Escaping from Celestia

As the three headed south, there was one thing they noticed, they noticed that the forest canopy was thicker, they noticed that there seemed to be more trees than there were before and that it was darker than normal. This didn't bother Radiant or Moonlight but it made Twilight happy, very happy.

"Wow, that spell must have made the canopy thicker, I love it!" Twilight exclaimed.

Radiant gave her a smile, "It looks that way and with a denser forest, I know that everypony will likely be even happier."

Moonlight added, "It certainly adds to the safety factor."

Twilight was thrilled that the forest was even darker than it was before but soon her thoughts would return to what Radiant's surprise for her was. Normally if somepony brought up a surprise she didn't think a ton about it but just the way she made it sound, especially saying she didn't want to spoil something this big, it made her wonder.

After a couple of hours they finally reached town and when everypony saw them walking in, they began to celebrate, not noticing that Sunset was not with them. They were immediately greeted by Princess Glimmering Starlight, "Your Majesty, is everything taken care of?"

Radiant replied, "It is. Now I want you to go out and notify everypony that they are to gather here in front of the palace. I have some important announcements to make." She then turned to Twilight and added, "And I want you right by my side!"

Twilight smiled, "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else!"

While Glimmering was going around town notifying everypony that they were to gather in front of the palace, Radiant and Twilight were up by the entrance of the palace watching ponies gather. Radiant had a huge smile on her face because of everything she was going to announce but what had her most excited though was the big surprise she had for Twilight.

After an hour everypony in town was gathered in front of the palace. Radiant stood in the center, Glimmering stood on her left and Twilight stood to her right. Once the crowd fell silent Radiant began,

"Thank you for coming everypony but I have some very special announcements, things that will benefit us greatly." The crowd stomped their hooves before she continued, "The first bit of good news I have is that the tyrant has been banished into limbo for all eternity! No longer will she be molesting any proteges!"

The crowd began to cheer wildly, praising the queen for her role in it. Once they calmed down she added, "Now don't go giving me all the credit. If it were not for Twilight Sparkle, she never would have been caught. Had she not told Princess Luna about what happened when she first came here, she would still be molesting proteges and be a threat to us all. Let's hear it for Twilight!"

"TWILIGHT, TWILIGHT, TWILIGHT!"

The crowd chanted for a whole minute before they quieted down. Radiant then continued, "And because of how the deal with their princess was worked out for the release of the tyrant, not only is the forest larger by ten miles in each direction but now we are our own nation. No longer are we part of Equestria. As of right now, we are the Nation of Unicornia!"

The crowd roared loudly when they heard this. Freedom from Equestria was something that they had been wanting for a very long time and now it was a reality. The crowd continued to roar loudly for several minutes before she raised and lowered her hooves to get them to quiet down.

Radiant then decided to break the big news, "Because of her being somewhat responsible for the banishment of the tyrant, us finally having our own nation and more territory, I have decided to do something special for the mare standing to my right, Twilight Sparkle."

She motioned for her to step forward and continued, "Twilight Sparkle, in the short five years that you have been here you have done a lot. You never missed a single patrol, without you the tyrant would have never been punished and without you we wouldn't have our own nation. That is something special so I have come to a decision. No longer shall you merely be Twilight Sparkle, you shall be Princess Twilight Sparkle!"

Twilight's jaw dropped as the crowd began to cheer wildly. This was something that she had never expected. She knew the surprise was going to be big but royal status was not something she was counting on. Once again the crowd began to chant her name and all this attention was something that Twilight really didn't want. She knew that she had to handle it though because chances were with her being royalty, she couldn't just blend into the background anymore.

Once the crowd quieted down a bit Radiant nudged Twilight and said, "Say something princess."

This caused Twilight to freeze. Yes the ponies knew that she was responsible somewhat for the tyrant being banished but what should she tell them. Should she mention anything about her time in Canterlot? Should she bring up anything about her time as Celestia's protege? Should she only bring up everything from the time that she became one of them up until the present?

After a brief moment of silence she began, "Hi everypony. As you know I'm Twilight Sparkle and I came here for the same reasons that you did, I escaped the tyrant. When I escaped, I came here through the gullies, gullies that provided me with cover and caves to sleep in on the way but once I crossed into the forest, I felt truly safe.

I will say this, my life has been wonderful since I have been here and I want to thank Moonlight Tulip for taking me in, bringing me to Queen Radiant Hope when I first arrived and then allowing me to live with her once I was recognized as one of us." She paused for a moment before adding, "Let's hear it for Moonlight Tulip. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be where I am today!"

Twilight along with everypony else began to cheer for Moonlight, who had a smile on her face knowing that just because Twilight was royalty now, that she didn't suddenly forget about her. She then motioned for Moonlight to come up to her side. Moonlight was in a state of shock that the new princess would want her to come up to her side.

Once she was up by her side she continued, "I'm sure many of you here know Moonlight Tulip. She may be a friend, a neighbor, an acquaintance or just a passing face but for me, she is so much more. When I came here, I was scared, I was always afraid that......ok, I'm not bringing that up but I always worried that I wouldn't adjust but it was Moonlight who helped me adjust and truly become one of us."

Moonlight gave her a hug, "Well I knew you were scared at first and weren't sure if you would fit in. You were young and you didn't have your parents with you so I thought that I could be like a mother for you."

Twilight tightened the embrace, "Well you have been the mother figure I have needed and despite me being a princess now, I do hope that I can continue to live with you."

Radiant stepped forward and commented, "If it is ok with her, you may continue to live with her. No one ever said you had to move into the palace. You'll just have to be here for important events. If you'd rather still live like a normal citizen for the most part, I'm ok with it."

Twilight asked, "Does that mean I could still join Moonlight on her patrols of the north?"

Radiant saw that both of them were giving her one of those looks that pretty much was a form of begging. She replied, "Well since we don't have any threats anymore, of course you can."

Twilight embrace her and exclaimed, "Did you hear that mom, we can continue to live like we have for the most part!"

Moonlight was shocked by what Twilight had called her. While her and Twilight had developed what amounted to a mother/daughter relationship, she never imagined that Twilight would call her mom, especially after meeting with her biological parents not that long ago.

She gasped, "You really think of me as your mom now?"

Twilight replied, "Of course, you're a lot more like me and you've been here for me the whole time. My biological parents basically pawned me off on somepony else when I was young."

Moonlight gave her another hug, "Well I'm honored that you feel that way and if you want me as your mom, I'm completely open to it."

The crowd again began to cheer seeing the newly crowned princess was not wanting to live a royal lifestyle. To them, that was proof that Twilight was a whole lot more like them. While they loved Glimmering Starlight, they felt more of a connection to Twilight because of this. Again the crowd began to chant her name over and over.

After a minute of chanting, she lowered her hooves and turned to Radiant. She asked, "Your Majesty, do you think we could cut this short because I really want to celebrate with my mom."

Radiant gave her a smile, "Of course you can." She then turned to the crowd and announced, "Well everypony, I am glad you can make it but Twilight wants to cut this short so she can have a private celebration with her mom."

Twilight and Moonlight embraced one another and headed towards their house as the crowd continued to cheer. Once they got home Twilight asked, "Mom, what do you want me to fix for us for lunch."

Moonlight gasped, "Twilight sweetie, today was your big day. I'm fixing something for you!"

Twilight would have none of it, she was bound and determined to prepare a meal for her and the mare that she called mom in front of everypony. "Oh alright sweetie, how about you fix us plum sandwiches."

Twilight gave her a smile, "Alright, two plum sandwiches coming up!"

Despite being a princess, Twilight continued to live more like a regular citizen than a royal. She continued to do patrols with Moonlight and she only really ever spent significant times at the palace when big events came along, including annual visits by Princess Luna. Even then though, she still slept at home and had Moonlight accompanying her for those events.