Twilight Sparkle was daydreaming. When she'd become an alicorn, she knew about the responsibility. What hadn't expected was the Goddesses-damned waiting.

Wait, was that sacrilegious? Now that she was an alicorn, was she...? No. No, she wasn't on par with them. But even without that, she'd been Celestia's student for years, was she even up to that standard? She was far from infallible. And what about Cadence?

Twilight was snapped out of her reverie by the sound of somepony clearing their throat. Or, well, somebody, since it was Spike. He looked concerned.

"Twilight! Are you even paying attention? I've been trying to tell you for ages that Scribble is here! He finally found that construction pony you've been looking for," Spike paused for a breath, "and he's waiting outside for you."

"Okay, tell him he can come in whenever he's ready. I had another appointment but so far that's a no show."

"Twilight," Spike furrowed his brow, "Scribble is your appointment. And he's only ten minutes late."

Ignoring the slight tic in her eye, Twilight responded, "Oh. I suppose you could go let him in now then."

Watching Spike hurry his way to open the doors at the opposite end of the throne room, Twilight reflected that maybe she should give herself a break. Visit her parents maybe. Or maybe... maybe she really did need to step down a little. Get Pen Scribble to delegate some of these things to other ponies. Celestia wasn't infallible after all, and when she had reassured Twilight saying she'd be able to handle anything that came at her, she probably hadn't foreseen an entire city being one of those things.

Twilight glanced out the doors as they were opened just enough to let Scribble and a wiry looking unicorn step in, the latter carrying a briefcase overflowing with blue parchments. Four years ago, she would've seen a neat little town through the slit, busying itself with repairing the scars Tirek had left in the wake of his epic battle with her. Now though? Now, she saw a metropolis.

Archer Stone was sweating his fetlocks off. Regardless, he didn't feel like he was making much of a difference. With his back against the giant boulder, side by side with his two brothers-in-law, he heaved again. Maybe he wasn't helping much. This was earth pony work, requiring great stamina and even greater strength, the first he had, the second was debatable. Pegasi just weren't known for being exceptionally strong. Well, there were exceptions. One exception in particular, but that was irrelevant. Archer readied himself for another heave, picturing some rather spectacular white muscles to serve as a very strange source of motivation.

"Archer! What are you up to?"

At the sound of his wife's voice, Archer separated himself from his companions. The boulder continued to move at the same inexorable pace. His departure was noted by nothing more than a sidelong glance and a little chuckle from one of the pair.

"Archer, come quickly! River's walking!"

A huge smile on his face, Archer Stone rushed across the family farm, taking to his wings and rushing to cradle his wife Alabaster, who was coaxing the first steps from their first foal. Nothing could spoil this, he thought. He loved the farm, even if he'd have to resign himself to the small rocks to be helpful. His pride was a small price to pay for the comfort it afforded Alabaster to be close to home. Archer looked into her soft buttery eyes as she kept them trained on River. A slight glance to her side caught Archer gazing unabashedly at her.

"What?" she smiled the word, an inner light seeming to suffuse her features.

"Oh, nothing," Archer rested his forehead against hers, "Just thinking how awfully lucky a stallion I am."

Alabaster chuckled and closed her eyes, seeming to just drink in the moment.

"Oh, Archer. I don't think you could even start to comprehend how lucky of a mare I am."

She chuckled a little at her own joke before picking up her filly and leaning against Archer once more. They stayed there, unmoving, until her brothers stomped in and the sun began to set. Celestia's work done, they shared each other's warmth as Luna began hers, only the barely perceptible smudge of a city on the horizon and the muted sounds of the brothers' conversation inside to remind them that they weren't the only ponies in the world. For all it mattered, though, they might as well have been. As a chill breeze began to roll in and River started to fuss, Alabaster shifted and, giving Archer a quick peck on the cheek, made her way into the house, the old mesh door protesting as she did. Shortly after, Archer followed her in, leaving one last parting glance to the encroaching night.

Slowly, imperceptibly, the city seemed to let out a breath.

And slowly, imperceptibly, it advanced.

Author's Note

Wow. Okay. I've had this project started for a really long time, but you know what? That's okay. If I would've written this when I'd planned, it would not be very good. Still might not be, but I have my hopes. If you're reading this, please, leave comments! Tell me how I'm doing, tell me how to improve! I hope to actually continue this project now I've started it, but if I don't, just yell at me. That should do the trick.