Chapter One

Just Fine

Twilight smiled sleepily as the soft morning sunlight awakened her from one of the best night’s sleep she had had since… well, since the previous morning when she had the exact same train of thought. After months and months of struggling to get to sleep with her wings always finding the most uncomfortable places to sit when she was trying to sleep, or springing open of their own accord, or simply not doing what she told them to, she had finally swallowed her pride and asked Fluttershy for help.

The solution was so incredibly simple, so mind-blowingly obvious that she was ashamed she had not thought of it herself sooner. All she had to do was…

A loud crash from downstairs interrupted her train of thought and sent her eyes flying open, along with her wings, which propelled her out of bed and onto the floor in a moaning heap of feathers and blankets.

Alright, she admitted to herself. Maybe the whole ‘sleeping with wings’ thing still isn’t all that easy. Disentangling herself from the bedsheets, Twilight ruffled her wings and quickly preened her feathers before moving over to her mirror to brush her mane. Another smile crossed her lips, this one slightly sad, as she took in all the changes she was undergoing.

She was taller, and growing slightly every day. She was almost a whole hoof taller than her friends now, and though the girls all assured her they were happy for her and proud of the Princess she had become, her paranoid side couldn’t help but feel them measuring her newfound height next to their own. Luckily, she had gotten very good at ignoring that side of herself since her ascension and the coronation.

She ran the brush through her mane, which was taking on a slightly starry appearance and had the habit of moving on its own from time to time, becoming more and more like the manes of Celestia and Luna, flowing and ethereal, however hard she tried to force it back to the style she knew and loved.

As usual, whenever she used her magic, she could feel the overwhelming strength that she possessed. There had even been some amusing and somewhat embarrassing incidents involving her forgetting her powers, underestimating her strength, and sending several household objects careening through the walls of the treehouse library and across Ponyville. That had been before she had ended up with the magic of all four Alicorns though. Now, keeping her power under wraps was a piece of cake.

She continued with her brushing, managing to get her mane into some semblance of normality before heading downstairs. Spike would likely need help with whatever he had broken, and if not, the idea of breakfast sounded wonderful.

As it turned out, the two were one and the same. After a sheepish apology, Spike revealed that he had been attempting to balance two plates of scrambled eggs and toast on his arms and head while pouring juice into two glasses. The end result was a mess of broken plates and glass and a growing pool of orange juice spreading across the floor, intermingling with bits and pieces of egg.

Spike set about mopping up the pool of juice while Twilight used her magic to gather all the solid pieces of plate, egg and toast, and put them in the bin. Thank Celestia Rarity wasn’t around, else she’d have a fit about how they were messing up the new castle.

The fashionista was relishing in her newfound fame as a “Lady of Friendship” as some of the ponies around Ponyville had started calling her friends. They sat with her on the thrones and held audiences with ponies seeking advice, or well-wishes, or even non-friendship-related things like personal issues. These, they directed mostly at Twilight, and often she was the only pony in attendance, but her friends were still becoming quite well-known.

Rarity had even taken to staying some nights in the castle - there were accommodations for all her friends, not just herself, though Twilight was the only one residing there permanently - but had been increasingly busy with her dressmaking and more and more customers came to shop from her, thanks to her sudden jump in status, so she hadn’t slept there in a while. The rest of her friends preferred their respective homes more, though even they stayed at the castle occasionally.

Ponies had started to come from across Equestria to see them, though most came because of Twilight. It seemed word had spread of her epic battle with Tirek - the landscaping changes of the entire area surrounding Ponyville were testament to that - however rumour tended to leave out the fact that her friends had had as integral a part in the villain's defeat as Twilight had herself. Instead, tales tended to include her friends in a more superficial matter, often just the fact that they were there and involved somehow.

That disappointed Twilight, and she tried to rectify it by preaching to all who would listen that her friends deserved just as much, if not more, credit as she did. Nopony seemed to want to listen, however. They usually just laughed and shrugged it off, as if Twilight were simply being modest and nice to her friends.

Her friends themselves didn’t seem to mind though. Fluttershy in particular was more than happy to let somepony else take the credit, and therefore the spotlight, of her achievements. Rainbow Dash and Rarity claimed they were happy with just the slight increase in attention they got. Pinkie Pie was… well, Pinkie Pie, and she didn’t appear upset, so that set Twilight’s mind at ease somewhat.

Their audiences in the throne room, which they had been holding every second day, had been going well, with ponies coming to discuss matters of friendship, to ask for advice, to settle disputes between neighbours and all manner of other things, within the bounds of social acceptability.

For example, aside from requests for friendship advice, one of Applejack’s neighbours had a chicken go missing, and he was accusing his other neighbour, a stallion who was in the business of making strawberry jam, of stealing it. The dispute had been hot, the two ponies almost forgetting themselves and coming to blows, before Twilight stepped in and calmed the situation down. She was certainly getting good at keeping her head cool, and once she had learned all the details, a quick search had shown that the chicken had wandered into Applejack’s farm.

Twilight almost lost her serenity when the farmer then began to throw accusations at Applejack, but she soon diffused that situation as well, before sending the chicken farmer on his way with bruised pride and the suggestion to investigate the matter properly himself before jumping to conclusions next time. It had been a completely ridiculous scenario and an utter waste of time. That being said, she had heard some of the issues brought before Celestia herself and they sounded just as silly, so maybe it was just something a Princess had to put up with.

There were also some cases that warmed Twilight’s heart and brought tears to her eyes, such as when a newlywed couple had come to her asking for Twilight and her friend’s blessings for their unborn child. It had put them all completely on the spot, but they each managed a fairly stock-standard blessing, with the exception of Rarity, who had made a grand proclamation of health and strength, which had lit up the couple’s eyes and they all but danced out of the hall in celebration.

Twilight gave a slightly amused sigh as she stirred the new batch of scrambled eggs while Spike poured two fresh glasses of juice as some more bread cooked in the toaster. She was adjusting to being a princess, no doubt. It was difficult, but she’d manage.

~~~~~~~~~~

The eggs were delicious, cooked just right with diced hay-bacon and bits of basil. It was a simple breakfast, a little poorly presented due to the duo’s lack of culinary expertise and would likely make the nobility faint at just the idea of a Princess eating it, but it tasted good, and that’s all that really mattered to Twilight.

Once the last morsels had been cleaned off the plates, the washing up was, as usual, left to Spike, Twilight left the palace to go for a walk. It was one of those very rare days in which there was nothing important or pressing to do at all. It was between Court days and, while she had three meetings with various representatives from foreign nations tomorrow after Court, no important conferences today.

Normally, a day off like this would be spent cooped up inside with a good book, but after all the busyness of everyday life as a Princess, not to mention the fact that it was such a beautiful day, Twilight wanted to spend at least part of it outside. There were only a few clouds in the sky, the gentle spring sun glistening down on the ponies going about their morning business as birds flitted throughout town.

As she was nearing the end of the road, which linked onto another street that lead to town square, she heard somepony calling out.

“Fluffy! Come on Fluffy, come down!” the shout was punctuated by an indignant hiss, and as Twilight came closer, she saw a beige earth pony with a deep brown mane standing at the base of a tree. Up in the top-most branches of the tree, a ruffled-looking cat sat hissing down at the mare below.

“Is everything okay here?” Twilight asked as she approached.

“Well…” the pony turned and, surprised upon seeing that it was Twilight, dropped to the ground in a low bow. “Your majesty. It’s nothing to be concerned about, my cat ran up this tree running away from a dog from around town. Don’t worry, I’ll get her down eventually.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and sparked up her magic. Ponies had never hesitated to request her assistance with things like this before, but now she was a Princess, they all saw it as ‘beneath her’ or something silly like that. Levitating Fluffy down from the tree, Twilight passed the cat to the bewildered mare. “Here you go. Watch out for more stray dogs.” With a smile, Twilight trotted back off along her original path as the pony nearly dropped the cat in an attempt to mash her face into the ground in an incredibly low bow as she spluttered thanks, as well as apologies for ‘wasting her time’.

Yes, the groveling thing was tiresome, but Twilight still liked to help the ponies around Ponyville with their everyday concerns, the nobility’s perceptions of her be damned.

She was just rounding the corner onto the main street of Ponyville when, with a muffled whump Twilight suddenly ran into something rather solid and heading quickly in the other direction, forcing the breath out of her lungs and knocking her to the ground. A clatter of small boxes rained down around their heads as the other pony muttered a curse from his own position on the ground.

“I say, watch where you’re going you-” he immediately cut off when he saw just who he had bumped into and dropped into a bow. “Oh goodness, my sincerest apologies Princess Twilight, I was careless and must have missed my step, please forgive me.” He accompanied this with a grand sweep of his foreleg and another, far more showpony-like bow.

Twilight brushed herself off and took a good look at him. He was a light, almost yellow-coated unicorn stallion, and while the hooded cloak he was wearing obscured most of him, the ends of his red and white striped mane could be seen poking out of the hood around his head.

“That’s fine,” she eventually replied when she noticed he was waiting for a reply. “We both weren’t really watching where we were going.” Lighting up her magic again, Twilight began gathering up all the boxes that had been dropped upon their collision. They were surprisingly light, considering they were seemingly made out of some kind of metal, but before she could examine them at all, the unicorn was hastily gathering them off the ground himself and taking them out of her magic.

Before Twilight knew it, the stranger had collected all the boxes and with a swift bow coupled with another apology, took off at almost a full gallop down the street she had just exited.

She had definitely seen stranger things. Pinkie was weirder than that on a daily basis. He had seemed very familiar though, those colours, that voice, the grand, showpony attitude. Something was still missing though, and Twilight couldn’t quite put her hoof on it.

With a shrug she dismissed her curiosity and, turning back down the road yet again, made her way across town. She figured she may as well stop in on Rarity, whose shop was near the town center anyway. Half the ponies she passed in the streets still bowed to her, despite her even going so far as to call a town meeting to assure them that while yes, she was a Princess now, she didn’t want them groveling to her whenever she so much as walked by.

She ignored it as best she could, right up to Rarity’s front door, which showed a sign declaring the shop was ‘Closed for Business’. This was one of Rarity’s known ‘days off’, so Twilight thought it a perfect time to stop by while she wasn’t busy with clients and shoppers.

“Who is it?” came the sing-song reply when Twilight knocked on the deep purple door.

“It’s me!” Twilight replied.

The door opened to reveal Rarity, her mane perfectly styled and coat immaculately groomed as always. “Why, hello Twilight darling, whatever brings you here today?” After a quick hug, the unicorn held up a hoof of invitation.

“Well,” Twilight began as she stepped inside. “I had a day off from court and meetings and everything, so I thought I’d spend my time off with my friends.”

This produced a wide smile and a joyous squeal from Rarity as she clapper her hooves together. “Oh darling, I’m so glad. You’ve been so busy lately, we never have any chances to spend time with you, other than our audiences in the castle, but those times are hardly catch-up times. I was actually just about to head to the spa for my weekly meeting with Fluttershy, if you’d like to come along.”

Twilight almost moaned with pleasure at the prospect of a nice, relaxing trip to a spa. She loved her paperwork, admittedly significantly more than your regular pony, but spending most of the day almost every day hunched over a desk reading report after report for several months on end takes its toll, even on a pony like Twilight.

Rarity giggled. “I’ll take that as a yes then? I’ll just get a few things ready and we’ll be off.” She turned to head into the back room of her shop, but gasped before she had taken more than a few steps. “My gosh darling, I’ve just had the most brilliant idea! I’ll invite the whole group! Fluttershy is already coming, and I’m sure Pinkie Pie won’t miss a chance to have fun with us. Applejack might take some convincing, but I’m sure we can get her to take some time off for you. Rainbow Dash is all but a lost cause, but surely she’ll at least come for the sauna and the mud bath.” Dashing around making all the necessary preparations for leaving her store, Rarity continued rambling about how much fun they were all going to have. “We can even make a whole day out of it! If you’ve got nothing else planned, that is. Oh, it’s been so long since we’ve been together as a group.”

Twilight didn’t have to wait long before Rarity threw on a large hat and trotted out the door. They went first to Sugarcube Corner where Pinkie would undoubtedly be. The hyperactive mare spent most of her free time there, as well as the shifts she worked.

Sure enough, when they walked in the door to the sweet shop, she was sitting at a table near the corner noisily devouring a milkshake, conveniently in a conversation with Rainbow Dash. Probably talking about pranks they had done, or were yet to pull off, judging by the raucous laughter they suddenly erupted in.

Pinkie noticed Rarity and Twilight once her laughing died down a little, and a huge smile split her face. “Twilight! Rarity! Hi! What brings you around here? Not that I’m not super-duper happy you stopped by, I’m just curious, but considering the fact that Twilight is out and about, she must have a day off! Also Rarity, you’ve got a spa meeting with Fluttershy today, so I’m guessing that you’re going together, but then you’re here and not there, so you’ve gotta be here to invite us all over so we can have a super fun trip to the spa as a whole group!”

Twilight could only shake her head at Pinkie’s incredible deductive skills. That said, putting two and two together in this instance was nothing compared to last time she had made a wild ‘lucky guess’ and spouted a summarised version of the exact events that had transpired in the other world where Twilight had gone to retrieve her crown from Sunset Shimmer.

“Why yes indeed Pinkie Pie darling, that’s exactly why we’re here” Rarity confirmed, grimacing a little when Rainbow Dash let out a loud groan.

“Ugh, the spa?” the pegasus huffed. “Come on Rarity, can’t we do something cool as a group for once? Like go to a Wonderbolts performance or something?”

Rarity rolled her eyes and placed a hoof on Dash’s withers. “Rainbow darling, are there any Wonderbolts performances on in the next thirty minutes that we can get tickets to and attend?”

Dash paused for a moment, then hung her head. It was all the answer Rarity needed.

“Fabulous! I promise Rainbow darling, nopony will touch your hooves, Aloe and Lotus learned that much the last time you were there. I promise, you’ll have an absolutely wondrous time, and it’s a chance to spend time with Twilight. Plus, Fluttershy will be there, how can you say no to that?”

It was Rainbow’s turn to roll her eyes. “Oh fine, whatever. I’ll come along, but only because I want to chill with Twi.” With that, she gave Twilight a pat on the back and bolted out the door.

In her classic style, Pinkie bolted out the door after her, stopped just outside and pulled out a huge megaphone from somewhere. She got as far as “DON’T-” which rattled all the windows in the vicinity before Twilight yanked it away with a tug of her magic.

“What?” the pink mare exclaimed with an innocently confused look. “I was just gonna tell her not to forget the time.” Twilight was about to reply when a startled voice sounded from behind her.

“What in the hay is happenin’ here?”

Turning, Twilight saw Applejack standing near the entrance to Sugarcube Corner, the megaphone that had just been confiscated from Pinkie embedded in the wall just in front of her face. Blushing furiously, Twilight hurried over and pulled the now smashed amplifier out of the wall.

“I am so sorry Applejack, I thought I was getting better at not doing that, but I mustn’t have as much control over my magic as I thought. You’re not hurt are you?”

The farmer laughed and flicked the tip of Twilight’s wing which was scouring the other mare for any damage. “Don’t you worry about it none sugarcube, I’m fine. Can’t say the same about this here wall though.”

As if on cue, a large chunk of wall fell to the ground with a crunch, making Twilight wince. With a flash of her magic, the rubble knitted itself back together and the wall was flawless once more.

Applejack stared at the newly fixed wall for a few seconds before turning back to Twilight. “So uh, pardon me for repeatin’ mahself, but what exactly is goin’ on here?”

Rarity took a step forward and explained the situation and soon they had Applejack on board as they turned tail and headed for the spa. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash would presumably meet them there and Twilight was feeling free and light as a feather.

~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight let out a sigh as she sank into the spacious hot tub, surrounded by her friends and feeling more relaxed than she had since before this whole Princess thing started. All her friends lay back around her, enjoying the warmth and fragrance of the bath after a day of pampering and preening.

They had started with a mud bath infused with minerals to ‘replenish and rejuvenate’ as Rarity explained, in which they soaked for a solid hour while Twilight talked her friends through her new duties as Princess.

Everypony was sympathetic about the stress and the workload, though Rarity was completely in awe about all the foreign dignitaries Twilight got to meet, but overall everypony was saddened a little because the time they got to spend together was so limited.

Eventually, they moved from the mud bath to the sauna where they caught up with what everypony else had been up to since the coronation. For the most part, not much had changed in her friend’s lives. Applejack’s farm was expanding to the point that they had to hire some help in the form of one of her relatives, but this meant that she was making significantly more money.

Pinkie Pie was still just working at Sugarcube Corner and throwing parties for every occasion imaginable, every single one of which Twilight missed because of royal duties. Pinkie was adamant that it was fine, Twilight’s new role came first, but that didn’t stop the new Princess from apologising profusely anyway. The pink party pony had increased business for the sweet shop tenfold, just by her association with Twilight coupled with some surprisingly clever advertising.

Rainbow Dash had been promoted to captain of the weather team in Ponyville, which was probably a gross mistake on her superior’s part seeing as how lazy the mare was. There didn’t seem to be any problems with the weather though, so Twilight supposed she couldn’t argue with her friend’s results. She was still in the Wonderbolts reserve, though she hadn’t been called upon to fill in yet. She had received a private word from Spitfire saying she was at the top of the list and would be the first they called upon. Seeing as how she was the greatest flier in Equestria outside the primary Wonderbolts team, it was no wonder.

Fluttershy hadn’t changed her routine much, at least after the whole Rainbow Dash issue was resolved. The two were spending more and more time together, and even though nothing huge had happened yet, Twilight figured it wasn’t going to be long before they started living together. How that was going to work though, Twilight had no idea. Fluttershy was still Ponyville’s animal caretaker and couldn’t exactly move anywhere anytime soon, but Rainbow Dash was set and ready to join the Wonderbolts. As complicated as it was though, Twilight was sure they could work it out.

In contrast, Rarity’s life had skyrocketed out of control. Her business was finally gaining the recognition it deserved and almost every dress shop in Canterlot was featuring her designs, if not dresses made directly by her. She just didn’t have enough time to make every dress herself, so she began selling her designs as raw templates, which then made her own hoof-work all the more valuable. Despite this, she was still sure that she wasn’t yet ready to move her business to Canterlot, but Twilight suspected she just wanted to stay with her friends. Her position in the castle along with her association with Twilight probably had something to do with it too.

The rest of the spa was heavenly, with hoof-soaks and hooficures followed by a massage. Even Rainbow Dash had managed to enjoy herself, accepting all the luxuries with the grace and humility of a brick, with the exception of the hooficure, during which she lay in a corner reading a magazine.

That had raised some eyebrows, Twilight’s included, because while Dash was known to enjoy the Daring Do fiction novels, she avoided any other literature like the plague. Nopony was about to comment though, seeing as they had all attempted to get Dash to read something other than Daring Do at one point or another.

Glancing over, Twilight saw Dash gently nuzzling Fluttershy, who was leaning against her in the steaming water. She chuckled, happy to see her friends all in the one place again. It had been so long since they’d been together as a group, but she had long known that the times of spending every day with her friends was not going to last forever. She just hoped that the ease at which they all felt around each other would never change and that they could still enjoy times like these, as rare as they were.

It was getting late though, and Aloe and Lotus were hovering as if they wanted to announce closing time. They would, of course, keep the spa open all night if Twilight asked it of them and it was a fact that made Twilight sigh.

Seeing as she was not about to ask the twins to stay up all night just for her, Twilight stretched lazily, before letting out a yawn and climbing out of the water. Her friends followed suit and as soon as the bill was paid, they walked outside into the late afternoon light.

Twilight had insisted on paying the entirety of the bill herself and while her friends argued and said that wasn’t necessary, Twilight didn’t budge. They had dropped what they were doing and spent all day with her at the spa, and on such short notice, the least she could do was pay for their pampering. With her new status as Princess came a significant amount of money, most coming from wealthy nobles wanting to get on her good side. She hadn’t wanted to take any of it, but Celestia said they would get offended if she didn’t take every single bit, and smile gratefully to boot.

Everypony had wanted to walk her home too, but Twilight had put her hoof down on that subject as well. She’d already made them miss so much of their day, and it had been wonderful, but they had their own responsibilities to get to and she would have felt bad if she had taken any more of their time.

So Twilight walked home alone through the fading light of the late-Spring afternoon. It was a beautiful evening, with the first of the stars just beginning to glimmer in the sky as the sun created a blaze of pink and purple across the sparse cloud cover. The temperature was cool and Twilight felt deliciously relaxed, so much so she thought she could fall onto her pillow and straight into her dreams, wings or no.

The number of ponies out and about dwindled as she lazily crossed town and the sun dropped further and further out of sight on the horizon. It was almost completely dark by the time the door to the castle came into sight as Twilight turned the last corner leading towards her home.

Light shone out of the windows about halfway up the trunk, expected since spike was home and probably cleaning up whatever mess he had made during the day, as well as the lights on the bottom floor, which were rarely ever turned off.

As she approached, Twilight could almost hear her bed calling to her as the day of relaxation and pampering filled her with tiredness and yearning for her soft pillow and comfy covers. Despite the business and stress that would be awaiting her tomorrow, Twilight felt that for now, everything would be just f-

“Hey! Wha-whoa!” came a shout from Spike’s from inside the castle, but it was cut off by a loud crash that included the dread-inducing crack of dragon skull hitting something hard.

All relief and relaxation was washed away by a surge of worried energy as Twilight sprinted the remaining distance to the castle, shouting out Spike’s name before she even had the door open. Her voice died in her throat for a moment as the door opened and she took in the scene beyond.

Two ponies stood, facing away from her, their dark cloaks covering their cutie marks and coats, though their hoods were down to show red and white-striped hair that split around their horns. Twilight barely had time to process that one of them was the stallion she had run into that morning before her gaze drifted to the object of their attention and all thought was stripped from her mind.

Spike lay at the base of the stairs surrounded by the debris of what might have been a chest full of writing equipment. He wasn’t moving.

“Spike!” wasting no time, Twilight sprinted over, shoving the two unicorns out of the way in her hurry. Skidding to a halt at his side, she resisted the urge to pick him up and hold him tightly. He might be hurt and she had to be careful, so instead she enveloped him in her magic. The spell, learned from a journal about medical magic, informed her that he had taken a blow to the head, but his skull was intact and there was no damage to his spine or brain.

“What happened?” she demanded, not even looking at the ponies she was questioning.

“He… fell down the stairs.” came the short reply.

Something in the pony’s tone, as well as the way he had hesitated, didn’t quite sit right. Twilight started to turn around to inquire further when she felt something slip over her horn.

“What are you-” a painful shock stopped her question short, like needles thrusting into her skull at the base of her horn. The world began to spin and she stumbled as she turned around fully to find the two stallions standing next to each other, grinning menacingly.

The ground suddenly filled half of her vision. Did she fall over? What was going on? Lighting up her horn, Twilight cast a clarity spell that did wonders for headaches and headspins. At least, she tried to.

Instead, a blinding pain filled her brain and she felt herself writhing about on the library floor. Laughter filled her ears as her vision began to fade. Her last thoughts before unconsciousness took her were of Spike, hoping he was okay.

Author's Note

Enjoy chapter 1! If you haven't gathered from the prologue, you'll find out next chapter that the tags and rating are entirely justified. Chapter 2 to come in a week or two! Ciao!