Twilight was lonely. She was, after all, the only filly in the castle. Of course, Twilight was never lonely. She had books as companions, and she felt that was all she needed. Usually. But she had just finished an adventure novel, and she felt she had lost a good friend. So she was lonely. And she didn't like it.
To get her mind off the sad ending of the book, she started wandering around the castle. She stopped in the kitchen.
"That's strange," she muttered. "That door wasn't there before." She tried the handle, and it was surprisingly unlocked. She gazed down at the many flights of stairs, and although she hadn't realized before, there, at the bottom of the steps, lay a machine.
"Tia! I wanted the chocolate milkshake!" As usual, Canterlot Candies was filled with chaos.
"I got it first!" Celestia whined.
A pink Alicorn rolled her eyes. "Celestia, Luna, would you please stop fighting? I would give anything for you two to stop whining."
Luna looked at her eagerly. "Even your milkshake?"
Cadance pushed over her milkshake and Luna slurped happily. Cadance grabbed the vanilla. She made a face and brought it over to the counter. "Any chance I can trade for a banana milkshake?"
She grabbed at the milkshake and soon she too was slurping happily. She turned around with a contented sigh, only to notice a little purple unicorn filly standing in the doorway. She gasped.
Twilight walked in. "Where am I?" she asked. She looked at the old rundown Canterlot Candies sign, and then the Alicorns caught her attention. "Okay, the better question is when am I?"
Celestia noticed Cadance's gasp and followed her gaze. "Don't just stand there! Come sit!"
Twilight sat down and looked at Celestia. "Princess Celestia!" she gasped.
"What, you've heard of me?"
"Yeah," Twilight managed, staring at her mentor. Since when were she and Celestia the same age?
"Well then, why don't you get yourself a milkshake?" Celestia asked.
Twilight blushed. "I don't have any money."
Cadance looked at Luna, who looked at Celestia, who looked at Twilight. Celestia sighed. "Here are two bits."
Twilight looked at her and smiled. "Thanks Tia," she cried, wrapping herself around Celestia in a hug. She stopped. "Wait, I am allowed to call you that, right?"
Celestia nodded. "Of course..."
"Twilight."
"Well then, of course, Twilight." Celestia told her.
Cadance smiled. "Group hug!" She put her arms around Celestia and Luna. Twilight hugged them back.
After a few minutes of quiet slurping, Twilight broke the silence. "Hey Cadance! Sunshine, sunshine! Ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!"
Cadance smiled back, although she didn't know what Twilight was doing. "Cool!"
Twilight asked a question she had ever since she became Celestia's student. "What's it like being a princess?" she asked.
Celestia sighed. "I like being royalty, but it can be hard work."
Luna nodded. "So many fancy dinners, polite manners, beautiful dresses..."
Cadance chimed in. "So little playing time, time to yourself, fun..."
Celestia swatted her friends. "You're making it sound worse than it is!"
Luna grinned and continued in a false high pitch voice. "Fun? Where did you hear of fun? Princesses do not have fun! And they don't do work either!" Cadance and Luna giggled.
"That's right, now go balance books on your head!" Cadance agreed.
Celestia was mad. And that was not a good thing. "Stop it, you two!" she cried.
"...So boring!" the other two princesses finish.
"I SAID STOP!" Celestia screamed.
"Sorry," Luna said meekly.
Celestia smiled. "Thank you."
"At least she's being polite," Cadance muttered.
"This time," Luna agreed.
Celestia glared at them and they quieted down.
Twilight laughed. "I think it would be fun to be a princess!" She paused. "Oh right, no fun."
This time, all three princesses laughed.
Luna smiled. "Okay, okay, it's not really that bad."
"Yeah, it can be fun- sometimes," Cadance agreed.
Celestia said, "But even I have to admit, it's not always fun and games." Twilight giggled as the princesses continued to argue, constantly switching sides.
"Is it sometimes fun?" Twilight settled the argument.
"Yeah," the other three ponies agreed.
"Who are you, Twilight?" Celestia asked. "Only royalty is allowed at Canterlot Candies."
"I- I- I'm not exactly royal," Twilight admitted. Celestia continued to look at her. "Okay, okay, I came in a time machine!"
"They're real? I mean- they'll be real?" Luna asked.
"Yes! I am Celestia's new personal student! I'm the only foal in the castle, and I just finished a book. It was really good, but it made me feel lonely. I'm not usually lonely, I've never really needed friends. Well, except for my brother and my foalsitter, you Cadance! And my books. But my brother's away and I'm not being foalsat, so I snuck into the basement (where I'm not supposed to go) and I found the time machine! I snuck in to see what you were like as a kid! And here I am!" Twilight said it all in one breath. The others stared at her.
"How about me? Do you know me?" Luna asked, eyes wide.
"No, sorry," Twilight apologized, catching her breath.
"Hmmph!" Luna huffed.
Celestia looked at Twilight. "Then you better be getting back before you get in trouble!"
Twilight giggled. "Yeah I better."
"Bye!"
"Bye!"
"Bye!"
"Bye!"
Twilight disappeared into the crowd.
"She was nice," Luna sighed.
Twilight jumped into the time machine and turned it to her year. She got out and hid. She watched herself get into the machine and turned away. She ran up the stairs and ran into-
"Princess Celestia!" she breathed.
"Twilight, I believe you were just using the time machine?" Celestia asked sternly.
"I'm so sorry!" Twilight cried.
"Oh Twilight, it's okay. I remember you coming to meet me and my friends, and I was wondering how long it would take you to find it," Celestia explained.
"Oh." Twilight blushed.
Celestia laughed. "It's okay, Twilight."
Twilight hugged Celestia. "Thank you, Princess."
"You're welcome, student."
