Grasping Happiness

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7

Chapter 1

All throughout Equestria, ponies were peacefully asleep on this cool autumn night. But in the Canterlot castle a white goddess tossed and turned in her bed, dreaming of a past that she would rather not remember.

Outside a dark blue figure cloaked in the soft light of the moon watched over the white alicorn with a look of worry showing on her face.

“Sister...”

964 years ago. (31 AB)

The throne room in Canterlot castle has always been a place of peace and beauty. It was always a breathtaking experience being in the presence of the throne. The marble floors shining from the rainbow light coming from the murals on the walls. A red carpet running down the center leading to the throne. Lush banners lining the walls flanking the throne depicting a glorious sun on one side and a shimmering moon on the other. It was truly a wondrous sight to behold.

But today's events would come to haunt these halls.

A loud bang as the doors burst open announced the arrival of a group of ponies as they entered the room.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Celestia called upon seeing five of her guards dragging a chained unicorn with a yellow coat and a red mane, Cyrus, into the throne room.

Leading the group was the captain of her guard, Sunshine, and what she thought was one of the professors from her school of gifted unicorns with his horn glowing keeping a lock on Cyrus's magic. Normally Celestia would not be surprised seeing her guard dragging in a prisoner into the room to be sentenced by her personally but she found herself enraged and shocked as to why the person in chains happened to be her love and soon to be husband.

Cyrus had been there for her when she was at her weakest. After she had lost her sister to banishment she had been left alone and blamed herself for what had happened. She had fallen into a depression but he had been there to take her loneliness away. They had been together for over half a year now and had just recently asked for her hoof in marriage.

As she looked closer she could see that he was bruised, bloodied, and walking with a limp. She felt a fire beginning to build inside her as she rose from her seat.

Standing up she looked at the the captain and said very heatedly, “Captain Sunshine what is going on?! And more importantly why is my beloved injured and in chains?!” spitting out the last couple of words like venom, her eyes alight with anger.

Sunshine was no fool. She knew that if she didn't explain herself quickly there would be a terrible reckoning upon her. But right now she was more worried about what would take place once she explained herself. “He has been arrested for treason and conspiracy to steal the crown!”

The alicorn's eyes went wide and she felt the fire inside her freeze over into a cold lump that settled in her stomach. “This... this has to be some sort of mistake.”

The frown the captain was already wearing deepened. “I'm sorry princess but we had found evidence that a group of ponies were planning to stage a coup sometime after the wedding. Acting on this information I and my team raided their main hideout in the early hours and found him along them with a good amount of other followers, many of which were old followers of nightmare moon.” She took a look over her own armor which was bent and distorted in several places. “Needless to say they resisted. They took out 13 of the royal guard before they surrendered.” Sunshine didn't add that among the deaths was her closest friend in the guard. “The rest of the hideouts are being raided as we speak.”

Celestia slowly turned her head to broken form of Cyrus lying on the carpet. “Cyrus. What...”

Cyrus looked up at Celestia with a expression she had never seen before. His tone cruel and full of malicious hate. “Yes Celestia, everything she said is true.”

Celestia, feeling her legs wobble sat down and looked at him, her eyes full of hurt and betrayal. “Why?”

“You don't deserve to be the ruler of Equestria. That right should be mine!” he shouted at her with nothing but hate and resentment in his eyes. “You are just a tyrant that sits on the throne and plays princess while the rest of the nobles run the court!”

Tears started to trail down her cheeks and fall onto the plush pillowed throne that she sat upon. “But... I loved you....”

“Ha! You think I wanted your love? Your love meant nothing to me!”

“But you said you wished to marry me... that you wanted... to stay by my side forever.” Celestia's voice was beginning to crack with sorrow. Her usual calm mask shattered by the torrent of tears running down her cheeks..

When an alicorn gets married to another a special bond is made between them. They give the pony of their choosing their love and with it the immortality of an alicorn, thus allowing a pony of their choosing to live by them forever. It was always thought that this was to make up for the fact that they must watch all others around them age and die. Consequently this 'bond' can only happen once in an alicorn's lifetime so it is not something that is taken lightly by the said alicorn.

Slowly she lowered her eyes to the floor “I thought you were a kinder pony.”

“Who needs kindness? The only thing I wanted from marrying you was the immortality that came with it. I thought it made a nice bonus on top of having the throne.”

“You're a monster!” Sunshine shouted.

“Monster?” he said, turning to the pony, his voice laced with false hurt. “I came into her life and took all the hurt away after she banished her own sister.” Turning back to Celestia “And you just sucked it up, anything to take the pain away.”

Another heartbreaking sob escaped the alicorn's lips.

“And thats why you don't deserve to be ruler! Eight months together and you never even suspected that I was just after your throne.” he said like he was bragging.

“Just like how you never noticed how your sister felt unappreciated and unloved! Who's the real monster here?!” A wicked grin slowly began to form on his face. “It's your fault she changed!”

At this the white goddess stared at him in pure shock in hearing his words.

But as much as they hurt. He was right.

If she had payed more attention to Luna and helped her sooner she could have showed her that ponies still did appreciate her night, but she didn't, she ignorantly kept taking all of the attention away from Luna.

“No” she croaked out. Tears now flowing freely from her eyes, the goddess not caring who saw them.

Seeing the princess in this state was heartbreaking but Sunshine had to have the truth out in the open if she was going to be able to imprison him. But there was no reason to be cruel and lengthen this talk.

“Okay, that’s enough, take him away.” she called out to the two guards holding him, both of which all too happy to lock him up.

The Princess lay sobbing as the guards dragged the ranting unicorn from the throne room.

“You will never find real love! The only ponies that will court you will only ever be after your power!” He cried out hysterically.

It's not true

“Because you are cursed! Cursed by your own power!”

No more

“And that is why-”

Please stop

“- you will always be alone!”

Alone

The first thing that the white princess notices when she wakes up is that there are tears in her eyes.

Even now, nearly a thousand years later, she still has the dreams.

'You will always be alone'

Sighing, she wipes the tears away and climbs out of bed using her horn to illuminate the room in order to see more clearly.

Even though she was the princess she kept her room fairly simple. A study for reading in at her leisure along with her desk, a fireplace which was very useful on cold days with a mat laying in front of it, a large bed fitted against the wall and along that a dresser, a door to her private bathroom, and her balcony. It was simple but it was as much as she needed.

Slowly she walked out onto the balcony and stretched, extending each leg and fluttering her wings a bit. It always helped her wake up and prepare for the day's tasks.

Facing the east she lowered her head and her horn began to glow with a golden hue. As she raised her head she was greeted the the gentle rays of morning sun, it always felt like the greeting of an old friend.

An old friend.

It had been five years since she had first sent her 'most faithful student' to Ponyville in order to learn more about friendship. She always enjoyed receiving her friendship reports and hearing about her experiences with her friends. She was glad that the bookish pony had opened herself up to the world and friendship.

But as the months went by the amount of reports slowly decreased. At first they were diligent and on time but as she learned there became less and less new material to report on. Now she is lucky if she gets one report a month.

She missed Twilight.

She missed the days when she taught Twilight magic. She missed the way her face lit up when she got a new book. She missed how the filly's eyes would get huge when she began to talk about Starswirl the Bearded. But mostly she missed the way that Twilight always tried to make her happy and strove to gain her approval in all that she did. Not because she was sucking up to a princess but because she genuinely cared about her opinion.

But eventually that little filly grew up into a young mare. She became a scholar for the Equestrian Magic Academy and is well known as one of the greatest unicorns of her time, though she always denies it if asked. She was beautiful, smart, kind. Celestia truly cared for her protege, one could say that she really...

Letting out a long sigh the princess walked back into her room.

She was glad that Twilight had found her own happiness in life.

But then why did that thought leave her sad?

After the sun had risen over the horizon, Luna, flanked by two of her personal guards, found herself walking down the corridors towards the dining hall for breakfast.

Seeing her sister in pain from her dreams had worried Luna, even more so because this was not the first time that Celestia's dreams had bothered her.

The blue alicorn secretly wondered if it was her fault that her sister had bad dreams. That Celestia still didn't trust her and was afraid of what she once became and feared that she would become again.

A nightmare.

Luna mentally shook herself. No, she knew Celestia was a very gentle and forgiving pony. Ever since the younger alicorn returned to her sister's side she has been nothing but forgiving and kind to her restored sister.

But then what was troubling her sister so?

Well whatever it was she would have to either get it out of her now or much later. She would be leaving for a diplomatic trip to Griffinia, the griffins’ homeland, later that day and it would take a few days due to travel.

Her two guards held the doors open as she walked through the archway leading to the dining area. They always stood guard outside the doors waiting on their princess to finish her meals so as to give her some space. It was a mutual understanding between them.

Luna sat down in her respective seat and one end of the table as one of the servants, wearing a pleasant smile, walked to greet her. “Hello Princess Luna. I suppose you'll be having the usual this morning?”

“Ah yes, that would be wonderful.” The dark blue alicorn spoke gently. “Also would you be so kind as to bring some blackberry jam as well?” She had taken a few speaking classes with one of the Elements of Harmony, Fluttershy. Because of her she was now able to speak more commonly and control her use of the 'Royal Canterlot voice'. She was finally able to kick the habit.

“Of course your majesty.” The servant bowed deeply and left.

A few moments later she returned with tea and a plate of toast. Luna, picking up a piece of toast with her magic, spread some jam on it and began happily munching away at the said wheat product. Out of all the new inventions that had been made in the past thousand years this 'toast' was by far the most ingenious. She had wanted to make a national toast appreciation day but her sister had shot the idea down as soon as she got to 'toast parade floats'.

After a couple of minutes she had finished her meal and was quietly sipping tea when her sister made her appearance. Her guards closing the door behind her so that they could talk in peace.

“Hello sister, We have been waiting for thou to join us.” Luna said mentally facehoofing as she realized that her old manner of speech had surfaced once again.

How does that saying go again? Old habits die hard? Well no matter. Celestia is family and she would never want Luna to pretend to be somepony she wasn’t by talking in a way she was uncomfortable with.

Luna had known her sister for a long time and even though they had been apart for a thousand years, she still knew how to see past her sister's calm outer mask that she wore around others.

“Good morning Luna.” Celestia said wearing a pleasant smile. “I trust you had a nice night.” She took a seat down at the table facing her sister. The servant that had served her earlier came and set out some tea for her before hurrying back of to the kitchen once more. Celestia was on a diet recently, it would seem that over the last thousand years she had acquired a bit of a sweet-tooth.

“It was quite uneventful actually, though it did give us time to work on the stars” Luna replied after taking another sip of tea. “Did you sleep well Celly?”

If there was any doubt that Celestia was hurting behind her fake smile it was now gone after seeing the pain in her sister's eyes. She almost thought she could see Celestia shudder a little. Of course she was quick to cover it up with a yawn.

“Why yes sister. Thanks for asking.”

Luna's eyes narrowed slightly at the white alicorn.

“Is something bothering thou sister?”

Luna locked eyes with her sister knowing that this was the only way to force it from her.

“What are you talking about Luna?” Celestia said lightly.

“....”

“Nothing is bothering me.”

“....”

Celestia was the first to look away.

“Something is bothering you!” Luna said upset as Celestia looked away from her. “Why won't you tell us?” Her voice rising slightly. “Can thou not confide in us?”

“....”

Luna looked down at her tea sadly. All the anger ran out of her and she spoke quietly.“Does thou not trust me anymore?” She made sure to say 'me' and not 'us'. She knew that to some degree her sister would never trust her like she use to. She just couldn't tell by how much.

“Of course I trust you Luna. You are dear to me sister. This is just... something I need to deal with on my own.” Celestia quickly reassured her. “I should have known better than to try to hide things from you Lulu.”

'Thou shouldn't have to sister.' Luna desperately wanted to tell her but settled for. “But sister, it’s just... you have seemed so lonely recently.”

Luna couldn't help but notice a look of pain cross her sister's face

“Don’t worry Lulu, it's just past feelings catching up with me.”

Unfortunately Luna still persisted, not willing to let it go. “We just wish to help sister.”

Celestia sighed, she knew her sister was just trying to help her feel better and the thought did touch her. But then again did she really deserve to be helped? Everything that had happened was by her own doing in the end.

'It's your fault she changed'

Celestia frowned and looked down into her own cup of liquid. “I guess I have been feeling a little lonely lately.” she said finally.

Luna, glad that her sister was confiding in her, smiled lightly and inclined for her to continue.

“I've been thinking of my faithful student lately.” Celestia admitted, 'which is partially true' she amended to herself. She did miss her precious student dearly.

“Ah yes. Twilight Sparkle. We hear that she is now a Scholar for the Magic Academy.” Luna's smile widened at the thought of the purple unicorn that brought her back from her insanity. “We also hear she has been holding up to her title as the Element of Magic. But then again we would expect nothing less from your personal student.”

“She has become quite advanced in the use of magic and is very diligent in her studies.” Celestia's smile grew a bit “though she does tend to overwork herself from time to time.”

“Its only natural that a teacher should care about how their student is doing.” Luna stated simply.

“Her friendship reports used to be the thing that would brighten up my days. But now I'm lucky to get a letter from her once a month.” The white alicorn seemed to deflate at this. “I guess I miss the way we used to be so close.”

Celestia had to fight off the rush of precious memories she shared together with her student. Twilight was the closest thing to someone she cared about for nearly a thousand years. She even gave her sister back to her, she would never be able to show her Twilight how much that meant to her.

“But enough about me, I'm more worried about what you are planning to do about the peace talks with the griffons.” Celestia said collecting herself.

“But sister! You-”

“Will be fine, Luna.” Celestia finished for her. “I didn't live over a thousand years by not being able to handle my emotions.” she assured. With a light chuckle, she continued. “Now come, surely you don't plan to demand candy from them and scare their children until you get some.”

Luna was still unconvinced and looked like she was ready to pursue their conversation but decided against it knowing that doing so would get her nowhere. Not to mention she had to stifle a few giggles at the thought. She enjoyed Nightmare Night greatly each year. She had fun scaring the children and them not truly fearing her, yet another thing she was grateful to Twilight for.

“Well we were planning on leaving around noon this day.” she replied giving up. “It will be a three day trip and we would like to not be late for our meeting with the griffin ambassador.”

“Yes, griffins have been known to be rather quick tempered.” Celestia once again regaining her calm outer appearance.

“Don't worry Celly, We will behave Our-self. Promise.” Luna replied smirking.

The white princess looked at her younger sister for a couple moments.

“Well I need to start the day-court and I'd hate to keep you from your preparations any longer.” The white alicorn announced getting up. A couple of servants came in and started cleaning the table. “I hope that your talk with the griffins goes well, it would benefit Equestria greatly to have their trust and be at peace with them.” She started off out of the room.

Luna, also getting up, replied “We will do our best sister.”

Celestia stopped a little before at the doors and turned to face Luna with a look of genuine worry etched on her face. She looked like she was choosing her next word carefully. “Also, please be careful Luna.” After that being said she continued on to give day-court.

The warning was vague but Luna understood. The griffins were not the most peaceful of nations and the fact that they wanted to initiate a peace talk was nothing more than a first for them. Celestia was telling her to be cautious but to still ultimately strive for peace.

Luna stood up and started back down the hall to her room passing through the courtyard by the garden, once again flanked by her two guards.

“I may not be able to help her feel better but I might know someone who can.” She looked at the sun as it started slowly rising on it's journey across the sky. “There is still a bit of time before I have to leave.”

“I think I will pay Twilight Sparkle a visit.”

*Author's note* : This is my first fanfiction I've ever written. I have read quite a lot of stories here on fimfiction and finally decided to try my hand at one and I hope you enjoy it. Comments are welcome as well as critiquing if you feel compelled to do so. Celestia knows I could use some :/ also I appologise for the lack of Twilight Sparkle in this chapter but fear not we will be seeing more of her in the coming chapters.

by the way 'AB' ,if you didn't figure it out, stands for "After Banishment".

Chapter 2

“Spiiiiiiike!” Twilight's familiar call reverberated throughout the library to no avail.

The library looked the same as it always had, books lining the shelves that hugged every available wall, and several piles of the them laying about on the floor and tables. The well known smell of new books and dust lingering in the air, Twilight always thought that if knowledge had a smell then that was it. It wasn't much or anything grand but it was home to the purple unicorn and even though she could now afford to get something a little bigger she had grown attached to the library, besides what better place for a researcher to live than in a library?

Fighting the urge to call out again Twilight set the book she was reading down and walked upstairs and into the spare bedroom.

“Come on Spike, rise and shine.” She said approaching the bed at the other end of the room. The blanket had been pulled up over his head to keep out the light coming in from the window leaving his tail sticking out in a rather silly looking manner.

The large mass shifted slightly under the blanket and she heard a mumble of, “ten more minutes...”

“Oh no you don't, its already noon! Its not healthy for you to be sleeping in like this.” Using her magic she tilted the bed to the side, the contents of which landed with a 'thud' in a heap of blanket and scales.

A low groan came from the mess. “Geez Twilight you could have at least warned me first.” came a reply from the dragon as he untangled himself from the sheets. What emerged from the mess was a dragon a little bigger than the average pony but not quite as large as big mac. Spike had hit a growth spurt about a year ago and his body had gone though some changes, among these changes was a set of purple wings that now rested along his sides.

Twilight gave him the guest room to use now that he could no longer fit in his old bed but it took a while to convince him to use it. The basket that he slept in was something special to him, it was the first thing that Twilight ever gave him besides his name and he refused to let her throw it out, it touched Twilight that he thought so much of it.

“I did warn you.” She said heatedly but her heart wasn't in it. “Now come on it Friday. You promised Rarity that you would help her at the boutique today. Remember?” That got a reaction.

His eyes shot open immediately wide awake “I forgot! Oh no, shes gonna kill me.” He wailed.

“Oh please, you two are dating now, I doubt shes going to kill the dragon she loves.” Twilight assured the panicked dragon.

“Obviously you and I don't know the same Rarity.” He said deadpan.

Spike had finally been able to tell Rarity about his feelings a few months ago. At first Twilight was worried that he would be rejected but was pleasantly surprised when she found out that Rarity harbored the same feelings for the dragon, they had been dating ever since.

Not very long after that, Rainbow Dash and Applejack announced that they were marefriends and have in fact been together for a little over a year. Twilight had always suspected Rainbow Dash of liking mares but as for Applejack she had no idea.

As a matter of fact, Big Mac had started going out with Fluttershy more recently and even Pinkie Pie found a coltfriend in the stallion who runs the party store in town. It seemed that everypony had found someone to be with...

Everypony except her.

While everyone was off finding love, Twilight stayed cooped up in her library, reading over old books and studying forgotten spells. She didn’t mind though, she was perfectly content with her line of work as a scholar. She didn't need another pony to be around her. Annoying her. Interrupting her.

Loving her.

Twilight quickly rid herself of those thoughts. She had Spike and her friends by her, and that was enough. She was quite content with how her life was going and she loved studying books and learning new things from them. She had no regrets about her career choice, though no matter how much she tried not to think about it there was one thing that pained her. She missed the alicorn that once taught her.

Princess Celestia had practically raised her from when she was a little filly. Although she knew that the princess had much more important things to do than talk with a old student, she really wished to see her again. She still sent in reports about friendship whenever she could, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to find something new to write about and she didn't want a repeat of what happened last time she rushed a friendship report.

She sometimes wished that she could go back to when she was just starting to learn about magic just to talk with her mentor again. She missed the way the princess would praise her when she cast a spell right or when she got an A on a test, it always made her heart soar when her teacher was proud of her. That was all she ever wanted, to make the princess proud of her.

She would give anything for today to be like it was back then when they used to sit down and chat together. It had been three years since they last talked. But she was no longer a filly learning about magic and friendship, she had grown up and she was no longer the princess’ 'most faithful student' anymore. It made her heart ache just to think about it but she had to move on with her new career in life, even if it killed her inside to do it.

Believing her job here was done she made her way back downstairs and picked up reading where she left off. Less than a minute later, Spike practically flew down the stairs and dashed straight for the door.

“Thanks for waking me up Twilight, I don't know what I'd do without you.” Using his claws he let out a short whistle and the small phoenix flew to spike and perched on one of the green spikes on his head. “You can come too Peewee.” he said, scratching the young phoenix under the chin.

“How could I not look out for my number one assistant?” she replied, now smiling at the pair.

“I'll be back in time to make dinner after I finish helping Rarity. I trust you can get through lunch without burning the library down.”

“Oh hardy har har.” she said, her tone laced with false anger. “I'll have you know I made it through breakfast without you just fine.”

“Yeah, making cold cereal.” And with that he took off out the door.

“Oh he's gonna get it later.” she said settling back into the cushion she was reading on. She really wanted to continue reading this book, the title was 'Magical Items and Effects'. Twilight had been studying a new type of crystal that was discovered recently. A fellow colleague had brought the stones to her and asked for her opinion on them. She had been told it was called 'Irritus' and that it had some strange effect on magic.

They looked like ordinary gemstones at first glance but after a closer look she found that they were anything but ordinary. When she went to pick one up with her magic she found that she couldn't. After experimenting with the strange crystals for a while the results still baffled her, it seemed that any magic cast around the crystals dissipated immediately. At first she thought it was storing the magic it was absorbing but after further inspection, she found it was more like a black hole in that no matter how much magic it absorbed, it never filled. Even any magic in the immediate area got sucked in. Could it be possible tha-

knock knock knock

Twilight jumped a little as she was broken out of her inner pondering of the subject by the knocking at the door. Sighing she once again put her book down and walked to the door, opening it with her magic.

“See Spike? That’s why you don't rush. You- ohmygoshprincessluna!” Twilight froze up at the sight of the midnight goddess standing in the doorway.

“Hello Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said with an unsure smile set on her face. “Have I arrived at a bad time?”

“Oh no, right now is perfectly fine! I was just doing some light reading.” She quickly put the book away and began straightening up the room in a blur of motion and magic. “I'm so sorry about the mess. I wasn't expecting any company today. Can I get you anything? Should I put some tea on for us?”

At this the alicorn frowned. “I would very much like the chance to catch up but I am afraid that I am short on time.” she admitted a tinge of saddness apparent in her voice. “I have come today because I wish to make a request of you.”

'Had something happened? Had Discord returned? Were the changelings back again? Was this some new threat that loomed over Equestria?' She would do her part to keep Equestria safe from whatever evil had beset them. “Is something wrong princess? Should I go and get the other elements?!” she said, beginning to panic.

“No, this is more of a personal request.”

To say that Twilight was speechless would be an understatement; she had no idea what she could offer a princess but if Luna had come to her personally it must have been important request indeed.

“Of course. I'll help in anyway that I can.”

Upon hearing this, Luna beamed at Twilight. The purple mare was always willing to do what she could to help others, not very much unlike herself. “Well you see Twilight, I will be away from Canterlot for the next few days on official business and I would ask you to stay at the castle whilst I'm away.”

'Has something happened in Canterlot? Was Princess Celestia okay!'

“I want you to keep my sister company while you're there.” Seeing that Twilight was now confused she added on. “She seems to have been feeling lonely lately and I worry about her. So I would like you to spend a few days with her to help cheer her up.”

Luna waited patiently while the unicorn digested this. Very slowly, Twilight turned to look down at her hoofs.

“But why me?”

Luna was not expecting this to be Twilight's next choice of words. She had to suppress a laugh at how foolish the question sounded. Who else could cheer Celly up besides her personal student? The snobby nobles? The guards? Even she, her own sister, had a hard time getting the white goddess to open up to her.

“Twilight, you have always been Celestia's favorite. She told me that she misses you.” Luna couldn't help but let loose a couple giggles at the face Twilight made.

“I don't know what to say. I mean, sure I was her student, but thats all I was, wasn't I? Just another student.” she said, still unsure of herself.

Luna's face visibly softened. “I still do not know everything that I missed while I was gone but my sister told me that you were the only student that she ever personally taught. You mean a lot to my sister... actually, I believe that you are the only one besides me that my sister will willingly confide in.”

Twilight couldn't understand it. She knew that the princess and her once had a strong bond but she thought that it was no more than that between a teacher and student. And she was no longer a student so that bond was gone. Why would the princess even care about her? She didn't have anything to offer the princess anymore.

“Well Twilight Sparkle, what do you say? Will you do us this favor?”

To visit the pony she missed so dearly? How could she say no?

“Of course. I'd be happy to visit Princess Celestia.”

“Oh joy! Thank you, Twilight Sparkle, for doing me this favor. I'm sure my sister will be overjoyed to see you. I have arranged for a chariot to take you to the castle, it will be here in a few minutes. As for where you can sleep I'm sure your old room will suffice. Now if you'll excuse me, I must be going. Perhaps we shall have that chat when I get back.” And with that she left leaving the stunned purple mare staring at the closed door trying to unravel the mess of thoughts that had accumulated at what just happened. So she did what she always did when she faced a lot of information, she made a list.

First: Luna had shown up and asked her to spend some time with Princess Celestia.

Second: She had told her that the princess missed her and wanted to see her again.

Third: There is a chariot coming to pick her up to go any minute now.

Fourth: She was nowhere near ready.

“Oh horseapples.”

Twilight was now flying high above Ponyville in a dark blue chariot headed for Canterlot. She made sure to quickly leave a note telling Spike that she would be going to Canterlot for a few days and that he was in charge of the library while she was away. He was old enough now, he could handle it.

Though right now she wasn't worried about Spike watching over the library. She wasn't worried that she had just upped and left all her work to go to Canterlot. She wasn't even worried that she was now more than a thousand feet up in the sky while she was afraid of heights. No, right now the only thing that was on her mind was how she was going to face Princess Celestia.

It had been so long since they last talked. What was she supposed to say? 'Oh hello Princess Celestia! Sorry that we haven't talked in so long but I've been too busy for the past three years reading books to stop by and say hello to the person who took me in as their own personal student.'

Twilight tried to steady herself the entire trip to Canterlot and think up how she would approach the mare that once taught her but it only served to increase the panic that she felt rising inside her.

As the chariot touched down in the courtyard at the front of the castle Twilight was no closer to being prepared to talk to the princess. To be perfectly honest, she was a wreck. Even the guards had asked if she was okay before taking off to their next duty after she assured them that she was.

'Calm down Twilight, you can handle this. Remember, one step at a time. You'll have to face her sooner or later so you might as well face the music now rather than put it off.'

Collecting herself with a deep breath she started off into the castle.

She still remembered the castle well from the time when she used to roam castle ground as a filly. It seemed that most of the guards actually remembered her as well because none of them stopped to question what she was doing at the castle and a few even waved to her as she walked down the halls leading to the throne room. She had always gotten along with the guards, some of the older ones would even sneak her candy from the royal pantries.

She had made it to the side doors of the throne room when she heard voices coming from inside. Judging by the time of day, she guessed that day-court was being held now.

'Okay Twilight, this is it. Just go in there and greet her. She is holding court with ponies now so it’ll be less awkward than greeting her when she's alone.'

Thump thump

She took a step towards the room.

Thump thump

'Come on Twilight, you can do this.'

Another step.

Thump thump

'Good, just a little further.'

She took a final step, finally passing the doorway and just as she took in the room her fear got the better of her. She closed her eyes and backed out of the room disappearing behind the door frame.

'I can't do it. I can't do it. I can't do it.'

She slumped up against the wall panting with fear yet angry with herself for chickening out.

'Why... why is this so hard to do?' Twilight thought frantically. It wasn't like it was her first time meeting Princess Celestia. Sure it had been a long time since she last talked to the princess but she could surely at least speak to her properly.

Letting out a short frustrated huff, she began walking towards her old room in order to be alone for a while to collect her thoughts. She just hoped that her old room still had all of the books it used to, reading was something she always found calming.

Twilight found herself considering if she should just avoiding meeting the princess. She wasn't worried that the guards would tell her that her Twilight was visiting, they usually kept to themselves unless asked. But that wasn't right. She told Luna that she would spend time with the princess and she wasn't about to go back on her word. Besides she really wanted to talk with her.

'But what do I say to her?'

After walking for a while she finally made it to her old room. She hesitated for a second before she unlatched the door and walked inside. She had expected to find that her room had been changed back into another guest room but was shocked to see that the room hadn't changed at all.

In fact the room looked as if it had been preserved in time, the same curtains patterned with purple stars hanging from the windows and her extensive collection of books taken from the castle library lined the walls. Even the books that she had left out on the table were left piled in a neat stack. The room hadn't been changed nor had it been left alone to gather dust, it actually looked like she had just left yesterday. No, it was like she had never left at all.

Twilight you have always been Celestia's favorite

A tear unknowingly traveled down her cheek and fell to the floor.

'She still wanted me around? But why? I'm no longer her student!' Unable to bear staying inside the room any longer Twilight exited the room.

Had she been wrong? If the princess still wanted her around then that would mean that Twilight had unknowingly ignored her for 3 years. How could she be so stupid? It was her fault that princess Celestia was sad! She probably thought that Twilight was doing it on purpose! How was she supposed to explain herself to the princess now?

Twilight found herself wandering in the garden wallowing in self-pity. The scenery always helps her to relax, she could never understand why none of the other noble ponies would enjoy it more. It was actually quite beautiful in the garden during this time of day. The sun had just started to set and it cast a orange glow along the trees and flowers.

She remembered how the princess and her would sometimes meet in the gardens to have lessons in magic or enjoy the serene calmness of the lush greenery. Out of all the things she missed doing with the princess that was what she missed the most, just spending time together.

After a couple minutes of aimlessly walking around, she found herself at the center of the garden where a large water fixture stood surrounded by a couple of benches. Walking to the fountain she looked at her reflection in it.

What could she possibly offer the princess; without the Element of Magic she was just another unicorn. Even with her element, there was nothing she could do without the rest of the elements beside her. Why would the princess care so much about her?

“Twilight?” said a from a voice behind her. A voice that could belonged to only one pony. She began to feel panic rising in her, telling her to flee. But she knew she had been spotted and running away wouldn't help.

'This is it Twilight Sparkle, steel yourself. You knew it would come eventually, now just face her and tell her you're sorry and that you didn't mean to ignore her.'

Slowly, she turned to face the owner of the voice and was met with a sight so beautiful that it made tears well up her eyes. Try as she might, there was nothing she could do to hold them back. The princess was standing there with her pure white wings lightly tucked at her sides, her ethereal rainbow mane floating behind her sparkling in the light coming from the sunset, the gold rays shining on her face that held a look of surprise.

At that point all of her fears and doubts left her, the only thing that mattered to her right now was the white alicorn in front of her and how much she missed her.

She told me that she misses you.

All the preparation in the world could not have prevented her next actions; she ran to the teacher she cared so deeply for and threw her hoofs around the alicorn's neck. She felt hot tears fall from her eyes as the aching that was inside her heart for three years was finally soothed.

A hoof wrap around her back and pulled her into the princess Twilight was too distracted at the moment to feel it.

With her mind currently on meltdown and her whole body shaking from the joy she felt finally being able to see her teacher again, she buried her face into the soft white coat of the princess' neck which quickly grew damp from the lavender unicorn's tears. She held on for dear life, relishing in the moment with her dearly missed princess.

“I missed you too princess.”

The goddess simply held her there, basking in the light of Twilight.

*Author's note* : Hope this chapter turned out alright, at least with less grammar errors than the last. Now finally with the base of the story laid down I can now get started on the shipping. Can't wait ^_^

Thanks to all of you for being patient with me as I explore the world of a fanfic writer and I hope you enjoyed the new chapter.

Chapter 3

Celestia was lounging on her pillow as the ponies in attendance passed the usual reports and brought forth their ideas to be approved. She still couldn't believe that at one time she wanted nothing to do with the royal court and would let her ponies do as they wished. As she began to participate in the court's discussions more and more she realized that there were many foolish ideas that the nobles agreed on that were causing problems.

She was so foolish herself back then.

Usually, she enjoyed being in the loop in plans made by her ponies and was glad to be able to steer them in the right direction. But right now she was tired and just wished for court to finish soon. Not only that, but this one particular pony was getting on her nerves.

“...And that is why building a dam on the Wesnoth river would benefit not only my city but also the neighboring cities by increasing the amount of trade we would then have to offer.”

There was a murmur of agreement amongst the large group of ponies that attended day-court. Celestia sighed, it was the last day-court for the week and Luna wouldn't be around to hold the night-court; there was a lot more to deal with than usual. That wasn't to say that Celestia wasn't used to extended court hours from time to time when Luna wasn't around, but she enjoyed what little free time she had after day-court would have closed.

“I believe that this will help Trottersdale's irrigation greatly and it will practically pay for itself within the first year.”

Mayor Highbreed. Oh how she loathed his voice. He spoke with an arrogance in his voice that could rival Prince Blueblood, if thats even possible, and his words were grimy and foul and made her feel as if she needed to take a bath after hearing them. He was greedy for all that he was pompous but he also held the position of mayor of Trottersdale.

Didn't mean he deserved it though.

Immediately sensing bad intentions in this plan she decided to take a closer look at this dam he wanted to make.

Her horn glowed lightly as she lifted the paper on the board he had set up and studied the construction zone that was mapped out, it didn't show where the river passed by further downstream but she wasn't a foal. She had long since memorized Equestria and all of the borders that surrounded it.

“Doesn't the Wesnoth river run west past Equestria's border?”

“Indeed it does. It follows Trottersdale west and into the mountains.”

Celestia frowned. “Correct me if I am wrong, but won't building this dam cause a lack of water to those that live downstream along the river?”

“Worry not Princess, we have checked and I can assure you that no ponies will be in danger due to the water shortage downstream at our border.”

The Princess felt her eye twitch. Did he really think she was so naive? That she didn't know what lied past Equestria's borders?

“And what of the Griffins that live in the mountains? Do you forget that the Wesnoth river runs right through Griffinia lying directly past our border?” They had just started peaceful negotiations with them and this pathetic excuse for a mayor wanted her to let him cripple their water supply?! If everything went well and Luna's talk beared fruit they could open up new trade routes with the griffins and form a more solid peace together. This would ruin everything!

No. She wouldn't let that happen. She cared for all of the creatures that lived under her sun and the griffins were one of them.

“I am very sorry Mayor Highbreed, but I am afraid I must deny your request for a build order for this dam.”

“What?!” The mayor's face which had remained falsely pleasant before was now tense with anger. Obviously he did not approve of her decision.

“I will not have Equestria harm other lands in order to increase our own productivity, Mayor.”

“This is outrageous! This project would benefit all of west Equestria. Why should we care about what happens to those savages that choose to live outside our border?! With the water that the dams would hold we-”

“Enough!” She was now standing on her pillowed throne, her voice echoing from the walls of the room, her eyes alight with anger. Many of the ponies that were gathered in the court took an involuntary step back from the pony under her gaze. The pony in question began shaking under the Princess' harsh stare.

“You would do well in remembering that ponies are not much different from griffins. In fact, many Griffins live in Equestria peacefully with us.” The princess said coldly, her furious gaze never leaving the pony.

She could barely contain her anger. This was not the first time she had seen discrimination of other species and it sickened her that some ponies still harboured such old views. She had spent the last thousand years striving to make Equestria a land of peace and equality. In many ways she had already improved the way her ponies treated each other from the time when there were three separate tribes. Now most ponies can’t even fathom a time when pegasi, unicorns and earth ponies hated each other. And yet there are still ponies like Highbreed that think they’re superior to others just because they hold some power.

But she knew. All those years ago she found out, just because you have power doesn't mean you’re a better pony. Having power is more like a weight, the more you have, the more responsibility you have to bear. And she bared the weight of managing an entire nation on her shoulders. Bigger still is her responsibility to raise and lower the sun everyday to bring light to the world.

'Cursed by your own power'

Well he was right about that, power is nothing but a curse. She sometimes wished that she could just abandon the throne and be as any other pony, free to come and go as she pleased. But she had to watch over her kingdom and protect them as best as she could, it was her duty. She just wished that ponies like mayor Highbreed wouldn't make it harder than it had to be.

“You have heard my answer and I have nothing more to say on the matter.” She finished, sitting back down on her pillow.

He looked up at her with his expression something between fear and resentment and opened his mouth like he was about to say something more but then closed it before he could. He still looked upset but gave a low bow.

“Thank you for your time, Princess.”

And with that he gathered his papers and left the room, her eyes following him all the way out. As soon as the stallion exited the room Celestia felt several pairs of eyes staring straight at her, the faces they occupied looked fearful and confused at the Princess' sudden outburst. She was surprised at herself for losing her calm outer mask in anger. Perhaps she was in need of a break.

Celestia was still fuming on the inside and didn't notice when a unicorn hesitantly walked up to the princess with a stack of papers in tow afloat with magic. It wasn't until the pony squeaked out,

“Y-y-our m-m-majesty here are the r-reports from the recent break-in at the Magic Academy.”

Letting loose a breath she didn't realize she was holding, she turned to the slightly trembling pony. She gave her a reassuring smile to show that she was no longer angry. “Thank you, you can set them on the table over there with the rest of the reports.”

She didn't like it when her ponies saw her angry, she wanted them to trust her judgment, not be so afraid of her as to not question it. The mare quickly stacked the papers on the table and bowed as she took her leave, glad to leave the unsettling atmosphere that still lingered in the room.

The tension began to slowly fade from the room as the next group readied their materials to talk to the princess. Maybe she was just so irritable from being cooped up in the castle all day, perhaps she would go get some fresh air after this was done.

Just when the next group of ponies approached her she caught something purple in her peripheral vision by the side doors. She could have sworn that it was the familiar color of the student she once taught but when she turned towards the doors there was nothing.

Really? Now she was seeing things?

'I guess I really do need a break.'

By the time Celestia had finally finished court and sorted through the mess of paperwork, her sun had already begun setting in the sky. She had relieved the guards that usually followed her, right now she just wished to relax and enjoy one of the few things that still brought her joy; the Canterlot garden.

She always found peace in walking among the trees and flowers. Being in the castle for long periods of time made her feel restless and claustrophobic, but a simple stroll through the garden helped to alleviate some of built-up tension. The orange rays emanating from the last of her setting sun only further added to its already whimsical beauty, it’s no wonder that she loves this time of day.

As she made her way into the garden she noticed two small squirrels chasing each other across the hedges, jumping over the gaps in between each row playing happily together.

She couldn't help but laugh lightly at the little animal's antics, she actually knew many of the animals in the gardens from being around so much and they all knew her. The small furry critters seeing Celestia waved at her and hopped down in front of her and pointed towards the center of the garden. She had no idea what had them so excited but decided to take a look as the the squirrels followed along on top of the hedges.

She didn't know what they had wanted her to find, she had made her way to the center of the garden and was about to give up when something by the fountain caught her eye. There, standing in front of the fountain was a pony that looked familiar. She thought she was seeing things again but low and behold there she was although she looked a bit different then the alicorn remembered she could never forget the student she once taught.

“Twilight?” she called out, a little unsure of herself.

To her relief she saw the pony visibly stiffen before turning around to face her. 'It is Twilight. But why is she here?' Of coarse she was happy to see her faithful student, it made her heart soar to see her again after so long, but why now? Now that she thought about it she thought she saw Twilight at court earlier today. Did she need to use the royal library? Well she didn't want to get in the way of her student's studies, she knew how much they meant to her, but maybe they could chat for a while. Being able to talk with her student again would bring her joy more than anything else.

She had grown up a bit in the past three years it seemed. She was now a head taller and her horn had grown about an inch or two since they last met but she still wore the same hairstyle and bore the same cutie mark. Her face held a look of worry and anguish and.......tears?

Celestia only had a moment to take in her old student before the purple mare rushed forward and grappled around her neck and was pulled into a tight embrace with her old student.

Very slowly she wrapped a white leg around the unicorn and simply held her there.

It felt right, holding twilight against her. Like it was long overdue. In some ways it had the familiar feeling of teacher and student reuniting but she felt like it was more than just that. It was like a piece of her was missing and had finally been reunited making her whole again.

'I guess I really did miss you Twilight.'

She felt Twilight's hoofs tighten around her as she nuzzled deeper into her neck. She could feel her neck becoming wet from the pony's tears.

“I missed you too princess”

Hearing this Celestia felt tears of her own beginning to form in her eyes.

Yes, this is what she wanted. This is what was missing. Just being with Twilight like this, it took away the depressed feelings that had been plaguing her, it made her happy again. Twilight couldn't see it with her face buried in her neck, but the Princess was wearing a large smile on her face. And for the first time in three years that Twilight had been gone, it was a smile of genuine happiness.

“I'm sorry Princess.” She finally said after loosening her death grip around the alicorn's neck. “I'm so sorry. I never realized....”

“It’s alright, Twilight.” Celestia replied, calmly stroking her streaked mane with an ivory hoof.

“No! It’s not alright!”, she cried out. How could the Princess ever forgive her for this? She practically avoided Celestia for the past three years and left her teacher thinking that she didn't want to be around anymore. She may not have been aware of it but that didn't change the fact that she was the cause of Celestia's loneliness. “This is all my fault....”

She didn't have the heart to look the Princess in the face. She didn't want to see the disappointment that she would find there. She only ever wanted for the Princess to be proud of her but now she had let her down; in a way she had caused her mentor's pain.

“I thought that you would move on to another student once I had finished studying under you...” Looking back she should have known better. The Princess is kind and would never just abandon a pony, let alone her own protégé.

“Twilight-”

“I didn't want to burden you with taking time out of your schedule just to entertain an old student.” Her gaze falling to the stone path. “Besides I made a mess of things so many times. I'm sure there is somepony out there that will make a better student than I ever was. You deserve a better student than me.” She finished, a few more tears falling to the ground.

A long silence passed and Twilight began to think that her fears were right and that she made the Princess angry at her. She just hoped that the Princess would forgive her someday.

The long silence was finally broken by a soft voice. “Why would you think yourself to be a burden to me?” Twilight felt a hoof lift her tearing face up to look at the princesses; the alicorn’s eyes glistened with tears but still held a smiling face. “Twilight, spending time with you could never be a burden to me. And you will always be my faithful student.” A small sliver trail slowly made its way down the white alicorn's cheek. “I... I could never replace you, Twilight.”

Twilight couldn't believe it. The Princess had always meant the world to her, she would do anything to make her happy. But she could never have hoped that her mentor cared so much for her. After all, she was an average unicorn with some talent for magic. It wasn’t anything to be particularly proud of. She felt her heart swell up at the Princess' words, she actually wanted Twilight around her.

“I... I don't know what to say...” She said a little lamely.

Once again she was pulled into a close hug with the Princess and this time took comfort in the Princess' warm coat. Tears no longer fell from her eyes but they were still moist with residual tears. If the Princess wanted Twilight to be around so they could spend time together then she would do everything in her power to make it so.

“Well we have a lot to catch up on, three years in fact, so how about we go inside and talk over some tea.” At the mention of food, Twilight's stomach gurgled loudly as it demanded reparation for missing dinner. The Princess couldn't help but stifle a laugh and the lavender pony blushed hard enough to be seen though her coat. “And some daffodil sandwiches too.”

The last of the sun's light slipped through the windows in the dining hall as Twilight had finished her sandwich and was now chatting with the princess over some Earl Grey. Celestia listened with rapt attention as Twilight told her everything that had taken place while they had not seen each other. It would seem that after the Changeling assault that occurred at her niece's wedding, Twilight and her friends still had some adventures of their own, nothing on the world protecting scale like when she freed Princess Luna or when they resealed Discord back in his stone prison but still worthy of note. She told of how they traveled north to Drakson, home of the dragons, in order to let Spike meet his biological parents and of their turbulent escape after Rarity touched the wrong dragon's gem horde.

But that wasn't the only journey they went on that took them outside of Equestria. They also found a old temple that dated back before the Equestrian era after Rainbow Dash dragged them into an ancient forest to find a temple that Daring Do had written about in one of her adventure stories. Twilight had donated their findings to Equestrian Magic Academy which in the end lead her to her job as a Scholar.

She went on to talk about some events that happened in Ponyville of which included a rude showpony named Trixie returning to challenge Twilight to a duel which after losing ran away once again vowing revenge, a twister wreaking havoc on sweet apple acres which was disrupted by a impossibly well performed sonic rainboom from the element of loyalty, Rarity's boutique becoming one of the most well known places in Equestria to obtain fabulous dressmaking, and several more happenings in Twilight's life.

Feeling playful Celestia asked if she had found a special somepony along the way but was surprised when she simply shook her head and said that she didn't have time for romance. She hoped that Twilight wasn't selling herself short, she was a pretty pony and Celestia was sure that anypony would be happy to call her theirs.

“I'm sorry. This is probably really boring hearing me prattle on about our silly adventures. I'm sure the only thing more boring would be one of my reports.”

She frowned slightly at that. “That’s not true Twilight, I always loved hearing about what lessons you and your friends learned.” She hoped that she would take her word for it but she could see the doubt on her student's face. Then an idea struck her. 'Perhaps I should show her?' she thought, a grin forming on her face.

“Twilight, there’s something that I would like you to see.” she said sitting up and motioned for her student to follow.

Twilight was enjoying being able to talk with the Princess again but her curiosity got the better of her and she got up to follow. The halls echoed with the sound of their hoofsteps, Luna’s moon hanging high in the night sky. Most of the ponies in the castle were sound asleep, save for some of the royal guard.

As they walked together, Celestia found that the feeling of emptiness that usually accompanied the castle halls was lessened with the presence of her faithful student by her side. She silently hoped that Twilight would come and visit more often now, she enjoyed having somepony around that she could talk to freely. Sure she had Luna and loved her sister dearly but sisterly talk only got her so far. Twilight could talk with her so openly and never with an ulterior motive in mind.

Twilight followed her mentor as she lead them through the corridors until they entered the living quarters of the castle. She silently wondered what Celestia wanted to show her. A new book maybe?

Eventually they came to a set of two large white doors that were each decorated with a wing curled around the symbol of the sun. Twilight glanced at them and looked apprehensively at the doors.

“But...this...but princess, this is your room.”

“Why yes it is Twilight. I'm glad that you still remember.” She replied, unlocking the door and stepping inside. Noticing the lack of hoof steps behind her she added, “Aren't you coming in?”

Much to twilight's dismay she took a few hesitant steps into the room and Celestia closed the door behind her. Twilight had been in her room before but not since she was a foal. Even so, she couldn’t help but let her eyes dart around, once again taking in the Princess’ room which to her surprise looked much like it did back then. Each step was placed with the utmost caution as to not disturb anything in what she considered to be 'holy ground'.

Quite a bit of awkward shuffling later they arrived at her study and she took a seat on a large pillow. “Please, Have a seat.” she said, beckoning her student with a hoof to sit beside her.

Twilight complied and sat down beside Celestia, leaving quite a modest amount of space in-between them. But she would be having any of that, this was her faithful student, and much like she did when Twilight was just a foal she draped a long wing over her student and pulled her in close to sit beside her. She could feel their coats brushing together and the gentle warmth of her student.

“There, much more comfortable.” She beamed at the unicorn but Twilight felt like she might pass out from the blood that was rushing to her head. Being in this close of a proximity to Princess Celestia was uncomfortable but definitely not unwelcome.

Celestia's horn glowed lightly as she lifted a key from atop her dresser and floated it to a large chest that was set next to her desk. It was a nice wooden chest with a large purple star decorating the top. The key entered the lock and with a slight 'click' the chest popped open and the lid was pushed back so they could see it's contents.

“But those are....”

She watched with delight as her students eyes grew as big as saucers. If anything could prove to Twilight how much she meant to her this was it.

“You kept all of them?” There in the chest were scrolls that contained every friendship report Twilight had ever sent and then some.

She smiled fondly at her student “Of course I kept them. Getting a new friendship report from you was always the sort of thing that brightened up my day.” In fact it was one of the few things she looked forward to doing with her free time.

“I often found myself rereading some of them on late nights. They even helped me sometimes when I needed to make hard decisions, I would come back and read your letters and thought what you might do in my hooves.”

Twilight was still staring at the letters in shock trying to remember if she put anything in the letters that would cause doom if acted upon by a princess.

“Lets see here...... ah ha!” Celestia chimed in, picking out and unfurling the scroll with her magic. And much to Twilight's horror began to read it out loud.

“Dear Princess Celestia, Winter Wrap Up was one of the most special things I've ever been a part of here in Ponyville. It helped me to learn that we all have hidden talents, and if we're patient and diligent we're sure to find them. And as always, with good friendship and teamwork, ponies can accomplish anything...”

By the time she had finished reading the letter Twilight's face was beat red from embarrassment and the poor mare was trying to hide herself from view with her hooves. By the way she was reacting, Celestia thought she might teleport away.

“You don't have to be embarrassed Twilight, I wasn't kidding when I said that I sometimes look back on your friendship reports when making some of my decisions. I find them to provide very a enlightening and non-biased outlook on life.” She smiled down at her student who was squirming under her gaze.

“Do you really mean that.... I mean... why? You’re the princess, you move the sun and bring light to all the lands of Equestria and beyond. A goddess like you would already know what’s best.”

Slowly the smile she had been wearing was replaced with a frown. “A goddess like you...” She echoed. After mulling over those words for a few seconds she stood up, retracting her wing from her student and walked over to the balcony window. “Twilight, what makes me a goddess?”

“W-what?”

She looked outside into the night sky were Luna's moon hung just above the horizon. “Is it because I have both wings and a horn? Is it because I lived more than a thousand years? Is it because I can move the sun around the sky? What makes me a goddess?”

“I-I don't know.”

“Did you know I used to be terrible at magic?” She said plainly.

“Huh?”

“Quite awful in fact; it took me five hundred years to get to the level you’re currently at. And my wings, I was about the age of adult pony by the time I could even lift off the ground.” She could still remember Luna flying about freely in the sky while she had to flail her wings about just to stay airborne.

“But what-”

“Even my special talent which allows me to move the sun was once done by unicorns. I'm just an easier alternative.” The spell to raise and lower the sun was lost to time and without it they now have no choice but to rely on her.

“Well yes but-”

“Twilight. I am not a goddess. The only reason that I have become the Princess I am now is because of the amount time I had to get here. Actually, given the same amount of time, I'm sure that you would make a better ruler than I.” Turning around to face her student. “You said that I deserve better than you, but you are wrong, it is you that deserves better.”

“I don't care if I deserve better! I don't want better, I want you!” She blurted out before Celestia could talk again.

Celestia raised an eyebrow at her student. Twilight, realizing what she said, immediately turned a deep shade of red. “I-I-I mean.. u-uhh...” she mumbled out gathering herself. "You’re a great ruler." she said looking away. "You care about everypony and always do your best to make us happy, even if it means having to sacrifice your own happiness."

"You’re wise, and kind. Gentle, beautiful...." She looked back up to meet the Princess’ eyes. "And I wouldn't want my Princess to be anypony else but you."

She walked over to her student and nuzzled her cheek gently making the purple unicorn go stiff. “Thank you Twilight... That means a lot to me.” Even if she didn't think that she made a good Princess at least her faithful student still believed in her. She couldn’t help but grin at the words used to describe her.

'Beautiful hm...’'

“So what are we going to do? It would seem that Celestia hasn't grown any dull during her rule and now we don't have the build order we needed.”

They had hoped to go to the night-court instead because of the princess of the night's lack of knowledge in the layout of Equestria but were unlucky in that she was away that night and had to settle for a meeting with Princess Celestia. He knew it would go bad before he began, she just knew him too well. “Whether we got the build order or not makes no difference in the end. I take it everything is going as planned?”

“As long as there haven't been any complications it should be finished by the end of the day. But mayor, won't this prevent us from completing the dam?”

“Not having a build order just means that we won't be able to publicly reap the rewards. I'll be damned if I let those savages in the mountains stop me from doing what I want with my city. And as for the Princesses....” A wide grin formed across his face.

“What they don't know won't hurt them.”

OP foreshadowing GO!

*Author's note* : I have begun to realize that there is a large barrier between having a good idea for a story and putting it down on paper. But have no fear, I'll get better as I go and I don't have any plans to stop here. Lets keep this plot train a-rollin! Also before you go off on it, no, Mayor Highbreed is not EVIL he is just a bad pony..... And a bit of a racist.

Special thanks go out to lnumaniac for his awesome job being my editor and setting my work straight, I'm sure that without him the chapter would have turned out with many more spelling errors. Many more. Many many many many many....... @_@

4999, Let the OCD begin! MWAHAHAHAHA!!!

Chapter 4

Twilight was woken up the by a few rays of sunlight from the morning sun peeking through the window. Still groggy from just waking up and blinded by the light, she pulled the blanket over her head and tried to block the invading rays from doing their job.

Unfortunately the damage was already done and she could feel a headache beginning to take hold.

“Spike!” she called out blindly, hoping for a response.

After hearing no answer from her scaled assistant she begrudgingly decided to throw her blanket off and leave the comforting warmth of her bed. Now taking in the room around her she realized this was not her library, it was in fact her room at the castle.

'Oh yeah, that's right...'

The events of yesterday began to fill her thoughts. She remembered how Luna came to her, how she had come to the castle and of how she was able to finally talk with her mentor again. She also remembered the letters and what the Princess had said to her that night. It all seemed pretty unbelievable but here she was, in her old room at the castle.

Twilight had stayed up pretty late talking with the princess before retiring to her bedroom for the night. It felt so familiar that she mistook it for her bed at the library. It even had the same purple star patterned sheets.

She was having trouble processing some of the things she had heard last night. Luna had mentioned that Celestia was lonely but the princess was acting so different from the way she used to. She was always so calm and collected before, she’d never known the princess to show any other emotion besides the gentle smile that she wore everywhere she went. To think that being away from her brought this kind of emotion from the princess both terrified and humbled her.

She still couldn't believe that she could mean so much to the princess. Even more so she couldn't believe that the princess thought that she would make a better ruler than her. It shocked her that the princess thought that way. She always seemed to know what to do as if she was holding all the cards and played them just when they were needed. She could never be a better princess then Celestia.

But then again even if she is the princess she is still just one pony. Like when Applejack tried to buck all the trees in Sweet Apple Acres on her own, there is only so much one pony can do. Perhaps like Applejack the princess also needed help, just in a different way? But how was she supposed to make the princess feel better?

After brushing down her messy mane and tail, she found that she had a little bit of time before the castle would be serving breakfast and made her way to her small personal library to look for a book on cheering up ponies. Granted, this was a princess she was dealing with and not any normal pony but what other options did she have?

After about twenty minutes of pouring through each and every book on her shelves she couldn't find one book about other ponies. Almost every book was about magic, historical facts or chemistry, but then again she hadn't been a very sociable pony before going to Ponyville and meeting her friends.

Now with no luck in finding a book on her shelves and no time to check the Royal Library for books she was going to have to face the princess without the reassuring presence of knowledge to back her up.

Well at least she would be able to spend time with the princess like she wanted, and unlike that time at the gala, it would be just the two of them.

And then she remembered what she said to the princess the night before.

'I don't want better. I want you.'

Face met hoof as she thought of the embarrassing line. What was she thinking, telling the princess something like that? And then fumbling over words trying to explain herself, it was like she was a nervous foal again. It wasn't like she didn't mean it. She meant every word. But surely she could have said it in a way that didn't sound quite so... revealing.

Just being with the princess again was enough for her, as long as she was able to be by the princess' side once again she didn't need anything else, right?

'Right.'

And she only wished to make Princess Celestia feel better, right?

'Right.'

Besides, it wasn't as if she was in love with the princess or anything...right?

‘…’

Right?

‘…’

Right?!

‘…’

Oh, who was she kidding. Twilight couldn't lie to herself no more than she could lie to the princess.

She could deny it all she wanted but being with the princess again was beginning to bring out feelings that she thought she buried a long time ago. The words that the alicorn spoke brought out new hope for these old feelings. A hope rekindled that she might be able to mean something more to the princess than just a student.

And now she was going to be around the princess for the whole weekend.

“What am I going to do...”

It was already approaching noon as Celestia found herself in her study. She was painstakingly making her way through the mess of papers that filled the desk in front of her. Twilight waited patiently the entire time, never once complaining or growing restless while her mentor worked. Celestia felt bad for dragging her student into this boredom and after a bit of convincing got her to pick out a book from the shelves and read while she worked.

She watched as the lavender unicorn took a seat on one of the couches that lined the room, she could see a small smile form on her student's muzzle as she relaxed into the comfortable seat and immersed herself in the book. Aside from the occasional turn of the page or flicker of her ear Twilight remained peacefully quiet. She found the sight so adorable that she had to repress a strong urge to cuddle up beside her student and join her.

Every once in awhile she would catch her student looking at her over the top of her book only to look away when she motioned to met her student's gaze. Celestia silently wondered if Twilight now thought less of her from what she had revealed the night before. She was glad that Twilight still thought so much of her despite her confession but she knew that things would change now that her student had seen her in a new light. It was strange but, much like with her sister, she no longer felt the need to put on her mask while around the unicorn.

Celestia had originally wanted to spend as much time with Twilight as she could but as soon as she had finished breakfast with the mare she was hoofed a mountain of paperwork from the previous day-court. The thought of incinerating these bothersome sheets on the surface of the sun had crossed her mind, but it was one of the many duties she had to fulfill as a princess; she couldn’t just ignore it and pretend it never existed.

Though that was what Luna did most of the time.

It was already past noon and Celestia wasn’t even halfway through the intimidating pile of paperwork. Celestia had always been known to be patient and focused but right now she just couldn't keep her mind on the task. Setting down the current papers held aloft by her magic she decided a small break would help to refocus her thoughts.

Giving a quick glance to the other end of the room she found that her student remained unaware of her movement, eyes still glued to the pages of the book. Carefully she stood up and, feeling a bit mischievous from her restlessness, she slowly approached her student - careful not to make any noise as she crossed the room. She stayed close to the wall to keep out of her student’s peripheral vision. Not like she would have to though, Twilight’s face was literally buried within the pages of the book she was reading. Once she was close enough she lowered her head down until her muzzle was less than a hoof's length away from her student's ear.

“Twilight” she whispered, causing the ear to twitch.

The reaction that she got was well worth the effort. After stiffening for half a second the purple mare proceeded to let out a loud yelp and tumbled off the couch and onto the floor leaving her hoofs dangling in the air. The book that she had been reading was now lying on the floor beside her. Celestia began to giggle as Twilight pouted and her cheeks reddened.

Smiling down at her now disheveled student she couldn't help but feel that she enjoyed being with her student even more now that she had told Twilight how she felt. She'd had enough of hiding herself from one of the few ponies that treated her not as one would a princess but more like a dear friend.

“Why don't we go stretch our hooves for a while.” she said, using her magic to help the mare to her hoofs.

Apparently the guard must had heard the noise from outside the doors because as soon as Twilight had gotten to her hoofs two guards burst through the doors, spears at the ready for the cause of the disturbance.

“Is everything alright your highness? We heard a cry from the halls.”

Celestia let loose a sigh. “No, everything is fine. My student and I were just about to take a break and go for a walk.”

“Very well. We are ready to escort you at your convenience.”

She had to physically refrain from sighing again, she felt like she had been doing that a lot lately and it wasn't something she wanted to make a habit of. “That's quite alright. I'm sure that my faithful student is escort enough for a simple walk through the castle.” She replied giving a reassuring smile to Twilight who looked up at her, clearly appreciating the lessened company. Even Celestia had to admit that the royal guards could sometimes be more of a burden then a boon when among other ponies. They had a bad habit of scaring off any that got within a yard of her.

“Besides if you two followed us then who would be left to watch over the room with all the important documents in it?”

Before her guards could protest any further or realize that they could just split up and do both jobs she quickly pushed herself and her student past the door and into the hall.

“Thanks Princess. Sometimes it gets awkward to talk to you because of all the guards that follow you around.” Twilight said after they turned the corner of the hall. “That isn't to say that they’re annoying, they can just be a little intimidating to some ponies. Though I'm okay with them being around because I've kinda grown used to them over the years while I stayed at the castle. Not that I mean they don't command attention... and I'm rambling now.”

“It’s quite alright Twilight. I know they can be a little imposing at times. And please, you don't have to use my title, just 'Celestia' is fine.”

“B-but princess-”

“Celestia” She corrected.

“- I can't! It would be disrespectful to you!”

“Twilight, we have known each other for quite a long time now. I have personally taught you and I have become closer to you than any other. Everypony in Equestria treats me like a princess, even Luna can only ever see me as a sister. It has been decades since a pony has treated me as they would a friend. And it would make me happy if you would call me as you would a friend.”

Twilight, seeing the pleading look on her mentor's face, gave in. “If that would make you happy...”

“It would very much Twilight. Now give it a try.”

Twilight went very Fluttershyish and in the smallest voice she could bring out muttered, “Cel....a”

“I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. You'll have to speak up.” Celestia said with a little bit of a singsong tone in her voice.

“C-Celestia...” Twilight spoke a bit louder finally managing to get the word out like it was physically stuck in her throat. Though only loud enough to reach the princess' ears and no further.

“See it’s not so hard, I want you to feel comfortable calling me by name.” Throughout the years she had met many of her subjects and all of them referred to her as ‘Princess Celestia’ or ‘your highness’ and it was because of these titles that she seemed unreachable to her subjects. “Besides Twilight, if anypony has the right to call me by my name it is you.” Celestia finished, smiling softly at her student.

Twilight returned the gesture but after that fell silent as they continued their walk down the corridors. Aside from the occasional glance at her the unicorn's eyes stayed glued to the floor for the majority of their stroll. Celestia could tell that there was something weighing on her student's mind and had a feeling of what it might be.

“I'm sorry.” Celestia said eventually her gaze also falling to the floor. “It must be boring here at the castle away from your friends.”

“Oh! No no no no.” Came a hasty reply from her student. “I'm glad to be here. With you. It’s just...” She trailed off.

“Please, tell me what is on your mind Twilight.”

“Well... I was wondering... What do you like to do for fun?”

“Fun?”

“Well, you see...” Twilight began to fumble her hooves together. “Whenever my friends are feeling down I found that the best way to cheer them up is to do something with them that they like to do. So I thought that if we could do something fun together, it might help you relax.” After several seconds passed and Celestia hadn't replied Twilight added. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean intrude on something personal.”

It wasn't that Celestia didn't want to answer, she would be more than happy to tell Twilight what she liked to do, but there wasn't really that much that she did for fun nowadays. Actually now that she thought about it, the life of royalty today really was a bore. She was beginning to wonder how she managed to stay sane all these years while living like this.

A slightly familiar sound brought her out of her thoughts. It was something like the sound that lightning makes as it strikes the ground but with a hollow clack. As she rounded the corner and the courtyard came into view she found that it was in fact the sound of some royal guards practicing in the open area. There was a pair unicorn guards sparing in the field as well as a few onlookers.

Her pace slowed to a stop as she stared at the two dueling unicorns as they lunged back and forth. Their horns were glowing, sparks flying from where their horns impacted each other. Horn foiling had become a regular practice among the royal guards for training and friendly competition so it wasn't uncommon to find them in the fields around the castle grounds practicing.

It reminded her of when she use to practice horn foiling, back then it was a sport of honor and dignity among royalty and the upper-class ponies. It was one of the few ways that she managed to 'cut loose' from the everyday routine as a princess. She really enjoyed those times.

Wait...

She had enjoyed herself more back then.

And then it dawned on her. Luna still partook in the old sport every now and again after she had returned so why not her? Surely she had earned herself a break from the her duties. She even had a talented unicorn that she could spar with right beside her.

Quickly she made her way down the steps and into the courtyard with Twilight in tow, picking up her pace to keep up with the long strides of the princess. The smile on Celestia's face was absolutely massive at the thought of how the surrounding guards and nobles would react. She just hoped that they wouldn't panic too much.

Upon seeing the princess approaching them the pair of royal guards immediately halted their attacks and stood at attention, both giving a call of “Your highness” as the glow of their horns fading away; their sparring match forgotten in the presence of their duties.

“Guards, clear the courtyard. I would like to engage in outdoor activities with my student.”

“Of course your highness.” One of them replied. “Would you like us to bring out the croquet equipment? We will have it set up for you at once.”

“Oh no, that won't be necessary. We have everything we need with us, we're going to be horn foiling today.” Her reply gained several shocked looks from the surrounding guards and one very worried look from Twilight Sparkle.

“Your highness, isn't there something safer that you and your student can partake in?”

“Thank you for your concern but I do not believe that any harm will come from a friendly game between me and my student.” Taking the hint that the princess' mind was not about to be changed the guards that were present gave an affirmative nod and backed away, giving the two a wide space in the middle of the courtyard.

“I don't know Pri- Celestia.” Twilight said turning towards the her.

“Come Twilight, it will be fun.”

“But I don't even know the first thing about horn foiling.” Twilight had little knowledge of horn foiling other than it was a sport that the royal guard partook in. During the time she spent at the castle she usually stayed indoors, the library to be exact, so she never saw them in action but her brother had mentioned it several times when he talked about his job in the royal guard.

“It’s rather simple really, you just use your magic to cover the outside of your horn in a variation of a shield spell and bring it to a dull flexible point towards the tip. Then you try and jab the end into the opponent while parrying and avoiding their blows. ” Celestia could see the look of horror on Twilight's face at the idea of fighting her so she added, “This was one of the most enjoyable games amongst royalty a few hundred years ago and this is not the first time I have partaken in it. You needn’t worry about me.”

“B-b-but Princess Celestia...”

“If it helps, think of this as a lesson. And I said just 'Celestia' is fine.”

“But you could get injured!”

Celestia couldn't help but laugh at her student as she took a wide stance at the opposite side of the courtyard while Twilight stayed frozen in place. “If I were you Twilight, I would be more worried about yourself at the moment.” Celestia's eyes were alight with anticipation as she lowered her horn into a horizontal point.

“I'll have you know that before I retired from the sport I was actually pretty good at it.” Her ivory horn began to glow with a radiant white light as she took several slow strides forward towards the purple mare.

“So my faithful student, I think there are still a few more things I could teach you.”

Celestia spent a few minutes explaining the basics of horn-foiling to Twilight and the spell necessary to cover her horn. It was actually a rather basic sport, the goal was pretty simple and the only tools you needed was your horn, though that meant that non-unicorns couldn't effectively play.

But that didn't stop Twilight from shaking slightly. She'd had no idea how to horn-foil and now she had to face princess Celestia herself. She managed to bring up a barrier of magic around her horn like Celestia had said but her hooves remained rooted in place.

She couldn't help but feel that she had been thrown into some alternate dimension where everything is backwards and the universe makes no sense anymore. Ever since this morning and even somewhat the night before the princess had been acting differently than she remembered, though as far as she could tell it was just when they were together.

Not that she hated the change in her mentor's behavior. There had always been a small amount of distance between them, something that prevented her from becoming any closer to the princess. But gap was nowhere to be found now. And now she seemed more, well.... playful.

Then Twilight realized, perhaps this was how Celestia normally acted. Maybe with her sister gone Celestia had forgotten how to take off her mask of royalty and truly enjoy herself. That would mean that the princess had spent nearly a thousand years in what was most likely boredom. And now that Luna had returned she was beginning to realize her true self and her old personality was starting to show through. But still, it felt like there was something more to it than that.

As Twilight was busy having her revelation; Celestia, seeing that her student remained frozen in place, decided to take the initiative and lightly tapped her horn against the smaller mare's which caused a brief flash of clashing magic from the shields that surrounded their horns touching together.

To Twilight the feeling was strange, almost tingly as it caused her body to jolt bringing her to her senses. She had bumped into another unicorn once before causing their horns to brush against one another and at the time it had embarrassed her, but this, this was much different. The feeling of her magic clashing with another's was like hot electricity going through her, it was a little frightening but for the most part it was exciting. Celestia backed away a few paces giving some room between them.

“You're not going to be able to beat me by standing in place.” The princess said, a grin on her face as she fell back into a defensive posture. “Come Twilight.”

Finding the strength to move again Twilight took a couple uneasy steps towards the princess unsure of how to go about, well..... fighting her. She had fought off others before with her magic, sure, but not so up-close and physical, and never against another pony. Or a princess for that matter. She tried to recall any books she might have read on the subject but none came to mind. Not that there was a ‘How to Defeat an All-Powerful Alicorn at Horn Foiling; A Beginner’s Guide.’ book in existence.

When Twilight was finally in striking range of Celestia she gave a light swing of her horn in what she hoped was a proper attack. But as there was no real effort behind it, Celestia quickly parried the weak swing which caused the purple unicorn to lose her hoofing and stumble.

“Don't hold back Twilight. It won't be as fun if you don't try your best.”

Twilight began to bring herself back to her hooves. “But Princess-”

“No. No more buts. Out here I am not your princess, I am your opponent.” After a few seconds she added a little more quietly. “Please Twilight, I’m tired of my title getting in the way.”

Well that was it then. She was still treating Celestia like a princess.

Twilight was uncertain of how to proceed. On the one hoof she was obligated to do as the princess asked, but on the other she could never try to physically attack the princess. But in the end all that she truly wished for was to make princess Celestia happy. And if horn-foiling with her student made Celestia happy then she would do her best.

“I'll tell you what. If you manage to land a single hit on me I will grant you any one request.”

At this Twilight's ears perked up. "Request?"

"You may ask me for any one thing and I will make it so."

Any one request, from the princess? As in she could ask for anything? Twilight's reeled from the possibilities that could be brought out by such a reward. Not that she would ever use it to do anything bad, but still, she could ask for anything. If she wanted she could even ask for....

No. She would never ask for something so stupid.

Not that she would even be able to successfully land a hit on the princess. How was she even suppose to fight against an umpteen century year old alicorn in a sport that she had never even played? Everything that she might have been able to use to her advantage Celestia had more of or was better in.

She still had her ability to plan and learn and that had to count for something. Her mind began working furiously as she observed her opponent; Celestia had a longer horn and was also taller than her, that would mean that she would lose in a ranged engagement. But the smaller horn would be at an advantage in a closer fight. If she could get close to Celestia then she could maneuver around her while staying out of reach of her horn.

It wasn't much but is was all she could at the moment.

Gritting her teeth she rushed forward this time and caught Celestia's horn in a tight lock with hers sending off purple and gold sparks. A look of surprise crossed the princess' face at her student's sudden eagerness but quickly melted into a playful grin. Though at first she had met the alicorn's attacks equal in strength, as she blocked each blow she found herself losing ground as the princess had much more powerful neck muscles then her. They crossed horns a couple more times and each time it took all she had to deflect the blows to the side and not taking them head on.

She was beginning to get tired from the constant clashing when Celestia drew back for a more powerful swing. Taking her chance, she rushed in ducking under the wide swing. Celestia drew back a step and tried to counter only to find that the the lavender mare was nowhere to be seen, having slipped around her instead of immediately attacking after getting through.

Twilight wasn't the most athletic pony but she was slim and had a smaller frame than most. She knew that, of the two of them, she would be just a little more dexterous than the princess; at least she hoped that was the case.

Using her smaller size as an advantage she dove in and to the side bringing her horn up into a diagonal swipe at the alicorn's side.

She felt a grin begin to form on her face as her horn struck.......open air?

As her head lifted with the attack a gust of wind caught her off guard and caused her to flinch and a heavenly laugh chimed in the student's ears.

“Not a bad idea, using your small size to your advantage.”

But how?! Her aim was right at her center mass. She was so sure that the alicorn wouldn't have had the time to dodge. A glance towards the white princess told her all that she needed to know. As twilight peered open her eyes at the princess she saw two white appendages rustle slightly, folding back into their nested positions.

Of course, her wings!

“Good try Twilight. Had I been without wings I would not have been able to dodge your attack. You learn fast Twilight, for somepony that has never engaged in horn-foiling before you are really quite good. I must say I was not expecting you to be that quick, It makes me wish I would have asked you to partake in this sooner.”

Celestia had put more distance between them, setting Twilight back to square one. Now she was half exhausted from the last exchange, not only that but it seemed that the princess hadn't even broken a sweat. Her odds of winning weren't looking very well.

But she wasn't out of options just yet. Getting close to her allowed her to she something that she wouldn't normally have noticed. And she was sure that if she could get close again she wouldn't miss a second time. She didn't want to have to use her magic to get by because she felt it would be cheating, but she didn’t want to disappoint Celestia, and she didn't have any better alternatives.

Summoning up as much magic as she could that wasn't being used by her shield she gathered it up around her and in a flash of light, disappeared.

To be perfectly honest Celestia wasn't all that surprised when Twilight vanished from sight. She had been expecting Twilight to use her magic at some point during their match, after all she was the Element of Magic. It actually surprised her that it took her this long to rely on it, the purple mare even though facing a experienced opponent had proved to be really resourceful and cunning.

But she was also quite resourceful herself.

It her years as a princess she had experienced and learned many things. One of which was the ability to sense magic. Once she felt a unicorn's magic so many times she began to familiarize herself with it and could predict its outcome. And lucky for her she had spent much time together with her faithful student practicing magic.

Almost immediately after Twilight appeared directly behind her she spun around catching Twilight's horn before she had a chance to attack. She could see the shock play across her student's face as she reared back from the blow.

“I'm sorry my student, but I'm afraid that magic won't be of much use here.”

The mare hopped back and after a few seconds vanished again, this time reappearing to her left side in a charge. Instead of blocking she just stepped out of the way of the attack letting her student stumble past empty space.

“I see your teleporting spell has gotten better than it used to be.” Teleportation was a very advanced spell to use but when Twilight was younger she managed to execute the spell with a bit of difficulty. And it would seem that she had improved her usage of the spell in the last three years. But the spell was taxing and it wore down the user's magic.

After several more teleportation spells, each of which was no more successful than the last, Twilight was beginning to pant from exhaustion. And her legs began to wobble.

Concern for her student began to fill her. Perhaps she had gone too far egging Twilight into this. “Twilight, perhaps we should take a break? Constant usage of that spell will leave you magically drained.”

“No.... I'm fine..... I can continue.....” She replied in between breaths.

Twilight really was something special. At first she thought that she was going to have to spend the whole time teaching her student how to correctly use her horn while fighting but it would seem that it wasn't necessary. It turns out that Twilight was a natural at the sport, she had even combined her teleporting spell into her fighting style. She offhandedly remembered Shining Armor excelling at the sport, perhaps it runs in the family?

Unknown to Twilight, this was the most fun she'd had in years. Actually, she couldn't remember the last time she had such fun since becoming a princess of Equestria. It made her feel alive again, like the last thousand years were just a grey blur of stiff guards, unemotional speeches, and unwanted titles that have remained as the center of her life until now.

And she had Twilight to thank for it, with her around the world seemed to be a little more brighter. She firmly believed that taking her on as her personal student was the best decision that she had ever made as a princess. She was nothing but proud of her student, everything that she had accomplished; facing dragons, braving the Everfree forest, defending Ponyville from monsters, and adventuring with her friends all the while learning and growing along the way.

When her student had gone up against Discord he had corrupted the bearers of the elements Twilight had been the one to pull through and bring them back together. While she remained in her castle letting the six bearers go against the old chaotic spirit she could only loath at how pathetic she was. The only thing that she had managed to do to help was remind her student of what she already knew.

Even during the wedding, it may have been by Cadence and Shining Armor's magic that the changelings had been defeated but it was Twilight that had really saved the day. If she had not seen through the changeling queen's ruse they would not have been in time to stop them. And she.... had failed them all that day. It was days like those that made her wonder why Twilight put so much faith in her. And even when she fell to the queen's power it was Twilight that came rushing to her side.

But among everything that Twilight had done for her the one thing that stood out above all others happened to be the first. Something that she had failed to do, the thing that had haunted her for a thousand years. She had freed her sister from the nightmare that plagued her and returned Princess Luna back to Equestria.

Twilight brought her sister back to her.

She had spent so many nights crying as she watched the moon take its course through the skies, so many days glancing to the empty throne next to hers and feeling the guilt of the what her actions cost her. When Luna and her were reunited she had shed tears in the public’s eye openly but when she finally had Luna alone she cried for hours holding her little sister that she thought was lost forever.

This pony had done so much for her, that Twilight need only ask for the throne and she would do so in a heartbeat knowing that it was in capable hooves. But she knew that Twilight would never ask for such a thing, besides the life of a princess is not something she would ever wish on another. She had no idea what her student might request of her if she did in fact succeed but she hoped it was something a little more grand than a new book.

Maybe a library's worth of books.

She had to hold in a giggle that was forming inside her from the thought.

As Twilight began to straighten herself out Celestia brought her focus from her thoughts and back to the match. Well if her student wanted to win she was going to have to work for it.

Twilight steadied herself and began to rethink her strategy. It was painfully obvious that Celestia knew where she was going to appear as soon as she released her magic. So to keep doing so would just be a further waste of magic, not that she had much left to spend.

'Is she somehow tracking my spell?'

She still had enough magic left to pull off a teleportation spell once or twice more but it would be of little use if Celestia was there after she cast it. If only she could find a way to make sure that the princess wouldn't be there when she teleported.

Or what if she wanted Celestia to be there...

And, like a lightning bolt, an idea struck her.

This was it. Her last plan. If she didn't succeed now she wouldn't have enough stamina to continue. Taking a few more moments to gather herself she circled the princess until she came across what she was looking for.

Gathering up what little magic she could scrape together she brought it up to cast her teleportation spell twice more. If it worked she would only have a precious few seconds before Celestia caught on so she had to act fast. And if it didn't work...well... let’s just assume it will.

She cast two teleportation spells simultaneously, one to the left and one to the right. As soon as she appeared she charged at the princess who was to her relief was facing the other way. It was a fifty-fifty chance, whether the plan would succeed or fail, luck just happened to be on her side today.

The princess' magenta eyes went wide as a rock fell to the ground and instantly began to turn around.

For the next few seconds time seemed to slow down as Twilight lunged towards the princess.

As the white alicorn turned to parry the attack she knew was undoubtedly coming she found that her student was low to the ground as she rushed towards her. She still had time enough to block her but as she brought her neck down to block her student she found herself restricted.

'And there is my opening!'

The royal regalia that the princess wore around her neck had done as Twilight had predicted, preventing the alicorn from bringing her horn into a low diagonal sweeping arc. She had noticed this when she got close to the princess the first time and now used this opening to press forward into the swing.

Celestia, finding herself unable to get low enough to parry the attack instinctively brought her wings out, lifting herself with a flap to evade the sweep of the horn. Twilight though was prepared this time and with a slight adjustment to the angle of her attack brought it into a vertical slash.

And this time she felt it connect.

As Celestia reared back the tip of Twilight's horn caught her right leg sending a burst of sparks off indicating her success. Though her victory was short-lived as Celestia came back down with incredible speed into a thrust aimed at her now exposed neck. She had spent everything she had on that last plan and couldn't summon up the effort to move or the magic to escape. As the point grew near she closed her eyes and waited.

But instead of a forceful blow striking her she felt a light poke on her neck causing her body to jerk in response. After a few seconds curiosity got the better of her as to what had happened and slowly she opened her eyes. Her vision was immediately greeted by the princess' white coat and smiling face.

“It looks like you win.”

*Author's note* : Once again big thanks go out to my editor lnumaniac. Sorry the chapter took so long to get up. I believe that everyone has a virtue and a vice in them. And if I had a vice, it would be sloth.

Chapter 5

After the match had ended, Celestia offered that they retreat for a relaxing bath, separately of course, and meet back for a late lunch together.

Twilight, having exhausted herself both physically and mentally, gladly took her up on the offer. She didn’t have much stamina and her magic did have its limits. Slowly she worked her way back up to her room, cursing each step of stairs along the way.

When she finally got to her room, she nearly collapsed right then and there in the doorway. But she knew that going the extra few steps would be worth the effort and walked herself the rest of the way to the bathroom, turned on the faucet and hopped in.

An audible sigh escaped her muzzle as she entered the tub.

In the past she thought that the water that was fed to the castle must have been enchanted, but in actuality the water that Canterlot castle used came right from the mountain that it sat upon. She found out later on that it became enriched in minerals as it ran through the crystal caverns that lie beneath the castle. She could practically feel the fatigue run off her as she melted into the warm water, flushing out all the leftover adrenaline in her system. When the time came to exit the bath and go to lunch she had to push herself to leave the enticing liquid. She didn't want to make Celestia wait on her after all.

After finishing her bath she made her way down to the dining hall. Much of the servant ponies that worked at the castle were now up and about, attending to their various jobs. As she passed through the halls she could hear some of the conversations being held between them as they worked, among them included her sparring match with the princess, which she wasn't surprised that some ponies had witnessed.

When they caught her eyes they immediately went back to their jobs of cleaning and such, looking in every direction but hers. She had a feeling that word would get around to most of the ponies in the castle eventually but it had spread quicker than she thought. Even a few guards gave her some funny looks as they saw her, she managed to smile sheepishly back as she passed by.

But she didn't blame them. She was actually a little surprised herself. The way that the princess was acting was certainly not very normal by anypony's standards. She didn't even think that the princess had ever engaged in anything of the physical nature with anypony in her lifetime, nor several lifetimes before hers.

So what were they supposed to think after seeing the normally friendly and gentle princess engaged in something like horn foiling with none other than her student?

For the most part she ignored most of the looks she received as she made her way to the dining hall. After all the effort she exerted previously it had left her feeling as hungry as she had felt that time she spent three days straight on a researching binge.

But she would be lying if she said that she didn't find the activity of horn foiling fun. It was much different than her usual activities of reading and studying, it made her feel invigorated and at the end, left her feeling refreshed by the change of pace. She wondered if that was why Celestia liked it so much.

Perhaps the reason she enjoyed it so much was because it was the princess that she had participated with. Or maybe it was because of the smile that the princess had worn the entire time and that she was the reason it was there.

She finally arrived at her destination finding to her relief that it was empty for the most part. One maid was cleaning off tables and placing down fresh tablecloths, from lunch she assumed, and there were a few guards posted at the entrances; most likely because they heard the princess would be joining her.

After finding a seat next to one of the large windows overlooking the courtyard in which they had their match only an hour ago, one of the kitchen staff came out to take her order.

But before she had the opportunity to speak, the sound of panicked voices from down the hall brought her and her attendant's attention to it. From what she could tell one of them was Celestia's voice. The sound was coming from behind the double door main entrance and she had no idea why, but she felt a strong call to flee rise in her.

A few seconds later two royal guards opened the doors and both had panicked looks plastered on their faces and a strangely familiar pony walked into the room.

“Ah. Twilight. I hope I didn't make you wait too long.”

Everypony in the room, Twilight included, had stopped moving, breathing, and blinking. For several moments nopony dared to move. The stillness that they had achieved would make even the statues in the garden jealous.

Twilight's brain had to shut down and restart in order to remember how to breath again. Even then it took a few moments for what her eyes saw to reach her brain.

This pony...

Same white coat. Same Sun cutie mark. Same bright smile that she always found when the princess looked at her. The same white wings at her sides. This pony, it was definitely Celestia. But there was something off about her.

As her eyes fell upon the alicorn's mane her mind just seemed to... go blank.

She found herself at a loss for words. Her mouth worked trying to find words that benefited the anomaly but the only word that managed to work out was-

“Pink...”

Celestia's mane and tail was now a light pink color instead of its usual assorted rainbow of blue, green, and violet. Instead of her mane flowing in the non-existent wind as it used to, it now hung lightly with a touch of fluffiness to it.

“I'm glad you noticed.” Celestia said, giving wide smile and a little flick of her mane to keep it aligned along her neck.

Twilight had always thought that Celestia's mane was one of the most beautiful sights to behold, ever since she first saw it as a filly. It would sparkle in the rays of the sun and glow slightly, almost as if it was radiating its own sunlight. She believed that it suited the princess best, a mane made of sunlight and rainbows.

That was, to say, until today.

It was strange. It felt like she was seeing the princess for the first time, like up until now she had been looking at her wrong. Some might say that having just a one color mane would be plain and dull in comparison; but no, it actually seemed to bring out the rest of her hidden beauty. It was like her rainbowed mane had stolen the spotlight from the rest of her natural beauty. And now that it was gone she could fully appreciate just how amazing she looked.

“But... how...”

“There is a spell that’s woven into the regalia that Luna and I wear. I'm sure you noticed when you first met Luna, her mane did not always reflect the night sky as it does now. What you see now-” She gestured to her mane and tail. “-is how I look like normally.” She gave a little pose to her student giving her a full look at what the princess looked like now.

And then it finally dawned on her. The princess wasn't wearing anything. At all. She was completely without any of her royal attire. Every time she had ever seen the princess or talked to her she not once ever saw the princess without her chest plate, golden shoes, or tiara worn.

Celestia didn't need any fancy dresses to wear, any gold trinkets to hang from her, nor did she need to use spells to make herself look better. Seeing her now made her even more sure of that fact. She already was beautiful in every regard.

“Honestly Twilight. You didn't think that I was born with a mane made of rainbows.”

Twilight blushed at the comment, knowing that she actually did think that when she was younger. But Celestia didn't seem to notice and continued on.

“At the end of our match I thought about how you had used my own regalia against me, which I must say was very clever-.” This getting another blush from the purple mare. “But it made me realize that lately I have been wearing it whenever I go out in public.”

“I do try to make an effort not to wear my regalia at all times but it would seem that it has been quite some time since I last went out in public without it.” She said, observing the looks of the few ponies in the room that were still frozen in place. Judging from their looks it had to have been at least a century.

Closing the distance between them the princess walked over to take a seat directly across from Twilight , the whole time Twilight's eyes never leaving the alicorn.

“And I must say, it is very... liberating.”

Catching that Twilight was still gawking at her she frowned and asked, “What? Do I look really look so strange without all my royal wear?”

“No. Its just... You look... more...”

Amazing?

Perfect?

Beautiful?

Radiant?

“Natural.”

Stupid stupid!

“So I do look worse!” Celestia wailed, pulling a wing up to hide her face.

“No! Not like that!” She replied hastily waving her hooves for effect. “I mean you have natural beauty.” Much like her friend Fluttershy and how she didn't have to use any cosmetics to look her best. She looked amazing just as she was.

“You’re just saying that.”

“No. I mean it. You look better this way.”

“So I looked worse before.”

“No, Yes- I mean...”

The panicked unicorn continued to try and explain herself until the sound of what could have been bells reached her ears. At first she was confused until she noticed that the princess was shaking slightly.

Was Celestia... giggling?!

Unable to hold back her mirth any longer Celestia retracted her wing and openly chuckled. “I'm sorry Twilight, I just can't resist teasing you sometimes.”

Though Twilight wasn't a fan of being teased it had done well in breaking the tension that had formed in the room. The waitress that had stood frozen nearby had finally come out of her shock and scrambled to quickly take both of their orders. While taking the princess' order Twilight noticed that the pony was looking everywhere but at the alicorn's mane.

After finishing taking their orders the mare scurried away, not willing to stay for longer than necessary in the room. Thus leaving just her and the princess alone.

“I've been meaning to ask what brought you to the castle yesterday. I was so caught up spending time with you again that I forgot I was also keeping you from doing whatever it was you came here for.”

gulp

“It must have been important to get you to leave your studies, I wouldn't want to hold you up any longer on my account.” Her voice holding a touch of sadness.

For a couple of seconds Twilight contemplated not telling her. She had known that the princess would ask eventually and had thought of a few good half-truths she could use. But knowing Celestia, she would probably see right through them.

The princess had opened herself up to her and she would be nothing but open back.

“Actually, it wasn't for my studies that I came to Canterlot.”

Celestia tilted her head slightly, wondering what she meant. Letting out a sigh Twilight decided that it was better if she was fully honest.

“Yesterday morning Luna stopped by.” she admitted as if she was confessing to a crime she had committed. “She told me that that you were feeling lonely lately and asked me to stop by for the weekend to keep you company.”

She brought herself up to take a look at Celestia's reaction and was surprised to see just a sad smile.

“I thought my sister might have had a hand in you coming here. It would seem that my own problems had her worrying about me.”

Celestia seemed to wilt a little.

“I hope she didn't trouble you.”

“Oh no. I was glad to come visit.” She responded quickly. She didn't want Celestia to think that she came because she felt obligated to. She came because Celestia meant a lot to her. “And I didn't come just because Luna asked me to.”

Celestia looked like she was about to say something when the doors to the kitchen opened. The mare that had cleaning tables earlier had returned with a tray of tea and left it on the table, setting a cup of the hot tea in front of both of them. Celestia took the cup and held it close to her, taking in the smell of hot herbs and cinnamon.

“So Twilight. Have you thought about what you would like as your reward?”

Oh. Right.

Forgot about that...

She had gotten so caught up in the contest that she had forgotten about what Celestia had promised her. In all honesty she just wanted to make Celestia proud of her, to show that her student had grown up to be a great mage and that the princess' generosity in taking her on as a student did not go to waste.

Well... that and seeing the smile on the princess' face as they sparred.

“I haven't... really given it much thought yet...” She admitted sheepishly.

In all honesty she had no idea what would be appropriate to ask of the princess. She almost wanted to ask her for something simple like a book, but it would be insulting to waste a favor from a princess on something like a book. Maybe a library's worth of books?

But that wasn't what she really wanted.

No.

Then again, what did she want?

Stealing a wistful glance across the table at the white princess who was currently adding a spoonful of sugar to her tea, she couldn't help but feel a bout of sadness take hold. Yes, There was something that she wanted more than anything else. But it was something that she knew she could never have. Who was she? Not even a noble pony and far from being anypony worth of note. Sure, she was a bearer of one of the Elements of Harmony, but she was nothing without her five other friends. And she did study under the princess for a time, yes, days spent studying with the princess were some of best days she had as a foal, but it wasn't through her skill that she got that title. No, it was because of her failure. As a foal she was gifted with magic that she couldn't control, Celestia took her on as a student just so that she didn't hurt other ponies like she did that day at the exam.

But she had a chance now.

A chance to be something more than just a student to the princess.

Not only did Celestia trust her more now, but she also felt okay with letting her know a more personal side of the alicorn that she was sure wasn't very well known to the general public. She never knew that Celestia could be so playful and aloof, or that she was so good at something like horn foiling for that matter. Growing up in the castle she did get to know the princess better than most, but Celestia never opened herself up so freely to her in the past.

Celestia considered her to be more than just another pony. More than a student. She now thought of her as a friend. And she wouldn't jeopardize that for anything. Even if it was her own feelings. She would never let the princess down. If Celestia wanted a friend to talk to and spend time with then she would do all she could to be that for her. She would just have to bear back her feelings.

Besides, it wasn't as if she could ever ask the princess to have feelings that don't exist.

“That's fine.” Celestia said bringing the mare from her thoughts. “As soon as you decide though please don't hesitate to tell me. I would be more than happy to grant you whatever you wish.”

Twilight gave Celestia the most reassuring smile she could muster not wanting her own problems to dampen the good time that they had been having together, even if it had been a little different then what she was used to.

“On another note, I'm sure that Shining Armor will be surprised to know that his little sister is quite talented in his best sport. Perhaps you should spar with him? I must admit it would be quite the spectacle to see the great 'Captain of the guard' fall to his adorable little sister.”

Twilight paled at the thought but immediately rebounded as it reminded her of a question she had been meaning to ask.

“Oh, thats right, I was wondering if you knew where my brother is? I figured I would have run into him by now, especially with what happened earlier.”

Celestia gave Twilight a bewildered look. “You don't know?”

“Know what?”

Celestia laughed lightly. “Twilight, it’s Shining Armor and Cadence's anniversary. They decided to take a weekend trip to Prance.”

Twilight mentally and physically facehooved. She had forgotten about their anniversary. Had she really been working herself so hard back home that she was oblivious to even her own family?

“I can't believe I forgot...”

“Don't worry Twilight. I probably wouldn't have remembered either if it wasn't for Cadence bragging about it to me and Luna for the past month.” said Celestia, grumbling out the last bit.

Letting out a sigh she decided that it wasn't worth worrying about now and took a long sip of the warm tea the waitress had brought them and in doing so, missed the smile that began to form on the princess.

“I would imagine that they would be enjoying themselves in one of Prance’s hotels right about now.”

Twilight proceeded to spit out her tea and choke on the liquid lodged in her windpipe.

Celestia had spent most of the rest of the day with Twilight just taking pleasure in each other’s company. It would seem that she wore her student out with their little sparring match earlier and she didn't want to push Twilight too hard. As the day wore on then found themselves relaxing comfortably next to each other on her balcony, simply enjoying the view of her setting sun and basking in the warm glow.

Setting the sun didn't actually require any effort. It was only in raising the sun or moon that using magic was necessary. The sun would follow the rest of its path across the sky without needing further assistance. It was just one more misconception that her ponies made in thinking that she was an all-powerful goddess.

No. She wouldn't let herself think that. She was content right now sitting next to her student as they watched the orange orb setting for the day, giving its final call out across the land letting all know that the her sister's night was approaching. It was a special, this moment with Twilight, and she wouldn't let any ill-thoughts ruin it.

She could feel the purple mare shift slightly next to her.

She hadn't realized just how much she missed having somepony to do things like this with. It had been a long time, so long in fact that she almost had forgotten what it was like, enjoying moments like this with another.

But she knew.

Deep down she knew that it would not last. Soon Twilight would return to her home in Ponyville and everything would go back to the way it was.

She would once again, be alone.

A small tear fell down her left cheek unknown to the mare next to her.

It was wrong. She had Luna. She had the staff at the castle. She had tons of guards that followed every move she made and many ponies greeted her every day. She was never really alone.

But none of them could ever give her the companionship that the purple mare could. She wasn't lying when she said that she had more fun this day than in the last thousand years. She learned throughout the years that they would only ever see her as their princess, or in Luna's case, a sister.

But Twilight was different. She had once thought of her as nothing more then a student, and their relationship nothing more then that of one between a mentor and her student. But something changed. Her little filly that had once hopped about in excitement at being taught lessons in magic by her mentor was now all grown up.

When she needed a pony to confide in most it was Twilight that came running to her side. Twilight had come to her just to try to cure her loneliness. And when she opened herself up to the lavender mare she took everything in without finding it strange or questioning her sanity.

Heavens know just how foolish she seemed to be acting, not that she meant to scare anypony with her behavior. Though perhaps she had gone a little overboard when she insisted in horn foiling with Twilight. She just wanted to share the joy she took in the sport with her.

She cared for this pony more than any other, more than just a student.

Yes. Twilight was so much more than that.

She didn't want Twilight to go.

Selfish

She wanted Twilight to stay there with her.

Much too selfish

She wanted to be happy again.

Like you deserve it

She had to.

Even if it was selfish.

Even if she didn't deserve it.

She had to ask.

She was tired of living her life with no one there to confide in, no one to show her true self to. She was a pony too. She had wants and needs. For a thousand years, she ruled over Equestria on her own. Why couldn't she be selfish for once? Why couldn't she get what she wanted? Why couldn't she be happy?

“Twilight,” She said, steeling herself but keeping her tone gentle and soft. Her eyes still staring off into the distant skies.

“Yes Celestia?”

“What- what would you say to staying at the castle?”

“I'd be happy to. I mean, I'm sure Spike wouldn't like me being away for much longer but I'm sure he would understand if I stayed for a little longer.”

“That's... not what I meant Twilight.”

She could practically feel the confused look that Twilight was giving her but couldn't bring herself to meet her gaze. It was important that Twilight not see the look of pain that she would most likely find there. This had to be her decision.

“I mean to move back into the castle.”

She could feel the lavender mare stiffen next to her. Well this was it. No turning back now.

“I... I would like for you live here, at the castle, with Luna and me. Like you did before you left for Ponyville.”

“Celestia... I...”

“You don't have to answer right away. I only want you to think about it. But most of all I don't want you to feel obligated to stay just because I'm a princess. I want it to be your choice. Would you do that for me Twilight?”

“Of... of course Celestia. I... I'll have to think about it, I mean, Ponyville is where all of my friends are... I can't just leave them all.”

“N-no Twilight, you're right, I could never ask you to leave your friends behind. I'm sorry.”

She couldn't do it. Twilight's friends meant the world to her, Ponyville was where she opened herself up to friendship, it was where she was happiest. She couldn't take away Twilight's happiness just to sate her own. “Please. Just forget I asked. It was just a selfish request.”

“Its okay Celestia. I won't lie. The thought of living here again had crossed my mind. It is much easier to eat food when you're not the one cooking and burning it.” The joke brought a smile to both of them. “And the library here is the biggest in Equestria, I'm sure it would take several lifetimes to read every book on its shelves.” She weighed, and then seemed to deepen in her thoughts. “And you're here.”

“Me?”

“Yes... I, well... I enjoy spending time with you...”

This caused her ears to perk up. Twilight didn't find her strange, acting this way?

“You don't mind... the way I've been acting...”

“Of course not. I'm happy that you feel okay with letting me know you so personally.” She said quickly. “Besides, its nice, talking like this. I always liked to spend time with you... but...” Her own hesitation caused her to frown.

“Its okay Twilight, you can tell me.” She encouraged giving a reassuring smile.

“...You always seemed to be busy and there was never time. Even that night at the gala...”

She didn't need to say any more. Celestia knew just how much she had disappointed Twilight that day. She had promised that they would be able to talk together that night but had failed spectacularly. She left her student to stand by her unnoticed while she greeted and talked to all the guests that attended. She had kept her promise, but it had been hollow with no real time to spare to talk with her. Her duties had cost her that night with Twilight. But at least now they had their chance.

“Then I am glad we finally got our time to talk. Because I really enjoyed your company as well.”

“Really?”

A small nod of the her head confirmed her statement and Twilight seemed to relax. Taking comfort in her words, Twilight nuzzled softly against her neck, much like she did in the past as a filly. The act was done with innocent intentions but it caused her heart to flutter a bit. Maybe loneliness was not the only reason for wanting Twilight to stay.

Twilight had said that being with her made her happy. Maybe she didn't have to ruin one happiness to get hers. Maybe they could be happy together.

But she could sort that out later. Right now she was content with enjoying this moment with Twilight.

After all, this was her favorite time of day.

Silently she wondered how Luna was doing. She would have to thank her little sister when she returned. After all, Twilight would not be here if it weren't for her.

The moon shone brightly down along the forest trees and left a silver hue glazed along the treetops as the midnight black chariot glided along the star-filled night sky. The princess of the night herself sitting with her head tilted back as two black bat winged ponies pulled the chariot through the night.

Princess Luna, having slept through most of the day as they transversed Equestria to its border, was now awake and taking in her starlit sky overhead, the moon full and white as the stars held it high. She always looked to it and marveled in the beauty that she helped create in the endless sea of stars and black. Giving the gentle light of the moon to even the farthest reaches to the world. And why not? It was what she lived for nowadays, trying to get ponies to see her night for what it truly was underneath the veil of darkness.

“A fine night to be under the stars, is it not?” She said wistfully as they flew through the cool night breeze. It was slow goings, traveling like this, she would probably make much better time even if she just used her wings and flew alone.

But ever since she returned from... being absent, she enjoyed having somepony's presence by her side. It is comforting, knowing that you are not alone. Strangely it was when she had returned that she felt alone the most. Maybe it was from the loss of everypony she knew aside from her sister a thousand years ago, or from having ponies fear her. But she always felt that something was missing. She just didn't know what that something was.

“A fine night indeed, your highness.” Came a reply from the bat-winged stallion on the left.

As her gaze dropped to the ground below something caught her attention, or rather, the lack of something. The silver gleam of the moon reflecting off the river had disappeared. No, the river itself was gone. She was sure that they had been following a river when she last looked.

After taking a more focused look she noticed that it had not vanished but was simply empty.

“Correct us if we are wrong, but did there not use to be a river here that lead into the mountains?” She asked looking down into the valley at the now empty ravine.

They were finally passing the border that defines Equestria, she had known the land very well in the past and there was definitely a river here that flowed deep into the mountains. It even looked like this river had dried up just recently. Had the river been dammed?

She always hated the dealings of court and the ponies that came with it but she remembered every project she authorized. She could not recall ever giving permission to dam up a whole river. Nor would she ever. She had seen first hand what could happen from the backlash of such a thing in her years. There was a reason that no dam in Equestria took up more that half of the river's water flow. Both her and her sister knew this well.

“I believe so. There are a few rivers that run into the mountains from Equestria and when we were planning what route to take, I noticed that we would be traveling along one of such rivers.”

Even from this distance she could she the effects it was already having on the terrain. The surrounding trees and plants were already beginning to wither away and die now that they could not obtain their daily dose of hydration. And the normal calls from the creatures that moved in the night were eerily absent.

She would have to talk to Celestia about this when she returned. Perhaps this is what the griffins wanted to talk about. If this was the river into the mountains that would mean that it was most likely part of the water supply of Griffinia.

The more she thought about it, the more she was beginning to believe that there was something wrong with all this. Why would the griffins ask for peace talks while things like this were going on?

“Nightwing. Stardust. Ye best be on thine hooves when we arrive at the meeting place.”

“Is something wrong your Highness?” he asked, instantly taking on a serious tone.

“Something tells us that this meeting is more than just a simple peace talk.” There had to be more to this then meets the eye. Even Celestia had noticed there was something amiss before she even left.

“Should we turn around, princess?” this time coming from Stardust, the mare on the right, who also wore a similar designed pair of wings like her partner. They weren't real of course, it was an enchantment built into the armor, much like the ones that her and her sister used, but it helped them to look more like the part of a nightguard giving both bat-like wings and shining yellow eyes.

Luna considered it for a moment but eventually said, “No. We will continue onward. we believe that it would be beneficial to know what this is all about.” There was more to gain if they met with them and learned what really was going on.

She was now assuming that this was trap. But then again she figured it was a trap to begin with. It is better to act with caution than not to. She couldn't just go in there without some sort of plan and hope to come out unscathed. Nor did she wish to put her guards, her children of the night, in unnecessary danger as well.

“Tell me, my nightguards. Do you trust your princess?”

“With our lives, princess.” The two replied immediately.

Luna couldn't help but grin at her faithful pair of guards. She knew that they would follow her to the gates of Tartarus and back, but it never hurt to hear it from them every once in awhile. Not that she would let any harm befall them, especially now that she had recently found out that the two shared more with each other then their job of guarding the princess.

She never felt awkward around the two or the need to dilate her speech while in their presence. Both took their title as her personal guard seriously and held it with honor. They were very kind to the children during Nightmare Night and were glad to take part in her night of scares each year with the princess. A perfect combination of seriousness and kindness. Truly these two were worth their weight in gems.

“Then I believe I have a plan.”

Chapter 6

Several pairs of eyes could be felt upon the two night guards as they guided the carriage to a stop in a small clearing in the trees. While most ponies would have wilted from the gaze of half a dozen griffins, they remained at attention and steadfast.

The first light of the sun could be seen as the sky began to brighten, bringing its color to a deep dark blue. The day was approaching but it was still dark, still within the realm of the night.

All at once, several of the griffins pounced on the two before they could even disconnect themselves from the chariot, taking them both to the ground but for the most part leaving them unharmed. A pair of griffins for each, holding them pinned to the ground by their wings as they struggled against them.

As Luna's eyes widened at the display of aggression from her seat in the cart. She noticed one of the griffins, slightly smaller than the others, stood at the side of the vehicle. He was a lighter shade of gold than the others and wore a pair of round lensed glasses. By his looks, Luna deduced that this was most likely the griffin ambassador.

“I must say, this is quite the welcome you have prepared for us.” She said, disdain in every word.

“We wish it didn't have to come down to this, but our claws are tied.” He frowned a little. “We would appreciate it if you would come quietly and not put up any resistance. Do so and you have my word that neither of your guards will be harmed. We would like them to report back to your land of your capture anyway.” The statement made both of the said guards renew their struggling against their captors.

It would seem that her instincts had been right, though it was strange that they decided to escalate things so quickly. She still didn't even know why it was they were acting so hostile to them.

“Fine.” She said evenly. “But I would like to know why it is exactly that you are doing this. The griffins, while known for your quick tempers and brutish manners, have always been a proud and honorable race. The tribes from a thousand years ago would never have stooped to something like kidnapping in order to make a point. So why now? Have we done something to offend the nation of Griffinia?”

Some of the surrounding griffins balked at her words. It looks like things haven't changed in the last thousand years. Griffins were big on honor and justice. Maybe she could just reason with them and avoid this whole thing. “I would be happy to help resolve any problems between us in any way I can.”

“You talk as if you don't know!” One of the griffins that had been standing back by the ambassador lashed out, his face contorted in rage. “For the past three months every river that once flowed through the valley and our lands have dried up and have become void of water. Its come to the point where there is no longer enough to go around. Every griffin here has a family back home that is threatened by this. And now that the main river has been dammed and dried up there is no longer time to play fair. A nation as big as Equestria would be impossible to start a war with. If this is what it takes for our families to be safe, then it is a dishonor we are willing to bear.”

All of the griffins seemed to steady themselves at his words showing that they were, in fact, more than willing to do what it took.

The griffin ambassador held up a wing for silence from his group and turned his attention back to the princess of the night.“There is no way that you could not have known. We sent many letters to the city behind the border about our plea to halt the building of those dams. None of them were ever responded to and some of our messengers were even turned away at the border before they could even deliver them. It wasn't until we sent an official envoy for a meeting that we even got any response from either of Equestria's two princesses.”

Somepony must have been intercepting the letters and keeping them quiet. This wasn't good, not only were they ready for a fight but they had a good reason to as well. They were just protecting themselves and their families. But she wouldn't let herself get captured here, she had to get back and tell her sister what was happening. She had to try again, this could still be resolved without violence.

“Equestria is a vast land. We cannot see everything that happens in our kingdom, especially when it occurs at the edges. I cannot speak for my sister but I never received any of the letters that may have been sent. You don't have to do this, we will personally see to it that this wrong is righted. I can talk to my sister and we can fix this.”

“I'm sorry, but its too late for that. We need a princess as a captive in order to ensure that the dams get torn down. To be honest, I didn't really expect one of the princesses to come here so freely. But now that you are here, this will make sure that we have at least one bargaining chip, even if the others fail.”

“Others?” Her eyes narrowed at the griffin. “What others?!”

“Well, we couldn't just put all of our faith that one of you would show up here tonight.” He said simply. “So we sent a group to Canterlot in order to make sure we succeeded.”

Canterlot! They were after her sister too?!

“You foals! This is not the way to fix this!” This would only cause unrest among the public and make more problems. And if they did succeed, then there would be no saving face. Dark deeds should not be responded to with more of the same, especially if her sister and her played no hoof in this transgression to begin with.

“Maybe not... but its the path we've chosen.” He said finally. “Take her.”

The two griffins that flanked the leader moved to restrain her but as soon as they went to take hold of of the midnight alicorn, their talons passed right through her and the princess seemed to blink out of existence.

“Its an illusion!” Cried one of them.

“Where is she?!” The short griffin growled out.

The surrounding griffins began to panic as several root-like tentacles shot out of the earth, causing the earth to splinter around the two downed night guards, the griffins holding them broke away to create distance between them and now thrashing giant roots.

Luna didn't have nearly as much magic in her as Celestia, but she knew how to use what she did have and use it effectively. In the time that she had returned she had gotten much better at her illusions from all the preparation for nightmare night. After all, her illusions worked well in frightening the children during her escapades.

The two guards, now free from their holds, broke away from the large roots and formed around the princess. The said princess had now appeared behind the roots that were protecting them, having dropped invisibility spell that she was using to cloak herself until now. Two of the griffins that had been behind them, on the opposite side of her line of roots, were now charging at her in an effort to disrupt her magic.

Before they could even get close, they found themselves blocked by her two guards. The first griffin lunged at Stardust, who used her bat-like wings to draw back, causing the griffin to fall on his face, then pounced on him with her forehooves, with caused the griffin to screech out before going unconscious. The other, after getting distracted by watching his partner get downed in one hit, didn't see as Nightwing's backhooves connected with his jaw, and was bucked a few into a nearby tree and collapse limply.

Neither of them had been seriously hurt. Before they got to the clearing the princess had told them of the plan and specifically not to hurt the griffins more than what was required for them to escape. They didn't want any deaths on their hooves in this fight, it would only cause them more trouble later on.

With a clear path to the treeline, they promptly made a dash towards it. If they made it into the forest they could evade the griffins more effectively and escape, griffins had more of an advantage in the open space. But as they approached the trees, several more griffins appeared from them, almost as if they were waiting for them to make a break for the forest.

The sudden appearance of the new threat caused them to back off, unable to follow through with their plan. Just as they found themselves blocked off, the other griffins that had been held back until now behind the rampaging roots had found that they were just illusions created by magic and held no actual physical form.

Illusions work best in confusion, and now the griffins knew that her magic was not able to physically impede them, they began to form up and surround the three ponies. The last of their worries passed as they walked through one of the still whipping roots as if it was not even there.

Now that her illusions were seen through, she let her magic disperse from the roots, not wanting to waste her energy on them. As soon as the connection faded so did the roots, they slowly dissolved away to nothing and the ground flattened back out.

Both of her guards were being pushed back from the numbers coming at them. Even if they were good at their job, they had their limits. And going against such large numbers was impossible for just two of them.

“Princess, please escape.” Stardust said quickly, finding that they were being driven into the open.

“We will hold them off so long enough for you to get to safety. Take to the sky and escape back to Canterlot. You can come back and get us once this is all sorted out.” Nightwing added in, his eyes darting between numeral assailants.

Luna risked a glance at the two next to her. Both held looks of determination in their eyes.

They had given their trust to her and even though she had failed to get them out, they still wished to protect her. But she couldn't just leave them behind, there had to be a way to get out of this successfully still.

“That won't be happening.” Came a voice from her her side, the griffin from earlier was now approaching them once again. Then she noticed that several griffins, that must have been hiding in the treeline until now, had taken up positions in the air. Now they were completely surrounded in an ever closing ring of aggressors.

Luna gritted her teeth in frustration. What she needed right now was a teleportation spell, with it she could get out of this situation easily. It was times like this that she hated herself for not practicing teleportation magic more over the last three years. She ran her head over how she might get all three of them out of this together but, now that the griffins had seen through her illusions, her most valuable asset in their escape was now rendered useless.

“There's no need to drag this out any further princess.” The small griffin said, taking a few more steps towards them. “Those were some very convincing images you made, but this game ends here.” He smirked as the griffins around them drew another step closer around them.

But before they could get any closer to the trio of ponies, a wild wisp of black mist began to quickly wrap around them. It was thin like a fabric but changed form frequently as it moved.

Starting from the bottom it wrapped around them moving upward until it had fully encased them, almost like a barrier. But as it unraveled behind itself and carried off into the night sky, the ponies that had been inside had vanished.

The griffins began to scour the area for them thinking it was just another illusion, but they were nowhere to be found.

“Not that I'm ungrateful for you getting us out of there princess-” Nightwing said panting for breath as the mist finally landed in a small peaceful clearing, setting them down gently and unraveling around them. “But if you could always do that, why didn't you do so sooner?”

Luna remained silent, not answering.

The thing was, she didn't do that. She wasn't good enough at teleportation spells to take them more than just a few yards in distance. And that wasn't teleportation, it was something else. She wasn't sure why, but it felt so familiar to her, the feeling of the wind passing through her and the sparkling darkness that had surrounded them as it carried them through the sky.

As the last wisps of dark magic dissipated she looked around for whoever it was that had gotten them out of there, but except for her and the two guards, they remained alone in the clearing.

How many could have even known that she was even there meeting with the griffins? Did somepony somehow find out about the griffins’ problem and follow her here in case this happened? This pony, assuming it was one, also had enough magical prowess to move them a good distance from where they were. Maybe Celly had sent someone from the academy to watch over her and pull her out of danger if it popped up? But why not show their self to her now that it was over?

It bugged her that she didn't know who it was that had intervened but she was glad that whoever it was, was willing to help. She didn't have any time to further ponder this as the sky was now taking on a light blue hue, signaling that a new day was about to come forth.

“Nightwing, Stardust. Are you both alright?”

Both of them shifted back to their hooves. “A little bruised your highness, but yes, I think we'll survive.” The stallion replied giving a weak, roguish smile to his partner, the mare giving a weak smile of her own.

“Good. I want you both to follow one of the nearby rivers and find out just who is behind all this. Do whatever it takes to figure out what exactly is going on around here at the border. I must hurry back to Canterlot; my sister could be in danger right this very moment and I need to warn her.”

Both nightguards gaped at the princess. “But it at least a day's journey from here, even by wings.”

Luna could only smile back at the pair.

“I don't suppose I ever told either of you...” She said, spreading her wings out at her sides. “But I've always been better at flying than my sister.”

In a sudden gust of air she took off of the ground flapping her wings in powerful sweeps, and in one great push took off into the sky - creating a wave of force behind her, almost like sonic rainboom but much more elegant. Instead of a forceful shock wave of rainbow colors, a burst of sparkling lights shot out in a small ring as she broke through the air. They seemed to blend in to the early morning sky and the few stars still in it.

She prayed that she would make it in time to warn her sister but dawn was approaching quickly and even at these speeds, it would take her some time to cross half of Equestria. The guards in the castle couldn't have eyes everywhere, and the griffins would surely attack when her sister was alone. She could only hope that Twilight was still keeping her sister company while visiting and had not gone home early. With the captain away, Twilight was the only thing stopping them.

I'm coming sister... Twilight, please keep my sister safe.

Chapter 7

Twilight had woken up a bit ago from a much needed sleep after the long day she’d had with the princess. Though, seeing she had a lot on her mind that night, it wasn't the most pleasant sleep she’d ever gotten. Instead of getting out of bed and getting ready for the day as she normally would, she opted to, instead, lie in her bed and stare up at the ceiling, deep in thought.

The lavender mare had a lot to think about after all that had happened in the last couple days. She had spent most of the night, and now the early morning, thinking about what the princess had asked her and what she wanted out of life.

Part of her was unbelievably happy. She wanted nothing more than to spend her life by Celestia's side. It was where she felt most at peace, where she felt she belonged. Even if it was just as a friendly pony to give her company, she wanted to be that pony, to make the princess feel better and be able to be of help to her. That’s all she really wanted in the end: to make Celestia proud of her.

But another part of her realized the implications of what staying here would be. What she would be leaving behind back in Ponyville if she were to stay. So she did what she does best...

She made lists and compared.

If she decided to stay here at the castle, she would have to leave her library behind. Most of her books and her favorite reading spots, those special nooks where she could read in comfortable peace, without constant interruption.

But in doing so, she would gain daily access to the Canterlot library, and all the books it contained. They wouldn't be her books, but that didn't make them any harder to read. She could study and research here just as well as back at her library, so her job wasn't in danger or anything.

She also wouldn't have to cook ever again. Never again would she have to put out another kitchen fire when trying to make dinner, or stomach another batch of burnt toast in the early morning. All of her meals would be provided when necessary, which was definitely a positive considering her lack of skill in the culinary arts.

But that would also mean she wouldn't be able to eat Spike's cooking anymore. Spike had become quite the chef from having to fix food for them most nights, and without her there who would he cook for?

And what about him? What would he do?

Would he go with her, to live in Canterlot? It would be hard to leave him behind. He wasn't just her number one assistant, he was family, but she could never ask him to leave behind all of the friends he made in Ponyville. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, his friends in town, but most of all, Rarity. How could she ask him to go with her and leave them behind?

And what about her friends?

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie.

If she left Ponyville to live here, she would not see them on a regular basis anymore. How would she tell them that she wouldn't be around to help them when they needed her? When Winter Wrap Up came around this year, who would be there to help them keep organized and on schedule? When another ursa minor, or any other monsters of the like, started rampaging in town, who would be there to save it?

She wouldn't be around to go to Pinkie Pie's parties, or picnicking with her friends anymore. Not that she couldn't go and visit them if she wanted. After all, Ponyville wasn't that far from Canterlot. And she was sure she could arrange for a carriage to take her there whenever she felt like going.

But was it worth leaving Ponyville and all of her friends behind, to be able to stay here with the princess?

After some more thought she realized,

Yeah.

It was worth it.

It was time that she left her old self behind and found her place in the world. All of her friends had what they wanted in life. They all had a place where they belonged; a place where they wanted to be more than any other. They’d all found happiness in their lives, why not her?

And what better place to find it than by Celestia's side?

A small smile worked its way across her face as she realized now what she had always known: that she was happiest when beside the princess. She always had been, and that was where she wanted to stay.

It was the last day of the weekend, and she would soon be leaving for Ponyville. Twilight knew she wouldn't have to start living there right away. The princess wouldn't want her to make such a change without taking some time to prepare, but she would have to give her an answer eventually.

She still didn't understand what Celestia’s motive was, why the princess would even ask her to stay at the castle again. What could she offer by staying? Perhaps the princess just wanted the company... After all, she knew just how lonely it could get, living in the castle with no one but guards to talk to, which was as fruitful as conversing with the garden statues.

Now that she thought about it, Celestia spent nearly all of her time in the castle. Only occasionally did an event give her a break from her duties, and allow her to leave the city. Not only that, but she’s been a princess for over a thousand years, which would mean that, for all those years, Celestia was alone within the confines of the castle. She didn't even have her sister until just recently. No wonder she’s lonely.

Twilight had her answer: she’d stay at the castle, and keep Celestia company. Besides, it wouldn't be all that bad. She’d enjoyed the time she’d gotten to spend with the princess so far, even if it was a little different from what she had been expecting.

She could give the library to Spike to continue living at when she left. He would be upset that she was going, and would probably throw a tantrum like he did when he was smaller, but he was a big dragon now, and could handle himself even without her there to wake him up.

Her friends would likely be upset too, and not want her to go at first, but she was sure that they would come to understand her decision.

And it wasn’t as if she would be completely alone. Not only would she be with Celestia, but Luna, Cadence, and Shining would be there as well, once they got back. She was sure that her brother and her former-foalsitter would be more than happy to have her around.

Feeling invigorated by having her thoughts finally in order, and knowing her choice, she sprang out of her bed and started getting ready for the day. She would tell Celestia and let her know what her answer was. Twilight could tell that the princess wanted her to say “yes “, and she really wanted to see her face light up when she did.

After a few minutes of fixing her appearance and taking the sleep out of her features, she set off for the princess of the sun’s room, seeing as Celestia had to raise the sun in the mornings, she would more than likely be up by now. But before she was even out the door she was interrupted by a voice.

“Ah, Lady Twilight.”

Jumping a little, she turned to find a guard approaching her with a piece of paper.

“Her majesty said I was to give you this when you awakened,” he said, giving her what turned out to be a note. She took it in her magic and thanked him for his trouble.

As soon as the note had been successfully delivered he gave a small salute and departed down the hall. She unfurled the paper and read it over, which didn't take long considering there were only a few words.

Twilight,

I have decided to enjoy my morning in the garden. If, when you wake, you feel like joining me, I

would be happy to have your company.

Twilight grinned. If Celestia was in the garden they could talk in private, and she could tell the princess much more easily. They’d often spent time in the castle garden in the past, and Twilight was glad it was still among the things the princess liked to do. It may have seemed foalish to make something so simple into something special, but it was the fact that they got to spend time alone that truly gave it meaning. The location was just a place where they could get away from the ever-present guards that roamed the castle.

She slipped the note back inside the room, not wanting to carry it around, and closed the door behind her.

As she traversed the halls she noticed some of the morning staff were already up and about, preparing for the day. As she passed through the breezeway leading to the gardens, she could see the sun was just beginning its journey from the horizon. The air was still cool and crisp as a gentle breeze blew by, the first signs of autumn bearing its chilly winds. It was actually quite peaceful in the mornings here at the castle, most of the staff was still sleeping or working inside to begin the day. Stepping out onto the cobblestone path, she could make out bits of morning dew that had yet to be evaporated still clinging to the grass.

She made her way down the stone path in a slightly quickened pace, a small clip-clop sound coming from her hooves as she walked. She wasn't particularly late, it was still early, so she hadn't slept in too long, but why not hurry to meet Celestia? A morning walk through the garden with the pony she loved? How could she not want to hurry?

Yes. That's what the princess was to her, wasn't it?

Twilight stopped as she thought about that for a second. She loved the princess, she knew that now. She wasn't going to hide it from herself anymore. She didn't even begin to hope that the princess might feel the same for her, but she was okay with that. If she worked hard, and proved herself, maybe one day she could be something more to Celestia. Until then, she was happy just being with the princess, as a friend, if nothing else.

Thunk

“Owww...”

Her thoughts were interrupted as something struck her forehead, and, upon looking down, she found a small acorn. Reaching a hoof up to rub the sore spot, she looked around, trying to see where it had come from.

She just caught the sight of another acorn in the paws of one of, what turned out to be, a pair of small squirrels, before it was launched at her head.

Thunk

“Ouch! Stop doing that!” she said pointedly at the little rodents, rubbing the second bump now forming on her head.

Instead of throwing another tree seed at the poor unicorn, the animals instead began waving their arms around and jumping, as if trying to gain her attention.

Twilight looked curiously at the critter, knowing from experience with Fluttershy's pet, Angel, that they were probably trying to tell her something. Before she could ask, though, they both took off into the garden, one of them stopping in the middle of the path. He waved his little arms as if he were beckoning her.

“You...want me to follow...?” she asked, unsure, but got a quick nod from the critter.

Her curiosity piqued, Twilight took after the tiny creatures as they lead her through the maze of hedges that filled the castle garden. She was fairly familiar with the gardens, thanks to her time as a filly in the castle, but the squirrels seemed to know exactly where they were going. Well, she thought, it’s probably where they live.

As she was led through the garden, she couldn't help but feel a sinking sensation in her stomach. Something was wrong. She began to pick up the pace as she followed the animals, hedges whizzing past as she galloped beside her smaller companions.

The chase ended as suddenly as it began, and they came to a clearing in the hedges. The squirrels stopped just before the exit and looked at her, pointing wildly towards whatever was behind the hedge in the clearing, some quiet noise coming from behind it.

Twilight's ears perked up at the sound. Voices.

“Quick. We need to be gone before more guards come looking.”

A chill ran down Twilight's spine. They sounded rough, but somewhat familiar, like she’d heard them before. She could hear her heart beating in her ears, but whether it was from running through the garden or what she was hearing, she wasn't sure.

Guards? What were they talking about?

Summoning up some will, she stepped past the hedging and into the clearing.

Her eyes widened, pupils dilating as she took in the scene before her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she registered several large winged birds there that she recognized as griffins in the clearing, but almost all of her attention was focused on the figure they were all standing around. Its pure white fur blindingly out of place amongst the vast greenery and color of the flora.

The world around her seemed to distort as she stared at the white alicorn laying motionless on the grass. Though her mane was pink again, it wasn't hard to see that it was Celestia lying there.

One of the griffins was was doing something with her horn, but, from that angle, she couldn't see what. Not that she was paying much attention to anything other than the princess' face, which was set in a pained expression.

Tears welled in her eyes as fear and panic began to settle in. She hyperventilated as her vision zeroed in on the princess alone, and, for just a moment, one of the alicorn’s eyes opened weakly. As it fell upon Twilight, it widened and a pulse of gold magic lit her horn, but instead of any magic happening, her body spasmed and she let out a groan of pain as the glow faded.

“Princess!”

All at once several pairs of sharp eyes fell upon her, her presence among them announced by the shrill cry.

“Damn, we took too long! The guards got here,” the one standing over the white alicorn hissed as another jumped between her and her mentor.

“W-What do you want with the princess?” she squeaked out through her fear, her eyes wide with panic.

“No. She doesn't look like one of them, she must be the one the princess was expecting,” the one standing over the princess said, ignoring her question entirely, but turning to face her.

Twilight quickly looked around, vainly hoping to find a group of guards, but there were none. The only ones in the area were the griffins, the princess, and her. But they didn't even give her a chance to figure out what to do as, who she thought was the leader said,

“Knock her out before she alerts the guards."

She had remained frozen in place until now, but the quickly advancing griffin brought her out of her shock and forced her to act. But only enough for her to start backing away in terror.

She had no idea what was happening, or why it was happening. All she knew was that Celestia was in danger, and now, apparently, so was she.

Her mind was spinning so quickly that she couldn't speak, but some part of her was screaming at her not to flee.

She couldn't run away! She had to stop this! Celestia needed her and she was there! What had she been doing all her life?! Did she learn all those spells for nothing?! This was her chance to prove that she was of help to the princess, that Celestia's lessons weren't wasted on her!

And she would never leave the princess while she was in danger!

Determination filling her, she summoned up her magic, and, just before the griffin was upon her, instinctively brought up a basic shield spell to defend herself. It wasn't anything Shining Armor would find spectacular, but it was nothing to scoff at as far as a basic spell went. It happened too fast for the griffin to react and he slammed head-first into the hard barrier coating, dropping like a rock from the frontal impact.

As soon as the first griffin fell to the ground, another jumped into the air, keeping low, and flew straight at her. She charged a bit of magic and fired off a burst of magic at the fast-approaching griffin, catching him in the chest and knocking him to the grassy field. The other two’s swift defeat didn't make the rest back away, but it did give them pause.

“Let the princess go!” she growled through her teeth.

She could make out what looked like four others, not including the two griffins lying on the ground, and each of them now staring her down. An adult griffin on average was almost twice as large as a pony, so she couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by the difference in size. Not only that, but she was outnumbered four to one.

No. She could do this. She just needed to stay calm. She had her magic and that gave her an edge. But that wouldn't last long as she was beginning to tire already, the match with the princess the other day left her feeling more drained than usual.

Now that they knew she was skilled with magic, it wouldn't be as easy, but she could do this, she just needed to strike sparingly and with precision.

One of the griffins reached into a small pack he had strapped around his wings. Twilight stared at him, assuming that he was going to bring out some sort of weapon or something, but was surprised when he instead pulled out what looked like a crystal stone.

“The gems,” he said, looking over to the others. The rest following him, pulling out similar small crystals from their bags, each just normal looking gemstones. Were they just here to steal gems?

Twilight felt anger flare up in her as she thought about that. Was that all this was for? Some thieves looking for some get rich quick ransom?!

Bringing up another charge of magic, she turned to who she believed was the leader of the group and took aim. Her horn glowed brightly as magical energy welled up within her, building up raw magical power to a more concentrated form at the tip of her horn, the end sparking errantly as it shined a bright lavender.

A second later a beam of magic purple light shot out straight at her target. Twilight kept her eyes open, ready to curve it when the griffin tried to dodge out of the way.

But to her immeasurable surprise, he didn't.

Instead, he just stood there, holding the gem out in front of him. As the beam of magic came within the last few feet to his body, it bent towards the gem held between his talons.

She missed?!

No...

Twilight's eyes widened as the blast was sucked into the small topaz colored crystal. It spiraled into the colored gem like water down a drain.

“You didn't think we would come to capture an alicorn without a way to get around her magic, did you?” the one holding the stone said snidely, looking at the small crystal in his claws.

She risked a glance towards where the princess was lying, and noticed something stuck to her ivory horn. Some sort of colorful gem. Not only that, but she was also wearing all of her royal attire. Then why was her hair pink...

“Its a good thing we took the time to go and steal these special stones. I must say, they work wonders on alicorn magic and, apparently, unicorn magic as well.”

It couldn't be... Those stones... Irritus gems? How?

“You stole those from the Equestrian Magic Academy!”

That must have been how they managed to subdue the princess, by disarming her magic! They suck up magic without end! if that thing actually touched a horn, the spot on a unicorn or alicorn where magic focused...

She actually didn't know what would happen as none of the reports she was given with the samples told of any tests in that regard. But she could see from the occasional pained twitch of the white alicorn that it couldn't be a pleasant experience. When a unicorn's magic ran low they would pass out, she assumed from the princess' form that the same could be said of alicorns. She had to end this and get that thing off her horn.

But before she could do that, she had to deal with the four approaching griffins.

She may have been well versed in magic, but she never really focused on offensive spells. She usually used her magic in everyday events and had little need for spells meant for causing harm. What she needed now was a spell that stayed with her, something that couldn't be absorbed so easily. Something not so direct and obvious.

She remembered her duel with Celestia, and the spell they’d used in horn foiling. With a few tweaks to the spell it could work. But even with it, she would still need a way to get around that gem. She couldn't let it touch her even once, or it would be over.

If she teleported around them and caught them off guard with attacks from behind, like she did with Celestia, she could avoid the gems and strike at them swiftly while keeping out of their reach.

Charging her horn again, she aimed like she was going to fire off another burst of magic at the griffin. He in turn held up the crystal, ready to block whatever magic she threw at him. But his eyes widened as she instead disappeared.

Rather than going after the same griffin twice, she teleported behind the one that had been standing to his left. Taking advantage of the griffins’ confusion, she quickly cast her horn foiling spell and infused it with an additional spell. She could feel it tax her magic heavily, but the spells held as her horn began to glow a bright purple.

The griffin by the princess noticed the glow and her position, but could do little as she struck a blow across his fellow griffin's torso, sending a burst of magical sparks flying into the air. The griffin that was hit screeched as his body jerked and spasmed.

Twilight had added electricity to her normal horn foiling spell. Griffins weren't resistant to lightning like pegasi were, so a jolt of a couple ten thousand volts should send them to the ground.

And the griffin did just that. He fell in a heap on the grass, a small trail of smoke rising from him. Unmoving aside from the occasional twitch or erratic spark from the leftover electricity. The gem he was holding fell to the ground.

Sure the Irritus gems might have absorbed spells. But she wasn't casting a spell on them, she was casting a spell on herself that affected them through her horn. With the spell close to her and not floating in the air, she could make sure that she hit her target.

She couldn't resist a wave of nausea hit her at having used her magic to hurt another. Even in the most worst case scenarios she never used her magic to hurt others if she could help it. The only other time she ever used her magic to physically assault another was during the changeling attack. But that was only because they needed her to. For her brother, Cadence, her friends. For Equestria...

For Celestia.

Celestia had needed her help then, she’d given Twilight a task to complete. But she’d failed to pull through for the princess. She’d tried her best but... it just wasn't good enough. She and her friends were defeated and captured before they could even obtain the elements. She had failed her.

Not this time. Not again. She could do it! She wouldn't let the princess down again!

Before the other griffins could react further, she charged her horn and disappeared in a flash. The three remaining griffins shifted, looking around wildly for where she would appear. Several seconds ticked by before a flash to the side of a griffin caught their attention. She dove at his side but he pulled away at the last second, using his wings to lift off the ground.

Before he could get away, she brought her horn upward, just like when Celestia had used her wings. She silently thanked the princess for taking the time to teach her the spell and for the match they’d shared. The shield spell only nipped the griffin's leg, but a touch was all she needed as raw electrical power shot through him, making him cry out before sending him to the ground.

Breathing heavily, she spun around to face the remaining two griffins, both taking a step back from the purple unicorn. Finally breaking their attitude of assured of victory.

“Take the princess and go!” one said, the other making a dash to the white alicorn.

“No!” she shouted. Pulling together more magic, she teleported between them and the princess, striking out at the approaching griffin. He jumped back, just in time to avoid the sweep of her horn.

Twilight stood in front of Celestia, fire in her eyes as she stared them down.

“Don't touch her!” she growled, the magic from her horn flaring threateningly.

For a second, she thought about how this must have looked and chuckled in her mind. Twilight protecting the princess, using something as old-fashioned as horn foiling to fight off a group of griffins trying to kidnap her. It was just like something she would find in one of her fairytale books shining would read to her as a foal. Maybe it ran in the family? Who says she can't be Celestia's knight?

But before she could enjoy her position any longer, she wavered on her hooves. She suddenly found herself struggling to stay standing as her vision blurred, her legs wobbled beneath her as she tried to steady herself.

No no no no no! She couldn't be running out of magic now! Not when she was so close!

She tried not to show it, holding herself together, but the griffins could see her legs shaking slightly under her. Leaving no breathing room, one of them leapt towards her, closing the gap in a second, gem held firmly in one claw as he swiped at her with the other.

Twilight managed to jump back in time to avoid his blow, but failed to notice the griffin behind her. While she was distracted, one of the griffins she had felled earlier grabbed her back legs, digging his talons in and pulling them out from under her. She yelped as she fell, trying to gather enough magic to teleport again, but her reserves were tapped out. The other griffin that had been left wasted no time in pouncing on her and holding her to the ground.

The unicorn cried out as the weight of the griffin pinned her to the ground. She struggled against him, but in her weakened state, and him being twice her size, she offered little resistance. And nothing could stop him as he pressed the colored gem up against her horn.

White hot pain shot through her as the stone came in contact. It felt as if her body were burning and being squeezed dry of every bit of magic in her. She screamed in pain, partly from the weight on her back, but mostly from the feeling of her magic being pulled out.

Her vision began to, the fatigue of yesterday piled onto her current state of exhaustion left her little to use to resist the griffin that held her down. All she could do was watch the unconscious form of the princess, unmoving on the ground across from her as she also began to black out.

She dimly remembered how cold it was as she was pushed into the wet grass. She resisted for as long as she could against the oppressive dark cloud, but it was a losing battle. A few useless tears fell to the grass as the darkness overcame her.

I'm sorry Celestia...

The griffin finally took the dark stone away from the unicorn beneath him after he was sure that she was down for good. His breathing was ragged even now from the fight she had put up. If it weren't for the stones they never would have been able to win.

“Alright, now lets get out of here befo-”

He couldn’t even remove himself from the purple unicorn before a dark blue alicorn-sized figure tackled him. He was thrown off of the unconscious form and across the beds of flowers until he tumbled to a stop in one of the hedges. The stone he’d been holding was blown out of his grip and landed somewhere among the flowers.

About the same time this happened, several guards that had heard the sounds of the earlier struggle had now appeared and were rushing towards the group. They quickly surrounded the remaining griffins that weren't already knocked out and the group surrendered, knowing that any more resistance was futile at this point.

As soon as the griffins were being secured by the royal guards, Luna made her way to the downed white form that was her sister. She quickly used her mouth to rip the strange stone that had been attached to her horn away.

She managed to piece together that it was some sort of magic absorbing stone and tossed it a good distance away so its effects would disappear. After looking them over and assessing the health of her sister and Twilight, it seemed that they were both just suffering from magic fatigue, which would clear up with a few days’ rest.

“Princess Luna! We found three guards unconscious further in the garden, hidden behind some hedges. They must have been the ones on patrol at the time.”

She let out a breath of air she’d been holding, glad that she had gotten here in time, and that Celestia and Twilight were, for the most part, unharmed. But her job wasn't done yet, there were some things she wanted to deal with now rather than later. She had to make sure this situation wouldn't become any worse than it already was.

“Take my sister and her student to the medical ward to be treated! And round up these griffins and place them into some cells until I or my sister say otherwise. They are to remain unharmed.” The guards quickly moved to fulfill her orders.

She couldn’t fully blame the griffins for their motives, desperate times made for desperate actions. She would have to sort this out at the root of the problem. Hopefully her night guards would bring her some fruitful information and she could set this right. She would have to work fast but it could still be solved.

This was also a chance for her to show her worth as a princess of Equestria since she returned. That Equestria was safe in her hooves and that she could handle this while her sister recovered.

‘Don’t worry sister. We will fix this. Rest now.’

After making sure that her sister was still okay, she walked towards the other pony that had been caught up in all of this. Twilight had protected Celestia right up until the end. In fact, if Twilight hadn't been there to stall for time, she might have been too late.

She really is quite the special unicorn, she thought, smiling at the purple pony.

'Thank you for being there, Twilight.'