Beyond the Looking Glass

Discord chuckled nervously at the angry stares. His gaze shifted about at all the eyes locked on him. However it was the royalty in the room that caused him to gulp. One or two pissed-off alicorns was something he could handle, but even he knew he wouldn’t stand a chance against all four.

Quickly finding his words, he tried to smile pleasantly at the ponies, it came off as anything but reassuring though. “Yes, this, horrible accident occurred. But rather than play the blame game, can’t we all just move past it like good friends are supposed to do? I say we throw a ‘Welcome to Equestria’ party for our two new friends here! Oh, I’m sure Pinkie Pie would love to organize it! What do you say, forgive and forget?”

“Horseapples!” Everypony yelled back, their expressions causing the draconequus to flinch.

Rainbow whispered to her girlfriend as she fought a smile. “We’ve definitely gotta teach them some better swear words.”

Twi hushed her. Beyond the fact that she was still trying to wrap her head around their only way home having been literally shattered, she could feel the tension in the room; it was already thick enough to cut with a butter knife. Things had the potential to get bad, really bad. It went without saying that adding Rainbow to such a mix would be like throwing gasoline on a wildfire.

Discord snapped his fingers and was suddenly in a classic seventeen-hundred Prench battle dress uniform with three white flags waving right behind him in surrender. “I promise you it was nothing more than an accident. I swear!”

“Oh my god, that’s fucking hilarious!” Rainbow shouted at the sight of it. Twi just facepalmed.

Spike rolled his eyes. “Yeah right, you swear on what, exactly? And besides, it’s not like you’re totally known for keeping your promises.”

Celestia glared angrily at the draconequus. “There are no accidents when you’re involved, Discord. Do you even realize what you’ve done? As I said before, your actions might have upset the balance of both our worlds!”

“What do you mean by that?” Rainbow asked. She wasn’t sure what Celestia meant, but even she caught onto the importance of that particular phrasing.

“Worlds are not meant to have two of the same individual in them,” Celestia said as she looked with sad eyes over to the two humans. “While, for short times, a small number may not do any real damage, it’s a risk that could cause both worlds to merge together. It’s something we’ve learned the hard way, and it’s one that should not be taken lightly. Hence why we only let Twilight and Spike go through before.”

“But Twilight and Dash were in our world for almost two weeks!” Rainbow pointed out, her tone defensive.

“True, and it’s unlikely any real damage will come of it, but it’s an unnecessary gambit and not worth the risk,” Celestia replied, sadly. “For that very reason I was forced to leave him all those years ago,” she whispered in a low tone.

“I’m sorry, we really shouldn’t have come,” Twi said, oddly calm and subdued given the situation.

“Not your fault,” Dash growled as she continued to stare menacingly at Discord.

“Thanks for seeing it my way, Dash,” Discord said with a laugh.

He was the only one laughing.

“But Twi! You—” Rainbow went to protest but Twi just lifted a hand to stop her.

“This is their reality, their world, Rainbow, if they think this is a risk to them, it’s not for us to decide. If what I can understand is true, then we do represent a risk to their world. This isn’t like when Twilight and Dash came to live with us. They didn’t mean to come; we came here by choice, not by accident.”

“But… I-I…” Rainbow stammered as she looked at her pony counterpart; the mare frowned and shook her head slowly. “Al-alright Twi…”

“I’ll explain why to you later, although you might get bored when we start talking about quantum, theoretical, and multi-dimensional physics.”

“Can I just say I trust you and let it be?” Rainbow asked with a smile.

“As glad as I am that we are all on the same page now, what do we do about the fact that it’s impossible for them to get home now?” Cadance asked, concern evident in her voice.

“Impossible…” Twi stammered. The world hit her like a ton of bricks. “But… classes… my books… study sessions… Mom… Spike… I—”

She was cut off when Rainbow wrapped an arm around her, tightly. “You still have me.”

Twi paused. “But what about you? Your family, games, future!”

Rainbow chuckled. Pulled back from the hug and looked Twi in the face. “You still don’t get it do you? As long as I have you, that’s all I care about.”

“Rainbow…” Twi said, staring into her eyes.

Even Discord couldn’t help but break out into tears. Although if they were real or not nopony could say. “I’ll fix it,” he sobbed into a hanky.

“Thou will fix it? Ponyfeathers!” Luna angrily shouted. “That mirror was a one-of-a-kind item found by Starswirl the Bearded himself.”

“And what can be broken can be fixed,” Discord pointed out. “It’ll just take me some time.”

Rainbow’s eyes went wide when Discord created a vacuum out of thin air to gather up the pieces—one that worked without any discernible form of electricity. God, does that creep me out, she thought.

“And why should we trust you?” Twilight asked.

“What? You don’t trust your dearest friend, Discord?” A halo appeared above his head, glowing with angelic light.

The glare Twilight gave him told him his answer.

“Fine, fine, alright. I Pinkie Promise that I’ll have it fixed. There, happy?” Discord said as he half-heartedly went through the motions of a Pinkie Promise.

He continued, “And nopony breaks a Pinkie Promise.”

“No pony!” A very familiar, very creepy voice seemed to come out of nowhere, startling every pony, human, and draconequus in the room.

“How the fu—” Rainbow’s comment was immediately muffled by her girlfriend’s hand.

“When‽” Twilight growled, still angry and somehow ignoring Pinkie’s disembodied voice.

“When what?” Discord asked.

“When will you have it fixed?”

“Should only take about,” Discord started as he picked up some shards of glass and tried to assemble them like a jigsaw. He smiled as he assembled a Discord-shape with the glass, only for it to immediately fall on the ground and shatter into even smaller pieces. “Two to three weeks, tops.”

“You’re sending them home first!” Twilight shouted.

“Sorry, no can do.”

“Horseapples! I’ve seen you try to banish ponies to other dimensions before!” Twilight said remembering the Treehugger incident at the Grand Galloping Gala.

Discord paused. “Oh, yeah, I did do that, didn’t I?”

“Yes, now send them back!”

“That, I can’t do,” Discord said.

“Why not?” Cadance asked, confused.

Discord grumbled. “Because… Celestia’s right.”

Celestia smirked, eyes bright with mirth. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

“You’re really going to make me repeat my words, aren’t you?”

“I just didn’t hear you the first time, care to repeat for all to hear?”

“I said you’re right. There is a danger in having two of them each here, and I’ve been using my abilities to minimize it. If I stopped that to send them back, it could be disastrous. Of course I’m all for it, but you might not like the result. You’re welcome, by the way.”

“Do you expect thanks for stopping the disaster you created?” Celestia asked in disbelief.

“Yes,” Discord said.

“So right now… you can’t send them back without endangering the world?” Cadance asked.

“Precisely. I can fix the mirror though, it’ll just take time. And some strong super glue…” Discord manifested a tiny bottle of krazy glue.

“‘Tis ridiculous. Surely it wouldn’t be that big of a threat if he’d stop for a few seconds to send them home!” Luna protested.

“Care to see? It could be fun,” Discord said as he raised up a claw. As he was about to snap his fingers he said, “And don’t call me Shirley.”

Twilight interjected, “Let’s not play with the fate of our world and just say we believe you instead.”

Luna stepped back with a “Hmmph.” She glared at Discord as he lowered his claw to pick up the remaining shards of glass.

Having finished vacuuming up the remaining shards of mirror and frame, a backpack appeared from nowhere and he dropped the pieces in, letting them fall in and shatter into even more pieces. “Well, I’d like to say this has been fun but… well, actually, it has,” he said with a chuckle. “If you’ll excuse me though, I have a… Pinkie Promise to complete before somepony—other than me—breaks the laws of physics and reality in retribution.”

“What do you mean?” Dash asked.

“Well, unlike me, when your pink friend shows up in places she can’t possibly fit, you all just laugh about it, I get yelled at.”

“You showed up in my shower head!” Twilight protested.

“It was funny!”

“You turned my coat blue for a week!”

“That does sound funny,” Rainbow said with a chuckle.

“Thank you. Someone gets me, even if they are from another universe. Well, until later ponies, dragons, and humans, ta ta!” With a snap of his fingers Discord vanished from their presence, leaving two confused humans and several irate ponies alone to their own devices.

“What just happened?” Rainbow scratched her head in confusion as she looked to Twi and then Twilight. “Seriously, what the hell just happened?”

“Rainbow, don’t ever change,” Twi said with a chuckle. Looking to Twilight and the other alicorns, she continued. “So, what now? I guess we’re stuck here until he comes through?”

Celestia stepped forward. “I’m afraid so. Without the mirror, and with Discord trying to keep things… together, I think you’ll end up being our guests for a while.”

Twilight looked up at her former mentor. “Well, I don’t think we have a choice but to make the best of the situation then. We have to… trust Discord.” Her stomach grumbled from either hunger or nausea at saying those words. She hoped it was hunger. And the thought of Equestrian food once again made that thought seem more and more plausible. “I vote we at the very least leave this chamber and go get something to eat.”

“Indeed. We also think it would be a good time to leave. We have very important matters to attend to.” In a flash, Luna teleported away from the group, likely to retire to her chambers for the day.

Celestia leaned down to Twilight. “Twenty bits says she falls asleep eating cookies in bed again.”

Twilight giggled as the group made it’s way out of the chamber and headed to the dining hall.

With the tension settled and the group having a destination in mind, the two humans began to process the environment around them. For them, everything seemed, in short, off. Twi looked around the hallway, admiring the size and scale of everything. The hallway was magnificent, truly of a grandiose design. There were epic photos, paintings, and even a few stained-glass windows of her second-favorite being in both worlds. After seeing different members of the castle’s staff, Twi realized that Dash was about the average size for a mare in this culture, something that was obvious every time she saw a serving mare. The stallions she saw were all slightly taller than Dash and laden with golden armor.

The looks the guards gave Twi and Rainbow did nothing to help either of them relax, especially considering how some of the guards tightened their grip on their spears ever so slightly when the group passed by. Fortunately for both of the girls, none of the guards actually did anything. Their present company as they walked through the castle was more than enough to reassure the guards that the women were welcome.

“So, umm…” Rainbow said, unsure if she should even talk. “What do you all eat here, anyway?”

“We have pancakes, waffles, cakes, ice-cream, pretty much anything other than meat,” Twilight chipped in, hoping to help her relax about the food situation.

“They’ll need more than the normal servings, Twilight,” Dash added with a smile. “Fortunately we’re in the biggest castle in Equestria, so that shouldn’t be an issue. Speaking of food, we really should take them to Pinkie so she can serve them the best sweets in Ponyville. Heck, in all of Equestria!”

“Pinkie works in a bakery here, too?” Twi asked.

Spike chuckled. “Oh, yeah! Pinkie works for the Cakes, Fluttershy has a cabin by the Everfree Forest, Rarity has a shop set up in Ponyville and another in Canterlot, and Applejack—”

“Let me guess, working on her farm,” Rainbow said with a roll of her eyes and more than a little venom in her voice.

“Rainbow, don’t,” Twi said.

Twilight paused, followed by the rest of the group. “Rainbow, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m just… hungry,” Rainbow replied, sighing.

“Rainbow, did something happen? You said she’s always been a good friend,” Twilight said.

Twi bent down and placed her hand on Twilight’s back. “There’s a little bad blood there.”

“What?” Twilight asked. “They’re… they’re not friends anymore?”

“No, they are, but… Rainbow wanted Applejack to… well… to use Rainbow’s words, ‘Do something with her life other than work the farm.’ Applejack’s always been content to simply do what she’s been doing to help care for her family, while Rainbow wants her to do more. It’s kinda been a sticking point between them after their fight.”

“Fight?” Twilight asked, wided-eyed.

“It’s a… long story,” Twi said with a sigh. “And it got kinda… physical.”

“Physical? As in a… fight-fight?” Twilight asked, shocked.

“I—ehh, Rainbow won though, right?” Dash asked.

“Dash, is that really important?” Twilight asked, her tone disapproving.

“No… just curious.”

“It was about fifty-fifty,” Twi stated.

“Really?” Dash said, looking up at Rainbow. The tall girl just glared down at the ponies. This tale wasn’t one she enjoyed reliving. It was also, unfortunately, true.

“I could never imagine getting into a physical fight with any of my friends,” Twilight said, frowning.

“Twilight, all friends fight,” Celestia said. “The more important the conversation, the more severe the fight tends to be. What matters is not that you fight, but that you make up afterwards.”

“I’m sure when you reunite with your friends in Ponyville you’ll all be able to overcome anything,” Cadance said with a friendly smile.

“Yeah, they can’t wait to see you,” Spike said. “In fact, we should let them know!”

“Indeed, Spike. I’ll send a messenger right away.” Celestia waved a hoof at one of the nearby guards.

He was a tall, brown stallion, his armor freshly polished, and his spear held at the ready. “Princess Celestia?”

“Send a messenger to Ponyville. Inform them that Princess Twilight and Rainbow Dash have returned. They should be back to Ponyville on the first train tomorrow, and they will be bringing two special guests.”

He saluted and galloped away.

“Wait, we’re going to Ponyville?” Rainbow asked.

“I assumed you’d want to go with Twilight and Dash when they returned home to see their friends?”

“Actually, I wouldn’t mind seeing more of this world,” Twi replied. “Assuming we won’t cause any issues, that is.”

“That reminds me,” Twilight spoke up as a realization hit her. “Why aren’t we in Ponyville, anyway?”

Cadance took this one. “Auntie didn’t want to risk having whatever accident that occurred to you happening again, so we opened the portal through the use of our magic. It was easier for us to take turns if the portal was in Canterlot and not in Ponyville.”

“But what about your own responsibilities?” Twilight asked.

“Nothing is more important to me than making sure my sister-in-law got home safely. That goes twice for her brother,” Cadance said as she walked up to Twilight and hugged her.

“Well, I mean, umm…” Twilight blushed, embarrassingly pawing at the floor with her hoof.

“It’s okay, Twilight. While my duties are important, your safety is even more so,” Cadance said, her hoof reaching over to tilt Twilight’s muzzle up so she was no longer looking at the floor.

“Thank you, it… it means a lot that you care that much about Dash and me.”

“Of course, Twilight. We’ve been trying to get you back home for so long, there’s not a thing in Equestria I wouldn’t do to help you.”

Rainbow leaned close to Twi and whispered in a not-so-subtle manner, “Heh, if she only knew half of the helping we did for Twilight, she wouldn’t be saying that.”

“Rainbow, stop it!” Twi scolded her, gently shoving Rainbow’s shoulder.

“What? All I said was that we helped Twilight fix her heat problem.”

A rosy blush appeared on Twilight’s face as Twi smacked Rainbow on the back of the head. Celestia’s jaw dropped at that, and Cadance let out a squee like a school filly.

A small voice sounded from Twilight’s side, immediately gaining her attention. “Twilight, how did you have a heat problem and not Rainbow? Was it too cold for ponies there?”

Twilight looked around, unsure how to explain what was meant by ‘heat problem’ to an adolescent dragon. Luckily, her human counterpart saved the day. “It was a bit cold, but I think Dash, being a pegasus who flies a lot, is used to dealing with colder weather. We just had to keep Twilight covered up both in our apartment and when she was outside, so she’d stay warm.”

“Oh, okay,” Spike said as he looked at her, shrugging his shoulders in acceptance.

The group of ponies decided then and there that they’d try and keep the conversation a little more age-appropriate while the young dragon was around. Twi looked at Rainbow, unsure just how she’d keep her in check.

Little did she know they would fail, horribly.

Rainbow’s stomach growled. Twi looked over at her, surprised that it made such a loud noise, but before she could comment on it, hers did the same.

“I take you two didn’t eat anything before coming over?” Cadance asked.

“No, our wakeup call was these two teleporting into the room,” Rainbow said.

“We ate first,” Dash replied. “Twilight here insisted on it.”

“Dash, breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” Twilight stated, making her groan.

Then the smells of scrambled eggs, frying hay bacon, and cooking vegetables met the group in the hallway. Walking into the dining room, Twi noticed that the doorway to the kitchen was only slightly taller than Rainbow. They were much smaller than any doors from earth. Glancing around the room she saw that the table and chairs were half as big as well.

“This is rather impressive,” Twi said as she started admiring the artwork and intricate designs on the windows.

“Umm… question,” Rainbow said. “You got any bigger chairs?”

Twi looked over as Rainbow was rocking a chair back and forth. It was small, more fitting to a junior high student, or a pony. Definitely not something a fully grown woman could sit comfortably in.

“I’ll see about having some bigger seats brought in. In the meantime you’re welcome to use Luna’s—well, one of you, anyway,” Celestia said.

“We only need one,” Rainbow said with a smile as she sat down and patted her lap for Twi to join her.

“Rainbow,” Twi said with a glare.

“Oh c’mon, we did it all the time in highschool.”

“We’re not in high school, Rainbow.”

If she thought that would be the end of it, Twi was sorely mistaken. Rainbow jumped up and scooped Twi into her arms.

“Rainbow, stop!” Twi protested.

“Stop what? Sweeping you off your feet?” Rainbow asked, looking down into her lavender eyes.

“Is now really the time or the place for you to sweep me off my feet?” Twi asked, but notably, stopped trying to get out of Rainbow’s grasp. She stared up into those magnata eyes, losing herself in them.

“It’s always the right time and place to sweep you off your feet,” Rainbow replied, closing the distance between their lips and planting a kiss right on her.

“Now you’re just trying to get in my pants,” Twi mumbled when Rainbow pulled back from the kiss.

The taller girl smirked victoriously. “Always.”

“Tonight,” Twi agreed, booping Rainbow’s nose as the smiling group looked on.

“Pinkie promise?” Rainbow asked with a chuckle.

“Pinkie promise,” Twi replied back, smiling up at her.

“I can’t take it anymore, you two are simply adorable together,” Cadance all but shouted. “I’m dying to know, how did you two get together, anyway?”

“Study buddies,” Rainbow said as she sat down, Twi sitting in her lap.

“Well, it’s a little more complicated than that,” Twi replied. “Rainbow was in need of help with her classes and I was in the tutoring program, so they assigned me to her. After we got her to pass her classes, she kind of… kissed me.”

“And then you kissed her back,” Dash guessed with a grin.

“Yep. Good thing I did, too—she was running away.”

“Hey, I wasn’t running away,” Rainbow protested. “I was about to run away! There’s a difference.”

Dash took a seat right between Twilight and Cadance. Twilight cocked her head and smiled. “Remind you of anyone?”

The pegasus had a noticeable blush on her face. “I have no idea whatcha talkin’ about, Twilight.”

“Ahh c’mon, Dash, tell them the story,” Rainbow said, relieved that the attention wasn’t on her—well, on human her—and not wanting it to come back. “Tell em how you screwed up and dropped the L-bomb by accident.”

“Hey, shut up, Rainbow.’”

“I thought it was adorable,” Twilight said as she placed a hoof on Dash’s shoulder.

The pegasus pulled away in a pout, earning a disappointed look on Twilight's face, a look that Dash immediately felt bad about.

“I think she already forgot your speech, Rainbow,” Twi said.

The taller girl chuckled. “Well, how many times did I actually learn something the first time? You know, when it wasn’t sports related I mean.” Amazingly, the girl left off ‘nude tutors’ which proved to be very effective in teaching her the first time.

“That’s true,” Twi replied. “Thick skulls must be uniquely you, Rainbow.”

Dash glanced over to the two of them, and then Twilight. The alicorn looked down, somewhat disappointed, an expression which Dash soon mirrored as she considered her actions from Twilight’s point of view. Rainbow did say that Twilight is more important than my ego… Dash thought.

Before she could do anything about it, several serving ponies came in, levitating breakfast platters with their magic. To their credit, they only paused for a second at the sight of the humans, and they quickly shook it off and placed the platters all around the table.

“Wow, that smells good, but…” Rainbow paused, looking over the size of the plate. “It’s… kinda small,” she said as she reached over and lifted the top off one.

“You’re welcome to eat as much as you want,” Celestia replied. “If these run out, they’ll bring out more.”

“Being a princess is kinda cool.”

“Rainbow, behave,” Twi said as she grabbed their plates and started to fill them up. Given the plate was about half the size she was used to, she grabbed several nearby empty plates as well.

Dash reached over and started to fill her own plate. She wasn’t hungry, but knew that she needed to eat something, so the pegasus just went with a simple short-stack of waffles.

As they all started to eat, the humans taking the most by far, Dash couldn’t help but steal glances at Twilight. Something Cadance took note of. “Why don’t you go give her a kiss?” Cadance whispered her question into Dash’s ear. She had seen the same look of disappointment on Twilight's face that Dash had.

The cyan mare blushed. “You mean, now?”

Cadance just nodded her head, as if to ask, ‘why not?’

Dash glanced up and around the table, seeing that everypony and human present was busy with their own food, the humans taking it in turn to feed each other—something that made her smile before she shook her head to clear that thought. She looked at Twilight, waiting to lock eyes with her. Neither pony looked away once their gazes met.

“Hey, Twilight,” Dash said.

“Hey, yourself.”

Dash moved forward, tilting her head just so to the right, letting Twilight have more than enough time to duplicate the action. Their lips pressed against each other, their bodies becoming one from the connection of their lips.

Twilight leaned into the kiss as Dash took a hoof and brushed it through her mane. Cadance gave a squee as everyone else stopped to look at them.

Dash pulled away from the kiss with a grin as Twilight looked deep into the pegasus’s eyes. She opened her muzzle to speak but was met with Twilight’s hoof.

“That was—”

“Totally awesome?” Dash interrupted with a grin, making Twilight and Twi groan.

“Typically Dash,” they both said in unison.

“What can I say? I know I’m awesome,” Dash chuckled.

Twilight lightly spread some syrup on her hoof and then booped Dash on the nose, the action leaving a small trail of syrup on the very tip that Dash started to lick up.

Twi, Twilight, Rainbow, Cadance, and Celestia all laughed at that. But it was Celestia that levitated a napkin up and wiped her mouth off before saying, “I commend you, my little ponies, for taking the first steps towards a rather amazing adventure.”

“You can say that again, Auntie,” Cadance said with a smile.

Celestia nodded. “If Discord is as good as his word… which I can only hope is the case… you’ll all be able to explore this land and hopefully make some new friends then get back to your own world. In the meantime, it is my official duty, and my pleasure, to welcome Rainbow and Twi to Equestria.” Celestia nodded her head at the two humans. “Despite the circumstances surrounding your visit, you are here. Anything you may need or desire to make your stay more comfortable, I can assure you that if Princess Twilight or Rainbow Dash cannot provide it, myself or any of the other princesses will see to it.”

“Thank you, Princess Celestia.”

“You’re welcome, Princess Twilight.”

“Are you two always so formal?” Rainbow asked.

“Rainbow,” Twi cautioned her.

“Oh pft, they seem like friends, what’s all that ‘princess’ stuff about?”

Twilight turned to her. “Actually, Celestia is my mentor.”

“Was,” Celestia corrected. “You’re a princess in your own right now, Twilight. The Princess of Friendship.”

“Wait, I’m confused,” Rainbow interjected. “Princess of Friendship?”

Twilight just looked at her strangely. “Yes, what of it?”

“Well, I mean, shouldn’t you be the princess of a land? What’s this place called again?”

“Equestria,” Dash said.

“Yeah, that. Wouldn’t it be Princess of Equestria? I mean, Princess of Friendship? Wouldn’t that be like saying you're the Princess of Smiles? Princess of Good Feelings?”

“Rainbow,” Twi scolded.

“Well, I’m the Princess of Love,” Cadance said.

Twi could almost literally see the gears in Rainbow’s head turning at that.

“So you’re good at fuck—”

Twi stopped her as fast as she could, but still, the first part slipped freely over Rainbow’s lips. If Cadance took any offense, she never showed it. Instead, there was a bright smile on her muzzle.

She chuckled. “You could say I’m an expert in all love-related things.”

“We’re so spending time with her,” Rainbow said with a bright smile.

“Rainbow, you say one more word about that you sleep alone for a week.” Twi scowled.

Rainbow just grinned. “Nah, you wouldn’t survive that yourself. But I still want to know all she can tell me about love. I’m sure she simply knows everything. Every. Single. Juicy. Detail.”

Cadance all but winked. “In pony anatomy, yes.”

“Hey, pony anatomy was kinda fun,” Rainbow said, winking at the two mares.

Cadance looked where the wink was aimed. “So they really did help you during your heat cycle?”

Twilight blushed and shrunk really low.

“We all did,” Dash said. “It was… pretty bad. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it that bad before.”

“Can we change the subject?” Twilight said, her voice more of a squeak.

Cadance chuckled. “Twilight, I’ve tried to teach you for years that sex is a natural thing, not something you should be embarrassed about.”

“How come our Cadance never tried to teach you that?” Rainbow asked Twi.

“Really Rainbow?” Twi asked.

“Well, yeah. She is your sister-in-law after all, and probably fucking your brother like a damn goddess,” Rainbow said.

The pink alicorn chuckled. “So I am that similar to your Cadance. Interesting.”

“Rainbow, Cadance!” Twilight yelled.

“What? No need to hide it.”

“I think we should stop this now,” Celestia calmly said, her horn glowing. “While I don’t mind you talking later about this, for now we should just eat.”

Twilight traced Celestia’s magic to Spike, the others following her gaze as she realized the princess had created magical earmuffs over Spike’s ears to insulate him from the actual topic.

“Emm, you’re right, this is good food,” Spike said as soon as they were removed. “But what do you expect from the castle? And why are you all looking at me like that?”

Twilight and Twi both blushed heavily. The alicorn mouthed a ‘thank you’ to Celestia, who simply nodded.

“So, about that title?” Rainbow asked.

Celesta turned to her. “Rainbow, in this land princesses are given titles based on what they represent, not what they rule over. I am considered the Princess of the Sun because my abilities are closely aligned with raising and lowering the sun. My sister, Princess Luna, is called the Princess of the Moon for the same reason.”

“Wait. You… um… raise the sun?” Rainbow said, shocked.

“Yes,” Celestia answered.

“That’s fascinating,” Twi said. “How does that work? I mean, is your sun far away? What’s its mass? Does the world not rotate on it’s axis and that’s why you have to? Are your oceans around the north and south poles?”

“What do you mean by the world rotating?” Celestia cocked her head.

“In our world, earth is a round ball that rotates in turn around the sun, which stays in one place in the center of our solar system,” Twi explained. “The moon on the other hand rotates around the earth. Both use gravity as their source of—”

“Your world is called Earth? And you’ve explored all of it?” Cadance asked, looking confused.

“Wait, you haven’t explored the whole world yet?” Twi asked.

“We know Equestria and the neighboring land, but nopony has traveled among the wide sea and come back yet,” Celestia replied.

“There are dangers in our world, even in the borders of Equestria for that matter,” Twilight added in a no-nonsense tone. “Dragons, demons, and sirens just to name a few.”

“Dragons, like dragon-dragons?” Rainbow asked, looking over at Spike.

“He’s a baby. About twelve years old since his hatching, but in dragon terms, he’s still just a baby.”

“That means, you’ll grow?” Rainbow asked Spike.

“Yep, I’ll become as big as a mountain, it’s already happened once,” Spike said.

“I’m confused,” Twi said. “What do you mean it’s already happened once?”

Twilight looked sad. “Dragons feed on greed. He kinda got overzealous one birthday, and… well, grew.”

“I got better!” Spike protested.

“Got better? From growing up?” Rainbow asked, confused.

“Girls, the truth is we don’t really know that much about dragons, so we’re still learning as we go,” Twilight said.

“Then how’d you get Spike?” Rainbow asked.

“I had to hatch him as a filly,” Twilight said. “It was my entrance exam to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”

“Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait! So, as a filly, you had to hatch a dragon, and then you were simply allowed to take it home?”

“I’m not an it.” Spike pouted, crossing his arms and glaring up at the human.

“Sorry, him home,” Rainbow corrected. “What sort of exam is that?”

Celestia put in, “It’s not that cut and dry.”

“That was your idea?” Rainbow asked.

“Yeah, what’s up with that?” Dash asked. “I mean, dragons are dangerous. Does every unicorn that applies hatch one? Was that unique to Twilight? And why was she allowed to keep him? Where’d you even get his egg, anyway?”

Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but then a white earth pony guard ran up and whispered into her ear. She nodded in understanding and then stood up. “Sorry girls, matters of the state. A delegation from Griffonstone has just arrived.”

Twilight nodded. “I understand, princess.”

Celestia started to leave before she looked back at the group of ponies. Her eyes darted from the humans, to the alicorn, pegasus, and finally fell upon the young dragon. “Spike, why don’t you come with me? I might be able to use your help.”

“Umm… okay,” Spike said as he got up and ran to her side. “You don’t mind, do you, Twilight?” he asked, pausing to look back at her.

“Not at all,” Twilight assured him with a smile as she watched him leave.

As the white alicorn and dragon left, Rainbow looked somewhat mad at not getting her answers, that is until Twi kissed her on the nose. That caused the frowny faced girl to smile, just a little anyway.

Twi saw that and leaned back, letting Rainbow wrap her arms around her midsection. “So, what’s Griffonstone?”

“The capital of the Griffin Empire,” Dash said. “I went there myself. It’s kind of a dump, though.

“Griffins?” Rainbow asked. “Like, eagle-lion hybrids?”

“Yeah, they’re pretty epic,” Dash replied. “Even if somepony wouldn’t turn me into one.”

Twilight scolded her. “Dash, magic is not a toy.”

“Pft, I seem to recall you enjoying using it as a toy the othe—”

Twilight all but shoved a hoof into Dash’s mouth to get her to stop that comment.

“Yes. Better save this conversation for tonight.” Rainbow grinned at Dash.

“You bet your flank on it,” Dash replied.

“And just what are you talking about?” Cadance asked with a huge grin.

Twi smiled back. “Just some studying we have to do later.”

Cadance chuckled under her breath before turning to her sister-in-law. “I can see that you two have some adjustments to make now that you’re back. But Twilight, know that you’ve started down a path that will lead you to true happiness and a fulfillment that comes from nothing else. I’ve never been more proud and you have my support. Although if I were you, I’d start with a few spells to help out with—”

“You mean like sound-proofing spells on my walls and some clear rules with Spike?” Twilight said, sighing.

“Relax, Egghead,” Rainbow said, bumping her, and causing Twilight to smile in return.

“Don’t worry, Twilight. You’ll get used to it soon enough,” Twi reassured her. “And like I said, some days it’s just better to go with the flow. You’ll find that things go a lot smoother that way.”

Twilight blushed as the serving ponies came out to clear away breakfast.

Cadance smiled sincerely at her. “Twilight, no matter what happens, you’ll figure it out. Love might be something hard at first, but you’ll get great rewards from it that are worth all the trouble from the beginning. Just look into Rainbow Dash’s eyes and you’ll feel it.”

Twilight did just that. She turned and stared directly into those magenta eyes. “Yeah, I think you’re right about that,” she replied with a blushing smile.