True Harmony

Chapters

First down
Connections
Planning

First down

True Harmony

Chapter 1

First Down

Twilight Sparkle hummed to herself softly as she went about grooming herself after a long and well deserved bath. The brush moved along her body held in a telekinetic grip, the stiff bristles leaving behind an almost intoxicating feeling as they passed through the hairs of her coat. It was just what she needed to help ease the remaining tension from her confrontation with Discord the day before.

Warm sunlight filtered through the window from the morning sun, causing the polished stone of the floors and walls to glow with an unearthly radiance, further serving to relax the lavender unicorn. She sighed in contented euphoria as she levitated the brush back to the counter top. She checked herself over once more, appraising the luster of her coat in the mirror. She smiled, it was perfect. She checked brushing her coat off her mental checklist and moved on to the next step.

A polishing cloth hovered up from one of the saddle bags on the floor by the door. Turning her head slightly, she began to run it up and down her horn, following the spiral. Again, soothing waves flowed across her body as the soft cloth buffed the alicorn of her horn to a flawless shine. Finished and satisfied with the polish, she sent the cloth back through the air and into her saddle bag.

“Perfect,” the young mare said, giving herself one last look-over before turning to exit the bathroom. She paused mid-turn, however, as something caught her eye. She wasn't sure what it was, but something seemed off. She repeated the turn, her eyes narrowing in focus as she checked over her body repeatedly. “What am I missing?” She muttered to herself.

There it was, her eyes zeroed in on a tuft of hair on her shoulder, toward the trailing end of the scapula. It stuck out at an odd angle, in defiance of the brushing she gave it earlier.

“Found you, you little...” Twilight announced, cutting off her insult as the brush once again zipped through the air on a mission, attacking the rebellious little hairs as Twilight turned to examine her opposite flank.

“Oh for the love of Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed loudly, there was another one, same place, opposite side. Another brush took off from the counter, she was not about to let all of her effort be wasted, especially when her friends and her were supposed to be present at an award ceremony in their honor at noon. Sure it was still hours away, but she wanted to relax before presenting herself to so many important ponies.

Her brushes were halted in their assault as her stomach let out a very unladylike growl. She tried to ignore it, it could certainly wait a bit longer. Her stomach was not to be denied, her barrel shaking as it grumbled again, more loudly this time.

“Okay, okay, I hear you,” she shouted petulantly, turning on the tap and running the brushes under water. She smoothed her coat down, knowing it would only be a temporary fix. The brushes each gave a loud crack as they slammed down onto the counter top. “I'll be back to deal with you after breakfast,” she grumbled with a glare at the wayward tuft of hair before finally leaving the bathroom.

Glancing to the basket at the foot of her bed and finding it empty, Twilight came to the conclusion that Spike, her dragon assistant, must have already left for breakfast. A nebulous cloud of energy sprang up around her horn as the door to her room opened with a mental push, admitting her passage into the halls of the palace. She moved at a brisk pace through the halls, turning corners with ease, familiarity with the walls of her former home hastening her trip.

She rounded one final corner and the voices of her friends floated down the all to her. She smiled, it sounded like their conversation was lively. It was a nice feeling, especially after the fiasco with Discord's return.

The thought of her friends splitting up and leaving Ponyville had chilled her to the bone. She hated being in those kinds of conflicts. Sure, she would always rise to the challenge and do her best for Equestria and Princess Celestia, but the tension and dread that she felt when faced with situations that could ruin everything forever just made her want to find someplace and hide until it passed.

However, everything turned out alright in the end. Discord was imprisoned once more, and Equestria was returned to the prosperous harmony it had enjoyed for thousands of years. She felt like she had when Nightmare Moon was returned to being Princess Luna. It was as if the future was laid out before her and even the most pressing of mundane matters were merely the smallest of hiccup on the path.

“I still can't believe I thought that stupid cloud was Cloudsdale,” Rainbow Dash's voice became clear as Twilight entered the dining hall.”And I really can't believe Fluttershy was the one that caught me!” Laughter rang out following Rainbow Dash's exclamation, and Twilight happily took in the sight of all of her friends surrounding a large table in the hall. Present also were Princesses Celestia and Luna, as well as Twilight's dragon assistant, Spike.

“That's because she was upset,” Twilight announced, letting her presence be known. “I'm sure we all remember how she can get when she's upset.”

“Of course, how could we forget,” Rarity gushed, “after all, she even went as far as to scold the very dragon that had terrified her when she was upset.” A general chorus of agreement echoed across the table as Twilight pulled herself up onto a chair.

“Twilight,” Princess Celestia greeted her,” yesterday was a dreadful trial, how are you this morning?”

“I'd be lying if I said I was perfect,”Twilight answered with a smile, “Yesterday was exhausting, but I'm happy everything worked out in the end.” She happily accepted a plate from one of the servants. The plate was filled with a salad of mixed greens and several small sandwiches with various flowers, it looked delicious.

One of the sandwiches hovered up before her mouth and she took a bite. Daffodils and daisies, one of her favorites. Staying as a royal guest certainly had its perks. She continued to eat as she looked around the table to her friends. They all seemed to be in good humor as they ate and chatted with one another.

Across the table Spike was talking animatedly with Pinkie Pie as he ate from a bowl of assorted gemstones. To her left were Rarity and Fluttershy, talking quietly as they ate their meals. At the foot of the table Applejack was talking to Rainbow Dash about an upcoming rodeo. She smiled, everything was getting back to normal, and even though she was still tired from yesterday's events, she knew she would be just fine.

Her eyes wandered to the Princesses sitting to her right, at the head of the table. Celestia was currently savoring a salad similar to the one Twilight was eating, her eyes closed as she appreciated the flavors. Luna, however, seemed to be incredibly tense. Now that Twilight thought about it she hadn't spoken yet, and she did not hear her voice when she was coming down the halls to this room.

“Princess Luna?” Twilight asked, in an attempt to engage the quiet princess in conversation.

Luna was startled that somepony had directed their attention to her. She hadn't missed the awkward glances or the lack of interaction with her. She understood that it would take a long time to reconcile with her subjects after her time as Nightmare Moon.

She then smiled, at least somepony was willing to make the effort. Better not to make herself a pariah in an attempt to give the ponies time to accept the fact that she was back and in no way a threat. She drew herself up straight and faced Twilight Sparkle.

“Yes, Twilight Sparkle?” she asked amicably, her soft smile reaching her eyes. The effect on the ponies in the room was immediate, as all conversation stopped and all eyes were now on Princess Luna. Needless to say, everypony was stunned at the explosive volume of her voice. Celestia stifled a chuckle with a hoof in amusement at the frazzled ponies.

“Sister,” she said, “I do believe you startled everypony.” Luna looked confused, and turned toward her sister.

“How so?” Luna asked, “I merely answered a question directed at me by your prized student.” Celestia could only titter softly at her sister's lack of comprehension.

“Wow!” Pinkie shouted, face manic with glee, “she can yell so loud!” Luna's attention moved from her sister back to the ponies assembled around the table.

“We were not yelling,” Luna corrected, “We were merely acknowledging young Twilight Sparkle's query. We do not understand why our subjects seem so surprised.” Again, everypony was stunned into silence at the explosive volume.

“Luna,” Celestia began, her smile giving lie to the sternness of her voice, “we are among friends, its perfectly within reason for you to speak to them as you speak to me.” Luna again addressed her sister.

“But it is not proper,” Luna argued, looking scandalized, “when a princess addresses her subjects nothing less than traditional royal Canterlot voice and personal reference should be allowed. We represent every pony in Equestria when we speak to anypony other than ourselves.”

“Times have changed, little sister,” Celestia explained, “We no longer live in an age of intense international negotiations. Rulers of neighboring countries no longer scrutinize one another in every aspect of life, hoping to find a weakness. Treaties and trade have solidified international alliances, and we can enjoy a more personal relationship with the ponies we rule now.” Luna nodded in understanding, as though they had had this discussion on several occasions by now.

“I will... try, sister,” Luna acquiesced, and turned once more to Twilight Sparkle. “Ahem,” she coughed lightly, her cheeks heating up at the thought of how she was about to shatter proper conduct. “Yes, Twilight Sparkle?” Her pleasant smile was only marginally marred by a small tick in one of her eyes.

Twilight, for her part, merely smoothed down her frazzled mane and, with a quick glance at Princess Celestia for assurance, addressed the dark mare.

“I was only wondering if something was the matter,” Twilight offered, “you looked awfully tense, I thought that something might be wrong.” Twilight hoped she hadn't stepped over any invisible boundaries with the question. She had lived most of her life in the company of Princess Celestia, and as such enjoyed a more personal interaction with royalty. With the sudden exposition of the thousand year gap in culture, she wasn't so sure of herself.

Luna was quiet for a moment, apparently wrestling with the concept of having other ponies other than her sister in a small circle of ponies she could be more at ease with. Finally, she seemed to come to a conclusion.

“It is- it is a small matter,” Luna finally allowed herself to speak, correcting the volume of her voice mid-sentence,” We, that is, I thank you for your concern, Twilight Sparkle. What has been occupying our- my thoughts lately is the distance with which our- my subjects have maintained from us- me.” Luna seemed to be struggling with how much she should say, she looked to Celestia, who gave a nod of encouragement and continued. “...I fear that my time as Nightmare Moon will take an eternity to fade from the minds of the ponies around me.”

Twilight understood now why Luna had been so quiet, she looked at her friends who were all wearing shamed faces. They had also kept a wall up between them and Luna for the same reasons, and now their attitude was laid bare for everyone to see.

“It shouldn't,” Applejack said, and everyone looked at her, horrified at the statement. “Aw hayseed, that came out wrong. What ah meant to say was that its an important lesson that everypony should remember. But that don't meant we shoulda' held it against ya. It was wrong for us to do that, Ah'm sorry.” She explained, bowing her head in apology.

“Applejack is right,” Rarity agreed, “I just cannot believe I would behave in such an uncouth manner, snubbing a pony just for something as simple as a faux pas.”

“Water under the bridge,” Rainbow Dash said, with a horizontal swipe of her hoof.

“Everyone gets a little crazy when they think they lost all of their friends!” Pinkie Pie offered, “especially when we think they don't like us anymore.” Fluttershy nodded in agreement, taking strength from her friends.

“It was wrong of us, we're sorry.” Fluttershy managed to squeak out. Twilight looked around at her friends and smiled. They were all good ponies, she was glad to have them as friends. Then she started to chuckle, even though their expressions had managed t return to normal, all of them still wore their surprise in their manes and wings.

Applejack's hat had fallen halfway off her head and Rarity's mane had come apart, loose curls sticking out at odd angles. Fluttershy's mane now nearly covered both of her eyes, while Pinkie Pie's mane was even more of an explosion of curls than before. Rainbow Dash's feathers were all out of sorts, like somepony thought it would be fun to try and statically charge a balloon with her wings.

They all looked around at each other for a moment, confused at Twilight's antics, before they realized their appearances. They joined in with Twilight's laughter, each pointing out something funny about one of their friends' disheveled look. Twilight continued to laugh with them glad she sorted out her mane so quickly after Luna's outburst.

“And look at Twilight!” Pinkie shouted, shocking Twilight. She was certain she had straightened her mane. She began to reach up to feel if there were any hairs out of place.

“Oh my, yes, just look at Twilight,” Rarity laughed, turning to Twilight. “Trying to impersonate Rainbow now, are we?” Twilight thought for a moment, confused at the words of her friends. Impersonating Rainbow Dash? How? She looked at the prismatic pegasus trying to discern the meaning to her friends' words.

'Okay let's see here,' Twilight thought to herself, 'Dash's mane is as unruly as ever, so that can't be what they're talking about. The only things that are messed up are her wings.' With that thought Twilight reached a hoof over her shoulder and felt it. That same tuft of fur that had eluded her earlier that morning was once again rebelling.

With a frustrated sigh she reached around to the opposite shoulder and felt an identical unruly mess of hair sticking out there as well. She tried to smooth them down amidst the laughing of her friends. It wasn't helping, though. Every time she brushed over the offending hairs they seemed to have sprung back up, refusing to obey her calming hoof.

“I don't get it,” Twilight grumbled aloud, “I've been trying to get my coat to lay flat all morning, and these two spots just wont lie down.” She tried to smooth them a few more times in futility, the traitorous hairs continued to stand. She was interrupted by Rarity's hoof over top her own.

“Let me help you, darling,” she said, as she began to help smooth Twilight's coat. “My, your coat is ever so smooth, Twilight. Whatever did you use to make it feel so silky?” Rarity stopped in her efforts to help tame Twilight's coat and began to feel the tuft on her shoulder.

“I didn't use anything special,” Twilight offered by way of an explanation, or lack thereof.

“Its Down.” Fluttershy's voice floated through the laughter, barely audible.

“I'm sorry, dear, what was that?” Rarity asked, having not quite heard her soft spoken friend. She turned her head to face the long maned pegasus, still absently stroking Twilight's coat.

“I said its down,” Fluttershy clarified. Rarity became confused at the statement, her hoof poking experimentally lower towards Twilight's barrel, eliciting a squeak from the lavender unicorn.

“Down where, Fluttershy?” Rarity asked, poking Twilight's side once more, followed by another squeak and this time accompanied by an involuntary twitch from the bookworm. “I don't see what you're talking about I'm afraid,” Rarity said, prodding Twilight's ribs, “her coat seems fairly normal down here, nice and tamed. Not like these silky hairs at all.”

By now Twilight wiggled away from the other unicorn, wheezing slightly in an attempt to keep from laughing out loud. Her squeaks had drawn attention from the other ponies gathered around the table.

“No, not down there, it is down,” Fluttershy attempted to clarify once more. Rarity only seemed to look more confused.

“That doesn't make a lick of sense, sugarcube,” Applejack said.

“Ooh, ooh, I know!” Pinkie Pie enthused, waiving a hoof in the air as though they were attending school. “Maybe she was so shocked by Princess Luna's voice she needs to ground herself! And the ground is all the way down there!” The pink earth pony ran over to a window and pointed down at the ground outside. Rainbow Dash looked at the aptly named party pony and shook her head.

“That also doesn't make any sense.” She said flatly. “What are you talking about Fluttershy?” Fluttershy shook her head in quiet annoyance at her friends' actions and pointed once more to the wispy hairs sticking out of Twilight's coat.

“Those hairs,” Fluttershy said.

“These hairs?” Twilight asked, pointing to the tufts for clarification.

“Yes, they are down.” the cream colored pegasus confirmed.

“Where?” Twilight was now thoroughly confused.

“There.” Fluttershy answered, pointing once more and wondering why this was so difficult.

“What?”

“Down.”

“On my barrel?”

“No, your shoulder.”

“My shoulder is down?”

“Some of it.”

“Only some of it?”

“Yes, only some of it, I thought you knew that by now.”

“Knew what?”

“Its Down.”

“Argh!” Twilight was becoming frustrated, if nopony cleared this up soon she thought she might just ignite in flames once more. Taking a calming breath, she swiped at the air, pantomiming shooing away her frustration. Okay, she thought, let's not make this more difficult to understand. Fluttershy keeps talking about down, but when we try to ask where, she says we are wrong. That makes it a what?

“Let me rephrase the question then,” Twilight said after her moment of thought. “ What is wrong with the hair on my shoulder?”

“It is down.” Fluttershy clarified once more, her voice growing more agitated.

“That makes no sense,” Twilight stated, “hair can't be a direction.”

“Of course not,” Fluttershy agreed, “but I'm not talking about a direction.”

“What are you talking about Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash interrupted, “Twilight can't have down, she's not a pegasus, she's a unicorn.”

“But that's what they are,” Fluttershy insisted, before shrinking back in realization of her assertiveness. She continued in a more apologetic tone, “I see it all the time on baby birds. It looks exactly the same.”

Celestia gasped, drawing everypony's attention. Her gaze swept quickly across the room taking in her sister, the six assembled heroes, one dragon assistant and finally a single hoofmaiden.

“Rosy Dawn.” Celestia called, causing the hoofmaiden to stiffen before turning to address her ruler with a deep bow.

“Yes, Princess?” The unicorn mare asked meekly.

“Everything you just bore witness to is from this moment on to be considered a state secret. To whisper it to anypony without my, or my sister's permission will be considered treason, now please alert the medical staff and have them meet me in my study in half an hour.”

“Yes, Princess.” Dawn acknowledged before striding quickly out of the dining hall. As she left Celestia cast a meaningful glance to Luna, who nodded in return.

“Everypony, please let us leave the dining hall and retire to my personal study, it seems as if there is an urgent matter we must discuss. Thankfully, in light of the recent disaster, court has been suspended for several days, as ponies set their affairs back in order.” Celestia stood from where she sat, and led her sister and the confused ponies out of the room.

“What's going on, Princess?” Twilight asked as she moved quickly up by her teacher's side, concern at Celestia's abruptness easily casting aside any frustration she felt at Fluttershy's earlier antics.

“We will speak more when we reach my study, but suffice to say that something has been recently brought to my attention, something I had not considered might happen following the events of yesterday.” Celestia explained vaguely as they walked. Twilight nodded in understanding. Celestia knew that there were more ears than necessary in the halls of the castle, only in her study could she be open and honest without fear that somepony might overhear something they are not supposed to.

Twilight looked back to her friends, noticing their concern as they followed. Twilight laughed internally at their concern. This wasn't the first time Celestia had felt the sudden need to go to her study for a private discussion, the only thing that concerned her was the request for the medical staff. Before long, the group arrived outside Celestia's study.

“Please everypony make yourself comfortable,” Celestia offered, spreading a wing to usher the assembled ponies into the spacious room. As they passed by her into the room, Celestia turned to look down the hall. She waited for a moment before the hoofmaiden from earlier came cantering around the corner toward the room. Said mare gasped in horrid realization that the Princess had just caught her cantering through the halls, she slowed quickly and walked gracefully toward Celestia.

“My princess, the medical staff is gathering their things and will be here shortly.” Rosy Dawn informed the princess with a bow.

“Excellent, miss Dawn,” Celestia answered, “please fetch some tea for my guests.” With that request, Celestia finally turned to enter the room.

The Study consisted of a large room, with several plush cushions around a table where her guests were currently sitting. Vast windows allowed a generous amount of sunlight to enter the room, warming the well-lit space into an almost intoxicating atmosphere of comfort. A soft carpet muffled her hoof falls as she made her way next to Twilight Sparkle, where she sat on a particularly large and comfortable cushion.

Twilight looked around the room, nostalgia pulling at her mind, taking her back to more relaxed times when she was simply Princess Celestia's personal protege, before her time as the Element of Magic. Times seemed simpler then with her and Princess sitting at the table going over obscure arcane texts, Celestia's attention centered on her. How she missed those days.

She looked at her mentor, who seemed to be sitting in quiet thought. Twilight knew that she was considering how to approach a subject. She remembered that look on her beloved teacher's face, having seen it several times. Twilight remembered fondly the look on Celestia's face, when something difficult to talk about would keep the alicorn silent for much longer than normal.

She had to keep herself from laughing when she remembered the longest time that Celestia wore such a face. It was back when she received the talk that all mares received when they moved on in life from filly to mare. Celestia had gone through several cups of tea, before she spoke, and several more had been had before she even begun to approach the subject of 'the talk.'

It was honestly the most embarrassing thing Twilight had ever gone through, but also one of her fondest memories. That Celestia had taken time out of her busy schedule to discuss something honestly view shattering with the young filly had touched her more than anything. She could look back now and laugh at the horrified expression she must have worn on her face as Celestia explained about the birds and the bees.

Rosy Dawn entered during the silence, and gently placed a cup of tea before everypony present. She bowed to the princesses before stepping out of the room, and closing the door behind her. The lack of hoof falls alerted Twilight to the fact that the hoofmaiden was likely standing just outside the door, most likely to be within earshot should anypony need something from her.

“Where should we begin, Luna?” Celestia finally asked after a long silence. Luna turned to regard her sister for a moment before answering.

“Perhaps, sister, it would be easiest to begin with the first fall of Discord, and our discovery of the Elements of Harmony.” Luna offered. Celestia nodded in agreement.

“Not the shortest of tales, but most likely the best in this situation.” Celestia, finally turned from her sister and faced the gathered ponies. “Very well, as we wait for the medical ponies to make their way here, I will tell you the tale of the first fall of Discord.”

“Discord, as you found, was a draconequus of terrible power. He was able to alter reality to suit his whims. His reign was decidedly more ordered than the insanity he wrought upon Ponyville yesterday, but it was no less malicious.”

“Discord rarely altered reality to the extent he did recently, preferring the chaos of a distrustful court. He loved to make ponies squabble and fight with one another. It was not a good time for Equestria.”

A knock at the door of the study interrupted the tale. Everypony turned to watch as several ponies admitted themselves entry into the room, each with a low bow. With a glow of her horn Celestia plucked two hairs from twilight's coat, and a small shaving from one of her hooves, each eliciting a squeak of protest from the lavender unicorn. None of the doctors seem to have noticed as they were already rummaging through the medical equipment they had brought with them.

Two of the doctors were earth ponies, both had coats and manes in earth tones and their cutie marks were obscured by the lab coats they wore. The third doctor was attired in similar clothing, however he was a unicorn of deep midnight blue with a mane of black.

“Ah, good you have arrived.” Celestia offered the items procured from Twilight's person to the doctors. “Please tell me what you can about these hairs and hoof shaving.” The doctors nodded in agreement before they took the proffered items.

The hairs and hoof shaving were examined by the two earth pony doctors through a microscope before being offered to a unicorn, who closed his eyes as he levitated the samples before his face. He must have been examining them magically as he set them back on the table without ever opening his eyes.

“What have you discovered?” Princess Celestia asked, every other pony except for Luna quiet in confusion. The earth ponies spoke first.

“One of the hairs was your average pony hair. From the coat, most likely, unless somepony keeps their mane extraordinarily short. The other was undoubtedly a pegasus down feather, also rather typical of most pegasus feathers. The shaving is either from a hoof or unicorn's horn. The only thing remarkable from the samples is that they all share the same color.” The unicorn with them seemed to be nodding in agreement with each statement, as though they were confirming his thoughts.

“I agree with my colleagues, though I do have some more light to shed on the properties of the samples.” He offered, “While the fact that they are all the same color is quite the coincidence, it is unlikely that they all come from the same pony. This is made plain by the fact that all three samples are made of alicorn, like a unicorn's horn. The magic they possess suggests they are indeed a pegasus down feather, an earth pony hoof shaving, and the hair, I'm guessing comes from princess Luna, most likely a hair bleached lightly by the sun.” Luna had to stifle a light giggle at the comparison.

“Thank you,” Celestia said, “you may take your leave now, and please keep the most strict confidence of the subject of discussion here.” The doctors nodded, then excused themselves and exited the room. Celestia turned once more to regard the assembled ponies. “I suppose that answered that question. Our suspicions have been confirmed, sister.” Luna nodded as though it need not have been said aloud. “Well, I suppose I shall continue my story.”

“As I was saying, that was a decidedly dark time for Equestria. Around five hundred years after the beginning of his reign, I was born to a prominent unicorn family here in Canterlot. Not long after that Luna was born, before I got my own cutie mark, even.”

“We were both very gifted as far as unicorns go, and were both very young when we were chosen to head the Cosmic Council. I was head of the Dawn Raisers, Luna was head of the Dream Bringers. Each group raised and lowered the Sun and Moon respectively.”

“Being so high up in the Cosmic Council allowed Luna and I access to the towers of Discord's castle, deep in what is now the Everfree Forest. There we would go every evening and morning, each with a group of twenty gifted unicorns to do our duty and raise and lower the sun and moon.”

“Luna was the first to see them, the Elements of Harmony. She noticed odd stones in the courtyard of Discords castle, and thanks to our magical aptitude we were able to sense the magic stored deeply within them, something that escaped the notice of all the others.”

“You see, it was Discord who created the Elements of Harmony. He was stealing all of the Laughter, Honesty, Generosity, Loyalty and Kindness from all of the ponies across Equestria. They were gathered in the stones, and sealed there with powerful magic. He did this to keep all of the ponies from ever becoming friendly enough with one another to defy him.”

“It took Luna and I several years to discover the sympathetic response the stones had with one another when magic was applied. We brought our findings to the Cosmic Council, and in clandestine effort we created the Tiara that would later be associated with the Element of Magic.”

“The next evening, when it was time to lower the Sun and raise the Moon, we took the Tiara of Magic to Discord's castle. Luna used a spark of magic to cause all of the Elements to resonate with one another and then channeled their power from her to me. I used the Tiara of Magic to amplify their power and we caught Discord unaware. With not even a battle, Discord's reign was ended.”

“Luna and I were left changed from the battle, however. The tremendous amount of magic that was channeled through us had left an effect. You see, the Elements were gathered from all ponies across Equestria, not just the unicorns. Each Element was suffused with the magic inherent in unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi.”

“We became Equestria's first and only alacorns. We had chosen the name alacorn from ancient equus. Ala for wing and corn for horn. Over time, because of the phonetic similarity, it eventually became known as alicorn instead.”

Celestia finished the story with the brief explanation of the use of alicorn to mean winged unicorn as well as the substance a unicorn's horn was made of. Twilight finished her tea in quiet awe. She had never considered her mentor's origin before. She wondered why she had never thought of something like that before. There were pegasus and unicorn couples often enough, but there had only ever been two alicorns.

“And that brings us to the events of today. You see, the original elements of harmony were all but destroyed when Luna returned as Nightmare Moon. When the stones shattered, the magics from the many different ponies dissipated.” Celestia cast an apologetic look to Luna, who merely waved away the topic. “Luckily, Twilight, your friends were all virtually paragons of each of the elements, enough to bring the elements out of their stone prisons and manifest them as those spectacular jeweled chokers.”

“I had thought there was little to no chance of today's events happening, as the stone prisons themselves held the essence of the different ponies' magics. But again, as luck would have it, your friends are a veritable cornucopia of pony variety.”

Twilight nodded casting a fond glance at her friends, who had brought her so far. Then something dawned on her: it was Celestia's reference of today's events. What had she meant? With a strange feeling of apprehension, Twilight turned to her beloved mentor and asked.

“And what happened today?”

“Ah, Twilight, my faithful student,” Celestia laughed, “I should have suspected the day we met that you would eventually rise up and join Luna and I as the third alicorn in Equestria. Your name even seems somewhat prophetic in light of today's events.”

Twilight's brain sputtered to a stop at those words. Join Princesses Celestia and Luna as an alicorn? Was that even possible? Very slowly the gears in her head began turning again, though they were functioning about as well as a fifty year old clock missing a few gears and never having been oiled.

What would this mean for her studies in magic? The missing gears fell into place. Of course, not requiring sleep would certainly make it easier to study. Her lessons would certainly benefit from that. Benefit her lessons? That was certainly the oil the gears in her head needed. Her heart rate quickened and excitement began to vibrate through her entire being.

Would she be able to perform magic on the same scale that Celestia was able to? The thought of so much ability at the tip of her horn made her giddy. There would of course have to be many sessions spent learning her new limits, and after she learned her limits, she would have to spend her time learning fine control. Time would be easy to make for such sessions, seeing as how she'd have to move back to Canterlot now.

As quickly as the excitement had come, though it was replaced with something else. As Twilight looked around the table at the awed faces her friends wore as the looked back at her, Twilight could only feel apprehension. Would she have to leave her friends behind and join the two ruling sisters in Canterlot? The thought of being so far from her friends gripped her heart, squeezing and twisting in her chest. It was unbearable.

“That's great, Twi,” Applejack offered in the awkward silence, voice wavering with held back tears. “Ah mean, Ah sure will miss you, bein' away from Ponyville an' all. But Ah'll always be able to tell everypony that you were one of mah best friends.” Twilight could feel hot tears begin to spill down her face at Applejack's words, her throat and nasal passages began to constrict with the increased blood flow. Her friends looked equally distressed.

Rarity suddenly began to sob dramatically, while Fluttershy began to whimper. Pinkie Pie looked put out and Rainbow Dash was sniffing rapidly and grimacing her tears away. Sniffling she turned to look at Princess Celestia.

“Why would she leave Ponyville?” Celestia asked, feigning confusion. “It was my understanding that Twilight quite enjoyed running the library in Ponyville.” The feeling of pressure in Twilight's sinuses began to ease as she continued to listen to her princess.

“You don't think Luna and I would force my dear student to sit through the same dismal court sessions we do every day, do you?” Celestia asked in amusement.

“Certainly it is a fate I would never wish on a friend, and duty begs we keep it out of the hands of our enemies, torturous though it be.” Luna agreed.

“Though you have been away from Canterlot for a very long time, and I do find myself missing your presence,” Celestia explained, “there simply is no precedent that states that all alicorns must rule Equestria. You are more than welcome to stay with your friends.” Her tears banished at Celestia's words, Twilight turned to regard the smiling faces of her friends.

“However, I would prefer if you were to stay in Canterlot for the duration of your ascendance.” Celestia continued. “Your friends are free to visit at any time, and a room will forever be available to them here at the palace. Of course, as a newly uplifted alicorn, you will need to learn the magics available to non-unicorns.” Twilight turned to look at her friends, already knowing what the Princess was about to suggest.

“Of course,” Celestia clapped her hooves together in an excited manner, as though something had just occurred to her. “I just had a wonderful idea. I think the granddaughter of one of Ponyville's founding earth ponies would be the best teacher of the connection earth ponies share with nature.” Applejack nodded at the Princess' offer.

“Along with that, perhaps our most recent best young flier would be willing to tutor you in pegasus magic, namely flying and weather manipulation?” She asked peering at Rainbow Dash, who just smiled somewhat obliviously back at the alicorn. There was a moment of silence before Applejack translated.

“She's askin' if you want to teach Twi how to fly.” Applejack explained. Rainbow Dash looked at her for a moment before comprehension dawned on her face.

“Oh, OH,” Dash's face lit up in understanding and she nodded, “of course, didn't even have to ask. I mean, I would never leave my friends hangin'; especially an egg-headed one that might hurt herself trying to learn how to fly on her own.” Rainbow Dash turned to the princesses next, as a thought occurred to her. “When will her wings grow in, anyway?”

The royal sisters looked at each other for a moment at that question, as though they were unsure how to answer.

“That is something we are unsure of.” Celestia answered. Luna continued for her sister.

“Discord had been gathering pony harmony and magic for over five hundred years,” Luna offered before continuing her explanation. “The pony magic stored within the Elements of Harmony was tremendously potent, and our transformation was nearly instantaneous. It would be too early to say whether or not Twilight might spontaneously change, or if it would be a gradual metamorphosis. The only thing that is certain now, is the fact that Twilight Sparkle is indeed now an alicorn. How long it will take for her to fully mature remains to be seen.” Celestia nodded at her sister's appraisal of the situation, and smiled softly at Twilight Sparkle.

“Because of the rarity of such a change, we would need to examine all elements involved.”Celestia explained to her pupil. Twilight nodded in understanding; Celestia was now treating this as a lesson, giving her an opportunity to become an active part of the flow of events, rather than a passive victim.

“I guess to that end,” Twilight began, uncertainly. Celestia nodded her encouragement to the young lavender mare, urging her to continue. “Since we already know what caused your change to happen so quickly, we need to understand the magics involved in my change.”

“What would you propose we do, my student?” Celestia asked, falling easily back into her role as mentor. Twilight smiled at the familiar play between her and her beloved teacher.

“In that case, the direct cause of all three transformations comes from the use Elements of Harmony, and a sort of piggy-back effect with the magic of the pony types involved in their creation and use,” Twilight ventured, to the supportive nods Celestia continued to give. “I think the first step should be for my friends and I to use the Elements, so we may study the piggy-back effect, and the amount of residual pony magic left behind by their use.”

“An excellent suggestion, Twilight,” Celestia praised, “and something I believe we should investigate at the earliest possible moment.” She then looked to a sundial in the center of the table. “However, the earliest possible moment might not be until tonight, we have barely an hour before the award ceremony honoring your triumph over Discord.” Twilight nodded, having nearly forgotten the ceremony in the excitement of further learning and experimentation. Celestia clapped her hooves together and called out, “Rosy Dawn!”

The door to the study opened quickly, permitting entry to the hoofmaiden.

“Yes, Princess?” The young mare asked, bowing low once more. Twilight idly wondered if the constant bowing caused any strain to her back and joints.

“The award ceremony is to begin in an hour,” Celestia explained. “There will be many ponies in attendance, and the events of today should be apparent to at least a few of the attending unicorns. I wish them not to be aware.”

“Of course Princess,” Rosy responded, “I will ensure that Twilight Sparkle will appear to all as an ordinary unicorn.” Celestia giggled at the response.

“Ever have you been among the most observant,” Celestia stated fondly, “please make it so.” Rosy Dawn bowed once more before approaching Twilight Sparkle.

“Please come with me, my lady,” Rosy requested before leading Twilight Sparkle out of the study. Celestia was already directing her friends to return to their rooms to prepare for the ceremony, so Twilight followed the hoofmaiden quietly out of the room.

“So,” Twilight began, following Rosy through the halls back to her own room. “How are you going to hide this?” Rosy smiled apologetically at Twilight before answering.

“My talent lends itself to discretion,” Rosy explained, “and it would be best if we did not discuss this in the halls.” Again Twilight was left slightly irked at the need for secrecy. She recalled how in years past situations like this would crop up from time to time, and she hated not being able to discuss things openly.

She quietly followed the rose colored hoofmaiden through the halls, turning this way and that. They finally approached her room, and they both entered quickly.

Rosy Dawn turned abruptly to face Twilight as soon as the door closed. She was smiling, and Twilight knew that smile well. Rosy was being helpful to a pony she admired, Twilight wore a similar expression through much of her childhood with Celestia.

“I am sorry, miss Sparkle,” Rosy apologized, “but given the nature of the grapevine in the castle and the sensitivity of the situation at hoof, we could not speak of what I am about to perform.” Rosy's horn lit up and Twilight's brushes zipped out of the bathroom and began to brush Twilight from horn to hoof.

“As I said before, my talent lends itself to discretion,” Rosy explained amidst the soothing brushing. She turned and presented her flank to Twilight, displaying her cutie mark. “It is part of the reason I am always in the presence of Princesses Celestia and Luna. My unicorn magic is most effective when I use it to alter appearance to disguise.” Her cutie mark depicted the smiling and frowning masks of the Alogo ponies of antiquity: Thalia and Melponyne.

“What's more is that any alterations I may make to a pony's appearance is nigh undetectable.” She continued. “There have been several occasions where I had to disguise our princesses' ire after a particularly troubling court session.”

Almost miraculously, Twilight noted, the down on her shoulders lay flat and orderly. They were nearly indistinguishable from the surrounding coat. Rosy hummed as she worked, then clicked her tongue as she took in Twilight's appearance.

“It seems we'll have to do something about your hooves as well.” Rosy spoke to herself, before directing a brush towards Twilight's hooves. Twilight looked down at her own hooves and had to suppress a gasp of amazement. Her hooves gleamed in their flawlessness, as though she were one of the elite earth ponies that lived in Canterlot, having never done an honest day's hard work.

The brushes moved rapidly back and forth across her hooves, scuffing them ever so slightly removing the gleam and causing them to look as they had before.

“Now,” Rosy cautioned, “I am unsure as to how long the disguise will last. For the princesses I can cause an effect that will last for two hours at most. Seeing as how you are newly risen, perhaps it will last longer. I have also never diminished an alicorn's appearance before, so that is another factor I am unable to judge.” Rosy guided Twilight before a vanity.

“Please tell me what you think.” Rosy requested. Twilight was amazed, to say the least. She looked as though she had just stepped out of the spa back in Ponyville, but still within the bounds of traditional pony beauty. Her coat and mane were expertly groomed and glossy, but lacked the radiance that Celestia and Luna's carried. The light scuffing to her hooves gave them a polished look, but they lacked the gleam of an alicorn's hooves. She looked perfect for the ceremony.

The door to her room opened at that point, and Twilight turned to see Spike letting himself into the room.

“Wow, Twilight,” Spike whistled in appreciation, “lookin' good. You do good work, Rosy.” Rosy, giggled at Spike's appraisal and bowed in modesty.

“I always try my best, it helps when the canvas is of the highest quality.” Rosy answered, “now if you'll excuse me, I must be getting back to Princess Celestia.” Rosy excused herself from the room, and left Twilight alone with Spike.

“I knew you had it in you,” Spike exclaimed with pride, “an alicorn! I told you you were the most gifted unicorn in Ponyville.” Spike's smug expression caused Twilight to laugh.

“Oh, Spike,” Twilight responded, “I hardly did this on my own. I have my friends to thank for this. Speaking of the girls, we had better get going, the ceremony will start soon.” Twilight lowered her rump so that Spike would be able to climb atop her back. As soon as the baby dragon was situated, They made their way out of the room, and to the Hall of the Sun and Moon.

Outside the hall, Twilight met her friends, all expertly groomed by the expert staff on hand.

“There you are, sugarcube,” Applejack greeted, “you were almost late.” Twilight was overcome with a feeling of gratitude towards her friends. She reached out and gathered them all into a group hug.

“Thank you girls,” Twilight said, voice thick with emotion. “I wouldn't be here today without you.”

“Anytime,” Rainbow Dash offered, “by your side for all time.”

“We'll always be your friends,” Fluttershy said. Pinkie Pie nodded enthusiastically in agreement.

“We have to throw a party as soon as we can!”

“Just think of it as a gift from us to you.” Rarity said, ever generous.

“Thanks girls,” Twilight thanked her friends again, “I'll do my best to deserve it.” Anything else to be said would have to wait, as at that moment a great fanfare ripped through the air. The friends all lined up as the doors opened, ushering them in to start the ceremony.

Chapter 1 end.

AN
Wow, almost 8k for the first chapter. As an assistant language teacher, I find myself with quite a lot of time on my hands, so I turned to writing prose as a way to keep my English skills sharp. Then I thought, why not do fanfiction and share with the world? This will deal with a more gradual change than most other alicorn Twilight fics, so there is a lot more to write. So tell me what you think, good? Bad?

Connections

True Harmony

Chapter 2

Connections

Twilight was once again in her room at the palace, looking herself over in the vanity. The down on her shoulders was once again sticking out at odd angles, her coat shone in the light, and her hooves once again were gleaming with perfection. The work Rosy Dawn had done had worn off scant minutes after the ceremony had finished.

The facts of her recent change were finally starting to settle in; this was really happening. With that realization, she once again felt a knot in her stomach. What did the future hold? Princess Celestia had said that she could remain in Ponyville, but how would the other ponies react to her transformation? She knew she was over thinking the situation, but she couldn't stop herself.

“Whats up, Twilight?” Spikes question dragged her out of her thoughts, pulling her attention back to the present. She smiled softly to her long time companion, and leaned down to nuzzle the side of his face.

“You know me, Spike,” Twilight said, “this is a big change, and I can't help but think about how this will affect the way we live.” Spike nodded, always ready to support his adoptive sister.

“Nothing to worry about,” Spike offered, “Princess Celestia said she'll help out, and we can even stay in Ponyville with the others.” He shrugged as if that was the answer to all the problems that would now face the lavender alicorn. Twilight caught herself, perhaps it was the answer. She couldn't change a future that wasn't guaranteed to happen, she could only control how she conducted herself in the now.

She smiled again, thankful for the unintended depth of Spike's advice. She pulled on her saddle bags and with a bob of her head, she tossed Spike onto her back.

“You're right,” she offered, “besides, this is a change brought on by deep friendship, how can it ever be a bad thing?” She smiled, and with barely a thought used her magic to open the door and began her trek back to Celestia's study. “Come on, its almost time to meet with the others again, and get to the bottom of this change.”

As they were walking along, Twilight felt Spike lean forward, his clawed hand reaching down for and playing with the down on her shoulder.

“Rarity was right,” Spike said, “these feathers are really soft. I can't wait to see how your wings look.” She chuckled softly at her assistant's words. If she was honest with herself she was giddy at the thought of flight. Not only for the freedom it would give her, but for the vastness of learning she had before her.

She knew it was what had caused her more athletic friends to call her egg-headed, but she loved to learn. Whether it was from a book, from personal experience, or from the gentle words of her mentor, she loved to learn as much as she could. Learning to fly, learning to connect with nature, and now studying the Elements of Harmony on a scientific level rather than an emotional one; she felt as though she were attending her first classes in school again. The excitement was almost too much to bear.

Before long Twilight found herself at the door to her mentor's study, and with a soft knock on the door, she let her presence be known.

“Please, come in,” Celestia's voice filtered through the wooden door, regal and caring as always. Twilight gently opened the door, admitting herself into the room. Inside Celestia was seated at the table once more, sipping softly from a cup of tea.

There was nopony else in the room, Twilight noticed. There was a second cup of tea placed on the table in front of the cushion next to Celestia. There was a tea service in the center of the table, but no other cups were filled.

“Twilight,” Celestia called, “please sit. The others will arrive shortly, but I am glad you are the first. It has been so long since we have had time for just the two of us.” Twilight walked over to the cushion next to her mentor. Celestia lowered her head and pressed against the side of Twilight's neck, a gesture the small lavender alicorn happily received.

Spike allowed himself off of Twilight's back, and meandered over to a rather large cushion in the corner. Being a baby dragon, he felt the urge for an afternoon nap upon him. Settling himself onto the cushion, he closed his eyes, sleep quickly taking him.

“It has been a long time, hasn't it Princess?” Twilight agreed with the elder alicorn, setting her saddle bags on the floor next to her, “I'm glad I'll be able to stay in Ponyville, but I've really missed our time together. Maybe my time in Canterlot will help to make up for the Gala.” Celestia laughed at the images brought on by the memory. The resulting excitement Twilight and her friends had wrought on the Gala had been just what she needed to break up the monotony of yet another royal function.

“Please, Twilight,” Celestia begged, “dispense with the titles, at least when we are in private company. While I may still be one of the princesses of Equestria, you are all but my equal now.” Twilight looked down to the table with a bashful smile. Celestia continues, keeping any silence at bay. “Luna and I have always been gifted with magic to touch the Sun and the Moon, when we became alicorns, that connection deepened. If I am correct, then I suspect your connection to your own talent will deepen in the time. Magic is no small part of Equestria my dear student.”

Twilight nodded, listening to Celestia's reasoning. It was logical, but something in her continued to put the Princess of the Sun above her.

“I'll try, Princess,” Twilight offered by way of compromise, “but it might be a bit difficult for me. You've always been my mentor and princess, its part of who you are to me.” Celestia let a small sigh slip out of her bemused smile.

“I suppose that will have to do for now, then,” Celestia relented, “I admit, no matter the distance, you will always be my most beloved student.” Celestia leaned in at that remark and gave a smiling Twilight another affectionate nuzzle. Neither noticed the well oiled door slide open noiselessly to admit Celestia's younger mischievous sister.

“My, my,” Luna's voice startled the only two others in the room, “perhaps I shall contact the other Elements and request we postpone tonight's engagement. Sister, you do move quickly don't you.” Luna neatly dodged a cushion that sprang from the floor at her.

“An amusing jest” Celestia warned, “but unnecessary. Please join us, Lu.” Luna laughed, her voice tinkling as a wind chime caught in a night breeze.

“Certainly,” Luna agreed, “if only to keep you from ever using that coltish nickname in front of anypony ever again...ever.” Luna happily trotted to Celestia's side, opposite Twilight Sparkle. “I took the opportunity to request Rosy Dawn bring refreshments, though I see tea has already been served.” Celestia smiled at her victory, Luna may be a prankster, but she would always be the elder sister, an advantage she would forever enjoy.

Twilight smiled at the play between the two. It was, perhaps, one of the few displays the sisters had ever allowed another pony to see, since their ascendance, of just how normal they were. They were not above sisterly squabbles. She already missed the moment she and Celestia had shared, but there would be more, she was sure.

Knocking at the door interrupted any further taunting by either sister. Luna beckoned the others enter, and the door opened to admit the other Elements of Harmony. Twilight smiled happily as her friends gathered around the table and made themselves comfortable.

Celestia sipped quietly at her tea, enjoying the small talk the gathered ponies began to engage in. It was an opportunity rarely afforded to her since she and Luna took up their duty to Equestria. She allowed the friends their sorely needed time with one another after Discord's escape. She even spoke with Fluttershy for a time about phoenixes and their life cycles.

“As much as I enjoy time spent with friends,” Celestia spoke, ending the flagging conversations, “and I really do enjoy it. We have gathered here for a reason.” Twilight slapped her hoof to her forehead.

“Of course,” She groaned, “I can't believe I forgot already. I'm sorry, Princess, I just got caught up in the moment.” Twilight's friends rolled their eyes collectively, Celestia nearly joining them.

“Worry not, my pupil,” Celestia said, “truly, time with friends seems to have a magic all its own. Suspending even the most urgent of matters.” Celestia smiled to all of the ponies assembled. Twilight wore an embarrassed expression.

“Right, sorry,” Twilight apologized once more, then cleared her throat. “Okay, everypony, we'll have all the time in the world to chit chat later, but for now we should focus on the task at hand.” With a glow of her horn, she plucked the Tiara of Magic out of her saddlebags, setting it atop her head. “Did everypony bring their Element?”

“Sure did, sugar cube,” Applejack announced, dropping her hat to the floor and reaching in to pull out the Element of Honesty. Rarity was already wearing her choker, the Element of Generosity. Pinkie Pie pulled the Element of Laughter from seemingly nowhere. Fluttershy reached into her own saddlebag and retrieved the Element of Kindness, and Rainbow Dash was playfully balancing her Element of Loyalty on her nose.

“Excellent, “Twilight said happily, “okay, this will be the first time we've tried to use the Elements outside of a dire situation, so we should all be able to focus on the magic. It's different from regular unicorn magic, so focus on what the magic feels like, and since we know they resonate with one another, try and see if you can feel the magic from each other.” The Elements all nodded and Twilight continued, looking to the princesses present. “Princess Celestia, Princess Luna. Would you be willing to help us? Perhaps an outside eye will notice something we do not, and you do have experience with the Elements.”

“You need not ask, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna offered, Celestia nodding in agreement, “it is the least I could do after you rescued me from the nightmare. And Celestia would be more than willing to do anything for the student she is so fond of.” She laughed as Celestia playfully swatted at her with a wing.

“Enough jesting L-” Celestia found her rebuttal blocked by one of Luna's hooves. Luna could only laugh at Celestia's cross-eyed glare directed at the offending appendage.

“Of course, sister,” Luna interrupted, “please, let us continue.” Celestia rolled her eyes, but did not comment further when her sister removed her hoof. Twilight covered a laugh by coughing lightly into her hoof.

“Um, yes,” Twilight stuttered to continue, “Like I said, once we start, try and focus on how the magic feels. Well... I guess we should begin.” She finished, somewhat awkwardly, before closing her eyes in concentration. Her friends followed suit, and before long a soft glow surrounded each of the chokers around their necks.

At first, Twilight was unsure how to activate her tiara even though she had used it twice before. Soon, though, she felt it reacting, as if it was trying to reach out for something. She felt the need begin to grow within herself as well, and mentally reached out, in the same 'direction' as her tiara.

The Tiara of Magic began to grow warm on her forehead, and she knew that it had finally activated. The reaching sensation grew, and Twilight began to have some trouble directing it. The effort required began to grow quickly, and soon she felt as though she were trying to lift an ursa minor once more. She could feel herself sweat with the effort and almost began to give up and call for her friends to stop for a moment. That was when she felt a light pressure on her shoulder.

Twilight maintained her focus on controlling the Element of Magic, but spared just enough attention to open her eyes and see what the pressure was. It was a golden clad hoof, belonging to her admired mentor. Celestia's gaze was warm, and she smiled to the young alicorn before closing her own eyes. Celestia's horn began to glow softly, and Twilight immediately felt the almost unbearable burden ease greatly.

Twilight closed her eyes once more and was surprised to feel Celestia's magic mingling with her own, guiding her back to the tiara, rather than the magic the tiara gave off. It was a soothing feeling, the embrace of Celestia's magic, calming and guiding her own will, showing her how to use the tiara she had helped to craft ages ago.

Twilight relished the feeling, this was something new. Years earlier, when she was first taken under Celestia's wing, Twilight was often encouraged to work out magic for herself. Never before had Celestia so directly guided her. Celestia's presence pulled her along gently, lovingly guiding her into the tiara, Twilight's will began to enter it as a hoof might enter a boot.

As soon as she connected with the Tiara properly, Celestia's will backed off lightly, though never leaving entirely. Twilight felt ease in the presence, and began to focus in earnest once more, reaching out through the tiara where it told her the other Elements were awaiting her.

She felt as though she were stretching across the entire room, seeking the joyful presence that signified the gathering of the other Elements. Scant millimeters before her lay the presence, yet at the same time it was an eternity away. Time slowed to a crawl as she reached across the yawning gap, and before she knew what was happening, she connected with it.

Unfettered happiness filled her as she felt the embrace of her friends, as though she were hugging each of them individually at the same time. All at once her friends were part of her, she could feel each of their driving reason resonating within her very core.

A need began to fill in her, to always be by their side, no matter the odds. A thousand Discords could sweep across Equestria and she would stand in its way, shielding her friends from harm. A thousand wants threatened to pull her away from them. Promises of everything she desired called to her, but the need to stay with her friends crushed every temptation and swept them away as so much filth. Nothing would pull her away from her very best friends.

The only temptation left untouched by the need was the desire to give. To give everything she was to ensure the happiness of everypony dear to her. Every book, every lesson, every bit she owned was nothing compared to her friends' happiness, and so it could all be cast away without a care.

Every truth would be given to them as well, for they deserved nothing less. No masks, no lies of omission, nothing but reality. Even the most unpleasant truth was theirs to have, from the very depths of her heart. They would forever know her as she really was.

And there, in the deepest part of her heart was love. She loved them all dearly, and would drop everything she was doing at a moments notice and extend her helping hoof. She would gently guide them in their times of need and offer encouraging words. That would forever be her will.

Realizing her will pulled forward a joy so pure, that it chased away everything sad and scary in the world. It was an intoxicating joy, something to be spread about and shared with everyone she knew. It began to bubble inside her. The joy percolated into a chuckle, which grew and grew, from a giggle to full laughter.

Everything she was now, she realized, was her friendship. Every need, desire, truth, care and joy was, in fact, the presence of her friends. She had never had the time before to really experience the very being of her friends. There was always something important to do, some great danger to overcome. But here, in Celestia's study, she could simply sit and enjoy her friendship.

And so she did, for countless moments, each second an eternity of love shared between friends. She drifted with them in serenity. She stood strong with Loyalty, reached out with Kindness, gave with Generosity, shared all her truths with Honesty, and shared pure joy with Laughter. These were her friends, and she could feel nothing but pure gratitude for them. As she basked in their warmth she noticed something.

There, just beyond the spiritual group hug, was a presence keeping its distance, watching. She could feel it, though, it was a presence of infinite possibilities, something dreams were made of. There was only one pony she knew that could fit that feeling. She reached out, coaxing her friends to do so with her, and pulled Luna from her distant perch to join them.

The Dreams were hesitant, at first, but Kindness reached out and guided her to the rest. Laughter ran around them all in giddy excitement, and Generosity gave her only good will. Honesty held no resentment at her presence, and Loyalty supported her staunchly. And so, with the aid of friendship, dreams shared limitless possibilities, and the Elements were overjoyed.

Magic, allowed herself to lazily float along a river of Dreams with her friends, sharing happiness with each other. There was only one thing missing. She was having trouble putting her hoof on it, though. She let her focus wander, feeling all around her for that missing part. It took only an instant to feel it.

It had been with her all along, and so she had not noticed it before. It was a guiding presence, a Promise of potential fulfilled. It was her beloved mentor, Celestia. So, eager to share the joy she had found with her friends, she reached out, back through to the other side of the tiara and pulled.

The Promise pulled back, letting her know that what she was sharing with her friends was special, to be shared only with those she loved above all else. Magic agreed with the Promise, and so she pulled all the harder, ignoring the weak protests the Promise offered. One final tug pulled Promise through the tiara to join in her friendship, but something was different.

It was not like when Dreams were shared, it was as though the Promise of potential fulfilled had become part of her. Perhaps it was because she had pulled Promise through the tiara, but she had felt a joy she had never known swell within her heart. She held Promise in an unbreakable embrace, unable to release her. So she carried Promise to the gathered friendship and together they enjoyed one another's presence.

Too soon, Dreams began to pull away, duty she said, to be with every pony across Equestria. Promise spoke to Magic, then, telling her that she must aid Dreams in her duty. So at the behest of Promise, Magic bid her friends farewell and carried Promise gently back through the tiara.

Once more she was Twilight Sparkle, her sense of self had returned as she passed through the Tiara of Magic. Held tightly within her magic was Princess Celestia's magic. Twilight knew that it was now time to lower the Sun and raise the Moon, and so she released her hold on Celestia's magic. Her mentor's will hesitated for a moment, before it reluctantly returned to the ageless alicorn.

Twilight opened her eyes, which protested against the light that was finally allowed to assault them. She grimaced and let her vision adjust. She was breathless, that had been an experience unlike any she ever had before. Was that what happened every time they had used the Elements? That was intense, to say the least.

“Well,” Luna's excited voice broke Twilight out of her stupor, “as much as I would love to continue such an enjoyable session, I'm afraid duty requires Celly and I to usher in the night.” Luna stood, and stretched the soreness out of her joints. She quickly offered a nuzzle to each of the ponies present, and turned toward a window, opening it with magic and allowing a gentle breeze to filter into the room.

“Come, sister,” Luna called, “we have already delayed too long.” Twilight looked at the sundial in the center of the table and saw that Luna was right. The sundial's shadow stretched to the very end of the markings, touching a silly caricature of Luna warning that the moon was growing impatient.

“Of course,” Celestia's voice drew Twilight's attention to her mentor, who was standing hastily. Celestia turned quickly and moved next to her sister.

“Let us be off,” Luna stated with a turn and a flourish of her wings, cuffing Celestia lightly in fun. Luna laughed in joy as she flew out the window to perform her duty, Celestia following quickly.

“We have discovered much, but we will have to discuss it when we return!” Celestia called as she flew off. Twilight took a moment to catch her breath and let her heart beat slow to normal. She looked around the able at her friends, they had all begun to talk to each other excitedly, and Twilight could only smile in light exhaustion.

“That was amazing!” Pinkie Pie's voice cut through the chatter, infectious in its excitement. “It was like, I knew you girls were there, but I couldn't do anything. Then Twilight came along and it was like the best group hug ever!”

“I know, right?” Rainbow Dash said, “It was like, when I was with you girls, nothing could stop me.”

“It was nice.” Fluttershy agreed.

“Indeed,” Rarity agreed, “that was like no unicorn magic I had ever heard of. Twilight, dear, was that the Princesses that joined us? I thought they were only going to observe.”

“It was,” Twilight explained, “I think it was different for me, than it was for you girls, though. I'm not sure if it was because I represent the Element of Magic, or if it was because I'm now an alicorn. What was certain was that I could feel what each pony represented, rather than who they were.” Her friends listened intently.

“When we were all together, it was the best feeling ever, what you represented became a part of me, as though nothing could ever go wrong. I could feel Princess Luna watching, she felt like a dream that fades from memory each morning. I remembered how lonely she seemed at breakfast, and how great it is to have friendship. I couldn't help but reach out and pull her in.” They all smiled happily at the memory of Luna joining them.

“After that, I thought, why not bring in Princess Celestia?” Twilight continued, “But I think I did it differently.” She looked at the sundial for a moment, then spoke again. “Its strange, though. It seems like we were only in there for maybe half an hour at most, but, looking at the time, it was several hours.”

“Hey, yer right,” Applejack said, “It was still early afternoon when we started, now its sundown.”

“I think its safe to say,” Rarity stated, “that experimenting with the Elements should be something we schedule from now on.” The other girls nodded in agreement. Twilight stood up and gave a great stretch, her muscles protesting the movement after hours spent unused.

“Hey everypony, look!” Exclaimed Rainbow Dash, pointing to Twilight. “She has wings... sort of.” Twilight looked to her shoulder, amidst the gasps of her friends. Sure enough, where there had only been silky down feathers before, was a tiny wing. Twilight judged it was perhaps a bit smaller than an average pegasus filly's wing.

The tiny appendage stood out straight from her body, no doubt subconsciously commanded to do so when she stretched earlier. She tried to send a mental command to the wing, imagining it closing against her side as she'd seen so many pegasi do. Her wing, however, remained steadfastly extended, ignoring the order.
Of course, thought Twilight, it probably has its own set of nerves. I don't imagine moving a hoof, I just do. This is going to take some time. Twilight tried several times to move her wings mentally, but to no avail.

“I bet they grew because we used the Elements,” Rainbow Dash guessed excitedly. “Maybe we should use them again, and see if we can make them grow all the way!” She sat back down in her excitement before giving off a great yawn. The action spread contagiously to the other ponies around the table.

“Wow, you all look really tired,” Spikes voice came from the now open door. Twilight turned to face the young dragon, he must have awoken some time when they were using the Elements. Her assistant shut the door behind him and idly took a bite out of an emerald held in one of his small claws. He must have already eaten dinner.

“Maybe we should call it a night, girls,” Twilight suggested, turning back to her friends. “I'll wait for the princesses to return, you can go ahead and return to your rooms to get some sleep.” Her friends all seemed to agree as they each stood up and stretched.

“Good night, sugar cube, don't work too hard,” Applejack said.

“Applejack is right, it wouldn't do for you to tire yourself out,” Rarity agreed.

“Good night, Twilight, try to get some rest too,” Fluttershy offered, “things have been a little too exciting lately.”

“Hey hurry up and grow some wings,” Rainbow Dash said, “I can't wait forever to help you learn how to fly.”

“Nighty night!” Pinkie sang as she hopped along after her friends out of the room.

“Good night girls,” Twilight called after her friends, before she sat back down stretching again for good measure. She glanced back over her shoulder to one of her new wings and experimentally rolled the shoulder it sat behind.

The tiny wing wiggled in response to the motion. Twilight smiled in small victory.

“Hey, you've got wings,” Spike pointed out. Twilight smiled and nodded her head to the young dragon before turning her attention back to the small appendage.

“Okay, Twilight, you can do this,” Twilight told herself and stretched out her left foreleg. The tiny wing reached out as far as it could in sympathetic response. Grinning, she pulled her leg back in, an action which only prompted another wiggle from the immature wing.

Twilight pouted in reaction to the rebellious wing's lack of obedience. She knew it would take some time, but she had hoped moving her foreleg would have drawn a more immediate sympathetic action from her wing. Still, it was something. Perhaps she could create some exercises to help her better understand how to go about getting some control over her new additions.

Her attention was again diverted a short moment later when a soft clapping pulled her eyes to the open window. Princess Celestia was hovering just outside of the open portal with a smile on her face. She stopped clapping and alighted on the window sill before stepping back into her study.

“Very good, Twilight,” Celestia offered in praise, “I see the growth of your wings was stimulated by the Elements. You can even wiggle them a little bit.” She sounded excited, but it was small consolation to the young alicorn.

“Its good that they've begun to grow,” Twilight compromised, “but a pathetic wiggle will hardly get me off the ground.” Her frustration was pushed aside by a soft nuzzle from her mentor.

“On the contrary, my young protege,” Celestia argued, “you're doing much better than Luna and I in our first attempts to control our wings.” Celestia got a far off look in her eyes as she laughed lightly in memory. “We hadn't expected the change at all, and were surprised to find ourselves with a third pair of limbs.” Twilight listened raptly to the revelation.

“Really, princess?” Twilight asked, grasping onto the hope that she wasn't in some sense a failure.

“Of course,” giggled Celestia, “look on the bright side, Twilight, at least your wings are still small. Imagine trying to get control over two fully grown wings.” She spread her wings, displaying her full wingspan for effect. “Luna and I were saddled with four very wild wings between the two of us, and several bruised friends and family members.” Twilight couldn't help herself, and she began to laugh at the mental image of Celestia and Luna inadvertently harassing several ponies around them.

“I would have hoped such an image would be difficult to imagine,” Celestia pouted at her student's laughter. Twilight managed to control her laughter after a time, and wiped a tear from her eye.

“I'm sorry princess, I mean Celestia,” Twilight corrected hastily, in response to her mentor's further pout at the title. “I guess after seeing Applejack's brother behaving like a dog yesterday made it easier to imagine the impossible.” Celestia smiled fondly at her.

“Not that impossible, my dear,” Celestia explained, “after all, I began as you have: a young unicorn thrust from normalcy.” Celestia padded across the room and sat beside Twilight. “Though, I believe you never had that normalcy.”

“What do you mean princess?” Twilight asked, of course she had been a normal unicorn before.

“What I mean,” Celestia began to explain, “is you always had been the most gifted unicorn I had ever met. That includes Luna and I before our change.” Celestia plucked the Tiara of Magic from atop Twilight's head and placed it upon the table. She gestured to the purple gemstone. “We've never spoken of it before, but what do you see there?”

“A gemstone?” Twilight ventured, unsure of what her mentor was suggesting.

“Indeed it is a gemstone, selected specifically for its magical properties,” Celestia explained, “however, I must admit I'm surprised you have not drawn the connection yourself already.” Twilight thought for a moment before it struck her. She brought her hoof to her face in irritation at herself.

“I don't know why I didn't notice it before,” Twilight said, “the jewels on the Elements of Harmony all resembled the cutie marks of the ponies who represent them. It's shaped like my cutie mark.”

“That is almost correct,” Celestia said to her student, who adopted a confused look.

“I don't understand,” Twilight said, “what do you mean almost correct?” Celestia laughed lightly, again letting her student know that the answer should have been obvious, or rather that it would be obvious once explained. Celestia pointed a hoof, which Twilight followed with her gaze to an old tapestry hanging next to the door.

The tapestry depicted the Elements of Harmony, all still in the form of stones with various shapes carved into them. In the center of the five Element stones was the Tiara of Magic.

“That tapestry,” Celestia explained, “was created shortly after Luna and I imprisoned Discord the first time. Do you notice something significant in the depiction?”Twilight thought for a moment as she looked the tapestry over, dissecting all of the parts of the image.

“The Tiara, its not a stone like the other Elements,” Twilight pointed out, “But that makes no sense, it was a stone when I first called it when I confronted Luna.”

“Of course it was, my dear,” Celestia said, “I had sealed it away in my grief, after having sentenced my own sister to a thousand year imprisonment on the moon.” She let a look of sadness pass over her face for a moment before she smiled fondly. “It had been a secret worry of mine for almost a thousand years, that I would have to use the elements again, when Luna returned. But the something magical happened.” Twilight listened to Celestia's story, being granted another glance into the past that made Celestia the pony she was this day.

“I was wandering the gardens down by my school for gifted unicorns when a great explosion caught my attention. I looked up to see a magnificent rainbow spreading across the sky, but then another crash drew my attention to a nearby tower.” Twilight smiled, she must have been talking about Rainbow Dash's first sonic rainboom.

“Imagine my surprise when I found the gigantic head of a baby dragon blinking vapidly at the sky poking out of said tower.” Celestia stretched her forelegs out wide to indicate the size. “I hurried to where I assumed the dragon was, and there, amidst a storm of raw magic, was a young lavender unicorn.” Celestia again leaned her head down and pressed it against Twilight. “And after countering the magic and settling the young filly, could anyone guess what her cutie mark would be?” Twilight looked back at the tapestry by the door.

“Are you saying that my cutie mark doesn't just represent magic, but the Element of Magic?” Twilight asked.

“When you consider the shape, color, and the five smaller stars surrounding it, the proof seems incontrovertible.” Celestia stated, “That was what initially spurred my decision to ask you to be my protege. The Element of Magic is powerful, it was impossible for me to control when Luna and I brought down brought down Discord. It proved to be nearly as unmanageable when I used it to imprison Luna.”

“That there would be a pony with the talent to use the artifact properly astounded me. That she would also possess more potential than any unicorn in history convinced me to take her under my wing, to ensure that she would use her tremendous gift for the good of all ponykind.” Celestia paused in her pontification, smiling proudly at Twilight. “And she has delivered all I could dream of and more.” Twilight looked down at the table, blushing at the praise. A thought struck her though, if she was meant to wield the Element of Magic, what of her friends?

“What about my friends?” Twilight Sparkle asked, “was it some sort of destiny that led me to them?” Celestia laughed, amused at the question.

“Destiny, Twilight, is an interesting thing,” Celestia explained, “as far as I've seen, destiny is in reality potential. When somepony is able to reach their full potential, most would call it Destiny. In my opinion that would do them a disservice. You meeting your friends was a happy coincidence, nothing more.”

“A very happy coincidence,” Twilight agreed with her mentor. She smiled as she thought of her friends, “I'm lucky to have them.”

“And they are very lucky to know you, my dear,” Celestia said. “It is unfortunate that they left already, as there was much I discovered as I monitored your use of the Elements. That is, before I became part of the phenomenon, at least.” Celestia could not help but smile at the embarrassed look that came across Twilight's face.

“I'm sorry about that, prin- Celestia,” Twilight apologized, “I hadn't meant to drag you into that. But after I felt so much joy being connected with my friends in such a special way, I couldn't help but allow Luna to join us when I felt her presence. After that, one thing led to another, and I sort of ended up acting on a whim and pulled you into it, too.” Twilight hung her head, ashamed at her earlier lack of control. Her head was pushed back up by an insistent nuzzle from Celestia, who smiled as she gazed into her student's eyes.

There is no need to feel shame, my dear student,” Celestia said. “It has been so very long since Luna and I have felt such close companionship with anypony, it certainly was one of the most enjoyable moments the past thousands of years.” Celestia gazed fondly at the Moon hanging in the night sky outside the windows.

“I feel I must thank you for sharing the experience with us,” Celestia could not suppress a bemused grin that suddenly appeared on her face. “It was an uniquely intimate experience, I must admit I have never been embraced quite so thoroughly before.” Celestia giggled as the embarrassed look returned to her student's face, she was easier to tease then Mr. and Mrs. Cake.

“I didn't, I mean, that wasn't-” Twilight became immediately flustered at her mentor's insinuations. This situation was far beyond anything she ever thought she'd have to plan for. Luckily Celestia knew her student well, including how far she could be pressed with a prank.

“Calm yourself, Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia cooed softly to her protege, “I was merely joking. Sun's warmth, my dear, I do miss your companionship. While life has certainly become… interesting at the palace with Luna's return, life here has lacked a certain quality with you gone.” Twilight regained her composure and sighed fondly at Celestia's informality with her.

“I'm glad to be back, even if I would like to return to Ponyville,” Twilight admitted, “being able to spend time with you, it made having to put up with the elitist attitudes here in Canterlot worth it.”

“Oh, Twilight,” Celestia said, “that's kind of you to say, and I'm honored you feel that way. The happiness you and Spike have brought me, when I was allowed to simply be your teacher, has been one of my greatest joys.” Twilight smiled at her mentor's words. The two sat in comfortable silence for some time, enjoying each other's company, and staring out the windows to the beautiful night sky. Celestia spoke again, however, breaking the silence.

“Seeing as how it would be best to delay discussing our findings with the Elements until your friends awake,” Celestia began, “perhaps I shall aid you in understanding how to gain control over your new wings?” Twilight nodded enthusiastically at the idea.

“That would be wonderful,” Twilight acknowledged, “I thought that moving my foreleg would force a sympathetic response, however I was not as successful as I wanted. I was hoping to be able to feel my new muscles when the wing moved, so that I could isolate the area and then attempt to move my wings independently.”

“What a wonderful idea,” Celestia praised her student, then went silent for a time, pondering what she could do to help.

Twilight tried to wiggle her foreleg again, and was met with the same response as before, a week wiggling wing. She huffed in annoyance and tried again, achieving the same results.

Celestia let out a small hum as a thought occurred to her. Perhaps Twilight was on the right track, she just needed an outside stimulus to help her identify the new nerves leading to her wings. Deciding to test her theory, Celestia moved to act.

Twilight was caught off guard when Celestia leaned in and gently took one of her tiny secondary covert feathers in her lips and gave a light tug. The nerves in her wing tingled in alarm, the appendage shrinking away from the princess' explorations. Twilight, for her part, gave off a light shrieking giggle, trying to back away from her mentor.

Celestia smiled as her idea bore fruit, Twilight's wing had indeed moved when she tugged on one of her new feathers. She reached out and again tugged on a few feathers, eliciting a similar response from Twilight, amusing the Princess of the Sun further. She knew she shouldn't, that Twilight was in sore need of guidance in this trying time, but her student's response, in addition to the liberating feeling of finally having a peer other than her sister, egged her on further.

Twilight rolled back onto her rump, laughing at Celestia's tickling exploration of her wings. She logically understood what the princess was trying to accomplish, but she couldn't keep her body and wings still. She had no idea that new and unused nerves could be so sensitive.

Soon Celestia gave up all pretense of helping her student. Instead she leaned over the young alicorn, moving her head back and forth, using her lips to pull gently at random feathers. The freedom she felt in this display was intoxicating. Sure, she played the occasional prank on her subjects, like the Cakes, but there had always been a distance, a sort of social barrier she could never cross. The childish mare that had been locked away when she became an alicorn demanded she continue.

Eventually, Celestia's horn was encased in an illuminating glow, and small points of telekinetic force began to rain across both of her young student's wings. Twilight was at her mentor's mercy and there was nothing she could do about it.

“Oh sister, you simply must see this new constell...a...tion...” Luna's voice caused all activity in the room to suddenly stop, save for the ragged wheezing of a breathless Twilight Sparkle, and the soft snoring of Spike. Luna stared in shock at the sight before her as she stood on the sill of the window she had exited earlier.

Celestia stood, her expression one of a child having been caught sneaking sweets before dinner, over the prone form of her student. In her lips for several feathers of one of Twilight's, apparently recently acquired, miniature wings.

Said student was on her back, prone, and damp with sweat. Her gaze was without focus as she gasped for air, an earlier exertion causing her gasps to be ragged and halting. The relative silence stretched out for an impossible infinity of time. The silence was broken when Celestia, hastily releasing Twilight's feathers from her possession began to try and explain herself.

“I had never thought, dear sister,” Luna began, walking toward the two from her perch, “that, while I was creating art with the infinite vastness of the night sky,” she swept a hoof out wide, gesturing towards the sky, “and you returned to speak with your beloved student,” she brought the same hoof in a low sweep, indicating the pair before her, “that there was never even the most remote of chances that you might possibly need,” now she pointed in accusation to her sister, “a chaperone!”

“Luna, this is- or rather, what I mean to say is that I wasn't- I mean I was, but,” Celestia, ever cool in her composure, and calm when she spoke, was stammering like a schoolfilly. She was interrupted by the sound of Luna clicking her tongue in a chiding manner.

“Whatever shall I do with you?” Luna asked, then she held Celestia in a silent gaze for many minutes. Eventually the silence was broken by Luna, who gave an unladylike snort before erupting in gales of laughter. Celestia gaped at her sister in indignation, unable to form a response she sat up, and decided to wait it out.

As Luna's laughter died down, Twilight finally managed to get her breathing under rather shaky control. She pushed herself up from her back and into a sitting position. Wiping a hoof across her brow, she gave a calming exhalation before speaking.

“Princess Luna,” Twilight addressed the dark alicorn, “I understand what this might look like, but Celestia was merely helping me isolate the nerve endings for my new wings.” Luna raised an eyebrow at the lack of a title when her sister was referenced, and smiled as Twilight finished her explanation.

“Indeed, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna smiled, dropping her charade of protest. Celestia settled on offering a withering glare at her sister, who only smiled in return before clapping her hooves together. “Lucid Dream!” Luna called.

“Yes, Princess?” asked a young pegasus hoofmaiden from the open window. She was a deep purple, almost black color, with a silver mane, Twilight could not see her cutie mark.

“It seems the tea here has gone cold,” Luna explained, “I pray thee, fetch us some fresh tea, so that we may continue to entertain our guest.”

“Yes, my lady,” the hoofmaiden bowed low from her perch atop the window sill before taking off quickly.

“Forgive my joke, sister,” Luna requested, “it truly is good to see you letting down your mane. I imagine it must have been difficult for you in my absence, and ever since my return you've seemed so distant.” Celestia dropped her glare, instead giving her younger sister a smile of appreciation.

“A light punishment for what I did,” Celestia explained, “I would endure the isolation for an eternity if it would take back your years of imprisonment, my dear sister.” Any tension Twilight had felt up to that moment melted at the heartwarming scene. How often had they shared moments like this since Luna had returned?

She smiled, how many more would they share? They were always set apart from their subjects, with only each other to treat as equals. She would ever remain Celestia's most faithful student, but she quickly decided that she would do what she could to allow the sisters more reprieve from the duties of ruling Equestria.

This was a wonderful opportunity, Twilight decided. She had been given a great gift from her friends, she would find a way to repay the gesture to them, and do all she could to share the happiness with those around her. Her posture relaxed, and she allowed herself to chat through the night with Celestia and Luna as friends.

Chapter 2 end.

AN
The AC adapter for my laptop took a crap, so more than half this chapter was written on a smartphone. Thank god for amazon japan, managed to get ahold of the correct adapter in just two days, and they allowed c.o.d.! By the by, I am contemplating Twilestia, though right now their relationship is more friendly. Just a warning to those who might request otherwise, I write to my whim, no one else's.

Planning

True Harmony

Chapter 3

Planning

Twilight strolled through the verdant gardens of the palace with Celestia and Luna, enjoying the soft night breeze that swept through the foliage. Tantalizing scents of nocturnally blooming flowers tickled her nose, and silvery moonlight cast an ethereal glow about her surroundings.

After a lengthy time spent in idle small talk as they enjoyed a late meal provided by Lucid Dream, Luna suggested they move to the gardens. Luna had hinted at a desire to show Twilight something she had been unaware of, but she had no idea what she would find in a garden she had visited many times before.

She had never had the opportunity to enjoy the gardens of the palace quite like this. In the past she had been staving off sleep to catch glimpses of the night time flora, her drowsy brain muting her senses. Now, however, without the need for sleep and with a fully alert mind, her senses were dancing with the never before perceived depth of her surroundings. She was brought back to reality by the soft tittering of Celestia's light laughter. She looked up to see her mentor gazing fondly at her, an easy smile adorning her face.

“What is it, Pr- Celestia?” Twilight inquired, unsure what to make of the elder alicorn's reaction. Celestia shared a knowing smile with Luna before responding.

“I was merely taken in by a strong sense of nostalgia,” Celestia explained, “when Luna and I rose as the first alicorns, not simply just winged unicorns, we had to become accustomed to a whole new aspect of Equestria ourselves.” Twilight nodded in understanding.

“There are entire ecosystems that flourish only in the dark of night,” Luna added, “and under a bright moon they shine with a ghostly beauty that few ever enjoy.” They rounded a corner, approaching an area of the garden Twilight had visited many times during the day. It was a plain an unassuming area that she enjoyed studying in quite often. As they came closer and the sweet scent of nocturnal flowers grew stronger, Twilight soon understood that it was not as unassuming as she had so often thought.

Blue flowers shone in the light of the silver orb that hung in the cosmic art that was the night sky. Their soft petals waved in the breeze, coaxing Twilight's appetite, even as she was struck breathless at the scene. The waters of a small fountain caught and refracted the light, teasing a pony's mind into the infinite promises of dreams.

“Many incorrectly assume that this area of the garden, Luna's Repose, was a memory to my sister who had been locked away in the moon in centuries past,” Celestia explained as Twilight was drawn in by the enchanted view. “This place is a reminder that the night is equally important to the safety and prosperity everypony enjoys. I spent many nights here, seeking some way for my sister to truly return to me.” Twilight was taken by surprise when Celestia drew close and draped a wing over her in warm embrace.

“Thank you, Twilight,” Celestia whispered hoarsely into her student's ear, “you shattered centuries of worry and heartache. If you hadn't gathered the Elements and rescued my sister, I would be lost.” Twilight was speechless, and could only lean in to her teacher's side. She could feel something tickle the back of her neck, it was warm and wet. It dawned on her suddenly that Celestia was crying.

Soon Celestia's body was shaking, her breathing becoming ragged, soft whimpers escaping her attempt to keep silent, save for the repeated whispers of “thank you.” Twilight looked around, at a loss as to what to do. Her eyes fell on Luna, standing there, her eyes welling with tears as well. When their eyes met, Luna could hold herself back no longer and moved forward, throwing her forelegs around Celestia and Twilight, weeping silently.

Not knowing anything else to do, Twilight gingerly sat back on her haunches and reached her forelegs up, gently stroking Luna's shoulder and Celestia's neck. That was how they stayed for a long while, the royal alicorn sisters letting all of their sorrow finally leave them, the barrier that was royal etiquette shattered by finally having a peer with whom they could share their true feelings.

Slowly, Luna and Celestia pulled back from the embrace, their breathing becoming more regular. Celestia wiped away her remaining tears, and let out a long sigh of relief.

“I'm sorry, Twilight,” Celestia apologized, “it seems that I was unaware of the burden I still held.” She lightly scuffed at the ground with one of her delicate fore hoofs, feeling somewhat awkward at having displayed such a moment of weakness. Twilight moved up to her mentor and pressed her head against Celestia's neck once more.

“It's okay, Celestia,” Twilight said softly, “you and Luna must have been terribly lonely. If you ever need someone to talk to I'm here, now. I always will be.” She stepped back and rolled her shoulders, her diminutive wings giving a light wiggle. “Though I never thought I'd be able to say that to you and mean it quite so literally,” Twilight added with a light giggle. Celestia smiled gratefully down at her protege.

“Thank you, Twilight,” Celestia said, “though it seems my outburst has led us off topic.” She reached down and stroked one of Twilight's wings gently, causing it to shudder in response. “Our experimentation with the Elements of Harmony aside, there is still much to discuss about your ascendance.” Twilight nodded, though she wore a wry smile. Saying there was much to discuss was like saying there were a few raindrops in a thunderstorm.

“Indeed, sister,” Luna offered, “the least of which being the noble ponies, and the acceptance of another alicorn in their midst, especially so soon after my return. The nobility are rarely pleased when they have to add another pony to the list of those they must pay deference to.” Twilight furrowed her brow at that statement.

“I thought I was able to continue staying in Ponyville,” Twilight said. Celestia nodded in response.

“And you will,” she said, “though that will not change the fact that you are now an alicorn. Unfortunately it seems that all of my effort to shield you from the less than pleasant aspects of court etiquette have been for naught in light of your heroic deeds.” She let out a fond sigh. “Twilight, my dear, must you always exceed my expectations? It certainly makes things difficult, exciting though they be.” Twilight blushed, unused to so much praise from Celestia, especially over such a short period of time.

“There are two things that are the most pressing,” Celestia continued, “the first being the time and place to announce your transformation. Second, our continued experiments with the Elements of Harmony.” Celestia paused for a moment to give Twilight and Luna time to refocus their attention on the matter at hoof. “Unfortunately, the noble ponies of the court will not accept you as an alicorn without definitive proof. To that end, it is best that we do our best to help along the transformation, as well as show your connection with the earth as well as the sky and magic inherent to pegasi and unicorns. In light of that, how do you feel we should proceed, Twilight?” Celestia asked her student. Twilight was silent for a moment as she thought.

“I suppose that helping along the transformation is a non-issue, we already know that it is the Elements of Harmony that are the cause of the accelerated transformation.” She soon started muttering to herself as she puzzled out the immediate future. “But how do I prove connection to the sky and earth? Is there something in the pegasus physiology that would offer that proof? Certainly pegasus wings are much too small to carry their weight naturally, so I suppose being able to fly for an extended period of time and manipulating the weather might prove that I share the magic inherent in pegasus wings.”

Celestia nodded happily, Twilight's thoughts moving in tandem with her own. She couldn't help but marvel at the young mare's capacity for deduction. Here she was, a former unicorn with no formal training or teaching as to the nature of a pegasus or earth pony's magic, and she was quickly working out their nature. She doubted she would have arrived at a similar conclusion as to the nature of pegasus magic without her years of experience, or the training at the hands of her pegasus family members.

Celestia shared a smile with Luna, who was also watching the powerful analytic machine that was the mind of Twilight Sparkle. She let her attention drift to their surroundings for a moment as she let Twilight work out the conundrum before them. The blue flowers surrounding them had only recently begun to bloom once again, the silvery moonlight once more carrying the alicorn magic of Luna with it to the soft petals. Her earlier outburst had helped bleed away the guilt and sorrow, and now she was able to once more appreciate the beauty of Luna's Repose.

A soft scratching noise drew Celestia's attention once more back to the lavender mare who was now sitting in the bare earth surrounding the fountain. Twilight's horn was aglow with magic, telekinetically manipulating a stick, probably plucked from one of the surrounding trees. Celestia drew closer to Twilight and peered over her shoulder, and what she saw couldn't have shocked her more.

Twilight had been puzzling out an equation, and her familiarity with standard arithmancy helped her decipher the young alicorn's work. It was clearly a detection spell of some sort, but one she had never seen before. Moving along the mathematical structure, she followed Twilight's calculations and gasped as realization struck her. Twilight was working out a rudimentary detection spell to identify the presence of pony magic.

She couldn't keep the pride from swelling in her heart. Of course, she had always known that Twilight was brilliant, but this was unexpected. Aside from observation ruling out any other winged unicorn as possessing the connection to the earth all earth ponies enjoyed, there had never been a need to develop a spell to identify pony magic before. Yet, here was her student, a mare who's gifts she had encouraged and nurtured, creating just such a spell before her very eyes.

“Sun's warmth,” Celestia breathed out in awe. Twilight stopped her writing and looked up suddenly.

“Oh, I'm sorry Pr- I mean, Celestia,” Twilight stuttered nervously, “I was supposed to be planning, but I got carried away and I-”

“Managed to craft the answer to our problem,” Celestia finished for her student. “Twilight, this is wonderful, just a few minor modifications, and we can have the court unicorns testing the spell within the day. How ever did you think of this?” Twilight focused her gaze on the equations she had been writing to hide her blush of embarrassment, scuffing her hoof in the soft dirt.

“I just thought that the fastest way to tell if there was pony magic present was to check for it magically,” Twilight explained, “but I really don't favor the idea of having any more of my horn and hooves shaved off to provide samples. That was when I remembered Rarity's gem finding spell. It works by finding the natural magic inherent in the crystalline structure of the minerals that comprise the gemstones.” She shrugged, trying to downplay the leap in logic. “I just thought if I used an unknown variable, rather than the magical signatures of the gemstones, that it could be adjusted to detect any specific magic.” She looked up at Celestia meekly. “The only difficult part was the fact that Rarity's spell was part of her talent, and it had never been expressed arithmantically before. After that, the rest was just really elementary arithmancy.”

“Truly this is amazing,” Luna offered, “Twilight Sparkle, never has any unicorn attempted to change another unicorn's special talent thus. Why even Swirly would have had trouble with such an endeavor. Not only that, you managed to simplify the magic to such an extent that only three unicorns are needed to weave the magic. Please, wait while I fetch some parchment and quills, this is most exciting!” With that, Luna sprang into the air and was flying toward her tower before anypony could respond.

Celestia watched as Luna flew off before turning back to her student. Twilight was shyly staring at her handy work in the dirt around the fountain. A fond smile graced Celestia's lips.

“Twilight, you continue to make me proud,” Celestia said, “even through all of your dedicated studies, you've always displayed a deeply intuitive grasp of magic. Why, you are well beyond what I was capable of before I became an alicorn, and your ability will only continue to blossom.” Even as her pride was being stoked by Celestia, Twilight couldn't help but shrink under the praise.

“It was just some simple math, its not really that amazing, is it?” Twilight asked, looking up at her mentor. A gentle smile and a soft nuzzle dispelled some of Twilight's insecurities.

“It is easy to forget, my dear,” Celestia explained, “to ponies that do not share your talent and accumulated knowledge, what you just did tonight would take weeks, if not months, of effort. Why, even for me, to craft a spell like this based off of another pony's talent would take the better part of a night.” Celestia sat next to Twilight, plucking another twig from a nearby tree. “I daresay with some simple adjustments, we could examine the purity of a specific magic, whether or not there are other magics present.”

Twilight watched as Celestia began to make small notations around her basic equation. Suddenly, her earlier embarrassment forgotten, Twilight's mind began to dance with possible variations of Celestia's efforts. Soon a second twig, bathed in magenta energy joined Celestia's writing utensil. The two sticks moved around one another in an intricate dance as they made alterations here and there to the spell Twilight had been working on.

As Luna rode the night breeze back to where she had left Celestia and Twilight, she saw the unmistakable glow of magic as two small objects swirled around each other. She landed softly and crept between a couple trees to see what was happening. There in the clearing sat her sister with Twilight. They were leaning against each other silently as they worked together with sticks where Twilight had written her equation earlier.

Luna watched, entranced, for a time. She had at first wanted to speak up, to get their attention. That thought was set aside, however, as Luna failed to recall a time when Celestia seemed so relaxed. Not even in their private quarters was the Princess of the Sun able to lose herself quite like this.

Luna reached out with her magic and silently retrieved the parchment along with some quills and a bottle of ink. They moved through the air noiselessly to rest just out of sight next to her sister. Satisfied they would find the writing implements easily, Luna quietly walked away from the scene wearing an easy smile and took off into the night sky.

The two sticks slowed, before drifting lazily to rest next to Twilight. She marveled at the spell that was written in the dirt before her. It was elegant, no doubt Celestia's handy work. She let a soft sigh escape her lips as she leaned against the warmth of her mentor. She couldn't recall the last time they had been able to just relax in one another's company. While she enjoyed Luna's presence, she longed for the simple times when it was just her and Celestia, discussing magic theory.

The cool night air swept passed her, causing a shiver to run down her spine. She was surprised when a voluminous white wing draped over her shoulders, blocking the wind, and warming her immediately.

“Luna's left us waiting for a while,” Twilight noted idly. Celestia hummed in response, and a roll of parchment encased in a soft white glow was hovering in the air in front of her.

“It appears she has already come and gone,” Celestia noted, “It was silly of her to sneak off, though I appreciate the gesture. I had not realized just how much your absence had left palace life dull. No truly inquisitive minds, no late night discussions, no time to relax.” Twilight looked up at the white alicorn to see her eyes were closed, a contented smile gracing her face.

“No exploding libraries,” Twilight continued for Celestia, who chuckled in response.

“Life with you here was anything but dull,” Celestia acknowledged. “I do hope that after your return to Ponyville you will visit more often. You know I would make the time for it.” Twilight smiled at the offer.

“Wouldn't that be selfish of me?” Twilight asked.

“Not at all,” Celestia responded. They sat in silence for a moment, enjoying each other's company. “I must confess, Twilight, I am overjoyed that you have become an alicorn.”

“Princess?” Twilight was unsure what Celestia meant.

“It was with caution that I chose to make you my personal protege,” Celestia explained, “every day you brought so much into my life that had been missing since Luna's absence. And every day the dread in my heart grew, knowing that, as a unicorn, you would not be with me forever. Again, it would seem, you managed to take away the fear growing inside of me.” Celestia's wing wrapped around Twilight fully, blocking her view and embracing the smaller pony.

Twilight relished the embrace, she hadn't received one from Celestia since she had been a filly. A gasp from Celestia dispelled the moment.

“What is it?” Twilight asked. Wordlessly, Celestia's wing drew back from Twilight, her view once more no longer blocked by the massive feathery appendage. Twilight couldn't help but gasp in a manner similar to her mentor.

When her view had been blocked a mist had rolled into the garden, and Twilight suspected Luna had brightened the moon's light as well. The mist surrounding the flowers glowed blue with the light reflecting off the petals, and the waters of the fountain glittered in the moonlight. No words that came to Twilight's mind could accurately describe the beauty of the garden surrounding her and Celestia at that moment. Celestia's voice tittered lightly in a soft giggle.

“Thank you Luna,” Celestia called out into the night air, “this is a most exceptional sight.”

“I'm glad you think so,” Luna's voice came from behind them, “'twas such a tender moment, I could do naught but beg the moon shine brightly for you.” Luna approached her sister and offered a gentle nuzzle, which Celestia accepted gratefully.

Twilight, still captivated by the flowers glowing in the mist under the bright moonlight was suddenly struck with an idea. She closed her eyes and reached out the the magic in her horn. Celestia watched silently, unsure what her student was currently doing, until she could hear the breeze pick up. It was strange that she could hear a breeze, but not feel it strengthening at all.

Something caught Celestia's attention then. A soft note was drifting on the sound of the breeze, soon followed by more. Before she realized it had happened, a veritable symphony of soft tones drifted through the night air, unearthly and beautiful.

“Wonderful,” Celestia exclaimed, clapping her hooves together in amusement, “such a creative use of the gentle breezes spell!”

“Truly enchanting, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna praised, “your gift with magic is simply divine.” Twilight blushed in response. “Sister, should we not return to the castle?” Luna asked, taking note of the position of the night sky. “The night will soon end, and there is still much to prepare before the other Elements awake.” Celestia nodded in agreement.

“Yes, we should,” Celestia said, taking hold of the parchment and quills with her magic, “give me a moment to preserve Twilight's work, and we shall return.” The parchment unrolled, and a quill was dipped in ink before moving with an enviable alacrity across the blank sheet. Once complete, a quick burst of wind dispelled the mist that had gathered and dried the ink. Satisfied that the spell was preserved, Celestia rolled the parchment and tucked it into Luna's saddlebag.

“There, let us be off,” Celestia announced, before making her way through the gardens. Twilight gave a parting glance to Luna's Repose, and the sanctuary it provided, before she followed Luna and Celestia back to the palace.

The gardens soon gave way to the venerable architecture of the palace, where Celestia led them back to her study. Celestia sat again on a large pillow at the table they had occupied earlier, Luna sitting across from her. Twilight favored a spot next to her teacher, taking an apple from a fruit bowl in the center of the table and getting comfortable.

“Now then, Twilight,” Celestia caught the young alicorn's attention, “thanks to your efforts we were able to at least make some progress on the most pressing matters, that being the confirmation of your status as an alicorn to the nobility here in Canterlot. In but scant hours, your friends should be awake, and we can resume our experimentation with the Elements of Harmony. That is most important as your friends must soon return to Ponyville, and their duties in the town. That leaves very little time for us to tackle the other pressing issue at hand.” Twilight followed along with her mentor's logic.

“That would be the announcement,” Twilight reasoned, “right, Pr- Celestia?” Celestia smiled at Twilight's continued effort to adhere to her wishes of informality.

“That is correct, my dear,” Celestia confirmed, “thus far I have let you take the lead, however, the announcement of your ascension directly relates to matters at court. For that reason, I shall arrange the official announcement.” Twilight nodded her acceptance of Celestia's plan. “Thought I believe there is a hand you should have in more personal matters.”

“Personal matters?” Twilight asked, not sure as to what Celestia was referring to. Celestia smiled fondly at Twilight.

“Can you not think of any ponies who might like to know what you have achieved?” Celestia asked. Twilight thought hard about the question that Celestia had presented her.

“My friends already know,” Twilight thought aloud, “even your hoofmaidens know.” Twilight trailed off in her thoughts. Celestia let out a soft giggle at her protege's confusion.

“Perhaps there is somepony in the guard who aught to know?” Luna offered, enjoying the adorable social awkwardness that Twilight possessed. Luna's statement served as the necessary lead to get Twilight's mind working in the right direction.

“In the guard?” Twilight wondered, softly nibbling at her apple. “Well, I suppose as a matter of security the guard should know, especially the cap- Oh no!” Twilight bit down hard, scattering bits of apple as she suddenly realized where the princesses were leading her. She stood up and began pacing worriedly.

“Shining Armor!” Twilight exclaimed. “Oh no, oh no, what am I going to tell him and my parents?” Twilight nearly choked on the last word. “My parents! Why didn't I think of them? What am I going to tell them?” Twilight's eyes looked around the room frantically, as if searching for the answers in the furniture present. No answers were forthcoming. “What are they going to think of this? I'm not a unicorn anymore, they'll probably disown me! What am I going to do? I won't have a family anymore!” Celestia and Luna's laughter caught her attention. Twilight's eyes narrowed, and her face reddened in sudden irritation. How could they be laughing at her right now, she was in a serious bind.

Before Twilight could say anything she might regret in the immediate future, she was encased in a soft white glow, and carried aloft, through the air back to her place next to Celestia. A calming hoof rubbed her shoulders, and Celestia's soft voice cooled her thoughts.

“Peace, Twilight,” Celestia gently commanded, “there is little need for such worry. It may have been a few millennia since I last spoke with my parents, however, I am certain yours would not disown you. If anything, they would probably like to know why you so seldom visit. A sentiment I must confess I share with them” Celestia was smiling softly as she spoke to Twilight. Twilight, for her part, took several calming breaths.

“You're right,” Twilight relented, “but I still need to let them know, they should be the first to know of the ponies who weren't present.” Celestia nodded in agreement. “What am I going to tell them? How am I going to tell them?” Parchment and quills landed on the table before Twilight.

“In person would be best, I think,” Luna said, offering Twilight a small well of ink, “though it might be more expedient should we all gather for the announcement. To that end, a letter should suffice.” Twilight looked at the quill as though it were a dangerous creature that would end her life should she dare attempt to touch it.

“A letter?” Twilight asked, looking at Luna with doubt in her eyes. “Do you think that's best?” Luna nodded.

“It need not explain the entire situation,” Luna explained, “merely advise them that a most pressing matter has arisen, and that they should be present at the earliest possible moment.” Twilight nodded, calming herself, what Luna said made sense.

Twilight tentatively reached out with her magic and too hold of one of the offered quills. The tip of the quill violently dipped into the offered well of ink with a sloppy splash, before shakily hovering over the parchment. Twilight gathered her thoughts, and with a nervous gulp, began to write. Or rather, attempted to write, as the quill pierced the parchment and tore the sheet as it was dragged harshly along the surface of the table instead.

“I think I need a little time to calm down first,” Twilight chuckled nervously, blushing in embarrassment.

An hour later found Twilight finally calm and finishing the letter she intended to send to her parents. She was still nervous, hoping for the best when she would finally stand before her parents as more than the daughter they had raised.

Even though she was relatively calm compared to earlier, she had developed a slight, though in reality quite severe, paranoia. She had become convinced that every noise or shadow was her brother. The princesses assured her that he was currently not on duty, and that he had no reason to be near the princesses' room while off duty. They reasoned with the young mare that even the thought would be scandalous.

Twilight stood up, letting the quill rest, and looked out the window in time to see Celestia return from raising the Sun. She reluctantly waved the parchment in the air to dry the ink before tidily rolling it up. Tying it with a ribbon, she set it on the table with a nervous sigh.

“Are you prepared my dear?” Celestia asked her, offering a comforting nuzzle.

“No,” Twilight answered honestly. How a pony could ever be prepared for something as big as this was beyond Twilight's frazzled mind at the moment.

“Of course not,” Celestia smiled, “no pony would ever have been prepared for this.” She appeared to have read Twilight's thoughts. She leaned in and spoke softly to Twilight, her tone taking on a light conspiratorial bent. “Between you and I, Luna was just as nervous when we ascended.” An indignant huff from the open window alerted them to said princess' presence.

“Of course I was nervous,” Luna defended, before adopting a decidedly less than friendly smirk. “Of course, had I the benefit of a pining teacher willing to drop her half-flanked duties to see to my nerves, perhaps I might not have been.” Celestia looked less than amused at Luna's words.

“Half-flanked?” She sniffed disdainfully at the insinuation, “unless my eyes deceive me, sister dearest, the Sun is certainly shining across Equestria as we speak.” Luna laughed triumphantly.

“And certainly nopony would lament the loss of half an hour as the Sun vaulted passed its proper position in the morning sky,” Luna responded, “you are welcome, by the by, for adjusting the Sun's position, 'twas not the least bit an effortless endeavor, as I am not practiced in the ways of adjusting that particular celestial body.” Celestia had the good grace to blush.

“You must have been mistaken,” Celestia offered, a millennium of sole rule over Equestria having dulled her wit when verbally sparring with a family member such as Luna. Certainly they still had their family's descendants, however there was still the social barrier of alicornhood that kept them at bay.

“Yes,” Luna said, “mistaken, that must be the reason. Come, sister, let us break our fast as the Elements are sure to rise soon.” Luna huffed as she walked passed her sister, sharing a secret smile with Twilight Sparkle as she exited the room.

“Such an annoying sister,” Celestia groused, “pay her words no mind, Twilight. Luna seems to have returned to Equestria with a somewhat twisted sense of humor.” Twilight, for her part, smiled at her mentor.

“I find it reassuring,” Twilight admitted. Celestia raised a delicate eyebrow at her student's words as they exited the room and made their way to the dining hall.

“How so?” She asked.

“Seeing the two of you behave like any normal pair of sisters,” Twilight explained, “like Apple Bloom and Applejack, or Sweetie Bell and Rarity. It makes me feel like becoming an alicorn won't necessarily change who I am.” Celestia's annoyed expression softened fondly at the remark.

“I can see what you mean,” she agreed, “however that does not change what I said. Pay her jokes no mind, it will only encourage her.” They shared a laugh as they entered the dining hall.

“Encourage who?” Luna asked from her chair at the table. Celestia only shook her head in response, and nuzzled Luna as she walked by to take her seat.

“Worry not, sister,” Celestia said, “I was just offering some advice to my faithful student.” Luna smiled.

“Take heart, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna offered to the lavender mare as she sat at the table, “Celestia is a jester par none. Her advice often leads to woeful embarrassment of younger siblings, often publicly. Indeed, there is a secret resistance to her intricate conspiracies, one that will never end, mark my words. Why, just this morn did they snap victory from the dreaded Princess of the Sun.” Celestia laughed fondly at Luna's Joke.

“Then I must ensure that the resistance is crushed ruthlessly,” she played along with Luna's metaphor. “Perhaps it shall be a public execution?” Celestia wondered aloud, rubbing her chin with a golden clad hoof in mock thought. Luna looked at her sister, her face aghast at the prospect.

“You wouldn't,” Luna challenged her elder sister. A Cheshire grin accompanied Celestia's response.

“Wouldn't I?” Celestia asked. “After all, I am the dreaded Princess of the Sun, the malevolent and omnipresent source of little sisters' embarrassment Equestria over.” Luna wilted spectacularly at the thinly veiled threat.

“Fine then,” Luna sniffed, “I shall play nice, for the moment.” Celestia smiled in victory, before clapping her hooves.

“Rosy Dawn!” Celestia called. In response the rear door of the dining hall opened, admitting the rose hued hoofmaiden. Dawn bowed low when she entered.

“Yes, Princess?” she asked, smiling pleasantly.

“Have the chefs prepare this morning's meal,” Celestia requested, “the Elements will be joining us, so please make sure that enough food is prepared, as well as some gemstones for Twilight Sparkle's companion.”

“Of course, Princess,” Rosy Dawn bowed low in acquiescence, before quietly excusing herself from the room. Twilight relaxed in the morning sunlight that filtered through the expansive windows of the dining hall. Soon skittering footsteps alerted her to Spikes nearing presence.

“Morning,” Spike yawned as he entered, “how'd everything go last night?” He hopped up onto a chair next to Twilight, a small claw stifling another yawn. Twilight thought a moment before she answered.

“It was reassuring,” Twilight said at length, “in a sense. I'm still nervous.” Spike nodded, he had expected as much. “I have a letter for you to send to my parents after breakfast.” Spike smiled.

“I should have seen that one coming,” he laughed. “Hey, uh, are there going to be any gemstones for breakfast?” he asked, rubbing his claws together in anticipation.

“Of course there will be,” Celestia answered, “a growing dragon requires them to grow big and strong, does he not?”

“Not to mention my amazing fire,” Spike added with pride, puffing out his little chest.

“That goes without saying,” Celestia added, stoking the baby dragon's pride. Twilight smiled fondly at her charge. Soon the sound of energetic conversation filtered into the room as Twilight's friends arrived, all apparently having had a good night's rest.

“Morning, everypony,” Twilight greeted them, “it sounds like you all slept well.”

“Oh my, yes,” Rarity agreed excitedly, “I feel more refreshed than I have after any spa treatment, we must play with the Elements more often.”

“Not too often,” Applejack countered, “takes too long. Though Ah do have to say, Ah feel like Ah could tackle all of apple buckin' season all by mah self.” Fluttershy nodded her head in agreement as she took her seat, next to an excitedly bouncing Pinkie Pie.

“Speak for yourselves,” Pinkie Pie exclaimed happily, “I couldn't sleep a wink, I kept thinking of the most amazing parties to throw, especially one for Twilight becoming an alicorn!” Everypony laughed at Pinkie Pie's antics.

“Hey, speaking of that,” Rainbow Dash said, “did you make any progress with your wings at all last night?” Twilight recalled her lackluster attempts at controlling her wings after everypony had returned to their rooms the night before.

Before she could answer, however, the incident with Celestia popped into her head, and she felt her eyes drawn to her mentor. She could almost feel Celestia's gentle ministrations the previous evening as well as the tickling pinpoints of telekinetic force that led to Luna's teasing. She felt her face flush, and quickly averted her gaze.

“I, uh, ahem,” Twilight coughed into a hoof to regain her voice. “Yes, we made some progress, though it will be some time before I will be able to freely manipulate the muscles necessary for flight.” Rainbow dash cocked her head to the side, unsure of what to make of Twilight's response. She looked at Princess Celestia for clarification.

Said princess was looking anywhere but at Twilight at the moment, a light blush adorning her face. Rainbow Dash looked back and forth between the two ponies, a sly smile making its way onto her face.

“Some progress, huh?” Rainbow Dash asked, her voice anything but innocent. “Was there some preening involved?” The question caused a myriad of expressions, to explode across the room. While Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rarity could only guess at the meaning in confusion, Fluttershy nearly fainted with a soft squeak escaping her lips.

Princess Celestia and Twilight's faces exploded into a furious blush, neither willing to confirm the guess or to lie and deny it. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but laugh, having become comfortable in the presence of the princesses of Equestria over the course of the last day.

“Enough of that, Rainbow Dash,” Luna scolded gently, fighting hard to keep a smile from her face. “Plenty of fun has been had at their shared expense after the discovery of their little... session last night.” Luna failed to let the opportunity slip by to tease her sister, opting for the most ambiguous statement she could have made about their attempt to isolate the nerve endings in Twilight's diminutive wings the previous night.

Luna's words only egged on Rainbow Dash, who exploded into a fresh bout of laughter. By this point Fluttershy's blush seemed to be as severe as the two ponies in question, while the remaining three Elements of Harmony began to blush as the insinuation began to dawn on them. Spike, however, remained confused, as he was still a baby dragon.

Celestia allowed herself to take several calming breaths as she turned to regard her sister with a somewhat scary smile adorning her face.

“Luna~” she practically sang, “I believe you had brought my attention to a resistance movement that required immediate action?” Luna paled at her sister's words, easily recognizing the tone and expression.

“I believe they have gone underground, and will not be heard of for some time,” Luna shrank back from the intense stare from Celestia, before adding a meek “if ever again.” Celestia nodded, assured that her sister had been sufficiently cowed. Everypony shared a laugh, Twilight and Celestia's more awkward than the others'.

“My Princesses,” Rosy Dawn's voice rang over the laughter, everypony turned their attention on the hoofmaiden, “your meal has been prepared.” With that announcement several maids allowed themselves into the room, each pushing carts filled with various foods.

Before each pony a generous bowl of rich oatmeal was placed, in the center of the table vast bowls of various fruits, nuts and berries were arranged, as well as several pots of honey. Twilight's stomach grumbled at the sight, she couldn't remember ever being as hungry as she was now. She supposed it was her body's way of compensating for the energy she was burning during her transformation.

She inhaled the wonderful scent of the oatmeal, losing herself in nostalgia. It was a staple of her diet when she had been growing up in Canterlot, and she had never grown tired of the rich oats that Celestia's chefs used to make the nourishing meal. She began to salivate as she looked around the table, searching for her favorite fruits and nuts to add, as well as a generous helping of honey.

“Wait a minute,” Applejack announced, she was holding up a rather plump apple, “these're Sweet Apple Acres apples!” Celestia favored the orange earth pony with a smile.

“Of course they are,” Celestia confirmed, “not so long ago I was given a bushel from a small farm courtesy of a young miss Smith. I was immediately taken with the apples, and as long as there is a Sweet Apple Acres, I will be more than happy to continue having their wonderful fruits here in Canterlot.” Applejack smiled proudly at the praise.

“Ah sure don't remember ever sellin' no apples here in Canterlot,” Applejack admitted. Celestia looked somewhat uncomfortable at the statement. Luna answered for her sister.

“It is an unpleasant facet of life as a ruler of a nation,” Luna explained, “but there is always the risk of less than benevolent ponies and their plots. We are loathe to admit it, but the food here in the castle is all purchased and delivered anonymously, as to ensure the safety of everypony here at the castle, and those from whom we purchase our supplies.”

“Ah suppose that means ah can't be goin' 'round an' sayin' that mah farm's apples are bein' eaten up here?” Applejack asked, smiling somewhat sheepishly. Luna smiled at her.

“I would appreciate you not, for your safety as much as ours,” Luna requested, “however, I'm sure there would be no harm in a simple endorsement, would there, sister dear?” Celestia smiled at Luna, already forgiving her earlier remarks in light of the generous attitude she was displaying now.

“Of course not, Luna,” Celestia answered, “tell me, Applejack, would there be an event soon that happens to showcase your farm's specialty?” Applejack rubbed a hoof along the back of her neck, obviously thinking about any such event.

“Nothin' soon, Ah reckon,” she replied, “but Cider Season's right 'round the corner in a few months.” Applejack looked up hopefully at Celestia. Celestia happily clapped her hooves together.

“That sounds simply delightful my dear,” Celestia said, eagerly, “I shall be certain to attend, as will Luna, I presume?” Luna nodded happily, the ponies in attendance quickly becoming ponies she desired as friends. “It is settled, then. Please, let us know when the first day of Cider Season will be, and I will clear the date.”

“Will do, your Princess-ness, er,” Applejack blushed at her fumbled words, “that is, thanks, Ah sure appreciate it, 'n all.”

“Think nothing of it, my dear,” Celestia said, “now, let's eat, I'm sure everypony is famished.” Everypony agreed enthusiastically, and proceeded to select their favorite accompaniments to the oatmeal they were about to partake in.

Twilight happily levitated one of the pots of honey over her bowl and poured in a generous amount of the sweet liquid, before adding a variety of berries. She gave a gentle swirl of her spoon to mix together the honey and oats, before she lifted to spoon to her mouth and took a delicate mouthful of the mixture. She moaned in nostalgic bliss as the aromatic oats filled her mouth.

Having spent so much time with Celestia the last day had been pulling at the strings of her memory. Every moment had been drawing her back to a more simple time, when she was a filly studying under the awesome presence of Princess Celestia. She could almost picture a moment, back from that time, with perfect clarity, the scene around her fading as the memory solidified.

She wasn't sure of her age, but it had been during one of the few court recesses, where there were no official duties for Celestia to attend to, save teaching her protege. They had taken breakfast in Celestia's study, Twilight recalled. What had they been talking about?

Twilight was having a hard time remembering, she could only recall how happy she was to spend some time alone with the princess. They had been talking about nothing all morning, Celestia entertaining the wandering mind of a young filly with infinite patience. They had been talking about special talents, how every unicorn had a spell that was theirs alone.

“Do you have a special spell, Princess?” Twilight had asked. Celestia had smiled at the tiny filly.

“Of course I do, my dear,” Celestia said, her smile full of warmth, giving the young unicorn a sense of profound security.

“Really? What is it?” Twilight pushed, her eager mind absorbing every bit of information that Celestia could offer the inquisitive lavender filly. Celestia gestured toward one of the open windows.

“I can raise and lower the sun without any aid from other ponies,” Celestia explained, “I can even move the moon, though between the two of us, that's a little harder for me to do.” Twilight's eyes grew wide in wonder.

“Really? Why is it harder to move the moon?” she asked. Celestia had smiled with a far away look in her eyes.

“That is another pony's special spell,” Celestia offered, “she was a kind and energetic pony, much like yourself.”

“Really? Where is she?” Twilight's curiosity knew no bounds. Celestia's smile had grown sad at that point.

“She had grown confused, long ago,” Celestia said, “she left for a while, but she will come back soon.”

“She sounds nice,” Twilight had smiled, “I can't wait to meet her.” Celestia's smile had grown fond and happy once more.

“I'm sure she will absolutely adore you, as I do,” Celestia offered the young filly a gentle nuzzle, which the young Twilight had accepted with a tittering giggle. She had then looked up at the Princess, a confused look on her face.

“Princess, what do you think my special spell will be?” she had asked. Celestia had looked out at the horizon in deep thought.

“That I am unsure of, my dear,” Celestia had answered, “since your special talent is magic, I'm sure your special spell will be whatever you desire.” Her answer had excited Twilight beyond any specific answer she could have given.

“Really?” Twilight had pressed, “maybe I'll have a spell that will give me big, beautiful wings like yours, then we could fly together!” Celestia had laughed a kind and gentle laugh.

“I think I would enjoy that very much, my dear,” Celestia had responded, before they were suddenly interrupted.

“Your highness,” a strong voice had called, one of the guards, it had been her brother, she recalled. “Shining Armor reporting for duty.” Twilight had become excited when he had arrived.

“Shining Armor!” she had exclaimed, “what are you doing here?” Shining Armor grinned roguishly at his little sister.

“Twilight?” his confused voice was at odds with the confident smile he was wearing. “I'm the captain of the Royal Canterlot Guard, but what are you doing her? I though you would have returned to Ponyville by now.” Ponyville? That hadn't been part of the memory. Why was Shining Armor asking her that? She had only moved to Ponyville a year ago. “And are those wings on your back?”

The memory shattered at that question, Twilight's senses bringing her suddenly and unexpectedly back to the present. Everypony was looking at her, and there in the doorway was her brother.

“Shining Armor!” Twilight gasped, unprepared to meet her brother with her new developments.

Chapter 3 end.

AN
I must apologize to everypony for the long wait. But I got back in the saddle, and here's the result. On a side note, the scenery of Luna's Repose was inspired while listening to Nobuo Uematsu's Phantasmagoria. However, while writing the scene, my playlist had jumped to Yasunori Mitsuda's The Girl Who Stole the Stars, and I found myself writing the scene where Celestia was crying(as well as myself).