Chapter 27

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I shake my head as I walk alongside Twilight and Spike, her talking about asking our fellow princesses for a favour regarding when the singer Songbird Serenade will start her performance towards the end of the day.

Granted, I know that’s only half the reason. She’s still a little uncertain around Luna and Celestia due to them being my daughters and soon to be hers.

It’s been three weeks since we found Sunset’s human counterpart here in Equestria.

During that time, we’d gone to Sunset’s world to speak with both her and her family on that side, before having them come over to meet the younger Sunset and our world’s Stellar Flare.

Our Stellar Flare’s son couldn’t join us, despite Twilight trying to find him.

Turns out, he’s Sunburst. The same Sunburst who was Starlight’s friend and, unintentionally, played a part in Starlight’s view of reality being warped.

I’d have thought Starlight might want to help with finding him, but she became distant as soon as Sunburst’s name was brought up and she’d already been shocked when we brought up Sunset’s, it clearly ringing a bell.

Seems she’s still working through that emotional baggage, not ready to face him yet.

Considering I’m me… I can’t say I blame her.

If I were to tell her to just get over it and move on, I’d be an absolute hypocrite.

Those things need time.

So, with Starlight not helping, we weren’t able to find the pony Sunburst before the families met.

At the metting, tears were shed by all.

Our Sunset may have come to see the human version as her mother, but that didn’t stop her crying into her pony mother’s chest, begging for forgiveness.

And, despite knowing he wasn’t exactly her son, seeing Sunburst made Stellar Flare weep like a foal.

It was literally the first time in years she’d even seen her son.

I’m going to be having some very stern words with that stallion when I find him.

As a mother myself, I take personal offence for the stress and worry he’s put his mother through.

After much discussion, it was decided that pony Sunset would continue to live in the human world with the human side of their family and human Sunset or Sunny, as she’s decided to go by now, would live here, in Equestria, with the pony side.

In the end, it just makes sense.

Sunset has spent so long building a life for herself in the human world, it wouldn’t make sense to just upend it like nothing had happened. And she certainly couldn’t commute to CHS from Equestria every day.

One, she’d need the portal wherever she ends up living and two, time works weirdly between the worlds.

Sometimes no time will have passed between our most recent visit and the next time we go there and sometimes weeks, if not months have gone by.

If Star Swirl were still around, he’d probably have been able to explain the exact reasoning, but, sadly, my old friend is long gone from this plane of existence.

Chances I’ll ever see him again in this life time are not just beyond slim, they’re completely non-existent.

And, as we stated when we first met up with her, Sunny would have an extremely difficult uphill battle, since, not only would she need to start school from where she left off, but, due to Sunset’s school record, the government would become very aware of her suddenly being younger.

Celestia offered for Sunny to come to her school for Unicorns, but Sunny wants time to think over her options as well as spend time in Sire’s Hollow, both to get fully acquainted with pony life (she’d still been coming to terms with it when we found her with Cat Tail) and to be with her mother.

It’s not like she needs to rush. Despite her age, when it comes to her academic level, she’s already far ahead compared to others her age, so she can take some time. And I’m sure my Tia will be willing to pull some strings regarding the records once Sunny chooses where and when to return to her studies.

It’s why I’m glad she and Stellar Flare accepted my invitation to the Friendship Festival.

Twilight decided to host it a few days after we’d gotten the human to pony family dynamics sorted out and, knowing Twilight, I let her plan it out, only offering different options to her idea if I really felt they were needed.

Of course, things in Ponyville got kinda crazy during the weeks of preparation, especially since I ended up running into two ponies with Applejack I’d thought were dead: her parents, Buttercup and Bright Macintosh.

The two had apparently been among those who’d gotten Swamp Fever and then miraculously been cured without explanation, just like Sunny and Fwinxie.

I hadn’t known because, well, I’d spent all that time away from Ponyville with my daughters and then went to deal with the Friendship Games.

Was quite annoyed Twilight didn’t give me warning about that.

Was that payback for just dumping Celestia and Luna eventually becoming her daughters on her suddenly?

Either way, I have to admit, as Twilight explains her plans for the festival to my daughters and Cadance, including how we will announce our engagement right after Songbird Serenade finishes her set, I tune it out a bit (she goes into a bunch of maths stuff too smart for me to properly follow) as I look around the throne room.

Celestia and Luna have spent a while doing it up and it’s much more grandiose thanks to the new paint job and windows and at least there are now two thrones like back in the castle in the Everfree.

I’m sure my daughters were in a rush to not make me angrier at them for not having two thrones, though I could tell Luna shared my frustration a bit.

“So, you’re saying you want us to move the sun and the moon… for the party?” Luna asks… and I find myself frowning at her tone.

Sure I didn’t fully understand all Twilight’s math and scientific mumbo jumbo, but I was able to grasp the part of the sun and moon’s light.

The two will be needing to move the two orbs as evening coming anyway, so why did she say that as if it’s impossible for them to do just that little thing for a few moments?

I know the two have done more with the two celestial bodies in the past. I read my past self’s journal, after all.

“Well, I’d do it myself but, I don’t have your magic,” Twilight jokes with a cute snort that pulls me from my thoughts.

“Twilight,” Celestia says gently, taking an equally gentle step forward, “each of us uses our magic to serve Equestria in our own way.”

My frown returns. I don’t think I like where this is going.

Celestia reaches a hoof out and lifts Twilight’s chin up.

“You are the Princess of Friendship. You already have all the magic you need.”

There’s a slight pause, before Twilight asks, “So… that’d be a no?” her ears drooping and a pout forming.

After a nod from Celestia, Twilight and Spike turn around and leave, the former with her shoulders sagging as she walks out… while I stay behind.

The moment the door closes, I round on my daughters, giving them “that” look.

At once, the two wilt, Cadance taking a few steps back, it clear to her she should stay out of this Mother/Daughter talk.

“She is going to be your mother in a few months!” I hiss, the two’s ears splaying back and lowering their heads slightly. “She’s not asking for much! She literally is just asking you to do something slightly different as you’re lowering the sun and raising the moon tonight, something you’ll be doing anyway! What’s the problem?!”

“Mother, we… it’s not like we don’t want to help Twilight make the festival the best it can be, but… well…” Luna tries, before looking to her sister for backup.

“You… you told us yourself as we were growing up. We sometimes need the push to do things on our own and this is Twilight’s festival, not ours. If we help her with it… how will she learn to do things for herself?” Celestia clearly tries, but can tell from my not changing expression that I’m not buying any of that crap for even a second.

“This coming from the mare who knows delegating certain tasks to others is how we keep this kingdom thriving?” I cock an accusing eyebrow. “This isn’t some important lesson Twilight needs to learn to be a better ruler. This is literally no different than if Applejack was hosting a family reunion and asked some of her cousins to help with the setup of events.”

“You… have a point,” Cadance says, frowning in confusion. My guess is Tia and Lulu had given her the same BS excuse in a way and it had convinced her. Hearing my side, however, is giving her second thoughts.

“Tia,” I look firmly at my eldest, who hunches down like a foal being scolded for eating cookies before dinner, “what if Twilight had said you should handle the affairs in Ponyville the day you sent her there for the Summer Sun Celebration because it was your festival, not hers? How would that have gone?”

Celestia blinks, sharing a glance with Luna, before looking back to me. “Well, Luna would never have been returned to us. I don’t think it’s quite the same as —”

“Oh, no! Don’t you try any “It was a different scenario” stuff with me, little filly!” I snap back, cutting her off. “You needed Twilight there. She had to do what you asked, both as your student and because of the events we all know. This was her, your soon to be step-mother, merely asking you a light favour to make things more enjoyable for all, including yourselves! She made sure it wouldn’t be an inconvenience to you or interrupted your duties with the sun and moon. I may not have bloody understood half of it, but I do know that’s what she was saying.”

“I’m… I’m sorry, Aunties,” Cadance says, making her way over to me. “Ken has a point. It wouldn’t be any effort on our parts and is just a favour for family.”

The two princesses look like they want to argue their point, but their faces show their hearts aren’t in it.

“I will be telling Twilight we are going through with her plan,” I say firmly, turning to leave. “I’ll leave it up to the two of you to decide if you want to disappoint her… and me.”

With that, I walk out, not even looking back at the two of them.

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I can’t help smiling, shaking my head as Twilight gets flustered talking with Songbird Serenade.

After I left the castle, I’d found myself roped into a song everypony was singing about the Friendship Festival, it ending with Twilight and myself somehow getting covered in semi-baked cake with buttercream frosting... and we’re still partially covered in buttercream.

I do frown at Songbird’s bodyguards, though. Something about them is very vaguely ringing a bell in my head, but I don’t know why.

I’m not given much time to dwell on it, though, as a large black cloud seems to start moving towards Canterlot… even though Dash makes it clear the Weather Ponies had made sure today would be sunny and clear.

A dark dirigible emerges from within the clouds, moving closer and coming down to land, breaking several spires in the process.

A ramp falls down, squashing a pink balloon animal.

“Brian! No!” Party Favour’s voice yells in anguish from somewhere in the crowd.

We wait as a somewhat hedgehog looking creature comes down the ramp, sets up a megaphone that makes the sound the Transformers do with they transform(?) and clears his throat.

“Ponies of Equestria,” he calls out, his voice echoing loudly, “we come on behalf of the fearsome, the powerful, the almighty Storm King.”

As he says those last two words, a banner unfurls on the dirigible, revealing an image of… a satyr-like creature? I haven’t seen any of them in years.

“And now,” the hedgehog continues, “to deliver the evil, evil message—”

I can’t help but deadpan. Wow. Not even going to pretend they’re not evil, are they? Just gonna outright say it… and yet I’d be willing to bet all my magic and wings that they’ll likely be confused if we don’t all surrender, wondering how we possibly could have known they were evil in the first place.

“Is that a unicorn?” Twilight’s voice pulls me from my thoughts and I see a unicorn has stepped out onto the ramp… who I recognize immediately.

She’s got a dark-purple coat, fierce blue eyes, a short cut mane, a scar over her right-eye and a broken horn that’s sparking.

“Is that… Fizzlepop Berrytwist?” Spike and Starlight gasp, shocked, before the unicorn looks to him, bewildered.

“Wait. How do you know Fizzlepop?”

I look to Starlight. “Not the same Berrytwist, Starlight? The one we know was fighting in the war against King Sombra. This one wasn’t… which really does beg the question as to where she’s been.”

Starlight blinks, her face blanching slightly. “Oh. Right.”

Seconds later, Celestia, Luna and Cadance land in front of all the gathered ponies, the former addressing the unicorn as Twilight and I join them. “Tempest, is it? How may we help you?”

What’s this Tempest thing about? What has this mare been through in our timeline?

I thought she’d had it bad in the Sombraverse, but it’s starting to feel like that Fizzlepop, somehow, had it easier.

The pony I guess I’ll call Tempest smiles. “Oh, I’m so glad you asked. How about we start with,” her expression darkens, “you’re complete and total surrender?”

I roll my eyes. Called it. Now either Tia or Lulu are gonna say no and Tempest will get confused why nopony is immediately cowering and agreeing to that demand.

“Oh, goodie. All four princesses,” Tempest says (did she noy notice more or assume I’m a really incompetent Changeling and is therefore ignoring me?) after Twilight says we can probably work things out (to which I can’t blame her, but still roll my eyes) and she starts walking down the ramp. “Here’s the deal, ladies, I need your magic. Give it up nicely please, or we make it difficult, for everyone.”

“And why should we cower before you?” Luna asks sternly. “There’s one of you and hundreds of us!”

I find myself facehoofing. Why do I feel like my dear Luna just set Tempest up for a “Gotcha”?

Tempest chuckles. “I was hoping you’d choose difficult.”

As she speaks, a large group of muscular bipedal creatures, the Storm King’s soldiers I assume, step into the doorway of the dirigible as more start to appear out from the airships dark clouds, stopping to hover over the city.

I sometimes hate it when I’m right.

The Storm King’s soldiers start dropping from the dirigibles, ponies running in terror.

Tempest leaps into the air, tossing some kind of glowing green orb up and then doing a spin kick in the air, sending in right towards Celestia.

Cadance jumps in front of her, raising a magical shield.

The orb struggles against the shield for several seconds, before somehow breaking through, shattering against Cadance, releasing a burst of green smoke… and she starts becoming encased in stone?!

“Luna,” Celestia quickly turns to her sister, “go south, to the Badlands.”

Luna’s eyes widen in recognition and so do mine… before I frown.

Didn’t I tell the two of them to get in contact with the Hippogriffs over a week ago?

Did they not do that yet?

Oh, I’ll be having some firm words with those two once this is all —

My eyes widen as Celestia is hit with one of those glowing green orb, herself turned to stone… and I see red.

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Tempest chuckled as the moon princess flew up into the air.

She readied her next orb, tossing it into the air to hit it, when a loud, guttural scream of rage rang out.

At once, she froze, her mind flashing back to the day that Ursa Minor took her horn.

She was pulled from that traumatic memory by somepony screaming “NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!” and something heavy slamming into her side, hard.

Tempest honestly wasn’t sure what was going on after that.

All she knew was pain as her body was slammed against rock, punched with something hard (hooves she would guess) and then everything went black as the fading sounds of explosions range out around her.

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Twilight stared in horror as Celestia was turned to stone… before she suddenly became uneasy and backed away from Ken, feeling an intense aura pulsing from her.

This was bad. Ken only got like this during the war against King Sombra.

If she’d gotten like that now… she honestly felt sorry for Tempest.

On cue, Ken let out a guttural scream mixed with her Royal Canterlot Voice, her aura pulsing around her, taking on the form Twilight had when she and her friends had fought against Tirek and she and Ken had against King Sombra and she shot towards Tempest as the unicorn readied another green orb, likely intended for Luna.

“NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!” Ken shrieked, her horn blazing.

Tempest was slammed in the side and sent flying, only for Ken to immediately catch up with her and slam her to the ground, before dragging the unicorn along said ground, pavement being displaced as a deep groove was dug by the unicorn’s body.

Seeming to notice their commander in danger after Ken stopped, leaving Tempest wheezing, beaten, broken and bloodied on the ground, the Storm King’s soldiers turned their attention to Twilight’s fiancée and charged, piling on her.

A scream of rage erupted from within the pile, before all of the soldiers were send flying back by a massive pulse of purple magic.

Ken then turned towards the many dirigibles in the air, her face pulled back in a snarl.

Her body began pulsing with more energy as she rocketed into the air.

“Twilight!” Luna’s voice pulled Twilight’s eyes away from her enraged marefriend to see Luna standing before her, Celestia and Cadance’s statue forms held in her magic. “We must get all the ponies to safety.”

“Safety?” Twilight stared at her in bewilderment. “From what? We’re already under attack, Luna!”

“From Mother’s actions!” Luna said firmly. “You may have fought alongside her in the war against King Sombra in that alternate timeline, Twilight, but you have not truly seen Mother’s wrath when she’s angry. And she’s unleashing it on the Storm King’s forces, now. So, help me get everypony to higher ground.”

Twilight did as instructed as quickly as possible, only seeing glimpses of the carnage her soon to be wife inflicted in her rage… and it reminded her why she both wanted to keep Ken from going through this kind of thing ever again… and why she loved her so much.

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Spike watched from the castle balcony Rainbow Dash had dropped him off on, everyone else who’d been evacuated at the beginning of the invasion milling around him, worried.

He watched in worry, sadness and awe at his mother’s work.

Not Twilight, she was busy helping Luna get everypony, even a severely injured Fizzlepop/Tempest, whatever she called herself and the injured Storm King soldiers, up to what Luna said was a safe distance… and he could see what she meant.

After a pulse of purple magic had been seen, a shining purple something shot into the air like a rocket, before curving and aiming towards all the dark dirigibles.

The purple rocket, which Spike had figured out was Ken, smashed through the front of each dirigible, not even stopping.

As each was hit, the front exploded, before starting to fall down at a diagonal angle, each dirigible hitting the one Ken impacted right after, almost like a domino effect.

Eventually, the Storm King’s entire army of dirigibles fell to the ground just at the edge of Canterlot Square, exploding in a massive display of fire and burning metal.

He watched as Twilight seemed to hover in the air above the wreckage, scanning for something, before diving down.

Instantly, he felt a teleport surrounding him and glanced down to see the aura was deep blue.

Next second, he was standing in the flaming wreckage that was once Canterlot Square.

Twilight was cautiously approaching Ken, who was standing in the middle of the disaster zone, her body tense, breathing heavily.

“Ken?” she whispered, just loud enough that Spike could hear it as he and his older sister approached their parents.

Ken’s head darted towards Twilight, their eyes meeting, Ken’s pinpricks.

Ken hesitated, something flickering in her eyes… before her expression softened and eyes returning to normal… before tears began forming.

Twilight immediately pulled the other Alicorn into a hug and Ken silently cried onto her shoulder.

He and Luna slowly approached, before joining the hug.

Author's Note

Hmm.

I dunno. Was this good?

I'll be honest, i'm more interested in getting to the part where Ken meets with Sunny and her mother at Hearth's Warming.

I thought I knew where i wanted this chapter to go, but... is this good?

I'm having some serious second thoughts and i don't like it.

Ken losing it on Tempest and blowing up the diridgles was planned, but... did i execute it well enough.

I hope so, or else this will feel like a massive downgrade from last chapter.

As for what it looked like, Ken dragging Tempest against the ground so hard the pavement crumpled, leaving a groove, just picture Broly in the Super Broly movie dragging Goku across the wall of a glacier.

Pretty much that.

Anyway, the internet is getting funky, meaning i may have to reset the computer to get it to connect again, so i'm gonna end this here.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and, til next time, stay safe, stay clean and see you later everybody