Knights of Harmony

Twilight Sparkle awoke from her magical surge to be in a state of pain. At first, she couldn't figure out from where it had come, but her head was clearing rapidly and she slowly managed to open her eyes. Everything was dusty... Was that a dragon? A green and purple hatchling was sucking on it's tail, in the shattered remains of a cart. She tried slowly to stand, felt dizzy, and closed her eyes again.

    The beam of light enveloped her body, and fiery power rushed through her veins, making it difficult to even move. The fires didn't hurt. They almost tickled, but she instinctively knew that it would not continue. She forced back the power to its origins, deep in her heart... and then stars, like a blanket of fog, swirled about her hooves. She blinked, standing. Five frightened, confused faces, that of fillies, stared back at her. Only one was a unicorn, two were earth ponies, and the last two were pegasi. Another important detail was that, like her, all of them were blank flanks.

    She could barely open her mouth, but did so. The others had similar difficulties, struggling to hooves and observing the area about them with wonder and growing smiles.

    "Oh my. This is a first." The voice made each filly's head turn as if by rehearsal, and all stared at the only princess in their world: Princess Celestia. The tall white alicorn was...almost staring at the six ponies. Her ethereal mane twisted gently in a silent wind, and almost glowed, the pastels were so clean. She smiled suddenly, eyes bright.

    "No need to be scared, dears. You aren't hurt, but something special is happening," Celestia said, holding out her wings as if to cover them.

    Twilight stared as bright lights pulled from her chest. A sideways glance confirmed the others going through the same process. Then, white lights surrounded her, blocking out everything with gentle heat.

    Again, the lavender filly opened her eyes, though she didn't stand. To her shock, there was Princess Celestia again, gently trying to wake her. "Are you alright?" The white alicorn cocked her head to one side. "Do you feel okay?"

    The pain had faded to manageable aches, and she slowly nodded, then sat up with the ruler's assistance. Part of her mind was wondering why in Equestria the princess seemed so interested in her, then her back began twitching oddly. Huh?

    She looked over her shoulder. Her back shouldn't twitch like that...

    "Oh." Mounting screams twisted in her throat, until she saw the two tiny lavender wings, with faint indigo hints at the tips, placed directly behind her withers. Everything froze, before she shot a glance at the suddenly stone-faced princess.

    The princess wasn't mean-looking, but she definitely looked curious, though stiff. "I suppose this puts a bind on some life plans, right?" Her tone became tolerantly amused at the filly's features, which assumed a somewhat horrified expression. "But you'll need help to learn how to control those new limbs. How about becoming my student?"

    A flabbergasted expression overwhelmed the little filly, who shot glances at her parents (why were there leaves in their manes?), then back towards the princess. Another glance at her parents showed gleeful visages, which was mirrored by the little filly's in seconds. An ear-piercing scream of delight, followed by bouncing and cheering, made the princess grin herself.

    "Just one second, Twilight," She gently captured the filly's attention once more, then gestured towards the new alicorn's flank, where a perfect magenta and white star, with five tiny white stars surrounding it, now rested. This time, the princess raised a sound barrier as the filly's delight broke the few windows to survive her magical surge.

    Twilight then noticed the baby dragon. It was crying silently, and sucking on the end of its tail. A lavender coat of...well, scales, with jade-green spines down its back, and huge slit green eyes, which ceased crying on seeing her.

    She smiled to it. It laughed, and groped for her with its soft little paws. She slowly picked it up, with her hooves when her horn proved too sore for magic. It was shockingly light for its size.

    She looked up at the princess with a smile. "May I keep him?"