Shining Feather

The train pulled up to the station and a white unicorn mare came out of the train smiling. She had arctic blue eyes and medium length purple hair with white stripes going down. It wasn't because she was old it was just how her hair looked. She was wearing a purple shirt and matching skirt. She used her magic to lift some bags and walked out of the station.

It was odd to be in Ponyville. Some strange things had been happening as of late and she was worried about a certain princess. It wasn't hard to see where she lived due to the fact her castle was huge. She then made her way to the castle.

She knocked on the door and waited for a bit until Twilight Sparkle answered the door. “Hello?”

“Hello dear! It's been awhile!” The mare said and hugged her. “I missed you”

“Mom!?” Twilight looked at her shocked. “What are you doing here?”

“Well. I...I had to see you” Twilight's mom said.

Twilight could tell something was wrong. She grabbed her shoulders and pulled her off her. “What's wrong mom?”

“It's about...it's about your father” Twilight's mother said.

“What about dad?” Twilight asked confused.

Her mother's smile turned into a frown. “We....broke up”

Twilight looked at her shocked and horrified. “You and dad what!?”

“I know. I know, but...something happened and I couldn't handle it any more so I left” She said looking down. “So I thought I'd come to you...I need someone to talk to”

“Mom...what happened?” Twilight asked letting her mother inside.

“I caught him....well cheating on me..” Her mother said choked up. “He said I was boring nowadays so he went for someone else..”

“That's horrible!” Twilight said shocked. “I can't imagine dad doing that to you”

“That's what I said to myself at first. But then I called him out on it and we yelled so we broke up after the fight...” Her mother said before she sighed. “I just need to get my mind off things”

“Well then you came just in time. I was about to go out into town. Would you like to join me?” Twilight explained.

“A day into town would do wonders for me” Her mother said with a bit of a smile.

“Great!” Twilight used her magic to put her mother's bags inside and stepped out. “Shall we?”

Her mother nodded and they walked out of the castle. Twilight took out a note pad and flipped it open. “Let's see. First I have to attend an art show. Then I have to go on the borders of the Everfree forest to make sure nothing has gotten out. After that I have to go to Rarity's for a royal ball gown. Then lunch at Sugarcube corner. After that I have charity work at the hospital and then Melody has set up a date with me and someone after”

“You have a date?” Her mother asked excited. “Oh I'm so proud of you!”

“It's nothing big. It's a blind date I have no idea what she is planning” Twilight admitted. “I told her I don't need her to do this, but she insisted”

“Sounds like a true friend if you ask me” Her mother said as they walked.

“Thanks mom. I have a lot of true friends nowadays” Twilight said with a smile.

They first made their way to the art show where they saw Nightwish putting her art up. “Hm-hm-hm”

“Hey Nightwish!” Twilight shouted as she ran over. “It's been so long!”

“Twilight? Twilight!” Nightwish looked up and hugged Twilight happily. “Wow you look good!”

“Thanks Nightwish. Is this your piece?” Twilight asked looking at her latest piece and noticed Applejack was in it. “Is that Applejack? She looks beautiful..”

“Why thank ya Twilight. That's a mighty fine complement coming from a princess” A voice said behind her.

Twilight turned to see her old friend Applejack. “Applejack!”

They quickly hugged and Twilight looked her over. “You look really good Applejack. Although I never saw those scars before”

Applejack blushed embarrassed that she saw her recent adrenaline fix scar. “It's uh...nothing. Just farm work. You know how dangerous that is”

Twilight could tell she wasn't telling her the whole truth about it but she wasn't about to push for answers. It was probably nothing. “Yeah that's true. Oh and Applejack? This is my mom” she said and motioned to her mother.

“Hello there my name is Twilight Velvet” Velvet said with her hand out to shake.

“Nice to meet you Mrs. Twilight!” She took her hand and shook her around in a happy greeting.

“Actually it's Ms. Twilight now. But you can call me Velvet. I wouldn't want to get confused for my daughter” Velvet said shaking.

“Ms?” Applejack knew what that meant and it wasn't a good thing. “I'm sorry to hear that”

“It's okay. You don't need to worry about me” Velvet said keeping her smile. They all could tell it was a fake one though.

“So Twilight? Are you here to watch or to judge?” Nightwish asked changing the subject.

“Actually it's part of my princess duties to judge and watch with the other judges. Like a special guest judge” Twilight pointed out.

“Oh that's cool. I can't wait to show my pieces off. I hope you'll like them” Nightwish said. She still had that I don't care tone and that look as if she was like a stone like Pinkie's sister Maud Pie. Twilight learned to accept that even though she wanted her to smile more.

“Of course I will. I still have the painting you made of me and my friends from after the Terrasects attacked” Twilight stated.

“Ladies and gentleman. Please take your seats. We are about to begin!” A judge called out. This made everyone there go quickly to the seats.

Velvet and Applejack went and took their seats as Twilight winked at Nightwish before she went over to the judges and took her seat. Nightwish went to the back of the stage and get ready.

The pieces there were all very nice. Some where just weird to Twilight however. She could have sworn one of the entries was a pile of trash.

Soon Nightwish's art was up. Her main painting was of Twilight's rainbow Castle and Twilight with her friends in the front looking happy. Twilight's smile only grew when she saw it. It brought back all the good memories she had of when her friends were still around her and when she wasn't always busy.

She didn't even realize a tear go down her cheek. But she knew she had to make it right with her friends. All of them. “It's beautiful...”

Another judge spoke up. “This painting has a story to it. What do you call this piece?”

“Friendship is Magic” Nightwish said cracking a smirk. “It's a piece I made from real life. Something of a memory really”

Applejack knew what she was getting at. She had tried to forget about her old friends because she believed she didn't know them anymore. But when she saw the picture her heart jumped. “I remember that day...the last evening we ever spent together was right in front or Twilight's place....and after that..”

“After that we all became so busy we forgot about each other. My princess duties got in the way of friendship I lost what it was that made me the princess I am today” Twilight finished her sentence for her and smiled. “I love that piece!”

The other judges looked at her confused. She blushed at her outburst. “Sorry..”

A couple hours passed and it was finally over. The art show ended with Nightwish getting the first place prize. Velvet was talking with Nightwish enjoying her art. “So this piece is?”

“It's actually my family” Nightwish said with a smile. “Well it's what I believe my family was like”

“What do you mean?” Velvet looked at her confused.

“I don't have any family. I was raised in a orphanage. So I drew this to imagine what they would have looked like” Nightwish said. She didn't sound sad or even slightly bummed out. Velvet could tell she was happy with her life even without a family.

“Even so it must be hard to be all alone right?” Velvet asked.

“Well sure. But I've grown over it. And now I have friends so I'm not alone anymore” Nightwish pointed out.

“That's a beautiful way to look at it” Velvet said. “What do you do other then art?”

“Well I got kidnapped by large insect like monsters and almost brain sucked” Nightwish said with a bit of a laugh.

“Oh right I heard about that terrasect thing. You were involved in that?” Velvet asked.

“Yeah. That's how I met Rarity actually. For that I'm glad I was taken” Nightwish said. “It's been fun in Ponyville. Although a bit quiet”

“Quiet isn't always a bad thing” Velvet said with a smile. “It's nice when you have kids”

“I don't think I'm ready for kids. I'm pretty busy with my art after all” Nightwish laughed a bit.

“Just give it some time. No need to rush trust me. I did....” Velvet said with a sigh.

“What do you mean?” Nightwish asked cocking her head.

“It's...uh...don't tell anyone...but...I had...I had a stillborn before I had Shining Armor...” Velvet said. Her words were full of pain. “I never told my kids about her”

“That must have been hard...” Nightwish knew about pain more then people would think. “I'm sorry to hear that”

Velvet put on a smile so not to worry her. “Don't worry about it. It was a long time ago”

“Well if you ever need to talk about it. I'm a good listener” Nightwish pointed out as she gathered her things. “I have to get going. More painting and all that”

“Okay. It's been fun talking with Twilight's friend” Velvet said watching her.

“Thanks for coming. You know you'd be nicely surprised about how many friends Twilight actually has around here. She just needs to remember that their here for her” Nightwish explained getting her stuff and then walking away.

Velvet smiled and walked off to find Twilight. Twilight was talking to the judges as the place was getting cleaned from the event. “It was my pleasure to be here. Really”

“Well we couldn't have done it without you princess. You were the deciding factor after all” One of the judges spoke like Twilight was above the world.

“Oh uh...thanks?” Twilight said still uncomfortable with how they treated her.

“Okay. It's my turn to talk to the princess. Best friend coming through” Applejack said pushing through the crowd. She managed to get in front of everyone and went straight up to Twilight. “Hey Twili!”

“Applejack. I'm glad we finally have a chance to talk” Twilight pulled herself away from the judges and turned to her.

“Me too. It's been awhile since we did” Applejack sat down with her. “I've been keeping myself busy with you always gone”

“I can tell. You have a few scars to prove that. And you haven't told me how you really got those” Twilight said calling her lie out.

Applejack knew she couldn't hide it from Twilight. “Okay. Okay, the truth is...I got tired of the boring day to day life on the farm...so I started to do reckless stunts and stopped caring for the apples”

“That would explain why Apple acres has been so quiet lately. But why?” Twilight asked concerned.

“I guess I just missed our group adventures and I couldn't help it” Applejack admitted.

“I can't believe you'd go so far as to hurt yourself just because you missed our adventures” Twilight said feeling like this was her fault. “This was all because of me wasn't it?”

“What? No!” Applejack shook her head. “Your busy being a princess. We all know that you can't do your royal duties and hang around with us like you used to”

“But I can't call myself the princess of friendship if I ignore my friends” Twilight pointed out. “I want to get the gang back together. Do you want to hangout with me while I do the rest of my duties for the day?”

“I'd like that actually” Applejack said with a smile. “It's been way to long since we last hung out”

“I agree with that one” Twilight smiled back. “Let's get to it then”

“Don't forget about me” Velvet said coming over to them. “So Twilight ready to go?”

“Yeah mom. Let's get going” Twilight said before they started to walk. “Our next stop is the Everfree Forest”

“Everfree? Why?” Applejack asked as they walked.

“It's part of my duties to make sure nothing wonders out towards the village” Twilight explained.

“I thought the Everfree was doing fine after the last time we saved it” Applejack looked at her confused.

“It was. But lately things have been off there. Treasures go missing. Animals are acting more violent for some reason too” Twilight pointed out.

“Uhhh....” Applejack gulped with worry at this. She knew why all that happened but she wasn't sure if she should tell her friend or not. “I might...know something about that...”

“Oh?” Twilight stopped and looked at her. “Tell me then”

“I don't really want to talk about it right now okay? Let's just leave it at that” Applejack said trying to avoid the subject.

“Okay?” Twilight watched her walk off leaving her concerned. Her mom walked up to her and sighed. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No dear. She's just going through some changes. She's not used to being alone” Velvet explained. “At least I think that's the problem”

“I hope not all of my friends have changed...” Twilight took a deep breath to calm herself. “It'll be tough if their not like they used to be”

“Don't be silly. Even if they change they are still your friends” Velvet patted her back and walked on.

Twilight smiled at this. She was glad her mother was there. She then headed off to the Everfree forest with the others. Meanwhile Shining Star was looking over some history books in the Canterlot library. She had history books in her old room but this history she never knew about. Then again her books were much older according to the dates on the books anyway.

She was confused for the most part. But Twilight was right about Celestia and Luna. But she still didn't understand why they were treated like gods or higher beings. A princess was just a title to her. She put the book she was reading down and got up to stretch a bit. She walked over to a window and looked out of it. She could see the guards and servants working. She liked to watch them all work. She was scared of being around people but seeing them work so well together made her feel good inside.

“Have you adjusted to the outside yet?” Celestia asked walking into the room.

Shining Star looked over to her and smiled. “It's difficult, but I think I'm getting a little used to it”

“I'm pleased to hear that Shining Star” Celestia said walking up next to her. “Have you learned our current history?”

“I have...but I still don't understand...why are Alicorns treated so differently from everyone else?” Shining Star asked looking up at her. “Are we better then everyone else? Why is being a princess such a big deal?”

“I understand how you feel. Being a princess isn't a way of saying we're better then they are. It's a title to show they can depend on us. We are rulers of Equestria to guide the people who need us. We hare not above them” Celestia explained.

Shining Star sighed and looked out the window again. “Is it wrong for alicorns to be free of rules?”

“What do you mean?” Celestia asked confused.

“I saw it in Twilight's eyes. She was made into an alicorn not because she wanted it. But because you princess's wanted another princess around. Am I right?” Shining Star asked.

Celestia let out a sigh. “She was ready to take the responsibility’s”

“Ready is one thing Princess Celestia. Wanting is another” Shining Star pointed out.

“My student before wanted the power I offered...I refused her because she wanted it so badly” Celestia said.

“Uh...why?” Shining Star asked confused. “Isn't it a princess's job to give to others what they ask?”

“Well in some cases but you have to realize when there is darkness in one's heart and when there is good” Celestia explained to the confused mare.

“Your world is so confusing. Darkness is a natural part of being an alicorn. You can't tell me you haven't used dark magic before yourself” Shining Star said.

“It's true. I have used dark magic before and I am not prefect like most believe I am. I have made countless mistakes in my life. I wish I could see my old student and talk with her again. I wish I could take back Twilight's change. But I can't and I have to live with that” Celestia felt bad bringing this to light. She didn't like to talk about it.

“Celestia. It's okay. I'm not attacking you” Shining Star knew she hit a soft spot and saw the hurt in her eyes. “I shouldn't be asking all these questions. I'm sorry...”

Celestia smiled at this. “It's alright. You have every right to question me”

“Maybe instead of questions we could pretend this talk never happened and have some tea?” Shining Star said with a smile.

“Sure. I'd like that” Celestia said. They went out of the library and headed out to the balcony where they saw Luna drinking a shake. “Oh Luna. It's good to see you here, we can chat”

“Hello dear sister and hello Shining Star. Did you sleep well?” Luna asked.

“I slept fine...” Shining Star went over to her and sat down. “I've been learning a lot about the world's current history and it's amazing to learn so much”

“Oh that reminds me. Cadance has shared with me some of the the long lost history books from your room” Luna said taking out a book. “Even I never realized how different things are from the past. I was always wondering why Melody Bloom was acting so strange”

“I'm glad you like reading. You both can borrow any book I own if you'd like” Shining Star said.

“Thank you. But what really caught my eye was this” Luna opened the book and showed it to Celestia. “I've never seen anything like it”

Celestia took the book and looked it over. She could see a page filled with ideas and plans. “What is this?”

Shining Star blushed realizing what they were reading. “Oh my...”

“Is this your idea? It sounds amazing!” Celestia said excitedly.

“It's nothing special...” Shining Star said.

On the book there was notes and small blue prints of technology fused with magic. It was something Celestia had never seen before. “Magic technology...I never heard of such a thing before”

“Although I have to ask. Why did you write in a history book?” Luna asked confused.

“I didn't have a lot of paper...” Shining Star admitted.

“With this technology you could solve so many problems all at once...You could change the world!” Celestia said setting the book down. “We simply can not ignore this. Shining Star. I'll be happy to lend you any help you need for such a project!”

“Really? You'd do that for me?” Shining Star looked at her with a smile. “Honest?”

“Of course! We princess's will do everything we can for you to help this project along!” Celestia said.

“One of those projects is a city. How will you manage that?” Luna asked.

“Actually I need to invent a few things first...can I trouble you for a place to work in?” Shining Star said.

“You can use the empty room near your soon to be room. Will that work?” Celestia asked.

“Oh it'll be great. Thank you, I just hope my inventions work. I never had the materials to test any of it” Shining Star pointed out.

“So what will you call this life changing city you thought up?” Luna asked.

“I think I'll call it...Feathermane” Shining Star said proudly.

“The kingdom of Feathermane? It sounds lovely” Celestia said taking a cup of tea and drinking from it.

Shining Star felt like she finally had a goal. She only made those plans on a passing due to being bored. She had forgotten about them for years. Thought of them as childish. But the gleam in Celestia's eyes when she saw it. It made her feel good seeing her smile. Like she was wanting a mother's approval. “I'll get started right away! It'll be easy!”

Shining Star then ran off in a happily. Luna turned to Celestia and grinned. “Well well. Look who's the big mother figure”

Celestia blushed at this and looked away. “I'm just trying to be helpful. Shining Star is a genius, Equestria needs her. I have a feeling Twilight and Shining Star are the future of this world”

Luna sighed at this and nodded. “I believe you sister...by the way, have you spoken with Melody as of late?”

“Melody Bloom? No it's been quite awhile since we spoke” Celestia admitted. “I would be lying if I said I didn't want to see her”

“Then go see her, I can watch over the castle for a couple hours. You need to have a life outside of being ruler. Like I do” Luna explained.

“You have a life outside your duties?” Celestia asked.

“Of course I do. Me and Cadance go out for a girl's night at least twice a week” Luna said happily.

“You both go and don't tell me!? That's not fair” Celestia said annoyed.

“Actually we did ask you. You were just to sleep deprived to notice” Luna pointed out with a bit of a laugh.

“Oh..right” Celestia smiled at this. It wasn't every day she saw Luna smile like that. “Well maybe I will go out on a date. It's been a long time”

“Huh?” Luna cocked her head confused. “A date? As in a date date?”

“Did you really think me and Melody were just friends? Hehe!” Celestia hinted as she got up and walked away. Of course Celestia was just pulling Luna's leg. She wasn't actually dating anyone but it was fun to watch her sister freak out a bit.

Luna was left confused and unsure of what she heard was right or not. She just went back to drinking her tea trying to settle her odd feelings about that. Back in Ponyville Twilight was looking over the borders around the Everfree forest. She didn't find much wrong. Just a few animals running around. Which that itself was odd, normally Fluttershy was taking care of the animals so nothing ever left the forest.

“This is so strange. No monsters just the normal animals that Fluttershy takes care of. Why are they not with Fluttershy?” Twilight asked as she paced.

“Maybe she stopped caring about for the animals and found a new hobby?” Applejack pointed out.

“That doesn't sound like Fluttershy at all” Twilight stated. “She's not the kind of person to do that”

As they were talking a sudden shock wave hit the area knocking them all off their feet. “Whoa!?” Then something came flying by them into the forest at the speed of a bullet.

“What was that!?” Twilight said freaked out.

“I have no idea!” Applejack said still feeling dazed from getting knocked down.

“I've never seen something like that!” Velvet said sitting up holding her head. Her forehead was bleeding from the impact of hitting the ground but she wasn't feeling that much pain. “Ugh...”

“Mom are you okay!?” Twilight saw this and dashed over to her.

“Yeah...ow...I think so” Velvet said starting to feel the effects of the trauma.

“Your bleeding!” Twilight said as she looked her wound over.

“I've taken a lot of beatings before Twilight. I'll be okay” Velvet said with a bit of a smile.

“What in tarnation was that shock wave about!?” Applejack stood up and looked towards the forest.

“I have no idea...” Twilight said.

“Hey! Are you girls okay!?” They heard a voice from above making them look up to see Misty Gale. “Sorry about that!”

“Misty? What are you doing here?” Twilight asked confused.

Misty flew down to the ground and smiled. “I'm training someone, it's not easy but I've been having fun doing it”

“Well your fun hurt Twilight's mom!” Applejack said annoyed.

“Really? I'm sorry about that Twilight” Misty then went to them and looked over the wound of Velvet. “Well it didn't cause to much damage. She'll need to get it treated though”

“Misty...I don't think I was fast enough...” Another voice came from the forest and walked up to them.

Twilight and Applejack noticed Fluttershy walking out of the forest covered in twigs and leaves. “Fluttershy!?”

“Oh hello Twilight. Hello Applejack, what are you two doing here?” Fluttershy smiled seeing her friends. “It's been awhile”

“Fluttershy was that you who created a shock wave!?” Twilight asked shocked.

“I uh...yes?” Fluttershy looked away embarrassed.

“Do you have any bandages Fluttershy? Seems we hurt Twilight's mom during the training” Misty Gale asked.

“Oh dear. I didn't mean to hurt anyone..” Fluttershy felt terrible about hurting someone. “I have some at my cottage”

They took Velvet to Fluttershy's cottage and Fluttershy helped bandage Velvet up. “I'm so sorry Mrs. Twilight's mom. I didn't mean to hurt you”

“It's okay, really I wasn't hurt that bad” Velvet said as Fluttershy treated the wound. “But thank you”

“I just don't get it...how did FLUTTERSHY of all people create such a powerful shock wave?” Twilight asked Applejack hoping she would know the answer.

“I wouldn't know, I haven't seen her in a long time. How DID she do that?” Applejack turned to Misty confused.

“Well duh. I've been helping her” Misty said with a grin. “The old shy Fluttershy is long gone. I've taught her to be a ruthless flyer!”

“Ruthless? Fluttershy? Those two words don't go together at all” Twilight said before she looked at Fluttershy. “Your not that different are you?”

“Oh no I haven't changed. I've just been learning to fly faster and be less afraid” Fluttershy admitted. “Thanks to Misty I've improved my flight speed by a lot and I'm not jumping at my own shadow...as much”

“Wow so even Fluttershy has changed while I was busy...” Twilight said feeling down.

“Don't be sad sweetheart. She wants to improve her life taking care of animals isn't really a thankful job after all” Velvet explained.

“Yeah okay I just wish I could go back to how things were” Twilight admitted.

“Oh deary don't be afraid of change. Your a princess after all change is good isn't it?” Velvet said as Fluttershy finished bandaging her head.

“Change huh? Maybe I really am just stuck in the past..” Twilight thought about it as she began to pace a little.

“You don't need to stress about it sugarcube just think about the present” Applejack pointed.

“Maybe. I'll have to give it some thought” Twilight said before she stepped outside.

“Oh...did I do something wrong?” Fluttershy asked feeling bad.

“It's not you sweetie. It's just Twilight is going through some harsh times. She just needs to adjust” Velvet pointed out.

“Well I need to change. I'm really sweaty!” Misty spoke up. “Time for a bath! I'm using your shower Flutters!”

“Okay then” Fluttershy said sitting down.

Misty smiled and walked upstairs. Applejack watched her and looked at her crotch. She heard stories about Misty being a hermaphrodite but she didn't believe it. Who could be a girl and a boy at the same time? Applejack had to see this for herself.

Misty Gale went into the shower room and started to undress. However she didn't close the door all the way. Applejack snuck over to the door and looked through it a bit to watch her. As she watched Misty undressed she couldn't help but lick her lips and go right in. she went up behind Misty and grabbed her.

“Huh?” Misty looked back half naked and Applejack kissed her. “Mmmmmmmm!!?”

Applejack kissed her deeply and closed the door. Velvet smiled as Fluttershy was brushing her hair. “So Fluttershy, can you tell me about yourself?”

“Oh uh....there isn't much to tell...I'm not that interesting..” Fluttershy said with a bit of a blush.

“With that shock wave you created? Your anything but boring dear. Your very interesting in fact. All of Twilight's friends are so far. That Misty Gale seems like quite the teacher”

“Oh she's very good. I was scared of even going two feet off the ground but thanks to Misty I can fly without too much fear...although I still get scared..” Fluttershy said happily.

“Well I'm glad your facing your fears. It takes a lot to do that” Velvet said as Fluttershy kept brushing.

Twilight sat at Fluttershy's outdoor table and was deep in thought when she heard a jingle of bells. She stopped and looked around but saw nothing out of the ordinary. “Bells?”

The strange sound only lasted for a couple seconds before it was gone she was left confused but she decided to brush it off. She figured she was just tired and needed to rest so she went back inside. It was going to be a long day for her and she had a feeling something even more strange then Discord was going to happen soon.