In The Twahlaht Of Her Youth

Chapters

Twahlaht Falls
Princesses and Frenemies
The More Things Change

Twahlaht Falls

It was a rubbish day in Canterlot. Oh, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, fiddle-dee-dee; but it was also the day before exams, and Twahlaht Sporkle wanted nothing to do with the high-pressure atmosphere at the moment.

She was tired of the look of disappointment in Luna's eyes whenever she flubbed a basic spell. She couldn't help it; her talent was, for lack of a better term, spork magic. She could turn things into food-- specifically, food that could be easily eaten with a spork-- with such ease that, in an unheard of turn of events, her horn had actually changed to a spork at the moment she got her cutie mark. However, other magic had always, and would continue to be, such an amazing effort as to not be worth it, at least in her mind.

In the Princess's mind, however, the physical changes that the discovery of Twahlaht's special talent had wrought indicated that the young filly must be very special indeed; upon learning of them, she had sent immediately for Twahlaht to be enrolled in Luna's magic school. And despite failure after disappointing failure of whatever results she had hoped for to be achieved, the Princess had taken Twahlaht under her wing, in order to help her reach her full potential.

"Well, so much for my 'potential'," Twah muttered, kicking a stone spitefully out of her way as she made her way through the woods, to her special "hiding from duties" place. So much for her potential indeed. When she tried transformation spells, she was as likely to turn a cup into a bird as a bowl. The last thing she'd tried to levitate had, instead, crashed to the floor hard enough to leave a crater in the stones. Her mustache spell had left her pet chameleon hirsute for a week (and he still needed a touch-up shave once in a while). She had no friends; rumors had quickly spread that, unless you wanted your belongings turned to creamed corn or pudding, Twahlaht Sporkle was simply a hazard to be around.

She wended her way through the quiet woods, down a sun-dappled path (little more than a slightly-more-heavily trodden track through the trees) that only she knew about, until she reached a clearing. This was "her" place, the place she went when her duties as Luna's pupil became too heavy a burden to deal with. Strewn with wildflowers, grass up to her knees, the tiny glade was perfect for flopping down and getting lost in her thoughts.

Today, however, something seemed out of place. It took her a moment to figure it out, but in short order she noticed a faint shimmer on the other side of the clearing. Cautiously, she walked over to it and gave it a sniff and a once-over.

Magic, obviously. But of what sort? Nothing in her erratic study methods had turned up anything like this. It appeared to be some sort of portal, but the peculiar way it was shimmering made it impossible to clearly see where it led.

It would be foolhardy and dangerous for her to go through the portal, not knowing where it came out, she told herself. She could end up in the back of beyond, surrounded by feral creatures, or in an unfriendly town where she could be hurt or killed.

She realized with a start that the portal was getting smaller. Not very fast, but fast enough that further examinaton would be impossible in just a couple of minutes. And, she admitted to herself, it would be impossible for her to fit through it safely in less than thirty seconds.

Sheer impulsiveness and driving curiosity led her, with barely a hesitation, to the conclusion that she couldn't let this opportunity pass. "After all," she said as she leaped through, "it's got to be better than exams."

*****

The portal flung her onto her side hard enough to knock the breath from her. ""Ohhh, ouch!" she cried, tears brimming in her eyes at the shock of it.

She lay still for a minute or two, trying to regain her breath and her composure. At least no one had seen. Finally, she sat up, and looked around her at... a clearing. Her clearing, in fact. As she watched, the portal dwindled down to a pinhole, then vanished. "Well, that was a bust," she said in disgust, climbing warily to her feet.

Suddenly, she realized she heard a commotion not far from her, in the direction the castle lay. "It came from over here!" called a stallion, followed swiftly by the sound of hoofbeats coming toward her. She cringed down. "Boy, I'm in trouble now," she muttered.

Moments later, two guards burst into the clearing. Upon seeing her, they stopped and stared. "Miss Sparkle?" one of them asked in a bewildered tone. "What are you doing out here?"

"There was a dangerous spell detected in this area," added his companion in an off-handed tone. "Don't know what kind... but you could be in danger if you stick around here."

"Miss Sparkle! Your horn!" gasped the first. "We have to take you to the Princess, immediately!"

Twahlaht didn't even have time to get a word in edgewise as the guards hustled her out of the woods. "Hang on just a second," she finally cried as they reached the edge of the palace grounds. "What do you mean, my horn? What's wrong with it? And why do you keep calling me Miss Sparkle?"

"Worse than I feared," muttered one of them. The other stopped and looked her in the eyes. "Your name is Twilight Sparkle," he said slowly, placing his hoof gently on her shoulder. "You've been in some sort of accident, and we're taking you to someone who can take care of you."

She shook him off, angrily. "Since you must be new around here, my name is Twahlaht Sporkle," she said, pronouncing it with the same insulting slowness he'd used on her. "All I did was fall down like a clumsy idiot, and I don't need to be 'taken care of'." She began marching towards the castle, any good mood she'd managed to muster completely evaporated. The guards exchanged a look behind her back, and followed her.

She was in such a lather as she entered the palace that, at first, she didn't notice little things that were not the same as she was used to. She halted in her tracks, however, as she saw a large sun banner where once a banner of the moon had hung. "What the hay is this?" she asked one of her handlers. "Did I miss an announcement of some kind? Is the Mare in the Moon coming back or something?" Her joke was half-hearted; everyone knew that Luna had banished her sister to the moon a thousand years ago, for hubris. She highly doubted Celestia would be coming back any time soon.

The guards exchanged another look. "Please come with us, Miss... uh... Sporkle," one said, and they began leading her to Princess Luna's chambers.

Creeping doubt began filling Twahlaht as she continued to take in her surroundings. Nothing looked quite the same as she remembered it being when she'd left not even an hour ago. And those doubts turned to lead in her stomach as they stopped before doors emblazoned with the sun-- not the crescent moon to which she was accustomed-- and knocked.

"Come in," called a gentle but urgent voice-- an unfamiliar voice. As the guards opened the doors, the voice continued, "What news of the magic in the forest? It seems to have stopped, but--"

Twahlaht gasped as the owner of the voice entered her field of view. An alicorn-- larger even then her own Princess and teacher-- stood before her. A golden sun lay emblazoned upon the blinding white field of her flank, and stars danced in her pastel-hued hair.

Twah's gasp was echoed by this strange Princess. One of the guards hastened to explain, "We found Miss Sparkle in the woods, near where the magic was detected."

"That's impossible!" cried the alicorn. "I just saw Twilight Sparkle in the library, with Spike and her friend Pinkie Pie. They were looking for some kind of spell." She turned her great, rose-colored eyes upon Twahlaht. "That is not Twilight Sparkle," she said heavily.

The world began to spin before Twahlaht's eyes, then narrow to a pinpoint. She realized she was fainting, and gave into it gratefully.

*****

When she came to, she opened her eyes with great reluctance. She gazed around at what she could only assume was this world's equivalent of her own room. She rolled onto her side to fully take in the changes.

Where she was accustomed to seeing her toys (an extensive, shelved collection of which she was simultaneously fiercely proud and somewhat ashamed), there was, instead, a bookshelf, crammed with boring-looking tomes of a variety of sizes. Rather than her own autographed Wonderbolts poster, there was a chart of various spells and their components-- somewhat worn, as though it had often been taken down, perused, and then lovingly put back in its place. In place of her room's usual slight air of disorder, this room had an air of rather determined tidiness; you could tell this was the bedroom of someone who never suffered a dustbunny to live under the bed.

Twah rolled her eyes, sighed, and lay back, thinking hard. It was clear what had happened, of course; the portal had obviously been one to-- to another dimension or something. Some bizarre facsimile of her own world, where Luna was not in charge and where Twah herself had some neatnik, bookworm counterpart.

No matter what, this wasn't going to be pleasant. Best case scenario, she'd come to a world where she'd be looked upon as some aberration, a doppelganger, a freak. Worst case scenario, she could be killed by those in power for being somehow connected to whatever magic had caused the rip in the fabric of reality. Either way, she had no home here, no family, no oft-exasperated but still loving tutor. She was a stranger here.

At this thought, her eyes brimmed with tears. If even the Princess herself had seemed puzzled about the nature of the magic in the woods, the odds that she'd ever get home seemed dwindle the more she considered them. She was stuck here, and so she might as well try to figure out how to make the best of things.

With that, she sat up, dashed the tears from her eyes crossly, and, with great determination, got out of bed. At least she hadn't been imprisoned, she thought hopefully; and there was what appeared to be a hot meal steaming enticingly on the desk.

She walked over and examined the tray. The fact that the sweetened oatmeal was still quite hot indicated to her that it must be breakfast time. Her spork glowed with magic as she checked for whether the food had been drugged; it seemed free of both magic and more mundane substances, other than honey and oats. Although she was less good with liquids, she gave the glass of milk a once-over as well; as far as she could tell, it was also clean.

No other examination seemed necessary. She was hungry, the food looked and smelled wonderful, and it was the first thing in this world that seemed to be exactly what it was supposed to be. She tucked in without any further ado.

Several minutes (and one window-rattling belch) later, she sighed contentedly, gave the empty bowl a last longing swipe with her tongue, and looked around once more. Now that she had a fortifying meal in her, it seemed best that she take the minotaur by the horns and start the process of settling into this world for the long haul. She walked to the door, took a deep breath, and opened it to find...

...the grey backsides of a pair of guards blocking the doorway. Wrinkling her nose at this less-than-welcome surprise (though, upon further thought, it really shouldn't have surprised her), she cleared her throat meaningfully. "Um, hello. Should I take this to mean I can't go anywhere?"

The guard to her left let out a whinny as he jumped about three feet in the air; since she hadn't taken any pains to be particularly quiet, she marked him as one likely to drift off on the job. The other, rolling his eyes, looked at her. "Not at all, miss. In fact, we're under orders to take you to Princess Celestia as soon as you have your bearings. Would you care to accompany us now, miss?"

Her worst fear. She had had her suspicions, what with the blazing suns everywhere-- including the Princess's flank-- but she still shuddered to think of it. Princess Celestia! The Mare in the Moon! She couldn't bear to think about what sort of horrible things the Princess likely had planned for her. Experiments, maybe. Knives and hot tongs, maybe. She attempted to keep her composure by reminding herself that, had that been foremost in Celestia's mind, Twah probably wouldn't have found herself in a comfortably appointed bedroom upon awakening.

She let out a puff of hot, nervous breath, and said, "All right, let's go."

The guards led her along a route she knew well, and her eyes noted various changes, both small and large, with a feeling of nostalgia. Wall sconces rather than candelabra on tables; different tapestries; carpet runners where there ought to have been bare stone, and vice versa. And, of course, images of shimmering, golden suns, everywhere. The closer they got to the throne room, the more small and cringey Twah felt. Her home, gone! Gone as though it had never existed, and her fate in the hooves of the most feared mare in Equestrian history. Twah was an avid reader of horror novels, and her mind helpfully supplied a variety of horrible fates that could potentially be awaiting her.

Too soon, they stood before the heavy throne room doors. The more alert of the guards knocked briskly. Bracing herself for a booming voice out of nightmare, she found herself unreasonably calmed to hear the same firm but gentle voice from earlier call, "Enter."

The guards swung the doors open. "The visitor, Your Highness," said the daydreaming guard-- politely, but with no fear.

"Come in, my little pony," said Celestia gently to the cringing young mare. "Let me have a look at you."

Twahlaht walked slowly in, looking around her. The throne room was as warm and inviting as she remembered it being, though it differed in every detail. Perhaps, she dared to hope, she wasn't about to have dreadfully interesting things done to her. Her eyes finally settled on the dais, where sat Celestia, Luna (to her great relief and surprise-- apparently in this world the Princesses had worked out their differences), and... herself!

Of course, she instantly realized that it wasn't her, per se. But aside from having a normal horn (of which Twah was simultaneously jealous and a bit smug) a slightly unkempt hairdo, a scar and an eyepatch, as though she'd been in the wars, this was her exact duplicate, right down to...

Well, no. Not right down to the cutie mark, she realized. Where she herself had a pink spork, this new version of her had a pink star. How interesting!

She was brought out of her own thoughts abruptly as Celestia said, "May we ask your name, and where you've come from?" Discomfited about having been caught staring, Twah blushed and looked at the flagstones on the floor diffidently.

"My name is Twahlaht Sporkle... and I come from Canterlot. That is, a different Canterlot." Her flush deepened as she struggled to explain. "I was just walking in the woods, and, uh, I found this portal... and I guess I went through it? Anyways, I ended up here." Twah shrugged uncomfortably, and glanced up to see their reactions.

Luna was staring at her with large, fascinated eyes and a small, friendly smile that helped Twah straighten her slumped shoulders and stand a bit taller. Celestia merely looked surprised, bemused, and somewhat concerned.

Her double, however, walked right up to her. "Fascinating!" she said, a quill and parchment appearing seemingly from nowhere. "You appear to be an almost perfect replica of me, with only two major differences." The quill scratched busily as the purple unicorn made notes. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, by the way."

"Nice to meet you," said Twah weakly.

"Likewise, I'm sure," said Twilight absently, as she continued taking notes. "Now if I could just ask you a few--"

Celestia cleared her throat meaningfully, and Twilight looked sheepish as the quill and parchment vanished back to wherever they had come from. "Sorry, Twahlaht. There will be plenty of time for that later, I guess."

"What do you mean?" Twah said, her heart sinking as visions of dungeons danced in her head.

It was Luna who answered. "Well, there is no longer any sign of the portal you say you came through. In absense of any further information about it... we really are not sure how to figure out from whence you came, let alone how to return you there." Her dulcet voice was apologetic. "Do you not have any further information? Did you not study it before entering it?"

Twah shook her head slowly as her skin crawled from the sensation of everyone staring at her. "I don't, uh, really know a lot about magic. I mean, I study magic, but I'm not very good at most of it. And I guess I'm kind of, I guess you could say impulsive." From the corner of her eye, she noted Twilight's quill scratching against the parchment once again; it seemed the other unicorn simply could not resist the opportunity to make notes.

"Well, my little pony," Celestia said, casting a dour eye upon Twilight, "it seems apparent to me that you will need lodging and food until we can figure out a way to get you back to your own world. Until that happens, or until you find new lodgings, I hope you will do us the honor of staying in Twilight's former room here at the castle."

Twah's heart filled with a rush of relief. "Oh yes, Your Majesty, I'd be very grateful." She knelt to show her respect.

Celestia's soft laughter seemed to fill every corner of the room. "Well, good then. If you'd care to go with Twilight, she seems to have quite a few questions for you-- as I'm sure you must have for her."

"Yes, Your Majesty. Thank you, Your Majesty. You aren't nearly as awful as I'd heard." Twahlaht clapped a hoof over her mouth, too late to stop the outpouring of stupidity, and flushed brightly again; but Celestia just burst into surprised laughter, accompanied by bright peals of amusement from Luna.

"It seems I may have some questions for you myself at a later time!" was Celestia's only reply as she and Luna looked at each other with twinkling eyes and tried to regain their composure. "Now please. Go and become acquainted with your temporary home. We'll sort out what to do next in a few days."

"Thank you again, Your Majesty!" called Twahlaht, as she hustled out, with a visibly unnerved Twilight close at her heels.

As the throne room doors closed behind them, Twilight said, "That was an awfully... brave... thing to say." Her tone left no doubt that "brave" was being used euphemistically.

"My mouth ran away with my brain," admitted Twah ruefully. "It's just that, where I come from, she's been on the moon for a thousand years for being, well, awful."

"Celestia as the Mare in the Moon?" Twilight repeated excitedly. "Gosh, I just have so many questions for you! Here, let's go to the library..."

Twah shook her head in bemusement. Clearly, her adventures were just beginning.

Princesses and Frenemies

In The Twahlaht Of Her Youth Ch. 2

"...And then SHE said that no, I didn't understand, and then I said, of course I understand, silly, but you can't fit that many eggs in a chicken!" Pinkie Pie punctuated the end of her strange, rambling tale with a giggle.

Twahlaht had understood every word Pinkie had used, but she could not make sense of any single complete sentence, let alone the story as a whole. Still, she managed a weak smile. "That's a funny story."

"Isn't it?" bubbled the bright pink earth pony, radiating manic good cheer.

"It really is. Thank you for taking the time to tell it to me," said Twahlaht gravely. After only a week in her new quarters at Canterlot castle, she had been surprised to find that she'd actually made two friends-- Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie. Since neither of them had known her when she was still getting used to the full strength of her magic (and waking more mornings than not under a blanket of cottage cheese rather than feathers), neither of them had ever developed the instinctive survival trait of avoiding her; and she was pleased to find that, in the absence of any disastrous transformations, both the good-natured young mares seemed to have taken to her easily.

Even better, she had on three occasions had the opportunity to spend time with Luna. It was silly to place such value on time spent with the Princess-- this was not her Luna, as she was well aware; there was a pleasant, friendly air to their socialization, but not the easygoing rapport of a mentor and student who'd known each other for years, and Luna's demeanor and habit of speaking in Old Equestrian was that of royalty recently returned from banishment, rather than that of someone who'd been in power for countless years-- but Twah still felt an irrational comfort being around her. Princess Luna had become, for all intents and purposes, Twah's security blanket, and the young mare felt fortunate that the Princess seemed to realize this and be tolerant of it.

All in all, she was really rather enjoying her time in this strange new world. She was meeting new people, and they all seemed to like her. It was an odd, but not at all unwelcome, sensation. Even Celestia was a remarkably pleasant person, and seemed oddly pleased to have Twah around. Her only regrets were her toy collection and her poor little chameleon. She knew her Luna would take care of Charlie, but she missed him. She only hoped Luna wouldn't think she had run away intentionally.

Twah sighed with mingled contentment and worry and lay back in the grass as Pinkie started another story around a mouthful of cookie. She and Pinkie were having a tea party in Twah's clearing in the woods. She went there almost every day, dreading and hoping for the portal to have returned. From what Twilight and Luna had worked out, the portal had probably been caused by Twilight slightly muddling a time-travel spell; but neither of them could exactly figure out what (if anything) Twi had done wrong, in order to recreate the mistake.

Fortunately, Twah was almost never alone on these outings. Once, Twilight had come with her; she had come to study the area in the hopes of finding clues, but her company was nonetheless warm and welcome. On three other occasions (including today), Pinkie Pie had accompanied her. Twahlaht had been pleased to learn that Pinkie, who had taken time off from her job as a baker in Ponyville in order to help Twah acclimate, shared her own sense of fun and play, one of the few qualities Twilight seemed to lack. Between the two of them, she had really begun to feel like she could fit in in this world-- for the long haul, should that prove necessary.

Twah studied the pattern of light shining through the trees and sat up with another sigh. "We'd probably better be getting back to the castle," she said, when Pinkie paused for breath. "It's nearly dinner time."

"Okee dokee loki!" Pinkie replied promptly, and the girls began packing up their belongings.

"Pinkie?" Twah said rather shyly, as she put the cups into the picnic basket.

"That's me!" Pinkie replied sunnily, carefully folding the blanket.

"Thanks. Really. For... for being my friend."

*****

Later, the three young mares sat around in Twah's room. Twilight had arranged herself, seemingly unconsciously, at the desk as usual; Pinkie and Twah took up spots on the bed, with Pinkie relaxing against the wall and Twahlaht stretched out on her stomach. Spike, Twilight's dragon (whom Twahlaht sometimes found kind of obnoxious-- young kids had never really been her thing, even when she'd been one), was in the corner of the room, playing with a set of toys that seemed to include miniatures of himself and a white unicorn, occasionally making them "kiss" in between epic battles with dragons and changelings and some weird creature that seemed to be a conglomeration of about fifty other creatures[1].

Dinner had been filling-- and boring, as it often was when the "grown-ups" were around. The conversation rarely devolved into silly territory around the Princesses and the purple unicorn stallion that seemed to follow Luna around a lot of the time[2]. Still, that was the expectation, and it was a comfortable one, one to which Twah had been accustomed for many years. Grown-ups were boring. Luckily, she now had friends, so she knew she'd at least get to have fun when mealtime was done.

"I can't stay here forever, you guys," Twah announced mournfully. "I mean, I may be staying in this world forever, who knows, but I can't keep living in the castle. I don't have any excuse for being here. I'm not working or studying, or even really being studied, anymore, and it feels weird being here. Like I'm taking advantage of the Princesses."

"Don't be silly," admonished Pinkie. "If Celestia didn't want you here-- well, you just wouldn't be!"

"True," said Twilight thoughfully, "but I also see what Twah is saying. I mean, would you feel very good about living at Sugarcube Corner if you weren't working for the Cakes or paying rent?"

"Oh, I'd never do that!" Pinkie exclaimed, shocked. "I'd rather go back to the farm!" Then she clapped her hooves over her mouth as she realized what she'd said. "I fee wut oo mean," she said, muffled.

"That does make me wonder, though," Twahlaht said slowly. "Why exactly does Celestia want me around? I mean, I mentioned something yesterday about maybe moving out and finding a job, and she practically tripped over herself telling me I didn't need to worry about that."

"That is a little weird," admitted Twilight. "No offense, Twah, but I really can't see any way in which you've made yourself indispensible to the Princess. We've learned most of what we might need to know about your magic and your world, and we're fairly satisfied that the portal has a mundane, non-malign origin-- at any rate, we're satisfied that you didn't have anything to do with it. So it doesn't really make sense that Celestia wouldn't want you to go out and find a useful purpose for your life. Maybe you just misunderstood her."

In spite of herself, Twah was a little hurt. "I most certainly did not misunderstand her. I said, 'I'm thinking about going out and looking for work," and she said, 'You've only just settled in, you mustn't strain yourself worrying about those things just yet.'"

"Okay, okay," snapped Twilight. "So you didn't misunderstand her. I just don't see any other reasonable explanation for it."

Pinkie had been growing increasingly stiff as the tension rose between the two unicorns. Finally, she burst out, "Well, it doesn't seem like that big a deal, we can worry about it tomorrow, let's go down to the kitchen and make cupcakes okay?" When no one answered immediately, she repeated, "Okay?"

After one last sullen glare at Twilight, Twahlaht turned to Pinkie with a poor effort at a smile. "That's probably a good idea, Pinkie." Twilight nodded reluctantly, and Twah heard Spike, who she just now realized had gone quiet, sigh with relief.

Pinkie Pie literally bounced off the bed, and the unicorns followed her example with a bit more poise. Spike got up, brushing toys out of his lap (but still clutching the baby dragon and white unicorn miniatures), and the four of them trooped down to the kitchen to settle their differences over baked goods.

*****

As the three of them lay in Twah's oversized bed that night (as they had done from the first night, despite there being plenty of other rooms in the castle-- Twilight was apparently a big fan of slumber parties), Twah stared at the ceiling, lost in thought. She assumed the other girls were asleep, so she nearly jumped out of her skin when, from her left, Twilight whispered her name softly.

"What?" she replied, just as softly, after taking a moment to be sure she wasn't about to die of a heart attack.

"I'm... I'm really sorry about the things I said earlier. I mean, about saying I didn't see why the Princess wants you around. That was really mean of me, and I'm really sorry I hurt your feelings." A brief pause, and then, "I... guess I was just jealous. The Princess was my private tutor before I moved to Ponyville, and we've always been so close, it just made me feel bad to think about you being here... in my room, in my old life, you know? So I guess I was jealous-- I guess I still am-- but it isn't fair of me to take that out on you."

Twahlaht considered these things for a moment. How would she have felt, in Twilight's place? In point of fact, even if she had not abruptly left her own world, she would have been in Twilight's shoes before much longer anyways. Nothing left to be taught, too grown-up to stay under her mentor's wing any longer, she would soon have been expected to leave the nest and make something out of herself. Probably a restauranteur rather than a librarian... but that wasn't relevant to the situation at hand. How would she feel if, say, Twilight fell out of the sky and moved into the home of which Twah felt so fiercely territorial? How would it feel, thinking of Twilight playing with her toys, lunching with Luna... and finally, being told to stay as long as she liked?

She turned onto her side to face Twilight, and murmured, "That makes a lot of sense. I'm sorry too-- I shouldn't have gotten so mad. I've just never really had friends before, so I didn't really know how to react. The only positive social interaction I've ever had has been with Luna, and of course we never had real fights about anything."

"What would a Princess have to argue with a regular pony about, anyways?" asked Pinkie from behind her, and all three of them started giggling at the thought.

"You're just too royal!" said Twilight gruffly.

"You didn't bow to the proper degree when greeting me," Pinkie replied in a lofty tone. Twah laughed helplessly until tears formed in her eyes, and her laughter doubled when she heard Spike, down on the floor, groaning, turning over, and pulling his pillow over his head.

When they had all calmed down, Twilight gave Twah a tentative smile. "Still friends?"

"Always," smiled Twah, and gave her friend a big hug. "Now let's get to sleep. I have big plans for tomorrow!"

*****

When the sun peeped around the side of the mountain in the morning, Twahlaht was already up, pacing around the carpet, chewing her lip, and thinking.

The other two girls woke up minutes later, and Twah looked at them seriously. She'd hardly slept, what with all the ideas she had percolating in her mind. "Come on, you guys. Let's get down to breakfast."

"But Spike isn't up yet," Twilight pointed out.

"Let him sleep. We'll bring something back for him," Twah assured her. She had a nauseating mix of confidence and nervousness moiling about in her gut, and she wanted to get this over with. Not having the baby dragon-- whose table manners were something of a distraction-- there could only make this easier.

The three of them walked down to the dining hall. Seated, as usual, at the end of the long mahogany table were Celestia and Luna. The Sun Princess looked up from their lively conversation with some surprise. "You three are up very early this morning. Is anything wrong?"

Twahlaht took her usual place next to Luna, as Twilight sat on the other side of Celestia. Pinkie sat beside Twah and started serving herself some stewed honeysuckles.

"Not exactly," Twah began. She paused, took a breath, organized her thoughts, and continued. "Your Highness, in, uh, absence of any further developments-- um-- regarding getting me back home?" Celestia just watched her, a small, curious smile on her face. Twah steeled herself and continued. "I think it's time for me to go find a job and a new place to live."

She had hardly finished her sentence before the smile had left Celestia's face. The Princess waved a hoof nonchalantly and said, "Nonsense! You hardly know anything about this world yet. You really must stay and get your bearings."

Twah politely let her finish, then continued relentlessly. Soonest begun, soonest done, Luna had always said whenever Twahlaht tried to put off an unpleasant task. She remembered this with a pang as she said, "Begging your pardon, Your Highness, but thanks to Twilight, Pinkie, Luna, and yourself, I know nearly as much about this world as I know about my own, and secluding myself here in the palace won't help me learn more. I feel useless, helpless, and uncomfortable staying here any longer. Barring a direct order, I'm intent on doing this-- but I need to know something: why are you so insistent on me staying here?"

Twilight looked... well, "very surprised" would be the nicest way of putting it. Pinkie was gulping down some milk, seemingly oblivious of her surroundings, but her ears were pricked curiously. Luna was resting her chin on one hoof, a smile on her face that was almost a smirk, watching the proceedings with a kindly twinkle in her eyes. "We didst warn thee that this would be likely to happen sooner rather than later, sister," she murmured, as Celestia stared, dumbfounded, at Twahlaht.

As for Twah, she felt a stomach-churning fear at confronting the alicorn she had but recently known as the Mare in the Moon, but she didn't let it show on her face. She just stared pointedly, a determined expression on her face, and allowed Celestia time to prepare a response. After all, she'd had all night to think about the various ways this could go (several of which ended in a trip to the dungeon in chains-- no amount of kind treatment would ever cure the morbid, gleeful little proto-equine rattling its cage in the back of her mind); whereas Celestia had just heard about this now. It only seemed fair to give her a moment to chew things over. She had her suspicions as to what Celestia would say, and if she was right, it wouldn't be anything easy for a Princess to admit.

Finally, the snowy alicorn's face softened. "You are correct to question me. I've been very selfish, haven't I?" She sighed, and looked at Twilight with a small smile. "I am sure you know, Twahlaht, that until recently, I had my favorite student here with me, every day-- much the way I have you here now, and had hoped to have you indefinitely. I miss her very, very much, and I suppose having you-- so similar to her in looks-- here has helped me feel less lonely for the days when she lived here." Twilight blushed and smiled crookedly, clearly pleased, as Celestia put her hoof on Twi's shoulder and turned her gaze to Twahlaht. "Still, as I say, I have been wrong and selfish. You are an adult, and you must be free to do as you see fit. It is healthy, right, and good for you to want to build a real life here in our world, rather than wasting away here at my whim."

Luna nodded agreeably, and added, "We shall give-- or wouldst thou prefer us to lend?-- thee some bits, with which thee may purchase a combination storefront and home. Thou art at an excessive disadvantage starting out in, not just a strange land, but a strange world, with no money and no roots; we wish to see this imbalance corrected, and thou mayst pay us back, or not, as thou seest fit and necessary."

Twah grinned foolishly and gratefully. "Thank you, Princess Luna," she gushed. "I'll, I'll happily take that loan, or gift or whatever it is. Oh, I'm very excited, thank you both so much!" She got up and hugged one Princess with each arm, laying her cheek against each of theirs by turns. Celestia seemed startled at first, but then both princesses laughed gaily and hugged her back.

"You really are a horse of a different color, Twahlaht Sporkle," said Celestia in amusement as Twah somewhat sheepishly retook her seat. "I can't wait to see what happens to you next. I really think you're going to turn Equestria on its ear."

"I hope so, Your Highness," said Twah earnestly. She simply couldn't wait to start her new life. This world was starting to really feel like home.

She smiled around the table at all those gathered, who were all smiling back at her. "Do you know, you're all my very best friends?" Her smile broadened as they all burst into warm, loving laughter.

This was going to be the best week ever.

[1]See Spike's Figures, http://www.fimfiction.net/story/23135/
[2]See Princesses and Stepladders, http://www.fimfiction.net/story/18515/

The More Things Change

((This chapter is dedicated to my dear friend Scruffy, who has done so much for so many with his big heart of gold.))

*****

"To Stalliongrad!" the little unicorn filly yells happily, flailing her little hooves against the young stallion's mane as she bounces on his back. "Today we're going to Stalliongrad, and we's gonna fight the communist nemenaces!"

"Do you have your sword, Twahly?" the boy asks gravely, as he quickly but precisely sketches out a map of the house leading to "Stalliongrad" in the living room.

She wriggles around and begins pawing through the saddlebag/pouch her babysitter has, as always, tied to him for just this purpose. "Sword check!" she yells, producing a little wooden sword and waving it menacingly.

"And do you have the compass?" he asks, just as seriously.

She rummages further, almost falling headfirst into the bag but finally producing a cheap plastic compass. "Compass check!"

"Good job. Here's the map," he says, and gives it to her. She studies it, frowning, then folds it clumsily, with no regard for his careful art, done only on her behalf, and stuffs it into the saddlebag.

"That way," she says decisively, pointing her sword.

"That way it is, then. Hold on tight!"

*****

It was early in the morning on a Monday, a week since she'd left "the nest" of the castle. Twah stood in front of Twahlaht's Toy Cafe, studying it proudly, as she did every morning before opening. The stoop was swept neatly; the sign hung straight and proud; every window was cleaned to a mirror shine-- as it had to be done anew every day; the nature of her shop meant a lot of smudgy little noses often pressed against the glass to ooh and aah at her window display, which she rearranged daily.

Putting her head together with those of fun-loving Pinkie and practical Twilight had led to the somewhat radical decision to open the Toy Cafe-- the right half of the store was devoted to the sale of her passion, toys, and the left half to her special talent, food. It was a risky idea, but to her great relief, a lot of people, from parents with their children to sweethearts looking for a special gift, seemed to find that her store filled a uniquely useful niche. Buy that train little Billy wants, or a teddy bear for your grandmother, and then sit down to a hearty bowl of chili or gumbo and put your hooves up after a hard day at the market. She didn't yet have so much business that she was looking to hire anyone or anything, but at this rate she would be able to easily pay back Luna's loan within a couple of years. And she owed it all to her friends-- who, sadly, had finally had to return to their lives back in Ponyville, while Twah had chosen, with regret, to stay in Canterlot.

After her eyes had taken in every inch of her shiny little storefront, she smiled with deep satisfaction and went inside to put on her apron and get ready to open.

*****

"Oh, no!" cries little Twahly as she flies through the air; her mount has tripped over a badly placed stuffed bear and fallen to his knees with a pained "oof!" The little filly hits the ground and bounces, but recovers instantly at the thought that her dearest friend might be hurt.

She trots over and starts patting his cheeks anxiously. "Is you okay? Is you okay?"

He smiles and kisses the top of her head. "Nothing bruised but my ego, Twahly. What about you? Did you get hurt?"

"No, Twahly is fine," she says with a great and ridiculous dignity. She picks up her dropped sword and starts hitting the bear with it, looking stern. "This dumbsy bear is gonna get defeated and brought back to Stalliongrad where stupid Ursas belong."

"I wonder who would have left that poor bear here in the middle of the hallway where anyone could trip over it?" the boy wonders aloud, studying the ceiling with great casualness.

"Someone very irres-- irrepsp-- someone who doesn't take very good care of their things," the young girl replies, stuffing the offending creature headfirst into the pouch and clambering back up to her spot. "But I don't know who, and she will never, never do it again as long as she lives anyways, so let's not worry about it and go go go!" And, unlike most promises made by children-- so quickly made and forgotten-- this is a promise she will keep for the rest of her life.

*****

The day had been remarkably busy, especially considering it was Monday. Her register was stuffed full of bits, and her magic was drained enough that she was considering closing up early, lest the dinner rush lay her low. She had never imagined she would ever have so many people clamoring for the fruits of her labors-- easily a fifth of her display stock of toys was sold, and she hadn't had an empty table for three straight hours during the worst-- best?-- part of the shift.

Now, however, business had dropped off with the remarkable speed it sometimes does in a popular but new shop, and, since things had been completely dead for the past ten minutes, Twah sat down behind the register to bundle the bits to count later. Just as well-- with the way the drawer groaned warningly when she opened it, she was afraid she'd come close to breaking the stupid thing; it certainly couldn't hold any more money. She absently put on some music-- just background noise-- and lost herself in organizing bits and putting them into her lockbox, which she kept under the counter. That practice would have to stop, too, she thought; anything could happen when her back was turned on a day as hectic as today.

Lost in her thoughts, she hadn't the faintest idea how much time had passed when she heard the tinkle of the bell over the door. She quickly closed her lockbox, and turned with a smile to greet her customer.

"Hi there, how can I--" The words stuck in her throat as her eyes met those of a handsome little purple earth pony. The lockbox dropped, unheeded, from nerveless hooves and her mouth worked fruitlessly for a long moment before she burst out with, "Scruffy?!"

*****

They come to a screeching halt in the living room. "Here we are!" the boy says cheerfully. "Stalliongrad!"

But the little unicorn has gone uncharacteristically quiet and thoughtful on his back. "Scruffy?" she asks in a soft, troubled tone.

"Yes, Twahly?" he asks just as softly, turning his head to smile gently at her.

But she does not have a smile to return to him; her face is filled with all the worries and concerns a small person can possibly hold.

"Scruffy, my mom says we have to move away to Canterlot. I told her I don't wanna but she says I don't get to decide."

He nods gravely as he listens. "I know, Twahly. She told me earlier." He looks away for a moment in order to keep his composure.

"Scruffy, will you come with us? Mom says you can't but you can if you want to, can't you? I can't make choices because I'm just a little Sporkle, but you're a big pony and you can make choices, right?" She clings to his mane, her fate, as she sees it, in his hooves.

"Oh Twahly," he sighs, and turns to nuzzle her fat little flank. "I wish I could. I know you think I'm a big pony, but compared to grownups I'm just a scruffy little pony myself. I get to make some choices, but my mom and dad would never let me decide to go to Canterlot with you." He manages a warm and encouraging smile. "But you'll have a new babysitter, who will be lots of fun too. You're going to have a great time, and you're going to forget all about Scruffy."

She buries her face in his mane and beats her little hooves gently against his neck. "Never! I'm never, never ever going to ever forget Scruffy, and I will never ever love any other babysitter ever!" And though the look that crosses his face makes it obvious, were anyone to observe it, that he does not believe this, this too is a promise little Twahly will keep for the rest of her life.

*****

The purple stallion blinked large green eyes at her, looking startled. "Y-yes? Have we met? I mean, I'm sure I would have remembered." He laughed awkwardly and nervously, cheeks turning red, his face a study in confusion.

"Oh!" Her own face flamed red as she brought her hooves to her mouth in embarrassment. "Oh, of course you-- Oh, I'm so sorry-- but, you're called Scruffy, am I right?"

"Y-yes," he replied with a slightly hunted look on his face. "And you must be Twahlaht...?"

"OH! You do know me?!" She jumped over the counter and threw her arms around his neck, hugging fiercely. "I thought I'd never, ever see you again!!"

"Eheheheh," he laughed, nervous and confused still, but obviously kind of pleased. "Um, not quite. I mean, not really. I mean, your name is on the sign on the shop. I have no idea what's going on right now." He shuffled his hooves awkwardly and patted her back.

Twah stepped back hurriedly. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry, I'm so embarrassed. You just caught me off guard. You see--" She took a deep breath. "Are you in a very great hurry? I was thinking of closing the shop early, and I have a LOT of stuff I'd like to explain, if you have time..."

*****

Several hours, bowls of pudding and glasses of milk later, they sat across from one another in her little living room, above the shop. He had a very thoughtful look on his face, as he absently rubbed her foreleg with his hoof. They'd grown comfortable with one another very quickly, after he'd listened to her rather bizarre tale and asked some questions. In one of the weird "parallel universe" quirks she was beginning to grow accustomed to, he wasn't ten years older than her, as he had been when she'd known him; rather he was a year or so younger than her, hardly any older than when she had last seen him, in fact. Odd-- but hardly unpleasant, and she found herself growing warm under his touch in a way that was entirely new, but very interesting-- and worth, she thought, further study.

"Would you like to come by again another night?" she asked somewhat shyly. "I close the shop after the dinner rush-- generally around seven-- and, um, I'd really like to get to know you better..."

He smiled into her eyes with the warm regard she remembered so well, blushed a little, and said, "I'd really like that too, Twah."

*****

It's now bedtime, and the little filly has cried herself exhausted. Scruffy has tucked her into bed, and she clings to his side while he strokes her mane.

"You're going to be okay, Twahly," he murmurs, looking fondly down at the little blue mane.

"I love you, Scruffy," is her sleepy reply as she nuzzles her face into his side. "I love you forever."

And that, too, is a promise she will always keep.