Twilight rolled down the covers on her bed, climbing onto the bouncy but lush mattress. Her head sank into a pillow as she put the bed sheets over her body, wrapping her in warm security that was only just now beginning to become familiar for her. Stretching a foreleg, she frowned as it only reached just past halfway of her bed. She turned away from the wasted space and closed her eyes.
It had only been two weeks since the infamous ‘Tirek incident’ and life was beginning to find its normalcy again. Routines and reports had been written, friendship problems encountered and dealt with and there was always at least two shenanigans going on at any given week. Apart from the new setting she found herself in, everything was just like before.
So why then, Twilight pondered as she rolled onto her back, was there still a nagging feeling in the back of her mind? Something she couldn’t simply pin down or describe with words. Although perhaps that was it—a mere sense of missing something.
Twilight opened her eyes and looked down besides the bed. Spike wasn’t there. Instead, he had found his own ‘pad’ in the castle rooms to ‘chill’ in. Twilight couldn’t say she hated the opposite. In fact, it was the opposite; it gave Spike more room to grow into his own.
Sighing, she turned onto her back and gazed up at the ceiling. It unhelpfully bore down upon her. Much too high, she thought. Unnecessarily so. Gazing around her room, she found that waste seemed to be a strong theme of her royal dwellings. So much of it was simply going unused!
She pinched her brow, growling. Under no circumstances was she ever going to follow Mayor Mare’s suggestion to turn the castle into a hotel. Her royal dignity was low enough as it was.
Twilight got out of bed, creeping over to the door. Putting her hoof on the door, she scowled and simply swung it open, then closed it behind her as she would any normal day. She looked down the hall, Spike being down the other side. Trotting towards it, she only slowed down when she was close.
A couple of windows down the hall let the soft moon’s glow. Yet thanks to the crystalline walls, the irregular edges that jutted out cast sharp shadows that spread onto the floor. Twilight avoided them, giving the moon a passing glance through the window, stopping outside Spike’s door.
With her magic, she quietly opened the door and peeked inside. Spike was inside and even from this distance, Twilight could see his stomach rising and falling with each breath. Again, in a bed entirely two big for a pony. Even more so for a baby dragon.
Smiling, she let him be and walked through the halls. Perhaps a midnight stroll would help ease things in her mind. Although it likely wasn’t midnight at all. Probably early morning…
Twilight shook her head, coming to stop outside the throne room. Again, moonlight passed through the windows, covering the backs of her, Spike’s and Dash’s thrones. The other chairs enjoyed some light on their fronts, notably Applejack’s. The darkest shadow cast however, came from Twilight’s throne, a large dark spike extending into the center sparkle symbol on the floor.
Twilight sighed, glancing at all the chairs in turn. Where once they held mere necklaces, now they had seats of power.
Turning away from them, she trotted out into the cold air.
The town didn’t feel unwelcoming, this time of day. Street lanterns had been flicked on and a faint chorus of crickets accompanied Twilight as she walked about. A few fireflies fluttered freely between the trees. She even spotted a bat or two.
She walked along, her legs leading her along somewhere. Anywhere. Twilight smiled as she passed parts of the town which were the background to some very fond memories. Even the smell, a lovely fresh one at that, helped bring back the nostalgia stronger than ever.
Glancing up, she spotted the sign for Quills and Sofas. Was it odd that such a strange yet humble store would bear witness to some of the strangest events in Equestria? Or did it fit perfectly?
Twilight suddenly changed direction and as the sight of the store left her vision, so too did those weird questions leave her head. On she walked, past the town hall, past the fountain, past Sugarcube Corner and more. She walked until lines of buildings were replaced with rows of apple trees.
She sniffed, letting out a deep breath as she detected that sweet apple aroma. She stared at the trees, one of the few things that had never changed through her time here. Strange new faces may have entered and left town, monsters may have destroyed before being defeated and lives may have changed and new titles created. Yet these apple trees… they were a constant.
Twilight outstretched her wings, feeling the subtle movements of the wind glide past her wingtips as she went forward. The stars were definitely more visible now, some of those trickier constellations to see now becoming apparent. Twilight felt another deep breath leave her chest right as her hooves left the ground. Slowly she fluttered close to the ground, staring up at the sky.
Grinning to herself, she propelled herself up above the treeline, getting bathed in the moon’s guiding glow. She didn’t look back at her castle or the town, she merely kept flying, gently going up and down as she wanted. Here, above the apple trees, in the dead of night, there were no rules to constrain her. No obligations to attend to. No other ponies to judge her. It was simply her.
Her speed increased and she lowered her head, keeping her forehooves out in front of her. The wind raced past and over her head. Twilight was no Rainbow yet she was certainly no slouch; she had to keep blinking just to keep from tearing up.
She did nothing fancy. A few banks and turns here and there. No flips or corkscrews. Definitely no sonic rainbooms. Not that it mattered right now. Nopony was watching her and time was became somewhat detached. She had created her own bubble to fly around and do whatever she wanted. Within reason.
Eventually she felt the familiar burning feeling in her wings and sweat dripping down her body. Breathing heavily, she began her descent, right near the Apple Family’s house—the only clear bit of land.
She slowed, kicking up a bit of dust as she landed. Sitting down, she took a few moments to breathe.
“That was some fancy flyin’ there.”
Twilight jumped onto her hooves, wings flared as she peered around frantically.
“Calm down, sugarcube,” said Applejack, walking of the farmhouse’s porch. “It’s just me.”
“Oh,” Twilight sighed, folding her wings. “Hey Applejack. I didn’t wake you, did I?”
Applejack smiled, waving a hoof. “Nah. Heard one of the pigs squealin’ a while back, so I had to take care of them. Saw you flyin’ in the distance as I was coming back.” Her smile was replaced by an inquisitive look as she stepped closer. “Why were ya flyin’ up there so late?”
Twilight’s ears fell back against her head as she sighed. “Things were on my mind.”
“Well I guess it can’t hurt much to talk about it,” Applejack suggested, nodding towards the farmhouse.
“Yeah. Sure,” Twilight said, giving her friend a smile and following her into the house.
Applejack quietly crept through the house, being surprisingly quiet for a mare of her stocky stature. She left almost no noise in her wake, unlike Twilight who managed to find almost every creaky floorboard under her hooves.
Twilight was led to the couch, taking Applejack’s invitation to sit on it. Her friend sat beside her, giving her an encouraging smile.
“So what’re you thinking?” Applejack asked.
Twilight was silent for a few seconds. “How do you do it?”
The farmer blinked. “Er, do what?”
“Keep such…” She glanced around, looking at all the pictures of the Apple family around the room and the walls that looked old but had stood the test of time for years and would probably continue to do so for a lot longer.
“Such stability?” Twilight finished.
Applejack cocked a brow. “I’m not sure what ya mean, Twi.”
“Despite everything that’s happened, everything here is more or less the same.” After a quick pause, she continued. “I don’t mean that’s a bad thing, of course! It’s good, really.”
Applejack let out a little chuckle. “Well, not everything’s completely the same. Pinkie’s around a lot more these days and you know how much she can change things.”
Twilight chortled. “I suppose. But this farmhouse is still here. You’ve still got your work, which is your life and your passion. You’ve suffered no major changes through the years.”
Applejack’s expression softened. She moved closer to Twilight, putting a foreleg around her. “Is this about your fancy new title?”
“Oh, it’s not fancy,” Twilight replied with a bitter laugh. “I hope it never becomes that, anyway. But no, it’s not just about that. It’s about almost everything.”
She looked at Applejack, who prompted her to go on. Twilight nodded. “It’s about everything since I came to Ponyville. I don’t think you understand how big a change that was for me—I’m not implying that you should have known but…” She sighed, running a hoof through her mane. “I was just getting used to my surroundings, my wonderful friends in Ponyville, my whole new self and then… bam! I’m suddenly a Princess now! And my home is destroyed! So now I have to adapt to a whole new set of changes and…” She stopped, covering her face with her hooves.
Applejack said nothing, simply pulling Twilight close and keeping a secure, yet firm hug over her.
Twilight rubbed her eyes, bloodshot but not watery. “I’d just like something, just one thing that doesn’t change. Something I can always go back to whenever things get bad. Right now I just feel… adrift. I don’t even have my old books anymore.”
“Twi…” Started, giving her a gentle squeeze. “Change is… kinda odd. It’s a part of life but ponies never seem to quite catch onto that. We like feeling pretty comfy and change, er, changes things up a bit. It’s okay to feel a bit lost and confused, especially when big changes in your life take place.”
“No offense but it’s easy for you to say that when little has changed for you. Like I said, you still got everything here that you had as a filly,” Twilight spoke quietly, avoiding her friend’s gaze.
Applejack laughed slightly, tipping back her hat. “I suppose that is true. Do y’know why I left the farm, when I was jus’ a filly?” Twilight shook her head. “I was restless. I needed something new, something exciting. Manehattan was just the wrong type of new, I guess. The city didn’t matter though, I think. No matter where I went, I think I would’ve missed my folks. And I’d always come back to them.”
Twilight looked up at her, brow raised. “Where are you going with this?”
Applejack smirked and continued. “Not everypony handles change as well as you have, Twi. Heck, everyday I see ya, you’re either being a li’l Ponyville socialite, always smiling, or you’re breaking your brain over some experiment or some such. It never looks like you have trouble with change at all.” She blinked, then frowned. “Come to think of it, why haven’t you told any of us this? We could’ve helped.”
Twilight winced. “I guessed it didn’t seem like such a big deal. Like you said, change happens; we need to deal with it and move on.”
“But that doesn’t mean you have to deal with alone,” Applejack said. “We’re your friends, Twilight. No matter what problem, big or small, we’ll always be here to—” She froze, blinking. Then she suddenly grinned. “That’s it! Your friends! Us being your friends ain’t never gonna change, not for the world.”
Twilight was silent for a few moments, frowning thoughtfully. Her expression relaxed somewhat and after a while, she leant towards Applejack. “That is true…” She smiled. “You’re the best things that have happened to me. Ever.”
Applejack chuckled, giving Twilight a quick nuzzle. “I reckon you’re the best thing that happened to me as well. Plus the whole town.”
“Huh?”
Lazily, Applejack waved a hoof. “Well, giving all the threats to the town you’ve defeated…”
“Okay, okay,” Twilight said, smirking. “I get that.”
“Good. Just don’t tell Dash I think you’re the real town hero here,” Applejack joked.
Twilight let out a little laugh, although it soon faded away. “Yeah… but as much as I love you all, it would be nice having something that’s always been there. Something material. Like your farmhouse.”
Applejack rubbed her chin. “Hm… just a sec, Twi.”
Carefully, she let go of her friend and started to creep upstairs. Twilight could only just hear the creaks and groans of the old house as Applejack climbed up the stairs. She wrapped her wings around herself, her ears twitching as she tried to pinpoint Applejack’s position. At the very least, she was able to make out a door opening.
After five minutes or so, Applejack came back down, heading towards Twilight with a smile on her face. Once she was close, she turned, showing off her side.
“Smarty Pants!” Twilight gasped, snatching the toy off Applejack’s back and hugging it tightly.
“I just remembered we still needed to give that back to ya,” Applejack said, grinning warmly. “Big Mac will understand.”
Twilight nodded, clutching onto the doll. She slipped off the sofa and hugged Applejack, nuzzling her. “Thank you. You don’t realize what this—no, perhaps you do. I don’t think it matters either way.” Smiling sheepishly, her cheeks turned rose in color. “Even if it’s a little immature…”
“My big brother was cuddling that thing for a while.” Applejack shook her head. “I really don’t care, Twilight. What matters is that you’re happy.”
“Right,” Twilight replied, looking down at her doll. The ravages of time had done some damage to it, such as the button eye on the verge of falling off, but with some care—Rarity’s expertise too—it would be as good as new. While still being a relic from her childhood.
“I’m feeling a lot better now. So, again, thank you,” Twilight said, nuzzling Applejack. “I mean it.”
“I know ya do,” Applejack replied, returning the gesture. “Now, we both better get some sleep, huh?”
Twilight nodded. “We both have work to do.”
“That we do,” Applejack said fondly, walking with Twilight to the front door. She opened it and stepped onto the porch, while Twilight hovered off it.
Twilight still held onto the doll with a foreleg, flapping her wings. “Even if it seems silly—”
“A problem you’re facing is never silly,” Applejack interrupted, waving Twilight off. “Now vamoose, you varmit. Get some sleep.”
Twilight snickered, starting to gain some altitude. “Good night, Applejack. And thank you.” She took off towards the night sky, gazing down to see Applejack tip her hat towards her before going back inside the house.
Beaming, Twilight soared across the apple acres, her doll clutched tightly to her. She flew towards her new castle with much more zest than she ever had before. With Smarty Pants by her side, she could already feel sleep’s sweet embrace and the promise of sweet dreams for many nights to come.
Author's Note
Somewhat new territory for me, this. But hey, it's at least something.
