Author's Note

Yeah, I know much doesn't happen in this chapter, but that's why it's shorter then the previous 2. I just felt like I had to give you guys something.

This chapter is more for developing Twilight's 'new' character. I am planning to do some changes to her, nothing drastic but just a few more signs of maturity and more personal conflicts to her.

The next one will probably also be a bit short like this one, so I will try to get it out faster instead, as payback.

Like I say always, correct me (in a nice way) if I have done anything wrong with my engrich.

Chapter 2

Twilight lay on her bed exhausted after she and Spike sorted back all the books. She had actually enjoyed her so-called 'gift' of carnage courtesy of Rainbow Dash, but the mess had taken hours to fix. Not so much the sorting itself, but the small arguments that she and Spike had over almost every book they put on the bookshelves.

It had all ended with Twilight actually giving up when Spike had pointed out that this was technically his responsibility given to him by the mayor, Mayor Mare. Twilight chuckled a little at the thought. 'Wow, the Doctor is right. That is a kind of absurd name choice by her parents.’

Spike had also pointed out that since Twilight had already read all the books in the library it really was more fair to guests that the books be sorted easier for them. Besides, after sorting the books Twilight would have memorized their locations anyway.

Replacing and sorting her private lab wasn't an easy task either. After that, Twilight had to organize everything she brought with her. It had taken the two of them the rest of the afternoon and half the night to put everything right. It was still satisfying work for Twilight, especially since she had never been allowed to clean her own room in the castle.

Now she had finally gone to bed. Spike had dragged her there when she wanted to do some final adjustments to the library. She was now waiting for Spike to get her a glass of water.

She was pondering how thing would turn out the next day. She had asked both Rainbow Dash and Spike to not tell anyone that she was back in the library. She wanted to make herself at home before surprising everyone with her arrival back in Ponyville. She hoped most of the ponies would take it well.

She knew that some would want to make a big deal out of it. The mayor would probably want to make a big celebration out of the whole deal and Rarity would likely want to make a dress for her to wear. She would actually not mind either of those things. She could make a public statement that she wanted everything to go back to normal, but a celebration in her honor in that scale would probably just make everyone more concerned about how they should act toward her. And Pinkie Pie would probably throw a party for her anyway, so two just seemed redundant.

Should she approach the mayor first and talk her about the matter? Or should she go to her friends first? Rainbow Dash already knew, and it was only a matter of time before Pinkie Pie did. That pony had a talent not only for parties and smiles, but also for appearing at the perfect time, whether you wanted her to or not.

Twilight decided that she would invite the mayor to have breakfast with her so they could make the proper arrangements and then, after giving the mare a few hours, she would go to her friends and tell them about her arrival. After that she would make a public appearance, perhaps sitting in one of the local coffeehouses to make her presence known and to help ponies comfortable around her again.

While she was planning the next day, Spike finally came back to the bedroom and put a glass of water on the small table beside her bed.

''Do you need anything else, Twilight?'' he asked still with as much enthusiasm as fatigue in his voice.

It had not occurred to her, given that she was letting her head be filled only with her duties ever since she became a princess, how much the little purple dragon actually missed her until then.

''No Spike, everything is fine for now,'' she said with a big, approving smile on her face.

Spike nodded, took a bow for old habits’ sake, (which Twilight only allowed from him since she knew that he bowed only as her number one assistant, not because she was a princess) and turned to leave.

The little dragon wasn't so little anymore. He was used to having his own bedroom, so they had also fixed the second bedroom for him.

He had almost reached the door, when it hit Twilight that most of their first day back together had been filled with arguing over some silly books. Not wanting to end it on that note, she immediately though of Rainbow Dash and an idea hit her.

''Spike!'' she called out to the purple dragon who immediately turned back to face his former keeper. ''Ehm... I don't want to sleep alone tonight.'' She used her magic to lift her blanket off of the bed and she scooted aside to make space for the dragon. She smiled awkwardly and said, ''For old times’ sake?''

Her smile turned from awkward to pure joy as something lit up in the dragon’s eye and he jogged to the bed. He snuggled himself beside Twilight with his back turned to her and leaned against her chest, like they had done countless time in her youth when he had still been a 'baby' baby dragon.

He was surprised when he was suddenly lifted a few inches into the air by Twilight’s magic. He not only landed smoothly in her forelegs but also became surrounded by her wings. As the blanket landed over them, Spike was in such comfort that he almost immediately fell asleep in his mother’s hooves.

Twilight could feel the spikes along the dragon’s spine against her belly and chest, but wasn't bothered by them since they, like all dragons’, became soft as soon as the baby dragon was in his mothers arms... or hooves in this case.

Twilight used a small spell to dampen the sound of the dragon’s snores to bare minimum. It was so soothing and familiar to Twilight’s ear that she couldn’t help but smile as she snuggled herself closer to her familiar companion.

The small purring that the dragon made while snoring vibrated against Twilight and put her mind to ease for the night.

As she slowly drifted to sleep her final thoughts was something along the lines of, 'Finally, I'm home.'

Twilight was sitting at the kitchen table enjoying her second cup of coffee, reading a book Luna found for her about the complexity about manipulation of time with magic. She, Celestia, and Luna found only a couple of books on the subject, but it was still more than she had hoped for.

The book she was reading was one written by Star Swirl the Bearded, one of the few mages that ever considered time manipulation a possibility. Sure, manipulation of one’s age was possible, even Twilight had accidentally turned Spike into a teenage dragon when she did her test to get into 'Star Swirl’s Academy For Gifted Ponies,' but that wasn't the same.

First of all, that spell wasn't so much about aging the subject than about speeding up or reversing the aging process itself. The spell also had no lasting effects - only working for a couple of hours at most, which explained why Star Swirl wasn't still living.

It also wasn't anything like what the Doctor was doing with the TARDIS. According to the Doctor, the TARDIS was already linked to every moment of space and time. It just disappeared on one end and appeared on the next.

Using and controlling real time magic was about grasping the area of your choice and controlling it to your desire. It demanded various steps to pull it off and required mastery of each and every action. First, the caster would take physical hold of the area in question, and then take hold of reality itself within the area.

Then the mage could choose if it was going to be a hollow hold on the area, a firm one, a stable one or a collapsing one. And all of the holds had a different method of using magic and a different effect.

A hollow hold meant that the caster only had a shallow grasp of reality. With this, it would be possible to look into the future, the past or to other places, even communicating through them. This was the easiest form of time manipulation, even though few ponies had managed to grasp it fully.

A firm hold was the one that Star Swirl himself had managed to control, but never master. It created temporary effects with time, like when Twilight warped herself back through time and created a time paradox. This could have a permanent effect with time, but the controlled media of that spell would eventually create a return to its own time. The user could, for example, go back through time and get a sword from the old unicorn kingdom that existed before Equestria was founded, but she wouldn't be able to stay in that time period. She would be dragged back to her own time together with the sword, and any individuals that she had encountered would remember her.

A stable hold effect was like the firm hold - theoretically possible but had never been pulled off if records were correct. The stable hold was a permanent time effect in which the caster would be bound to the period traveled to, and it would be as real and as lasting as the original. In other words - true time travel. Going through time and space independently.

And the fourth and final spell... collapsing time and space itself. At first Twilight had been terrified by the notion of this act. It could mean that the affected area would collapse in on itself to nothingness - to a place where not even time existed, like a black hole. She had been relieved when she realized that holes like these would heal themselves pretty fast, being spliced together by the space and time surrounding the deleted area. A black hole is a dimensionless point in space and time, not just a collapse of time in a defined area surrounded by intact time.

After choosing the hold, the caster would have to manipulate reality to stop time, reverse it, or accelerate it - present, past, or future. Each of these also had different techniques for their use.

There were different methods in the book on how to take a hollow hold of reality, and Star Swirl had written down his methods on how to control a firm hold. Twilight was sure she would be able to master both of these, but the others were just theories. But Twilight was sure that if she could master the first two then she could figure out the rest.

As she sipped some coffee, Spike came into the room followed by the mayor. Twilight had sent Spike to escort the brown mare so Twilight could talk with her about announcing her return to Ponyville. The mayor immediately bowed down to Twilight and said in a most proper tone,

''Your Majesty.''

Twilight sighed at the brown mare but put on her most sincere smile.

''Please, Mayor Mare, rise. I have known you for more than a year now, and believe me when I say that being bowed to gets tiresome very quickly, especially when it's a pony you know.''

The mayor looked up at Twilight Sparkle with a questioning expression. Twilight just kept a smile on her face and pointed her hoof at the chair opposite to her.

''Please take a seat and have breakfast while we talk. Have you eaten yet?''

The mayor took a hesitant look at the chair, then back at Twilight. She shook her head and said,

''No, Your Majesty.''

Twilight let out another sigh.

''Please call me Twilight, Mayor Mare. Titles are almost as tiring as kneeling. How Celestia has been able to put up with all the formality for millennia I have no idea!'' Twilight nodded at the chair again and Ms. Mare finally gave in to the request and sat down on the opposite side of the table.

Then Twilight was truly smiling.

''What would you like to eat? Spike is an excellent cook. How about we start with a simple fruit salad, then have blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes with your choice of toppings, and then let Spike run down to Mr. and Mrs. Cake and get some cupcakes for dessert?'' And boy did the mayor give her a satisfying grin. She did not drool but it looked like she was going to start any minute now.

''Y-yes, Your Majesty. That... that would be great.”

Satisfied with the answer for the moment, she turned to Spike and told him to start serving the appetizer. They had already prepared most of the dishes. The fruit was already chopped up, and the pancakes just needed to be fried on the pan.

''Oh, and please refer to me by Twilight, Mayor.'' She said to the pony sitting across her.

The brown mare jumped at the remark as if she was afraid of having offended the princess. She immediately answered in a nervous voice,

''I... Your Majes--... ehmmm, Miss Sparkle?''

Twilight looked at the mayor for a while, then started to chuckle under her hoof. When she was done she let out a sigh and looked at the brown mare. 'I guess that some sort of formality has to remain,' Twilight thought.

''No apology is required, Mrs. Mare. I guess 'Miss Sparkle' will suffice for now. Would you like some coffee?'' The brown mare nodded and Spike was there in seconds with a cup for the mayor, then he proceeded to fill up Twilight’s.

“Now for business!'' Twilight called out as Mayor took a sip of the coffee.

The mayor took a questioning look at Twilight, not knowing why she been summoned here.

''Yes, Your Maj-- Miss Sparkle?''

Twilight leaned forward and started to talk.

''You see, after much consideration I have decided that I am moving back to Ponyville.'' Twilight wanted to make this statement short so that Mayor could think about it over their meal. The brown mare was very intelligent, but she also had a weakness for higher authority. It was smarter to let this sink in before she acted, instead of letting her leave directly after hearing the news and let her panic about what had to be done.

The mayor’s face lightened up in excitement.

''Really, Your Majesty? I mean, Miss Sparkle? I didn't mean to... anyway we must have some sort of celebration ceremony! A carnival, perhaps? Or maybe a parade! I should talk--'' And that was exactly what Twilight didn't want.

''I appreciate your enthusiasm, but that won't be necessary.''

The mayor of Ponyville stopped to stare at Twilight with a shocked look in her eyes and confusion spread all over her face.

''You see, Mrs. Mare, I returned to Ponyville to be with my friends and, I hope, to separate myself from such affairs. My hope is that, eventually, the citizens of Ponyville will treat me like every other pony here in town. I know how farfetched that seems, and I know that my new position may make that impossible for most of the ponies here, but a big celebration for 'Princess Twilight Sparkle' will only make things worse.'' Twilight took a deep look at the mayor to see her reaction.

The brown mare was flabbergasted.

''Bu-but we have to do something for you, Miss Sparkle. Sorry to say this, but the townsponies will expect some sort of celebration in your honor.''

Twilight chuckled again.

''Oh, there will most certainty be some sort of celebration, Mrs. Mare.''

Mayor Mare looked surprised at that statement.

''But you just said th--''

''You think Pinkie Pie will ignore a chance like this? It wouldn't surprise me if she already knows I’m here and is preparing a surprise party as we speak. But there's a big difference between what you would plan and what she would plan.''

''If I may ask, what difference would that be, Yo--... Miss Sparkle?'' The mayor looked at her now with some interest. Her nerves had eased up a little when Twilight reminded her about Pinkie.

''The difference, Mrs. Mare, is that it will probably be a welcome home party to 'Twilight', not a welcome party to 'Princess Twilight Sparkle.’ See the difference?''

Mayor Mare looked down at the table thoughtfully. Twilight knew that the mayor of Ponyville enjoyed her position as the highest authority in the village... well, next to Twilight now, so she may have a hard time understanding Twilight’s wishes at first.

''I think I understand...'' she was still looking at the table thoughtfully. ''Maybe it’s a bad comparison but it's like when you are in a election and you try to win ponies over to your side by seeming more down to earth then the other candidates...'' the brown mare trailed off, thinking.

Twilight was actually surprised at that comparison. She started to laugh as she said to the mare,

''I thought no one had challenged you to an election for the past 8 years or so, and then it was only the old mayor who challenged you that one time?''

Mayor Mare blushed a little at the statement.

''Well, I have to know how just in case. Pinkie jokes almost every year she should challenge me just so she could have a celebration party. I always tell her that she should plan my celebration party, and that always put her mind off the idea.'' That made Twilight laugh out loud.

The rest of the morning passed with the two talking about what the mayor would tell her ponies. Twilight wanted the brown mare to tell the town that Twilight would appreciate it if the ponies wouldn't kneel to her or call her any titles. She didn’t want to make a law against it, so the mayor’s request seemed to be the next best thing.

After that, they spoke of more ordinary things, like how the economy in town was doing, trade, and simpler subjects. Twilight personally managed the economies of only the major cities in Equestria, since a strong economy in the larger cities was bound to help the villages.

When breakfast was done and the mayor had left, Twilight prepared herself to leave. She was going to Fluttershy first, so the mayor could spread the word through town for a while. Just as she was on her way out she heard knocking at the door.

''I'm coming'' She walked out of her bedroom, down the stairs and opened the door to see Rainbow Dash standing there.

''Morning, egghead. Done yet?'' Dash asked enthusiastically.

''Just done, but I thought I would go out the balcony to avoid the ponies in town for now. I just had breakfast with Mayor Mare and asked her to tell everyone in Ponyville that I don't want any royal treatment for now on.''

Rainbow looked skeptically at Twilight.

''Twi, I hope you know that it won't work that fast.''

''I'm not stupid, Dash. It will take some time before everyone adjusts to this, and it will probably never be the same as before. But I can always hope that they don’t bow down to me and call me titles all the time.''

Rainbow shrugged her shoulders and said,

“Whatever.”

Then she looked at Twilight with a smirk on her face.

''So, wanna race me for real this time?''

Twilight chuckled.

''Only if you give me a 30 second head start.”

''Deal,” Dash yelled out and started to fly up the stairs.

Twilight felt an odd sensation in her stomach as she watched Rainbow fly up to her room. She couldn't place it. Perhaps it was... excitement? She shrugged the thought out of her head and followed Dash to the balcony.