The Y of Twilight

Chapters

Chapter 1: Unknown
Chapter 2: Discrete
Chapter 3: Unbiased
Chapter 4: Known
Chapter 6: Resolved
Chapter 5: Independent

Chapter 1: Unknown

The Y of Twilight
A bittersweet tale of loss and rebirth by Adam J. Nelon and Robert Stewart

Chapter 1: Unknown

It all started on an evening much like any other. In our time together, Twilight and I had grown closer than I had any pony I'd known in generations. She was wise beyond her years, forgiving in ways even I could not be, bold and determined and the bearer of a sharpened mind. All of these factors led me to set her the task I did. Perhaps one day you can forgive me for that.

In my time teaching her, as we grew ever more intimate than mere student and teacher, I was led away from my ivory towers, and into the confined comfort of her domicile. It was a tree of age almost equal to, if not greater than, mine own. Books carefully aligned in some areas, whilst strewn in controlled chaos in others. Twilight loved reading in ways that some ponies would call romantic. She was, after all, enchanted with the idea of knowledge. It was this reason, then, that I sent her a book on her idol, Starswirl the Bearded. An innocent action, simple and innocuous. So too was a confrontation between sisters over jealousy and suffering, and the end result was much the same. I underestimated her, you see, and I did not imagine the potency of her spell weaving. I did not expect her to repair Starswirl's spell, nor did I know the results. It was some light reading between lovers.

Of course, as is often the case with such innocence, there comes times wherein inevitable, unavoidable chaos likes to muddy the calm waters.

"Coming!" Twilight pranced to the door with an inexplicable glee. Some unseen force had lifted her spirits to the point of singing and dancing in the streets this morning, and she was still riding the emotional high. For some reason, she had a feeling that everything was going to be just fine. This feeling was complicated, though not removed by any stretch of the imagination, by the sight of her on the other side of the doorway. Her Royal Majesty, Regent of the Sun, most beautiful, wonderful creature in the world, Princess Celestia.

"I see you're quite eager to see me, Twilight," the princess chuckled, a hoof across her muzzle hiding her curt smile.

Twilight flushed. "...I...heh. When am I not?" Twilight cracked a wry, self-deprecating smile.

"Is that a trick question?" Celestia said as she gingerly poked her prized student in the chest. "The day you grow tired of me will be the day I go supernova."

Twilight only giggled at this, nuzzling into her mentor with an easy smile. "Was it an easy trip from Canterlot?"

"We ran into some turbulence on the way," Celestia replied, wrapping a foreleg around Twilight's neck. "Nothing that my prized fliers couldn't handle, however."

Twilight only answered this with a nuzzle. "I don't, err, mean to be rude, but...Usually you only come to visit me this early for a reason. Is something wrong? Is Luna alright? Did the report go over well with the magistrate? Did my last friendship report meet your standards?" Twilight's lip folded with worry.

"Nothing of the sort, my dear student!" Celestia happily balked. "I was only wishing to see you in person for once. Perhaps check on your progress."

"Oh! Well, okay. What about court, though?" Twilight ignored the voice in the back of her head screaming at her to shut up and accept the chance for free cuddles.

"I've postponed it to later in the afternoon," the princess replied matter-of-factly. "The issues that were to be brought up are not exactly pressing."

"Oh. Well, okay." Twilight naturally didn't believe she was worth canceling court over, but she was able to rest easier knowing nothing pressing was weighing on the Princess, and, despite her reservations, she knew that Celestia valued her presence, and that some time together would do them both good.

"Shall we go inside?" Celestia offered. "Or are we to stand out here and soak in the morning sun?"

"Mmm, you know I like to soak in your work. I don't know why, but I feel sunny for some reason today. Maybe we could go onto the balcony?" Twilight offered, knowing Celestia would almost certainly agree.

"I don't see why not," the princess replied, smiling. "Shall I bring you up with me, or are you fine going by yourself?"

Twilight drew closer to the Princess. "I'd say both are true. Bring me up with you?" She offered, smile equal parts easy and hopeful.

The princess nuzzled her student, lifting her onto her back with her magic. "As you wish."

With this, Celestia carried Twilight gingerly up with her wings, taking a short series of heavy flaps upwards to the balcony. In times past, the princess was oft to use this extension of the library as an impromptu landing pad in previous altercations. Today would not be a day for a hard landing, however. At least, not yet. As her hooves met the wooden surface, she gracefully closed her wings, lowering her head to allow Twilight to disembark.

Twilight easily stepped off Celestia, blushing at the thoughts of other, less chaste thoughts of doing just this she had had. It was only then that she noticed Celestia's saddlebag.

"What do you have there, Princess?" She motioned her head towards the brown bag for emphasis.

"Oh these?" Celestia teased, beginning to slide out some books from her bag. "I thought I'd bring you a present for being such a wonderful student."

"M-me...?" Twilight blushed, looking pointedly away from Celestia with a blush.

"Of course, silly!" the princess giggled. "Plus, I brought something particularly special for you."

Twilight attempted to regain her composure. "Really? What's that, ehe..."

The princess pursed her lips teasingly as she presented a rather aged black book to Twilight. The cover depicted an ancient unicorn symbol, and looked slightly worn. The pages were something of a tan color now, but the text was still perfectly legible.

Twilight's eyes shone, her inhibitions lowered by the chance to pursue knowledge in any form. She immediately gripped the book, unintentionally clasping her hooves around Celestia's as she did, so studying the cover with a curious squint. "What is it, Princess?"

"Only the personal journal of your idol," the princess teased in a singsong voice.

"Wh-what?!" Twilight immediately wrenched it from Celestia's hooves, opening it and flipping through the pages. "Wait! No...I can't just rush through this. This should be savoured." Twilight ran a tender hoof down the cover of the book. "This is...beautiful. But...but it's so damaged!" Twilight looked down at the worn pages and the wrinkled cover with a motherly frown.

The princess chuckled as she watched her student critique the book like a jeweler would a diamond. Truly, Twilight had an eye for books that most ponies wouldn't even notice. Every bit of age, wear and tear seemed to be clear as day to her.

"Shhh...it's okay. Mommy's got you now. Nopony can hurt you." Twilight cradled the book protectively, tenderly shielding it from the world with her body.

"I was hoping you could restore it," Celestia stated simply. "The last few pages appear incomplete, but if you are able to somehow complete it..."

"Me? I could never...never write in such a priceless historical artifact! This should be in a museum, not a collection. But...uh...I'd love to study it, if you'd like." Twilight looked down at the book, still concerned over the appearance.

"Please do, Twilight." the sun mare said with a smile. "I'd love to see just what you might come up with."

"Heh. Well...I...okay. But, uh, until then, do you want to catch up?" Twilight's eyes shone hopefully.

"Of course," Celestia replied with a smile.

y_Y_y

The sky exploded in a purple star over Ponyville, the glare visible even from Canterlot. It was a blast of such radiance and magnitude that even Princess Celestia was stirred from her slumber. As quick as her body would allow her, she raced out of bed, haphazardly donning her regalia before taking flight.

"Could it be time already?" she thought aloud as she glided down the mountainside.
Something was wrong. Twilight's presence didn't register on the plane of magic she normally would. Celestia's heart hammered in her chest, her gaze constricting slightly. Her wings took her to where the star was descending. The Everfree Forest. The Castle Of The Royal Sisters. An ancient relic of a bygone era, engulfed by the possibly sentient forest in which it was nestled. Celestia's breath caught in her throat. Equal parts nostalgia and fear came to her mind as she strode inside, her eyes scanning every corner they could in search of her student. She regained her breath as she found a familiar frame, and her smile became overjoyed when she saw the wings nestled on Twilight's back, flapping uncertainly.

Twilight's eyes stared at the wings with wonder, the childlike innocence Celestia so loved writ large across her face. She gave one an experimental flap, not noticing Celestia's presence.

"Twilight!" Celestia called out, her wings flapping gleefully as she pranced to her student.

Twilight's eyes widened, and her lips pursed in a whimper. Hooves pinwheeling, she backpedaled as fast as her hooves could take her, stumbling and writhing along the floor.

"No, Twilight, it's me!" Celestia said in a softer tone. "Princess Celestia, remember?"

Twilight flinched at the words, terror in her eyes. It was then that she tripped on a hoof, scattering her body across the floor. She screamed at the sudden sensation of hitting the ground, hooves covering her head as she whimpered.

"Twilight?" the Princess asked, slowly approaching her with worry, her eyes softening. "Do you recognize me?"

Twilight blinked up at her, uncertainty in her eyes.

Celestia gulped as she heard deafening silence from her student. Something was very clearly wrong. She had planned for Twilight to ascend her status as a student and become a princess like herself, but she did not anticipate that Twilight would end up here, much less not even recognize her.

"You don't remember... Anything?" Celestia asked, her aloof facade slowly breaking away as the voice changed from fear to begging.

"Ce...Ce?" Twilight looked at the creature before her, uncertain of the expression it showed.

"Celestia," the princess completed. "Suh-less-tee-uh."

"Ce...les...ti...ah?"

Chapter 2: Discrete

The Twilight that Celestia beheld stared back at her with open eyes, timid and uncertain. Celestia tentatively opened her wing to her, curling it over her hooves.

"Would you like to come with me?" she asked in a soft, but choked voice. "You must be very cold, Twilight."

"Twi....li...?" The creature in front of her tilted its head.

"Yes, Twilight," the white mare replied, nodding her head. "That's your name."

"Twilit?" She tried the word out, pursing her lips slowly and clumsily. The look on her face had changed from one of fear to one of curiosity, her eyes looking nervously at the white creature in front of her.

"Yes," Celestia replied, pointing to the purple mare near her. "Your name is Tuh-why-l-eye-tuh Spar-kuhl."

The pony in front of her raised a hoof to her chest. "Tuh...why...lie...tuh?" There was a gleam to her eyes now, one that seemed all too familiar in ways Celestia did not wish to notice.

Celestia smiled as she looked into those eyes again. Inside them was a lust for knowledge, a burning desire to see the world surrounding her pupil. It had been years since those eyes had been quite as bright in their shine as they were now. What was once a mare of great intellect was now a blank slate, ready to be filled again with the insight of the world.

"Yes, Twilight," she replied, still pointing at the newly-made alicorn, before pointing to herself. "And I am Princess Suh-les-tee-ah."

"Cuh...lest...ti...ah..." Twilight replied, looking at her uncertainly. "Twilight...Celestia...Twilight...Cel-lest-ti-ah...Tw...Y...light...Ce...les...T...ah." She pointed her hoof between the pair of them, swinging it this way and that. She then pointed a hoof at herself and a wing at Celestia. "Twilestia." She giggled.

Celestia internally gasped. Already, her student was beginning to make some connection that the two of them were close. What was more, she was putting particular emphasis on two letters. Y and T. On their own, simple letters, with little else to their existence or meaning. Yet, at the same time, they represented what Twilight had become: A variable. Something of infinite possibility.

"That's right," Celestia said, wiping a hoof across her eye. "Twilestia..."

Twilight made a happy noise, not unlike the squeak of a rubber duck, before a frown crossed her face. She stuck out her tongue and panted, eyes instinctually searching. She got up to her shaky hooves, flapping her wings for balance as she teetered along. Celestia smiled as she brought her front leg towards her in a beckoning motion.

"That's it, Twilight," she whispered softly, "Come to me."

Twilight took a few more steps, stumbling as she did, until one hoof caught on its partner. The poorly balanced mare crashed in a heap of limbs like a house of cards, scraping her throat against the floor. Twilight's scream echoed through the hall, her muscles tensing as she curled her wings protectively over her injured throat. Tears filled her eyes at the sudden, overwhelming sensation, and she shivered as her nerves began to fire for the first time in her life.

Celestia frowned, her eyes filled with concern as she approached the young mare, helping her up.

"Don't worry, Twilight," She said as she put her horn to the wound, casting a warming magic across her neck. "I'll keep you safe."

Twilight looked up at her, naked wonder in her eyes. She gave a happy coo in response to the warm feeling spreading across her neck. Celestia picked her up in that same magic, and lifted her onto her back.

"Just hold onto me," she offered, her wings fanning out. "I'll get us someplace safe."

Twilight clung to the mare more passionately than her old counterpart had in her nineteen years of life with her. Not

since the changeling invasion had Twilight held Celestia so desperately, a greedy, infantile desire to remain eternally safe in her embrace overcoming her.

With a flap of her wings, Celestia took to the air, leaving behind the decrepit castle as she made her way back to the comforts of Canterlot. She flew slowly, letting the wind carry them as she beheld the moon's rise against the horizon.

As Celestia took off into the night sky, five mares and a dragon charged into the room, concern writ large across their faces. Calling Twilight's name, searching behind every corner and cranny, all they could find was some blood on the floor where their friend had fallen and a single purple feather lying on the floor.

Twilight let her weary head rest against the pony she was lying on top of, her eyes fluttering closed despite the strange itching sensation in the back of her mouth. It was only a few minutes before, exhausted, she lost consciousness and slept.

Soon, the two were back in the relative safety of the royal bedrooms of Canterlot Castle. Celestia heaved a sigh of relief as she laid Twilight down onto the bed before approaching her writing desk.

Though it pains me to do this, she thought to herself, I must inform the others of what has come to pass, if only to give them closure.

With another breath, she began to scribble against a fresh scroll of parchment in black ink.

To the friends of Twilight Lumena Sparkle,

I apologize if recent events have caused you concern. As you can probably infer from the purple plumage, Twilight has managed to surpass her unicorn body and has subsequently ascended to the status of an alicorn princess. While I would normally express joy at seeing my most faithful student progress in such a major fashion, I regret to inform you that something has gone awry. I am not sure what exactly the cause of it is, but as she is now, the mare we know as Twilight has lost most every memory inside her. Though her eyes still sparkle with almost childlike curiosity and wonder, she has even forgotten her own name. As her friends, I felt an obligation to inform you first and foremost, as this event would be of the greatest importance to you specifically.

Starting from the moment you read this message, Twilight will be receiving personal rehabilitation from me. You will receive a summons at some point in the future when she has progressed sufficiently to the point where she is comfortable meeting others. I apologize for any undo suffering this may cause in adavance. I assure you that everything will be fine in due time.

Elements be with you, My Little Ponies. I believe she will need their guidance.

Your Royal Majesty,

Princess Celestia de Corona of the Diarchy of Equestria.

Heaving another sigh, Celestia curled the scroll shut.

Twilight gave a loud, rumbling snore from her position on Celestia's bed, rolling over in her sleep and splaying her limbs wide apart. A twingle of drool ran down the corner of her mouth, her legs twitching as she dreamed. She gave coos and snorts at unseen stimuli, her snoring interrupted only briefly by them.

With a bittersweet chuckle, Celestia cast a green flame against the scroll, sending it whirling off to the direction of a certain purple dragon. This done, she slowly removed her golden necklace and shoes, casting them against the floor tenderly as she made her way to the bed. Pulling away part of the covers, she slid her body inside, her front legs curled against her reborn student's chest as her mane and tail ceaselessly billowed behind her.

Twilight fell into the embrace, greedily hogging Celestia and the blankets' warmth and giving a happy sigh. She rubbed her face up against Celestia's, drool rubbing off on her old mentor's face. She froze in this position, drifting back into the Netherworld of slumber once again.

Hopefully, Celestia thought, everything would be just fine.

Twilight's eyes shot open. A quick look through the opening in Celestia's room showed that it was still dark. Twilight's throat was itchier now than ever before. She panted, the back of her throat feeling scratchy. She didn't know how to remedy this problem, only feeling it crash down on her like rays of the sun. She needed something, but she could not think what.

Celestia soon followed suit, her eyes Fluttering open as she looked to Twilight.

"Is something wrong, Twilight?" she asked, raising up in her bed.

"Ahh. Ahh!" Twilight opened her mouth, tongue hanging out. No moisture dropped to the floor, despite her mouth opening fully. "Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Oh, poor dear," she murmured to herself as she climbed out, looking closer to her student. "You're still a little hurt. And by the looks, you haven't had much to drink, either."

Twilight looked at her savior in confusion. "Celestia?" She asked, head titled slightly. Despite the pain in her throat, Twilight still looked at Celestia with much the same bafflement at the existence of the giant creature not unlike herself and yet so very different that continued to rescue her.

"Come with me, Twilight," she said softly. "We'll have you right as rain soon."

Twilight looked at her blankly. "Aaaaah?"

Celestia simply made a beckoning gesture for Twilight to follow her, offering her wing.

Twilight cooed and followed, slipping under her wings with a breezy smile.

With a calm smile, she proceeded into the hallway, uncaring that she was essentially naked as she made her way to the royal nursemaid. Such things could wait until her student was in proper condition again. She reached a door with a familiar icon of a caduceus, and began to rap against it gently.

There was a sound of rummaging at the back of the door, before it finally opened to reveal a very groggy, baggy-eyed nurse. She raised a hoof to one eye and rubbed it. "Yes?"

"Good morning," Celestia greeted with a similar tired voice. "I have somepony in need of some attention for a neck injury and a bit of a thirst concern."

Twilight, meanwhile, looked shocked and concerned at the earth pony in front of her. She gestured at the place on the nurse's shoulders where her wings would rest frantically. "Bah?"

"Please excuse Twilight," Celestia said with a smile. "She's had a bit of an accident. Poor dear can't remember a thing."

"What?" The nurse's tone changed abruptly from weary to razor-sharp, the dull edge shaved off in a hearbeat. "How?"

Twilight looked from the Princess to the nurse in concern. "Celestia?"

"Never you mind, Twilight," Celestia whispered softly. "Two grown-ups are talking."

Her eyes returned to the nurse with concern.

"Formally requesting permission to bring her inside immediately. If we're going to help her, I need you to tell me what you remember about the state you found her in."

"Yes, Miss Purple Heart," she said, bringing Twilight along inside with a wing.

Twilight flinched at the sudden pressure on her back, still looking at the pony without wings as if she had seen a ghost. Her eyes grew only wider at the lack of horn. "Celestia! Celestia!" She tugged on the mare's mane.

"It's okay, Twilight," Celestia assured her student. "She's a pony just as we are. She's here to help you."

Twilight pursed her lips in thought at Celestia's tone. "Celestia?" She pointed a hoof at the other pony.

"No, Twilight," she corrected, trying her best to sound motherly as she pointed to the nurse, "This is Purple Heart. Purr-pull Harrt."

"Pur...ple...Hert...." Twilight formed the words as slowly as before, stumbling along them and turning her snout pointedly down and away from the new, possibly dangerous creature in front of her.

The nursemaid smiled. "That's right, Twilight. Now you be a good girl and wait here while the Princess and I talk, okay?"

Twilight looked at them blankly.

Celestia smiled and patted the young princess' head reassuringly. As she returned her attention to Nurse Purple Heart, she shut the door behind them. "It started when I began to see a large purple star over Ponyville a few hours ago. Prior to this, I had given her the personal writings of Starswirl the Bearded to look over. The intent was for her to complete his last unfinished work, thus creating new magic and thus become eligible to ascend to the status of an alicorn princess. While it appears that much has been accomplished, the star itself landed in the Everfree Forest, where the old castle lay. When I found her, she was like as you see her now: Devoid of memory of even her own name, and with the fear and curiosity of a newborn foal."

"So it's magical in nature? I...must admit, the palace staff is hardly trained in such things. I can help with bodily afflictions of all sorts, but...well...this sounds like magic you'd want to take up with your archmage instead."

"I intend to check with Master Silver Hoof soon. However, as I was extricating her, she tripped and scraped her neck. Given her expressions, she hasn't had much in the way of beverages since her return, either."

"Of course, Your Majesty. I'll be sure to run a physical on her. But this isn't exactly standard, you know. She's got a lot of untapped power in that horn of hers. I'll need you to restrain her if we want to do an examination."

"Of course," Celestia said, trotting towards Twilight as she crouched down to hold her steady.

Twilight, for her part, looked at Celestia with wide, trembling eyes. "Celestia?"

"Don't worry, Twilight," Celestia said as she nuzzled her student. "She's not going to hurt you. In fact, she's going to make you feel a lot better!"

Twilight gave a smile at that, rubbing her cheek against the other pony's.

The nurse approached Twilight gingerly. "Now I'm going to need you to open up and say "aww", okay."

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh--aggggggggggggggh." Twilight's eyes widened as her mouth was held open by the nurse in a gentle yet firm grip. "Gaaaaagh!"

The nurse closed her mouth again, then leaned down and squinted at her throat.

She opened Twilight's mouth once more, Twilight looking at Celestia with quivering eyes and brows creased and upturned.

"Alright, so the good news is that she isn't injured at all right now. I don't know if that's a healing spell or her new body is just naturally able to regrow, but she's not hurt in any physical way right now. The bad news is that she's badly dehydrated. We need to get her some fluid, and quickly."

"As I had thought," the princess noted, pursing her lips. "Will you watch her while I get some hard water?"

"I think she'd be more comfortable if she was with you." The nurse advised, caution seeping into her voice. The palace medical staff had a long and chaotic history of trying to wrangle with the border between where their station of authority ended and that of the nobility they tended to began.

"Fair enough," Celestia sighed with a smile, guiding Twilight along with her wing again. "Come along, Twilight. Let's get you something to drink."

Twilight stumbled along on uncertain hooves, testing herself with somewhat steady wobbles. Celestia held her aloft as they walked towards the royal kitchen, making way to the refrigerator nearby. The princess swung the door open and smiled.

"Pick anything you want, Twilight," she offered, opening the door wider. "I've got plenty to drink."

Twilight looked around at the new room in awe. She put her hooves up on the counter, searching around the surface for some sort of moisture. She settled on the faucet to the main sink, seeing that it dripped some water. Celestia was soon treated to the sight of the mare suckling the dripping fluid from the tap, happily gurgling as she did so.

"That isn't exactly what I meant," Celestia chuckled as she produced a juicebox from the fridge, poking a straw inside it and handing it to Twilight. "Here, maybe you'll find this better for you."

Twilight grabbed the juicebox and gave it an experimental sip. Her eyes immediately widened, which was followed by a squeal of bliss.

"Do you like it?" She asked with a smile. "It's grape."

Twilight hugged Celestia in response. "Celestia." She said with a simple warmth.

Note to self: Get Twilight a language teacher, Celestia thought to herself before nuzzling her student. She then looked into the pantry, searching for a nice mix of oatmeal to prepare. Once she found a proper flavor, she prepared a small sauce pot, filling it halfway with water as she scooped the oats inside. With the water beginning to boil, she carefully stirred the bubbling mix until it was thick and creamy. Smiling, she prepared a clay bowl and spoon, scooping up a small amount of oatmeal into it with a careful use of a ladle. As it steamed, she pursed her lips, blowing away the heat as she presented it to Twilight.

"Looks yummy, doesn't it, Twilight?"

Twilight looked at it in concern. "Celestia?" She asked, pointing at the food in confusion.

"You must not have had much to eat, so I made you some oatmeal," Celestia stated simply with a smile. "Come along; We'll eat it in the dining hall."

Twilight blinked, dipping a hoof into the bowl. She put the hoof to her lips. Her face wrinkled as she did so. Twilight's ears perked up at the word "come". She strutted along in front of Celestia, gesturing with her hoof. "Come?"

"Yes, Twilight," She said as she lead the way, holding aloft the bowl and spoon in her magic as she made her way along, "That's what come means."

Twilight beamed, following Celestia with the clumsy stumbling and peppy enthusiasm of a puppy.

As they made their way along, Celestia searched for the archmage. Twilight, meanwhile, touched a hoof to Celestia's side, pokin her wings. "Bah?"

"Oh, you want to know what these are?" she asked in reponse, fluffing her wings.

Twilight made a hum of agreement.

"These are my wings, Twilight." she explained in her iconic scholarly voice.

"Wiiiiiiiiii...gggs?...Wiiii...na....gs?"

"Yes," Celestia agreed as she gestured toward my horn. "And this is my horn."

"Hooooor...n." Twilight parsed the word slowly, eyes squinted at the monarch.

"That's right," The princess assured, smiling as she repeated the gesture. "You and I have wings and a horn because we're both alicorns."

"Al...i...corns..." Twilight suddenly looked up. "We?"

"That's right!" She beamed, pointing to herself, then to Twilight. "When you and I are together, we use we."

"Twilight Celestia...we..." Twilight looked off past Celestia, up into the sky.

"That's exactly right," Celestia confirmed with a nod. "You're learning really fast, Twilight. I'm very happy for you."

Twilight beamed, her smile splitting across her face. Abruptly, she looked questioning. "We...alicorns. Purple Heart....?"

"Purple Heart is an earth pony," the Princess explained. "She doesn't have wings or a horn, but she's very strong. She's also good with taking care of the earth, and makes things from plants to help us feel better."

"Earth...pony...." Twilight tested the word, her lips continuing to flew in ways she didn't expect them to. She had noticed that this clumsy, heavy object in her mouth that had helped her gather her food and drink was also useful for saying words if she pushed it in the right directions.

"That's it," she cooed with a smile. "The pony we're going to see soon is named Silver Hoof. He has a horn, and that makes him a unicorn."

"Uni...corn..." She tapped her horn, following Celestia's hoof gestures.

"Yes, Twilight." her teacher replied with an ever happier expression as she gesured to her wings. "In a while, I'll introduce you to your friends. Two of them have a set of wings like ours. When a pony only has wings, that makes them a pegasus."

"Elements of Harmony?" Twilight questioned. "Friends? Applejack? Fluttershy?"

Celestia gasped as those words danced inside her ears. Such specific words, she thought, couldn't possibly have stuck so clearly in the mind of a mare so devoid of memory. And yet, through some miraculous act of Faust, they had stuck fast in the mind of her charged, where even her and her mentor's name had not. The surprise was as sobering as a wind across her cheek, and as she was taken aback, she stopped dead in her tracks, looking back to Twilight with perhaps the most jubilant smile she could ever produce.

It was as if the Element of Magic itself had written itself in stone to Twilight's subconscious.

"That—" Celestia could barely contain her joy and pleasure from what her student had said, her eyes welling up with tears that rivaled those she had shed upon Luna's freshly purified shoulders. "That's exactly right, Twilight! Please, who are the other Elements?"

"Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie" Twilight looked at Celestia, puzzled. She herself seemed stunned at her words. "Friends."

"Yes, Twilight!" she gasped in glee, burying herself happily in Twilight's chest. "They're your friends!"

Twilight cooed at Celestia's hugging. She rested her head against Celestia herself. "Celestia friend." She stated with a firm, simple tone.

"Yes!" Celestia quietly cheered. "I'm your friend, too."

Twilight stayed cradling the larger pony's head to her chest for a while, the horrid oatmeal forgotten by the pair quite thoroughly.

"I'm not sure I've ever seen a spell like this, Your Majesty," said a weary silver unicorn. "Memory spells, I'm quite aware of, but I've never seen a spell meant to cause complete species shifting, much less one that essentially wipes the subject's mental slate nearly blank like this."

"So you don't know exactly how to fix something like this?" Celestia asked with mild concern.

The unicorn shook her head in reply. "For a memory restoration spell to work, the subject has to have something of a root memory from which to start restoring connected mementos from. However, in this case, the only real root to this is the Elements of Harmony, and near as I can tell, there's not much between that."

"I see..." Celestia hummed. "Is there perhaps a way to expediently implant memories related to that root, then?"

"Perhaps," The unicorn pondered, holding a hoof to his beard. "I'd have to go digging to find one, though. What you're asking for is Starswirl-level magic. This would be the kind of thing that requires the subject's undivided attention and focus to work. And given that Twilight still has the mind of a young filly, that may be difficult to come by."

Celestia chuckled at that notion, smiling a tad more than she should. "I don't think that will be a problem, Master Silver Hoof."

The unicorn archmage shrugged and turned about-face. "So be it, Your Majesty. It is a shame, though. Twilight was, as I'm sure I don't need to tell you, the brightest mind in our generation. It will be a shame she won't grow into her new role in my lifetime."

Celestia nodded and nuzzled her old friend. "It is all well, Silver Hoof. You've always been a dutiful mage to me, young or old."

Silver Hoof sighed, smiling, despite himself."As always, I bow to your insight, Celestia."

"I'm glad to hear that," Celestia noted with a smile. "I wish you luck in finding the spell."

"And I wish you luck in rehabilitating Twilight," Silver Hoof replied.

"With that in mind," Celestia said as she returned to Twilight. "Might you need to use the bathroom, Twilight?"

Twilight scrunched her nose up and looked at Celestia with open eyes. "Bathroom?" Celestia's question had been ill-timed, as it was only now that she noticed a yellow puddle laying in one corner of the room.

"Well, then," Celestia murmured, looking back to Silver Hoof. "Silver, be a dear and get a maid to mop this up, will you?"

"Right away, your Majesty."

Shortly thereafter, Celestia guided Twilight to a door with a picture of a pink looped cross. As she pushed open the door, it revealed a room of porcelain tiles containing a sink, a large tub, and a toilet with its lid facing up.

"I should have made this a priority, but better late than never," Celestia sighed, placing a hoof behind her head.

"Twilight, it's time we trained you to use the bathroom."

Twilight looked from Celestia to her mess and then back, ears folding back. The tremble in her lips echoed another pony in another lifetime, horrified at the failing of her mentor in delivering her report on time.

"Don't fret, Twilight," Celestia assured, patting the toilet on the lid. "This little wonder won't hurt you. In fact, it's here to help you. Come. Have a seat on it."

"Ce-Celestia." Twilight nodded, her gaze never meeting Celestia's. She crawled towards the seat and turned to face her friend, looking uncertain.

"Right, now all you have to do is let nature to its work," her mentor instructed, keeping a reassuring smile."

Twilight looked confused, then looked past her mentor to the mess on the floor. She looked in between her legs, before eventually looking up at Celestia solemnly. Sure enough, a few minutes later she had changed the color of the water , a dripping sound filling the room as she let out a contented sigh.

"Very good!" Celestia cheered. "Now turn the little knob to your right."

Twilight blushed, looking at the floor once again. She placed a hoof down on the toilet, closing her eyes and shivering at the noises coming from beneath her. As soon as the process was over, she quietly dropped off the seat, gave a wince when she saw Celestia's smile, and slunk away with her head and shoulders hunched low.

"It wasn't that bad, was it, Twily?" Celestia asked, rubbing a hoof in her mane teasingly. "Would you like to share a bath with me?"

Twilight only looked at Celestia. "Bath?" No excited inflection overtook her tone this time.

"Yes, Twilight, a bath," the princess said, smiling a little more gently now. "I promise, you're going to love this."

With a careful swipe of her horn, she twisted one of the knobs behind the curtain, causing water to flow into the tub as she placed a plug inside.

Twilight, still not fully hydrated from before, plunged her mouth into the bath water and began to drink. She brought a dripping muzzle up to face Celestia. "Bath?"

The sun princess chuckled and patted her head. "If you were a bird, it would be."

For a moment, she stopped the water from flowing and dried off Twilight's muzzle with a towel, ignoring her whine of protest.

"Come, Twilight. Let's get something nice to drink before we get in the bath," she asked as she lowered herself to let Twilight climb aboard.

Twilight glanced around guiltily, trying to show she was able to walk on her own. She walked on shaky hooves, still managing to maintain her balance regardless. "Twilight come." She said with an unsteady confidence.

"Have it your way, Princess Twilight," Celestia giggled, walking back towards the kitchen and its fridge. This time, rather than juice, Celestia selected some grape-flavored mineral water in a pair of decorative plastic bottles.

Twilight followed behind, gladly taking one from Celestia. "Princess?" She asked, more confidence edging back into her voice.

"Yes, Twilight," the older princess confirmed, smiling as she touched the empty space on her head where her crown typically sat. "You and I are Princesses, and we usually wear a nice crown on our heads to show it."

"Crown? Princess..." She sighed, squinting her eyes and clutching her head with her wings in confusion. She suddenly had a spark of insight, spread her wings and pointing at them with a hoof. "Princess?"

"Exactly," Celestia confirmed. "You became a princess not too long ago."

Twilight gave a nervous blush, looking down at her water bottle. "Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked, looking at her with a tilted head.

"That's what most call me," the Princess replied with a smile as she undid the cap of Twilight's bottle. "You're free to call me Celestia, if you want."

Twilight's face scrunched up, and she gave a whine. "Celestia?" She questioned, a bit more firmly this time.

"Yes, Twilight?" she asked in reply.

"Friends? Elements of Harmony?"

"You'll see them in due time," the princess assured, hugging her with a wing. "You have a lot to learn before then, however."

Twilight drooped. "Princess." She said, staring at her wings.

"Don't fret," Celestia said as she gingerly held her chin. "With how fast you're learning, everything will be just fine."

Twilight didn't look convinced, but leaned against the wing anyway. She sighed, a mix between happy and sad.

"Now come; we can't let the water get cold."

That said, the duo made their way back to the bathroom, where Celestia resumed filling the tub with warm water.

Twilight still looked at the white vessel in question with no small deal of uncertainty. She experimentally dipped a hoof in the water, letting it swing in lazy circles around the tub. She frowned at the heat, still harsh against her virgin nerve system.

"Don't worry, Twily," Celestia cooed, easing her hoof out of the water. "You'll get used to it in a little bit."

Twilight skirted around the edge of the water, uncertain in the extreme. She skirted around the edge of the bath, before she felt a glow surround her and push her into the water. With a yelp, the newly minted alicorn was pushed into the water, splashing a wave of water around the room. Celestia chuckled at her efforts, tickling Twilight with her feathers as the pony struggled, giggled and whined. Soon enough, she joined her in the water, taking a rather expensive-looking bottle of shampoo and squirting a dollop or two in her and her student's manes. With a gentle hoof, she lathered the substance into the scalp, massaging it carefully.

"Doesn't that feel good, Twily?" she asked with a smile.

Twilight only hummed in reply, lying back against her rescuer and closing her eyes. For a moment, she was a perfect echo of times they had spent curled up against one another, eyes closed in bliss. Just her and her mentor, sharing a private moment of happiness together. No worries, no cares, no pressing matters. Just a quiet moment of serenity.

Even in such unbridled chaos, this moment of private happiness felt all the same as it was before. The pair of ponies sighed, their breaths synchronizing in the warm comfort of each others' embrace, and all felt at peace with the world.

Chapter 3: Unbiased

Celestia always rose with dawn. Ever since her birth she had felt a natural connection to the sun, and her mind could not sleep with the sun’s presence weighing upon it. The solar diarch was surprised, therefore, when she found that her charge was already awake, pouring over a book with a tight frown. Twilight looked as though she was trying to discern meaning from the scribbles with sheer willpower alone, her brow clenched and shining with a faint coat of sweat, aiming to absorb the knowledge like a sponge. The pout on her face made the princess chuckle slightly.

Twilight’s head rose with Celestia’s noise, the stimuli breaking her out of her stupor. “Princess?” She tilted her head.

Celestia craned her head down to meet Twilight at eye level, pecking her on the cheek.

“Good morning, dear,” She whispered, arching as she stretched out for the morning’s events.

Twilight squeaked at the sudden touch. “Princess?” She inquired.

“Yes, Twilight?” the Princess replied, preening her feathers.

Twilight touched a hoof to her face where Celestia had kissed her. “What?”

“That was a kiss, Twilight,” Celestia explained, offering a washcloth. “It’s something ponies do to show they like somepony.”

Twilight murmured to herself, trying to process the arithmetic of Celestia’s kiss as she watched her strut to the balcony. With a wave of her hoof, Celestia dragged the sun from the horizon, setting the sun on its course like a clockmaker would adjust their clock. Though it was by no means an arduous task, the act of raising the sun was always one that took a significant effort to accomplish.

Twilight watched in awe, her earlier book soundly forgotten between the new method of showing affection and the majestic display of power from her savior and adopter. The crisp golden hue of the morning sun washed over her, burning away the dull greys of awakening to reveal radiant, prismatic color once again.

Celestia’s ears perked at the sound of hoofsteps behind her, Twilight settling at her side to watch the sun. Celestia felt Twilight rub her head against her side, and placed a wing around her to reassure the occasionally flighty alicorn that her affection was reciprocated.

“It really is a beautiful sight, isn’t it?” she asked, looking to her work again. “Every day, this is the miracle I perform for Equestria. Though most may find the act of the sun’s rise and fall dull and boring, I can always appreciate its majesty.”

“Magic.” Twilight agreed, her eyes shining and wide in the face of the sunrise.

Celestia smiled and nodded. “And very powerful magic, at that.”

Twilight watched Celestia’s horn, her gaze turning down as she did. A sigh escaped the younger pony’s lips as she turned back to her book, turning out from under Celestia’s wings.

It was then that Celestia began to murmur a strange melody.

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine… You make me happy, when skies are grey… You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you… Please, don’t take my sunshine away…”

Twilight’s ears lowered at the tune. Though it sounded cheerful, it had a melancholy afterthought to it. It promised things Twilight knew she could never be, things she could never do. Celestia continued to hum the tune to herself, looking off to the Everfree castle. As she saw Twilight pouting in her periphery, she followed suit before bringing a smile back to her face.

“I’m sorry, Twilight,” she sighed as she drew the curtains. “I just have that tune burned into my head.”

Twilight smiled, although it was a weak, half-hearted look.

“Come,” she said with a more upbeat inflection. “Let’s get a morning bath, shall we?”

Twilight perked up at this, her smile becoming more genuine. She watched Celestia walk forward and, hoping to impress, trotted up alongside the older pony, starting the bathwater with her mouth when she reached the faucet. She frowned as the water swirled into the tub. Celestia giggled as she pulled onto a small chain, revealing a rubber plug which plopped into the drain, holding the water within the tub proper. Twilight gave a pout at the giggle, staring at the drain venomously.

“This plug goes into the drain to keep the water from getting out of the tub,” the sun princess explained. “It’s best to put it in before you start the water.”

Twilight nodded once, then smiled and tested the waters, just as she had learned to earlier. Her ears perked as Celestia began to pour some strange, rocklike things into the tub. “What are…?” Twilight did not know a good word for the rocks, earning a grunt of frustration from her.

“Bath salts, my dear Twilight,” the princess replied, also testing the waters as she inhaled a sweet, lavender fragrance. “They’re meant to help improve the bath to some degree.”

“Bath...salts.” Twilight tested the word, looking to Celestia.

“Very good!” Celestia applauded, happy to hear her princess-in-training expanding her repertoire. “You’re quick as always.”

Twilight beamed as Celestia slowly eased herself into the tub, a throaty sigh arcing into the ceiling. Twilight’s tail twitched at the sigh, and she frowned at it in confusion. She shook her head, body slipping into the tub alongside the larger pony. She began to apply the brush to herself. Eventually, Twilight was struck by a thought.

“Celestia has family?”

“Of a sort,” Celestia replied. “Luna is my sister, your sister Cadance and you are my nieces, Shining Armor is something of a son-in law, and so forth. I’m not entirely certain, though; family trees can be a tricky business.”

“You love Shining Armor?” Twilight looked hopeful.

“As family, yes,” Celestia noted.

“Not married.” Twilight nodded, a proud smile on her face. Love and families were complicated, but not insurmountable.

“Precisely,” Celestia confirmed. “Some day, I should teach you of the four great loves. At least, the four that are most commonly known.”

“Four?” Twilight blinked. “Not two?”

“Four as in, there are four kinds of love.” the big pony clarified.

Twilight looked at her hooves. She pondered what the other two types of love could be privately. Married, family…friends?

“Simply put, there are four kinds of love; The first is Storge , or the love of those familiar, like Family—

“Mother, father, Shining, Cadance, Spike.” Twilight tested out the concept against what she already knew.

“Yes. The next type of love is Fillia, a kind of universal love that all ponies share. Every pony is connected to one another, and each has a certain love that they have the potential to share. A love of life and the world.”

Twilight frowned at this concept. She pursed her lips and creased her brow, studying her bathwater. “Friends?” Celestia smiled warmly.

“Yes, Twilight. Then, there is Eros. Eros is the love between two or more ponies physically. Ponies are designed to seek companionship. It’s how we produce more of ourselves. An erotic love is a love of a pony’s body or actions.”

Twilight made a face, her tongue sticking out at the idea. Celestia giggled.

“I assure you such feelings can include a very loving relationship. It is merely that the contact between two ponies is the central part of the relationship. We often call this relationship “romantic”, which is like the precursor to “marriage”.

“Finally, there is Agape—Unconditional Love or Chairty . A love for everything that a pony is. This kind of love does not have to be romantic, but it is very strong. This is found within the other three loves, but it shines brightest between Ponies and other creatures. The way a mare may love their dog, cat, or owl is a notable example of Agape. It is difficult to find between two ponies, as often there are things about other ponies we don’t like or that make us sad. Sometimes, though, we love those ponies, and can’t express this just through the other three loves. So much so that we don’t see those flaws anymor--”

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed, spreading her forelegs

The princess chuckled as she looked to the window, before reciprocating the open legs and hugging Twilight.

“That has certainly been the case in the past. I do remember an unfortunate Hearts and Hooves Day incident with a pony not unlike yourself. But I promise that I care about you, Twilight. Nothing will ever change that.”

Twilight shifted into the hug, her shoulder muscles suddenly tensing. She felt comfortable against Celesta’s bosom, a motherly warmth spreading about her. It only made her shiver, knowing how bony, cold and rigid her own chest was in contrast. A clash of extremes, with both sharing similarities. But despite all Celestia’s kindness, Twilight could only see how much she didn’t fit. How wrong she was.

Their bath concluded, the two alicorns proceeded into the dining hall, where a breakfast spread had been prepared in advance to start their days. Celestia left Twilight, after a brief and yet tense conversation over where she was going so abruptly, to wander the castle.

Twilight opened the book again, grunting in frustration. The strange pictures done in curved, elegant lines registered nothing for her. Despite this, she knew there was meaning to these words. That she could deduce something from them about the ponies around her, the cultures that treasured them. That maybe, just maybe she could finally fit if she could peel away their secrets.

Twilight felt as if the whole world was covered in a veil. Or perhaps a blanket, a thick cloth curtain she could only just peer through. If she squinted, she could see that there were ponies on the other side of the curtain, talking, laughing and playing amongst each other. To her, though, the curtain would never be anything but a taste of the world that the others lived in so naturally. She gave a shiver as she closed the book, the grunt she gave this time eventually breaking off into a sigh. She looked down at the ponies in the garden and gave an uncertain smile, perceptions turning towards the ponies involved.

A warm coal of hope sprung up in her chest as she thought of her progress whilst hiding under Celestia’s wing. By mimicking the ponies in the garden, she could develop her ability to talk to more ponies than simply Celestia. She even dared to think of possibilities where she could simply adjust. Develop a family, run her own baths, prepare her own food.

She bore that same lust for the future that a child had, counting the days to adolescence, and adolescent to adulthood, with a dogmatic fervor. Her gaze hardened, jaw set and unmoving and brow furrowing in concentration. In other words, she stared. From her window on high she spotted her fellow creatures walking and talking, their words flowing naturally. She watched in awe as one lit up a horn, offering a fruit from one of the plants to his partner. After some talking, she ate, her cheeks the same color as Twilight’s after she had done something wrong. Twilight wondered why she was smiling so naturally as this happened.

She tried it for herself, horn flickering to life. She watched another unicorn in the gardens trimming the buds from a rose, focusing on the pointed, spiraled growth on his head. The newborn alicorn closed her eyes and felt magic blossom in her head. Twilight continued to think the word ‘magic’ over and over, her horn flaring and dancing with it. Her ears twitched to the din of multiple muffled conversations, her nose wrinkling with cold air as she tried to find a particular word with which to focus. She heard the word “flare”, and all of a sudden her magic was setting off bright flashes about the study. Like fireworks it danced in the air, shooting star-shapes and cherry blossoms of light throughout the study. Twilight yelped and ducked her head, her mind screaming for the lights to stop. And yet, even at her own request, her horn continued to let loose a maelstrom of iridescent light. As much as she begged herself to scream for help from her mentor, her pride wouldn’t let Celestia know of such grievous failure.

She closed her eyes and resigned herself to the lights flashing around her eyes, shutting out the world of magical chaos around her. Eventually, her horn ceased sputtering, leaving her prone form shivering on the ground, surrounded by ashes and burn marks.

Celestia’s mind whirred in multiple places at once, her thoughts on both topics that weighed upon her mind. Unfortunately for Vintage Grapes, installing a stained glass window honouring the success of his vineyard opening in the lower corners of the palace was not one of them. She had had an answer for him from the moment he had submitted his request. The rest was purely perfunctory.

She had know that giving Twilight Starswirl’s spell was a risky manoeuvre. Her student thrived in dangerous situations and forbidden magics. She had successfully thrown herself back in time, and wielded dark magic with casual ease, pushing its taint from her mind with a few short breaths. She had tamed chaos magic and summoning spells for monsters as dangerous as parasprites. She had accepted that Twilight’s history of miscasts was a very real danger, but the benefits to her nation of having a Princess maintaining their elements of harmony were too great for her to even consider ignoring.

Vintage’s speech about the merits of encouraging merchant-politician relations with a policy of preserving showings of wealth in glass did little to move her, but the gravity of the accident and her role in it did. She suppressed a sigh in the back of her throat, a polite cough coming out instead. Vintage looked up from his tirade to see if she had anything to offer, but she simply gave a light nod for him to continue and went back to her rumination. If she was to be honest with herself, she would know that her actions in keeping Twilight from her friends were perhaps selfish in some ways.

She could recognize guilt when she felt it. She had borne its burden for a thousand years. She was also able to see misplaced tenderness, as it was an emotion she thrived on. A millenium of being an all-loving mother to her little ponies after centuries of being nothing but a distant, whimsical sister were enough for her to see the signs of the same effect taking hold on her thoughts of Twilight. She was not trapping her friend, she was saving her. Sheltering her from the pain and heartbreak of the gap between herself and her friends. Helping guide her towards a natural return to life in Ponyville. She wanted to make sure that there would be little miscommunication. She wanted to assure that the Twilight they were going to talk to was more or less the same.

But her second conflict was far less black and white. She had hurt her friend. Protecting her and nurturing her was a start, but moreover she had damaged one of the greatest relationships she had ever nurtured with another creature. Not even Luna could claim to know Celestia as well as Twilight had. To her, Twilight was more than some mere apprentice. She was perhaps her greatest prodigy. She had saved her life and given her back her sister, had been there for her at her weakest moments and shown her the very same agape Celestia had been so quick to call broaching nonexistent. Even when she had doubted and scorned Twilight, the mare had still rushed to her side. She was truly her closest friend. But Twilight was not invincible. Was it so selfish of her to rectify that? Was that to be punished, too?

Was it not her sin that trapped the former unicorn? Celestia shook her head. She had to go find her and make amends. But she couldn’t. Not without abandoning all the others who depended upon her. She gave an uncharacteristically long sigh, turning her gaze down at Vintage, who abruptly squawked and bowed. “That will do, Vintage Grapes.” She regained her warm, ever-generous smile as she turned her eyes on his trembling form. “I am afraid that the government does not curry favour individually. However, if you wish to petition for a position as the supplier of the palace’s wine supply, your gesture would likely produce a similar boon to your business as your original intent.”

The winemaker gave a stuttering thanks, still bowing, and shuffled awkwardly out of the room. Another pony appeared before her, this one holding a rose between her teeth and floating a velvet box in her magic. Celestia took in what was obviously her best dress and fragrance, and knew immediately that this particular court was going to last far longer than she had desired.

Twilight had tried everything to make the room look presentable for when Celestia got back. She sat in the mess of soap, bath salts, burn marks and goodness knows how many cleaning solutions, potions and beverages she had thought might have helped. The poor princess couldn’t even figure out how to use half of them. She sniveled to herself quietly in the soup of liquids that was once Celestia’s floor, crushing shame filling her entire figure. It had only taken her a day of attempting to learn on her own to tarnish the hospitality of the only pony she could call her friend. The feelings of uselessness that had been growing since she first learned the complexity of Celestia’s life grew ever more heavy upon her body, pressing her head down in a shamed bow.

Truly, she had made a magnificently poor error. A pit settled in her gut as she stared at the product of her attempts to learn by herself. Truly, only another pony could pull back that cursed, every-changing curtain for her. She was too weak. Too naive. Too small for a world so big.

“...Twilight?” A voice called, breaking her out of her slump.

“What?” Her voice broke, a weary croak amidst the ruin.

Celestia’s eyes widened as she saw the sullen state of her former student.

“My stars,” she exclaimed, trotting delicately to her side. “Twilight, what happened to you?”

Twilight wordlessly clung to Celestia, trying to press into her neck and away from the sting of her failures. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Celestia, I’m very, very sorry.” She continued to mumble ‘I’m sorry’s aimlessly into Celestia’s mane, leaving the elder pony with a concerned frown.

“Twilight, what happened?” She asked simply.

“M-magic.” Came a voice from between the fur on her chest. Celestia felt a pair of hooves clinging to her, which then tensed up and pushed her back. Twilight slunk away from her, head turned down.

“Twilight?” The mare in question only shook her hanging head, no words coming from her mouth. Only ashamed whimpers. Celestia ran a hoof down the other pony’s shoulder. “I promise, I’m not mad.” Silence. Celestia bit her lip, her brow creasing in concern. She had never seen Twilight in such a sulken state as this.

Twilight sighed. “Help clean?” She said at last.

“Of course, Twilght,” Celestia replied with a trademark smile.

“Thank you.” She mumbled to the floor. Twilight tried her best to rub the burn marks away with her hoof, managing to wipe them into mere wispy smears of charcoal grey where before they were jagged black streaks running along the floor. Her expression changed slightly at that. Seeing such destruction get wiped away in an instant by a careful stroke of her hoof was a treat to her innocent eyes. While it did sting a little when she touched the floor, the floor’s old self quickly shone through.

Quickly, Celestia called a custodian and commandeered his mop and bucket, handing them to Twilight as they began to swab the floor. The custodian raised an eyebrow at the Princess of Equestria cleaning her bedchambers, as well as her sharing a room with a soot-faced Twilight Sparkle sporting a new pair of purple wings. But, if this was how she aimed to spend her afternoon, well, that was her prerogative. With this in mind, he backed away quietly, leaving the Princesses to their activity.

Twilight was midway through cleaning when an idea struck her. Her eyes closed and her forehead wrinkled under the concentration she afforded her newfound thought. She focused in her mind’s eye on the broom’s back and forth motion, attempting to think of the simple rocking as best she could. She opened her eyes once she felt the broom lift slightly from her mouth, the pressure no longer as firm. She let out a gasp, and the broom rested down upon her. Just like that, the moment was lost, but hope blossomed in the heart of the infantile alicorn.

For a single moment, bare for all the world to see, the broom’s handle had shimmered in a purple aura. Her magic had focused. If not quickly, it had at least focused effectively. Twilight closed her eyes in a private smile, then returned to sweeping. For a brief instant, she’d managed the feat of telekinesis. She swept bare another patch of floor, her soaking fetlocks dancing across the surface where before they had dragged sullenly.

She flew through the cleaning, tripping in the suds and stumbling, picking herself up and falling back down all over again. Soapy, sooty water stained every fibre of her coat, and her forelegs sung with bruises, and yet still she felt a lift in her chest with every ounce of her spirit.

Celestia’s brow raised as she noted the sudden growth of resolve in Twilight’s heart. Now, there was a definite drive in her eyes as she scrubbed the floor. A moment ago, Twilight was somber and disappointed in herself. Now, however, she was walking on air, reveling in her freedom. She looked empowered, as if she’d found some new purpose to her life. Twilight noticed Celestia gaze on her and toned back her step, blushing and sinking slightly.

“There isn’t a need to be modest, my dear,” Celestia chuckled. Twilight’s smile came back in full.

“M-magic.” Twilight’s voice came weak and faint, her eyes looking down at her chest with pride.

“Yes, Twilight.” Celestia replied, meeting her at eye level. “That was magic.”

“Celestia?” Twilight’s voice came out as a whisper.

“Yes, my darling?” the Princess replied with a smile.

“I learn books?” Twilight swallowed, the next bit coming out as a strangled gasp. “No Celestia help?”

Celestia pondered it for a moment, before nodding. “Yes, I think you’re ready to start reading on your own.” Was what she attempted to say. However, she didn’t get past “you’re” before she was suddenly pounced by a purple projectile.

“Twilight learn books!” she cried out with a smile. “Twilight learn magic! Thank Celestia! Thanks!”

“You’re very welcome, Twilight.” Celestia snickered. “I know how much you love them.”

“Books…?” Twilight looked confused. Celestia noticed her slip in an instant.

“Oh, my mistake, dear. I must have been thinking of somepony else I used to know,” Celestia mumbled. “Shall we visit the royal library?”

“Yes.” Twilight nodded once.

And so, the two of them made for the library, wings curled around one another. Twilight’s wings stayed unsteady, but she smiled and hugged close to Celestia. Celestia felt as if she were going to melt from how warm her heart was getting. While her student may have been fragmented and afraid, that fragmented shell was still safe in her care. She could still undo her mistake, and perhaps, by the end of it, Twilight would still love her.

Chapter 4: Known

Chapter 4: Known

Twilight strode with an even, brisk pace across the tiled floors, searching around for a place to stare at the wondrous new material Celestia had given her. She had called it a “book”, and the book in question was one of basic linguistics. The concept of “words” had given trouble at first in the intervening two weeks at the palace, but Celestia had taught her how to sound things out, and patiently explained a limited vocabulary for her in the time they had had for lessons. Now Twilight was left to her own devices, cracking open tome after tome like nuts ripe with seeds of knowledge, devouring the contents with the hunger of a scholar.

However, she was not left unattended to. Though Twilight’s motor and cognitive development had a steady rate of increase, Celestia felt it would make for a good contingency to leave one of the more vigilant waitstaff on duty in case she had need of something. Though she was physically a young adult, her mind was still as fresh and young as a child, and as such, proper care and nurturing were deemed necessary. After all, if such a young mind were squandered, the consequences it would have for Canterlot—if not Equestria as a whole—would be dire.

As Twilight opened the most recent book, she reflected upon what she had learned since Princess Celestia had found her.

Princess Celestia is good to me. I am not good to her, but...Princess Celestia is my friend. Why? Questions, lots. She never seems to be mad at me. But, why? Why am I me?

Twilight folded the book back up with a thud. She had seen the way other staff were treated. Others who were her size, and three times over as smart and helpful as she was. And yet the Princess had smiles for her she never deigned her staff with. It made her question just why Celestia had made those smiles. What made her so special? So deserving of unconditional praise and love?

Twilight got up, standing on her hooves with her wings spread to balance. After a few falls, and some tears, she had finally conquered the fine points of balance, and she reserved a little pride for herself in that. Hallways passed in and out of her line of sight, her eyes focused on finding that particular set of doors the Princess was oft to reside behind. She lifted her hoof to knock, then remembered something that Celestia had said to her when she had started reading books to her charge.

You needn’t worry about coming to the throne room, Twilight. Anything on these shelves is free for you to take. But if you find anything that troubles you, please don’t hesitate to ask me about it, and I’ll be happy to clarify it for you.

Twilight’s mind briefly took itself back to her inaugural reading session with the Princess…

y_Y_y

“Princess Celestia?” She looked at the alicorn in front of her, smiling up at her with a reserved joy.

“Yes, my dear?” the princess asked in reply. “What can I do for you?”

“What that?” She pointed with her wing to the bookshelf on Celestia’s right. “Table.” She pointed to the object in question, miming putting something down on it. “Bed”. Another nod to the furniture itself. She gave a snore. “What that?”

“Oh, that?” Celestia asked, pointing to the bookshelf. “That’s a bookshelf, Twilight. It’s where I keep my books. Would you like to read one?”

Twilight gave a nervous grin. “Princess Celestia read?”

“Yes, Twilight.” Celestia said with a smile, scanning the shelf. “Let’s see…What would be a good story for today?” She scanned the rows of books, searching for a particular set of stories that might tickle the unicorn’s fancy, before her eyes caught a particular book with a brown cover and gold lettering, simply titled Myths, Legends, and Folklore. “This might be a little advanced for you, but given how fast a learner you’ve been these past few days, I think this will do just fine.”

Gingerly, she slid the book out from the shelf, sinking it to the floor as she peeled the cover open. The book, as the name would imply, was an anthology of stories rife with varying characters and morals. From folk tales such as Nyx to the more accurate retellings of Tartarus’ exploration and construction, there was something for everypony.

One particular story she found to be interesting was one within the Tartarus section labeled Orpheus.

Twilight stared at the tome in front of her in confusion, shooting her mentor an uncertain glance. “Princess Celestia?”

“Would you like to read with me, Twilight?” Celestia offered as she scooted Twilight closer. Twilight smiled and cuddled up to her side.

“Yes, Princess Celestia.” She rested her hoof overtop that of the larger pony. “Friends.” She smiled up at the other pony, though the corners of her mouth still remained somewhat flat.

“Once upon a time,” Celestia started, clearing her throat, “There lived a colt named Orpheus. He was the son of a great king and a lovely poet. When he was little, I took a bit of a liking to him, and gave him a golden lyre to play.”

“You?” Twilight looked baffled at the idea.

“Yes, me,” Celestia giggled. “I’ve been around a really long time, Twilight. Anyway, Orpheus quickly learned and mastered the instrument, learning songs from his mother and coming known as the ‘Master of Strings’, and the “Father of Song’.

“Then, one day, something happened to his wife, Eurydice. She had been lost somehow, and it made Orpheus very sad.

“Wife?” Twilight furrowed her brow. “Like friend?”

“Somewhat,” Celestia chuckled. “Driven by his desire to see his wife again, he descended into Tartarus, and used his songs to soften the hearts of Hades and Persephone. Moved by his music, they agreed to allow him to bring his wife back to Equestria, on the condition that he not look at her until they reached the surface. However, anxious as he was, he forgot this agreement, and turned to look at his wife, only to see her disappear.

“Before he too passed away, he turned away all other ponies, aside from myself, and eventually, he was left with only his head and lyre. Even then, he continued to sing until he put to rest, and his lyre joined the stars.”

Celestia blushed a bit as she tried her hardest not to tell the full truth of the story, if only for the sake of protecting Twilight’s virgin mind.

Twilight only looked confused. “Hades? Persephone?” .

“Oh, you want to hear about them?” Celestia asked. “I suppose I should go back to earlier in this book…”

Celestia nervously smiled as she backpedaled to earlier in the book.

“First, the story of Hades and his brothers,” Celestia began, “Hades was one of three brothers of a long time ago in Equesria. His other two brothers were Zeus and Poseidon.”

“Brothers family?” Twilight checked her understanding.

“Exactly. Brothers are fillies and colts who share the same mother,” Celestia confirmed, clearing her throat. “Moving on, the three of them were very close, and they worked together to defeat their father Cronos, who was a very bad man.”

“Not friend?” Twilight looked disturbed, wrinkling her nose and widening her eyes.

“Definitely not,” Celestia confirmed. “Cronos was one of many Titans, powerful spirits that were responsible for giving us many of the basic things we know today. In Cronos’ case, he was the spirit of time. When Zeus and his brothers managed to take care of him, they then had to decide who would have what land to rule over. The three brothers drew straws, and in the end, Zeus was given the land, Poseidon was given the sea, and Hades was given the Underworld.

“Though the underworld isn’t exactly a bad place—just as Hades himself isn’t a bad pony—Hades got very lonely, even with all the ponies who passed away to look after.

“Passed away?”

Celestia gulped. In hindsight, she perhaps should have been more careful explaining such a concept to a mind as young as Twilight’s. She thought to herself how she might cushion the issue so as not to make her too sad to hear the rest of the story.

“Well, Twilight, when a pony gets too old, too sick, or hurts too much, they go someplace very special to rest. In days of old, Hades was something of a caretaker for those ponies, taking care of the good ponies, and making sure the bad ones got what they deserved. But, even with so many of them to look after, Hades just felt very lonely being the only one to do so.

“Here is where Persephone comes in. She was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and is often considered to be the pony most Earth Ponies came from, due to being the goddess of Vegetation and Spring. One day, Hades took her to the underworld, which left Demeter very worried. Demeter was very protective of her daughter, and wouldn’t let any other god have her.

“However, during her stay with Hades, she was actually treated quite nicely by him. She was even given delicious fruit to eat. Eventually, she was given back to Demeter, and they agreed to make a deal: For most of the year, Persephone would stay with Hades, but when Spring came, she would come out and stay with her mother. Though some might find it a bit odd, it’s because of this that we seasons like Summer, Winter, and Autumn.”

Celestia gave a nervous smile, hoping that she had made the message clear and kind to Twilight’s mind. Twilight saw Celestia was smiling, and smiled back.

“Stories.” she said with a nod. “But...Persephone and Hades friends?”

“They were actually husband and wife,” Celestia explained with a smile. “Which reminds me...I almost forgot to mention, but you have a brother, as well.

“Me?!” Twilight’s eyes widened, filled with excitement. “Brother?!”

Celestia nodded happily. “Yes, Twilight. His name is Shining Armor, and his wife is a princess, just like you.”

“Twilight see them?” Her eyes shone with hope, her hoof pressing into Celestia’s with a crushing grip.

“Yes, Twilight,” Celestia said, holding a hoof to her chest. “You’ll see them, too. Just like you will your friends.”

“Want see now.” The pony said, her grip on Celestia still tight. “Twilight want...family…” She looked down and away from Celestia.

“I understand, Twilight,” Celestia replied, holding her student close. “And you will see them soon. We need to make sure you’re ready for them, though. They love you very much, but I want to make sure you’ll be able to talk with them a little bit more than you can now.”

Celestia’s kind words were rewarded with an alicorn sinking her head onto her hooves. “I...lonely? Lonely is no family, yes?”

“Yes. And I know you must be very lonely, Twilight,” Celestia said, hugging her tight. “I just want to make sure you can talk nice and pretty for them. After all, if you want to be a big pony, you have to learn how to talk like one, too.”

As she looked Twilight in the eye, she stayed very calm and tender.

“The lesson that Orpheus tells us to be patient. That means waiting, even if you really, really want to see the ones you love.”

Twilight sighed. “Yes, Princess Celestia. What is...wife? Husband?”

Celestia smiled. “They’re a lot like friends. Only they love each other very, very much.”

In retrospect, Twilight’s next conclusion was fairly obvious. She nuzzled up against Celestia and said “wifes”.

Celestia chuckled. “Not quite, dear. We’re close, but not that close.”

Twilight suddenly pulled back, and it was as if there was a sound of shattering off in the distance. “Oh...Yes, Princess Celestia…” She said, fighting back against that frustrating feeling of fullness in her throat and pressure on her eyes that came up when she thought about other ponies and their friends and families.

“We’re very good friends, Twilight,” Celestia explained as she bowed her head closer to her, wrapping a comforting wing around her. “Some might even say we’re best friends.”

Twilight gave a brave smile. “Yes, Princess…”

“Don’t worry,” she said as she nuzzled her. “I love you very much, no matter what you are.”

“You...do?” Twilight looked back at the Princess in confusion. “But...I no talk nice and pretty for you…”

“And I don’t mind that,” Celestia noted. “That’s why I want to help you grow. I love you very much, and I want to help you learn as much as you can.”

“Can...family help Twilight?” She looked hopeful.

“I don’t see why not,” Celestia said with a smile. “I expect you to be on your best behavior, though.”

Then, without warning, Celesia plunged her muzzle to Twilight’s belly, blowing raspberries into it.

“Princess!” Twilight squealed, kicking her back legs and giggling as her wings flapped. “N-no! I-I good! Hehehhahaheha! I be good!” She laughed openly, both from the nerves being pressed and from naked, innocent joy.

“Twilight no Princess Celestia wife…” Twilight confirmed, certainty in her voice. “But Celestia Twilight Sparkle wife.”

y_Y_y

Twilight blinked the memory away, looking up to the bookshelves with uncertainty. Was it too soon to press the issue? Would there be a consequence to being early? What if she was too late? She decided, inevitably, to find the nearest story to her reach upon the shelf. She frowned in confusion at the title. “The Reports On The Magic Of Friendship by Twilight Sparkle”. She sounded out the words, uncertain of the meaning of “report”, but certain the contents were bizarre.

Twilight opened the letters, eyes scanning the pages for meaning. Her eyes grew wider with every passing minute, her wings flexing and her legs twitching in anticipation. The stories told of another Twilight Sparkle who had lived in another world and time. A Twilight Sparkle surrounded by her friends, filled with laughter and love. A Twilight Sparkle who was able to talk in ways she never could, who used words she could not even guess the meaning of. Twilight got to the last of the letters, and noticed a picture that looked foreign and yet familiar all at once. A group of six ponies, all of whom she felt she knew on a deep and sacred level, embracing each other and smiling for an unseen camera.

Her confusion gave way to horror as pieces began to fit into place. “Twilight Sparkle...passed away...I...I’m not Twilight Sparkle. What...what am I?” Twilight realized that Celestia would no doubt be able to give her answers, and immediately thought to race to her side and ask, beg, for some sort of safety and clarity. It was only then that she realized with a pang that Celestia couldn’t be trusted, having lied to her about her fate and her having met her friends.

Twilight’s head swam, each and every moment shared with her saviour and guardian cast into a new, more complex light. There was something at the heart of Princess Celestia’s affections that she couldn’t place.

But it’s worse, The unborn alicorn thought to herself.

I don’t...belong. I am nopony. Twilight Sparkle is Celestia’s friend. Twilight Sparkle is Shining Armor’s sister. I’m—

Her breath caught in her throat.

….nothing…

With a start Twilight shut the book, unaware of the liquid streaming from her face. She could not stay, in a place as full of lies as this. She could not fit, not as a poor replacement for a creature Celestia had known and loved better than her. She needed answers, and she only knew one place she could get them. With a leap from the balcony, and a graceless glide across a thermal, the wayward goddess set a path for Ponyville.

Chapter 6: Resolved

Princess Celestia’s landing was a far greater sight to behold than the crash that Twilight had gone through not an hour earlier. She lighted down on the grass on the outskirts of the Golden Oaks Library with as much composure as she could muster, given the circumstances. She would check the library, then the boutique, the bakery, and work her way through the living spaces of Twilight’s friends in a counterclockwise circle. Part of her cursed herself for having withheld such information, in spite only having the best of intentions when having done so. Twilight is defined by overreaction. Had you forgotten that? How could you make such a decisive mistake, Celestia? How could you not have wound down those fears like you’ve always done in past?

Celestia beat her wings, walking towards the library and hoping that the pressure in her clenched jaws would be enough to grind out the taunting guilt that crawled and danced through her brain at the moment. She extended a forehoof, knocking only twice as she took deep breaths.

“Coming!” A voice sang from the doorway. The portal opened to reveal Ponyville’s resident fashionista, wearing a bit too large of a smile. “Ah, your majesty!” Rarity called out, her voice higher than it normally would be. “How good to see you on this fine afternoon! What brings you here?”

Celestia gave a pause. Her options were thus: Tell Rarity she had allowed Twilight to escape from her care, and let her faith in Celestia’s control over the situation be shattered, or give her a gentle lie about coming to retrieve learning and personal supplies from Twilight’s library, ignoring Rarity’s potential ability to help and chancing an even more profound break in faith in the princess in the process. As neither seemed to be particularly enticing, she couldn’t help but continue her pause in the hopes that she could find a potential third option to avoid the trouble of either of the other outcomes.

To that end, she decided to retain some semblance of honesty and put on a brave face.

“Have you seen Twilight?” she asked simply. “I was wanting to know how she was doing. She’s been dying to see you all.”

“Err, yes, I imagine she has. Have you considered letting her out to talk with us? We do wish to know the poor dear hasn’t hurt herself somehow.”

“Believe me, I’ve been working hard to get her prepared. I just wanted to make sure she was reasonably well-versed in linguistics to avoid miscommunication. After all, I’d imagine it would be very awkward if you couldn’t understand a word she said.”

“Yes, well, sometimes meanings go deeper than words. Oh, but do follow me back to the Carousel. It’s terribly rude of me to let a princess of all ponies sit outside without a proper reception.” Rarity gave a breezy smile, though it was still too wide for Celestia’s liking.

“Very well, then,” Celestia replied, sighing. “I assure you, she’s been developing quite fastly.”

“Oh really? Do tell, do tell…” Rarity trotted forward, kicking her hoof against the door twice as she did, and headed off in the direction of the doorway.

“She remembered the Elements the minute I brought them up, for one,” Celestia noted. “And she’s fairly quick on the uptake….”

As Celestia walked away, Dash gave the go-ahead. Twilight and Spike sighed in relief, sagging visibly as they slunk from the shadows.

“You know, there’s no way we can keep this up,” the pegasus groaned, peering through the blinds. “Sooner or later, she’s going to to go full throttle and start searching every nook and cranny for you, Sparky.”

“I know, I know. But by then I’ll be ready to see her again. I just...I want more time with you, all of you. I can’t get that without your help.”

“I get that, but is it really worth pushing Celestia to the point of almost literally turning Ponyville upside-down to look for you?”

“...I don’t know. Is our friendship worth that much? The letters said it was something like worth that much.” Twilight scratched her head, her upper lip folded over in concern.

“I understand that, but wouldn’t it just be more efficient to show yourself and give her the straight cider?”

“If I do she’ll just take me back to Canterlot and not let you all see me again. I can’t let her do that! Not when we just met!” Spike coiled around Twilight’s leg protectively at this thought, looking at Dash with a mixture of protectiveness and pleading.

“We can’t jump to conclusions, either. Believe me, it doesn’t work.”

“Okay, but she just said she’s taking me back to Canterlot. That’s more than enough

“She never said that outright. In fact, if anything, she was only giving a reason why it took so long.”

“I...guess that’s true. But you haven’t seen her, Dash. I have. Why are you defending her, anyway? I don’t remember you knowing her all that well…there wasn’t anything in the letters about that, at least.”

“I don’t know the whole story,” Dash replied. “And given that look on her face, she looks seriously worried about you.”

“Well, m-maybe she should’ve been worried about me sooner. Anyway, we’re wasting time. Ours and hers’. I just want some time...alone...with my friends, okay?”

“Alright, Sparky… But if it gets to the point she’s literally turning the town upside down, I probably won’t be able to hide you much long after that.”

“I understand, Dash. Thank you.”

“What I’m worried about is just how honest we’re all being at this point. I mean, this all seems kinda underhanded, don’t you think?”

“Underhanded? Rainbow, she lied to me about who I was, what she’d told the rest of you and what I meant to her. How am I underhanded here?” Twilight sighed, her fraying nerves getting the best of her.

“Two wrongs don’t exactly make a right, Twilight,” Dash interjected. “Just because she lied doesn’t mean you get to do the same to her.”

“Of course it does. I’m staying here because I deserve friends!” Twilight sat on the floor, petulantly thudding against the ground and crossing her front hooves.

“You do realize running away is against the law, right?”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “It is?”

Spike’s eyes also widened in horror, flashbacks to his escape to the dragon cave running across his vision. “It is?”

“Celestia’s looking for you because she’s worried about you, Twilight,” Dash said. “I’ve never seen her get mad with anypony. She’ll probably just give you a hug and tell you it’s all okay or something.”

“Yeah!” Spike stepped over to stand beside Dash. “She may have made a mistake, but this isn’t fixing it. Y’know, like with what happened between me and Owlowliscious.”

Twilight sighed. “I...I guess this isn’t helping. But if she tries to take me back to Canterlot, then--”

“She’ll have to get through me first.” Spike said, puffing out his chest as he did.

“So why don’t you try and give her an honest answer?” Dash asked.

“O-okay.” Twilight’s ears folded back, a sigh escaping her as she stood up. “Will you stay with me?” Her eyes shone, wide and pressed towards Dash.

“Sure,” Rainbow said with a smile. “Let’s go round up the others, first.”

“Right.” Twilight flared her wings, trotting out the door. “Let’s start with Pinkie Pie.”

Celestia continued to scan the town. As much as she strained her poker face, it was getting harder and harder to disguise her dread. That pit in her stomach was only getting deeper as she saw neither head nor tail of her student. Rarity of course was chatting up a storm. “Did you hear Luna was…?” “Now I’ve always said that a good sun hat best looks cocked to the left…” “I can’t imagine what it must be like being surrounded by so many muscular stallions all day long. Would you fill me in…?”

Celestia was hardly even aware of what she was saying at that point. Many of them amounted to “yes, of course,” and she was certain she would be seeing her face on the cover of a gossip magazine very shortly as a result. It was almost as if she were running on autopilot, simply trying her best to keep on task. Her eyes scanned back and forth across the boutique, privately seeking pockets where Twilight may or may not have been. Though it would be rather difficult to hide an alicorn princess, Twilight was rather infamous for being a precocious and crafty child.

It was to her great surprise, then, that Twilight burst through the door midway through her confirming that she had indeed been responsible for the Great Nudism Craze of 1188 leading a procession of her friends and adoptive family. Rarity stopped to look at the pony in front of her, eyes questioning Twilight’s intent. If Twilight had noticed Rarity’s gaze, she certainly was hiding it well.

“Hey...Princess….”

Celestia’s eyes widened as she saw just how many other ponies were behind Twilight.

“What—” Celestia stammered, her cheeks practically glowing in surprise. “What… is all of this, Twilight?

“I...we need to talk. But, well, I wanted my friends to be there...For moral support. And stuff.” She smiled back at them uncertainly, then looked to her mentor.

“I think I know what you want to tell me,” Celestia replied. “And I am deeply sorry. I withheld the truth from you, and in hindsight, I shouldn’t have.”

“No, you shouldn’t have. But that’s not important anymore. I know, and it’s past me.” Twilight said this with all the conviction of a salespony making offers as the door slammed shut in their face.

“I didn’t want to tell you your past all in one setting in fear of you rejecting it as something not your own. After all, with so many experiences, it would be incredibly taxing on such a fresh mind to take it all in.”

“You could have tried.” Twilight snapped, a wince passing around the room as she did.

“Twilight…” Spike began.

“Did you think I didn’t trust you?”

“It wasn’t a matter of trust, Twilight. It was a matter of me being worried your mind wouldn’t accept the memories of your past self!”

Twilight locked her gaze with Celestia, the ensuing silence hanging around the room in sombre spirits.

“Maybe we should go.” Dash whispered to Pinkie.

Twilight glanced over at her friends, and then back at her mentor.”Please, don’t. I...just seeing you all is so…” She sighed. Once again, words failed her, and she turned her gaze back to her mentor. “Did you ever...I mean, I guess you must have, but…”

“I just wanted… to have just a few moments more to prepare you for it all…”

“Why?” Twilight’s eyes suddenly shone with desperation, her hooves pressing up against her mentor’s.

“Because…” Celestia choked. “I missed that time… that time we spent all those years ago…”

“But it wasn’t me you spent them with. I-I’m not that pony. I’m just a b-bad copy. I don’t deserve her life: she fought gods and demons for it! Me...I can barely read and I learned half my vocabulary last week. Twilight Sparkle’s gone, Celestia, and I’m just...me.” Twilight’s wings dangled at her sides, her ears drooping to match.

Celestia sniffed a deep inhale before she wrapped her front legs across her student’s neck.

“If Twilight Sparkle is gone…” she stammered, salty nostalgia welling in her eyes. “Then why is it that I feel I’ve betrayed one of my dearest companions?”

Twilight fell into the embrace herself, hooves squeezing against her savior back. “I…”

“No matter who you think you are… no matter how you see yourself…” Celestia sobbed, clutching her student tight. “You are still Twilight Sparkle. You are still my best student...my best apprentice...my best friend.”

“No! I’m not her...I’m not...I don’t deserve…” Celestia felt her own shoulders moistened under the emotions of her student, their embrace becoming more desperate with each moment. “I…” Twilight choked on her breath. “I still lo…”

Celestia clutched even tighter, her muzzle puffing against her student’s lavender ear.

“You don’t have to tell me again,” she whispered. “I love you too, Twilight. And regardless of how you look at it, my love for you now is the same, if not greater, than my love for you then. You are no different from the Twilight I know and love.”

The element bearers and a little baby dragon stood in the doorway, all present wishing to leave the two alone to their reconnecting. All, that was, save one. Spike stepped nervously towards the princess, his eyes against the ground.

“Princess Celestia…? I know you’re really busy, but...when will Twilight be able to come back?”

“Come back?” Celestia asked, turning her head to reveal a somber, teary smile. “I didn’t come to take her to begin with… I only came to make sure she wasn’t hurt.”

“You mean...she’s staying?” Spike’s eyes widened in glee.

Celestia smiled, blinking away her tears as she nodded to the baby dragon.

“She may stay,” she said with a sniffle. “I can see now that she’s even more like Twilight then I could have ever imagined.”

“Thank you!” Spike ran to Celestia’s hoof, kissing it over and over. “Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you! You’re the best!”

Twilight looked down at Spike and gave a nervous chuckle. “Alright, Spike, thank you. I’ll be back at the library soon, I promise.”

“Am I forgiven, Twilight?” Celestia asked, cocking her head.

“Yes.” Twilight gave an unsteady smile. “Yes, you are. I think I get why you did what you did, too.”

“Have you?” The princess quipped, looking curious. “Do tell.”

“Dear Princess Celestia.” Twilight began, a knowing sparkle in her eye. “Today I learned that no matter what you may think of yourself, your friends will see the real you shine through in the end. I learned to be grateful for what I have, instead of reclaiming what was lost, and I learned that you’re only as alone as you think you are. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”

Celestia smiled as her student gave her a classic report on her studies. “The magic of friendship never changes, does it, Twilight?”

“Maybe not.” Twilight gave a sigh. I may not believe everything I just told Celestia, but I do believe she’s my friend. “But...even if it does change, it doesn’t always have to be for the worse, does it?” Like many questions with Twilight, this one wasn’t rhetorical.

“Change is an inevitable part of life,” Celestia said as she rubbed a hoof across her eyes. “Oftentimes, it isn’t the change itself that matters. Rather, the important part of any change is how one responds to it.”

“I...I don’t know if I’m ready to stay in Ponyville, but...If I’m not...I can send you a letter?” Twilight gave a smile, hoping that she already knew the answer.

“Of course, Twilight,” Celestia confirmed, smiling more gleefully now. “Assuming Spike can handle it.”

“We could bring him along.” Twilight suggested.

“But then who would keep the Library in order?” Celestia chuckled bittersweetly.

“Oh…” Twilight’s ears drooped. “Well I...I didn’t think about that.”

“It’s nothing, Twilight,” Celestia assured. “You’re free to stay here if you want. Just be sure to write to me about your progress. I could use a few revisions in that dusty old book, after all.”

“I won’t let you down, Princess!” Twilight gave a firm nod.

“I know you won’t.” the princess replied as she turned about face, flapping her wings. “Just remember; You don’t have to do it once a week. I think that particular entry can attest to how well that went last time.”

With a brief chuckle, Celestia gave a final wave before trying her wings one last time, taking flight under the setting sun into the fresh, new twilight.

Chapter 5: Independent

Celestia gazed in anxiety at the discarded memento that had been left in her student’s wake.”Twilight?” She ventured, trying to ignore the growing pit in her stomach and the chill that ran down her spine. “Where have you gone, my student?” It was then that her ears perked up against the chilly wind emanating from her balcony, a faint howl registering lightly against the insides of her ear drums. Celestia turned to see her balcony doors flung open, a single purple feather on the floor.

“No…” She whispered to herself, looking outward. “She wouldn’t have done this so early…would she?” Celestia paced towards the door, regaining her composure and making sure that she was outwardly a bastion of calm amongst the storm that was raging at her insides. “Guard?” She inquired, keeping a neutral smile all the while.

“Yes, milady?” the guard replied, his countenance never changing as he spoke.

“Have you seen Twilight lately?” It was never too late to hope.

“Not since she requested access to your chambers, your royal majesty.” He gave a polite smile.

“Very well. Would you mind organizing a group to look around the castle for her? I trust her not to get into any trouble, but I would rather know where she is.”

“Consider it done,” the guard replied, saluting as cantered off.

The princess didn’t want to believe that her most beloved student had unwittingly looked back. She didn’t want to believe that she had looked back upon her past before she was ready to learn it with her. And yet, the discarded book, wide open balcony and single plumage—though insignificant on their own—were ample evidence towards an unfortunate confirmation. Having successfully distracted her guard from her pursuit and covered another potential option as to where Twilight may have vanished, Celestia took flight from her balcony, hoping to find Twilight in the air.

“Please,” She pleaded, more to herself than anyone else. “Please be alright, Twilight. I can’t bear the thought of losing you a second time…”

Princess Twilight Sparkle made her first landing in the town square of Ponyville. Unfortunately for her, landing was not something she had practiced with Celestia when they had done rudimentary flying lessons, and so her landing apparatus for this particular flight was her face and elbows. Twilight cried out as she bounced along the ground, her skin stretching and bruises forming as she tumbled. The sound of laughter broke out behind her.

“Pffft! Do you see the look on your face?! Hahahahahahaha! Priceless! You look like one of Fluttershy’s chickens in the middle o--Twilight?!” Twilight’s ears swiveled towards the source of the laughter. Something deep and primal inside her said that she knew that voice, and that laughter.

“Rainbow...Dash?” She ventured, trying to pick herself up. “Is that you?”

The blue pony in question landed in front of her at speeds that would have startled even Pinkie Pie, causing the freshly reborn pony to flinch.

“Woah! It really is you! What the hay, Twi?! You haven’t said a word to any of us for like three weeks, and now you show up with these puppies on your back?!” Dash took a pause for breath, hooves crossed disapprovingly.

Twilight was at a lossCh for how to quantify her response. She wanted to explain the breadth of her troubles, but there were few words in her current repertoire that fit what she meant to express. She tapped her hooves against each other, trying to find some way to reply, but every time she opened her mouth, she only let out murmurs of doubt.

“Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked, the look in her eyes starting to soften. “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings…”

Twilight eventually managed to get out a stammering reply. “I-I’m sorry. I...I was just trying to...n-nevermind. Could we...talk? I haven’t really gotten...well, I mean to say...I’m not the pony you think I am.” Twilight looked at the ground, her body looking flat and lifeless despite her being at her full height. Her eyes seemed less full, the curious edge they always bore dulled by an even further diminished sense of self-worth.

“What do you mean?” Rainbow asked, taken aback slightly at her comment. “You look like Twilight to me. Same coat, same mane, same eyes and cutie mark. All that’s really different are those two wings on your back… Right?”

Twilight sniffed, her ears drooping as she shook her head painfully slowly. “I’m not your friend. I-I’m not even a bookworm, I’m just a l-lie. I’m just some...thing living in your friend’s body. I’m not Twilight, Dash. Twilight is dead.” She looked up at Dash, eyes wide and pleading. “I’m not even sure if I’m myself anymore.”

“You—” Dash gasped, looking at Twilight in disbelief. “You can’t be serious! What the hay do you mean, Twi? You don’t look any different, and you sure sound like Twilight. What’s going on? You aren’t telling me something, are you?”

“There is not much to tell,” Twilight sighed, shaking her head more. “The only thing I know is The Elements of Harmony. The elements, and the ponies who bear them. Beyond that… there’s nothing but emptiness.”

A hush fell between the two of them as Twilight continued to stare somberly at Rainbow Dash. Those eyes, once sparking with curious wonder, were dark and empty. That eager smile was wiped clean off, and her body seemed less vibrant. Not since Discord had Twilight seemed to be so depressed, and the pegasus barely remembered that day.

“Hey, c’mon, Twi. So...you don’t remember anything?”

“I didn’t even know how to eat at first. Or use the bathroom, or speak or--” Twilight sat on her haunches, the magnitude of her loneliness overtaking her for a moment. “I shouldn’t be here. It was wrong of me to come, I--”

“Hey! Now that is crazy talk. I dunno what’s going on with your magic right now, but you’re my friend, and that isn’t gonna change no matter what you can and can’t do.” Dash put a hoof on the other pony’s shoulder.

“I’m not even sure if it’s my magic, Rainbow. I just remember waking up in some old castle…”

“Whatever, Twi. C’mon, let’s get you to the library. Spike’s been dying to see you ever since you poofed on us.”

“Spike? Is that a friend of mine?”

Rainbow looked at Twilight incredulously. She honestly couldn’t tell if she was being serious, but given how earnest a tone she spoke in, she sounded fairly genuine.

“My gosh… you really don’t remember, do you?”

Twilight only shook her head glumly.

“I guess we’re gonna have to find a way to break it to him gently,” Rainbow relented.

“Was I...important to him?” Guilt began to trickle back into Twilight’s voice. “Oh, I never should have...I guess it doesn’t matter now…”

“It matters a lot, Twilight!”

Twilight flinched at the rebuke, anticipating it to continue. “Oh...well I...okay...I’m sorry I didn’t...Okay, would you like to know?”

“You’re practically like a big sister to him, Twi,” Rainbow said, holding her close. “It’d mean the world for him if he could see you.”

Twilight looked uneasy as Rainbow led her to the tree she used to take shelter in.

“Does he know about what happened?” Twilight asked in a meager tone.

“Of course he does, egghead,” Rainbow chuckled. “He burped the Princess’s letter right out in front of us.”

“What is an...egghead? Is my head shaped wrong?” She tilted her head, trying her best to stare at her own noggin.

“Not at all,” Rainbow snickered. “It just means you’re really smart.”

“Oh.” Twilight smiled uncertainly at the compliment. “She sounded pretty smart.”

“Smart as they come,” Rainbow said as she smiled. “But if you say she’s gone… then what do we call you, exactly?”

“I don’t know...Twilight Two? Twolight? I’m me, I guess.” She shrugged, looking as lost as Rainbow was.

“Nah, nothing like that,” Rainbow scoffed. “We’re gonna need something simple. Something with a lot of meaning.”

“I...I dunno. What was my mum’s maiden name?” .

“Well, the letter said your full name was Twilight Lumena Sparkle. So maybe something like that, but with a unique twist.”

“Lumena...I suppose that could work.”

“You wanna be called by your middle name? That’s silly!”

Twilight looked at her hooves. “Oh...okay. Um. What about nicknames?”

“Well, what did the Princess say about you?”

“She said I was a very special pony. And that she loved me, and, uh, that I was...an alicorn. What about Twilicorn? Could we call me Twilicorn?”

“We could, but what else you got?

“Uhh...new Twilight? Celestia was the first pony I saw. Could we call me Twilestia? Does that sound weird?”

“It kinda sounds like you’re in a relationship with her. Not that I have anything against that, but try digging a little deeper.”

“What’s a relationship?”

“It’s when you and a pony are really, really close.”

“Is that like when you have a wife?”

“Kinda, yeah…”

“I like Twilestia. Twilestia is good.” Twilight nodded, her eyes sparkling.

“I’m sorry, but that if we ever called you that out loud, everypony would start thinking you and the princess were gonna get married.”

Twilight let out a distant sigh.

“I wouldn’t hate that, but, well, I liked Lumena, too. Are you sure we can’t just call me Luminous or something?”

“Well, We could call you something a little fancy. Like Twice-Bright Twilight!”

“I don’t feel fancy…”

“Doesn’t mean you can’t have a cool name to go with it. Lots of ponies have cool nicknames. A nickname is like a status symbol. When ponies give you a good one, you know it’ll stick.”

Rainbow mulled over some of the ones presented, a hoof to her chin.

“Memento?”

“Wait! I think I’ve got a good one! How about Twibright?”

“I...I dunno. Brightlight?

“Ah, horsefeathers; At this rate, it’d just be easier to call you Twilight the Second or something like that.”

“We’ll have time to think about it later, I guess. What about you? Where did you get your name?” Twilight asked, happy that the conversation was able to drift away from her.

“Well, I got the name because I was fast, for one.” Rainbow proudly proclaimed, whipping her tail. “And for this awesome hairdo you see right here.”

“It is cool.” Twilight agreed, albeit quietly.

“And that’s not all,” Rainbow replied, smiling stupidly wide. “The day I got my cutie mark was during this big race I had with these bullies that were messing with Fluttershy. I went so fast, I ended up pulling off one of the most legendary stunts known to pegasi: The Sonic Rainboom! Thanks to that little stunt, all six of us got our marks that day.”

“Applejack saw the rainbow and it broke Rarity’s rock and knocked Fluttershy down to the animals and inspired Pinkie Pie and unlocked my magic.” Twilight nodded, continuing to

“Wait a minute,” Rainbow asked. “So you can remember anything related to the Elements of Harmony… But nothing about yourself?”

“Yes.” Twilight nodded. “I am the alicorn of harmony. My friends are important.” Her eyes glazed over as she said this, her wings spreading out to dwarf Rainbow’s wingspan.

“That has to be the weirdest kind of amnesia ever,” Rainbow sighed as she blushed at the sight of Twilight’s rather impressive wingspan. “Do you remember anything else? Like how Spike might connect to you?”

“I had no need to conceptualize “Spike”. I just know what I need to know to do my duty. I am a fact in the life of Equestria.”

“So what you’re saying is, you’ve basically been reincarnated by the Elements or something like that?”

Twilight blinked, shaking her head. “I guess so? All I know is that I showed up in a stone palace in a forest and then Princess Celestia came for me and I’ve been learning as much as I can about being a normal pony every day since. I don’t have a family, and I don’t know what my friends will think, and I don’t even know if I can trust the Princess or not.”

“Okay, that’s definitely something Twilight would never say,” Rainbow gasped, stopping dead in her tracks. “What happened?”

“She kept l-lying to me. She wouldn’t let me see anyone besides her and some of the guards and servants.”

“Well, she must have had a good reason for it...right? I mean, treating amnesia isn’t actually something that anypony can do overnight, and from what you’re telling me, it’s not a case of losing memories. To me, it sounds like you may never have had them to start with, aside from what the Elements kept recorded for you.” Rainbow paused for thought. “Wait… have you ever tried using your Element and seeing what it left for you?”

“I don’t have it with me. She won’t let me go anywhere, or see anybody, or, or, I don’t even know. She’s all I have, but she never told me there was another me, and she only told me I had a brother when I asked.” Twilight’s eyes shimmered. “I have a brother, and I’m a total stranger to him. I don’t even know what he looks like, or what his voice sounds like, and to him I’m a whole other pony from what I am now.”

“Well, think about it for a moment,” Rainbow said, looking to her more closely. “If she told you all this right off the bat, would you even believe her? About your friends, your family, and all that stuff you did?”

“Yes. I, I trusted her with my life, Dash. She taught me everything I know about my life. What else would I have done? And, now that I know she can lie to me, and hides things from me, how do I know what to trust of what she taught me. Are the books she gave me full of lies too? Does she love me, or did she tell me that because she wanted me to stay away from my family? I...I want to think she does...but…Anyway, that’s why I’m here. I need to be something other than just Celestia’s pony.”

“So you went off on your own without telling her?!” Rainbow balked. “Don’t get me wrong, I can get where you’re coming from, but you can’t just leave without telling anypony. Trust me; Running away doesn’t always make things better.”

“I couldn’t stay! She was so harsh and she locked me away and I...Oh, I’m so bad at this.” Twilight sat down, her front hooves shaking.

“Look, I can understand you want answers,” Rainbow said, putting a hoof on her shoulder.

“I don’t even know if I want answers. I just, I don’t know. Would you care about me if I didn’t live in the skin of your old friend? What if some pony who couldn’t even speak or eat, or didn’t know what a bathroom was and didn’t ever shower, just wandered into town?”

“If that pony reminded me of Twilight, I’d help her out just as much as I am now,” Rainbow stated. “There’s a few things that even complete memory loss can’t take away, Twi.”

“Don’t call me that!” Twilight rounded on her new and old friend, fire in her eyes. “Twilight is dead, don’t you get it?! I’m nothing! I’m half what she was at best! I’m not a hero or a good friend or a sister or a daughter! I was born from a star in a castle! I don’t deserve her life! I don’t want her life! Maybe I look like her, maybe I act like her, but I’m not her. And…I never could be.”

Rainbow stood silent as she looked her friend in the eye. Something was resolute in her gaze. She looked like Twilight, but she felt like somepony wholly different from her. There was that same lust for knowledge of herself as there was before, but the feeling behind it was much different. As she looked deeper, she couldn’t tell what was even there anymore, aside from raw, untapped magic.

“Then what are you, if you aren’t Twilight?” Rainbow asked, a hoof on top of hers as she gazed ever deeper. “If you aren’t a heroine, a friend, a sister, or a daughter, then what are you? What do you want?”

“I...I don’t know. But...but that’s why I’m here, I guess. I want to find out. Will you help me? Please? Not for Twilight Sparkle, but for me?” Twilight looked at the pegasus with a guarded gaze, her eyes not fully meeting the other pony’s.

Rainbow was uneasy at first, but as she looked at how meager her friend was becoming, she began to smile warmly.

“I’ll do my best,” she said as she drew her close. “For both of you.”

Twilight both figuratively and literally flew into the hug she could not hold back.

“I guess the best place to start is from the beginning,” Rainbow muttered, rubbing a hoof behind her head. “When you first came here to Ponyville a couple of years ago, you looked really busy. Like you had some kinda mission and needed to get it done. Pinkie Pie started spreading word of some unicorn that was visiting for the Summer Sun Celebration, and you started meeting the rest of us one by one.”

“What was she like?” Twilight asked.

“You were a real busy-body. No nonsense and everything. You wanted to make sure everything got done. No small-talk or anything like that. When I met you, it was a spur-of-the-moment kind of introduction.”

“I don’t get it. The letters she sent were all so...so heartfelt. Not all of the letters were meant for you, and...sometimes she sounded like she was scared to lose you, or she’d go on about how lucky to have friends she was. What made her change?”

“The night we all stood together against Nightmare Moon. That was a night I don’t think any of us forgot. We were all set to go for an awesome celebration, but when it came time for Celestia to make her curtain call, she ended up a no-show, and then BAM! Out of the darkness came this huge black mare who wanted to put the whole kingdom into eternal night! Nopony knew who she was or what to do except you. Before we knew it, we were going flanks deep into the Everfree Forest, and she threw everything she could at us. Collapsing cliffs, angry manticores, depressed sea serpents, and even copies of my idols! But we helped each other out every step of the way.”

Twilight’s mouth opened slightly, and she stopped to hear Dash’s animated account, eyes widening more and more with each incredible feat.

“Then, we got to that old castle and gathered the Elements. We gave you some alone time to cast whatever spell you needed, and you got to work. Then Nightmare Moon started putting you on the ropes. As soon as we saw what was going on up there, we rushed to help you. By the time we got there, it looked like all hope was lost… Then came that spark. Something changed inside you, then. You started to realize that the Elements weren’t just a bunch of rocks filled with magic, but dependable ponies with wicked awesome power! We all got together, and we practically became the Elements themselves, and together, we straight up blew Nightmare Moon right outta Luna!” Dash pumped a hoof in the air for emphasis, which Twilight followed with an innocent smile.

“That’s the start of my memories of you. You all stood around in a circle watching...Luna and Celestia, I think? Something was making Pinkie Pie tear up.”

“Yeah...soon as we opened up a can of rainbows on Nightmare Moon, the two of them had a real tender moment together. I don’t think poor Pinkie could take it. She never was good with the mushy stuff.” Dash gave a shrug. “It wasn’t the only time we broke those bad boys out, either. If I remember right, we used them two more times after that night.”

“Discord.” Twilight’s eyes suddenly narrowed, her brows contorting and light flashing around her in a circling arc.

“That was a hay of a time back then,” Dash pondered, her eyelids drooping slightly. “Probably the only time I remember Celestia actually being angry.”

He won’t hurt you now. I promise.” Twilight’s eyes flashed with white light for a moment, and then she settled back down, smiling in the same way as she had been before the draconequus’ name was mentioned.

“I know, Twi; you were there when Fluttershy was working to rehab him.”

“She did. But he’s…” Twilight’s entire form flickered for a moment, flashing white. “Let’s not meet with him for a while, okay?”

“I get ya; Don’t wanna dig up any bad memories,” Dash sighed, putting a hoof to her shoulder. “But what’s with the light show? You’re not usually this… sparky.”

It was then that Dash’s eyes flickered with inspiration as she grinned nice and wide.

“That’s it!” she cheered with glee. “We’ll call you Sparky!”

“I don’t like entropy.” Twilight simply stated, then blinked. “Sparky...that...that could work. Alright, I’m Sparky Lumena.” Twilight gave a simple nod.

“Let’s just keep it at Sparky for short,” Dash insisted, chuckling “It kinda sounds silly when you say both at once.”

“Whatever you say, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight giggled, stopping at a large tree. “Is that...a library? The library? I lived in a tree?”

“Oh yeah,” Rainbow replied, nodding. “You loved books, Sparky. It was because of you I actually got into reading, if you can believe that.”

“Daring Do.” Twilight nodded. “Celestia and I practiced reading them. She said that somepony I used to know wrote them.”

“If I remember right, your mom did,” Rainbow pointed out. “She actually dedicated each one to you, too.”

“Twilight’s mother writes Daring Do? I’ll...have to speak to her, I suppose. Thank her for them. They were wonderful books.”

“I’ll make sure to put that on a bucket list for you, Twilight Lumena.”

Twilight’s ear flicked in irritation, but she ignored the name change. “What’s a bucket list? And, uh, should we go inside? I don’t want to keep Spike waiting…”

“Oh right, sorry,” Rainbow chuckled, opening the door. “It’s a list of things you wanna get done in life before you--”

Dash was interrupted at this point by a purple ball of scales dropping a plate on the floor.

“T...Twilight? Twilight, is that really you?” Spike’s eyes filled with tears, his feet twitching against the urge to run over to her. Twilight, for her part, only raised a hoof to her mouth, brows arched upwards in shock.

“You didn’t tell me he was so...little.” She whispered.

He’s only a baby, Twi,” Rainbow pointed out. “But he’s a sharp one, when it comes to his brains.”

“So he’ll know if I lie?”

“He’s a smart one. You’re better off telling him the story nice and easy.”

“Alright,” Twilight swallowed. “H-Hey...Spike. I...I’m sorry, but I don’t remember a lot about you. I’m still trying to piece things back together, but…Yes, I’m home. Yes, I’ll be here for you. Yes, I’m back.”

“We’re still trying to find something to call her by, though,” Rainbow explained. “She’s finding it a little hard to call herself by her name. I guess you could call it some identity crisis.”

“It’s not just some crisis, it—!” Twilight looked over at Spike, once again wincing at the look on his face. “Alright, yes.” She sighed. “I’m just trying to get back on my hooves. Okay, Spike?”

Spike simply hugged Twilight’s shin, smiling as he buried his teary face into her coat. Twilight pulled back slightly at the touch, before smiling herself and hugging back, using both a leg and a wing.

“It doesn’t matter what you wanna call yourself, Twilight,” Spike said with a smile. “I’m just so glad to have you back again.”

Twilight curled against the dragon herself, shooting Rainbow Dash a glance. “I’m...glad...too.” She ran her hoof down the length of the smaller being’s back, much like Celestia had done for her in the weeks she had spent learning from her.

“I’m glad too.”