, warming to the idea of having another unicorn as a companion.
“Now we have that settled,” Celestia draws the unicorn fillies attention. “ I wish to ask you two about how Twilight taught you magic.” Celestia turns, leaving the unicorns to follow her to a table. Settling for one in the corner of the room, Celestia stretches herself out on a cushion. “So tell me every detail Rarity, I want to hear how it happened from your perspective.” Twilight and Rarity sink into cushions across from the princess.

“Well,” Rarity stares at the ceiling, attempting to recall what she felt during her first magical encounter. “It was like meeting an old, forgotten friend. I recognised things about it, even if I had never known it existed. It felt like part of me, and now that I have it I don’t know if I could give it up. It feels like such an important part of my person, almost as important as being a fashion designer.” Rarity’s horn glows white, highlighting her glistening eyes as she hugs Twilight. “Now that I really think about it, Twilight, thank you so much for giving me this gift.”

“Um,” Twilight looks to Celestia for guidance, finding only a smirk. “You’re welcome I guess,” Twilight manages, lightly returning Rarity’s embrace.

“Princess if you don’t mind me asking,” Rarity breaks her hug, calming her emotions. “Why is it that you never attempted to share Twilight’s magic before? Surely you must have known that this sort of thing is possible.” The questions is provokes a blank stare from Celestia, her mind thinking of a way to cover the truth.

“I was so invested in aiding in my sister’s return to Equestria it must have slipped my mind.” Rarity flashes a quizzical look at a nearby wall. “Please tell me more Rarity,” Celestia quickly diverts the conversation away from the sensitive topic. “I wish to know exactly-”

“Hey,” A brash voice yells at the group from across the room. “ Watch where you’re throwing that food.” Celestia and Rarity turn to find a rainbow-maned pegasus filly confronting Twilight.

“I’m sorry,” Twilight’s hooves raised defensively, she tries to ward her attacker off with words. “I was just grabbing a snack from the refreshment table.” Recognition dawns in Dash’s eyes.

“Aren’t you that purple filly who hit me with the door today?” Celestia’s mouth forms an O as the sky-blue filly pokes her hoof at Twilight. “What did I ever do to you?”

“Excuse me,” Celestia interrupts, drawing Dash’s attention. “Are you by any chance the flier to dislodged our door?”

“I wouldn’t have hit the door if,” Dash protests before recognising the speaker. “Princess Celestia?” Blue wings extend to their full reach, Dash’s eyes glow with excitement.

“You are correct, young one,” Celestia giggles at the filly’s reaction, closing her protruding wings with a white hoof. “What would your name be?”

“I’m um,” Dash searches her mind, panicking to find an identity that will impress the princess. “I’m Spitfire’s daughter Blaze, Wing. Yeah that’s it, Blaze Wing.” She punctuates her sentence with a flashy grin.

“As much as you like to dream,” Celestia tousles Dash’s rainbow mane, irritating the filly. “I know Spitfire has no children. What is your name, be truthful this time.” Realising she won’t be able to fool Celetia, Dash huffs, beaten.

“It’s Dash,” The filly replies, ashamed. “Rainbow Dash, and I’m the greatest flier in all of Equestria.” She shouts her last statement, rearing up, proud once again.

“See, there’s no need to be ashamed because you aren’t famous.” A white hoof rushes to Dash’s mouth, silencing her protests. “As long as you work hard your dream will come true.” A smile fight Dash’s lips, breaking free into a toothy grin.

“Thank you Princess,” A pink force pulls Dash from behind, immediately into the embrace of Pinkie Pie.

“That was so sweet Dashie,” Rainbow Dash’s smile droops at the sound of Pinkie’s pet name. “I’ve never seen you be so sincere.”

“Sincere?” Dash’s questions, confused. “What does that mean?”

“It m-”

“Why would you ask such a silly question Dash?” Pinkie interrupts Twilight mid-explanation. “I have no idea what that word means.” Celestia giggles at Twilight annoyed huffing. The purple filly waits till Pinkie finishes laughing at her own comment before attempting to speak.

“Where is your yellow friend Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asks. “Shy I think her name was? She seemed attached to you.” Dash dislodges herself from Pinkie’s grip, taking a cushion next to Celestia.

“It’s Fluttershy,” Dash corrects. “And she stayed at home, she doesn’t like parties. Too loud or something.” Pinkie leaps on top of the Rainbow Dash, piggybacking the squirming filly.

“What’s not to like about parties?” The wild pegasus thrashing underneath Pinkie halts her conversation, sending her flying into the nearest cake. “I mean there’s food, ponies, and fun. What better recipe could you possibly have?” Returning, Pinkie stretches her tongue about her face, cleaning the layer of brown icing.

“I think it’s a combination of all three,” Preening her messed wings as she speaks. “She’s always been a quiet filly, never really liked talking with other ponies too much.” Two glowing iced cupcakes float towards the group. One landing on the table, the other depositing itself in Twilight’s waiting mouth.

“Woah, woah, woah,” Dash looks up from her grooming and stares at the green-iced cupcake sitting before Twilight. “That was totally awesome. Is that some kind of advanced weather trick, the one where you make a tiny cloud and it holds things. Can you teach it to me? How can a unicorn control the weather?” Twilight swallows, the half-eaten cupcake choking her as she forces it down her neck.

“It’s,” Twilight breathes deeply, recovering from her near-death meal. “Magic. Nothing to do with clouds or pegasi. It’s an art Celestia helped me recover, I managed to teach Rarity here some as well.” Dash squints her eyes, suspicious of the unknown.

“Since when did unicorns have anything special except their horns?” Twilight looks to Celestia for leave to continue, and receives a confirmative nod.

“So this is where the whole towns been hidin’,” A southern twang breaks through the conversation filling the room, stopping Twilight before her mouth forms a word. All eyes turn to meet Applejack standing in the door panting. “Big Mac has gotten himself stuck under the collapsed barn, I need somepony to help.” A large dark-blue stallion approaches Applejack, she dismisses him with a hoof, her eyes scanning the room for possible help.

“I think we should assist her,” Celestia pulls the groups attention with her soft words. “It would be good training for you Twilight.”

“This is filly who helped me find the library door earlier today,” Twilight pushes her legs beneath her, taking the second cupcake in her purple glow. “It would be a good idea to return the favour.” Twilight’s motion catches Applejack’s gaze, pulling her across the room.

“Well if it ain’t you Twilight,” Applejack casts her eyes around at the ponies crowded around the table. “You sure keep strange company.” Applejack dismisses her own comment with a hoof. “That ain’t the issue right now. Big Mac is in trouble and I could really use the help of your glowy horn to get him out.”

Dash rises, stretching her wings fearsomely. “What makes you think she can help better than I can?” The blue filly asks, trying to uphold her reputation.

“Now I ain’t doubting your ability Dash,” Applejack reply is calm, not wanting to argue with the moody pegasus. “But I’ve seen what Twilight can do, and to be honest she’s the only pony who can help here.” The praise brings a rush of red to Twilight’s cheeks.

“I was actually wondering if we all could come?” Twilight asks cautiously, looking round at the group to gauge their response. Turning back to Applejack, “If that’s okay with you.” Applejack eyes the others ponies gathered at the table. Noticing the princess for the first time she half bows, removing her hat.

“Princess Celestia,” Applejack rubs a hoof against the back of her neck, guiltily avoiding the princess’s gaze. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there.” Celestia giggles at the filly’s uncomfortableness.

“No need to apologize,” Celestia smiles, comforting Applejack. “It’s nice to see my student getting more recognition than me for once.” The princess fluffs her white wings as she stands, “I like Twilight’s idea, why don’t we all go help this filly.” The ponies that remain sitting rise at the princess’s suggestion. Pinkie rushes over to the snack table, meeting the group at the door with stuffed cheeks.

Twilight shivers as she steps through the door of Sugarcube Corner, the brisk night air a stark contrast to the stuffy atmosphere of the party inside. The other ponies share a similar response as they feel the cool grasp of the night.

The group follow Applejack out of town towards Sweet Apple Acres. The buildings thinning out as they walk, fields, streams and small clusters of trees replacing them. The scenery turning rows of apple trees filling orchards as they near their destination.

Applejack breaks into a trot as the collapsed barn comes into sight, a yellow pony shivering beside a red stallion.

“Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash spots the pegasus, speeding ahead to meet her. “What are you doing here? I thought you were staying home tonight?” The shouts meet the yellow filly’s ears, lifting the corners of her mouth into a smile as she turns to greet her friend.

“I was um, out, talking with some owls,” Fluttershy hides behind a curl of her pink mane, stumbling over her words. “They only come out at night you know. Anyway, I heard a something in pain. I couldn’t just ignore it, so I came here and found Big Mac, stuck.” Tears moisten the corners of the yellow filly’s eyes. “I couldn’t do anything to help, so I just talked to him. I’m such a terrible pony.” Fluttershy’s eyes overflow with tears, Dash’s arms cradling the sobbing filly.

“It nice and all that you’re comforting Fluttershy.” Applejack speaks up, directing her speech at the stunned ponies watching the yellow filly’s breakdown, “But it’d be nice if yall could help my brother over here.” Twilight blinks, snapping herself out of the captivating moment between Dash and Fluttershy.

“Right,” Twilight eyes the barn for the first time, it’s enormity sinking her stomach. “You want me to lift that? That door today was the largest thing I’ve ever levitated before.” She gives Applejack an unsure look, hoping for another solution.

Applejack leaves her brothers side, moving to place a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, “We only need to lift it enough for Dash there to haul him out.” Dash catches Twilight’s eye, raising an eyebrow.

“We?” The purple filly queries.

“Dash?” The equally confused pegasus asks.

Applejack chuckles, “You didn’t think I was going to leave the whole job to Twilight did ya? We’re all doing this as a team.” Applejack disappears behind the barn, giving Rarity time to raise a hoof.

“I hope you don’t expect me to do any physical labour,” Rarity states. “I’ll just sit on the sidelines giving moral support with Fluttershy.” The white filly plants herself behind the still sobbing filly. Taking a long pink lock between her hooves, she fondles it, muttering encouraging comfort to Fluttershy.

Applejack returns, rope in mouth. “Twilight can you tie this under my brothers forelegs?” A purple glow surrounds the rope, lifting it out of Applejack’s bite. The purple snake twists and turns in the air for a moment before losing it’s color, deflating onto the ground at Applejack’s hooves.

“Sorry Applejack,” Twilight’s laughter is empty, hiding her nervousness. “I just remembered I have no idea how to tie rope.” Another hollow laugh brushes between Twilight’s lips.

“Well hardy ha indeed,” Applejack mumbles, taking the rope between her teeth. Crawling into the tight gap formed by her brother holding up the barn, she pushes one end of the rope underneath Big Mac, wiggling it under his legs, pulling it out the other side. She finishes the knot, looping the rope over her brothers neck, forming a makeshift harness. The other end is tossed to Rainbow Dash, who has left Fluttershy in Rarity’s care.

The unspoken pink filly and white princess are ignored, relieving themselves to sideline duties.

“So here’s the plan,” Applejack beckons her two teammates into a huddle. “I want you to push as hard as you can with your magic Twilight. When you’re at your limit I want you to yell. This’ll be the signal for me to buck the barn as hard as I can while Dash here pulls my brother out.” The other fillies nod. “Good, I don’t want this taking more than one try. Having a barn fall on you twice in one day ain’t nice.”

Breaking up, the three fillies get into their positions. Applejack curled next to her brother, legs aimed at the barn’s door frame. Rainbow Dash crouched, facing away from the barn, rope taut between her jaws. Twilight sits a few steps away, eyes closed as she decides her spell.

Dismissing all other thought Twilight forms her spark into a wave, a wall of water rising from below. Her horn brightening the night with it’s purple glow, ringing as it drives energy upwards. Wood creaks as Twilight’s wave hits the barn, relieving the pressure on Big Mac’s back. Applejack waits, wary for Twilight’s signal. The purple filly strains against the woods weight, giving all her energy to one spell.

“Now!” Twilight yells, reaching her breaking point. Applejack releases her rear legs, springing them towards the white wood of the barn frame, aiding in Twilight’s effort. Blue wings beat at Twilight’s signal, driving Rainbow Dash forward. Dust stirs underneath the red stallion as he is dragged to safety, the barn crashing into splinters behind him.

“Did we do it?” Applejack asks through the dust surrounding her, unable to spot her brother.

“Eeyup,” The sound of her brothers unburdened voice lifts the corners of Applejack’s mouth. Smiling she rushes for the source of the sound, bumping into the mass of red muscle that is Big Mac. “I’m so glad you’re safe Mac,” Applejack wraps her legs around her brother, tears forming in the corners of her eyes, her voice choking.

Celestia makes a move to catch Twilight as she collapses from exhaustion, her white wing cushioning the impact of her student against the ground. “That was very good Twilight,” Celestia comforts her student, ignoring the surrounding scene. “Just rest now, we’ll talk more in the morning.”

I, books, Princess,” Twilight mumbles, her mind spinning, sinking into the pool of sleep. Crouching next to her student, Celestia gathers the sleeping purple form with her wings, setting Twilight atop her back. She turns, studying the scene. Rainbow Dash strutting about proudly, ruffling her wings as Fluttershy whispers praise. Applejack helping Big Mac to his feet, being his crutch as they stumble towards the farmhouse. Pinkie Pie pulling faces at the pretendedly unamused Rarity, not wanting her to feel left out.

“So I assume we’ll be seeing you tomorrow Rarity?” Celestia’s question startles the white filly from her statuesque pose, her lashes fluttering as she directs her eyes at the princess.

“Oh yes, of course,” Rarity confirms. “To be honest I almost forgot in the craziness of the last hour, but yes, I’d love to spend some more time with Twilight.” The unicorn filly weighs each word through her exhaustion, yawning to punctuate the sentence.

“Oh, oh, me too,” Pinkie bounces at the mention of a gathering. “I’d love to join your little party,” Rarity meets the princess’s smiling, unreadable face.

Nodding, “I guess it couldn’t hurt for you to come along,” Rarity accepts, her mind working. “And while I’m inviting others, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack? Would you all want to join us as well? We could do something, fun.”

“I don’t know Rarity,” Dash meets Fluttershy’s eye, finding an eager smile. “It might cut into my awesome flight practice.” Yellow hooves tug Dash’s foreleg.

“If you don’t mind,” Fluttershy murmurs, eyes watching Dash’s hoof. “I’d like to spend more time with Rarity, she made me feel, um, nice.” Cocking her head, Dash weighs up how much nap time she’d be missing.

“I guess I could spend a bit of time with you guys,” Dash decides. “But after that it’s back to sle-, back to training.” Rarity suppresses her smile, turning to Applejack for a response.

“I don’t know Rarity,” The farm pony’s voice apologetic. ”I’d love to spend more time with y'all but the apples don’t pick themselves, and with Big Mac out for a while I’ll have to pick up his slack. I think I’ll pass.” Applejack continues her slow pace, aiding her brother’s shamble back to their home.

“Then I’ll be seeing the four of you tomorrow,” Celestia farewells, realising the time. “We should be heading home now girls, your parents will be wondering.” The ponies still conscious fall in beside Celestia as she strolls away from the farm, back to Ponyville.

Friends, Not So Bad After All

“Twilight?” The question floats into the purple filly’s slumber, rousing her from a dreamless sleep. “Twilight?” Closer this time, the familiar voice forces Twilight to crack open her eyes, blurry fabric fill her vision. “Come on Twilight,” Celestia whispers into her ear, peeling the sheets off her body with her muzzle. “You need to be awake for your outing with Rarity today.”

Twilight feels the wetness of drool running from her lips, wiping it away she pushes her hooves underneath, standing shakily. “Alright Princess,” Twilight yawns, her breath rushing between her lips as her jaw stretches. “I’ll be downstairs in a second, just meet me down there.”

“Okay Twilight, I’ll see you down there soon.” Celestia backs away from her student, giving her room to step out of her bed. Knowing, she stays to watch. Twilight stands still for a moment, blinking, breathing, trying to gather her consciousness. She wavers, collapsing, her face impacting the soft, feather pillow.

Celestia giggles at the display, moving to wake Twilight again, more forcefully this time. “Come on Twilight,” A tongue wets the tip of Twilight’s purple ear, eliciting twitches from it. “It’s time to get up,” Celestia’s tongue slides lower, coating Twilight’s inner ear in saliva.

“Nghhh, not there Celestia,” Twilight’s lips form a smile as she whispers to her half-dreamt fantasy. “Ow, Princess what are you doing?” Twilight jumps from her slumber, snapping at Celestia, trying to ignore her wounded look. “There are ways of waking ponies that don’t involve biting their ears your know.” A purple hoof rubs her ear, trying to dry the wetness from it.

“It was only a nibble,” Celestia grins playfully, her teeth clicking together as she demonstrates her technique. “And it was necessary, I was having difficulty waking you previously. Now you’re up, why don’t you freshen yourself up before meeting me downstairs.” Rolling onto her hooves, Twilight strolls into the shared bathroom, her yawns completely gone. She fills the porcelain white tub with water, submerging her sweaty purple body in the refreshingly cold water.

The wet embrace helps to wake her, bringing back memories of the previous night, of what she has to face today. I’m sure it will be fine, Twilight nervously tries to convince herself. They all seemed like nice ponies last night, but what if that was just when the Princess was there? Is Celestia coming with me? Oh I hope she is, I don’t think I can handle so many ponies alone.

“Twilight,” Celestia’s demand rings up the stairwell into the bathroom. “You didn’t fall asleep again?” A hoofstep rings off a wooden stair.

“I’ll be there in a second Princess,” Twilight yells in reply, warding off Celestia’s attempt to check on her. “I’m just getting out the bath now.” True to her word Twilight steps out of the water, dripping, completely awake. Multitasking, she grasps the bath plug in her purple glow while simultaneously casting a heating spell, singeing the ends of her hair.

“Ow, ow, ow,” Twilight’s protests bounce downstairs in time with her steps, the smell of burnt hair carried with them. The sight of Twilight’s hair, now a few inches shorter, brings a smile to Celestia’s lips. The water contained behind them spills forth as her smile breaks into a laugh, dousing the black ends of Twilight’s streaked mane.

“Oh Twilight,” Celestia sighs, standing to dry the once again wet purple filly with a wing. “Did you get a little overconfident with your magic again?” Twilight grimaces at the last word, memories of her magical mishaps rushing to the forefront of her mind.

Fragile vases around the Canterlot castle began to go missing shortly after Twilight began practice on her wave levitation. Her form wasn’t solid enough, leaving gaps in the glowing wave, allowing certain delicate objects to come in contact with the hard marble floors. After her attempts to hide the mistakes Celestia had noticed her halls with a somewhat odd number of vases. A simple question brought an admission from Twilight, who was dealt comfort and assurance as her punishment, promising to come to Celestia with any embarrassing problems from then on.

There had been a lot of them, fountains drained of water after Twilight’s attempts to freeze it resulted in evaporation. A section a cobbled walkway turned liquid after a transformation spell, a flying cat, purple grass, Celestia pet phoenix invisible for hours.

“You’ve drifted off again haven’t you?” Twilight awakens from her daze to find herself cushioned at the table, a sunflower mulched between her teeth. “I worry for you Twilight,” Celestia admits. “You live in your thoughts, ignorant of the world around you. Try to focus today, for me. I can already see a connection forming between you and those other fillies. You should try to strengthen that bond, it’s the strongest magic you’ll ever have.”

Confused by Celestia’s statement, Twilight finishes the petals in her mouth. “What do you mean the strongest magic? I always assumed that powerful unicorns were a result of decades of study and practice.”

Celestia tilts her head, peeking outside. “You are not wrong in saying that Twilight, powerful unicorn magic is achieved by a combination of training, study and experience.” Celestia states. “There is a magic of far greater power than the magic unicorns possess however, the magic held in bonds between ponies, bonds of love. When these bonds are stressed by dark magic, or dire situations they can react explosively, releasing magic beyond the power that any unicorn can dream of.”

Twilight eyes are shocked open, the new information funneling inside. “Would the bond between you and I be one of those bonds?” Twilight asks sheepishly.

Blushing, Celestia controls the smile attempting to break across her face. “Or the bonds you share with your mother and father, with your brother, hopefully one day with the ponies you call friends.” Celestia closes her eyes, mentally checking the suns position. “Eat up quick Twilight, Rarity will be here soon.”

The snapping and crunching of sunflowers continues as Twilight devours her breakfast, recovering the energy spent last night.

★★★

“So what are we going to be doing today?” Twilight strolls beside Rarity down the dirt streets of Ponyville, leaving the library behind them.

“Well first I planned to meet Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy in the town square,” Rarity details her plans, politely ignoring the change in Twilight’s mane. “Then we’ll stop by Sugarcube Corner for a snack and Pinkie. Anything from then on is completely up to the group, but I have some other plans just in case.”

Twilight contrasts the town to Canterlot as the pair make their way to the centre. The streets in Ponyville feel almost empty compared to the hustle and bustle of the city, being both wider and less ponies on them. Instead of ordered blocks of houses all in identically spaced rows, each corner they take is the result of some building popping up in the middle of a street, as if the roads were built around the houses and not vice versa.

“I think that’s them over by that stand,” Rarity’s voice pops into Twilight head, breaking her analysis, bringing her attention to the pair lingering across the town square. “Come on Twilight, we don’t want to keep them waiting any longer, you know how Rainbow Dash gets.” Following the bouncing purple curl of Rarity’s tail, Twilight finds herself across the street, surprised at the unexpected company.

“I’m telling you,” Dash leans across the wooden surface of the apple stall, pushing her protests into Applejack’s face. “I didn’t steal any of your apples. I don’t even like apples anyway.”

Applejack rolls her eyes, “Apples don’t just get up and walk off on their own y’know,” she snorts, shoving Dash backwards. “You asked me for an apple fritter, I turn my head for a second and then the apple sitting right here in front of me is gone, and you’re looking at the sky, whistling like nothings happened.” The pair argue ignorant to Fluttershy’s weak motions to interrupt.

“I know you two love to fight,” Rarity’s sarcastic tone cuts through the commotion. “But I think Fluttershy has something to tell you.” A white hoof motions towards the yellow filly, giving her leave to speak.

“It wasn’t Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy’s voice barely above a whisper.

“Well then wh-” Rarity corks the agitated orange filly’s mouth with her hoof, her stare daring Applejack to interrupt again.

“It was Angel,” Fluttershy lifts a wing, revealing a white baby bunny clutching a half-eaten apple , previously hidden behind her hair. “I’m sorry but I just couldn’t stop him. I’ll pay you for it tomorrow.”

Unable to charge the shy pegasus for her pet’s wrong, Applejack shakes her head, Rarity’s hoof giving her leave to speak. “Don’t worry about it sugarcube, I’m just glad you were honest.” She emphasizes the last words, flicking her gaze at Rainbow Dash.

“Hey,” The blue pegasus defends, her wings raised passively “I was telling the truth.”

Applejack narrows her eyes, “Maybe this time you were, but I’m sure there have been others. Like last month when y-”

“Alright, enough feuding for today,” Rarity cuts in with her hoof. “Are we going to Sugarcube Corner with you or without you Rainbow Dash?”

Dash huffs, dropping her wings. “Fine, let’s go,” Without waiting Dash lifts off the ground, lazily flapping towards Sugarcube Corner, Fluttershy trailing her shadow.

“Thank you for helping me get rid of that one Rarity,” Applejack bows her head appreciatively. “Choose whatever you want from the stall, my treat.”

Rarity maintains her death stare, “Don’t think you’re not just as wrong as she is, too blind to even notice other ponies.” Calming her face, Rarity turns to Twilight, motioning for her to go ahead. Ignorant of the sign language, the purple filly remains, confused. Returning her eyes to Applejack Rarity poses a question, “The two of you need to sort out this rivalry you have. I don’t know how long it’s been going on and I don’t care, it’s unhealthy for the both of you, and especially stressful for Fluttershy, that poor dear.”

“Well you tell that to Dash,” Rarity’s eyes narrow at the last of Applejack’s pride.

“Don’t make excuses Applejack,” Rarity’s tone neutral. “I always thought you were the kind of pony who would put others before her, but around Dash you seem to change. Try giving in to her, you don’t always have to win.”

Applejack watches her own hoof kick the ground guiltily, “My Papa used to say that, that we should help other ponies, and I try to. Dash, there’s something about her,” Sucking air between her teeth, Applejack meets Rarity’s eyes. “I’ll talk with her next time I see her, I’ll tell her sorry.”

“ Well what about now?” The two conversing filly’s turn at Twilight’s comment, surprised she still remains. “I mean we’re going to meet her at Sugarcube Corner, and you’ve sold everything in your stall except those two caramel apples.” Rarity’s head bobs, agreeing with Twilight’s proposition.

Applejack bites the remaining apple treats by the sticks, mumbling, “I guess I can come to your little gathering, it wouldn’t help to leave that pegasus angry at me.”

“It’s settled then,” Rarity’s lips regain their smile. “To Sugarcube Corner.”

★★★

“What was that back there?” Twilight asks the white unicorn sitting across from her. The two have resided to comfortable cushions at one of the bakery’s corner tables, the other fillies still choosing a treat from the temptations on display.

“You mean that business between Applejack and Rainbow Dash?” Twilight’s nod confirms Rarity’s assumption. “That’s just my way to solve an issue between two hotheads. You corner one, show them who’s in control, then force an apology. Manipulating ponies is easy if you know what you’re doing Twilight. Just like how magic comes easily to you.”

The corners of Twilight’s lips scrunch as she tries to control her smile, purple cheeks warming with red. “It’s not that easy for me. What you did back there I could never do will a thousand years of practice and study.” Rarity waves a hoof in dismissal.

“Oh darling you sell yourself short,” Rarity’s accent thickens as she praises Twilight, the purple filly’s face growing hotter. “Last night when you lifted that barn, now that was something. Think of it like this, you may never be able to stand up to quarreling ponies just like I’ll never be able to lift a barn.”

“So whatcha two talking about?” Pinkie bounces into the conversation, rocking the table as her hooves crash onto it’s wooden surface. The unicorns look up at the distraction to find the other three fillies standing around the table, sweet snacks gripped between teeth and wings.

Twilight looks to Rarity for a response. “Things only Twilight and I need to know. Now if you would all take a seat I’d like to start eating.” Rarity motions towards the empty cushions surrounding the table.

“You know you didn’t have to wait for us,” Rainbow Dash chuckles. “Just chow down I always say.” Sticking to her word she tosses one of the three blue-iced and sprinkled cupcakes into the air, it’s flight path curving into her mouth.

Rarity’s lips wrinkle into a grimace, “Some pony’s have a manners, and it is impolite to eat before everyone has their meals.” Noticing everypony now rests with their choice before them, Rarity takes her turkish delight in a white glow, lifting it to her mouth for a delicate nibble.

“Manners schmanners,” Rainbow Dash mumbles through her mouthful of cupcake. “I eat when I want.” She rapidly chews her mouthful, following the blue cupcake with another as she swallows.

“As much as I’d love to discuss how to eat food,” Already finished her caramel apples, Applejack wipes sticky sugar from the corners of her mouth. “What I’d really like to talk about is Twilight.” The purple filly, content to dissolve into her thoughts with Rarity and Dash’s banter as background noise, straightens up at her name. “You’re the reason we’re all here sugarcube, but why are you here? You just appear in town with the Princess, it’s real mysterious. So if I’m not being too intrusive, why?”

Mouth left agape at the sudden change in topic, Twilight’s eyes lingering on her purple lamington. Should I tell them the truth? Twilight weighs her choices. Celestia told me to make friends, and I wouldn’t be a true friend if I held secrets from them, but what will Celestia say if I reveal our plans. What if it’s supposed to be secret? “Well,” Twilight decides. “We’re trying to bring Princess Luna back to Equestria, but to do so we need to operate a summoning focus that lies deep inside the ancient Everfree castle.”

Fluttershy shrinks beneath the table at the mention of Everfree, the other fillies sharing degrees of confusion, except Pinkie. “All those words sounds really cool Twilight,” Pinkie exclaims energetically. “But I don’t think any pony here has any idea what they mean.” Twilight sighs inwardly, realising she shouldn’t assume knowledge of mystical things when conversing with ponies that aren’t Celestia.

“I believe I know who Princess Luna is,” Rarity raises a hoof to speak. “She used to rule alongside Celestia if I recall correctly, one thousand years ago. I wonder why you wish to bring her back. I thought she was, corrupted?”

Twilight brings a hoof to her head, coming to grips with the amount of explanation necessary for these fillies to understand. “For all of you to completely understand this I’m going to need to start at the beginning. It will take a long time for me to explain, maybe a even an hour. Are you all sure you want to know?” Encouraging nods from Applejack, Pinkie and Rarity, a less-than completely bored look from Rainbow Dash and a confirmative squeak from under the table ask for her story. “It all began with a spark.”

★★★

“So what you’re telling us is you need six ponies with strong magical bonds to power this focus?” Rarity questions. Applejack and her still engaged in Twilight’s story after nearly an hour of listening and questioning. Pinkie, distracted, plays with Dash’s rainbow mane. Styling the bored pegasus’s hair in wacky fashions. Fluttershy has managed the courage to leave her hiding under the table, even being brave enough to question Twilight once.

“Yes,” Twilight nods confirmation. “The only problem we have is finding them. I assume the reason we are staying in town longer is because Celestia is searching for five others. I don’t know where she will find five unicorns, let alone magical ones, on such short notice.”

Rarity and Applejack share a look, silently agreeing with each others conclusion. “Twilight,” Applejack speaks their thoughts. “I think you may be missing something kinda obvious here. If I understand what you tell us correctly, Celestia may intend for the five of us to be those ‘magical unicorns’.” Twilight’s brow finds itself confused, fighting which direction to take.

“No, it can’t be,” Shaking her head, Twilight denies the statement. “Four of you aren’t even unicorns, and I barely know you all. We aren’t even close to being tightly bonded.”

“Let me explain how we came upon this assumption dear,” Rarity voice soft, slow. “You say that Celestia told you there was another kind of magic, a bonding between ponies of all kinds, stronger than magic of unicorns.” Twilight nods. “And you also say this magic disappeared at the same time unicorn magic did, both of them directly linked to this third princess, Magi.” The purple filly bobs her head again.

“We think that Celestia decided to stay in Ponyville longer so you could bond with us,” Applejack’s southern twang takes over. “I mean it was mostly her idea that we even have this meeting. It sticks out like an unharvested tree to me.”

“But, I just,” Twilight stumbles over her thoughts, unable to clearly articulate them.

“Don’t want to spend any more time with us?” Rainbow Dash, awake to the conversation around her, butts in aggressively. “Is that why you can’t see what even Applejack here can?” Pinkie constricts the rowdy blue pegasus with a hug, holding her wings down.

“No it’s just,” Twilight tries to sort her thoughts, shrinking back from Dash’s verbal attack.

“Rainbow Dash,” Rarity scolds the pegasus, calming in Pinkie’s arms. “You shouldn’t presume so much, frightening Twilight like that.” Her hard stare demands an apology.

Rainbow Dash grits her teeth, “Yeah, I guess I’m sorry. It’s just I heard your excuses and it reminded me of, another friend I had.” The group of fillies sit silent, unsure of what to say next. Pinkie silently tousles Dash’s hair, comforting the rainbow pegasus in her own way. Fluttershy hidden behind the table once more. Applejack and Rarity share a look.

“I think I see what you two are saying,” Twilight speaks first, easing the built up tension. “It’s just when I pictured myself exploring the ancient castle I only saw two ponies, Celestia and I. It’s been just me and her for months, I feel closer to her than my mother or father, even my brother Shining.” Twilight sighs, smiling nervously as lifts her gaze to meet the friendly fillies across from her. “I know it’s silly, but for some reason I thought that if you all came along Celestia wouldn’t be as close. It’s stupid I know.”

Rarity rises from her cushion, scooting round the table to wrap Twilight in a hug, “It’s not stupid dear,” She comforts the sorry purple filly. “Everypony has ponies they grow close to, ponies who mean the world to them. Sometimes we fear losing those special ones, it shows how much we care. You shouldn’t be afraid of new ponies Twilight, we don’t want to push Celestia away from you. We just want to share a little of her space in your life.”

Fluttershy moves from her cushion to add to Rarity’s embrace, wrapping a small yellow wing around Twilight. Applejack makes her move, followed by Pinkie Pie dragging Dash behind her. The rainbow of colors smother Twilight, easing her guilt.

“Um, girls?” Twilight voice is muffled beneath the blanket of bodies. “You’re making it hard to breathe.” The fillies let go of their purple companion, giving her a small circle of space. Rainbow Dash giving Pinkie an irritated look. “I think I’m starting to understand, but I might need some time to think about it. So if you all wouldn’t mind it, I’d like to do something tomorrow as well.” She gives the group of fillies a hopeful look.

“I’d love to darling.”

“You can count me in.”

“I-I guess I could.” Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy agree simultaneously. Applejack fiddles with her hat, unsure.

“I really should be in the market tomorrow,” Applejack admits. “Selling this season's harvest.”

Twilight eyes flick up for a moment before and idea strikes her. “Why don’t we meet later in the afternoon at your stand Applejack. Some time after you’ve sold all of your apples,” The purple unicorn suggests.

“That sounds like a mighty fine plan Twilight,” Applejack agrees in her southern twang. “I usually sell out a little while after noon.” The group nod, turning to the final blue filly.

Rainbow Dash rubs the back of her mane, spouting her favourite excuse. “I need to practice flying,” Rainbow Dash jolts as a white hoof kicks her. “Uh, I mean sure, I’ll be there.” Her last words directed a Rarity.

“Great, it’s settled,” Twilight smacks her hooves together excitedly. “Now I don’t know about the rest of you, but I could really use another treat.”

My Friends

“So what will you being having today Twilight?” Pinkie asks with a toothy grin. “Maybe you want to try the rainbow drops? No, you tried those three days ago.” Giving the selection of sweets a serious look, Pinkie speaks her thought process as she tries to choose for Twilight. “Peppermint swirl? No. What about a caramel balloon? No, that was last week. Oh I’ve got it, the perfect treat for you.” Pinkie lifts her hooves from the display case, one cradling the treat, the other hiding it’s appearance from Twilight. “A lamington.”

“Pinkie,” Twilight smiles at her friends charades. “I had that the first time I came here.” Pink curls droop as Pinkie dons a frown, placing the lamington back into the case before Twilight can finish her sentence. “That doesn’t mean I don’t want it, “ The pink filly’s hair springs back to curls, a smile filling her face. “I think I’ve been to Sugarcube Corner so many times in the past few weeks that I’ve had everything.”

Thinking back on her time spent in Ponyville Twilight realises she’d been to the bakery every day of the past two weeks. Rarity and Pinkie Pie had been her constant companions in her outings, Applejack had to apples to sell, Fluttershy admitted she wanted to spend some time alone, and Rainbow Dash, she had excuses. After the third day of filling up on treats at Sugarcube Corner Rarity had suggested they try a different venue, dragging Twilight off to one of the town’s clothing stores. Their afternoon alone had been Rarity forcing Twilight into hundreds of different dresses, each one just not right. They had finally left the store empty hooved.

“Sooooooo, you want the lamington?” Pinkie’s drawn out question pulls Twilight from the weeks memories.

“Surprise me,” Twilight suggests, unsure herself of what she wants.

Oh, I know the perfect surprise,” Pinkie digs into the space underneath the sweet display, sounds of crinkling paper and metallic clanging fill the air. “Tadaa!” Pinkie lifts a package from below triumphantly, pushing it towards Twilight face.

Taking it in her magical glow, Twilight shakes the brown paper package, it’s only reply a rustle. “What is it?” Twilight questions, rotating the mystery to examine every angle of wrapping.

“You’ll have to find out when you open it,” Pinkie exclaims, a smile consuming her face. ‘Let’s go join the others, we don’t want to keep Rarity waiting.” Rolling her eyes, Twilight follows the bouncing pink filly as she hops her way through the empty bakery to the corner table. Twilight’s friends await, Rainbow Dash one side of a heated argument with Rarity and Applejack.

“I told you for the last time,” Blue wings are flared as Rainbow Dash protests. “I’m not going on that stupid adventure. I’ve got more awesome things to do with my time, like flight practice.” Rarity rolls her eyes, muttering incomprehensible words.

“I think you should come Dash,” Fluttershy tries to wrap a foreleg around the blue filly’s back, only to have it forced off by Dash’s wings. “It sounds like it’ll be a lot of, fun.”

“But it’s with her,” Dash complains, ignorant of Twilight and Pinkie arrival to the table. “I don’t see why you guys like her so much, she just seems so boring.” The other fillies at the table remain silent, eyes looking past Dash to the purple unicorn behind her. “What are you all looking,” Dash turns as she speaks, stopping her harsh words as Twilight comes into view. “Oh, hey there Twilight.” Dash’s guilty eyes flit around the bakery, attempting to avoid the problem.

“I’m sure she didn’t mean it dear,” Rarity speaks soft, comforting words. “She just got a little hot-headed is all.”

“No Rarity,” Stopping Rarity, Twilight holds her gaze on Rainbow Dash’s wandering eyes. “I’ve learnt enough to know at least some of Dash’s frustration is true. Dash?” Twilight steps closer to the ashamed pegasus, placing her paper package on the table. Dash looks up at Twilight’s approach, meeting her eyes, trapped in the purple unicorn’s calm gaze. “Tell me Dash, honestly, do you really not like me?”

Struck aback by the direct question, Dash drops her eyes, looking to the floor for insight. “Well, no, not really,” Dash flusters, unsure of exactly what about Twilight irritates her. “It’s just that, it’s just.”

“It’s just what Dash?” Twilight leans close to the floundering blue pegasus, lifting her chin with a hoof. “You can tell me, I won’t mind.”

“It’s just that,” Dash sighs, realisation of how childish her jealousy is dawning on her. “I kinda wanted some attention. It feels like I’m just watching from the side, not doing anything awesome.”

“Oh Rainbow Dash,” Twilight lips form a smile, the corners of her mouth scrunching as she tries to suppress it. “I’m so glad it’s nothing personal.” Placing a hoof on Dash’s shoulder, she rubs the blue pegasus’s coat softly, easing her built up tension. “I’m sorry I seem to be the focus of our group, it’s just the way we came together, because of me. I’m sure no one here thinks any less of you just because we’re not focused on you, I know I don’t.”

Various sounds of confirmation ring throughout the other fillies, lifting Dash’s pride. “J-just because we aren’t going on an journey for your Dash,” Fluttershy’s soft voice silences the group. “Doesn’t mean I think of you as any less of a friend. In fact, you’re my favourite friend of all.” the two pegasi share a blush, the praise curving Dash’s lips upwards.

“I. Thank you,” The blue pegasus’s voice breathy with emotion, she sniffles. “I think I needed that, it made me feel, better.”

Applejack leans towards Dash, patting her on the back, “Any time sugarcube, just as long as we don’t grow that ego of yours too much,” The orange earth pony jokes. “Wouldn’t want it breaking any more things than you already do.” Applejack taps a hoof lightly to Dash’s shoulder at the jest.

The blue filly rubs the back of her head, “Yeah, sorry about that window yesterday.”

“Aw shucks Dash,” Applejack kicks the pillow below her. “I won’t hold that against you,” the orange filly leans close, whispering. “As long as you come help fix it some time.” Giving Rainbow Dash breathing room once again, Applejack speaks to the whole group. “Why don’t we lighten the mood a little, talk a bit about where the Princess is taking us.”

“Oh, um,” Fluttershy softly stumbles over her words, unsure if anyone else wants to speak. “I was wondering Twilight. You keep talking about the Everfree castle, please tell me that the castle isn’t inside the Everfree Forest.” Her words trail off, leaving the last two words impossible to hear.

“What was that Fluttershy?” Twilight turns from Rainbow Dash, taking a cushion at the table next to Rarity. Her purple glow sliding the brown package across the table to rest before her. “I couldn’t quite catch the last few words.”

“She asked if the castle was in the Everfree Forest dear,” Rarity answers for Fluttershy, translating the previous murmurs.

“Oh yes, it is,” Twilight purses her lips thoughtfully. “Is that a problem?” Fluttershy shivers, sinking into her cushion, muzzle hidden below the table.

“The Everfree Forest is a place no pony dares to go,” Applejack answers, her eyes wandering the room as she imagines the forest before her. “It’s full of strange things that just ain’t natural.”

“Oh I’m sure it can’t be that bad,” Twilight smiles, mentally dismissing Applejack’s warnings. “Why don’t we go there now? I really want to see what it’s like.” Twilight’s curiosity is getting the better of her, giving her a thirst to experience forest.

“That sounds like fun,” Pinkie exclaims, her white teeth showing between smiling lips. “We can even have a picnic there. I’ll bring the food.” The pink filly springs off towards the kitchen.

“See Pinkie doesn’t seem to think it’s so bad,” Twilight’s eyes trails Pinkie as she disappears into the kitchen door, clanging, rustling and cries from the Cakes erupting from the door. “Why don’t we explore the Everfree a little?”

“I guess I’ll come,” Applejack surrenders, sighing. “As long as we don’t stay too long, I wouldn’t want to be in there as it gets dark.” Twilight looks to the other fillies at the table, only Rarity and Rainbow Dash are in view.

“It’s just such a dirty place,” Rarity speaks up first, examining a hoof. “I would want to get my coat all muddy.”

Dash eyes her from across the table, a sly smile crossing her lips. “You wouldn’t happen to be scared would you Rarity,” the blue pegasus giggles. “I can almost hear you shiver from over here.”

“A lady isn’t scared of anything,” Rarity snorts with defiance, turning to Twilight. “I’ll be glad to join you on your outing, just so long as Rainbow Dash isn’t too frightened to come.”

“What made you think I’d be afraid to come?” Rainbow Dash defends herself breathily, eyes locked on Rarity. “I’d love to come with you Twilight.”

“That just leaves Fluttershy,” Twilight’s eyes find an empty space where she expected the yellow pegasus. “Where did she go?”

A mass of pink hair pushes it’s way into view, Fluttershy’s quivering blue eyes peeking over the table’s edge. “I-I think I’ll just stay here, under the table.”

“Come on dear,” Rarity tugs on Fluttershy’s chin, lifting her from hiding. “The Everfree isn’t that scary. I’m sure all those dark tales are just made up.”

The frightened yellow pegasus pulls away from Rarity, retreating back under the table. “You don’t understand,” The fillies at the table quiet their breathing in an attempt to hear Fluttershy's whispers. “I’ve been there before, the animals there aren’t, nice.”

“Oh Fluttershy,” Pinkie climbs out from underneath the table, picnic basket between her teeth, Fluttershy in her forelegs. “I’m sure it can’t be as bad as you remember, and you’ll have all of us there with you.” Twilight’s right eye twitches as she comprehends the impossibilities of Pinkie’s arrival.

“Does this mean we’re ready to go?” Rainbow Dash pushes herself off the cushion beneath, extending her wings, flexing. “I actually wondering what the forest is like now. I’ve only ever flown over it.”

Twilight casts a look around the table, seeing the other fillies following Dash’s lead she rises. “It looks like everyone is ready,” Twilight notes. “If we leave now we should be back before the sun starts to set.”

“Well what are we waiting for then,” Pinkie exclaims over her shoulder, bouncing towards the door with Fluttershy in tow. “Let’s go.”

★★★

“So when exactly are we going to stop?” Rainbow Dash complains. “I’m starting to get hungry,” Her stomach growls in agreement.

Twilight, leading the party of fillies, ceases her searching eyes, turning to the group. “I’m sorry, I was just trying to find a break in the trees where we could sit in the sun.” She casts a final glance at their surroundings, sighing in defeat. “But I guess we won’t be finding a spot like that, so how about we just settle down over there?” Twilight directs her friends towards a patch of grass unburdened by the overgrowth of trees that cover most of the forest’s floor.

Pinkie releases her jaw, letting the picnic basket drop onto the thick, cushioning grass. Pulling the checkered red and white blanket out between her teeth, she flicks her neck, covering the ground between the fillies in cotton.

“So what are we eating?” Rainbow Dash asks, trying to nose past Pinkie and peek inside the basket. The pink pony’s stern look pushes Dash back, giving Pinkie room to unveil their treats.

“It’s,” Pinkie speaks in between transporting each brown paper package from the basket to blanket. “A, surprise.”

Recognising the packaging, Twilight recalls the unopened package she left at Sugarcube Corner. “Are these the same as the surprise you gave me earlier? I think I may have forgotten to eat that.” The purple unicorn smiles guiltily, a soft laugh passing between her lips.

“No silly” Finished unpacking the packages, Pinkie bops Twilight’s nose with a hoof. “That was just a cookie I wrapped up.” The Pinkie pony pulls a chocolate-chip cookie out of nowhere, tosses it high above her head, catching it in her mouth. “These are real surprises I made especially for you all,” Pinkie mumbles through a mouthful of crumbs.

The party of fillies sit, forming a circle around the brown packages. Pinkie nudges a package towards each filly, “One for Rainbow Dash, one for Fluttershy, one for Rarity, one for Applejack, one for Twilight, and one for me. Now open them.” Observing the rustling of paper, Pinkie Pie watches as each pony pulls apart the packaging. Twilight’s glowing purple as she meticulously deconstructs the brown paper. Rarity attempts to replicate Twilight spell, tearing the packaging in the process. Applejack and Fluttershy gnaw at theirs, Rainbow Dash pulls hers apart with blue wings, Pinkie’s opens with a look.

Inside are cookies, plain shortbread shaped to match each ponies’ cutie marks, iced in the correct colors. Twilight studies each cutie mark cookie, her eyes stop when she sees Pinkie’s.
“Oh Pinkie Pie,” Twilight laughs softly, sadly. “You didn’t ice your own.” Pinkie looks down at her own shortbread cookie, plain.

“I didn’t have enough icing to finish mine,” Looking up, the pink filly’s face is covered in a wide smile. “That doesn’t matter, because I managed to ice all of your cookies.”

“Oh Pinkie,” Twilight shakes her head again, her voice fading into a ringing. The unusual sound draws Pinkie’s attention. Her eyes find Twilight’s iced, star aglow with purple magic. A patch of pink icing lifts off the cookie’s face, floating over the checker cloth to smear itself across Pinkie’s naked trio of balloons. “There, I know it’s not the right color but now yours has some icing as well,” Twilight ceases her horn, admiring her lumpy work.

Pinkie Pie’s eyes scrunch up, her smile pushing them upwards to fill her face. “Oh Twilight you didn’t have to. Now your cookie isn’t iced properly.”

Twilight point her hoof to Pinkie’s patchily covered cookie, “Neither is yours,” She laughs, the other fillies, previously watching, join her. “But I couldn’t let you watch us enjoy your gifts when yours isn’t complete.”

“Ahhhhhh,” Fluttershy shrieks, startling the group out of their focus on the pink and purple pair.

“What is it this time Fluttershy?” Rolling her eyes, Rainbow Dash’s irritated tone lacks concern. “Another imaginary creature?”

“That bush,” Fluttershy manages to mutter, her quivering yellow hoof pointing towards a thick, leafy brush, no more than a foot high and three wide. The bundle of leaves rustle, hopping a few inches closer to the alerted fillies. “It’s moving.”

“Yes dear we can see that,” Rarity consoles Fluttershy, rubbing her shoulders in an attempt to calm the shaking yellow pegasus. “What I’m wondering is why?” In response the bush shuffles closer, eliciting whimpers from Fluttershy. Concentrating on the bush, Twilight imagines a magical form, a wave lifting the bush, leaving the unknown entity exposed.

“Oh Angel you shouldn’t scare me like that,” Twilight opens her eyes at Fluttershy’s cooing, finding the yellow pegasus with a white baby bunny in her arms, a multitude of other bunnies scattered around the picnic blanket. “You scared all of us Angel”

Rainbow Dash eyes the bunny with contempt, “That rabbit looks like trouble Shy,” The blue pegasus whispers, muzzle buried in Fluttershy’s ear. “I think you should, uh, get rid of it.”

“Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy holds the offending filly with a stare. “You shouldn’t say such things about animals. They have feelings too.” Nursing the bunny, Fluttershy strokes it’s white ears, ignorant to the offensive face Angel presents to Dash.

Twilight rolls her eyes at the pegasi pair, her focus drifting across their surrounding, noticing an object protruding from the newly formed hole. Leaving her friends behind, she strolls towards the mystery.

“What is it Twilight?” Rarity voice tinged with concern, following Twilight to the opening.

“It’s just something I saw,” Pushing the foliage aside, Twilight reveals a stone pole, engraved with symbols of ancient Magi. “Oh, I recognize some of these. City, up, away, plains.” Twilight moves her head around the post, reading off the symbols she recognizes.

Confused, Rarity paces around the ancient post, stopping opposite of Twilight. “What is it?” Rarity pushes her muzzle closer to the strange stone, attempting to decipher the symbols. The other fillies a colorful blur closing in over Twilight’s shoulder.

“It appears to be some sort of directional information device,” Twilight notes, eyes still searching the stone’s surface for familiar symbols.

“So you mean a sign post?” Applejack’s southern drawl translating for Twilight. Looking up Twilight notices the other fillies, joining Rarity and her, surrounding the post. “What does it point to?”

“Well,” Twilight brings a hoof to her chin, a giving the post a thoughtful look. “It seems to talk of a city, which I assume is Everfree, and it also says up. So I think that could be north.”

“Wait wait wait,” Rainbow Dash shakes her head, blinking rapidly to clear the confusion. “You’re saying that there’s a city in this crazy forest?” The other fillies look to Twilight for an answer.

The purple unicorn responds to the question with a giggle, “No. Well there was over a thousand years ago, but know there’ll only be ruins left now.”

“Why would these silly ponies live in the middle of a forest?” Applejack’s brow creases with confusion.

Breathing deep, Twilight organizes her mind, preparing to lecture her friends. Closing her eyes, “There wasn’t a forest here when they built their city. Thousands of years ago this forest was an empty plain, the base of Canterlot mountain where the celestial sisters decided to kindle pony kind. The forest and it’s mystical contents are a result of the magical overflow that followed Discord’s destruction. The disappearance of Magi released Equestria’s magic in a concentrated area, soaking this forest and causing a massive amount of magical growth.”

Reopening her eyes, Twilight finds her friends faces bearing more confusion than before she spoke. “Lets just say there wasn’t always a forest here,” Twilight summarises her previous explanation with a smile.

“Is this city in the same location as the Everfree palace?” Rarity questions, brow raised. “Because it sounds like a much more interesting place than what you’ve let on.”

“It was the centre of pony civilization for many centuries,” Twilight continues her history lesson, pleased that one pony found it interesting. “I’m sure the ruins hold more than a few stories.” Twilight’s eyes drift upwards as she speaks, her eyes locating a gap in the forest’s canopy. “I think we should be heading back soon girls, it looks like the sun is going down.”

“Well why don’t we finish the snacks Pinkie made for us all,” Applejack pulls off from the circle, leading the way back to the picnic. “Then we can head home.” Following the other fillies, Twilight finds her previous place on the checkered cloth, her half iced star before her. Lifting her gaze, Twilight studies each of her friends. Their faces bring memories of the past weeks back to the forefront of her mind.

The daily visits to Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie force feeding her sugary treats, sure to bring her a different one each time. Rarity, her constant companion throughout her short stay in Ponyville, accompanying her to the bakery each day. The white unicorn, while she tried to hide it, seemed to enjoy Twilight’s company. Taking her on tours around the town, showing Twilight her favourite places to spend an afternoon, most of which were fashion stores. There was afternoon Twilight recalls with fondness.

Rarity had deviated from their usual schedule of roaming the streets of Ponyville, lecturing Twilight on fashion. Occasionally stopping to peek inside a store, try on an outfit or two before returning to their patrol. Rarity had led Twilight out of the main town, through a loosely wooded pasture, a still lake meeting them on the other side. Rarity had simply sat wordlessly, leaving Twilight to decide her own course. Planting herself beside the silent, white unicorn, she followed her friend's example.

The rippled lake smudged the reflections of the forest behind it, it’s surface a blur of greens and browns. The stillness was thought provoking however, a time out of Rarity’s busy timetable for the pair to relax, to reflect. Closing her eyes and giving her thoughts freedom had done wonders for Twilight’s sanity. Allowing her to piece together the rush of events and emotions that had been the days previous. Giving Twilight time to concentrate on her inner spark, channeling small transformation spells.

Leaves became scurrying mice. A bloodthirsty snake shaped out of a stick gulped down a pair of the newly formed mammals before Twilight rushed to correct the balance, returning stillness to the sleepy lake.

“Twilight?” Rainbow Dash’s harsh voice pulls the purple unicorn from her memories. “Are you going to eat your cookie or are we going to sleep here?”

Giggling, Twilight surrounds her cutie mark snack in a purple glow, taking a bite of the shortbread star. “Sorry girls, I got lost in my thoughts again.”

“Well you better hurry up and wolf it down,” Already standing, Applejack scans their dimming surroundings, still uneasy with the magical forest. “I don’t want to be stuck in this place after dark.”

Sinking back into her mind as she eats, Twilight’s thoughts focus on her athletic friends. Applejack and Dash, always arguing about some non-existent issue, competing physically at any and every possible moment. Meaningless races wherever they went, Applejack only managing to win when she pinned Dash to the ground. Arm wrestles over the table at Sugarcube Corner, Applejack’s superior limb strength winning out almost every time. They were a handful, but with Rarity keeping them in line, they made enjoyable company.

“Come on Twilight,” Fluttershy’s whispers rouse Twilight from her memories of the rowdy pair. “We need to get going.” Twilight’s ear bumps against the yellow pegasus’s muzzles as she stands, surprised at the lack of cloth beneath. Observing her surroundings Twilight notices the picnic blanket packed away, covering the top of Pinkie’s basket. The other fillies are already up, waiting on Twilight.

“Sorry,” The group moves when they see Twilight up and moving, eager to leave the forest. “I was just thinking.” Falling in line behind the party, Twilight returns to her thoughts, Fluttershy coming to mind.

While she hadn’t conversed much with the shy pegasus, she had been a presence in their group meetings throughout the previous weeks. Usually trailing Rainbow Dash when she decided to show, but once Fluttershy had decided to join Rarity and Twilight alone during their wanders about Ponyville. Rarity had beelined for the nearest dress store after a quick examination of the pegasus, deeming her interesting.

After a morning of being squeezed into a multitude of dresses by the eager, white unicorn, Twilight could see Fluttershy was growing uncomfortable. Distracting Rarity for a second, she teleported Fluttershy and herself out of the clothing store. After the jump the pair found themselves behind the building, surrounded by tall bushes. Fluttershy, after much coaxing from Twilight asking her to speak up, thanked the purple unicorn, expressing a desire to show her something.

A short walk later, Twilight pushed through a wall of trees, finding Fluttershy prancing through a lush meadow, blue and pink butterflies cloaking the yellow pegasus, filling Twilight with awe. The purple filly had just watched, observing the sea of critters following their pony queen to her resting place, all attempting to secure an audience with her. Fluttershy dealt out hugs and kisses to her followers, beckoning Twilight to join her.

Twilight smiles at the memory, amazed at how her view on friendship had changed over the weeks.

“Well I’ll be seeing you all tomorrow,” Blinking, Twilight spots Applejack leaving the town square, farewelling the remaining fillies over her shoulder. “I won’t keep the Princess waiting.”

“I guess I’ll be off too,” Springing into the air, Rainbow Dash beats her wings lazily, barely keeping herself afloat. “We’ll see you all tomorrow.” Leaving Fluttershy to wave a hasty farewell, Rainbow Dash sets a slow pace out of the square, the yellow filly trailing behind.

“See you tomorrow,” Rarity and Twilight turn from the departing pegasi, finding only Pinkie’s words remaining.

Twilight yawns, the events of the day showing their effect. “I guess I’ll be leaving too.” Twilight blinks, rubbing her tired eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow Rarity.”

Catching Twilight yawn, Rarity extends her jaw to release the breath of air. Her white eyelids flutter, clearing the fake tears the yawn brought to her eyes. “Tomorrow is the big day isn’t it?” Twilight nods. “I’ll be seeing you bright and early then. Good night Twilight, friend.”

Preparations

“Has anyone seen Rainbow Dash yet?” Twilight calls from upstairs, addressing the fillies waiting below. “If she doesn’t come soon we’ll be late.”

“No,” Applejack responds with a yell. “Still can’t see her.”

Blinking downstairs, Twilight strolls over to Fluttershy, the yellow pegasus shaking with worry. “Are you sure she didn’t leave any notes about where she was going, anything?”

“No,” Fluttershy peeks an eye out from behind her pink fringe. “She was gone when I woke up, no note, no sign of her around the house. Her bags were gone though.” Twilight taps her chin with a hoof, giving a nearby bookshelf a thoughtful look.

“That means she must have gone somewhere,” Thinking aloud, Twilight paces across the room, peering through the window in hope to see a blue pegasus. Zoom! The blue filly in mind rockets across the sky, heading for the upper levels of the library.

“Won’t she need to slow down?” Rarity voices what every pony is thinking. Crash! “Apparently not.” Rarity breathes a sigh, rolling her eyes as she makes her way upstairs to welcome the pegasus intruder.

“Hey girls,” Rainbow Dash’s breathy voice meets Twilight halfway up the stairs. “Sorry I was late. You wouldn’t believe who I ran into.” Twilight finds her blue friend a mess of saddle bags, papers, books and wings splattered against a wooden wall. Tending to the scattered pegasus, Rarity pulls a stack of paper off the pile with a white glow, piling them neatly on Celestia’s desk.

“Will you ever learn to slow down Dash?” Rarity tuts, peeling a book from her friends face. Surprising her, Rainbow Dash wiggles out of her constricting saddle bags, sending a poof of paper into the air as she rolls onto her feet, panting.

“I talked to Luna,” Beaming a wide smile at her friends, Dash ignores the mess left in her wake. “She asked me to grab this,” Dash turns back to her saddle bags. Digging around inside, she produces a stone chest, engraved with flowing symbols and encrusted with deep blue sapphires. Rarity’s eyes pop out at the sight of the powerful looking container, knowledge of it’s expense causing her to salivate.

“Rainbow Dash,” Celestia steps forward from the background, taking the box from Dash’s wings with her own white pair. “How exactly did you obtain this?” Unlatching the jewel clasp with her wing tips, Celestia pushes open the lid, revealing a pair of pendants underneath where there is room for three. Leaning closer, Twilight recognises the shapes strung on each necklace, one being Celestia’s cutie mark, the other a moon she assumes is Luna’s.

“I found it in Luna’s room,” Rainbow Dash shrugs. “She asked me to get it.” Twilight twitches, her mind unable to choose which question to voice first.

Celestia’s lips widen into a smile, knowing her student’s questions. “Why don’t you tell us the whole story Rainbow Dash, before Twilight bursts.” Stepping back. Celestia gives the blue pegasus the stage.

“Okay,” Dash consults the ceiling, recalling the previous night’s events. “It started when I was having this awesome dream. I was a wonderbolt and was flying with the whole squad: Spitfire, Soarin, and Fleetfoot. We were speeding over Equestria, getting faster and faster. I was just about to perform a Sonic Rainboom when everything went black.” Dash looks down, disappointed. “And then Luna was there, well I didn’t know who it was at first, but she told me who she was and that I to get that box.” Pointing to the jeweled box, the blue pegasus emphasizes her point.

“How did Luna even find you?” Twilight’s brow creases, questioning her friend. “I haven’t told her about any of you five yet.”

Rainbow Dash nibbles the end of her hoof, trying to recall a memory just escaping her grasp. “Oh that’s right,” The blue filly jumps at her realization. “She said something about Twilight’s essence inside me, whatever that means.”

Nodding knowingly, Celestia closes the the stone chest, placing it on her desk. “She recognises the bond you and Twilight share, the bond you all share. Friendship is a strong thing, you leave a part of yourself inside every friend you have.”

“So what was the point of those necklaces?” Rainbow Dash asks, interested in what her efforts have achieved.

“They are relics of my past,” Flipping up the boxes clasp, she reveals the sun and moon again. “The sun clearly resembles my cutie mark and the moon is Luna’s. They hold no power at all,” Celestia counters Dash’s sour reaction with a smile. “They are not altogether useless however, a good luck charm can aid in a pony’s emotional stability, a key point of magic.”

“So what you’re saying,” Applejack drawls. “In normal words. Is that they don’t really do anything, they just make you think they do something?” The orange filly brings a hoof to her muzzle, unsure of the words she spoke. Everypony in the room joins her pause, attempting to decode Applejack’s confusing explanation.

“I think we’ll just agree that they help,” Twilight breaks the silence, clip clopping across the wooden floor to the top of the stairs. “Why don’t we head downstairs for refreshments before leaving?”

★★★

“I’ll be missing her,” Applejack gazes back wistfully, her hoof waving goodbye to her home. “A week without Sweet Apple Acres is gonna be like a week without apples.” She tosses a red fruit into the air, catching it between her teeth with a crunch. “At least I have them.”

Smiling at the orange filly’s enthusiasm, Twilight gazes back over purple saddle bags, checking on her other companions. Rarity walks with Celestia, questioning her about life in Canterlot. The princess disappointing Rarity with her lack of knowledge about recent fashion. Rainbow Dash flies high above, looping and swirling in the air, unrestrained by her saddle bags Pinkie offered to carry. The pink pony bounces ahead of the rest, seemingly unaffected by the added weight of extra baggage. Trailing behind them all, captivated by the wondrous landscape, Fluttershy is content to walk alone, humming to herself.

“Aren’t you missing your folks Twilight?” Applejack questions, shifting her hat. “You’ve been away from them for a long while now.”

A guilty smile creeping across her lips as Twilight realises hasn’t even thought of her family since she left Canterlot. The thrills of her new friends taking over her thoughts. “It may come as a shock to you Applejack, but I haven’t thought of my family until you just asked me. You five have been too much of a handful for me to think of anything else.”

“I guess meeting new ponies takes your mind out of things,” Applejack looks away from Twilight, her eyes focusing on the wooded horizon. “How long do you think we’ll be walking?”

“We should reach the ruins in a few hours,” Celestia answers Applejack’s question, falling into step alongside the pair of fillies, Rarity matching the princess. “If we keep this pace up we’ll have our tents set up before nightfall.”

“Are you sure it’s safe to stay inside the Everfree after dark?” Applejack shivers, gazing suspiciously at the wall of trees to their left.

Shaking her head, Celestia laughs softly. “The Everfree forest isn’t dangerous Applejack. Sure there may be some spooky looking creature, but they’re all harmless. We’ll be completely safe sleeping in the forest.” A gust of wind flips off Applejack’s hat, the seston fluttering through the air before being scooped up by a rainbow blur.

Hovering over the orange filly, Rainbow Dash place the leather hat sideways on Applejack’s head, letting it hang from her ear. “Don’t listen to her AJ,” Dash giggles, bringing her muzzle to Applejack’s exposed ear. Whispering, “She’ll wait till we’re all asleep, then in the middle of the night she’s going to gobble us up.”

Straightening her hat, Applejack ignores the blue pegasus, now grounded, beating the ground as laughter racks her body. “It ain’t funny, and I’m sure the Princess doesn’t appreciate your stories.” She turns to Celestia, finding her with hoof over mouth, stifling her giggles. Huffing, Applejack picks up her pace, leaving the giggling ponies behind.

Dash rejoins the line, floating lazily beside Twilight, wiping a tear from her eye. Glancing down at her companions, Rarity catches her eye, the white filly’s face stern. “What?” Dash protests “It was just a joke.”

“You know how seriously she takes things Dash,” Rarity shakes her head. “And I don’t want you two having a conflict when we’re going to be together for a week. I want you to go apologize.” Holding Dash’s gaze, Rarity maintains her expression.

The blue pegasus sighs, rolling her eyes, “Okay mom.” Dash beats her wings sullenly, gaining on Applejack. Rarity turns her head back to the two remaining ponies, softening her face. Noticing Twilight’s over exaggerated smile, she shoots the unicorn a questioning look.

“Sorry Rarity,” Twilight closes her eyes, attempting to restrain her lips. “It’s just. Mom.” She fails to hold herself back, laughter bursting from her lips, earning an eye roll from Rarity.

★★★

“Twilight dear,” Rarity stands at the entrance of her tent, light from the fire outside silhouetting her form. “You should put down that book and join us outside.”

“Mmmhmmm,” Twilight agrees absentmindedly, her eyes trailing along the page, speeding through line after line. “I just need to finish this chapter.” The book closes in Twilight’s face with a slam, surrounded in Rarity’s white glow. “Hey I was reading that.”

Rarity rolls her eyes, her lips finding a smile, “You can’t just sit in here and read Twilight, we’re all waiting for you outside.”

“Fine,” Sighing, Twilight finds her hooves, joining Rarity at the tent entrance. Looking past her white friend, she spies Rainbow Dash mid-argument with Applejack. Rarity leads the way, taking a seat next to Fluttershy, Twilight choosing her teacher to rest beside.

“I don’t want you to tell any of those silly stories,” Applejack protests. “You’ll give Fluttershy nightmares.”

A smile rips across Rainbow Dash’s face, “I’m sure that’s what you’re worried about, scaredy-jack.” She bursts out laughing, falling from her perch upon a log.

“I’m sure we can allow Rainbow Dash one of her tales Applejack,” Rarity intervenes, bunging Applejack’s coming complaints with a look. “Just one story.”

“I guess just one,” Applejack concedes. “But not too scary I would want, uh, Fluttershy getting scared.”

Dash stifles a giggle, climbing to her hooves, she paces around the campfire, wearing circles in the dirt. “They say these woods are full of all sorts of crazy creatures, cokatrices, minitoars, even zebras,” Applejack gulps at the mention of the striped race, dragging on her hat with hooves. “But the real horror is the lost princess who haunts these very ruins.” Dash stops, the palace’s dim outline her backdrop.

Sighing, Twilight buries her head in purple limbs. Her over extensive knowledge of the forest and practical thinking leaving her unable to engross herself in the story without wanting to question Dash’s facts every sentence. “She stays inside during the day, afraid of the sun, but when it’s night she goes hunting. Hunting for what?” Dash stops behind Applejack, leaning close over her shoulder. “Little fillies just like you.”

Applejack stands, facing Dash with a frown on her face, “I’ve had enough, I’m going to sleep.”

“I wouldn’t go alone Applejack,” Slinking along the ground, Dash circles round Applejack, a sly smile hinted on her lips. “The fire is the only thing holding that horror back. She’s waiting out there in the darkness for a little filly snack.” Applejack shivers, returning to her log, reluctant.

“I think I’ve had quite enough of your stories for one night Dash,” Rarity yawns, unaffected by the tale. The shivering yellow filly cuddled up against her nods her agreement.

“Why don’t we all roast some marshmallows?” Pinkie produces multiple bags from behind her back, passing them out among the other ponies. “Now if only we had some sticks to hold them on.”

Opening her eyes at the change in conversation, Twilight perks up, “I could just hold them in my magic.”

“Sounds like a great idea Twilight, catch.” Tearing one of the bags open, Pinkie flings it’s contents into the air. Twilight reactively summons her magic after a brief shock, catching the raining marshmallows in a purple wave.

Sighing with relief, Twilight gathers the soft treats in a ball. “You shouldn’t scare me like that Pinkie.” The pink filly shrugs. “How many marshmallows should I cook?” Twilight questions the ponies surrounding the fire.

“All of them!” Pinkie exclaims, opening a second bag of marshmallows, she stuffs her cheeks full of the fluffy pink and white snacks. With no other input, Twilight follows Pinkie’s request, levitating the marshmallows in a sheet above the soft flames.

“Twilight?” Her voice concerned, Applejack points towards a marshmallow slightly darker than the others. “It might be time to pull that one off.”

“Which one Applejack?” Twilight shifts the floating marshmallows, searching for the one Applejack pointed out, unable to find the ticking time bomb.

“Twilight take that one off the fire,” Dash demands, her wing directing Twilight’s vision.

“Also Twilight that one on the side is getting a little black.”

“Oh, and um, if you don’t mind, could you take that one off?”

Unable to decide, Twilight removes the whole load from the fire, finding the marshmallows charcoal black. Celestia brings a hoof to her muzzle, covering a smile. “Why don’t we just use sticks?” She suggests. The group of fillies, excluding Twilight, laugh, leaving the purple filly to roll her eyes and sigh.

Pinkie produces seven sticks and passes them round the circle. Spearing her stick full of marshmallows, passing the bag to the next pony, she opens another. Each pony follows suit with varying amounts of marshmallows. Rarity aids in Twilight’s inexperience, demonstrating to her exactly how to crisp the marshmallow’s exterior, leaving the centre warm and gooey.

“Not again,” Twilight tosses the smoldering black lump over her shoulder and takes a fresh marshmallow from the bag, ready for a fifth attempt.

“Do you want me to demonstrate for you again dear?” Rarity holds her stick upright, a fresh marshmallow impaled on the end.

Twilight shakes her head, spearing the new marshmallow on the end of her blackened stick, roasting it over the fire. “There, I did it,” Twilight exclaims,waving her golden prize in front of Rarity’s snout.

Rarity backs away from the toasted marshmallow. “Very good Twilight, now taste your reward.” On command, Twilight leans forward, closing her lips around the crispy exterior.

“Hot,” Reactively Twilight pulls the offending marshmallow from her mouth, holding it mid air with her purple glow.

“Ew Twilight, that’s gross.” Rainbow Dash screws her face up at the sight of white mush. “Put it away.”

Shaking the lump to cool it, Twilight quickly pops it back into her mouth to appease Dash, chewing it. “Mmmmmm, that’s really good,” Twilight licks her lips, cleaning the stickiness produced around the edge of her mouth. “I think I’ll have another.”

★★★

“Uhhhh,” Twilight cracks open her eyes, a pink pillow filling her vision. “I think I ate too much,” Rarity’s noisy breathing is the only response to Twilight’s sleepy mumble. Rolling onto her back, Twilight gives her tight stomach breathing room, trying to recall last night’s events.

Marshmallows dominate her memories, the fluffy lumps her night’s downfall. Twilight had found herself unable to resist the gooey treats. After she had solely finished a bag herself, Pinkie had noticed her longing look. The pink filly produced bag after bag, stuffing Twilight full of marshmallows until Rarity pointed out the bulge in her belly.

“Marshmallows, never again.” Twilight climbs to her feet, trying to ignore the weight of her laden stomach. Casting her gaze around the airy tent she finds Celestia’s mattress empty, sheets straightened. Rarity’s obnoxious breathing draws her attention, the white unicorn is splayed across the floor, half on her plump bed, half resting on the grassy floor. Twilight drags herself across the tent, gathering Rarity’s scattered sheets she dumps them in a pile next to the snoring filly.

Stepping from the tent, Twilight find the previous night’s fire smouldering, devoid of ponies. The crisp morning air embraces Twilight, evoking a yawn from her. Looking around for her friends Twilight notices the palace, outlined by the red dawn glow.

“Good morning Twilight,” Looking down from the skyline, Twilight spots Celestia walking towards her from the ruins. “Did you recover from your incident?”

Twilight breathes a sigh, sitting down she reveals the the bulge beneath her. “I don’t think I’ll be having any more marshmallows for a while.” Celestia holds Twilight’s eyes with an empathetic smile. “Where did you just come from?” Twilight questions her teacher, ignoring the pain.

“I was just scouting the palace entrance,” Celestia steps past Twilight, resting beside the blackened circle of ash. “It looks as if we may have some difficulty entering.” Twilight’s expression begs for clarification. Reading her student Celestia recounts her morning in greater detail: “There is a massive stone door that covers the entrance to the palace. It appears to be locked by a magical seal I have never seen before, I assume it is Luna’s work.”

Twilight looks around the campsite, no other ponies in sight. “It doesn’t look like any pony is awake yet,” She points out. “Do you want to give the door another look?”

Yawning, Celestia stands, patting the dust off her rear with a rainbow tail. “I seems like we’ve got the time, so why not?” She leads the way, stepping across the crumbled stone courtyard overgrown with vines, stopping before a not so ancient looking stone door.

The door seems untouched by the buildup of greenery that covers the broken palace walls. Closing her eyes, Twilight waits. “It seems like you were right princess, the door seems to be warded by powerful magic. I can feel it energy radiating from it.”

“Do you think there is any way to open it?” Celestia questions, studying the door herself.

Twilight lets her eyelids fall once more, concentrating on the the door, searching for an opening. “It seem there is something that responds to my magical touch, not a lock but a hole of some kind. I think it wants me to enter.” Twilight continues to trace the door with her mind, her eyes flickering under purple lids.

“What do you mean by enter?” Celestia’s voice holds an inkling of concern.

“It seems like a place separate from here,” Breathing deeply, Twilight sinks to her belly. “I’ll see you in a few moments princess.” Focusing on the hole, Twilight pushes her spark inside, letting her mind fall into it’s grasp.

“I haven’t seen you in a while Twilight,” Blinking rapidly, Twilight takes stock of her mostly black surroundings. “How exactly did you end up here?” Searching the darkness, Twilight spots Luna sitting a few hoofsteps to her right.

“It was the entrance to the palace,” Twilight explains. “There was some kind of magical door, and upon examination I discovered some kind of miniature, magical doorway inside the door. I went inside, and here I am.”

Luna rolls her eyes up into her head, thinking, recalling her past. “Oh,” She giggles softly. “I completely forgot about that door. The second doorway you talk of induces a dream linked directly to me. It allows me to personally filter any ponies attempting to trespass. While you’re here you should tell me of your progress, how did it go with making friends?”

“Um, well,” Twilight hesitates, unable to focus her thoughts, bringing doubts to Luna’s mind. “Oh my friends. It went wonderfully. I’ve made a total of five new friends, well I guess six including you. We spent most of the last three weeks together. I must thank you Luna, I never knew friendship could be so, fun.” Luna rolls her eyes at Twilight’s overexcitement. “Oh one thing Luna, I don’t have too long to talk, Celestia will be worrying.”

“We can talk of this later then,” Luna closes her eyes, lines of strain appearing on her face. “Let me just open the door for you, and then I’ll wake you up.” Twilight’s vision wobbles, the night blue princess rippling across her dream.

“Twilight?” White, white filling her vision. “Twilight, why would you be so foolish?” Celestia holds Twilight like a doll in her forelimbs, nuzzling her soft purple neck

“I’m fine Princess,” Twilight giggles, realising her previous stupidity.

“Oh Twilight, I’m so glad you’re safe.” Allowing herself one last nuzzle, Celestia backs away, recomposing herself. “What exactly happened?” The grinding of stone against stone fills the air, pulling the pair’s attention towards the movement of the massive stone door. “I guess you succeeded?”

“You could say that,” Twilight responds. “The hole was actually was actually a device created by Luna to put the pony interacting with it to sleep, forcing them into a dream with her.” Waving her hoof at the door, “She opened this all this with just a thought.” Twilight turns to Celestia, questioning the princess with a gaze. “I thought you told me the two of you had lost the ability to perform magic?”

“That is true,” Celestia’s eyes wander towards the sky, resting on her sun. “We still have ways to perform great feats through our celestial bodies however. Objects that large can have extremely strong effects on worldly things if we concentrate their pull.”

“Does that mean you can perform levitation without magic?,” Twilight cocks her head, questioning Celestia.

The thought pushes a smile to Celestia’s lips. “Only for colossal objects like this one. If I were to focus the power of my sun on something brittle like a teacup it would shatter. There isn’t too many uses for celestial levitation sadly.”

Taking note of Celestia’s explanation, Twilight turns her eyes back to the now open doorway. “Should we search for the focus?” She asks, her excitement pushing thoughts of her friends aside.

“Twilight I think you’re forgetting something,” Celestia’s tone spurs Twilight’s mind. Her thoughts rushing for her answer.

“Oh we need food don’t we?” Twilight rushed guess is met by Celestia’s shaking head. “Um, water?” Another shake from the giggling princess. “Books?” Twilight logic answers that guess before Celestia. Squinting, she searches the ground for wisdom, her eyes following the trail of hoof steps back to the campsite. “Oh, my friends,” Twilight taps herself on the head in light of her stupidity. “We should probably head back to the camp to check on them.”

With Twilight leading the way, the pair stroll back to the dead fire to find Applejack attempting to respark it’s life. The sound of hoofsteps draw Applejack’s focus, “Morning Princess, Twilight,” She greets them with a tip of her hat. “Where did the two of you just come from?”

“We were just at the palace entrance,” Twilight answers. “We managed to unlock the main door.” Looking around, Twilight notes the lack the other fillies. “Is everypony else still asleep?”

“I think so,” Applejack confirms. “Fluttershy, Dash, and Pinkie were still asleep when I left the tent, and I haven’t seen Rarity so I think she’s still sleeping.”

A pink blur beams out of the tent behind Applejack, pouncing on the sitting earth pony. “I wasn’t asleep silly,” Pinkie exclaims, the fright causing Applejack to jump. “I was just pretending.”

Her breathing still shallow from the shock, Applejack peels herself out of Pinkie Pie’s hug. “You shouldn’t scare ponies like that Pinkie.” The pink pony replies with a giggle. Applejack directs her focus back to Twilight and Celestia. “Should we wake the others?”

“We’ve got enough time to let them sleep a little longer,” Celestia replies. “We should get breakfast ready for when they wake.”

“If you’re trying to let us sleep could you stop making all that noise out there?” A muffled voice calls from the tent Pinkie just left.

“If you’re awake you may as well come out and join us Dash,” Applejack yells in reply. A bedraggled pair of pegasi appear at her request. Applejack motions towards the other tent. “Do you want me to wake Rarity?”

“I think I’ll do it myself,” Twilight steps away from the group, disappearing inside the tent. “Rarity?” The white filly sprawled across her mattress makes no move to reply. “Come on Rarity, it’s time to get up,” Twilight pushes Rarity’s shoulder with a hoof, rolling the the white pony onto her back.

“Twilight,” Rarity moans dreamily, squirming away from Twilight’s touch. “Twilight please don’t go, just a little longer.”

Twilight shakes Rarity with vigor, waking the mumbling pony. “Rarity I’m right here. What were you dreaming about?”

“Oh, I was,” A yawn breaks Rarity’s speech, stretching her jaw open to release a slow breath. “I was dreaming of, uh, nothing. I don’t really seem to recall what I dreamt of.” Her blush tells the truth.

Twilight fails to notice the reddening of her friend’s cheeks. “That’s unfortunate Rarity, you should ask Luna to help you with that.” Helping Rarity to her feet, Twilight focuses her magic, bringing the covers of Rarity’s bed back into order.

“I, I think I’ll be fine,” Rarity flusters her reply, attempting to compose her scrambled emotions. “Why don’t we go out and join the others?” Twilight’s nod brings Rarity relief. She follows the purple pony out of the tent into the smell of fresh cooking. “What is that delicious smell?”

“Pinkie’s pancakes,” Rainbow Dash replies, slurping to clear the pool of drool growing in her mouth. “When will they be done Pinkie?” She begs, leaning over the pan only to be beaten back by Pinkie’s whisk.

“They’ll be ready when they’re ready,” Pinkie replies, watching Rainbow Dash closely, guarding against another of Dash’s attacks. “And you drooling over them isn’t helping.”

“I think now would be a good time to discuss our plans for today,” Celestia suggests. “If everything goes well I expect us to make it to the focus by tonight.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Snatching a look at the surrounding forest, Applejack shivers, her fear of the forest still tainting her mind.

“At worst the puzzles of the palace may delay us for a few days,” Celestia’s words help to ease Applejack’s nerves, the earth pony’s eyes still checking the surrounding forest to be sure.

“Done,” Pinkie exclaims, producing seven plates of pancakes out of nowhere, each pony finding a stack in front of them. “There’s maple syrup, butter, lemon juice and sugar for you to choose from.” Waving a hoof over the tray of toppings, the other ponies pause in their confusion. Pinkie’s conjuration of food evoking questions in every pony’s mind.

First to recover from the shock, Rainbow Dash’s desire for food drives her. Planting a square of butter on the roof of her stack, she takes the bottle of syrup in her wing, emptying a quarter over her pancakes. “Mmmmmm,” Dash moans, her mouth crammed with Pinkie’s cooking. “Thrs ir rearry good Pnkie.”

“So where exactly in the palace are we heading Princess?” Rarity asks between delicate bites of her pancakes, ignoring Dash’s lack of manner.

Celestia’s jaw churns the mouthful of pancake it holds. She wipes her mouth, “The summoning focus in located in one of the lower chambers according to Luna’s map,” She replies. “I don’t know how much the palace has changed in the thousand years since Luna was last there, hopefully not at all thanks to Luna’s seal, but we can never be too careful.”

The circle remains wordless after Celestia finishes. The only sounds are the chewing of pancakes and Dash’s agitated murmurs as she tries to fit one too many pancakes inside her mouth. Twilight can’t help but to sneak glances of the palace, it mystery capturing her attention.

“Are you gonna eat that?” Dash points to Fluttershy’s half finished plate, her mouth lined with maple syrup.

“Uh, no,” Snapping out of her silent daze, Fluttershy pushes her plate towards the hungry blue pegasus. “I’m full.” The plate barely in her possession, Dash dives onto the lopsided pile, tearing a chunk of pancake off in her mouth. The other ponies look on with varying degrees of amusement, Pinkie glad to see her food enjoyed, Rarity scoffing at Dash’s shameful display.

“So are we ready?” Dash asks with a burp, wiping the excess topping from her mouth with her hoof.

“I think we all are,” Celestia speaks before Rarity has the chance to scold Dash. “I’m sure Pinkie has something prepared for lunch,” The pink filly nods, strapping an impossibly large pack to her back. “Anyone have anything they need to fetch?” Fluttershy raises a hoof before scampering off to her tent.

“I bet she’s getting that rabbit,” Rainbow Dash shakes her head when Fluttershy reappears, Angel perched on her back. “I thought I told you to get rid of that thing Shy, he’s trouble.”

“Oh Dash,” Fluttershy coos, tilting her head to nuzzle the bunny. “Angel is the sweetest little bunny, and her needs me. I couldn’t possibly leave him behind.”

“So we’re ready?” Celestia cuts in, wanting to hasten with her sisters rescue. The pegasi nod. “Then let’s begin our search,” Celestia sets pace towards the ruins, her sun rising overhead.

Dim to Dark

“Oh my,” Rarity gasps as they enter, twirling to see each wall of the palace. “It’s so sad to see such beauty ruined.” The walls are lined with vines, patches of colorful moss filling the gaps with red, gold, and green. The growth covers much of the walls design, but the architecture is still visible, albeit somewhat broken.

“It was once a great place,” Celestia recounts, leading the fillies from the entrance into a room over thrice the size. “This room was filled with ponies millennia ago. Guards, servants, ponies wishing our audience, it was a wonderful time.” Sighing, Celestia allows her mind to wander, filling the empty hall with ghosts of her past. “I forget how much I loved it here.”

Twilight shares her teacher’s awe, imagining the broken stone floor sounding with hoofsteps, ponies moving from room to room through the collapsed corridors, voices rumbling throughout the hall, mixing with the sound of the forest’s birdsong as it escapes via a hole in the roof. “It feels a little like Canterlot Castle,” Twilight notes, the more she observes her surroundings, there more similarities she notices.

“Very true Twilight,” Smiling, Celestia pushes her memories away, focusing on the task ahead. “Luna and I directly copied many of the structures from this palace into our new home at Canterlot. Some things are hard to let go of.” She steals a final glance at her ancient home. “We should press on.” Celestia continues to lead the band of fillies down another broken hall, the walls looking a pack of cards in the wind, unable to stand against the gentlest of gusts.

Being a few paces ahead of the group, Celestia disappears, a black entrance swallowing her whole. The sudden absence of her teacher rises fear in Twilight’s gut. Springing ahead she dives through the doorway of shadows she had seen Celestia enter, finding herself blind.

“Wait up Twilight,” Dash calls somewhere behind, the other fillies hoofsteps following her words closely.

“Celestia?” Twilight questions the darkness, fear obvious in her tone. “Where did you go?” A touch, fur against her neck, the warmth of breath. Recognising her teacher’s smell, Twilight returns the gesture of affection, relieved to have her teacher within reach once more.

“Why did you run off like that Twilight,” Dash asks, the other fillies having caught up. “Scratch that, where are we?” Realising the stupidity of her panicking fear of the dark, Twilight lights her horn, bathing the room in a bright purple glow.

“It’s a stairwell,” Celestia answers, standing away from Twilight’s touch. “We take this down to the next floor. Then we follow a few more halls until we reach Magi’s old study. Once we’re there it’s new territory for me as well, so we will have to be careful.” Taking careful steps, Celestia leads the fillies down the circular stairwell, their path lit by Twilight’s spell.

The cracks in the stairs fade as the descend, each step looking newer than the last. Vine still trails the walls here and there, a shadow of the overgrowth above. The distance between each rope of green larger and bare stone brick now visible in between each length where moss cloaked before. At their base the stairs open into a hallway similar to the one above, less cavernous than the great entrance halls but holding identical design.

“Her study should be the fourth door on the left if I recall correctly,” Celestia strolls down the hall, the metallic sound of her hoof-guards ringing along the passage. Maintaining her light spell, Twilight follows her teacher, the other fillies a few steps behind. “Here it is,” Celestia stops, waiting for the fillies to catch up before continuing. “This is my sister’s study.”

A white hoof presses against a carved star, the symbol engraved on the stone door to signify it’s owner. The door scrapes across the floor as it opens, stone on stone screeching, attacking the group’s ears. Twilight steps into the darkness beyond first, lighting the way with her horn’s purple glow. “It looks like Luna cleaned this room out when she last was here,” Twilight notes, the room devoid of decoration. Only a stone desk shaped into the far wall breaking the emptiness.

A gasp sounds behind Twilight, turning she notices Celestia’s eyes wide, a hoof covering her mouth. “I don’t think this was Luna’s doing,” The princess’s tone somber, she steps past Twilight into the centre of the room. “Twilight can you brighten the light, I need to examine this closely.” Obedient, Twilight allows a little more of her spark to flow, the room alight with purple.

Celestia stalks around the room, her muzzle close to the floor, eyes noting subtle scratches on the once smooth stonework, splinters of wood and specks of dirt scattered across the floor. Nearing a corner, she lifts her gaze, scanning the walls for similar damage, finding chips and scars in the stonework near the door.

“It seems other ponies have been here since Luna last was,” Celestia declares, eliciting a gasp from the group of fillies. “Don’t worry though, nothing of importance was left behind. Only some old wooden furniture and maybe a half filled chest of jewels we abandoned. It appears that is all they took from this room, the desk is free of tampering.”

“A-a ch-chest of jewels?” Rarity stutters, unable to believe Celestia’s carelessness about such sacred objects. “I-I, wha,” Her words failing her, Rarity faux-faints, collapsing backwards into Applejack’s arms, the earth pony reluctantly catching her.

Twilight shakes her head at the display, a snort of laughter escaping her lips. Turning to Celestia, “So the focus should be untouched?” The princess’s nod relieves tension she didn’t realise was building, pushing a thankful breath from her lungs.

“Are we ready to proceed?” Celestia questions once Rarity has recovered. Her count of heads turns up one short. “Where’s Pinkie Pie?”

“I’m in here,” Pinkie’s voice comes from behind the desk, muffled.
Celestia can’t help but chuckle at the pink filly confusing her friends. “I don’t know how Pinkie does it.” Taking a step towards the desk, she places one of her hooves on top, the sun-shaped guard fitting into one of the three sockets engraved on top. She waits, ten seconds, nothing. “Twilight, could you try feeding some magical energy into this desk. According to Luna’s book this is how she assumed it opened, but maybe it’s magically based and has run out of energy.”

Closing her eyes, Twilight focused her inner spark. Leaving it in it’s raw state, she releases it at the stone desk. The desk repels her energy, deflecting the ball of purple onto the floor, a black circle marking it’s landing. “Maybe try another slot?” Twilight suggests.

Celestia shakes her head. “This is the only one my hoof fits, the others are designed to respond to my sisters.” Gnawing at her lip, Celestia’s eyes search the room for answers. “It seems we may have to find another way.”

“Why don’t we try the necklaces in that box I fetched?” Rainbow Dash suggests, turning to her saddle-bags to dig for the ancient chest. “They look like they’d fit, a sun and a moon.” Her hoof touches stone. Pulling the box from her bags between blue wings, Dash holds it out for Celestia.

“You could be right Dash,” Taking the box from Rainbow Dash’s wings into her own, Celestia flips the latch, placing the chest on the table. “They appear to resemble the holes closely,” She observes, holding her sun necklace over it corresponding hole for comparison. Rotating the carved sun to fit, she slots it into the mould, clicking it in place. Undeterred by lack of a result, Celestia grasp the other pendant with her wingtips, repeating the process to put the second puzzle piece in place.

“Was something supposed to happen?” Dash asks, leaning over the table, looking for any sign of life. “Because I can’t see anything.”

“Dash,” Rarity scolds. “Pointing out other’s failures isn’t going to help. I’m sure the Princess will be able to figure it out.”

“I’m not sure if I can Rarity,” Pulling the sun pendant from it’s place, Celestia rotates it, reslotting it in an attempt to activate the desk. “It seems as if we need three symbols and we only have two. Give me a moment to reread Luna’s book, I’m sure there will be an answer there.” Celestia maneuvers her wings, shrugging her saddle-bags onto the desk.

Resisting the urge to join her teacher in reading, Twilight steps closer to the desk, craning her neck over the slots to take a closer look. “Maybe if I turn it,” Twilight mumbles to herself, grasping the lunar pendant in a purple glow. Rotating it, she tries to replace it with no success, the moon only fitting at one orientation. Changing the solar pendant’s rotation brings similar success, the desk still dormant.

“It seems we may be stuck,” Celestia declares, looking up from Luna’s writing. “Luna found the desk already to the side, the stairwell behind revealed.”

“Do you have anything of Magi’s Princess?” Still studying the third slot, Twilight notes the star shape. “It appears the third slot requires her pendant.”

“You’re such a silly pony Twilight,” Pinkie exclaims. “You just need to push the button.”

Twilight jumps at the pink filly’s sudden appearance, relieved that she recognizes the ambusher. “Which button?” She questions, skirting the edge of the desk, searching it’s surface for a protruding button. “Also I thought you were stuck behind the desk?”

“Don’t worry about me silly,” Pinkie’s eyes scrunch as her smile fills her face. “Just push the star.”

Shaking her head in an attempt to clear the confusion, Twilight faces the three slots once again. “I’m sure I already pushed it,” She thinks aloud, her hoof hovering over the star-shaped hole. Pressing down, she feels the stone move with her hoof, a click as the button reaches it’s limit. “I guess not.”

Celestia, previously watching the interaction, lift her bags and book off the now shifting desk, peace returning to her face. “I don’t know how Pinkie Pie, but I must thank you for your help.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Beaming, Pinkie dismisses Celestia’s praise with a flick of her hoof. “It was Twilight who pressed the button.”

“Shall we continue?” Celestia suggests. Taking the first step through the newly opened doorway, she leads the way, the fillies trickling in behind her. The passage appears to be unmolested by the cracks and vegetation that overgrow the rest of the palace. The dark stairwell leaving little head room for Celestia to stretch her neck. She bumps her head on the unseen roof more than once.

At the base of the stairs another door waits for them, this one opening with an easy push of a hoof. The hallway behind evokes a groan from Rainbow Dash. “How much longer are we going to be walking?” She complains, the dark passage before her not showing any signs of stopping.

“I’m sure you can walk a little further Dash,” Rarity calls, letting her voice float down the hallway to reach Dash.

“It’s just this place is so boring.” Unfurling her wings, Dash finds the width of the hallway barely twice her wingspan. “There’s nothing to look at and worst of all no room to fly.”

“I’m sure you’ll manage Dashie,” Pinkie appears behind the pegasus, pulling her into a hug. “Once we reach the end of this tunnel we can have a picnic. I bought something special for everyone.” Unable to peel herself from Pinkie’s grasp, Dash accepts the hug.

“Are you two going to start moving anytime soon?” The pair look up to see Applejack waiting for them, the rest of the group fading into the darkness behind her. Scrambling to free herself from the now distracted Pinkie, Dash bounds out of the pink pony’s reach, passing Applejack to rejoin the others. “You coming Pinkie?” Applejack asks, still watching the stock still filly.

“Yeah I’m good Applejack,” Pinkie nods, her lips scrunching inwards. “I just needed a moment.”

“Hey girls we found it,” Twilight’s voice rings down the hall to meet the trailing pair, bringing new energy to their steps. The darkness of the hallway opens up into a dim cavern, the glow of Twilight’s horn only managing to reach halfway across the room. What they can see pulls a collective gasp from the ponies, even Celestia finding herself short of breath. “This thing is gigantic.”

The structure a pair of pyramidal frames crisscrossing, stone beams climbing high into the darkness that cloaks the ceiling. The main star made up of multiple smaller pyramids stacked upon each other, each vector an obsidian orb. The polished, black spheres linking the lengths of lighter stone together. A ragged dome of rock resting in the centre makes an ugly misfit amongst the beauty of the structure. Twilight’s purple light bathes half the star in purple, revealing small platforms at each point.

Walking round the structure’s edge, Twilight fuels her spell with more of her spark, pushing the boundary of her light, revealing two more platforms.

“So how exactly does this thing work?” Dash calls after her, her wings glad to be free. “It just looks like a heap of rocks to me.” Twilight turns back to catch Celestia’s eye, expecting her to answer.

“I assume each of us stands on one platform, then we focus our magic somehow,” Twilight guesses, the princess failing to come to her aid. “There isn’t very much to read about multiple pony magical constructs, so I have limited knowledge of the subject.”

“How are we supposed to do magic?” Applejack yells, confusion obvious in her voice. “Pinkie and I are earth ponies and Dash and Fluttershy pegasi. I thought only unicorns can do magic.”

“Unicorns do have a form of magic completely unique to their kind,” Celestia answers, pacing round the room as she speaks. “But all ponies share another kind of magic I’m sure you’ve heard me mention more than once, the magic of friendship. It’s a spark you all share through your bonds as friends.”

“How are supposed to use this magic?” Floating in lazy circles above the fillies, Dash stops for a moment to speak her mind before returning to her repetitive flight.

“It’s said that the spark will activate when the bonds are tested or one of the friends is in dire need,” Twilight completes her teacher’s explanation, still making her way around the room, intent on checking every inch of the focus. “I don’t know how we will invoke that kind of reaction however.” Finished with her circuit, Twilight rejoins her friends, still puzzling over their problem.

“So you’re saying we need to be scared?” Dash brings her wings close, letting gravity drag her down until moments before impact, spreading her wings to pull up her descent. “Couldn’t we just set up some spooky surprise or something?”

Contemplating Dash’s suggestion, Twilight shakes her head after a moments thought. “That wouldn’t work because we’d all know it wasn’t real. It’d have to be a real form of danger.”

“Boo!” Celestia yells, behind the huddle of fillies, causing them to spring away defensively. Her cheeky grin quickly turns innocent as she notices Twilight’s expression. “I was just seeing if I could get something to happen,” Celestia shrugs.

“Can’t you just be quiet?” A deep rumble of a voice erupts from the focus, sending a jump through the group of ponies. Twilight’s eyes flit around the room, searching for the speaker. She notices movement at the focus’s centre, the craggy rock twisting and shifting, feet appearing underneath as it stretches its wings.

“A d-dr-dr-dragon!” Fluttershy stutters, scampering to hide behind Dash, clutching the blue pegasus as a shield.

“What are you ponies doing disturbing my slumber?” The beast demands. It stands several houses high, forced to dodge in between lengths of stone to reach full height. Scales crack as black wings flex, a cloud of dust scattering from the unused appendages. One brushes against the summoning focus, the engraved stone length sparking, causing the dragon to flinch. The surface under his feet reflects Twilight’s light, a bed of golden coins and a rainbow of gems serving as the creature’s resting place.

“I’d like to ask you a few questions instead,” Twilight calls, defiant. “Why are you here? And how could you possibly get down here, you barely fit in this room.”

The dragon laughs, the rumble pulsing through the room, sending shivers through the ponies. “You don’t need to know any of that,” A yawn forces him to stop, still brushing the consequences of a long sleep from his body. “All you need to know is that I haven’t eaten in some time, hundreds of years I’d guess. So if you could be a good little snack and stay still, I’d appreciate it.” With that he sinks to four legs, careful to avoid brushing his limbs against the criss-cross of beams surrounding him.

“Don’t you come any closer,” Twilight warns, her horn ringing with purple. The slithering black dragon takes no notice, only a brief chuckle stopping his approach on the huddle of ponies. Closing her eyes, Twilight pulls on her knowledge. Searching her inner library of spell for one lethal enough to stop the dragon. Her repertoire lacking lethality, she forms her spark into a dome of mirrors, hoping her spell doesn’t turn out as she practiced.

The purple glow blinds the dragon temporarily, forcing him to stop, blinking and rubbing to clear his eyes. “Ha,” The spell faded, he checks his body, noticing no damage. “Your petty attack didn’t even leave a scratch.” Turning back to his prey he finds himself blind, the purple glow previously lighting the room gone.

“Where did you little ponies go?” He roars, agitated. “You won’t get away from me so just come out and I’ll eat you quickly.”

Inside the shimmering wall of air Rainbow Dash stifles a chuckle. “Can he really not see us in here? I thought this glowing bubble would be easy to see in the dark?” She poke a hoof at the disturbance of particles, feeling it resist her touch.

“Don’t do that Dash,” Twilight pleads, her voice strained. “It’s an extremely draining spell. I can barely keep the dome up, so bending it’s shape like that, just don’t.”

Rarity, feeling safe enough to speak, whispers, “What does this thing do exactly?”

“It seems to be a refractive and reflective barrier,” Celestia answers for her student, Twilight confirming her suspicions with a nod. “Any light and sound will bend over the dome, making it appear as if we aren’t here. The dome also captures all the light and sound inside it, absorbing it. Twilight’s horn is the room’s only light source, so he will be as blind as we are.”

“So are you saying I can yell as hard as I want and he won’t hear me?” Dash asks, her voice increasing in volume with each word.

Plugging Dash’s mouth before she speaks another word, Rarity shakes her head. “Twilight appears to be having a hard enough time as it is, you shouting isn’t going to help.”

Dash replies with a weak smile, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. “Yeah, I’ll be quiet.”

“So what are we going to do now?” Applejack whispers, her eyes suspicious of the wall of black surrounding them. “We can’t just stay here forever, either Twilight will run out of magic or that dragon will bump into our little bubble.” Turning her head back to the other ponies, she finds them looking just as clueless as she feels.

A yellow hoof rising gathers their attention. Fluttershy flinches from the onslaught of eyes, taking a few moments before her courage returns. “Why don’t we, um, try talking to him? I’m sure he would let us go if we ask nicely.”

“I, don’t think that, would be a good, idea,” Twilight breathes, pausing every few words to groan and shift her pose.

“I’m with Twilight on this one,” Dash agrees, bringing a hoof to her chin in one of her rare moments of thought. “Why don’t we just try sneaking back out the tunnel? If we make sure to avoid that guy we can come back later when we’ve got a plan.”

Applejack, surprised to find herself agreeing with Dash’s suggestion, nods her head slowly, still mulling the plan over. “That sounds like an alright idea to me, what do the rest of you all think?” Slowly, the bobbing of heads spreads across the circle, a wave of moving color.

“Just, one problem, with that,” Struggling to stand, Twilight clenches her eyes, putting all her energy into holding the dome. “I, don’t think I’ll, be able to, move, like this.”

Taking the initiative, Rainbow Dash moves to support Twilight, propping her up with a shoulder. Applejack, catching onto the idea, skirts round the shaking purple pony to hold her left side up. The others follow, each grasping part of Twilight.

“Girls,” Celestia interjects, noticing a problem with their silently composed plan. “If you could just help her onto my back that would be enough, you seem to be stretching her a little.” The star of supporting fillies reexamine their design, noticing for the first time Twilight’s spread position. Still moving as a team, they bunch closer, edging behind Celestia, lifting Twilight onto her waiting back. “You can all help by keeping an ear out for the dragon,” Celestia commands, noting the fillies want to aid in their escape. Wings adjusting to support the burden of her student.

Applejack and Dash nod, eager to be of assistance they move to the bubble’s flanks, ears twitching as they attempt to pinpoint the sound of claws scuttling along stone. “It sounds like he’s off in that direction,” Dash points her hoof to where the centre of the focus would be if it were not covered in darkness. “I think I just heard him bump into one of the poles.”

“Good,” Celestia thanks the pegasus with a nod. “Now we just need to find out where the door is.” Her eyes fall back to the fillies, hoping for a miracle.

“Just leave it to me princess,” Pinkie exclaims, Twilight’s wince a warning to her. “Oh, sorry. Just leave it to me princess,” She repeats, whispering. “The door is, that way,” Pinkie sticks at the wall of darkness. “But it seems like there’s lots of those stick thingies that way so we should go this way instead.” Her hoof rotates a few degrees, directing the Celestia into what looks like more of the same.

“If you say so Pinkie,” Celestia shakes her head, still struggling to believe the pink filly’s supernatural intuition. “Stay close girls, I wouldn’t want any of you bumping into Twilight’s barrier.” With that she sets off, taking careful steps in the direction of Pinkie’s hoof, adjusting her direction on the pink filly’s instruction.

“Stop,” Dash holds a leg in front of Celestia, halting her progress. “I think I can hear him getting closer.” Her ear flicks, testing the darkness for the scrape of claws.

“Don’t be silly Dash,” Pinkie smiles. “He’s all the way over the other side of the room.” Crack! The stone wall shatters a few steps before the bubble. The raging dragon writhing to free his head, raining chunks of grey stone from the hole it leaves. “Huh, I guess you were right Dash.”

Celestia freezes, waiting until the dragon stumbles back into the darkness before taking another step. Noticing Fluttershy stuck in her fright, Rarity wraps the shivering filly in a hug, whispering comfort into her ear. Continuing their journey against the wall, Celestia makes sure to also watch out for Dash and Applejack’s warnings.

“And we’re here,” Pinkie announces, stone doorway appearing out of the mist of darkness as she speaks.

Walking far enough into the tunnel to be out of sight, Celestia stops, easing Twilight from her back into her forelegs. “You can stop maintaining your spell now Twilight, we’re safe.” The wall of shimmering air flickers around them, sparking out into nothing.

“We made it?” Twilight’s weak voice asks, her horn’s glow ebbing and flowing.

Celestia brushes back Twilight’s fringe, watching her eyes flutter open. “We’re safe for now Twilight. We’re all going to head back to camp so you can rest, okay?” A smile creeps across Twilight’s lips. She pushes against Celestia’s cradling limbs, rolling onto her hooves.

“That’s where you ponies are,” The dragon’s voice is joined with a crash. Vibrations along the walls and floor, knocking Twilight off her unsteady legs. “Come back here so I can eat,” He cries. Another thump, softer this time, not enough to knock Twilight out of Celestia’s support.

“You can’t get us up here,” Dash calls back, triumphant.

“Yeah you stupid lizard, go back to your cave,” Applejack joins her voice.

“Well at least you two agree on something.” Rolling her eyes, Rarity helps to ease Fluttershy’s shakes, the dragon’s recent assault on the tunnel bringing another wave. “But I think a better idea you be to get out of here.”

“Can you walk Twilight?” Celestia asks reluctantly, still propping her student upright. “I can carry you the rest of the way if you haven’t recovered enough.”

“I think I’d like that Princess,” Twilight whispers in reply, allowing herself collapse into Celestia’s waiting arms. “Wake me when we’re back at the campsite.”

Return

“Why don’t we just get the Canterlot guard to go in there and beat him up?”

“I’d rather keep this between the seven of us Rainbow Dash.”

“Well what else are we going to do then?”

“All we can do is wait for Twilight to wake, then maybe we can try that fancy friendship magic.”

The muffled voices rousing her, Twilight cracks open her eyes, her vision filled with pink. Rolling onto her back, she circles her pupils, stretching the sleep from her face with a yawn.

“Is there anything to eat, I’m so hungry.”

Rainbow Dash. Twilight recognises her friend’s voice. The words lighting a fuse in her mind, memories exploding to the forefront of her thoughts. The broken palace, astounding structure, and terrifying dragon. Curious, she springs to her hooves, tiredness forgotten. Bouncing from the thin mattress Twilight bursts from the tent’s entrance, her sudden appearance turning heads.

“Good morning Twilight,” Celestia addresses Twilight first, her face calm, hiding her joy. “I trust you had a refreshing sleep.”

Nodding impatiently, Twilight takes in each of her friend’s face, glad to see them still with her. “What happened after I fell asleep?”

“Nothing much really,” Dash responds, faking a yawn. “We just came back to camp and slept. It’s been pretty boring around here while we’ve been waiting for you. Why’d you have to sleep so long?”

“How long did I sleep for,” Panicking, Twilight’s mind goes through the possible situations, not having enough time to continue their venture one possibility. “We still have enough time to help Luna return to Equestria don’t we?”

Celestia’s lips spread into a small smile, breaking the stillness of her face. “Don’t worry Twilight, you only slept for half a day,” She assures. “We’ve still got five days to rescue my sister.”

Relief escaping her lungs, Twilight searches for somewhere sit. Choosing a place beside Celestia she collapses, the exhaustion of her recent magical feat still affecting her body. “So what’s the plan?” Twilight asks, curious as to what her friends have been doing the last few hours.

“Well the plan was actually to wait for you dear,” Rarity explains, her hooves toying with Fluttershy’s pink mane, the long locks twisted into a bun. “We were hoping with you we’d be able to awaken the magic of friendship.”

“I don’t think it’s something that can be harnessed like that.” Bringing a hoof to her chin, Twilight settles in her thinking pose, eyes following the cloud’s flow in the sky above. “I always understood it as something that only came forth to save groups of good friends from dire situations, not something that can be channeled on will.”

“Then what are we going to do about that dragon?” Applejack questions. “And didn’t you say we needed that magic to get Luna back?”

“I truly don’t know Applejack,” Twilight admits, returning her gaze to the circle of friendly faces around her. “What I do know is that with all of you with me, I feel like I can do anything.”

“Aww that’s so sweet Twilight,” Bouncing from her seat opposite Twilight, Pinkie wraps the surprised purple filly in a hug. “And I think I have an idea about how to get rid of that scary dragon.”

“I, um, what?” Twilight asks, unsure if she heard Pinkie correctly. “Did you say you have an idea?”

“Of course I did silly,” Pinkie bops Twilight on the snout, giggling as she does. “I mean what sounds like idea my dear?”

Twilight stares into Pinkie’s blinking, blue eyes, waiting for her to voice the idea. “So what was your idea Pinkie?” She asks, realising the filly’s mind had drifted on.

“Oh. I was thinking that we could use the dragon to scare us,” Pinkie explains, her tone as cheerful as always. “And then when we’re scared enough we’ll be able to use the magic.”

Shaking her head, Dash can’t help but laugh at the suggestion. “Pinkie, you’re one crazy pony.”

“I must agree with her Pinkie,” Rarity says. “It sounds like your plan could get us killed if something went wrong.”

“It seems plausible.” Hoof on her chin, Twilight simulates the situation in her mind. Most possibilities ending with survival. “There is a slight chance that the magic of friendship hasn’t returned. If that is true then Pinkie’s plan will be fatal.” Fluttershy squeaks at the final word, pulling away from Rarity’s slow stroking to cower behind a log.

“Well the Princess said the magic has come back,” Applejack mentions, watching Rarity coax the quivering Fluttershy from her wooden defence, comforting her with a hoof against cheek. “And I know I can trust her to tell the truth, so I’m with you.”

Celestia giggles at the farm pony’s compliment, a sigh breaking the burst of joy. “It is true I said the magic of friendship had returned with unicorn magic, I can feel it.” She casts her eyes round, as if looking for the mysterious force. “But there is always the chance I could be wrong, so I would still exercise caution in this venture, a backup plan perhaps?” The fillies glance at one another, all waiting for the others to speak up.

“We’ve always got me as a backup is everything goes wrong,” Twilight speaks up, unable to bear the silence any longer. “But I would rather not use it, another day asleep is another day wasted.” Quiet falls over the group once again, each pony unable to decide

“I think we may just have to take the risk,” Rarity concludes reluctantly, breaking the barrier of indecision. “Unless anypony has something still unspoken.” Her eyes flick across the group one last time, none of the fillies showing any signs of speaking.

“I, um, I still th-think we should try t-talking to him,” Fluttershy mumbles, every pony straining their ears to hear her soft words. “I-I’m sure he’s j-just a little cranky aftter napping for s-so long.” Rarity grimaces at the suggestion, worried for the filly but unable to crush her idea.

“I think you’re onto something Fluttershy,” Twilight exclaims, much to the surprise of Rarity and Rainbow Dash. “It’s like a refined version of Pinkie’s plan. We use the dragon to create a sense of danger then the magic of friendship will interfere, allowing us to rescue Luna.”

“Twilight I don’t think we can put Fluttershy in danger like that,” Words spill from Dash’s mouth as soon as Twilight finishes speaking. The torrent driven by love and fear. “You know how Shy is, she’ll be so, so, so scared.”

“I’ll be fine Dash,” Fluttershy affirms, her confidence a shocking the blue pegasus. “It’s for Luna, we can’t just leave her st-stuck on the moon.”

“But Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash’s voice and eyes convey her desperation. Leaning closer to Fluttershy she pleads with her friend. “We don’t even know Luna, we don’t even know if this thing will work. I know you though, and I know I, I just couldn’t let you do this.”

Twilight’s hoof against Dash’s arm interrupts her begging. “I promise she’ll be completely safe Dash,” Her voice calm, assuring. “If anything happens we’ll all be right there with her.” Twilight sureness sways Dash, her frown twisting, thought lining her brow.

“I, I guess if you’re okay with it Shy,” Dash concedes. “But don’t get too brave though, I don’t want you getting your head bitten off.”

“I’ll be fine Dash,” Fluttershy’s smile easing the tightness in Dash’s chest. “I-I’m just glad I can finally help, and you’ll be right behind me right.”

Dash feels her lips spreading, the smile on Fluttershy’s face contagious. “When do we leave?”

“As soon as we eat,” Twilight answers. “Do you have anything prepared for us Pinkie?”

The pink filly springs from her seat at the mention of her name. Diving into her tent she rustles around. “Today I’ve got cupcakes,” Pinkie exclaims. A tray of the treats between her teeth, iced in a rainbow of colors and dressed in sprinkles. The rainbow array catches the attention of all “Dig in.”

★★★

“Where could he have gone?” Standing atop the pile of jewels and gold, Twilight casts the light of her horn around, searching for the dragon.

“Maybe he knew we were coming,” Dash suggests, confidence overflowing in her tone. “And he was so scared he just ran.”

“I don’t think that’s it.” Stepping from the bed of valuables, Twilight forms her light into a cone, allowing her to direct the light, pushing it further. She searches the room, covering every wall, lighting each corner. “This room is completely sealed, so how could he escape?” Twilight looks to Celestia for guidance.

Noticing her student’s wanting gaze, Celestia sighs, knowing Twilight will be disappointed in her answer. “I’m sorry Twilight. I’ve never been in this room before, so I don’t know. The room could have a another exit we haven’t spotted.”

Twilight breathes deeply, her mind failing to produce any reasonable solution. The cloud of failure threatening creep in, the guilt of failing Luna a spark wanting to light in the back of her thoughts. Not wanting to leave the room without the Princess of the Night, Twilight bounds off. Out of the cover of the summoning focus and away from her friends, hoping to find any sign of another escape on the walls.

Crash! The stone shatters before Twilight beneath the weight of black scales. “I was wondering when you ponies were going to get out from underneath that thing,” He exclaims, the other ponies rushing to Twilight’s aid. “Now I can finally have my snack.”

Glued in place by fright, Twilight watches the charcoal claw surround her. Voices distant in the background. The scales cold and hard against her coat, squeezing her legs together uncomfortably.

“Twilight!” Celestia, desperate. Her voice full of fear, longing, helplessness.

“The magic Twilight,” Rarity calls, her mind clear in the straining situation. White lights her own horn as she gallops, attempting to touch the surrounding fillies with her spark, unable to fulfil her desires.

The cries break through, bringing Twilight out the her shocked-induced daze. The ground falling away too quickly, she lets her spark flow. The memories of the recent weeks flooding her mind as the gaping mouth nears. Rank, hot breath erupting from the dark, pink cave. Even unable to see her friends, Twilight senses them. Their emotions, their thoughts, their combined desire to free her. The magic comes to her like an old friend, so obvious, so simple, so familiar. Weaving the thread of her magic through the core of each pony, she interconnects the fillies, alighting the spark hidden deep inside every one.

The process complete, she calls on her friends, their response powerful, their combined spark forming at the command of their conjoint will. Released, Twilight feels herself falling, the moist heat of the dragon’s insides closing in, smothering her. Knowing it’s completion, She allows the spell free roam, it’s power surrounding all of them in bubbles safety before releasing the full force. Blinding light purges the room, vaporising the black beast from inside out, the underground experiencing the briefest feeling of day.

Twilight opens her eyes into the wind, the ground still closing in rapidly beneath her. “Gotcha,” Dash grunt as Twilight’s weight pulls against her arms.

“Thank you Dash.” The ground firmly against her hooves, Twilight feels safe enough to speak. “Actually I must thank all of you. You saved my life.” She gather the fillies around her in a hug, the overflow of joy wetting her eyes.

“It was nothing,” Applejack brushes of the praise. “I don’t really know what happened, it just felt like a nice warm bath.”

“It guess that’s one way to put it,” Rarity says, breaking away from the hug. “It definitely felt like magic, but of another degree to what I have performed. That was simply amazing.”

“I don’t want to interrupt your moment,” A voice speaks from outside the circle, drawing the attention of the fillies back to the centre of the structure. “But I must thank you all as well for reuniting me with my sister,” Luna’s voice warm, she meets each filly’s eye, ending with Twilight. “You must introduce me to your new friends Twilight, I’ve been longing to meet them.”

Eager to get in another princess’s good books, Twilight steps out of the group, her hoof starting on the left. ”That’s Pinkie Pie,” The pink filly greets Luna with a smile, the white of teeth filling half her face. “Then it’s Applejack, and I think you’ve met Rainbow Dash before.” Applejack bows, while Dash barely nods, unable to break her air of confidence. “And the last two are Fluttershy and Rarity.” The white pony curtseys, Fluttershy managing a weak smile.

Locking the names away in memory, Luna makes a half turn, her side still facing the fillies. “I must thank you all again, I cannot express how much I owe each of you.” She gushes, Celestia behind her giggling at the overflow of emotion. “I think it would be best if I heard the rest of your recount elsewhere, I desire to feel the sun against my coat again.”

★★★

“It sounds as if you had quite some trouble returning me to Equestria,” Luna comments, having heard their story. “And I must once again tell you all how grateful I am for your aid.” Gathered around the dead fire, the ponies sit on logs and grass. The fillies sit in awe of the unfamiliar princess, Luna’s mane dead compared with Celestia’s. Her form barely larger than that of an adult pony, baby blue hair forming a curve behind her head.

“Always happy to help Princess,” First to break silence, Applejack does so with a twang and the nod of her head. “I’m just glad we all made it out of there in one piece.” The other fillies sound their assent, Twilight feeling her friends press against her.

Celestia’s lips form a smile at the bundle of fillies, her own heart relieved to see Twilight in one piece. “Now that we’ve accomplished what we came here to do, I think you fillies deserve a little time to relax,” Celestia says. “So if you’d all like to we can spend the rest of the week in the forest.”

A murmur spreads through the fillies at the suggestion, agreement coming with the turn of heads. “I think we’d all like to head back to Ponyville,” Rainbow Dash speaks for the group, the other fillies nodding in agreement. “This forest is a bit too scary to relax in.”

Understanding their concern, Celestia nods, organizing the fillies to pack up before joining them herself. The tents collapse rapidly, bedding rolled and stuffed into backpacks, the firepit smothered with a bedding of leaves. They manage to finish in under an hour, leaving just enough time for the journey back to Ponyville.

Sweet Apple Acres peeks over the horizon as the setting sun disappears behind it. A grin spreading across Applejack’s face at the familiar sight of home. Her body moves with a rush of instinct and emotion, waving goodbye with her hat before eager legs carry her away.

Ponyville appears before the sky dims to complete blackness, the first stars showing their faces as they part ways in the town square. Fluttershy trailing Dash, Rarity walking beside the bouncing Pinkie as they head back to their homes.

The wooden door of the library opens with a slam, a book falling from a shelf at the force. “So this is where we reside tonight?” Luna questions, the concept of sleeping for the night unfamiliar after so many centuries. “I think I may have forgotten how to sleep.”

“Did you not sleep on the moon?” Twilight’s brow creases at the thought of not being hindered by sleep, endless hours of reading filling her imagination.

Luna nods, glad to share the experiences of eternity alone with somepony. “A celestial body never sleeps,” She answers. “I think I will busy myself with recent history, many things will have happened while I’ve been gone.”

“Twilight and I will rest then,” Celestia says. “We will see you tomorrow Luna.”

As the ponies turn to head up the stairs Luna stops them, holding up her hoof. “Before you go I must thank you once again Twilight.” The purple unicorn accepts the praise with a tilt of her head before following Celestia up the wooden stairs. “Good night my sisters.”

Author's Note

To anyone who read the whole thing,

Thank you for for taking your time to read my first attempt at a full story.
I hope you enjoyed it.