Twilight stared up at the charred ruins of her former home; the Golden Oak Library cast half the shadow it once bared, the smell of burning wood lingering well past the flames’ expiration. Twilight let out a deep sigh, her heart heavy at the loss of the Library. Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash stood either side of Twilight and looked with her.
“It’s alright, Twilight. Ah'm sure most of yer belongings survived,” Applejack said with uncertainty in an attempt to keep Twilight’s hopes up.
Again the princess sighed, it was plain to them that Twilight didn’t want to go sifting through charred books and ash only for her hopes of anything surviving Tirek’s blast to be dashed. Applejack looked back at the girls, who looked at each other then at her in turn.
“I’m sorry, girls. My hopes haven’t been very high, that’s all. This is a lot to take in...” Twilight said with depression. “I lost my home, now I have a castle... Seeing the library this way hurts.”
“We understand, Twilight. We’ve all lost something, one way or another,” spoke Fluttershy.
“Yeah! And after we lose something, we always get something new!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.
“It isn't the end, sugarcube. You have a castle now—”
“An empty castle, Applejack. With seven thrones and a map...” Twilight interrupted.
“W-well that’s just as good. It’ll take time to get used to, you'll see.”
Rarity held a hoof to her mouth as she cleared her throat, gaining Applejack and Twilight’s attention.
“I don’t mean to cut the pep talk short, but we aren’t going to accomplish anything just standing about.”
“Yeah, we aren’t going to salvage anything standing around, where’s the fun in that?” asked Pinkie Pie.
“And where’s Spike? Shouldn’t he be here to help out or something?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“He’s at the castle right now with Nyx. I didn’t think it was right for them to go looking through the rubble and seeing their belongings and treasures destroyed.”
“Lets just focus on the task at hoof, we know what we’re lookin’ for, anythin not singed, ripped or irreparably destroyed goes on the wagon, okay?” Applejack turned and looked at the group.
“Right!” the group responded in unison.
And so the six ponies approached the hollowed trunk which stood black and gnarled. Twilight’s magic pushed what remained of the door open and allowed her friends and herself inside. They stood in what remained of the foyer, the pony bust that once stood on the table in the middle of the room had been toppled over and covered in what remained of top floor, the exposed portions of it singed, much like whatever remained of the shelves and rooms left exposed to the elements.
Books laid strewn about, pieces of a black mannequin that once stood in Nyx's room was beneath piles of floor, but only recognized by the exposed parts that were distinct from anything else.
“Okay girls, lets spread out and start looking,” Twilight said, each of the ponies nodding and spreading out into six different directions.
The minutes ticked on as each of them picked up books with barely any markings, some of Spike’s old comic books, and bits and pieces of the mannequin which while in parts, managed to survive relatively unscathed. Twilight explored one of the Library’s back rooms beneath the place of her former bedroom.
She lifted and tossed aside parts of her bed, pieces of cloth and wood, all of it thrown onto a pile in an empty corner. Beneath the mound of rubble, she found a large chest with barely a mark, much to her delight. She eyed the lock on the front and lifted it until the bottom faced her. Then, she slid her horn into the large hole and turned her head sideways the lock came undone.
“Find somethin, Twi?” asked Applejack as she passed by the door, carrying what looked like the body and legs of the black mannequin on her back.
“Just my chest of trinkets and treasures, I'm stoked that they survived!” Twilight bent down to look at the large burn on the bottom back left corner, as well as the broken chipping wood and leather on the side. “Though it's a little worse for wear, it's still intact.”
Without another moment's pause, Twilight lifted the lid and looked inside to see all of her belongings stored away untouched. She wrapped Smarty Pants in her aura and lifted her up and off of a case of smart pony glasses. She held the doll close to her chest and closed her eyes.
“I shouldn't have doubted...” she whispered.
“Uh... Twilight... we found something...” Rainbow Dash called from the room nearby as the other four gathered around some more rubble.
Twilight set the doll aside, closed up the box and approached, curious and with wonder. Pinkie Pie and Rarity made room for the alicorn, who ceased her approach betwixt her friends while her eyes became fixed to the blue, gleaming and startlingly untouched armor of Nightmare Moon.
“I thought Nyx’s bedroom took the brunt of the blast,” Rarity said with shock.
“I never said it took the brunt of it, but it was devastated so much that the chances of anything surviving was unlikely.”
“Seems this survived plenty well,” Applejack remarked.
Rarity’s magical glow lifted the helmet, which made the girls slightly unnerved, and brought it over to her. She examined it, she felt cool air coming off of its surface like ice so cold just to glance at it would be to freeze. She felt a weight on her, heavy, and each time she looked away from the metal armor piece, the weight would lift somewhat.
“I don't understand why Nyx keeps this, it's a simply awful set, vile and full of twisted hatred that makes Discord look bad.”
Twilight took the helmet from Rarity and placed it onto a blanket nearby along with the other pieces. “Nyx owns this armor by right, technically. She’s had it all her life, from Luna’s transformation to the pony she is now.”
“That’d be quite a heavy debate there. Ah mean, Nyx and Nightmare Moon are technically the same pony separated from Luna, but—” Applejack stopped as her mind struggled to comprehend that fact. “Oh nevermind...”
“Point is, the armor was given to her by Luna after the long night, ownership of the armor is her birthright and Nyx has every right to decide what happens to it.” Twilight wrapped up the armor and put it into a crate designed to house heavy items.
“To be fair, not even she knows why she keeps it...” Twilight sighed.
“It belongs in a museum,” Rarity said with some truth.
“It's one of her treasures.” Twilight adjusted her wings’ position for a moment. “An heirloom, a reminder... I’m not going to risk upsetting Nyx. Like I said, she “has every right to decide what happens to it.” We’re keeping the armor.”
Without further argument, the girls spread out once more. Meanwhile, Applejack took crates and boxes of books and the armor out to the wagon outside. Twilight searched for anything else that belonged to Nyx and Spike; with luck she found her dear daughter’s diary and some of her figurines, covered in dirt and with pieces of paint chipped away. The playset, however, was irretrievable.
~~~
Fluttershy searched around the perimetre of the library, finding very little but a small trail of stuffing and cloth stained in purple dye. She followed this breadcrumb trail, until finally, at the base of nearby tree, Fluttershy had found the remains of the large dummy Nyx had turned into a Twilight Sparkle doll as Nightmare Moon.
The pegasus had seen Nyx with it a few times and didn’t think much of it, other then how sad Nyx was going to be when she found out. With a humdrum sigh, Rarity approached Fluttershy, slightly irked by her lax behaviour.
“Fluttershy, what could be so important that would give you reason to stop and—” Rarity’s chastising came to a sudden stop as she spied the doll in even worse condition than it had ever been.
“Oh dear... Twilight! Could you come over here, please?” she called.
Twilight dropped a large, flat wooden board which kicked up dust, causing nearby Pinkie Pie to sneeze and disappear like a bullet. She looked over to the door and came outside and around the gigantic stump to see what Rarity and Fluttershy had to show, and it was exactly what she feared about this salvage.
Crestfallen, Twilight’s ears flattened onto her head, a small and utterly disappointed frown formed on her face and she seemed to droop and pale. Fluttershy approached and sat on her haunches beside the disheartened alicorn.
“Twilight? Are you alright?” she asked.
“Nyx is going to be heartbroken about this...” Twilight levitated the remains of the doll of herself and rested it in front of her with a sigh.
“She doesn’t have to, Rarity could fix it, then we can return it to her and tell her where it was,” Fluttershy suggested.
“You want me to fix it? No offense, Twilight, but maybe it’s for the best. After all, it was abused pretty badly by the time it became a teddy bear. Nyx said it herself, she used to take out all of her anger against you on it, patch it up, ‘rather crudely I might add’ then start it all over again. It was her reformation that saved it from total destruction... until now...”
“I know, but it’s special to Nyx. She’s told me that she used to talk to it all the time when she was unable to see me. I’m aware Nyx has to grow up, maybe I’m just gripping onto the way things were before Tirek... Before...”
Twilight turned her head around to look at her now outstretched wings, after which she sighed and looked back to Fluttershy and Rarity, “...this....”
“There’s nothing wrong with that, Twilight. Your life has been the same with her as ever, and I’m sure it’ll always be the same, doll and castle or not,” Rarity said, trying to encourage her.
Twilight stood up; she folded her wings again and held the ruined doll in her hoof. “I know... I just don’t want to disappoint Nyx.”
“We know,” Fluttershy and Rarity said together.
Twilight sighed with a groan in exasperation. Rarity looked to her right in thought, she wondered if it would be worth the time to fix it. After all, it was meant to be used as a means of training, so naturally it’d have been abused but not nearly as much as Nyx, who blasted holes into it and tore it open or beat it until the stitching came free. But then as she dug at the ground, she thought about Twilight’s thoughts on the doll’s meaning to Nyx, and smiled.
“Um... why don’t I take the doll, Twilight? I can keep it away from Nyx for a little while, maybe I could at the very least fix it up for her.”
Twilight perked up. “You’d do that?”
“You know I would, Twilight. ‘Tis my element,” Rarity said with a hoof to her chest.
Twilight smiled warmly and brightly, “Thank you, so much.”
“But I can’t guarantee it’ll be fixed. This damage is staggering, Twilight. I don’t know if saving it is even possible.”
“I understand. I’m just relieved you’re willing to help.”
“Always.” Rarity beamed.
The conversation ended with the entrance of Applejack. She rounded the corner and stopped to speak. “We’ve finished up here and are ready to take back what we’ve found to the castle, ya’ll ready?”
Twilight stood up, her disposition and her composure calm with only slight worry remaining. “Yes, I think we’ve finished up here for now. We’ll continue tomorrow.”
~~~
“And now, presenting for the first time in an eternity, a pony whose beauty knows no bounds. Her elegance is like a swan, her passion like a bull, and she has found a dress, one which will show off the essence of her very soul,” Spike announced to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who were sitting around the cutie map which had been turned into a makeshift runway.
Spike moved off of the table and sat beside Scootaloo as a bright light shone from behind the curtains that seemed to draw back on their own, revealing the silhouette of a foal with a long midnight blue and azure dress and a large cerulean and jade hat made from exotic bird feathers, all complemented by dragon scales encrusted with gemstones of many kinds.
The foal started to take confident strides forward, chin held high, her cheeks red with embarrassment and her eyes fixated on the edge of the runway where her friends sat. Soon the light shone no more and the fillies and drake could see with ease that it was Nyx. She struck a pose, one hoof raised like a princess yet with her expression anything but
Nyx would adjust her pose to look even more regal, but she didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as her friends.
“I’m going to get you four for this,” Nyx thought, her eye twitching a little and her slitted pupils thinning in irritation.
“Wow she’s so beautiful!” exclaimed Sweetie Belle.
“Who knew your sister’s Fit for Fillies dress would fit Nyx so well,” complimented Scootaloo.
“Why do you think she calls it “Fit for Fillies?” giggled Sweetie Belle.
“I still don’t understand how you convinced me to wear this. Dresses are so embarrassing...” Nyx said, turning her head away and covering one side of her face with her hoof.
“You look lovely, Nyx,” said Apple Bloom.
Nyx’s cheeks grew brighter and she let off a kind of whine that made Spike collapse from cuteness. Nyx stomped her front hooves as she let out the catlike whine, pouting when she stopped.
“I’m not!” she defended.
“You’re in denial!” Scootaloo teased.
“I am so not!!” Nyx shouted with playful intent, jumping in place on the cutie map and flapping her wings until she was hovering.
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo giggled at Nyx’s actions while Spike picked himself up. Nyx continued to hover above the table, hooves crossed in childish immaturity that was rare of her to display. The room was quickly filled with the sounds of the castle’s front doors opening and the hoofsteps of Twilight and her friends.
“Nyx, Spike, I’m back!” the princess called out, to which Nyx panicked.
“Oh no... if Rarity sees you in that, she’s going to flip out!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed in panic.
“You said it was perfectly fine to wear it!” shouted Nyx.
“Nyx? Spike?” Twilight called again.
Nyx groaned and flew to the hallway door. “Can you girls stall her while I go change, please?”
“Sure thing, it’s not that hard. Just be quick,” Scootaloo said as she turned to face the door; Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom following suit.
Without a moment's hesitation, Nyx took a note out of Rainbow’s book and flew as fast as her wings would carry her, out of the room and up the stairs to her bedroom. Applejack and Rainbow Dash, with some pegassistance from Fluttershy, unloaded the crates into the foyer of the castle, as Spike and the girls came rushing out from the map room.
“Welcome back, Twilight,” welcomed Spike.
Twilight looked around the large room and started to sweat a little, a fake smile forming with her reply. “Thank you, Spike, it’s... nice to be back.”
“Hello, Princess Twilight,” the Cutie Mark Crusaders greeted.
“Hello to you too, girls, have you seen Nyx around? She’s usually rushing in like Rainbow Dash for a hug about now.”
“Hey! I don’t hug!” shouted Rainbow by the door.
“You’ll be okay, Rainbow,” sighed Applejack.
“She’s in her room.” Sweetie Belle held a hoof to her mouth after that, the stall tactic failing before they could start.
“In that case I’ll head up there and say hello.” Twilight passed the fillies and the drake and stepped toward the staircase, until Scootaloo’s intervention.
“So, uh... find anything interesting?”
“Just some old books that got lucky, and my chest of trinkets,” Twilight spoke with much enthusiasm.
“That’s cool, did you find anything that belongs to Nyx?”
“Did you find any of my things, Twilight?” Spike asked, rubbing the back of his hand, eager to find out.
“Yeah, your comic books and some of your photos,” answered Rainbow, who flew past carrying a small box.
“And some photo albums,” Twilight added.
“At least they survived, what about Nyx’s stuff?” asked Spike.
“I’m going up to tell her now, in the meantime you and the girls could help Applejack and the others with the sorting, I’ll be down to instruct where what goes where once I’m done.”
Twilight passed the group by, the stall tactic having worked just a little but not nearly enough. The crusaders watched Twilight ascend the stairs and begin her search for where Nyx had gone.
~~~
Nyx struggled with the dress, the zipper on the back stuck and wouldn’t come free. She shook, tugged and slid her back up against the crystal-like walls in an attempt to unzip the dress, only to have her irritation grow with each failure. She growled and rolled around and whimpered and hissed and contemplated tearing the dress off, even if it meant facing Rarity’s unending torrent of drama.
She sighed after trying the back slide again and leaned against the same wall which she slid down and onto her side. The bemused Nyx stayed there and thought long and hard about what she would do, then it came to her.
“Maybe I could teleport out of the dress...” she stood up and took a deep breath. “All I have to do is focus on me and my coat, disregard the dress and concentrate.”
Nyx stretched for a moment and closed her eyes. Her horn lit up, then her body, then the dress; but then the whole glow shifted from Nyx and onto the stylized cloth, she planned to teleport it instead of her. She might have succeeded had Twilight not knocked on the door, breaking her daughter’s concentration and sending a shiver of panic through her body.
It wouldn’t be long until Twilight came through the door, Nyx needed to hurry. The room she chose as her own lacked any hiding space, it was not yet furnished nor decorated, so hiding was out of the question. The filly’s dark aura enveloped her and in a flash the dress had teleported along with the other pieces that completed the outfit, but where, she did not know.
Nyx looked around the empty room with a satisfied smile, though she was worried she may have teleported the dress someplace it could easily be found in her haste. The door opened and in stepped Twilight.
“Nyx?”
“Hey mommy.” Nyx stood in the middle of the room, sitting down, an innocent, unassuming smile on her face.
Twilight stepped into the room and was tackled as Nyx suddenly darted and glomped onto her in a giant hug that sent both alicorns to the cold crystal floor. Twilight squealed, her wings stood erect and all of her hairs stood up as she shivered, bringing Nyx to laughter.
“I-it’s not f-funny!” Twilight said between chattering teeth.
“It is when you overreact like that,” Nyx said cheekily.
“Hush you, you’re not on the floor.” Twilight pouted.
“Noo... I’m on you!” Nyx poked out her tongue and giggled.
Twilight giggled along with her and stood up. She levitated Nyx onto the floor and placed a kiss onto her forehead, along with a small motherly lick on her cheek.
“You didn’t come out to say hello.”
“I’m sorry, I... uh... I had to...” Nyx paused for a moment to think.
“Yes?” Twilight lifted an eyebrow.
“I had to wash my face, it got a little dirty while I was out playing with the girls,” Nyx put on a fake smile, trying to look as sincere as possible.
Twilight was taken aback in confusion. “In here?”
“Um... yes?” Nyx shrank back and closed one eye in expectation of Twilight’s suspicions.
“You’re up to something, aren’t you?” smirked Twilight with a catlike purr.
“N-no, nothing, honest...” Nyx looked down to her right, glanced up at Twilight again, and swiftly changed the subject by questioning the motherly mare. “So... did you find anything?”
“We found plenty, but I’m not sure you’ll like what we found that belongs to you.”
Nyx’s ears fell flat. “What?”
“We found the black mannequin and your armor, untouched, flawlessly intact and clean without a patch of dirt on it.”
Nyx’s blood ran cold and she shivered. “I-I see... so it didn’t blow up...”
“We’re just as surprised as you are. On a lighter note, I found your figurines.”
Nyx perked up. “Really? How many?!”
“Twelve of the main toy line and two of the rarer ones. They’re a little broken and some were burnt... the playset was a wreck, though... I’m sorry.”
“We can get new ones...” Nyx sighed. “Oh!” she started, “did you find my Twilight teddy?”
The question made Twilight freeze, she expected Nyx to ask this but hadn’t thought about how she would reply to it. The gears in her head turned and turned until she could think of one, but it was an obvious thing to say.
“I-I’m still looking. Nothing yet sweetheart, but I’ll keep looking,” Twilight assured Nyx.
“I-it’s okay...” Nyx frowned and looked to the floor. “I can wait.”
“I’m sorry, Nyx, but I need to keep this secret, just until your doll has been fixed...”Twilight said to herself in thought.
~~~
The Twilight doll sat on Rarity’s sewing table, stuffing falling out of the top half that had been torn away. It was dirtied from being outside for an unknown amount of time. Rarity, in her efforts to try and repair the doll, scoured the library ruins close to ten at night in the hopes of recovering the upper half for repair.
She hovered a lantern close to the ground, following trails of dirtied stuffing and purple cloth with pieces of other fabrics stitched onto them to hide damage inflicted upon it when it was whole. She found a leg at the base of the library’s trunk, but nothing more. It seemed the other half had been utterly destroyed, which only made things harder.
With a hushed little sigh, Rarity looked up at the crescent moon and could feel her search was of no use. She picked up the leg and stored it in her saddle bags then continued her search, as fruitless as it was.
“This isn’t going to do, the upper body is most likely scattered in pieces and rag.” Rarity sat down on a root and rubbed her chin for a moment until an idea came.
Her magic levitated a piece of the doll’s cloth and stuffing over to her, and she grinned. “I recall Twilight telling me about a spell she used to find her books that lead her to Nyx. Perhaps that same spell will work for me.”
She concentrated on both the stuffing and the cloth until her horn started blinking with light. She put down the remains and glanced up at the protrusion, turning her head in different directions in accordance with the horn’s light. The way it glowed most was the way she walked, left.
The blinking of her horn lead her right around the trunk, back into the library and up the ruined staircase, which Rarity climbed with much reluctance and caution. The top floor was bare and rotting, the wood beneath her hooves turned to ash in places she would step.
“This isn’t very safe,” she remarked.
Rarity soon came upon the door frame of Nyx’s decimated and ravaged bedroom. The floor and walls had totally vanished leaving only some remnants of what had once remained. It was here her horn flashed with a passion and the doll’s upper torso revealed itself. The massive hole in the floor opened the way into Twilight’s office, and lying beneath the remains of the floor was the bisected body of the bisected toy.
Rarity quietly cursed the spell for leading her on a walk around the library just to show her where the other half was, though the logic of it was easily seen as the way into the office was barred by a large scorched branch. Unwilling to go down there herself, Rarity shot a stream of light in the direction of Rainbow’s cloud home and waited.
The silence of the night was broken by Rainbow’s loud, tired groan and the rush of air as she flew. Within seconds, she arrived and ceased her flight to hover above Rarity.
“Couldn’t you have waited until morning to ask for my help?” hissed Rainbow Dash.
“I could have, but I wanted to get started on Nyx’s doll as soon as possible, I found the other half but I cannot lift it out while there are scraps of wood and splinters and... I really don’t want to go down there.”
“Just move the wood out of the way!” Rainbow hissed a little louder.
“Rainbow it's too far down, practically sitting in Twilights old laboratory, and my magic isn't nearly strong enough to reach that far down. So would you please?”
Rainbow applied her hoof to her forehead and dragged it down with her skin in irritation. “As vain as ever, Rarity. Fine! But only because it helps Nyx.”
And without another word uttered, Rainbow swooped down, Rarity’s lantern providing all the light she needed and moved the wood about, including the heavy shelf that had been concealed by the wood and crushing the doll. Once all was done away, Rarity pulled the doll to her and placed it into her saddle bag.
“Now you might want to consider getting down from there, that wood doesn’t look very stable.”
“I’m aware of that, Rainbow Dash. Thank you for the late night help.”
“Don’t expect me to wake up at ten in the evening just to help you out again, some of us are trying to sleep,” chided Rainbow, who flew away not long after.
Rarity wasn’t phased by Rainbow’s mood, she left the library ruins satisfied and hopeful she could now repair Nyx’s treasure. She trotted across town back to her boutique. For a few hours, Rarity worked at the table to repair the doll, stuffing and stitching pieces together, but...
~~~
“I did the best I could, Twilight, really I did. I didn’t realise just how much of it was missing and.. well...” Rarity floated the doll out from a cupboard and presented it to Twilight.
Twilight took it in her hooves and could barely recognize the former toy. The repair was worse than it had been since Nightmare Moons abuse of it, the stomach was bunched up and folded inward, the leg was on backwards and it was dirtied and the color was barely what it had been before.
“I know I can do better then that, Twilight but I had to work with what I had... I simply do not know how to repair one of these... Small ones are fine, easy to fix, but a training dummy turned into a plush is a whole other thing.”
Twilight put down the mangled lump and sighed. “You did your best, Rarity; even when the chances of getting it repaired got slim you still had a go at it.”
“But it isn’t enough, Twilight. I cannot let this slide, I must fix it, if not then I could fashion a new one from another training dummy used by the cult.”
“Nightstone is currently being refurbished for a new school, run by yours truly,” Twilight said with pride and placed a hoof to her chest. “Maybe there’s a chance a training dummy got left behind during the clean up.”
Rarity rolled her eyes, “I doubt that one would, remember, I was a part of that clean up and even if you happen to be right, there’s a high chance it could’ve been ruined by the wind and rain and Celestia knows what. That was two years ago and I doubt anything left outside for that long is going to retain its shape and durability.”
“It’s always worth a shot, Rarity. Remember, we’re doing this for Nyx.”
“Well... Alright then,” nodded Rarity. “If it gives us a chance of finding a replacement.”
Twilight beamed. “Splendid, I’ll make the arrangements to have a chariot take us there.”
“Why couldn’t we ask Spell Nexus? I’m certain he would know how to make one, maybe draw us a plan?” Rarity asked and wondered.
“Nexus is currently serving time in a Baltimare jail, voluntarily. Besides, the prison he was sent to isn’t very welcoming, less so to mares like us.”
“Figures... I suppose I’ll close the boutique and get ready.”
Twilight nodded and approached the door. “And Rarity, don’t go overboard with what you need to bring, it’s not like we’re going camping or anything.” The alicorn chuckled to herself and took her leave.
“And what is that supposed to mean?” huffed Rarity, eyebrow cocked.
~~~
The ride to Nightstone Castle was short and without issue. The towers could be seen clearly over the trees, and as they neared they could see the shape of Princess Celestia overlooking the work being done by the many ponies entering and exiting the fortress. Twilight’s eyes lit up while Rarity fidgeted in anxious worry.
The chariot descended into the courtyard, then the pegasus driver landed with the chariot touching down after him. He ran along the stone ground before coming to a gentle stop. Princess Celestia watched Twilight exit the chariot and thank the pegasus while Rarity watched her with a mighty confused looked on her face.
“You don’t enjoy acting and living like a princess, yet you still arrange a chariot to take us out?”
“We needed to get here quickly, otherwise we’d be burning daylight.”
A loud chuckle from the princess caught the attention of the two. Rarity bowed upon the princess’s approach, with Twilight bowing only slightly.
“I could help prolong the night if it helps you, or is the period of daylight savings not enough?” Celestia asked jokingly.
Twilight and Rarity were unable to tell if Celestia was joking or not and looked at each other with puzzlement.
“Um... the daylight savings is fine, princess.”
Celestia chuckled once more and breathed out a heavy sigh. “You need not feel awkward, Twilight. I trust you’ve come to see these gentlecolts work. And you’ve brought Rarity along to help in the decor.”
“Actually princess, Rarity and I have come to look for any of the training dummies left behind by the cult. You see, the doll Nyx made as Nightmare Moon was ruined when Tirek destroyed the library, and Rarity’s attempt at fixing it ended in disappointment for us both. We were hoping to find a replacement left behind during the clean up.”
It didn’t take longer than a few seconds for the princess to think of a pony who could help them; she turned to a worker and asked that he bring a pegasus familiar with the cult to her so that he may offer his help. The pegasus brought forward was none other then Gray Gale, one of Spell Nexus’ trusted cult members.
“I trust you remember, Gray Gale, Twilight?” queried the Princess.
“It’s been awhile, hasn't it?” Twilight said to the pegasus.
“It has, Princess. I was at your coronation in Canterlot a while back, congratulations, you’re no longer that dungeon rat Nightmare used to protect with a passion.” He sounded calm, surprised and at ease, but his words were a little disjointing.
“I’m not sure if I should take that as a compliment or not...” Twilight let out a slight chuckle of uncertainty.
“Gray Gale, your words are quite discourteous,” chided Rarity.
Gray Gale shrugged, “Sorry, just speaking my mind. With all seriousness though, congrats on your ascension, and thank you to Nyx, if she hadn’t put everything right I wouldn’t be here trying to do good again.”
“Do tell, what became of Night Wind?” Rarity inquired.
“Haven’t seen him in two years, far as I know he might be in Cloudesdale. Haven’t been back there myself in Celestia knows how long.”
“Why does everypony assume I know that?” Celestia mumbled.
Gray Gale stretched his wings and yawned. “So, what could I do for the esteemed Princess, Twilight Sparkle, and the lovely lady, Rarity?”
Rarity’s cheeks flushed a bright red and she turned her head slightly. She tried to answer only for her tongue to tie itself and all manner of nonsense sputtered out followed by a giggle. Twilight cocked her eyebrow and shook her head in amusement, then turned to Gray Gale and approached.
“We’re looking for one of the training dummies you and the cult used when this was Nyx’s castle. I’m aware many of them were taken during the cleanup, but I think one might have been left behind, Princess Celestia thought you could help.”
Gray Gale nodded. “I found one under the floor of Nightmare’s bedroom. Seems your little filly had planned on making a new one incase the one she already made bit the dust. Seeing as how you’re asking for it tells me something happened to it.”
“Could we take it with us?” asked Rarity.
“It’s not mine to give. But I’m sure you can take it whenever you please, Princess Twilight. After all, a parent can give or take from their children.”
“Alright then, I’ll go up and get it. That is unless you moved it, Gray Gale,” Twilight shot a look of suspicion toward the pegasus, who shrugged off the implications.
“I’m not a cultist anymore, princess, I’m free and happy to be rid of that idealistic idiot’s control. I’ll take you to the tower and show you where it is, if you’ll follow me.” Gray Gale unfolded his wings, crouched, and with a hard flap he launched himself skyward.
“I’ll wait here, Twilight. You go on ahead,” insisted Rarity.
Twilight followed Gray Gale and flapped hard to get some lift. Princess Celestia stood abreast with Rarity, and watched Twilight disappear over the tower’s balcony.
“While I am envious of your interspecies abilities of magic and flight, I don’t ever see myself getting back into the sky again any time soon.”
Celestia responded with remembrance. “I recall the incident with your dewdrop wings which evaporated as quick as your composure in Cloudsdale,” she chuckled in amusement.
Rarity blushed. “Oh please, don’t get me started. I’ve mused over it already and realize I should’ve been far more careful of my actions instead of trying to please a crowd. But then again I was rather naive...”
“But you’ve matured, and grown to be a fine mare.”
Rarity took the compliment to heart. “Thank you, Princess.”
A moment of silence passed while the two waited, Celestia’s demeanor was unchanged but Rarity had slowly started to drift into boredom, almost to the point of comparing herself to Rainbow Dash during one of Twilight's lectures.
“Has Twilight settled into her castle yet?” the princess inquired.
Rarity quickly looked up to Celestia in a snap and nodded somewhat. “Well, I suppose she has. Nyx and Spike are still getting used to it, it’ll take some time. I do hope to be able to decorate it some day, the place could do with some sprucing up.”
“I’m sure you’ll do the place justice with your skills on hoof.”
“One can only hope,” flattered Rarity smiled.
At that moment, Twilight landed with the training dummy draped across her back with Gray Gale landing nearby.
“There you are, Twilight! What took you so long?” Rarity stomped her hoof in demand of an explanation.
“The dummy was hidden beneath a stone slab that was a lot heavier than expected. I’m sorry to keep you waiting.”
“It’s my fault, you shouldn’t apologize, princess. I should have moved the doll before hoof so it was in an easily accessible area.” Gray Gale bowed.
“It’s alright, really.” Twilight waved him off. “Seriously.”
“I take it you’ll be returning to Ponyville now.” Princess Celestia stepped around the girls to face them both from the front.
Rarity looked at the doll and nodded. “Yes, I have to fix something Nyx lost. Originally I had no intention of even attempting to mend her beloved doll, under the pretense she needed to grow up and move on from it. A new home, a new start, that’s what I thought about Twilight’s castle, like Nyx didn’t need it anymore.
“But then I thought about how Twilight perceives the plush and I suppose I couldn’t say no anymore. Even I care about Nyx so much that disappointing her and making her upset would be a crime. She’s only a filly after all.”
“I am pleased to hear that, and I’m sure Luna will be as equally pleased when she hears about this. I recommend asking Nyx how she made the original one before starting, but keep it subtle.” The princess winked at Rarity, who nodded in understanding.
“Of course, Princess.” Rarity bowed and joined Twilight in the chariot.
Twilight glanced at Rarity, then hen to the doll resting beside her. Strangely, despite their efforts to retrieve the training dummy, Twilight couldn’t help but feel that replacing Nyx’s beloved doll was somehow wrong. Nyx was bound to notice the switch unless Rarity memorised the patchwork of the old and added it to the new.
Rarity sympathized with Twilight to a degree. Both mares discussed the plan on the way back to Ponyville; the plan was to recreate the original doll as accurately as possible. But Rarity had her own plans.
~~~
Nyx paced around the Crusaders’ clubhouse awaiting the girls who were late for a meeting scheduled that afternoon after school. Little did she know that Rarity was watching nearby in plain sight. She called out to Nyx and the filly was quick to acknowledge her. Rarity waved, and with a smile, Nyx ran to speak with her aunt, who conveniently had a custard tart and chocolate milk shake floating near as gifts.
“Hello Rarity,” the filly smiled.
“Good afternoon, Nyx. I thought you might be hungry, and a little thirsty, so I got you these.” Rarity floated the treats to Nyx, who took them with thanks.
They found a place to sit, under an apple tree and out of the sun where Nyx enjoyed the tart and shake. Rarity laid beside her and thought carefully on how to approach Nyx with the question on how she made the doll to begin with.
“I recommend asking Nyx how she made the original one before starting, but keep it subtle.” the princesses’ suggestion lingered in Rarity’s mind, it put pressure on her, too direct and Nyx might suspect something.
Nyx took a sip of her milkshake; the sound alone brought Rarity out of her deep thought. She blinked in surprise and looked at Nyx’s milkshake, there she noticed that she was squinting, like the sunlight was hurting her eyes. She found that peculiar, but now wasn't the time to be in wonder over one's sensitivity. She cleared her throat and Nyx snapped to attention.
“Have you been sleeping well?”
“I guess... It’s different without Twilight teddy.” Nyx shrugged and sighed.
“You’ve had that old thing for a while now, haven’t you?”
Nyx nodded. “Mmhm. You know why I made her. I grew attached after I became me again, she makes me feel the way I did when I first met Twilight.”
“Frightened?” Rarity slowly lifted an eyebrow in curiosity.
“Safe,” Nyx corrected. “My Twilight teddy is my Twilight away from Twilight. I don’t cling to it as much as I make it sound, but I like to have it around, it’s my way of showing my happiness to be loved, and my honour of having Twilight as my mother.”
Those words tugged on heartstrings; Rarity stared at Nyx teary-eyed, then pulled her into a cuddle whilst making a kissy face. “Waaah! You are so cute!!”
“R-Rarity?” Nyx was squeezed, her face took on a confused and violated look, especially when they rubbed cheeks together.
After a moment, Rarity let go and Nyx wheezed, mouth agape, sucking in air after the fashion pony effectively drained her of it.
“Oh my, sorry, Nyx.” Rarity rubbed the back of her neck and giggled.
“It’s okay, you’re just being you,” Nyx said with an accepting grin.
“Seriously though,” Rarity’s tone changed drastically, “I’d love to know how you made that doll of yours out of a training dummy. I doubt I could ever do something as clever as that.”
“It’s not that hard really,” Nyx replied.
“It isn’t?” Surprised, Rarity tilted her head to one side.
Nyx shook her head and explained what she did, not before informing Rarity that her memory was a little hazy but she would explain as best she could. Nyx told Rarity in intricate detail, that she enjoyed sharing what she knew about making it and smiled. Lavender dye, hundreds of braided strings in colors matching Twilight's mane and tail, button eyes and a stitched on smile, all of it but the cutie mark was there, the doll previously lacked a cutie mark, Nyx made that clear.
When all was said and done, Rarity bid Nyx goodbye, and left with the explanation that she had to help Twilight and was awfully late, by that time the Crusaders had arrived and were getting the meeting underway. Meanwhile, Rarity had gone to work in the Boutique. Closed signs dominated the doors, curtains were drawn shut, and doors were locked. Rarity wanted total silence to concentrate, and soundproofed the room.
Rarity set about improving on Nyx's original design. This time it would look like a proper Twilight doll, nearly identical and with an added bonus. This took hours; she skipped out on dinner, a shower and sleep to create a perfect plush to make up for her first failure. In her head Rarity would repeat Twilight's thoughts and Nyx's story.
By midnight, Rarity's struggle against sleep had started to become a losing battle, but she did not yield to the weight of her eyelids or the yawns from her lungs. She worked on and on, stopping briefly and recalling her first meeting with Nyx, the things she taught her and the period of night and its aftermath.
By dawn, the doll was finished and Rarity had retired into deep rest, her cheek stuck to the table, glued in place by the pool of drool that leaked from her opened mouth. Her coat had gone dark under her eyes and her hair was a disaster, as Pinkie would put it, “it was like a hurricane came in, messed up your face and left”
Not even the crow of a rooster could wake Rarity, nor could Opal’s clawing and meowing. That soon changed with Twilight’s sudden teleportation into the room. She looked over at Rarity and realized quick she hadn’t slept for hours now, and Opal was being a bother. Twilight chuckled to herself under her breath and took Opal out to be fed, and likewise left Rarity to sleep in peace.
~~~
“I thought we were going to remake it exactly the way it was before, why did you change it?” Twilight asked, eyebrow cocked.
“Why not? Out with the old and in with the new. Twilight, I changed it to reflect who you’ve become now. Nyx will understand once we tell her.”
Twilight looked away from Rarity slightly as if already feeling the disappointment and Nyx’s sadness. “I hope so... It’s going to break my heart if she’s unhappy with the truth.”
“There’s nothing we can do now anyway. I’ve already transformed the only other training dummy left. Besides, I think I’ve done a marvelous job.”
“I’m here!” Nyx came down the stairs, carrying with her a bag of books she intended to read when they arrived in Canterlot to stay with Nightlight and Twilight Velvet.
Twilight quickly regained her calm composure and hid the plush behind herself and Rarity.
“I’m glad you’re finally ready and all set, Nyx. But Rarity and I have something to give you first.”
“You do? What is it?” Nyx looked up to the mares, adjusting her glasses and letting her eyes go wider, cuteness intensified.
With much reluctance, Twilight allowed Rarity to float the teddy from behind them and over to Nyx. The filly’s eyes widened and she gingerly took hold of the doll in her hooves.
“I-its—” Nyx started.
“It’s your doll, sweetheart,” smiled Twilight.
“B-but how? She looks different... she’s... she’s an alicorn now?” Nyx looked up to Rarity, her eyes filled with questions which Rarity answered.
“We found your doll, darling. But it’d been destroyed beyond repair, and my attempts at fixing it only served to mangle and deform the poor thing further, so Twilight and I went to Nightstone Castle and retrieved the second doll you intended to use in case the other was ruined.
“I remade her this way to reflect Twilight's transformation. Attaching the wings was a hassle, as was creating the eyes without resorting to buttons. You can see for yourself that I cross-stitched the eyes into existence as opposed to adding anything onto it. And don’t get me started on the hair and cutie mark.”
Overjoyed, Nyx ran to Rarity and nuzzled her. “Thank you...” she shed a tear and moved on to hugging Twilight.
The mare wrapped her head around Nyx and kissed her forehead. “I couldn’t bear the thought of you getting upset over losing your Twilight teddy, Rarity helped me make this for you.”
Rarity snickered. “I did all the work, Twilight.”
“It was still a team effort,” the princess corrected.
“It doesn’t matter,” Nyx said to the surprise of both Twi and Rarity. “You both went out of your way to bring my Twilight teddy back to me, that’s more than I could ever ask more, thank you, so much.” With a tearful smile Nyx held the doll close to her, though she would have to leave it behind.
Soon after, Nyx and Spike departed for Canterlot, and Twilight came to stay in Applejack’s barn, just until things got sorted out with the castle. It would be days before Nyx saw Twilight again, Spike kept her company in the meantime, which was enough. Rarity, in the meantime, returned to her Boutique to continue her work, she created ensemble after ensemble, filling out orders until called upon once again.
“Dear Diary,
The past three days have been busy; it started with a cleanup of the ruined library, and the discovery of Nyx’s beloved doll, Fluttershy suggested that maybe I could fix it, of course I declined at first, but then, after hearing what it meant to Nyx, I couldn’t help but relent. We replaced the old with a new, alicorn Twilight doll which Nyx just adored. I must say, I am proud of what I’ve done, to bring happiness to another. Especially to somepony as beloved as her.
Yours truly, Rarity.~”
Rarity looked over the diary page and breathed out a calmed and proud sigh. “Sweetie Belle, have you seen that Fit for Fillies dress I was working on?”
There was a brief flash of purple light coming from behind Rarity, followed by the smashing of a vase which gave her a jolt. She turned around to look at the smashed piece of pottery to see the Fit for Fillies dress, scrunched up and ruined.
“No,” Sweetie Belle replied after a moments silence.
